November 2008 - Brooke Point High School

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Brooke Point High School • Stafford, VA • Volume XVI • Issue 2 • November 13, 2008
BP students help make history
Photo provided by CNN.com
By Sydney Ballesteros
On November 4, 2008, Illinois
Senator Barak Obama made history when he was elected the
first African American President
of the United States. Obama secured 364 electoral votes compared to Republican candidate
Senator John McCain’s 163.
The Wall Street Journal reported that this election may
have been the biggest voter turnout since the 1968 Nixon-Humphrey election. People previously
strangers to voting registered
and cast their votes to make
their voices heard especially
young voters. Brooke Point had a
large young adult voter turnout.
Colleen McGlade not only
voted but also volunteered for
Barack Obama. She called
people to remind them to vote.
Many other Brooke Point students contributed their time to the
campaigns. Seniors Karen Kappert, Kristin Plunkett volunteered
to help the Obama campaign.
On election day seniors Katelyn Smith and Isabel Portwine
worked the polls for John McCain.
James Bensinger, a first time
voter, did not find the election
results as pleasing as others did.
“I felt that the people that vote
did not pay attention to the political and governmental stuff.
They just voted either Democrat
or Republican because that’s
how they were raised.” When
asked if he would vote again
in less monumental elections
he replied with a strong “yes.”
“Overall, students were more
aware and excited about this
election. It’s probably because of
Barack Obama that so many more
youth were involved,” Global Issues
teacher Pete Ortiz commented.
This election holds an importance for young voters, despite
the fact that they have never ex-
perienced a segregated America.
“Whether you are a Republican
or a Democrat, segregation was
not that long ago. If you under-
stand that you can understand
how significant this election
was,” government teacher John
O’Brien said. The victory was also
sweet for many older Americans,
especially those who could remember the days of segregation.
“When I first found out he had
won I was so happy and felt
like it was a new day in America,” senior Brittany Hill said.
African Americans felt a great
sense of pride in seeing Barack
Obama elected. “When I heard
he won I was still in shock, even
though I watched the whole
election race. When he first ran
for the democratic nomination,
I was skeptical. It won’t feel
real until January 20th,” senior Kendra Buggs commented.
The events from September
11th to today will be as monu-
mental to future generations as
Pearl Harbor was to previous
generations. O’Brien urged his
class to remember every detail of
this time, because someday students might want to share their
story with their grandchildren.
Put simply by senior Chase Barnett, “It [Obama’s victory] felt
good. America needs a change.”
“It will be interesting to see
where he [Barack Obama]
is
going,”
O’Brien
added.
Both political parties were encouraged by the direction in
which the country is headed
with this unprecedented level
of youth involvement. Presidentelect Barack Obama will need
the energy brought by America’s
youth into his efforts to bring
about the changes he promised
during the campaign season.
bearable. As if all of this isn’t bad
enough by itself, some students
have their parents breathing
down their neck the whole time.
“There probably is more of an
increase in pressure today because it is becoming more and
more competitive to get into college,” says counselor Kristen Baumbach. “Also, schools offer more
AP and honors classes at an earlier age, so parents want their
kids to do as much as they can.”
Junior Nicole Vojnovich agrees,
“The standards to get into college
are definitely much higher now.”
Parents always have their son or
daughter’s best interests in mind,
but they often may not realize
that their consistent hounding
can be extremely unproductive.
Parents play a very important role
in their child’s achievement and
development, but how much is
too much? When does motivation
become force? A large majority
of adults and teenagers alike are
in agreement that parents push
their kids to unrealistically high
levels when it comes to school.
Also, college applications no longer request grade point averages
and accomplishments alone. Now
they want to hear about activities
and volunteer work that students
have done within their communities throughout their high school
years as well. For that reason
many teens are involved in countless after-school activities which
only make things more difficult.
Plus, teens still have their social
and family lives to keep in order.
“Sometimes what they [your
parents] think is best for you,
isn’t really what you think
is best for yourself,” said
sophomore
Valeria
Giberti.
Emotional struggles and stress
are not the only repercussions of
constant pressure. In some cases,
if the student is unable to cope,
their grades can drop severely.
A report from the Institute for
Public Policy Research supported
the notion that sometimes, pushing a child too hard can indeed
backfire. Even though parents
are trying to help their children,
they can unknowingly be responsible for the decline in their
child’s performance in school.
Many students do not want
their parents to be eliminated from their school life completely, they would just like
to them to back off a little bit.
Still, there are some that believe
that parents do not pressure their
children enough and, in fact, are
lacking in involvement when it
comes to their child’s education.
English and Creative Writing
teacher
Aaron
Spicer agrees with this notion.
“No, I don’t think that they
[parents] pressure their kids
enough because a large percentage of college freshman are entering college unprepared,” he said.
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center,
56% of adults believe that parents are not pushing kids hard
enough and only 15% think that
parents are getting out of hand
with the pressure. The remaining 24% think that parents get
involved just the right amount.
So who is right here? Do high
school students need to just suck
it up, or do they have legitimate
complaints about this extreme
pressure? This issue does not only
affect American students and parents, it is a subject that is debated
in countries all around the world.
It seems to be apparent that wherever there are diligent students,
there will always be or won’t be a
“I felt like it was a
new day in America.”
- Brittany Hill
Senior
Students struggle with pressure from parents
By Caitlyn Cortese
Parents today are famous for
pressuring their children when
it comes to education. They push
their children to succeed by forcing them to enroll in honors and
AP classes, buying them stacks
of SAT preparation books and
cracking down on their homework and studying habits. All
of this can be very distressing to a high school teenager.
Junior and senior years can be
some of the most stressful times
of a high school student’s life.
Keeping up with projects and
assignments and maintaining a
stable grade point average can be
difficult in itself, but juniors and
seniors have college applications
and the SAT to worry about as
well. With the dark cloud of college deadlines hanging over their
heads and the struggle to keep up
with high school work a constant
factor, the stress can become un-
48
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Breaking
Brooke
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News .................. 2
Sports .................. 3
Student Life ......... 4
Entertainment ... 5
Feature ...............6
Opinion ............... 7
X-Page ................. 8
News 2
November 13, 2008
News 700 Billion Dollars Bails Out Wall Street
Briefs
National Honor
Society
Blood Drive
The Brooke Point Chapter of the
National Honor Society held its
fall blood drive Wednesday, November 12, 2008. The American
Red Cross allows any individual
who is sixteen years or older to
donate blood with parental consent. Members of the National
Honor Society signed up potential donors during all lunch shifts
approximately two weeks before
the event. Another blood drive
is being planned for the spring.
“Hit A Jew Day”
at Missouri
Middle School
By Sydney Ballesteros
On October 20, Students at
Parkway West Middle School
shocked the United States by
designating a “Hit a Jew” Spirit
Day. The middle school located
in Chesterfield, Missouri made
national headlines for this upsetting display of bullying.
Sixth grade students decided
to hold unofficial spirit weeklike activities. The festivities
began with “Hug a Friend” day.
The next day was named “High
Five” day followed by “Hit a Tall
Person” day and finally, “Hit a
Jew” day.
School administration did not
hear about the self proclaimed
spirit day until that night. Ten
of the school’s 35 Jewish attendees were reportedly hit in
some fashion. Most of the hitting
consisted of light taps but one
Jewish student was slapped
across the face. The majority of
the six grade class knew about
the planned “Hit a Tall Person”
day and “Hit a Jew” day. “I don’t
believe the motivation was racial
or anti-Semitic,” Administrator,
Hagle said. “It was just immature behavior and poor choices
on the part of a small group of
sixth graders” (Jewish Light
Online).
The school district has demanded a further investigation
of the bullying incident. After
the incident, five students were
suspended.
Brooke Point
Puts On
“The Odd Couple”
By Caitlyn Cortese
The Brooke Point Players fall
production was Neil Simon’s popular comedy “The Odd Couple” on
November 6, 7, and 8. The group
did a special twist on the original
by performing the female version
of the play.
“The Odd Couple” is a Broadway piece about two friends
who decide to live together in an
apartment. The new roommates
soon find that they are both very
different in their lifestyles and
housekeeping habits. While one
is slovenly and disorganized, the
other is very uptight and tidy.
The cast of “The Odd Couple”
included Jessie Croke as Olive
Madison, Elizabeth Gass as
Florance Unger, Chelsea Connell as Renee, Emily Mansfield
as Mickey, Jessica Carrington as
Vera, Connie Winiesdorffer as
Sylvie, Patrick Marlett as Manolo
Costazuela, and Jonathan Litalien as Jesus Costazuela.
The names of the characters
had to be changed to conform to
the cast’s female version. The
original names of the male characters of “The Odd Couple” are
Oscar Madison and Felix Unger.
Before the play was presented,
senior cast member Elizabeth
Gass said, “The play is really
funny. I’m really excited for everyone to see it.”
Look for a review of the Brooke
Point Player’s performance of
“The Odd Couple” in the December issue of “The Hawkeye”.
By Megan Helwig
America’s current economic
crisis is well known knowledge; it
began with a trend of foreclosed
homes, and then began to seep
loans and credit as well as the
stock market. Loans and credit
cards being the only means of
receiving money for further education that college bound American students have. Without the
bailout, or at least a reversal in
the current state of the United
State’s economy, students aspiring for a college education might
have to forget this prevalent
privilege. However, the debate
over the bailout remains: though
this could save America’s economy, is it worth excusing shady
businesses with hard-earned
tax-dollars?
The Bush administration
passed a bill the first week of
October transferring 700 billion
taxpayer dollars to bailout businesses failing due to bad mortgages. This was in an effort to
stop stock market and economic
crash or what seems to be the
makings of the next great depression. Section Eight of this bailout contains further controversy.
It states the bailout “may not
be revised by any court of law”
or that America’s constitutional
policy of judicial review has
been made irrelevant. However,
this has caused dissention and
outrage in the American public.
This bailout is being spent on
malpracticing financial companies, such as banks that have
gone into debt by engagement in
shady practices. This rewards
these companies for their dishonesty with no stipulations for the
money being spent on them, and
according to forbes.com, will cost
each American man, woman and
child an average of $2,300.
This bill is intended to give
financial institutions confidence
in the concept of credit which
has become near worthless. Two
million homes have gone into
foreclosure because homeowners
are unable to pay them off without taking out credit cards or
loans. As a result of this, loans
have become obsolete because of
the unreliability of credit. This
unreliability also bleeds into the
stock market, which is the main
cause of economic crash. American taxpayers are outraged that
their tax dollars are going to
undeserving companies, while
these companies reap the benefits of the gains, but only public
citizens can possibly suffer any
losses.
Despite its flaws, the bailout
exists with good intentions. If
credit continues to have less
worth, more homes will go into
foreclosure, affecting Americans higher up, including the
middle class. No citizen, especially those with no credit or bad
credit, will be able to take out a
loan. This directly affects every
student across the Untied States
who plans on going to college;
most do not have the funds to do
so without the help of a loan.
Holder Hopes To
Stifle
Cheating
With Code
Requirement
By Shannon Boyle
“I have neither given nor
received any answers on this assignment without direct permission.” At the beginning of this
year, students were told they
would be required to write this
statement on all papers they turn
into their teachers. Against popular belief, this is not a new policy.
“As long as I can remember,
[the honor code] has been in various stages of enforcement,” Principal Cynthia Holder commented
about the policy. Until this school
year, students were not required
to write out the code on their
papers, but the honor code has
always existed. Students have
always been expected to respect
the ideas of their peers, and only
submit their own.
Holder explained why she finds
it necessary for students to write
out the honor code, “I wanted
to bring it to the students’ attention. I wanted to make sure
everyone knew what it meant
because it’s not just important at
the high school level.”
Colleges throughout the nation are adamant about honest
work. The University of Virginia,
which boasts the oldest studentrun honor system in the nation,
expels students after a single
infraction involving the honor
code. The same goes for schools
across America.
Holder explained that cheating frequents Brooke Point, not
only universities. “Cheating is
common in all institutions. Many
students set very high standards
for themselves, and I don’t worry
about those students. There are
students that, if given the op-
School Board explores 10
point grading scale
By Chris Baire
Stafford County School Board
held a public hearing at the Alvin York Bandy Administrative
Complex on Tuesday, October 28,
2008. The School Board discussed
the possibility of changing to a tenpoint grading scale. “The board is
currently into this,” Principal Cynthia Holder said. “We are also the
only school district in the region
that does an A+ or 4.5 system.”
Under the present system, a
score of 100-94 is an A. With
the ten-point grading system, a
score of 100-90 is an A. Starting
this grading scale in high school
would prepare students for college
where the ten-point scale is used.
“I doubt grades will change
much,” said Stafford County
School Board member John
Ledoux. “First, there is a problem
with trying to find out if that B received from a teacher who left two
years ago was an 89 or a 90. Thus,
I don’t think previous grades
will change. Second, I think you
will find that since all grading is
subjective, a paper that was almost an A and was given a grade
of 92 will now be given an 89.”
“I think for the most part that
would work out better because
there would be better GPAs
across the board and it would
give a better incentive for kids to
try harder to get better grades,”
junior Ben Printzenhoff said.
“I agree that a ten-point scale is
the best,” Learn and Serve teacher Laura Lacey stated. “First,
because I think that is the standard of most colleges and I think
as far as helping our students
with transcripts it works better.”
Within the next year or two, Stafford County may switch its grading system for the ten-point scale.
Ledoux stated that the chances of
changing scales is “probably pretty good if the parents really want
it.” According to School Board
member Dana Reinboldt, the issue will be voted on at either their
November or December meeting.
Those wishing to comment
on the subject
can do so via e-mail.
The address is
PublicInformation
@StaffordSchools.net.
Photo provided by upload.wikimedia.org
Cheating: Brooke Point has taken a stricter stance on cheating this
year, requiring all students to write out the Honor Code on every
piece of school work.
portunity, will take advantage
of other students’ hard work and
effort.”
The consequences for violating
the honor code at Brooke Point
are not as severe. If a student is
caught cheating, the student may
receive an F on the assignment
or could be sentenced to out-ofschool-suspension. However, the
most common punishment for
breaking the honor code is inschool-suspension.
Holder stands by her mandate
that the honor code must be written on all assignments, in order
to solidify Brooke Point’s stance
against cheating. Holder said, “If
you write it, then you think twice
about it.”
American Education Week
November 17 - 21
Thank an educator!
Thank you, Mrs. Green, for your help
with distribution of The HawkEye!
Love from The HawkEye Staff
BPHS
Apple Federal Credit Union
November:
Apple will pay your $5 deposit
Benefits:
* Competitive Interest
* Convenience of a bank right at school
* Keep your account when you out are of school
Taylor Nelson
November 13, 2008
Ultimate Frisbee:
A School Sport?
By Chris Baire
Brooke Point High School has
four major sports: football, baseball, basketball and soccer. There
are still many students who do
not participate in school sports
because they are not their “style.”
There is a need for an exciting, non-contact sport that does
not require the use of your feet,
but is fast paced so that everyone
can play. One popular sport that
contains all of these is Ultimate
Frisbee.
Ultimate Frisbee is as fast paced
as soccer and as intense as hockey.
The team consists of seven players on a rectangular field and has
end zones just like football.
There are a few rules by which
the players abide but there are no
referees. This is a system that the
players themselves call the “Spirit of the Game.” There is no time
limit in Ultimate Frisbee. The
game goes on as long as it takes to
score thirteen points.
There are many rules to the
game, but they are easy to follow. When a player catches the
Frisbee, he or she is allowed three
to five steps to slow to a complete
stop and has ten seconds to throw
it to another player, the defender
counts down from ten.
The disc can be thrown in any
direction that the offensive player
throws it. If the disc is dropped,
intercepted, blocked or is thrown
out of bounds, the defense automatically gains control and becomes the offense.
Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact
sport. Physical contact between
players is prohibited, including
picks and screens. When contact
occurs, a foul is committed. Substitutions are allowed when a
player on the field is injured or
after a scoring drive.
There are a few students in
school who participate in a “backyard” version of this sport every
Tuesday at the Old Stafford Middle School. Senior Dallas Pattie is
one of them.
Ultimate Frisbee would be an affordable and fun sport for school,
but there are still several requirements that the student body
would have to go through to have
this as a high school sport. Finding a teacher or faculty member to
sponsor is one of them.
Weird Sport:
Arm Wrestling
By Josh Herron
Although some people are not
familiar with arm wrestling, it is
a world wide sport.
Arm Wresting has become very
competitive with competitions
held around the globe.
“I have been all around the U.S.
I go to competitions in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, North
Carolina, South Carolina, New
York, Arizona and West Virginia,”
says Brooke Point junior and professional arm wrestler, Jeremy
Kessler, who has trained with
forty two time world champion,
David Patton. “I’ve won over 20
competitions. First place usually
gets 400 bucks. I have about 8,000
dollars in the bank.”
The sport is played by two participants. Each participant places
either the left or right arm on a
surface with their elbows bent.
Touching the competition surface,
they grip each other’s hand. The
goal is to pin the other person’s
arm onto the surface and have the
winner’s arm over the loser’s.
Arm strength and technique are
the greatest contributing factors
to winning a match.
“It takes a lot technique, dedication and strength to win,” Kessler
said.
Other factors such as the length
of a competitor’s arm, hand grip
size, wrist flexibility and endurance, muscle and arm mass/density, as well as other traits, can
add to advantages in a wresting
match.
Arm wrestling puts enormous
stress and twist on the humerus
bone, the injury that often occurs
due to the twisting is the humerus
fracture, an injury to the bone in
the upper arm that connects the
shoulder to the elbow. Other injuries can occur easily due to the
amount of stress an arm wrestler
puts on his arm.
“I’ve seen a lot people break
bones,” Kessler says.
Sports 3
Athlete of the Month
Volleyball
Compiled by Josh Herron
At first glance, senior Kristina Hellengurst
is a carefree girl who likes to have fun. But
when it comes to playing for Brooke Point’s
volleyball team, she will spike it in your face.
Hellengurst is a seventeen year old who helped
this year’s volleyball team serve it up.
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A
How did you become interested in
volleyball?
Both of my parents have been playing since they were
kids and my dad is a coach.
How long have you been playing
the sport?
I’ve been playing since I was five. I played for an
indoor Olympic volleyball team when I was 11.
What do you do when you are not
on the volleyball court?
I play video games with my little brother, photography, tennis and watch movies with friends.
college do you plan on atQ What
tending and will you play college
volleyball?
Kristina
Hellengurst
A
Mary Washington or George Mason. I’ll try to focus
more on education, but I want to get on the volleyball
team as a walk on.
you ever had a game winning
Q Have
spike?
A
Yes, it was the semifinals of the Junior Olympics. I
was 13. The game was close we were coming back
from a really long rally. Things were getting frantic
and I just called for the ball and I just put the game
away!
Brooke Point Without Barnett
By Meredith Cavalier
Senior tailback Chase Barnett
suffered a season ending injury in
Brooke Point’s win over Massaponax on Friday, October 17, 2008.
Late in the third quarter, Barnett was escorted off the field in
an ambulance with a severely
broken right leg. The coach and
team were taken back at the sight
of their star player being taken
away and not to return for another game. [www.fredericksburg.
com].
“Losing Chase is obviously something that will hurt our team,”
varsity football coach Jeff Berry
stated. “But since we were put in
this situation, we will use it as a
rallying point and everyone will
step up.”
The district, regional and state
football games will be played in
upcoming weeks. Without Barnett
to run the football, senior Gershom Reed will replace him on the
field. “It sucks that he’s injured,
but we just have to move on and
prove to everyone that we can still
win, even though he’s a big part of
our team,” he said. Reed had over
one hundred yards rushing in the
Blackhawk’s win against Albemarle High School.
Barnett rushed for 143 yards
on twenty carries in his last high
school football game. Although
Barnett suffered from a fractured
fibula and dislocated ankle, his
injuries are not career-threatening. “It was a little setback. That’s
all it is, but it won’t keep me back
from my dreams and ambitions,”
said Barnett. “I’m a fighter. Fighters get knocked down and they get
back up.”
Barnett will be playing football
at Liberty University next fall.
He made the verbal commitment
over the phone while lying in a
Mary Washington Hospital bed
before surgery for his fractured
leg.
stafford.brooke.schoolfusion.us
Chase Barnett running the football in a game against Osbourne High School.
On the College Track:
Sinkler and Copeland
By Melody Barry
www.dyestatcal.com
April Sinkler is a freshman at Clemson
University.
Brooke Point graduates Brittany Copeland and April Sinkler
attend Division I Universities on
athletic scholarships.
According to their track and
field coach Tresa Jones, they exemplify what the Brooke Point
athlete can become. “I am beyond
proud of Brittany and April. They
have gone above and beyond and
continue to be amazing athletes
and people.”
Brittany Copeland runs cross
country and track at East Carolina University. She runs the mile,
1000m, 3000m, and 800m.
As a freshman, she was a top finisher in every meet, coming within one second of breaking three of
the school’s records and finishing
seventeenth at the Conference
USA Cross Country Champion-
ship. Copeland’s 2008 track and
field season was impressive, too.
She finished seventh in the Conference USA Indoor Championship and twelfth in the 3000m.
April Sinkler attends Clemson
University where she is continuing a successful career in track
and field.
She long jumps, triple jumps,
and high jumps. Sinkler has competed at national events including the Praision National meet
and the Junior National Track
and Field Championships meet,
where she earned two All-American honors.
Sinkler long jumped her personal best 20’0.5” and 5’8.75” in
high jump in the 2007-2008 track
seasons. She has tied for second
in Clemson’s record books.
ecupirates.cstv.com
Brittany Copeland is a freshman at
East Carolina University.
Student Life 4
We
Are
BP
Each individual in this
school makes up the student
body. We are all equal, but
unique. We are teenagers
full of passion and goals.
These passions that drive
us are plagued by stereotypes that keep our minds
and other minds closed to
possibility.
The Hawkeye presents a
column giving the students
of Brooke Point a challenge.
Anonymous students will
write, without judgment,
about their passions or lifestyles. In doing so they will
become free to speak their
minds and have a chance
to break the stereotype. The
challenge? To listen with
an open mind. Individuals are the student body,
but together we are Brooke
Point.
I Am a Scooter
Kid
“Only three year olds ride
scooters.” That’s most likely
what you would hear if you told
someone you ride a scooter. But
this stereotype isn’t necessarily true. I’m a senior and I ride
scooters, so I’m here to break
this stereotype.
Don’t know what a scooter is?
It’s the kind of scooter you rode
five years ago when you didn’t
have a car. It has two wheels
and about a three inch wide base
that’s two feet long. My handlebars are black with rubber grips.
I use grip tape so my feet don’t
slide off. This isn’t a kid’s sport;
you have to be careful.
I’ve broken my right pinky toe
and gotten uncountable bruises
on my shins. I’ve had sprained
ankles and cuts up and down my
legs. Right now I have one on my
knee. But it’s all worth it.
Riding my scooter isn’t easy.
It takes a lot of dedication and
hard work. It’s just as hard if
not harder then any other extreme sport so those who say
riding a scooter is easy are the
type of people I would love to see
try riding one.
It’s not just riding; it’s about
tricks too. Double tails are definitely my favorite and were the
easiest for me to learn. Superman was the hardest trick I
learned. It’s where you extend
the deck of the scooter in the
front of you and your body is doing a “superman.” It looks like
you’re flying in the air! Then you
place the deck back under your
feet and land.
My friends and I usually hit
up parks at least once a week.
During the summer we do it
basically every day. We started
because my best friend had a
scooter in the back seat of his car
and started jumping off stairs.
I tried it and I’ve been hooked
ever since.
Razor scooters sponsor people
to ride scooters. I’m not there
yet but I’m working on it. I need
to learn more tricks and master
the ones I know to ride on that
level. Usually people send in
videos to sponsors. I have yet to
do that. I’ll take my scooter to
college for sure.
I’ve been riding scooters since
I was a sophomore with three
of my best friends and it’s definitely one of my favorite things
to do. I’m good at it too. In the
past I used to care what people
thought of me but now I realize
that people are going think and
say what they want, so it doesn’t
bother me anymore. I don’t even
pay them any mind now. I just
ride my scooter.
Signed,
The Scooter
Kid
Senior Cheat
Sheet
By Melody Barry
College is approaching quickly and seniors should prepare themselves for the
challenges ahead!
Senior Pacing Guide
For November
Those planning to attend 4-year colleges should:
•
Narrow college choices
•
Take the SAT or ACT, if not already taken
•
Start working on applications
•
Get teacher recommendations and allow teachers enough notice
•
Remember to keep grades up, acceptance letters can be taken away
If planning to attend 2-year college:
o
Explore the different schools
o
Look at your options in majors and programs
o
Take the ACT or SAT
o
Enroll into the college of your choice
o
Consider the colleges you would like to transfer to and plan to apply
early spring
Students planning to go straight to the workforce should:
o
Explore job fields
o
Acquire job experience
o
Compose a resume
o
Research how to do an interview
o
Consider career schools
o
Look into getting an internship or job in your intended field
If planning to go into the military students should:
o
Talk to recruiters
o
Take the ASVATS, register with your recruiter or in the guidance office
o
Enlist
Below are important deadline dates for common college applications and
tests with the regular acceptance deadlines respectively.
Christopher Newport University
George Mason University
James Madison University
Old Dominion University
Radford University
University of Mary Washington
University of Virginia
N/A
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Tech
ASVATS
March 1, 2009
January 15, 2009
January 15, 2009
March 15, 2009
February 1, 2008
February 1, 2009
January 2, 2009
February 1, 2009
January 15, 2009
November 19,2008
Date compiled by Lauren Troyer
Hawk in the
Nest
Riana Wilhelm
By Yvonne Eber
Biggest pet peeve? “Spelling errors
and when people use abbreviations
like lol and btw, I hate that!”
What’s one strange fact about you? “I
like eating ice cream cones, without
the ice cream.”
Most unusual place you’ve been to?
“Does a laundry basket count? I got
stuck in one before.”
If you could marry one movie or book
character who would it be and why?
“Steve Urkel from Family Matters, so
I could dance with him.”
Favorite season? Why? “Winter cause
then I can wear neon colored spandex.”
If you had to live off one type of
smoothie from tropical smoothie for
the rest of your life what would it be?
“Mocha madness…that’s all I ever get
anyway”
One thing you’ve always wanted to
do but never have? “ Ha perform a
tribal dance in a public place like New
York.”
Favorite possession? “My pig hat!!”
If you had exactly three weeks to live
and money wasn’t and issue what
are the top five things you would do?
“Shave my head, it’d be a cool look to
rock but I wouldn’t want to rock it for
life. Run in every country in the world
and jump of Niagra Falls.”
November 13, 2008
Hawkin-a-lot of Turkey
By Kate Smith and Princess Massey
For the past four years, Learn and
Serve has collected turkeys to help the
Region 16 Fredericksburg Area Food
Bank. The students will be collecting
turkeys on November 21, from 6:457:30 am in front of the school. The
College Forge and Mountain View
Learn and Serve students are holding
turkey drives on the same day. The
turkeys will go to the less fortunate
in the City of Fredericksburg and the
counties of Caroline, King George,
Spotsylvania and Stafford. The Fredericksburg Area Food Bank distributes
more than 2.5 million pounds of food
and grocery products every year to
more than 90 food pantries and other
food assistance organizations in the
Fredericksburg area.
Last year Learn and Serve collected
over 1100 pounds of turkey. The students hope to top last year’s total with
1200 pounds of turkey. “It does not
have to be a whole turkey. It can be
even a turkey breast,” says Learn and
Serve teacher Laura Lacey. Non perishable items can be donated as well.
Learn and Serve will advertise their
project through posters and morning
announcements. During the week of
November 18-20, the Learn and Serve
turkey will be making the rounds at all
lunch shifts. “I want to do everything
in my power to make sure we collect
as many turkeys as we can,” senior
Cecil Boswer said.
Violin Artistry
By Rebecca Brannan
The Rappahannock Youth Symphony featured a painted violin display
on Monday, October 27, at Battlefield
Middle School. The violins were presented during the Italian dinner, one of
the organization’s biggest fundraisers.
The purpose of the display is to
support the Youth Symphony and help
local artists showcase their creativity.
In order to be a part of this display,
artists have to submit an application
to the managers of the symphony. The
applications contain information about
how the violin will be decorated. The
managers will then judge the applications based on how well the violins
will sell. Stafford Music donates
violins that are no longer playable to
the program and then the artists are
commissioned to create pieces of art.
Teachers, such as Brooke Point’s
Lisa Cover, have contributed to this
display. “I felt inclined to contribute
because my niece is in the symphony
and I wanted to help.” Cover has
painted two violins so far and plans
to contribute more soon. “The first
violin I painted was ‘Playing Koi’ and
was based on Japanese Koi fish. They
seem to have a musical flow when
they swim. The most recent violin was
‘The Lullaby of Broadway’ I am very
inspired by all the shows that have
appeared on Broadway.”
The violins which were presented
at the dinner will be auctioned off on
December 7 at the symphony’s Winter
Concert. The auction will be held at
James Monroe High School before the
2:00 pm concert.
Turkey Trivia
Test your Thanksgiving knowledge
with these true or false questions.
Look for the answers below.
1. Thanksgiving is celebrated only in the United States.
2. The voyage from England to the New World was a mere 66
days.
3. Only 102 Pilgrims believed to be on board the Mayflower.
4. Out of the pilgrims that survived the voyage to the New
World, only 50% partook of the feast.
5. The first thanks giving feast lasted about three days.
6. Utensils were not available for the first Thanksgiving.
7. Quakers were the original names for the pilgrims.
8. During the first Thanksgiving in 1621, only five women lived
to celebrate the feast.
9. The Pilgrim “image” of belt buckles and big hats is quite
similar to what the pilgrims actually wore.
10. Thanksgiving is a religious holiday.
11. The state of Texas did not celebrate Thanksgiving from
1879 to 1883.
12. Prayer became a priority for thanksgiving by 1690.
13. The wishbone is the part of the turkey that is saved and
snapped as an act of good luck.
14. Turkeys can drown if they look up at the rain.
Answers
14.
13.
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
True
True
False
True
False
False
True
False
False
True
True
True
True
False
Entertainment 5
November 13,2008
Fashion! Fashion! Fashion!
Twilight
The Movie
By Melody Barry
Fashoin forwardness of Brooke
Point Students
Fashion is the external fingerprint.
It’s how people represent themselves and the first thing some
one sees. Fashion is a defining
factor. Around Brooke Point there
are extreme and subtle fashion expressions. These students epitomize fashion forwardness in some
way and have a personal fashion
statement unlike their peers.
Brooke Point
Welcomes
British Actor!
By Sydney Ballesteros
On October, 29th, British actor, Derek Brown, the founder of
Actorshop Limited, made a visit
to Brooke Point to help students
learn through “forum thaer.”
During Brown’s time at Brooke
Point he worked with Mary Southall’s English 9 class and Lisa Cover’s Advanced Drama class. “Most
teachers give you things you have
to do. He really gave a reason why
he was telling you to do something,” senior Jessica Carrington
explained. Carrington took part
in Brown’s acting workshop
for the Advanced Drama class.
Brown worked with students,
using forum theater, “a more sophisticated, accessible and powerful type of roleplay” (Actorshop
Ltd.). Students were assigned a
character with a background to act
out. From there, they improvised.
“He helped me improve my improv
skills- so if I mess up [on stage] I’ll
know what to do,” senior Elizabeth
Gass said. “We also called him Gildroy Lockheart behind his back.”
The British actor captivated the class with his extensive knowledge of theater. “They
were all attentive. It could have
been his accent, but he was a
very interesting character,” senior Patrick Marlett described.
Brown put on a different type of
workshop for Southall’s English
9 class who were just beginning
George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”
He urged students to think through
different perspectives: a nice introduction to the novel’s plot.
Southall has known Derek Brown
for “many years” and has also
dealt with Actorshop Ltd. “I experienced their program as a young
student and a teacher. They come
up with such creative ideas.” Although Brown did not use Forum
Theater in her class, he did have
students think through the perspective of animals to help them
understand the personification
Orwell used. Brown teaching this
period of world history also gave
students a European perspective.
Brown’s trip was organized
by Frederick Franklin. Franklin,
former Stafford County drama
teacher, met Brown in London
and was able to persuade Brown
to visit schools in Fredericksburg
and Stafford schools. “I’ve really
enjoyed my time here. .Brooke
Point is a fabulous school and I
enjoy Stafford County,” the enthused Brown said. His BP visit
was short because of plans to visit
other Stafford County schools. Actorshop Ltd. also helps
businesses motivate faculty to
develop and work as a team..
Brown helps develop workshops
and retreats for forum theater.
“He was very passionate about
theater. I’d love to have him
back again,” Lisa Cover said.
By Lauren Troyer
Jordan Foy
Donald Mickel
Quote to summariz your style.
“I’m fresh to death.
I like to
look clean and put together because people expect all big girls
to look sloppy so I put extra
effort into it.”
Quote to summarize your
style.
“I was born in the wrong decade.”
Where do you shop and what
specific pieces do you look for
while shopping?
“I shop at Gap, H&M, and Urban Outfitters. I look for retro
and European styled pieces.”
Where do you shop and what
specifc pieces do you look for
while shopping?
“I shop at Torrid. I look for
accessories, nice dark washed
jeans and everything has to fit
nicely. I always take my proportions into consideration.”
Who would you consider a
fashion icon?
“Tupac and Run-DMC because
Who would you consider a
fashion
icon?
“Today I consider Rhianna,
because she thinks outside of
the box and her style inspires
others and 40s’ pin-up girls like
Marylin Monroe.”
they took risks and didn’t care
what people thought, and I
think that’s really cool.”
If someone took your style what
would you say to them?
“They’ve learned from the best.”
If someone took your style what
would you say to them?
“I see you jockin’ JFo jockin
JFo! like the Jay-Z song.”
Cecilia Bergeria
Quote to summarize your style.
“Grandma”
Where do you shop and what
specific pieces do you look for
while shopping?
“ I shop at Gap and look for basic pieces like skirts and blazers. But for funkier stuff I go to
H&M and the Goodwill and look
for out of the box stuff.”
Who would you consider a fashion icon?
“I really like the singer Rosemary Clooney. She’s from the
classical period. She was very
classy and dressed to suit her
body shape. She was very curvy.
She didn’t follow the norms of
fashion to be fashionable.”
If someone took your style what
would you say to them?
The Boovies Are Coming
By Megan Helwig
The new craze in the entertainment industry is the Boovie; a movie based on a popular book. Boovies have been out there since the movie
industry began. “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Gone With the Wind” are
some of the most well known. Boovies really began to gain steam with
the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the still ongoing “Harry Potter” saga,
“The Chronicles of Narnia” series, etc. Several newly created Boovies will soon make an appearance at the box office over the winter season, pleasing both avid readers and movie fans. And for you book-worms,
try not to nit pick on added or unenclosed details and enjoy the movie.
Based on Stephenie Meyer’s New
York Times Best Selling Novel,
“Twilight” premiers with a midnight showing on Thursday November 20 at the AMC theater
in Woodbridge. A love story with
a twist, “Twilight” begins with
the main character, Bella played
by Kristen Stewart, traveling to
the small town of Forks, Washington, where she finds that
more than just rain waits her.
After starting school Bella realizes that Edward , her lab partner
played by Robert Pattinson, is trying to avoid her at all costs. Later,
after Bella discovers the truth
behind the dislike, she is not hurt
but intrigued that Edward can’t
stand her because he is a vampire.
After the discovery, Bella and
Edward become infatuated with
one another. Edward eventually wants Bella to meet his family, a pack of seven blood thirsty
vampires. While Bella is at the
Cullen’s home Edward plays a
lullaby he wrote that was inspired by her. She then discovers
that Edward might be just as interested in her as she is in him.
Before the movie begins to be
too romantic, an ever changing direction of adventure and mystery
ensues, as the audience begins to
discover the inner secrets of the
Cullen family and vampires who
haven’t chosen the Cullen’s path
of life. James, a human wanting
vampire, decides that Bella will be
his greatest challenge and will not
stop tracking her until she is dead.
When Edward realizes James’
plan he sends Bella to Phoenix with Alice and Jasper, Edwards siblings played by Ashlee
Greene and Jackson Rathbone,
not realizing that James’ is
already awaiting her there.
In Phoenix, Bella is tricked
into giving herself to James
and Edward must try to save
Bella from his awful fate.
The eight years of anticipation is over as “Twilight” hits theaters on Friday November 21, 2008.
November
Word of the
Month
The
Wife
Time
Travelers
Plot Synopsis: The original book
by Audrey Niffenegger “The Time
Travelers Wife” is the story of the
tumultuous love between Clare
Abshire, a normal girl throughout
the course of her life, and Henry
DeTamble, a man afflicted with
Chrono Displacement Disorder
or involuntary time travel. This
movie follows their troubles with
dealing with and trying to cure
Henry’s involuntary time travel,
and their interactions throughout
the course of their lives from each
of their perspectives.
ReleaseDate: December 25, 200
Leading Roles: Rachel McAdams
as Clare Abshire and Eric Bana
as Henry DeTamble
Director:RobertSchwentke
The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button
Plot Synopsis: An adaptation
of the short story of the same
title by Scott F. Fitzgerald “The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button” tells the tale of a man born
under “unusual circumstances.”
Benjamin Button is born as an
old man and ages backwards
into infancy; the movie tells the
tumultuous experiences of Benjamin as he finds love, experiences death, and discovers what
he can make out of life, however
different his may seem.
Release Date: December 25,
2008
Leading Roles: Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button, Cate Blanchet as
Daisy
Director: David Fincher
Uglies
Plot Synopsis: An adaptation of
a book of the same title by Scott
Westerfield, Uglies tells the story
of Tally, a teenager is a semi-utopian futuristic world, who only
dreams of becoming a “Pretty”.
The “Pretties” are made when
each child turn sixteen; they are
helped out of their “Ugly”, average lives and made, with the help
of plastic surgery into flawless,
beautiful, thoughtless and carefree people. Tally is threatened to
not be given the surgery when a
friend, Shay, runs away with her
own doubts about the surgery.
Tally must then make the decision to either betray her friend
or be denied her childhood dream
of being “Pretty” and stay “Ugly”
forever.
Release Date: Sometime in 2011
Distinctive
Individual
Versatile
Ecletic
Rare
Significant
Independent
Tenacious
Youthful
Feature 6
Post Secret was created by Frank Warren on
January 1, 2007 as an art
experiment. In December of
that year he began passing out postcards on the
streets of Washington, D.C.
asking people to send their
secrets anonymously in to
his address. With those
secrets, he created a small
art exhibit. Surprisingly
the exhibit began to grow.
November 13, 2008
People Frank hadn’t even
passed postcards to began
sending in secrets from all
over the country.
Frank has now received
over 30,000 postcards,
created a traveling art
exhibit, hosted hundreds of
speeches, created a website with weekly posts of
secrets and published four
books consisting of compilations of the secrets he has
received. In order to send
in your own secrets, create
a postcard and send it to
13345 Copper Ridge Rd
Germantown, Maryland
20874.
This issue of “The
Hawkeye,” Brooke Point
students have created their
own version of Post Secret
asking students to send secrets in anonymously. Here
are a few of them:
The Best secret i’ve kept ...
when I was a kid I got mad at my dad and cut a whole in his pool table
I never realize how much I miss my
sister until I go and visit her and
then have to leave.
to her
when she
was still
here.
I wish I
wouldnt
have been
so mean
have been my best friend’s
Everyone still blames my cousin because I am still too scared to confess.
I love my cats more than my
own family
Blackle: The environmentaly
friendly version of Google
By Amanda Krick
In January 2007, the owner of the
ecoIron blog suggested that a large
amount of energy could be saved if
Google switched their home page from
white to black.With the economy in a
downward spiral, Google.com has therefore created an alternative website
that saves 750 Megawatt-hours a year.
The idea of creating Blackle.com came
from the debate over different colors consuming different amount of energy on
computer monitors. Blackle uses light
grey text on a black background; this
is different than the customary Google
layout of blue, black, and green text on a
white background. This shift to a black
background will save 15 watts of energy.
Blackle uses a search engine and works
the same way as Google.com, yet it is
more economically friendly. Blackle is not
owned by Google Inc., however, and does
not have all the same links as Google,
such as the ‘cached’ and ‘similar pages’.
In July 2007, users spent 2,557,000,000
minutes on Google.com, 746 minutes on
Yahoo.com, 7,535 minutes on Myspace.
com, and 2,117 minutes on Youtube.com
a year. With the number of people online
increasing every year, choosing economic friendly ways to use the Internet will
make an impact. Another alternative
that can help the environment is to use
the script or browser option to alter the
color scheme for some or all the pages in
view. For Firefox users, a GreaseMonkey script called Google Dark can be in-
stalled that automatically reverses the
color scheme when you visit Google.com.
For Firefox users, go to ‘Tools > Options
> Content > Fonts & Colours > Colours’
and adjust the color scheme there. For
Internet Explorer users, go to ‘Tools >
Internet Options > General > Appearance > Colors’ to alter the color scheme.
Changing computer color schemes when
visiting websites or using Blackle as
the search engine can save 750 Megawatt-hours a year. Proponents contend
that it is another easy way to go green.
Then maybe I wouldnt be so sad
and people wouldnt think I dont love to be
around her
New Faculty and
Staff at BPHS
By Bailey Sergent
There are twenty-two new faculty and
staff at BPHS this 2008-2009 school year.
We shine the spotlight on a few of them.
Julie Brahler, a math teacher, taught at Calvary Christian School before coming to BPHS.
Kristina DeWitt and Aaron Spicer are English
teachers who came from Colonial Forge. Foreign
Language teacher Ariel Enoch taught at Twin
Lakes High School in Indiana. Imara Marti another Foreign Language teacher worked as a
substitute teacher in Europe. Michael Kuchinski is a mathematician who previously worked
for the Department of the Navy. Autism teacher Jamie Stehm taught at Stafford Middle.
Lauren Turpin was the nurse’s assistant at
Stafford Middle. She is now in charge of ISS.
Mark Zacharda is a first year science teacher
from Michigan. John Daubert previously taught
at Stafford High School as a long term sub.
Advertisement
Magnolia Boutique
Plus Size Fashions and Accesories
Patricia Endicott
Owner
2777 Jefferson Davis Hwy.
unit 109
Stafford VA 22554
boutiqueqwoman@aol.com
“If your Clothes aren’t
becoming to you you should
be coming to me!”
Opinion 7
November 13, 2008
Assigned parking spaces
Question
of
the
m o n t h
If you had
run for
president
what would
your slogan
have been?
“Don’t have a
Turkey vote for
Lauren Kirtley.
Hot Spices!”
Lauren Kirtley
Senior
“I itch for
Vojnovich”
Nicole Vojnovich
Junior
“Do it the right
way, vote for
Renee”
Pro
By Lauren Troyer
____Many Brooke Point High
School students were outraged
this
summer
when
they
discovered that they would
have assigned parking spaces.
A rumor that the parking
spaces would be handed out
in alphabetical order starting
with A’s at the front of the
lot and Z’s to the back. This
rumor along with many other
false
assumptions
tainted
the parking policy before the
true facts were even given.
If students had taken the
time to research the policy
before becoming so angry over
it they would have realized
that the parking policy is for
the students’ benefit. Students
were given fair option, on a
first come - first serve basis,
if they would like to park in
the front of the back of the
lot. The parking arrangements
were made as fair as possible.
Students who wanted to park
next to their friends only had to
stand next to them in line when
getting their parking passes.
Students who wanted the front
Con
By Kate Smith
or back of the lot had to be on time
with money and parking form.
With assigned spaces, students
no longer need to worry
whether their parking space
is occupied by someone else.
Underclassmen should not
have the privilege to park
in the senior lot. With the
assigned spaces they will not be
allowed. The policy guarantees
everyone’s space in the lot and
that their class is the only one in
it. It is aimed at making parking
easier and more convenient
for students, so far, it has.
Assigned
spaces
also
guarantee that there will
be no underclassmen taking
privileges that they have
not earned.
Unlike last
year, juniors parking in the
senior parking lot will be
easily noticed and identified.
Students no longer have to
rush to school before we really
need to be is gone since the policy
assures that no matter what
time we get to school, the spaces
will always be there for us.
We have all changed throughout
our high school years. We have
become more independent, more
sociable and more willing to open
up to new things. We take comfort
in the things that have remained
the same; seeing familiar faces
in the hall, knowing where our
teacher’s rooms are, knowing
the floors by heart. Until this
year, we had the freedom of
choosing our parking spaces.
Last year’s policy was not as
strict as the policy this year. In
the past, the administrators and
teachers did not care where we
parked, as long as we stayed out of
each other’s parking lots. On any
given day, students could change
their parking spaces. With the
new policy, for a group of friends
to park together, each student
must have the form, money,
license, and papers on hand
and buy the passes at the same
time. Each student is expected
to stay there for the remainder
of the year, no exceptions.
The new policy is more effective
in catching students whom have
broken parking rules while
providing a harsher punishment
to those violators. If a student
has not purchased a parking
pass and parks in an assigned
spot, the car will be ticketed
and booted. To avoid a booting,
students must purchase a parking
pass for $75. If a car is booted,
the student will have to wait
for administrators to come and
take it off at their convenience.
There are many different after
school activities that require
students to stay after school.
Students who only participate
in specific after school activities
should not have to buy a parking
pass only to be used a few times.
It should be enough for each
class to be assigned a specific
colored pass. Juniors have been
assigned purple passes and
seniors with black. With two
different colors, administrators
should be able to spot cars on
the wrong lot. Sadly, I feel as if
the administrators’ intentions
are not pure. I am starting to
believe the only reason we now
have assigned parking passes
is so they can keep track of us.
Renee Damchik
Sophomore
“Black and
Proud”
Akim Evans
Freshman
The Hawkeye
Staff
Brooke Point High School
1700 Courthouse Rd. Stafford,
VA 22554
Kevin McAleese
Editor-In-Chief
Terence Edelman
Asst. Editor-In-Chief
Shannon Boyle
News Editor
Lauren Troyer
Feature Editor
Sydney Ballesteros
Student Life Editor
Melody Barry
Entertainment Editor
Meredith Cavalier
Sports Editors
James Shaw
Opinion Editor
Doug Kay
Rebecca Brannon
Photography Editors
Hillary Sabetta
Xtreme Editor
Yvonne Eber
Copy Editor
Princess Massey
Cartoonist
Brittany Webster
Business Manager
Staff Writers
Chris Baire
Frankie Coulson
Megan Helwig
Josh Herron
Amanda Krick
Ryann Ridgeway
Bailey Sergent
Kate Smith
Aiden Stewart
Walter Stickles
Caitlyn Cortese
Mary Catherine Hornung
Adviser
Letters to
the Editor
Dear Editor,
Dear Editor,
“Nerd Day” was not
an inappropriate choice for
spirit week. It was not a way to
make fun of individuals at our
school but rather a parody of the
stereotypical “nerd” portrayed in
the media. Intellectuals in real
life aren’t nerdy or awkward,
just like cheerleaders aren’t
mean and athletes aren’t stupid.
The nerds we portrayed weren’t
real people, they were simply
caricatures from television. If
we’re going to say that dressing
up as a nerd is offensive to smart
people, why don’t we say that no
one should go to college because
it offends those whose grades
were not high enough to get in, or
that no one should walk because
it offends people in wheelchairs?
Nerd Day was a completely
acceptable choice, and as far
as I could tell the whole school
enjoyed it.
Genevieve Bee
Sophomore
The Hawkeye is a cross-section of the news and opinions
of the student body of Brooke Point High School. It is
a forum of student expression published seven times a
year by the Free Lance-Star.
Editorials represent the views of the writers and are not
necessarily the opinions of Brooke Point High School, its
administration, or staff. Unsigned editorials represent
the majority of the Editorial Board.
Letters to
the Editor
Got an opinion about
something?
Submit a Letter to the
Editor to rooms 220 or 213.
The proposition of changing the
Stafford County grading scale
from the current six point scale
to the more widely used 10 point
scale is the most important issue
on the floor for our school board.
Unlike the decisions regarding
whether or not to close Stafford
Middle School and Drew, which
is attracting more attention, the
outcome of this decision could
potentially affect the futures of
Stafford County students. The
10 point scale would lower the
minimum percentage required to
receive an A from 94% to 90%; a
B would become 80% - 89%, a C
would be 70% - 79%, and so on.
Because curriculum is just as
different in counties under the
six point scale, students graded
under the 10 point scale are at
an advantage when applying for
college. As a child in a military
family, I have been to ten schools
and have experienced both scales
as well as a seven point scale.
The 10 point scale is the
most beneficial to students, not
because of lowered standards,
but because it equals the playing
field for students around the
country. Stafford County is
known for excellence in education
and is rated among the top
ten counties in the country.
Changing the scale is necessary
to make Stafford County as
competitive as other counties.
Meg Robinson
Sophomore
Dear Editor,
Krysten Marshall’s
article on senior spirit was very
well written. She expressed her
opinion strongly and I completely
agree with her.
Seniors at Brooke Point
have earned their right to be
named the “Elite.” The senior
class of 2009 worked their way
up the high school food chain to
become what they are today.
As the sophomore class
of 2011 stood next to the senior
class of 2009, we stood in awe
Dear Editor,
I would like to commend
Sydney Ballesteros on her
article “Remembering Robert
Stutzman.” I unfortunately did
not have the chance to meet Mr.
Stutzman, but after reading
this article I feel very deprived.
Sydney did a beautiful job of
highlighting Mr. Stutzman’s
career and his personal
life. It is articles like these,
and thought about when it will
be our day. As Krysten stated,
although we will not admit it,
when it comes our day to shine
on homecoming Friday, we will
want the underclassmen to stand
and respect our class.
Let the senior class of
2009 stand. They have worked
the way to the top. They are the
“Elite.” Let’s stand in awe. The
seniors have earned their right to
stand at the top.
Ashley Poggi
Sophomore
displaying admiration and
compassion that make reading
the HawkEye uplifting and
substantial. I would also like to
praise the Brooke Point student
body for their respect and honor
for Mr. Stutzman, I have only
heard good things about him.
Krysten Marshall
Sophomore
X-Page 8
November 13, 2008
X-Posed: Miracle Fruit
By Hillary Sabetta
A new trend involving a
single red berry is on the
rise and cultivating a cultlike following. The Miracle Fruit has the ability to
“rewire” the way the palate distinguishes between
certain flavors, making
lemons taste seemingly
sweet and vinegar taste
similar to apple juice.
The transformation occurs when the miraculin
protein attaches to taste
buds and induces sweetness when acids hit. To
activate the pro
tein,
the fruit must be chewed
and swirled around in
the mouth for a min-
http://www.notcot.com/images/miracle_fruit8.jpg
ute. If the tongue is completely coated, the effects
last for about an hour.
Native to West Africa,
Miracle Fruit has been utilized by Westerners since
the 1800’s. During the
1970’s, there were hopes
that miraculin extract
could be used as a sugar
substitute but the Food and
Drug Administration shot
down that dream. Now it
is becoming a widespread
fad to host “flavor trip”
parties where the fruit is
handed out to participants
and tables are set up with a
wide spread of food to test.
However wondrous Mir-
acle Fruit may be, it is a
costly expense. Each berry is sold for two dollars or
more. Buying them in bulk
could empty a bank account
– a web site, www.miraclefruitmania.com, sells a
pack of thirty berries with
overnight shipping for $90.
There are no known
dangers associated with
the Miracle Fruit according to Dr. Linda Bartoshuk, who works at
University of Florida’s
Center for Smell and Taste.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/
Can you identify these BP
landmarks?
2.
1.
3.
4.
If you think you know what all four pictures are, come to room 213 to claim your prize. Only the first five people will be awarded prizes!