Monthly Archives: May 2015

Prom Costs are Through the Roof in 2015!

Becoming prom king and queen is not about having the most expensive suit or dress in the room but, more about the person inside them. However, based on recent surveys the costs are rising and it’s all about the money!


Hey Dodd Middle School! For you, being a Junior or a Senior is in the far off years to come, but have you ever thought about how much this one night costs schools, students and parents?

Let’s talk about the girls. This year a survey done by Visa found that an average prom dress alone would cost the family $324. This high price tag has gone up significantly since 2011, where they would spend near $100. Lets not forget hair and make-up! You may decide to go to a salon to get your hair, makeup, and nails done, or you might opt to do it yourself. Depending on the choices that you make the price could be anywhere from $30 to $275. It is typically the boys job to buy the flowers, but in reality most guys wear boutonniere’s which usually costs $10 to $20. However, it depends on the type of flowers that you chose to purchase.

Besides looking good there are many other aspects that make prom very expensive. One being the ticket. The going rate these days depending on the location, tends to be $20 to $250. If the prom is being held in a fancy hotel, ballroom etc. it may be more costly than if it is being held in your school gymnasium. Ticket prices usually include entry into the dance, dinner, and beverages, so make sure to find out beforehand so you don’t plan to do a big dinner first! Most proms however do not provide a full dinner before hand, so most students decide to eat out. Depending on the type of restaurant and where it is the meal could cost anywhere from $25 to $130 per person.

Next is getting there! Parents like to know that their child is safe to and home from the prom. So limousines are often rented, but this costs students a pretty penny as they are quite extravagant and expensive. The average cost for renting a limousine is 200 to 500 dollars. If this price exceeds your budget, don’t worry! A good solution is to split the cost with a group, and its more fun that way too!

Like the renting of a limo taking pictures is the part that parents enjoy most so they often hire a professional. When friends split the cost of a limo to the prom, they tend to go to one person’s home to take pictures, so the cost can again be split. Even though us Dodd kids aren’t going to prom for another 730 days (roughly) you can relate to how your parents get when you have a special event or a memorable moment. It’s sooooo important to them to have pictures to reminisce with. Prices for professional photos can range anywhere from $30 to $125. You may choose not to get formal photos and use your own camera, and  that’s cool too. Lastly, at some point during the evening most prom committees will hire a photographer to come take photographs of couples and or groups. You will probably receive a price list beforehand. They may be prepaid, or you may need to pay at the event, so don’t forget your money!

Overall prom is an expensive night out, but in my opinion it is worth all the fun you have dancing and laughing with your friends. It is also a great reason to get dressed up like the movie stars and to enjoy yourself!

~Megan

CDs: The Disc is Disappearing, but the Music Isn’t

Let me ask you a question: Do you know what a Walkman is? How about a typewriter? Telegraph? I’m guessing a a good amount of you said no to at least one of these things. Now this is simply because that piece of technology is really, really old. So old to the point where our generation doesn’t even know it existed.


However this is also happening to a piece of technology that pretty much all of us have known our entire lives: the CD. Pretty soon it will disappear. Gone. Poof. Donezo. The CD has now become almost completely obsolete! Very few people still buy them compared to how many people bought when they were in their prime, because everyone just downloads all of their music now. Eventually we’ll be saying the classic “Back in my day” story about how we used to have to put a CD in a CD player to listen to music.

Now obviously this isn’t entirely a bad thing. I personally think it’s great. We’re trading away CDs for downloadable music, the latter of which is easier to get, takes up much less space, and in some cases is much less expensive. The only thing we have to worry about is remembering to charge our phones or Ipods or whatever, and not dropping them or getting them wet. Although those last two things could also be said for CDs. You may ask yourself, “Are we going to miss out on better quality music if the CD goes away?” The answer is no. CDs aren’t even that high quality. One of the reasons that the record is making a small comeback is because it has very high quality sound. This is not at all the case for the CD.The reasons that they were popular were because they were the smallest way to listen to music, and they were cheap to buy and make. Downloads have greatly surpassed them. Will we be seeing a comeback? Probably not. You don’t see the telegraph or the typewriter making a comeback do you? Those would only be kept as antiques. The same won’t be said for CDs though, because they are so cheap. People will just end up throwing them in the garbage.


I really don’t even see any point in even buying CDs anymore. There is literally no reason to have one. Pretty much everyone I know listens to music on their phone or Ipod, and frankly that’s a much better option. Sure their are still people that buy CDs, but they’ll all eventually have to make the switch to downloads.

~Ethan

It’s the great debate: ice cream or frozen yogurt? Over the past couple years, frozen yogurt shops have been popping up all over the country, claiming to be the healthier option for frozen dessert treats. Is that really the case? Yes, a half cup of frozen yogurt does have less calories and is lower in saturated fats than a half cup of regular ice cream. But, low-fat ice cream and froyo have about the same fat content, and most froyo shops are self-serve, allowing people to decide how much yogurt and sugary toppings they get. Although shops do offer fresh fruits to accompany the frozen yogurt, most people are more likely to reach for cookie dough bites and “boba balls” over the healthier options. This leads to calorie build up, and depending on how much froyo and toppings you get, one bowl of frozen yogurt could reach 500 calories.

 

 

Personally, I don’t worry about the health benefits or drawbacks of frozen yogurt.  I don’t eat it regularly, usually for a special treat after an occasion like a school concert or sports event. . If I were to choose between ice cream and frozen yogurt, I would choose ice cream. I am not a fan of the taste of yogurt, so I normally reach for the sorbet options at frozen yogurt chains like Froyo, instead of the regular frozen yogurt options. It is all based on preferences. If you plan to choose frozen yogurt over ice cream, try fresh fruits instead of candies and baked bites to enjoy a delicious, healthy nighttime (or daytime) treat.

~Ali

 

Why are Vine Stars and YouTubers Popular for No Reason?

 


DigiFest, DigiTour, Magcon, and Playlist Live,are just some of the many concerts and festivals that promote social media. Have you ever heard of them?   Well, the Vine and YouTube community are taking the world by storm. Vine and Youtube are both video sites with videos that times range from 6 seconds to hours long! Between beauty gurus, video gamers, and hilarious six second video masters, vine stars and YouTubers have used vine and YouTube to make a name for themselves around the world. Who are these people that are creating these magical movies that have millions of followers enchanted? Andrew B. Bachelor (KingBach on vine), Nash Grier, and Brittany Furlan are the top 3 most famous Vine stars with followings ranging from 9 million  to over 12 million! In the YouTube community, according to Vogue Magazine Online Bethany Mota and Zoe Sugg are two of the most popular girl youtubers and have well over 16 million subscribers combined. Singing sensations on Youtube and Vine also have helped them to make an impact on this generation. Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson or JackandJack on Vine are known as the eighteen year old singing duo. So far, they have released 12 songs with  more coming. Also, Bethany Mota’s song “Need you Right Now” was off the charts when fans went ballistic to go and buy the song.

So, what’s so special about these Vine and YouTube artists? In my opinion, these people are actually very talented for their age. Although,they do just seem like another pop star with stupid lyrics in a catchy song, their lyrics do have a positive meaning. For example, the lyrics in Jack and Jack’s song “Doing it Right” talk about bullies on the internet and telling people that while they are hating on the internet they shouldn’t let these hurtful comments affect them. Some Viners and Youtubers obviously have more musical abilities than others. However,  some are even taking their talents as a job and getting paid to be on a TV shows or to sing a song for a commercial.

I also do believe that there are some stars that are famous for no apparent reason except for their “good looks” which makes no sense! Why should we practically praise and obsess over people with no musical abilities whatsoever? It isn’t only just the musical talents that most of these people don’t have, it’s just plain old common sense. They think that just because they have a gigantic fanbase that they can write songs that not only sound bad but, have bad grammar and don’t make sense at all. The people that put on these songs are just embarrassing themselves. I mean the song practically screams “I don’t have talent”! Clearly, Vine and Youtube stars are really surprising this generation is all different ways.

 

~Marissa

 

Boston Marathon Bomber’s Sentence Reignites Death Penalty Controversy

The 2013 Boston Marathon was not expected to be any different than the 115 times the race was ran before. On Boylston Street, near the finish line, a bomb went off, followed by a second one, only 12 seconds later. The bombs consisted of pressure cookers filled with nails and ball bearings, all concealed in a back pack. There are instructions online on how to make a pressure cooker bomb. The explosions left 2 dead and hundreds injured. Just 4 days later, police suspected 26-year-old, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and 19-year-old, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to be responsible. In a shootout with the police, Tamerlan is wounded, and would eventually die, leaving his brother to face 30 federal charges.

Opening statements in Tsarnaev’s trial would begin on March 4, 2015. The U.S. would call 23 times as many witnesses as the defense (92 to 4), and testimonies would continue through 15 days. 11 and a half hours of deliberations push 30 guilty verdicts on Tsarnaev. Now the case would go into penalty phase, leaving the jury to decide if the death penalty would be in order. A 14 hour deliberation positions Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be executed.

Of course, controversy will arise whenever someone is sentenced to be killed. Some arguments are made more directly to the Tsarnaev trial, others are kept more broad. In the end, if a jury all agree someone deserves to be killed, I believe that the death penalty is made just. Some may argue that there’s no sense in taking another life, and that it will not change anything for those affected by lost loved ones. However, I feel if you were to ask those people affected, they would want the bomber to be held accountable for his actions. The death penalty, in many cases, is a necessary and favorable thing to do for humankind. You must remember, we do not sentence random people to death, instead, only those who pose a threat to our country and our people .

~ Tyler

Amazon: American Hero or Over-Powerful Dynasty?

Amazon. 10 years ago, if you looked this up, you’d see results for a beautiful rainforest located in Brazil. But now go ahead and google “Amazon”. You will have to click through not 1, not 2, not even 3 or 4 pages of search, but 5 to see a first result for this “sacred” rainforest. The word Amazon now represents a billion dollar online shopping company, used by millions daily. This company supplies everything you need, from books, to toys, electronics, food, and more, often at a lower price. With fast 2-day shipping, you usually don’t blink twice about checking out your cart. This is all good… right? Maybe not. Let’s take a closer look into what you’re really buying.

Amazon sells everything, and fast. You probably think this is great and very convenient, so why not use it?  You are just proving my point. Amazon, as it has grown to power is able to do these things like fast delivery, putting small businesses out of the picture. It is so easy for you to order off Amazon, that they don’t stand a chance. Amazon has taken away thousands of retail stores and small businesses across the United States, and will continue to do so as they grow in power. Although they currently aren’t the only store currently doing this, they will keep growing as our world keeps becoming more technology oriented (and we get lazier), until they monopolize, well, retail fully. Although you may think this is an exaggeration, think of how they have already put big companies out of business such as Borders, and soon enough Walmart, just because Amazon is so much easier. Whatever happened to living the American dream? America is not supposed to be run by an all powerful company. Yet, there is Amazon. So next time before you add an item to your cart, think again.

~ Jackson

Sand Pits not Glitz

Child beauty pageants are defined as contests featuring children under the age of 16 that make them think they are all princesses and that they can have anything they want, including the winning position in every situation in their lives. Some different segments of child beauty pageants can include the skimpy bathing suit portion, the choreographed dance section that took 10 hours and 20 tantrums to master, reciting the interview answers that parents hardwired into their children’s brains, parading around in dresses bedazzled to an unnecessary level, and many other fun events. Although most of these children would rather be playing in their backyard or interacting with their peers in a healthy way, their parents drag them to these events so that they can experience what they would have liked to do 30 years ago through their children. These sweet 5-year-olds are turned into competitive demons by their parents. These pageants focus way too much on appearance, making for a very tedious regimen the weeks leading up to the pageant. Glitz pageants are the worst kind, allowing spray tans, flippers (fake teeth), and cellulite cream. These children are forced to compete in these competitions. making tantrums a recurring routine. The contestants are usually introduced to the game as toddlers or even earlier, and not knowing any better, continue to comply as they grow older. Beauty pageants for children were a horrible idea.

One reason why beauty pageants are horrible is because of the focus on appearance the competitions generate. The point of the competition is to be the most beautiful barbie doll there, an attribute that is definitely not necessary in life. Academics surely fall behind when a child participates in these provocative events. Hours every day are devoted to learning 5 minute routines during time that should be for homework. No studies have been conducted, but watch an episode of TLC’s Toddlers in Tiaras and you will find it obvious how devoted some of these people are to this pointless competition.

These beauty pageants can also lower self esteem in children that carries on into their teen and adult years. “The Princess Syndrome” is an unofficial term to describe the effects of beauty pageants on children. Unrealistic expectations to be thin, physically beautiful, and perfect are the effects that mothers and judges enforce on contestants. Some disordered eating behaviors and body dissatisfaction can be caused solely by this. A small study published in 2005 showed that former childhood beauty pageant contestants had higher rates of body dissatisfaction than normal children.

We all played with Barbie dolls as kids, and we all probably knew the Barbie song. “I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world, Life is plastic, it’s fantastic!” For pageant girls, life is probably mostly plastic. Fake teeth, fake hair, fake tan, and fake nails are only a few of the “improvements” that are made on children. Many kids do not want to get a complete makeover including botox injections, but the parents are very excited to subject their child to this much pain and discomfort. Toddlers in Tiaras highlights these moments of pain during the process of getting ready, as seen in this picture.

In the article “Toddlers, Tiaras — and Debts: the Costs of Child Beauty Pageants”, Erica Sandberg says that costs for glitz pageants can range from $400 to $3,000+. This price range is so large because some pageant parents are crazy and go for $800 dresses and $100/hr dance instructors, while others stay simple. No matter how complicated the routine before a pageant is, kids don’t enjoy it.

Pageant parents shove their dreams down their children’s throats at a young age. The competitors don’t know that it doesn’t have to be this way because this all they know. They may even learn to love it. This ensures that bribery will not have to be used to make sure the kids comply. The smarter ones have tantrums as a last protest to this inhumane act. Parents discipline with bribery, which teaches children that there is a reward for bad behavior.

What ever happened to catching frogs? Robinson Crusoe? Scuffed knees? Stains from a grape popsicle from the ice cream man? I know that when I have a kid, I would rather have to clean the dirt out from under her fingernails then peel off artificial nails.

~Grace

 

Is Violence in Video Games to Blame for Violence in Real Life?

A large majority of the American population believes that the content in some video games causes violent behavior in the people who play them. Take the highly controversial Grand Theft Auto franchise for example. Grand Theft Auto V had record breaking sales in its first day of being released. It is a game revolving around, chaos. It breaks the boundaries of the phrase “do whatever you want,” because in this game, you can buy a million dollar car one minute, and then the next, it explodes because you drove it straight into a taco truck. Or, the player could purchase a tank and go on a rampage through the streets. Now these are the kind of actions that cause many people to think that video games cause violent behavior, but this is simply not the case. Recent studies show that violent video games have nothing to do with the actions of people in real life. It is only mental defects that cause such actions.

I strongly agree with these studies. The fact that so many people blame video games for tragedies such as the Sandy Hook shooting is just absurd. These happenings are the result of mental illness, not because someone wanted to recreate a video game in real life. As I said earlier, Grand Theft Auto V had record-breaking sales in its first day. Basically, this means that millions upon millions of people bought the game, many not as mature as they ought to be. You don’t see these millions of people going out and carjacking someone do you? Didn’t think so. The only reason that these things might happen is that a few very impressionable kids that are WAY too young to be playing violent games, go and try and do what they saw in real life. But still, this isn’t the video games’ faults. It’s the result of parents that don’t care what their kids play or see on TV.

So now the problem stands, what can we do to make people see that video games are not at fault for violence? There are too  many people that need something to blame for violence in America, and unfortunately, their scapegoat is video games. Despite the large amounts of scientific research that disproves that video games cause violence in people, not enough of them will listen.

~Ethan

Does the Government Dislike Families with Homeschooled Kids?

Recently on May 5th, Kentucky government raided a family’s home, arrested the father, and took away the ten children in the family. This was simply because the government disagreed with the family’s lifestyle and educational decisions, because all ten children in the family are home schooled. On that Wednesday of May 5th, police entered the home, and even blocked the road leading to the home. The mom of the family, Nicole, was home with her two oldest sons. The police immediately took the children, and Nicole was then arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Later, the father of the family, Joe, was forced to give up the other eight children or be arrested for felony charges. The  police’s main argument in this situation is that the children were not being treated properly, but the neighbors say they always see everyone having a good time.

Police Seize 10 Children From Off-Grid Family Because They’re Homeschooled

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my opinion, this is both horrible and ridiculous. Parents should be allowed to make their own decisions on their children’s education. Police coming and taking that away is wrong in every possible way. Just because this one family’s life is a little bit different, doesn’t mean that they should be punished for it. The police even say that the children were living in bad conditions, and their needs weren’t being met, yet Joe and Nicole post weekly pictures on Facebook showcasing their kids. The kids look completely healthy, and their house looks like any other. The family’s neighbors also observe them often, and say that there is nothing wrong with them at all, and they are one-hundred percent happy. Yet, police are still trespassing into the family’s house, and also stealing loved ones. This makes me wonder: is the government out to get homeschooled kids?

~Connor

The Royal Baby, Miracle or Hoax?

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born May 2nd at 8:34am at St. Mary’s Hospital at 8lbs and 3oz, Supposedly, there is  a conspiracy brewing in Russia on whether or not the royal baby’s birth was natural. Russian women are saying that Kate looked too good minutes after the baby’s birth for it to have been natural. They are also saying that Kate was walking too normally to have been carrying a baby, and that her belly was too large for a 8lbs 3oz baby. In addition,  people are saying that the birth time was off because the Duchess arrived at St. Mary’s at 8:32am and the Baby was born at 8:34 which only gives 2 minutes for her to conceive the baby. Finally, reports say that the couple left the hospital roughly at 10:15 which really isn’t enough time for the baby to be checked out by medical staff, and therefore it may mean that the baby isn’t from the royal couple.

I personally think that the birth was natural, but i am open to both sides. Some questions I have are: How was the royal couple able to take home the baby just 2 hours after birth, why did it take so long to name the baby, and why did the couple warn the media not to harass them? Although some of these things raise eyebrows I still think the birth is natural and Russia is just trying to find ways to beat up England.

~Charlie