Starting out at $35 for single and $55 for couples, tickets soon dropped to $25 for singles and $45 for couples

“We spoke with some Juniors and Seniors and they said that they would be more interested in buying Winter Formal tickets if the prices were lower,” said junior Noa Barak, a co-chair of the junior committee in charge of winter formal expanded on the price cut. “I guess the main reason people weren’t buying was because the tickets were too expensive.”

Before the price drop, the tickets were set to increase by $5 a week in the way that they have other years. But with sales lagging, Leadership decided to keep prices consistently low this year.

Students have reason to be concerned about the low number of tickets sold. “People [don't] quite understand that Winter Formal’s revenue goes directly towards Prom 2013 and senior week,” said Junior Class President Dana Thomas. “This means that the Junior Committee in Leadership needs to fundraise like crazy in order to make up the deficit.”

Thomas believes the precedent established by previous dances may have damaged this year’s sales. “I think this Winter Formal will be really fun, but I only wish that it didn’t have such a bad reputation…from previous years; [that] really hurt us this year. I hope that next year people will buy tickets in support of the class of 2014.”

Podcast

Procrastination Tips

1. Glue some paper petals to an old headband to make your head into a human flower.

2. Pillowfight!!!!

3. Make sugar cookies in spring-related shapes.

4. Make a centerpiece for the dinner table with tissue paper flowers.

5. Read other stories on mabearnews.com

For Your Dose of Funny

(You should probably click this link to play the game for yourself: http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html )

Music to Study By

With the new season upon us, it’s time for some upbeat tunes that are sure to get you pumped up!

Or listen on Spotify here: http://open.spotify.com/user/claireallegra/playlist/2apzoxnE3v5Actk5kY4Q9O

Now that you’ve reached the end of the playlist, get back to work! Those assignments aren’t going to complete themselves.

Or you can always procrastinate more and view last week’s StudyBreak here.

Have you ever tickled a slow loris? No, we didn’t think so

Like pandas but red

We feel for sleepy bear

MEET THEM!!

ice skate better than you

Holla at cute pandas…..holla at them!

Christmas puppies be mad cute.

Snoozin’ bruh

Oak Knoll got nuffin’

Ears fuh dayzz

Four years ago, Jen Novak founded the the Ravenswood Education Foundation with the goal of raising money for the Ravenswood City School District. Renu Nanda became the Executive Director in Aug. 2011. Since then, Nanda has been working to help people determine how to invest in the district and spreading its success.

“In our four years, we’re proud of our results.  We want to continue to build a strong and connected community, provide strategic and effective resources and opportunities for district students, and of course, to continue to deepen and expand our supporters,” said Nanda, who was on the REF board for three years before being asked to become the Executive Director this past August.

69 percent of students in the Ravenwood School district are English language learners, while 89 percent come from low income families. The Ravenswood Education Foundation works to provide the best possible learning environment for these students.

As part of her new position, Nanda has made changes that resulted in an increase in progress and donations in comparison to previous years. Between 2007 and 2010, the district Academic Performance Index (API) score jumped from 637 to 715, a drastic improvement, but still falls short of the statewide target of 800.

About 70% of the Ravenswood Education Foundation’s funding comes from individuals and the other 30% comes from local foundations and corporations

Nanda explained, “We raise funds throughout the year, with an annual campaign in the fall and a spring gala. We also have great partnerships with local corporations such as Bosch Healthcare, Facebook, VMWare, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, who have reached out and offered to help. Closer to home, students such as Fiona Dewar, President of the Applied Arts Club here at M-A, held a fundraiser and made a donation to support REF and one of our schools.”

In the future, the Ravenswood Education Foundation hopes to continue to build a strong connection with the community, as well as provide numerous opportunities for the students. Expanding their supporters is also very important to their district.

“Looking ahead, REF is examining 8th grade transition to ensure that students are well- prepared to enter high school, and we’re reviewing how to support the district in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).”

For more information on how you can support the Ravenswood Education Foundation, go to www.ravenswoodef.org.

Though it began as a two-person club in the early 2000s, M-A’s debate team has now evolved into a substantial organization currently including eleven members. Although the debate team was dissolved in 2005, it restarted again in 2007 and since then has been steadily growing.

Debate is an intensely engaging activity that involves arguing about and discussing topics ranging from ethics to philosophy to politics. Senior Patrick Reed described debate as an “academic version of sports.”

The debate team is given a new topic annually that they discuss and research in-depth for the entire academic year. This year’s topic is space policy, which covers use of shuttles, satellites, and the workings of NASA.

Each member of the team has an admirable passion for debate. “The debate team has made me a much better writer, academically. I have many more skills because I know how to speak and present my arguments, and I’ve also gained a larger group of friends through debate clinics and debate camps over the summer,” says senior Matt Rosenthal, captain of the team.

As captain of the team and president of the club, Rosenthal is responsible for the organizational aspect of debates as well as education of new members.

Debate tournaments are held on the weekends, and can range from a full day to an entire weekend or three day weekend. At a typical tournament, a two-person team will give speeches that range from about 45 minutes to two hours.

Senior Jake Bercow said that the debate team has helped him improve his writing skills, taught him to argue in new ways, and also aided in the college process.

Besides the educational benefits of debate, there are also social ones as well. ”There’s a really tight-knit social organization in debate… I have friends across the country in Georgia and New York and Pennsylvania who are all members of the debate community and it’s something that we all share,” said Reed.

If you are interested in joining the debate team, contact a debate member. Meetings are held Monday and Thursday at lunch in B-2.

Rick Santorum finished a distant third in Florida with 13% of the vote to Romney’s 46% and Gingrich’s 32%, and Ron Paul finished an even more distant fourth, locking up only 7% of voters. Neither Paul nor Santorum had focused particularly on the state, however, with each choosing to divert their attention and resources instead to Nevada, which holds its primary on Feb. 4.

Gingrich has been the perennial swing candidate of the race. His campaign nearly foundered over the summer, as nearly all of his staffers abandoned the campaign, only to rise astronomically last December, leading Gingrich to declare he was “going be the nominee.” Hit with attack ads, Gingrich fared dismally in Iowa and New Hampshire, and then cruised to victory in the socially conservative South Carolina.

With the results coming in from Florida, Gingrich’s 2012 hopes suffered a severe blow. For the sake of promoting a horse race, the media relentlessly play up Gingrich’s chances of success and of resurgence, and while the erratic nature of this year’s race rules nothing out, Gingrich’s chance for success appears slim.

More voters than in the previous three primaries combined voted in Florida, which represents a more diverse voter base that is more representative of the Republican electorate as a whole than the bases in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina. That Gingrich was unable to compete in Florida, and that he lost his mantle of ‘invincibility’ in debate to a more aggressive Romney, will likely pose problems for the Gingrich camp that will be difficult to overcome in the weeks ahead.

After a gloves-off, belligerent campaign in Florida, Romney possibly eased fears among hard-line conservatives that he would not fight tough, or have the unapologetic aggression we have seen in Gingrich. Nevertheless, while Romney may have cut into what John Podhoretz of the New York Post called Romney’s “clean-cut Boy Scout Ken-doll candidate from Massachusetts” image, Romney also risked alienating independent voters to whom his less combative approach appealed.

Gingrich fully embraced the increasingly antagonistic tenor of the race, failing to pay Romney the customary congratulatory call after the race. Gingrich also omitted mention of the former governor by name in his final speech in Florida, with only one reference to the “Massachusetts moderate.” Enamored of speaking and less so of conceding, Gingrich did manage to include a populist and anti-Romney jab, saying he would have “people power defeat money power.”

Both Romney and many Republican leaders have sought to look beyond the fight for the nomination and to the general election in November, but with the persistence of candidates like Gingrich, Santorum and Paul, the Republican Party has remained fragmented, unable to coalesce around a single candidate.

Romney naturally believes he is the candidate that the Republican base should rally around, but as the campaign moves to Nevada, his opponents show few signs of surrender. In a ‘concession’ speech that read more like a campaign rally, Gingrich said, “We are going to contest every place and we are going to win, and we will be in Tampa as the nominee in August.”

Chubby Bunny: This game involves sticking as many marshmallows in your mouth as possible while still being able to say the words “chubby bunny.” Who doesn’t love a game where you can shove your face with food? But shockingly, this game caused the death of 6th grader Catherine Fish, who choked on a marshmallow.  Senior Alan Propp adds, “I myself was almost killed in a high stakes game of chubby bunny at a 10th birthday party.”  So before you try to stuff one more marshmallow in your mouth, think “is my mouth really that big?”

Piñata: When you put hyper kids, blindfolds, bats, and candy together, you’re asking for trouble.  Steer clear of this game unless you’re willing to risk being whacked by the powerful hit of a little league champion.  Also, diving to the ground to fight over stale candy is rarely worth the grass stains or bruises.

Red Rover: A popular elementary school game, Red Rover consists of children trying to run through and break the chain of their friends’ linked arms. When the kids are overly aggressive, or if their growth has been accelerated by McDonald’s and KFC, their force could be enough to crush bones or topple people to the ground.  Senior Brianna Mack has had firsthand experience with these risks: “I know kids who have broken their arms from Red Rover. That game means business and some serious precautions need to be taken.”

Truth or Dare: Truth or dare is a great game for watching your friends embarrass themselves and spill all their secrets.  Sometimes, though, the dares can go too far.  If you feel uncomfortable doing said dares, speak up before you place yourself in a dangerous situation.  Or just be that one wimp who chooses truth every time.

Egg Toss: For those with less dexterity and hand-eye coordination, the egg toss could cause some problems.  Other than getting your clothes dirty, raw eggs present the danger of salmonella.  Wash your hands after you play to avoid the risk of frequent trips to the bathroom, or even death.

Beer Pong: With this game, along with other drinking games, lurks the obvious danger of alcohol poisoning.  Jenna Foellmi, a 20-year-old college student, died from alcohol poisoning after consuming numerous alcoholic beverages and participating in a game of beer pong.  It also presents the less obvious danger of embarrassment and humiliation while intoxicated, and bloating (you don’t want to look chubby in the pictures that will undoubtedly cover your news feed the next day).  Aside from being dangerous, Michael Hester notes that it is “just unacceptable because it involves underage drinking and I do not sponsor that.”  Next time, think before you drink to avoid painful hangovers, puke, and videos you really don’t want to watch the morning after.