Published May 7, 2007
Teen Pulse:
Southern High School
Maryland Hall gives talented arts students chance to shine
By CAMERYN MANN Southern High School
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Maryland Hall is offering summer programs to students. Abby Gkaser works on a portrait in the art class. |
This summer, Maryland Hall is offering gifted and talented programs to students who are involved in the visual arts. These classes include drawing and painting workshops, creative writing and poetry, dance and drama.
The art courses provided reach out to every student's most prominent interest. For example, one class is "My Favorite Animal" where children ages 7 to 11 compose a realistic painting or sculpture of their favorite animal. Also most of the drawing and painting courses for children teach with a major emphasis on technique and form, where students acquire new artistic skills.
Not all of the art classes are for the younger crowd. There are also many teen classes available such as, "Teen Wheel Workshop" where students get the hands on opportunity to work with clay and "throw" pottery, creating practical and fun pots.
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Drama students Cliff Lytle and Todd Soper take a moment from class to pose. |
One of the smallest departments is creative writing, with only three classes available: Young Poets Workshop, Writing the Short Story, and Adventures in Art and Poetry. Although small, each student will learn greatly by being challenged to use their imagination while composing original works.
One of the largest departments is the dance program. Students from ages 4 to 13 and older have a broad selection of different workshops they can partake in. These workshops include creative movement, choreography, jazz, pre-ballet and advanced/beginner ballet.
This summer, the Maryland Hall drama department has a wide variety of different plays the students may reenact, which most have already seen or read. Such as "Hansel and Gretel," "Cinderella," "Jack and the Bean Stalk," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Sleeping Beauty." These classes are for students between ages 5 and 8.
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Molly Groo works on a story at a creative writing class at the Maryland Hall. |
For older students, there are Shakespeare and acting courses. The Shakespeare workshop is for those who have an interest in "exploring the wonders of the world's greatest plays." Also many of the acting classes, encourages those to take the class who are very serious and want to grow in their acting abilities.
Students who are enthusiastic about art and are involved in either, creative writing, drama, dance, or drawing at their school should consider spending some of their summer at Maryland Hall learning new techniques and skills.
If you are interested, you can register for the selected courses online at www.marylandhall.org.
Music has an impact on brain
By JENN RYAN Southern High School
Whether you listen to country, hip-hop, rap, rock, punk, pop, Christian, heavy metal, emo, inspirational, classical or any of the other many categories of music, odds are that music means something to you.
The lives of people seem to be greatly influenced by the sort of music that they listen to and what it means to them.
The music you listen to is a representation of who you are or who you want to be. This can be true and false considering the fact that music can represent memories, hope, love, pain and so much more to people.
Music stimulates the brain. People listen to it when they're relaxing, doing homework, in the shower, the car, on the computer talking to other people and even in school. Music plays such a big role in their lives - but why?
"To me, music is individuality," said junior Tibet Rooney-Rabdau. "The artist is able to express themselves instrumentally, vocally, or by his/her writing. For me the music that is most interesting or attracting is when the artist uses passion and sincerity in whatever they are playing. I love the devotion of it. When the artist performs, the audience is revealed to a much more complicated or detailed persona or individual because the artist shares their own thoughts, opinions, or statements. You are able to voice yourself with ease.
"Whenever I feel I have too many emotions or thoughts running through my head, I can write it on paper, sing it or play it to clear my mind. Sometimes it can feel like medicine when you can't do anything else to help yourself."
The psychological effects of music on the brain also brings up an interesting outlook on how music affects people.
Music is just sound caused by vibration, however music can enhance the brain development of an infant in areas such as thought, emotion and sociality. Music can enhance learning, and sensory integration is a crucial factor when it comes to learning subjects such as reading, writing and math.
Music can also improve temporal reasoning, which is concerned when it comes to the learning of mathematics.
While having a significant affect on learning and the brain, music also has a bigger effect on culture and teenagers.
"I like music, I listen to it when I'm mad or sad, or to cheer me up," said Adrienne Howard, freshman at Southern High.
On the contrary, not all the music that people listen to has a positive influence on them. A lot of the music out there is about violence, drugs, sex and being disrespectful and prideful.
While many people enjoy this music, it doesn't always have a good influence on how kids, or even adults, think or act or live their lives.
Music takes over much of their lives, determining everything from how they dress or act to how they spend our time. This gives music power, and in turn, gives them a choice as to what they like and what they listen to.
"Music is cool because it helps me think and do other stuff like homework," said sophomore Terry C. Horens-Walgren. "Plus it keeps me from being bored."
"Music is a huge part of my life," said Henry Minner, junior at Southern. "It is an easy way to express yourself and a part of every culture."
While being a big aspect in cultures everywhere and an even bigger influence on people's lives, people of all ages take part in this love and life of music and this idea of connection and something more real and wholesome than what it appears to be.
New music scenes for teen fans: How teenage bands can get gigs at bars
By EMILY BUHRMAN Southern High School
Fletchers Bar, Recher Theatre, DC 9 and the 8x10 club are all venues where rising teenage bands are performing. Some parents may be wondering how these underage kids are getting gigs at places with bars, and how their friends are invited to watch the show.
The venues are set at an all age admission (or sometimes 3 and over) and people who are underage get a marking on their hands indicating they are underage for drinking and sometimes have to pay an extra admission fee for being underage.
When I attended Fletcher's Bar on Super Bowl Sunday to watch Southern High's band CHOICE perform and South River's band Reign of Jay, I had to pay $3 extra with no re-entry because I was under 21.
I also attended the show at the Recher Theatre to watch Sonic Bloom perform, which included two bars in the room where the bands were playing. One bar took up almost an entire wall.
I asked Josh Newmeyer of CHOICE what his mother thought about the fact he was playing at bar venues and he responded, "She was skeptical at first but then she realized it was good publicity for our band to play at different places for different people."
These areas that bands are playing are definitely a great way for these new bands to promote.
May be worth waiting to upgrade to Vista
By BEN BEALL Southern High School
Microsoft's newest version of its popular Windows operating system, in typical Microsoft fashion, is causing waves. Windows Vista has been on the market since the end of January, but the hot question among PC owners considering the upgrade is simply, "Is it worth it?" That question isn't easy to answer. It really depends on what you want to do with your computer.
First off, the biggest issue - security. Windows has often been lambasted by the online computer public for being exceptionally easy to hack into, as opposed to other popular operating systems such as Apple's Mac OS and Linux. Vista was designed with an emphasis on improved security, but does it actually help? In a word, no, it doesn't. Instead of creating an OS with less security holes from the beginning, Microsoft opted instead to add a feature called "integrity levels."
Integrity levels are basically number codes assigned to files, folders, etc, that show what kind of users can access them. This is where a few of Vista users' many complaints arise: the administrator of your network possesses an integrity level of 4, while other users have an integrity level of 3. Unfortunately for the administrator, the system itself has an integrity level of 5, giving the system more control over its files than even the administrator has, and installers for programs have an even higher level at 6. In simpler terms, this means that, in theory, even administrators won't be allowed to modify certain system files, thereby protecting one's computer by preventing user access to the computer's files and folders. This becomes a hassle to some when you just want to modify, delete, or move a program or installer file that's cluttering up your desktop.
But Vista isn't done making your computer time frustrating. Whenever a program tries to gain access to the internet, or a program tries to install itself on the computer, Vista still finds it necessary to ask for your permission - a strange choice, given the fact that the computer has higher privileges than you do. These pop-ups can be disabled, but doing so is a wild goose chase, as the manual doesn't explain how to disable them. Doing this kind of defeats the purpose of having Vista installed in the first place, since security is Microsoft's main selling point.
Memory issues also abound when you have Vista installed. All the protective systems that the computer puts in place take a lot of memory to keep running, not to mention the resolution and graphical effects the OS allows for. I recently purchased a laptop with 1 gigabyte of memory built-in.
With just the OS running, I only had about 330 MB remaining for my own applications (about one-third of the original total). In comparison, most computer games released around this time require between 512 and 1024 MB to run under normal conditions. Newer games will push your computer to the limit unless it's a top-notch machine; with such a massive memory sink, games remain sluggish even under the lowest graphical settings on sub-standard computers. In short, you'd better have a good computer if you want to play games on Vista.
Aside from the above qualms, Vista works pretty smoothly. There are interesting interface modifications, like the ability to preview a window by hovering over the tab on your taskbar, or being able to make your icons almost any size you could want them.
There's even a function called Flip3D that allows you to use your mouse wheel to rotate through miniature representations of your opened windows - most reports claim that it is more flashy than practical, but it's there.
The Microsoft Office and Media Center programs all function more or less the same as they do with older versions of Windows.
On the whole, however, most users feel that the few positive aspects of the Vista are overshadowed by the number of negative issues in security and computer memory.
Vista could be a worthwhile upgrade sometime in the future, when the security kinks are worked out but as of the moment, it's probably better to stick with whatever OS you currently run.
A cautionary tale about energy drinks
By KRISTIE ARNOLD Southern High School
Although manufacturers claim that energy drinks can improve your endurance and performance, they didn't exactly say how threatening they can be. Problems and risks have been uncovered ever since energy drinks hit the shelves.
Energy drinks are supposed to do just what the name implies, give you that extra burst of energy, to supply mental and physical stimulation for a short period of time. This happens only because these drinks are loaded with sugar and caffeine.
Young people today already consume unhealthy amounts of caffeine and don't need a product that raises that intake. Caffeine is a stimulant and consuming a lot of it can lead to heart palpitations, anxiety, insomnia and much more. Over time, it can become addictive.
One of the major problems with energy drinks is that people are not really aware of how much caffeine is in the drink. If you read the label, the drinks say how much caffeine is in a single serving, but the majority of drinks have 2-3 servings per container.
If the label says there is 150mg in a single serving, and the can holds 2-3 servings, that equals 450mg in the entire drink.
The producers say that energy drinks are "generally safe," and like most things, you should only drink them in moderation. The rising concerns of doctors and nutritionists disagree. "These types of drinks don't cure anything. They cause more problems rather than fix any," said a doctor with Shady Side Medical Associates.
There are so many varieties of energy drinks now days. There is Red Bull, Spike Shooter, Vault, Rockstar, Monster, Tag Energy, Amp and many there are so many varieties of energy drinks.
A lot of them seem to be very popular, and a lot of them seem to cause unwanted problems.
Westfield High School in Fairfax County had several students, some in respiratory distress, removed from a field by ambulance after consuming energy drinks. The school banned all energy drinks since then.
Unlike sports drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade, which supply optimal amounts of carbohydrates and sodium for endurance exercise, energy drinks can do serious damage. There is nothing healthy or safe about them.
Either way, if you are a consumer, be careful and realize what you are getting yourself into.
Hometown hero inspires community
By NICK ETCHISON Southern High School
When most people think of heroes, they think of Batman or Superman. A new hero has emerged in Deale, one who does not fly or have x-ray vision, but one who is beloved simply for his love for God and his kindness to everyone.
Joe Heinrichs may seem like an ordinary man at first glance: He is into cars, he has a job at Best Buy and he is a Green Bay Packers fan. Once you get to know him, you realize that he is an extraordinary person living among the population.
Mr. Heinrichs leads a very humble but busy life. When he wakes up, he first says good morning to his wife Amy and his two children, Olivia and Justice. Then he drives to Annapolis' Best Buy, where he works in the car radio department.
After work Mr. Heinrichs heads to Southern High School. People always know that he is there because of his classic Camero and his vivid mohawk that always attracts a crowd. Mr. Heinrichs is the junior varsity girls' lacrosse coach. He works alongside his friend, varsity coach Arvak Marshall. After practice or games, Mr. Heinrich heads to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church where he is the youth pastor. He holds discipleship at his house on Wednesdays, a church service called the Experience on Sundays and is charge of youth groups for middle and high school students on Fridays and Sundays. After a long day, Mr. Heinrichs has to find time to spend with his family and wife. How does he do it all?
"My life is motivated by many things" said Mr. Heinrichs. "I always try my hardest to be a good friend to everyone that I meet. I try to share with people about Jesus because that is what makes me tick. I want to teach everyone about him.
Although I have a lot to handle in my life, I get by everyday by setting priorities. First comes God, then comes family and friends and then work."
He went on to say, "I would not be the same person if I didn't meet Tim Webster when I grew up, I always looked up to him. He was always nice to everyone, he was a great role model. These days I look for support from Arvak Marshall. There is a saying in the Bible that goes "iron sharpens iron." Arvak constantly pushes me to do better and I do the same with him."
Mr. Heinrichs is obviously a humble man, but what does the community think of him?
"Joe has changed my life completely," says senior Tori Marshall who interned with Mr. Heinrichs this year at the Cedar Grove. "When I first came to the church I was not the same person as I am today. Joe cares about everyone no matter who you are, he always makes you feel welcome and treats everyone like a friend."
Joe Heinrichs is a remarkable person that is beloved by hundreds just by the kindness and affection he shows to everyone. He is a real life super hero and is south county's hometown hero.
Switchfoot's new album shows versatility
By MIGUEL FERREIRA Southern High School
After more than 10 years on the music scene with five albums on the shelves and at the top of the charts, Switchfoot shows no sign of slowing down.
The release of their sixth sensational album, "Oh Gravity," exemplifies the deep, melodic, energetic, signature sound of Switchfoot that fans have come to know and love.
The cover features a tribute to the cover of the Beatles immortal rock album "Revolver." The songs themselves contain a wide variety of styles including country, jazz and punk rock with outstanding lyrical vocals and rhythmic guitars.
Songs like "Awakening," "Circles," "Yesterdays" and "Faust, Midas, and Myself" have slow gentle riffs. Others like "American Dream," "Head Over Heels," "Burning Bright," and their hit single "Oh Gravity" have fast catchy beats. "Dirty Second Hands" has an old western feel to it and it all culminates in the final song "Let Your Love Be Strong."
Switchfoot has rewritten the criteria for gospel and religious music. "We've always used music as a vehicle to explore our own questions and frustrations," said band member Jon Foreman.
With topic and themes ranging from lost friends, to depression, to views on social society and politics, "Oh Gravity" has messages and themes to which we can all relate. It perfectly blends surf sound with the complexity of the Beatles' sound.
"Oh Gravity" is the perfect album for any fan of Switchfoot or rock in general.
Chipotle knocks competition out of the water
By NICK ETCHISON Southern High School
When you think of convenient Mexican food, there is a chain of local restaurants that is blowing the competition out of the water.
Chipotle restaurants are opening all over the area. This restaurant has blokes looking for a burrito leaving the traditional fast food restaurant to get a taste of local Mexican food with a kick.
The restaurant seems like an ordinary quick sit-down place for lunch or dinner, but when you travel inside you are welcomed with the aroma of fresh food and a customer-friendly atmosphere.
You could say that Chipotle is the Five Guys of the Mexican food industry.
When you walk in, you are greeted by smiling employees that are ready to serve you in any way possible.
You can select from a salad, soft or crispy tacos, a burrito or a burrito bowl.
You also have to make the decision of selecting between steak, chicken, spicy beef or pork. Then you get to add toppings ranging from guacamole to beans. All of these ingredients are organic and are of the highest possible quality.
You can also order homemade salsa and chips. Salsa comes in mild (zingy), medium (tongue-numbing) and two hot varieties (get the fire extinguisher).
What motivates Chipotle to run their operations like this?
"We do everything possible to please our customers," says Chris Alexopalos, manager of the Chipotle in Annapolis. "We have organic products at Chipotle in order to please our customers and separate us from other restaurants. We won't settle for any less. We do all of this because our goal is to make Chipotle the best Mexican restaurant there is.
"Our future goal is to expand the Chipotle franchise across the nation. Right now we are opening one new restaurant in the area every week."
Obviously Chipotle is hard to compete with, but what does the public think?
"Chipotle is definitely one of my favorite places to eat if I want a quick meal," says Brian Boone, a satisfied Chipotle customer.
"I love Chipotle because the food is excellent and you get your money's worth. The customer service at Chipotle is excellent and it keeps me coming back."
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