Chichester Robotics Team Invited to National Championship

      On February 27^th, Chichester Robotics Team, Team EagleX, competed, with three of their robots, in the VEX Robotics Mid-Atlantic championship in Westminster, Maryland. The three robots, which were controlled by students on Team EagleX, faced off against 20 other robots from middle schools around the region. Students had to maneuver the robots through a series of games where the object was for the robots to clear as many foam footballs and miniature soccer balls from their side of the arena onto their opponent’s side. During the matches, one of Team EagleX’s robots managed to be the only undefeated robot in the championship. The other two Team EagleX robots also made it to the final round, resulting in the team being eligible to participate in the World VEX Robotics Championship. This competition will take place in Dallas, Texas from April 22^nd trough April 24^th. It will host 300 other middle and high school robotics teams from the world. Both competitions are sponsored by VEX Robotics, which is an entity that provides products and resources for teaching robotics technology in schools.

      “We would be participating against teams from states countries around the world, such as China and South America,” stated Chichester robotics team coordinator and middle school technology education teacher Robert Blonarowycz. “This is a rare and wonderful opportunity for the students.”

      However, there is one drawback in the team advancing to the world championship and that is funding.

     “The cost for competing in the world championship is not small,” explained Blonarowycz, estimating that cost would be around $4,000.00. “This includes the cost for lodging and transportation, as well as competition fees, which we currently do not have.”

More on Chichester Robotics team can be read here: http://delcotimes.com/articles/2010/04/17/news/doc4bc923f1edae0864199213.txt

Holy Saviour- St. John Fisher School opening full day Pre-K 3 Class

     Holy Saviour- St. John Fisher will be opening a full-day Pre-K 3 class in September 2010, which will be new for the 2010-2011 school year. Students must be three years old by September 1st, and toilet trained as well. Class size will be limited to 20 students, with one full-time teacher and one full-time aide.  This program is not daycare, but is designed to instruct the students at their developmental level.  Play time, socialization and going to specials will be included. Registrations are currently being accepted for this class, as well as grades throught to 8th.

   Holy Saviour- St. John Fisher offers a challenging curriculum, spiritual formation, social and cutural advancement along with before and after school CARES. For further information or to arrange a tour, please call Mrs. Leone in the school office at 610-485-0363. 

 

Chichester High Schoolers write Letters to the Editor

  Chichester high school students were recently given the opportunity to voice their opinionsto the Daily Times, by writing their own letters to the editor, Phil Heron. The assignment , which was brainstormed by  teachers Cheri Messick and Sarah Glasgow, was  to focus on a specific problem in society and  writing a letter expressing a possible solution. The top six, out of 100 letters, were chosen and sent into the Times.  The topics ranged from human trafficking to puppy mills to texting while driving, with the responses by the students being both intelligent and thought provoking.  You may view them here:

Human Trafficking

“To the Times:

    In today’s world, when slavery seems a part of the past, there are millions of people being bought and sold throughout the world. This is the evil reality of human trafficking. It is estimated that there are 27 million people living in slavery throughout the world. Half are under the age of eighteen. Slaves can be forced into pornography, work, debt, and prostitution. About 19% of slavery is for the purpose of forced labor, but approximately 80% of human trafficking worldwide is for sex purposes.

The statistics on child trafficking are especially heart shattering: according to love146.org, an organization dedicated to the prevention of human sex trafficking, two children are sold into slavery each minute, and over 1.2 million children a year are the victims of human trafficking. For these children, innocent boys and girls, their childhood is stolen away along with their freedom. It is unthinkable, and yet it exists. More than two thirds of sex trafficked children are abused by their traffickers. They are kept in brothels where they are abused and tortured into compliance. They are given numbers to identify themselves, and stripped of the most basic human rights.

            Women who are trafficked for sex have a much higher rate of HIV and other STDs, tuberculosis, and permanent reproductive damage.

Even in the United States, it is estimated that over 100,000 children a year are forced into prostitution or pornography. According to gvnet.com/ humantrafficking/ USA.htm, 50,000 people a year are brought into or moved within the US as slaves – either for sexual or labor purposes. An “unknown” amount of American citizens are also sold into sexual slavery.

            While this is a horror in our world, there are ways to help prevent it. By donating to places like love146.org anybody can help to prevent it. It is also wise to keep a lookout for any government laws that are helping to stop this, and to vote accordingly on them. With your help, this world can be free of all forms of slavery.”-Brian Burkhardt

” To the Times:

                At eight years of age you find yourself walking home and decide to take a detour through a small, narrow alley just as the day turns to night. Suddenly you are taken from your normal surroundings to a new ominous location. Kids everyday are taken from their homes and families to be sold for sexual purposes or for manual labor. These children would be forcibly kidnapped and moved from their familiar towns and taken to a new area to be slaves.                                  

                These children were 80% women and mostly consisted of kids under the age of 18. Every year somewhere within 800,000 kids are sold, and over 32 billion dollars is profited yearly. Most of these children are brutally beaten if they defy their kidnapper on top of being beaten and molested by the person who has bought them. Human trafficking mostly exists in Asia and Europe. Later in life most of the freed children have severe mental issues and later turn to prostitution on their own.

                Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world. Human trafficking is also the second highest organized crime in the world. From 1995-2005 at least 2.4 million people have been killed by their owners. Around the world a census has been taken to estimate that there are at least 27 million people still being forced into slavery. If these kids are not killed by their owners than they are usually not reunited with their families, they are usually placed in foster care or orphanages.

                Solutions for such a growing crisis are scarce. But what can be done is there can be secret underground buyers who try to arrest or crack down on such organized crime groups. More special units can be used to find more and more slaves or the leaders of buying groups. Also groups of people crossing borders can be required to show information stating that the children that are with them do in fact belong to them willingly and were not forced to leave by a stranger. Indeed human trafficking is a drastically growing problem that can be further assessed and that is constantly harming children all over the world.”-Mac Buffamonte

Puppy Mills

“To the Times:

Every year, tens of thousands of helpless puppies die in puppy mills. These poor dogs are bred solely for the purpose of making money. Their careless breeders don’t care about their health or happiness. And worst of all, the laws against these horrid prisons are not being enforced. Little does everyone know that the people buying those “too-cute-for-words” puppies in pet store windows are the ones keeping the puppy mills around.

If you weren’t already aware, a puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. These dogs and puppies are kept in cramped wire cages without adequate food, water, medical care, shelter, space to exercise, or even waste clean up. They freeze in the winter and swelter in the summer. The Humane Society had discovered that the innocent puppies that are born in puppy mills have illnesses, disease, bad behavior, and lack of socialization with humans and other animals. Some litters also result in puppies with unchecked hereditary diseases. The female dogs that are used for breeding are bred at every opportunity possible with little to no recovery time between litters. They are usually killed when they are physically unable to reproduce again. The state of Missouri is considered the largest puppy mill state in the country with 1,400 mills, and Lancaster County, PA, has the highest concentration of puppy mills of any county in the nation. The majority of the dogs in these puppy mills do not come out alive.

However, there are ways to help these innocent pups. For one, stop buying puppies from pet stores. Purchase or adopt a dog from a breeder or shelter that allows you to see the whole facility and meet the dog’s mother. When you buy a dog from a pet store or online, you are giving money to the monsters that run puppy mills so that they can purchase another female dog to breed. You can also work with the ASPCA to pass legislation that ensures that all animals bred are raised in healthy conditions. The cruel things that some people can do to animals sicken me. I assume many of you are disgusted by it too. So help the puppy mill puppies by visiting your local ASPCA shelter and stop buying from pet stores!” -Shannon Huss

 ”To the Times:

            Puppy Mills are a disgrace to our country. A puppy mill is a large-scale dog breeding operation with overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without veterinary care, proper food, and water. Dogs that come from puppy mills often have behavior and health problems and poor socialization skills.  The puppies from the mills are often sent to pet stores and then brought to a home with diseases.  The question at hand is; why would you pay for a dog and bring it into your home with diseases? I’d like to know what is being done to help these poor, defenseless puppies. The lack of enforcement by the USDA and state departments of agriculture means thousands of dogs are left to suffer in inadequate conditions. Some states have absolutely no laws concerning the commercial breeding of dogs, otherwise known as puppy mills.  Puppy mill dogs do not get to experience treats, toys, exercise or basic grooming.  Dogs are often kept in cages with wire flooring that injures their paws and legs. Some mills have these cages stacked on top of one another. The breeder dogs may spend most of their lives outdoors or crammed in small cage like structures. When the condition of the breeding dog is put on the line, it’s also setting the litter up to have heredity problems. Puppies are taken from their mothers and sold to brokers who pack them into crates for transport and resale them to pet stores. Puppies that are shipped from mill to broker to pet store can travel hundreds of miles in pickup trucks, tractor trailers, and or airplanes, often without enough food, water, ventilation, or shelter.  The biggest problem with these puppy mills is that we’re just letting them get away with this poor treatment of the dogs. The USDA is supposed to monitor and inspect kennels to ensure that they are not violating the housing standards of the Animal Welfare Act, but kennel inspections are a low priority. In the U.S., there are more than 1,000 research facilities, more than 2,800 exhibitors, and 4,500 dealers that are supposed to be inspected each year. With such a disgusting project like this, you would think there would be more involvement in the destruction and demise of puppy mills.   If the puppy mill business continues in this country, thousands of dogs will die. We need to give these dogs a fair chance at a normal life, and that should start with getting rid of puppy mills.  There are ways to help the cause. Millions of dogs and even cats are dying every year in animal shelters; these are the animals you should consider. Buying from a pet store is only supporting a puppy mill.  Adopting a puppy is always a great option. Adopting a puppy will ensure you that you’re saving the life of an animal and your money is not going to a puppy mill.  Since there is no criminal prosecution and very little effort to regulate puppy mills, I think there should be a very high tax to operate a puppy mill and a very large fine for the poor treatment of animals. An effective way to get through to the disgraceful people who run these mills is to punish them and take away their business. I hope to see more change in to the laws and expectations of puppy mills in the near future.”-Katy Stevenson

Can We Prevent Sports Concussions?

“The Center for Disease Control estimates 10% of youth athletes who are involved in contact sports suffer a concussion each season. People who participate in sports such as basketball, softball, cheerleading, hockey and volleyball are most likely to get concussions. Too many young athletes get bad concussions from contact sports. What many people don’t know is that a concussion can have many severe side effects such as death.  Most people tend to neglect the severity of head injuries because they are so common.

Many parents and directors of sports and schools are concerned about the brain health of children and teens who play contact sports. These parents and directors are trying to help people become more aware of the injuries that can cause a life threatening injury. Football players suffer the most concussions of any other sport. On average, at least one player sustains a mild concussion in every game.

Many people don’t know when they have a concussion because sometimes they don’t lose consciousness. Most of the time it can just feel like a headache and people won’t know it is a concussion. Parents and athletic directors are very concerned with the way children are playing sports today. Youth sports are causing so many head injuries that some parents will not allow their children to participate in the sport. Parents, coaches, and directors are looking for ways to make sports a little safer.

To prevent multiple concussions, parents and doctors should keep their children safe by recommending more safety gear for the sport. For example, in softball, every girl should have to wear a face mask in the field, and in football the players should be provided with more padding in their helmets to prevent head injuries. Children who have concussions should not be allowed to participate in the sport for at least two weeks and they should have to check with the doctor to make sure everything is safe before they resume playing the sport again. The coaches should not allow the participant to play in a game or practice until he or she has permission from the doctor. With parents, coaches, directors, and doctors coming together and agreeing on this, we can decrease the numbers of deaths and serious injuries caused by sports concussions.” -Cheyenne Murphy

Texting While Driving

“To the Times:

On the road today, what is the main cause of car crashes? I believe that cell phone use is the main cause of accidents. When one begins to call or text while driving, he or she becomes distracted, causing the person to look away from the road. Many states have prohibited any type of cell phone usage while driving. The problem here is that American drivers have become too involved with modern day technology. This causes them to become distracted and not pay attention to the road, therefore endangering themselves and others.  

Fourteen states want to pass laws stating that if anyone is caught texting and or talking on the phone while driving, then he or she will get a $50-$100 fine and two points added to their license. I believe that this penalty is not a great one. Say the person would have created an accident and the person in the opposing car died. What would be their penalty, jail time?  Now, say that they got pulled over and fined before they got the chance to create an accident. I believe that people will continue to text while driving. What would the penalty be for repeat offenders?

Did you know that if a person texts while driving they have a 23% greater risk of causing an accident? Did you also know that if someone is going 70 miles per hour, while typing a three second text, they travel the distance of a foot-ball field without looking at the road once? What could happen within three seconds?  Well, I can tell you. You could have just now created a deadly crash. A person dialing a phone number is now four times greater to create an accident. Then while talking on the phone there is now a 1.3 greater chance they will cause a crash.  While modern day technological advancements bombard everyday life, cell phones are the most assessable to talk to someone.  Distracted drivers cause 80% off ALL accidents as well as 65% of all NEAR crashes in the United States. However, I feel near is close enough. We as American people should not allow people to endanger the ones we love.

I believe that the United States should pass laws banning any type of cell phone use while driving. With higher fines and a chance to lose their license, I believe the number of people that text while driving will lower. For every time caught driving, I feel three points should be added to your license. As for first time offenders, I feel that the fine should be from $300-$500. If someone is caught texting while driving more then twice, their license should be suspended for a short amount of time. If you text while driving, I feel that is considered endangerment of those around you. If you create a bad accident and kill all involve would that be considered a homicidal suicide. Texting while driving is just as bad as driving under the influence. I feel that this is just like driving under the influence because you are more focused on the cell phone than you are on the road. I believe that with greater penalty people will be more cautious with their actions on the road. Greater penalties for offenders should result in a greater decrease in number of people who text while driving.” -Christina Rivera

Chichester Historical Society Elects New Officers

Chichester Historical Society issued a press release announcing it had  recently elected new officers for the 2010 to 2012 term.  They are as follows: Cyndi Charney, President; Frank Sill, Vice-President; John Schueren; Treasurer, Mary Griffin, Secretary; and Steve LaSpada, Sergeant-of-Arms.  The next meeting of the Society will take place on April 19^th at 7:30 PM at the Old Ogden Schoolhouse on Naaman’s Creek Road in Upper Chichester Township.  For information about local Chichester history or membership in the Chichester Historical Society, contact Cyndi Charney at 610-497-5512 or visit the website at www.chichesterhistory.org.