Pepsi Cancels Carbonation In Classes

Pepsi’s packing up its books and dropping out of high school.

PepsiCo Inc. announced on Tuesday, March 16 that they planned to remove sweetened, high-calorie drinks including soda from high schools in more than 200 countries by 2012, this includes Penn Manor.

Answering to cries from critics and food activists, Pepsi is one of the few companies to change their product distribution in an effort to fight childhood obesity. Pepsi plans to replace the soda with water, fruit juice and diet drinks.

Penn Manor family and consumer science teacher Laura Weaner believes it’s a good idea, but doesn’t know if it will solve the problem.

“I think students will find other sources of sugar. They’re not just going to stop,” said Weaner.

PepsiCo plans to remove soda and other high calorie drinks from high schools. Photo by Lindsey Ostrum

But not all of the teachers are looking forward to it.

“I’m torn because I’m a soda drinker myself,” said teacher Holly Astheimer.

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, one in three school-age children are overweight or obese.

But will Pepsi removing soda help bring down this statistic?

“[Students] are gonna buy whatever is  there,” said sophomore Courtney Jacobs.

“If soda’s not there, they’re gonna get iced tea or juice,” added junior Jill Wiley.

Both girls agree that Pepsi’s decision is a good idea.

While Pepsi’s soda may not be available in Penn Manor and other schools, competitor company Coca-Cola Co. has no plans to do the same.

“We believe school authorities should have the right to choose what is best for their schools,” says Coke spokeswoman Crystal Warwell Walker to USA Today.

The news didn’t come as a shock or upset to many people.

“I could care less. I’m not sad,” said Jacobs.

This topic has been a debate for years now.  First lady Michelle Obama will hold an annual conference with the largest food companies urging them to “entirely rethink” products they market to kids according to USA Today.

From Pepsi vs. Coke to can vs. bottle, the new soda debate is whether it’s in or out of high schools.

By Mike Nitroy and Lindsey Ostrum

Can “Yous” Please Talk Right?

“That ain’t right.”

Seriously?

What “ain’t” right is your grammar.

Being in school every day, I hear hundreds of voices. Voices that are yelling and voices that are whispering. I hear the voices of students, teachers, janitors and anyone else who happens to be in the halls of Penn Manor. Everyday I am amazed by the amount of improper speech that flows from every sort of person’s mouth.

I don’t understand how after spending at least nine years in school, no one seems to understand there isn’t an “s” on the end of “you” or that things went “well,” not “good.”

Sarah Schaeffer has bad feelings about bad grammar.

When I hear things like: “Can I go to the bathroom?”

I’d like to reply, “I certainly hope you can.”

It’s exactly like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Each time I hear that our school has “less computers” than is desirable, I desire to stamp the word “fewer” on their forehead. It’s as if no one has ever heard of the word.

Everywhere I turn, phrases like “alls you got to do” and “I should of” get under my skin and on my last nerve. I would be willing to do just about anything to rid the school (and the world) of these horrendous sentences.

Maybe I’m hyper-aware of these mistakes because I was raised with bad grammar as the “Eighth Deadly Sin” and “grey” was spelled with an “e,” never an “a.”

Regardless, poor grammar just “ain’t gonna” cut it with me.

By Sarah Schaeffer

Found Guilty Of Senioritis

My head is on the desk, and my eyes are on the clock.

“Hello Penn Manor, here are today’s afternoon announcements.”

Hallelujah.

“Dessie, I need your permission slip, still.”

Five minutes till the bell.

“Narrative essay due tomorrow.”

I wonder when bathing suits go on sale…

“Why were you late this morning??”

Four minutes until the bell.

“Where is your excuse at?”

Three minutes till the bell.

“Shhhhhhh, students, pay attention!”

Two minutes.

“Don’t forget to do your homework!”

Freedom.

I’m so sorry, but this student has been found guilty of senioritis.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy going to school but I couldn’t be more excited to move on.

I mean it’s kinda difficult to focus on the next quiz coming up when I’ve already paid my college down payment, booked a dorm room and found my roommate.

And now that all the icebergs have melted throughout Lancaster, the weather has finally become comfortable even enjoyable.

Hello summer.  Hello College.

I apologize, but can you really blame me?

When asking teachers what senioritis entails, there is always one single response- laziness.

column
Dessie Jackson contributes her column to Whisper Down the Web.

I couldn’t agree more.

I have become a lazy lump.

All I can think about is putting on that navy gown, and throwing my cap high into the air. I’m humming Pomp and Circumstance for Pete’s sake.

Who could ignore the class picnic, going to Dorney Park and prom– seriously? Would homework really be on my mind?

“Sorry, I forgot my homework.”

Well, actually, I forgot my bookbag. I never even took it out of my car.

I know, I know, you can’t give up, you can’t flunk out, you can’t totally tune your teachers out and you still could get a rejection letter, even if accepted to your choice university.

So maybe the word “lazy” hasn’t hit me yet.

I mean, I am writing this article.

Maybe I’m being a tad dramatic.

But then again, June hasn’t rolled around yet.

By Dessie Jackson

PM Nation “Tourny Time, Baby”

This is our second edition of PM Nation this week due to this special time for all sports fans. As Dick Vitale would say, “It’s March Madness, Baby!” This edition will include our own bracket predictions and explanations about some of our surprising picks.

Cody Straub’s Bracket

Taylor Groff’s Bracket

TG: I think my most surprising pick of the tournament would definitely have to be New Mexico St. over Michigan St. I have not been impressed with any game they have played this season. I expected a lot more out of the veteran players for Michigan St.

CS: The upset I picked that everyone is surprised at is Louisville over Duke. Yes Duke is playing really well, but every year they find a way to lose early in the tournament. I think Louisville will surprise some teams and make a deep run. Stay tuned to the tournament games to see which one of us made the best predictions.

NCAA Dreams Fulfilled for Many, Not for all

The West Coast Conference champions, Saint Marys after beating highly favored Gonzaga.With the NCAA tournament in near sight for some, teams still have some time to get their tickets to the big dance where every team wants to be, but some teams have already punched their tickets to go dancing.

In one of the biggest upsets this year, Saint Mary’s Gaels went to the big dance as an automatic bid. The Gaels upset 14th ranked Gonzaga in the West Coast tournament.

But don’t worry, the Zags will still make the tournament as an at-large team.

The 12th-ranked Butler Bulldogs will get an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament instead of an at-large bid they would have gotten if they would have lost.

Wofford Terriers also clinched an automatic bid by beating Appalachian state and winning the Southern Conference. It’s the first tournament appearance in their history, this includes Nit and NCAA.

Siena rallied to come back and win an overtime thriller against Fairfield to win the MAAC title.

Old Dominion reserves their spot in the big dance again by beating William and Mary in the CAA final.

Robert Morris wins a back and forth game against Quinnipiac 50- 52 to win the Northeast conference tournament and to go to the NCAA tournament.

Montana heads to NCAA tournament after beating Weber State in the in Big Sky tournament final on the back of Senior guard Anthony Johnson’s 42-point night which is a record in the Big Sky tournament.

Winthrop beats Coastal Carolina in the championship game of the Big South and apparently they want Kansas. Winthrop fans were were chanting this as time wound down.

East Tennessee State wins its second straight trip to the Tourney by topping Mercer in the final of the Atlantic Sun conference.

Cornell wins the Ivy league with an easy win over Brown.

With a second-half surge, Northern Iowa beats Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Conference to send them to the tournament.

In the Ohio Vally conference, Murray State wins against Morehead State to give them their 3oth win of the season and, more importantly, an automatic bid to the big dance.

Oakland prepares for the dance after beating IUPUI in the Summit Conference championship. Their coach says they are prepared to mess up some brackets come tourny time.

North Texas’s little guy, Josh White, stepped up and hit the game winner to seal their fate to go to the NCAA tournament by beating Troy by three in the Sun Belt conference.

By Sam Valentin

Temple Got Scammed By NCAA Tourney Seed

Temple got scammed.

Selection Sunday was just two days ago and I still can’t get one thing off of my mind; Temple is a five seed.

Maybe it’s because ever since I was a little kid my father and I watched Temple basketball, or because our basement was filled with posters of Aaron McKie, Eddie Jones and Rick Brunson. Maybe, I am a little biased.

The fact that Temple was at one point 15th in the nation and that the Atlantic Ten was a tough conference this year, gives me the impression that they were the most under-seeded team in the nation.

To add insult to injury, they drew the best 12 seed in the tournament; Cornell, a team that could have easily been a 10 seed after winning the Ivy League championship.

To support my argument, I heard Doug Gotlieb, an ESPN NCAA Basketball analyst, say that Temple was the most under-seeded team in the tournament; it’s good to know I am not the only one who is distraught by Temple’s seeding.

My prediction: Temple will make it to the sweet 16, beating Cornell and Wisconsin, but then lose to Kentucky. So I guess it’s not really worth getting worked up about!

By Zane Sensenig

Hush Little Baby, We Won’t Say A Word

Frustration has led many people to severe actions, but none can compare to leaving a baby in a dumpster.

In 2003, Pennsylvania’s state legislature created and passed a law called The Newborn Protection Act. The legislation was created so that any parent could voluntarily relinquish their child to a hospital without any questions asked.

Coincidentally, this was the same year “Baby Allison” was found.

A newborn, given the name “Allison” after her death, was found in December lying in a Strasburg Township burn barrel, according to findagrave.com.

Since then, every hospital in Pennsylvania has become a “safe haven” for newborns. Bassinets are set up in the hospitals and all a parent has to do is lay the child down and walk away; not even names or addresses are written down.

Safe haven laws aim to prevent infant deaths.

An age limit was set a few years later due to problems in some states.

“Nebraska had no age limit, and parents were dropping off their teenagers,” said Susan Savage, an advocate of the Safe Haven Program.

Infants must not be older than 28 days to be dropped off.

The child, after it is examined, is taken to a foster program. As long as the child has no signs of abuse, parents will not receive any punishment.

Since the program was developed seven years ago, the question is: why build up awareness now?

“Our goal is to prevent crisis pregnancy and rash decisions,” said Savage. “Money for awareness [of the program] has run out, but we try to get the idea out every year. The challenge is that as young people are aging, crisis pregnancies are important at certain points in their life and not at other points.”

While it is a good effort, the idea did not spread as well to everyone.

In Sept. of 2007, a baby was found in a trash bin behind the Lancaster YMCA, hidden in a canvas tote, according to findagrave.com. After investigation, it was announced that the baby had died due to suffocation.

Donations from the community paid for a heart-shaped tombstone. The community members named the baby “Mary Anne” and over 100 people showed up to the funeral.

Reverend Daniel Mitzel, who presided over the service, said the baby was like family.

“We immediately felt that baby, as any other member of the human race, deserved a burial with prayer and faith,” said Mitzel.

If you have any questions about the program visit www.secretsafe.org to learn more.

By Emily Brody

Drugs and Music Intertwine at Jay-Z Performance

At a Jay-Z concert, you would think that the iconic rapper would suffice as entertainment. From what I saw, this was not the case.

Alcohol, marijuana, and even cocaine use flooded the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey one recent Saturday at the Hova (Jay-Z) concert where I sat in the audience.

Everywhere I turned I would see a lit blunt (a cigar with the tobacco taken out and replaced with marijuana) followed by a cloud of smoke with the potent smell of marijuana mixed in.

Simon Zimmerman talks about his concert experience. Photo by Dessie Jackson

I would also see clearly underage young adults sipping on some brewskies while bobbing their heads to the beat.

I am not one to pass judgment on others, however, I was very surprised that authorities, security guards, or the Izod Center staff were not putting a stop to this illegal activity.

For instance, the row behind me was filled with a group of guys who were smoking a blunt. Their activity had not been called to anyone’s attention until a hysterical pregnant woman came running in with three police officers, her finger pointed directly at the men behind me.

The officers then pulled them out in the hall. When the men returned they told my friend and I that the only thing the cops said was, “Everyone is doing it and we are only bringing you out so that woman will stop complaining.”

This amused and shocked me at the same time.

It amused me because they completely got away with what they were doing.

It shocked me because the officers didn’t do a single thing to discipline them.

But I suppose that the fuzz wouldn’t be able to arrest  about 1,000 people participating in the same exact commotion.

It would be like a huge chain gang walking out of the stadium.

I guess  that when citizens outnumber authorities, illegal acts might  just have to be tolerated.

By Simon Zimmerman

PM Nation – Selecting Teams for March Madness

Welcome to the fourth edition of PM Nation. Obviously with the NCAA Tournament starting this weekend, that is our topic this week. We will have two separate columns this week about March Madness. This edition’s topic will be about the selection process and if the committee’s system is the right way to choose which teams should go dancing.

PM Nation

Cody Straub: The question: is the NCAA committee’s system through judging the RPI, strength of schedule, vs. the RPI top 50, and using the teams’ whole season resume instead of just the last couple weeks of the season the right way to select teams to go dancing.

Taylor: No, look at Villanova.  They start off the season real high and then at the end of the season they lose three out of their last four games. You don’t want high seeded teams coming into the tournament cold.

CS: Look at teams like Gonzaga in a weak conference. They play a hard non-conference schedule, but toward the end of the season, they don’t have any chances to get good wins because of their weak conference. So they should not be punished with a lower seed because their best wins are at the beginning of the season.

TG: I’m not saying teams with weak conferences shouldn’t get in, but because of their weak conference, they need to win every conference game so they can create a better resume.

CS: Every team in the country will lose one game they should have won. So one slip-up in a conference game should put a team in or out of the tournament, as long they have good wins.

TG: Like Dick Vitale said on Selection Sunday, the last ten games of the season should be the most meaningful games. Mississippi State should have been in the tournament because of how they ended their season.

Taylor Groff Co-editor for PM Nation

CS: That is ridiculous.  Mississippi State did not beat anyone until the Vanderbilt game. You can’t tell me they get in ahead of Florida, Florida has more quality wins and played better non-conference games.

TG: That is all for this edition, stay tuned later this week for our tournament predictions. If you agree or disagree with this column, you can write your opinion down in the comment box about the topic, we want to know what everyone thinks.

Blowing Bubbles For Brain Power and Better Scores

It’s sticky. It’s sweet. It’s in your back pocket.  And it might just make you smarter.

It’s gum!

On April 12, juniors will begin three  weeks of PSSA testing for reading, math, writing and science. As of now there is no gum chewing allowed during these tests, but if the rule is changed could it affect test scores?

According to a study done by Baylor College of Medicine and sponsored by Wrigley Science Institute in April 2009, “Those who chewed gum had a 3% increase in standardized test scores and had final math grades that were significantly better than the other students.”

“I think it could somewhat affect [scores] but I’m skeptical to accept results from Wrigley Institute,” said Angela Stiklaitis, head of the math department.

Will allowing gum during PSSA tests increase test scores? Photo by superstock.com

Researches began to test 108 students between the ages of 13-16 by assigning half of the students to chew sugar-free gum while in math class, completing math homework and during math tests for 14 weeks.

The other half of the class would do these same activities, but without chewing gum.

The researchers concluded that the students who were allowed gum not only had improved test scores, but also had longer attention spans.

Would this make gum chewing okay?

“I think it would be alright [if they allowed gum]. However, their chewing could not be a distraction, but have to be polite and respectful,” said Stiklaitis.

Even students feel as if  helps them during class.

“[Gum] helps me concentrate,” said Joanne Cusatis.

“It helps stimulate your brain and keeps you focused,” added Abby Talbot.

And some students just like to chew it.

“[Class] is boring without [gum]. I like to twirl it too,” said Jaime Reel.

So whether chewing gum is just for fun, or for helping students concentrate, will it ever be allowed during the PSSAs is a question yet to be answered.

By Lindsey Ostrum and Mike Nitroy