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February 13, 2014 • Volume 11 • Issue 5
Northridge High School • 2901 Northridge Road • Tuscaloosa, Al• 35406
Pipe rupture, sprinkler defect create flooding in science hall, gym
James Niiler Feature Editor
Photo by: Sophie Fairbairn
Busted: A pipe above science teacher Amy Ryan’s classroom burst on Jan. 8, causing ceiling tiles to fall out with insulation. “Frustrating. Overall, I think that word jus summarizes it well. It’s been frustrating for me and my students,” Ryan said. “I took my time (to get out), just to get wet,” he said. Although Hand said she left “half her stuff” in the room, good still came out of the damage. “We got free cake,” she said. “[Ryan’s] birthday was the day after the flood, and because we saved her classroom, we got a ‘Finding Nemo’ cake.” Hand and Matta said they are enjoying their temporary stay in the library. “I like it,” Hand said. “It’s a lot of fun; I feel like we can do more work.” “In the classroom you’re all cramped together, and here we have more room,” Matta said. Dr. Isaac Espy, principal, confirmed the damage was due to the unusually cold weather. “It was a combination of unprotected pipes, water and very cold temperatures,” he said. “Put those three together and you have problems.” Espy said that although the damage was on a large scale, the full extent is unknown. “Our gym floor may have some minor warping. We will have to see how bad it is
Problems within information database annoy teachers, students Renu Pandit Editor-in-Chief Information Now, commonly known as iNOW, has received negative reviews from teachers and students. iNOW is an information management service and is used extensively by administrators and teachers to keep track of students and their grades. Dr. Isaac Espy, principal, said iNOW replaced the former program, STI, about three years ago because the State of Alabama contracted with iNOW. “Schools in Alabama use iNOW, because it allows the state department of education to pull reports and data from all schools in a uniform manner. Even the Alabama High School Athletic Association pulls iNOW student data to generate eligibility reports,” Espy said. “Data management at this level has a high cost. I do not know the dollar amount, but it is high. Trust me.”
He said that there were some major issues with it early on, but he is satisfied with its performance for his purposes. “I use iNOW for essentially all student data entries and inquiries, including discipline, attendance, and contact information,” he said. “It is fairly easy to maneuver, but that may be because I am used to it. It is not inherently bad, but there may still be some bugs left to iron out.” Dr. Victoria Evans, physics teacher, said iNOW is “antiquated, unwieldy, glitchy, and extremely time-consuming.” “Using this nightmare program has literally cut my productivity as a teacher in half. If we were a for-profit private company, this would never be tolerated. However, the use of iNOW is mandated for all public school systems by the State of Alabama,” she said. Evans said the issues presented by iNOW include grades being randomly deleted or changed, grades being incorrectly averaged and system crashes.
See iNOW on page six
Thoughts on iNOW
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I don’t like it because it apparently cost 10 million dollars for the state, and there are better programs for free. Jacob Cowles, senior
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Christian Harless, senior
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I like it except for the fact that some teachers don’t update it as much. Once you’re marked as absent, you stay absent all day. Mary Claire Ray, sophomore
Harless
Ray
Information compiled by Sujitha Permasetty and Rebecca Griesbach. Photos by Sumona Gupta. Designed by Renu Pandit.
Soccer Page 7
Pageants Page 8
Cowles
I like that it lets you see your grades, but I don’t like how it costs the city.
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iNOW or ‘iNEVER’?
once it is totally dried out,” he said. “Mrs. Ryan’s room will need some sheet rock replacement and obviously repainting. [With] 10 to 15 ceiling tiles it should be as good as new.” Espy said that repairs are progressing, and estimated that Ryan’s classroom should be ready “in a week or so.” We have heaters and fans in the gym right now that will speed up the drying,” he said. “The air conditioning and heating system removes moisture from the air. As long as it is running, you won’t have accumulation of moisture.” Despite the problems with the gym floor, Espy said it is still “playable.” “We will finish basketball season,” he said. Espy said he didn’t know the financial cost of the damage. “We have in-house protection with our own labor force. We also have insurance, and we have local companies who contract with us. It looks like the cost will involve a good bit of labor, some ceiling tiles, three or four gallons of paint, some sheet rock work, and possibly a new gym floor. The last one is a pretty big ticket item,” he said.
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Ryan to get out of the rapidly flooding classroom, Hester said. “She didn’t have to ask me twice,” Hester said. “We just got our stuff and ran out of the room.” Hester said that the class still went in for belongings, even though many were “soaking wet.” She said many students were taking pictures and videos of the event. “It was kind of funny but kind of crazy at the same time,” she said. Like Ryan, Hester said the most difficult aspect of the flood was the loss of classroom materials and instruction, as she was anticipating doing labs in Ryan’s class. “We work better in the classroom,” she said. “Mostly everything is disorganized. Everything’s on carts, and we have to bring it on in [the library].” Seniors Mary Margret Hand and Jordan Matta were also in Ryan’s classroom during the flood. “It was just sudden. I was like ‘Oh my gosh,’” Matta said. Matta said he enjoyed the experience of getting soaked.
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Upon returning to school on Jan. 8, students were greeted with more than just the familiar faces of teachers and friends. A frozen pipe above the ceiling of science teacher Amy Ryan’s classroom ruptured, pouring water into her room and causing significant damage. The same morning, a sprinkler head in the gym malfunctioned, causing water to spread across the floor. Ryan was teaching her third period class when the flood occurred. “Initially, I thought it was just kind of like rain,” she said. “I put a garbage can under the leak...that lasted about 30 seconds. When the ceiling tile above the garbage can fell out, I knew we had to get out.” Ryan said she lost “nearly half her ceiling and a significant amount of insulation. She said her room was covered in five inches of standing water, and the workers responsible for the repairs had to cut out sheet rock from three feet below the floor. “[The damage] was pretty extensive,” she said. “On the bright side, my room will be very clean when [the workers] are done.” Ryan said she managed to save many of her possessions, although she will probably spend “months” trying to locate all of them. “I got out all the confidential student documents and electronics,” she said. “[My class] just started grabbing box after box of stuff and passing them to teachers in the hallway.” Ryan said the hardest part of losing her classroom will be the loss of lessons and instructional material. “Labs are definitely out,” she said. Ryan said that she will have to find new ways of teaching her classes, currently meeting in the library. “I’m adaptable; we can do it,” she said. Vantashia Hester, junior, was in Ryan’s third period class. “I was just sitting there,” she said. “The next thing I know I hear this noise, then water.” The class required little prompting from
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