March 2012

Northwood High School • Pittsboro, N.C.

www.nhsomniscient.com

OMNISCIENT ­- THE NORTHWOOD -

(om-nish-ent) adj.: having infinite knowledge and awareness March 23, 2012 • Volume 5 • Issue 4

Senioritis: Have you caught it?

78 percent of Northwood seniors admit to suffering from senioritis

By Madison Roberts Staff Writer

“I didn’t really notice it; it just kind of happened,” senior Anthony Harr said.

Harr explained that senioritis, which he described as “not wanting to do your work—at all,” is something he has had since the beginning of first semester.

Senior Jacobi Harris, who also claimed to have senioritis, described the condition as “a feeling that you just don’t want to be in school and you want to leave. You are ready for college and you want to be free.”

In a survey conducted by The Omniscient, 78 percent of seniors admitted to having senioritis. Even though a majority of seniors believe they have senioritis, it has not seemed to take a toll on their performance thus far. Compared to last year, 48 percent of seniors say their absences have stayed about the same, while 33 percent say they have decreased; 53 percent say their tardies have stayed consistent, while 32 percent say they’ve decreased; and 43 percent don’t see a drastic change in their grades, while 37 percent saw improvement.

Still, some experts believe that seniori-

tis is a legitimate psychological condition.

“I think of senioritis as the ‘perfect storm,’” Seattle psychologist Laura S. Castor told the Boston Globe. “So many forces are coming to bear on seniors all at once.”

Some of these “forces” include excitement and nervousness about finishing high

school, exhilaration about starting the next chapter of their lives, fear of leaving high school behind, the pleasure of freedom from parental authority and the fright of being without supervision.

Some others do not see senioritis as a psychological condition. Principal Chris

Emily Brooks/The Omniscient

ARE BAD GRADES AND TARDIES starting to affect seniors at Northwood?

Star Light, Star Bright

Photo Courtesy of Krystiny Rogers

NHS water quality questioned

By Caroline Schneider Editor-in-Chief

What’s Inside...

“If you just taste it you can tell that there’s something not right about the water,” senior Lydia Staub said about the water that comes out of Northwood water fountains.

Living in Pittsboro, Staub gets the same water at her house that comes through the sinks and fountains at Northwood. She says that at home, she only drinks water out of bottles.

“There are notices that come out about the water every couple months, talking about how there are things wrong with it,” Staub said.

She isn’t the only one who doesn’t drink the water; 44.8 percent of students said that they do

not drink the water at Northwood.

The lack of students willing to satisfy their thirst at the school’s fountains most likely comes from the taste of the water. Even those students who are willing to drink the water aren’t crazy about the way it tastes.

“We had to drink it during basketball practice,” senior Shelby Wolfe said. “It tastes gross and it doesn’t taste like water.”

Wolfe also said that although she doesn’t drink the water anymore, she has friends who do, despite the undesirable taste.

“It’s the only water they can get for free so they just tolerate it,” Wolfe said.

Although there are a number of North-

see WATER page 5

20 hours of community service throughout the school year. While some find this to be a burden on their school lives, others have used this opportunity as a way to give back and get involved in their community.

Senior Brooke Wilson, who has been working with Habitat for the past year, has found Habitat to be a new, more rewarding way to volunteer.

“Habitat is really fun to do and it’s a better way to [volunteer],” said Wilson. “I used to volunteer at the library, and I feel that [Habitat] is reaching out more to people who really need [the help].”

Northcutt shared similar views.

“I work at [Habitat] because it’s a new experience…but it’s also something

“Every hour that you put in really makes a difference,” said Northwood junior Quentin Northcutt. Northcutt is one of many students who has been working with Chatham Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that has worked to change substandard housing conditions for more than 100 families in Chatham County.

Since 1989, Chatham Habitat has been working on four communities, with a total of 69 houses where volunteers are able to work.

With this year’s addition of the Charger Challenge, Northwood students are required Photo courtesy of Yancey Luft to complete a SENIOR JEFF FORBES paints at Habitat. minimum of

Welcome, Pinterest

FacebookFree

Page # 7

Page # 9

The Omniscient looks into this expanding social networking site, and why students are so fascinated with it.

see SENIORITIS page 4

Northwood students reach out to Habitat for Humanity

By Emily Brooks Staff Writer

EARTH SCIENCE classes used UNC telescope technology to stargaze. The students collected images, like the one above, through telescopes located in the Andes Mountains of Chile. See story on PAGE 3.

Blice thinks it is “an excuse,” and senior Chris Runyan agrees.

“It might be an excuse for people to be lazy,” Runyan said.

In School Suspension (ISS) proctor Brian Harrington said that he is no stranger to the concept of senioritis, and admitted to experiencing many of the same effects when he was a senior in high school.

“Everybody had it. I went to school here and it probably [started] around March or April. We had six periods then and six periods is a lot, so I would skip fifth and sixth period every now and then,” Harrington said.

As of now, only 13 percent of seniors see an increase in their tardies, but Harrington believes there is a correlation between tardies and senioritis.

“You can tell when the senioritis kicks in because that’s when the tardies increase,” Harrington said. “[Tardies are usually] the only reason I get seniors, because by this time they know what they’re doing.

They know how to act right, or, at least get away with it.”

Although Harrington sees a correlation be-

Columnist Quinn Kerscher explains her decision to deactivate and live without her Facebook account.

see HABITAT page 5

Northwood to be 3A

As Northwood’s population exceeds 1,000, the school becomes 3A. What will this mean for athletes?

Page # 10

Page 2

The Omniscient

Briefs

Sci. Olympiad wins region Science Olympiad won first place at its regional competition at Campbell University Feb. 18.

Next, they will compete at the state competition at NC State April 27-28.

March 23, 2012

DECA sending 14 to Nationals Story wins N.C. social studies award

Twenty-five Northwood DECA students competed in the state conference in Greensboro March 1-3, bringing home 14 finalists and state winners. These finalists will head to Salt Lake City, Utah, at the end of April to compete against over 13,000 other students from around the country and internationally.

Roddy Story received the State Social Studies Teacher of the Year award, given by the NC Council. Story was nominated for incorporating The West Wing TV show into his Civics class’ lesson plan.

See you in first period: Parents teaching at NHS

By Morgan Yigdal Staff Writer

It’s an early Monday morning at Northwood; students are just arriving at school. Two people stand in a classroom, one younger than the other.

“Have a good day,” career management teacher DeLisa Cohen tells her daughter, Madison Cohen.

“I’ll see you at lunch,” Madison replies. Giving her mom a hug, she walks out of the classroom to talk to her friends before first period.

Currently eight faculty members have children who attend Northwood, and others have had children attend in the past. Carpentry teacher David Pendergrast recalls how the mornings would go for him when his daughters were attending Northwood.

“They came with me in the morning,” he said. “They’d do their make-up in my room, so they pretty much got ready [at school].”

While the mornings are a simple matter to handle, having a teacher for a parent affects their children in different ways.

“[Having a parent teach here] kind of restricts my freedom in school…

But it doesn’t affect me that much because I don’t take art and I’m not artistic,” said junior Daniel Burwell, son of art teacher Leslie Burwell.

Other students, such as sophomore Jennifer Greenlee, daughter of English teacher Kathleen Greenlee, also feels restricted.

“I have to try to be on my best behavior, because she hears things,” Jennifer said.

When it comes to treatment by other teachers, many students feel they are treated like everyone else, but some feel differently.

“At first, [teachers hold me at higher expectations]. I don’t think they mean to, but once they get to know me, it’s okay,” said Jennifer Greenlee.

Madison Cohen had more to add.

“So many teachers run to my mom about work I don’t finish,” said Cohen. “[Some] teachers threaten to tell my mom if I do something wrong.”

There can also be technical issues with teachers and their children, such as class scheduling. Principal Chris

Blice explains how the school fixes this problem.

“We try not to create those situations if we can avoid them,” said Blice.

In some cases, though, teachers do teach their children; such was the case with CTE business education teacher Jane Pendergrast when her daughter attended NHS. “I had my youngest [daughter] as a student and she did fine,” said Pendergrast. “I sat her in the back of the room and I treated her like everybody else.”

English teacher Kathleen Greenlee had her son on her roster, but had him removed. She said that she could handle teaching her child, but it would not be fair.

“I would likely be harder on [my children] than other students just to ensure there is no room for mention of favoritism,” Greenlee said.

Another dilemma these teachers have is what their children should call them in the classroom. Are they Mom or Dad, or are they called by their surname?

“My oldest one, she didn’t call me anything because she avoided me,”

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said Jane Pendergrast. “[She] needed NHS students.” it to be her space.”

Just like any other parent, these Science teacher Sarah Robertson faculty members are approached said that as a teacher, she has higher by their colleagues about concerns expectations of her daughter. they have about their children. Sarah “I probably Robertson Faculty Members and Their do [expect explained Children Currently at NHS more out of how she has my children],” dealt with the NHS Employee Student said situation before.

Robertson. “[I told the Nancy Brown Kaitlyn Brown “They know teacher] ‘Don’t Daniel Burwell Leslie Burwell how tough treat her any it is to be a differently; she Madison Cohen DeLisa Cohen teacher and I doesn’t want Jennifer & Kathleen Greenlee expect them to be treated Jesse Greenlee to understand differently,’” Waverly & that and to said Robertson.

Sonia Logan Sterling Logan give respect Although and to give it can be a Kim-Marie & Jesse Mathias [school] their struggle when Bill Hall all.” it comes to Sarah Robertson Kierra Robertson Kathy expectations, Greenlee Morgan Yigdal/The Omniscient behavior and has similar scheduling, it’s expectations for her children. all about balance.

“I expect my children to do their “It’s understanding that there are personal best,” Kathleen Greenlee two different roles,” said DeLisa said. “To respect their teacher at all Cohen. “[There’s] no separation in times, adhere to school rules and caring, but it’s letting your child act guidelines. I expect the same of all as an individual.”

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March 23, 2012

Page 3

The Omniscient

There’s no place like home?

NHS seniors avoid out-of-state schools

By Michaela Johnson Staff Writer

for students coming from out of state is within $2,000.

“All of the schools I applied to were private, “I just want to dance,” said senior Julia so [cost] didn’t really matter,” said Sloane.

Sloane, who plans on attending Cornish Logan noticed that many of the seniors College of the Arts in Seattle next year. from Northwood attend schools in the UNC Sloane chose to leave North Carolina besystem. There are 16 different UNC-affilicause she believes that a big city will allow ated schools in North Carolina. A majority her to find a position as a dancer. of the seniors each year stay in this system, The draw of larger cities affects many going to schools like NC State, UNC-G or students with such aspirations, but the num- East Carolina. ber of seniors that leave Chatham County So why do so many students choose to for college each year does not show this. stay in state?

Last year, only two percent from NorthThe reason for this may be that seniors in wood’s graduating class decided to attend North Carolina grow up hearing about these college out schools. of state. This Being close percentage to home can is compared be a definite with eight factor for percent of students seniors from choosing Jordan Matwhere to go thews, seven to college, percent from but it is Woods Charnoted that ter, and the the schools one student in North that left from Carolina also Chatham happen to Kristen Hutchinson/The Omniscient have a great Central. All MOST NORTHWOOD STUDENTS attend closer, and reputation in all, not many seniors cheaper, in-state colleges. around the in Chatham nation.

County choose to leave the state, especially “I’d probably stay in state,” said Skip those from Northwood.

Thibault, a teacher and graduation coordinaThat number may increase this year, as tor at Northwood. “The university system more Northwood students have committed, of North Carolina is one of the best in the or are thinking about committing, to a colUnited States.” lege out of state.

However, there are many college op“I think I’ll get a whole new perspections around the globe. Logan believes that tive,” said Sloane. it would be good for students to explore Gino LaManna applied to three out-ofout-of-state options. state colleges and three colleges located in “There are some good out-of-state colNorth Carolina. leges and universities because some of them “I have been in North Carolina for 15 offer things that we cannot offer in the state years. I kind of want to get out,” said Laof North Carolina,” said Logan. “It depends Manna. “I think it will be healthy for me to on what you like.” start a new path.”

Student teacher Will Isley, who went to College tuition is always a large factor high school in Virginia but attends UNCthat goes into choosing a college. In-state and Chapel Hill, agrees that the college one out-of-state costs tend to vary for different attends should depend on their goals. schools. For UNC-Chapel Hill, the tuition for “We’re in a more competitive environa North Carolina resident is $7,008 while the ment than ever so you should probably tuition for an out-of-state resident is $26,834. choose the school that has the best repuThe out-of-state resident cost difference for tation that you can get into,” Isley said.

NC State University was $12,834 higher than “Whether or not that’s in state or out of it was for in-state students. state I think is not as important.”

“I think seniors should go and grow and Logan believes that students should get away from home, but a lot of folks can’t always go visit the schools they may be inafford that now because of the economy and terested in to make sure it is what they want. the price,” said Sonia Logan, a guidance “It is your college experience and it is counselor at Northwood. one that you will never get over again and For other students, the cost was not a you’re never going to take it back, so you factor in their decisions. The difference in want to make the best of it. There are a lot private school cost is small, if there is any at of opportunities…don’t take any of them all; for Elon University, the price difference for granted,” said Logan.

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Science students photograph stars, planets with new program

By Kristen Hutchinson Staff Writer

During the fall semester, science teacher Darian Cork showed his Earth Science students a way for them to photograph various stars, nebulas and planets, all from the comfort of their own desks.

In order to do this, Cork had to complete a program known as PROMPT telescopes.

For this program, UNC-Chapel Hill invites interested teachers to learn how to use Skynet, a computer program used to manipulate telescopes located at the Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory in the Chilean Andes.

When the programs were made available to Cork’s classroom, students were able to use their knowledge of astronomy from class to locate different planets and nebulas, which are clouds of gas and dust in outer space.

“The students log on during the day and they plug in observations of different nebulas and different stars or planets that they wish to take a look at. Then they receive photographic images of one portion of the spectrum the next day,” said Cork.

Freshman Elizabeth Hart enjoyed getting to use the telescopes provided by UNC for a few days.

“It was interesting to see what pictures you could take; some were really cool,” said Hart.

These techniques are the same that the students at UNC-Chapel Hill are using in their astronomy classes.

“They tell the computer to take these pictures using these same telescopes,” said Cork.

Cork enjoys teaching his students how to use this new technology to learn about the universe because it allows them to be more

hands-on during the astronomy unit of his class.

“They understand concepts that are just remote, inaccessible, abstract ideas and this program presents it to them in a way that they can manipulate and see their results and actually understand [them],” said Cork.

Cork feels there is a need to bring back Northwood’s astronomy class due to a rise in student interest. The class was taught by Cork in 2006, but when there weren’t enough teachers to equal the amount of electives being offered, the class was dropped.

Since these telescopes have been built, researchers do not have to go out in the field to do their observations and can instead rely on the telescopes to give them the photographs they need.

“The reality is that these telescopes are so advanced now that you can set your apertures on your observations…it takes less than 10 seconds for these images to be taken,” said Cork.

Senior Becky Jurius appreciated the hands-on experience she got when she was in Cork’s Earth Science class as a freshman.

“This program gives kids the opportunity to see what they have never seen before.

Being able to look at the stars that are so far away was the most interesting part of the whole experience,” said Jurius.

Cork would like to see the school with more up-to-date equipment that will be able to handle larger amounts of information. He plans on showing this program to the Science Club this spring.

“This program can provide another meaningful resource for the students…it gives them the opportunity to use equipment other than the lab equipment here to expand on their knowledge of science,” said Cork.

March 23, 2012

The Omniscient

Page 4

Senioritis

tween senioritis and ISS, some faculty members say that cases of senioritis have decreased this year compared to past years.

“Over the last few years I don’t think [senioritis] has been [as much of a problem], but when I first started teaching I definitely noticed it,” said social studies teacher Andy Sandel. “I don’t know what is going on, but seniors this year, last year and the year before that have tried harder, so it’s definitely not as much of an issue now.”

Many teachers deal with seniors day in and day out, and have different ways of treating senioritis.

“If they’re not going to bring it, then they are going to fail,” said science teacher Sarah Robertson. “So I let them fall on their face for a little bit because that’s what a college instructor will do to them in a few months, and then I talk to them like a momma. I set them straight.”

English teacher Pat Thornhill, who chooses to teach only seniors, says she is not surprised when her seniors have senioritis, but says it is not a problem and it doesn’t affect the way she teaches.

“Since my expectations don’t change, it may be a

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Senioritis Survey

problem for some kids who don’t want to do the work, and it may be a frustration to me when I run into it, but I wouldn’t classify it as a problem per se,” Thornhill said.

According to guidance counselor Telisa Hunter, one of the most common characteristics of senioritis is the misconception that courses taken during a student’s senior year don’t matter, and she believes Northwood could do a better job of stressing this to the entire student body.

“I think one thing we could stress a little harder [is that] your senior classes do matter, even if you’ve already gotten into college,” Hunter said. “I have had some students not get [accepted to college] because their senioritis started first semester, not second, and I’ve had students not get into colleges that I would have thought they were shoo-ins for.”

Despite the fact that Hunter sees senioritis as a problem at Northwood, she doesn’t believe there is a real way to fix it.

“If there was [a solution], I would make a whole lot of money,” she said. “If there was [a solution to] apathy in general, I would make a whole lot of money.”

78% say they have senioritis

But only...

21% say grades have decreased 15% say tardies have increased 18% say absences have increased Anna LaRocco Masi/The Omniscient

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Water

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The Omniscient

wood students who will not drink the water, the last two and a half years the water being science teacher Aaron Freeman is sure that produced has met federal and state guidelines. the water is safe for human consumption.

So why are students still complaining?

Although Freeman lives in Pittsboro, and has “They complain about the taste. I also received the same water notices as Staub, she agree that the water at Northwood has a very knows that the water has to be safe to drink metallic taste, [and] that could be from old or residents would know about it. piping,” Freeman said. “I don’t notice that “Drinking water is monitored by the town same metallic taste at my house [where the of Pittsboro. We are provided with drinking pipes are] newer. So the pipes could just be water, so it must meet not only federal, but state old, or the water fountain could be old.” guidelines in terms of content of harmful potenJewell agrees that the problem could very tial toxins,” Freeman said. well be Northwood’s pipes, and for that matter, Pittsboro Water all of the pipes around Treatment Center town that distribute the superintendent Scott water.

Jewell says that Pitts“Pittsboro has an boro’s water is safe for aging infrastructure; consumption, and the all of the pipes that state is even “pleased” are underground have with what the treatbeen there for 40 and ment center has done 50 years,” Jewell with it. This is because said. “So that affects the water hasn’t always the taste, the odor and been so safe. your water quality.

“For the last 12 and “When it leaves the Kristen Hutchinson/The Omniscient plant, it’s great quality. a half years, the first MANY STUDENTS will not drink the water But then when it goes 10 of that, Pittsboro was always in violation at Northwood. though an aging infra[of state guidelines],” structure, it will have Jewell said. “[But] for the last two and a half, particles of the pipes that have been built up in we have not [had] any violations.” the water that will slough off.”

The violation for those 10 years was in the Regardless of the cause of the problem, form of a carcinogen, which has since been a large number of Northwood students still removed from the water by Jewell’s team believe that the taste of the water is bad enough through a series of chemical processes. to keep them from drinking it.

The town of Pittsboro comes with many Jewell reassures the community, however, challenges when it comes to water qualthat the water his plant is producing is not only ity, challenges that are due to how the town safe, but also something that the community receives its water. should be pleased with.

“We pull out of the Haw River at the low“The staff at our plant is so proud about est part of the water shed before [the water] what they’re doing. They work so hard at goes into Jordan Lake,” Jewell said. “So monitoring and are so concerned about our Pittsboro’s water is one of the most difficult water quality. We’re absolutely proud of types of water to treat.” what we’re doing because the town has been Despite the pollution problems that the wa- in violation previous to the last two and a ter treatment facility has had to deal with, for half years for so many years,” Jewell said.

Habitat

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Page 5

that is kind of fun to do,” said Northcutt.

“I’m surprised at the work ethic that the Volunteers, such as Northcutt and Wilson, students show, and the fact that they bring a do work that many construction workers do, great attitude to any task,” said McCarthy, such as tiling, painting and working with who works with Habitat through Americorps. insulation.

“Even if it is the dirtiest crawl space that no Senior Marisa McKissick began workone wants to get in, the students aren’t afraid ing at Habitat of that.” in order to earn Family serhours for the vices coordinator Charger ChalNatalia Lenis lenge, but then agreed with Mc“grew to love it.”

Carthy.

Now McKissick “[The Northhas worked at wood students] Habitat 15 times, are great and we and has formed love to have them a friendship with here; they bring a the recipients lot of energy. No of one of the matter what we houses. have for them, “[The rethey are always cipient’s] name willing to do is Rene, and he is everything,” said one of the sweetLenis. est people I have Aside from ever met,” said making good McKissick. memories, McPhoto courtesy of Yancey Luft Carthy said that Chatham SENIOR JACKSON SEAGROVES wields a pickaxe completing comHabitat held a while volunteering at Habitat for Humanity. dedication cermunity service emony Feb. 11, in hours is what led which two families were given the completed her to her career. houses. McKissick attended and said that it “[Community service] really just gave was “amazing.” me a different perspective on the world “One of the women didn’t know how to and allowed me to have a different perspeak English, but she had been going to a spective on the community I was living teacher. She spoke English that day and said in,” said McCarthy. “It lets you see what’s thank you to everyone who had helped fix right in front of you that you wouldn’t her house and it was really meaningful,” said normally see. When that’s instilled in you McKissick. “When they dedicated the house in high school, that stays with you for the that I worked on primarily, Rene tried not to rest of your life.” cry and it was really sweet.”

Wilson also reflected on the idea that HabiDespite the hard work that is involved with tat isn’t just about the service hours. building the houses, Habitat construction crew “You really think more about the little leader Kate McCarthy was “shocked” at how things,” said Wilson. “You really appreciate helpful Northwood students have been. having a home.”

6

By Sterling Logan Staff Writer

Entertainment

NHS presents Seussical the Musical

Seussical hit Broadway in 2000 as a fun, family musical based on Dr. Seuss’s children’s books. After its debut, Seussical started becoming popular in communities everywhere.

This year, Northwood joined the craze and will present Seussical as the spring musical, running March 29-31.

“It’s fun. It’s just a really fun show and it is a lot of the characters that we had growing up in our childhood, so it is reminiscent of years past,” said senior Jessie Vohwinkle, who stars as The Cat in the Hat. As a whole, the arts department makes the decision on what musical will be performed each year. This year’s Seussical was inspired by the desire to reach out to younger students in the community in an effort to continue to make the musical program relevant toward elementary schools curriculums.

“We wanted to make sure that we were relevant and [considering] the summer budget cuts, we wanted to demonstrate that we could support curriculum,” said drama teacher Lori Carlin, director of the spring musical.

According to Carlin and chorus teacher Marilyn Shugart, the Seussical theme ties into elementary reading month and Dr. Seuss’s birthday, which was March 2.

“March is reading [month] in our schools,” said Carlin. “We know the elementary schools do a lot with Dr. Seuss so we thought it would be a great opportunity for our feeder schools.”

Creating a musical involves different components, and art teacher/art director Leslie Burwell is glad that it requires so much group effort.

“What I like about the musical is the element of collaboration. The musical is what gives each of us in each department the ability to allow our students’ work to shine stronger than it would have if it had just been by itself,” said Burwell. “It also pulls the whole community out; people come in droves to see the musical.”

The arts department is incorporating a lot of colors and upbeat music heavy in percussion, to add to the whimsical feel of the musical. The costumes are described as vibrant, and the cast and directors say they are excited for opening night.

“Expect lots of color, lots of singing, and come in with an open mind, because it’s all about the individual and imagination,” said Vohwinkle.

Burwell is planning on letting the musical itself help the colors come to life.

“We’re going to get bright colors, we’re going to get excitement with the lights, and the musical itself sort of punches those colors up a notch,” said Burwell. “We are going to get that feeling of vibration that is really zany and loud and magical.”

In addition to “zany” colors and an upbeat feel, Seussical character Mayzie LaBird will be involved in some outlandish stunts. Senior Josy Christian, who plays Mayzie, will be singing on top of a ladder.

“It’s a ladder on top of a rolling platform and it’s terrifying,” said Christian. “Carlin, I am so grateful to her. She downsized the ladder from eight feet [to] six feet so I can’t touch the curtain any more.”

Creating a musical is more than stunts and costumes, according to pit director Eu-

Adele is Rolling in the Fame

By Taylor Maloch Staff Writer

with her song lyrics.

“She’s really outspoken. I’ve never seen anybody who’s had such confidence in what “I love that she is who she is, I love that she’s she does, and it doesn’t matter what she looks a singer. She’s not about the flash or the glitz like,” Dorsett said. and glamour. I love that she just gets up there Atwater agrees. in front of a microphone and sings. It’s just “I think she’s a good role model; she’s not phenomenal,” said dance teacher Leah Smith. like a lot of other celebrities making bad deciThe 23-year-old singer who Smith describes, sions. She really cares about her music and her Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, originally from fans,” Atwater said.

London, became famous through MySpace. A Adele, currently with XL Recordings, writes friend of hers set up a page in 2004 and a record her own music. Adele’s album 21 topped the label found her in 2006. She wasn’t well known charts in 18 countries and sold over four million in England until 2008 and became popular in albums in London, making it the eighth best sellthe United States two years ing album of all time. later.

With a high demand for “[Adele] was told ‘No,’ Adele in the United States, she kept at it, she spoke her having over 22 million fans truth, sang her truth, wrote and sold out shows, she her truth and it worked out. went on tour last year to It’s a good lesson about promote her album. hard work,” Smith said.

Adele started touring Ironically, coming in October, and while from a non-musical famshe was singing at a live ily, Adele went to BRIT radio recording in Paris, School of Performing Arts, she noticed that her voice the same school that singer Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/MCT sounded wrong. Adele Amy Winehouse attended. ADELE holds her six Grammy found out that she was sufawards.

“Her voice to me fering from a vocal chord sounds a lot like Amy hemorrhage, and had to Winehouse; I think a lot of people have forgot- have surgery. Unable to sing, she had to cancel ten about Amy Winehouse, but [Adele] has her performances for the rest of the year, a brought that sound back,” said junior Kendall total of 10 cities along the East coast and Atwater.

Texas. She had laser microsurgery to prevent Other students said that Adele is different damaging her voice last November. from other celebrities based on her style and “It was literally like someone switched a music. click off in my throat; my voice went so much “[Adele] is her own person; she is somedeeper,” Adele explained in a recent interview thing new that we’ve never had before,” said with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. “I felt senior Tationa Dorsett. like something popped in my throat.”

Because of Adele’s decisions in life and in At the Grammy Awards Feb. 12, Adele her music, a lot of girls at Northwood believe proved that she was back, singing with no she is a good role model. Adele has been trouble. Nominated for six Grammys, Adele judged by her weight since the beginning of took home all six gold gramophones. her career by the public and media. Her fans “[Adele] relies on her voice to get her message believe that she is strong, showing that she is across and not so much the flash that you see not going to change herself just to fit in. Adele in many artists today,” music teacher Marilyn also gives her fans advice about relationships Shugart said.

Ally DeJong/The Omniscient

SOPHOMORE JEREMIAH HARTSOK performs as Horton the Elephant in a special showing for Chatham County elementary schools March 20. gene Cottrel, who says the music presents specific challenges.

“There are a lot of places where the vocalist, the piano and percussion are heavily centered and the wind players only have little parts here and there,” said Cottrel. “To fit those in where they have to go at the right time is going to be a challenge.”

First trumpet pit player Jackson Seagroves also finds difficulty in the music, but for different reasons.

“It’s a lot harder than any music we’ve played before because it’s written in the key that is comfortable for the vocalist and when

that translates to the instruments, it’s a lot of odd keys that we don’t play,” said Seagroves. “[There are] a lot of sharps or a lot of flats, so it takes a while to get used to it.”

Though the show presents challenges, Carlin is confident that everything will fall into place.

“I love Monday night of our show week.

We all go home and we think it’s not going to work, and then by Wednesday night we know we have a show,” said Carlin. “This is how it generally works and I love that feeling driving away from the school Wednesday night knowing that my kids can be proud of what they have accomplished.”

Back to the Big Screen

Classic movies are being re-released in 3D

By Tori Nothnagel Staff Writer

ings into the image with the computer. Titanic, however, was already digital, so artists only had to use computer technology to convert it, which Every time she saw the commercial for the took a total of 60 weeks. release of The Lion King 3D, there would be The Lion King was already the highestan excited screech in the air. She’d eventugrossing animated film in box office history, ally calm down, but just couldn’t wait for the and when it returned to the box office, it made movie to come out. an estimated $29.3 million the first weekend.

Sophomore Dana Walker is one of the “I think if you look at it from a profit many Northwood students who went to see standpoint, it’s a no brainer. Of course you the re-release of a movie in 3D. Lately, many want to [re-release] and make more money, movies that were made in the 90s, like The but as far as an artistic standpoint, it’s just Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Titanic, overkill,” said Carlin. are being remade and shown in theaters again Titanic is re-releasing April 6 and is curin 3D. rently the second highest-grossing movie of “It made me really happy because a lot of all time, ringing in $1.8 billion. Director James people don’t like Disney movies anymore, and Cameron spent $18 million to convert the it’s always fun to go with a friend and watch,” movie into 3D, but most experts believe it will said Walker. take in much more at the box office.

Disney is preparing for more movies to Carlin saw both The Lion King 3D and come to life in 3D picture: Finding Nemo this Beauty and the Beast 3D. She liked the movies, September and The Little Mermaid in 2013. but preferred they hadn’t been in 3D. Disney re-releases their films on a schedule.

“I didn’t think there was any need to do It gives opportunity for a new generation to [3D], but I understand that some people like it,” watch these classic Disney films that current said Carlin. high school students viewed as children.

Some students enjoyed the 3D. “The films they re-release are quality films “It was like you were actually in Africa and I think it’s wonderful that a new generawith all the animals and the rain dropping tion will be able to see them,” said Lori Carlin, on you,” said sophomore Blair Schemmer, the theater arts director. describing The Lion King 3D. The Lion King was originally hand drawn, Many of the movies being re-released which made it harder to animate into 3D. It took are movies that students watched during a total of 60 their childartists, four sehood. Most quence superviwere excited sors, a stereograto hear and see pher and roughly past favorites four months to hit the big convert The Lion screen again.

King. Artists “It brought took the original my childhood image, added back,” said depth markings sophomore Yasto the picture, mine Malik. “I and then used a loved it because Photo courtesy of Disney I felt like a little layering system to add the mark- THE LION KING came back in 3D this year. kid again.”

Page 7

The Omniscient

March 23, 2012

Interest for Pinterest

By Ally DeJong Staff Writer “Pinsomnia (pin-som-nia) noun; the inability to get enough sleep because you keep clicking ‘see more pins’ just one more time.”

Senior Maggie Denny re-pinned this quote onto her “Just for Laughs” board on Pinterest, an online bulletin bored that became popular with Northwood students earlier this year.

“You’re on [Pinterest], then you will almost go off, and then [you’ll] see something else you like and re-pin it and stay on all night long,” sophomore Dana Walker said.

Pinterest is a social networking website, like Facebook or Twitter. The user is still able to like, comment on and post things,

the difference is that Pinterest is a way for people to share and organize all of the inspiration and aspirations one may have, rather than their own lives.

Pinterest’s mission statement is to “connect everyone in the world through the things they find interesting.” Pinterest has been in use making its mission reality since Dec. 2009.

“You go on and you look at pictures and the pictures that you like, you re-pin. [When you re-pin] it shows up on your pin-board and then people can re-pin it from there,” senior Silva Stout said.

Many students at Northwood use Pinterest for things such as planning dream weddings or vacations, decorating their future homes, hair tutorials, shopping for clothing or shar-

Screen shot of pinterest.com

PINTEREST, an online bulletin board that is popular among Northwood students, boasts a wide variety of categories to browse.

Music Reviews Artist: O’Brother Album: Garden Window Go Download: “Sputnik”

With the ambient instrumental prowess of Mogwai and Sigur Ros, and the sheer density of Isis and Jesu, Atlanta’s O’Brother crafts a sound both crushingly heavy and melodically sophisticated. The band’s debut album, Garden Window, was released Nov. 15, 2011 on Atlanta based label, Favorite Gentleman. The album shows substantial growth from the band’s last EP, The Death of Day, released in mid 2009, which helped earn the band a cult following and opening spots on tour with Manchester Orchestra, Thrice and Circa Survive.

The new album presents a wide range of song structures, from the suffocating industrial squall of the opener “Malum,” to the nearly 14-minute epic “Cleanse Me,” which shifts from overwhelmingly powerful to beautifully orchestral with the introduction of harp to the mix. Songs like “Sputnik” and “Lo” propel the album forward and establish a palpable rhythmic undercurrent that pervades the album. O’Brother is a fairly heavy band, but even if you haven’t appreciated heavier music before, this album exhibits melodic sensibility and lyrical complexity that helps make it palatable to a much wider audience; just about any Alternative/Indie Rock fan can find something to love here.

— By Dylan Newcity

ing favorite recipes.

“There are so many different creative things and groups to follow, like food, fashion, photography and crafts. There’s basically everything,” Walker said.

Other Northwood students say they go on Pinterest to relieve boredom and to keep them entertained.

“When I’m bored, I go on Pinterest.

When I want to look at pretty clothes, I go on Pinterest. When I want to find recipes, I go on Pinterest. When I want to look at funny pictures with captions, I go on Pinterest. I love Pinterest,” Stout said.

Many female Northwood Pinterest users are drawn to the vanity sections such as nails, hair and makeup.

“I mostly look up hair and how to do your hair in different styles,” freshman Holly Reil said.

Boys who go on Pinterest are mostly drawn to comedy segments.

“I usually go in the humor section. I just like the funny pictures with captions,” junior Brandon Edwards said.

Other popular sections are the do-it-yourself crafts, clothes and recipes.

“It’s a place where I can look at really yummy foods, fashion designs and crafts I can do for my room,” sophomore Savannah Castor said.

Following people on Pinterest that one doesn’t know personally is not considered a bad thing. The Pinterest community will follow people from categories that interest them based on the pictures pinned by those people.

Students at Northwood feel Pinterest should not be considered a social networking site like Facebook or Twitter, because of the lack of communication that goes on from person to person.

“It focuses more on what people like, rather than the people themselves, so the drama stays out,” senior Mikkie Gallagher explained.

“There is no drama, you can only really leave positive feedback. You can’t bash other people and you can’t do anything wrong,” junior Alyssa Gordon said.

When double clicking on any pin, such as clothes or food, the site will link to the store or blog page that the items originated from.

This is how many users of Pinterest at Northwood get various ideas for a rainy day.

Although Northwood students feel that Pinterest isn’t like other social networking websites, finding Pinterest on those sites wouldn’t be unusual. With Pinterest’s iPhone application rated at 4.5 stars, and the option to pin pictures to Facebook or Twitter homepages, the site’s popularity is spreading.

April Casey — Compiled by Dylan Newcity

“We had [seen] a lot of Rembrandt paintings at the art museum, and I wanted to make something really realistic, like the Dutch Master paintings, but have it in a fantasy setting.”

“This one was a personal experience from a year or so ago that I tried to put into abstract form.”

Artist: Youth Lagoon Album: The Year of Hibernation Go Download: “17” There’s a certain charm in the alienation Trevor Powers conveys in Youth Lagoon’s first full length album, The Year of Hibernation. Powers, lone artistic contributor and sole member of Youth Lagoon, conjures the sort of small town loneliness you can’t help but relate to. Amid the wash of reverb-drenched vocals, haunting synthesizers and perfectly sparse guitar, are beautiful indie pop songs about anxiety, isolation, the joys of youth and nostalgia for a simpler time.

Young Powers’ mastery of the teenage condition is ever apparent on this album; his perspective of childhood memories through the lens of an angst-ridden teenage boy embodies the ambivalence and disillusionment so customary to that period. Repeated images of “monsters” in “Montana” and “Daydream” echo the fears of boyhood, but also serve as reference points for the evolution of those fears to more abstract, emotional obstacles. The mounting “17” hearkens back to a more liberated time, with a chorus proclaiming “don’t stop imagining, ‘cause the day that you do is the day that you die.” Although Powers doesn’t reinvent the wheel with The Year of Hibernation, he does manage to distinguish himself in a time when indie-pop albums are a dime-a-dozen. Anyone with a propensity toward lush alternative/ indie music a la Bon Iver and Arcade Fire could be content with The Year of Hibernation.

— By Dylan Newcity

Screen shot of pinterest.com

“I just like snakes and it kind of fit with the theme of another reptile statue I had done.”

8

English I, Again?

Students face problems with scheduling

Staff Editorial

Many Northwood students have had to wake up early and take an entire day of their summer to go sit in the guidance hallway in order to change their schedule. Yes, we get annoyed and tired of sitting and waiting, but our main question is, why do we even have to go through this?

Why do we have to go sit in a hallway for hours waiting to talk to a counselor to change our schedule, and why, once we finally get to talk to the counselors, are we not able to make our desired changes?

We believe that there is a flaw in the system. Our schedules are chosen through a computer program, so no counselor sits there and hand-picks each student’s schedule. The problem is, once the counselors talk to us and understand which classes we want and why we want them, they enter our information in the computer, and most students’ individual preferences that were talked about are not translated to the software. So that means that any part of the conversation that isn’t transferred to the registration form is wasted, because the counselors have virtually no control over which classes the system chooses.

Another issue we have is that we aren’t allowed to switch out of AP or honors classes.

Apparently, the reason for this is so that we don’t switch out for the wrong reasons. Some students may get lazy, or some may just not want to challenge themselves, but sometimes, students who do have good reasons for wanting to switch aren’t allowed to. What if a student wants to drop an AP course to take Dance because that’s what she wants to major in? Let’s say a student has a passion for a certain elective, but she

signed up to be in AP Government and Politics, and both of those classes fall during the same period. That student is going to be miserable every day sitting in that classroom knowing that she could be pursuing her passion instead of learning about politics, but she can’t, because the office wouldn’t let her drop the course. Having students in AP classes that they don’t want to be in won’t benefit the student or the teacher.

Another issue is that drop/add policies need to be more readily available to students. Instead of our parents receiving a letter in the mail with a list of these policies, or a phone call home that explains them, the students should be more directly informed of the drop/add policies. Policies should be posted on the counselors’ door, in the student handbook and on the registration sheets themselves. This way, instead of parents receiving the information, students clearly have knowledge of why they can’t switch classes.

Finally, we’ve been told since freshman year that seniors get priority over underclassmen in registration. Principal Chris Blice says that senior schedules are run through the system first, and that seniors get priority. If this is actually the case, why are there freshmen and sophomores in two dance classes while a senior who signed up for Dance is in PE during that same period? If you’re going to tell us that seniors get priority, make sure cases like this don’t happen.

We know that the counselors work hard, but our schedules are important; they determine our eight classes for an entire school year. The classes we take determine our future, they can determine a lot about our high school experience, and the flaws in the system should be addressed.

Editorial Cartoon

Opinion

I voted for who?

New voters choose in ignorance

candidates don’t follow through with their ideas, but I don’t think people really understand how the system works. I’m pretty sure that it’s not fair to blame any of this on one single person. The government has branches so that the president doesn’t have complete power; those branches regulate what laws are passed and what decisions Yay, we are seniors now, the big fish in the president can make. No matter who the a small pond, the ones that people look up president is, that doesn’t mean it’s all up to. Being seniors, most of us are going to to him to follow through on his views. If turn 18 before November, so that means we blame him, we should also blame the we can vote in the next presidential elecSenate, House of Representatives and the tion. We can finally share our opinions Judicial Branch. with the rest of the United States. We are Most of the time people don’t confinally considered adults, and our votes sider how the system count. That’s great, works when they right? Wrong. vote for a candidate, So yeah, we can and they argue all of all vote in the next these crazy ideas or election, but what is support candidates the point of voting if that they know absoyou don’t know what lutely nothing about, you’re talking about? which could be detriMost teenagers that mental to the election I know don’t watch in November. the news. We don’t do If the new research on presidengeneration votes tial candidates; we only hear about their Kristen Hutchinson/The Omniscient for someone who they haven’t even scandals and we might MANY teenagers blindly vote. researched or know be able to recognize nothing about, how can that positively their faces if we saw a picture of them. Most reflect what the people want for the future teenagers don’t understand what exactly it of America? It can’t. is that each candidate stands for. Most of Everyone deserves to have a vote, so the time, we are spoon-fed ideas by parents, I’m not saying we should change the votteachers or the media. ing law, but I do think that people should What bothers me is that people ardo their research before they do vote. A gue with each other like they know what teenager blindly voting based on what they they’re talking about. I see statuses all heard from their parents or what they heard over Facebook where people complain on TV isn’t benefitting America at all, and that the president isn’t doing what he said often, those people end up complaining in he would do. Or tweets about Republican four years about the taxes they have to pay candidates after debates. I completely or the state of the economy. respect that people may have differences My point is, do your research before in opinion, but when those opinions are you vote. Don’t send our country into a unfounded is when it becomes a problem.

Don’t argue that you like Barack Obama if complete downfall because you decided to check a random box on the ballot sheet. And you can’t even name two political things before you go arguing with someone about you like about him. And don’t argue that politics, know the facts before you make an you hate Obama if you can’t name two argument and sound like a complete idiot views of his that you disagree with. who has no idea what they’re talking about.

People complain that presidential

Madison Roberts

What has Northwood ever done to you?

Emily Brooks

By Caroline Schneider and Samantha Yigdal

- THE NORTHWOOD -

OMNISCIENT - EDITORS Caroline Schneider - Editor in Chief Madison Roberts - Opinion - STAFF Emily Brooks Sterling Logan Ally DeJong Taylor Maloch Kristen Hutchinson Dylan Newcity Michaela Johnson Tori Nothnagel Quinn Kerscher Morgan Yigdal Anna LaRocco Masi -ADVISORNeal Morgan nmorgan@chatham.k12.nc.us (919) 542-4181

The Northwood Omniscient is published monthly by journalism students at Northwood High School. It aims to present accurate coverage of events of interest to our readers, as well as provide an open forum for the opinions of students, faculty and the community.

We welcome letters to the editor, which can be delivered to the advisor in Room 914 or sent to the school’s address. Letters must be signed, and the staff reserves the right to reject any letter containing libelous statements, to edit for length and to ascertain the truthfulness of the content.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the editorial board. Columns, letters and cartoons represent the views of the authors.

“I hate Northwood. I can’t wait until I graduate. Everything is so unfair at Northwood.” These are the words that we hear from many students in the hallways.

Somebody please tell me, what is so bad?

I’ve been here for four years and I’m about to graduate, but I actually really like Northwood. I think it’s a really great group of people. Both the faculty and students are very nice and caring. Sure, I’ve had a handful of teachers who I disliked so strongly that I would have rather been taught by Cruella DeVille, but in the big picture, the faculty here really cares about the students.

In my opinion, the only reason that students think they hate Northwood is because they keep telling themselves that.

I bet if you asked one of these pessimists to make a list of five reasons they dislike Northwood, they couldn’t even come up with two. If they did come up with a rea-

son, I could imagine it having something to do with dress code or how the school operates. Having to dress a certain way for seven hours of the day is not that big of a deal. Look at it this way: at least you don’t have to wear a uniform.

Think to yourself, what is so awful at Northwood that causes you to feel this burning hate inside of you? Maybe it is seeing your ex with another person or you just hate some girl because she talks about you behind your back. That’s not Northwood’s fault; that sounds like a personal problem.

In reality, occurrences like that happen in all high schools around the country.

So to all you Negative Nancies out there, enough with the “I hate Northwood.”

You know deep down it’s not that bad.

We’ve all had our bad moments at school, but we’ve also had our good moments. Just like anywhere else, Northwood has its ups and downs. Get involved with a club, or join a team. That’s what I have done and it has been a good ride for me.

It’s not healthy to hate something as much as some people hate Northwood.

Cherish these last years of your adolescent life because they go by fast, and once they’re gone, you can’t get them back.

March 23, 2012

Page 9

The Omniscient

Can interracial relationships survive the generation gap?

with African-American and Hispanic students in almost every class, my grandparents didn’t have that. If there were students in their classes of a different race, that was brand new for them, and in that age, it was probably difficult to accept.

But it’s a different time now. When looking at the changes in generations, it’s so easy I have a friend, we’ll call her Sadie, but to see how much has been accomplished that’s not her real name. She doesn’t go to since the Civil Rights movement. The uniNorthwood, but we still get together every versity I’m attending in the fall is one of the now and then to catch up. The last time we most diverse in the country, with about 40 saw each other, an interesting topic came percent of students being a minority. Accordup. Sadie told me about taking her Africaning to News One, 1 in 12 marriages today is American boyfriend to meet her grandparents. interracial. Fifty years ago that would have During the visit, her boyfriend came up to her been impossible to find in the U.S. in private and said, “Your grandpa hates me.”

So, yes, new times mean new acceptance; She thought he was and from my observacrazy. Of course her tions, the majority of our grandpa didn’t hate him, generation is incredibly they’d just met. But accepting, whether it’s of then she realized that race or religion. My best her grandfather hadn’t friends or I could bring even acknowledged her home significant others of boyfriend. He stayed on a different race, and most the couch or hid away in of our parents and sibhis room; her grandfather lings would be accepting, Caroline Schneider/The Omniscient didn’t speak a word to but our grandparents?

INTERRACIAL couples face chalhim, not a single word.

These are tough years. lenges from older generations.

When I got to thinkWith our accepting gening, I realized that I had eration paired with the never introduced an African-American boy conservative generation that our grandparents to anyone outside of my immediate family. are from, there is bound to be some clash in I’ve never seriously dated a boy of a different beliefs. But girls want to be able to introduce race, and the topic had never come up with their boyfriends to their entire family, and they my grandparents or aunts. In eighth grade, want them to be accepted. my best friend was African-American, and Sadie’s grandfather told her that he didn’t he went on a trip to DC with my family. My want her to make a “mistake” by staying with parents, my brother, our family friends all her boyfriend. He saw her dating an Africanaccepted him, but I had never introduced him American boy as a “mistake.” And I’m sure to my grandparents. that hers aren’t the only extended family memI don’t really know how all of my extended bers who think that way. family would feel about me being in an interOur grandparents don’t have to date racial relationship. I know how my parents, and anyone they don’t want to, they don’t have my aunts and mixed-race cousins in Florida to be best friends with or go to church with would feel. But it’s never really come up with people of a different race if they’re not happy anyone else in my family. And when I thought doing so, but they do need to understand how about it, I’d never talked about it with my friends times have changed. If our generation can either. For the most part, I have an understanding accept interracial relationships, to maintain of how their parents or sisters would feel, but not close family relationships, their generation their grandparents or uncles. needs to be respectful of our decisions. Sadie Change is hard. If you’ve grown up your doesn’t want to disappoint her grandfather, entire life with a certain belief, it’s asking a and he doesn’t want to lose his relationship lot to change it. People our grandparents’ ages with his granddaughter, so he needs to come grew up in a difficult time, where all beliefs to terms with the fact that in this new time, were being challenged, and while rules were people will do new things, and although it’s changing, people’s values remained the same. not exactly “his time,” he still needs to be So although I grew up in Chatham County, accepting of it.

Facebook-less and Fancy-free

Caroline Schneider

STOPA SOPA violates our rights Morgan Yigdal

The Stop Online Piracy Act [SOPA] was proposed by Texas Congressman Lamar Smith.

It sounds great when you hear “stop piracy” in the title, but it’s not as great as you may think.

Although the act, according to Smith, has been retracted temporarily until it gets more approval, it should not be passed in my opinion.

This act would allow copyright holders and the Justice Department to seek court orders against websites associated with copyright infringement, targeting both domestic and foreign websites. This means every website that provides copyrighted material and/or links to such things could be blocked from being accessed everywhere and anywhere.

This means sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr, YouTube, Flickr, Squidoo, etc. could be shut down.

Megaupload, a file sharing website, was shut down by the U.S. federal government, without SOPA being passed. While many people prob-

ably haven’t heard of this site, to millions this site was a fast, easy way to store massive files in a “locker” online and then share them with friends or colleagues. This has caused a huge uproar worldwide.

The news came only hours after thousands of sites repealed a temporary blackout in opposition to SOPA, which gained support from sites including Wikipedia, Reddit and Google.

If this law gets passed, copyright holders such as movie studios or record companies could invoke a “private right of action” against almost any company that does business with a website that copyright holders believe is involved in copyright infringement.

This could mean the shut down of many websites around the globe.

Many petitions were set up in retaliation against this act. Google says that their petition against SOPA got 4.5 million signatures.

The internet is a source of resources for kids and adults alike. This level of censorship and power would not only limit the access of information, but the freedom of it as well.

If a law like this gets proposed again, we can only hope that Congress will think about the consequences that the law will cause.

Morgan Yigdal/The Omniscient

THE BURDEN of Facebook drove sophomore Quinn Kerscher to delete her profile.

Quinn Kerscher There are more of us than you would think.

We walk the street basking in sunshine and smelling the spring air as others around us stare at their phones, updating their Facebook statuses to “OMG! Such a nice day!”

Yes, life is just peachy without Facebook.

In fact, better, I would argue. There is something liberating and special about being done with social networking.

Like many Facebook-less people I know, the site used to be an extension of myself. I would visit it as soon as I got home from school. “Just for a few minutes,” I would think. An hour later I would still be logged in, looking at the statuses and pictures of people I had barely spoken five words to in real life, or, even worse, scrutinizing my own statuses and pictures.

I just wanted the site to be a place where I could connect with my peers and show them who I was, but I realized that I wasn’t achieving that on Facebook. In fact, my profile-self was hardly anything like I am in real life.

Online, I used to spend sad amounts of time deciding whether to post a certain video or status or whether to tag or un-tag myself in a picture. My profile ended up being more a projection of parts of myself that I thought other people would like than a real representation of me. For example, on my “about me”

page I had lists of bands and activities that I liked. But profile-me certainly wasn’t about to tell the whole world that she liked a band called New Young Pony Club and enjoyed fantasy fiction.

So the gap between my profile and myself grew, and began to irritate me. As time passed, I cared less and less about my Facebook, and I wouldn’t log in for months at a time. When I did finally log in after a particularly long time, I began editing (a process that I now think marked the height of my intolerance for Facebook). I edited and edited my profile until, toward the end, I had edited so much that almost all of my pictures, statuses and messages from all of the past years were completely gone. I considered my new bare-bones profile to be almost perfect.

Soon, I realized there was only one thing left for me to do—hit delete.

I had finally realized how absurd and useless Facebook is for someone my age. There are so many things left to do and learn, and an online profile is the last thing you should be wasting your brainpower on.

This summer I’ll celebrate my one-year anniversary of being off the site.

I am not exaggerating when I say I am a smarter, happier and healthier person than I was when I had a Facebook page. I admit that this might be due to how I decided to use all of the time I gained when I quit. However, it remains a solid fact that hours have been added onto my days, and I have significantly less to worry about.

So, if you have it in you, hit delete.

“Been Caught Stealing?”

Dylan Newcity Keeping up with the ever-changing music scene is not only a difficult task, but a pricey one. At $1.29 a song, trying to stay on top of every new release quickly adds up, especially for teenagers who are already strapped for cash.

Many people resort to downloading music illegally for free from file sharing websites in order to save money. It is a common misconception that illegal downloading affects record sales.

Researchers Felix Oberholzer of Harvard Business School and Koleman Strumpf of UNC-Chapel Hill have studied the relationship extensively. Their “The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis” determines that “Downloads have an effect on [record] sales which is statistically indistinguishable from zero.”

In all honesty, I regularly download music illegally and see little wrong with it in most cases. For me, the decision to buy something legally as opposed to download it for free comes down to the necessity of support for

the artist I am considering.

New artists need a great deal of support in order to get their career off the ground, and without it, many of them will not be able to sustain a career in music. If the artist I am considering downloading is relatively new or unknown I almost always pay for their music rather than download it for free; being a poor musician myself, I feel their pain.

This initial support is vital to the longevity of an artist’s career because the vast majority of their funding will come out of their own pocket, rather than a large record company financing their endeavor. More established artists typically have a record company backing them and an extensive staff of managers, promoters, road crew, instrument technicians and booking agents at their disposal who can assist them with anything they might need.

The decision to “steal” from an artist should not be one hastily reached.

Although I do download many songs illegally, I also spend a very sizable amount of my parents’ income on iTunes and in local music stores.

Although downloading for free is the most cost-effective way of feeding your music habit, sometimes it can be more satisfying paying for something knowing that your $1.29 is going to fuel the art you love.

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Will the move to 3A mean more attention from recruiters?

By Madison Roberts Staff Writer

With Northwood becoming 3A for the 20132014 school year, questions are being asked about the amount of exposure student athletes will get because of the increase in population and competition.

Athletic director Jason Amy thinks the quality of the athlete is more important than the size of the school.

“If you have a woman golfer who is hitting roughly a 76-77 average, the school size does not matter,” he said. “If you have [a school with] a large amount of people that are doing well, you will get more recognition and more [athletes] to look at.”

Students have a different perception than coaches. Freshman Shontai Totten believes that senior basketball player Shelby Wolfe deserved more recognition than she received from colleges, and attributes her lack of exposure to the size of Northwood.

“I feel like [Wolfe] should go to a D1 college if you ask me,” Totten said. “[She wasn’t recognized] because we go to a small school in the middle of nowhere.”

Boys’ basketball coach Russ Frazier believes that the size of Northwood is not the factor that will build exposure, but the school’s proximity to universities and the competition Northwood will face by going 3A, will grant student athletes a higher chance of being seen by college recruiters.

“Exposure is something that is granted to people by their location,” Frazier said. “The closer you are to metropolitan areas, the closer you are to universities. I think in the case of Northwood, we are close to some universities and I think that’s an advantage to us. I also think that going from the conference we are in now to being with more competitive schools will help us more with exposure.”

Amy attributed the high number of scholarships that Northwood student athletes received last year to the success of Northwood’s overall athletic teams, which he believed was weaker this year than last.

“Obviously, with the success of a team, you’re going to get more recognition, so that’s why I think a lot more kids got scholarship opportunities [last year], just because we had a better sports season,” Amy said Frazier agrees that individual athletic success does not guarantee college recruitment.

He also believes that one way for Northwood athletes to promote themselves to colleges and separate themselves from students who attend larger high schools is to outperform those students in academics.

Football coach Bill Hall thinks that despite the beliefs of many student athletes, the recruiting process starts as early as freshman year.

“They will play around their freshman year and their GPA gets really low and then they’re playing catch up,” Hall said. “I have college coaches come in all the time that want to see kids as freshmen and sophomores as well as juniors and seniors.”

Mike Cragg, senior associate athletic director for Duke basketball, says that the recruiting process can begin early, but said that talent is the main factor for recruiting, and that school size or location has virtually nothing to do with the amount of exposure student athletes receive.

“No matter where a kid comes from, no matter if it’s a small town or big city, if they are talented enough they will get discovered in this day and age, especially with basketball,” Cragg said. “School size isn’t really the important part; it honestly just depends on talent.”

Sports

Northwood moving to 3A

By Caroline Schneider Editor-in-Chief

In the fall of 2013, Northwood will be moving from the 2A division to the 3A division, due to its population exceeding 1,000 students.

This change will impact every sports team at Northwood.

Every six years, high school sports conferences are realigned based on the number of students in the schools, and this year will be the first year that Northwood has reached a high enough number to be moved to 3A. “3A is just a way of acknowledging the number of students we have at our school, so now that we have exceeded [1,000 students], we are getting moved,” said Northwood athletic director Jason Amy. The new division will be made up of nine other schools: Cardinal Gibbons, East Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, Northern Vance, Orange, Southern Durham, JF Webb and Cedar Ridge, a school that is currently in Northwood’s conference and will be moving up as well.

“It’s a step up; it will be tougher, so we’ll probably have a year or two that we kind of cut our teeth, and [then we will] get back on top,” said principal Chris Blice.

Amy agrees that the new division will be harder on Northwood’s teams than the division they’re in now.

“It’s going to mean that we have a lot more challenges as far as competing with other schools,” Amy said. “When you move into competing with 3A, there are a lot more students, and that gives you a larger [number] of skilled players.”

Baseball coach Rick Parks agrees that the talent of Northwood’s competition will increase as the school transitions into 3A. “There won’t be any more showing up playing competition we’re far superior than,” Parks said, whose team is 3-1 or greater against

the teams in their conference the last two years.

“I think it’s gotten to the point where fewer “Every game is going to be a dog fight and kids are involved now because they combined it’s going to be like what you see in the ACC [the schools],” Frazier said. “So you’ve lost one where any team can beat any other team in a team, and more kids are competing for fewer given moment. spots at one school.”

“We’re going to have to get a lot stronger and Regardless of whether or not that is true, a lot more confident in what we’re doing and not some students and faculty are looking at the just show up and change positively. play like we kind “I think it’s of got accustomed going to be better to in the past.” for all parties The coaches involved. As far as hope that Northour school, there’s wood should be always room for able to do just that, growth. Growth as the reason the means we’re doschool is becoming ing things right; 3A is due to the it means people annual increasing want to be here at numbers in the our school,” said freshman classes.

Frazier.

With more freshSophomore men should come soccer player more students Dana Walker willing to try out will be a senior for high school when the division Kristen Hutchinson/The Omniscient change is made. sports, which in turn would deliver larger, more talented teams.

“I think it will be good,” Walker said. “It’s But the county change last year of combining going to be really different, especially the first Perry Harrison and North Chatham middle year because we won’t be used to the other schools into Pollard Middle School may prevent teams. [But] I think it will be a good change for Northwood from being able to find and use that us because we’ll probably grow and develop as talent. a better team because we’ll have to play harder “I think we’ve actually lost talent,” Parks competition.” admitted. “I was getting 32 guys that started Amy thinks the new division will increase at a middle school level game. Now, when gate sales as well, as when Northwood plays they combined the middle schools to Pollard, bigger, closer schools, more people are likely to they’ve still only got one team,” Parks said. come out to support the visiting team.

“So at the time we’re moving up, we may have However, good or bad, Northwood is going to been hurt by combining those middle schools.” have to get used to the idea of a larger division.

Boys’ basketball coach Russ Frazier has also “I believe that with 3A will come an adjustnoticed the impact the combined middle school ment period,” Frazier said. “But with that has had on Northwood sports. adjustment period I think we will be just fine.”

Feelin’ Lucky? Superstitions at NHS

Quinn Kerscher/The Omniscient

FRESHMAN SHONTAI TOTTEN plays basketball with money tucked in her socks.

By Quinn Kerscher Staff Writer As Shontai Totten prepares to make a basket, spectators in the bleachers fail to notice the $20 bill peeking out of her sock. Had someone observed it, they probably wouldn’t have thought it relevant to the game at hand. But for Totten, a freshman on Northwood’s girls’ basketball team, that $20 bill represents a superstition that gives her the confidence she needs to play the game.

“I would like to think, the bigger the bill I put in my sock, the better I play,” said Totten.

Totten’s money ritual is consistent with a trend seen in many athletes at Northwood and around the world—superstition in sports.

Professional athletes, like tennis player Serena Williams, basketball player Michael Jordan and baseball player Turk Wendell,

have all been known to have superstitions.

Their quirks range from as simple as tying their shoelaces a certain way, to as odd as brushing their teeth between every inning. The way athletes come up with these superstitions seems to be a process of trial and error.

“One day I put a 20 in my sock and I played really, really well,” said Totten. “And so I was like, ‘Hey, I guess that works.’”

This seems to be the manner in which freshman soccer player Katherine Pike discovered her superstitions, too. One day, before a game, she saw her shirt was inside out and was about to fix it, when one of her teammates told her to leave it that way. Since then, for every game, she always wears her shirt inside out, always puts her right glove on before her left and always wears her socks up.

“I just feel like I’m ready to play,” Pike said.

Some superstitions at Northwood are shared by entire teams. Morgan Oldham, a sophomore softball player, says her team has a few common superstitions. For example, the team agrees that crossing bats in the dugout during games brings bad luck.

“There are a lot of games where we’ll look and the bats will be crossed and we’ll be loosing and we’ll uncross them and get a lot of runs,” Oldham said.

According to Oldham, the softball team also believes that players should never step on the white lines before a game, a superstition shared by the baseball team.

“Stepping on the white line is something you don’t want to do; that’s pretty common,” said Clark Streets, a junior baseball player.

Junior football player Maxwell Johnston talked about why teams and players need superstition.

“It’s all supporting the brain… It’s like the placebo effect,” Johnston said.

Johnston claims athletes use superstition for mind-control as a distraction to numb the nerves that come with performance.

“It gets me in the right place mentally,” said varsity football coach Bill Hall, of his own superstitious routine.

Hall’s superstition begins each new season, when he always wears the same clothes on Friday nights. He also follows a strict schedule for practices, watching film and coaches’ meetings.

“I literally try to do everything the same during game week,” said Hall.

As is the case for most other superstitious sportsmen, for Hall, it’s all about keeping things consistent.

“If I get off beat during the week, [or] get off rhythm, then I have a bad vibe going in Friday night,” Hall said.

March 23, 2012

Alex Gorry: Field Hockey Glory

By Anna LaRocco Masi Staff Writer

Alex Gorry, a sophomore, doesn’t know anyone who plays field hockey at Northwood. In fact, one person she asked thought it was played on roller skates.

Field hockey is played on grass, without skates, and is popular throughout the world.

Schools like Cardinal Gibbons, East Chapel Hill High School and Carborro High School have field hockey teams, but in Chatham County, no schools have an official team.

Gorry has attended an after school program ever since elementary school and first played field hockey there. She actually hated it. Six years ago, however, Gorry’s babysitter, who was the head coach for the Carborro Recreation team, got her interested in the sport.

“Something just clicked,” Gorry said. “I knew I would be doing this for as long as I possibly could.”

Photo courtesy of Laura Gorry

SOPHOMORE ALEX GORRY plays field hockey, which is not offered at Northwood.

The Omniscient

Last year, Gorry was selected to be on a Junior Olympic team. There are Junior Olympic teams in each district of the state and hers is called the Carolina All-Stars. In addition, she plays on a club team in Chapel Hill called the Tar Devils because they practice on both UNC’s and Duke’s fields.

Her Junior Olympic team is a top-ranked team in the nation. Recently, Gorry’s team traveled down to Florida for the Disney Field Hockey Showcase. The semifinal game came down to strokes, field hockey’s equivalent to penalty shots.

“My team elected me to go up and take the shot. It was to win and I made it, so we went to the championship,” said Gorry.

The Carolina All-Stars placed second out of roughly a hundred teams.

Being on a club team means Gorry travels a lot, which can take up a lot of time. She has been to places such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Arizona and California for field hockey games. She practices seven to eight hours on weekends and has after school practices as well. Some weekends she attends camps where she has to get up at 6 a.m. and practice for 11 hours a day.

At her former high school, Cardinal Gibbons, Gorry played on the school team, as well as the Junior Olympic team and the Tar Devils.

“The more I can play it, the better I’ll be,” said Gorry.

Gorry hopes to go from grass to turf and play college-level field hockey. College scouts observe players at big tournaments similar to the one in Florida, which had over 100 colleges watching. The scouts can’t talk to athletes until their junior year, but they can still watch. Gorry hopes to attend either Stanford, Colombia, Georgetown or Princeton.

Page 11

SPORTS BRIEFS Girls’ basketball wins conference, falls in ing the young players improve while work4th round of state playoffs ing with the seniors for a final time.

The girls’ basketball team lost in the fourth round of the state playoffs to rival and evenSwim team places 4th at states tual state champion Jordan Matthews, 63-49 The girls’ swimming/diving team placed March 2. fourth at the state championship in February.

JM’s leading scorer was 5-foot-10 junior “Most teams have 20-40 members and Mylia Garner, who scored 29 points and is send larger teams than Northwood to this ranked among the top meet,” said coach players in the state.

Angie Burton. “We “Coming off a good are small, but are good win against Whiteville, enough to score a lot we were overconfident of points.” and that led to us not Junior Philip playing to our full Straughan, the only potential against JM,” boy representing said senior forward Northwood, placed Shelby Wolfe. seventh and eighth in Wolfe, one of the his two races, earning Chargers’ top scorNorthwood 23 points ers, finished her high by himself. Freshman school career with Bailey Revels placed 1,173 points. second in the 100-meNorthwood finished ter diving. Freshman its season with a final Rory O’Dell placed record of 26-4, winEmily Brooks/The Omniscient third in the 500-yard ning the conference SENIOR SHELBY WOLFE finished freestyle. championship for the her NHS career with 1,173 points. first time since 1984.

Wrestling finishes 13-4 Boys’ basketball loses in 2nd round Northwood’s wrestling team finished with The boys’ basketball season ended with a a record of 13-4, including a win against second-round loss to West Bladen.

Cedar Ridge for the first time in history.

According to coach Russ Frazier, the Senior Daniel Foushee, junior Jourden playoff loss could be accredited to low effort Blackmon and junior Thaddeus Tallman and intensity. qualified for states. Even though none placed “We did not play very well,” said Frazier. at states, wrestling coach Jason Amy said it “[We] lacked effort and intensity, but then was a good learning experience. when playoffs come, a lot of that comes “We’re building up and we’re getting from experience, and we did not have a lot of ready for next year,” Amy said. “Hopefully experience.” we will win the conference and win that state Overall, the team finished 15-1 in the title next year.” conference. Looking back on the season, — Compiled by Emily Brooks, Ally DeJong, Frazier said the main highlights were watchAnna LaRocco Masi and Sterling Logan

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12

Sports

Every month we’ll showcase an individual and his/her achievements from an ongoing sport. In order to qualify, one must be nominated by his/her coach for athletic ability, outstanding leadership, work ethic and sportsmanship.

Chris Cole boys’ tennis

— Compiled by Emily Brooks & Tori Nothnagel

Defeated the number one player on NCSSM, which is a top-five team in North Carolina’s 2A division.

Plays defensive center midfield and is a senior captain.

“She is really aggressive, and for being so little, she is really sneaky.”

— Hannah Lawrence, Sr.

“He never gives up and is an inspiration to me.”

—Zafer Estill, So.

Tyeshia Baldwin girls’ track “She is hardworking and she always tries her best.”

— Alex Council, Fr.

Forrest Glosson boys’ track “He is very determined and is a great leader.”

— Tyler Whitaker, Fr.

April Gibbs girls’ soccer

Ally DeJong/The Omniscient

Crystal Overcash softball “She is really hardworking and is a great leader.”

— Morgan Oldham, So.

Emily Brooks/The Omniscient

Anthony Harr lacrosse “He is hardworking and is very dedicated to the sport.”

— Josh Kaegi, So.

Jordan McClamroch boys’ golf Connor Lawrence baseball “Jordan works hard on his game... and always gives his best effort.”

— Henry Buckner, head coach

“He is a stud on the mound and he has a great work ethic.”

— John Wieland, Sr.

Local AAU basketball team thrives

By Emily Brooks Staff Writer

“We were laughed at. People said that there wasn’t a chance that we would ever make it and here we are today, five years down the road, and now we’re at a spot where these kids will be able to go to [big showcases],” said Jason Thomas, head coach of a local AAU basketball team, the North Carolina Eagles.

The Eagles are composed of a group of eighth and ninth grade students from the Pittsboro/Chapel Hill area, including seven Northwood freshmen. Those include Ti Pinnix, Talik Farrar, Jalen Smith, Dalton Thomas, Devin Lassiter, Justus Thompson and Daquan Brooks.

In 2008, Jason Thomas had this idea to create a team that could help local kids develop into not only better basketball players, but better citizens.

“There are a lot of single parents around here that don’t have the opportunity to send their kids off to different cities and areas to play a game they love because of money,” said Thomas. “So my wife and I wanted to start an organization that would be able to help these kids that couldn’t do those things.”

Thomas noted that before this team, there were a couple of players who had been suspended multiple times and had not been performing to their true potential in the classroom.

After being on the Eagles for five years, these students are now excelling in the classroom, and all seven of the players from Northwood said they strive to play in college.

“If it weren’t for the Eagles, I probably wouldn’t be in school. I probably would be making bad grades and doing bad stuff,” said Lassiter.

Pinnix, who started for Northwood’s varsity team this past season, shared a similar view.

“If it weren’t for the Eagles, there is no telling where I would be or what I would be doing,” said Pinnix.

The Eagles have enjoyed a Cinderella run over the past years. After only five years together, the team is extremely accomplished, winning the USSSA Division III national championship in 2010.

“They were 12 years old, and we were a team that everybody laughed at because we came from Chatham County and didn’t have the talent to go up against these main teams.

We took a group of guys [to Greensboro] that were determined to show the world that they are something to believe in, and we won that national championship and it was huge,” said Thomas. “We played against top-ranked teams and we won it.”

Farrar shared similar views as Thomas and emphasized how big this win was for the Eagles.

“It was a good feeling because we worked hard all season,” said Farrar. “Throughout the season we were pushing towards a national championship and once we got there, we fought for it and we did what we had to do.”

But according to Thomas, the purpose of the team is not just to improve the boys’ basketball skills.

“We understand that if you want to go

somewhere with this sport, you have to have ily. A lot of kids are in gangs because they want the grades, and you have to put forth the effort to belong to something, and their gang now is in the classroom,” said Thomas. the North Carolina Eagles. They are striving Dalton Thomas, the son of Jason Thomas, to be better,” said Jason Thomas. “I am really added another positive aspect of life with the blessed, we work hard, we have to work hard Eagles. to raise money, but we put everything we have “It gives me something to look forward to into helping these kids.” on the weekends instead of just sitting around,” But Thomas feels that help extends beyond he said. the court.

This season, which started earlier this “It’s a lot more than just coaching,” he month, brought about a major change. The said. “That’s going to be my biggest reward, Eagles have moved up to AAU Division I to watch these kids that people would think basketball and will be traveling to play in would never graduate high school, walk showcases in Detroit and Las Vegas. For across that stage smiling, going to college several players, this will be their first time somewhere.” on a plane.

Not only are the players continuing to succeed, but they have formed a family-like bond.

“It’s basically like a big brotherhood. We don’t see each other as teammates, we see each other as brothers, on and off the court,” said Farrar.

Jason Thomas agreed with Farrar in the fact that he feels that this team Madison Roberts/The Omniscient is just like a family. THE NORTH CAROLINA EAGLES have seven Northwood fresh“We teach fam- men. They won the 2010 USSSA Div. III national championship.