The Observer Weekly Cloverleaf Inside and Out
January 13, 2011
Person of the Year– Mark Zuckerberg By Marisa Romanchik and Haley Ploucha One word: Facebook. Facebook is one of the most popular websites visited in 2010. Mark Zuckerberg, 26, has connected more than half a billion people and mapping their social relations among them. He created a new system of exchanging information and how we live our daily lives. Almost seven years ago in February 2004, Zuckerberg, a 19-yearold sophomore at Harvard started his own web service from his dorm. He had called it Thefacebook.com. Now, one out of every dozen people has a Facebook account on the planet. The users of Facebook speak about 75 different languages and spend about 700 billion minutes on Facebook every month. Mark has wired together onetwelfth of humanity into a single network by creating a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S. If Facebook were to be a country, it would be the third largest behind China and India. Nearly all Americans have a Facebook account, and 70 percent of Facebook users live outside of the United States. “I don’t spend a lot of time on Facebook; it gets boring after awhile, and I have better things to do. Also, I am secretly a ninja,” junior Claire Turner said. Zuckerberg is part of the last generation to remember life before the Internet. He was born in 1984 and grew up in Dobbs Ferry, New York. He is the son of a dentist.
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Mark Zuckerberg in 2008 at South by Southwest. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons Mark has three older sisters (Randi, Donna, Arielle). Randi is Facebook's head of consumer marketing and social-good initiatives. Young Mark was “strong-willed and relentless,” according to his father. When Zuckerberg was only 12, he created a network for the family home that he called ZuckNet. He also wrote computer games: a version of monopoly set at his middle school and a version of Risk based on the Roman Empire. He attended a local high school then transferred to Philips Exeter Academy in New
Hampshire, where he co-wrote with a classmate a musicrecommendation program that both AOL and Microsoft tried to buy for around a million dollars. During and after his life at Harvard was the subject of a movie released in October called The Social Network. This movie was based off the real Zuckerberg. How big could Facebook get? It’s big enough that it’s starting to bump against governments as well as other companies.
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CMS Starts their “Biggest Loser” Challenge By Adrea Baughman Val Baughman had the idea of a Biggest Loser competition between CMS staff members. She sent out emails to each one of them explaining her thoughts, and many were up to the challenge. The kickoff date was Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011. The competition cost each participant $10 and it started with a weigh-in. “I decided to enter this challenge because I have, twice in the last month, split my pants,” said eighth grade history teacher Brad Rogers. Baughman has a scale that measures weight, BMI, body fat percentage, visceral fat, which is the dangerous fat that is around the middle that surrounds vital organs, skeletal muscle, and gives your real body age, that she is going to use for the weigh-ins. The first weigh-in was Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, to see who made progress over the three-day period. For each weigh-in, the competitors will take their shoes and socks off to get a more accurate result. “I decided to do the Biggest Loser contest with the CMS staff because I truly care about them,” stated the physical education teacher, Baughman. “Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women and it kills more women than all cancers combined.” The fee that each participant had to pay to compete is then going to be used to pay for the cash prizes for the man and woman who have the most percentage of weight
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Teachers will need to exercise like these students in physical education class. Photo by John Carmigiano
loss in the final weigh-in. “I think the contest will be very successful. In the end, only one man and one woman will win the money, but if everyone loses weight and is more fit, they all will be winners!” said Baughman Baughman decided to do percentage of weight loss rather than the person who loses the most weight because it makes it more of an equal chance for everyone. The mid-way point will be in March and they will not have weekly weigh-ins after the last Friday. The final weigh-in will be in May. “I will be successful because I plan on buying donuts for all the other male participants,” laughed Rogers. The information recorded each Editor-in-Chief Kati Letzelter
week will be confidential unless the teacher wants to share their information with others, which is completely up to them. Baughman had little tips and ideas to help the staff take those first steps in a healthier direction. Some of those tips included parking farther away, eating healthier, and putting down that donut and grabbing the dumbbells instead. Baughman will also send out health tips throughout the months along with some inspirational quotes to help motivate the staff. Rumor has it that the CHS staff will hold their own contest in the very near future. This could change people’s health and fitness by a simple idea Baughman decided to pursue. Good luck to all who sign up!
Managing Editor Alison Sheldon
Advisor Mr. John Carmigiano
Quiz & Quotes What is your New Year’s resolution?
Devin Cunningham (9):
“Get better grades.”
Brittany Piper (10):
“To find a nicer boyfriend.”
Features
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Out with the Old, In with the New By Mackenzie Greer and Taylor Detwiler Goodbye 2010 and welcome 2011. The students and staff came back with a new start to the New Year. Many Cloverleaf students and staff have New Year resolutions for 2011. There are many different resolutions; some that may be a little joke and some that can be serious. There are many New Year’s resolutions, but the most popular ones are losing weight, eating healthy and working out. “I want to work out more and stay in shape,” said junior Alex Oring. “I want to be more mature around guys and not procrastinate as much,” said junior Heather Buckwald. There are many serious resolutions for people such as finding a job and keeping it. “I want to get out of debt,” said staff member Mrs. Amy Simarro. There were a lot of good memories about 2010. Many students remember all of their good times that they had with their friends and family throughout 2010. “Watching the Lion King and Brave Little Toaster with my friends, including Ryan Cold and Ryan Zajackowski singing along,” said senior Holly Phillips.
“Going with my best friend, Mackenzie Greer, to her family bonfire at her grandma’s farm and hiding in the junk yard from her cousin in the middle of the night,” commented Oring. In the summer, many families go on vacation to the beach or somewhere else that is a lot of fun. “My favorite memory of 2010 was going to Florida with my family in the summer,” said Simarro. Not everyone was able to have good memories from 2010 - from dying animals to bad Christmas presents. “My dog dying in April was tough,” commented Buckwald. “Getting a GPS, car scraper and lanyard for Christmas, but not a car,” said junior Haley Ploucha. Everyone is hoping that 2011 will be a lot better than 2010. Students want to make the most of it especially if they are seniors. “Yes, because I’m going to do bigger and better things!” said Buckwald. Many staff and students like to look to the better side of things for the New Year and think it will be better than last year. “Absolutely, I like to remain positive and optimistic,” said Simarro.
Heather Buckwald (11): “Eat less oreos.”
Ryan Cold (12): “Eat more salads.”
January 13, 2011
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Homeless Man is Given a Second Chance By Alison Sheldon Only two weeks ago, Ted Williams was just another homeless man living off the streets of Columbus. No one knew, or cared, who he was until one Columbus Dispatch reporter discovered a masked talent, his voice. The video by the Dispatch was posted online and spread quicker than anyone could have expected. Williams became an overnight sensation and the entire country came to know his name and more importantly, his magical voice. He was not always a resident of the streets. In fact, Williams, 53, once used his voice in a career of radio broadcasting until alcohol and drug use destroyed his potential. The native of New York began
losing control of his life and he found himself begging near Columbus highways, where the Dispatch found their hiding celebrity. “It is amazing to think of where he was and how good he is doing now,” said senior Janelle Shaffer. It was not long until Williams grabbed the attention of the American media. Days after the video went viral, hundreds of job offers arose, including one from the Cleveland Cavaliers that even consists of a house to live in. Williams will also be the official voice of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and other various products, while also recording voice-overs for television networks. “I don’t know why he was homeless or what his circumstances
were, but he is very lucky to have this talent,” stated junior J.J. Wagner. Despite a criminal record and the history of drug abuse, Williams, a father of nine, pledges that this time he will keep himself together and he feels God is giving him a second chance to turn his life around. Williams has even accepted help from a psychologist to help him cope with the intensity of his instant fame. One element of this story that everyone can admire is the blessing of having a second chance. “He was homeless,” commented Wagner. “But now he has a job and is making money for himself. He is extraordinarily lucky.”
Bank Robbery in Lodi is a Little Too Close to Home By Shelby Kozma and Miranda Cooper On Jan. 4, a terrible event took place at the First Merit bank in Lodi. You might picture somebody coming in with a bag over their head to hide their identity and pulling out a gun but it did not happen like that. “It’s scary to think that such crime would happen so close to where we all live!” senior Anna Carter said. At 5:56 p.m., just four minutes before closing time, a man walked into the First Merit bank acting very casual. “I’m just really glad that I wasn’t at that bank trying to get my dollar bills out at that time. I am really scared for Lodi’s safety. I guess we have some crazy people running around our school district,” a scared Grant Vujanov explains. The man walked into the bank
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not with a gun, but with a note. The note said to give him all of their money and he handed it to the employee. He did not speak a word the entire time. The employee read the note and immediately gave the man her money without a fight. “If it were me working I would have told the man to get lost,” Carter stated. “I wouldn’t care about giving the man the money; it was either my safety or someone else’s money,” senior Sean Mohney explained. The man was not trying to hide his identity at all. He was wearing a blue shirt with blue jeans. He was said to be about five foot, six inches. Police said that they arrived as soon as they got the call. It was convenient for the Lodi police because their police station is located directly across from the
bank. The Sherriff’s department and the Seville police responded as well. They think that the man may not have used a vehicle to get away, but just ran away on foot. The media asked the bank manager and owner for their opinion on the event, but they were unavailable for questioning. “They were probably really embarrassed that they got robbed for the second time and that the person got away when the police department is located right across the street,” junior Josh Palko said. Obviously, they should get a better security system to stop this problem from happening again. UPDATE: A suspect has been arrested in Tennessee in connection with this case and will be brought back to Ohio in the next few days, according to an article in the Medina County Gazette newspaper.
