MISSING MONITORS Computers in the 400s computer lab were found with smashed screens and were missing keyboards and mice. They have since been removed from the lab.

Column byNaomi Sabbah and Joely Mass

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5NEWS December 2010www.thewestwordonline.com

Cartoons, which were one of Google’s highly esteemed trending topics this month. Internet users made an overwhelming number of Google searches for a variety of classic cartoons such as “Hey Arnold!”, “Angry Beavers,” and “Doug Funny” due to the creation of the widespread Facebook event, “Change Your Profile Picture to a Cartoon Character Campaign.” From December 1 to December 6, hundreds of thousands of Face-book users changed their profile pictures to images of cartoon char-acters to show their support for a campaign to end violence against children. Five days full of nostal-gia ensued.

Breakups, which are being cel-ebrated in a new way this holiday season. Instead of mourning break-ups with buckets of ice cream and movie marathons, the new break-up ornament, sold at breakuporna-ments.com, helps transform your relationship problems into holi-day cheer. Ornaments with funny breakup phrases including “Our Last Christmas Together” bring humor into a typically tough situ-ation. Say goodbye to your trusty friends Ben and Jerry because this Christmas, getting over a breakup has never been funnier.

Insomniacs, who can be grateful for a new video that is specifically designed to help them fall asleep. The actual film is comprised of a blank screen and muffled dialogue and has been successful in putting people into a trance-like state. While most filmmakers would be offended by movie-goers taking a nap during their motion pictures, snoozing is the highest form of praise for these directors.

Cow criminals, who were caught trying to steal 17 calves in an ef-fort to start their own dairy farm. A pair of teenage boys from cen-tral Minnesota planned to pro-duce and sell dairy products and split the profits. However, now that they are in jail for their un-lawful acts, it seems that their plan has blown itself “udderly” out of proportion.

Droid 2 users, who might be re-ceiving an unpleasant surprise from their phone. A man from Texas claims he was talking on his brand new Droid 2 Smartphone when he heard a pop. After remov-ing the device from next to his head, he felt blood dripping from his ear and had to be taken to the emergency room. Could it actually be dangerous for a person to own a Droid 2?

Careless texters, after a drug dealer in Indiana was arrested for accidentally texting information about his profession to a prosecu-tor instead of one of his clients. Although the man was obviously wrong in his illegal actions, he could have easily avoided detec-tion if he had only double-checked the phone number for the recipient of his text message. Good thing there’s no texting in jail.

Jose Jolon Villeda / Illustrator

Computer lab closed due to vandalism

Mac IraNews Reporter

Teachers use computer labs to aid in their daily lessons or to al-low students to research material for projects during school hours. However, this is no longer always possible. Over the course of the year, students have been med-dling with the computers in the labs in the 400s and the Freshmen Wing. At least 20 computers in the 400s alone have been vandalized, prompting the temporary closure of this lab. According to Head Media Center Specialist Mrs. Benedict, students have unplugged comput-ers from their sockets, taken com-puter equipment, and have dis-abled the computers. Ms. Malloy, a business teacher who uses computers in her classes on a regular basis, said, “The stu-dents should be more responsible with the computers that they use. I make sure that my students use the computers properly and with respect.”

One of the most frustrating things that happened to the com-puters was that many keys were picked off the keyboards. These events occurred during the peri-ods of time when the computer labs were empty and the doors to the computer labs were left un-

locked. Due to this vandalizing, the members of the Information Technology (IT) department were required to come in and fix many of the problems. Eventually, the IT department decided that enough was enough and said it would not come into fix the computers any-more. “ I think that the school should fix whatever was broken,” sopho-more Nicole Ambrosecchio said. “What else can they do? We use that lab.” The destruction caused Prin-cipal Ms. Figluizzi to restrict com-

puter lab use. The computer lab in Room 422 was recently reopened to classes, but with tighter supervi-sion. There was also minor dam-age done to the computer labs in the Freshmen Wing, though the damage has been fixed. Mrs. Benedict said that many

of the teachers who used the com-puter labs had been unable to ad-equately supervise their students. “People should take respon-sibility,” Mrs. Benedict said. “When they block the use of com-puters, they ruin it for everyone else.” Students who use the com-puter lab have been negatively affected by the vandalism. “I used the lab to look for colleges,” freshman Jineida Harkness said. “[I think] it’s really bad. Why would someone do that to a com-puter lab?”

At least 20 computers in the 400s alone have been vandalized, prompting the temporary closure of the computer lab in Room 422.

Elissa Miolene / Photo Manager

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