Issue3

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2006

Students sacrifice comfort for fashionable shoes and toenails.

Today’s Weather Mostly Sunny Low: 47

Today’s Lunch

Soft Beef Taco w/Shredded Cheese Veggie Taco Hot Pocket Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Yogurt w/Pretzel

This Day in History 1767— The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania , the Mason-Dixon line was agreed upon. 1867 —The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia . 1931 —Inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.

NEWS BRIEFS Spanish and Korean Parent Liaisons join staff

Two Parent Liaisons have joined the AHS staff. Guila Assanova, a Spanish Liaison who also speaks Russian, will be working on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Korean Liaison, Jin Kim, will be working on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thanh Nguyen, extension 4312, will continue to serve as the AHS Vietnamese Liaison on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Javaid Khokhar, extension 4289, will continue working on Wednesdays and Fridays as the Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi Liaison. Vida Sanchez, the Department Chair for the Parent Liaisons, can be reached via extension 4270.

Artspeak! attracts star of Arena Stageʼs Cabaret

BY EBONY CHAMBERS Staff Writer Prepare for a fun filled, yet busy week. Homecoming is in a few days, and many students do not know what to do. There are many different things students are doing to prepare for the upcoming Homecoming events. The preparation for homecoming varies from dress shopping to suit shopping to date shopping. “Some of the students are worried about finding dates to take with them to the dance,” said Jennifer Eman, SGA Treasurer “I’ve heard that a lot of the girls are dress shopping and making appointments to get their hair and nails done.” “My birthday is the day of the homecoming dance,” said junior Eric Loch. “I preparing for the dance by going to the store and buying my tux.” Some students are more excited than others. “I’m going but I don’t really care about Homecoming that much.” senior Iyoab Medmim said “It’s not that important to me.” There are mixed emotions about the homecoming events but none the less, students are preparing in various ways. “I don’t need to prepare, its not that big of a deal. I can throw anything on and look fly,” said senior Frogh Fafa. “Homecoming” continued on page 5

Bradlick Total Crafts and Heritage Shopping Center Giant close doors to public

to the stores, but for the most part it is only the left over supplies. “We have the month of December to clear everything out of the store. Most of the stuff will be gone by the beginning of December,” store employee Kelly Jewell explained. On Aug. 18, Giant stores announced a mulit-year remodeling plan to begin in 2006. The plan includes opening eight new and replacement stores and six remodeled stores. Unfortunately, it also includes closing seven current stores. The Heritage Giant, a popular grocery store, especially for those living in Patriot Village on Heritage Drive or on surrounding streets, is one of the seven to be closed. Executive Vice President and General Manager of Giant, Bill Holmes explained that the smaller locations were not practical for new investment. “Stores close” continued on page 5

Students take to the polls BY ALYSSA NAVARRETE Co-Editor in Chief In just a few weeks, the polls will open and once again Virginians will be given the chance to choose their leaders. For some seniors, this is the first election in which they are eligible to vote. Though many seniors took advantage of the opportunity to register to vote, many did not. “Politics have gone too far away from the issues,” said senior Rory O’Connor. “The candidates only talk about the stupid stuff that the other candidate did, which has nothing to do with the issues.” This reason ultimately led O’Connor to decide that he should abstain from voting in the upcoming Nov 7.elections. However, O’Connor is not alone, there are many other AHS seniors who have also decided to refrain from voting. Despite the numerous seniors who made the decision not to vote, there are also a large number of

students who took the initiative and registered. Senior Lisa Ottenheimer registered to vote with the help of her father. “I just turned 18 and I want to have a say in the government,” said Ottenheimer. “Every vote counts and when you are a part of Lisa Ottenheimer the election you can make a big difference.” Senior John Derrickson also relied on his parents to help him register to vote. “My parents helped me a lot,” said Derrickson. “They told me about it and they took me to register and they gave me the knowledge that I need to vote.” “Voting” continued on page 5

BY LEA NICKERSON Staff Writer Today, eighteen hundred PSAT’s were distributed to the underclassman of AHS. The annual practice SAT test is being held once again to help prepare students, especially juniors, to take the SATs in the years to come. Since they do not count and colleges are not able to see student’s scores, it is a good opportunity to practice for the real thing. This test will be the juniors’ third time taking the PSAT, but does it really help? “It’s not very useful because you don’t take it seriously and it’s just something that you have to do,” said junior Joseph Ingber. “I think it’s not that important since a lot of people are gong to take a SAT prep course before they take the real thing so it won’t really reflect how well we would do on the real SAT,” said junior Jeremy Hsu. However some students have a different opinion. Sophomore Emily Ruhs believes that the PSAT is a positive and productive way to prepare for the SAT. “It really made me think and it will give you a good idea of what the SAT will be like. It also helps because once I take the practice test three times I won’t be nervous to take the real SAT plus it helps me to try and improve off my previous score,” said Ruhs. The freshmen are unsure of what to think about the test since they have never taken it before; however they seem to be optimistic.

Representative addresses topics ranging from gay rights to immigration BY EMILY SAMPLE News Editor

EMILY SAMPLE

I would not vote

17% Undecided

Jim Webb

George Allen

Underclassmen given practice SAT to help adjust to the fomat and style of the exam

Tom Davis visits AHS

34%

This survey was distributed on Oct. 11 and Oct. 13 during all lunches. Of 500 surveys distributed, 445 were completed and returned for inclusion in this graph.

PSAT tests administered

“PSAT” continued on page 5

The A-Blast conducted a survey to determine which candidate students would vote for if they were eligible to vote in the upcoming Nov. 7 elections.

22%

Senior Victoria Clark runs with the football and avoids defenders during power-puff practice. Both the seniors and the juniors held practice everyday in the week before homecoming. The powder-puff game was held yesterday night, however results were announced too late for publication.

Community loses stores

Elections Survey

27%

The D.C. area offers new and interesting places for students to spend their weekend.

Students look towards the Homecoming parade, dance and game at the end of the week

Over the past few weeks, Annandale crafters and grocery shoppers have experienced quite the let down. The Heritage Shopping Center Giant as well as all Total Craft Stores will be closing in the next couple of months. Total Crafts will officially close at the end of December. Some smaller shipments are still being sent

On October 16, Artspeak! was held in the lecture hall at Poe Middle School. This Artspeak! event featured Meg Gillentine, the star of many Arena Stage productions such as Damn Yankees and Cabaret. In addition to her work at Arena Stage, Gillentine has been seen on Broadway in productions which include Cats, The Producers, Fosse and The Frogs. Gillentine was the winner of the 2006 Helen Hayes Award as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. Her performance was well recieved and well attended. During the program, Gillentine spoke about her career, answered questions from student interviewers and audience members, perfomed and signed autographs for the people that attended the performance. This is the tenth year which Artspeak! performances have been held. The performances are free and open to the public Created by Annandale community member Mark Shugoll, these events were created to benefit students and serve as a great opportunity for students to be exposed to the arts.

A day at Coxʼs Farm provides seasonal family fun.

Spirit week continues

BY KRISTA SILANO Managing Editor

Gillentine

SPEND TIME AROUND TOWN

DOWN ON THE FARM

UNHAPPY FEET

Former Congressman Mark Foley is suspected of sending inappropriate messages to pages.

20

13

8

FOLEY FACES CHARGES

High: 69

700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003

BRYAN KRZYWICKI

VOLUME #52 ISSUE 3

ANNANDALE HIGH SCHOOL

Senior Kelly Pilkerton looks over notes as Representative Tom Davis prepares to answer questions from the audience.

Congressman Tom Davis visited AHS on Monday during both flexes. Teachers signed up to attend the visit brought students to the auditorium at 9 a.m. The entire stay, which lasted approximately an hour, was more of a question and answer session than a lecture. Davis repeatedly told students to “ask any question, every thing is on the table.” He is running for his 11th term in the House of Representatives from the 11th district against democrat Andrew Hurst. Davis began with a 15-minute summary of who he

was. He mentioned his 27-year tenure as a Northern Virginia Congressman, his family ties to the area and his numerous chairmanships. He opened up about his underprivileged youth, working his way to a full scholarship to Amherst University, and finishing his schooling at the Law School of University of Virginia after a brief stint in the military. He mentioned his daughter who graduated from J.E.B Stuart, as well as his two other children. His wife, Virginia Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, was also mentioned when their different policies were questioned. “My wife is very religious. She is a Roman Catholic. She is strongly pro-life and anti-capital punishment,” said Davis. But his views where stronger pro-choice, stating that while he doesn’t believe in abortion, “it’s up to the individual to make the choice. It’s not up to the government to institutionalize it.” Another popular topic of questions was Davis’ “Davis” continued on page 5


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Issue3 by AHS Publications - Issuu