Our Neighboring State Flooded Out

By Kendra A

In Hopkinton, New Hampshire, many people lost power when Hurricane Irene hit the New England region of the nation in late August 2011. Hurricane Irene, however, hit our neighboring state Vermont hard. Residents of the Green Mountain State had houses destroyed and had loved ones lost in the rapid water in bridges. Many of residents were without power for days.

In Vermont, the population is 625,000 according to U.S census data. Out of those residents 47,000 including businesses and homes were without power for days. This caused trouble for residents who ran babysitting services. Nancy Reed one of the residents of Wethersfield VT said, “My state has handled this situation very well with getting the power back on quickly to my town. We are all still recovering from the floods though. Still trying to build back up businesses and mourning the loss of two of our beloved covered bridges.” Two of the oldest covered bridges were taken down and torn to shreds from the floods.

Burlington VT the largest city in Vermont has had a history of big amounts of rain coming down, but Hurricane Irene set a new record of how much water there was. It was higher than the record floods in 1971. The amount of rain that fell in Vermont was 3.38inches. The reasons for the flooding was because of how high Irene raised the White River in West Hartford VT 20.67feet high. Breaking the record previous to a flood in 1927 and a hurricane in 1938. Floods and losing power was hard for Vermont residents. They lost a lot of bridges, homes, and businesses from this flood.

Infinity and Beyond: The Future of the Space Race

By Jess Mellen

On September 14, 2011 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued a press release discussing a design for a vehicle that could carry astronauts to distant asteroids and, eventually, to Mars. This announcement was made shortly after the launch of the twin exploration satellites to the moon as well as amid the ongoing concern of the International Space Station’s possible abandonment. All of these events have been said to be important to the future of U.S. space exploration.

The press release made by NASA last Wednesday explained the concept of a multi-stage rocket simply named the "Space Launch System." This rocket, if and when finished, will be capable of lifting nearly 130 metric tons and will be able to carry human crews out of Earth’s orbit and to other celestial bodies. It has been estimated to be more powerful than the Apollo missions’ Saturn V rockets from the 1960s, making it capable of flying farther. "I think it's a great idea," Cass Mellen, a student at the University of Maryland said. "Especially because they (NASA) incorporated designs from previous concepts into the design of the rocket. I like what they're doing." Since the announcement of the rocket, there has been a mixed opinion of the concept from officials and critics alike. Some government officials support it while others question the cost.

The estimated cost is the main obstacle for NASA to get over in order to move this project forward, as increasing budget cuts over the years have made funds sparser. The development and testing of the SLS has an estimated cost of $18 billion over the next six years, not including the costs of maintenance, preparation, and construction of the rockets in the future. In order to reach the goal of the first official launch in 2017, NASA estimates the requirement of a $41 billion budget to be approved by Congress. It seems to be still too early to tell, but the rocket may or may not be approved simply because of the cost.

Besides this large and ambitious announcement, NASA has also been busy on the moon. The Monday before the SLS announcement, a small rocket carrying two surveying probes was launched to measure the moon’s gravity and to observe the moon’s core. These probes, named Grail-A and Grail-B, won’t reach the moon until the end of the year, but officials are hoping for good results when they do. Many supporters and criticizers of the space program question what NASA plans to do with the data gained from this nearly $496 million mission and if it will truly benefit to the future of human space exploration.

Critics could actually complain about a lot of things about the world’s effort to ‘space out’ lately. Several rocket and launch failures in Russia have brought the $160 billion International Space Station back into the spotlight. Since the beginning of the project in 1998, several individuals and groups have protested the cost and the purpose of the station. Now, some could almost say ‘I told you so’ as the station may have to be emptied of its occupants in November unless more supplies are successfully sent to it. This is easier said than done, as the Soyuz rockets that bring supplies and astronauts to and from the station have been grounded until their failures are sorted out. The current occupants of the station are in no danger of running out of food or oxygen, but will have no choice but to leave come November because of deadlines. "I find it kind of ironic," Cass Mellen also commented, "that as soon as the US retired the space shuttles, the rockets in Russia began to fail. The Soyuz rockets were supposed to be our remaining way of human space travel."

The entire state of space exploration has been in a strange state since the shuttles were retired earlier in the year, spending the time to make choices and to determine the future of NASA and the space program. Between the moon mission, the new rocket proposal, and the fate of the space station, the biggest question is, ‘What will come next?’ No one knows for sure what will happen in the coming months, but the space race certainly hasn’t ended. Not by a long shot.

New Faces Populate the Halls

By Brian Morgan

This past August, the students of Hopkinton High School (HHS) came back to school to see some new faces on the teaching staff. HHS hired two new teachers, a Spanish teacher and a math teacher. Students were excited to see new teachers in the halls when they returned. The Spanish teacher, Sra. Creamer, is from Bow, NH and previously taught Spanish and French in Hooksett, NH. The math teacher, Miss Foss, lives in Webster and used to teach at Contoocook Valley Regional High School, more commonly known as ConVal in Peterborough,NH.

Miss Foss had a big shock coming from ConVal as ConVal is roughly four times bigger than HHS. Previously, she would only have a fraction of the school population in her classes. Here at HHS, she currently has about a third of the student population in her classes. She is excited to be teaching higher level math courses than she did at Con Val. There she taught Algebra and Pre-Algebra, while here at HHS she teaches Introduction to Statistics and Integrated Math 3.

When asked, Miss Foss stated, “that the most challenging part about teaching at HHS is that I need to know so many students by name, but this is made easier because I see most of them in the halls on a daily basis.” She applied to HHS because she had heard excellent things about the school and it is close to her home in Webster. Miss Foss greatly enjoys the Day 1/Day 2 block scheduling. It makes it easier for her to plan her classes and organize her time. The students are glad to see some new faces and think that the teachers will add even more to Hopkinton High School over time. The students find Miss Foss very friendly and approachable.

Since Sra. Creamer only works part time she was unable to be contacted for comments. When asked, Jonny Arruda, a student of Sra. Creamer's Spanish 8 class said, "she was very nice and I am learning a lot from her."

Special Olympics Softball Tournament

By PEngland

On September, 10, 2011, the Hopkinton Hawks Special Olympic Team travelled by bus to Wheelock Park in Keene to participate in the State Unified Softball Tournament. The thirteen players team came home with the Division A Bronze Medal for the team competition. Peter England won the gold medal for the skills competition, which is a test of throwing, hitting, fielding, and base running abilities.

Coach Robin O’Dougherty praised the team’s good sportsmanship and effort. He was particularly impressed with the efforts of 8^th grader Abby Meister, juniors David England and Charlie Bartlett and senior Peter England.

The Hawks, who had only practiced together twice before the competition faced Special Olympics teams from Nashua, Portsmouth, and Keene.

A lunch of sandwiches, chips, cookies and water or PowerAde was provided by Subway.

Homecoming: The Hopkinton Tradition

By Ziggy Chesley

From September 30th thru October 1st, students in Hopkinton Middle High School will meet for one of the most anticipated school wide events: Homecoming. The festivities start with the spirit rally at the end of Friday’s school day. They are followed that evening by a parade with class floats and a bonfire. The next day is filled with exciting games from each of the sports teams and ending with the Homecoming Dance.

Many students love Homecoming. The insane competitions during the spirit rally and the competition between class floats keep everything interesting and different. “My favorite parts of homecoming are the spaghetti dinner and the sports games on Saturday” says Brittany Marshall, a sophomore. The excitement can even be felt in the middle school; for many it’s their first homecoming ever. “I’m most excited for the spirit rally,” says Justin Durant, a 7th grader, who will be experiencing it for the first time.

But, there’s a lot more planning that goes into this event than you may think. The Student Council is in charge of pulling the event off, and according to Student Council Member Maria Booth, a junior, “Weeks before homecoming, we meet at many different times to get everything ready. Between the bonfire, parade, dance and spirit rally, there’s a lot of preparing and organizing that we have to do beforehand. It’s kind of stressful, but it’s all worth it when everyone is able to enjoy the homecoming festivities.”

But sadly, the Homecoming excitement isn’t equally felt for all. In fact, many people who aren’t on sports teams see it as pointless. “Why would I go and do something that doesn’t really matter to me?” says Betty Wallingford, a senior. Unlike other school events like Winter Carnival, the competition isn’t split from class to class, but from sports team to sports team, making it hard for others to participate equally. “ I hated the spirit rally,” says Erin McAuliffe, a senior, “it’s so boring having to sit there and watch other kids have fun.” The spaghetti dinner that is hosted during the bonfire is only open to fall sports teams, which has caused issues in the past for not only non-sports members, but also for athletes that only play winter or spring sports.

No matter if you play a fall sport, a spring sport, or no sport at all, homecoming comes each year. It is one of Hopkinton’s best-kept traditions.

Military Slashed

By Sgt.Dunn

With President Obama’s signing of the $680.2 billion dollar Military Budget in 2009, the military have begun to downsize. This started by having four out of eight regiments of troops come home from the war. What this means is the United States Military ground forces are going to be cut by 47,000 troops. The Air Force is planning to cut over 2,300 Officers.

According to Col. Julie Biota (on the website Military.com), officers are going to be cut from the following areas: Line, Judge Advocate General, Chaplains, Biotechnology, and the Medical field. When these officers are cut they will have an option of leaving on their own will, which will result in them getting 1.25% more money from the military than they normally would if they were forced to leave. This operation is called Early Separation and the Air Force is the only branch taking part in this.

In a CNN news interview, Defense Secretary Gates stated, “ Even with the cuts, the military personnel will still be 40,000 personnel larger then it was in 2006.” Gates also commented on the $15 trillion taken from the Marines amphibious landing craft program. When asked where the money taken from this program would go, Secretary Gates said “The military would be turning the money to buying drones (unmanned aircraft) for the military’s use.”

The men in uniform aren’t the only ones that will be affected by the military’s budget cut. Retirees that rely on the military’s health insurance will be dropped because it costs the military money for each insurance policy that they hold and to save the money they are going to cut the insurance portion. All this is going to be in effect by the year 2015. It started in 2009 with the signing of the budget bill.

Golf Team Wrapping Up Regular Season

By Curtis Fraser

The Hopkinton Varsity Golf Team is wrapping up their season and is beginning to prepare for the state tournament scheduled for Thursday, October 6 at White Mountain Country Club in Ashland.

All four classes are represented in the team’s starting six golfers, a starting six that is the deepest that coach Jeff Cahill has had to work with in his four years at Hopkinton. “Any golfer [on the team] could shoot the lowest round on any given day,” says Cahill. “Before, it was always one guy, maybe two, that would come in with the low round.”

The team has been plagued by a difficult schedule for the second season in a row, and is 8-9 through its first six matches. Each loss has been to either Moultonborough, Newport, Derryfield, or Profile, the top four teams in Division IV, respectively. The team lost to Newport (15-2) by a stroke on back-to-back days last week. “Every stroke is huge,” Cahill says. “At least three matches have come down to the last few strokes.”

Hopkinton’s number one golfer, co-captain Ben Olimpio agreed with Cahill’s opinion. “It’s really anyone’s division to win.”

Having by far the shortest season of any varsity sport, the golf team has only three matches remaining before the state tournament. The compact schedule, where every team plays all of its matches over the course of just four weeks is a real test of the athletes’ mental strength. “Kids can get burned out,” says Cahill. “It’s hard to take a day off.”

Hopkinton has gotten strong contributions from three different freshmen over the first six matches. Peter Benson, Evan O’Keeffe, and Jamison Crouch have put up consistent numbers and have seemingly assured the team to be in good shape in years to come. “The freshmen have impressed with their positive attitudes and their motivation to improve,” said Cahill. “They will be around [for the next four years].”