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Olympics Athlete Killed In Sled Crash
Photo Credit: Marshillonline at CreativeCommons.org
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Written by Cindy Castillo, Staff Writer
An athlete from Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a crash in training on the Olympic track on friday at the Whistler Sliding Center. Many of the athletes at this years winter Olympic games have already made the complaint that the tracks this year may very well be too fast. Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled 48 seconds into his run, just as he we about to finish his run down the track. According to the clock on the station, he was going at deadly speeds of 88 mph and was launched over the track wall. At the end of all of this horror, the luger slammed into a huge steel pole just off of the finish line, and died there.
Medical officials were then rushed to where the luger was laying and began performing chest compressions along with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, said the associated press. Kumaritashvili was then put on a stretcher and was then lifted into an ambulance . A helicopter was then called, and was there to pick up the luger about eight minutes after the crash ended.
The Associated Press reports the following as to how the luger was killed. “Kumaritashvili struck the inside wall of the track on the final turn. His body immediately went airborne and cleared the ice-coated concrete wall along the left side of the sliding surface. His sled remained in the track, and it appeared his helmet visor skidded down the ice.”
Georg Hackl, a three-time champion at the winter olympics, and a German coach told the Associated Press that “it was a very rare situation.” The coach also exclaimed that even though it is a very dangerous sport, you cant think about it while your racing.
Believe it or not, there was rumor that Kumaritashvili was only killed because he made a mistake on the course as his speeds raced in excess of 90 mph. This specific Olympic track is considered to be the fastest track in the world up to date, and there have been more than a dozen crashes in training this year alone, however, none were fatal. Shiva Keshavan, a four-time Olympian summed up the whole day by saying “I’ve never seen anything like that, I’m afraid it’s bad.”
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New Palm Trees at West Boca
Photo Credit: Linda Pikula, NOAA/NESDIS/Miami Library at CreativeCommons.org
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Written by Cindy Castillo, Staff Writer
Over the past two weeks students and faculty may have noticed the huge trees and backhoes overtaking the courtyard. Something many might be wondering is where did these trees come from.
The 180 palm trees were given to West Boca by the school district. The conflict over the trees actually began about four and a half years ago when hurricane Wilma hit and destroyed a lot of the agriculture around West Boca Raton High School. About half of the trees in the courtyard died. So in 2006, they were replaced along with all of the trees and bushes in the front of the school. Unfortunately they all began to die again and finally have been replaced since then. The original plan was to cover up half of the lots on the courtyard but it was actually cheaper to put new palm trees up. Now that the trees have been put up, the next step is to finish covering up five lots next to the band room. The new cemented area will be used by the band to practice. The band department had requested somewhere where they could practice other than the field because it was too muddy when bad weather hit.
11th grade band member, Justin Steipleman, said “ I’m very happy that the courtyard will finally be fixed because when we used to practice on the field everything would get so muddy it was hard to practice”. Statistics teacher Mr. Cinelli mentioned he thinks the trees will “be really nice once they fill out”.
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Another Revolution by Google.
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Written by Cindy Castillo, Staff Writer
Many years ago, google, known by many as one of the most popular search engines, was invented. It was a tool used on the computer that could allow somebody to enter text into a space, and from just typing one word, search the whole world wide web. This invention was known as Google. It was truly revolutionary. Google allowed people to do research with ease, look up local restaurants, and find a dry cleaner if their shirt was dirty. Google is still used by just about every person who surfs the web, but as time passes, technology increases. Now Google is on the verge of another breakthrough technology.
Computers are starting to get a lot smarter, and Google has came up with a search that allows you to upload a picture, and from that single picture you can bring up thousands of links that relate to that very picture. Google’s vice president of engineering, Vic Gundotra, states that “It is our goal to be able to identify any image,” he said. “It represents our earliest efforts in the field of computer vision. You can take a picture of an item, use that picture of whatever you take as the query.” Something this revolutionary might truly change research and the web all together.
This feature on Google, however, will not be available for some time as this project is still in the works. The vice president explains “Google Goggles works well on certain types of objects in certain categories.” Demonstrating an example of this feature in action, Gundotra exclaimed that when a guest came by his house for dinner, she brought a bottle of wine as a gift. Gundotra then says he took a picture of the bottle and entered the picture in on Goggle’s toolbar. The result was “hints of apricot and hibiscus blossom” and the search went far beyond this. The feature was also used as he took a picture of the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan, a landmark known very well to travelers everywhere. The results returned a description of the shrine on his mobile phone.
With this invention and the many more yet to come who knows what will stem from a computer revolution in the near future.
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Pathfinders at West Boca
Written by Cindy Castillo, Staff Writer
Every year, the Pathfinder High School Scholarship is presented to high school seniors in the Palm Beach and Martin counties. Each year Pathfinder Scholarships reward seventy two students with more than $135,000. This scholarship is for students who have demonstrated excellence in one of the eighteen academic, vocational, or athletic categories. The Pathfinder Scholarship is sponsored by Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc., publisher of The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach Daily News, and La Palma. First-place winners receive college scholarships of $3,000, second-place winners receive college scholarships of $2,000, third-place winners receive scholarships of 1,500, and fourth-place winners receive college scholarships of $1,000. There is one first, second, third, and fourth winner in each Category. First-place winners in each category also receive the “astrolabe” trophy. The “astrolabe” was chosen as a symbol by the Palm Beach Post because just as the device was used to help sailors navigate by using the stars it is believed that a good education will help students navigate the course of their lives. First teachers and guidance counselors nominate students they believe have excelled in each category. Students are then interviewed by a panel of judges who choose one student for each category to represent West Boca Raton Community High School.
The 2009-2010 pathfinder nominees for West Boca Raton Community High school are Lauren Izaak for Academic Excellence, Sarah Jezierny for art, Joe Lerro for business, Rachel Alford for communications, Samantha Block for community involvement, Christian Carboni for computer science, Stefanie Anarumo for drama, Marissa Goldberg for foreign language, Jordan Lewis for history/political science, Daniel Balva for Literature, Alexander Anderson for mathematics, Adam Roberts for music/instrumental, Christie Getejanc for music/vocal, Chris Wagner for reach for excellence, Rachel Silverberg for science, Catherine Staszak for sports, and Kristen Wiley for technical/vocational/agricultural. Once these students have been nominated they are to fill out a nomination form and attach it to their nomination packets which must be turned in by January 12, 2010. All nominees will meet again on March 11, 2010 at Palm Beach Atlantic University. They will be interviewed by three select judges who have been selected for each category based on their expertise in the subject. A ceremony will be held May 12, 2010 at the Raymond F Kravis Center for the Performing Arts where the names of the winners will be announced.
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