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Speed May Be What Society Needs

Racecars show promise to be the magic bullet for a hurting industry.
by Philip Karlberg
Cartoon by Philip Karlberg (click to enlarge)

    When most people think about cars, words such as performance and speed seem to rarely be associated with efficiency and safety, but ironically, the high performance car world may be the best place to look for the automotive security and economy solutions that we need. 
    As the automotive industry is at a crucial point in its journey, with efficiency and safety becoming more and more important every year, it seems unlikely that the answers needed should come from the motorsport world.  Typically, racing is seen as dangerous, and it is true that most racecars suck down fuel faster than a Mack truck (some dragsters go through 12 gallons in a 1/4-mile), but in reality the performance car industry and the conservative car industry are much more similar than many would suppose.  If we are going to solve the energy problem brought on by sky-high gas prices, and improve safety on increasingly congested roads, we will have to learn some lessons from the world of speed.

Lesson #1 - Power and efficiency are not so different
    With gas prices ballooning and wallets shrinking, efficiency is the big buzzword in the automotive industry.  Typically, high performance cars are not very high on the efficiency list but this is simply because they are pursuing a different kind of efficiency.  Efficiency is defined as getting as much power possible out of as little fuel as possible, which is somewhat the goal of both the Ferrari and the Prius.  In the case of performance cars, the designer tries to get as much power as possible out of the amount of fuel available and in efficiency oriented cars, the goal is to use as little fuel as necessary to get an acceptable level of power.  Simply put, the goal of both is to improve efficiency; the only difference is whether to minimize fuel or maximize power. Read more

Hollywood Moving to the White House

Celebrities are putting their best foot forward for their favorite candidates in the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
by Jesse Altum

    The always truthful and honest candidates for President of the United State have come under scrutiny for various issues in the past, from questionable campaign contributions to past votes for issues in Congress that don’t even matter anymore.
    The big concern now for 2008 has become whether to brand the candidates' campaigns with celebrity images (such as the all-knowing Oprah), or to empower the pact of a party and offer your name with that of other great politicians and celebrities who grace its presence when campaign funds are needed.
    These idealistic patrons of politics, these celebrities and co-party members, come from separate parts of the country and have diverse and profound affects on the public image of the candidates they support. Dividing their lives and businesses between Hollywood and Washington D.C. for the better good of the country, these career-minded professionals come together once in a blue moon to help and support one another’s lifeblood, standing tall in the business empire they have conquered. Celebrities and politicians such as Obama and Oprah Winfrey, along with McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger, have been sticking their names together to influence presidential campaigns for years now, hoping that their fame will cause their adoring fans to vote for their supported candidate.
Read more

On Why Genetic Engineering is Bad

EDITORIAL: Look to the Zombie Movies!
by Asia Dorsey
    Genetic engineering: the vision of the 21^st Century. I can see how any forward thinking individual could view this as the new wave of the future, but I urge precaution and patience and debate before we move so quickly on a whim and find ourselves unable to navigate our way back to what we wish could be a “simpler time.”

    My position is: yes, genetic engineering has the potential to create wonders, but time and discretion are needed before public passion takes the reins of an animal over which it has no control. The general public should be warned and wary of a future where children are designed piece by piece like machines and packaged to order. Lawmakers should enact legislation that seeks to remedy the passions of overzealous scientists who wish to push the ethical envelope, and the scientists themselves should work at predicting the “unforeseen” consequences of tampering with nature.

    Giving parents the means of hand-picking the characteristics of their offspring could eventually lead to a ‘superior’ breed of children, not based on races or ethnicity, but on their socioeconomic status. It is the upper class that would have the economic means to access such technologies, not the common, everyday couple. Not only would the children with greater wealth have better education, health-care, and other advantages that currently come with money, they could be modified to be healthier, smarter, and better looking than your natural unmodified child. Read more

Costco Nation

by Ben Gilliland
"…one place that will be here until the sun explodes and the earth is sucked into a black hole will be Costco."

     The other day I was wandering through the massive warehouse of a building that is Costco, up and down the many aisles, trying to find the syrup in the vast wilderness of a store. However, the spinning rotisserie chickens distracted me, and as I was staring at them I started thinking a lot about the future.
    I am going to be in college next year, and that’s a pretty big step from high school. So, I can’t help but find myself wondering what’s going to happen with my life? Will I be successful? What does my future hold for me? With these questions I also start to think about my friends. What will happen to them? Will we stay close, or grow apart? Will they be successful? As all these thoughts are racing through my mind I often come to one final question that is kind of irrelevant to what I was thinking of in the first place. That question is: What will happen to mankind in the future? What do humans have in store for them 500 years from now? 50 years from now? Or even 10 years from now? I find myself baffled over this question, and spend valuable homework time in its contemplation. However, I find it to be a very valid and important question to consider. What does the future have in store for us?
Read more

Teacher Shortage in America

Universities are in the process of designing new teaching programs with the intention of recruiting more Black, male teachers.
by Andrew Craig

The Crisis:
     There is a crisis in American education that shows no sign of abating. With each passing year, the number of teachers, nationwide, in general is ebbing due to population growth, demands for smaller class sizes, looming retirement for baby boomers, low pay, and a general decrease in the number of college students who plan to teach.

    As acute as this teacher shortage is, there is an even more critical shortage of Black, male teachers in most, if not all, school districts around the country. Black males have become a scarcity in the public school system. The worst part, according to Newsweek Magazine, is that there is an expected imminent decrease in the already meager number of Black teachers. While the exact reason for this impending decrease remains unknown, school districts are taking the initiative to adopt new hiring policies and design new strategies that will reduce or minimize the inevitable, damaging ripple effect. Read more

Lose the Burger, Save a Life

"I do not want to make my stomach a graveyard of dead animals."
-George Bernard Shaw.

by Rhea Boyd

    The incredible vegetarian lifestyle undoubtedly saves animals; but it can also save humans and even the Earth.

     I have been a vegetarian for a little more than three years now and it has been the best decision I have ever made. It changed me, and personally I believe it made me a better person in numerous ways. Many people ask me why I converted and always expect to hear just one clear-cut reason; but the truth is, there are countless reasons.  Vegetarianism promotes peace, is good for our bodies, is beneficial to the environment, and the foremost reason to become a vegetarian is the moral obligation to ourselves and every other species. Read more

Confessions of a Female Computer Geek

This widget-loving, html-coding student spills all.
by Christina Danek
    Even though I rarely wear polo shirts, and I admittedly don’t own a pocket protector, AND I only speak in binary on weekends, I am undeniably a computer geek. I’m also a female, and thus I possess a combination of traits that defies many stereotypes of womankind’s place in society.
    While it is true that men dominate the field of information technology (an estimated 76% of IT-related jobs in the US are held by men according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology), there is no viable reason why they should. Speaking from nearly four years of experience in the areas of computer programming, animation and web design, I’m convinced that women can be just as successful in this arena as men. As one of four senior girls in the Computer Magnet, I can honestly combat every claim against women in technology. Read more

Senior Video in Production

Seniors must take this opportunity to break the mold.

by Ryanne Mollo

    “A great, great deal has been said about the weather, but very little has been done,” reads what many have attributed to the pen of Mark Twain.  Regardless of who said it, this classic witticism perfectly describes the graduates' attitudes toward the senior video each year.
    For the past three years I have been at TJ, and when it comes time to watch the senior video it seems like the same five most popular people from that particular year are in every other slide. In all fairness to the students who have made the videos the past three years, the only people who sent in pictures were those same five people and a few others; but like Mark Twain, I hear lots of complaining but I don’t see much being done to correct the situation. Read more

Drive It Like You Own It, Not Like You Stole It

A few words of wisdom to new drivers.

by Philip Karlberg

    One of the most significant moments in my life thus far was when I first took the car out by myself. Keys in hand, I set off in my mom’s teal minivan destined for Chipotle.
    The freedom was something I had never experienced before.
    For most teenagers, including myself, a driver’s license is a ticket to freedom. I have had a car of my own for about a year, and my license for nearly a year and a half. During that time, I have learned that along with this rush of freedom comes great responsibility. For many people, the most power they will ever have is when they are rolling down the road at 60 miles per hour. In the year or so that I have had my car, I have learned many valuable lessons and now I hope to teach others before they are forced to learn them the hard way, like I did. Read more

What Can Games Do For You?

Editorial: The upside of playing video games. 

by Spencer Snell

    These days a large percentage of young people play video games; many significantly more than others. Something noticeable to me about those who are frequent players (four or more hours per day) is that they tend to have expansive vocabularies and the ability to solve complex problems with a cool head and significantly quicker reflexes than the non-gamer population. It is my opinion that gamers who treat their hobby as a learning experience can significantly better themselves and have fun doing it.
    I think the reason gamers can achieve more dynamic mental acuity and quicker reflexes is because the games they play have them interacting on a more subconscious level. Ever since the days of the Atari and Nintendo Entertainment Systems in the early seventies, gamers have been learning complex skills without even knowing it.
Read more

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