Today in the west end, Mike Noftz scattered 5 hits to lead the Eagles to a 13-3 1st round win over Langley. Dan Wimer hit a tape measure triple that knocked in three runs and Joel Akrie’s double scored three more to pace the offense.

Next up, Brashear, the team that has been arguably the city’s best throughout the year, and a team that has lost the last three city finals. Mr.Kocur knows that this is a difficult match-up but remains positive. ” We have a nice team that is maturing. Brashear is a real challenge, but our kids will battle, I promise you that.”

The game will be played on Monday at 12:15 at Herb Field in Ross Township.

The team had to defeat Carrick for the first round of the tournament. They went up 6-1 and forced Carrick to take a time out. With good serves by Rondell Harris and all around good play by all starters, they ended up winning the first round 25-10. The second set came around and Obama seemed like a new team, that is, in a bad sense. They were making small mistakes which allowed Carrick to keep it tied for about five points but then Obama took over. Even with Jonah Raether’s elbow injury, Obama was able to sweep Carrick. Meanwhile, in the other gym, Allderdice beat Brashear which meant that Obama would play Allderdice in the winners’ bracket and Carrick and Brashear would battle it out in the losers’ bracket.

The benches of Obama and Allderdice were going wild for the start of the game. Sadly, Allderdice ended up being louder as they had the 8-3 lead whenever Coach Vitti took a time out. There were many mistakes by Obama and they were down 11-24 at one point in the game. When the second game started, there seemed to be a change in the play of Obama. With a lot less mistakes made, they forced Allderdice to take a time out. Even though they were behind for a point at the score of 10-11, they ended up taking the lead on errors by ‘Dice. By only a two point margin, Obama won 25-23 on a kill by Sadik Roberts. In the third match, Obama came out looking good. With good serves by Sadik they were able to win it 15-8 and move on to the championships.

The loser’s bracket was then set with Allderdice and Brashear. Allderdice won that much in a closely competed game. Obama took a four point lead early in the game due to good spikes by Tobias and Sadik. With the game at one point 16-15 in favor of Obama, they turned up the heat and went on a big rally and ended up winning game one by a margin of 8 points. The second set didn’t look so good. Allderdice took the first three points on errors made by both teams. Obama was up 18-15 at one point in the game but Allderdice started to rally and made it 18-19, in favor of ‘Dice. On another kill by Sadik, the game was tied 20-20. Whenever Obama was up by two points, Allderdice called a time out and Obama took the last three points of the game to win 25-23.

This was the first volleyball championship under the name ‘Obama’ but really, the legacy of Schenley volleyball under Coach Vitti goes back another 6 years….in a row. This was number 7.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Many people don’t realize how much help Haiti needs. It may be hard to believe, but at one point Haiti was one of the richest countries in the world. Christopher Columbus actually landed on the Hispaniola, the island Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, before he landed in America. The Spaniards then, colonized Haiti and it became a very prosperous place, until a long line of dictators took over.

Two years ago a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Not only did this affect Port-au-Prince, but it hurt all of Haiti. The airport, which is located in the capital, got destroyed so any goods that were imported from other countries couldn’t enter Haiti. It then became hard for any supplies to get in and lots of people were dead, were injured or went missing. A large percentage of the Haitians in Port-au-Prince had to find shelter in tents located in different parks or even on the median strip in the middle of the highway. Today, there are still whole communities composed completely of tents.

There are plenty of groups that are trying to help Haiti, but it’s still struggling. Recently I went on a trip to this small country, with a group called Haiti H2O. It is a Christian based organization that works with isolated, rural villages to inspire hope to opportunity, hence H2O. The two communities they work with are Bassan Caiman and St. Martain.

On my visit I went to St. Martain, a very small community on the south western coast. I went with a group of about 15 people including Kamera Dorsey and Luke Miller. When we were there we helped by making a cement porch on the church, reinforcing school walls, painting two murals and planting trees. Although work was hard and it was very hot, it was one of the most rewarding feelings. This was partially because it was easy to know that were were making a difference and because as we worked we could talk to the Haitians and build long-lasting relationships.

One of the best things I saw in Haiti were the people. They had nothing, but they wanted to give you everything. I remember visiting one house and they literally took all the chairs out of their house into their yard and made us sit in them even though they didn’t have a seat. All the Haitians said hi to us whenever they saw us and would always take time out of their day to chat. Another great thing I saw in them was hope. Haitians have an unbelievable optimism deep inside of them. The heart of Haiti is hope!

1. American Idol
2. NCIS
3. Big Bang Theory
4. The Voice
5. Person of Interest
6. The X Factor
7. Revenge
8. Bones
9. Dancing With The Stars
10. Modern Family

Why did these shows make the list? I talked to some teens who watch these shows and asked them why they like them. Kaileigh MacLeod says she likes The Voice because “It’s an interesting take on a singing show like American Idol.” Miriam Levenson likes Modern Family “because it is funny and different from other shows.” Merce Lemon watches Bones because “it has one of my favorite actors in it, and because it is entertaining.” All three of these girls have different reasons for watching these shows, although, they all have to do with a key thing that pulls their interest into the channel, genre, or program.

TV networks use hooks to pull their viewers into their channel or shows. Some networks play only shows or movies from one genre to pull viewers in, but other networks focus on the news and then put other shows in too. Shows like The Voice, American Idol, The X Factor, and Dancing With The Stars are all competition shows. The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family are comedies. Bones and NCIS are crime shows, and Revenge is a drama.

There are shows out there for anyone and about anything. For any mood you could possibly be in, there is a show for you to watch. This is the networks’ goal. Well, they are pretty good at it.

In the 60’s the first pro skateboarders came to be. The most popular were Tony Alva, Stacey Peralta, and Jay Adams. Them including many others rode for Zephyr surf and skate shop until they got offers from big companies and they split. They were called the “Z-Boys”. During this time, tricks were all based off of surfing moves, that is why it was called street surfing. They did not use tricks such as kick flips, tre flips and rodeos. They also started skating in old pools that no longer had water in them.

Skateboarding has changed greatly since the 60’s, now a day, there are different types of skating. There is street skating where you skate on street obstacles such as stairs, benches and hand rails. There is also vert skating where you skate on obstacles such as half pipes, ramps, and other man made obstacles.

The tricks have also changed greatly, there are now more advanced tricks that involve jumping and flipping and such. There are also way more pros now a day then there used to be, a few are P-Rod, Rob Dyrdek, Bam Margera, and Terry Kennedy. Another major contributor to skateboarding is the technology that goes into the making of skateboards. They now have the technology the make the deck much stronger and lighter. They also make the trucks out of titanium and that is much lighter than they used to be. This allows skateboards to get much higher and longer air time. The shape of a board is also different and it allows more pop.

Personally, I think that today’s generation lacks the maturity and responsibility that young adults should have. To me, I find it surprising that in an I.B. school we are very judgmental; well some of us are. We criticize LGBTQA students, we criticize athletics, we criticize kids in musical for being stuck up, and smart kids for being lame. Not being in a relationship makes you weird, and your clothing either has ‘class or ‘swag’.  As an I.B. school shouldn’t we be accepting all students, and not just some? It sucks, because we let society define our personality and how we act around our friends.

When you are in the hallway you hear, “Bro you’re gay,” or “your polo is fake.” Why does being gay have to be a stereotype, and why does polo have to define how much money you have? When did money interfere with our education, and when did polo define our lives? Our generation has no maturity, because if we did we would accept differences, but you can’t take away stereotypes. You can’t take away people’s opinions about what ‘swag’ or what being ‘gay’ really is. You can’t take away what people think of you, or what they are going to say about you.

I think that everybody has their own swag. Your personality is your own swag. If you think Polo is cool then it’s cool, and if you think it’s ok to be gay; then thumbs up! Our school needs to step it up a notch, and even if we can’t change society, we can change our school environment. Teachers: you can help too. We all know you hear what we are saying, and it is your job as an adult to stop the criticism. Help our I.B. finally become the I.B. school it needs to be. Musical isn’t full of stuck-ups. Athletes aren’t stupid. Being gay is not a disease. Having Polo doesn’t mean you have ‘swag’; you have your own definition of style.

I think we can keep up with society without making ignorant marks, and without judging everybody by their appearance, or by how they act in public. The point is that we are all branching out into the world, and we need to accept the differences, because the real world is going to tear you apart if you think your polo shirt, and being in a relationship is going to get you somewhere in life. Move at your own pace, and not how society defines you. Sometimes you are going to criticize someone, but don’t let stereotypes define your life. Don’t let what people say define you or how you treat other people. You are your own person, and no polo can determine that.

There are many reasons why teen girls decide to drop out while they are pregnant. They may have very low income therefore they have to work to provide for themselves and their new baby or their academic performance in school may already be poor so they just decide that dropping is the best idea so that they can get a job and support and take care of their family. Also, they may just have lack of support, trying to stay in school while pregnant can become very hard especially when there is no one behind you to support you and to tell you that you can make it to your graduation day.

The effects of getting teen pregnancy can last just a short time or a lifetime. Here are 4 major effect of getting pregnant while still a teen. First, since you are still a teenager the age of you can affect the health of you and the baby inside of you. Your child could possibly face learning disabilities and malnutrition effects due to being born to such a young parent. For the teens health they could have problems like going into labor before the baby’s fully developed, swelling (hands, feet, and legs), low iron levels, and high blood pressure. Secondly, as I’ve said before it will become harder for you to keep track of schoolwork and finish your high school education. Third, finding a regular source of income will be extremely hard and you may be forced to work jobs that pay minimum wage or less. Lastly, if you are not making enough at your current job to support you and your baby/family you may be forced to go on welfare. Don’t get me wrong here I am in no way saying that having to go on welfare is bad, some people get angry or frustrated that they can’t support their baby/family by their own income.

When a teen becomes pregnant not only are they affected but their parents are, as well. They may feel anger, guilt, or denial some may feel one of these and some may feel all of these. They most likely will be very disappointed in you and worry about the future of you and your baby. Most parents of pregnant teens feel guilt because they only think of what more they could have done to protect you and keep you from getting pregnant. All in all this will be a very difficult time for you and your family but the best thing everyone can do is just communicate with each other especially when emotions are running high.

I decided to have my group work with the humane society to help animals that are being neglected and abused. To get approval I had to talk with the head of volunteering Ms. Grtchen Fieser.

We collected pet food, supplies, and money all of which was going to be donated. While collecting some of the donations I actually met Ms. Fieser and three of the dogs I was helping; Cane, Bruno, and Kono.

These three dogs I mentioned are few of the many pets I am helping and can be adopted at the Humane Society in the North Side. The primary total of we collected was worth $200. If you want to help the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society call 412)321-4625.

            The competition started off with qualifying events for the girls and boys hurdle, as well as the girls and boys 100 and 200 meter dash. Runners from Obama started out strong, placing in every event so that they would run again in the finals during the afternoon. When the afternoon events began, the girls quickly showed their stuff, with Brandy Brooks winning the 100 meter hurdles and Kaleah Rose getting second in the 200 meter dash. The boys also did well, with Eddy Harris winning the 100 and 200 meter dashes.

            Our runners also took away some victories in the 400 meter dash, with Karla Simmons tacking first for the girls and us also getting second in the boys. Then in the 400 meter relays, we won first in both boys and girls. After the relays, Brandy Brooks again beat out the competition, winning the girls 300 meter hurdles. Carla Simmons also won first place for the girls in the 800 meter run, and the Isaiah Geeter got third place for the boys in the same event.

            Finally, the meet culminated in the longer relays. In the 1600 meter relay the girls got first place over Brashear. With the boys placing third in the 3200 meter relay.

            In the end, Coach B. was very proud of his team and how they managed to catapult into 2^nd place overall, but said that all they needed was more depth to win that city title.

You ask, “Why should I?”

Well, there are plenty of reasons. First, the main reason that I am vegetarian myself is that it is healthy. Meat contains a much higher fat content than vegetarian foods. Meat increases risk of heart attack, diabetes, obesity, and many other serious diseases. More and more people are realizing that meat just isn’t all it’s beefed up to be! And they’re realizing that going without meat just makes you feel good.

Some vegetarians will argue that it is cruel to use animals for human consumption. But whether or not you believe that, it is true that you can save more water by not eating one hamburger than by not taking showers for a whole year. Some vegetarians eat chicken and/or fish, as well, while some won’t even eat eggs, or food that has touched meat. Each vegetarian decides how strict they want to be with their diet.

So you say you’ll miss the taste of meat?

Yes, that is hard to get used to. But you may not realize how many vegetarian replacements there are to meat. If beans and tofu isn’t your thing, try some vegetarian spaghetti and meatballs, vegetarian lasagna, or vegetarian Buffalo wings. They’re all delicious. Actually, I sometimes ate them even when I wasn’t vegetarian, just because they taste so good. They taste very similar to actual meat, the only main difference being that they are made from vegetable proteins. And they are very easy to make. Simply purchase a box from the frozen isle at your local grocery store (Trader Joe’s has a good selection) and pop it into the microwave.

So why not?

Are you ready to sink your teeth into a good, juicy veggie burger?