The battle of David versus Goliath took place at Norristown Area High School Saturday, March 13.
Goliath prevailed.
After sneaking into the PIAA State tournament, Penn Manor’s basketball team entered the playoff immediately met by the paramount Penn Wood Patriots.
The Pats beat the Comets last year in the first round of states by four en route to a state championship title.
They were hungry for another.
Manor flooded the first quarter with three pointers ending the period with a 27-18 lead over Penn Wood.
The Patriots didn’t seem too concerned.
The second quarter was a different story as Penn Wood’s lightning quick 2-3 defense shut down the Comets to a dismal five second-quarter points.
With Manor focused on shutting down dominating 6-9 big man, Shawn Oakman, and swingman, Aaron Brown, senior guard, Tyree Johnson, took over.
Johnson dumped 26 first half points on the Comets, and the 2009 champs went into the locker room with a 43-32 lead at halftime.
The Patriots continued their authority over the smaller Comet lineup in the second half.
The Comets struggled to slow down the commanding inside game of Penn Wood in the second half, and quickly found themselves in foul trouble.
Frustration carried on throughout the second half for Charlie Detz’s Comets, as their first quarter stand out seemed petty in a 76-57 loss to Penn Wood.
Patrick Welsh led all Penn Manor scorers with 14 points. Senior guard, Jon Brooks, added another 8 points.
Detz will expect for his underclassman to step up next year to replace this heavily successful senior lineup as Penn Manor looks to continue their dominant reputation in the Lancaster Lebanon league.
If Eric Cartmen, Stewie and Bart Simpson took part in an epic animated battle, who would win?
In a recent Penn Manor study, three of the leading animated comedies were polled to find out what show students preferred.
The shows that were polled include: “Family Guy”, “South Park” and “The Simpsons.”
“Family Guy” was first aired on January 31st, 1999 on the Fox network. There are currently 138 episodes and in its eighth season.
“South Park” was first aired on August 13th, 1997 on Comedy Central. There are currently 195 episodes and in its fourteenth season.
The oldest of the three shows is “The Simpsons;” it first aired on December 17th, 1989 on the Fox network. There are currently 454 episodes and has twenty-one seasons.
The Simpsons were once the most popular animated comedy...not the case anymore. Photo courtesy of trueslant.com
“Every episode is funny,” said Conor Snow, about his favorite show, “Family Guy.”
Penn Manor junior Patrick Miller disagreed, “South Park always takes me on an epic journey.”
On the other hand, junior, Kevin Szurok said, “Simpsons is too family oriented.”
Out of 64 students surveyed, 36 of them chose “Family Guy,” 25 chose South Park and 3 said they liked “The Simpsons.”
This shows that “The Simpsons” is becoming an outdated form of comedy. The reason for this could be, because “The Simpsons” are not as vulgar as “South Park” and not as teen oriented as “Family Guy.”
While “Family Guy” takes the cake, their could be something to debate here. When we went around interviewing people, most of the results came in clumps, meaning, one table would all choose “Family Guy” and another table would all choose “South Park.” This shows that friends who have similar interests in comedy tend to converse and hangout together more.
As Bart Simpson and “The Simpsons” are left in the dust, it is up to “Family Guy” to keep the animated comedy genre alive.
In its first year, Penn Points was named one of the 13 finalists in the National Scholastic Press Association’s annual Online Pacemaker award. The Pacemaker award is somewhat equivalent to an Oscar except for high school journalism. Penn Manor’s Penn Points is the only Pennsylvania Online newspaper finalist for the N.S.P.A. and one of few from the east coast.
This year Portland Oregon will be hosting the N.S.P.A. Convention in April where the award ceremony will be held along with seminars and journalism speakers. Other awards that will be given out are Yearbook/ Magazine Pacemaker, Best of Show award, J.E.A. write-off award, Journalist of the Year award, Aspiring Young Journalist award and Investigative Journalism award.
According to N.S.P.A. the Online Pacemaker competition has seen a 70 percent rise in entries since last year’s 2009 competition. This year, 132 high school websites entered into the category. All together the finalists include:
The Feather Online, Fresno Christian HS, Fresno, Calif. http://www.thefeather.com
Suzanna Quiring, editor
Greg Stobbe, adviser
The Chronicle Online, Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood, Calif. http://chronicle.hw.com
Jamie Kim, editor
Kathleen Neumeyer, adviser
The Saratoga Falcon, Saratoga HS, Saratoga, Calif. http://www.saratogafalcon.org
Mira Chaykin, Brian Kim, editors
Mike Tyler, adviser
ipatriotpost.com, American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla. http://www.ipatriotpost.com
Arthur Yidi, editor
Diana Adams, adviser
Online Gargoyle, University Laboratory HS, Urbana, Ill. http://www.uni.illinois.edu/og/
Danny Ge/Hadley Hauser/Maritza Mestre/Laura Dripps/Katherine Allen/Sindha Agha/Diana Liu, editors
David Porreca, adviser
Patriot, John Carroll School, Bel Air, Md. http://www.jcpatriot.com
Kate Froehlich, editor
Mark Ionescu, adviser
The Rockville High School Rampage, Rockville HS, Rockville, Md. http://www.rockvillerampage.com
Michaela Karem, Olivia Parker, editors
Peter Daddone, adviser
Jordynea Hill gets up at the crack of dawn every morning to have bottles and diapers ready for her newborn son. She’ll need at least 12 diapers for just one day of changing and enough formula to fill his daily needs. Hill is a Penn Manor High School senior who can no longer walk the halls during regular school hours, can’t go to any sporting events and can’t eat lunch with her friends in the school cafeteria. Hill, 17, attends Twilight (evening) school so she can take better care of her four-month-old son.
She’d be the first to say how difficult it is to be a teenage mom.
“Wait as long as you can, till you think you can take care of a kid,” Hill said to teens having unprotected sex.
Unfortunately teens across the country don’t seem to be following the advice that Hill and many other teenage parents are giving.
A national study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit group that studies reproductive and sexual health, showed that the rate in teen pregnancy, that had been on the decline since the 1990’s, is now rising.
The popular teen show “16 and Pregnant” and its follow-up show, “Teen Mom,” are examples of how difficult it is to be a parent at such a young age. Even though the shows are among some of the most watched, many teens just don’t seem to be taking the consequences seriously.
Lashaya Baker, a Penn Manor senior, agrees that teens sometimes rush into sex without thinking of the consequences.
Lashaya Baker stops in the hall to talk to teacher Kathy Kirk.
“Yes, they’re doing it because everyone else is doing it,” she said,
Baker herself is six months pregnant.
In a recent survey at Penn Manor, some students said they were not certain they would always use contraception if they planned to have sex.
Randomly, 42 students were asked to take an anonymous survey about their attitudes toward unprotected sex. These students included all grades and both boys and girls. About three-quarters of the students surveyed claimed they were sexually active.
Although only less than one percent of the population was questioned, the survey results indicated some students were not concerned with the consequences of unprotected sex. Out of 42 students, only half said they were using some sort of contraceptives every time they have sex, if they were currently sexually active.
The students that weren’t sexually active were asked whether or not they would use contraceptives every time in the future. Not all said they would.
“The issue here is clearly that we have a lot of teenagers who are having sex, but they aren’t careful enough at contraception to avoid pregnancy,” said Sarah Brown, executive director of the nonprofit National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy during a recent interview with New York Times.
In the same survey, five out of five senior boys who were surveyed admitted to being sexually active, compared to two out of five freshman boys. Five out of five senior girls said they were sexually active, with four out of five on birth control. Three out of five freshman girls said they are sexually active, but out of those five, none said they were using any type of birth control.
Birth control pills are just one option to prevent pregnancy.
When teen girls were asked whether they would have sex without a condom which can protect from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, their responses were revealing.
“Yeah, ‘cause I’m on birth control,” said a Penn Manor junior, “If you’re in the heat of the moment it’s just going to happen, you’re not just going to say stop.”
That was a similar story repeated by those in the survey – that teens often decided to have sex without any planning.
That story changed when reality hit for Brittany Scott a pregnant teen at Penn Manor.
“Now I’d probably say ‘no,’ because it’s not worth the risk,” said Scott now 21 weeks pregnant.
Out of the 21 boys that were surveyed, only 13 said that they currently use or would use protection every time they have sex and only 9 out of the 21 girls that were surveyed are on birth control.
Also, some adults in the high school were asked their views on the availability or effectiveness of sex education in school. Currently, all students in high school take a health class where reproduction is discussed but birth control methods are not.
Some felt that schools should not be focusing on just abstinence or prevention, but showing the positives and negatives of both.
“I think if it’s abstinence based, you’re dumb to think they’re not doing it so they should be taught how to be safe,” said Penn Manor health teacher, Stephen Weidner.
“Both, you should have to educate the students with information of sex and abstinence,” said Principal Phil Gale, “It isn’t only a school thing, it’s a parent and school responsibility.”
Teenage students were asked their feelings on whether or not they think people rush into sex without knowing the possible outcomes.
“I think everyone acknowledges what could happen, but I don’t think they use [their knowledge],” said junior Stef Freidman.
Couple walks the halls of Penn Manor
Tara Coulter is another Penn Manor senior who said she didn’t take sufficient precautions and is now dealing with the consequences of being a teen mom.
“Wish it came later,” said Coulter, of her three-month-old son, “People always tell you how hard it will be but you don’t know how hard it will be till it happens. It’s not cool to have a baby until you’re ready.”
“Yeah, even though we learn stuff in health class, people just don’t think before they do things,” said Scott who is expecting her baby this summer.
Paul Chismar, Penn Manor earth science teacher, agreed, “Absolutely, they’re not prepared for the consequences.”
“They think ‘it won’t happen to me’” said Cindy Bachman, athletic director secretary and cheerleading coach.
It makes me itch. I think of it, I crave it. I dream of it, because I have to catch them all- Pokemon!
Yes, I’m a 17-year-old boy trying to hide the fact that I’m walking around and thinking; what Pokemon should I start my adventure with? Where will I find a moonstone? How do you catch the Abra before teleporting away?
This isn’t what my girl friend wants to hear I’m thinking about when she asks me, “what are you thinking about?”
But after a weekend run to a local game shop with my girlfriend, who probably can beat me in some of the video games, the old game caught my eye- Pokemon Red for GameBoy color. And my delight for the game resurfaced.
This game, sadly for me, was in front of my face more than any book when I was growing up. This was my breakthrough to gaming. It was the first game I could completely control. I knew everything about the 151 Pokemon as if they really were my own (friends). I knew their moves, their strengths, their weaknesses, and I played for hours upon hours.
The adventures of starting out in your hometown of Pallet Town then adventuring and capturing Pokemon in this world took me into the driver’s seat, becoming a training Pokemon master. By choosing Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur the journey began.
After the game store incident, the rush of excitement and nostalgia returned. I searched for my classic games to reconnect, yearning to start a new adventure as a Pokemon trainer. After a search through old baseball cards, miscellaneous boxes in the garage and turning my room a little more inside out, there was no luck of finding my beloved Pokemon Red game.
So now with a withdrawal from Pokemon for years, I go back to the game store with a bag full of old video games that have been collecting dust. This way I can trade them in and bring home something new to feed my addiction.
This addiction to video games is not rare for my generation, but for me, I get lost in the exaggerated plot lines and characters. With only one true love of video games, Pokemon, everything else falls short. This addiction comes from hours of watching the Pokemon series on Saturday mornings of my child hood and getting my hands on my own Pokemon.
So now, I find a used Pokemon Fire Red and a used Game Boy Micro to start my new quest to become a Pokemon master. With the last copy of the Pokemon Fire Red, this is a restored version of the classic Pokemon Red, I started my adventure all over again. I took that sigh of relief when I heard the noise that every truly addicted Pokemon kid knows, the intro fight song.
Knowing my addiction needed to be tamed, I put the Game Boy down for a day after playing for about a week straight. Then one night, I woke up from tossing, turning and sweating. I was having a dream that I beat the elite four. Of course I got up. I knew what I had to do.
It was a day to remember in the Big East tournament when both Syracuse and Villanova ended up losing. Not that they need an automatic bid because they are locks to get in as an at-large teams.
Syracuse was upset by Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. It was a back and forth game with Cuse leading by 9 at one point but that lead soon evaporated when Georgetown-led Chris Wright, who scored 27 points and had 6 boards and 6 dimes. The Orange was led by Wes Johnson who scored 24 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Orange senior center Arinze onuaku, who fell to the floor with about 5 minutes remaining in the second half, has a knee strain. The Orange lost 84 to 91. Georgetown will face off against Marquette in the semis tonight at 7 p.m.
Nova was upset by Marquette in another quarterfinal game in the Big East tournament. The Golden Eagles in the Big East this year have been in 13 games decided by 4 points or less. Eagles senior forward Lazar Hayward hit a 3-pointer with about 2 minutes remaining to give the Eagles the lead that they never surrendered. Hayward ended the game with 20 points and 7 rebounds. Nova guard Corey Stokes had 22 points and 5 boards. The Eagles won 76 to 80.
Everyone in Madison Square Garden and maybe even New York knew who was going to receive the ball on the inbound with 3.1 seconds remaining. The Mountaineer’s senior forward Da’Sean Butler got the inbound and shot with the buzzer sounding. The ball banked off the backboard and in to give West Virginia a win. He still found a way to get open and stepped up to win the game over Cincinnati. Butler ended the game with 15 points. West Virginia held the lead for most of the game but held off a late surge to win, 51 to 53.
In a game were the Irish held the lead for most of the game, Brad Wanamaker scored 16 points in the loss to Notre Dame. The Irish held on late to face the Mountaineers in the semis tonight at 9pm.
The championship will be decided this weekend. Watch selection Sunday to see what seed each team is and then fill out some brackets. But get ready for some upsets, disappointments and a Cinderella story or two and for only one team will cut down the nets.
A Cumberland County teen was killed last week after a gasoline pump he was using burst into flames from static electricity.
Was this just a freak occurrence or is everyone, including the students at Penn Manor, in danger when they pull up to the pumps?
Penn Manor juniors Jennifer Felegi and Jessica Lindaman aren’t interested in taking any chances.
“Yeah I’m scared. I might blow up,” said Felegi, after hearing of the incident.
“It’s a one-in-how-many chance and all, but I don’t want to die,” Lindaman said.
Sophomore Jonny Fernandez is less nervous about dealing with static electricity and a possible explosion at a gas pump.
“[Static electricity] happens,” said Fernandez. “I touch the door when I get out [of the car] and I get shocked. It happens.”
Fernandez is taking the right precautions to prevent injury.
Experts on automedia.com say that although this is rare, the possibility of causing a fire from static electricity is very real and very dangerous.
They also claim that 75 percent of victims of gas pump-related fires are women. They offer these tips to help reduce the amount of accidents and increase awareness of this under-the-radar menace:
Don’t get back into your car after you begin pumping
If you have to get back into your car, touch a metal area of your car away from the gas pump to “ground yourself”
Do not smoke, light matches or lighters while refueling
The Lancaster New Era also warns consumers to get help if a fire is started, not to remove the nozzle.
L. David Byers, the victim, was not smoking at the time of the accident and did not return to his car during pumping gas. However, the weather conditions were very dry, according to Lower Allen Township Fire Chief Frank Williamson, the perfect conditions to create static electricity.
Remember, this sort of incident is rare but can be fatal. Pass along the knowledge to help prevent further injury from ignorance.
The SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude Test, is literally right around the corner, being held at Penn Manor Saturday, March 13.
This is the test that many colleges look at and it’s this same test that drive students off the wall.
According to a SAT pamphlet found in the Penn Manor guidance office, “the SAT is the only admissions test to let colleges see how well students do academically. It’s mostly used to get to know students better and it helps colleges understand how students think, solve problems and communicate.”
While some students are using online practice or practice questions from a book, others feel it’s better to relax and deal with the questions on test day. Which way of preparation is right, is completely up to the individual.
If some students feel relaxing will help them score better, more power to them. Though, personally, I would have practice questions with me everywhere I would go. There’s no such thing as too much practice.
For Junior Jill Wiley, preparing for the SATs is just one click away by answering the daily questions sent to her e-mail. Jill says, “I kind of get nervous when I click the bottom to see if my answer is correct. I’m sure on the testing day I’ll be a nervous wreck.”
Katie Coons, a Junior, commented on her preparation, “I took SAT Prep, which helped a lot. I also have a book that I use,” Katie mentioned, “I’m more nervous than anything because many colleges look at those scores.”
According to the pamphlet, “the SAT is more than just a test as it provides the opportunity for students to connect to scholarship opportunities, place out of certain college courses and learn more about their academic strengths.”
Counselors and faculty members encourage students to efficiently prepare for this test by practicing questions, getting a good night’s rest and eating breakfast the morning of the test.
Penn Manor math teacher, Ashley Thomas, believes, “The best preparation for the SATs is to take advantage of the knowledge gained from the classes taken in your high school career.
The classes integrate everything that will be covered on the SATs. Good luck to everyone taking the test,” Thomas concluded.
Collegeboard.com is offering practice questions, study guides and other resources to help students get ready for this big test.
If you are a Junior and are planning on taking the SAT sometime this school year, this site is extremely helpful and steers you onto the right path, leading you to success.
Every student has their own morning routine, which normally includes the snooze button, a shower and some dental hygiene.
Mine ,however, includes a very crucial element-my coffee, also known as the elixir of my life.
Monday through Sunday, I get my java at 6:15 sharp, found at the corner of microwave and kitchen counter, and I’m always welcome.
Dessie Jackson contributes her column to Whisper Down the Web.
I’m welcomed by the soothing smell of deliciously warm coffee beans, and the taste of hot coffee, one sugar, milk and vanilla flavoring. (I take my coffee very seriously). Now who wouldn’t want that? Who wouldn’t need that?
I can’t even imagine.
On October 21, however, my nightmare became a reality. Yes, the Jackson Household Coffee Shop closed.
I woke up on time, and all appeared well, but little did I know the tragedy at hand. The bliss-creator broke down.
As I pressed the green button that morning, I was shocked to find nothing was dripping. I was not hearing those musical drips and drops of liquid hitting the bottom of the pot.
I was devastated.
What has this world come to? Frantically, I approach the owner of the shop, my mother.
“Mom, I can’t do this. I can not go on with this day.”
She was not amused.
That was the day I realized that I have a problem. I’m hooked on the hot stuff.
Throughout the day nothing went right. I fell asleep in first block, I failed a quiz, I couldn’t pay attention, snapped at anything that moved and I had the most terrible headache brewing inside of me- these being just a few side effects of my coffee withdrawal.
To sum it up, I was cranky – really really cranky, and I was never happier to see 2:45 roll around.
As I was driving home, I realized how ridiculous I was being. I let coffee ruin my entire day. A liquid. A mere luxury. At that moment I decided I would turn an awful day into a great one.
So what did I do? I drove to good ole’ Turkey Hill for a good ole’ cup of joe.
Bobby Rehm will look to get another shot at states next year
Unfortunately the saying, “all good things must come to an end” was proven true for Penn Manor wrestler Bobby Rehm.
Rehm entered the PIAA state tournament after winning his second straight section title in the AAA class with a 36-4 record.
The junior was defeated in the first round of states on Thursday, March 11 to Bethel Park’s sophomore, Dylan Morgan who had a 23-1 record entering the tournament.
Rehm, who was in the 125 weight class, was defeated 5-4 after he was tilted in the third period ultimately causing his defeat.
Being only a junior, Rehm will continue his dominance next year in the LL league in his quest for another run at states.
