Poll Position
FOR TEENS
SIDETRACKS
• Gwen Stefani’s “L.A.M.B.”
• P. Diddy’s “Sean John”
• Nelly’s “Vokal”
Which celebrity • Eve’s “Fetish”
has the most
stylish clothing line?
Celeb thread
lines
Go online at www.sacbee.com/links
to vote. We’ll print the results
in next Friday’s Sidetracks.
• Last week’s poll question:
Which celebrity couple has what it takes
to make marriage work?
The Newlyweds:
0%
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson
Third time’s a charm:
0%
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
Hollywood’s wildest couple:
Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro 0%
The Who-woulda-thunk-its:
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline 0%
vokal.com
...
The “Q”
What I’m about
FIVE WAYS TO
Seeing Double:
Which of these celebrities is not a twin?
A. Aaron Carter – Is
there another
earthquake?
B. Alanis Morissette –
Wouldn’t that be
ironic.
C. Liv Tyler – Another
Tyler would make
me “Liv”-id.
D. Ashton Kutcher –
His twin got Punk’d.
A
BEND YOUR
BRAIN
B
While not playing
basketball or supporting the Sacramento
Kings, Franklin Martin
is pursuing a different
passion: creative
writing.
This 17-year-old
became interested in Franklin
creative writing in an Martin
English class during
his freshman year at FDR High School.
“We were given a name or a word
and had to make up a story about it,”
he said.
Since then, Martin has read his
diverse short stories and poems at
several talent shows. The favorite
poem he has written is titled, “As I
Stand.”
“It’s self-reflective,” Martin said, “A
sort of self-declaration of who I am.”
– Sarah Thaller
C
D
Top 4 List
Answer: C. Liv Tyler
By
Jessica Gau
Trends
Department
Bat those
eyelashes
Lacking thick, eyecatching lashes? Faux
eyelashes can help
you with all of your
eye-batting needs.
You’ll find excellent-quality lashes at
cosmetics stores such
as MAC or Sephora,
where they range
from $4 to around
$15. Or try local
drugstores such as
Longs or RiteAid for
pretty decent lashes
for around $3.
It takes some practice, but faux lashes
become easy to apply.
Put a thin line of adhesive on the lash, let it
sit for about 30 seconds, and then slowly
place right above your
real lashes.
Keep your eye
closed and gently fan,
then slowly open to
reveal your best
lashes ever.
– Sarah Thaller
FYI
Movie maker
Like making movies,
but don’t know where
to show them? Try
submitting one to the
Tower of Youth, an
annual festival that
showcases short films
(a maximum of three
minutes) made by
students from local
high schools. For more
information, visit
www.towerofyouth.org
. The deadline to apply
is March 18, so hurry
up!
Golden Sierra High School
By Gary R. Gruber
Before you
get to the
questions,
here are
the five key
strategies
experts use
to solve most
problems. Try
to use them
when answering
the questions.
SPECIAL TO THE BEE
T
he key strategy in
taking an SAT or any
other standardized test is
to be able to look at a question or
problem and extract something
curious that will lead you to a next
step in solving the problem. By
getting involved in the “process”
of problem solving, you will not
fixate or get anxious about
finding an answer; instead
you will naturally be led to
the answer.
This is called “process”
thinking as opposed to
“answer grabbing.”
Below are six questions
that will challenge your
mind and require you to
use this thinking approach.
Developing the strategies
used in solving these problems will
increase your critical-thinking ability
and get you to think creatively without
being in a panic to get the right answer.
The answer will flow from the process.
1
Two American coins add up to 30
cents. If one of them is not a nickel,
what are the two coins?
Strategy/Answer: A quarter and a nickel
25 cents, 5 cents. The key strategy is to
pay attention to the wording and not
assume anything. The mind gets lured into
a process that seems natural, so if you
hear someone say, “one of them is not a
nickel,” you may assume that the person
means that both are not nickels. But the
statement “one is not a nickel” does not
preclude the other from being a nickel.
2
Terry is half as old as Alice was
when Alice was five years older
than Terry is now. How old is Terry
now?
Strategy/Answer: Terry is 5 years old.
This is a classic SAT problem. And the key
strategy is to translate from words to math
so that you don’t rack your brains.
Translate: Translate Alice to “A,” Terry
to “T,” was or is to “=,” older than to “+.”
Now translate: Terry is half as old as
Alice was: T = (1/2)A … Equation (1).
Translate: Alice was five years older
than Terry is now : A = 5 + T … Equation(2).
Substitute for 5+ T = A (Equation2) in
Equation1: We get: T = (1/2)(5 + T).
Simplifying we get 2T = 5 + T, and thus, T
= 5. So Terry is 5 years old.
1. Don’t get misled by irrelevant
information
2. Don’t get overwhelmed by the
problem and know what to extract from
what’s given and forge toward the answer.
3. Be able to quickly use what you already
know (resources and basic skills) to be able
to start the problem.
4. Be able to discipline yourself so you do not
rush into the fast answer. Be able to “process
think” through a problem.
5. Check to see if you’ve covered everything or
missed anything.
Gannett News Service
I go to a department store and a
watch is discounted 20 percent and
then 30 percent after the first discount
is applied. Would I be better off if the
watch had a single discount of 50
percent? Why or why not?
Strategy/Answer: It is better to get a
single discount of 50 percent. Do not get
lured into a process that sounds superficial
or that you wouldn’t bet on. In fact, it is
always better to get a single discount of
the sums of the successive discounts than
the successive discounts. For example
suppose the item were originally $100. A
single discount of 50 percent would give
you the item at $50. Now if I had
successive discounts of 20 and 30
percent, the first 20 percent discount
would give me $80. The second 30
percent discount on $80 would give me
$56.
have in common. Most of the words have
a past tense that has a different structure
or sound from the word. BRING - Not
“BRINGED” but BROUGHT; BUY - Not
“BUYED” but BOUGHT; CATCH - Not
“CATCHED” but CAUGHT, etc. – and all of
these past-tense words rhyme with
OUGHT, EXCEPT “DREW” which is the
past tense of DRAW. So DREW is the odd
word out!
4
Strategy/Answer: C: 3. The strategy is to
realize that in order to be sure of what you
get, you have to consider the worst-case
scenario. The worst case is that if you
reach in the drawer, you’ll get two
different color socks the first two tries.
Let’s say a blue and brown sock the first
two tries. But the third try you’ll have to
get either a blue or a brown sock, which
will make a pair with one of the first two
socks.
3
Which verb does not belong with
the other words in the set:
• BRING
• BUY
• CATCH
• DRAW
• FIGHT
• SEEK
• TEACH
• THINK
Strategy/Answer: The strategy is to try
to see something curious about the words.
Notice something that many of the words
5
Suppose I have 40 blue socks and
40 brown socks in a drawer. If I
reach into the drawer without looking
at the socks, what is the smallest
amount of socks I must take out to
make sure that I have a pair of socks of
the same color?
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
(E) 40
– Doug Rutsch
A contest
with legs
“Pants” fans, here’s
your chance to tell a
winning story of friendship.
The movie version
of “The Sisterhood of
the Traveling Pants,”
Ann Brashares’ bestseller about four girls
who share a magical
pair of jeans, is due out
this summer. To win
tickets to the premiere, write an essay
of 250 words or fewer
about how you and
your best friend would
spend your last day
together if you were
about to be separated.
Details and the
entry form are at
www.sisterhoodcentra
l.com. Deadline for
entries to be received
is March 1.
Want to take this quiz online?
Go to www.sacbee.com/links.
• Each week, see Sidetracks for
a quick, SAT-preparatory question.
200 Words
1. The pressures of college: The
mere mention of applications sends
fear into the hearts of any collegebound student. Applications turn
seemingly well-adjusted students into
obsessive, irritable insomniacs. To
socialize with this special species of
senior, a signed release form is required.
2. Money: Even if you have time to
hang out with your friends, the money’s gone, gone, gone. There are application fees, gas, car insurance, caps
and gowns, the senior trip, senior
pictures, graduation announcements,
class ring, letterman jacket and the
looming cost of tuition for those lucky
enough to get into CSUs, UCs, or those
elusive privates. Electrical outlets are
no longer required to get the justzapped hair look – say the word
“money” and watch a senior’s hair
stand on end.
3. SATs: Whomever led seniors to
believe you were through with SATs
after your junior year lied. Out of all
the college-bound students I have
spoken to, only a few were happy
enough with their scores to forego
another round of the torture. So not
only do you have school work to keep
on top of, scholarships to apply for,
memories to make, colleges to apply
to and extracurricular commitments,
you also have to fit in more studying
for a test for which you don’t even get
a real grade.
4. Leaving friends: Yes, it is exciting
to go out into the big, bad world and
meet new people. But leaving lifelong
friends is hard to do. It is amazing
how close you get to someone in four
years, even the cute guy in your physics class you never got to know. Since
senior year leaves hardly any time for
friends or socializing, you basically
get to say good-bye your junior year.
쏔 쏔 쏔
Do you have a Top 4 List?
Send one on any subject to
[email protected]
Fast facts
56
Percent of teens
age 13-17 who
own a cell phone.
Source: The Yankee Group
Still growing out of a difficult experience with death, foster care
By Amber Cancino
AMERICAN LEGION HIGH SCHOOL
I
Dr. Gary R. Gruber has been called “America’s Super Genius” by the Washington Post. He
is recognized as the leading authority on standardized tests and the originator of the criticalthinking skills used to prepare for them. He has published more than 30 books with over 7
million copies sold. Gruber’s “Complete Preparation for the New SAT-10th Edition” (Harper
Collins) arrived in bookstores last month. Check out his Web site: www.GruberTestPrep.com.
reasons senior year isn’t
the best year of high
school
’m going to take you back to 1999. It was
a cold night on Sept. 29. This is the day it
all began – the pain and the sorrow for two
kids and a family.
I’m going to tell you my side of the story.
I was living with my grandparents and
brother Marshall in a house in Elk Grove. I
went shopping with my grandpa and returned to see my brother playing video
games and my grandma asleep in bed.
Later that night I awoke to my brother
asking me to promise not to be mad at him.
I promised not to be mad and my brother
started to cry. I had never seen my brother
cry before. He told me that our grandma
was dead.
I got up and walked to the doorway to
see my grandma lying with a sheet over
her head. I didn’t know whether to scream
or cry.
I waited with my uncle and aunt until
the morgue came and got my grandma’s
body. We sat around the house for a while.
My brother decided to watch TV and play
games with me to lift some of the pain. We
were sitting in the living room when we
Sounding Are you about to get your driver’s
license? Tell us about it: [email protected]
Board
heard a noise outside the door. We ran to
the bathroom and locked the door.
Together we were and together we
would stay. So we thought!
It was the police. They were there to take
us to foster care.
Soon we were standing outside a new
house with a new family waiting inside.
My brother and I stayed in the foster home
for five days, until grandma’s funeral.
Marshall tried to run away but they found
him and brought him back to the group.
Later, my brother was taken to the main
foster building and left there to be moved
to another home.
MAIL: Sidetracks, The Sacramento Bee,
P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852
E-MAIL: [email protected]
FAX: (916) 556-5625
SIDETRACKS EDITOR
Sarah Lopez Williams
(916) 321-1227
[email protected]
That was the last time I lived with my
brother.
Now let me take you to today. I am 17
years old. I am going to school and have a
job. As for my brother, he’s 18 years old
and lives in Galt. We saw each other a few
times before Marshall turned 18 and declared independence.
I am still growing strong and still a ward
of the court until my 18th birthday.
The day of Sept. 29, 1999, will always be
the day the pain and sorrow started for
Amber and Marshall.
STAFF WRITERS
Doug Rutsch
Sarah Thaller
(916) 321-1219
(916) 321-5225
[email protected] [email protected]