Future Business Leaders of America State Competition

On March 3rd through the 4th, at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, there will be the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) state competition. FBLA is an organization for students that are interested in learning about the free enterprise. In Park City, FBLA consists of ninth to twelfth grade students, as well as Mr. Fisher, a high school teacher and the adviser for the club. The students are leaving on the 2nd of March. 

The FBLA club will be staying the night in a hotel near the David Conference Center. This is the first two day competition this year. One ninth grade student, Marcello says, “This is my first FBLA competition and I am really looking forward to it.”

Although FBLA didn’t place for regionals, they now have a better chance of placing. Also, they have a bigger chance of placing in events. Rachel Frain, a teacher for FBLA says, “We have way more people then we did in for Regions, so we now have a better chance to win.” 

There are many events that the students of FBLA can participate in. Including, Public Speaking one and two, Job Interview, Impromptu Speaking, many test that one is able to take, and much more.

Mr. Fisher, the adviser for the club says, “I am really excited for state. All of the students are going to be amazing.”

Help support and cheer on FBLA during the state competition. With so many schools to go against, they are going to need it.

Picture Provided By: fbla.org 

The Academy Awards

The Academy Awards went live at the Dolby theatre on Sunday February 22. There were many performances and awards from many actresses, actors, and singers. Adam Levine, John Legend, Tim McGraw, Jennifer Hudson, Rita Ora, Tegan and Sara, Lady Gaga, and Neil Patrick Harris performed. Billboard claims that the best performance of the night was by John Legend and Common who performed Glory. Billboard claims that the worst performance was Lost Stars performed by Adam Levine.

CNN claims that that the best moments of the Academy Awards were when Patricia Arquette gave her acceptance speech, John Legend performed Glory, and when Graham Moore gave his acceptance speech.

Everybody at the Academy Awards were dead silent when John Legend and Common sang their song. The song Glory was in the movie Selma and won an award for it. The song won an award under Bets Original Song.

Patricia Arquette gave her acceptance speech talking about women equality. "To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights, it's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America,” she says. Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez were standing up and pointing in agreement and out of passion.

Graham Moore gave his speech talking about suicide and told us about his experience with suicide. "When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself," he said. "Because I felt weird, and I felt different, and I felt like I did not belong. And now I'm standing here and I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she's weird or she's different or doesn't fit anywhere. Yes, you do.”

The very last awards of the night were the Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. Best Actress went to Juliann Moore who was in the movie Still Alice . Best Actor went to Eddie Redmayne for his performance in The Theory of Everything. Best Picture went to Birdman which stars Michael Keaton. Best Director was given to Alejandro Gonżalez Inarritu who is the director of Birdman.

Special Needs Superhero Dance

  On Saturday, February 21, Angel’s Hands Foundation hosted a superhero dinner dance for special needs children and their families. Mark Kristensen is the founder of Angel’s Hands. The foundation helps special needs families with financial support and hosts fun events for the children. The superhero dinner dance was held at the St. Thomas Moore Church from 6-9:30. Disabled children and their families came dressed as their favorite superheroes and danced their hearts out.

   As the children arrived they were grinning ear to ear. The music was playing, activities were set up, and prizes were layer out. Every child got a superhero passport and they had to complete each station to be an official superhero. The stations consisted of pictures with the hulk, punching buildings down, making your own mask, and many more. The kids traveled to each one and once they completed the station they earned a sticker in their superhero passport. Once they were finished they went into the ballroom and sat down to eat.

   The children and their families sat down at big tables and then got some dinner. The food was donated by Utah Food Services. The kids got veggies, fruit salads, chicken fingers and mac & cheese. The adults were served salad, mac & cheese, lamb chops and dinner rolls. Dessert was also served and was eaten very quickly. Overall the food was a hit and everyone enjoyed it.

   After dinner was over children got their face painted and began to dance. The music started going and one by one the children migrated to the dance floor. Wheel chairs were twirling, and oxygen tanks were jumping. The children were laughing, smiling and breaking it down. One participant mother, Kate, said, “Seeing the kids so happy and not having to worry about all their issues is very heartwarming.” Overall the dinner dance was quite the success and they are planning on hosting another one next year.

Update on Mountain Accord

Rory Murphy, “The King of Park City,” was asked in an interview over the phone to describe Mountain Accord in 75 words or less.

He answered, “Mountain Accord is a group of organizations that assembled to try to map out a plan for the future of the Wasatch Mountains. The process that started out as a noble effort has been corrupted by special interests from various parties that want to use the Mountain Accord process to further their own economic interests in their particular jurisdictions.” 

He hopes that Mountain Accord will work on current transportation problems on Highway 248 and Highway 224. If they do, he says, the fixes could have a very positive impact. If they choose to tunnel through the mountains at billions  of dollars, however, he simply cannot foresee any benefit to Park City whatsoever.

Mr. Murphy believes that if they resolve the transportation problems on I-80, particularly coming from the airport, and attempt to fix transportation problems coming from Wasatch County, there could be possible benefit for Park City.

In conclusion, he simply stated that he would “like to see the process be a lot more transparent.”

Julie Hooker, local teacher, also argued for transparency, the need for the public to be aware of the process, when her leadership class visited the State Capitol.  She asked the President of the Senate, Senator Neiderhauser, “Who owns the property on Wasatch Blvd. that will be part of Mountain Accord?” He claimed he did not know, even though he signed a “Conflict of Interest” statement with the Utah State Senate acknowledging his ownership.  

Neiderhauser is on the Executive Committee for Mountain Accord and advocating for $5,000,000 to be appropriated for “further study.”  There is a blatant and bold-faced lack of transparency.

In regard to transparency, Summit County Council members are split on whether to sign the Mountain Accord Interlocal Agreement and whether they should even continue to take part in discussions. If they stay in the game, they would spend a projected $150,000 over the next three years, already having spent $50,000 between 2013 and 2014.

“I’m not sure what the direct benefit to Summit County is,” said Council member Roger Armstrong. Members believe that continued participation could be interpreted as reluctant acceptance. While some are reluctant to leave the project, others want to wait it out just to see what they can get from the meetings. Still others are on the fence.

The Council wants to make it clear, if they stay with the project, that they do not agree with all aspects of the blueprints. In fact, the Council in general has issues with large, important elements of the Blueprint. The connection from the Wasatch back to the Salt Lake Valley, for instance, and the fact that there has been no discussion on Little Cottonwood Canyon, which has “very real problems” and “deserve to be able to find solutions and have some assistance,” are just a few of the major turn-offs for the Council.

How To: Get Through School During March

March is infamous for being the cruelest month of the school year. Not because of the weather, or because there are many finals due to the end of the quarter. Those are pretty good reasons to dislike this month, but the main reason it makes the school year difficult is since March doesn’t have any holiday breaks. Plenty of people have taken this into consideration and have come up with a couple of ways to make sure that your month of March is the best it can be, even if vacations aren’t an option.

First, you can celebrate all of the small holidays. There are plenty of random holidays that happen everyday, that are just hoping to get noticed by the public. Some of these holidays include March 3rd (National Pancake Day), in which you can receive a free short stack of pancakes from iHOP, or March 14 (National Pi Day), which occurs on this day because it is 3.14.15. On National Pi Day, feel free to do as much math, or eat as much pie, as you please. If you need inspiration for what other days to celebrate, this is a website to inform you of some prime examples: http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/march.htm. Hopefully this will make March go by with more excitement and happiness.

Second, set goals for yourself. Quarter three is ending during March, so you might as well try your best to end it after meeting all of your goals. Some goals you can set are to get a certain grade up to an A, make it on the Honor Roll, or to get a really great grade on a final project or test. After you set these goals, make small efforts to get them done. Study for a final, spend extra time on your weekends to finish a project, turn in all of your missing assignments before grades lock, etc. You will feel accomplished by the end of the quarter and your teachers will be happy with you as well.

Third, try to be positive. It isn’ t hard to feel sad, or even mad, about March being break free with all of the stress school is putting on you, but you shouldn’t feel the need to be negative. Make it your best effort to look forward to March, even if it means doing small things to get your mind off of the fact that there aren’t any vacations. For example, you can count down the days until spring break. This will take your mind off of school a bit, and you’ll be able to slowly get more excited for your upcoming vacation.

When all of these things have been done, and March is over, hopefully this month will be more fun. Even if you don’t get school off for any of the silly holidays throughout March, you’ll have celebrated them just for fun. Hopefully, you will have reached the goals you had set for yourself, and are positive. Good luck, March!

Incorrect Quotations

Many quotes have been created in which they are not completely correct. Whilst looking through brainyquote.com, I came across a few of these types of quotes. Here are some of the gems I found, along with a description of why they are not accurate: 

• “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” -Confucius
• This quote does not go when applied to a swimming race. You need to stop eventually or else you’ll shrivel up from being in the pool water so long and you’ll die. 

• “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” -Og Mandino
• This is true, unless you plant popcorn seeds. Those don’t harvest underground.

• “If you can dream it, you can do it.” -Walt Disney
• Yes, but what if your dream is cloning yourself to rule the entire universe. Would Mr. Disney really want that for the world?

• “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” -Theodore Roosevelt
• What if the night is cloudy and the stars don’t shine? What are you keeping your eyes on then?

• “Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.” -Alfred A. Montapert
• What if your problem is a person? DO YOU WANT TO BE A CANNIBAL?

• “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” -H. G. Wells
• True, but why couldn’t you have gotten up yesterday after you fell?

• “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” -Helen Keller
• Unless there is a crazy man with a chainsaw running after you. WHY WOULD YOU BE WALKING?

• “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” -Euripides
• That’s an awful lot of relatives.

Mountain Accord - Transportation Transformation

Mountain Accord is a plan to connect Salt Lake Airport, Sandy, Cottonwood Canyons, and Park City with rails, tunnels, and/or aerial tramways. Mountain Accord held an Open House meeting on February 24 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. to discuss their vision. The meeting attracted 350 concerned citizens. The meeting had to be moved from the Lecture Hall to the Eccles Center. The proposals so far seem decent, but when closer examined seem to benefit the Wasatch Front more than the Back, whose decisions are being made mainly by people outside Summit County.

The Mountain Accord plan, if carried out, will affect Park City’s transportation, environment, and economy alike. 22 representatives will vote on decision for the Blueprint on April 6, only three of them representing the Wasatch Back.

Fans of Mountain Accord argue that traffic will be reduced, making air cleaner, which is a huge issue in Salt Lake City. Mountain Accord focuses on the transportation of tourists and visitors through the Salt Lake Valley to the resorts and fails to address the possibly larger issue of commuter and residents’ traffic. The blueprints show Mountain Accord creating up to 25,000 acres of wilderness and the possible expansion of existing resorts.

Mountain Accord may make visitors who would otherwise stay in Park City hotels, eat at Park City restaurants, and put money into the Park City economy more likely to take the quick transportation from where they stay in Salt Lake City to the resorts here, becoming day visitors rather than having their “home base” for the trip in Park City.

The meeting on Tuesday was at the Eccles Center. It was open to the public and was welcome input on the blueprints from Summit County residents. Similar meetings will be held in Salt Lake County and online. After comments made at these meetings are taken into account, a finalized version of the blueprints will be created and voted on April 6. It will also be reviewed by the National Environmental Policy Act.

You can find out more about Mountain Accord at http://mountainaccord.com/ and submit ideas online by March 16.

http://www.parkrecord.com/Viewpoints/ci_27569089/Guest-editorial:-Mountain-Accord-meeting-is-for-inquiring-minds 

http://www.parkrecord.com/Viewpoints/ci_27569088/Future-of-Wasatch-Mountains-depends-on-your-feedback 

Technology 101, Week 5

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Park City Competes Against Older Opponents at Senior Championships

From February 19th to February 21st, Park City High School Swimming and Park City Swimming qualifiers attended the 2015 Utah Senior Championships in Washington City (St. George). This meet allowed swimmers with qualifying times to compete against each other for a spot in a finals heat later that day. Each swimmer swam the events they were registered for in the morning, and, in the races that their times qualified for finals, swam again at night.

To qualify, a swimmer needed to swim a certain time in an event. Swimmers with at least one qualifying time, were allowed to sign up for that race in the meet, along with two additional bonus events. Swimmers were allowed to sign up for a total of six races, with no more than three events each day of the meet. 

During the preliminary competition, many events consisted of eight or more heats of the event, making the morning session last many hours into the day. Finals didn’t last as long, for the meet only permitted there to be three heats of the top swimmers of each races. 

The difficult part about Senior Championships is that most of the swimmers that attend are over fifteen-years-old. These swimmers are much faster than most of the other swimmers signed up for the same event. Since there are so many of these fast swimmers, it makes it much harder to make it back for finals. 

This meet was full of tight suits, fast swimming, team bonding, and excitement. Just behind Wasatch Front, Utah Valley, and Hilltop Aquatics, Park City finished the meet in fourth place with a total score of 793 points.

5 Valentines Day Simple Treats

Valentines Day is right around the corner, but even though you might not have a valentine, you can still make these simple treats. 

1. Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate Covered Strawberries are very simple to make, and a delicious treat. All you need is strawberries, melted milk/dark chocolate and (optional) white chocolate. Wash the strawberries and melt the chocolate so that it is able to be spread. Then cover the strawberry in the chocolate and let them cool. Then take the melted white chocolate and drizzle on top of the strawberry (Optional Step).

2. Heart Sugar Cookies

Make your favorite cookie dough recipe and cut the dough into heart shapes. After baking the cookies, spread red, pink, or white frosting on top and decorate with sprinkles. (This is a fun and creative activity to do with younger children.)

3. Cake Balls

Bake a cake (store bought cake mix or homemade) and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then crumble the cake into a big bowl. Soften frosting before mixing into bowl. After mixing well, scoop small balls of the mix onto a sheet and let cool. Decorate with red, white, and pink sprinkles and enjoy!

4. Brownie Bites

Bake homemade or store bought brownies. Use a small, heart shaped cookie cutter or knife and cut the brownies. (Optional) Put the brownie bites on sticks and decorate with frosting or other valentines decorations.

5. Chocolate Covered Pretzels

All you need for this simple treat is long pretzels, white chocolate, and other (optional) decorations. Lay the pretzels on wax paper. Melt the chocolate and dip the pretzel, but leave room at the bottom of the pretzel to hold it. Decorate with pink and red sprinkles and frosting.