A newspaper for the 7^th grade

?

Created by Kevin M. Dacey and Andrew Yaksic

Comics by Drew Vanderburg

Well, I don’t know if you thought that it would be here, but it’s here! Better late than never, because it was supposed to be out last Thursday. However, it’s out, and without further ado, read on!

Here’s a story about the Washington aftermath.

K. Dacey

So, we’re back in school with all those stresses about homework, weddings, masses, etc. However, unlike the infamous Red Sox game almost two years ago (May 3, 1996), some people are actually saying good things about the trip. In guidance, we discussed the high and low points. The majority of the class said that Thursday was the best day. We went to the Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, Ford’s Theatre, and the Hard Rock Café. Many people said that we needed more time to explore the zoo. One of the worst days in the eyes of the students was Tuesday. The Capitol Building was okay, but the tour was long, and at most points, kind of boring. The mosaics were probably the highlights of the tour, but it didn’t make the tour great. So as we look back with photos, pamphlets, and memories, the Washington trip has had an impact on us, negative or positive.

Now a story about yo-yos by Matt Rusteika.

M. Rusteika

Yo-yos seem to be the fad lately. Why? Because they’re something to do that’s not too time consuming and it’s not sitting down. However, despite the great interest in yo-yos, it seems that there have been a few arguments over which kind is the best. Some say Yomega Fireball, some say Brain, and some say Duncan Butterfly. I conducted a survey to find out which ones the general public (that is the seventh grade) likes best. Here are the results:

Fireball = 15.0%

Brain = 15.0%

Butterfly = 15.0%

Raider = 5.0%

Other = 15.0%

Couldn’t Care Less = 20.0%

As you can tell by the results of my survey, the yo-yo craze hasn’t really hit the seventh grade yet, with the most people saying they couldn’t care less. However, it looks as though we’re all tied up with what’s the best yo-yo for now. For further information, here is a list of how much various yo-yos cost and where you can get them.

Fireball- $7.95 at the Learningsmith or Newbury Comics.

Brain- $11.95 at the Learningsmith or Newbury Comics.

Butterfly- $6.95 or $7.95 depending on where you get it. The Games People Play,

Sometimes at the Learningsmith and Newbury Comics.

Raider- $26.95 at basically wherever they sell the other three.

There was a chart that went with it, but as with last issue, I couldn’t get it to come out right.

The book review is coming up next.

K. Dacey

Stephen King, a horror writer, delivers a great horror novel, but the swears and other adult content weigh it down. The story takes place in Derry, Maine, where kids disappear and turn up brutally murdered. Then seven friends unite and try to destroy the menacing creature that takes the form of their worst nightmare. Extreme adult content. Next month, The Shining. You’ll see.

It is baseball season, and we have predictions from four experts. Here they are.

A. Yaksic

American League

East Central West

1. Boston Red Sox 1. Cleveland Indians 1. Texas Rangers

2. Baltimore Orioles 2. Detroit Tigers 2. Seattle Mariners (WC)

3. New York Yankees 3. Chicago White Sox 3. Anaheim Angels

4. Toronto Blue Jays 4. Minnesota Twins 4. Oakland Athletics

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5. Kansas City Royals

National League

East Central West

1. Atlanta Braves 1. St. Louis Cardinals 1. Colorado Rockies

2. Florida Marlins 2. Houston Astros (WC) 2. LA Dodgers

3. New York Mets 3. Pittsburgh Pirates 3. S.F. Giants

4. Montreal Expos 4. Milwaukee Brewers 4. S.D. Padres

5. Philadelphia Phillies 5. Cincinnati Reds 5. Arizona Diamondbacks

6. Chicago Cubs

Playoffs:AL Champion: Boston Red Sox

NL Champion: Atlanta Braves

World Series Champion: Boston Red Sox

Awards: AL Cy Young: Pedro Martinez, Boston

NL Cy Young: Greg Maddux, Atlanta

AL MVP: Nomar Garciaparra, Boston

NL MVP: Mark McGwire, St. Louis

Predictions: Mark McGwire hits 96 home runs, breaking the record by 35 homers.

S. McCluskey

American League

East Central West

1. Baltimore Orioles 1. Cleveland Indians 1. Seattle Mariners

2. Boston Red Sox* 2. Chicago White Sox 2. Texas Rangers

3. New York Yankees 3. Detroit Tigers 3. Anaheim Angels

4. Toronto Blue Jays 4. Kansas City Royals 4. Oakland Athletics

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5. Minnesota Twins

National League

East Central West

1. Atlanta Braves 1. St. Louis Cardinals 1. LA Dodgers

2. New York Mets 2. Houston Astros 2. Colorado Rockies*

3. Florida Marlins 3. Pittsburgh Pirates 3. S.D. Padres

4. Montreal Expos 4. Milwaukee Brewers 4. S.F. Giants

5. Philadelphia Phillies 5. Chicago Cubs 5. Arizona Diamondbacks

6. Cincinnati Reds

* = Wild Card team

Playoffs:AL Champion: Baltimore Orioles

NL Champion: Atlanta Braves

World Series Champion: Atlanta Braves

Awards: AL Cy Young: Pedro Martinez, Boston

NL Cy Young: Greg Maddux, Atlanta

AL MVP: Nomar Garciaparra, Boston

NL MVP: Mark McGwire, St. Louis

P. Riley

American League

East Central West

1. Baltimore Orioles 1. Cleveland Indians 1. Seattle Mariners

2. Boston Red Sox 2. Chicago White Sox 2. Texas Rangers (WC)

3. New York Yankees 3. Kansas City Royals 3. Anaheim Angels

4. Toronto Blue Jays 4. Detroit Tigers 4. Oakland Athletics

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5. Minnesota Twins

National League

East Central West

1. Atlanta Braves 1. St. Louis Cardinals 1. S.D. Padres

2. New York Mets 2. Houston Astros 2. Colorado Rockies (WC)

3. Montreal Expos 3. Chicago Cubs 3. S.F. Giants

4. Florida Marlins 4. Pittsburgh Pirates 4. LA Dodgers

5. Philadelphia Phillies 5. Cincinnati Reds 5. Arizona Diamondbacks

6. Milwaukee Brewers

Playoffs:AL Champion: Baltimore Orioles

NL Champion: Atlanta Braves

World Series Champion: Baltimore Orioles

Awards: AL MVP: Ken Griffey Jr.

NL MVP: Larry Walker

AL Cy Young: Mike Mussina

NL Cy Young: Greg Maddux

R. "The Loan Shark" Hayes

American League

East Central West

1. Baltimore Orioles 1. Cleveland Indians 1. Seattle Mariners

2. New York Yankees 2. Chicago White Sox 2. Oakland Athletics

3. Toronto Blue Jays 3. Detroit Tigers 3. Texas Rangers

4. Boston Red Sox 4. Kansas City Royals 4. Anaheim Angels

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5. Minnesota Twins

National League

East Central West

1. Atlanta Braves 1. Houston Astros 1. Colorado Rockies

2. New York Mets 2. Cincinnati Reds 2. LA Dodgers

3. Florida Marlins 3. St. Louis Cardinals 3. S.F. Giants

4. Montreal Expos 4. Pittsburgh Pirates 4. Arizona Diamondbacks

5. Philadelphia Phillies 5. Milwaukee Brewers 5. S.F. Padres

6. Chicago Cubs

Fall Classic ’98: Orioles vs. Braves

Champion: Orioles

Cy Young Awards: Pedro Martinez (AL) Greg Maddux (NL)

MVPs: Brady Anderson (AL) Mike Piazza (NL)

Injuries: Ken Griffey Jr. will get injured at least twice. Jeff Bagwell will also injure his wrist again.

Prediction: Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken, and Deion Sanders (if he plays) will retire by the end of the season.

As you probably know, Drew Vanderburg has been tallying up the number of times each of us has been called upon. So now here are the results of his tedious work.

D. Vanderburg

For the past two months, I've been tallying up how many times each person in the 7th grade has been called on. At the end of the day, I added them all up and ranked everybody from the least to the greatest. After eight weeks, I spent three days adding up the grand totals for each person, the whole class, and the average. Keep in mind that there were two vacations (February and Washington vacations), so it was really only six weeks.

Originally, this experiment was meant as a way to record which teachers called on which students more, and detect favoritism. Then, I realized that it might reflect your effort grade in each class. Here is a guide to that theory:

0-5 = 4 in effort for example-

6-10 = 3 in effort Math = 50, effort 1

11-19 = 2 in effort LA = 2, effort 4

20+ = 1 in effort

Except in religion, where the grading is as follows:

0-2 = 4 in effort

3-5 = 3 in effort

6-8 = 2 in effort

9+ = 1 in effort

(This chart is not exact.)

This chart is set up in 4 run-on columns. Just go from top to bottom, then to the top of the next column.

Of course, all of this information could be applied to many different things. I will leave that to your imagination. So, without further ado, here are the results:

John Connors:

Math (M) 5

Language Arts (LA) 38

French (F) 37

Science/Geography (S) 13cc

Religion (R) 4

Guidance (G) 3

Total 97cc

Kevin Dacey:

M 94

LA 58

F 104

S 45cccc

R 14

G 28

Total 343cccc

Eric Daley:

M 10

LA 27

F 26

S 9ccc

R 2

G 6

Total 80ccc

Michael DeFillippi:

M 19

LA 30

F 37

S cc

R 1

G 4

Total 91cc

Robert Hayes:

M 41

LA 46

F 46

S 21ccc

R 2

G 13

Total 169ccc

Casey Marx:

M 18

LA 32

F 14

S 21cc

R 3

G 9

Total 83cc

Seán McCluskey

M 38

LA 51

F 53

S 38cc

R 9

G 11

Total 190cc

Ryan McNeill

M 9

LA 32

F 13

S 11c

R 1

G 1

Total 56c

Barrett Mononen

M 35,b+

LA 25

F 41

S 5cc

R 10

G 8

Total 124,b,cc

Richie Moran

M 20,b,b

LA 24

F 32

S 24

R 5cc

G 10

Total 115cc,b,b

Paul Riley

M 5

LA 25

F 16,b

S 3c

R 1

G 3

Total 53c,b

Matthew Rusteika

M 12

LA 36

F 37

S 12cc,b

R 1

G 10

Total 146cc,b

Chris Saenz

M 5

LA 33

F 26

S 4c

R 0

G 1

Total 69c

Ryan Tobin

M 15

LA 39

F 41

S 8ccccc

R 9,bt

G 1

Total 113ccccc,bt

Drew Vanderburg

M 43

LA 39

F 53

S 51ccc

R 12

G 14

Total 212ccc

Reese Williams

M 20

LA 37

F 65

S 18cc

R 8

G 11

Total 159ccc

Andrew Yaksic

M 48

LA 47

F 87

S 61cc

R 8

G 16

Total 267cc

Class Total = 2,367ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc,bt,bt,bt,bt,bt,bt

Average = 139cc

K. Dacey

The Boston Archdiocesan Choir School has two methods of getting home. One, parents ride the students home. The other method is the MBTA. This involves rapid-transit trains, commuter trains, buses, and ferries. The students are trusted to behave on the train, and are expected to behave. But, when the trust is broken, the students are less likely to be trusted and the benefit of trust may be taken away. There is no possibility of teachers chaperoning the T students so there is no way that could happen. Riding the T is a privilege that not many people acknowledge. So if you want to take the T, you should be respectful to the other commuters and yourselves. It would make getting home much easier, enjoyable, and safer.

A. Yaksic

Some find Mr. Schmidt’s grading system extremely hard to understand. When you think about it, it’s all very simple. A smiley face (J ) means that you have a B. You have 0-3 questions wrong. Five good sentences will bring your grade up to an A. If you get an X or a kiss, then you have a D. You have 4-6 questions wrong. Corrections will bring your grade up to a B. Five good sentences will bring your grade up to an A. If you get a circled X, you have a D. Corrections will bring you up to a C. Five good sentences will bring your grade up to a B. Ten good sentences will bring your grade up to an A. That is a concise listing of Mr. Schmidt’s grading system. Mr. Schmidt’s conduct system is fairly easy to understand. If you get a dot, you owe one naughty quote. If, two days after you get the dot, you have not yet written it, you owe him two quotes. For every day that passes, you owe him another quote. If you get five dots in one day per week, you might get a U in conduct by his rule that states "if you are disruptive 25% of the time or more, you will get a U in conduct." Effort has only two rules – 25% C’s bring your effort to a 3, and missing assignments make another 3. If you have any further questions, contact Mr. Schmidt, or for some improved clarity, talk to me.

We have two articles about South Park.

K. Dacey

Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman. Sounds like a nice group of kids, huh? WRONG! In this funny show, these four third graders are one heck of a group. Stan and his seemingly friendly appearance is shattered when he is around his girlfriend (you know why) and when people make fun of his dog (he is confused). Kenny, with his muffled speech (due to his sick mind), is always getting killed (in different ways). Kyle, who always proclaims Kenny’s death, is kicking his baby brother. Then Cartman, who is a little overweight (yeah!) is always doing something crazy (Scuzzlebutt, winning best essay, and drinking Weight Gain 4000). Wherever this group goes, trouble follows. Their newest problem is ‘Who is Cartman’s father?’ We will find out Wednesday, April 1^st at 10:00 p.m. Although there is adult content, everybody just finds it funny!

Insert by A. Yaksic on April 2^nd

Well, it seems that the disclosure of Cartman’s father was just an April Fools joke. However, it was replaced by a funny Terrance and Philip episode, with cameos by Saddam Hussein, Celine Dion, and Ugly Bob.

M. Rusteika

South Park, as you probably know, is a show on Comedy Central. It airs every Wednesday and Saturday night at 10 p.m. and is very popular. Why? Because it takes disgusting, distasteful material and exposes it to children, that’s why! Oh, and you thought you know everything about South Park. Here’s a pop quiz for you to take. Give it to me (Matt) by the day after this issue comes out and if you’re the highest scorer, you might just get a prize…

1. What is Kyle’s last name?

2. What is Stan’s last name?

3. In the Christmas episode, what does Cartman say he is besides fat?

4. In the first episode, what was the name of the alien that turned the cows inside-out?

5. What song does Chef make fun of in the Halloween episode, extra credit if you write the lyrics.

K. Dacey

On March 27, 1998, the extreme heat wave hit the Boston, Massachusetts like the infamous April Fool's Day storm last year. The degree of heat ranged from 70 degrees Fahrenheit to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It obviously stirred up mixed comments from the students in the seventh grade.

"It was really hot," said seventh grader Christopher Saenz. "It was [hard] to get work done." Andrew Yaksic says, "I liked the hot mornings, but the hot nights were uncomfortable. This hit us when we least expected it. It was nice for a change." Bell Choir I seventh graders were suffering in the heat. Some of them wanted the lights of due to heat, which was gladly granted by Mr. Policelli. This might seem as a shock, but Mr. Schmidt, the science teacher says that the evil essence of El Niño was not the cause of the heat wave.

"The low pressure in the Gulf region is causing the heat wave," he said matter-of-factly. But some of the students enjoyed the heat wave.

"I think that the heat was good for outside sports," said Barrett Mononen, a seventh grader. He also added that it was a good break from the snow flurries and harsh winds. Although the weather was enjoyed by most students, April Fools Day has ruined another strain of good weather. Last year, the sunny week vacation for this school was turned into a winter wonderland for four days and almost gave us another week of school at the end of the year. Although this April 1^st was not as bad, the summer-like strain was beginning to grow on the people in the school. As the gloomy weather took hold of us, and the harsh winds begin anew, we finally come back to our senses and realize that, even though it felt like it, that week was still the dawning of spring, and we still have a long way to go before we feel the hot weather down our backs. But for the record, although it could be rough at some times, most of the students hate to see it go.

A. Yaksic

Computer Review

As it may be, computers are not a strong point of everybody’s, but I happen to be one whose avocation and dedication is to computers. I would like to review a few products today. All of these products are for Windows 95® and Windows NT® based systems.

This product is an input device for Windows 3.x and 95 systems. It is a quality mouse from Microsoft. This mouse has a unique feature. It has a scrolling wheel in the middle. This wheel is not only a wheel, but also a configurable button. The button is best used as a double-click button, but it is configurable to the needs of others. This is an ergonomic mouse that conforms very nicely to your hand. This is a welcome addition to any PC. The MS Intellimouse is $79.95 and is available at all CompUSA, Computer City, and Micro Center stores.

This drive is a reliable tape backup drive. It comes in two flavors: the regular version has a maximum capacity of 7GB and ships with 3GB, 5GB, and 7GB tapes; the Professional version pushes the limit to 10GB (it includes a single 10GB cartridge) and costs $100 more. Both versions come in an external (using the parallel port, which may be a setback) and an internal configuration which uses a 16-bit ISA accelerator card). Despite Iomega’s claims, the tray that keeps the cartridge inside the drive isn’t very helpful to reduce the noise, so don’t use this one late at night or when you have a headache. The installation is flawless, and the documentation is sufficient to help you get up to speed in about 20 minutes. The drive comes with a unique FlashFile feature that loads at startup, making it seamlessly appear as just another hard drive. FlashFile provides a special section of the tape for 5-second access—after the tape is properly positioned—to any 125MB of files. Since FlashFile takes up only a specific section of tape, you can mix and match data on a tape—part FlashFile and the rest for a conventional backup. In the Windows Magazine test, the drive backed up and verified files at 380KBps, 22.8MBpm, or 1.368GBph. This drive includes a disaster recovery feature, called FullBack, which uses two floppies (you boot from one of them) and a tape. Tapes cost from $20 (3GB) to $35 (10GB) FullBack works only with 7GB tapes ($30). These tapes are a great value, at $.0042857 per MB in a 7GB tape. Hard drives cost about $900 for 7GB, or nearly $.13 per MB. The drive itself costs $199 for the regular (3, 5, 7GB) or $299 for the Professional version. This is my top pick for any method of backup. Thanks to Windows Magazine for most of the info in this article.

Sure, those 133MHz processors were fast for their era. Those are way out now. The 166, 200MMX, 233 Pentium II, 266 PII, and even the 300 PIIs are going now. The 333 PII is the newest and latest. A new computer may look something like this:

333 PII processor

128 MB SDRAM

512 KB L2 cache

9.1 Ultra ATA Hard Drive

DVD-ROM Drive and Decoder Card

8MB Matrox Millenium Video Accelerator

Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold Performance Sound Card

Iomega Zip 100MB Internal Drive

Now, the kicker.

That’s the price of one of those systems I just mentioned. (A Dell Dimension XPS D333.) They’re already looking at an Alpha® chip going at 500,000,000 floating point operations per second. (500MHz.)

This is an amazing drive that can store 100MB of information on one disk. The disk measures 4 square inches. This drive is very fast, but not exactly lightning. I think that you will love this drive. This has been a 3.5" replacement for me. This drive will store your largest files on it. Ask me about anything that you have questions on about anything in this article, like the jargon I used. Thanks for reading!

K. Dacey

As we traveled in both directions in Washington D.C., we were in buses. Sure, the seats were comfortable and you had a Game Boy™, Game Gear™, or a movie to watch, but how long can you stay cramped up in one place? In Thursday’s guidance class, we seemed to agree on ‘not very long’. Some of the movies were good, but you just can’t stay cooped up in the bus. Okay, it is easier to complain than to give praise, but what happens when the batteries in your Game Boy™ run out, the movies are over, and/or someone else is using your Discman™? You talk! (Turn in plot, huh?) You shouldn’t have to rely on electronics for happiness. Most of us talked, but some didn’t catch on. (Probably the ones that were sleeping.) A lot of people said that the bus rides were bad, but fun was possible. So remember, talking is something to do in a long trip.

A. Yaksic

As you are aware, the area codes have changed since February 1, 1998. Aren’t you getting sick of calling somebody for a homework assignment just to hear "the number you are trying to reach is now 781. Please hang up and dial again. This is a recording." And now they are planning on changing them again! They have three proposed methods:

1. Split the area codes again.

2. Add more new area codes and then put some numbers in the new ones.

3. Make all of the phone numbers that come into effect after the decision a new area code, therefore making two area codes possible within the same building.

I think that option 3 is the best of the options, because it means that the now-jumbled-up area codes won’t get even worse. I would like some feedback this time from you guys about the new area codes, and all of it will be in the May 8 newspaper. We want to know which option you like best, or anything about anything in this article or in the whole paper! We’re counting on you to make this paper even better next time!

And to wrap it up, the first-ever full page of comics by Drew Vanderburg!!! We hope you liked this newspaper!