By Kallie Hansen
Superman, Batman and yes, even Rambo are all mysterious masked marvels with a secret identity. Man by day, hero by night, these characters have kept their skeleton in the cupboard, but does the mask really need to come off?
Since the 20th century, costumed characters have provided numerous sports teams with jazzy dance moves and maybe even a fuzzy shoulder to cry on when the game is lost. The word “mascot” is derived from an Italian word meaning something that brings good luck. Every school has their own tradition, and at Harbor Springs High School the dancing ram is a shining beacon of light, rather, a dancing beacon of light that brings hope, and luck to the varsity sports teams. In its fourth year, this new tradition has already been proven to be a highlight at Harbor home games.
Some claim that they have seen the mysterious masked mascot take off his head, but no proof has been brought forth just yet. Students continue to ponder the real identity of this upbeat mascot.
“He has undeniable dance moves, no doubt... but I always wonder who's in that suit,” said Junior Shelby Flemming.
Digging up dirt on this rambunctious ram might be a Sherlock Holmes-like investigation. Some students try to pry the information out of athletic director, Scott Cochran, but the response usually given is confidential.
Every 3 minutes a person in the United States reports a UFO sighting. And every home varsity game a student from Harbor Springs High School reports a UDR sighting, an unidentified dancing ram rallying up the stands. So even if you've solved this Scooby Doo-esque mystery, keep the tradition of this conundrum alive.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tornado Terrorizes Harbor
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Prinicpal Susan Jacobs is the only one to escape the deadly tornado on her trusty broom.
Photo Edited By Adam Calloway
Reynolds Field: Harbor's track and field facility
By Peter Breighner
The Harbor Springs Board of Education recently approved a request to name the field informally known as “Hoover field” to Reynolds Field. The change was made after a group of donors requested the facility be named in honor of the late Tom Reynolds, a patron to the Harbor Springs community.
The Hoover flower property was owned by the Wells family and sold to investors to create green space within the Harbor Springs area. Reynolds was extremely influential in the creation of green space and was a member of the group that donated the property, worth over 1million dollars, to the school district. The property then ended up being used for the current soccer and track athletic areas. The property donated was the largest in Harbor Springs Public School history, and, because of its significance, the board approved the name change making the property Reynolds Field.
Despite popular belief, the field was never officially named. The name Hoover Field was the name people used to describe the property because of the Hoover Flower Shop that used to sit on the land. The Board never officially named the field, so in recognition of this wonderful gift and in recognition of Mr. Reynolds, they choose to name (not re-name) the field after him, according to Superintendent Tompkins.
Board of Education member Gary Morse said, “I can't think of anyone more deserving,” in regards to the dedication of the field to Reynolds. “I knew him personally and he was a man of great character.”
Harbor Springs Superintendent Mark Tompkins commented on Reynold's significance in our area. “We are fortunate to have such generous people in our community such as Mr. Reynolds, who thought enough of our schools to donate this valuable property.”
Reynolds grew up in Chicago Illinois and was an avid sports fan with a special place in his heart for the Chicago Cubs. He was a proud caddie who grew into a single digit handicap golfer. He was also a nationally ranked junior tennis player.
He attended high school at Loyola Academy and moved on to Georgetown University for undergraduate studies and then to the University of Michigan for law school. In his early thirties he became managing partner of the Chicago law firm Winston & Sawn and was part of the group that purchased the Reading Railroad.
Reynolds met and married Suzanne Fitzsimons while enrolled in law school at U of M and become closely associated with the Harbor Springs area due to his wife's family. In the 1970's, the family purchased a house on Harbor Point. Suzanne FitzSimmons still summers there. Close to 140 FitzSimmons family members hold Harbor Springs close to their hearts.
Because of the close family ties in the area, board member Morse called it, “a great connection for our summer residence. I'm sure they will be very pleased.”
Tom Bailey, President of the Little Traverse Conservancy said, “Our conservancy holds a conservation easement ensuring that the property will be forever dedicated to public purposes.” He went on to say that, “[Reynolds] was a great friend to the conservancy and a warm and wonderful man. Our community is much better off thanks to his generosity and quiet support.”
Reynolds son, Tim, also met and married his wife in the Harbor Springs area. Tim expressed his feelings on the topic with, “this testament to my dad will be appreciated for generations. We thank you.”
Looking forward, Reynolds field will remain a staple in our community, paying tribute to the “quiet supporter,” Mr. Tom Reynolds.
The Harbor Springs Board of Education recently approved a request to name the field informally known as “Hoover field” to Reynolds Field. The change was made after a group of donors requested the facility be named in honor of the late Tom Reynolds, a patron to the Harbor Springs community.
The Hoover flower property was owned by the Wells family and sold to investors to create green space within the Harbor Springs area. Reynolds was extremely influential in the creation of green space and was a member of the group that donated the property, worth over 1million dollars, to the school district. The property then ended up being used for the current soccer and track athletic areas. The property donated was the largest in Harbor Springs Public School history, and, because of its significance, the board approved the name change making the property Reynolds Field.
Despite popular belief, the field was never officially named. The name Hoover Field was the name people used to describe the property because of the Hoover Flower Shop that used to sit on the land. The Board never officially named the field, so in recognition of this wonderful gift and in recognition of Mr. Reynolds, they choose to name (not re-name) the field after him, according to Superintendent Tompkins.
Board of Education member Gary Morse said, “I can't think of anyone more deserving,” in regards to the dedication of the field to Reynolds. “I knew him personally and he was a man of great character.”
Harbor Springs Superintendent Mark Tompkins commented on Reynold's significance in our area. “We are fortunate to have such generous people in our community such as Mr. Reynolds, who thought enough of our schools to donate this valuable property.”
Reynolds grew up in Chicago Illinois and was an avid sports fan with a special place in his heart for the Chicago Cubs. He was a proud caddie who grew into a single digit handicap golfer. He was also a nationally ranked junior tennis player.
He attended high school at Loyola Academy and moved on to Georgetown University for undergraduate studies and then to the University of Michigan for law school. In his early thirties he became managing partner of the Chicago law firm Winston & Sawn and was part of the group that purchased the Reading Railroad.
Reynolds met and married Suzanne Fitzsimons while enrolled in law school at U of M and become closely associated with the Harbor Springs area due to his wife's family. In the 1970's, the family purchased a house on Harbor Point. Suzanne FitzSimmons still summers there. Close to 140 FitzSimmons family members hold Harbor Springs close to their hearts.
Because of the close family ties in the area, board member Morse called it, “a great connection for our summer residence. I'm sure they will be very pleased.”
Tom Bailey, President of the Little Traverse Conservancy said, “Our conservancy holds a conservation easement ensuring that the property will be forever dedicated to public purposes.” He went on to say that, “[Reynolds] was a great friend to the conservancy and a warm and wonderful man. Our community is much better off thanks to his generosity and quiet support.”
Reynolds son, Tim, also met and married his wife in the Harbor Springs area. Tim expressed his feelings on the topic with, “this testament to my dad will be appreciated for generations. We thank you.”
Looking forward, Reynolds field will remain a staple in our community, paying tribute to the “quiet supporter,” Mr. Tom Reynolds.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Teacher/Student Facebook Throwdown
By Adam Calloway
Students and teachers co-exist during the school day, so why not on social networks such as Facebook, or MySpace? Sometimes having a teacher for a class can create a bond between the teacher and the student. They may end up talking about things aside form the class, and become friends. It sometimes just means sharing a common interest, such as a sport, or an out of school activity.
This happens a lot in high school, and may lead to adding them as a friend on a social netowrk on-line. Some people aren't very comfortable with this, seeing as whatever they may type, or any picture they might post will be seen by all of their friends. I feel that as long as I'm not posting anything that will get me in trouble with my same age friends, it will be fine for my teacher friends.
Facebook and MySpace are websites that help us all stay in touch, if you're stupid enough to post something that portrays that you are doing something you shouldn't be, then you really shouldn't be on them at all.
Students and teachers co-exist during the school day, so why not on social networks such as Facebook, or MySpace? Sometimes having a teacher for a class can create a bond between the teacher and the student. They may end up talking about things aside form the class, and become friends. It sometimes just means sharing a common interest, such as a sport, or an out of school activity.
This happens a lot in high school, and may lead to adding them as a friend on a social netowrk on-line. Some people aren't very comfortable with this, seeing as whatever they may type, or any picture they might post will be seen by all of their friends. I feel that as long as I'm not posting anything that will get me in trouble with my same age friends, it will be fine for my teacher friends.
Facebook and MySpace are websites that help us all stay in touch, if you're stupid enough to post something that portrays that you are doing something you shouldn't be, then you really shouldn't be on them at all.
Twitter my Facebook
By Nikki Keck
The minute you log onto Facebook it is mass chaos. You are bombarded with numerous group invitations and requests to take three of the same surveys, you have been "tagged" in 34 pictures and "poked" four times, and nine people want to be your "friend". The minute you log onto Twitter, the only question is, "What are you doing right now?"
Twitter is similar to Facebook in many ways. It's a free social network which allows its users to answer the question "What are you doing right now?" You have followers, which are like Facebook friends and you "tweet" just like you update your Facebook statues only you do it in 140 characters or less.
This restraint on the amount of words you can use has started a trend called "micro-blogging" Many journalists, politicians, news stations and bloggers use Twitter to get small but important pieces of information out to their followers.
When you log into your Twitter account you see small posts from your followers that say what they are doing. To some this might seem simple and boring but to others it's exactly what they're looking for. Twitter eliminates all the extra stuff of Facebook. So instead of logging on and being invited by 12 different people to "sace the world, join mafia wars or do a survey" you only see what you want.
"If you're a sentimentalist and you need pictures and music then you can upload pictures from twitpic and music from blip.fm. So, in essence, you're not losing anything, just stripping it down and making it easier," said "twitaholic" Meghan Fisher. " I tweet about three times every hour," said Fisher. "It's easier to use then Facebook because you don't need an internet connection, anyone that can text can tweet."
This unique advantage has made Twitter useful during disaster. Eye witnesses to the plane crash in the Hudson River instantly posted pictures on Twitter to help outsiders understand what had happened. Many people used Twitter to recieve minute by minute updates on the wildfires in California this past fall. Twitter is more useful than TV, internet or radio because people can get information on the run. They don't need or have anything but a cell phone. CNN is now the leading page on Twitter with the highest amount of followers.
There have also been many reports of congress using Twitter. Almost 20 congressmen posted "tweets" during President Obama's address to congress back in February.
Twitter is simple, accessivle from cell phones and school computers, but only a small amount of Harbor students are "twitterers"
"A lot of people associate it as being the same as Facebook and they don't want two of the same thing. I also don't think that very many people try it out. So it's not that they haven't heard of it, just that they haven't tried it," said Amanda Furstenberg.
The truth is, Twitter is becoming more popular every month and older networks like MySpace are reporting 20% loss in account activity. Twitter is just for quick personal news but it makes Facebook look like old news.
The minute you log onto Facebook it is mass chaos. You are bombarded with numerous group invitations and requests to take three of the same surveys, you have been "tagged" in 34 pictures and "poked" four times, and nine people want to be your "friend". The minute you log onto Twitter, the only question is, "What are you doing right now?"
Twitter is similar to Facebook in many ways. It's a free social network which allows its users to answer the question "What are you doing right now?" You have followers, which are like Facebook friends and you "tweet" just like you update your Facebook statues only you do it in 140 characters or less.
This restraint on the amount of words you can use has started a trend called "micro-blogging" Many journalists, politicians, news stations and bloggers use Twitter to get small but important pieces of information out to their followers.
When you log into your Twitter account you see small posts from your followers that say what they are doing. To some this might seem simple and boring but to others it's exactly what they're looking for. Twitter eliminates all the extra stuff of Facebook. So instead of logging on and being invited by 12 different people to "sace the world, join mafia wars or do a survey" you only see what you want.
"If you're a sentimentalist and you need pictures and music then you can upload pictures from twitpic and music from blip.fm. So, in essence, you're not losing anything, just stripping it down and making it easier," said "twitaholic" Meghan Fisher. " I tweet about three times every hour," said Fisher. "It's easier to use then Facebook because you don't need an internet connection, anyone that can text can tweet."
This unique advantage has made Twitter useful during disaster. Eye witnesses to the plane crash in the Hudson River instantly posted pictures on Twitter to help outsiders understand what had happened. Many people used Twitter to recieve minute by minute updates on the wildfires in California this past fall. Twitter is more useful than TV, internet or radio because people can get information on the run. They don't need or have anything but a cell phone. CNN is now the leading page on Twitter with the highest amount of followers.
There have also been many reports of congress using Twitter. Almost 20 congressmen posted "tweets" during President Obama's address to congress back in February.
Twitter is simple, accessivle from cell phones and school computers, but only a small amount of Harbor students are "twitterers"
"A lot of people associate it as being the same as Facebook and they don't want two of the same thing. I also don't think that very many people try it out. So it's not that they haven't heard of it, just that they haven't tried it," said Amanda Furstenberg.
The truth is, Twitter is becoming more popular every month and older networks like MySpace are reporting 20% loss in account activity. Twitter is just for quick personal news but it makes Facebook look like old news.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Nikki's Thumbs Hurt...
By Joe Dart
Nikki Keck has a disease. It affects every aspect of her daily life, and it defines her. To date, there is no cure for her afflication, and it may well be with her for the rest of her life. Nikki is a compulsive texter.
"I first started noticing the symptoms early last year. In the beginning, I was in denial. Doesn't everyone send 4 or 500 texts to their pals everyday? I'd say. It was only when my friends gathered in my home for an intervention when I began to realize that I had a serious problem."
Nikki began treatment at the 'Nokia Clinic for the Textually Disabled' in May of 2008. "I'm really turning my life around," she said. The clinic first opened branches in Japan in 2004 to combat what was fast becoming an epidemic in the country. Today they've helped thousands put their phones on hold, and get their lives back!
"My treatment ends next month," replied Nikki, "and I feel like a whole new person. I'm text-free and I'm loving every minute of it."
"I first started noticing the symptoms early last year. In the beginning, I was in denial. Doesn't everyone send 4 or 500 texts to their pals everyday? I'd say. It was only when my friends gathered in my home for an intervention when I began to realize that I had a serious problem."
Nikki began treatment at the 'Nokia Clinic for the Textually Disabled' in May of 2008. "I'm really turning my life around," she said. The clinic first opened branches in Japan in 2004 to combat what was fast becoming an epidemic in the country. Today they've helped thousands put their phones on hold, and get their lives back!
"My treatment ends next month," replied Nikki, "and I feel like a whole new person. I'm text-free and I'm loving every minute of it."
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