Connecticut State Parks

By Tori Hall     

Looking for nice beach or park to relax at? The state of Connecticut has many wonderful beach and state parks spots. They all are practically at your doorstep. Most are open during the summer season. The fees are reasonable enough, and you can be sure to have a great time with the family and friends.

Hammonasset State Park- A visit to Hammonasset Beach State Park is more than just another day at the beach. Its Connecticut's largest shoreline park offers over 2 miles of beach to enjoy swimming, strolling along the boardwalk, or just relaxing in the sun and sand. It is the largest beach located in Madison, Connecticut It has many different campsites and picnic facilities, a nature center, walking trails. $10.00 CT Registered Vehicle Fee and $15.00 Out-of-State Registered Vehicle Fee

Sherwood Island State Park Westport – Connecticut's first state park and is still one of the finest. Sherwood Island is Connecticut's oldest state park. You can enjoy yourself by swimming in The Long Island Sound, fishing, shell fishing (by permit). Have a comfortable lunch in the shade of the picnic grove, swim in Long Island sound. $10.00 CT Registered Vehicle Fee and $15.00 Out-of-State Registered Vehicle Fee

Ocean Beach Park - Located at the foot of Ocean Avenue in Mystic Country, New London’s premier recreational facility provides excellent public access to the Atlantic Ocean from a beautiful white, sugar sand beach, complimented by an Olympic-size freshwater pool, lockers, and event staging. Fun for the whole family including kiddie rides, arcade
games, mini-golf, nature walks. Your parking fee includes admission for everyone in your car!

Rocky Neck State Park East Lyme - Located on Long Island Sound in the town of East Lyme, 710-acre Rocky Neck is a popular recreation spot. This is nice Family fun spot in East Lyme with grassy beaches for swimming, crabbing or fishing, campgrounds, and picnic areas. Season passes cost $50 for Connecticut residents and $75 for Out-of State residents.

The Craze: Body Piercing

By Eboni Tillery

            Body piercing seems to be the new “thing”.  Today’s teens are getting pierced all over their bodies in an attempt to make themselves look unique.   Some feel as though piercing helps create individuality, while others use it as a way to rebel against strict parents who are against such a trend. Some simply do it to stand out in a crowd. However, with all the risk of infection and the need to continuously maintain cleanliness of the punctured area, the question is: is it really worth it? Granted most people, girls as well as boys, get their ears pierced as babies and that’s really not their fault.  As soon as they grow older, possibilities become endless with young people.

New Piercing Places

·       Tongue

·       Nose

·       Cheeks

·       Belly Buttons

·       Nipples

·       Genitalia

A new form of piercing is transdermal implanting.  This is when a piece of jewelry is placed partially below and partially above the skin.  The skin heals around the jewelry as if it were a piercing.

Summer Movie Preview: Imagine That
By Julie Burwell

 Director Karey Kirkpatrick and Nickelodeon movies are coming to you with another hit. This summer Eddie Murphy and Yara Shahidi stars in the phenomenal, outrageously funny, family comedy “Imagine That”. In this movie Murphy is the type of father that has more time for his financial business and his blackberry than his seven year old daughter. His business goes through some problems and starts to go down the drain. Strangely he finds all of his answers to his business crisis in his daughter’s imaginary world. This is a movie that will bring the whole family together and get you laughing hysterically.

Time for Some Golf
by Mike Soto

  Opening day is March 23^rd and the sport of golf is underway. Golf is said to be one of hardest sports to play it takes a lot of practice, fortitude, and skill. Because, when you play golf your only opponent is yourself and the course. The real competition shouldn’t bother you more than those two huge opponents.

            The way the golf players get ready for the season is to practice the basics. One thing the players would do is to practice on driving the ball at the driving range. They would also work on some of the big parts of their game like putting and chipping with driving as well. They also need to learn the rules and the etiquette of the game.

            The way that scoring is played for golf is you are given a certain amount of strokes for the whole course. Example, you are 18 holes you are given 72 strokes and for 9 holes it will be 36 strokes. Usually there are four par 3 and two par 5s and the rest of the holes are par 4’s for an 18 hole course. Par is the accepted number of stokes for a hole. One more than par is a boogie and two more than par is double boogie, one less is birdie, two less is an eagle.

            The captain of the career golf team is Gustovo Munoz. He has been on the golf team all four years of high school and every year has found a way to take his game to the next level. The other players are also improving their golf game and are sure to be great their senior year.

            The team would play against one opponent, called dual match or they play matches against more than one. Most of the competition comes from with in the conference but they do face people outside of the conference as well. The golf’s team record is now 2 wins and 3 losses. They hope for the best this year.

The Sims Returns
by Trish Baia

The Sims returns for a third sequel. The Sims is a life simulation computer game and it simulates daily activities of one or more virtual persons designed by Will Wright the creator of The Sims. The Sims 3 is a more enhanced version of The Sims 2, which was an even better upgrade from the original Sims game. In the original Sims game you were pretty much controlling an ant sized person and you couldn’t really do much. There were only two body types and one outfit to choose from when you created a person. When the Sims 2 came out you were able to create people in a more detailed way and you were able to fulfill your person’s wants and needs with better game play.

What everyone wants to know is what is the difference between The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. No one thought it could get any better than The Sims 2. If anything they thought there would be more added to The Sims 2. But the Sims 3 takes it to a whole other level with an enhanced goals and ambition systems. You can also customize your people to look however you want them to and create your own clothing for them. In buy and build Modes, you will be able to create your own style for furniture, walls, carpet, etc. Also outdoor modes have been changed so that there are more lots and houses instead of just your house. You will also be able to drive and go out to public events like Movies, pool parties, barbecues, and much more. And you can enjoy playing all this in 3D.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
By Michael Peterson

            X-Men Origins: Wolverine begins with a young boy named James (Wolverine) losing his father right in front of him. He gets so angry that he uses his claws and kills the man who killed his father. The twist is the man who killed his father, is actually his real father. After his dying father reveals the shocking news, he and his brother Victor (Sabertooth) run away from their home. After fighting in the Civil War, both World Wars, and the Vietnam War, William Stryker offers them spots in his team of mutants.

            After the first mission they embarked on, James quit the team because of the ruthless killing they committed. After several years, he becomes a lumberjack in Canada and goes by the name of Logan. Stryker finds him and warns him that someone may be after him just before Sabertooth kills his girlfriend and nearly beats him to death. Stryker then operates on Logan and restructures his skeleton giving him the metal. As Stryker tries to erase his memory, Logan escapes the facility and embarks on his mission for revenge.

Visit Washington State
By Margaret Ukah

            From coastal waterways, wild salmon streams and fresh oyster beds to its orchards, farms and vineyards, Washington State provides a various types of culinary delights and fine beautiful scenery. Washington offers a diverse menu to delight the most discriminating gourmet or the more down-to-earth diner.

Washington is also a location for people who want to enjoy great wines in an uncrowded environment. Tour Washington State’s finest vineyards and sample vintages at more than 600 wineries.

Washington State has such incredibly diverse scenery one reason is the Cascade Range, which runs the entire length of the state from Washington’s border with British Columbia, Canada to the Columbia River Gorge and passes through two of Washington’s most beautiful national parks North Cascades National Park and Mount Rainier National Park. The Cascade Range cuts into two distinct climates and environments. Western Washington is green all year-round and is part of the coastal North American rainforest that extends to northern California to southern Alaska. Washington is called the Evergreen State Millions of acres of national parks, wilderness areas, forests, recreation and scenic areas, state forests and parks, reserves and preserves. Washington’s forests are diverse ecosystems populated with cedar, hemlock, Douglas fir, pine, spruce and other evergreens, trees to make fall beautiful. Washington State offers opportunities for boating, kayaking, canoeing, whitewater river rafting, swimming, fishing, hiking, sightseeing, bird watching, duck hunting or just watching the sun set over water.

Washington State Mountains are year-round attractions for people who love hiking, camping, bicycling, skiing, fishing, horseback riding. Washington has two major mountain ranges: the Cascade Range, which runs right down the middle of the state from north to south, and the Olympic Mountains. If you love music, dance, theatre and great movies, you’ll feel right at home in Washington State, the cinema and performing arts capital of the Pacific Northwest.  The most famous of Seattle landmarks, the Space Needle, and home to Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Opera, and Pacific Northwest Ballet and, every year, the site of the legendary Northwest Folk Life Festival and Bumbershoot Seattle’s Music and Arts Festival.

One of the Best: Oscar de la Renta
By Ela Abreu

One of the best fashion designers of the world Oscar de la Renta. He was born in Dominican Republic. At age 18 Oscar moved to San Fernando in Spain to study painting. As he got older he became more interested in everything that had to do with fashion. Oscar moved to Antonio Castillo as a couture assistant in the house of Lanvin in   Paris.  In 1963, Oscar moved to New York to design the couture collection for Elizabeth Arden. In 1963, he came became one of the world fashion designer and his first collection was Pink Labels.

In Fall 2001, he had his first runway show. It was in New York with his handbags, belts jewelry, shoes, and swimwear. He also designs furniture and eyewear. He worked with people all over the world like Jenna Bush and Elizabeth Arden. Oscar de la Renta inspiring and said, “I wanted this I wanted to do this but my work is me and it has to be right.