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Inklings Nov. 18, 2011

Crunch Time m ISAAC STEIN ’12 Web Editor-in-Chief t can present itself in a series of sneezes, a pair of knocks upon a desk, or the clicking of pens in a peculiarly ordered fashion. Cheating. While Staples has gone hightech, symbolized by classrooms decked out with Smartboards and computers equipped with Windows 7, the technology used to cheat on assignments may be surprisingly rustic. According to a recent study conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, 48% of Staples sophomores and 50% of juniors self-reported cheating on exams. Recent interviews with more than a dozen Staples students revealed that the methods of academic cheating at Staples are as varied as the students who cheat and their justifications as well. One Staples student, who requested anonymity says that she used a system that incorporated knocking on her desk to cheat during exams. “I would work with one or a few people sitting in front of or behind me, and we tapped on our desks to signify answers on multiple-choice tests. One knock meant “A,” two knocks represented choice “B,” and so on. There were substitutes, such as passing notes on scrap paper or flashing hand signals, but they were all very basic methods,” she said. The student said that precise counts of sneezes and coughs could be used in place of desk knocks in order to cheat on multiple-choice tests. In fact, students said that certain cheating methods are used more often in particular subjects. “There are forms of cheating which are used almost exclusively on science and math tests, such as putting formulas into a calculator, that are very easy to execute,” the second anonymous student said. “But really, it doesn’t matter what I use, as long as it’s time effective, and I don’t get caught.” The two students, and others interviewed, detailed the tactics that they and others employ to cheat, including copying notes, coughing, and openly discussing answers with other students during a test. Yet the second anonymous student holds his own rationale for cheating. Namely, he believes

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An Investigative Look k at Staples’ Cheating g Culture that it is the only way to conquer his daily workload. “In looking at the times that I cheated on assignments and tests, I’m being sincere when I tell you that it was all done out of necessity. I had to make the choice to either study for an exam at three in the morning, or to have the assurance that I could function in the morning and ace my test,” he said. As the second student holds the belief of cheating for practical necessity, the first anonymous student offers his theory on how cheating can evolve within an individual. “When I cheated on a test for the first time, I felt like a pretty horrible person. But it paid off in the sense that I did well on that test,” the student said. “I continued to cheat because it took a lot of pressure off, and it was easier to cheat the sec“Really, it doesn’t mat- ond time than the first.” ter what I use, as long as “Do I feel it’s time effective, and good about it? No. But would I I don’t get caught.” do it over again? Absolutely.” Some students and teachers question whether course leveling has an impact on cheating rates and styles. Some argued that overall cheating rates increase in classes at the Honors or AP levels. This runs contrary to conventional thinking that students cheat merely to avoid failing. “I guarantee you that the students in the upper-level classes are the ones that cheat hardest and most often,” the first anonymous student said. In reference to the class in which she employed the “knock on the desk” method, the first anonymous student said that cheating was pervasive. “I only know of two students in that class who weren’t in on cheating during tests,” the student said. Four other students, who also requested anonymity have corroborated the claims in reCHEATING: Pictured above are gards to the pervasive cheating several ways Staples students within the class. have cheated on exams. Often, In contrast, the second anonthese methods are simple. Lookymous student, who is enrolled in ing at others’ answers, relayseveral AP classes, believes that ing messages using tapping or the difference between students hand gestures, or writing anwho cheat in standard-level and swers on their own forearms. advanced classes is not the frequency of cheating, but rather the types of assignments that they

Staples students make a wish come true

Male Cheerleaders

NEWS No Shave November November 18, 2011

PHOTO ESSAY BY MADISON HORNE ’12 Photo Editor

A BEARD MAKES A MAN WISE: Jack Gibson ’12 ponders philosophy and the means of his own existence. His beard has allowed him to gain insight unimagined by his ancestors in their older years. The chicks dig it, too.

Movember a world-wide charity fundraiser

During the month of November, men across the world grow mustaches to raise awareness and money for men’s health issues.

“We are trying to dispell the notion that the mustache went out of style in 1983 (that of course, will be up to you all).” — English teacher Jesse Bauks “It took a lot for me to cover my face with hair. My face, after all, is one of my best assets.” — Social Studies teacher Jonathan Shepro

Visit www.movember.com for donations and details

A BEARD MAKES A MAN A MAN : Guidance Counselor P.J. Washenko uses his beard to get students into college.

A BEARD MAKES A MAN HUNGRY : Jackson Moss ’12 eats pretzels during his Caribbean Literature class. His beard, like so many other great literary theorists, has allowed him to discover the nuances and idiosyncracsies of Caribbean authors.

3 Paying the Way to an A on UTexas News

Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

Editor-in-Chief and Web News Editor

t’s 11:00 p.m. You had soccer practice after school, and you have to study for an AP Calculus AB test on implicit derivatives, write an analytical paper on Jane Eyre, and somehow find one hour to complete a 20 quest i o n

UTexas homework assignment. You are on the fifth question. Fourth try. Incorrect. You scroll down your iChat buddy list in hopes of finding someone in AP Physics to help you finish. Your friend offers. The catch? $20; an easy trade for an A and maybe an earlier bedtime. “I’ve cried at 8:55 p.m. because my UTexas is due at 9:00 p.m. and I still have four blank,” said a senior girl. “And that is exactly why I now pay people to do it for me.” Students claim that UTexas can take anywhere from an hour with the help of a tutor or up to five by oneself. And many students are either too lazy to do it or don’t have the time. UTexas, AKA the Quest Learning and Assessment System, is infamous among Staples physics students. Its bank of over 60,000 questions covers all areas of math and science and allows students to access

Continued from pg. 1 cheat on. He and other students interviewed, believe that students in AP and Honors level classes are more predisposed towards cheating on a multitude of smaller assignments, including homework and science labs, in addition to larger tests. However, Christine Radler, an English teacher at Staples who teaches both A- level and AP classes, argues that cheating rates do not depend on class levels but rather upon an individual’s commitment to integrity. “It’s merely human nature to try to game the system. The issue is that some people act on those feelings, and others don’t. I catch about two people per year in various forms of cheating, but it doesn’t happen more often in any particular class,” Radler said. Social studies teacher Eric Mongirdas also considers the first anonymous student’s argument to be invalid. “I think that cheating is a universal problem. Many of my students in my standard courses take AP courses as well, so its not limited to one subject or level,” Mongirdas said. Some teachers, including Mongirdas, make an effort to deter cheating through the construction of their assignments. “Much of what we do in the Social Studies department asks students to apply real-world solutions. So, some of the answers we ask the students to come up with haven’t been created yet—which inherently makes it very difficult

assignments from any computer and get feedback on answers. Unlike most homework, where students have the same questions with the same answers and can easily copy during lunch or a free period, UTexas is individualized, with different questions for each student. Another senior girl said she pays her family friend in Norwalk to do her UTexas for her. She feels it is no more wrong than cheating on any other homework. “I usually just ask when I don’t know how to do it; if I don’t get in three tries, I ask automatically,” she said, “I

percent of the kids in that class, it’s almost impossible,” he said. However, Murray enjoys UTexas. “The anticipation after clicking the button is thrilling,” he said. Many students who enjoy physics are the ones accepting offers to complete others’ UTexas. One senior girl completes others’ UTexas for $20, not only because she enjoys physics, but also because it gives her more practice for the SAT subject test in the spring. Teachers, however, note there are free resources of extra help. Joanne Klou-

teaches Physics A, actually counts on people asking for help. But he believes that if students are putting in the effort, the need for help will decline over time as they improve. “There is always a struggle in the sense that learning something new takes you out of your comfort zone,” added AP Physics B teacher Dr. Nick Morgan. But he said the assignments are typically given days in advance, plenty of time for students to struggle withproblems on their own and ask for help if needed. Morgan has developed his

ow n shouldn’t be going that far to get my homework done.” She looked up anxiously. “I still have three to go, and I don’t get home until f***ing 10:30 p.m.,” she said. Other students echoed the feeling that UTexas cannot be done without help. “It’s okay to have a few hard ones but not when you can’t do the whole thing,” said Jill Rappaport ’12, a student in Honors Physics. “I would probably have a 3 percent if I had to do it on my own.” Kyle Murray ’12 adds, “If you are not within the top 10

for them to cheat,” Mongirdas said.

“As long as the pressures of getting into college and competing for the highest G.P.A. exist, cheating will run rampant.” Mongirdas, for example, assigns a project to his two sections of A.P. United States History that involves tracing a particular element of American culture through the decades of the Revolutionary War, Industrial Revolution, and World War II. However students cheat, and in what classes, a persisting problem is how to adjudicate once they are caught. “I can’t pursue people who I just suspect of cheating on exams, they have to be caught in the act. When that happens, it’s generally dealt with quickly. But that type of blatant cheating on tests is relatively rare in comparison to incidences of cheating through plagiarism or cheating on homework: plagiarized writing is also really easy to detect,” Radler said. Students said that they

da, who teaches AP and A Level Physics, is not only available for extra help but also answers questions via email during after-school hours. “You don’t need to pay; we help for free,” she said. Nathanial Dewey, who

might make a decision on whether or not to cheat based on the nature of the teacher administering the class. “There are some teachers who are very keen towards instances of cheating, and I wouldn’t want to put myself in the position of likely being caught. But there are others who are completely oblivious to their surroundings, and student who intend to cheat will take full advantage of them,” the student said. Older teachers, and teachers who spend time on a computer during an exam period, were perceived by some students to be less aware of their surroundings, and thus less capable of detecting cheating. Yet not all Staples students cheat, clearly, and a good number have strong feelings about the practice. One Staples student, who also requested anonymity reported students for cheating on tests in both standard and honors level classes. This is because, in contrast to the other two anonymous students, she believes that cheating is less about personal gain and more about creating an unjust learning environment for other students. “ I t h i n k t h a t

homework system, which he coins “ U D r . M o r g a n ,” w h i c h takes the general idea of UTexas but makes it more student-specific. Every student gets a unique homework assignment, like UTexas, but the type and number of questions depend on how they per-

cheating creates stratification in the classroom,” the student said. “People who are cheating undermine the people who do their work honestly because they add to the pressures of an already cutthroat environment.” And there may, paradoxically, be ways in which the learning environment itself is already twisted to promote cheating. “As long as the pressures of getting into college and competing for the highest G.P.A. exist, cheating will run rampant. It could be worse; I guarantee you that if Staples instituted class rank, it all will turn into a complete s*** show,” the second anonymous student said. In looking at the cumulative effects of academic cheating, Radler takes a view that extends beyond high school, and

formed on the last test. Level 0 is the foundation questions; level 1 questions, called “nuggets,” are a bit more involved and similar to those on free response, and level 2 questions, called “chunks,” are tricky and could require a page of calculations. The motivation for students to actually

‘12 IE KLEIN V E T S BY work PHOTO at UTexas is how much better they’ll do if they get the practice, the teachers agreed. “Homework is not enough to get a good grade, but if you do it, you will do better on what counts, the test,” Dewey said. Though they feel their system is beneficial, Morgan, Klouda and Dewey all acknowledge that they can’t stop students from completing UTexas or UDr.Morgan in their own way. Even if this way is cheating. “You can’t make a teen do anything,” said Klouda. “You can put in all kinds of parameters but it doesn’t matter.” But she feels there are repercussions to this cheating, whether a C on a test or a lack of learning. “It will all catch up to you at some point.”

into American society. “It’s inevitable that some of the people who cheat, especially the ones who don’t get caught, will succeed. Look at business, look at politics—it’s all indicative of a culture that promotes cheating to get ahead. If there’s going to be any chance of solving the problem at Staples, it’s going to stem from a larger societal shift,” Radler said.

GRAPHIC BY NATE ROSEN ‘13

STEVIE KLEIN ’12 & EMILY KOWAL ’12

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Westport Manhunt Tests Town, School Communication JAMIE WHEELER-ROBERTS ’13

Opinions Editor

he school’s decision to not alert students about a fugitive wanted for murder last week is being questioned by some members of the Staples community. Thomas W. Gardner, 35, was arrested Wednesday Nov. 9 after leading police on a chase with speeds of up to 100mph through neighboring towns ending up in downtown Westport. Though the chase occurred before noon, Westport Now first reported on the missing fugitive at 1:09 p.m. Gardner was apprehended four hours later outside a store in Playhouse Square. Staples students were not given any information about the fugitive on the loose, nor were teachers in the high school. Marc Himmel, a senior at Staples and employee at “TopThis,” a frozen yogurt store near Playhouse Square, felt that the school system had no legal obligation to inform students. But, he believed, “if they have information that could potentially help a student avoid a dangerous situation, they should by all means share it.” A number of parents expressed similar concerns. Barbie Heit is the mother of two Staples seniors who, she siad, have been driving for only a few months. “I knew that

PHOTOS REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM WESTPORT NEWS ON CALL: Police units search for alleged murderer. Staples students and faculty were not notified of the manhunt. Gardner was driving at very high speeds and, apparently, would stop at nothing to avoid the police.” “In the future,” Staples mom Lisa Goto said, “everyone should be informed.” School officials stood by their decision to not inform students, although they said the recent event has sparked the development of a new plan that will outline what would take place if an emergency such as the one from last Wednesday occurred after hours when the administration was not present in the building and afterschool activities were taking place. “Had the Westport Police Department had any reason to

have concern for the students in our schools or for those participating in after school programs, they would have consulted with me and given me advice as to how to proceed,” school superintendent Elliot Landon said in a written statement. “Throughout this ordeal, there was never any reason to believe that any of our students or staff were in jeopardy.” Staples administrators said they were not told of the incident until the end of the school day. “It didn’t raise a crisis for the high school,” said Staples principal John Dodig. Students had mixed reactions to the school’s decision, which meant that many headed

to the downtown area and as a result continued with daily routines that could have put them into harm’s way without their knowledge. “Students at the high school are old enough to understand what was going on,” said Westport parent and cross country mom Yvonne O’Kane, arguing that students should have been informed. “What if one of them encountered him? How would they handle that?” She continued that the cross country team should not really have even left school to run, “especially since [Gardner’s] whereabouts were unknown.” Although some said they were upset with the school’s de-

cision to not inform students, some understand it and defend the school’s choice to not inform the students. “The school wouldn’t have let us go out if we were in danger,” said cross country runner Henry Wynne ’13.” Fellow junior August Laska, an actor who was at Players rehearsal last Wednesday, agreed with Wynne. “I think the school handled it fine.” Had the situation taken a serious turn, putting Staples students in jeopardy, Principal Dodig emphasized that there is a plan in the crisis manual for events such as last Wednesday’s that would ensure the safety of all Staples students and staff.

When Parents Attack Extreme parents cause stress on teachers

ELIZA LLEWELLYN ‘14 Staff Writer The telltale message light on the phone blares red. As an unsuspecting teacher sets down a stack of homework, she does not know the ambush that awaits. The message is not a question, reminder, or wrong number – it is an affront. In Westport schools, teachers said, a minority of parents can take involvement to the extreme. One parent pressured a math teacher for a grade change, saying “As a taxpayer in the town of Westport, I am your employer.” Another, fighting for a grade change, complained that a certain teachers’ grades were notoriously skewed. “You are the talk of the dog park.” In a school where students are expected to be athletes, club presidents, and receive straight As, there is immense pressure to get the right grade. But sometimes parents’ desire for perfection can take its toll on students’ learning experience and teachers’ sanity. “I make a point not to re-

search kids’ parents,” said a teacher who was granted anonymity due to the personal nature of the subject, “but there are definitely teachers here who feel like the only way to survive is to know who you’re teaching.” If a parent has a reputation as aggressive, “some teachers feel bullied into giving certain grades,” the teacher added. According to another anonymous teacher, so-called helicopter parents can affect teachers’ decisions in the classroom. “There have been teachers who choose not to do a certain text because they may be misperceived,” she said. According to the first teacher, many calls consist of grade groveling parents thirsty for an A. In one instance, when a student received an A- on a progress report, a parent called the next day to schedule a meeting with the teacher and demanded that the department head be present. The entire process stemmed from an IPR grade the parent considered

to be half a letter grade too low. A parent intervention usually begins with a call to the teacher. If taken a step further, involvement can consist of a meeting with a department head, with a select few cases being taken up with the administration. Emotions can run high at these meetings, especially when parents go above a teacher’s head with complaints. “Sometimes parents even skip the first step and directly call an administrator,” the first teacher said. “It’s unsettling to teachers that sometimes we don’t even know there’s a problem.” Lisbeth Comm, department chair of English, has experience with this issue. According to Comm, little can be done before the parent speaks to the teacher. “If I don’t know the student, there’s nothing I can say to help.” Complaints are most concentrated in freshmen and honors level classes, teachers said. Freshmen, just out of middle school, may be accustomed to receiving straight As. Honors level students demand a high standard of excellence. In the opinion of a child psychologist who has children at Staples, parents often share their children’s stress over workload. “Teachers generally do not like parental calls or interference but may be able to hear the problem differently when voiced by a parent,” she said. “There is more of a balance of power in a teacher-toparent conversation.” However, she recommended that students take initiative in most situations. Helicopter parents who are constantly butting into the classroom infantilize teenagers and hinder their transition to adulthood. “One mom called and told

me to ‘just push the button,’” said one teacher. During one of his first years as a teacher, a parent lobbied for a grade change at the end of fourth quarter, even though her child had not handed in work. Principal John Dodig emphasized the futility of bullying the school into granting a student an A. “Under no circumstances have I ever, will I ever change a grade,” he said. According to Comm, under Connecticut law, the teacher decides the grade the student receives, unless there is an obvious mistake in grading. In Westport, many parents have successful careers and strong educational backgrounds. There may be a correlation between high-powered parents and involvement in education that can border on aggression. One teacher worked in a private school before coming to Staples and experienced more extreme behavior there. However, involvement runs on a spectrum. According to the second teacher, who

has worked in Fairfield schools, Westport parents are more judgmental and willing to challenge authority than the parents she dealt with in Fairfield. In an environment where many students have access to outside resources, doing well is seen as a given. One teacher dealt with a parent whose child was tutored. The parent expected that outside instruction would guarantee a good grade and took issue when the student didn’t receive the expected mark. “Parents value education, ergo they want their children to value education,” Dodig said. “I think their reasons are good. […] I’d rather work in a community where parents are involved.” Although some cases of parental involvement resemble attacks, most teachers appreciate the intentions behind the noise. “The reason we can pick ourselves up and walk away from the conflict is because [the parent] is trying to stand up for the kid,” said a teacher.

GRAPHICS BY CONNIE ZHOU ‘12

News

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Web A&E Editor & Web Opinions Editor

he word “gay” used to mean “happy.” For instance, in the classic Christmas song “Deck the Halls, “Don we now our gay apparel.” Over time, the word came to describe homosexual people. Now, apparently, it means “lame,” and “bad,” too. As in, “Dude, why are you so

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gay?” or “Stop being such a

fag.” Heard either of those lately? Calling something “gay,” or calling someone a “fag,” as you know, has become a very popular form of slang among teenagers and sometimes even adults. It’s part of the urban vernacular. “I hear it so often I don’t even think about it anymore,” said Jake Shore ‘13. Shore’s opinion is widely representative of how straight students feel at Staples. Homosexual students, on the other hand, said they have a different reaction

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derstanding how these slurs have become so commonplace is difficult for students and administrators alike.

hearing these words all the time. “I hear it once a day, sometimes more, and although it hurts, I’m so used to it that I don’t even stand up against it anymore,” said one anonymous homosexual student. “This is just one more thing you have to deal with if you’re gay.” Despite that fact that some homosexual students have started to get used to hearing these words, the punch still has not gone away. “Although it’s said as a substitute for ‘lame’, they are still hurtful words when said, and they last a lifetime,” said Principal John Dodig. “They’re words that cut so deeply into a person’s emotions and psyche that it has huge effects.” While the effect of these words are well documented, un-

“I hear it so often I don’t even think about it anymore” “I think people put down what they want to be comfortable with,” said August Laska ‘13. “If you make fun of it, it somehow justifies it.” Laska believes students use slurs to help them avoid a topic they are uncomfortable talking about directly. By using these words over and over again, they can prove to their peers that they know everything there is to know on the subject and have the right to deem something as “gay” on a whim. However that is not the effect students have been achieving with their insulting use of

these words. They often succeed in conveying only the appearance of homophobia. “It’s a reflection of someone’s own ignorance,” said Nick Daley ‘12. Staples English teacher Brian Tippy agreed. He believes that while kids try to use the words “gay” and “faggot” to call something feminine or uncool, they actually convey misogynistic and homophobic views instead. “It’s as if there’s this idea that homosexual guys aren’t compatible with straight guys, but that’s so far from the truth, and it’s a huge problem,” said Tippy. The words now have different meanings to different people. And some are able to shrug it off while others are extremely offended or personally hurt. In the end, some feel that it is not so important to understand why people say these words as it is to change the use of these words at Staples. “Hateful prejudices should not be associated with these words,” said Jamie Yarmoff. “Someone who is gay is attracted to someone of his or her own sex; it determines nothing about a person’s character other than sexual preference.”

Air Quality Concerns Lead to English Office Shuffle ERIC ESSAGOF ’12 Editor-in-Chief Three English teachers have been forced to move offices after years of illness, perhaps a consequence of conditions in their former office in the English department. The illnesses ranged from chronic sinus infections to bronchitis. The teachers, Kim Palca, Elizabeth Humphrey and Sue O’Hara, would get the same sicknesses during the same seasons each year, and they would even get the same sickness at the same time, one English teacher said. “I get ill every September and October,” said the teacher who wished to remain anonymous due to the nature of the topic. The school system’s position is that it is studying the problem, but air quality is not the issue, as all the offices in the English department share the same air circulation, and there have not been any other health concerns brought up by other teachers. Nonetheless, the move seems to have solved the problem, the source said. “This is the first time in years I haven’t gotten sick in October,” the anonymous teacher said. “I have only gotten a cold.” According to the minutes of a Tools for Schools committee meeting taking place October 14, 2011, the cause of the sick-

PHOTO BY RACHEL GUETTA ’13 BOXED UP: A previous English office is boxed up and replaced by conference room furniture due health issues. nesses still has not been found. program sets up a system for tion, and that is personal,” said It got so bad that, according to helping schools across America the anonymous English teacher. After something in the ofthe anonymous teacher, they all deal with air quality concerns. had to get their own otolaryn- In 2009, the Westport School fice was determined to be the gologists, or ear nose and throat District won a Tools for Schools cause of the sicknesses, the atdoctors (ENT). Two years ago, award for National Excellence tempts at a solution began. First, the administration one of their ENTs suggested after they solved a mold probthat their working environment lem at Kings Highway Elemen- had the teachers remove all of the books from their office to might be the problem. This is tary School. During the first year of the see if those were causing the illwhen the teachers went to the investigation, the school had nesses. They were also required administration. The three teachers fol- the teachers report any illness to clean out all of their desks so lowed the protocol set by Tools or symptom they experienced to that they could be cleaned. The desks were kept empty, but the for Schools, an EPA program the nurse immediately. “It’s kind of awkward, be- teachers continued to get sick. that the Westport Public School System has opted into. The cause it’s your medical condi- The measures to find the cause

of the illnesses got more intense. According to the minutes of the Tools for Schools committee meeting, when a picture of a cat was found on one of the teacher’s desks, administration officials believed that allergens might be causing the problem. The teachers were no longer allowed to keep coats in the office or the coat closet. They also had to replace fabric chairs with a school-issued vinyl-style chair. When none of these worked, the teachers were moved to the conference room in October. They are still not allowed to have filing cabinets, coats or books. For the administration, it’s all about solving the problem. “We’re taking it one step at a time,” said Richard Franzis, assistant principal and Tools for Schools Keeper of the Log. One concern is the usage of the original office. Now converted into a conference room, it is still being used by students and teachers alike. The anonymous teacher believes that students are not aware of the situation. “People know we have a new office, but nothing has been formally addressed,” the anonymous teacher said. There has been no testing has been done in the room. So far, there is nothing to report. According to the Tools for Schools meeting minutes, testing has not been conducted “because there was not [sic] specific substance to test for.”

OPINIONS

Our Suggestions to the Board of Ed

irst, congratulations are in order to the new Board of Education members. We appreciate your volunteering your time to the betterment of our schools. However, we read the goals published by the board for this year, and we were struck by their vagueness and lack of

Inklings EDITORIAL

concrete evidence. As concerned students, we have a few suggestions of how to enhance the relationship between the BOE and the students, and, by doing so, encouraging a better learning environment and decisions that benefit the students. Our main concern with the BOE is the lack of communication between this organization and the students of Staples. This editorial staff has written about the lack of student involvement in local govern-

GRAPHIC BY DAVID GORDON ’14

mental affairs; however, we do believe enhancing communication between the two would encourage student involvement. The first way to fill this gap is by having, as Student Assembly has suggested, a student representative at the meetings. It is impossible for Board of Education members to be inside the minds of Staples

students. The Board is making decisions that affect our education, and it makes sense that students have a voice on a board that has such a dramatic impact on their lives. The students of Staples are held to a higher educational standard than many surrounding schools. The classes offered are challenging, and we are en-

couraged to demonstrate high level thinking. If this intensity is to be continued, the Board should treat students’ thoughts and opinions with respect. Additionally, the Board should increase its presence online in the form of a Twitter account, a Facebook page and a town blog. One of the Board’s top goals is to teach 21st century skill to students, and everything happens online in the 21st century. This is where the kids are. Maybe if the Board had tweeted regarding the decision to eliminate Arena, there would have been a large output of student reaction and dissatisfaction. Since students are as likely to check the town government website as they are their Roundcube, it would make more sense to make major announcements on more popular social media sites. We feel that if the Board starts with these two measures, satisfaction would increase from the students.

A Day in the Life of a Junior Without Her License R’S DRIVE SE LICEN

“Crown Newspaper Finalist” Columbia Scholastic Press Association 2011 First Place “All-American” from National Scholastic Press Association 2010-2011 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.

Editors-in-Chief Eric Essagof Stevie Klein Managing Editors Julian Clarke Alix Neenan Web Editor in-Chief Isaac Stein Web Managing Editor Emily Goldberg News Editors Rachel Guetta Alicia Lourekas Ben Reiser Bryan Schiavone Opinions Editors Molly Barreca Hannah Foley Jordan Shenhar Jamie Wheeler-Roberts

person to make this same update. Admit it juniors, you definitely counted the likes you got on your own permit update and compared it to everyone else’s. 2. I would find the first friend with a smart phone and casually slip in that they should “mupload” a picture of my permit and caption it “CLEAR THE ROADS!” or “Wow, they give out permits to anyone these days!” so that I could be one of the hundreds of kids with witty permit photos. 3.I would drive home with the radio blasting, looking so much older than I had before I got in the two-hour-long line of the DMV. I mean, my mom would be in the passenger seat, but no one would see her, right? Yes, I did complete the first two steps, but the third step is where I got it all wrong. After I got in behind the wheel, buckled my seatbelt, adjusted my mirrors, and put the key in the ignition, I reached out to push the power button to the stereo. “No radio, you’re a beginner,” were the words of my mom as she blocked my finger from pushing the button. And that was only the beginning of my suffering. Driving with a parent is equivalent to having an alarm clock that just doesn’t turn off no matter how many times you hit the snooze button. “Slow down earlier.” “Did you even SEE that bicyclist?” “MERGE NOW!” “Are you trying to kill me?”

Features Editors Leah Bitsky Danny Cooper Carlie Schwaeber Nicolette Weinbaum

Those phrases were intertwined into the everyday car conversations. And even as my driving skills got better, she didn’t cease. However not only is the freedom of driving with a parent not quite as joyous as it seemed like it would be, but what about whenwhen your parent isn’t home to drive you? Here’s what happened to me. My almost-neighbor and I carpool everywhere, and so on the rare occasions when neither of our parents could drive us to catch the bus for our soccer game came about, we didn’t realize until about midnight of the night before. It was way too late to bother any parent for a ride to the game the next morning. The only solution was to ride our bikes. So with soccer bags in tow, my teammate and I peddled as fast as our license-less legs could take us to catch the bus before it left. It is safe to say that before we even got on the bus to go to the game, our legs felt like jello and we had broken a sweat. Riding home was even better, because we got to pull the casual take-20-minutes-to-getyour-shinguards-and-cleats-off so that we could avoid the awkward stares of the other students who were around.

GRAPHIC BY JAKE BARON ’13

It all started during the final months of my sophomore year. Slowly but surely, kids were coming in with smiles plastered on their faces, along with bright lanyards attached to key chains and keys in their hands. It didn’t take an expert to realize these bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students had just received the magic card that let them drive alone, without the watchful eyes of a parent correcting their every move. Yup, they passed the license test. I was definitely jealous. That goes without saying, but it was the beginning of this year that really made me understand just how painful it was to be an upperclassman without a license. First off, I so regret my sophomore days when I started a 190-day countdown until the day I could get my permit. My 16th birthday marked the beginning of the next four and a half months of driving torture. As soon as the Norwalk DMV handed me that tiny plastic card, a step-by-step process of my life that would follow raced through my head. 1. I would immediately change my Facebook status to “PERMITTED!!!” in the attempt to get more “likes” than the last

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A l though having only a permit can s e e m unbearable to me, at least it is safe to say that my fellow juniors can agree that not having a license can be a pain. “It’s sometimes annoying when I can’t go where I want, when I want,” said Matt Hodes ’13. So as the days tick away until the moment where I might possibly walk into school with the feelings of “euphoria and freedom” that Bridget Johnson ’13 said she felt when she got her license, I remember these past months and hope that they will have somehow paid off. I assume that getting my license will feel somewhat like finally getting to the top of a mountain that you have been climbing for four months. Dramatic? Yes. But then again, so were all those car rides with Mom and Dad.

Arts & Entertainment Editors Jackie Kerames Rachel Labarre Deanna Schreiber Sammy Warshaw Sports Editors Ryder Chasin Kelsey Landauer Will McDonald Julia Sharkey Graphics and Photo Editors Madison Horne Nate Rosen Business Manager Charlotte Breig Video Editors Katie Cion Elizabeth Coogan Advisers Elizabeth Humphrey Julia McNamee Stephen Rexford Correspondence and Subscriptions:

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A Disconnected Youth Why Staples lacks a worldly voice

Clueless

ou won’t read this. As soon as you see what it’s about, you will skip right to the next page, hoping to see an article about winter sports or movie reviews. But the truth is that you should care about this. You should care that the Iraq War, which started before many of us were 8 years old, is coming to an end. However, with the conclusion of the war approaching, the reaction of Staples students remains as it always has: apathetic. With over 4,000 American soldiers killed since the war started, you’d think that it would spawn some sort of emotion from the people that have so long lived in its atmosphere. We have experienced every day since the invasion began. We have grown up in almost nine years of wartime in Iraq. And yet, students in Westport seem to care very little about its end, let alone know anything about it at all.

Isabel Gasway ’13 said that her peers are hardly interested in the war. “I’ve never heard of kids protesting anything, especially anything political. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard students talking about politics by choice if they’re not in a class,” she says. I do not spend hours hunting for current news online, voraciously reading The New York Times, or staying up late to watch debates and speeches. But I try. And I am part of the minority. Unfortunately, the majority of students would consider a newly updated relationship status on Facebook as “breaking news.” Why do we, as mature, almost-adults, seem to strike such a sharp contrast to the passionate, young protestors of the Vietnam War? Whereas students in 1965 wore black armbands to mourn the dead soldiers, we squander time designing bright pink senior girl hats. “I think it’s criminal that people aren’t aware and that students aren’t taught more about what’s going on in those areas,” said Cathy Dancz, a social studies teacher at Staples. “But we’re so concerned with kids passing AP tests and SATs and doing

all that kind of stuff, there’s hardly room in the curriculum.” It’s important, however, to understand that you can’t rely on others to be an active citizens. Soon enough, we’ll be old enough to vote and participate in our government and believe it or not, to do that you actually have to care about issues. “You guys want to know stuff, but you have to be empowered,” said Dancz. The Iraq War may be ending, but guaranteed there will be more governmental issues within the next few years— if not months—that affect the student body. We live in a generation where the topic of conversation is the new iPhone 4S, and the most important controversy in our lives is whether Brangelina is finally going to tie the knot (hint: it’s never going to happen). However, for us to be a genuinely educated student body, we need to be effective participants in the country’s issues. If you can’t trust the media to give you unbiased explanations and you can’t trust your school to give you an adequate education of the Middle East crises, you need to take initiative. It’s your country, too.

MARK SCHWAEBACHER ’13 Web Opinions Editor Every day, I spend more and more time on the Internet. I write documents, open Facebook, create spreadsheets, play videogames, peruse Facebook, read the news, browse Facebook, and send emails. Then I check Facebook to make sure I didn’t miss anything. A friend once told me that humans could have solved cancer in the amount of time we’ve played Angry Birds. If I were any good at science they might have a point—according to my phone I’ve been pecking at pig strongholds for over 30 hours. I’m being strangled by a series of tubes. I’ve tried to disconnect myself, and it never works. I once completely shut off the internet on my computer. I felt really proud of myself until my phone buzzed and I couldn’t resist seeing who had brought something to my attention on Facebook. I had lasted all of six minutes before my dreams of Internet independence crashed around me. Is it even possible to disconnect from the Internet? Physically, every time we walk into Staples, millions of WiFi signals are pumped through our veins by the conveniently located wireless routers across the building. In the same way, Facebook is constantly attacking my phone with notifications. And

once I log onto the 24-hour news cycle, breaking out of the loop of politicians and lolcats is incredibly more difficult. So I decided to talk to my friends who don’t have Facebooks—all three of them. But instead of the antisocial and drama-deprived husks I was expecting, not a single one has the slightest regret about not having a Facebook. In fact, they have a lot in common, namely more free time than I could ever imagine. After talking to them, I realized that the key to separating ourselves from the Internet is changing Facebook from an entitlement to a reward. When we have to earn our right to slack off, we work hard to achieve it, as counterintuitive as that sounds. I decided to set apart one hour in my day as my personal “No Internet Sad Hour.” Between four-five o’clock, I decided to close Facebook and turn off my phone. It was one of the most miserable, boring, and productive hours of my high school career. The best part was breaking the fast. I felt so much better checking Facebook when I didn’t have the weight of undone homework hanging over my head. So for those of us who have “dabbled in the Reddits,” decided to build a Minecraft fortress, or Stumbled Upon one too many ways to waste time, there is still hope. Who knows, I might even hit that recommended eight to 12 hours of sleep target for once.

Opinions

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Don’t Complain

oday I had to get up at 5:30 in the morning, take three tests, didn’t have enough time for lunch because I had to do work, got home and worked for a solid three hours until I had my piano lesson and then rounded off the night with three more hours of homework, finally going to sleep at 1:00 a.m. But this column isn’t a rant about the stresses of being a Staples student because guess what? Your/my/our life isn’t stressful. Yes, I am making a huge generalization. And yes, I may sound like I am preaching. But it is my true belief that this is something most Staples students need to hear: your life is not nearly as difficult as you think it is. Of course, there are obviously going to be exceptions to this. There are people in Westport with serious, real issues. But for those of you whose biggest worry is getting into col-

lege right now? Yeah, you guys are the people I’m talking to. I’m not going to say stop complaining. I myself am known to be one of the biggest whiners of all time. I think whining and venting is a great way to let your anger/frustration at the world out. It almost has a cleansing quality to it. However, even as I whine and complain and cry, 90 percent of the time, I know, deep down, that what I am complaining about is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of world affairs. I have no right to be sitting in my warm room in Connecticut, surrounded by loving friends and family, wearing a $30 shirt, griping about tonight’s homework, while there is a famine in Somalia, a humanitarian crisis that has been labeled by many organizations, newspapers and development groups as one of the worst in 20 years. My biggest problem is figuring out what colleges to apply to, while to a 17-year-old Somalian girl, her focus is just trying to get food. We spend hours and hours on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, venting our frustrations, and like I said, that’s good—but only to some extent. After all, time is

money, and if you’re spending all your time feeling sorry for yourself, you won’t be able to have empathy for those with the actual problem. And honestly, at the end of my complaining sessions, I end up with nothing having been changed, except maybe I’m a little less angry (or sometimes more). Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you may actually be able to feel better about your life if you got off of Tumblr and started helping people. I’m not saying fly over to Somalia right now and start feeding people (it’s so unsafe, even the Peace Corps won’t work there) but start small: volunteer at a local food bank, or find all the spare change in your house to donate to a charity. Not in the mood to be active? Even reading about these issues around the world is better than reading your newsfeed. Go on to the New York Times, Al Jazeera, CNN, whatever you want, and inject some perspective into your life. Remember: the next time you’re stressing about a test, or are facing the infamous Counties/Red and Whites drama, just think, at least I’m not starving to death in Somalia.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS

The Pledge Problem

In his most recent graduation speech, Principal John Dodig told students that “on a day to day basis most of you have lived your school lives feeling supported.” But some students do not. Each morning, we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. In doing so, we are effectively alienating a part of the student body. The words “under God” should be removed from the daily pledge. While the current official version does include this phrase, the pledge existed without a religious message for more than fi fty years. In 1954, President Eisenhower, who had been baptized a Presbyterian only a year before, added the words. With this addition, patriotism became intertwined with Christianity in American public schools. The Staples student body is extremely well-educated when it comes to our government. In

our social studies classrooms, we learn about the separation of church and state. We learn about the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, which says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” We learn that any public school practice must “have a secular purpose,” “neither advance nor inhibit religion,” and not “result in an excessive entanglement between government and religion.” Why, then, do we continue to address God during the school day? I don’t want to change the world. I want to make Staples the fi rst public school in Connecticut to be truly accepting of all religious beliefs. I fully understand that, although Connecticut public schools are legally obligated to recite the pledge, students have the right to sit out. But I don’t want to sit out. I want to be able to support this country without associating it with God. We are a uniquely diverse group of Muslims, Christians, Baha’i, Jews, Hindus, atheists, and more.

GRAPHIC BY ERKINA SARTBAEVA ’14 Yet, in order to pledge our allegiance to America, every single one of us must pledge allegiance to the monotheistic God. Students are told that if they do not want to say “under God,” they may refrain from reciting the Pledge. This sends the clear message that those who do not as-

sociate a god with their country are unpatriotic, which is far from the truth. I refuse to stand not because I am anti-American but because I am protesting the fact that public schools in 36 states are required to say the pledge, and students in six of those states are forced to recite

it according to the Education Commission of the States. The problem is complicated but the solution is simple: remove the words. I know that the people of the United States, no matter their faith, will eventually be united under one Pledge. For now, I’ll stay seated.

FEATURES November 18, 2011

RETRACTION In the article “Speech Impediments: A Look Inside” from the Nov. 18 issue, quotes were taken from the Internet and attributed to Jennifer Berkey and Michelle Blend, speech pathologists in Westport. The reporter never interviewed either of these women. Inklings deeply regrets the article’s publication and any misperceptions that followed.

PHOTO BY NICOLETTE WEINBAUM ’12

Features

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Nocturnal Students pulling all-nighters to get it all done

GRAPHIC BY NATE ROSEN ’14

JACKIE KERAMES ’12 A&E Editor offee, exercise, and a whole lot of will power is all it takes for Jill Rappaport ’13 to make it through the night. Rappaport practices a lifestyle that many students are forced to take on: living nocturnally. Not by choice, she is awake far past 12:00 a.m. every night. On her latest nights, 4:00 a.m. is her reasonable bedtime. She spends these late hours finishing her homework – something that Rappaport prioritizes over sleep. “If I had it my way I’d go to bed early,” Rappaport said. Still, her workload is relentless. Four AP courses and three honors courses leave Rappaport with a multitude of papers, textbook readings, and worksheets every evening. From her perspective, a reasonable bedtime does not seem plausible for her in the near future. Rappaport is not alone; many students come to school sleep deprived every morning. However, she has adjusted to this and even developed her own method to maintain the nocturnal lifestyle. For starters, Rappaport utilizes her energy from dance to motivate herself. She says that the activity helps keep her awake when she returns home from dance at 9:00 p.m. Unfortunately, this energy only goes so far, and coffee is key. “Sometimes a half and half is enough, but if I am really tired I’ll need whole caffeine,” she said. No matter what energy booster she uses, Rappaport knows that her will power is what prevails over all. If she needs to stay up late, she makes herself. “When my eyes shut there’s nothing I can do. I can’t concentrate on being tired, I have to concentrate on what I’m doing.” James Onorato ’12 suffers from similar circumstances, but in contrast, he tends to enjoy his late-night study sessions. For Onorato, the benefit of staying up late is that he’s more productive. “I get way more work done when I’m in a silent spot or the only one up in my house,” he said. “It’s something about the environment.” For Onorato, these late hours are a door to a different world. It’s a world of dimly lit halls, a vacant kitchen, and above

all, complete utter silence. There are no distractions within the house, and outside the house is only the black illusion of nothing. The only thing to catch his eye is the blue glow of daytime approaching that he must race on those all-nighters. For Onorato, this scene is perfectly ideal. While many students resort to waking up early and cramming in their work, Onorato says that he has more motivation to complete his work when he can look forward to sleep. “If I know I have to get something done I’ll stay awake until I can finish,” he said. Contrary to Rappaport, energy drinks are counterproductive for Onorato. “They’re useless for me,” he said. His will power keeps him up, on some occasions, until the next school day. “The nighttime has a completely different atmosphere. Even if I have to slap myself to stay awake, I know it’s worth it to stay up,” Onorato said. For these students the night has become a marketplace where sleep is exchanged for time. They are among the many kids who spend as few as three hours sleeping. Their lifestyle is practically nocturnal, yet for them, it somehow works. Michael Fulton, English teacher, shows empathy for the students that he’s noticed have little rest. Throughout his career he has seen plenty of students fall asleep in his class, but he understands their “wildly busy schedules” and knows that sometimes their bodies just lose control. “I see [kids falling asleep in class] across the board, and I wish I could do something about it,” Fulton said. Fulton says he pines for a solution to this problem, and recognizes the severity of it. “Our brains are still forming until our mid 20’s; we need time for growth,” Fulton said. “I wish I could find a way for teachers to assign homework and not crush students’ evenings.” According to a recent study by Drexel University’s Dr. Christina Calamaro, assistant professor in Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, only 20 percent of a group of high school students consistently got the recommended eight hours of sleep or more. The rest were categorized as sleep-deprived. Of the sleepdeprived students, 85 percent ran on caffeine and 30 percent fell asleep in class. In comparison to the span of kids coming to

school tired, Rappaport and Onorato are a merely a small fraction. Call it normal or call it crazy, but these late bedtimes are unavoidable for Rappaport and Onorato. Tough course-loads and overscheduled extra-curricular activities

are amongst the many factors that play in to their long days. But like the rest of the 80 percent of under-rested students, they’ve learned to live with it, and their nocturnal nights prevail.

6 Tips for staying awake From Leah Bitsky ’12 and Nicolette Weinbaum ’12

Chug a 5 Hour Energy drink or regular coffee Splash your face with cold water or take a luke-warm shower. Engage in physical activity. A quick jog or jumping-jacks will do the trick. Consume fruit or other sugary products Listen to fast-paced music. Nicki Minaj will suffice. Chew gum. Mint or bubble, it does not matter.

Features Inklings /November 18, 2011/ Inklingsnews.com

GRAPHIC BY CHIARA PUCCI ’12

n 1827, George Shillibeer introduced the first horsedrawn “school hack.” This horse and carriage was responsible for carrying 25 children to and from school. 184 years later, 26 million children, over half of the country’s student population, are transported to and from school daily by 480,000 school busses. The typical modern school bus is 36-39 feet long and weighs over 21,500 pounds. The bus is a ubiquitous presence in today’s secondary school experience. And for the seniors, well...

GRAPHIC BY CONNIE ZHOU ’12

Features

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The Loser Cruiser

Inklinations What is your craziest bus story?

RYAN PANNY ’12 Staff Writer

o the average person, it’s just a big yellow bus safely transporting the youth of America to and from school. But to a high school senior, this particular vehicle has a sinister presence, an evil that pervades its very being. Unlike freshman and sophomore year, when riding the bus is simply another part of the school day for most, upperclassmen see the bus as a plague, one to be avoided at all costs. “The bus is just god awful,” summed up Charlotte Smith ’12. Then why do upperclassmen take the bus? This situation arises from many different circumstances: late birthdays, license delays, lack of a car, etc. Some may even take the bus in an effort to be environmentally conscious. But when talk of upperclassmen forced to ride the bus stirs up so many passionate emotions and ends up more of a therapy session, one thing becomes clear: pleasure is not one of the reasons that upperclassmen take the bus. Asking an upperclassman “why don’t you take the bus anymore?” is roughly akin to showing a bull the red cape. The reasons for this loathing begin with who they share the daily journey with. “The absolute worst part about riding the bus as a senior is the annoying underclassmen, “ said Smith. “There was this group of sophomores that flirted with each other really loudly, and it made me want to kill them all.” Heather Rosoff ’12 echoed Smith’s sentiment. “I was a few episodes behind on American Idol, about to catch up, and these obnoxious underclassmen spoiled

the ending for me,” she said. For many, the bus just adds hassle and stress to the hardest part of any teenager’s day: seven in the morning. Smith’s bus, normally scheduled for a 7:12 a.m. pickup, has come as early as 6:55 and as late as 7:25. Throw a 4-minute walk up her long private driveway and down the street into the mix, and she’s got the recipe for a terrible start to her day. Vicky Watterworth, a mother of three Staples graduates, has used the horrors of the bus to her advantage –the threat of the “loser cruiser” became a powerful disciplinary tool. When she caught one of her sons driving a friend illegally, making him ride the bus was the best sanction to get her point across. “It’s just demoralizing to be on the bus for a senior,” she said. “They just sit there silently with their earphones on like it’s a train. It’s so depressing.” On paper, the bus experience for upperclassmen does not differ in the slightest to the experience of their first two years. Once junior year rolls around, all of the sudden the inconveniences of the bus – standing outside in the freezing cold and rain, getting up 15 minutes earlier, trying to listen to your iPod over the incessant chatter of underclassman – morph into one big pain that grows with each passing day. Like a nagging best friend, the annoyances will slowly grind away at nerves over time. And when their classmates blow by the bus stop in their own licensed vehicles with the stereo blasting, the shivering upperclassmen can only hope that their days on the “loser cruiser” are numbered.

GRAPHIC BY CONNIE ZHOU ’12

“These kids threw an open bottle of orange juice and a carton of munchkins out of the bus window and into a Porsche with the top down” -Noel Sosnoski ’15 “I hit the bus with rocks after it dropped me at my bus stop.” -Jack Baylis ’15

PHOTOS BY LEAH BITSKY ’12

GRAPHIC G GR RA AP P HIC H I C BY HI BY C CONNIE ON O N NI N I E ZHOU ZH H OU O U ’’12 12 1 2

“I was a bus bully. I used to pluck peoples’ hairs out one by one. I was sent to the principal’s office.” -Sami Schwaeber ’12

Features Inklings /November 18. 2011/ Inklingsnews.com

Giving back CHLOE BAKER ’13

Web Opinions Editor

taples students have a never-ending wish list: tickets to the next big concert, a brand new iPhone 4S, or that cool new T-shirt. These wishes are usually granted by the swift swipe of a parent’s credit card, and a quick thank you will usually do. However, the wish of a terminally ill 18-year-old boy to build his own computer out of new parts is one that appeals to the heart and brings Westporters back to reality. Local businesses such as Wishlist, JL Rocks, and Saraswati’s Yoga Joint teamed up with 10 Staples students and one Weston student to work to grant the wish of Kendall, a Connecticut boy with a passion for technology. Kendall also is battling a lifethreatening medical condition. “I practice yoga regularly at ‘Saras’ and buy all my clothes at Wishlist, so I knew we could work in tandem and fuse together very well. We even call ourselves ‘the three sister stores,’” said Jamie Camche, owner of JL Rocks. “Make A Wish is such a wonder-

ful organization; how could it not have targeted our hearts?” Camche sought out many friends of her daughter, Elizabeth Camche ’14, to help out and join the cause. From requesting participation through inboxes on Facebook to statuses advertising the shirts, Camche felt that social networking became a crucial tool. “Live in a world you wish to live in” was the slogan coined by Saraswati’s and was created artistically by a student of the yoga joint who also happens to be a graphic designer. “My husband has a line that says, ‘Stop living in

a wishful thinking world, and live in a world you wish to love in.’ It is all about choosing the life you are creating, rather than just being victim... And who doesn’t love a cool T-Shirt with a great message?” said Tracy Bleier, owner of Saraswati’s. Most of the student volunteers were the children of Camche’s friends. One of these volunteers was Katie Glick ’13. “I have many close friends who have been impacted by cancer and I have seen how sad it can be,”said Glick. “Knowing this made me so eager to help out and makes me want to continue volunteering with Make A Wish and other cancer-affiliated organizations.” The volunteers worked for months trying to sell as many of the grey T-Shirts in pursuit of reaching their goal of $5,000. “We were so proud of our community for making it happen. And when we were able to announce to everyone that we did it, it was a great feeling. All smiles! What a beautiful thing we all shared because so many people were involved in the experience,” said an enthused Bleier. When Kendall received his brand new computer parts, he de-

scribed himself to Make A Wish workers as feeling “like a kid with a magic box!” At Saraswati’s, a picture of Kendall with his new computer now sits permanently at the front desk. Just the sight of this picture will remind yoga participants and volunteers of the amazing deed done by the hard work of three local businesses and 11 high school students.

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ELIZABETH CAMCHE ’14 UPON A STAR: Tracy Bleier of Saraswati, Kim Smith of Make a Wish, and Suzanne Zarrilli of Wishlist along with Staples volunteers celebrate their success.

Zito’s Big Loss

Narrative Film and TV Production teacher drops 135 lbs HALEY RANDICH ’14 Staff Writer In the summer of 2010, a 347-pound Mike Zito walked into the Duke University Health and Fitness Center, and according to him, “something clicked.” Then, his journey began. Zito, who teaches some of the media classes at Staples, such as TV production, now weighs a significantly leaner 225 pounds, after spending four weeks with a nutritionist and trainer, learning the tricks to slimming down. He came on a suggestion from friend and college Jim Honeycutt, who also teaches TV Production at Staples. Honeycutt had known about a fellow teacher who had found success there. Being in the renowned Health and Fitness Center spurred a decision for Zito, which had been building inside him for a long time. “I knew it was unhealthy,” he said, “I wasn’t able to do things, and I knew it would just get worse.” He had tried a lot of weightloss techniques, and countless diets, but his efforts had been futile. It was time for a lifestyle change, and it was going to be a big one. For the math major, it was all about equations; calories in and calories out. He counted the calories he consumed daily, and acquired a body-bug, a device to wear on his arm that would calculate the calories he burned daily. He also had the help of his nutritionist, Elisabetta Politi, and trainer, Brian Housle.

Before March 2010

After

July 2011

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY MIKE ZITO SLIM FAST: A before and after shot of Mike zito showing his amazing weight loss success. Politi helped him with ten face. According to Politi, the impressive change. a low calorie diet, and organized Duke Health and Fitness Center “Mr. Zito has not only lost plans for more equally distrib- puts a lot of emphasis on mindful weight, he has made a breakuted meals. They determined eating. through,” he said. that due to his busy mornings After establishing new habits When Zito revisited the and lunch periods at school, he with the help of Politi and Housle, Health and Fitness center this was not eating enough breakfast Zito is proudly carrying 135-less past summer, Politi too was or lunch, and compensating with pounds as he treks through the amazed with his progress. larger portions at dinner. hallways of Staples, and losing an “When I saw him this sumThey also grappled with the impressive average of two pounds mer, I couldn’t recognize him,” hard times Zito often had iden- each week. said Politi, “He is very inspiratifying hunger and satisfaction. “I am very happy that I have tional, I wish everyone was as deHe would eat more because he done this,” he said, “I have a lot termined and motivated as he is.” could not recognize if he was re- more options now.” Politi cited his motivation ally full, and issue that many ofHoneycutt also praised his and the support of his wife as

some of what brought him to triumph. She also praised him for being an excellent role model, a duty he continues to fulfill as he presents the story of his journey to some of Staples’s health classes. “It’s a real thrill for me,” he said. He is also open to talk to anyone and everyone curious or looking for a resource. He has even given a success story talk at Duke. Back at home he is still chipping away at a goal to run a collective 1,000 miles on a treadmill. He is currently at 988 miles, and will finish before the end of the year. “It’s a big change from feeling out of breath at the top of the stairs,” he said. As for what is next for Zito, he is discussing the organization of a 5K run through the school with student government, something he would definitely not have considered before July of 2010, but might spearhead now. “I want that first run to be meaningful,” he said. “It will be at Staples.”

Features

Richard Ruggles Takes Flight NICK SIEGEL ’12

Staff Writer

lying high over Westport is not a plane or a bird, it’s actually a power parachute. Yes, that is correct a power parachute has been flying over Westport. The man who flies this beast of the sky is New York City crane operator and Westport resident Richard Ruggles. With 27 years of flying experience under his belt, Ruggles went into flying power parachutes because of a friendly dare. “That machine is built by a company called Infinity. The man who designed and built it is a retired Boeing engineer. I just bought that because a friend of mine challenged me to give it a shot—I did and that was it,” Ruggles Said The power parachuting business is a multi-million dollar industry amounting sales in Europe and America alone, but Ruggles is only one of three in the state of Connecticut. Because power parachuting is so uncommon in Connecticut,

when Richard takes off, he always has an interested audience. “When I go over the water, people just stop and stare, kayakers wave to me, it’s a really cool thing to witness.” Ruggles said The common take off spot for Ruggles power parachute is to the right of Bedford Middle School looking from the front. From that point, Ruggles often follows the tree line on North Avenue of Staples High School to places beyond. When he takes off near Staples, there are frequently people on the sports fields surrounding his flight. “Every time I take off, everybody that’s on the field just stops and they are all waving,” Ruggles said. Richard is a licensed pilot but still had to get a separate type of aviation license to be able to fly the chute. Even with the experience he has under his belt with flying, there are still challenges that the power parachute poses. The most important thing

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY HELEN KLISSER DURING

Inklings /November 18, 2011/ Inklingsnews.com

about parachuting period is before it takes off your kite has to be centered” Richard said. Kiting is the physics that happen to the power chute when the parachute over the top of the machine goes off to the side too much causing the pilot to flip over in the air. Because of this, the pilot must make sure that the parachute is always straight above the engine. This dynamic of flying is the only dangerous aspect that the aviator has to watch out for because according to Ruggles, other then that, the process is a much more controlled and fluid. “It’s like just floating, it’s wide open, you’re just floating along. It’s the next best thing to being a bird.” Ruggles said. The flying machine that Ruggles created was originally made to fly for his own enjoyment, however, he has recently turned into a business venture as well. Ruggles’ power parachute is now sponsored by Westport Wash and Wax and is offering lessons to anybody 14 and older

PHOTO BY NICK SIEGEL ’12 A FLYING MACHINE: Richard Ruggles will be running a flight camp to teach others how to power parachute around July.

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION BY RICHARD RUGGLES VIEW FROM THE TOP: Ruggles takes a photo of Staples high school as he flies over the school on his power parachute. who wants to learn how to fly. “We’re going to have a flight camp where we are going to take between 5 to 10 students and introduce them to the sport of power parachuting. These camps are starting around July.” The chance to fly this ma-

chine is coming to anybody who wants to, and according to Ruggles the experience is always a blast. “The people that come up in the air come back with the biggest smile on their face at the end.”

A&E November 18, 2011

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXANDRA WIENER ’12

CHECK MATE

PHOTO BY STEVIE KLEIN ’12

Alexandra Wiener is Staples’ Chess Champ SAMI BAUTISTA ’13 Web Features Editor

or Alexandra Wiener ’12, a simple misunderstanding threw her onto the chessboard and into position for checkmate. Soon, she will take the status as king as she knocks unlucky pawns out of her way to the throne. When she was in third grade, Wiener’s grandparents gave her a giant chess rug complete with beanbag pieces that she loved to play with. Her mom mistook her enjoyment for a desire to learn the game of chess. She immediately enrolled Wiener in chess classes at Norwalk Community College. “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Wiener. “Although I was with kids who were the same age, many of them were strong players. But, I soon came to enjoy being challenged by players whose ability was greater than mine.” To Wiener’s surprise, she picked up the game easily. Her instructor, Alex Eydelman, advised her to enter tournaments to further improve her skills. At age 9, Wiener participated in her first tournament on May 19, 2002 at the 11th ACTA chess tournament. She won three out of

her five games. “When I was younger it was very hard to be one of the only girls at a chess tournament. I was initially very shy and intimidated by a room of all males,” said Wiener. “But as I got older, I realized that being a female chess player made me unique. Overcoming my discomfort with the all-male environment at chess competitions greatly increased my selfconfidence.” As Wiener continued to grow stronger as a player, she sought out the assistance of a more advanced coach. She said she found brilliance and wisdom in one of the highest-ranked chess players of the nation, Sergey Kudrin.

“Chess has no boundaries. I have played five-year-olds that are amazing and literally have beaten me” —Alexandra Wiener ’12 Kudrin has been a chess coach for more than 15 years and decided to take Wiener under his wing. “I try to help her understand that she can always make a move in chess, but she can never give up,” said Kudrin. “That’s one

of the lessons of life. If it is not a good move, it’s not the end of the world. She just has to continue with what she has, and deal with it.” Kudrin coaches Wiener at least once a week for two hours. For the most part, he teaches her strategies to start and end the game. “Every time I play, I always use the same first move,” said Wiener. “My opponents have unlimited options to play in response. Kudrin helps me prepare for the most common moves, and we run through each scenario whenever we practice.” To Wiener, using the same opening move is a necessary tactic, otherwise it is impossible to prepare for games. To date, Wiener has competed in 165 events. Her most significant tournaments include the 2005 National K-12 Championship, the 35th Annual World Open, and the 38th Annual World Open. She gained a new title from each, rising from 4th Category Title to 2nd Category Title. These are some of the national titles that are given by the United States Chess Federation to represent a player’s rating. In addition, she is currently ranked 40th in the nation for women under 21 in the United States and has been

the top female under 18-yearsold in the state of Connecticut for the last six years. She has won the 2010 National Girls Open Award and was awarded a scholarship to the UConn engineering program from the Connecticut State Chess Association K-12 Open Championship. “She is really focused and obviously serious about what she’s doing,” said Linda Diaz, one of Wiener’s competitors from New York. “She is not too competitive that if she loses she goes crazy. Everyone gets upset when they lose, but she’s a really good sport.” Wiener describes her chess experience as relaxing. The quiet tournament hall provides a fivehour escape from the hustle and bustle of reality. The long games have enhanced her patience, which is reflected in her playing style. She tends to play positional chess, which means waiting and looking for small weaknesses in her opponent’s positions, rather than attacking. Wiener also likes to challenge herself. Instead of gaining meaningless wins by playing against opponents with lower rankings, Wiener enjoys competing against stronger opponents. She finds it more beneficial because it results in better games and self-improvement.

The United States Chess Federation classifies chess players based on their ranking. The highest classification is Senior Master, which is given to players with a ranking of 2400 or higher. This year, Wiener is trying to increase her ranking to 2000, which would promote her to an Expert player. Currently, with her ranking of 1835, she is considered a Class A player. When Wiener is not a competitor in chess tournaments, she is a volunteer teacher at the Fairfield County Chess Club in Norwalk. She also started a scholarship program for inner-city kids in Bridgeport. She donated her tournament winnings to purchase 20 chess sets for the program. She exerts as much effort as she can to not only improve her own chess skills, but to develop others’ skills as well, because she believes the benefits of chess can truly change people’s lives. “Chess has given me a different perspective on things in general,” said Wiener. “It has no boundaries on age, gender, race or anything like that. I have played five-year-olds that are amazing and literally have beaten me. I have played against people who don’t speak the same language as me. The coolest part about it is that it just doesn’t matter.”

A&E Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

iPhone 4S Generates Serious Buzz CHEYENNE HASLETT ’13 Web Features Editor

he release of Apple’s iOS 5 software, which brought customers the iPhone 4S, unleashed a wave of excited chatter and anxious babble from technology lovers at Staples, but just as loud came the “ding, ding, ding!” sound effect, marking the beginning of a battle. Two of the top phones on the market, the iPhone, as well as the Blackberry, have been brought deeper into the competition for the best phone, and students are varied in their opinions. The new iPhone brought a revolution to the technology world, swooping in to bring its customers over 200 new features on any updated Apple device. According to Apple, iOS 5 gives people “features that go further,” and many students who own the latest iPhone model are in agreement. Haley Garrison ’13 had a Blackberry, but when her upgrade rolled around, she jumped at the opportunity to buy for an iPhone. “All around it’s a better phone,” Garrison said of her new phone, adding that she liked how “it’s a phone and an iPod in one.” Julia Tziolis ’13 also leapt at the chance to have one of the newest products of the technology world and pre-ordered her iPhone 4S days before it was released. She immediately fell in love with its capabilities. After less than a week, Tziolis could easily pick out what she liked, and among her favorite of its

features were the camera, the applications, Siri (a computerized assistant built into the iPhone 4S), and the iOS 5 software as a whole. Her admiration for the device didn’t end there. “Without it, I don’t know what to do with myself,” said Tziolis. Tziolis was able to decide that the iPhone was the better option over the Blackberry. “I’d heard a lot of bad things about the Blackberry and knew a lot of people were sick of theirs,” said Tziolis, she was not the only one who had been hearing complaints about Blackberrys. Just four days before the release of the iPhone 4S, Blackberry customers had began experiencing outage problems, and Staples students were no exception. Customers reported problems that ranged from no Internet connection to texts not sending, The mistake was crippling, and Blackberry stocks fell, alongside students’ desire for the once top-of-the-market device. Tziolis saw the effects of this problem firsthand when she witnessed someone trying to reach their parents on a Blackberry. “They couldn’t call their parents because the network was down, and I wouldn’t want to get a Blackberry and risk that happening to me,” Tziolis said. But not everyone has turned their backs on the Blackberry, and Alec Wrubel ’13 can attest to the fact that it is a two-waystreet. Wrubel knows just how much an iPhone can do from personal experience, but decid-

ed to transfer over to a Blackberry about a year ago. “It was less expensive, and I wanted a real keyboard,” he said. Wrubel likes the Blackberry better for emailing, partly due to the Blackberry keyboard, and says the battery lasts longer. He has never experienced service malfunctions and said he didn’t feel their recent effect. Andrew Felman ’14 did not notice the service interruptions either, but that did not stop him from being yet another student to choose Apple’s new creation over the Blackberry. “I switched to the iPhone because I had my Blackberry for two years and I wanted more capabilities, which can be found on the iPhone,” Felman said. Felman thought the Internet browser was poor in comparison to other smart phones and was also disappointed with how unentertaining his Blackberry was. “What I like about the 4S is I’m never bored,” said Felman. However, Felman does credit the Blackberry with a better messenging system. “I think Blackberry Messenger (BBM) is better; iMessage does not feel like a capability at all, it just seems like regular messaging to me.” Whatever the phone of choice may currently be, it is important to remember the world of technology is forever advancing. For now, Apple’s iPhone seems to have customers very satisfied. “Now that I have this, I’m never going back,” Garrison said.

PHOTOGRAPHIC BY JULIAN CLARKE ’12

A&E

Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

Westport’s Houses of History

History Runs Deep Within The Structures of Westport DANNY COOPER ’13

THIS OLD HOUSE: History is prevalent in the town of Westport, and this late 17th Century home represents the Town’s incredible lineage. The decor and furnishings only further its old school feel.

Features Editor

organ and Susan Wynkoop live in a house that was built nearly 100 years before the American Revolution, before anyone had heard the name George Washington or called this country the United Sates of America. Their house, which dates from 1683 to 1687 is currently the oldest dated structure in Westport. “The wood beams in the house are possibly from the ships that were used to get to America. I’ve heard that that’s what was done with many of the ships, and it explains the notches in the wood, that otherwise don’t serve any purpose,” said Morgan Wynkoop. The beams are also blackened in some places of the house, which according to Wynkoop means that there had been a fire in it at some point. According to Wynkoop, the first owner of the house was Captain John Osborn, who was given the land for the house from a grant his father, Richard Osborn, had been given for service in the Pequot Wars. The house entered the Wynkoop family when Morgan’s parents purchased it in 1971. “My mother always loved old houses, and she found this one. I drove up with her to see it and said, you can’t buy this one, the walls are sloping in. She said it had stood for hundreds of years, it wouldn’t come down now,” Morgan Wynkoop said. The house has been expanded over the years, but these additions are by no means modern. A kitchen and additional sleeping wing was added to the house sometime in the 1800s. The house is currently protected by the Westport Historic District Commission, meaning the house cannot be torn down and its exte-

ZACH SPEED ’13 Staff Writer “Breaking Dawn” may be breaking into the box office, but the male gender certainly won’t be. Now as I hope most of you would know by now the Twilight Saga is a series of books that have been transformed into movies. The series has without a doubt captivated its fair share of “Twi-Hards”, but has seriously alienated the male audience. I suppose that most guys some how aren’t interested in a love stricken sparkling vampire with a weird haircut. Who could’ve guessed? This begs the question: how will the male Staples community receive the debut of “Breaking Dawn?” The Twilight Saga has definitely become one of the most beloved book collections. However, that love is only coming from one gender. Girls claim that the story is amazing. They say the characters are really interesting because of their contrasting personalities. I would not have a problem with this opinion at all, if it were true. I can’t deny that these characters have very contrasting personalities. But, I do have a difficult time finding a way to be interested in the war of person-

PHOTOS BY DANNY COOPER ‘14

rior cannot be changed. Determining the exact date of the house proved difficult. Wynkoop said that when the house was purchased the plaque outside said 1775, but he knew it was older. Through examination of the materials used to build the house and comparison to other houses, the Westport Historic District Commission was able to establish the current date range. One of the most interesting features of the house is a board that folds down across the top of the staircase, allowing access to

a loft. Wynkoop said that a possible purpose for this was to hide from Indians if they invaded the house. “I wasn’t afraid to live in this house because I’d worked on it with my father. I knew all about it, I know which pipes will freeze in the cold,” Wynkoop said. “However, coming to live in this house, knowing nothing about it would be hard.” Aside from the general maintenance that a house from the 17th century requires, Wynkoop says that unexpected prob-

lems can be extremely work intensive. “You never know what you will encounter when you have a problem, you don’t want to have to get into the walls. Once a squirrel got in the walls, I took part of the wall down and found nothing was holding it together,” he said. However, Wynkoop also has immense respect for the way that old houses like his are built. “The foundation is built extremely well, almost no water leaks into the basement through

DUAL PURPOSE: “The wood beams in the house are possibly from the ships that were used to get to America,” said Morgan Wykoop.

it. Just the fact that the house is still standing after more than 300 years shows that the people who built it knew what they were doing,” he said. As someone who has put so much effort into maintaining a historic house, Wynkoop has strong feelings about the older houses that are being torn down in Westport. “These houses give character to Westport. They give a sense of history and we lose something when they are torn down,” he said.

Don’t Expect A Y-Chromosome at the Box Office

BLOODSUCKED: Whether you like it or not, the new installment of the “Twilight series”, “Breaking Dawn”, will hit theaters with a force, despite its lack of male viewership. PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS

ality between a modeling werewolf with anger management and a sensitive vampire who thinks Bella is a brand of heroin. Team Jacob or Team Edward. You choose. Personally, I have never been a fan of “Twilight.” The story itself is so incomprehensibly mind-numbing it becomes difficult to watch. Even Sarah Gutman’13 said, “ The idea of a vampire having a relation with a human is stupid even if it’s just a movie.”

I understand the concept of willing suspension of disbelief. However, when a vampire drives in a Volvo to save a girl from a gang by growling at them that willingness to suspend disbelief is over. Getting back to the intriguing personalities of the characters. Girls have always been swept away by Edward Cullen. They even admit they set too high of standards for guys to live up to because of him. But, I disagree with that.

I feel that it should be pretty easy to have a better personality than a vampire who admitted to killing people, wanting to kill Bella, and being a 107-year-old virgin. To be fair I can see why girls may like “Twilight” even if they won’t admit it. In almost every movie of the Twilight Saga, as Isaac Paparo’15 said, “There’s a shirtless guy every 20 seconds and girls think the guys are attractive.” I know not all guys are ex-

cited about that. But, they can certainly understand that if an attractive girl was shirtless every 20 seconds we might like the movies too. “Breaking Dawn” is going to make its way to the big screen Nov 18. While girls might be going into frenzy like Emily Nuzzo’13 thinking that, “It’s going to be the best.” The male population will be hiding for the reason Leo Andriuk ’15 said, “It’s a disgrace there were three movies made. Four is just evil.”

A&E Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

Welcome To The Rave

RAVE ON: For the past couple years, there has been a serious revival in the world of raves. This picture was taken from a Skream and Benga concert at Terminal 5 in New York City.

EMILY GOLDBERG ’12 Web Managing g Editor

n the 60s, young people peo eopl plee flocked o ked to oc Woodstock. In th the he 70s, it was all about the disco. In n th tthee late 80s and early 90s, the rave emerged. e erged. Now, in em 2011, the rave is back. Preparation begins begiins n in advance, planning neon outfittss aand nd arranging playlists. The night begins, beggins, s, and and n the beat pulsates of techno music pulsate es down n the the stairs stai st airs rs and draws teens up to the party. Inside, Insid ide, e there is a strobe light ligh ht pulsating along with the techno beats.. Teens flit about uorescently the room in their fluor rescently clad outfits. Such rave-themed house parties and techno concerts with a rave-like atmosphere have continued to gain popularity among Staples students. students. “What a lot of people peeople like most is the adrenaline rush of a rave,” Alex Tonsberg ’12 said. Tonsberg attributes the rising popularity of raves to the influence of European rave culture. “A lot of people look at European raves on YouTube videos,” he said. “Raves here just don’t compare to European raves, which are a lot crazier.” Consequently, concerts where whe here re stustu tudents can experience experi rien ri ence en ce this this type of atmospheree aare re popular among Staples students. studen nts t . Dayglow, Electric Zoo, and Deadmau5 Deadma maau5 u are examples of techno rave

PHOTO BY KYLE BACON ‘12

concerts that have been widely attended students. by Staples students “It’s just a really great time to see artists arti ar tist sts you love, and the tickets weren’t expensive, too ex xpe pens n ive, so it was really worth wo ort rth h it,” it,”” Joojse said Joojs jsee Grevers ’12 who attended atte at tended Electric Zoo o in in September of 2010. 201 0 0. “Concerts like thatt are are popular pop po pula larr because beca be cause it’s a fun and exciting atmosphere.” For some students, the drugg scene scen sc enee en is a substantial part par artt of the ravee atmoatmosphere. In thee rave rave culture cult ltur lt u e of the 80s ur 0s and d 90s, 90 s drugs dru rugs like lik ke ecstasy and an cocaine were were typicall at such suc ucch concerts concerr ts ts and continue con nti tinu ue to havee a presence p es pr esen en nce at at raves rave ra vees today, tod to day, said said ai student a studen nt who wh ho wished to remain anonyano non no nymous. really “You reall llyy can’t can’ ca n’t ’t go to to a drugless drugless rave; they’re very prominent in rave culture,” the student said. “Ecstasy and coke are drugs of choice usually, and people use them to stay up all night and make them feel amazing.” However, not all students find drugs to be an essential part of their rave experience. “I’ll drink at these kinds of concerts but I never do other drugs,” said a girl who was also granted g anted anonymity. “I gr would never want to act like some kids kids do do when they’re on drugs like ecstasy.” An alternative to concert raves are parties where students emulate the rave atmosphere at home by hosting neon-

GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA HAMPTON ‘15

themed parties. “It’s really cool because you walk in aand everyone is lit up,” Jake Melnick ’15 said. “It’s definitely more fun than a rregular re gu ular party.” Melnick described the typical “house “ho “h use rave” as a dance party with a lot off te techno o echno music, and neon clothing as an important imp portant part of the equation. American n Apparel is a popular destination to buyy outfits for such events. “This summer neon items were our most mos st popular selling items, especially with h high school-aged kids,” American Apparel App parel employee Alyssa Maroney said. lot “A lo ot of our clients said they were buying outfi fits for concerts like Dayglow or Electricc Zoo. I think a lot of our clientele is into o that kind of atmosphere.” While some students like Melnick emphasize emp phasize the importance of this attire, some som me ravegoers see past the appearance. “Raves are really just an opportunity to dress up in really ridiculous outfits for no reason,” said Ryan Lach ’12. However, the outfit can make the party, and Nick Burchill ’15 enjoys watching his friends dress up for the occasion. “I like raves because girls wear short, shor sh ort,, colorful spandex,” he said. or As students stu tude tu dent de ntss continue to purchase nt concert tickets and d neon neo clothing, it seems like raves are back, and nd for now at least, here to stay.

GRAPHIC BY MADISON HORNE ‘12

SPORTS November 18, 2011

Taking One For the Team Athletes Hide Injuries to Stay in the Game ALEXANDRA O’KANE ’13 Social Media Specialist

t is two minutes into the game. The opponent is racing down the field. In an attempt to block the offender, a defender runs into the girl and is hit in the head. She immediately knows that she has a concussion, but she continues playing through the season without telling anyone of her injury. This athlete, who wishes to remain anonymous, knew that she would not be able to play if her coaches were to find out. However, “We had a game in 2 days, so I had to hide it. I did not want to miss out on what was an important game, and I didn’t want to let my team down,” she said. While this scenario may seem rare, a lot of Staples athletes said they feel the need to hide their injuries in order to continue playing. Field hockey player Jackie Lawrence ’13 recently played through a concussion until one of her teammates told the coach and trainers. “We are the best we have ever been, and I didn’t want to miss out by not playing,” Lawrence said. The pressure felt by these athletes to continue playing seems very common. Football player Bo Gibson ‘12 played an hour of practice with a concussion until he couldn’t even keep his eyes open. He, too, didn’t want to let his team down by leaving.

Lineman Bo Gibson ’12 played an hour of practice with a concussion until he couldn’t even keep his eyes open. From the trainer’s perspective, “if it is a captain or a senior, they feel that it is their duty to help the team. They feel guilty for not playing,” said Gaetana (G) Deiso. “However, injuries happen, and it’s not their fault,” she said. The anonymous athlete said that even though her head continued to hurt a lot, she had to keep playing, and it never really stopped hurting. She was able to convince her coaches and teammates that she was fine, even though she believes they thought something was a little off. Looking back on her decision, this athlete acknowledges that she was very lucky. “I know what I did was not smart at all, but I wanted to win that game, and I wanted to play. At the time, nothing else really seemed to matter.” “Would I go back and have hidden it again? Quite possibly yes,” she said. While these athletes who play through their injuries know they are making a poor decision, they still feel guilt and pressure to continue to play.

PHOTO BY ALEX GREENE ‘13 MISSING OUT: Often times, athletes don’t inform coaches about their injuries out of a desire to remain with their teammates Deiso explained that the only one who made the right decision in Jackie’s situation was the girl who “told on Jackie.” Even Gibson said that playing with the concussion was “a stupid thing to do.” Since people know that they should not be playing through these injuries, yet they still do, the trainers stressed the fact that their goal is to keep athletes on the field, as long as it is not dangerous. “What students don’t understand is that when they keep playing on an injury, they further injure themselves,” Deiso said. “We don’t want to take people out unless we have to. When students tell us that something is hurting, we try to tape it, wrap it or heat it if we can.” Another football player, who asked to remain anonymous, hurt his shoulder during practice midway through the season. He came out of practice for a few minutes but went back in that same day. “I knew I was hurt but I wasn’t sure of the severity of the injury,” he said. “The only pressure I felt was internal: I had an opportunity to play and I didn’t want to give it up.” The boy’s doctor said that he definitely hurt his shoulder more by playing through an injury. The trainers emphasized that they want to keep the athletes healthy and protected. “We are here to prevent injuries and to keep kids on the field as much as possible. We just need to make sure it is safe,” Deiso said.

51% of 45 Staples athletes in an Inklings Survey said they have continued to play through an injury.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: For injured athletes, weighing the pros and cons about reporting the injury to the athletic trainers is a difficult choice.

48% of those who played through their injuries also said they never sought medical attention later on. When asked why, answers ranged from “Because I didn’t want to deal with coaches and the trainers.” to “I didn’t want to lose my starting spot.” In hindsight, 73% of the athletes said that staying quiet about the injury was worth it in the long run.

PHOTO BY ALEX GREENE ‘13

GRAPHIC BY NATE ROSEN ‘14

Sports

Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

Girls’ Ice Hockey Skates To Success BYRAN SCHIAVONE ’13

News Editor

hen the girls’ ice hockey team steps out onto the rink for their first game, they’ll be clad not in blue and white but in black and gold. For the first time in its history, the team has joined with Trumbull High School to form a new co-op. According to Charlotte Axthelm ‘12, who has been skating as long as she can remember, Staples did not have enough girls this year to run its own team. The girls from both schools will practice together under one coach: Paula Dady. “I am really excited for the co-op, and I can’t stress this point enough,” Dady said. “This is a fantastic and unique opportunity.” Under their former coach, Science teacher David Rollison, the Staples team lost 18 out of their 19 games last season. Their lone win, however, was the first since the team was founded. To Axthelm, victories and win-loss records are meaningless measures of reward when compared to the camaraderie and friendship she has gained through the team. “We’ve always had a lot of fun, which is what I call success,” she said. Despite losing senior captain (and the lone goalie) Gwen Moyer ’11, the team retains several key

News Editor

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM WESTPORT PATCH FROM RIVALS TO TEAMATES: Former foes Staples and Trumbull now join together as a co-op team. players, such as high-scoring junior Jesse Lepisto ’13. Kenzie Furman ’12 hopes to be “a little more competitive this year than we have been in the past,” and finds one of their main obstacles to being a competitive high school team to be a lack of student interest. “It can be disappointing when our only spectators are my mom and Charlotte Axthelm’s sister,” Furman said. But Axthelm says that, overall, her teammates have come to

Inside the Most Expensive $ports Web Sports Editor 2:15 p.m. signals the beginning of the treacherous walk to Wakeman for many athletes. Weighed down by equipment, water jugs, and medical kits, practice often starts for players before they reach the field. Other athletes, however, jump on buses or catch rides to get to their practices at yacht clubs, ski mountains, or country clubs. The cost of raising a kid is no longer limited to basic necessities. Add the price of a competitive athlete to summer camp, bar mitzvahs, and sweet sixteens, and the numbers skyrocket. Staples students participate in a myriad of different sports. As a top state competitor in many sports, Staples teams can be can be extremely tough and competitive to make. To keep up with the level of play amongst top athletes at the high school level, students often feel compelled to take part in multiple out of season teams, clinics, and tournaments, usually costing over hundreds of dollars for each. “The yacht club for sailing costs about $2,500 to charter a boat, as well as getting coached. Then each regatta costs about $200-$300,” said varsity sailing team member, Henry Dumke ‘13. Exorbitant prices are common in many sports, and the decision or inability to pay can often hurt an athlete’s chance of getting better and eventually making the team. “I think it most definitely matters where you play outside of school. It can give you an ad-

Gymnastics Soars to the Top BRYAN SCHIAVONE ’13

terms with the sport’s unpopularity. “Girls’ ice hockey is never going to be the most watched sport or anything, and we’re all pretty okay with it because we’re just out there to have fun,” Axthelm said. This lack of interest also accounts for the team’s struggle to recruit players. Unlike other towns, Westport lacks a “feeder” program, such as those for football and baseball, for girl’s hockey. Thus, they are forced to rely on girls recruiting their friends and

anyone else eager to try some-thing new. Although her team does nott currently get as many fans as it’ss male counterpart, Dady predictss that the team will earn its crowdss in time through success. “The fans will come,” shee said. Furman, too, has high hopess for the team. “I doubt we’re going to beat at all the other teams in the FCIAC,”” she said, “but I think we’re going g to have a great season.”

Playing and Paying KATE BEISPEL ‘13

vantage,” said varsity ice hockey player, Liam O’Leary ’13. The off-season of a sport is often not looked at as an off-season at all. It is an opportunity to gain an advantage over competition better yourself for the sake of the team. Factor in traveling and equipment, and the numbers start to add up. “Usually when traveling, we have to pay for it ourselves. Plus the costs of the items like bags and leotards and warm-up attire: it can all get very expensive,” said gymnast Lindsay Kiedaisch ’14, who currently practices at the Gymnastics and Cheerleading Academy in Fairfield, CT. Gyms and arenas generally do not cover the costs of fees, which can cost upwards of a few hundred dollars once memberships and customized logo wear are added together, unless the athletes are funded or sponsored by outside organizations. They often use fundraising as their main source of income. Extra money has to be spent when Staples sports teams do not meet the needs of athletes. Students with hopes of being recruited often times have no choice but to participate in outside teams in order to get noticed. “College coaches will hold clinics and be at outside regattas. They never come to Staples regattas,” Dumke said. Thus. spending money to join off-season teams provides an opportunity for recognition from college coaches. Those who buy their own equipment usually prefer it over

The Shopping List

GRAPHIC BY NATE ROSEN ’14

the Staples gear provided. “In terms of padding, the Staples team provides helmets and glove. I don’t use them because they aren’t in the greatest condition,” O’Leary said. In highrisk sports, protective gear is vital in protecting against concussions and other injuries, so many athletes prefer equipment they buy specially for themselves. Despite the high price tag on

various sports, many studentss believe that the money is worth h everything they get out of it. “My parents are so extreme-ly supportive of me in this sport,, and because it is my passion and d not just a hobby, they are willing g to pay these expensive feeds,”” Kiedaisch said. “I would not bee where I am if they hadn’t been so o supportive and paid for this alll these years.”

The gymnastics team has been steadily improving over their last couple of seasons, and some players are hoping that this will be the year for an FCIAC victory. “We’ll work as hard as we can to make it and try our best to win,” Lindsay Kiedaisch ‘14 said. The team’s home gym— where they practice almost every day—is actually in neighboring Weston, making it tough for Westporters to attend meets. “The drive is a hassle,” said head coach Kelsey Martin, who started coaching the team last year. “But it would be great to have more support from the students.” Even though the team has lost talented seniors such as Zoe Heller ‘11, Kiedaisch has no doubts that it will recover. “Each year someone strong is added and helps out the team by a large amount,” Kiedaisch said.

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM CT POST AROUND AND AROUND SHE GOES: Ana Violette ’14 competes on the bars Kiedaisch herself is poised to be a valuable asset to this year’s squad, as is Ana Violette ’14 and Emily Fishman ’12. Last year, as freshman, Kiedaisch and Violette carried the Wrecker squad and frequently led the team with the highest scores. But with the addition of new gymnasts and the return of familiar faces, training becomes even more crucial. Martin’s goals are to improve each girl individually and to add at least two tricks to each of their events. “To achieve these goals, repetition is the most important aspect,” Martin said. Martin was a gymnast in high school, then went on to major in sports administration, coaching, and kinesiology, which fittingly is the study of human movement. Kiedaisch expects Martin’s experience to pay off during practice. Because she was a former gymnast “it is much easier for her to be coaching a bunch of high school gymnasts trying to learn new skills,” Keidaisch said. This season, Martin hopes that their success will result in more enthusiasm from the student body. She is optimistic but acknowledges that it won’t be easy. “I understand that this sport gets little to no recognition from the student body, but it really is a spectacular sport to watch.”

22 Sports

Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

Cheering in Baritone RYDER CHASIN ‘14 Sports Editor

t’s four hours until game time. Matson has to get mentally prepared, physically prepared. He has to have enough energy to last him through the game and still carry his own weight on the squad. He needs to look good in front of the fans. He pulls his uniform from his closet and lays it out on his bed: shorts, a white undershirt, and a red shirt with BMHS, for Brien McMahon High School, emblazoned on his chest above a small white star. Although he will be hitting the gridiron today, he won’t be wearing a helmet. He’ll be riling up the crowd. Yes, Ivan Matson, a senior boy at McMahon High School, is a cheerleader. “I don’t do the jumps or the cheering. I save that for the girls,” Matson said. “I’m more into throwing them up in the air and doing those kinds of cool stunts.” However, at Staples, the male cheerleading scene is a different one. According to Athletic Director Marty Lisevick, in his 12 years at Staples, just one boy has participated in the cheerleading program, who actually went on to cheer at Villanova University. That one boy was Zachary Cohen ’01 who, in addition to Staples and Villanova cheered on high school teams in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and is currently coaching in California. According to Cohen, in UCA College Nationals, there is a limit to how many male cheerleaders can be on a team: for teams comprised of 16 cheerleaders, no more than nine can be male. “The general thought here is that having more male cheerleaders is an unfair advantage,” Cohen said. “The really competitive collegiate teams often have more guys than girls out on the competition f loor.” In fact, according to Wikipedia, although an overwhelming 97% of high school cheerleaders are female, when cheering reaches the collegiate level that number depletes to just 50%, leaving the other half of college cheerleaders as guys. In addition, according to Cohen and the sources on Wikipedia, cheerleading was initially an all-male sport up until the time of the World Wars. From 1898 to 1923, males dominated the cheerleading world. Still, that doesn’t change today’s society and the fact that today Staples is lacking male cheerleading—perhaps in part because of the common stereotype of homosexuality that turns some away. One Staples student said when he thinks of male cheerleaders he thinks they’re “weird.” “Usually it’s hyped up as a women’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF STAPLELITE PUMPING UP THE CROWD: Zachary Cohen ‘01, Staples’ last male cheerleader, encourages the stands.

PHOTO BY ALEX GREENE ‘13 WATCHING WITH ENVY: A Staples boy looks on at a opractice of a cheerleading team that has not had a male member since 2001. sport,” the anonymous student said. As a result, cheerleading seems to another Staples student as “gay or just really feminine.” “A lot of cheerleading is just supporting the football and basketball teams. It’s girls supporting guys,” the second anonymous student said. “It just seems out of place if a guy is cheerleading.” Matson says he can cite one specific time where he and fellow male cheerleader J.P. Consiglio heard “homo” chants from their own Norwalk crowd. Even though Cohen never heard anything from his home crowd, he recalls the out-of-town teams shouting at

“Guys on the team bring you to another level. Some things that the girls struggle with, we can do easily.” —Ivan Matson

him. “Most of the teasing I got was not in school, but rather others outside of school not understanding what I did,” Cohen said. “The real issues were when we traveled. There were some schools that we visited that weren’t as accepting.” As for Staples, according to Cohen, it was quite the opposite. “Staples actually wasn’t that bad,” Cohen said. “There might have been some people who didn’t completely understand what I was doing, but for the most part people were pretty supportive and tolerant.” Nonetheless, according to Consiglio, the reputation used to be one of his concerns—he was actually worried when he began a year ago. “I soon came to realize that if anyone thinks cheerleading is gay they are sadly mistaken,” Consiglio said. Staples cheerleader Maddy Mann ’13, who also cheers on two co-ed travel teams, agrees. “When I think of male cheerleaders I don’t think of their sexuality,” Mann said. “I think more about them being the leaders of the team and some of the strongest players.” Still, the stereotype persists and affects participation in the sport, Staples and McMahon cheerleaders said. According to Mann, even though there are some guys on her travel teams, she can only recall seeing four male cheerleaders in the FCIAC all last year—a number she attributes to the current socially acceptable values. Matson said he counted seven, including the five guys on his

team. “The only thing I have to say about what’s socially acceptable in sporting culture is equality,” Consiglio said. “If a guy wants to cheerlead, let him. If a girl wants to be a linebacker, by all means.” In any case, Matson isn’t concerned about stereotyping or reputation. Whatever happens, he has his teammates. “I know the guys have my back,” Matson said. “I have their back, they have mine. That’s just how it goes. We’re part of a team.” And according to Matson that’s just what it is—a team. “I don’t play a fall sport, and honestly there are lots of attractive girls on the team,” Matson said. “It was pretty easy to make the decision to join the team, and I’d say it’s been a pretty good decision, too.” Since joining the team at the end of last year, Matson says he has not only befriended girls who he wouldn’t necessarily have even known had he not joined the team, he has also become much closer with the other four boys on the team, Ian Daves, Carlos Rivas, Jake Balboa, and Consiglio. “All of my current friends love the fact I’m a cheerleader, they always tell me how good I have it, surrounded by girls all the time,” Consiglio said. “I haven’t lost any friends, but made a lot of new ones during this process.” Unlike other team activities, in cheerleading it is necessary to build up that high foundation of trust. “It’s not exactly like any other sport in that way,” Matson said. “You have to trust someone enough to throw you up in the air and catch you. That says something.” In addition to the danger of the stunts, the amount of time spent together is a factor in bringing everyone closer, according to Matson and Consiglio. They say a typical week of cheering

consists of around four practices a week at three hours a practice, plus a game on the weekends. However, there are differences between the guys and girls on the team. According to Mann, the sport comes easier to the male cheerleaders than it does for the girls. “That’s not to say they don’t work as hard or it’s an easy sport, but they catch on faster,” Mann said. “A male cheerleader brings a lot of strength to the team.” Cohen agrees, saying in general the males tend to be stronger, making them better stunters and tumblers. “Cheerleading has three main components for male cheerleaders,” Cohen said. “Throwing other people around, known as stunting, throwing myself around, tumbling, and yelling the cheers very loudly. All of them require training and the first two require a great deal of strength and physical skill.” Mann also says aside from metaphorical strength, male cheerleaders bring a lot of physical strength as well, being able to lift girls up ten feet in the air. She adds that male cheerleaders are typically skilled tumblers because of the amount of power they possess. Consiglio and Matson both are back spots, a position on the squad that requires them to catch and throw the f lyers. Their strength coupled with the light weight of the other cheerleaders makes for easy work, according to the McMahon cheerleaders. But throughout their differences, their focus is still the same. Whether it’s stretching pre-practice, or “trying not to look stupid in front of a crowd,” Matson, Consiglio, and the rest of the Brien McMahon cheerleaders are just looking to finish out the season strong. “At the end of the day,” Matson said, “we’re all cheerleaders and we have to stick together.”

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM IVAN MATSON ONE OF THE GUYS: Ivan Matson (far right) hangs around with some of the other male members of the Brien McMahon cheerleading squad.

Sports

Inklings / November 18, 2011 / inklingsnews.com

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM PERMISSION FROM PERMISSION FROM PERMISSION FROM CT POST CT POST CT POST CT POST DISCOVERING THEIR HIDDEN TALENTS: Joosje Grevers ‘‘12, Jessie Ambrose ‘12, Turner Block ‘13, Jeremy Sherman ‘13, Pieter Hoets ‘13

PHOTO BY ERIC ESSAGOF ‘12

Late Bloomers Athletes Who Took Up Sports Freshman Year SARA LUTTINGER ‘13 Staff Writer

nstoppable. That one word seems to sum up Jessie Ambrose ’12, varsity girls lacrosse player, Joosje Grevers ’12 of varsity girls volleyball, Turner Block ’13, varsity track and field runner , Pieter Hoets ’13, varsity football defensive end, and Jeremy Sherman ’13, varsity wrestling star. It may come as a shock to many that the talent of these athletes was only realized two or three years ago. It is often the case that star athletes leap out of the crib practicing whatever sport they are destined to be great at. But there are always exceptions. Natural Athletes describes these students. Before they discovered their hidden talents, almost all of them were involved in other sports. While lacrosse was in its off-season, Ambrose played both basketball, which she eventually quit her junior year, and soccer. She is a key asset to the team, consistently preventing the opponent from scoring on her in goal. Ambrose is well deserving of her position as captain of the girls varsity soccer team. Ambrose is not the only one who has

Some athletes natural abilities are illuminated through Staples’ sports

shown natural athleticism. Grevers has actively participated in numerous sports before she found her home on the volleyball court. Swimming, soccer, and water polo definitely kept her occupied. Quickly gliding through the water, Grevers made herself known around the pool. In younger years, Grevers placed 10th out of almost 60 swimmers at the Connecticut West Regionals. Talk about some speedy kicking. There appears to be a pattern of these athletic powerhouses having played other sports in the past and present. So, it makes sense that Block doesn’t only sprint around the track. Soccer is her second sport. Just because soccer is mentioned second, does not mean Block treats it second best. This is clear through her dedicated playing three consecutive

years on the varsity team. Block has been a key asset on the offensive line, controlling the scoreboard with her abundant goals. Following the pattern of the others, Hoets also has played lacrosse, ice hockey, and even swimming for a year. He was an important part to all of those teams and his absence is greatly missed. But, the football team needs him out there. After having been involved in so many other sports it was a challenge deciding whether their busy schedules could handle another sport. It was no challenge for Ambrose, though. “I was so used to playing a sport that I got bored not having things to do after school,” Ambrose said. And the pull from friends to join lacrosse also gave her the extra push she needed. Grevers was originally attracted to the appearance of volleyball as a whole. “I thought that it looked like such a fun sport and also I was really tall for my age, so I thought it would be cool to use my height for my own benefit,” Grevers stated. This height advantage became a key aspect to her natural ability on the court. Influence from family members was a major reason for Block to first discover her talent on the track. Block said, “Watching how much my brother loved doing track in high school and the stories he would tell about it made me want to do track.” Her father also encouraged it because he knew Block had a real talent for running. For Hoets, it all began with a couple of friends suggesting the idea of joining the football team. Also, the idea of discovering his hidden talents intrigued him. Hoets eventually took their advice and went for it. Training regularly is important in playing any sport. These athletes had to train especially hard in order to get up to speed. For Ambrose this meant hours on end just throwing the ball against a wall and catching it, over and over again. It may sound repetitive but it led the way to great success. Stick skills were improved from this simple drill. Ambrose even said, “The more and more I play, the more confident I become in my stick skills and playing the rest of the game as a whole.” Grevers knew success lay in the fundamentals. These basic skills had to be mastered before the more challenging ones would even be available to her. Practicing a lot of repetition of good skills was important to give them muscle memory. Once, muscle memory was accomplished Grevers’s skills escalated. “Soccer requires long hours spent running back and forth back and forth,” Block notes. So, she was excellently prepared when the track and field season

first came around. For her she didn’t need to do any specialized training. The week or two before the actual competitions started was enough for her. The football off-season is no joke; even Hoets admits that. “It took a lot of training to get to where I am now, pretty much long hours every day in the weight room and running on the field,” said Hoets. His regular training required long hours every day of the week. But, he was willing to do it because victory was so close he could touch it (when the weights were finally put down). Ambrose, Grevers, Block, and Hoets all knew success lay in mastering the basic elements of the sports. However, the

most important part to becoming the star athletes they are today was hard work. Each of these students had to put in long hours day after day. Ambrose said, “Even though my stick skills weren’t as good as some of the other girls, I hoped that my hard work would make up for that.” Ambrose sums it up for all of these athletes, noting that although originally behind, hard work pulled them up to speed. By placing at FCIAC’s and State Invitational’s, being recruited to top colleges, and repeatedly appearing in newspapers, Ambrose, Grevers, Block and Hoets have accomplished these things after having only started as freshman or sophomores.

ports TThe he W Wreckers reckers

Meet The Brotherhood

THE FOUNDERS: Brotherhood creators Mikell Washington ’12, Austin Lazar ’12, and Mergim Trdevaj ‘12 know how to intimidate the opposition.

SIMON STRACHER ’14 Staff Writer

tatistics don’t tell the whole story, but the Staples Football defense’s 40 sacks, on pace to shatter the team’s record of 52 set in 2009, tells a lot of it. The defensive line for Staples football, nicknamed the “Brotherhood,” is a force behind the team’s undefeated record. Five of the line’s members are in the top 10 in the FCIAC for sacks, even though only four people can play on the line at one time. Two are in the top 10 for the state. Football is a sport that showcases stars, but success in the game ultimately comes down to teamwork. The 40 sacks—and the undefeated record— are directly due to the defensive line’s overall cohesiveness, or “unity,”

as Mikell Washington ’12 puts it. The Brotherhood: Alec Kaplan ’12 a.k.a Kapmayne, Jared Levi ’13, known simply as H., Austin Lazar ’12, who goes by Lazer, Pieter Hoets ’13 nicknamed Hall and Oates, Mergim Trdevaj ’12, with the ridiculous title of Mergims Burgums Durgums and Mikell Washington ’12, who is known as Da Washy Wash. The origins of the group date back to last year when Coach Vadas, the linebacker’s coach, dubbed the interior line “The Brotherhood”. This nickname caught on and eventually spread. The overarching idea of the group is how they play as one. “As D-linemen we always have each other’s backs, whether it’s making sure everyone knows what they’re doing or just high-

fiving each other” said Hoets. Washington added, “We live by the statement ‘when the men with their hands on the ground get their hands on people, we play great defense,’ ” This moniker has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the defense; the defensive backs now call thems e l v e s “ T h e Lords.” “The L o r d s stabilize our secondary and add swagger to the defense, while the Brotherhood takes care of it upfront,” said Lazar. A perfect example of the

defensive line working as a unit was vs. Darien on Homecoming. The defense and the defensive line struggled in the first half, giving up seventeen points. However, the defense and the line remained strong and rebounded in the second half, giving up only six points largely due to the efforts of the Broth-Pieter Hoets ’13 e r h o o d , w h i c h had a combined five sacks for 20 yards lost. “It was the biggest game of the season for us at the time and we knew they were strong

“We just like annihilating the quarterback whenever we get the chance.”

on the passing game, so we knew we really had to pressure the QB which I thought we did a pretty good job of especially in the second half,” said Hoets. The Brotherhood’s hard work throughout the season was reflected in their second half performance. “We’ve been working all year on effective pass rushes, and the guys on the D-line have all found a technique that really works for them” said Levi. The Brotherhood hopes to continue to win football games and lead Staples onto their quest for a FCIAC championship, and potentially a state championship. In the meantime, the Brotherhood will continue to do the only thing they can control: “annihilating the QB whenever we get the chance” said Hoets.

UNSTOPPABLE: Mergim Trdevaj ’12 rebuffs a Fairfield Warde blocker.

ALL OUT: Jared Levi ’13 wraps up a Fairfield Warde rusher.

THE SACK EXCHANGE: The Staples defensive line, which leads the FCIAC in sacks, lines up at the line of scrimmage.

PHOTOS BY ERIC ESSAGOF ’12