Hawkeye staff

Stress is something everyone goes through in life, whether you are an adult or a teen. Adults usually face stress because of work and/or other personal affairs like relationships.

Teens on the other hand face stress due to school, relationships, feeling lonely, drugs, and many other reasons. Many do not realize that teens are very vulnerable people who are young mentally and emotionally and sometimes do not know how to cope with stress well.

Stress from school is something many can relate too because many have gone through it. A lot of students want to excel in school by getting good grades but that is not an easy task to do.

Students in this generation are most likely not just busy in school alone; they are involved in other activities and sports they care about and therefore it’s even more hard to balance everything out in their lives and do well in school all at the same time.

Another thing some students think about is the recession we are all going through. The recession has affected many students because universities and colleges have increased their prices and standards to get in.

This change has made it harder for many students, which has led to stress and the pressure of doing better in school in order to get into a good college or university.

Even though many know how to solve their problems they choose to take the easy way out of facing challenges. Not developed mentally and emotionally, they do not know how to deal with all the stress and therefore some use drugs and alcohol to relieve or temporarily forget the stress.

Sadly, stress from school, use of drugs and alcohol does lead to another important factor that is occurring a lot in our society today and that is teen suicide.

Statistics on teendepression.org states that, “One in five teens had thought about suicide, about one in six teens had made plans for suicide, and more than one in twelve teens had attempted suicide in the last year.”

Stress is sometimes really hard to cope  with and therefore many think that committing suicide is the only way to solve their problems and stress. Teen suicide has become such a big issue that several states have made a law stating that if you commit suicide and survive then you will have to face a punishment.

Some easy ways to avoid stress are prioritizing responsibilities. Other things you can do to reduce stress in life is to breath deeply when you feel overwhelmed.

Exercising helps relieve stress, so does making lists and using a planner. Writing in a journal and recording thoughts and feelings is a good stress reliever. It is also very important to take time and do activities you enjoy.

Stress is really common in teens but that is something many teens have to learn to face and committing suicide is not the only way out.

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Health Editor

With flu season coming up it’s important to be prepared and keep yourself healthy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control every year between 5 and 20 percent of the population gets the flu.

There are different strains of flu, some worse than others. The flu usually isn’t serious for healthy people, but can become deadly.

Each year from 1976 to 2006, there were at least 3,000 and as many as 49,000 flu-related deaths in the U.S. alone, according to the CDC.

Flu season is regularly between the months of November and March.

January and February are the most active months when people get the flu. Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease cased by RNA viruses.

The flu is often mistaken for the common cold and gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu.

The flu spreads from person to person, when an infected person sneezes or coughs and droplets from them spread to someone else. A person coughing into his or her hand and who then touches something, like a doorknob, can also spread the flu, if someone else touches that doorknob then their mouth, nose or eyes.

A very simple way to help stop the spread of the flu is to regularly wash your hands in warm soapy water for 60 to 90 seconds.

Symptoms of the flu vary from person to person, and can be mild or severe.

Fever, chills, coughing, sore throat, runny and congested noses, head and body aches, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea are all symptoms a person may suffer if they are suffering from the flu.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends staying home for at least 24 hours after a fever is gone. Young children and elderly adults usually have more complications when they get the flu.

For teenagers it’s usually easy and quick to recover from the flu, however it is still very important to stay home from work and school when you are sick. This is because despite being asymptomatic a person may still spread the flu.

One prevention many people take against the flu is getting the flu shot. The flu shot is an inactivated vaccine that is given as a shot using a needle, usually in the arm.

The flu shot can also be given as a nasal mist. The flu shot is only given to people who are over six months old, and there is a high-dose flu shot available for people 65 or older. And there is also an intradermal flu shot for people between 18 and 24, available for the first time this year.

While everyone gets sick from time to time it is important to take steps to prevent the spread of the flu.

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Opinion Editor

Ever feel like you need that coffee pick me up? Next time you feel a craving coming up, you may want to reconsider.

Coffee is everywhere, grown in about 70 different countries. According to Wikipedia, “un-roasted coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world”.

Coffee contains caffeine, which “is a drug that is naturally produced in the leaves and seeds of many plants” –kidshealth.com. Caffeine can have a stimulating effect on humans and is highly addicting.

Caffeine usually gives results of more energy because caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, creating increased alertness.

According to Livestrong.com “A dependence on caffeine could lead to other health problems. It is a diuretic, which means it could cause dehydration”. Osteoporosis can be caused by calcium loss, which caffeine has been shown to contribute to.

Coffee can have a very negative affect on teens, especially when consumed close to bedtime. Sleep is extremely important for teens and adolescents because it is the time where the body grows and heals itself.

The consumption of cafeinated coffee can interrupt a person’s sleep, which can be very bad.

Over the years, coffee has become the sort of “cool society trend” that is very appealing to teenagers. Teens usually lean towards flavored coffee rather than black, plain coffee. Flavored coffee usually contains a lot of sugar and fat, which results in a high number of calories.

Too many “empty calories” such as fat and sugar can have negative health consequences when too much is consumed.

The USDA recommends Caloric intake between 1,600-2,800 for teens depending on sex and daily activity. If you are on a diet of 1,600 Calories you should limit yourself to 22 grams of sugar a day. If on a diet of 2,800

Calories you should try to consume around 66 grams of sugar a day. A popular drink at Starbucks is the Caramel Frappuccino. A Grande (the medium size) contains 64 grams of sugar.

A Grande Caramel Frappuccino contains more sugar alone than most students need in an entire day. In fact, 64 grams of sugar is close to the maximum amount of sugar recommended for the highest Calorie diet.

Many coffee drinks are extremely high in calories for a beverage. They should not be consumed in large amounts or regularly.

Luckily at Starbucks, they have a line of Light drinks, which contain less calories, sugar, and fat. Coffee can be safe when consumed in a healthy amount and sparingly.

A person can make healthy choices when it comes to coffee. They can consume coffee in moderation, avoiding the high calorie choices, or only occasionally indulging in a coffee treat.

However the choices don’t end at simply cutting down. Coffee can also come without caffeine, known as decaf.

Having decaf coffee versus caffeinated coffee can eliminate many of the harmful effects of excessive caffeine.

Though there are many harmful effects from coffee, there are a few benefits.

When consumed in moderate amounts, “Coffee is a source of antioxidants, which fight cellular damage that could result in the development of cancer and heart disease,” stated livestrong.com.

Drinking just one cup a day can protect a teen’s health at the same time as providing an enjoyable beverage.

Cutting back on coffee can be hard, but it is possible.

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A new alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes is becoming popular, electronic cigarettes.

Widely available, these can be purchased online or even at the mall.

Electronic cigarettes work with a cartridge full of nicotine heated up by an atomizer device that produces vapor.

A benefit of this rising trend that may draw people in is the odorless, flavored vapor, which is inhaled and exhaled just like traditional cigarette smoke would be.

Electronic cigarette have less harmful ingredients that can damage your organs. Electronic cigarettes do not contain tar or carbon monoxide, and don’t produce ash.

However they do contain nicotine. Different types of electronic cigarettes contain different amounts of nicotine.

Using an electronic cigarette, or e-cig, gives the feeling of a real cigarette without having to worry about the addiction.

The electronic cigarette is great for chain smokers that want to quit their habit. There is no smells that will bother people around the user of the electronic cigarette.

Europe is one of the many places in the world where the use of electronic cigarettes has become widely used by 300,000 people, according to SmokeTip.

Since the vapor has no smell and disappears in the air, people can use these anywhere they are usually not allowed to.

The electronic cigarettes run on battery power, meaning there is no actual smoke; since there is no smoke that the electronic cigarette emits, there is no risk for secondhand smoking and no risk of a fire starting.

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Health Editor

Hookah, considered a safe alternative to smoking other things, is really just as dangerous, if not more, to someone’s health and is a rising new trend that many people, including students from  Mountlake Terrace High School who have and haven’t graduated are now starting to use.

A hookah is a water pipe, originated in India, which consists of a smoke chamber, a bowl, a pipe, and a hose.

The purpose of a hookah is to smoke flavored tobacco, which is one of the reasons it appeals teenagers and young adults. Another reason may be that hookahs are often used in social gatherings.

Not many studies have been conducted regarding the use of hookahs, but the results of one study in California showed that 26 percent of teenagers had tried smoking hookah previously. Eleven percent of the teenagers surveyed said that they had smoked hookah in the previous month.

According to the Center for Disease Control, when multiple persons share the same mouthpiece, it can cause the spread of infectious diseases.

Hookahs are often believed to be safer because the smoke is filtered through the water at the base of the pipe.

When compared to smoking cigarettes, hookah can have just as bad effects on a person’s health.

There is up to 70 percent more nicotine in hookah as there is in cigarettes.

Christopher Loffredo, Ph. D, Director of the Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology program at the Georgetown University Medical Center tells the ScienceDaily, “People who use these devices don’t realize that they could be believed to the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes in one typical 30- 60 minute session with a water pipe, because such a large quantity of pure. shredded tobacco is used.”

Hookah smoke also contains tar, metals, carbon monoxide and carcinogens, which are cancer causing chemicals.

The average smoking session is about 30 to 60 minutes. One thing to consider is one hour of hookah can equal up to 100 cigarettes.

A reason why teenagers may think it’s acceptable to smoke hookah is there are many hookah bars in the Seattle area, where it is legal to smoke hookah indoors.

If a student is willing to take the risk to their health, there is still the consequence of being caught by the authorities or other personals.

Under federal law, it is illegal for any minor under the age of 18 to be associated with the sale of tobacco related products including the purchase of hookahs and flavored tobacco.

At the school of Mountlake Terrace High School, if any student is caught on campus with illegal substances, such as hookah, the consequence received is an immediate suspension.

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Hawkeye  staff

On June 2, a new, sleek, and useful plate icon replaced the food pyramid that has been in place since 1992. The pyramid had been criticized for being too confusing and unhelpful.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes that the new icon, called MyPlate, will urge Americans to focus on eating healthier as more than one-third of children and two-thirds of adults are considered overweight or obese.

MyPlate demonstrates that half of the plate should be covered with fruits and vegetables while the other half focuses on grains and protein. Dairy, shown as a cup of perhaps milk, is placed off to the side. The goal of the new design is to “simplify nutritional information”, as Michelle Obama, First Lady, states. “When it comes to eating, what’s more useful than a plate? It’s a quick simple way for all of us to be mindful of the foods we’re eating.”

MyPlate will be much easier to apply to everyday life, especially for teenagers. Michelle Obama’s hope is for a healthier America and the MyPlate icon just might accomplish that.

Healthy eating has long been promoted. Elementary schools taught the pyramid symbol to kids to help them understand the importance of eating a healthy diet.

The MyPlate figure will help making better food choices effortless. The simpler design makes it easy for kids and adults to understand and apply.

The idea is to simply look down at the plate and see if the proportions match the design. Eating well is not just about weight loss, but it also improves the immune system and energy levels.

Making the right choices about meals has been shown to be much more effective than hitting the gym to slim down, “Men and women [who] do an hour of cardio per day for an entire year only lose 4-6 pounds on average” Obesity journal states.

Pair daily workouts with making healthy choices and watch the pounds slip away. The average American drinks about one and a half cans of soda each day.

By swapping those drinks for water, the average person could lose twenty-one pounds in a year. The government created a helpful website to remind Americans that healthy choices do not always have to be difficult.

The new MyPlate website, choosemyplate.gov, is designed to help Americans fill their plates with the right kinds of foods. The site also includes new nutritional guidelines from the government.

Key points from the guidelines are to consume whole grains, avoid oversized portions, drink water instead of sugary drinks, and to use low-fat milk. While the pyramid design seemed bulky with information about servings and types of food, MyPlate saves the extra wording for the web site by including information about food groups, dietary guidelines, and recipes online.

This wealth of information is accessible and easy to use; the hope is that teenagers, as well as adults, will take advantage of this useful tool. Maybe a healthier

America is around the corner and the increasing rates of obesity will die down. With advances like MyPlate, maybe the government will accomplish just that.

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Distribution Manager

Most people want to get married and start new life with the person they love, but sometimes marriage ends in divorce. Marriage and divorce can be the cause of weight gain.

According to a study done at Ohio State University, marriage is a trigger for weight gain among women who get married when they are thirty to fifty years of age.

Men tend to gain weight if they get a divorce during the years from thirty to fifty years of age.

Marriage and divorce are considered “weight shocks”.  Although from the ages of fifty years and older weight shocks are increased. Zhenchao Qian and Dmitry Tumin are the two lead researchers who conducted this study.

These weight gains can increase so much that it can cause a health risk. Single men and women or couples in their twenties are not in as much risk as couples past thirty years of age.

Tumin and Qian had used data from the “National Longitudinal Survey of Youth ’79” to compare to their study. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth ‘79 had men and women from the ages of 14 to 22 in 1979.

Although for their experiment, they had used more than ten thousand people from the years of 1986 to 2008.

In their experiment, they Tumin and Qian had separated the people into four different groups according to how much they weight they gained or lost.

The groups were people who had a “Body Mass Increase” or BMI decrease of 1kg/m2, which is about 7 pounds of a person that is 5’10”.

The second group was people who had a small BMI increase which is about 7 to 20 pounds for somebody who are 5’10”.

People who had a large BMI increase which is about 21 pounds and people who didn’t gain or lose any weight were the last two groups.

They used these people to conclude if weight was gained two years after marriage or divorce.  Some people would think that there are many factors that could cause the gain or loss of weight such as a pregnancy, well Tumin and Qian had accounted for any other possible factors. Qian said

“Married women often have a larger role around the house than men do, and they may have less time to exercise and stay fit than similar unmarried women”.

During a marriage, sometimes men can lose weight instead of gaining it; there is no clear explanation why that is.

“As you get older, having a sudden change in your life like a marriage or a divorce is a bigger shock than it would have been when you were younger, and that can really impact your weight” Tumin said. 

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According to Insomnia Statistics, approximately 55 percent of people suffer from insomnia, which is a condition in which people have trouble falling asleep every night and  cannot stay asleep for long periods of time. They also tend to wake up frequently during the night, and even after a full night of sleep, are still not fully rested.

According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institution, every eight out of 10 people have the most common type of insomnia, Primary Insomnia. There is no known physical or mental cause for Primary Insomnia, but some factors may include stress, caffeine and anxiety. Negative emotions and feeling stressed for a long period of time can also play a key role in insomnia.

In an effort to treat Primary insomnia, people should refrain from taking naps during the day, and should attempt to go to bed  and wake up at the same time every night and morning. Exercise can also help tire the body.

Terrace sophomore Jacob Pratt suffers from Massive Insomnia, which has the same symptoms as Primary Insomnia, but  the effects are worse and  it affects every part of his life.

“In every aspect, it’s kind of hard to generalize. Basically short term memory loss and energy levels would probably be the greatest effect,” Pratt said.

Every night it takes Pratt anywhere from two to three hours to fall asleep, and he wakes up about 67 times an hour.

“Without insomnia, my life would be different because I’d have higher energy levels, be able to stay awake during all my classes and I’d be able to concentrate on work better,” Pratt said.

He also said that not sleeping makes him very short-tempered and more stressed than he would normally be.

“Insomnia is caused by quite a few things, and one is my acid reflex that makes me congested during the night,” says Pratt.

Although there are many treatments for severe cases of insomnia, one type of treatment that is commonly used is medicine.

“I’m on a ton of medications right now. There’s decongestant medicine, four different steroids, and two antibiotics: Omeprazole and Ranitidine,” Pratt explained.

Some side effects of the many medications Pratt is on is that his stomach acid is repressed, which makes him more susceptible to colds. The steroids make him feel hyper, and as if his skin is crawling. He also feels jittery and gets dizzy often.

People suffering from insomnia tend to take longer than average naps during the day and typically have less energy than most people. They tend to be very annoyed, jumpy, tense, or depressed. The ability to focus, pay attention, learn and remember things is also impacted.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the hormones in females can cause many sleeping pattern problems.

When a woman is on her period, the levels of the hormone Progesterone are dropped and can cause temporary insomnia. The first and last trimester of a women’s pregnancy can be disturbed by the changing effects of the progesterone hormone.

Chronic Insomnia, the most severe type of insomnia, effects about 10 percent of the population. Causes are known to be psychological and/or emotional, and  it can also run in families.

The underlying causes for this type of insomnia may include depression, bipolar disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, or by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Around 10 to 15 percent of chronic insomnia claims are caused by the abuse of alcohol, cocaine, sedatives and other drugs or substances.

The Sleep Med Incorporated website states that about 20 percent to 40 percent of all adults have insomnia in the course of a year. Also, one out of three people has had insomnia at some point in their life.

People suffering from insomnia or aren’t sure if they are suffering insomnia should contact a medical doctor, as that is the only way it can be treated professionally.

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The legal age for drinking is twenty-one years old, but alcohol companies are making flavored alcohol that is attracting young men and women. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, about 80 percent of high school students have at least tried alcohol. Just like everything illegal for one to consume, alcohol has its risks. According to an article reviewed by Steven Dowshen, MD, by drinking, a person may become depressed and can lead to suicide. By drinking too much alcohol in a small period of time may also cause alcohol poisoning. In experiencing alcohol poisoning, the common symptoms are throwing up, having a very low and dangerous blood pressure, experiencing extreme sleepiness and possibly becoming unconscious or even dying.

There are plenty of reasons to why teens will drink. Some may drink to get away from their life or to feel better after a long day. Some teens might want to drink because they want to be treated like an adult and they drink to feel older. There is also the peer pressure to drink. Some people want to fit in so badly they are willing to do anything. Some teens just are curios to what it tastes like and how it feels to be drunk and have a hangover. Well, even just being curios can cause somebody to become addicted to alcohol. Teens can also drink because somebody in their family is an alcoholic.

The same cite also stated that drinking is a high health risk factor. About one half of all young men drowning cases are caused by alcohol drinking. Alcohol use increases the possibility of young adults or teens of getting in to a car crash or suicide. In a study at the University of Washington, found out that teens who had five or more drinks frequently at thirteen years old, were more likely to be overweight and have a higher blood pressure than their non-drinking associates by twenty-four years old.

According to Teen Drug Abuse, the long term effects of alcohol are damaging to the organs and can shrink the brain. In a study conducted by this organization, 37 percent of 8^th grade girls who drank had more attempts to commit suicide, rather than the 11 percent that didn’t drink. Drinking kills teens six and a half times more than all illegal drugs combined. In the United States, 58 billion dollars a year is how much underage drinking costs.

In American Academy of Family Physicians, it states that alcohol can make somebody gain weight, have bad breath, can cause sickness or dizziness, and make skin break out. According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the average number of teens trying alcohol for the first time is 318 teens from the ages of 12 to 20 years old in the US. Teens who start drinking around the age of 15 are more likely to become alcoholics than people who start drinking at the age of 21. Because of alcohol, every year more than 1,700 college students are killed.

According to the Students Against Destructive Decisions, almost 72 percent of students have drunken alcohol before graduating high school and almost 37 percent of teens have drunken alcohol during eighth grade.

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This week is meant to be fun and it can be, but it often leads to dangerous situations.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), as many as one in seven high school students under the age of 18 are allowed to go on unsupervised trips during spring break. Now, not everyone may be able to party it up on the beach in Florida or California.

However, many teens are left home alone unsupervised, which gives them more opportunities to drink alcohol and take other dangerous substances such as drugs.

There are 700,000 car accidents each year involving people under the age of 18 who are under the influence of alcohol. During the week of spring break, the amount of fatal car crashes involving alcohol more than doubles.

According to The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 27.5 percent of teens aged 12-20 had drank alcohol within a month of their survey in 2000. This statistic is at any given time, and during spring break, this number is most likely greater.

According to the Trauma Foundation, a study showed that during spring break about 50 percent of college drinkers engage in unplanned sex and 52 percent in unprotected sex.

About 60 percent had trouble with the police and 59 percent were injured.

There may not be too many things to do in Mountlake Terrace during spring break, but teenagers do not have to resort to drinking alcohol or doing drugs to ease boredom.

Since all athletes and students who participate in activities have to sign an activity code stating they will not do drugs, smoke, or drink alcohol, if they are caught during spring break, the consequences still apply.

If teenagers decide to drink than to be safe they should know their limit and not drive. According to SADD.org, “26.4 percent of underage persons (ages 12 through 20) used alcohol, and binge drinking among the same age group was 17.4 percent.”

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