Students at Penn Manor High School discovered Thursday a new way to access their social networking websites.
And they were, every chance they got.
“It’s exhilarating because it’s supposed to be a restricted site, but now we can be able to have access,” said senior Julia Rios.
Julia Rios was surprised there was Facebook access at school. Photo by Jordann Stekervetz
Putting in “https://” instead of just “http://” ahead of the address, students were able to access the sites. To jump from page to page, the students figured out to add the “s” to the “http” before they pressed “enter.”
“Well it’s kinda cool that you can get on Facebook at school, but I don’t think the school knows about it yet,” Alex Kirk, a junior, stated.
Interestingly, students were using Facebook at school to spread the word that it was available at school.
Social studies teacher Matthew Scheuing found out Friday by accident when he Googled a friend’s name and the friend’s Facebook page popped up. He was able to click on it and get in.
“Technology is constantly evolving,” said Scheuing. “It’s all about figuring out the ‘next thing.’ People always seem to find out a way to get around it.”
Not only can students get on their Facebook page, but they can also get onto Twitter, Myspace, YouTube, and many other websites. E-mailing websites were still being blocked by the filter.
But are students willing to take the risk of getting caught and in trouble, just to get onto to check their pages?
“I wanted to get on once I found out, but I am afraid to get caught,” Rios also said, “but that is what makes it more appealing.”
However the administration is not quite sure how they are going to approach this situation, since the students are sometimes one step ahead of them.
“I think in this situation there’s a dilemma educators face when students need to use technology in the classroom, but the negatives arise when the students don’t use it appropriately,” Principal Phil Gale said.
“I don’t think they (administration) would allow it because it’s a pretty big distraction and it would take away from the class and it wouldn’t be good for grades and class work,” Kirk said.
“I feel like I’m not going to get anything done,” said Ella Perry.
“It is not good because kids are going to get distracted,” Mikah Farbo stated.
“I kind of don’t care, it’s not that fantastic,” senior Steph Slagel said, “I don’t need to get on Facebook in school.”
“We haven’t really looked at that (punishment), we’ve been pretty much been trying to figure out what is going on,” Gale stated.
By Jordann Stekervetz
Robert Henry and Alex Geli contributed to this report
Penn Manor’s girls field hockey team raised money to help breast cancer awareness this year.
The team knew October was Breast Cancer awareness month, so they decided to have a pink game to help raise money. They sold shirts to Penn Manor families, students and anyone who wanted one. All the concession stand money collected throughout the game by selling food went directly to this cause.
Penn Manor players were not the only people involved in the effort, friends of the field hockey booster club played a big role on preparing everything. Manheim Township was involved, too.
“Yes, we plan to do it again next year,” Matt Soto said about the team’s plans to repeat the event next year.
“We plan on getting the entire league to participate in this next year, it just might be a huge turn out,” Soto said.
The game was a huge hit. One game raised $4,550.
“We exceeded our goal. Our goal was not money, it was cancer awareness,” Soto said. “Its amazing what one day or one game can do.”
One way Penn Manor honored people with cancer or people who have passed away from cancer was by placing lighted baskets throughout the stadium with their names on it.
Players and families were very impressed with the turnout and would like to thank everyone who participated.
Making a statement on Tuesday against Central Bucks East, the Comets field hockey team went about the business of winning again, crushing their opponents by a score of 6-0.
Coach Matt Soto attested to their success, saying the girls are extremely focused and driven.
“I give our players a lot of credit. They didn’t want to be outdone again,” Soto said.
The Comets, coming off a loss to Hershey in the district finals, 1-0, during which the Comets had 29 corners but no goals, seemed determined not to get into the negative category on their way to state competition.
“We obviously practiced scoring a lot the day before,” Soto explained.
The Comets look to their quarterfinals match-up with state powerhouse team, Emmaus.
That squad handed Penn Manor field hockey one of only their two losses this season.
“They’re a good program from bottom up. Their coach is great, and a really smart guy,” said Soto.
“We have to keep them out of the circle. We out-shot and out-played them last time but we lost. We have to capitalize on our opportunities,” Soto said.
The Comets’ quarterfinals match-up with Emmaus will be played on Saturday at Exeter High School.
An epidemic has swept some of Penn Manor’s students: 12:01 disease.
Call of Duty features many lifelike war scenes.
Common symptoms of this terrible affliction? Coming down with a sudden illness at 12:01 a.m. – just the time when a new video game comes out. In most cases, the student will be advised to stay home from school the next day – and, in some severe cases, the student in question won’t be seen for the next week.
What could possibly be the cause of this terrible disease? Call of Duty: Black Ops, that’s what. The newest in the Call of Duty (or COD, as it’s commonly called by the players) series from the developer, Treyarch. The preceding game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, broke all records for the first 24 hours of its release.
According to MaximumPC, Modern Warfare 2 sold 4.7 million units in the first 24 hours in stores, the biggest release in video games ever – stealing the title from Grand Theft Auto IV. And those numbers are just in the U.S.- raking in $310 million just in that first day.
Black Ops is another record breaking game. A statement from Activision said that Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 5.6 million units and $360 million in that first day.
Many stores that sell video games had midnight release parties, where the line started early in the night and stretched out of the stores.
Penn Manor is home to students who were some of those lined up late on Monday night at video game retailers like Game Stop at the Park City mall in Lancaster.
“I’ve been awake for 27, no, 36 hours,” said one Penn Manor sophomore, “The game is awesome.”
Call of Duty's Black Ops game has realistic battle scenes. Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Star
Call of Duty is a First Person Shooter – or FPS – where players go through various historical scenarios. Call of Duty has been commended for its attention to historical accuracy and twisting plot. The only part of Black Ops that isn’t historically accurate is you.
Another part of the COD experience is a game called Zombies – or Nazi Zombies, as it is known in its previous title. It is a survival game where two people playing alone or up to four people online try to defend an area from the raging horde of zombies shuffling their way toward the building. The goal is survival, but all players must fall in the end to the walking dead as more and more zombies come at them, faster and faster. Players get points for zombie kills, and can spend the points on better weapons and barricades on the doors and windows. But Black Ops puts a new twist on the playable characters.
*SPOILER ALERT* Before, the player was a nameless soldier in a lonely shack, but now the action gets a whole lot weirder. The playable characters now include John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, and Robert McNamara, who are fighting zombies at the Pentagon. As the players kill zombies, the characters will spew sound bites from famous interviews and speeches.
“That is so cool!” exclaimed one student.
Several changes have been made concerning game play in Black Ops – like the elimination of Deathstreaks and the dreaded Nuke – whenever a player gets 25 kills in a row in Modern Warfare 2, they can get the use of a tactical missile to wreak havoc upon their enemies. Another perk for kill streaks is a remote controlled car, which players can pilot near enemies and pull a trigger, detonating the car.
Call of Duty: Black Ops is set in the Cold War era, and spans many different locales.
Other, smaller changes include the moving of shotguns from a secondary weapon to a primary weapon.
Another new area is Combat Training, where new players can practice their skills against computer controlled enemies in a format similar to online gameplay, to ease newbies into the online experience.
Before, new players would be forced to run headlong into online games, where they would be shellacked by the older, more experienced players.
“I’m so excited for this game. I would get it, but I just got the new Fable, and I’ll be too busy playing it for the next month to play COD,” said another student.
Nerds and geeks alike will rejoice, for Black Ops also contains a hidden Easter egg that not all players could spot. Following the instructions in the main menu found here: Wired.com, players can turn the main menu into an old text based computer. Type in the command “DOA”, and the screen turns into a top down zombie shooter. Type in “Zork”, and the computer turns into the text based adventure game Zork, a classic choose your own adventure game. You’ll also receive the achievement “Eaten by a Grue”, which will only make sense after you’ve played the game.
Call of Duty: Black Ops has made a splash in the pool of Penn Manor’s gamers, but the best is yet to come. Modern Warfare 3 is slated to arrive in 2011, and who knows what that will bring.
Ben Clark does it again, this time winning the top individual award in the regional Siemens Competition for Math, Science & Technology for his theory on star formation.
Clark, a 15-year-old senior at Penn Manor, will be attending the Siemens Competition national finals December 2-6 in Washington D.C. where he will present his theory along with other young scholars from across the nation.
Ben Clark is continuing his research on star formations after winning the top regional prize at the Siemens Competition for Math, Science & Technology. Photo by Cree Bleacher
The Siemens competition is sponsored by the Siemens Foundation. They provide $7 million in scholarships annually and much of it is through the Siemens Competition. The money supports students who are doing research and making advancements in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Clark said his experience in the semi-finals was quite enjoyable, and he did not have definite expectations of winning.
“I saw everyone’s projects as comparable,” said Clark. “Anyone could have won.”
By winning the regional competition, Clark was awarded $3,000.The national Siemens Competition top winner gets a prize of $100,000 in scholarship money, however Clark is already guaranteed at least $10,000 in scholarship money just for being in the finals because last place in the finals still receives $10,000.
To be eligible to compete, students must be working on research and projects which are unique and authentic.
Clark is making real progress in the astrophysics arena.
“I was looking for binary stars and I used a very large, low-quality data set, but through my analysis I was able to get useful results,” said Clark about his data, before the regional competition began.
Penn Manor's Ben Clark has a chance at a $100,000 college scholarship in a national competition through the Siemens Foundation. Photo by Liz Lawrence
As he was beginning his research, Clark decided he need a topnotch mentor and contacted the Princeton University astrophysics department. His mentor is Princeton astrophysicist, Cullen Blake.
Clark decided he wanted to take a close look at binary stars for his research. He knew that binaries have significant applications to star formation so Clark and his mentor decided to focus on that.
On November 5 and 6 Clark headed out to Massachusetts to reveal his theory to some of the best in the astrophysics industry.
Clark talked with students and professors from MIT and had a fantastic time.
“All the professors were great, and the students had great projects,” said Clark.
“My initial interest in math and science occurred in kindergarten when my father started giving me math problems as a game,” Clark said in an interview for the Siemens Competition. “In less than a year, the simple addition problems we started with had been replaced by double digit multiplication and basic algebra.”
Senior Ben Clark is getting ready for the Siemens national competition. Photo by Tyler Funk
Clark has gained local fame and created a lot of buzz throughout Penn Manor. He has appeared on CBS 21 and is set to appear on WGAL channel 8 for his accomplishments which include being a National Merit Semifinalist, Model United Nations member and a National Honor Society head delegate. Clark is also involved with the Boy Scouts of America, the USA Mathematical Olympiad, USA Physics Olympiad, Princeton University Mathematics Competition and Pennsylvania Math League.
The research he has done has created a career goal for Clark. He wants to conduct physics or astrophysics research at a major research institution in the future.
The AP environmental science class at Penn Manor has one project in particular that requires more effort than thought, breeding mice.
A group of three students received ten mice earlier in the school year, four males and six females. They placed two females and one male in two cages, and the other two cages had one male and one female.
They figured in no time at all, there would be a lot more. Little did they know, it was not going to be as easy as one, two, three.
All of the cages were given the necessities including houses, wheels, and tubes to play with, and of course the bedding.
“One time we weren’t able to locate one of the mice and it turns out it was buried in the bedding sleeping,” said Spencer Barnett, one of the group members. “They seem to either bury in the bedding or hang in the houses to sleep.”
The students researched the key factors of breeding after they had the mice a few days and discovered the complexity of the project.
Breeding mice is unexpectedly difficult. Photo by understandinganimalresearch.org.uk
A mouse is mature by the age of 5-8 weeks, according to the Transgenic Mouse Facility. It’s preferred that females are not bred until 8-12 weeks so that the pups arrive healthy. Once of age, they are put in with one male, because if two or more males are in the cage with a female that is pregnant, the female will abort their babies to be with the alpha male or they will try to kill each other.
On the other hand, a female’s gestation period is 19-21 days, and every 4-5 days they have their estrus cycle. When the babies are born, it is important to separate the male from the babies so none of the babies are eaten. At three weeks they’re weaned or separated by sex in groups of five and the process is repeated, according to the students’ research.
But all the research and planning does not guarantee success.
The mice were kept in the room next to Sally Muenkel’s so that the stench of them wouldn’t be too noticeable.
“After a week, the smell was gagging us so we cleaned the cages out and found two dead carcasses of mice. That was not a pretty sight,” explained Barnett.
The project is to breed the mice so that Erick Dutchess’ pet snake, Rex, has a continuous supply of food.
The group got their ten mice near the beginning of the year and had some difficulties keeping them alive.
Due to the mice eating each other, dying, and one supposedly escaping, their ten dwindled to three. Four were added to the three to make seven in hopes of succeeding.
The mice were forced to move to the greenhouse outside of Dutchess’ room where hopes were smashed and the seven mice quickly fell to two, one female and one male.
The students left for the long weekend giving them a clean cage, fresh water, and fresh food, the best habitat for them to survive.
Tuesday following the long weekend, the mice were checked on and unfortunately both were found deceased.
“I was so excited to get these mice thinking that we would get babies. When I saw that our project was a complete failure, I was not happy with our results,” said Jesse Graham, another group member.
Now, the students need to do a report on the whole experience, which had few successful aspects and no baby mice to continue the supply of food.
It’s up to the next group to prove their skills in breeding mice.
The Penn Manor field hockey team suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday afternoon against Hershey, losing 1-0.
Led by goalkeeper Sonya Torres, Hershey came up with huge stops defensively, holding the explosive offense of the Comets to no goals.
Matt Soto, Coach of the Penn Manor Field Hockey team, is optimistic about state playoffs. photo courtesy of the PMFH Website
“She (Torres) was easily the best goalie we’ve seen all year,” said Matt Soto, head coach for Penn Manor.
Despite the loss, Soto and the Comets are ready to look forward to the state playoffs.
“I think it’s good we lost,” explained senior captain Katie Breneman. “Some people think we are just going to automatically win each game and that’s just not the case.”
The Comets take the loss to Hershey as a stepping stone, as well as a learning experience.
“We learned we need to work on scoring. And also that we have to understand the talent is only going to get better from here,” said Soto.
Maddy Hess strives for a state title. Photo by Jessen Smith
“We had 29 corners, but we didn’t execute. We have to execute and score to win,” said senior offensive leader Madelyn Hess.
The Comets take on Central Bucks East in their first game of state playoffs tonight.
“States start tonight. We win, everything’s great, and if we lose our season’s over,” Soto explained.
Tyler Perry’s movie rendition of “For Colored Girls” is a star-packed drama that is far from his usual string of comedies. The story is based on twenty people, each of whom represents a character in every one of the twenty poems throughout the movie. The poems represent struggles colored woman in particular have to face on a day-to-day basis.
Photo credited to cdn.sparkart.net
Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Thandie Newton, Anika Nonie Rose, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Whoopie Goldberg, Macy Gray, Michael Ealy, Omari Hardwick, Richard Lawson, Hill Harper, Khalil Khan, Rayna Tharani, Jaycee Williams, and Thomas Jessup are just some of the characters who portray stories of rape, murder, promiscuity, and physical/verbal abuse.
The 2 hr and 14 min. movie has its sure of heart stopping moments and doesn’t let up on the dramatic experiences that happen throughout. “For Colored Girls” was originally a screenplay by Ntozake Shange turned Broadway play in the 70’s. The full name of the play was “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” is directed towards young woman of color who face the same problems in real life.
The movie sheds a light on many different problems and constantly sends the same message Shange made in her play.
Penn Manor’s football team slipped into the district playoffs with their most recent win, but with the team’s record, they haven’t been picked to stay long.
Friday night, the Comets beat the Cedar Crest Falcons 56-21.
Daulton Parmer got the student section in a uproar when he carried the ball 70 yards on the kick off. In the next three plays, Parmer scored his first of three touchdowns of the night.
The Falcons quickly came back with a touchdown from the kickoff by Dalton Ritter.
Penn Manor seniors win their senior night game
The Comets kept their heads up and continued to keep the lead.
In the second quarter, the Comets showed what they were really capable of. Adam Sahd threw a post pattern pass to senior Demetrius Dixon resulting in a 73-yard touchdown.
Shortly after, Teon Lee scored a four-yard touchdown, increasing the chances for the Comet’s victory.
Cedar Crest tried their best to fight back. The Falcons did score, just slightly slower than the Comets.
Dylan Weber scored from six yards to bring the Comets lead to 49-14.
Garrett Levengood of the Cedar Crest Falcons, scored the last touchdown their team would see that night. Levengood sprinted 21 yards to the corner of the end zone, pushing for a win but falling short.
The last touchdown of the night was an 85-yard kick return by Parmer.
The Comets earned their fifth “W” of the season and are heading to the to the district three AAAA playoffs.
From Lee’s aggressive running, to Parmers juke skills, the team had a great night and the victory will carry them to their first playoff game of the year.
There’s a feeling in the air, and it’s not Halloween spirit.
It’s Harry Potter.
“I’m so excited!” said Carolyn Zimmerman, of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I Nov. 19 movie release date.
The Harry Potter series spans seven books.
First released in 1997, the Harry Potter book series has since skyrocketed across seven books and dozens of languages, becoming one of the world’s most popular book series.
The author, Joanne Kathleen Rowling, has gone from a single mother on welfare to the first author in history to make a billion dollars. The series has captivated millions and now is coming to its final end.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in the summer of 2007, ending the journey of the boy wizard and the magical school.
Now the release date of the second to last movie approaches, and Penn Manor’s fans of the series are making their plans to pay homage to their favorite characters.
“Harry Potter has a way of sucking you into the books. It almost feels as if you can relate to the characters to some point, and most kids have grown up with the books. I think the books will be around for awhile, I just can’t see them becoming unpopular anytime soon,” said sophomore Cate Shipley.
And it hasn’t since Deathly Hallows was released. Even though the books are over, the fans still take Harry’s journey with them.
First, there’s the Youtube sensation A Very Potter Musical, which as of October 28 had 2,754,300 views. A Very Potter Musical, or AVPM, first appeared on July 5, 2009, and since then has gained a remarkable following in the Harry Potter fandom. It spans two acts, and follows Harry Potter (Darren Criss) as he tries to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort (played by Joe Walker) with some hilarious lines and dangerously catchy tunes in between. It was so popular that the cast (mostly made up of students) found the need to make the follow up to their hit – A Very Potter Sequel. The link to the first act of AVPM can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmwM_AKeMCk
“AVPM/AVPS is something that anyone can find hilarious even if they are not a big Harry Potter fan. It has humor for everyone and it’s impossible not to like it,” said Zimmerman.
Darren Criss, who plays Harry Potter in the AVPM and AVPS musicals, also will be making an appearance in the show Glee in November.
AVPM isn’t the only outlet fans have had to express their love of Harry Potter. According to the Harrypotterfanfiction.com, they have a library of over 65,000 individual stories and receive over 30 million hits every month.
HP has even crossed the gap into music. Wizard Rock, or Wrock, is a genre full of bands whose songs are only Harry Potter-related. The first band known to have songs with lyrics that reference Harry Potter is Switchblade Kittens, who has a song entitled “Ode to Harry.”
But the band usually credited with being the “first” Wrock band are Harry and the Potters, the most well known and probably most successful Wrockers.
Other bands include The Whomping Willow, Tonks and the Aurors, The Draco Malfoys, The Mollywobbles, Remus and the Lupins and the Severus Snaped.
The second to last of the Potter movies- and the beginning of the end for the official merchandise and the wait for movies- is titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It will be released into theaters Nov. 19, 2010. Part 2 will come out July 15, 2011 – during summer vacation.
The two movies are being split – for those fans who are in the know – after Harry, Ron and Hermione arrive at Shell Cottage.
Harry Potter has impacted the lives of millions of children, and has been lauded as the series that has helped child literacy come back into focus.
The author of the series, J.K. Rowling, had published two books earlier in the series: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, both of which had the proceeds go to the nonprofit Comic Relief. After the seventh book was released, she also hand wrote seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and sold one of them at auction. The final selling price was $3.98 million, and all of it went to The Children’s Voice charity campaign.
Along with the numerous charities that Harry Potter books have benefited, they also have impacted the lives of some of Penn Manor’s students.
“When you read Harry Potter, it takes you somewhere new and gives you a break from reality,” said sophomore Kael Miller. “I love reading in general but Harry Potter just takes it a step farther. It becomes an obsession. I find myself quoting Harry Potter all the time, for various subjects. Harry Potter will always be part of my childhood that I remember.”
Some of Penn Manor's students can't wait to see the next movie.
“Harry potter is so fascinating because it takes you out of your world and into another for a brief time,” added Sarah Whyler. “It’s also so easy to imagine a picture while you’re reading, which I love about the books.”
“It is what made me fall in love with fantasy books. My group of friends is obsessed,” said Eleni Jones, “Its something you can read to get away from your world and sort of hop into another -where magic is real and anything can happen.”
It’s the beginning of the end of a journey, one that the fans have lived through as much as the Boy Who Lived himself.
