Johnson Tests His Knowledge On Jeopardy

By Taylor Skelly-

A 2,000 graduate of Penn Manor High School who is the guitarist in the band Slackwater News. Who is Matt Johnson?

If you are familiar with Jeopardy, then that form of answering a “question” with a question is also familiar to you. It’s also familiar to former Penn Manor alumni Matt Johnson who went to battle with two other contestants on a recent episode of Jeopardy, which aired on Tuesday, April 24. Despite his third place finish, Johnson managed to rack up a respectable 12,400 points on the most popular game show on TV, walking away with $1,000 in prize money.

“I don’t think it matters what place he got, he still scored a good amount of points and represented Penn Manor well,” said junior Harrison Schettler, who watched a portion of Johnson’s episode of Jeopardy.

2000 alumni of Penn Manor Matt Johnson. Photo courtesy of lancasteronline.com

Johnson, who is a huge movie buff, admitted that the questions were actually pretty good for him, but struggled with the buzzer through out the contest, which impeded his ability to get his answer in.

Along with his struggles with the buzzer, the personalities of the other contestants also made it especially hard to compete to the best of his best ability.

“The woman who won was super nice, so it made it hard to compete,” said Johnson, “I’m naturally very competitive, but she was so positive and kind, it made it tough.”

Leading up to the airing of the show, the recent TV star had actually been threatening not to watch, largely because of the “weirdness” of seeing himself on TV. However, come “jeopardy time,” Johnson enjoyed the episode with around forty of his friends at his favorite restaurant in Philadelphia.

“It ended up being like a Phillies play off game type of atmosphere, the place was going crazy,” stated Johnson.

I was a little nervous about what my friends’ reactions would be once they saw it, because I knew for the past several months that I didn’t win, and I didn’t know if they would be disappointed or upset, said Johnson.

If you weren’t able to catch Johnson’s episode when it came out last Tuesday, make sure to tune in to any future rerun’s of the 2000 graduate of Penn Manor’s attempt to win the most popular game show on TV.

 

 

 

 

 

“Megatron” Grabs Madden Cover

By Aaron Brown –

Calvin “Megatron” Johnson caught the opportunity to appear on the cover of Madden 13 and time will tell if it is an honor or a curse.

The Detroit Lions unstoppable wide receiver beat out Carolina Panthers Rookie of the Year quarterback, Cam Newton for the honor. Johnson won the voting be receiving 52 percent of the 651,000 votes.

“I wanted him Calvin Johnson to be on the cover because I like him more than Cam (Newton),” said Mike Eshleman, a junior at Penn Manor.

Calvin Johnson will appear on the cover of Madden 13. Photo by NFL Gridiron Gab.

“Man, it’s great,” a smiling Johnson said in an interview with ESPN. “Just to see yourself on this Madden (cover) and seeing all the guys that have been on Madden? C’mon, man.”

“Well I think he’s one of the most dynamic players in the NFL,” said Mark Dano, a junior at Penn Manor. “He’s very deserving of being on the cover.”

Students in Penn Manor are highly anticipating the new Madden for its spectacular graphics and reinvented game play.

“The graphics always improve, sooner or later it’ll feel like you are in the game,” said Dano.

Being on the cover of Madden comes great joy, but also, the “Madden Curse.”

“It’s hard not to believe in the curse after seeing some of the injuries that the players have suffered,” said Eshleman. “I think that Megatron will actually break the curse.”

Many former athletes that appeared on the cover of Madden have been affected by the curse.

Peyton Hillis, then the running back of the Cleveland Browns, the player on the Madden 12 cover, rushed for a mere 587 yards in a season plagued by injuries.

Shaun Alexander was on the cover of Madden 07, after winning the Super Bowl, the league MVP, and signing a $62 million contract. He suffered a broken foot in the third week of his post-Madden season.

Michael Vick, then the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, was on the cover of Madden 04. He broke his leg during a preseason game and missed 11 games.

Now for the new game play in Madden 13. There are many new improvements on this game.

“Total Control Passing enables gamers to use the L-Stick to direct passes, so you’re not only throwing to a specific receiver, but you’re throwing to a certain spot on the field,” according to ESPN,

Adrian Peterson and Brian Urlacher show off the spectacular graphics of Madden 13. Photo by Game Bandits.

Also, wide receivers will have to be looking for the ball to catch it. No more of the insane catches where the receiver catches the ball through his back.

Cornerbacks will have to be looking back to be able to swat the ball away or intercept the ball. This will eliminate the corner back or safety hitting the ball away with the back of his hand.

“We don’t want gamers to hike the ball and instantly hold back on the stick to run backwards,” explained game play designer Larry Richart in an interview with ESPN.

“This improvement has been made to both ‘Madden’ and ‘NCAA’ this year, and if you hike the ball and don’t hold back, your quarterback will take the proper drop automatically, helping you time up your routes rather than just passing the ball to a receiver who has only taken two steps and has his back to the action.”

“The changes are awesome because it makes the game more realistic,” said Dano. “You become the quarterback without getting off the sofa.”

 

Senior Sigh of Relief over Prom Tickets

By Alicia Ygarza and Jake Shiner –

“It was a fluke this year… but we made it work,” said Mindy Rottmund.

On the last day of ticket sales, the Penn Manor Prom Committee scrambled in an attempt to provide tickets for many students who wanted one for this year’s prom.

The last day of sales was April 25, but it wasn’t until Monday, April 30 at noon that the last customer was satisfied.

Crisis averted.

“They have [been accommodated] even though we’re a week past sales,” said Rottmund.

Tickets for this year’s prom were scarce due to too many Penn Manor seniors taking dates from outside their class.

“Our initial number was a low number if seniors came with seniors,” said Rottmund.

Penn Manor’s prom committee wasn’t the only one caught off guard. The Eden did not expect to sit the amount of students going this year.

Arthur’s Restaurant is where some dates will be sitting, which is separate from where the rest of the dates will be dining.

But the majority of the attendees will be sitting in the courtyard.

A golden ticket, similar to this year's prom tickets. Courtesy of blog.tradeaway.com

“What we didn’t anticipate was the number of people coming from different schools, making us move to the restaurant,” said Rottmund.

Due to the Eden’s fire code, they are only allowed to sit 484 people in the courtyard. Just barely too small for the number of guests.

“The Eden has attempted to do the best they can within their legal limitations,” said Rottmund. “I feel bad I had to call them so many times,” she said.

Rottmund said some years many students go, and some years many students don’t go.

“We have no way of knowing how many people are coming from out of class. We didn’t anticipate the increase in the out of senior class guests, there’s so many variables,” said Rottmund.

One senior who was shut out last week, Brian Le, still has yet to receive a prom ticket. However, he was called down to the principal’s office last week, presumably to get his ticket, but principal Phil Gale wasn’t there.

“I guess I’ll have to email Mr. Gale,” said Le.

Hand Sanitizer, Most Recent Dangerous Teen Trend

By Becca Hess –

From prisons in New Zealand to the homes of many U.S. teens, hand sanitizer has become a parent’s worst nightmare.

Hand sanitizer contains 62 percent ethyl alcohol, and many teens have found a way to separate the alcohol from the goo to make it even more potent.

Kids have even made how-to videos and posted them on internet sites, which show them separating the alcohol from the hand sanitizer making it 120 proof and life threatening.  Some videos depict the teens getting intoxicated which has made the dangerous practice more widespread.

“(Students) would be “foolish” if they did (consume the substance). There are other elements in there that they may not be able to separate out that could be poisonous,” said the school nurse Anne Butterfield.

According to the Los Angeles Times, within the past few months, six teenagers have shown up in two emergency rooms in the San Fernando Valley with alcohol poisoning after drinking hand sanitizer, 2600 cases have been reported since 2010.

“This is a rapidly emerging trend,” said Dr. Cyrus Rangan, a pediatric medical toxicologist with Children’s Hospital, who also is director of the county Department of Public Health’s Toxic Epidemiology Program.

He also said that it only takes a few swallows to get intoxicated.

Years ago, people drank rubbing alcohol, mouthwash, and imitation vanilla (all of which contain some amount of alcohol in them), as a way to get drunk during Prohibition.  Nowadays, eens keep finding a new way to get their buzz on and the methods keep proving to be dangerous, even fatal.  Take bath salts and synthetic marijuana.

“It is a very desperate, sad act,” said Butterfield. “And they need to seek help for their problem with alcohol.”

The availability and low cost of hand sanitizer makes it a serious threat. It is all over the place, school, work, home, everywhere and teens can buy it off the shelves for only a few bucks.

Where some take the time to distill or separate the alcohol using salt, some choose to just drink it straight from the bottle.

“Local teenagers are gulping down hand sanitizer to get drunk — and many are landing in emergency departments instead, health experts warned on Tuesday,” according to an article by the Denver Post.

 

 

 

The Shoe to Fit the Part

By Richard Schulz –

There may be no more competitive race than the competition between athletic shoe makers to come up with the next best thing that will make teens go wild.

Athletes from all sports have a variety of shoes from which to pick. Kids go into stores thinking that Nike or Adidas may be a good athletic shoe, but they may stumble over the number of choices.

Wall of athletic shoes. Photo credit to www.runblogger.com.

Austin Ulmer, a junior from Penn Manor High School and a high school soccer fan, is a loyal fan of Nike and admits that all his athletic shoes are Nike.

Right now he favors his Nike Shox.

“This shoe is light and flexible,” said Ulmer. “It was a random choice but one I’m glad I made.”

Ulmer is a soccer player and favors Nike for his shoes, and other apparel. “I’m a Nike fan all around,” said Ulmer. All of his cleats are also running shoes which seems to be trending in Penn Manor High School.

Miriam Nelson, nutrition and physical activity researcher at Tufts University in Boston and author of The Social Network Diet, knows her kind of shoe.

“I have tried lots of different shoes,” Nelson said. “I wear Adidas Supernova running shoes.”

Everyone argues over which brand is better than the other. Ranging from Nike to Adidas or even Puma.

“I don’t think any brand is better than any other. It’s finding that right shoe for you,” said Nelson.

On current charts, the top selling shoe is the Nike Air Max Lebron 8 selling for $157 according to counterkicks.com. All other popular shoes range from $100 to $200. The top two brands are Nike and Jordan filling in the top ten spots.

The link, http ://counterkicks.com/2010/12/09/top-100-best-selling-basketball-shoes-nov-2010/  has the chart of the top 100 Best Selling Basketball shoes.

The shoe is meant to fit tightly without pinching the widest part of your foot. People all have different sized feet and can choose among hundreds of thousands of shoes. Track, football, basketball and many other sports have different forms for different reasons.

Basketball fans may wear Adidas and rock adiZero Shadows or adiZero Roses labeled after NBA player Derek Rose. Football players that like Nike may choose to wear Nike Alpha Speed or Nike Zoom Vapor Fly D’s.

Doesn’t matter what sport a person does and what brand they rep., the shoe they wear is the shoe that fits.

 

Gadgets and Gizmos Interest Teens Here

By Brad Kruger and Alex Lombardo –

Technology is constantly evolving and new inventions are released all the time. With that, 2012 has already seen several new products that are changing the game. These new products range from excuse balls to tablets to cool new apps and are beneficial to people of all ages from kits to elders.

Teenagers these days are becoming addicted to technology and electronics and can’t seem to survive without them.

Here are five cool electronics for teens to try out.

“Jury Duty”  Ever need an excuse why you didn’t do your math homework? Well now you’re set because the new “Instant Excuse Ball” will provide you with the perfect excuse. The small window on the 3 inch ball will get you out of just about anything. At a list price of $9.99 the Instant Excuse Ball is very affordable.

Tyler Smith
Penn Manor student Tyler Smith enraged about his tangled headphones

Hate when your headphones get tangled up? Now you don’t have to worry about spending 20 minutes untangling them because Jay Johnson’s new Cord Cruncher headphones don’t tangle! With the use of a retractable sleeve that covers the length of the headphones, you can easily keep your cords parallel to avoid tangling. The Cord Cruncher headphones are a must have for consistent music listeners.

Hungry for some raspberry Pi? Because the rest of the world is. Raspberry Pi, a new, small, fully functional computer hit stores on February 29th 2012 and had over 100,000 orders from one store and sold out everywhere within days. The coaster sized computer sells for only $35 and is built around a 700MHz processor and features a whopping 256 MB of RAM according to Forbes.com. It also features 2 USB ports and an SD card reader used for media storage. For all your compatibility needs, you can also connect speakers to the computer and it offers an HDMI port for television connection. The more than portable computer doesn’t even have an exoskeleton just the raw necessities needed for a computer to operate.

New beverage cans have been coming out lately, but they’re not full of soda. These new cans are disguised as popular drinks such as Coca Cola and Rockstar Energy but they are actually miniature safes to hide your valuables. For under $10 these screw top cans are a cheap and useful way to protect your secrets.

New apps for smart phones and tablets come out everyday, but recently the new hit app Viddy hit the app store and its become very popular. A fast an easy way to share video’s on social networking websites is Viddy’s key to success. Users can create an edit videos with the app and even add captions and make posts about their videos.

A new day in age is here and technology is hot in pursuit.

The new products available are cheap and worthwhile to fill all of your technological needs.

Books not on Vacation for Summer Readers

By Alex Cummins –

As the number of school days dwindle, a lot of students are looking for their reading material for the next three months of warm weather. For most, this is a long awaited vacation from school and many students enjoy reading throughout the summer.

Thanks to the help of Diane Bounds, Penn Manor librarian, what could be better than a list of five of the most popular books within Penn Manor. For avid readers that might not be 100 percent sure about what books to keep them occupied during months of summer here’s a list that might help some out.

The Hunger Games

This young adult novel was written by American television writer and novelist  Suzanne Collins.  It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic  world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are held annually and one boy and one girl ages from 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts around the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle until only one person is left.

Divergent

Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent) are the five factions that society is divided into within Chicago. On a certain day every year, all 16-year old’s have to make a decision on which faction the teens will devote the rest of there lives to. For Beatrice Prior, the decision between staying with her family or going with who she really is is tough and the end result surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows the decision making, Beatrice has trouble determining who her friends really are and where a relationship she’s in with a boy fits into her new life. Tris also has a secret that she has kept from everyone and it can even mean death if its revealed, but she realizes the secret could help save the lives of her loved ones.

Sarah Dessen books

The Sarah Dessen books are not a series and are all stand-alone novels. There are 10 novels that Sarah Dessen has written herself that include a ton of topics that all ages can relate to but these are mostly for girls. The books range from topics about love, divorce, heartbreak and a lot more.   A few of the books are listed below:


What Happened to Goodbye, Along For The Ride, Lock and Key, Just Listen, The Truth About Forever, This Lullaby, Dream Land, Keeping The Moon, Someone Like You, and That Summer

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Indiana‚ 1818. With moonlight falling through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his dying mother’s bedside. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. Gifted with his legendary height‚ strength‚ and skill with an ax‚ Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House. Abraham ends up living with a vampire who tells him that there are good and evil vampires. Abe gets trained to kill vampires by his helpful blood sucking friend. From start to finish Abe goes through heartbreaking moments and fierce intense battles, all in revenge for his mom and others that he loses along the way.

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Before I Fall

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the most ideal parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Honorable Mention: The Hobbit, The Future Of Us

“The Hunger Games is so popular here at Penn Manor that there is a waiting list for the books,” said Bounds.

Bounds also stated that their will be movies coming out soon for Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, and The Hobbit.

And of course The Hunger Games is currently in theaters.

Mad Cow is Back

Richard Schulz –

Once Mad Cow Disease was a pressing issue years ago but only recently splashed in the news again when a scare had sparked fear in South Korea over American beef.

Public health officials here have said that the chance of the disease being a risk to fellow Americans is low. They say the cow in question came from central California but was never sent entered to the food chain.

“It was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health,” said John Clifford, the Agriculture Department’s chief veterinarian.

Recent mad cow disease scare started in California. Photo credit to stop-runaway-production.com

The cow also didn’t contract the disease from it’s feed. The same feed that’s given to all the cows.

Mad Cow Disease infects the central nervous system of cows and humans. Some symptoms of mad cow disease in humans include depression, insomnia and anxiety.

Students at Penn Manor High School do not seemed to be worried about the incident,

Josh Lefever, a junior at Penn Manor who works in  Darrenkamp’s deli department, said that he won’t stop eating beef.

“I work with meat all the time and I still go to McDonalds just to get a burger,” said Lefever.

Lefever, like others, doesn’t plan on an incident of Mad Cow Disease changing his eating habits.

“I doubt it’d spread to us or even get as big of a scare as last time. I’m not to0 worried about being infected or anything either,” said Lefever

Two major beef importers from South Korea have halted their imports because of the scare. America sends its beef to Korea, Japan, the European Union, Mexico and other countries and they all plan to continue importing the beef.

Canada, being the largest importer of US beef in 2011, announced they’ll continue their imports well.

It seems this is a minor scare compared to the incident six years ago. Students and importers worldwide are looking over this little thing.

Penn Manor Girls Soccer Keeps Fighting

By Brady Charles –

Through injuries and a tough road, the Penn Manor girls soccer team just keeps fighting.

With early injuries in the season to their captain and center back Sara Bennis and midfielder Sam Wright, the Comets struggled through many games, but endured all the tough times and got through it.

But wait.

The injury bug struck again. Starting forward and Stony Brook recruit Lindsay Hutchinson suffered a torn acl earlier this month. Another slap to the face to the Comets, coming at the wrong time.

“It was very emotional losing Lindsay to a season-ending injury, we’ve been playing together for as long as I can remember,” said Bennis.

Sara Bennis, star defender for Penn Manor, fights for a 50-50 ball.

With the playoffs right around the corner the Comets were in need of a big win. The Comets got that big win Wednesday night which was also senior night. The Penn Manor girls soccer team faced off against Lancaster Lebanon League rival Manheim Township and pulled out a 1-0 victory to knot up the top of the standings in section one. Penn Manor along with Township and Cedar Crest are now tangled up in second place all with a record of 7-4 in league play.

“It was a huge win, and a big confidence booster, were right back in the swing of things,” said Bennis.

With the tight Section One race, the Comets hope to qualify for league playoffs, with just three games remaining in the season.

This week will decide the fate for the 2012 girls soccer team, facing off against McCaskey, Cedar Crest and Hempfield all within a week.

The motto they’ll be living by, win or go home.

 

Penn Manor Seniors Still Waiting and Wanting to go to Prom

By Penn Points Staff

Prom. A night to remember. A night that may never begin for some Penn Manor students this year.

Administrators, 2012 class officers, and advisers are scrambling to seat all seniors at this year’s prom.

Wednesday, several students were turned away when they attempted to buy tickets for the May 11 event, that will be held at the Eden Resort and Suites.

“We ran out of tickets, because there’s only a certain amount of spots available,” said class officer and member of prom committee, Megan Schlegelmilch.

Penn Manor senior Brian Le was one of the students turned down for a ticket Wednesday.  He was put on a waiting list.

“Well, they said the deadline was (Wednesday), so why didn’t they have tickets? I would of gotten them sooner if I knew there was a limit,” said Le. “I’m pretty mad there’s no tickets left, there must of been some sloppy preparation.”

“That’s correct, there’s none left,” Mindy Rottmund, FCS teacher and adviser of the senior class, said Wednesday during lunch.

Brian Le, a senior, initially was shut out of a prom ticket. Photo by Joey Jackson

But not so fast.

After several conversations with the the hotel’s staff and prom planners, some room was made in “Arthur’s” the adjoining restaurant. There is enough room being made to accommodate 12 more students along with the 13 chaperones (principals), for a grand total of 509 Penn Manor prom goers, according to the Eden.

High school principal Phil Gale said school staff was trying to find additional areas at the Eden for people to sit.

“We have satisfied everyone who wants a ticket as of this morning,” said Gale.  “We have taken care of everyone on the waiting list.”

But, the Eden can legally only fit a certain amount of people.

“The most we can have, by the fire code, is 484 people in the courtyard,” said Eden sales coordinator Cindy Shoffstall.  “We’re trying to stay in the guidelines.”

Shoffstall said there has been many conversations lately between the Eden sales staff and “Mindy” (Rottmund), about accommodating more students.

“If it would have been planned earlier to use the restaurant, we could have handled more people but now we’re too close to the event,” said Shoffstall.

Le had still not received a ticket as of fourth block Thursday, but was optimistic the shortage would be overcome.

“Many, many seniors are taking underclassmen or people from other schools, over the majority (of them),” said Rottmund explaining the problem. “It went from a 400 [body] to a 800 [body] because the number of underclassmen and students from different schools.”

It is not clear what was the major contribution that caused the prom seat shortage.

Schlegelmilch said she and other prom planners are doing as much as possible to accommodate seniors who still want to go.

“Some of the administrators can not go or are not taking dates anymore,” Schlegelmilch said.  “So we may have enough spaces, but probably everyone will not be able to go.  I’m sad that people aren’t going to be able to go but a lot of seniors went out of their class for dates.  People waited until the last day, until the last hour to do it (buy tickets).”

Even with four years of preparation not everything was accounted for, “I don’t think we anticipated the number of students who would go outside of Penn Manor as dates,” said Schlegelmilch.

Or, scheme to go to the senior prom as juniors.

Melanie Rupp, a junior at Penn Manor, admitted that her and Bobby Goss, also a junior who she is currently dating, had plans of going to prom with two different seniors but spend the time there with each other.

“We were going to go to this year’s prom with Alex (Lombardo) and Chloe (Traup), but we were too scared to get kicked out of our senior year prom,” said Rupp.

Schlegelmilch said she predicts there’s a 50 percent chance that there will be people on the waiting list that will not get a seat. She added that the school’s prom is so popular this year,”there’s no venue in Lancaster county that can fit them.”