Take a Look Inside

News .................... 2

Perspectives ............ 3

Sports .................. 4-5

Entertainment ........... 6

Features ................ 7

Fun and Games............ 8

1215 Longvue Avenue Aliquippa, PA 15001 Volume 53 Issue 4

New AssistantPrincipal Comesto High School

By Catey Burget

A Close to the '00sBy Dan Gladis and Kate McCallan

2009 CelebrityDeaths

By Kate McCallan

Continued on Page 2

The World Trade Center on 9/11. Courtesy of Google Images

“If I leave this Earth, I want to leavethis Earth just knowing I’ve tried togive something back and tried to dosomething worthwhile with myself,”Swayze told Walters, when askedwhy he decided to do the show.“And that keeps me going, that getsme up in the morning. My work ... ismy legacy.”

This past year people haveseen the passing away of manybeloved cultural icons. When welook back into 2009, we will bereminded of those individual whohave touched our lives andhelped transform our society.With a new year comes newdeaths and with that we shallfinally put them to rest.

Among those great are:

Natasha RichardsonNatasha Richardson was famousfor her roles in films such as TheParent Trap and Maid inManhattan. Richardson suffereda head injury while skiing. At firstshe seemed fine, however; hourslater she was hospitalized afterhaving a head ache. She diedtwo days later on March 18 froman epidural hematoma.Richardson left behind a husbandand two sons. She was 45.

David CarradineCombining his strengths of acting

and martial-arts, David Carradinemade a name for himself in thetelevision series “Kung Fu.” Laterhe appeared in the ’90s sequel,“Kung Fu: The LegendContinues” as well as Kill Bill and100 other film titles. ActorCarradine was found dead in aBangkok hotel room on June 4.

Ed McMahonEd McMahon started as apitchman for Johnny Carson on“The Tonight Show” and later hebecame his side kick. Over the

Patrick Swayze.Courtesy ofGoogle Images

Continued on Page 8

December held manyexciting events here atHopewell, and one of the mostexciting was meeting our newassistant principal. After sadlysaying goodbye to Mr. Weaver,we gladly welcomed Mr. Rowe. Mr. Douglas Rowegraduated from Rochester HighSchool in 1995. He was amember of the football andbaseball teams. He was also anews editor for Rochester HighSchool’s newspaper. After highschool, Mr. Rowe fulfilled hisfirst four years at Slippery Rockwhich led him to specialize ineducation and become a teacherat Rochester for ten years.While teaching, he taught mostly9th and 11th grade Englishclasses. In addition to teaching,Mr. Rowe also coached footballat Rochester and Beaver Fallsfor ten years. After SlipperyRock, he furthered his educationat the University of Pittsburgh toreceive his principal’s papers. Mr. Rowe has future goalsof one day becoming aprincipal, or even asuperintendent. Since he hasbeen a part of Hopewell, Mr.Rowe has been very impressedby our close-knit communityand the way everyone pullstogether during times of crisis orneed. He says, “I am very gladto be here at Hopewell. So farI’ve had a very positiveexperience interacting withstudents and staff. I look forgood things in the future.” Aside from being ourassistant principal, Mr. Rowespends the majority of his freetime with his wife, Natalie and 8month old daughter, Maryn. Healso enjoys golfing, karate,reading, and cooking. We arevery excited to have Mr. Rowehere at Hopewell, and we lookforward to the future with him.

As clocks around the worldchimed in the New Year, manypeople celebrated the hope that restsin the future. However, with thosechiming clocks more ended thananother year on the planet Earth. Thefirst decade of the second millenniumanno domini has also passed. It isnow only fair that we should all lookback for a moment and review thesome of the major events that shapedthe world, the nation, and ourselvesover the past decade.

The Olympics-2000, 2002, 2004,2006, 2008

The Olympics bring togetherathletes from all over the world tocompete in various athletic activities.There are summer and winterOlympics that alternate every twoyears. There have been five since thenew millennium began. Sydney,Australia welcomed the first Olympicsof the new millennium. With 199countries participating that year, theUnited States took home the mostmedals as well as the most goldmedals. Two years later (2002), 78countries came together to meet atSalt Lake City, Utah for the winterOlympics. That year the U.S. onceagain won the most medals; however,Norway took the most gold medals.The summer Olympics were held in

Athens, Greece in 2004 and 220countries united for this event. TheU.S. received the most gold medalsas well as the most medals. In thewinter of 2006, 80 countriesparticipated in these athletic games inTurin, Italy. The United States tiedwith Austria to have nine gold medalswhile Germany had the most goldmedals with a total of 11. The mostrecent Olympics were held in Beijing,China. In 2008, 204 countries wereinvolved in this worldwide event. Thatyear China had the most gold medals,but the United Stated still had themost medals. Michael Phelps, anAmerican swimmer, received eightgold medals. Phelps currently holdsthe record for the most gold medalswon in a single Olympics. The nextseries of games will be held in 2010 inVancouver, Canada.

Elections-2000, 2004 and 2008Politics of partisan bickering

have been the main theme in theUnited States government in the pastdecade. No time more than the threegreat elections of 2000, 2004 and2008 has this been observed. In2000 a hotly contested race sawthen-Vice President Al Gore win thepopular vote over Texas GovernorGeorge W. Bush. However, due tothe Electoral College system, Al Gorelost by five electoral votes. Mostcritical was Florida where a mere 537votes gave Bush all twenty-five ofFlorida’s electoral votes and thereforethe presidency. The election of 2004was marred by fierce partisanbickering and so-called ‘swift-boaters’ who tore through the

Hopewell Hi-Lites

2000

2001

2002

2003

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005 2004

Olympics

George W. Bush

elected as president

Terrorist attacks

Invade Afghanistan

Olympics

Space Shuttle

Columbia

Disaster

Invade

Iraq

Olympics

Olympics

Barack Obama

elected as president

Steelers win Super

Bowl XLIII

Penguins win the

Stanley Cup

Bush Re-elected

Pop John Paul II dies

Hurricane

Katrina

1st President of

Europe chosen

March-the

worst month of

the financial

crisis Indonesian

Tsunami

Steelers win

Super Bowl

Major Events of the Decade

News

Continued from Page 1

candidacy of John Kerry of theDemocratic Party. Bush won in there-election despite controversy overthe Ohio vote with a wider marginthen in 2000. The election of 2008made history where Sen. JohnMcCain of Arizona lost to Sen.Barack Obama of Illinois. Obamabecame the first African-AmericanPresident when a record turnout ofvoters ushered him into office by a9.5 million vote margin.

9/11Perhaps the most significant

event of the 00s decade is the attackson the United States by terrorists onSeptember 11, 2001. On that daynineteen hijackers under the auspicesof the al-Qaeda terrorist organizationtook control of four commercial jetsand changed the course of Americanhistory. Two of the planes slammedinto the Twin Towers of the WorldTrade Center in New York Citywhere the buildings collapsed withintwo hours. The third plane crashedinto the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginiajust outside Washington D.C. but stillwell within the beltway. The fourthplane was intentionally crashed in afield near the little town of Shanksville,Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 peoplefrom 90 countries, overwhelminglyAmerican, died that day. As a result,the United States invaded Afghanistanin December 2001 and later Iraq inMarch of 2003 though questions asto the legitimacy of the Iraqi invasionremain. September 11 remains one ofthe darkest days in American historyand marks the beginning of the‘decade of terror’ that encompassesfrom 2001 until the present.

Afghanistan and Iraq-2001 and2003

The decade of 2000-2009has seen America become involvedextensively with two overseasconflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thewar in Afghanistan saw the ousting ofthe ruling radical Islamic militantsknown as the Taliban. Eight yearslater the United States still maintains asignificant presence in Afghanistanhelping the people to rebuild andresist another take over by theTaliban. This war was entered uponand continues without as much of thefierce criticism that the newer Iraqwar has inspired. The Iraqi conflict,whose aims this article shall notdiscuss as the author can still not quitefind any honest answers, began inMarch of 2003 when President Bushissued a declaration of War againstIraq and her dictator SaddamHussein. Within a few weeks actualcombat operations ceased. Since,bloody sectarian strife has claimedthousands of US lives plus tens ofthousands of Iraqi lives. That includesformer dictator Saddam Hussein,who was hanged December 30,2006 after he was found guilty ofcrimes against humanity. The conductof the war brought much criticism tothe sitting President in the yearsthereafter and is factored as a strongreason as to why the RepublicanParty was not successful in theelections of 2008. Neither conflict,despite recent announcements by thecurrent president, has any definabledate when they will end and UStroops will finally return home.The Space Shuttle ColumbiaDisaster-February 1, 2003With seven crew members on board,

the Space Shuttle Columbiadisintegrated as it reentered theEarth’s atmosphere over Texas. Itwas supposed to conclude its twenty-eighth mission that day. The break upwas caused by a piece of insulationfoam from the Space Shuttle Externaltank which separated and then hit theleft wing during launch. When thespace shuttle was first sent into space,safety concerns were not expressed.Even if the crew members wouldhave found the damage, there wouldhave been nothing the crew couldhave done to repair; it was doomedfrom launch. The Space ShuttleColumbia broke 16 minutes before itwas supposed to land in Florida.

Requiescat in pace-2005On April 2, 2005 the late

leader of the world’s one billionCatholics, Pope John Paul II, passedaway at age 84. Pope John Paul II isremarkable not only for his length ofreign but for his apologies. Onseparate occasions, Pope John PaulII formally apologized to almost everypossible group that the CatholicChurch had offended, shunned orattempted to kill off in the past. Fromthe crusades, to Jewish persecution tosuppressing women, the Popeapologized on the church’s behalf.This, along with his many worldtravels, brought great adoration of himfrom Catholics and non-Catholicsalike. In addition to his apologizing,John Paul II had time to canonize, ormake saints, out of 483 people.When he died, his funeral garneredthe largest attendance for heads ofstate in history. Four Kings, fiveQueens, over seventy presidents andprime ministers, fourteen heads of theworld’s other faiths and over 300,000

others came and witnessed the eventsof the funeral. its inception in 1999,even surpassing the American Dollar.In 2004 and again in 2007, thesupranational, or “above-nation”,government of Europe accepted adozen new member states. TheEuropean Union seeks to tie membernations in economic and socialcontracts so that no one membernation can be outcompeted in tradeby another, and that in times of crisesthe member states are bound todefend one another. The position ofPresident European Council, in effectthe de jure President of Europe, is apost recently created after the passingof the EU-reforming Lisbon Treaty inlate 2009. The first President ofEurope is the former Belgian PrimeMinister Herman van Rompuy, a mannoted for his ability to affectcompromise in a Belgium divided byethnic conflicts between Flemish andWalloon peoples. His term will expireat the end of May in 2012.It is fair to say that the first decade ofthe new millennium was a rocky startfor the planet. For the past tenyears, Earth has been fraught withcrises, wars, terror, fear, partisanbickering, and ethical corruption.However, what must be realized isthat each and every decade haselements of danger and to expect atime and place where utopia willexist is simply ludicrous. What,then, do we do as people have tohold onto? Hope. Each year, eachdecade, each century, eachmillennium has begun filled with aspirit of hope. It is that sense ofhope which still drives us onwardtowards the distant future, and it isthat sense of hope which shallremain with us forever.

Perspectives

Ask Dr. Dan

In the past, this section ofthe Hopewell Hi-Lites has dealtwith such stirring subjects as NoChild Left Behind and theoverhaul of the Americanhealthcare system. However, thismonth, the perspectives page willbe going in a different direction.Though as important as they are,the previously mentioned issuesperhaps do not stir up as muchheated debate among MiddleAmerica as the great BCScontroversy in college football.For the uninitiated, this articleshall explain.

In college football, there iswhat is known as the BCS, or‘Bowl Championship Series.’ TheBCS is basically a systemdesigned to award the top teamsfrom selected college footballconferences a chance to play inthe most prestigious bowl games(Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl,Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl andNational Championship game) atthe end of the season. The BCSalso determines what two topteams would face off in theNational Championship game.There is much controversy, asmany familiar with and fans ofcollege football would prefer tosee a playoff system put in placeinstead of the BCS. However, inthis writer’s opinion, the systemthat is in place now is workingjust fine. The logic is simple; if itisn’t broke, don’t fix it! What ismore important to note is that theBCS is not officially sanctionedby the NCAA, the NationalCollegiate Athletic Association, asthe determiner of a nationalchampion. Matter of fact, the

NCAA does not endorse any teamas a national champion of collegefootball.

There are good reasons forkeeping the BCS system in place,in addition to the NCAA notcooperating. Firstly, under the BCSsystem a single loss is greatlydetrimental to a team’s chances ofmaking a BCS bowl. This providesmore incentive to win games andperform better on the field. If ateam is in the hunt for a bowl andthey are down late in a game, it issimply better television to watchthem scramble to try to win thegame rather than just sit outknowing they’ve locked up aplayoff birth. Also, the BCS allowsfootball to return closer to its rootsif only in a few small ways.Because each and every game isso vitally important to a team, thestar players are rarely going to seerest. Football is not about playingfor a set amount of time and thensitting out because you don’t haveto play.

Little doubt is left that thisissue will simmer on in theAmerican consciousness for quitesome time. Recently, the BCS hasbeen cited under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act for breaking monopolyrules in business. It is anotherassault on a system which is notreally all that bad, and which hasreceived a bad shake without realreason. So it is this writer’ssuggestion that everyone just calmdown and go watch some TV.Better yet, read a book.

Why fix what's notbroken?

By Dan Gladis

Dear Dr. Dan,

I’m a student here at HopewellHigh School whose parents treatme like a little kid. Whether it’swhat I’m watching on TV orgoing to see a movie with myfriends, they are always checkingin to make sure it is OK for meto see. And of course it’s morethen that. All this babying drivesme insane! I don’t want to tellthem off because I don’t want tohave a screaming match. I don’twant to hurt their feelings. Pleasetell me how to convince myparents that I’m not a little kidanymore!

Signed,Not a Kid

Dear Not a Kid,

Well, it seems here that yourparents are doing what parentsdo best. Worry. However, donot get overly worried yourselfabout this behavior. It is veryirksome; I understand whenthey do those things whichwould drive any of usteenagers ‘up a wall.’ Whatyour parents may be doing istrying to hold onto the timeswhen you were a little kid.When you were small, they didthings just like what youdescribe and after years thisbecomes a habit parents aren’twilling to give up. A good wayto go about bringing them to

the realization that theiractions make you this irritatedcan be very simple. Talk tothem, in a calm or neutralsetting, and try to state ashonestly as you can how youfeel. Don’t be overly emotional,as the way you carry yourselfinto this conversation willgreatly affect how they react towhat you are saying. Above all,be nice about it and DO NOTtry to act like you know morethan they do, parents hate that.Good luck and keep in touch!

Signed,Dr. Dan

Unlike other collegesports, football is the only sportto have a champion notdeclared by an NCAAapproved event. Determined bypolls and computer rankings, thetop teams participate in theBowl Championship Series.Instead of leaving the title ofchampion to opinions, theNCAA should instigate a playoffsystem that would determine anofficial national champion.

Beginning with the 1998college football season, theBCS tries to providecompetitive matchups withconference winners. Althoughthe NCAA does not formallyendorse the BCS, the winner ofthe BCS national championshipgame receives the AFCANational Championship Trophy.Winners of the Atlantic Coast,Big 12, Big East, Pacific-10,Big Ten and Southeastern

conferences have anautomatic bowl bid.

However, non-automaticqualifiers have a chance tocompete if they rank in the toptwelve of the BCS standings.This system unfairly punishesteams losing even one gameand eliminates the possibility

of the leading teams resting theirplayers for fear on injury.Nevertheless, the BCS systemprovides for manycontroversies. Because it iseasier for an automatic qualifierto enter a bowl game, theopportunity arises for anundefeated team to be ineligibleto compete in a BCS bowlgame. Although Boise Statewent undefeated in 2004 and2008, the team did not receive abowl bid. While Boise State didnot qualify for one of the moreimportant bowls, Ohio Statewas able to play in the 2008Fiesta Bowl with two losses.Obviously, the biased standingsof the BCS do not deserve thepower to crown a nationalchampionship without explicitrecognition of the NCAA.

Since the BCS is not asystem where the top two teamswill always make it to thenational championship game, theNCAA should create a playoffsystem similar to that of theNFL. The system that is nowcurrently operation is simply notfair to the teams not from thechosen few. With millions ofdollars in sponsorship and prizemoney at stake, a fair systemwould benefit not only collegefootball but the reputation ofcollegiate athletics in general.

A Playoff Systemis needed.

By Amy Kraus

Hopewell Hi-LitesStudent Newspaper Staff

Dan Gladis-Editor-in-Chief

Catey Burget-News Editor

Sarah Bohy- Features Editor

Megan Sirko-Layout Editor

Paul Rosenstern-Sports Editor

Alaina Altieri-BusinessManager

Kate McCallan-Art Director

StaffAmy KrausTricia Marsick

SponsorMs. Rice

Sports

GymnasticsBy Alaina Altieri

By Kate McCallan

The girls' gymnastics teamcompeted in their firstinvitational of the season andplaced 5th out of 12 teams.Kelly Burak placedfirst allaround in four events whichinclude floor, beam, bars andvault. The team is currently 2-3splitting the series against Centerwith one win and one loss. Theyalso won against Montour butlost to Baldwin and PineRichland.

The girls compete atMonaca Turners for their homemeets. They can qualify forWPIALs in February. They alsohave the Judges BronzeInvitational and the PA ClassicIndividuals in February. The PAClassic Team is in March.

The Hopewell LadyVikings’ basketball team flewdown to Disneyworld this pastDecember. All together the triptook twelve hours to arrive inFlorida. In Washington D.C.,the team was rerouted anddelayed an hour in Charlotte.

The girls visited theMagic Kingdom and UniversalStudios, which shut down halfthe park as a special treat forplayers in the tournament.Other amazing sights seen bythe team were the AnimalKingdom, Hollywood Studios,and Cinderella’s Castle.

Carmel High School fromNew York was the first teamHopewell defeated in the yellow

There has been a lot ofexcitement surrounding theHopewell girls’ basketball team thisseason, most of that coming fromthe fact that they are 13-0 overalland 3-0 in section play (as ofJanuary 20). Both experience andyouth have lead Hopewell to thispoint. The experience coming fromseniors Paige Alviani, Elise Farris,Amanda Tocci, and Sam Fisher;while the youth coming mainlyfrom freshman Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. Walker-Kimbroughhas been one of the leading scorersalong with Alviani and Farris.These three have led the offense toan average of 64.2 points a game,and they have helped holdopponents to just 43.6 points pergame.

The season began onDecember 12 at the ButlerTournament. Hopewell beat bothMercyhurst Prep and Butler tocapture a tournament win. Theseason continued with gamesagainst West Allegheny, SlipperyRock, Beaver Falls, and Moon.Each game resulting in dominantwins for the Hopewell girls. Sittingat 6-0 the girls then jumped on aplay to Disney World, Floridawhere they were to play their nextthree games in a tournament.Hopewell won all three games, andwon the final game 60-32 to takethe tournament.When the girls traveled homesection play began. After nearly atwo week layoff of gamesHopewell beat Blackhawk 58-56in their first section game. They

followed that up with a 79-48victory over Ambridge. The girlsthen beat North Catholic in theGeneva Coaches vs. Cancertournament 70-45, and then cameone of the most exciting games inhigh school basketball this year.

On January 18 Hopewelltook their undefeated record into agame against New Castle. Afterfour quarters, the thrilling back andforth battle was yet to be decided,and the teams were headed forovertime. In overtime Hopewelltook a 45-40 lead with 2:17 left,but New Castle battled back to tiethe game at 47-47 with 14seconds left. Hopewell’s EliseFarris then grabbed a rebound offof a missed foul shot attempt anddrove down the court. Farrismissed her shot, but the reboundfell into the hands of Amanda Tocciwho was fouled on her attempt atscoring. This sent Tocci to the linewith 3.3 seconds remaining inovertime. After missing her firstfree throw, Tocci settled in andsank her second shot to giveHopewell a 48-47 lead. The girlsheld on for the victory as well astheir undefeated season.

With eight section games stillremaining on the season there is alot yet to be decided. Hopewellleads in the WPIAL AAA Section2 with their undefeated record,while New Castle trails with its 3-1section record. In the remainder ofthe season Hopewell will match upagainst every team from theirsection at least once. The outcomeof these games will help determinewhat the 2009-2010 girlsbasketball team is really destinedfor. One thing that’s sure is thatthere will be a lot of excitementdown the road to the playoffs.

Lady Vikings Undefeated on the CourtBy Paul Rosenstern

The Lady Vikings' on their Disney Trip.

Swim Team Dives into New Season

bracket on December 28, 2009.The following day Hopewellconquered Immaculata HighSchool from New Jersey. OnDecember 30th the championshipgame took place. In the first halfHopewell outscored Corbin HighSchool from Kentucky 35 to 16.By the end of the game,Hopewell gained yet anothervictory 60 to 32, naming themchampions.

The trophy presentationawarded the victorious teams ofseven brackets total, and theLady Vikings came together for apicture with Goofy afterward.Paige Alviani (senior) was theleading scorer for Hopewell andreceived the MVP award.

The Lady Vikings’ Triumphant Trip to DisneyBy Tricia Marsick

The Hopewell High SchoolVarsity Swim team’s season istaking a positive turn this year.The team consists of 32swimmers: 28 from Hopewelland 4 from Center. They arecoached by Steve DeLatte andDave Drake. During the team’s preseasonconditioning, their pool pumpbroke. This left them unable totrain for several days while it wasbeing shipped from Florida.Once the pool was fixed the teamtook full advantage of their pool.They even practiced during theChristmas break and onSaturdays.

Because Hopewell no longerhas a diving team, they have apoint disadvantage at certainaway meets. However, this is notstopping the Hopewell VarsitySwim team from tearing apart thepool and winning their meets.Because they gained morepeople this year, there isopportunity to acquire morepoints. The swimmers areworking very hard to win meetsas well as trying to qualify to goto WPIALs.

The following swimmersmade it to WPIALs: JustinBeech, Tyler Gaydosik, AlexGuzma, Zach Kearns, JulieMarki, Logan McCrory, BrendanMiller, Kelsey Miller, Taylor

Miller, Brianna Morrison, FrankieMuia, Hannah Palochak, VanessaRohm, Sheri Symosko, and KaraWalker. As of January 20, both theboys’ and girls’ swim team have asection record of 2-0. Withseniors Tyler Gaydosik, AndrewPappas, Ed Sivy, and SheriSymosko to lead, the HopewellVarsity Swim team will continueto strive for victory in theirsection. Hopewell is sure to seegood things this year with amajority or the team already ontheir way to WPIALs.

Sports

Wrestling TeamFull of StrongCompetitors

Again This SeasonBy Paul Rosenstern

In high school wrestling it’salways tough to win a bigtournament. This yearHopewell’s wrestling team hasrepeated that feat by winning theMAC tournament for the secondstraight year. This year’stournament proved to be a twohorse race between Hopewelland West Allegheny. Thetournament wasn’t decided untilHopewell’s final wrestlerBrandon Fedorka pinned his manin the 215 pound class to securethe victory.

Hopewell sent fivewrestlers into the final round.Getting wins from junior TimDusch in the 112 pound class,senior and team captain MattHundenski in the 160 poundclass, and the deciding victoryfrom Fedorka in the 215 poundclass. The other two wrestlers toreach the final round were RyanCarson (152) and AustinWoolsey (189).

Earlier in the season theHopewell wrestling team alsocompeted in the annualPowerade Christmas Tournamentheld at Cannon McMillan HighSchool. The Poweradetournament is one of the toughesttournaments in the country with44 high schools fromPennsylvania, West Virginia,Georgia, Ohio, Maryland,Virginia, and Florida allcompeting for the championship.The Hopewell team took fifteenthout of the 44 schools in its firstyear at the tournament.

Hopewell also had threewrestlers place in the top eight oftheir class. Hundenski finishedthird in the 160 pound class,senior Brian Foy finished eighth inthe 171 pound class, andFedorka finished seventh at the215 pound class. WhenHundenski won his consolationround to finish third he also wonmatch number 114 of his highschool career, setting theHopewell High School record formost career wins.

In the regular season theHopewell wrestling team finished10-0 overall and 4-0 in sectionplay. This marks the secondconsecutive undefeated season.This year they have proved to becompetitors in the WPIAL AAA,and next up for Hopewell are theteam wrestling playoffs.

Teacher's PetBy Sarah Bohy

A teacher in Hopewell’sscience department, Mrs.Signorelli is the proud owner oftwo yellow labs. The older of thetwo is named Sigmund, and theyounger is Homer. They arebrothers, both purchased fromthe same breeder in Ohio. Duringtheir spare time, Sigmund andHomer enjoy chewing on theirmany toys. However, once thesetoys fail to interest them anylonger, they will often resort towrestling one another. Mrs.Signorelli had a very hard timechoosing just one of the manyfond memories she has of herdogs. However, after muchthought, she decided that one ofher favorite memories of Sigmundand Homer is the time theyjumped into the Signorelli’s pondand tried to eat all of their newgoldfish. “It was really funny…and kind of alarming at the sametime,” Mrs. Signorelli explainedwith a laugh.

Mrs.Signorelli has beenteaching atHopewell for 13years. In additionto teaching BiologyII and AP Biology,she sponsors theclass of 2010, andstudent council, sheis a member of thesenior projectcommittee, and isthe assistant coachfor the girl’sbasketball team.Mrs. Signorellireceived herdiploma from PlumHigh School andreceived both hergraduate andundergraduatedegrees from The University ofPittsburgh.

As of January 20, theHopewell boys’ basketball teamis sitting at third place in theWPIAL AAA Section 2 with arecord of 4-1. Hopewell is 9-5overall with eight gamesremaining in the regular season.Seven of those games will beimportant section games that willdecide the WPIAL playoff teams.“We are working together as ateam, everyone is contributing.”Team captain Kevin Welsh saidof the season. Welsh along withfellow seniors Dayne Smith,Derek Petronzi, and Mark Rosshave played a key role inHopewell’s success. Smith beingHopewell’s leading scorer. To goalong with the strong play fromthe seniors Hopewell has gotten anice boost from junior ChristianFarris. “I’m comfortable playingwith the guys around me. I havereally learned a lot from them.”Farris says of his seniorteammates. Farris has been oneof the leading rebounders on theteam, and has done his share ofthe scoring as well.

Section play began onDecember 17th where Hopewell

beat New Castle 53-57. Thestrong play continued in the nextgame, a section win overEllwood City 51-36. TheVikings then went on to win twonon-section games against Shalerand Brashear, but followed upwith back-to-back losses againstSouth Fayette and PetersTownship. Still both games werenon-section losses, and Hopewellrebounded with a win overMonaca.

Section play resumed forthe Vikings on January 12th atBeaver Area. The Vikings beatthe Bobcats 48-37. Hopewellthen was set to match up againstBlackhawk. Up until this pointBlackhawk was also undefeatedin the section, but thanks to 18points from Dayne Smith, 16from Welsh, and 14 from RossHopewell prevailed 57-47 toremain the only undefeated teamin section to at the time. A non-section loss in the GenevaCoaches vs. Cancer Shootout toNorth Catholic endedHopewell’s streak, and theVikings followed the loss withtheir first section defeat.

Hopewell lost to Center 63-46,and plummeted from first place tothird in the section.

For Hopewell the mostimportant games are yet to beplayed. After the loss to Center,Hopewell will play section gamesagainst New Castle (January22nd), Ellwood City (January26th), and Ambridge (January28th). Hopewell will then playNorth Allegheny in a non-sectiongame on January 29th,andsection play will resume after withgames against Ambridge(February 2nd), Beaver Area(February 5th), Blackhawk(February 9th), and the regularseason will end on February 12thwith a game against Center.Though in Hopewell’s case theseason may just be getting startedcome playoff time.

Vikings Charge Toward Post-SeasonBy Paul Rosenstern

Homer (right) and Sigmund(left) enjoy a walkin the woods by their home.

Entertainment

Movie ReviewBy Alaina Altieri

In a lively new version ofauthor Sir Arthur ConanDoyle’s most famouscharacters, Sherlock Holmesand his strapping partner Dr.John Watson take on their latestchallenge. After finally catchingserial killer Lord Blackwood,Holmes can close yet anothersuccessful case but whenBlackwood strangely returnsfrom the grave, he is on the huntagain to find him. With thishunt, it will lead Holmes tounravel clues that will direct himinto a twisted web of murder,dishonesty, and black magic.Robert Downy, Jr playsSherlock Holmes and Jude Lawplays his side kick Dr. JohnWatson. Other actors includeRachel McAdams who playsIrene Adler, Mark Strong whoplays Lord Blackwood, KellyReilly who plays MaryMorstan. This action movie isdirected by Guy Ritchie and is

rated PG-13 forintensesequencesof violenceandaction,somestartlingimagesaccordingto MotionPictureAssociationofAmerica.

Leap Yearis aromantic comedy where Anna,played by Amy Adams, has beenexpecting a marriage proposalfrom her boyfriend Jeremy,played by Adam Scott, but doesnot get one. Old Irish tradition

Waynesburg University,along with the SouthwesternPennsylvanian town in which it islocated, was named after GeneralAnthony Wayne, a RevolutionaryWar hero. Chartered in early1850, Waynesburg Universitywas founded by the merging ofGreene Academy, a Presbyterianacademy in Carmichaels,Pennsylvania, and MadisonCollege, a Methodist college inUniontown, Pennsylvania. JoshuaLoughran, the reverend ofGreene Academy, was namedWaynesburg’s first president.

Today, Waynesburg isrecognized as one of the topprivate, Christian universities inthe nation. Aside from being fullyaccredited by the Middle StatesAssociation of Colleges andSchools, as well as theDepartment of Education of theCommonwealth of Pennsylvania,Waynesburg has been a memberof the Council for ChristianColleges and Universities(CCCU) for six years. Foundedin 1976, the CCCU aims tofurther foundation of Christianhigher education by relatingscholarship to biblical integrity.Over 100 Christian institutionsacross the nation are members ofthe CCCU.

College PreviewBy Sarah Bohy

Waynesburg’s enrollmenthas reached approximately 2,500students from 21 states across thecountry. Undergraduate studentsaccount for 1,500 of these, whilegraduate and professional adultsmake up an additional 1,000.Waynesburg has approximately130 faculty members, for a studentto faculty ratio of 13:1 and anaverage class size of 25.

Waynesburg offers over 70degree programs. Their top fivemost commonly studied majors areBusiness, Communications,Education, Nursing, and Law. Inaddition, Waynesburg offersseveral graduate and doctoratedegree programs.

As a general educationrequirement, all students enrolled atWaynesburg University mustcomplete 30 hours of communityservice for any non-profitorganization during a semester.Cumulatively, Waynesburg studentsprovide 1,200 hours of communityservice per week to local non-profit organizations. In addition,students are given the opportunityto travel to other states andcountries during breaks.

About an hour fromHopewell, Waynesburg is thecounty seat of Greene County,Pennsylvania. Built around the turnof the nineteenth century, GreeneCounty is rich with AmericanHistory. One of the main attractionsof Greene County is their fall

foliage. Peaking in mid-October,people come from miles around tosee the beautiful scenery and takepart in the annual Covered BridgeFestival, which takes place duringthe third week in September. Inaddition, the WaynesburgUniversity campus is home to thePaul R. Stewart Museum. Namedafter and founded by a former WUpresident, the museum featuresfossils, minerals, and rocks fromarea coal mines, earlyMonongahela pottery, and several

Picture of Waynesburg University. Courtesy Google Images

newspapers and other recordsdating as far back as the early1800s.

Waynesburg is still acceptingapplications for the fall 2010semester. To apply, visit the “FutureStudents” section ofwww.waynesburg.edu.

Scene from the movie, Sherlock Holmes.Courtesy Google Images.

says that women on the 29 ofFebruary can propose to theirmen and they have to say yes.Anna is planning on taking thatstep and traveling to Dublin topropose.

All throughthe city, Annafaces manychallenges to getto where she hasto be. Along theway she meetsDeclan, an Irishbar man whohelps Anna getthrough the toughchallenges. He isplayed byMatthew Goode.Amy Adamsdoes a great jobin this film withher energeticpersonality andkeeps youlaughing. The

movie was directed by AnandTucker.

Features

Student of the MonthBy Catey Burget

Hopewell, How Do You Feel?By Megan Sirko

Would you rather see college football have aBCS system (bowl system) or a playoff system?

Craig Fontana- Playoff Nathan Simpson-Playoff

Richard Snarey-BCS Mr. Samek-Playoff

Senior Matt Hundenskiwas awarded with December’sStudent of the Month award dueto his athletic talent and academicefforts. Matt Hundenski is amember of the baseball andwrestling team, and he was oneof four captains of this year’sfootball team. He enjoys thesesports because he loves to becompetitive and have a challenge.His favorite subject in school isSpeech because he says, “Mrs.Dufalla is by far the best teacher.”This school year is a reminder toMatt that he is ready to open thenext chapter of his life and begincollege. Right now, Matt islooking at the University ofPittsburgh, West VirginiaUniversity, and the University ofMaryland in addition to a fewother colleges. Matt has setgoals for himself to be an NCAAwrestling All-American, and to besuccessful at whatever he doesno matter what he does.Throughout his life, he hasachieved many things including:two-time All Conference DB,First Team All State DB, two-time Team Wrestling MVP, two-time Section Wrestling Champ,WPIAL Champ, and two-timePIAA Qualifier.

Brian Zahn, otherwiseknown as THE weatherman,was awarded with December’sunderclassman student of themonth award because of hishard work in and out of theclassroom. His first year of highschool has been a veryrewarding experience so far.He has most enjoyed informingthe weather to the students ofHopewell every morning on theannouncements. Brian’s favoriteclass in school is history. Heenjoys learning about thengovernment and how ourcountry is run. Aside fromschool and weather, Brian lovesmusic. He plays the piano andsaxophone. He says he enjoysthese because, “I like being ableto play songs that I have heardbefore on the piano, and I likeplaying the saxophone because Iget to be in the marching band.”In Brian’s free time he playsvideo games and participates ina few clubs and extracurricularactivities including: French Club,Encore, Jazz Band, andMarching Band. He also takespiano lessons and searches theweather. Brian hasaccomplished many things. Heis most proud of winning first

place in the consumer sciencecategory of his 7th grade sciencefair at Hopewell. His projecttested the accuracy of KDKA,WTAE, and WPXI’s weatherforecast, which then moved himon to the Pittsburgh RegionalScience and Engineering fair.From there, he received anaward for excellence inpresentation and received amedal along with a $50 prizefrom a quality control company.In the future, Brian plans ongetting his degree in meteorologyand hopes to one day become abroadcast meteorologist.

Andrew Pappas waschosen as January’supperclassman Student of theMonth because of his hard workand unique talents. Andrew is asenior this year, and he wouldlike to attend the University ofPittsburgh for Arts and Sciences.He would like to get a degree inArt, Japanese and also teaching.He hopes to someday become anart teacher. After meeting his firstgoals, Andrew has further goalsof becoming a comic book artistand then having his ownsuccessful comic book. Andrewtakes Japanese II, which is alsohis favorite subject, because he isvery interested in the Japaneseculture and language. In additionto Japanese II, Art IV is anotherone of Andrew’s favorites. Asidefrom school, Andrew enjoyshanging out with his friends. Thisschool year has brought himmany new opportunities, and hehas explored many new interests.A huge accomplishment for

Andrew was going to CMU tostudy over to summer andshooting a gun for the first time.

Evelyn Moss, asophomore, was awarded withJanuary’s underclassman Studentof the Month award. Herfavorite subject in school iscomputer programming. “It’s themost fun I’ve ever had at school.The smaller class size means thatwe all know each other well andcan joke around like family, andit’s cool to be able to write myown programs and games. Itdoesn’t even feel like work tome.” Aside from school work,Evelyn loves playing videogames, writing stories, andlistening to music. She enjoysthings that test her reaction time,aiming, and puzzle solving skills.She is also in Jazz Band, BookClub, and she would like toeventually join Dream Scapes.Music is a huge inspiration to her,and she has been around it herentire life. She feels way morecomfortable at the high school nolonger being a freshman. Evelynis extremely excited to have nowbe able to structure a sentence inJapanese, which makes it easierfor her to understand thelanguage. She believes herunique feature is the fact that sheis a much better listener thanspeaker. In the future, Evelynhas goals to become a videogame programmer and maybepublish a few books of her own.

Congratulations to all fourstudents and keep up all of yourhard work!

Evelyn MossAndrew Pappas

Brian ZahnMatt Hundenski

News

years, McMahon had severalhealth issues. McMahon died atage 86 on June 23.

Farrah FawcettFarrah Fawcett, the 1970s icon,became famous for her part onthe original television series“Charlie’s Angels.” After theshow ended, she did somesmaller movies and guestappearances on other series. Forseveral years, Fawcett struggledwith cancer. She died at the ageof 62 on June 25. She issurvived by son RedmondO’Neal, her father, James, andgood friend Ryan O’Neal.

Michael Jackson“The King of Pop” started out asa member of the family band, TheJackson 5. Later he ventured offto peruse his career as a soloartist where he acclaimed “17 #1hits and 13 Grammies” as well ashundreds of millions of albumssold. On June 25, Michael wassent to the hospital after goinginto cardiac arrest. He was notable to be resuscitated.He is survived by his three

children as well as othernumerous family members.Michael was 50 years old.

William Darrel “Billy” Mays,Jr. Known for his career as apitchman for many televisedproducts, Billy Mays waspronounced dead in his home onthe morning of June 28. Mayswas born and raised in McKeesRocks. He was 50 years old.

Eunice Kennedy ShriverEunice Kennedy Shriverdedicated most of her life toimprove the lives of those whohave health and disability issues.Shriver created the SpecialOlympics in 1962. She alsoestablished numerous health-carefacilities throughout the country,one of which was renamed in herhonor (Eunice Kennedy ShriverNational Institute of Child Healthand Human Development). OnAugust 11, Shriver died at CapeCod Hospital. She was 88 yearsold; the oldest living Kennedy(with the exception of her mother,Rose).

Edward M. Kennedy (TedKennedy)On August 25, United StatesSenator Ted Kennedy died at theage of 77 in his Massachusettsresidency. Kennedy had severalhealth problems leading up to hisdeath. He survived by his wifeand three children.Kennedy started inpolitics in 1960working for hisbrother John’spresidentialcampaign. He waselected into thesenate in 1962where he remaineduntil his death.Kennedy also ranfor the Democratic nominationfor president in 1980, but he lostto incumbent Jimmy Carter.

Patrick SwayzeDirty Dancing and Ghost star,Patrick Swayze, died onSeptember 14. He had beenstruggling with pancreatic cancer

Three Million Lives Affected in HaitiEarthquake

By Dan GladisOn January 12, 2010 at

4:53 PM local time, a massiveearthquake struck theimpoverished nation of Haiti. Theearthquake, measuring a stunning7.0 magnitude, struck the islandnation sixteen miles from thecapitol and population center ofPort-au-Prince. The earthquakewas so violent that it destroyedthe Presidential Palace, theNational Assembly Building,many hospitals, and Port-au-Prince Cathedral. Theshockwaves of this impressivequake continued for nine morehours according to the U.S.Geological Survey, wherein over26 aftershocks were recordedwith a magnitude of 4.2 orgreater.

Of the people affected, theRed Cross estimates forty to fiftythousand dead while Haitianauthorities offer the astoundingfigure of 200,000 casualties.Among the dead are theArchbishop of Port-au-Prince,

several importantgovernment ministers, and atleast six Americans so far. Intotal, over three millionpeople have been affectedby this deadly earthquake.

Haiti is one of thepoorest nations in theWestern Hemisphere, if notthe world. Though PresidentRene Preval survived theearthquake, the massiveinfrastructure damaged hasleft him powerless to help hispeople. Within days if nothours after the quake,nations around the worldpledged to aid Haiti in theprocess of rebuilding. Ninetysovereign nations, fivesupranational bodies, anddozens of aid associations havepledged money, humanresources, and material to assistHaiti.

At the time of writing,Haiti is just in the process ofreceiving that aid as the airportand harbor infrastructuresaround Port-au-Prince arealmost totally destroyed.

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Wreckage from the quake in Haiti. Courtesy Google Images.

for 20 months. He was 57 yearsold. The 90s heartthrob wassurvived by his longtime wife,Lisa.

Brittany MurphyActress Brittany Murphy starredin movies such as Clueless and 8

Mile. Throughoutthe years, sheappeared insmaller films. Shewas pronounceddead in her homeon December 20after going intocardiac arrest.Murphy was 32years old. Shesurvived by her

husband

People will say good-byeto the celebrities, politicians,reformers, and noteworthynewsmakers that have touchedthe lives of many this year. Whilethey will be laid to rest in the year2009, their legacy shall live on.We will never forget the workthey have done and theaccomplishments they made.