Category: Featured

By Cody Straub-

It has been a year of changes for Penn State. A new football coach, a new president, and no Joe Paterno. Now Penn State is considering another major change for the university: switching from a public university to a private university. Penn State trustees chairwoman Karen Peetz called it, “the Cornell model,” in a recent report.

The reason Penn State is considering the option of becoming a private University officials say is because PA Governor Tom Corbett warned Penn State to open its records to the public or he will cut off their taxpayer funding.

“I hope if Penn State goes private it doesn’t affect the tuition too much,” said senior Ian Toomey, who will be attending Penn State next year.

Currently, Penn State benefits from exemptions to some parts of the state’s Right to Know law. The law’s agenda is the following: “Providing for access to public information, for a designated open-records officer in each Commonwealth agency, local agency, judicial agency and legislative agency,” according to PA Freedom of Information Coalition.

So what  records does Penn State have that they want to keep out of the public’s eyes?

With the recent child abuse scandal at Penn State involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, Penn State may want to keep the records involving the scandal private and not comply with the Right to Know Law. These could include records for court cases involving Sandusky, and current and former employers who will stand trial for related charges in the scandal.

Peetz stressed that this decision will not be rushed and no changes should be expected in the near future.

“The Cornell model is of great interest. But this can’t be rushed. I don’t think that’s going to be a quick decision,” said Peetz in a recent article in The Patriot News.

Penn State officials have already met with officials from Cornell University, which used to be a public university, but changed to a private school. Cornell though still receives some New York state aid for four of its colleges for research and teaching.

“It was only a discussion of ideas and nothing more,” said Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers of the meeting.

People involved with Penn State want to know what changes they will face if Penn State decides to go private.

One definite impact, according to the article in The Patriot News, is the cost of tuition to attend to Penn State.

Senator Jake Corman, a Centre County Republican, stated in the article that, “Trustees would move away from setting tuition based on what students could afford and shift to how much they’re willing to pay.”

Matt Brouillette, president of the conservative-leaning Commonwealth Foundation, thinks Penn State going private is a great idea, and that tuition price will not change drastically.

“We obviously know higher-education subsidies don’t lead to lower tuition, so eliminating those subsidies is not going to directly affect tuition costs,” Brouillette said in a recent article in The Patriot News.

Currently the tuition at Penn State for Pennsylvania residents is about $15,250, about ten thousand dollars less compared to tuition for out of state residents. Because Cornell still receives some aid from the stat of New York their in state and out of state tuition also differ. A new York resident pays about $27,000 in tuition compared to $ 43,000 for out of state students.

Under Governor Corbett’s proposed budget Penn State will receive a 30 percent cut in state funding. This fact makes the idea of going private more plausible because Penn State is relying less and less on state funding to help off set costs.

In a year of change for Penn State a major decision now looms over the university. Will they continue to operate as a public university and receive state funding? Or, will they switch to a private university and follow the “Cornell Model?” Only time will tell.

By Gabie Bauman –

A firestorm has swept through the country, with an issue that concerns a little over half of the population.

Women’s reproductive health. From the challenge of the “Obamacare” health care overhaul, to the presidential candidates’ personal views, it’s hard to turn on the television lately without being bombarded by the issue. At the center of the issue is the clause of “Obamacare” that requires companies to cover birth control and preventative healthcare for women as a part of their health insurance policies, regardless of whether or not the company happens to be a religious institution.

Some have called it an infringement of religious rights, others a basic part of health care for women. Others simply look at their calenders in confusion, wondering when we traveled back in time to 1957.

According to Speaker of the House John Boehner, “This is about protecting Americans’ religious beliefs. We’ve done it for 220 years. It’s part of our Constitution and the government’s moving in a direction that would force some Americans to violate their religious beliefs. This is wrong and we want to stop it.”

But just prior to the vote on the Obamacare clause, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, said the Senate GOP’s attempt was “a blunt, sweeping overreach into women’s health” that is “disrespecting women’s health issues” by allowing employers to cut basic health services for women, such as contraception, mammograms, prenatal and cervical cancer screenings, and other preventive care.

But the question that seems to be thrown around the most is, is it a matter of entitlement or of women’s health rights?

A Penn Manor student laughed  when asked the question, saying “Entitlement? In the sense that men think women feel entitled?”

Some Penn Manor students weighed in on their beliefs about birth control and abortion, “The only reason that people are having babies is because they’re having sex before they’re ready,” said a Penn Manor junior girl who wished to remain anonymous, “[if they have access to birth control] then more people will have sex before marriage.”

Others had a different opinion, “It makes sense for the companies to cover birth control,” said another Penn Manor student, “If they don’t cover birth control then employees will get pregnant and then the company will have to pay them to be on maternity leave.”

“I am pro-choice,” the student said.

When some girls were asked about the legality of abortion, their responses were immediate, “No. Abortion shouldn’t be legal. It’s a child, not a choice,” said the student, “You’re killing a human life, but people who’ve had an abortion will be forgiven by God.”

These reactions come on the heels of the controversy surrounding Virginia’s abortion bill — namely, if a woman would wish to have an abortion she would be required to submit to a transvaginal probe and subsequent ultrasound. The intention of the bill was to make sure that the woman really knows exactly what she is getting rid of, to put the emphasis on informed consent of a medical procedure.

The controversy revolves around the political aim of the bill — is it to have the fetus personified in an invasive probe or to give the woman more information before she makes her final choice.

A similar bill has been tabled in the Pennsylvania Legislature.

One Georgia Democrat, in retaliation for the bill, even submitted a satirical antivasectomy bill that required a probe of its own. Neither that bill nor the Virginia abortion legislature passed when it came to a vote.

Recently, Susan G. Komen for the Cure pulled its funding of Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions as part of its family planning, to much controversy.

But what about when using birth control isn’t about birth control?

When the Food and Drug Administration first approved the use of the birth control pill in 1957, it wasn’t actually for birth control at all, but for severe menstrual disorders and pain. Birth control has been shown to have many positive effects (and some negative side effects like weight gain) like the prevention of ovarian and endometrial cancer. According to the LA Times, it also is “used to treat ovarian cysts, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, breakthrough bleeding and painful menstrual periods.”

Birth control can be used to help control severe menstrual symptoms, like debiliatating cramps.

That fact is not often brought up by the conservative opponents of the “Obamacare” legislation.

Like Rush Limbaugh.

Limbaugh, the ultraconservative radio talk host, made extremely offensive comments about Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke for three straight days.

Fluke, who was invited by the Democrats to sit on the all-male Republican

committee discussing women’s reproductive rights and freedom of conscience, was barred from giving her testimony on the grounds that she was not experienced enough in the issue. She would have been the only woman on the committee.

Later on she would be invited by House Democrats to give her testimony, where she cited several cases of anecdotal evidence and statistical facts, including that during her three years as a law student she could spend as much as $3000 on birth control, and that she had a friend with a disorder that was regulated by birth control — a drug not covered by her Jesuit school’s health program.

Limbaugh used this as part of his talk program, “What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic], who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We’re the pimps. The johns? We would be the johns? No! We’re not the johns.  Yeah, that’s right. Pimp’s not the right word. Okay, so she’s not a slut. She’s ’round heeled’. I take it back.”

Fluke was not quiet, did not just take it, “‘No woman deserves to be disrespected in this manner. This language is an attack on all women, and has been used throughout history to silence our voices,” she said in a press release. ‘The millions of American women who have and will continue to speak out in support of women’s health care and access to contraception prove that we will not be silenced.”

And now a recent study has found a connection between the use of birth control and wages for women. In an article for the Huffington Post, Martha Bailey, an affiliate at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research who authored the study is quoted as saying, “As the pill provided younger women the expectation of greater control over childbearing, women invested more in their human capital and careers,” Bailey explained. “Most affected were women with some college, who benefited from these investments through remarkable wage gains over their lifetimes.”

The debate is the biggest one of the election even though America has a weak, recovering economy, huge debt, and soldiers overseas.

More from Gabie at: 4c3ofsp4des

Cover Image: A San Antonio rally in front of local Planned Parenthood. Image credit AP.

By Becca Hess –

Last fall J.J. Mowery was thinking about dropping out from Penn Manor.  A junior, Mowery was one of a handful of kids who teeter on the edge  every year- close to graduation but feeling like they are far from finishing.

“I have four jobs,” said Mowery. “I work on three different farms and I work with my dad.”

Mowery doesn’t know if he sees the point in finishing high school when he can make a living working right now.

He feels that school is holding him back from making money and that having a high school diploma is not necessary for him to succeed in life. He recalls during eighth grade he would be working so much that he neglected his homework and he had to repeat the grade.

Across the state, graduation rates have been stuck around the 80 percent mark and, although Penn Manor’s is much better, more than 97 percent each year, the kids who do drop out not only hurt themselves, they can reflect poorly on the school especially now that the state is calculating graduation rates a different way.

“We make it as hard as humanly possible for them to dropout,” said Penn Manor guidance counselor Melissa Otrowski.

Otrowski explained that Pennsylvania’s state government has changed to a cohort system mandating that schools start with a freshmen class and have to track all of those ninth graders for four years. Moving schools, transferring to cyber or twilight school, health issues or going to rehab all effect this formula.

“Sometimes things happen that are legit, but they hurt us,” said Ostrowski.

Pennsylvania has compulsory education. This means one must attend school through the age of 16. Once a student reaches age 17, they are legally able to sign themselves out of school.

Ostrowski said that there are  underlying causes as to why students dropout or at least attempt it.

According to many child behavioral experts, a range of factors may increase a student’s risk of dropping out, including high rates of absenteeism, low levels of school engagement, low parental education, work or family responsibilities, problematic or deviant behavior, moving to a new school in the ninth grade, and attending a school with lower achievement scores.

So how does a school keep kids from dropping out?

Penn Manor has a few tricks up their sleeve. They have backup plans which give students who are considering dropping out more options.

Options like, cyber (online) or twilight( night) school as well as the Lancaster County Academy located in Park City Mall. All of these are great options for students. They are a non traditional way of school and still allow them to get the necessary credits they need to graduate and receive a diploma.

“The key, is options,” Ostrowski said.

These options are not the only factor in making sure students stay in school, she said. Penn Manor has a plan known as the Truancy Elimination Plan or the TEP.

“The TEP is developed cooperatively with involved stakeholders through a school-family conference, which is required after the first unlawful absence. Teachers are the first line of defense,” according to the Pennsylvania Truancy Toolkit.

Another key aspect in keeping students in school are the teachers, coaches and club advisers, said Ostrowski.  Having kids connecting with caring adults who will put in that extra effort to make them feel like they belong.

“It’s all about the teachers in the classrooms knowing their kids. That’s dropout prevention,” said Otrowski.

“More high school students across the country are graduating on time but dropouts continue to be a significant national problem,” according to a report in the Washington Post.

Not having a high school diploma, can make life more challenging. As the workplace is becoming more demanding and havinghigher expectations for potential employees, those without a high school diploma don’t really have a high change of getting a great job.

According to points in a report by the Massachusett’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education:

• Dropping out of school impacts student’s self esteem and psychological well-being, faced with the reality that they lack skills and knowledge to fulfill their desires.
• Earnings for young men and women who quite school have steadily declined over the past three decades. In 1971 male dropouts earned an estimated $37,087, which decreased by 35 percent to $23,902 in 2002.
• In 2001, 45 percent of adult high school dropouts were unemployed compared to 26 percent of high school graduates and 13 percent of graduates from a four-year college.
• Dropouts are substantially more likely to rely on public welfare and health services.
• Dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than high school graduates to be incarcerated during their lifetime.
• 90 percent of the 11,000 youth in detention facilities have no more than a ninth grade education.
• Dropouts cost the U.S. more than $260 billion in lost wages, tax revenue, and productivity over their life times.

“Young people who drop out of high school are unlikely to have the minimum skills and credentials necessary to function in today’s increasingly complex society and technology-dependent workplace.  The completion of high school is required for accessing post-secondary education, and is a minimum requirement for most jobs,” according to Childtrendsdatabank.org.

According to a recent report by Education Week, Children Trends Database:

• 8,300 kids drop out of high school in the U.S. each day, that’s 3,030,000 kids each year.
• High school dropouts are ineligible for 90 percent of U.S. jobs.
• A high school graduate will earn on average, at least $260,000 more then a high school dropout over their career.

Educationweek.org also explained how the economic value of having a high school education. According to the U.S. Census Bureau  In 2009, adults ages 25 and older who had dropped out of school or had not acquired a GED earned up to 41 percent less than those who had completed high school or had GEDs.

“You’re up against some significant barriers without a degree,” said Ostrowski. “It affects everything. If you can’t support yourself, someone has to.”

According to edweek.org,  the overall dropout rate has declined since the 1980s, falling from about 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2008. It also noted how there are some differences in dropout rates among different ethnic groups.

“The dropout rate for white students in 2008 was 4.8 percent, compared to 9.9 percent among African-American students, and 18.3 percent for Hispanic students,” from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Despite the facts that those who dropout will earn less money overall during their lifetime and that some become reliant on other or the government for aid, Penn Manor junior JJ Mowery is not yet sure what he will do.

His parents, friends and teachers are all encouraging him to stay in school and receive his diploma. He explained how there isn’t really a deciding factor in his case, regarding whether or not he will drop out. Something drastic will have to happen for it go one way or the other.

Mowery also plans to start his own business in excavating.

“You don’t need a diploma to run your own business, you just need to be good enough,” said Mowery.

By Alicia Ygarza –

Many new things have been happening to Penn Manor senior Jordan Howard. She’s had a baby, and she’s had her own feature on the MTV Documentary Series, 16 and Pregnant.

It will premiere tonight at 10 p.m.

“My family knew I was pregnant before I did, I was in denial. I was showing, and was having mood swings,” said Howard.

16 and Pregnant records teens for five to seven months, as they experience their first pregnancy.

The teens experience tough times through adoptions, family arguments, and breakups.

Howard said her pregnancy was “stressful, not enjoyable.”

She said, “I wish I wouldn’t have had sex.  My advice to other teens is don’t have sex.”

However, sometimes those troubles were not caused from Howard and her family.

Howard said the staff of MTV that was filming her were instigators.

“There was one time when Tyler bought a crib and put it in my mom’s house,” recalled Howard.  “My director told me that I should go get what’s mine, stealing the crib out of my mom’s house was the biggest thing he conned me into.”

“According to a new public opinion poll of 1,000 young people (ages 12-19), commissioned by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, shows teens think programs dealing with teen pregnancy make teens think about their own risks of getting pregnant or causing a pregnancy, and how to prevent it.

Additionally, 82 percent of young people who watch 16 and Pregnant believe that the show helps young people better understand the challenges of pregnancy and parenting,” states www.thefutoncritic.com.

Howard’s son Chase was born May 31, 2011, he’s now 10 months old.

Howard is African American, and her baby’s father, Tyler Zeplin, is white, which seems like a controversy the show plans to play up, according to the trailer.

The couple has had their differences in the past year.

An online document shows that Howard and Zeplin had a court hearing, entitled Jordan Howard Vs Tyler Zeplin. The issue was protection from abuse, and Howard was the plaintiff while Zeplin was the defendant.

Millions will be watching Tuesday’s episode, but Howard said she will not be, and she did not enjoy the experience at all.

“I wish it wouldn’t air, I didn’t even tell anybody about the show. I signed up because we got reimbursed,” said Howard.

She declined to say how much money she received for being on the show but a report on the Huffington Post said the show pays the girls $5,000 and then provides opportunities for interviews which can pay between $1,000 and $2,000 per interview.

“I actually didn’t sign up until I was 36 weeks (pregnant),” said Howard.  “I don’t know how other girls signed up but I sent in a picture and a sentence. I would never do it again.”

Besides appearing on the show, Howard said she may be on magazines and possibly Teen Mom, the sequel show to 16 and pregnant.

Howard and Zeplin have patched up their differences now that taping for the show is over.

Nowadays, the couple seems to be happy as they continue to post pictures of themselves together on their individual Facebook pages.

In fact, the couple is engaged, and they have been for three months.

“We were able to set aside our differences to co-parent,” said Howard.

If Chase doesn’t have his parents living together just yet, he still has Howard’s family.

“I have too much support from my family, sometimes everyone wants to take care of Chase even when I’m taking care of him,” said Howard.

By Taylor Skelly-

Don’t put all your winter clothes away yet.

After an unusually warm and dry month of March, much of Penn Manor has swapped their blue jeans and hoodies for khaki shorts and t-shirts, disregarding the fact that according to the calendar, and Rita’s, spring has just begun.

However, local meteorologist Eric Horst, who is the Director of the Weather Center at Millersville University, says that last week’s hot spell with temperatures in the 70’s almost every day was nothing short of an anomaly.

“This week will be a reality check,” said Horst.

As April approaches quickly, expect to see a wide range of weather as summer becomes closer. Instead of experiencing an entire week of high temperatures, there will  only be days that are consecutively warm. On the contrary, below seasonal temperatures will most likely occur as well.

“April will be more of a roller coaster, it won’t be as consistently warm as March was,” said Horst, ” The jet stream will be more progressive, things will be more variable.”

For some students at Penn Manor, the thought of cooler weather creeping back into the forecast is enough to make them cringe.

“I’m sick of the cold,” said junior Harrison Schettler, “When it’s warm it’s just nice to be outside, it makes track so much more enjoyable.”

I think a lot of people felt like summer was finally here, you saw a lot of people driving around with their windows down, sunroof open said senior Marc Summy.

“I spent a lot of time shooting basketball in my driveway, playing with my dog in the backyard, I even worked on my tan a little bit,” said Summy.

And for others, the news of cooler weather coming back is exactly what they wanted to hear.

“Of course I love the summer and the hot weather, but it’s not even April yet, I like that transition phase too,” said junior Adam Hess, “Personally, I would get sick of having summer weather for six months out of the year.”

“Weather” you’re for or against the warmer weather, expect April to be a fresh reminder that the summer is still an entire season away.

By Iris Santana –

High school students might think they are at college next year if they go to Penn Manor, Hempfield or Manheim Township when a first-in-the-state “open campus” program kicks off in the fall.

School officials said the open campus project will blur the lines between school districts and alter the traditional school schedule, while helping to preserve teaching jobs, cut costs and stem the tide of students fleeing public schools for cybercharters.

The overall goal for the three districts in the 2012-13 school year is to “offer select online and hybrid classes to juniors and seniors,” Penn Manor superintendent, Micheal Leichliter said in an interview with Lancaster Newspapers.

Penn Manor will offer a variety of math classes, Manheim Township will offer English and history classes and Hempfield will offer science and foreign language classes.

The entire list includes college prep and honors English classes, college prep government and economics, honors government and economics, honors calculus, college prep pre-calculus, Latin I, business Spanish, college prep and honors physics and chemistry and astronomy.

Anthony Carrodo, a math teacher here at Penn Manor said it was natural that  Penn Manor took the lead with math.

“We have a pretty good reputation for our math.”

“It’s going to be a learning process for both students and teachers,” Carrodo added.

The Penn Manor school board is making many surprising changes, in some eyes. They even approved lending space to the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 for an adult GED program.

According to Leichliter, Penn Manor teamed up with Township and Hempfield because they are connected geographically, they have the technology and the vision to work together.

The new program will allow students to take classes that best suit their personality and schedule.  Some will be held online and some will be in the evening.

“Statistically, it is not best to get a high school student up at 7:30 for school,” Leichliter said.

Students and teachers at Penn Manor have differing views about this plan, but overall they think it’s a good idea.

It seems like this program is interesting to many students who are independent and like to do things alone.

Juniors Laura Myers and Erica Williams are two students are of those students.

Myers considered the program for a history course, but the open campus doesn’t offer the class she was looking for.

Myers feels as though it will benefit the students who miss a lot of school.

“It gives them a block to catch up on extra work,” Myers said.

Williams on the other hand plans on taking college prep English 12 and college prep Government and Economics that is offered here at Penn Manor.

“I like to do things alone. I don’t like people, plus I already take online classes at HACC,” Williams explained.

Samantha Padua, a junior at Penn Manor isn’t one of the optimists about the program.

“Bogus. What do I look like sitting on a computer for that long,” Padua said.

Aaliyah Glenn is another student who is skeptical about the new plan.

“I think it’s not gonna be a good idea because math is a subject that needs to be learned, not through directions,” she said.

While Padua and Glenn think it’s a waste of time, Hailey Gavlick and Janeece McDonald, two juniors at Penn Manor think some students may benefit.

“It won’t be as stressful for some students,” Gavlick said of the proposed schedule.

“Yea, I just hope people don’t take advantage of it,” McDonald added with a nod.

Not only are the students affected by this, but so are teachers and they have their own opinions on it.

“I think it’s hard to substitute an online class for the real course,” Nicholas Swartz, a teacher at Penn Manor stated.  “But it definitely has a purpose.”

Penn Manor school board members have said they have not received any negative feedback about their decisions for next fall.  The program offers a chance for students in cyber school to take public school classes.

In an interview with Lancaster Online, Hempfield superintendent Brenda Becker said there is a perceived “battle” between public and cyber schools.

“Choice is coming whether we like it or not and we need to get out in front of it,” Becker said.  “We need to change the way we do business if we’re going to survive.”

After assistant superintendent, Ellen Pollock announced her retirement for the end of the year, Leichliter decided her replacement should solely be focused on secondary education.

Just as Pollock’s replacement, Penn Manor’s technology director, Charlie Reisinger’s position will be altered as well.

“My role is obviously shifting,” said Reisinger who has been an integral part of the technology planning for the new open campus.

But the main question still remains.

Will this plan be a success?

“We’re planning on it,” Phillip Gale, one of Penn Manor’s principals said with a chuckle.  “Some kids may feel it’s for them and others won’t. That’s how we’ll figure out what kids will benefit from this and what kids will struggle.”

Within the next five years, Leichliter said students may be able to have more options and this may expand beyond the original idea and options we have now. Leitchliter also added that by that time it could also include more districts.

This can actually be of an advantage to some kids. As Penn Manor, Township and Hempfield may have the same goal, Gale feels it will provide students a quality education with teaching that meets different needs.

By Austin Hess and Becca Hess-

Immense concentration, utter silence, hours of practice  and  they each get one chance.

Sitting in on a high school bowling tournament for the first time, one may be surprised by the level of skill and focus each bowler needs to do well for their team. Whether they are doing well or bad – each bowler remains focused, making the Penn Manor bowling team the strongest they’ve been in eight years.

“They are the ‘team to beat’,” says bowling coach Chris Vital, “I’ve never seen a team like this is in the eight years I’ve been doing this.”

With a record of 80-4, the Penn Manor bowling team has the best record of any Penn Manor bowling team, as well as the top record in the L-L  League. The team as a whole received first place in team leagues. Senior Will Welsh finished fourth in leagues and second in districts along with Brendon Yarnell in fourth and Cody Simet in fifth place for districts.

“Best team by far,” Vital said with a huge smile on his face. That fact that they all have really solid games and make spares better then any other team.”

Coach Vital mentioned that out of all the years he has coached, none of his teams have ever come close to the level that this year’s team is. Right now, the bowling team has won more championships than any other varsity team in the history of Penn Manor.

“I think they feel like this is their year,” Vital explained. “We’re the team to beat,” he reemphasized.

Although we have an amazing team this year, Vital has to think how things will be next year after seniors Brendon Yarnell, Tyler Bitts, and Will Welsh graduate.

“Last year I had three freshman come in,” says Vital, ” the two girls, Liz Burkholder and Julie Bianco, and Cody Simet. In their first year they’ve made a huge impact.”

Now a sophomore, Cody Simet has already scored a perfect game in his short career on the bowling team.

“I expect great things from them,” Vital says with confidence, “I know I’ll have a solid foundation in them for two more years.”

But just like any other team, the younger players respect the older, veteran players.

“Brendon’s a great bowler and so are Will and Tyler. I look up to them,” said Liz Burkholder.

For those on the bowling team, being in the “spotlight” is the last thing on their minds when they prepare for their next match. When they step into the alley to compete, the respect each member of the team gets from their peers from other bowling teams is easily noticeable when you get a chance to watch them do what they do best. Seeing them compete, they have earned all the respect they receive.

Even when they have to go head-to-head, the Penn Manor bowlers continue to pick each other up and encourage one another. They stay strong as a team which greatly attributes to their success.

“If one of us is doing bad we pick each other up. We stay positive and try to help each other out,” said sophomore Liz Burkholder.

Not only do the players encourage each other, they get a lot of help and support from their coach as well as their families. During the singles championships which took place ( insert here), many family members and friends of the bowlers came out to support and cheer them on.

“I think Coach Vital gives everyone on the team the same opportunity and attention to improve their bowling and I think that’s why we not only have strong bowlers, but a strong team,” said Jeff Roth, Penn Manor’s athletic director.

This year’s team won the team championship, finishing the season with an 80-4 record, while individual team members also placed well in the singles event. Will Welsh finished fourth in leagues, and second in districts, while Yarnell finished in second, and Simet finished fifth in districts. This year’s bowlers made up the best team in eight years, had great turnouts and successes at each of their competitions, and have shown that bowling is much more than what many think.

By Connor Hughes and Alex Lombardo –

Facebook better watch its back – because Twitter is on the rise.

For better or for worse, this new-age micro-blogging site has piqued the interest of today’s teenagers, who are now dropping Facebook, and beginning to tweet their heads off.

Twitter, created and launched in early 2006, is a social networking site that allows the site’s members to compose text-based posts up to 140 characters long called “tweets.”

Users have the ability to “follow” each other, which adds the followed users’ tweets to the followers’ Time Line.

You can even follow your favorite athletes, for example: Desean Jackson (@DeseanJackson10) or LeBron James (@KingJames).

“It’s an easy way to follow celebrities,” said Penn Manor junior Lindsay Hutchinson.

Any user can follow their favorite celeb, such as: Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) or Justin Bieber (@JustinBieber).

Some people use Twitter almost as a digital diary, displaying their thoughts and actions for all of Twitter to see.

“Twitter is a great way to just say what is on your mind,” said avid Penn Manor tweeter Reagan Forrey(@_Ischa).

“So full #Beanies #101flavors,” is a recent tweet by Forrey.  This tweet refers to a restaurant he was at and their all you can eat wing special.

The # symbol that Forrey used, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created by Twitter creators as a way to categorize messages.

People use the hashtag symbol before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize their Tweets so they show up easier in Twitter Search.

Twitter Search can be a way to look up anything extremely recent.  If you see a shocking event on live television, you can immediately type it in on Twitter Search and almost guarantee someone around the world has already tweeted about it and hashtagged the keywords.

Clicking on a hashtagged word in any tweet shows you all other Tweets in that category.  Hashtags can occur anywhere in the tweet. Hashtagged words that become very popular are often known as “trending topics.”

A trending topic is a topic that shows immediate popularity, not something that has grown popular over time.

Twitter is short, sweet, and to the point.

Also, it is under the radar to a lot of parents.

Teens today are moving toward Twitter, mostly because Facebook is too popular, or too many people are on it, including parents.

Most teens are now friends with their parents on Facebook.

In an interview with Huffington Post a teen had this to say, “I love Twitter, it’s the only thing I have to myself … cause my parents don’t have one.”

One Penn Manor teacher is now using Twitter to connect on an educational level, and leaving Facebook for his less serious encounters.

“I just recently got on Facebook, and Facebook is good, and I like Facebook to maintain my personal friendships,” said Penn Manor High School teacher and professional tweeter Gregg McGough. “But, Twitter is definitely more professional.”

Youths may have given Twitter its uprising, but even a 30-some-year-old adult with three kids can still use Twitter effectively.

“I’m actually a professional (Tweeter). I am a social media person, paid to fly to different conferences around the country,” said McGough.

McGough described an enlarged screen with a rolling twitter feed during these conferences.

“As people were attending different sessions, people were tweeting what they were hearing, and as a result, I could attend every session without having to physically be there,” added McGough.

McGough is using it in professional situations, but some teens are using it in drastic situations.

In the Camden, Ohio school shooting on Febuary 27th, a student brought a gun into school.  It shouldn’t have been a surprise: because he tweeted about it.

According to Liberatemedia.com, the number of Twitter users increases by 300,000 each day.  And according to Tweetsmarter.com, 11 new accounts are created each second.

During the last minutes of Super Bowl XLVI, one of the busiest moments on Twitter, tweets about the game were pouring through the network at a blazing rate of 10,245 times a second.

Twitter is projected to make $259 million in advertising in 2012 and $540 million by 2014.

Twitter’s making money, and Twitter’s gaining fans.  So, something has to give, right?

With the recent uprise of Twitter, Facebook is now losing popularity among teens, especially at Penn Manor.

“It’s way better than Facebook,” said senior Demi Greenwalt.

By Richard Schulz –

Jon West gets on his laptop everyday.  He searches for scores on the most recent college basketball games, he often takes mental notes to plan for his March Madness bracket.  At he same time someone is taking notes on him.

In what is a growing infringement on individual privacy online, Google announced Thursday it is changing its privacy settings so it can find out even MORE about its users than ever before. And they’re not the only ones.  Amazon is compiling everything it can about its shoppers and some Apple apps are snagging the information out of user’s address books without their permission.

Although the France government has announced it may take action against Google, because European countries have much stricter privacy laws, many here in America are not happy about it but it will probably not do much about it.

“I’m interested in how long they keep the search history,” said librarian Diane Bounds who thinks Google should help enhance student searches but not keep records.

The policy change is that anything that searched, or even slide their mouse over, Google and Safari can use information from it and relate it to advertisements in which the user may be interested. Safari normally blocks these cookies because it’s in their privacy policy.

But there’s an exception.

When an ad is on the screen and the user clicks on it, a form pops up. If the form is filled out then all that information can be used for any searches you may make. Using script, which many major companies use, the user doesn’t have to submit that form for that information to be recorded. Google already practices this.

“Google is trying to keep up with everyone else,” said Sean McKnight, a Penn Manor tech teacher. He says he’s against it, like many others, and doesn’t want to deal with it.

“You pay to be online. Do I want to have my information published? No!” said McKnight.

“Computer cookies,” said Jonathan Mayer, a grad student at Stanford, talking about what the new settings can do, from an NPR interview. Mayor is in the process of making an option in the privacy option saying “Do not track” which will send a message to websites blocking the ability.

“It’s kind of like planting a Do Not Trespass sign in your lawn only for your web policy,” said Mayor about his option to the policy.

Some sites support Mayor’s idea, others not so much.

Two of the major companies that are going to join Google and not follow Mayor’s option are websites used by millions each day. Facebook and Twitter.

Lawsuits were quickly mentioned when the news broke out. Even a letter of complaint was signed by three dozen state attorneys general to Google. The news spread like wildfire and reached even the tallest branches of government.

Users from Penn Manor agree that they just want the old policy settings instead of feeling like they are having all their information tracked. They agree that it needs to be “simple principles” for privacy protection. Regular people want simple settings.

Snooping continues to get high tech.  Sites can get to know their users better by a nifty tool, the beacon. The beacon tracks mouse movements and can take information about a picture or that site and use it for advertisements. Every move the mouse makes, Google’s watching.

“There’s a large number of companies that have been circumventing internet explorers and privacy protections for a long time,” said Lori Faith Cranor a Computer Science Professor at Carnagie Mellon University.

Unless consumers put their privacy doors slammed, Google and others will be peeking in.