Making your clicks count

By Elizabeth "Lizzie" W.

Have you ever wanted to make a difference but not necessarily spend a lot of time or money? Well, you’d be amazed at how many online charities there are that allow you to donate simply by clicking a button! These Web sites are great because it only takes a second to click a button but it makes a big difference. Two examples of these types of Web sites are www.oneclickatatime.org and www.thehungersite.com.

• The Hunger Site allows you to donate to hunger relief, breast cancer, child health, literacy, saving the rainforest and animal rescues. The Hunger Site also sponsors several petitions for those causes. It was launched in June 1999 and has since established itself as a leader in online activism. To date, more than 200 million people have given more than 300 million cups of food to over 74 countries. In 2008, visitors donated 3,315 mammograms and 489,367 books to needy women and children. They also funded basic, vital healthcare for 782,630 children, the preservation and protection of 517,475,013 square feet of rainforests and the value of 67,054,500 bowls of food for shelter animals.

• Oneclickatatime is actually just a Web site with lots of links to other Web sites containing “Click To Donate” buttons. It has animal, environmental, health, hunger, children, women, homeless and many more online charities. This is a great Web site, because it’s really convenient and it has a bunch of Web sites you probably wouldn’t have visited otherwise.

Another popular Web site is www.freerice.com. This Web site tests your knowledge while donating rice to starving kids around the world. It asks you trivia questions, and then donates 10 grains of rice for every question you answer correctly. In the year 2008, 43,942,622,700 grains of rice were donated. There are quizzes on several topics you can choose from but the most popular is English vocabulary. Some of the words you’ve probably never heard before and you have to stretch your brain to identify their meaning. Ever heard the words savate, stoma, reticule or kef? I know I sure haven’t! Free Rice is a great, fun way to donate to a good cause.

With the internet expanding every day, there are more and more options available to things that you use all the time, such as Google. Two examples of alternative search engines are www.blackle.com and www.goodsearch.com.

• Blackle is pretty much Google with a black background. Having a black background instead of a white one saves energy. I bet you didn't know that it takes about 74 watts to display a white web page, and only 59 to display a black one! Over one million watt hours are saved every day, just by changing something as simple as a color. By using Blackle, you are saving lots of energy and helping the environment.

• Good Search is a search engine that donates money to a charity of your choice every time you search. It’s got nearly every charity you can think of, so you’re sure to find something that you support (including Girl Scouts!). With over 79,000 non-profit organizations benefiting from Good Search, it’s helping thousands of needy people every day! The ASPCA has received $26,000, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has earned $11,000, just from people using this search engine. All those searches certainly add up!

There are many charitable organizations waiting for you to help out. All you have to do is click!

Please,life. Don't be boring

By Rose B.

At an early age, some of us know what we want to be when we grow up. Others don’t know until they’re already grown up. The only real difference between the two is that one knows what they like to do and how it can apply to the future, and the other doesn’t. But no matter what you like to do, there is something out there that can turn what you like into a career!

If we looked at every single career out there, this would be a frighteningly long article. However, we can examine a few stories where a person’s passion for what they do brought them to the success they have today.

• Kyle Puttkammer is the owner and manager of the comic book store Galaxy Quest (one in Buford and one in Lawrenceville) and is the creator of the Galaxy Man comics. He has been a comic shop retailer for 17 years, and in an interview with www.themagicallibrary.com, he said that when he was “10 years old, (I’m from Wisconsin and Wisconsin is, by definition, extremely *insert yawn*) growing up in Wisconsin, there was not a lot going on. And, so, comic books were my escape and my creative outlet. So from the age of 10 on until I was a teenager, I constantly did creative stuff and after I got a ‘real job,’ I wanted to continue to do the creative stuff, so I inevitably got into the comic book business on the retail end of it. So yeah, I’ve always wanted to do comic books since I was quite young.” He also paints murals and provides superheroes for birthday parties.

• Alan Gratz is another person who has taken their childhood passion and turned it into a career. Gratz has published four books so far, two historical fiction novels and the first two books in a mystery series. He gives exceptional talks, and his writing is amazing. When asked, “Have you always wanted to write?” by www.themagicallibrary.com, he responded, “Yes. I taught myself to write on my grandfather’s old Underwood typewriter when I was a kid, and I’ve been writing ever since. In second grade I created a newspaper for my street—The Blue Spring Lane News—and I wrote my first 'book' in fifth grade, Real Kids Don’t Eat Spinach, a non-fiction pastiche of a popular humor book in the eighties. I won awards for creative writing in middle school, went to Governor’s School for the humanities to study fiction in high school and crafted a specialized creative writing course for myself at the University of Tennessee. I suppose I should have seen this coming.” He’s now this LGG staff member’s favorite author.

• Dakota Fanning may be only 15-years old, but she’s already a well-known and talented actress. She has starred in Charlotte’s Web, The Cat in the Hat and War of the Worlds. According to www.imdb.com, Dakota acted out imaginary games with her little sister around the house and would perform in neighborhood plays for fun before the people running the playhouse noticed that Dakota stood out, and advised her parents, Joy and Steve Fanning, to take her to an agency. The Fanning family [was] advised to spend six weeks in Los Angeles, a long way from their home in Georgia. But there, Dakota managed to get her first work; to star in a national Tide commercial. The family then decided to move to Los Angeles permanently, for it looked like Dakota's career was looking very good. After they moved, Dakota signed with a professional agency, and soon won a role in the movie Tomcats (2001). It snowballed from there, and now Dakota is where she is - a successful teen actress. She began her career at age five, but few people do, and there are plenty of actors who attend college before hitting it big.

So what can you do? If you like math, there are hundreds of possible careers where mathematics are required. Do you like to enter robotics competitions? You can build robots for a living. Want to become a doctor? There are opportunities you can have while you’re still in high school so you can get a feel for it, like the Young Epidemiology Scholars competition.

There is a whole assortment of opportunities for every kind of person, from zealous animal lovers to blooming artists to analytical minds to whatever it is that I’m forgetting! You just have to figure out what it is you are most passionate about and increase your presence in communities where your talent can be cultivated. Be sure to research the variety of careers associated with your talent and build yourself up until you can look out at the vastness known as the future and say to yourself, “Everything’s going to turn out great.”

My name is Rose. My passion is writing, and I’m going to publish many books. I have already published many articles in various magazines and have attended multiple writers’ workshops. I’m going to attend interviews, give out signed copies, write, write, write, edit and be happy. What about you?

What's my color?

Determine your style

By: Eilidh G.

Have you ever wished there was an easy way to determine what clothes would look good on you? Figuring out what colors you look best in can help you figure out your style. One way to determine what colors look good on you is to figure out whether your skin has a warm or cool undertone. To find this out, look at your wrist. Are your veins blue or green? Bluish veins mean your skin has a cool undertone and greenish veins mean your skin has a warm undertone.

If you have a cool undertone, you’ll look better in jewel tones such as emerald green or turquoise blue.

If you have a warm undertone, you’ll look better in earthy colors, such as browns and greens.

Your eye color can also help determine what colors look best on you. Colors that are similar to your eye color will really make your eyes pop. Remember these are only guidelines. Have fun with fashion!

Models vs. role models

By: Vanessa W.

According to Wikipedia.com, Paris Hilton is an “American socialite, heiress, celebutante, model, media personality, singer and actress.” She takes part in numerous charity functions and has even won awards for her achievements.

At first glance, Ms. Hilton seems like a true role model for young girls today. Unfortunately, things are not always as they seem. Paris Hilton is also noted for her arrests for drunk driving and other antics. People who are in the spotlight as much as Paris Hilton need to understand the immensity of their actions. I think celebrities influence teenage girls because we want to be just as glamorous as the girls we see on TV or on the red carpet.

There are plenty of role models that live on your street, teach at your school or are in your own home, but their actions don’t get much or any publicity because they are not supermodels. This is why celebrities need to step it up! They are in the spotlight where everyone can see them and they need to be true role models because their actions will influence girls for years to come.

This only goes to show that there is a big difference between a model and a role model.