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JUNIOR SAGE COLLINS LEARNS FROM STATE EXPERIENCE
INDEX NEWS 2 OPINION 3 SPOTLIGHT 4 STUDENT LIFE 5 A&E 6 SPORTS 7-8
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Chanute High School 1501 West 36th Street Chanute, KS 66720
VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2
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THURSDAY OCT. 20, 2016
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CHS students discover...
THE PRICE OF DISTRACTION KRISTIN UMBARGER @masterkdebater
Junior Regan Smith has a long history of automobile accidents. Smith has wrecked three cars, and stated she sees herself as much more likely to wreck when she is driving friends in the car with her. Though two of the three wrecks were admittedly caused by her distracting herself while driving, the third was directly related to her friends being with her. She said they had encouraged her to drift when she was driving, though typically she would not do that sort of thing. So when Smith’s car met the telephone pole that decided its fate, she was just another
example of how teens are very easily distracted by their friends. Distracted driving caused by passengers is a big problem for teens. Of all the age groups in a study by behavioural expert Alexandra Sifferlin, teens have the largest proportion of drivers who are distracted by passengers at the time of their crash. This is thought to be an effect of teens being much more likely to be “thrill seekers.” And no, that doesn’t mean teens crash because they like to try drugs or drink; it means that teens are more likely to drive recklessly to entertain their passengers. According Sifferlin, both
male and female drivers are more likely to be distracted before a crash if they have passengers, and the chances that the teens will perform an illegal maneuver are six times as high if the person is driving with passengers. Sifferlin reported on a study that showed those carrying passengers who said they were distracted, one in five females (20 percent) and one in four males (24 percent) were distracted by something inside the vehicle just before their crash, with 71 percent of males and 47 percent of females directly distracted by their passengers' movements or actions. These numbers go to show the issue of distraction by passenger is not overblown, it
is very real and one of the biggest factors of teen car crashes. According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2013, 2,163 teens in the United States ages 16–19 were killed and 243,243 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. That adds up to six teens ages 16–19 dying every day from motor vehicle injuries. While having passengers in the car with you increases the risk of crashing dramatically, there is no exact number on what percent of deaths are directly related to the issue of driving with passengers. Even safe drivers are much more likely to drive recklessly when they have some friends
in the car. Junior Sage Collins considers herself a safe driver. She stays safe by “focusing on the road and turning the music down if they pump it up so that it is easier to concentrate,” which are actually two of the main tips offered by experts to avoid accidents caused by distracting passengers. The issue of distracted driving caused by passengers is very real and deserves more attention. While getting distracted by passengers is very easy, it can be avoided if you are cautious. If, like Smith, you consider yourself a bad driver, it is a much better idea to skip the carpool and drive more safely alone.
Survey says... We surveyed students and asked a few questions pertaining to driving with friends. Below were the results. Have you ever gotten in a wreck while you were driving and your friends were in the car?
yes no
6.9 %
Teens driving with friends proven to cause more accidents
93.1%
On a scale of one to five, how distracted do you think driving with friends causes you to be?
1
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
jacody hockett junior
“I think driving with friends definitely makes me more distracted because they can encourage me to do stupid stuff.”
mckenna flowers junior
“I was driving in the car with Jenna Greer. We decided to try to fishtail, and we ended up going up into a ditch.”
2 3 4 5 0% 10%
20% 30%
Kimberlin earns National Merit Commended Student honor RACHEL JACKETT @JackettRachel
Senior Caroline Kimberlin, was awarded by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation this past September. “This award titles me as a National Merit Commended Scholar,” Kimberlin said. Kimberlin had to take the PSAT/NMSQT test as a junior in September of 2015 to be considered for the award. “The exam was kind of
similar to the ACT. I was tested in mathematics, problem-solving, critical reading,and writing abilicaroline ty,” Kimberkimberlin lin said. senior The award was delivered to her as a Letter of Commendation and explained to her what she had achieved.
“The Letter of Commendation signifies your destination as a Commended Student in the National Merit Scholarship Program,” the letter read. Kimberlin’s receiving of this award was quite remarkable, as she was one of only 34,000 students to receive it. “It was the top 34,000 out of 1.6 million students that tested. That would put me in the top 2 percent in the nation,” Kimberlin said. Kimberlin was the first stu-
dent at Chanute High School to be awarded this specific award, although not the only National Merit Scholar, and was awarded at Chanute High School's homecoming pep assembly. “I found out I got the award a day before the assembly, I was really surprised and really excited. To my knowledge, I'm the first CHS student to receive a National Merit Commendation,” Kimberlin said.
Beating the odds...
Below are the PSAT/NMSQT test entry statistics from the official National Merit Scholarship Corporation website. Program Year
Student Entrants
Participating High Schools
1956
58,158
10,388
1965
806,991
17,162
1975
1,021,212
17,299
1985
1,115,038
19,000
1995
1,127,842
19,450
2005
1,328,038
20,801
2015
1,477,188
22,207