The Falconaire volume 53- issue 6- April 2015 One Norman J. Field Way Tinton Falls, NJ 07724 www.mrhsfalconaire.com It’s Magical! Relay For Life 2015 By Crista DeAngelis ‘15 and Gianna Bellomo ‘15 Staff Writers Do you like knowing that you’ve helped made a difference? Well, Relay for Life is the event for you! This event allows the MRHS surrounding community to come together to help fight the awful disease we know as cancer. Relay for Life is a fundraising event held here at MRHS and many other places to help raise money to fight against cancer. According to relayforlife.org, “Each person who shares the Relay for Life experience can take pride in knowing that they are working to create a world where this disease will no longer threaten our loved ones or rob anyone of another birthday”. Relay for Life consists of separate teams who raise money through various fundraisers to support the fight against cancer. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. It is an all night event where people partake in activities and walk around the track all through the night. Also at the event there is a survivors lap, luminaria ceremony, and a fight back ceremony. Hailee Kissane has participated in this event for the past two years, supporting her best friend Hannah Duffy who passed away after battling brain cancer in September 2013. Hailee said “Relay for Life is a great experience for all my friends to get together for a great cause!” MRHS organizer Ms. DelloRusso said that this year’s theme will be Disney! She said the goal for this year is to increase the registered participants by 19%, to have about 23% more teams to register and to raise money about 10% more than last year. Photos by Wikipedia Come out to help Monmouth Regional reach their goals and fight against cancer May 8th and 9th. Out With the Old, In With the New Artificial Intelligence New Scheduling System Will Robots Take Over Society? By Shannon Kelley ‘15 By Nicole Margiloff ‘15 and Pooja Shah ‘15 Staff Writer Webmaster and Co-Editor in Chief Do you believe in “The Terminator”? Because robots are becoming While seniors are comparing and debating their futures in college, the military, or the real-world, more and more advanced in many countries. underclassmen are preparing their upcoming school year schedule. According to a Stanford University study, technology is outpac- Deciding which courses to take each year is a substantially important task for each student. Not ing economical growth and social systems are under pressure. Japan only do students need to take in consideration the high school graduation requirements and college is the biggest producer of robots in the world due to their high life required classes, but they must consider taking classes they will enjoy and succeed in as well. expectancy. Nurse robots are being placed into Japanese hospitals since Monmouth Regional High School is able to provide teens with a variety of electives and challeng- there are simply not enough people to take care of the elderly or sick ing classes. From academic electives like Sociology and AP Economics to electives such as Foods patients. and Interior Design, students are able to express their passions and dive into new things, all while In a Fox News article, a Japanese research institute called Riken has learning in the company of their own school. MRHS sophomore Kameryn Richardson said Mon- developed a nurse robot named ‘Robear’. It is able to lift a patient up to mouth Regional’s scale of classes, from C to AP and everything in between, allows each student to 135 pounds from any position and is trained to “exert force in a gentle find their appropriate learning pace and adapt those classes to their schedules accordingly. way.” It resembles a giant bear and meant to calm patients. Toshiharu Recently, the process of making the following year’s schedule has changed. The new changes are Mukai, head of research told Fox that this will lead to “advances in receiving mixed feelings from students. nursing care” since nurses will no longer have to lift patients or do In previous years, students would meet with their guidance counselor in the PAC hall. They were strenuous work. encouraged to already have preselected classes in mind and a back up class, in case the schedule Stanford says that nurse robots only have the ability to answer yes could not work. Many times, there were scheduling problems due to classes exceeding the intended and no; and cannot participate in meta ethical reasoning. Robots can- capacity. not think, therefore they make decisions no matter what the situation MRHS Director of Guidance Mrs. Kelly said there were no problems with the previous schedul- is (no common sense). ing process; however the guidance department decided to change things up after several years of the A robot created by another company ‘Kokoro’ is called Actroid-F same scheduling routine. and was made to look like a young Japanese woman. The “woman” can This year, students log on to Genesis to create the upcoming year’s schedule with their parents. move its eyebrows, eyes, mouth and head and interacts very well with Students could create their schedule from March 9 through April 24. However, students are limited other humans. Many Japanese facilities are hiring these robots to work to take the classes they are recommended for. as receptionists and surveyors. The guidance department created a video, which was shown in homeroom on March 6th, to help In a Newsweek.com article, Germany is trying to start the “fourth students understand how to use Genesis to make their schedule. For those who would like to view industrial revolution” among engineers and academics. They are the video again or had a hard time seeing it projected on the televisions in homeroom, the video is working to achieve networks in factories that communicate with the on the Monmouth Regional website, located under departments > guidance. As for any unanswered products being produced and with the other machines. Such as the car questions from the video, students should fill out a guidance slip and talk to their respective coun- being produced telling the machine to paint it a specific color. selor. Mr. Buckuwitz, robotics teacher at MRHS said he believes that MRHS junior Keith Egan said the new procedure seems easier. But despite the new at-home robots should be used for hazardous jobs such as using a robotic arm aspect of scheduling, Egan says students should still consult their counselors. to put paint on cars. “I do MRHS junior Kelly Soder said the process explained in the video seems confusing and very not believe that they should frustrating. replace people due to payroll Kameryn Richardson said cost,” he said. it seems like there were good Students in the robotics intentions in the change, to make class build all sorts of robots. scheduling more student centered; These include bumper cars, however she said the new schedul- a cannon on wheels and a ing process is very confusing. She dancing robot that resembles said she wishes it was explained Wall-E. They are working more thoroughly and more than on a delivery system robot once. that will follow a black track Kelly Soder said she also on the ground to the child feels she is “locked “into all the development room that will recommendations teachers have deliver diplomas to the little made for their students and kids. the new system gives her fewer In the United States, scien- choices. tists are working on a nurse Mrs. Kelly said in order to change a class a teacher has recommended, students submit a request robot called ‘Pearl’. This robot for their desired class in Genesis. has an Autominder tool; this Once their guidance counselors see the student’s request, the student will be called down to includes a plan manager, cli- discuss the changes with their counselor. She said regardless of the new format, the process is more ent modeler and a personal engaging than in the past. Mrs. Kelly also said elective recommendations are not locked settings; cognitive orthotic. This robot students are able to make changes based on their interests. will make decisions due to With the new procedure, students will not receive a hard copy immediately after making the how accurate the person is This is the Actroid F Robot schedule like they have in the past. Final schedules will be available over the summer. with holding appointments. Photo by Wikipedia The Falconaire Page 2 April 2015 A Publication of OPINIONS Monmouth Regional High School Park the PARCC Co-Editors in Chief Samara Coleman & Pooja Shah Editorial Advisor According to the New Jersey Depart- appalled at the difficulty and nature of Sophomore Jaydah Diaz said, “It was a Dawn Collett ment of Education, “The Partnership for them. MRHS junior JD Glassman said, “It pointless waste of time because it felt like Assessment of Readiness for College and was very difficult; the open ended ques- they just set you up to fail and no one takes Opinons Editor Careers (PARCC) is a consortium [col- tions were unclear as to of what they want- it seriously.” James Grissman laboration] of states that collaboratively ed…the questions weren’t really relevant.” Sophomore Julianna Ingram also felt News Editor developed a common set of assessments to Sophomore Julianna Ingram felt her time was wasted saying, “It’s stupid! Paula Popok measure student achievement and pre- overwhelmed by the process and found They give you 75 minutes for 15 questions paredness for college and careers.” To the that “the auditory section was hard to and an essay, most people finished in 20 Reviews Editor Haley Pszeniczny naked eye, the purpose of this test is well understand and really impractical.” Her minutes.” intentioned; however, these tests aren’t af- classmate, sophomore Ezghi Phelan, said Faculty members were also strongly Features Editor fecting the schools, students, and faculty as she had to replay it about 10 times just to affected by the time commitment the test Rachael Febo positively as hoped.