Monday, November 21, 2016

How to Survive the Holidays

Kelly Hyland and Taylor Selbst
Staff Writers

Snow, hot chocolate, and presents are the best part of any holiday season. People look forward to getting together with extended family they do not see often and giving presents to close friends and family, but what people fail to remember are the hardships of the holidays: constant questions about your life, the struggle to buy presents when you bank account is empty, and keeping your parents happy when company is coming over. These are the struggles all teens face during the holiday season. Here is  a short survival guide for the holidays.

1.Buying on a Budget
  Your friends and family deserve the world, but sadly you can only afford a DIY project from the dollar store. Don’t fret! As long as you show your friends and family that you care, they won’t mind what you get them as long as it’s from the heart. Also if you are looking for good sales, I advise you to go shopping for loved ones on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

2. Avoidance
  Honestly, staying in a corner or upstairs in your room will solve all of the problems involving family members asking many questions you are trying to avoid.
  -Worst possible questions relatives can ask:
  -What college are you going to?
  -What are you going to major in?
  -Who are you dating?
  -How are your grades?

3. JUJU your way through the holidays
  The holidays are a time for good food, loved ones, and kissing under the mistletoe. Your parents may be stressed during this time with hosting family, so maybe help them out once in awhile to keep everyone happy.
  The holidays are a great time to do you and try to make the most of crazy relatives, an empty bank account, and parents nagging you to get out of the kitchen before the rest of your family comes over, so make it LIT!

Deciding When To Decorate

Shayna Berman and Erica Brennan
Staff Writers


When is an appropriate time to start putting up holiday decorations? Students at New Hope are very opinionated on this topic, with a fairly even split of whether decorations should be put up before or after Thanksgiving.
  Junior Riley Brennan argues that “You can’t just skip over Thanksgiving. If you put up decorations before Thanksgiving, then the Christmas season seems too long.”
  She says that her family puts up decorations purely for Thanksgiving, so putting holiday decorations up would take away from turkey time with family. A common trend found among families is that they have completely separate decorations for Thanksgiving from Christmas or other holidays in December. So, for those who follow this trend, decorations for the holidays start being put up after Thanksgiving.
  On the other side, junior Stella Kelley believes that decorations should be put up a week before Thanksgiving in order to get things ready for her favorite holiday.
  “My family gets things started early. We try to keep our decorations up as long as possible,” Kelley said. Because Christmas is her favorite holiday, she starts preparing as early as she can so she can cherish the time.
  Almost everyone can agree that once the decorations are up, they cannot contain their excitement for the holidays. The holidays celebrated in December are the favorites of students, so decorating is part of the experience.
  Students differ on this topic. Some wish to savor the holiday spirit while others believe in separating the holidays rather than combining the two. Both views result in staying in the holiday spirit.  Whether they put up decorations before or after Thanksgiving, students are ready to celebrate the holidays with their families and friends during this time of year.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Do’s and Don’ts of Online Classes

Do’s and Don’ts of Online Classes
Marc Verwiel

In order to fill a gap in my schedule and learn more about one of my favorite topics, I made the decision to take AP Economics as an online class during my senior year. After two months of being enrolled, I have learned some crucial tips for deciding which class to take, and how to handle the new experience.


  • Do- Take a class in a subject you are interested in. Online classes usually require a lot of personal effort, so if you are not engaged in the subject, it may be hard to motivate yourself to learn the content.
  • Don’t- Procrastinate. Many online classes are partially self-paced, with deadlines being in terms of units, not individual assignments. If you don’t keep up, you could find yourself doing an entire year of mandarin work in a few days.
  • Do- Use the time given to you to do homework for your class. Typically, you will get a period of the day to do your online class work, which is usually done through a study hall. Since an online class is just as rigorous as a regular class, using this study hall for other classes will lead to an additional 40 minutes of work after school.
  • Don’t- View this class as a second priority. Even though the class is taught in a different format without a teacher hanging over your shoulder to make sure you get your work done, this class counts as much as any other. An online class is still a class, and will still count towards your GPA like any other class would.
  • Do- Engage with others in your class. In most online classes, there are 20-30 other students taking the same class with the same teacher. Use this to your advantage when it comes to asking questions or studying for tests.
  • Don't- Expect this class to be easier than regular classes. Just because you are learning the content in a different way does not mean that the content is not important. If you expect to take an online class as a study hall for credit, you will be unsuccessful and end up damaging your GPA.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Keeping Fall Fun

Mackenzie Carpenter
Katie Tangradi
Staff Writers

Welcome back to another beautiful fall season in New Hope-Solebury. Last year there was a poll deciding best fall activities. The winner of that poll was “hanging out with Russell Abernethy.” This year after receiving a wide range to total 78 responses, hanging out with Russell is no longer the favored choice of fall fun among New Hope-Solebury students.
 The number one choice for fall fun, with 48 votes, is apple picking! Solebury Orchards is open Thursday through Sunday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Find some time this fall season to take a ride on that tractor and pick some apples. Then maybe  make an apple pie for a friend or family get together!
 Coming in at a close second at 47 votes is drinking apple cider. Once again, Solebury Orchards is the move to make for fall fun. Can’t get all the way out to Creamery Road? No problem! Solebury Orchard apple cider is stocked up at Jamie Hollander and other local businesses.
 One of the choices given for fall fun included “hanging out with Matt Fest”. Opposite to the victorious results of hanging out with Russell Abernethy, Matt Fest only received 18 votes. That’s less than 25 percent. What if Russell was back on the choice list? Would he win again?

Who are The Pink Panthers?

Neftali Jimenez-Castro

Who are the so called Pink Panthers? They are believed to be the gang of thieves organized by Dragan Mike, a Serbian national. Yes, they were also named after the successful series of crime comedy films. The gang of thieves are made up of ex-Yugoslavs, citizens from Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, and are credited with many of the most bold thefts in criminal history for over the last two decades.
 Interpol estimates about 60 people are in the gang and possibly even several hundred others involved in the network. The Panthers consist of some former soldiers with violent pasts; fluent in various languages and carrying passports from different countries. They are well known for their robberies of luxurious jewels worth millions. Past jewel robberies in Dubai, Switzerland, Japan, France, Liechtenstein, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Monaco are thought to be connected with the Pink Panthers. The group’s largest heist took place at the Harry Winston jewelry store in Paris in December 2008. The thieves took nearly $98 million in jewelry. With 340 robberies, the professional thieves have managed to perform feats right out of the movies: daring escapes, smashing car chases, and planning straight out of sophisticated detective novels.
 Some of the gang members have been arrested and have served sentences of up to 10 years. Others have been able to escape prison. A few are are currently on the run. But most of them are still free and organized and seeking to commit more crimes. The robbery that took place in Paris this past week may prove to be the responsibility of the Pink Panthers. Although it is unclear at the moment who exactly robbed  Kim Kardashian, it shows distinctive traits of the Panthers.
 Pink Panthers’ member Novak once told a reporter: “There are no victims to what we do, we scare people but we do not hurt them. We only take expensive things from rich people.”
 Kardashian claims she was handcuffed and held at gunpoint by men who appeared to be police officers. They then left her in her hotel bathroom and made off with nearly $11.2 million dollars worth of jewelry including her engagement ring.