Heap: Ashley's Ride a pain in the Astro
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By Jessica Gray and Sara Christensen
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This 1990 Astro Van, nicknamed “Big Blue,” gives Ashley Johnson some problems, considering it’s been in the family longer than she has. This van has 270,191 miles on it, and it is still going strong. There is nothing seriously wrong with the motor, other than every other day she has to put more oil in it so it doesn’t catch fire AGAIN. As for the body, that’s another story. The side door is too heavy for anyone to open other than Ashley because she’s pro like that. Then the back door, forget about it because it doesn’t open at all. Oh and let’s not forget about that sexy rust she’s got going on lining the bottom. Ashley isn’t too fond of the rust though, considering she gets scratched by it every time she gets out. Now that we have the outside done and over with, its time for the inside. If Ashley wants to jam out to some music, she really can’t do much because she only has 2 stations that actually work; sorry Ash. Although her stereo isn’t quite up to date, she knows exactly how fast she’s going with that digital speedometer, but she has a little trouble seeing it with her steering wheel moving all over the place. Ashley really cannot wait until the last minute to get to school because she has a couple extra steps to go through. The first task is finding a space big enough to park in. The other thing is her park gear doesn’t work so she has to make sure that the Emergency brake is on. But this van isn’t all bad; it has given Ashley some good memories. She says it has even saved her life a couple times. One time was when she was with a couple friends driving to Megan’s, and they came to a stop sign. A guy in a mask came sprinting out of the arboretum and tried to jump in her van! Thank God her doors are heavy so they couldn’t open them quickly. And then “Big Blue” sped out of there like a lightning bolt. Also, we cannot forget the story of how Ashley discovered that her parking gear didn’t work. She parked on a hill by Villa in Orfordville. They were only there for 20 minutes when Vinny’s mom came in and asked Ashley if she had drove the van there. When Ashley replied “yes,” his mom informed her that the van was rolling down the hill! So Ashley ran outside and got to the van just in time. We’re not meaning to bash on “Big Blue,” but her time has come to be in the heap, not to mention the junkyard. Some friends of Ashley wanted to say some things about “Big Blue.” Ryan Miller said “I love it and have nothing bad to say about that beast.” Megan Timm thinks that the van isn’t a heap and that it’s a wonderful van. Holly Licht thinks that it’s a pimp van! But considering Holly’s from Brodhead and doesn’t know any different, we’ll let that slide. And lastly, Katy Schaefer says “It’s a tank!” “Big Blue” has a lot of fans not just Ashley. So the next time you see them out and about honk to say “hi!”
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| Are you sure you're getting enough sleep?
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This can be a much hated question among teenagers. We reason that we are finally getting some freedom and having fun so the last thing we need is nagging parents who want us to go to sleep. Could it really be that important? Especially as we go back to school after the fabulousness of summer, it could be especially annoying to have to get back into our routines again. But, annoying as it may be, getting enough sleep is an important factor in almost every aspect of our life. Maybe getting enough sleep is not the problem for you; maybe it is the waking up part. Studies have shown that adolescents are biologically driven to sleep longer and later than adults do and that the early high-school starting times can really be compared to abuse. On the other hand, you may reason that we can not exactly help what time our school begins every day, and we also do not want to give up any of our activities, so it is just a vicious, pointless cycle. Part of that is true, but really would it completely change our whole schedule and activities to go to sleep earlier? Especially if the results were very positive, as they were when 3,000 teenagers were surveyed in 1998. They found that students who were getting C’s, D’s and F’s in school got about 25 minutes less sleep and went to bed about 40 minutes later than students who were getting A’s and B’s. Would it be worth it? Even with these staggering results, it has been discovered that 26 percent of high school students routinely sleep less than 6.5 hours on school nights, and only 15 percent sleep 8.5 hours or more. Eight and a half hours may seem like a lot, but researchers have found that teenagers actually require more sleep than younger children or adults. It has been shown that adolescents need about 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep a night in order to not be depriving themselves of sleep. Also, to add to the problem, in adolescence your natural bedtime can change to 11 p.m. or later, meaning that you would not be able to fall asleep until far after you need to in order to wake up for the brutally early 8 o’clock bell. So are you getting enough sleep? You can take this short survey to find out-
Do you complain of being sleepy during the daytime?
Do you have trouble staying awake at school?
Do you have a lot of trouble getting out of bed in the morning?
Do you experience lots of fatigue?
Are you irritable? (Why don’t you ask your friends on that one…?)
Do you make some poor decisions or get chronically worse grades than in the past?
If you checked any of these questions you may be suffering from sleep deprivation.
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