Friday, February 27, 2015

Safe driving tips for NHS students

Madison Walsh
Staff Writer

Now that the winter months are upon us, safety hazards are becoming more and more of a concern. Between the snow, sleet, hail, and icy roads that become issues during this season, drivers must continue to stay cautious on the roads. Every driver, regardless of age,  must prepare for the treacherous conditions; the new drivers who are going to and from school every weekday especially must stay aware on the roads.
  With these hazards kept in mind, use these safety tips in order to help you get home safely every time.
  Practice, practice, practice! Even if you have had your license for a long period of time, it is important to know how your car will act when in cold weather conditions. Whether you’re driving a new car this season, or have simply never driven in the winter months before, it’s important to get a feel for how your car will personally behave on the roads. Test the brakes, rehearse maneuvers in empty parking lots, and steer into a skid to know how to react when you run into scares on the road in real life.
 To prevent crashes on the road, start by slowing down your speed and distancing yourself further from the car ahead of you (as much as 10 times as recommended!). This will give you more time to react if an accident ahead of you does occur. If the car skids in icy conditions, steer gently into the direction you are skidding. Accelerating gently will also help you gain greater control.
  If you are driving a manual shift, use low revs and, as quickly as possible, change into a higher gear. Moving off in second gear may help to reduce wheel slips. This will also help your wheels  grip the road better when driving on ice.
  If you get caught driving in hail, make sure to drive in the opposite direction the hail is coming down; this means the hail should always be hitting the front windshield. If your desired destination requires any other side of your car to face the hail, try to find alternative routes. This will help increase your safety due to the fact that the front windshield is much better at withstanding outside forces, compared to the side windows or rear windshield.
  Lastly, keep an eye out for potholes on the roads. Leave extra room between the front of your car and the car ahead of you to obtain the greatest possible visibility in order to avoid potholes. If you come across an unavoidable pothole, slow down before you hit it. Do not brake directly over a pothole, as this could damage tires. Puddles of water could actually be potholes in disguise, so try to avoid these as well.
  Keeping these safety tips in mind and behaving accordingly on the roads will give you the greatest possible chance of getting around unharmed. Safe driving!

Information derived from the following sources:
OSHA: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/SafeDriving.pdf

RAC: http://www.rac.co.uk/advice/winter-driving/

Allstate: http://blog.allstate.com/your-guide-to-potholes-driving-safety-tips/

Valentine’s Day: Treat ’em Right

Steve Ratigan
Staff Writer

 Love; the most powerful feeling in the body. It drives us mad, and also drives us away. The trust, the emotion, the concrete feelings of love are so comforting to us. Yet, the heartbreaks are so detrimental, we don’t know what we want anymore. Valentines Day is a day where the feelings and emotions can all be fired up to a point where it can’t get any higher. Either emotions of love or of hate. These are the determining factors for when people say they “love” Valentines Day or they “hate” it with a burning passion. If you are deciding to take that special someone on a day they will appreciate, make sure you know what your Valentine will enjoy.
Girls, do you want to impress your boy this Valentine’s Day? Boys can sometimes be more difficult than girls on Valentine’s Day. They don’t express their feelings as much, and they definitely do not mention the exact gifts they desire. Now, we know as the girl, your ideal Valentine’s Day experience includes a fancy date, either restaurant or in bed cuddling to Netflix. However, this is not the case for the boy. If he loves you, he will do anything to make you happy, but his ideal day does not always include all the stressful relationship nonsense. He will basically do anything for the girl, spend all his money, disobey his parents, and put up with a long day of dates. To make the boy happy, you must be happy with what he was able to give you, and show him all the love you possibly can. He puts a lot of effort into making you happy, and if that isn’t clear, you should find another man.
Boys, do you want to impress your girl this Valentine’s Day? Girls can be the most difficult people to impress, but can easily be made happy. Get a job a few weeks before Valentine’s Day, and rack up the cash. No way can you go out for the day with the girl of your dreams and not have enough money to make her day special. If you make her day special, her love will eventually make your day equally special. Take her to a movie, a nice Chipotle date, take her out shopping, and cruise in the car talking about the love you share.
  Although it is not as fancy as she may like, by the end of the day she will look back on how happy you made her and will do her best to make you happy. If you show up with chocolates and a teddy bear, you already have a great start to Valentine’s Day. Make your girl happy and she’ll make you happy; remember that.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Stuart Scott Passes Away at 49

Brendan Ondick and Connor Smith
Staff Writers

  On the morning of January 4th, 2015 the sports world woke up to the extremely sad news that broadcaster Stuart Scott had passed away at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer.
  Scott was a long time host on ESPN hosting shows such as Sportscenter, NBA on ESPN, and Monday Night Countdown. Scott was born in Chicago Illinois, however his family moved to Winston-Salem North Carolina, where he eventually attended the University of North Carolina.
  Scott was known for his style, blending hip hop culture with sports. He was known for sayings such as “as cool as the other side of the pillow, Booh-ya, You don’t gotta go home but you gotta get the heck up outta here, they call him windex because he is always cleaning the glass, and just call him butter cause he’s on a roll.”
  Scott was also well respected by the athletes, and the support for the Scott family was unbelievable from the fans and the athletes. President Barack Obama said “His legacy will live on in many ways, as a friend, a son, a father, a professional, and forever, a Tar Heel.” Former ESPN anchor Dan Patrick said, “he didn’t just push the envelope, he bulldozed the envelope.”

  It was evident that Scott had an affect on many different people, kids grew up watching him every day on TV, athletes respected his hard work and determination toward sports, and fellow anchors respected his style and the way he changed sports broadcasting forever. As Scott said in his famous Jimmy Valvano award speech, “when you die that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”