School radio, TV start digital year
August 11, 2008
As technology continues to advance and equipment becomes outdated, CHTV, WHJE update facilities to prepare for future
By Tommy Sneider
<tsneider@hilite.org>
In the broadcasting room, there were cameras with books on them in order to keep them pointed down. There was some equipment produced in 1989 and there were other devices that could be older than the students who used them. Next door in the radio rooms, there were microphones and outdated equipment for radio broadcasting as well as a more closed in environment shut off to non-WHJE students.
Today, beginning with this new school 
year, all of that has changed. Senior Kyle Borcherding has taken classes related to CHTV since his freshman year. He said, “Having worked with the other equipment for the past few years, it’s going to be really cool having all of the new equipment for broadcasting and doing everything that we do.”
During the past school year, both CHTV and WHJE were budgeted a little over $1 million to spend on whatever was needed.
CHTV teacher Harold Espey said that there will a new editing room for video, new cameras for the studio and event coverage and other cameras to do interviews with. He said, “We’re also going to have some new video switching equipment to have a more professional look on the air.”
On the radio broadcasting side, WHJE spent money on new equipment as well as on tearing down walls to make the station more visible to the school. “(The students) will see a huge difference. The main on-air 
According to Borcherding, the new equipment brings a great opportunity to current students as well as new students who plan to take the course. He said, “It is really going to give the new kids a chance to be a part of what is going to be a really nice equipment that we haven’t had before.”
While the remodeling provides better equipment for higher quality coverage, it also gives students a newer place to learn about modern equipment. According to Spilbeler, there will be separate “office” areas for student workspace, a projector and document camera.
“This will impact teaching because I will be able to instruct students in a (technology) friendly environment,” Spilbeler said. “I will also expose them to cutting edge radio technologies. More students will be able to engage in hands-on activities at one time.”
However, with the rapidly changing technology in today’s world, Borcherding said that it would probably be difficult for the equipment to remain modern for long. He said, “Technology seems to change so fast that it’s just hard to keep up sometimes.”
Spilbeler said that the equipment should last at least until the next decade but will need to last longer.
Espey, however, said he has his own different view on new or old equipment. “Technology is important, but a bad interview is still a bad interview whether that is high definition or black and white,” he said. “There are some skills that transcend technology and that is definitely the case here.”
Keystone Ave. interchange construction project causes concerns with traffic
August 11, 2008
By Afra Hussain
<ahussain@hilite.org>
Driving to school never took that long for senior Ann Clark. The commute normally took her five to seven minutes depending on traffic. That was before May 27 of this year when construction on Keystone Avenue and 116th Street started. This school year she takes a new route to school, one that will take her twice the time as last year’s route. Read more
Cafeteria limits fries due to health concerns
August 11, 2008
By Hera Ashraf
<hashraf@hilite.org>
Every day junior Lauren Bangs waits in the same lunch line because it is the only lunch line in the main cafeteria that serves fries. But Bangs will soon find fewer fries on her tray. Read more
World languages department undergoes changes
August 11, 2008
By Susie Chen
<susiechen@hilite.org>
The selection of the new department chair brings changes to the foreign language department. Angelika Becker, a former teacher from West Lafayette High School, replaces Ruth Buechlein as the new department chairperson.
Former department chair for eight years, Buechlein implemented many changes to the foreign language department. During her administration, Classical Greek and American Sign Language (ASL) were added to the curriculum, whereas Hebrew was eliminated. Several Amity scholars, who are students from other countries that come to the United States for one semester to help in the classroom, joined various foreign language classes. The department also worked with the school to create a better environment for the freshmen who are planning to take foreign language classes.
Buechlein’s retirement resulted from personal family matters. She said, “My family life changed. We have two grandchildren in two different states, and this job is pretty time-consuming. There was not enough time to visit them,”
Becker, the new department head of world languages, transfers over from West Lafayette High School after teaching German there for three years. She first plans to become acquainted with the department and the school.
“I am looking forward to my new students, working with my world language colleagues, the rest of the staff, the administration at CHS and becoming a Greyhound,” she said.
According to Becker, the addition of new languages will not occur until the next school year because the schedule is set for this school year. However, the revocation of AP Spanish Literature, which does not have the minimum requirement of students needed to form an official class, still remains.
Amy Baques, Spanish V student and senior, signed up for this class during scheduling and said she felt AP Spanish should not have been removed from the curriculum.
Baques said, “I think it would’ve been a lot better class because there would be (fewer) people in it. There would have been more attention focused on the students unlike the larger classes now.”
Although the changes that will occur to the foreign language department may seem like a challenge to the new department chairperson, Becker said she is excited to fill this position and accomplish as much as she can.
“I like to see teachers being life-long learners, learn new techniques and be excited about teaching,” she said. “Being department chair will allow me to achieve this.”
—
MEET THE NEW WORLD LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT CHAIRPERSON
Name: Angelika Becker; middle name is Monika; her students call her by her nickname Frau B
College: IUPUI and University of Nebraska in Lincoln
Majors: BA Education at IU and MA in curriculum and instruction at University of Nebraska
Conflicting theories cause confusion
August 11, 2008
As concern for environment rises, students must address, debate questions regarding causes of climate shifts
By Beverly Jenkins
<bjenkins@hilite.org>
Fact: Ice shelves in Greenland are melting quickly.Fact: Fourteen of the past 15 years have featured the world’s highest recorded temperature averages.
The question is whether these facts are humanity’s fault or if they’re natural processes, whether they’re dangerous to life on earth or not and whether or not we are going to do something about the situation.
Adding to the difficulty, according to Matthew Gray, a senior who took AP Environmental Science last year, is the fact that there are completely opposite hypotheses which claim to disprove the global warming theory.
With all of these cleverly worded, evidence-supported theories thrown every which way, Gray said, it’s hard to decide what to believe. After all, the term “global warming” alone has its misconceptions with people.
“Officially, ‘global warming’ is the warming of weather on a global scale,” Gray said. “But ‘climate change’ is actually a more accurate phrase. The world is heating up, but it’s also experiencing other events like droughts in some areas and flooding in others.”
Not only is the definition of global warming sometimes misunderstood, but the theories behind it can seem confusing as well.
“There are a lot of major theories about the subject,” senior Kyle Straub, who also took AP Environmental Science last year, said. “There’s the idea that people have nothing to do with (global warming), and that it’s simply a natural process the world is undergoing, and our releasing of (harmful) CO2 gases is just a coincidence.”
This idea is a reaction to the global warming theory, which states that the earth is heating up, by saying just the opposite. Those who believe this idea that humans don’t play a role believe that the globe has warmed and cooled on its own before and that it is just a natural process that has been seen before and will be seen again.
However, according to Fran Rushing, AP Environmental Science teacher, the most popular idea about global warming is human acceleration.
Human acceleration, she said, states that while global warming is a natural process, humans’ large production of CO2 is speeding up the rate at which it is happening, which some scientists believe can and will be hazardous if it is left unchecked.
Regardless of blame, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) still recommends reducing energy as a way to help the globe be a healthier place and Gray said its important to stay involved.
Gray said, “Just having an opinion at all, your own opinion, is better than standing by and either letting people put words in your mouth or having no opinion at all.”
Summer brings further administrative changes here
August 11, 2008
By Amy Flis
<aflis@hilite.org>
Since the beginning of vacation in May, the school has made several additional changes to the administration lineup.
According to Principal John Williams, Assistant Principal Kathy Luessow will not return this year, and as a result, one additonal assistant prinicipal was hired over the summer.
This brings the total number of new members joining the administrative staff to three, two of whom were hired last May to replace the retired Assistant Principals John Abell and Bob Grenda. Kevin Gallman and Karen Campbell fill those two subsequent vacancies.
Sam Ruff is the most recently hired member. He replaces Kathy Luessow, who would have moved to fill Abell’s position, but resigned over the summer. Doug Bird will move up to take her place in the Freshman Center, and Ruff will fill Bird’s position as a 10-month administrator.
After all these transitions, the four 12-month administrators are Bird, John Newton, Ronda Eshleman and Amy Skeens-Benton. The four 10-month administrators working with them are Kerry Hoffman, Ruff, Gallman and Campbell.
“I am excited about the caliber of new administrators that we have brought in this year,” Williams said. “They have some big shoes to fill, and I am confident they will work hard to do so.”
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