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Gas pains know no age
by Faith Hampton
At 8:25 a.m. Aug. 10, the price for regular gas at the Gas USA
station was $2.35 a gallon.
At 7:28 a.m. Aug. 11, the price had risen to $2.45.
It can be 9 a.m. and gasoline will be one price. It can be three or
four hours later, and the price has changed. And that was before
Hurricane Katrina shot the prices above $3.
Teenagers have problems with the gas rates just as adults do. Even
teens that can’t drive are having an issue with gas prices.
Brandon Bailey, a non-driving senior in high school, has a problem
with the gas prices because it cleans out the money in his pockets.
Even though he doesn’t drive, he chips in gas money to those who
take him places.
“Nobody has any money anymore because it all goes to buying gas,
including myself,’’ Bailey said.
Bailey confirmed that people have refused to give him rides because
their cars had no gas. He was also refused a car ride because he
could not pay the driver any gas money.
“It made me mad because I really wanted to go somewhere and I didn’t
need to give them any gas,’’ Bailey said.
Arielle Anthony, a Warren G. Harding High School junior, takes the
bus, walks, and rides in her mother’s car when she wants to get
around.
“Nobody wants to go anywhere because the prices are too high,’’
Anthony said. “My friends don’t want to pay that much for the gas
and their parents don’t want them to pay that much for gas.’’
Teenagers who don’t have a way of making any money have a huge
problem with paying the gas prices; especially if mommy and daddy
aren’t willing to help.
Anthony said that she gets around mostly by walking. When she is out
with her friends, she usually has to help pay for gas.
“Gas prices are too high,’’ Anthony said. “I like walking. Walking
is fun.’’
In 1980, prices were at there highest when gas cost $2.59 a gallon.
Over the years it went back down to a dollar and some change. Now,
the prices have risen to nearly $3 per gallon.
Toft Breidenbaugh, a Harding senior, drives a 2000 Mitsubishi
Montero Sport.
“I’m worried that the gas prices are going to get worse and worse,’’
said Breidenbaugh. “It’s going to cause inflation.’’
At times, his parents have tried to stop him from driving because of
the gasoline costs.
“The prices make my parents mad that I’m driving around,’’
Breidenbaugh said. “Sometimes my mom says I can’t go places because
it’s too much money and I would be wasting gas.’’
Harding senior Marie Tincher drives a Chevy Cavalier. Tincher’s
attitude to the gas price situation was short and to the point.
“It rips us off,’’ Tincher said. “It’s way too expensive; it needs
to be lowered.’’
The gas prices have altered teenagers’ lifestyles. It has left them
with little money and few ways to get around.
With some parents refusing to help their children out with the gas
situation, it is often hard for teenagers to get from one place to
another; with or without a car.
At 9:47 a.m. Aug. 11, the price for regular gas at a local BP
station was $2.31 a gallon.
At 5:01 p.m. same day, the price had risen to $2.55
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Hughes' Views:
The PNAC is happy; are you?
by Brittany Hughes
54 percent of Americans think the U.S. made a mistake in going to
war with Iraq, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted
Aug. 5-7. Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son Casey in the Iraq war, has
become a symbolic leader of the anti-war movement through her
picketing of the President Bush’s Crawford, Texas home. Time
magazine reported in its Aug. 22 issue that U.S. leaders think Iran
is fueling the Iraqi rebellion.
But don’t be discouraged, fellow Americans. Don’t let it bother you
that incorrect intelligence (aka “lies’’) led us into a messy war.
Don’t be upset that over 1,800 troops have died in the quest to
protect us from Iraq’s WMDs, oops, I mean fight the war on terror
never mind, there was no Iraqi connection to 9/11 rather, to
liberate the Iraqi people.
After all, this is exactly what The Project for the New American
Century (PNAC) wanted.
Aside from its goal of promoting American leadership (i.e. world
dominance), in Jan. 1998, PNAC set aside the time to send
then-President Clinton a letter.
“We are writing you because we are convinced that current American
policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a
threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since
the end of the Cold War,’’ PNAC said. “In your upcoming State of the
Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and
determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that
opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the
interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world.
That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam
Hussein’s regime from power.’’
PNAC goes on to say, “It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam
does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction,
as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present
course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends
and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a
significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at
hazard.’’
PNAC also pushes aside any possible U.N. objections to this
pre-emptive policy: “In any case, American policy cannot continue to
be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the U.N.
Security Council.’’
This letter would be easy to dismiss as water under the bridge, were
it not for the notables who signed it: Donald Rumsfeld (current
defense secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (deputy secretary of defense
during Bush’s first term), John Bolton (current U.S. ambassador to
the U.N.), Richard L. Armitage (deputy secretary of state during
Bush’s first term), William Kristol (editor of The Weekly Standard,
and consultant for President George W. Bush’s second inaugural
address), and Robert Zoellick (current deputy secretary of state).
Fast forward to September 2000. One year before America was
attacked, PNAC published a report on the state of American defenses
now that the Soviet Union was no longer a threat. The report,
“Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a
New Century,’’ highlights such goals as increasing defense funding
to ensure America can “fight and decisively win multiple,
simultaneous major theater wars,’’ new military technology,
increased nuclear testing and the creation of the U.S. Space Forces
“with the mission of space control.’’
PNAC’s report notes, however, “the process of transformation, even
if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one,
absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl
Harbor.’’
One year later, PNAC got its new Pearl Harbor when our intelligence
failed and terrorists hijacked four airplanes. The neo-cons in our
government realized American fear would allow them to declare war on
any nation to ensure our safety. Now, we’re fighting a civil war in
Iraq and trying to install a government, train Iraqi troops and keep
up the pretense of liberation all while roadside bombs become more
sophisticated and more troops lose their lives.
I’m glad that PNAC is happy. I’m not and neither should any American
who had to watch a child, parent, spouse or sweetheart leave for a
sham of a war in Iraq.
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SAT Pocket Prep
is handy, but hard to use
by Mary Therese Bridge
The SAT Pocket Prep made by the well-known Princeton Review is
useful for studying on the go. The device is $179.99 and a new way
for students to prepare for the test. The Pocket Prep comes in a
handy zippered case so studying can be done anywhere.
This summer, I read books designed to improve students’ scores and
studied with an SAT tutor. I was eager to try the Pocket Prep but
was disappointed overall.
The Pocket Prep for the New SAT Interactive Handheld Tutor made by
The Princeton Review contains the complete text of Princeton
Review’s Cracking the New SAT 2005 edition, three full-length, timed
practice exams and study aides such as drills, grammar guides and
flash cards.
The device is a good idea for the generation of students who were
glued to Gameboys as children … and some of whom still are. I was
certainly more eager to turn on the Pocket Prep than crack open one
of the many SAT tomes that are in my house. However, the Pocket Prep
did not engage my attention any more than the books did.
There are so many useful resources on the Pocket Prep that it would
be almost impossible to go through them all. There are many good
vocabulary lists of defined words used on the SAT. The Grammar
Guide, which goes over basic grammar rules, is useful as a
refresher. The Cracking the Code section contains some useful tips
for the SAT that I had not heard before. It introduces ways to guess
answers to questions that students don’t know how to solve. By doing
so it also gives students an idea of how the test is set up. There
are small drills on the Pocket Prep so that new concepts can be
enforced.
I was quickly frustrated with the device. But those interested in it
should keep in mind that I have never owned a Gameboy or video game
myself and the constant punching of buttons to scroll down bored me.
Other teens, more used to the technology, may enjoy it.
Not much information can fit on the approximately 2½-inch-by-3-inch
screen, so to view the next section of information, the user must be
almost constantly pressing the “next” button, which I found too
small. The section of the Pocket Prep that contains the text of the
book Cracking the New SAT 2005 Edition is frustrating. The section
is straight out of the book and sometimes says to refer to different
sections, which is difficult. For me, the book would be easier to
use.
Practicing Critical Reading passages using the Pocket Prep was
difficult, and I eventually gave up. It is hard to refer to passages
to answer questions when the entire section cannot fit on the
screen. The Pocket Prep has a “bookmark” function to make it easier
to view long sections, but it takes too long to use. When taking a
usual SAT test, students are told to write all over the test and
often flip back to critical reading sections to get the best scores.
The practice tests on the device cannot be written on (of course),
and it takes precious time to scroll through directions.
For drills, the device tells the user to think of the answer to
questions and then press the A button to see if the answer is
correct. To take the drills correctly, scrap paper must be used to
record answers. Paper must also be used to work out problems when
taking tests on the Pocket Prep. Some directions are confusing
because there are few buttons on the Pocket Prep, and they are used
in different ways for different sections.
The Pocket Prep is an interesting new addition to SAT studying
materials, and teen accustomed to playing with small digital devices
might find it useful. A book and pencil is my preferred study aide.
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