Articles (For Nelson)

Vice Presidential Debate
Jonathan Tate
On October 2nd, vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin debated. Overall, on the excitement meter of uncommitted Ohio voters, Joe Biden scored higher. Most people in the interviews thought that Sarah Palin exceeded expectations, but Joe Biden won. Democrat Mary C. Byrd, who attended the debate, thought that both candidates did an excellent job of connecting, but Joe Biden clearly won.
Sarah Palin focused on Alaska's importance as a state in issues such as energy. She insisted that Alaska's proximity to Russia and Canada helps her with knowledge on foreign policy issues, however Tina Fey mocked her on Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin was praised for her ability to connect to your everyday "Joe Six-Packs", however criticized for being too phony. She was also mocked by Tina Fey for repeated use of the word "maverick". Many political cartoons focused on her statement about the "gotcha" media.
Joe Biden scored very high on the excitement meter with men, and fairly high with women. At one point, the orange line (which represented the men) on the meter was at the very top. Despite this, many members of the mainstream media said that Joe Biden was "ranting" and the excitement meter went down. Joe Biden was also mocked on Saturday Night Live for his adamant support of gay rights, but opposition to gay marriage.
Most of the time, the candidates focused on their running mates. However, they kept on using the terms "Obama-Biden Administration" and "McCain-Palin Administration". Mrs. Byrd says this was because people don't vote for the vice presidential candidates, they, at the end of the day, always vote for the person at the top of the ticket.
Moderator Gwen Iffil was accused of bias toward Joe Biden. However, Mrs. Byrd thought that she was too soft on both of the candidates. Her reasoning is that neither of the candidates would really answer the questions. The mainstream media has had much debate over such bias.
Overall, most people think that this debate won't matter because it is only the vice presidential candidates debating, but overall a lot of people I have talked to thought that this was a very interesting debate.

Second Debate
Jonathan Tate
On October 2nd, vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin debated. Overall, on the excitement meter of uncommitted Ohio voters, Joe Biden scored higher. Most people in the interviews thought that Sarah Palin exceeded expectations, but Joe Biden won. Democrat Mary C. Byrd, who attended the debate, thought that both candidates did an excellent job of connecting, but Joe Biden clearly won.
Sarah Palin focused on Alaska's importance as a state in issues such as energy. She insisted that Alaska's proximity to Russia and Canada helps her with knowledge on foreign policy issues, however Tina Fey mocked her on Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin was praised for her ability to connect to your everyday "Joe Six-Packs", however criticized for being too phony. She was also mocked by Tina Fey for repeated use of the word "maverick". Many political cartoons focused on her statement about the "gotcha" media.
Joe Biden scored very high on the excitement meter with men, and fairly high with women. At one point, the orange line (which represented the men) on the meter was at the very top. Despite this, many members of the mainstream media said that Joe Biden was "ranting" and the excitement meter went down. Joe Biden was also mocked on Saturday Night Live for his adamant support of gay rights, but opposition to gay marriage.
Most of the time, the candidates focused on their running mates. However, they kept on using the terms "Obama-Biden Administration" and "McCain-Palin Administration". Mrs. Byrd says this was because people don't vote for the vice presidential candidates, they, at the end of the day, always vote for the person at the top of the ticket.
Moderator Gwen Iffil was accused of bias toward Joe Biden. However, Mrs. Byrd thought that she was too soft on both of the candidates. Her reasoning is that neither of the candidates would really answer the questions. The mainstream media has had much debate over such bias.
Overall, most people think that this debate won't matter because it is only the vice presidential candidates debating, but overall a lot of people I have talked to thought that this was a very interesting debate.
Joe The Plumber
Jonathan Tate
Joe The Plumber
The third and final presidential debate between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain occurred on October 15th. There seemed to be a focus on many things, including "Joe the Plumber", Joe Wurzelbacher, who is getting his fifteen minutes of fame. He was mentioned approximately 25 times in the debate by both candidates. John McCain, however, was the first to mention him. He was almost exclusively discussed when the candidates were debating taxes and the economy. McCain accused Obama of making Joe pay a fine and "spread his wealth around". Obama, however, repeatedly denied such claims. MSNBC tracked down Wurzelbacher. They interviewed him, and he, previously uncommitted, now supports John McCain. When will the Joe the Plumber story be "in the toilet." The world may never know.
New Planet?
Nina

Scientists say they have found new life on another planet outside of our solar system. Sounds unreal, huh? Well, it definitely isn’t. Dr. Sasselov tells that this planet they’ve just discovered is very common. “It’s exciting,” he says. The information they’ve gathered also tells us that the life on this planet might be even more agreeable with its environment than Earths is. It orbits a red star known as Gliese 581. It’s the smallest out of the 200 or so planets that exist out of our solar system.
Although scientists and astronomers have found this planet about two years ago, they’ve just found out that it might be possible for astronauts to travel there. It wouldn’t be a hazard for them because the planets temperature ranges from 0 degrees to 40 degrees. They claim this new planet is very Earth-like, and there wouldn’t be any chances of traveling there if the surfaces were bigger than Venus’.
Scientists wont be able to get more of its physical makeup until it orbits Gliese 581. So until then, we know there’s a planet out there with life.
Private Schools
Vs.
Public Schools
Isaiah Jones
Private school vs. Public schools
Public schools are schools where anyone from anyone can attend. Students at public schools are not required to know The Lords Prayer or other prayers. Public schools are free. There are no additional fees. So is the education the same as a Private school.
A Private school is a school that you have to be either Catholic or Christian. Religion is a subject on your report card. You are aloud to talk about your Religion. This is different from a public school.
Some similarities are they both have one purpose. To teach the students all they need to know for the real world. Both schools are a place where students from different ethnics can communicate




Arsenic In Water May Cause Diabetes

Nelson

Recent studies show that levels of arsenic have been found in water, and contain type two diabetes. Arsenic is a hazardous element that smells like almonds. In another recent study of seven hundred and seventy seven adults shows increased chances of having diabetes, just from drinking local water supplies. It probably dissolved into the water from high polluting. Some are trying to prevent this from happening by filtrating tainted water supplies as much as possible. Sea dwellers such as fish also have increased nontoxic organic arsenic, probably by swimming in the water. It is possible that people with diabetes excrete more arsenic. The U.S.A. has even lowered arsenic in public water systems for belief of it being a cause of cancer.



Road Rage

Nina

At about 3 in the afternoon on August 27th, a 17 year old girl whose name is withheld was on her way to a Delaware high school. She was a new driver who was following the speed limit. A driver behind her was tailgating her, and got angry because she refused to go faster. After a couple of miles, she pulled over to let him by. But the driver was not satisfied. He then pulled over in front of her car and got out. She put the window down about 5 inches so that she could speak to him and try to understand what the problem was. Although she didn't see, he had a knife with him. He told her that she tried to kill him, which was not the case. He then demanded the car keys, and when the girl refused, he punched her in the face. After that, he pulled out his knife, showed it to her, and then held the knife to her throat. Right before he went back to his car, he reached for the keys in the ignition and ripped them out. Witnesses tried to chase him, and by then another truck pulled up behind the girl. The witnesses called the police. They are still investigating now.



New Planet

Nina

Scientists say they have found new life on another planet outside of our solar system. Sounds unreal, huh? Well, it definitely isn't. Dr. Sasselov tells that this planet they've just discovered is very common. "It's exciting," he says. The information they've gathered also tells us that the life on this planet might be even more agreeable with its environment than Earths is. It orbits a red star known as Gliese 581. It's the smallest out of the 200 or so planets that exist out of our solar system.
Although scientists and astronomers have found this planet about two years ago, they've just found out that it might be possible for astronauts to travel there. It wouldn't be a hazard for them because the planets temperature ranges from 0 degrees to 40 degrees. They claim this new planet is very Earth-like, and there wouldn't be any chances of traveling there if the surfaces were bigger than Venus'.
Scientists wont be able to get more of its physical makeup until it orbits Gliese 581. So until then, we know there's a planet out there with life.



Car Limit

Philip

Cars could soon come with parental controls that limit what younger drivers can do with a car.
Developed by Ford, the "MyKey" system limits a car's top speed, how loud its stereo can be, and sounds warnings if seatbelts are not being worn. So to get things straight, the cars can have adjustable limits.

Ford will introduce the controls on some US makes of car that are due to first show up in 2009 but go on sale in 2010.
The Ford Focus will be the first to have MyKey, but the car maker said it would become a standard feature.
The main element of the MyKey system is to limit the top speed of a car to 80mph.
Ford says other options allow parents or whatever to limit the volume on the car stereo and make the car sound a continuous alert if drivers and passengers are not wearing a seatbelt.
Other options will let parents decide if warning tones should sound if a car goes faster than 45, 55 or 65 mph.
Another feature is that you can make the car require a drivers license of some type, like your own or you Childs" It's making use of existing technology, and through the magic of software, we're able to build features on top of the features we already have," said Jim Buczkowski, Ford's director of electronic and electrical systems engineering.
Ford's compact version of the Focus, which is due to go on sale in 2010, will be the first to sport MyKey. But a spokesman said it would spread to all cars in the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury range as models are updated.
"Research we've done has shown that speeding is a major factor in teen crashes, especially novice teen drivers," Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, told the AP news agency.

"So I think a system that tries to correct the speeding behavior has the potential to improve safety," she added. This technology is surely to change the way of cars and car-safety.



New Way To Cheat On Test?

Jon L.

''Hi YouTube! my name is Kiki And today I'm going to show you how to cheat on a test -- the effective way." A teen age girl named ''Kiki'' if that is her real name has discussed a new way to cheat on a test! This is not ethical at all to my opinion!
She demonstrates her technique, slipping a small piece of paper with the answers in a clear-tubed pen as she rationalizes her reasons for cheating.
"I know it's not a good thing to cheat," she said. "It's academic dishonesty, blah, blah, blah. But I think everyone has at least done it once."
Kiki's video is one of several dozen on the popular Internet site YouTube that show detailed ways to cheat on tests. Students no longer conceal answers in the sole of a shoe or the underside of a baseball cap's bill. In the age of continual access to the Internet and laser-precision printers, cheating has gone high-tech.
And some techniques, like Kiki's, come with a guarantee.
"This is 98 percent effective," she said. "Hopefully, any of my teachers don't see this video. It would be very awkward."
Elizabeth Losh, writing director of the human core course at University of California, Irvine, knows the cheating videos well. As a teacher of digital rhetoric, she analyzes how media affects society. The YouTube videos are really a way for people to boast, she said.
"It's a whole kind of tradition on YouTube -- how do you subvert something, how do you break in to something," she said. "In some ways, I'm not surprised that the genre has evolved."
Some of the modern cheating techniques are so time-consuming that students would be better off simply studying, Losh said.
"I can laugh about the inventiveness, but it's sad more than anything else." she said. Another way that she discussed was a website to go to in order to help hide your answers. It was said that a common way kids cheat on their test was by printing the answers of the quiz / test on false soda bottles. This is all I know so far and when I receive more information about this I will rewrite this as long as it isn't giving any private information or if it's telling which website to go to.



Private school vs Public schools

Public schools are schools where anyone from anyone can attend. Students at public schools are not required to know The Lords Prayer or other prayers. Public schools are free. There are no additional fees. So is the education the same as a Private school. A Private school is a school that you have to be either Catholic or Christian. Religion is a subject on your report card. You are allowed to talk about your Religion. This is different from a public school. Some similarities are they both have one purpose. To teach the students all they need to know for the real world. Both schools are a place where students from different ethnics can communicate.