May 2010

For Special Education teacher Helen Schaefer, Relay for Life holds a personal significance. As an ovarian cancer survivor, the event provides hope for the future of cancer treatment options.

?For me, it means that our whole community gives up time to make lives better for people with cancer or people who might yet have cancer,? she said.

Schaefer, who has participated in the Vienna Relay For Life every year since its founding in 2004, said the money raised from the participants are used to improve the medications for current cancer patients, as well as finding a cure.

Sitting down with student journalists from across the county, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Jack Dale discussed issues impacting the county in the coming year, including the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget, which will be finalized on Thursday.

Although Dale?s originally proposed FY 2011 budget featured drastic cuts, the majority of programs on the chopping block will remain in place next year.

?Most of the things we thought we would have to cut, turned out we won?t have to,? Dale said in reference to the originally proposed extensive cuts.

What do all these things have in common: Rubik?s cubes, lava lamps, the Beatles, Pok?mon, the iPod and Lady Gaga? They?re all fads popular over the past five decades; they?re what was ?in? at one point in time.

There is no doubt that our lives are surrounded and influenced by the latest fads in fashion, music and celebrity gossip, as pop culture even pervades the school environment.

Tabloids are just one form of pop culture?s unavoidable presence in today?s society.

According to Peter?s Principle, a theory originally established by education specialist Laurence J. Peter in 1969, a person rises up the ranks until they reach a point of incompetence.

This truth also applies to a political parties. The Republican and Democratic parties have both historically implemented change that has- pushed the country forward. Unfortunately, both parties have grown to a point where their own priorities hold them back. As a result, the time has come to dissolve these bitter rivals and make way for a more evenly represented multi-party system.

When you hear the words bullying or cyber bullying, certain negative thoughts come to mind. There is the immediate desire to roll your eyes, or tune out. When you hear that there is going to be an hour-long discussion on the dangers of bullying in class, you prepare yourself for an hour-long nap. This predilection to ignoring talks on bullying is completely understandable, because in the end we have been receiving the same message for years. Yes, we get it; bullying is a problem. No one is arguing against that fact, we just don?t want to hear another lecture on it.

Teachers will likely be more vindicated than surprised by the statistic that over 20 percent of students sleep in class. When the lecture starts or the lights go off for an educational movie, one in five students? heads will hit the desk for a ten-minute nap.

Because sleeping in class is an issue that has been forever prevalent, teachers must institute methods to discourage students from sleeping during lessons. Several unique means of keeping students awake in class have been implemented throughout the years by teachers.

Located on a side street in Georgetown, the Peacock Caf? is not the place to go for an intimate, quite meal. Upon entering the restaurant, there is a staggeringly noisy blend of club music and loud conversation held by people struggling to hear over the drone of the beat. The inside of the caf? is extremely cramped, as well. Simply going to the counter to get a table is an ordeal, as you must maneuver through hordes of tightly crammed people. On a Saturday morning be prepared for at least an hour wait. You?re in luck, though, if there?s a table available outside.

When student athletes get injured on the field, the duty falls on athletic trainer Esther Horner to get these players back into the game.

Athletic training ?involves prevention, rehabilitation, emergency care and evaluation,? Horner said.

 In high school, Horner played softball and volleyball, where she first acquired an interest in sports medicine.

?I had a coach who did athletic training,? Horner said. ?[I learned that the field] combines athletics with health care.?

In their new album, Total Life Forever, Oxford dropouts Foals create smart and polished music. Relying on keyboards, they update classic 80s pop with intricate bass-lines and manage to preserve their optimistic sound with added maturity. Their music is an acquired taste, but its oddities unite to form a sound that is pleasant and catchy.