October 2014

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO TATTLE October 2014 • Estd. 1892 • Vol. 122 #7 • Published Monthly • www.ihstattler.com Ithaca High School, 1401 N. Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY 14850 • FREE

In This Issue

Say No to Knee Defender

Remembering John Kozak 8

Teacher Feature: Mr. Carver 15 Collage Concert

20

XXYYXX and Joywave

20

Classical Music Playlist

22

IHS Football ­

24

IHS Cross Country

24

Ask the Admins: Part 2

By KALIL HENDEL This is the second article in a recurring question-and-answer series with administrators, teachers, and other members of IHS. Have a question that you would like answered? Send an email to news@ihstattler.com. All questions will be asked anonymously. This issue: Mr. Powers.

Continued on Page 5.

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ders! ort the Tattle r and AVID 12 Where: Moe ’s Southwest G When: Octob er 8, 11 a.m. t rill o 9 p.

How: Bring the flyer on t m. he back cover o f this issue!

What: Supp

By DIANA KELLY

IHS student John Kozak died at the age of 17 on September 9, 2014 in Southwest Golisano Children’s Hospital, just one month after being diagnosed with leukemia. He was about to begin his senior year at IHS. John attended South Hill Elementary School, where he played tag at recess every day for many years, built Lego battleships, and sat at the peanut-free table. It was amazing how many of his South Hill teachers and classmates attended his calling hours. Many of his high-school teachers attended as well. Many described him as the perfect student. He was always on time, always had his work done, and always understood what was going on; he was IMAGE PROVIDED John Kozak: 1997–2014 determined to do well despite being out sick a great deal. Chemistry in particular really clicked with him—according to his friend Alex Sisouphone, John wanted to be a chemist someday. In all of his classes, John would help whomever was sitting near him if he could.

John loved video games, Batman, Superman, and Star Wars. He was good at imitating his favorite characters, Yoda and Batman, and had a great sense of humor. He could even imitate characters from movies he had never seen, exemplified by when he imitated the classic line from Crocodile Dundee, “That’s not a knife; this is a knife.”

According to his friend Talia Turk, John’s favorite band was Imagine Dragons. His favorite song was “Already Home” by A Great Big World.

John was the loving son of George and Mary Ann, and brother to Genevieve, Wendy, Scott, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. Well-grounded and spiritual, John was also a person who loved to spend time with his family. According to his childhood friend Kevin Smith ’15, one of John’s favorite activities growing up was wrestling with his older brother Jeremiah. He enjoyed cooking and watching the Cooking Channel with his sister Wendy as well as helping his little brother Isaiah unlock all of the characters in his favorite video game.

John was a quiet individual, often shy, but even those who did not know him saw that he was always helping others, always smiling, always kind. Those lucky enough to have considered him a friend were truly touched by him.

John was one of the kindest human beings ever to have walked the halls of IHS. A wonderful person, he will be sorely missed. IHS is much emptier without his smile.

2

October 2014

opinion

Editorial The Importance of Perspective in News With over seven billion people in the world, there are many new occurrences to be reported each day. Newspapers, magazines, radio shows, telecasts, and more provide us with ways of finding out what goes on in the world around us. Our opinions and ideas on different topics are largely based on what we see in the media. While we tend to believe that this works out well, it is very possible that the sources we base our thoughts on provide radically different perspectives than others. People tend to form their opinions based on news sources that report from a perspective they themselves agree with, and as such, it is necessary to follow multiple news sources in order to develop a complete and well-informed viewpoint.

Bias in news reporting surfaces most prominently when dealing with controversial issues.

Take, for instance, the riots in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting of Michael Brown.

Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson for reasons that still remain unclear. His death led to many protests and riots on the streets of the city. The chaotic environment was exacerbated by the fact that the police used tear gas against protesters on the weekend of August 16. Following the incident, articles about protesters breaking into a McDonald’s emerged. The Wall Street Journal—which has a heavy conservative following—stated that the “resulting retreat by marchers . . . set off widespread vandalism, including a man who took a large rock to break a window at the local McDonald’s.”

Meanwhile, the more liberal Vice reported that “protesters attempting to rescue those hit by tear gas reportedly broke into a local McDonald’s and used the store’s milk to help relieve the sting of gas.” The two papers clearly provide starkly different perspectives on the incident that go on to shape the minds of their readers. Reading just one article could downplay or obscure an aspect of the event that is crucial to understanding it. One would have to deliberately read news from different sources to acquire a broader and deeper understanding of such an event.

Yahoo! News presented both sides by saying McDonald’s had been “seized by the demonstrators who broke the restaurant’s window. What is unclear is if the restaurant’s windows were broken by angry protesters or by those suffering from tear gas burns to their eyes.” Reporting in such a manner allows the reader to view an event through multiple perspectives rather than a single, biased perspective.

Another example of a time when media coverage displayed serious discrepancies was in the The Tattler is the student-run newspaper of aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One reporting Ithaca High School. It was founded agency released a photo of an African-American in 1892 and is published monthly. subject with the caption, “A young man walks through chest-deep flood of water after looting As an open forum, the Tattler invites opinion piece submissions and a grocery store. . . .” Another agency released a letters to the editor from all communearly identical photo with a caption that told nity members. Drop off submissions a different story: “Two residents wade through in E25 or email them to: chest-deep water after finding bread and soda editor@ihsTattler.com from a local grocery store.” This divide, as well as many other incidents during the coverage of Mail letters to: the aftermath of Katrina (such as the use of the The IHS Tattler word “refugee” versus “survivor”) created a lot 1401 N. Cayuga St. of controversy and resulted in some individuals Ithaca, NY 14850 being fired from their posts in the media.

It would be ideal if reporting agencies proThe Tattler reserves the right to edit all submissions. Submissions do not vided readers with multiple perspectives, but necessarily reflect the views since this is not the case, individuals should of editorial staff. broaden their scope and read various sources.

In this way, readers can formulate an educated opinion after evaluating all sides.

2014 – 2015 Editor-in-Chief

Owen Zhang ’15 editor@ihsTattler.com

News Editor

Kalil Hendel ’15 news@ihsTattler.com

Opinion Editor

Olivia Salomon ’15 opinion@ihsTattler.com

Features Editor

Sophia Shi ’15 features@ihsTattler.com

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Penultimate and Back Page Editor

Lindsey Yuan ’15 backpage@ihsTattler.com

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Copy Editor

Daniel Xu ’17 copy@ihsTattler.com

Photography Editors

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Deborah Lynn advisor@ihsTattler.com

opinion

October 2014

3

Editorial Day One

The Lockdown ministrators, and walkie talkies is to deal with potentially dangerous situations and keep the student body safe.

The presence of the IPD only enhanced that commitment to safety; bringing in professional and community-based authority was a sensible thing to do.

Some complained that lunch was bland or that it took too long to serve, but we would be remiss if we did not compliment the food services team for delivering food to 1,400 students via mobile cart with little notice and free of charge.

Lastly, it is often said that high school must provide hands-on experiences that teach students lessons that can be applied to the real world. An emergency scenario like the lockdown was nothing if not an excellent opportunity to learn the lesson of patience.

Although the lockdown may not have been ideal for anyone, certain circumstances warranted its happening, and it was handled remarkably well by the administration.

A whole lot of dough went into these pizzas.

IMAGE BY NICK BOGEL-BURROUGHS

conveniences ranging from having to be escorted to the bathroom to having to sit in the same place for hours. Soon, social media was abuzz with shock and awe over the whole ordeal. When the lockdown was finally lifted, the campus was still occupied by numerous Ithaca Police Department (IPD) officers and reporters asking students about their reactions to the lockdown.

While it is understandable that commotion would exist after the lockdown, the most important thing to think about in a scenario like it is school safety. BB guns are serious and their possible presence warrants extensive action.

If there had been a BB gun on campus, the administration, doing its job, could not risk any unsafe gun-related occurrences. By conscience and law, the steps taken were the right ones. Searching every backpack and locker may have seemed excessive to a student venting on his Twitter, but in reality, one of the main reasons we have things like school safety plans, loudspeakers, school adIMAGE BY NICK BOGEL-BURROUGHS

The lockdown on the first day of school was a surprise that affected everyone in the school community.

Naturally, the three-and-a-half-hour ordeal—caused by the presence of a BB gun wrapper—evoked myriad reactions from students, staff, and parents.

Overall, however, the administration's commitment to the welfare and safety of its students was admirable, and was proven by how well the lockdown was handled, even if it was remarkably inconvenient.

The first day of school was in many ways a landmark. For hundreds of students, it was the first day of high school; for hundreds of others, it was the last first day of their entire public school career; for teachers new and old alike, it was a moment of excitement and importance. Being told less than 30 minutes into first period to crouch down on the floor for what would be three hours was, to say the least, undesirable. Throughout the lockdown, many students complained about various in-

Not my bag!

4

October 2014

NEWS

The Secret Life of Mr. Kirk: The Stone Quarry Apartments Controversy and One IHS Teacher’s Role in It

By OWEN ZHANG

The Annual to Celebrate One Hundredth Birthday IMAGE BY JOHN YOON

By OWEN ZHANG

Last year’s Annual cover.

The Annual, IHS’s yearbook and sibling to the Tattler, will be turning one hundred this year. To commemorate the occasion, the yearbook will be larger by about one inch in height and width, according to editor-in-chief Elise Reynolds ’15.

“It will allow us to bring students Continued on Page 5.

Mr. Kirk observed in his natural habitat.

IMAGE BY JOHN YOON

Benjamin Kirk spends weekdays teaching algebra and statistics at IHS. On the side, he is the advisor of the Brain Team—IHS’s quizbowl team—and a passionate collector of clocks.

This summer, Kirk added another role to his already diverse list: de facto spokesman for his neighbors against the controversial Stone Quarry Apartments low-income housing project.

The new apartments are set to be built near Kirk’s Spencer Road residence in downtown Ithaca. In late August, after months of grueling debate, the Ithaca Planning and Development Board officially approved the proposed project.

I spoke with Mr. Kirk to learn more about his perspective on the controversy and his experiences as de facto spokesman.

The Controversy Stone Quarry Apartments, a low-income-housing project by Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, has stirred controversy since its inception in 2012. Its proponents, among them Ithaca mayor Svante Myrick, promote the project as a source of muchneeded affordable housing in Ithaca.

But Spencer Road residents think differently.

“Affordable housing is obviously a big need for Ithaca,” said Kirk, “but it seems like the current viewpoint is to just build anywhere one can find a large enough plot of land, with no consideration to how it will fit with the community.”

Kirk and his neighbors argue that the proposed apartments, which will bring 35 housing units and various residential facilities all onto about one acre of land, will significantly increase congestion along a road they claim is already narrow, busy, and pedestrian-unContinued on Page 6.

NEWS The Annual Continued from Page 4. much more content in about the same number of pages,” Reynolds said.

The Annual has been designed by Yearbook Club since 1914, though according to Reynolds, IHS archives contain yearbook-like publications dating back to as early as 1906. In recent years, Yearbook Club has been operated largely by three to five students who manage tasks involving everything from photography to marketing to layout design, Reynolds said.

This year, Yearbook Club is focusing on refreshing the design of the yearbook and making it more personal.

“As the school has grown, there is a sense that the book has become more impersonal, as we simply don’t have the page space to feature every student,” Reynolds said. “Students should look forward to changes in book structure and content, especially a shift away from the formulaic portraits and candids of the past.”

In addition, this year’s Annual will be the first to be printed by Lifetouch, which already takes school portraits for IHS students and staff and can “provide photography services that are beyond the scope of a traditional yearbook company,” according to Reynolds.

The official theme of this year’s yearbook is not yet ready to be disclosed, but Reynolds said that it is related Ask the Admins: Part 2 Continued from Page 1.

October 2014

5

to the publication’s centennial.

The Annual is available for purchase until December 23, and will cost $60 to regular students. The price of the yearbook, which is negotiated by Yearbook Club with the printer, has traditionally been a concern to some students.

“This is a valid concern, and we understand that not everyone has $60 lying around,” said Reynolds, who mentioned that seniors eligible for free or reduced-price lunches as well as students who join Yearbook Club may be eligible for discounted yearbooks.

“I encourage students to think of the book itself,” she added. “We put hours and hours of our free time into producing over 200 full-color pages. It’s not your typical paperback novel.”

For more information about purchasing yearbooks or submitting photos to Yearbook Club, visit the IHS Annual’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IHSAnnual. For information about discounted pricing, contact club advisor Lyn Reitenbach.

Yearbook Club meets every Tuesday in library lab 1.

Those interested in becoming involved should contact Reynolds or Reitenbach.

Q: What’s the official reasoning behind the new practice of teacher-on-teacher observation?

A: They extended the faculty meeting time for teachers to 90 minutes every Wednesday, after these teachers have already talked for six hours straight.

That keeps them here until about 5:15 in the afternoon, when some of them have kids in childcare or shopping they need to get done or all sorts of things.

What we said to our teachers was, “If you spend 45 minutes during your week just watching another teacher (not taking notes and not making a report—just watching), then we’ll cut the faculty meetings in half, down to 45 minutes, and we’ll get you out of here at 4:30.” It’s a great way to get a look at the curriculum and assessment methods of your colleagues, to support the need of our working families here inside the school, and to help the teachers get to know one another and make the high school more personal.

had a positive impact on the quality of education at IHS, or are they just a distraction?

A: iPads are not a form of learning.

They are a tool to assist learning. “iPad” to me is not a verb. “Analyze”, “explore”, “create”, “describe”—those are all things that you need to do when learning, and I believe that the iPads assist in developing those skills. However, we as a school district and as a teaching staff have to get better at teaching you how to use those tools to create those verbs.

We’re teaching not how to use an iPad; we’re teaching how to use technology to accomplish the goals of those verbs.

That’s a skill you can use long after the iPad becomes obsolete. I give our teachers a lot of credit for even trying to take on this new technology. There’s something curious about designing a lesson for students who may already know more about how to use the technology than you do. That’s a risk, but at least you’re being exposed to and have access to these new modes of technology in the classroom.

Q: Do you believe that the iPads have

Q: Is there anything currently being

done or anything planned to bring IHS’s cafeteria food up to a higher standard?

A: The cafeteria has to be a self-sustaining operation. It receives little to no taxpayer support. Whatever money they make they have to use for their own salaries, healthcare, laundry, fuel, and their own food. And on top of that, there are government mandates for what you have to sell. As a result, they are limited as for what they can put on a plate and they have to produce it at a cost that enables them to maintain people to deliver that food to you. In addition, there are also numerous government mandates about what you must serve, which reduces flexibility even more. They operate on a razor-thin margin, and if they go too far into the red, they’ll have to start making cuts. So until the funding mechanism radically changes, this is the way things have to be. Really, if you think about what you could get out in the world for $3, you realize that the cafeteria is one of the best restaurants in town. We need to reset our expectations and understand the laws that put this system in place.

6

October 2014

NEWS

Students React: IHS Lockdown

By TOBIAS BRISSON

On Friday, September 5, the packaging of a semi-automatic BB gun was found in the foyer bathroom of Kulp Auditorium. This resulted in a three-hour lockdown of the entire school while administrators searched students’ lockers and backpacks for the suspected BB gun. Some people were annoyed by the wait, others were impressed by the level of security, and others still were angry with the disruption of their education. The lockdown continued past all lunch periods, and school lunch was brought around on carts.

IHS principal Jarett Powers was interviewed about the series of events. When asked about the lockdown, he told me that, of course, he would have preferred for it not to have happened. However, he felt that it was necessary to put the students’ safety in the forefront.

The Secret Life of Mr. Kirk Continued from Page 4. friendly.

They also raise concerns over the alleged lack of communication by the project developer, most notably when it was discovered over the summer that the construction site had been the site of soil contamination.

The developer had failed to mention the spills in its permit applications, but city and state officials disagreed over the significance of the contamination.

Nevertheless, the confusion was ultimately clarified and construction is now set to proceed.

(Details of the controversy can be found on the Ithaca Journal, Ithaca Times, and Ithaca Voice.)

Enter Mr. Kirk “I was never really expecting to become our de facto spokesman, and didn’t anticipate my picture appearing in the paper,” admitted Kirk, who mentioned that he had never taken on such a large public speaking role before. “I just somewhat fell into the role over this last summer because I had the time.”

Kirk’s role expanded to include organizing and presenting remarks representing the opin-

ions of Spencer Road residents at public meetings as well as communicating with local journalists. Throughout the summer, Kirk was quoted by the Ithaca Journal, Ithaca Times, and Ithaca Voice.

“I was a little surprised about how quick or slow different Ithaca publications were about responding to my messages about what we in the neighborhood were going to say or do,” he said.

“I never expected to be singled out like this, and I was glad that many articles didn’t quote me exclusively.”

A Tough Fight For one, the approval process for a project like Stone Quarry Apartments is complicated, especially for people—like the Spencer Road residents—untrained in the various legal procedures involved.

But, according to Kirk, even larger was the challenge of maintaining morale.

“It was also very difficult for me and for all of us to be made to feel like we were classist, racist, and/or elitist,” he said.

“There was an instance where the mayor himself came to a meeting already in progress and without actually having heard our comments at the beginning

“We had to make sure that students would be safe in the Quad and in the hallways and in the parking lot.” Mr. Powers continued emphatically to say that students’ pockets were not being searched, contrary to rumors that surfaced on social media.

Students all had different perspectives on the lockdown. Finn Kellmurray ’18 had mixed feelings. He understood the necessity of having lockers and backpacks searched, but felt that it would have been more efficient to search backpacks first. “If someone had a BB gun, they would probably have it with them.”

Another student Oscar Chapman ’15, found it to be a “horrible situation,” but continued to be supportive of the lockdown as it continued. Finally, Jacob Basque said that he thought it was a drill at first, but when the threat of a BB gun was exposed, he became a little scared. Knowing about this threat caused him to take the situation more seriously.

Despite people having different views on the situation, one thing remained consistent. Everyone felt that safety was the utmost concern during the lockdown. of the meeting, characterized us as NIMBY complainers whose only concern was about having a bunch of lazy, stay-at-home criminals swarming our neighborhood.”

While Kirk said that the mayor later apologized for misjudging Kirk and his neighbors, the entire case still left him demoralized.

“It has also been hard to stay motivated to argue our case”, he said. “We’ve been saying essentially the same things for two years . . . and it’s hard to keep going to meetings and arguing our case when it doesn’t feel like the Board we are speaking to is really listening or willing to act on our concerns.”

Ultimately, the city approved the project. Kirk mentioned, however, that he and other residents are looking into filing a legal challenge against some of the more recent Planning Board decisions.

He said that he has learned a lot about the planning and development process as a result of the case, and has also become better acquainted with his neighbors.

“I have been very glad to get to know my neighbors and my ward alderpeople—Cynthia Brock and George McGonigal.

I feel that we are an interesting

group of people, and I have enjoyed spending time with all of them and hope to continue to do so in the future.”

He has, however, also left the case with a different view on Ithaca’s local government.

“I wish that I could say that I felt like my concerns had an impact on the project, but I have come away from this whole thing feeling rather disenfranchised and pessimistic about the ability of Ithaca citizens to have a real voice in the approval process of a project that looks good on paper,” he said. “I feel like the attitude of Common Council and Mayor—with the exception of my ward’s alderpersons [. . .]— was that our opinion was irrelevant. They wanted this project to go forward, and so go forward it did.”

Nevertheless, Kirk offered advice to students interested in participating in local government.

“You’re going to have to do your own work to understand the process. If you ask, people will help you understand, but nobody is going to go out of their way to explain things to you.”

“You have to understand when is the best time to make your case, and how to speak in a way so that people listen to you.”

October 2014

opinion

7

Carpooling at IHS: Not Unreasonable, but Room for Improvement

By DOROTA KOSSOWSKA

Is Television Rotting Our Brains?

By LORRAINE DAWSON

This just in: Yes.

IMAGE PROVIDED

Yes. Television is rotting our brains. Our brains are not literally growing mold and dying, but TV is ruining our minds and changing them for the worse. There are many reasons why television is a negative thing.

TV causes us to grow up with ideas of what perfection is and what we should be, even what we have to be. There are all these pictures in our heads of what popular people look like, what we have to do to be popular, what music is cool, what we must do to get a girlfriend or boyfriend, what we should all strive to be, what kind of person is considered acceptable, and whom we must be to be accepted. But where did all of these “rules” come from? Television helped promote these ideas and engrain them in our heads.

Some television shows are considered slightly more controversial, and Continued on Page 11.

A sweet car just for you. And nobody else.

IMAGE PROVIDED

IHS students are “not authorized to carry passengers on or off campus” in cars, and those who do risk “discipline including but not limited to revocation of parking privileges,” according to the IHS student handbook.

However, many students carpool with other students every day, and none seem to be getting their privileges revoked. This leads to confusion over what our school’s carpooling policy allows and restricts.

As it turns out, timing plays a huge role in our school’s carpooling policy, according to IHS associate principal Tokinma Killins. Students can carpool to school before classes start and from school after classes end, Killins said. In other words, unless you are on a school bus, sports bus, or district shuttle, the school is not liable for your transport to and from school. (It is responsible for you on school grounds during the school day, but students are told to park at their own risk, as school employees do not monitor IHS parking lots on a full-time basis.)

There is no problem with carpooling before and after school, and doing so is in fact a great way to save time and energy, catch up with friends, Continued on Page 10.

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opinion

October 2014

Should Police Carry Guns?

By TRISTAN ENGST IMAGE PROVIDED

Police packing heat.

Following the horrific events this summer in Ferguson, Missouri, the media railed against police militarization. For a particularly good example, Google “John Oliver Ferguson” and watch the hysterical yet disturbing

video in which comedian John Oliver vilifies the use of large military vehicles

by American police. However, what is most associated with the military?

Camo? Maybe. Guns? Certainly. Even in liberal, relatively pacifist Ithaca, police officers carry firearms.

According to The Economist, in 2012, over 400 Americans were “justifiably killed” by police with firearms. Disturbingly, the same year saw 79 Americans put on death row. Whether or not you think execution is an appropriate punishment, those 79 people at least had a trial, something not given to their “justifiably killed” counterparts. How many of those 400-plus people would have been executed had they been tried and found guilty? Maybe a few. It is evident that the police use of firearms results in killing many people without a trial. The Fifth Amendment states, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury. . . .” (simplification: no one shall be punished for a crime without

Say No to Knee Defender

Fight for Your Right to Recline

By OWEN ZHANG

On August 24, two disgruntled 48-year-olds were expelled from United Airlines Flight 1462 following an amusing incident involving seat reclination, stubbornness, vitriol, and eventually a cup of water thrown in one passenger’s face.

At the center of this incident was a deceptively innocentseeming device: the Knee Defender. The $22 device can be fastened to any commercial airline seat to inhibit it from reclining, leading to its use by passengers as a means of “defending” their legroom. As such, the Defender has found itself at the crossroads of a great clash between two rival factions: the Anti-Recliners and the Pro-Choice Recliners. Radical AntiRecliners claim that seat reclination is no longer tolerable in this era of “sardine seating” on planes and that Knee Defender allows for a reasonable defense of personal space.

proper trial). Since a lone police officer doesn’t comprise a grand jury, the contradiction is obvious: lawfully, police shouldn’t kill anyone. Clearly, to abide by the Fifth Amendment, police officers need to give up their guns.

Police in other countries have done just that. In 2013, zero people (and zero cops) were killed by police in the United Kingdom, where police rarely carry firearms. In other, more violent years, only a few people were shot. I emailed a former policeman from Scotland, Special Constable with Lothian and Borders Police Craig Richmond, about ways that police can incapacitate—the objective of shooting someone—without killing. He pointed out that many serious criminals only carry guns in response to police having them, so “you may be creating more dangerous situations by arming police.” He went on to say that when using a baton, “you are pretty much bruising or breaking people,” but that being shot with a TASER is “better than being hit with a baton or Continued on Page 11.

But they are mistaken.

Consider the distinction between that which is discourteous and that which indisputably violates others’ rights, and you will find that Knee Defender is an insidious device that deprives passengers of their right to recline, in the process setting them up to quarrel over an issue that might otherwise be resolvable through negotiation and the expression of empathy.

When you purchase a plane ticket, you implicitly acknowledge and agree to a set of conditions. Among these is the fact that every passenger on the flight is allocated a seat and luggage space and entitled to a variety of amenities and privileges.

Many of these amenities and privileges, if used in a certain way, can cause displeasure to other passengers—leaving reading lights on throughout the entire flight; opening window shades next to a sleeping neighbor; watching obscene videos-on-demand next to a young child; consuming copious amounts of egg salad and Budweiser next to . . . anyone.

But as long as such usage is within the rights and space assigned by the ticket to the passenger and does not create a disturbing environment in the eyes of the flight crew, it is not Continued on Page11.

opinion

October 2014

9

How Much Patriotism is Enough in History Class?

IMAGE PROVIDED

By SASCHA PACUN

WRITE

Anyone is welcome to write for the Tattler!

Email editor@ihstattler.com

Students protest proposed changes to the AP U.S. History curriculum.

On September 22, hundreds of students in Denver’s Jefferson County School District walked out of their morning classes in response to proposed changes to their school’s Advanced Placement history curriculum. The changes suggested would aim to promote patriotism and discourage civil unrest by removing civil disobedience topics from the curriculum. With the recent events in Colorado, questions about school and history have been raised. Should we allow patriotism to be taught in our courses? Moreover, what is the role of civil unrest in society?

The role of a high school should be not only to dogmatically educate, but also to promote critical thinking. The promotion of blind patriotism limits both the knowledge and critical thinking abilities of the student. Having different perspectives on events matters, especially in history. Patriotism should not be pushed onto students, but should be encouraged as a way to better understand history. Students should be encouraged to explore patriotism, its effects, and the historical context surrounding said patriotism. Exploring patriotism is a useful way to envision what the trends of a certain country at a certain time were. Being exposed to a little patriotism is harmless, but we should not promote the idea that America is flawless.

The more interesting of the two questions posed by the events in Colorado is the role of civil unrest in society. While civil unrest has the ability to promote great change, it can easily escalate and lead to violence. Technically, the actions of Russian separatists in Ukraine could be considered civil unrest. Ironically, attempts of countries to reduce civil unrest have often led to large-scale demonstrations. The role of civil unrest is to promote change within society, yet to blindly promote civil unrest is a recipe for disaster.

The student demonstration in Denver has been painted in black and white even though the events are more complicated. Where do we Continued on Page 11.

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v ct of Tompkins County Public Library Ad e Friends s c h o ok r A B io y d Au aph r og i B gy o ol s i B es in s Bu ens r ld ers i Ch put m s Co ook b o Students only, 16+ yrs, with student ID Co ics m Co a a Wednesday, Oct. 22, 4-8pm m edi a Dr lop Also open to the public: yc c Oct. 11-13, 18-20, & 25-28 En s y Every day 10am - 8pm, EXCEPT: sa s Oct. 11, 8am - 8pm and Oct. 28, 12 - 8pm E

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avoid sometimes-hour-long bus rides, and save on gas money. The real issue, however, arises when students get their senior licenses and privileges.

Students often wish to carpool to get lunch or just get off campus for a bit during free periods. However, according to Killins, the school is liable for you during the school day, so carpooling is not allowed during school hours. It is perfectly fine for two students with senior privileges and licenses to take separate cars and meet somewhere off campus, but getting in the same car is an issue.

I understand the school’s liability concerns, but I feel that if two students both have senior privileges and have a registered vehicle and a senior license (which allows a driver to transport people below age 21 and who aren’t immediate family) between them, then there is no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to carpool somewhere together. Carpooling is more convenient than taking separate cars, especially since many seniors don’t have a car and don’t want to miss out on a chance to have some memorable experiences with their friends in their last year of high school.

If they do not already, the senior privilege forms should state that students who wish to leave campus during the school day will not hold the school accountable for accidents that happen off school grounds. I read the senior privilege forms of some other schools, and many of them include a statement that transfers the liability of a student from the school to the parent or guardian when a student goes off campus during the school day.

In short, IHS’s current carpooling policy isn’t unreasonable, but making a few changes that other schools have already made could make school a lot more flexible and fun for seniors.

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Carpooling at IHS Continued from Page 7.

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opinion Say No to Knee Defender Continued from Page 8.

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Should Police Carry Guns?

Continued from Page 8.

IMAGE PROVIDED

This may be uncomfortable, but nobody KNEEDS Knee Defender.

October 2014

in your right to force the other passenger to change or stop.

Reclining your seat on a packed flight is one of those potentially contentious actions, just like using Knee Defender is. The difference is, while reclining may be bad-mannered (for the lack of a better term), it is only that: bad-mannered. The use of Knee Defender is, in contrast, a clear infringement on another passenger’s right to recline, a right he or she paid real money for.

And it’s not as if there are no ways to minimize the issues posed by seat reclination. (For one, if you have $22 to spend on a pair of plastic clips, you might also have the dough for an extra-legroom seat.)

The real solution, however, is to rely not on a $22 piece of plastic to solve reclination disagreements, but on good old face-to-face conversation—most seating conflicts can be mitigated through civilized negotiation and compromise. Remember that the vast majority of passengers want to make the abomination that is modern-day air travel flow as smoothly as possible. Consider and balance the perspective and needs of the other party with your own: Does he have long legs? Does she need a flat tray table for her lunchbox or laptop? Do you absolutely need the additional five degrees of recline in order to rest?

If no compromise is possible, recliners should lower their seats in the least offensive way possible: gradually. Those behind them should tolerate their decision for what can at most be several more hours of flight time.

In short, in a civilized society, one in which people can talk, understand each other’s seating needs, and compromise with or tolerate each other, there is really no space for Knee Defender.

shot by a gun." Richmond believes that generally, the “use of TASERs is positive, particularly when the alternative is that people will be shot.”

To answer the original question: except in very rare situations that merit SWAT teams with assault rifles, no—police officers should not carry guns. Effective non-lethal alternatives to firearms exist, and until they replace firearms among police forces, America’s trigger-happy police will continue to needlessly and unlawfully kill hundreds of American citizens, many of whom wouldn’t be dead if police shot with TASERs instead. Rather than have their jobs resemble a Battlefield Assault Commando IV–type video game, America’s police would do well to learn from their British counterparts and give up the gun.

Is Television Rotting our Brains?

Continued from Page 7. those are typically the more diverse and interesting ones. Those are fine to watch, right? But, beyond influencing us to think that there are right ways and wrong ways to do things and to live, television also consumes a ton of time. While the shows that are interesting and weirdly political can teach us a lot (as they don’t echo many of society’s popular views) they still take a lot of time. If you’re okay with spending time on them, then go ahead.

How Much Patriotism is Enough in History Class?

Continued from Page 9. draw the line between blind patriotism and patriotism as an educational tool? Where do we draw the line between promoting civil unrest as a powerful catalyst for social change and telling students to protest without thinking? These are complicated questions which have no completely correct answer.

To paint the issue in black and white is a disservice to any parties involved.

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October 2014

features

High School–Middle School Contrast

By LORRAINE DAWSON

All of us know that there are differences between high school and middle school. The contrast is probably most striking to freshmen, who were middleschoolers just four months ago. High school just feels different, but it’s hard to say exactly what makes it so different from middle school.

First of all, IHS is a lot bigger and more complicated than middle school.

We laughed when we got maps upon arriving, but at least we now know where we’re going or know a person who knows. (If you tossed your map and are now confused, don’t worry; you can always go to the main office and ask for a new one.)

There’s the obvious suit of armor that all freshmen have to wear. It comes in handy when battling homework, trying to conquer clubs, and having enough time for the daily two-hour sports practice. Even if you aren’t doing all of these things, it can still be a lot to handle. Between friends, assignments, and sports, time can go by pretty fast, and before you know it, you have five tests on the same day.

That brings us to another big difference. The amount of homework seems crazy in comparison to that of middle school.

Even though it’s just the beginning of the year and homework is still manageable, it’s a little overwhelming to think that the homework we’re being assigned won’t be considered a lot by the time November comes. (Relax. Homework gets easier. It just takes a while to get used to it. It’s already taking less time than it did the first couple of days, right?)

One thing that seems to be really looser than in middle school are the rules. Sure, the high school has a dress code, but at least you can wear hats here. (Am I right, Boyntoners and DeWitters?) You can wear shorter shorts and not get written up because they don’t go down to your ankles. You can go to the library at lunch and work on homework or just hang out with friends; even the fact that you can eat in the library is pretty amazing. You can sit wherever you want at lunch without teachers telling you to sit six-four—that is, six to the big tables and four to the little ones. You can walk the hallways without teachers asking where you’re going, what you’re doing, who sent you, or any other such interrogatives. I know the middleschool teachers were just doing their job, but it gets a little tedious when the fourth teacher stops you in the hall when you Continued on Page 17.

Freshman at the orientation on September 4.

IMAGE BY JOHN YOON

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#ALSIceBucketChallenge

Laura Bachellerie, Exchange Student

IMAGE PROVIDED

By DOROTA KOSSOWSKA

IMAGE BY ZSOFIA SZEGLETES

By ZSOFIA SZEGLETES

Who would have thought that something so cold could be so hot?

Laura is a junior here on Rotary Exchange.

Laura Bachellerie is an exchange student here from France with the Rotary Youth Exchange. She lives in a town called Saint-Étienne that is 30 miles southwest of Lyon.

She arrived in Ithaca in mid-August and will be staying for a year with several host families. Although Laura has studied English for only five years, she is taking her gradelevel courses, including English 11 and United States History, and admits that she prefers America to France. If you haven’t seen her around, she’s a friendly and enthusiastic girl, so be sure to say hi!

Zsofia Szegletes ’15: Why did you decide to join Rotary?

Laura Bachellerie ’16: I went to an exchange student presentation by former exchange students who told their stories. Since this moment, I just wanted to try it and to be the next exchange student who goes to discover a foreign country.

ZS: How does Rotary work?

LB: The Rotary is an exchange student program but not only an exchange student program; they are also involved in community service. The purpose is to be in a family during a semester and to change families twice a year. And to follow classes in a high school and also to be involved in the Rotary Club in the foreign country. You must attend several Rotary meetings and show that you are determined in what you are doing.

Continued on Page 17.

Those who scrolled through their Instagram feeds this past summer (or who were on the Internet in general) have probably encountered their fair share of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos. ALS, which stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a fatal disease that attacks the nervous system. As of September 19, over three million people have donated to the ALS Association, raising an estimated $114 million for ALS research.

For those who have no clue as to what the challenge consists of, here are the basics: First, you get nominated to complete the challenge of pouring a bucket of ice water over yourself, filming it, and posting it online. Nominees have 24 hours to either decline the challenge and donate $100 to the ALS Association or complete the challenge, donate only $10, and then nominate others to complete the challenge.

So, how does a fund-raising campaign end up becoming a viral Internet sensation that is raising more money than ever expected? Previously, challenges similar to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge had been circulating around various social media sites, but none were linked to ALS. There have been “Cold Water Challenges” to raise money for various medical charities and “Polar Plunges” to raise money for similar causes, all of which gained attention online. The switch from dumping cold water on one’s head or jumping into cold water to dousing oneself in ice water was publicized in the golfing community. On the Golf Channel, personalities on Morning Drive did a live Ice Bucket Challenge. This gained a lot of media attention, and the concept of an Ice Bucket Challenge gained even more interest. On July 15, Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show completed the challenge, and the challenge was brought to mainstream audiences.

At this point, however, such challenges were not connected to raising money and awareness specifically for ALS. Golfer Chris Kennedy completed the Ice Bucket Challenge on the same day that Matt Lauer completed his, but chose to donate Continued on Page 17.

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features The Hall Monitor

October 2014

INTERVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROSIE ROSS

What’s your greatest fear?

Caitlin Garbo ’15 “I was in a car accident and the car got totaled in late June. I am really afraid of car accidents, I guess. Driving is kind of scary for me. But I’m working on it. Life is good.”

Meghan Jordan ’15 “My hair getting too frizzy.”

Mark Westwig ’18 “My worst fear is probably going to be forgetting something for homework and coming in and realizing I have a test and then being the only person the teacher calls on out of the entire class.”

Ms. Turner “My biggest fear is birds. I am deathly afraid of birds. Perhaps it was from watching the movie The Birds when I was younger.

I’m not really sure.”

Malama Sokoni ’15 “I am really, really afraid of the ocean because it’s gigantic and we haven’t really seen most of it and we don’t know what’s in there, for the most part.

We know a lot, but we don’t know everything. Space is big and I get that, but in order for space to pose a threat to you, you have to go there. The ocean is here with us. All the time. So it freaks me out.”

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Teacher Feature: Christopher Carver

By SOPHIA SHI

Christopher Carver teaches Regents and Honors Economics as well as AP Human Geography. Many students find Carver, known for his ability to combine effective teaching with dry humor, very personable. I interviewed him to get to know him better.

what education means to people who don’t get it, and the ways in which the stuff that we talk about in class affects—or doesn’t affect—people there. Building that understanding of what the world is like for people here is also really central to what I do.

Sophia Shi ’15: Where did you grow up / go to school?

Christopher Carver: I grew up in Trumansburg, New York and went to high school there. I was in the largest class ever at Trumansburg High School. Our class graduated with 120 students.

SS: When did you become interested in economics?

CC: My senior year of high school, we had to take Government and Economics, just like you guys do here. Except we didn’t do as good of a job of it in Trumansburg. There was only one 12th grade teacher and he was a history major; he didn’t know anything about economics. So he taught the whole year about Government, and the last two weeks, right before we graduated, he was like, “Hey, there’s this thing called economics.” He put up a couple graphs on the board, which were probably wrong. Despite that, it was enough for me—it was interesting, it was exciting, and I wanted to learn more about that. So I went to college undeclared, and there were exploratory classes that you could take, which were supposed to be in depth with a professor in a small setting. And I got the one that was my first choice, called “The Economics of Public Policy Issues”. And that class was fantastic. I worked with a professor from my first semester, and I knew right away that’s what I wanted to do. By the end of my freshman year, I had declared a major in Economics.

SS: What was your favorite childhood memory?

CC: I don’t know if I have a favorite childhood memory. Soccer was my main one; my “thing” was being captain of the soccer team. It made me happy, made me feel relatively cool.

But I don’t know if I have one memory that was amazing.

Maybe Bar Harbor, in Maine. I went there with my parents.

It’s a little cold in the summer. I wanted my parents to take me to the beach. I just wanted to go swimming, and their idea of doing that was going all the way to Maine. I jumped in the water. It was 56 degrees—numb. Thank you, parents.

SS: Speaking of your parents, what is your family like?

CC: I have one brother. He’s five years younger than me; he looks older than me, he’s taller than me, he’s heavier than me, and he has a beard. He just went into teaching, which is kind of crazy. He got hired in Rochester a couple of weeks ago, and makes more money than me. He just bought a new car. I’m kind of jealous.

SS: Has your high-school experience influenced how you approach teaching?

CC: I think my approach to teaching is a combination of my personality and that of my favorite teachers from high school.

I had one teacher, Mr. Bond, who was my favorite teacher in high school. He’s actually one of the reasons why I went into teaching. He had already been teaching 30 years, and he was still fantastic and interesting and connected with students.

He would wear jeans and a shirt and tie every day and he had really strange mannerisms and he was just funny. He had a habit: whenever I said something in class that was wrong, he would look at me and say, “Chris, that was exactly wrong.”

So I liked him and I try to be unpredictable, I think, because of him. I try not to be too sarcastic when I’m teaching, but I had a particularly sarcastic teacher, my science teacher, and he had a notice up on the wall that was a quote, and it said, “The floggings will continue until morale improves,” which was sort of his approach to teaching. I think that’s kind of funny; in fact, I hung it up in the back of my room this year.

And then there’s also my experience in Ethiopia. Being in one of the least-developed countries in the world and seeing

SS: Why do you think Economics is taught in the 12th grade?

Why not earlier?

CC: That’s a good question. The most practical answer is that there’s no Regents in Economics. And in the social sciences, there’s a Regents in Global History, which requires two years, and United States History. We base a lot of our curriculum off of getting people through those tests, and then take care of some of the other stuff later, when you don’t have to pass a test to show some state level of proficiency. That’s the simple answer.

I think it does go well senior year, I have to say. I try to teach Economics as a bridge between high school and life, high school and college, high school and stuff outside of school. And it does that really well. Economics is so relevant.

Very little of it is historical. It’s about how you can apply what you’ve learned in all sorts of disciplines to the decisions you’re going to make in your life, and I think that it’s easy to connect with seniors because they’re looking forward, they’re looking for something different, they’re looking to see what their experience will be like in the real world.

SS: What significance does AP Human Geography hold in a school’s curriculum?

CC: Human Geography is a really interesting course, and the first thing that anybody asks me when I talk about it is, “What the heck is Human Geography?” It’s fundamentally any human characteristic with a spatial component. It’s not Continued on Page 18.

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features

October 2014

The History of Halloween

By EMMA KARNES

Double, double, toil and trouble.

IMAGE PROVIDED

At the heart of autumn, Halloween brings light-hearted decorations, smells of cider and cinnamon, and a chill in the air. For most children, the best part of Halloween is the candy. For others—namely, those whose neighbors prefer fruit as a healthy alternative—it is the costumes. As such, it seems inevitable that everyone is just a little happier than usual on the night of October 31, whether it be from the taste of chocolate or the sense of community brought about by children roaming the streets long after dark. The fun and joy of this holiday, however, are not mirrored by the practicality and somberness of its origins.

The idea of Halloween originally came from the Celtic fes-

tival of Samhain (pronounced sah-win), which marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter preparations. It was believed that the boundary between the living and dead was broken on that night, and that evil spirits would return from the dead to wreak havoc on harvested crops. The tradition of costume-wearing originates from the masks worn to mock and appease these spirits.

Variations on the tradition of Halloween also existed in medieval Europe. On Hallowmas (November 1), it was common practice for the poor to dress in costumes and go from door to door, offering prayers to the dead in exchange for food. This custom involved both door-to-door begging and costume-wearing, but did not revolve around the concept of returning spirits like Samhain did.

The first reference to Halloween in English-speaking North America was in a 1911 newspaper in Ontario, which reported that small children had visited stores in the evening and exchanged songs and rhymes for nuts and candies. In the following two decades, though, references to Halloween were extremely few and isolated. Because its strongest ties were to Ireland, Halloween was initially thought to have been brought to America with the influx of Irish immigrants during the Irish Potato Famine; however, the fact that the holiday did not become popular in the United States until the 1930s—generations after the famine—renders this theory unlikely.

To this day, the sudden widespread celebration of Halloween is largely unexplained, but once it became well known in the United States, it soon spread around the world. Halloween has evolved to be a fun, unique, and delicious holiday.

Today, it is popular in the United States, Europe, Canada, and even Saudi Arabia. Now, children all over the world can dress up and go trick-or-treating without the impending doom of evil spirits.

The Student Handbook: Rulebook or Parody?

By THEA CLARKBERG

Upon receiving their student handbooks, many students simply throw them away or toss them in a bin for school work at home. When I received mine this year, I decided to look a little bit more deeply into what exactly I was agreeing to when I signed the student handbook contract.

It was actually a pretty hilarious read. For example, what first drew me in was the page titled "Right and Responsibilities”. The list of responsibilities is more than twice as long as the very

short list of rights. Apparently, we have the right to freedom of speech! Well, as long as we don't say anything that isn't allowed. We also have "the right to assemble peaceably" (page 4).

However, we must "refrain from participating in or encouraging others to participate in unauthorized assembly, boycott, or sit-in" (page 5). According to page 31, "students may not be punished by school authorities for offenses occurring off school grounds." According to page 35, Continued on Page 19.

The IHS Constitution.

IMAGE BY JOHN YOON

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High School-Middle School Continued from Page 12. really just NEED TO USE THE BATHROOM. There are so many more classes available here. If you like the arts, you can take classes in technology, studio art, photography, sculpting, film, dancing, writing, and much more. We should all appreciate how many more options we have, including help in every subject from teachers and other students.

Perhaps the biggest change of all is us. Maybe you got a new haircut and it’s working. Maybe you are having more trouble than before and you’re already about to give up. Maybe you find yourself as a good student who pushes your limits and loves to learn. Either way, we’re all now high-schoolers.

The Tattler accepts submissions of poetry and creative writing!

Email editor@ihstattler.com French Exchange Student Continued from Page 13.

#ALSIceBucketChallenge Continued from Page 13.

ZS: How is school different here?

LB: Almost everything is different concerning the choice of the subjects, concerning the schedule. Here, the schedule does not change every day. In France, your curriculum is chosen for you.

his money to an ALS charity because a relative of his was suffering from the disease. This relative is the husband of Kennedy’s cousin, Jeanette Senerchia, who was also nominated for the challenge and who also donated to an ALS charity.

The challenge, by then dubbed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, was completed by many others in the community, and it spread across the Internet like never before. The ALS Association noticed a dramatic increase in donations in early July 2014 and linked it to the increasing popularity of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The challenge became a huge part of its charity campaign, and has led to impressive participation and donations and an increased awareness of ALS.

ZS: Do you have difficulty taking classes in English?

LB: It’s not easy all the time. Especially when teachers are making their lesson as usual. I understand because they have to teach as usual so it is my duty to try my hardest.

ZS: What’s your favorite place in Ithaca so far?

LB: I think it’s Cayuga Lake because it’s awesome. The Ithaca Falls are so pretty; you have the impression that you are in another place and not that you are in a town. It’s a way to distance yourself from the city.

ZS: How are you getting to know the community? Extracurriculars?

LB: On Monday, Strong Women Impacting Society (SWIS) club. I find it really interesting and kind of funny. You just spend a good time talking with people. I would like to belong to a cooking club if it’s possible. I wanted to play soccer on the girls’ soccer team, but I came too late to join the team, and I think I can’t join anymore. Perhaps I would like the tennis team.

ZS: What do you think of the food?

LB: Before leaving France, I feared American food because of the American stereotype I’ve heard about liking fast food. I thought that the American food will be different from French food, but actually it’s not so much. I’d say that I eat pretty well and I am glad for that. In America, there is a kind of a mix of culinary culture, so that’s what I like.

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October 2014

features Teacher Feature: Christopher Carver Continued from Page 15.

just about geography, not just about pointing to something on a map. You do need to be able to find things on a map, but it’s more about explaining why a pattern or process occurs on a map where it does.

Human Geography is a fascinating course. It could be called other things: you could call it Development and Sociology or Community and International Development (which was actually my undergraduate minor). Our units are Population and Migration, Agriculture and Resource Use, Economic Development, Political Geography, and Cultural Geography. It’s all aspects of the human condition. It’s designed to give students a broad view of the world, to understand their connection to other places and to be less ethnocentric. I think Human Geography is a really important thing to teach anybody going out into the world, no matter what your major in college or what your career will be. I think it focuses on the interconnectedness of global society and the responsibility that people have as global citizens.

SS: What do you like most about IHS/ ICSD? CC: What I like most about any school district is that it’s the center of a community. Not only do students come here to live and learn and grow up, but there’s events after school, during school, on the weekends. Every day I drive by IHS, or most schools, the parking lots are full and there are events, whether they be athletics or plays or a whole host of things. I like that the school is the center of the community and that I’m some small part of that.

SS: What would you change about the school?

CC: The fundamental thing, in my opinion, that we need to change is the rate of turnover of our administrators, specifically our principal. We have outstanding teachers and great administrators as well, but you must have continuity to move forward and to have a concrete vision. When you bring somebody

A teacher of many talents.

through a revolving door every two or three years, everybody well meaning has their own policies, their own way of doing things. And when you do that too often, you end up with this really chopped-up approach. We’ve built it up under our current principal pretty well now. We have some established norms.

Students are held accountable when they miss classes. There are procedures in place for a whole bunch of policies behind the scenes between teachers and administrators, and I’m afraid that we’ll lose that again when Mr. Powers leaves—and we’ll start over.

SS: How do students today compare to students when you were in high school?

CC: Well, when I was in high school, we didn’t have cell phones. People started having cell phones in about my senior year of college. I still remember memorizing friends’ phone numbers and dialing from my parents’ house and running upstairs to use the upstairs phone so my parents wouldn’t listen to my conversations. That’s probably the biggest difference in school. And when I compare my school experience to what I see with my students, I am comparing IHS to Trumansburg High School in a lot of ways. The biggest difference that I see between being a student at Trumansburg and a student at Ithaca relates

IMAGE BY JOHN YOON

back to what I was talking about before about the administrators and the culture of responsibility and understanding of procedures. At Trumansburg High School, there were certainly plenty of kids who misbehaved and whatever, and I wasn’t always perfect either, but there is a basic culture of respect at Trumansburg, where students understand where boundaries are with teachers, with adults, with what they say and do in the hallway in general. And I feel that often at Ithaca, whether because it’s such a big place or because we’re still trying to get some basic procedures in place, that sometimes Ithaca is a little bit of a free-for-all until I bring people into my classroom and establish norms there. But it takes a significant amount of my effort, almost on a daily basis, to establish a cooperative, kind, respectful, and productive learning environment in my own room. I didn’t have to put so much effort in when I taught at Trumansburg.

SS: You’re very interested in organized sports.

CC: Almost all of the sports I play are in adult leagues. I play on two different adult soccer leagues, one for just men and one that’s coed. I play on volleyball leagues almost year-round now, which Continued on Page 19.

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A Handbook of Fun Continued from Page 16.

Teacher Feature: Christopher Carver Continued from Page 18.

however, "New York State law authorizes school authorities to apply its discipline code to student misbehavior that occurs off campus."

The school bans some interesting things, including "representations of the Confederate flag (stars and bars)" (page 6), gambling (page 39), and pagers (page 7). A lot of people don't even know what pagers are anymore (Google it!). Many of the rules are not enforced; for example, you are apparently not allowed to eat in class without a lunch pass (page 8).

Finally, a section that I personally think is the most hilarious: page 9, which describes recognition that you can get for being a responsible individual or group. This recognition includes "press releases to media" and "posters or banners of appreciation placed in school”. Next time I am particularly responsible, I look forward to seeing posters around the school recognizing how awesome I am.

So take a second look at those little booklets they give out. You might be surprised at what you are actually agreeing to.

is really fun—I’ve gotten into that. I play in a hockey league; I played in the kickball league this summer; I was in the golf league all summer. I also ski and snowboard on my own.

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SS: Why do you think sports and professional sporting events are important to have in our lives?

CC: I think that being involved in athletics has enormous advantages. Primarily—simply in terms of fitness—being healthy in a society that has massive rates of obesity and a whole bunch of other diseases. I think just encouraging people to be active is the most important part of sports. And then in team sports, there are lessons learned about working with others and working hard to get better. What’s the value in professional sports? I’m not so sure. It encourages TV watching, unhealthy eating, gambling in a lot of cases, over-reliance on social media in terms of fantasy leagues, and an enormous amount of society’s economic resources being put towards something that’s fundamentally not productive. There’s still a cultural aspect—you’re coming together as a group of people, you have a common culture as a nation; and maybe there’s pride in that, especially if you’re rooting for a national team. If you’re rooting for a city team, then there’s some city pride, so it serves sort of a civic function. But I don’t know if it’s hugely important. [Laughs.]

SS: What’s something that you’re proud of?

CC: I’m proud of my decision to switch to teaching. I had what a lot of people would consider a really good job right out of college, working as a loan officer. I made a ton of money. Most people would consider that to be extremely successful. I reevaluated my priorities and thought about what would make me happy, and I went into teaching, which is something that I find more fulfilling, and I think has a more positive impact on the world than what I was doing before.

SS: What’s your best advice to students?

CC: Pretty much consider what you actually want to do. Define success by something other than money. The really cliché quote, “The best things in life aren’t things” is true. If you define your success based on the kind of car you’re going to drive and the kind of house you’re going to have, and awesome gadgets and how cool your Nikes are going to be—if that’s the way you think about the world, I think unfortunately, you’re going to end up unhappy at some point. And the sooner you come to that realization, the more likely you are to lead a truly fulfilling life.

Favorite high school subject: Social studies (especially AP Government) Most admired entrepreneur: Warren Buffett—he understands the economy better than anyone else Biggest pet peeve: Students lining up at the door Favorite food: Lasagna and guacamole (not together though) Song of the moment: “Holes to Heaven” by Jack Johnson

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October 2014

A&e XXYYXX, Joywave, and All Too Much Bass

By PEARSE ANDERSON

I regretted not bringing earplugs from the moment I entered Emerson Suites. Thirty feet in front of me stood the five members of Joywave, with the sounds of the drums and keyboards screaming into my ears. I had never encountered such bass. Neither had I been to a concert of such magnitude.

Let’s get one thing straightened out first: you should bring earplugs when you go to a concert. Any kind, any size. Just to be sure. When my mind drifts to memories of the concert, my ears instinctively cringe.

Okay, so, back to that night. Joywave can be best described as an indie rock band with heavy electronic influences. It performed only half of the music I heard that night, having been followed by XXYYXX, a talented triphop experimental musician. (Please don’t ask me how to pronounce his moniker, because I truly do not know.

I asked around at the concert and I heard “chk-chk-chk”, “sheeesh”, and “kziks”.)

Both artists are fantastic, and I’d suggest that everyone should at least try to listen to their songs. The guitarContinued on Page 21.

Coming to IHS: First “Collage” Concert: A Preview

By BRIDGET FETSKO

IHS's first annual collage concert, titled Collage I: Masquerade, will be held on October 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Kulp Auditorium. The theme of the concert is “Masquerade”, and audience members are invited to come in costumes or masks. However, Ms. Zaryski and Ms. Hecht, both say this is not a Halloween-themed concert.

Ms. Hecht explained that a masquerade “is people disguised as exciting, unusual characters,” and she told us that, “the music you’ll hear is going to reflect that.” There will be a variety of music performed by choir, band and orchestra. Most of this music is different from what is heard at these ensembles and other concerts. This concert is also something new for all three ensembles because they rarely get to perform until late winter. Although the music performed at the collage concert is quite different than the usual programs of these ensembles’ winter concerts, much of it will also be performed then.

The three music teachers/directors at IHS, Ms. Zaryski, Choir, Ms. Zawel, Band, and Ms. Hecht, Orchestra, began planning the collage concert about a year ago. Ms. Hecht said, “We’ve all been involved with collage concerts at various point in our careers, as performers or conductors, and we all knew it was a type of event we wanted to bring to IHS.” The concert will feature the IHS Concert Choir, Concert Band, and Orchestra, along with smaller groups, such as Women’s Choir, from each of these ensembles. It is unknown “when, if ever,” Hecht says,”the IHS Orchestra, Band and Choir have all performed on the same concert.” There will be at least one piece in which all three ensembles perform together.

Collage concerts, also known as prism concerts, use all the space in an auditorium, including aisles. These concerts are also unique because they transition immediately from one group's performance to the next without time for applause. Traditionally, prism concerts use lighting to create interesting effects. Because this is the first collage concert at IHS, the music department is unsure how the lighting effects will be done, but there are plans for songs in total darkness. According to Ms. Hecht, “This kind of concert also requires rather creative use of the auditorium space,” meaning that small groups have to be ready to perform in a different location, such as an aisle, immediately after large groups perform on stage. This can be difficult for performers in multiple ensembles, who have to run from one performance to the next, but it also makes the event more interesting.

Although this is IHS's first-ever collage concert, the music department plans on making this an annual event. It will be very exciting to see what these ensembles do in their first prism concert. Ithaca High School’s Music Department is already working extremely hard to prepare for this performance.

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IMAGE PROVIDED

XXYYXX, Joywave, and All Too Much Bass Continued from Page 20. ist and vocalist of Joywave played almost perfectly that night, performing quick, catchy songs, while staff projected cross-sections of capillaries and radial patterns of what may have been flowers or fingers on the walls of Ithaca College. I learned from a staff member at the event that there would be about one concert like the one I attended per semester at Ithaca College in the coming seasons. And despite Joywave being a local (Rochesterbased) band, I was told not to expect just local artists to be performing.

Joywave finished up after playing two of its best live songs, “Tongues” and “In Clover”. I met the band’s vocalist, Daniel Armbruster, in the lobby of Emerson Suites minutes after he finished performing.

Joywave has big plans for the upcoming months.

Shortly after playing at Ithaca College, the band went west for the start of its 2014 tour, which will cover America and Europe. It is currently touring with St. Lucia and Betty Who, and will be stopping in New York City on October 8. Then, the band will be off to the United Kingdom and Germany, playing tracks from How Do You Feel?, a four-track preview of its newest album, which will be released in full next year.

When asked for advice he would give to aspiring local musicians, Armbruster said, “I think the move is to just build your audience locally and take pride in where Marcel Everett, a.k.a. XXYYXX. you’re from, but it’s really important to utilize the Internet and send your music to blogs.” sing their lyrics, but XXYYXX was one man with one In terms of local musicians, Armbruster recom- computer, all alone onstage. Everett had to start with mended listening to KOPPS, Mikaela Davis, Admirers, the very base of a song—the beat—and slowly build up, and the Demos, all of whom are based in Rochester. adding the vocal samples, garage samples, and claps “A lot of people spend five minutes making some- that make his music good. Throughout the concert, he thing and they’re like, ‘Oh, okay. I’m going to annoy slowly built songs up and dissolved them back into their people and tell them that they have to listen to my band, base elements of noise, then started the next one from listen to my band, listen to my band,’” he added. “If it’s scratch. In retrospect, it was a fascinating process, but not good, then you’re just wasting all of your time, so maybe not the best one for a concert. I felt like I was make something good, make sure it’s good, and then get left waiting around while Everett pulled in samples and it out there.” beats. It was as if I were watching a pyramid being built A classic example of what Armbruster spoke of can very, very slowly. His more complex or sample-heavy be seen in the 18-year-old one-man-band, Marcel Ev- songs were hard or impossible for him to pull off, with erett, better known as XXYYXX. Everett started mak- the exception of “Breeze”, one of the best tracks of his ing electronic music only three years ago, when he was debut album. Is there any fix to my unexpectedly nega15. He spent his sophomore year of high school creat- tive reaction to XXYYXX? The build to a song is part of ing futuristic soundscapes, sampling from Winehouse, the experience, and having a musician simply walk in Beyoncé, alt-J, and others. His work culminated in the and press a button on his Mac is terribly boring.

2012 album XXYYXX, a musical masterpiece. Everett Regardless of whether I prefer Everett live or recorddescribed it as “doing drugs . . . on a freeway . . . un- ed, he should be respected. Only 18 years old, he’s now der water.” To others, his music sounds otherworldly, touring America with big names like Sun Kil Moon and like the listener is meditating on a constantly changing Chvrches. Try not to see Everett as a god; see him as a competitor. Take Armbruster’s advice when going into moving train.

Despite all this, my initial reaction to XXYYXX’s any creative pursuit. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be bigconcert performance was mediocre. XXYYXX’s way of ger than XXYYXX or Joywave if you start now. If you making music was totally different from that of Joy- learned nothing else by reading this, just remember to wave, and perhaps this took away from my experience. bring earplugs. Please.

The members of Joywave could play their guitars and

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A&e As Above, So So October 2014

By CASSIDY EASTON IMAGE PROVIDED

As Above, So Below merited a fair rating as far as horror movies go. The storyline was interesting, the mythology was captivating, and the quality of the scares was decent. I had to excuse myself to the bathroom a few times during this movie, sometimes due to pantwetting terror, other times due to the stomach-turning camera shake. Although the vomit-inducing camera play may turn away some viewers, the film’s horror and mystery are adequate enough to make it interesting.

As Above, So Below takes place in Paris, where some attractive 30-year-olds who look like 20-year-olds are searching for the philosophers’ stone, a stone that can turn lead into gold and Good poster design, okay movie. grant eternal life. Unfortunately, the stone is hidden in an uncharted region of the Paris Catacombs, home to an abundance of hiding places for evil things and the perfect setting for the director to toy with nightmare fodder and claustrophobia. I found myself flinching from the screen every time a dark corner was exposed to light.

The mythology surrounding the philosophers’ stone, the ancient text the movie is named after, and the evil nature of the catacombs is fascinating and has the potential to be so many cool things. The characters could have traversed the depths of Hell, met the Grim Reaper, or even stepped into another dimension. Unfortunately, none of this actually comes to light—this plot point is only hinted at and remains ambiguous through the end of the movie. All moviegoers are left with is a mysterious sense of dread, which isn’t quite enough. Also, if you are prone to headaches or motion sickness, I wouldn’t advise you to watch this movie without a barf bag. The camera bucks and pitches like an angry bull in an attempt to make the “found footage” believable.

These details don’t make the film unwatchable. The story still captured interest and the scares had me and the gaggle of teenage girls behind me screaming. All in all, the movie seemed to go for quality over quantity when it came to scares, which ranged from well-timed jump scares to situations so nightmare-worthy they sent chills up the spine of even the most hardened horror movie veteran. As far as horror movies go, this one is on the good side of disturbing. Still, I personally would wait for it to come out on DVD and enjoy it with my friends, as opposed to going out and paying to see it in theaters. It may be good, but it’s not quite that good.

Classical Music Playlist

By DANIEL XU

Studies show that music appreciators today tend to throw classical music to the wayside, with only 2.8 percent of music albums sold in 2013 classified in the genre.

The names Beethoven and Mozart are often thrown around in casual conversation, but many people can’t even name a single composition by either of the two famed classicalists. Fearing that the common sense of the world is doomed, I’ve hijacked the playlist to send Tattler readers a message: listen to classical. Therein is a type of music that lacks singing—barring the occasional choral piece—but is clean, pure, and ultimately beautiful in our modern age. Even if you think you’re not a fan, there are some classical composers that may surprise you.

1. “Ride of the Valkyries”: Richard Wagner This is a piece that has been used everywhere in its instrumental version since its debut from the operatic series The Ring Cycle. You may have heard it on TV, or perhaps while watching D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation or Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, but never learned its name or origin. “Ride of the Valkyries” is the quintessential piece of adventure and Continued on Page 23.

The Tattler accepts submissions of poetry and creative writing!

Email editor@ihstattler. com

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Classical Music Playlist Continued from Page 22. atmosphere. The viola solo in the middle is very special and may seem to emulate the confusion of a skirmish, or perhaps the senselessness of war. Metaphoric description aside, it’s really quite an intense piece. I recommend the Emerson String Quartet recording that can be found on YouTube.

5. “March to the Scaffold”: Hector Berlioz “March to the Scaffold” is an excerpt from the programmatic Symphonie Fantastique, which depicts a young artist falling hopelessly in love with an unreachable woman. This particular movement embodies a dream of the artist, who has taken an excess of opium. He thus imagines his own execution by guillotine.

6. “Overture from Ruslan and Lyudmila”: Mikhail Glinka “MUSIC IS FAST LIKE BULLET” —Owen Zhang, 2014

The inside of a violin.

IMAGE PROVIDED

is a must-listen for anybody who wishes to learn to drive or achieve nirvana.

2. “Liebesträume No. 3”: Franz Liszt “Liebesträume” is a piece that one either loves or hates, as it specifically caters to romantics (the name meaning “love dream”, after all). The arpeggiated left hand of this piano solo creates an exquisite, opaque atmosphere that builds and morphs into something that can’t be found in any other genre of music.

3. “O Fortuna”: Carl Orff The mood of “O Fortuna”, the introduction to the cantata Carmina Burana, is instantly set by a grandiose beat of the timpani followed by the holistic chant of the chorus. It is a song that curses the emptiness of fate, but you don’t need to understand the lyrics for the piece to leave an impression. It has been featured in everything from The Matrix Revolutions to 1970s Old Spice commericals.

4. “String Quartet No. 3: III. ‘Forces of War Unleashed’”: Dmitri Shostakovich As a victim of Soviet censorship, Shostakovich was forced to attach the denomination “Forces of War Unleashed” to this movement of his third string quartet. Although the title was added in order to avoid conformity to old standbys, the commencement of a battle is not a bad way to describe this piece’s

7. “Arabesque No. 1”: Claude Debussy There is something to be said for what we call “Impressionistic music”, or music that aims to express pure emotion.

Debussy was the foremost Impressionist composer, and his first Arabesque exemplifies the quality that made him so popular at the onset of his movement; namely, a certain disregard for musical conventions. As the solo piano plays on, your thoughts may begin to wander away.

8. “Der Hölle Rache”: W. A. Mozart More commonly known as the Queen of the Night Aria, this operatic piece is considered to be among the most difficult arias ever written for soprano, and for good reason— the pitch rises and rises, eventually peaking at a high F6. The song has a very high entertainment value, as the performer must emulate a flute with her voice.

9. “Scarbo”: Maurice Ravel “Oh! how often have I heard and seen him, Scarbo, when at midnight the moon glitters in the sky like a silver shield on an azure banner strewn with golden bees.”

So begins Aloysius Bertrand’s poem that inspired this intensely menacing and dark piano masterwork. The entire piece creates such an atmosphere that the imagination runs wild. There is nothing by Ravel that is short of amazing.

10. “Cello Suite No. 1: I. Prelude”: J. S. Bach The notion of what classical music really is was set into motion with the rise of Bach’s popularity in the 1600s. Today, Bach is widely regarded as the greatest classical composer of all time.

The prelude from Bach’s famed Six Suites for Cello embodies Bach’s musical genius in a sense that is easy to comprehend—the only instrument playing is an unaccompanied cello—yet filled with nostalgia. It’s meant to be a beginning, not an end. Listen to classical.

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October 2014

sports A Look Inside Cross Country

By PEARSE ANDERSON

I do not know what it feels like to be on the frontlines of a war, and I hope I never do, but I believe that the moment before the gun went off was the most comparable experience I have had. I was only one of hundreds lined up on a streak of white paint. The other members of the IHS cross country team were hitting various parts of their bodies, especially the legs.

“Helps with lactic acid,” one kid said. In the rush, I couldn’t remember his name.

“Lactic acid and motivation.”

Earlier, I had observed a conversation between two others on the team.

“Okay boys, it’s time to warm up—let’s get running!” team co-captain Matthew Lin ’15 announced.

“Run?” asked Jakob Markwardt ’15.

“But we just ran! Seems like everything we ever do around here is run!”

It’s true. This is essentially it. The cross country coach, Rich Bernstein (“Coach B”), is set to train and push the team as high as he can. In his 30 years with the team, he has moved from volunteer coach to head coach. This year, however, is monumental in IHS cross country’s history.

The team has ascended to third out of all Class A schools in the state, outrun only

by Fayetteville-Manlius and Liverpool.

Though these rankings deal mostly with the varsity runners of the team, Coach Continued on Page 25.

IHS Football: A Work in Progress

By NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS

IHS football was once the peak of high-school athletics in Ithaca. At one point, the team was so successful that the band was chosen to perform during an NFL game. Recently, though, Ithaca has had a hard time doing what fans want to see most—getting wins. In the halls, cafeteria, and on Facebook and Twitter, students hear others poking fun at the team. “They think we’re a joke,” said one junior football player.

Starting this year off with high hopes, the team lost a tight first game to Chenango Valley 39–25, despite the fact that running back Anthony Henry ’16 rushed for over 200 yards. The second matchup was a face-off against Elmira, in which the Little Red lost 64–20. The third game ended in a crushing 41–0 loss at home against Corning, which multiple members on the team said was the most talented opponent they have faced so far. Many players were confident in their ability to take down Marcellus at home in their last game of September, but unfortunately Ithaca lost 55–35. At the time of this article’s writing, the IHS football team has not won a game since September 15, 2012 (a 48–35 win at home over Johnson City), and is 2–31 since October 2010.

Although wins are few and far between, the atmosphere of IHS football games continues to be positive. Many seniors and some underclassmen stand for the entire game, and others bundle up in jackets to attend games despite cold weather.

One member of the team said that, “win or lose, we always have an intense game.”

While consistently losing games is tough on the team, players see themselves improving, and have faith in Coach Kelly Gordon’s method.

“I hope Coach Gordon stays until I graduate,” said wide receiver and defensive back Isaiah Hamilton ’16. The sentiments of other players are similar. Quarterback Jordan Ayers ’17 said that their coach is “not only there for us on the field; he’s there for us off the field. If you need something, you can call him any time.”

In fact, that close-knit community seems to be a strong base the team can build on. One junior said that “everybody on the varsity team chills outside of football,” and that the team “can only get better.” Players also praised the strong leadership of the small group of seniors on the team: Thomas Johnson, Patrick English, Kevin Dong, Cam Jessop, and especially James Rudan, who others said shows more dedication than anyone else on the team.

With all the positive things that can be said about the team, one wonders why they cannot add a W to their record. Players on the team point to the small list of people who sign up, saying that many students are too worried about getting injured for the next sports season.

“There are some big people out there watching us; instead of watching us and hating on us, they could be playing with us,” said one player. Another player added that, “if everyone who is built for football played football, we would be a playoffcontending team.” Athletes pointed to the difference between Corning, which made substitutions nearly every play, and Ithaca, which was forced to start many players on both sides of the ball.

No one on the team is making excuses, though. Every person I spoke to had a plan on how to become more successful as the season progresses as well as improve next season. Footwork and mobility were popular areas that athletes said they would work on, but most common was the desire to bulk up in the weight room to combat stronger teams.

Another thing players said was that they need to get focused before the game Continued on Page 25.

sports Athlete Feature: Rhonda Bullard

October 2014

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IHS Football Continued from Page 24.

By CONOR COUTTS IMAGE BY RHONDA BULLARD

Rhonda Bullard, ICSD’s Health, Physical Education, and Wellness Coordinator, lives a life of perseverance.

Her athletic accolades and physical endurance capabilities are almost inconceivable.

Having started competitive running at age 30, Bullard has completed eight marBullard finishes a race. athons, and has always qualified for the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathon. As for triathlons (a multievent race containing a 0.93-mile swim, a 24.8-mile bike ride, and a 6.2-mile run), Bullard has completed six, always being either the first female finisher or first in her age group. She has also completed several Spartan Races, obstacle course races with distances up to 26.2 miles (a marathon) and up to 40 obstacles hindering one's progress. If an obstacle is not completed successfully, the punishment is the performance of 30 “burpees”—a strength training exercise that combines both the squat and the push-up).

Bullard’s valiant actions do not cease with performance alone, but also include her strong beliefs in the idea of perseverance. For example, she loves to prove people wrong, such as when she was told that she could never break 3:30 in the NYC marathon. She broke 3:25. Bullard lives a life of “paying it forward”, and said, “I will exercise with and encourage anyone.”

Bullard has helped many colleagues and friends get in shape for free. Her “give back” philosophy is applicable not only to athletics, but also to community affairs. She is currently working on building a playground for the West Village public housing complex on Ithaca’s West Hill. Bullard holds masters degrees in Physical Education and Education Administration and perseveres at work, at races, and for her community, making her a true hero.

Hint: Our team is not in black.

IMAGE PROVIDED

begins, rather than at halftime. Although they lost in the end, Ithaca did outscore Chenango Valley in the second half. Running back Anthony Henry ’16 said that the Little Red “is definitely a second-half team. In the beginning of the game, we’re overthinking every play: ‘I gotta do this, I gotta do that.’ Once we get a taste for it, we come out strong.”

IHS Cross Country Continued from Page 24.

Bernstein has emphasized how great of a contribution junior varsity is during summer training and throughout the season. Bernstein is pushing the team, like he always has, giving the boys’ team one day off every ten days and planning twice-weekly workouts.

Even with what some may call torturous conditions, I have barely heard a complaint. I honestly have no explanation for why these guys keep springing back, but part of it can be chocked up to the power of Coach Bernstein.

One fellow runner, for instance, recently became dispirited and was on the edge of quitting. It didn’t last long.

“I felt that I had been working hard all season: I had the most practices, the best attendance. I felt like I deserved to be improving. When that race showed me that I wasn’t— when I felt like I was getting worse—I felt like I wasn’t reaching my full potential, and so I was like ‘if I’m going to work this hard and not get as much out of it, I’ll quit,’” he said. “Coach B sat me down. He was like, ‘This is the very beginning of the season. You’ve been working hard; you are going to improve. You have to wait, you have to be patient, and you have to continue to work hard and practice.’ Recently, I’ve been working, I’ve been running at the head of the pack, and it feels great.”

“Coach B works really hard every day,” Jason Wang ’17 added. “Yeah, he yells at us a lot, but that’s because he wants us to be better. He puts in a lot of time and effort to make us succeed at this sport, so I want to make him proud.”

That answer was fantastic, but didn’t get to the root of why members of the team keep at it. Why succeed at cross Continued on Page 26.

26

October 2014

sports IHS Cross Country Continued from Page 25.

Cross Country members run for Coach B, for love, for country.

country?

“We push it to the end. We all have the main goal of cheering on our team and trying our best,” Hunter Nash ’18 explained to me. But why try your best at running, out of all things? Only some of the team considers the sport a means of exercise. Others do it simply because they have always done it.

Shortly before the gun went off and my race started at the Baldwinsville meet, I was reminded of a certain diagram I had seen years ago: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The hierarchy is a pyramid that theorizes the order in which humans need things, with the basic physiological needs (eating, sleeping, breathing) at the bottom and self-actualization (morality, creativity, spontaneity) at the top. If you’re reading this, you’re probably living at the top of the pyramid. Almost every runner I’ve seen has been at the bottom during the meets I’ve been to. Creativity, family, confidence, and so many other needs are dropped to lower priority levels as runners try to breath well, eat well, and find some ounce of warmth in the foggy and windswept fields where they run. But again, as if their rebounding nature was part of their essence, these same runners return week after week and scavenge for the four basic elements: shelter, water, warmth, food.

Jumping back to the front lines, all my friends and teammates were hitting their thighs, their running shorts shorter than a finger’s length. The gun fired, but nobody started whizzing by. There’s no “blink and you’ll miss it”. There’s only hundreds of runners’ feet on the ground. When the cheering of parents and teammates faded, I came to the realization that this wave of energy wouldn’t break for another three miles, and until that time, I would be in various degrees of pain, some of them worse than others, but none of them good.

Whenever a Game of Thrones character tells someone to “call the bannermen”, my mind goes straight to cross country.

The metaphor is perfect: both bannermen and cross country runners have established tented camps on grassy hills for

IMAGE PROVIDED

long periods before battle; both wear the colors of their home and sing their home songs; both appear out of the morning fog into forests, fields, or abandoned infrastructure. There are similarities too numerous to count—the food, the camaraderie, the conversation. A cross country meet is the closest anyone’s going to get to a Renaissance fair without going to a Renaissance fair.

There are so many elements of cross country to explore and talk about, but a major one is missing from this article.

Did you notice the absence of women? There are 23 young women in Ithaca cross country, and I know too few of them.

Some of this is to be expected, as we run different runs and talk in our own circles. I cannot write the article the girls deserve from my perspective. Coach Bernstein said at the end of last year that he had seen the team, both guys and girls, grow and bond as one.

This year can be different. The season is still young and rich with opportunity. Just last week, the girls stole our clothes during the infamous Boxer Run (when we run only in boxers) and hid them, prompting a wild goose chase across campus.

“When I started out, we were completely separate from the girls,” team co-captain Eric Sinton ’15 said. “This has changed and gotten so much better in the years that I’ve been part of the team. If responsible and mature people keep joining, we’ll keep improving in every field.”

If you like spending hours playing Risk with fellow runners, living on bagels and doughnuts every Saturday, or pushing your muscles and your mind to their limits, consider joining the Ithaca cross country team (or track and field, a close relative to cross country). The experience is alien, agonizing, and uplifting, often all at the same time. I cannot promise that all the time and effort one puts into cross country will be worth it. But it has been for everyone I’ve talked to, so why not give it a try?

Too Old to Trick-or-Treat

penultimate Rejected Playlist

By LINDSEY YUAN

Remember middle school? If not, here’s a playlist to bring back the glorious memories of middle-school dances. Grab your partner, hold them two feet away from you, and just barely move to the music.

1. “Tik Tok”: Ke$ha 2. “Gives You Hell”: All-American Rejects 3. “Your Love Is My Drug”: Ke$ha 4. “Fireflies”: Owl City 5. “My First Kiss”: 3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha 6. “OMG”: Usher 7. “We R Who We R”: Ke$ha 8. “Dynamite”: Taio Cruz 9. “Take It Off ”: Ke$ha 10. “Like a G6”: Far East Movement 11. “Blah Blah Blah”: Ke$ha ft. 3OH!3

Across:

Too4. Taktik tactic Old to Trick-or-Treat

Solution to September’s Crossword 7. More sarcastic giggles Across: Across: 4.9. Fake chocolate Taktik tactic 2. Hotdog 7.11. Peanut butter and chocolate and otherworldly More sarcastic giggles 5. Chipotle 9. Fake chocolate 6. BBQ 12. Tastes mildly Scandinavian 11. Peanut butter and chocolate and otherworld7. Yum ly14. Someone who is very happy raising livestock 10. Delicious 15. Right or left?

12.

Tastes mildly Scandinavian 11. Strawberries 14.

Someone who is very happy raising livestock 12. Pizza 16. You when you miss the game-winning catch 15. Right or left?

13. Starbucks 17. Our galaxy 16. You when you miss the game-winning catch 16. M&M 18. $100,000 17.

Our galaxy 17. Waffles 18. $100,000 Down: Down: Down: 1. Froyo 1.1. Bite, munch, chomp Bite, munch, chomp 3. Blueberries 2.2. Terrible puns included Terrible puns included 4. Burger 3.3. Taste the Rainbow™ Taste the Rainbow™ 6. Bananas 5. All for one and one for all 8. Raspberries 5. All for one and one for all 6. Unexplainably Juicy™ 9. Vanilla 8.6. Unexplainably Juicy™ Almond sadness 12. Pancakes 10. Not geeks or dweebs 14. Brunch 13. Not a lawbreaker, but still pretty hardcore 15. Smores

the

People’s Climate March Halloween on a Friday Conor’s Corner Kittens iPhone 6 Puppies The decline of print journalism Sam Pepper 4chan Hackers

backpage Horoscopes

Libra (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): You are in possession of a magical dragon scale that will transports you and your sibling to a land of dragons if you say the right words. There, you will make friends with a blue dragon named Ord, a pink dragon named Cassie, and a green and purple two-headed dragon named Zak and Wheezie.

Scorpio (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): A resident aardvark of Elwood City, you are the sibling of Dora Winifred and Kate. Always hanging out with your homies Buster, Francine, Brain, Muffy, Prunella, Sue Ellen, and even the school bully, Binky, you will live a pretty awesome life.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Living in a Chinese palace, you and your two siblings will help write important decrees on scrolls for the Magistrate. With your bat sidekick Fu-Fu, you will go on crazy adventures and get yourself into a lot of trouble.

Don’t worry though—you will always be forgiven and learn valuable lessons every time.

Capricorn (Dec. 22–Jan. 19): After Motherboard, the supreme ruler of Cyberspace, gets a virus from the Hacker, you and your two best friends will have to go on zany quests to different cyber planets to stop the Hacker’s villainous shenanigans. Along with your sidekick, Digit, you will meet a lot of strange aliens and use your awesome thinking and math skills to stop the Hacker.

Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): You are part of a secret organization that fights adult tyranny.

You and your fellow numbuh agents will have to fight crimes such as homework and flossing. Your enemies are adults, senior citizens, teenagers, and other evil children. Your headquarters is the Sector V hightech treehouse.

Pisces (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): You and your stepbrother, Ferb Fletcher, are the greatest engineers with the craziest imagination of your generation. You live in the Tri-State Area with your family and are best friends with Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford.

Though your sister will try to “bust” your awesome creations to your mom, she will never be able to. You are the coolest kid with a triangle head ever.

Aries (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): You are the coolest teenage crime-fighter. Your best friend, Ron Stoppable, is a clumsy goofball with a pet naked mole rat Rufus. During the day, you are captain of the cheerleading squad, struggling to do homework, and trying to maintain your love life. However, when someone calls you or beeps you, you will shed your “normal” facade and go fight a nemesis.

Taurus (Apr. 20–May 20): You cannot bear to give your imaginary friend, Bloo, up for adoption. Instead, you speak to the owner of the orphanage, Madame Foster, and compromise to see Bloo every day so that he isn’t given up for adoption. By visiting Bloo, you meet other imaginary friends and get involved in Bloo’s mischievous escapades.

Gemini (May 21–June 20):

Created from sugar, spice, and everything nice, you are one of the three superheroes created

by Dr. Utonium. With the powers of flight, super strength, super speed, X-ray vision, super senses, heat vision, and energy projection, you will fight off evil in Townsville, USA. Cancer (June 21–July 22): As the Avatar, you are tasked with maintaining harmony between the four nations. But when the world needed you most, you vanished. For one hundred years, the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom, and the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. As the last airbender in the world, you now have to master the other three elements and bring balance to the world.

And maybe fall in love along the way.

Leo (July 23–Aug. 22): You live in a pineapple under the sea (specifically, in Bikini Bottom). Your best friend, Patrick, resides two houses away.

You absolutely love your job of flipping burgers and fail to see that your boss is stingy and that your coworker is depressed.

You have no driving skills. You have a pet snail named Gary who meows like a cat.

Virgo (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): At ten, you set out to become the greatest Pokemon master in the world. Years later, you will still be as ageless, but your experience will be endless. Along your journey, you will meet many different people, find many different Pokemon, and send Team Rocket blasting off again.