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=Best Title Contest= Melange is holding a contest through January 11th for who can come up with the most inventive title for either a poem or a story (e.g. //Jesus' Son// or //So Long and Thanks for All the Fish).// The winner will recieve a quality CADBURY bar!

=Daily Update= At break in the student center Dr. Deake discussed her new book //Girls Will Be Girls//, which evaluates how girls think, feel and behave. Throughout her twenty plus years researching this subject, Dr. Deake confessed that the most important difference between girls and boys was that it is harder for girls to take risks than boys. This, however, only means that girls need to take MORE risks in order to develop that part of the brain. After all, as Deake said, “[The brain] is really very much like a muscle in that it can get bigger and smaller depending on what we do.” Our brains, however, shouldn’t have any problem with that. According to intensive research “most girls have better self-esteem and achieve more if they go to an all girls school". I look forward to the day when no one will know what an SAT is and I think it’s coming. It’s becoming clear that the SATs don’t let us know how much power there is in a person’s brain or how well they do at universities. (see SAT news story)
 * What is Dr. Deake’s Attitude Toward the SATs?**

It's **BIG SIS-LITTLE SIS WEEK**! __Freshmen__...do you know who your //big sis// is?
 * EXAMS** start //__next week__//! Start studying! //(Reading Day// is this **Friday**!)

= = =McGehee Superhawks Fly Away= At the very mention of leaving McGehee and New Orleans after eleven strong years for her new job as headmistress of the Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco, upper school head and the heart of McGehee, Kim Wargo, welled with tears. Full story

=You Know You Love It = “Gossip Girl” has taken the teenage girl-world by storm ever since the first book arrived on shelves in 2002. Teenage girls devoured these short novels about New York’s young, wealthy, and well-partied elite, causing them to stay on top of the “New York Time’s” Best-seller list for weeks on end. The frenzy reached an all time high, when the TV version premiered in September, starring Blake Lively (of //Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants//) and Leighton Meester as Upper East Queens Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf. But why does “Gossip Girl” attract such a large following of teenage girls? Full story

(And, avid readers, be sure to [|Click Here to take survey]">take this rotation's poll!)

=Red wigs and pom poms= "A lot of people wore red wigs and held red pom pom’s to cheer on the team. Although the game resulted in a loss, it was still an exciting and spirited game,” Senior Adele H. recalls of the Newman vs. McGehee volleyball game. This not only describes this one game, but a majority of the McGehee volleyball games. Most of you can already tell that McGehee is not just your average school when it comes to school spirit. Full story

By Megan M
=Misuse and abuse= “It hasn’t happened in 9 years,” says math teacher Mark Cortez. What is he talking about? What else than cell phones going off in class. Cell phones have basically consumed not only students, but also teacher’s lives. Most teachers said that they got their first cell phones just after Katrina because they needed to be able to contact others. Mark Cortez says that he bought his first cell phone because “I needed a way to text people, because I couldn’t call anybody after the storm." Full Story

By Megan M

Poem of the Rotation:
The ability to communicate well—

to send s h o c k w a v e s through26littlecharacters ((maybe32orso if we count ; and : and ~ and – and = and + and all of the little intricacies of punctuation))}] ;

to paint a SCENE(that of the Mountains or River or Beautiful Beach but also possibly the one with the 2 who were onceinLOVE (the kind with tears and illuminating conversations)) or with the 2 who are just st- art- ing to f a l l intothe pitofpass(tears)ionlaught[latenights]er andofcourseconver[illuminating]sation --that is the most desired skill.

Random Fact of the Rotation
Ever wondered where the phrase "you're fired" came from? People long, long ago used to get rid of the undesirables in their village by burning their houses, so that they did not have to kill them--thus 'firing' them. [|Fired]

The first print issue is now out; copies are available at the front desk or senior study if you did not receive one. The second print issue will be out before the end of the semester. We hope you enjoy! -Staff of Off the Track
 * Staff Bios**

= = =The Great Debate-Macs or PCs?= by Emma L. Anybody who uses computers on a regular basis (i.e, the whole McGehee community) knows of the two main types of operating systems: Windows, used on personal computers (PCs) and Mac, an Apple product with a unique operating system. There has been much debate over which type of computer is better. Some say Macs are harder to use, but break less than PCs; others say that the hard work needed to use Macs isn’t worth the rare breakage. There is much variety in the McGehee community of computer users; most students use PCs at school, but some use Macs at home. “Macs are much easier to use and they don’t break as often,” said junior Stella Radosta, a Mac user at school and at home. “Plus, with PCs you have to go through a step by step process to do things but with Macs they just do it for you.” She has used the Mac system for almost 3 years now, even though the McGehee operating system of choice is the Windows PC. Full Story

=Standardized tests rule the college world= by Emma B. Walking into the towering, austere halls of Jesuit High School-- after getting lost on South Claiborne-- Rachel was anything but prepared to take the SAT that summer Saturday morning. Half an hour before the test was scheduled to begin, students lined the walls, flipping flashcards and rummaging through papers, all reviewing the hundreds of new, obscure vocabulary words they learned from Princeton Review, Alex Gershanik or Ricky Rosenberg. Quixotic. Flip. Inequity. Flip. Fallacious. Flip. Eight o’clock. The test begins. Thirty people, from Bane to Borat, are confined to one small room, cluttered together by desks and book bags and calculators and number two pencils. The proctor is old and bald and spends the first twenty minutes spouting out obvious directions. There is nothing like spending the entire morning bubbling in R A C H E L. Full Story


 * "Ms. Whitfield interrupts the fictional river and insists that 'everyone who is parked on First Street must move their cars immediately.' Apparently, there is an equally important river flooding First."** [|Full article in Boyce of Reason]

Try this rotation's poll here -- [|Click Here to take survey]

= = =College applications stressing seniors out= By Emma L. It’s no secret that junior year second semester is typically the hardest year in high school, but if you ask the current senior class, they’ll be sure to tell you that senior year first semester is definitely the most stressful. Everyone in the class of 2008 seems to agree on the obvious stressor in their lives right now: college applications. “This whole talking about stress thing is stressing me out!” exclaimed Catye C. This seems to be the general attitude in the senior class right now. No one wants to talk about how stressed they are because it makes them more stressed. Catye holds the record right now for Biggest Number of Schools, with 14 that she is applying to which with the amount of essays her schools require plus the GPA and test scores needed to get in would stress anyone out. Continue Reading

=**Something old, something new**= By Shannon B. “They all thought I’d like it, which I do,” new senior Alex P. says of McGehee. Alex left St. Martin’s for McGehee, and is “excited” about joining the senior class and the McGehee community. “I wanted to go to an all-girl’s school and make new friends,” she says. While McGehee is smaller, has uniforms and does not have some clubs or activities, such as cheerleading, that St. Martin’s did, she still thinks that McGehee is an improvement, because of such things as “eating and drinking [being] allowed almost everywhere.” Even those of us who have been here “since birth” all became “the new kid” after Katrina, so we all know how hard it is to adjust to a new school, new rules, and new people. We have also experienced people entering our classes throughout our time at McGehee. We all know that for any new student, it takes a while to truly adjust, but none of us know how it is for the seniors who have to enter a class that has had at least a year to bond and develop an identity for itself in the school.
 * Continue Reading**

= = =Hawks strive for success= By Amy P. As the Hawks get their first kill of the game, fans cheer loudly and the players pump one another up with their uplifting support and intense excitement. For the past few years, McGehee has strived to create an amazing volleyball program that has not only created a large fan base but has also been extremely successful. I’m sure most of you have been a part of a McGehee volleyball scene and you know what it’s like. The enthusiasm and pride coming from the McGehee fans is something that you have to see to believe, but many started to question what this year’s season would be like without the seniors from last year. This group of talented and committed seniors had been together for many years, and it showed when they were on the court. Most of them had been the key players on the team for a while, and without their presence, no one knew what to expect. Just as the fans were wondering what the season would be like, even more so were the players. Continue Reading = =

= = ==="Remember the polar bears? You won’t in fifty years when they are extinct." Read more in Emma B's column, [|The Boyce of Reason] !=== = =

=Flawed bonding in '09?= By Olivia J. Some students were upset to see puzzle pieces on lockers as the class symbol, but there was even more outrage when it was heard that the junior class hangs out with each other and have been more open to each other. Kelsey Z. (’09) described the puzzle pieces as a “wake up call.” Elyria G. (’09) felt that the puzzle pieces were, “…a harsh truth [and] a bit embarrassing…” When asked about the puzzle pieces, senior Catye C. (‘08) explained, “The puzzle piece symbolizes that the junior class is broken up just like the pieces of a puzzle…it is also supposed to show that if they all just work together, they can manage to put the puzzle back together…” Others took a less blunt approach to explaining the symbolism behind the puzzle pieces. Student Body President Rachel B. (’08) stated, “The puzzle piece symbolizes that uncertainty about the theme of the class.” Continue Reading

=**Musical Shaw raised by square parents**= By Megan K. When most McGehee students think of Mr. Shaw they think of the laid-back science teacher who loves music and is married to Ms. Robertson. Who and how he is now, you could never have guessed he was brought up in a strict household. While Mr. Shaw doesn’t think his parents were very strict, by our standards today we may think differently. “Life was not that different in some ways, perhaps a little more uptight - - church every Sunday, school every day unless you were almost dead, short haircuts, black plastic frame glasses, no wire-rims or parting your hair in the middle because you'd look like that Beatle (John Lennon, which I wanted to) - - basically obey your parents without questioning,” Shaw says. To him they were not strict but square. He still did fun things as a child; “…they played ball with us, took us to the library, trusted us with tools, and let us be boys, as long as we were pounding on each other out of the house somewhere.” Continue Reading

=McGehee student population booming= By Megan M. “I am so thankful to go to a school where the teachers are so enthusiastic and are constantly motivating us to stand up for what we believe in because together we can achieve the impossible,” said McGehee Junior Valerie E. Another student, Sophomore Amanda G., also said that, “I like being able to see people come back that have already graduated but are still really close with their high school friends and knowing that me and the people in my class will always be close gives me a sense of comfort”. Students at McGehee are very joyful to be going to a school that offers such a high-standing academic education, and you can see it around the campus day to day. One reason McGehee has been doing so well is because the school is doing a very good job staying true to who we are. Continue Reading