The Chronicle, 7.2

News: Ski club cancelled due to liability and financial issues

Chronicle Sports: GMC-orchestrated rivalry against Sycamore becomes tradition

The William Mason High School

Volume 7

NEWS BRIEF

Second annual Black Hole Bash after game Following tonight’s varsity football game against Sycamore, Sports and Entertainment Management teacher Jason Austerman’s class will host the second annual Black Hole Bash from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. in Mason Middle School’s arena.

Tickets for this year’s “Thriller”-themed dance will be easier to keep track of than normal tickets, according to junior Bobby Beebe, a member of the Black Hole Bash design team. “[The tickets this year are] glow-in-thedark Livestrong-like bracelets, except they say, ‘Black Hole Bash,’” Beebe said. “[They cost] five dollars pre-sale or at the door.”

Beebe also said that this year’s bash will be more impressive than last year’s. “[It will feature] better music [and] more activities,” Beebe said. “[It will be] more interactive, [with a Halloween] costume competition.”

TODAY

Final home football game tonight The varsity boys football team will play its rival, Sycamore, in the last home game tonight at 7:30 p.m. Presale tickets will be sold to students for four dollars and to adults for seven dollars at the Comet Zone during all lunches. Student tickets will be sold at the gate for seven dollars. The Black Hole Bash, held in the Mason Middle School gym, will follow the game. Tickets are five dollars.

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown premieres tonight The Mason High School Theater Department presents You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown tonight at eight p.m. Tickets will be sold for eight dollars to students and 10 dollars to adults starting one hour before the performance. This performance marks the opening of the new black box theatre, located at D212. Other performance times are October 31 at 3:00 p.m., November 6 at 8:00 p.m. and November 7 at 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.

The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Road Mason, Ohio 45040

October 30, 2009

Issue 2

They served our country, they died for our country, they sacrified for our country, they left loved ones behind to go into battle...So, how can we ever repay them?

...Just say “Thank You” Senior prepares to continue family’s tradition of service Jessica Kantor | Staff Writer It is senior Brennen Meyer’s turn.

After watching generations of his family serve in the military, Meyer is next. He plans to enlist and become Infantry Airborne. This group of soldiers is moved by aircraft and abruptly dropped into battle behind enemy lines, leaving the opposing side unprepared for the sudden attack.

“Each generation of my family has been in the Military,” Meyer said. “It has been my two older brothers most recently, and I want to carry that on.

It’s the feeling you get from helping people, not only where you are fighting, but knowing that that you are doing something good: it is a rewarding feeling.”

Meyer said that he sees several benefits to enlisting in the Military after watching several family members serve.

“My brother is in Iraq now and getting out soon,” Meyer said.

“Knowing that he is keeping everybody safe is a good feeling; how much [all] veterans have contributed is phenomenal. I would love to become as good as them, hopefully. I know how much they have sacrificed for everybody else -- it’s hard to put into words.

It’s great what they did, and it takes a lot of courage.”

Senior Evan Metelko said he plans to take a slightly different route by completing a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, then enlisting as a lieutenant.

“I will go to college for four years,” Metelko said. “While in college, I will take my classes.

During my senior summer, I will be out doing field operations and getting trained and ready.

When I graduate from college and am in the real Military and getting deployed, it will definitely be a unique experience.”

Both Meyer and Metelko said that they recognize the courage it takes to enlist, and therefore have the utmost respect for those who have done so in the past.

“Veterans deserve a ton of respect,” Meyer said. “It’s a lot of responsibility. They are keeping us safe and have been through tough times to do so. It is not a matter to be joking about.”

Metelko also said that he takes veterans’ con-

tributions to our country very seriously.

“Too many people take [veterans’] service for granted,” Metelko said. A lot of people take the defense of this country for granted. Veterans just need to be respected more; they don’t get the respect they deserve. Soldiers die [for our country’s safety].”

Metelko said that Americans should not take veterans’ service lightly.

“We all live in our nice little bubbles and don’t think how or why we are here,” Metelko said. “A big part of that is our Military. Their sacrifice is very big.”

Both students said they

From top to bottom: War memorial located in front of Mason Municipal Center (photo by Beena Raghavendran); several Mason members of the armed forces in the 1950s (photos contributed by the Mason Historical Society).

take an inward look on Veterans Day and are sure to do something to thank the veterans.

“There are lots of walks that you can go to on Veterans Day,” Meyer said. “Matt Maupin’s family [hosts] one. I usually participate in various events scheduled on Veterans Day.” Metelko said he celebrates the day in a personal way.

“My dad is in the military, so I call him [on Veterans Day] and give him a quick ‘Thank you,’” Metelko said. “It is important to acknowledge the fact that what veterans do is essential, and they should not be taken for granted.”

Metelko and Meyer said that simple things mean most on Veterans Day. “Everybody should contribute something on

Veterans Day, not just presents and money,” Meyer said. “I know from my brothers, uncles and other family members that the biggest reward you can get is a letter or phone call. You don’t usually get to hear from your family or others back home when you are in the Military.

[Veterans and soldiers] love to get letters from children or people in general. They love knowing people care about and respect what they are doing.”

Metelko said that even a quick moment is a good way to honor veterans.

“A quick prayer would be [a good way] to honor veterans,” Metelko said. “It’s something that should be thought about every day. To me, Veterans Day should be every day.”

PAGE 2 | NEWS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

Commitment Appreciation for veteran service necessary to armed forces is a family affair Beena Raghavendran | Staff Writer

Janica Kaneshiro | Staff Writer The true Brats of Mason High School are the ones with fathers or mothers in the Armed forces according to Lindsay Buck, an Army Brat. Though Veterans Day is typically for celebrating veterans for their service, it’s also to pay tribute to the families who keep things running smoothly while they’re away, Buck said.

Buck said she enjoys being a Brat, and that she also admires what her dad does for a living.

“My dad is my hero for all his sacrifices, putting a whole country of people above what he would rather do,” Buck said.

Buck said she shows her respects by contributing to the war effort by sending birthday boxes to soldiers in places like Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

“There’s a family readiness group: it’s a group that goes overseas and brings boxes to [the soldiers],” Buck said. “I worked on the boxes every day with my mom.

I was the birthday box coordinator, so I have like 500 service hours from it.”

Though she said she shows her appreciation for veterans, people don’t give Veterans Day the observance it deserves, according to Buck.

“I think people should take it a little more seriously, especially for people in World Wars I and II and Vietnam -- those wars that not everyone approved of -- for all those people who didn’t get the welcome home they deserved,” Buck said.

Rick Huff, an MHS attendance officer, said he disagrees. He said that the surrounding community of Mason does a god job of showing appreciation for veterans like his two sons who are currently serving in Afghanistan.

“People, when they find out [that my sons are in the Military, like] the teachers around here who know Dave and John, always ask how they’re doing,” Huff said. “Churches put the boys on their prayer lists and stuff like that.”

Sophomore Maggie West said she also knows what it’s like to live in a Military family, as she has many relatives currently serving and many now retired.

“Both my grandpas were in the military, and then Shane, my brother, and two of my cousins,” West said. “My family isn’t strictly Military. [In] some families, you grow up and you go into the Military. But we’re not like that at all: it’s totally your choice.”

West also said that since her brother enlisted, Veterans Day has taken on an entirely different meaning to the family.

“Before [Shane] enlisted, we would call my grandparents and say, ‘Happy Veterans Day!’” West said. “But now we have our own events. We have our own cookouts now.”

West said that in her experience, she feels that people don’t give soldiers the respect that they deserve.

“It’s really hard; people criticize them and say that [not] all soldiers are heroes,” West said. “That’s one of the biggest arguments I hear, but I think that’s the worst argument ever, because I don’t see those people going out and risking their lives.”

West said she feels that families of veterans also deserve some praise on Veterans Day, because they are just as much a part of the effort as the soldiers.

“The families might not go through training and the hard work, but they are affected just as much as the person in the Military is,” West said.

Freedom and veterans’ sacrifices are forgotten as November 11, Veterans Day, approaches, according to Korean War Army veteran and Adjutant of the American Legion Tom Britton.

“People don’t realize how much veterans have done for them,” Britton said. “All the freedoms you have today were won for you by veterans.”

Going beyond ungraciousness, Britton said he’s diagnosed the cause of unawareness as simply ignorance.

“Younger people don’t know the history of the war and what veterans have been through,” Britton said. “[Some students] didn’t even know there was a Vietnam War.” Junior Alyssa Tafuri, whose father served in the Army for 21 years, said he has been honored in the community by free meals at restaurants and reduced-price movie tickets.

Tafuri, however, said she feels the overall appreciation of veterans should increase.

“People fighting for our country every day, whether out at war or here at home, have played a part in our freedom,” Tafuri said.

Britton said that it’s the teachers’

jobs to make students aware of veterans, but understands the time constraints of the school curriculum.

“A lot [about veterans sacrifices] is just not known, and very little gets taught in school,” Britton said. “Without [that] knowledge, it’s hard to understand what’s going on.”

Social Studies department head Joe Hammond said he’s pinpointed a different source of the unawareness: the nature of students.

“Many [teachers] cover current issues very well,” Hammond said. “[But,] I think students are still too young to

photos contributed

Clockwise from top right: Richard Grisham and Dale Burnside stand in front of the bus station on West Main Street in 1950; Sophomore Maggie West and her brother, who recently enlisted in the Military; Vick Carmen, who served in the Navy during World War II.

understand relationships and how they relate to the world they live in.”

Junior Zach Fletcher, whose cousin is serving in Iraq, said he thinks that veterans are not adequately honored. “[The holiday] is slightly underrepresented,” Fletcher said. “I don’t think we really [honor veterans in any way].”

Mason High School’s attendance officer Rick Huff, whose two sons David and Jonathan are paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division in southern Afghanistan, said he has a different take on the community’s awareness. Huff said he doesn’t view the community as ungrateful, but appreciative, evident in many random acts of kindnesses like baked cookies, thank-you cards and free calls home.

“There are just a lot of things that people do behind the scenes that nobody ever sees that’s really important stuff,” Huff said.

Britton said veterans would really appreciate a simple “Thanks,” showing gratitude for their services and sacrifices.

“A big [form of gratitude] is acknowledging that they’re veterans, and lots would be tickled to death if someone said, ‘Thank you,’” Britton said.

Deerfield Honors Veterans, Inc. shows its gratitude by opening its new Deerfield Honors Veterans Park on November 8, a part of Cottell Park located at the corner of Snider and Irwin-Simpson Roads in Deerfield Township.

The park “will be a unique and lasting salute to past, present and future generations who take up the call to arms in order that the rest of us may remain free,” according to DeerfieldHonorsVeterans. org.

But more than the messages of gratitude or awareness, Huff said the lesson he’s learned about freedom trumps anything else.

“When you say goodbye, the last time you talk to them on the phone, you think, ‘Well, I hope this isn’t the last time,’” Huff said.

“It brings home to me how pricey freedom is.

Freedom isn’t free -- it’s a cost.”

Veterans ask for appropriate respect Julia Halpin | Staff Writer Those who have served our country have their own views on how Veterans Day should be spent, celebrated and cherished, according to veteran Richard Hetzel.

Vick Carmen, a regular volunteer at Mason High School and a World War II Navy veteran, said he encourages the celebration of Veterans Day in schools to efficiently teach kids about history.

“If all teachers didn’t feel that they could take time in class, I still think the social studies teachers should do something in their classes to recognize veterans, because it does relate to history,” Carmen said, “I think [their courses] should have some reference to Veterans, especially on Veterans Day.” Carmen is a part of Mason Christian Village’s Veteran Association, an association of local veterans that work to aid our

country’s current servicemen.

“I have a knack for keeping my eyes on the television, the newspaper and the radio,” Carmen said, “If I hear a unit is going over to Iraq or Afghanistan, I contact [the unit in combat] and I bring it up in our meeting and I say, ‘By the way, I think we should help these guys.’”

Carmen and the MCVVA work to do the more complex volunteer work to honor those in service, but for ordinary civilians on Veterans Day, Carmen said he suggests a simpler act of kindness.

“I always put my flag out,” Carmen said. “Everybody should put their flag out that day.”

Along with participating in the holiday, there’s always the true act of honor to support veterans, according to Carmen: joining the service. Today, Carmen said he still encourages other young men and women to join the force, but only if they are doing it for the correct reasons.

“If they have a well thought-out, true desire, they should [join],” Carmen said “But, if it’s just to get money for college, it might not be what they should do.”

Richard Hetzel, a Mason Middle School Intervention Specialist and a Gulf War veteran, also said he thinks positively of the current generation joining the Military, and he shares his story with those who are considering the act of duty.

“I can tell them my personal experience [to help them make the choice], but it’s also a personal decision that you have to make yourself,” Hetzel said. “[Being in the Military is] a totally different life.”

Hetzel said he is usually occupied with work on Veterans Day, but still considers his experiences in the service on a regular basis.

“When I’m having a bad day, I tend to think of my worst day in the Military,” Hetzel said. “My bad days now don’t even come close

to my bad days in the Military.”

Though there is not always enough time on the holiday to truly celebrate it, according to Hetzel, there is always room to acknowledge those who served just by looking at the small things you see every day.

“You hear all the time or you see on bumper stickers, ‘Freedom’s not free,’ and it’s just a casual statement, but it’s actually true: freedom isn’t free,” Hetzel said. “People died so you could do whatever you wanted to every day.”

Even if you aren’t planning on a future in the Military, Carmen said he thinks everyone should appreciate America’s servicemen and servicewomen on Veterans Day. “Respect,” Carmen said. “Show respect for those who served our country.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

NEWS | PAGE 3

Popular club shut down due to student injuries and increased debt Danni Simms | Staff Writer Ski Club is gone, according to Students Activities Director Lorri Fox-Allen, forcing the 200 to 300 students who usually participate in the club to look elsewhere for a winter activity. The decision to end the club was a district administrative decision, according to Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart.

According to Fox-Allen, liability issues contributed to the club’s elimination, as well as the restrictions placed on other Mason High School-sponsored outings.

“I think the decision [to cancel] was two-fold,” Fox-Allen said.

“One [reason is] the club has run in the red for the last two years, [meaning] it has not brought in as much money as was spent on transportation. The second reason [to end Ski Club] was liability.”

The large difference between the amount of money spent and raised is due to the high cost of transportation, according to Fox-Allen. She said the amount of responsibility the school had in the case of injury and also the lack of safety for the students during outings is ultimately why the club ended and why other clubs are seeing new restrictions.

“The district, I think, decided that it was tired of helping to put our students at risk,” Fox-Allen said. “Lets face it -- skiing in southern Indiana is like skiing on ice. It’s not like skiing on the powdery slopes of Colorado.”

Though Fox-Allen said that students’ medical bills are not paid by the school, when students are injured during clubsponsored activities, the school district is responsible for home

instruction in place of the students’ missed school days.

Prior to last year, there were about one to three students getting hurt during each Ski Club outing, according to Fox-Allen.

The numbers significantly dropped off last year, however, at the high school level.

“Last year, the Ski Club went without any injuries,” Fox-Allen said. “[Stephanie] Brittingham did a fabulous job [with addressing] all of the safety issues.”

Though the high school’s Ski Club did not have any injuries last year, Fox-Allen said the middle school had injuries and another Mason High School club had a severe injury. “[Mason] did have another group go skiing last year, and we had a student get severely hurt with life-changing injuries,” Fox-Allen said. “That person [will] go on to live a fairly normal, productive life. But, I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the [saying goes].”

Fox-Allen said with Ski Club’s departure, any other outing seen as extreme is no longer allowed to occur.

“Any trips like whitewater rafting [and] outdoor rock-climbing [are not allowed],” Fox-Allen said. “We can go to Rock Quest and those types of [outings], because [they’re] in a secure environment.

For the eight years that Fox-Allen has been working for the high school, Ski Club’s future has been called into question, she said: the reason the club lasted as long as it did was because of defense of it. “[Even though] Ski Club, on the high school level, didn’t have any injuries, we had the other club have the injury, and [there

were several] injuries at the middle school,” Fox-Allen said. “I couldn’t fight it any more.”

Fox-Allen said that last year, for 75 to 100 students, Ski Club was their only extra-curricular involvement in school. According to Fox-Allen, getting those students involved in school activities in another manner will be difficult.

“Now, I’ve got to find something for [students] who really like extreme sports or adventure,” Fox-Allen said. “How do we replace that for them when we can’t?”

Freshman Maddy Shelby said she will be looking for something to replace Ski Club. She has been participating in Ski Club since seventh grade, and said the end of the club makes it harder for her to do something that she thoroughly enjoys.

“I’ve been skiing since I was six,” Shelby said. “[Ski Club was] an easy way to go out to Perfect North [since] it is an hour drive, and on weekends I [don’t] always have time. So, I thought it would be fun to do it during the week.”

Shelby said that she enjoyed Ski Club because of the time it gave her to relax.

“It was something fun to do after school,” Shelby said. “It was a break after all of my studies, [and] I could do it with all of my friends.”

Though the loss of Ski Club has created questions for Fox-Allen, she recognizes the rationale for the club’s end.

“It’s kind of frustrating,” Fox-Allen said. “I think it’s a shame, but I certainly understand and respect the reason. It’s about the safety of our kids.

Student runs in California race to benefit Crohn’s and Colitis Rachel Schowalter | Staff Writer Junior Devon Buesking will be running in the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon this December in support of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Buesking was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in August of 2007, the beginning of her freshman year at Mason High School.

According to Buesking, Crohn’s and Colitis are known together as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), an illness which attacks the digestive system. After being diagnosed, Buesking said she spent nine months at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center ill and undergoing treatment. “[The doctors] said that it might take some time to find out what [medication] would work for me, and that’s exactly what happened,” Buesking said. “I spent all my time on any medicine they could think of to treat [IBD] and nothing was working. I just kept declining [in health] and they couldn’t do anything to make me feel better.”

Faced with no other option, Buesking said she and her parents made the decision to undergo a colectomy, a surgery involving the removal of all or part of the large intestines.

The surgery took place in April of 2008; within a month after the operation, Buesking said she began to recover from the disease.

In April of 2009, Buesking participated in the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon in Napa, California to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. Buesking ran as a member of Team Challenge, a group

dedicated to training people with IBD to run in marathons for Crohn’s and Colitis research. According to Buesking, she decided to participate in the race to help prevent others with the disease from suffering as she did.

“The biggest inspiration for me was that I didn’t want other people to have to go through what I went through,” Buesking said. “I wanted to raise money for further research on IBD and also be with a group that understands: Crohn’s and Colitis aren’t really diseases that people talk about.”

Buesking said the Napa-to-Sonoma race was a major success, raising nearly $2.4 million for Crohn’s and Colitis research.

“The race went really well,” Buesking said. “It was a half marathon, 13.1 miles, and my goal was just to finish. I finished at a decent time and I was so happy with how I did. The whole experience was definitely worth it.”

Buesking said she was not planning on running with Team Challenge this year, but the passing of senior Alex Jones in August of 2009 compelled her to run again. Jones was a longtime sufferer of Crohn’s disease.

“I didn’t personally know Alex, but my sister was really good friends with his older brother, Adam,” Buesking said. “He was there to talk to my sister when I was sick, to say, ‘This is what Alex goes through [with Crohn’s]. This is what you might expect [with your sister].

Don’t worry.’ I really wanted to do something because I know how hard it must have been for Alex.”

In honor of Alex Jones, Devon will participate in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas,

photo contributed

Junior Devon Buesking participated in a Napa-to-Sonoma California race in April that served as a fundraiser for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

Nevada on December 5. According to Buesking, all the funds raised for the event will go towards finding the cause and cure of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. Buesking has been raising money for the event by selling candy bars at school, while her other funds were donated by the Jones family. In September, the Jones’ held a fundraising event at Buffalo Wild Wings for Crohn’s research.

“A lot of thanks go to the Jones family,” Buesking said. “A big half of my fundraising comes from that BW3’s fundraiser. It was great: so many people came out and they raised so much money.”

According to Buesking, other ways to contribute include writing checks made payable to

the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America and online donations through the foundation’s website.

Buesking said she hopes the money she raises with the marathon will honor Alex Jones by helping spread awareness about IBD and eventually finding a cure for the disease.

“This specific race is definitely for Alex and the Jones family,” Buesking said. “I hope that no one else has to go through the toll it took on him, his family and everyone else who has Crohn’s or Colitis. I wanted to do something where it’s not just me running; the school’s doing the fundraising, so it’s more like Mason High School is doing this for Alex instead of me.”

Art teachers translate their passions to lifestyles Alyssa Howard | Editor in Chief Art teachers at Mason High School channel their creativity into various avenues after the last bell rings. Sculpture teacher Liesa Eichner has her own studio and sells her jewelry in art exhibitions.

Before coming to MHS, Eichner worked as an artist in Chicago, garnering representation of her work in art fairs and galleries. Eichner said that starting a family necessitated her shift into teaching art.

“In a way, I feel like when you’re in that fine arts setting, it’s almost kind of programmed into you that being an art teacher is kind of selling out, in a way,” Eichner said. “So, it was a difficult transition because I was also teaching art at photo by Griffin Frank

Art teacher Liesa Eichner works on her art outside of the school setting.

the college level. I kind of felt like I was taking a step backward. But at the same time, I felt like it was important for me to be practical, because I knew I wanted a child and [my husband and I] wanted to stay in Ohio.”

Eichner said that becoming an instructor of art has facilitated a shift in her perspectives, as well.

“I had to change my mindset; I had to change the way I thought about teaching a little bit,” Eichner said. “Then, I actually gave up my work for about ten years. That was hard, too.”

The most prominent positive aspect of teaching involves the ability to relate her accumulation of knowledge to students, Eichner said.

“By [teaching art], I can benefit my students mostly,” Eichner said. “I can show my students that you don’t have to be a starving artist if you choose art as a path for a career, because I made money selling my art work. I can take my experience as a living, working artist and I can teach my students how to do the same thing.”

Fiber Arts teacher Beth Eline said she takes a dif-

ferent approach to instructing students. Formerly a graphic design artist, she currently maintains a studio in her home to work in the fiber arts. Although Eline said that though enjoying the lucrative aspects of art would be nice, she views her work solely as outlets for expression. “[My art] is more of just a passion of mine that I need to keep doing,” Eline said. “I need to keep creating as an artist. I think it’s just about always having a channel for finding your voice and visualizing your ideas, your feelings, your emotions. To me, that’s what art-making is about; everyone has their own notion about what art is about.”

As a result, Eline said that her focus in educating her students involves the communicative aspects of artistic creation.

“For me, art is about trying to find a smooth channel or medium to work through,” Eline said. “It’s basically my style, my way of working through creative problems, that I pass on to my students.”

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

NEWS | PAGE 5

Multilingual students flourish in increasingly global school system Carlie Sack | Staff Writer Mason High School’s idea of an ordinary greeting in the halls may not necessarily be heard in English, due to many students’ ability to speak multiple languages.

These multilingual students may often run into prejudices, according to junior Karen Martinez, a native Spanish speaker. Martinez said that her ability to speak and understand English is often underestimated.

“People [that] hear my accent, [might] talk to me slowly,” Martinez said.

Martinez said that although some of these concerns may be thoughtful, they are unneeded.

“Teachers always ask me, the first time that I meet them, if I need any help or if I am [involved in] ESL (English as a Second Language),” Martinez said. “My counselor asked me if I was comfortable in Honors English because Spanish was my original language.”

According to senior Jackson Guo, a native Mandarin speaker, English speakers simply might not understand a bilingual speaker’s native culture.

“Just because you don’t speak English, [people may] push you away,” Guo said.

Misunderstandings between cultures may cause some of this prejudice, according to

Martinez.

“When I speak Spanish, [people] automatically think that I am from Mexico,” Martinez said.

ESL aide Shahrazad Kablan said she has encountered relatively few incidents involving prejudice in the seven years that she has taught in Mason.

“Every once in a while, you will have an ignorant person or maybe [someone who] didn’t mean to be mean,” Kablan said. “[But,] most of the kids are willing to help and are very hospitable.”

Guo agrees that Mason is a particularly welcoming community.

“People here are more educated,” Guo said.

“They don’t point fingers.”

Along with prejudices, multilingualism also brings academic benefits, according to Kablan.

She said that knowing several languages is an increasingly important skill in order to be competitive in our globalized world.

“Especially now, with learning to compete with 21st century skills, multilingualism is a must,” Kablan said. “The world is becoming smaller. We travel a lot and see a lot of different countries.”

Martinez said that speaking Spanish has helped her academic performance, especially when learning French.

Movies filmed in Ohio Most Hollywood films are made on sets in Los Angeles, but many well-known films were filmed in Ohio.

•Air Force One (1997): Harrison Ford is the President of the United States and is taken hostage on his plane as well as his family, Air Force One. The hijackers proclaim they will kill one hostage every half-hour, but the terrorists forget that the President is an ex-solider and will stop at nothing to save his family. Cleveland’s city building can be seen in the movie as well as a few scenes from Case Western Reserve University.

•A Christmas Story (1983): There is one thing Ralphie wants for Christmas: an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot Range Model BB rifle. The only thing stopping Ralphie obtaining his dream present is the constant protests of “You’ll shoot your eye out.” The movie’s setting is in Indiana, but the movie is filmed entirely in Cleveland and in 2006, the house where the movie was shot became a local attraction.

•Spider-Man 3 (2007): Peter Parker returns as Spiderman, and has a quest to deal with the broken parts of his life: his relationship with Mary Jane, his deceased uncle and his ailing aunt. The sinister presence of his dark nature, however, cannot be ignored. Many parts of the film were shot on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.

•The Shawshank Redemption (1994): Andy Dufresne, convicted of his wife’s murder, is sent to Shawshank Prison where he gains influence and friendship with hardened criminal Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding over the years. Most of the film was made in Mansfield, and the Shawshank Prison was the retired Ohio State Reformatory. Other towns that were included in some shots were: Ashland, Lucas, Butler and Upper Sandusky.

•Rain Man (1988): Yuppie Charlie Babbitt’s father dies and, while leaving his car to Charlie, leaves three million dollars in the care of someone else. Babbitt discovers that this other person is an autistic savant and is his brother he never knew about. In the film, the character Charlie Babbitt travels to Cincinnati, on-location. The film also features the Cincinnati International Airport.

•Traffic (2000): The film is comprised of four vignettes of four different characters: a conservative judge appointed to fix drug trafficking in America while his own daughter is an addict, a wife trying to save her husband’s drug business, a Mexican cop who copes with the realization that his boss is corrupt and two Drug Enforcement Administration agents tracking down the wife-husband drug business.

The movie was filmed in Cleveland and Columbus.

-Compiled by Samantha Stulen

“Last year, I was in a French competition and I placed second,” Martinez said. “I think the reason I [placed so high] was because, on the test, there were some things that I maybe didn’t know in French, but I knew in Spanish.”

Junior George Skoufalos, a speaker of Greek, French, English and some Spanish, agrees that being multilingual positively affects his academic performance. “[Being multilingual] helps in vocab and [knowing] where words come from,” Skoufalos said.

The knowledge of multiple languages can help a student’s academic performance, but the actual process of learning a new language may be a struggle.

Some students that are still learning English may just need extra help in order to compete academically, according to Kablan.

“English is an obstacle for [ESL students],” said Kablan. “A lot of the time they understand the [class] material, but they don’t know how to explain it or how to answer the questions.”

Senior Amanda Guarneiri, a native Portugese speaker who learned to speak English six months ago, said she struggled in her classes at first.

“In the beginning [of learning English], it was harder because I couldn’t understand anything the teacher was saying,” Guarneiri said.

Skoufalos said that another struggle of speaking multiple languages is forgetting which language to speak.

“Sometimes I’ll throw some other languages [in my sentences when speaking],” Skoufalos said.

Martinez also said that remembering multiple languages is a challenge.

“When I am really nervous, my mind automatically switches to Spanish,” Martinez said.

“Sometimes in the halls, I want to say, “Excuse me,” and I say “Con permiso” instead.”

Although Martinez said that although her native language provides academic benefits and sometimes even confusion, she said it is also an important part of her heritage.

“My little brother has completely lost [his knowledge of] Spanish,” Martinez said. “That’s a really big part of his heritage that he probably won’t get back.”

For Martinez, speaking Spanish isn’t only important to her heritage, but useful in keeping in touch with relatives.

“On the phone, I speak in Spanish, usually because I am speaking to someone from Guatemala or Puerto Rico,” Martinez said.

Guo agrees that continuing to speak his native language is important to his heritage. “[A language] is not just a language,” Guo said. “It is an art.”

Little Miami graduate whistle-blower portrayed in The Informant!

Samantha Stulen | Staff Writer The real-life corporate whistle-blower of The Informant! fame hails from Little Miami. Mark Whitacre, a 1975 graduate of Little Miami High School, is portrayed by Matt Damon in the 2009 film about the price-fixing case of lysine in the mid-1990s at Archer Daniels Midland company.

LMHS Spanish teacher Bea Cook said Whitacre was a regular student, but a popular boy amongst his peers.

“To know Mark ‘Corky’ was to love him,” Cook said. “He was funny, kind, inquisitive, generous, good natured, appreciative (and so cute!). He was not a great student, but he was a great person to have in your class, because he made it so much fun.”

Retired LMHS English teacher Kurt Eichenwald also said Whitacre was an average student, but the kind of student a teacher would want in his or her class. “[Whitacre] was a good boy, an average student and a little bit mischievous,” Eichenwald said. “He was just a type of student everybody wanted to have.”

According to Eichenwald, Whitacre came from a good family and understood the balance between fun and school work.

According to a 1991 class reunion information sheet, Ginger Whitacre, Whitacre’s wife, of LMHS’ class of 1976, said her worst school memory was her relationship with Whitacre.

“Mark’s (Corky) constantly breaking up with me and I continually taking him back [was my worst high school memory],” Ginger said. “Thank goodness it had paid off.”

According to the information sheet, Ginger and Whitacre married in 1979.

In the 80s, the family lived in New York, moved to Germany, back to New York and settled in Illinois when Whitacre became the president of the BioChem division at ADM. The family lived in the house originally owned by the founder of ADM, John Daniels.

When Whitacre was at ADM, according to MarkWhitacre.org, Whitacre carried hidden recording equipment

photo contributed

Mark Whitacre (left) graduated from Little Miami in 1975.

He is portrayed by Matt Damon (above) in the recent movie release The Informant. (Informant photo courtesy of IMDB.) on his person for almost three years that led to convictions. The web site also said Whitacre went to federal prison for eight and a half years for tax evasion and fraud; he was sentenced in 1998.

Cook said that even though Whitacre had committed a white-collar crime, Whitacre would want to be known as a good man.

“Here was a very young man from a little country town quickly immersed in the rich life, and then [I found] out about the illegal price fixing.” “[I] remember reading about [the price-fixing case] when it all was happening and being astonished,” Cook said. “Here was a very young man from a little country town quickly immersed in the rich life, and then [I found] out

about the illegal price fixing. I would think he was a bit naive and thought right could win out over wrong. It must have been disillusioning to realize that was not so. It is so sad that he lost nine years of his life to this mess.”

Currently, Whitacre is a member of the executive management team at Cypress Systems, a biotechnology company based in California.

According to the President of Cypress System, “Mark’s extensive biotechnology business experience combined with his selenium research experience fully aligns with the future direction of the company and the continued expansion into fermentation for biotechnology and life-science applications.”

Cook said Whitacre, despite his conviction would want to be remembered positively.

“I would think he would rather be known as a good man--a hard worker, good husband and father, [a] smart business man contributing his bit to make a better place,” Cook said. “That is how he was raised and that is what we tried to prepare him for here [at LMHS].”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

EDITORIAL | PAGE 6

Views Chronicle Policy

Round Table

The Chronicle is the official student newspaper of William Mason High School.

The Chronicle is produced by students enrolled in Journalism I, II and III. Editorials reflect the staff’s opinion but do not neccesarily reflect the opinions of the school administration or the Mason City School District.

The Chronicle is published monthly. Call 398-5025 ext.

30046 for information regarding advertising in The Chronicle. The Chronicle reserves the right to refuse advertising we deem inappropriate for a high school publication.

As an open forum for students, letters to the editor are welcome, but are subject to be edited for length, libel, obscentiy, clarity and poor taste. Letters to the editor may be dropped off in room C106 and must be signed.

The Chronicle is a member of The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, The National Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists and the Journalism Association for Ohio Schools.

Does the prospective credit flexibility program provide unfair advantages to students?

Contact Information The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Rd. Mason, Ohio 45040 398-5025

The Chronicle Staff Editor In Chief Alyssa Howard Associate Editor Ellen Duffer Business/Circulation Manager Griffin Frank Technical and Graphic Manager Caleb Schowalter Staff Writers Jami Bechard Jordan Berger Tony DeLotell Rachel Giesel Julia Halpin Ryan Hoffman Ian Howard Janica Kaneshiro Jessica Kantor Trevor Maxim Cady Meece Kris Ogungbemi Beena Raghavendran Carlie Sack Rachel Schowalter Danielle Simms Janie Simonton Samantha Stulen Adviser Mr. Dale Conner

photo by Jessica Kantor

From left to right: Amanda LaRue, Andrew Swartz, Monica Lake, Molly Frankle, Mauricio Trujillo, Joey Starnes.

The Round Table is a forum-based discussion. The students picked for this edition were selected due to their opinionated natures. To be involved in the Round Table, please contact The Chronicle in room C106.

Amanda LaRue Senior “The credit-hour system does not provide more of an unfair advantage than expensive summer school, college classes and private tutors already provide wealthier students. It actually helps correct for a huge imbalance in society’s view of intelligence and success. Oftentimes, artistic, musical, athletic or service-oriented individuals don’t get credit for being good at what they do because society recognizes only academically-intelligent people as ‘smart.’”

Andrew Swartz Sophomore “This is just one more program where people with money get more of an education; it’s nothing new. Yet, I feel people who take advantage of this are people who simply want out of high school so they can start working full time at McDonalds.”

Monica Lake Sophomore “I think that it will provide that unfair advantage to the students who have the financial means necessary to abuse it.

They could get out of the school system faster and they’d be doing less school-type work with the credit flexibility.

However, I think that if a student could take advantage of the credit flexibility, they wouldn’t see what the unfair advantage part of it was.”

Molly Frankle Freshman “I would say students could abuse this privilege [by] going places and saying that those experinces (like going to England over the summer) count for school credit. So, the student would take one less history class. On the flip side, I believe it’s a good thing to do for students who want to get a course [like] in Latin that’s not taken here, so that they could get in a language credit.”

Mauricio Trujillo Junior “It does have an effect.

I wish it didn’t. Money shouldn’t determine how far in life you can get. Every opportunity should be lived to the fullest. Through that expirence, you can get farther through life.”

Joey Starnes Senior “Assuming that students are still held responsible for the information that they are supposedly learning, I think taking education beyond the classroom is a great idea. The world evolves every generation and yet the educational system has not. While some opportunities, like traveling abroad, may only be available to certain individuals, internships and independent study are possible for anyone.”

Compiled by Julia Halpin, Ryan Hoffman and Jessica Kantor

Letters to the Editor

Staff Editorial

Chivalry is dead Athlete work

H1N1 hysteria is unnecessary

The article “Knights of the 21st Century” really caught my attention. For the rest of Friday, I started noticing the little things guys don’t do that they should.

Every guy should take a trip for a week to the Archbishop and get their manners back in to their brains. There is no perfect guy out there with a full set of great Southern hospitality manners. But when one comes around, I call first dibs.

-Taylor Neville, Freshman

ethic big factor

The article about weight room facilities caught my attention.

Even if Mason got better facilities, we should expect the same from the players. I think it’s how much effort and hard work they put into their sport. It actually depends on the mindset of an athlete. An athlete can choose whether he wants to work hard or not.

-Rajit Banerjee, Freshman

Equipment should Haunt scandal not mean success a big deal I agree that with all the new I don’t think that the whole country should have freaked out about the Halloween Haunt skeletons. [They’re] just skeletons!

They’re not making fun of Michael Jackson or Farrah Fawcett. They just dressed them up. It’s really not that big of a deal. I mean, it’s Halloween! [You’re] supposed to be creative and do weird things!

That’s the way holidays [are] celebrated. People [are] criticizing something so little; it is just so pointless to get mad [about it].

-Sydney Cook, Freshman

facilities, we should have more success on the football field. If you’re getting all the nice facilities shouldn’t you be winning games?

I also think if we’re using all this money to get all this new equipment and we’re not getting better, maybe we should use the money for other things. I think that [losing] has to do with people leaving to play for Moeller and St. Xavier.

Also, we just recently moved up to the GMC and that is one of the toughest conferences around here.

The stripped-clean smell of hand sanitizer follows us around the school.

Kids cringe at the incessant coughing and sneezing that leaves traces of germs on every surface. Vaccination offers are hurriedly accepted as parents lament the fatality of the flu, specifically H1N1.

It’s an epidemic! It’s a pandemic!

Drugstores are running out of Theraflu; households are stocking up on vitamins.

But the threat of the widespread illness is not as harmful as H1N1 hysteria may make it seem. Well-established doctors’ offices and hospitals dot the country and are working diligently to formulate a way to prevent sickness.

We count down the days until a vaccine is ready, but we are comfortable in the knowledge that it will come soon.

Others are not so fortunate.

According to FluCount.org, one out of every 62 people has died from contracting Swine Flu in America. We have seen 1,093 resulting deaths total, as of October 23, though there have been 67,971 confirmed cases of H1N1. One out of every 22 people has died from contracting Swine Flu in Brazil: 1,389 deaths out of only 30,206 confirmed cases.

We are relatively lucky.

Our opportunities to receive

adequate health care are bountiful.

We can take “sick days” when we’re too contagious to interact with other people. We can rest.

Schools, clinics, retirement homes and hospitals will be administering the H1N1 vaccine free of charge or at a very cheap price to the young and elderly as soon as it is confirmed as safe and efficient for use.

Some countries would appreciate vitamin-enriched food. Or shoes. Or clean water.

We’re at risk, but we have the resources to diminish the need for illness-related worrying. If we defeated polio with the advent of highly effective vaccinations in the mid 1900s, we can overcome Swine Flu. As teachers purchase massive bottles of hand sanitizer with which they can decorate their rooms, parents remind their kids to drink plenty of orange juice and not to share chapstick. The preventative measures are fairly easy to follow in America, where cleanliness is already of a high priority.

We don’t have to worry about developing an infection due to the use of unsterilized medical instruments during routine check-ups at the local pediatricians’ office.

Good health is too important to sacrifice in America.

Sports THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

Golf team captures second consecutive state championship Ian Howard | Staff Writer The varsity women’s golf team emerged victorious in its second consecutive state championship game with a score of 316, making it the second women’s golf team in state history to achieve this feat. According to junior golf player Erin Michels, their victory was hard-fought and not at all an obvious win.

“We pretty much couldn’t believe it, because we’ve had a rough season,” Michels said. “Everybody was really excited; it was a lot more exciting than last year.”

Varsity women’s golf coach Fred Reeder said that the team did not realize their triumph immediately and were stuck waiting for the results of other schools.

“It was dramatic with our entire team together watching the [Lakota] West scores go up and finally realizing we had won the state title again,” Reeder said.

Despite falling short in their bid to win another GMC championship, this state championship proves the Comets are not only the best team in the area, but the best in the state, accoring to senior Erin Michels.

“This season, we wanted to win definitely; we knew this year if we won we really were the best,” Michels said. “It definitely feels like we accomplished something more.”

Senior golf player Deanna Mychalisyn said that after last year’s perfect season, the team had to work hard for its successes.

“We knew it was going to be a little harder, because we [were] targets for the other teams to shut down,” Mychalisyn said.

The absence of the previous senior class, according to Mychalisyn, required the team to step up to the challenges at hand in a unified force.

“The four seniors [we lost this year] were really good leaders, so we had to step up and pull together as a team,” Mychalisyn said.

As the team looks ahead to next season, Reeder said that the loss of two of its five top golfers to graduation will be a factor that the team will need to overcome to continue in its success.

“We have some golfers who can help us win a third title, but we’ve got a lot of work to do if we plan on keeping the streak alive,” Reeder said.

Michels said that one of the factors that pulled the team together throughout its problems was a heightened motivation to win that was present in the current players as much as it was the graduated senior class. “[The graduated senior class] wanted it as much as we did,” Michels said. “It’s not a fluke; we really can do it. It’s solidifying for us and them as well.”

SPORTS | PAGE 7

Rivalries Redefined

When the Comets moved to the Greater Miami Conference some old familiar rivals had to be set aside while the GMC determined who would be the Comets’ new rivals

photo art by Caleb Schowalter

Ian Howard | Staff Writer Mason’s dive into the Greater Miami Conference in 2007 discarded the Comets’ traditional rivalries leaving fans and players to seek ritual in a GMC-orchestrated rivalry game, according to Mason Football Coach Dave Sedmak. Occurring October 30, The Flying Pig Game sponsored

by Montgomery Inn will end Mason’s third season in the GMC with an annual rivalry match against the Sycamore Aviators.

“They’re creating Sycamore as the rival in the GMC, [although] Kings is probably the biggest [rival],” Sedmak said. “But, because of the discrepancy in sizes of schools, we don’t really play [Kings] in a lot of things now.”

Although Kings is no longer in Mason’s schedule, Sedmak said he feels that Mason’s match-up with Sycamore is slightly trivial.

“We’re probably as much of a rival with Lakota East, but their rival has to be [Lakota] West,” Sedmak said.

The rivalry status of the teams was determined before Mason even became a member of the GMC, according to Mason Athletic Director Scott Stemple.

“Milford was having a hard

time competing in the GMC, because [other schools in the GMC] were bigger and more competitive,” Stemple said. “[Milford] wanted to belong more to the smaller set of Division I schools, so it was a natural fit for them to go to the [Fort Ancient Valley Conference], replacing us, and then we replace[d] them in the GMC.” Since the GMC football league is comprised of only ten teams, Sedmak said that similar grievances are felt elsewhere.

“Hamilton, for instance, plays Fairfield at the end of the year, but people in Hamilton will tell you that Middletown is a bigger rival,” Sedmak said.

Although Mason and Sycamore have only been in the league together for three years, according to Stemple, many steps have been taken by both schools to assimilate the rivalry game into tradition.

“Whatever team wins the rivalry game that year in football, they get the trophy to hold on to for a year,” Stemple said. “Also, Montgomery Inn caters one night for all the football players [from] whatever team wins.”

Despite the long-term changes instituted by Mason’s

transition into the GMC, according to Stemple, rivalries are still maintained between Mason and its old competitors.

“When we play Kings in basketball, it’s a big rivalry…and naturally because they’re in our backyard,” Stemple said.

According to Stemple, because of the growing difference in the size of the schools, Mason football cannot maintain FAVC competitors like Kings in its offleague schedule.

“Four or five years ago, [Kings] decided [that] they didn’t want to play us in football anymore because our numbers we were just getting bigger,” Stemple said.

The rivalry game not only fails to address Mason’s old competitors, but according to senior offensive lineman Austin Rabah, the rivalry game also excludes Mason’s biggest rival in the GMC. “For me personally, I’d have to say Colerain [is Mason’s biggest rival], because that’s the team that we want to strive to beat [and] have the success that they have,” Rabah said.

Senior quarterback Alex Farren said he also considers Colerain to be a rival.

How do they compare?

Comets

2-7 (Overall) 1-5 (GMC)

Aves

2-7 (Overall) 0-6 (GMC) Record vs. Similar Opponents Colerain 28 Sycamore 0 Colerain 56 Comets 3 Mason 17 Hamilton 48

Hamilton 7 Sycamore 7

Middletown 48 Sycamore 0 Middletown 61 Mason 24

Fairfield 14 Sycamore 2 Fairfield 30 Mason 7 West 45 West 28

Mason 13 Sycamore 17

see RIVALRY on page 8

Team Tracker The women’s varsity water polo team has broken the single-season win record in the team’s six-year history, according to Head Coach Mark Sullivan. Sullivan said that a home victory against long-time rival Sycamore was a high point of the team’s season. “[The win] really highlighted our night,” Sullivan said. “The fact that we won in overtime and on senior night were both great additions to the win.” photo by Ryan Hoffman

The varsity girls’ soccer team knocked off the number one team in the nation, St. Ursula High School, with a 1-0 victory, improving their overall record to an impressive 9-1. Along with defeating St. Ursula, senior Heather Jung said she believes the Comets can capture a Greater Miami Conference title.

“I think we have a good chance to go deep in the playoffs,” Jung said. “We have a great chance to become GMC champions.” photo by Ryan Hoffman

PAGE 8 | SPORTS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

Multi-sport athletes a casualty of Mason’s rapid growth

photo by Tony DeLotell

Senior Cari Caprio participates in varsity swimming, cross-country and track.

Tony DeLotell | Staff Writer Only five percent of all athletes at Mason High School play three sports, according to Athletic Director Scott Stemple.

Immense sports specialization in recent years has hurt multiple-sport participation, according to ESPN.com. Stemple said that Ma-

son athletes also face pressure to focus their talents exclusively on one sport.

“Kids are sold by these club coaches that if they play all year round and they go to these tournaments, that they are going to get exposure from colleges,” Stemple said.

Senior Andrew Galyan-Mann participates in cross-country, winter and spring track and cyclo-cross, a form of bicycling on a crosscountry course. Galyan-Mann said that he does multiple sports because he highly values his time in athletics.

“I’m a very energetic person, and I just love [playing sports],” Galyan-Mann said. “On days I just don’t want to be there, I remember what it’s like when I’m not there or when I’m injured. I just hate the feeling of not being able to do something.”

Senior Dave Richmond plays football, recreational basketball and baseball. Like GalyanMann, Richmond said he has played sports all his life and can’t imagine doing anything else.

“I’ve never not played sports,” Richmond said. “I’ve played three sports since I was eight. If I wasn’t playing sports, I would probably be doing something lazy.”

Odilie Mann, Galyan-Mann’s mother, said that he has only benefited from all the activities in which he is involved. She said she believes that his sports have become a learning experience.

“It’s really good because he always has something to do,” Mann said. “He is very involved with the school. He learns a lot about teamwork.”

Richmond said he is able to save time by using activities from one sport to count for another. Lifting is one of those overlapping activates to cross-train.

“Football [training] is every day, year-round,” Richmond said. “For baseball they have lifting, but I have to lift for football, but it still counts because it’s lifting.”

RIVALRY: GMC determines rivalry games, Comets vs.

Aves will close 2009 season Not only is a rivalry yearned for by players, but its existence, according to Stemple, makes “Colerain [is Mason’s biggest football rival], financial sense for the athletic department. because no one likes Colerain, and they’re like “These rivalry games…raise your crowd level the big team everyone shoots to beat,” Farren up a little, which helps your gate, which helps said. “So, if you can beat [them], that makes your programs, helps in the funding and then your season a whole lot better.” more concessions are sold,” Stemple said.

However, Sedmak said he can see potential “Economically, you like to think that, and… for the development of the Sycamore rivalry, generally your rivalry games are with teams due to the similarities between the two school that are close, so your transportation costs districts. aren’t as high. So, that’s why it makes sense to “Both [Sycamore and Mason] schools are play those kind of games.” pretty strong academic Sedmak said that the schools; the socioeconomic most important motiva“If we can beat status of both communition for winning the ties is really pretty similar,” Sycamore this year that Sycamore rivalry game Sedmak said. will be maintaining would definitely send a team morale.

Farren said that Mason has never won against Sycamore “If you win [the end message....I would in the end of the season of the season rivalry definitely say pride is on game], you tend to go rivalry game, but he looks forward to a change in this into the off-season with the line.” area. a lot more optimism; “What makes great rivalwhen you lose it, you ries great rivalries is when both teams comknow you kind of have to get yourself repete at high levels,” Farren said. “So, I think if grouped and re-motivated,” Sedmak said. we can beat Sycamore this year, that would Farren said, however, that the players condefinitely send a message and [enhance] the sider other reasons. rivalry game itself.”

“I would definitely say pride is on the line [in Rabah said he hopes to see the rivalry the rivalry game],” Farren said. “We want to against Sycamore continue to progress. get a win.”

“I look forward to going back…after I graduEven though the increased competition of ate and [seeing the Mason and Sycamore the Mason and Sycamore rivalry is in high rivalry] being a pretty big rivalry,” Rabah said. demand, according to Stemple, rivalries can Aside from wanting a more competitive become ugly. rivalry game, Rabah said he sees many moti“If you put Elder and [St. Xavier High School] vations in place to make a greater rivalry. together, there’s a high level of respect for “It’s the last game most of us seniors will each, but they have a built-in dislike for each ever play; you always want to end it well,” other because of the competition of the difRabah said. ferent schools,” Stemple said.

The fact that the rivalry game is the last Aside from the potential for worsened game of the season, according to Sedmak, relations between schools, Stemple said that also increases the amount of interest for rivalries have a great importance in compelspectators. ling teams to compete and beat one another.

“It certainly makes [the rivalry game] more “The neat thing about rivalries is that exciting when it’s at the end like that,” Sed[they] create an interest level that is unique,” mak said.

Stemple said.

Stemple said that a student who plays three sports is a very special individual. Endurance and determination are necessary traits to participate in three sports, according to Stemple.

“You have to be an athlete that really takes care of your body,” Stemple said. “You have to have great endurance and determination.

You don’t always have to be the highly skilled person. I think a kid that plays three sports has to have some intestinal fortitude to get it done because they are never taking a break.”

Galyan-Mann said even with the busy schedule he maintains, the hardest part about playing multiple sports is the transition period between sports.

“Sometimes you might go from one sport to the next without much break and sometimes you might get two weeks off,” Galyan-Mann said. “It can be difficult when you go right from one sport to the other because you might feel stretched out. Sometimes it’s difficult if you get too much of a break, because you get lazy.”

Like Galyan-Mann, senior Robbie Winkler, who at one time played soccer, basketball and track simultaneously, said that the transition between sports is tough because the body does not have time to recuperate.

“You have no time to rest,” Winkler said.

“Your body aches.”

Senior Cari Caprio, who participates in crosscountry, track and swimming in the winter, said that that while playing multiple sports may keep you in shape, each sport works different areas of your body.

“All the sports I do require being in shape, but even running cross county is not the same as swimming,” Caprio said. “So when I go to swimming, I get out of breath easily.”

Junior Ethan King, who plays football, basketball and formerly played club baseball, said the constant aching and limited time were difficult aspects of his schedule.

“Having no time to recover [is the toughest part],” King said. “Injuries never heal when you go from sport to sport.”

When he entered his freshman year of high school, King said he decided to quit baseball to focus on basketball and football. He said it has helped him with his remaining two sports.

“It’s given me more time to work on football and basketball,” King said.

Despite playing four total sports, GalyanMann said he is still able to hold a job at the Mason Community Center as a lifeguard. He said he is able to work when he doesn’t have practice, sometimes going straight from work to practice, and then back to work.

“I take off [work] on days that I have late practices -- like Wednesdays are my cyclocross practices which are 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.,” Galyan-Mann said. “I take off weekends, because they’re my competition days, but especially this year with early release, I will go to work, and then come back to practice, and then go back to work.”

Richmond said that above all, time management is the most important thing to keep in mind when playing three sports.

“Make sure you learn how to manage your time,” Richmond said. “I’ve been [playing sports] my whole life and I still have trouble with it. If you don’t manage your time it’s going to kill you.”

Mann said that although while playing sports year-round is a difficult task, as a parent, it is important to let your kid tackle the challenges they want to.

“You know your kid,” Mann said. “You know how much your kid can handle. If the kid tells you that he can handle it, [give him] the chance to prove it that he can and if he does, just let it be.”

GMC Rivalry Match-Ups Colerain vs. Oak Hills vs.

continued from page 7

Colerain: 7 - 2 | Oak Hills: 3 - 6 8.57 miles apart

Fairfield vs. Hamilton vs.

Fairfield: 5 - 4 | Hamilton: 2 - 7 9.66 miles apart

Lakota West vs. Lakota East vs.

Lakota West: 8 - 1 | Lakota East: 3 - 6 7.52 miles apart

Mason vs. Sycamore vs.

Mason: 2 - 7 | Sycamore: 2 - 7 7.24 miles apart

Princeton vs. Middletown vs.

Princeton: 5 - 4 | Middletown: 8 - 1 21.11 miles apart Helmets courtesy of the Ohio Helmet Project

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

PAGE 9

PAGE 10 | SPORTS

Ch@tRoom

The_Chronicle: Are UC fans being

colleen raga

What you won’t find on Facebook

obnoxious about their success this season?

Sophomore_Melissa_Iannuzzi: Yes, both teams represent our state. Both OSU and UC have to focus on their remaining opponents.

Freshman_Matt_Harbison: Yes, OSU has

a tougher schedule. They play USC and Michigan. UC has only played one good team. They can’t talk smack because they were ranked one spot ahead. Anything can happen in the next few weeks.

Junior_Erik_Raffel: No, I think that it’s our time.

Now that we’re ranked [higher] and OSU is ranked [lower], it’s our time to talk. OSU [fans] need a taste of their own medicine.

Sophomore_Ryan_Mumma: I don’t think

you can really determine if OSU is better than UC unless they play each other. UC hasn’t really proved it yet.

Senior_AJ_Schappacher: I don’t think UC has played their tougher half of their schedule. UC has the potential to stay above OSU but only because of their division.

Freshman_Alex_Day: A lot of UC fans have

hopped on the bandwagon. Their schedule is favored towards them. They haven’t played any top contending teams.

Sophomore_Marcus_Otte: For once UC is a

decent team. OSU fans are never bragging about being ranked [higher] than UC. Why should UC fans be bragging if OSU fans don’t?

-Compiled by Ryan Hoffman

TweetingTwits

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

qWeirdest thing you’ve eaten: Rattlesnake qFavorite year of high school: Definitely senior year qPreferred form of communication: Text messaging qDream job: Working for the United Nations qBest dance move: Nodding my head

like yeah qNicknames: C-rags, Rags qFavorite word: “Lessgo.” It’s what

the volleyball team says before every match. qWhen you found out Santa wasn’t

real: Third grade. I went in my parents’ room and found all the presents. qMost used catch-phrase: “You’re a

rock star.” qSecret Talent: I love to cook; I just

never have the time. qBiggest Fear: Feet -- they’re disgusting.

OGOchoCinco: If paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper, what beats all 3 at the same time? Answer: Ochocinco.

-- Bengals wide reciever Chad Ochocinco

qIf you could have a

million of anything, it would be: Shoes qLast furry thing you touched: My puppy qLast text message you recieved: At 10:30 last night I told Scott Spencer

the Spanish homework, as is typical most nights a week.

-Compiled by Tony DeLotell

-As told to Trevor Maxim

It’s hard to discredit any team with an undefeated record, especially a Cincinnati team that has played their hearts out this year. Even without Heisman hopeful quarterback Tony Pike, the Bearcats pulled out their biggest win of the season against a then undefeated South Florida team. Beating a top 25 team without your starting quarterback is one of the hardest things to do at any level, and UC has shown that they are more than worthy of the media spotlight. Even without a dominant running game, stars like receiver Marshwan Gilyard are more than enough to lift UC to the National Championship. As soon as UC beats West Virginia and Pittsburgh, both top 25 teams, I think there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that UC deserves the attention they are receiving.

Bearcats football is the buzz, an overrated buzz at that. Cincinnati plays in a joke of a conference. There are three teams ranked out of nine in the conference. UC is the only one to break the Top Ten this year.

Pittsburgh and West Virginia haven’t even been ranked lower than twenty. Cincinnati doesn’t even deserve to be in the BCS conversation.

Teams like Boise State should be in the discussion for a National Championship shot. The Broncos have been consistent for the past three years, posting a 13-0 record in 2006 and going on to win the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. UC has a great Quarterback in Tony Pike, but I just don’t see UC being able to compete with other top ranked BCS teams.

Ryan Hoffman | Staff Writer

You can’t write off UC’s success this year, even with their weak schedule. They absolutely deserve the attention and the hype this season, even their unprecedented top ten BCS ranking. This is a program that is finally coming together, from Tony Pike to Brian Kelley.

When UC plays, they just look like a different team now. I have to admit that their Big East schedule has not showcased the team’s ability to the fullest, but the BCS calculations don’t lie. The fact that UC has dominated the competition so far shows that their name belongs among the other top teams in college football. Until they lose a game or show any major signs of weakness, they definitely deserve a shot at a national championship. Maybe they just aren’t in the right conference.

Trevor Maxim | Staff Writer

Tony DeLotell | Staff Writer

SportsRant

photos by Alyssa Howard

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

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technology is taking over Some technological advances border on creepy Ellen Duffer | Associate Editor Various applications allow users to track products, people and businesses; machines recognize specific characteristics and DNA; artificial intelligence replicates human actions. Technology is wrapping its tentacles around all facets of human life. According to computer science teacher Gregg Kummer, trouble may arise when those who acquire it have unethical intentions.

“Technology in the wrong hands can be scary,” Kummer said. “I mean, you’ve got high school kids making atomic bombs, now.”

When individuals who utilize technological developments are not taught to uphold moral standards and are unaware of how to use powerful programs appropriately, Kummer said this is when problems occur.

“With knowledge comes responsibilities,” Kummer said. “Don’t take my knowledge that I impart on you to the next level and do something malicious with it.”

Advertisements for products that allow users to “track your spouse!” or GPS-oriented Twitter updates may evoke protests of the desire for privacy. When it comes to sharing private information on the internet, senior Suprasanna Mishra, a professional website designer, said the privacyrights tangled in technology are ultimately up to the discretion of users.

“There’s no one currently to stop technology from [crossing privacy lines],” Mishra said. “It’s up to the individual user of the internet to decide how much information they want to share.”

New scanners that are similar to X-rays, but create images that only penetrate clothing, are being implemented on a trial basis in United Kingdom airports to check passengers much like a “pat-down” would, according to the BBC. English teacher Hannah Sole, a citizen of the UK, said that developments such as these may infringe on people’s rights.

“There’s this really big argument about whether people should use [the scanner] -- is it a breach of privacy rights -- because basically someone’s looking at pretty much a naked

picture of you to see if you’re hiding anything,” Sole said. “Well, what about celebrities? Will that image then end up online? It’s all a little bit uncomfortable.”

Because technology offers the opportunity for innovative solutions to common problems, Mishra said he thinks that it should be highly utilized, as long as advancements do not put user information at risk.

“It’s a tool we can use and the more we can get out of it the better,” Mishra said. “It’s just when people use technology to gain access to other people’s information when the issue arises. So, I think it’s equally important to develop new technologies as well as protect users of those technologies.”

With developments of robots like Aiko (a Yumecom, or “dream computer robot,” designed

by Le Trung in Canada) that can interact with surroundings through speech and motion while recognizing elements such as colors and faces, it is clear that technology is increasingly adept at simulating life. Kummer said more technological advancements wait in the future, but they will not be achieved with the help of those who don’t fully comprehend how to harness the power of technology. “[Technology is] being overused by people who don’t know how to use it, and it’s being underused because there’s so much more that we can do with it,” Kummer said.

Developments in technology, especially those in the service sector, aim to improve life, according to Kummer.

“I could say [technology’s purpose is] to make money, but I think it’s to better the standard of living,” Kummer said. “Obviously, [when] you make more money, you have a better standard of living, but in the long run, computers are going to affect every field. I think the biggest field it’s starting to affect now is medicine. If we can better medicine through computer science, we can better everybody’s standard of living.”

Communication across the world has improved, Mishra said, due to technological advancements, as well.

“[Technology’s] intent [is] probably just to make tasks easier, but more specifically with the internet, it’s come to be a new mode of communication,“ Mishra said. “It’s just a lot easier to communicate ideas, thoughts, things like that.

Most technological advances can be attributed to the internet.”

Numerous developments in technology have rendered computer-created visuals more detailed and astounding, according to Sole. Programs have been designed to let users incorporate a plethora of miniscule attributes into their work.

“Technology’s about making things easier, making things more amazing,” Sole said. “If you think about technology in films, things like CGI, achieving the impossible, making things faster - a lot of it now is about expressing individuality.

You have a lot of customizing options.”

Although technology may have the goal of efficiency and ease of life, Kummer said that people must be careful not to allocate too many tasks and human-like characteristics to inanimate objects.

“Artificial intelligence always scares me,” Kummer said. “I know enough about computer science to believe that The Matrix could exist. I don’t think it’ll ever happen, but if we start giving more and more responsibilities to machines and less and less responsibilities to real people, I think we’re setting ourselves up for a fall.”

Technologies such as those like the iPhone application that allows users to locate products by scanning barcodes (Red Laser, made by Occipital) and face-recognizing systems that are often tested in airports are helpful, according to Sole, until they strive to be substitutes for life.

“Just because we could doesn’t mean we should,” Sole said. “I think with technology, as long as the intent is always to make your experience better, to save you time, to save you effort, that’s all fine. It’s when it becomes a replacement of stuff that you should be doing in the real world that I think that it becomes a bit worrying.”

photo art by Caleb Schowalter stock image contributed by Apple, Inc.

FEATURES THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

FEATURE | PAGE 15

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

We lcom e to Com et Country. . . .

Cady Meece | Senior Staff Writer Welcome to Comet Country. Students at Mason High School know the phrase well as the name that was given to MHS, but seven other schools in Ohio share the Comet as their mascot, presenting the possibility of not one but several Comet Countries. Although all of the schools share a common mascot, each of the seven schools have both similarities to and differences from Mason.

Central Christian High School Central Christian High School is located in Kidron, Ohio, a city near Akron, and contains only 140 students in grades nine through 12, according to Senior Ben Nussbaum of Central Christian.

With the school day starting at 8:00 a.m. and ending at 3:00 p.m., students at Central Christian travel through seven periods of core classes, similar to Mason but with one major difference, due to the school’s Christian affiliation.

“There are 7 class periods, plus daily chapel, and we have one 54 minute lunch period,” Nussbaum said.

At Central Christian, there are only 12 clubs and 10 sports, according to Nussbaum, with the most popular sports being boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball. According to Mason High School Student Activities Director Lorri-Fox Allen, Mason has 85 clubs in total, not including sports teams.

According to Nussbaum, unlike Mason, Central Christian does not have a prom. Instead, the school has a junior and senior banquet, which is similar to Mason’s sports banquets.

Although its sports teams are the Comets by name, the mascot is a white and blue bear named Bluester, in concordance with the school colors, similar to Mason’s astronaut at home football games.

The blue and white Comets, according to Nussbaum, usually have a very spirited student section, especially during rivalry games, due to peppy announcements made during chapel prior to the games.

rules, in addition to the general rules Mason has regarding the dress code.

According to Adams, all holes in jeans and shorts must be below the fingertips when arms are extended and no midriff may be shown, similar to the Mason policy, and all students are prohibited from sporting a beard or mustache, as well.

Elgin has only 40 sports and clubs combined with the most popular being volleyball, basketball and musicals.

Pep rallies and bonfires seem to be a common pre-Homecoming game occurrence between Mason and Elgin, but the rituals that are practiced when there are very different.

According to Adams, the coach of the Elgin football team leads a “Do it!” cheer, a unique pump up chant, at every pep rally, while at Mason, the class screaming contest is always expected.

Much like the various themes of the Black Hole, prior to each football game, a theme is announced for that night at Elgin, such as camouflage, country dress or “red and gray” (the school’s colors).

At Elgin, according to Adams, they call their gym, “The Barn,” much like Mason High School is “Comet Country.”

Genoa Area High School Genoa Area High School is a public high school that is located just north of Genoa, Ohio, a city south of Akron, according to Principal Ted Keller.

There are 530 students in grades nine through 12 at Genoa but, according to Keller, 98 of those students go to Penta, a vocational school much like Scarlet Oaks.

The school day at Genoa starts at 7:30 a.m., and ends at 3:30 p.m. It consists of seven class periods and one extra period for homeroom.

According to Keller, Genoa Area has

Central Crossing High School Central Crossing High School is a public high school located in Grove City, Ohio, just southwest of Columbus, Ohio.

According to South-WesternCitySchools. com, Central Crossing has 1,562 students in grades nine through 12.

According to the Central Crossing Student Handbook, students are prohibited from wearing any accessories with studs, chains, pajamas, sweatshirts with hoods or black clothing expressive of a group.

At school sporting events, students are not allowed to do any cheers that involve stomping on the bleachers, according to the Central Crossing Student Handbook. Also, students must have all noise-makers, such as air horns or clackers, approved by the administration prior to any outdoor game.

Central Crossing’s school colors are royal blue and silver with a comet as the logo, according to South-WesternCitySchools.com.

Coventry High School Coventry High School, a public high school just south of Akron, consists of 600 students in only grades 10 through 12, according to Principal Jon Hibian.

Coventry starts at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m., only 15 minutes after the start and end times at Mason, and has a very complex, daily schedule. According to Hibian, Coventry follows a “modified block” schedule in the mornings, meaning the schedule alternates between different classes every day, just like “specials” operate at Mason Heights and Western Row. In the afternoon, the school have four periods that each last for 40 minutes. These remain the same every day, like at Mason. A half hour lunch period is combined with an hour long activity period, called PHD, during which students have activities such as remediation, enrichment and class meetings.

Key Club and Student Council, each with over 130 members, according to Hibian, are the largest clubs at Coventry and wrestling is the most popular sport due to the school’s great success within it.

According to Hibian, if a student is participating in a state tournament, he or she can expect a parade in his or her honor.

“We hold three formal dances each year and have a parade of support for any student making it to the state tournament in any sport,” Hibian said. “The student receives a cowboy hat so as they wear it, they can be recognized at the tournament.”

Although student spirit has been hard to come by in the past at CHS, according to Hibian, many students have requested four pep rallies this year in an attempt to increase student participation and spirit.

Elgin High School Elgin High School, a public high school with 485 students, is located in Marion, Ohio, according to Principal Jennifer Adams.

The day there starts at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 2:27 p.m. According to Adams, there is a ‘typical’ dress code that, in some aspects, is stricter than the policy at MHS. Although Elgin has no uniforms, there are several clothing

photo art by Cady Meece

There are eight schools known as the “Comets” in Ohio, including Mason High School.

few clubs but of them, Student Council is the most active club.

Football is the school’s best sport, according to Keller, but all of their sports are very competitive, having won several league championships in all.

During school hours, according to Keller, aside from the standard dress code utilized at Mason, students are also not allowed to wear jeans with holes in them or sweatpants.

Genoa Area utilizes the Comet as their physical mascot during sporting events, unlike Mason.

“We have a Comet mascot,” Keller said. “He is a bit funny looking but he is Cosmo the Comet. He is at most of our sporting events. The elementary kids adore him.”

Before football games, Genoa Area takes part in several traditions unique to the school, including a staff steak dinner, according to Keller.

“For football games, our seniors sit in the end zone on couches,” Keller said. “A lot of our teachers, before football games, have a steak dinner in our shop class. It’s a fun tradition. We fry up the steaks and teachers bring in a covered dish.”

During Homecoming week, the school holds a girls’ flag football game and a boys’ volleyball game, both being a junior versus senior game, which are then followed by a bonfire and a dance.

According to Keller, Genoa Area High School also uses the

name of “Comet Country,” like Mason.

With a football team ranking fourth in the state and play off bound, Genoa Area is truly leaving up to their motto, “Be the Best,” according to Keller.

Solon High School Solon High School, a public high school located approximately 20 miles southeast of Cleveland, according to Principal George Steyer, has 1,800 students in grades nine through 12.

Each day starts at 7:50 a.m. and consists of seven periods of classes and a 25 minute lunch period.

The school day ends at 2:55 p.m., but, like at Mason, for some students, the day is not over. According to Steyer, Solon has 19 varsity sports and over 30 clubs. Key Club, a student-governed club that, according to Kiwanis.org, completes service activities to teach leadership, is the most popular club, along with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD).

According to Steyer, the school includes a senior commons where a countdown of the last 100 days of the senior year is posted and decorated for the holidays.

Just as we hear “Comet Country” everyday, Solon’s slogan is, “We Are SC!” for the Solon Comets, according to Steyer. Prior to football games, students pick a color for the game that is worn collectively, much like Mason chooses a theme for the Black Hole.

“The way the students get ‘pumped’ is [by picking] a color for the game, blue, white, or yellow, and the students will wear Solon spirit wear of that color,” Steyer said.

There is always a pep rally before the Homecoming game as well as when any sports team qualifies to play at the state level.

According to Steyer, Solon’s student section creates a large presence at their home football games.

“We have three or four senior boys who are called the ‘Spirit Boys’ who dress in fright wigs, [a wig with frizzy hair standing straight up from the head] and capes and paint their faces,” Steyer said. “While banging on empty water jugs, they lead the stands with cheers and chants to keep the spirit up.”

Steele High School Steele High School is a public high school located in Amherst, Ohio about 30 miles west of Cleveland, according to Principal Mike Gilliam.

In grades nine through 12, Steele consists of 1,500 students, Gilliam said, but 90 of those students are currently attending a vocational school.

Steele students arrive on campus for first bell at 7:30 a.m. and leave at 2:35 p.m., according to Gilliam. Steele follows a “Four-by-Four” schedule, meaning that students have four classes that are 90 minutes long for one semester each. Also, they have four 30-minute lunch periods in one day.

Twenty-one sports and nine clubs are offered at Steele, although, according to Gilliam, the numbers of clubs changes as students create new ones, like the growing participation in clubs at Mason. The most popular sport is varsity football, although many other sports have a large following. The most popular club is Youth 4 Youth Club which, according to Gilliam, is designed to keep and create a good student environment.

Gilliam said announcements are made each day during a broadcast created by a television class, much like MBC at Mason.

“Our announcements are done each day via live broadcast with our TV class,” Gilliam said. “This class is set up as a real newsroom ([which] the local cable station uses it in the evening), so the students are responsible for the announcements and creating a newscast that will generate spirit.”

Mason class shirts and spirit wear are very common but they do not provide an overwhelming divide between each class as they do at Steele.

According to Gilliam, each class has a different color and during the schools’ pep rallies, the class separation is very apparent, especially when the classes compete.

A Homecoming parade is still held prior to the Homecoming game and is, according to Gilliam, looked forward to by parents and elementary students, as well as the high school students.

This year, Steele is also considering having a bonfire before their most popular football game (that is usually televised).

According to Gilliam, each year on the day before Thanksgiving break, the school holds CrazyGames, a day during which teachers and their classes form teams to compete in games such as wheelbarrow races and tricycle rides.

Student spirit runs high at Steele during any and all sports games throughout the student section, according to Gilliam.

“At all of our events, students never sit down!” Gilliam said.

“This is a tradition that stared long before I got here, but football, basketball, volleyball, it doesn’t matter: they stand the entire time.”

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

STANDARDIZED TESTING Nightmares What happens when ACT and SAT testing go wrong

Kris Ogungbemi | Staff Writer Every year, students all over the country prepare to take national standardized tests. Scores on the American College Testing (ACT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) determine students’ futures after high school. High pressure and high expectations are set for test results early on because, according to the College Board, the SAT is the nation’s most widely used admissions test among colleges and universities.

Cautions and warnings litter CollegeBoard.com, giving test-taking tips and alerting testers to “come early and be prepared” and “bring a calculator with fresh batteries.” The worst nightmare for many is to make a mistake, forget an entrance ticket or have an avoidable blunder ruin his or her test. Senior Colleen Waggoner has taken the ACT three times. Each time, a gaffe has interrupted her testing environment.

“The only time I was actually healthy taking the test, I didn’t have my calculator,” Waggoner said. “[The other time,] I was puking, so it just sucked. The third one was the worst, just because I couldn’t focus on anything.”

A late night out was a bad start for her first ACT experience, Waggoner said.

After arriving at the testing center, Waggoner realized the calculator needed for the math section was still at home.

“I went out the night before, and I definitely shouldn’t have,” Waggoner said. “I was out until two. Then, I got home and realized, ‘I have the test tomorrow.’”

During her second ACT, Waggoner became ill and was unable to finish the test.

“I had gotten sick -- I was throwing up,” Waggoner said. “I got to the classroom and I told my proctor that I wasn’t feeling good and that I might need to make a break for it. Then, I threw up. I got a 36 on my reading, but I didn’t finish, so they couldn’t report the score.”

Waggoner’s third ACT was riddled with more sickness. After stomach pain during school, Waggoner was diagnosed with Nephritis, which, according to BBC Health, is a painful swelling of one or both kidneys. Waggoner decided to test anyhow.

“I had nephritis,” Waggoner said. “I was on two different types of painkillers and three antibiotics. And I went the next morning and took my test. I was doped; I couldn’t think or function.”

Senior Ali Jamali had similar problems with focus. Jamali failed to utilize the one break given in the ACT and reaped the consequences.

“I had to go to the bathroom, but there was a huge line to go to the bathroom; so, I thought, ‘I can make it through,’” Jamali said. “After getting through the first passage [in the reading section], I had the burning sensation to pee. About 10 to 15 minutes into the science section, I decided, ‘This is just not worth it.’ I asked the proctor if I could go to the bathroom, so she took my test and I went.”

Jamali’s scores were adversely affected by his testing mishap.

“My reading and my science scores were lower than the first time I took it,” Jamali said. “So, clearly those tests brought down my scores. All in all, I ended up getting the exact same score as I did last year.”

Tardiness affected senior Tyler Siekmann’s first ACT encounter, he said.

Siekmann was signed up to test at Fairfield High School, but got lost on his way there.

“When I got around the Fairfield area,

photo by Kris Ogungbemi

Numerous mishaps can occur while taking a standardized test (including forgetting your calculator or getting sick), leading to increased levels of stress.

my GPS just kind of stopped working,” Siekmann said. “I was stuck and I had no idea where to go. I had to stop and ask directions to Fairfield High School. I was fifteen minutes late to the test.”

Being in an unknown area influenced the manner in which Siekmann said he tested and the scores he received. Siekmann tested at Mason after Fairfield and had significantly better results.

“I feel like it affected my scores because I took it later at Mason and when I took it at a place I was familiar, with I got a much better [score],” Siekmann said.

Veterans of standardized test taking and test misfortunes, Waggoner, Jamali and Siekmann offer advice to future test-takers.

Siekmann said he suggests reviewing the directions to your testing location prior to the journey.

“I would recommend making sure ahead of time you know where you’re going, whether you’re relying on directions, or a map or a GPS,” Siekmann said. “Make sure you have a little bit of a sense of where you’re going. And also, leave early enough, to make sure you give yourself enough time in case you get lost -- to eliminate the stress from it.”

From past experience and previous knowledge Jamali said he advises listening to your instincts.

“Use your break very wisely, because you only get one of them,” Jamali said. “It is very important for potentially staying on track with your [testing].”

Waggoner recommends a light approach to the serious testing.

“Obviously this test is important, but you just have to learn to take it easy,” Waggoner said. “Be able to laugh at yourself, be able to understand that sometimes things are out of your control.

Do your best, keep trying and don’t puke on anyone. ”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

FEATURE | PAGE 21

What’s in your trunk?

Janie Simonton | Staff Writer

Taking a peek in students’ cars can reveal far more about them than they or their Facebook profile pages would tell, according to senior Ethan Brown. Brown said that the contents of his car can reveal traits about his personality.

Angad Pordal – junior, National Honor Society member, avid napper, fan of TV

Car: Green 1998 Toyota Sienna Mini-Van Objects currently in the car: hand sanitizer, a pillow, some blankets, a spare tire, candy wrappers and a bag of old clothes Pordal said the nature of his car is due to both idleness and readiness. “[My car is] messy [because] I’m lazy,” Pordal said. “[But] I might need something, so I never throw [anything] out.”

And even though the contents of his car might tend to pile up, Pordal said his willingness to always be ready for any emergency is one of the main reasons behind this occurrence. “[I have the hand sanitizer because] I don’t want Swine Flu,” Pordal said. “I’m prepared.”

Not all of his car’s contents are due to his diligent devotion to being on top of things, though, Pordal said.

“I’ve got a bag of old clothes [in my car],” Pordal said. “I was supposed to give it to Goodwill, but I just never did. [That was] like a year ago.”

Jenna Bookman –

senior, Comet Zone employee, gymnast, cheerleader, NHS member and nanny Car: Black 2006 Jeep Liberty Objects currently in the car: babysitting bag, two sweatshirts, workout clothes, a magazine, stuff owed to people and lots of water bottles Bookman said she believes the slightly messy environment of her car is due to her packed schedule. “[My car has my] babysitting photos by Janie Simonton bag, [because] I nanny for two The items in students’ cars can provide insight into traits. girls,” Bookman said.

When the car gets too untidy, though, Bookman said her friends tease her about it.

“On bad days, [they’ll] make fun of it and scoot stuff to the side,” Bookman said.

Even though her friends have seem to think it’s funny that Bookman’s car gets a little cluttered, none of them try to prevent the mess.

“No one tries to clean it up,” Bookman said. “Some of them leave stuff.”

Ethan Brown – senior, football player, recreational basketball player and guitar, bass

guitar, piano, violin and harmonica musician Car: Silver 2002 4-door Saturn Objects currently in the car: football stuff Brown said the condition of his car depends on what’s happening in his life. “[I’m] clean when I need to be, but I’m not a clean freak,” Brown said. “I don’t really worry about it.”

The contents of Brown’s car normally tend be a little sloppier than they are now, though, he said. “[U]sually there [are] a ton of clothes [and] fast food bags,” Brown said.

Brown said he admits some of his friends have problems with his car’s state, explaining that girls who get in his car can be “grossed out” by the fast food bags.

“Some of [my friends] make [the mess] worse,” Brown said.

Brown said although his friends leave things in his car, he believes his personality is very obvious to riders.

“I think you can tell what my personality is when you get in my car, with my stuff and what not,” Brown said. “[However,] I think a lot [of it’s just there] because of [life].”

Eric Severson –

senior, four-year water polo player, music connoisseur and fan of hanging out with friends Car: Red 2005 Toyota Echo Objects currently in the car: over 100 CDs (titles include Opeth, Slayer and Meshuggah) and a boombox Severson said he doesn’t believe the contents of his car say anything in particular about him. “[In] all honesty, I think [the things in my car are there] just because of circumstance, nothing really special” Severson said.

The items in his car just reveal that he’s “an average teenage kid who listens to music a lot,” according to Severson. “[I listen to] anything from death metal to rave techno,” Severson said.

Severson said he describes his cleaning tendencies as uninvolved and generally indifferent.

“I really don’t care, [which is why] my car’s more on the messy side,” Severson said.

Severson said that the untidiness of his car affects his mentality about taking riders.

“Personally, I’m embarrassed whenever [friends] go to my car,” Severson said. “It’s usually a mess, but you’d have to ask them [how they feel about its condition].”

Taking the road less traveled Jami Bechard | Staff Writer

With the new addition of the Z-wing and new music rooms, the facilities of MHS have extended to just over 500,000 square feet. Some students are stressed about navigating the halls, but most have learned to adapt to the new building, according to Physical Science teacher Barb Shuba.

Classes like weight training, study hall and gym can put more stress into a student’s day, according to Senior Katherine Lamb. Lamb said she stops by her locker each morning in the Z-pod only to run all the way across school to gym, which is just over 1,400 feet. Once the bell rings for second period, Lamb said she is running back to Z3 in six minutes.

Between sweaty gym class and changing into her school clothes, Lamb said the distance makes for a rough start to her day. However, Lamb said she is the girl sprinting through the halls to make it to her next class right before the bell, because being tardy is not an option.

“I’m always running up the stairs, and I get there probably 20 seconds before the bell rings,” Lamb said. “I’ve never been tardy. I can’t stand being tardy. I’ve probably been tardy twice my whole entire high school career. I hated both times.”

Students now have six minutes to get from class to class. Six minutes should be enough time, according to teachers Shuba, Colleen Everett and Abigail Gist.

“I even notice when there’s a minute or so to go [until the bell rings], the halls are fairly empty,” Everett said.

But junior Ryan Gabriel said he is still late to class due to a schedule that sends him from D1 to Z1.

“I’m late [to class] like three times a week,” Gabriel said. I stop by my locker twice a day but sometimes I’m late, so I bring [my stuff with me].”

Sophomore Megan McCormack said she takes advantage of the entire six minutes between bells, but she has learned how to use her time without being tardy.

“I might spend a little extra time at my locker than needed,”

McCormack said. “I haven’t been late at all this year. Just because we have six minutes longer, [teachers] feel like we should just be able to get there.”

According to Lamb, her six minutes between bells is spent pacing to her class with no delays to reach the threshold of her classes with seconds to spare. But, traffic accidents and back-ups in the halls will slow Lamb down.

“I run into people every day,” Lamb said. “I’m a part of that.

Then, of course, people will drop stuff, and then there will be a

Time to complete total schedule travel distance Katherine Lamb Final time: 10:43 Ryan Gabriel Final time: 14:23

Monica Garcia Final time: 16:51 Megan McCormack Final time: 16:23

whole back up. Calculators will fall and then batteries go everywhere.”

Being in a freshmen-filled pod, Shuba photos by Jami Bechard said she can recognize how the freshmen have had to adjust to the new wing and a new school. With some help and guidance, freshmen have learned to navigate the school, according to Shuba.

“We had to do some problem solving,” Shuba said. “[The freshmen] didn’t realize there are two sets of steps. It confused the freshmen that Z was on the other end of A. That confused them, because alphabetically that doesn’t happen. The first week, I had some freshmen telling me they had to go through the D pod, because, alphabetically, it’s that way.”

According to Shuba, the Z-wing has reduced traffic accidents and flow inside the pods where the classrooms are, but the main hallway that connects all the wings has become even more congested.

“I think [the Z-wing] has alleviated congestion in the pods; I think [the main hallway] has gotten worse,” said Shuba. “Before [the new additions, the pod] was very congested, because not only did you have all those classrooms, but you had traveling teachers, so you had a lot more students.”

According to McCormack, the Z-pod has reduced traffic a lot, but the new addition has been an adjustment.

“Even though there are more kids than last year, [the halls are] so much easier to walk through,” McCormack said. “[But] it’s really not that big of a difference, because the school is already so big.”

PAGE 22 | FEATURE

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 | THE CHRONICLE

The Evolution of the Vampire

photo art by Caleb Schowalter

Jordan Berger | Staff Writer Blood and gore has slowly been transformed into sparkly skin and a love story, as a renewed concept of the common vampire has evolved through media, according to Film Club adviser Thurman Allen. Allen, who has been hooked on vampires ever since college, said that cultural perceptions of the mythical creatures shift with the values of specific periods.

“Obviously in the last two years, as things like Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries and other [media] has picked up, there’s been a great change,” Allen said. “It’s almost like [vampires] become your friend or your buddy, opposed to these things to be feared.”

Sophomore Alex Mezhvinsky, who has been interested in vampires since age 10, said he attributes the current vampire rave within teenage culture to teenage desires and natural attraction to the modern vampire’s entities.

“I think it’s about being different without being different, like hiding within a crowd,” Mezhvinsky said. “I think [modern vampires] really appeal to freedom; vampires do what they want, when they want, and they aren’t constrained. I think a lot of teenagers want that freedom and power.”

While human interest for a common vampire such as Edward Cullen or characters in True Blood has increased, another reason for this attraction to these friendlier creatures stems from society today, according to Allen.

“Any horror is a reflection of its time,” Allen said. “So, vampire stories written in the 70s reflected what was going on in society at that point. When Braham Stoker wrote Dracula, it was reflecting what was going on in society.”

Because of this pattern in horror stories, the idea of a vampire today roots in the ideal of equality, according to Allen.

“A lot of the emphasis in our society now is tolerance, that idea that everyone should be treated the same,” Allen said.

“So, vampires no longer represent something that should be pushed away, [but rather] they’re just another part of society; it’s that acceptance thing which is so much what our society wants to go toward.”

Allen said the attractions to each different version of the vampire in different stages of its evolution vary, and with the vampire, what comprises this attraction evolves. A creature whose attraction lay within its completely evil being and ability to live forever has been morphed, said Allen.

“Vampires nowadays aren’t dangerous, and even when they are dangerous, they’re kind of wrapped in this pretty package,” Allen said. “The old vampires, while they were pretty, you would never want to be friends with [them]. You were fearful for your life.”

Allen, who has read the whole series of Twilight books, said vampires of modern times do not hold the interest that the older ones such as Dracula did, especially in terms of imagery.

The stereotype of the older vampire delved much deeper into the metaphor of vampires and the issues of the duality of human nature, he said.

“Vampires, in many ways, represent those urges within us for sex and the idea of immortality and what people would do to be immortal,” Allen said. “Is it worth giving up your soul for immortality?”

As writers and directors portray vampires with more human-like qualities, the vampire loses its

overall appeal, according to Mezhvinsky.

“There is a book I just read called Thirteen Bullets and it froze out all the [modern vampires] like in Twilight; it goes back to the original Dracula, so there’s this inhuman monster who goes out at night and just rips apart people,” Mezhvinsky said. “He’s very hard to stop, so it’s a losing battle. I find that a lot more interesting than just vampires trying to help people and be themselves without losing the vampire.”

Unlike fans of the traditional, Dracula-like vampire, others argue the newer vampire stereotypes have impacted student interest positively due to the ability to connect with these vampires, according to Twilight fan senior Maddie Adams.

“I’m attracted to [Twilight] because [Edward Cullen] is so perfect and he is the guy that every girl wants,” Adams said.

“And Bella is so unoriginal and so normal; that it makes us think that any girl can have the guy.”

This appeal has encouraged other writers to imitate the idea of the modern vampire and the techniques of Twilight writer, Stephanie Meyer, according to Adams. “[Modern] vampires are good looking, nice and the perfect guy; teenage girls want that, and with the movie you can see what Edward looks like, too,” Adams said. “It’s attracted teenage girls so much that other books and movies are starting to copy the same ideas because they think they can be as successful as Stephanie Meyer was.”

The evolution of the vampire’s portrayal from animalistic to a more loving and human-like creature has exhibited a large leap, but some forms of entertainment find peaked interest within the mix between the two extremes, according to True Blood fan senior Cari Caprio.

“True Blood is a combination of both [ideas] because Twilight can sometimes be gooey,” Caprio said. “My favorite book in Twilight was the one with the war, because there was that and also the love. True Blood still has the killing, but also the Twilight part in it.”

The attraction to the medium between animalistic vampires and modern vampires is also a result of the content and structure, according to Caprio.

“The mix makes it more of a thrill,” Caprio said. “I like NCIS and shows like that, because they have action. True Blood has action and love, which makes it good.”

According to Allen, whether students find their niche within the figure and characteristics of older vampires or the modern and currently emphasized vampire, the creature, because of its broad metaphor, is increasingly being emphasized within society.

“The discussion comes up a lot more in my classes and things like that, because there’s a lot more overall awareness of vampires,” Allen said. “Plus, we’ve made them very cool at this point.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

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