It Takes Two
August 13, 2008
With similar extracurricular backgrounds, seniors Weston Luzadder and Curtis Pittman are the first leaders to have earned their positions through combined effort
By Tommy Sneider
<tsneider@hilite.org>
Take 1 - SBP
WESTON LUZADDER
How good of friends are you?
Pretty good, we’ve been really good friends for about two years.
How will this friendship help you guys next year?
We already know each other, and it’ll just be easier to work together. We usually see each other in the hallways all the time, so we can catch up then on what needs to be done.
How is this similar to how Dan and David were last year?
I don’t really know how well they knew each other, but we both kind of did what Dan and David did and I thought it would be fun to do.
What makes you unique?
I’m outgoing and can get along with all different kinds of people.
What will be your biggest challenge this year?
Probably Dance Marathon and making it as successful as this year. Just starting a little bit earlier and using the class officers to get more people involved.
What do you want fellow Carmel students to know?
I’m looking forward to this next year and leading a great student body.
What’s your goal for this school year?
To make all of the activities fun, since if they’re fun then people will come.
How will you be different than other presidents in the past?
I’d like to improve on the things we’re doing and to raise the morale in the students and their involvement in the activities.
What traits make you a strong leader?
Outgoing, understanding, friendly, willing to listen and an optimistic attitude.
What’s one change that students will see right away? Listening to what they want and trying to get that accomplished, like the other day I was talking about the late starts about the year and that they heard that we would have half days on Friday, so stuff like that that could be able to be changed. There’s a lot of stuff that people have wanted to do in the past that I can’t promise to do, but I’ll work to get the wants and needs accomplished.
What big events are planned besides the usual ones?
As far as Dance Marathon goes, I want that students that do do Dance Marathon to get a bag of goodies or discounts at certain stores. Not only do the students get the joy of helping other kids, but also special incentives from other companies.
Why, in your opinion, were you elected?
Because people know me and trust me, and they know that I’m passionate about what I do.
What will you be doing as student body president?
First off, I will oversee 24 senators who were elected last year. I kind of make sure the activities and administration all those weeks are running smoothly. I put other people chairmen of other committees. As far as Homecoming, I look at people getting things ready for that being done in a timely manner and correctly. I’ll also oversee Care to Share and make sure that that goes how it goes and see that the events are successful. I meet with the senators during SRT, and I also have a prep period to meet with other students or teachers, whoever necessary.
Anything else to tell the rest of the student body?
I’m looking forward to this school year. I think we have a great school and great tradition, and am looking to keep that going.
Take 2 - SOH
CURTIS PITTMAN
How good of friends are you?
We became friends last year and sophomore year, and last year we became good friends with lacrosse.
How will this friendship help you guys next year?
I think since we mesh well we’ll have good ideas since we have a positive vibe and it’ll be more fun for everybody around us.
How is this similar to Dan and David were last year?
Dan and David were pretty good friends, and it was a fun place to be and they helped each other out.
What makes you unique?
I have a passion for student government and bring a lot experience to the table.
Why do you think you were elected for your position?
I think people saw me from cabinet, and saw that I was already in a role that has the same thing.
What will be your biggest challenge this year?
It will be to overcome the Dance Marathon total.
What changes do you plan to make in the coming year?
Nothing huge, a little things here and there. We might change the hour system to a point system, but just small things to be more efficient and organized.
What do you want fellow Carmel students to know?
We’re going to have a great year in general for activities.
What activities are you planning for this year?
I’m going to try to do Intramural Quidditch and see if we can do that. It’ll be a lot of fun. I want to raise money to send care packages to the people in Iraq.
What’s your main goal for this school year?
My goal is to make each event that I oversee bigger and better.
What traits do you think make you a strong leader?
I bring a friendly atmosphere that people like to be around.
What do you look forward to most as Speaker of the House?
I look forward to being with and working everybody in House and Cabinet.
How do you plan on improving Dance Marathon this year?
We’re doing middle school dance marathon that will go further towards helping out. We did one at Carmel Middle School and it raised $3,000, so we plan to do more of that. It’ll be a significant addition to ours.
What is the best thing about being Speaker of the House?
Everybody in House is just a lot of fun, and they’re all great people who are a lot of fun to work with.
Anything you want to add?
I hope to make the school year great, and just to have a lot of fun.
—
To submit nominations for 15 Minutes of Fame, contact Stephanie Hodgin at shodgin@hilite.org.
Age not factor in cross-country
August 13, 2008
By Amanda Nguyen
<anguyen@hilite.org>
She was on the running course, at the age of only 11, already training for the cross-country team here and her chance to shine.
Renee Wellman, runner on the varsity women’s cross-country team and freshman, started training for cross-country the summer before her sixth grade year. In seventh and eighth grade, she was the Hamilton County middle school champion as well as the record-setter at Clay Middle School for running a 3K in 10:20. Mark Ellington, the Clay Middle School cross-country coach, organized a Junior Olympics team and won the Regional competition. Wellman said she placed seventh when the Junior Olympics team traveled to Kansas in December for the National competition.
“Experience is important because you need to learn how to pace yourself and respond to competition and how the other girls are running,” Wellman said.
More and more people like Wellman are training for athletics at a younger age. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “There appear to be increasing numbers of children who specialize in a sport at an early age, train year-round for a sport, and/or compete on an ‘elite’ level.” Because athletes start training earlier, they are more experienced by the time they get to high school. This was the case for Wellman and Kristen Schulz, varsity cross-country runner and senior.
Schulz started running in eighth grade and said, “I think experience helps you feel more comfortable because you know more about running.”
The competition level in high school has become more vigorous due to the increasing number of athletes who have had years of training. To do so well in competitions at such a young age, Wellman said she had to practice long, hard hours.
“Practice is important because otherwise your body won’t be able to perform well during the race,” Wellman said. She said she trained hard over the summer to prepare for this season. “I learned to run at a harder pace for a longer distance.” In addition to practicing, she has a ritual to prepare for each meet. Wellman said, “I drink water and eat a couple hours before the race. I also try very hard to think positively.”
At this school, according to Schulz, upperclassmen don’t discourage underclassmen if the younger athletes beat them out; they welcome their new teammates with open arms. Schulz said, “A talented freshman can affect others by encouraging people to do better in their own performances on the team. It builds the team as a whole to become more talented.”
Head Coach Chuck Koeppen said that talented freshmen are a great addition to the team. Koeppen said, “[Talented freshmen] will make the returning varsity girls work even harder.”
A little friendly competition every once in a while doesn’t hurt, and Schulz even said the added competition brings out the best in Carmel’s runners. She said, “A talented freshman can affect the whole team because it pushes everyone else on the team to do better too. One person, in any grade, can make a big difference when it comes to scoring a cross-country meet. Every little bit counts.”
Unfortunately, training longer and harder often causes injuries and mental or physical burn-out. Wellman said, “I haven’t witnessed any burn-out, but there are many athletes who have had their seasons cut short by injury. I try to listen to my coaches and do the stretching and mileage that they recommend so I don’t get injured.”
Being a four-year veteran on the cross-country team, Schulz witnessed multiple injuries and burn-outs. She said, “Mental burn-out usually happens towards the end of the season. There are more physical burn-outs either because people over-trained or because people didn’t train enough. People get injured because they don’t have good base because they didn’t have enough training. Most injuries in cross-country are tendonitis, hip problems or stress fractures from over-working. Some people cross-train to prevent injuries.”
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “The ever-increasing requirements for success creates a constant pressure for athletes to train longer, harder, more intelligently, and, in some cases, at an earlier age.” But this isn’t necessarily true for Wellman.
Wellman said she strives to be successful, but she does not feel pressured by the older girls. She said, “They encourage me and the other freshmen because they want the team to do well at meets. Cross-country is a team sport.”
Schulz said, “Cross-country is an amazing team sport that makes running fun and exciting because of all the great people. Varsity may have faster times, but everyone on the team pushes each other to do their best. It’s a team sport and everyone is supportive of each other.”
Faces of sports: quarterback Morgan Newton
August 13, 2008
By Lily Zhao
<lzhao@hilite.org>
Lily Zhao: How long have you played football?
Morgan Newton: I’ve played organized football since third grade.
LZ: How did you get involved in football?
MN: My dad (Joh
LZ: Why do you like playing football so much?
MN: I really like the friendships that you build. There’s also some great competition between all the different high schools because (Carmel) won the state title last year, so the competition’s really heavy. The ambiance of Friday nights at the football games is always cool as well.
LZ: Are you thinking about pursuing a professional career in football?
MN: I don’t know, but maybe if the opportunity presented itself, then I’d pursue (a career).
LZ: Are you looking at colleges?
MN: I really don’t have a particular college that I’m zoning in on. I’m just looking at all the colleges in the Big 10, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
LZ: What was it like winning the State championship last year?
MN: It was a lot of fun. It was nice (to win) because that’s what we were all working toward. This title symbolizes all the hard work that we put into the season. Winning is fun, so I think that everyone had a good time because the whole city (of Carmel) enjoyed it and our team enjoyed it too.
LZ: Is it difficult being a student-athlete at Carmel?
MN: Yes, I think being a student-athlete is a little underrated. Because being at Carmel, the work is tough. We play in one of the most competitive states football-wise and we play one of the toughest schedules. Balancing everything is tough.
LZ: Which styles of offense would you like to play in during college?
MN: Versatility is the key. I could play in a lot of different systems, or in some systems that are like pro-style offenses.
LZ: Which collegiate athlete would you compare yourself most to?
MN: (University of Florida quarterback Tim) Tebow because of his running style. I like to play physically like him. For throwing, I could play in a more pro-style offense. People compare me to Vince Young so that’s always nice.
LZ: What’s your favorite song to listen to during workouts?
MN: I just like to listen to the songs that everyone else listens to. I like Lil’ Wayne; he’s my favorite, but I like the albums “The Cool” by Lupe Fiasco and “Tha Carter III” by Lil’ Wayne.
LZ: Any advice to a student who wants to become just like you or to be a varsity football player?
MN: I would just say to work hard. Play as many sports that you can play because you never know where your niche will be.
Fresh haircut shows fresh start
August 13, 2008
By Amy Flis
<aflis@hilite.org>
“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes
According to Chinese tradition, a new haircut marks a fresh start. Well, I know that a number of students return this year with new haircuts, even if they aren’t looking forward to the start of this new school year.
You can, however, look forward to another year of solid reporting and coverage in the HiLite, and I would like to personally welcome you to the next volume. This year, you will see even more HiLite online logos referring to additional information on the drastically expanding Web coverage. Through this expansion, the publication embraces the universal trend of shifting media access. The method of accessing information, especially for young people, is changing. According to Editor and Publisher, America’s oldest journal covering the newspaper industry, 7 percent of those 3,204 adults polled in the 2006 survey released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press get news from new technologies such as cell phones, personal digital assistants and podcasts. Among those age 18-29, the number is 13 percent. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus two percentage points.
These numbers mean that the younger audience seeks more modern information access, which further justifies the shift in news medium from print to online.
Over the course of the year, the online publication will grow to include daily coverage and constant updates with the most current information available. In contrast with the print-based coverage that is time-constrained, you can look to the online publication as a source for even more timely updates specifically applicable to this student body.
One of the great aspects of the Internet is the immediate access. In the past, print publications have been limited by time, by deadlines and by the inconveniences created by the time gap between the day the pages are sent to be printed and the day of publication. Now, the online publication eliminates those problems. Daily updates and a “photo of the day” will be realities this year.
The sports calendar moves online this year to free that space for additional stories. Also, the calendar page in the publication, you will notice in the next issue, looks very different from last year, and the publication as whole puts more emphasis on the online extras that the Web site has.
The Web site offers more than just information. It also has links to other relevant sites and offers the opportunity to comment on recent stories and issues. As a public media should, it can now function as a forum for student voices, even more so than in past years. The online newspaper will include more polls, surveys and other opportunities for comment than ever before.
The print publication will, of course, continue to come out every few weeks, and the caliber of work presented by the newspapers of past years will continue.
Don’t be alarmed if you see minor changes in the nameplate, either. These do not represent any drastic change in the print publication but are simply a fresh look for the new year. Hopefully, the new design will also provide more straightforward references to the inside of the publication. However, as with literally everything else concerning this publication, if you have any comment, please voice it either through the Web site or through the more old-fashioned letter to the editor.
This new year does present its own set of opportunities and challenges, as with every year, but they are challenges this staff is prepared to meet. This year’s paper will continue the tradition of serving this school with current information and wide coverage while attempting to engage the student body even further with broadened opportunities for online feedback. It just has a new haircut. Amy is the editor-in-chief of the HiLite. Contact her at aflis@hilite.org.
Students should embrace green trend but also commit to long-term cause
August 13, 2008
By HiLite Staff
The phrase has been schlepped onto handbags, storefronts and backs of cars. At the surface, it seems that the turning point in environmental awareness has been reached. Marketers have realized the appeal of “eco-friendly” merchandise and are milking it to its full potential. Read more
Hounds work for repeat
August 13, 2008
Football team trains year-round to attempt to defend State title
By Min Qiao
<mqiao@hilite.org>
The sound of metal clinked throughout the room as Alicia Key’s “No One” blasted over the radio. The metallic smell of sweat lingered everywhere. Quarterback and senior Morgan Newton reluctantly began his second repetition of squats. Read more
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
- John Mark Rafacz on Teachers come to this school after making career switch
- Berly There on Evan Lurie Gallery incites fury, with reason
- Jaz Denny on Election 2008 Coverage
- Solomon on Students to participate in first intramural dodgeball tournament on March 22
- Mike Nierste on Acceptance status for Purdue applicants to be released at later date