Monthly Archives: October 2009

October 5, 2009 · 1:32 pm

Congress continues intense debate over healthcare reform

By: Kent McCarty

As members of the House and Senate continue to debate which direction to take on healthcare reform, the major details of the proposed healthcare reform bill, H.R. 3200, are still undecided. While nearly all congressmen and women agree that some reform is needed, they cannot agree on how exactly to carry out the reforms.

The House and Senate have been debating the reform bill for weeks in an effort to negotiate a bill that will be supported by both Republicans and Democrats, though these talks have proven unsuccessful. Many congressional Republicans and moderate Democrats have expressed their disapproval in including the public option, which will create a government-run health insurance option that will compete with private insurance companies and be available to anyone at a potentially lower price than those currently offered by private insurers. On the opposite end of the debate are liberal Democrats in Congress who have said that they will not support the bill if it does not include the public option because they believe that it is key in providing everyone with affordable health insurance.

Another key provision in the healthcare debate is mandating that Americans have health insurance, much like many states require that drivers have car insurance. As is the case with the public option debate, Republicans and Democrats remain divided on the issue. Many Republicans have spoken out recently against mandatory health insurance, including former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who said he “wouldn’t mandate owning a home or going to college, so why would [he] mandate health insurance?” Those in favor of the mandate say it’s no different than requiring auto insurance and is a necessary way to increase the quality of life for Americans.

According to House leaders, the proposed amendments are to be ready for debate on the House floor by the middle of October, with the changes to the Senate version of the bill to be debated shortly thereafter. Though Congressional Democrats think they have enough votes to pass reform without Republican support, these talks will be good indicators of just how many Republicans and moderate Democrats will be on board when the final vote on H.R. 3200 occurs.

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· 1:30 pm

Jackson crowned 2009 Homecoming Queen

By: Amelia Landers, Editor

Last week was a fun-filled week as OGHS celebrated Homecoming with the theme “Warriors Around the World.” Students roamed the halls in a host of zany costumes as they dressed each day to show their school spirit.

The week culminated in a much anticipated football game. After two weeks off the Warriors were back in form as they decimated the Wingfield Falcons. It was great to have several players back from the injured list. Pregame began with the presentation of this year’s homecoming court. The court is comprised of two maids and escorts in 9th grade through 11th grade and five maids and escorts from the senior class. In addition, the football team selects two football sweethearts and the coaches select players to serve as their escorts.

Freshman maids were Amber Pineda and Chloe Sanders along with escorts Blake Crawford and Jonathan McNair. Sophomore maids were Kay Kay Hypolite and Olivia Shook. They were escorted by Trey Barnes and Usef Lowe. Junior maids were Anne Morgan Banquer and Sydney Massengale. Their escorts were Brian Bullard and Steven Wild. Football sweethearts were Rachel Weldy and Constance Crockett. They were escorted by team members Josh McCauley and DeVante Thompson. The senior maids were Blair Jackson, Anne Caroline Lovitt, Kayla Purvis, Shelby Sims and Christine Tran. They were escorted by Antonnio Benton, Bilbo Lampton, Logan Little, Steve McNair, and Justin Tuck.

Blair Jackson was selected by the OGHS student body as the 2010 Homecoming Queen. She was escorted by Antonnio Benton. Benton is a member of DECA, Beta, Student Council, Red Cross, Key Club, Track, and the varsity basketball team.

“It is such an honor to be named Oak Grove High School’s Homecoming Queen and I thank the student body for voting for me,” said Jackson.

Jackson is well known at school where she currently serves as President of the OGHS Student Body. During her junior year she served as class president. Blair is active in several clubs and is a member of the high school Centerstage show choir and concert choir. Currently serving as Lamar County’s Junior Miss, Jackson was awarded the Beth Finch Has-Been Association “Spirit of Junior Miss” at the state competition in July.  During these competitions Jackson performed an Italian aria for her talent.

Jackson is the daughter of Robert and Charlotte Jackson, an Oak Grove High School Engligh teacher.  After graduation Blair plans to continue her education at The University of Mississippi.

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· 1:28 pm

Cafeteria dishes out upgrades

By: Kent McCarty

In an effort to combat the rising obesity problem in Mississippi and win the Gold Award in the National Healthier Schools Challenge, the cafeteria has undergone many changes to give students healthier food options during the 2009-2010 school year. While many of the changes are noticeable, a few could possibly go undetected. “We’ve removed 1% white milk from the menu and replaced it with skim as this is a healthier alternative. We’ve also switched to 100% whole wheat products in each meal served in our cafeteria,” said Michael Burke, head chef in the OGHS cafeteria. The cafeteria has also replaced fried foods with healthier baked choices and now uses low-fat ingredients when available.

More noticeably, selection in the cafeteria is increasing. Chicken tenders have already been added to menu this year, and in the future students can look forward to seeing the addition of shrimp poboys and catfish to the menu, as well as several other possible additions that the cafeteria staff is still working with.

In addition to the changes in food preparation and selection, a cafeteria committee was formed as a way for the cafeteria and its staff to remain connected to the students of Oak Grove. Burke was very pleased with the committee’s first meeting held on September 21. “The first meeting went wonderfully. We had a great response from the students on the committee and we look forward to getting more feedback from the student body,” said Burke. Members of the committee will get to taste test entrées before they are served in the cafeteria, vote on what meal will be served on “student choice” days, and give suggestions on what they think the cafeteria can do to improve selection, quality, and service.

The cafeteria hopes all of these improvements will be enough to receive the Gold Award of the Healthier Schools Challenge and be a national accredited “healthy school.”

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· 1:26 pm

Game night brings loads of fun to all ages

By: Amelia Landers, Editor

Last week, along with other homecoming festivities, the Key Club hosted their first annual Game Night on Tuesday. Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It’s a student-led organization that teaches leadership through serving others. Key Club members build themselves up as they build up their schools and communities. Therefore, as apart of giving back to the community, Key Club held a very successful night of fun. The 2009-2010 Key Club sponsor is first year 9th grade English teacher Katie Kopcho.

On Tuesday night the gym became the site of this event. Despite the rain, a great crowd came out to check out this initial experience and have some entertainment. Booths were set up with a variety of games and activities. Students and families from all areas of Oak Grove came together to enjoy an evening of food and fun.

One of the most popular events was the “Pie in the Face” booth where students were able to launch pies at various teachers as well as Mrs. Kribbs. The dunking booth also appeared to stay pretty busy as teachers and students alike took the plunge. Other booths included a cake walk sponsored by Beta and a Date Raffle. Dates included Steve McNair, Zach Kulzer, LeBrandon Mosley, Clintion Richards, Logan Little, Rachel Weldy, Lindsay Pace, KaShondra Smith, Kayla Purvis, and Patrice Moore. Winners of the raffle will be treated to a group date to CiCi’s Pizza. There was face painting for younger attendees sponsored by Red Cross. Also, the basketball games were exceptionally popular for all ages. Different types of relays were held during the night. The concessions area stayed busy as people enjoyed the night and snacks.

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· 1:25 pm

Twitter is a real tweet

By: Taylor Herring

Is Twitter soon to be the new Facebook? Experts say that it is. Twitter is a social networking system through which its users send messages about what is going on in their lives. Users are able to restrict their “tweets,” or messages, to only their followers, although the default option leaves the user’s profile open to the public. Twitter is widely used through cell phones, as well.  Tweets are restricted to 140 characters, to correspond with mobile phone text limitation.

Many people choose not to use Twitter because they aren’t sure what to tweet. Well, Twitter provides a list of “trending topics” of the day to let people know what everyone else is tweeting about.

The most appealing aspect of Twitter is the ability to follow celebrity tweets. Since most celebrities now have a profile on Twitter, it gives an average person the feeling of being “in the know” about what is going on in Hollywood. To distinguish between an actual celebrity and a fraud, simply look in the corner for the Twitter “Verified Account” seal.

Whether you are using Twitter to follow tweets of famous people or to simply update friends about what you’re doing, it is a very useful networking site. At the rate it is growing now, Twitter will only continue to become more popular. So go ahead and join the trend, tweethearts!

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· 1:23 pm

Gifted athlete shows off brains and brawn

By: Anna Kate Baygents

Senior Jay Hughes, has been a star athlete for the Warrior football team this season. Hughes, #3, is the starting running back, but has played various other positions. While James McMahon was out with an injury, Hughes had to jump in and play quarterback. “It was a different experience,” said Hughes when asked about playing a new position. “I want them to know they can rely on me when the time comes… I want my teammates to know I can get the job done,” Hughes said. The team practices approximately ten hours a week, but to him, it all pays off “on the field.”

Hughes’s hard work has paid off so far. He was the leading scorer of the Bassfield game, and the Warriors are still undefeated four games into the season. “My family motivates me. I just  take one look into the crowd, and I tell myself I have to make it for them,” Hughes said.

Hughes has been playing football since the fifth grade. His dad is a secondary coach at Mississippi State University and introduced football to Hughes at a young age. Hughes’s love and passion for the game has motivated him to continue playing throughout high school and possibly even college. With offers from Vanderbilt, Tennessee, West Virginia, Duke, Auburn, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, and Tulsa all coming in,  Hughes has a wide selection of schools to choose from.

Hughes, however, does not only excel athletically, but also academically. He works hard to maintain his grades and strives to keep up a high GPA. Hughes is a well-liked student among faculty and is active in several school clubs. “My mom has always encouraged me to keep up in school,” said Hughes. When asked why grades are important, Hughes responded, “If you don’t have the grades, you’re going to fall behind in sports and class. So why not just work hard all the time and have them good when it really matters?”

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· 1:22 pm

Former Warrior continues success on next level

By: Lauren Pace

Taiwan Easterling is a special football player. He is not only average, he is capable of almost anything on the field. Easterling is special in the way that many great wide receivers are special—the type of player who simply changes the complexion of a game by just being on the field. When the Florida State Seminoles are looking for points and the ball is passed down the field, fans and the opposing teams are usually looking for #8 to come down with the ball. Easterling brings an invaluable quality to the Seminole football team. Even when the team is behind, the coaches always feel like they have a chance to win with him on the field. He brings confidence and skill to the playing field each and every game.

Easterling graduated from Oak Grove High School in 2007. He began his football career as a quarterback at Magee High School for the first three years of high school and then transferred to Oak Grave and played wide receiver as a senior. Not only was he very skilled at football, but he was also very talented at baseball. Easterling had many options for college including Mississippi State University, Southern Miss, and West Virginia.  In the end, he decided to attend Florida State University and become a Seminole.

Easterling achieved many accomplishments throughout his high school career including being named Class 5A leader in receptions, “Dandy Dozen,” Mr. Baseball by the Clarion Ledger, and winning the 2007 State Baseball Championship with the Warriors.

Easterling spent his freshmen year practicing with the team and training for the next year. He was considered one of Florida State’s top offensive weapons during his sophomore year. He had a great season with an unforgettable touchdown against Virginia Tech. Unfortunately, in early February of this year, during off-season training in the spring, he ruptured his left Achilles tendon, which connects the calf muscles to the heel.  He went through surgery in late February and then proceeded through several months of physical therapy.  Easterling was given little hope of returning anytime soon; however, Easterling finally recovered enough to return to the field.  When he played, he appeared as though he had never been injured. People were shocked at how fast he went through his recovery.
Florida State has a very good football program and holds many national championships with Coach Bobby Bowden. Although they have not been as successful in recent years, they might be on their way back up this year. In 2009 they were 9-4 and this year they have started the season off at 2-2.

Easterling is an extremely talented athlete and Oak Grove was lucky to have him his senior year. Oak Grove definitely had a hand in preparing him for what could be his future career.

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· 1:20 pm

Warrior sports notes

Football

The Warriors didn’t skip a beat after their two off break.  It was a truly outstanding Homecoming game Friday night against the Wingfield Falcons.  With senior quarterback James McMahon finally healed from his injury, our offense was ahead by 34 points before halftime.  In the first half of the game, in fact, Senior LJ Jackson forced a fumble that Vince Taylor returned for an amazing touchdown.  Coach Barr said that he feels quite confident about the rest of the season, and he is excited about welcoming McMahon back to the field. With four games under their belts, the team will be practicing diligently to continue their winning streak for the remainder of the season. Since the team is currently 4-0, confidence shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Swimming

The swim team continued their successful season this month by performing very well at the Laurel Invitational and Vicksburg tournaments.  At the Vicksburg tournament earlier this month, the boys’ team and the girls’ team both placed second overall.

At the much larger Laurel Invitational, the team performed even better.  The girls’ team placed first in the overall competition, and the boys’ team placed second overall.  Over 500 swimmers and more than 20 teams were present at the competition.

On October 3, the team will travel to their next meet in Biloxi.  The competitors continue working towards meeting or exceeding the state qualifying time so they can compete in the south state competition on October 24.

Volleyball

After getting off to a rocky start this season, the girls’ volleyball team has undeniably turned their luck around.  As of last Friday, September 25, the girls were ranked number one in the district, but whether or not they maintained their top rank depended on how well they played at home this week.  With the win against Petal on Tuesday, the varsity volleyball team is sure to  be playing in the state playoffs.

The girls also picked up wins last week against Hattiesburg and Gulfport. The team wrapped up the 2009 regular season against Hattiesburg at home  on Thursday. Playoffs will begin Saturday, October 3 and will be played at home and on the Coast. So far this season, the varsity volleyball team has a record of 7-5.

Cross Country

Lately, the cross country team has had very consistent results.  On September 4 the team participated in the Southern Miss Invitational at Tatum Park. The team competed against 25 other teams, and the girls placed first, continuing a winning streak. The girls team has placed first at every meet so far this season; the boys, however, did not place. On September 10 the team competed in the Admiral Invitational at the Gulfport Sportsplex. Both boys and girls placed first overall in both divisions. Christie Stricker came in third in the girls’ division and Chad Moore placed first in the boys’ division.

The team’s last meet was held at Tatum Park on September 25th. The girls placed second and the boys placed third. Kayla Stricker placed third in the girls’ division and Chad Moore placed third in the boys’ division.

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· 1:18 pm

What’s so real about reality TV?

By: Ashley Ricks

As high school students, we love watching television, especially reality shows. Every week, we viewers feel as though we must catch up on the most recent drama in these other random people’s lives. Some would say they feel like they have an actual relationship with the stars of the shows. How much would you guess is actually real in the “reality” shows? The answer: none of it.

One of the first ever reality shows was Allen Funt’s 1948 Candid Camera. We’ve all at least heard the catchy theme song to this hilarious show. The show was much like modern-day Ashton Kuther’s Punk’d, only with ordinary people. Candid Camera would play sneaky pranks on every-day people and capture their caught-off-guard reaction. You could tell just by looking at their faces, this was a very real reality show.

In the 2000’s reality television exploded. It has now become hugely popular in the television industry. From girls trying to meet their “dream guy” to girls wanting to be “America’s next top model,” you name it and at least one network has a show for it. An entire channel was even committed to this genre of show, Fox Reality Television. However, most networks seem to have gone overboard with many of these story lines.

Producers squeeze every ounce of drama out of every situation possible. If a girl has a crush, she’s suddenly in love. If a tiny misunderstanding occurs, the situation is blown to an all out fight. Producers can even edit in words. A simple change of the subject and verb, and this series just got much juicier. Episodes are usually planned on story boards, the same way scripted series are written out. Shots are manipulated to get the dramatic scenes the viewers want to see, making these so-called reality shows as fake as any other written show on television. As long as the show gets good ratings, who cares if the truth is stretched a little? The producers certainly do not. Their ultimate goal is to please the viewers and their boss.

The other big question: why are we so addicted? People love drama. They want to know what happens next. Every week viewers are lured back into the “real” drama of other people’s lives. Plus, let’s face it, the television shows can get pretty interesting. Our minds are constantly reeling, thinking of who will get picked, voted off, or have a dispute.

So, next time you sit down to watch your favorite reality show, remember: it may not be as real as you think.

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· 1:16 pm

Simon says…. “Raise my salary again”

By: Taylor Herring

As we all know, Paula Abdul will not be returning to American Idol next season. This decision leaves thousands of viewers wondering why Abdul demanded the six million dollar raise (and why she didn’t get it). When producers denied her request, I immediately knew the reason: they needed to save all they could, in order to keep Simon’s sardonic remarks coming through 2011.

Simon Cowell recently finalized a deal with Fox Entertainment to continue judging American Idol for at least the next three years. However, there is one catch: Cowell requested that his salary be raised over nine million dollars annually, ringing in at an outrageous 45 million dollars. To further put this into perspective, Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi signed similar contracts of 45 million dollars to be spread over the course of three years. Why is Simon’s presence evidently worth so much more? This recent raise in salary makes Simon Cowell the single highest paid television star in the United States.

His annual earnings of 45 million would seem like more than enough, right? Apparently not. Simon also judges for Britain’s Got Talent and The X-Factor, which adds quite a bit to his already giant paycheck. Compared to his American Idol salary, though, this addition is merely pocket change in Simon’s designer jeans. “Spoiled” is an understatement, when referring to Cowell. But when asked about his job, Simon replied, “I’ve definitely become more spoiled and more shallow; and I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of it. I have the best job in the world.” Of course, if I were being paid nearly a million dollars per hour on air, I’d say I have the best job, too.

Many people excuse Simon’s outrageous salary, due to the Idol Gives Back organization. Idol Gives Back was made to help poverty stricken groups of people; the charity donated nearly 65 million dollars in season six. While this is quite a generous amount that could help a large number of people, it falls very short of adequacy. This is because if Simon Cowell were to donate only one fourth of his new annual salary, he alone could feed 30,822 poverty-stricken children in Africa for an entire year. Further, if he were to donate one hundred percent of his earnings, he would be able to feed 123,286 starving children. All statistics aside, outrageously overpaid celebrities, such as Simon, become more and more greedy and self-obsessed, instead of finding more and more ways to truly “give back.”

Despite Simon’s selfish ways, 41% of viewers said that they would no longer tune in to American Idol if he were to leave the show. Even I must admit, he keeps the show unique and the competitors on their toes. So, regardless of the cost, it looks like our highest paid television personality is here to stay.

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