Anna Belle's Blog

My Personal Thoughts of Hillary Clintion

2007-11-30T16:50:00.000-08:00

Since I am writing an article on her I figured that I should tell you my personal beliefs on her. I believe that she is whacked out feminist and will ruin the country if elected. I am very strong supporter of the Democrat party, but I feel if she gets elected that the country as a whole is going to be in deep trouble. I agree with her health care plan but she is not the best candidate for the office, and I admit if she is the candidate on the democratic ticket I will vote for the republican even if it was Jeb Bush or Georgie Jr.

It is my belief that she should be running under the communist party platform not the democratic ticket. Also dear old Ruddy should be on the Democratic ticket, and if he gets the republican nomination I would vote for him. A Democrat in wolf's clothing who would have thought? Well at least it is in our own party President Carter.

I am willing to say that if Hillary wins I am seriously looking into schools in Europe. God Bless the Queen! I will be getting of the sinking ship that this country will have become. May the Lady Liberty rest with the Titanic and two great oceans become one due to nuclear war.
Hopfully it won't end like that but with her I am not risking my behind.

More for the feature

2007-11-30T10:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a bit of Senator Clinton's past in her official White House biography:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/hc42.html

A Tired Student's rant

2007-11-29T11:09:00.000-08:00

Has any one noticed how hard high school is these days? Not only do we have to hold jobs pass many tests, but we have to do this on very little sleep! How is possible for high students to do this, we wake up before the Amish and most go to sleep after the Amish! How is it that adults have forgotten what it is like to be teens? Doesn't the school board realize that many of us work and spend two hours on homework and then forced to wake up before sun up to go to a place that resembles jail.
Here is a typical day for me:
Wake up -5:10 am
dressed -5:45 am
cooked/ eat food- 6:20 am
teeth brushed homework done -6:45 am
School until -2:20 pm
Buss arrives at house - 3:10 pm
Homework- 4:10 pm
Study - 5:00 pm
eat dinner - 6:00 pm
relax - 7:00pm
bed - 10:00 pm
repeat each day for 5 days

It is a known fact that teens don't go to bed until late, and little kids wake up early and go to sleep early so why not make elementry kids go to school at 7:20 am!

Hillary Clinton's Campaign

2007-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

I have to write an article for journalism on Hillary Clinton and here are a few links from my research:
Link to a blog article of Hillary Clinton's campaign.
From the New York Time's Blog

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/how-that-streisand-endorsement-came-about-hint-not-like-buttah/

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/clinton-to-colin-powell-be-my-diplomat/

School Blocks Student Art from Halls

2007-11-29T10:55:00.000-08:00

School Blocks Student Art from Halls
Warning this is fiction

Is there any such thing as freedom of expression anymore?
Early last May, Jessica Margera, a student from Franklin High School, submitted a sculpture of a homosexual couple kissing to the decision board for the National Student Art award, given by the National Center for the Arts in Washington D.C.
The National Student Art Award is given to only one student in the country each year. According to Jonetta Lynne, Director of the National Center of the Arts, to even be considered for this distinguished award one has to be first nominated by their art teacher. Then the piece is securitized by many harsh critics.
Due to the subject matter her school has refused to display the piece. The reason according to Mrs. Regina Night, school principal, is that “it is too much of a controversial subject and that many parents have complained about it.”
The decision was not made by principal Night, but by the school board and found to be best for the students as to stop any possible riots against it.
The artist of this piece Jessica Margera says “I was inspired by the people around me and by real life images.” She has no wish for this to become so controversial
There shall be a press conference on November 31, 2007 at 2:00pm at the Franklin Regional High School’s auditorium and is open for the public, and a school board meeting following where residents can express their thoughts.

Pizza! Pizza! Who has the Best Pizza?

2007-11-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

There has always been a debate who has the best pizza, Marcos, Geppetto's pizza and ribs, Tommy’s or frozen lean cuisine four cheese pizza. After many hours of tasting all four and few gallons of Mountain Dew there is now a victor.

The lean Cuisine pizza was the worst, even for a pizza made in three minute. The cheese was as dry as the Sahara dessert. There was no sauce to even talk about. Although, the crust on the pizza was half way decent, the pizza itself was too soft. This was the worst of the four.

Then there was Tommy’s, which like to name was nothing extraordinary. It tasted ok but only ok, for it was nothing spectacular. The crust was not that bad though not that good at the same time. The cheese looked like the left it in the oven too long and was a burned piece of heart attack waiting to happen. The sauce was not that good as it was spicy and chunky. There was a ton of grease on it seems.

For Geppeto’s it was a close runner up, but they should stick to their award winning ribs. Overall their pizza tasted excellent. Where they messed up is with their sauce dispersion. The sauce itself was something heaven sent, but it was lacking on the pizza as if they were teasing you. The crust was a nice shade of golden brown, and baked to perfection. The cheese was not burnt and was a delightful blend of many cheeses. This leads to the last and best of the bunch.

Marco’s was by far the best of all four, with the perfect blend of crust, cheese, and sauce to give it the overall the best taste. The authentic Italian crust brings a slice of Italy to the mouth. The sauce was a smooth blend of herbs and spices that did not over power it at all. The cheese was so tasteful that one could eat it alone. These elements brought together created a master piece for the art of pizza making.

The Journey into the end of an Era

2007-11-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if wars were fought with magic and all hopes of winning fell on the shoulders of one teenage boy with a scar on his forehead?
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K Rowling’s 7th book, you go on such an adventure. The once innocent world of magic had just been hit another hard blow, the death of Albus Dumbledore, and as the world darkens with Lord Voldemort causing death and destruction in his wake. A hero finally emerges in Harry Potter.
The book opens with Harry awaiting the Order of the Phoenix to guard him as he travels to the Burrow, his best friend Ron’s family home. The trip ends in a chase to the Burrow as they try to escape from Voldemort’s minions. As the time at the Weasley’s goes on, Harry, Ron and Hermione start to prepare for a secret task that Dumbledore gave them before his death. The perfect time comes for them to make their escape to fulfill their task in a Death Eater raid on Bill Weasley’s wedding to Fleur Delacour, the French Tri Wizard champion.
Through the book we learn that the government was actually taken over on the day of the wedding. Through out the story we see many of the main characters face their deaths in order to stand up to the evil Lord Voldemort and his Death Eater minions. Although, to be fair there were also many deaths on Lord Voldemort’s side.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, there are many moral themes such as different species banding together for the good of all. Also, it shows how the weakest person can be an extremely strong person in a time of great need.
Another theme is that no matter what color, descent, or Muggle born (non magical parents) or Half blood (one magical parent) or Pureblood (both parents have magic) should get the same education. Also, that it is better and more worth while to walk the path that is right than the path that is easy.
JK Rowling’s style in this book greatly differs form the others in the fact that it did not flow as well as the other six. Do to the fact that there are so many deaths it gives the book a darker tone than JK Rowling’s other books.
She also adds an epilogue that shows what the main characters are up to after the war against Lord Voldemort. The epilogue gives the book’s end a peaceful tone such as the series started in her first book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
For the ending of an era, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows provides an exciting ending to one of the most popular series of books in this generation.

Ten Dollars Each Way

2007-11-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

Step aside Southwest Airlines there is a new budget airline in town. That new budget airline is Sky Bus, where at least ten seats on every flight are ten dollars.
The tickets for each of the ten dollar seats sell out with in hours of going on sale. While the airline is fairly new it seems to have tapped into the budget no frills costumer base. With being no frills this means you pay for everything.
The standard prices on services that you would typically get on another airline such as Continental for beverages you receive on a flight on another airline you get for free Sky Bus charges two dollars for soda. If a passenger wants to check a bag they will pay five dollars each way for each piece of luggage.
According to Sky Bus’s CEO, John B. Carnett, said in Popular Science, they charge each passenger separately for what services and goods they receive to make the flights cheaper since on competitor’s flights they would have been charged on the ticket price. This in their minds makes it fairer as the passenger is only paying for goods and services they receive.
There is one major problem in the Sky Bus airline, that to some makes this too good to be true. Sky Bus has no call center and operates its costumer service center only by email. This creates a major problem since on its web site Sky Bus gives a disclaimer that it does not have time to answer personally, and that is a question is answered on their Help Center board they will not respond.
There have been reports of inexperienced, untrained staff, with less than satisfactory customer service. Employees in multiple cases have been reported as receiving on the job training mid-flight. Not a comforting thought for frequent flyers.
Out the gate (no pun intended) Skybus’s reputation has not been improving. Yet, the prices may still be the attracting force for the majority of their business.
I had the privilege to talk to Mr. Lackey, an English teacher at our very own SHS, who has recently booked a flight on Skybus.
“It was easy” he simply stated when I asked him about his booking experience online. “I booked a flight there (Skybus) for $100 less as on Southwest and similar other airlines for the same date.”
A topic that Mr. Lackey announced displeasure towards however was the lack of airports Skybus chooses to use. “We’re going to Columbus before we fly out… You can check online to see a list and map of all the airports they’re at.”
The locations of the airports Skybus uses are a very important consideration before booking. In Ohio, the only airport that Skybus is located at is in Columbus, which, being at the Southern center of Ohio, makes it a rather long journey even before the flight for Skybus customers in the Cleveland area.
But lets focus on what would be involved in taking a trip with Skybus with our starting location in Strongsville Ohio.
First, you would of course need to log on to the Skybus website and look for available dates and prices for flights. Say we wanted to visit family in San Francisco for Christmas. You choose to book the flight for the 16th of December. The initial price of the flight is listed at $120.
According to costumer complaints on elliot.org an internet group dedicated to making sure that consumers can contact the companies they have done business with and are dissatisfied or have a problem with can contact those companies in an efficient way. Sky Bus’s offices are hard to locate and even harder to contact.
One customer of Sky Bus, Ron Markarian, posted on the elliot.org website that his reservation had mysteriously disappeared and after try a couple times at Sky Bus website’s help site he went to the corporate offices address that elliot.org provided and managed to surprise executives by showing up and pleading his case.
Another customer, Justin Korbak, said he had an issue with the sky bus webpage. It timed out on him and he hit the refresh button. The screen reverted back to the default, which was fort Lauderdale, when he trying to get a ticket to Fort Meyers. He emailed them many times, but the company refused to do anything. Justin also reported that the company changed his flight times from the originally scheduled flight. He wants to thank them for sucking.
Skybus also does not fly into major airports, such as LAX in California. Instead they use the smaller airports. You have to fly into Burbank California instead of Los Angeles. This inconveniences many travelers, but Skybus says this gives their flights more opportunity to take off and land on time.
Skybus’ problems do not end however in simply the scheduling and booking of flights, the flights themselves have received severe criticism.

The 16th rolls around and you pack up your car for the two hour trek to Columbus to then begin your flight to San Francisco. You arrive at the airport after your two hour journey and go to the check in desk for Skybus manned by a attendant wearing all but a Skybus T-shirt. After significant delay you finally get to the baggage claim and are forced to dish out a significant amount of money for checking your baggage. Once aboard, the cramped spacing is not relieved by the $2.00 pricing for drinks on the flight attendant’s cart mid-flight.
Relieved to be off the plane after the extremely long flight you are not thrilled (but not surprised) to find that your baggage did not come on the flight with you. You retire to your hotel later that evening after retrieving the luggage and rest from a very hard day of traveling.
The choice is simple, save money and do it the hard way, or simply pay standard airline fees and avoid the hassles of Skybus. Started in 2005, the company has had little time to improve but they should have the incentive at least to try. There is no doubt that in the future there will be plenty of price seeking travelers looking to make the sacrifice to ride on Skybus, and hopefully they will provide the feedback the company needs to make much needed improvements to the lacking airline.

February To Be Canceled

2007-11-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

African Americans have yet another civil issue on their hands for the first time in forty years. It has just been announced by the United Nations that due to findings by the International Center of Planetary Study that the month of February will have to be cut out of our yearly calendar.

The Center released a statement saying “Due to the rapid increase in the rotation of the plant Earth in its relationship of distance apart from the sun we have found that it would benefit the world as a whole to cut the month of February out of the yearly calendar. This proves benefit the world as it eliminates the task of having someone to redo the calendar every few years in the future. After all February is such a short month who will miss it?”

Ellen Anderson, an astronomer at NASA and someone that was born in February, says the she personally doesn’t mind after all that means she spends less time at work each year. Many of the thousands of supporters for the retraction of February as a month say why not remove it from calendars world wide.

Kayla Green an avid supporter of this change says “Why not remove February it is not that important to the course of world history. After all the yearly calendar that we know today has been change many times since it was first made by Julius Caesar back in ancient Rome.”

Members of the NAACP have an extra reason to be mad; due to the fact the February is Black History month. This has many African American leaders such as the Reverend Al Sharpton mad.

According Reverend Sharpton this is yet another atrocity that is intolerable and should be seen as a direct attack against all the civil liberties that the African American community has worked hard to gain. He has called for a march on Washington D.C. to gather awareness on this issue.

Many members of congress support the change and have no idea why there is such contempt of this change and are already working on giving the displaced holidays new date.

Congressman Ted Kennedy said, “I am currently introducing a bill that will move Black History month into the month of October, in hopes of calming these disagreements and out cries of rage.”
The National Census Bureau has issued a statement announcing that any person whose birthday was in the month of February will have their birthdays divided up between the months of January and March.

Those with birthdays from February 1 to the 14 will have the same date of birth but in the month of January. Those who have birthdays from February 15 to the 29 will have the same date of birth just in the month of March.

The month of February will always be in our memories as its existence fades from our lives and the only reference of it is found in history books.

Tackle Homework, Forget the Quarterback

2007-11-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

Tackle Homework, Forget the Quarterback

To some universities around the nation, football is a way of life. Everything seems to shut down except for the local bars and restaurants that are packed to capacity with rabid fans. You can hear the stadium erupt from miles away.

The university seems to advertise itself just by how well the football team is doing. It’s as simple as this; good sports equal more students. On the contrary, bad sports equal…less attraction. College Sports have swept the nation with their own networks, television shows, and even their own ESPN analysts.

When someone thinks of a “golden flash” what would come to mind? Maybe something like a holy angel floating nearby or a streaking comet across the sky, or possibly this would represent the heartbreaking souls of Kent State fans. Kent State is known for its numerous campuses including one in about every county it seems like. With all those students, one must think that the football team must be first-class or at least on the mind of ESPN College Football analyst, Kirk Herbstreit.

“It can be all summed up in one word, horrendous,” according to student Rachel Robinson.

The Kent State Golden Flashes have a combined record of twenty-three wins and forty-three losses since 2002. Actually, since 1991, the squad only had thirty-four wins and twenty-eight of come against fellow Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams such as Temple, Buffalo, and Ball State, respectively. There are a couple of Golden Flashes spread across the National Football League.

Such big names include Pro Bowler, Antonio Gates of San Diego and Cleveland Brown’s kick/punt/return man, Joshua Cribbs. Not bad for a school that has six winning seasons in the last 25 years. Congratulations to the Kent State Golden Flashes football team, you are currently ranked eighty-five of one hundred twenty colleges.

On the academic side of colleges Kent State, while not Harvard or Yale, has a strong academic profile. According to the Princeton Review’s 2008 of colleges that stand out in each region of the United States, Kent State University is ranked best of the Midwest.

Also, it seems that academics are the most important quality to admission to Kent State, with the average grade point average of 3.15. Kent State accepts about eighty-four percent of all admissions.

Compare to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton in academics and football, it will be easy to tell who would win. To many prospective students a better education is more important than sports. In fact it is one of those things that rely on opinion. Some say tomatoes, some say tomato, some say sports are the worst thing that come to college life others say they are the best thing to watch while playing beer pong.

When looked to see how the top sports colleges are academically compared to those that it looks like it is extremely impossible for them to get ranked in the top twenty five in the BCS. They ended up being as the average grade point average of an undergrad student is 3.44 at Ohio State University. While at Yale the average grade point average is a 3.6 and Harvard business school is a 3.5, Princeton has an average grade point average of 3.85.

Yale, Harvard and Princeton are the schools with the best academics that a vast majority of applicants are denied on the basis of not having high enough grades. These schools are ones that do not have many scholarships to give out based on accomplishments in sports since schooling at them is so expensive. The tuition at Yale alone is thirty four thousand five hundred thirty dollars.

These schools are also extremely had to get into with the percentage of those admitted in the single digits. Out of twenty two thousand, nine hundred and fifty-five applicants Harvard admitted two thousand and fifty-eight for the class of 2010. Yale Law School only accepted two hundred forty-nine students out of a total of three thousand six hundred seventy-seven.
Ohio State University has an acceptance rate of seventy-three percent.

One could come to the conclusion that being as selective as they are these schools would have great football teams but no, the team with the higher acceptance rate and lower average grade point average does. Yet it seems that the reason behind this trend of colleges being high in education and yet low in extracurricular activities ability such as football.

Clubs Falling Through the Cracks

2007-11-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

Clubs Falling Through the Cracks

Nothing to do after school has taken on a whole new meaning. Due to the levy failure, many students have found themselves missing once loved after school activities.

The school has had an operating levy on every election ballot this year, both of them have failed. The most recent failure occurred in early August. The normal time that a levy takes to pass in Strongsville is three to five times. As it has already failed two times it is very possible that it could pass in November.

There are forty-nine different clubs at Strongsville High School, and out of that number only seven have restarted. One such club is Project Support, the club that works with the disabled students at the school. They had a meeting on Wednesday, September 19, 2007, but the club then canceled all activities until the levy passes, leaving these students with out this very important group. The teacher advisor of Project Support, Miss. Katie Bonness, declined to comment.

The Young Democrats Club has yet to restart as well. In a statement, Mr. Eric Green, a history teacher and advisor of the Young Democrats club said, “I have full plans to restart the Young Dems after passage of the levy. However, all my free time after school is dedicated to getting the levy passed which will benefit all students and clubs. This is in line with all other teachers.” Hopefully the club will be able to start again in November, since an election year is right around the corner.

And yet another school club the Gay Straight Alliance’s advisor Mrs. Jaggers has been “asked” by the Teacher’s Union to shut down the group until the levy has passed. An avid supporter of the union, she complied. According to Kayla Yarber, the club’s president, “The GSA plans on starting again in November IF the levy passes.” She also added, “The club was a huge support system for many of the kids at the school, it saddens me to think about the amount of support my members are losing out on because of the levy and teachers union.”

According to Mr. Sims, one of the reasons that we have not seen the restarting of many of the clubs is because some of the teachers are paid to work with them as Staff Advisors. They are waiting until after the levy passes to see if there will be a pay to participate program to fund the clubs. He also said that clubs without paid advisors are free to restart whenever they choose.

If you find yourself looking for something to do after school or are missing your old after school group, ask your advisor for more information about when it will be restarting.