Nexus -- Volume 8, Number 3 (March 2012) by David Winter

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Henry W. Grady High School March 2012

NEXUS

Photo by James Moy

March 11, 2012 PATH trail in Candler Park near Mary Lin Elementary School Photo by James Moy

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Photo. James Moy shares a picture from nearby Bellmont Quarry, a candidate for a BeltLine park, on pages 4-5. Visual. Vintage vignettes and snazzy sepia tones are at iPhone users’ fingertips with the app Instagram. Catch the shutterbug on page 7. Audio. Dr. Dog has its day once again with the release of Be the Void, their sixth studio album. Luke Webster reviews on page 10. Arena. The return of a beloved childhood videogame prompts a “smashing” tournament. The 64-bit antics start on page 12. Feature. Resurgens. Meaning “Rising Again,” Atlanta’s motto crests the phoenix ablaze on our city’s emblem. This issue, Nexus highlights Atlanta’s evolution as a physical city, with articles covering cutting-edge public works projects starting on page 14. Cuisine. Nara Smith reviews the East Atlanta eatery Tomatillos, a tribute to one of Atlanta’s first burrito joints, on page 23. Couture. Get some insight into our head fashonistas’ wardrobes on page 25 with more profiles on Grady’s senior designers. Rostrum. Are the controversial childhood obesity billboards across Georgia too heavily accusing, or just desserts? Page 26 has the answers. Menagerie. On page 30, blasts from the past are their profession: antique stores across Atlanta specialize in the nifty and nostalgic.

Photo by James Moy

Ever-changing Atlanta Everyday, we venture into the city to go to school. Some of us drive and carpool, some take the school bus, and others take the train. We travel thinking about the homework we are going to finish in first period and the people we will hang out with at lunch. But as we all journey to the corners of 10th, Monroe, Eighth and Charles Allen, do we ever take a look out the window and see whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on around us? In the last 10 years, our city has grown and changed immensely, from new pools and fountains in Piedmont Park to developments like Atlantic Station and the Edgewood retail district. Atlanta has matured and grown right alongside us through the years, yet it has been a constant in our ever-changing lives. So as we approach the time to attend college and start the rest of our lives, we should take a moment to go out and look at our city, to fully appreciate its vast beauty and diverse cultures and people. And when we do move on, our city will continue to grow, just like we will.

Nexus 2011 Staff: Danielle Aldred, Michael Baer, Eboni Booker, Austin Burch, Amelia Christopher, Jack Douglas, Victoria Dragstedt, Chris Drayton, Grayson Garrett, Maragh Girvan, Jakara Griffin, Frederick Harris Jr., Claire Hasson, Jordan Holiman, Devina Jones-Vargas, Nycole Key, April King, Sam Lowe, Valentina Makrides, Courtney Marshall, Tamara Mason, Sanjida Mowla, James Moy, Abby Orlansky, Austin Planer, Thomas Ruder, Nara Smith, Diamond Stewart, Laura Streib, Kate Taber, Lotin Tandongfor, McKenzie Taylor, Lily Trapkin, Ruben Velez, Luke Webster, and Talore Williams. Managing Editor: Maragh Girvan Adviser: Dave Winter Design Editor: Sam Lowe Printer: Florida Sun Press Advertising: Nexus is a nonprofit organization that relies on advertising and on the generous support of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction to generate revenue to cover printing and maintenance cost. Nexus is read by approximately 2,000 people and is a great way to publicize your business. If you would like to advertise with and/or distribute Nexus, please contact us at nexusghs@gmail.com Submissions: Nexus accepts and welcome submissions of stories and photos. Submissions should be submitted to Mr. Winter in room E106, or to any Nexus staffer. They can also be e-mailed to us at nexusghs@gmail. com. Nexus is a bimonthly publication of: Henry W. Grady High School 929 Charles Allen Drive NE Atlanta, GA 30309

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Last summer I went with some friends to Bellmont Quarry near Atlantic Station because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d heard it might be incorporated into the Atlanta BeltLine Project and turned into a park. After a wrong turn at a railroad, I took this picture. I really like the childish joy it captures despite the harsh industrial context.

James Moy, Junior

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Local, lurid and apocalyptic series The Walking Dead an aight fright

empty except for our triumphant flesh-eating friends. From scenes of a zombie-overrun Georgia State, to the entrance of the CDC, littered with dead soldiers who defended it, and the not-so-dead soldiers turned zombies who still walk its perimeter, the vivid pictures of Atlanta after the apocalypse seem so real that it feels good to check the local news just to make sure no zombies have attacked. Throughout its first two seasons, the show has received critical acclaim, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for best television series drama after the first season. The show has also done incredibly well in ratings pulling average viewership for the first season of more than 4 million viewers per episode in the United States. In finale of season 2, the show drew 6.6 million viewers, up from the finale of the first season, which posted ratings of just over 6 million voters. The show began the second half of its second season on Feb. 12th, hoping to match or exceed the viewership it received in its first half. The Walking Dead is a show well worth watching for any person with even a little love for zombie movies. But, even if you don’t like those pale, empty-faced, blood-soaked walkers, you should at least tune in for the incredible cinematography which makes Atlanta look like it would after a zombie apocalypse. Who knows, you might even see somewhere or someone you recognize. -Jack Douglas

Illustration by Larson Collier

Atlanta is no longer safe. The living dead roam the streets in herds numbering in the thousands, all of them ready to chase, bite, scratch and eat the flesh off your bones. And if you think you can just run to Alabama and everything will be fine, you had better think again. The dead are everywhere, and the world we know has fallen apart. The only thing you can do is run as long as you can and hang on to what little humanity you have left. This is the apocalyptic vision of Frank Darabont, writer/ director of AMC’s Atlanta-based hit new drama, The Walking Dead. Based off a comic book series by Robert Kirkman, Toni Moore and Charlie Aldard, The Walking Dead follows the story of Rick Grimes, a sheriff who after a gunshot wound, goes into a coma and wakes up in a world where the living dead, or “walkers,” have overrun the living. After reuniting with his wife, Lori, his son, Carl, and a band of survivors led by his former partner, Shane Walsh, Rick must use every ounce of his courage, intelligence and instinct to protect his family and new companions from the ravaging hordes of zombies that truly are everywhere. The show is riveting. Filled with action-packed, gory scenes of zombie-induced mayhem, it at times becomes hard to watch, as characters you have grown to like are killed and eaten mercilessly by the flesh-eating “walkers.” But the action is merely a highlight in a show propelled by intimate visions of human resiliency in a world gone to hell. The show is also packed with intricate mysteries, many of which may never truly be explained. For instance through the 13 episodes of the first and second season, the origin of the zombies has not been explained. The show’s distinct lack of coherence makes viewers feel like they too have just awoken from a coma. Like the characters, viewers can’t fully comprehend the crisis that envelops them. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the show for local Atlanta viewers is the fact that all of the action is filmed in and around Atlanta. In many scenes you can see the skyline in the background, and the skyscrapers seem to serve as enormous headstones in the graveyard of the human race,

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Instagram

Instagram, Apple’s pick for “iPhone App Of The Year 2011,” has become increasingly popular among Apple product users, as well 10

9 as Grady students. The application provides a community for users to share and edit their pictures and post them. Sometimes compared to Tumblr, Instagram allows you to follow other users so that you can keep up with their uploaded pictures on the news feed. Junior Zac Garrett thinks Instagram is a creative way to show people your pictures. “You get to share

10 things in first person,” Garrett said. “It’s a new level of social interaction.” Along with the many filters for pictures to choose from on the app, including Earlybird, Brannan, 1977, and Inkwell, there is a “Tiltshift” option that lets you focus on certain part of your picture using a rectangle or circular shape. Celebrities such as Jason Mraz, Miley Cyrus, and the Kardashian sisters have Instagram. -Abby Orlansky

1&9 @vmakrides 2&13 @jackdougs 3 @charliemenefee 4&5 @lucyleonard 6 @sophiemasch 7 @meganisabellax 8&14 @zactg 10&12 @laurenogg 11 @cicibutterfly 15 @katetaber 16 @marycondolora 17&18 @ameliachristopher

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Grady thespians ‘play’ for time

“Pineapples are real good for arthritis!” A crazy homeless lady on a brokendown train gives unwanted medical advice to a man trying to save his marriage and a football player rushing to play in his most important game. As freshman Stella Rao soothes her imaginary friend and exclaims “I AM A LEMUR!” startling her fellow train passengers, the audience bursts into laughter. The exchange was bizarre, memorable, and typical of the strange scenarios created by Grady students in this semester’s 3-Day Plays. The 3-Day Plays were created by drama teacher Jake Dreiling, who derived the idea from his experience working on the 24-Hour Plays production at Atlanta’s Horizon Theatre in 2002. In the 24-Hour Plays, writers, directors and actors have just 24 hours to write, produce and perform six different 20-minute plays. This production had been recreated all over the world, with a celebrity-studded version for charity every year on Broadway. Dreiling decided to bring his intense 24-hour experience to Grady, expanding the process to three days and 12 plays. In Grady’s version, all students were invited to participate. “If anyone was curious in their ability to do theater, this was their chance,” senior Marquis Junior said. “No one was turned away from acting, directing, writing or being a techie.” On the first day, each student interested in acting brought in a prop and took a picture with it. Actors indicated whether they wanted small or large roles. From there, the writers chose actors and were given four

hours to write plays that centered on each chosen actor’s prop. Since the theme was “disaster,” the writers had to incorporate that word or theme into their play. The concept may seem relatively simple, but in practice the writing of the plays is similar to the choosing teams in kickball: the selection of acting teams can become very competitive. “Writing the plays is a bit hectic because you may have a plan for what characters you want [beforehand], but someone else might get them before you,” said sophomore Preston Choi, writer of The Limping Dead. “Usually it’s a mix of very different-looking people that we have to find a way to make sense [together], or to not make sense at all. The props usually help, though this year we had to give them more significance.” Sophomore Rachel Klika brought in a fly swatter as her prop, which she used in her role as a ditzy blonde zombieslayer in The Limping Dead, but she thought it could have been used for all sorts of characters. “When you act in the 3-Day Plays, you never really end up with a role that you expected,” Klika said. “The writers

always come up with really creative ideas for characters. It’s funny to see how they put the different characters together just by their costumes and props.” After the plays were finalized and typed up, the second day started with directors choosing scripts to direct. Having only five hours to rehearse the play with their actors, the directors found a quiet spot on campus and ran through the plays. After handing off their scripts, the writers had no more part in the production of their play, so it was up to the directors to bring the writer’s vision to life. Senior Ethan Campbell-Taylor wrote and directed different plays and found it challenging on both ends. “[As writers] we did our best to make the flow of the play clear from stage-directions and character descriptions, but things can get misinterpreted,” Campbell-Taylor said. “Fortunately, Daniel [Gilstrap, the director of his plays] got most of it. [When I direct] I ordinarily would plan out in advance what I’m going to direct when, but I basically had to jump in and say, ‘Go for it, I’ll give you notes.’ I was able to add a few significant bits, but not everything got worked as much as I would have liked. Still, I was pleased with the result.” The actors then had the next 24 hours to learn their lines. This stage can be the most stressful part of the plays because, rather than having weeks Clockwise from left: Movie star Jessie performs a monologue to prove her acting skills; Dr. McAwesome (Guensler) consoles his failing personal robot Gladys (Garrett); The conniving babysitter Kathy (Greer) reads a bedtime story; Jessie and her manager Katherine look on at angelic celebrity Sharon (senior Maya Baumeister); All who participated in the plays reach out to their adoring fans.

to rehearse and learn their lines, the actors only had that evening and any free time they got before showtime to cram their lines into their heads. “Memorizing the lines was a little challenging, but if you apply yourself anything is possible,” said senior Jasmine Dunlap, actor and writer of Traingedy, the play with the crazy homeless lady. “The way I memorized my lines was by constantly repeating them wherever I was or whenever I had the slightest break.” The final afternoon was a rush of rehearsing and giving the backstage crew instructions for each play. The “techies” only had four hours to create lighting schemes, sound effects and stage designs. Freshman Penelope Realff worked backstage and found her job to be very challenging. “It’s very stressful to do tech in only four hours,” Realff said. “Even if the directors don’t want a lot of props, we never have enough tech people behind stage to move all the set pieces.” The final performances were impressive, comparable in many ways to plays that have been practiced for weeks. Standouts included Timely Kindness, a time-traveling love triangle that left the audience smitten with freshman Søren Olson’s character, Nick, who loved freshman Jennifer Steckl’s Rachel, who loved junior Charlie Denton’s Jack, who was so distracted by his time-traveling that he failed to see what he truly cared about right in front of him in the present.

In Babysitter #37, brother-and-sister played Millard, a socially awkward man duo Walter and Mary-Ann Elizabeth in suspenders carrying a baby doll to (Junior and junior Kelsey Hubbard) seem paternal and affectionate to the are transported to a magical opposite sex. When Zelda “When land by their sour sitter deadpanned, “That’s you’re watching Kathy (junior Dezja a fake-ass baby,” Greer), but Maryinnocent Millard the plays you had a Ann Elizabeth looked up and hand in from the audience, asked, “An ass wants to be a at that point, everything is sorceress and baby?” Walter just wants Campbellbeyond your control, and if to see “nakey Taylor thought ladies.” Exorcise something goes wrong, all you that the most The D-List Demons can do is watch and wince.” stressful part of featured senior the whole thing was -Ethan CampbellQuameeha Grandoit watching the plays he Taylor as the failing movie star had had a hand in from Jessie suffering from a serious the audience. case of split personality disorder. “At that point, everything is beyond Another standout was Good One, Sir, your control,” Campbell-Taylor said, where the wannabe-evil Dr. McAwesome “and if something goes wrong, you (freshman Carter Guensler) bounced can only watch and wince, [but] I sexual innuendos off of his robot thought they went extremely well. Gladys (junior Josiah Garrett) and The quality of shows we students tried to take over the world using can make in three afternoons is much laundry detergent. In Millard & Zelda, higher than one might expect, and I senior Briana Parks starred as Zelda, think this time around was the best the witchy lover of President Millard set we’ve ever had.” Fillmore, and freshman Decker D’Alesio -Maragh Girvan

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The void is filled

The Philadelphia group explores uncharted territory with a fresh, new musical style. Be the Void, Dr. Dog’s long awaited seventh studio album with AntiRecords, fits the mold for all of the band’s prior releases with its collection of catchy and friendly music, poetic lyrics and painfully beautiful melodies. The album also, however, charts new territory that Dr. Dog had not explored before. Unlike the band’s second album, the self-released 2002 Toothbrush, which featured low-fi, crude recording techniques made popular by 90’s bands like Guided by Voices and Pavement, Be the Void offers a more produced, mature and punk-ier music style with a wide variety of different instruments. Like the instrumentation, the vocal styles vary widely from song to song. Six of the album’s tracks feature the friendly and inviting voice of co-lead singer and guitarist Steve McMicken. In tracks like the catchy “How Long Must I Wait” and the whimsical love song “Do the Trick,” McMicken makes you want to sit down, turn up, and enjoy his melancholic melodies, which

affect the listener like a warm fire on a cold night in the dead of winter. Alternate co-lead singer and bassist, Toby Leaman, lets out emotionally pained, gravelly yet eerily melodic, wails about love and heartbreak in the chant-like track “Lonesome” and the gloomy ballad “Vampire.” Since it released its debut record in 2001, The Psychedelic Swamp, Dr.

Dog has been famous for its Shel Silverstein-inspired lyrical style. That style is still very evident in Be the Void on tracks like “Do the Trick,” boasting lyrics such as, “I’ve been split down the middle,… I’m in need of a better half. Won’t you do the trick?” The band gained exposure by touring with big-name bands such as My Morning Jacket, whose lead singer, Jim James, invited Dr. Dog to open for his band after he heard Toothbrush. Be the Void is the first album the band has recorded with drummer, Dimitri Manos, as an official new member of the band. Manos, who is also a member of the band the Golden Boots, previously recorded drums on numerous tracks on Dr. Dog’s 2005 album Easy Beat. Even after seven albums, a handful of other compilations and EPs in the last 10 years, Dr. Dog is still making fresh new music. Despite what they say, you can teach an old dog new tricks. -Luke Webster

Typical students, rare genres Grady students break the norm in musical taste.

When most people think about music, they consider that most people have probably never even heard of. The songs or artists that are popular at that moment, or at concept is to take samples of well-known video game least songs that were popular at one point in time. With music, like that of The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario this mind-set of only caring about music that is generally Bros., and put it to a techno background. This genre is considered popular, it’s easy to forget that there are entire called chiptunes, and it is mostly made by and for hard genres of music unknown to most people, especially high core fans of these ultra-popular video game series. school students. “I’ve always played a lot of video games, and a lot of Henry Peteet is not one of these people. While he may them have really good sound tracks, so when I discovered seem like your run-of-the-mill high school junior, his chiptunes it just kind of fit perfectly,” Hulsman said. “ I “You really just have to have a love of video musical tastes set him apart from most others. don’t expect games. Otherwise the genre as a whole just Peteet listens to bands like Between the Buried doesn’t really make much sense.” and Me, Job for a Cowboy and Behemoth. For most people to like those who are unfamiliar with these bands, Several other students at Grady also listen the music I like, or even they are generally considered to be death to pretty offbeat genres of music. Freshman understand why I like it,” Nathaniel Pate listens to the band Alestorm, metal. “I don’t expect most people to like the describing its style as “pirate metal.” Senior -junior Henry Peteet Danny Baggerman says that he’s actually music I like, or even understand why I like it,” Peteet explained. “All I know is that I enjoy the music unsure how to describe his musical tastes, but they range and that’s all that really matters.” Peteet went on to say from 1980s pop to country to opera. Overall, Grady has that he did not exclusively listen to these bands and that an extremely diverse range of musical tastes, and with the he enjoyed some of the music that is considered popular ridiculous amount of music to which so many of us have today. easy access, it might be fun to explore a little. -Grayson Garrett Freshman Max Hulsman listens to a genre of music

Shows

Trey Songz with Big Sean March 8, Philips Arena Young the Giant March 15, Center Stage Childish Gambino March 16, Tabernacle Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds April 6, Tabernacle Delta Spirit April 7th, Masquerade Of Montreal April 7, Variety Playhouse The Ting Tings April 16, Variety Playhouse Van Halen April 19, Phillips Arena

Releases

March 5—Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball March 15—The Shins, Port of Morrow March 15—Ne-Yo, Mr. Perfect March 20—Britney Spears, Abroad March 20—Odd Future, OF Tape Vol. 2 March 27—R. Kelly, Write Me Back March 27—Mars Volta, Noctourniquet April 9—M. Ward, A Wasteland Companion April 10—Alabama Shakes, Boys and Girls

Grady’s playlists

Samantha Mack, senior

Rex Petersen, junior

“Faces in the Hall” Gym Class Heroes “Count on Me” Bruno Mars “You See Me” Childish Gambino “The Birds” The Weeknd “Too Young” The Secret Handshake

“Chain Hang Low” Jibbs “Snap Yo Fingers” Lil Jon “It’s Going Down” Yung Joc “Sexy and I Know It” LMFAO “Nyan Cat” Nyan

Lee Johnson, senior “Feeling This” Blink 182 “Funky S**t” Prodigy “Sweet Sweet Heartkiller” Say Hi To Your Mom “Where does the Good Go” Tegan and Sara “Nocturnal Rainbows” Hopsin

Lamar Benefield, senior “The Outsider” A Perfect Circle “Weak & Powerless” A Perfect Circle “Sober” Tool “Down with the Sickness” Disturbed “The Way I Am” By Staind

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Tourney gives ‘field of 64’ new meaning

Clockwise from top left: Senior Jack Webster gets ready to start a new round of Super Smash Bros.; German exchange student Linda Lewek, freshman Faye Webster and senior Larson Collier raise their classic Nintendo controllers; The players celebrate after a successful round.

years old, but his parents disapproved of the console and stowed it away at the grandparents’ house. After being deprived of their digital entertainment for so long, the Websters’ long time friend Larson Collier bought them a new N64. “[Playing Nintendo 64 is] my childhood wrapped up in plastic,” Collier said. After getting ridiculously competitive while constantly playing Super Smash Brothers on the Websters’ massive 61inch flat screen TV, Jack and Grady alum Jafa Fielder came up with the idea of a bracketed tournament to test each other’s skills and see who was the ultimate Smash Bros. player. The idea quickly evolved into an online Facebook event with more than 30 people committed to attending. The landmark first of three tournaments was held in September of 2010. People slowly but surely filed into the spacious living room of the Websters’ house and brackets were soon constructed. The atmosphere was bright and cheerful, with a hint

of competitive anticipation. “It was a great environment, everyone was there to have fun,” Collier said. Approximately 20 people participated in the first tournament. After 10 electrifying rounds the two best players, Larson and Jack, were pitted against each other for the finale. Five minutes and lots of yelling later, Jack came out victorious by a very close margin. Larson got his revenge during tournament No. 2, held in December 2010, where he was the victor, but Jack once again crushed the competition in tournament No. 3 in August 2011. Jack declared the tournaments a total success, and showed much love for the game. “[Super Smash Brothers] is absolutely my favorite game of all time. There is no video game better designed than it.” Jack said. The Websters take their Nintendo escapades very seriously. Super Smash Brothers isn’t just child’s play to them; it’s a nail-biting test of video game skill and perseverance. -Ruben Velez Photos by Ruben Velez

1996 was the year. A next generation game console code named “Project Reality” was released to the market. The new console featured a 64-bit central processing unit, which was its namesake. The Nintendo 64 triumphed over the likes of Sony and Sega, whose systems only offered 32-bit CPUs. The N64 sold 32.92 million units worldwide and in 2009 was named the ninth greatest video game console out of a field of 25 competitors. The N64 was a smash hit, as was the game Super Smash Brothers, which sold more than 4.9 million copies worldwide. The game featured an exciting singleplayer journey as well as a multi-player arena mode in which popular Nintendo characters brawled in various Nintendo environments. Senior Jack Webster is a long-time Super Smash Brothers veteran. As far back as his freshman year, Webster played with great intensity and competitiveness against his siblings and friends. The Webster family had an N64 way back when Jack was 4

ACC becomes SEC of hoops

The Atlantic Coast Conference has officially expanded to 14 teams with the addition of the University of Syracuse and the University of Pittsburgh. Although it is only a two-team expansion. The additions add a completely new dimension to the conference. The ACC has always been known for its talented basketball teams. Adding Syracuse and Pittsburgh helps to solidify them as an unparalleled basketball powerhouse conference. The one conference they were competing with was the Big East, which is the conference that Pittsburgh and Syracuse are leaving. ACC fans are split between liking the move or opposing it. Syracuse has not proven to be much of a threat in football, but Pittsburgh on the other hand is often considered an elite football team. Although Pittsburgh suffered a down year in 2011, The University of Pittsburgh is usually ranked every year. Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, and recent Hall of Fame inductees Curtis Martin and Falcon Chris Doleman all played

for the panthers before they were pros. The real controversy comes from ACC basketball fans. The fact that Syracuse and Pittsburgh are in the elite top ten teams scares many ACC fans, but on the other hand, it excites some. “I Like it a lot. It’ll add more competition and will get teams ready for the NCAA tournament.” Grady alumni Parker Carlson said. Most Big East fans however despite the defection of Syr1acuse and Pittsburgh which put The Big East near extinction until it wooed Boise State, San Diego State and SMU. The new Big East no longer competes with the ACC for best basketball conference. The ACC now has that title by a long shot. Syracuse is currently in the midst of a 30-win season and is the No. 2 team in the nation. My view as a UNC fan is that it adds to the competition and will better ready my team for the NCAA tournament. -Austin Planer

Grady’s new gym floor brought upon a pretty sight to students, teachers, parents and other supporters of our state-playoff-bound basketball team. Shining bright with a knight in the middle and Henry W. Grady running along the sidelines in the schools colors, the new floor has brought along some good and bad changes. “I like the new gym floor better because it’s less slippery and there’s more of a grip” said varsity basketball senior Andrew Jackson. Taking a little less than a month to complete, the new floor was constructed over the holiday break. During this time, all gym activities were held in the practice gym. “While the floor was being constructed, our team and the girls basketball team both practiced in the old gym. The boys first and then the girls.” basketball player Sedarius Smith said. “ This arrangement continued on for a week after the new floor was finished because Coach Slade didn’t want anyone on the new floor until the first home game.” Students agree that the floor looks better but there are more rules now. “Coach Slade doesn’t want people on the new floor as much and you can’t walk on it with dress shoes or boots,” Fabian Releford said. More precautions are being made to take care of the new floor. Coach Slade sweeps before every practice and game and the cleaning crew mops it after every game and practice. - Talore Williams

Photo by Talore Williams

Renovation leaves teams simply floored

Art lanta The Atlanta cityscape feels immovable, a solid yet living monument. To the youth of Atlanta, especially urban students like those at Grady, the network of parks, skyscrapers and roads that we traverse daily appears a stable unchanging structure. Growing up in a fast-paced society like ours where constant innovation is the norm, it’s easy for us to forget that our city is growing alongside us. Many of us still think of the ’90s as being no more than a decade ago, and the 2000s have composed almost two thirds of our lives. Thus, many of our city’s accomplishments of the past several years may seem distant and spread out. But maybe we ought to take a closer look. Sure, Atlanta may not seem as glamorous as other major U.S. cities like New York or Los Angeles; the entertainment industry paints New York as the city that never sleeps, and, as of recently, Atlanta as the city of the walking dead. But we’ve taken strides through this first decade of the 21st Century, both as a people and as a physical city. It’s hard to imagine that just 10 years ago, many of the defining aspects of our city were nothing more than ideas. In 2005, we opened the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the entire world. The Atlanta BeltLine, underway since 2006, is one of the most wide-ranging redevelopment projects currently underway in the nation, promising to connect communities across Atlanta with a system of linear parks and railways. Even the skyline of our city, the view we regard as an immutable backdrop, grows slowly like the canopy of a forest. Just six years ago, the Midtown skyline was without the iconic Symphony Tower, the spacey glass monolith often likened to a pair of upright nail-clippers. It’s these aspects of our city, relatively new but seemingly essential, that illustrate Atlanta’s growth. We’ve dedicated this issue of Nexus to Atlanta’s progress in hopes that next time you feel like your city is sidelined, you can flip through these pages and rediscover what makes us Atlanta: not set in stone but rather ever shifting, changing and evolving. -James Moy

Photos by Kate Taber

Old Fourth Ward Park goes chasing water falls The Old Fourth Ward Park is a new urban park that will ultimately stretch from North Avenue, behind the old City Hall East building, all the way south to Freedom Parkway, covering 30 acres of land. The first phase of the park is one of the first completed urban park projects tied to the Atlanta BeltLine initiative. Developers broke ground on Oct. 15, 2008. The eventual completed product will be a new green space for locals and tourist to play, relax and enjoy the beauty our city has to offer. Through collaboration with the Department of Watershed Management, ABI completed the first phase of construction, which included a 2-acre storm water-retention pond. The waterretention pond is the central amenity and focal point of the whole park. A walkway stretches over part of the pond allowing visitors to walk above the water. The fountain and waterfall further beautify the space in sharp contrast to the city skyline that serves as a backdrop. Overlooking the pond is an outdoor amphitheater that will showcase events and bring neighbors together. This new retention pond not only serves an aesthetic purpose but has also alleviated a historic flooding problem

in the surrounding area by collecting rainwater runoff. “It’s like a hidden oasis in the midst of the city,” said Cleo Rochat, a frequent visitor of the park, “It’s like no other park Atlanta has built so far,” Although the pond isn’t suitable for swimming, the park offers an area called the “splash pad” for kids and adults to cool off on hot summer days. The splash pad is similar to the Olympic Fountain Rings at Centennial Park, but jets not only spray from the ground but also from above. A modern playground is just steps away, offering tons of obstacles for children to climb over, through, and under. Slides and monkey bars are still there for those who prefer traditional playground staples. While the park has intrinsic utility, it also serves the broader purpose of increasing the amount of green space in Atlanta. It offers a fun and safe area for friends, family and children to explore. Developers are still building and expanding the park. The surrounding community has formed the Old Fourth Ward Park Conservancy to help fund the maintenance of the park. The area can be accessed from Dallas Street and from other surrounding streets. -Kate Taber

The “new” Old Fourth Ward Park offers a stunning view, a new playground and a pleasant stroll in the midst of a historic Atlanta neighborhood for families and friends all around to enjoy.

Photos by Kate Taber

The “new” Old Fourth Ward Park offers a stunning view, a new playground and a pleasant stroll in the midst of a historic Atlanta neighborhood for families and friends all around to enjoy.

Living Walls breathes life into the city

Photos courtesy of Creative Loafing, Dustin Chambers

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who look at a big blank wall and see a big blank wall, and those who look and see a wide-open canvas. Whether etched into a mirror in a public bathroom, scrawled onto a stop sign in dark black ink, or elaborately sprayed onto a concrete canvas, graffiti is the lifeblood of our city. It is everywhere, and ever-changing; a constantly growing and morphing organism that crawls around Atlanta leaving its mark. Atlantans of the artistic persuasion, the people that see the personality of the city, started a conference on street art and urbanism in 2009 in Atlanta. According to a recent Creative Loafing profile, visionaries Monica Campana and Blacki Migliozzi didn’t think that any artists would cooperate with them, or that any walls would be available. They were mistaken, and the project, known as Living Walls, gained momentum. Two conferences later in 2011, the latest Living Walls conference hosted 36 influential street artists from all corners of the world, as well as the local color. “Living Walls, The City Speaks” is a coordinated effort to engage the general public via street art. The project and its participants strive to change the urban landscape and highlight a number of problems facing Atlanta. The two dozen new public works adorn many areas of Atlanta, ranging from Decatur to Old Fourth Ward and everywhere in between. The idea behind Living Walls is to get the small groups, the street artists and graffiti writers, who interact with the city’s space, and planners who spend their time in discourse about public space, under the same roof. The conference intends to broadcast a wide spectrum of ideas about the space that we live in and around, hoping that everyone leaves looking at the city, its walls, and how we interact with public environments differently. -Ruben Velez A Worldwide Pallet: From top to bottom — Work by artists Jaz, from Buenos Aires, Argentina; NEVER, from Los Angeles CA; ROA, from Belgium; and LTRS, from Atlanta.

Artwork photos by Christopher T Martin

BeltLine aspires to bind communities together Picture smooth white paths snaking through freshly planted grass along a shiny new railway that brings communities across Atlanta closer than ever before. People of all different ages, backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities stroll along the gleaming sidewalks shaded by the tall skyscrapers that form the Atlanta skyline, a mosaic of faces that embody the diversity of the city. Scattered throughout the winding landscape are various art pieces, bringing out the uniqueness of Atlanta and adding color and personality to the cityscape. This, and much more, is the vision of the Atlanta BeltLine Project. About a decade ago, individuals and groups began collaborating across Atlanta to realize this vision. In 2006, a company called Atlanta BeltLine Inc. was created to change the future of Atlanta dramatically. Though this task will take much hard work and will continue over the next few decades, there are many great minds behind the project, working to spur urban development and help Atlanta to grow into a more vibrant city. One of these individuals is Fred Yalouris, director of architecture and urban design at Atlanta BeltLine Inc., who has many big goals for the future of the BeltLine. “We have this 22-mile linear park were developing where people can walk, improve their health, and see the city on foot,” Yalouris said. “So far, we’ve completed 10 master plans Photo by Claire Hasson

for the BeltLine and the design and construction of four parks. We’re also working on an overarching design program.” The framework of the BeltLine is centered around a looping train track that circles the city and will connect 45 neighborhoods with a means of easy transport and vast green spaces. The project hopes to bring communities closer and introduce an even greater sense of multiculturalism across the city. In addition, there are many unique features in the plans for the BeltLine including a tree arboretum with whole variety of tree species and even a bird sanctuary. Another distinct aspect of the Atlanta BeltLine Project is art. There has already been progress on the project, through exhibits called “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine” that occur each fall. These exhibits feature temporary art installations along different areas of the BeltLine that portray the diversity of Atlanta’s culture. Art is also the aspect of the Atlanta BeltLine Project where Grady plays the largest role. Patricia Kendall’s design class participated in the project. Kendall and some of her students worked on designs for the stations along the track. Art teacher John Brandhorst was approached by the curator last year about getting students involved in the project through different art pieces, sculptures, and even performances to bring life

to the BeltLine. Brandhorst, a strong supporter of the BeltLine project, sees this as a good opportunity. “For Grady, [the BeltLine project] is really nice,” Brandhorst said. “We have a great potential to integrate with the city. ...We’ll be able to propose [ideas] alongside professional design firms and artists, which will create good interactions.” Brandhorst thinks that making art a major focus on the project is an important way to make the BeltLine distinct. It will add character and truly incorporate Atlanta’s ethos into the pathway. “The goal is to make [the BeltLine] a destination of its own instead of just a way of traveling from one place to another,” Brandhorst said. As the project evolves, the forces behind it have high hopes for its future path (pun intended). Yalouris hopes to complete the design of the corridor itself in the near future, which will include seven or eight more parks and an even greater emphasis on the art installations and design aesthetics. The project will continue to strive to transform the city and foster urban development and growth. “[The BeltLine] will be the most powerful engine for the future of Atlanta,” Yalouris said. “It will improve pedestrian mobility and quality of life in the city and create a healthier and livelier environment.” -Claire Hasson

Clockwise from top left: “Cultivated Chaos” by J.D. Koth and David Lougee; “The Wanders” by The Paper Twins; “The Transformational Transportation Way” by Charlie Smith; “Be My Solar Friend” by Emma Adair; BeltLine construction at 10th and Monroe.

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Not your average Joe’s; local grocery offers something for everyone Monroe’s favorite, the Joe-Joes, chocolate cookies with cream filling, made it on to “TJ’s Most Favored Favorite Products of 2011,” an informal list of customer-voted favorite storebrand items. The list also features popular picks such as the olive-oil popcorn, Speculoos Cookie Butter (a spreadable paste that tastes like cookies) and triple ginger snap cookies. Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken topped the list. “I’m always interested to see what’s on their favorites list,” junior Elen Marie Pease said. “It’s a great way for customers to share ideas.”

Pease frequents Trader Joe’s because she appreciates the prices and the quality of its food, as well as the friendly demeanor of the staff. “They always show the youth some love; every experience has been great.” The store’s website offers the Most Favored List as a way of reflecting back upon 2011 as a year in snacks, but Trader Joe’s also promises more to come. While we struggle to hold fast to our New Year’s resolutions, Trader Joe’s will be certain to deliver more fresh and flavorful instant favorites in 2012. -James Moy

“I bought six boxes of those Shortbread cookies with pistachios and cranberries that they only sell during Christmas.” -Elen Marie Pease, junior

“I love the Joe-Joes!” -Kallie Monroe, senior

Background photos by James Moy, Mimi Fix, and Tracy Benjamin

Student photos by James Moy

“Delicious”, “glorious,” and “God’s gift to mankind” are just some of the words and phrases students use to describe food items in the cornucopia of options offered by Trader Joe’s, the grocer conveniently located across the street from Grady. Well-known for exotic cultural twists on popular products, such as edamame hummus and cinnamon pita chips, the grocery store is a primary destination for students seeking an after-school snack. “It’s awesome and affordable,” senior Kallie Monroe said, in praise of Trader Joe’s selection of foodstuffs.

“The Kettle Corn is God’s gift to mankind.” -Cheyn Shah, senior

Ingredients: • 1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa • 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened • 1 tablespoon red food color •1 egg •1 bag of Toll House premier white morsels

Directions: 1. Combine cookie mix, cocoa, butter, food coloring and egg in bowl until dough is light and fluffy. 2. Roll dough into one-inch balls; place two inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet. 3. Bake at 375° F for 8 to 9 minutes or until set. 4. When done, cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. White Chocolate Frosting: 5. Place white chocolate chips in icing bag and put in microwave for 20 seconds to about a minute 6. Frost cooled cookies with frosting. -Tamara Mason

Photos by Tamara Mason

Word on the sweet: red velvet cookies

The cookies may seem ready to eat when they are baked and cooled but don’t eat them yet! Add your own designs with the white chocolate frosting.

These restaurant owners truly are breadwinners Of all the sandwich joints in Atlanta, only one, Victory Sandwich Bar, projects old classic movies for customers to view. Victory is almost a hidden treasure, located in Inman Park on Elizabeth Street. Owners Ian Jones and Caleb Wheelus came up with the idea of an affordable and original sandwich place about a year ago. “My business partner and myself thought we’d just try it and hope it’d work out,” Jones said. Jones wanted to create something casual and easy. He chose Inman Park for a number of reasons, but mainly because he thought it was a great neighborhood. “I just thought there could be a hole filled here by what we’re doing,” Jones said. “I like Inman Park because there’s not a lot of inexpensive restaurants. There’s not really like a cafe or Photo by McKenzie Taylor neighborhood joint.” The atmosphere of Victory is casual The flavors of arugula, avocado and baconaisse of the “New Bomb Turk” will and welcoming. A patio in front of explode in your mouth. the restaurant is filled with tree-trunk table tops while the inside is a little depending on how hungry they are. comes from a local bakery, Holman & more polished. As customers walk in, There’s a little bit of everything, from Finch. The fresh ingredients combine a sign commands them to “Grab this,” a Cuban-inspired sandwich named to create a variety of sandwiches and pointing to the menus and “Go there,” “Castro” which has slow-roasted pork, sides that can satisfy any appetite. pointing to the cashier. ham, pickle, fontina cheese and yellow Victory welcomes any kind of crowd. The most unique aspect of Victory mustard, to the “New Bomb Turk,” which “I think it’s for everybody; it’s really are the movies projected on a white entails smoked turkey, baconaisse (a a pretty cool mix,” Jones said. “We get cinder-block wall. Jones and Wheelus house made mayonnaise- based sauce), small children, some teenagers, even a were inspired by the classic movie star avocado spread and dressed arugula. guy that’s like 60 who comes in almost Steve McQueen. Jones and Wheelus For those who are craving every night and hangs out.” envisioned the restaurant as a “My something more simple, “The Given how difficult it is just to survive man cave for McQueen, the Mulligan” is a delicious in the restaurant business, Jones feels business ultimate “man’s man.” construction of smoked fortunate that Victory has been so partner and The menu is a ham and pimento cheese. successful in such a short amount of collaborative effort. myself thought For the vegetarian, time. He thinks the key ingredients are Everyone who works at there’s the “Weed Eater” good timing, a good location and a we’d just try it and Victory plays around with consisting of buffalo good bit of luck, as well as some loyal hope it’d work ideas until they arrive at mozzarella, hummus, customers. the dishes that are deemed out.” avocado and dressed Victory is opening another location worthy for the menu. arugula. in Decatur this summer. -Ian Jones “We had a good friend Some scrumptious sides “We’re just expanding our kitchen; of mine who’s a really fancy include the potato salad, we’ve outgrown our kitchen here, schmancy chef assist us with the menu.” comprised of sour cream and “green and we’re going to amp up our deli Jones said. “I can’t cook an egg. I like to onion goodness” according to the process.” think of something that sounds good menu; spicy sesame ramen, served Another unique quality to Victory is and then someone who knows how cold with peanuts and scallions; or its hours, open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. to make something good will make it pesto orzo with roasted pepper, pine daily. Victory is the perfect place for better.” nuts and basil. a fresh, filling lunch or a satisfying The sandwiches are small, allowing Jones revealed that Victory smokes midnight snack. customers to sample two or three and cures its own deli meats. The bread -McKenzie Taylor 770-676-7287 280 Elizabeth St. Atlanta, GA, 30307

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Grant, a man with a vision. He bought the shop and turned it into what it is today. Grant, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, made it his goal to create a doughnut shop that was different from all the others. Sublime is nothing like Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’ Donuts: it’s better. All seven customers I asked said they preferred Sublime to Krispy Kreme doughnuts. “The reason Sublime is unique is because we are more creative than all the rest,” Grant said. Many Grady students have recently taken notice of the shop and are quite pleased with the results. “I love what they have to offer along with the relaxed atmosphere, making it one bundle of fun,” said Junior Sofia Sifnaios. Grant plans for Sublime to stick around for years to come in hopes of becoming Atlanta’s premier doughnut experience. -Amelia Christopher

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S’mores, caramel apple fritter, red velvet, peanut butter cup, dolce de leche and the famous A-town creams are just a few examples of the various doughnuts offered at Sublime Doughnuts, located just two miles from Grady in Tech Plaza. Upon entering the small shop, patrons hear the faint hum of music. Various pictures and paintings line the walls. At one of the few tables a student sits, savoring her last bite of doughnut while diligently typing away on her computer. In direct line of the door sits a wall of doughnuts, all shapes, sizes and flavors. The smell of doughnuts floats throughout the shop, making them hard to resist. The options are countless, making it nearly impossible to try just one. Sublime isn’t sleek or shiny, it’s comfortable and simple, and an experience like no other. In late August of 2008, Sublime Doughnuts was opened by Kamal

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“In Beans We Trust” Tortillas, Atlanta’s first and famous burrito joint located along Ponce De Leon Avenue was beloved by many but closed in 2003. Grant Central Pizza owners, Eric and Margaret Kaiser, are paying a tribute to the beloved Sante-Fe style burritos by opening Tomatillos in the heart of East Atlanta Village. With quick service and a menu full of fresh ingredients, Tomatillos offers a pleasurable dining experience. There’s a great atmosphere with good music, art on every wall and happy employees and customers alike. The menu prices are pretty standard and reasonable. They range from $2-$3 for tacos and $5-$8 for colossal burritos and generously filled quesadillas. It is not hard, however, to make a meal pricey with additional toppings, sides or appetizers. I was offered a potato and green chile burrito, which looked way too good to turn down. The burrito was satisfying and delectable from the crisp and slightly sweet chiles to the warm and steamy tortilla. In addition to the regular menu items, there are also an excellent variety of specials from stuffed Mexican pizza to fried apple-pie empanadas with cinnamon-sugar whipped cream. On weekend nights, the line of customers waiting to order can quickly stretch all the way to the front door as local families crowd in, but during the week the crowd is much smaller. Seating is available outdoors, at the bar or around the restaurant’s various tables and spacious booths. Tomatillos is open Monday to Sunday from 11a.m. to 11p.m. with a brunch menu available Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The food is tasty, the people are friendly, and the surroundings are welcoming. I’d recommend traveling to Tomatillos, located at 1242 Glenwood Ave., for your next lunch, dinner or even brunch. -Nara Smith

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Last hoorah for senior designers Our last round of senior designers discuss their lines, inspirations, and future plans.

Meredith ‘Edi’ Campis What are your goals for this year? “To graduate, finish my collection and make a portfolio for AP art.” Where did you get inspiration from for your collection? “A designer would be Alexander McQueen, and also what my friends wear and what I see in stores.” What style would describe your line? “There isn’t really a theme. It’s more edgy, lots of leather and studding. My clothes aren’t really stuff you would wear to school.” What is your career goal? “Maybe marketing. I’ll probably follow through with fashion.” Did you have any sewing experience prior to Senior Design? “Not outside of school, I’m mostly self-taught.” How would you describe your personal style? “I like to wear colorful things, generally pretty girly.”

Cheryn Moore

How would you describe your personal style? “A combination of preppy, hipster and edgy.” Where did your inspiration come from for the collection you’re designing with Ninti Eddington? “It came from a lot of things really. Ninti and I really like tribal prints like Aztec and NativeAmerican tribal prints mostly. We also really like the shapes and silhouettes from different eras like ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘70s.” Did you have any sewing experience prior to Senior Design? “I took some fibers classes. Besides that, nope.”

Camille Harris

How would you describe your personal style? “My personal style is fun and crazy. I like to wear outfits that most other people couldn’t pull off. I will admit that it can be a little strange sometimes.” Where did your inspiration come from the collection you’re designing? “The inspiration for our line came from a combination of our completely different styles as well as watching old ‘90s TV shows.” If you could name your collection right now, what would you call it? “That’s a hard question. I think I would name it FUNkie!” Who are your fashion icons? “My fashion icons? Definitely Beyoncé. Also, Janet Jackson and Willow Smith...sometimes. I get inspiration from TV, magazines or people that I just see around.”

-Interviews and photos by Mckenzie Taylor

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Seniors vote on students’ sharpest duds

This year’s senior yearbook nominees for ‘Best-dressed’ discuss their styles and fashion choices.

If you had to live in one outfit for the rest of your life what would it be? “A jewel encrusted sweatshirt, leather skirt, combat boots and ripped jewelry” How do you shop for your clothes? “I’m a spur-of-themoment shopper. I purchase whatever I think is cute at that moment.” What’s your favorite piece of clothing? “My combat boots.”

Jordan Ross

What’s your price limit for an entire outfit? “Including shoes, $50.” Where are your favorite places to shop? “Thrift stores, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21 and American Apparel.” When do you feel most stylish? “When I have on dressy attire, heels and nice accessories.”

Erin Gore

Name your favorite article of clothing. “My black sequined Uggs. They’re comfortable, sassy, and go with anything.” When do you feel most stylish? “When I don’t think about my outfit. I feel most stylish when my outfit is randomly thrown together.” How do you shop for your clothes? “I’m a bad shopper. I purchase whatever catches my eye.”

Cynthia Westerfield

‘Boosie’ McWhorter

Where are your favorite places to shop? “Charlotte Russe, Urban Outfitters and online from ‘Urban1927.com’ and ‘Makemechic.com’” Describe your ideal outfit. “Patterned vintage blouse, high waist pleated shorts, tights or fishnet stockings, Oxfords and heavy jewelry”. Name an article of clothing or accessory you won’t leave home without. “I never leave the house without earrings and a necklace.”

What’s your price limit for an outfit? “It depends on how much money I have at the time and the price of the item. If an item I want costs all of my money, I will buy it.” Name something you can’t leave home without. “A nice haircut.” Name your favorite piece of clothing. “My cut up True Religion Pants.”

Antione Jones

Where are your favorite stores to shop? “H&M, Zara, the Levi store, and Urban Outfitters.” Do you have an style icon? “I have fashion icons when I’m trying to dress up, I look up to Fonzworth Bentley and Scott Disick but for more of an everyday fashion I look up to 106 & Park co-host Terrence J.”

Armani Owens

What’s your favorite article of clothing? “A tie. I think wearing ties makes your suit look better.” Name an article of clothing you can’t leave home without. “A watch. I always wear whatever color watch to match what I have on.” Where are your favorite stores to shop? “I buy majority of my clothes from K&G.”

James Taylor

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Do you have a style icon? “I don’t have a style icon or anyone I try to mimic. I purchase items I think are pretty and would look nice on me.” If you had to live in one outfit for the rest of your life what would it be? “My red plaid Bondage pants, red flame Doc Martins, black Calvin Klein blazer and a t-shirt my dad made.” Where are your favorite stores to shop? “Angry Young and Poor [Punk Rock website], Crash and Burn, and Doc Martin.”

Photos and interviews by Talore Williams

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“Mommy, why am I so fat?”

Billboards rarely catch the attention of the drivers and passengers who zoom past them on the highway. There are a few times, however, when an advertisement is so outstanding, that it forces you to focus on it before it disappears behind you. One set of billboards, becoming widely familiar around Georgia, have stood out more from the backlash they have fostered than their actual “Sticks message. The Georgia Children’s Health Alliance has been advertising and stones the issue of obesity with overweight could children on billboards with captions have such as “Being fat takes the fun out of being a kid.” Although the campaign broken is putting out an important message, some say they have taken it too far. her bones, With Georgia ranking as the 34th but obesity most obese state of 2011, health-care awareness officials decided to do something about the issue. Georgia Children’s ads sure Health Alliance targeted overweight did starve children with its campaign titled “Stop her.” Childhood Obesity.” Campaign leader Ron Frieson characterized childhood obesity in Georgia as a health crisis. Georgia, he pointed out, has the second highest rate of childhood obesity in the nation. A stronger approach, he stressed, had to be taken in the state. The campaign advertisements are definitely in-your-face. Parents and other adults in the community, however, believe the billboards target the victim instead of the culprit. Many of the critics have taken action to pull the billboard advertisements around Georgia, but the campaign is using other media. According to the campaign, 75 percent In addition to the billboards, the of parents in Georgia don’t realize that campaign has put up videos on their children are overweight. This its website, strong4life.com which statistic isn’t surprising as many parents shows children’s’ stories of how being just want to make their kids happy, and overweight harms them. The first thing giving them whatever they want to eat you see on the site is an overweight child is an easy way to achieve that goal. The campaign’s vision was on the wearing an excessively tight T-shirt right track, but its approach is that accentuated his girth. In insensitive to kids, especially one video, the same boy has The first those who might not be a one-on-one conversation thing you able to control their weight. with an adult in an empty see on the site Children have completely and darkly lit room. He asks her, “Mom, why am I fat?” is an overweight different mind-sets than The mother only sighs, not child wearing an teens and adults. If a child saw someone like knowing what to say. The videos are heartbreaking, excessively tight them displayed on a billboard, for everyone to as these children describe T-shirt that see, saying that they are being diagnosed with accentuates fat, chubby or not what medical conditions at a his girth. normal kids are supposed young age, not being able to be, they might think that to play with kids because they who they are is wrong. On the are teased and more. The videos, while powerful, merely illustrate why other hand, a teen or an adult would the billboards are so hurtful. Children be more likely to comprehend that shouldn’t be publicly ridiculed by just because they are different, does other kids or by signs in the road. not mean they are inferior to others. There is no doubt that the issue of The billboard’s defenders believe they might motivated obesity, especially childhood obesity, 26 in-denial parents into action. needstobeaddressed.Childrenshouldbe

Illustration by Avanti Lemons encouraged, from a young age, to live healthier lives. Georgia won’t need billboards to combat bad habits if the bad habits never form in the first place. The campaign has gotten a huge amount of attention but for the wrong reasons. The Alliance contends that it had to do something drastic because milder campaigns have not made a significant improvement. Despite their good intentions, the campaign should have tried a more sensitive way of advertising obesity because they had such a big audience, but they have also provided some resources online. The website, provides new methods for instilling daily discipline such as limiting television and shopping more effectively with children. Unfortunately, this is not something new; it has happened before. One billboard put up by an Indiana hospital read “Obesity is a disease. Not a decision.” Another billboard advertised in Ohio displayed an obese child overeating. All of these campaigns have the same aim in wanting to show parents the truth. They want to make clear to parents that something has to be done and they are essentially the only ones who can do it. -Sanjida Mowla

Can’t fight burglary with theft

Recently, the acronyms SOPA and PIPA have seized Internet sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and Google. The Stop Online Piracy Act and The Protect Intellectual Property Act are two anti-piracy bills whose goals are to prevent copyright infringement by prohibiting access to sites that promote the illegal distribution of copyrighted material. The bills will require search engines and advertising services in the United States not to link to sites known for containing pirated content and exclude some payment networks such as PayPal from having business relations with them. They will also require that every payment and advertising network have a process that alerts the companies once one of its members has committed piracy. The main targets of this legislation are overseas sites since they are difficult to shut down directly. One notorious overseas site, “The Pirate Bay,” disseminates copyrighted material like movies and TV shows for free. SOPA was introduced in the House of Representatives by Texas congressmen, Lamar Smith, who is the head of the House Judiciary Committee. PIPA was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy (the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee). Both of the acts affect Grady students because the acts can applies to any site that commits piracy. These sites could include YouTube since many of the videos consist of copyrighted music and parts of TV shows. Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr would also be affected since people frequently provide links to copyrighted videos, songs and pictures. Even search engines such as Google and Yahoo who provide links to private sites might fall under the acts’ provision. This upsets incessant Grady bloggers, including senior Lukas Olson. “I think it’s bad if what all of the websites are saying is true because the Internet is dependent on free speech and being able to say whatever you want and not being censored by corporationsthemomenttheythinksomethingisbad,”Olsonsaid. The bill has divided corporate America. Media corporations including the Time Warner and News Corp., the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce support the bill while social media and web-based media companies like Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, Facebook, do not. From midnight Jan. 18 to midnight Jan. 19, several websites “blacked out” a portion of their

main page in order to protest Congressional support of the bills. These critics aren’t alone. “[The legislation] pisses me off because I feel like I should be able to do whatever I want to on the Internet,” senior Jamil Williams said. “Instead of worrying about [copyright infringement], they should worry about cyber-bullying or take some other initiative that we could focus on other than copyright infringement for people who are already making millions of dollars. Who cares about them?” Other students are hopeful that the laws penalties will not be enforceable. “ I think [these laws are] a bad thing,” junior Abrahana James said. “What happened to the First Amendment? I don’t like other people making decisions for me. I don’t think it’s going to work because someone is going to figure out a way around these censored sites.” The bills are currently being voted on in Congress, and it may take several months before a decision is reached. -Jakara Griffin

These ladies aren’t ‘real’ or ‘housewives’ A year ago, I was watching Snapped on the Oxygen Channel, and during one of the commercial breaks, a promo for a new show on Bravo aired. At first I was under the impression that it was a new season of The Bad Girls Club. But, why would it be on Bravo? I then noticed there were only five women and they all looked older than usual Bad Girls members. After all the quick clips of arguments and over-dramatized situations, the dazzling words The Real Housewives of Atlanta were displayed on the screen. I released a heavy sigh and rolled my eyes. Not this again. Since Bravo’s 2008 premiere of The Real Housewives of Orange County, all this gossip and advertising of the series has annoyed me to no end. These shows are nothing but pure idiocy. The show follows women, married to wealthy or relatively famous people, or as they like to be called “housewives,” through their uninteresting lives and staged conflicts. This series is just an attempt for Bravo to stay relevant in the television industry.

Growing up with friends whose mothers were actual housewives, I can certainly confirm that the “real” life of a housewife is has nothing to do near sitting on your butt all day talking about what NeNe or Sonja said to you about your husband. Nor is it putting yourself in a tense situation with people who you know are not your real friends. These shows are set up for women who crave attention from the world and insult women who actually stay home to take care of their houses, children and husbands. Also, many actual housewives usually have side projects like being PTA president, writing a book, or planning projects for the community, not pursuing an unrealistic singing career or trying to become an actress. There are six active series of the horrid franchise: The Real Housewives of Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, Beverly Hills and Miami, not to mention the failed attempt of The Real Housewives of Washington D.C. This horrific epidemic has even spread

onto Vh1’s channel. They’ve adopted this concept of following “famous” wives and turned the idea into multiple shows, including Basketball Wives, Love & HipHop, and Baseball Wives. Even though they don’t depict the women to be housewives, they still do similar things for similar reasons. They all want attention for being the wife of a public figure. The bottom line is that these shows are extremely stupid. Reality shows have gotten worse over the years and if this is the best entertainment that TV can come up with for the 21st century, then we seriously need to reconsider what we call entertainment. What happened to original shows like Degrassi; actors who portray teens going through real diverse struggles in today’s world. Now we have lazy women who only gossip and create drama. All I can do now is shake my head and flip the channel to The Regular Show or Adventure Time on Cartoon Network. -Courtney Marshall

Money is something that a teenager never seems to have enough of. Some get their money from their parents, and some teens work in a restaurant or a store to make the money that burns holes in their pockets. Having a job in high school is something that can be both beneficial and distracting. Putting in the hours to make a significant income takes time and dedication. Many students at Grady have worked real jobs and have the money to prove it, but that doesn’t mean they enjoyed their place of employment or the people for whom they worked. Laid-back restaurants are common employers of teenagers, especially when the demographic they are trying to reach is younger people. A yogurt joint in the heart of Virginia-Highland employed a number of Grady students, but keeping them was another story. Juniors Sophie Maschinot, Megan Prendergast and Gracie White are three of the high school students out of many that were employed there. Other commitments got in the way of their work schedule. “I quit because my school schedule was way too busy and my boss wasn’t willing to be flexible with my work schedule,” said Maschinot when asked about her reasons for quitting. Senior Lindsey Leonard worked at a massage spa in Midtown for three months. When applying for the job, Leonard was told that she would be answering phones, working computers and organizing around the store. Shortly after she started working there, Leonard’s jobs expanded to include cleaning, running errands, greeting people and filing. Being the youngest there, Leonard was also treated differently than her co-workers. “They babied me but in a sarcastic way because I was the youngest that worked there by five years.” Juniors Austen Denenny, Miles Clark and Branford Webb were all employed at a new burger joint in Ansley Mall. They all described their work experience as less than stellar. Working at minimum wage can be a hard thing to do when you’re assigned the tasks that no one else wants to do. Being supervised by someone who looks down on you can also be a difficult thing to do. “We had a very impatient boss with obsessive tendencies and bad people skills,” said Denenny about his boss at Boardwalk Burgers. Juggling school and work proved difficult for these seven teens. Most only worked for 2-4 months, but the effects of working, having a social life, extracurriculars and going to school became a challenge that they were not prepared for. For now, it’s back to walking the dogs and taking out that trash to get a little extra money for gas or a new phone. While it may seem necessary to have a job so that there can be a little extra cash on the side, schedules fill up quickly and sometimes you just have to step back and decide where your priorities lie. -Lily Trapkin

Illustration by Taylor Barnes

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Jobs give teens reality check

Knights get armed

What started as a bright idea by Marlon Pilson has now turned into Grady’s first high school store. Pilson originally started the Grady store to ensure that students had a convenient means to some school supplies. The school store is a part of the School Base Enterprise and managed by the Future Business Leaders of America. The Grady store opened with two preview days, on Dec. 15 and 16. The store is located on the main hallway in room E208, right next to Pilson’s classroom. It is open from 8 a.m to 8:15 a.m in the morning and from 3:15 p.m-3:45 p.m. in the afternoon. The store provides school supplies, school apparel and snacks. Any profit the store makes will help to pay for FBLA competitions. The store has minimal supplies now, but is working on expanding its inventory. Many people think that the Grady store was a good idea because it gives students a chance to get a snack or school supplies. During the grand opening, student traffic was lighter than expected, Pilson said, “But it’s a start and we cant wait to see how the students of Grady High enjoy the Grady store throughout the year.” - April King

The shield and sword logo of the Knights Armory.

Price List Paper- $1 Pens- 40 cents Pencils- 25 cents Notebooks- $2 Folders- $1 Post its- $1 Notepad- $1.50

Capri Suns- 50 cents Granola Bars- 75 cents White T’s- $15 Black T’s- $15 Ladies shirt- $12 Black Hoodies- $27 CD Cases- $2

Beanie Bands- $2.50 Poster boards- $1.50 Note Cards- $1.25 USB (2GB) - $10 Erasers- 50 cents Cupcakes- $1

The well-stocked shelves of the Grady Armory.

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Uncommon Treasures, Unusual People

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and anniversaries. Even though it is expensive (basic rental fee: $3,250), it’s worth the price. The room includes many tables, a bar, two stages, a piano and many more amenities. “Profits have recently quadrupled,” owner Skip Ingelbrecht said. Ingelbrecht hopes the emergence of the BeltLine will make it easier for customers to get to his store in the future. Smith Nara by oto Ph

onolithic stores like Target and IKEA can be found all around Atlanta, but there are also smaller shops that bring culture, history and stories to the dinner table. Perhaps the best of these smaller establishments are the antique stores scattered all over the city. Some like The Fainting Couch, are cramped but cozy. Others have vast, extensive rooms, such as Paris on Ponce. But all have the same purpose: to offer artifacts that come with a history. Ponce De Leon Avenue is home to a wide variety of pawnshops, consignment boutiques and antique stores where you can find anything from 18th-century furniture to $3 costume jewelry.

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Kudzu With quirky decorations and the right amount Antique of space, Kudzu stores antique market has conjure long a very welcoming forgotten atmosphere. It’s The Fainting Couch big and spacious, memories. The items at these stores have a story like Paris on Ponce. to tell and so too do the customers who The main hallway is buy them. Just ask Joe Williams, who adorned with old license owns The Fainting Couch, an antique plates and hanging lights. Branching store located on Ponce de Leon. out of the main hallway are numerous “You get the most unique people rooms, levels, and booths with every coming in,” Williams said. niche containing a unique range of With a large variety of customers, items. There’s even a fridge full of oldWilliams has sold to “the strangest people school sodas for sale. Families, friends in the world.” One man came in the store and individuals shopped about. Judging just to say he was about to lose his mind. by their amusing looks they liked what Williams told him he was in the right store they saw. In several ro o m s , a n d the right place, the heart of the customers were in deep in t a i n F g Co r at uc city. conversation sharing ke ictoria D V a r a y their findings with one b Paris on Ponce another. As we drove down Ponce, a “I was going through huge orange building caught the various booths and our eye. White letters on the found a 45 record which side read “Paris on Ponce.” had ‘Frosty the Snowman’ on When we first walked in, it it,” Lesley Smith said. “I smelled like fresh wood and the owned the same record when I was little, and it atmosphere felt serene due to tall had the same picture on the jacket that I remembered wooden ceilings and music wafting from my childhood.” throughout the store. A young woman Smith admires antique stores because she often will greeted us with a smile. The store was come across an item that conjures largely empty, perhaps because it was long-forgotten memories. She visits Fainting Couch a late weekday afternoon. Kudzu on occasion, usually in the One major distinction between Paris winter around the holidays in search on Ponce and the Fainting Couch is of gifts she can’t really find anywhere the square footage. Paris on Ponce is else. She admires their refurnished comprised of four large rooms, the last lamps and chandeliers in particular and one set up with booths that are rented loves to search around for Depression by individuals. The rooms were free of glass patterns that her family collects. clutter making it easier to peruse the Kudzu, along with The Fainting Couch artifacts on display. and Paris on Ponce, is a great place Photo by Victoria Dragstedt The most distinctive feature of Paris to shop for uncommon treasures, and on Ponce is the Le Maison Rouge unusual people. room. This room is available for birthdays, parties -Victoria Dragstedt and Nara Smith

2012 Year in Preview Predictions —Valentina Makrides

Prediction #1: Facebook will

reach 1 billion users by the end of 2012. Facebook’s CEO and co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, could be celebrating reaching the 1 billion-user mark as early as August. The number of Facebook users has been on a steady incline since 2006 so this prediction should come as no surprise.

Prediction #2: Smartphone sales will surpass computer sales in 2012. Morgan Stanley Internet analyst expects smartphone sales will surpass PC and laptop sales in 2012. The smartphone market is taking over, along with social networking sites. Prediction #3: Talking cars

to be on the road by 2012. Look out for cars that talk to each other and can respond to danger on the road faster than humans can. The cars will use GPS and Wi-Fi to communicate with each other.

Prediction #4: Summer Olympics London 2012 will be cancelled due to the European Commission. From July 27August 12 you might not be able to watch athletes from around the world compete in sports ranging from archery to basketball to gymnastics. Prediction #5: The economy will improve, enabling Democratic incumbent Barack Obama to win re-election, but the recovery will take years going beyond 2012 putting Obama at a disadvantage. If the economy does pick up, the election should look promising for the Republican party candidate, Mitt Romney. 47th United States Presidential Election will be held on November 6, 2012.

Is the end really nigh? There are movies, books, T-shirts, 2012 because the articles were written and websites all devoted to the 2012 in 2006. The last significant increase phenomenon: the accumulation of in solar activity was in 1958, when cell theories that promote the conviction phones and similar technologies did not that, for whatever reason, the world will exist so the exact effects are unknown end on Dec. 21, 2012. The abundance (nothing cataclysmic, only inconvenient). of information can be confusing, It’s possible that the information contradictory and hopefully, often provided by NASA could be clouded by misleading. Once you start wading their reasonable fear of overreaction. through it, however, it becomes clear that Apparently among the questions sent the supposed evidence for this belief is to the NASA website, were some from irregular and ultimately unconvincing. individuals inquiring whether suicide and The most commonly known theory murder of their children were appropriate about the world’s end is that the Mayan reactions to possible threats. calendar ends on that date. To understand Historical references and actual that theory you must understand facts do not substantiate the the Mayan calendar. The 2012 apocalypse, leaving only Mayans used the Haab’ as crackpot theories. Among A planet their solar calendar. It is them are these: (1) A planet divided into 18 months that NASA happened to could be headed of 20 days each with overlook could be headed straight for us an extra five days at straight for us carrying the end of the year. carrying aliens that aliens that altered our The years accumulated DNA in the past. (2) There altered our DNA until 52 passed, then the could be a super volcano in the past. cycle repeated. Because eruption that would cause the Haab’ cycle is so short a 1,000-year ice age. (3) they had another long-count The erratic behavior of honey calendar that adds the Haab’ bees could lead to the collapse of cycles together. It started Aug. 11, 3114 modern agriculture. The list continues, BC and will end on Dec. 21, 2012, at which and it seems that if there is the slightest time the long-count will start over again. possibility of any bizarre phenomenon of Other than it being the end of the long- any shape or size, it must be happening count calendar, the Mayans did not give in 2012. the date any special significance. It seems that most theories are based The talk of cataclysm extends beyond on emotions not logic and a desire to interpretations of the Mayans. There witness the extraordinary. You could has been a lot of speculation regarding consider these theories and actually the increase in solar flares this year. The prepare for an event, maybe stock up logical place to look for information about on foods with 25-year shelf lives and the sun would probably be NASA, and gas masks; that’s certainly what the even the supposed NASA evidence can manufacturers of these products want be discounted. Some of the information you to do. In all probability the most is outdated; they have articles saying likely threat to your well-being in the that the upcoming sun cycle will be 30- coming months is the tendency for 50 percent stronger than the one before believers of these theories to panic it, but they debate whether the peak of rather than any actual event. solar activity will be in 2010-2011 or in -Story and illustration by Laura Strieb 31

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Henry W. Grady High School March 2012

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Photo by James Moy

March 11, 2012 PATH trail in Candler Park near Mary Lin Elementary School Photo by James Moy