The PTSA, which provides all of the funding and volunteer work to help organize After Prom, presented the idea for a new location to the senior class officers.

“Many other area high schools have held their After Prom parties at a similar upscale bowling venue like Bowlmor, and with great success,” PTSA committee chair Sandy Liss said.

According to 2011-2012 PTSA President Geri Shapiro, many members felt that attendance at the After Prom at CHS had been decreasing in past years so they decided that a switch might give students a more fun experience.

Bowlmor Lanes offers a much more updated atmosphere with 35 glow-in-the-dark bowling lanes and multiple larger video screens.

The event will still provide similar activities, however.

“Seniors can count on playing at the many casino tables, or capturing Prom night with photobooth,” Liss said. “There will also be raffle prize winners, a baby picture collage wall, bowling tournament and more prize giveaways like a flat screen TV.”

According to senior vice president Brenna Means who attended the Wootton After Prom at a bowling site last year, the different setting provides more options to have fun for the same price.

“It gives off a better feeling for a more collective class,” Means said. “I have high hopes for it and I think it will turn out well.”

Students can either register online or bring a check to school and to make the process more efficient, instead of a ticket, students will only need to present a student ID to enter the After Prom.

In addition, the PTSA will continue to ensure safety with the help of Barwood taxis giving rides to any student in the event of an emergency situation.

According to Liss, CHS is part of the Montgomery County Project Prom Graduation (MCPP/G) coalition that provides a way for MCPS schools to exchange ideas to ensure a better, safer Prom and After Prom.

“The whole point of the After Prom is to keep kids off the road,” Shapiro said. “No matter where it is.”

However, there is only so much CHS and PTSA members can do to promote safety.

According to Means, the new site for the After Prom will only help keep students off the road to some degree.

“At some point, teenagers are going to leave when they want to because they have no boundaries,” Means said.

The PTSA, however, believes that the only way to ensure the After Prom will be a success will be by experiencing it.

“The senior class will just ‘roll with it’ and at the end of the party, we will fully understand whether it was a worthwhile endeavor making the switch in venue,” Liss said.

“Dana, it’s 6:32!  Why aren’t you downstairs?”  I leap out of bed, grab the first t-shirt I see in my drawer and throw on a pair of shorts.  I have a mission that needs to be completed in eight minutes: explain why I woke up so late, scarf down breakfast and rush to the bus stop.   As I sprint down the stairs, my mind juggles possible scenarios to explain why I have overslept.  Again.

 I decide to tell (a version of) the truth: “The multiple alarms I set clearly aren’t working correctly.”  My mom listens intently then berates my dad for not getting me a more reliable alarm clock.  He just shakes his head and smiles.  Driving to the bus stop, he asks what we could do differently to make sure I get up on time.  I do not have any thoughts on this matter and he gently suggests I consider going to bed earlier.  For obvious reasons, I ignore this suggestion.  However, an ingenious idea comes to me.  I will create and sell alarm clocks that will play the worst song ever written over and over.   When you hit the snooze button, it just increases the volume.  I settle on “Friday” by Rebecca Black.  This idea will make me as rich as Mark Zuckerburg.

We approach the bus stop but no one is there.  Down the road, I see the bright yellow school bus flashing its obnoxious red lights.  Panic and fear hit me—I don’t want to miss the bus.  Again.  My dad, once again (Do you see a pattern here?) repeats his advice that getting to bed earlier will make it easier to get up and we won’t have to rush to the bus.  I nod in agreement, mostly to ensure that he stops talking because it is too early to even attempt to communicate.  We catch up to the bus or as I like to think of it, a chauffeur picking up six more zombies.  I rush onto the bus with my back pack and softball bag.  My entrance is less than graceful as I knock over the fire extinguisher.  Again.

 The bus arrives at school at 6:53.  I put my bag down in the team room and then proceed to sit with my friends.  The second bell rings and I somehow manage to make it to class with my eyes half shut.  There are four kids who are actually sleeping, their heads on the desk.  It’s a record high!

 In between walking to first and second period, the hallway I use is jammed up.  No one moves and there is a big commotion in the hallway due to an “adorable prom proposal.”  Ah…young love.  I have another brilliant idea for making money: a portable GPS system to alert students of blocked hallways.

 The morning ends, kind of, when the bell rings at 10:40 for lunch.  It’s time for friends, nourishment, and teacher visits.  Following this very important part of the school day, it’s back to class.  I feel energized and although only three students are napping during the next class, this too is a new record.

 What a day it’s been! Again.

According to Mental Health America, an organization dedicated to educating Americans about mental health, teenage depression is increasing at an alarming rate, and one in five teenagers suffer from it.

CHS is no exception. An Observer survey this month of 100 students found that 76 percent believe that teenage depression is epidemic and 38 percent claim to suffer from it.

Teen Angst vs. Teen Depression
During high school years, it is difficult to decipher which feelings classify a person as depressed and which are simply growing pains caused by hormones.

According to Chevy Chase psychiatrist Laurel Hodas, depression can be distinguished from milder afflictions by its persistence.

“When you have simple angst, you can snap out of it and enjoy things,” Hodas said. “Depression is more global and long-term.”

There are different degrees of depression.

“Depression is really on a spectrum,” Chevy Chase psychiatrist Antonia Baum said. “It goes from a condition we call ‘dysthymia,’ which is a lower level of depression, to the other end of the spectrum, where there are episodes called ‘major depressive episodes’—and there is a whole lot in between.”

Reasons Teens Become Depressed
One thing is certain: teens are particularly vulnerable to the disease. A recent study done by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh showed that adolescents are more likely to become depressed than adults.

“There is a lot of research now to indicate that the adolescent brain is not fully developed,” Baum said. “There is an immaturity to it that leads adolescents to make poor judgments that make them susceptible to depression. That’s purely biological.”

At CHS, stress appears to be a prevalent cause of depression. Of the students surveyed, 39 percent cited “stress” or “school stress” as a major reason behind the problem.

Teens try on different personas almost like the latest fashion, which can lead to self-doubt and confusion.

“Trying on a new identity can lead to existential crises,” Baum said. “People are often struggling with sexual orientation and sexual identity as teenagers; if there’s a gender identity or sexual orientation issue, oftentimes in teenagers that’s when depression sets in.”

In addition, losing friends can trigger depression in teenagers.

According to sophomore Val Wear, she became depressed because she lost friends in a time of need.

Symptoms of Teen Depression
The basic symptoms of depression include overwhelming sadness, lethargy, anger and withdrawal from friends and family.

According to an article by psychologist Berney Wilkinson on theledger.com, an online newspaper, teenagers often feel alone and think nobody has gone through their experiences before.

Grades can begin to fall, not due to laziness, but due to the overwhelming nature of depression.

“Teachers ask, ‘Why did you fail this test?,’” sophomore Tara Lattimer said. “I can’t just come out and tell them my whole life story. When I try to tell them it’s because I can’t escape depression, it comes out as a jumble and sounds like an excuse.”

How Teens Can Recover
According to Baum, the most effective method to recover is talking to a friend, a relative or a mental health professional.

“Talking to somebody is the best way to cope with depression because it helps you feel like you’re not alone,” Baum said. “It’s scary to feel angry and frustrated and sad and not really understand why.”

It is also important to locate the aspects of one’s life that triggered depression and improve them.

According to an article by psychiatrist David Mrazek on mayoclinic.com, a medical research website, the key to overcoming depression is taking small steps. While it is difficult to improve one’s life all at once, exercising and trying to improve one’s social life are great ways to begin.

Above all, the first step of recovery  is realizing that depression is not something to be ashamed of.

“Depression is a medical illness, not a weakness,” Hodas said. “A lot of people feel that they can hold themselves up by their boot straps, but when they’re clinically depressed, not just teenage angst, there are no boot straps. They really do need to get help. People who have other medical illnesses get help all the time, so this should just be another medical illness that needs to be treated by a doctor.”

Though not well known among the CHS crowd, they should be. Their newest album, Journey Through the Shadows, will be released May 8, and they’re embarking on a countrywide tour, stopping in DC May 29 at DC9 Nightclub. They’ve already branded their own wine and released an iPhone app in South Africa.

This band seems to have the formula down for creating hit songs. Their newest album is strongly reminiscent of alt-rock bands such as the Killers, Muse and Coldplay. It offers a mix of slow and fast paced songs, all while having an eclectic feel.

Standout songs on the album include “Goodbyes,” which starts as a poignant ballad that showcases lead vocalist Kahn Morbee’s soft voice, but speeds up to a pace that isn’t too fast, but very catchy. Listeners will find themselves bobbing their heads along with this song.

“Sweet as a Stolen Kiss” starts out with almost trance-like sounds, which quickly turns into a sort of retro alternative rock tune. On paper, it sounds like a weird mix, but the Parlotones make it work.

It’s hard to pick out the best song on this album because each one has its own individual aspects that make it enjoyable. Don’t be fooled by the different vibe that the first track, “Freak Show,” gives. It’s probably the most diverse track found on the album, sounding unlike the others.

Journey Through the Shadows is not for everyone. It will quickly become clear that those who are not traditionally fans of alternative rock may be turned off from it, though if it is given a chance, the album will hook listeners after the first two songs.

All of the songs are most similar to the sound that the Killers have cultivated throughout the years. All around, they’re pleasant to listen to and it’s clear to see why they’ve become such huge artists in their hometown. Pick up their new record on May 8, and see why they deserve a chance with American listeners.

According to the CHS Parent and Student Handbook, the penalty for plagiarizing ranges from a zero on a particular assignment to expulsion from the school system. Despite the severe repercussions, teachers sometimes unknowingly reprimand innocent students for plagiarizing their assignments. In other cases, teachers are unable take action against students who plagiarize because of Turnitin’s incomplete and unspecific reports.

One major problem with the Turnitin software is that many of the phrases flagged by its detection system are not incidents of plagiarism, but commonly used phrases that define the topic of the paper, such as “global warming.”

According to Inside Higher Ed, an online publication that focuses on college and university topics, researchers have found “high percentages of flagged material in the topic terms of papers.” Turnitin counts titles, quotations and page numbers as plagiarized material. Such baseless and inaccurate reporting has unfairly raised students’ plagiarism percentages above the accepted threshold.

Furthermore, Turnitin is unsuccessful in preventing certain types of plagiarism.

According to Community.turnitin.com, a website that rates the various services of Turnitin, the Turnitin plagiarism detection software is unable to recognize plagiarized material from print sources.

Turnitin is not a complete plagiarism checker because it can only cross reference with online sources. Students who are aware of this can plagiarize from books without being caught. Also, it does not flag sentences that have been slightly altered from other sources. Turnitin often misses plagiarized material while wrongly identifying commonly used phrases as copied material.

According to the University of California Office of Instructional Development, using a service like Turnitin has adverse legal implications for students.

Writings that are supposed to be confidential between a teacher and student are often exposed by Turnitin if it finds another paper to be similar.

According to Cyberdash.com, a website that critiques online programs, McGill University lost two court cases filed by its students for forcing them to submit their essays to Turnitin. The students claimed that Turnitin violated the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, (FERPA), which protects the privacy of student education records.

According to Inside Higher Ed, Turnitin fails in reporting the source of the material from which a student has copied. Texas Tech researchers found that when they submitted plagiarized papers, the sources that Turnitin produced did not match the websites used to create the plagiarized paper. As a result, teachers are unable to punish students who plagiarize because they do not know where they copied from.

Given Turnitin’s imprecise plagiarism meter and its controversial methods, it should not be used to check for plagiarism. Though Turnitin advertises itself as the “leading academic plagiarism detector,” it actually lacks the technological sophistication that should be present in such programs. Alternative measures need to be taken to ensure academic integrity. Turnitin– an outdated and ineffective program–is definitely not the answer.

The feedback on the video was mostly positive. People were happy and willing to support a charity whose main purpose was to stop an African warlord who captured 5-year-old children and forced the boys to become child soldiers and the girls to become sex slaves.

However, in traditional Internet fashion, a wave of backlash soon developed against Invisible Children, the charity that produced the video.

Some criticized the cause itself, objecting to the reduction of a complicated situation into the life of a single villain whose arrest would magically restore peace in an area with many struggles.

While the video did simplify the situation and spoke in absolutes, it was necessary to get the message across. By simplifying the situation, Invisible Children clarified their message: stop Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Others attacked the organization for being partially funded by a religious foundation, as The National Christian Foundation donated over $400,000 to the charity.

This is not a blemish on the charity’s record, but rather proof that it is a mature and efficient organization that can be trusted to responsibly handle funds from thousands of donors. The fact that a religious group donates has nothing to do with the group’s efforts to stop genocide.

The biggest knock on the charity has been the way the organization breaks down its expenses.

According to the Invisible Children website, 37 percent of the money goes toward direct aid through several programs, and this is the only number used by the charity’s critics.

While the number might seem low, it is important to recognize that direct involvement is not the main purpose of the organization. Invisible Children’s primary goal has always been to draw enough attention to pressing issues so that governments will intervene, not to be directly involved.

According to the Invisible Children website, over 46 percent of the organization’s budget is dedicated to raising awareness, leaving just 17 percent for overhead, salaries and other expenses.

The highest rated charities by the American Institute of Philanthropy normally give around 75 percent of their total income to their programs. Invisible Children gives 83 percent.

Whenever a new fad appears it is easy to attack it. Taking the opposite viewpoint gives the illusion of intelligence, and says, “I know more than you and that’s why I go against the general opinion.”

The fact is, the charity is doing good and has the right intentions. It is fine to hate on something for the sake of going against the grain, but next time, do some research.

But the most disturbing problem isn’t what’s going on in the Middle East or in Congress or with the President—it’s a domestic problem we can’t seem to sort out—the growing income gap.

According to a Nov. 3, 2011 article from ProPublica, a journalistic news source, from 1979 to 2007 the top one percent of households in America experienced a 275 percent increase in income growth, while the bottom fifth has experienced only an 18.3 percent increase.

The Occupy protestors have been demonstrating across the country against this disparity, but no one seems ready to change anything, maybe because the necessary change contradicts something renowned in America and crucial to our economy: capitalism. Many of Obama’s opponents are bent on complaining that he is a socialist. His supporters are quick to point out he’s not, but I want to ask, so what if he is? What is so wrong with socialism?

Socialism is an economic style in which the government has vested control of ownership and distribution of capital. Unlike communism, it gives people their liberties and rights to do what they want with their careers.

The American Dream is the idea that a person can capitalize on opportunity and create his or her own success—but one glaring problem in capitalism is that it is success at another person’s expense. We live in an individualistic culture where achieving success on a personal level is the dream. Is that the dream we want for our country?

Capitalism focuses on the appearance of success. Yes, America has done well, but our recessions and declining state of economy prove that our system needs improvement. While it has several positive aspects—it encourages innovation, responsibility and supports freedom—it has some fundamental flaws that hurt more than help.

According to a Nov. 6, 2009 Forbes article, free market capitalism assumes that the leaders of enterprises will have the integrity to keep the economy fair and just. Unfortunately, we cannot trust humans to do that because it is human nature to look out for ourselves over each other.

Capitalism in itself rewards consumers more than creators and doesn’t solve the problem of the income gap. This is evident in Wall Street—people make more money speculating on the value of a product than the people who actually created the product. And while it is fine for people to profit off someone else’s work, too many people manipulate the system to their advantage.

Socialism also has its flaws, but it is the more noble option. The common argument against it is that if a person works hard for his money then he shouldn’t have it taken away by taxes, but it’s not as clear cut as that. The definition of working hard is relative. Let’s take two archetypes.

Archetype number one is someone living in southeast D.C., juggling two jobs to pay the electricity bills and the mortgage. He works as many shifts as he can to make extra money. He comes home late to make sure his kids don’t get sucked into gangs and drugs. His kids have to do as well as they can at a D.C. public school where teachers deal with many struggling kids, and college acceptance is far from guaranteed.

Archetype number two is a CEO who has to juggle his employees at a large company but makes enough money to live in an affluent neighborhood with good schools. He doesn’t get to see his family as much as he’d like. Who works harder?

When we’re born into a certain class, we expect to either stay stagnant or move up, assuming we don’t make poor life choices. We neglect the fact that society makes it difficult for some people from the start and then tells them it’s their responsibility to climb up a steeper ladder. Socialism does more to protect those people.

Yes, you have to pay more taxes. Yes, a large welfare state can be inefficient, and many people may not trust the government to handle their money. In reality, bits of socialism are already around through programs like Medicare, Social Security and public education. The money collected can then go into improving the system. With proper regulation, it’s the best form of economic government for a community. The unemployed are not all slackers; our current recession should have taught us that.

The job of the government isn’t just to ensure equality of opportunity, it is to save the people who fall through the cracks of the system. Because we live in a consumer-driven capitalistic society, we are selfishly inclined to protect our own money, and that is okay. But when we envision a free America that offers opportunity for all, we should think about whether that opportunity really is for all, or whether we’re just choosing to live in a bubble because it’s more convenient for us to ignore those who need the extra help.

On the flipside, YOLO can also be used as a reason to value your choices and make smart decisions. You only live once, so why take your chances? This clearly isn’t the message Drake had in mind in his song “The Motto” from which all the insanity began, but living your life to the fullest and making bad choices are two very different notions.

It really comes down to the old riddle. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Are people acting in this careless, dangerous manner because of the YOLO epidemic or did the fad start because of people’s crazy actions? Regardless, YOLO is a pathetic excuse for acting like an idiot and not valuing life with irresponsible, life-threatening actions.

There’s a thin line between bravery and stupidity. Living in the now and being spontaneous is healthy. Travel often, eat well, do fun things, explore a different side of yourself. That’s what YOLO should be all about. Instead, this generation is using the phrase as a justification for drunk driving and excessive risky behavior that provides little-to-no personal gain.

YOLO mockery is just as prevalent and annoying as the typical YOLO usage. There are two kinds of YOLO jokes: the sarcastic YOLO and the outrageous YOLO.

The sarcastic YOLO joke consists of an everyday activity, suggesting a sarcastic tone, followed by YOLO. For example: the Twitter account @YOLOjokes tweeted, “Showering naked #YOLO.”

The outrageous YOLO consists of an over-the-top insane act followed by YOLO. @YOLOjokes tweeted, “Putting vinegar in my mom’s contact solution #YOLO.”

After seeing it “hashtagged” in every tweet and mentioned in countless Facebook statuses, one can only wonder what’s next. But like that awesome song you can’t help but play a million times, we all know YOLO will be short-lived, or shall I say, will only live once. I propose a reevaluation of the motto. We need an acronym with more room for interpretation. CHS students, for my very sanity, I beg you to consider any of the following phrases as a replacement for YOLO. If I’m told how many times I live just one more time, I may have to transfer.