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AUF WIEDERSEHEN
by
PAUL MUNSINGER
"Auf Wiedersehen" is the German phrase for "until we see each other again". It's not good bye. That's too final. It's just a nice way of saying that we're taking a short break and we'll see each other soon.
So this is our final issue for this term. You may wonder why it's black. Well, I could say it's a sign of sadness and mourning that we're parting for awhile. But the truth is that our kids just looooove the color black and have been bugging me forever to have this color as our College Now News background. Especially DaVaughn and Lillian. Kind of gothic, I guess.
Likewise those birds up above could symbolize an fanciful summer flight (to stretch the point). But they're just birds that the kids liked. (They're called "gifs", by the way, and they're used in web design.)
It's hard to believe that our "first born" --once just pups, the first 100 students of the College Now program--are going on to become juniors! And how proud we are of them. Looking at the statistics, it appears that approximately 85% of them will be promoted to the 11th grade. Our Freshmen are likewise making us proud. From the looks of things now, fully 95-97% are likely to be promoted to the 10th grade.
So congratulations to all. Have a wonderful summer! See you in September! And thanks College Now team for all the hard work and extras you put into this last term.
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APRIL SHOWERS
by Maurice Walker
This article and the following article by Melissa Creech were originally scheduled for the March/April issue but were omitted due to time constraints.
April is known for many different things, from Easter to spring break, but there is one thing that no one can ever forget, and that is the infamous April shower.
There is a tremendous amount of rain in this month called April. April showers have been given many different honors. Authors use April showers as a symbol of peace, pleasure and beauty. Because of this, there have been many poems, books, and pictures drawn of the beauty of April showers. �The April Showers" song (sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" is a fun action song to learn at this time of year. Most of you have likely heard it before.
The description at the top was taken from an Internet wedding sight that is dedicated to April showers. There are many more wedding sights like this only dedicated to April Showers, because of its symbol to people.
There are also pictures painted to symbolize the beauty of April showers, such as a famous picture labeled "April Showers in London". There are many other descriptive pieces such as these, all dedicated to April showers.
Here is another poem dedicated to the spirit of April showers.
Rain, Rain, falling on my head
Rain, rain, help me be at peace
At the best, I can say
Thank you rain, for the joy gave.
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THE HISTORY OF EASTER
Melissa Creech
Easter is an annual festival commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is celebrated on a Sunday varying between the dates of March 22 and April 25.
Connected with the Easter holiday is the 40 day penitential season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday which ends on the day before Easter Sunday. Holy week includes Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and the day of crucifixion.
No one is sure how the name Easter came about but it is believed that it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated to a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated with many traditions that were carried on to today. The traditions were the Easter Rabbit that is a symbol of fertility and the coloring of eggs with bright colors to rememble the colors and sunlight of spring.
But then it is believed that Christ was crucified on the eve of Passover and shortly after arose. The Easter festival stated before commemorated Christ�s resurrection. Christians wanted to celebrate the resurrection on the first day of the week which would be Sunday but by using their method it would always fall on the Easter Festival. Many people tried changing the two dates but it would never work so now the two are celebrated together.
That is the History of Easter and what two holidays are celebrated on this day. Also what traditions are still used today such as the Easter Rabbit, coloring of eggs and the giving of gifts.
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TALES OF FATE
The Next Generation
by Edward Valdez
Seven years passed since Gozer was last seen on Earth. A few things changed for the 5 heroes. Where they stand now is: one month after the whole incident, Jin and Julia got married, and they rule the Ninja Kingdom as King and Queen. After Cecile went back to the Dark Kingdom, he married Princess Mileena, the daughter of his former master, the Dark King. Now they rule the Dark Kingdom as King and Queen. Lance married Ayana, the daughter of one of the elders of the dark village. They live in the Palace of Darkness as loyal guests of King Cecile. Darpheus pretty much has vanished. He�s only been seen at reunions, he has no wife (he can�t have one), and he�s been training in solitude. Another new thing is that there are 4 new descendants. Jin and Julia�s son Clow, his sister Morigana, Cecile and Mileena�s daughter Nadia, and Lance and Ayana�s son Stryker.
Anyway, seven years after the battle with Gozer, something began to happen to Darpheus. One day at a reunion, Darpheus suddenly got a head splitting headache, and then spit up blood, a lot of it. Jin and his allies knew not only that this is really strange, but that there had to be something wrong with Darpheus. 2 days later, a mysterious 15 year old boy named ShadowBlade came to Jin�s castle, looking for Darpheus. When Jin told ShadowBlade about what happened to Darpheus, he told Jin to assemble his allies because he was going to tell them all about Enigma.
It took a little while, but ShadowBlade told of the legendary battle against Enigma fought by the three clans of assassins, the Yagami, the Kusunagi, and the Yata 5000 years ago. It was one hellacious fight, but in the end Enigma was banished. He was immortal and claimed to be the messenger of god, and was going to destroy the world, just following orders. 3000 years later, a man named Ken (one of the Yagami) who helped immensely to banish Enigma, appeared at the sealed cave where the evil entity was imprisoned and attempted to release him. They ended up making a deal.
Before Ken could release Enigma, however, a man named Rio (one of the Kusunagi) appeared on the scene and in a daring battle, locked up both Ken and Enigma in the sealed cave. Rio used all of his power to create a powerful shield around the cave, not letting anything get out. In the cave though, Enigma thought of a plan. He had Ken cut off all of his 8 heads (he was a serpent like monster). The 8 heads disappeared and were reborn into 8 human bodies, 4 of which are immortal. When the time came the 8 heads would gather and create a power so great it would destroy Rio�s shield around the cave, and Enigma would be free�
ShadowBlade also told of the symptoms of the changing to a head. First the victim would get a painful headache, then spit up blood. This happened to Darpheus. Now Jin knew the truth, Darpheus is one of the 8 heads of Enigma, and he�s beginning to change.
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DON'T JUST SCREAM
(An Editorial)
Julissa Rivera
Teenagers have problems to deal with also, not just adults. Nowadays all over the U.S., more teenage girls are getting pregnant, doing all kinds of drugs, suicide, joining in fights that could end up in death. Dropping out of school because now they have a baby to look after. Instead of adults kicking them out of their house and screaming at them --give them advice. Try to help in any way. BE A FRIEND.
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PROCRASTINATION
by Natalie Seegobin
Once in a while, virtually everyone can become a procrastinator. That is, they put off or postpone a major task until the very last minute. Many people procrastinate only in certain areas in their lives, but for others, procrastination is their life.
People procrastinate when they look for short-term pleasures at the expense of long-term benefits. Meaning: eating cheesecake instead of exercising in order to lose weight. Generally there are four types of procrastinators. One: the shameless procrastinator, two: the Rationalizing procrastinator, three: the Guilty procrastinator, and four: the Busy procrastinator.
Shameless procrastinators are people that are fully aware of the fact that they are wasting time and not getting anything done. These people don�t care and are considered to be lazy. The rationalizing procrastinator is a person that will make a list of seemingly rational reasons for putting off a task until another time. These people claim to work better under pressure and put things off for the last minute.
The guilty procrastinator is painfully aware that he/she is wasting time. They regret it, and feel guilty about it, but they can�t seem to stop themselves from procrastinating.
Finally the busy procrastinator, these people may not even know that they are procrastinating because they are too busy doing something else. That something else is hardly ever the major task at hand.
So, if your lifestyle happens to fit into anyone of these categories, know that your are a procrastinator. My word of advice: just do it, because if you run away from it today, it�s still going to be there tomorrow.
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A MEMORIAL TO THE GREAT CHARLES HAKIKSON
by Charles Hakikson
Charles Hakikson was a great and wondrous man who lived in most of his life in Bronx part of New York City. His favorite snack was a Snicker bar, which (he said) contains sweet caramel, peanuts and has a thick chocolate coating�.
At the age of 10 he moved to New Jersey, �The Garden State�. It�s called the Garden State because in the morning mist, whenever the wind blows it smells like blossoming flowers in the spring. He also invented �The Computer�. He invented �The Computer� for traveling, office, and for home use.
Mr. Hakikson was said to have super hearing and super seeing abilities. They say he had this because he could hear someone talk from a mile away and he could see an ant two miles away. For this reason, his workers said nothing bad behind his back.
At age 25 he became the richest man on earth by creating animation in which everybody loved and he made trillions from it. He also created and discovered �The Internet� which made it possible for people to communicate with each other without traveling.
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