See Thanksgiving football game coverage pages 8-9
Newtonite ◆ Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011 • Volume 90, Issue 11
TheNewtonite.com
Non-profit org. US postage paid Newton, Mass. Permit no. 55337
Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460
Does school recycle? HILARY BRUMBERG ALEX FEIT As much as this school encourages recycling, the mountains of recyclable paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum that amass do not necessarily go to their prescribed destination. Although some students intentionally sort trash and usergenerated recyclables into the two bins in classrooms, they both end up in the large trash barrels when custodians do their daily rounds, according to senior custodian Tim Keefe. Recyclables are often thrown out because it would take too long for custodians to do two separate rounds for trash and recycling, he said. Custodians do recycle large recyclables such as industrial cardboard waste from the cafeteria around every three days, Keefe said. However, the only small usergenerated recyclables from this school that make it to the two large recycling dumpsters in the loading dock are those that students and teachers take the initiative to recycle themselves, he said. Custodians empty the large green City of Newton-issue recycling carts in hallways approximately once a week, once classes have filled them with their recycling. The City picks up whatever recycling this school collects in the two large designated recycling dumpsters in the loading dock every Wednesday, according to Keefe. Several student groups have created initiatives for this school to recycle more appropriate waste. Seniors Lena Golick and Molly Mamon wanted to make ◆ continued on page 3 BY
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Gabe Dreyer
Shirts for sale: Juniors John Hogan and Mike Safran sell Spirit Week shirts on Main Street Tuesday, Nov. 15.
‘Occupy’ protests provide student outlet ALEX FEIT With the “Occupy” protests spreading to thousands of cities and towns around the globe, a handful of students and teachers at this school feel inclined to take part in this now ubiquitous movement. Clamoring for governments to address a wide variety of issues, including income inequality and an over-influence of money in politics, supporters of the movement have set up tent collectives within these various cities. Students and youth around the world have become some of the largest backers of the movement. Boston has its Occupy branch centered in Dewey Park, where hundreds of round-the-clock supporters spend their days in dozens of makeshift tents to spread the message of the “99 percent,” those not in the top one percent of income earners.
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“I love that people have decided to be proactive,” said sophomore Amelia Williams, who recently went to the Boston protest. “Although there really isn’t one unifying cause, I still think it is pretty awesome to see people fighting for something they care about,” she said. Williams said the protests are appealing “because there is a sense of community—how we are the 99 percent, ultimately fighting for democracy.” Even in wealthy suburbs such as Newton, where the 2010 United States Census states that the median income, at $105,000, is twice the national average, some still feel encouraged to lend a hand to the nascent movement. While some students went to protest for a cause, others went out of curiosity. “I went because I wanted to see firsthand what was actually going on there, since I had heard
many different things about it,” said junior Jack Gardner. Many students, regardless of whether they took part in the protest, have opinions on the issues involved. “There’s no social justice in America,” said junior Jordan Ecker. “Because the politics of Washington are essentially controlled by who has money, rather than by the people, the Occupy protests are basically the only way to vent our dissatisfaction,” he added. Teachers at this school have also stood behind the movement, which supports fair wages for public sector employees. “The political culture in Washington is so dysfunctional that anything that gets politicians focused on the needs of ordinary people is a positive thing,” said history teacher John Fitzgerald. “Many of the most important changes in society have occurred in protest move-
ments.” As with any protest, there is a level disagreement as to whether or not the movement is beneficial. “I think the Occupy movement is protesting the wrong aspects of society,” said sophomore Riley Heiman. “Members are protesting the high echelons of our society, including corporations, when they should be protesting the government more for letting this poor economic situation happen.” A few of the movement’s supporters criticized the perceived ignorance of some of the protesters. Williams said, “It does bother me some people are there because it’s ‘cool,’ yet don’t know what they are supporting.” Still, English teacher Peter Goddard, said that “because the protest is grass-roots, it can get a little messy—but that’s democracy.”
Students finish writing novels PERRIN STEIN Writing a novel is a formidable task. Writing a novel in 30 days seems like madness. Writing a novel in 30 days as a high school student appears impossible. Although the undertaking is more than daunting, a few students are nearing the end of a month-long novel-writing spree called National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. NaNoWriMo, currently in its 13th year, is an annual event managed by the non-profit organization the Office of Letters and Light. It is, quite simply, “30 days and nights of literary abandon!” according to NaNoWriMo’s website. More specifically, NaNoWriMo is a personal challenge to
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Jay Feinstein
NaNoWriMo: Sophomore Eliana Gevelber works on her novel in the Library Learning Commons.
write 50,000 words in 30 days. This is nearly 1,667 words or about five pages double spaced a day. There is no penalty for failing to meet one’s word count goal, and the prize for winning is the satisfaction of having banged out approximately 150 double spaced pages of material in a mere month. For individuals under 17, there is a Young Writers Program, which allows participants to set their own word count goals. Although most students at this school fit the requirements for the Young Writers Program, many paricipants set their goal at 50,000 words, the predetermined challenge for adults. According to NaNoWriMo’s website, its goal is to help people
write a novel by giving them a deadline, a word count and a support network of other writers, according to the event’s website. By writing such a large quantity in such a short time, writers are forced to take risks, to be recklessly creative and to abandon the pedantry of editing. The focus is on quantity over quality, according to the website. In order to help students complete NaNoWriMo, librarian and Senior Year Project teacher Kevin McGrath permits participants to sign out laptops whenever they come to the library. These laptops gives students the ability to work on their novel during the school day. Currently, about 10 students use the laptops. These students ◆ continued on page 5