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neWs
february 2009
NEWS BRIEFS 2008-2009 Yearbook The deadline for yearbooks has been extended until February 13, 2009. The cost is $80.00, please contact Mr. Pagano or Mr. Segers if you have any questions.
Class Dues The last day for Junior class dues is February 12, 2009.
Course Selection Attention all underclassmen, course selection will take place February 9, 2009. Keep an eye out for all of the new and exciting classes being offered at NHS.
Recycling Thank you to all the students and staff who have helped make NHS a little greener by using the new recycling bins in each classroom. The only complaint to be made is please discard the bottle caps in the trash before any kind of bottle is recycled.
Report Cards Report Cards will be distributed to students on February 5, 2009.
Snowflake The Sophomore holiday dance, Snowflake, will take place February 27, 2009 at seven oclock. The dance will be held at the local Norwalk Inn.
economic Crisis Hits norwalk High
Molly Young ’09
Thank you to all of the students and staff who bought Valentine’s Day Ads for the Paw Print and we hope that everyone enjoys their Valentine’s Day on February 14.
Winter Break The well awaited winter break will take place February 16- February 20, 2009. Have a fun and safe vacation.
“The economy is going through a rough patch and everyone will be affected.” -Principal, Leonard Mecca
Staff Writer Each American will have to tighten their belts in order to get through the economic hardships, and Norwalk High School’s budget will be affected as well. As a public school, NHS already has a tight budget, but with the economy worsening, the budget is getting tighter. “Because the economy is in the tank, I can’t complain.” Patrick O’Shaughnessy, NHS Social Studies Dept. Chair said. “We all have to learn to do with less,” O’Shaughnessy continued. The Social Studies Department’s budget is not the only area in the school affected; the library is preparing to deal with the cuts. “The money situation will get worse, library always first to get cuts,” said librarian Mrs. Daniels, PhD. Mrs. Daniels, PhD, explained that there will be no money to buy new and innovative resources for the library such as research databases. NHS principal Leonard Mecca’s, outlook was not much brighter than the library’s. “The Board of Education has already said there will be no increases in the budget,” Mecca said. “The economy is going through a rough patch and everyone will be affected,” he continued. The superintendent, Salvatore Corda, is struggling with this year’s budget because of the unstable economy. “I want to be clear -- there will be an impact on our schools,” said Corda at a recent board of education meeting.
Corda has communicated the budget problems to the community at meetings and via email. “We prepared a budget that carries an increase of 3.4% and it was prepared as much for creating the lowest possible increase as it was for sustaining and enhancing our educational programs. I found myself in the position of making budget reductions, not for sound educational reasons, but because it was necessary to develop a budget that acknowledged the dire straits in which we find ourselves.” He concluded the message sent out to the community noting that he knew, “This is a gloom and doom message but I want to keep you informed about the state of our financial picture. We shall keep you posted as the budget proccess progresses.” No one is positive about how devastating these cuts will be, but Norwalk Public Schools are going to have to learn to decrease spending.
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NORWALK PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGET 2009-2010 CUTS Secretarial Staff Dean of Students Teacher Aids Custodial Services
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Clerrical Support Assistant Principals in elementary school
getting money for Just being you Jeff desimone ’09 Feature Editor Have any unusual habits or hobbies that you never thought would be worth anything to others? With the present economic environment being a tough time for the college investment, there are unusual scholarships out there that could be calling your name. By simply Googling “unusual scholarships” or “rare scholarships,” one can find an array of different scholarships that may seem unbelievable. To give you an idea of how odd some of these are, here are a few that stick out. Duck Brand Duct Tape Stuck at Prom Contest is a scholarship of students who wear an outfit or accessories made our of duct tape to their Senior Prom. The first place winner will receive a 3,000 dollar scholarship. The National Marbles Tournament Scholarship awards 2,000 dollars to the winner of a marble shooting
tournament and a 1,000 dollar sportsmanship scholarship. If hobbies or habits are not your thing, do not lose hope.There are scholarships given out if you are above or below what is considered average height. The Little People of America Scholarship awards a scholarship to a student under 4’10” and The Tall Clubs International Scholarship awards one to a female over 5’10” or a male over 6’2”. Courtney Ellis (‘09), proved she was unaware of the financial assistance that are at her reach. “That’s crazy, I had no idea about the kind of scholarships there are out there. I wish I knew about all of them,” she exclaimed. The list just goes on and on, so if you are interested in some scholarships that are not very well-known that you fir the bill for, here are a few websites to look into. The website is www.finaid.org, www.scholarships. com, and www.financialfinder.com. Students should be sure to check them out, because what is better than free money?
The Israeli Palestinian Conflict Molly Young ’09 Peer Editor
Valentine’s Day
THE PAW PRINT
In a tiny rectangle along the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Israel and Egypt, intense violence has been occurring for the past few weeks. This rectangle is called the Gaza Strip and the tension here began many years ago amongst the Israelis and Palestinians. For centuries, conflict between these two countries did not exist. Palestinian population was eighty-six percent Muslim, ten percent Christian and four percent Jewish; and all lived in peace. “The state of war between the Jews and Palestinians has not always existed,” explained the New York Times recently. This all changed in the 1800s, when a group of Zionists began to move to this land. Zionists are a minority of the Jewish population and want nothing else than to build a Jewish homeland. When the Zionists first moved there was still no conflict, but as more and more moved in, they wanted to convert the land to a Jewish state. Fighting broke out and with that, the conflict began. In 1947, The United Nations decided to step into this mess. The final decision was to give the Zionists fiftyfive percent of Palestinian land to create a Jewish state,
even though their population only equaled about thirty percent. Since then, war has erupted frequently, there was a war from 1947-1949 and a six-year war in 1967. Each of the wars allowed Israel to gain more land. Palestine was split because of Israel’s success in these wars. Today, the conflict is escalating daily because there is a need for a peace statement. Those who used to live in Gaza before Israel are now refugees and do not have a country to call their own. One refugee, Sameh Zakout, explained, “I think it’s wrong. But we will never forget what happened to us.” In today’s Palestine, the government is ruled by the Hamas, whose main mission is to destroy Israel and continue attacking Israeli soldiers and civilians. Yet, they are experiencing many more casualties because their army is extremely inexperienced compared to the Israeli army. The next step is to create a peace treaty for both sides, “The UN general assembly will consider requesting an advisory opinion from the international court of justice,” reported, Afua Hirsch of The Guardian. The civilians from both sides are hoping for peace, and hoping it comes soon. A cease fire was declared by Israel on January 20th, but this conflict is far from over.