November 2007 Archives

So, Seth and I are on a mission to get more posts than the other by Sunday. Judging that we'll both be at Central all day tomorrow, this should be interesting...

With an award-winning cast consisting of Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman, Dermot Mulroney and Lindsay Lohan, I was greatly looking forward to "Georgia Rule."
Unfortunately, I was wrong. The movie, released earlier this year, was a complete disappointment.

I remember when I was young, I used to brag to my Christian friends about how I would get eight days of presents, while they would only get one. Hanukkah, therefore, was automatically better than Christmas.

What kid wouldn't enjoy eight days of eating fried potatoes drenched in oil, spinning little plastic tops, and getting presents?

What I didn't know - and what a lot of people don't know - is that originally, Hanukkah wasn't the Jewish holiday to give gifts.

I stand at the train station with my admiral blue pea coat from Target and dangerously blue skinny jeans, luggage in tow.

Among the early morning commuters, I look alert. I look like a city girl. I'm loaded. Bogged down with cameras, maps and the ever-important black Sharpie. Perfect for getting important signatures.

My destination? New York City. I'm off to see the musical "Spring Awakening."

Now, I am completely aware this is going to sound extremely similar to Dylan's rant, but I want to make it anyway.

Political correctness always seems to have its issues during the holiday season.
This holiday season, “political correctors” are targeting none other than jolly-old Saint Nick.

Recently, members of the Teen Takeover staff answered the question, “What are you thankful for?”

Choice

I am thankful for my ability to choose. I live in a country where I can choose who I vote for, what religion I want to follow, what I want to wear, what I want to eat.

I can be a Democratic Catholic who wears pearls, pops her collar, and eats extra-cheese pizza. Or, I can be a Republican who listens to Britney Spears’ “Oops, I Did It Again!” and eats those amazing cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera.

Choice is a powerful thing. I am thankful I can decide who I want to be and where I want to go. My choices may not always be right, but they are all mine, and I am certainly thankful
for that.

— By ABIGAIL STOLLAR, Spring Grove Area Senior High School

So, I'm scrapping this rant together after a true hell week.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after the traditional "Hell's Week" of late nights, bad tempers, and everything possible going wrong, Susquehannock's play is finally ready to roll.

I am completely sick of hearing about how awful technical schools are. This is not because they, like all schools, aren't without their problems, but people who talk trash about vocational schools are narrow minded snobs who fail or refuse to see the many wonderful things that schools such as York County School of Technology have to offer.

Well, I'm quite upset right now and I thought I'd share my current situation with everyone.

Most people who read this blog are either teenagers or involved with journalism in some sort, so I feel that people can relate to my predicament.

I promise this is no spin on the valley-girl language ("Pink is totally, like, the new orange!"). No. In fact there really is a new search engine run by Heap Media . "Blackle" uses the same resource base as Google--minus the Google Images--but there's a pleasant twist: the site saves energy every time you use it. How?

First I want to start by giving MAJOR kudos to Shantia Garrett for sharing awesome random facts! I've enjoyed reading them. Also, I won't be putting a song up every day to count down 42 for Shnozz's performance on Friday (I know this will make many people very sad and broken hearted). I will, however, promote it today! Yes!!!!!

The local pop/rock band from York PA, 42 for Shnozz, has recently been heard on 105.7 the X and is performing THIS FRIDAY NIGHT at club 19!!!!! 42 for Shnozz will be debuting the latest addition to the band, bassist Chase Mansfield. They will also be performing new songs and selling their first CD "Thick, Long, and Juicy". COME AND HAVE A GREAT TIME! :)

42 FOR SHNOZZ AT CLUB 19 NOVEMBER 16, 2007
1327 North Duke Street, York, Pennsylvania 17404

In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's nuclear weapons combined.

HAS GONE INSANE.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

If you chew gum and cut onions at the same time you would not cry?

Just before it all changed

It was the day of sectionals and I felt the same sensation I did before every meet. My stomach twisted a little and did flips. In a few minutes, every eye would be on me. But I was a gymnast and this is what I did. My rotation was vault, bars, beam and floor. On each apparatus, my toes were pointed, I hit all my verticals and stuck every landing.

I was on fire.

Acquiring first on beam and floor, second on bars, and third on vault, I came in first in all around.
Standing on the top platform, my black and pinkish-purple leotard glittered in the light and my smile radiated as my mom waved at me proudly. I was headed for states, but little did I know all my hard work would be down the drain when I forfeited, and my mom wasn't there to see me.

Better late than never, right?

Here are the pictures from Sunday afternoon's awards ceremony, wrapping up a month-long blog-off between the York Daily Record/Sunday News Teen Takeover staff and editor Jim McClure. To read a related entry explaining more about this, click here.

What a shame Sue couldn't turn to her right and hand off that handsome plaque for blogging excellence to Rachel Bragg.

Oh well.

Walk past Jimmy Mac's office and you'll see he has it proudly on display for the whole newsroom to see.

(To view any of these photos larger, double click on the picture.)

Is anyone else looking around and applying for scholarships? I got my college applications done, which was a huge relief for me... but now it seems like I'm on a new time-consuming mission--scholarship searching. Now don't get me wrong, it's not the searching that's the toughest part...

Fine, whatever. I will write with perfect grammer. I have never really written in this blog, and they never taught us how. Thank you for helping to make my day worse. And I did not even use contractions. Wonderful. And I do respect english, excuse me for using my own made up language. I am so used to it and I am usually very hyper, so my jubilance comes out in my writing. Sorry for any complaints.

If Barbie were life-size, her measurements would be 39-23-33.
She would stand seven feet, two inches tall.

New Zealand, an island off the coast of Australia, appears seemingly unimportant to the untrained eye.

However, the island's isolation has given New Zealanders an edge on creativity and originality. They have gigantic turtles, for one. This is ingenuity at its best. Also, hobbits and wizards are known to roam the island.

Just when New Zealand appears to run out of surprises, it unloads yet another creative force.

I have to apologize in advance, Laura, because I completely disagree with you. Personally, I think that Facebook is much better than MySpace.

There's a song that's sweeping the nation, and it comes in the form of cheap
drum beats, a touch of reggae and the incomprehensible thoughts of a rapper
nicknamed Soulja Boy.

By Lauren Amoros
West York Area High School

Across York County, diversity has grown in large numbers in recent years.

Students are responding to this new growth in unexpected and positive ways.

Junior Jimmy Locke helped found the Ena Raza Club at West York Area High School. Ena Raza, which translates to “one race” in both Spanish and Greek, promotes the acceptance of all cultures and individuals.

You didn't post the article yet, but I just wanted to say that I agree with you 110 percent. Thanks for writing that!

Sometimes politics can seem far too complicated or advanced for a
teenager to know or care about. There are laws with Roman subscripts that reach
into the hundreds, complex policies, and a variety of different candidates and
viewpoints. It can be mystifying, but politics affect everyone. Even if you
can't vote, you can certainly get involved!

Many high school students try to earn extra money by working at jobs at fast-food restaurants or grocery stores.
Susquehannock High School senior Ashley May has a unique employment opportunity.

From their latest album, "Under the Blacklight," Rilo Kiley's "Silver Lining" offers something new for the group. With a '70s feel, the song has a catchy beat and is super easy to get into. Lead singer Jenny Lewis experiments with her voice in this song, making her sound kind of "gospel-y" at times, but it keeps you interested.

It is definitely worth spending $.99 on iTunes!

Literally snuggled in the Appalachian Mountains, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is surrounded by small-town life. A public school, Mansfield houses many students with artistic majors much as drama or music. It does, however, have a variety of majors from nursing to environmental studies.

One feature of Mansfield's application process that students like is the fact that it does not require an essay. SAT scores must be sent, but the requirements are low, making it easy to get accepted. The school, though very small, is dynamic and unique. It has many clubs and organizations for students to become involved in.

Mansfield sits very close to the New York border - Corning is a mere 26 miles and Elmira is less than an hour away.

Also, Mansfield is an extremely inexpensive institution, at only about $7,000 per year. Students applying to Mansfield don't have to worry about applying for scholarships, either. As soon as the student applies, their name is entered for whichever scholarships they are eligible for. Mansfield is not only very convenient for the applicant and the student, but it makes students (and their parents) feel like they got the most for their money.

Bad news, Internet lovers - the newest networking site doesn't fit the bill.

After making anthem-like songs on 2006's "Dusk and Summer," emo superstar
singer and songwriter Chris Carrabba returns with an acoustic-driven sound on
Dashboard Confessional's latest, "The Shade of Poison Trees."

Amy Myers>, junior, York Suburban Senior High School

How did you get involved with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)?

I found the Web site (one) December, so I had to wait until the next (November). And then I did it. I convinced a few friends to join with me, with varying degrees of success.

Explain the process of National Novel Writing Month.

It's like an honor system because you can sign up on the Web site (www.nanowrimo.org) and once you've written your 50,000 words you earn a certificate. In a month, you have a novel. I print them out. I like to bring it down to about 3,000 words a day so it gives me time off if I need it but it never works out that way. I try to take breaks so I don't become a recluse.

So I was sitting here thinking...Why do schools always have such extrodinary expectations when it comes to writing essays and the what nots for english class?

1. Appreciation: You should appreciate that you have family beside you who would not hurt you or leave you struggling in life.

2. Respect: Parent and friends give respect to one another. It's a character of attitude that's great.

3. Trustworthiness: Trusting yourself and others shows a great deal of pride in the future.

4. Responsibility: Life comes with responsibilities. Showing how responsible a person can be is showing a change in habits and behaviors.

5. Fairness: Being fair involves being fair toward any race, sex or religion. It brings opportunities for everyone.

I would hate to be cliché and compare the new DVD release "Fracture" to a roller coaster. That being said, the trite comparison stands. With a talented cast including Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling mixed into a witty plot, "Fracture" isn't your standard suspense movie.

How do you feel about schools that have done away with academic honors such
as valedictorian? (Note: Students responded by e-mail.)

- By DYLAN SHIFFER, Central York High School

By Missy McCleary

A party for people to play video games?

Since the late ’60s, when games for Unix started to appear, there have been LAN (local-area network) parties all over the world.

Age: 28
Work: Niche Publications Editor
Teen Takeover history: When YDR first began the Teen Takeover page in 2002, I was one of the co-leaders. I left the paper in 2003 and rejoined the staff a month ago.

I participated in Pennsylvania’s annual bow hunting season for the first time this year. I have been hunting for three years now, but never have I had such a unique experience as the one I had on Opening Day.

Hey guys haha heres my amazing paper bag...PS this is a school art class project...i don't draw paper bags for fun :)

A long long time ago (like maybe 65 minutes ago) in a land far far away (the YDR conference room) a group of young scribes-in-training sadly conceded defeat to a middle-aged newspaper editor in a 31-day battle that resulted in:

A) Tons of outstanding material on both this blog and the editor's blog (which we won't mention here for fear of sending more traffic his way)

B) Great insights into the lives and minds of York County teens

C) A precedent to be upheld and even improved upon

You see, the young scribes and the newspaper editor had challenged each other to a duel, to see who could get the most page views on their blog during the month of October.

The results?

Am I the only one who's on the Internet this early on a Sunday morning?

Dumb question.

OMGSH!!!!!!!!!!! I have THE GrEaTeSt story too tell!!!!!!!!!!! ookk, soo...tonight was the band compition that my school hosted. we were out back of the high school practicing when mr crone [band director] comes running up with the woodwinds on his heels yelling for us to grab our stuff and follow him [we were warming up]

Almost three months of my computer being ridiculously out of order and then back up, I'm finally able to post.

Tonight was my last football game as a high school student.

Rumor is there is a law that says no one over the age of sixteen can go trick-or-treating.

Who knew?

Starbucks, here I come! I'm extremely excited.

I love Halloween candy.

What's everyone else doing tonight?