finance classes get taste of Wall Street - My High School Journalism

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THE INSIDE C Writers’ strike aggravates By Matt Wickens The forecast for primetime television is looking bleak as popular shows are dropping like flies, due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America. Adoring fans, suddenly irked and impatient, search for sustenance during this Hollywood famine. For the time being, they would do well to turn to game shows or reality television. The “late shows” were the first to be affected, showing reruns immediately after the start of the strike. Yahoo’s Gary Gentile reported that the following sitcoms have ended production as a result of the strike: “Two and a Half Men”, “Til Death”, “Rules of Engagement”, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”, and “Back to You”. “Grey’s Anatomy”, a big hit among Tyngsboro High females, aired its final new episode on January 10, 2008. “Prison Break”, the most popular show at Tyngsboro High, declared the November TV enthusiasts “The Office” is one of many popular shows amongst THS students affected by the writers strike. (photo courtesy of www.thebigbags.com) 12 episode its fall finale, and the series resumed on January 14, 2008. “Guys enjoy ‘Prison Break’ because it involves many of most guys’ dreams—especially breaking out of prison,” said senior Chris Joyce. “Family Guy” has halted production and went on hiatus after the final three episodes aired in November, the last of which aired November 25, By Matt Wickens according to Seth MacFarlane, the show’s creator. “Family Guy” is second most popular show among males at Tyngsboro High. “It’s gonna be rough times not seeing Peter Griffin [the main character of “Family Guy”] every Sunday night,” said sophomore Nick Joyce. “He’s hilarious.” Echoing Joyce’s sentiments, one quarter of males chose The Bridge Griffin as their favorite character. “House” fans now have to resort to reruns and DVDs since the Fox medical drama aired its final episode on November 27. “The show is really interesting and Dr. House is witty. Not to mention there are some good-looking doctors. I’m not surprised that a lot of people like it,” said senior Ryan Shelton. “I am disappointed, though, that there won’t be new episodes for a while.” “Desperate Housewives” was seen for the final time on January 6, 2007. “The Office”, the witty, white-collar “mockumentary” and third most popular show for males at Tyngsboro High, has no scripts remaining and aired the final episode on November 15. Teacher Pat Romano, an avid viewer of “The Office”, hopes the strike ends soon so the show can resume. “I just hope they finish the season eventually. I don’t want them to leave it hanging in the middle of the season,” said Romano. If fans the show are hoping for regional manager Michael Scott to conjure up a business plan to save Dunder Mifflin from hiatus, they should forget it—actor Steve Carell supports the writers on this one. According to an NPR.org article, NBC is taking into consideration airing reruns of the British version of “The Office” in place of the strike-affected American comedy. Some viewers can breathe a sigh of relief, namely those of “Oprah”, “South Park”, and professional wrestling—all of which do not use union writers. Game shows like “Are You Smarter Than A 5 th Grader?” and reality shows like “American Idol” will continue to air because they are unscripted. “The Price Is Right” is currently taping extra shows in preparation for a leap to prime-time.
ONNECTION As Gas prices rise students struggle to keep up By Michelle Cree Wi t h g a s p r i c e s increasing each week, people across the nation are having to dish out more money. Rising prices of crude oil have (courtesy of www.mctcampus.com) led to the shock at the pump. “With the shocking price of gas lately, I let my tank go down to a quarter before I fill it up,” said senior Melanie S t e f a n a k i s . “Sometimes I’ll only put $10 dollars worth of gas in my car so I’ll have money left over for the weekend.” According to a poll of 100 Ty n g s b o r o H i g h upperhouse students, 38% of them spend $20-30 a week on gas while 1 2 % s p e n d over $30. “Between working four days a week and driving to different p l a c e s o n the weekend, gas prices can really affect my budget,” said senior Ryan Clement. In Tyngsboro some of the gas stations that have been known to be more affordable such as Mobil on the Run and Lukoil have even shocked customers with prices. “It’s ridiculous how much gas costs these days. It definitely makes me think twice about how far I’ll drive,” said junior Steve Durkin. In a poll found on http://www.pollingreport. com/energy.htm, 58% of 1,711 registered voters nationwide said they cut back significantly on driving because of the recent rice in gas prices. Compared to the poll taken at THS, only 9% of the 100 upper house students surveyed said that the increase in gas prices didn’t affect their social life and how often they drive. Gas Saving Tips 1. Ease up on the pedals. Accelerating gently will save fuel. 2. Keep your car properly maintained and tuned. A poorly tuned car can use more than 25% more gas. 3. Don’t warm your car up by letting it idle. The engine warms up faster when driving than it does when idling, and idling wastes about a quart of gas every 15 minutes. 4. Dig in your pockets and underneath seat cushions for loose change. Every penny adds up. 5. Do all your errands in one trip. 6. Avoid driving during rush hour. 7. Maintain a steady speed on the highway. Avoid getting stuck behind slow cars where you have to slow down to their pace and then speed up to pass. 8. Carpool. The more the merrier! 9. Clean out your car. For every extra 100 pounds you carry around in your car, you reduce your car’s gas mileage by up to 2%. Ditch the golf clubs, garbage, and shopping bags. 10. Actually go inside Wendy’s and stop using the drive through window. Idling in the drive through lane may waste more gas than it costs for a small Frosty. “The rising prices of gas don’t affect me that much,” said teacher John Salmon. “It is a lot of money to spend though, but it’s not going to stop be from driving.” When asked how much of their own money they pay with for gas, 58% of students said 100%. Over a quarter of the students said they don’t pay for gas with any of their own money. “I try not to travel too far when I drive that way I can save money on gas and spend it on things I actually enjoy,” said junior Amy Shaugnessey. Clougher graces the stage By Kristen Kouloheras After years of dreaming big, senior Victoria Clougher has finally made it. Out of nearly 100 kids that auditioned, Clougher was one of three high school students to make the final cut, cast as a “teen caroler” in North Shore Music Theatre’s version of A Christmas Carol. The show was written and directed by John Kimbal, who retires this year after 19 previous productions of A Christmas Carol. Kimbal’s version of the popular Dickens novel quickly became North Shore’s most attended show, selling out each year. Clougher first got her foot in the door this past summer. Along with juniors Yanna Lantz and Richard Lindenfelzer, she received calls from North Shore to participate in their student s u m m e r p r o g r a m . D e v o t i n g five weeks of her summer, C l o u g h e r s t a r r e d i n “Thoroughly M o d e r n M i l l i e . ” “It was really cool because everyone is so talented, a n d t h e quality of the shows are so much higher t h a n y o u would expect a n y w h e r e else,” said Yanna Lantz. After the show ended, the director of Vocal Studies at the theatre asked her if she would be interested in taking lessons with him. (photo courtesy of Victoria Clougher) “From there he asked me to join the choir group there, YPC, Youth Performance Choir. It is a very well renowned group of singers, I was very excited to be part of this group. After the summer program, lessons, and the choir, I asked about the auditions for A Christmas Carol and was encouraged to try out by a number of people at North Shore,” said Clougher. After arriving at North Shore theatre, she was grouped, got a number, and waited her turn for the first round: the dancing audition. “I knew that this was my only chance to try to achieve something that earlier was just a dream. If there was one part of the audition that I was worried about, it was the dance auditions, and of course that was the first cut,” she recalled. After making it through the first round, Clougher then sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and proceeded to the final level: reading lines. She read for Martha Cratchit and told that she would get a call within a week. True to their word, North Shore called her a week later and told her that they wanted her to be a teen caroler. Excited to have made the show, Clougher quickly had to meet with Ciampa, Ms. Wadliegh, and her teachers to let them know what was going on for the next few months and decide what to do with her schooling. She relied on her laptop for assignments emailed to her from teachers. “I practice right now everyday, 7 days a week. The times change every night, I have to call the rehearsal hotline around 11:00 pm to get my schedule for the next day. Then I get up, pack my car, and drive one hour and fifteen minutes to the theatre,” Clougher The Bridge 5
Page 1 and 2: Volume VII, Number 2 25 Cents Janua
Page 3: The Sound-Off Four years is almost
Page 7 and 8: Wrestling looks for a breakout year

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