Give When You’re Gone

Colby Salerno has been talked about on the news, in the newspapers, by word of mouth, and online. He has become famous from his story and his blog “Tales From The Tenth Floor.”

Who is Colby Salerno? You may be asking. Well, Colby is a 24 year old Cheshire resident with an inspiring story and a kind heart. He had a rare heart disease and needed a heart transplant as soon as he possibly could get one. He was on the “Transplant Waiting List” since he was 12 years old. The Transplant Waiting List is a list of people who need organ transplants, and Colby was #1 on it for many years. More and more people are added to the Transplant Waiting List each year, and around 100 people are already added each day! While this number is increasing, the number of Organ Donors is decreasing. This is not good news for people like Colby, and other people who need lifesaving transplants.

Since Colby was 12 years old, he was not like other kids. He couldn’t play sports too much, run, or have a normal life in general. Now, everything is turning around for him. A little less than a year ago, Colby was slowly dying in the Hartford Hospital, waiting for a heart transplant that nobody was ever sure he would get. Colby was the youngest man in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) waiting for a transplant at the time. He made friends with 2 older men that were also waiting for a heart transplant. What they needed were organ donations. An organ donation is something people decide when they get their drivers license and is when people donate their organs to people who desperately need them when you pass away. Saving a life and being an organ donor is extremely important!! If you can’t live your life anymore, why not donate to save a life?

I have already decided that I am going to be an organ donor when I’m older. My goal is to spread the word about organ donations so other people will do the same. I met Colby when I was 5 years old and he was just a teenager working at a summer day camp. He made an impact on me immediately with his personality and once I learned his story, he made even more of an impact. He showed me that organ donations are a very important thing to do because they save lives. They saved his life. Would you be willing to donate the organs you don’t need anymore after you pass away to save someones life?  If it’s easy, helpful and makes sense, then why don’t more people do it? That’s the thing I always wonder about. “Life is bittersweet at best,” Colby said in one of his blog posts. This is what I think of when I think about organ donations. It’s bitter because a loved one was lost, but it’s sweet because you get the proud feeling that you saved one or more peoples lives. If anything in this blog stuck with you, I hope it is that Colby Salerno is an inspiring role model and that organ donations are incredibly important, so you should be one when you get asked that question later on in life!

~Krista Sbordone

iPhone 5

A lot of people have smartphones, but most people with smartphones have an iphone. This phone loads quick and works very well. There will be a new iphone coming out soon, the iphone 5. The iphone 5 is the newest iphone.It will be the thinnest and lightest iphone ever. This iphone will have more speed than the iphone 4. The new phone also comes with new earbuds. The new iphone will be released in October and the cost will range from $199 to $399 depending on the amount of capacity the phone has.

The iphone 5 has an all new design. For starters its only 7.6 mm thin, which I think is insanely thin for an iphone. It also only weighs 112 grams. Thats the thinnest and lightest phone I’ve ever heard of. Its amazing that the iphone 5 is going to be faster and more efficient than the last, the iphone 4.

This phone also has a new camera.The camera will be 20% smaller than the one on the iphone 4. Even though its smaller it will have new and cool features like panorama and dynamic low-light mode. Thats not it, the surface of the isight camera is actually made out of sapphire crystal and not glass. Its made like that because the lense is less likely to scratch.

The new phone also comes with new and improved earbuds. While designing these new earbuds, Apple had to find a common shape from most people’s ears. That shape led to the new look of their earbuds. This design is defined by the geometry of the ear. Also, they provide stronger protection from sweat and water, and they’re stable in the ear. Which means they stay in no matter what your doing.Thats why these new earbuds are comfortable and sit securely in most peoples ears.

Well the iphone 5 sounds pretty good. Its lighter and thinner and still works well. It also has a new camera. It also has new features to make it easier to take pictures everywhere. It also comes with better quality earbuds. It seems like a good thing to have. I would go to the mall and buy one when they come out.

~Kendall Redlitz

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In 2010, 5 boys took the stage for a chance to perform on the UK version of the X-Factor. Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and Zayn Malik tried out for the X-Factor as solo artists just hoping for at least one yes from one of the judges. Not making it through as solo acts in boot camp (the stage after auditions) Simon Cowell, one judge of the show, decided he would take them on during the competition but as a boy band. Soon the boys took the stage together as One Direction. However at the end of the competition, the boys only came in 3rd place. But before leaving the stage Zayn Malik, a member of One Direction said “This will not be the last time you see One Direction.” Well that promise was kept, as a couple weeks after, One Direction got called into Simon Cowell’s office and was given the chance to record a single and maybe an album. This British, Irish boy band became an instant hit in the UK, with their single “What Makes You Beautiful.” Soon after it was released in the UK, One Direction decided to release it here in the USA. With this hot new boy band already so popular in the UK, how could they not be popular in the USA?

Well, they hit the top of charts as the reaction to them was amazing. After that their first album “Up All Night” was released both in the UK and USA. One Direction broke the world record for being the first UK band to break the top charts with a debut album. In 2011 One Direction went on their Up All Night tour and sold out all of their shows in the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia. We can now say a good amount of the USA’s teenage girl population has been infected with One Direction Infection! Today the boys are planning to release their new album “Take Me Home”, which will be coming out on November 13th, 2012. Recently they have said that their new single will be called “Live While We’re Young.” On September 20th, 2012 at 5 pm, on BBC radio the song was first played for the world to hear and at 6 pm the single’s music video was released on Vevo. The fans are so excited and ready to hear it at their new world wide tour 2012-2013.

Personally, I am probably one of the biggest directioners (the name of the fans) ever. Ever since I heard their song on the radio and heard their story, you could say I fell in love. Come on, who couldn’t fall in love with talented, hot, British and Irish boys? Being such a big fan, I knew about “Take Me Home” for a while, I was super excited like all the other fans. The fact that I have the opportunity to see them sing live this winter is amazing because their concerts sell out very fast and when on stubhub they are very expensive. Today, when “Live While We’re Young” was released, I flipped out. They are amazing and talented, I don’t understand why people say they aren’t talented (they did have to compete on a SINGING competition). Critics say their autotuned but I know they aren’t, as most people do. Hopefully One Direction will be around for a while and continue to break records, because its nice seeing something you love being in the Guinness Book of World Records. Then again, who really doesn’t? Who cares what the haters say, One Direction is amazing, and thats why they’re my life. I personally don’t think these 5 boys thought they would be here today, which makes it more amazing and more inspiring. I hope we will see more of One Direction in the future, and I highly doubt they won’t be popular in the next couple of years as they are just too good.

~Molly Michaud

Pear, Orange, Apple’s iphone 5 oh my!

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It’s here. Made out of only glass and aluminum. No previous model has received such praise from handpicked reviewers than this one. Phrases like “flat out lovely”, and “an absolute home run.” The one and only, Apple’s iphone 5. “It’s hard to believe a phone so thin could offer so many features: a larger display, a faster chip, the latest wireless technology, a better camera, and more.” says Apple. Apple officially launched the new iPhone 5 on September 12th, with first-day orders indicating that it has become the fastest-selling device Apple has ever released. Just imagine holding one of Apple’s newest inventions in your hand! Compared to the iphone 4S, the iphone 5 is larger but, lighter.

People in New York City literally waited in a line on the streets for the iphone 5 to finally be open to the world! Can you imagine? Even though some people are crazy about wanting to have one, many people waiting in line say that it’s for the experience. With such unbelievable technology coming out these days, people can’t get enough. When it comes to Apple, people are very loyal. Most technology companies state what they sell and Apple, they state why they sell. Apple’s why message is that “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.” Apple challenges the status quo by making beautifully-designed, reliable products. Making almost every Apple product irresistible like the iphone 5.

~Saige Bingman

Delving into DNA Discoveries

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One week ago, if you asked a scientist how our DNA works, they might’ve said that 98% of it is inactive, or “junk.” The other 2% contains our genomes, which contain the blueprints of who we are. This past Wednesday, however, some 500 scientists published new research indicating that at least 80% of our DNA is active; a startling contrast that is already rewriting textbooks everywhere.

What is DNA? DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, is the road map for our bodies. It’s kind of like a control board, similar to a long series of switches flicking on and off. DNA consists of 4 chemical bases; adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The order of the series of 3,000,000 units of these 4 chemicals is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, or simply the person next to you. Every cell in your body contains the same strand of DNA, usually located in the nucleus of each cell.

Personally, I think this is a remarkable discovery. Part of what was discovered through this research was how disease works and what’s going on to cause it. Now, I’m not talking about the common cold or a virus. I’m talking about some of the leading killers in our country; heart disease, diabetes, even cancer. While no one is sure when this new information will turn into treatments and even cures, one thing everyone is sure of is that this is a remarkable discovery in the world of science everywhere.

~Claire Stover