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Expectations run high with future Obama presidency
u A dam H olmes ______________
Staff Reporter
A new chapter in U.S.
history was written when
Democrat Barack Obama was
elected the 44th president,
as well as the nation's first
African-American president.
A race that began in early 2007
with almost 20 candidates
ended with Obama gamering
53% of the popular vote and
Republican candidate John
McCain earning 46% of the
popular vote. In addition,
Obama earned 364 electoral
votes, compared to McCain's
163. A candidate requires at
least 270 votes in order to seize
the nomination.
In a race that favored the
Democrats, Obama managed
to snatch several states that
were considered "red" in
the 2004 election, including
Colorado, Florida, Iowa,
Indiana, Nevada, North
Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and
Wyoming. Obama, with his
vice-presidential elect Joseph
Biden, ran a campaign under
the message "Change we can
believe in," and managed to
draw an enormous amount
of diverse voters. Regardless
of who voted for whom, this
election boasted the largest
voter turnout for the past
40 years, with 64.1% of the
population participating. This
was also the election that had
the second highest youth voter
turnout in history, between
49.3 and 54.5 percent.
"Four years ago when
George Bush was reelected,
it felt like a vote out of fear.
Many people interviewed after
the election said they voted
out of fear of terrorism. This
election felt so different. It
felt like a vote of hope. Many
people interviewed after this
election said they voted with
hope that a president with a
new perspective and a new
demeanor might take us in a
new, positive direction," Todd
Jones, social studies teacher,
said.
Obama is already
preparing for the months
ahead. In addition to making
arrangements to move into the
White Flouse, Obama is also
selecting his administration.
On Nov. 6, he chose former
Clinton senior adviser Rahm
Emanuel as White House Chief
of Staff. On Dec.l, he unveiled
his national security team,
which includes such choices
as former rival Senator Hillary
Clinton as Secretary of State
Scholarship opportunities
change with economic fall
Sgiiainrsiiips__________________ u
continued from page 2
A C orvallis couple,
Peter and R osalie Johnson,
started a scholarship
fund in 1998, and over
the years com m itted
m ore than $700,000 to
benefit m ore than 100
students in the School of
C hem ical, Biological, and
Environm ental Engineering
at O SU . T heir latest pledge
of $2.4 m illion, donated
on Oct. 19, w ill provide
support for 16 students
annually.
The O SU fundraising
cam paign has set a goal
of $625 m illion and has
already raised $450 m illion
in an effort to offer m ore
financial aid. But it isn't the
only college trying to offer
m ore m oney to students.
C olum bia U niversity w ill
be extend ing the am ount
of financial aid aw arded to
low er and m iddle incom e
students. U ndergraduates
from fam ilies w ith incom es
as high as $60,000 a year
w on't have to pay for
tuition, room and board
beginning next fall. It w ill
be further expanding the
aid to fam ilies earning up
to $100,000.
Since early Decem ber,
several elite universities
and colleges have either
expanded aid for m iddle
and upper incom e students
or replaced loans w ith
grants for m ost students.
In som e cases attending
a private college could
cost less than a public
university. A ccording to the
New York Times, presidents
of m any expensive private
colleges are w ondering how
m uch m ore tuition pressure
fam ilies can bear.
For sm aller, m ore
affordable classes, m ore
students than ever are
considering attending
com m unity college. There
are 17 com m unity colleges
in O regon. A ccording to
the C lackam as C om m unity
C ollege w ebsite, the 35,008
attended students attended
last year w ith 15,338 part-
tim e students and 1,592
full-tim e students.
A t Portland C om m unity
C ollege the tuition is
$70 per credit w ith som e
additional fees. A ccording
to the PCC w ebsite, 86,164
students attended w ith
23,011 w ho w ere full tim e
students in 2006-2007. Both
PCC and CCC offer various
scholarships as w ell as
financial aid and grants.
"There is alw ays w orry
over w hat w ill happen to
your m oney w hen you
enter college, like how
are you going to pay for a
car, books, classes, tuition,
room and board. O ne of
the m ain things that could
help w ould be a scholarship
bu t for a lot of students,
they are all by them selves,"
N athaniel Fast, junior, said.
and retaining Robert Gates as
Secretary of Defense.
years of his presidency,
repairing the damaged
Barack Obama, president-elect, will be sworn into the White House on
Jan. 20. Obama was elected in November and will become America's
first African-American president.
Photo courtesy of PubiicRoutes.com
Obama's administration
hopes to differ drastically
from what the country has
experienced during the
past eight years. Several of
his main agendas include
withdrawing troops from
Iraq within the first two
economy, formulating a
long-term economic agenda,
and rekindling the spirit of
volunteering in the United
States, specifically that of
young people. Obama has
included those who disagree
with him, such as his recent
meeting with McCain to
discuss working together
during his administration.
"I'm sure he will be better
than Bush, but it's a wait-and-
see kind of thing," Jake Weston,
senior, said.
However, some are not too
happy about Obama's recent
victory.
"I think Obama was too
overplayed. In school, he
became a fad, like wearing
leggings under skirts. 'Vote for
Obama!' 'Get a Che Guavara
styled T-shirt!' Frankly, it's
sickening to see," Katherine
Dudley, junior, said.
There are some downsides
to Obama's new life. Not even
in office yet, Obama holds the
record for receiving the most
death threats for a president
elect, mostly due to individuals
who are not accepting of his
policies or his race. He will
also have to give up sending
messages on his Blackberry,
due to security issues.
Obama will enter office
on Jan. 20. Tickets to the
Inauguration are difficult to
secure but some WLHS staff
and students plan to watch the
historic swearing in ceremony.
"Right now we face some
of the biggest economic
and international security
challenges we've faced in
some time. I sense that many
voters hope that President
Obama will steer us through it
effectively," Jones said.
SAT, ACT provide students with options
a M ary W ood _______________
Staff Reporter
In addition to earning
good grades and rounding
out their resume with extra
curricular activities, students
have other things to deal with
when preparing for college,
such as standardized testing.
These tests were introduced
in the United States in the
20th Century and have grown
in popularity, becoming a
requirement for most colleges
and universities. Two of the
most well known tests are the
SAT Reasoning Test and the
ACT.
The SAT is an aptitude test
composed of three sections.
One of these is a 70 minute
critical reading section with
questions based on sentence
completion and passage-
based reading. Another
section asks math questions,
giving test takers 70 minutes
to answer multiple choice
and student-produced
response questions. The
newest section of the test is
dedicated to writing. Test
takers have 60 minutes to
answer multiple choice
questions regarding grammar
and write a short essay.
"Taking a SAT prep
class was helpful," Alyssa
Musalo, senior, said. She
also recommends consulting
books to help prepare for
the test. Workshops, practice
tests and tutors are some of
the other options available.
With the addition of the
writing section, the total
points available for the
SAT is 2,400, though some
schools don’t base admission
decisions on writing scores at
this time. Scores can typically
be viewed online less than
three weeks after the test is
taken.
In addition to the
Reasoning Test, the SAT
has optional subject tests
in English, history, math,
science and reading. While
many colleges don't require
these tests, admissions
officers will often consider
them if submitted. There are
schools that request their
applicants take two of these
tests.
"Some of your select gp
schools will require you to
do Math Level Two and your
choice," Tom Swearingen,
guidance counselor, said.
Other schools let applicants
choose which two to take. He
said that students interested
in studying engineering in
college would be wise to take
the Physics subject test.
The ACT is an
achievement test composed
of four sections and an
optional fifth section. One
section is English, and test
takers are given 45 minutes to
answer 75 questions.
Based on her PSAT
experience, Mackenzie
Laughlin, sophomore, isn't
too worried about time limits.
"I got most of it done,"
she said. Her only concern
is the math section. On the
ACT, test takers are allowed
an hour to answer 60 math
questions. There are 40
questions in the 35-minute
science section, and 40 in the
35-minute reading section
as well. The optional section
is the writing section, which
adds 30 minutes to the time
of the test. The ACT is scored
differently than the SAT, with
a maximum score of 36.
Deciding which test to
take is important. While both
are accepted at most colleges,
certain areas of the country
have preferences.
"In the Midwest, the South,
and the mountain states, they
prefer the A CT The West
coast and East coast like the
SAT," Swearingen said.
This doesn’t mean that a
school in the South wouldn't
accept an applicant because
they took the SAT, though.
Swearingen stresses that
it is important to know the
preference of the schools
an applicant is interested in
attending, or there is always
an option of taking both.