Shrek the Third has success at box office

by Katie Busch 

Shrek the Third made 122 million dollars at box office its opening weekend, making 20 million more than Shrek 2. With its box office success there is not question this film isn’t good, it’s just not great.

 

The movie opens with Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) stepping in as king and queen of Far Far Away due to King Harold’s (John Cleese) failing Health. When Shrek becomes aware of another heir to the throne, he ventures out with Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Puss and Boots (Antonio Banderas). The heir being Fiona’s cousin Arthur (Justin Timberlake) a misfit teenager who’s whining voice and much too sensitive attitude will annoy you to death. Other characters from the previous Shreks make appearances in the film like Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) who again amuses the villainous role of trying to take over Far Far Away.

 

Shrek the third was a little disappointing with its writing as well as acting. Many of the old jokes in both Shrek and Shrek 2 reappeared in Shrek the Third. Some of the jokes weren’t as fast or witty enough and were somewhat predictable. Casting Timberlake was a poor with his very sappy voice over as Arthur.

 

The film did have a good message of being your self and was able to include some adult humor. It was an enjoyable film but it was that of the quality of it’s’ predecessors Shrek and Shrek 2.

 

 

Myspace sex offenders

By: Ashley Armitage

 

Again today the police caught another Myspace sex offender. The gentlemen was caught after a police posed as a 16 year old girl and the gentlemen was asking the girl(police) to have sexual relations with him. Of course the police agreed and the gentlemen got on a plane and flew down to
Atlanta. When he got there the police arrested him and took him into custody. No bail has been posted yet.

Myspace has agreed to give the names of all sex offenders and all of the messages that have been sent and received from the sex offender and the other person. So far Myspace has deleted about 7,000 profiles of sex offenders.

The thing I want to know is what do students have to say about this I took a survey and all of the students are scared about sex offenders but none of them want to stop using Myspace and an unnamed source said that they will take the chance to come across a sex offender. My advice for everyone with a Myspace is to watch out and make sure your just talking to your friends.

 

 

From first meeting to Engaged

Lisa Andariese 

The Bachelor two hour season finale was Monday night May 21, 2007 at 9pm. People sat around their television anticipating his pick. 

 Lieutenant Andy Baldwin went through weeks of spending time with plenty of beautiful women to only realize that he has to come up with a decision each week and let a lot of them go. He got to know all of the women and took them on group dates and took one special lady each week on a one on one date. At the end of each episode he kept who he thought he could connect with the most, which would be the hardest decision anyone could ever make. He broke hearts as he got closer to picking the women he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.  

The two women in the finals were Bevin, who works as a clinic research coordinator and currently lives in
California, everyone who watched this show could see how Andy and Bevin connected. The other woman is Tessa who is a social worker who also currently lives in
California.  

They went on one on one dates with Andy and met his family and his family liked them both but had liked Tessa’s personality better and thought she would be a better match for him.    

The last scene was Andy standing on the balcony of a gorgeous mansion by the sunset and told Bevin that she wasn’t the women for him. It was very emotional when he walked her to the limo and when she got in she broke down in tears. Then Tessa came and he told her that his love for her is very strong and was finally convinced that she felt the same way. He got down on one knee and asked her to marry him and of course she said yes. He stood up and said “ One last thing” he grabbed the red rose and said “ Tessa Lee, will you please accept this rose” Tessa replied “Of course” They kissed and looked into the sunset and then the credits came on.   

 

“A” for Effort

By Alexander Crowder                As grades soar, so do the expectations of colleges. This is one of the main concerns of the student body these days. As schools up their learning requirements and push their kids to get exemplary grades, suddenly the grades do not become as exemplary. When once, a 3.7 was exemplary, now it is expected, and a 4.0 is the new standard. While it can be considered a good thing, those kids with grades that are the old special, are finding it difficult to get into college. Also the colleges find it hard to accept these people based on grades anymore, seeing as all of them have the grades required The consequence of this is that colleges are no longer looking for grades and academics to get their student’s enrolled, and are now focusing their attention on the ever dreaded SAT. The grades have gone out the window and are now replaced by standardized test scores, so now in order to find your way into a college, not only must your grades reach above the normal standard, but so must your test scores, causing a distress among the student body. He question became, since when did we have to push ourselves so hard in order to get ourselves to a place that could allow us to continue with our lies and so forth. While colleges sympathize with most of the student body, there is still nothing that they can do and the great fear among the educators and students alike is that the same thing will happen with the SAT’s and that they will have to find a new alternative for accepting students. 

The Only One he Ever Feared…

by Michael Shannon

We have all been waiting to see what happens to Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) next in the fantastic and breathe taking movie series. Finally, the 5^th chapter of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix, has been seen on the big screen in theaters. The official trailer for Harry Potter is now out and can be seen at Moviefone.com, Youtube.com, or Harry Potter’s own official web site.

The 5^th chapter of Harry Potter is mainly about Dumbledore’s army which Harry creates to prepare all the 5^th year students at Hogwarts of what danger awaits them. Dolores Umbridge who is later the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts and soon not long after that, the Headmistress of Hogwarts, is also the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and simply will not let any of the students practice attack spells or defense spells…this is what sparks Harry and causes him to explode with anger, enough in fact that he creates his own class where he is the teacher and he and his friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) help out as well.

A few new faces enter the Harry Potter series in this chapter like Luna Lovegood (Evana Lynch), Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton), Ballitrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Cartar), and more.

Lord Voldemort(Ralph Fiennes), has returned to full strength and is now trying to build a army of Death Eaters(Lord Voldermort’s followers) so he can take down the ministry of magic and all that are muggles(not pure blood). Harry Potter wants to stop Voldemort before he can gather to many followers; The Order of the
Phoenix is an organization of aurors (dark wizard catchers) which are all on the move to stop Voldemort as well.

Hurry and watch the 5^th exciting chapter of Harry Potter coming to theaters in 7/13/07!

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Reggaeton Concert

 by Johanna Martinez

 

This past Friday May 11^th the reggaeton duo Wisin y Yandel exploded the

Patriot
Center with their melodic beats and amazing pyrotechnics. The duo preformed many of their newest songs such as Pam Pam, El Telefono, and Pegao.  They also played a set from their previous platinum album Pal Mundo album which was nominated for best album if that genre at the Premio Lo Nuestro awards in 2006. Fans were extremely pleased with the performance, Freshman Dahlia Cardona Says, “It was really good! Don Omar was there too!” Yes it was true Don Omar himself made a special appearance at the concert and joined them to sing one of their most popular songs Nadie Como Tu. All in all Wisin y Yandel seem to have put on a great show for all us reggaeton fans here in Virginia who patiently awaited their arrival.

 

 

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College Countdown

by Eliana Diaz

 

As the school year is winding down and the unwelcome presence of final exams looms ever closer, there is no doubt that college is what is inside of a senior’s head at this point.

All year long, the seniors of the class of 2007 have been working (or should I say procrastinating) towards their ultimate goal of walking across that stage for graduation.  Now that their goal is almost within reach (only 24 days to go!), the soon-to-be graduating seniors must now begin to think about life after high school. 

Even though the seniors will be out of school, they need to be able to keep up with what’s going on at their future college.  First and foremost, it is crucial (and mandatory) that the seniors register for their college orientation.  Whether the college is 20 minutes away or 500,000 miles away, going to orientation gives the incoming college freshmen a chance to see what college is really about and the opportunity to sign up for classes for the fall semester.  It’s also a great chance to speak to the current students of the college and ask them any questions regarding the college. 

After orientation is done and over with, the newly-graduated seniors have to deal with their most challenging task yet, shopping!  Most colleges send a list of recommended items to bring to the campus, but for some people, it doesn’t hurt bring some extra items.  This is also the chance for the freshmen to completely revamp their wardrobe and beg their parents for a new computer or laptop. 

More importantly, the incoming freshmen will be receiving their college email and financial aid awards through the mail, so it’s essential to keep up with this in order for them to be kept in the loop of their college.  It is also the way their college will inform them about important events and announcements.  Some colleges also have WebChats, where they and prospective students enter a chat room (in AIM style) and answer any remaining questions and concerns that the student/parent might have. 

So for the class of 2007, as one chapter in their lives ends, another is sure to begin.  Even though some people might be nervous and scared about going to college, it critical that they be informed about happens in their college of choice.  After all, the best way to start off your first year is by staying in the know. 

College Board Off-to-College Checklist

 

 

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Counting Down the Days ’til Summer Break

by Parvin Sahraei

As the school year ends people are already talking about their plans for summer. What will you be doing? Swimming at the pool? Exercising? Going to some camp? Or maybe you have to go to summer school.

If you haven’t been studying much, your goal should be to break out of your bad habits such as listening to you’re ipod instead of doing homework and go to summer school so you don’t have to go the next year because if you keep putting it off you’ll fall behind because it’ll get harder. But at the same try to do things you haven’t done before like maybe you want to show off your talent at the next talent show. Try practicing what you love to do to get ready. Who knows, maybe it could even be your career when you grow up.

Some people will be going on vacations to other countries and islands. If your one of the lucky ones to go, take every opportunity to learn about that place, their culture, life. Get to know the people. It’s always a good idea to know people from around the world. But whatever it is you’ll be doing, remember that its friends and family that make it special

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Sleeping is Bad For You

by Alexander Crowder 

 

Most teenagers tend to stay up all night. They go to parties, they watch movies, they study for tests that are the next morning, or they are forced to spend countless hours doing homework. When asked around the reasons why they were staying up so late, it was found that people in different states tended to have different reasons, as the same went for those in public rather than private schools.

 

“I just don’t go to bed until at least 2, because…Well, anyone who goes to sleep before that has no life,” said Neeshee Pandit, 16, a high school junior who attends Indian Springs School, a private school in Alabama. Most others in this school and age group answered the same way.

“We just have so much homework that it’s impossible to just do it during the day,” said Marcus Peavy, 16, a student at the Alabama School of Fine arts, a public school. Hannah Aizernman nodded in agreement, as well as the others who were standing behind her.  

In California, though, the results were somewhat different. Students there said they stayed up late to go to parties, not to finish homework. “Going to parties is a regular night around here. I mean whether you sneak out or not, everyone is there,” said Daniel, 17, from Malibu High School.

Even in Florida the results were different from the others. High school student, Darren Brewton, Attending a military academy, said that those who go to public schools around there tended to stay up until all hours of the night to hang out at the beach, while the private school kids had their own personal hangout place.

Still, he said teenagers stay up late. “It’s just what we do, because at night is the only time that we don’t have to deal with all of the adults running around and telling us what to do.”

 

 

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NBA suspends Stoudemire, Diaw, and Horry

by Karim Benelmouffok

The Phoenix Suns chance of advancing to the western conference semifinals is very slim. They have lost two very important players due to a suspension. The NBA suspended Suns all-star Amare Stoudemire and his teammate Boris Diaw on Tuesday for Wednesday night’s Game 5 of Phoenix’s conference semifinal series against the San Antonio Spurs. Robert Horry has also been suspended for two games because of his harsh foul which sent Steve Nash into the scorers table and also for striking Raja Bell with his forearm  

The suns will suffer without Stoudemire because he leads the team in points and rebounds. Also Raja Bell averages over nine points a game and that will be a big loss to the suns. Overall the suns got the worst out of it even though they were just defending their selves. Many people around the league have called the suns a very dirty team. In the past they have purposely tried to injure players on the opposite team, and if anyone should be punished it should be the spurs. 

Click on the link below to see the harsh foul on Steve Nash by Robert Horry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RDYD0EUBzY 

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