by Lauren Mulkern
The road to the Hyannis Port Challenge started off rocky because they hit a large bump. On Saturday May 17, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy suffered from a seizure. The seizure occurred early in the morning in Hyannis Port. Kennedy was in the area for the Hyannis Port Challenge which is put on by the organization Best Buddies.
This organization was founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver. The Hyannis Port challenge is very symbolic because it begins at the J.F.K library and ends at Craigsville Beach where a park was recently donated to Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
A few days after the challenge, we found out that Kennedy has a brain tumor which triggered the seizure. The Kennedy family has been very involved with the Hyannis Port Challenge. Therefore, when members who were participating in the challenge found out, they were very concerned. At the Duxbury rest stop, advisor Pamela Parrella, received a phone call and was informed of Kennedy’s seizure.
Instantly, everyone at the rest stop became concerned for Kennedy. They also wondered if this was going to affect the challenge. Luckily, it did not affect the challenge and it went smoothly.
Parrella was in the area to support two members from her chapter. The ride went very smoothly and Best Buddies did a great job mapping out Rest stops. These were convenient because the bikers got to take a break and refuel while family and friends motivated them.
This event took place to raise money for the organization. Also, Tom Brady donated money so Best Buddies can send more people to the leadership can send more people to the leadership conference over the summer. This is a mandatory event for all chapter presidents. This money will help a lot of towns who have trouble raising the money to send the chapter President. Luckily, this was a huge success and Best Buddies can make an even bigger difference.
Pembroke High School was one of four groups that had a buddy pair ride tandem. A buddy pair is when a person rides with another person who has special needs. Freshman, Jared Drennan and senior Josh Lavalley completed this ride together. They trained hard and it was very rewarding for the members of the chapter to see them succeed.
Friday, May 23, 2008
America tries to get healthy
by Celine Chahine
For many years America has been known as the country with the fat people, but things are starting to slowly improve.
Lack of exercise and eating too much of the wrong foods have left many Americans obese. Obesity is not only a physical problem but it comes along with many diseases and is becoming a leading cause of preventable deaths. Diabetes is one of the main illnesses that obesity leaves with Americans. Diabetes alone is found in 20.8 million children and adults. This disease is starting to increase year by year and many scientists are trying to find a cure.
Other than trying to find cures, many fast food restaurants, that increase obesity rates, are changing their menus so that they have healthier options. McDonalds has realized that they have created a problem by only having unhealthy, fried foods, and have taken away the option to “supersize” your meal. They have also added healthier food options to the list, such as milk instead of soda, and apples instead of French fries, and now they are using new and healthier oils for their French fries, making it trans-fat-free. These changes will help, and although their will be many people who wont buy these healthier foods, at least they had the option.
Getting fit is another thing that is getting out through radio and television. The radio always has government paid commercials that are encouraging the increase in outdoor activities. The television is also starting to show commercials for playing outside, and how only an hour a day will help decrease the risk of obesity.
Things such as improving ones eating habits and physical activity can save a life. People should take obesity more seriously because it can turn out to be a real problem. The way that people deal with this problem varies, some may even obtain an eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia, but the only healthy way to decrease ones risk of obesity, without decreasing ones health and needed vitamins, is too get more active and eat healthier, more natural foods that are well proportioned.
For many years America has been known as the country with the fat people, but things are starting to slowly improve.
Lack of exercise and eating too much of the wrong foods have left many Americans obese. Obesity is not only a physical problem but it comes along with many diseases and is becoming a leading cause of preventable deaths. Diabetes is one of the main illnesses that obesity leaves with Americans. Diabetes alone is found in 20.8 million children and adults. This disease is starting to increase year by year and many scientists are trying to find a cure.
Other than trying to find cures, many fast food restaurants, that increase obesity rates, are changing their menus so that they have healthier options. McDonalds has realized that they have created a problem by only having unhealthy, fried foods, and have taken away the option to “supersize” your meal. They have also added healthier food options to the list, such as milk instead of soda, and apples instead of French fries, and now they are using new and healthier oils for their French fries, making it trans-fat-free. These changes will help, and although their will be many people who wont buy these healthier foods, at least they had the option.
Getting fit is another thing that is getting out through radio and television. The radio always has government paid commercials that are encouraging the increase in outdoor activities. The television is also starting to show commercials for playing outside, and how only an hour a day will help decrease the risk of obesity.
Things such as improving ones eating habits and physical activity can save a life. People should take obesity more seriously because it can turn out to be a real problem. The way that people deal with this problem varies, some may even obtain an eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia, but the only healthy way to decrease ones risk of obesity, without decreasing ones health and needed vitamins, is too get more active and eat healthier, more natural foods that are well proportioned.
Senior privileges out of control
by Ryan Hennigan
The last days of school for seniors always consists of pure chaos and havoc. This includes days where all the of seniors intentionally skip school, where they all as a group play “senior pranks” on the school, and where they do other rebellious things such as cut class to “chill out” in the senior lounge or walk around in the hallways with only their boxers on.
There is always going to be crazy seniors that cause trouble and don’t respect authority. However, the absurd part of the chaos is that it is all by design as the authority in the school chooses to turn their heads the other way and allow it to happen.
Although it is supposed to be a secret, everybody always knows when senior skip day is going to be and when the senior prank is going to occur. Even the principals, who are not as ignorant about the on goings as they play off to be, know, yet they choose to do nothing about it and allow it to happen.
This is in direct violation of the rules that the school agenda provides. Say, for example, a student knows that another student has a gun in his locker. He would be punished if he was caught knowing this information and not reporting it. The same applies for minor violations, including having knowledge of students skipping school and having water balloon fights in the parking lot where someone could get hurt (which happened last week).
Yes, we want our seniors to have some fun on the last of their days in high school. We want them to enjoy the senior lounge and yeah, I see no problem in giving them some privileges to enjoy. However, when the seniors clearly use these privileges to rebel and misbehave, then there is a problem and the authorities in the school need to step up.
Furthermore, the rebellion by seniors is contagious and spreads to all the classes. You start to see students in all different years acting up and causing trouble in class as well as outside of it. Teachers can not get their students to concentrate on their studies because they are so hyped up and rebellious. Something has got to give because the purpose of school is to educate in a safe environment and this is not being properly performed during senior week.
Here’s the solution. Instead of pulling senior out of classes and providing them with half days of classes and half days of festivities for a week, give them two full days of complete festivities and do it outside of school. Let them have cookouts and water balloon fights and all those other fun senior activities outside of the school in a designated area such as the parking lot or the playing fields. This would allow all the other students to receive a proper education and prepare for finals while all the seniors can still enjoy their privileges. This way, the principals don’t have to feel the need to purposely ignore blatant violations of senior privileges in the school.
This suggestion may not get rid of “senior skip day” or “senior pranks”, but it is all but sure to eliminate a great deal of rebellion from both the seniors and the underclassmen. It would be a clear step forward to a better, safer, and more orderly school with a more obedient student body.
The last days of school for seniors always consists of pure chaos and havoc. This includes days where all the of seniors intentionally skip school, where they all as a group play “senior pranks” on the school, and where they do other rebellious things such as cut class to “chill out” in the senior lounge or walk around in the hallways with only their boxers on.
There is always going to be crazy seniors that cause trouble and don’t respect authority. However, the absurd part of the chaos is that it is all by design as the authority in the school chooses to turn their heads the other way and allow it to happen.
Although it is supposed to be a secret, everybody always knows when senior skip day is going to be and when the senior prank is going to occur. Even the principals, who are not as ignorant about the on goings as they play off to be, know, yet they choose to do nothing about it and allow it to happen.
This is in direct violation of the rules that the school agenda provides. Say, for example, a student knows that another student has a gun in his locker. He would be punished if he was caught knowing this information and not reporting it. The same applies for minor violations, including having knowledge of students skipping school and having water balloon fights in the parking lot where someone could get hurt (which happened last week).
Yes, we want our seniors to have some fun on the last of their days in high school. We want them to enjoy the senior lounge and yeah, I see no problem in giving them some privileges to enjoy. However, when the seniors clearly use these privileges to rebel and misbehave, then there is a problem and the authorities in the school need to step up.
Furthermore, the rebellion by seniors is contagious and spreads to all the classes. You start to see students in all different years acting up and causing trouble in class as well as outside of it. Teachers can not get their students to concentrate on their studies because they are so hyped up and rebellious. Something has got to give because the purpose of school is to educate in a safe environment and this is not being properly performed during senior week.
Here’s the solution. Instead of pulling senior out of classes and providing them with half days of classes and half days of festivities for a week, give them two full days of complete festivities and do it outside of school. Let them have cookouts and water balloon fights and all those other fun senior activities outside of the school in a designated area such as the parking lot or the playing fields. This would allow all the other students to receive a proper education and prepare for finals while all the seniors can still enjoy their privileges. This way, the principals don’t have to feel the need to purposely ignore blatant violations of senior privileges in the school.
This suggestion may not get rid of “senior skip day” or “senior pranks”, but it is all but sure to eliminate a great deal of rebellion from both the seniors and the underclassmen. It would be a clear step forward to a better, safer, and more orderly school with a more obedient student body.
Nine year old absorbs twin
by Chris Holland
"They could see on the right side that her belly was swollen, but they couldn't suspect that this tumor would hide an embryo," said Iakovos Brouskelis, the director of the hospital in an interview with MSNBC.com.
Imagine being born with your twin sibling that you never even knew about, being inside your stomach. This past Thursday in Greece, a nine year old girl complaining about stomach pains went to the hospital where doctors found a two inch fetus with a head, hair, and eyes but no brain or umbilical cord or brain.
Doctor Andreas Markou said to an MSNBC columnist that this birth defect occurs in about one of every 500,000 live births.
How can a girl live for nine years and have doctors not find a living embryo in her stomach? Apparently, they just missed it in every exam she ever had at a doctor’s office.
To miss that would have to mean that the doctors weren’t very well trained. Even during a regular physical, while using a stethoscope shouldn’t the doctors be able to hear more than one heartbeat? But really, if you can hear two heartbeats in one person’s body, they must know that something wrong is going on there.
The girl has now made a full recovery and is back at home but this should have been discovered earlier. These doctors need to have more training then what they have already if they aren’t going to catch something like that at an earlier stage. Or maybe they just need more competent doctors. Either way, the doctors should have caught this at an earlier stage.
"They could see on the right side that her belly was swollen, but they couldn't suspect that this tumor would hide an embryo," said Iakovos Brouskelis, the director of the hospital in an interview with MSNBC.com.
Imagine being born with your twin sibling that you never even knew about, being inside your stomach. This past Thursday in Greece, a nine year old girl complaining about stomach pains went to the hospital where doctors found a two inch fetus with a head, hair, and eyes but no brain or umbilical cord or brain.
Doctor Andreas Markou said to an MSNBC columnist that this birth defect occurs in about one of every 500,000 live births.
How can a girl live for nine years and have doctors not find a living embryo in her stomach? Apparently, they just missed it in every exam she ever had at a doctor’s office.
To miss that would have to mean that the doctors weren’t very well trained. Even during a regular physical, while using a stethoscope shouldn’t the doctors be able to hear more than one heartbeat? But really, if you can hear two heartbeats in one person’s body, they must know that something wrong is going on there.
The girl has now made a full recovery and is back at home but this should have been discovered earlier. These doctors need to have more training then what they have already if they aren’t going to catch something like that at an earlier stage. Or maybe they just need more competent doctors. Either way, the doctors should have caught this at an earlier stage.
Hogan knows best
by Karrine Watts
Hogan knows best. This is the name of the highly popular VH1 reality show that follows wrestler Hulk Hogan and his family. However these days 17 year old Nick (Hogan) Bollea does not know best.
In August Nick Hogan was the driver in a serious accident that left his best friend and passenger, in critical condition. Passenger John Graziano who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, suffered brain injury and was in a coma after the speeding sports car hit a palm tree. He now needs lifetime care. Graziano is a former marine and had just served in Iraq before the accident.
On Monday May 12, Nick Bollea was sentenced to eight months in jail after pleading no contest to the accident. Also the judge sentenced Bollea to five years probation and to surrender his driver’s license for three years.
Nick Bollea could have received five years in jail. His father being as famous as he is probably benefited Nick. However, I do no believe that Hogan is getting special treatment. In many situations celebrities can almost always get out of jail sentencing and most get community service. This is such a sad story. Hogan made a mistake and is paying for it. Although there was no death in the accident, Hogan lost the best friend that he knew. He will forever live with what he did.
While in the court, Hogan turned his back to the judge and faced the family of his friend and gave them a personal apology. It was made clear how guilty he felt.
Hogan knows best. This is the name of the highly popular VH1 reality show that follows wrestler Hulk Hogan and his family. However these days 17 year old Nick (Hogan) Bollea does not know best.
In August Nick Hogan was the driver in a serious accident that left his best friend and passenger, in critical condition. Passenger John Graziano who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, suffered brain injury and was in a coma after the speeding sports car hit a palm tree. He now needs lifetime care. Graziano is a former marine and had just served in Iraq before the accident.
On Monday May 12, Nick Bollea was sentenced to eight months in jail after pleading no contest to the accident. Also the judge sentenced Bollea to five years probation and to surrender his driver’s license for three years.
Nick Bollea could have received five years in jail. His father being as famous as he is probably benefited Nick. However, I do no believe that Hogan is getting special treatment. In many situations celebrities can almost always get out of jail sentencing and most get community service. This is such a sad story. Hogan made a mistake and is paying for it. Although there was no death in the accident, Hogan lost the best friend that he knew. He will forever live with what he did.
While in the court, Hogan turned his back to the judge and faced the family of his friend and gave them a personal apology. It was made clear how guilty he felt.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Baseball gets the ax - May 14
by Chris Holland
The Olympic Games are a celebration of the best athletes in the world playing their respective sports for not only themselves but for their countries as well. In the 2008 Olympics, there will be twenty eight sports represented from all over the world. In 2012, there will only be twenty six sports represented.
Something most people don’t know, even though it happened three years ago, is that 2008 will be the final Olympic Games where baseball and softball are included in the foreseeable future. Back in the summer of 2005, the Olympic committee, by way of secret ballot, voted baseball and softball out of the Olympics.
Now, with the exclusion of baseball and softball in the Olympics, the big time dreams of many amateur athletes have been destroyed. Their hopes of playing an Olympic sport for their country are ruined.
The Olympic committee decided to take out a two big time sports that are played all over the world, yet, for the winter games, they leave in sports such as curling, skeleton, and bobsledding that are always dominated by teams like Canada and Switzerland.
Just about every country in the world plays baseball. If they are going to remove a sport from the Olympics, it should be a sport that is not so widely popular and played by so many people, both children and adults, all over the world.
Some of the sports proposed to take their place by the head of the Olympic committee are golf, rugby, and karate. These aren’t sports that should be included in the Olympics, especially not in the place of baseball and softball. Baseball is our pastime and should be allowed to remain in the Olympics along with softball.
The Olympic Games are a celebration of the best athletes in the world playing their respective sports for not only themselves but for their countries as well. In the 2008 Olympics, there will be twenty eight sports represented from all over the world. In 2012, there will only be twenty six sports represented.
Something most people don’t know, even though it happened three years ago, is that 2008 will be the final Olympic Games where baseball and softball are included in the foreseeable future. Back in the summer of 2005, the Olympic committee, by way of secret ballot, voted baseball and softball out of the Olympics.
Now, with the exclusion of baseball and softball in the Olympics, the big time dreams of many amateur athletes have been destroyed. Their hopes of playing an Olympic sport for their country are ruined.
The Olympic committee decided to take out a two big time sports that are played all over the world, yet, for the winter games, they leave in sports such as curling, skeleton, and bobsledding that are always dominated by teams like Canada and Switzerland.
Just about every country in the world plays baseball. If they are going to remove a sport from the Olympics, it should be a sport that is not so widely popular and played by so many people, both children and adults, all over the world.
Some of the sports proposed to take their place by the head of the Olympic committee are golf, rugby, and karate. These aren’t sports that should be included in the Olympics, especially not in the place of baseball and softball. Baseball is our pastime and should be allowed to remain in the Olympics along with softball.
Put an end to irresponsible parents
by Celine Chahine
She looked as if she were dead.
All baffled eyes were on her horrific state, her shaking body that was lying limply on the cold dirty leaves in between the trees. 10 year old Daniel Chahine held a party at his house and was playing ghost in the graveyard with all of his friends, when all of a sudden a faint, cracking voice was heard saying, “Connor, Kyle, come home now..”
“I was so scared when I saw that all of my friends were next to me and that I didn’t know who was out there. It was too dark for me to see her and what was going on, but from her voice I could tell that something was wrong,” said Daniel.
“I had no idea what to do, it could have been someone dangerous, and so I didn’t want the kids to go back outside. My daughter ended up convincing me that we should go help her or at least check on her because she was just laying there on the ground, moaning.” said Rita.
Apparently, a neighbor was heavily intoxicated and clearly needed help. So Rita and her daughter grabbed their requested neighbor, who, at the time, was holding on to the victims children, and they called the ambulance witch took the intoxicated mother to the hospital.
“It was awful, she couldn’t sit or stand, she just kept shaking. She looked pretty bad too, she had a huge bump on her forehead and scratches and bruises all over her face and body…I felt terrible for her little children, they were hysterically crying when they saw there mother. I couldn’t believe that a mother would ever do something like that.” said Rita.
Turned out that the lady was drunk and overdosed on her pills. She had given her neighbors her children the night of the incident.
The father praised the efforts of the Chahine family, “thank you so much for saving my wife’s life. The doctors said that if she hadn’t gone to the hospital, she would have been dead within an hour. ” said the victims husband.
It is unbelievably shocking how irresponsible parents can be. Clearly, it is wrong for a parent to pass her children off to someone so that they could get intoxicated. This kind of behavior sets a bad example; children need good role models in order to grow up and become good and mature adults. If parents didn’t make it a habit of drinking or taking drugs, then they wouldn’t be hypocrites by telling their children not to do things like that.
The solution to getting rid of irresponsible parents is to take away their parenting rights. This can be done by a requirement to a government review. Basically, the government will designate someone to go review the states and functions of families. Anyone who fails this review will be further reviewed. If living conditions seem unbearable or unjust to the children, then they will be taken away from their irresponsible parents.
She looked as if she were dead.
All baffled eyes were on her horrific state, her shaking body that was lying limply on the cold dirty leaves in between the trees. 10 year old Daniel Chahine held a party at his house and was playing ghost in the graveyard with all of his friends, when all of a sudden a faint, cracking voice was heard saying, “Connor, Kyle, come home now..”
“I was so scared when I saw that all of my friends were next to me and that I didn’t know who was out there. It was too dark for me to see her and what was going on, but from her voice I could tell that something was wrong,” said Daniel.
“I had no idea what to do, it could have been someone dangerous, and so I didn’t want the kids to go back outside. My daughter ended up convincing me that we should go help her or at least check on her because she was just laying there on the ground, moaning.” said Rita.
Apparently, a neighbor was heavily intoxicated and clearly needed help. So Rita and her daughter grabbed their requested neighbor, who, at the time, was holding on to the victims children, and they called the ambulance witch took the intoxicated mother to the hospital.
“It was awful, she couldn’t sit or stand, she just kept shaking. She looked pretty bad too, she had a huge bump on her forehead and scratches and bruises all over her face and body…I felt terrible for her little children, they were hysterically crying when they saw there mother. I couldn’t believe that a mother would ever do something like that.” said Rita.
Turned out that the lady was drunk and overdosed on her pills. She had given her neighbors her children the night of the incident.
The father praised the efforts of the Chahine family, “thank you so much for saving my wife’s life. The doctors said that if she hadn’t gone to the hospital, she would have been dead within an hour. ” said the victims husband.
It is unbelievably shocking how irresponsible parents can be. Clearly, it is wrong for a parent to pass her children off to someone so that they could get intoxicated. This kind of behavior sets a bad example; children need good role models in order to grow up and become good and mature adults. If parents didn’t make it a habit of drinking or taking drugs, then they wouldn’t be hypocrites by telling their children not to do things like that.
The solution to getting rid of irresponsible parents is to take away their parenting rights. This can be done by a requirement to a government review. Basically, the government will designate someone to go review the states and functions of families. Anyone who fails this review will be further reviewed. If living conditions seem unbearable or unjust to the children, then they will be taken away from their irresponsible parents.
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