There are about 6,912 languages around the world being taught, read, spoken and written. With so many languages circling around the globe it is inevitable that there would be miscommunication. However, one language is often overlooked and although it is not a spoken language it can be communicated to other people unconsciously – the art of body language.

Body language can be as simple as moving your hand toward your mouth or picking at your sleeves, everyday little habits, yet it gives people a better look at your character or your mood.

Some of the most overlooked body language is how people use their legs and their posture. Even though the legs can often be overlooked, they  the exclamation point in a conversation or when hanging out in a group. Mostly they show whether a person is open and comfortable with the people around them or if they are negative and uncertain. Sometimes the legs can even reveal if a person is actually focusing or if they are daydreaming. For example, as Matthew McKay states in his book “Messages: The Communication Skills Book” when a person’s feet are pointing

in a specific direction, that is usually where their mind is focusing. When a person is speaking with someone and are interested in what is being talked about, that person’s dominant foot is pointing toward the other person. And if the person wishes to leave the conversation, the dominate foot points away. Whereas a person stands near someone and their feet are set firmly and far apart, they are showing that they are aggressive in nature, and usually dominate. When someone is sitting down or standing up and they are crossing their legs, it shows that they are submissive, defensive or close minded. The most common use of legs are when people are shaking or twitching their foot whether they be sitting or standing. This constant state of motion in the legs usually means anxiety or impatience. Moving up on the body language scale, people notice arm or hand movement a lot more than they notice leg motions. Gregory Bateson, a famous anthropologist, stipulates in his book, “Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry”, that the use of arm or hand body language is mostly used for defensive tactics that the brain subconsciously sends to our arms and hands. For example, when someone crosses their arms over their chest, it mostly means that the person feels threatened or nervous. If someone’s arms are

crossed over their chest and they are making fists with their hands, it means that they are feeling extreme hostility toward someone or something. If someone only has one arm crossing their body and holding the other arm it represents a distressful moment or that they are insecure. Interestingly enough, when two people are hugging and one begins to pat or tap the back most people see it as affection when in reality it is used when the person wants the embrace to end. Ray Birdwhistell, the founder of the study of kinesics (study of human body language), wrote that he first noticed that people use their hands a lot more when they talk about something they are passionate about or trying are to elaborate on. The hands are more broadly used than any other

body part when people are trying to convey their feelings. For example, when a person shows their palms toward another person this shows that the person is unconsciously inviting trust, and when the palms are hidden, it means that the person isn’t willing to trust the other person. If the palms are faced downward when someone is outstretching their hands, it shows that the person feels superior and dominating. The most powerful body language we perceive are the eyes; they convey our thoughts and emotions a lot more than people might think. If one is talking in a conversation and they look up and to the right then usually it means that they are embellishing or using their imagination. If the eyes go to the lower left corners of their eyes they are searching

their memory, and when a person avoids eye contact altogether ,they are showing that they are either not willing to show their emotions, or are lying. And usually when a person hears something that they do not believe, they raise their eyebrows. Cambridge University Press printed a paper called the “ Pupillary System” which asserts that the most interesting part of peoples’ eyes are the pupils because they are uncontrollable; you cannot fool people easily with them. For example, when a person feels sexually aroused or excited, their pupils will dilate; and

when they feel angry, their pupils will become smaller involuntarily. The most recognized eye movement is the wink; the wink is associated mostly with attraction and affection for a certain person. Being aware of body language can help if someone is trying to succeed in social situations such as job or college interviews, the work environment, or being introduced to a new person. Body language can be as simple as moving your hand toward your mouth or picking at your sleeves, everyday little habits, yet it gives people a better look at your character or your mood.

Body language facts

1. Pulling on ones ear usually means indecision

2. Repeatedly shifting body weight from foot to foot a

gesture that generally indicates mental and physical

discomfort.

3. When talking with someone and the persons legs are

crossed toward the person they are talking to they are

interested in the conversation or the person (does not

have to be a sexual interest.)

4. When someone touches or slightly rubs their nose

usually they are doubtful of what they are being told,

or if they are the one talking and touching or rubbing

their nose then they are most likely lying.

5. When someone is clasping their hands behind their

back, generally it is out of Anger, frustration, or

apprehension.

Source: center-for-nonverbal-studies.org

Whatwill it be called? iSlate? iTablet? Something else? Will it even be announced? If so, will it float or bring about world peace? Well, questions are starting to be answered, as Steve Jobs has finally unveiled the iPad. At 0.5 inches thin, weighing in at 1.5 pounds and with a 9.7-inch IPS display, it’s a glorious piece of machinery, meeting up to many expectations. There will be three different models, with 16, 32 and 64 GB of flash storage, and you can find more of the specs here. You can play games on  it, type on the on-screen keyboard, check out the iBook store and read newspapers, among many other features. If you thought the iTouch was the bee’s knees, just wait, the iPad is perfect for all those wonderful technology lovers.
This new sleek and shiny product from Apple is hitting the shelves in late March, but stores are accepting reservations for those who are just too excited to wait in line on opening day.

Environment: The iPad supports going green by reducing environment usage by having a mercury and arsenic-free LCD screen display and by using recyclable aluminum and a glass enclosure. It is also free of PVC (poison plastic, polyvinyl chloride) which may cause future health risks.

Battery Life: When fully charged, the iPad can get up to 10 hours of surfing the Web or watching videos. However, in order to charge it you’ll need to get a computer dock since the iPad does not have any USB output. The battery is built in, which means it has to take a trip to the Apple store in order to be fixed.

Positives: Of the many great features the iPad has to offer, there are several that really stand out, such as lighting fast Internet access with built-in Wi-Fi, and a microphone with an amplified speaker for perfect sound quality. The iPad also has a highly responsive multi-touch screen, which allows Web pages to be seen as they were meant to be seen – one page at a time, with vibrant color and sharp text. So whether it’s looking at a page in portrait or landscape, you can see everything at a size that’s actually readable. Scroll through a page just by flicking a finger up or down on the screen. Or pinch to zoom in or out on a photo. There’s also a thumbnail view that shows all open pages in a grid, to quickly move from one page to the next.
The large screen makes the iPad ideal for watching all kinds of videos: from HD movies and TV shows to podcasts and music videos. Not only can iTunes and the App Store be accessed, anything else on the Internet can also be.

Negatives: Unfortunately, the iPad comes with several flaws. No Flash support or USB connectors. No camera and no multi-tasking, meaning there is no way two apps can run at the same time. Another limitation is the relatively bulky adapters that are needed to connect the iPad to cameras or USB devices. Also awkward is the use of the touch keyboard, which typing longer texts, becomes rather complicated unless you have a flat surface to type on. If necessary, you can also buy an additional keyboard for around $30.
Although the iPad has a number of productivity applications, including e-mail, calendar, and iWorks, it doesn’t really function as a computer. You can’t have a browser window open at the same time you’re typing a document or working on a spreadsheet. That said, the iPad isn’t positioned as a computer, so if you want productivity, stick to a laptop.

From stencil work to “blistering,” junior Ben Rabine is almost exclusively self-taught in the art of spray paint.

After seeing a video of someone spray-painting on YouTube his freshman year, Rabine “thought it looked kinda cool” and began searching for more videos. He was inspired to start this form of art, and decided to try it out, going off on what he saw on YouTube.

The process of his works depends on what he wants the outcome to look like. “Most of my paintings are planned out ahead of time… so if there are stencils I have to do, I have to cut all those out ahead of time.” The types of stencils he uses differ based on what he’s painting, “I use a lot of lids because I have a lot of circles in my paintings.” He also uses stencils with specific shapes, such as a cross or Bob Marley’s head. The most stencils he’s ever used before on a piece were five layers on his work “Bond, James Bond.” Each work also varies on the length of time it takes to complete, due to complexity and amount of color needed to achieve certain effects. “I’ve done paintings as quick as five minutes and as long as maybe two or three hours. If there’s stencils involved these can take maybe up to 15 hours after you edit and cut them.” Another technique he’s worked with is “blistering,” which involves intentionally lighting the spray paint on fire in brief bursts.

With all the different types of art someone could do, why did Rabine choose spray paint art? He doesn’t know the answer to that question himself. “It just really interested me. I thought, you know, ‘who does that?’ so I just wanted to pick it up for myself. Since then I’ve gotten into a lot of other types of art.” The beauty of art is that it’s all loosely connected, and for the most part, widely adaptable. Rabine is currently enrolled in Linda Bennitt’s drawing class, Tim Cashman’s photography class, and Angelo Comeaux’s digital photography class. Last year he took Bennitt’s studio art as well. From taking up spray paint, Rabine was introduced to other mediums, such as chalk pastel (which he really enjoys), charcoal, ink and watercolor, and pencil drawings.

Rabine also sells his works every now and then. “It’s pretty sporadically,” Rabine explained. “I think my first painting I sold was about two months after I started; my neighbor came over and wanted to buy one for her daughter and that’s what really kept me going. It inspired me to where I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I’m good at this.’ That next summer I did a live paint show in Hoquiam… [the audience] could ask questions and buy them.” Along the way Rabine has met a lot of interesting people through spray painting. “People are just really weirded out by [spray paint art] and are pretty intrigued by it.”

Rabine is constantly creating new pieces, but only when the temperatures are moderate. “The paint’s really affected by temperature. In the winter I usually don’t spray paint.” Due to the nature of his art, he has to work in well-ventilated areas such as an open garage; the prime time to work on his art is during the summer, when it’s not too hot, or the spring. Since he’s started painting, Rabine has created about 250 paintings, but not all make it to his collection of masterpieces. “Some I keep and some I throw away because they’re not up to my standards.” Though the number of pieces he’s completed up to this point is extraordinary, “I’m trying to find it [a particular style of art],” he says. “I’m working to get there, I guess.”

So how does this exceptionally talented artist choose what to paint if he doesn’t have a particular style? “Basically whatever’s inspired me right then in the moment, like maybe a musician or famous person. I’ve done a lot of paintings with Jimi Hendrix or other famous musicians; or a lot of cityscapes, or basically wherever I find my inspiration.” That’s what makes the pieces so wonderful; you can feel the passion and love when you look at the art Rabine has created. As with anyone, certain music stirs emotion and envelops the mind with creativity and ideas. For Rabine, two singers stand out among thousands. “I definitely have set playlists for when I paint. I really like the Classic Crime, I listen to them a lot; and I really like Kid Cudi, and so I listen to a lot of his music; he’s probably my favorite.”

Rabine plans to pursue his artistic talents through college (an art school), yet he’s not sure about what medium he wants to focus on. “I know art is definitely something I want to pursue; I’m still deciding if I’ll pursue spray paint art. I mean there are a lot of impracticalities with it.” Aside from the impracticalities, “Everyone has his or her thing and art is the one that I just really like.”

There are high hopes for Ben Rabine, an artist with a unique talent; an artist who is inspired by many things; an artist who is passionate about and dedicated to his work; and an artist who knows that sometimes life can be hard, and obstacles can get in the way.

“I used to not be very artistically talented at all,” Rabine smiled. “I would just sketch and doodle, but if you follow something you really like, then you can get there.”

Two arrests were made Feb. 24 in connection with the Feb. 13 robbery of a man walking down 44th Avenue in front of MTHS.

Parents of MTHS students were alerted to the robbery a week later via email due to the close proximity of the school to the scene of the crime. The email indicated that four men had attacked a lone 18-year-old at around 6:30 p.m., beating him and stealing his cell phone. Other details included that in addition to punching the victim, who was not an MTHS student, one suspect threatened to use a machete on him if he did not comply with the robbery.

The crime could not be reported immediately, as the victim was no longer in possession of a cell phone, but two teenaged suspects were identified and arrested 11 days later. The suspects are from Everett and aged 16 and 17, with the 16-year-old accused of being the machete wielder. Police are actively searching for a third suspect but have not provided any further details to the public.

There was another armed robbery the two days later within four blocks of MTHS, though students were not formally informed by school administrators in this case.

An Asian market was robbed at gunpoint by a suspect described by the victim as a black male in his 20s or 30s, who wielded a black air pistol later found near the scene of the crime. No arrests have been made in this case, and the two robberies are not believed to be related. Persons with relevant information are encouraged to contact the Mountlake Terrace Police Department.

Hello. I’m a senior, and I have my eighth semester coming up. My comrades and I in the Class of Ten feel strange right now. We’re listless, languished, lackadaisical, and languorous after three and a half years of Mountlake Terrace High School.
No doubt we have regrets and remorse. Maybe we should have done or not done this or that, but I’ll humbly say that we are the greatest graduating class in MTHS history, and we’re all going to be senators, CEOs, celebrities, and gods. No TPS reports for us!
But this transition is brutal. I long to return to my younger days spent in front of a television.
Did you ever watch “Rocket Power?” Otto, Twister, Reggie, and Squid tearing it up all over that town with the pier? And how their house was shaped like a boat? Awesome! Probably the only cartoon without a full set of parents… other than Buster’s dad from “Arthur.” Were they divorced, or was he just always flying planes? Interesting.
If you would like to see a dizzying, “Rocket Power-esque” array of athletic activities this spring, just go to a softball and baseball game, watch the golf team, or a girls tennis match. Or get your fix with just one track meet. The 110 meter hurdles are just as extreme as skateboarding, surfing, and vegemite.
The first game I ever played on my Xbox was “Jet Set Radio Future,” in which you control a teenage punk rollerblader graffiti artist in Tokyo in the future. You skate around, fighting the power and listening to DJ Professor K. It’s one of those games that you really can’t appreciate until you’re more secure and able to be impressed with its originality.
Other things that we are no longer too cool to do are puzzles and board games. Puzzle and Board Game Club meets some Thursdays in Room 205.
In 4th grade my late afternoons were occupied by “Dragonball Z” and “Zoids.” You might not recognize the latter, but it details the lives of teenagers with large, fighting animal-robots. However, I bet that many of you saw Goku and Frieza’s planet-smashing battle on Namek. Even though it took Goku about three episodes of yelling to power up to Super-Saiyan, it was worth the wait when his hair turned yellow and got even pointier.
Likewise, the Drama Department’s “Putnam County Spelling Bee” has been under construction for months, and will surely be worth the wait. Just as Goku had to be aware of that pink disc of death, you need to keep your head up the second week of March for the show.
Big ASB didn’t really do anything this month, so no staff members had an opportunity to help us out. But we know Mrs. Frost would have helped us if we asked, so she wins Most Hypothetically Helpful Staff Member to Big ASB for February.

Expanding film through education, the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) offers youth under 18 the opportunity to submit their films to the festival for a reduced rate. The program is titled FutureWave.

Senior Nick Terry’s film, “Senior Prom,” has been accepted into the festival through the FutureWave program. Guidelines to the program state that entered films must be no loner than 10 minutes, yet they made an exception to the rule for Terry’s 80-plus minute film.

SIFF is one of the largest, longest, and most prestigious film festivals in the world.

In 2009 13 youth films debuted in the festival, selected from more than 100 submissions.

SIFF’s mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. It is through the art of cinema that they foster a community that is more informed, aware and alive.

The festival will run from May 20 to June 13 at many locations throughout the Seattle area.

Other questions concerning the SIFF FutureWave program, or if you want more information about when to catch Terry’s film, check the Hawkeye’s Web site for information as it becomes available.

Standing out in front of the school this week, I was enjoying one of our sunny afternoons. The warm weather reminded me of the fact that spring is just around the corner, if not here already, so it is time for few common sense reminders for all of us.
Go to your classes. Seems simple enough, right? But for some students, the sun causes them to make choices to do things other than go to class. It is tempting to take the long lunch or to not go to school at all. One of the fastest ways to find yourself “knee-deep in alligators” is to get in the bad habit of skipping classes. Your grades will be negatively affected but more importantly, you will become personal friends with Sue VanSenus, who can be very persistent when it comes to tracking students who are having trouble getting to class.
Do your homework and stay on top of major assignments. Again, another no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many students struggle with this one. It is much simpler to do your work when it is assigned and turn it in by the due date than it is to start digging out of holes that you have caused by not turning assignments in. Once you start missing homework deadlines, the work piles up and you tend to fall farther and farther behind.
Be kind to your teachers. They are here to do a job and sometimes that job gets really hard when faced with mountains of paperwork, students who need extra help, and required meetings to attend. You’d be amazed at how much mileage you can get from simply treating your teachers kindly.
To the seniors, keep a lid on “senior-itis.” Stay focused on June 17, 2010, the date for graduation. I have heard this time and again from seniors, “But this is my senior year and it is supposed to be the best year of my life.” I would counter that by saying that if your senior year is supposed to be the best year of your life, does that mean it’s all downhill from here? I don’t disagree that your 12th grade year should be a fun, exciting year. But do not lose track of the fact that you have many more years ahead of you that are going to be made even better because you took the time now to make your school work and graduation priorities.
Drive safely. Every year there is a tragic story about teenagers who were injured or killed in auto accidents. Please do not be a statistic or a terrible story on the evening news.
Make good choices. Every one of you is important to many other people, both here at school and in your life outside of MTHS. Please be safe, make good choices and do not put yourself in any situation that could cause harm to you or to others.
Ok. I’ll climb down off my soapbox now. I hope you all have a great spring and that these final weeks of school are fun and successful for each and every one of you.

Times of economic downturn are when charitable giving may have the most impact, but it is also likely to be more difficult. It can also be difficult to see the tangible impact of monetary donations.

According to the American Red Cross, a blood donation is required every two seconds of every day. That is 38,000 per day and roughly 14 million for a year. One out of every 10 people admitted to a hospital require a blood transfusion. Money donations provide many valuable resources to hospitals, but they cannot provide blood. Blood donations have an extremely high value due to their necessity in many cases.

There are 12 pints of blood circulating the human body. The human body can sustain small cuts and replenish its supply of blood in time after clotting over the wound. Problems arise when blood is lost too quickly and the heart cannot produce enough blood to meet with the demand for it. That is when blood transfusions become necessary. If patients do not get the blood they need, they will die, regardless of the quality of medical care.

The qualifications for giving blood are very inclusive to facilitate a wide variety of donors. Donors must to be 110 pounds and at least sixteen years of age.

Some other precautionary details can make a donor intelligible to give blood. Donors cannot have their blood drawn if they have received a tattoo within a year, or if they are sick at the time of donation.

The donor’s iron level is checked, and female donors are asked if they are pregnant. Other questions related to sexual activity are asked confidentially to ensure that the blood has not been contaminated in any way. Blood centers take all blood types, and will inform the donor of their blood type for free a few weeks after it has been taken.

There are some medical side effects to getting blood drawn, though none are extremely serious. Patients may feel queasiness or fatigue for a short amount of time. Drinking large quantities of water and eating a large breakfast can mitigate these effects.

The blood drive at MTHS this year surpassed expectations for donations. All 80 spaces on the sign up list were quickly filled, along with a waiting list. At least 80 pints of blood were given, which means that on Friday, Mountlake Terrace students combined to give enough blood to save 240 lives, not counting the possible pints collected later by donors on the waiting list.

There are several opportunities available for students who were unable to give blood Friday but would still like to. The Puget Sound Blood Center has a large facility for blood donation and there are numerous blood centers in the area for quick donation.

The increased economic difficulties can make rising medical costs a much more substantial burden on many families, a burden that could be significantly lessened with more charitable blood given of the type seen at Mountlake Terrace High School last week.

Current Washington state high school juniors will be affected by a change in the College Academic Distribution Requirements (CADR), which refers to the particular types and amount of credits required to enter a Washington state college. Beginning next year, students must take one credit of math during their senior year. Students must also take two credits of laboratory science. These standards are set by the Washington Higher Education Control Board (HEC) and specifically impact science and the amount of math required of students who will be seniors in 2012 and beyond. The current minimum requirements consist of four credits of English, three credits of mathematics, two credits of world language, three credits of social science, one credit of art, and two credits of science. This credit requirement may be completed by taking Algebra 2 if the student has not taken it yet, a math-based quantitative course such as statistics, applied math, a relevant career and technical course, or an algebra based science course.

Some colleges have also revised their requirements slightly in accordance with the new policy, with Western Washington University specifying that the algebra-based science course must be chemistry or physics, and both the University of Washington and Western Washington University specifying that half of the art credit may be in an academic elective.

“The senior-year math requirement does not mean a fourth credit of math is required, nor does it require a higher level of math. The intent of this requirement is for seniors to take meaningful math,” states the HEC in its Minimum College Admission Standards for Students and Parents document.

Since the intent is for seniors to take meaningful math, students who have completed pre-calculus or higher their during junior year are exempt from the revised math requirement. Most juniors who have been planning their classes based on the previous CADR will likely be facing four years of math, as well as slight revisions to any electives they have planned for their senior year. The CADR differs from high school graduation requirements, which are determined by local school boards. Students who wish to know more about the CADR revisions can visit the HEC Web site for a full overview of the revised policy.

The birds and the bees has long been a major topic among teens. Girls develop breasts while guys get deeper voices. But does Billy really like your black dress? Does Sally think it’s hot when you wear Axe? The truth is, each gender has a different perspective and acts with different motives. The “girls are from Venus boys are from Mars” phrase might be an exaggeration,

but the main idea is correct – the genders are different physically and mentally. According to Simon Baron-Cohen, the author of “The Essential Difference: Men Women and the Extreme Male Brain,” the female brain has stronger empathizing tendencies. So, do not make fun of a girl crying at the end of “Marley and Me” she cannot help it. Females also have a larger corpus collosum, a structure of the brain that connects the left and right hemispheres. This means that women can transfer information between the hemispheres faster than males. On the other hand, the male brain, according to Cohen, has systemizing tendencies. A study at Cambridge University showed that girls looked at faces longer than boys, and boys looked at machinery longer than girls. Inside the female brain the limbic system, involved with emotions and motivations, is bigger. This explains why they are better at bonding, identifying

and connecting with others. Women have 12 percent more neurons than men. These neurons are clustered together in areas representing the transferring of information within the brain.

At Vanderbilt University, researchers Stephen Camarata and Richard Woodcock found that females performed better in timed tests. In standardized tests that focused on processing speed, female adolescents scored on average 105.5, males 97.4. Women utilize both hemispheres for language, too. The areas in the frontal and temporal lobes representing language are much larger in women than men. Therefore, women’s reading and verbal skills outshine men. However, men tend to do better in math. On the SAT test, men surpassed women on the math portion by an average of 35 points. There is a part of the brain called the inferior-parietal lobule that is larger in men than in women. This section of the brain is thought to be associated

with mathematics. In a study done at Harvard in 2001, researchers discovered that the parietal cortex was larger in men than women. The parietal cortex is involved with spatial organization. The male brain excels at mechanical thinking. Men are motivated to analyze and build a system and to figure things out. Men have 6.5 times more grey matter than women, which means they have more areas to process data. But what makes a man attracted to a woman or vice versa? According to Mark J. Taylor, author of “A Psychological Look at What Causes Attraction – Cracking the Root Causes of Attraction,” one of the main causes of attraction is proximity, how close people are to each other. For example, where you go to school makes attraction more likely with a classmate than someone who lives across the world. Next is association, if people meet their significant others at a park in the summer when they’re having fun they are more likely to be attracted than if they had met at a vet clinic after they had to put a pet to sleep. When and where people meet determines what they associate with that person.

Human beings also respond to scent, according to the Smell and Taste Research foundation in Chicago. Males are attracted to lavender and pumpkin scents, so the males out there might want to check the ingredients in their favorite body spray, while females are attracted to the scent of cucumbers and black licorice. Another fun fact is males are attracted to the color red

because in Western culture it symbolizes romance and passion. To be clear, someone smearing himself or herself with pumpkin pie and wearing a red t-shirt cannot guarantee that their crush will fall for them, but it will definitely get them noticed. Not all these findings apply to everyone. They are sweeping statements of the typical society. A male may not have typical male characteristics and a female typical female characteristics. These studies are attempts to explain general gender- based behaviors.