He's Just Not That Into You
By Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

Have you ever been unsure if he is right for you? There are signs to help you determine his sincerity. He's Just Not That Into You has everything from "his hints" to the author's advice. It is a woman's guide to a successful and healthy relationship. It was one of Oprah's books selected to be reviewed on her show, not to mention the book was number one on The New York Times Bestseller List.

This book has tips, advice, and scenarios most women have dealt with and suffered through. Each chapter explains a different signal a guy sends if he is not that into you. The chapters also include several scenarios and advice to help women cope with the situations. For example, the book explains that if a guy does not call when he says he will call, he probably is not that into you; if he lies to you, he probably is not that into you, or if he avoids talking to you, seeing you, or looking at you, he probably is not that into you.

Almost every girl has had a bad relationship in some way. Some people have had a bad divorce or bad break up and then wondered what they did wrong. Chances are, you did nothing wrong, he just was not that into you. Girls usually have broken hearts and trust issues caused by guys that have cheated or lied to them, but why would these guys do it unless they just were not that into you.

This book explains it all. According to the New York Times, it has inspired many women. I would highly recommend this book to any girl who has doubts about her relationships because you never know, he just might not be that into you.

November 4^th, 2008, is a date never to be forgotten: a woman ran for Vice President, and the candidate elected president was an African-American. The Presidential election was between candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. The results for the 2008 Presidential election were Barack Obama and Joe Biden who had 52.3% of the popular vote.  Luckily, some members of the senior class at Charleston Collegiate were able to vote for their first time in the election.

"I was really excited because there was a fifty-fifty percent chance that a female could have been Vice President or an African American could have been President of the United States. I also liked how I had a say in government for once," said senior Richard Salmons. He also said the only thing that upset him was that he did not get a sticker after waiting two hours in line at his polling place in downtown Charleston. Tripp Hamilton, another senior at CCS, also voted in his first election. Tripp said, "It was fun. I met a lot of interesting people while waiting in line for two hours." Tripp agrees with Richard: he likes how he was able to express his opinions in government for once. The last senior to vote was Brandon Hinson. He says, "I only had to wait twenty minutes in line, and the volunteers at the polls gave great instructions." These seniors have a great story to tell everyone, they got to vote for their first time in an historic election that will always be remembered.

This past week the Journalism team asked seventy-two Upper School students at Charleston Collegiate how they would feel about earning the chance to wear all types of Charleston Collegiate sweatshirts again. Last year students were able to wear all types of CCS sweatshirts, but due to the lack of "school-appropriate style" (overly-large sweatshirts, hood on during class, conflicting with the overall neat and "classy" appearance of the uniform), the privilege was eliminated at the beginning of the 2008 school year.

Every single student the Journalism team polled wanted the privilege of wearing Charleston Collegiate sweatshirts again. These results indicate that students feel confident about making changes by taking one step at a time.

If you could have one super power which one would you want to have?
Mackenzie and Christian state their choices . . .

Mackenzie says: If I could have one super power, I would want to be able to control time. I would want to have the ability to fast forward, rewind, and pause my life. This power would be useful for many different situations, such as rewinding to fix things I have said or done wrong in the past, fast forwarding to experience the future, or pausing to stop time and make moments last.

I would want to rewind back to things that have happened in the past so I could fix my mistakes. If there was a time when I said or did something wrong, I would be able to rewind to that point in time and fix whatever it was that happened. This way I would never get in trouble or make a mistake.

Everyone is curious about the future. If I was able to fast forward, I would be able to see what things would be like ten years from now. Instead of waiting ten years, it could take ten seconds! I would be able to see what the world would be like and what my old friends would grow up to be. I would also be able to see my own life, whom I marry, what I do for a living, where I go to college, and where I live.

The last thing I would do with the ability to control time would be to pause my life. If I was to stop time for everyone but me, I would never be late again. If I didn't do my homework, I could just pause time, finish it and no one would ever know. If there was a moment that I didn't want to end, I could stop time and it could last as long as I wanted it to. I could make things last forever.

Christian says: Ever since I was a little youngster, I've wanted to have a superpower. If I could have superpower I would want to have invisibility. Being able to become invisible would be awesome; I don't think that there is a better superpower.

If I could become invisible, life would be so much more fun. Just think about all the fun things that could come out of being able to become invisible. You could chime in on conversations about certain things that you're not supposed to know. Maybe you would know if those people were talking about you. You would be able to tell who your friends were and who were not. And when it came to stressful situations, I would just sneak onto a plane and get away whenever I wanted. FREE vacations! The possibilities are truly endless. If I could become invisible I would leave school in the middle of the day, just turn invisible in the halls and walk right out. I mean, who really wants to be at school? No one would know where I went or if I was even there. I would mess with people all the time by appearing in the most random places, and I would scare everyone just for fun. Halloween would definitely be my favorite holiday. If I ever got in trouble with the police, I would just run and turn invisible and they would never find me. You could do anything and everything and nothing could go wrong.

Invisibility is probably the best superpower anyone could every have. Nothing can top it.

 

A school dress code is something that can be very demanding. People break the dress-code rules all the time which makes it stressful for the students and the teachers. Not only is it difficult during the day for the teachers, but it is difficult in the mornings for the students. People are so concerned with what they look like in the morning that it may take hours to pick out an outfit and get ready. Ninth-grader Vanessa Salcedo voices her opinion about the uniforms: "I like uniforms because then we don't have to choose what we want to wear in the morning. It takes too long."

This year, Charleston Collegiate has a new dress code. The school has decided to put the students in uniforms. The outfits consist of navy or white Charleston Collegiate collared shirts with khaki bottoms or the plaid skirts for the girls. The Lower School girls also have jumpers as an option. Eleventh-grader Christian Elias said, "It's not that much different then last year. It's just summarizing last year's dress code into two colors that aren't even our school colors." The girls can wear the Charleston Collegiate collared shirts or any white button-down shirt. With the tops, girls may wear khaki and plaid skirts or any other khaki bottoms. The oxford shirts must be tucked in and worn with a belt. Junior Jordan Gaither explains, "It doesn't let the students express themselves." Mallori Lazich in eleventh grade agrees, "It feels like the school is trying to take away who the students really are." The boys also have the option of the Charleston Collegiate collared shirts or button down. The boys must wear khaki bottoms and, depending on the length of their shirts, they must have them tucked in with a belt.

I spoke with the first-grade class and got their opinions on the new uniforms. Seven out of the ten like the uniforms and only three like the dress code last year more. First-grader Christian Deavenport says, "They are really cool to wear." Most of the students agree with him, including Candler Fontaine: "The clothing looks good and they say what school you go to on them." Reed Reynolds is one of the students who did not like them as much. He says, "If your mom forgets to wash your uniform, and you have worn all of them already, you can't use them the next day."

Last year many students were very upset that the school was getting uniforms. I was one of those angry students. I think that being able to wear what you want to wear gives you an ability to express yourself and be an individual. Junior Chris Hilding feels the same way: "I don't like the uniforms at all. They don't let us be ourselves. Everyone looks the same." I imagined the uniforms would make everyone look alike. Now that I have seen them, I realize that they are very different because people put their own sense of style into them. You are able to express yourself, and you don't have to worry about getting in trouble for a dress code violation. First-grader Sienne Rodwell says, "I think it looks cute. Most schools have uniforms, so if you wear your pajamas to school people will be like, ‘What? What are you doing that for?' and you will be like, ‘I forgot to put on my uniform.'"

Having uniforms also makes it easier on the parents and students. They don't have to take as much time in the morning to get ready. The uniforms also prevents parents from going shopping and spending hundreds of dollars on clothes for their children, and I agree that the uniforms are making things easier on everyone at Charleston Collegiate. However I, along with many other students, would rather have the freedom to wear what I want to wear.

The seniors in government class at Charleston Collegiate's Upper School are keeping everyone up-to-date on the 2008 presidential election. Mr. McDermott is helping these students work on a very interesting project. The class was split into two random groups that were assigned to represent a certain candidate. Each group designed a bulletin board that would represent their side, hopefully, better then the other group's board. These bulletin boards are in the upper school hallway and will remain there until the election is over in November. The goal of the bulletin boards is to keep people informed about the election and help people decide for whom they would like to vote. Each board has a suggestion box, where people are encouraged to give their opinions on how the students can make their boards more appealing. The content of the boards changes frequently, with new information posted almost every day.

One of the boards represents Senator John McCain. The board currently includes information about when he was introduced to politics, which was in 1976, and when he was first elected to political office, which was in 1982. His board is bigger than the board for Obama, and it currently has more information on it. There is anti-Obama material on the McCain board as well as information on how he is a more reliable choice for president.

On the other side of the hall, there is the board for Senator Barack Obama. His board currently includes anti-McCain material as well as Obama's views on change. A quote on his board talks about how he is "committed to strengthening our public schools to maximize our country's greatest natural resource -- the American people." There is also information about his views on immigration, such as how we need stronger enforcement on the border and how we should bring in the foreign workers that our economy needs.

Along making the boards, the class also had a debate during assembly on Thursday, September 25. One person from each side came up and talked about their senator's views on immigration. This was a great way to inform people about the bulletin boards and some of the material that is on them.

The government class will continue to work hard to keep people informed about what is going on during this important election. They will hold another debate during assembly on Thursday, October 2.

Along with the many new students, there are also new teachers at Charleston Collegiate this year. One of those teachers is Ms. Pringle, who has been teaching for "three years, twelve days, two hours, thirty-one minutes, and twenty seconds." Ms. Pringle used to teach at Porter Gaud but decided to come to Charleston Collegiate because she has friends here. "I have really good friends here that love it which sparked my interest. I love the goals this school has, and after my interview with Dr. Shirley, I knew this is where I wanted to teach."

Ms. Pringle has not always wanted to be a teacher. After college, she moved to New York City to be an actress. She later realized that she really wanted to "coach others" on the things she was most passionate about--such as art, soccer, and literature. She now teaches sixth, eighth, and eleventh grade English classes at Charleston Collegiate. Currently in her eighth grade class, she is getting them started on Shakespeare. Her eleventh grade class is working on defining America by writing poems. They are also studying The Crucible and are making videos of skits they have written to parody the play.

Ms. Pringle is an intelligent and motivated teacher who inspires all of her students. She in turn sets a good example for the kids she teaches, and she helps them learn how to enhance their minds. She says that her parents were an inspiration to her. "They showed me how to be ambitious and kind at the same time," she explained. Charleston Collegiate is lucky to have Ms. Pringle as a new member of the faculty.

This year, a large number of new students decided to come to Charleston Collegiate School. New to the Lower School is David Daughtridge, a third grader this year. David transferred from Porter Gaud where he said, "I kept getting C's and B's, and I only got A's eighteen times." David was really nervous about coming here because, "I have never been here in my whole entire life." David said it was hard coming to a new school because he has to make new friends. He does not play any sports, but, he likes surfing and snowboarding. He also likes computer class and says, "I love technology, I am good at it." After school, David likes to go home and relax. "I go home, and sometimes I take off my shoes, get two cans of Diet Coke and some popcorn, and I watch TV." David hopes to get better grades here at Charleston Collegiate, and his goal is to make new friends.

New to Charleston Collegiate Middle School is Lena Hurley. She transferred from Montessori in West Ashley. Lena likes eating at Chick-Fil-A, Sonic, and Mama Fu's. She doesn't like annoying boys, spinach, ants in the lockers, sharks, and alligators. Lena has noticed the many responsibilities of being in middle school this year. She says there is much more homework and nicer teachers. "The desks are different, and instead of cubbies we have lockers." Aside from being nervous about coming to a new school, Lena likes Charleston Collegiate. "It's fun, and I've met really nice people." This intelligent sixth-grader likes math and PE, and her hobbies are swimming, horseback riding, writing, and bike riding. Lena is not only athletic, but she also hopes to get all A's during her first year of middle school.

One of the new students at in the Upper School is not only new to CCS but also to high school in general. Ninth-grader Vanessa Salcedo is a sibling to Flor, who has been going here for five years this year. Vanessa came from Nativity School on James Island after graduating from the eighth grade. She likes listening to music and texting her friends, and her favorite class is history because, "I like to learn about the past so we know how we got in the present and where we will be in the future." Moving up from middle school can be strange and complex. Vanessa said, "The students take on a lot of responsibility, and the subjects in general are more advanced." Although Charleston Collegiate is very different then the school she transferred from, Vanessa likes how the students are more social. However, she says, "I don't like that the classes are longer."

New student Jessica Ann DuPree is a senior this year at Charleston Collegiate. She transferred from James Island Charter High School. Jessica has found it difficult coming to a new school for her senior year because, "I have to make all new friends and I'm not used to the teachers." She chose to come to CCS because it is close to her house. While she is trying to make new friends and get used to a new school, she also has goals for this year. "I want to take the SAT at least three times, and I want to graduate with all A's." Her favorite class is creative writing, but outside of school she likes to tan and go to the beach. "I love to shop and work out at the gym." Jessica is willing to work hard to achieve her goals and please her teachers.