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Delaying the Digital by Lora Elliott, Kathy Clark, Tri Nguyen
America will be sitting in front of their televisions on Tuesday night, February 17, 2009. Remote in hand, a drink in the other hand they will sit, all in anticipation of watching their favorite prime-time television show. As the seven o’clock hour dawns, America’s televisions will be turned on. And they won’t work. After messing with the old bunny ears, they still won’t work. Then they remember the DTV switch; the government-mandated switch from analog signals to digital television signals. The United States Congress passed a bill mandating that on Feb. 17, 2009, all television stations must stop broadcasting in analog signals, and start broadcasting in digital signals exclusively. The reason for “the DTV switch” – as it has been coined – is to free up space on the broadcast spectrum for other emergency services such as police and fire services. America will also benefit from the switch by gaining access to a wider range of television progra Although Mitchell High School junior Ian Herrin has already made “the switch” from analog signaling to digital television, he doesn’t like the idea, “…I don’t [like the switch] because I don’t feel that it should be forced.” After Feb. 17, the only methods available to continue receiving television signals are: purchasing a digital convertor box that will allow older televisions to continue working, purchasing a new television set with a built-in digital tuner, or by subscribing to cable or satellite television services. Starting January 1, 2008, the government began offering vouchers for digital convertor boxes to help ease the apparent burden of the switch on America’s pocketbooks. These vouchers are subsidized through the Commerce Department, and are worth $40.00 apiece. However, due to the large amount of people who applied for the vouchers, the supply of 22.25 million vouchers has run out, the government stated in the beginning of January, 2009. According to the government, anyone who had applied for a voucher after January 4 would be put on a waiting list to receive the voucher at a later date. Because the supply of vouchers has virtually run dry, current President-elect Barack Obama and his administration is urging Congress to delay the date Feb. 17, 2009 switch to DTV. Co-chair of the Presidential transition team, John Podesta, warns that America isn’t prepared for the switch. Other people seem to be in favor of the delay, as well. Wilson is in favor of the delay because “…it will give me more time to get the coupon.” The delay in the Feb. 17, 2009 date may also give people more time to save up for the convertor box if they couldn’t afford it before. “I think that’s better because each day people get more money and then they can buy it,” says Mitchell High School senior, Ellen Gambald. Even if there is a delay, the DTV switch will happen eventually. The only things Americas can do is prepare themselves for the DTV switch, and be ready to sit down on the evening of the switch, their remotes in one hand, and a drink in the other. The DTV switch will be worth it “in the long run,” says Wilson.
Impeachment for Crimes Committed by Kathy Clark The governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich (bləˡgɔɪəvɪtʃ) and accomplice John Harris, has been arrested for trying to sell President-Elect Barack Obama’s senate seat. Blagojevich and Harris had gotten charged with numerous counts of crimes some to include “pay-to-play” and mail and wired fraud. This conspiracy is an attempt to sell the senate seat in exchange for merchandise for the governor and his lovely wife. One student at Mitchell, Nathan Anthony, commented, “Governors shouldn’t act like that because they are supposed to set an example.” He also mentioned that, “I think that he should be punished because it is basically stealing.” Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, called the charges with which Rod got charged, “staggering.” Rod’s past record hadn’t been so well either. He has had several federal investigations. In the history of governors’, he has made the fourth person to commit crimes, while in office. He was impeached and removed from office. His actions proved that he is not a loyal role model for the people of Illinois; therefore, a disciplinary. action occurred. Barack Obama thought, “There was nothing that my office did that was in any way inappropriate or related to the charges that have been brought.” At a meeting that Obama attended, he confirmed that he did not make an association with Rod or any of his staff members. The new governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, is considered a, “Goody Two Shoes.”; although, he did work with Rod in his staff crew. Quinn’s boss, Rod, had reportedly made Quinn the person who would take over his power after he was gone. Is this a good idea for the sake of the people of Illinois? Mitchell science teacher, Kara Stevens, said in a apprehensive way, “I was surprised at this incident because I didn’t know it was possible. Now I’m concerned about other people because if it happened once it is more likely for it to happen again or had already happened.” She goes on to state, “I bet it is a rare occurrence though that something like that would happen.”
Am I Allowed To Say This? By Lora Elliott When our Founding Fathers included the right to freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights, there were certainly no psychics or fortune-tellers present to foresee all the trouble that the trouble that the right would cause in the future. However, that’s a topic for another time. Nevertheless, thanks for our Founding Fathers we are allowed to say anything we want. In most cases. Apparently, though, this does not wholly apply to high school journalists. In short, the 1988 Supreme Court case Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier was a candid court battle between Hazelwood School District in St. Louis, Mo. and members of the Hazelwood East High School newspaper staff after the principal had censored two pages of their newspapers. He deemed their stories of teenage pregnancy and divorce as unfit. In the end, the Supreme Court handed down the decision that high school administrators have the right to ‘reasonably’ censor what is published in any curricular publican if it is “inconsistent with its basic educational mission.” This ruling extends to publications and broadcasts such as literary magazines, yearbooks, radio and television broadcasts, and yes, high school newspapers. Now, high school publications live in fear of printing or saying something ‘too controversial.’ Now we fear the controversy as much as we thrive School is a place to educate children so they may be successful at a job later in life. To be a successful journalist means to connect with one’s ‘inner muckraker,’ and search for truth in scandal and misconduct of important people and events. That’s a fancy way of saying that we are the conveyers of fact and news on a high school level. On the other hand, is it really possible to lean to be a journalist if we are all but forbidden from covering things that would cause disagreement? In essence, this whole issue is a lot like telling an aspiring engineer that he can take a math class but can’t learn any geometry. He may get a feel for the math, but he never really learns anything useful. Due to Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, students who wish to pursue journalism as a career are getting the raw end of the deal with an important component to their education. Perhaps learning a profession is what college is for, but with the highly competitive nature of education and the job market today, everyone can use all the help they can get. The biggest atrocity with this ruling is that it generally defies a high school journalist’s right to freedom of speech. To be made clear, all high school journalists enjoy some amount of right to freedom of speech. Still, that level is not comparable to adults and other members of society. Court documents from Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. In the state of Colo. – along with Ark., Calif., Iowa, Kan., and Mass. – we don’t have to worry about saying the wrong things. Yet, there are still forty-four states who allow high school administrators to ‘reasonably’ censor publications. By allowing student journalists’ words to be muzzled, think of everything we as readers and viewers are missing out on, and what they are missing out on as well. It’s not fair to these journalists, and it’s not fair to ourselves, either.
Fly High Mitchell High By Steven Gimbel
The Mitchell High School Aerospace Engineering class will be building a five-foot tall model rocket. This project was created to teach the class not only how to work together but how to manage money and time as well. Throughout the project the class will talk a lot about Physics like Newton’s laws, kinetic energy, drag separation, trajectory, and the design process, because the class will be designing this rocket from the ground up (right is the fin design and nose cone designs). It will be a two-staged rocket, which means there will be two F-type engines inside. The overall weight cannot exceed 3.3 pounds in order for the engines to be successful. It will be made out of composite materials consisting of ply wood, fiber glass, resin, epoxy, body putty, and Nylon. It will also include an accelerometer so the second engine can go off in mid-air. This will require knowledge of digital electronics and the way acceleration works.
 The class will consist of twelve members, which will be broken up into four teams. Team 1 will design the nose cone, Team 2 will design the fins and motor mount, Team 3 will design the body tube, and Team 4 will work with the electronics. Junior Eric James (left) will be the only student in charge of the entire operation. His father will also come in and assist the class with the process. Both have constructed many model rockets and have a lot of experience in the field.
This project will test our entire class to see if they can pull together as a team and make a re-useable rocket. It will test if they understand the background behind rocket building and electronics. The class would like all the support they can get in this project, and if help cannot be supplied, viewing the launch is certainly encouraged. The class will inform everyone of the launch date ASAP so the school can come watch it go up. The class is extremely excited to build this rocket and can’t wait to get started.
Selling Some Love By Josh Bettner
In the past years around the time of Valentines Day Mitchell has done an event to celebrate the holiday. In this event students have been elected to be auctioned off to other students and fallow the highest bidder for a whole day on the given day. Some students are curious about whether this event will be done this year. An interview with Mrs. Sagura reveals that they will be different and possibly better than previous years. The plans are not yet set in stone yet but the general idea is to have a silent auction on Tuesday the 10th of February. Who ever is purchased will take the highest bidder out on a special lunch date, which might be provided by the school. How the people who will be auctioned is yet unknown, but according to Segura “I want a lot of people to be able to do it.” Hopefully this years Valentine’s auction will be a huge success and will be enjoyed by all.
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ms, and receiving improved sound and picture qualities.
on it, and some of our publications have been reduced to little more than school-mandated news releases.