William Mason High School Mason, Ohio
The
Chron l cle
WMSN is on the air, see page 7
December 20, 2005
6100 South Mason Montgomery Road, Mason, Ohio 45040
NEWS Flash masoncomets.org undergoes overhaul Mason High School Web Design and Management students have concluded the complete overhaul of the school’s student run and proMurnan duced website, masoncomets.org. Led by instructor Mr. Craig Murnan the students have been working on a new design and layout for the website for several months. Layout and design are not the only areas where web surfers will see changes. The website will also have a new server to allow more interactive and media oriented features on the website. Students will be able to access many academic features as well as news stories produced by MBC. This is the third redesign that masoncomets.org has undergone.
Chronicle
Should illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States be sent back to their nation of origin?
P l l 43% no
46%
yes
11% not sure (Based on a survey of 200 students.)
INSIDE...
Volume 3 Issue 3
Mason High School soon to offer online courses BY CAROLINE JOHNSON Chronicle Staff Writer MHS students will soon be able to take courses online. Although plans are still underway, MHS assistant principal Shannon Trennepohl stated that this new option was created to allow students to gain more knowledge about a topic they're interested in. "I would love to see the opportunity to have more courses offered here to students. Because we are getting so large, maybe a handful of kids might be interested in [a class] and we can't offer that course because [not enough students are
interested in it]. We could put it online," Trennepohl said. Assistant principal George Coates and Trennepohl recently visited Plano, Texas to observe their online course program. After extensive research on the topic, they decided that the program to be offered at MHS will be piloted this summer with a Current Global Issues course instructed by Micah Faler. The program is expected to be six weeks long for original credit through use of the computer and classroom. "The students may come in once or twice a week. I don't know what that is for sure. It might just be to help assess that the
students are really doing the work or for the students to give feedback on what is working and what isn't," Trennepohl said. Trennepohl does not know how the online courses will affect the grade point average and credits of students who take advantage of such opportunities. "It would have to be a central office decision. Do we count these courses in a student's [grade point average?] Do we count these as elective credits towards graduation? Those are good questions we haven't been able to talk about. We first want to see if we can develop this at Mason High School, then we will start to look at those tough questions," Trennepohl said.
Taking a stand on decision to dissect BY SHARON STEWART Chronicle Staff Writer The class: Biology B. Today's assignment: Dissection. A sympathetic student breathes in sharply. The sweaty smell of Latex gloves fills her nostrils. Exhale. The condensation collects on a slimy metal tray enclosing what she feels to be another amphibian homicide. Standing up for what you believe in is difficult for everyone, but in required science classes, select Mason students like vegetarian sophomore Lauren Simendinger have broken down the barriers by deciding to stand up for animal rights and refusing to dissect. "I know it's supposed to be a learning experience, but I was so digusted with the dead
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 7
see “I just can’t” page 2
SPORTS
15
Faced with dissecting some students say
OPINION
22
CENTERSPREAD SNEAK PEEK Mason High School's Marching Band takes a trip to Grand Nationals in Indianapolis. Sophomore Lauren Simendinger is one of the students who chose to do an online simulated tutorial instead of dissecting.