The girls score was: 0-5

Boys: The score was 1-1 but it went into double overtime and Brashier won the last penalty kick.

The boy’s soccer team lost to Homeschool last year, but are excited to beat them this year.

This year there are 5 republicans and 1 Independent running in our congressional district. The republicans will go through a primary (an election before the one in November to decide on one republican for the republican nomination) in June and will then compete with the 1 independent in the final official congressional election. The 5 republican candidates believe in a lot of the same conservative principles (e.g. pro-life, fiscal responsibility, strong national defense), but there are some things that the republican candidates differ on. One of the biggest issues that has been highlighted the most in this race is the issue of climate change legislation. Here is what our current representative, Bob Inglis, who is running for reelection believes:

Inglis- “Science Committee trips to Antarctica have convinced me that climate change is real, that humans are contributing to the problem and that we need to take action.” Inglis has previously introduced a bill that attaches a price to the quantity of CO2 emitted and also lowers the payroll tax. Companies in the United States would have to pay for emitting CO2 and imported goods would be taxed for the carbon emissions they were made with also. However, the price of energy would go up. The price of coal would rise 83.5%, and natural gas and gasoline would both rise about 6%
Priorities that Inglis claims are essential to the bill are national security, job creation, and fighting climate change. “All three motivate me. To the climate deniers, you can be motivated by number one and number two.”

The other candidates, attorney Trey Gowdy, professor Christina Jeffrey, businessman Jim Lee, and state senator David Thomas, in general to not agree with taxing carbon emissions.
To look more at the bill Inglis proposed you can click here.

Sources
Bravender, Robin “CLIMATE: Inglis pushes carbon tax plan in lieu of cap and trade.” Environment & Energy Daily 19 Mar. 2009. 4 Mar. 2010 .

“Revenue-Neutral Tax Swap: The Raise Wages, Cut Carbon Act of 2009.” Bob Inglis. 4 Mar. 2010. .

Obama’s Waterloo?

Last year South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim Demint said during a conference call to supporters that “If we’re able to stop Obama on this [health care reform], it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” Although Demint has toned down his statement recently saying: “…what I felt like we had to do in order to get him to even listen to Republicans and listen to Americans is stop him on his massive government takeover on health care,” Demint still remains solidly against what he calls “Obamacare.”  This year, South Carolinians will have to decide whether they want to keep Demint in the senate or not.  One other candidate, a democrat named Mike Ruckes, is running against Demint and fully supports the Obama agenda.  Demint and Ruckes will probably not face any challengers in their primaries (races to decide who will be the candidate for each party) and will run against each other in the general election in November.  Here is what the two candidates believe about issues that will affect them as possible future senators (go to greenvillevotes.blogspot.com).

Sources:

Brooks, Clark “Jim Demint says he wanted Obama to listen.” The Greenville News 25 Jan. 2010. 27 Jan. 2010 <http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100125/NEWS/1250316/1011/NEWS03/Jim-DeMint-says-he-wanted-Obama-to-listen>.

Brooks, Clark. “Jim DeMint defends actions on security issues.” The Greenville News. January 11, 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2009.

“About Mike.” mikeruckes2010.com. 2009. 3 Feb. 2010. <http://www.mikeruckes2010.com/id5.html>.

Senator Jim W. DeMint (SC).” Project Vote Smart. 2008. 3 Feb. 2010. <http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=25026>.

Labbe, Patrick. “South Carolina PDA Announces Two Endorsements.” PDA. 11 Dec. 2009. 3 Feb. 2010. <http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/chapters/sc-2009-12-11-08-49-49-chapters.php>.

 ”Jim Demint on the Issues.” On the Issues. 28 Feb. 2010. <http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Jim_DeMint.htm#Gun_Control>.

“Elections 2010.” News Radio WORD. 28 Feb. 2010. <http://www.newsradioword.com/pages/6400015.php>.

There is an average of 68,720 new cases of melanoma (skin cancer) a year, and it kills an average of 8,650 Americans each year. Scientists are concerned that this little beauty secret, tanning, that has been around for decades may be causing cancerous growths on skin and maybe even more dangerous than the direct sun.  According to the American Cancer Society website, “Too much exposure to UV radiation is thought to be the biggest risk factor for most melanomas. The main source of UV is sunlight. Tanning lamps and booths are also sources of UV light. The amount of UV exposure depends on the strength of the radiation, how long the skin was exposed, and whether the skin was covered with clothing and sunscreen.” Usually with tanning, unknowing customers use tanning oils or lotions, not sunscreen, and rarely cover a lot of skin.

“I was fourteen when I started tanning, I do it more for self satisfaction then anything else,” says Junior Taylor Poston. ” There is a plus side and a negative side. The only negative is that I could get skin cancer, but there are so many more pluses than that one negative.” It is not a fact that you will get skin caner from tanning beds, and many tanning companies say that if used in moderation and responsibly, tanning is a safe thing, much safer than the sun.” Indoor tanning provides a controlled environment that is not affected by weather, temperature, time of year, location and other atmospheric conditions or factors that are governed by nature. A carefully researched blend of UVA and UVB light was developed to provide the best conditions for the skin to tan with minimum risks,” states the popular tanning facility Ultra Tan on their website.

Amber Jennings is tanning for prom season

Senior Amber Jennings says, “I enjoy tanning, it’s relaxing. I also wanted to get ready for spring break and prom.” She adds that using tanning beds is a risk but, “So is the sun; it does the same thing so why not?” Most students say that prom is one of the main reason for hitting the tanning beds. “I have been tanning for three days,” says Junior Brooke Ingram, “I’m tanning for prom, I don’t want to look like a white ghost!  [Tanning] is dangerous, but I’m only tanning for two months. You just have to be responsible and you can’t over do it.”

 To get a summer glow, some students have taken a different approach to tanning by choosing spray tans instead. Many spray tans in cans are available at drug stores and some tanning bed salons offer them as well. “Yes I’m going to get a spray tan,” says Junior Betsy Treadaway, “regular tanning causes skin cancer, wrinkles, and fine lines.”  Nubia Adams is an African American and sees no need for tanning and says of tanning, “Your skin will fall off and turn to leather.” The third alternative and least expensive? Choosing to go to prom without a tan in your very own skin tone, a pigment no one else is sure to have. “I’m not going to a tanning bed, I’m going natural,” says Senior Jessica Forbes.

The reason for Google’s consideration of stopping business with China is because Google found that the Chinese government was hacking into Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Although they do not yet have evidence that the hackers achieved their goal, this was considered an offensive act towards the owners’ accounts and Google’s business relationship with China. They decided to make their findings public “not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech (www.googleblog.blogspot.com). Junior Dylan Slater thinks, “They (Google) need to get out! China lost its privilege.”

Google China already decided to stop blocking politically-sensitive searches from within Chinese borders. The reason they had to block sensitive results in the first place was because of an agreement between China and Google that they made in 2006 to provide the Chinese people with a better search engine. “It was an injustice to the Chinese people,” Senior Carolyn Charping said.

“When they realized that China might be able to use what they were learning from Google to make cyber-warfare on the USA by shutting down the Stock Market or turning off electricity or wiping out information or just stealing information from other companies, they were shocked,” Mr. Roberts said. “We also learned and talked about the government controlling what we read, see and hear on TV, radio, the Internet, etc. While we have great freedom in our country, many other countries do not have those freedoms. It is particularly tight in the communist countries of China, North Korea, Cuba and probably even Vietnam.”

Junior Zander Dalbey said, “They (Google) would lose a lot of their profits if they do stop business with China.”  According to the technology and business blog website gigaom.com, Google will be walking away from about $600 million.

The face of Google.cn

“While I was aware of Google threatening to pull out of China and I was aware of Hillary Clinton threatening China, I was not aware of how big a problem might be caused if China chose to be “viscous” with what it was learning through Google.” Mr. Roberts said.

Sarah, James and Beth Building their display

David Kesinger’s Art Classes recently did an art project that involved building a model of a window display for the shoe store Barefoot Comfort Company, located in downtown Greenville. “It’s a joint project with a local business based upon themes and months,” Kesinger said.

They had a competition, and whoever won would get to build it in the actual store. “The best displays not only represent the idea of comfort well, but were also able to bring art in,” Kesinger said. The winners for each month are:

February: Briana Hanson, Beth Dickson, Sarah Frashier and James Keith

March: Sam Storie, Erin Slater and Aaron Medders

April: John Eron, Bailey Verkennes, Taneshea Young and Jake Bailey

May: Jordan Greskamp, Emmanual Nino, Heath Duncan and Sam Armbrurster

The classes enjoyed the project so much they want to build one for the month of June. “I enjoyed the project alot,” Sophomore and Winner Beth Dickson said.

The Art Students presented the designs to the business owners, but Kesinger said “[although] the ideas were great, they can always be better.” The design for this month was put up last Monday (February 8th) and they had a budget of 100 dollars.

“We got to learn about building window displays and actually working with real people who would hire us to do window displays,” Dickson said. “I thought the concepts were really good,” Kesinger said. Dickson also said “that was a lot of fun and it was very interesting.”

The guys basketball game during senior night.

Students and parents express many emotions on February 10,2010 as they experienced the first ever senior night at Brashier.  The purpose of the night was to recognaize the seniors who played sports the last four years.  There were seventeen seniors recognized.

Mrs. Forbes, mother of senior Jessica Forbes, says, “(the night) was a proud moment for the parents of the seniors.”  According to Forbes, there were a lot of people smiling.  She thought everyone was happy, and it was a sweet moment for the students.  Senior Hannah Kelly  thought that there was a sense of excitement but that the night was also upsetting because she knows high school is coming to an end.  “It was an awesome yet super emotional night,” says Kelly.

“We look forward to many more (senior nights), and we hope people keep supporting our sports teams,” says Atletic Director Beau Bibb.

“The theme this year is water conservation,” says senior Haley Cannady.