Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 2000, Page 71

Description:	x:IForgoing a trip to the dressing room, junior ChadSchwartzkopf pulls on a New York sweatshirt inNordstrom at Circle Centre Mall in Indianapolis.Students frequented malls both local and out of townin pursuit of holiday purchases.*!Brett Whitethe IssueNews BitsThe Leonids Meteor Shower1999 was the best showing of the Leonidsmeteor shower in over 33 years. Many stargazerslooked to the skies as they searched for themeteor shower which looked like fire balls movingslowly across the sky. In some cases, people evenspent most of their nights looking for a glimpse ofthe extraordinary showers.I tried to watch them, but couldnt see themand we live in the country, so it sucked. I looked forit two nights in a row. Once, I fell asleep outside,and the other time I looked for about an hour,freshman Eli Henline said.Experts said that the best direction to look formeteor showers were in the east to southeast skyduring the late evening around midnight.Discussions about the leonids also went onduring classes.In my U.S. history class we talked about whatmeteor showers were, where they were locatedand where to look. I also watched the showers onthe news, junior Natalie Katz said.Most meteors enter the atmosphere at 40,000miles per hour and they only last for two or threeseconds before burning up. Even though somefound the showers to be difficult to find, thousandswatched in awe as stars fell from the constellationof Leo. by Martha PayneTax Referendum DeniedThe fall elections of 1999, held on Nov. 2, drewmore people to the voting booths than in pastyears. As usual, the ballot consisted of candidatesfor both mayor and city council, but it also includeda proposal for a new property tax referendumdesigned to raise funding for the Monroe CountyCommunity School Corporation (MCCSC).Thereferendum proposed an 89-cent per 100-dollarproperty value tax increase, which would haveraised about 6.9 million dollars.The moneywould have gone toward hiring more teachersand increasing the school day by 30 minutes. Evenwith the numerous Support Our Schools signsseen throughout Bloomington, opponents of thereferendum clearly outnumbered referendumsupporters prior to the election.The MCCSC graduation rate is 14 percentbelow the state average, MCCSC class sizes are29 percent higher than the average Indiana schooland MCCSC ranks 227th out of 294 Indianaschool districts in state funding per pupil.Despite the staggering statistics, the referendumwas struck down by a near 2-to-1 margin.Opponents totaled 68 percent of the vote whilesupporters consisted of 32 percent. Mostsupporters were shocked to find that thereferendum did not even come close to passing.Mr.Tom Petry, math, a clear supporter oftraditional scheduling and the referendum, said,Naturally, I was disappointed. I was surprisedthat the referendum was denied by such a largeamount of people, I was expecting it to pass by anarrow margin. by Lauren HumesEgypt Air 990One early Sunday morning, Oct. 31,1999, 217people were killed after being in the air for only 30minutes aboard Egypt Air 990 bound for Cairo.Theplane left New York and crashed into the ocean,mystifying many airline officials and families of thevictims.There was no sign of malfunctions when theplane was finally salvaged from the Atlantic Ocean.Many theories arose to attempt to explain thedeaths. A toll-free number was also set up in orderto help the FBI with the investigation. Some familymembers of victims were told that some of thebodies would not be intact if they were recovered.Many Islamic families were not able to performtraditional burial rites because of this. If I was afamily member of one of the victims, it would reallybother me that I would never know how they diedand I would always want to know, freshman EmilyDavis said.Students mourned the passing of these peoplewhen news reached the United States. I think thatit was terrible. I cant imagine what the familiesmust have gone through, there is definitelysomething wrong with airplanes, senior CicelyCostley said.Despite the crash, most students decided theywill still ride on airplanes.I would still go on aplane, because the odds are so small and its theprice you pay for technology.The machine may bemore complex, and that is the risk you have totake, sophomore Ian Hoagland said.The fact that the plane had met regulatorystandards leaves an even greater mystery as to whyit crashed, an explanation that the victims familiesmay never have, by Martha PayneBrett Wfiite71
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/6583
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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