over took several coastal cities before attacking Benghazi with tanks. The following months led to the rebel forces regaining many of their cities, as well as casualties on both sides. After many battles, the rebels made

their way to the capital of Libya, Tripoli. With little compliance from the government forces, rebels seized Gadaffi’s own living quar-ters. However, Gadaffi’s family had fled, and it was believed that Muammar Gadaffi had escaped into another country. A bounty of 2 million dinars (LD), Libyan cur-rency, has been set

by members of the NTC for the capture of Muammar Gadaffi to the NTC, dead or alive. Gadaffi’s whereabouts remain unknown. Since the U.S.’ involvement with other countries to issue the “no-fly zone”, the ques-tion as to whether or not the United States will become more involved has surfaced. “I thought our foreign policy involves helping democracy all over the world. It is quite ex-pensive, but can you put a price on freedom?” Thomas said.

cares about their country and its people would want to de-stroy everything.” Gadaffi’s ruling tactics led to widespread protest and a call for his removal from office. On February 15, 2011, peaceful protests began, but they were met by violent military force ordered by Gadaffi himself. While people protested for freedom, their leader took violence to the extreme by stabbing, shooting and beating protest-ers, as well as calling them “cockroaches.” Maverick Blanton, a senior at LPHS, said, “It hardly paints a picture of a benevolent ruler.” Forces opposing Gadaffi established a government based in Benghazi named the National Transitional Council, with its intended purpose to act as a “political face of revolution.” The National Transitional Council, which includes the U.S., issued a no-fly zone over Libya as well. Gadaffi issued a ceasefire, but continued to battle, and soon

2October 2011Hi Times Issue 1 Vol. 103

2011-2012 Hi-Times Staff Editors-in-chief:

Brittany Belkiewitz Courtney West

Copy Editor: Abby Feikes

Ads Staff:

Nicole Griffin Will Lott Nicky Mazur Skyler Shortt

Adviser: Miss Saoud

Staff Writers:

Taylor CriderHannah DemchakJenna DiehlMartin GarciaCole KelloggErica LangJordan LenardKelsie LongZach McCoyKharson NurnbergAlex SaliwanchikTommy SnyderJenny SzymkowskiDusty UmphreyZach WinslettBianca WoosleyBrittany Zarazee

A day to remember: ten years after 9/11

The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has put the Unites States through an emotional and scary rollercoaster. This ten-year journey has affected many people’s lives. 9/11 was a shock that changed the course of history, but it will not change the American people. The attacks led to increased national unity. After ten years, America has really shown its colors and pulled through the tragedy to renew a sense of safety and well-being. “I feel like the United States has really gotten organized and back on the right track. This day will have an impact on America forever and all we can do is learn from it and move forward,” junior Kody Harlow said. Americans were encouraged to remain calm and carry on with their lives. People can-not expect citizens to act like nothing happened, but just thinking to oneself that every-thing is going to be alright is an attitude booster. The national display of emo-tion and affection has been

tremendous. “9/11 should be remembered because of the innocent civil-ian lives lost. It was a very sad and depressing day for most of the United States,” senior Lisa Kobos said. People could go on forever listing excuses and how things could have turned out differ-ently. However, this will not get the country anywhere. On a positive note, there were many events memorializing the tenth anniversary for 9/11. There were many memorials held for all the lost lives in the tragic terrorist attack. A lot of cities had a moment of silence several times in the day where the fire stations would sound sirens in memory of the many firefighters who risked their lives to save others. “The events held on the tenth anniversary for 9/11 were a chance to sit down and remember all of the firefight-ers and citizens that lost their lives. I think these events should always occur on this day because it was a huge tragedy in America and will be remembered forever,” freshman Aryanna Corbett said. Americans will move for-ward, but this tragic event will always stay with us.

By Alex SaliwanchakStaff Writer

Hurricane Irene took its toll on thousands of people on the East Coast. Out of all the cities that were hit, Paterson, New Jersey, and the surround-ing area felt the wrath of the storm the most. President Obama spoke to the people of Paterson and also traveled to nearby Wayne, New Jersey, to give a speech on Fayette Avenue. There has been an economic loss estimated at an astonish-ing $2.1 billion. People were without power weeks after Irene made its impact. At a local Lowe’s, President Obama met and talked with people as he handed out ice, peanut butter and apple juice. The President is making sure that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is help-ing the people of New Jersey. “There needs to be aid. Com-panies will have a lot of work due to excessive damage,” Mr.

Manering, an LPHS economics teacher, said. President Obama saw the im-pact a little differently. “You know it could have been worse. But we should not underestimate the heartache that’s going through a lot of these communities, affecting a lot of families,” President Obama said. The Passaic River, a National Historic Landmark, rose 14 feet and flooded the entire city of Paterson. The overflow-ing Passaic forced over 4,000 residents out of their homes. Out of those 4,000, 100 people were rescued after being trapped. Nine people perished in this treacherous storm, and many more were either physi-cally or emotionally distressed. The Pompton River flooded as well, causing damage to the city. Paterson is the third larg-est city in New Jersey. Once a booming factory city of over 150,000 people, Paterson is now a ghost town.

Obama responds urgentlyto Hurricane Irene damageBy Jordan LenardStaff Writer

During his speech, Presi-dent Obama promised that “Washington Politics” would not get in the way of Irene recovery. When leaving Essex County airport, he peered out the window of his plane and saw a heartbreaking poster that simply said, “Help Us.” President Obama mentioned that everyone is trying to help, whether they are a Democrat or Republican. After seeing the aftermath of Irene in New Jer-sey, the President later signed an emergency declaration for the state of Vermont. On the President’s great tour of New Jersey, he worked his way from Newark to Fairfield to Wayne, reaching out to as many people as he could. The last time a President visited Paterson was back in 1976. Gerald Ford was in office at the time, and he was there to declare the Passaic River’s Great Falls a National Historic Landmark. “It’s going to take some time to recover,” Obama said.

Libya, an oil-rich country in North America, is in the midst of what some would call a “civil war.” After being under aberrant rule of Muam-mar Gadaffi for over 40 years, Gadaffi was pushed out of power in August 2011 after six months of struggle, due to Libya protestors. Gadaffi led his country in erratic ways, such as weaken-ing its government so that he would always have the upper hand. After seizing power in 1969, Gadaffi abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951 and im-posed laws based on his own ideology. He placed relatives and loyal members of his tribe in central military positions, thus maintaining a slight bal-ance of powers and stability. He deliberately weakened his military in fear of a military coup. The Libyan Army con-sisted of about 50,000 person-nel. The army had four major units that were led by loyalists and the sons of Gadaffi. The other units, however, were poorly trained and were armed with very out-dated military equiptment. Mr. Thomas, a U.S. his-tory teacher at LaPorte High School, said, “No leader who

By Will LottStaff Writer

Libyan civil war igniteslasting, violent turmoil

A pink eviction notice flutters in the breeze, nailed to a board-ed-up front window. A shady-looking man in a puffy jacket slips a grocery bag into a friend’s car, exchanging his trouble for a fat wad of cash. One might ex-pect such a transaction to take place in a back alleyway of Chi-cago, not the Maple City. But in recent years, La Porte has witnessed a dramatic in-crease in drug-related crimes, accidents and deaths. Accord-ing to the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, the town is following a nation-al trend of greater drug usage spurred by higher unemploy-ment rates. “There aren’t enough activi-ties for people to do, so they get

bored. That’s a big part of the problem,” senior Leslie Avila said. “A lot more people are go-ing to the hospital as a result of drug overdosages. There have even been some deaths recent-ly.” Prescription drugs, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines are among the most frequently abused substances, and each is associated with lasting harmful effects. A study conducted by the Part-nership for a Drug Free America found that as many as four in ten teens believed prescription drugs are safer than illegal drugs. Three in ten believed over-the-counter medications were not addictive. Unfortunately, such ignorance is not bliss. When drug-users enter into altered states of con-sciousness, they tend to use

poor judgment, which can result in tragic accidents. The La Porte area has wit-nessed an especially sudden spike in the production and use of methamphetamines. Police have discovered secret meth labs in basements, garages, trail-ers and even vehicles. “Cook-ers,” who expose themselves, and oftentimes, their children, to a cocktail of toxic chemicals, experience severe tooth decay, malnourishment, brain damage and paranoia that leads to bodi-ly self-harm. On August 25, Republican mayoral candidate Blair Milo held a round-table discussion at Engstroms Auction Gallery entitled “The Road to Recovery: Addressing the Challenges for a Drug-Free La Porte.” The politician said, “This is an issue that affects the community

right now, and it needs to be ad-dressed right now.” She continued, “There are folks from law enforcement and re-habilitation centers who are all working towards eradicat-ing substance abuse in La Porte County. We talked about prob-lems that our city faces, because La Porte has become known as kind of a ‘safer’ place to deal. Especially with the downturn in the economy, a number of fac-tors have contributed to drug problems. That’s actually why I put together a round table dis-cussion to focus on this issue. More needs to be done--we need a more dedicated level of city in-volvement.” LPHS sophomore Megan Mar-tin agreed. “I’ve heard a lot of kids talking about doing drugs. I’ve even seen a drug deal happen at lunch,”

Martin said. “But I think that if the people of La Porte make this a stronger focus of their energy, we can solve this dilemma.” A list of ideas for positive steps toward decreasing the presence of illegal drugs was generated at the round table discussion. Implementing more widespread drug testing in schools and ef-fectively educating students about the harmful effects of drugs were among the possible solutions. Milo issued a word of warning to LPHS students. “I think that it’s important to realize what may seem like a spur-of-the-moment opportu-nity to try something new may actually turn into a life-chang-ing decision that you will one day regret. Be sure to fully think things through to prevent taking a step in the wrong direction.”

Help the city of LP become drug-freeBy Brittany Belkiewitz Editor-in-Chief

“I thought our foreign policy in-volves helping de-mocracy all over the world. It is

quite expensive, but can you put a

price on freedom?” -Mr. Thomas

geography teacher