TRITON HIGH SCHOOL Triton’s Student-Produced Newspaper LAST DAY! June 19, 2014

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By Cedric Colbert

Staff Writer As classes wind down and sum-

mer creeps up, many students at

Triton are looking ahead to what

classes they will be taking next

year. Next fall, students will have

many more options than those of

the past. Some new options include

Economics, AP Government and

Politics, and Crimes Against Hu-

manity.

Senior Erik Siebert said, “I’m

jealous of the kids who will have

better

options

for classes

than I did,

I wish

Triton

offered

these dur-

ing my

time

here.”

Fol-

lowing are

some de-

scriptions

of the

classes, as

well as the

feelings

students

and teach-

ers have

about

them.

Crimes Against Humanity

According to interviews with

students, Crimes Against Humanity

seems to be the most popular new

class. The curriculum will focus on

subjects such as genocide during

World War II, and even some lesser

known genocides that have oc-

curred in African nations. Juniors

Dean Rando and Jeanne Martin

both plan on taking the course next

year. Rando said, “I’ve always been

interested in learning about things

like genocide, so it’d be cool to

dedicate a whole class to it.”

Martin agreed, “I’m really excit-

ed about the new things the class

has to offer, and I think it’s a really

interesting subject to learn about.”

The class has even been catch-

ing the eye of

those who

don’t have the

option to take

it next year.

Senior Tom

Howell seemed

particularly

interested in

the class. He

said, “I feel

like it

(genocide) is

hugely im-

portant to learn

about for kids

our age. Histo-

ry repeats itself

so if students

learn about it

now they will

be able to pre-

vent anything

horrible like

that from hap-

pening again in

the future.”

Mr. Chad

Richard was one of the teachers

who came up with the idea for the

class.

“We had talked about wanting

See HISTORY on page 2

Changes in the Foreign Lang. Dept. By Allison MacIsaac

Staff Writer “To prosper economically and

to improve relations with other

countries, Americans need to read,

speak and understand other lan-

guages,” U.S. Secretary of Educa-

tion Arne Duncan said in 2010.

In the United States only 18

percent of people can speak a lan-

guage other than English, while in

Europe 53 percent of people are

bilingual. As the United States has

been slipping behind other nations,

foreign

language

depart-

ments in

high

schools

have been

looked to

in order to

increase

our nations

language

diversity in

coming

years.

“An

increasing

number of

occupa-

tions are in

one way or

another

making it

necessary

to have a

working

command

of basic

communication skills in a foreign

language. We unquestionably live,

work and play in a global society,”

said Spanish teacher and head of

the foreign language department,

Mrs. Joyce McKenna.

For Triton students, Spanish and

French have always been the typical

options when it came to choosing a

second language. However, Chinese

recently emerged as a new choice,

and next year an introduction to

Italian class will be available.

“I actually think it (Italian) is a

really good option because it gives

variety to students who don’t want

to take the classic Spanish or

French,” Chelsea Castaneda, For-

eign Language National Honor So-

ciety (FLNHS) president, comment-

ed.

“I think it’s

going to be a

good class be-

cause I’ve heard

it’s similar to

Spanish and

French, so it’ll

be a good transi-

tion,” FLNHS

Vice President

Kiersten Flod-

man agreed.

According to

McKenna, Ital-

ian was chosen

as a new lan-

guage based on

results of a sur-

vey of parents

and students of

Triton. A new

teacher will also

have to be

brought in next

year to teach the

class, which is

offered as CP

Italian 1.

Meanwhile, the fate of the Chi-

nese class is still hazy.

“My understanding is that an

attempt will be made to get an on-

See LANGUAGE on page 2

More Options for History Buffs

New Classes for a New Year

Editorials: Addicted to Busy More than ever, we seem to be “busy” all the time. Is that such a good thing?

Less busy has its benefits By Shannon Lyons

Staff Writer There is something to be said about sunsets,

the kind when it looks like ten million shafts of

golden light have just melted into the sky. There

is a certain element of healthiness that lies in

taking a dog for a walk, listening to quiet music

or staring out a window, simply to observe the

world. It seems that in striving to become the

‘best of the best’ and the ‘busiest of bees,’ our

generation has deprived itself of idleness and

forgotten what it means to slow down and simp-

ly enjoy life.

While there are certainly many benefits to

getting involved and having a full schedule,

there lies a fine line between one who partici-

pates in things that they truly enjoy and one who

imposes countless responsibilities upon them-

selves, merely to be granted ‘credit’ or to win

the approval of others. No matter who you are or

where you live, chances are you know someone

or you are someone who has crossed that line. I

See BENEFITS on page 2

Students in AP United States History engage in

a class discussion. As seniors next year they

will have even more history class options.

(MacIsaac photo)

Next year students will have the option of

Italian as another foreign language.

(Courtesy Photo)

The pros of being busy By Kelly Herrick

Staff Writer School work, extracurricular activities, home

responsibilities, work; the list goes on and on.

People are constantly moving around in cir-

cles, fulfilling their tasks on a daily routine. Once

upon a time, it seemed like people were always

“good” when you asked about their day. Now

when you ask how someone is doing, he or she

substitutes “busy” for “good.” But is this busy-

ness good? Some may argue that people take the

obsession too far. All in all, however, staying

busy is definitely a good habit.

Why are people so “busy?” One explanation

for this “busyness” turns back to history, as ex-

plained on greatergood.berkely.edu. Our ances-

tors had to conserve energy because they had to

compete for scarce resources. This competition is

essentially gone. Thus, people no longer need to

put their energy towards basic survival needs.

There is now an excess of energy. Why is this

such a good way to be? People in this era are

See PROS on page 2

There’s good busy, bad busy By Christie McLaughlin

Staff Writer It’s easy to get caught up in all the things we

have to do. You have to have a job, but are the oth-

er things necessary? People say that living at home

is easier than on your own. I believe that once

you’re on your own you get to choose the things

you want to do. Not having to worry about all the

homework or other things you had to do frees up

your schedule. So, I believe that being busy can be

okay sometimes but people need their rest and time

to themselves. If they are always doing other things

they don’t have time to do things that they like. So

be careful what you agree to do. There are only 24

hours in a day and you need time for yourself. Try

not to overextend yourself. Keep yourself busy,

doing what you want to do and here are my

thoughts:

School/Homework

Should we have homework after six hours of

school? It gets in the way. I go to school then work

then I have to walk or run my dog. Then I go to

See GOOD/BAD on page 2

Triton High School page 2 LAST DAY! June 19, 2014

LANGAUGE from page 1 site teacher, but realistically we will look to continue with the Middlebury

Interactive Learning virtual studies arrangement until the Chinese program is

phased out, probably in two years,” said McKenna “We don't, however, dis-

count the idea that our school may in the near future be able to provide the

connections that will allow individual students the opportunity to engage in

online learning.”

As Chinese is the most popular language in the world with over 1.9 bil-

lion speakers, it does seem like an important language to offer to students. “I

think that if possible they

should try to get it back

because Chinese is one of

the most spoken languages

in the world and our rela-

tionship with them is very

important, both in peace

and business and it’s im-

portant to keep the commu-

nications,” Castaneda ex-

plained.

With growing amounts

of technology, our world has begun to

shrink, making communications with

other cultures more and more of a necessity. The Triton foreign language

department has continued to grow in order to accommodate this.

As for now, the department hopes to continue developing the Italian pro-

gram while still looking ahead to new language possibilities.

HISTORY from page 1 to add more spice to the senior

curriculum and give kids more

choices at Triton within our depart-

ment,” said Richard.

The course is due to meet dur-

ing one semester and is being

planned by history teacher Ms.

Lauren Rivard.

AP Government and Politics

Another new addition to the

course catalog next year is AP

Government and Politics. Next

year’s teacher is also the head of

the history department, Mr. Tim

Coyle. He says, “It’s to give those

students that want an AP poli-sci

that opportunity.”

According to College Board,

the company that sets up AP clas-

ses, this class “will give students

an analytical perspective on gov-

ernment and politics in the United

States… students should become

acquainted with the variety of theo-

retical perspectives and explana-

tions for various behaviors and

outcomes.”

“There is honestly no one better

for the job,” says senior Aidan

Curley who has Coyle this year for

honors political science.

Economics

A third new class offered by the

history department is economics.

There were rumors of an AP eco-

nomics class that was going to be

taught by the math department, but

that has been put off for two years .

The delay is due to Mr. Richard

Dube not feeling he has enough

knowledge of the subject to teach it

at an AP level. He says “My back-

BENEFITS from page 1 am guilty of it myself, but that is

why I want to draw attention to this

powerful trend that has taken over

society.

As humans of the 21st century,

we have grown exceedingly accus-

tomed to the lightning speed of

technology. This has created an

irrational expectation and pressure

for people to always be on the go.

In his article “The Busy Trap,” New

York Times writer, Tim Kreider,

discusses people’s glorification of

being busy and how having a twen-

ty-page to-do list may be a very bad

thing.

“They’re busy because of their

own ambition or drive or anxiety,

because they’re addicted to busy-

ness and dread what they might

have to face in its absence,” said

Kreider.

Though speaking solely from

his own observations, the writer

raises a valid point in saying that

perhaps people fill their schedules

to avoid facing their problems.

There’s no doubt that having a long

list of obligations and duties can

distract one from their troubles. The

anonymous yet widely known

quote, “Running away from your

problems is a race you will never

win,” rings true in this instance.

Never the less, the present-day

obsession with doing everything

from drama club to community ser-

vice to soccer all in one day has

surpassed mere business and has

grown into a maddening addiction

for being occupied. However, the

question still remains: how do we

cure ourselves and slow life’s pace

down to what it once was?

In order for the current genera-

tion to maintain happiness but also

avoid becoming a society founded

on laziness, there must be a balance.

There is no use in participating in

things you do not enjoy or need to

do.

That is not to say you shouldn’t

challenge yourself and get involved,

but it is important to devote your

time to the things that you are pas-

sionate about. At the end of your

life, chances are it is not the amount

of clubs you participated in or the

number of fundraisers you helped

organize that you will remember,

but rather the quiet walks that you

took with your dog, the melodies of

your favorite songs and the number

of sunsets that you watched melt

into the sky.

ground is in business and I’ve taken

a lot of economics classes before,

but it’s just been awhile.”

In order to be prepared for the

2015-16 school year, Dube is at-

tending economics classes at North

Shore Community College this

summer. When asked how his class

will differ from other economics

classes that Triton has had before,

he said “It’s going to to be focused

strictly on microeconomics. We’ll

be using a college text and there’ll

be a lot more quantitative stuff.”

So why does he even want to

teach this class? His reason: “I see a

lot of our students going to take

business in college. You have to

take a lot of economics classes for

that major so I’m trying to give

them a leg up so they can see what

it’ll be like.”

Until AP Economics is offered,

students will still be able to take a

CP Economics course with history

teacher Mrs. Lisa Herzl. She says,

“The class I teach is just to get peo-

ple familiar with economics and the

concepts that you need to under-

stand at a base level.”

Herzl minored in the subject

during her time at UVM, and one of

the things she likes most about the

subject is that “it’s a really broad

field...it is ultimately looking at

decision making.”

Many students seem to be very

excited over these new classes that

are going to be offered, and seniors

including this reporter, are jealous

of all the options that will be here

after we leave.

GOOD/BAD from page 1 work. Students have to stay up late

doing meaningless homework, only

to get up early and go back to

school.

Work

Workers have to show up and

stay there until it’s time to go, doing

everything their manager and cus-

tomers tell them. I like work, but I

don’t like how long I have to be

there right after school. It gives me

no time to be with my dog or do any

homework.

Pets or farm animals

Animals need to be fed, walked,

and given attention. My dog (A Jack

Russell Terrier- Basenji-Pit-bull

mix) needs at least 2 hours of run-

ning a day or else I have to stay up

late with him. I’ll take him to farms

and parks where he can be off leash,

doing what he likes, and that still

takes time time I don’t always have.

PROS from page 1 given the opportunity to apply this

energy elsewhere and therefore

should put it to good use by leading

productive lives.

There are many more benefits to

busyness. According to columnist

Brigid Schulte on Washing-

tonpost.com, “busyness is seen as

so valuable that people are actually

happier when they’re busy.”

Behavioral science professor

Christopher Hsee of the University

of Chicago has a similar opinion. In

an interview with Washing-

tonpost.com, he says, “If people

remain idle, they are miserable. If

idle people become busy, they will

be happier.” It is no doubt that busy

people seem so happy and reward-

ed.

WebMD Health and Balance,

columnist Bill Hendrick explains a

short experiment done by professor

Hsee. He asked college students to

complete a questionnaire and then

wait for 15 minutes. They were

given the option to either drop off

the completed survey nearby and

wait for the rest of remaining time

or leave it at a place that was farther

away. This meant that they would

choose between being idle and

busy. Conclusion: the students who

decided to walk reported feeling

much happier than the students who

remained idle.

Besides happiness, there are

other benefits to be-

ing busy. According

to Enidnews.com,

busy people tend to

be much more pro-

ductive, which paves

the way for success

in the future. They

understand what it

means to budget and

balance their time

and to set priorities.

They are proactive.

It is true that an over

packed schedule will

cause people to

make sacrifices: time

to hang out, time for

relaxing, time with

family; people can

overdo it and be-

come overwhelmed.

It can be discourag-

ing because those

busy people have

friends, children,

siblings, and other

family members who

want to have fun or just spend time

with them. They may prefer or be

forced to postpone those offers be-

cause they are overwhelmed by the

idea of packing in another “to do”

in their schedule. If they decide that

they want to make promises to other

people, they will have to plan ac-

cordingly in order to make those

things happen.

Despite this argument, people

should sacrifice their leisure's and

keep a busy schedule. At the right

moment, there will be that “special”

open spot of time, where they can

relax on the beach, play a game, go

out to eat, or go on some sort of trip

with friends and family. Since it’s

not an everyday occurrence, that

busy person will appreciate the op-

portunity. He or she will feel much

happier overall and will feel deserv-

ing of that leisure time.

Personal time

Time to yourself, not being

around others, hanging out with

friends or pets, or just being alone. I

rarely have time to myself. I have

work every night and school five

days, then Church on Sunday morn-

ing then work after church. For the

past few months I’ve only had Sat-

urday morning to myself. And usu-

ally I’m dragged off to help clean

the church.

Good Busy

One good things about being

busy is the experience. You’ll learn

how to do things you necessarily

don’t need to know or things that

may help you in the future. It may

even keep you out of trouble. But if

you’re busy, you don’t have time to

do stupid things, then you won’t do

them, or not to the extent you would

have.

Image courtesy Google images

Sophomore Jack Norton studies (Lyons photo).