Peas, peppers, pickles, and pumpkins. These are all food items that we commonly refer to as vegetables. But according to legislation passed by the House of Representatives, pizza is now a vegetable as well.

This legislation was passed in response to a proposal by the Obama administration to make school lunches healthier by getting rid of, or at least making healthier, unhealthy items like pizza and French fries. The measures of the House of Representative’s bill include blocking the Agricultural Department from limiting starchy vegetables (corn, peas, and potatoes) as well as allowing the USDA to count two tablespoons of tomato paste as a vegetable.

The passage of this bill is essentially a victory won solely by the American Frozen Food Institute, who lobbied Congress to ensure that their frozen pizzas and French fries would continue to be sold daily in schools across the country.

When this news first came out, I found myself perusing news websites like CNN and the Huffington Post incredulously. Here we are, a nation where one in every three children is overweight or obese, and instead of making strides to become healthier, our Congress is encouraging kids to eat processed garbage so that frozen food corporations can keep making money.

They are even claiming that the products that these corporations sell, like pizza and French fries, are healthy and contain important vitamins and minerals. Sure, a slice of pizza may contain one gram of fiber and five percent of your daily value of calcium, but it can also come at the cost of thirty grams of fat and, in some cases, an outrageous number of calories. Conversely, a cup of broccoli roasted in olive oil can be tasty and provide your body with a powerhouse of nutrients. Simply put, there are much better ways to reach these vitamin requirements, but the underlying issue remains that our Congress is catering to mammoth food companies like ConAgra and Schwann Food Co.

When asked why these companies did not want to comply with the school lunch dietary changes presented by the Obama administration, a spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute said, “Our concern is that the standards would force companies in many respects to change their products in a way that would make them unpalatable to students.” This comment disgusts me, because one of the major reasons for obesity in our country is that so many Americans find greasy, starchy foods to be “palatable.” Maybe these companies should focus on “retraining the American palate,” so to speak, to actually enjoy healthy, fresh foods, rather than perpetrating the consumption of foods that Americans today find “palatable.”

It’s time that we stop catering to the wishes of big businesses and place the health of the nations’ children as our top priority. Tricking our youth into believing that pizza, or French fries for that matter, can be a vegetable is only making the issue of obesity grow.

Please note:  The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the school, Administration, advisor, or newspaper staff.

Recently, sophomore Kayla Parks spent a week in Haiti volunteering her time for a Lebanon organization called Practical Compassion. This group is not a religious mission but is instead a humanitarian organization that is “making a difference in Haiti’s future NOW through the Practical Compassion of food, education, housing, medical care and jobs.”

The organization is run entirely by volunteers like Parks, who traveled with her mother and about 12 other local individuals.  As Parks explained, “We went to Haiti to start a medical mission.”

They would wake up early each day and spend time with the children in the local school and then head off to complete their other duties.

During her stay in Haiti, they set up three clinics in three different cities. They would help run the clinics in the daytime.

“I was helping put information in the computer from the doctor and writing their prescriptions,” explained Parks.

While in Haiti, the group stayed in a compound that Parks described as a “very nice facility [and] very rich compared to the rest of Haiti.”

For Parks the most exciting part of the trip was meeting the family in the compound.  The Haitian family that lived in the compound run by Practical Compassion was very welcoming, throwing parties each night with lots of dancing.

“They even had American music,” exclaimed Parks.

Parks found it most surprising that in Haiti there is no difference between the rich and poor portions of the country. She also noted that it is all dirt, and sewage is strewn all over the streets.

“The sewage is the most disgusting thing because it is all over the streets and people [even] bathe in it,” explained Parks, “The airport wasn’t even nice.”

Parks definitely had a memorable experience in Haiti and one which she will always remember.

To learn more about Practical Compassion visit: http://www.practicalcompassion.org/index.html

Pennsylvania’s capital has been in the news a lot lately but not necessarily in a positive light. The CBS news channel has coined the term “The Capital City in Crisis” to describe Harrisburg’s recent turmoil. The city has been under a large amount of debt for quite some time now, and recently, it has arguably hit rock bottom.

“I’ve only heard about the crisis in Harrisburg through watching the news, but it definitely seems like the capital’s going through a lot of trouble,” said senior Rebecca Fair.

The debt, which is up to about $400 million, is largely associated with a failed trash incinerator, which was supposed to earn Harrisburg $1 billion, but the plan failed to follow through. The incinerator was said to burn through more money than trash, and the federal government shut it down because of toxic air pollution. Consequently, the capital city is now in a lot of trouble.

The city finally decided to filed for bankruptcy under a 4-to-3 vote and proceeded to send its petition to the United States Bankruptcy Court for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, a procedure that provides financially distressed municipalities with protection from creditors by creating a plan between the municipality and its creditors to help fight debt.

As soon as the petition was filed, its reviewers found problems. The filing was said to be violating the state’s fiscal code, which was amended this year to keep cities like Harrisburg from filing Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Harrisburg council members argued that the filing was in fact a legal action, but they didn’t have substantial facts to back themselves up. Finally, it was decided that the petition would be reviewed by a judge. On November 23, the judge ruled that Harrisburg’s Council was not authorized to file for bankruptcy.  Meanwhile, many Pennsylvania residents were looking down on their capital.

“I think it’s sad that our state capital is going under when it’s supposed to be our central power and our main support system. You don’t see this happening to any other capital,” remarked senior Elliot Beatty.

A representative for Governor Tom Corbett said that the governor was not at all surprised with the judge’s ruling, and now the only thing for Harrisburg to do is move forward.

Harrisburg will be taken over by the state, and Corbett’s administration has already selected David Unkovic, chief lawyer for the state economic development department, to be the receiver for the capital city.  Only time will tell what happens to Harrisburg and whether or not it will be able to recover from its vast debt. Many people are not thrilled with how it’s going so far, however.

Harrisburg mayor Linda Thompson is going under a lot of criticism from residents of the city, and her popularity has decreased substantially since Harrisburg’s financial problems got serious, but she doesn’t seem to be discouraged.

“We’re open for business,” she said. “I still will move forward with implementing the Act 47 plan.”

The Act 47 plan is Harrisburg’s goal to recover and get back on its financial feet. Key sources of the plan include improving management infrastructure and accountability, enhancing revenues, and focusing on long-term redevelopment.

Jesse Pitela, a foreign exchange student from the Czech Republic, recently entered a car commercial contest for the local Frederick Chevrolet dealership in Lebanon.  Out of 52 applicants, Pitela was chosen to be in the top three.

Pitela commented on his reason for applying for the competition, “The main reason was that I really wanted an iPad, which is the first prize in the contest.  I also had not done any videos for a while, so I was excited to start working on something involving visual effects again.”

Pitela worked hard on his commercial and used his extensive knowledge of special effects to produce a thirty-second clip for the contest.

“The worst part of the process was rendering everything out.  The second scene involved a simulation of over 1000 drops, which resulted in the final 300 frames of the scene taking over two days to render out in high definition,” explained Pitela.

Part of Pitela’s challenge was coming up with a good idea for the commercial and also adding the special effects to make his stand out among all the rest of the participants’ ads.

“I searched the internet for interesting visual effects first and then I tried to somehow wrap the car commercial around them.  I found an interesting rain scene and since fuel efficiency was one of the possible themes, I came up with the line ‘what if this were the last drop of fuel on the planet, and Mr. Clements encouraged me to go with it,” said Pitela.

Broadcast advisor Ryan Clements assisted him with the production of the commercial.

“I gave him some help with the wording of the script and worked with Dr. Reimann to get his voice-over just right.  But the responsibility really fell squarely on Jesse’s shoulders,” Clements said.

Pitela is an aspiring special effects editor, and this commercial competition has the potential to boost his skill tremendously.  Not only will he gain experience with professional tools, but his name will also be out there for potential employers.

“Even though these effects may seem impressive to someone who has no idea how this stuff is done, it is far from being good enough to impress the professionals in big visual effects companies.  The biggest benefit I get from this experience is that now I can say that I actually worked for a ‘client’ and I managed to combine effects with the necessary dealership info to enhance an overall theme, which is always appreciated,” explained Pitela.

The top three commercials are currently airing through January on channel Fox 43 and CBS 21.  The winner will be announced in mid to late January, and the winning school will receive a car to give away as a prize.