Payette High School Newspaper

       Your apparent BPA reporter is back again to tell you about what’s been happening. For most of last week our Business Professionals of America crew was not here. They were in Chicago, Illinois, for the Business Professionals of America National Competition. They were there supporting each other, and competing in the events there. Not only did the BPA Nationals have the final competitions for the events from Locals and Regionals, but there were exclusive virtual events there. Two of the virtual events that were at Nationals are: Multimedia & Promotion and Software Engineering.

            Aside from the competitions that were going on, there were also other things to do. As the National Competition was the ‘big league’ of the BPA club, there were 16 states being represented there with 2,000 to 5,000 people competing, nearly 200 from the different groups representing Idaho. With that many people from out of state, there was a lot of interaction with people from other places and they were able to hang out with people that were very different. Since they were out and about, our members also got to go to Northwestern University, Notre Dame University, and a Chicago Cubs’ game, along with seeing some Amish people.

            In the past, Payette has won first place in Economic Research Team. This year, our Economic Research Team of Ana Esquivel, Brenna and Patrick Mallory didn’t place, but still did pretty well. Another accomplishment for this year is Jaydee Griffith getting 10th place in the C++ Programming. The officers for next year were also chosen there, which will be: Jaydee Griffith - President, Rickey Kamimae - Vice President, Ana Ceballos - Secretary, Katelyn Bradshaw - Treasurer, and Brenna Mallory - Historian. Those are the officers for next year’s BPA group, and if you are interested in joining BPA next year, or asking what BPA is about, you can talk to one of them or Mr. Higley.

—Noah Jones

            DECA members attended the national conference in Salt Lake City where they participated in business competitions. George Zimmer, CEO and founder of the Men’s Warehouse, was the key speaker at the opening session. Five PHS students received awards of excellence for top honors in their competitions and these people are: Elinor Johnson, Stephen Thompkins, Joe Bolin, Kacee Ramirez, Hannah Dixon.  While in Salt Lake the DECA members went to Lagoon and saw a dance called Jabberwocky.

By Keegan Myers

               It has been discovered as of late that cows and prehistoric creatures actually have something in common! They both have contributed to the greenhouse effect. Scientists have published some research that states dinosaurs had a significant effect on the atmosphere with their flatulence and burps, especially Sauropods who are assumed to be the gassiest of all the life-forms back then. It’s been estimated that 570 million tons of methane l was released by dinosaurs who roamed the earth so many years ago. Compare that to cows, who alone release around 100 tons of methane a year, and you can see how it would have an effect on the hot climate back then.

                Scientists say that gassy dinosaurs were only one of the factors that contributed to the greenhouse effect back then. Volcanoes, along with the swamps and other bodies of water, released a lot more methane than the dinosaurs did. Scientists also say that it would be incorrect to assume that all the methane they released is what led to their extinction. I, for one, am relieved to hear that. I think my perspective of those giant beasts would be forever changed if I found out it was their flatulent ways that led to their demise. 

 Jenn Dewey

   The percent of pregnant women who are addicted to prescription drugs increased nearly five fold between 2000 and 2009.  When babies are born addicted to the drugs they experience withdrawal after birth and it triples during that same period. Once the baby is out of the womb it starts to have symptoms that include seizures, tremors, respiratory distress, vomiting and an inability to eat without getting sick. Sometimes the babies have to be in the hospital for 16 days before he or she can be discharged.  According to the federal data, 5.63 out of 1,000 mothers who gave birth in the hospital in 2009 were addicted to opiates and up to 1.20 per 1,000 in 2000 were found. According to CNN reporter Julie O Neil, between 55% and 94% of babies are exposed to opioids prior to birth and are likely to have signs of withdrawals. The doctors are trying to help every mom get clean so they can have healthier babies. To help the babies they put them in quieter and darker rooms to make it easier to control the baby’s suffering from the drug withdrawal. The doctors give the babies a small dose of morphine every three hours with their feeding. It helps to wean the babies off the drugs. A retired marketing professor and grandfather spent six hours a week with the babies to give them extra love. Some of these babies develop learning disabilities throughout their childhood. Sometimes they have behavior problems too.

By Ashley Shaw

   After thirty nine years of teaching Mrs. Shaver will be retiring for the quiet life of her farm. She says she will miss teaching mathematics to all of her students but she also will enjoy many of the good things about being retired. She is excited to be able to see her daughters, son, and grand kids more often. Her reason for retiring is so she and her husband can spend more time together visiting their families and traveling. Good luck to Mrs. Shaver because as she says, it really is a new book, not just a new chapter, in her life.

By Chris Henderson

Shin In Guen escaped North Korea’s total control zone, Camp 14. His story is a sad one. He was born in the camp about 24 years ago after his family was punished for his family’s blood crime, which was his uncle’s escape from North Korea.  At total control zones like camp 14, inmates are irredeemable or sub-humans (no chance for release).  Prisoners are worked to death and executions are more common than football games.  In this camp all Shin knew was all that we call wrong in society—betrayal, oppression, extreme hunger, cruelty and ever-present fear.  Shin and his mother lived in the best prison accommodations available in the camp; a concrete floor, a kitchen shared between other families, 2 hours of electricity a day, no furniture or running water.  It’s a pretty long story so in a nutshell his mother and his brother tried to escape and he turned them in, riding on hopes of redemption. Instead, he was horribly tortured. A new political prisoner named Park came along and inspired Shin’s escape attempt.  Park was fried by the electric fence in the escape attempt however it allowed Shin to escape without severe damage. Shin is the first and only person so far to escape a North Korean political camp/work prison.  You might want to take time and read more of his story online, as it is quite interesting.  

By Eric Paulson

By Wyatt Morales

Yu-Gi-Oh is just another card game.  It is something that many people here at Payette High School play.  The reason is because it is fun. There are about 15 people that we know of who play Yu-Gi-Oh.  A new group, a card club, has started.  They play Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic and even Pokemon. 

Anyone is welcome.  Just talk to the president of the club, Anthony Marble.  The vice-president is Jake Pacheco.  If you have any ideas for the club, bring them to Wyatt Morales. On Sundays at noon at the Ontario Library we hold Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments. We will also hold Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments here at school, most likely during lunch on Wednesday and Friday.

By Jenn Dewey

                When asked what one would buy with a large sum of money, most of us would say ‘a new house’ or ‘a garage full of sports cars. Not Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, who has decided he wants to build a life-sized replica of the Titanic and have its maiden voyage in 2016 from England all the way to New York; just as the original was supposed to.

                Palmer made arrangements with Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to have the Titanic constructed and has also been working closely with historians to get an accurate reconstruction. He says it will be ‘every bit as luxurious as the Titanic…’ The only real difference is it will have is 21st century technology, and rely on diesel fuel instead of coal.

                He has not been able to release an estimate of the cost that building and furnishing this massive ship will cost him, but I can only imagine it will be astronomical. I can safely assume that I’m not the only who wishes they had this kind of money to throw around.

                Some people dream of going to Harvard, or owning their own restaurant, this guy dreams of recreating a ship that came to a tragic and early demise on its first voyage. 

By: Christopher Henderson
                Stress is a major factor of any high school student’s life due to their childhood ending, learning to drive, worrying about grades, starting your first job, dealing with friends, and just balancing everything else. Stress is obviously not a good thing since it can just drive you crazy and it can actually cause you to breakout more frequently which causes even more stress. This is basically a never ending loop of stress but there are ways you can deal with it quite easily.

                 First you simply have to find out what it is that causes this stress; if its grades, your parents, or even something else. Look at how it affects you and what about it truly causes your stress. After you do this you can actually deal with it by saying no to things that will cause you stress. Avoiding people who stress you out, hot-button topics (religion, politics, pro-choice or pro-life, etc.), and decrease the amount of stuff you have to do. Then just alter your life to help you deal with the type of stress that’s causing most of your problems. So just deal with your stress and try not to let it bother you to such an extent.

—Noah Jones

                Is that time of year again, the time that all of you people who enjoy missing class to take even more tests love. ISATs, sure not everyone, or anyone, loves taking ISAT tests, but I’m sure there are a few people that enjoy getting out of class for them. Throughout this week, and the last week or two, the Freshmen and Sophomore classes have been taking their ISAT tests. The tests being taken are over Reading, Math, Language, and Science. 
For any of you that are new to the school, or a school required to take these tests, the ISATs are the Idaho Standard Achievement Test. Similar to the SATs, or just, Standard Achievement Test, which is required to be taken to go to college, you must pass all of your ISAT tests to graduate high school. There are four score categories on the ISAT: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic. Passing your ISAT is as simple as getting a score in the ‘Proficient’ category or higher. The scores for each test are different and set by the Federal Government each year. For the Reading test, you must score 220; the Proficient score for the Math test is 238; and you need to get a 226 to pass the Language test. The tests are required as a way to show the school’s AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress, or in other words, to ensure the school is actually teaching us, and doing it effectively. The AYP is shown by what percent of students pass their ISAT, and is again, a different number for each test.
The school’s councilors stress that these tests are passed, because it affects the school’s AYP, and the tests are needed to graduate high school. It is said that the students don’t take these tests as seriously as we should, it IS a big deal, since most of us plan on graduating. It is easy to be a distraction since test-taking is usually boring, and sitting for an extended period of time in front of a computer taking that test is even worse, but that doesn’t make it acceptible to jepordize you and a peer’s graduation. The testing time is also time consuming and boring for the councilors, so we aren’t the only ones that think that it is. Though there are alternate methods of graduating, passing your ISAT tests the first time around are the simplest, easiest, and the most effective way to do that.