Appendix is an extra organ that hangs off the large intestine. It doesn't have a specific job to itself but it can be inflamed. This condition is called appendicitis. It is very common in the United States. 1 out of 15 people have this health problem. Appendicitis is caused by the blockage of the appendix. Symptoms of appendicitis are stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. If not treated, the appendix can explode and spill bacteria inside the body.

Appendicitis, which was solely operated trough surgery in the past, can now be treated with antibiotics. An experiment was performed on the patients with appendicitis to see the affects of antibiotics on the appendix. 12% of them did not benefit and were immediately taken to the surgery while 88% cured without the surgery. 

Instead of cutting open the abdomen to prevent further complications , the infected appendix can be fixed with treatments.  Traditionally, appendicitis was treated with immediate surgery in order to prevent swelling and leakage to the abdomen cavity. But some people can now be cured by medicines. 

Physicians believe that treating the appendicitis with antibiotics is more effective with the least harm and pain.

Sabika Rehman 

Irony in popular television

The hit show "Breaking Bad" captivated audiences around America. "Breaking Bad" highlighted the story of Walter White. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, White, a high school chemistry teacher, began making meth with a former student to guarantee his family would have money after his passing.

As the AMC series came to end, the network held a contest for avid fans. The winner had the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles and watch the "Breaking Bad" finale with the cast. Winner Ryan Lee Carroll won the contest, attended the finale party in Los Angeles, and met the cast members.

Carroll was recently arrested in Florida for possession of synthetic narcotics, possession of controlled substances without prescriptions, and keeping a vehicle for dangerous drugs. Police discovered Carroll was running a synthetic drug distribution operation in Lee County. Police suspected Carroll used a cement mixer to create the drugs and shipped the drugs to other states through the U.S. Postal Service.

Throughout the series, "Breaking Bad" focused on the risky industry of drugs. Even watching the violence and gore fictionally on the hit television show did not deter people like Carroll who continue to make and sell illegal drugs. "Breaking Bad" did not persuade people to avoid the drug industry; instead, it highlighted it and made ordinary people interested in it.

Sophie Daily

Three Penny Press

Reasons why classic rock is just so much better

In this day and age of modern technology, a new favorite song is hardly hard to find. A plethora of archives exist in both physical and virtual format, ready for perusal and critique. Options exist from all genres of the musical spectrum- from the bluesy-soulful Norah Jones to queen of punk pop Avril Lavigne. If you're angry, there's a song for that. If you're sad, there's a song for that too. There is simply no form of human expression that can't be covered by a song.
And then, there's rock.
We all get that feeling every once in a while, when the wind's blowing a certain way and everything seems to be going right for us for once. It's a mystical, whimsical feeling that is truly unexplainable- that is, until you listen to classic rock. Classic rock is a dying culture, the echoes of an era gone by. These days, the name Led Zeppelin or Lynrd Skynrd is met with a confused glance and "huh?" rather than the high pitched squeal of a teenager, screeching "those are my favorite bands!" Guns N Roses has morphed into the Black Eyed Peas. Who are Simon and Garfunkel? "Is that a restaurant?" A typical teenager today might ask. And then there are those people- those few, sad, miserable people- who know nothing about the Beatles.
The pounding, crashing chords and synthetic overlaid beats of pop music are the symphony of the 21st century. Pop is the anthem of technology; it is the sound of modernization. But does pop music mean anything? I mean, sure, I want to just dance, it's gonna be okay, dada doo doo. But the lyrics pouring forth from our pounding boomboxes serve little purpose other than getting us to jump around and sing along. Case in point: The Will.I.Am smash "Power", featuring teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, encases such gems as the hook "Imma take it higher/and high, high, higher/ I stay in my attire." What does that even mean? Nothing, as it turns out. Compare that to the haunting, ten minute long "Stairway to Heaven" (Led Zeppelin) which opens with spine-tingling guitar chords as lead singer Robert Plant croons "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold/and she's buying a stairway to heaven." Man, I get chills just thinking about it.
The difference between classic rock and modern pop is surprisingly simple: emotion. Pop has none and classic rock almost has too much (note the key word almost). The purpose of a pop song is to inspire dancing and fist pumping and cheesy sing-alongs with hairbrushes as microphones. Pop is sugary and sweet, like a store-bought cupcake. Classic rock is like cigarette smoke, dripping and swirling with anguish and swagger and intoxicating guitar bridges. Rock reverberates in the soul.

Although, it may be just a little too late to save the face of the classics. Perhaps that's just the way the cookie crumbles- or should I say, the record spins.

Recently, College Board has announced that they are redesigning the SAT.  The announcement has raised a debate among middle school, high school students, high school graduates and most of all, the parents.  The new redesigned test will be administered for the first time in spring 2016, and the structure focuses more on skills that are used more often in college classrooms.  Incorrect answer choices will no longer count against you, and the math incorporated in the problems with be math that "matters most."  No longer based on a 2400 point scale, the new exam will be on a 1600 point scale and based more on real-world problems that incorporate science and history.  In a way, the new SAT test somewhat resembles the ACT.  Along with a plethora of other changes that are in favor of the test taker, the new SAT has been, for lack of a better wording, dumbed down.
Over the past years, high school students have struggled to find a way to conquer the SAT with its esoteric vocabulary words such as "bucolic" and "obdurate" and the seemingly impossible reading comprehension section questions. The new SAT will now use vocabulary that is more likely to actually be used in a college classroom and ask reading comprehension questions that aren't filled with flowery and difficult to understand answers.
The opinions on the SAT test change are controversial.  The people who are struggling right now to get a good SAT score are upset and wish the new test would go into effect now, while the current eight graders are excited to take the brand new test.  Thousands of dollars have been spent by students' families on SAT preparation courses such as Testmasters and PrepMe.  Now, it almost seems like it was a waste to some people.  In other words, the odds are definitely against the past test takers of the SAT.

Claire Weddle
Staff Writer

Net Neutrality
Iceland Vu

   We have over come many difficulties in the past regarding the state of the internet. In 2012, Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA) and ProtectIP Act(PIPA) were the causes for concern. the vaguely written acts would cause "The bill would also cut off funding by prohibiting payment services from cooperating with infringing sites" and "require the manager of a flea market to shut down the entire market because some of the merchants were selling counterfeit goods" according to forbes.com. An argument to these acts that piracy is good for the industry because it people get their hands on let's say, a TV series, and purchase merchandise because they come to love the characters on the show.

    But now we have a huge debacle about accessing whatever website we want. The FCC(federal communications commission) want to regulate how much speed each website gets. for example, an Internet Service Privider(ISP) would have to pay more for their website to run faster because the ISP is controlling the speed of their website. If this sort of thing was to be allowed on the internet, the future of the internet would involve a fee to visit a website.

Timeless classics are always better

Jane Austen. Emily Bronte. Louisa Alcott. These amazing authors of timeless novels have contributed much to the world of classic romantic literature. However, young readers today are usually more attracted to contemporary and meaningless such as Twilight and Vampire Academy. These books might sound interesting and exciting to read; but after having a blast with intense vampire fights and sweet high school loves, these stories are soon forgotten as teen seek for more modern fiction.

Personally, I believe these new fictions are abundant in quantity rather than quality. The main reason for their appeal to teens are their thrilling story plots instead of meaningful themes. Although this might not to apply some books like the Hunger Games and the Uglies Series, most teen novels unfortunately fall into this category. As a fan of the past classics, I definitely recommend more teen to read books such as Anne of the Green Gables, Little Women, Sense and Sensibility,  and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Don Quixote is dubbed the greatest work of Spanish literature, the first modern European novel, a timeless classic. The timeless tale dives into Don Quixote’s quixotic goal toward chivalry while exploring social issues of 17th century Spain. Yet the author, Miguel Cervantes died of poverty and his body is nowhere to be found. Legend has it Cervantes was buried underneath the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians. Recently, the Spanish government announced its plan to search for and exhume the body of Cervantes. They plan to spend over 100,000 euros to locate the body of the author using radar technology. The goal is that the investigation will reveal more information on the mysterious author. Even after centuries of death, forensics can still analyze the injuries for possible sources of death. Investigators hope to find evidence that could lead to answers. The only clues we have of Cervantes is found his his writing for he frequently referenced himself in them. We know that he supposedly has several bullet wounds from his days in the navy as well as only six teeth.

There is a close parallel between the fate of William Shakespeare, who died of an unknown cause and is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in his hometown of Stratford, Warwickshire. A few years ago, a group of scientists asked for permission to exhume the body of Shakespeare. However, the English government rejected the proposal.

Famous authors are often subjected to the intense investigation of the media as celebrities nowadays face. Shakespeare’s writing is tainted by myths of his corrupt character. Many people do not read his plays because they believe Shakespeare was a fraud or he married a woman eight years his senior.The substance of literature too heavily depends on the identity its creators.

It might be best to respectfully leave Cervantes in peace and remember Don Quixote on as we do now, unaffected by the corporeal being who wrote it.


Tonya Chen
News Editor