The crack of the bats in March has been going the Comets way this spring with two victories in two games.
Penn Manor baseball continued their winning ways with a 6-4 win vs. Wilson Tuesday afternoon at Comet Field. The win moves the Comets to 2-0 this season with a game today at Lampeter- Strasburg.
The Comets were led on the mound by Zac Burke who went six strong innings vs Wilson. Their offense was provided by junior Will Welsh who went 2 for 2 with 3 RBI’s. The Comet’s offense struggled throughout the game with only 5 hits on 6 runs.
Wilson made a late surge with a double off of reliever Joe Witmer but Witmer threw strikes and was able to end the game with a weak ground ball to second basemen Zach Rayha.
In a non-league game with Central York Saturday Penn Manor flexed some defensive muscle in a 4-0 rout. The Comets have two non-league games left with L-S Wednesday and Dallastown on Friday. Next Monday the Comets will start LL League play against Warwick in hopes to make their way to the league playoffs.
Online streaming, ESPN text updates and school television sets- all easy sources to the 67 NCAA basketball tournament games being played during the month of March.
With the March Madness tournament well underway, some students are beginning to find it hard to stay focused in the class rooms while afternoon games are being played.
Tanner Kennedy, a senior at Penn Manor High School, is one of the many students who has had trouble staying on task.
Travis Wells checking his bracket on the computer. Photo by Spencer Barnett
“I can’t even focus,” said Kennedy. “I’m constantly checking my smart-phone and watching the games streaming live when I can get on a computer in school.”
Michael Andrusisin is another student who keeps an eye on the scores.
“During the first week, I was constantly checking for updates,” Andrusisin said. “I kept asking my teacher to put the games on.”
While most of the students in the school could relate to those stories, some kids like Paul Slaugh and Shane Burkhardt have it easy.
“I come to school late and leave early because of my internship and service learning,” said Slaugh. “I don’t have to worry about missing the 1:30 games because I get to watch them in the comfort of my own house. Shane also has service learning fourth block so we can get together and watch the games together.”
Now with the final four quickly approaching and the fourth marking period beginning, it may seem difficult for these basketball fanatics to keep their attention span on the class.
“I’m doing my best to manage my time on school, lacrosse and the tournament,” said Andrusisin. “but I guess we will find out soon enough.”
“This is the best part of college basketball,” Kennedy said “How am I supposed to keep focused when it’s time for the final four?”
The popular DVD-by-mail service Netflix has acquired a new television show, according to Climbthenet.com.
Netflix is increasingly changing from the DVD-by-mail-only service to providing television shows and different movies streaming straight to your TV. On Friday March 18th, 2011 Netflix obtained their own television show and series, just like HBO or CW15.
The negotiations for the new two-season, 26 episode series were reported Tuesday the 15th, and cost about $100 million according to Deadline.com.
“I don’t really watch TV or Netflix,” stated freshman at Penn Manor, Cody Fox.
Photo courtesy of redorbit.com
The new television series will be produced by Media Rights Capital and called “House of Cards.” It is based on a book about a British politician who wants to overcome Margaret Thatcher as the prime minister. David Fincher, the producer of “The Social Network,” will be the director and executive producer as well as Kevin Spacey as a producer and star.
Penn Manor senior Ally Emmert, “yes I’d probably watch it (the new show) once or twice to see if I like it or not.”
HBO and AMC were upon other services that bid for the airing of the show. With Netflix becoming more and more popular it would be a larger competition for the already established movie networks.
With the economy still shaky, teens are having major problems finding a job. Handling them is another thing.
Photo courtesy of http://www.google.com
The job market for teens is possibly the worst it’s been since the Great Depression. Any employment is getting tougher to find, let alone good employment. If you are a teen, you may have to put a lot of effort into finding a job, as employers are cutting back on hiring.
Lancaster County resident Georgia Rodriguez is an adult who had trouble finding a job recently and spoke about how much harder it is for teens.
“Jobs are so hard to find in today’s world. Right now there are so many companies throughout the world having financial problems,” said Rodriguez.
Undoubtedly, the recent financial downturn has affected much of the economy. When the economy is strong, workers can easily find a job because employers are looking for people to employ.
“This causes pay rates to rise. On the other hand, when the economy is weak, competition for jobs becomes fiercer because more people are unemployed. This causes pay rates to decrease,” said retired worker Carol Main of Lancaster.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor and Industry, 50 percent of American teenagers hold some sort of jobs, such as babysitting or yard work, by age 12. And by age 15, nearly two-thirds of American teens have had some kind of employment.
But it’s not always easy to keep a job.
“I was employed at Timberland right before Christmas working as a cashier,” Penn Manor junior Breezy Rivera said. They had me with good hours. Getting the job was definitely not easy. When it came close to Christmas it was busy, busy, busy. After Christmas, that’s when I had recently got laid off, they said they no longer needed me.”
One difficulty teens run into with employment are child labor laws. The law requires that kids age 16 and 17 year olds not start work before 6 a.m. or after midnight on school days and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Photo by http://www.google.com/
Also, teens are not allowed to work more than eight hours per day and 28 hours per school week. During the summer, the only restrictions on 16 and 17 year olds, is that they can work no more than eight hours per day.
Vanessa Marquez, 17, works at Salad Works in Park City Center in Lancaster. She doesn’t agree with the restrictions on teens from the Child Labor laws.
“I sit back and think, if you can maintain a job and get things done, do your duties, then why not be able to stay late and make some good money,” said Marquez.
Amanda Sanchez, 18, is a Penn Manor alumni who is appreciative of her job, although she said it’s hard working for hourly wages.
“I’m employed at Giant grocery store,” said Sanchez. “I’ve been here for a good amount of time.I also had a good paying job at QVC, working over nights then getting up going straight to the next job, I rarely got any sleep.”
To get a job this summer, MSNBC had these 10 suggestions:
1. Convince your prospective employer that you’re not too young for the job.
2. Spread the word that you’re looking for work and don’t be shy about it.
3.Speak to the boss not a employer.
4. Show positive energy.
5.Maintain good grades and attendance in school.
6. Keep proof of paperwork,if you don’t yet have a driver’s license or learner’s permit is to have your school district issue an age certificate for you.
7. Clean and neat. Mind your manners and grooming.
8.If you get hurt on the job don’t be afraid to ask your boss for help before the next task.
9. Work hard and show initiative. If you can tell the boss is hesitant about hiring you and you really want to work there, suggest that you can work for two weeks without pay.
10.Work for a family member or friend, study buddy, tutoring. Figure out whether you might be able to use something like this to make money now and also improve the image of your college and scholarship applications in the future.
The newest TMI disaster is waiting to happen. Its name: Facebook.
Facebook users can create personal profiles, collect friends to communicate closely with, join groups in which they are interested, share pictures and so much more. The possibilities seem endless.
“I mostly post lyrics that explain my feelings at the time,” said Kim Blake, a junior at Penn Manor, “I sometimes use code. There are just certain people who don’t need to know about my life.”
But not everyone uses the same mentality that Blake uses.
“I really don’t pay attention to what other people post. It’s just ridiculous. Your status shouldn’t change with the wind. Seriously, get a life,” Blake commented, “People need to learn to fight in person. Facebook just makes you look stupid. And those people who post the countdown until they have their baby and post pictures after they have it really make me want to tell them that babies are NOT cute. Babies look like aliens!”
“I don’t care that you’re getting a smoothie,” commented Michael Ariano, a junior at Penn Manor.
Ariano sees Facebook as a whole other issue, aside from the obvious drama epidemic. Ariano sees Facebook as a violation of privacy.
“Places by Facebook makes it easy to stalk people,” Ariano chuckled, “and people need to learn to read the conditions before they click the ‘I accept’ and make their profile.”
According to Ariano, the pages and pages of fine print that so many of us ignore to save time and automatically accept include conditions that Facebook has rights to (and owns) everything you post. Your opinions, feelings, and any original ideas you post on Facebook now belong to Facebook.
Have you ever written a song? If you were to post the lyrics to that song on Facebook, it’s no longer yours. The owners and creators of Facebook now have the legal rights to your work.
Are you thinking about what you post? Well, you should.
The world doesn’t care about your problems, so all you are doing is giving your ideas away to Facebook.
Runners are getting their track shoes on to protest cuts in higher education.
Millersville and Lock Haven students are running a either a 40-mile or 100- mile relay to prove their point against Governor Tom Corbett’s plan to make higher education cuts. They will meet up with other students from state universities to hold a rally at the capitol.
College runners running to Harrisburg
Corbett plans to give the state system of universities a little over $232 million which some people say is only as much as they received in 1983.
Lock Haven students plan to leave their campus bright and early to be able to make their close to 100-mile run to the state capitol.
The rally will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. About 700 students from various universities are expected to make an appearance. Two buses packed with Millersville students will leave their campus at about 10 a.m. to meet their fellow runners in Harrisburg.
Corbett has stated that various cuts are needed to close a multi-billion dollar budget deficit.
Have an iPhone or an iTouch? Then chances are that you enjoy apps. Apps are software applications that can let users do a variety of things and have become a huge part of modern society. Games are a very popular apps and are enjoyed by many.
The games can be anything from simple puzzle games, to complex shooting games that rival those used on other popular hand-held systems. Although not all the apps are free, some games must be bought and many are more popular than the free games.
Even though these games come in all shapes and sizes, for senior Nick Hartley it’s Angry Birds. He plays it on his iPhone 4.
“You can play it whenever because its your phone and you always have it,” explained Nick. That is one of the aspects that makes these games so popular.
“It’s just convenient,” said Nick. “I play them during car rides or when you have nothing to do.”
Student Kayla Morgan agrees with Nick.
“It’s different and funny, it both relieves and causes stress,” she said. She also enjoys the convenience of mobile games.
Tiny wings is a popular iPhone app for teenagers. Graphic courtesy of Platformation
Some of the most popular games in the school are Fruit Ninja, Tiny Wings, Doodle Jump and Angry Birds just to name a few. After trying out a host of games, I’ve come up a top ten list of iPhone games.
1. Tiny Wings Tiny Wings puts the player in control of a small bird that “flies” by sliding down hills. By tapping the screen, players must use precise timing in order to gain speed and fly further before descending again. By flying, players travel to different islands and beat the nighttime all while gaining points along the way. Although it has a slight learning curve, the cute and simple game is addictive and fun. It is a great $1 game to add to your phone.
2. Angry Birds The massively popular Angry Birds puts players in control of a variety of birds. In the game birds have had their eggs stolen by green pigs and you attempt to get them back. By dragging a finger across the screen, players launch the birds into structures that fall on the pigs or directly into the hogs to destroy them. A crazy number of levels and constant updates keeps the game from getting old. Some levels may cause a bit frustration but the game never sways from being fun.
3. Doodle Jump In Doodle Jump, the user plays as a small alien like character that leaps off of platforms to ascend higher and higher. Holding the device vertically, players must tilt the screen in order to keep the creature from falling. By bouncing off of trampolines and using rockets, players can effectively increasing their score. It is another game with plentiful updates and spin offs, so it’ll keep you wanting to beat your own high scores.
4. Fruit Ninja In Fruit Ninja, players must slice different fruits as they fly across the screen. Using their finger, players swipe and slice the fruit, while obtaining points and avoiding bombs that end the game. Gaining higher scores can lead to unlocks such as a flaming sword or backgrounds that keep the player interested. Although responsive, the game couldn’t keep my attention for as long as some of the higher games on the list.
5. Plants vs. Zombies Another game that has gathered a ton of popularity is Plants vs. Zombies. To stop a wave of zombies from reaching your house, players must place a variety of plants in their lawn to battle the walking dead. A silly story, ridiculous enemies, and large catalog of plants make for a long, enjoyable game. A few extra modes and new game play mechanics add up to an already addicting game and will keep you fighting in the lawn for quite some time.
6. Words With Friends A fairly new game with a growing fan base is Words With Friends. This game is about as casual as it gets. Words With Friends is essentially Scrabble. Those looking to play the word game without a board have everything they need. The ability to have multiple games going at once and an alert notification of when you opponent has made a move keeps Words With Friends up with the cream of the crop.
7. Drop7 is a puzzle game that takes some time to learn but rewards those who do. The game is an odd combination of Tetris and Sudoku. Players must prevent a pile of continuously rising numbered bubbles from reaching the top of the screen. Bubbles will disappear when a row or column matches the number on the bubble itself. The learning curve will intimidate some players, but once you know what you’re doing, Drop7 is a rich puzzle-playing experience.
8. Infinity Blade Although it’s the most expensive game on the list, it also looks the best. With tap-and-swipe controls, players embark on a quest as a knight to defeat the God-King and free the kingdoms citizens. The game boasts the most impressive graphics on a phone to date and is also fun to play. For $5.99 players will enjoy the console-worthy graphics and exciting game play.
9. SuperMega Worm As the name suggests, players control a huge worm on a mission to destroy everything on the surface of the planet. By launching from the earth to eat and absorb the surface life, players use a slider that controls the path of the massive worm. The game is awfully violent, and some will appreciate the intense violence this game bring to the table, and some not so much. Though certainly entertaining, SuperMega Worm isn’t for everyone.
10. Flight Control Simple, fun, addictive. Those three words sum up the air-traffic controller game. Players must draw lines to safely land planes along the runway. A very basic but fun time waster, so players shouldn’t expect too much. Still, a long car ride or a little boredom and you’ll find yourself playing this game more than a few times.
After playing all of the games and speaking to those who have done the same, I have come up with the top games that are addictive because they are fun and can keep a person’s attention for quite some time. With the iPhone and iTouch gaining more and more popularity, there will be more addicting games out there trying to do the same.
A day that will live in infamy. December 23, 2010 is a day that will forever be in the minds of many Penn Manor senior athletes.
This year on winter fun day not everything went as planed for the faculty of Penn Manor High School. During the annual Senior versus Faculty basketball game it looked as if the faculty would wrap up another easy win.
But things don’t always turn out as expected.
On Thursday, April 14 at 7 pm in the high school’s east gym, the faculty will have the chance to get revenge on the seniors for the unfortunate events of fun day. Penn Manor Gridiron will be hosting the game as a fundraiser. Admission is $3 but children under 7 get in for free.
“The teachers were good and I thought they were going to win easily again,” said senior Emmy Hess.
As the game went on, however, the senior team cut the teachers’ lead and, on the last possession of the game, were only down by two. After receiving the in-bounds pass, senior Mark Curtin dribbled the ball up the court. He was swarmed by the faculty defense so he kicked the ball out to a wide open Garrett Young.
“As soon as Mark found Garrett open in the corner I knew we were going to win,” said senior Megan Wilson.
The pass was cleanly received by Young and as the time expired, the gym became silent. With the ball traveling towards the hoop like a guided missile, all eyes were fixed on the court as the ball gently swished through the net.
Penn Manor senior athletes. By Penn Points Staff
“All that I remember is making the shot and before I knew it I was surrounded by my screaming teammates,” said Young.
The teachers believe that they won’t have a problem defeating the students this time around.
“If we can contain Teon Lee and Demitrius Dixon we will win by 20 points at least. I’m not even worried about Garrett,” said Mr. Eck.
The seniors, however, fell differently.
“For all the students who missed the first time the teachers lost, make sure you come to see them lose again,” said senior Jessen Smith.
Will the seniors be able to back up these bold predictions?
Is it bribery? No, not even. It’s a new system of rewards for those who put forth 100 percent effort on those dreaded PSSAs.
Philip Gale took over as head principal in 2009, and this year he’s willing to consider how kids want the school to operate – to a point.
Mr. Gale, the man behind the idea that has many students excited.
Last week at an assembly prior to the start of PSSA’s, he explained his expectations and, for the first time, possible rewards for those students who excel.
“I’m open for suggestions,” said Gale.
In a recent meeting with Gale, he stated the requirements for receiving these incentives A) Scoring Proficient on the Math and Reading sections or B) Improving your score from 8th grade to 11th grade.
Those who score advanced on these tests are subject to even more luxurious rewards.
Many students think of PSSA week as a time of relaxation and to slack off. Gale said he is initiating these rewards to inspire those to “go all out.”
There is always the struggle, even with remediation, of pushing kids to put forth their full effort on these tests, Gale said.
Assistant Principal Eric Howe said, “I think it’s an incentive and will create ownership for students.”
Gale had a few ideas that he thought students would like. One was a discounted parking pass for those who despise the cost of school parking or maybe a Comet card. But he’s totally open for student suggestions.
Junior James Servanksy said, “Yeah, discount cards sounds like a solid idea”
A discount card would allow students to get into certain school events like sports games for free or a lowered price. The idea would be to have a hole punched out for each event they attend, similar to the system they have for drinks at gas stations.
Another junior Megan Schlegelmilch said, “Umm desert cards would be a good idea.”
Megan explained her desire for big cookies, and others agreed.
An idea that seemed to stir up the excitement in many kids was that of special club periods. Many students just sit around in homeroom and don’t get much done, but if there were clubs like floor hockey or basketball many kids would work hard to earn the privilege of participating.
“Having a floor hockey club would be a good and active way to relieve the daily stresses of school”, explained yet another junior, Harrison Manning.
Penn Manor Senior Mark Curtin questioning as to why this brilliant idea is being set in place after his senior year
As great as these idea sound to underclassmen, not all students are happy about this sudden generosity, mainly the class of 2011. Many seniors feel as if it’s unfair to them that now these amenities are being presented.
Senior Mark Curtin said, “I want my reparation check in the mail because I know I did well last year.”
However, resident school genius Ben Clark doesn’t have a problem with the new system.
“You have to create other systems sometimes,” he said.
“Kids need to be motivated about PSSA’s because it makes our school look bad if we do bad, so I see wheres Gale’s coming from,” said Senior Peter Ashworth.
-Here is a list of proposals students around the school suggested
1) Seniors can leave school early rather then come in later
2) Graduation Project Extension
3) Desert “punch” cards that would act like a coffee card
4) Discounted Parking Pass
5) March Madness Basketball Tournament can be viewed
6) Basketball and Floor Hockey
Of suggestions so far, Gale is considering:
1) March Madness games
2) Premium Parking Spots
3) Graduation Project Extension
4) Basketball/Floor Hockey Club
5) Parking Pass Discount (his idea)
6) Comet discount Card (his idea)
Above is just a list of the main ideas Gale is considering. He wanted to make it clear that he appreciates any suggestion or ideas that a student has to offer, as long as it’s reasonable.
Please add a comment for any additional suggestions for an incentive.
Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel. The simpler version of biodeisel is filtered vegetable oil. With a few simple modifications any diesel engine can be transformed to run on this cheap, environmentally friendly source.
This is exactly what a couple A.P. Biology students are doing.
Erick Dutchess, a biology teacher at Penn Manor High School is taking the lead role in this story of ingenuity and cost-savings.
Dutchess recently bought a 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit for $300. The Rabbit’s diesel engine already gets over 40 miles per gallon.
The 1984 Rabbit that will be converted.
But diesel fuel can be 10-40 cents more expensive than regular gasoline, depending on where you live. Many drivers realize the increasing gas prices will soon take a toll on their wallets.
“Gas prices are ridiculous,” said Ryan Wissler, a Penn Manor senior.
Wissler sold the Rabbit to Dutchess, eager to see the transformations made to the diesel engine.
“Greasecars.com gave us all the information we needed,” said Dutchess.
Greasecars.com sent the bio class a DVD demonstrating how to change the engine.
“Basically we use the core of the engine to heat the filtered vegetable oil to the desired temperature,” said Dutchess.
The gas line is then shut off and the heated oil is delivered directly into the engine taking the place of the diesel.
Dutchess said that there are no health concerns whatsoever with running the engine on vegetable oil.
Having spent $2300 to get the Rabbit running, making a total of $2600 spent on the Rabbit, Dutchess plans to be breaking even within three years.
Dutchess works on the engine of the Rabbit.
“As long as there are no major mechanical issues, driving 8000 miles a year, I’ll be even in about three years,” Dutchess said.
Filtered vegetable oil or biodiesel is a very good choice economicly for large truck companies that have trucks running for multiple hours a day.
For this reason, many public schools as close as New Jersey are running entire bus companies on biodiesel.
“Biodiesel offers the best option to increase our reliance on domestic, renewable fuels while producing significant results in terms of emission reduction,” said Joe Biluck, Director of Operations and Technology for Medford School District in New Jersey. “Biodiesel’s primary attraction is its ease of integration coupled with the fact it is a technology that is not capital intensive and can be applied to older units as well as today’s vehicles.” Interview found on Biodiesel.org.
This may not be coming soon to Penn Manor School District, but Dutchess’ AP biology class can’t wait to get started.
“There’s no downside besides the need to have a constant supply of vegetable oil,” said Maeve Snyder, one of the students working on the Rabbit.
The class plans to get their vegetable oil from the high school cafeteria for free.
This is an option open to any student driving a diesel engine, just see Dutchess for details.
