About Andy Goldblatt

Age: 20

Stories by Andy

	Band bonds high-school musicians By Andy Goldblatt, 17, Paige Thomas, 15 As a field commander is giving a pep talk, 200 young Americans in uniform stand at attention before they prepare to advance. If this were an earlier century, this scene could have preceded an infantry charge. These days, it is more likely to take place before a school marching band performance.
	Gay teens struggle for acceptance By Andy Goldblatt, 18, Mallory Jones, 16 "Boys are icky," Alexa Farmer said to her mom in the car one afternoon when the subject of guys came up a couple of years ago. "Well, do you like girls?" her mother asked in the same joking way. "Yeah," said Alexa, turning serious. She suddenly felt scared and wanted to jump out of the car. They were both quiet, and then Alexa's mother looked at her, expecting her daughter to say it was just a jok
	Programs help students learn to budget, save By Andy Goldblatt, 15, Andrea Zeek, 16 Last year, American teens spent $170 billion, according to ABC News. With about 33 million teens in the country, that works out to $5,150 apiece. Kids get money as gifts. They often hold part-time jobs, even if it is only baby-sitting, and some draw allowances. Many have a lot of disposable income, but what do they learn about managing their money and saving? Several programs offer money managemen
	Disorder often misunderstood, youths say By Hunter McDowell, 17, Andy Goldblatt, 14, Jennifer Maberto, 14 Everyone has quirks. You might pop your knuckles, bite your lip or twirl your hair. These habits might be hard to break, but it's not impossible. Unless you have Tourette syndrome. Although the condition is hard to diagnose, about one in 2,000 children have Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by repeated involuntary movements and uncontrollable vocalizations known as tics. Tou
	Atheists say they're all right without religion By Andy Goldblatt, 15, Alicia Strong, 16 Summer camp usually includes swimming, horseback riding, canoeing and other physical activities. But Camp Quest, a "secular humanist" camp for atheist youths in Overpeck, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati, offers something more. Every year, Camp Quest's director issues a challenge to campers: Find the unicorns. He tells campers "unicorns" are invisible. They are silent, leave no tracks or traces, and
	Teens suspect reality shows aren't so real By David Maus, 18, Andy Goldblatt, 15, Olivia Hetzler, 14 A castle in France. The Amazon. The Australian Outback. The big stage in Hollywood. These settings form the backdrop of "reality" TV for you, the viewer in Indiana. Most reality TV shows feature so-called ordinary people competing for money, fame and/or love. It is becoming the dominant genre on television today. According to Nielsen Media Research, from Sept. 23 to June 22, reality TV shows accou
	Downloading music is cheap, but is it right? By Andy Goldblatt, 14, Chad Dyar, 14 Some say it is right, some say it is wrong, but everyone agrees it's a way to save money. For people who download music, it's a matter of thrift and convenience to get music from many different Internet sources. For people opposed to it, it is stealing or pirating copyrighted material. Teens who download music have used the argument "one more person won't hurt" many times since Shawn Fanning, crea
	Philanthropic 'pod' lets kids help others By Colleen Merkel, 17, Andy Goldblatt, 13, Briana Hansen, 16 What is a pod? Is it a storage bin? A container that holds peas? Something from outer space? A pod is all of these things, but the pods we're talking about are groups of philanthropic children who want to help their communities. In 1981, Chester E. Dekko of Kendallville founded the Dekko Foundation to support educational opportunities in the communities where he lived and worked. In 1994, the foun
	Teens helping save manatees from extinction By Maria Srour, 14, Andy Goldblatt, 14 One of the many animals on the federal list of endangered species is the manatee. This harmless mammal faces many everyday challenges to keep its kind alive. But with the help of many humans, manatees are making a comeback. In 1981, singer Jimmy Buffett and former Florida Gov. Bob Graham started the Save the Manatee Club, a nonprofit group that funds awareness and educational programs, research an
	Kids see homework as life preparation By Andy Goldblatt, 16, Chris Reissaus, 16, Rachel Troy, 15 A ccording to a 2003 Brookings Institution study, homework loads for American students in kindergarten through 12th grade have not varied much in the past 50 years, with one exception: After the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, homework doubled. The study also noted that American children have one of the lowest homework loads in the world; most do less than an hour a day. Yet one of
	Teens consider the possibility of military draft By Andy Goldblatt, 16, Zoe Hayes, 16 In December, the Army National Guard reported it had fallen short of its recruiting goals by 30 percent since Oct. 1. With 40 percent of the troops in Iraq being from the National Guard or Army Reserve, this decline has sparked talk of reinstating the draft. President Bush has said he opposes a draft, and reinstatement would require action by him and Congress. Nonetheless, almost every U.S. male m
	Brush with Bush was memorable By Millie Cripe, 13, Lawrence J. Pennington, 11, Jonathan Gainer, 13, Tommaso Verderame, 12, Andy Goldblatt, 17, Julie Kippenbrock, 13 Former President George H.W. Bush was in Indianapolis earlier this month to speak at Butler University. Six Y-Press members attended the speech and also were able to ask him a few questions beforehand. While a few approached this "brush with celebrity" with awe, others had braced themselves to hear what they thought would be some stock political talk. By the end, however, they all agreed the forme