1900 Omaha Street Palm Harbor, FL 34683 December 2011

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Palm Harbor University High School Since 1996EYE 10

Volume 16 Issue 3

Palm Harbor University High School Since 1996

In life we meet and lose people. Everyone leaves an impact; Autumn Soyka’s was a vibrant and loving one.

Soyka, daughter of English teacher Lynn Lemmon, was killed in a drunk driving accident while crossing the street in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Oct. 30 around 1 a.m. Soyka, 31, had only moved there a month before, and with her was Clint Bollinger, her boyfriend whom she intended to marry.

“I’ve known her forever, 16 years to be exact,” teacher Sue Piotrowski, who is the mother of Soyka’s sister-in-law, said. “It was horrible - it’s just so sad and just so unreal.”

In a flash, what had gone from a happy night turned into a tragic event as a vehicle swerved into the young woman.

“[Bollinger] held her in his arms while she died, and he told her to hold on,” teacher Sue Ross said.

Sociable and vibrant about everything she did, Autumn was loved by many.

“She laughed a lot. She was very into physical fitness for fun. She was genuinely caring about everyone. Once you knew her, you were her friend,” Piotrowski said.

Soyka attended and graduated from Dunedin High School and Palm Harbor Middle School. One of Soyka’s former teachers was math teacher Rob McCoy.

“I always remember her smile and her personality, such a pretty girl,” McCoy said. “It was close to 20 years ago when I had her [as a student], I just remember her being a happy go-lucky person. She was just so friendly. ”

Warm and devoted to her loved ones, Soyka was known for having her priorities straight.

“She was very close to her family and friends, she would make sure of that,” Piotrowski said.

Lively was one word that rang clear to anyone asked to describe her.

“She was outgoing, fun - she brought life to the party. [Whenever] she walked in the room she made an entrance almost like the light of the event,” Piotrowski said.

Soyka’s funeral was held at Curlew Memorial Gardens on Nov. 4. Many arrived to mourn the loss of the caring young woman to show not only respect but also support.

“I went to the viewing; it was very emotional. Mrs. Lemmon was very upset and everyone was comforting her. There were many teachers, former teachers, and administrators there supporting,” Ross said.

Soyka will be remembered for her achievements and her bright personality.

“I hope there’s a silver lining in the cloud and some good will come out of the anguish and sorrow,” Ross said.

The official calendar of Senior dress-up daysLinda Lavadia & Allison Maldonado-Ruiz

Albus Dumbledore once said, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only re-members to turn on the light.” Why not try finding happiness right here at our school, at the Harry Potter Club?

On Nov. 9, PHUHS had its first ever Harry Potter Club meeting. When the club event was created on

Facebook, 118 people quickly said they were attending the meeting.

The four founders of the club are juniors Connor Griffin, Bree Roth, Madelin Ghomshe, and Alexandra Lieberman, each of them represent-ing a Hogwarts House in which club members get sorted into in order to join the club. Andrea Weaver is the technical advisor.

“I’m [the] head of Gryffindor House and the object of the club

The “Boy Who Lived" lives on alwaysis to bring Harry Potter back into our lives,” Alexandra Lieberman said. “We’re going to talk about the books, play trivia, play Quidditch, and have movie marathons!”

Quidditch is the wizarding sport that is played in the books and mov-ies where two teams of seven fly around on broomsticks and try to score points against each other. Each team aims to throw the quaffle (the main ball) into the goals, knock

players off their brooms, and catch the speedy golden snitch to win the game. Quidditch also takes place right here in America! Harvard has an actual team and so do many other colleges.

Also, like in the books and mov-ies, the different houses (Gryffin-dor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) compete for the House Cup, which is won by the house that has the most House points. Points

are gained by showing up to meet-ings and participating in events.

“We’re going to have fundraisers so we can get enough money to take the club to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando,” Lieber-man said.

Whether you’re a die-hard Harry Potter fan or a Muggle that doesn’t even know what Harry Potter is, you can join this new club to relive the magic that brings fans together.

Epilogue

Autumn Soyka: to be remembered

Many privileges come with being a senior, one of which includes getting to dress up in ridiculous outfits. Every year seniors look forward to the days in which they can get away with having a multiple personality disorder.

Although this is all for fun and games, it is very im-portant to remain within the boundaries of the dress code. Remember to cover your shoulders and wear hats for pictures, not the entire day! Check out TheEYEonline.com the school day after each senior dress-up day for pictures and coverage!

The Harry Potter Club will try to raise enough money to take a trip to see sights like this replica of the Hogwarts Express at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios.

Kevin Kolczynski /MCT

Go to TheEYEonline.com

for additional coverage.

Go to

for additional coverage.

Emily Manning

Jordan Lutz

December 15Winter Holiday

Dress up as Santa, Mrs. Claus, an elf, a reindeer, a dreidel, or a menorah! It doesn’t matter, just have holiday spirit - even wear an ugly sweater!

January 13 Superheroes vs. Villains

It’s time to expose senior secret identities! This one is self-explanatory; simply dress up as your favorite su-perhero or villain and battle in the courtyard.

January 26 When I Grow Up...

“I wanna be famous, I wanna be a star, I wanna be in movies!” Dream big, like the Pussycat Dolls, and dress up as what you would want to be when you grow up. Bring on the doctors, safari rangers, and pirates!

February 21Classy Secretary Day

Sorry boys, but this is a girls only day. Ladies, it’s time to roll out the pencil skirts, button-up blouses and heels - but remember, keep it classy!

March 23Scrabble

Simply grab an old shirt and pick your favorite letter, and combine the two! Spend all day playing Words With Friends in real life!

April 12Toga

What did Caesar say to Cleopa-tra? Toga-ether we can rule the world! Don’t forget the piles of gold and the gladiator sandals.

May 4Hawaiian Luau

Palm Harbor Paradise, where you can encounter hula dancers, tacky tourists, lifeguards, and surfers!

- The Harry Potter Club, which was founded in October, is taking off faster than a wizard during a intense Quidditch match.

December 2011News2

Inhumane treatment

Teens helping teens-The Teens Helping Teen Club hopes to draw attention to students.

-The aftermath of a local animal shelter robbery leaves behind the need of donations.

In the U.S., 1 in 5 teens will run away from home before turning 18. The Safe Place foundation, which offers immediate help and safety for all young people in crisis, is available day or night.

Teens Helping Teens is a new club at PHUHS co-founded by Ashley Hilbert and Zoie Herman that intends to raise awareness of the foundation by meeting once a month. The club will listen to guest speakers such as Kelly Reiff and state risk factors for possible runaways

and solutions to problems facing at-risk teens.

About 50 people attended the inaugural meeting in Portable 9 af-ter school, where food and drinks were served. The fact that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youths run away each year is a shocking number to Hilbert, and being a part of a club that encourages volunteer work at places these youth may attend, such as thrift stores, is important to her. Hilbert hopes her involvement in the National Safe Place foundation can assist teens in difficult situations.

“It’s a good cause and there was

really a need for awareness, because most students are not aware of the number of runaways in the U.S.,” Hilbert said.

The foundation that the club is associated with is present in 40 states, and 130,767 youths have been connected to immediate help and safety at Safe Place locations. As the club continues to grow and expand, its co-founders are excited to see where Teens Helping Teens can take them.

“If this club can change the life of one troubled teen, then it will all be worth it,” junior Zoie Herman said.

The Humane Society of Pinellas was robbed on the night of Nov. 5 of the money that was to be put to-wards treatment for the animals be-ing cared for by the non-profit orga-nization.

While the animals are safe and none of them have been stolen or in-jured, the loss of money the Humane Society has suffered has reduced the amount of items that can be used to keep the animals happy and healthy.

To donate, go to the Humane So-ciety of Pinellas’ website: humane-

societyofpinellas.org. Click on “Do-nate” and choose your pay option.

If you do not have the money, but may have something that could come in good use, bring it in! The Humane Society accepts a variety of items such as blankets, canned or dried cat and dog food, cat litter, hand soap, newspaper, and much more.

If you prefer to donate in person, stop in the Humane Society at 3040 S.R 590 in Clearwater.

There is a way to save each and every animal, and your help is the biggest answer to that.

Visit TheEYEonline.com to

see more pictures from the

Funny Faces Gallery!

A Quick Responce (QR) code

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can scan with your smart-

phone. Download the reader

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will scan the code, then bring

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Quentin Cumings

Valerie Hasher

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCTFunny faces around PHUPaige Lombard

Dion VlachosQuinn Lombard

News32011 December

Ways to stay healthy during winter

‘Tis the season to be jolly, right? Unfortunately, it’s also cold and flu season. Don’t spend this winter drowning in a sea of cough drops and waded-up tissues! Fol-low these tips to make sure that “the most wonderful time of the year” stays wonderful.

Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer. Yes, this seems obvious, but before you roll your eyes, think of all the things that you touch throughout the day. You hold onto the railings as you climb the stairs, borrow pencils, open doors, squeeze ketchup in the lunchroom, and tap your fin-gers on your desk. So does every-one else. Make sure you clean your hands often!

Hands off. Some germ hubs you can avoid. Did you know that 1/3 of all doorknobs and handles are contaminated with cold germs? Have you ever thought about how dirty the bathroom sink faucets are after hundreds of students turn them on after using the restroom? Avoid touching doorknobs by us-ing your elbow or wrist instead. Use a paper towel or your arm when shutting off the bathroom sink. Another thing not to touch – your face and hands.

Sharing Isn’t Caring. Mono-

nucleosis (A.K.A. the “kissing disease”) is a viral infection that occurs most often in teenagers. It lasts for several weeks, and with symptoms ranging from a sore throat to a fever, this is one sick-ness that you will want to avoid. Mono is transferred through sa-liva and close contact, so do not share drinks.

Get plenty of Vitamin C. This stuff isn’t just for pirates trying to ward off scurvy. It boosts your immune system, giving your body an extra kick to fight disease. Down a glass of orange juice or take a multivitamin in the morn-ing.

Relax. Winter is a hectic sea-son - shopping malls transform into battlegrounds as last-minute shoppers form mobs for the best deals. Teachers cram the final weeks before break, trying to get in as many test and assignments in as possible before students go away on vacation. Seasonal festivi-ties are abundant, but don’t over-schedule yourself. The chaos of the holiday season can wear out your body, making you more sus-ceptible to illnesses. Give yourself time to simmer down, take a nap, or watch a movie. You’ll be less stressed, and you’ll enjoy holiday season even more!

CWMP juniors getting sneak peak of their futureLibby Rodnite

Gabby Calise

The four pillars of blue and yellow-Newly inducted NHS members receive a grand welcome but also club expectations.

Service, leadership, character, scholarship. These are all character-istics that newly inducted National Honor Society members have dis-played in order to gain admission to the club.

Over 400 invitations were hand-ed out to applicable IB, medical and university juniors and seniors. Hopeful inductees were required to have demonstrated leadership, com-munity service experience, at least a 3.0 GPA, and no disciplinary infrac-tions. Students were given two weeks to complete the application and sub-mit it to NHS sponsor and English teacher, Erin Pollack. Around 240 applications were returned for pro-cessing and out of those returned applications, 200 applications were approved.

The process is very tedious and time-consuming for National Hon-or Society reviewers. Although all required fields are possible to attain, some are slightly more difficult to show than others. According to Pol-lack, not having enough experience in leadership is typically the deal breaking aspect of the entire applica-tion for an aspiring National Honor Society member.

It is not difficult to see why, with the vast number of kids in the stu-dent body, only a small fraction of the 240 applicable NHS hopefuls would be able to outshine the others and earn a coveted leadership posi-tion.

The National Honor Society induction ceremony took place on

Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the audito-rium. The ceremony included guest speaker Gene Coppola, the director of the Palm Harbor Public library. While he joked about his dog named Dewey (named after the Dewey Decimal system), he also encouraged the new inductees to become better and more efficient leaders, and em-phasized the importance of being a role model. The ceremony ended with cake, cookies, and an abun-dance of pictures in the cafeteria.

“I really enjoyed the ceremony, I am proud to have gotten into the club,” National Honor Society in-ductee Renee Huy, senior, said.

But National Honor Society is not always the celebration of achievement as the induction cer-emony was - numerous responsi-bilities await in the shadows for the newly inducted members. While maintaining the four pillars of the club, new National Honor Society

members must also attend monthly meetings (which occur on the first Wednesday of every month), and will also be required to fulfill 10 vol-unteer hours by the end of their se-nior year. By attending these infor-mative, monthly meetings, members will be given the chance to sign up for the volunteer opportunities of their choosing such as helping out at school sponsored blood drives, relays, or museums.

Katelyn Josephik & Linda Lavadia

Katelyn Josephik

Medical juniors are being offered a new experience this year, by be-ing able to take Allied Heath class. Previously, this class had only be offered to medical seniors, but the class has been made a requirement to all juniors.

All medical juniors are enrolled in the course this year ,and are required to go on at least three clinical experi-ences during the school year. These clinical experiences, referred to as “clinicals”, are when a student goes to shadow a medical professional for the day, giving the students a great glimpse into what he or she can do in the medical field.

Students are assigned their clini-cals by what their interests are in fu-ture medical careers. Junior Kaitlyn Fisch had an interest in forensics, so she was selected to go to the Foren-sic Science Lab at the Pinellas Coun-try Sheriff Office.

“They showed me how they pro-cess and develop crime scenes and fingerprints. It was really fun and in-formative,” Fisch said.

Junior Beatrice Kamara visited an obstetrics and gynecology practice for a clinical. She had the chance to observe the doctor and nurse’s regu-

lar procedures throughout the day and was even was able to witness a moment that struck her with amaze-ment.

“I saw a ultrasound being done on a mother to see her baby. I was there when she found out if it was a boy or a girl,” Kamara said.

She also saw the surgical side of the practice when she viewed a tubal ligation [getting ones “tubes tied”] being preformed.

Junior Camille Ubas went to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and

Piya Saengfah, Lauren Leonard, Alyssa Benjamin, Mason Fisch, Kelsea

Schuelnber, Aubri Montini, and Zack Miller show off their scrubs for

clinicals.

Junior CWMP student Katie Rodnite visits the Robin’s Nest Preschool

for an educational presentation during her clinical at the Palm Harbor

Fire Station.

Lauren LeonardKatie Rodnite

The brand new National Honor Society t-shirt design for senior mem-

bers, which were distributed earlier this month.

got to shadow a child life specialist. They are trained professionals with expertise in helping children and their families overcome life’s most challenging events..

“I got to work with kids who were diagnosed with cancer. I got to play and make arts and crafts with the kids. It broke my heart to see young children so sick,” Ubas said.

She also got to visit the pediatric surgery ward. Ubas witnessed chil-dren being administered anesthe-sia and getting IV’s inserted. The

specialist would try and distract the kids so they would stay calm. They used various tools, from puppets to iPad’s.

Junior Katie Rodnite was given the chance to see EMT’s in action when she shadowed the Station 65 Fire Department. In her first min-utes at the station she already had her first shock of the day.

“The alarm sounded and we all had to jump into the truck to answer the call. Everyone and everything was moving so fast,” Rodnite said.

She went out on three different calls and also made a stop at the Robin’s Nest Preschool for an public educa-tion presentation.

“It was so cool see how these men save lives,” Rodnite said.

From crime scenes to ultra-sounds, students are getting a unique opportunity from the clinicals that will help them decide on their career paths.

“It was a true learning experience that gave me a sneak-peak of my fu-ture,” Kamara said.

Katelyn Josephik

A page of the National Honor

Society scrapbook, showing off

the induction ceremony.

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kimsgirlzrock@yahoo.com

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December 2011Opinion4The lazy look

It’s a terrible sight we have all seen - girls who come to school ev-ery single day looking like they just woke up. The unkempt hair tossed into a messy, high bun; the day-to-day Victoria’s Secret PINK yoga pants; the big hoodies borrowed from their boyfriends. Ladies, this look is nowhere near attractive. I know waking up to get ready proba-bly isn’t as great as sleeping to some, but it’s not impossible to wake up and put your best (and most fash-ionable) foot forward!

You can do so many things with your hair - cut it, dye it, straighten it, curl it, crimp it, braid it, or go natu-ral.

Yet there are still a lot of girls who go for the simple-bun-on-top-of-the-head-look. Please, save that style for Mulan.

Do you have voluminous curls that rival those of superstar Taylor Swift? If so, wear them proudly. Want pin-straight hair like model and reality star Kendall Jenner from Keeping Up with the Kardashian’s? The night before, add some heat protector and straightening spray to your damp locks after a shower, then blow dry.

If your locks aren’t straight enough to your liking, add a little more heat protector and flat iron those imperfections away! That way, you’ll wake up with silky, straight hair. Barely any work necessary by 6:00 A.M., and it looks way better than those stupid, sloppy buns.

I cannot emphasize enough how important style is. What you wear is an expression of yourself and a way to show off your personality.

Rolling out of bed in cheerlead-ing shorts and a big t-shirt and then going to school does not convey a positive message to others. It looks lazy and definitely not too attractive.

Don’t wear your average Hol-lister t-shirt and Abercrombie jean shorts every day. They are for middle schoolers who need to slap a brand name on their chest to feel “cool”.

This is high school and it is no se-cret that some people treat every day like a fashion show. So go with a cute dress, solid shirt and a high-waisted, printed skirt, or a big tunic and leg-gings. However, please DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, wear leggings as pants. You know why girls. If you’re gonna wear leggings, make sure your shirt/dress hits at least mid thigh.

While makeup is intended to bring out your best features and hide your flaws, you don’t have to wake up three hours early just to get ready for school. Generally, it should take about 5 to 10 minutes to do your makeup. A little foundation, some eye make up, maybe even a light lip gloss, can take you from looking like a zombie to appearing fresh and awake. Zombies may be a hot trend in the entertainment industry right now, but they’re definitely not in the halls of our school.

Girls, please take note of these friendly suggestions. Everyone is sick of the sloppy, bum look, so put some effort into your appearance.

Nikki Sawyer

Litter-bugs season needs to endtheir school and the environment like that makes me sick.

I began thinking to myself, “Why do students feel that it’s okay to leave trash lying around? Do they just expect someone to clean it up? How do they act outside of school? What do their homes look like?” Just because our school employs fac-ulty who clean up after lunch, does not mean that it is their job to be our personal maids. Basically, litterbugs are arrogant people who apparently think that picking up trash, even their own, is beneath them.

I don’t think that there is anyone in the entire school that enjoys hav-ing mobs of seagulls swoop down and almost fly right into his or her face, and I definitely know that no one likes being pooped on by them. Well, littering is one of the biggest reasons that we have such a signifi-cant seagull problem. By just picking

Picture this: you are walking to your class after lunch, and an apple nearly hits you in the head. Then, after composing yourself, someone accidentally kicks a Gatorade bottle into the back of your feet. You con-tinue walking and look down just in time to see that you almost stepped in something that hardly resembles food. Well, that’s what happened to me the other day.

I was walking to my fifth period class from lunch when I noticed something that I had not realized before: the massive amount of food and other trash covering the ground. I then noticed that not only were people leaving all of their trash lit-tered on the floor, but they were also throwing bread, french fries, and other things to (or rather, at) the seagulls. Seeing students disrespect

Kiele McLaughlin up your food and trash, we can elimi-nate two major problems at once.

There are many things that we can all do to prevent the problem of littering. The most obvious would be for everyone to just throw their trash away. In a perfect world, that solution would work. However, for those who sincerely care about the Earth, if you see someone leave their trash on the ground, picking it up for them would be a more prac-tical solution. There are trash cans within sight of wherever you are all throughout the school. It isn’t too hard to walk the few feet to one and throw it away.

Not only will picking up after yourself show you to be a caring, responsible person, it will also make our school look better as a whole. So please, stop leaving trash all over the place. It is inconsiderate, rude, and very immature.

Kiele McLaughlin

-It may not be a fashion show but it sure isn’t a day of staying home in your pajamas.

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Branch Manger

Opinion52011 December

EYETh

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Palm Harbor University

High School1900 Omaha St.

Palm Harbor, FL 34683(727) 669-1131

We, The EYE staff of 2010-2011, will strive to provide our peers with accurate news pertaining to their daily lives. We promise to uphold the integrity of both ourselves and the reputation of our school. Our reporting will be fair and objective as to appeal to all interest levels in the stu-dent body. Through these goals, we will provide an entertaining outlet and a reliable source that all students may enjoy.

Check out our

website!TheEYEOnline.com

Managing EditorKatelyn Josephik

Editor-in-ChiefSloan Patterson

Staff ReportersPhaedra BradyGabrielle Calise

Quentin CumingsValerie HasherLinda LavadiaPaige Lombard

Jordan LutzAllison Maldonado-Ruiz

Emily ManningKiele McLaughlin

Daniela RessLibby Rodnite

Lena SchwallenbergAlex SquitieriTaylor Watson

Business ManagerLauren Spiegel

AdviserJudy Cannaday

Copy EditorChristina BarboLayout Editor

Rebecca Raymond

Online EditorNikki Sawyer

Geek gift ideas

All items can be found at www.thinkgeek.com

For the dedicated Har-ry Potter fan, the Van de Graaff Levitation Wand is the perfect gift for practicing a bit of magic. The wand has a generator inside which builds up a static charge, causing the included 3D shapes to levitate (mean-while, the geek inside you will scream Wingardium Leviosa).

1Chris Ware/The Lexington

Herald-Leader/MCT

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2Everyone always says not to play with your food, but that re-quest becomes increasingly unrealistic if you have Pac-Man cookie cutters. We all know that playing video games can be exhaust-ing, so feel free to enjoy some delicious Pac-Man, Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde cookies to gain back your energy for your hard-at-work fingers.

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3For the Star Wars Geek who just can’t seem to keep all his data safe, try a Star Wars USB Thumb Drive. Coming in a variety of characters including Boba Fett, C3PO, Han in Carbonite, Yoda, R2-D2, and many more, these thumb drives will protect 4 GB of data with the force.

LucasArts/MCT

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44If you’re looking for a gift for a math geek who has trouble waking up in the morning, the Twist Equation Alarm Clock is the perfect fit. In order to shut off the alarm, simply solve the equation that the clock dis-plays. It’s the perfect wakeup call!

$14.99

All items can be found at www.thinkgeek.com

Instead of the usual Star Trek col-

lectible, why not try the Star Trek Enterprise and Shuttle salt and pepper shak-ers? Featuring the Enterprise NCC-1701, they’re simple, fun to use, and are a unique

way to show one’s love for the original series.

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$12.99

When most normal people imag-ine the fall and winter seasons and all of their glory, they think of pump-kins, cinnamon, ugly sweaters, win-ter break, cold weather, candy canes, you know - all the usual magic asso-ciated with October and November.

There are some people, however, who focus primarily on a different aspect of the seasons. I have always known that people referred to fall and winter in this way, but for some reason, this year I have heard people

going on about it more than ever be-fore. And when I say “going on”, I want it to be clear that I have literally heard “EH MUH GAWD, it’s cud-dle season.” or other similarly word-ed and equally annoying phrases 30 times a week.

You would think that these cud-dle season participators would have had their fill by now with the phrase but, sadly, that is not the case. I feel like there should be a public service announcement. There is no specific weather or season that is made for

With a great attempt at ensuring that students remain in school the entire day, the administration has en-forced old and developed new rules to secure the enclosure of students in school. There have always been a number of issues involving the park-ing lot. Each year the administration tries new ways to guarantee that stu-dents remain in class and out of the parking lot. This year, the rules that the administration is trying to imple-ment include the closing of the gates after first period, not allowing stu-dents in the parking lot during class, not allowing students to leave with-out a permission to leave pass (PTL) or dual-enrollment (DE) pass, and only opening the gates for a limited amount of time to allow DE students to leave. I would first like to applaud administration for this great attempt, but I frown upon their persistence.

Students who choose to not attend their first few classes or accidentally sleep in show up to school and find themselves closed out of the student parking lot. Some students will, logi-cally, choose to drive to the front of the school and park there, while oth-ers will just leave.

In my opinion, the administration should re-think how many students are deciding to go home rather than parking in the front and take that into consideration when closing the gates and leaving them unattended. Wouldn’t administration rather have some students come late to class and be penalized, compared to not com-ing in at all?

I’ll admit having special passes for DE students to leave is a splen-did idea. However, the lack of time permitted for these students to leave is absurd. According to administra-tion, DE students must leave campus after their assigned period, and under no circumstance are they allowed to

stay; even for after school sports and clubs.

What doesn’t make sense to me is how these DE students that need to go to the front office or see an ad-ministrator and then go to class for instance, are supposed to make it to the gate within those 10 minutes.

“I was walking my girlfriend to her car during seventh period be-cause we both have DE,” senior Ethan Fortner said. “When [Mr.] Lopez and [Ms.] Barker drove up to us in their golf cart, they told us we had to leave. [So] we did and drove to the gate. When we got there they had just locked it... How were we supposed to leave?”

Many other students and faculty have come across such situations in which administration simply lacked willingness to take action. I, myself, witnessed one day when they had ne-glected to open both coming and go-ing gates after school, causing a huge traffic-jam. A pair of administrators sat nearby in their golf cart, acting as if they were waiting for someone to come with the key. I feel like in the meanwhile they could have put a little more effort into controlling the traffic. At last, a football coach who was trying to get into the park-ing lot, stopped the flow of leaving cars long enough for the incoming cars to enter.

The way I see it, administration needs to tidy up their system and reassemble their team of over-look-ers. For next year, I would suggest keeping someone nearby to patrol and open the gates when a student appears with a PTL. This way the administration could keep a better track of who is coming and going. Also, for DE students that must stay after school, I think it would be very convenient if a classroom was made so that these students could go and study instead of driving home, waisting time, and coming back.

Park it like it's hotAllison Maldonado-Ruiz

you to cuddle in. You can cuddle with someone anytime you want.

Just think about it. Why should there be a special time for couples to form and all that mushy gushy snuggling to begin? Annoying PDA couples can be all over each other in front of bitter people like me year-round. And the worst part is that it all happens so fast too, like open season for hunting. Everyone goes crazy; suddenly there’s hugging and hand-holding every way you turn.

They line up at the gates of “ex-tra cold” sporting events with their fuzzy ear hat things, leopard snug-gies, and brand new boyfriends in tote. They make sure to buy a ha-zelnut hot cocoa to stay extra warm, just in case that would be an issue, even though we live in Florida. An occasional cold front of 60 degrees should not chill people so much that they must cuddle to defy frostbite. But what else would be expected? IT’S CUDDLE SEASON.

Cuddle Season

Allison Maldonado-Ruiz

The school parking lot's gates are shut to keep people out...and in.

Sloan Patterson

Rebecca Raymond

Chris Ware/Lexington Herald/MCT

Feature6 December 2011

Generations in the United States

20101990197019501930

Current populationby generation

10 mil

20 mil

30 mil

40 mil

50 mil

60 mil

70 mil

80 mil

90 mil

1940 1960 1980 2000

Born: 1925-1945

% of pop: 13%

The Silent Generation

Born: 1946-1964

% of pop: 25%

The Baby Boomers

Born: 1965-1979

% of pop: 20%

Generation X

Born: 1980-2000

% of pop: 29%

Generation Y(The Millennials)

Born: 2001-present

% of pop: 13%

Generation Z

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, 2010 Demographic Analysis

Pew Research Center

- The children of the Great Depression and World War II

- The children of the great spike in fertility immediately following the end of World War II

- This generation ended just as abruptly as it started when the birth control pill went on the market in 1964

- The children born in the period of birth decline following the release of the birth control pill and the recession in 1974-1975

- The generation of the students of PHUHS

- The first generation of the new millennium (millennials)

- The most politically progressive age group in modern history, and the least religiously observant - The generation

with the lowest recorded birth rate

Junior Anthony Cambell

“12. Middle school is the best ti me of your life.”

Senior Jaimie Reed

“2. Mature, but sti ll young.”

Junior Jose Vega

“28. I’d be married and I’ll be a pro-soccer player.”

Junior Skye Barba

“21. I’ll be almost done with college and [will be able to] live my life freely.”

Coach Planamenta

“2 1/2. That’s how old my son is and he has the best life - naps whenever and no bills to pay.”

Senior Hunter Ewing

“25. It’s your prime age - you’re in your best shape and you’re not married yet.”

Sophomore Nicolette Sepanski

“20. You’re in between - not too old and not too young.”

Junior Megan Rush

“26. I’d be fresh out of school, prett y much ready to start life.”

If you had to be one age

for the rest of your life,

what age would you be?

2011 December 7Feature

Congratulations, you act

like an old man! While

most people your age are

up to shenanigans, you're

screaming at them and

talking about “the good

old days". The good news:

you're almost dead. The

bad news: you're actually

a teenager.

Congratulations, you

act middle-aged! You're

kind of boring and you're

having a mid-life crisis.

You're trying to hold on

to your youth, but it's not

working. The good news:

you're life is pretty stable.

The bad news: it's all

downhill from here.

Congratulations, you act

like a teenager! You're

right on par with where

you should be at your age

- (not) having the best

years of your life. The

good news: you're taking

risks without suffering

the consequences. The

bad news: no one views

you as an adult.

Congratulations, you

act like a tween! You

wear exclusively brand

name clothes, you watch

Disney channel, and you

spend all your time at the

mall. The better news:

you're very close to being

a teenager. The worse

news: there's nothing

good about being a tween.

Congratulations, you act

like a toddler! You are

way too immature to be

in high school - go back

to Kindergarten. I'm

surprised you can even

read the results of this

quiz.

December 2011Entertainment8

Nikki Sawyer

Everyone who likes clothing prob-ably loves to shop. That or....they hate it. Shopping can be stressful and a lot of work but there are some things that just need to get done. Buying clothes should be fun - not a chore. Shopping is not about following the latest trends or wor-rying about what other people think, it’s about knowing what items to put together to make the outfit your own (except the people who can’t put outfi ts together, ahem - shorts and tights).

Before you go shopping, take a look at your closet. If you haven’t worn something in over a year, throw it away. If you think you might wear it again but haven’t in awhile, put it in a separate box and store it somewhere away from your closet. If it’s something you really need, you’ll go searching for it again.

Now you’re ready to hit the mall. First thing to do is to make sure you’re in a good mood and that you have enough time. It’s almost impossible to focus when you’re being rushed. It’s also better if you plan what stores you want to go into fi rst, rather than won-dering aimlessly around the mall. If you have a budget of $200, don’t start by going into Neimen Marcus. That will leave you with one outfi t, not a new wardrobe. Going alone is another op-tion - that way you won’t have the pres-sure of other people infl uencing your purchases. But if you’re going to bring a friend, have it be someone who will give you an honest opinion.

Once at the mall, avoid going to stores like Hollister and PacSun. When trying to create a unique wardrobe, the place where the whole school shops at probably isn’t the best place to start. Go to the department stores and stores like Urban Outfi tters and Forever 21. These stores have so many items, so it’s easy to create your own look.

When scanning the racks, take out pieces that catch your eye. After you have everything together, make sure you try EVERYTHING on. It’s a pain but it’s better to decide whether or not you like something at the store than when you are at home. If you try it on and you’re in doubt, put it back. If you

don’t love it in the store, you won’t love it inside your closet.

Next thing: key pieces. Everybody’s closet should consist of a black dress, a white button-up top, a nice skirt, and boots. Any of those items can be paired with other articles of clothing to make the outfi t more appealing.

There are certain things that you should splurge on and some things that you should not. Don’t be afraid to shop from the sale racks or from clear-ance. Buying things from the back of the store doesn’t mean you’re cheap, it means you’re smart. No one will know how much you spent on it anyways. But don’t buy something just because it’s a good price. One minute you’ll be look-ing at a $10 shirt, and the next you’ll be at the cash register with a pile 2 feet high costing you about $300 more than you intended.

Now that you’ve done your shop-ping, you’re ready for the next step: mastering your closet. Take a look at ev-erything you own. You can pair old and new stuff together; you’re not limited to the things you just bought. It IS okay to wear last year’s clothes (gasp!). Try on different things to see what goes to-gether - you’ll be surprised at how many outfi ts you can actually make.

Now that you have the clothes part together, it’s time to accessorize. Jewelry is the most important part of an outfi t. It puts it together and makes it com-plete. You can’t just put on some ran-dom jewelry and be done, though. Your outfi t needs to look like something you can go out in public in, not trick-or-treating. If your outfi t consists of a lot of patterns and designs, don’t wear a bulky necklace and big earrings with lots of colors and jewels. However, if you’re wearing a simple outfi t with little design, your jewelry should stand out. Pick a necklace or earrings as your state-ment piece. Too much can look, well....too much. You want to avoid looking costume-y.

Now that you’ve got your outfit together and jewelry to match, slip on some cute shoes and swipe on some lip gloss. You’re ready for a perfect night out or....just school. And remember: when in doubt, wear a belt.

Vamping up your style -How to adjust your closet to fit the new year.Taylor Watson

scarves are going to be big this season, so stock up on them in all different colors and prints! No other accessory looks better than a big scarf on a cold day, so head on out to Urban Outfitters! As for shoes, I love boots and think they look fabulous with nearly any outfit. Caramel colored cowboy boots, fierce, faux black leather boots, and Uggs make any winter outfit look complete. Aldo offers so many unique styles, but their shoes can get a little pricey. If you are looking to save, go to Payless or Target for some cheaper alternatives. If boots don’t interest you, Toms and Vans are always in style, so keep your feet warm by heading out to Journeys and buying a few pairs!

With the new weather comes new fashions, so be ready to toss aside those shorts and tee’s for some jackets and jeggings! The holidays are right around the corner, so if you can’t af-ford to upgrade your wardrobe, ask mom and dad for some new duds! Happy shopping and hap-py holidays!

CoutureCorner

if you wear one - so don’t wear these outrageous creations.

Jeans aren’t the only option for bottoms during winter! Girls, you can wear so much more, like leggings, long skirts, tights and more! Forever 21 has amazing deals on tights, especially bold and colorful pairs. You could also pick up some jeggings (jean printed leggings) at PacSun. Their Bullhead brand jeans fit like a glove and come in so many dif-ferent washes, styles, and sizes. If you are still longing for a good pair of jeans, look at Hollister if you’re looking for a simple pair. Tilly’s offers a ton of different styles, so look there if you want something a little more unique.

Winter brings more accesso-ries and shoes than virtually any other season. Hats are adorable and almost everyone can rock one. Whether you are looking for a classic knit hat, or some-thing a little more exciting like a beanie with animal ears, it is hard to go wrong! Spencer’s has a ton of silly hats, while retailers like Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe offer girlier options. Gloves and

Winter weather and cozy clothes are finally here! Here in Florida, we rarely get a chance to show off our cute winter clothes, so take advantage of the chilly weather and stock up on some cold weather necessities!

Obviously you are going to need a nice winter jacket or two, but why settle for a boring hood-ie or zip-up jacket? Tilly’s is the place to go if you are looking for the latest styles in outerwear this season. They carry a large variety of brands and numerous styles - cardigans, blazers, faux leather jackets, peacoats, and more!

Layering looks great for win-ter, so grab a warm, solid long sleeve shirt and throw on a flashy, printed jacket for a unique look! Dillard’s also has a nice variety of coats - my favorite being a grey, faux fur peacoat that I saw recent-ly. Just avoid those ridiculous, overly poofy jackets; it doesn’t ever get too cold, so there’s no need for them! There’s also no need for you to ever resemble a marshmallow - which you will

Nikki Sawyer

Silver Feather Charm

Ear Cuff

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in br

ass

$29.00

Silver

Octo

pus N

eckla

ce $16.00

Leather Owl family Bracelet

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Eye Catchers

All items available at Etsy.com

Employees of Forever 21 get into the spirit of the store's opening in

the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, California, on May 21, 2011.

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/MCT

What are you dreaming about this holiday season? When it comes to your holiday wish list a lot of factors come into play like money, your taste in gifts, and availability. Here are some unique jewelry accessories that might catch your eye and end up on the list of things you’re dreaming about.

Entertainment92011 December

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This issue of The EYE was sponsored by:

Lena Georges & Kip Corriveau, the Lombard family, the Lutz family, Mary Hancock, and the Josephik family

No guts no glory

American Horror Story’s shock-ing, dark, and complicated story line is what keeps me addicted to the se-ries, which airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX. The show focuses on the Harmon family: Ben (Dylan Mc-Dermott), Vivien (Connie Britton), and their daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga). Facing the disintegration of their family due to Ben’s cheating and Vivien’s miscarriage, the family moved to Los Angeles to start their lives anew. However, little do they know that their new home has a long history of murder and the spirits of those that have died remain, often-times interacting with the them in inconspicuous or outright terrifying ways.

Ghosts in the home are unlike traditional ghosts - they not only haunt, but they kill, rape, and ap-pear to be alive. In fact, sometimes the ghosts do not even know that they’re dead.

Blood, latex, and horror

Lead singer of Pierce the Veil, Victor Fuentes, holds his guitar up in

the air during “The Boy Who Could Fly.”

On their two month long tour, No Guts No Glory, five bands - letlive, Amity Affliction, Woe is Me, Miss May I, and Pierce the Veil - per-formed on Nov. 23 at the State The-atre in St. Petersburg. The tour lasts from Nov. 8 through Dec. 16 and is nationwide.

Opening was letlive from Los Angeles, and all I have to say is they were a jumbled mess of no talent with a very...unique lead singer.

He came out doing flips and jumping around stage like he had ADHD. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but then he climbed onto the stage railing and pretended to jump down on top of the bewildered crowd below. That’s not even the worse part.

Though I expected a mosh pit to form eventually, what I did not expect was for the lead singer, Ja-son Butler, to jump on top of four startled teenagers and start the mosh pit himself. He then proceeded to throw his microphone to the point of breaking it.

However, I do give him kudos for his response to State Theatre officials who told the band to stop, which was a “No we’re not.” and continuing playing.

Amity Affliction with their amusing Australian accents were up next. While they were decent, they did not make much of an impact and their performance was like a blur in the event.

Woe is Me had a very lively crowd

- Five bands travel across the U.S. to perform their two month long tour.

Emily Manning

Christina Barbo

The pink carpet was rolled out for the sexiest night on television. That name surely fits for this year’s Vic-toria’s Secret Fashion Show, which aired Nov. 29. Models, performers, fashion, and more took this year to new heights.

Angels included Brazilian beau-ties Alessandra Ambrosio and Adri-ana Lima, blonde bombshells Can-dice Swanepoel, Erin Heatheron, and Lindsay Ellingson, PINK girls Behati Prinsloo, Lily Aldridge, and Chanel Iman, returning Angels Doutzen Kroes and Miranda Kirr, and new Angel, Lais Ribeiro.

Swanepoel opened the first seg-ment, “Ballet”. The ensembles were ballet-themed and featured ballerinas dancing along the runway. “Make Me Wanna Die” by The Pretty Reckless played while supermodels strutted down the 100 foot, glittery runway. I liked the originality and how the outfits remained true to the theme. However, I think the music choice should have been saved for an edgier

and performed many songs includ-ing a cover of “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” by Katy Perry. I would say out of all the bands they were tied with Pierce the Veil as the most crowd-orientated.

Miss May I played well but the crowd pretty much ruined the expe-rience. The most adorable moment of the night, however, did happen during their performance. A young boy was brought up to the stage by the lead singer, Levi Benton. Benton announced to the crowd that for the entire duration of the song the boy was to crowd surf and not be let down.

The crowd did not fail him. The boy surfed the crowd back and forth as everyone helped to make sure he stayed up.

The last performance was by Pierce the Veil, who was a co-head-liner. The band was great with the crowd, had a unique presence, and performed perfectly. One negative was that the lead singer, Victor Fu-entes, was somewhat difficult to hear despite my spot in the front. Why? Because the crowd knew every word to all the songs and sang along, over-powering his voice.

Possibly the best part of the performance was during their song “Caraphernelia.” As the lyrics “So what’s so good about picking up the pieces?” were sung, white confetti fell down as the lights flashed and was spread across the entire venue, landing on every person.

Overall the event was great de-spite some minor mishaps.

From its racy premiere, which incorporated a mystery man in a la-tex suit, self-harm, a shape shifting maid, and unmatchable creepiness, AHS set the precedent of current television horror shows.

While its provocative usage of human abnormalities (deformations, fetishes, mental disorders), can be considerably disturbing to some and is why I cannot recommend the series to all, this is what indeed sepa-rates it from pseudo “scary” televi-sion series like True Blood.

The series knows how to bother you enough to fit the horror genre, but also keeps you involved enough that you cannot stop watching. Ev-ery episode reveals a new back-story; how a ghost died, and every action makes you question characters’ mo-tives or even if they are alive. Most episodes even kill off a character.

The plot, without doubt, is intri-cate - so intricate, in fact, that even the writers seem to be confused. There are too many parts of the plot

that remain unanswered that I be-lieve will never be answered, which is unsettling in a way AHS writers did not intend. With at least 21 ghosts haunting the home, obviously things can get a bit out of hand. At the end of each episode I’m left in a state of mild panic, wondering if everything that needs to be clarified will in fact be clarified.

Have AHS writers forgotten to mention why elderly Constance has an attractive, 20-something boy-friend or are they just trying to keep me guessing? Will they ever explain why a medium told Violet that Tate needs assistance in “going to the other side”, even though it was later established that spirits are stuck in the house forever? Many incon-sistencies in the plot are never even corrected.

The ambiguity is overwhelming, but it does keep me watching every week. Besides that, the show is sur-prising, unique, and true to the hor-ror genre.

The sexiest night in fashion historyNikki Sawyer segment.

Next came “Super Angels,” a seg-ment featuring superhero-inspired outfits. Lima opened in an outfit with a cape and gloves. Kanye West performed “Stronger,” and I wasn’t a fan of his performance. I loved the outfits; they were perfectly crafted to represent a Super Angel.

“Passion” was third and Rihan-na’s “California King Bed” was played. Outfits for this segment were inspired by exotic designs, and despite the excitement in the outfits, the music choice was awful. Victo-ria’s Secret should keep their day job and never do music.

Unique is one word suitable for “Aquatic Angels”. Kirr opened with a $2.5 million Fantasy Bra. Maroon 5 performed their latest hit “Moves Like Jagger”. Front man Adam Levine’s girlfriend, Anne V, walked in the show and the two held hands as he kissed her on the cheek. This segment featured weird outfits and wasn’t my favorite.

“I Put a Spell on you” was next, featuring “Secrets” by One Repub-

lic. Hands down, I loved this section the best! With Kroes opening the segment, the outfits were romantic and fashionable. These looks were very French chic, but featured some odd umbrellas. However, it was still amazing and classic Victoria’s Se-cret.

“Club Pink” closed the show, which featured a performance by Nicki Minaj. She wore a strange outfit, which is nothing surprising since she’s pretty much a hip-hop Lady Gaga. Heatherton opened the segment, which featured tons of col-ors and oversized outfits. The most unique outfit belonged to Karlie Kloss, who wore a huge disco ball on her butt. Yeah…weird.

“Born this Way” and “S and M” played as the models walked out for the finale. Lima and Ambrosio lead the pack of super tall vixens, who danced and posed for pictures.

I think this year’s show was well done. I loved the fashion and the models, who made the event. If you missed the first airing, be sure to catch the show as it re-airs or online!

Courtesy of Pauline Piotrowski

December 2011

Robert Gauthier/MCT

Entertainment10Never sing, ever

While Bieber is 17 years old and still has a baby face, he somehow managed to have baby mama drama and a new album - Under the Mis-tletoe - just in time for the holidays!

Before my opinions are read, I must warn that I believe holiday song covers should be untouched from current musical trends - some-thing I could calmly listen to and enjoy while reclining in my sofa by the fireplace. This is what drives my opinion on Under the Mistletoe.

1. “Only Thing I Ever Get for Christmas” - This is Justin’s tradi-tional love song that is designed for an ambiguous girl he is waiting by the mistletoe for; a formula to make crazed preteens (and unfortunately, some of my peers) think that the song is meant just for them.

2. “Mistletoe” - Justin has thoughtfully provided us an update to the situation in the first song. I get it. You’re going to be under a mistletoe waiting for a girl. Did you really have to tell me that in the span of two whole songs?

3. “The Christmas Song (Chest-nuts Roasting on an Open Fire) [feat. Usher]” - Nothing like the original, soothing song, it’s hard to love this rendition as it has a riff al-most every other line. For the tiny fragment of time when Usher and Bieber remember it’s a cover and not a remix, it’s bearable.

4. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”- More like Santa Claus is coming to Nasily Town. Biebs, use your diaphragm at least a little bit,.

5.“Fa La La (feat. Boyz II Men)”

- Why does Bieber continue to poi-son the sound of old holiday songs with hip-hop and pop beats? And why out of many talented artists did he collaborate with Boyz II Men?

6. “All I Want for Christmas is You (SuperFestive!) [Duet With Mariah Carey]” - I’m sorry, this is Mariah Carey’s song and it’s known by her amazing belts and therefore, it should stay Bieber-free.

7. “Drummer Boy (feat. Busta Rhymes)” - This is the absolute worst holiday song I have ever heard in my life. The lyric “I might go psycho” is sure to put you in a cheery, hol iday mood! “Stupid stupid, love like cupid.” - wait I think Justin forgot what month Valen-tine’s Day is in. Oh, let’s not forget when Justin says, “I’m so bad like Michael.” Never compare yourself to the king of pop. Ever.

When I thought the song could not get any worse, Busta Rhymes starts awk-wardly rapping about how he’s “at the table with the family” when his blackberry starts ringing, telling us that Justin Bieber tweeted him. This relates to the holiday spirit, how? The icing on the cake, however, is

when Busta Rhymes says he tweet-ed him back in the middle of his family meal. I thought, “Yes, this is what we need to teach teens: ignore your family and tweet while eating.” What valuable life lessons.

8. “Christmas Eve” - Here we go again, “The mistletoe can pull us closer.” Three songs so far. Three. And I am certain that Justin is still confused as to what month Valen-tine’s Day is in as he sings “It sorta feels like Valentine’s.”

9. “All I Want is You” - Named too much like, “All I want for Christmas is You”, there’s nothing special to say about this song; it’s bland, like chewing on cardboard.

10. “Home this Christ-mas (feat. the Band Perry)” - And now we are “wait-ing under the mistletoe” again. Maybe someone should break the news to Bieber that no one’s coming. However, the Band Perry gives this

song a nice country vibe, making it a unique

holiday song.11. “Silent Night” -

Here is where Bieber final-ly embraces the pure spirit of Christmas. He does a really nice cover of “Silent

Night,” with no riffs that over-do it. Why wasn’t the whole album like this?

Save your money and your ears from bleeding - don’t buy the full album. If anything, buy “Silent Night.” I award Under the Mistle-toe 1 out of 5 stars.

Phaedra Brady

LeValley Napolitano & McMenamin, P.L.

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You sit on the couch flipping through channels. Nothing, still nothing, why would you even want to watch that? Why must there be nothing on? It’s Christmas vacation and frankly you just want to relax and watch something to get in the spirit. Problem being: what should I watch? For your viewing pleasure, I introduce this list of holiday classics.

Home Alone - For those wanting a humorous movie, Home Alone is sure to please. The story involves a young boy who is forgotten and left home at Christmas when his family travels to Florida. Then, having to deal with two criminals attempting to rob his home, the boy fights back with hilarious and ingenious traps to irritate and torment the crooks.

Scrooged - A funny twist on the classic, A Christmas Story, Bill Murray plays a modern-day Scrooge and deals with three very comical ghosts that seem to never stop.

A Christmas Story - “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” Ralphie, the main character, is told this various times be-ing that he has his eye out for a Red Ryder BB gun. Ral-phie is persistent and this trait results in comedic gold.

Bad Santa - Two con men dressed as Santa and his elf go from area to area robbing each establishment. The comedy consists of the duo’s hilarious yet slightly vulgar dialogue and experiences.

Elf - Will Ferrell in tights. Need I say any more?

The Nightmare Before Christmas - This animation, starring Jack the Pumpkin King, involves two holidays in one as he recruits the inhabitants of Halloween Town to take over Christmas.

Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas - “Hate, hate, hate. Hate, hate, hate. Double Hate. LOATHE EN-TIRELY!” The opposite can be said about this amusing classic of how the Grinch stole Christmas.

A Christmas Carol - Ebenezer Scrooge has sucked holiday spirit of those around him. As the movie un-folds, so does the self-realization of how greed and mon-ey are inconsequential in life and what really matters is love, family, and joy.

“Keep the change ya' filthy animal"Emily Manning

Sports112011 December

Winter in Florida is unlike winter in the rest if the U.S. Besides the fact that you can bet on not seeing a flake of snow, temperatures rarely drop long enough for Floridians to stow away their flip-flops. So while the rest of America is skiing, sledding, ice skating, or having wild snowball fights, Floridians have to find other ways to spend their time.

Since Oct. 15, sportsmen all along the Sunshine State’s coast have been searching for some of the most valuable crustaceans in the country: stone crabs.

Crabbers began placing traps on Oct. 5, and bobbing buoys quickly became brightly colored decorations along the Gulf shoreline. Stone crabs can be purchased in your local sea-food market for $15-25 a pound, but the adventure of harvesting them on your own is priceless!

Starting with the traps: they can be bought, but again, many prefer the homemade approach and build their own out of wood or plastic, later filling each with concrete. The traps are connected to black poly floating lines which are tied to Sty-rofoam buoys. These buoys must be marked with a two inch “R” so other fisherman know that they are recre-ational traps and not commercial.

Once the traps are assembled, it’s time to bait them. The bait of choice, although surprising to some, is pigs’ feet because they last for weeks at a time and crabs love the unique odor. This type of bait can be purchased at most local grocery stores… but they are not exactly the kind of things they leave out on dis-play, so you’ll have to request a spe-

Daniela Ress

Stone crab seasoncial order. If pigs’ feet do not work for you, though, stone crabs will also be attracted to fresh fish carcasses or even other species of dead crabs. Baited traps are typically left in the water for around a week, give or take a couple of days depending on weather conditions.

Though the traps can get heavy, and the rope becomes covered in growth over time, the struggle is soon justified when the lids are un-latched and the crabs are in view. Legal claws must be 2 ¾ inches in length, and they may not be taken from females with eggs.

Once you find the ones that fit the regulations, snap them off fast and return the live crab to the water so that they can regenerate more claws in time for the next season. Watch out though - those claws are not just for show. Aside from stone crabs, which your traps are hopefully full of, expect to find anything from spider crabs, dogfish, or maybe even an octopus. While none of these creatures are ideal, they all add to the fun and excitement that comes along with stone crabbing.

Claws must be boiled then trans-ferred immediately to an icy bath - this will prevent the meat from stick-ing to the shell. Once that is out of the way, they are finally ready to eat. You’ll surely remember why you put up with the stink and the struggle once you taste the seafood that most claim to be even better than lobster.

Now put away the fuzzy boots (you really don’t need them, any-way) and get back on the boat be-cause the season doesn’t last forever - after eight months, they will close again for the summer. So get crack-ing!

Sophomore Sarah Raymond was the highlight of the girls’ cross country team when she ran a 20:01.60 in the 5,000 meter during the district race on Nov. 2. Her time earned her second placed and advanced her to re-gionals, where she added a few seconds, but still placed tenth and moved on once again, this time to states.

As if being the only girl to qualify for states wasn’t enough, Raymond also juggled her cross country training with the start of a new soccer season. Aside from stretching and running when she could, Raymond focused more on her mental preparation prior to the race.

Her hard work paid off and she ran a 19:32.80 in the 5,000 meter during states, a season best. Raymond placed 27 out of 177 other qualified runners.

Daniela Ress

Featured Athlete:

Sarah RaymondQ: How did you get into

cross country?

A: Well, Coach Southard

had been talking to me

about it all last year so

I finally decided to do it

because I wanted to stay

in shape, but then I actu-

ally started to enjoy it!

Q: What's different about

cross country from track?

A: Cross country is a lon-

ger distance. It's a 5k so

it's much different train-

ing involved. It's more

about getting your body

ready for a long distance

run.

Q: What's your favorite

part about it?

A: I like the feeling after

I run in a race. It's just a

sense of accomplishment

and you feel really great

about yourself.Paige LombardPaige Lombard

For more Sports

news go to

TheEYEonline.com

Q: How did you get into

cross country?

A: Well, Coach Southard

had been talking to me

about it all last year so

I finally decided to do it

because I wanted to stay

in shape, but then I actu-

ally started to enjoy it!

Q: What's different about

cross country from track?

A: Cross country is a lon-

ger distance. It's a 5k so

it's much different train-

ing involved. It's more

about getting your body

ready for a long distance

run.

Q: What's your favorite

part about it?

A: I like the feeling after

I run in a race. It's just a

sense of accomplishment

and you feel really great

about yourself.Paige LombardPaige Lombard

1. What is Zach Perrotti's favorite color?

a) Baby blue b) Red c) Yellow d) Green

2. What is Jacob Jarreau's favorite animal?

a) Ferret b) Poodle c) Spider monkey d) Kangaroo

3. What is Sammy Eichelberger's pump up song?

a) Where Them Girls At? b) We Will Rock You

c) Moves Like Jagger d) Dutty Love

4. Who is Tim Gorman's favorite superhero?

a) Batman b) Spiderman c) Superman d) Iron Man

5. What is Dylan Haslam's pump up song?

a) Bout to Blow Up b) Get Big c) All of the Lights d) Hard in the Paint

6. Who is Tommy Hart's role model?

a) Elvis Presley b) LeBron James c) Tim Tebow d) Paris Hilton

7. Who is Marissa Zimmet's favorite superhero?

a) Harry Potter b) Wonder Woman c) Captain America d) Spiderman

8. What is Jake Gardner's favorite animal?

a) Shark b) Clown fish c) Zebra d) Panther

9. Who is Jason William's role model?

a) Tommy from Rugrats b) Michael Phelps c) His dad d) Godzilla

10. Who is Renee Huy's favorite villain?

a) The Joker b) The Green Goblin

c) Her sister Elena d) Victoria from Twilight

1900 Omaha Street Palm Harbor, FL 34683

Th

e OnEYESPORTSDecember 2011

Turn to page 11 for more Sports news

Volume 16 Issue 3

Swim team dives into first placeBoys make history as the first bay area swim team in over 50 years to win two state titles; girls take second place honors.

Taylor Watson

Do you knowPHUHS’ athletes?

Lena Schwallenberg

?

?

?

?

?

? ?

We all love a good underdog story. It doesn’t matter if the un-derdog gives his all and just miss-es his goal or rises to the occasion and shocks everybody who ever doubted him. People will still always appreciate the underdog. The PHUHS Girls’ golf team rose to the occasion and made it onto states this season against all odds.

“We qualified at regionals by beating our rivals, Mitchell High School, who beat us in districts,” senior Jasmine Wade said.

Nov. 1-2 at the Mission Inn Country Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, right outside of Orlando, the team competed for a state title.

The top five girls of the team, Jasmine Wade, Lauren Coe, Ryan Pierce, Jessica Roper, and Jojo Baker got the oppor-tunity to go to districts, regionals, and states.

“States had to be one of the coolest experiences - being out there with the best girls in the state was intimidating at first,” Roper said. “And the course was really long, so hitting into 30 mph winds the first day didn’t help at all.”

After turning in a score that she wasn’t happy with the first day, Roper stayed at the course and worked on the range and the green for an extra 3 hours and dropped her score 22 strokes the next day.

The team managed to remain motivated, despite seeing the nu-merous college scouts out on the range watching them warm up.

“We all help each other out and support each other,” Roper said. “As a team we all give each other motivational talks and we go crazy if we ever see each other on the course while playing.”

The team finished 13th over-all in states, led by Jasmine Wade who placed 9th individually out of 92 golfers. Next year, Wade

wil l go to play golf at Florida In-ternational University on a scholar-ship.

“Jasmine will do great in college, she

has the drive and is an overall great golfer,” Roper said.

It was a successful season for the PHUHS Girls’ golf team in the eyes of many. When asked if there was anything she would go back and do differently, Wade said “No. We had a winning sea-son and that’s all that matters.”

States had to be one of

the coolest experiences-

being out there with the

best girls in the state was

intimidating at first.

“

"

Girls' golf team tees up at states

Sloan Patterson

Four years ago the swim team won their first state title and after years of hard work and prepara-tion, on Nov. 10, the seniors of the PHUHS swim team could finally say that they are champions once again. No bay area school in over 50 years has ever won 2 state titles.

Before the 200 medley relay, PHUHS was in second place, behind Miami Palmetto High, who beat them in states last year. During the relay, the team gave it all they had to win the race, with senior Jason Williams finishing almost a body’s length in front of the other swim-mers, allowing the team to come in first in the event and win the team their only gold medal.

“It felt amazing [to win]; there’s

no other feeling like it,’’ senior Jason Williams said.

The boys took first place in the meet all thanks to David Morgan, Ja-son Williams, Zack Perrotti, Taylor Uselis, Ryan McRae, and Shaun Van Huyssteen. Morgan got 5th place in the 100 breast stroke with a time of 56.45 and 3rd in the 200 IM (1:50.86) McRae took 4th place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.29 and 5th in the 200 freestyle (1:41.44), Williams got 3rd in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.87 and in the 100 freestyle (49.94), Perrotti placed 5th in the 100 fly (51.85), and Uselis got 6th in the 500 free (4:37.57).

The guys cannot take all the cred-it for winning, though. On the girls side, freshman Michelle Turek was the star of the meet, being runner-up in both the 100 free (51.06) and the

200 free (1:48), helping the girls take 2nd place overall.

“I was so excited [to just] have made it that far,” Turek said. “It was so much fun, I hope I get to be a part of it in the years to come too.”

Almost all who qualified for the meet scored, many coming in top five in the individual events. With a total score of 235, PHUHS won a state title at the class 3A meet.

The season is over for the high school season but for swimmers, it’s never really over-over. They practice all year round to retain their skill for the following season.

“[The season] went by so fast, it felt like only a couple of weeks,” Turek said.

For more updates on the swimmers and other sports, visit TheEYEonline.com

Courtesy of the Aftermath

The Boys Swim team celebrates their State Championship victory as

they proudly display the “U".

Senior Jessica Roper perfects her stroke out on the golf course

during a match against Mitchell High School.

Courtesy of the Aftermath

Go to TheEYEonline.com

for the answer key.