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Renovations Coming to an End
The renovations have been going on for quite some time ad the question on thecommunity’s mind is when will it all be done? While the process seems to be takinga long time, it is ahead of schedule as planned, which is pretty good despite the snowdays we have had and the many other delays. Assistant principal Mr. Curt Dimmick says there are not any real problems, just some small nuisances.The estimated completion time for the second floor was before Christmas break,which has been completed and is now in use. The estimated completion time for thefirst floor was during break, which took a little longer than expected, but is now openfor use. Most teachers are still moving in their belongings for the second semester.The students have been very patient in waiting for the new completed school, aswell as the teachers.“The teachers are just anxious to get into their new rooms,” says Dimmick.The library and nurse’s office will not be open right away for the second semes-ter. In the library, the permanent tables, shelves, and bookcases need to be installedand they still need to move in the books and computers.“I am extremely happy with the process. I can not wait to see the people in therooms and walking in the hallways,” says Dimmick.Dimmick also wants to add a few things about keeping the school clean so it canstay nice when everything is completed.“I and administrators want everybody to treat the building with respect, meaning by not ruining the building with graffiti, trash and other things and we should take pride in what has become the “flagship” of the Northampton Area School District,”says Dimmick.
Plagiarism: A Crime Just Like Any Other
Plagiarism occurs in high schools,colleges, and even in professional settings.Whether one changes the words aroundslightly or copies a sentence, it is wrongon every account. Look at it this way; youwould not steal from a store because it isagainst the law. This applies with plagia-rism as well. It goes along with any other despicable crime one commits.The quick firing of Boston Globe col-umnist Patricia Smith and New Republicreporter Stephen Glass a couple of yearsago only lends credence to why plagiarismis wrong. They made up stories and fic-tional quotes as well as people to promotetheir stories. Such actions in a businesslike the Boston Globe are not acceptable.At many universities, students areexpelled for plagiarism. The very thingstudents find alluring is the very thing thatgets them caught: the internet. Teachersand professors can often find the sourcea student used in their plagiarism withina matter of minutes. The website turnitin.com, which our school uses, is exceptionalat catching plagiarism. In the world welive in today, as well as with the many ad-vancements in technology, the act is notonly dishonest, but foolish as well.A much more recent case in the profes-sional world involved well-known Britishauthor J. K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter series captured the imaginations of chil-dren and adults alike. The case was held in New York and stayed open for six weeks.Rowling said that the planned Harry Pot-ter Lexicon authored by Stephen Vander Ark was a clear case of plagiarism, be-cause all of the information in the Lexiconcould have been gleaned by simply read-ing the Harry Potter books themselves.Rowling was quoted as saying “that theLexicon only ripped-off 20 long years of her hard work and dedication.” She alsosaid, while crying that Stephen Vander Ark, being a Harry Potter fan and havinghis own website devoted to Harry, causedher more heartache than discovering theLexicon. Rowling eventually won the caseand Vander Ark is on probation for anindefinite amount of time from publishingany works he might have planned.There are always consequences whenyou plagiarize, as I learned first hand. It isimportant that we all understand plagia-rism and the reasons not to do somethinglike this. I hope that my actions can bea lesson for all students that plagiarismonly hurts you. You are left with anoverwhelming sense of guilt, shame, andregret, but most of all you feel no satisfac-tion for your work, or lack thereof. I’mspeaking from experience , so take myadvice to heart.
Northampton Grad Aids a ‘True Champion’ With Wrestling Career
Kekoa Wong, an aspiring professionalwrestler and Northampton graduate, isanticipating his latest wrestling event,which will benefit Tomorrow’s Children’sInstitute in Hackensack, Nj.Wong grew up in Danielsville, Pa, butlived in Hawaii for a summer when hewas seven years old. He returned fromHawaii and graduated from NorthamptonArea High School during the 2005-2006school year. Wong’s nickname has been“The Flyin’ Hawaiian” since he played basketball in high school, which carriedover to his wrestling career.Wong became interested in wrestlingduring his senior year of high school after sitting out for five straight games at the beginning of the basketball season.“It was really weird, because the year before that, I was a starter for most of theseason. Then coming back and not startingfor the first five games was a real eye-opener that I was in the wrong place. Ialways knew I loved basketball, I played itmy entire life, but I got a taste of wrestlingmy senior year before basketball started,”said Wong.Since graduating high school, Wonghas had quite a lucrative wrestling career thus far, as he has been a Tag Team Cham- pion, a United States Champion, and wona Liberty Cup match, which is an eight-man tournament where wrestlers faceeach other until there is one winner left.Wong is also being scouted out by WorldWrestling Entertainment (WWE), and isinvolved with three companies spanningfrom Japan and the UK to get his nameacross internationally. He believes that heis blessed since he has accomplished morein his two professional years than someaccomplish in a lifetime.“There are guys that wrestle their entire lives and never hold a title, or they
Kekoa Wong holds his Bodyslam Wrestling Organization(BWO) United States Heavyweight Wrestling Championbelt.
never get to do what I’ve done so far. I’m pretty fortunate,” said Wong.Wong owes his three titles to theintense training he went through after highschool. Practices were two to three times aweek for four hours in the evening, wherenonstop activity prevailed over rest. Wongeven suffered from heat exhaustion fromlack of water breaks and temperatures thatreached 120 degrees in summer inside thefacility. Since the training sessions ran oncooperation, one mistake affected every-one, as Wong soon realized.“I think two guys got in a fight andat the end of the day, [the trainers] werelike ‘We’re a team here, we train together,and if one guy makes a mistake, we allmake the mistake.’ So, we had to do thesethings called chair squats and it’s whenyou take a chair and you sit down, and wehad to do that 400 times. I’m getting to350, and I can barely keep my eyes open,I can barely feel anything. I’m just numb.Then I get to 400 and when I’m about tohit 400, he goes ‘Ok, do 100more.’ I hit 400 and I passedout and laid on the ground,”said Wong.As Wong grew up, hisinfluence would be ShawnMichaels, for his skill, andRic Flair.“I always looked up toShawn Michaels and RicFlair. Shawn Michaels Iused to look up to grow-ing up and the only reasonI started looking up to himwas because I found outwe had the same birthday.I found out when I was,like, seven,” said Wong. “Istarted watching him and hewas always a great inspira-tion with how good he wasand what kind of matcheshe had. He was alwaysexciting to watch.”Wong’s aspirations for the future include break-ing into the WWE by thetime he is 26. If he doesnot make it into the orga-nization by that age, he isconsidering moving downto Florida to their trainingfacility so he can be recog-nized for his drive.The fundraising event will be held onFri. Feb. 27, 2009 at the East Side YouthCenter in Allentown, Pa, and ticket pro-ceeds will benefit Tomorrow’s Children’sInstitute in Hackensack, Nj. Doors openat 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7:00 p.m. Front row tickets, which are sellingquickly, cost $15 and regular seating is$10. Fellow Northampton graduates, EricHiller and J.C. Wesler, will also be wres-tling at the event with Wong. The eventis anticipated to end before 11 o’clock,so fans with a junior license will make ithome in time.Wong also put together an event in Apr.2008 in honor of a fan, Harold Wright-ington, who suffered with cancer and anaggressive brain tumor. Wrightington’sfamily was friends of the owner, as wellas a fan of the Bodyslam WrestlingOrganization (BWO), which is one of thecompanies Wong wrestles for in New Jer-sey. Since Wrightington’s strength helpedWong realize his fortune, he decided tocreate a fundraiser event in his honor.“We did the show and they broughthim out and it really hit to be able to look at this kid, who was only 12-years-old. Iwas lucky enough to be blessed with theability to wrestle and entertain peopleand be able to accomplish my dreams,”said Wong. “This kid is 12-years-old anddidn’t even have the opportunity to dothat..”Though Wrightington passed awayon Jul. 4, 2008, no one can deny the joyWong gave him from putting together theevent.“We did a replica heavyweight titleand we gave it to him. Instead of saying‘Heavyweight Champion.’ it said ‘TrueChampion’ on it. We gave that to him andI was like ‘Hey man, are you going to putthat in the case you got?’ and he was like‘No, I’m sleeping with the belt.’ So thatwas cool, he was really cool to meet,” saidWong.In honor of the kids who are currentlygoing through treatment and Wong’s com- passion, come out and support the event!To find out more about Kekoa Wong,you may visit
www.myspace.com/lvwflyin-hawaiian. Photo By: Morgan Keschl.
Manny AgueroStaff Writer Becca HaranStaff Writer Morgan KeschlEditor-in-Chief
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