Inklings
Volume 73 Issue 6 • Crown Point High School • 1500 S. Main Street Crown Point, IN 46307 • inklings@cps.k12.in.us
• Friday February 27, 2009
Tomorrow’s forecast High 31° Low 19°
Your cell phone and you
Saturday: Few snow showers
$10
What does your cell phone (and its condition) say about you? Match some popular teachers’ and students’ cell phones to their owners. page 8
From improv troupes to stand-up comics, CPHS is full of comedians who strive beyond being the class clown.
page 6
Com edy tonight
so you want to spend
000,000,000,000 (trillion)
With the economy still in a downward spiral, Congress approved the latest bail-out plan, bringing the total shelled out by the federal government to $10.8 trillion. But what does that mean for us?
When
the first economic bail-out package entitled the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was passed last October to the tune of $700 billion, headlines around the world screamed of the heretofore untold funds. That alone was more than the inflationadjusted cost of the entire 16-year Vietnam War, according to Bianco Research. That was also about $6.6 trillion ago. By Megan Binder / editor-in-chief With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan last week, the allocated funds for bail-out spending having now increased more than $6.6 trillion since TARP, according to CNN. Much of the money has been spent in efforts to save failing corporations and lending companies, like AIG and the Big Three auto companies. Add that to money allocated by the Federal Reserve to make loans, and a CNN running tally of economically related bills shows that $10.8 trillion has been made available to lawmakers to try and help save the economy. Yet while much of that money has gone to the largest corporations, the American
Recovery and Reinvestment plan is centered around the average American and job creation. “The stimulus plan’s main purpose is to create at least 3 million jobs over the next few years,” AP Microeconomics teacher Dan Hartman said. The plan’s price tag when it finally reached President Obama’s desk for signing was $825 billion. Obama and Congressional Democrats (who have a majority in both the House and Senate) have been seeking the passage of this plan even before Obama took office. “The bill actually passed very quickly, about 25 days after President Obama took office,” Hartman said. “The main sticking point [particularly with Republicans] was how much money to spend in the plan.”
How much is
1 trillion? • in dollars, every household in America could buy a $9500 car • ten times the number of stars in our galaxy
• $1 trillion in stacked quarters would stretch from Earth to the surface of the moon and back again...more than 8 times
Show me the money Where the latest stimulus package is headed Education:
Photo by Georgia Otte
For the average American, the $825 billion will be concentrated in six major ways. It allots for a doubling of alternative energy production in the next three years, modernizing and improving the energy efficiency of three-fourths of the federal buildings in the U.S. and two million American homes, computerizing medical records within the next five years, modernizing schools, expanding the broadband internet grid within the U.S., and investing in science and technology. “The problem is the middle class is shrinking. The plan will create new jobs for the middle class, while at the same time strengthen and rebuild the
nation’s infrastructure,” Hartman said. “It also addresses major issues that need to be fixed, like energy independence.” Whether or not the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan can rejuvenate the economy remains to be seen. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development showed last month that Indiana’s jobless rate had the highest jump in the nation. The Times reported that Northwest Indiana has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, second only to Los Angeles. The economic downturn has hit the area hard, with stores like Circuit City and Value City closing their doors forever.
• • •
$41 billion to local school districts $14 billion for a School Modernization program Up to $2500 tax credit for college education for students enrolled in 2009-10
Infrastructure: • •
$6 billion to enlarge the grid for broadband and wireless technology across the U.S. $1.1 billion for intercity rail construction to increase and improve passenger train use
Energy efficiency: • •
$300 million in consumer rebates to buy energy efficient appliances $6.2 billion for low-income families to reduce energy costs by weatherizing their homes
Students, families face tough economic times in the region By Megan Binder / editor-in-chief The economic woes that have plagued the country have made an impact here in Crown Point as well. A report made by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this month showed that Northwest Indiana had the second highest year-to-year increase in unemployment, behind only Los Angeles. For many students, the recession has affected both themselves and their families. “My dad had a business for a few years fixing and programming two-way radios and doing some work on sirens and lights for police cars and the fire department,” freshman Donella Casillas
said. “But now money is tight and he will have to close the business by the end of March. He can still do the work, but now he’ll have to do it from home.” Downsizing or moving to a less expensive workplace is a common theme for small businesses. Other businesses that rely on the more disposable income of their customers are suffering as well. “My dad has his own drywall company, but people haven’t been building much lately in the area,” freshman Brooke Reising said. “Business has been dying off since last summer, and though he’s been lowering prices it’s still getting harder.” The rapid rate of small business closings and job loss is what inspired most of the portions of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan just passed in Congress. The Plan budgets for at least six major investment projects for the country, particularly modernizing government buildings to promote energy efficiency, doubling alternative energy production within the next few years, and epxanding the internet and technology grid in the U.S. The Plan will hopefully create 3 million new jobs. But for those who have already been hit by the recession, it may not be enough to set things back to normal. “The stimulus package probably won’t stop my dad from having to close his business in March,” Casillas said. While the recession has hurt
entire families, working students have seen the affects of the crisis as well. “I worked at Urban Behavior, a clothing store in the mall,” senior Ali Martin said. “But after the entire chain went out of business we had to close our doors on Aug. 31 of last year.” Martin, like so many others, found herself out of a job. She said it took her about another month to find work at another store. “I applied all over town and at the mall, but it took a while before anyone got back to me,” Martin said. “Now I’m back in a clothing store [Max Rave].” Martin said that working in a retail environment has given her a unique perspective on how the economy has affected people.
“It’s amazing how angry some people will get over prices,” Martin said. “We recently had a clearance sale, and I was ringing up this woman’s items. When she found out that one shirt was $4.99 instead of $2.99, she refused to buy it. Still, [Max Rave] is pretty resonably priced compared to stores like Hollister, so our business hasn’t dropped as much as others.” Some students and their families have found creative ways to deal with the recession and still make money. “My dad has been DJ-ing since I was a kid,” Casillas said. “Now sometimes I’ll come with him and we do it together. It’s a lot of fun, and we do make a little extra money at it.”