News – Page 13 – Penn Points Online

Students Pick New Names for Grandparents

By Brandon Bowers and Alicia Ygarza –

Apparently “Grandma” and “Grandpa” aren’t hip enough names for baby boomer grandparents who do not like the traditional labels because they make them feel older, according to published news reports.

Nanny and Pappy are the most commonly used names for grandparents. But the range of “cute” grandparent names runs the game from the traditional to the way out there – including Jayma and Poppy.

Students and the staff at Penn Manor use a variety of names to identify their grandparents.

The names the students give their grandparents range from nanny and pappy to one I never heard before “G ma,” said sophomore Arron Lugo.

Their grandparents may like when they are called another name because it shows the love and care the students have for them and how they love being there for them.

Students that don’t have a different name other then “grandma” and “grandpa” still have the same love and respect for their family just may not have the need to call them another name.

How will Newt Change the GOP – and who is he anyway?

By Vaughn Stetler and Ryan Krause –

Newt Gingrich, former leader of the House Representatives, announced Monday he is running for president. He announced it on Twitter and the reason he may have done it this way was to connect to a younger generation.

Many students at Penn Manor, even the politically astute, don’t even know who Newt Gingerich is.

According to MSNBC, In 1994 Gingrich led Republicans to their first majority in the House in four decades and then served four years as House speaker.

In an interview with Fox news on Wednesday Gingrich said, “This is not about one person in the Oval Office. This is about millions of Americans deciding that together we can win the future with the right policies leading to the right outcomes. And then we have to … win the argument that President Obama has the wrong policies, and they lead to the wrong outcomes.”

Newt Gingrich. Image by blogs.orlandosentinel.com.

In the interview, he went on to say that Republicans need to aim even higher and try to add 12 seats in the Senate and about 40 in the House.

Gingrich also said that his first executive order would be to eliminate Obama’s so-called policy “czars,” but his greater goal would be to balance the budget over several years by growing the economy. He did not explain how he planned on making the economy grow.

Fox News said, “Gingrich brings considerable name recognition to the Republican field, a quality candidates, like former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, have been working furiously to attain.”

However many students and local community members were at a loss at the mention of his name.

Trevor Troup, a senior at Penn Manor, who said he was a Republican, noted, “I have never heard of him.” He was referring to Newt Gingrich.

Tyler Beckley a Penn Manor senior who didn’t affiliate himself with a particular political party said, said, “I have heard of the name but did not know that he was running for president.”

Cody Welch, a senior at Penn Manor, said that he was a Democrat and that he didn’t know Newt Gingrich was running for President.

Nicholas Crowther, a tech teacher at Penn Manor said, “Social media is not really good for a teacher to use.” He noted that Gingerich’s use of Twitter wouldn’t reach older audiences.

Crowther went on to say, “Newer tools will help a younger generation to recognize Newt better.”

Scott Hertzog who is an English teacher at Penn Manor said, “Twitter is good to use for a presidential candidate because you get information out faster than if you were to use television or a newspaper.”

“Obama used social media as well,” Hertzog recalled.

Read the rest of the interview, and watch the video at http://www.foxnews.com/.

Is Hating Duke a New Sport?

By David Mohimani –

Success breeds hate.

Many loyal Duke fans were crushed by the rout delivered to the Blue Devils by Arizona on March 24th, and about the same number of people watched in delight as the Blue Devils championship hopes were squelched.

Why do people hate Duke?

Is it because they represent the upper class of society, or because they don’t recruit city kids, possibly because they are an elite private school, or maybe, is it because they are successful?

A recent ESPN film about the Fab 5 revealed how former NBA star and current ESPN analyst Jalen Rose, revealed his feelings about Duke players and head coach Mike Krzyzewski while Rose was playing for Michigan.

“For me, Duke was personal, I hated Duke and everything I felt Duke stood for. Schools like Duke didn’t recruit players like me. I felt they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms,” said Rose during his interview for the film.

Rose added, “I haven’t seen coach K in Detroit, but that’s just me.”

Rose later said that this is what he thought when he was 17 but would not say he didn’t still believe it today.

This sparked the national debate even more. Is the reason people hate Duke beyond basketball?

“I hate Duke,” said Junior Alex Kirk.

“I’m a UNC fan and Duke and UNC are huge rivals not to mention coach K looks like a rat,” said Kirk.

Kirk also berated Duke’s practice of only recruiting middle to upper class players.

“It’s snobby and makes me hate them even more,” said Kirk.

While Kirk is not a fan of every team, he does not feel the hatred for any other team that he feels for Duke.

His hatred for Duke stems from multiple reasons – one being their coach.

“I hate coach K, he’s a weasel. I respect his record but I don’t respect him as a person,” said Kirk.

Another reason for Kirk’s disdain for Duke originates from an incident involving one of Duke’s star players.

“Ive always been against Duke but ever since Gerald Henderson threw a punch in a game that was clearly intentional. I’ve hated them strongly,” said Kirk.

Not everyone agrees with that.

Kyle Mumma, a sophomore at Duke University who grew up in Durham and is a student manager with the Blue Devils, disagreed with the notion that Duke only recruits wealthier players.

“I think it’s a perception. We’ve had players who certainly did not come from wealthy backgrounds from Sean Dockery to Josh Hairston. We typically recruit good, outstanding kids, not only upper class kids. We have the luxury to recruit the best of both. The perception is that it’s a function of money but it’s more of the work the players and their parents put in, which culminates in them be recruited,” said Mumma.

As for why people hate Duke, Mumma had a different take than Kirk.

“I think Duke is a place that a lot of people wish they could go both academically and athletically. Its a place they aspire to go. When they realize they can’t achieve their goal, that aspiration becomes a source of jealousy,” explained Mumma.

This begs the question: does success breed hate?

Duke has one of the most successful college basketball programs in history, with four NCAA championships and 15 final four appearances. Duke has been the most successful team in college basketball over the last decade with a winning percentage of .851, which is a sizable lead on Kansas who has the second highest winning percentage over the last decade.

“If you look at schools that people say they hate, like Harvard and Yale, it’s because of their academic success. In basketball, people hate schools that have been successful like UNC and Kentucky. I’ve never heard anyone say they hate Colorado State because they are less successful. I’d be willing to bet that Butler has less supporters this year than last because now they are viewed as a perennial power,” said Mumma.

These are all off-the-court issues about why people hate Duke, but what about on the court?

Duke’s fans, nicknamed the Cameron Crazies, have a reputation for being some of the loudest and proudest fans whose unrelenting chants and cheers may rub some the wrong way.

“It’s a society of drunk college students who jump around in tights and scream chants that don’t make sense. They failed as athletes so the best they can do is bash on other people,” said Junior Eric Schlotzhauer.

Junior Joey Jackson, a Duke fan, expressed his admiration for the Crazies.

“The Cameron crazies just have the best aura in college basketball. The only place that even compares is Kansas. They have the best and most loyal fans,” said Jackson.

So Duke’s loyal fan base may contribute to people’s anger towards the program.

Another reason some cite for hating Duke is the perception that the referees sometimes hand them a few calls that other teams may not get.

“Everyone knows it. They aren’t hiding anything. People know that when they play Duke they better make sure it’s not close at the end because if it is, the refs will find some way to give the game to Duke. There’s nothing anyone can do. It’s something I’ve come to expect when I watch a Duke game,” said Schlotzhauer.

“That’s pathetic, if you watch the games from non-biased perspective you know that’s not true. The only calls they sometimes get is charges because they try to take a lot so they benefit from that sometimes,” said Joey Jackson.

Whatever the reason is, people hate Duke.

The reasons people give for hating Duke ranges from their players, their coach, their fans and also ranges in severity from casual fans who root against Duke, to full blown passionate haters who believe that hating Duke is as important, if not more important, than supporting your own favorite team.

It all boils down to, why people hate?

The reason seems to be clear, it’s because Duke is successful not only on the basketball court, but in the classroom and after their education at Duke.

A 2009 study showed that the average median salary from a Duke alumni who graduated 5-15 years ago was $102,000.00 per year, a higher average salary than Ivy League Cornell grads.

According to a survey conducted by the top13.com the two most hated sports teams in America are the Yankees and Duke basketball.

And there is no real correlation between the two teams other than their sucess.

The Yankees are by far the most successful team in American sports history with 27 world championships and Duke is one of the most winningest teams in college basketball history.

Coincidence? Maybe not.

The War on Stink Bugs Entering a new Phase

By Kira Hess –

What’s eating Gilbert’s grapes?

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) has been affecting us all. They are outside, in our homes, and their stink goes up our nose. To most of us, they are just an annoying pest. However, the damage they do to our farmers crops is devastating. Local farmers are gearing up to fight the stink bug as the bugs are planning a fresh attack on what our county is known for – fresh produce.

First found in Allentown, Pa. in 1998, the stink bug is now in 33 states in the United States. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the stink bug damaged 20 to 100 percent of the fruit crops in some areas last year.

The stink bug feeds on all fruits and vegetables.

“Damage can be seen by observing a sunken appearance in the surface of fruit. Evidence of feeding is left under the skin in the flesh and shows as a dark spot,” said Tom Haas, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards which is located in New Danville.

The insects can be controlled by direct insecticide applications. “You can spray for them, and it will only kill what’s there so more can come in. You have to spray continuously,” said Haas. “Prevention from BMSB feeding is difficult.”

“It’s a very timely and costly thing,” said Robert Bachman, a farmer in Washington Boro.

Adult stink bugs come out in April and May, and can produce 4-6 generations. One female can lay about 25 eggs, and can continue to do so until about September or October.

“Based on the last several seasons, it would be safe to assume that we will sustain damage again this season,” said Haas. While Bachman agreed and presumes that this year will be much worse.

The USDA is currently studying an Asian parasitic wasp, which preys on stink bug eggs. It lays its own eggs in the stink bug eggs, and when the wasp larva hatches it feeds on the developing stink bugs.

“It will be several years before this can be released, if at all. If decided that it will not cause a problem it could be released. However, it will take years for the population to build up to be able to help with control,” said Haas.

According to USA Today, researchers with the USDA are “conducting trials on four species of Trissolcus wasps to see how well they target the brown marmorated stink bug egg masses in a quarantined, lab setting. If all goes well, federal officials could one day approve the tiny wasps as a natural control for brown marmorated stink bugs.”

Bachman said, “As long as they don’t kill other beneficial bugs, don’t hurt people and they don’t turn out to be a problem, I don’t mind (the use of wasps).”

So Crazy, a Caveman Wouldn’t do it!

By Dayonte Dixon and Marc Summy-

One week without a computer, a cell phone or an iPod! Could you do it, and what would be the hardest to give up?

Most people wouldn’t be able to even accept the challenge because the world relies heavily on technology for work and play.

Sometimes people are using technology even when they don’t know it.

According to www.msnbc.msn.com, young people, ages 13-24, spend an average of 16.7 hours a week online, excluding e-mail, compared to 13.6 hours watching TV. After TV viewing, they listened to the radio for 12 hours, talked on the phone for 7.7 hours and spent only six hours reading books and magazines for personal entertainment per week.

This addiction to technology has become second nature to the world, and some people feel it has gotten so out of hand that there has been a book made to help people break their addiction. The book that gives the world tips and ways to cut back on their usage of technology. (The book is called ‘Digital Diet’: How to Break Your Tech Addiction written by Daniel Sieberg)

Students at Penn Manor High School had opinions on what would be the hardest piece of technology to give up.

Sophomore Zack Burke refuses to give up any pieces of technology

“I would say my cell phone would be the hardest to give up,” said Tyler Smith, student at Penn Manor High School. “My cell phone is like a phone, iPod and computer all in one.”

According to www.floatingleafpress.com, 50 percent of kids today have a cell phone before they’re 11 years old.

This is a fiery trend has taken over the youth of today. Kids and teens have become hooked on social networks such as Facebook and Skype.

“I heard somebody say that if a teen is away from their phone for more than 15 minutes he will become fidgety and anxious,” said Gary Luft, a mathematics teacher at Penn Manor High School.

Yet the adults interviewed were not always fans of this new technology unless it is needed for work.

Some of the adult staff who work at Penn Manor High School said that they rarely even use their cellphone, and only use their email for job related matters. The only adult that didn’t follow these trends is a young teacher who has only been teaching for three years.

Shawn Maxwell, a gym teacher at Penn Manor High School, said “I could go a day, or better yet a month without my cellphone.”

While Britney Clugston, the youngest teacher who was interviewed said, “I might be able to go a day without it, but I rely on my phone a great deal and it’d be tough to think about it.”

Though technology makes it much faster and easier to communicate with people and has many benefits, many think that it can cause more harm than good. Many adults believe that the worst of the addiction comes with the social networking sites. They believe that the social networks are where most of the problems are coming from.

As the facts show, this addiction to technology will be a difficult trend to break for some kids and teenagers. The world has taken notice to this problem and has created a diet, by means of the book that can be purchased, ironically, online, to help slow this addiction.

The people who created the diet hope that the book, with the diet tips on it, will help cut back on the use of technology.

Some consider technology to be a burden or danger to kids and teens, but those who are considered to be addicted to technology should be happy because it doesn’t look like this fad is going away anytime soon.

Facebook – the New Weapon

By David Mohimani –

You have one notification. click. Friend request. click. Confirm or deny?

Chose wisely because you don’t know who your real “friends” are.

Kids are able to escaspe school bullies when they get home, at least that used to be the case. But technology, most namely Facebook, has changed this.

“It’s a growing problem,” said Penn Manor Student Assistance Program (SAP) leader Darrin Donmoyer, while discussing the use of Facebook as a new means of bullying.

This problem was highlighted when a former Penn Manor student, Iian Michaele Pierce, was charged with intimidation of a witness and criminal conspiracy via a social network site.

dom photo — Mug shot of Gueressi courtesy of lancaster online

Police say Pierce recruited two 17-year old students, one from Elizabethtown High School the other from Penn Manor High School, to intimidate the victim/witness in an alleged rape case.

The rape case involved another former Penn Manor student, Dominick Guerrisi, who is charged with rape, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors with the selling of alcohol and unlawful contact with a minor, according to Lancaster City police.

Both young men are charged with felonies.

Not a “status” that will get many “likes.”

Lancaster Detective Aaron Harnish worked on the case, and explored the internet aspect of the investigation.

Harnish explained the process of looking for information via social networking websites.

“What we’ll do, a lot of times names of interest have social networking sites and if they do we will review those sites for info,” said Harnish.

Using internet outlets to aid investigations is becoming more of a common practice.

“We will look for anything that will provide us information,” said Harnish.

He said that using social networking sites is a growing trend among law enforcement officers but “mostly the younger ones.”

In the case of Dominic Gueressi and the subsequent charges for Facebook intimidation of a witness, Harnish declined making specific comments on the case but predicted “within the next year it should come to a resolution.”

As for the cyber bullying problem Harnish said,”We don’t receive many reports but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t taking place.”

While the case of Pierce and Guerrisi is an extreme example, bullying on Facebook and through other media outlets is becoming more the norm. The National Crime Prevention Council says research shows more than 40 percent of young people have been cyber bullied.

And teens don’t seem to be aware of the effects of putting their rage on the Internet.

“You can say so much, but people don’t realize what you can get in trouble for,” added Donmoyer.

Penn Manor school resource officer Jason Hottenstein said he assisted the Lancaster Police with the investigation of Guerrisi.

“Kids need to realize more than anything, once you hit send or comment, it’s out there,” said Hottenstein.

He also said that bullying through social networking is a growing problem.

Hottenstein said that while the cases are related they will be tried completely seperate.

“Ian’s case will be first, which will actually benefit him,” Hottenstein explained. If Guerrisi was found guilty before Pierce’s case it would look bad for Pierce according to Hottenstein.

“Dom’s case could take years to settle because it’s a major crime,” Hottenstein said.

While cyber bullying usually takes place outside of school it becomes a school issue when the things said online carry on into the school.

“It is my belief that for the school to take action some form of it has to spill over into the actual school,” said Donmoyer.

In Guerrisi’s case, he is a former Penn Manor student, some students protested his charges by wearing “Free Dom” shirts which they were promptly asked to remove them.

Sophomore Jacii Killian wore the “Free Dom” shirt.

“I represented for Dom because he is one of my closest friends,” said Killian.

Killian was asked to removed the “Free Dom” shirt, the next day she wore a “Freedom” shirt which she also had to remove, then two days later she said she wore a first amendment shirt and she was suspended for a day for wearing the shirt.

A similar incident occurred in Massachusetts when 15-year-old Phoebe Prince was bullied in person, online and through a variety of media sources which eventually led to her taking her own life.

Other incidents of cyber bullying have occurred on Facebook to some of Penn Manor students.

“Sometimes people make fun of me cause the way I look, it really hurts my feelings and I just wish there was something I could do about it,” said one Penn Manor students who asked to remain anonymous.

Penn Manor junior Megan Schlegelmilch says she has been repeatedly bullied on Facebook.

“It happens all the time,” said Schlegelmilch, “people call me a slut because they can’t say it to my face.”

Another junior, Alyssa Thompson, says she has been harassed multiple times by the same person.

“He messages me once a month saying stuff like when he sees me he wants throw up,” said Thompson.

All three said they never reported any such harassment to the school.

This recent series may be a disturbing trend but it’s too early to determine the extent, according to isafe.org 42 percent of kids have been bullied online and 35 percent of kids have been threatened online. This survey was conducted in 2003 so all indications point to these numbers being low.

In this new media-based era, one click can change everything.

“Once you hit send it’s out there,” said Donmoyer.

Weather Change Horrid for High Schoolers

By Hayden Gonzalez –

April showers bring May flowers.

The beginning of that famous saying turned out to be true. Let’s just see how the predicate turns out.

Throughout the last 30 days or so, there have been several days where it has done nothing but rain the entire day. In April it rains about 3.4 inches every week, but as of this year, we are above normal by 4 inches.

“I hate the rain. It makes me feel like I’m moving rapidly slow,” said senior Henry Kohler.

Many students miss school either because they are sick because of the weather change or just don’t feel like coming to school in the rain.

Feeling like they are being “robbed of summer with all this weather issues that we are having, ” according to senior Noah Kuhn, is one of the many side effects found in the minds, immune system and sleeves – right after they wipe off their nose, that is – that are going around Penn Manor High School.

There are many different medications that you can take to prevent some of the other side effects, runny, stuffy and itchy noses: Zyzal, Claritin D, antihistamines and decongestants. But with the weather being such a disaster, these medications are not going to work at such a fast pace.

Rain has been prevalent over the past week, causing flooding in some areas and, an even more important problem, mold is starting to form.

“Mold is so nasty it makes my stomach turn,” said Francisco Ramos. The green, fuzzy fungi is being seen in a variety of places because of the damp and wet conditions out in the environment.

The flooding has caused more and more mold to grow throughout the Lancaster County region, which in turn, is adding up to the total amount of pollen that is being blown around throughout the day.

“When it rains it makes me feel like I’m down and unable to do anything,” said Alyssa Figueroa, a senior.

Children with allergies are bound to sneeze more than usual, and it also can cause problems breathing for people that have asthma. Every time someone breathes in air from a plant that they could possible allergic to, it could be the start of a very long relationship between the allergy sufferer and the sniffles.

Also, recently there has been severe weather warnings, tornadoes and flooding. In fact, 2011’s month of April was the bringer of the most deaths ever from the natural disaster with the name derived from the Latin word, tonare.

“It is crazy how we (might) get a tornado here in Lancaster,” said Kim Alexander.

Pollens, mold and wet weather come with the package included that come with the fourth month of the year. With that comes sneezing, runny noses and more rectangular boxes with a white flag waving out of it and the letters K-L-E-E-N-E-X labeled on the front around the house.

Penn Manor students will just have to live through these two months. Then, it’ll be summer’s turn to bring something of its own.

Sunburn.

MLK Speaks From the Grave?

By Alyssa Byers –

Even the deceased have an opinion these days.

After Osama bin Laden’s death, a mass amount of people have enlightened the world with their opinion on the matter. Whether it be through the TV or online, the death of bin Laden has created chatter everywhere. Some celebrate his death, while others find it uneventful. According to Martin Luther King Jr., rejoicing for bin Laden’s death would only add more hate to the situation. But how can King have an opinion on such an incident, let alone anything, while being deceased for over forty years?

“I mourn for the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that,” said King.

mlk — Martin Luther King, Jr. says similar things, but not exact quote. Photo courtesy of The Seattle Times.

The above quote has been circulating through Facebook and Twitter for the past few days, however, King only actually said part of it. In his sermon “Loving Your Enemies,” King wrote a line that begins with “Returning hate for hate…” But the first line about “precious lives” does not appear in the sermon.

“It’s kind of ridiculous that someone would make it seem like it was his. It’s sort of degrading,” said senior Alex Grande.

How then, did this quote come about? A woman said she posted the quote with her own words and after re-postings occurred, her words were blended with King’s.

“Finding out it wasn’t his kind of leads you to think his peacefulness might have been embellished a little,” said senior Toni Warfel.

A spokesman for the King Center said that the quote resembled things King said, but was not his exact words. Even though the quote pertains to the death of bin Laden, King wrote his part back in 1963.

Osama Bin Laden Photo Malfunction

By: Lizzie Pflumm and Lauren Richards –

Osama Bin Laden might be dead, but he is still killing computers.

The FBI has issued a warning to Facebook users about a scam involving a photo-shopped picture of Bin Laden.

A picture of Osama Bin Laden captures the eyes of many Facebook users. Photo credit to Baynews.

“I saw it, but didn’t click on it,” said Kate Harrold a junior at Penn Manor.

The virus is being promoted as the exclusive photo everyone is dying to see, but it is not a real photo. The real photo may be released as early as today, May 4.

“I just wanted to blow up the picture to look at it,” said Kenny Weidman, a senior at Penn Manor whose computer was locked after clicking on the photo.

“The picture looked photo-shopped, from the nose down was completely different than the rest of his face,” said Weidman.

Some Penn Manor students realized something was not right in the picture, and decided not to click on it.

“You can just tell when it is a virus,” said senior Toni Warfel.

“These viruses are often programmed to steal your personally identifiable information,” according to the law enforcement of the FBI.

Analysis of these attacks show that most of the malicious attacks are originating in Brazil, Europe and the US.

Do you call 911 or Poke Them?

By Alexander Sanchez-Cruz –

Now instead of calling 911 to report a criminal or suspicious activity, you can just poke law enforcement or message them for help on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Social websites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace try to help out police departments by creating pages devoted to wanted criminals and the apprehension of them.

Police officers use these pages and even post on social media to help apprehend criminals but sometimes they go too far.

Some police officers can’t post videos, crime photos or another kind of police information. Police departments across the country are struggling with setting appropriate boundaries for their officers concerning social networking..

Officer Trey Economindy of Albuquerque is on desk duty for posting on Facebook that the purpose of his job is to be a “human waste disposal.” Now he is saying that “[it was] extremely inappropriate and a lapse in judgment on my part.”

Multiple cases like this have been happening since social networks were created and are still happening.

Economindy may get off lucky and keep his job.

In a New york case, an officer had a weapons change on him for listing his mood on Myspace as “devious” and wrote on Facebook that he was in the movie “Training Day” to “brush up on proper police procedure.”

The advice to police officers is the same given to teens: be careful what you post on the internet. You can get in trouble before someone is even a police officer.