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December 16, 2009
Ryland Parnell
Low numbers on this year’s wrestling team did not lead to much success in the first match of the year. The wrestling squad competed in a tri-match with St. Ignatius and Perry, who are two powerhouse programs that seemed to be too much for the Knights. In the sport of wrestling, there are sixteen different weight classes and the Knights only have fourteen wrestlers on the whole team. They forfeit at least two matches in every meet just because they do not have enough wrestlers, and if someone is injured or doesn’t make weight there are even less people to wrestle.
“We are having problems with people coming out for the wrestling team,” head coach Rich Lann said. “We’re not getting the numbers we usually get.”
“We wrestled two good wrestling programs and we were not at our best,” senior Joe Schindel said.
Schindel and freshman Joelewis Washington both finished the match with a record of 1-1.
“Washington wrestled really well for his fist high school match,” Schindel said. “I was impressed.”
This past weekend, the wrestlers competed in the Marysville Invitational. This invitational tournament was in Columbus. This tournament will give the wrestlers the chance to bounce back and dominate the rest of the season. Results not available at press time.
“There will be a lot of Division I schools at this invitational,” Schindel said. “They should be great competition for us.”
Looking forward, the Knights did well at the Hudson tournament on Dec. 18 and 19 last year. At this wrestling tournament in 2008, the Knights dominated with two wrestlers placing third and one placing fourth. The Knights will be working hard in practice by turning up the heat: literally, some times the wrestling room will get to 80 degrees, so the wrestlers can work up a sweat. The tough schedule will prepare the youngsters for tournament action.
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December 16, 2009
Amy Yakubowski
Black Friday– the day bargain shoppers wait for every year is as crazy a scene as most would think. It’s the start of the shopping season where electronics, appliances and holiday gifts hit their lowest prices.
Buyers wake up at the break of dawn to participate in this national phenomenon. Most stores open at 5 AM and prepare for the chaos of shoppers lined up outside the store. With hundreds of people waiting to get a “hot” item, shoving and arguing over items is common and fights often surface.
Black Friday is an experience in itself. Senior Krissy Sokol witnessed it first hand.
“Waking up a 4:00 AM wasn’t too bad,” Sokol said. “I definitely needed coffee though.”
With a quick stop at Starbucks, Sokol arrived at Chapel Hill’s Target 15 minutes before the doors opened.
“I didn’t think there would be as big of a line as there was,” Sokol said. “But it was wrapped along the side of the store.”
When 5:00 AM hit, the line started to shuffle into the store.
“Not even five minutes in, we heard a lady say there was almost a fight in the electronics section,” Sokol said. “I knew Black Friday was intense, but I didn’t think it was that aggressive.”
With a few purchases, Sokol headed home around 7:00 AM.
“I’m not a big shopper, but I wanted to experience Black Friday for myself with my friends,” Sokol said. “It was entertaining for the most part with all the crazy shoppers and crazy long lines, but I was so happy to go home and nap.”
But if waking up early, dealing with aggressive shoppers or getting knocked around a store doesn’t seem intriguing, there’s always Cyber Monday– the Monday following Black Friday.
It’s a kick-off to the start of seasonal online shopping. Cyber Monday is the busiest day of the year for retail electronic commerce in the United States. Shop.org named it when research showed that 77% of online retailers reported a significant increase in sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2004.
As of this year, about 700 retailers offered discounts on Shop.org. Traffic at online retailers rose eight percent on Monday, bringing early holiday cheers. This year, shoppers spent an average of $180.03 per item online, compared to last year’s $170.19 per item, almost a ten percent increase of item per order. Market research firm, ComScore, estimates that online retail sales will grow three percent to $28.8 billion this holiday season, which will be beneficial to the economy.
So whether it’s waking up at the crack of dawn to jump on a store’s lowest prices, or sitting home on a computer ordering items online, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are early Christmas gifts to manufacturers and store owners in our struggling economy.
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December 16, 2009
Ben Edwards
When Christmas shopping this season for a younger brother, sister or just the inner child in yourself, an innovative and interesting array of toys litters the aisles in department stores. From mini-pocket rockets to toy hamsters, kids and toy lovers alike will have many options this year.
The hardest-to-find gift this Christmas season is without a doubt the Zhu Zhu Hamster. This alternative to a real pet hamster has an $8.00 base price in stores but due to its Furbee like difficulty to find they have reached prices up to $65.00 on sites like eBay and Craigslist. These “hamsters” are advertised as “the best alternatives to real live hamsters,” and continues with, “Zhu Zhu Pets™ hamsters don’t poop, die, or stink, but they are still a riot of motion and sound” according to the web site, www.zhuzhupets.com. Zhu Zhu hamsters come with 40 different sound effects; depending on what environment the Zhu Zhu is in. The pets include two play modes: nurturing mode in which the hamsters purr and make other hamsteresque noises, and the adventure mode where the hamsters explore their habitat with intelligent audio and mechanical responses to various environs. Along with buying one of the four color options for the hamsters, a dozen accessories exist including hamster balls, tubes, beds and cars. The accessories are a must to make your Zhu Zhu hamster experience a hamtastic one.
While the Zhu Zhu hamster is moving fast off the shelves, the Razor Pocket Rocket Mini-Electric Motorcycle is arguably the fastest travelling toy this season. Many children mistake mini-pocket rockets as toys but these motorcycles are meant for adults; they have real engines and achieve speeds of 40 mph. Thus, the Razor Pocket Rocket Mini Electric Motorcycle is a safe alternative to a real mini-pocket rocket. The Razor contains a rechargeable electric motor and limits the speed at 15 mph for 45 minutes of continuous use. The Razor can support 170 pound riders and is suggested for kids ages 12 and up. The only downside is the hefty price tag it bears of $329.
While some may call this generation the fastest generation, it may be better known as the sparkly vampire generation with the latest Barbie installment. Barbie and the hit sensation Twilight series have teamed up to create the Edward Ken doll and the Bella Barbie. The dolls include very detailed faces of the actors in the movie, and the latest Twilight fashions. Ladies are in luck this Christmas season as now they can bring Edward home with them. Bella and Edward dolls are sold in a package deal for $50.00.
Perhaps the most innovative toy this year, Mindflex, is a mind-over-matter game. Mindflex is a game played with the mind as it uses a sci-fi looking headset that reads brain waves to elevate a small blue ball through an obstacle course. The more concentration exerted the higher the ball will fly, but when the mind relaxes the blue ball lowers. The ball elevates due to the fan built into the circular Mindflex unit. At the front of the unit is a knob that moves the fan clockwise or counter-clockwise. The mind controls the altitude and the hand controls direction. The game comes with five different game modes which each can be set up on the unit much like the game Mousetrap, but simpler.
With many new trendy and innovative toys this year, finding the perfect toys for loved ones this Christmas will be a cinch.
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December 16, 2009
For those who have jumped on the green bandwagon, beware: it may come to a screeching halt. Recently, thousands of e-mails and documents were leaked from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in which top scientists discussed their forgery of global warming data to cover up the worldwide cooling trend.
“I’ve just completed Mike’s trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e. from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline,” one message read.
Because the scientists could not reconcile this recent cooling in their theory, a cover-up was deemed necessary.
“The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment, and it is a travesty that we can’t,” another e-mail said. “The CERES data published in August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data is surely wrong.”
The e-mails also spoke of suppressing reports for a United National Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) journal that seem to contradict the global warming theory so that the rest of the science community could not review them and take them into account.
“I can’t see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report… Kevin and I will keep them out somehow- even if we have to redefine what peer-review literature is!” another e-mail stated.
The Climatic Research Unit’s data carries much weight both in and out of the science community, and the Environmental Protection Agency admits it depends on it the most to determine that carbon dioxide emissions are harmful and need to be regulated.
There is even evidence that the cover-up had worse motives than just maintaining a theory.
“With publication of an article in Science (in 1995) I gained sufficient credibility in the community of scientists working on climate change,” a report by Professor Deming said. “They thought I was one of them: someone who would pervert science in the service of social and political causes.”
Even one of the top global warming supporters admits that this “Climategate” scandal must be taken into account.
“Luckily for the skeptics, and to my intense disappointment, I have now been passed the damning e-mail that confirms that the entire science of global warming is indeed a scam,” scientist George Monbiot said. “Had I known that it was this easy to rig the evidence, I wouldn’t have wasted years of my life supporting a bogus discipline.”
Still, some supporters disregard the new information and continue to uphold their theory.
“…these skeptics have not overturned the well-established basic physics of the greenhouse effect, namely that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and increasing its concentration in the atmosphere causes the earth to warm,” Bob Ward, Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Congress discussed the issue but dismissed any claims that the e-mails prove global warming is false. The leak occurred just in time for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec. 7 and discussions of the cap and trade bill.
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December 15, 2009
Carmine Sberna
IPhone, look out. The new Droid for the Verizon Wireless Network is here. Advertised as “the phone that does,” the Droid is outfitted with many features that make it stand out from the rest. Some of these features have even outdone the Apple iPhone. With its recent union with Google, Motorola has made an impressive multi-application operating phone that does everything with the touch of the hand.
Most noticeably different than the iPhone is the full QWERTY keyboard that is revealed by pushing the display upwards. While the phone is equipped with this convenience, it also has an onscreen keyboard. While the Droid is just a tiny bit thicker than Apple’s product, its body is actually more narrow.
The CPU in both phones is similar meaning they give similar results, however the Droid has a bigger screen than that of its counterpart. With the Android Market, the equivalent to the App Store on the ATT network, the Droid offers 10,000 applications, many free, to download directly from your phone.
One feature that has people talking is the camera. Unbelievably, the Droid is equipped with a five mega-pixel camera and an LED flash. Not only does the camera have many options to adjust the pictures, it also includes a self- focusing lens. Like any phone, there are a few quirks that could be worked out, but that hasn’t stopped the phone that does.
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December 15, 2009
Victoria Grieshammer
On Dec. 1, Hoban held it’s annual Lift-A-Thon. The weight room oozed with sweat and enthusiasm as usual. Who won the girls’ Lift-A-Thon you ask? Advanced Placement Art student and senior Krista Mobley won the girls’ Lift-A-Thon. That’s right, an artist won the Lift-A-Thon. Talk about transcending stereotypes.
Mobley starting drawing at a young age and like most artists she has been driven by art throughout her life. Her Painting and Drawing class, which she took her sophomore year, was the catalyst which truly opened her eyes to her love of art and her realization of her own talent as an artist. It is the various Hoban Art classes that have taught Mobley the basics while simultaneously expanding her artistic horizons. After Painting and Drawing Mobley moved onto Advanced Placement Art, the class which she continues to take today. AP Art praises its stellar students by providing them with their very own display panel, allowing them the experience of having their very own art show. The strenuous and demanding AP Art course has helped Mobley not only to hone her skills but to develop as a person.
“Art has changed my outlook on life; it has become my means of expression,” Mobley said. “It has been with me through my growing up and becoming the person I am now.”
Not only has art shaped her past and present, it continues to guide her future. Mobley, who has decided to stay in Ohio for undergraduate school, is looking seriously at Ohio University. Not only does she love the school itself but it also happens to be accredited in Interior Architecture, the job which Mobley is interested in thanks to her artistic background.
Although Mobley cannot credit any one artist as her favorite, she draws technique and inspiration from various artists and art forms, helping to expand her own range and talent.
“Art inspires you to make your own,” Mobley expressed. “It inspires you to find yourself.”
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December 15, 2009
Marie Hofer
Popping corks of sparkling apple juice added to the cultured feel and emotion the student brought to the Winter Arts Festival. A heartwarming toast from Micah Kraus wrapped up the evening for the visual art department.
“I have been a part of the Fine Arts Festival here at Hoban for 17 years. There have been many changes, all that I can remember are positive. It’s great to see the student’s hard work paying off for them. Some have work that’s been created over two years. It’s awesome to watch students go from Beginning Art admiring the blue displays of the AP students to having their turn as those AP students,” Kraus said.
Senior AP art student Jaclyn Hale praised the success of all the works of art.
“I thought it was a really good show overall. There was a nice diversity of pieces. What I liked about having my own space this year was getting to see people’s reaction to my work, and being able to talk to them about it,” Hale said.
Senior Olivia Mandala loved the feelings of accomplishment the show brings.
“The best part leading up to the show is definitely doing all the work for the semester and finally getting to hang it all on one board it see all the work I have done. It feels like such an accomplishment,” Mandala said.
Chamber and Concert Choir joined together to perform beautiful for all art fans and parents in attendance.
“We got to take songs that we’ve been rehearsing for months and share them with and audience who has never heard us perform them before. No matter how familiar the music is to us, it’s new to the audience and we become motivated to sing a song like it’s the most popular one on the radio,” sophomore Katie Cottrill said.
Senior Marie Kunze praised everyone for finding his or her focus even with the nerve-racking excitement of the show.
“My favorite part was the ending song, when we all got together and just had fun. The hardest part was getting everybody focused. We get so excited that we can’t calm down, but in the end we pulled it together,” Kunze said.
Senior Ryan Michaels dynamically performed for the audience with the Chamber Choir.
“I love to entertain people and let them forget all about their troubles. It’s something that I love to do and it’s even better when you get to do it with all your friends,” Michaels said.
Senior Alex Clark was one of many beautiful solos presented by the deeply inspirational Gospel Choir.
“Having a solo was really nerve-racking but a great privilege. I had butterflies in my stomach and was shaking super bad but it was all worth it,” Clark said.
Blake Gross helped everything come together behind the scenes.
“I ran the sound board for the winter fine arts show. I think it really went well and the choirs are extremely easy to work with,” Gross said.
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December 15, 2009
Nick Pelini and Allison Jackson
Every week Hoban sells between 800 and 1000 mushie cookies. The popularity of this Hoban staple is seen everyday at lunch, but its history is baked in obscurity.
18 years ago, cafeteria manager Kathy Backer received a new shipment of cookie dough. Unsure how long she needed to bake the cookies, Backer experimented with different cooking times. When the cookies were sold not fully cooked, the students spoke up.
“The kids started to like them a little less cooked. Soon the demand for the uncooked cookies exceeded the demand for the cooked ones,” Backer said.
The cookies were just known as uncooked until a student serving a detention after school in the cafeteria dubbed the cookie with its popular name.
“The name came from a student named Tanya May. She said ‘these cookies are really mushie,’” Backer said.
The name stuck. Only three years after the introduction of the mushie cookie came the invention of one of Hoban’s most unique concoctions: the mushie cookie sundae.
“There was a student that went here [Curtis Witherspoon ‘97] who said he wanted a sundae with a mushie cookie on top 15 years ago,” cafeteria manager Mary Heyden said.
The mushie cookie is not the only treat to rise out of Backer’s oven. Stromboli enthusiasts can also thank her for adding some sauce to their otherwise dull Wednesdays.
“I liked to look at things that students ate at restaurants,” Backer said. “Pizza was always a favorite.”
The reason stromboli has traditionally been served on Wednesday can be answered in one word: preparation. It takes three days to have approximately 336 of these puffy pepperoni-piled pastries ready to go.
Backer’s legendary mushie cookie is still found in the Hoban cafeteria but it is also on the menu at Hoban’s rival school. St. Vincent- St. Mary “borrowed” the mushie cookie recipe from an employee of Backer’s who went to work at St. V-M.
Kathy Backer served 19 years as Hoban’s cafeteria manager. Though she is now retired from this position, she credits the success of the mushie cookie and stromboli to the input and ideas of the students.
“I never got tired of working at Hoban,” Backer said. “I loved the job and I loved the students and I cared what I served them.”
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December 15, 2009
Peter DelMedico
Certain people in this world give all of their lives to the point that giving becomes their lives– people like Akronite and Hoban Knight, Bill Considine. Bill Considine is an Akron native who did more than just attend Hoban; he submerged himself in every value and endeavor it had to offer.
“Hoban gives a real life education beyond the books and classrooms,” Considine said.
After graduating in 1965, he attended the University of Akron and by his senior year represented the student body as their president. He also went on to win the University of Akron’s renowned Senior Man award. Two years later, he became a highly qualified Navy lieutenant with the Bureau of Public Health Manpower at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
For the next several years he lived in North Carolina and worked at the University of North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill and held administrative positions in nearly every department. Then, he got an offer he could not refuse. At age 32 the position as President and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital was granted to Considine.
Considine could not have known 10 years prior, when he was working in the laundry room at Children’s, that he would become the youngest President and CEO of a pediatric hospital in America. Fast-forward 30 years to the present: he is currently the country’s longest serving President and CEO. Now head of over 70 Children’s locations, he has a $750 million operation in his hands. However, almost anyone who has met him would agree he is more than qualified.
“Bill could have gone anywhere he wanted and he came here,” said Phil Maynard, Chairman of the Foundation Board at Children’s and a 1960 Hoban graduate.
“He is extremely passionate and professional with all of the countless responsibilities he takes hold of,” Maynard said.
In the past three decades, Considine has seen not just additions and reforms but the development of a world-class hospital. Revered by the community, he has truly made a name for himself. When Mayor Don Plusquellic needs someone to chair a committee he calls on Considine.
He has not only the support of the community but has gained the utmost respect by Children’s employees. He takes precious time out of his schedule to have lunch or even a midnight shift dinner with deserving employees.
“They call him Mr. C,” Maynard said.
Considine has taken each family that walks through the doors into his heart.
“I have made friends with thousands of families and treasure all the lessons they have taught me,” Considine said.
As a testament to his generosity, Considine and his wife Becky recently donated $1 million towards the development of the Rebecca D. Considine Clinical Research Institute.
“Hoban taught me an importance of dreaming that anything can be done, but it must start with a dream,” Considine said.
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December 15, 2009
Nikki Bowser
President Barack Obama never fails to disappoint me. I have continually been shocked by extravagant, short-term promises, most of which have yet to be fulfilled, and I cannot help but consider him to be a hypocritical liar.
He promised to decrease the unemployment rate and help small businesses, and last time I checked that number was up and most small businesses can’t buy a loan. He built his campaign on lies and empty promises and guess what America– you fell for it.
Another promise I have yet to see President Obama come through on was his commitment to closing Guantanamo Bay within one year of being sworn into office. All I have to say is thank God. At the moment I cannot think of a worse idea (with the exception of Obama’s Proposed Healthcare Reform, but don’t get me started).
Obama has entertained plans to close Guantanamo and bring the high-risk terrorists currently detained there to a high-security prison in Chicago. Along with these plans, he intends to try the 9/11 terrorists in downtown Manhattan as U.S. citizens in a trial before a jury.
This is appalling. First of all, these terrorists are not U.S. citizens and do not deserve to be treated as such. Obama giving them the right to a trial by jury and the right to a defense lawyer says to me that he believes that there is a possibility that these terrorists could be innocent. I am repulsed by his apparent defense of these terrorists. In fact, I find it offensive.
There is no doubt in my mind that these terrorists are guilty. They committed blatant acts of war against the United States of America, and now the president of these United States is inviting them back into our country and offering them a chance to defend themselves.
My only hope is that the jury selected for this undeserved trial is as harsh as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other disgusting terrorists deserve for them to be. Mohammed and the others are being given the opportunity to describe the torture they were subjected to at Guantanamo, including being waterboarded 183 times in one month in a successful attempt to drive a confession out of the terrorists.
I cannot fathom the fact that any sane, rational American would be willing to defend Mohammed and what he did to our country. Waterboard torture is about as miniscule as it gets in comparison to flying a Boeing 767 into a 110-story building full of thousands of innocent people. While I’m being honest, it is my humble opinion that Mohammed deserved to be waterboarded 2,750 times– once for every innocent life he stole.
These terrorists are not Americans. They do not deserve to be treated as such or to be granted a trial that was, until now, reserved for U.S. citizens. These men should be kept in Guantanamo Bay for the rest of their lives. They do not deserve the luxury of death; Mohammed does not deserve the “martyr” status for which he yearns.
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