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Risky Texting
by Katie, 10, of Arlington
Posted January 16, 2008
Texting is an effortless, fast way for quick communication. It's popularity and simplicity has attracted kids and adults all over our nation. But over the years people have become addicted to their cellphones, causing people to text wherever and whenever they please. This includes texting while driving.
Some people think texting while driving is completely hazardous. When you text and drive at the same time, your mind is in two different places, making you highly vulnerable to serious injury or death. Recently in New York, five girls were killed after the person behind the wheel was found to have been texting and driving at the same time. Also, in Southeastern Massachusetts, a thirteen year old boy died when he got struck by a car, whose driver was texting while driving.
Some people might think texting behind the wheel is definitely precarious because when you text while driving you could cause a severe accident. Others think they can text while driving and not get hurt, injured, or killed, for they think people can accomplish both tasks. States such as New York have already banned texting while driving. In fact, New York was the first state to ban texting while driving.
I have interviewed my peers, adults, and teachers for their opinion about the situation. 85% of people believe that texting should be banned while driving. 15% of the people believe it shouldn't be banned. The percentage that said texting should be banned is higher than texting not being banned for many reasons. One is that it can cause serious injuries and death. Another is that besides hurting the driver who was texting, it also can hurt the other driver and the passengers. Most of the time traffic is caused by construction or car crashes and if texting or calling on your cellphones cause most of those car crashes. Hopefully once the law is passed it will limit traffic and car crashes and allow cars to cruise through the highway without any problems.
What Would You Do For Hannah Montana Tickets?
by Emily, 11, of Arlington
Posted January 16, 2008
How far would you go for Hannah Montana tickets? Well Priscila Ceballos of Garland, TX might have gone too far. She sent in a false essay trying to win a free makeover and tickets for one of Hannah Montana's concerts. The essay stated, "This year my Daddy died in Iraq...". When someone looked up the fathers name in the Army records, no one by that name was found. It turns out the mother made up the entire story. The club, Libby Lu, the sponsor of this contest took away the tickets.
Some people say the tickets should be taken away, they shouldn't have lied. Others say, let the girl have a special night. A fifth grader says, "It's not fair to take away the tickets. Technically the rules never said anything about whether it should be true or not." One of my classmates said, "I think the tickets shouldn't be taken away, but the mother should get in trouble." Many people think that it isn't fair to the girl because she isn't the one who wrote it.
A fifth grade teacher was asked if the tickets should be taken away from the girl. She said, "Yes, because ultimately a parent is responsible for what happens in a child's life." The majority of our class said, "I think it's wrong, she shouldn't have done that!"
After some thinking, Libby Lu decided to take away the tickets. "With this decision we hope to revive the intended spirit of the contest which was designed to make a little girl's holiday extra special." Libby Lu Chief Executive, Mary Drolet. Well the tickets were taken away and given to an unknown winner. Do you agree with this decision?
Chaska Dance Team
by Miranda, 13, of Carver
Posted January 16, 2008
There are 45 girls in the dance team, they are going to perform at a basketball game on Friday during half time and again on Saturday at a dance show. Who is involved in this story? There are many girls that are in the dance team from both of the Chaska middle schools East and West.
All 45 girls will be included at both of the dance shows. They are so excited to be doing there dance after working twelve long hard weeks learning the dance. And they will also be doing a hip-hop/ Jazz dance taught to them by the varsity dance coach, and performing with them the varsity dance team. The girls are also so excited to be doing that dance with the high school girls.
The girls worked three days a week for about 90 minutes each. 26 days out of three months at the Chaska Middle School East gym. And for their last day to practice they will be there from two thirty PM to five fifteen PM, working hard to fix up some mistakes in the dance.
The day has come for the girl to do the dance at the basketball game and the Dance Show. I am sure that they will do great! GOOD LUCK GIRLS!!!!
Will An Asteroid Hit Mars?
by Aki, 10, of Arlington
Posted January 16, 2008
Are we going to lose a planet?
Scientists believe an asteroid will hit Mars on January 30, 2008. But this is no ordinary asteroid. /it's a big, big rock going 30,000 mph. After polling my class, many students think it's going to hit because of the asteroids size and speed. They think it will change the way the solar system orbits because we would possibly lose a planet. But will Mars really be gone forever? No! If the asteroid does hit, it will make a crater about 1 km wide in the Red Planet.
M. Wolff and J. Bell were the ones who discovered that an asteroid is going to hit Mars. But there's only a 1-28 or 3.6 percent chance that its going to hit Mars. An asteroid also hit Earth very long ago, and we think that's why there are no dinosaurs left. But the reason there was no crater is because Earth had a bigger atmosphere. It really didn't make a crater but it will on Mars.
Too Many Technical Fouls?
by Will, 10, of Arlington
Posted January 16, 2008
Referees in the NBA are supposedly calling too many technical fouls. There are already 122 technical fouls in the first 51 games of the NBA regular season. A technical foul is violation of the rules usually concerning unsportsman-like conduct.
Rasheed Wallace has the most technical fouls with 27 in the 01-02 season. He had been charged for over 10,000 dollars in that season.
Before the 04-05 season the NBA hired a staff of observers to attend games and monitor the officials performances. Referees began getting e-mails informing them if they were deviating from the league norms in calling certain violations.
Today many ref minders are more concerned in the accuracy of calls--that this strategy threatens the integrity of the game. So there may be more technical fouls in the NBA.
Not Such a Merry Christmas for the San Francisco Zoo
by Elina, 10, of Arlington
Posted January 16, 2008
On December 25th, many people celebrated Christmas with their families, having fun opening presents, and decorating the Christmas tree. Not the Sousa family.
In the San Francisco Zoo, Carlos Sousa Jr., seventeen years old, was mauled to death by Tatiana, a three-hundred-fifty pound Siberian tiger. At age two, the tiger was brought to the zoo, to mate. She's been trouble ever since. For instance, around Christmas time 2006, she viciously attacked a zoo keeper who was trying to feed Tatiana through the gate. She seriously injured the zoo keeper's arm.
This Christmas, two brothers were seen at the zoo the day before the tiger killed Carlos Sousa. They supposedly were taunting Tatiana with a slingshot, provoking the tiger to charge at the two, almost innocent, siblings. Officials found vodka in the vehicle the brothers were using, which probably lead to these serious consequences.
Five out of five 11 yr. olds think that Carlous Sousa was innocent.
"The tiger had no reason to attack!" said Emily. " I think that the boys were innocent," said Tim, another 5th grader. Others show their emotions about the brothers who were attacked, Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal.
"The boys were drinking underage, and were provoking the tiger. They' re guilty, in my opinion." All share this opinion. Tatiana had to be shot to death by officers. She had caused a great commotion. Killing one person and mauling three others. Most zoo people miss the young tiger, but others are glad that Tatiana is finally gone.
Lightning Strikes
by Gabriella, 8, of Hillsborough
Posted January 16, 2008
Did you ever see lightning burn a house down? Have you seen those people have to move? Well I have the inside scoop of what happened!
There was some thunder outside. Boom! Lightning lighted the outside very bright. It was scary at first than we had to calm down. Me, my best friend and my cousin were very scared, "We are not gonna survive!" My best friend cried! I saw some wood chips fall on the ground Yikes!
There was smoke coming from the field. I heard the fire station was somewhere else. So the Manville fire department was coming down. It took an hour to get them in town. It was very hard for them to settle the fire down.
We went over at the field and you know what I saw? The news team but I don't know which one. Then my best friend and my cousin come over at the field too. The people that lived in the burned house had to go to another house. Today they are rebuilding the house into good shape!
Benefit Concert To Be Held
by Clayton, 11, of Milwaukee
Posted January 16, 2008
Two weeks ago, a benefit concert called KidzAid was proposed to help raise awareness for child abuse and neglect. The child-saving concert was proposed by Congressman Joseph McDermott of Illinois who had this to say, "Children are the future. The entire world depends on children. They are crucial and vital to our entire universe." In order to find out more on this concert, I interviewed local citizens on the streets. Tommy Cobb of Chicago said, "Kids deserve better than to be hurt and neglected." Patrick Griffin of Peoria said, "Aye, those wee lads are what keeps us alive." The concert is scheduled for March 2008.
Artists performing at KidzAid are Supertramp, the B-52s, Kathie Lee Gifford, LeAnn Rimes, a-ha, Gloria Gaynor, +44, Bobby Goldsboro, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Kenny Loggins, Smash Mouth, Aerosmith, Primus, Kipp Lennon, Tom Jones, Ernest Borgnine, Ween, Junior Brown, Hall & Oates and David Bowie. The concert will be held at Chicago's Washington Park.
Seymour Rechtzeit
by Karah, 14, of Fort Wayne
Posted January 16, 2008
Seymour Rechtzeit was only eight years old when he and his father sailed on a ship from Danzig now known as Gdansk, Poland. It was in 1920 and he was on his way with only his father to the new world known as America, where his uncle lived. After they made enough money they would send tickets for the rest of his family.
Seymour was on his way with his father to America crossing the Atlantic Ocean a ship. "The two-week trip was miserable", he said. "Our room was in steerage, way down in the bottom of the boat. It was lined with bunks, one on top of the other. It was uncomfortable and crowded. I went up on deck all the time, just to have room to move around." By the time they sailed into the New York Harbor he had became sick with a cold. During this time if you were sick you could not enter into New York. "I would have to pass a medical examination before entering in to my new country. My father had to move on without me. At Ellis Island my father got off the ship and had to stand in a long line, while being asked questions about what he did while living in Poland. You had to answer those questions to be able to enter into New York. During the 1900's, approximately 5,000-7,000 immigrants were processed on Ellis Island daily.
Seymour had to stay on Ellis Island for a few days. There were other boys there that spoke his language Yiddish also that were sick. They would eat at long dining room tables. The food was great he said, especially the milk. There was a long gate that lead to the boats that took people off the Island, across New York Harbor. The boys would go look at everyday. This situation was like being in jail. They wanted to see their future country America.
Finally his cold went away. The officials told him that his uncle and father were on there way to pick him up. As he walked into New York he felt a rush of joy. He saw all the rest of his friends greet with their families. Right away he started singing in concerts and at school to raise enough money for the rest of his family to come live the American Dream. He learned and started singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." He became a child star of vaudeville. That's a kind of entertainment in which actors sing and tell stories. A few years later he had gathered enough money to send his family here. There was a problem though. It was 1924, and not as many immigrants were being allowed into America.
His voice was the ticket for his family to come to America. One of his performances arranged for him to come to Washington, D.C., and perform for leaders at the U.S. Capitol. They got him an invitation to sing for President Calvin Coolidge in the White House! That did it. He shook hands with the president and told him that he sang well. He said he would help get his family into America. He kept singing as a child star and became a star of Yiddish Theater. He appeared on many records. He then met his wife Miriam Kressyn, who was also a singer and an immigrant. Her family came through Ellis Island too. They were married for 43 years. He went back to Europe, but never going to Poland. He was happy with his new country America.
Is My Dog Sick?
by Ronny, 13, of Minnesota
Posted January 16, 2008
My family and I thought that my 10-year-old Border Collie Chance was sick over the weekend. He still had all his usual energy. When Monday came around, we took Chance to the vet. They took a couple of tests. It was scary waiting for the vet results. When they finally came in, the vet said that he only had a sore stomach. They gave us two new medicines to give him and told us to keep him on a bland diet for eight days. A bland diet is just potatoes, carrots, and rice. And then slowly move him back to his food. We were also suppose to just give him easy workouts.
A week later he is back to normal again. He had his last bland meal tonight for dinner. I don't think he has a sore stomach anymore! He is racing around even more now. We started rough housing again. Soon I will start giving him harder workouts again in the next couple of days. I think he actually enjoys the harder workouts. He is still on three medicines. We use to have four, but we only had to give the one medicine to him for five days. I am so happy that he is not sick!
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