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The Worthington ALC Insider
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Volume 1, Issue 13
February 27, 2004 |
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What’s the deal with Leap Year, anyway? We typically think of a year as being 365 days long. However, the earth actually travels around the sun every 365.242199 days. So what do we do with the extra .242199 of a day? The Romans devised the Julian Calendar (named after Julius Caesar) making years 365 days in length, but setting the length of every fourth year (or the leap year) at 366 days in length. That extra day, occurring every four years, is February 29. However, the Roman calculations for a year – 365 ¼ days – were actually 0.00781 of a day too long. That amounts to eleven minutes fourteen seconds per year. By 1582, this small amount of time had caused the dates to be a full eleven days off. Pope Gregory corrected that mistake. Pope Gregory changed the dates so that people went to sleep on the evening of March 10, 1582 and woke up on the morning of March 21, 1582. He came up with the Gregorian Calendar to account for that eleven minutes, fourteen seconds. England (and the English Colonies in
America) adopted the Gregorian Calendar in the year 1752. (Continued à) |
Under the Gregorian Calendar, leap years are omitted three times every four hundred years. There was a leap year in the year 2000, but there were not leap years in the years 1900, 1800, and 1700. The Gregorian calendar doesn’t quite fix the problem. We still lose three hours, seven minutes and 30 seconds every 400 years. That means we will have to set the calendar ahead one full day in the year 4654 (or eliminate February 29 from the 4654 calendar). Fun Facts: Ø You have a 1:1506 chance of being born on February 29th. Ø 187,000 people in the United States, and 4.1 million people in the year were born on February 29th. Ø Leap year babies born in 1984 had no birthdays during their teenage years. Ø Leap year babies will never have a golden (50th) birthday. |
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ALC
Insider February
27, 2004
Page 2 |
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Snow-cross racing in
Jackson By Zane Brunk Last weekend, February 21 to be precise, there was something called “snow-cross” races in Jackson, Minnesota. Snow-cross racing is sort of a cross between moto-cross racing and snowmobile racing. I was one of the participants in this race. How did I do? I did pretty well for my first time. My boss Justin Freking raced with me this weekend, and I used his dad’s sled. Justin and I were really sore after the race because we were not in shape. Still, Justin did really well for his first race in two years. He won second place in the semi-pro class If you like
racing of any type, I recommend snow-cross racing. It’s great.
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New warnings issued for
digital piracy By Sirjio BlueArm A new warning label will now be put on CDs, games, and movies by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to warn of the legal penalties for unauthorized copying, or digital piracy. Trade groups that represent the entertainment industry encouraged the new warning. The new label will read: “The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250.000.” The Motion Picture
Association of America. Which represents Hollywood studios, the Recording
Industry Association of America, which represents the major music companies,
and the Entertainment Software Association, which represents the video game
industry, joined representatives of the FBI when the new warning label
announcement was made. |
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ALC Insider February 27, 2004 Page 3 |
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Opinion ColumnWhat’s the controversy
over same-sex marriages? By Angela Ruiz “Troubled,” says President Bush about same-sex marriage. What is there to be trouble about I would ask him if I could. There are many who disagree with same-sex marriage, but that is because they probably weren’t exposed to homosexuality in their generation and didn’t understand it. When I was younger I didn’t understand it. It actually disgusted me. But as I grow more, I understand more. No one has the right to take away another’s right to marry whether they be black, white, brown or gay. Individual rights are what this country is all about. Over 2,600 marriage licenses have been issued in San Francisco, and the same number of same-sex couples have married. What is wrong with two people spending their lives together if they want to? Homosexuals have been around since the beginning of time. Just because it was covered up and people didn’t talk about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. This country is about freedom of speech and the free rights of individuals. Why would we take away the right of some people to make individual choices just because others think those choices are wrong. They say that God loves everyone no matter what, right? (Continued à) |
What gives some the right to take something from others just because they disagree or don’t understand? I don’t think gays or lesbians chose to be who they are anymore than other people choose to be straight. Your son or daughter, or your brother or sister, might turn out to be homosexual. What would you do then? ****** Job
interviews tips… By Patty V. For all you out there who are looking for a job, it is really important to make a good impression during the job interview. The interview is one of the key factors in getting a job. Here are some tips that I found on the internet. 1. Be very specific about the job position you want and about the company. Prepare yourself with information about the company in case they ask questions. 2. Bring a resume. Be sure you bring more than one copy of it. 3. Try not to look nervous. Make eye contact to let them see you are confident and want the job. 4. Show them you are interested in the company. Try not to look like you’re bored. Show some enthusiasm. 5. Respond to their questions directly. If you are not sure what they are talking about ask for clarification. Remember, you only get one chance, so give it your best and make that good impression. |
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The Insider February 27, 2003 Page 4 |
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Sioux Stuff… By Steven Blue Arm Did you know the United Sioux Tribes based in Pierre South Dakota, is not actually a tribe, but a development corporation of eleven tribes? The United Sioux Tribes are currently made up of the members listed below:
· The Yankton Sioux All but two of the members come from South Dakota. Their combined voice speaks for some 40,000 Sioux. The United Sioux Tribes was
formed in May 1970 to "promote the general welfare to its members.” It
speaks as a single voice for all the members of the Sioux nation when there
is uniform agreement. It was originally formed to support only the Sioux
nations of South Dakota. Since then it
has expanded its reach to tribes in neighboring states. (Cont. à) |
The logo on the flag above is a bit out of date. It has10 teepees instead of eleven – because the Santee Sioux of Nebraska recently joined. The flag will be updated to reflect the new addition. The current logo is identical to this one except for the number of tepees. For most Native Americans the number four is really significant. It stands for: · The four directions, · The four seasons, · The four natural elements · The four races of man. When used as a logo or in other ways, the outer black ring of the flag is altered to light blue solely as cost saving device in the flag's manufacture.
The Prayer |
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ALC Insider February 27,
2004
Page 5 |
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Survey
shows ALC opinions on gay/lesbian issues Survey by Heather Mondloch The survey results are in and they are
pretty balanced out. I surveyed both students and the staff, and I’ve put the
results together. There were 12 staff and 34 students surveyed. Here are the results: Q: Do you think that it’s ok to have same-sex marriages? A: 12 said yes, 27 said no, and 7 were undecided. Q: Do you think it’s gross to see two men/ women together? A: 17 said yes, 24 said no, and 5 were undecided. Q: Do you think it’s wrong for gays/lesbians
to take care of/have children (adopted or children from previous marriages)? A: 16 said yes, 27 said no, and 3 were undecided. Q: Do you think that it’s wrong for two men/women to be together? A: 17 said yes, 23 said no, and 6 were undecided. Q: Do you personally know a gay or lesbian person? A: 41 said yes,
and 5 said no. |
HOROSCOPES
Aries (March 21-April 19) Stay away from those sheep, big boy. They can be dangerous. Taurus (April 20-May 20) Don’t take no bull from no one – especially from yourself. Gemini (May 21-June 20) You and your best pal
should go on a double date with a set of twins. Double the trouble! Cancer (June21-July 22) Yo! Keep those cooties to
yourself, crab-man. Leo (July 23-Aug.22) Mellow out, you great big pussycat. Virgo (Aug.23-Sept.22) Tell ‘em you’re saving yourself for marriage. Libra (Sept.23-Oct.22) Don’t step on the
scale. You gained 20 pounds last week. Scorpio (Oct.23-Nov.21) Keep your stinger to
yourself, dude. Sagittarius(Nov 22-Dec21) Be careful where you
shoot your arrows, big guy. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Don’t be a crabby old goat today. Chill… Aquarius
(Jan 20- Feb 18) Don’t spill the
water, sweetheart.
Pisces
Feb (19 –March 20) Wash that fishy smell off ya. Yuch! |
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The Insider February 27, 2004 Page 6 |
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Journalism class teaches
life lessons By Patty V. Journalism is a class offered at the ALC. The class has an online newspaper that the class puts together. Class members are responsible for choosing the stories that are written for the newspaper We work like a real newspaper does. We have deadlines to meet and stories to print. Working like a real newspaper helps us learn about responsibilities. Our teacher is Mr. Z. The class is kind of small but we all work together to achieve our goal. Our newspaper has a variety of things in it. Our stories are to inform people of things they should know and of things that they should learn about our community. We try to give them stories that will help them in some way. Some of the stories that I have written range from Christmas shopping to the flu virus. (Cont.
à) |
One of our goals to is to try to change the image of the school. Most people think that students a t the ALC are just troublemakers, but that is not the truth. With this newspaper we can show them that we can be responsible. We work every day to try to help the community with our newspaper. Our class gives us a chance to be responsible and to express ourselves. It gives us a say in what we want and what we think is important. |
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