True: I love my parents to death.
False: My parents never do anything that embarrasses me.

It is a fear that plagues most teenagers: embarrassing parents, specifically in public or around friends. Sometimes it is difficult to get mad at my parents because I know that they only have good intentions in mind when they do things to try and be cool, like using slang. I know that they are trying to be hip but a highly awkward situation cannot be avoided when your 50-something year old parent asks one of your friends if they are going to “bounce” soon or if they will stay for dinner. For me, my humiliation comes less from things like my parent’s clothing or their word choice and more from their behavior. Last Saturday, for example, I was woken up at 7am to the sound of my cell phone ring-tone. On the other line was my mother. She works the night shift at the hospital and she was having breakfast with some of her coworkers before heading home. She apologized for waking me up so early but she said that she was only calling to see if I wanted one of her friend’s son to be my date to Senior Ball. She had apparently told all her coworkers that I didn’t have a date yet for this dance and one of them offered to let her son (who I have never met before in my life) go with me…

I guess I can take comfort in knowing that, as teenagers, we are all fighting the same battles when it comes to parents and mortification.

Be Kind Rewind has a lot more heart and spunk than you’d expect from a movie that’s essentially about re-making popular movies.

When Jerry, one in a duo of best friends from Passaic, New Jersey, erases all of the videotapes in the rental store where his buddy Mike works, they have to find a way to obtain a copy of Ghostbusters before a customer who’s chatty with the boss comes back later that night. With all of the local stores already upgraded to DVDs, Jerry coerces Mike to tape over the blank original with their own version, using Jerry’s mechanic to fill in for Sigourney Weaver and hilariously crummy home special effects to fill in for lasers and ghosts.

After garnering unexpected popularity within the small-town, Mike and Jerry recruit the town dry cleaner and begin their own custom business of turning classics like Carrie, King Kong, and even The Lion King into their “Sweded versions”. I won’t give away any more of the plot, since it’s worth the time and money to find out the rest.

The surprise in this movie is how inventive it is. It’s increasingly difficult to find a fresh movie, and I definitely didn’t expect that Be Kind Rewind would fulfill that void, what with it being all about familiar movies. But from the circumstances that cause all of the tapes to be erased to the methods that Jerry and Mike use to re-create the special effects on a budget of zilch, this movie made me laugh hard from ingenuity, not just cheap laughs that become more and more common today.

I’m not guaranteeing that Be Kind Rewind is a brilliant work of cinema, but with its near-indie vibe and humble take on films of the past, it is enjoyable through the ending credits.

On March 4, while every other grade was beginning first period, we juniors were standing outside the Miramonte High School gym. Much like an awkward sixth-grade dance, girls and boys were all separated. To my right there were groupsof chatty girls, to my left, clusters of boys acting coy, and in front of me a few scattered individuals trying to find something to do until their friends arrived.

            I heard groups of friends asking each other the meaning of Challenge Day and discussing rumors they had heard about it. As we stepped inside, we were informed that it was an attempt to solve social issues and help us deal with the pressures of being a teenager. We would be seniors next year, and should act as role models for the rest of the school. 

            Once our questions were answered and we reluctantly re-introduced ourselves to a room of classmates most of us had already known for years, our Challenge Day leaders, Yvonne and Rich, said it was time for the activities. 

            Unexpectedly, these activities brought people to tears. The most emotional time was when Yvonne placed us in a line and told us to walk to the other side of the room if a certain statement applied to us. The statements ranged from “Cross the line if you have ever been hurt by anyone in this room,” to heavier issues such as, “Cross the line if you or anyone you know has ever thought of or attempted to commit suicide.”

            I watched and walked with my classmates as all of us bravely disproved stereotypes and gave everyone a chance to understand each other more. People became so emotional that even those who were initially chatting and acting casual outside began to cry. 

            Many of us were surprised when one usually reserved boy saw his friend crying, asked Yvonne for the microphone, and declared, “I just want to let you know that I’m here for you.” This statement seemed to spark a series of unexpected events. Several minutes later, one girl stood up and read aloud a letter she would give to her mother, apologizing for anything she had done that could have hurt her.

            The part that most attempted to bring us closer was when we all gathered into groups of five or six people, all from different social groups.  We were then told to share aspects about ourselves that we may not even tell our closest friends.  In my “family,” as Yvonne and Rich affectionately called our groups, we discussed everything from the stresses of junior year to the deaths of family members.

            The day was like a scene out of a movie—we laughed, cried, and shared our secrets with people we thought we knew though never truly understood. What none of us realized is that the separation I observed outside the gym was the exact problem Challenge Day hoped to remedy—and to some extent, it did. 

I cannot tell whether the effects will last, but it seems there is a chance that the freshmen next year may receive hugs in lieu of a senior prank—only if they are as open-minded to us as we were taught to be to them.

- Alia Fite

My thumbs aren’t green, I’ve been known to slack off with my gardening chores, and the clippers give me maybe too much satisfaction in attacking the evil blackberry bushes. But somehow I thought it’d be a fantastic idea to start a compost bin in the backyard. I’ve become something of an eco-nutcase lately, and this just seemed like the best way to save peels, eggshells, and lint from wantonly filling up the planet’s landfills.

Well, it’s been almost two weeks, and all it seems like so far is that there’s a heap of trash in the back garden. But after thumbing through my library books on compost, I’ve realized that the flaw so far is my own. “The only secret ingredient you need is patience,” says Ken Thompson, author of Compost: The Natural Way To Make Food for Your Garden.

This may seem like a no-brainer but it’s hard to retain a lot of patience when my egg-o-phile dog has discovered an untapped treasure trove of eggshells just inches under his discerning snout, and wants to display his hunted prey all over the lawn. But the most difficult part about finding calm with this project is the lack of sturdy timelines. Nobody seems willing to give a coherent estimate of how long it takes for nature to work its magic.

There is a certain satisfaction in getting my dose of rebelliousness safely, where I get to shred up cardboard and egg cartons in the backyard without getting in trouble for making a mess. And hopefully one day all of this seeming entropy will turn in to something beneficial for Mother Earth.

Radio MySpace. Record stores iTunes. MTV YouTube. Shoplifting LimeWire.

The Internet has taken over the music industry in a way that no one would have ever imagined and it’s showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. It is the world’s biggest radio station, record store, and music channel all-in-one, available 24/7 in the comfort of your own home. Who wouldn’t take advantage of this great opportunity? Amateur recording artists who would be still virtually unknown are now scoring huge record deals because of the worldwide exposure on the Internet. Listeners no longer have to deal with requesting songs on the radio or waiting for MTV to play their favorite music videos when they are all just a click away.

The music industry has simply entered a new generation and their consumers are loving it. As long as the consumers are happy, everything is perfect, right? Wrong. Due to the complete accessibility of music on the Internet, the interest and popularity for it is higher than ever, with iPods, ring tones, and tours making recording breaking profits. But album sales are at an all-time low and are continuing to plummet at drastic rates. Thousands of record stores are closing and thousands of record label employees are being laid off each year. It just doesn’t all add up.

No one has been able to figure out how to transform the huge demand, interest, and popularity for music into record sales. Recording artists are now allowing fans to listen to their entire albums prior to their release dates, hoping that listeners will enjoy what they hear enough to actually purchase the album, but this isn’t even working. Some musicians are trying everything they can such as online-only releases, but the result is simply not enough (just look at Radiohead).

I believe there is way to much of previewing albums on the Internet, specifically MySpace and their “Featured Artist” attribute. The surprise of purchasing an album and not knowing what’s going to come out of the speakers is no longer relevant. People don’t have that excitement and rush on “New Music Tuesday” anymore, the urgency to listen to an album is gone. In addition, I dislike the fact that iTunes allows consumers to purchase individuals songs rather than complete albums. Most people only purchase the popular single and don’t even bother to look at the rest of the songs on the project. For a digital sale, that’s $8.99 the recording artist could have gained if iTunes didn’t carry that feature.

It doesn’t making the situation any better when musicians are giving in to the problem and selling out to hurtful consumer trends. Ringtones are making ridiculously large amounts of money these days and it makes me sick to see “ring tone rappers” constantly being signed to major record labels. They would rather sell one million ring tones rather than one million albums…do they realize how much of a cut in profit that is? Why does sales have to determine the amount of artistic ability in a musician? More and more artists are creating music for the money, not for the love. With record labels in a suffering state, the only option they have is to sign the person who will generate the largest amount of cash, regardless of their innovation as an artist.

On the other hand, many unsigned recording artists on MySpace who create a large fan base for themselves are unable to take advantage of consumer trends because they don’t have a major record label to back them up. With no money to go on tour or release a single on a national scale, opportunities are limited. And don’t even get me started about illegal downloading.

The music industry is a gigantic mess with no one to clean it up. Everything positive the Internet provided has created an even bigger negative aspect. It used to be a privileged to earn a record deal because of an artist’s uniqueness and talent, not because they could make a catchy ring tone. It used to be a privileged for someone to support to their favorite artists and buy their work at a local record store. It used to be a privileged for a fan to make music their life.

I’m all about the milestones. I hate missing a school event for fear that I’ll look back later and regret not fulfilling the “high school experience”. But lately it seems that prom has gotten a little bit out of hand, to the point where I’m trying to figure out what went wrong.

With extremely expensive dresses and shoes, professionally coiffed tresses, and perfectly polished nails, the prom to-do list for girls is growing. With it, so does the expense, to the point where one of my friend’s goals is to stay under $400 for the entire dance. And I know that I’m extraordinarily frugal, but I feel that a high school dance isn’t worth such a large amount of money.

While I still hope that I can attend, I wish that people could be so openly generous with their money towards the people with no clothes, homes, or food as they are towards obtaining glamorous dresses, limos, and dinner reservations. I’m not looking to cancel prom or anything, it just makes me sad that while my school’s Lenten charity drive is lagging behind the expectations, people hardly give a second thought to buying designer dresses for a junior-class dance.

I love reading but when you stick the word “required” before it, the appeal of books just seems to disappear for me. The repulsiveness of required reading is only added to when the book is written by a certain William Shakespeare. My English class just finished reading Hamlet and the experience was, to say the very least, painful. I guess I can understand why schools make students study the works of Shakespeare. After all, the man still continues to influence our language and literature, despite the fact that he has been dead for almost 400 years. Some of my favorite films, in fact, like “West Side Story” and “Kiss Me Kate” are based on two of Shakespeare’s plays. But despite Shakespeare’s positive impact on the writing world, his plays and poems are still wearisome to comprehend, especially for the modern teenage reader. Getting through a single page of “Hamlet” was a grueling process for me. I found myself having to constantly look up foreign words in a dictionary or search for the meanings of archaic sayings on the web. Thank goodness for Sparknotes’ “No Fear Shakespeare” series!

It’s that time again. The top twelve contestants have been selected!

 David Cook is my favorite vocalist. When he sings I’ve thought he is the next Chris Daughtry. I absolutely love Brook White for her sweetness. Carly Smithson is probably the best female vocalist, but I still cannot get over the massive tattoo on her arm. Jason Castro is so taciturn. My friend Allie thinks he is so cute with his dreads.

Amanda Overmyer is exceptional, but I lost my liking for her once she received a DUI. I do not know anyone who likes Ramiele Malubay after viewing her scandalous photos. Chikezie seems so nice, and he has a great voice. Kristy Lee Cook, is just as Simon says she is: forgettable with no personality! My guess is she will be the first to go. Michael Jones is so hot with his Australian accent. David Archuleta is cute in a little boy way; he is 17, but looks 15. He is very talented, but gloomy as Simon says. Seyesha Mercado is great too, but my friends all think she is a bit conceited. David Hernandez was…um…a stripper. Yeah…um…not sure if I like him anymore.

This is a very talented season. David Cook is my favorite, but who will the winner be…They all can sing this year; there is no Sanjaya in this group!

– Danielle Douvikas

I’m not a runner. I’ve never even been able to picture myself running a marathon without shuddering. But on Saturday, during the SAT, I really felt like the College Board had me running my own little marathon.

For five hours and ten test sections, I made sure to completely fill each bubble, while working both “with speed and accuracy”. And cutting through all the hype surrounding the infamous SATs, I think most people who tested last Saturday would agree that the SATs aren’t necessarily hard, just long. It’s more of a mental endurance test than an acute assessment of knowledge in math, writing, and critical reading.

Not to say that I wasn’t stumped. I’ve signed away my right to give any examples, due to confidentiality of the tests, but I’ll divulge I encountered a fair share of head-scratchers. But the only real brick wall I kept running into was energy. My early morning buzz, partially due to the abrupt Saturday start and the hearty breakfast, wore off around the time I just stopped caring about the passages I was reading. I reverted back to the frustrations that originated with SAT prep that harangued me for not knowing how many oranges both Herman and Sarah could peel in five minutes, if Herman can peel three oranges in a minute, Sarah can peel two oranges in a minute, and Sarah started two minutes ahead of Herman.

In the end, the test ended up being a little more lackluster and a little less monumental than I had expected (although many of my reference points are based off of The Perfect Score). Which is a good thing, because it gave me the chance to chill out. For the most part, I feel that my attention in class has paid off, and that my time on Saturday was well spent. But we’ll see what really happened when the test scores come in.

America’s education system is renowned throughout the world but, in my opinion, it is going down the drain. Besides obvious issues such as class size and funding, I think a major problem with our education system is the overblown focus on earning good grades. Instead of an emphasis on the joys of learning or on how to develop good learning habits, society seems to encourage students to be superficial when it comes to education. We live in a world where very few students are truly engaged or even mildly interested by what they are being taught. Rather, countless amounts of teens spend their days stressing over getting the perfect grades. They seem to think that, if they can only get a 4.5, they will get into that perfect college, secure the perfect job, and live a perfect life. I can’t even begin to tell you about the countless amounts of students I know that desire only to get a good grade in a class and could not care less about the knowledge aspect of school. While nothing is wrong with wanting a high GPA, it is disappointing that these students are so motivated to learn because they want to see an “A” on a piece of paper instead of wanting to study so that they can discover new things about the world.  From now on, I’m going to try to not get so stressed out about my grades and focus more on actually enjoying my learning experience. I think students should leave high school with the feeling that they have learned something- not the feeling that they were constantly defined by their GPA or test scores.