Category Archives: Features

Facebook stalking still worries students

By Gwen P. Galeza and Jared Murray

Going through all of your status updates and looking through all of your pictures is not just for crazy relatives anymore. With people’s personal information just a click away, many people take this casual hobby too far, wasting hours on other’s profiles. The idea of getting to know someone without actually talking appeals to this generation’s socially awkward teenage population.

The thought of one’s pictures, statuses and information being readily available to complete strangers does not unnerve as many FC students as one would think.

Many FC students are taking advantage of some of the more lax security settings on the peoples profiles, whether to just waste time or mock.

“When you talk about it at school like you go ‘I saw that on Facebook’ then that’s when it becomes weird,” said junior Stephen Schraffenberger.

Even when students are confronted with the realization of being stalked, some do not bother changing their security settings.

“If I knew the person stalking me I wouldn’t change my settings, but if it was some creepy guy I definitely would,” said senior Holly Cobb.

Despite having various views on Facebook stalking itself, the students interviewed generally agreed on when Facebook stalking becomes too far.

Sophomore Savannah O’Brien said that when they start “liking” all your picures, commenting on a wall post, a status and messaging you that’s when it goes too far.

For those who are frightened by the thought of unfamiliar persons being able to stalk you for their own viewing pleasure, Facebook does offer security options to make you invisible to other Facebook users.

“If I knew someone was stalking [me] I’d probably log off and never get back on again,” said senior Nicollette Westbay.

Sophomore Cory Troutman proves wrestling takes determination

By Claire Defrancisci

Practicing year-round, enduring a four-month long season, attending early morning meets, and overcoming injuries are all things sophomore Cory Troutman does to maintain his wrestling skills.

“Cory is a hard worker when it comes to wrestling and has been dedicated to the sport for a number of years now, he puts in a lot of time during off-season, and he wrestled a ton this past summer and has improved,” said wrestling coach Brandon Sisson.

Troutman first started wrestling in the fourth grade, ever since then he has worked hard to get to where he is today.

“I started because my dad kind of pushed me to do it, then I got into it and started having some success,” said Troutman.

He has been working hard and achieving many accomplishments since then. He has been on the national team for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and has done out-of-school wrestling. He has also had some injuries that have acted as minor setbacks. He said when he is injured he does not take a lot of time off so he can stay in shape, although athletes must also keep attitude in mind as well.

Sisson said that the mental aspect of wrestling is as important as the physical.

“Cory, as well as a number of the wrestlers, needs to work on the mental aspect of the sport. So often people concentrate so much on the physical aspects of sports but if your mind is getting in the way it doesn’t matter what you have been taught,” said Sisson.

One of Troutman’s main goals is to become a state qualifier before the end of high school. Hopefully the time and hard work he has put into this sport has paid off.

“I want to become a state qualifier, I’ll do anything and everything that I can. I will work harder and it will really pay off in the practice rooms.”



Freshman Christian Dimartino brings back Six Degrees of Separation

By Blake Dykes
Most students are familiar with pop culture and celebrities. However, there is one student who can connect an actor to any other movie star. The student is freshman Christian Dimartino, and the actor is Kevin Bacon, who has been in over 50 movies, from “Apollo 13” to “Footloose.”This little activity is called the Six Degrees of Separation.

“Well, the point of the game is to choose an actor, and connect he/she through movies and you have to do it in six ways. The actor/actress cannot be connected through TV shows; it is strictly through movies,” explained Dimartino.

Dimartino is able to perform this seemingly impossible task simply in his head.

“Ok, so say I was to connect, I don’t know, Jim Carrey to Kevin Bacon. Well, Jim Carrey was in ‘Bruce Almighty’ with Steve Carrell, and Steve Carrell was in ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ with Kevin Bacon. That is a simple one, for me at least. But he could be connected to even Kermit the Frog. You really have to be an expert in movies and know a lot of celebrities and what they’ve been in to play the game,” said Dimartino.

Surprisingly, other people can play Six Degrees of Separation too. Dimartino did not invent this game. It has been around since 1994, and was invented by four college students.Dimartino has known about this game for several years.“Well, a few years ago, my sister Chantelle told me about this game and I had no idea what ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ was. The truth is, I am a movie freak. Guilty as charged. And for me the game is just easy. My sister and I are sort of movie geniuses. I guess we’ve just sort of brought it back from the dead.”

Although Dimartino may have an outstanding memory, it also takes a lot of brains to put two and two together. He shares his strategy.

“My method normally, is to come up with an actor/actress who seems like a challenge to connect to, and just think of the movies that this person has been in, while at the same time thinking of what Kevin Bacon has been in.”Surely there has to be someone Dimartino cannot connect with Bacon, right? Wrong.

“Believe it or not, we have not found a single person he can’t be connected to. I was able to connect him to Marilyn Monroe,” bragged Dimartino.

However, his talent is hidden to many. “Not many people know about it, but those who do have tried to stump me, and the others that do think it’s pretty cool,” said Dimartino. It may seem Dimartino is obsessed but he reveals the truth. “Nah, Kevin Bacon is not my favorite actor. I like him, and the thing about the game is that I have realized that he’s been in more movies than I thought. When I first started playing, I could only think of a few movies he’s been in, but I picked up on it.”
Some may consider this pointless and confusing, and others think of it as an exciting challenge, like Dimartino.“Really this is just a big game of coincidence.”
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