The Merionite March 2011 Issue

The Merionite March 25, 2011

Volume 82, Issue 5

The official student newspaper of Lower Merion High School since 1929

News Alert: New human resources director named At the LM Board of Directors business meeting on February 28, the Board approved the resignations of Martha Yoder, now former human-resources director, and Fran Keaveney, now the former executive assistant to the superintendent and board secretary.

The Board also named Megan Shafer as Yoder’s replacement. She will start May 1, and her term runs until June 30, 2015.

Shafer has been an attorney with Wisler Pearlstine, a law firm that has represented LMSD since the 1970s. She formerly worked at Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius, the firm who represented the District in the redistricting suit.

Relevance of religion in school Andrew Pasquier

Class of 2013

Religion is equally, if not more important than almost anything else we could, or do learn about in school.

Religion has been a central pillar of the human persona, which has shaped how we view of ourselves and the world around us throughout human history. A proper knowledge, respect for, and participation in religion is essential to understand the human forces which shape our world.

If religious understanding is so important as we grow and develop in our society, why has religious study become more of a stigma than a foundation to education?

Countless court rulings over our nations history have made it so this indispensible part of human knowledge has become exactly what it shouldn’t be, dispensable. The courts have made an error. When the Founding Father’s included the establishment clause in the first amendment: “Congress shall

See RELIGION, page 7

Aces successful Danny Kane

Class of 2012

Generally, the start of Boys’ Basketball season is a time of excitement at LM. Students, teachers and community members alike are all geared up for the seemingly annual playoff runs and Central League titles. But this year was a little different. With the team having lost Alon Seltzer and Oliver Cohen, its two leading scorers who would both go on to play collegiately, expectations were relatively low. Many followers of the team thought that they would be lucky to make the District Playoffs and that a State Playoff birth was no more than a far-fetched dream. The Aces remained calm despite their apparent problems, determined to make the most out of their season.

The season did not start off well for the Aces, with them sitting at 6-6 after a 61-57 loss to West Chester Rustin on January 16. With the season halfway done, and many fans of the team con-

See ACES, page 16

Graphic by Anna Simon/Staff

Earthquake in Japan shakes LMHS Maya Afilalo

Class of 2012

On March 11, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami waves devastated Japan. The earthquake-tsunami combination killed over 7,000 people and thousands more are injured, missing, or homeless. Japanese students and teachers at LM with family in Japan were also affected by the disaster.

One student, senior Erika Bar-David, was relieved to hear that her family in Tokyo was all right. Bar-David has an aunt, uncle, grandmother, and cousins in Japan.

“My mom contacted my grandmother once lines went back up, and luckily she was okay. Apparently the place did shake just a bit but nothing worse than that,”

Bar-David said.

While Bar-David’s family survived the disaster, she and her family in the U.S. are still worried about possible repercussions due to issues at nuclear power plants.

“The concern [about the disaster] is obviously not going away, as unfortunately from what I hear this nuclear plant disaster is spreading into Tokyo so that is another ongoing situation for us to worry about,” Bar-David said.

Sophomore Kei Nakagawa was also relieved to find out that his family and friends in Kyoto survived.

“When I first heard about the earthquake and tsunami I didn’t think it was a big deal; Japan is a country made of islands and things like that happen all

the time. But then I learned about the actual scale of the whole thing,” said Nakagawa. “It was just weird, really.

Watching the videos on CNN felt like I was watching a movie, like it wasn’t real. It didn’t seem possible for that much destruction to happen in such a short span of time.”

Japanese teacher Mariko LaFleur was happy to hear that her parents, who live in Saitama, a city two hours west of Tokyo, were all right.

“My parents are very used to earthquakes, they know what’s it’s like to be in an earthquake. That day it was very long and very scary,” LaFleur said.

LaFleur had an earthquake experi-

See JAPAN, page 2

Schanne sues ex-student for slander Conor Ferguson

professional and business acquaintances…upon information and belief, is falsely viewed by Class of 2011 them as a person of low morals who was willing On March 15, 2011, former LM to engage in an inappropriate relationship physics teacher Robert Schanne, who with a student.” Schanne seeks $75,000 in was fired in late January, filed a lawsuit punitive or exemplary damages, as well as against his accuser, Jenna Addis, for all such other legal and equitable relief the libel and slander.

Court deems just and appropriate.

As reported in the last edition of The The court documents state that Schanne Merionite, in December of 2010 it was most recently met with Addis over Thanksbrought to the administration’s attengiving weekend in 2010 at a Borders tion that eight years ago Schanne had bookstore in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. allegedly taken part in an inappropriate At this time Schanne attempted to end his “dating relationship” with an 18 year-old relationship with Addis and informed her woman while she was still his student. that he was “in a serious relationship with In filed court documents, Schanne’s another woman.”

The official papers filed lawyer Timothy Kolman vehemently by Kolman indicate that “upon learning denied the accusations against his client this fact, [Addis] indicated significant by stating that Schanne “never engaged jealousy over [Schanne’s] into [sic] excluin an improper relationship with this sive relationship with another woman and student. He had an academic relationship threatened to manufacture details about an with her but it was never improper.” In alleged improper relationship between her fact, the court documents filed by Koland [Schanne] while she was still a high man assert that Schanne’s “occasionally school student—a relationship that never intimate relationship” with Addis began occurred.” in 2004—one year after Addis graduAccording to Kolman, Addis acted ated high school, and continued through on her threat and maliciously contacted 2010.

Photo courtesy of Enchiridion 2003 LMSD on December 9, claiming that she Kolman stated that it was neceshad “conducted a sexual relationship with sary to take action against Addis Jenna Addis, pictured above in her 2003 yearbook [Schanne] while she still was a high school because her statements were false and photo, chose a saying by physicist Albert Einstein as student.” had ruined the once esteemed physics teacher’s reputation, causing him to be the victim of “scandal and reproach.”

In the court documents, Kolman proceeded to argue that Schanne “has been held up to ridicule, scorn, and contempt among his neighbors,

one of her senior quotes; “Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.”

See SCHANNE, page 3

2

March 25, 2011

NEWS

The Merionite

Budget to be cut by $1.4 mil.

Eric Cohn

Class of 2012

On March 9, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett announced his proposal to cut more than $1 billion from the state budget for public schools. LMSD will lose $1.4 million from its state funding, which this year totaled around $3.7 million.

The District was expecting significant cuts, but none this high.

“We were anticipating losing $500,000.

We did not anticipate losing an additional $927,000,” said Superintendent Christopher McGinley. “When the budget actually came out, there were surprises for every school district across the state, and our surprises cost us another $927,000.”

LMSD currently receives 16% of its budget from the state, which is less than many other districts receive.

“Districts that receive much higher percentages, some as much as 60% of their budget comes from the state, those are even worse off this year than we are,” said McGinley.

Most of the District’s money comes from its tax base, which will see a tax increase of 3.3% this year. However, this tax raise is the lowest in the history of the LMSD. “The value of our tax base in the community has declined over the last three years.

So because the tax base declines, because houses are worth less than they were three years ago…we have less revenue from the local tax base,” said McGinley, “and we count on that interest as part of our revenue stream, and that’s down to almost nothing, like $300,000…and it was at $4 million a few years ago.”

The decrease in funds will manifest itself in a variety of ways.

“There are purchases we can put off. In technology, there are things that we could delay starting, and there are places where there are positions that are vacant that we might not fill,” said McGinley.

McGinley stated that the District is specifically “looking at classroom aide positions” to see if it could “go without those kinds of positions.”

“We haven’t finished figuring out what we’re going to do with those positions, but it will be a combination of purchases and contracted services that we’ll reduce,” he added.

Presently, LMSD receives specific state funding for special education and receives a basic education subsidy, which can be used in any part of the District’s budget.

However, McGinley wanted to assure the

community that LMSD’s special programs will not be affected. “[The cuts are] not going to affect after school programs, foreign language programs, or any of those kinds of things that are not required of the state but are a wonderful part of our instructional program,” he explained.

The budget cuts will also affect teachers.

Last year, Governor Rendell’s budget cuts specified that new teachers in LMSD would be placed under a different pension system than existing teachers. According to McGinley, “there [have been] some discussions in Harrisburg that the changes made last year are not enough.” The state will lower its reimbursement of employees’ social security money from 50% to 15%. Employees hired after July 1, 1994 will be subject to the social security decrease.

In order to deal with the budget cuts, the District will be decreasing the number of computers and servers the technology division replaces and refurbishes.

“We think that at one point the District had purchased, with good reason in terms of the instructional program, a lot of units that we probably can’t continue to replace and refresh and afford,” said McGinley.

One of the most universal and evident effects of the budget cuts is the delay of the Keystone Exams. The exams will not be implemented in the 2011-2012 school year, as originally planned. Instead, the Literature, English Composition, Algebra I, and Biology exams will be available for 2012-2013, while the Social Studies exams will be field tested in 2012-2013 for use during 2013-2014.

“Even though they’ve spent $50 million of state money on it, they’re not ready to go,” said McGinley. “I understand it would take them another $20 million to complete the process.”

“I’m not a fan of the Keystone Exams, so I’d be happy if they never fund them,” he added.

The budget cuts will not affect the continued construction of the administration building and the high schools. The District’s construction fund was accumulated over a period of years and is separate from its state funds.

In spite of the significant budget cuts, the District continues to strive towards maintaining LMSD’s high quality of education.

“Our job under tough economic circumstances is to make sure we’re able to keep the quality of our school program,” said McGinley.

Itai Doron

Class of 2011

courts, where a temporary basin container exists above ground.

A third step requires removing the temporary parking on Arnold field and restoring it to three playing fields. This will be the last step in construction, expected to finish in the fall of 2012

tion proceeded, workers did run into a significant dilemma: asbestos levels in the old buildings were much higher than expected. These high levels are believed to be a relic of earlier attempts to reduce asbestos levels in the school.

“It means two things,”

As the spring of 2011 approaches at LM, the transformation of the grounds from the old building to the new approaches its final stages.

Currently, construction workers have completed the demolition of all old buildings. All that remains is to create new p a r k i n g a reas, which will include a front and rear parking area, along with bus parking areas and driveways along the west side of the school buildings, facing Suburban Square.

Contractors are also preparing to remove a portion of the old bus loop along Owen Photo by Chris Conwell/Staff Road in order Large construction equipment still remains on the ground of LM. to install fencConstruction, however, is reaching its final stages. ing and landscaping. after the grass seed grows G u i n n a n e t o l d L M S D Storm water basins, in. Direct of Operations Board members and adw h i c h w i l l p r o v i d e a P a t r i c k G u i n n a n e e x - ministrators, “more mondraining point for rain- pects the construction ey and more time.” water falling on school occurring on and around Although all asbestos g r o u n d s , a r e a n o t h e r the northern side of the was removed, it took an large part of the school’s school, the main build- extra few days in late completion. This is the ing, should finish during February to do so and function of the so-called the fall of 2011, right added an extra $97,400 to “Lake Hughes” outside before the start of the the costs for the company the cafeteria. Rather than school year. that was overseeing the a lake, however, workers “The new parking ar- reduction. plan to drain the area in eas and bus drop off and Although the construcorder to build a large p i c k u p a r e a s , b y t h e tion of the new school underground container cafeteria and gym, to be has faced certain impedibehind a 14-foot-high open and in use in Sep- ments such as asbestos, retaining wall. Another tember of 2011,” Guin- the process has generally similar basin should be nane said. moved smoothly and on based near the tennis As quickly as demoli- schedule.

Disaster in Japan hits home, LM community saddened From JAPAN, page 1

ence of her own when visiting her parents in Japan last year.

“I started to hear rattling windows and I looked at my parents, and they were calm. I asked if it was an earthquake and they said it was. It is very scary,” LaFleur recalled.

The earthquake was the fifth largest in the world since 1900, and left millions of Japanese without electricity and plumbing. Many homes were destroyed as well.

“As I was talking to a friend in Japan, I learned that her friend and friend’s family lost basically everything they had,” Nakagawa said.

The lack of electricity has made basic household tasks like cooking dinner a struggle.

“Some days [my parents] have three hours of no electricity. This week they had no electricity from 6-9 at night. That’s cooking time, and they could not open the refrigerator, nothing. It’s very difficult to buy candles or batteries, so many people just buy cups of noodles because it’s easy to prepare,” LaFleur explained. Many

simple household products like toilet paper have become scarce as well.

Because of the lack of electricity, many trains have stopped running, leading people to rely on cars. This has caused a gasoline shortage.

“It’s still cold [in Japan], I think they have snow. And because of the shortage of gas, the supplies are there but no trucks are willing to go because there’s not enough gasoline to go. Many people don’t have enough blankets,” LaFleur said. “Every time I look at the news, my heart breaks. And I can’t do anything about it.”

Governments and relief agencies around the world have been working since the day of the quake to provide aid to affected areas of Japan. The LM community is also working to help the survivors of the disaster. The

LM orchestra will be holding a Maestro the Lion Benefit concert on March 27, the proceeds of which will go to fund relief efforts in Japan.

“I am really hoping [that] the students here at LM … will take the time to attend this benefit concert as it is for a really great cause,” said Bar-David, who is a member of the orchestra. LaFleur’s students at Harriton and LM are planning to make origami to sell as a fundraiser for Japan.

“Right now I’m just scared for the future of Japan because of the after effects of the earthquake/tsunami. First, the bank had to make an emergency injection of 13 trillion yen to the system just to keep the economy stable...It’s really just terrifying,” Nakagawa said.

“My parents say it’s going to take more than three years to really get recovered. It’s going to be really difficult,” LaFleur said.

“Watching the videos on CNN felt like I was watching a movie, like it wasn’t real. It didn’t seem possible for that much destruction to happen in such a short period of time.”

-Kei Nakagawa

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March 25, 2011

NEWS Schanne accuses former student of libel/slander The Merionite

From SCHANNE, page 1

Jealousy however may not have been Addis’s only motivation for coming forward with these claims. The court documents assert that Addis had told Schanne that she blamed Schanne for her “inability to have a meaningful relationship with a boyfriend.”

According to the lawsuit, from late Sep-

tember of 2002 (the fall of Addis’s senior year), Schanne tutored Addis once or twice a week at her home while no one else was there. Addis claims that Schanne “crossed the line” and engaged in “flirting” and later “physical interactions”—and she went on to state that “hugging, kissing, and touching” were a “natural progression.” According to the lawsuit, Addis told school administra-

tion that these affections progressed into intimate physical relations, but Schanne refused sexual intercourse until after she graduated. Kolman adamantly refuted these accusations as unfounded.

While Schanne is no longer a teacher at LM, when asked about the situation, LMSD Superintendent Christopher McGinley said that he was saddened about the allegations

brought against Schanne.

“I think that it’s tremendously sad and I think that Mr. Schanne was a tremendous asset to the school district and an inspirational teacher who knew his subject well and was very capable at inspiring the interests of the students and engaging students in really deep thinking about complex concepts and complex ideas,” McGinley said.

Players performance interrupted by gas leak Nicole Wang

Class of 2013

On Friday, February 11, while LM Players was in the middle of its second showing of Twelve Angry Jurors, a Bunsen-burner-like smell leaked into the building, forcing the play to be stopped and the audience to be evacuated.

A gas pump outside—near the art wing’s exit—was the source of the leak. Every LM school bus is run on natural gas, and for this reason, the school has its own gas pump outside similar to the ones seen at local gas stations.

A little over halfway through Act One, a gaseous smell filled the halls, the auditorium, and the black box theater.

Several minutes passed, and the scenery coach Todd Smith appeared on stage. There had been some sort of technical difficulty with a gas pipe, Smith announced. The show would have to be stopped and everyone was to calmly evacuate the building.

“The main emotion I could remember was being confused at why he [Smith] would be interrupting the play.... and then the next moment he announces that there’s a gas leak. Some actors started to move but we immediately whispered to each other to stay frozen onstage. So there we froze onstage, silently panicking and whispering,” sophomore Molly Weilbacher recounted.

Within a few minutes, police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance arrived at LM to ensure safety. The cast, crew, and audience members stood outside of the building in 20°F weather for over an hour before being allowed back inside. At around 10:30 PM, the Players members and audience were told to go home. Fortunately, LM Players was able to add a matinee show to the Sunday of that week .

“The Gas Leak is now a part of Players’ traditions,”

Photo by Chris Conwell/Staff

The gas pumps near the bus circle outside of LM were the sourcle of the leak.

Stage Manager senior Rebecca Hazany joked.

A “Gas Leak Dance” show was put on for the crew

by the cast after the incident. Aside from the elaborate dances, the leak has also brought new safety standards.

“Now the stage managers will have to inform Players members in the future what do to in case of a gas leak, not just what to do in case of a fire,” said Hazany.

The strong gaseous smell inside the building was caused by air ventilation and air pressure. That specific evening, both a wrestling match and a Players show were simultaneously taking place. Due to these events, there was a lot of exchange in air through the opening and closing of the main doors. Aside from the doors, the school itself—like most buildings of the 21st century—has a ventilation system in which fresh air is brought in and old stuffy air is sent out. So, when new air was brought in, it contained natural gas. The black box—which has poorer ventilation than the rest of the school—ended up with the strongest smell of methane and other various natural gases.

“We think because of the overcast and abnormality in pressure, the gas which normally would have been too far above the surrounding for anyone to smell was actually present,” Assistant Principal Scott Kilpatrick explained.

Inhaling methane by itself is not deadly, but when methane displaces oxygen, humans essentially will suffocate. Although there was not nearly enough methane present to displace and suffocate the people inside, protocol and precautionary measures are always taken.

“One of the compressors kept running on the natural gas station. Since then they have added an additional safety device,” Kilpatrick said.

Chances of accidents like these can be and have been reduced, but it’s not impossible for them to happen. It’s important to bear in mind not to panic in situations like this and follow the proper directions given.

Race to Nowhere questions current LM practices Zack Schlosberg

Class of 2012

This month, LM and Superintendent Dr. Christopher McGinley hosted a screening of the documentary “Race to Nowhere.” This film, directed by first time filmmaker Vicki Abeles, discusses the intense pressures on today’s high school, middle school, and even elementary school children.

Abeles, a mother of three, laments the loss of family time, down time, and essentially childhood, that she has seen in her children. She was inspired to make the film after a thirteen-year-old girl in her community committed suicide after a poor grade on a math test. In the movie, she called for a major shift in the way educators and administrators approach school and homework.

The movie was open to the community on March 6, and after the screening, there were three small discussion groups with different administrators to talk about the film.

According to McGinley, “The purpose of the screening was “[to provide] a chance to reexamine the things that we’re doing and create a dialogue with parents.”

Parents were given the opportunity to both speak to administrators and turn in

written comments.

“In the written comments… people objected to school intruding onto family time, holiday time, religious practices, and feeling that there were times that the school overwhelmed the family with too much work,” McGinley said.

One parent, Felicia Bloom, who has two sons at LM, really connected to the film, saying, “As a parent, I worry about my kids being pushed over the limit.

Sometimes I see what some kids are doing and think, how much more can a person do? Where’s the endpoint?”

“For kids that are driven, it’s almost an impossible treadmill to be on, because no matter what you’re doing, there’s always going to be somebody else that’s going to be doing more.

-Felicia Bloom Principal Sean Hughes addressed this issue, saying, “We say to kids ‘get involved in a lot of activities,’ but sometimes kids take that to the extreme and do fifteen activities, but each only a tiny bit, instead of [doing] one or two activities and [doing them] very, very well. How do you manage all that time?”

When asked how a student could attempt to change his or her attitude to

schooling in order to promote a healthier lifestyle, McGinley responded, “Sometimes, people become overly focused on a small set of opportunities that they think are ‘where we need to go,’… but we need to keep it in perspective, because there are so many wonderful schools out there.”

Felicia Bloom went on to express longterm concern about the trajectory of these kids, “Where does it end? So they get into college – and then what? For kids that are driven, it’s almost an impossible treadmill to be on, because no matter what you’re doing, there’s always somebody else that’s going to be doing more...And it’s hard to realize when you’re caught up in the ‘race,’ that not everybody can be the best.”

This film shed light for parents and administrators on what needs to change, in regards to both policies and attitudes.

“We are looking at our homework policy. We’re looking at how much homework do we give, particularly in elementary and middle schools,” McGinley stated.

On the subject of change, Hughes continued, “I think we as schools need to start thinking more about application, maybe less content, and more in depth into content. And maybe, as students, really reflect upon yourself and think, just because all of my friends want to take five APs, can I really do five APs? Why not take two AP courses and do very well in those two AP courses?”

As a parent, Bloom believed that, although a certain amount of the burden for change was on the administration— suggesting perhaps that they limit the amount of APs it is possible for one student to take—the majority of the burden is on the students themselves.

“This is the time in your life where you should be exploring different things, and not just focusing on getting into college,” she said. She also worried that “kids lose out on what they should be doing now, which is always striving to do your best, but at the same time, hav[ing] fun and enjoy[ing] yourself. This is the time to do [that].”

Hughes voiced a larger-scale concern, “Because these young adults are so focused on this resume-building and this ‘A’… Maybe we’ve also lost this idea of: ‘What am I learning this for? Am I learning this for the A or am I learning this to learn something?’”

Race to Nowhere has been shown in many schools across the country, prompting policy changes in some districts and discussions in others. Its poignant message surrounds the story of Devon Marvin, the talented girl who committed suicide at age thirteen because of the immense pressure she felt after receiving a very low grade on a math exam. It is a compelling film that, regardless of one’s opinion, should be afforded some attention because it raises issues that must be handled or looked at in some fashion.

4

March 25, 2011

The Merionite

EDITORIAL/LETTERS

EDITORIAL Leaving Behind the Parent Function

Students have always complained about their parents’ high expectations for their work and the punishments that would come with failure to meet those expectations; however, teachers are made to fear parents too.

Parents, who are privy to only a limited view of a student’s educational experience, seem to be all too frequently up in arms, sure that their child has somehow been slighted. Teachers are made to answer parents’ calls charging them with unfair treatment or emotional requests begging their child’s case and claiming some extenuating circumstance.

Where is the parent’s place in school? Is the intermittent parent-teacher conference sufficient? Whose job is it to stand up for a student who feels he has been wronged? While teachers can be intimidating, it seems unfounded and unfair for a student to assume that a teacher would not listen to the logic a parent would use if it came from the student himself.

Most teachers are, if not sympathetic, at least empathetic to students; after all, they have extensive experience as students themselves.

Students should also be expected to self-advocate; high school transitions students into responsibility and it’s appropriate to expect students to at least initiate necessary conversation with their teachers. A high school student’s responsibility, however, transcends conversation with the teacher. Just as it is frowned upon when two students work together on an individual project, it is inappropriate for a parent to embed himself in the work process of a student. A student need not be micromanaged and in fact, a high school aged student who still needs to be nagged about their homework or have a timer set for their free time or have his Powerschool monitored daily is learning dependence rather than independence. This student is doomed to have major problems when he can no longer rely on the hovering “guidance” of his parent and thus the parent has condemned him to future struggle. Had this parent left him to his own devices early on, certain failures would be expected and the parent could then step in to guide; eventually this student would likely have come to his own, natural sense of time management, not to mention a sense of pride. When parents use punishments and rewards to incentivize their children, they rob them of the chance to develop a work ethic and a genuine sense of pride in their own accomplishments.

Parents should be supportive, involved and interested in their children’s work, but in order to be encouraging, they must relinquish some control and allow their children to develop their own skills. Should they hold on too long, they are actually doing their children a disservice.

Questions from an Editor

Recently, LM news was published on the front page of a non-Merionite publication: The Philadelphia Inquirer. What made big time news? The local phenomenon of the Facebook group “Please don’t buy my prom dress.” Yes, next to the article on U.S. bombing of Libya, was a feature on yours truly: LM girls’ prom tactics used to avoid the major faux-pas of two girls, one dress, and this was no April Fools Issue.

The media lapped up teenage girls’ technological ingenuity in the face of an age old issue, the threat of an unexpected prom dress showdown, the classic “who wore it better?” The issue had already made it to NBC 10 and was aired multiple times; the reporter who “broke” the case posted on the Facebook page so that the girls could see their dresses featured on public television. Why, this editor wonders, was this deemed worthwhile news? What would justify its position amidst the significant action the US took towards involvement in political turmoil surrounding Libya? Every publication is allowed a little “fluff” and when news is so often negative, something less serious is commonly appreciated; but this fluff was just irrelevant and inconsequential. LM is hardly represented by prom antics, but, more to the point, from editor to editor, we question whether it is accurate or appropriate for the media to equate the idea of showing up to prom in the same dress as a classmate with taking down a dictator?

The Merionite Conor Ferguson, ’11 Leah Rosenbloom, ’11

Sports Editors Danny Kane, ’12 Wenwen Yang, ’11

Managing Editor

Matt Rublin, ’11

Layout Editor Anna Simon, ’11

News Editors

Maya Afilalo, ’12 Eric Cohn, ’12 Ian Cohn, ’12

Editors-in-Chief

Op-Ed Editors

Features Editors

Arts & Entertainment Editors

Avi Chatterjee, ’11 Jess Lebow, ’11 Jake Wellens, ’11 Lisa Li, ’11 Danielle Moskow, ’11 Emily Shepard, ’11 Han Tran, ’11

Re: Posting a Claim to Prom Dress

Web Editor Jake Delman, ’11 Photo Editor Madeline Berger, ’11 Copy Editor Dann Weitz, ’11 Business Managers Andrew Sy, ’11 Nick Normile, ’11 Richie Weker, ’11 Staff Artists Zach Ostrum, ’11 Liora Ostroff, ’11 Advisor Mr. Chad Henneberry Business Advisor Mr. Sean Flynn

The editors believe all facts presented in the newspaper to be accurate. The paper acknowledges that mistakes are possible and welcomes questions as to accuracy. Inquiries regarding accuracy should be directed to the editors of the paper. Editors can be contacted via e-mail at merionite@gmail.com or in Room 200A. To represent all viewpoints in the school community, The Merionite welcomes all letters to the editor. Letters can be sent via e-mail or dropped off outside the Merionite office. The Merionite reserves the right to edit letters to the editor for length or clarity.

Unsigned editorial on this page reflects the general opinion of student editors, not the views of individuals.

Additional Photos by Chris Conwell, Michael Lefkoe, Talia Lieberman, Naava Feingold, Robert Zhou

For the record The article entitled, “Junior class organizes a new and improved A Taste of Lower Merion,” in the February 2011 issue of The Merionite erroneously claimed that the ABC House, which is one of the benefactors of the event, was a child abuse response center. The ABC House is actually a home that hosts underprivileged but academically exemplar students, giving them access to better educational oppertunities. The Merionite would like to apologize to members of the ABC House and the Lower Merion community for this oversight.

5

March 25, 2011

OPINIONS

The Merionite

Question of the Month

“

How do the recent developments in Japan alter (or not alter) your opinions on nuclear power?

We should have switched to Thorium-based nuclear power long ago, but haven’t for fear of eliminating too many jobs in its displacing coal, current nuclear power, and more... needless to say it would also create jobs, and furthermore is abundant, efficient, and SAFE.

“

”

Benjamin Edelman ’11

I still support nuclear power, I just believe that more safeguards and precautions need to be taken to prevent its potentially dangerous consequences.

Though the situation in Japan right now is a tragedy, I think it will teach the rest of the world to be more careful regarding its nuclear power, and hopefully prevent future crises.

Gabe Nathans ’12

”

“

The recent developments in Japan have led me to further question nuclear power. It’s never seemed like a good idea to me; it’s too dangerous. While oil makes certain areas of the world rich and drains wealth from others, nuclear power spreads radiation. Seeing as we cannot be fully weened off of oil in the next few years, adding nuclear plants to the mix will only bring a combination of hunger, radiation, and the rapidly encroaching threat of Global Warming. The next step is to find a power source that does not cause issues, and possibly one that can create jobs and spur the global economy.

”

“

Nuclear energy is the safest, most efficient, and cleanest alternative that can actually provide sufficient energy to meet some of the world’s quickly growing demand. It is paranoia on the part of people and fear-mongering by politicians and others that prevent its growth, not legitimate safety or environmental concerns.

In a combination of an earthquake and tsunami of historic proportions, a very old nuclear reactor appears to be in danger of releasing some dangerous radiation. If a very old reactor design (engineers and scientists estimate today’s designs are more than one thousand times safer than those at Fukushima) can stand up to that with only a minimal release of radiation (unless you watch Fox News), I may be an even bigger fan of nuclear power than I was last week.

-J.B. Haglund, English Teacher

Haydn Hornstein-Platt ’13

”

“

If anything, the recent developments in Japan make me MORE confident in how well the world’s nuclear power programs are coming along. None of the actual nuclear reactors broke in the accident, only some of the outer containing structure cracked and the cooling mechanisms broke. If it takes that humongous and out of the ordinary earthquake and tsunami combination to BARELY crack the seams of the nuclear power generators, I am extremely happy with how nuclear power is coming along.

“

”

Andy Scolnic ’14

The recent developments in Japan do not alter my opinions on nuclear power. Making nuclear power plants involves many known, yet unlikely, risks. These risks however are outweighed by the benefits provided by nuclear plants: they are much better than alternatives for the environment, and are able to produce great amounts of energy per plant. Although accidents do happen, they are extremely rare and precautions can be taken to minimize the chance of such occurences.

”

Nico Lake ’12

Gettin’ Triggy Wit It: Mathematical Expression Class of 2011

It will not forgive your innocent mistakes, well intentioned but incorrect ideas or unjustified assumptions. It is cold, unwavering, and

Jake

Wellens feels no remorse for frustrating you to the point of tears. Nonetheless, mathematics is art.

That’s not to say that your polynomial long division worksheet belongs beside Van Gogh’s Starry Night in the Museum of modern art.

Nor does this imply that every mathematical fact is beautiful. It is not so beautiful that the arctangent of 1 is π/4, yet this fact is drilled into every trigonometry student’s head until their dog starts to look like the unit circle.

However, there is a quite beautiful infinite series for π that is a consequence of this dull tidbit. When treated with a dose of clever calculus, knowing the arctangent of 1 tells us that π = 4 – (4/3) + (4/5) – (4/7) + (4/9) – (4/11) +…

The type of math we typically see in school doesn’t stress the search for beautiful mathematical truths, nor does it stress the type of creative thinking needed for mathematical discovery. That doesn’t mean we should write off our math classes as mechanical wastes of time. Some techniques must be copied, drilled and perfected in order to be used together in more creative ways that only become possible after mastery.

The concrete, repetitive and inflexible aspects of grade school mathematics are what turns us off. We’d rather do something creative – like writing or drawing, and let our calculators, computers, and distant engineers worry about the numbers. We’d rather have our work hung up on the refrigerator so people can tell us

how pretty it is, than see our slight miscalculations shut down by the swift X of a red pen. In school, math has to be about getting the right answers and not making any careless arithmetical mistakes. But in reality that is only a tiny, almost negligible part of real math. It is about innovation and discovery – thinking that is not only logical but also revolutionary. It is about bold leaps of human intuition, unexpected mixing of disciplines, and elegance.

Yet that is rarely what goes on inside math classes. We like to take the ingenuity out of math, I assume in an attempt to make it easier for the majority of students. Our math classes work in such a way that if you study every example problem, read the appropriate textbook chapters, and store the right formulas in your brain or calculator, you can ace every test. I don’t believe this makes math easier, and I don’t believe it makes students better at math in the long run. It has the effect of turning kids off to math – honestly, who enjoys practicing an algorithmic process until they’ve memorized

it sufficiently well to reproduce it on a test? In this type of environment, I understand why so many kids consider it their least favorite subject, decide they are done practicing routine problems and resign from it altogether.

Another cause of the lack of mathematical appreciation is our focus on applications. Suppose a student asks his teacher, “why bother learning Taylor series anyway?” The teacher

will likely answer something about how useful polynomial approximation is for the computers and calculators that send satellites into orbit, calculate economic trends, and generate videogame graphics. Those applications are all impressive and important, but considering it a means to an end is selling short the art of mathematics. Can’t mathematical theorems themselves be viewed as interesting enough to be considered the end goal? The fact that there exist arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions within the primes (proven by Terrence Tao and Ben Green in 2004) is probably of little use to a rocket scientist, economist or game designer, but is a beautiful and somewhat counterintuitive result of nature. A mathematician is nature’s artist: the same way an artist can analyze human society or emotion and make those profound truths accessible through his or her work, a mathematician uncovers relationships and algorithms hidden within the natural network of numbers and reveals their origins with proof. The work of an artist does

As my friend Nick says, one really smart man with a big enough stack of paper and pencils could sit down and reinvent all of math without any prior knowledge. While not knowing the meaning of a term or symbol used in the problem is another issue, many students will refuse to try problems that only require a new way of thinking about old things. For example: what is the sum of the fourth powers of the first N positive integers? This problem uses only arithmetic, yet very few of my friends were willing to try it, instead responding with: “I don’t know, we only learned up to sums of third powers in trig.” You do not have to be a genius to solve this problem – you just have to be able and willing to think creatively, as you would in any other discipline. Many of us like solving puzzles like sudoku or Ken-Ken. Solving a math problem is a similar process, but you have far more freedom when doing math, and your result is not simply a job well done but rather a complex statement about natural phenomena.

While it is unlikely that our mathematics curriculum will undergo major changes within our time at LM, it is possible to change our perspective about math as a whole. Know that repetitive exercise in technique is temporarily necessary to do math; it is not math. Know that applications of math are everywhere, but a conceivable application is not always required for something to be worth investigating. Know that math is not just more difficult versions of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus over and over again – things like group theory, chaos theory, computability theory, graph theory and topology all have very little in Art by Jess Lebow/Staff common with high school mathematics and not need to function in a practical way for it to will become accessible to you once you have be enriching and enlightening. mastered the basics. Try to find joy in the playIt is frustrating for me to hear someone say, fulness of mathematical exploration. Unlike in “I can’t do this… I haven’t learned it yet.” Part most other academic areas at the high school of what makes math such a unique discipline level, almost every time you look at math in a is that it requires no data, no technological different way you can discover something new. advances, no manual labor and no resources. Whether it’s new only to you or new to the rest It is one continuous stream of logic, flowing of the world doesn’t matter – there is nothing from the initial idea that we can count objects. quite as satisfying as the thrill of discovery.

6

March 25, 2010

OPINIONS

The Merionite

Unions: Of the People, By the People, For Themselves?

Patrick

Class of 2012

In Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker, in an attempt to prevent the state from going bankrupt, has proposed a bill that would limit the power of public em-

Scott

same amount as in 1998.

Maybe once Wisconsin teachers begin using the money they have been given more wisely, they will be on better footing to request even more money.

To make matters worse, on some days of the protest, as many as 40% of teach-

ployee unions (i.e. teachers unions).

In response, tens of thousands of union workers called in sick, traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, protested mob-style, went so far as to sleep in the Capitol building, and trashed not only the Capitol grounds, but also the democratic process.

The chief group protesting these new limits on unions has been teachers unions, who claim that limiting their right to collectively bargain prevents them from providing an adequate education to their students. Admittedly, money is a key part of any school; however, the funding for teachers in Wisconsin has been increasing for years. From 1998 to 2009, the amount of money spent per child in Wisconsin, adjusted for inflation, has increased by over $4,000.

What results have come from this? Two thirds of eighth graders in Wisconsin are not at a “proficient” reading level—exactly the

ers called in “sick”, resulting in massive shut downs of schools. Clearly these teachers care more about

their own pocketbooks than carrying out the job they signed up for.

The demands of these strikers would probably be taken more seriously if they were not already receiving generous benefits. In fact, not only does the average teacher in Wi s c o n s i n have an income roughly the same as the average entire household in Wisconsin, they also receive over $25,000 in benefits.

Moreover, tenured teachers, even

those failing to provide their students a good education, have a near bulletproof job security. Just look at the situation surrounding these protests: in any other job, if someone falsely called in sick so that they could go protest against their employer, they would be fired.

The original purpose of unions was to protect workers who had no other way of protecting themselves from abuse in the workplace. It would seem that a group of intelligent, highly educated people, like teachers, would be capable of protecting themselves. Further, what workplace dangers are teachers trying to fight against? The ongoing threat of paper cuts? But this goes beyond just teacher unions. In fact, public employees make 45% more on average, including benefits, than those in the private sector. Why then are these strikers protesting?

The reason these union members have their knickers in a twist is that they will now have to pay 12% of their healthcare costs, they won’t receive raises until the State of Wisconsin no longer is losing $3.6 billion a year, and their unions will only be able to bargain for wages.

Obviously, some public employees, such as police officers and firefighters deserve more bargaining rights, due to the dangerous nature of their jobs, but police, firefighter, and state trooper unions were deliberately excluded from the current bill in Wisconsin.

These union members signed up to be public employees; maybe it’s time they started acting like it and looking out for the public.

Art by Zach Ostrum/ Staff

Preaching to the Choir

RELIGION from Page 1

Class of 2013

make no law respecting an establishment of religion”, they meant exactly that, the institutionalizing of a state re-

Andrew

aration, when it leaves such an important part of our learning untouched. This clause should not be used to dampen the important religious discussion or reverence that should be present in schooling, but has been interpreted as such, and now in result, schools and teachers make many attempts to avoid religious discussion and expression. To eschew religion is to automatically minimize the impact

Pasquier ligion. I doubt they intended for a strict ‘separation of church and state’ because they knew this was illogical and immoral. The decisions of state are so intertwined with the religious convictions of the people that such separation is foolish and wrong. The Founders did not want the state to proselytize the citizens to a certain religious conviction, and rightly so, but this desire to guarantee freedom of religion has been mangled over years of court rulings which have essentially made schools afraid to include this essential educational component in their curricula.

I am no strict Constitutionalist, and I do not mean to say that the interpretation of the clause should not and has not rightly changed with society in the 220 years since it was ratified. It has changed; I just do not understand why we continue down this path of more sep-

learning could have upon students. Religious knowledge is a requirement to understanding the world, and if Lower Merion High School, let alone any high school in the nation, wishes to graduate thoughtful and socially understanding students, it cannot be left out- there

cannot be this ‘separation’ of religion from learning.

Regardless of your beliefs, religion has been an important part of who we are as humans and cannot be ignored in an attempt to be politically correct. Beliefs are yours and the school should not try to change them, but they should try to develop them. Beliefs are as important as facts and these two intertwined ele-

and reverence they need with religion to be able to digest the information into the framework of their existence. Religious Institutions exist outside of schools and provide religious insight for many, but as regular religious attendance drops across the country, and many people, especially in Lower Merion, are influenced by secularist forces, oftentimes students are not exposed to the religious component of a well-rounded society member.

Religion is very much at play in the decisions people make in their lives in all cultures and in all of time, and attempting to shelter students from the real religious passions and beliefs evident Art by Zach Ostrum/ Staff i n s o c i e t y ments of a proper education must around them, be cultivated together to produce an in- is only doing students a disservice. telligent socially-conscious individual.

Religion is an indispensable element In modern society, we have rejected re- to our learning, and may be exactly ligion in schools, and in doing so made a what the many religious, godless, and grave error by feeding the mind without in-between students of Lower Merion allowing students the room, knowledge, need.

7

February 14, 2011

OPINIONS

The Merionite

Class of 2014

In the weeks to come, kids everywhere will be faced with a string of holidays,

Andy

Scolnic and all the foods that come with them. If you’re Jewish, it’s Purim then Passover, and if you’re Christian, St Patrick’s Day passed and Easter is shortly forthcoming.

excited to eat it. It’s not exactly known for tasting good.”

Freshman Sebastian Lopez told the Merionite about his secret love of Matzah, the flat cracker that Jews eat during the holiday of Passover.

Though he is a Catholic kid, Lopez confessed that he “Sure does love matzah.” When asked about how he goes about getting his matzah fix, Sebastian denied buying the ten box bulk packs on sale at Genuardi’s. “I really just steal the matzah from all my Jewish friends,” Lopez said. “They’re always looking to get rid of it, God knows why.” Though

Art by Joe Tran When I, a curly haired Jewish boy, find myself looking for a midnight snack in midMarch, I turn to sugary confections like Irish Potatoes. Actually, I dream of milk chocolate eggs and bunnies stocked high on drug store shelves. While my own religion prohibits me from eating any Easter ham, the rules of Kashrut, (Jewish dietary restrictions) don’t say anything about Cadbury cream eggs or marshmallow peeps. They aren’t the food of my religion, but I still enjoy sampling these foods from other cultures when mine don’t quite make the cut. I see America as a melting pot— of food. And there’s nothing wrong with sampling all kinds of treats from that melting pot.

Some find it hard to stay away from the temptations of all the candy in the season.

“You are surrounded by the culture so there is no harm in [eating] it,” says Sophomore Eliana Gottesman referring to the ubiquitous chocolate bunnies and eggs. As a Jewish girl, when asked about the selling of Passover food, she replied, “I wouldn’t say that Passover candy is limp, but people definitely aren’t

Sebastian loves the Jewish unleavened bread, those who actually celebrate the holiday are sometimes unhappy with the food of their culture.

Worldly Italian mother and Lower Merion parent Letizia Lane has even added a little Jewish cooking to her arsenal of foods. When asked how she infused such a different, varied style into her cooking, her son Gabe informed that one day she made matzo ball soup and that it had a, “really nice taste”. So if the Jewish culinary classic, matzo ball soup, has made its way onto Italian dinner tables I would say America is a melting pot.

So if it has a really nice taste, isn’t that all that matters?

So when you peruse the isles of drug stores and supermarkets in the spring months, feel free to push the boundaries. Just because you’re Jewish doesn’t mean you can’t munch on a caramel cream egg. If you’re looking for a break from Irish Potatoes, go crunch some matzah and peanut butter. Food crosses cultural boundaries and brings us all together better than anything else, so let’s eat it all.

No more Miss Guidance counselors

The guidance department should be a reliable source of resolution to problems, worries and stress fac-

Jess

Lebow

Class of 2011

A nibble of another culture

tors; however, for most students at LM, guidance has become a sort of thorn in the side. The problem with guidance stems from its core; by name its success is reliant upon its faculty members’ abilities to guide and, to guide, it is necessary to know and understand those you wish to guide.

There are currently seven guidance counselors employed at LM that deal with course selection and the college process. (There are additional guidance employees that work administratively and on issues solely surrounding individual counsel.) These seven counselors are expected to “guide” a total of roughly 1300 kids each year and, each year, a few hundred new kids file into their offices to replace a few hundred kids that left the year before. Freshman, sophomore and junior year every student has a mandatory meeting with their counselor to discuss course selection and, during junior year, almost all students have one additional meeting, concerning the college process. This brings mandatory interaction with our guidance counselors to a whopping total of four times throughout four years. I, personally, have only had one additional encounter; a brief one-minute exchange because two of the colleges to which I applied contacted me claiming that they had not received my transcript. During this fifth encounter, it became evident to me that my guidance counselor had absolutely no idea what my name was. Having met me only four times previously, in four years, with roughly 185 students each year, I was not surprised that he/she (anonymity) didn’t know my name—given the same situation, I might not have known his/hers. Despite the fact that I was not surprised, I was quite disturbed. This person wrote my college recommendation letters.

If my counselor cannot match my face with my name, how can he/she write a letter concerning my character? He/she cannot. To combat this, juniors and their parents are

asked to send in brag sheets listing qualities and achievements of students that can be used to create a “personal” letter. Inevitably, parents will know their children and students will know themselves better than guidance counselors will know them. Yet there is already an opportunity for students to advocate for themselves in the college process—most colleges make mandatory numerous essays that shed light on a student’s view of himself or herself. The purpose of a guidance counselor’s recommendation is to bridge the gap between the perspective of a teacher and a student; because these perspectives are already represented, a guidance counselor’s recommendation is redundant if it is essentially copied from the student’s self-assessment.

Perhaps, the counselors might develop rapport with and genuine insight on their students if they played an active role in course selection; right now, however, some act merely as administrators, simply clicking in the course titles selected on our signed and stickered

on their transcripts. Some counselors refused to reason with their students who logically explained that two art courses would be more beneficial to them than perhaps an art and a math course and argued that so long as their required classes were completed, they should be able to take the classes that they believed would benefit them most.

The art teachers, who actually have some expertise on the necessary classes to have on a transcript when applying to art school, had already signed off on these classes, verifying the arguments of their students.

To compound these college-based arguments was the more important argument, that the students were passionate about these art classes and had made thoughtful decisions to forego other classes in order to pursue their passions. It seems inherently flawed that guidance should discourage or even prevent students from doing what they love.

If the guidance counselors don’t currently have the expertise necessary to guide the students, they are obligated to trust the guidance of teachers who do have the necessary expertise and they are responsible to gain the knowledge they need to appropriately guide their students.

Still, there are some students who have had great experiences with guidance. So, how do we change the guidance department to make it more effective for all students and counselors? I think that the majority of the responsibility falls with the guidance department, however there are some things that students can do.

Students can make an effort by playing an Art by Liora Ostroff/Staff papers. The process, active role in for me, has never led to conversa- getting to know our counselors— tion nor has it led to mention of it is our recommendations, course anything personal. If counselors selections and general guidance aren’t guiding us through course that are effected. If we do not know selection, why not just click in our our counselors, and we care to imown courses on the computers? prove our relationships, we can What may be just as troubling is stop in and introduce ourselves; that our counselors’ knowledge is we can facilitate relationships on sometimes limited not only about our own. Still, counselors are being the student sitting in their offices employed to guide us, so perhaps but also about the courses offered they should create more mandatoto the student. ry meetings, visit students in their Next year, the art department is classes, discuss students with their adding AP Art to their course list. teachers and be held responsible to Several members of my art class match names to faces to basic intried to sign up for Art 3H and AP terests. If our guidance counselors Art. Some, who plan on attending are competent and willing, there is art schools, were denied the op- no reason why guidance cannot be portunity to take both classes and transformed into a productive, usedrop another subject on the premise ful department. Perhaps it is our job that these other subjects were more as students to guide them towards worthwhile or necessary to have this transformation.

8

March 25, 2011

The Merionite

FEATURES

How do you get your five plus servings of fruits and veggies a day?

“To for m be honest, e. my pa every With the re the afterin t ea er C t ov h I hines nts do all ing’s i e when us t ca en be i e the y er s n ff da di i a fo o c a n lu clude om “I get my five t something fr d, but ded in a m d they co work ge to e re s fiv su o ly e al m ak tu ok m th e e drie . Even noon, I always d cran ey sometim al. Of cours up, into the kitchen k al s 12 w I u 20 e of m p ti ss ply.” – e b h Hoffman, Cla food group each Rober erries. Fre es spice it u rice es get in.” –Jos s bl p t ta h ge Z with ve f h d r an u o it u, Cla fruits ss of 2 is always i n 013 “I get my five plus a day by incorporating fruits and vegetables into my daily routine. Every night, I always eat an apple, or some other fruit, as desert. When my mom makes dinner, she always makes sure to include lots of vegetables, like in a stir-fry or mixed in with noodles.” –Diana Yang, Class of 2012 I “I try to h I was but ave some as I wish y h it lt a u e fr h f on fruit b o veggies a s efore pra “I’m not a least a couple packs 1 1 ctice. Ban t lunch and snack 0 2 t practice, f a o t in anas are g and clem llin, Class do try to fi reat before entines, I .” –Sam Ho day job.” y a d a s ie e a –Walker gumm Mills, Cla t those like it’s my ss of 2011

What are some of your favorite and fun ways to stay active?

. love to dance bvious that I o y tt ce re p an d ’s a it “Of course e never taken M ’t take and hav n o “I r un. d I gh me and at L u o h Alt dance at ho to ke li ve since yo Running is h I lo g, I n , ci re o an ef d b s m u eaven’s o clas e fr nation t don’t need an gi ractice. Asid friends p h m it w ea T n y to ce o t in hing ot ft to mankind go out a Dan y ba d m la p h d o , n n er th n a d s n t 1 do it. An he mat 201 to go for ru ter.” –A d that’s an determiran, Class of T e o –J le s.” a ee x ll Thame during my fr s, Class I have to say “On rainy days or when I don’t have enough time to of 2011 take a full run jump roping is also a lot of fun. Especially if you know cool tricks. For example, the skier (where you jump back and fourth like you’re skiing) and the front cross (where you cross your arms in front of you and jump through the rope).” –Julie Loeb, Class of 2011 Merion’s staird down Lower an t up ng ki al “To stay active I us “W finitely a grea ually run when it every day is de d y an m g ch is nice outside. I go n and run a few laps ea ffi s pu case to a park around the field. n huffing and During the winte go to the gym with ut. It’s super fu 11 ko or 20 w of ss r so la C m etimes I my friends.” –Han nne Ross, ie dr nah Nibauer, Clas –A !” up way s of 2013 Photos by Lisa Li/Staff

Stay active, eat healthy, and be happy Lisa Li

Class of 2011 I’m sure that most of you know that March is National Nutrition month. Oh, you didn’t? Well, now you do. While it’s important to exercise and maintain good eating habits throughout the year, March is the month that you should try something new for your diet. I always hear that people wish they were healthier.

Well, what are you waiting for? Although the month of March is coming to its last few days, it’s not too late to try out some of the following tips and turn them into habits that you practice each and every month.

Eat Right with Color: The theme to this year’s National Nutrition month, eating right with color is a sure to getting the essential nutrients you need to help you power through each day. Make sure to enjoy a spectrum of foods everyday.

No, this doesn’t give you the permission to go crazy with rainbow cake. I’m talking about colorful food from natural sources such as your besties: the fruits and veggies. Get in your greens, your reds, your blues, and your yellows. In fact, why not just eat a rainbow everyday? Some tasty colorful foods to try include: beets, red peppers, radishes, rhubarb, eggplant, parsnips, apricots, tangerines, kiwifruit, limes, and courgette.

Eat breakfast each and every day: I’m sorry to throw this at you so unexpectedly. I mean, woah, like why would I be telling you to eat breakfast everyday? It’s not like it’s the most important meal of the day or anything…oh wait, it is. Your mom’s told you this before, as has your health-freak friend, so why is it so difficult to wake up just 10 minutes earlier and get in that great source of energy in the morning? Breakfast can be tasty, fun, and exciting if you want it to be. Try

experimenting with your cereals and coming up with an unlikely, but delightful mix. Honey Bunches tastes great on it’s own, but with Kellogg’s Special K, it’s simply divine.

Photos by Chris Conwell/Staff Get in those 25 grams of fiber: Even though you may be convinced that your beef has fiber, I can assure you that that fiber is not the dietary fiber that is so beneficial for your health. Dietary fiber, which is the cellulose found in plant and plant products, helps improve the health of your intestines, may prevent heart disease and cancer, reduces blood pressure, and assists in weight control.

The easiest and best way to increase your daily fiber intake is to eat more fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Try substituting whole-wheat flour in place of all-purpose flour when baking as this dramatically increases the nutrient content of your delicious baked goods.

Drink a cup of milk a day: Make sure you get that cup of creamy fluid into your daily diet, as there are so many benefits to drinking milk it would be a shame not

to embrace it. Calcium is the mineral most likely to be deficient in the average American diet, but with delicious milk so widely available, there’s absolutely no excuse not to meet the recommended 1,000 mg calcium per day. Aside from being an excellent source of calcium, milk is also a great source of riboflavin, vitamin B12, vitamin A, potassium, and phosphorus. In addition, one cup of fat-free milk provides 8g of protein, which is the same amount of protein as a JUMBO egg. If your diet prevents you from drinking milk, you should be glad to know that many brands of soymilk and almond milk are fortified with the nutrients found in cow’s milk. Just make sure to steer away from the overly sweetened varieties.

Find fun ways to exercise: Some people were born running or dancing.

Lucky them. For those of us who are talented in other areas, exercising can seem daunting. We all know that staying fit plus good nutrition is a recipe to prevent many illnesses, so why is it so difficult to push ourselves to go out for a run? It really shouldn’t be when we weigh the action against the possible consequences. Of course, running is not the only option we have to stay active. Think outside of the box and come up with a list of activities that you enjoy doing. You may be surprised to find that many of them, such as speed shopping around the mall, can burn significant amounts of calories. For example, you can burn 600 calories doing one hour of jumping jacks, but if you just don’t think 60 minutes will do for you, even 10 minutes will get you 100 calories.

Remember when we used to play tag during recess? Gather up some friends, relive those good times, and burn some calories running away from “it.”

Your recipe of the month: noodles Lisa Li

Class of 2011

As the daily temperatures start to increase and your vegetable patch begins to take on colors of the rainbow, it’s time to hit the kitchen and cook up a stir-fry. Stir-frys are one of the best ways to add vegetables to your meal. They are delicious, nutritious and super easy to make. This noodle dish combines cuisine from the east with cuisine from the west. Although pasta is used in this dish, the cooking style and flavor is Asian. Stir-frys all start with some hot oil, garlic, and ginger, and end with a colorful assortment of vegetables. Soy sauce is an ingredient typical of stir-frys to help add flavor and moisture to the dish. The versatility of this dish enables you to substitute the vegetables with your favorite varieties. So what are you waiting for? Get out your pots and pans, bring out the knives, dig into your refrigerator and cook up a dish that leaves you feeling full and great.

Chicken and vegetable stir-fry noodles Ingredients 250g dried spaghetti 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root, 1 chicken breast, sliced 2 cups button mushrooms, sliced 2 cups green beans, cut 2 carrots, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon soy sauce 2 spring onions, thinly sliced salt Directions 1. Prepare the spaghetti according to the directions on the packet.

2. In a wok, heat the oil on a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for one minute.

3. Add the sliced chicken breast and cook until the chicken is browned.

4. Add in the mushrooms, green beans, and carrots. Put in the soy sauce and stir-fry for 5 minutes.

5. Add the cooked spaghetti on top of the vegetables. Put the lid on for 5 minutes so that the vegetables will soften and the flavors will blend into the noodles.

6. Season with salt to taste and sprinkle the spring onions on top. Serve immediately.

Photos by Lisa Li/Staff

March 25, 2011

The Merionite

Club Spotlight: Math Club

Jake Wellens

these prime outputs?

While we have not yet completely solved Class of 2011 any of the above, the discussion has yielded a We do what we love, and we do it well. We wide array of creative ideas and insights that are the LM math club, and chances are, you can continue to lead us closer to elegant and comfind us at a whiteboard near you, assuming you plete answers. The discussion in math club is are near Mr. Kaczmar’s room. probably not like what happens in your math In recent years, math club has existed primar- class – it is not facilitated, nor is it bound by ily as a method of organizing teams for math any curriculum or AP test writer’s opinions competitions. You showed up, took a Mandle- of mathematics. It is always explorative and brot, grabbed a GWU permission slip and left. guided only by the curiosity of the club memHowever, this year, under the new leadership bers and the complex landscape of mathematics of math club President Kevin Lu, the club has itself. While math club is certainly the place for expanded its role as the center of mathematical math, we don’t exclusively discuss math – topstudent activity at LM. We still participate in ics from physics, logic and computer science plenty of competitions – many more, in fact, will often come up. than last year – but we also have days devoted As of late, the club has taken up the task of to mathematical exploration, lessons on particu- creating and organizing a math competition lar topics given by officers; we take past-year for local middle school students. The club team and individual competitions to sharpen our members make everything, from the problems skills and work on preparing our middle school and solutions themselves to the circuits inside competition. the lightning round buzzers. We hope to have Earlier this year, Kevin Lu gave a presenta- over 100 students participate in the competition, tion on solving divisibility problems, I gave one which will be hosted here at LM in May. on trigonometric identities and inequalities, and Unfortunately, many of math club’s most Nick Johnson presented some useful concepts active members will be graduating this spring. from elementary number theory. When not pre- I encourage you freshman, sophomores and senting something to the entire group, we are juniors to consider checking out the math often scattered around Kaczmar’s room sharing club experience before it’s too late – one of various conjectures we’d like help proving, my biggest regrets is waiting until junior year techniques we’ve discovered to be useful, and to become a part of one of the most exciting, tricky problems we’ve solved or created or both. enjoyable and intellectually challenging enviSome recent questions that have arisen on one of ronments available at our school.

Kaczmar’s whiteboards and spurred interesting discussion amongst the club include: How many ellipses can be inscribed in an arbitrary convex pentagon? Can all analytic functions be expressed as power series of any other analytic function? Which polynomials generate the most prime outputs for integer inIntrigued? Stop by room 217 on Thursday. puts, and what is an efficient method of counting

Tasty, Lucious, Irresistable Porn screen, and next they’re immersed as well.

Nicole Wang

Although I’m not an avid site user, I do see the blog’s appeal and why people like it so much.

Over the past few months, a tasty excitement It takes food and makes it into art. The delectable has swept through Lower Merion High School. pictures appeal to the eye and taste buds at the The phenomenon is known as foodporndaily. same time. com. Contrary to popular belief, Food Porn Daily “It really shows how food can be an art. is a collection of high-resolution pictures of Even though the food isn’t real, it just looks so mouth-watering, scrumdiddlyumptious delica- delicious and inspires me to be able to cook like cies. The cuisine ranges from appetizing pastas that some day. Some of the foods that they make to dumplings, and tempting cookies to cakes. do not seem that difficult for a student like me The site adds one delicious picture a day to create.” Boutselis explains. While browsing and feeds the minds of many. The obsession the site, it’s hard not to wonder whether you ranges as well; there could try making one seem to be people of the dishes yourselfwho view the blog especially the peculiar constantly as if they meals like chocolate were checking their covered bacon and Facebook or Myspretzel brownies. pace profiles, alThere’s something though others check about looking at delecjust when they’re in table pictures of foods the mood to see what that you can’t actually new, tantalizing piceat that captivates the tures were posted. procrastinating mind.

“I go on Food To some, it’s just a Porn Daily about way to waste time, once a week, or re- This red velvet cupcake is just an example of to others it’s an inspiraally whenever I have one of the many tantilizing treats that Food- tion, something to drool absolutely nothing to over, or maybe some of porndaily.com displays daily do,” sophomore Kara each. The origin of this Boutselis commented. To many of us, it does craze is difficult to trace, but regardless, it has seem to be a good time killer. Glance into the certainly gained quite some popularity at LM. library, atrium, or even a classroom on any given If you haven’t checked out the site yet, I day reveals that these One-on-One laptops have recommend you visit. If you don’t have the pabeen put to “good use.” And it’s not just students tience or interest to look at every single picture, who are attracted to the site— tales of teacher scroll down to the bottom of the blog and click adorations have emerged as well. One minute the link “gallery.” The link allows you to view a teacher is popping in to find out what exactly several images at a time and saves up the loadhas been keeping the student’s eyes glued to the ing wait. Enjoy!

Class of 2013

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FEATURES

Your Mr. LM! Robbie Warshaw

for being on the Cross Country Team and for being an awesome friend and The night started with a lightheart- dancer on top of that. We met each other ed skit introducing the emcees Mr. last year through a mutual friend during Hughes, Aaron Freedman, and Steve the Radnor game. She was a big help on Lipman. The contestants were intro- the night of Mr. LM. She charmed the audience, collected money in my name, duced and then the Question and Anhelped me choreograph the dance, and swer portion began. The contestants was really supportive throughout the were kept on their feet with questions whole thing. I couldn’t have picked a ranging from one’s dream date to the better escort. animal they think they emulate. It Q. How long did you practice your was after the partner dance, and there dance for? was still no frontrunner. Next came A. The preparations for my dance the LM Spirit Catwalk, which was spanned over 3 or 4 days. I had to learn filled with every imaginable shade of some choreography from NSync and maroon. At intermission the escorts Britney Spears videos, choreograph the collected money for the ABC House rest of the songs, and fit them all together of LM, The Lower Merion Township with the music. The practicing didn’t take long, but the rest of the process took up Scholarship Fund, The Adam Jordan the majority of the time.

Spandorfer Q. LookMemorial ing back, Fund, and was there the senior anything class. The y o u ’ d lights slowly change about your perforfaded and the mance? talent porA .

I tion began. don’t think Alex Thames that there played guiis anything tar hero, that I would Seth Feldchange about man, Jason my perforBuckman, mance. I had and Griffin a lot of fun Schwartz doing what played actual I did and it seemed like guitar, Daa lot of peovid Dranoff ple enjoyed played a little it too, so I’m kid in bashappy. ketball, Zach Q. Were Eikov did there any karate, Leo Photo by Madeline Berger/Staff of your comK o o r h a n Joe Tran, this year’s Mr. Lower Merion, sporting petitors taldid magic, his victory apparel and carrying the check for ents that you Emmet Mcthe Adam Jordan Spandorfer Memorial Fund particularly Connell did enjoyed? a movie reenactment, Ben Edelman A. I did not get to see all of the taldid a little of everything, and Joe Tran ents because I was backstage behind blew the crowd away with an original curtains, but from what little I saw and dance routine. When the semi-finalists heard, I enjoyed each one of them. I were named, Edelman, McConnell, loved the creativity, humor, and skill and Tran stepped forward. The name that each contestant put into their own performances. And from all of the loud was read, the joyous cheering began, cheering I heard, I know that they were and Joe Tran stepped forwarding bear- all crowd-pleasers. ing the crown of Mr. Lower Merion.

Q. What did you get from winning Mr. Q. When did you decide you LM? (i.e. money, donation) wanted to do Mr. LM? A. This same question was posed to A. I decided to run for Mr. LM this me a couple of days ago, and it had me year when the application came out. thinking that I actually did not win any I would have never seen myself run- tangible things except for a feathered ning for Mr. LM only a few years ago boa and a crown. (I’m really bummed but when the application came out, I out that I had to return the cape) Other just had to fill it out and submit it. than that, a $100 check was donated in Q. Some people say you are shy, my name to the Adam Spandorfer Fund. what made you want to go onstage Overall, I can’t say that I’m sad about and do Mr. LM? my winnings because after becoming A. I’ve been known to be pretty Mr. LM, it seems that my name is more shy, but I wanted to step out of my widespread around school. People I’ve comfort zone and do something that never met before are willing to stop me I wouldn’t normally do because it is in the halls to congratulate me, which is my senior year after all. I just wanted nice because I’m always willing to make to show LM what I have to offer and new friends. to have fun while doing it.

Q. Plans for the future? (college/job/ Q. Who was your escort? Can you dream job) tell us more about who she is, how A. I am not sure what I plan to do in you know her, and how she helped the future. I have not really planned that you with the whole process? far yet, but one thing that I am sure that I A. My escort was Jamie Lam. She want to do is become a Pokémon master. is a senior at LM who is well known I have trained my beloved Pokémon very Class of 2014

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March 25, 2011

The Merionite

FEATURES

The

College Confidential Leah Rosenbloom

Class of 2011 Looking back, there are many things I wish people had told me before I started applying to college. There are the things you hear all the time—start over the summer, have teachers edit your essays, apply to a range of schools, pursue your passion. But there is hardly any advice widely circulated about other important parts of the application process—such as recommendation letters, scholarships, and interviews. We know they exist, but most of us are left to figure them out for ourselves.

After spending a good deal of time figuring them out for myself this past year, there are some things I’d like to pass on to next year’s seniors!

Recommendation letters Choosing two teachers to write you recommendation letters is an important step in the application process. You may be thinking you’ll choose the teachers who always give you straight A’s, because, after all, those are your best subjects. Well, colleges don’t always want to hear about the classes that are easy for you. They want drama, sweat, tears, and blood (okay, maybe not blood, but definitely hard work). From what I’ve heard, admissions officers like to see students who have overcome adversity and challenge themselves in areas they might not be as comfortable in. So, if you’ve worked hard and improved throughout the year in a difficult class, that may be a foundation for a great recommendation. Now, I’m not suggesting you ask a teacher who failed you to write your rec. But if you were able to show your teachers how much of a hard worker you are, they could definitely say some nice things about you—even if you didn’t earn A’s in their classes.

Scholarships If you’re like most people and need some financial help going to college, make sure to apply for scholarships. There are plenty of scholarships to apply for

through Lower Merion, as well as many available online. Applying may mean writing a few extra essays or doing some extra paperwork, but if you need the aid it’s definitely worth it. Plus, different scholarships cater to different strengths—if you’re musical, submit clips of you playing for music-related scholarships. If you’re a scientist, submit some original research. And, if

Photo by Chris Conwell/Staff you’re just an all-around smarty-pants, apply for meritbased scholarships that are sure to knock a dent in your tuition. To check out different types of scholarships, go to http://www.collegeboard.org/ or http://zinch.com/ for more information.

Clubs: Striking a Balance If you’re looking at colleges outside the area, joining some nationally recognized clubs could really boost your application. Organizations like TSA or NHS are well respected throughout the country and will speak out to

admissions officers. On the other hand, colleges like originality. Admissions officers are constantly looking to see if you’ve given back to your community in creative ways; if there’s an opportunity to do community service, take it! Help raise money to build a school with BuildOn, pitch in at a local soup kitchen in Philadelphia, or run a bake sale in the Atrium. Colleges like to see students being hands-on when it comes to local and international crises—they’re all about taking initiative and making the world a better place. And besides filling out your application, it will also be a fulfilling and rewarding experience!

Supplements For those looking to apply to liberal arts colleges or to major in the creative arts, supplements are a great way to boost your application. Prepare clips of you playing your instrument, dancing, or acting. Piece together a portfolio from all of your years in art class. Be creative! Colleges like to see that you’re a passionate student outside of the classroom, and if you can show you’re passionate about the arts it’ll definitely count in your favor.

Interviews To some, interviews can be daunting. But if you make an effort to leave your nerves behind at home, an interview could really help your chances! Admissions officers love it when prospective students make an effort to contact them, especially at smaller schools. Not all colleges offer interviews, but if they do, and you’re a “people person,” an interview can really be to your advantage. From the data I’ve collected, here are some easy DOs and DON’Ts of interviewing.

Do: Be on time, dress nicely and respectably, be polite, be confident in yourself, and prepare a few questions to ask them.

Don’t: Complain, rant about everything you’ve ever done in your life, or treat the interviewers like robots (they’re people too!).

A Megamind Success Spring into the new season Danielle Moskow

Class of 2011

On Friday night, February 25th, LM’s Interact Club had their first movie night.

Initially, when brainstorming ideas on how to raise money, the idea of a movie night came up. At first, members were hesitant because it seemed as if high schoolers would not be interested in coming back to school on a Friday night to watch a movie. So, the event was opened up to the public, and it was decided that the club would show a family movie, Megamind, geared towards younger kids.

Interact Club has been working for the past year to build its reputation back up again. This year, the club’s international project is to raise money to purchase a Shelterbox. What is a Shelterbox, you may ask? This “box” costs a pricey $1,000 and is fully equipped with essential supplies. The boxes are dropped off to families of ten within six hours of a natural disaster occurrence. The club’s goal was to raise $1,000 by the end of the year in order to purchase one.

The club worked on movie posters that were hung around the neighborhoods of Wynnewood, Merion, Narberth, Ardmore, and Bala Cynwyd. Advertisements were also put into the elementary school’s Thursday folders.

On the night of the event, a storm caused all of LM’s electricity to blow out.

Although discouraged and concerned, the members of the club continued to prepare for the event in hopes of it still

working out. After only a short while, Mr. Don Walsh came up to the club and told the members that unfortunately the movie night would have to be rescheduled. Each member of the club worked to take everything down and began making and hanging up signs telling the crowd that the movie night was going to be postponed. As club members carried the final things out of the building, all of a sudden the lights flickered back on.

Quickly everyone ran back to re-set up what had previously been set up with just twenty minutes until show time.

Once everything was prepared, members waited to see how many guests would actually arrive.

Sure enough, families began trickling in. What began as a night that almost did not occur, ended in a tremendous success.

Over 130 people, children and adults, came to see Megamind. With no required cost of attendance, only donations accepted, the club still totaled $1,020.09 – enough money to purchase a shelter box after just one night! Families came out of the auditorium, laughing and expressing their gratitude for Interact Club allowing the public to see the movie in our brand new auditorium.

All in all, the night was a huge success. Now that the club has reached its goal, a new goal will have to be set.

Perhaps even two Shelterboxes can be purchased! Interact Club is preparing for another movie night some time in April.

Come help out, and spread the word to all who may be interested!

Ma’yan Doron

and easier to get homework done when it is still bright in the evening. To some people’s The feeling of spring has finally returned delight, the longer daylight hours provide to LM, and students are buzzing. Birds are more studying time. Teachers, however, are once again chirping in the morning as students handing out a heavier load of homework make their way to their morning classes. and are keeping students busy. Come spring, During frees, students have taken the most teachers are urging their students to get liberty to visit more work done faster, the courtyard especially the juniors for a game of and seniors who are Frisbee, to finpreparing for their AP ish up hometests. “Teachers all rework, or just to alize that AP tests are catch up with right around the corfriends. Some, ner, so they are workhowever, are ing hard to ensure that still waiting we have completed the for the weather curriculum by May,” to warm up a said Junior Jonathan bit before they Bloom. At the same step outside.

Photo by Madeline Berger/Staff time, seniors have beThe weather predicgun to relax now that tion for the rest of the month is reading low their high school careers are coming to an 50s and high 40s. The LM community is also end. Many have turned their attention to their be expecting some rainy days ahead. senior projects and extra-curricular activiIn addition, spring sports have started, ties, and less to their studies. This ‘disease’, giving students something to look forward commonly known as Senioritis, is spreading to throughout the school day. The track has throughout the senior class. become the center of activity, as both the track While for some things are easing up, for and lacrosse teams are using it. A few miles others it is not. There are still a couple hurdles away, Crew has begun their rowing season on for students to overcome, such as tests, projthe Schuylkill river over at the Whitemarsh ects, and finals. But students can still lay off boathouse. Baseball, Tennis, and Volleyball some steam by participating in spring sports have also begun, and all athletes are looking or hanging out in the warm weather in the forward to a successful spring season. courtyard. As the year continues on, one thing Most students find it easier to wake up is for sure: everyone can look forward to a in the morning when the sun is already up, pleasant spring!

Class of 2014

March 25, 2011

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Merionite Spring into fashion: styles to expect in the coming season A. Mann/M. Meehan

makes for a perfect trend. The characteristics of this trend are loose silhouettes, Class of 2013 maxi lengths, and earth tones. To achieve With the prospect of warm weather the ideal look, pair a flattering shear shirt creeping into the back of our minds, every- with wide leg jeans. Another example one is eager to tuck away their down coats are maxi length dresses and skirts. While and shove those woolly gloves to the back they can seem bold, they’re surprisingly of the closet. Keeping true to the statement wearable. To make them your own, add a “the early bird gets the worm,” we think it crochet or light weight open vest to pull best to tackle the season early, being the first to score these fresh styles.

So save up your cash because new trends are springing up everywhere like the flowers budding on the cracks between the pavement.

Textures and colors of the season: ● lace, eyelet, floral, shear, crochet, dots, denim, worn leather ● taupe, beige, lavender, buttercup, light pink ● thin patterned tanks and pretty bandeaus to wear under anything shear or holy are a necessity ● don’t be afraid to mix and match colors and patterns Spring has arrived with no shortage of trends, so no matter your preferred style, you won’t have a hard time keeping up with the fashion world.

We narrowed them down to our three favorites: 70’s bohemian, western prairie, and classic preppy.

Mixing the hippie styles of the sixties and the more simplified seventies

the outfit together. Accessories are simple, like a tan, wide brimmed floppy hat or pair of interesting sunglasses. On your feet, slip into a thick soled pair of woven or leather sandals. Grab a bucket bag or small satchel if your on your way out. This comfortable look takes a trip back in time, yet is irresistibly up to date.

Take a trip west to a fashionable farm

to find the next spring look. Think little house on the prairie as you mix and match floral, denim, and soft leather together.

These materials allow for many combinations. Try a denim button down work shirt tucked into a girlie mini, finished with your brown leather booties that lasted through the winter. A classic jean jacket can work well to accent printed shorts, suede bags, leather belts, and baby floral dresses.

Switch from care-free to classic preppy with our final trend. Stocked full with crisp dark wash shorts and striped and dotted blouses, this look turns simple into beautiful, while giving prepsters an alternative flare. Pair shift dress with slim canvas sneakers, oxfords, or topsiders.

This look is all about flattering pieces that are clean and sophisticated. Think of Blair Waldorf as she takes on her New York City haven, wearing tie turban headbands, pleated minis, and briefcase bags.

While all of the new merchandise in stores may seem overwhelming, resist the urge to spend all of your money at once.

Keep in mind that new things come out rapidly, and that personal style is something that develops over time. Make sure to add your own touches to these trends, and you will be spring-ready. Shop your closet to find pieces that can be reworked and worn. Use basics you already have like a plain t-shirt, classic jeans, or sweater from the colder months as the foundation Graphic by A. Mann/M. Meehan for your outfits.

How to personalize your room The Oscars: An A&E retrospective Rebecca McCarthy

Class of 2013 In the midst of a hectic school year, one of the most challenging tasks is keeping your room somewhat civilized. It’s hard enough to keep it clean on a daily basis, and decorating it can be even more difficult. Where to begin and how much money you have to spend also limit your options. So, with that in mind, here are some simple and inexpensive, yet effective ways to infuse your personality into how you decorate your room (some of these suggestions can also work for dorms).

1. Paint an accent wall in your favorite color.

2. As an alternative, check out if you have any leftover paint cans in your basement/garage.

Use what you have left over to create an accent wall.

3. Take a pair of your old jeans and cut them up into squares. Then sew together and stuff them to make throw pillows.

4. Also, you can use old jeans or other fabric scraps to make borders on pillowcases or comforters.

5. Frame pictures for your walls, desk, or bureau. Fun wrapping paper or newspaper comics are also interesting to frame or to matt photos against.

6. Put up hooks or pegs on your walls (not in your closet) to hang belts, hats, jackets and other accessories/clothing. You can customize pegs yourself or purchase them.

7. Take CD inserts out and create a collage on poster board. Then shellac and hang. Another idea would be to create a collage on a corkboard or bulletin board using these CD inserts.

8. Find old clay pots. You can paint them or keep them in their original color. They can be used to hold small trinkets or you can plant small greens in them.

9. Take old, ripped t-shirts that you’ve outgrown or don’t plan to wear again and cut them into squares. Sew them together into a quilt or tapestry. You could also add fringe.

10. Get candles. You can pick different colors and scents to work with your space and preferences.

11. Paint (or write) an inspirational quote onto a wall.

12. Less is more. Clutter is distracting and takes away from the overall feeling you should have in your room. Clean off surfaces and put away excess stuff.

13. Buy a new accessory. Sometimes something as simple as a funky lamp or small rug can liven up your space.

Inspiration for room decorating can come from anything. Colors, clothing, jewelry, vacations, photos, and music can all translate to room design. Use what you can – even simple changes can be dramatic. After all, we spend so much time in our rooms that they might as well be personal.

the strange creature, which appears a mixture between an industrial boiler, a crab, and an Class of 2011 I think we’re all agreed that the Oscars this octopus, and seems lost and out place. The year were brilliant. ABC’s none-too-subtle but boy calls it “The Lost Thing,” and begins to nonetheless inspired effort to appeal to the search for its owner. The animation is true younger demographic with “young and hip” to the painterly style in which the book was hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco was originally illustrated, and the quirky narrative unprecedented. But then, to bring out 94 year is appealing to children and adults alike. old Kirk Douglas to present the award for “Inside Job” was this year’s winner supporting actress, keeping audiences for Best Documentary Feature. Charles everywhere enthralled as they watched Ferguson, who directed the film alongin horror to see if he’d manage the feat side Audrey Marrs, describes the film without having a stroke? Brilliant. as being about “the systemic corStill, I’d have the say that James ruption of the United States by Franco was the night’s most the financial services industry exceptional attraction. Get a and the consequences of that celebrated, insanely pretty acsystemic corruption.” A 4-part tor– himself nominated for a narrative centered around the best actor award – but just have 2007-2010 financial crisis, the him smirk and squint awkwardly, film includes extensive research looking completely disengaged, and and in-depth interviews; it aims to rather like he’d lit up some “Pinedemonstrate that the financial crisis apple Express” backstage. I mean, was the result of irresponsible and come on guys. It’s totally ironic. An selfish banking. “Forgive me,” Ferunprecedented statement on modern guson began his acceptance speech, alienation! Treating the Academy “I must start by pointing out that 3 Awards as your personal forum for years after a horrific financial crisis progressive, relevant conceptual art? caused by massive fraud, not a single James Franco, you sly dog. I digress. financial executive has gone to jail, However impressive, the article is inand that’s wrong.” tended not to discuss James Franco, but “God of Love,” directed by Luke rather to spotlight some of the Matheny, was this year’s more obscure Oscar-winning winner for best Live Action films – films that may have Short Film. Just 18 minfallen to the wayside in utes long, the film focuses the humbling presence of on protagonist Raymond Franco’s profound nonchaGoodfellow, a lounge lance. singer and champion This year’s windart thrower. Goodner for Best Animated fellow is tortured by Short was “The Lost unrequited love for a Thing,” directed by member of his band Shaun Tan and Andrew who only has eyes Ruhemann and based on Graphic by Anna Simon/Staff for his best friend; he prays the highly acclaimed picture daily that she might fall in love book by Shaun Tan. Set in a near-future, dys- with him. His prayers are answered when he’s topian Australian city, “The Lost Thing” is given a box of darts with cupid-like powers. the story of a young boy who happens across See the film and find out if Raymond’s love a strange creature while collecting bottle tops story ends happily ever after. on the beach. The boy is unable to identify

Emily Shepard

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March 25, 2011

The Merionite

Aces of The Arts Abby Schmidt - Class of 2012

Photos by Madeline Berger/Staff Which arts do you do on a regular basis?

Cello, voice, A Capella, and the school orchestra.

How did you get involved in the arts, and what advice do you have to other artists?

My whole family is really musical so I was kind of obligated to play an instrument. My advice would be to not give up, no matter how much you really hate practicing!

What’s your favorite quote?

“Turns out not where, but who you’re with that really matters” - Dave Matthews What are your spring break plans?

Visiting colleges, and hopefully getting some sun!

Who are your heroes? Who inspires you?

Not very original- but my mom really inspires me! She’s a wonderful musician and a great woman who enjoys the simple things in life.

Sarah Kozak - Class of 2011

Photo by Naava Feingold/Staff Which arts do you do on a regular basis?

Singing mostly but also piano, cooking, and a little photography.

How did you get involved in the arts, and what advice do you have to other artists?

I’ve been singing since I was little because my sister did and she has always been my role model. As I grew up I found my own voice (lol puns) and have loved it ever since. My advice to other artists would be that you can always find a way to get what you want as long as you love doing it.

What’s your favorite quote?

“The only thing better than singing is more singing” -Ella Fitzgerald What are your spring break plans?

SLEEP and then some more sleep and possibly some sleeping.

Who are your heroes? Who inspires you?

Not to be cheesy, but my sister really is my inspiration. We’ve been singing together for as along as I can remember and she makes me want to do well. I also love Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé...I could go on forever.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The hidden treasure of PSALM Salon Aviva Mann

Class of 2013

Just off City Avenue is the tucked away PSALM Salon (Philadelphia Society for Art, Literature, and Music), a relatively undiscovered site amongst LMers. Driving past, it may look like just another house adorned with Christmas lights draped over the windows, but a closer look reveals the PSALM Salon to be a non-profit, non-religious venue home to music lovers of all kinds.

Featuring eager new artists and professional masters alike, talent from all over the world gathers here. The PSALM Salon hosts concerts, workshops, has delicious food, and provides the opportunity to meet plenty of interesting performers and fellow listeners.

Upon walking inside, sixty red cushioned folding chairs come into view - neatly aligned in front of the slightly raised stage. The comfort of home makes for a cozy viewing experience, but is masterfully paired with amazing acoustics and a professional sound system. You

can count on a diverse, artsy crowd filling the quaint rooms. In what would be the kitchen of the house, there is a gourmet buffet style meal catered by the Avril Restaurant, which you are more than welcome to bring to your seats. Feel free to take off your shoes and sit crosslegged on the floor as the carpeted room quickly fills up. This unique space adds intimacy and honesty to the close-up performance.

When talking with owner and founder, Jamey Reilly, himself a longtime musician, recording and tour sound engineer, audio equipment design engineer, and yoga teacher, he said he’d always been interested in the music production business and always knew he’d wanted to open a place like this, because after all, “this is the way music was meant to be heard!”

With the mission to highlight talent, culture, and beauty from all over the world, the PSALM offers events almost every night of the week.

The first Wednesday of every month is “Blues Jam,” hosted

by Jamey Reilly and WXPN’s Jonny Meister. With an open-mic like feel, it’s open to players and listeners who wish to get together and celebrate this original musical art form.

Friday nights, Gene Shay, the Grammy nominated “Grandfather of Folk,” hosts a night of stories, interviews, and performances.

Shay founded the Philly Folk Festival, is on the board of the Grammy’s, and is an extraordinaire in the field of American folk music.

Moreover, drumming and vocal workshops, concerts by lyrical singer-songwriters, exotic vocalists, and performers from WXPN are just a few of the other events to check out. Additionally, all of the performances are streamed to ustream.com making it easy to catch up or check out any of the latest happenings. So whether it’s a weeknight to spare, or weekend night out, grab some friends and take advantage of this local musical hotspot; make it your new stomping grounds.

The King of Limbs: An A&E review Julian Davis

Class of 2013

electronic instrumentation.

To my surprise, the second half of the album was actually better! Lead single “Lotus Flower” manages to be both gloomy and danceable, not entirely unlike “Idioteque” off their legendary record Kid A. “Codex” is reminiscent of “Pyramid Song” from Amnesiac, but more minimal. A quiet kick drum pulse and circling piano chords serve as an anchor for vocals and orchestral accompaniment. “Give Up the Ghost” feels unfinished, like a Thom Yorke solo demo with some really cool production. Lyrically, it’s a contender for worst on the album along with “Morning Mr. Magpie,” but at least it’s sincere. This album’s lyric sheet mostly reads like

After a crazy night at the OFWGKTA concert (look them up if you haven’t heard them already; they’re absolutely brilliant), my friend and I awoke on Friday morning, the 18th of February to find that Radiohead had decided to release their new album, The King Of Limbs, a day earlier than they had previously announced. I leapt immediately to the computer to download; memories were rushing through my mind of the morning of October 10th, 2007 when a shorter version of me with a cracking voice woke up several hours early before school to download their thennew, now-classic seventh album, In Rainbows. To this day, I don’t think I have ever listened to an album so many times (my Last. fm page counts about 150 plays) as I have In Rainbows.

H o w e v e r, u n like In Rainbows so many years before, my excitement started to fade after the first track. “Bloom,” a song based around stuttering rhythms and looped bass lines, was cool enough, but when Photo by Madeline Berger/Staff “Morning Mr. Magpie” Pictured: Julian Davis, Lower Merion’s resident hipster extraordinaire. followed suit, disappointment began creeping in. I have no idea why this Hail to a teenager trying to copy Radiohead’s style. Gone was the Thief outtake was ever recorded. I’d heard it a few the sweetness of “High and Dry,” the darkness of “Street years ago as a short acoustic demo on Youtube and I re- Spirit,” the isolation of “Paranoid Android” (a song ally thought (or at least hoped) that Thom must have been which Chris Martin of Coldplay once proclaimed that making this song up on the spot. The lyrics were among he would gladly become a eunuch to write). No more the worst I’d ever heard: “You’ve got some nerve com- is the Dada brilliance of “Morning Bell” or the dark ing here/You stole it all, give it back/Good morning Mr. escapism of “How To Disappear Completely.” Rather Magpie/How are you today?” I couldn’t help but wonder than a brilliant line on a closing track like “You are my whether he was serious or parodying himself. But here it center when I slip away, out of control on videotape,” is, seven years later, as the second track on The King of Thom croons on “Separator,” in the most serious voice Limbs. My lyrical worries were confirmed with the next I can imagine, “I am a fish now.” The first time hearing song “Little by Little,” the chorus of which reads, “I’m these words is the first time I laughed at a Radiohead such a tease and you’re such a flirt.” Halfway through song. There are some moments of brilliance on this the next track, the dubstep-inflected quasi-instrumental album. Ultimately, however, and unlike any of their “Feral,”I turn to my friend and solemnly stutter “I… I other work, taking the most shocking direction of all, think this sucks.” He solemnly agrees, and we lament Radiohead’s record The King Of Limbs sounds like a the loss of the Radiohead we knew and loved. There Radiohead record. No surprise at all is seemingly the were none of the stunning melodies or the beautiful greatest surprise.

March 25, 2011

13

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Strips of sensibility: A collection of comics from LM artists

Comic by Robert Zhou, Jake Wellens, and Wenwen Yang

Comic by Leah Rosenbloom

Comic by Wenwen Yang

“Why Math Rules,” by Shoshana Gordon

Comic by Han Tran and Wenwen Yang

Comic by Jess Lebow

14

March 25, 2011

The Merionite March Madness takes LM by storm Noah Levick ing the tournament, most would believe that, as junior Bryan Kozin pointed out, “[The school is affected] in a positive Class of 2012 Like Phillies Phever in October, or Super Bowl Sunday fashion due to the rise of morale through the student body.”

The first two days of the tournament are perhaps the two in February, March Madness has come to enliven LM’s hallways. As with other major sporting events, it has become that affect the school the most. These two days are the only the talk of the school in its season, vivifying hallways with times that games are played while school is in session. During lively debates regarding past games and games to come. Even these two days, it would be difficult to find a classroom withthose who do not have a rooting interest find ways to get out at least one person keeping track of scores. Between classes, there is alinvolved, whether it be in a tournaways someone ment pick ‘em pool, or just backing to talk to about up a local team. With all the hype “that last game” throughout the school, it is easy to or which team see why everyone is so involved. is going to win The level of participation throughthe game comout the school is staggering. One ing up at one way of following the tournament is o’clock. Some through pick’em pools, in which a teachers even participant decides which teams he get in on the or she thinks will win games from fun and show the very first game all the way to live games on the final championship. Partaking the projector. in these pools is just one way to folWhen asked if low the tournament. Many people he planned to follow only the team that they root watch any of the for throughout the tournament. OthPhoto by Michael Lefkoe/Staff tournament in ers, who may not have a rooting inLM students and Mr. Elder show off their bracket. school, juniorAusterest, just enjoy watching the games.

When added up, it is quite apparent that the vast majority of tin Levitt said, “I am extremely excited for March Madness and the school takes part, in one way or another, in the Madness. I will definitely watch at least some of the tourney in school.”

The annual effect of March Madness throughout the Due to the mass participation and the effect it has on the student body, the ramifications of March Madness on the school can be clearly seen throughout this month and even school are easily seen. Hallways, classrooms, and the cafete- into early April. Whether it is fervent debates, joyous celria are bursting at the seams with kids who are celebrating, ebrations, solemn mourning, or kids struggling to watch mourning, debating, or discussing which game watching sites a game through the LMSD content control, there will be are still unblocked by the school. The overall demeanor of no escaping March Madness. Throughout the tournament, the school changes as well. Junior Daniel Blum commented students will do everything in their power to follow and that the school becomes “less productive, but way more fun.” watch games online, so the only question that remains is: While most would say that the school is more ineffective dur- how many of the websites will the district leave unblocked?

Softball prepares for a successful season Wenwen Yang

year to get the program back up to where it has been in the past.” Many of the team members are thankful for her presence on the team. For the first time, the team has a female coach. Levy has been exceptionally helpful in boosting team morale. Maniloff says, “Coach Levy builds our confidence by cheering for us really loud.” Captain Jennarose DiGiacomo

are essentially one large team. The players freely flow back and forth Class of 2011 between the two teams depending on Around this time last year, playwhen they are needed and the hierers on LM’s softball team were just archy that once dominated the minds getting news of the end of their JV of the players has been cleared. team. Many were upset and disapThe changes to the team as well as pointed at the loss of a chance to the hard work of the players paid off play. Even the players who stayed last Wednesday when the team peron the team could not fully enjoy the formed much better than they have in season with so many of their friends previous years in a scrimmage off the team. With a with Agnes Irwin. Because the new set of coaches opposing team did not have a and the return of JV team, Lower Merion’s JV the JV team, the and varsity teams played as team’s talent is not one.

During this game, playthe only thing that ers from both JV and varsity is increasing. Team teams had many opportunities morale has also to participate. The team camagrown immensely raderie was distinctly shown from last year and the team has bePhoto by Talia Lieberman/Staff when varsity players let JV players fill in for them for the Two new freshmen recruits play a game of catch. come much closer. second half of the scrimmage.

This year’s set of coaches consists states, “Coach Levy brings exciteThough Lower Merion ultimately of returning coaches Mike Finnegan ment to us, and in the end she unlost the scrimmage, the team still and Mike Bomze as well as a new derstands us, we understand her, and performed much better than it did last addition, Jess Levy. Despite the fact it just makes for a better situation.” year.

Coach Finnegan is quite optithat it has only been days since the In addition to the blessing of a mistic about this season, stating that, first practice, players on the team new coach, the team has also re“I believe our defense is our strength. are already seeing an improvement. ceived many new playThe girls have Senior Rachel Maniloff reveals that, ers, mostly freshmen, been work“when I step up to the plate now, I’m ing hard. Our not afraid that someone will criticize who will create a new generation of Lower pitching is me. The coaches are really helping Merion softball.

While looking really us to have confidence in ourselves.” good too.”

Maniloff, who was unable to play the team was lucky enough to have only This year’s last year due to the absence of a JV softball team team, also reveals that she is “ex- lost two seniors from last year, this influx holds great tremely glad to be playing again.”

Photo by Talia Lieberman/Staff potential for of new players will Coach Levy, who graduated from A new season brings new equipment. a successful Lower Merion in 2006, was once part greatly help with the of the team herself. Levy states that loss of the large amount of seniors season. With a large group of incom“the team has changed a good amount the team will have to face next year. ing freshmen and a new female coach since I was involved in the softball This new generation will see the who was actually once on the team, program at Lower Merion! The over- team as a much more unified body. the team’s morale, as well as size, all energy, passion for commiment, In previous years, the JV and var- have been rejuvenated. Both coaches and interest has slowly decreased sity teams were separate entities that and players are feeling optimistic over the last few years, however, were quite detached from each other. about this season and only have good we are working extremely hard this This year, however, the two teams things to say about games to come.

SPORTS

LM’s obsession with Phillies Jake Ochroch

Class of 2012

Over the past few years the Phillies have arguably become the most popular Philadelphia sports team in the eyes of the LM student body. After a revitalizing 2008 World Series win, the Phillies are back and better than ever.

It has been almost five months since fans’ hearts were broken by the loss against the San Francisco Giants, and yet these five agonizing months are going to be well worth it for the faithful, who know that the Phillies have a shot to contend once again.

It is difficult to even remember the late 90’s or the early 2000’s when the Phillies were one of the worst teams in the league. In the early 2000’s the Phillies started to win games, but the team did not make the playoffs until 2007.

The Phillies are returning most of the 2008 World Series team starters. Outfielder Jayson Werth was a key contributor to both of the Phillies’ World Series runs, and his fivetool skill set will definitely be missed. But for the first time since the playoff runs, the Phillies are planning to rely on a prized prospect, Domonic Brown, to get over the hump.

After the Giant loss, local sports talk stations were flooded with calls, and the halls of LM became a place for discussion: is the Phillies Dynasty coming to an end? In the beginning, it seemed as if this were the case, with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibañez

all having relatively unimpressive seasons, not to mention Rollins, who has become a shell of his MVP-self.

But the Phillies pitching staff became a bright spot, as Cole Hamels proceeded to live up to his high expectations.

The months following the end of baseball up until spring training are usually void of baseball spirit, but this year, it has been different. With the arrival of warm weather has come the arrival of Phillies sports gear.

As I am writing this article, junior Chris Jarmas, a casual Phillies fan, cannot hide his excitement. “I am stoked out of my mind for the ‘Phront Phour,’” said Jarmas, referring to the nickname given to the Phillies top four pitchers.

Serious fans are equally as excited as Jarmas, like junior Jesse McCarthy, whose family makes a family event out of attending Phillies games. McCarthy goes to 16 games every season. To him, there is “never an offseason.”

Others are excited at the prospect of going to games during the summer like junior Zach Kleiner, who plans on “taking the R5 and going to a lot of Phillies games in the summer with his friends,” an idea that many other people share.

So once again, get used to those late nights come September and October, when homework is neglected and the only thing that matters is Phillies games.

The Phillies have made the dreadful first couple months of school an exciting occurrence.

15

March 25, 2011

SPORTS Boys’ and girls’ lacrosse welcome big changes The Merionite

Diana Yang

Class of 2012

Fresh off of the successes of last season, the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams are ready for a season of hard work and training. The players have a season of promise to look forward to, marked by big changes such as new coaches and a new batch of young talent eager to help the teams improve.

The girls’ new lineup of coaches consists of returning head coach Erika Baylis and the new addition, Katie “Coach Fitz” Fitzgerald, who had also served as the girls’ swim coach. Gretchen and Kristen Lawson, who were LM girls’ basketball coaches, will be assisting returning Coach Van Horn with the junior varsity players. “I’m very excited for the lacrosse season, especially with the new coaches!” exclaimed junior Nakato Nsibirwa. “Hopefully they will bring new ideas and energy to the table,” added senior captain Ali Toll.

For the boys’ team, the new coaching staff consists of a group of young athletes, replacing former coach, social studies teacher Chet Laubach. The new head coach, Casey O’Rourke, is an alumnus of the Haverford School and al-

Photo by Talia Lieberman/Staff

Lacrosse sticks of all colors line the field.

though he has never previously coached in the high school division, he has prior experience coaching club lacrosse.

“The coaching staff is really young but we all think it’s a progressive change,” described senior Alek Klincewicz.

Under the guidance of the new coaches, the two teams have been working hard through their practices, even in the midst of preseason and tryouts.

Freshman Daniel Buckman

I played JV soccer this past fall, and this spring I’m playing for the varsity lacrosse team. I’m playing on a club team for both sports. My hobbies include watching TV and hanging out with friends on weekends. I’m looking forward to the upcoming lax season, and hoping for a winning year. Also, I’m looking forward to all the pasta dinners at Tony Fisher’s house. All fans please come out and support us this spring.

Photo by Madeline Berger/Staff

LM’s boys’ lacrosse team holds an intense practice.

The girls are fo- cusing on building stamina through running, technique, and basic skill work. Last year, the girls played off of a zone defense tactic. The strategy had given them an advantage against other teams of the Central League, who were used to a man-to-man defense. This year, the team hopes to continue to implement the strategy to defeat rival powerhouse teams such as Springfield Delco and Radnor.

“Hopefully the new girls will pick up the zone as quickly as we did last year,” Toll expressed.

Practices have been tough for the players on the boys’ team, but Klincewicz continues to believe that “the young guys are really going to benefit from it in the long run, it’s a very different mental dynamic than it has been in the past few years.”

Both teams inevitably lost a core group of key players last year. For the girls, the loss of players like Julia Buckman and Grace Gallagher have left many defensive and midfield positions open to fill. However, the group of returning sophomores consisting of Kiersten Daly, Lindsey Grabell, and Samara Kitnick has improved a great deal and is expected to play key roles in the upcoming season.

After coming short of playoffs by just one game last year, the team’s goal this year is also to make it to playoffs. With the proven successful strategy of zone defense under their belts, the girls are sure to reach their goal.

Sophomore Lindsey Grabell

I play basketball and throw for the track and field team here at Lower Merion. My favorite movies are Harry Potter one, three, and two, in that order! On the weekends I love to go home and watch Barney, Elmo’s World, and Ghost Adventures. I also like to sleep, hang out with friends, and make snow angels. I love listening to music in my spare time. Some of my favorite groups are Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and G-Unit.

Junior Becca Winkler

For the boys’ team, it is a completely different story. “Our team this year is really youth heavy, and we lost nine starters from last year,” said Klincewicz. The team lost All American player Jordan Wolf and other D1 players like Ahmad Zachary and Andrew Mongoluzzi. Klincewicz added, “I think expectation-wise it should be a ‘building year,’ but I would not be surprised if some young guys step up and we make a few upsets.” Setting tangible expectations, both teams have taken the loss of players in stride, pushing forward towards their goals.

“It’s definitely going to be an interesting season for the Central League,” said Toll. “Dominating

Photo by Madeline Berger/Staff

LM lacrosse players push through the difficult practices.

teams such as Radnor have lost many key players as well as coaches; we hope to take advantage of this.” Though they themselves have lost a batch of star players, the lacrosse teams are learning to accept the changes in their lineup and make the best of what they have for a great season to come.

I play Varsity soccer, track, and indoor track. My hobbies include:running full field aces races and mile repeats. I have a cocker spaniel named Virgil. My favorite food is chocolate ice cream. During the winter I enjoy waking up early in the morning to go running in the freezing cold with the girls’ indoor track team. My favorite movie this year was Black Swan and my favorite TV show is 30 Rock.

Senior Alexander Thames

I have been running since before I was born.

Yeah, I’m serious. Just try to figure that one out. I then decided to pick up running again my freshman year, and finished the season holding my class’s record for the 400m. It was so fast that lightning, photons, and the Flash chose to meet up and give me an intervention, saying: “Dude, relax with this.” With track and field and XC going better than I could have even expected, I wish to give a shoutout to all the guys and coaches on the team that pushed me to do my best and get to where I am today.

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March 25, 2011

SPORTS

The Merionite Girls’ basketball has best season yet Noah Levick

Class of 2013

Though not arrogant, the Lower Merion Lady Aces are certainly confident about their

chances against any team. They have endured a few bumps in the road, but are united as a team, enabling them to continue their success.

Usually when athletes claim, “no one thought we could do this” or “everybody doubted us” their claims are greatly exaggerated. The Lady Aces, though, have far surpassed all expectations for coming into the season. Senior Carli Swartz says, “From the first day of the season no one gave us credit, and I think that has motivated us each game.” Senior leaders, including Swartz, Lila Jones, and Sheba Hall have led the way for the team’s younger players, including sophomore Rosie Stahler. Stahler at first “was really scared to go up against good teams but then I realized they are no better than us, and if we all play hard and work as a team we can definitely beat anybody.” The rewards for the team’s resilience have been quite evident; they have a 25-5 record and are eagerly awaiting a state semifinal matchup against Mount Lebanon at press time.

At the start of the sea-

son, the Lady Aces were projected to be a decent team. No one believed that they could develop into a top state contender.

Though they were domi-

nant in Central League competition, going undefeated, people were still skeptical. Hall has battled intense pain from a leg condition throughout her high school career, and Swartz suffered a concussion this year. Could the team really play at an elite level with two of their leaders plagued by injury? Yes, they most definitely could.

Swartz astutely observes that, when faced with injuries, “a team really has to come together to step up for your lost players,” and this group filled in for their fallen teammates quite admirably. Although they were eliminated from the District One tournament, the Lady Aces passionately pursued victory; as Lila Jones says, “I hate losing or not playing to my full potential.” She also divulged that the team did not let tough losses negatively affect future performance, stating, “After a loss, we wouldn’t carry it past that night.” They would instead, “look back at the good points in our season.” There will certainly be many great moments to reflect on when the players look back at their monumental season.

Stahler personally enjoyed “when [junior] Jess [Porter] hit that buzzer beater for the win against

Downingtown West” and “the Cheltenham game, when we came back from down nine in under two minutes. That was so exciting.” All members of the team have been instrumental in creating these moments, with Porter and sophomore Carmen Torres as two integral individuals. As Swartz points out, everybody has done what is needed to win; “I have never been on a team where players step up as much as we do!” The players’ ability to step up has translated to remarkable success unimaginable a few months ago, when this wild journey commenced.

The state tournament is quite a large stage, one that many would be nervous to play on, but Jones states that, when playing in these games, she “feels comfortable because I’m confident in our team and I know if we play hard we can surpass any team!” Swartz has brought “the same intensity in practice as I do in games.” This principle, and the way the Lady Aces have “worked hard all season”, according to Swartz, has really paid off. When faced with stiff competition and obstacles this season, they have persevered and worked together to accomplish fantastic things.

Although the Lady Aces’ season ended with a 62-35 loss to Mount Lebanon in the state semi-finals, there are very few disappointed members and, as this is without doubt the most succesful team in school history.

Aces’ shoot way to states From ACES, page 1

-cerned and feared that the team might not even make the District Playoffs, which they had not missed since the 1993 season.

Despite the slow start, the Aces carried on. Faced with the possibility of missing the playoffs, the team stepped up their game; 20th year head coach Gregg Downer said, “Raheem Hall really stepped up this year, with Darius Hall having a great season as well.”

Another guy who stepped up on the defensive end was junior Darryl Reynolds, who said that, “I want to thank my team for all the good times, but also for all the bad ones, because they just made us stronger.” In the end, the Aces won nine of their last 10 regular season games, enough to guarantee a first round home game in the District Playoffs.

As the District Playoffs commenced, optimism again began to fill the hallways. The Aces’ obsessed fan section-known as the Dawg Pound--was optimistic, and came out in full force to watch the team beat a solid Methacton squad, 63-57. Then, it was time for a game everyone had been looking forward to for a long time. The Aces were to face off with Upper Darby, who went undefeated to win the Central League, beating LM twice along the way. Despite facing long odds, LM was unfazed. Backed by a strong showing by the Dawg Pound, the Aces stunned Upper Darby to make the PIAA District One quarterfinals and assure themselves of a state playoff bid. After what some observers called the biggest win for the team since their state title victory in 2006, the Dawg Pound stormed the court and celebrated after beating an Upper Darby team that they had lost twice to previously in the season, including a December 23 buzzerbeating heartbreaker at the Kobe Bryant Gymnasium.

After losing a heartbreaking District Quarterfinals contest to a Neshaminy team led by Villanova bound junior Ryan Arcidacono,

the Aces split two “playback” games which were purely for seeding in the state tournament. It was now time for the PIAA state tournament, with the Aces’ 1st opponent being Scranton High School, with the game being played two hours and 30 minutes away at Marywood University in Scranton.

The Aces were considered underdogs, and many expected the game to be a rout. In spite of this, LM shocked nearly everybody in attendance by taking the game to overtime, and then winning on an Eric Green layup, their first state playoff victory since 2007.

Though the Aces lost their next game to central Pennsylvania powerhouse Red Land in their next game, there is no doubt that it was a successful season, albeit with a bittersweet ending.

As senior Eric Green said, “I would have rather finished the season winning the state title, but the state playoffs were still a great way to end.”

All told, it was a very successful season for the Aces, with coach Gregg Downer noting, “The kids did a great job getting a bid to the state playoffs and finishing among the top 16 teams in the state.” Despite relatively low expectations, the Boys’ Basketball team made runs in both the District and State playoffs, not to mention a second place finish in the traditionally strong Central League. In short, the team proved once again why they are one of LM’s flagship programs, gaining respect from students, faculty and community members alike.

Graphic courtesy of Anna Murphy

Aces soccer legend Lemonick reflects on playing career Michael Lemonick

Class of 2011

Three Central League championships, two District One championships, three state playoff births with two wins, and an overall record of nearly 85 wins and 10 losses do not immediately come to mind when I contemplate, with nostalgic disbelief, upon the last four years of my life as a Lower Merion soccer player. Indeed, I remember the grand quantity of victories, but as time inevitably moves on, pushing former players into new schemes and endeavors, all that is left are yearbook pictures and dust-covered trophies. What I gained from my participation in this program cannot be posted on the wall outside of the Bryant Gymnasium or engraved on a medal. Pivotal experiences evoked questions of morality and decision making, and I stand to enter a new phase in my life with intangible tools and knowledge

that connects Lower Merion athletes alike. beating Upper Darby, away, required emotional Coach Fadely preached that, “hard work perseverance similar throwing up in preseason earns results.” While Fadeand then running through ly’s notoriously demandthe “wall.” Or, on a cold ing preseason of often nine Thursday morning in Ochours of soccer per day tober 2009, Coach Fadely made some players think had us running sprints at that he had spent a few 5:30 AM; later that day too many hours baking Penncrest upset Strath away in the August sun, Haven, giving us our third Fadely also knew that misstraight central league ery loves company. Hard crown. Was it coincidence work and high expectathat on the day where we tions created a competitive were killing ourselves, the atmosphere, which bred Central League title fell intense companionship into our laps? The most that could literally withcommon topic of constand a lifetime, not just versation between those a season. People would Photo courtesy of Michael Lemonick who played under Fadely tackle each other in practice, making each play- is “hard work.” Jordan Wolf, an All-American er prone to injury and cutthroat in nature, yet lacrosse player at Duke University, says that

Division One workouts are difficult, yet when he thinks back upon four grueling preseasons or our 2007 come from behind district championship win, his workouts do not seem as bad even though they are run by a US Army ROTC drill sergeant. When I have to study for tests, I think of preseason and how determination on the field is no different than determination in the classroom. Things did not change this past year with Coach Severini, and while I explained the hard work and dedication to excellence that the Lower Merion soccer program instills in all varsity players, adhering to these qualities would have been impossible without support from the Lower Merion soccer family. Countless team dinners and bonding activities helped to establish alliances that thrive off the field and in the future. Next year, I will not be intimidated by Division One workouts and, thanks to Lower Merion Soccer, I know that if I am ever in need of support, my brothers are only a phone call away.