November 17, 2006 -Vol. 35 Issue 5
Editorial: Disagreements
can ruin family gatherings during holidays
By Michaela Myer, sr.
For the Editorial Board
As an Editorial Board, we feel that during the holiday season,
it is very important for people to get along with their siblings. Everyone
has different personalities causing some people to disagree with their siblings.
Most of us have siblings, and we decided that my story was fairly typical
of the rest of our experiences.
Growing up, I thought not getting along with my sister was completely normal.
Whenever my parents complained to others, they told my parents, “That’s
just siblings.”
As I have gotten older, I like to think I have matured as well. Maybe other
people do not always see that, but I definitely have changed. My outlook on
people is different as well. I have grown to understand that fighting with
my sister is not worth it.
My sister and I fight about the most unimportant things. We fight about what
television show to watch or what station to listen to in the car. We also
fight about who gets to talk on the phone or who gets to surf on the Internet.
Cartoon by Haley Huffman
What I have found is that it only stresses me out, and nothing
ever gets solved. We get so angry at each other that we cannot talk to each
other, and we simply start arguing until nothing gets solved. We only upset
ourselves instead of just letting it go.
Not only do we upset each other, we also upset our parents and stress them
out. No one wants to be around people when they are arguing nonstop. It is
miserable! Our parents usually get upset with us as well. They begin to scold
us, but we are usually so far gone that we start arguing with them too.
Over the years of arguing with my sister, I have learned many things. I have
learned that it not only affects my sister and I, but also my parents and
others around me. I have also learned that I need to watch what I say because
I never know when the small things will actually hurt. I would never want
my sister to think I hate her, and I do not want my last words to her to be
words from an argument.
The Editorial Board recognizes that siblings are not the only family members
people have problems with. Teens often do not get along with parents, cousins,
or other relation as well. No matter who the person is, students should realize
these same scenarios apply.
Next time someone starts to get upset at a sibling or family member, we feel
that person should stop and think about the other person’s feelings.
This is especially true this time of year when families gather to celebrate
the holidays. Disagreements can hinder a family’s ability to enjoy the
time they have together and can darken the entire holiday season, so getting
along should be a top priority for everyone.
Shop early, not often,
for presents this year (Pro)
By Laura Watts, so.
Reporter
Many people will agree that the day after Thanksgiving the biggest
shopping day of the year. On this day, thousands of people brave the cold,
early morning to stand in lines all day and elbow their way through crowds
of people in order to get to that special bargain or perfect gift. This may
sound like a crazy idea, but it really is a lot of fun.
The journey actually begins on Thanksgiving day when those faithful shoppers
are gearing up for the next big day; they do this by looking through an enormous
pile of advertisements. All this concentrative effort is great for helping
find many good bargains. I think this is a much better way to spend the afternoon
than watching the football game or sleeping off extra turkey.
Another benefit of early shopping is that it gets all of a person’s
Christmas shopping out of the way and can be a stress relief for many people.
They can then enjoy the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas without having
to worry about what presents to buy.
Meeting new people while standing in line is another fun part of shopping
early as throughout the day shoppers have to wait to pay for their selected
purchases.
Many people leave their homes at 5:00 in the morning to stand in line and
suffer the cold weather just to get those good deals. This is a tradition
for many families because it brings them together and gives them time to bond.
No matter how cold it is or how long the lines are, I plan to shop on the
day after Thanksgiving. I would encourage anyone who has never done so to
take on the crowds also. It may look crazy to some, but if they have never
experienced it, they should not judge it.
Gifts
can be purchased throughout season (Con)
By Yuliya Mosley, so.
Photographer/Reporter
With Christmas season just around the corner, many people
feel the need to go out shopping for presents the day after Thanksgiving.
Some families make it a tradition to go shopping early in the morning and
get pushed around by people and fight for gifts just to get something for
a dollar or two less then what it usually is. They enjoy preparing for it,
reading ads, and picking out things they are going to get. Some shoppers
even find it fun to stay outside in freezing weather waiting for a store
to open. They put in effort to make this experience fun and exciting.
I personally think it is a waste of time to go shopping for
gifts at 5:00 a.m. and get pushed around by a lot of ladies in Santa hats,
or stand in lines for hours around grumpy, tired people. People can go shopping
any time and not have to deal with others shoving them around if they go
shopping on almost any other day of the year. They can even purchase gifts
online and avoid cash register lines altogether if they want to.
I would rather stay at home and enjoy the rest of Thanksgiving break in
bed, under warm covers. It seems more relaxing to wake up around noon, watch
a football game, and eat a bunch of food, rather than stay out in the cold
weather early in the morning or stand in a long line.
Some people might not agree with me by saying that it would be more fun
to spend the morning shopping for Christmas gifts, but I think that there
is no point in rushing into Christmas and buying gifts a month before when
people can still get great deals on items a week or two before Christmas.
Although the selection may not be the same as early in the shopping season,
if people look hard enough, they can find gifts no matter how close to Christmas
it is. Instead, they should enjoy Thanksgiving break while they can and
shop for Christmas later.
Review:
TV turkey dinners no comparison
By Michelle Sollars, jr.
Business Manager
While turkey TV dinners are quick and easy, many would prefer
to spend the day slaving away in a hot kitchen to prepare the traditional
Thanksgiving feast.
Seeing no point in preparing a huge meal for only one, I would agree that
these small dinners would be appropriate for someone who lives on their
own. Also, the cost of a TV dinner is much less.
One of the two turkey TV dinners that I tried was the Swanson Turkey TV
Dinner.
Taking only an estimated six minutes to cook, this dinner was a preferable
dinner in the amount of preparation time; however, some of the food was
undercooked while some was blistering hot. The food for this meal really
was not all that bad except for the fact that some of it was undercooked.
The other kind of turkey TV dinner was the Banquet Turkey TV Dinner. It
was better than the Swanson brand dinner, except that it did not include
a brownie in the meal.
This dinner took about the same amount of time as the Swanson one. However
it was larger than the Swanson meal and the flavors were better. This dinner
was well cooked, and I did not need to cook it for longer than the directions
instructed.
Both dinners were pretty good, but they were no comparison to the traditional
Thanksgiving meal. I would definitely choose a home-prepared Thanksgiving
feast over a TV dinner any day.
How important is family togetherness during the holidays?
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Janelle Herder, sr., “Family
togetherness is important so you can spend time with your family.”
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Jennifer Combes, jr., “It’s
very important because you get to see everybody that you might not have
seen for a very long time, and you get to catch up on old times.”
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Scott Sollars, so., “I think
family togetherness during the holidays is very important because sometimes
it’s the only time you get to see most of your family together.”
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Devon West, fr.,
“[The holidays are] a good time to get together and enjoy time
with your family.”
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Sandy Mintz, secretary, “Family time is always important, especially during the holidays. Now that I have two grandsons they make it a special time.” |
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