Penn Points Online

I’ll Never Give in to Buying a Tablet

By Ryan Krause –

Tablets, why does everyone buy into them?

I know that I personally don’t see a point to them.

They’re as expensive as a computer that could outperform it to start off.

Ryan Krause. Image by Spencer Barnett and Laura Revelt.

If you’re willing to carry around something that size, you should just carry around a laptop.

Most, if not all, tablets require one to buy special hardware to implement a physical keyboard.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not type on an onscreen keyboard. There’s no feedback and you have to look at your hands to see where your fingers are located in most cases.

A regular laptop’s keyboard has physical keys that depress when touched and usually the “F” and “J” keys have those little bumps on them so you know where to place your index fingers without looking down.

On the other side, there are some positive sides to tablets.

CNN said, “Apps that never made sense on computers with keyboards and mice, like GarageBand and finger paint apps and eReaders, suddenly found life on a 9.7-inch slate of glass and metal.”

But is it really worth the hundreds of dollars just to use a choice few apps?

Tablets really aren’t physically strong. They’re thin and have the sensitive screen uncovered.

If one wanted to protect their precious sheet of metal and glass, they’d have to spend money on an overpriced case that will cost nearly 50 dollars.

While a laptop has an outer shell that protects its screen and keyboard.

I know that I personally would not like to have to worry about my precious glass screen being broken in my backpack because of how poorly it was designed.

The iPad 2. Doesn't it look easily breakable? Image by news.cnet.com.

Another thing that is a compete turn off for tablets is how Apple completely misled everyone with lies during a Keynote Speech on the iPad 2.

Steve Jobs claimed that Apple owned greater than 90 percent of the market share.

That was a statement which became widely known for being completely incorrect.

According to CNN, “Apple would have needed to sell 3.2 million more to reach 90 percent of 2010’s tablet market share against just Samsung alone (in triple the time).”

“Apple may not have even reached 50% of the market,” the CNN report also said.

Another thing that was incorrect was Jobs claiming that the iPad 2 is the “First dual core tablet to ship in volume.”

The Motorola XOOM has the exact same chip and is definitely shipping in volume. Let alone the fact that Apple hadn’t even launched the iPad 2 at that point. So the iPad 2 was obviously not even shipping, let alone shipping in volume.

Sure a tablet is shiny on the outside, but does it actually have the performance to back up its cover?

I can only picture someone owning a tablet like this for the purpose of having it in their collection.

Teens Share Harming Videos

By Lizzie Pflumm –

The alarming trend of young kids making stunt videos has come to many schools in the country but it’s not a widespread practice at Penn Manor.

Making disturbing videos that could have easily caused harm to the select few Penn Manor participants is sometimes a popular thing to do when hanging out with friends.

The well-known MTV JackAss Movies, Wildboyz and the never ending videos on YouTube may have some reasoning behind where these teens are getting the ideas to perform acts of harm on themselves.

“I’ve made Jackass style videos, but not to intentionally hurt myself,” said junior Bradon Kruger who rides motocross at a friend’s house or at his own home.

Kruger said he doesn’t make other kinds of stunt videos, just motocross.

“No, (not other types) not really anything other than motocross, just videotaping jumps,” said Kruger.

Double click on the video below to play:

Motocross rider and Penn Manor alumni Dan Holton jumping during motocross practice.

But sometimes the stunts can go terribly wrong.

A 16-year-old girl was killed in 2005 when she and her friends tried to do the same stunt they had seen in “Jackass: The Movie.”

The teens tied a rope around a playground merry-go-round and attached the other end to a pickup truck and pulled it. The girl was thrown 60 feet to her death, according to a news report on the appeal.democrat.com.

So what is it that makes these students do these crazy things?

“I’ve just seen movies and TV shows, that’s where I get my inspiration,” said senior Trevor Troup.

“I get attention from my friends,” said Troup who made a video of himself jumping off a roof onto a trampoline landing in a pool.

“I don’t think I ever made a video,” said Junior Cody Straub who claims that his friends don’t make videos reenacting Jackass Movies when hanging out.”I’ve seen one of the movies but it didn’t make me want to make one”

“It’s just for something fun to do,” said Kruger.

Like the stunt movies, Youtube videos of tricks and accidents sometimes influence teens to make similar videos and even post them for others to see.

Many videos show bloody live enactments or graphic photos of people that have been harmed while performing these stunts.

“Some of my friends do it,” said a junior at Penn Manor who didn’t want his name used. “It can take away stress and help me relax. I haven’t seen any videos (of the type he makes) on Youtube though.”

Sophomore Zach Sinz, has videotaped such acts.

“I jumped my four-wheeler, and just ended up with a few scraps and bruises,” said Sinz who has a track at his house in Conestoga and records his jumps on video.

AT&T Soon to be Largest Cellphone Company

By Eric Gerlach –

AT&T is expanding it’s company by 33.7 million customers.

The phone company announced Sunday that they will buy T-Mobile USA in a cash-in-stock deal valued at $39 billion, making AT&T the largest cell phone carrier in the United States.

According to Wall Street Journal reports, number three, Sprint Nextel, has been talking with T-Mobile USA.

On charts the deal looks sugary sweet to some T-Mobile customers. Some advantages include, larger choice of phones including the iPhone. Better network coverage, combining the two companies will improve service in some locations. AT&T will be the largest cell phone carrier, because they are the largest they will likely raise prices which may scare away customers. But for Senior Kate Maisel the change may overwhelm her.

“I Think it’s ridiculous, no way AT&T can keep T-Mobile’s promise of no-contract deals,” Maisel said. “The only thing out of it that benefits me is maybe getting an iPhone.”

With T-Mobile state-of-the-art internet AT&T will gain full advantage and offer all kinds of services to customers. Smart phones between AT&T and T-Mobile will most likely increase in production and decrease in price.

The employees of the local and national T-Mobile service centers refused to talk about the situation.

“I cannot disclose any of that information” said a local employee.

The new phone-subscriber count for AT&T will be around 135.9 million after they buy T-Mobile. Their eventual goal will be to cover 95% of the nation with service. The deal with T-Mobile will take about a year to complete. When calling national headquarters USA the same response was given.

“I cannot give you any of that information,” said the T-Mobile representative.

A Teacher Falls a Little Closer to Earth

By Lauren Ressler –

“When the Shalako falls, you better watch out.”

Maria Vita, a teacher at Penn Manor High School, is well-known for her uproarious personality. Currently Vita teaches college prep US history I, advanced placement psychology and social psychology. Vita is marked by her strong sense of humor, admired for her lack of technological conformity, and content with being an independent woman. Although most students know her face, many aren’t aware of an experience that changed the way she views life.

Maria Vita studied Indian history at the University of Wyoming. She uses the word ‘Indian’ because she feels it is the most accurate way to describe Native American culture.

Following graduation, Vita decided to live on and teach at a Zuni Indian reservation in New Mexico.

Rock pictures at the Zuni reservation in New Mexico. Photo courtesy of David Edwards

“Even though I loved Indian history, I still had myths in my head about the people,” said Vita.

She said she thought all Indians were spiritual and that they all worshiped the Earth and the land. Vita was shocked when she witnessed an Indian boy littering on the reservation. It reminded her that Indian people fall victim to human tendencies, like the laziness of not finding a trash can.

She recalled that the kids on “the res” enjoyed video games and sports, and behaved much like the typical American teenager of any other race. There also were Christian churches and private schools on the reservation, creating a society not much different from modern American society.

“Indians don’t like other Indians, and they don’t know their own history,” noted Vita, explaining that tribes often don’t get along.

She explained that the Zuni tribe was one of the few Indian nations not greatly affected by the American ‘kill the Indian, save the man’ movement. The Zuni people were kept isolated and therefore preserved their culture and religion better than other tribes that were forced to conform to English-based rules of society.

“Indians are very spiritual,” Vita said about most of the Zuni people she encountered on the reservation.

The spirituality of Indian culture is not just tradition, it’s religion.

“To the Zuni, they aren’t wearing a costume. In their religion, they truly believe they become that spirit. It’s very serious to them,” said Vita when describing the ritualistic holidays of the Zuni tribe.

Vita holding a piece of Zuni artwork. Photo courtesy of Lauren Ressler

Vita said one of the holidays that the Zuni people take most seriously is the Indian New Year. During this time, a member of the ceremony puts on a very tall, heavy headdress to represent a spirit named, the Shalako. This costume makes it very hard to balance, and the Zuni believe that when it falls, everyone must be whipped with Yucka tree branches to ‘whip the evil out.’

“I had my running shoes on, ready to book it,” said Vita with a laugh.

Vita also said Indian people are very spiritual about air.

“If I would throw out a plastic water bottle away with the cap on, they would tell me I’m wasting my life because I left my air inside the bottle.”

Coupled with their strong sense of spirituality, Vita said she learned from the potent sense of humor present on the reservation.

“People that live in poverty are different than people that have things,” she noted about the Zuni people’s ability to laugh about everyday situations.

Vita said her experience on the Zuni reservation changed her outlook on life. Maybe it is important to experience something similar ourselves, something that brings us a little closer to earth and inner-peace instead of materialistic views.

Penn Manor Senior to Attend Prestigious Academy

By Lauren Ressler –

Aim high.

The United States military academies have always held high standards for applicants. With the competition of almost 12,000 other applicants and a reduced class size this year, senior Emily Hess was worried she wouldn’t have what it takes to get into the United States Air Force Academy.

“Extremely competitive, you must have impeccable recommendations [and an] impeccable resume [to be accepted],” said Penn Manor principal Eric Howe about acceptance into the Air Force Academy, comparing the academy to an Ivy League college.

Hess had many hoops to jump through to apply to the academy located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Photo courtesy of the USAFA website, a shot of the campus in Colorado Springs, CO

“You have to start preparing your freshman year,” said Hess. “It’s important to be able to compete academically.”

Hess has maintained an unweighted grade point average of 3.8 and kept up with honors and advanced placement classes to show she is academically able to keep up with the high standards of the academy. Hess attended Lancaster Mennonite High School until this year. She exceeded the curriculum at Lancaster Mennonite, so she transferred to Penn Manor in order to take challenging courses not offered at the private school.

Hess also participates in Penn Manor track and field to stay in shape and improve physical stamina. In order to be accepted into a service academy it is important to have exceptional physical health.

Howe described these high standards as needing to be “cream of the crop,” and “top of your game” in order to be accepted into a United States service academy.

After years of hard work and months of waiting, Hess was called into the counseling office last week. Mr. Gale and Mary O’Connor, representative of PA congressman Joe Pitts, were present to break the news. Pitts had nominated Hess for admission into the academy.

She did it.

“I think she was a combination of excited and relieved,” said Gale.”It’s the first one (student) we (Penn Manor) are sending to the Air Force Academy.

Emily Hess will be attending USAFA in June, photo courtesy of Lauren Ressler

“Shocked, relieved and emotional, Emily called her parents to share her acceptance into the academy.

“My dad didn’t know what to say,” said Hess. “He was shocked. My stepmom was very happy for me.”

Hess had first become interested in the academy because of her career goals. She wants to work in military intelligence.

“I knew I would need a good education, and the academy provides the foundation of military strategy,” said Hess.”It’s also free,” explaining that service academies are government-funded.

She explained her parents are very supportive and very proud of her accomplishments.”Dedication, sacrifice, stamina, organization, time management and self-discipline,” are among the expectations of the Academy, according to their website. Hess will leave June 22 to fly to Colorado Springs to attend boot camp. She will be staying with a host family until she moves into the Cadet Wing.

“It’ll be weird going by myself,” said Emily about flying to the Academy alone. “I’m really close with my family.”

Overall, Hess said she is extremely excited to be attending the United States Air Force Academy. She feels it will be a great foundation for her career, and a good experience to improve leadership and gain friends.

Facebook Loses Friends

By Bryan Buckius –

Nothing is worse then trying to check your Facebook and having it take forever for the page to load. All the advertisements that pop up on the side of the page slow this process down. This makes checking your account take even longer.

Now with a developing advertising war of coupons, Facebook pages may take even longer to load.

Facebook has recently added a new perk for its millions of users. For those interested, Facebook offers an application called Deals. Users can subscribe to these deals and receive coupons for restaurants, clothing stores, and other places of interest.

More advertisements will be on Facebook. By Penn Points Staff

The dilemma with this new application is not between Facebook and its users. It’s between Facebook and a website called Groupon.com. Groupon offers coupons very similar to the coupons Facebook is now promoting. In retaliation against Facebook’s new application, Groupon.com will be posting adds on Facebook to promote their website.

While this dilemma is between two large online corporations, some students at Penn Manor are affected by the problem.

“The advertisements on Facebook are annoying. All that they do is take up space on my computer screen,” said Emily Yinger.

“I don’t even take time to read the adds on Facebook,” said Dylan Weber.

Although the coupons on Facebook may be convenient, one Penn Manor student has other ways to get great deals.

“I don’t have a Facebook account for this reason exactly. Facebook is too much of a hassle. If I want to find coupons I look in the newspaper or in my family’s Entertainment book,” said senior Austin Groff.

Miss Simpson Goes to Washington

This is the second in an occasional series on Penn Manor alumni who lead interesting lives.

By James Frese –

What happens after school?

Students come and go, some succeed and others fail. People drop out of high school early, some graduate and go to college. There are many different paths to take once high school is over.

For Megan Simpson, a Penn Manor honors graduate of 2004, she figured she was going to major in elementary education at Penn State University after high school.

Simpson, at right, participating in the Easter Egg Hunt at the White House.

But the best laid plans…sometimes change.

Change is something that can be positive, and in her case, it definitely was a positive change during her senior year of college.

“I knew that I wanted to work in a political field,” Simpson stated in an email, “although I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. I also knew that I wanted to use my degrees in advertising and public relations but that I wanted to make a positive difference in the world too.”

Simpson was attracted by the Presidential race that was developing at the time.

“The candidates for President were gearing up and building ground teams in New Hampshire for the primary,” responded Simpson. “I researched each candidate and decided to apply for a communications internship with then, Senator (Barack) Obama. A few weeks later I interviewed for the position and was invited to come to New Hampshire to work for the campaign.”

Simpson described how hard it is to get started in politics and how dedicated one has to be to “make” it in that type of competitive atmosphere.

“I spent Christmas break that year in Keene, NH making phone calls and knocking on doors for Senator Obama,” Simpson recalled. “Unfortunately, he lost the primary, but that didn’t deter me from trying to help his cause. When I returned to Penn State in January, I co-founded the Penn State Students for Barack Obama (PSFBO) and served as the Vice President of Communications until I graduated in May 2008. The organization was so successful in registering young people to vote that it turned Centre County from a Republican county to a Democratic one (in terms registered voters).

That was the beginning of what turned into an interesting career in the nation’s capital. But Simpson wanted to be well-prepared for the journey.

Simpson, in the White House, during Christmas time.

“I was beginning to think about my future and getting a job. I really wanted to work in political communications, but I knew that would be difficult in Washington, D.C. without a political science background. Therefore, I decided to apply to graduate school to get more experience in that field.” Simpson said.

She was accepted into George Washington University to study political management.

“For two years I worked on my master’s degree in the heart of the city only four blocks from the White House. During my time there,” she said. “I took classes at night and had various internships during the day. I was a press intern for New Jersey Representative John Adler and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill on Capitol Hill and a Media Affairs Intern at The White House.”

Simpson also stated in the email, “During my time in grad school, I interned at the magazine where I now work, Campaigns & Elections. I worked my way up from Events and Marketing Intern to a part-time events associate to a full-time events associate, and finally my position now, Associate Director of Political Programs.”

Simpson credits Penn Manor for its opportunities, academics as well as extracurricular activities.

“I had great opportunities to take leadership roles and begin to shape my life. Not all high schools have as many choices as we did at Penn Manor,” Simpson said.

“I was able to do all of these things because I cared about my future in high school – it’s the first step to getting into a good college or university and progressing from there. “

No Beast in the Big East

By Jay Jackson & Joey Jackson –

Eleven teams from one conference is the most in the history of the NCAA tournament, but the showing of these teams has been in vain.

The Big East had high expectations going into this year’s tournament, but this anticipated success may have been over-hyped.

By the Sweet Sixteen round, only two schools from the Big East, UConn and Marquette, are left in the field.

However, two teams were eliminated and St. John’s lost an vital piece of their team when D.J. Kennedy tore his ACL.

But other teams from the Big East have no excuse, such as Pittsburgh, a number 1 seed, who lost to a less-than-stellar Butler Bulldogs team after a heart-breaking foul by Nasir Robinson sent Matt Howard to the line with 0.8 seconds on the clock, Howard hit his free throws to oust the Panthers 71-70.

Ben Hansbrough walking off the court after loss. Photo by http://www.bradenton.com

Peter Ashworth, a Pitt and Big East fan, commented on Robinson’s foul, “He has no intelligence…like at all.”

Ashworth later went on to say , “…some you could kind of see coming, like Villanova and Georgetown, I didn’t expect to go anywhere,” when describing his reaction to amount of Big East teams packing up early.

Other teams from the Big East to go home early were West Virginia, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Louisville and Villanova. The only teams to lose to a team of higher seeding were West Virginia and Cincinnati.

Although the Big East was the strongest conference from November to February, they have tendencies to not show up when it counts. With only two championships since the turn of the millennium the last of which coming in 2004, one of which is UConn, who advanced to the Elite 8 yesterday with a 74-67 win over San Diego St.

Dan Elliot believes that the reason for this is an inner problem, saying, “They beat up on each other all year, then in March they have nothing left.”

Senior Mark Curtin stays by his conference’s side adding, “The Big East is the best conference top to bottom, but they didn’t show it.”

Other conferences have been labeled as “weak,” and have had better showings.

The ACC conference, which some considered the weakest power conference, has had one of the best showings with 3 out of the 4 teams reaching sweet 16, one of these teams being 10 seeded Florida St, who dismantled Notre Dame in the third round.

Even with UConn advancing and Duke losing to Arizona, they have still had a better tournament showing than the Big East.

“ACC baby,” senior Spencer Barnett said.

The ACC has proven to be a dangerous conference when it comes to early April, with 5 of the last 10 NCAA championships going to an ACC team.

Jersey Shore, Repeat or New Episode?

By Dayonte Dixon –

Jersey Shore Finale!! It’s finally here, but if you happen to see it you might think you are watching last week’s episode, or last month’s or even last year’s.

On Thursday March 24th the third season of Jersey shore ended with what seemed to be an episode exactly like the last episodes.

The finale consisted of a party, the dance club, Sunday dinner and, of course, another Ronnie and Sammie fight.

One thing that changed is that Jenni aka JWow has made it official with her Jersey Shore sweetheart Roger, when he asked her to be exclusive over shots at a local nightclub.

Tyler Smith, junior at Penn Manor High School said, “I didn’t get to watch the finale of Jersey Shore, but I could probably guess what happened.”

He would be correct.

It was just a few months ago that Jersey Shore was one of the most popular reality shows on television, now it’s fading away like most reality television shows. Too much same old, same old.

Season 3 cast members, according to www.static.igossip.com

Many complain that the same thing happens every week. Even the foreshadowed fighting ( Ronnie and Sammie), which has always seemed to get the audience excited, has disappointed the fans.

The only thing that seemed to have changed this week is that there will not be a new episode next Thursday, which according to some may not be a bad thing.

Season 4 cast will take off to Italy next summer, but you might as well just call it season 3 in Italy.

Matt and Marc’s Sequel: Road to the Elite 8

By Matt Ulmer and Marc Summy –

Recap:

Arizona vs Duke- Duke started out strong as one of their top players shot himself out of a longtime slump. Kyle Singler hit back to back threes to give the Blue Devils a good start. Although, things looked promising at halftime with the score Duke-44, Arizona-38 the Devils were in for a rude awakening. Duke’s Nolan Smith’s NBA stock level dropped when he failed to take control of the game, like he usually does, when he scored 8 points for the whole game.The Blue Devils were then introduced abruptly to Derrick Williams. Williams, of Arizona, scored a game high 32 points and 13 rebounds. The game was in his hands after draining threes, doing jaw-dropping dunks and Duke’s players practically inviting him past them to the bucket. Final score Arizona 93, Duke 77.

Brigham Young vs Florida- Jimmer Fredette got “his” by posting 32 points. This was not enough for the Cougars to make it past the Gators as they fell 83-74 in overtime. The game just proves that an all-around solid team is better than having the nation’s best player. Fredette has had the team on his back since the beginning of the season; one can only go so far.

Butler vs Wisconsin- Butler almost dropped the game after a 20-point lead was dissolved by the dangerous shooting of Wisconsin. There was no passionate court rush by the Butler players after their 61-54 victory as they believed in themselves, each other and expected to win. The Bulldogs who are on a 12-game win streak, possess a multi-headed offense, and have a coach who always stays connected to his players, are a tough team to stop.

UConn vs SDSU – San Diego State is the team everybody was anxious to pick last night, seeing that it was their first time in over 90 years they were in the Sweet 16. Another factor that had a lot of brackets favoring UConn was none other than Kemba Walker. The guy has been amazing in post-season play and played a stellar game in last night’s 74-67 victory. D.J. Gay had the tough assignment of guarding Walker and couldn’t hold him to less than 36 points, not to mention 12 straight points in the final minutes of play. San Diego State shot an unusual 27 of 64 from the floor and 7 of 22 from downtown. They couldn’t get any rhythm or even momentum. Freshman Jeremy Lamb added 24 points to complete a 60-point combination of the teams 72 between him and partner Kemba Walker.

Preview:

Last night’s games are going to be pretty hard to exceed in excitement, but there are four more match-ups tonight that will be highly anticipated battles.
There is already a #5 and a #8 seed in the Elite 8, with the potential of even more seeds 10 or above.

The first match-up tips off at 7:15 p.m. with #11 Marquette facing #2 UNC. Marquette has shocked many with their run and 1 of 2 remaining Big East teams left. If Darius-Johnson Odom plays well, look for a close game. Regular season ACC champs, UNC has a strong, quick team that’s playing better together each game. Look for North Carolina’s fast-paced offense to move on to the Elite 8.

The #12 Richmond spiders are the Cinderella team of this year’s tournament. They battle powerhouse Kansas tonight at 7:27 p.m. They have a solid group of players who work well together, but The Morris brothers of Kansas are going to pounce on them tonight.

The third game features the #4 Wildcats of Kentucky vs. the overall #1 seed Ohio State Buckeyes. Kentucky is the team that’s scaring their opponents the most with their star freshman Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones. However, the Ohio State Buckeyes have Player of the Year nominee Jared Sullinger and lights-out shooters Jon Diebler and David Lighty (shot 7-7 three pointers last week). No doubt about it, close or a blowout, the Buckeyes are moving on.

The final game includes a #11 seed Virginia Commonwealth University, better known as VCU, and #10 Florida State who defeated #2 Notre Dame last week. VCU has rapidly become the team who shoots, and shoots and shoots…and makes, and makes and makes. Respect wasn’t aplenty for the Seminoles until they stopped Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansborough and the Fighting Irish. I’m sure you all remember five years ago when VCU upset Duke, look for them to keep their “Giant Killers” mentality and advance past FSU.