Scots go mad for March Madness! See page 15 for details
LOOK INSIDE:
ADHD/ADD special feature See pages 4 & 5 for details
The Highlander Carlmont High School Newspaper Volume II, Issue 6, March 2011 See us online at http://scotscoop.com
Budget cuts to affect Carlmont By Connor Moore Staff Writer
This year, Carlmont, along with neighbor schools in the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD), are being chopped down in size due to some serious budgeting problems. They have spent over their projected budget by an approximate $3.4 million and are in deep economic waters. Much has been said across the United States on the immense budget cuts and reforms by school systems everywhere as they combat the status of the economy in order to stay afloat in recent times, and the coming of the 2011-12 year may warrant deeper cuts. As attaining a firm foothold on the slippery slopes of our current economy gets more difficult each day, the district seems to have established
an idea of exactly what needs to be done to manage its problems. Given the current infrastructure, the school board found that around $4.5 million must be cut in order to get by. Cuts of that magnitude would mean reductions in spending of more than just removing a program or two, but rather an immense number of layoffs of teachers and a few administrators. The cuts amount to a reduction of spending of around $700-$800 per student. Cuts to the amount spent on students every year means removals, reductions or cuts in the classroom or to other school programs. Any thoughts on expansion or establishing new programs may not be a reality for some time. The key to whether or not said cuts, given this current infrastructure, are
Loud music...
“The school board found that around $4.5 million would be cut in order to get by”
AP/MCT
Continued on page 13
Gov. Jerry Brown
Photo by Gianna Dimick
more than meets the By Steven Tsujisaka Online Editor Students use mp3 players every day, but many don’t realize that listening to music at high volumes may present a risk of premature hearing problems. Teenagers enjoy loud music because if they crank up the volume they can listen to their favorite songs more clearly, hearing every note and beat. Some feel that listening to their music loudly is a form of self-ex-
pression. Playing loud music for others to hear clearly expresses one’s music taste to the world. One brand of headphones that has become popular among teenagers is Monster’s Beats by Dr. Dre. Michael Yih, a junior student who owns a pair of the Beats headphones, believes they’re popular because, “I feel like I can hear the beats. If I play [the music] loud enough, I can block out the outside noise.” In recent years, portable music
52%
of students polled admitted to listening to their music at or above 70% volume
Sadie Hawkins dance returns By Erica Valbusa Staff Writer
The month of February kept male Carlmont students anticipating an invitation to the first Sadie Hawkins dance in eight years. In contrast to a typical dance, a Sadie Hawkins dance is where the girls ask the boys out. “I think it was cool that the girls had to ask the guys because now they know what it feels
like,” commented Alex Netto. “I think it’s really cute and doesn’t stick to the status-quo,” agreed ASB member Kelsey Morgan. The name of the dance originated from a character named Sadie Hawkins in a comic strip called Li’l Abner, created by cartoonist Al Capp. In the comic, Sadie Hawkins grew tired of waiting for a man to court her, so her father announced that there would be a
foot race in which the unmarried girls chased after the bachelors of the town and marry the men who they caught. This was known as the first annual Sadie Hawkins Day. In addition to the girls asking the guys, the Sadie Hawkins dance gave students and their dates the chance to dress up in funny costumes. Some of the costumes spotted at the dance
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EAR
Art by Curtis Fan
players have sparked concern that they contribute to hearing loss, since many people use earphones that project the sound directly into their ears. Studies conducted by Cory Portnuff, an audiologist at University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital in Boston, show that not only teenagers play music louder than adults, but they are also unaware of how loud they’re playing it. Portnuff’s
Continued on page 13 Listening to music at 110 to 120 decibels can cause hearing damage in less than an hour and a half One in every ten Americans suffer from hearing loss