The Rider Chronicle

Lanford Wins Scholarship

adviser — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:45:47 +0000

Yearbook co-editor Jon Lanford won the $1000 Walsworth Yearbook scholarship announced at the ILPC State Journalism Convention in April in Austin.
Lanford served as editor the last two years and was one yearbook staff all four years.

Top 10 Announced

adviser — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:09:23 +0000

The top 10 students of the senior class were announced this week.

1. Sarah Naumann
2. Greg Gaskey
3. Lauren Choate
4. Cameron Liss
5. Madeline Johnson
6. Oliver DeAsis
7. Aamna Zaidi
8. Jennifer Sissel
9. Julie Nicholson
10. Josh Baskin

NHS Collects More Than $17k for Pets

adviser — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:24:47 +0000

NHS students collected more than $17,000 in their Pennies for Pets drive April 21. The money goes to the local Humane Society and P.E.T.S.
Students who were not able to collect money worked volunteer hours at either organization.

Caswell Elected Student Council President; Class Officers Named

adviser — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:53:50 +0000

Student Council and class officers were announced today during fourth period.
Student Council Officers:
President—Taylor Caswell
Vice-President—Lindsay Taing
Secretary—Haley Hampton
Treasurer—Kristen Henry
Reporter—Masley Pape
Parliamentarian—Destiny Zynda
Class Representatives: BriAnna Berryman, Whitney Sizemore, Michelle Ingle and Stephanie Wirth
Senior Class Officers:
President—Tiffany Miller
Vice President—Tiffany Nguyen
Secretary—Lindsay Taing
Treasurer—Taylor Caswell
Co-Reporter—Ben Owen & Blake Leiker
Junior Class Officers:
President—DeShaun Delgado
Vice President—Cristian Mackie
Secretary—Michelle Ingle
Treasurer—Caleb Levell
Co-Reporters—Zakia Mizan & Jacqueline Zeizinger
Sophomore Class Officers:
President—Georgia Dubose
Vice President—Emily Sledge
Secretary—Dakota Tolleson
Treasurer—Erin Sledge
Reporter—Sara Sorge

Seniors Attend ASP Signing Day

adviser — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:30:05 +0000

ASP seniors took part in Signing Day May 1 at the Education Center. ASP College Advisor Jaclyn Muensterman said the day is a chance to recognize students for their hard work with grants and scholarships from colleges and universities. It’s also a chance to recognize parents for their work and support throughout the college application process as well.
Scholarship and grant amounts listed are for all four years of college. Some students don’t have their award letters yet, but Muensterman said those will be coming soon.
Those signing are listed below.
Delanie Goerig – $233,316 (Wellesley College)
Leslie Raygoza – $170,080 (Providence College)
Cesar Guerrero – $167,400 (Davidson College)
Aamna Zaidi – $106,749 (Southern Methodist University)
Elizabeth Bynum – $100,000 (Birmingham-Southern College)
Brittni Cain – $87,000 (McPherson College)
Christina Hastings – $79,000 (Prairie View A&M University)
Madeline Johnson – $73,000 (University of Arkansas)
Kathryn Bennett – $57,728 (University of Arkansas)
Kristhel Porta – $40,000 (St. Mary’s College)
Tuan Pham – $32,000 (Texas Tech University)
Jordan Everett – $20,000 (Louisiana State University)
Lauren Choate – $16,000 (Texas Tech University)
Kevin Brosam – $8,000 (University of Texas at Austin)
Jonathan Lanford – $8,000 (University of Texas at Austin)
Megan Lamberth – $5,600 (Sam Houston State University)
Ariel Vance – $4,000 (University of North Texas)
Saad Tatla (Texas Tech University)
Lisa Shah (Midwestern State University)
Morgan Dougherty (University of North Texas)

Post apocalyptic themes take over young adult shelves

adviser — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:55:21 +0000

You’ve read the books, seen the movie, (some more than once). What’s next?
It’s difficult to find a book that’s of equivalent excitement as your last. There’s a void that needs to be filled and the vampire love triangles won’t fill it.
The growing number of young adults reading dystopian, post apocalyptic books is increasing especially after The Hunger Games became so big. But what makes them so appealing?
“They make you wonder if you could actually survive a society like that,” senior Michaela Rutledge said.
Senior Savannah Brady sees them as an interesting view on the world’s future.
“I think I like them more because of the futuristic idea that our world could become something so much different than I could imagine,” she said.
So could you survive? Would you be able to feed yourself, your family? Would you be able to resist conforming to the ways of the society and strike up a rebellion?
Rutledge thinks so. “I could definitely survive,” she said. “If things got that bad I would join the rebellion.”
Senior Jaycob Loeffler agreed that he would join the rebellion.
“Why would I stand around watching when I could try to change things,” he said. “I would die either way, so I might as well go out with a purpose.”
The characters also drew in the readers.
“I liked how it was a strong female lead, Rutledge said. “She was the one that started everything.”
In a dystopian society such as the one presented in the Hunger Games the world the inhabitants live in is overpopulated and starved of not only food but their rights.
Some find the books for entertainment while others see them reflections of society that is already somewhat similar.
Loeffler said that people believe too many different things and that something like the Hunger Games could never happen; there’s too much good in humanity.
But others believe that the dystopian books mirror our already crumbling world or the way it could turn out to be.
“The morbidity in the books didn’t seem to phase anyone,” Rutledge said. “It reminded me of the things going on in our world that are just as bad as the situations in the book, like the whole “Kony” thing. No one cares anymore, things happened, and the story has lost its power. It’s a little disturbing.”
Other books that echo the ever popular dystopian theme are books like “The Uglies” a series by Scott Westerfield, a series Brady read even before the Hunger Games and the post apocalyptic theme spread.
“I like the plot line of a rebellious fight,” Brady said. “I’m not the lay down and die type, so these books are inspiring in a way that anything is possible.”

Bieber fever hits student hard

adviser — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:54:14 +0000

Why I love Justin Bieber:
1. He’s a beautiful man.
2. He sings like an angel.
3. He’s awesome.
4. He’s better than you.
5. He’s a good dancer, and I dance, which means we’re meant for each other.
6. His songs are great.
7. He’s gorgeous.
8. He does a lot of charity work.
9. He’s from Canada.
10. His hair is perfect.
11. His best friend is Usher who I’m also obsessed with.
12. He says the word “swaggy”.
13. He’s extremely attractive.
14. His manager follows me on Twitter. (@alexa_mauri follow me.)
15. He can moon walk, just like me. Again, we’re meant for each other.
16. His hair is shiny.
17. His face is nice looking.
18. He likes giraffes.
19. He knows karate.
20. He has his own Google search engine called BieberSearch.com

‘Senioritis’ sets in for students as final month approaches

adviser — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:52:29 +0000

A glance inside senior classrooms proves that senioritis exists. Students are working on math during English, economics during math, or maybe even just sleeping.
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, senioritis is defined as “an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades,” or in different words, they don’t want to do work.
“Kids are just tired of school,” college and career counselor Julie Johnson said. “I think they’re ready to move on. Even though they’re not mature, they think they are.”
Senior Aamna Zaidi has had senioritis since the first day of school.
“I haven’t made up a test that was like, a month ago,” Zaidi said. “I enjoy being a senior, but sometimes it’s frustrating, because you need to do your homework, but you’re like, ‘No! I want to go outside and stare at the sky!’”
Although Zaidi has not tried it herself, she believes that with persistence, seniors can beat senioritis.
“If you actually try, you can do it,” Zaidi said.
Senior Cameron Liss has had senioritis “all year” and in his eyes, graduation is the only cure.
A common misconception with seniors is that colleges don’t look at the final six weeks of senior year, and if so, why bother trying to keep good grades?
Johnson says that colleges do look, though.
“They look to see if you graduated,” Johnson said. “They look to see if you just bombed out the last six weeks and they can deny admission.”
Johnson says that she has never seen a college deny admission due to the last six weeks.
“But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen,” Johnson said.
Students who blow off classes might not be denied admission to college, but they could find themselves doing more school than had they not slacked off.
“English 4 seems to be the big class they get senioritis in,” Johnson said. “Students that are blowing off English 4 have to go to night school. If there’s no way they can pass, we help them enroll.”
The only way Johnson sees preventing senioritis is ending school in March.
“No finals, just announce one day that seniors don’t have to come come back until graduation,” Johnson said. “There’s really no way to get people to not have senioritis. It shows you’re ready to move on.”

Cards seem convenient but experts say they cause long-term economic problems for people who use them

adviser — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:51:06 +0000

In a matter of years, paper money may be outsourced with the continued using and uprising of debit and credit cards. While both are quick and easy methods to spend money, one swipe of one credit card is all it takes to acquire a massive amount of debt.
Family Consumer Science teacher Lola Pepper feels that credit cards, “when used correctly” are great.
According to personal finance writer Ryan Guina of cashmoneylife.com, owning a credit card has many perks. For one, it’s more convenient than carrying several bills around.
“Credit cards are small, convenient, and carry better consumer protections,” said Guina.
Pepper agrees with Guina.
“You don’t have to carry a lot of cash,” said Pepper. She also pointed out that this comes in handy. “You can buy now, pay later.”
Guina believes credit cards are also a way to “establish credit history.” Establishing credit history is essential to decisions later in life such as buying a car or receiving loans for college. Credit cards even offer rewards such as gift cards, certain discounts, and cash back bonuses.
Pepper thinks credit cards are a great thing to have, but mentions that the cards are only available to those who are 21 or older.
“Now you cannot get a credit card until you’re 21, unless you have your parent sign for you,” said Pepper.
In the case that a parent does sign, it’s important to use the card in the right way.
With a credit card some things in life may be easier, but if the card isn’t used properly, problems could arise in the future that could leave you in debt.
The biggest problems with credit cards are people not paying their bill at the end of the month. Some credit cards have high interest rates that users are charged if their bill is not paid on time. On top of paying for the purchase and the bill, there will be the interest rate added into the entire equation which often leads to a large amount of debt.
“I’ve heard of people being in thousands of dollars of debt because they didn’t pay their bill on time,” senior Shiree Perry said.
Perry does not own a credit card and doesn’t see herself owning one anytime soon.
“I only have a debit card,” said Perry. “Maybe when I’m older and have a better job, I’ll get one, but it’s kind of scary right now.”
Experts say the key to owning a credit card when young is not to make extreme purchases. Start off by charging simple, small things. By doing this, people can establish their credit histories.
“If I had a credit card, I would probably buy gas or something small from the store,” said Perry.
With smaller purchases, it is also easier to pay off a bill at the end of the month.
In the end, though, financial counselors say those small purchases will add up to high bills if credit card bills aren’t paid off monthly.

Teachers speak out on frustration of cheating, lack of academic consequences in classroom

adviser — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:49:31 +0000

“I think some of the reasons kids cheat is they are looking at someone’s work to compare answers to see or confirm if they were right, which is stupid because you don’t even know if they studied,” an anonymous Rider teacher said.”When I was in school consequences were a lot harsher than now.”
Statistics show that cheating among high school students has risen dramatically during the past 50 years according to cheatingfact.com.
“If anyone got caught cheating when I was in high school it was a automatic zero and being sent to the principal. No questions asked,” another anonymous Rider teacher said.
At Rider, when a teacher finds a student cheating on a test the consequences vary, but teachers say they are required to give the cheating student a retest for academic purposes.
“If a teacher catches a student cheating on a test they still have to give them a retest, which gives them no academic incentive not to cheat,” Pre-Ap World History teacher Chris Hartman said. “All they lose is their pride, but I think it should be a zero.”
47 percent of cheating students said that providing test questions to a fellow student who had yet to take a test was academically dishonest, and yet nearly seven out of 10 admitted to doing so according to sciencedaily.com.
“I don’t expect my students to be brilliant, but to try,” Hartman said.
More than half the Rider students surveyed said that they don’t think cheating is a big deal. Cheating increases due to pressure for high grades according to Online Education Database.
“The reason I cheat is because I feel a lot of pressure from my parents,” a Rider student said. “It’s hard trying to keep up with all your work, especially if you’re in Pre-Ap.”
In a random sample of Rider students age 15 to 17, 36 percent admitted to having cheated themselves. But seven in 10 also say they have friends who cheat, and only one-third of students have ever had a serious talk with their parents about cheating.
“Sometimes it’s laziness, but a student’s life may not be easy. Maybe they have bad home situations, maybe they are living in a single parent home with younger siblings and had to take care of them all night and didn’t have time to study,” Hartman said. “If a kid bombs a test I am not going to jump on them for it because us teachers don’t always know the situation.”
Students who found advanced classes in middle school easy can have an extremely difficult time adjusting to the higher expectations and heavier workloads in high school, and that puts them at a higher risk for cheating according to teachers. Many students, especially those in honors and AP classes, definitely feel pressure — external, internal or both — to achieve high grades, and that, in turn, may increase their tendency to cheat in order to reach that goal says Why-Students-Cheat.html.
“In the long run it hurts society,” Hartman said. “Do you want a doctor that cheated their way through medical school? Or a lawyer who cheated their way through law school?”
One teacher said the students in their class said that cheating isn’t a big deal. But one student who was caught disagrees.
“I got caught cheating. It wasn’t worth disappointing my teacher and my parents,” a Rider student said. “If you take the time to study and really get to know the material for the test and put aside time to study, it is so much better. I don’t want the person at the top of my class to have gotten there by cheating.”
80 percent of the country’s best students cheated to get to the top of their class according to Online Education Database.
“When it all comes down to it, I would respect a student who made a 65 on my exam and did it honestly more than someone who makes an 98 by cheating,” Hartman said.