March 2011 by The Tattler

Features page 4: The Egyptian Uprising

page 11: Black Swan

page 13: Pujol’s Contract Claim

From The Archives: IHS in the 70s page 8

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S fit

to tattle. PHOTO/PROVIDED

March 22, 2011 • Estd. 1892 • Vol. 119 • No.5• Published Monthly • www.ihstattler.com • Ithaca High School, 1401 N. Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY, 14850 • FREE

Governor Cuomo’s Plan for New York With more than two thousand people packed into the Empire State Plaza’s Convention Center in Albany on January 5th 2011, Governor Cuomo gave his state of the state address. As noted by his speech, the main topic of interest that has concerned New Yorkers is how the governor plans to “transform” the government. Cuomo addressed these concerns by initially stating that, “In government, as in life, you can never solve a problem if you refuse to acknowledge it.” Such problems include the 800,000 New Yorkers currently unemployed, the state taxes that are 66% higher than the national average, and just the fact that the state of New York spends an incredibly large amount of money each year. The latter is a problem that has persisted since the early 1990s and has continued to affect the rates of unemployment and the increase in taxes in NYS. The governor also pointed out that while the state is funding more money on education and Medicaid (both have exceeded inflation by more than 3%), the state is still ranked number 34 in terms of better education, and 21 in terms of Medicaid. These poor results show the need for radical reform, which is exactly what Cuomo plans to do. In his speech, the Governor declared that in order to radically reform New York’s economy, economic regional councils continued on p. 3

Ithaca Math Circle Shines at HMMT By FOREST TONG

A group of 8 Ithaca High students from Ithaca Math Circle (IMC) participated in the 2011 Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (Division B) held at MIT on Feb. 12. The IMC team won 2nd place in the team round and was ranked fifth overall in Division B. The team round is a 90-minute test composed of 15 challenging short-answer and proof-style questions, which focus on several topics in algebra, combinatorics, number theory, and geometry. Team members Forest Tong, Anying Li, and Ofer Grossman won 3rd, 5th, and 7th place in the Algebra/Geometry individuals, respectively. The annual Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT) was established in 1998 and has grown considerably into an international event with over 900 participating students in 2010. This year, it attracted 100 teams from across the U.S. and a number of international teams. Ithaca Math Circle’s participation in the 2011 HMMT was made possible by the sponsorship of Cornell Math Outreach. The Ithaca Math Circle was formed in April 2010 by a group of local middle and high school students interested in mathematics at the competition level and beyond. They meet every weekend to learn, mostly from each other and occasional continued on p. 3

PHOTO/PROVIDED

By MANSI VOHRA

Destruction in Japan caused by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake has left people without homes and infrastructure in ruins.

Disaster Strikes Japan By LARRY GE

On Friday, March 11 at 2:46 p.m. Tokyo time a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan, setting off a destructive tsunami that sent waves as high as 30 feet crashing into the Japanese mainland. The resulting loss of lives and damage to property has been catastrophic; the estimated death toll is over 10,000 and rising, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared the tsunami Japan’s worst crisis since World War II. The quake was the strongest recorded earthquake in Japan’s history. Japan is located in an area prone to violent seismic activity, and Friday’s quake left thousands homeless in a matter of minutes and stranded millions without water, power, heat or transportation. Japan has mobilized more than 100,000 troops, which amounts to over half of the country’s active military force. In addition, thousands of volunteers aided in the recovery of survivors and the general relief effort. Currently, the most pressing issue is the nuclear crisis at Japan’s nuclear reactors. The Japanese government declared a Nuclear Power Emergency on March 11. At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which contains six nuclear reactors, the quake and tsunami knocked out the cooling systems of the reactors. Many fear the damage may result in full meltdowns. Hydrogen explosions have also hit three of the six reactors, destroying much of the roofs and outer walls of the reactors as well as damaging reactor two’s suppression chamber, which allowed a crippling surge of radiation to escape. This surge of radiation, which is 800 times more intense than Japan’s recommended hourly exposure limit, is what caused the evacuation of over 750 workers Tuesday morning. Only 50 workers stayed behind in an attempt to cool the reactors and quell the fires resulting from the explosions.

Traditionally, when a nuclear reactor is shut down, electric pumps pull cool water in from rivers and oceans to draw off the massive amounts of heat emanating from the fuel rods. However, the quake knocked out both the electric powered pumps and the diesel backups. In a last effort to prevent full meltdowns, Japanese officials have resorted to flooding the reactors with seawater to cool the fuel. As the seawater boils, pressure builds up and steam must periodically be released into the atmosphere. However, the steam released in this process has potentially radioactive particulates in it if the fuel rods of the reactors have begun to melt, which could result in lasting environmental harm as well as potential risk to human lives. The winds have mainly taken the radioactive material out towards the Pacific, but Japanese officials have urged people who live within an 18-mile radius of the plant, an estimated 100,000 people, to take precautions such as staying indoors and sealing their houses. On Tuesday, Tokyo officials stated that they had detected radiation levels over the city twenty times above the normal limit, though they quickly stated that such levels had no immediate health risk. For now, officials at the Fukushima Daiichi have two risky options, assuming that a full nuclear meltdown has been averted: they could continue to flood and vent the reactors, hoping that winds do not carry the resulting steam towards populated areas, or they could hope that the worst of the overheating has passed, and that within a few days the cores would cool enough to essentially entomb the radioactivity within the plants. As a result of the disasters at the plant, Tokyo Electric has had to implement rolling blackouts across the region, the first of their kind in over 60 years. Unnerved by the events at the nuclear plant, Japanese investors have also responded with a 10.6 percent drop in the Nikkei 225 index, which closed at 8,605.15 points, the lowest in nearly two years.

March 22, 2011

Opinion

Editorial:

Where’s The Beef? Although Taco Bell wants customers to “Think Outside the Bun,” people are beginning to wonder what exactly is inside the bun. A lawsuit was filed against Taco Bell by the Alabama law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, suing the fast food chain for false advertising. The suit claimed that Taco Bell’s beef tacos and burritos do not really contain the seasoned ground beef advertised. In fact, Attorney Dee Miles, who represents the plaintiff, analyzed the mixture and found that it contained less than 35 percent ground beef; the rest of the mixture was made up of fillers such as water, starches, spices, and preservatives. Taco Bell denies the claims made in the lawsuit. Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, stated that “the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later – and got their ‘facts’ absolutely wrong.” He went on to explain that Taco Bell buys their beef “from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket… we start with 100 percent [United States Department of Agriculture] USDA-inspected beef.” Taco Bell restaurants have fired back against the lawsuit with “Thanks for Suing Us” full-page ads, listing the ingredients of the beef in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today. However, Taco Bell has admitted that their beef mixture is only 88 percent beef and the other 12 percent is their “secret recipe.” While Taco Bell’s claim of actual beef content is greatly higher than the lawsuit’s claim, it still means that the beef contains fillers. The Taco Bell lawsuit has caused people to pay more attention to exactly what they are eating. While most restaurants have the ingredients and nutritional information on their website, the information is not available in the actual restaurants. It is the customer’s responsibility to make healthy decisions. In order

to protect the customers, the USDA requires that ground beef must have no more than 30 percent fat, and meat filling must be at least 40 percent fresh meat. However, USDA press officer Neil Gaffney stated: “that requirement applies to raw meat sold by manufacturers. The USDA doesn’t regulate what companies such as restaurants can describe … in advertisements as ‘beef,’ ‘chicken’ or ‘meat.’” There are other gray areas when it comes to fast food. For example, what exactly qualifies as “beef ”? Beef simply means that it comes from cattle. It doesn’t mean that all beef products are the best quality of meat. In fact, beef may contain parts of cattle such as connective tissue or skin. It is true that you may not know exactly what you are eating at fast food restaurants, but if you are only paying 99 cents for a beef taco, do you really expect to get the best quality of food? Fast food restaurants are known to be easy, fast, and inexpensive options for eating out. Even so, it is not the fast food restaurant’s responsibility to provide healthy, nutritious, top quality food. If the food at fast food restaurants were of better quality, it would be more expensive. Consumers are responsible for making healthy decisions, but customers can only make those decisions if they are informed. Fast food restaurants should be required to list the ingredients and nutritional information for their food in all of their restaurants. There shouldn’t be any secrets about the food that people buy. And if restaurants provide all the necessary information about their food, then they can avoid lawsuits such as the one filed against Taco Bell. Customers should not expect the best quality meat when they pay 99 cents for a beef taco, but they deserve the truth.

Editor’s Note: All editorials published in The Tattler are not anonymous and represent the views of the sixteen students on the editorial staff. Editorials are written about topics the Tattler staff deems important. Such issues may be global or specific to IHS.

Letter to the Editor: To the Editor, People may not think it is a big deal when they do things distractedly, like texting while walking or talking on the phone while driving. However, those moments of distractions can really affect the people surrounding them. Where I work, I am surrounded by hundreds of college students. It is a great job, but it really gets to me when the young adults cannot put their cell phones down for even five minutes. I

deliver food as a part of my job, and it is common to be elbowed in the face or chest and drop the food because the people next to me were too absorbed in the technology in their hands to notice anything off the screen. It is also common to have people order food while talking on the phone, consequently holding up an entire line of people waiting for their turn. It really is not necessary to talk or text right when you are ordering; put your phone down for a moment, and give the person who

is taking your order some respect. My job can get very busy some days, and it would make it so much easier if people would just pay some attention to their surroundings. Don’t get me wrong, I am myself attached to my cell phone and like to have it on me, but I take care not to use it when I should be focused on something else. Text or talk in an area where it does not make it inconvenient for everyone else. Practice some common courtesy, please.

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March 22, 2011

IHS Participates in MLK Community Build By LARRY GE

On March 9th and 10th, IHS students participated in community building activities and events based around the ideals and values outlined in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final book; “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” Originally published in 1968, the book has been out of print and unavailable for an extended time. Ten thousand copies of the book were reprinted especially for the Tompkins County area with copies available to the general public, in addition to each student receiving their own copy as part of the community build. The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Build is a collaboration of several organizations in Tompkins County, including members of the Africana Library at Cornell, The Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at Ithaca College, teachers and staff from across ICSD, the Family Reading Partnership, the Tompkins County Public Library, and the Multicultural Resource Center. The project was started in 2008 with the goals of addressing the issues of inequity in our community, and opening up the discussion on community building across racial, political and economic backgrounds. The origins of the project came out of a series of workshops entitled “Achieving Equity: Where Have We Been, Where Are We Now, and Where Can We Go?” held at the Tompkins County History Center in the spring of 2008. After receiving the book in class on March 9th, students and teachers participated in a short, open discussion about the ideas of apathy and indifference, and how they related to several quotes by Dr. King on social action. These discussions helped prepare students for the next day’s events; a three session community building event. The student population was divided into three groups which rotated events from session to session. The first session was a presentation by Dr. Luvelle Brown in the newly renovated Kulp Auditorium; this was the first time that every IHS student had the chance to be inside of the new auditorium. Dr. Brown was accompanied by a group of elementary school students from Beverly J. Martin School who performed songs highlighting Dr. King’s message of nonviolent coexistence. Dr. Brown then gave a short speech to the students using an interesting new technology; students and teachers with smartphones that had internet access had the ability to post short messages that would be displayed on the projector screen behind Dr. Brown. The second session consisted of smaller discussions in classrooms with guest speakers; topics ranged from Dr. King’s life to human rights. The third and final session was a trust building activity in which students and teachers were randomly paired up in the gymnasium with one member blindfolded. The partner that was blindfolded was to be safely led around by the other using verbal communication. Student responses to the community build events were mainly positive. “I think it’s unfortunate that there are not classes dedicated to social change in the IHS curriculum. Having these workshops is definitely a step in the right direction,” says Marcel Gremaud ’11. Other students shared their hopes for the continuation of the program. “It’s nice that we received these books and had this day to reflect on community building, but I think that it can’t stop here; there should be further opportunities for discussion in the future,” says Jason Setter ’11.

CUOMO

continued from p.1

MATH

continued from p.1

must be established. The main two functions of these private sector partnerships will be to create job development plans and to coordinate the economic development money that flows into that specific region of the state. When confronted with the tax situation in New York, Cuomo put forth his idea of a 2% tax cap on school districts, local governments, libraries and other special districts. Schools all over the state, however, were not pleased with this decision. In fact, superintendent Jerome Melvin of the North Syracuse PHOTO/PROVIDED School District stated New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has an ambitious political plan set out for the state. that, “It’s going to cripple school dis- sign team on January 7 to find alter- more money the federal government tricts, because it’s coming at a very nate ways to reach the government’s is willing to fund. Two competitive bad time.” The superintendent also budget target for the Medicaid cut. funds are offered: both are worth admitted that by passing a tax cap, In a sense, the team’s goal is to pro- $250 million; one for schools which the district had to cut 102 programs vide better services for less money. improve performance in the classbecause they drive up local cost. As for mandate relief, the Gover- room, and the other for districts that The budget, as Cuomo puts it, has nor also proposed putting together find administrative savings through three flashpoints: Medicaid, educa- a team of officials that eliminates efficiencies and shared services. tion funding, and state/local man- any unnecessary state mandates. Overall, Governor Andrew Cuodates. His solution to “the Medicaid This team will be headed by Larry mo’s solution on how to transform problem” was modeled off a program Schwartz, former secretary to Gov- New York’s problems is to set up prostarted in Wisconsin by Jason Helg- ernor Paterson, and current senior grams such as the Medicaid Redesign erson. The industry and government advisor to Andrew Cuomo. team which is efficient, agreeable, both met with each other and negoFor education funding, the main and gets results. As Cuomo ended, tiated on accepting a budget target, response was to rely on funding “They’ve seen the ugly, they’ve seen which they ended up meeting by from the federal government. In the gridlock, they’ve seen the corredesigning the government’s Med- this case, by means of competition, ruption. Let them see how beautiful icaid program. Cuomo, inspired by the higher numerical formulas New the government can be when it cothis idea, initiated a Medicaid Rede- York school districts receive, the operates and is enlightened.”

guest speakers, advanced concepts and solve competition-level problems. In the most recent Princeton University Math Competition, held last November 2010 at Princeton, IMC won

3rd place in the Power Round, 3rd place in the team round of the main competition, and 4th place in overall ranking. The team also plans to compete in the final rounds of the Mandelbrot Contest.

ICSD Budget Proposals Revealed

By LARRY GE

On Tuesday March 15, the ICSD and Ithaca community got their first look at the 2011-2012 ICSD budget as proposed by the administration in a Board of Education Special Budget Meeting. Speaking to a crowded room, Ithaca Teachers Association President Susan Mittler opened the meeting by urging the Board of Education in a time of “widespread stress, uncertainty, pressure and fear where unions and workers are scapegoated for…the continuing effects of the recession” to “look at the reality of those who work in the school district and treat them with respect…” Attending the meeting were a large group of teachers, some holding “No Teachers Left Behind” signs or dressed in black, mourning the lack of a settlement in the ongoing teacher contract negotiations. The meeting was then turned over to board member Josh Bornstein, who encouraged the general public to be more active in the Budget planning process and urged them to attend the meetings or make use of the literature and material available online. The board also encouraged special “budget-watching parties” in which people could gather and learn about the budget as well as submit questions and comments online. Dr. Brown then went on to discuss the specifics of this year’s budget; he

stated that major sources of cost increase for the 2011-2012 school year included unforeseen “escalations” of health and retirement benefits, and that cuts would need to be made. However, Dr. Brown was also careful to not specifically use the word “cut.” “In our proposal, you won’t see the word ‘cut,’ and you won’t see the word ‘reduction’…The things we’re doing are called ‘adjustments’ and ‘efficiencies,’” said Dr. Brown in his presentation. The budget that Dr. Brown is proposing, what he calls his Tier 1 proposal, would include a budget of $103,685,818 with a 2.9% tax levy increase based on the current expected state aid levels. In his Tier 1 proposal, there are several reductions of teaching positions, or FTE’s. At the elementary school level there is a proposed net loss of one FTE, which Dr. Brown justified with decreasing enrollment rates. At the high schools, the Tier 1 plan calls for 7.9 FTEs. Another aspect of Dr. Brown’s plan is that he is calling for a minimum of fifteen students per class, but he was quick to say they were not explicitly cutting any courses. The Tier 1 plan would also call for the adjustment of two FTE Vacant Maintenance positions, in addition to the cutting one FTE Maintenance Clerical. Other efficiencies that Dr. Brown mentioned involved power management: automatically turning off computers at night, and changes to bus routes. Dr. Brown also presented two more budget proposals: the Tier 2 and Tier

3 plans. These would come with a 1.9% and 0% tax levy increase and less money in the budget respectively. Dr. Brown argued strongly in favor of the Tier 1 budget over the Tier 2 or 3, stating in his own words that the Tier 3 proposal “would hurt us.” When asked what surprised him most about the budget development process, Dr. Brown spoke frankly and said, “What surprised me was the lack of trust in the process.” He stated that too often it felt like a “us versus them mentality…[yet] nobody is going to do anything to hurt the children.” The meeting on March 15 only covered the Operations component of the budget. A meeting on Curriculum and Instruction will take place on March 22 at 7pm in the Board room. The final budget vote will be on May 17. After the presentation, a brief period for public input was opened. The public was allowed to ask questions on the operations and maintenance aspects of the budget, but when Shirley Kennedy, English Department Head at IHS, asked whether salaries would remain stable under Dr. Brown’s budget, the question was not answered by the district because it was a function of collective bargaining, and the school district is currently in collective bargaining with the union. The budget process is far from over, and meetings in the coming weeks will be of particular interest to students and the general public, as they will directly affect what happens in the classroom.

Features Current Affairs: The Egyptian Uprising

Protesters join together in Egypt to fight for political freedom. By REHAN DADI

An unprecedented number of revolutionary waves and protests have been taking place in the Middle East and North Africa since December 2010. To date, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have seen revolutions of historical consequence, and many other Arab and North African countries have seen major protests. The protests have shared similar techniques of resistance, including strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies, as well as the coverage of Al Jazeera, and use of such social media websites as Facebook and Twitter (to organize, communicate, and raise awareness). The uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, which have ended in regime change, have been called revolutions. Numerous factors led to the protests, including government corruption, dictatorship, human rights violations, unemployment, and extreme poverty. In Tunisia, the protests began in December 2010, following Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in protest at police corruption and mistreatment. Due to similar problems in the region and ultimately successful protests in Tunisia, a chain of unrest has

started, followed closely by protests in Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and Yemen, and to a lesser degree in other Arab states. To date, two heads of state have been overthrown, Tunisia’s on the 14th of January and Egypt’s on the 11th of February. Tunisia’s revolution led President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia. In Egypt, after 18 days of protests, President Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for 30 years, resigned. Some American media initially colored these events to look like a radical jihadist attack. For example, in a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly, the famous television host Glen Beck stated that the uprising in Egypt is extremist-led and part of the jihadist movement. Beck stated, on a video posted by the Huffington Post, that he was sure the uprising “is being orchestrated by the Marxist Communists and the Muslim Brotherhood.” The U.S. has been the major supplier of weapons to Egypt and has supported a puppet leader in place named Hosni Mubarak. Through the use of U.S.-supplied modern weaponry and multiple & advanced surveillance systems, Mubarak was able to crush any opposition to his rule for decades.

He was the longest-serving Egyptian ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha, who ruled Egypt from 1769 to 1849! Mubarak continued his rule through sham and orchestrated elections over the years. Beginning on January 25, 2011, a popular uprising called for Mubarak’s resignation as president of Egypt. On February 1, Mubarak announced that he would not seek another term in the upcoming presidential election. However, he hired thugs to break up any protests occurring. He also appointed on January 29 a new prime minister, General Omar Sulaiman, who was the intelligence chief of the vast repressive Egyptian internal security, and who also worked with the Bush administration to illegally rendition prisoners for torture. These steps were clearly not acceptable to the Egyptian public, who are mounting larger protests as this column goes to press. The anti-government protesters have been mostly peaceful; most deaths and public damage are caused by Mubarak’s own troops and hired thugs. Mubarak finally resigned on February 11 due to intense public PHOTO/PROVIDED pressure. Egypt is struggling to attain the freedoms we in the United States have enjoyed for over 200 years. But instead of supporting these revolutionaries who are attempting to gain basic freedoms, our government has supported the tyrant for 30 years. Many ignorant or misleading commentators in the U.S. media are calling the uprising an act of extremist terrorists. The Obama administration was late in asking the Mubarak administration to step down, and this indecision and prior support for the regime will create anti-American sentiment to grow within Egypt. As the famous Egyptian historian and professor, Noury Alkhaledy, predicted back in 1961, “Egypt is tired of rule by royalty. It hungers for democracy. One day that is what will happen. It will likely not be long. There are tenets within the better parts of Islam that can guide democratic government, not in the ways Westerners believe, but nevertheless that can work.” The United States needs to rethink its position in this conflict, support the people of the entire Middle East and North Africa region to achieve their basic and natural rights, and help it move towards a true democracy.

Teacher Feature: Mr. Weissburg By MEDEEA POPESCU

Steve Weissburg’s first mathematical revelation came when he was observing his mother cut brownies. He realized that there was a relationship between the number of cuts and the resulting number of brownies. Based on this, Steve deduced his first formula—the number of brownies is equal to (n+1)(n+1), where n is the number of cuts, both on the horizontal and the vertical. He was eight. Despite his obvious mathematical genius, Steve never wanted to be a math teacher: “The one thing I knew that I wasn’t going to do was set foot

in a high school again.” After studying engineering in college, he joined the Peace Corps for two years. This was when he first encountered teaching: rather than build bridges and schools in Africa like he signed up for, he got a call telling him he would be teaching math to children—in French. Two challenging and interesting years later, Steve knew he still didn’t want to make teaching a career. He had various other jobs in the States— cabinet-making, carpentry—but it “wasn’t satisfying.” At the age of 30, he decided to become a teacher. When Steve applied for a job at

IHS, people told him not to bother. The Math Department hadn’t hired people in years. Luckily, Steve was, as he said it, “in the right place at the right time.” He started out teaching Honors Geometry, his passion. The first year was very challenging because in the same year he also bought a house and his wife had a child. “It was an insane first year,” said Steve. Since then, he has never looked back. Almost everyone knows Steve as “the guy with the Converse shoes,” his trademark fashion statement. It started six years ago, when he was co-department chair of the Math

Department. Because students and teachers often wanted to discuss issues and ask questions, the two chairs wanted to divide the responsibility. They decided to each buy a pair of gold converse and wear them on alternating days, to let people know who to talk to. It worked so well that every year, they got a new pair. After 11 years of teaching, Steve has about 15 pairs of Converse, because “people just give me sneakers;” he even has a pair autographed by a student who majored in math at Harvard. And finally, his favorite part of his job is teaching motivated, unique students at IHS.

Features

March 22, 2011

Ciao Restaurant Review As a “casual fine dining, Italian restaurant,” Ciao’s atmosphere provides a warm, elegant area for families and friends to dine. The restaurant is dimly lit, with a cocktail bar for those who just want a drink or to grab a quick bite to eat. Ciao’s newly installed granite tables, new chairs and appliances, as well as a woodfired stove, give the restaurant a polished, new, clean family feel. Although the restaurant is still very crowded since it opened very recently, guests were seated within 45 minutes despite the packed parking lot. Once seated, a simple menu of drinks of coke brands, milk and iced tea were offered. After drinks, there were a variety of appetizers, including the antipasto platter (imported Italian meats, roasted peppers, tomato bruschetta), Kalamata olives & Caprese salad, eggplant rolatini, grilled chicken wings, calamari fritti and zucchini, and mussels marinara. Entrees include classic Italian favorites,

like their wood-fired pizza that comes with a variety of toppings, as well as lasagna, fettuccini alfredo, grilled panini, butternut squash ravioli, and a variety of salads. The food took a long time to arrive, especially since the pizzas had to be cooked. After waiting a while for our food, we received large, hot plates with large portions. The lasagna was well cooked and the sauce was excellent and creamy, as was the Alfredo sauce. The pizza was crispy, and cooked so you could taste the woodfired flavor. However, almost all entrees seemed to be heavy in cheese, so be cautious of food allergies. If you are still hungry after entrees, a platter of deserts is displayed. Desserts include classic cakes like cheesecake and chocolate cake. Overall we would give this restaurant three and a half stars out of five. Although the sauces were tasty and the pizza was unique, there was just too much cheese incorporated into the food, leaving some of us with stomachaches. Also, the food took a while to make. However, the menu was reasonably priced, so

Highly Biased Politics

By ALEJANDRO YOUNGER

I honestly had no clue what I was going to write about this month, so I went to my favorite newspaper, The New York Times, for current ideas. If you have never had the joy of browsing the NYT website, I highly recommend it...especially if you recently became a second-semester senior and don’t have much to do. While browsing NYT Online, I saw an article on the murder of a prominent Ugandan gay-rights activist, David Kato, who was murdered brutally with a hammer in his home Wednesday, January 26, 2011. While I am pro-gay rights, I am not outspoken about the matter. However, I am in serious need of an article topic, and so I should tell

the world (read: The Tattler’s reader base) why I think homosexuals have the right to marry. First, some background on Uganda and Mr. Kato’s death. Uganda is one of many African countries with strong anti-gay policies, but only recently gained attention for considering a bill that makes homosexuality punishable by death. Next, Mr. Kato’s death is rumored to be connected with three American Christian evangelists who went to Uganda and preached that “the gay movement is an evil institution [whose goal is] to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity.” Background completed. I find it hard to eloquently state why I think gay rights

iPhone

should be granted; put simply: they are people too. They are no different from you or me, except in their preference of partners. However, I am much better at finding fault in the arguments presented by antigay movements. First, the idea that gay people want to ruin marriage-based society is ridiculous. Correct me if I am wrong, but have they not been campaigning for years to have their marriages recognized? (Or is that just a tactic to cover up their evil plot? Ya, that’s probably it). The next thing is the idea that God hates homosexuals, or that God intended marriage for only man and woman. To those who use God as their argument, I say: Go back and read the Bible. I mean, wasn’t Jesus’ big thing continued on p. 11

we recommend it if you are looking for a different dining experience from any other restaurant in town.

PHOTO/MANSI VOHRA

By YUQI YANG and JULIE STOVER

Ciao! restaurant located on 2 Hickory Hollow Lane in Ithaca, NY..

GLOBAL LINGUIST

Commonly Used Words of Japanese Origin By REHAN DADI

anime Japanese animation; refers to animation in general in Japanese bento a single-portion takeout meal; box lunch

By KHALID VREDE

PHOTO/PROVIDED

clearer onscreen image: 326ppi (pixels per inch) in its 8.9 cm (measured diagonally) 460x640 display. The fourth-generation iPhone was released in The iPhone 4G also includes high-definition June 2010. The most recent development concern- video-recording capabilities with two cameras: one ing the product was its release front-facing camera intendto the Verizon wireless neted for video chatting and the work on February 10 of this typical rear camera equip year. Qualified Verizon cuswith an LED flash. Manutomers were able to pre-order factured by LG and designed the iPhone 4G starting from by Apple, it will also serve as February 3. When the iPhone a mobile hotspot for up to 4G was released in mid-2010, five other devices such as the its main selling point was the iPad, the second generation introduction of “face time,” a of which is expected to be new app that allows iPhone usreleased in 2012. ers to video chat with incomThough issues with the ing callers. iPhone 4G’s external anThough most of the media tenna and rear camera have features from earlier iPhone been reported, the phone versions are still present and has been met with generally relatively unchanged (think positive reception. In 2010, books, movies, music, games over 600,000 people pre-orand web/email access), the dered the iPhone 4G, makiPhone 4G does have some ing it the most pre-ordered new and innovative features. Apple device to date. Studies It measures 4.5 inches high, have also been conducted 2.31 inches wide and .37 inchcomparing the iPhone 4G es deep, making it 24 percent to its rival smartphone, the thinner than its predecessor, DroidX concerning several the iPhone 3G. This shrink different categories, in most in size is due largely in part Verizon’s introduction of the iPhone has contrib- of which the iPhone just to the insulated stainless steel uted to the product’s increased popularity. barely surpassed the Droid. external antenna used to acOverall, the iPhone has recess the Internet through the iPhone. It also has ceived favorable reviews and is now finally enjoyed an increased pixel density, which contributes to a by Verizon users.

fugu the meat of the toxic pufferfish; must be prepared by specially trained chefs by law kabuki a traditional form of Japanese theater karaoke “empty orchestra”; entertainment where an amateur singer accompanies recorded music keiretsu a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings manga Japanese comics; refers to Japanese comics in general noh a major form of classical Japanese musical drama otaku a geeky enthusiast, especially of anime and manga (the Japanese usage has a much stronger negative connotation than the Western usage) shogun the title of the practical ruler of Japan from most of the time between 1192 to the Meiji Era of the 19th century tycoon “great prince” or “high commander”; later applied to wealthy business leaders zaibatsu a “money clique” or conglomerate

Features

March 22, 2011

rememBerinG viCtoria ChenG

By RACHEL POLLAK

A few weeks ago we lost our wonderful friend, Victoria Cheng. Victoria came to the high school at the beginning of her sophomore year and immediately graced us all with her PHOTO/PROVIDED loving presence and loyal friendship. These numerous friendships will always hold strong, regardless of the fact that she isn’t with us anymore. As we grew close with her, we realized just how truly wonderful she was. She was always on good terms with everyone, and was loved by all. She was a great listener, and she could always be counted on for the best advice. She always knew how to make everyone feel better, and was always ready to pick her friends up or come see them, anything to make life easier; to make people happy. Vicky was an accomplished tennis player on the Varsity Tennis Team ever since moving to IHS. She was so consistent, almost never letting the ball off the court. She always had an expression of calmness on her face, and never got upset if the match didn’t go her way: she just laughed it off. She was such a joy to

watch and cheer for, and always cheered her own teammates as well. When some players left to do homework or hang out with friends, Vicky stayed until the end of a match, sometimes after dark, just to cheer her teammates on. Even if she didn’t win a match, she had a positive attitude that she maintained off the courts as well, always a smile on her face. If there is one thing Vicky was, it was genuinely selfless. She constantly put the happiness of her friends over her own, and was always there for them to help them through any problem they might have. If her friends were in a fight, Vicky always stood on middle ground until they were friends again. She was always bringing people together, creating new friendships that we will cherish forever. It is just so sad to think that that night nobody was there for her. From this terrible accident, it is essential that we learn to always be there for our friends as Vicky always was. Losing Victoria is certainly the hardest thing many of us have ever gone through. It isn’t often that anything happens to one of your closest friends that takes their life. Even though Vicky is gone, we keep her with us all the time. Every day as we go about our daily lives, she is with us, laughing at us when we do something silly, and hugging us when we fall down. We will never forget her beautiful smile, her laugh, and all the love she blessed everyone with. She was truly an amazing person who brought out the best in everyone. We will never forget her. She will always be with us in our thoughts and memories.

PHOTO/PROVIDED

UGANDA

continued from p.5

tolerance and love for all mankind? (Nope, not possible. Jesus wasn’t a hippie). I was certainly not the best Christian during my stint, but I am positive that Jesus also told us that God loves everyone, even the sinners (phew, at least I am safe). I am going to force myself not to harp on why I despise religion, but I will say that using God (read: perverting God’s message) to justify antigay ideas is a good example of why religion is a bad idea. However, there is hope! In the comments on the NYT article, I found gems such as this: “Listen up, Christians. Jesus wouldn’t hang gays. Stop the hate.” Finally, a sensible use of God’s message. And lastly, I leave you with my favorite comment on the NYT article: “I’ve never had a gay person try to recruit me, but I’ve had many Christians attempt that. They knock on my door and accost me on the streets. Even on Sunday mornings, when I just want to sleep, they bang their bells. And they target children on those Sunday mornings. If Christians just lived in the closet, I wouldn’t mind them so much.”

Gay rights activist David Kato, defended equal rights for homosexuals in Uganda before his death.

write

PHOTO/PROVIDED

for The Tattler

email editor@ihstattler.com

Arts

Section continued on p. 11

The Johnson Column

The Fighter Packs A Punch

Unpacking the Nano:

´´´´

An Investigation of the Latest People’s Car

By PETER PILLARDY

By INGRID SYDENSTRICKER

PHOTO/PROVIDED

Imagine trying to pursue your dream while surrounded by the family you love. Imagine that this family is also trying to help you accomplish your goals in life. You tenaciously endure setback after setback for this dream but after a while, you start to question if what you’re doing even makes sense anymore. Then, you meet someone who opens your eyes to what is really going on in your life: your family is the one thing holding you back from what you’ve always wanted. Welcome to The Fighter. Based on a true story, “The Fighter” is a boxing film set in the small town of Lowell, Massachusetts. It is the story of Mickey Ward trying to have a successful boxing career and the opportunity to be in the welterweight championship. He does this in the shadow of his older brother, Dicky Eklund, who became the “Pride of Lowell” for defeating Sugar Ray Leonard in a championship fight but then succumbed to a life of crack addiction and, in this Bale stars alongside Mark Wahlberg, in a standout perforway, left his boxing dreams behind. Christian mance as washed-up boxer Dicky Eklund. After participating in fights set up by his mother and Dicky, Mickey loses most the choices he made. Mickey would make of the fights and is referred to as a “stepping choices that his family thought were right, stone” by many people in the town. After his but in the end would only hinder his boxing continued losses and a bout of depression, career. Only when he met Charlene did he he begins seeing Charlene Fleming, who start to see this. becomes the voice of reason in his life. She The movie was directed by David Russel is the first person to show Mickey that the and starred Mark Wahlberg as Mickey Ward, reason that he continues losing isn’t actually Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund, and Amy him: it’s his family. Adams as Charlene Fleming. The movie has The main difference I found between this been a project Mark Wahlberg wanted to do film and other inspirational boxing mov- for a long time due to his friendship with ies was the noticeable lack of actual boxing Mickey Ward and seeing him as the “local scenes. Though Rocky-esque at times (I even sports hero” growing up in Lowell, Massafound myself humming “Eye of the Tiger” chusetts. during some scenes), the main focus of the Though all of the acting in the movie was film was Mickey’s relationship with his fam- done well, the one that stood out the most ily and how this family dynamic influenced to me was Christian continued on p. 12

The Nano is a revolution. It costs $2,200 dollars, weighs 1,320 pounds, and is forever changing Indian society. The project, to design the world’s most affordable car, began in 2003 under the direction of Tata Motor Chairman Ratan Tata, and has exploded into one of the most important changes in India. Unpacking the Nano, at the Johnson Museum of Art until March 27, is a look into the design and impact of the automobile. Featured at the center of the exhibit is the car itself, with each part’s structure and function explained: the innovation process, fancy mechanical terms, and how it ties back into Indian culture. For instance, originally there were to be no doors on the car, but rather a type of curtain or sheet; however, this would be impractical during monsoon season and would give the car less legitimacy. There are now four doors on the vehicle. The walls of the exhibit portray the inevitable societal changes the Nano has brought to India and what it now represents. The Nano equals 150 sacks of rice, two scooters, or five Blackberries. It contains 1,500 fewer parts than standard cars and has significantly smaller CO2 emissions compared with American vehicles, at 7,700 ft3 per year of CO2. Two balloons are also part of the exhibit: one portrays monthly CO2 emissions, while the other portrays yearly CO2 emissions emitted by the vehicle. The Nano is set to revolutionize India continued on p. 12

PHOTO/PROVIDED

Our Rating:

The Nano is on display at Cornell’s Johnson Museum of Art until March 27th.

Ithaca Underground Finds New Venue and Fresh Acts in January By LEO WINTERS

On Thursday, January 7, Ithaca Underground hosted a show in its brand new venue, the Greenstar Annex. It was a little tough to find the place, as it is tucked away in the back of an alley down the street from Greenstar with a sign on the building that says “Class Act” instead of “Greenstar Annex.” But when I entered, I was greeted with a familiar scene: instruments and amplifiers being set up, a table of CDs, LPs and flyers for upcoming shows, a few groups of people huddled together chatting, a row of unfamiliar college-looking kids with piercings and skinny jeans leaning up against the wall.

Everyone was cramped together in a corner walled off from the rest of the building, which you could see was a huge warehouse over the short, white walls. The first band to go on was Kaboosh!, a kind of folk band featuring Parker Callister and Conor Stanhope, who spent the set switching between banjo, guitar, drums and a keyboard. They impressed the crowd with yelling vocals over catchy, indie-folk jams. Next up things got a lot louder with a brand new band—formed from veteran performers Corey Mahaney ‘11, Peter Pillardy ‘11, Dylan Wells ‘11, Alex Reposh ‘10 and Kyle Rothman ‘11—called DAADs.

The group came out dressed up like stereotypical dads, in flannel shirts and baseball hats, drummer Pillardy in a suit, and singer Rothman barefoot in a shiny, red, Hugh Heffner-esque robe. The group delivered hectic, booming noise punk songs that sounded equivalent to what the effect would be if a bunch of crazy, rambling homeless people started a Black Flag cover band. And I mean that in the best way possible. Following the insanity that was DAADs, things quieted down for Underground River, a band from Binghamton consisting of only guitar, keyboard and vocals, along with what I think was sound clips from one of the member’s iPcontinued on p. 12

in focus:

centers

From The Archives: IHS in the 70s Straight from our cluttered archives, the IHS Tattler gives you a mishmash of all things 1970s. What was Mr. Drix up to? What were the major events? Who were the hotties on the hockey team? You name it, we got it. So read up on home away from home and get groovy...

Mr. Drix becomes World Champ Winker (1974)

Smoking (1970)

Severin Drix, a math teacher at IHS, became the Worlds Singles Tiddlywinks champion Saturday, Nov. 30th after defeating title Holder Bill Renke in six games of a best-of-seven tournament. Mr. Drix qualified for the championships after winning the North American singles title last spring. He called himself and “up and down” IHS’ own World Singles Tiddlywinks champion.

Once again, tradition has bowed to the forces of change. As usual it was a long time in coming. And unfortunately, it has not gone far enough. The new smoking policy, permitting smoking in designated outdoor areas but prohibiting it in buildings, does not seem to solve the problem. It has failed to eliminate the stigma associated with smoking. Why is smoking prohibited indoors? The School Board has failed to present adequate reasoning for denial of an indoor area. Sure, smoking is a health hazard. But a high school student who smokes will do so whether or not the school condones it. He’s made up his mind. And is it any better for his health to smoke outdoor than in>? It’s probably worse. Maybe it’s a fire hazard then. But so is smoking in the teachers’ lounges. So is illicit smoking in bathrooms. Is there a lack of suitable place indoors to smoke? No reasonable objections have been found to using the lobbies of A or C buildings, among others.

The fact is that prohibition of an indoor smoking area maintains an atmosphere which is inconvenient and unhealthy to smokers and non-smokers alike. In bad weather will students stand out in the cold or rain to have a cigarette? No, they will use the bathrooms as they always have, creating miserable conditions for the non-smoker. And permitting indoor smoking would eliminate the air of defiance which many smokers are forced to assume. The students who asked for new smoking regulations deserve more than they got. Of course they were wrong to cause the disruptions that they did. Some even admitted that they were wrong in not waiting the two weeks for the Board’s decision. But when the Board nearly rejected any change whatsoever in the policy, even the moderate nonsmoking students at the meeting could not help be infuriated and sense the frustration felt by the others. It is pathetic that it took as stand by a group of parents to cause the Board to adopt a change. What is the Board’s reasoning? Not all the Board can be condemned; a minority was sincere in their efforts to gain a change. But it appears that the Board as a whole only went as far as it felt it had to in making its decision. And then it dumped the burden on Dr. Graves by leaving the details up to him. The Board doesn’t want to get into hot water with public opinion. But maybe they ought to risk it for once. They are supposed to act in the interest of the schools; maybe they should look at it from the students’ point of view. The students at IHS should use their present smoking privileges responsibly. If they do, then perhaps the Board will reconsider. An indoor area might not be the most politically wise solution, but it’s the most logical and the most just.

player, with about a 30% chance of winning. Mr. Drix described Renke’s play as being completely unshakeable, very steady and reliable. Apparently Renke’s style is not completely unshakeable, as Drix won the first three games of the tournament on Friday quite handily. Drix said it “was a well played match” won by his good play and not Renke’s bad play. Fluke shots also helped Drix win.

Gym Goes Bisexual (1971) By Mary Brazo

PHOTO/PROVIDED

Public smoking, as seen everywhere during the 1970s.

PHOTO/PROVIDED

By David Hecht

By Peter Campbell

Last year, in the Physical Education Department, the idea of co-educational gym classes was under consideration. This idea has been modified and developed into the system which is being tried this year. So far the program has been successful, but it does have its growing pains. One member of the department feels the biggest problem has been the amount of schedule changes. The students’ attitude in general has been favorable, and classes have been going well. Beside the co-ed tennis, golf and swimming; co-ed skin diving, beginner and intermediate swimming, life saving,

bowling, and badminton will also be offered this year. There are a few other schools that are involved in this type of program, most of which are in the Rochester area. One that has been exceptionally successful is Greece Olympia. They are in their fifth year of the program and have developed it into a kind of elective system. Cortland is also trying the program for the first time. Sometime during the year after both students and teachers have gotten used to the classes, the students will be asked for an evaluation. Since the program is still under development, student opinion is important. Perhaps future classes could be modified more to suit student needs and tastes.

McDonald’s vs. IHS: Shaken Up (1970) By Dave Plane

McDonald’s: This milkshake proved to be the best bargain of the three. It cost us only 2.81 cents per ounce, but probably wasn’t worth much more. Lacking a sufficient amount of chocolate and ice cream, it still only barely beat out the Carrols [restaurant] shake by one vote in the blind fold test. Despite this, the board judged it to be of sufficient quality to merit an Acceptable rating. The School’s An incredibly dense milkshake, it passed all our tests with flying colors, all that is, but one. The Glob test is a standard milkshake rating tests which is based on the amount of time one standard teaspoon of milkshake takes to drop back into the cup when the spoon is held at a 45 degree angle. Generally speaking, the longer it takes to drop, the thicker and better the milkshake. If this commonly accepted rule is true, then the school milkshake must be by far the best ever invented as after nearly 5 ½ minutes it still hadn’t dropped. At this point the test was ended by an overzealous panel member who “accidently” licked the spoon. Test

McDonald’s

IHS

Weight

10.627

6.521

Price

30 cents

20 cents

Darkness (Chocolateability 1-7, 7 is darkest)

2.71

3.87

Price per ounce

2.81

3.07

Thickness (1-6, 6 thickest)

3.19

Bubbles (No./sq. cm)

less than 1

Size

Medium

Monstrous

Glob Test

7.2 seconds

March 22, 2011

Inquiring Photographer (1970s) What Is A Greaser? “Someone who wears white socks, uses hair oil, and slicks his hair back every morning without a part. Sometimes he pinches a wave (in his hair)!!” -Mrs. Clark What is a Hippy? “Long hair on a guy, grubby clothes, long beards, and lazy. He does his own thing and is cool.” -Marlene Rollins

“Someone who has really long hair and shoots acid in his kneecap.” -Winton Rossiter

good singing.” -Andrew Bulkey

What is a Jock? “Something you wear around your waist so your thingies don’t fall off.” -Kirby Wuori

A Woman President? “Shirley Chishom. It would be a good breakthrough for both blacks and women.” -Dorian Howard

“A person who is obsessed with increasing his muscles or something like that, or destroying people who aren’t jocks. They don’t appreciate

“I don’t think that a woman could make a good President. They don’t have what it takes.” -Angie Centini

Feminists Fight Discrimination (1970)

Fifteen girls and two female faculty advisors, Miss Beth Reeves and Miss Janet Riggs, are the cores of the new IHS chapter of the women’s rights movement. The group is planning exhibits to increase awareness among students of discrimination against women, reading programs to educate girls about the problem, and discussion sessions to develop unity. The organization’s goal is to strike at the discrimination of female at the high school level where attitudes are still flexible. Discrimination is found: • In male feelings of superiority • In unequal pay and unequal opportunity for jobs • In a society which does not encourage women to pursue careers • In enrollment quotas of colleges and graduate schools restricting the number of women • In the family structure which forces the household chores and child care upon the wife

Polling by Scott Bierman and Jay Heck (1972) Recently, the Tattler conducted a poll among students from all three grades (only 10-12 at the time) in an attempt to discover the political distribution in Ithaca High, 200 students were randomly selected and asked two questions: If the national elections were to be held tomorrow and you were eligible to vote, who would you vote for to be President of the United States?

When you come of age, with what political party will you register?

Candidate

No. of Votes

Party

No. of Registrations

President Nixon

Democratic

Senator McGovern

Republican

Governor Wallace

Independent

Pat Paulson

Liberal

Craig Abbotts

Communist

Senator Proxmire

Conservative

Eugene McCarthy

Polish

“Hoot” Gibson

Undecided/Don’t Care

Jim Turk

Undecided/Don’t Care

Is U.S.S.R. Falling Apart? (1970) By Gil Crawford

It has become apparent in the last two months that the U.S.S.R is in its worst crisis brought about by a chain reaction that includes three major events. These can be divided into three categories: crop failure, Foreign Policy setbacks, and shortage of consumer goods. The first problem, and the greatest of the Soviets, is the massive crop failure in the major food staples such as wheat, potatoes, and sugar beets. This year’s crop failure is the worst since 1963, because of the incredibly poor weather, putting produce down 10% to 15% from 1971. In Russia the historic implication of crop failure in political unrest and strife. The second big problem facing the Soviet is their foreign setbacks. In China the bitter conflict over the disputed Sino-Soviet border still rages. Talks are again struck, this time with no hope in the near future. In the Middle East, Russian military personnel were expelled from Egypt. This is a major blow to Soviet influence in the Middle East. The U.S. Sixth Fleet has just reserved a new port in Greece, much to Russia’s dismay. Iran and Iraq are still insisting that they in-

crease sales of vital oil to the U.S. and Western Europe market. Increasing trouble in Eastern Europe has put the U.S.S.R on the defensive in diplomacy. In Rumania there is an increase in anti-Russian sentiment in the population and in the government. In Albania the open hostility with Russia has not cooled and she has new alliances with Peking. Hungary has just adopted a new farming style. In Czechoslovakia, the underground fire still burns after the Russian invasion of 1968. Who knows when the fire shall burn to the top and ignite all of Eastern Europe into bloody revolution? The Russian government has fallen on hard times all across the world and the Russian doctrine of revolution through warfare may be dying a slow death. In recent years, the Russian consumer has been complaining bitterly about the lack of luxury goods. Russia has spent all her industry on building space programs and military defense. Now the Russians feel the need for more of the luxuries that the Americans enjoy. In the near future we may see China taking over the position of Mother of Communism.

The everyday encounters with male feelings of superiority bother women the most. “Men denigrate our ideas just because we are women,” insists Miss Reeves. “Examples exist in cases of women administrators and professors” says Miss Riggs. “The male professors and administrators dislike them and distrust them just because of their high positions.” Male dominance is here at the high school. Miss Reeves has noticed that boys dominate classes, and have more outside interests while the girls revolve around boys. Members of the IHS group recognize men as stronger than women, but as one member, Dianna Visek, points out, “Strength is becoming less important in our society.” Feminists reject as a myth the male argument that women are mentally weaker than men.” To many men, it seems logical and natural that women should be in charge of the children. Mrs. Hubbard feels “ Our civilization is advanced enough to disregard ‘logic’ in this case and free women for careers.” Why don’t men take the women’s rights movement seriously? The feminine reactions are: ”Something new is always laughed at”, “Men can only think of women in their traditional role of wife and mother”, “Men may be afraid that they will no longer be ‘mothered,’” and “They feel threatened by women who want equality.” “Some males feel that women join the rights movement as an escape; that they are unsuccessful at being feminine,” reports Lewanne Jones. “Just because some of the very radical feminists are masculine-looking and some are lesbians, the males use them as symbols of the entire movement, “Miss Riggs explains. The IHS organization follows the views of NOW (National Organization of Women), a moderate group , more than those for the more radical Women’s Liberation, and the ultra- radical SCUM (Society for Cutting-Up Men), a man-hating group they consider ridiculous. Feminists are pleased with the national coverage they are receiving from the mass media. The IHS group is optimistic; awareness is growing rapidly, much has been done since the 1950s and women are using the 1964 Civil Rights Bill to take their cases to court. The national movement is growing and the IHS movement is growing but it is still new. Miss Reeves understand that “The girls are a little frightened at what they are doing.”

March 22, 2011

Top Ten Books (1972) 1. The Exorcist – William Blatty 2. Future Shock – Alvin Toffler 3. Summer of ’42 – Herman Raucher 4. The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkein 5. Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 6. Summer of the Red Wolf – Morris West 7. Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger 8. The Godfather – Mario Puzo 9. Love Story – Erich Segal 10. 1984 – George Orwell

Top 10 Records (1972) 1. Mountain – Flowers of Evil 2. Abraxas – Santana 3. Aretha’s Greatest Hits – Aretha Franklin 4. Bangladesh – George Harrison 5. Band of Gypsies – Jimi Hendrix 6. Live at the Regal – B.B. King 7. Tapestry – Carole King 8. Chapter Two – Roberta Flack 9. Madman Across the Water – Elton John

IHS’ 1972 production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. PHOTOS/ANDREW GILLIS

10. Teaser and the Firecat – Cat Stevens

This December, 1975 Tattler article reports on the IHS Varsity Girls’ swim team, which appears to have just as successful a record as more recent teams. Features of the paper during this time period were the photos taken by Ithaca Journal photographers.

Draft Responsibility Faces American Young Men Today (1969) By Colleen Ryall

One of the responsibilities facing young men today is the draft. All American males between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six are eligible for the draft, and are required to register at the local draft board within 5 days of their 18th birthday. To register, one goes to the board and fills out a registration form. He is then classified according to his status, which is determined by his job, education, marital state, etc. If he is classified 1A, the draftee is required to take a physical Deferments are also given according to statues, i.e. only draftees who are classified as 1A are drafted. Young men who join Vista or the Peace Corps are also deferred; however, they are once again eligible for the draft after their term with either of these organizations is finished. Of those men who are classified 1A, the oldest are drafted first. Their tour of duty is two years, and the pay is approximately $110 a month. Many of the men who are drafted will be sent to the war in Vietnam, however some will also be

sent to Korea, the Mediterranean, or other areas where the U.S. has bases. Draftees who have a brother in war, whose fathers were killed in military action, or who are the sole supporters of the family will not be sent to the battle front. Of course if a would-be draftee does not wish to fight, there are other openings available to him. He may dodge the draft by going to Canada, burn his draft card, or simply refuse to go. The penalty for draft dodging is usually a prison term. There has never been an incident of this nature in Ithaca. The other course of action open to a young man who opposed the battle is to become a Conscientious Objector. Draftees who wish to be classified as a “C.O.” must first state their beliefs to the draft board members, who make the final decision on this classification. Although a C.O. will not be sent into battle, he is still eligible for the draft, and will probably end up doing paper work. After his tour of duty is completed, a draftee is eligible for government aid programs which loan money so that the veteran may among other things; set up a business or continue his education.

March 22, 2011

Arts

Black Swan: The Best Kind of Nightmare ´´´´1/2

By LEO WINTERS

(Mila Kunis) who exhibits every aspect of the black swan. She smokes, comes to rehearsals late, and stays out every night, club hopping. Thomas quickly takes a liking to her, for which Nina feels threatened. Lily constantly makes friendly advances at Nina, asking her if she wants to hang out, but Nina always turns down her offers. However, she soon gives in, and they go out together for a night on a town which results in some...interesting situations, and from that point the film spirals into a psychological nightmare with the feel and atmosphere of a horror film thought up by David Lynch. So, I left the theater having gotten exactly what I had hoped for: a genuinely frightening and incredibly unique film that leaves you thinking about it afterwards for days. If you have not seen “Black Swan,” go ASAP because it is, in my opinion, the best film to come out since Inception (and it probably will not be in theaters much longer). Those of you who think you’re too cool or macho to see a ballet movie, I guarantee it’s scarier than any Rob Zombie slasher film you’ve seen recently, and those of you looking for an innocent drama about the arts, I suggest looking elsewhere.

When I first heard about the movie “Black Swan,” I did not have much interest in seeing it. Frankly, a movie with Natalie Portman starring as a ballerina did not sound like my cup of tea, but the film had rave reviews, and was frequently referred to as an “intense psychological thriller,” which finally peaked my interest. Plus, it was directed by Darren Aronofsky, the director of one of my all-time favorite films “Requiem for a Dream,” so I decided that was reason enough to go see it. I ended up being very glad that I did. The story revolves around Nina, a ballerina in New York who shares her apartment with her extremely overprotective mother. In an otherwise very slow and normal beginning, her mother‘s creepiness served as a precursor to how weird things were going to get later on in the film. Nina dances in a high-end ballet company, run by artistic director Thomas Leroy, a smooth-talker with a thick French accent given to sexually harassing his ballerinas. Thomas has decided to replace veteran dancer Beth for the company’s upcoming production of the famous ballet Swan Lake. Nina is initially his choice for the replacement—however, the lead has to embody the personalities of both the “black swan” and the “white swan.” Nina has the “white swan” part down pat; she is controlled, innocent, and timid; however, the role also requires her to become the white swan’s counterpart, the black swan, who is everything the white swan is not: lecherous and intimidating. Thomas constantly tells her she needs to “let herself go” in order to become the black swan, but she can’t. Then Natalie Portman shines, as a mentally-unstable ballet dancer, in the along comes Lily role that earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress this year.

continued from p.7

The King’s Speech: a Royal Success Our Rating:

´´´1/2

Colin Firth’s portrayal of King George VI’a speech impediment brings his otherwise lofty royal persona down to earth.

PHOTO/PROVIDED

By khalid vrede

PHOTO/PROVIDED

Our Rating:

The critically acclaimed movie “The King’s Speech” was released in the United States in November 2010. The film was directed by previously Emmy-nominated Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. It chronicles the real events that took place within England’s royal family during the 1930s, specifically centering around King George VI and his faulty auditory skills. Lionel Logue is called upon to help the king resolve this issue due to his position as a public figure. In the end, he not only helps George VI conquer his problem but also serves as a vital friend to him in his time of need. As stated by the writer and director, the film accurately portrays real events, most of which were acquired from a journal written by Lionel Logue stating many of the techniques he used to treat the king. Some artistic liberties were reported to have been taken, but not in vain. The movie presents an interesting adaptation of history and a gripping plot that will have you rooting for George VI the entire way through. The film begins with George VI (Colin Firth) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) awaiting an address that is to be made by George. When he finally takes the stand, he struggles to read his speech and is ultimately unable to finish. The film cuts to a scene of the continued on p. 12

TRON: Legacy: No More Than Eye Candy Our Rating:

´´´

By ELISE (YUQI) YANG and JULIE STOVER

We were excited for “Tron: Legacy” after seeing its mesmerizing previews, and loved the colorful costumes and props as well as the special effects. As it turned out, the special effects were as breathtaking as we had expected. The 3D was nicely incorporated into the film, and was not, thankfully, overbearing. Also, the costumes had fluorescent lights woven into them, which we thought was really cool and unique. However, although the special effects were amazing, the same could not be said for rather lacking plot. The movie starts off by introducing Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund), a tech-savvy but somewhat rebellious 27-year-old. Sam’s father, Kevin (Jeff Bridges) was once the best video game developer in the world and the CEO of Encom. However, Kevin mysteriously disappeared 20 years before, after having told Sam about a miracle that could change the world. As time passes after Kevin’s disappearance, everyone, includ-

Flashy effects make for a visuallysatisfying sci-fi flick.

PHOTO/PROVIDED

ing Sam, eventually believes that Kevin ran away. This causes Sam to be bitter and to refuse to take responsibility as the primary shareholder of Encom. Then, one day, Kevin’s old friend Alan tells Sam that he got a page from the Flynns’s old arcade. Sam goes there to investigate and discovers a room with a computer and a laser. Sam is then pulled into a digital world known as The Grid, in which his dad has been trapped for the past 20 years. Sam soon meets Clu, a program that Kevin created to perfect The Grid. However, Clu is now evil and plans to kill Kevin as well as Sam. Sam is saved by a mysterious girl named Quorra (Olivia Wilde), who takes him to Kevin. As the story unravels, the viewer learns that Sam and Kevin have eight Grid-hours to get to the portal, which will take them back to the real world. However, they must risk their lives to get past Clu and his minions. Overall, we would give this movie three out of five stars. The plot was rather unoriginal, but if you can get past that, the movie was visually stunning and featured some cool technology.

12 FIGHTER

Bale as Dicky Eklund. The way he plays the character shows convincingly a man who tries to be a helpful role model to his younger brother but cannoot accomplish this due to his crack addiction. The character shows a man with a problem but does not label him as a terrible person because of this. He is a person who happens to be addicted to crack, not a crack addict. One of the biggest issues I had with the movie actually had nothing to do with the acting or the script but with the soundtrack chosen. With songs ranging from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to various classic rock songs such as Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” I felt that the film could have benefited from a more fitting soundtrack. At times when appropriate music could have complemented what was happening on screen, there were overplayed songs from 40 years ago. Overall, I felt that “The Fighter” was a pretty good movie depicting the inspirational underdog story of Mickey Ward and how his relationship with his family changed. Though it is a boxing movie with surprisingly few boxing scenes, the most important fights actually take place outside of the ring, between members of the family. It is a well-told story that shows the importance of family even if they are causing problems, and of having the tenacity to succeed against all odds. KING’S SPEECH

March 22, 2011

couple seeing an evidently unreliable doctor in an attempt to treat George’s speech impediment. The doctor’s unorthodox methods make clear their desperation, which inevitably drives George and his wife to the practice of Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an old actor specializing in speech therapy. At

The Fighter is propelled by a strong supporting cast, including Melissa Leo (left) and Amy Adams (not pictured).

first George is skeptical, but after the doctor’s methods seem to work, he begins to attend sessions regularly, eventually leading up to a speech George must give concerning a national matter. Clever dialogue and wit pepper the immaculate classic ‘30s rooms, occupied by the intimidating ensemble of

HELP WANTED

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continued from p.10

through mass production of a true “people’s car”: affordable, accessible, and practical. Tata Motors may swamp the nation with these little metal critters, bringing a new quality of life to this growing nation. And why Nano? “Nano” means superior technology and smaller size. It was the dream, it was the goal, it is reality. Also currently at the Johnson: Splendor of Dynamic Structure: Celebrating 75 Years of the American Abstract Artists Salvatore Grippi: Selected Works 1945-2009 The Stories Objects Tell: Life in Latin America Before Columbus UNDERGROUND

continued from p.11

lion worldwide. At the 83rd Academy Awards, the film sweeped multiple awards, including Best Actor, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay and finally, Best Picture. Any moviegoer who wishes to see a smart and uplifting movie with a happy ending will greatly appreciate “The King’s Speech.”

and most of all,

cartoonists, columnists,

superb actors. Members of different social classes and their unique difficulties is also an explored theme. “The King’s Speech” was met with very positive reviews, with a “fresh” score of 96 percent from Rotten Tomatoes and the highest per-theater gross revenue of 2010: more than $300 mil-

PHOTO/PROVIDED

photographers,

The Tattler needs

JOHNSON

continued from p.10

ods. The best way to describe them would be a dark Western movie in audio format, because of their very cinematic, bluesy sound. After their set was over, Rochester band Attic Abasement Noise-punk band DAADs performs at the Greenstar Annex on 700 W Buffalo St. in Ithaca, NY. took the stage to finish off the show. The band, consisting of guitar, bass and drums, was touring for the release of their new album, “Dancing is Depressing.” The band had a lo-fi indie rock sound to them accompanied by low, bummed-out vocals from singer Michael Rheinheimer. If you missed this show there are plenty more coming, and I suggest you go to one, because if you haven’t yet, you’re seriously missing out.

writers.

My Take

By Geoff Preston

the nfl Crisis

How does one split a 9 billion-dollar pie? This is the question facing the Owners and Players Union as they attempt to do what some consider an impossible task: fix a league that does not need to be fixed. Despite being the most popular league in the country by far, the NFL is threatened by what seems like an inevitable halt that could bring drastic changes to the game we all love so much. Commissioner Roger Goodell has proposed adding two more regular season games to bring the total to 18. This increase in games would coincide with cuts to retired players’ health care package, a hotbutton issue among former and current players. Both sides have been using the public as a negation tool as they attempt to get the most powerful force in the entire process on their side: the fans. This got me thinking: fans in these types of negotiaPHOTO/PROVIDED tions are usually ignored unless they are implored to lend their support to one side or the other. Fans drive idea that spews from his mouth. Everything he says is the entire existence of the NFL. The NFL would not ex- a contradiction. How can you care about player safety ist without us masses attending games, buying jerseys, when you want them to be put in these dangerous situand paying 11 bucks for beer after beer. We are the ations more often and with less of a cushion after they reason the NFL has $9 billion in revenue to fight over. retire? We are also not being represented in the labor negotiaNow this may sound like we, the fans, support the tions. I believe someone needs to represent the fans, so players in these negotiations. Don’t be fooled. It is hard I have taken it upon myself to do just that. to find sympathy for a group of people who get paid Let me start out by stating that we are sick and tired absurd amounts of money to play a game that most of being used in the media as a negotiation tactic. We of us would play for free. A huge mistake that Players don’t care about the millionaires who are fighting with Unions often make in trying to gain public support is billionaires. We want one thing out of these negotia- assuming that they are like any other union in Ameritions: football on September 8th, 2011. And not a new ca. Forgive me if I see glaring differences between the kind of football that screws up what is already a per- Steelworkers Union of Pittsburgh and the NFL Players fect scenario; we want football the way that it was last Association. It doesn’t matter how these negotiations season, and so should the owners. 32 teams, 16 games, turn out or what percentage of the revenue the players 12 total playoff teams, 4 teams per division. It is like are able to weasel away from the owners: they will still poetry; it is a beautifully painted mosaic that doubles make more in one year than 97 percent of all Amerias a perfectly working machine. Everything not only fits, but fits beautifully. Every other sport has fallen ill to the “over-expansion” syndrome. The NBA, MLB, and NHL all believe that making the season 6-8 months somehow is a good thing that would not cause the fans to lose interest. You play 162 games in baseball. I would argue that roughly 40 percent of those games don’t matter at all. In the NBA and NHL it’s the same. This year the Lakers have fallen ill to simply being bored by the length of the regular season. When was the last time Tom Brady and the Patriots got “bored” by the regular season? When the regular season becomes boring, you know your sport needs major tweaking. The NFL risks falling into the overexpansion category if they add two more games. The whole idea makes no sense from the start. Rodger Goodell has been preaching player safety to the point of angering current and former players by changing the way the game is played. He argues that players are getting bigger, stronger, and faster, and precautions need to be taken to ensure the safety of current and future players. Apparently, a precaution counts as adding two more games worth of violent collisions. How does that make any sense? This comes at precisely the same time that Goodell is proposing cuts to benefits for retired players. That college education he received at William and Jefferson is flushed down the toilet with every stupid NFL Fans demand no change to the 16-game football season.

cans will see in their lives. I am trying but failing to find any sympathy. While the Players Union does make legitimate claims about not wanting an 18-game season, that’s about the only place where the fans and the players agree. Every sports writer and talking head has drawn analogies to their career or the careers of others in reference to what the NFL players are fighting for. I find major problems with this line of thinking. I’ve always felt like playing in the NFL, or any other professional sports league, is more of a privilege than an occupation. I’m not saying that what these players do isn’t difficult or time-consuming, but let’s get real: they play a game for a living, and we love them for it, but it is still a game. This isn’t like a teachers union fighting for a pay raise. This union is unique because of the sheer amount of money that changes hands. As I sit here writing this, the March 4th collective bargaining deadline has finally struck midnight. Usually the 11th hour brings with it some kind of negotiation miracle. In happened with baseball in 2002, it happened in the NFL in 2006. It doesn’t seem like any miracles are in the works here, which means a lockout. The only question is: how long will it last? This is where the fans want to make their demands. We demand that the owners and the players take this dead time in the football season to work out their insecurities with money and realize that the product they have put together is the best in the world. We demand that when the leaves begin to turn color and the blistering summer heat begins to subside, we can look forward to 16 games of regular-season NFL football. Former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Herm Edwards was quoted on ESPN: “Don’t mess with the cha cha.” To the NFL, the fans say: for the love of God, leave the cha cha alone.

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March 22, 2011

An Interview with Coach Armstrong By SIENA SCHICKEL

Over the years, the Ithaca boys’ hockey team has consistently been a top-notch team, climbing higher and higher every year with a gradually growing number of wins. A key part of every effective and high-achieving sports team is always the coach. Richard Armstrong, an English teacher at our very own Ithaca High School, also coaches the boys’ hockey team, as he has been for seventeen years. He took over the position as coach with a team at a high level of expectation. “I took over the year after they won state championships. So I inherited a team that probably didn’t have quite the talent that they did the year before, but that’s where everybody starts out,” he said in an interview. The hockey team has had a successful season so far with ten wins, two losses, and one tie within the league and two more non-league wins. They have won Section III Championships in the years 1998,

1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2007. The Division I Quarterfinals this year is scheduled for March 5, and will take place at the Lakeshore Hockey Arena in Rochester against Greece, the team that beat Fairport on Sunday, February 27th with a score of 4-2. When asked about their position to win Quarterfinals this year, Coach Armstrong said “It is fifty-fifty, I mean at this time of the season, you end up with about eight teams left. Everybody has had some success, so you have to have a good day.” Coach Armstrong was born here in Ithaca and played hockey growing up. He became an English teacher at what was then Boynton Junior High School for three years, and then later an English teacher at Ithaca High. He began to coach hockey in the 1994-95 season, and has been leading the team to success ever since. He maintains the reputation of the team that was state and section champions with Coach Cicchetti seventeen years ago. Coach Armstrong took over Art Cicchetti’s twenty-two

Pujol’s Contract Claim Needs Some Perspective

Lombardi Trophy Comes Home By Dylan KaiseR

By Paul Westin

PHOTO/PROVIDED

On February 6th 2011, the Super Bowl took place. The game was incredibly close. The two competing teams were the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game was definitely not boring and the team that most people were rooting for (the Packers) won. This was the first super bowl victory for the Packers’ new quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who also became the MVP of the game. The only dissatisfying aspect of the game was the halftime show performed by The Black Eyed Peas, which was rife in both technical and performance difficulties. Singer Fergie usually gives solid performances, but on Super Bowl Sunday she was spotty at best. This Green bay Packers Matthews and Raji celebrate after can be attributed to micro- they defeat the Steelers in the 2011 Superbowl. phone issues, or to her “complete lack why they won their very first Super of talent” as some commented. Bowl. This was a great honor for the In the middle of the halftime show Packers since the trophy was origithe camera must have been acciden- nally theirs. Getting the trophy was tally turned off, or must have been a like Lombardi never died and is still very cheap camera, since it switched to with them for the rest of the year, unbars and tones for about three seconds. til, of course, the next Super Bowl rolls The reason most people watched the around (ha ha). Super Bowl, however, was for its funny Not only does this mean that the commercials. Although the commer- Packers are the champions of the year, cials this year were pretty hysterical, but the expectations for next season some people were expecting funnier are also very high. This is a good sign commercials than were delivered. For for Packers fans, as we love it when exthose of you who didn’t watch the Su- pectations are heightened. per Bowl but still want to watch the To wrap up this article for those commercials, you can find them all on who know the Packers’ icon on their YouTube. helmet (a capital G) it doesn’t stand for As a Packers fan I enjoyed the game Green Bay. The name Packers came and the commercials, though not so from the meat packing industry. And much the halftime show. However, the “G” comes from the word “greatthat was just one aspect of the game ness.” And they are a great team to win that is used to keep people from leav- their first Super Bowl in over a decade ing during halftime. and have their prized trophy come The trophy awarded to the winning home to them. For this epic victory the team was named after the Packers’ first Packers and their quarterback Aaron coach Vince Lombardi. Lombardi may Rodgers will join an elite fraternity of have gone hard on his team but that is NFL immortals.

year coaching career, and continues to bring forward achievements every year that upholds Ithacan pride. Coach Armstrong seems to be very confident in his team, saying in an article for the Ithaca Journal that, “I’ve been very blessed with the kind of kids that I’ve had and they’ve done what I’ve asked of them. I have to pass the credit around with all my assistant coaches and the great kids that we’ve had. It’s been an awful fun time.” The future for the boys’ hockey team definitely has some victories to look forward to with a steady stream of strong modified players moving up every year, and with Coach Armstrong leading the way. When I asked Mr. Armstrong about future plans, he said, “I have had some success, some accomplishments... The only thing I need to prove every day is that we’re going to get better in practice. I don’t have a five year plan, or a ten year plan. It’s what can we do to help these guys be successful right now.”

Is it just me or are good guys gone from sports? In the wake of the steroids scandal in baseball and a lockout imminent in the NFL, with neither players nor owners willing to budge, it seems to me that people involved in sports are getting more and more self centered and greedy. Until now it seemed we had at least a few good men left, but alas it does not appear to be. I speak of Albert Pujols, and his contract negotiation. Pujols emerged as the ideal baseball player as the steroid era was being slowly revealed, a perennial MVP candidate who spoke out adamantly against using steroids. He had incredible team loyalty to the St. Louis Cardinals, signing a 7 year extension. That contract is set to expire at the end of this season. The Cardinals want to sign Pujols to another extension, to keep him from testing the waters of free agency. Pujols wants to be made the highest payed player in the league, reportedly asking for a 10- year $300 million dollar contract. Allow me to repeat that: 10-year $300 million dollar contract. That would be paying him an average of $30 million a year, something no player has ever gotten, and would have him signed through the age

write

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of 42. I do not think there is much debate that Pujols deserves a raise, and based on his consistent MVP-caliber performances he deserves to be paid similarly to baseball’s best. That is now. In ten years, even in five or six years for that matter, there is no way that Pujols will be putting up a .320 average, 40 homers and 120 RBI’s. It needs to be understood that baseball players will decline and that should be kept in mind in contract negotiations. Stan Musial, the epitome of the good guy and fellow St. Louis Cardinal, once wanted management to cut his pay because he had an off year and didn’t think he deserved it. And that was from $100,000 dollars to $75,000 dollars. So why can’t Pujols understand

that as his numbers decline, so should his massive salary? I guess that’s just for the good guys to know...

for The Tattler

PENULTIMATE FACT or FALLACY? By KELSEY SHANG

On the chopping block: “The U.S. has not only tested the largest number of atomic bombs, but on our home soil.” Atomic bombs: massive, awe-inspiring, destructive. For many years, nuclear weapons have been the subject of fears concerning Armageddon or the threat of melting off your face. Upon thought, what comes to mind? One would exclaim: “mushroom clouds, radiation, war, Hiroshima,” etc. While all these are true in our nation’s history, Nevada never seems to surface first in people’s thoughts. Ever since 1945, the U.S. has conducted nuclear tests on a regular basis. Although history classes greatly emphasize the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they hardly mention the routinely nuclear testing on our own soil. From July 1946 to October 1958, over 1,054 nuclear tests and two nuclear attacks have been recorded. Over 900 of these operations have taken place in the Nevada Test Site. Other sites are located in New Mexico, Colorado, Mississippi, Alaska; most of these tests have been atmospheric, or above ground, where the trademark “mushroom cloud” is most recognized. After the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, designed to slow nuclear fallout (residual radiation from explosion) and

The Insert

the nuclear arms race, all tests were performed underground. To illustrate the magnitude of the number of nuclear tests, the list below shows a ranking of major international powers in terms of such tests (*note: all values are approximated as actual data is disputed): United States: 1,054 tests (at least 1,151 devices, 331 atmospheric tests); USSR (formally): 715 tests (involving at least 969 devices); France: 210 tests (50 atmospheric, 160 underground); United Kingdom: 45 tests; China: 45 tests (23 atmospheric and 22 underground); India: 6 underground tests; Pakistan: 6 underground tests; North Korea: 2 tests.

Chocolate can help you live longer. Chocolate has antioxidants that can protect you against heart disease. Dark chocolate has eight times more antioxidants than strawberries. The flavonoids help relax blood pressure by producing nitric oxide. Dark chocolate has the most antioxidants. A small bar every day can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol. Chocolate also has serotonin, which acts as an antidepressant. Also, while chocolate has fat, most of the fat in chocolate does not impact your cholesterol. Chocolate is still high-calorie and high-fat, so you need to eat in moderation. You don’t need more than about 3.5 ounces of chocolate to receive the benefits.

Nuclear testing has literally left its mark on the world. Nuclear threat and arms races continue to exist in the global community, abetted by the desire for advancement and dominance. The U.S., alone, has conducted approximately half of the total number of nuclear tests globally. While one may argue the ethics of such rigorous testing, it’s fascinating to observe such a bombastic history of destructive attraction. The Verdict: FACT.

A man married a pillow. A Korean man named Lee Jin-gyu fell in love with a life-sized Japanese body pillow called a “dakimakura.” The pillow has the image of a cartoon character named Fate Testarossa on it, from an anime called Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. The 28-year-old man takes his pillow with him everywhere, and eventually got married to it. This is actually part of a broader cultural phenomenon. There is a growing subculture of men in Japan who engage in romantic relationships with pillows printed with cartoons. People who have difficulty with romantic relationships with real (3-dimensional) people instead find themselves attracted to 2-dimensional anime characters. Courtesy of OMGFacts.com

A Taiwanese woman married herself. On November 16, a bride was left standing at the altar ... and could not have been more happy about that fact! 30-year-old office worker Chen Wei-yih sees this act as a commitment to love herself before she can begin to love others. The ceremony was a full wedding with all the usual components - minus a groom. Chen has been in several relationships and does not consider this marriage to be binding; meaning that she will still be free to marry whomever she chooses once she feels the time is right.

Quiz: Who Were You in a Past Life? By ANNELISE RAYMOND and NAOMI RAYMOND

1) How would you spend a snow day? a. sit inside with a blanket and watch TV b. invite your friends over and have a block party, with blaring music c. make cupcakes with your sister, and do snow angels in the front yard while they’re baking d. take your dog sledding — dress her up with a scarf and hat and take pictures of your day out together e. try out the science kit you got for your birthday, and make a model volcano 2) You’re at an SU basketball game, and an annoying old lady behind you, who may appear to the unknowing eye as a sweet, innocent grandmother, keeps shrieking “Defense!” at the players — right in your ear. As if they don’t know. Finally, you’re fed up. What do you do? a. turn around and hiss at her b. laugh it off. Think about how you’re going to tell your friends when you get home. c. buy her cotton candy from the vendor as a “neighboring seats” gift. When she’s eating, she won’t be yelling. d. mimic her. Shriek in your most annoying voice two seconds after each time she does. e. kindly inform her of the difficulties caused to your eardrums and carefully explain your grievances with her shouting 3) Which dance would you be most willing to do at Winter Formal? a. grinding b. breakdancing c. ball dancing d. the Cotton-Eyed Joe e. the grapevine 4) Your parents tell you they’re planning on buying tickets for the Light in Winter Festival this year, and want you to weigh in on which event to attend. Which do you choose? a. A Closer Look at Composting in the City b. a rock concert with songs that have lyrics about sci-

ence (e.g. “The Element Song”) c. a theater dinner d. a stand-up comedian e. a lecture on the relationships between science, art, architecture, philosophy, and authorship 5) What was your favorite “Pretend” game when you were little? a. pretending to live in a cardboard box b. pretending to be a TV show host from your little theater c. using your sheets to create pretty princess dresses — add a tiara, and voila! d. pretending to be animals, and crawling around the house trying to imitate your dog e. pretending to be president of all your stuffed animals; lining them up so they can listen to your speech 6) What is your ideal valentine to send? a. those cards you buy in the store, which you give to everyone in your class b. take them ice-skating c. send an elf to sing a romantic tune (with personalized words) and give roses to your “true love” d. a dancing teddy bear, wearing a shirt covered in hearts, that sings “You’re Still the One” e. a candlelit dinner 7) Which sandwich would you get from Ithaca Bakery? a. Sherwood Forest b. California Dreamin’ c. The Parisian d. The Octopus e. Milestone 8) You’re doing a room makeover. What would be the theme for your dream room? a. natural earth tones, with a chocolate brown beanbag chair in your reading nook. A thick brown canopy over your bed to help you feel cozy. b. a music-note border, and a huge old-fashioned boombox. A retro theme, with a bookshelf of old records.

c. pretty and pink. A butterfly bedspread, garden border, and glow-in-the-dark flowers on your walls. d. fuzzy orange shag carpet, a jungle wallpaper border, and stuffed animals overflowing a hammock hung in the corner e. geography-themed. Ancient maps hung on the walls and a globe hung from the ceiling in the corner. A model solar system is strung across your room. 9) What station would you listen to on the radio? a. NPR b. 95.5: the top hits of today c. Broadway songs d. Country cowboy music (103.7) e. the “Oldies” station 10) What kind of collection would you start? a. acorns b. CDs c. sea glass d. your cat’s whiskers e. quarters from every state What letter did you get most frequently? Mostly a’s — You were a dung beetle in a past life! And you must have been a good one, too, because you got rewarded with moving up the scale to being human. Now, you’re eco-conscious, though you have some odd moments. Mostly b’s — You were Elvis Presley in a past life! You’re that hip dude who loves what’s “in” — especially in music and dance. You’re always at the height of fashion. Mostly c’s — You were a unicorn in a past life! You enjoy all things magical, pink and sparkly. You’re a happy, bubbly person who likes to fantasize. Mostly d’s — You were an orangutan in a past life! You may be goofy at times, but overall you’re a very funny person to be around. You’re loud, you guffaw, and you love animals. Mostly e’s — You were Ben Franklin in a past life! You’re smart, responsible and witty. You love facts and experimenting. You’re an organized person, and are always on the lookout for new knowledge.

backpage Horriblescopes

By Mary Malediction

Aries (March 21 to April 19): You shall develop an insatiable desire for Bieber’s Never Say Never this month. Don’t forget to bring your parent’s wallet and a pack of ravenous prepubescent girls. Taurus (April 20 to May 20): That special someone has been giving you the eye. It’s about time for a restraining order. Gemini (May 21 to June 20): A few words of wisdom from Charlie Sheen: Clearly I have defeated this earthworm with my words -- imagine what I would have done with my fire-breathing fists.

Cancer (June 21 to July 22): On the other hand, there are 5 fingers. Leo (July 23 to August 22): SHALALALA Kiss The Crab. Sebastian is getting lonely. Virgo (August 23 to September 22): Like a good neighbor, fresh dog poop is there. Libra (September 23 to October 23): The early bird gets the worm, but the late worm cheats death. Scorpio (October 24 to November 22): People who live in glass houses should not run around nude. Sagittarius (November 23 to Decem-

Ask Angelika Dear Angelika, Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly. Although I don’t have a date, there is someone I’m eyeing. How can I tell if he likes me as well? How do I make him like me? I really would like a date before the holiday. I don’t want to be alone. -All Alone Dear All Alone, Wow...You’re late. No seriously, like, by a month. Sorry kid, I’m not Angelika. She’s had an ”accident” including “stairs” and a “month in the hospital.” The name’s Chuck, Charles, Charlie...whatever you want it to be, babe. I’ve been rather busy, if you know what I mean. I just winked there but you probably can’t see it. Ahem...well if you don’t have a special someone already, you must have been doing something wrong...Like my exgirlfriend who violated everything good, decent and in the name of loyalty. Anyways, here’s some tips to get the ladies... or guys; Whatever you are, All Alone. 1. Dress Casual If your crush is as desperate as you are, they’re probably not going to care what you wear or how you smell. Some people, like your mom, may use complicated words like “hygiene” or “cleanliness,” but we all know those are just ploys to spend money you don’t have. Don’t bother changing your underwear for a couple weeks — or your John Mayer t-shirt. Also, for a nice smell, rub your grandma’s scented candle on any part of your body that stinks. My ex used to smell like vanilla cream and fresh lavender. Umm, moving on...

ber 21): You will be compelled to give twenty dollars to The Tattler’s Backpage Editor.... Actually, make that twentyfive. Capricorn (December 22 to January 19): Don’t count your chickens before they’ve finished crossing the road. Aquarius (January 20 to February 19): You can lead your friend to water this month, but you can’t make him bathe.

chilldude22

Pisces (February 20 to March 20): The stars are quite fond of Charlie Sheen these days: I am on a drug – it’s called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available because if you try it, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body. Fantastic.

March Madness

2. Buy Your Special Someone a Gift Nothing says rich like a guy who can give and give. However, with this economy, who’s got the money or the time? For example, you can volunteer to babysit some snot-filled 3rd grader in your neighborhood. Then, with no one looking, quietly borrow a cute stuffed animal or picture frame. Just don’t get anything sharp and pointy, ‘cause the last time I gave my ex something sharp...she...she sliced open my chest and...and wrenched out my beating heart and tossed it into a fire. Oh god... 3. Don’t Call Them Back Once you’ve got that person wrapped around your finger, tell them that you’ll give them a call. Now, this is the final step to sealing the deal. Don’t call them back for at least five hours. This will leave them waiting by the phone and crawling all over you once you do finally call. This ancient technique is guaranteed to work about 99% of the time. Just don’t be upset if you’ve found them making out with your best friend when they conveniently “forget their cellphone at home.” There you have it: three smooth moves taught to you by Ol’ Chuck here. You can take my word for it, buddy: I’m a serious lady killer. I’ve had lifetimes of hot chicks and sweet babes...oh, who am I kidding? Julia! If you’re reading this, just know that I forgive you! I miss you! You can’t leave me like this! Please...please...Erm. Ahem..sorry Loser, I mean Loner. Good luck.

Darth Vader

-Chuck

(Ladies! Call me anytime)

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Credit Card Monopoly

(Solution on page 2)