Speech team prepares for Fishers meet
December 12, 2008
By Mallory St. Claire
<mstclaire@hilite.org>
Speech team looks forward to an upcoming tournament at Fishers tomorrow, according to club sponsor John Love. The team will face tough competition from Southport and Connorsville high schools, but Carmel will bring a full slate of speech students. Read more
Students scramble to finish college applications
December 12, 2008
By Lauren Burdick
<lburdick@hilite.org>
Senior Yifan Hua has been filling out applications, like most seniors, all year, but has chosen to fill out some college applications over winter break, causing his vacation to be somewhat different than everyone else’s.
Hua has applied to about 10 colleges and universities and said that while the experience has been stressful, it will be worth it in the end.
“I guess college applications have been somewhat all-consuming. They kind of plow through my life like a force of nature. ‘Cause if I’m not actually working on them, I’m worrying about working on them or procrastinating on working on them, all of which produce the same stress levels anyhow,” Hua said via e-mail.
According to counselor Shelly Rubinstein, “It’s becoming more competitive to get into schools, and the earlier the schools receive their application, they will have a better chance of being admitted.”
Unfortunately for some seniors at this school, the deadline for turning in many college applications is Jan. 1, 2009, a date that is looming ahead on the horizon. As they rush to get their submissions into the mail, they are reminded of the numerous benefits facing those who have already turned in their applications and have often received acceptance letters.
“Get them done as soon as possible; it is a relief to get them done,” senior Peter Weisenbach said. Weisenbach sent his applications to schools in August and has already been accepted to Indiana University and Ball State University, again noting the weight taken off his shoulders this holiday break, when instead of putting pen to paper and writing admissions essays, he can spend his last winter break as a Greyhound spending valuable time with family and friends. According to Hua, the majority of the time spent over winter break with applications will be for essays. “I’d say the possibility of a good future is worth spending a winter break over,” he said.
According to collegeboard.com, thus far students should have visited schools that interest them and have met with their counselor. Applications that are going through Early Decision or Early Action programs should also have been submitted. By December, students should “wrap up college applications before winter break. Make copies of each application before you send it.”
Both IU and Purdue University have implemented new policies to allow for early applications. IU collects pools of applications and makes acceptance or rejection decisions within two to four weeks. Purdue has collected all of their applications and made decisions regarding their applicants last Friday.
Hua said, “There’s a lot of stuff to keep track of between app requirements and mailings to admissions offices. The general logistics behind everything can get a bit ridiculous sometimes.”
Weisenbach said the benefits of sending apps in early handily outweigh the detriments. “What if something comes up and you’re not able to finish the app?” he said.
It is unquestionable that filling out college requests is a worthwhile activity at any time of the year, and should be taken seriously regardless of the time. Like Rubinstein said, “We don’t want to discourage anybody from filling out applications at any time of the year.”
School occupied over weekends by cultural societies
December 12, 2008
By Michelle Hu
<mhu@hilite.org>
Every Sunday afternoon, junior Pedram Navid walks through the doors of this school for extra lessons. He does not meet with a tutor to review math or chemistry or history. Instead, he is here on the weekends to learn Farsi, a Middle Eastern language spoken in areas of ancient Persia, or, as it is more commonly known, Iran. Read more
TechHOUNDS prepares for competition season
December 12, 2008
By Beverly Jenkins
<bjenkins@hilite.org>
The TechHOUNDS team is now just a few short weeks away from the beginning of competition season, which starts on Jan. 3.
“We’ll be at Kokomo with a few other teams to listen to the broadcast,” co-captain and junior Meera Chander said, refering to the date, when the rules and guidelines for this season’s game will be announced. “The Monday after that, we will host a Parents’ and Sponsors’ Night to reveal the game to our supporters, and we’re going to allow them to take part in our brainstorming process.” Read more
Countdown to ‘Change’
December 12, 2008
By Susie Chen
<susiechen@hilite.org>
When it was announced that President-elect Barack Obama had won the Nov. 4 election, thousands of his supporters who had gathered in Grant Park in Chicago sent up cheers of joy and cried tears of happiness. Soon after, Obama stood in front of the throng, and in his acceptance speech, proclaimed that “at this defining moment, change has come to America.” Read more
Consumers locate bargains in midst of economic downturn
November 20, 2008
By Afra Hussain
<ahussain@hilite.org>
Sophomore Samantha Osleger said she enjoys giving gifts to friends during the holiday season. Osleger said this year instead of giving to all of her friends, they drew names out of a hat because it would cost less to give to just one person.
“We like giving each other gifts but it costs a lot,” Osleger said. She said she will make her holiday gifts this year.
Cost concerns such as Osleger’s, are exactly what worry some local stores. But with the current economic downturn, many stores are feeling the pinch in different ways. To combat the problem and keep customers coming in, some local stores are working harder to lure customers with lower prices. Both Old Navy and Kohl’s representatives said they are implementing changes to help cope with the struggling economy.
“We’re really trying to bring customers in with lower prices,” Michelle Myers, store manager of Clay Terrace’s Old Navy said.
Osleger said, “If the prices are lower, I’ll be more willing to buy more (for the holidays).”
Myers said Old Navy’s strategy to encourage holiday shopping is to offer more bargains.
“I think that shoppers will still shop the same, maybe with a little less money,” Myers said. She also said that the store is marking coats off 50 percent, something they have never done before.
At the Kohl’s stores, similar strategies are being implemented like advertising for holiday deals earlier than the store ever has, Nicole Norris, store manager of Carmel West’s Kohl’s, said. Norris added that the stores will also train associates to better assist customers so that the customers will be inclined to come back to the stores again and shop.
“We also have a system where customers can sign up for e-mail alerts and we’re using that a lot this year,” she said.
Still according to Norris and Myers, much remains to be seen regarding customer shopping habits this holiday season, especially the shopping habits of teenagers.
“We value all our customers, especially our younger customers who shop in the juniors and young men’s department,” Norris said. “Hopefully they will come in and shop so we can meet our goal.”
—
RETAIL BY THE NUMBERS
15.5 million: Number of people working in the American retail industry in 2007.
15.3 million: Number of people working in the American retail industry in May 2008.
0.7 percent: Key economists’ median forecast of retail sales decline in September
1.2 percent: Actual percentage of decline in retail sales in September
BUSINESS WEEK / SOURCE
Multimedia/Links »
Video
Get the Flash Player to see this player.Photo of the Day
Photo Essays
Advertisement
Events in Carmel
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
Current Survey
Polls
Loading ...Recent Comments
Recent Comments
- Evan Dossey on Recovering from ‘The Dark Knight’
- cece on “Twilight” movie a disappointment to even the most devout fans
- Amazing Weight Loss Story on Dieting, weight loss views clash
- luk on “Twilight” movie a disappointment to even the most devout fans
- Kaity Just on 4-H involvement here not typical for students