High school checklist

By: Brad Tripp

            This year’s school year is rapidly approaching its end.  For some students, it might be the end of school altogether, some may go on to college, and some may be facing several more years of high school. Regardless of where you’re at in your educational journey, what can one do to better their future, graduate, and possibly move on to college?

            When high school starts it can be scary to some. According to PBS.org, to better your high school experience try to orient or get familiar with the school building before attending. This can be taking a tour or simply speaking to your counselors. Another thing to do is to talk to someone who has already attended the high school before you. Chances are you may already know someone who’s attended that school or any high school in general. This can help to ease tensions about your classes and your attitude toward teachers. What can help you get comfortable with the high school scene? Many things contribute to helping take the “new kid” edge off.  Pbs.org also suggests trying and attending a school play or checking out sporting games, whether to watch or to play.

            Once you’re no longer new to the high school scene it’s time to better your experience and prepare for the future. What can you do all four years of high school? Scholarship.com states, “Whether or not you plan on attending college, high school is a good time to begin to take inventory of your aspirations, experiences, strengths, and weaknesses and start to figure out what sorts of things you might like doing when you’re on your own. You don’t need to have a precise career plan pinned down immediately, but during your first two years of high school, you will want to begin to think about broad categories of education and employment you might want to pursue later on.” They also suggest breaking it down year by year, setting goals each year to reach your main goal. In other words, it’s kind of like paint by numbers. Each number corresponds with a color and, after everything is colored, the big picture is visible.

            If high school is over for you and you’ve decided to attend college, what can help to make college better and easier on the pocket book? Well, there are many scholarships for just about anyone. Scholarships only for the “great” are no longer the case. Before you write out a big fat check to pay your tuition, see what you may qualify for.  Go to Seckman.net, then click on the guidance tab. Under that tab, click on the scholarship and ACT bullet. This will lead you to Fafsa.gov and allow you to fill out an application for student aid. This will tell you about the scholarships you may be eligible for.

            All in all, school is very important to shaping your future. Remember, you’re not the only one in the world attending school, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Also, counselors, teachers and administrators are there for a reason and that is to help and to prepare you for a successful future.



Quit procrastinating!

By: Autumn Hill

       Avoiding procrastination can be a struggle for so many people. There’s always something that can be a distraction from homework. How do you avoid those distractions? For starters, try to remember that even when you think you can push your work off to the side and go do something more enjoyable, it’s easier (in the long run) not to procrastinate. When you don’t do the work and begin to procrastinate, the work just hangs over your head.

            Procrastination is the moment when you realize that you have work to do, but push it off. Procrastination can lead to a lot of issues: forgetting about the work completely or even putting it off so long that you have no time to get it done. We all have moments where we don’t feel like doing homework (or work in general), but pushing ourselves to do the work will get it done faster and leave more time to do other activities that appeal to you.

            Avoiding procrastination is simply a matter of retraining yourself to get the job done. Here are a few tips for avoiding procrastination:

1. Prioritize your daily tasks. Decide what has to be done, should be done, and what you would like to do.
2. Get the worst out of the way first. Have a mindset of getting it done and don’t allow anything else to get in the way of wanting to get it done.
3. Make a list every morning of what you need to accomplish throughout the day. Reward yourself each time you check an item off as done.
4. Keep a day planner or use the calendar in your phone. Write down what has to be accomplished and block out the time you are going to do it.
5. At the end of the day, write down what you have accomplished. This can be its own reward.

Though it’s not an easy thing to stay motivated when it comes to work, keep yourself motivated and get the job done so you will have free time and won’t have to worry about it later.



How safe is my medicine?

By: Brad Tripp

            He’s rushed into surgery, blood everywhere, his left arm sitting on his bed in a cooler. Going into shock, he mumbled, ‘the saw, the tree…” before finally slipping into a coma. The surgeons work hard for many hours and the limb gets reattached. The next morning, as his family gathers around him, the nurse comes in to check his pulse and to decrease his morphine. If not for many medications this man may not have lived and if he had he would be in excruciating pain.  Before any of these pills could be taken, however, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) studies, tests and approves/denies each and every medication.

            What are the steps to getting a medication approved for human consumption? The FDA has a 12 step procedure towards approving any new medicines. According to fda.gov, the first step is to test the drug on animals. Next, the purposes are investigated and listed for the drug. Following this the drug is then tested on people, usually a small controlled group of about 20-80. The forth step is to make the group larger, consisting of a few dozen to about 300 people. It is then tested on a few hundred to about 3000 people. After this the FDA and the recipient of the new drug application (NDA) meet. This is when the NDA is sent to the FDA. The FDA now has 60 days to approve the new drug. After the 60 days, if the FDA files the new drug there is then another group of people assigned to test and evaluate the drug on its safety and effectiveness. The contents and labeling are then inspected, along with the facilities where the drug is manufactured. Now the drug is officially approved and produced worldwide.

            Medicines are typically well tested on animals and people before they are shipped out and sold to the average consumer. Every year, there are many drugs that go through the FDA process and are approved. According to Fda.gov, of the drugs approved this year, two of them include Hetlioz, a treatment for the 24 hour wake disorder in blind people, and Farixiga, a treatment for glycemic control (along with diet and exercise) for adults with Type 2 Diabetes. According to centerwatch.com, a site that monitors newly approved medications, other medicines released as of 2014 include Imbruvica, a treatment for lymphatic leukemia, and Vimizin, a treatment for Mucopolysaccharidosis.

            All in all, there are many medications for many reasons. Always try and find the FDA label on the packaging, as these medicines are well tested and fit for human consumption.



Quit procrastinating!

By: Autumn Hill

       Avoiding procrastination can be a struggle for so many people. There’s always something that can be a distraction from homework. How do you avoid those distractions? For starters, you should learn that even when you think you can push your work off to the side and go do something more enjoyable, you should get the work done first. When you don’t do the work and begin to procrastinate, the work just hangs over your head.

            Procrastination is the moment when you realize that you have work to do, but push it off. Procrastination can lead to a lot of issues: forgetting about it completely or even putting it off so long that you have no time to get it all done. We all have moments where we don’t feel like doing homework (or work in general), but pushing ourselves to do the work will get it done faster and leave more time to do other activities that appeal to you.

            Avoiding procrastination is all a simple matter of retraining yourself to get the job done. Here are a few tips for avoiding procrastination:

1. Prioritize your daily tasks. Decide what has to be done, should be done, and what you would like to do.
2. Get the worst out of the way first. Have a mindset of getting it done and don’t allow anything else to get in the way of wanting to get it done.
3. Make a list every morning of what you need to accomplish throughout the day. Reward yourself each time you check an item done.
4. Keep a day planner. Write down what has to be accomplished and block out the time you are going to do it.
5. At the end of the day, write down what you have accomplished. This can be its own reward.

Though it’s not an easy thing to stay motivated when it comes to work, keep yourself motivated and get the job done so you will have free time and won’t have to worry about it later.



86th annual Academy Awards retrospective

By: Peter Lewis

On March 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the AMPAS, held the 86^th annual Academy Awards from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles . For the second time, comedian Ellen Degeneres hosted.  With performances from U2, Pharrell Williams and others, plus a theme of celebrating movie heroes, this was yet another worthwhile watch.

            Unlike other entertainment award shows concerning the arts, the Academy Awards have a very set identity. Where other shows struggle to either find a balance of awarding popularity and art, the Academy is straight to the point.  The Academy Awards are awarding based on the most artistic expression in film, the most well-structured and put together film, and anything that changes film.  In the opinions of those who are in the Academy, this was their list for the 2013 film year. Winners are in bold.

Best Picture

Best Picture may easily be the most important category, because it’s where everything comes together and makes or break whatever the film is telling or trying to get out in the world.  This year, nine films were up for nomination in the most scrutinized category.  While other categories will be debated, best picture will be the most remembered award and decide the fate of the show as it has in years past.  Listed are the films and their IMDb description.

 

·         American Hustle- A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive British partner, Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso. DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.

·         Captain Phillips- The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

·         Dallas Buyers Club- In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.

·         Gravity- A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.

·         Her- A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that's designed to meet his every need.

·         Nebraska- An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million-dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.

·         Philomena- A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.

·         12 Years a Slave- In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

·         The Wolf of Wall Street-  Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, and Gravity are the major contenders for the prize this year as reported by numerous entertainment commenters.  The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club, and Her are the next in line to win, while the remaining films are long shots at best to win. 

The remaining major categories this year listed below may look competitive on paper, but other than Best Director, had fairly easy calls on who won.

 

Best Actor

·         Christian Bale- American Hustle

·         Bruce Dern- Nebraska

·         Leonardo DiCaprio- The Wolf of Wall Street

·         Chiwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years a Slave

·         Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club

 

Best Actress

·         Amy Adams- American Hustle

·         Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine

·         Sandra Bullock- Gravity

·         Judi Dench- Philomena

·         Meryl Streep- August: Osage County

 

Best Director

·         Alexander Payne- Nebraska

·         Alfonso Cuaron- Gravity

·         Steve McQueen- 12 Years a Slave

·         Martin Scorsese- The Wolf of Wall Street

·         David O. Russell- American Hustle

 

 Best Supporting Actor

·         Jared Leto- Dallas Buyers Club

·         Michael Fassbender- 12 Years a Slave

·         Jonah Hill- The Wolf of Wall Street

·         Barkhad Abdi- Captain Phillips

·         Bradley Cooper- American Hustle

 

Best Supporting Actress

·         June Squibb- Nebraksa

·         Lupita Nyong’o- 12 Years a Slave

·         Sally Hawkins- Blue Jasmine

·         Jennifer Lawrence- American Hustle

·         Julia Roberts- August: Osage County