Panther Press Strath Haven High School November 2011 HAVEN HAPPENINGS Bringing Back Relay For Life! page 3 By David Lai, ‘12 & Ashley Hoyle, ‘14 henna tattoo services. Attendees stayed resumed and the snack bar’s famous – or Turn to the Haven Happenings Staff Writers active and warm with Dina Dormer’s perhaps infamous – Ms. Gaur enticed the kickboxing class, the flag football tourna- Relayers with steaming cups of hot choco- section to hear about anything Each year, 863,950 Americans ment and relay races. People gathered late and 1 buck dinners (a hotdog, drink, and everything related to our will be diagnosed with cancer. Chances to watch the hilarious pie eating contest and candy…for $1! Who could resist??). school! Ian Anderson shares are, you may know one of those people. (congratulations to the winner, Alex Her best business pitch of the night was an exclusive interview with the Of those people, 569,490 will die. On No- Hu!), video game tournaments, hypnotist “You see Nico [Mesyngier] and David Panther mascot, Holly Buhler vember 5, 2011, the Wallingford-Swarth- and Quizzo show. With all the activities [Lai] do the Bernie?! You give me dollar more School District valiantly fought to and competitions, there was never a dull for food!” It still doesn’t make sense to us, reviews spirit week and home- bring that number down. moment. A huge thanks to Liz Walk and but her charming accent won the hearts coming, and Tyler Gallagher SHHS graciously hosted a James Haxton for their fantastic work as (and stomachs) of the Relayers every time. spotlights one of Strath Haven’s twelve-hour Relay for Life in honor of activities co-chairs. (We love you Ms. Gaur!) newest clubs, The Birthday Club! the cancer victim we all love and miss: At 7:30PM, all activities stopped Whether people came for a min- Diane McCormick. Teams from the school and Relayers gathered around the stage ute or for the entire twelve hours, each and DETOURS district joined up to raise money for the for an incredibly touching Luminaria every person had something to be proud page 5 American Cancer Society (ACS) and the ceremony. Mr. Rothenbach and Mr. Bab- of. Though Relay did not reach its former Diane McCormick Scholarship Fund. cock, two of Haven’s very own survivors, 6-digit mark, the event more than doubled In Detours, Anna Jaoudi covers Through the hard work of the Relay com- shared their experiences and wisdom with its original goal of $20,000. It was a the loss of one of technologies biggest figures, Steve Jobs. Liter- ary expert Christian Belanger reviews the book Wolf Hall and Dylan Van Duyne discusses the WES construction project with principal Dr. Ellen Milgrim. Puzzle master Ian Everbach is here once again with a new crossword! A & E page 7 Turn to the Arts & Entertain- ment section to hear all about 11/11/11, otherwise known as National Metal Day. John Kop- Participants run in the relay races, one of the many activities that took place at Relay for Life! Image courtesy of Susan Spina. sick delves into the most recent coffee house. Tyler Gallagher mittee over $41,000 (donations are still the entranced crowd. After their speeches, fantastic surprise to see such passionate has two favorite things: Parks coming in after the event) was raised for Relayers walked a lap in silence around support for the event – new format and all. the ACS and over $2,100 for the scholar- the dark track – observing the lit Luminar- On November 5th, in just 12 hours, the and Recreation and the Wu-Tang ship fund. ia which lined the track. Each Luminaria WSSD community proved that it is indeed Clan. Turn to page 8 to hear his It was a beautifully coordinated bag, dedicated to a loved one, burned possible to give over 110%, if not more. thoughts! event; everyone enjoyed the Boing! ob- brightly in the dark for a very special mo- stacle course, Team Hope’s face paintings, ment. and Lela Meunier & Emily Benenhaley’s After the ceremony, activities OPINIONS page 9 The Impact of the Economy on SHHS Junior Chad Maguire compares some of the best diners around. Students Josh Kauffman discusses the By Nick Shields, ‘12 these jobs, it puts even more pressure on foremost factors in deciding which college newest eco-friendly cars, the Staff Writer finding work. Many SHHS students have or university to attend. But with invest- Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. struggled to find even part time work to ment portfolios tanking across the board, Cheese Master Kirsten Wise is Ever since the stock market give them a little extra spending money on SHHS students and their parents have had collapsed in the fall of 2008 the global back with another cheese cor- weekends. to reconsider their plans for furthering an economy has been in tatters. The result- Speaking of extra spending ner column, and check out the education. Many families are considering ing recession has affected the majority money, students at SHHS and across the cheaper state colleges and universities as Haven Art section! of Americans, rich and poor, black and country have had less and less of it since alternatives to private colleges and uni- white, male and female. There are very the beginning of the recession. With fewer versities that often sticker price at north of few Americans who haven’t been affected part time work opportunities available, $50,000 per year. And while these schools PORTS by the “Great Recession”; although some disposable income among high school often offer generous financial aid pack- S high school students watch the news and and college students is down dramatically. ages, state schools such as West Chester, page 11 continue to believe that the economy has Students have not enjoyed themselves Penn State, and the University of Pitts- no impact on them, many Strath Haven Do you like college basket- through the lavish purchases or expensive burgh are becoming more appealing op- students are feeling the pains of the reces- nights out that they once had. The students ball? Well, Kyle Floyd has you tions for SHHS students. As Senior Mike sion. at Strath Haven are not immune from this, Henderson remarked, “It (the economy) covered. Turn to page 11 for a Most Strath Haven students have as across the board SHHS students have made me decline MIT’s generous invita- complete preview. Sophomore had some type of job by the time they seen their disposable income dip. Senior tion to attend their prestigious university.” Samantha Snyder talks about leave to enter the world as adults. By the Grace Magerr says that “I have had less As the weakest economy in our, time they turn eighteen, nearly 65% of another obscure sport, bog money to spend on nail polish.” and our parents’ lifetime has set in, the re- American teens have already had a payroll As a senior going through the snorkeling. This combination ality for families across America has been job. With the unemployment rate still college admissions process, I think that tough. In many cases students have had to of swimming and snorkeling hovering at around 9%, companies are I can speak for the entire senior class take a job just to support their respective is pretty unique...And for your reluctant to hire. In addition, with many headed onto higher education when I say families. This recession is clearly one in complete coverage of Haven’s fall adults also out of their jobs, older, more that the application-process by itself is a which high school students are not im- experienced workers look to take a tem- sports seasons, check out Junior significant investment, not even factoring mune from, as students continue to suffer porary, part time job while they search for in the cost of tuition, books, and housing. is all sorts of ways. Billy Ripley’s article on page 12! work. Since young people typically hold Students’ financial situation is one of the November 2011 Editors’ Page Page 2 The Leditor By Aaron Jacobs, ‘13 I think that an overwhelming majority of Aside from election day, which, Panther Press Staff people love Thanksgiving because of its depending on the year either brings reac- Editor-in-Chief consistency. I mean, people don’t fret over tions like, “What election day?” or “OMG November 2011 whether they’ll like the food because it’s ELECTION DAY!” November is also the same the time for -Editor-in-Chief- items ev- Black Friday, Aaron Jacobs ery year! the shopping For most, equivalent of -Editors- there will storming the Charlotte Jenkins be turkey, beaches of Milena Williamson mashed Normandy on Vidya Venkatesh potatoes, D-Day. If you Abby Lowe stuffing, enjoy waking Dan Ziring and pie, up obscenely and peo- early and hav- -Staff Writers and Columnists- ple like it ing to deal David Lai that way. with immense Ashley Hoyle With all of crowds, con- Nick Shields the unpre- gratulations, Holly Buhler dictable you saved Ian Anderson things some money! Nicholas Diefenbach that go I think that Jack Heummler on today, I’ll sleep late, Anna Jaoudi it’s nice turn on the Andrew Lombard Editor-in-Chief Jacobs to have song “Black Christian Belanger something Friday” by Dylan Van Duyne When I think of the month of that we Steely Dan, Ian Everbach November, Thanksgiving immediately as Ameri- and avoid go- Jill Troutman comes to mind. Every year, millions of cans can ing within a Cassandra Kyriazis Americans gather with friends and family count one mile radi- Tomer Stern to celebrate a successful harvest, and ac- on.