1900 Omaha Street Palm Harbor, FL 34683Volume 15 Issue 6 April 2011

Th

e

SPORTSTurn over for

2-3 News4-5 Opinion6-7 Feature

8-9 Entertainment10-12 Sports

Index10Sports

2News

4-5

HOSA students compete and return victorious.

Rain or shine, Canes play ball.

11

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Palm Harbor University High School Since 1996EYE 6-7

Incoming freshman beware- on March 15, a 7-0 vote by the Pinellas County School Board unanimously approved a general school rezoning that will affect about 850 middle school and high school students. In a previous 6-1 decision, the PCSB voted on zoning changes that will affect Palm Harbor University, Dunedin, and Tarpon High schools.

With an already overcrowded campus consisting of 39 portables and over 2,500 students, PHU’s student body will only increase. With the Palm Harbor-to-Tarpon rezone going into affect at the same time as the Dunedin-to-Palm Harbor rezone, the net gain is 73 more incoming freshman to the PHUHS class of ’15.

“Our projections are 2,650 students for the 2011-2012 school

year,” Principal Christen Tonry said.

The rezone will be effective as of next school year and has had mixed results on Pinellas County students and their families.

A late change moved about 20 incoming freshman out of the PHUHS zoning area and into the zone for Dunedin High. Though this wasn’t part of the Board’s original plan, the parents of those eighth graders weren’t notified till February 18- two days before magnet program applications were due. Unfortunately, it was too late for any of them to be accepted.

The only thing left to do for incoming students looking to attend a school they aren’t zoned for is to apply for the open enrollment period online through the PCSB website that began on April 4.

If only to make the rezone more

Rezoning leaves students in the dust

A tradition that has begun throughout the district and the country has come to the Palm Har-bor area. Relay for Life is a walk that began in 1985 with a single man, Dr. Gordy Klatt. He wanted to raise money for the American Cancer Society through a fundraiser that involved him walking around a track for 24 hours. The funds col-lected from walks like this go to fund cancer research.

Last year, Relay for Life of Palm Harbor, which was held at Wall Springs Park, had 9 teams and raised $15,000. In comparison, this year’s event raised $58,812.66 with 216 participants and 30 teams.

This rewarding fundraiser brings the community together to cel-ebrate the lives of cancer patients who battle the disease every day, the lives lost but always remem-bered, and the ultimate fight to find

a cure. “With Relay for Life coming to

our school, it opens up students’ eyes and gives them the opportu-nity that might change the lives of cancer patients,” sophomore Timea Zabo said.

On April 8, the relay teams kicked off the event on the track field with the survivors lap to cel-ebrate the fight and victories over cancer. Throughout the day and into the night, teams of students and community members camped out on the field and took turns walking or running around the track. At least one member from each team had to be on the track at all times during the relay. The event was 24 hours long, which symbol-ized the fact that cancer is present every minute of every day. Also, a booth from every team was set up to raise money for the event.

“The money that is collected

Ready, set, fight cancerthrough fundraisers and donations goes to the American cancer Soci-ety to help find cures for cancer,” sophomore Chloe Hubbard said.

An estimated 769,490 fatalities were reported last year alone from cancer in the United States alone according to the American Cancer Society. Relay for Life increases the chance that a cure will be found through the much needed funding the society will receive.

The Fight Back Ceremony is the closing theme to the relay. The par-ticipants make a personal commit-ment to fight back against cancer and save the lives of many.

PHU has already stated they want to host the event in 2012.

“I was so excited about it! I’ve always wanted to do Relay for Life because I think it’s a fun way to raise money to find a cure,” Hub-bard said.

stressful on students, rumors of a ‘reverse grandfather’ have been heard floating around campus.

A ‘reverse grandfather’ would make it so even if a student had completed a year at PHUHS, they would still have to leave if rezoned to another high school.

“The St. Pete Times published an article that said a ‘reverse grandfather’ was one of the things that the school board was pondering,” freshman Sarah Freeman, whose address is now rezoned to Dunedin, said.

Don’t fret. If a student has completed a year at Palm Harbor already, they are allowed to stay until the completion of their high school career without needing to switch schools or apply to programs.

The rumor of Palm Harbor adopting this ‘reverse grandfather’ was denied by administration.

This is not the first high school rezoning that Pinellas County has undergone. We were rezoned when the choice program was instilled in the 2003-2004 school year and once again less than four years later.

“Most of the schools were rezoned when we went out of the choice program in the 2008-2009 school year,” Marshall Touchton, who works at the Pinellas County School Assignment Office, said.

And there’s always a good chance the next rezone won’t be too far away.

After a long year, a night of celebration will be rewarded on May 5, the Medical Magnet program will be having the annual pinning ceremony for all freshman. The event will include student performances, pinning, and a slideshow of student’s baby pictures. The night is to commemorate the students’ accomplishments in their first year in the program.

“It’s an annual celebration for completing their first year in the Medical Magnet,” Medical Magnet Assistant Principal Steve Price said.

Buzz around the event has circulated within the program and is spreading like wild fire.

“A lot of people in my classes have been talking about the ceremony. For the most part people are excited for it,” freshman Clara Adams said.

All freshman medical teachers

Medical freshmen get a much deserved rewardwill be at the event, as well as some administrative faculty.

“I think it’s a really neat night for freshman. It celebrates them for completing their first year and it gives them a chance to enjoy the night. They work hard on their academics, and this is a night to showcase their other talents such as singing, dancing, etc,” Medical English teacher Ms. Valerie Jackson said.

The event will start at 7 p.m. and will end at about 8:30 p.m. The dress code is formal and family members of the student’s are invited. Students will receive a pin and a class gift.

“The gift is a surprise, but let’s just say it’s something that will help them as the go through their next three years,” Mr. Price said. “Everyone should expect a fun experience and enjoy being together as a class.”

The new school zones will increase the student population of the already

crowded Palm Harbor University by about 150 students.

All photos by Katie Rodnite

Sophomore Katherine Matter of Team PHU Sophomore Girls posed with

a cutout used for another teams’ fundraiser. “We decided to walk in Re-

lay for Life because it was just the right thing to do,” Matter said.

Lena Schwallenberg

Emily Manning

Medical freshmen Greg Perenich, Sarah Raymond, Tori Cabon, and Adri-

anna Otero pose in front of the Medical Magnet mural.

Lauren Spiegel

Lena SchwallenbergEmily Manning

2News April 2011

While Jeffrey Cuttitta, the Re-source Officer for PHUHS, insists that there has been no particular in-crease in drug abuse in the student body and that only a minority of students do drugs on a regular basis, as of lately some may have noticed his authority does not just apply to school boundaries, but the streets surrounding the school.

In fact, Cuttitta himself disclos-es that he often deviates from pa-trolling the traditional spots – like the school restrooms and the stu-dent parking lot – but instead takes routine visits off campus, includ-ing 14th street, the cemetery near 16th street, New York Avenue, and “wherever there’s a lot of trees” in

order to find students smoking or doing other forms of drug use.

According to Cuttitta, most of the students that he encounters

using drugs or possessing drugs are found with marijua-na, spice – which is synthetic canna-bis – or pills such as Oxycodone.

“I’m sure there’s not a large

amount of kids that do drugs. I think at least a large amount of stu-dents have tried it, but [PHU] is not a really big ‘drug school’,” Cut-titta said. “[I’m] not saying that it’s not a problem, because any drug use is a problem.”

Keeping in mind that PHUHS practices a zero tolerance policy with regard to drugs and alcohol, when a student is believed of being in possession of drugs, the student is first sent to the administration and the student’s property, such as the student’s backpack or locker, is searched. Once drugs are found, Cuttitta then begins an investiga-tion, contacting parents, and then arresting the student. The student can then be suspended, expelled, reassigned to a different school, or participate in a drug diversion pro-gram, such as Face It, which lasts eight weeks until the student can graduate.

Cuttitta works to reduce drug abuse at PHUHS by teaching class-es, communicating with teachers, parents, and students, and helping with groups such as Not Our Kids, which is a organization consisting of parents and Students Against Destructive Decisions. However, even with Cuttitta’s efforts to rid PHUHS, and even the surrounding areas, of teenage drug use, students will still manage to get a hold of drugs, regardless of the legality of doing so.

“It’s always going to exists…there are kids that are going to do drugs. There are kids doing ecsta-sy,” Cuttitta said. “That’s why I’m trying to play an active role.”

For those who have never seen the massive flocks of orange-clad IB seniors congregated on the steps of the teaching auditorium on one joyous day every year in late April, brace yourself for this year’s “jail-break” to hit the courtyard of Palm Harbor on Friday, April 29.

Every incoming class of IB stu-dents dream of this day from their first day of freshman year, and, when it arrives, it indicates the start of their rigorous IB exams. More importantly, jailbreak marks the last day that IB seniors are required to be on campus up until the end of IB testing in late May. Jailbreak serves as seniors’ last day of IB classes.

It is important to note that dur-ing the time span of jailbreak, stu-dents are required to be preparing

for their IB exams during school hours. Additionally, students take their exams at the Stavros Center multiple days per week.

It has become a tradition at Palm Harbor, that all IB Seniors wear or-ange inmate-style shirts on the day of their release from the program. Each shirt has a number printed across the back representative of the student’s candidate number which identifies all work submitted to the International Baccalaureate Organization. Teachers, too, can be found roaming the halls in their “warden” shirts.

Not to mention, April 29 is also the night of the Junior/Senior Prom. IB seniors and all upperclass-men for that matter have quite an eventful day ahead!

jail•break [jeyl-breyk] (noun)

1. An escape from jail.2.The greatest day of an IB student’s high school career!

IB seniors prepare for jailbreak

Erica Jones

Courtesy of Sydney Little

The IB class of 2009 made the courtyard look orange on Jailbreak Day.

Taking it off campus

Paige Lombard

Deputy Cuttitta patrols the campus in his police car, on his golfcart,

and by foot. He is always on the lookout for suspicious student activ-

ity or misbehavior.

Christina Barbo

April 2011 3NewsHOSA Students have successful trip

Megan Ungs

Palm Harbor University High School’s Medical Magnet program participates in HOSA (Health Oc-cupations Students of America). HOSA is composed of middle school, secondary and postsecond-ary students.

Several groups of Medical Mag-net students from all different grade levels made it on to the State Leadership Conference of HOSA which was held over spring break from March 31-April 3. The stu-dents boarded up on three buses on Thursday and headed over to Jack-sonville. When the students arrived at The Hyatt Regency Riverfront they attended an opening ceremo-ny. The HOSA students met on the second floor of the hotel in the Grand Ballroom for General Ses-sions and separate meeting rooms for competitions. There were more than 2100 competitors. Curfew for the students was midnight every night except for Saturday night when the curfew was 12:30 a.m.

The closing ceremony was on Saturday night from 9:30 to 11:00. Several students from PHUHS placed in the ceremony. All of the HOSA participants represented our school well, making PHUHS

proud. But only those who placed 1st through 3rd will be going on to the HOSA National competition in Anaheim, California, in June.

The students re-boarded their buses on Sunday to return home and prepare for school. Luckily, though, the 4 days in Jacksonville for HOSA weren’t all work. Although junior Allison Maldonado-Ruiz’s group did not make it through the pre-liminary round of the Biomedical Debate, she still managed to enjoy her time in Jacksonville.

“We mostly hung out at the hotel or the Jacksonville Landing, where there’s a concert every night and everyone basically ate at Hoot-ers, sushi, or Chicago pizza,” Mal-donado-Ruiz said.

For transportation around the city, the HOSA competitors walked, used city buses, or taxis. There were trips to a mall, to the beach for volleyball and football, a skateboard park, and Adventure Landings for miniature golf, laser tag, and go-karting.

“Overall, HOSA states was a lot of fun,” junior Haley Cameron said. “I was disappointed that we didn’t get to move on to nationals but there’s always next year and the experience alone was great.”

Crash. One moment can trig-ger tiny cracks resulting in the final break. Lurching and groaning metal wraps around a tree encompassing it in its cocoon. A life will be lost. All because of the seat belt lying there unused, and the alcohol on the breath of another.

On April 12, Mrs. Pollack’s se-nior Allied Health class performed a simulation of a motor-vehicle ac-cident and the procedure that would occur to attempt to save a life.

The simulation was lead by Pa-tricia Pollack and her husband, Emergency Physician, Marc Pol-lack. Mrs. Pollack was a former ER nurse.

“This is the first time it’s ever been done in PHUHS,” Pollack said.

“I wanted the students to have an opportunity to experience a trauma through a simulation each student playing a role and learning to be a part of the team,” Mrs. Pol-lack said.

Monday was the practice day, Tuesday being for real. The simu-lation was realistic and the lengths to achieve that realism included a hospital bed, fake blood, sun star equipment, and even a car!

“I was passing by during lunch and I literally thought it was real

for a moment with the stretcher,” freshman Lauren Young said.

With a total of 19 jobs everyone had their own role each varying from being a part of the medical team to the family.

“I’m the Medic. My role is to re-spond to an accident and help trans-port them fast enough for them to survive,” senior Charles Despointes said.

“I’m the 911 operator and I enjoy my role very much,” senior Nicki Hannum said.

The simulation was executed in a timely and heart breaking manner.

“I was the Chief and I remained cool calm and collected as I barked out orders. Everyone’s lives were in my hands,” senior Matt Kizer said.

Observers watched as the car crashed, the patient being delivered to the “hospital” by the ambulance and dying even though the trauma team performed on him and did ev-erything in their power.

“It’s very important for people to realize the costs of mistakes some people make. My role was interesting and I hope it never hap-pens to me in real life, or anyone for that matter,” the patient senior Greg Cargill said.

Student’s played out the roles of parents who would find out their son died.

For juniors and seniors, April 29 is a fairly important date - prom. It’s the night most eagerly wait for, the night that to get dressed up for, and the night that spent surrounded by friends. Imagine, dancing the night away, not a single care in the world. Now imagine, the morning of April 30, groggily crawling out of bed and headed out the door, ready to take your SAT, the one test that could single-handedly decide your future college. Now, how well do you think you would do?

For some unlucky students, this is reality. Unaware of the of-ficial date for prom, many students preregistered for the April 30 SAT, only to find out that prom would be held the night before. While this may seem like a student’s worst nightmare, some students aren’t so worried.

“I’ve been studying and prepar-ing for a while now, so it’s not re-ally a big deal for me,” junior Haley Copeland said. “As long as I don’t

stay out too late, I think I’ll be fine. It’s going to be a pretty hectic weekend.”

In addition to the SAT being held the day after prom, the world-wide AP Psychology exam is being held that Monday, May 2 at the St. Petersburg College Clearwater campus. Luckily for those students enrolled in AP Psychology, the exam doesn’t begin until noon, giv-ing them a little bit of extra time to brush up on their studying. Consid-ering the fact that most students see the weekend of prom as a “party” weekend, it can be a rude awaken-ing.

“I’m actually kind of mad that they made the AP psych exam for the Monday after prom. Nobody is going to want to study after it. The only upside is the exam doesn’t start until 12 p.m.,” junior Nicole Miraglia said.

The results of these tests are very important and could be de-ciding factors for colleges, leaving some concerned.

“I was in denial for the most part in my role. I hope no one in real life has to go through this. It was tragic,” senior Bobby Bacchus, the father said.

“No one wants to bury their own child,” senior Tina Lavadia, the mother said.

One of the simulation’s pur-poses was to send the message that driving under the influence can not only ruin one life but also the lives of others.

“This happens every day and it changes people’s lives. If we can prevent one loss of a life or injury by teaching students about preven-tion by simulating a real trauma, then we can be proud that we met our goal,” Mrs. Pollack said.

Even though it was a simulation accidents like this do happen in real life. Sometimes it’s not enough and lives are lost everyday due to acci-dents such as this one.

Emily Manning

Sarah Shellabarger

Sloan Patterson

Exams put a damper on prom

Students take part in trauma simulation

Leadership Conference of HOSA results

4th place Biomedical Debate

Kelsea Schulemberg, Jill Job, Katie Zaffiri, and Lauren Leonard

3rd place Health Education

Brooke Fortner, Keya Patel, Ethan Fortner

4th place Public Service Announcement Hobart Bryant, Haley Cameron, Aasim Bhimani,

Kenny Chang, and Farzin MoradaghaeeUnable to attend: Jeremy Williams

5th place Dental Spelling

Mitch Montgomery

5th place Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Kelsi Meliah-Zona and Kayla Wheeldon

1st place Extemporaneous Speaking

Andi Vranica

5th place Parliamentary Procedure

Junior team

Brooke Liston, Blake Harris, Bansi Savla, Alex Adams, Cara McCormack, and Chris Lorenzo

5th place Pathophysiology

Charles Despointes

2nd place Pharmacology

Matt Hoyle

4th place Parliamentary Procedure

Senior team

Tyler Craig, Ryanne Doumet, Arianna Cook, Ryan Scholz, Hannah Browne, Kelly Reed, Matt

Dorian, and Tim Hilliard

5th place Nursing Assisting

Cory Robertson

5th place Sports Medicine

Dominic Antonelli

3rd place Extemporaneous Writing

Kamryn Evans

Top 10 out of 300 people in Kaiser Permanente-Gold

Daryl Schauer and Will Korte

Recognition award for Barbara James Service Award

Cole Ingram

Paige Lombard

Medical seniors Aaron Lang and Charles Despointes place Greg Cargill on the stretcher during the trauma

simulation in Mrs. Pollack’s class on April 12.

Bansi Salva, Brooke Liston, Abbey King, Alex Adams, Blake Harris, and

Christian Lorenzo pose after a competition at the Leadership Confer-

ence of HOSA in Jacksonville.

4 April 2011

Spring cleaning tips and tricks It’s that time of year, Palm Har-

bor. Spring brings about a whole new perspective for everyone. It’s time to clean out the clutter in your life, literally and figuratively. The truth is, the more organized you stay, the better you’ll feel. Think about it- whenever you are completely prepared for some-thing, you feel totally unstoppable. Spring cleaning is exactly like that. Eliminate the complications and the messes in your life and make it easier to be productive.

I know there are a lot of messes in our lives. We’re teenagers, and none of us is perfect. We get caught up, and there’s only so much we can do. So before you sit back and think of how overwhelmed you are, calm down and make a checklist of ev-erything you need to get done. Start off small and work your way up to the bigger things.

Take your locker first. Get rid of the empty water bottles and wrap-pers and crumpled up pieces of pa-per. Take that project home you’ve

As if getting ten emails a day from the same universities was not enough spam (shout out to Oglethorpe and Tulane!), apparent-ly, those who have given their email addresses to the College Board might be receiving pos-sibly malicious spam emails in the future.

According to an email sent to those that have given their email addresses – either by signing up for the PSAT, SAT, or ACT tests – the vendor who sends out emails on behalf of the College Board, Epsilon, was hacked. As a result, some mystery individuals have our names, and emails. Of course, the College Board reassures us that no credit card information, social security numbers, or other pieces of delicate information were obtained by the hackers because Epsilon did not have this information.

For a company created in 1900, I would think the College Board would have the resources to set the proper precautions to avoid a mis-hap like this, especially because of the important information the or-ganization handles. Although I do admit that it is impossible to guar-antee that a server is completely

“hack-free,” it does not mean I still cannot be absolutely livid about my information being given away due to the College Board’s choice in do-ing business with Epsilon.

I mean, the College Board sends information to my “serious” email address, not the one I created in middle school that included a mis-spelled song title, the word ‘luv’ and an excess of x’s. This is the email address I use when I send emails to teachers, when I communicate with volunteer coordinators, and which I expect to use during college. I have strived to keep all unwanted ‘Sexy Asian Singles’ emails away like an overly-protective mother. When my baby gets into college, I just want it to be untainted.

College Board database hacked

Now, I am not predicting that I will get some misleading email that will release onto my computer a vi-rus containing the most repulsive images imaginable, murdering my

email account simultaneously. However, I am saying there is now an opportunity for that to happen to every college-bound student in the United States.

Hopefully we will all be lucky and receive obvious spam (or even better no spam – but let’s be re-alistic, they would not have sent this email if they did not think it was going to happen). If these theoretical spammers are intel-ligent, we could receive emails with the appearance of being from just another university. If that

is the case, I hope you just delete these emails without opening them, which is probably what you do any-ways, because these universities re-ally do send us the same thing over and over again.

This whole situation is com-pletely ridiculous to begin with, so just delete any suspicious, un-expected emails without opening them and if you do open spam that could be malicious, just create a new email account.

- Some students’ personal information may have been compromised when The College Board’s email vendor, Epsilon, was hacked.

Remember the good old days of 2009-2010? You know… when one could be sick and actually stay home without penalty of taking a whopping seven exams at the end of the semester. Well, good news for AP students and IB Seniors; happy days are here again!

A new exam policy will allow the AP and IB Exams to be taken in lieu of absences or semester grades, meaning that students will not be obligated to take the final exams proctored by their teachers. With this policy, if a student is struggling in one of their difficult AP or IB classes, their semester grade in that class will not necessarily require them to take a final exam in addi-tion to their AP or IB exam.

It is important to note, however, that the standard exam exemption policy still applies to non-AP and non-IB classes. The new policy does not penalize AP students and IB seniors for their absences. Some will even decide (though the school does not endorse this practice) not

to return to school following their rigorous examination period. In es-sence, this means some IB seniors will have their last day of school not only preceding their exams, but preceding graduation, on Friday, April 29.

I believe our most dedicated stu-dents should be released from sitting at school when there’s no new AP/IB material to cover following their demanding exams. In my opinion, this is an earned privilege, after they study like maniacs for their exams, I think that they should be entitled to exhale and be able to relax a bit without the stress of yet another exam. Still, most students return from their exams to sign yearbooks and say final goodbyes to friends. It tends to become a very memorable time in high school, especially for seniors. In years past, the school has even organized activities for students including seminars on col-lege volunteer projects and dorm decorating ideas.

While this policy definitely eases the stress on IB and AP students,

kept stashed in there since Septem-ber and leave behind the bare mini-mum. The more organized you keep your school stuff, the easier it will be to concentrate on your work and actually turn in your homework on time instead of rummaging through random binders looking for it.

To those of you who have cars, listen up. Have some respect and pride for your ride. Don’t sit there and whine about the kid who has the really expensive convertible while you got stuck with your dad’s old clunker. Be grateful you have a car and take care of it! Vacuum it, for goodness sake, and keep it nice and shiny. If you put some work into your ride, you’re going to feel better driving it. A well-kept old car looks way better than a dirty expen-sive one.

Spring is a time for all of us to clear the junk and reveal the new. Take some time out of your busy schedule to organize your life, and I promise you will feel a million times better about you, your surround-ings, and your life. Happy cleaning!

they should not take advantage it — especially preceding exams. Up until May, the month when exams will take place, students should re-main as, if not more, determined than ever to learn the material be-fore exams.

“There is a strong correlation between the students who do not come to school and the students who do not pass their exams,” said Dr. Mary Beth Corace, Assistant Principal.

Limited time remains for exam preparation and I assure you that swindling that precious time to sit at home and watch re-runs of Desperate Housewives is simply unwise, and perhaps the reason why last year’s absence policy was repealed—combined with the de-creased frequency of the H1N1 vi-rus, of course.

So, for all of you AP an IB stu-dents, congrats on making it this far! But, remember, your work isn’t done yet-don’t let your grades slip and don’t miss class! Ace your ex-ams, then take it easier.

Art is everywhere. It’s on televi-sion, in movies, and also in books. But how does it matter to us? Some people think art is not needed at all. Many different individuals have occupations that are art based and they surround their life around it, but that doesn’t mean that one group of people should appreciate art, we all should.

Culture is all around us as is art. I strongly believe there would be no culture if it wasn’t for art. Art not only shows society but it also brings people together.

“Art makes life interesting and without it we wouldn’t have enter-tainment or any subjects for that matter,” sophomore Jessica Gluez-band said.

A society can also be shown by the art it produces in the past and present. Art ties into all subjects: science, social studies, and even lan-guage arts are some examples.

“Art is important because it is a way of expressing one’s self. It’s an escape from reality,” Photography II student Alyssa Duren said.

Think of a blank room with white walls and no objects inside. It sounds completely boring right? That’s because it is. Look around you for a moment and notice all the decorations that are displayed in the room you’re in. Architecture is also art because all the different de-signs and structures buildings have. Some people find comfort in and re-lax when seeing art or even doing it. Being creative is a great way to relax and a great relaxation outlook.

“Art is important because it can make you different from people. You can express yourself with something besides words,” Pho-tography II student Kendall Futch stated.

Art can be a conversation start-er too. You know when someone compliments an item of clothing you have on? Believe it or not but fashion is art as well. So before you disregard art think first at how it’s a part of your everyday life. Art is not just a painting or sculpture; it’s everything that surrounds you. So next time you think of art don’t think of it in art museum, think of the world around you.

Who cares about art?

Angela DiGregorio

Erica Jones

Christina Barbo

Adriana Catalinotto

Photographed at the Daytona

Beach Car Show in November of

2010.

With a few simple organization tips and tricks you can give your living

space a facelift.

Angela DiGregorio

Good news for AP students and IB seniors

Adriana Catalinotto

Senior Tyler Craig takes the practice AP Human Geography exam in preparation for the official advanced

placement test that will be administered in May.

Emily Manning

Opinion

April 2011 5Opinion

Many girls fantasize about prom night for most of their high school lives. They dream of the elegant and lavish gowns, their dream dates, and the perfect night. In reality, howev-er, prom isn’t as much of a big deal as they may think.

Don’t freak out, it’s just prom

Do you remember where you were when you heard about the tsunami in Indonesia? What about Hurricane Katrina? The earthquake in Haiti? Well, neither do I.

Whether it is the recent riots, the earthquake in Japan, or a worldwide short attention span, people have begun to forget about the events in the past decade that – at the time – shook us to the core. “Blast from the past” is an understatement, and even I was surprised to find out just how much I had forgotten.

Thinking back to late August of 2005, I think of how I was just starting fourth grade. Life was sce-nic in my rainy little Floridian set-ting, and I was blissfully unaware of the damage Hurricane Katrina was causing in Louisiana and Southern Florida. It was the costliest hurri-cane in U.S. history, and it caused over $80 billion of damage in 2005 alone. And to think, I was excited for school getting cancelled.

Another event that slips the mind but shook the world was the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake. Not only did it regis-ter 9.3 in magnitude, making it the third largest earthquake ever re-corded by a seismograph, but it oc-curred the day after a much beloved holiday - Christmas. The tsunami, with its 100 foot waves, was one of the deadliest natural disasters in his-tory. It killed over 230, 000 people and hit 14 countries, the worst be-ing Indonesia. Sound familiar?

2010 was a year of natural disas-

Forgotten, now remembered

“That’s why I make the big bucks.” I said this in one of my classes recently and, for once, my students recognized irony. One girl said it was terrible that we didn’t make much money. Another agreed and commented that she knew how late I worked. So, that’s good when students are aware of issues like low teacher pay, but do they really un-derstand why we are depressed and angry and feeling helpless about the changes that governors across the country are making?

I teach Reading and English + Reading at this school. The kids who are in Reading classes at this school—it’s their FCAT scores that can make or break our school grade. No pressure there, huh? (Note: that’s the last bit of sarcasm I’ll use here. Promise.) Now, I LOVE what I do. Watching students find a good book for the first time in their lives is rewarding. Hearing students tell me that on FCAT they used the strategies I taught them is also a rush. Although I’m not a perfect teacher, I have a lot of confidence in my abilities, but is it fair that in the future, my salary will be based on how these students do on one test? One half of my performance “grade” will be based on if students improve from one year to the next and my salary will be affected by their scores. I feel like I am being blamed for poor performance when I am only one part.

I am not afraid of being evaluated as a teacher, and I do believe in hav-ing a system that gets rid of teach-ers who do not do their jobs, but I am only one third of the equation that measures a student’s success. The other two parts are the student and his or her parents. When will

the parents’ efforts be included? No state in this country has dealt with that part of a students’ success in school and often assumes that ALL parents are “good” parents who en-courage their sons and daughters, feed them a good breakfast, ensure that they have supplies for school, ask insightful questions about their learning, and consistently apply ap-propriate discipline—in short, work hard to raise a good citizen, like I do in school. When will the parents’ contribution to their students’ suc-cess in school be accounted for?

Another issue affecting teacher paychecks concerns how the state deals with our retirement money or pension. All state workers in Florida have a guaranteed pen-sion plan that their employers put money into. Teachers, and other state workers, have not had to pay money out of their own paychecks into their retirement fund until now. This was because Florida state worker pay is at the bottom of scale in this country—especially teach-ers- and asking us to contribute 5% of our pay to our own retire-ment just cuts into our already low salaries. I make LESS money now than I did five years ago because my health care contribution has gone up faster than my raises. A 5% in-crease in how much I contribute to my health care plan is greater than a 2% raise in my salary, and to ask that I give up another 5% for my own retirement is another gouge out of my pay. Why should I sac-rifice my future because lawmakers are blaming my small paycheck on a huge deficit?

I have a wonderful intern this year, Aleece Quiroz. She is a natu-ral teacher who loves what she does. She understands my students so much better than I do. She “gets” the entire technology entertain-ment bubble kids like to be in, but she consistently applies high stan-dards for our kids and insists on appropriate behavior. We need new, young teachers like her. How will she survive, how will our profession survive in this climate of blame and punishment?

I have no solutions other than to raise taxes, and that’s a really un-popular idea right now. Students, what do you think? How should teachers’ pay be decided? Who should pay for our retirement and secure future? What’s in the future for your paycheck?

Teachers have issues, tooTEACHER’S COMMENTARYEYET

he

Editor-in-ChiefDeb Damone

Palm Harbor University

High School1900 Omaha St.

Palm Harbor, FL 34683(727) 669-1131

Staff ReportersAdriana CatalinottoAngela DiGregorio

Ashley DiPietroKate Hardwick

Katelyn JosephikPaige Lombard

Jordan LutzEmily ManningSloan PattersonBarry RussellNikki Sawyer

Lena SchwallenbergSarah Shellabarger

Lauren SpiegelAlex SquitieriKelli Swanson

Tiffany TownsleyTaylor WatsonKaley Witeck

Business ManagerErica Jones

AdviserJudy Cannaday

We, The EYE staff of 2010-2011, will strive to provide our peers with accurate news pertaining to their daily lives. We promise to uphold the integrity of both ourselves and the reputation of our school. Our reporting will be fair and objective as to appeal to all interest levels in the stu-dent body. Through these goals, we will provide an entertaining outlet and a reliable source that all students may enjoy.

New website!TheEYEOnline.com

Victoria McCollum

Mrs. McCollum has been a teacher

at Palm Harbor University for 14

years.

Paige Lombard

Yes, prom is a rather important event and can be considered a mile-stone in one’s high school career, but, it’s not everything. I think it’s kind of sad when girls plan every little detail of their prom night way in advance. I mean, I’ve seen some girls start planning their prom in

ters for much of the world. Two in particular graced our television screens and our hearts. Chile and Haiti were both hit by major earth-quakes within two months of each other. Haiti, with a 7.0 magnitude, was made into a huge cause because of the media. If you think hard, do you remember the commercials and the “We are the World 25 for Haiti” collaboration song?

Chile, with a magnitude of 8.8, hit a personal chord with me. It was eighth grade, and a friend of mine had his cousin visiting as an exchange student from Chile. Af-ter about a month of being at our school, she got back on a plane and flew home. Less than a week later, news of the earthquake reached the shiny white halls of our middle school. Thankfully, she was alright and unaffected, but the experience was enough to make this one of the only natural disasters from the past I can think of off the top of my head.

It’s sad that we the people, in general, can forget the events in our past that have so greatly shaped the world, and its inhabitants, leading up to today. I know we’re supposed to live in the present, but isn’t the then what gets you to the now? But even if you don’t remember these events that have been placed on the back burner due to more recent is-sues, you can walk away with a little more knowledge of the world’s tragic past.

Letters to the editor

December.As a junior, this is going to be

the first prom I will be attending. I’m not stressing the night too much, unlike some of my peers, who go on-and-on about how it is going to be such a big night and ev-erything they are doing for prom. It’s too much; I hear it nearly ev-ery day. Luckily for those like me who grow tired of endlessly hear-ing about other’s expectations and preparations for prom, it’s right around the corner.

A lot of people over think prom. So much that they get stressed about it and plan everything down to ev-ery little minute. To me, that’s just annoying. People spend too much time worrying about their night being absolutely perfect, that they forget prom is supposed to be a fun, enjoyable night for the upperclass-men. I’ve heard so many girls talk-ing about prom, saying “Okay, so I’m doing this, then that, then I’m going there, and we need to meet up there.” Really? Stop. Please.

I get it, prom’s a big night. But, calm down...it’s just a dance.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 and caused massive de-

struction.

HurricaneKatrina.com

Disney.go.com/promDisney’s new movie, Prom, premieres in theaters April 29 , the

same day as PHUHS’s prom.

Lena Schwallenberg

Would you like your opinion heard?

Letters to the editor may be dropped off in Mrs.

Cannaday’s room, 4-115.

Nikki Sawyer

Mrs. McCollum reviews a lesson with her 5th period reading class.

Jordan Lutz

Feature6 April 2011

Student poll:

On March 8, Muammar Gad-dafi’s forces attacked Libya’s oil fields; these fields contain two-thirds of the country’s oil. In re-sult, the Brent Crude oil went up to more than $4 and hit a two ½ years high of $126.72 per barrel.

Libya is the world’s 17th largest oil producer, Africa’s third biggest. However, within the seven week civil war between the rebels and the loyalists, Libya has had to cut 1.6 million barrels per day. Worldwide, countries are feeling the strain of a lack of oil supply as the demand peaks higher. For Japan, the coun-try will be putting more loads on oil fired generators than its damaged nuclear reactors.

According to the post chronicle, John Veutrain of energy consulting firm Purvin and Gertz said that this will probably put up the crude oil price more.

Already, this week the Brent Crude Oil increased .17%, rising up to $126.87 per barrel. The WTI, or the West Texas Intermediate, has also increased by .23% while ris-ing up to $113.05 per barrel. Both the Brent Crude Oil and WTI are used as benchmarks in oil pricing. According to oil-price.net, it’s fore-casted that the price of oil per barrel will rise to be $130.

For some, this surge of rising oil prices will spark inflationary con-cerns for many governments world-wide causing potential adverse im-pacts on economic growth in areas

such as the rising cost of food pro-duction, raw material and a risk of demand destruction. Yet for others, as the labor market is strengthening (United States hits a two-year low of 8.8% in the unemployed) and the growth of demand grows stronger; some economists remain optimistic about the situation.

According to the telegraph.co.uk, James Zhang, a commodities analyst at Standard Bank, claims that eventually high prices on oil will result in lower prices.

Previously the gasoline percent-age had risen .12%, up to 3.27. Yet, as of March 11, the gasoline per-centage decreased to 3.25 with a -0.35%. So had the one year fore-cast, dropping from $130 per barrel

to $129 per barrel. However, it is to be noted that the commodity prices fluctuate frequently.

On March 12, when the Con-ference Board index of consumer confidence is released, analysts will look for a falling unemployment rate as well as an improvement in the sentiment of buying. Accord-ing to Yahoo!News.com, an energy consultant said that if the consumer confidence number is disappointing and they see that there is a high dol-lar, there is a high chance that the price of oil will fall at $100 or below it.

So far, the U.S. dollar continues to weaken this year as oil becomes cheaper for foreign investors.

The Libyan effect on the United States

Who pays for gas?

Gas prices on the rise for years

33% 67%You Your Parents

I have a job and pay for gas. My parents would help if I needed it but if I didn’t want to pay, I wouldn’t be driving.

“

”

I have a job, but my parents still pay for my gas. As long as I’m good and do well in school, they’ll pay for it.

“

”Taylor Watson Taylor Watson

- Laura Flegeau, sophomore

Filling up

It’s a tragic day when gas prices are higher than your GPA. Some students are cutting back on driving time, and other students are learning to grin and bear the product of a declining economy. Either way, students are voicing their opinions on the high gas prices today.

- Jackie McFee, senior

Gas prices are ridiculously high compared to past

years.

“

”

Vehicle: 2009 Ford FocusFuel Efficiency: 23 MPGFill-up Cost: $45

- Megan Bach, junior

I have to use all of my gas and it sucks

because I used to pay $40 and now I have to pay $60.

“

”

Vehicle: 2004 Jeep LibertyFuel Efficiency: 14 MPGFill-up Cost: $46

- Mithun Shetty, junior

Cars are becoming more practical as gas

prices increase.

“

”

Vehicle: 2009 Toyota PriusFuel Efficiency: 47 MPGFill-up Cost: $44

- Julia D’Azzo, junior

I think they’re terrible, hence why I

have a hybrid.

“

”

Vehicle: 2010 Ford FusionFuel Efficiency: 38 MPGFill-up Cost: $45

- Caitlin Womble, junior

Prices suck. Everyone should get fuel efficient motor

scooters.

“

”

Vehicle: 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 V8Fuel Efficiency: 15 MPGFill-up Cost: $90

Emily Manning

Lena Schwallenberg

2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011

$1.00

$1.50

$2.00

$2.50

$3.00

$3.50

$4.00

..

..

..

.

Year

Pri

ce

pe

r g

all

on

Tiffany Townsley

Lena Schwallenberg & Emily Manning

Lena Schwallenberg

Lena Schwallenberg

Emily Manning

-Matthew Kiernan, junior

Rebel fighters swarm around a vehicle ridden by General Abdul Fatah

Yunis, who made an unannounced visit to the front lines near Port

Brega, Libya, on Friday, April 1, 2011.

(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

BiodeiselThe making of:

April 2011 7FeatureStudent creates biodiesel in his garage

Deb Damone

Deb Damone

Deb Damone

Deb Damone

Deb Damone

Gather materials: vegetable oil, methanol, lye.

Perform a titration test to determine how much lye is need per liter of oil.

Mix the methanol and lye together producing the catalyst that will be

added to the vegetable oil.

Add the vegetable and mix for 15-20

minutes

Heat the vegetable oil to around 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let sit for 8 hours

Mix the methanol, lye, and heated oil together and let sit for 8 hours.

Drain the separated fuel.

Deb Damone

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is a dangerous process that uses many hazardous materials. If you attempt to produce your own biodiesel, use protective gloves and eyewear.

Tips for saving gasThere are many ways you can save gas these days. For example, if you have somewhere to be that isn’t far away, ride your bike or walk. Unfortunately, not everywhere is within walking distance, so here are some tips to help you save gas:

Don’t fill the gas tank all the way to the top because it will cause sloshing

over and out of the tank.

Keep windows closed when driving on highways, because open windows

cause air drag which reduces your mileage by about 10%.

Avoid rough roads and gravel because this will rob you about 30% of your

mileage.

Don’t floor it when accelerating, always start off steadily and press your

foot on the pedal lightly.

.

.

.

.

I’m not just saving money, I’m saving the environment.

“

”

Gas prices have been on the rise for over a month now and stu-dents have been struggling to find the funds to fill up their tanks. But while most students are paying an average of $3.81 a gallon, senior Evan Lutvak is paying about $1.50.

Lutvak attended The Island School in Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas for the second semester of last year.

“I saw that all of the boats and vans were running on biodiesel and I thought it might be something I could do,” Lutvak said. “I start-ed researching when I got home.”

Biodiesel is a clean-burn-ing alternative to petroleum diesel made from domestic, renewable resources such as vegetable oils, recycled cooking oil and animal fats and can be used in virtually any diesel engine with-out modification.

Biodiesel reduces nearly all forms of air pollution compared to petro-leum diesel. In particular, biodiesel reduces toxic contaminants and cancer-causing compounds, along

with the soot associated with diesel exhaust. Issues all around the world are causing an increase in oil prices, but with the use of domestic, re-newable sources of energy, biodie-sel reduces our dependence on im-ported oil, therefor improving our nation’s economic state.

Lutvak created a biodiesel lab in his garage for about $150.

“When I looked online, I saw set-ups for $5,000. I read blogs say-ing that you have to do it a certain way with all this expensive equip-ment,” said Lutvak. “I never really figured it out. I knew that there was a way I wanted to do it. Having simple equipment and a simple pro-

Lutvak created

this lab in his

garage for around

$150.

Lutvak uses a

pocket scale to

measure out the

correct amount

of lye necessary

for the process.

Lutvak care-

fully adds the

methanol to the

mixture in a large

plastic tank.

Lutvak manually

mixes the lye

and the metha-

nol together

before adding the

fuel.

cess makes it less complicated and makes it less likely that I’ll make a mistake. It’s all about simplicity.”

When it comes time to make more fuel, Lutvak creates a batch of about 15 gallons.

“It lasts me a long time because I don’t drive that much,” Lutvak said.

The oil that he used was from Billy Jack’s Burger Shack, just down

the street from his house.Lutvak’s 1981 Mer-

cedes 300 SD Turbo has a fuel efficiency of about 25 miles per gallon.

“It’s the best car in the world,” Lutvak said.

According to the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standards Program Reg-ulatory Impact Analy-sis, released in February 2010, biodiesel from veg-

etable oil results, on average, in a 57% reduction in greenhouse gases compared to fossil diesel, and biod-iesel produced from waste grease results in an 86% reduction.

“I’m not just saving gas,” Lutvak said. “I’m saving the environment.”

After adding the

heated fuel, Lut-

vak uses a paint

mixer to combine

the two solutions

for 15 minutes.

Once the mixture

has been set out

for 8 hours and

separated, Lut-

vak filters the

fuel twice.

Filter the fuel to remove any particles that may clog up the fuel filter and

add to car’s gas tank.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Deb Damone

Kate Hardwick

8Entertainment april 2011

CoutureCorner

Nikki SawyerThrow out those bulky winter coats and Ugg boots! Spring has

finally arrived. A new season brings many new fashions, so be on the hunt for these popular spring trends.

The 70’s are back! A blast from the past has returned to a cloth-ing store near you. Many looks, such as maxi dresses, high waisted bottoms, and wide leg pants are set to be major trends for spring. Colorful, retro patterns are also trendy for this season. Need some inspiration for your 70’s look? See designer Chris Benz’s runway show, or maybe That 70’s Show.

Bright, bold colors are sure to be a big hit for spring. Vibrant blues, yellows, and pinks can be spotted in many stores and on nu-merous runways. Speaking of engaging colors, color blocking is sure to be popular too. Color blocking is taking two or more different colors and putting them together. Look for solid tops and bottoms, and pair them together. See Marc Jacobs’ and Josh Goot’s recent runway shows for some great examples on perfecting color block-ing.

Wings aren’t just for Victoria’s Secret Angels anymore! Designer Jeremy Scott jump started the trend by designing a pair of sneakers for Adidas that feature white angel wings near the heel. Chris Brown sported these kicks on Good Morning America a few weeks ago. Just don’t’ go overboard like Katy Perry, who wore a pair of wings when she attended the 2011 Grammys.

Flowers bloom in spring, right? They’re also blooming in fashion for spring 2011. So many floral prints are popping up this year. They can be seen on everything from dresses, to accessories, and just about everything else you can think of. Go for bright florals in girly colors, just like Stella McCartney and Carolina Herrera designed for her spring runway show.

Maxi Dresses

Save: Forever 21, starting around $10Splurge: Urban Outfitters, starting around $40

Floral SkirtsSave: Tilly’s, starting around $25Splurge: Victoria’s Secret, about $45

Angel Wing Jewelry

High-Waisted ShortsSave: Forever 21. $15 and upSplurge: American Eagle, about $35 and up

Save: Claire’s, various jewelry under $10Splurge: Betsey Johnson, starting around $30

Printed Bathing Suits

Save: Zumiez, beginning around $30Splurge: Everything But Water, about $60 and up

The “Little Monsters” uniteAdriana Catalinotto

Little monsters of all ages united at The Saint Pete Times Forum on April 16. The Forum was packed with Gaga look-a-likes and diehard fans of the pop sensation. The con-cert was estimated that there were at least 15,000 people in attendance, but numbers were not released.

Lady Gaga’s opening band was Semi Precious Weapons. I didn’t think they were musically inclined but they knew how to pump up the crowd. The front man, Justin Tranter, was adorable and talked about how close he and Gaga were. He mentioned how he met her at one of his shows in New York City and they remained friends since

Resturant Review:

Angela DiGregorioNeed a new place to go to for

those seemingly dreadful nights out with your family? Never fear, there

Hurricane Grill and Wings is sure to attract many customers with their

delicious food and family-friendly atmosphere.

Angela DiGregorio

is a new restau-rant located right on U.S. 19 called Hurricane Grill & Wings. Al-though there are a few downsides, overall it is a great place to eat.

Being a very new place, their opening and clos-ing times are still in the process of being changed. When I went, they opened at 11am and closed at 11pm, with the exceptions of Fridays and Saturdays.

When I first arrived at the newly opened restaurant, the first thing I noticed was the noise level. It’s a very casual family environment with loud music and noisy people amuck. If you’re a real lover of local talent, you’re in luck. They have live music Fridays and Saturdays for customer enjoyment, followed up by the late (or should I say early) closing time of 2 in the morning.

Being mainly a sandwich, burg-er, and wings type of place, they put a lot of thought and effort into their many different sauces you can pick from. There are over 30 flavors you can choose from to sat-isfy your very unique tastes. The kitchen was a tad bit slow, but this all comes with opening a new place. Over time, the employees will begin to get how the flow works and slip right into it. To compensate for the slow service, everyone we came in contact with that worked there was

extremely helpful and kind. That always makes a dining experience much more enjoyable.

The fried shrimp appetizer was

pretty good. Unfortunately it was $8, which was a bit overpriced con-sidering the quality. My dinner was amazing though, and put any bad thoughts I had about their expen-sive appetizer on the back burner. I had a delicious chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries that I could barely finish. It was much more bang for your buck, and very wor-

thy of getting another visit from me.

The other two people I attended the restaurant with each ordered a

generic hamburg-er. Although it was a quite sim-ple choice, they claimed that the meat was cooked perfectly and the dish was en-tirely worth it. Along with all your dishes you can order a side of any sauce you would like, and this adds loads of flavor to any bor-ing combination of food.

The few bad elements from

my experience at Hurricane were greatly overlooked thanks to their delicious food, fun ambiance, and stellar service. I give this restaurant a 3 stars out of 5 and promise that you will not be disappointed. Hap-py eating!

then. Semi Precious Weapons has been touring with Gaga since early 2006.

The crowd roared when Lady Gaga came out singing “Dance in the Dark”. Her whole concert was a story about her and her friends get-ting lost in New York City, where their final destination would be the Monster Ball. A broken down car was put on the stage and to my amazement, Gaga popped the hood and underneath was a piano.

Gaga was very interactive with her crowd and she even stopped her show to talk to the crowd beside her. “Can I see your tattoo? Oh cool it’s just like mine! Maybe you should come hang out with me af-

ter the show, “Gaga said to a blonde haired boy in front of her. She also was talking to another fan and pro-ceeded to sing her happy birthday.

As the concert continued you could see how admirable the fans were towards her. They threw stuffed toys, notes, and even a Bar-bie doll which Gaga bit its head off and continued to say how she was a sorry excuse for a woman.

Gaga finished with one of her newest songs Born this Way and the crowd went wild. Every little monster in attendance that evening showed how much they really love their mama monster. I believe this concert was the best one to come to Tampa in a long time.

John Robert Charlton/ Wikipedia Commons

Lady Gaga is know for making spectical entrances and her absurb way

of dressing, her concert was no exception.

Hurricane Grill & Wings

Wikipedia Commons Stephen Carlile/Wikipedia Commons Wikipedia Commons

April 2011 9EntertainmentStudents “find” poetryKaley Witeck and Kelli Swanson

Poetry: the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts, according to dictionary.com. The whole month of April is known to be National Poetry Month, which was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. Through-out the month, schools, businesses, publishers, booksellers, and more celebrate this work of literature by reading and studying it, or par-ticipating in things like festivals and workshops.

The New York Times has cre-ated an activity to recognize this month, and it’s called the Found Poem Student Contest. To sum it up, found poems are “poems that are composed from words and phrases found in another text”. They can be based off of any text or source, but for the New York Times’ contest,

they narrowed the options of other sources down. To create a poem for this contest, you must select an ar-ticle written by a New York Times reporter, and take words from the article and warp them to create your own work of art.

English teacher Judy Cannaday decided to have her AP Literature students partake in the New York Times activity. Not only did the classes participate in the online con-test, but they competed for the best in the class. Each student read other student’s poems and voted on the top poems. Among the top scor-ing include seniors Julie Mersinaj, Jackie McFee, Tyler Laforme and Chelsea King.

The Found Poem Student Con-test is just one of the many contests held in honor of the month. Dif-ferent contests have different stan-dards, but all of them have one thing in common: the art of poetry.

Top Reading Counts booksKelli Swanson Reading Counts: the dreaded combination of words that some teachers praise and other teachers don’t bother to acknowledge. With the help of Media Center Specialist Kate Koehler, we gener-ated a list of the top 5 titles that have been circulated the most since the beginning of the school year.

What lies belowA small strip of Pearl Street?You stand there all day,Never realizing a tunnel beneath your feet.A trillion tried, indulge in shack-led state,Chest-thumping criminal trials debate.Vaults on Liberty, treasures of goldEvery bit as secure, locked to a bolt.Cells in the courthouse, the jail jumpsuit sits,Sunshine and shadow, wickedness runs.Thousands lost, the most danger-ous accused;Disguise the defense, but justice deployed;And the Pearl Street passageway livesWith great value…soft…to for-give.

Close your eyes.Thinking and picturing change the dream any way you wish.If this were my dream…She’s floating serenely above the city, fascinated and perplexed.Lucid dreaming swirls through,The layers of the dream world.It was a dream, of course, in my imagination.An intelligent woman with an open mind and heart,On a serious metaphysical quest.A dream experience, mysterious and intriguing.The confession of a true believer.Only the dreamer really knows the meaning of a dream.

Most say they believe in it;Many say they have experienced it;Only occasionally did they feel eu-phoricIt was paired with such volatile

In a world of devastating disas-ters, We are desperate for help.In the darkest moments,We are trapped and forsaken.The world, A plea for help.Still, there is hope.He is extending his hand to us,Saving us.We’re not alone.

- Tyler LaForme, senior

- Julie Mersinaj, senior

emotions,That the sight brings themselves to the point of collapse.The problem was that it was not feasible.But, now, it offers a sort of vin-dication;The idea was responsible for el-evating one’s mood.And, for the first time, they even offer hope.- Jackie McFee, senior

- Chelsea King, senior

AP Literature student poems

1. The Kite RunnerBy: Khaled Hosseini

23 points

2. One True FriendBy: Joyce Hansen

10 points

3. FeedBy: M.T. Anderson

13 points

4.And Then There Was None By: Agatha Christie

10 points

5. Crossing the WireBy: Will Hobbs

13 points

10Sports April 2011

While most PHU students were hanging out with friends, on vaca-tion, or going to the beach on the nice days that we had during spring break, the boys of the Hurricane’s baseball team were playing in the 42nd Annual Dunedin Spring Classic tournament. This is a tour-nament that the boys participate in every year. This year, unfor-tunately, with the awful weather, things were a little delayed. The boys were expected to play their first game on Monday, March 28 against Tampa Catholic but that game was moved to Tuesday. The boys fought a hard battle but the outcome wasn’t what the team

had hoped for ending in a 9-4 loss for the Canes. The next game was expected to be played Wednesday, March 30 against Pinellas Park but it was rained out as well and re-scheduled for Friday, April 1 which turned out to be an upsetting loss for the boys with a 6-1 outcome.

“All the rain during the tourna-ment was a real pain. It was pretty inconvenient for our spring break and it threw off our game,” senior captain Danny Murray said.

The two losses didn’t bring the boys down though; they kept on working hard and ended up winning their last game of the tournament on Saturday, April 2 with a strong 10-5 victory against Canterbury.

Rain or shine, Canes play ballKate Hardwick

Palm Harbor’s last track meet was at Tarpon against Tarpon and Dunedin high schools. Both the Canes’ boys and girls team won at the meet. Buschman came in sec-ond in the mile and his group came in first in the men’s 4-by-8. At the Tarpon/Dunedin meet the girls track team won in the 4-by-4 relay, the shot-put, the long-jump, the 3200-meter run, the 1600-meter run, the 400-meter run, the 800-meter run, the 200-meter run, the 4-by-8 relay, the 100-meter dash, and the discus throw, ultimately winning them the meet. The boys won in the 3200-meter run, the 1600-meter run, the 400-meter run, the 4-by-8 relay, and the discus throw.

“I’ve had fun running in track,

and we’ve all gotten better. Every-one is starting to find the event they are the best in,” said junior Luke Buschman.

Meets can be grueling as they usually begin around 2:30 p.m. and run till 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The girls track team has won every meet, while the boys have won two, but winning or losing a meet doesn’t re-ally matter in the long run. What matters to the runners is qualifying for their events at the district meet.

Palm Harbor’s last track meet was at Countryside on April 4. “Countryside is always a tough meet as they have won the district meet the past couple of years,” said Coach John Baker, “We are hosting the district meet this year on April 20.”

The road to districtsBarry Russell

The Canes’ wrestling team fin-ished their season 26-11 and had some of the players chosen for All-Pinellas County.All-Pinellas County wrestling con-sists of all the best wrestlers in all of Pinellas County in 1A, 2A, and 3A in every weight class.

All-Pinellas County is not a team however. It’s the sports writ-er, Andy Villamarzo, of the St. Pete Times’ idea of what would be the best wrestling team and puts the names in the paper.

“The sports writers of the news-paper look at how well a wrestler did throughout the season and in the PCAC (Pinellas County All Conference) tournament,” fresh-man Aaron Hartman said.

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“We struggled in the begin-ning but we ended strong which boosted up everyone’s confidence,” senior captain Zac Johnson said. “We needed that strong win to go back into the season with after the break.”

The rain did ruin most stu-dents’ spring break, but the PHU baseball team still played and even ended well. The boys will go back into their regular season games the week after spring break with their first game Tuesday, April 5 against Clearwater. Come out and support your PHU baseball team in their season games.

“Our team has been having a great season so far. Even though we’ve had our ups and downs, we plan to

finish strong,” senior Danny Murray said.

Krista Simon

PHU wrestlers chosen for All-County teamJordan Lutz

Hartman and senior Jared Stippert both made All-Pinellas County wrestling, which was picked on March 20. Hartman was runner-up in Class 3A to Brandon High wres-tler Bruno Rossi, a four-time state champion.

Stippert was conference cham-pion and came in third at Class 3A state meet. Senior Nick Orgera made the sec-ond All-Pinellas County team. “It was exciting to be in the newspa-per, but I would’ve rather made 1st team,” Orgera said.

Congrats to those who made it and good luck to the team next year!

215: Jared Stippert, Sr., Palm Harbor University, 37-5: Confer-ence champion, third at Class 3A

state meet. 130: Aaron Hartman, Fr., Palm

Harbor University, 22-3: Runner up in Class 3A to Brandon’s Bruno Rossi, a four-time state champion.

171: Nick Orgera, Sr., Palm Harbor University, 36-12

Senior Nick Orgera, freshman Aaron Hartman, and senior Jared Stip-

pert made the 1st and 2nd All-County wrestling teams.

Jordan Lutz

-The Canes baseball team faced tough weather conditions and rescheduled games in their tournament.

Junior Luke Buschman runs his portion of the 4-by-8 relay after re-

ceiving the baton from junior John Harris in a home meet against Tar-

pon/Dunedin.

Lifetouch

April 2011 11Sports

The Lady Canes’ softball team has had a rough start to their sea-son. They lost a few games but eventually worked as a team, pull-ing it together to make the season the best it could be. At a past tour-nament against river ridge, the team worked through their obstacles and won the game (6-1), robbing River Ridge their undefeated season.

Although the Lady Canes lost in the beginning to rival East Lake (4-0), Sarasota (3-0), and again to East Lake (11-1) they put their best foot forward and didn’t let that stop them from beating Tarpon Springs

(2-1), Seminole (2-0), and river view (4-2).

The lack of seniors on the team hasn’t stopped the Lady Canes from having a successful season.

“We went through a tough time at first but we all worked together to come out on the winning end of the game,” junior Dani-Lynn Darby said.

They had a game on April 6 against Boca Ciega, winning (14-0), another on April 13 against Os-ceola and PCAC after that. If the team wins, they will be accepted to attend districts on April 19, where they will be playing against Saraso-

Lady Canes softball has successful seasonTaylor Watson

The varsity boy’s la-crosse team finished their second season on a high note with a nail-biting score of 8-7 against the St. Pete Green Devils. Ten-sions were high as the Canes trailed by one when freshman Nathan Bardak scooped up the ball and bounded across the field to score, raising the score to 6-7. St. Pete quickly retali-ated to tie up the score once again. The deflated Canes fans were furthermore dis-appointed when the St. Pete fans began cheering exces-sively, but never gave up hope. Just as things weren’t looking too good for the Canes, they managed to score once more, to win the game.

“For a while it was a little scary, not knowing what was going to happen. I was really hoping that it would be a good game considering it was my last game. It was really ex-citing when we won,” senior Tyler LaForme said.

Although the 2010-2011 season was a rather bumpy one, with the final tally of 7 wins and 8 losses, the team came out on top and finished their season with pride. For many varsity players, this was their final game as PHU students, which made

Lacrosse season ends

the victory that much sweeter. Unfortunately, the girl’s lacrosse team wasn’t so lucky, losing their fi-nal game with a score of 9-7 against the Green Devils as well. Although they lost their final game, they had a fairly successful season with a total of 7 wins and 6 losses.

“This was my first season play-ing, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was pretty disappointed when we lost our last game, but it was a really great experience. I’m most likely play again next year,” junior Ayla Sullivan said.

Lifetouch

Sarah Shellabarger

The Boys’ Lacrosse team celebrates the

end of their 7-8 season by raising their la-

crosse sticks with a final cheer.

The afternoon of April 20 was a pretty exciting time for the stu-dents and faculty of Palm harbor. They all gathered in the school gym to support their fellow classmates and teachers in a game of volleyball against one another. The gym was full of cheers and support as soon as the game began. The teachers were

determined to beat the students and take the victory. The students started off with a great start and took the victory in the first game. This did not affect the teachers one bit. They pushed the second game and won making it go to three games. The pressure was on when the third game arrived. This was the game that determined who re-

Student vs. faculty volleyball gameally was the best, the teachers or the students? The gym went in silence as the teachers and students fought for the title. The teacher’s deter-mination pushed them to the end taking the win against the students. With the ending score of 23-25 the teachers took the victory.

Bianca Hernandez

ta, Countryside, north Port, River view, and St. Petersburg. Assuming those teams make it to districts as well. They are also hoping to make it to states in addition to regionals, which happen to fall on the same day as prom, April 29, becoming a dilemma for all juniors planning on attending one or the other.

Despite the bumpy start, the team had daily practices, focusing on improving their weaknesses in hopes of continuing their winning season. Their efforts paid off, with an overall score of 11-4.

Jacob Jarreau spikes the ball as Principal Christen Tonry and Gi Sung get ready for the block during the

student vs. faculty volleyball game that took place on Wednesday, April 20, ended with a score of 25-23 in

a faculty team win.

Nicole Pastore

Palm Harbor’s first girls’ lacrosse team may have lost their last game,

but they had a successful season and are looking forward to next year’s

season.

Courtesy of the Aftermath staff

1900 Omaha Street Palm Harbor, FL 34683Volume 15 Issue 6 April 2011

For the latest PHU sports updates, go to TheEYEOnline.com!SPORTSE

YE

Do you ever wonder who those individuals are on the sidelines or in the dugout at a sporting event? Well at PHU, they’re most likely student athletic trainers who dedicate their time to make sure athletes are as safe as they can be.

Athletic trainers help care for and prevent sports injuries. Trainers don’t get much recognition for what they do. There is always one at every game or meet in case of a minor or serious injury to any athlete. CWMP Anatomy and Physiology teacher Kelly Webb is the only certified athletic trainer here at PHU, but she has help from seniors Kaity May and Dominic Antonelli

A view from the sidelinesKaley Witeck

Courtesy of Kaity May

CWMP Anatomy and Physiology teacher Kelly Webb and trainers

senior Kaity May and junior Willow McGinty pose on the field after a

football game against Largo High School.

and juniors Philippa Tuckey and Willow McGinty. Webb attends every game she is needed at, and the trainers can join if she is there or someone else is filling in for her.

“My favorite part of being a student athletic trainer is being able to run on the field and assess an injury,” May said. “Whether it’s a small cut or a badly broken arm, it is all very interesting to me and I love learning the many different ways to care for an injury.”

The student trainers aren’t limited to a certain sport to help out with, but can have preferences. May helps out with every sport, but has spent the most time with football.

“Football is the only contact

sport at our school, so the players need more assistance than the other sports,” May said.

Athletic training isn’t just a “come and go as you please” activity. It takes a lot of time and dedication depending on where one wants to go with it.

“I have spent the last 3 years of high school as a trainer and I have over 700 hours,” May said. “I did it because I wanted to be a better trainer, I wanted to learn more skills, and I want to do this is in college and outside of college.”

Athletic training could be a great way to get involved at school and maybe strike up a career interest.

Connor Oliveri Cory Amend Sarah Collins

Emily Bloxam

Baseball

Barry University Flagler College Duke University

University of Tampa MidAmerica

Nazerene University

Creighton University

Swimming

Soccer Fencing

Wrestling Volleyball

Jared Stippert Leah McNary

I guess I’m super excited

about getting into Duke. I

get to start a new chapter

of my life at a great school.

“

”

Hard work beats talent

when talent doesn’t work.

I’ve applied this to baseball.

That’s my passion.

“

“

“

““

”

” ”

” ”

I’m really excited to go since

I got a scholarship for soccer.

It’s a really fun campus and

I’m proud of what I’ve done

over the years.

UT was my first choice so

I’m really excited to go there.

I’ve been swimming for

eleven years so I’m glad I can

continue doing it in college.

I’m really excited to be

going to Creighton. I visited

the campus and I fell in love

with it.

I’m so stoked to go to MNU.

I was happy to know that I

was going to college to play

football.

Sarah Shellabarger Sarah Shellabarger Emily Manning

Ashley DiPietroKatelyn JosephikAshley DiPietro

Seniors commit to play for college