At some point teens get bored with the same old routine, even in the production of an original television program. In the winter of 1991, well into the second year of HTV Magazine, a group of 12 top students from two broadcasting classes was selected to produce the first-ever "HTV Magazine Special Edition." This group of 12 met several times before coming up with a topic they wanted to tackle in-depth - teenage use of alcohol. The show, titled "Sixteen and a Six-Pack," featured stories about alcohol use among teens and pre-teens, a local rehab center, alcohol and crime, and finally, the most controversial segment of the show, the accessibility of alcohol. To illustrate this, the special edition staff made the tough decision to show how easy it was for teens to purchase alcohol with no fake ID of any kind. Hidden cameras taped four separate purchases by student-reporters. This "sting" was the subject of a front-page story in the local newspaper the day of the broadcast. It stirred up a lot of local reaction before the program ever aired. Over 40 calls to Hillcrest the day of the article voiced overwhelming support for the story. Others on call-in radio shows had mixed reactions, and the local paper ran letters about the program for over three weeks. It was quite a response to a 35-minute broadcast by a bunch of high school kids. And it put HTV Magazine on the map for good in Springfield. Pushing the envelope is sometimes necessary. It is not appropriate to do so just for shock value. But when there is a story to tell, and it's going to shake things up, it's the journalist's job to tell the truth and take the hits. At least that was the feeling of the students who produced the special on alcohol. And with strong support from then principal Dr. John Laurie and the parents of the students involved, the program aired in its entirety.