Features
9
Holt High School Ramparts
October 2011
Students look to save money on gas prices Recent price drops provide only temporary relief
Daniel Yu staff writer Gas prices in Michigan are back on the rise this month after dropping below $3 per gallon in early October, and students are using any tips and tricks they can to save money. Most students have to use their own money for gas, so gas prices can really affect how much they can drive. “I toned down driving a lot,” senior Jason Ziolkowski said. Ziolkowski has to pay for his own gas and does multiple odd jobs for money. “Hurts my wallet, but I’m gonna drive no matter what.” According to lansinggasprices.com, Admiral gas stations in the Lansing area are usually a spot to find low gas prices. Also the two Speedways on Cedar Street in South Lansing are usually less expensive than the Speedway on the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Bishop Road. since it is closer to the highway. “I go to Speedway because I have a Speedy Rewards Card and one gallon equals ten points, which I can redeem for prizes such as Cocacola,” senior Dean Emata said. Emata drives a 1990 Toyota Selica which only gets 20 mpg in the city, so saving money on gas is important to him. A tip Emata gives to manual
Photo by Daniel Yu
Despite dropping to $3 per gallon earlier this month, gas prices are on the rise again. Students are trying to keep the cost of driving as low as they can to save as much money as possible. drivers is to switch from second to fifth gear as soon as the car hits 20 mph. Driving with higher gears on a manual car make the engine work less and keep the rotations in the engine lower. Driving on low gears at high speeds or uphill wastes a significant amount of gas according to eartheasy.com.
“I use cruise control all the time,” junior Taylor Hamel said. Hamel spends $45 of his own money on gas per week, which is $180 a month. Cruise control helps keep a constant speed while driving and is best used when on long stretches of road on the highway. Avoid using cruise control in hilly areas because the car will work harder and try to maintain the speed while
going uphill according to fueleconomy.com According to a poll on Gasbuddy.com, the average amount of money that people spend on gas today is between $100 and $200 a month, but around 40 percent of drivers spend over $200 a month on gas. To pay for his gas, Hamel works at Panera Bread as a dish washer. Hamel’s tip for saving money is that racing and driving fast wastes a lot of gas, which is supported by Fueleconomy.gov. Fueleconomy.gov also has a section on its site dedicated on tricks to saving gas. One tip that anyone can use is to avoid running the engine while the car is parked for prolonged periods of time. Turning on a car only takes a few seconds worth of gas, but avoid turning the car on and off constantly because it will result in increased wear. “My daddy taught me about efficiency. He told me to turn off the car if I believe that the duration of what I am doing will take over thirty seconds. It saves minimal gas, but it all adds up,” Emata said. Abcnews.go.com reported that gas prices decreased because the U.S. has been tapping into the oil reserves, but these times will not last. Prices have risen almost a dollar since October 2010 and are predicted to rise into the $5 per gallon range in 2012. Some other tips to saving on gas are removing excess weight from the vehicle. An extra 100 pounds can reduce mpg by up to 2 percent. Also avoid aggressive driving. Driving smart and safely can increase mpg by 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent in the city.
New officer makes impact on HHS students Deputy Sheriff Brower brings police presence McKenna Glisson
staff writer Deputy Mary Brower may seem like an intimidating and scary police officer patrolling the hallways of HHS, but she’s a person just like everybody else and is trying to keep the school safe. Her official title is School Resource Officer. Her job is to keep the students in the district safe from any unwanted threats and takes care of the legal issues that involves students in our district. During the 2010-2011 school year the Sheriff ’s Office met with the school about placing an officer within the Holt Public Schools. It was discussed several years before but not to the extent it was last school year.
After discussions with the school district and Delhi Township, they saw the need for an officer in the schools. “She’s there to keep you guys safe and to deal with the legal part of it,” security guard Deb Watson said. Brower was one of four deputies that the Sheriff’s Office considered for the position. “I believe part of the reason that I was selected from the pool of deputies was my background with the Sheriff’s Office and education,” Brower said. Brower is currently in a Master’s Program at Spring Arbor University. Her field of study is Family Life Education. On October 25 she completed her program and will be graduating in May of 2012. The Sheriff’s Office is contracted by Delhi Township to patrol. The township also has a Community Policing Officer and Business Officer. Delhi Township and the school district contract with the Sheriff ’s Office to pay for her position.
Since the township has agreed to pay half of her contract, she also gets to attend special events, like kids days, Holt Hometown Days, the Delhi Christmas tree lighting and other events that the residents attend. Holt Public Schools isn’t the only school district that has police officers placed in their schools. East Lansing School District and Lansing School District also use school resource officers. Brower rotates between the high school to the elementary, junior high, and the middle schools. Her hours vary at any of the schools depending on the needs of the school at that time. Students from all over the district are wondering why she is here. “All in all, most students are very respectful and have adapted to seeing me,” Brower said. “My hope is to have a positive impact on the students. I would hope that if students have a problem they would feel comfortable to talk to me.”
Photo by McKenna Glisson
School Resource Officer Mary Brower talks to health teacher Elizabeth Graf’s class during second hour about the dangers of texting and driving.
Fast Facts • • • •
Graduated from Jackson High School in 1987 Attended Police Academy at Kalamazoo Community College Likes to bike in the summer and ski in the winter Likes to read, watch sports and spend time with her family, which includes her dog