Earlier last month, a devastating earthquake destroyed the poor country of Haiti. It had strength around 7.0 magnitude.  About 200,000 Haitians were killed by collapsing buildings and dangerous conditions.

However, the recent quake in Chile was about 500 times stronger, recorded at 8.8- magnitude. Although it was stronger, less people have been killed. The death count is currently around 700 people if not more. There have been 45 aftershocks, some being as strong as 6.0. There have also been many warnings for tsunamis for Chile, Hawaii, California and many other places.

Richard Gross, a scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that the Earth’s day has been shortened by 1.26 microseconds because of the strength of the shifting plates beneath Chile. A microsecond is equivalent to one millionth of a second. The combination of the mammoth seismic activity that occurred in Haiti and Chile most likely caused the Earth to stand still for a minuscule amount of time.  According to Gross, the Earth also tilted 3 inches on its axis.

The people in Chile have been braking into stores and scrounging around for food. The Chili government ordered 10,000 soldiers to the devastated areas to stop the looting and destructive behavior. Tear gas has even been put to use in order to control the rowdy crowds of homeless people.

Aide has been arriving in Chile as it is still arriving in Haiti.

“I think everyone could chip in. We should always do what we can to help out the devastated countries. If we help out those countries, then when something bad happens to us, they will help us,” sophomore Mercedes Silvey said.

There are many other faults in the world that are raising concerns. In the United States, there are several large fault lines including near Seattle, and also near Missouri and Kansas. If these faults were to shift like in Chile and Haiti, massive damage would be the result.

“I think we should be prepared for everything. The countries that were hit by an earthquake weren’t prepared. We should have money put back just in case so if no help comes to us we can help ourselves,” Silvey said.

Strongest Earthquakes Prior to the Feb. 27 Quake in Chile
(Information from mongabay.com)

-May 22, 1960: Magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile;
-March 27, 1964: Magnitude 9.2 quake in Prince William Sound, Alaska
-Dec. 26, 2004: Magnitude 9.1 quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra
-Aug. 13, 1868: Magnitude 9.0 quake in Arica, Peru (now Chile)
-Nov. 4, 1952: Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Kamchatka, USSR
-Jan. 26, 1700: Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the British Columbia
-Nov. 25, 1833: Magnitude 9.0 quake near Sumatra, Indonesia
-Feb. 27, 2010: Magnitude 8.8 in Maule, Chile.
-Jan. 31, 1906: Magnitude 8.8 off the coast of Ecuador and Colombia
-Nov. 1, 1755: Magnitude 8.7 quake in Lisbon, Portugal
-Feb 4, 1965: Magnitude 8.7 quake in the Rat Islands, Alaska
-Jul. 8, 1730: Magnitude 8.7 quake in Valparasio, Chile,
-Mar. 28, 2005: Magnitude 8.7 quake off northern Sumatra Island in Indonesia.

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Kali Hinman

For those of us who are only a year or two away from college, this is news that could change our future plans. Many college students might also consider a change of their major to one that is not expected to fall. However, do not panic just yet. The job declines in these industries are expected to take place up until 2018. And many of these jobs, although small, will remain after 10 years.

Students at OHS have mixed emotions about their future jobs.

“I want to be a construction manager. I don’t think it will be effected by the economy because something always needs built,” junior Jake Sylvester said.

Junior Lindsey Leadbetter plans on becoming an elementary school teacher. She said that although the economy may affect her plans, she knows that education is very important and that teachers will always be needed.

But senior Abby Guenther has a career choice that she feels will be affected.

“I am planning on becoming a nurse anesthetist. I do think it will be affected because people will have less money to get surgery. I am majoring in food science so that I will have a lot of options in case I need something to fall back on.”

So whether you have your future planned out or not, it is crucial for your future to start getting an idea. If you do have it planned, try to pick a career that not only interests you, but is needed everywhere. If it is not, it is wise to have other plans to fall back on.

Disappearing Jobs according to Yahoo.com

1. Department stores: Projected to lose 10.2 percent of the 1.56 million jobs they had in 2008.

2. Semiconductor manufacturing: Projected to lose 33.7 percent of the 432,000 jobs it had in 2008.

3. Motor vehicle parts manufacturing: Projected to lose 18.6 percent of its 544,000 jobs.

4. Postal service: Projected to lose 13 percent of the 748,000 jobs it had in 2008.

5. Printing and related jobs: Projected to lose 16 percent of its 594,000 jobs.

6. Cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing: Projected to lose 57 percent of its 155,000 jobs.

7. Newspaper publishers: Projected to lose 24.8 percent of its 326,000 jobs.

8. Mining support jobs: Projected to lose 23.2 percent of its 328,000 jobs.

9. Gas stations: Projected to lose 8.9 percent of its 843,000 jobs.

10. Wired telecom: Projected to lose 11 percent of its 666,000 jobs.

—–
Angela Geist

How did this happen? What set this performing whale into an aggressive and deadly frenzy?

According to trainers and staff at Sea World, this particular whale has a violent history and is responsible for the death of one other trainer and another’s serious injuries.

Why then is this killer still being held in captivity and still performing, still putting the trainers and the public in danger?

No one seems to have the answer to that question, and Sea World’s Web site is not responding to any comments at the moment.

I think that this just shows that aggressive animals that clearly do not do well in confined arenas should not be forced to perform and be held in captivity. After the first trainer incident with this individual whale, the staff at Sea World in Orlando, Fla., should have been given an incentive to find a way to reintroduce the animal to the wild. Cleary it is capapble of hunting and killing for itself. Some people think that the whale woruld perish in the wild if it was released because it would not know how to take care of itself.

Porpoises are very intelligent creatures and they are underestimated. If Tilikum was released into the wild near a neighboring pod of killer whales, I am sure he would adjust and learn how to live in the wild.

The death of the female trainer at Sea World is a tragic incident, but I think it was kind of expected. Keeping a huge powerful animal like a whale in captivity for 30 years and forcing it to perform constantly would obviously make the creature irritated, it is not surprising that the whale snapped, it was only a matter of time. Killer whales belong and have the right to roam the ocean and be free in the wild in their natural habitat.

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Haley Butler

“There are too many options of unhealthy food. Even in the school cafeteria the food isn’t the greatest. When deciding between a turkey wrap and pizza, most kids would choose pizza, which is the unhealthy choice. Many kid’s diets don’t balance their carbohydrates with proteins, as well as not drinking near enough water.” school nurse Lisa Shea said.

Healthy eating is becoming increasingly unpopular. However teens 30 years ago did not have these obesity issues because they did not have the same options we do.

“As a teen, it was a rarity to eat out at a restaurant. We also only had soda on special occasions.” Shea said. But now, eating out is a typical meal for most teens, and soda is a normal beverage.  Times are changing, and the food people eat are changing also, but not for the better.

According to the studies of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, eating at fast-food restaurants more than twice a week causes weight gain in otherwise healthy young adults.

Not only do we consume more calories now, but we also exercise less. Besides those who play sports, most teens do not get the recommended 60 minutes of activity. Instead, many students fill their free time with TV, video games, and Facebook.

Just as teens 30 years ago did not have the fast food options, TV and video games were also limited.

“As a teenager, I rode bikes with my friends to the library and the swimming pool. I read recently that kids watch 32 hours of TV a week. When I was a kid we only had three channels.” Sharon Geiss, mother of two, said.

If you travel even farther back in time, to when Mary Ann Jamison, mother of three and grandmother of 12, was a teen, obesity rates were even lower.

“When I was a kid, you did not see obese kids. We all did more work and our daily lives included more exercise than kids today. We didn’t have video games and TV; we had cows to milk and had to walk to school.” Jamison said.

Since eating has increased and exercise had decreased the result can be seen as you look around a classroom. Children and teens are becoming more obese than ever before. The medical effects of this weight gain can be deadly. Children who are obese have an increased risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes. Many kids do not realize the consequences for their health habits now.

There are various reasons people consume more calories than they used to. One of the reasons is the huge portion sizes we have today. Portions have nearly doubled since the 1970’s. Two slices of pizza used to be 500 calories, but today two slices are 850 calories. A bagel has increased in size and now has 210 more calories for the morning meal.

“You used to think a McDonald’s hamburger, small order of fries, and a coke was a meal. Now, kinds think it all has to be supersized. The sizes of regular soda are also twice as big as they should be,” said Steve Geiss, father of two.

Because of the growing portion sizes at restaurants, portion sizes at home have also increased. This is because we have grown accustomed to large portions served in restaurants and our view of a serving size has changed.

Sometimes without even knowing it teens are consuming way over the recommended amount. If one goes to Burger King and eats a whopper, medium fries, and a large coke, most people would classify that as a typical meal. Yet that ‘typical meal’, is 1414 calories, or 71% of how many calories a teen should have per day.  When a person eats three meals with this amount of calories, it is easy to understand why Americans are so large.

Even though eating healthy might be considered hard in the American society, it is not a lost cause. If you make the right choices, and reduce your portion sizes you will be much healthier. Even though fast food is so fattening and caloric, that does not mean you cannot eat fast food again.

A crispy chicken sandwich from Sonic has 560 calories; however, if you order grilled chicken, you consume over 100 calories less. It is simple, but effective.

“I work at Burger King, and I choose to eat a side salad rather than a greasy burger for my meals,” junior Jessica Swisher, said.

Another way to make yourself healthier is to increase the amount of exercise you do. There are simple ways to add exercise to your life, and still burn extra calories. These include parking farther away from the store and taking the stairs whenever possible. During the commercials of your favorite television show, try doing a few push-ups or sit-ups. Even ‘twitching’ or ‘bouncing’ you legs under your desk can burn a few extra calories; anything to get your body moving.

Besides the extra subtle movements, you can also attempt to get a workout in a couple times a week. For students, the easiest way is to take a P.E. class or join a sport. If that is not your cup of tea, then try taking a walk or jog after school a couple times a week. Soon you will be able to go faster and increase the intensity. This sounds like a lot of work, but with a little motivation anyone can be healthier.

Yet, some people do not work out or worry about calories and always have a trim waistline.

How does that happen for them? They have a high metabolism. Metabolism, in basic terms, is the rate your body burns calories. The lucky people can eat whatever they want, whenever they want. These people have a high metabolism because they are very active, or have had the trait passed to them in their genes.

“I eat whatever and it doesn’t ever affect my weight because of my metabolism and genetics,” sophomore Kari Zimmerman said.

Even if you are not lucky to be born with a high metabolism, you can still raise it by sleeping more, drinking lots of water, having small frequent meals, and exercising.

Living healthier now can benefit your well-being as an adult. Your self-esteem will also improve because you are healthier and feel better about yourself. With a few small changes, everyone can be healthy.

—–
Chelsea Jamison

Students are racking up the tardies more and more lately, myself included. What can this late behavior be attributed to? I think lateness to school can be accredited to the fact that we, the students, are tired. We are in the last half of the school year; people are busy with homework, sports, activities, college searches, jobs and other responsibilities. So can you blame a hard-working student if they are late to school a few times? I think not.

Now, I am not saying that I think students should not be punished for being tardy, but I do think that teachers should be a little bit more lenient. Some students have a genuinely legitimate reason for coming in after the bell and I think that the teachers should take that into consideration. Especially if the student is a hard worker and pays attention in class, the teacher should be more reasonable. However, if you have a student that constantly comes in after the bell, Sonic cup and cell phone in hand, then it is best to give them a tardy. If they are not even worried about being at school on time, then they deserve the consequence for not caring.

Being tardy to school and being tardy to class are two different things. There are plenty of valid reasons to be late to school and they should be dealt with appropriately, but there are not very many reasons to be late to a class during the day. On the rare occasion you were let out late by a previous teacher or perhaps had to walk all the way from the CTEC building to a class in the senior hallway, play it safe. To avoid the risk of getting another tardy, have your previous teacher call, e-mail, or write a pass that you can take with you to your next teacher.  Note to students (including myself): we have four minutes to get to class—use this time wisely! If you spend two minutes conversing with your friends or checking yourself out in the bathroom mirror, there is hardly any time left to get your class utensils, let alone walk to your next course. Be smart, hustle and you should get to class on time.

There are many different consequences for being tardy to class. For instance, if you are late to Mrs. Jenkins’ world history class after lunch, you must write your name on her chalkboard and serve five minutes with her after school by the end of the week. Now, not only do you have to serve time, but your name is sent down to the secretaries in the office and you receive another tardy in the books. I do not agree with this practice. What if I was just moving slowly that day and was 10 seconds late stepping in the door? What if I suddenly felt sick after lunch and had to make an emergency pit stop to the bathroom? What if I had to go stick my lunchbox back in my locker? I do not know how many other teachers use this rule, but I do not think that tardies should be official when you are coming back from lunch. Is not five minutes of labor after school enough to ingrain the memo into our brains? Yes, I think so.

If you rack up enough tardies, you may face more serious repercussions. When you reach five tardies you will receive an hour of detention. If you reach 10 tardies you will be forced to spend a day in ISS. If you get 15 tardies you have to go to Friday Night School. Each time you receive one of these consequences for tardies you will also receive a disciplinary point. Watch out, because seven points will get you out of school suspension for a day.

So in spite of all the trouble I could get into for being late, I feel as though it is worth it. If we did not have the disciplinary system in place, people would not even bother coming to school. I only ask that teachers take into account the work that some students do put in to arrive on time, even if they cannot always get there.  I also ask that students do their best to get to school on time, though without them being late, I probably would not be writing this story.

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Jaime Birzer

This change would be switching from an eight class block schedule to a seven class a day schedule. A modified block is also in discussion, which could include seven classes a day Monday through Wednesday and the block schedule on Thursday and Friday.

Many people have different opinions about these ideas. Mr. Deane, science teacher, hopes to have the modified block next year. He says having seven classes a day will make labs difficult to complete.

“With the modified block, you can have the benefits of regular scheduling and block scheduling. We will see the students more often, but still have longer periods for labs,” Deane said.

Maggie Stowell, junior, welcomes the traditional idea of seven classes a day. “I’d like it. The classes would be shorter and we would have more time to practice and learn,” she said.

However, some students are not so eager. Paul Thomas, junior, is not a fan of this change. He explains that students who have already planned their high school career with eight classes will be behind. He also argues that shorter classes would not allow as much time to cover deeper material.

Many people predict OHS will end up with a modified block, which is at least a compromise between the two sides. The decision has already been confirmed for seven class periods, and the administration confessed it will most likely be just seven classes each day without CAT.

—–
Chelsea Jamison

But has the 20 Point Discipline Plan really disciplined anyone, changed student behaviors or even lowered the amount of office referrals?

The answer is no. As a matter of fact, the administration’s attempt to further enforce the 20 Point system has resulted in more office referrals and more suspensions this semester than last year’s total office referrals.

When looking deeper into the 20-Point system it is apparent that the consequence for over half of all school violations is Out-Of-School-Suspension, also known as OSS.

Ottawa High School administrators consider OSS to be any suspension in which you are not allowed on school property, which ranges from one to 90 days, but having no expulsion that exceeds 186 days unless applied to the succeeding school year.

So, a student gets into some trouble and is sentenced to 10 days of Out-Of-School-Suspension. The student goes home, and in a majority of situations, their parents work a 9-5 job, leaving the student home alone to do as they please for eight hours.  That is assuming that parents walk in the door at five. Have the students learned his or her lesson?

Senior Brandon Crowley was suspended for 10 days for possession of illegal drugs. Adderall to be exact.

Crowley said the only way that OSS could be effective is if your parents punish you, because if they do not you can just go home and do what you want to. Crowley also believes OSS is ineffective because even though you are suspended for doing something dumb you still get to do your schoolwork, so it does not affect your grades.

The question: “Is OSS effective?” is one that lingers in students’, parents’ and even some of Ottawa High School’s teachers’ minds, but is not a big enough controversy to be formally brought up and the consequence reconsidered.

English teacher Shawn Denton has mixed feelings about the subject and believes that some changes do need to be made, but whether it is effective or not, the OSS policy is definitely needed.

“The policy needs to be tweaked. It needs to be slightly more detrimental to student’s academic progress to get the point of OSS across. We would still want students to have the opportunity to pass classes, but maybe making it where they could only get a maximum of half credit on their assignments would make students think twice about their decisions. With that said, it would not affect everyone because some kids just do not care about their grades,” Denton said.

Sophomore Megan Shirley was also suspended for 10 days for drinking on school property and attending a school event intoxicated. Shirley agrees with Crowley and Denton.

“You just get to get out of school and go home, getting ISS is more of a punishment because being stuck in that room for 10 days would have made me go nuts.  I wouldn’t ever ever do anything wrong again because I would not want to be in there, but OSS does not really make you think about your consequences,” Shirley said.

Tweaking the system could greatly change students view on OSS, but that is an adjustment that can only be made later. What do we do about now?

Assistant Principal Ryan Cobbs handles a large majority of all suspensions and behavioral issues. Cobbs believes that Out-of-School-Suspension does exactly what he expects it to.

“OSS triggers parental involvement and lets students and parents know that whatever the situation was, it was serious. There are very few students that are suspended more than once, which makes me believe it must be having an impact on students. Suspending students has nothing to do with their academics. It is strictly behavioral issues and it is effective and it does work,” Cobbs said.

Student after student, suspension after suspension, peers refuse to learn from their peers. Many students are often suspended for the same reasons and even though many of them know the consequences they just do not learn or think about them.

Sophomore Angela Barth was suspended for 10 days for drinking and attending a school event intoxicated, soon after her own friend and fellow sophomore Natalie Stoops was suspended for the same thing.

“I honestly did not think I would get caught. I know that my friends and other students had gotten suspended for it, but they were loud and obnoxious about it. Being suspended for 10 days was really boring, but that is about it. I really disappointed my parents and that was the worst thing and just being out of school was not really any kind of punishment,” Barth said

Sometimes students are suspending for things they did not intend on happening. Junior Nathan Ward was suspended for three days for sexual harassment; something he said was not as bad as it was made out to be.

“Being suspended was not really helpful because I basically just sat at home and did nothing. It was more of a vacation then a punishment. The only bad part was it was really embarrassing,” Ward said.

The opinion on whether OSS is effective or not varies from student to teacher to administration. It all depends on whether you are the suspender or the suspendee.

—–
Danon Taylor

This quote from Mary Beth Blegan, former U.S. Department of Education teacher-in-residence, sums up what students and teachers need to be successful during school. This need is a good classroom environment that is conducive to learning and teaching.

According to research, a good learning environment takes into account colors, lighting, sound, resources being used and other factors that may cause distractions. Do Ottawa High School classrooms create an environment good for learning?

A typical OHS classroom is an approximately 20 by 22 ft. room with tannish-grey floor tiles and cream or blue, cement block walls. There are about 20 single desks in each room and a white board running the length of a wall. About half of the rooms have a few computers for student use and all have an overhead projector that allows presentations from the main computer. The ceilings are lined with fluorescent lights and the walls vary from being plain to highly decorated with posters that illustrate themes of good work or principles taught in the class. Each class can have up to 25 students, according to Janay Blome, OHS counselor. However, she said that specialty courses may have fewer numbers due to safety and ensuring that a good, productive learning environment is maintained.

Counselors Rich Mobley and Blome said that the resources and conditions of classrooms at OHS are currently up-to-date.

The administration has set up some rules that the classroom must follow. First of all, in the OHS student planner there are rules for a dress code that students and faculty must follow to create a modest and appropriate environment that will help students focus on what is being taught. For example, excessively short and tight clothing is not allowed. Another item that is prohibited is clothing that has crude or distasteful writing or graphics. The administration also regulates the use of cell phones. Students are not allowed to have them on or in possession from 7:45 a.m. to 2:52 p.m.This is to help concentration in class and to stop cheating.

Starting on a good note, in line with research about the correlation between learning and colors, the paint choices in the classrooms at OHS are beneficial to the learning environment.  Lighter hues like blues and beiges, which Ottawa has, create a better atmosphere than bolder colors. These light colors can make students and teachers feel calmer and less stressed, while stronger colors can result in a shortened attention span.

Another fundamental, structural issue is one that Ottawa is falling behind in. This issue is lighting. The best light source for people to be exposed to is natural light from the sun. However, since classrooms are located inside, many schools use fluorescent lighting. This is not a good choice for an effective learning environment. This lighting that is hung in rows on the classroom ceilings has negative effects on behavior, health and learning. Studies done at the National Academy of Integrated Learning says it causes bodily stress, hyper-activity, attention problems, anxiety and other issues that degrade the learning of the students.

The next important trait a classroom must have is sound quality. The sound quality in the rooms is close but not quite where studies say they should be. Most of the time, next door classes are not audible. However, if a movie is going on or voices are raised, then the commotion can be heard. This occurs especially in classes that have wooden doors connecting two rooms. The noises from other areas can be distracting to students and teachers and makes it hard to concentrate.

Now, do the classrooms have the resources needed to teach a generation that has grown up using and depending on advanced technology? Mobley said that the resources and conditions of classrooms at OHS are currently up to date. Each classroom either has several computers for student use, access to a lap top cart, or computer labs that can be used. Many teachers also have an overhead projector that does not obstruct the student’s view of the board. These projectors can show power points from the teacher’s computer, videos, and many other things.  The science classes also have tools called Lab Quests that allow students to take and graph any type of data in an advanced way.

“I think classrooms are [overall] well equipped, especially compared to other districts,” science teacher James Deane said.

However, there is still a need for more textbooks in some of the classes like foreign language courses.

“We need to have a big inventory of supplies [novels and textbooks] to meet the needs of classes,” English teacher Shawn Denton said.

Depending on the teacher, certain personal items and technologies from home are allowed in class. However, are these allowances helpful to learning or are they just distractions?

First, students are allowed to listen to iPods in class during independent study time in most classes. A U.S teacher, Elona Hartjes, who has done extensive research on what helps learning, said that IPods help many students stay on task while working.  OHS teacher, Kristi Miller said that the effectiveness of iPods really depends on the student. She said that it helps some focus but distracts others.

“It gets distracting when people start talking about the songs or when they spend a lot of time looking for songs,” Miller said.

OHS sophomore Ebonia Covington agrees that IPods are helpful for independent study time but she said that they can get distracting when people turn the volume up.

Most every student carries their back packs with them to keep their books and binders together. Some teachers make students leave them by the door and others like Deane post signs that prohibit bags to be sprawled on the desk tops because they clutter tables and get in the way of experiments.

“[Backpacks] interfere with moving around and the stuff carried inside them can be distracting,” Deane said.

According to Denton, another important aspect that a good learning environment must take into consideration is the attitudes of the students and teachers. He said that first, you need dedicated teachers and faculty that are passionate about helping young people. Denton also said they need to not have anxiety about what they are teaching or instructing. Second, students also need to be passionate about what they are learning and have a want for knowledge. Third, as for the social environment, there needs to be respect towards each other. All of the good classroom conditions and guidelines previously stated all help set positive attitudes in the classrooms.

Overall, OHS has rules that, if followed, create a good learning environment for students. The school also has materials that keep up with this technology dependant generation. However, according to teachers and research done about conditions helpful to learning, the school needs to improve on the amount of textbooks available, and the actual building conditions like lighting and sound quality.

—–
Kali Hinman

People around the world are spending more and more time on the internet. This makes time spent with family or participating in recreational activities decrease significantly. In Asia, people literally spend all day on the computer. Places like China and Japan have some of the fastest internet systems in the world. There are internet cafes where teens can go to after school and stay at past midnight.

In that Eastern hemisphere continent, parents and doctors are getting seriously worried about their children’s health and computer addiction problems. There have been camps set up that kids who have internet addictions go to. In these camps, there is minimal to no time for technological use. The kids participate in music classes, outdoor activities and many other things to get them connected to the real world instead of the cyber one they live in.

Natalie Milnikoff, sophomore, said that she thinks these camps will not help in the long run. The kids addicted to the internet will just go back to their old ways.

Internet Addiction has not been diagnosed in as many people in the U.S. as it has been in Asia. However, it is still a growing problem and enough to cause concern. Although there are no camps here, there are a few clinics where people can go to help get rid of their addiction.  One clinic is the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery where you can receive help for your problem.

“I think that if you use the internet too much you won’t have much of a social life,” Milnikoff said.

Some side effects include loss of relationships, lack of sleep, a drop in school grades, depression, dishonesty and neglecting other activities you enjoy. All of these symptoms combined do not do anything good for your health and can lead you on a deadly path.

Do you have Internet Addiction Disorder?

1. Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet (think about previous online activity or anticipate next online session)?
2. Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction?
3. Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use?
4. Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?
5. Do you stay online longer than originally intended?
6. Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of significant relationships, jobs, educational or career opportunities because of the Internet?
7. Have you lied to family members, therapist or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?
8. Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)?

—–
Kali Hinman

Richardson is one of the many, hard-working students at our school who strives to maintain good grades while being involved in school activities and having a job. She balances a tough senior schedule, not to mention the homework that comes with it, an after school job, and she participates in multiple school organizations including cross-country, track, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, National Honor Society, Key Club, Student Council and yearbook. Sounds like a pretty full plate, right?

Richardson said it is stressful to be so busy, but she knows that being involved will help her get mentally and physically prepared for the future. And since she is a senior, her near future includes going to college. This is why she took a job at the south Dairy Queen in Ottawa—to pay for college, gas, insurance and bills. Richardson works almost every day from 4p.m. to close.

So with school every day, club meetings, athletic practices, a job, and homework, when does Richardson ever have down time?

“The hardest thing about having such a busy schedule is having time for myself; time to sleep, time for others,” Richardson said.

Even with a lack of sleep, it seems as though all Richardson’s hard work is paying off. She is a district officer in FCCLA, president of her class and does well in school. But there are some definite challenges that she has had to overcome to keep succeeding. During the course of last school year and this year, Richardson has had surgery on each of her feet, which did anything but make her life easier.

“It added stress to finals. I had to take mine three weeks before everyone else,” Richardson said.

Other stresses due to Richardson’s hectic schedule?

“Maintaining good grades and paying my bills. I try to get ahead, but it’s hard when I have surgery. I basically have to stay on top of everything, or I’ll slack behind everyone else.”

Although Richardson loves to be involved, she knows she cannot be a part of everything. She wishes she was in forensics or debate, and that she did not stop doing theater after middle school, but knows there is just no time. After all, it is unhealthy to stretch yourself too thin.

“I’ve learned sometimes that I can’t do everything,” Richardson said. “Sometimes you have to say ‘no’; pick and choose.”

Although she is not able to participate in everything she would like to, there is one activity that allows Richardson to get small tastes of her forsaken interests: photography.

“In being a photographer, I get a glimpse of the clubs and activities I didn’t have time for. Even though it’s very stressful.”

Despite having no time for herself, or sleep, and large lists of stress and obligation, there is no doubt that Richardson’s challenging, diligent lifestyle has its rewards.

“It helps me become aware of things, and I think I’ve become more mature and self dependent,” Richardson said. “It’s like I’m on my own, except I don’t have my own house.”

—–
Jaime Birzer