The official newspaper of the CSHS Colts

7201 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs, FL 33065 October 2010 Volume XVIV Issue I Coral Springs High School

Ana SerpaStaff Writer

Shahnawz HardanianStaff Writer

Katie JonesCHILD’S PLAY: Erica Gregg, secretary of FCCLA, reads The Way Things Move to the children enrolled in the Little Colt Learning Academy during circle time.

SO MUCH FOR FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

The Little Colt Learning Acad-emy opened its doors to the pub-lic in the fall of 2010.

The idea to open a daycare, thought of by former principal Anne Lynch, was put into action through advertising, acquiring space, and student interest.

During the school day, stu-dents in childhood education classes have the opportunity to go to the daycare and help out. They can also stay after school to earn extra service hours for the caring of the children.

Natalie LaFontant, senior, vol-unteer at the daycare, expressed Continued on p. 4

her enjoyment in working with the children.

“I just like the kids,” she said. “They are all so cute.”

The daycare is located near the cafeteria in room 307, but it is not open for high school students to visit.

Six children are currently en-rolled, but there is enough room to maintain 14.

In order to make the class-room child friendly, Kayhlene Gainer, head of the academy, had the school purchase all the fur-nishings needed for class and search for a full time daycare teacher.

Rachel Autiello, the daycare teacher, began work on Oct. 8.

New AP scoring system

The daycare is a self-support-ed program.

Throughout the day, the chil-dren participate in different ac-tivities.

For their outdoor play, the children explore the outside pa-tio.

Erica Gregg, senior, volunteers at the daycare.

“They run around and they point out things in nature,” she said.

After eating their snacks, they partake in circle time, which in-cludes a story and game.

Further into the end of the day, the children take naps.

The cost of enrolling a child

News..................1-4Opinion...............5-7Feature..........8,9,12Dimensions.....10,11Entertainment 13-16Sports.............17-20IN

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The College Board announced in August that it would be ending the system of taking points away from a student on the Advanced Placement exam, and only give points for correct answers.

Emily Fox, junior, who is cur-rently taking three AP classes, said “It’s a less accurate mea-surement of knowledge, but it’s better for getting a grade.”

In the past, a student would lose one-fourth of a point for each answer he or she missed.

“I’ll do better [on the AP exam],” said Emily Persico, ju-nior, who is enrolled in four AP classes, “but because I’m guess-ing.”

Students aren’t the only ones who will be adjusting to this new scoring system. Until now, teach-ers have warned their students about making guesses on their AP exams, and instead suggested skipping the question, so as to not lose the quarter point. “My initial reaction [to the change] was concern,” said Vir-ginia Walz, AP Language and Composition teacher, “that it would water down the meaning of the score because it allowed students to gain credit for guess-es.”

Early Childhood classes help teach little ColtsContinued on p. 4

FEATURE With a lack of swim team

members, earning points at swim meets is

a struggle. p. 17

The football team’s sched-ule has been changed this year, from having a majority of games played on Friday nights to being shared by thursdays because of the low number of district-employed referees.

Four out of the ten varsity football games this year will be held on a Thursday. Members of the football team voiced their concerns over the inconvenience brought forth from a Thursday night game.

“Thursdays aren’t good for the team,” said linebacker Samp-son Saint-Felix, about distrac-

tions during gameplay. “We think about homework and what we have to do for our classes.”

Depending upon the outcome of the previous night, some members would hold a negative attitude toward attending school the following day after a loss.

“After a loss, I [don’t] feel like talking,” said Saint-Felix. “Some ask questions about the game, and it’s difficult. I try to recuper-ate.”

Susan Leon-Leigh, principal, said that Thursday games were also necessary while she was in high school, “but you got up and went to school the next day like you [were] supposed to. It would be wonderful [to play only

Friday games], but it wouldn’t work out.”

The Broward County Athletic Association (BCAA) generates sports schedules for every school within the county, looking at past records to match similar op-ponents for district games. Game location is decided by a two-year rotating schedule, in which paired schools alternate between competing at home and away.

Damian Huttenhoff, BCAA Commissioner, stated that there have never been enough officials to run all high school games at once. The officials are in a gen-eral “pool” for both public and private high schools and middle schools, and their availability de-

cides whether there is a need for a Thursday game to help spread the workload.

“Everyone has to understand that [every school has] to have a Thursday night game,” Hutten-hoff said. “It’s how it ends up.”

Stoneman Douglas, Coconut Creek, and Coral Glades High Schools have either recently added or renovated stadiums. Taravella still remains stadium-less; they use the CSHS field for their home games.

“Since Coral Springs is a shared stadium,” Huttenhoff says, “It will have to deal with more Thursday night games.”

Alec KayeStaff Writer

Dear junk food companies: quit tempting us to eat all

these unhealthy foods. p. 7The chorus depart-

ment has been invited to perform at the University

of Florida’s choral festival for the first

time. p. 15

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTSINSI

DE T

HECH

RONI

CLE

OPINIONSpiders frighten students in Coral Springs, but are generally non-lethal. p. 8

Photo by Cindy Morataya

OctoberOCT 25

Powder Puff game

OCT 26Hypnosis Show

OCT 27Dodgeball

tournament

OCT 28Haunted House

OCT 29Homecoming

game

OCT 30Homecoming

dance

A new system has been put in place to alter the textbook distri-bution system at our school.

Formerly, students would re-ceive books for each different subject through their teachers. Textbooks are now checked out through a bookroom located near the cafeteria.

Donna Barcia, Micro Computer Tech, set up the room along with several teachers and students as-sisted in the checkout process.

“It was a lot of work,” said

junior Alyssa Dayton. She esti-mated that she worked about an hour a day for five days in the summer setting up the room.

Now books are assigned into a system with a barcode, and then scanned out to students, who were able to come in on the Sat-urday before the start of school to get their books.

“It works just like the media center system,” Barcia said.

Barcia explained that this new system is one that she tried to implement years ago. It has been put into action now due to a county-wide adoption of the

New barcode system for a new yearKathryn LongStaff Writer

program. She believes that it will both make the textbook dis-tribution more efficient in the following years and will save the students and the county money. When a book is turned in, it can now be scanned to find out to whom it belongs. Barcia believes that this will reduce the number of lost books.

Barcia went on to explain that an advantage of this new system is that the county will not have to put out excess money replacing books. She also mentioned that a disadvantage of this new sys-tem is that it requires someone

to manage the room, as opposed to previous years in which books were kept track of by each teach-er, without the need for a central system.

Barcia said that next year there will likely be more days where students are able to get their books so that they do not have to carry so many books at once.

Books currently under obliga-tion that do not have barcodes can be returned to the bookroom. The obligation will be removed and the book will be processed into the system.

Altered lockout policy for better attendanceSarika BeharrysinghStaff Writer

In order to improve atten-dance and encourage students to attend classes, a new lockout pol-icy has been activated this year.

For the past three years, the same policy has been in effect, in which students were sent to In-ternal Suspension for the remain-der of that period for being late.

Hall sweeps between periods 2 and 7 have been eliminated. Now students found in the halls after the late bell has rung are sent to class. From there, it is up to the teacher to give a suitable consequence.

Some students fell victim to

the previous lockout policy. “Sometimes I would just stop

to go to the bathroom, since teachers tell [students] to go be-fore class and even if we knocked ten seconds after the bell, they had to lock us out,” senior Genni Giraldo said.

One of the policy’s new rules includes students not being able to make up work because it will be unexcused.

In contrast, it allows students to be present for in-class activi-ties, tests, quizzes and notes that would set them behind if missed.

“Students should be in class, they should not be double pe-nalized for being late,” Assistant Principal Farrah Wilson said.

In the previous policy, a fourth offense was subject to Saturday detention.

This year, due to budget cuts, Saturday detention will not be in session.

Consequences, which are now restricted to school hours, are based on the time students arrive to school and their record of tar-diness.

Lock out for first period be-gins at 8:05 AM. If students ar-rive before this time, they are sent to class.

The first and second time a student arrives late, they are sent to their first period with an “un-excused” pass.

On the third offense, stu-

dents are sent to administra-tion where their parent or guardian will be contacted. The fourth time, the conse-quence is a half-day of Internal Suspension, the fifth time is a full day and the sixth is two days.

From that point, if the tardi-ness continues, the student is subjected to a full day of Internal Suspension.

The number of students over the past eight weeks has stayed relatively the same as before, but some benefits have been noticed.

“Hall sweeps are working quite well, but it’s a little more work for both teachers and ad-minitration,” said Assistant Prin-cipal Bernard Bell.

CALENDAR

COLTS WORLD VIEW

To understand our liberties as American citi-zens we must evaluate what is going on through-out the world. Extremist militants are forcing stores in Southern Iraq to shut down the selling of CDs

and DVDs. According to Associated Press’ correspondents in Iraq some em-ployees in music stores have been killed over the issue. In November 2006, it was reported by a UN news agency that 75 singers have been killed since this started in 2003. People have stopped listening to music in public out of fear. Listening to American pop music is regarded as making an asso-ciation with our troops. Freedom of expression is a new target for Iraqi mili-tants. As American citizens, the right to music has not been taken away.

IRAQ

RUSSIAThreats to U.S based computer networks have been made by both intelligence branches of for-eign countries, but also teenage hackers. Naturally, casual teen-age hackers have gotten better at their techniques and some make a living out of it. According to worldmarketmedia.com a website that supplies information about enonomic news throughout the world, FBI officials aren’t sure how the hackers are organized but they have stolen $9 million through hacking. The world is increasingly becoming a smaller place due to globalization allow-ing teens to “crack the system.” Teens may begin to believe that it is acceptable to disregard good morality because they are getting away with it in cyberspace.

by Jamie Klein

Our ability to use Google as a search engine supplies teens with much of their informa-tion. This resource has been censored in China because Beijing is determined to keep strict controls on the flow of information from for-

eign countries to its citizens. The flood of information is filtered through the Hong Kong portal and many sites are inaccessible. According to cbsnews.com, Google would “pull out of service” if it had to keep censoring Internet results. While searching google.cn one can distinguish which websites would be banned to Chinese citizens by a color-coding system. Websites that are based soley off independent submissions like Wikipedia and LiveJournal have been banned. Separatist groups and protest searches are also filtered out.

CHINA

PNC Bank opens doors to studentsCindy MoratayaStaff Writer PNC Bank has decided to open its doors to students at school for business exposure and accom-modations to student life after high school. PNC has attempted to develop a program to organize students’ schedules and needs. College life is costly and might not be easy to handle financially. PNC aspires to help students keep track of their expenses. “One of the main reasons we want students to sign up is be-cause we want them to become financially literate and carry that into their adult life,” said account-ing teacher Catherine Farina. PNC offers a “student virtual

wallet” on their website, www.pnc.com, that includes vari-ous apps and features including “Punch the Pig,” a way for stu-dents to put money into their sav-ings account. A virtual calendar is included as well to organize weekly expenses. These differ-ent features are ways to manage money during students’ college life. Mark Fitzgerald, vice president of Coral Springs branch, spoke to students in September during their business classes at school and informed them of the untra-ditional way this virtual bank is operated. Fitzgerald explained that J.P. Taravella and Coral Glades High School have been turned down to set up this pro-

gram at their schools. “We want to get established in Coral Springs high first,” said Fitzgerald. He added that PNC wants to try one school at a time to confirm if a bank at school would be successful. Since a majority of seniors are still underage, they are not able to open a PNC bank account on their own and must open a joint account with a parent or legal guardian. PNC bankers are de-termined to help both the parent and the student. Both account us-ers can enter any PNC bank and just have to fill out an application with their personal information. A minimum deposit of $25 is re-quired for activation. Some students move out for

college and don’t always have enough money for what they need. Some factors that contrib-ute would be money for food, gas, and clothing. This is where par-ents play their roles. They can ac-cess the account online and enter money directly into their child’s bank account. Students can even send a request for money via e-mail for quick cash. Still, some students may pre-fer to manage their own account and have the opportunity to keep the account for themselves once they’ve reached their legal age. “As soon as you turn 18, you can kick your parents off,” Fitzgerald commented. PNC bank hopes to expand their business through student

involvement and active participa-tion. Fitzgerald commented that they aspire to grow large enough to afford installing ATM machines in the school if given authoriza-tion to do so. The closest PNC bank is located at 4560 Lyons Rd. They are cur-rently building a new branch by Coral Ridge Dr. and Sample Rd., and have also been approved for more branches in Plantation and Tamarac. Students are encouraged to open an account with their parents and start a bank and customer rela-tionship. PNC bank opportunities do not have to end after college students graduate. They offer a “virtual wallet” account for life after college as well.

BUY A YEARBOOK!!Sale for only $55 ($30 off!)

OCT 18-20 NOV 8-10 25-27 16-17

News Briefs

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Students were able to recognize those affected by the disease by participat-ing in different activities. On Mon, Oct. 4, student government handed out stickers to first hour teachers, which were given to students. They read uplifting words such as “hope,” “faith,” and “strength.”

Events held include face painting at Colt Counter, and a guessing game that required estimating the amount of pink M&M’s in a jar. They asked for estimations from the stu-dents during both lunches. Junior Jon McE-wan, Chronicle staffer, was most accurate and received the jar of chocolates.

Oct. 7 was Pink Day, on which students were to wear pink to express their aware-ness for this form cancer. Next to the trophy case in the cafeteria there is a Remembrance Wall where students can write the name of a relative who is either a survivor, or has died from breast cancer.

Breast Cancer awareness week

Blood drive saves lives

-Ana Serpa, Staff Writer -Kathryn Long, Staff Writer

New dress code restrictions have been put into effect this school year.

The administration’s goal is

New policies enforce restrictions on inapropriate clothing

Brittany SalopekStaff Writer

The National Honor Society held their first blood drive of the year on Oct. 7. The CSHS Honor Society Chapter hosts the largest blood drive of any school in Broward County, usu-ally holding four of these events each school year.

Students who are 16 or older may donate, but parental permission may be required. Do-nors must be in healthy condition and meet certain height and weight requirements. Vari-ous conditions, such as recent tattoos or pierc-ings, low hemoglobin levels, illnesses, or having visited certain countries, may exempt some from donation eligibility. People who have donated whole blood must wait at least eight weeks before donating again, different regulations apply after other types of blood donations. Athletes should be sure to get ap-proval from their coaches before donating.

Blood is donated in affiliation with Com-munity Blood Centers of South Florida. The next drive will be held on Dec. 9.

-Caitlyn Tate, Staff Writer

Hispanic heritage celebrated

FSPA district convention

-Bria Carey, Staff Writer

Population increase affects student lifeElisa PressStaff Writer

Compared to last year, the school population has made a sizeable increase.

According to The School Board of Broward County, the ratio of teachers to high school students should be one teacher for every 25 students in a class. With this year’s lower number of teachers and higher number of students, this ratio is not easy to meet.

Additionally, some classes exceed the maximum amount of students allowed by Broward

County to be in each class. Administration is currently

in the process of switching stu-dents’ schedules around in order to maintain the Broward County population rule and to ease the learning of the students in these classes.

Some students believe that they are at a large disadvantage as a result of more students in their classes.

“I’m not too fond of the bigger classes, because it is harder for your teacher to actually remem-ber who you are. In my classes from previous years I’ve always

been the type of student to actu-ally talk to my teachers without the awkwardness, but now the teachers don’t even know who I am,” Monica Cortes, sophomore, said.

The hallways are more crowd-ed than last year. Megan Kearney, sophomore, believes this is the reason that many students are ending up late to their classes, even more so than last year.

“The halls are even more con-gested than last year. Many stu-dents are finding that they have to push [their] way through the crowded halls just to get to class.

This is starting to cause a lot of students to be tardy to class, and something should really be done about it,” said Kearney.

Kearney and Cortes hope that the increase in our school’s popu-lation becomes even less notice-able over time, and that all of the classroom and teacher problems eventually get straightened out.

With the reduction of class sizes, our school hopes to be able to provide a comfortable envi-ronment for students to learn in, leaving large inpersonla lecture halls with little to no contact with the teacher, to the universities.

‘Day care’ cont.

‘Scoring’, cont.

into the program is $100 a week plus an extra charge for an additional hour.

“I hope this price appeals to the public,” Gainer said, “but most importantly, I just like to watch the children grow up and develop their skills”.

The children will learn skills on language, math and science and they will prepare for kinder-garten.

“It’s so exciting and refreshing to have the children,” Gainer said, “because everything they do is a learning experience”.

In spite of this, Walz said that she does not expect the change to have a large impact on the overall score.

The director of the AP pro-gram, Trevor Packer, said in a recent interview with USA Today, that the changes “will be simpler, cleaner, psychometrically, not having to account for the deduc-tions for wrong answers.”

These changes are the first step to update several AP courses that will put more emphasis on the overall comprehension on the class.

The new non-penalization system is in effect for the fist time in May.

to enforce restrictions on reveal-ing dress, like low waisted pants, skirts with high hemlines, very short shorts, shirts that reveal too much cleavage and those that show bare midrift, so students do not get distracted from learning.

If students don’t have to worry about diverting their eyes from innapropriate dress, they might more easily be able to pay atten-tion and learn.

In past years, shorts were ex-pected to be no shorter than a student’s fingertips, and some people managed to slip this past

The Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) had their 2010 convention on Sat-urday, October 2 at Deerfield Beach High School. FSPA works to educate, train and support student journalists and their advisers. Approximately 40 students represented our school’s Newspaper, Yearbook, Literary Magazine and TV Production. Students had the opportunity to listen to keynote speaker Les Rose, elect our new District 7 Representative, Alex Ho-gan of American Heritage, and attend sev-eral informative workshops of their choice throughout the day. Our school places in six contests, includ-ing, second placed for “On the Spot” Liter-ary Magazine team; second place for “On the Spot” Newspaper Layout; second place for “On the Spot” Carry-In Web Design Layout; third place for Newspaper Carry-In Layout; third place for “On the Spot” News Writing; and second place in Creative Writing.

security. Now the policy makes things fair for all students.

This year the rules are stricter and harsher.

“We are tired of seeing un-dergarments, and it’s getting out of hand. Inappropriate clothing distracts others, and it leads to behavioral problems,” Farrah Wilson, tenth grade assistant principal, said.

The newly enforced rules in-clude: shorts at mid-thigh only, shirts at mid-thigh when worn with leggings, no pants with holes above the knee, and no sleeveless

shirts worn by boys.“I have been told to pull my

shirt down on numerous occa-sions, or I would be placed in Internal Suspension (IS),” said senior Mickia Williams. “Certain things like sagging pants are un-derstandable, but I don’t under-stand the tops and shorts policy.”

Students are also prohibited from changing into other clothes that they may have stored in lockers or backpacks. They must only have a change of clothing brought to the school by their parents.

Administration tightens policies after students con-tinually choose to ignore looser rules

The National Spanish Honor Society, with the help of their sponsor Jenny Martinez-Roposo, has thought of a few ways to celebrate Nation Hispanic Heritage Month this October. To begin this year’s events, members are asked to create posters relating to any aspect of Hispanic heritage. These post-ers will be hung up around the school for students to see, and will contain aspects of Hispanic contributions to America, such as influential Hispanics and Hispanic culture. Spanish Honor Society will also be holding a potluck luncheon for their members at the school. Members are encouraged to bring in custom home-made dishes from a certain Spanish or Latin American country in order to introduce new cuisine and culture to its members. The club will then get together and, in a festive setting, walk around the room and taste the many different flavors of Hispanic culture.

Aneesa AllieAustin BergeronJordan Butchen

Bria CareyJordan CohenReed Congdon

Amanda CurrentDuffy DufresneSara Grignon

Shahnawz HardanianKatie Jones

Sarah MoseleyAnastasia Okonski

Elisa PressBrittany Salopek

Daniel SchuttJoshua SeilerAna SerpaCaitlyn Tate

Michael TrotmanKristin Vara

Charles Weintraub

STAFF

The Chronicle is a member of Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA). Editorial opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Coral Springs High School or Broward County Public Schools The Chronicle is written

and published by the journalism students at Coral Springs High School. Advertising is available by calling 754-322-0600. We accept all letters to the editor in room 803. All letters are subject to editing for space and

content. The School Board of Broward County, Florida, prohibits any policy or procedure which results in dis-crimination on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, marital status, race, religion or sexual orientation. Individuals who wish to file a discrimination and/or harrasment complaint may call the Executive Director, Benefits & EEO Compliance at (754) 321-2150 or Teletype Machine TTY (754) 321-2158. Individuals

with disabilities requesting accomodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may call Equal Educational Opportunities (EEO) at (754) 321-2150 or Teletype Machine TTY (754) 321-2158.Th

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hro

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le Alec KayeKasey Litchfield Kathryn LongDaniel Lopez

Daniela LozanoSonya MajewskiHarley Mitchell

Lorenzo MohammedCindy MoratayaArianna Morrell

SAMANTHA SCHWAB, Editor-in-ChiefSHAINA KONZNY, Managing and Entertainment Editor

AMANDA CURRENT, News EditorJAMIE KLEIN, Opinion Editor

SARAANA JAMRAJ, Feature Editor ALLIE SCHUTT, Dimensions and Graphics Editor

ASHLEY RYNAR, Sports EditorLAUREN LEWKOWICZ, Sports Editor

SARIKA BEHARRYSINGH, Copy EditorTARA JOHNSTON, Photo Captain and Business Manager

SARA CASTANEDA, Photo CaptainJON McEWAN, Advertising Designer

CORY LAUB, Advisor

In a society where the pressures of gaining social ac-ceptance and personal achievement persistently bombard the minds of teens, day in and day out, an excess of mental dissonance accumulates over time. Yet, the human system has the ability to generate its own stimulant – adrenaline, also known as epinephrine.

Located above the kidneys, the adrenal gland regulates the amount of adrenaline pumped into the system. Adren-aline increases the heart rate, elevates blood pressure and boosts energy supplies to fend off potential threats for a short range of time. Production of glucose is also opti-mized to provide energy to the muscles.

Adrenaline-filled sports push the limits of peril and send one’s body raging with stress-reducing hormones. Skateboarding on ramps provide the sensation of falling

Adrenaline pumping sports inhibit stress hormones

Behold, the most innovative way of promoting narcis-sism since the mirror and the simplest way of being abu-sive since sticks and stones.

Formspring, a website that allows anyone to ask users whatever they want anonymously, has made quite a splash in the virtual pond. While this site is grouped with other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, it truly reigns supreme when it comes to advocating such “noble concepts” such as cyber abuse, insecurity, and van-ity.

In order to receive anonymous messages one must cre-ate an account. Through this account the user can choose which questions they wish to respond to and those will show on their page as visible to others. One can even go as far as showing these posts on their Facebook wall. The catch is you don’t have to be a user to post something on another person’s Formspring. Rather, anybody with Inter-net access can ask any user whatever he or she would like.

Though Formspring’s original purpose was to provide an opportunity for friends to ask questions anonymously, this initial intention has been abused entirely. A typical Formspring page is littered with professions of love, of-fensive statements, and rumors. This was the case of ju-nior and Formspring user Mayling Fossi, who had a rumor spread about her via Formspring saying one of her “past boyfriends had cheated” on her.

“It was really annoying, because my friends all saw it and confronted me about it. It was a lot of drama and caused a lot of tension,” said Fossi.

Through Formspring, it is possible for anybody to have a virtual and anonymous buffer zone that allows them to feel comfortable enough to post obscenities and offensive information that they would never be able to say in per-son. By this, not only is the site promoting cyber bullying, but it is weakening human confrontational and conversa-tional skills.

“[Formspring] allows people to talk [badly] about someone without taking the blame,” said Formspring user Cassidy Neer, sophomore.

With all the negative effects of Formspring, one may wonder why anybody would have one in the first place. As human beings, we can’t help but appreciate attention. Whether it be negative or positive, there is a sense of flat-tery when one receives a message through this site, know-ing that someone took time out of their day to write to them. The fact that it is anonymous also adds to the ele-ment of mystery that so many of us thrive on. But all of these simple pleasures are in vain, and they can promote selfcenteredness, pride, and most importantly, insecurity.

“I found out things about myself that I didn’t even know,” said Formspring user, Olivia Polk, sophomore.

While the Formspring homepage may read, “Ask ques-tions, give answers, and learn more about your friends”, the sad truth is many don’t join to discover more about their friends. They join to learn more about themselves.

Sticks, Stones, FormspringBy Sarah MoseleyStaff Writer

and coasting at high speeds, while remaining in a relative-ly controlled environment.

The skateboarding park Ramp 48+, down by Fort Lau-derdale, attracts the attention of skateboarder Logan Sim-mons, sophomore. As soon as he finishes his homework, he takes to the mini-ramp, his favorite attraction at Ramp 48+, in order to relieve any stress.

“[When I skate] I feel the adrenaline rush a lot. It makes me feel happy and allows me to escape from everything,” said Simmons.

Aside from partaking in physical activities for an adrenaline rush, the mind has the ability to mirror the emotion through merely visual representation. In other terms, the mind also alleviates tension through empathy while watching others perform strenuous activities.

Influences from society will always try to bring you down, but healthier alternatives are always avilable to de-feat the harmful influences in life.

By Alec KayeStaff Writer

By Saraana JamrajFeature Editor

Two hundred and twenty-three years ago, the founders of our country ratified the Constitution.

“The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights,” said Thomas Jefferson, framer of the Constitution.

Nine years ago, our country was devastated by ter-rorist attacks on Sept. 11. Radicals skewed teachings of Islam to justify unjust acts, when they flew planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. There were nine-teen radical Muslims involved, but there are over 1.5 bil-lion Muslims in the world. We have Muslim classmates, friends, and neighbors. Yet, recently, we have let nineteen radicals sour us to 1.5 billion moderates and progressives.

Islamophobia, irrational prejudice towards Muslims, is on the rise and citizens are protesting against mosques being built nationwide. Perhaps these people misunder-stand what a mosque is. Mosques are not terrorist train-ing camps, or 9/11 celebration grounds. They offer a place for Muslims to practice their five daily prayers, and give thanks to Allah. Mosques are places of peaceful wor-ship, just like synogogues and churches.

Negativity toward Muslims has become widespread. A Washington Post-ABC news poll conducted in Sept. shows that 49% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Islam. It is unsettling, and frankly, shameful, to see that in a country founded for freedom of religion, half of the population disapproves of the second largest religion in the world. What does that say about our judgment if we can allow nineteen radicals to be the faces of 1.5 billion people? Does that 49% think Muhammad Ali no longer holds his place in history as one of the most beloved box-ers? Does Kareem Abdul-Jabbar no longer have his right as a basketball hero? Will we stop laughing at Dave Cha-pelle jokes, and is the Taj Mahal any less beautiful because a Muslim Shah created it?

Muslims are even being targeted by politicians. With Election Day approaching on Nov. 2, candidates are using this issue in their campaigns. Renee Ellmers (R), North Carolina congressional candidate, claims that an Islamic community center to be built in New York City is a “victory mosque,” as if Muslims were labeling 9/11 as a triumph against America.

Politicians are hatemongering against a religion. Americans are trying to prevent Muslims from building places of worship. Why is this okay? Doesn’t it all sound too familiar? The Holocaust did not start off with concen-tration camps. It began with small prejudices against a specific religion, and it turned into a tragedy.

There is a reason the Constitution includes both the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion in the first amendment- because they are equally important. So it is not just ironic, but un-American to use freedom of speech to protest against fellow Americans’ freedom of religion. To spew hate and cast away an entire religion, to blame a billion peaceful people for the violent actions of a few, and to reach for intolerance before understanding stands against everything America stands for.

Our country was founded despite many obstacles. Thirty-seven states and twenty-seven amendments later, it has become the symbol of democracy and freedom. Radicals who hate America are opposed to our democratic ideals. They do not believe in freedom of religion or ex-pression. If we try to limit Muslims’ freedoms; if we say that one religion is not as deserving of rights as another, are we not giving in to their way of thinking? If we take issue with mosques; if we allow politicians to continue blaming Islam for our problems; if we continue to stigma-tize Muslims, we are making the same mistakes that Al-Qaeda made by judging us.

Anti-Islam prejudice undermines American values

Cindy MoratayaHEAVY LIFTING: The weight room acts as a safe and healthy environment for students to stimulate their adrenaline glands.

THE CHRONICLESTAFF EDITORIAL

All opinions expressed are those of the individual writer and all letters are subject to editing for space and content.

Send Letters to the Editors to room 803, or email them to eicthechronicle@gmail.comLETTERS TO THE EDITORS

Most students’ would prefer to spend their high school years in classes with no more than 30 students. Those who choose to attend a post-secondary institu-tion can be given a rude awaken-ing when they find themselves in classes with at least 200 students.

A new style of teaching, which bridges this huge gap, “team teaching,” has been implement-ed this year with two of the Ad-vanced Placement Psychology classes.

Team teaching is a method of instruction in which the classes hold about 50 students with two teachers, one teaching and one observing.

“I think [team teaching] does better prepare students for col-lege, whether we like it or not. It may not be an as comfortable en-vironment but that’s how it’s go-ing to be,” Emily Fox, current AP Psychology student, said.

AP Psychology begins with each student figuring out what personality style they best fit into. Students are able to discov-er who they are early in the class, which runs deep throughout the year. In a larger class, students are able to see how each person-ality style reacts to certain situa-tions. In smaller classes, students aren’t able to work with such a large group of each personal-ity style. AP Psychology incor-porates a lot of group work, and

with a large number of students everyone can benefit and thrive off of each other.

“Bigger class size will allow students to work with more per-sonality styles. In smaller classes you aren’t given that opportu-nity,” said Stacy Weaver, AP Psy-chology teacher.

In larger class sizes, students may be more hesitant to ask questions. This is a fear they will have to overcome once they are taking bigger classes because the teachers won’t have time for ev-ery student in class. It will make them have to take the initiative

and go see the teacher for extra help, a necessary skill beyond high school.

Aside from the difficulty to maintain communication be-tween students and teachers, the classroom will maintain the same curriculum it has in the past.

“I’m doing my same lesson plans, just with more students,” Virgnia Meachum, AP Psychology teacher, said.

Also, with the larger class sizes and time constraint, students will have to take it upon themselves to do more studying outside of the classroom. Students will have to

Tara JohnstonPhoto Captain, Business Manager

Jersey ShoreIn the 1970s a new stereotype

emerged, the “guido” lifestyle. Economically lower-middle class men of Italian descent, native to the New York/New Jersey area, were referred to by this deroga-tory term. But today, some Ital-ians embrace the image and have re-invented the name.

In the MTV reality series Jersey Shore, 8 housemates are chosen to spend their summer together. They earn their living space by working part time at a rotating job. In the summer of 2009 the destination was Seaside Heights, NJ (The Jersey Shore) and in 2010, the show relocated to our very own Miami Beach.

The show highlights the ex-tremes that some people try to reach to represent their ethnic-ity. At first, the strict “Gym Tan Laundry” lifestyle was mainly entertainment for viewers since it was an unfamiliar lifestyle for most. Now, this is a phrase that influences many teenagers in the United States whether they choose to practice it or not.

With watching just one epi-sode of Jersey Shore, the viewer realizes that almost all the cast members are of Italian descent. Many teens have displayed an interest in the casts’ unique life-style and through the show have been taught that the meaning of the stereotype isn’t a bad thing.

The show grasps the oppor-tunity to re-define a stereotype to the general population, but for some students who don’t watch the show the term guido can still maintain its original offensive na-ture.

“I don’t watch Jersey Shore,” Anthony Marziliano, sophomore said. Marziliano added, “I think the term guido is insulting, it’s like being called a grease-ball. It would be ignorant to flaunt this.”

According to tvbythenumbers.com, a site that provides data about the television industry, Jersey Shore broke series re-cords and delivered MTV’s high-est rated original series in two years. Clarifying an insulting ste-reotype through reality tv was become popular among Jersey Shore viewers; it is a practice that should spread.

Jersey Shore allows us to ob-serve a group of people, and even-tually understand that we all feel the same and we all are the same underneath the masks we create.

Initially, the show was un-re-latable and uninteresting among my friends; now after two con-secutive summers of following the housemates through their problems, we see that many of them are understandable. We have naturally chosen our favor-ite characters and stood by their sides through their conflicts and resolutions.

It is easy to misjudge people and label them because of their tattoos or fake tans (physical at-tributes attained through unnatu-ral methods), but after a few epi-sodes of Jersey Shore it is nearly impossible to avoid falling in love with one of the unique characters.

To the students and staff of Coral Springs High School, and the Coral Springs community: welcome to the debut issue of The Chronicle for the 2010-2011 school year.

In future issues, this is the space in which “Letters to the Ed-itor” will appear- and we thought we’d take a moment to discuss that with you, our readers. What exactly are letters to the editor?

First, it’s important to remem-ber that news is always happen-

ing; every second of every day, and lots of it is relevant to you and your lives. The Chronicle tries to bring as much of this informa-tion to you as possible. But our staffers can’t be everywhere, and we’re not anyways privy to every-thing that occurs around school. Sometimes, if something impor-tant is happening, we need some help in finding it. If it’s important to you, it’s probably important to someone else- why not let us know? Maybe we’ll print it.

The second reason for letters to the editor is this: We want to know what you think. With all the effort we put into the paper, it’s sometimes easy to forget that our paper is a training program for young journalists; we are still learning- we don’t always know if the news we report is reaching you the way it was meant to. And sometimes, though we try not to, we make a mistake in an article, and need to know what it is.

For all the above reasons and

more, we invite you, our readers, to write letters to the editor.

All letters can be delivered to our publications office in Coral Springs High School, room 803, or emailed to eicthechronicle@gmail.com.

As always, we thank you for your readership, and look for-ward to bringing you the news.

Sincerely,

The Chronicle

Harder tests will give Florida a harder time.

According to the Florida De-partment of Education, as of 2011, all tenth graders will be required to take a more rigorous version of the Florida Compre-hensive Assessment Test in read-ing this May. FCAT 2.0, they call it.

Even more unsettling is the End-of-Course Assessment (EOC) that must be taken by all students currently enrolled in an Algebra I course, if they plan on getting a high school credit for the class.

These tests, the result of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards, are hoped to “improve college and career readiness,” ac-cording to the FLDOE.

As of now, we’re only in the transitional phase.

If all goes well, the reading, mathematics, and science por-tion of the original FCAT will be eliminated, and will be upgraded to the FCAT 2.0 test by the 2013-2014 school year, according to

the FLDOE. End-of-Course exams will also be added for Biology I, Geometry, U.S History, and Civics.

It’s refreshing to know that the state is making an effort to up-grade the educational system in Florida, seeing that America as a whole is lagging behind the rest of the world in math and science. But making a harder version of the FCAT isn’t the way to go, and past scores can prove it.

In 2010, 44% of all ninth and tenth grade students in the state of Florida performed at or above Achievement Level 3 on FCAT Reading, with a whopping 26% achieving a Level 1.

In grades nine and ten, 70% of students in the state performed at or above Achievement Level 3 in FCAT Mathematics, with only 38% of eleventh graders per-forming at or above that level.

Although the percentage of students who passed the FCAT has steadily increased from pre-vious years, the numbers are still too low for a more difficult test.

If a large portion of students cannot achieve Level 3 or higher on the basic FCAT, then the up-graded version will cause passing rates to drastically decrease.

A decrease in passing rates means a lower grade for the school, which can, in turn, lower property values in Florida.

In general, people searching for homes will avoid neighbor-hoods zoned for poorly rated schools. When a school’s grade drops, people will be compelled to relocate to a school that will give their child a better education. If a significant number of families sell their homes in one area at the same time, property values will decrease.

According to a 2000 report by the Department of Econom-ics at the University of Florida, called What’s in a Grade? School Report Cards and House Price, “innocuous-seeming school clas-sifications may have large distri-butional implications.”

Conclusions were formed from

housing price increases in neigh-borhoods surrounding schools that received an “A,” and the de-creases presented in neighbor-hoods surrounding schools that received a “B.”

If a difference of one grade let-ter caused a noticeable change in just one city, a drop in school grades among all high schools in the state could cause damage to Florida’s housing market.

As of now, the state is stan-dardizing its education as a part of the national trend for increased school accountability from the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), which supports standard-based education reform.

It is good that the nation is pushing for higher standards, but Florida isn’t quite ready yet.

The state should stay at an FCAT minimum.

Scores in all sections should improve into at least the upper 50 percentile so an extreme drop in school grades will not be ex-pected.

learn to be more responsible, and rely on other resources besides the instructor, such as notes and textbooks. This may be a more complicated method of obtaining information, but it is one that will be necessary in the future.

Students who feel inconve-nienced by this new way of learn-ing, from my standpoint, will re-alize in the end that it can benefit them. If students would look at the long-term benefits instead of focusing on how much they don’t like it, they would be able to take full advantage of the opportunity placed in front of them.

Jamie KleinOpinion Editor

Sonya MajewskiSTRENGTH IN NUMBERS: Students pay attention during auditorium style lectures in AP Psy-chology; this method prepares students for similiar college procedures.

New team teaching techniques have been implemented in AP Psychology classes

FCAT 2.0, End-of-Course assesments could be detrimental for Florida

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT

When approaching an inter-section there are three colors to look for: red, green, and yellow.

Red obviously means “stop,” green means “go,” and yellow means “slow down.”

Most of the time drivers speed up and try to make it through the yellow light, but that often leads to accelerating to danger-ous speeds. This increases the likihood of running a red light or possibly hitting another vehicle, or even worse, a pedestrian.

Since police officers aren’t always nearby, the city of Coral Springs has set up cameras at stop lights to take pictures of the drivers who run red lights, make illegal right turns and other traf-fic violations. Some students aren’t exactly happy that the city has decided to take the Big Broth-er route, but they’re not looking at the big picture.

“It’s not a scam but I definitely don’t think that the cameras are put up strictly for safety purpos-es. I think without question that they’re used to make money for municipal governments by send-ing out tons of tickets,” said Ash-

ley Gilkes, senior. When a driver speeds up to

catch a yellow light before it turns red, they often accelerate to speeds that are not only illegal and over the speed limit. These speeds are dangerous to pedes-trians and other vehicles that are making turns when they have a green light.

The cameras’ main purpose is to protect the people on the roads. It’s a good idea to use these cameras to keep an eye on people who might have second thoughts about stopping at a red light. As a driver myself, I’m always on the lookout for drivers who would rather focus on speeding to make it to that big meeting they’re running late to, than to focus on what’s more important: the road.

“If you get in an accident and someone drives off, you could use the camera to catch the license plate of the driver, or zoom in and actually get a picture of the cul-prit,” said Jessica Lane, senior.

Using these cameras to watch the roads is no different than the use of cameras on squad cars. They’re beneficial to the police because if something happens while they’re pulling a driver over, then they have a second set of eyes that can show the record-ed proof.

Paying attention to the road is extremely important. If you’re not going to pay attention to it, the cameras will for you.

Sara GrignonStaff Writer

Dear junk food companies, my name is Youth of America, and I am a junk food junkie. I have been hooked on the crunch of crispy potato chips and deli-cious sweets for as long as I can remember. A simple walk down the street results in the ordering of a Big Mac from McDonald’s or a Whopper from Burger King. I may have satisfaction for a few minutes, but in the future I will not be “lovin’ it”. With this salted treat I know I will pay for it later.

Obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, you name it and I may have it. After all, statistics have proven that one in every three children will develop diabetes. Therefore, I would like to make this appeal to junk food compa-nies across the land: quit tempt-ing us to eat unhealthy foods.

The constant pressure spewed out by catchy slogans like Wendy’s, “Do what tastes right” leaves me in search of a fast food fix. In 1970 it was reported that Americans spent around $6 mil-lion dollars on fast food, and in 2006 that number rose to around $142 million dollars.

In the future, you will not be “lovin’ it”Arianna MorrellStaff Writer

Red light cameras act as another set of eyes for law enforce-ment to ensure safety

The junk food industry tar-gets the younger population to create loyal customers years ahead. By showing fun toys in re-latable ads starring kids, today’s youth have been desensitized to harmful effects of unhealthy foods. Artificial flavors are used twice more in kids’ meals than in adult foods.

With the constant consump-tion of these foods, it will lead to obesity and excess weight. Ad-vertisements from pizzerias such as Pizza-Hut and Papa John’s add fuel to the calorie- enriched fire. Most children today would agree that seeing steaming slices of pizza being carefully lifted out of a box is more appealing than a cold plate of lopsided vegetables staring at them. If young adults and kids are the future, then there is no need in luring them to eat unhealthy. Clearly we need to replace unhealthy foods with more nutritious options.

Yes, it is clear that Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and other food cor-porations need to make profit. So if temptation lingers, why not add more healthy ingredients to the foods? It doesn’t hurt to have fat free and sugar-free listed on a box of cookies.

red light cameras?

“Red light cameras are a great law enforcement tool to catch people who choose

to run red lights.” DANIEL BARLETT, SENIOR

“It might prevent accidents, but people running yellow lights shouldn’t be punished just because they’re in a rush.”

CINDY ROJAS, SENIOR

“The cameras are an annoy-ance because they watch

every single thing you do.”RYAN DENARDO, FRESHMAN

“This system prevents ac-cidents and this will de-

crease the amount of death.” SELENA AGOSOTO, JUNIOR

“They are a good idea but I’m sure my mother

wouldn’t appreciate them.” AMANDA ROSADO, JUNIOR

RED LIGHT CAMERAS: HELPFUL OR HURTFUL?

Sara CastanedaSNACKING AWAY: Vending machines are located on every cor-ner increasing temptation because of their easy accessability.

Red light cameras are popping up throughout the country. In-tended to decrease the tons of ac-cidents occurring at intersections caused by red light runners, the red light cameras have created more problems then they were supposed to solve.

The camera system continu-ally monitors the traffic signals; any vehicle entering the intersection above a preset minimum speed activates the camera. After turning on, the camera follows traffic until a specified time runs out. If caught running the red light, about two months later a ticket is delivered to the offender, ranging anywhere from $75 to $125.

The cameras violate a basic principal of the criminal justice sys-tem- innocent until proven guilty. This apparently doesn’t apply in this road scenario, because without a viable witness to the supposed crime, a ticket is sent to the owner of the vehicle caught by the picture in which the driver isn’t identi-fied. A picture of your license plate doesn’t establish that you person-ally committed the crime - it only establishes that your car did, and

anyone could have been driving the car.

Some people’s opinions about the camera differ.

“At first I though the cameras would be a good idea, but I haven’t really seen a positive change in anything,” said Christina Beauvoir, junior.

The theory behind these camer-as is noble, as it hopes to reduce the number of crashes, but the outcome is not so pleasing. Yes, the number of right angle crashes-or T-Bone collisions- has decreased, but the number of rear end collisions has increased at an average of 15%, ac-cording to a 2005 study by the Fed-eral Highway Administration.

To avoid the ticket for running the red light if caught by the cam-eras, drivers stop too soon and can get rear-ended. For whatever speeding problem its presence solves, the camera causes a new collision. The probability of fender-benders increases stress for some drivers. With this being said, the cameras present a health issue for many drivers.

These devices don’t even fix the problem. Going 100 miles per hour through an intersection will go un-detected by the cameras as long as the light is green. The cameras don’t prevent car accidents. On the contrary, that is just what they are, accidents. Granted, red light run-ning is dangerous, but if someone is determined to run the light, a camera won’t stop them.

Kasey LitchfieldStaff Writer

Red light cameras in-crease the likelihood of speeding through the intersections

“I think they’re great, be-cause they capture some-body committing an infrac-tion the moment it happens.”

DANIELA LOPEZ, SENIOR

“Greatest” mural ever seen, sponsored by Morgan Spurlock

Sarika BeharrysinghCopy Editor

Catching the attention of students and staff as they enter the north parking lot is a color-ful mural. Naturally, many are asking questions about why it is being painted, who’s painting it, and what it is.

Morgan Spurlock, American documentary filmmaker, tele-vision producer, screenwriter, journalist, and most widely known for his popular film, Su-per Size Me, is responsible for

funding the mural. Spurlock con-tacted the Broward School dis-trict seeking to advertise his new movie, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. The film is a documentary about the issues and solutions re-garding how to fund programs in light of the severe budget crunch that school districts around the country are experiencing.

Spurlock contacted Athletic Director Dianne Sanzari about how our school is handling the budget cuts. A member of the School Board Advertising Com-mittee, Sanzari introduced Spur-

lock to our school facility, dis-cussed our policies regarding budget cuts.

While touring the campus, Sanzari showed Spurlock the rac-quetball court.

“My vision was to have a mural on that wall welcoming people to our facility.,” said Sanzari.

Sanzari immediately dis-cussed the idea of using this space for sponsorship with Susan Leon-Leigh, principal. After re-searching costs, the two learned that such funding could be at great as $15,000. This sponsor-

ship would allow for not only a welcome mural but also individ-ual business sponsorship. The idea was then presented to Spur-lock, who loved it. Spurlock de-cided to sponsor the full 108’x30’ wall and provide the mural.

An artist who creates many of the murals at various schools around the county, Michelle Morse, met with Sanzari to dis-cuss possible ideas. Morse pre-sented sketches of what the mural could look like and once a final concept was decided in early July, work began.

The mural is bright, showing two men riding horses. Between the two men is a painting of horses running freely. On the far right, the words “This school has a loyal Colt following,” is followed by a list of the sponsors and their logos. Sponsors include jetBlue, Hyatt, and movietickets.com. On the far left is “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Spurlock’s film. These sponsorships earn the largest portion of mural’s funding.

Students and staff have wel-comed the mural as an enhance-ment to our campus.

INTO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU

Jordan ButchenStaff Writer

A war that started over sev-en years ago now appears to be heading toward its conclu-sion.

On Mar. 20, 2003 a multina-tional force of troops, led by the United States and the United Kingdom, invaded Iraq in order to search for alleged weapons of mass destruction and help create a stable environment in this re-gion of the world.

During the course of the past seven years, Saddam Hussein lost power and was executed. No chemical or biological weap-ons were discovered. Also, there were over 17,000 deaths and ap-proximately 60,000 injuries. The United Nations Refugee Agency registered over 300,000 Iraqi refugees.

President Barack Obama stated several times during his election campaign his tentative plans for dealing with the war. His intent was to remove all U.S. soldiers from combat positions within a specified period of time-leaving the remaining troops there for security and support.

“The Iraqi people now have led responsibility for the se-curity of their country,” said Obama during an Oval Office address.

On Aug. 31, Obama an-

nounced an end to all combat operations in Iraq and the imme-diate withdrawal of all combat troops within the country. The current remaining U.S. force of 50,000 troops still in Iraq is to serve in an “advise and assist” capacity. This means that U.S. sol-diers will continue to help ensure peace and stability in the country and help promote the institution of Iraq’s new democratic govern-ment.

With tens of thousands of soldiers now returning home to their loved ones, whom they might not have seen for years, this act will now give them the ability to begin a new stage of their lives.

Several soldiers will be re-turning home to students of our school. Tom Ferri, father of juior-Dylan Ferri, is one of these sol-diers. As a result of Obama’s de-cree, Mr. Ferri and many others will be welcomed home to their families.

“I’m glad I get to see my dad more. I missed not being able to spend time with him for so long. Now I will be able to do all of the things that I’ve never had the chance to do with him before,” Ferri said.

Mr. Ferri had previously been employed as an officer of the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, and upon his return to Florida re-turned to that position.

Troops return from Iraq

CRAWLINGA variety of creepy crawl-

ers have taken refuge in our neighborhood, a few fierce and tough-looking, but for the most part not lethal. Among the as-sortment, the spider popula-tion remains strong and no-ticeable.

Nephila clavipes, also com-monly labeled Golden Silk or Banana spiders, have been seen recently in Coral Springs. Char-acterized by their golden silk webs, they can grow to a leg span exceeding ten inches, with feathery tufts on six of its eight legs.

Periodically, the spider will destroy a portion of its web and rebuild it each day to cleanse the web of any residue picked up. According to H. V. Weems, entomologist, and G. B. Ed-wards, anthropologist, in their report Golden Silk Spider, pub-lished at the University of Flor-ida Department of Entomolgy,

the Nephila clavipes will bite only if bothered – producing localized pain and slight red-ness, but contains no venom. Typically, the webs are made in open woods or edges of dense forest, usually attached to trees and low shrubs throughout Florida.

An unknown species of spi-der has appeared lately within our school. Beige-white and av-eraging two inches long, the spi-ders have been spotted around the courtyard, where many stu-dents eat their lunch daily.

Self-proclaimed Little Miss Muffet Rachael Chirichello, se-nior, describes how she encoun-tered the spider on several oc-casions: in the courtyard, out by Yogurtland on University Drive, and even on her own driveway.

“They seem to be following me. It’s like a curse or some-thing,” Chirichello said.

In early Sept., a spider low-ered itself down on its web di-rectly beside Chirichello’s head,

sending her friends screaming in panic, during school hours.

Initial student reaction to the spiders is paired with feelings of disgust or even pure terror.

Thomas G. Shelton, research scientist for USDA Forest Ser-vice, explains in his publication The Black Widow: these eight-legged critters are essential to nature’s society, and tend to scurry away the moment they sight the oncoming footsteps of approaching human beings, gi-gantic in comparison.

“People are often afraid of spiders because of their ill-de-served reputation for envenom-izing victims,” Shelton said. “In fact, most spiders do not have mouthparts strong enough to penetrate skin.”

Floridian spiders are most noticeable in late summer and into the beginning of fall, but are present year round. The warm environment of South Florida provides a suitable breeding ground.

Alec KayeStaff Writer

Sara Castaneda“Super Sized” Mural: Filmaker Morgan Spurlock funds our new mural, as part of his next documentary, centered on economic budget cuts and solutions.

involved with DJing, but she hates when she is unable to make the music flow well. Or even worse, when the equip-ment does not work the way she’d like.

Even though Davis may be a little better at setting up equipment than DJing itself, she is still dedicated to music and making sure the crowd is entertained. She loves to hear the crowd cheer her on and see them dancing to the music she is mixing for them.

“DJing is a way to express my love for music,” said Davis.

She says that the best part of it all is when it works out; she knows the crowd loves her creation, and the music all flows togeth-er.

EVERYONE STORYHASA

Katie JonesStaff Writer

DJ Nadia Davis hits the scene

Aneesa AllieStaff Writer

Rakan Shaker: Taking on film school

Unlike your typical high school senior, Rakan Shaker discovered his passion right from the get go, which led him to study film in college.

Shaker graduated with the class of 2008. During that year he became involved in numer-ous hobbies that led to his inter-est in film. Shaker’s love of skate-boarding impacted his desire to film, as many skaters document-ed their skateboarding through vidoes. He also enjoyed playing guitar, which was a natural path to recording music videos.

Shaker went on to Florida State University, where he is now enrolled in his third year. He entered with one goal in

mind: getting into FSU’s extremely competitive film program.

Denied entrance as an incoming freshman, Shaker was motivated. He began meeting other film students his age, using the opportunity to earn recognition by volunteering on their sets. With the experi-ence, Shaker once again applied to the film pro-gram, but again was turned down.

“My second denial was heart-breaking, as applying again meant

spending an extra year in school and graduating after all of my friends already in the program,” Shaker said.

Despite this second rejection from the program, he continued to work toward his dream. He started volunteering on larger sets, making more connections and landing more freelancing jobs. Shaker applied to the film program a third time in his sopho-more year, and this time was ac-cepted, landing one of five trans-fer spots.

“I’m definitely happy that the third time was the charm. This program is worth it, and the ex-tra year of volunteering actually equipped me well,” Shaker said.

Shaker has also made commer-cials and Internet advertisements for fraternities, local businesses and Seminole Boosters and Pro-ductions. He has interned with the City of Tallahassee, writing and organizing news releases for the Department of Communications, which linked him to the local news channel WCOT. Shaker co-founded Special Delivery Produc-tions, Inc., a small film production company, with fellow alumnus, Chad Greene. The group made money by shooting weddings, commercials, and music videos. They entered the Delray Beach Film Festival’s Script to Real Con-test and tied for first place.

Shaker hopes to edit and work on lighting feature length, large budget films in the near

future, whether they are estab-lished under Hollywood or cre-ated independently. His main target is to become a cinematog-rapher, but will openhandedly accept jobs as an editor, director, writer, or production designer of films. He patiently awaits the day he wins an award from Cannes, Sundance, or the Acad-emy for his work.

As for now, Shaker spends his time taking film classes, which can be up to 13 hours long. Re-gardless of the length, Shaker embraces them. He believes that his commitment will help him ac-complish his ultimate dream of officially making it into the film world.

You’ll find that a lot of teenag-ers today express their music in-terests in various ways: through playing their instruments, listen-ing to their iPods, or even just us-ing their own voice. But for Nadia Davis, freshman, it’s a different story.

Upon meeting this quiet but intelligent girl, people wouldn’t expect to learn that she practices the art of Disc Jockeying. Almost every weekend she’s at family-run parties, practicing her skills at the turntables, or perfecting her organization of the equip-ment being used.

The type of music that might be heard at these parties consists of mostly techno and Caribbean blends.

“When I DJ I play different types of music including hip hop and rap, such as songs on 99 Jamz,” said Davis.

She has always been around the DJ booth; her mother is in-volved in the St. Lucia Associa-tion Community Center, a party location. Her uncle, the man who taught her everything she knows,

DJs professionally. The parties have lots of dancing, music and food, and much celebration.

Davis mentioned that she doesn’t have a terrible experi-ence or an embarrassing moment

Feyaad AllieContributing Writer

Mayor’s Messenger

ALUM

NI S

POTL

IGHT

As busy teenagers, we over-look the programs and organi-zations our city has. We are too preoccupied with homework, afterschool activities, and social life to realize that our city has numerous beneficial programs. Once we notice the opportuni-ties that our city makes avail-able, we can really make a dif-ference in our community.

As Scott Brook wraps up his term as Mayor of Coral Springs he is definitely going to leave a lasting impression. Mayor Brook has created an organi-zation titled The Teen Task Force (TTF) for Healthy Choice. This group is intended to be a method by which schools will prevent violence and advocate advantageous choices for teens.

Mayor Brook and the mem-bers of the planning commit-tee aspire to bring TTF to the local middle and high schools of Coral Springs. The school based groups will have a liaison and coordinator for each team, who will report to the organiza-tion’s committee their results, suggestions, and observations. Mayor Brook explained that the main goal of the TTF is to make sure that we can help avert local tragedies involving teens, along with encouraging healthier choices for the adolescents of Coral Springs.

The Teen Task Force has held two meetings to brainstorm ideas on how we can combat violence, unite students, and create a healthy lifestyle for teens. School administrators, students, parents, and city offi-cials were invited to attend both meetings to devise the details on how the group will operate. The organization is off to an ex-cellent start and plans to have the Teen Task Forces in action soon. The organization specifi-cally intends to prevent teen vi-olence by getting all high school students involved in workshops and volunteer opportunities.

Sonya MajewskiGo DJ, That’s My DJ: Nadia Davis spends her weekends at the turntables, and makes her passion for music part of life.

ACTION!: Rakan Shaker, ‘08 grad, made it into FSU’s presti-gous film program; he works toward winning an Oscar one day.

Photos Courtesy of Rakan Shaker

Sara Castaneda

Coral Springs

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IT’SABOUTTIME

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A TYPICAL AFTERNOONOF A COLT

Welcome to high school, where the concept of time revolves around application deadlines, homework due dates, and not being late to class.When you were five years old, it seemed like an endless continuum of new adventures and joyous moments, mentioned only if the words “play” or “dinner” were put in front of it.

Things have changed quite a bit since then.For a child, it’s nothing but a way to differentiate day and night.

To the high school student, it’s a ticking clock.Freshman through senior years are vital parts of a person’s life. They are when kids mature into adults and find their places in the world. If

those precious four years are spent on Facebook, a potential college attendee could find himself alone in the dust.Ryan Webb, junior, realized that last year.

“Sophomore year I didn’t have a planner, and every time I got work I just decided not to do it,” Webb said. “I just came home and went to sleep.”A low GPA from his previous slacker years, filled with avoiding assignments and excessive naps, was his motivation to improve his time man-

agement skills.Along with the addition of a planner and a fresh outlook on life, Webb now manages his

time better.“I do my homework and study more now,” Webb said.

Managing your time wisely is not an easy task, and even the brightest students can fall victim to the temptations of laziness.

Senior class president and AP student Lauren Rossi, senior, admits to spending a good amount of her time on social networking websites.

“Every day I go on Facebook and it’s such a time sucker,” Rossi said. “I don’t get things done.”

Although not always practiced, organization, according to Rossi, is a good way to save time.“I’m sure I could regain 20 minutes of time that I use looking for stuff,” said Rossi.

Nielsen Online, an internet measurement service that monitors and measures more than 90% of global web activ-ity, released a report Aug. 1, called “What Americans Do Online,” which said that the majority of Americans spend 23% of their

time on social networking sites.B.R.A.C.E. advisor Cindy Woodring knows of these dangers and helps seniors avoid them.

Woodring, a strong believer in deadlines, emphasizes how critical they are, especially when senior year comes around. “There are multiple deadlines, like the ACTs, SATs, and college applications,” said Woodring.

Scholarships that seniors can apply for to receive money are in abundance and could help financially with college. If deadlines aren’t accounted for, Woodring warns that students will be wasting valuable money that can be acquired simply by applying online.

When it comes to scholarships, “there’s a self imposed punishment,” Woodring said.Florida Atlantic University’s Admissions Coordinator Michele Rios can vouch for that.“If [students] don’t watch out for deadlines, they can miss out on an opportunity,” Rios said.Rios recommends applying ahead of time so you can start planning out your future early. “It’s also less

stressful,”she said.Both Woodring and Rios suggest that students break down a task step by step. Otherwise, it becomes an

overwhelming process.Woodring does this by encouraging students to sign up for tests and apply for colleges first. Before an ap-

plication deadline, she steers clear of mentioning scholarship opportunities to the senior because it can put students in a stressful situation.

Once Tina Mora, senior, entered into her final year of high school, she felt the stress almost immedi-ately.

“I was extremely overwhelmed and I felt like I needed to manage my time a lot more efficiently to get everything done by the deadline,” Mora said.

Mora found it necessary to limit her cell phone usage if she was going to survive senior year.“I spent too much time with my cell phone, texting and communicating with other people, so I de-

cided to give it a break,” she said. “I wanted to detach myself from too much social activ-ity.”

Mora took a leap of faith when she made the decision to turn off her cell phone for an entire week.

“I’ve been more motivated and now I can get my homework done quicker,” Mora said.

The most efficient way to manage time varies between individuals. It’s important that these skills are exercised on a daily basis, so students can get the best out of life in the shortest amount of time.

4 DIMENSIONS

SAM SCHWAB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ENJO

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USE TIMEWISELY1234

Welcome to high school, where the concept of time revolves around application deadlines, homework due dates, and not being late to class.When you were five years old, it seemed like an endless continuum of new adventures and joyous moments, mentioned only if the words “play” or “dinner” were put in front of it.

Things have changed quite a bit since then.For a child, it’s nothing but a way to differentiate day and night.

To the high school student, it’s a ticking clock.Freshman through senior years are vital parts of a person’s life. They are when kids mature into adults and find their places in the world. If

those precious four years are spent on Facebook, a potential college attendee could find himself alone in the dust.Ryan Webb, junior, realized that last year.

“Sophomore year I didn’t have a planner, and every time I got work I just decided not to do it,” Webb said. “I just came home and went to sleep.”A low GPA from his previous slacker years, filled with avoiding assignments and excessive naps, was his motivation to improve his time man-

agement skills.Along with the addition of a planner and a fresh outlook on life, Webb now manages his

time better.“I do my homework and study more now,” Webb said.

Managing your time wisely is not an easy task, and even the brightest students can fall victim to the temptations of laziness.

Senior class president and AP student Lauren Rossi, senior, admits to spending a good amount of her time on social networking websites.

“Every day I go on Facebook and it’s such a time sucker,” Rossi said. “I don’t get things done.”

Although not always practiced, organization, according to Rossi, is a good way to save time.“I’m sure I could regain 20 minutes of time that I use looking for stuff,” said Rossi.

Nielsen Online, an internet measurement service that monitors and measures more than 90% of global web activ-ity, released a report Aug. 1, called “What Americans Do Online,” which said that the majority of Americans spend 23% of their

time on social networking sites.B.R.A.C.E. advisor Cindy Woodring knows of these dangers and helps seniors avoid them.

Woodring, a strong believer in deadlines, emphasizes how critical they are, especially when senior year comes around. “There are multiple deadlines, like the ACTs, SATs, and college applications,” said Woodring.

Scholarships that seniors can apply for to receive money are in abundance and could help financially with college. If deadlines aren’t accounted for, Woodring warns that students will be wasting valuable money that can be acquired simply by applying online.

When it comes to scholarships, “there’s a self imposed punishment,” Woodring said.Florida Atlantic University’s Admissions Coordinator Michele Rios can vouch for that.“If [students] don’t watch out for deadlines, they can miss out on an opportunity,” Rios said.Rios recommends applying ahead of time so you can start planning out your future early. “It’s also less

stressful,”she said.Both Woodring and Rios suggest that students break down a task step by step. Otherwise, it becomes an

overwhelming process.Woodring does this by encouraging students to sign up for tests and apply for colleges first. Before an ap-

plication deadline, she steers clear of mentioning scholarship opportunities to the senior because it can put students in a stressful situation.

Once Tina Mora, senior, entered into her final year of high school, she felt the stress almost immedi-ately.

“I was extremely overwhelmed and I felt like I needed to manage my time a lot more efficiently to get everything done by the deadline,” Mora said.

Mora found it necessary to limit her cell phone usage if she was going to survive senior year.“I spent too much time with my cell phone, texting and communicating with other people, so I de-

cided to give it a break,” she said. “I wanted to detach myself from too much social activ-ity.”

Mora took a leap of faith when she made the decision to turn off her cell phone for an entire week.

“I’ve been more motivated and now I can get my homework done quicker,” Mora said.

The most efficient way to manage time varies between individuals. It’s important that these skills are exercised on a daily basis, so students can get the best out of life in the shortest amount of time.

“EVEN THE BRIGHTEST STUDENTS CAN FALL

VICTIM TO THE TEMPTATIONS OF

LAZINESS. ”

“WHEN IT COMES TO SCHOLARHIPS, THERE’S A SELF IMPOSED PUNISH-

MENT”

ROCK

IN’ O

UT

PLAY

ING T

ETRI

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Reward yourself when you get things done in a timely manner. Head over to Yogurtland for a sweet treat after a stressful week - you’ve earned it!

Don’t overload! If you make yourself responsible for more than you can handle, you’ll never be able to finish everything. Keep your own limits in mind.

Prioritize your tasks. Finish your most important things first; that way, you have peace in your mind and room in your schedule for the fun stuff later.

Keep track of everything you need to do. A planner will help you make sure you have time for everything from college applications to the latest TV shows.

Currently REVIEWS

UPCOMING MOVIE

RELEASES

Graphics courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment

Release dates: (from left to right) Oct. 22, Oct. 29.

BEST IN SHOWRUNNER UPBETTER LUCK NEXT TIMESORRY, CHARLIE

Amanda CurrentNews Editor

Every once in a while a novel comes along that completely changes your life. It comes at unlikely times and from unlike-ly sources, but when it happens, it’s imperative that everyone knows that it’s out there.

The Hunger Games by Su-zanne Collins is the book that took me by surprise and has left me hungry for more.

This science fiction novel is set in a post-apocalyptic North America now called Panem, ruled by an overbearing gov-ernment known as “the Capi-tol.” Panem consists of 12 pri-marily impoverished districts.

Every year the Capitol choos-es two children from each dis-trict to be thrown into an arena where their main goal is to kill all other tributes until they are the last ones remaining.

The novel centers around 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the most poverty-stricken area of District 12. Af-ter being chosen at the “reap-ing,” Katniss must face the terrifying reality that she will have to compete against and kill 23 other children or die an undoubtedly brutal death while the whole Game is being aired on every television in Panem as a twisted form of entertain-ment.

This novel is one of the most shocking, terrifying, intense, and breathtaking of any book I have read. It will take you to another place where the world you came from is not remem-bered or missed.

Every character presented in the novel is incredibly inter-esting. Each one stays etched into the reader’s mind as if they know them personally. There is no truly evil character that must be defeated, due to the complexity of each character’s development.

Just when it appears that everything is figured out, the plot twists in ways that even an experienced reader could find unimaginable and heart-wrenching.

There are innumerable words to describe the undeni-able talent of Collins and her in-credibly terrifying new world. This book can appeal to anyone with a hunger for imagination and thought-provoking con-cepts.

Horror EditionHorror Edition

Kings of Leon joined with opening bands The Whigs and The Black Keys, Fri., Sept. 17 at Cruzan Amphitheatre for a night full of smooth, unobstructed mu-sic.

The Whigs kicked off the night by playing some of their hits such as “Right Hand On My Heart” and “Kill Me Carolyne.” Lead singer and guitarist Parker Gispert, drummer Julian Dorio, and bass-ist Tim Deaux, stayed true to their underground sound and prepared the audience for a night of soulful rock.

Following The Whigs came The Black Keys, and with their blues- rock sound they were the pied pip-ers that reeled in a restless crowd. The musical duo originally came from humble beginnings, as they were involved in the underground scene of Akron, Ohio. Performing such songs as “Tighten Up” and “Chop and Change,” lead vocalist and guitarist Dan Auerbach, and drummer Patrick Carney easily impressed the audience.

One attendee reflected their unexpected liking toward one of the opening acts.

“I didn’t really know much about the opening bands, but hearing them for the first time, I

Sarah MoseleyStaff Writer

Kings of Leon gives impressive performance

Charlie WeintraubStaff Writer

All hail False Priest, Of Montreal’s latest album

Amidst the contemporary music scene lies a unique band, Of Mon-treal, whose latest album, False Priest, presents orchestrations of the front man Kevin Barnes. The al-bum was released September 14 by Polyvinyl Records.

The conventional structure of Barnes’s songs seem to be a medley of hit singles, including appearanc-es by Janelle Monae and Solange Knowles on the tracks “Enemy Gene” and “Sex Karma,” respec-tively.

False Priest marked a distinct

transition from Barnes’s previous exploits as his transsexual alter ego Georgie Fruit, as seen on Skeletal Lamping and Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? The latest album refreshes Of Montreal’s audience with a more tamed and singular resonance.

Unlike Of Montreal’s last nine studio albums, False Priest was recorded in Hi-Fi, which comple-ments the synthesized pop under-tones throughout the album.

Barnes’ notoriety for exorbitant lyrics may deter some listeners from hearing the album. The final track on False Priest, “You Do Muti-late?” engages the listener in a se-

thought they were really good,” said Oliver Riquelme, senior.

After the stage was set, Kings of Leon made their way onto the scene. With lead singer Caleb Fol-lowill’s voice booming through the speakers the crowd erupted and then simmered into a state of melodic euphoria with each following song. The extent of the stage decorations being only a wall of lights behind the band, the true focus of the night was on the music.

“I thought the music sounded equally as good as it was on the CD. They were very genuine and they didn’t overdo anything,” said Cindy Rojas, senior.

Their rock sound, with a twinge of country soul, was seem-ingly flawless as the family band performed. Drummer Nathan Fol-lowill, bassist Jared Followill, and lead guitarist Matthew Followill played as if they were practicing in the comfort of their solitude, while Caleb made the vocals seem effortless. The band performed most of their hit songs, such as “Use Somebody” while still per-forming lesser known but equally superb songs such as “Bucket” and “My Party,” leaving no room for complaint.

reading

ries of haunting aphorisms.“Oh, you do mutilate, we’re go-

ing to celebrate our emotional pov-erty,” Barnes sings.

On the other hand, Barnes deliv-ers in a sappy mutter on the third track: “I don’t wanna catch you with some other guy’s face under your eyelids,” in the album’s hit single, “Coquet Couqette”.

The sounds of Barnes’s signa-ture falsetto and infectious funk rhythms are to be expected and admired, though the absurd lyrics make the songs unrelatable to its general audience. A large portion of the album recalls Barnes’ sexual escapades.

The Social Network, with a youthful cast and fresh topic, met and exceeded all expectations, becoming a contender for the Os-cars.

The film centered on the founding of Facebook and the shifting relationship between CEO Mark Zuckerberg and best friend Eduardo Saverin, pre-miered on Oct. 2.

Directed by David Fincher,

known best for Fight Club and the Curious Case of Benjamin But-ton, the movie was innovative and fresh, but at times drawn out.

The opening scene was per-fect. The conversation between Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Erica Albright, played by Rooney Mara, was funny, witty, and fresh. It built such high expectations (in fact, at that point, I was almost sure I was giving this movie four stars.) As the movie went on, it slowed down. A couple of parts were actually boring. The end was a striking contrast- no excite-ment or wit; it was disappointing.

On a higher note, the cast, filled with young actors, was absolutely flawless. Their acting was bril-liant, and elevated the movie. Jesse Eisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg, was able to capture the role, with the perfect mixture of awkward and arrogant, genius and stubborn, passionate and in-

different. Andrew Garfield, who played Saverin, brings just the right amount of charm and inno-cence to balance the despicabil-ity of the other characters. While Eisenberg and Garfield were the clear cut stars of the movie, the smaller roles were all perfectly executed. Especially notable was Armie Hammer, who took on a double-role as the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler. He managed to embody both dis-tinguishable personalities, and made the characters memorable.

The depiction of the rela-tionship between Zuckerberg and Saverin is fascinating, and reminiscent of Gene and Finny’s friendship in the novel A Sepa-rate Peace. They complement each other and reveal the darkest aspects of friendship; it was the most captivating part of the story.

What separates a good movie from a great movie is the feeling

it leaves audiences with after they leave the theatre. Whether it’s a year’s worth of jokes and movie quotes to use with friends, or a burning question of morality, great movies stay with the audi-ence.

Despite my dislike of Facebook itself, and my slight disappoint-ment at the ending, the movie left me with something valuable. It made me question my own moral-ity, priorities, and actions.

While on the surface it seemed like a story about how a Harvard drop-out got rich, it posed an ethical question that went much deeper than that. Fincher took a situation so far removed from our own lives (we’re not the young-est billionaires in the world) and made it relatable; that made the movie beautiful.

Director David Fincher successfully brings to the big-screen an ethi-cal question concern-ing the road to success and the relationships passed along the way.

Saraana JamrajFeature Editor

On a more personal note, the song that stood out most was “Fam-ine Affair,” the tenth track. Barnes’s lowest emotional point on the al-bum, he brokenheartedly repeats, “you marginalize me, you sabotage me, go away go away (you’re a bad thing, you horrible thing).”

It’s strange, unfamiliar, and glam. I found this album incredible without breaking any barriers. For anyone who is accustomed to the melodramatic lyricism or the ob-scure psychedelic pop genre, this album simply is perfect for you.

T H E S O C I A L N E T WO R K

Tara Johnston

ReviewsREVIEWS

Golden Corral buffet unexpectedly disappoints

As many teens in Coral Springs have figured out, there is not much to do in this town except eat. So, when Golden Corral opened up in Peppertree Plaza on Sample Rd., we decided to test it out; know-ing that a fair amount of our peers would also be curious as to what the restaurant has to offer.

Upon entering, we giggled at the sight of adults taking advan-tage of the childish games lined

up in the lobby. Displaying a sense of family fun, we initially approved of the new restaurant.

We walked through the door to a long line of guests waiting to fill their stomachs. We remained calm even as time dragged on and we moved slowly toward the cash register.

Looking at the menu, there wasn’t much to see. The only things listed were the child, adult, and early bird specials. To our surprise, when we were rung up at the cash register the meal was two dollars more than what was listed because of a drink charge

Kristin VaraReed CongdonStaff Writers

that was not only presumed to be included in the meal, but also not listed anywhere on the menu or store.

After waiting in the large line to be seated, we were brought to a crowded room placed in an any-thing but intimate setting, where the conversations of our dining-neighbors were heard loud and clear.

Once seated, we grabbed our plates and headed for the buffet-style salad bar. At first glance it looked full and delightful, but when we started to decide what to eat, we noticed that the top-

The release of Halo: Reach for Xbox 360 on Sept. 14 marks the end to the beloved Bungie Halo series with a large, spectacular bang.

Halo: Reach, like its predeces-sors, has once again amazed audi-ences with its stunning graphics, amazing multiplayer options, and terrific campaign. Halo: Reach

completes the epic journey of the Halo series by explaining the background to the original Halo, filling in players on the events leading up to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, Halo, and the invasion of Earth by the Covenant.

Players take control of Noble 6, a Spartan super-soldier, as-signed to Noble team, a group of elite soldiers of the United Na-tions Space Command. The Cam-paign begins with Noble 6 and his

team heading to a downed com-munications relay site to repair what is suspected to be damage caused by human insurrection-ist on the planet. They fail to find any human insurrectionist, only the dreaded Covenant. Suddenly players are fighting against a huge Covenant invasion as they try to save the planet from being overrun.

In true Halo series fashion, the game adds new content, such

Joshua Sieler Staff Writer

Halo continues to entertain audienceas a variety of weapons, a wide selection of vehicles, and an ad-ditional type of Covenant unit known as Skirmishers. Players are also going to enjoy the new improvements in the forge, a way to create player maps by placing objects on an empty board.

Many new game types includ-ing Headhunter, a game in which people collect the ‘skulls’ of killed players for points, appear in the multiplayer, which sports addi-

tional maps and gear. The popu-lar Firefight mode, in which play-ers fight against wave after wave of enemy, is also an added feature to the game.

Halo: Reach leaves little to be disappointed about and its re-play ability is definitely high. This superb game is a recommended buy.

pings -- such as various vegeta-bles, fruits, and dressings -- were limited. Regardless, we ate the mediocre salads, headed over to the main course buffet, and tried a bit of everything.

Expecting food that, if not healthy, was at least going to be pretty good to the taste, we were quickly disappointed. Cold mac n’ cheese, overly tart orange chick-en, bland french fries, seafood that tasted like typical frozen isle goods sold in grocery stores, and imitation Chinese food were some of the main dishes.

Even after the rocky appetizer

and main course, we managed to keep a positive attitude while awaiting the deserts. An assort-ment of cakes, pies, chocolate, and what seemedto be other delicious delicacies turned out to be worse than they appeared to be.

Overall, it was an interesting meal that was not satisfactory at all. We are not experts in the res-taurant business, but we would not suggest that you check out Golden Corral if you are looking for a quality meal, or a good price.

Chorus receives invite to UF choral festivalKatie JonesStaff Writer

Katie JonesSINGING: For their first invitational, to be held at the Universty of Florida, MaryCatherine Salo prepares her advanced chorus students.

An opportunity to visit the University of Florida has been offered to the chorus depart-ment this year for the first time.

The festival, hosted by the University of Florida in Gaines-ville, will be held on Wed., Oct. 21. The festival is by invitation only, making it an exclusive ex-perience for the chorus.

Thirty chorus students, se-lected by the teacher MaryCath-erine Salo, which will be par-ticipating in the festival. These students are of the advanced chorus and are most eligible to partake in the festival, according to Salo.

The festival will consist of activities such as clinics, per-

formances by choirs and faculty, voice master classes, and a spe-cial performance by the choral students of UF.

Other schools selected to participate include Chamber-lain High from Tampa, Eau Gal-lie High from Melbourne, Lake Brantley High from Altamonte Springs, Martin County High from Stuart, and The Villages High from Buffalo Trail.

The festival is an opportunity that the chorus has yet to experi-ence, but they have participated in other trips. They have per-formed in New York and Atlanta and some students have gone to Europe to sing with CSHS.

Salo will be taking the chorus on the trip and along with her new student teacher, Cody Wal-lace, UF student.

“I think the chorus will do spectacularly this year,” said Wallace.

Emily Frick, senior, is working with peers such as Jacob News-treet, Kristin Vara, Arianna Mor-rell, and Nelson Ysbael. They’re preparing certain pieces such as “Joy to the World,” “Shenando-ah,” and “Goodnight Dear Heart.”

“It’s exciting because the cho-rus group hasn’t gone to any in-vitationals,” Frick said.

This trip, being highlighted on Salo’s calendar, brings much enthusiasm to her and the stu-dents participating. They are very excited for the chance to be interacting with other schools’ chorus departments.

“The other choirs are awe-some,” Salo said. “We’re so hon-ored to be in this company.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs an-nounced the release of the new iPod Nano with Multi-Touch, iPod Touch, Apple TV, and the upgrade on iTunes on Sept. 1.

The new iPod Nano is about half the size of the previous gen-eration, but still has a memory capacity of 8 gigabytes (GB) or 16GB. The new Multi-Touch fea-ture allows the user to either swipe his or her finger in a certain direction to get to each menu on the iPod or just tap the play but-ton to listen to music. Now with a built-in clip, the listener can wear his or her iPod anywhere. There are seven colors to choose from

and thousands of applications to download, just like the familiar Apple product, the iPod Touch.

The use of applications on the new Nano may be affected due to its small screen size. Some stu-dents have expressed their con-cerns with this change.

“With a smaller screen, things might be difficult to see,” Ashley Murphy, sophomore, said. “I feel as if the applications could be of better use on a bigger screen, which the iPod Touch can offer.”

Apple products aren’t just about the music either. Jobs also announced the Apple TV. Apple TV is set up by plugging the power cord into the wall and ac-cessing the account from the TV it is connected to. This requires a

High-Definition Multimedia Inter-face (HDMI) cable.

Once the Apple TV is con-nected, the user can rent movies, watch TV shows, and streamline music and photos straight from their iTunes library. YouTube, Netflix, Flickr, and Mobile-Me, a feature that sends new emails, contacts, and calendar events right to an iPhone or Mac, can also be accessed from Apple TV.

The iPod Touch is known for its full touch-screen and the abili-ty to download applications. Soon after Jobs converted the Nano to this design, he had to upgrade the original iPod Touch.

The new iPod Touch now has FaceTime, a calling feature only usable to iPod Touch users. This is

similar to the video-chatting soft-ware like Skype, which is used on Windows, or iChat, which is used on the Mac. This requires a cam-era; Apple added two built-in, on the back and on both the front of the Touch.

The front camera is made for the FaceTime feature, focus-ing on the user in the best pos-sible lighting. The back camera can be turned horizontally to capture others and what’s going on around them. With the new Retinal display, which is now the clearest screen for Apple, has up-graded to four times the amount of pixels than the previous iPod Touch. You can also record in HD Video and later edit that movie right on the Touch.

In order to listen to music on all three of these products, iTunes 10 will be used.

iTunes 10 works the same as the previous version, but now includes the Ping feature, a so-cial network for music. Ping is similar to Twitter, but it allows users to follow musical artists and see what they are listening to. Ping allows one to create his or her own profile and list their top five albums. They get to see what their friends are listening to, topics they are talking about, and continuous recommendations of music.

With two new iPods, an Apple TV, and the music-based program, Apple completes one’s survival guide in a technological world.

Harley MitchellStaff Writer

Apple releases four new products, enhances technological world

As nerds, it can be difficult at times to make sense of social situations. But every now and then, geeks like us congregate in special little havens called con-ventions. Here, anyone can be a robot, a princess, or a master swordsman. And it doesn’t mat-ter so much if it’s all in your head.

We were lucky enough to experience one of the most an-ticipated conventions of 2010 in August: Star Wars Celebration V. Events like this don’t happen ev-ery day - or every year, for that matter. The convention, officially held by Lucasfilm every several years, began with Celebration I in 1999. Since then, it’s been held all over the world: from London to Tokyo, to Los Angeles. In fact, this is the first time it’s ever tak-en place on the east coast of the U.S., so it’s kind of a big deal.

We didn’t realize how big of a deal it really was until we arrived at the Orange County Convention Center this August. We entered the lobby to see an AT-AT Imperi-al Walker before us, surrounded by gleeful geeks posing and tak-ing pictures in their Old Republic Jedi tunics and Storm Trooper ar-

mor. This was only the beginning, though. The vast convention hall held life-size prop replicas that were truly mindblowing, includ-ing sets like Jabba the Hutt’s palace and the interior of the Millenium Falcon. A massive Tie Fighter was the perfect set-piece for the legions of cosplayers in elaborate, homemade robes and masks.

That wasn’t even the coolest thing we saw, though. Not even close. We had the honor of being in the same room as Carrie Fish-er, the iconic actress who brought Princess Leia to life. Now in her fifties, Fisher is one of the most charming personalities we’ve ever come across. She brought one of us near tears (guess which) when she recited her fa-mous “Obi Wan Speech” right in front of us -- the one that ends with “Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

So if your extra midichlori-ans make your social life a little awkward, perhaps you should be around for Star Wars Celebration VI. And in the meantime, maybe you should leave your lightsaber at home for a little while.

The Marching Band will be participating, once again, in the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) Marching Band Music As-sessment, an all day event on Oct. 23.

“FBA stands for Florida Band-masters Association. This is the organization that most band di-rectors throughout the state of Florida belong to and participate in various music performance

Band prepares for upcoming competitionsDaniel SchuttStaff Writer

opportunities for band students,” Dawson said.

Our school will be hosting the competition this year, as it has for the past three consecutive years.

“This is the sixth time we have been selected to host this event,” said Brett Dawson, band director.

The band has been in this competition over 30 times and received a superior rating 29 times.

This system of rating differs when considering other competi-tions.

“Instead of [the kind of] scores you get as if it were a test at other competitions, it’s a rating,” Re-becca Fedderwitz, sophomore, said.

In this kind of competition, the ratings include poor, fair, good, excellent, and superior ratings -- poor being the lowest rating and superior being the highest rating.

The band is preparing their marching show for this compe-tition by rehearsing six to nine hours after school each week. The competition is made up of

many categories, for both the band’s sound and visual parts, such as the marching formations, of the performance. Other cat-egories include percussion and the guard/flag/rifle section.

The judges rate different as-pects of the performances. They are rated on Marching/Maneu-vering, General Effect, Music Per-formance 1 and 2, Auxiliary, and Percussion. Over 30 bands from Broward County and throughout south Florida wil be participating in this event.

The attitude toward this year’s competition is optimistic.

“I think we’ve improved a lot this year as opposed to last year,” said Fedderwitz. “Even though some of our best players left last year as seniors, there are so many new freshmen and most of them are great marchers. With the right determination we can do better than last year.”

If the band wins this compe-tition they will receive a trophy and, as Fedderwitz says, “the rep-utation of being awesome.”

Allie SchuttDimensions Editor

Daniel SchuttStaff Writer

Schutt Up & Geek Out

GEEK GLOSSARYAT-AT IMPERIAL WALKER- Heavily armored land vehicle used by the Imperial army.

MIDI-CHLORIANS - Microscopic life forms that reside inside living cells; high numbers in a human makes them more Force-sensitive and more likely to become a Jedi.

TIE FIGHTER - Imperial starfighters used during the Galactic Civil War.

Tara Johnston

and get us pumped and excited, and they make it fun to play in a high energy environment,” said varsity center Adam Levenson.

As of this writing, the team’s record is 2-3, with a district record of 1-1. The team defeated Coral Glades but had an unfortunate loss to Coco-nut Creek. Emotions ran high at the game, with multiple injuries on the field, one in particular being La-mar Palmer’s. Palmer broke his arm in the sec-ond half and will be out for the remainder of the season.

The next game will be on Oct. 15, at 7p.m. and held at Douglas for the annual Pig Bowl.

Reed Congdon and Danny LopezStaff Writers

Budget cuts being made this year to the athletic department have been no-ticed by many students who participate in the programs. Volleyball for example, was supplied with nothing but two game balls for the season, the bare minimum that is needed to play the game. It may make some kids angry or upset with the school, but one thing to remember is that the budget cuts are nobody’s fault.

Even elementary schools in the area are getting rid of special programs, and many don’t have a full time P.E. teacher such as Coral Park Elementary.

Our school isn’t the only one that took a blow its our athletic budget. In fact, it was a district-wide decision to reduce the amount of money used for school sports, since they are extracurricular and con-sidered a lower priority than academics.

“In my opinion, without athletics, you lose a lot of kids, because a lot of them aren’t here for school, they are here to play sports,” said Athletic Director Dianne Sanzari.

Since the budget cuts, the school board is doing what they can to help athletics so that no sport has to suffer. While our school could take the easy route and start putting certain non-revenue sports, like tennis, that requires more money to play than they raise, on the chopping block, in-stead they are working hard to work out a system so that every sport has a chance to continue with a bright future.

“Even with the budget cuts, we haven’t lost a single sport,” said Sanzari.

It’s unfortunate that about $12,000 in coaching staffs throughout the district have been lost somewhere in the money shortage, leaving many teams with only one or two coaches, by reducing the amount of games in the district season for volleyball from about 25 games to around 20 games per season, and having a rota-tion of which teams get new jerseys each year, our athletic department is doing what they can to get over this setback. If a team wants any extra commodities for their season, it’s up to them to raise the money. While it’s true that half the money that comes from individual fundraisers goes back to support our school-wide athletic program, it’s safe to say that any money is better than no money at all.

“They’re doing the best they can, but we all have to pitch in, “ said Assistant Ath-letic Director Susan Halliday.

Some fundraising ideas to overcome this financial misfortune include selling Dolphins tickets that are supplied through the school, or selling Resturaunt.com tick-ets, where a person can buy a gift card worth twice as much in coupons online to local restaurants. Another project in the works is selling decorative pavers to cover the cement between our school’s gym and ten hundred building as a way for dona-tors to leave their mark on our school while supporting the athletic program.

The dwindling funds for our school’s athletic program aren’t fun for anybody, but it’s important to give credit where it is due; our athletic department is strain-ing to keep everyone satisfied. It’s impor-tant for athletes to dedicate themselves to a team, not only during the game, but also by undertaking the responsibility of keeping their heads above water finan-cially.

Get in the know

The 2010 varsity football team this year is made up most-ly of returnees, half of them seniors. Now that a fresh, new season lies ahead of them, the players, along with Head Coach Ray Gould, have high expecta-tions for what’s to come.

“Our goal is to win the dis-trict championship and compete in the state playoffs,” Gould said.

The team is filled with skilled players who have had several years of experience, giving them an advantage, but there is still room for improvement. The de-fense is said to be strong, but if they wish to bring the Mayor’s Cup back to our school, or win Pig Bowl again, the Colts need to stay focused.

Reed Congdon Staff Writer

Football season kicks off“I just wish we had more

size. We need bigger kids in the school to start getting involved,” Gould said.

Another obstacle for this sea-son is the lack of Friday night home games this season that so many of our students look for-ward to. It just so happens that the district has to spread the amount of Friday and Thurs-day night games evenly among the surrounding schools, and it didn’t fall in our school’s favor. This is difficult for the team, not only because it’s a struggle with means of transportation for ev-ery game, but fan support may dwindle now that the games won’t be played on Fridays. Fans mean as much to the team as the games do to the fans.

“Fans can play a huge role in our games. They encourage us

The 2010 Fall Baseball season started off prosperously. Within the first week of Sept. they played against three travel teams: the Wolverines, Superstars, and Plantation at the Triple Crown Tourna-ment in which we came in first place.

The fall baseball team is so large this year that there are three teams, the Junior Varsity, Varsity A and Varsity B. The team’s agenda is quite busy. With 35 games just for fall season, the team can only afford to practice twice a week, for there are three games a week.

Baseball swings into actionJordan CohenStaff Writer

“There are so many kids this Fall Ball season,” Frank Bumbales, baseball coach, said. “My outlook for this season is that it’s just a time we can get a look at the kids at practice to see who can play in spring.”

The fall season revolves around prac-ticing and getting better before spring, which the players consider the most im-portant season.

“We [baseball team] need to practice to prepare for the district championship that takes place in the spring,” said pitcher Cole Bumbales, junior.

The baseball team’s limited practices

take place in the batting cages, where the team works on their techniques, but the 35 games that will be played this season are considered practice in itself.

All their hard work is aimed towards achieving the title of District Champions in 2011.

“I look forward to us getting better as a team in this new year,” said junior Alan Sharkey, “but it doesn’t compare to my ex-citement for spring season.”

The baseball team had their first home game on Sept. 17 against Pompano Beach High School, in which they beat Pompano 10 to 0.

Photo courtesy of Bryn-Alan

Running back Jared Joyner, junior, scored on a 2-yard run and

2-point conversion against Coral Glades on Sept.30.

Swim team small but determinedJon McEwanStaff Writer

The start of the school year has also marked the start of the Colts swim and dive season.

The team, headed by coaches Kristen Mar-cey and Stacey Weaver, is significantly smaller than last year. Only nine girls and seven boys participated, as opposed to teams approach-ing 15 members each last year.

“We are working harder at practice this year, but we have a lot of fun,” Anna Bonito, sophomore, about the strength of this year’s team.

As of this writing the boys and girls team both have a record of 1-2, scoring a win against Stranahan High School but losing to Nova and Flannigan. Several swimmers on the team are ranked high in the district and last year went on to compete in the regional tournament, but is scored rank-ing in each individual event. In theory, a team could have seven Michael Phelpses and still lose at most meets due to their lack of numbers. Despite this, the teams are not discouraged.

DIVING IN: Ryan Wilkerson, senior, placed first in the 100m breat stroke and 100m freestyle in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas, J.P. Tarvella, Coral Springs

“What we might lack in numbers we gain in effort and determination,” said Chris Williams, sophomore.

The Colts have their next meet on Oct. 20 at 4:30 pm. Opponents will be Boyd Anderson and Everglades High Schools.

Dolfans aid fundraising effortsAn innovative way to fundraise was intro-

duced to our school with help from the Miami Dolphins football team. Many clubs and or-ganizations at our school, including athletics and student government, are welcome to sell Dolphins tickets as a form of raising money for our school. Most kids are finding it a lot easier to sell these tickets by selling them to friends, family, or even strangers, the tickets help to fight the low budgets that have been affecting our school.

By Danny LopezStaff Writer

“Just my family alone bought a lot of the tick-ets that I was trying to sell,” Jensen Holroyd, ju-nior, said.

The tickets are sold for $50-60 by Ticket-master, but through this fundraiser they are available for $25 each. Games offered include the buyer’s choice of either opponent Cleveland Browns on Dec. 5, or against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 26, both held at the Sunlife Stadium in Miami at 1 pm.

By selling these tickets, it is helping our school, and also benefits the Dolphins organiza-tion; as $10 of the purchase goes straight to the team themselves. The tickets themselves come

from the Student Activities Liaison of Broward County after they are ordered from each school and are handed down to the people that are sell-ing those tickets to be handed out to the fund-raising donators.

“It’s a fun way to raise money for your cause, and it’s easier than selling boxes of candy,” Hol-royd said.

Selling the Dolphins tickets appears to be a financially productive way to get people to give back to their community through sports. To buy tickets, ask local clubs or organizations at our school, or contact Ms. Melissa Goldstein in room 204 or more information.

with reed & d. lo

Sonya Majewski

The Colts golf team’s regular season came to an end Oct. 12. Their record is 5-7, with the Oct.12 game unplayed as of this writing.

On Oct.19 starts their District tourna-ment, against seven other schools in the district.

“I’m looking for third” said coach Sam Sirico, of his hopes for the district tourna-ment.

Sirico thinks that with his two best players, Jacob Mays, junior and team cap-tain team, and Kyle Williams, freshman, they can place third.

The competition between the two play-ers can be distracting according to Sirico, so he keeps them separate when they play matches. One player may try to out do themselves and perform inadequately overall.

The team’s past trimester game, played on Oct. 6 against Hollywood Hills and Coo-

per City resulted in two wins for the Colts. In the game against Hollywood Hills they were behind and needed a low score in or-der to win the match. Alex DeLuca, senior was the final player; he scored a 47, which was exactly what was needed for the win. The game against Cooper City was forfeit-ed to CSHS because only two of their play-ers showed.

Many games were canceled during the season. To Sirico this is not unusual, due to fall weather. He purposely scheduled 20 games knowing that some would be can-celed because of rain or “other oddities.” On Sept. 8 Douglas canceled, as did Deer-field Beach. The team isn’t letting the cancellations affect their attitudes.

The Colts practice and hold their games at the Coral Springs Country Club course, where they will play their final match of the season against Pompano Beach High.

“Even though the season’s over I’ll still find time to practice on my own,” Mays said.

Golf team looks forwardLorenzo MohammedStaff Writer

P R E PCoral Springs954-346-9445

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UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS

EVENT

Powder Puff

Dodgeball Tournament

Volleyball

OPPONENT DATE/TIME LOCATION

MISCELLANEOUS EVENTSEVENT DATE/TIME LOCATION

Football

Swimming

Volleyball

Football

Football

Football

Swimming

Football

Soccer

Soccer

Deerfield

Douglas

TBA

McArthur

TBA

Monarch

CardinalGibbons

Cooper City

J.P. Taravella

Coral Glades

Coral Glades

Oct. 14/ 7pm

Oct. 15/ 7pm

Oct. 16/ 4:30pm

Oct. 19/ 7pm

Oct. 20/ 4:30pm

Oct. 21/ 7pm

Oct. 29/ 7pm

Nov. 5/ 7pm

Nov. 12/ 7pm

Nov. 12/ 7pm

Nov. 12/ 7pm

Deerfield

Douglas

Coral Glades

Coral Glades

CSHS

CSHS

CSHS

CSHS

TBA

Coral SpringsAquatic Center

Coconut Creek

CSHS

CSHS

Oct. 25/ 7pm

Oct. 27/ 5pm

Athlete Spotlight: Evan LassiterAshley RynarLauren LewkowiczSports Editors

Since age 3, Evan Lassiter has had a craving for football. It started out just by playing catch with his dad and turned into a passion. Little did the junior know this passion would lead to him becoming quar-terback this season.

On Sept. 3, Lassiter’s first game as var-sity quarterback, he passed for 197 yards and helped the team shut out Ft. Lauder-dale 31-0.

Along with his interest in football, Las-siter also participates in boys volleyball and basketball. He has been playing bas-ketball since fourth grade and volleyball since seventh at Forest Glen Middle.

Being 6’5” and 205 lbs, Lassiter was naturally selected as captain of the varsity volleyball team and led the team in kills, which are spikes that are not returned by the opposing team, last year. He was also recognized as MVP for the season.

Along with these activities Lassiter also enjoys watching the Miami Dolphins and taking “long walks on the beach.”

He hopes to pursue his dream of play-ing college football and plans to carry on the tradition of “sweating blue and bleeding green.”

Sara Castaneda

Caitlyn TateStaff Writer

For the first time in years, the Lady Colts volleyball team has a new head coach. Corey Sarubbi, previous head coach for the boys volleyball team at Forest Glen Middle School, has taken on the challenge of leading the team and is excited at the idea.

“I’m having a really good time coaching the team,” Sarubbi said, “It’s a good group of girls, and they’ve been working really hard.”

Sarubbi was previously the head coach for the boy’s volleyball team at FGMS, an instructor for recreational team in Rochester, New York, his hometown, for five years, being a head coach for Wildfire, a county-wide recreational volleyball club, and coaching the junior varsity girls volleyball team last year.

“He was a really great coach last year. I learned a lot from him,” said Angela Musser, sophomore on the JV team. Sarubbi is the first person to realize the difficulty of his job. He explained that the team’s greatest weakness was

“experience on the volleyball court, because only a few players do [play] recreational volleyball.” Sarubbi contends that the team’s greatest strength is their experience in other sports.

“Most of the girls play other sports throughout the year and bring that athleticism to the team,” he said. The team in itself has reshaped since Sarubbi took over. There are now eight seniors on varsity, meaning that

eight girls will not be returning for next season. In volleyball, only six people start on the court, eight people can be a frightening loss.

Sarubbi hopes that the rest of the returning varsity team members will be able to pick up the slack once the others leave.

In order for a team to keep a strong reputation in the county, there must be a solid foundation. This means that they must have a strong set of players behind the varsity stars so that there can be some-thing to fall back on once the older players leave. This is where the junior varsity team comes into play. The JV team is made up of generally younger girls who wish to train hard and commit to learning all they can about the sport, so they can one day make the varsity level. Derek Schweitzer, this year’s junior varsity girls coach, is new to the volleyball program.

“He really makes us work hard so that we can get better,” said Chelsea Sage, junior on JV. Ever since the beginning of the summer months, Sarubbi has been working with and training

his players in order to prepare them for this season’s matches. Keeping a practice schedule of 5 to 6 days a week, he stresses how important it is that the girls work hard now so they can reap the rewards later. One of the goals that Sarubbi has set for his team is to make it to the district finals. In order to do this, the team must beat out long-time rival, Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Sarubbi also emphasized the positive effect that being committed can have on the team, say-ing that dedication is the one message he hopes to get across to his team. His advice to any ath-letes: “Make sure you’re fully committed to it. Otherwise, you’re wasting time.” In lieu of a team motto this year, Sarubbi has instead decided to let the team stand on its own credentials. “Our performance is our motto,” he said.

NEW YEAR,NEW COACH

TEAM INSPIRATION: Coach Sarubbi gives the varsity team some last minute inspiration against district rival Coral Glades.

Photos Courtesy of Bryn-Allen Photography