Garner Releases 2009 Football Schedule

Head Coach Nelson Smith and the Garner Athletic Department released the 2009 Varsity Football Schedule on Friday. The 2009 campaign will be a rigorous one for the Trojans as they will face seven teams that made the State Playoffs in 2008.

The Trojans will begin the season on August 21st when they travel to Millbrook for the endowment game, which is also a rematch of last season's Double Overtime playoff game. Garner will spend week two of the season on the road as they travel to another Cap-Seven school, as they tangle with the Broughton Capitals.

The home opener for the Trojans will come on Sept. 4 when they welcome the Middle Creek Mustangs to Trojan Stadium. The Trojans will conclude the regular season on Nov.13 when they travel to take on new conference member in the Harnett Central Trojans.

Here is a look at the complete 2009 Schedule:

DATE DAY OPPONENT SITE TIME (HOME GAMES IN BOLD)

Aug. 21 FRI Millbrook Away 7:00
(Endowment)

Aug. 28 FRI Broughton Away 7:00

Sept. 4 FRI Middle Creek HOME 7:30

Sept. 11 FRI Riverside Away 7:00

Sept. 18 FRI W. Johnston HOME 7:30

Sept. 24 TH. Clayton Away 7:30

Oct. 2 FRI Knightdale HOME 7:30

Oct. 9 FRI SSS HOME 7:30

Oct. 16 FRI ------OPEN WEEK ------

Oct. 23 FRI Southeast HOME 7:30

Oct. 30 FRI East Wake HOME 7:30

Nov. 6 FRI Harnett Central Away 7:30

Nov. 13 FRI STATE PLAYOFFS 7:30

Softball Loses a Heartbreaker

LIVE WEBCAST .

The Varsity Softball team returned home on Wednesday night as they hosted Fuquay-Varina in round 3 of the State 4A Softball Playoffs. Garner would fall behind in the first inning as Camice Patterson, the Bengal lead off hitter was hit with the pitch and later came around to score on a bases loaded walk.

Fuquay still had a run one lead as Bengal starter, Alex Ryan held Garner in check. But, Fuquay would capitalize in the third inning as Alexa Cannon singled with one out and the single was followed by a two-run home run but Natile Buddle over the left field wall and Garner was down 3-0.

But, Garner didn't stay down long as they jumped right back on the board in the bottom of the fourth, Nadia Jeffries led off the inning with a double to left field then advanced over to third on a Christie Wright ground out, and Jeffries scored on a pass ball to make it 3-1.

It would stay 3-0 going to the bottom of the 6th, that's when Garner found some offense, Kasey Hamrick led off the bottom of the sixth with a line drive double to left and after a strikeout, Nadia Jeffries beat out an infield single to put runners at first and third.

Jeffries spent little time at first as she stole second, which was her 45th stolen base of the year and tied her for first in the state. With two outs in the inning, Garner still had the runners at second and third and that's when Christie Wright helped her own cause with a line drive base hit to center to plate the two runs and tie the game at three a piece.

Each team had chances to win the game in the seventh, but neither team could get the hit they needed when they needed it and we went to extra innings, and the two teams played forever.

After walking the lead off hitter in the top of the 8th, Wright settled down to get get Garner out of the inning. The Lady Trojans couldn't muster in offense in the 8th or 9th as they went down in order in both innings.

In the 10th, things went sour for Garner as they just didn't get the breaks they needed and the ball seemed to bounce the opposite way as Fuquay put up five runs in the top of the inning to take an 8-3 lead.

The five run deficit was too much for Garner to overcome in the bottom of the 10th and the two hour 46 minute contest came to a close with Fuquay-Varina advancing to the 4th round.

Garner finishes the season with a very impressive body of work. The Lady Trojans finish the season at 23-4, and both the regular season and conference tournament champions.

Also, the Garner Trojans want to say their thanks to the two Seniors on the Softball team, Nadia Jeffries, and Christie Wright for their dedication to the program and all the heart they gave during their careers.

FUQ 8 14 0
GAR 3 7 1

Winning Pitcher: Alex Ryan - 10 Innings, 7 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 Walk, 8 Strikeouts

Losing Pitcher: Christie Wright - 9 2/3 Innings, 14 Hits, 8 Runs, 4 Walks, 1 Hit Batter, 7 Strikeouts


**The Trojan Sports Network would also like to express their appreciation to everyone who helped during the 2008-2009 school year. It was a pleasure bringing Trojan Athletics and we look forward to being back next year**

Baseball Announces Summer League Schedules

For a Printable Copy of the Schedule CLICK HERE.


Senior Team (Jr. Team in Parentheses)


Date Opponent Site Time

6/15 Knightdale H(H) 7:00 (5:00)

6/17 Clayton H(H) 7:00 (5:00

6/18 East Wake H(H) 7:00 (5:00)

6/22 South Central A(A) 7:00
(Green Hope) - JUNIOR TEAM ONLY - 5:00

6/23 Smithfield H(H) 7:00 (5:00)

6/24 Smithfield A(A) 7:00 (5:00)

6/25 Wake Forest H(H) 7:00 (5:00)

6/2 Sanderson H(H) 7:00 (5:00)

6/30 Knightdale A(A) 7:00 (5:00)

7/2 Clayton A(A) 7:00 (5:00)

7/6 East Wake A(A) 7:00 (5:00)

7/7 South Central H 7:00
(Green Hope) H - JUNIOR TEAM ONLY at 5:00

7/13 Wake Forest H(H) 7:00 (5:00)

7/14 Sanderson A(A) 7:00 (5:00)

7/16 Holly Springs A(A) 7:00 (5:00)

Summer Baseball Rosters Announced

The Trojan Baseball Program released the 2009 JV and Varsity Summer Baseball Rosters today, congrautlations to the following players selected to play this summer:


Sr. Team
Jake Baker – also playing with the Carolina Cubs
Jackson Pleasant
Matt Powell – also playing with Garner Legion
Bryan Woodard
Jesse Fisher
Brett Bailey
Josh Randle
Will Norris
Collin Perry
Connor Torruella
Brett Walters
Taylor Brunson
CJ Schmitt
Alec Hulmes


Jr. Team
Steven Brown
Matthew Hawley
Scotty McCreery
Aquail Sanders
Robert Doak
Carrington Austin
Jake Ellington
Jacob Faucette
Anthony Galvatti
Terry Gilman
Vince Jeffries
Trevor Lee
Jared Newbry
Taylor Stephens
Skylar Strickland
Austin Walker
Levin Woodall
Brighton Hudson

Garner Blast Wakefield to Advance to Round 3

LIVE WEBCAST.


Garner scored early and often on Friday night as they defeated Wakefield 11-1 in five innings at Trojan Field. Garner will now advance to the third round of the State Playoffs to take on Fuquay-Varina, Tuesday night at 7:00 at Trojan Field.

The Lady Trojans struck first in the bottom of the first as Nadia Jeffries reached on an error, following a walk to Mary-Scott Powell, Christie Wright, laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Next up was Kimmie Stewart and she laced a two run triple to right field allowing both runs to score. Garner wasn't finished as Ashley Carroll, doubled to right to plate Stewart and make it 3-0. Garner added another run on an RBI ground out by Kasey Hamrick.

After Wakefield added a run in the top of the second, Garner responded with a two spot in bottom half. Again, Jeffries and Powell would reach to start the inning and again it would be Kimmie Stewart who singled home Jeffries and Ashley Carroll drove in Powell on a sacrifice fly.

Garner kept the pressure on in the fourth inning with a three spot. With one out, Jeffries singled, stole second and third and later scored on a ground out by Mary-Scott Powell. Christie Wright singled to put two on before Stewart doubled home Wright and Carroll doubled again to plate Morgan Dake who was running for Stewart.

With Garner leading 9-1 in the bottom of the fifth, they needed just two runs to end the ball game. Hailie Warner got things going with a solid single to center that the Wolverines center fielder over ran allowing Warner to reach third. She would score on a RBI single from Kasey Hamrick.

Following a Anna Burton sacrifice bunt, which put Hamrick at second, Jeffries grounded to second to put the Lady Trojans 11th run just 60 feet away. Hamrick would cross the plate as Mary-Scott Powell beat out an infield hit which won the game for Garner.

Again, Garner will advance to face Fuquay-Varina in round three. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams. Game time will be 7:00 on Tuesday night at Trojan Field. The Trojan Sports Network will be on the air at 6:45 on Tuesday Night.

Winning Pitcher: Christe Wright - 5 Innings, 3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 Walk, 1 Strikeout

Losing Pitcher: Katlyn Brooks - 4 2/3 Innings, 11 Hits, 10 Runs, 8 Earned Runs, 2 Walks, 2 Strikeouts.

WAK 1 3 2
GAR 11 10 0

Leading Hitters: WAK: Kendall Teasley 1-2 RBI, Nadia Stevens 1-2, Stephanie Spaulding 1-2; GAR: Stewart 3-3 (3B, 2B, 1B, 4 RBI), Jeffries 2-3, Carroll 2-2 (3 RBI), Hamrick 1-3 (2 RBI), Warner 2-3

Upchurch Signs with A&T

Softball Survives First Round Scare and Advances to Round Two

It wasn't always pretty on Tuesday night for the Varsity Softball team, but a win is a win, and this time of year the name of the game is Survive and advance and that is just what Garner did on Tuesday in their 3-2 victory over Athens Drive in the first round of the State Softball Playoffs.

Garner gave Christie Wright some early runs to play with in the bottom of the first when Garner had back to back singles by Wright and Kimmie Stewart to begin the inning. The Lady Trojans then plated those two on a two run double by Ashley Carroll.


Athens Drive scored in the 6th inning after Wright walked the first batter, and a fielder's choice moved the runner to second. Then, two passed balls scored two runs in the 6th for the Jaguars and tied the score at two.

But the tie score would be short lived as Garner rallied in the bottom of the sent as Ashley Carroll, led off the inning with a base hit to right. Anna Burton then came on for Ashley Carroll as a pinch runner. Raven Smith's fielder's choice moved Burton to second. Halie Warner then single to left field to plate Burton and score the winning run!

Garner (22-3) will now advance to the second round of the State Playoffs on Friday night when they play host to the winner of the Wakefield vs. East Chapel Hill game Friday night AT HOME first pitch will be 7:00.

The Trojan Sports Network will also be in attendance on Friday night for the Softball game with a LIVE WEBCAST Beginning at 6:45.

ATH 2 4 1
GAR 3 7 0

Winning Pitcher: Christie Wright
Losing Pitcher: Lilly

Leading Hitters: Athen's Drive: Lilly 1-3, Hutchins 1-2, Tschudi 1-3, Williams 1-3
Garner: Wright 2-3, Stewart 2-3, Carroll 2-3 (2B), Warner 1-3

Baseball Falls to Millbrook in Round 2 of State Playoffs

LIVE WEBCAST

The Garner Trojans had a tough rode to hoe on Tuesday night when they traveled to take on the Millbrook Wildcats in round two of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Baseball Playoffs. Millbrook came into the game at 19-5 and the number one seed in the Cap-7 Conference.

The Wildcats struck first in the bottom of the very first inning as Trojan starter, Jacob Baker hit lead off hitter Ryan Hanks and after a steal of second, Hanks scored the games first run. After another unearned run in the second inning, Garner needed some offense, and had a shot in both the second and third innings as they put runners in scoring position in both the second and third, but could not score.

With Millbrook leading 4-0, Garner needed to score in a bad way, and they did just that in the top of the fourth. Hunter Brown was hit with a pitch to lead off the inning after a fly out, Pat Monahan walked and Phillip Myrick singled to plate Colin Perry (running for Brown) to make it 4-1.

But Garner was not done, Jackson Pleasant was the next to hit and he grounded to short, but the throw went into the Garner dugout and allowed Monahan and Myrick to score and make it 4-3. After Pleasant advanced to third on a pass ball, Gabe Chrismon was at the plate and laid down a beautiful bunt as Pleasant was coming home and Garner tied the score at four on the squeeze play.

The tie score would be short lived as Millbrook put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth. After a lead off walk,Millbrook would load the bases and plate two runs to give the Wildcats a 6-4 lead.

With the score still 6-4 in the top of the seventh, Millbrook brought in their stud pitcher, Jake Harris to close the deal. Harris allowed a one out double to Paco Martin, but the Trojans rally fell short as Millbrook advances to the third round of the State Playoffs.

Garner ends the year at 14-9, and the a third place finish in the Greater Neuse River Conference. Garner also advanced to the second round for the first time since 2004.

GAR 4 5 2
MBK 6 6 2

Winning Pitcher: Bryan Lincoln - 6 Innings, 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 2 Earned Runs, 4 Walks, 1 Hit Batter, 3 Strikeouts

Losing Pitcher: Jacob Baker - 4 Innings, 4 Hits, 5 Runs, 3 Earned Runs, 4 Walks, 1 Hit Batter, 2 Strikeouts

Save: Jake Harris - 1 Inning, 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 Walks, 2 Strikeouts

Trojan Alumni Update

University of South Carolina freshman, Booker Nunley from Garner High School (class of 08), placed 2nd in the 110 hurdles with a massive PR of 13.49 at the SEC Track and Field Championships, giving him the 3rd best Collegiate time in the event

Garner Honors Academic Achievement

The Garner Magnet High School family took time out of their schedules on Monday, April 18 to honor the fine achievements of the students at Garner High School as the school held their 12th Annual Academic Awards Program. After a great opening speech from the Senior Class Salutatorian, Amanda Jordan, the awards began flying left and right as all four classes were honored.

The Senior Class was the last to be honored as 80 of the 154 Honor and Distinguished Honor Graduates were in attendance to receive several awards on the night. However, some of the loudest cheers of the night came at the end of the Awards program when Garner Principal Drew Cook presented some very special awards.

Senior Class Valedictorian, Mary Burkey was awarded the 2008-2009 State Employees Credit Union People Helping People Scholarship, which is a four year scholarship worth a total of $10,000.

The next special award presented was the US Army ROTC Scholarship which is a four year scholarship worth $132,000 and was awarded to Gabe Chrismon. The US Navy also presented a scholarship with also had a Marine option. The four year scholarship is worth $150,000 and was given to the Senior Class President, Jordan Hammond.

Next, was a very special award as the JoAnn Watkins Memorial Scholarship was given to Gillian Meyer. Mrs. Watkins was a social studies teacher at Garner High School from 1968 until she retired in 1995. She was also an Advisor in the Drama department, involved in the fine arts the department and was very involved with the Asheboro Retreat among other things.

The last award presented was the Edward Sheppard Wasdell Teacher of the Year Award which was awarded to a Garner Magnet High School teacher who makes a difference in the lives of the students that he teaches. Mr. Wadell was an Auto Tech teacher at Garner and after his death in 2001 his friends and family created this award in his memory. This year, the award winner was fitting as current Auto Tech teacher; Jacob Stevens was presented the award.

All in all, those in attendance got to see all the great and positive things that Garner Magnet High School has to offer.

Lady Trojans Win Two to Capture First Ever Tournament Title

Attitudes to accents

Now the AS students have done their exams, we'll concentrate on the A2 units and here's a piece from The Guardian on Wednesday which looks at people's attitudes to regional accents. It's no great surprise that we all have different preferences and dislikes when it comes to accents, but what might be surprising is how little some people like their own accent.

Basing their research on government-funded radio and TV advertising, the Central Office of Information has found that respondents in some regions dislike the sound of their own regional accent when used as a voice-over, preferring other regional accents or even Received Pronunciation. In other areas, there's more warmth towards the local variety.

Tynesiders appear to be proud of their accents, according to the findings, but Brummies responded negatively to hearing their vowels on TV and radio, partly because they recognise they are ridiculed for them by some of their compatriots.

"The research clearly shows that the accent used in radio and TV advertising can have an impact on how the ad is received," said Brian Jenkins, the head of radio at the COI. "Regional accents can make a difference but not necessarily a positive one. There was quite a negative reaction from people in Birmingham and Bristol to their own accents," he said.

Jenkins added respondents in both cities were "very proud" of the way they spoke, but seem to have been affected by "other people's perceptions of their accent".

And it's this last point that's quite interesting as an explanation: that people perhaps internalise others' ridicule of their accent and feel less secure about their own voices as a result.

An article in The Guardian some 10 years ago (which I stumbled across while clearing out English Language coursework from 1999 in my classroom) sheds some light on historical attitudes to regional accents. In one part of the article, the link is made between region and social class:

Academic studies confirm that, socio-linguistically, Cockney has shared the bottom rung with Scouse, Glaswegian, West Midlands and Belfast. Almost certainly this is because, historically, they have all been essentially working-class accents - unlike Yorkshire, say, which might be middle class. This is one reason why Scots voices, and to a lesser extent Irish and Welsh ones, are different. A middle-class Scottish accent can signify a good education (lawyers, doctors).

So, how does this help with A2 English Language? Language variation is part of ENA5 and could also be a topic for ENA6 (Language Debates), so it's worth having a think about why certain accents give rise to certain attitudes, but it's also important to think about how regional varieties are changing and attitudes towards previously prestige forms (such as RP) are altering. In the COI survey above, it was noted that older respondents, and those who weren't "positively engaged with authority" (i.e. a hardened criminal or a junior gangbanger from some dodgy endz) had very different attitudes to RP:

Older people tend to be more accepting of ad campaigns featuring received pronunciation, perhaps because they grew up listening to the "cut-glass" English accents that featured on public information films of the past.

Younger people were more engaged by local accents, it found, but sometimes a more authoritative voice is more appropriate, according to the research.

Advertisements which encourage the public to comply with deadlines, including filling in tax returns, "need to impart trust and authority" the COI said, and are more effective when a Home Counties accent is used.

Local accents proved more persuasive in campaigns which include "credible real-life experiences" to try to change people's behaviour, perhaps to prevent drink driving or encourage homeowners to fix faulty smoke alarms.

The study also found that people who were already "positively engaged with authority" were more likely to absorb the message of campaigns using RP, while those who are not prefer to hear local accents.

Trojans Send Mustangs Up the Creek Without a Paddle; Advance to Round Two

LIVE Webcast

Garner hadn't advanced to the second round of the State Playoffs since 2004, but that all changed on Thursday night as they defeated the Middle Creek Mustangs on the road 6-4 to advance round two of the playoffs where they will face the Millbrook Wildcats.

The Trojans got on the board first in the opening frame as Paco Martin doubled with one out. Then, Ricky Martin had a long battle at the plate before sending a double to left center field to drive in his cousin and give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

It would remain 1-0 until the third when Garner struck again as Jeremy Conyers walked to start the inning and was sacrificed to second by Paco Martin and Hunter Brown drove Conyers in to make it 2-0 Garner.

Each team scored in the fourth as Garner opened the scoring with two outs Conyers reached on an error and stole second before P. Martin drove him with a double to left. Middle Creek got their first run off Jacob Baker in the fourth as with two outs Chase Martin reached on a error and Eric Florin drove him in with a double.

The Trojans got yet another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Pat Monahan and after Middle Creek got a run in the fifth the two teams went to the seventh with Garner leading 5-2.

Garner got an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Dillon Creech led off the inning with a home run off the scoreboard in left. It would turn out Garner would need the insurance as Middle Creek struck for two runs in the bottom of the seventh off Garner relief pitching, but Hunter Brown came in and threw two pitches to get the save for the Trojans as they are off to round two.

GAR 6 13 1
MC 4 7 2

Winning Pitcher: Jacob Baker - 5 Innings, 3 Hits, 1 Run, 0 Earned Runs, 1 Walk, 1 Hit Batter, 6 Strikeouts

Losing Pitcher: Matt Drisko - 4 1/3 Innings, 9 Hits, 4 Runs, 3 Earned Runs, 2 Walks, 4 Strikeouts

Save: Hunter Brown - 1/3 Innings, 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Walks, 0 Strikeouts

Leading Hitters: GAR: P. Martin 3-3 (2 1B, 2B, RBI), Brown 2-4 (2 1B, RBI), Creech 2-4 (1B, HR), Monahan 2-4 (2 1B)

Lady Trojans Advance to Semi-finals of Conference Tournament

Garner came into the first round of the Conference Tournamet as the number one seed as they faced the number eight seed in the Clayton Comets. Garner had already beat Clayton twice in the regular season and both games were not close.

The first round of the Conference Tournamet wouldn't be any different as Garner scored five runs in each of the first two innings then added two runs in the thrid as they rolled to a 12-1 win and advance to the semi-finals of the Conference Tournament Saturday Morning at 10 A.M. at Smithfield-Selma High School.

The game will be LIVE on the Trojan Sports Network beginning at 9:45 AM on Saturday Morning.

CLA 1 4 4
GAR 12 11 0


Winning Pitcher: Christie Wright
Losing Pitcher: Morgan


Clayton Hitters: Maxson 1-2, Dilday 1-2, Joyner 1-2, Shivley 1-2

Garner Hitters: Powell 1-4, Wright 3-3( HR), Carroll 2-3, Stewart 2-3(2B), Smith 2-3(2B), Strickland 1-1(2B)

Varsity Soccer Loses Playoff Heartbreaker

The Lady Trojans made the playoffs as the number five seed out of the Greater Neuse River Conference as they traveled to take on Pinecrest the number one seed out of the Mid-Southeastern Conference.

Garner was ready to play as the game was scoreless through regulation, so the game went to overtime. But it wasn't just one overtime, the two teams played 4 OT's before the game finally went to penalty kicks. Where Pinecrest would out score Garner 8-7 to take the first round playoff match up 1-0.

Kudos to the Lady Trojans for their late season push to make the playoffs and the great effort they gave last night. Congratulations to Coach Barnes and the entire Lady Trojans on a great season.

Synecdoche SW12

Fancy stretching your vocabulary a bit further? Like a bit of lexical flexing? Try this 7 question quiz on the BBC website, inspired by the troublesome title of the latest Charlie Kaufman film, Synecdoche, New York.

There's also a brief article in today's Guardian about the word synecdoche, a term we've used in A2 lessons this term when looking at how some words and phrases used to label social groups have been formed ("Nice bit of ass" = an attractive woman etc.). Then there's metonymy, a similar process in which a metaphorical link is made between an object and the thing associated with it (e.g. "hoodie" becomes the person wearing it)

These are words that Sean and Gilberto already use with great perspicacity and aplomb, so see if you too can elevate your lexical performance to match their verbal gymnastics.

ENGA1 Language Development essay questions part 3

And here's another one we prepared earlier. It's a suggested approach to the phonology question (question 2 on the list below).

To use Teachit links you'll have to register on their site first, but it's still free. Go here, register, log in then follow the link above.

ENGA1 mode exercise 3

And now try analysing this text, which is also about the singer mentioned in mode exercise 2, Regina Spektor. This extract is taken from a Guardian newspaper review of one of her live performances, written by Maddy Costa. If you feel brave, you could even have a go at comparing the two extracts...

ENGA1 mode exercise 2

Here's another extract for a bit of mode analysis. It's taken from a discussion forum on a music festival website. See what you make of it. If it's a bit blurred, click on the image to get a better picture. Try applying the same questions as the last revision post:

1. Where would you place this extract on the mode continuum?
2. Why?
3. What language evidence can you produce for your decision?

ENGA1 Language Development essay questions part 2

And here is a link to an approach to question 5 from the Teachit site. That's the one that asks you "To what extent do children acquire language by actively working out its rules?".

To use Teachit links you'll have to register on their site first, but it's still free. Go here, register, log in then follow the link above.

Winter/Spring Awards Night Coming Up

The athletic department will honor the winter and spring athletes at the Athletic Awards Night on May 28 at GMHS.

Awards night begins at 6:30 with the Winter Sports meeting in their respective locations. Then at 7:00 both winter and spring sports will meet in the Main Gym for the General Meeting. Following the General Meeting, the Spring Sports will have their individual meeting at 7:30 in their respective locations.

Please Note: The ATHLETIC AWARDS Night is May 28. The ACADEMIC AWARDS is May 18. We apologize for any confusion.

Trojan Baseball To Host Summer Baseball Camp

Parents and Players come be part of the 2009 Garner Trojan Baseball Camps this June at Trojan Park as you learn baseball from Coach Goffena, his staff and former and current players.

The Camp will be held at Garner's Trojan Park, on Saturday June 6th from 9 A.M. until Noon. The camp is for kids ages 5-13. The cost $25 per camper and the proceeds will go towards the Baseball program.

For More information please see the Flyer

Or Contact Coach Goffena at dgoffena@wcpss.net

Sports Physicals Being Offered at GMHS

Sports physicals for Garner Magnet High School student athletes will be offered on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. in the Small Gym. The cost of the physical will be $15 per student due the evening of the physical, with all proceeds returned to the athletic program at Garner Magnet High School.
(If you are paying with a check please make check payable to Garner Magnet High School.)

To receive a physical the student athlete must arrive with a completed and signed Garner High School Athletic Participation Form. No exceptions will be made. You may pick up one of these forms from Mr. Guerrero’s office Room 327, or in the front office at Garner Magnet High School. Please note if you have other forms that need to be filled out, i.e. for Pop Warner, Boy Scouts, Camps, etc, you must bring that form with you. We are not capable of completing these following your physical.

For more information Contact Coach Guerrero via email at mguerrero@wcpss.net OR you can get the forms from the links below.

Garner Magnet High School Athletic Participation Form

Physical Form that must be turned in

ENGA1 Language Development essay questions

As this is the start of a new specification, there has only been one "proper" essay question set on this topic so far, but many of the old spec's child language questions might be reworked (or recycled - it is the 21st century) into something suitable for the new spec.

Here's a list of loads of previous questions from the AQA A spec and in days to come we'll have a look at how you might approach these if they were set on the ENGA1 paper.

1. Discuss the ways in which young children up to the age of four learn words and their meanings.
2. Give examples of how children develop their ability to use the sounds of English. What do your examples reveal about the nature of children’s language acquisition?
3. To what extent do children learn language by copying the language that is spoken to them?
4. Give examples of how children learn to use the grammar of English. What do your examples reveal about the nature of children’s language acquisition?
5. To what extent do children acquire language by actively working out its rules?
6. To what extent is it appropriate to describe children’s early uses of language as wrong or incorrect?
7. To what extent do children learn language through imitation? Give examples of sounds, vocabulary, grammar and meaning.
8. How important is the interaction between children and adult speakers in the process of children’s language acquisition?
9. What have you discovered about the nature of language acquisition from the ways children develop their grammatical skills?
10. It has been suggested that children’s language acquisition is a more interesting process than the simple imitation of adult speech.
11. What have you found interesting about the ways children acquire language?

A plan for answering question 4 (grammar acquisition) can be found here on the Teachit website, if you want to have a look at some approaches to it.

To use Teachit links you'll have to register on their site first, but it's still free. Go here, register, log in then follow the link above.

ENGA1 mode exercise 1

Here's a quick revision exercise you can do using the mode continuum (see yesterday's post if you want to open a copy of the graphic).

The following is an online comment to The Daily Mail's website in response to a story about Chelsea's defeat at the hands of Barcelona last week.

1. Where would you place this extract on the mode continuum?
2. Why?
3. What language evidence can you produce for your decision?

Post your response as a comment, or just use it as a way of thinking about how you would approach an extract like this, if you prefer.

Chelsea have only got themselves to blame,they went to barcelona and were a total embarassment and were very lucky to come away nil nil,they made no attempt to play football and went there to get a draw.If you score goals you go through if you don't your out,it's as simple as.

ENGA1 mode continuum

Here's a quickly cobbled together graphic of the mode continuum which might help a bit with revision. In the next few days, and in the run-up to Friday 15th's ENGA1 exam, I'll add some short extracts of texts for you to place onto this continuum.

Wright's Senior Night No-Hitter Gives Garner Conference Championship

Garner had clinched at least a share of the Conference Championship as they entered play on Friday night, but a win would give them the outright Conference Title and home field advantage throughout the State Playoffs.

This night would be a tale of the two Seniors, in Nadia Jeffries and Christie Wright. After a one, two, three top of the first, the Lady Trojans wasted no time in getting on the board as Nadia Jefferies led off with a rope down the third base line for a lead off double. She would then steal third as Mary-Scott Powell singled to drive in the first run of the game. After a ground out, Kimmie Stewart doubled to left to score Powell and give Garner a 2-0 lead.

The score would remain the same as Wright continued to cruise giving her only base runner of the game on a six pitch walk in the top of the second.

Garner would break the game open in the fourth inning as Kasey Hamrick singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Meghan Strickland then doubled to score Hamrick and give Garner a 3-0 lead, but they weren't done. After a Sacrifice Bunt by Anna Burton, the Garner Senior Nadia Jeffries reached on a error allowing Strickland to score. Jefferies stole second and reached third on a throwing error by the Warrior catcher. Mary-Scott Powell then doubled to plate Jefferies to make it 5-0 Garner.

The Lady Trojans added one more run in the bottom of the sixth as Breanne Campbell was hit by the Katie Watkins pitch and moved to second on a fielder's choice and would later score on a wild pitch, which made the score 6-0 Garner going to the seventh.

As the two teams went to the final inning, the focus was one one thing, getting Wright the no-hitter. The first batter to face her was Shelby Bishop who sent a looping line drive to right field and Nadia Jeffries had to come a long way but made a basket catch in shallow right field. Whitney Betts then fouled out to third and the final out of the game was very fitting of the night as Katie Watkins swing at the Garner Senior Christie Wright's pitch and flew out to the other Garner Senior Nadia Jefferies to end the game.

The win clinches the Conference Championship for the Lady Trojans as they head into the Greater Neuse River Conference Tournament which will be held at Smithfield-Selma High School beginning Thursday.

EW 0 0 2
GAR 6 10 0

Winning Pitcher: Christie Wright - 7 Innings, 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 Walk, 11 Strikeouts

Losing Pitcher: Katie Watkins - 6 Innings, 10 Hits, 6 Runs, 5 Earned, 1 Walks 9 Strikeouts

Leading Hitters: GAR: Powell 2-4, Stewart 2-4, Strickland 1-2, Jefferies, 2-4

JV Softball Also Conference Champs

The Lady Trojan JV softball team defeated East Wake 20-0 in 3 1/2 innings Friday afternoon to earn the conference championship. Garner collected 16 hits while scoring 7 runs in the first inning, they added 12 runs in the second inning and one run in the third inning.

Pitcher Mary Royal allowed only 3 hits and received solid defense from the restof the team. The win gave the Lady Trojans and coach Emily Hardee finish the season with a 12 -3 - 3 record with only one conference loss.
EW 0 3 9
GAR 20 16 3
Winning pitcher: Mary Royal

Leading hitters: GAR -- Jordan Foster 4-4 2B, Amber Kirkland 3-3 3B,Lauren Badey 2-2, Michaela Beck 2-2, Emily Fleming 2-3, Amber Robb 1-2

Varsity Baseball Clilnches Third With Pitching Gem Over Warriors

It came down to the Senior Night game for the Varsity Baseball team. With a win over East Wake at Trojan Park on Friday night, they would clinch 3rd place in the conference heading into the State Playoffs which begin next week.

Jacob Baker got the call for Garner, as he was looking to redeem himself from his less than stellar outing against the Warriors earlier in the season, and he did just that as Baker gave up just one hit in the Trojans 6-0 win over East Wake.

The win, locks the Trojans into the number three spot as they will face the number two seed from the Tri-8 Conference next week.

EW 0 1 2
GAR 6 9 0

Winning Pitcher--Jacob Baker.
Losing Pitcher--Jonathan Aparicio

The millionth word

Today's Daily Mirror has a page dedicated to the English language and the story from the Global Language Monitor about English approaching its millionth word. According to the site today, the English language will reach its millionth word on June 10th. How they work this out, I'm not sure, and it's clear that proper, qualified linguists are sceptical too. Language Log calls it the "million word hoax" and criticises it as a publicity stunt to promote a book by Paul Payack the boss of GLM.

Whatever the pros and cons of the claim about a million words, the article in The Mirror gives a neat, potted account of the development of English and quotes language guru (and future SFX speaker) David Crystal which is always a good thing. It also mentions lots of new words that have entered the language through social networking, online games and gloomy economic conditions, so it's a very handy article to refer to if you want some examples for your language change essays on ENA5.

It's also got lots of fascinating language facts such as the most commonly used words in English, the longest words without vowels and much much more!

Sociable networking

Today's Guardian Technology has a good article about the language of social networking sites, based on research by Professor Mike Thelwall at Wolverhampton University. He's currently researching the language of MySpace and looking specifically at how sentiment is expressed, and how emotions are conveyed through creative grammar, puctuation and spelling. He's previously worked on swearing and gender on MySpace (covered in a good article in emag) and will be speaking at the next SFX teacher conference (he's appearing on the afternoon of Thursday 18th June, along with Bev Plester) about his research.

The article is a good read for anyone looking at technology and Language Change in A2, but it's also interesting from an AS Language & Mode perspective because it covers many of the features of computer-mediated communication and how orthography can be used to convey some of the patterns of spoken English.

The research is presented here in more detail and the previous work on swearing and MySpace is here.

As the article points out, MySpace is no longer the "top dog in social networking", having been superseded by Facebook and maybe to some extent Twitter, but the open nature of MySpace and the accessibility of its data makes it an attractive proposition for researchers. And who's to say that the patterns apparent in MySpace data won't be pretty much identical to those in other social networking applications?

The table here gives a quick rundown of some of the main non-standard features found in MySpace comments and should give you a chance to think about how this kind of thing might link to your ENA5, ENA6 or ENGA1 exams.

Trojans Survive Scare Aganist Rival Bulldogs

WEBCAST

After a tough loss Monday at SSS, the Varsity Baseball team returned home as they hosted their rivals from Creech Road in the Southeast Raleigh Bulldogs Wednesday afternoon inside Garner's Trojan Park.

The Trojans gave the ball to Drew Gay to start the game as the Senior made his first start of the year against the win less Bulldogs. Things got underway at a very soggy Trojan Park as Southeast threaten in the first but did not score.

The game would remain scoreless until the top of the third when Southeast jumped on the board first. With two outs, Matt Spear sent a fly ball to left that was dropped by the Trojans which brought up Kevin Tangerlini who grounded to second but it got through the legs of the Trojan second basemen allowing the first run of the game to score.

Garner had their best scoring chance of the game in the fourth inning when the loaded the bases with only one out but could not score. In the sixth inning with Southeast still leading by one, Drew Gay ran into a little trouble with a runner on third and no one out. That's when Garner made a pitching change and brought in Phillip Myrick, who would get out of the sixth inning without allowing a run to score and Garner came up in the bottom of the inning needing a run to tie.

After back to back singles by Hutner Brown and Dillon Creech, Pat Monahan laid down a bunt, but he bunted it right back to the pitcher allowing the Bulldogs to nail Brown going to third. The Trojans then had runners at first and second with one out for Phillip Myrick who sent a ground ball to second base. Heath Mallette went to second for the second out of the inning but the relay to first base was dropped by Nick Perry and Garner still had a pulse.

With runners at the corners, Gabe Chrismon drew a walk to load the bases for Jackson Pleasant who singled to left field which cleared the bases and gave the Trojans a 3-1 lead. But they weren't done yet as the very next batter was the Garner lead off hitter, Jeremy Conyers; and on the first pitch he saw, Conyers sent a shot to left field that may not have landed yet and the Trojans were out to a 5-1 lead.

The Trojans would add another run in the inning as Matt Price walked then advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a Matt Powell single. Price would come around to score on a wild pitch for the final Trojan run of the game.

Garner got the win, but give a tip of the cap to Drew Gay who pitched great for the Trojans but got a no decision. Gay went 5 Innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 Run, no earned runs, 0 Walks and 3 Strikeouts.

The win moves Garner to 12-10 on the season and 8-5 in the Conference, with a big Senior Night Match up with East Wake on Friday night, first pitch is slated for 7:00. With the loss Southeast Raleigh falls to 0-17 on the season.

SER 1 6 0
GAR 6 9 3

Winning Pitcher: Phillip Myrick: 2 Innings, 3 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Walks, 0 Strikeouts

Losing Pitcher: Kevin Tangerlini: 5 2/3 Innings, 9 Hits, 6 Runs, 4 Walks, 6 Strikeouts

Leading Hitters: SER: Heath Mallette 2-3, Colin Tangerlini 2-3; GAR: Jackson Pleasant 3-3 (3 1B, 3 RBI), Hunter Brown 2-3 Dillon Creech 2-4 (2 1B), Ricky Martin 1-3, Jeremy Conyers 1-4 (HR)

Lady Trojans Clinch Share of Conference Title with Victory over the Bulldogs

It didn't take the Varsity Softball team to pick up where they left off from Monday as they blasted Southeast Raleigh 8-1 Wednesday at Garner's Trojan Field.

The Lady Trojans struck early as they got five runs in the first inning to take a 5-0 lead. That would be all Christie Wright would need as she pitched a shutout scattering just 3 hits on the night.

But the Lady Trojans would add to their lead with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth as they also got a home run blast from Meghan Strickland, her first of the year. The win over Southeast gives Garner the season series and no worse than a first place tie in the Conference, but they can win the Conference outright with a win on Senior Night against East Wake. The senior night contest will take place Friday night at 7:00 at Trojan Field.

SER 0 3 2
GAR 8 7 3

Winning Pitcher: Christie Wright

Losing Pitcher: Strickland

Leading Hitters: SER: Kenan 1-3, J. Jernigan 1-3, Clayton 1-3, Hunter 1-3;
GAR: Jeffries 1-3, Powell 1-2, Wright 1-1, Carroll 1-2, Stewart 1-3, Warner 1-2, Strickland 1-3(HR)

Class of 1984 to Hold 25th Year Reunion

The Class of 1984 will hold their 25th Class Reunion October 2-4. For more information about the reunion you can visit the Reunion Website.

We have moved

We have moved. We now live here:

Ardlarach

Letterfinlay

PH34 4DZ

Claire and I have both been working like hell since last autumn to save up for a house move. We managed it. We are fatigued, but very pleased.

I like the fact that things have a tendency to work out when you really put your back in. And with a bit of cunning, stuff that would otherwise be a pain can coincide nicely at the right time, so as not to be a pain. At certain times of the year, working very long hours can be a right drag, less so when you have a good goal like a nice place to live. But still.

Rehab from a nasty elbow injury can also be a right drag, requiring everything in your training to be structured, measurable and at times, laborious. But laborious and structured training fits well with laborious and structured work. And both of these fit well into the highland winter. Good timing all round.

So winter has passed, new house got and sore elbow complaining less often, if not completely there yet. As is often the way with rehab done right, I have got significantly stronger in the process and climbing better than before the injury, despite still being in the mid stages of the rehab after 4 months. I’m not yet able to operate at full volume so I can’t get really fit, but small holds are certainly feeling bigger than they were. 

All this indoor training locked away in Lochaber’s bouldering rooms has swung my current motivation very much in the direction of looking for an adventure. So although I write from the limestone of Catalunya on a short sport climbing trip, my plans for the coming months are very much centred around trad, in places I’ve never been to. Lets see where all this takes me...?

NB: I wrote the above a few weeks ago. Since then I have been.....

Building for later

Between mad bouts of travelling about doing lectures and coaching, we have been getting used to our new house. Some serious DIY jobs have been keeping me busy into the wee small hours each night. Happily, one of these is to build a home training facility. It’s the first time I’ve had the room for anything more than a fingerboard, so I’m pretty excited about that. Actually thats a bit of an understatement really...

The quiet here is really nice, exactly what I need between the bustle of travelling for work.

Update: Learning more about making some fairly significant alterations to our new house has been an uphill struggle for me. Like most things, I’m pretty useless at it, so waste impressive amounts of time on faffing and correcting earlier blunders. Nevertheless, one loft conversion and a half-built climbing wall later, I have learned some things. The hard way as ever.

Claire and I had a good time travelling to Stockholm and Birmingham with Claire for lectures and coaching. I learned once again from the strong people I’ve coached lately how much you need all the ingredients to crack hard climbing. I met many more climbers much stronger than I’ve got after a few years of trying, but without the same climbing level. The difference? Sometimes it’s naturally light and strong bodies, sometimes it’s teenage life locked in indoor boulder walls, sometimes both. Even the young are stuck in their ways, and can’t get out of the groove of thinking of climbing limitations in terms of strength. For me, it’s the opposite problem. Many years learning to be a wily cunning crag tactician, but sadly lacking in finger strength to get to V15 level. 

But in possibly one week I will have a killer 45 board, right there, in my house. No excuses, nothing in the way, no distractions, just getting down to business. Crags, be afraid...

(can you tell I’ve been a little starved of climbing during my moving/self-build stint)

Chain clip number one

Yesterday we waited until tea time for Siurana to dry out after a rain storm. The route I wanted to be on was still a waterfall, so we ended up on a nice 8b+ that happened to be dry (La llarga Traversia del Capita Enciam). After a couple of goes I grunted through this to a nice stroll to the chain in the sunset.

No matter how many routes you have under your belt, it’s always lifts you a bit to have a feeling of completion of something. On the other routes I want to try, there will be no chain clipping. Not on this trip anyway. The goal is just to get better on the route and get better at hard climbing, so my focus will just be on getting one bolt higher than last time. There are a lot of bolts above my highpoint.

NB: I wrote this post on April 8th. After that, it poured with rain in Catalunya, I changed my flight and went home and renovated my loft instead!

Softball Picks up Road Win Over SSS

As the Lady Trojans traveled to SSS on Monday night for the final regular season match up with the Spartans. With Garner being off for five days, there was a little rust that the Lady Trojans had to lose as things got underway.

Each team scored two in the first inning, but Garner would then being to pace themselves as they put up single runs in the second, third, fifth, and seventh as they went on for the 6-4 victory over the Lady Spartans. With the win, Garner improves to 16-3 overall and remains a top the conference with an 11-1 record.

The Lady Trojans are back in action Tuesday night when they host Southeast Raleigh at 7:00 at Trojan Field.

GAR 6 9 0
SSS 4 9 4

Winning Pitcher: Christie Wright

Losing Pitcher: Thorne

Leading Hitters: Garner: Jeffries 2-5, Powell 1-4, Wright 1-3, Smith 2-3(2B), Hamrick 1-4, Strickland 1-3, Burton 1-3; SSS: Byrd 2-2, Parrish 1-3, Cater 2-3, Driver 2-4, Creech 1-2, Kearney 1-3

JV Lady Trojans Rally to Tie Spartans

The Lady Trojan JV softball team waited until late in the game to get their bats working and earned an extra inning tie with the Lady Spartans JV team at Smithfield–Selma. The Lady Trojan were held to one hit through the first five innings falling behind4-1.

Garner scored 1 run in the 6th inning and 3 runs in the “do or die” 7th. SSS scored one run in the bottom of the 7th inning to tie the score at 5 and send the game into an extra innings. Both teams were held scoreless in the 8th and both teams had 6 hits as the game was declared a tie so the Varsity game could begin.

GAR 5 6 3
SSS 5 6 8

Garner pitcher: Mary Royal
SSS pitcher: Daett Taylor

Leading hitters:
GAR: Jordan Foster 2-3, Amber Kirkland 1-2, Emily Fleming 2-4
SSS: Amanda Mitchell 2-3

Men's Tennis Team in the Postseason

The Men's Tennis team will begin postseason play on Tuesday afternoon with the Team Duals which will be held at Millbrook High School beginning at 4:00.

Then, on Friday, May 8 those who qualified for Regionals will be in action at Terry Sanford High School beginning at 2:00.

Good luck Trojans!

Long Ball and Good Pitching Leads Spartans Past Trojans

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The Trojans traveled to SSS to take on the first place Spartans, and it didn't take long for the Spartans to show why they are a great offensive team as Josh Holloman led off the game with a home run to give SSS a 1-0 lead.

Garner got the run right back in the top of the second inning as Hunter Brown led off the inning by reaching on an error. Jesse Fisher would come on to courtesy run for Brown and with one out, Pat Monahan laid down a swinging bunt and beat the rap at first to put runners at the corners. Phillip Myrick was next at the plate and with Fisher dashing down the third baseline, Myrick laid down a bunt to score the run and tie the game on the squeeze play. But SSS came right back and put a five spot on the board to make it 6-1 after two innings.

But give the Trojans credit, they didn't give up as they got two runs back in the top of the fourth. Ricky Martin led off the inning with a single to left. Hunter Brown then came to the plate and sent a ground ball to third. Josh Holloman fired to second looking to get Martin but he fired the ball into right field allowing Martin and Brown to wind up and second and third with no one out. Following a strikeout, Pat Monahan laced a double off the wall in right to plate two and make it a 3 run game at 6-3.

It looked like Garner would stay in the game as Trojan reliever, Jacob Baker got the first two outs of the fourth with no problem, but after a bunt single and a infield single SSS had a threat brewing, that's when Bryant Noteaboom homered to left to make it 9-3 Spartans and they never looked back.

Garner added a couple late runs including a solo home run by Jeremy Conyers to lead off the seventh, but it was not enough as the Trojans lost a tough one 11-5 at SSS. The Trojans are now 7-5 in the Conference as they host Southeast Raleigh Tuesday night at 7:00 at Trojan Park

GAR 5 7 3
SSS 11 10 4

Winning Pitcher: Tate Parrish - 5 2/3 Innings, 6 Hits, 4 Runs, 1 Earned Run, 2 Walks, 5 Strikeouts

Losing Pitcher: Matt Powell - 2 1/3 Innings, 4 Hits, 6 Runs, 5 Earned, 0 Walks, 1 Strikeout

Leading Hitters: GAR: Monahan 3-3 (2 1B, 2B), Conyers 2-4 (1B, HR); SSS: Brown 2-3 (2B, 1B, BB), Noteboom 2-4 (1B, HR), Mitchell 1-3 (HR)

JV Trojans Get Win over Spartans

The JV game between the two schools was played at Trojan Park on Monday afternoon with the JV Trojans as the visitors. But, it wouldn't matter as the JV Trojans picked up the 5-1 on SSS. Will Norris pitched a complete game giving up just one run and gave up just one hit. Scotty McCreery and CJ Schmitt both went 2-4 for the JV Trojans.

The JV team travels to Southeast Raleigh Tuesday afternoon at 4:00.

A new word every 98 minutes

The English language is heading towards its millionth word, according to an organisation called the Global Language Monitor who say that a new word is created every 98 minutes. It's a hotly contested claim and one that top linguistics blog Language Log takes issue with. But whatever the pros and cons of this claim, there's not much doubt that our language is rapidly expanding. This edition of the BBC News Magazine has a good article about new words, our own personal vocabularies and recent claims that young people are suffering from "word poverty" and need a boot up the lexical arse.

One interesting point for A2 Language Change students is the question of when a word is actually a "proper" word. For example, do these new words count: Obamamania, noob and airline pulp? And what about d'oh and meh, or even teh and pwn? See this post for more on some of these terms and the million words "hoax".

Will they last and should they be entered into dictionaries, or are they just silly expressions that no one will remember in 20 years?

OMG!!!! I hate exclamation marks!!!!!

"An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes," according to the late, great F.Scott Fitzgerald. Well, as someone who is sometimes lucky just to have an audience of one (myself) laughing at my "jokes", I know where he's coming from. He's so right!!!

Apparently, these days we're seeing more exclamation marks than ever before in written and - especially - blended mode communications. In this article from The Guardian, earlier in the week, Stuart Jeffries looks at the exclamation mark and what it means, and how it's changing. Interestingly, he makes the point that 30 years ago, some manual typewriters (those things that existed before word processors and PCs) didn't even have exclamation mark keys:

It is important to realise that advances in technology (if that's what they are) affect how we write. And how we write includes how often we deploy the beloved gasper. Before the 1970s, few manual typewriters were equipped with an exclamation mark key. Instead, if you wanted to express your unbridled joy at - ooh, I don't know - the budding loveliness of an early spring morning and gild the lily of your purple prose with an upbeat startler, you would have to type a full stop, then back space, push the shift key and type an apostrophe.

He goes on to look at how women and men use the exclamation mark in computer-mediated communication and refers to research that suggests women use them more than men:

But technological change is not the only reason for variations in the use of exclamations. Carol Waseleski's unexpectedly diverting paper, Gender and the Use of Exclamation Points in Computer-Mediated Communication, found that women used more exclamation marks than men. But why was this? Are women more excitable? Some theorists (notably D Rubin and K Greene in their paper Gender-Typical Style in Written Language) had argued that the exclamation mark was often a sign of excitability, and that "a high frequency of exclamation points can be regarded as sort of an orthographic intensifier signalling 'I really mean this!'" They also argued that this might convey the writer's lack of stature; that, in fact, a confident person (read: man) could "affirm their views by simply asserting them". Perhaps then the use of multiple exclamation marks is not simply a sign that someone is wearing underpants on their head, but of deeply unmasculine insecurity about expressing one's thoughts. Or maybe that's just my theory!

Waseleski found otherwise. She concluded that exclamation marks were not just marks of excitability but of friendliness, and suggested that one reason women use them more than men is because they were, as a gender, less likely to be socially inept, funless egotists - which isn't quite how she put it. Instead, she wrote: "The results point to the need to reconsider the negative labels that have often been associated with female communication styles, and to investigate [their use] as they relate to email and other forms of computer-mediated communication."

The rest of the article is a good read for anyone interested in language change - especially orthographic change - over the centuries. So read it!!!!