Inklings March 16

Inklings

March 16, 2012

Founded in 1933

inklingsnews.com

The Fight for Phys Ed SIMON STRACHER ’14

I

Staff Writer

s Physical Education a time waster or a lifesaver?

Students and teachers have been debating that question since Superintendent of Schools Dr. Elliot Landon proposed axing P.E. from Westport elementary schools.

The cuts, designed to save money and increase the length of “core classes,” would apply to physical education for second through fifth grade students. Landon argued that the time required for physical education for these students interferes with the school district’s ability to give teachers large amounts of time to address, as he called it, “their primary instructional mission.”

P.E. teachers across the Westport School District disagree with the implication that Physical Education is not as important as other classes.

“Each student’s physical as well as mental well being is important,” says Staples P.E. teacher Janet Zamary. “In our current society we walk less and do less manual labor than our predecessors. The amount of work confines us to our desks for numerous hours. Without developing and instilling the importance of being physically active, we may be intellectually smart; however, we won’t live as long.”

Long Lots elementary school P.E. teacher Jennifer Dayton agrees with Zamary. “No Physical Education should be cut. If anything we should add physical education classes at both the elementary schools and middle schools.”

Dayton’s reasoning behind that was that while recess and sports allow students to be active, then it does not ensure that the students are actually physically active, while physical education does.

Many Staples athletes, for example, think they are active enough. Lucas Jackson ’15, who plans on trying out for the Staples Lacrosse team, thinks P.E. is not necessary for those who play sports. “If you don’t [play sports], then you need it. If you do, you don’t need it because you’re getting a workout,” he says.

BOE strikes down proposal to cut elementary PE

Continued on page 3 PHOTO BY MADISON HORNE ‘12

Inside the Issue

Celebrity Crushes

14

Girls Lacrosse Preview

22

2

NEWS March 16,, 2012

Best Buddies strives to overcome stereotypes about mental disablities MADISON HORNE ’12 Photo Editor

Best Buddies is an international organization that aims to foster friendships with kids with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Here at Staples, the club is over 100 strong.

T

MOVIE NIGHT: Best Buddies member Gregg Bonti ’12 and his buddy Wyatt Davis ’14 go to see “The Lorax.”

he club sets up “buddy pairs” within the room, setting up one-on-one friendships between a member of the club and a teenager with a developmental disability in the community.

Throughout the year, the club hosts fundraisers to raise money to go towards events for the buddies.

This month is a big month for the club. March 7th was a national day to “spread the word to end the word.” This campaign’s purpose is to eliminate the “r-word” as something derogatory. “To me, the r-word degrades these incredibly

gifted and loving human beings. To our buddies, it means yet another person who is treating them like they are worthless,” said president of Best Budddies Sami Schwaeber ’12.

Although March is a big month for the club, the club has much in store for the rest of the year. April 14 is the Best Buddies Friendship Walk which will take place on Sherwood Island. Following that, the club will be raising money to put together the Best Buddies ball, a spring formal hosted by Staples for the buddies around Fairfield County.

How “retardation” went from a clinical description to a word of derision

types of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity.

FROM WWW.RͳWORD.ORG

When they were originally introduced, the terms “mental retardation” or “mentally retarded” were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, “retard” and “retarded” have been used widely in today’s society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when “retard” and “retarded” are used as synonyms for “dumb” or “stupid” by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereo-

287,545 ONLINE PLEDGES JOIN TODAY. WWW.R-WORD.ORG

BUDDIES BUNDLE UP: On March 2, Best Buddies went to Longshore for a night of ice skating. Member Matt George ’12 skates with buddy Hilary Greenwald ’13.

MAKE THE MESSAGE STICK: Sami Schwaeber ’12 passes out stickers for those within the Staples who pledge to help stop the use of the “R-word.”

SPREAD THE WORD: In honor of the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, the Best Buddies club creates a banner for students to sign during the lunch blocks to pledge to stop the use of the “R-word.”

News

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

The Struggle for Spanish Proficiency

3

Westport Schools Believe 13 years is better than eight GRAPH FROM THE STUDENT ORAL PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT STUDY

CHEYENNE HASLETT ’13 AND CHLOE BAKER ’13 Web News and Web Opinions t’s been more than a decade.

Ever since 2008, some freshman enter Staples as more than a freshman. Those continuing Spanish also beginning in the last year of the decade of studying the language and those who have chose to continue Spanish also enter their 10th year of the language.

I

“Starting to learn early has made me more comfortable with the language.”

As the story goes, the Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES) program came about in the late 1990s. Today, the junior class marks its 12th year anniversary as guinea pigs of the FLES experiment. The senior class of 2012 will be the last class out the Staples doors with a Spanish education that began in the 5th grade, putting only its eight years of Spanish under their belt as compared to the 13 years that future classes will graduate with.

“People who learn languages when they’re younger are more able to learn it than if someone started later in life,” said Caitlyn Rand ’13, a Spanish student in her 12th year. “I think starting to learn early has made me more comfortable with the language in general right now.”

In the classroom From the “Bogota, Columbia” capitals song to learning the South American cities to the fifth grade Mexican market simulation, the FLES program has always focused on an interactive approach to teaching Spanish.

Noah Bender ’13 recalls these activities fondly, citing celebrations for The Day of the Dead as his favorite Spanish memory.

During this holiday, third grad-

MÁS TIEMPO, MEJOR EDUCACIÓN more efficient in all languge skills. ers bake Mexican sugar skulls and are responsible for writing a recipe for them in Spanish, using their acquired numeric vocabulary.

“We did a lot of activities that were hands-on to help us connect objects with words for fruits and places. I learned generic, basic words for Spanish and I still remember a lot of it today,” Bender said.

The goal of these hands-on activities is to instill the basics of Spanish in the children, teachers said. For example, first grade students make medallions as they learn basics about Puerto Rican culture.

Another memory is of the music.

Each month came with a different Spanish song that described its weather. “The songs were really catchy and we learned dances to them too. I still remember some of the songs,” Colby Kranz ’15 said.

Matt Hodes ’13 remembers them with less enthusiasm. “It got a little repetitive because we started class by singing a song for a whole month,” Hodes said.

But this wasn’t the only way elementary school Spanish teachers got their students engaged.

They also began the lessons by asking simple questions such as “How are you?” or “What is the weather like today?”

“This enforced us to keep on practicing, and it soon became natural to all of the students,” Kranz said.

Kranz believes this gave her a basic foundation of Spanish. “Now when I go to spanishspeaking countries, it is much

Studies show that starting spanish in Kindergraden makes students easier to keep a conversation going because I have all of the basics down,” she said.

The Science Behind It The FLES program was conceived by World Language teachers who felt that the 5th grade Spanish program was effective and should be extended to all elementary school students, according to Candy Rice, World Language Curriculum Coordinator.

“Children who start languages at an early age are very open to learning about new cultures, and they tend to be quick to absorb the sounds of a language easily,” Rice said.

Rice and her colleagues examined studies that show children who learn languages at a young age are more able to achieve fluency than those who start learning a second language later. The studies also showed that early exposure gives students a better chance at developing a native-like pronunciation.

The Results Are In The Student Oral Proficiency Assessment (SOPA) was conducted in 2009 on eighth graders by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). It was a study done specifically to check up on the FLES program. CAL investigated the difference between eighth graders who started learning Spanish in fifth grade and those who started in kindergarten.

“The test data was extremely strong and in support of the early start of Spanish,” Rice said.

Evidence was especially supportive of the FLES program in the oral fluency and listening

comprehension categories. Results showed that 10.8 percent of FLES students achieved the highest level of proficiency in oral fluency while 27.5 percent of FLES students in achieved the highest level of proficiency in listening.

Only students who had began Spanish in kindergarten achieved this level of high proficiency.

“Students who have participated in the K-12 FLES program have a much higher general level of comfort with hearing the language and speaking the language, including a a really nice pronunciation,” said Spanish teacher Eamon Griffin. “Over the years, something has sunk in.”

Griffin believes that students have learned enough to be able to travel safely in foreign Spanishspeaking countries. He presses the importance of being able to get to hospitals, airports, and other public areas a tourist frequents.

“It is much easier to keep a conversation going because I have all the basics down.”

“Starting in kindergarten helped because I learned the useful fashions of speech,” said Rand.

But besides the general knowledge of language easing her into an understanding of languages, Rand believes that there are minimal benefits to her Span-

ish vocabulary from FLES. Some students agree, saying that they didn’t learn anything in elementary school that they wouldn’t have learned in middle school Spanish.

But Claire Noyer ’14, who started French in middle school, regrets how little an amount of time was spent on the basics. “In French we never really took the time to study colors or animals as in depth as we did in [elementary school] Spanish,” she said. In fact, she believes that the amount of knowledge students have now, regardless of what language they are taking, has little to do with an elementary school language education. She evidences this with the fact that French and Spanish students can be in the same level of language, even if one student began learning in kindergarten and the other began learning in 6th grade.

Carol Kochefko, a German teacher, does see the benefit of FLES. The fact that Kochefko teaches a language that may seem worlds away from Spanish does not change her feelings.

Each year that Kochefko has taught German, she has had a student place about the 90th percentile on the German National Exam. She owes this, in part, to the fact that “language is language.”

“Those who have a background in language will pick German up faster,” said Kochefko.

Bender, an Italian student since his freshman year, hopes than in an ideal world, Italian will be taught from kindergarten, along with Spanish. Bender feels that learning Spanish helped him learn Italian.

Bender also believes his three years of Italian so far have brought him a high degree of competence. “I think that the amount of Italian I learned in these three years of Italian are far more than the Spanish that I learned from K-8. I think that the amount of work that the teachers are allowed to give, plus the greater effort given by students in high school, is why I have learned so much more,” said Bender.

Continued from page 1

Ryan Kirshner ’13, a member of the varsity girl’s Lacrosse team and the varsity girl’s Soccer team, agrees with Jackson. “If you play Staples sports every day after school you’re active and gym is not necessary,” says Kirshner.

“The time that would be gym period can be used as a silent study or free so that people can do their homework.”

However, other students disagree.

“I don’t think that gym should ever be cut. It is a great break from academics in the middle of the day and is also a good source of physical activity,” says Bobby Jacowleff ’14, who is a hurdler for the track team and played freshmen baseball last year.

Grayson Weir ’14, a Staples football player, agrees that physical education “is a nice break from the day.” Even Jackson, who said P.E. was “not necessary,” likes it, saying, “It’s a time to have fun.”

While many students enjoy P.E. for the mental break, the

Center for Disease Control’s studies show that getting 150 minutes a week of physical activity significantly reduces one’s chance of getting a cardiovascular disease, improves mental health and mood, and reduces the risk of colon cancer and breast cancer in women.

“Physical activity keeps students moving, which establishes positive health habits that can keep them disease-free,” says Dr. Keith LaScalea, who works at New York Presbyterian Hospital, in an email interview.

In addition, “with increased exercise, stress levels are lowered, and brain functions are increased,” says Long Lots elementary P.E. teacher Mark Carmody.

Joanne Fasciolo, who is now a math support teacher at Long Lots Elementary but has two decades worth of experience in the classroom, added that, “[Physical education] can relieve stress and refresh a student’s ability to attend and focus in the classroom.”

Landon’s proposal to cut P.E. from the curriculum is by no means unique. A February

GRAPHIC BY RACHEL GUETTA ’13

Proposal to Cut Gym Vetoed by BOE

12, 2012 New York Times.com article, “Pushing to Keep Exercise in the Curriculum,” cited a growing trend in California schools searching for ways to slash budgets. “It seems like Art and P.E. are the first programs to go whenever there are budget cuts,” said LaScalea. “This is unfortunate given all the wonderful

benefits these programs confer to students.”

For now, the BOE has rejected Superintendent Landon’s plan, proposing cuts to a number of is safe for now secretarial positions instead. In an email interview, James Marpe, who is the vice-chairman for Westport’s BOE, said that, “reducing

PE sends the wrong message at a time of increasing concerns about childhood obesity and evidence that organized physical activity is conducive to better learning in the classroom.”

While the debate over physical education rages nationally physical education, Westport’s program is safe — for now.

4 News

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

DUI Doesn’t Just Happen After Midnight A little sleep does not a sober driver make CARLIE SCHAWBER ’12 & CHARLIE GREENWALD ’12 Features Editor and Web A&E Editor ust because the sun is up does not mean you’re sober.

It’s 2:00 AM; a Staples junior has just finished her eighth shot and settles down on the couch to relax. It’s the night of Junior Prom, and although she has mixed drinks and vodka in her system, she thinks she is well-prepared for the ride home, leaving her keys at the front door to drive home safely in the morning. A few hours elapse, and after only a couple hours of sleep, she gets into her car, under the assumption that she is okay to drive home because it is the morning.

She is wrong.

According to Chris Lemone, the student outreach counselor and co-advisor of TAG, “it takes one hour for the liver to fully metabolize one standard bar drink.”

So, if one were to take five shots, it would take five hours for the body to metabolize this.

Needless to say, when the anonymous student left her party the next morning, she was not completely sober. She realized this once home, as she found that she could not clearly recall her drive home.

“I know I definitely got from point A to point B, but everything in between that is a little fuzzy,” she said.

J

PHOTO BY ALEX GREENE ’13 WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS: Students assume they are sober after a little sleep, but in reality they are not, and many of them decide to drive anyways.

Just like this anonymous girl, many teenagers wrongly believe that they are okay to drive the morning after a long night of drinking. This anonymous source said she and her friends have driven home hungover repeatedly on the weekend and commonly assume they are okay to drive.

Her misconception is commonly shared among Staples students. Although many think that they are being safe by driving home in the morning after an all-night party, the reality is that sleeping doesn’t always replenish your health, especially when only for a short period of time.

When they wake up from

sleep, people forget alcohol may still be in their system, said Karin Schultz ’12, a member of TAG. “In cases when kids are drinking until five in the morning, just a few hours of sleep isn’t going to rid your body of the alcohol,” Schultz said. “Most teens don’t even realize this when they go to drive a car.”

Westport Police Detective Sereniti Dobson concurred, noting that hungover students often drive “not feeling well, or falling asleep at the wheel.”

“It’s all about taking attention off of you. If they stay at the person’s house, and there was an expectation to be home, there are a

lot of questions to answer to their parents,” Lemone added. “And even though they are still feeling the effects of their hangover or withdrawal, they have a lot of reasons to get home that don’t have to do with safety.”

Besides feeling that sleep has made it okay to drive home, students also feel pressure to get home for other reasons. Because they have driven their car to the party, parents are expecting to see their kid and their vehicle back at home in the morning.

“I wanted to get home before my parents started to worry,” the anonymous student said.

Conversely, another anony-

mous students was witness to such a mistake several weeks before.

The morning after a New Year’s Eve party, a friend with alcohol still in her system and without any sleep drove her home “She was sick all night from alcohol, and she was my ride home in the morning,” she said. “And then I got in the car with her. She wasn’t comfortable behind the wheel.”

In addition, this anonymous student said her ride home was stating that she was dizzy and that she needed to pull over throughout the entire ride home.

“Driving home was the scariest thing,” she said.

But why do students forge ahead, knowing they are risking the safety of their friends and themselves?

“I wanted to go home because I didn’t want to clean up, but I also wanted to get home before my parents started to worry,” the anonymous student driver rationalized.

“I just needed to be in my own bed.”

Despite these excuses, students feel terrible the day after about what they’ve done.

“It scared me,” she said. “It’s scary to be responsible for another person.”

Since student driving is so rampant, TAG makes sure to encourage the safest way of getting home: complete sobriety.

“We always reiterate that parents would rather see you safe than in a dangerous situation, and you should utilize any sober ride you can to keep yourself out of trouble, no matter if it’s at 12 at night or 8 in the morning,” said Schultz.

Up, Up and Away Students deem curves to increase grades significantly NED HARDY ’13 Web A&E Editor It is a common conception that grade-curving inspires students to study less. Gradecurving, many believe, benefits students who put less effort into their studies but neglects those who study more and get higher raw scores.

However, conversations with students in both AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C reveal that the advantages of grade-curving far outweigh the disadvantages, mainly because curves allow more challenging material to be taught without adding stress for students.

“I really like the curve because it satisfies both our teacher and the students,” said Danielle Frost ’13, a student in AP Calculus BC. “Our teacher can still make our tests challenging in order to prepare us well for the AP exam, and students can still manage to do well in the class.”

Both AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C are classes that curve tests and quizzes consistently and are generally regarded as two of the most content-intensive courses that Staples has to offer.

The classes are typically taken by students who are self-motivated and able to handle large amounts of work.

Somehow, though, the notion persists among the Staples student body that so-called “slackers” who take these and other classes end up benefitting from grade-curving.

Jeff Krieger ’13 is in AP Calculus BC, and while he feels that the curve is often helpful, he acknowledges that it can be damaging for some students.

“You can fail a test and still get an 81 percent, or even an 85 percent if your grade is in the low 60s,” said Krieger. “This monster of a curve has given everyone the idea that without studying, even if you bomb the test, you can still get a B.” “The curve can be demotivating. I find that if I don’t study at all, it can push me up to a respectable grade,” said Eric Lombardo ’13, who is also in AP Calculus BC. But students’ motives for taking advanced classes like these are usually good, according to AP Physics teacher Nick Morgan, who does not feel that gradecurving should make a student study less for a test. Morgan said he believes that students in highlevel courses should be genuinely interested in the material on which they are being tested.

“It was my impression that students at Staples weren’t motivated by grades, but rather by an intense passion about the material,” said Morgan.

Many students feel similarly.

Andrew Cohen ’13 feels that the curve in his AP Calculus BC class is an enormous benefit, stating that it “keeps students encouraged.”

“In AP Calculus BC, rarely does a student score well, such as a raw grade in the A range, because the class is extremely fastpaced and difficult,” Cohen said,

PHOTO BY NED HARDY ’13 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN “A” AND A “C:” AP classes have been known to curve grades over 20 points. explaining that the purpose of the curve is to benefit those who choose to take the challenging course.

Frost explained that there is no “set” curve in the class and that the curve for each test depends on both the teacher’s opinion on the difficulty of the test as well as the range of raw grades that people received.

Frost brushes aside any ideas of studying less for a test because of an eventual curve.

“The better you do raw, the better you do curved,” said Frost.

“I think it helps take pressure off students for tests.”

Other students in high-level AP courses feel similarly. Sam Weiser ’12 enjoys the curve that

is used in his AP Physics C class, calling it “really fair.”

“It’s similar to the curve on the AP test itself, so it gives us a really good idea of what the test will be like,” said Weiser, who feels that curved grades are incredibly beneficial.

AP Physics teacher Morgan curves the majority of his tests using rubrics similar to those used by The College Board. Thus, an AP test grade of “5” would typically translate to an A, a “4” would typically translate to a B, and so on.

“If you are near the top, you stay near the top, so for the super smart kids, there’s not too much of a difference,” Weiser said. “But for the average kid in our class,

there are a lot of raw 50s and 60s that become 80s and 90s with the curve.”

Weiser does not believe that the AP Physics C curve causes students to study less for tests, explaining that the inherent difficulty of each test means that even a heavy curve never cancels out studying.

“The thing about the curve is that it means the tests are hard, so not studying will still result in a bad grade,” said Weiser, exhibiting the belief that many students in high-level AP courses hold: grade-curving is a cushion to fall back upon in a mild way, not a mattress to soften the blow of a long, arduous fall.

Slackers, beware.

News

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

Implications of Increased Class Size DANNY COOPER ’13 AND RACHEL LABARRE ’14 Features Editor and A&E Editor

I

magine a high school where teachers barely know their students’ names.

There are few teachers, unwieldy classroom sizes, no individualized interaction. Some students slip between the cracks and are led to failure without teachers even noticing. Thankfully, this fictional high school is not Staples, but with population increase and budget decline, this fantasy becomes more possible each year.

“I should be able to provide students at Staples with the best education possible, yet every year increased class size causes us to offer less and less,” Principal John Dodig said. He added that the standards of class size have changed dramatically through his employment at this school.

“Eight years ago the average that we were aiming for was 20 kids for an A-level class and 14 for a B-level classes,” Dodig said.

He said that more teachers are necessary in a B level class because the students are generally more challenged by the material and can use greater personalized attention.

However, according to Dodig these targets have changed significantly over his eight years at staples. Now, the goal is to have 25 students in an A-level course and 20 in a B-level course.

Even more extreme is the deviation from the ideal class size in AP courses. The College Board’s recommended class size is 18 students, yet Dodig said that many AP courses at Staples consistently hold an average of 26-30 pupils.

“Small classes are more engaging places for students be-

cause they’re able to have a more personal connection with teachers, simply by virtue of the fact that there are fewer kids in the classroom competing for that teacher’s attention,” said Adam Gamoran of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who analyzed data from various countries about class room size and its impact.

Carol Avery, a Social Studies teacher at Staples, has had AP classes that ranged in size from 19 to 27 students. She feels that 25 students in an AP course is far from ideal.

“You’d be amazed. Just having 10 more people is like night and day. It becomes much more unmanageable,” Avery said. She feels that in such a class she is not able to give nearly as much individualized attention to students, and this increased number of individuals can make it much harder to keep the class focused.

Andrew Strauss, a science teacher who has taught at Staples for over 40 years, can attest to the problems that can arise from a large class. Many years ago the class size of his AP Chemistry course was so large that not all students could participate in the lab at the same time due to lack of space and materials. This meant that some students come in early to perform labs.

“It wasn’t an ideal situation for anyone,” he stated.

As class size continues to increase, teachers turn to such solutions to continue teaching large classes as effectively as possible.

When teachers are faced with overwhelming class sizes, there are repercussions for both them and their students. “There is a big difference for teachers in grading 100 papers versus grading 80 papers. What this means

5

PHOTO BY CARLIE SCHWAEBER ’12 FILLED TO THE BRIM: A Freshman French class of 30 students takes up every seat in the language lab. is that is over time the quality of the instruction is diminished, as teachers are forced to give easier assignments that require less grading,” Dodig said.

Eric Lombardo ’13 feels that as classes get larger, the learning environment gets less effective.

“My Italian 2 class last year ran about 30 kids and it felt more like a lecture. Ms. Noonan handled it really well by keeping us busy, but it was easy to get distracted with so many kids,” said Lombardo.

He said that the class size grew because of an increased interest in the course.

Dodig stated that over the last few decades a teacher’s role has transitioned to being more of a “coach” than a “lecturer.” Being more of a “coach” requires smaller sized classes so teachers can provide personalized attention.

Small class sizes also allow a strong group mentality to form in

a class. Robert Perry ’12 has the unique experience of being in one of the smallest classes at Staples this year; he is one of eight students in AP Spanish Literature.

“I think [the size] has helped us as a class to work more as a team, since it is really just one small group,” he said.

While teachers and Dodig both agree that the growing population size that has been projected for Staples requires more teachers and sections, the budget is unable to keep up with this growth. While Dodig has been at Staples, the student populace has grown from 1,400 to 1,800 students. However, while the year before the recession of 2008 the budget increased by 8.35 percent, the proposed 2012-2013 budget only increases by 2.5 percent, greatly affecting Staples’ ability to hire new teachers and create new sections of classes.

“A parent recently asked me

who made the decision to put their student in a French class with 30 children. I said that I made that decision, because we only had one teacher – there was no choice with the current budget,” Dodig said.

Despite the restriction that the budget provides, Dodig said that preventing large class size is top priority when allocating the budget, and therefore purchases of expensive physical items and non-teaching staff have been cut before teachers have been.

It’s likely that an increase in class size will be harmful to the Staples community, whether it presents itself through the amount of time devoted to each student during class or the ability for each student to participate in class discussions, teachers and Dodig said.

“The smaller the actual class size, the more effective, and the better it is for you,” said Strauss.

6

W

OPINIONS MARCH 16, 2012

hen an elementary school student catches a football in gym class, he is dreaming of playing in the NFL. Staying in a single file line on the way there was a serious challenge.

EDITORIAL Kids actually tried while running the mile.

When a high school They walked out sweaty student catches a football and happy. in gym class, he is wonParachutes?

Sitting dering what he will have under and rustling a gifor lunch next period. ant, multi-colored paraThe Board of Educa- chute. tion recently discussed Team-building exerthe Superintendent’s pro- cises with hula hoops and posal that elementary imaginary lava and peoschool gym minutes be ple helping you avoid the reduced. We feel the pro- lava. And Titanic, where posal was misguided. a big tire was hung from Elementary school is the basketball hoop, and the last place where gym you had to be lifted by should be cut. your teammates workElementary school ing together through the gym was magical. “porthole.”

Students would run In elementary school, around the classroom students find out that half an hour before gym. exercise makes you feel

Inklings

Don’t Cut G ym

good, and they learn about healthy living and the importance of staying fit. They don’t have clubs after school, varsity sports, or even a car to drive them to the gym.

We understand that the elementary school curriculum cannot be directly transferred to that of the high school. However, we do believe that the high school curriculum can lighten up a bit.

The question of whether you will get a C or a D on the w r i t ten badminton test. Or – what’s in the middle of

a volleyball? How many fingers should touch the laces of a football?

This has little to do with fitness.

Instead of learning how to exercise, students are learning new and innovative ways to avoid sweating.

Students try to sneak behind the curtain during the mandatory running period when the teacher isn’t looking.

Girls struggle to put on leggings over their wet legs as their hair reeks of chlorine after a class period in the freezing pool and are left with three minutes to get to Pre-Calc halfway across the school on the third f loor.

We are not saying high school gym has no merit.

In a school as competitive and learning intensive as Staples, with-

FO LE 14

Y’

Features Editors Leah Bitsky Danny Cooper Carlie Schwaeber Nicolette Weinbaum

AH

Opinions Editors Molly Barreca Hannah Foley Jordan Shenhar Jamie Wheeler-Roberts

NN

All the opinions, news, and features in this paper are those of Staples High School students. Inklings has a circulation of 1,800. The paper is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the Natioanal Schoalstic Press Association and supports the Student Press Law Center. All letters to the editor must be signed before they will be published. The editorial board reserves the right not to publish letters and to edit all submissions as it sees fit.

HA

First Place “All-American” from National Scholastic Press Association 2010-2011

News Editors Rachel Guetta Alicia Lourekas Ben Reiser Bryan Schiavone

BY

“Crown Newspaper Finalist” Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2011

Managing Editors Julian Clarke Alix Neenan

O

“Silver Crown Award” for Inklingsnews.com from Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2011

Editors-in-Chief Eric Essagof Stevie Klein

more comfortable fortab ble to to square those rootss in a p pair aiir of soft, worn-in sweats than in a pair ir off stiff, constricting jeans.

OT

Back in January, a Wall Street Journal article brought to light what is apparently considered a pressing national issue: students wearing pajamas to school.

The piece mentioned a Louisiana commissioner’s proposed ordinance outlawing the wearing of pajamas in public and quoted him as saying, “The moral fiber in America is dwindling away. It’s pajamas today; what is it going to be tomorrow? Walking around in your underwear?”

Really, commissioner?

The country’s going to hell in a laundry basket?

In a high school where grades weigh heavy on the mind, drama challenges friendships, and the future seems so very far away, there’s one thing I know I can rely on for comfort: my good ol’ American Eagle sweatpants.

Sure, I’m aware the economy

is still in shambles and one in four American children goes to bed hungry every night, but I’m fairly certain these problems don’t stem from the fact that citizens are wearing pajamas in public. In fact, I think pajamas might very well be the solution to many of our problems—or at least the ones we face at Staples.

With zombie mantras like “I need some sleep,” and “I’m sooooo tired,” ever-ubiquitous in the Staples vernacular, throwing on jammies or sweats can be a game-changer in the morning. I’ll try anything that eases the a.m. grind, even if it’s getting an extra two precious minutes of shut-eye by throwing on some clean sweats rather than allocating valuable time to picking out the some schmancy fashion-forward outfit.

(Granted, I’m a guy, so the necessity to trend-set isn’t so important to me, but I at least make an effort to keep the fashion police at bay by abiding simple laws like not mixing plaid and stripes.)

For me, wearing sweats to school just makes the day go by more smoothly. Sure, you can get through a math test in any kind of clothing, but it’s exponentially

PH

Comfort or Style? PJs and Sweats

out gym, many students would feel obliged to take another AP, honors, or other demanding academic class.

And gym, at times, can be really, really fun, and a great break from the day. Like the giant ball. Who doesn’t love the giant ball? Random scooter days?

We hope for gym as a fun, easy-going, energyreleasing phenomenon, the kind that elementary school kids enjoy and that fades somewhere in the institutional uniforms that middle schoolers are required to wear.

If the Board ever considers cutting gym again, we recommend that they do not take it from the third graders who look forward to it all day long.

And high school gym should keep a few more games and a few less tests in the curriculum.

Parachutes, anyone?

Interestingly, nterestingly, y there seems to be a class-divide here h re at Staples he when n it comes to school attire.

It’s become apparent in my three years at Staples that underclassmen n earnestly aspire to dress for success, while hile most upperclassmen, like myself, wind d up dressing for stress—inevitably succumbing to the relentless pressures of standardized testing, AP classes and college preparation by taking a fashionbackward approach.

We dress like comfortable slobs.

A friend recently glimpsed my choice of slouchy attire and jokingly cautioned me not to violate the school dress policy.

However, according to the Staples High School handbook, “The school system requires that attire Arts & Entertainment Editors Jackie Kerames Rachel Labarre Deanna Schreiber Sammy Warshaw Sports Editors Ryder Chasin Kelsey Landauer Will McDonald Julia Sharkey

be safe, appropriate to the activity, and not distracting or disruptive of the educational program.”

C’mon, don’t sweats and pajamas comply with the dress policy even more so than the typical Staples attire? I find myself eminently more tuned in to a scintillating lecture on logarithmic functions in the comfort of sweats, so in the end I can rationalize that my casual

dress dramatically improves my capacity for learning.

And that’s the whole r a i s o n d’etre of a high school student anyway, right?

So laugh as you will while I saunter the halls during passing time wearing sweatpants and a flannel shirt, surrounded by LF shoe-trotting freshman girls and suit-wearing game day jocks.

Whatever.

Wearing real clothes is overrated.

Web Features Editors Sami Bautista Claire O’Halloran

Correspondence and Subscriptions:

Web Arts & Entertainment Editors Charlie Greenwald Ned Hardy

70 North Ave. Staples High School Westport, CT 06880 Phone: (203) 341–1994 Inklingsnews@gmail.com

Web Sports Editors Kate Beispel Haley Zeldes

Web Editor in-Chief Isaac Stein

Webmaster Marcus Russi

Web Managing Editor Emily Goldberg

Photo Editor Madison Horne

Web News Editors Cheyenne Haslett Emily Kowal

Business Manager Charlotte Breig

Web Opinions Editors Chloe Baker Mark Schwabacher

Advisers Elizabeth Humphrey Julia McNamee Stephen Rexford

Inklings

Printed on recycled paper

f

Opinions

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

7

Two looks at a site that defines a generation Always Connected

It was in eighth grade when I discovered the blue-bannered beauty that would provide me hours of entertainment.

It began with begging my dad to let me get one, which required him to turn off the parental controls on my new MacBook. It wasn’t easy, but he finally caved.

I typed in www.facebook. com , and for the first time, I was able to see what everyone was talking about. I began “friending” anyone I had ever talked to like it was my job. I was hooked, with almost 400 friends in one night.

This was possible because Facebook has the highest user percentage of all social media sites, which mean there is a good chance that most of your friends, your teachers, and maybe even your grandparents are getting connected.

It then became about the pictures friends were uploading, the videos they were leaving on each other’s walls, and which of my classmates were listed as “Facebook official.” With so much to look at, I can honestly say that between my Facebook life and my real life, there was never a dull moment.

I discovered one of the best perks of Facebook this September.

The summer before, I had gone to Israel with people I had never met before. Some of them even lived out of the country. When we returned home, I was able to keep in touch with everybody.

With two of my closest friends live in Israel, roughly eleven hours away, it was difficult to find a time to talk. Conveniently, Facebook provides a translation of their Hebrew posts, so I am able to understand what they’re posting about.

For example, one of the boys who traveled with me on the trip lived in Israel his whole life and joined us this summer to give a perspective of the real culture of the whole country. He once posted “‫םו‬ ‫ ןואכיד ןושאר‬:-(,” which to most of us at Staples means nothing but a bunch of scribbles and dots, but the translator informed me that he was saying “Sunday Depression :(.” Obviously, I don’t enjoy

PHOTO BY MOLLY BARRECA ’13

hearing that my friend isn’t happy, but it’s a Sunday and no matter where you are, no one likes Sundays. Just being able to catch a glimpse of someone’s daily life halfway around the world is pretty exciting and has allowed relationships to grow in ways that would not be possible if we couldn’t connect through Facebook.

M y favorite aspect of Facebook, above all, is that it helps you preserve memories for years to come. While our parents and grandparents grew up taking their film to the photo shop to be developed and making scrapbooks, our virtual scrapbook is just a click away and can be accessed from anywhere with internet or WiFi connection.

When we were younger it used to be the “a thing” to take pictures before going to a concert; twelve girls making kissy faces sure looked great. Then there were pictures of hugging and laughing at the ice-skating rink or other sporting events. But the best type of pictures are PhotoBooth “selfies” with cute faces and peace signs, making these some of the most entertaining pictures on Facebook.

“I think Facebook is a really good way to connect with friends,” says Grace Bergonzi ’13, and most others agree.

For those who don’t, I question their sanity. Although I realize that Facebook can be a major distraction, there are applications you can download to limit your time spent on the website. To be honest I use these applications, but the fact that Facebook is time-consuming does not distract from the fact that it connects people in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

I’m not going to sit here and spew all the reasons why I dislike Facebook. That would be boring and ineffective, and you would n’t waste your time reading this article.

Also whom am I kidding; even I will never stop checking it every 40 minutes.

I admit, it has its ups and downs. Obviously it’s popular, or else it would be irrelevant already.

It boasts its own movie, over 800 million users worldwide, and about a $75 million value. I just don’t understand why anymore.

I find that the more time I’ve spent owning a Facebook, the less exciting it becomes. These days, the only time I find the website to be somewhat engaging is Sunday morning, once all the weekend’s photos are uploaded and I can sit in front of my computer with a tub of ice cream and convince my cat that I didn’t want to go to those parties anyway.

(Just kidding). (Sort of).

Even when I am at a party, reliving it seems to be the only reason people attend. The last time I went somewhere and forgot my camera, it was as if the apocalypse had come early. The only fun I had that night was watching a steady flow of crazy people with murder in their eyes yelling, “What’s the point of this party if it’s not going to be on Facebook?!”

I apologize in advance, but I’m not going to spend the whole night taking pictures of strangers.

I can’t tag you if I don’t know your name.

Although I do somewhat enjoy uploading pictures to Facebook, that will only get me through the weekend. What about the weekdays? What about when there’s nothing to relive, nothing to reminisce? For me, the

Better Things to Do web address sits there endlessly in an unopened tab for no apparent purpose.

Even “checking” my Facebook is really just glancing over my notifications and then going back to whatever more important thing I was doing in the first place.

Like rollerblading, for instance.

Or punching myself in the face.

Anything would be more important. It’s a meaningless and sad website.

What does anyone do on Facebook? We waste our time liking statuses and praying that the “news feed” will bring us some juicy gossip. You might call that pathetic. You would be right.

How miserable is it that we don’t consider a relationship real until it’s “Facebook official,” that we thrive on fights that blossom in the comment sections? What are we, 7th graders?

Facebook is the new birthplace of high school drama. We used to bully in person, then it was AIM. Now we hack Facebooks to write awkward statuses, or mupload embarrassing photos that the subject can’t delete. And that’s only the tip of the Internet iceberg.

If a website is pointless or uninteresting, that isn’t a reason to hate it. If that were the case, I would hate Twitter, or online games (anybody remember Robot Unicorn Attack? That one’s a classic). No, this isn’t why I find myself gravitating towards the Facebook deactivating button. It’s because of the unnecessary fuss it creates in everyone’s lives.

I’m almost as equally stressed out about keeping up-todate on my event invites as I am about my homework for the night.

This is why I think we need a Facebook intervention.

I’m not saying cut it out entirely. That would be silly to suggest and nearly impossible. But I think a severe decrease in usage would be in everyone’s best interest. The positive impact could be great; you might get your homework done before one o’clock in the morning. You might even stop getting cravings to check your smart phone on intervals during class.

But most importantly, a decline of Facebook use might inspire a little more peace, a little more maturity. If we lost the ability to cower behind a screen, we might gain the ability to actually speak to each other in person.

Consider a Facebook break.

It’ll probably be easier than you think.

PHOTO BY CALLIE AHLGRIM ’13

8 Opinions

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

A Ride on the Gravy Train

I

think that the economic principles of our town are best illustrated at any one of Westport’s ubiquitous Starbucks coffee shops.

It must have been about 3:00 on a Wednesday afternoon a few months ago when I last went to Starbucks. I went there because I wanted some caffeine to rejuvenate me after a full day of living it up at Staples. I went there with the intent of ordering a medium coffee, straight up black. And I went there with the goal of getting my energy fi x and then getting out.

But, alas, it was not to be.

When I walked in through the door, I figured that the wait would be negligible, seeing as there was only one customer in front of me. However, the wait was actually about 20 minutes.

Why? She proceeded to whip out her cell phone to take a full-length call, and then ordered a $7 drink that I can’t even pronounce.

What the hell?

I guess part of it is that I’ve never been a really fancy guy. My clothes are durable and average priced, I get a haircut from a barber… none of this “hair styling” nonsense, and my greatest expense has always been nutritious, quality food.

I simply don’t see the point of using disposable income to buy things that have no functional purpose. And out of a basic human desire to connect with other people’s mindsets, it used to bother me when I saw

people shelling out preposterous amounts of bank for Robek’s smoothies, kids throwing everything that they had at video games, or girls obsessing over those high-top boots.

You’re spending $400 on boots, and you can’t even walk in the snow with them. Are you insane?

Eventually, though, I caught on to the larger principles at hand.

Because despite everything, including the recession, Westport will continue to be Westport, and Westporters will continue to spend with reckless abandon, as they have always done.

This kind of irresponsible consumerism used to anger me, especially because it diametrically opposes one of my core principles, which is to buy and use what I need. But then I came to a sobering, yet exciting conclusion—Westport is a soft market.

If people around here are willing to throw money at faceless corporations, why should they not throw money at me? My hypothesis, like the ones from 8th grade science, was that if I thought about it, then I could exploit the consumerist culture at face value, and make some serious green. And to test this hypothesis, I started off with an experiment.

To test my conception of economic habits in Westport, I first hit up my bro Ziad at Walgreens, and sank a $10 investment into 10 cans of Arizona™ Arnold Palmer Half and Half, which is a formidable combination of iced tea and lemonade. I then brought the cans into school, and attempted to sell them for $2, which is twice their face value. No matter at all; I sold out in about five minutes.

My reasoning as to why it worked? Arizona is a product that

virtually all students like, but that bogus “health regulations” keep out of schools, so that they can’t have it. And the disposable income that Westport parents have trickles down to their children. If these people can drop $6 on a smoothie, they can certainly bequeath a paltry $2 to me.

The same concepts apply to my work outside of school, which includes tutoring. Tutoring is essentially the “Wild West” of academia. There are professionals and teachers whose rates exceed $100 an hour, and they manage to acquire customers. When I tutor, I set a much lower rate, but the rate is also completely arbitrary. It’s just me saying that I think I deserve $20, $30, or $40 an hour. And it works.

In Westport, literally anybody who looks around can find a ticket for the gravy train. Students especially.

Jobs are constantly available. Take keeping score are PAL basketball games, for example. I do that at the rate of $15 a game. me.

All I have to do is either keep eep track of fouls and points, or operperate a scoreboard. Either way, I’m just observing a game that I love, ove, and getting paid for it. It’s practictically a vacation!

Yet, it’s difficult to find peoeople to sign up.

Baffling.

Of course, it would be all too easy to slam some fiery rhetoric oric into a Word document and call ll it a column. How well, exactly, has my philosophy of working with the style of the Westport market rket been working?

All I can say is that the amount of dollars in my pocket cket recently eclipsed my numberr of Facebook friends.

If cash is king, I want to be the dictator.

GRAPHIC BY MEGAN FOREMAN ’14 AND MOLLY BARRECA C A ’13 CA

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Why is it that whenever something cool happens in the Staples community, a select few have to come along and ruin it?

As somebody who is interested in world events, I was elated when my Facebook news feed was suddenly fi lled with posts about a confl ict in Uganda.

Friends of mine who, beforehand, had used Facebook exclusively for liking pictures of them holding red Solo cups were now telling all of their friends to watch a half-hour video about Joseph Kony, a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court for the rape and abduction of thousands of Ugandan children. One of the group members even started a Facebook group for Staples students to come together and figure out different ways they could help.

This was the dream for me.

My peers were fi nally fighting back against the stereotype of Staples students living in a bubble and not caring about the world around them. They were debating effective strategies of charity, spreading ideas

for activism events and helping to inform each other about things taking place thousands of miles away. They were getting involved, and I was excited about it.

But then, in typical Staples fashion, it was ruined.

On the second day of the group’s existence, the wall was suddenly fi lled with nothing but jokes. Some were comparisons of Joseph Kony’s abductions of children to Ash Ketchum’s catching of Pokemon. Some were posts about how Kobe Bryant was a tyrant who must be stopped.

All of them were deplorable.

I’m not particularly passionate about the Kony cause, but it is disheartening to see that the majority of posts on a wall meant for activism are jokes, especially when the topic is as sensitive as child rape and abduction.

Kids have been murdered and raped in Uganda, and Staples students can’t even show them one iota of respect.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

The exact same thing happened on the Free Coach Pick Facebook group.

A group of students close to the football coach felt that he was being unfairly treated and started a support group for him.

GRAPHIC BY ERKINA SARTBAEVA ’14 At fi rst, the comments were

all appropriate. The kids were trying to figure out ways they could help their coach, whether it was through paying his bail or spreading a good message about him in the media.

That didn’t last long.

The conversation quickly devolved into a witchhunt for the freshman girl who had “snitched” on the coach. The people posting on the public group may as well have been carrying pitchforks and torches. It was a mob whose need for a scapegoat would not go away.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

It even happens on the event walls for Staples sports events.

What starts off as harmless trash talk between two towns almost always turns into class warfare.

There is no excuse for students on an event wall for a soccer game to be posting the median income of a Westport parents versus a Norwalk parent as if it has any relevancy. It reinforces the idea that Staples students are all a bunch of snobs who have no sense of decency.

Staples should have nice things, but until the students learn how to conduct themselves like decent human beings, they will not have those nice things.

Opinions Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF INVISBLE CHILDREN

When a Cause Goes Viral

9

THE MOST WANTED INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL: Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda.

SHOT FROM KONY 2012 VIDEO, COURTESY OF INVISIBLE CHILDREN

The Visible Problem

I

think, in the interest of my own safety and the protection of my Facebook wall from the (somewhat righteous) indignation of Staples’ own Invisible Children club, I should preface my comments. First, Joseph Kony is a monster, and second, the nations of Central Africa are, almost unarguably, in bad shape.

That is, however, exactly why I will not be spending a penny on posters that emulate those of a political campaign or trendy t-shirts to make “#Kony2012” famous.

It started one unassuming Tuesday night: I saw a half hour long video about atrocities in Africa. I watched a little and got bored. A few hours later, I was added to a Facebook group urging me to “Make Kony Famous,” topped by a blood-red banner urging me to stop at nothing.

Being a contrarian, and rather skeptical of many of the NGOs operating in Central Africa, I decided to look further before I decided to get involved.

What I saw, frankly, disturbed me a little. The organization behind this push, Invisible Children, was immediately suspicious. Actual aid work — that is, money spent overseas to help the child soldiers in Africa — comprised about 32 percent of its budget in 2011. Charity Navigator, a watchdog organization, rated them a two out of four for

WHO

Accountability and Transparency.

To be clear, I’m not saying Invisible Children is a scam, or anyone has been duped, but merely that this is the wrong way to go about helping. An organization that spends most of its money producing media like that catchy video isn’t directly spending money to help people.

Sometimes its message is oversimplified and, in fact, skewed. “Foreign Affairs” magazine, for example, published an article several months ago alleging that Invisible Children and similar groups had “manipulated facts for strategic purposes.”

The groups had exaggerated the wrongdoings — abductions and murders — of Kony’s army, as well as the army’s use of children as soldiers. By contrast, Foreign Affairs said, Invisible Children supports the Ugandan Army opposing Kony (who, notably, is in hiding in the jungles of the DRC and has been since 2007). What members of the group ignore, and those donating to them thusly ignore is crucial. Foreign Affairs says that “they rarely refer to the Ugandan atrocities or those of Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army, such as attacks against civilians or looting of civilian homes and businesses, or the complicated regional politics fueling the confl ict.”

The confl icts in Central Africa have been developing for hundreds of years, have myriad causes, and are difficult to solve.

There’s no short answer here, no simplification that can make things black and white. As much as a half hour video may try.

Now They Know When I first found out about the Kony 2012 movement, I groaned and thought, “Why Kony?”

Off the top of my head, I can think of about five other dictators / warlords / people in my personal life who really annoy me who I would rather see captured to be tried by the International Criminal Court than Joseph Kony.

And yes, I could write four or five columns about problems with the Kony 2012 video and campaign.

But sitting in a corner, grumbling about Invisible Children’s faults isn’t going to help the people of Uganda.

As a big Africa enthusiast, (yes, I do have both aljazeera.com and the New York Times’ “Africa” section as favorites on my computer and yes, I write papers about conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa for fun) I have been waiting for this moment since my freshman year.

Staples students are finally caring.

Maybe it’s peer pressureinduced, maybe they were moved by the video, but at least now they know that Uganda is a country. At least they know that people out there in the world are suffering -- and they want to do something about it.

And even though everyone has been giving the Invisible Children organization a lot of flak for not spending enough money on direct aid and being essentially neo-colonial, you have to give

them credit.

Without Invisible Children, half of you wouldn’t even know that Joseph Kony existed.

As National Media Coordinator for another human rights group, STAND, the student-led division of the United to End Genocide Network, my job is to try to get more students aware of human rights violations around the world, not just in Uganda.

However, I do have to hand it to IC, and this is what my coworkers at STAND and I have been wondering: how the hell did Invisible Children get teenagers across the country to sit down for a 30-minute video, and then show their friends the video?

There’s been a lot of smacktalking on both sides. Some people are saying we should take Kony down, others are saying the cause is both inane and ineffective.

Both sides need to step back, take a deep breath, and read up.

As Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe says, a “balance of stories” is the only way for you to get the 360 on any issue.

Additionally, Staples students need to be more active, on two different levels: on a global level, and on a local level.

Activism transcends our community, but we also must change the world we live in on a local level.

Although initially, I was asking “why Kony?” I now realize that this event transcends the events in Uganda. It proves that American youth, that Westport youth, can defy the stereotype of teenage apathy.

We can make a difference, if we can all get together, stop being so cynical, and think clearly.

The 411 on Kony 2012

Joseph Kony is the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). According to Invisible Children, Kony took “What had started out as a rebel movement to end the oppression of the north,” and manipulated it into “an oppression of the north in itself.”

WHAT

WHEN

WHERE

“KONY 2012” is a film and campaign produced by Invisible Children, an organization developed to end conflict in Uganda and the abduction of Ugandan children. The main purpose of the KONY2012 campaign is to raise awareness for the injustice in Uganda and promote his arrest.

When the “KONY 2012” video was first posted on Feb. 20, it got just three views. Between Feb. 20 and March 5, it gained no less than 22 views. Then, on March 5, there were 58,000 views. On March 6, there were 2.7 million views. On March 13, the video had 76 million views and counting.

The Kony movement is taking place through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The video was originally posted on vimeo.com and since its initial posting, the video has gained notoriety from celebrities such as Ryan Sceacrest, Rihanna and Ellen Degeneres.

WHY According to Invisible Children, it is because of Kony and his army that children in Uganda were forced to kill their own parents or siblings, that girls were abducted and put to use as sex slaves and that young boys were manipulated and coerced into being child soldiers.

FEATURES

10

March 16, 2012

GRAPHIC BY AMANDA PICCOLINO ‘12

More Than Just a Jewel Body Piercings As Outlets of Expression AMANDA PICCOLINO ’12 Staff Writer

M

any are reviving an old tribal practice as a means of personal statement.

Whether used to resist conservative society, symbolize a subculture, or simply look cool, body piercings are marks of individuality and expression for many.

For Brianna Theodore’ 12, who has a belly button ring and nine distinct cartilage piercings that cover nearly the entire length of her ear, they are a mark of rebellion and personal empowerment.

“My parents don’t know about my belly button,” Theodore said. “But finally this year I decided it was my body, and I was going to get it done at some point regardless of their opinion.”

Theodore recalls being inspired by various celebrities, such as Beyonce Knowles and Vanessa Hudgens, who sport belly button rings, and explains that her

decision to get one was based on an intuitive feeling that it would be fitting to her self-described bold personality. Notwithstanding the knowledge that others, including her parents, frown upon the trend, Theodore is confident in her choice.

“Some label it has trashy, but I rarely hear that,” Theodore said. “For the most most part people love it, and if they don’t, that’s ok, I still love it.”

Sage Vernuil ‘12, who has a round silver stud on each hip, feels similarly.

Though she is sporting a less common, but growing trend of dermal piercing, Vernuil states that piercings have a personal appeal that outweighs all opinions of others.

“I don’t really consider society or making statements when I get them,” Vernuil said. “I guess they can be seen as rebellious sometimes.”

Her decision was a rebellious one indeed. Vernuil went to the Milford Mall without her mother’s knowledge to get the piercings done.

Q&A

“She ended up finding the receipt on the floor, so I eventually told her,” Vernuil said.

Vernuil explains that her inspirations were the photos she saw on Tumblr of unique body jewelry on unexpected sites, such as the wrist. Her decision to follow the trend was a bold one, as dermal piercings are essentially permanent, and require removal by a medical professional.

“It was a little painful but I have a high pain tolerance” Vernuil said. “I have a lot of people point and stare at them, but I also get a lot of compliments.”

In addition to her hip piercings, Vernuil previously sported a tongue ring that she removed since it impaired her speech.

“I took it out after five minutes because I couldn’t talk with a lisp,” Vernuil said.

Social Studies teacher Carol Avery had much different reasoning behind her spontaneous decision to pierce her nose. For Avery, a piercing is not merely a cool accessory but a mark of youth and zest.

“I had never wanted it done, but it was my birthday, and I was feeling old, so I drove down to the piercing place in Norwalk and had it done,” Avery said. “I had been in Italy the summer before, and my cousins had it done, so they were my inspiration, but before that point, never any desire whatsoever.”

Apparently, Avery’s piercing indeed fulfills her desire for a youthful aura, as it is a frequent prompter of personal conversations with her students.

“Most of them say, ‘Oh my god I never noticed that;’ then they ask if it hurt,” Avery said. “Then they usually compliment me on it.

Avery recounts the mild pain and “scrunch” sound of the needle going through her nose, but claims that the pain of an ear cartilage piercing was surprisingly worse.

“That hurt forever, I had to take it out and let it close up.” Avery said. “But I have to say, I am so tempted to try it again!”

With Elliott Landon

? ? ?

JAMIE WHEELER-ROBERTS ’13 Opinions editor

For the past twelve years Dr.Elliot Landon has served as superintendent of the Westport public schools. Although many are familiar with his policies,, very few know kno the he real Elliott Landon. When the clock strikes five, Landon on leaves the office behind b and lets l his real life begin. The following questions give insight sight into the life of Elliott Elli Landon, Lando the man behind the desk. s Q: Do you watch any T.V shows religiously?

A: “None religiously. When I ha have the time, I particularly ke NCIS, Person of Interest, the Chris Matthews Show like nd Meet tthe Press.” and

Q: What is the best vacation you’ you’ve ever taken?

A: “Several Several years ago I visited St. S Petersburg Peters and Moscow, Helsinki, Talinn, nki, Copenhagen, en, Amsterdam, Amster Talin and Berlin.”

Q: What’s t’s your favorite movie? m A: “The Graduate.” aduate.””

Q: Do you have ave a favorite p professional team or player?

A: “Derek Jeter is my favorite avorite sports figure because h he demonstrates leadership, ership, compassion, and intelligence both in his professional nal and personal lives. My favorite sport is baseball, and I have had a long-standing affection for the New York Yankees.” es.”

weekend?

A: “Theater, movies, dining, and reading for pleasure.”

Q: What is the most rebellious thing you have ever done?

A: “Too many to recount.”

Q: What was your dream job as a child?

A: “To play for the New York Yankees.”

Q: If you were an animal what animal would you be and why?

A: “A tiger because it is fast and powerful.”

Q: What is your biggest fear?

A: “That mankind will destroy itself through its own stupidity.”

Q: What’s your favorite food?

A: “Italian food, whatever it may be.”

Q: Do you have a hidden talent? If so what is it?

A: “I can act and sing, but I cannot dance as well as Mr. Dodig did when he joined the cast of ‘How to Succeed.’”

Q: What is your favorite thing ng to do over the

Q: What is something that no one knows about you?

CONTRIBUTED BY INKLINGS FILE THE MAN BEHIND THE PODIUM There is more to Elliott Landon than snow day decisions.

A: “During one summer I worked as a sanitation worker sanitatio nita for the New York City Parks arks Department.” ment.”

Q: What is the best st gift you have ever eve recieved and who was it from? rom? m?

A: “A Schwinn Black given to me as a ack Phantom hanto bicycle, g birthday presentt from my favorite uncle.” f unc Q: What is the number one thi thing on your bucket list?

A: “To see all myy grandc grandchildren successfully graduate from college.”

Features

The bucket list

Inklings /March 16, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

11

what’s yours?

ALEXANDRA O’KANE ’13 Social Media Specialist

never been to Europe, so this trip would include seeing a whole new continent while also experiencing his father’s hometown.

Bucket list items can be random and individual.

For example, meeting famous people falls on many girls’ bucket lists.

“I want to meet Ryan Gosling,” said Alexis Texiera ’13.

Another random list item comes from Gasway, who wants to make $1,000,000 in her lifetime.

A

dream to travel. A dare to adventure. A wish to live.

Students and teachers alike have plans for what they would like to accomplish before they die.

These plans, collectively known as a bucket list, typically include fun and exciting hopes that people plan to some day achieve.

“Live a little,” said Louisa Freeman ’13.

Freeman has two things at the top of her bucket list: skydiving and scuba diving with sharks.

“You are only young once; you have to do it up.”

“Before I am too old, I would like to go bungee jumping.”

— Allie Schacter ’12

— Patrick Micinillio GRAPHIC BY CONNIE ZHOU ‘12 Freeman’s bucket list channels the daredevil inside of her. “What’s more fun than diving out of a plane and not dying?” she said.

While completing her bucket list, she also hopes to accumulate interesting stories.

She explained that her father has always told her interesting tales and now she wants to create her own “insane” sto-

ries.

Assistant Principal Patrick Micinillio also has a daring item on his bucket list.

When asked, Micinillio immediately knew what was on his bucket list, knew just what he still wants to do.

“Before I am too old, I would like to go bungee jumping,” he said with a smile.

During spring break of

his senior year, Micinillio had the opportunity to bungee jump, but his two other friends backed out at the last minute.

He still dreams of going, of taking such an adventure.

Not everyone has adventurous bucket lists. Isabel Gasway ’13 dreams of traveling to India, a country she is “obsessed with.”

Similarly, Sydney Fried-

man ’13, wants to take a road trip across the United States.

Both girls did not have these wishes on a defined bucket list, they just know them as places they someday would love to visit.

Micinillio also has a travel destination on his bucket list: he would love to someday visit his father’s hometown in Italy.

He explained that he has

Micinillio dreams of reading “Ulysses” by James Joyce.

“At the turn of the century, the Modern Library Association came out with a list of top books. ‘Ulysses’ was at the top of the list,” Micinillio explained.

Whether they dream of completing a crazy adventure, traveling to an exotic place, or meeting a celebrity crush, many people have items that they just have to do before they die.

As Allie Schacter ’12 said, “You are only young once; you have to do it up.”

Education reform should be about your kids!

?

Did you know that Governor Malloy’s proposed reform bill: would result in Westport children taking standardized tests in every subject, in every year?

will expand teaching to these tests, consuming months of instruction, hampering Westport’s challenging and creative curriculum, because teacher pay will be tied to test results?

will water down the education requirements for Connecticut teacher certification?

will reduce state funding to Westport schools?

aims to shift power away from local school boards to the state?

The bill is being moved quickly—very quickly for such a complex bill—toward a vote. All major changes will be made within the next week, less than two months after its first appearance, when the bill must leave the Education Committee. We encourage you to review Senate Bill 24 and contact your legislators with your thoughts.

More information on the bill can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/westportsb24 This advertisement was placed by a group of concerned Westport teachers.

12 Features

Popping Pills Inklings /March 16, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

Drugs behind the counter

PHOTO BY MOLLY BARRECA’13

g

Features

Inklings /March 16, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

13

PRESCRIPTION FOR:__________________________

FROM:________________________

AILMENT:_____________________

DATE:________________________

about other “hard” drugs. The average drug ring doesn’t specialize in Ritalin.

So the market exists, and the differing motives and morals of the dealers shed light on sharply differing opinions about the necessity of these drugs in the first place.

JORDAN SHENHAR ’13 Opinions Editor

T

hey know it’s wrong. They know it’s dangerous. They know it’s illegal. They do it anyway.

But these dealers lurk just outside the framework of conventional morality. They illegally sell legal substances, known more for study aid than mind-altering recreation. And Staples students use their drugs, mainly Ritalin, Adderall, and Vyvanse, to make the most out of the 24 hours in any given day.

As a group, the dealers have no consistent mentality. Some sell for the money. Some sell to help friends in need. Some sell in bathroom stalls and others on weekends. They’ve all mastered the art of deception in different ways, creatively covering their tracks to avoid detection.

Unlike most commonly dealt drugs, ADHD medicines are completely legal, prescribed by medical professionals to combat one of the most common behavioral disorders.

The stimulants help people avoid distractions and begin a task.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 10 million kids had been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2007, of which 3 million were medicated. By 2010, however, the number had risen to 18 million.

Compared to other prescription drugs such as painkillers, the addiction rates and side effects of ADHD medicines are fairly tame. Kids in grade school however, aren’t lectured on the dangers of Adderall as they are

The Power of Money Generally speaking, there are two things that most of these sellers have in common: One, they have all been prescribed with ADHD, giving them access to the drugs. Two, they want to turn a profit. And in most cases, they do.

“I used to sell because it was extremely easy money,” said one anonymous sellser of drugs, who sold his excess pills to friends for $5 each.

He isn’t alone. All the ADHD drug sellers interviewed for this story listed their average price per pill as between $3 and $7.

That adds up quickly.

“I care about morals, but if somebody wants to do something they should be allowed to.”

“I know of a kid who paid off his whole college tuition and two cars by selling prescription drugs over his four years as a college student,” Cooper Yurkiw ’12 said.

But there are exceptions to the rule.

Money isn’t the only reason people turn to dealing. Many dealers aren’t in any serious financial trouble. In fact, some people even give away their pills for free, listing their motivation as a desire to help those in need.

“I only started selling because one of my friends really needed them but couldn’t get prescribed,” said one anonymous dealer.

All the dealers interviewed for this sto-

Special Instructions

Dosage: Duration: Refills:

ry shared a desire to make money, but they didn’t have much else in common.

Alterior Motives The dissimilarities start with the reasons why they were prescribed the drugs in the first place. Not all of them used or even felt like they needed their medications.

One student interviewed for this story finished freshman year with a 1.4 GPA. She continued to struggle throughout her sophomore year. But when she was prescribed 70 milligrams of vyvanse, everything changed.

By junior year, she had jumped a full two points to a 3.4. To evade the detection of her parents, she would only sell a few pills at a time.

But another dealer was less convinced that his prescription helped his schoolwork.

“I’ve always maintained that I’ve never really needed them,” said the anonymous seller of drugs. He claimed that he stopped taking the drugs due to its “terrible side-effects,” including grogginess, sleep troubles, and “general zombie-like characteristics.”

This meant he had extra pills to sell.

The first student agreed that using his medication came with unexpected consequences. While she could not “make it through a day of school without them,” the side-effects of the drugs made her question her decision to use them in the first place.

“The meds pretty much saved my ass, but I also regret going on them,” she said.

“I’ve become dependent.”

An Ethical Issue But the biggest difference among the dealers is morality. Some believe that what they do is wrong. Others don’t.

The student who sold her drugs to help a friend in need saw no problem with the practice.

“The medication I’m on isn’t used to get people high,” she said. “It can benefit almost anyone.”

A senior boy who sells his prescribed ADHD medicine also took a more cavalier approach to his behavior, claiming that it was not his right to regulate someone else’s morality.

“I care about morals, but if somebody wants to do something, they should be allowed to,” he said.

However, the seller who claimed that he didn’t need the drugs is more ambivalent.

He acknowledges the illegality of selling his medications and fears how his customers might react to the drugs. But he also thinks that the buyers’ motives must be taken into account.

“It is immoral to sell the drugs like I did,” he said, “But when you look at what the people are using these drugs for, is it truly that evil?”

GRAPHIC BY LEAH BITSKY ’12

14

Features Inklings /March 16, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

Big Spending How to budget your money EMILY KOWAL ’12 Web News Editor

E

very day Halli Sigel ‘12 goes to Dunkin’ Donuts, orders an iced hazelnut coffee with cream and two splendas, as apart of her daily routine. Not a second thought runs through her mind as she hands over a $5 bill. To Sigel, it’s only $5, not a lot of money. “It’s not a big deal” said Sigel.

What most students don’t realize, however, is that $5 spent each day on caffeine adds up. If she continues to buy a coffee each day throughout the school year, Sigel will have spent $910 alone on Dunkin Donuts in one year.

“The little expenses that you think aren’t a big deal can add up to a lot over time and that’s where a lot of people end up wasting their money,” said Sarah White, Personal Finance teacher.

This type of scenario is known as the “Latte Factor,” coined by author David Bach, and a lot of students find themselves drowning in it. According to Bach, the “Latte Factor” is the simple idea that cutting out small unnecessary expenses such as coffee or bottled water will save people a lot of money and allow them to accumulate wealth.

It’s certain that not all expenses can be cut down; however, students are capable of identifying the difference between their own wants and needs, said White. While It is necessary for a student to have gas so they can drive their car, White pointed out that someone could easily make coffee at home every morning–spending an average 10 cents a cup instead of $5 at Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts.

The word budgeting it very formal and to most students it’s something that is associated with the responsibility of being an adult.

As soon as the word budget comes into conversation, students are either confused or just drown out everything said following it.

GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA HAMPTON ’15 But, they should be listening.

Lenny Klein, Personal Finance teacher, explained that budgeting all begins with wanting to save.

“I don’t know whether a lot of young adults have that desire because if you don’t want to save, you wont,” said Klein.

Klein believes that it is important to first understand where a student’s income is coming from–whether that’s babysitting, a job with a business, or an allowance and next evaluate what a student spends their money on.

Zoe Greenblatt ’12 babysits everyday for three hours during the week making $160 each week. Rather then saving this money however, Greenblatt finds herself spending her entire paycheck on food and clothes.

“I wish that I could save my money, but I don’t have the self-control,” said

Greenblatt.

White agrees that there’s definitely a temptation. “As soon as you have cash in your wallet, it’s so easy to spend,” said White.

Klein knows that it’s tough for anyone to just say “Oh yeah, I’m going to save” without understanding why you’re actually doing it.

A major reason that students should start saving is for college expenses, not the actual tuition, but money to pay for expenses said Klein.

“A lot of students don’t realize that they will probably spend a lot more money when they are living on their own rather than when they’re living at home with their parents,” said Klein.

Cooper Davis ’12 similar to Greenblatt babysits and is making around 100 to 150 dollars each week. Davis has a system

where he will save half and deposit it into the bank and then keep half in his wallet to spend.

Despite the fact that every student has different responsibilities when it comes to paying for certain things, there is one common thing everyone can do, put some money away said White.

If students are concerned where to put there money and how to save it somewhere other then in a shoe box, there are a number of options. White explained that many students make the mistake of setting up an account at their parents’ bank. Instead, students should research more than one bank in Westport in order to figure out which ones have no minimum balances or fees for students.

There are also different types of accounts. For instance, if a student doesn’t want to be able to take money out, there’s an account called a CD where without a fee a person cannot withdraw money from it.

“The benefit is that it’s locked up and you can’t touch it and the downside is that it’s locked up and you can’t touch it,” said White.

For students who are confused with how much they need to put in the bank and how much to keep for everyday spending, White suggests spending one week writing down every penny spent and every penny earned in order to give students an idea of where their money is going.

“So many people get their babysitting money, and four days later they don’t know what they did with the $50,” said White.

White continued that it is important to ask “Is this something I need to spend my money on or is this just something I want?”

White provided an example –when it comes to clothing there are a lot of choices, there’s the $100 shirt and the $20 shirt.

However, when it comes to gas, cheap gas is only so much cheaper than the expensive gas. A big part about saving money is making choices White said.

“It all starts with having a plan,” said Klein.

Staples students in love with famous people JACKIE KERAMES ’12 A&E Editor “She’s just the perfect girl for me,” says Jon Wormser ’12. “I feel like we’re best friends.” To his regret, Wormser isn’t talking about one of his friends; he’s referencing Nicki Minaj, the Grammy-nominated artist who is also a member of “Young Money,” an elite collection of hip-hop artists.

Although they’ve yet to meet, this simple fact fails to deter Wormser from believing that he doesn’t already know Minaj. He calls his attitude towards her an obsession, and provides substantial data to back that up.

“I Google her at least six times a day. At least. I buy her album twice so that it makes more money. I’m definitely obsessed,” said Wormser. The love doesn’t stop there. “I’ve seen every documentary, interview, commercial, and music video. If you go on Youtube and show me a video of her, I can probably tell you what she says in it, verbatim.”

Her unique voice, her eccentric style, and her carefree attitude are all attributes that make her so likable, says Wormser. But these characteristics weren’t necessary to make Wormser a fan, he adds.

One listen to her cameo in Ludacris’s single, “My Chick Bad,” got Wormser hooked.

As he explains Minaj’s enticing musical style, Wormser moves in his chair with excitement. His words become pedantic and a grin fills his face. “Her voice is like ice cream in the middle of summer,” says Wormser, before spitting out lyrics from her songs.

The deep fi xation that Wormser has for Minaj is no rarity; millions of teens share a crush, fascination, or obsession with a celebrity.

Taylor Jacobs ’14 is one to say she knows the feeling. Jacobs is an avid fan of One Direction, a Pop-genre boy band.

The group of five boys formed after being grouped together on the show “The X Factor.” Since their 2010 debut, the boys have received international appraise and earned themselves the love of millions of girls like Jacobs.

So what is it that makes these boys so special? “They’re so down to earth,” says Jacobs.

“They’re just teenage boys that happen to be beautiful and have amazing voices and amazing personalities.”

These qualities are enough to get a girl hooked. Ja-

cobs has posters of One Direction covering her bedroom walls, a picture of One Direction as her computer and phone background, a folder in her phone called “babies” that contains pictures of the boys, and a self-made tumblr page that is dedicated to the group.

“Oh, and I tweet at them all the time,” she adds.

While simply discussing One Direction seems to enliven Jacobs, it is clear that the one-way love affair between her and the boys leaves her constantly longing for more.

“Whenever I think about them my stomach hurts,” said Jacobs. “I love them so much I just want to meet them so badly.”

Because the group is in such high demand, this has been an ongoing struggle for Jacobs. She has called Z100 over 500 times in attempt to get concert tickets, and continues to go to great lengths to be in their presence.

She’s already replayed the scene in her head millions of times.

“If I could meet them I would cry and probably pass out,” says Jacobs. This doesn’t seem to faze her, she confidently adds. “It would make my life complete.”

PHOTO BY JACKIE KERAMES ’12

Features

Inklings /March 16, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

15

16

A&E March 16, 2012

Clog Anatomy high quality uppers

reinforced, padded instep

protective heel cap

absorbent insole

roomy toe box for increased comfort

stapled construction

skid-resistant outsole

anatomically shaped footbed stabilizing PVC insert shock-absorbing, ϐlexible PU sole

GRAPHIC BY TOMMY PALUMBO ‘13

THEY’VE GOT SOLE: Staples’ teachers wear these clogs (above) for all their special features. They pair comfort with style and teachers find them them to be the perfect shoes to wear all school year.

Comfort Footwear Sweeps Teaching Staff The Swag Guide To Wearing Clogs

ALIX NEENAN ’12 Managing Editor

“T

his is it,” says social studies teacher Ashley Gayanilo. She points to her toes, showcasing what she says are “literally all I wear”: her Dansko clogs.

“You could run a marathon in these,” Gayanilo said. She swears by these clogs, and has gotten a new pair every year in August since her second year of teaching.

A former teacher recommended them to her to help alleviate back pain.

“They’re literally all I wear,” said Gayanilo. Although she normally just gets plain black clogs, this year she’s “digging the marble.”

Rob Rogers, a Social Studies teacher, also prioritizes comfort when choosing his shoes. His top pick is Merrell shoes.

He currently owns three pairs, and says that they are “amazingly comfortable.”

Merrell shoes are specifically made to endure long hikes and other strenuous activities, including standing at the front of a room for seven hours a day.

For grade-level assistant Alice Atticks, comfortable shoes aren’t just a choice, they’re a necessity.

She wears running shoes “for comfort because I walk seven to eight miles a day.”

Other teachers are more willing to compromise their comfort for the sake of style.

“I want something that is going to look more professional,” says English teacher Heather Colletti-Houde. She says she is accustomed to the less-thancomfy styles. “I’m used to wearing high heels.”

Carole Avery, a Social Studies teacher, shares similar senti-

SAMMY WARSHAW ’12 A&E Editor

1. FLOWER PASTEL: This versatile design works with everything. Whether you’re rocking a fresh pair of “mom jeans” or going for the strictly business look, this design complements all of your probably outdated styles.

PHOTOS BY SAMMY WARSHAW ’12

Clogs rocked by teachers Julia McNamee and Ashley Gayanillo, recently, this eclectic footwear has swept the Staples teaching community ments. “It’s complicated because you have to look good,” she said.

However, Avery does admit to owning two pairs of the Dansko clogs.

“I want to get a new pair but I can’t justify it,” she said.

The clogs run at a steep price - $130, but the teachers who wear them say they are worth every penny.

The clogs, which according to the company are inspired by Dutch clogs, are now a uniform requirement for many nurses,

being sold on nursing-wear websites such as scrubsandbeyond. com and allnurses.com.

Dansko clogs may have been made popular by nurses, but many teachers have followed suit.

“I have one pair of shoes for 10 months,” says Gayanilo.

Whether it be Dansko clogs, Merrell shoes, or even a pair of stylish high-heeled boots, teachers at Staples are making their mark throughout the classroom and hallways.

A classic Dansko clog worn by Ashley Gayanillo, Social Studies Teacher.

2. SPARKLE: With these clogs, you finally get to be the prettiest princess in all the land. These Cinderella-esque slippers pop right off the foot. There is only one caution when you’re wearing these bad boys: shade your eyes.

3. ZEBRA PRINT: These appeal to the zesty side of you. These fun, out- there shoes work great with a dark pair of pants. Sure, the haters may mock their “wow factor,” but what are you gonna do?

You didn’t start wearing these to make friends.

4. GIRAFFE STYLE: Swag. That’s the only word to describe these babies. You could never find time for that long safari, but these get you half way there. Take your pick between these and the zebra- striped ones, or perhaps splurge and get them both.

5. COMFY LOOK: These are all about the comfort. Let us not forget the inevitable bragging that goes along when you bring these out with your friends.

Birkenstocks were so 90s and you get to look cultured in these “African influenced” designs.

A&E

Inklings /March 16, 2012/ inklingsnews.com

17

GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA HAMPTON ‘15

Get Out of My Head

The science of songs that stick ZACH SPEED ’13 Staff Writer

L

ike baby, baby, baby, no.

Like baby, baby, baby, oh.

I thought you’d always be mine, mine.

Please don’t accuse me of liking Justin Bieber.

I am not singing this by choice. I can’t help it. It’s just… stuck in my head.

To anybody who is going to be singing that song all day now, I apologize.

As Noah Bender’13 said, “It is usually those catchy songs that everyone says they don’t like that you can’t get out of your head.”

I know. Thanks a lot, Bieber.

Everybody has had to deal with this phenomenon. In fact most people have reported get-

1

ting a song stuck in their head every day. Talk about annoying.

Homework, you may have met your match.

However, there is a difference between homework and songs getting stuck in your head.

The difference being that there is an actual reason that a song gets stuck in your head.

Researchers at the University of Cincinati have developed an interesting theory on the subject. The theory states that certain songs create a “cognitive itch,” the mental equivalent of an itchy back. The only way to scratch that “itch” is to replay the responsible tune mentally.

And that’s how the problem begins.

Unfortunately, just like a normal itch, the more you scratch at it, the worse it gets.

Repetition

“Mission: Impossible” often can get stuck in people’s head. Any song that repeats a phrase, a motif or a series of notes is likely to get stuck in a person’s head. This is because the brain instinctually echoes the pattern as the music is processed.

2

Before you know it, you’re singing “Baby” all.. day... long.

It has been proven that musical characteristics are believed to play a role in creating this cognitive itch.

One characteristic is repetition, which causes the brain to echo the pattern causing it to play over in your head.

I guess “Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby” might fit that category. It’s just a thought.

And taking into account that most students would appreciate a way to get a song like “Baby” out of their head, here are a few ways to do that.

1. Sing another song.

2. Switch to an activity that keeps you busy.

3. Turn on the radio to get your brain tuned in to another

Musical Simplicity The simplicity of the song allows it to stick in your head. Whether simple melodies or short, simple phrases, these songs are most likely to stay in your head.

This musical simplicity usually occurs in children’s music or classical music.

INFORMATION FROM JAMES KELLARIS AND UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

3

song.

4. Bang your head on a table until you knock yourself out.

Don’t actually attempt the last suggestion. Unless you have to.

But to be fair to Justin, “Baby” isn’t actually the only song that commonly gets stuck in your head. There are several others that can be just as annoying. I know, shocking.

Starting off the count at No.1 song that gets stuck in your head, according to Pop Culture Madness, “It’s A Small World.”

May God have mercy on our souls. If there were any song that could irritate somebody to the point of insanity, this would be it.

Let me augment my original list of ways to get a song out of your head.

5. Destroy Disneyland Just to be clear, I don’t actually mean that. Maybe just that ride, but I digress.

Before I start thinking too much about it and get “It’s A Small World” stuck in my head, let’s move on.

Going down the list a little ways just for humor’s sake, the 17th most dangerous song to get stuck in your head is… drum roll for this one…“Can’t Get You Out of My Head” by Kylie Minogue.

Kylie, maybe if you didn’t make the song we wouldn’t have to worry about getting it out of our heads. But, thanks.

Sorry folks, but with songs like these floating around, you’re bound to get one stuck in your head. Just bite your lip, grit your teeth, and hope that it isn’t by Justin Bieber.

Incongruity

The unexpected is also very memorable. When a song is unpredictable it often sparks a cognitive itch. Some of the unexpected things songs do are unpredictable melodic patterns or unexpected independent notes.

Studies have shown that humans only use 20 percent of their brains, none of which should be taken up by the likes of Rebecca Black.

18 A&E

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

A Panny For Your Thoughts ‘Baches’ love this

I

n case any of you are unaware of how boy-girl relationships typically unfold, allow me to break it down. Step 1: Boy meets girl. Step 2: Boy is attracted to girl. Step 3: Boy takes girl out to cheap restaurants and hopes for a little luck with girl. Step 4: Boy confesses love to girl. Step 5: Girl reciprocates affection or kindly informs boy that he has failed in his courtship attempt.

As lovely as that is, there is nothing entertaining about it.

What it’s missing is the captivating stupidity that Hollywood so masterfully injects into our supposed “realities” - something the producers of ABC’s “The Bachelor” have perfected.

In “The Bachelor,” the hugely popular reality show about “finding true love,” 25 girls compete for the heart of one man.

Throughout the season, the girls are supplied with copious amounts of alcohol, and in between cocktail hours, go on helicopter rides with their desired man and his abs of steel in the world’s most exotic locations.

I am well aware that I am fighting a losing battle here, but more guys need to watch this show. I mean honestly; it’s 25 drunk girls in bikinis attempting pickup lines.

That is the definition of en-

GRAPHIC BY AMY PERELBERG ’15

tertainment.

The cat-fights that go on between these girls are also a point of intrigue.

They are the kinds of spectacles that we males wish we got to see more often. I’d

say that in “The Bachelor,” the word “bitch” is used more frequently than the word “love.”

The relationship lessons one learns while watching this show are also invaluable.

A good one I picked up re-

cently is that it is rather unwise to pass out drunk when being introduced to someone you hope to fall in love with. These essential guidelines to life can only be provided by a show as idiotic as “The Bachelor.”

It’s especially hysterical to watch this show with a female present, as female viewers pass extremely harsh judgment on the contenders.

My mom, for example, has been consistently bothered by Emily, a top contender in this current season who was recently eliminated.

“I keep wanting to draw some eyebrows on her,” she complained as the show was playing in our living room.

And yes, Monday night is “Bachelor night” in our household. We needed a replacement once Jack Bauer decided he was tired of making every other TV show look extremely insignificant Emily, by the way, is actually a doctral candidate in epidemiology. It’s just another testament to the power of “The Bachelor” - it can make even intelligent girls look like complete morons.

Anyway, the point I’ve been trying to drive home here is that tuning in to a show just to make fun of it is a perfectly legitimate reason.

I mean for God’s sake, this show has somehow remained on the air for 10 years and 16 seasons, and close to eight million people watch it per episode.

There have to be more people out there like me.

So before you begin to question my manhood, trying tuning in first, and you just may discover a new meaning to the word “entertainment”.

Certain Films Call for Desperate Measures MARK SCHWABACHER ’13

It's 12:00 a.m. A huge throng of people mass around a dark movie theatre. Many of them are wearing costumes of some kind or another, and some have been there for hours. They are tired and hungry, but an energy of anticipation bristles in the air.

This is a typical scene outside of a movie theatre right before a midnight premier of a major blockbuster. It can feel a lot like a cult gathering and in many ways it is.

Midnight premiers attract a very particular type moviegoer.

People who are attached enough to a particular film they just have to see it at midnight must be willing to jump through some hoops.

The first of these challenges is finding tickets. When theatres expect large crowds on opening night, they start selling tickets far in advance. The crowd for midnight movies is small enough that competitions for tickets rarely reaches the cutthroat scalping that can be seen at some major concerts, but would be moviegoers have to be careful because threatres often do sell out.

Once a fan gets a ticket, he or she has to be willing to sacrifice a full night’s sleep.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One” was on a Thursday night, and I got home at 4:30am in the morning. I got two hours of sleep that night, but I have no regrets," said Emily Garber '13, "It was totally worth it."

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY STEVIE KLEIN ‘12

Web Opinions Editor

On Movies

WITCHES AND WANDS Stevie Klein’ 12, Kenzie Roof ’12, and Lucy Stanley ’11 prepare for their sixth straight Harry Potter midnight premiere This sentiment is shared by many who have been to at least one midnight release. Despite the hassle of finding tickets, dressing up, and missing even more sleep, the atmosphere of these events makes it irresistible to fans.

“The atmosphere made it so different, everyone was waiting and there was so much excitement.

I had conversations with other Potter fans, even though I'd never met them. It brought so many people together,” said Shira Gitlin ’13 who went to see ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.’” It was just a great big nerdy fan club," added Rachael Shapiro '12, another Harry Potter fan.

"Everyone in the audience knew every little detail of the book, and we were waiting for it in the movie. We all laughed, screamed, and cried at the exact same times - all the right times," said Shapiro.

Some believe that midnight premiers are worth the effort because they condense all the energy

of an entire fan base into a single showing.

"I didn't want to pass up my last chance to see a midnight showing of a Harry Potter movie.

It was the last time I could sit in a theater with my robes and wand while surrounded by dozens of people that are just as crazy about the series as I am," said Phoebe Corde '13.

Excitement is continuing to build for upcoming midnight releases, even outside of the movie theatre. The highly anticipated “Hunger Games” movie releases on March 23, and an entire Myth and Bible class is planning to go to its midnight release, and the Westport Public Library is hosting its own rendition of the “Hunger Games” to celebrate the new movie.

As the success of past releases and the steadily increasing excitement for the “Hunger Games” indicate, midnight movies will continue to be a special event for Staples students.

Survival Guide to a Midnight Premiere DEANNA SCHREIBER ’13 A&E Editor

Five-hour energy This is a must to get through a midnight premiere.

This burst of energy will keep you awake and give you the adrenaline rush needed for the excitement of a midnight premiere.

Lots of candy Be sure to bring some in a big bag, because everyone knows how expensive the candy is at movie theaters.

This candy will be a sweet treat to keep you going through the movie. Make sure not to eat it before or else you’re sugar crash might come in the middle of the movie.

Costume Everyone will be dressing up as thier favorite character from the movie. If you do not dress up you are sure to get looks. No muggles allowed at Harry Potter’s premiere.

Pre-purchased tickets Do not show up without a ticket. You can be sure that if they are showing it at midnight the showings will have been sold out for weeks in advance. But most movie theaters will sell them online now, so it shouldnt be too hard to get.

A nap before If you take a nap before you will be wide awake for the movie. Earlier in the day take a quick power nap so you are rejuvinated and energized to stay up.

A&E

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

19

CLAIRE O’HALLORAN ’13 Web Features Editor t can happen suddenly, and without warning. A reader is making his or her way through a book, like normal, until out of the blue: there’s something more. It’s love. The reader falls head-over-heels in love with the irresistible character who keeps the pages of the book turning at a rapid rate.

It’s not uncommon. In fact, many students and teachers alike find themselves entranced by and obsessed with certain characters.

“I have a total man crush on Sebastian from ‘Brideshead Revisited’,” said Michael Fulton, Collab teacher. “I would love to be his buddy for a summer.”

Fulton finds himself in love with the fun times that Sebastian and his friend have throughout the book while traveling and just hanging out and genuinely wishes he could be a part of their life.

While having a crush like this on a character may seem harmless, there are in fact slight problems that can occur as a result.

Fulton, for example, often finds himself caught up in daydreams of his fictional crush. He then feels the need to go back and metaphorically “cheat on his wife [(Staples teacher Kathy Hernandez)] by re-reading.” This addiction to a certain character is what Fulton refers to as “emotional adultery.”

Part-time teacher Delbart Shortliffe agrees with the idea of “emotional adultery,” as he too

I

finds himself attracted to literary characters. In Shortliffe’s case, he is equally in love with Dunya from “Crime and Punishment” and Elizabeth from “Pride and Prejudice.” Shartliffe believed the main female characters in these books were noble and independent, which are the qualities that sparked his liking for the two characters.

Although these may be qualities specific to Shortliffe’s taste, many people agree that good looks definitely help to turn a simple liking for a character into a literary crush.

Shortliffe’s favorite character Dunya being is a “ray of hope” in the book, he admits, “I think she’s hot too.” Sam Koenig ’13, who has a particular liking for Katniss, in “The Hunger Games,” confesses that she is a “complete fox.”

This, in addition to Katniss’ feisty yet innocent personality, is what makes Koenig love the book, and the character, so much.

Katniss is not the only character in “The Hunger Games” that readers fall in love with, however.

Peeta, the innocent, sensitive heartthrob of the book is also found to be irresistible by readers. Sophie de Bruijn ’14 appreciates how realistic he is “He's not perfect. He doesn’t sparkle like Edward Cullen, which makes him more relatable to the reader.”

Just as “The Hunger Games” appears to be a hot spot for lovable characters, Mr. Darcy of “Pride and Prejudice” is a popular, likeable character for many.

GRAPHIC BY CONNIE ZHOU ‘12

The Side Effects of Unrealistic Literary Lovers

LOVESTRUCK: Whether it is with Katniss Everdeen in the beloved “Hunger Games” Trilogy, or even Mr. Darcy a hundred years ago, there is a whole lotta love floating around Staples’ literature culture.

Staples paraprofessional Fran ’13, even baked a Mr. Darcy cake there is an “emotional involveEvan and Sarah Cooperman ’13 to show just how much they loved ment” with the book, reality can seem almost boring and plain in are just two of the Mr. Darcy fans. the character.

Similar to how Fulton day- comparison.

“It’s that romance,” said Even with the side effect of Evan, “that exterior of being aloof dreams about his character crush, and unreachable and having emo- Cooperman and Evan agree that desperate longing for a fictional loving a character like Mr. Darcy character to be tangible, readers tions deep down.”

“He [is] kind of that tall, dark, so much can come with some side can’t help but fall in love with the mysterious guy that you learn effects. irresistible looks and lives of their Cooperman acknowledges all-time favorite characters. more and more about,” Cooperman agreed. “And he turned out that having to know that Mr. Dar“Darcy's mannerisms and to be quite a valiant, modest char- cy isn’t real can be kind of disap- lifestyle are such a breath of fresh pointing, and Evan notes that the air from the chaotic lives of evacter — plus, he's handsome.”

Cooperman, along with crushes can make people com- erybody who loves him, including friends Katie Hickson ‘13, Emily pare their lives to the characters’ me. I guess I was just about 200 Greenberg ‘13, and Molly Rubidge lives. Evan mentions that once years too late!” said Cooperman.

SPORTS

20

March 16, 2012

THE GAME OF Visit Colleges

Look at schools that aren’t recruiting you that you like better

Graduation n Day

Declining the Offer

GGo to tournament PPay: EEntire weekend

For Some, Playing in College Does Not Appeal

EMILY GOLDBERG ’12 Web Managing Editor icole Brill ’11, along with over 60 students in her graduating class, made the decision to become a collegiate athlete.

At Bates College, Brill plays both varsity soccer and basketball, and this commitment has drastically changed her college experience from the average student.

“I spend anywhere from 15-30 hours each week with my teams,” Brill said. “Last week with basketball was unusual, but I spent 16 hours on a bus ride to Hamilton College, then another 10 hours to a Northern Maine school.”

Due to the level of intensity and commitment that college varsity teams demand, many talented Staples athletes have made the decision to forgo the recruiting process.

Field hockey co-captain Caroline Kearney ’12 thoroughly enjoyed her athletic experiences at Staples, but she along with many other athletes halted the recruiting process after considering the competitive nature of college sports.

“I realized I didn’t love the sport as much as I should in order to pursue it in college because it’s just so competitive,” Kearney said.

Brill affirmed Kearney’s view, saying that because all athletes are at the same skill level in college, this increases the intensity of prac-

N

C Compare size i off school recruiting you to size of high g school

Tear ACL: Skip ahead to What-Could’ve-Been Retirement Home

tices. This intensity demands athletes dedicate more time and effort to developing their skills and becoming faster and stronger.

When looking to play a varsity sport in college, another issue that drives students away from the recruiting process is the lack of control over which schools are interested in them.

Schools that are interested in a student’s athletic abilities may not be the same schools

ate students) before he decided to not play baseball in college.

“I got caught up in the baseball hype and wasn’t really thinking of why I wanted to go there besides baseball,” Kopack said.

Athletic Director Marty Lisevick said this is a common issue among student athletes.

“Many of our athletes can easily play at a division III school, but choose to go to

“I realized I didn’t love the sport as much as I should in order to pursue it in college” the student is interested in terms of academics, size, and location.

Co-captain of the boys baseball team, Jimmy Kopack’ 12, said that a few schools contacted him beginning in his junior year, but he decided to turn down their offers.

“At first I did have an interest in playing in college, but I ended up deciding not to play because many of the schools that I could attend for baseball were either very small or in places I did not want to go,” Kopack said.

Kopack had been contacted by coaches from Union College, Bates College, Endicott College, and Roger Williams University (all colleges with under 4,000 undergradu-

GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA HAMPTON ’15 AND AMY PERELBERG ’15

a big state school like University of Michigan or Ohio State due to personal preference or academic level,” he said.

In addition to types of schools, student athletes must also consider how

the recruiting process can n change their entire college ge application process. Girls ls Volleyball and Lacrosse coocaptain Kenzie Roof ’12 said id she would have had to connsider the added difficulties es of emailing coaches, playing g in tournaments, and visiting g even more schools if she had decided to pursue athletic recruitment.

“Many of my friends decided to play in college so I’ve been around the process firsthand,” Roof said. “It’s very time consuming, and it has to be started around a certain time.”

While a majority of Staples athletes may be hanging up their gear when they go to college, they remain fond of their memories on Staples teams.

“It was amazing to play in high school, and I’m sure that playing in college would never have been able to match up to how much I loved playing at Staples,” Kearney said.

THIS YEAR’S SIGNEES

THE BIG DAY: Callie Hiner ’12 and Misha Strage ’12 look on as Emily Ashken ’12 signs her Letter of Intent to play field hockey at the University of Michigan on National Signing Day.

PHOTO BY JAMIE WHEELERͳROBERTS ’13

Do work in from c

Sports

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

kouts sent college coach

Quit third sport

Agonize over NCAA regulations

The Pressure From College Coaches AARON HENDEL ’14

Staff Writer here is a reason why Tom Zbikowski was the only athlete in America to make professional appearances in two major sports in the last year, one as a safety for the Baltimore Ravens, and the other as a boxer.

No, Tony Romo appearing in the celebrity round at Pebble Beach does not count.

It is because college coaches say it’s so difficult to focus on muland still perform at the tiple sports an hi h level highest l l in i both. b So, despite the fact many perStaples athletes are able to p form exceptionally well in multiple sports during different seasons, college coaches are often skeptical about letting their r e -

T

cruits participate in a second sport.

As the recruiting process kicks in, and players commit to their respective colleges, they are often required to, by their future coach, drop the sport they are not going to play in college. The penalty of not obeying a coach’s orders could result in the coach kicking the player off of the team.

A notable instance is from last year, when soccer tri-captain Frankie Bergonzi ’11, who had committed to Colgate University before the start of the soccer season his senior year, was told by his soccer coach at Colgate not to continue playing basketball. This news was only learned shortly bef before the basketball season, accordin to Head Basketball Coach cording Colin D Devine, causing a potential distraction and slight mayhem. distraction Devvine did not have much to Devine he matter, m say on th the though he did ery sit add, “Ev “Every situation (like this) is differentt, it is u different, up to the player, and havve my fu they have full support.”

Not all co coaches make these

kinds of demands on multi-sport athletes. Not only do some coaches not require some athletes to drop their second sport, but they sometimes also encourage the athletes to continue to play the other sport to correspond with the sport that they are being recruited for.

Interestingly, the university that discouraged Bergonzi from playing basketball was very happy that Ryan Kirshner ’13, who recently committed there for lacrosse, played soccer as well.

“Rather than telling me to give up (soccer), they encouraged me to continue playing,” Kirshner said. “They liked seeing that overall athleticism.”

However, Colgate still requested one minor thing from Kirshner: to play a little more midfield on the lacrosse turf.

Fairfield University Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach Lauren Scinto said that at Fairfield, a dual-sport early commitment recruit does not receive restrictions.

“If they are playing another sport, we do not discourage them from

Wonder W if five seconds is long ennough before checking again

The Struggle to Become Visible in Coaches’ Eyes ERIK SOMMER ’13 Staff Writer Collegiate sports recruiting, like the electronics we use on a daily basis, is in the midst of an evolution. At Staples, and throughout the country, technological advances have surgically altered the features that previously defined scouting.

In the past, recruiting was predominantly based on personal encounters.

“When I was recruited, scouts would come to our games and talk to coaches in the FCIAC to get a sense of our grades and [playing abilities]” says former Penn State and Staples quarterback Lance Lonergan ’85. “So it was much more face to face than it is now.”

Conversely, Staples Varsity Football Coach Marce Petrocio, says high school scouting is now heavily based on email between coaches and players, along with player information posted on recruiting websites.

These online recruitment forums, ranging from beRecruited.com toHudl.com, have become extremely popular among Staples athletes; players on nearly every varsity sports team now pay around $50 annually for profiles.

21

College prospects use their “profiles” to post their respective statistics, academic achievements, and personal highlight videos.

“If I didn’t have a Hudl profile, colleges wouldn’t be able to see me play. It’s not like they’re actually coming to the games and watching me” said Zack Speranza, ’13, a Varsity football player.

Petroccio says that many under-the-radar players now have greater exposure with college coaches, due to the success of websites like Hudl.com.

Yet some argue these alterations in the recruiting process are not always so beneficial.

Nathaniel Boley ‘13, says that with the use of technology, there is also more pressure involved with getting recruited because “anyone in the world can contact the coaches. The competition is a lot stiffer.”

Varsity soccer player Lorenz Esposito ‘13, agrees; he feels that there has been an inf lux of college prospects due to the growing number of recruitment websites. He says the online businesses make it more difficult for him to stand out.

Sports-centered organizations like the United States Tennis Association have published research affirming Boley’s and Esposito’s claims: the USTA asserts that 68 percent of the top 100 Division One male tennis players are now foreign nationals because “international communication is becoming instantaneous.”

Furthermore, Staples Athletic Director Marty Lisevick contends that with the advance of technology, college coaches more often succumb to the temptation of reeling in athletes in ways that violate NCAA rules. He thinks that the increasing number of electronics available gives recruiters more ways to discreetly contact college prospects without proper authorization.

For instance, there have been rare instances when Staples sportspersons have been prematurely contacted by coaches through phone calls, emails, or texts, before he told them to stop.

“The rules are there for a reason, and I would think that 95 percent of the time they’re adhered to” says Lisevick.

Lonergan supports Lisevick’s claim, saying that twenty years ago, players would only receive letters before their junior year; without the

finishing out their high school careers in that sport,” Scinto said.

Not surprisingly, some student athletes choose their schools based on the flexibility of coaches.

“One of the main reasons I choose Boston University was because of the coaching staff,” Remy Nolan ’12, a lacrosse player who also plays basketball, said. “I think it helps people with which school to pick, when coaches are very supportive” regarding participation in other sports.

However, this process is obviously very different for athletes being recruited for two sports.

Tyler Jacobs ’11, a current baseball and football player at Amherst College, was not asked to drop a sport. “It was actually the other way around, where both the Amherst baseball and football coaches told me to continue playing both sports because regardless of which sport I was playing, there are certain skills you learn just from playing on a competitive team.”

Jacobs also received specific

workout programs via email, but said that his coaches “weren’t too demanding” overall.

There were other orders from coaches not regarding athletics.

“All in all, I think the area where college coaches put the most stress once you have been recruited is to maintain strong academics,” Jacobs said. “Both of my coaches repeatedly told me how important it was to not to slack off now that I was into college.”

Scinto reiterated much of the same, noting that recruits need to follow NCAA requirements in terms of academic eligibility. One way of doing so is ”telling them to meet with their guidance counselor to make sure they are taking the proper core classes to be eligible,” she said.

Generally speaking, coaches seem to trust their players both on and off the field.

“Whether it’s playing a another sport, training to your fullest, (coaches) think that you are responsible enough to make those choices on your own,” Nolan said.

Check profile views on recruiting website internet and cellular devices, the line between casual conversation and the breach of NCAA rules was much clearer.

But there are also those who think the rules are more often violated because they are too strict: “[the NCAA] comes out with a mandate on how many texts you can send to a recruit now. It gets absolutely crazy,” said Petroccio.

Staples alumnus Jenn Hoets ‘11, who was recruited for St. Lawrence University’s Field Hockey team, also found it relatively difficult to follow these policies. She recommends that students be careful when speaking to coaches because the NCAA standards are often obscure or unexpected.

NCAA rules and the adaptation of scouting technology remain controversial. But nearly every student athlete and coach continues to agree upon the importance of getting priorities straight during the scouting process.

Esposito, Hoets, Boley, Petroccio, and Lisevick all maintain that one has to be realistic when trying to be noticed by coaches. Ultimately, they feel that commitment to a specific school should be based on more than a text from a scout, a recruitment website, or an institution’s sports program.

“My biggest advice to kids is that if, god forbid, they got hurt, they would still want to go to that school for reasons other than athletics,” says Lisevick.

Go to Showcase . Pay $1000

Call coaches who ignored email

Email college coaches

Hire videographer for highlight film

22 Sports

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

The Quest For a Championship

Falling just short last season, Staples girls’ lacrosse is primed, ready BAILEY VALENTE ’13

T

Staff Writer

he chill of the early spring air can’t compete with the heat that the girls Varsity lacrosse team brings to the fields. With an amazing record last season of 17-3, these girls are back and can’t wait to go farther than ever before.

“I am so excited to get out on the field,” said Megan O’Shea ’13. “I have been counting down the days until tryouts since last year’s season.”

This 2012 season is expected to be very exciting with many achievements in FCIAC’s and States, especially after last year’s upset when a key player, Maeve Flaherty was suspended from participating in an FCIAC game.

Flaherty had violated a CIAC rule by trying out for a summer program while in season. Expectations are high but very attainable with the team’s positive attitude and motivation, countless team mebers said.

“We plan on picking up right where we left off. We’re coming off of an amazing season, and we’re not going to waste any time getting back into that pattern,” said Ali Crofts ’12.

The girls prove this desire through offseason workouts such as spinning, yoga, early morning lifts in the weight room and scrimmages at the South Norwalk Field House. These workouts help keep the girls in shape.

“With the combination of the skills we’ve been working on and our strong relationships, we absolutely will do great things this season,” O’Shea said.

These strong relationships really

ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE: The Lady Wreckers huddle for the last time as their last season came to a close in the State semi-finals. This season, they hope they will be huddling around a state championship trophy.

contr ibute to the team’s drive for victory.

As tryouts get closer, after school preseason begins, which consists of strengthening and running exercises to build back endurance and agility. As they gear up for the season, players set goals for not only the team, but inareas that they want to develop themselves.

“I hope that I can continue to grow as a player and a leader, on the defensive and offensive side of the field,” said captain Remy Nolan ’12. “For the team,

GOING UP: Maeve Flaherty ’12 jumps up to catch the ball over an opposing defender. Flaherty will play laccrosse at Brown University next year.

PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRA O’KANE ’13

I hope that all of our hard work in the off season pays off so that we can do the best we can.”

The pleasure and enjoyment that this sport provides is exactly why lacrosse has become such a large part of these girls’ lives. Being able to participate in an amazing program headed by such an inspiring coach, Cathy Dancz,

has not only taught skills and techniques, but also a changed mentality, especially for seniors.

“My experience playing Staples lacrosse has been very positive and rewarding. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it has changed the way I approach challenges and made us stronger both mentally and physically,” said captain Kenzie Roof ’12.

This season is especially promising since most of Staples’ key players for the past few seasons are finally leading the team as seniors. These girls are even continuing their lacrosse careers after high school.

Maeve Flaherty will be playing at Brown University, Remy Nolan at Boston University, Adele Mackey at Skidmore College, Ali Crofts at the University of Connecticut, and Jessie Ambrose will be at Columbia University.

Even as a junior, Ryan Kirshner ’13 has recently verbally committed to Colgate University for the fall of 2013.

“My love of lacrosse is what pushed me to want to play more in college, but I also cannot imagine not being a part of a team, especially because of my experiences at Staples,” Adele Mackey ’12 said. “Our team here is basically a family to me, and I hope I can form these types of relationships with girls in college.”

As Staples girls lacrosse prepares to dominate, fans can gear up for an amazing season as a strong team continues to provide the Lady Wreckers with an amazing reputation.

“We went from a 7-9-1 season in 2008 to a 17-3 season last year,” said Roof. “That change is because of the hard work that all the girls in the program have been putting in. We all want to build on that success and have the best season that this program has ever seen.”

Sports

Inklings / March 16, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

23

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY STEVEN BAUMANN

GOING FOR A PIN: Alexander Baumann ‘14 grapples with a Weston opponent.

SHOWING OFF: Baumann works out every day, lifting as much as 55-pound weights.

PHOTO BY RYDER CHASIN ‘14

FOCUSED ON THE TASK: Baumann compiled a 14-8 record over the course of the season.

When Determination Meets the Mat

Freshman wrestler Alexander Baumann strives to reach his goals RYDER CHASIN ’14 Sports Editor teven Baumann prides his family in being humble.

“Arrogant” is not in the Baumann vernacular.

However, in the case of his son Alexander Baumann ’15, there are just a few things to brag about.

This isn’t just because he’s a part of the JV wrestling team.

Nor is it just because he is “awesome,” as Alexander Baumann himself proclaims.

“We think he’s our gift from heaven,” Steven Baumann said. “Some parents with special needs children don’t look at them that way—well, we look at him that way.”

Alexander Baumann has Down’s syndrome, a disability that has kept him from participating in sports. However, as soon as he got to high school, Steven Baumann said his son was quick to join Unified Sports, where he was recommended to try out for wrestling.

“At first, I didn’t want any of the other kids to be held back because Alexander was on the team,” Steven Baumann said.

“But [Head Coach] Kevin [Lippert] was absolutely adamant.”

Coincidentally, Lippert, in addition to being a wrestling coach, is also a special education teacher in Norwalk.

“I just know you have to be very specific,” Lippert said.

“You have to literally move him

S

where you want him to go.”

According to Lippert, this learning process has led Alexander Baumann to acquire one solid move in every position.

However, because of his disability, Alexander Baumann still isn’t able to play in any match beyond an exhibition.

According to Steven Baumann, Lippert finds someone from the other team who can control the match and lets the wrestler know who he’s about to face, so there are no surpris-

Nonetheless, Alexander Baumann still puts in his work, spending an hour a day at home lifting up to 55-pound weights, doing push-ups and sit-ups, as well as putting the standard work in with the team.

And Lippert has taken notice. Although Alexander Baumann already came in strong for his weight, Lippert says he’s only improved since joining the team.

“He weighs 112, 114 maybe.

You can usually feel a guy who’s

put my focus.”

And, while he helps teach Alexander Baumann, Kogstad feels his teammate has something to teach, as well.

“No matter what he’s doing, win or lose, he’s always smiling,” Kogstad said. “We have kids everywhere we go who comment on how happy he looks, always.”

But it hasn’t always been smiles. According to Steven Baumann, up until now the social scene has been a rough one

“No matter what he’s doing, win or lose, he’s always smiling.”

— Alex Kogstad ’13 es on either end of the mat.

“They don’t understand what’s going on at first,” Steven Baumann said. “However, they pick up pretty quickly that it’s not just any kid out there.”

Although he hasn’t been keeping tabs, he estimates somewhere around 2-1 odds that his son will win. However, it’s understood when a fellow wrestler defeats him.

“All we try to do is be respectful, and that’s all we ask,” Steven Baumann said. “We understand these teams are there to win championships, not to support students with special needs.”

114 is a lot lighter. Not Alexander,” Lippert said. “When he’s on top of you, with the pressure he’s putting down, it feels like he’s at least 160.”

Although Alexander Baumann hits the gym on his own, some of his teammates help out in his work as well. According to Steven Baumann, Alex Kogstad ’13 is constantly taking Alexander Baumann onto the mat and helping him out, an act that he deems “above and beyond.”

“We just work on rolling, I teach him that he needs to roll over,” Kogstad said. “It’s the thing that he’s been having trouble with, so that’s where I

for his son. That changed, however, soon after he began wrestling and joined Best Buddies.

“Earlier this year the girls from Best Buddies came to a match with a big cardboard sign saying ‘Alexander Baumann Rocks’ in big letters,” Steven Baumann said. “It just makes him feel great about himself.”

“I rock,” Alexander Baumann confirmed with a thumbs up.

Alexander Baumann is quite the character.

“I am honest, I am the smartest, and I am the boss,” he said.

“You’re the boss?” his father asked.

“Always,” he replied with a smile.

However, after describing himself as normal and strong, he paused and said: “But I’m a different guy.”

“How so Alexander?” his dad asked.

“My face,” Alexander Baumann said. “A little.”

Yet, even with his disability, he’s able to get out there on the mat and wrestle—something Steven Baumann says constantly amazes him.

“I shouldn’t limit my expectations,” Steven Baumann said. “I shouldn’t say he’d never be able to do something.”

And with this sense of pride comes a wish, as well.

“Sometimes you realize there’s more to it than just pinning someone,” Steven Baumann said. “You become a man, you look inside yourself a little more.

Still, with all Alexander Baumann is able to achieve, Steven Baumann insists on remaining humble—though his son is not always completely in agreement.

“Sometimes he gets a little cocky out there,” Steven Baumann said. He smiled at his son from across the table. Alexander Baumann grabbed his hand.

“But I love every minute of it.”

ports

Inside:

Alexander Baumann Finds Success on the Mat

The Wreckers

PHOTO BY ALEX GREENE ’13

‘RELOADING’ After winning the FCIAC Championship three of the last four years, Head Coach Jack McFarland is looking to add another ring to his collection

ERIC ESSAGOF ’12 Editor-in-Chief

W

hen a school team graduates a majority of its starters from the year before, it is safe to assume that it will have what is known as a “rebuilding season,” when the team takes a break from winning in order to put together a successful formula for future seasons.

But, if you ask any members of the Staples baseball team, even though they have lost eight of their nine starters from last year, they see this situation differently.

They are reloading.

“We don’t think about any year as a rebuilding year,” Head Coach Jack McFarland said. “To me, the term ‘rebuilding’ reflects that you have something that wasn’t built correctly.”

McFarland is convinced that he has a team that is built to last. While most of the starters have graduated, the team’s eight new starters had been playing behind those starters last season. The team is constantly preparing players to take the place of starters, and with 45 freshmen trying out for the team this year, it will not run out of potential talent anytime soon.

“These players were modeled in a way that they are going to be ready to step in, and they understand the level they have to play at,” McFarland said.

These players have to take the place of some exceptional graduates. For example, Ben Greenberg ’12, a co-captain this

year, will be playing second base in place of Mikey Scott ’11, an all-state selection.

While many may see this as a daunting task, McFarland just sees déjà vu.

“Scott couldn’t get onto the field until his senior year, because Jack Hennessey ’10 was the all-state second baseman,” McFarland said.

Greenberg believes that the mentorship of Scott will help make him a great player. “In practices, he would constantly be giving me pointers on everything from my throwing motion to double-play footwork,” Greenberg said.

McFarland s players seem to agree McFarland’s with his reaction to this year’s roster. good “We have a lot of players who have been waiting their turn and will play just as well as anybody last year,” said Jimmy Kopack ’12, cocaptain and starting pitcher.

As co-captain, it’s Kopack’s job to rally the team together, but he also has the responsibility of leading the team’s pitchers and taking over for Rob Gau ’11, a dominanting force on the mound.

Based on Kopack’s 7-1 win-loss record last season, McFarland has few doubts about Kopack’s capabilities.

“Right off the bat we are going have the number one pitcher in the league,” McFarland said.

Even though this team has little starting experience, this has not affected the expectations most of the players have for

THE NEW ACE: Jimmy Kopack ’12 will lead this year’s Wrecker pitching staff.

this season.

“We will take on the cocky teams and drag them to the ground, because we are still that same intimidating Staples baseball program we always were,” Nick Kiedasich ’12, starting outfielder, said.

Bryan Terzian ’13, the only returning starter from last year, is just as confident.

“I believe we have the potential to become just as good if not better than last year’s team,” Terzian said.

Last year’s team brought home the third FCIAC championship this team has won in the past four years.

McFarland believes that with a lot of hard work during the regular season, the team could see similar success.

“We know we can’t get into the FCIAC championships without getting into the playoffs,” McFarland said. “It’s going to be crucial that we get off to a good start.”

Some players are a little more confident.

“I have a swagged–out FICAC ring from last year,” Nick Kiedaisch said. “I plan to get another one.”

LONE RETUERNER: Starting third baseman Bryan Terzian ’13 is the sole returning starter. He was last year’s FCIAC tournament c0-MVP.

PHOTO BY BEN REISER ’13