Photo illustration/Paige Xu

Granite Bay, CA. – Chelsea Jackson, a Granite Bay High School se­nior, is finding herself in a position that many stu­dents are facing right now.

Jackson, who had her heart set on attending the University of Oregon, is now having second thoughts.
“Out-of-state tuition is really expensive right now and my parents can’t really afford it,” said Jackson, who is still applying to Oregon, on one condition from her parents – if she goes to Oregon, her parents have insisted she must find some form of scholar­ship support.

With the economy struggling as it has for the past year, seniors are facing a similar reality, and going to their first-choice school is looking more and more difficult.

For Jackson, her alternatives are in-state schools.

However, California state schools are feeling the pinch more than ever, and chances of getting into a first-choice school have decreased.

“Since the state schools are so impacted right now, I don’t really know where I’m going to go now,” Jackson said.

As early as November, California State Uni­versity officials announced they would be cutting freshman admissions by 10,000 stu­dents. On Jan. 14, the University of California regents voted in favor of a proposal by UC president Mark Yudolf to do the same. The proposal called to decrease admissions by 2,300 students system wide.

“The UC system right now is currently over-enrolled by about 11,000 students for whom we have no state funding,” said Ricardo Vasquez, UC manager of ethnic communication services. “We have experienced very large high school classes and the state was unable to provide for enrollment growth.”

Without state funding, UC will not receive an estimated $121.8 million, according to the UC regents in a Jan. 14 press release. This decision, though final, was met with much hesitation.

“Both the regents and the president have said over and over again that they are reluctant to put a strain on freshman enrollment,” Vasquez said. “At the same time, they want to protect the quality of instructional program that the univer­sity offers. In order to do that, if there’s not state funding, what the president is proposing is cur­tailing enrollment.”

Reduced enrollment was not the only proposal on the table. Tuition and fees were expected to see changes.
According to a Jan. 5 press release, Gov. Ar­nold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal for 2009-10 assumes the UC system will raise fees and tuition to increase revenue and merge the gap of the expected $41.6 billion state budget deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

However, the regents have reassured the public that the student’s financial welfare will be taken into the greatest consideration by paying special attention to financial aid and limiting freshman enrollment.
“We will seek to preserve affordability to the greatest extent possible given the multiple finan­cial pressures on the state and the university,” UC regents said in a Jan. 5 press release.
Affordability has since become an increas­ingly definitive factor in college choices, and according to GBHS advanced placement government and economics teacher Jarrod Westberg, afford­ability for higher education is becoming harder and harder to come by.

“I think (the Granite Bay) area is getting pummeled,” West­berg said. “I feel so bad for the parents in this area because (seniors) are about to hit college and (seniors’) college plans (their) parents have been saving up for the last 10 to 15 years may have dropped half its value over the last year.”

In these economic times, financial aid is going to become even more crucial to students, West­berg said.

However, the future of financial aid is still ques­tionable. And according to Roseville Joint High School District college counselor Walt Wild, there will likely be an increase in financial aid ap­plicants. Whether  these stu­dents will receive aid is still in the works.

Because of the uncertainty of Gov. Schwarzenneger’s budget plan, no one can re­ally predict how financial aid will play out.

However, aid will be available, Vasquez said. “We do have a very strong financial aid program,” Vasquez said. “About 53 percent of our students re­ceive grants and scholar­ships that average about $10,300.”

Should there be a fee in­crease at UC, 33 percent of the revenue generated will be used solely for financial aid.  That, according to Vasquez, is how finan­cial aid has historically played out and will not change.
Even with the tuition increase, though, an in­flux of applicants could deter how much finan­cial aid is distributed per student.

“(We are seeing) an increase in financial aid applicants,” said Ed Mills, the associate vice president for enrollment and student affairs at Sacramento State University. “And we’re dis­persing more financial aid.”

According to Westberg, that aid could very well be spread thinly among applicants. “They might say more kids qualify, but we’re not going to give them as much,” Westberg said.
Because financial aid is still rather unpredictable, students are looking to alternative ways to save money on higher education.

According to Westberg, he expects an influx of students choosing to stay closer to home – at both state colleges like Sacramento State and community colleges.

Because Sacramento State has historically given priority to students within 100 miles, GBHS students, along with other students in the Sacramento area, will have a higher chance to get into local state colleges. GBHS students have already taken advantage of the possible opportunity.

“All of the CSUs have had primary admis­sions criteria for their region,” Mills said. “We actually have had a lot students applying from the GB area, and I’ve seen increasing numbers from GBHS.”

Sacramento State, un­like many of the CSUs that will be seeing admis­sion cuts, will not be affected as much by the changes.  According to Mills, Sacramento State will not have to turn away eligible students.

Though the school will not likely grow, statistics show that it will stay right on target with past years’ admis­sions.

However, Westberg said that even though Sacra­mento State will not have to curtail enrollment, the parameters for eligibility will likely shift.

“Say that the 3.9s and the 4.0s (on grade-point average) aren’t getting into the UCs, and they go to the CSUs,” Westberg said. “Then the students who were getting 3.3s and 3.2s who would have gone to the state colleges go to the junior colleges. So the 2.9s that would usually go to the junior colleges might get pinched out of the system.”

Sierra College, a junior college in Rocklin, Calif., has already seen an increase in enrollment for spring 2009, and according to Sue Michaels, Sierra’s manager of market­ing and public relations, similar patterns are ex­pected to continue for the fall semester.

Even with increasing enrollment, Sierra Col­lege will most likely not extend its class sizes as to not compromise the quality of education.

“We’re doing everything we can to accommo­date as many people as we can and still keep the same quality of education,” Michaels said.

With the number of admittances tightening even on the community college level, Michaels advises that students apply as early as possible.

And though the economy has left a strain on several students’ lives, Wild remains optimistic, believing that options are out there.

“If students are focused and motivated,” he said, “they can get to go wherever they want to go.”

By Paige Xu
Granite Bay High School

UC system makes admission cutbacks
Budget affects freshmen getting into universities

Granite Bay, Cal. – It’s 1992. Jarrod Westberg, current Granite Bay High School govern­ment teacher and a sophomore back then at California State University, Long Beach, wanders the campus.

Passing the freshman dorms, he glances at the desolate buildings. Why the barrenness? That year Long Beach State decided to reduce all prospective enrollments because of a lack of funds.

Each year, graduating seniors at Granite Bay High School eye vari­ous University of California schools as potential universities where they can pursue their undergradu­ate degree. However, because of the current state of the economy, admissions to UC schools may be threatened.

The UC system projected on its Web site that system-wide, the enrollment of freshman applicants will be decreased by 2,300 in order to deal with a decreasing budget for the 2009-10 academic year.

Lisa Wang, a senior at GBHS, is increasingly anxious as the time for admission decisions looms near.

“(I’m worried about) the quality of education that the UCs are going to be able to offer,” Wang said.

Wang, however, is not alone. One of the 484 GBHS seniors graduating this year, she faces a collegiate system that is bottle-necking acceptance – making her university plans that much cloudier.

The scare caused by UC cutbacks has prompted serious dialogue between students and parents. Even for those students who are accepted, their freshman life may well differ greatly from those of previous graduating classes.

“My parents and I haven’t really talked about money,” Wang said, “but with the cutbacks, (maybe) the UC system will be no different than private institutions in costs.”

Others who have already been accepted into college are less preoccupied with the situation.

“I have back-ups so it’s not a huge deal,” senior Keevan Harding said, “but…it’s a horrible situation for many who don’t have such options.”

While students have a variety of opinions on the matter, one thing is uncertain – the extent of the changes that UC cutbacks will have.

“People may not realize how badly the 10 percent, 16 percent cuts will have on admissions,” Westberg said. “Services that colleges provide won’t be at the same level.”

Toward the end of 2008, fearing the nega­tive effects of less funding, the UC admis­sions reported a decrease in enrollment for prospective students for the fall.

The decision was affirmed when UC ad­ministrators came out the following months to prepare students to expect the worst.

“This…will have serious impacts on our ability to deliver on our mission for our students and for the people of California,” said UC President Robert C. Dynes in an article published by the UC Web site.

Although state officials have reached an accord on the budget crisis, higher educa­tion in California is still facing large budget cuts.

While applications are in the process of being reviewed by UC admissions, the sys­tem’s tough standards remain unchanged. The system is hesitant to accept a greater number of students when immediate fund­ing is not guaranteed, said Walt Wild, the Roseville Joint Union High School District college and career counselor.

It’s no surprise, then, that many will glimpse a similar phenomenon that West­berg witnessed only years earlier – schools that have either reduced freshman enroll­ments or accept none at all.

“(Though the) budget has passed, what does that mean to (the UC system) when there is a lag time between the budget being established and its execution,” Wild said. “After all, (the RJUHSD) is not (even) sure how much of the stimulus will be given (to us).”

By Allen Ding
Granite Bay High School

By Jordyn Klackner

St. Charles, MO. - Two  months and they will no longer walk familiar halls. Two months and they will experience the real world. Two months and they will hold the key to their future.

Seniors across the nation are preparing for a day they have been waiting for since the start of high school. Graduation. The time when they walk across the stage, diploma in hand, representing how far they have come. While some spend their last two months making final memories with friends and families or thinking about their future, most are thinking about money.

“Their greatest concern should be the amount of debt they’ll have when they leave college,” registrar and director of admissions at St. Louis College of Pharmacy Penny Bryant said. “They should have a plan to pay for a degree, not just a semester or year.”

Today’s economy is driving the way many people live their lives. Thousands of people every day are losing jobs, therefore many households have cut down on the things they buy, how often they go out to eat and how much they drive. But one of the largest expenses a family can have is the expense of college. Some it’s not affecting, but others are taking a big hit. It can even come down to making the decision: College or not?

“It’s affecting the stress of applying for scholarships,” senior Sarah Henke of Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Mo., said. “I have to worry more about trying harder to get money because I’m paying for school on my own, and I know I’m going to have work while being a full-time student.”

For most like Henke, a huge number of scholarship applications can be found in school guidance offices, and from Web sites  such as fastweb.com or collegescholarships.com <http://collegescholarships.com/> . Amounts range from $500 to several thousands, and students have to fill out essays, get recommendations and complete application after application. Though tedious, these applications prove to be worth it.

“The more scholarships that I fill out the more likely I am to win some,” Henke said. “I’ve already won one through my bank, so my hopes are high for winning more. Every dollar makes a difference.”

For some, scholarships are not enough. It may not come to the drastic decision of not going to college, but it may force some students to stay home and attend a community college rather than attend a university because of cost.

“Both my mom and my step dad are teachers at a small high school and don’t make a whole lot of money,” senior Tyler Kirk of Francis Howell North in St. Charles, Mo., said. “My dad recently filed for bankruptcy. With all that, I don’t have the funds to afford to go to a bigger college so I won’t. I will most likely be staying home and attending a community college.”

Because the economy is affecting teens’ future plans after high school, colleges have started to make it less of a struggle for aspiring college students.

“A lot of colleges are freezing tuition,” Bryant said. “Some are upping scholarships and raising scholarship dollars. Some schools are giving almost full tuition. Families are losing funds with 529 savings plans. They borrow equity for homes and home equity is taking a hit as well.”

It’s come down to the fact that going to college won’t only affect the families of students, but the rest of the students’ lives. Almost all take out loans and are faced with paying them back after college. Many struggle to hold down jobs while learning to balance school and a social life.  Even with jobs they have paying for school will still set them back [in the future].

“[ I think college] affects teens, because they’re trying something new and it’s probably a lot more serious and different than high school,” Kirk said. “The assignments [most likely] are more strenuous and the grades affect their future more. Adding a job to the equation just adds a lot more stress and it takes a lot of time away from homework and activites they could be doing. I think I’ll be fine, but I have a lot of friends that get really stressed when they try to juggle a lot.”

By Jordyn Klackner
Francis Howell North High School

Jordyn Klackner - Francis Howell North High School

Francis Howell North High School is a secondary school located in St. Charles, Missouri. Its enrollment is roughly 2,000 students with 119 classroom teachers. North is the home of the Knights. The school provides numerous clubs and activities for students ranging from art and drama to DECA and FBLA. The school also offers a variety of athletics. North has been nationally recognized for its newspaper, yearbook and Knightpride marching band. Athletes have also won statewide awards and honors.

Paige Xu - Granite Bay High School

Granite Bay High School is a 2,100-student comprehensive high school in unincorporated Placer County, just northeast of Sacramento County. The Gazette student newspaper — a multi-section broadsheet and tabloid publication — is published eight times each school year by students in the advanced journalism class. Karl Grubaugh is the teacher/adviser.

walihagani - Annandale High School

shriyaadhikary- Annandale High School

Annandale High School is a highly diverse school that upholds a “tradition of excellence.” Annandale provides challenging courses, including International Baccalaureate and some Advanced Placement courses, a growing activities program, and a dedicated staff to ensure that students from all backgrounds have the full opportunity to achieve success.

The school offers eight honor societies, and several clubs that serve the academic and character development of each student. Annandale has a strong athletic department, offering numerous opportunities to males and females. The school has a high achieving arts program as the AHS band has been rewarded a Virginia Honor Band and more recently, 11 students won against students from 10 other high schools in the district for All State chorus, marking the highest number of students selected from one school. AHS students in the theater program strive to put forth phenomenal performances. AHS’s student newspaper, run by the journalism students, had been ranked the top five in the nation.

Carter Lockwood - Thomas Jefferson High School

Liao Kang - Thomas Jefferson High School

Established in 1985, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is the result of a partnership of businesses and schools created to improve education in science, mathematics, and technology. Representatives from business and industry and staff of the Fairfax County Public Schools worked together in curriculum and facilities development for the school.

In recent years, local business leaders and Jefferson parents have formed Jefferson Partnership Fund to raise money to maintain and equip labs and classrooms in the school. As the Governor’s School for Science and Technology in Northern Virgina, the school is also supported by the Virginia Department of Education. In addition to providing a specialized education for selected students in Fairfax County, Jefferson also serves other school districts including Arlington, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William counties as well as the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church.

Mary Kim - Thomas Jefferson High School

Rachel Linenesch - Thomas Jefferson High School

SHELBY STANICH
front page editor

What is the Recession?

Photo illustration/Shelby Stanich

The U.S. based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession as ‘a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months’, in other words it is a financial crisis.

Is it similar to the Great Depression?

Forbes.com says it is similar in the aspect that banks won’t lend to one another, even overnight. Strong and respected businesses cannot borrow short-term money. The banking systems in many countries have ceased functioning and have required major government intervention.

Is it harder for kids my age to get hired?

According to a survey from the Romow press, only 33 percent of kids ranging from 16 to 19 will be hired this year. This is a dramatic decrease from the 45 percent employed eight years ago.

What can you do to increase your chances of being hired during a job interview?

Quintcareers.com advises to be punctual and reliable. Show punctuality by arriving 5 to 15 minutes early for the interview. But you can also tell about your punctuality and reliability based on your performance in previous jobs to show that it’s not a one time deal. Also, remember that you make your first impression the first minute you walk in the door. Chances are that the receptionist will tell your interviewer how your behavior was before the meeting. Such as texting on the phone while in the waiting area.

How teens can make it easier on their parents?

The Huffington Post says that the majority of teens have taken on a new attitude with the recession. They’re turning to thrift shops, finding bargains and, if there’s a luxury item they just can’t live without, they’re going to the internet for the best possible deals. They’re limiting ‘going out’ and turning to more cost effective ways of hanging out with friends such as movie nights in.

“My mom is a realtor, and due to the bad market houses weren’t selling like they use to. She had a second job but it wasn’t enough to make ends meet. She stopped paying for our house in Roseville and soon after it was being foreclosed. We started freaking out and it took us two months before we finally moved out. It was really depressing and I kept thinking ‘why is this happening?’ The situation didn’t seem real. We looked for rental properties and ended up in Rocklin. It was the good part of the whole situation. I hadn’t been very happy at Woodcreek and my mom and I always liked the Rocklin community better.

Mariel Orbita

“It is not really anything big, business is just really slow for my parents right now. My dad owns his own business, facilities management, and my mom is the secretary. What ever companies need he does it. If he has to move stuff for them, he does it. But business is slow right now because people can’t afford to hire him.”

Amber Belisle

Lunch prices increase: $2.25 $2.50 $2.75

The food hasn’t changed, yet cafeteria’s lunch prices have been increasing every year

KELLY MERDING

staff writer

Although most people

know that the economy is

struggling, it never seems

like a big deal until it hits

the wallet of the students.

Here at school, lunch prices have steadily been increasing every year. The price has increased from $2.25, to $2.50, to this year the highest price of $2.75 for a full meal purchased in the cafeteria. While the snack bar may offer a cheaper alternative, those prices have gone up as well. To buy a full and filling lunch there may cost just as much if not more. To many students, this raise in prices brings frustration and annoyance.

“Now if I don’t make my own lunch, I don’t eat. I think the food in the cafeteria is a rip off. They raised the prices and portions haven’t changed,” Tina Malek said.

This affects the students who have to pay for their own lunch instead of getting money from their parents. For these students, it’s not a simple matter of just eating something for lunch, but possibly a luxury that could take money from their own bank account.

However, some kids are ready to dish out the cash.

“I’d rather eat. Food is good so it’s worth it,” Troy Bowser said. He, unlike Malek, gets money from his parents so the pressure of raising prices is less of a problem for him.

Even though the school administration seems like an easy culprit for this rise, it truthfully is not their fault. Any teacher or administrator is quick to point out that the decision was not theirs.

It’s required by the state to have a calorie based meal. It is very enforced, but on the whole this program is easier to serve. The hardest part is getting kids to always say their name or put in their number,” cafeteria worker Mrs. Sharon Richardson said.

It is true that the cafeteria had added a mandatory fruit or milk product to promote a healthy lifestyle. However, students admit to just throwing these additions away, making it an overall loss for both the cafeteria and the students.

The school has also taken away the fountain drinks, but the machines remain.

Students who attempt to purchase their soda from these machines risk them not working, again wasting their money

Whether or not many people buy lunch, these raising prices are a concern because they are going up every year. That means next year could be even a bigger dent to either the student’s or at least their parent’s wallet. Of course, no one is forced to buy lunch from school and students are always invited to bring their own from home if they do not like the way things are in the school cafeteria.

On March 14, during last year’s Mr. WHS competition, Chase Merell answers MC Alex Wilson’s questions. Past contestants Corey Ferrari, Chase Merell, Jorden Angel, Zack Ramos, Sahil Amar and Adam Munoz line up before performing a dance.

Photo/Kelsey Stevens

EMILY DUBOSE

feature editor

Mariel Orbita

Photo illustration/Shelby Stanich

Amber Belisle