HiLite Nov. 6 Issue

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(I,ITE . . . CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL

inside the issue • Everything you need to know about this year’s Quidditch tournament, Page 2 • Indepth on the economy, Page 3 • Men’s and women’s cross-country win State, Page 8 • Health risks of self-piercing, B1

Acumen For a look back through the decades, check out our supplement. Section C

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520 E. Main Street

Carmel, IN 46032

Volume 54, Issue 5

November 6, 2008

At iss u e : The econom y

Old habits die hard $4

Gas prices by the numbers Here are the fluctuations in gas prices in just the last few months.

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U.S. Department of Energy / source

October 2008

June 2007

As gas prices drop, students fall back into old routines Matt kanitra / graphic

shirley chen / photo

PUMPING GAS: Sophomore Christine

Hutchison pumps gas at a local gas station. While gas prices may be low, it may be more beneficial for students to curb their oil consumption.

by lauren burdick lburdick@hilite.org

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lthough according to Dave Bardos, social studies department chairperson, gas prices will not affect students until “high school parking lots are empty and buses are full,” many students here are already taking to sharing rides to reduce the burden on their wallets or their parents’ wallets. “My mom is the one who told me to carpool; it saves gas because we switch off every day,” junior Shelby Zeller said. She has carpooled since the second week of school with her good friend, senior Chrissy Steffen. Zeller began driving when she got a parking pass and her mom suggested taking Steffen along. According to gasbuddy.com, the past five years has seen jarring changes in the prices of gasoline. From $1.43 per gallon in December of 2004 to $2.82 per gallon on Oct. 21, 2008 and as high as $4.12 in July of this year, the price to pump has ebbed and flowed through the nation and, according to experts, will continue to do so. As such, many students have begun to take. “You have too many emerging economies in the world where just the increase in number of

automobiles is increasing the demand for gas,” AP Economics teacher Dan Bates said. Countries like China and India are just beginning to tap into a high fuel demand, making the supply and demand of gas frequently change. However, as gas stations recently reflected a drop in the price of a barrel of oil, old habits die hard. According to Bardos, many quickly reverted to their ways of living before the price of gas increased. “I think first of all it (the drop in gas prices) reflected a slowdown in the economy, so market pressure was such that prices had to go down to a degree. As prices come down, we see people start traveling more,” Bardos said. Bates echoed this sentiment. During the increase in prices, people were just beginning to adjust, and as soon as prices drop, people have a tendency to fall back to old ways,” Bates said. “A lot of my friends aren’t getting affected,” Zeller said. This reflects the attitudes of many at this school who seem unaffected by the rising cost of fueling their cars. Some, however, are taking a different approach. As the prices continue to change, it is up to students to grapple with the costs of fuel and both the benefits and detriments of driving to

Economy Simplified Forget all the talk about equity. The HiLite puts the economic crisis in easier words. by steven chen stevenchen@hilite.org As the U.S. economy continues to falter, several questions loom large for students. What is happening? How is this affecting us? And finally, what are the possible solutions?

What is happening?

Economics teacher Dan Bates said many of the economic problems stem from other problems. “As (the economy) feeds on itself and as there’s no money to borrow right now, people just can’t borrow money. And if businesses can’t borrow money, then they can’t build new factories, they can’t buy a new fleet of trucks, they can’t buy machines and tools, and so they won’t hire the people that they need to go with. And, in fact, they’ll start laying people off, and as they lay people off, less money’s being spent and then things shut down even more,” he said. Junior Vince Reuter also said this is the case. Reuter said that the poor choices of a lot of financial institutions have led to the present status that has been brewing for a few years. According to Bates, the economy has entered a “domino effect,” but these dominoes, instead of being in a straight line, are shaped in a circular fashion. Bates said there are several sectors in which signs of the

SEE economy ON PAGE 3

SEE GAS PRICES ON PAGE 3

Performing arts department to work with Building Tomorrow

know and tell

This school’s per for ming ar ts department will soon embark on its first ever service project. The charity, called Building Tomorrow, works to construct primar y schools in Uganda. The organization plans to construct a school to be used mainly for performing arts and asked this school’s performing arts department for help in raising the money. According to Richard Saucedo, performing arts department chairperson, Music Crossroads, an organization that promotes advocacy in musical events, put the school’s per forming ar ts depar tment in contact with Building Tomorrow. “Our students are expected

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to do better and always win at competitions, but this is going to give them a different kind of finish line,” Saucedo said. “It was a big compliment to be approached by this organization,” Tessa Wilkerson, performing arts student and junior, said, “because Building Tomorrow usually works with colleges and univerisites for these types of service projects.” The department plans to set up a leadership team from all areas of the department, and there is already a long list of students who want to be on the team. “We need to raise about $60,000 for the school,” Wilkerson said, “so all the revenue from the record will go toward that.” A major fundraising item the

The on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of pickle types the company once had

performing arts department will be focusing on is a recording project that will ultimately become a CD / DVD that will be on sale in what is anticipated to be in the early spring, as well as other fundraising projects, according to Saucedo and Wilkerson. Saucedo also said that around the time the recording project is up for sale is when students outside the department will really begin to see the effects of the service project. Preliminary tasks have been and are being accomplished, and the department will be ready to go in early December. While the primar y goal of course is to bring a new school to the children in Uganda, the department as a whole will benefit from this project as well, according

to Wilkerson. “People in this depar tment usually split into whatever group they’r e a par t of,” W ilkerson said, “but this ser vice project is department-wide. Orchestra, band, choir, drama, everyone’s going to be involved. I think it’s really going to unify the department.” Saucedo said he believes that both the children in Uganda and the students here will experience the benefits. “Uganda is cuturally ver y music based, and it brings joy to the people there. Now (the performing arts department) can give the children that experience with this school. We can show that music is universal, whether it’s in a Ugandan war zone or Carmel; we can coexist and work together.”

percent of the world’s garbage Americans are responsible for every year

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1830s decade until Ketchup was sold as medicine

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APRIL 2006: Meeting Point Kampala

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MAY 2008: BT Academy of Bembe

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OCTOBER 2008: BT Academy of Buwasa

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percentage of all U.S. prisoners who are in prison on drug offenses

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A Role Models Paul Rudd, Seann William A Scott

JUNE 2008: BT Academy of Kiyamba (construction begins) OCTOBER 2008: BT Academy of Gita (construction begins) Buildingtomorrow.org / source

go online

The Counterfeiters directed Stefan Ruzowitzky

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dollars (approximately) is the value of the chemicals in a human body if sold separately

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For the complete reviews, see pages B3 and B4.

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That’s pounds of trash per per person every day

‘Building tomorrow’ schools

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Taiwan Tea House 4040 E. 82nd Street

W. starring Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss A A

As always, you can find the latest reviews on the most popular movies, CDs, restaurants and books online.

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by Beverly jenkins bjenkins@hilite.org


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