The Merionite

The Merionite May 1, 2009

The official student newspaper of Lower Merion High School since 1929

Volume 80, Issue 8

Minority student clustering moves to all levels Sivahn Barsade

Class of 2010

After two years the Minority Achievement Program (MAP) is expanding from exclusively foreign language classes to all major subject areas (English, history, math and science).

The MAP program was created to encourage minority students to enroll in honors and other advanced classes.

Through clustering the program ensures that a minority student is never the sole representative of an ethnicity in a class.

MAP also provides other supports such as supplementary teachers available for help and tutoring and a separate student advisor to ensure success in such higher-level classes.

While MAP was initially met with opposition and claims of racism and segregation, the District insists that this program’s sole goal is to aid minority students.

“The purpose here is to get kids who have the potential [to perform well] but who might be reluctant to get involved in honors level classes or in the case of languages to stay with the upper level classes, so we decided to cluster kids,” said Director of Humanities Jack Maguire. “Clustering began as an idea to get more gifted kids involved in honors level classes. It was noticed that what kept a lot of minority kids from participating was the feeling that ‘I was the only minority in the room’ but studies showed that when there was some support group, kids generally performed better.”

The program does not create a single class comprised

Redistricting plan under investigation Hana Rouse

solely of black students and another class of just Caucasian students. For instance, instead of having two or three black students per section in a class of three sections, clustering places all six to nine black students in the same section.

Foreign language chair and head of MAP Mary Kirchner stated that in her clustered Spanish II honors class no Caucasian student knew that the class was clustered until Kirchner told them in late April.

So far the response from parents and students involved in MAP has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We have had no complaints from parents that their children have been shortchanged at all or been slighted in the

See Clustering, page 3

LM teachers transferred

Hello Mali: LM students offer a helping hand See BuildOn, page 2

Class of 2010

Two federal agencies are currently investigating the most recent LMSD redistricting plan after community members voiced concerns over the plan’s possible racial undertones.

The United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched its investigation in mid-March, and shortly after the Pennsylvania Human Relations Committee (HRC) did the same in response to a complaint from a district family.

In an effort to make the populations at both schools equal, the current plan transfers some South Ardmore and Narberth students from LM to Harriton.

“Afamily has filed a complaint alleging that there is race discrimination [in the plan],” said Shannon Powers, a spokeswoman for the HRC. “We look at the discrimination allegations that are made and try to determine the facts and how they relate to the laws of discrimination,” continued Powers. “In this case we’re looking at the law of public accommodations, which requires that public accommodations be offered without regards to such things as race, gender, and national origin.”

“We are confident that once HRC and OCR have had a chance to review this matter they will determine that our redistricting plan was driven by a need to balance enrollment at the two high schools and not by race,” said Doug Young, Director of School and Community Relations for the District. “We will continue to work with both organizations to assist and cooperate with their efforts.”

Conor Ferguson

Photo by Hannah Goldberg-Morse/Staff

See Redistricting, page 2

Class of 2011

Due to Harriton’s expected increase in students for the 2009-2010 school year, teachers from LM will be transferred to Harriton.

“There have been over ten years of discussion,” said LM principal Sean Hughes.

“This has been known [by] faculty employees that they would have to move buildings.”

To ensure that all Lower Merion Education Association (LMEA) union members’ rights are represented in discussions, a committee was created. “[The] Combined Negotiations Committee (CNC), is a group of elected representatives from the bargaining unit that deal with contract issues and negotiations,” said Lower Merion LMEA representative Russ Loue.

After the CNC met with district administrators, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was created to clearly spell out the teacher’s rights and the transfer process.

The MOU stated that the teacher selection process would not occur until students had completed their course selection for the 2009-2010 school year.

See Moving Teachers, page 2

LM administration re-evaluates school policies Liz Bruss

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

The administration recently declared the Auditorium Lobby to be a no-tech zone as part of a larger movement to re-evaluate school policies.

A day in the life...

Players offers the Merionite an insider’s look into their cultish rituals.

See A&E, page 13

Class of 2010

Over recent months administrators have re-evaluated Lower Merion’s policy in response to widespread cell phone use during school hours and misconduct in the cafeteria and auditorium lobbies.

“The cafeteria lobby was never designed to be an eating or social area,” said 12th grade assistant principal Dr. Wagner Marseilles.

“There has been abusive language in that area which is a problem when guests come to school.

“Safety was another issue. People were lying on the floor, and visitors literally had to step over people to get to the cafeteria,” continued Marseilles. “Students were not cleaning up after themselves which left extra messes for the custodians to clean up.”

Initially the administration issued warnings to disruptive students.

Wearing their hearts, clubs and aces on their sleeves LM apparel has infiltrated all aspects of LM life.

See Features, page 9

When these measures proved ineffective, they closed off certain areas to encourage students to clean up their trash.

Within that week 20 reprimanded students met with Principal Sean Hughes, Mr. Marseille and campus aides to discuss the reasons why the lobby had been closed. The students then reported the content of the meeting to the student body through a small assembly in the auditorium.

“The whole thing wasn’t fair, so I did my best to make the situation right,” said senior Eli Kagan, an advocate of reopening the lobby. “In the end I think it all worked out for the better.” “[The administration] let us know that we could get our space back if we cleaned up and look—“ said junior Dan Szàllàsi, gesturing to the floor, “no trash!”

See Policy, page 2

Theft at LM Dude, where’s my graphing calculator?

See Features, page 13

2

May 1, 2009

The Merionite LM bids farewell to teachers

From Teachers, page 1

Itai Doron

Class of 2011

April construction focused on both continuing old projects and starting new ones.

Many phases have reached n e a r- c o m p l e t i o n o v e r t h e past few months. The layout phase is estimated to be 98% complete and workers are almost finished backfilling.

The walls of the locker rooms are 98% done and the walls of the new auditorium are about 75%. Steel work is about 85% complete.

Construction of the storm and sanitary sewers has progressed and workers have built the foundations for buildings, as well as footers necessary for stability. Once these are finished, structural steel will

be erected using a large crane that was brought to the site in November of 2008. Lightweight roof decking is being installed to cover many sections of the construction site.

A lot of time goes to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing of the future school. Along with building walls, construction workers have drawn up electrical roughs and are installing electrical equipment through out the new school wing. The overhead electrical work includes mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) pipe work while MEP equipment continues to be installed in the basement of the new building and electrical work is being completed underground.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

“Basically, the shell of the gyms, locker room, cafeteria and auditorium are taking shape,” said project developer James Lill.

During the next month workers will continue to pour new floors if the weather allows. At the same time, backfilling, electrical work, foundation work, and steel work will continue. Once footer construction in certain sections of the new wing is completed, workers will start roofing buildings with completed steel work and walls.

Look for the construction update in the next newspaper to read more about the upcoming plans and progress on the road to a new Lower Merion High School.

“Once students have had the opportunity to select their courses and it is determined which positions will need to move to Harriton, the administration informs the LMHS staff and asks for volunteers who have the necessary certification and are currently teaching in those departments,” said president of LMEA, Chris Santa Maria.

Lower Merion Director of Human Resources, Dr. Marty Yoder informed the Merionite that student course selections had been completed and the positions that need to be transferred to Harriton have been selected.

“Those teachers volunteering to go to Harriton will be formally interviewed by [Steve] Kline and he will have the final say,” said Santa Maria. “If he declines the voluntary transfer that teacher is entitled to an explanation from Kline.”

“Three teachers from Lower Merion have volunteered and are currently under consideration. They have been interviewed by Kline but no decision has currently been made,” said Yoder.

In the event that a suitable candidate cannot be found, Harriton High School principal Steve Kline and LM principle Kevin Hughes will meet with Dr. Yoder to choose an adequate transfer from the LM staff.

“There are no incentives for teachers to transfer to Harriton other than, possibly, the fact that they will be in a new high school a year sooner,” said Santa Maria.

“Our goal is to make decisions as quickly as we can to have a smooth transition,” said Yoder. Check themerionite.org to see which teachers will be moving.

TSA gives impressive showing at states Emily Sorensen

Class of 2010 LM’s TSA chapter competed at the recent PA state conference, held April 15 to 18 at Seven Springs Resort in Champion, PA, winning a total of six first place trophies and placing in many other events.

“It went extremely well—better than ever,” said junior Laura Sokil, the club’s treasurer. “I think an incredibly enthusiastic group of people contributed to the success.”

Club sponsor Mark Piotrowski has a different view.

“I would like to say that our success this year was a result of exceptional teaching, incredible motivation, or state-of-the-art technology, but in reality it all came down to a ridiculous challenge that I partially regret,” said Piotrowski. “A couple months ago I told the members of the club that if they could win three first place trophies at the state conference that I would dye my hair.

“Apparently today’s teenagers don’t take challenges from their teachers lightly because we ended up winning six first place trophies and now I have blonde highlights. Now my own children don’t recognize me and my wife won’t talk to me.”

The six first place trophies were won for Agriculture and Biotechnology, Debating Technological Issues, Prepared Speech and Sci Viz and Chapter Team-Written.

“If I had to pick one activity that I’m most proud of at the state conference,” continued Piotrowski, “it was our robotics fundraiser that our students put together at the conference. In only a few hours they were able to raise over $150.00 for the American Cancer Society - that was really cool.”

That’s not the end of their efforts.

“Look out for our future fundraisers!” said Sokil. “Help support our team and send us to nationals. Donations are appreciated!”

The National conference will be held June 28 to July 2 in Denver, Colorado.

“We hope that we can build on our success and have a great time at Nationals,”

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

said Sokil.

“I’d like to see our TSA students continue to improve upon their awareness of the purpose of their technological skills and knowledge,” said Piotrowski.

“I think this year was different from past years in the sense that many of the TSA members at LM were members of TSA at BCMS or WVMS,” Piotrowski continued. “They know what it takes to succeed in TSA and they have a great deal of experience in the design and problem solving process. The quality of the projects has increased over the years and this year was no exception.”

Now Piotrowski is only left with one question: “How long does hair dye last?”

NEWS

Admin. signs designate technology zones From Policy, page 1

Administrators have also begun reinforcing cell phone use policies.

According to tenth grade assistant principal Scott Kilpatrick, “There was concern from the faculty that [cell phones] were becoming a distraction during class.”

History teacher Jeff Cahill believes that the policy should not be reinforced, but rewritten.

“If the policy is clear to all students, then being caught one time [on the phone] in school should result in the removal of the cell phone for the entire year,” said Cahill.

Many students feel minimally affected by the reinforced policy.

“I didn’t even know there was a cell phone policy,” said sophomore Emily Goodman.

“There is no reason not to allow cell phones everywhere.

What if there is an emergency?” said junior Eric Rosenbaum.

To reduce the number of students using their cell phones between classes, administrators have placed new signs throughout the building designating the cafeteria and the cafeteria lobby as technology zones safe for cell phone use.

Allegations of racism spark civil rights investigation

From Redistricting, page 1

The current redistricting plan has sparked a great deal of controversy since the school board approved it by a 6-2 vote in January.

On January 12, the district hosted a board meeting where community members were invited to voice their comments and concerns over the modified redistricting plan.

“I speak today as a citizen of Ardmore, but even more as a black man. I cannot accept the treatment of me and my family as second class citizens,” said Aaron Williams of South Ardmore at the meeting. “I’m not calling anyone a racist. But look at that word.

Look at this plan. That you drew a line through the black community and you thought that was right.”

“Even though I believe that the school board didn’t use race as a factor [when drafting] the redistricting plan, they should have been more effective in dealing with it,” said junior Jonah Mann, who has been a vocal participant in the redistricting process. “The district should have been more careful about splitting up minorities.

Currently the investigations are in the fact-collecting stages. The exact timeline of the investigation is unknown.

“It is important to note that the actions [of the HRC and OCR] are procedural and in now way indicate any infraction on the part of the District,” said Young.

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May 1, 2009

The Merionite

Minority LM students BuildOn to clustering help children in Mali spreads to all subjects Samantha Hershman

From Clustering, page 1

least or offered a watered down curriculum,” said Maguire.

Maguire explained that true inclusion requires extra supports, be it through clustering or outside tutoring or both. Citing an example from the 1970s, Maguire likened the current situation to that of female underrepresentation in advanced math and science classes. Noticing the lack of girls in such higher level math and science classes the Federal Government started an initiative to get girls to enroll in these classes, and one method used was clustering.

Groups of girls were placed in a single class amid male peers to build confidence and support.

The program worked then and Maguire hopes that the same idea will prove effective at LM. “It was an easier transition from college prep to honors because I knew people in the class and I felt more comfortable,” said senior Debbie Riehl-Williams. “It was beneficial when working with others outside of class who I was already well acquainted with.”

“If you can stretch a little then do it. We are encouraging kids to take AP classes even if they are not traditionally what we would consider ‘AP level students’,” said Maguire.

LM is hoping that implementing MAP in subject areas besides foreign language to further aid minority students and increase enrollment in such high level courses.

“The hope is that once this program goes into other core classes, the same thing (more minorities in honors classes) will happen, and after a couple of years nobody has to do clustering because minorities will be well represented,” said Kirchner.

The District hopes that MAP will help bridge the achievement gap between races. “[The District does] not set up barricades to prevent certain kids from succeeding, but that doesn’t mean that they do not naturally exist,” said Maguire. “Just having the classes available to all students is one thing, but opening the door and saying ‘come on in’ and providing supports to help them do so is the important part.”

At a glance:

Before Clustering: 53% of minority students enrolled in faoreign language courses After Clustering: 85% enroleed

By Grade: Seniors: 20% enrollment to 78% Juniors: 38% to 91% Sophomores: 79% to 90%

Class of 2009

Twelve high school students from LM, Upper Darby, and Philadelphia helped build a school in the impoverished community of Bokoro, Mali in Western Africa.

These students were selected for the two week trip by buildOn, a non-profit organization promoting both in-class and after-school community service to spread education to children across the globe.

“I had never been to Africa before, and other than three meetings where all [the students] got together to talk about the trip, I didn’t know what to expect,” said junior Jordan Cooper, one of two LM students who traveled to Mali. “It was a little scary, but exciting.”

After traveling over 6,000 miles, residents of the village welcomed the group with music, dancing and special greetings from the elders.

“We got to the village after a four hour drive,” said Cooper. “When we got there, they had been standing at the entrance for hours. There were so many people and colors. As we got out

of our van, there were people on both sides, shaking our hands, and chanting ‘buildOn’.”

When students were not working on construction, which lasted four hours each day, they attended different cultural workshops with the village chief,

Photo courtesy of Jordan Cooper

traditional healers, midwives, and a local who makes shea butter.

This poverty-stricken community with a population of 822 lacked a real school building as well as an efficient education program, but this trip encouraged literacy throughout Bokoro.

“It was a remarkable opportunity and it was great to see the results of buildOn, and what an amazing organization it is,” said Cooper. “It was really a once in a lifetime experience.”

Activites for black history month Jenny Ma

Class of 2010

During their first two Photo by Sivahn Barsade/Staff meetings, members of The LM Black History Planning Committee discussed the newly formed LM Black future events at a recent organizational meeting.

History Planning Committee planned ways to spread cultural awareness ture in places such as Africa, Europe, Haiti, to the school population through a myriad of and the Dominican Republic, and selecting events. The student-run group hopes adminis- a new permanent name for the Committee. trators will approve their list of ideas by June In addition to planning awareness activiso they can begin planning in September. ties, members spent the last seven minutes of “The committee definitely takes a good meetings discussing personal issues and isstep to dealing with the unspoken issues of sues they would like to be addressed at LM. race at our school,” said junior Alexandra However, sponsor Saleema Smith found Cade. one issue in the demographic of the ComThe creation of the Committee, spon- mittee: nearly all of the members are black. sored by literacy specialist Saleema Smith “The topic is black history. Maybe next and Spanish teacher Myra Rios, was inspired year, the topic will be changed to Asians by the three year old district-wide core fac- and more students will be Asians,” said ulty group. This group, the Cultural Profi- Smith. “I do think it’s an issue that all the ciency, facilitates staff and student commu- members are of the same race. It’s unfornication with others of different ethnicities. tunate that some of them are experienc“One of our assignments was to survey ing what I experienced in high school.” the African American students about their exThe committee and its sponsors hope periences being a student at LM,” said Rios. to teach students more about diversity “One repeated response was an interest in and culture by meeting every B day durworking as a group to learn more about oth- ing Academic Recovery in the library. er cultures represented in our school includ“We hope to bring something good to ing, but not limited to, their own cultures.” the school so that other students of differFollowing an introductory meeting, stu- ent ethnicities will join,” said Smith. “I dents discussed the future of the club and po- made announcements and told the classes tential events. Members considered hosting I co-teach in as well as my advisory about musicians or cultural history talks at school this committee. These students are mostly on Saturdays, hosting cultural stations white. Hopefully, we will spread by word throughout school representing black cul- of mouth and more students will join.”

NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF Public barred from budget committee’s secret meetings

The Ad Hoc Budget Committee decided to continue holding controversial private meetings in the beginning of March, regardless of past challenges from media and community members.

When Audrey Romasco and David O’Connell of the Citizens for Responsible Budgeting in Lower Merion, along with a Main Line Times reporter, attempted to gain access to a “secret” meeting held February 18, the Committee canceled the meeting after a 90 minute consultation.

The Committee’s monthly meetings include discussion with township manager Douglas Cleland on general township budget and financial updates. It has saved approximately $2.5 million since its appointment by board President Bruce Reed.

These clandestine gatherings were accused of breaking Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act, which forbids closing prearranged meetings involving “participation of a quorum of the members for the purpose of deliberating agency business or taking official action” to the public.

While the Committee appears to break state law, they claim that their meetings fit under exceptions since discussions revolve around budget cuts “that could affect township personnel.”

“I’ve been in their place,” said Romasco to a Main Line Times reporter. “Governing in the public eye is messy. You have to take public comment, and people won’t like [some of] what you say. It takes longer, but that’s what you are elected to do.”

When members of the group met, in private, to vote whether or not to continue holding “secret” meetings, the decision was split. The four Republicans on the Committee favored opening budget discussions, while the eight Democratic members opted to keep meetings closed.

“I think we can talk about Council process without having the pres in the room,” said Committee Majority Leader Marian B. Tasco to a Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer. “It’s administrative as far as this is concerned.”

--Samantha Hershman, ‘09

LM A Capella holds fifth anniversary concert LM A Cappella (LMAC) will be putting on their fifth anniversary concert next Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 in the auditorium. In celebration of this landmark, both groups (Ace’s Angels and Ace Harmony) will be performing one song from each previous year, in addition to their current repertoire for this year.

A guest group from Penn State Pennharmonics, will also be performing who performed at the first LMAC concert ever in 2004.

Music teacher Josh Hunnex founded Ace Harmony in the fall of 2004. The following year, Ace’s Angels was born thus creating the umbrella organization LM A Cappella.

Together, the groups have released seven albums.

“Both groups have worked so hard this year and watching a cappella groups perform in general is seriously an amazingly great time,” said senior Charlotte Rosen, who has been in Ace’s Angels for all four years of its existence.

“What I love most about cappella is that it’s so inviting, musical, and thrilling to see-watching a group of your peers come together and re-create (and sometimes improve!) your favorite tunes is an electrifying experience,” continued Rosen. “It’s really astounding to think of how much the groups have grown over the 5 years, and I can’t think of any better way to commemorate it. Come see!”

--Hana Rouse, ‘10

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May 1, 2009

The Merionite EDITORIAL

In defense of the lobbies

The administration, through its actions over the past few weeks, has made it clear that it opposes students using both the cafeteria and auditorium lobbies. But in this, the administration seems to be working at cross-purposes. After all, the main focus of the administration this year has been fostering a stronger sense of community in LM (what with A-day advisory and this year’s “themes”); yet, they also want to shut down two naturally occurring community spaces in the school.

It is this kind of heavy-handed regulation that creates antagonism between students and administrators. As things stand with construction, there are very limited spaces in the school where students can go to during frees and socialize; the library and help centers are almost always full (and talk is prohibited there anyway), and, at least during the lunches, the cafeteria is as well. This lack of space makes the two lobbies the natural candidates for places to socialize.

Despite this, the administration seeks to bar students from these locations, citing excessive abusive language and bodies blocking the entrances to the school as justification; they even went so far as to shut down the cafeteria lobby after a fight broke out. But these are specious arguments: kicking kids out of the lobbies will not curb cursing, fights can break out wherever students congregate, and it would take dozens of students to make it impossible to negotiate the lobbies.

Instead of making an announcement to identify and solve these problems, the administration resorts to expelling students from the lobbies without warning. This tendency to silently introduce new polices—e.g. putting up laminated posters banning cell phones one day rather than telling the student body that there is a problem with cell phones—signals a breakdown of communication between the student body and the administration.

Isn’t that what the administration is purportedly trying to fix?

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

The Merionite Published since 1929

Editors-in-Chief Carolyn Chou, ’09 Liz Jacobs, ’09 Managing Editor Emma Saltzberg, ’09 News Editors Sivahn Barsade, ’10 Samantha Hershman, ’09 Hana Rouse, ’10 Op-Ed Editors JC Chou, ’09 Ethan Cohen, ’09 Niklas Thompson, ’09 Features Editors Hannah Goldberg-Morse, ’10 Bina Peltz, ’10 Jessica Scolnic, ’09 Arts & Entertainment Editors

Sophia Hirsch, ’09 Jenny Smolen, ’09 Hannah Weilbacher, ’10

Sports Editors Elie Peltz, ’09 Xinran Wang, ’10 Corinne Zucker, ’09 Layout Editor Sam Blum, ’09 Graphics/ Noah Zuares, ’10 Web Editor Business Marissa Presser, ’09 Manager Photo Editor Esther Hoffman, ’09 Copy Editors Isaac Lindy, ’10 Emily Sorensen, ’10 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 116. 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.

Editorial/Letters Letters to the Editor

One to one: Not on my lap

As a graduate of Welsh Valley, most of my middle school buddies now go to Harriton, which means they all have new Macs to use for “schoolwork” this year. One of my best friends from Harriton is becoming more and more reliant on her laptop. At first I couldn’t complain, because she was always online so we could talk easily during the week. On the weekends, however, she brought the laptop to sleepovers at my house and would be online with her other friends. I would initially tell her to bring it so we could both work on weekend homework together like we did in middle school, but we just ended up on Facebook or video-chatting the whole night. No schoolwork was ever done, even on a Sunday. Ever.

And this is why I’m so adamantly against the laptops. Not only do I feel like the laptop is stealing my friend, her grades are also slipping.

She has immediate access to everything on the Internet at her fingertips.

Why pick up a pencil to outline a history chapter when she could be chatting with her friends or playing those stupid and completely addicting games that everyone loves to play? If you think they’re a distraction during class, just wait until you bring them home. I know the feeling as well as anyone—you have a sub in a class and take out a laptop to check your e-mail. Next thing you know, 55 minutes have disappeared and you’re leaving the room completely spaced out from playing Tetris or games from miniclip.com.

As much fun as they are, and I’m all for spacing out, you can’t really accomplish anything playing them.

Although there are other distractions at home, having our own laptops will be different. For one thing, we can be almost literally everywhere and anywhere and use our laptops. More and more chill hangouts like Milk Boy and Starbucks are providing customers with free Internet connection. They’re fast and easy to use, and we can always be online while we’re doing our work, just in case someone logs on. My friend often says she’s “doing home-

work” when I ask her what’s up, but stays online for an hour to talk to me.

She says she needs to video-chat with her friend from Chemistry to talk about the project, but that’s the last topic of conversation, if at all.

And who’s to blame her? I think it’s a dangerous situation for all students. The school is providing these laptops assuming they will be used for academic purposes, but when laptops are completely pimped out with all of the new features Mac has to offer – things like built-in cameras, photo booth, and high-speed Internet complete with Quick time, Shockwave, and Java – how do they expect anyone to get work done?

If anything, the laptops will hinder our grades. I’ve been close to my friend long enough to know that she’s capable of more than what she’s receiving grade-wise this year. I know I won’t be able to resist video-chat every time I should, and that scares me, especially considering next year I’m in for hell, like all of the incoming juniors.

I think our system is fine the way it is. Somehow without personal Mac laptops, most students at LM get all of their work done on time. They even type it up and print it out. Somehow without personal Mac laptops, students take AP courses and graduate with flying colors. Somehow without personal Mac laptops, LM has had an incredible number of seniors get into Ivy League colleges this year.

Somehow, without the necessary tool of personal Mac laptops, students at LM have been getting along just fine.

I know we are privileged to get the opportunity for laptops. But if the school board is itching to spend money on something, they can fix the girls’ bathroom on the third floor of the old wing so there is more than one working stall and sink, or even donate some to schools in Philadelphia that barely have one computer per classroom. Weighing the evidence, it just doesn’t seem like this new investment is worth it.

Leah Rosenbloom Class of 2011

Congratulations to the 2009-2010 Merionite staff!

Editors-in-Chief Sivahn Barsade, ’10 Hana Rouse, ’10 Managing Editor Hannah Weilbacher, ’10

Sports Editors Emily Eisner, ’10 Conor Ferguson, ’11 Xinran Wang, ’10

Layout/ News Editors Hannah Goldberg-Morse, ’10 Web Editor Jenny Ma, ’10 Matt Rublin, ’11 Business Manager Op-Ed Editors Isaac Lindy, ’10 Leah Rosenbloom, ’11 Photo Editor Features Editors Rachel Cohen, ’10 Bina Peltz, ’10 Copy Editors Emily Sorensen, ’10 Arts & Han Tran, ’11 Entertainment Jake Wellens, ’11 Editors

Noah Zuares, ’10 Ben Forer, ’10

Ann Zheng, ’12 Avi Chatterjee, ’11 Connie Hua, ’10

High-fives all around.

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May 1, 2009

OPINIONS

The Merionite

Not your parents’ cell phone policy

Anyone notice those laminated pieces of paper around the school that explain the new cell phone policy?

Did you know that cell phones aren’t allowed from 7:00 to 2:40 –even Connie Hua though Class of 2010 school doesn’t technically start till 7:30 anyway? And while our phones are allowed in the cafeteria and the cafeteria lobby … the reception down there pretty much sucks. Small wonder we’re allowed to use them down there.

This new regulation is just one of many other attempts to ban cell phone use in school. I mean, luckily no one enforces this dumb rule (or for that matter, any dumb rule – green hall passes anyone?) so we’ll all be able to walk around in the hallways and text in peace. But still, the very idea that cell phone use in school is somehow “wrong” and something that ought to be punished is ridiculous.

Clearly outside of school, the benefits of cell phones are countless and while Lower Merion is a slightly different environment, the same technological advantages of having a phone remain.

I’ve never been a big fan of unnecessary technology or the human race’s dependence on it and

I’ll be the first to admit that there are definite problems with excessive phone use in class. Constant texting is annoying, not to mention distracting and although no one I’ve seen has enough audacity to take calls during class, such a thing would be completely unacceptable. But from what I’ve heard, the school’s biggest problem with cell phone use in school is the apparent spike in cheating it causes. Teachers believe that with the power of texts, answers to test questions can easily be shared with others who have not yet taken the assessment or even worse, be shared from across the room during a test.

While I understand these fears, I can’t help but be unmoved.

Cheating has unfortunately existed since the dawn of time and while cell phones may help facilitate such unethical behavior, it’s hardly the root of the problem. Eliminating cell phone use won’t change a thing. LM students are smart—in more ways than one, and will find other ways of getting the grades they want. And this is of course if the current cell phone policy is even enforced, which, given the sheer number of phones at LM is simply impossible to accomplish without confiscating all of them.

Cell phone use in school is actually beneficial to facilitating a better environment for learning.

Granted, certain etiquette needs to be followed, such as not answering a phone during class, but the overall benefits for allowing phones are so numerous, it would be foolish to immediately label cell phone usage as unacceptable.

For example, the convenience of a cell phone is unbelievable. In a rapidly evolving word, phones today are very different from the

ing up for AR and with good reason. They cannot, however, simply expect all 1600 students in LM to sign up in a day with the computers available in the school. Sometimes the library is just too crowded and other times students forget until 1:25 and by then, it’s just too late.

But voila! With certain cell phones, a student can sign up within minutes, regardless of whether she has access to a computer. I understand why some would find it unnecessary for students to check their e-mail or even the news during school hours, but clearly signing up for AR benefits both the administration and the stressed student who can barely remember his math homework for the night, let alone rememArt by Leah Rosenbloom ber to sign phones ten years ago. They do a up for AR at the end of the day. lot more than just call people. My But by far the most important phone acts not only as a form of reason to have a cell phone is communication; it also functions safety. What if we have a school as my planner with its nifty built- shooting at Lower Merion and in calendar, my alarm clock, and the lockdown drill doesn’t go an accurate stopwatch during sci- as planned? While this may inience labs. Since it also has internet tially sound absurd (after all, we capabilities, I can easily check my are a prestigious high school on e-mail or the news and sign up for the Main Line), just last year Academic Recovery while walking there was a knife found with from class to class. The administra- an ominous letter outside our tion makes a huge deal about sign- school, suggesting harm. Such a

thing, while not probable, is possible and must be considered.

Certainly the danger in such a situation would be much greater without some sort of communication between the students. If I were in the library one day and one of my friends heard about a shooting before the school entered lockdown, I’d want to know. Or, if I were in the bathroom during a lockdown and couldn’t get into a classroom but could text a friend, at the very least I could then run out of LM as fast as possible. In fact, this novel idea of using texting to warn students of danger has been so effective that it has been adopted by several universities across America.

There’s no reason why LM should choose to purposely demand a no cell phone policy in light of possible threats against the school’s most priceless commodity: its students. For this reason alone, LM should actually encourage students to keep their cell phones with them, rather than hide them away and turn them off during the day.

Phones are often underestimated for well … just being phones. But when a piece of technology can be used so conveniently to accomplish simple tasks and even serve as a potential safeguard against danger, such technology should be welcomed. That’s not to say there aren’t flaws with excessive phone use, but very rarely is such inappropriateness seen in LM classrooms. Instead of largely banning cell phones, the administration should instead discard any policy against them to benefit its students and their safety.

It was less than two years ago when the war in Iraq appeared a hopeless mess: rising sectarian violence amongst the Sunnis and Shiites undermined the democracybuilding process that was Avi Chatterjee trying Class of 2011 to take shape.

Terrorism continued to threaten the daily life of Iraqis, while Americans became increasingly disillusioned with a mission in seeming ruin. Yet, thanks to policy changes like the military surge, soldier and civilian deaths largely decreased. General elections were held and a new government coalition was formed.

The workings of a young constitution began to evolve, and Nuri Al-Maliki emerged as Iraq’s new president, generally backed

by U.S. diplomats and officials.

While it would be foolish to champion claims of “Mission Accomplished,” the tide has turned for the better in Iraq. Indeed, it was Iraq’s own parliament that

voted on a referendum to remove all U.S. troops by 2010.

Some would argue it was a mistake to enter the country in the first place. Regardless, apparent failure has grown into relative success. But now, our attention shifts elsewhere: Afghanistan.

The year 2008 was the bloodiest period to date in the sevenyear war, as 286 U.S. soldiers were killed. This figure represents nearly half of the amount of American soldiers that have been killed throughout this entire war (roughly 580). The grim news has been mirrored by stagnancy in progress; with the Taliban insurgency regaining weapons, and more importantly power, their extremist agenda continues. Reports have trickled in of despondency settling in on the part of the other coalition forces, especially that of the British army. Corruption has thus far marred any success of building a strong central government, an issue that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has done little to address. There is a growing sentiment that this war is not “winnable,” and that Afghanistan is ultimately a lost cause.

So what do we do? Where are the solutions? What needs to be done to make this a successful campaign once again? An Iraqlike approach (implementing a surge) has been suggested and

dissected; yet this strategy proves fruitless. The complexity of warfare is too often overlooked, as we assume that what worked in Iraq will most certainly work in Afghanistan. But it just doesn’t work that way. The geographic, socioeconomic and political variances of the two countries create immensely different problems and subsequently, need immensely different solutions. In Afghanistan, the brutal eastern terrain and the rampant trade of opium are perhaps the biggest forces contributing to the current stalemate.

The ghosts of wars past, including the Soviet invasion in 1979, have undoubtedly played a role in the chaos as well. Afghans are dubious of foreign occupation.

It is the geography that presents the greatest hurdle. Afghanistan’s eastern border, shared with Pakistan, is a lawless tribal region harboring drug traffickers, warlords and terrorists. In fact, it hardly suffices to designate this region as the Afghan-Pakistani border, for the actual divider has become much too blurred to make any difference. As such, Pakistan has become a safe haven for terrorist groups to recruit members, organize plots and fortify themselves. The regions of South and North Waziristan (designated as Federally Administered Tribal Areas-FATA), the province of

in Afghanistan. Sometimes it’s best to fight fire with fire, and more troops would help to quell the rising death tolls of recent months. Unlike Iraq, however, this option is not the main recipe for success. Rather, it’s a strategy to restore a sense of order so the real improvement can begin.

Most importantly, we need to redefine what our goals are in Afghanistan. What will be considered “victory,” if anything? Is it really possible to force democracy upon a country that has repeatedly proven itself incapable of handling such a government?

While a few things are more or less certain (the necessity of Pakistan’s support to stop terrorists, reducing the violence, etc.), we are a far cry from having all the answers. Obama must address these pressing questions with an outlook that is both pragmatic and effective. While he has thus far shown signs of possible rookie mistakes (pressuring Kyrgyzstan to shut a U.S. air base there, acquiescing to the idea of a Russian missile deal, etc.) I have the confidence that he can deliver.

And with an economic hurricane still pounding its waves of recession down upon us, our president would be wise to prevent another natural disaster from growing in Afghanistan. That’s hardly the perfect storm we need right now.

Afghanistan: Winning the unwinnable Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier are the hot spots for Taliban activity, proxies in Pakistan that have allowed the terrorists to survive. It seems likely that the road to success in Afghanistan will make a rough detour into Pakistan.

President Obama must pursue this challenge with brutal honesty and conviction that may not be well received. While Pakistanis have responded negatively to the prospect of foreign military invasion, Obama must act in the best interest of American policy.

He has insisted that the air raids into Pakistan have been wholly effective, killing perhaps 11 out of an estimated 20 top al-Qaeda officials. To some degree, controlling Pakistan means controlling Afghanistan. We must be committed to what works.

Yet, we cannot continue to install fragmented, ad hoc tactics in pursuit of victory. A revamping of strategy is in order, something that will take the consideration of all participants in this conflict.

For our part, a rise in troop deployment may be a necessary evil. As a matter of principle, an increase in troops is hardly a harbinger of success. But the immediacy of this war’s consequences is undeniable. With our investment rested in Iraq the last four years, we have been caught off guard in the rise of violence

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The Merionite

OPINIONS

Newsprint: A dying industry Internet killed the newspaper star Too Much An endangered species is slowly disappearing. Its extinction is on the horizon but the majority does not seem to care. In fact, many are saying, “We don’t need you anymore.”

I am not an animal enthusiast. I am a newspaper reader.

Hundreds of newspapers around the country are closing or making deep Matt Rublin cuts. Recently, Class of 2011 the company that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer filed for bankruptcy. Leading newspapers such as the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times are struggling. All of this is accelerated by the most troubled economy we have seen in our relatively short lifetimes.

Perusing newspapers is a daily ritual for me. Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, and some Wall Street Journal sprinkled in. I’ll look at almost every section. Place any newspaper in front of me and I bet you I will read it.

I know I am probably one of the few people under 25 that look at a newspaper everyday. Technology has created a free, online news mecca where you can instantly get news on Somali pirates, Jessica Simpson, or Tiger Woods. Many kids, including myself, go to sites such as CNN or MSNBC. Why spend a dollar for news that you can get online in four seconds?

I don’t disagree with my peers’ reasoning; online news web sources are key to staying on top of what is occurring throughout the world. I do believe, however, that these sites are only beneficial for updates on “breaking news.” Waiting a whole day to hear what was occurring in the Mumbai attacks would be unreasonable.

Yet news Web sites have many crucial flaws. Biases occasionally appear throughout web sites. A recent look at the Fox News Web site found articles that would appeal mostly to Republicans. A different visit to the MSNBC website discovered material that would attract liberals. Too often a Web site worries more about how to “show” the news than accurately and fairly report it. While people can sometimes find particular newspaper viewpoints throughout its pages, a newspaper does

Fluff

a much better job of fairly and objectively reporting the news of the day.

Newspapers also do a better job of accurately describing information. Web sites occasionally report unsubstantiated rumors or report information from unreliable sources. They don’t lose their sleep over it; more page views on their Web site equals more people seeing their ads which means more money in their wallets. Newspapers don’t have this “competitive” issue, as they only produce one paper everyday. If they report something, they try as much as they can to make sure it is actually true. According to a 2005 Newspaper National Network LP survey, 3,000 people chose newspapers as the most trustworthy media source while the Internet was ranked last. Newspapers also admit their mistakes directly in the paper instead of some page online that is almost impossible to find. Readers can almost always depend more on the reliability of newspapers than online websites.

Most importantly, daily papers play a critical role in our community. Papers are willing to rat out corruption, ethics violations, or just bad behavior in our government and public figures. They are not afraid to burn down bridges to inform the public of the dishonesty and lies. Have you ever seen CNN or MSNBC actually expose misconduct in government with their own reporting? Yep, me neither. They just sit back and wait for another news source to find it. The demise of newspapers brings a startling thought to the forefront: Will corruption and other misdeeds become more prevalent if no one is there to report them?

If you’re just not into news, there are other sections to entertain you. You can look at the comics and puzzles right there in the paper instead of running over to Borders and spending $12 on a sudoku book.

Restaurant reviews can tell you what place is bad without you wasting your money.

And once the Eagles win their first Super Bowl, wouldn’t you want a commemorative newspaper to show future generations? Printing out something from the Internet is not nearly as impressive.

Technology may be developing to cater to our needs, but it does not diminish the importance of having a daily newspaper.

The consistency and trustworthiness of newspapers can simply not be matched.

When newspapers suffer their final fate, I won’t be sad or angry. I will just be anxious to see what happens when society tries to survive without reliable journalism.

A common issue written about, protested against and mourned for is the decline of the newspaper industry. I know for me personally, although I do read news on the Internet, I take comfort in the newspapers we subscribe to that lie on the kitchen table each morning. As a school, we are probably safe in preserving the once-aRachel Cohen Class of 2010 month Merionite, but many reputable papers are not so fortunate. (There is even a Web site entitled “www.newspaperdeathwatch. com” that is documenting the downfall.)

Respected names such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Chicago Tribune have already filed for bankruptcy. The New York Times is $1.1 million dollars in debt and has already threatened to shut down The Boston Globe unless it could get $20 million in union concessions. That being said, as a newspaper supporter, I also reserve the right to be a newspaper critic. And I’ve noticed several things that are critically wrong.

I am continually surprised to see what is viewed as “headline-worthy.” On April 12, The Inquirer’s front-page story on the Sunday paper was an article anticipating Michelle Obama’s Easter outfit.

It reinforced the popular message of her fantastic fashion sense for America and how she is redefining cultural norms.

I’m all for trends, but we do have a fashion section in the paper. And we are in an economic crisis, transitioning a new administration, addressing the failing auto industry, attempting to regulate the rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere, engaging in several wars across seas, creating a drastically new health care system, figuring out how to make college more affordable, conducting research with new advancements in stem-cells, experimenting with vaccinations for the AIDS epidemic in Africa, mollifying a genocide in Darfur, trying to control illegal immigrants from crossing our national borders…and yet the front page article on the Sunday Inquirer, the one issue a week that garners the most number of readers, was Michelle Obama’s Easter outfit?

Now, it was Easter Sunday, and per-

haps people needed a break from all the overwhelming issues. I figured they probably preferred a happy hiatus from all these enormous problems, which I can understand. However, this theory failed when I realized that I read things like this all the time. Think about all the attention the dog that the Obamas purchased for the White House has received. I typed in “White House Dog” on a Google search and 23,000,000 results came up. Next, I typed in “Stem Cell Research” and 17,000,000 results appeared. I thought maybe these results were skewed so I tried some others. “Obama Dog” produced 41,900,000 results and “Michelle Obama Style” hit 29,500,000 sites. (“Genocide Darfur” hit only 2,310,000 sites.)

Furthermore, though I wouldn’t describe myself as a raging feminist, I certainly champion equal rights, and I do not think one has to be a feminist to notice what the media has done to the First Lady. They’ve taken an intelligent, articulate, Princeton and Harvard graduate, and chalked her up to a mere fashion icon of America.

And it’s not that the media is being mean per se, in fact, most speak about her with adoration. But smiling, cheerful newscasters talking about “Michelle’s right to bare arms” shouldn’t be viewed as any less discriminatory than anything else.

Yes, it’s important to have influential role models for people, especially women, to look up to. But honestly what kind of message does it really send to America to say that a hardworking woman, whose ideals and assiduousness helped her to rise out of adversity and attend some of the most respected education institutions in the world...in the end is being praised for what she wears at political functions? Our media has packaged her up to be a loving mom to Sasha and Malia and an inspiration to external appearances nationwide.

This frivolous obsession with the Obamas personal lives reveals the underlying issues with the media. Maybe to save the dying industry, journalists should dig deeper for more important stories to cover. Maybe as readers, we should ask ourselves if what we’re reading is just sexism disguised in flattery.

Maybe we need to accept that despite the overwhelming unpleasantness of many of the issues we face, it’s essential that we grow accustomed to dealing with them often. And though it’s surely easier to discuss happy, fluffy stories—at the end of the day the original problems are still going to be there.

It’s been a long haul, my fellow juniors, but amazingly, the end is in sight. Never mind that it’s precariously perched atop a giant volcano of AP tests, finals, and SAT scores and you have to squint real hard to see it; it’s there, I’m almost positive.

Looking back on this lovely year, the highlights JJ Warshaw are, well, pretty Class of 2010 limited. There’ve been some moments: that snow day was clutch, the dunk tank was cool, that one night I actually

received sufficient sleep was enchanting, but it all just seems lost in the constant, mind-numbing slog that is junior year.

I’d have to say the worst part of it has been the awful revelations that seem to come just about every quarter. First quarter was, “Wow, I seem to be doing a lot more work than usual.” Second quarter, standardized tests started laying down a stank.

Third quarter seemed to be the end, but no – it turned out to be the calm before the storm as college admissions and all its terrible underlings crashed down upon us (except for you, smart, shy girl whose name I can never remember, you knew all along).

And the worst thing about all this depressing why-haven’t-I-cured-third-worlddiseases college nonsense is the seniors all cheery and smiles because they’re done the whole damn thing; I just want to

punch all of them individually in the face and hope they get some exotic disease during their senior project (which we might not even be having – shoot me in the face).

But I shouldn’t be too harsh. Half the reason I’m writing this article, frankly, is because I can’t wait to read it when I’m done all of this like the seniors are now, and reminisce about how times were so bad then, and so good now.

Anyway, that’s all I got; I hope my whining has touched you in some way. And to my fellow juniors: just keep your sights on the crazy end-of-school parties; they certainly seem inevitable at this point.

Junior year continues to lay a stank

Did You Know?

_______________________________ At 3,812 meters above sea level, South America’s Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world.

May 1, 2009

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FEATURES

The Merionite

Vivacious Vinci, valiantly vanquishing vapidity Kyra Sutton

particular view on fashion? “What do early as age six, young David was already experimenting with the concept.

Class of 2009 you think, look at me,” the equationadorned-tie-wearing teacher mutters with Unfortunately this interest landed his “Here, you can borrow my pen,” says an eye roll, “it would be a meaningless brother in the hospital with stitches after David Vinci, handing a student a seem- view even if I had one.” And if you read Vinci decided to throw a rock at his head. ingly normal red Bic writing utensil. this in hopes of picking up some VinciDog agility is a slightly less violent in“Has this been…chewed on?” senior inspired choreography, I apologize—he terest of Vinci’s. Dog what? Few are familKara Siberthau asks disgustedly, dan- “doesn’t dance”—not even at his own iar with the concept, but a quick motion togling the object in question between her ward the printed pictures two fingers. “Oh yeah,” replies Vinci hanging on his wall was without looking up. “Your dogs chew all Vinci needed by way on things?” I assume from personal exof an explanation. They perience. “Of course not,” Vinci replies feature Australian shepimmediately, as though struck for the herds jumping through first time by this foreign possibility, “my hoops and other obstacle dogs never bite things.” We look at him, course-like contrapthe mangled pen, and back at him, awaittions and a winter-coat ing an explanation. “My wife does.” bundled, hat-clad figThe question we’re all pondering: ure clapping his gloved what exactly is this Kermit the Frog dophands in encouragement. pelganger, husband of pen-chewing Jamie The figure, I learned, Alooni (and apparently a bit of a loony would be Vinci, engaghimself) doing here at LM? How did he ing in his fave weekend come to teach physics in our hallowed activity. Attending Philhalls? “Well, I was unemployed and lies games, Flyers games uh…” Vinci trails off. The real story: he and “smaller play things went to Penn State to study aerospace enand jazz concerts” tie for gineering and spent summers working as a close second favorites. day camp counselor. Becoming a physics But some Vinci-isms teacher was like “putting the two pieces Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff have developed from a together, if that makes any sense,” he tells David Vinci taking a break from projectile motion. lack of expertise. Take, for me. And really—if you’ve spent a first example, his (quite limdate watching the pendulum swing at the ited) drawing skills, which Franklin Institute (as Vinci has), how can wedding. Poor Ms. Alooni Vinci was despawned the birth of the Weiner Princess. you not go into physics? As for his em- prived of a bride-and-groom foray on the You heard me: the Weiner Princess. Back ployment at LM specifically, fellow phys- dance floor. Although even her husband in “uh…two thousand and somethin’…” ics teacher Robert Schanne has provided does “not know if she likes dancing—how Vinci’s attempts at drawing cars for physa disclaimer: “It’s my fault he’s here.” would I, I’ve never danced with her!” ics problems would more often than not, Though you wouldn’t suspect it from If not fashion or dance (our means of resemble “either a whale or the Oscar his tri-monthly stylish haircuts, the phys- measurement of a cool human being)— Meyer Weiner Mobile” (which he asics-phreak is not what one would typi- in what exactly does Vinci have exserts, does actually exist). The stick figcally equate with hip. Does he have a pertise? Projectile motion. In fact, as ure drawn aboard this Weiner Mobile was

soon dubbed “The Weiner Princess,” and thus began the tradition of one chosen student’s annual ascent to the throne (complete with her very own light up crown, compliments of Vinci). The title is really more of a figurehead, as the princess is typically not expected to fulfill many actual duties. However, during her reign, senior Carolyn Chou (being Carolyn Chou) was especially innovative with her position and took her devotion to her class and its ruler to new heights. Though the Weiner Princess is his most famous, Vinci has invented many other bizarre nicknames for his students: junior Dan Timm has been called Tom since day one of class for seemingly no reason (“cause he looks like Tom from Dr. Who!” claims Vinci), and a new eternally reigning throne was developed for yours truly, The Dark Princess.

So don’t be quick to dismiss Vinci simply due to his lack of knowledge in our silly high school interests. In fact, his sense of humor and approach to life transcend our materialism and immaturity: his wacky yet meaningful nicknames and spontaneous scribbles of the word “poop” as he teaches on his smart board should be evidence enough. Perhaps we should all step out of the bubble of our trivial drama and attempt to lead our lives Vinci-style.

The first step to such a quest would surely be the acquisition of multiple dogs, because as David puts it “they love me more than anything else in the world.” (That’s right, even more than Alooni-- “most of the time”). Next, purchase multiple felines “to curl around your head at night,” and be sure to drop the word “cats” spontaneously in conversation or while teaching when it is especially irrelevant. Finally, in the words of David Vinci, “don’t be stupid.”

A fresh look at freshman year

What WAS freshman year? At some times, it seemed like an endless torrent of African tribal videos; at others, the slow study of mitosis, meiosis, and all that other stuff most of us have forgotten by now. We were shunned to the Annex…until it was knocked down. So many people responded with puzzled looks when we asked about freshman year that it seems like our frosh memories were destroyed along with those hallowed halls. So, to help you remember what those bygone days were like, we’ve compiled some anecdotes for your reading pleasure. Sit back and relive getting lost in LM’s bewildering building, the required teasing and booing, the fantastically fun times, and maybe the relief of getting it over with.

Throwback! Frosh in a box now and then

My favorite part of freshman year was buying real soda and Willy Wonka candy from the vending machines.

Those “baked chips” aren’t fooling anyone.

- senior Toby Leventhal

Mr. Moeller always used to say "Focus like a laser beam!”

- senior Sara Gabalawi

My freshman experience was better than my senior experience on ONE way...

I ate lunch on a FIELD. - senior Tom Simon

Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff

Freshman Josh Hoffman embodies the freshman spirit

Photo from Merionite 2005

Current seniors Sam Blum, Sammi Hershman and Keisha Mulugeta posed for the popular 2005 Merionite feature “Frosh in a box”

I just remember the first day of school not knowing what to do with myself. Everyone was hanging out in the hallways and I didn’t know where freshman were supposed to go. It was awkward. Also seeing boys with beards really freaked me out. And I thought Savi’s Hut was a cool place to hang out outside of school. I didn’t realize it was in our cafateria until a few weeks into school.

- junior Aliza Berger

I miss Larry D! - senior Katie Cochrane

I remember having a schedule in which I consistently walked from the first floor to the third floor, to the first, to the third, to the basement of the tech building, to the third... oh wait, I still do that.

- senior Mike Henrich

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May 1, 2009

FEATURES

The Merionite

Theories on LM thievery Marta Bean Class of 2010 Ah, is there anything more satisfying than finding a freshly sharpened, full-erasered, yellow and green Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil on the ground?

Maybe finding a freshly sharpened, full-erasered, yellow and green Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil on someone’s desk, laying there defenseless, and then getting away with stealing it.

The simple satisfaction of petty theft has evolved into an unfortunate fad.

Stealing: we just can’t get enough.

And yeah, you can blame it on the little green trolls that run behind you in the hallways, who sneakily open your backpack and take your stuff while you aren’t looking.

Or you can complain that people “break into” your gym locker and take your graphing calculators, iPods and Coach wallets that you “ACTUALLY LOCKED UP!” Or you can just realize that kids these days are too careless to watch and lock their stuff up.

And I’m not saying that every person who misplaces something or gets something stolen is stupid. Some are just really unlucky. Take the track team for example. This past April Fools’ day, about 15 runners had their cell phones stolen during a meet.

Now I’m not suggesting that everyone carry their belongings everywhere they go, but valuables like technology and money shouldn’t be left for the world to see (and take).

The construction on the school has increased gym theft drastically. Three out of four gym teachers believe that the problem is getting more serious because now lockers are not guaranteed for every student. This causes many students to resort to leaving their bags in the hallways or on the perimeter of the gym, a goldmine for burglars and a minefield for parents who have renewed

their Verizon two-year agreements three times in the last year and have bought every generation iPod nano thus far.

Sophomore Sarah Spector complains “I had my phone stolen during my gym class. People are always losing stuff from eighth period D day gym class!”

Junior Lucas VanHouten also complains that he had some technology snatched during gym class.

“Freshman year my PSP got stolen from the locker room which sucked, but since then I’ve been more careful and haven’t lost anything major.”

Maybe the problem comes from our attitude.

The culture at LM basically says that everyone is the exception. Similar to the attitude that students have about getting their grades changed in order to keep their 5.0 GPA, this “I can get away with it” mentality makes kids believe that they are the lucky ones, the ones who can get away with not locking their stuff up or at least hiding it.

The contrary is also true; students also believe that they can get away with theft. An anonymous student remarks that a great place to “borrow” from is the lost and found: “The lost and found is overlooked; half of the students who lose stuff probably won’t even reclaim it. So I take advantage of it from time to time…” But is that even stealing?

Now we aren’t all bad, and things that go missing aren’t always stolen. Junior Rachel Cohen says “I’ve left my phone in the cafeteria four times and each time it has been returned.” Even I have “lost” countless thermoses and water bottles, only to find them the next day on the ledge of the chalkboard in math class.

So basically, if you don’t want to get screwed, just put your bookbag in your locker, your wallet in your pocket, and your hands out of other people’s business and then maybe the problem will be solved. And as for pencils…just don’t get caught “eternally borrowing” them.

What a steal! Students weigh in on theft

“

This September I was in the third floor bathroom and I put my backpack next to the sink so I wouldn’t have to bring it in the stall...while I was in the bathroom someone came in and washed their hands and I thought just accidentally grazed my bag but they unzipped the front pocket and took out my phone.

- Junior Amelia Lord

”

“ “

“

After my coat was stolen at a concert, I bought a new, gorgeous, black coat which I was in LOVE with. Three days later, I left the coat in the school bathroom, hanging over the stall door.

I rushed back the next period, searching for my beloved coat….but it was already gone! In less than hour, somebody had stolen my coat. That’s just pathetic.

- Sophomore Maddy Berger

Freshman year, my beloved brand new iPod was stolen, and on my birthday.

I was waiting for cheer practice to start and left it on my bag outside the bathroom stall (which was still in my range of sight) and someone’s hand reached down, grabbed it, and ran. I tried to pull my pants up fast enough to catch who did it but there was no hope. It’s really important that everyone takes the right precautions for this kind of thing.

- Junior Jade Waterman

”

”

Freshman year in math class, my calculator was stolen off my desk.

I turned around to ask my friend a homework question and when I turned back to face the front, my calculator was gone. In literally ten seconds someone managed to seize the moment and take my calculator.

Who can even think that fast?

-Senior Adam Longwich

”

Graphic by Sam Blum/Staff Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

May 1, 2009

The Merionite

FEATURES

9

Wearing our hearts, clubs, and aces on our sleeves E. Cohn/ E. Saltzberg

Class of ’12/’ 09

At LM, school spirit isn’t always loud and in-your-face. Often, it’s as subtle as throwing on a t-shirt. Groups as large as the Dawg Pound or the senior class— or as small as a Wiffle Ball team in one gym class—love to show their pride with custom clothing.

Every year, class officers from the various grades design and sell t-shirts to raise money. This year’s sophomore class sold a “Fight Like Bulldogs”/ “Win Like Aces” design.

“We specifically made the logo generic so all LM students could buy them,” said sophomore Maggie Walker.

Usually, though, these shirts tend to show the distinctive personality of their class.

For instance, take the junior class’s “Jun10rs” tshirt. While it may not make sense to other grades, it certainly does to juniors.

“The quote on the back says ‘Is it true they knocked down the Ardmore Annex?’” said junior class president JJ Hoffstein. “It’s kind of a junior class inside joke.”

The personality of some classes, though, simply can’t be fully expressed by official wear. Senior Tom Simon’s “please touch” t-shirt is one in particular that has begun to gain prevalence around LM.

“I came up with the idea a few days after I heard that our prom was going to be at the Please Touch Museum,” said Simon.

Simon decided to materialize his t-shirt idea after seeing the official senior shirt, which reads “Seniors 2009: Conserve Energy, Use Natural Light,” and feeling that his design was better. This shirt is blue and reads “Seniors 2009” in bubble lettering on the back and “Please Touch” on the front.

He’s part of a proud tradition of underground t-shirts at LM. Last year’s senior class made “Reread, Rewrite, Re-rack” shirts after some seniors were dissatisfied with their “Is this going on my transcript?” official shirts. (It’s ironic that one class decided their shirts didn’t allude to alcohol enough, while the next class’s shirts talked about alcohol too much. Will LM seniors ever be satisfied with the schoolsanctioned shirts?)

At the end of their sophomore year, seniors Mimi Eisen and Sam Blum felt that LM students were still missing something among

the plethora of t-shirts.

“We began to discuss the lack of a school store and we wanted some creative, new LM apparel to wear,” said Eisen.

“We thought that if we created some designs, people would like them and buy them, and we could kind of create our own school store.”

Naming their company Ace Apparel, Eisen and Blum promoted the business by handing out pins and flyers and urging students to spread the word. By February 2008, they sold their first product: a solid gray t-shirt with a colorful 3D “LM” in the center.

Seniors this year may also remember one notable underground t-shirt: the infamous Pirate Club design from the 2005-2006 school year. Then-juniors Tyler Schwartz and Ben Mervis sold more than 75 shirts for their club; the fact that it didn’t actually exist didn’t seem to bother anyone.

Of course, real clubs sell snazzy t-shirts, too. Players, for instance, ordered several types of clothing for their most recent production, The Imaginary Invalid.

“We ordered grey zip-up hoodies and grey t-shirts with Imaginary Invalid designs on them, as well as green and yellow flannel pajama pants with a similar logo,” said

junior Marta Bean. “The zip-up sweatshirt sold very well.”

There’s also Israeli Culture Club’s t-shirt, which displays “Lower Merion” in Hebrew across the front.

“Bina Peltz came up with the idea of doing a kind of take-off on what a lot of college Hillels sell,” said senior Naomi Hachen, the club’s president. “Who doesn’t want to feel like a college student, wearing a t-shirt with their school name in Hebrew?”

“They were actually so popular that we’re doing a second order now,” said Hachen.

“People just got really excited!”

Another recent source of clothing-related excitement is the shirts honoring physics teacher Dave Vinci. The shirts, which feature a common Vinci saying (which he quotes Blum from “Alm a S y hics b ice’s Restaurant”), Grap were designed by junior Momo Nakagawa.

“They’re funny. It’ll leave me with good memories of that class,” said junior Eunice Jin. “I love ‘em. I think they’re great. It’s people showing a pride in what they’re doing and I think it’s really neat,” said Vinci.

Waxing poetic about the art of pysanka Emily Sorensen

Class of 2010 For most people, Easter egg dyeing consists of buying a kit at a grocery store, adding water to dye tablets, and dunking in eggs. Shortly after, the eggs are a vivid, solid hue. However, some cultures, like that of Ukraine, take this egg dyeing a step further, making it an art.

In Ukraine, these carefully decorated eggs are known as pysanka, which comes from the verb “to write,” because the designs are written on the eggs, not painted.

The art of pysanka is an ancient one, and dates back to Ukrainian rituals worshipping the sun god Dazhboh. Birds were seen as the god’s chosen animals, so eggs seemed like magical objects and were decorated with symbols of nature in celebration of life.

Junior Marianna Kozak practices this art of Ukrainian egg dyeing every year, and started as a kid in Ukrainian school.

“Though it’s really not for kids,” she says. “It involves fire—they could eat it!

Or burn themselves.”

Nonetheless, that’s where Kozak learned the process, which begins with

hollowing out the egg, “usually a chicken’s egg, and probably not an ostrich egg, though it could be.

Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

“We don’t always hollow out the eggs because we’re lazy. We just hard boil them,” said Kozak.

Once the hollowing is completed (or not), a thin, empty cylinder, open at one end, is filled with melted beeswax, which “smells really good.” This cylinder is called a kistka and is shaped like an L. “You use it to draw on the egg with melted beeswax (which is white). Then you dip the egg in dye made from a mix from a Ukrainian store,” said Kozak.

Traditionally the dyes were made with natural methods, using dried plants, roots,

bark, and berries. Now they’re more often aniline dyes.

“You keep dipping the egg in different colors and peeling off wax until it’s black (usually). Once you’re done, you melt the remaining wax off with fire.” The egg is always dyed colors in order of light to dark. Parts of the shell that are covered with wax remain a certain color, resulting in a multicolored egg.

The process is certainly not without its challenges. “It’s hard to get it right without breaking the egg. It can also turn out with blobs of wax. But it’s relaxing,” added Kozak.

If Ukrainian egg dyeing is done right, the eggs turn out far more intricate than the average Easter egg.

“My eggs are all solid colors,” said junior Sara Murray, who practices the more common method of dyeing, “unless I feel like getting fancy and dipping half in one color and half in another.”

However, junior Sarah Badin does something similar to the original tradition of pysanka, coloring eggs in dye made from onion skins.

And, perhaps in imitation of pysanka, sophomore Sarah Eisenlohr uses a wax crayon “to draw on the egg, and then the design stays on after you dye it.”

Pysanka might sound complicated, but its results (as you can see) can be stunning. Next time you feel that crafty urge, look into it. You might just come up with something great.

10

May 1, 2009

FEATURES

A proliferation of peculiar senior projects Compiled by freshman Maya Afilalo and staff

According to lmsd.org, the senior project is designed to “enable students to demonstrate that they are able to apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate information.” While that sentence might have put you to sleep, many of this year’s senior projects certainly will not.

What’s interesting to note about senior Pedro Salinas’ senior project is that it involves over 40 people. This plethora of students is needed because the movie requires many extras—namely, zombies. Salinas will be co-writing, directing, and producing a zombie movie. The film stars seniors James Irving and Wes Gunter (who also co-wrote the script) and seniors Laura Piccoli, Max Stern; Robert Irving, and Gabe Walker also play supporting roles.

“I decided to do this because I’m interested in film, I like writing, and I want to learn what it’s like exactly to direct a movie because it can get pretty complicated,” explained Salinas. The movie will be filmed in Narberth, so you might recognize some familiar settings. The plot centers around your average man, albeit one obsessed with zombie movies. Any zombie movie fan should be dying to watch Salinas’s final cut (pun intended). Salinas’ presentation will be on May 28 in Room 219 at 12:15 p.m.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff

In a mini-anthropological study, senior Rebekka Feingold will be traveling to Japan to sample sushi in an authentic Japanese restaurant and compare it to a Japanese-American restaurant. Feingold will be comparing the entire Japanese restaurant experience: sushi chefs, atmosphere, and all that jazz. Feingold will be taking note of the differences between the authentic Japanese restaurant feeling and the simulated Japanese-American experience. And I thought Shangri-La served great sushi!

“I chose this project because I love sushi and I was curious about life in Japan and I thought I would combine the two interests,” explained Feingold. Sushi has been a huge part of Japanese culture for centuries, the earliest instance of sushi in recorded history dates back to the 2nd century. Dying to know if you’re being cheated out of the true sushi experience? Feingold will be presenting her findings on May 26 in Room 209 at 1:45 p.m.

Photo courtesy of njrealestatewire.com

Charlotte Weisberg will be spending the next few weeks immersed in childbirth, medical history, and political activism. Weisberg will be spending time as an intern at the Bryn Mawr Birthing Center, learning about the techniques and purpose of natural childbirth, and even attending live births.

“I hope to learn the best possible answer to the question ‘where do babies come from,’” said Weisberg.

In addition, she will assist her midwife mentor with political activism efforts in Washington.

“I picked this topic because medical anthropology is a huge interest of mine that is not offered in the normal high school setting,” said Weisberg. On top of all this, she is hoping to raise support and funds for birthing centers across the country.

“It’s pretty cool that such institutions still exist and succeed in our technologically driven society,” said Weisberg. Since midwifery is a private practice, centers accept high school students as interns. Stop by Room 322 on June 1 at 12:15 p.m. to see Weisberg’s presentation. There is no doubt it will be fascinating.

Photo courtesy of thebirthcenter.org

Seniors Nina Bar-Giora, Christian Carpenter, and Jonah Joffe, joined by unofficial project participant senior Robin Schweitzer, are setting off on an 11-day backpacking trip. They’ll carry everything they need on their backs, from food to tents and sleeping bags.

“See, we’re backpacking for eleven days, and that’s a hella lot of food to carry around on our backs,” said Carpenter.

“We’re going to do it, but if we were going out for two weeks like we had originally planned, we’d need to pay for a food drop.”

“I honestly just want to get to the point with Nina, Robin, and Jonah where we get so sick of each other because we’ve spent so much time together. I want to collapse at 7 or 8 every night from exhaustion from having walked 13-15 miles every day. It’s going to be amazing and horrifying, but so rewarding” said Carpenter.

Bar-Giora’s presentation will be June 1 in Room 3 at 9:00 a.m., Carpenter’s will be May 27 in Room 315 at 10:00 a.m., and Joffe’s will be May 27 in Room 329 at 9:00 a.m.

Photo courtesy of Robin Schweitzer

For his senior project, senior Max Stern is studying happiness. That is, he is constructing a questionnaire with which he hopes to study how many students at LM feel that they lead happy and meaningful lives. Stern also intends to discover which activities cause people to lead such lives.

“Say, if people do community service on the weekend, are they more likely to feel like their lives are more meaningful than those who get smashed every weekend?” explained Stern. Stern hopes to become a children’s therapist and plans on studying psychology and the workings of the mind in college. One of the reasons Stern chose the project was to gain some background in psychological research, something he will be doing a lot of in college.

Stern’s presentation will take place on May 27 at 10:00 in Room 307.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff

May 1, 2009

11

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

LM’s hidden gem Emily Shepard

Class of 2011

How would you describe your art?

Wire wrapping is the art of taking metal wire and forming it into jewelry.

Does wire wrapping require the use of specialized tools, or do you mostly use your hands?

I mostly use my hands; the only tools that I use are an old pair of needle nosed pliers, and a pair of wire cutters. I recently made a workshop in my guest room; you don’t need a fancy set-up to do great work.

Do you derive inspiration from anything in particular?

I would say that my biggest inspiration is naturally occurring abstract forms. Most of the time I just sit down in my workshop and do my thing.

How did you initially become familiar with it?

It was after I had traveled to Northwest America, following around my favorite band, “The String Cheese Incident.” When I first saw a wire wrap, to me it looked like the most amazing form of jewelry that I had ever seen, and I was determined to create such a

delicate and intricate form of art. About one month after that I tried my hand at it. I began by using aluminum wire that I “borrowed” from Mr. Hazel’s class, and stones that I’d found on the beach.

When did you begin to sell your art?

Not long after I began wrapping I was recognized by a shop owner in Narberth. She bought my first piece, which sold for about $15. That day I knew I had something going for me, and our friendship grew; she became my financial advisor. With her help I started getting $100 loans from the Pennsylvania Gold Smith Society. I started to invest in buying gold and silver wire, and gemstones, and started to master the craft of wire wrapping. At first my market consisted of kids at the row and middle-aged Jewish women, because they love funky jewelry. My income however was not enough to support the cost of wire and gems, and so my business slowed down drastically.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2008, roughly around one year after I got started wire wrapping, when I made my first real breakthrough in selling my wire wraps. I had found that the only market where I was going to make a sufficient amount of money was to sell my jewelry to “hippies.” Surprisingly enough, “hippies” have a lot of money,

Have you always aspired to become a jeweler?

When I was younger I had dreams of becoming a painter, then a sculptor, a writer, just about every form of artist, but it was not until I found the art of jewelry that I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. This school year alone I have made the decision to pursue the career of jewelry design, starting friendships with jewelers on Jewelers Row in Philadelphia, and getting lots of support, help and tips from Lower Merion’s own Ms. Harriet Ackerman.

Looking forward, do you intend to pursue a career in wire wrapping?

After I finish high school I hope to get certified to do diamond and gem appraisals from the Gem Institute of America, and then get a master’s degree in small business. I see myself owning a shop selling wire wraps, gems, and other types of jewelry. I suppose

eller

success in his specialized craft: wire wrapping.

Is there a community of wire wrappers in America?

There are about 290 wire wrappers in America; their work [and mine] can be found on metalworkers.org.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on creating a line of jewelry to sell this summer; there will be a private display a couple of weeks before the art show at the end of the school year.

Cody H

art. Cody Heller, one such student, has already achieved

I consider myself lucky to have found such a creative and rewarding form of art.

ourtesy of

whom choose to independently pursue excellence in their

and they seemed to be a [source of] steady income. That summer I made around $600 dollars selling my wraps. By the end of the summer, I was getting commissioned by people all across America. Everytime I make a wrap it gets slightly more intricate than the last. Today my pieces are selling anywhere from $100 to $450, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way of making money.

Photo c

LM is home to a host of talented student artists, many of

What advice would you provide a fellow aspiring artist?

My biggest advice is to first make connections with artists that share similar interests. Then, work as hard as possible to perfect the skill of the art that [you] are pursuing. I would also advise young artists to identify and capitalize on a particular group of people that would be interested in your work, to advertise, and to work to get your name out there.

How should a Lower Merion student wishing to purchase jewelry get in touch with you?

My email is codyhheller@yahoo.com.

All a potential customer should do is send me an e-mail, and specify the price that they are willing to spend on the piece, and any particular colors or stones that they’d like in the piece. I can also be found any day in the Metal Arts room during fourth set.

Where is the lyricism?

A closer look at today’s most popular music Jake Wellens

Class of 2011

After browsing the iTunes Top 100 for the first time in years, I have reached a harrowing conclusion: adept lyricists are not only rare, but obsolete.

As of April 8, “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas held the number one spot on the list. The title seemed a little suspicious, but I generally like the BEP’s, so I gave it a double-click.

Fergie’s voice, after being twisted and diluted by a mess of effects and vocoders, produced the following words in a whine: “I’m so 3008/ you so 2000 and late/ I got that BOOM BOOM BOOM/ that future BOOM BOOM BOOM/ let me get it now...” These lyrics are not catchy nor eloquent…and is there some kind of insult directed at me in there?

I thought there might have been hope in the number two song, “Poker Face” by Lady GaGa. “I’ll get him hot/ show him what I got/ Can’t read my, can’t read my/ no he can’t read my poker face!” So abstract, Lady GaGa! The assemblage only gets worse.

Titles such as: “Kiss Me Thru the Phone,” “Hoedown Throwdown,” “My Life Would Suck Without You,” “Love Sex Magic” and “Chicken Fried” provide accurate indications of the amount of lyrical depth one can expect to find among this list.

So after eliminating the obviously shallow and colloquially written songs from the list, I chose to examine one of the more decently-titled songs, Asher Roth’s “I Love College.” College: the academic buffet for the knowledge-hungry intellectual. I think I will love college too, Asher…let’s give it a listen, shall we? “Man I love college…I love drinking…

I love women…I love college.”

Truly inspirational, Ash. Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” was number 26 on the list, and didn’t have a discernibly flawed title. “Romeo take me/ somewhere we can be alone/ I’ll be waiting/ all there’s left to do is run/ You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess/ It’s a love story/ baby just say yes.” So these are the words that captivate and invade the minds of my female peers for days on end?

This is the melody with a claque

so inescapably immense that it cycles perpetually throughout my school’s corridors? This is, from a lyrical standpoint, a sad excuse for a love story.

Where is the creativity, the poetic beauty that once was considered a necessary part of songwriting? It certainly cannot be found in this song, or any of the others on the Top 100. Instead, take a look at these vividly potent lyrics from a song called “The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)” by The Decemberists, from their fifth album The Hazards of Love, which was released on March 24, 2009.

“And all my life/ I’ve never felt the tremor/ And all my life/ that now disturbs my fingers/ I’ll lay you down in a clover bed/ The stars, a roof above our heads/ And we’ll lie until the Corn Crake crows/ Bereft of the weight of our summer clothes/ And I’d wager all/ The hazards of love.”

It’s lucid, it’s romantic, it’s passionate and it’s a song. Both “The Hazards of Love 2” and “Love Story” are about love, yet the discrepancy in the quality of lyrics leaves one resembling a thoughtless and mind-numbing

joke, and the other, a song. Yeah, I guess “Love Story” does give a shout-out to the one of the gods of poetry and prose, William Shakespeare, but it comes off looking stale and unoriginal when compared to the interesting word choices and descriptive tales portrayed by the Decemberists.

Taylor Swift, along with the rest of the artists on the Top 100, and whoever it is that circulates these songs enough as to keep them popular, should all examine bands like The Decemberists, The Shins, Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service and Modest Mouse in order to reacquaint themselves with the art of lyricism.

Skillful use of language is not unique to only these modern bands; many “old” songwriters such as Paul Simon and David Byrne of Talking Heads once used it to their advantage. Instead of cheap semi-subliminal innuendoes like Britney Spears’s “If U Seek Amy,” these bands use alternative measures like tactful alliteration, vivid metaphors, historical allusions and powerful symbolism to limn their verbal artwork.

In theory, this practically perfect songwriting should be dominating the iTunes Top 100…but it’s not. Adequate songwriting is a skill present only in trace amounts among the popular music spectrum, and for this reason those with high expectations for the lyrical quality of their music are forced to turn away from sources like radio and music television for their musical endeavors. Death Cab for Cutie explains this phenomenon deftly in their song, “Why You’d Want to Live Here:” “You can’t swim in a town this shallow/ ’Cause you will most assuredly drown tomorrow.”

A catchy beat and an aurally pleasing voice are now the only requisites for massive musical success, as evidenced by this quick analysis of the iTunes Top 100 songs. The blame for this does not fall on the artists and songwriters, but on us, for neglecting to consider lyrics when choosing and purchasing music. I can only hope this fad subsides and America’s music taste expands to include the well-written music which currently hides behind a shroud of unpopularity.

12

May 1, 2009

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A classical concert Hey BC grads: Seussical is back! to remember Danielle Moskow

Class of 2011

Allie Cade Class of 2010 I thought it would never happen. It seemed like a dream come true when I heard that three of classical music’s finest, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax, were to share the stage at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall is the place where most of the world’s celebrated soloists and orchestras play, the site of the Youtube Symphony Orchestra’s first live performance, and the stage where many musicians hope to play. Somehow, by pulling the strings of a few family friends, I managed to get tickets for onstage seating at this once-in-alifetime event.

I knew the performance was going to be one of the best, as it featured two piano trios by Romantic period composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Being a classical music lover, I felt it necessary to get the best seat possible. I arrived at 7:00 to find a lobby full of others who also had stage seats. Silently, I slinked about the lobby in an attempt to get to the head of the line. After a half hour of listening to the whispers and complaints of senior citizens, the stage door finally opened and I got to choose my seat. I managed to snag a seat on the aisle on the right side, which allowed me to have a great view of the musicians.

Eight o’clock finally arrived and out came Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax. The packed auditorium erupted into applause. The performers bowed, smiled, waved, and sat down, ready to play. The program began with one of Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words,” arranged in a duet for cello and piano. Perlman followed with

another “Song without Words,” also accompanied by Ax. Then came “Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor,” also by Mendelssohn, which consisted of a strong first movement and a lyrical second movement. When the Trio came to a close, after minutes of applause, intermission began.

I got out of my seat and began walking around the stage like many of the other audience members. I headed over to check out Perlman’s sheet music, which was left on the stand. I could faintly see the words “wait!” and “look” written on the part, and many dynamic markings circled.

After intermission, the performance resumed. Ma and Perlman began playing a few more “Songs without Words” to precede the highly anticipated Trio. Finally, the moment I had been waiting for arrived.

The Trio began with “Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor:” my favorite piano trio written. I was in heaven. It was hard to believe that I was on stage with some of the world’s greatest musicians playing my favorite piano trio. When they got to the last movement, “Finale: Allegro Appassionato,” I couldn’t even think straight. The group breezed through octaves and gorgeous unisons and ended on a high C. The audience burst into applause.

I know it might sound a bit dramatic, but this was a truly life-changing performance. The three musicians walked offstage (Yo-Yo Ma’s bow narrowly missing my head), and it was over. They were gone, after what could potentially be their last performance together. I will always remember that I witnessed one of the greatest groups, a “power trio,” and that memory will sustain me forever.

It seemed like a dream come true.

Photo courtesy of media.centredaily.com

Famed musicians (from left) Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, and Yo-Yo Ma performed at Carnegie Hall in New York in what was an unforgettable concert.

“A person’s a person no matter how small.”

These words may sound very familiar to those of you who were students at Bala Cynwyd Middle School back in 2005. Yes, these are the words of Horton the Elephant, from the show Seussical. Four years later, Bobbi Wolf is once again directing this musical.

This time Wolf, a former BCMS teacher, is directing the show at Wolf PAC, the performing arts center she founded after retiring.

Seussical incorporates many of the stories and characters of Dr. Seuss to create a single story that essentially revolves around the character of Horton the elephant from Horton Hears a Who. One day Horton sees a speck of dust, and hears it speaking to him.

He discovers that there are creatures living on the speck called Whos. The animals in the Jungle of Nool mock Horton for talking to a speck of dust, but Horton persists. While Horton has his drama, the Whos are having their own adventures. Their tiny speck of a planet is on the brink of war, and they still drift aimlessly wherever the wind takes them. Throughout the show, the beloved character of the Cat in the Hat makes several appearances, narrating and playing various characters.

“Seussical is just a magical show. It’s truly for the whole fam-

ily,” said Wolf. “It’s a wonderful you to succeed, which is so helpstory and the message is about ful along the way.” appreciating everyone no matter Sally Foster Chang and Janet how small.”

Lentz run the singing, Betsy Wolf Various LM students are in- and Jen Welby lead the dancing, volved the production of the show. and Bobbi Wolf directs the actJunior Talia Gottesman is in the ing. The show includes students show orchestra; junior in third grade Yuval Yarden is the asthrough 12 th. sistant stage manager; In addition, freshman Rachel Fishkids even bein, who was also in younger than the BCMS production, that play mulplays a Who; sophotiple “mini” more Jeremy Eckstein Whos and the plays the Grinch/Yertle elephant bird. the Turtle; and sophoRosenbaum more Cecilia Rosenand Eckstein, Photo courtesy of Bobbi Wolf baum and freshman were also Rachel Barg both play Sophomores Cecilia Rosen- in the Bala Gertrude, as the role was baum and Jeremy Eckstein Cynwyd prodouble cast. Chemistry relax at rehearsal for the Wolf d u c t i o n a s teacher Glenn Brooks is PAC production of Seussical. Whos. playing Thing 1. Gabriel “EveryNathan, a 1998 LM alum, is also one in the cast is friendly and it’s involved in the show, playing so much fun working with the General Genghis Khan Schmitz. younger kids,” said Rosenbaum.

In addition, Len Murphy, who was “Everyone is really talented; evthe orchestra director when the erything from the dancing to the show was performed at BCMS, singing is wonderful.” is once again involved, this time The show will run on June 12 playing in the pit. and 13 at 7:30 pm, and June 13 The actors attend rehearsal and 14 at 2:00 pm, at St. Joseph twice a week, though sometimes University’s Bluett Theatre. Take the leads practice three times. a break from your busy finals “The rehearsal process is one of study sessions and pop over to my favorite parts of the whole see the show! “I would just love entire thing. We get to watch each to share [this production] with my other grow and improve, which old world of Seuss,” said Wolf. is one of the coolest things about She sends a special shout-out to Wolf PAC,” said Rosenbaum. all those who were in the BCMS “There’s the sense that everyone production and hopes they will in the entire cast and crew wants all be there.

Eastbound & Down

Mike Buchwald

Class of 2011 The new sitcom “Eastbound and Down” just finished its first season, and it’s received a lot of attention for the celebrity name associated with it.

“I was really intrigued by the idea of a Will Ferrell-produced show,” said LMSD Communications director Doug Young.

The show centers on a cocky, arrogant, once-prominent major league baseball pitcher who has lost his pitching talent and returns to his hometown in hopes of recovering it. Kenny Powers, or KP as he has come to be known, is played by Danny McBride (Tropic Thunder, Hot Rod) who takes on the role of a southern big shot with a big ego and a knack for witty but raunchy comebacks. Although KP has lost his touch, he is still delusional about his ability and celebrity status.

McBride does an excellent job of slowly but steadily showing the viewers that his character is more than just a jerk who’s lost his talent. Rather, KP is a good man who knows that he has lost his way. KP has been reduced to a substitute gym teacher at a middle school where his superior, Principal Cutler (Andrew Daly), is engaged to

his high school sweetheart (Katy Mixon). Stevie Janowski (Steve Little) is the somewhat slow, goofy music teacher at the school who idolizes KP. Introduced as the kid who wore a cape in high school, Stevie is a loveable character from the start. “[Stevie]’s hilarious! Everything he says makes me laugh. His outlandish character along with Will Ferrell’s guest spot makes the show,” said sophomore Isaac Silber.

Ferrell first appears with long flowing silver hair and a strong Southern accent, not unlike Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. His twoepisode stint as Ashley Schaffer, a BMW dealer, adds to the show’s success. Although KP’s antics make viewers laugh, it’s truly Schaffer and Janowski that keep viewers returning every week.

“Will Ferrell’s acting skills are fabulous, just absolutely fabulous,” said sophomore David Rosenfeld.

Due to the performances of McBride, Little, and Ferrell, the acting gets a nine out of ten. The overall superb-ness of the acting lets the show get away with a somewhat weak plot. Many of the episodes lack substance or cohesive plots. For example, the

fourth episode, which could be the funniest of the six, consists entirely of Kenny and Stevie attending a barbeque at Terrence’s (Andrew Daly) house. I would rate the plotline and depth of the show a seven out of ten. Regardless of the lack of depth, it still has captured the attention of LM’s student body.

“I watch that show on the reg!” said sophomore Michael Blumenthal, ecstatically quoting the show.

“I was debating whether or not there is a better show on television, and it is now clear to me that ‘No, no Gabrielle, no.’ There is not,” said sophomore Dan Summers, also playfully quoting the show.

But how true does the show holds to its genre?

The comedy is generally witty rather than dumb, but there are some moments that prevent this show from standing out as one of the great sitcoms. Some jokes are well-thought-out and clever, but there is still some crude humor that pulls it down. I award the quality of comedy in this show an eight and a half out of ten.

“Eastbound & Down” racks up an overall rating of 24.5 out of 30, or around an 8.5 out of 10, making it a must-watch.

13

May 1, 2009

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A Day in the Life of a Player

Every year LM Players puts on three shows: a musical, a drama, and a comedy. The last show of the year, the Molière comedy The Imaginary Invalid, is finished. But think about this: the organization is almost entirely student-run. That’s right, LM students cast the show, directed the actors, built the set, sewed the costumes, hung the lights, designed the posters, and much more. Most impressively, they managed to do it with help from very few adult coaches. The Merionite took a behind-the-scenes look at some of the students involved in this show. By Han Tran, Class of 2011 Director: Nadav Hirsh

Actor: Peter Johnston

Assistant lighting designer: Melissa Kaufman One of the assistant lighting designers for this show was junior Melissa Kaufman.

Kaufman and the other lighting assistants, juniors Susanna Grundstein and Carol Hoelscher, worked with the lighting coach Bill Stonehouse to light the show, and make sure the design process went smoothly. According to Kaufman, “It was a long process to go from what we want the audience to feel, to a lighting plot with all the lights, angles, circuits, and colors.” Kaufman saw herself and the other assistants as messengers between the Stonehouse and the lighting crew.

Assistant costume designer: Elizabeth Dunoff

Assistant set designer: Rosemary Hwang Sophomore Rosemary Hwang was the assistant set designer. Hwang helped the designer, senior Katie Cochrane, design the set. Hwang usually acted as the assistant crewhead as well, going back and forth between the designer and crewmembers explaining how to build the set. She also helped the crewmembers understand what they were building. The crew worked to build the set cutting wood, painting, and measuring.

“The basic set was designed by [Katie]. When [she] was struggling between a few options for certain aspects of the set, I gave her my opinion,” said Hwang. “Using that as a consideration, we decided what was best for the set.” On a normal school day, Hwang went to scenery after school until 5:30 pm.

“I was able to get closer to the members and that’s what I loved about my job,” said Hwang. “And the fact that I got to use power tools!”

shopping, or doing anything else she needs me to do.

For example, right now I have a jacket lining that [I sewed] at Photo by Ann Zheng/Staff home, and some vests that [I put] buttons on,” said Dunoff. “My favorite part of my job is getting to spend a lot of time with all the costume crew members and the production design staff.”

Dramaturg: Connie Hua As dramaturg, junior Connie Hua researched the time period of the show, 17th century France, to help the actors and designers understand the play and its historical context. Hua also had to make sure the show was free of any accidental anachronisms, as the director sometimes toyed with the period to better fulfill his vision.

Hua sent out daily emails to the actors and PDS, which she called ‘Turg Tidbits.

The ‘Turg Tidbits had snippets of information about 17th century France or Molière.

In one ‘Turg Tidbit, Hua explained Molière’s own experience in the show: “The Imaginary Invalid was Molière’s last play. Molière was both an actor and a playwright, so he sometimes played Argan.

During the fourth performance, Molière started hemorrhaging before intermission.

Of course, the audience had no idea what was going on and they thought the spurting blood was part of the show. They thought it was some weird special effect and loved it! For some reason, Molière continued the performance until the play was over, while spurting blood at random intervals. Unfortunately later that night, Molière hemorrhaged again and died. He was wearing yellow during his final performance and at the time of his death,” explained Hua. “To this day, yellow is still considered an unlucky color for actors to wear.”

Photo byAnn Zheng/Staff

The assistant costume designer was sophomore Elizabeth Dunoff. On a daily basis, she was part of the costumes crew, and also helped the designer, senior Sophia Hirsch, with the design process. Hirsch’s job as the designer was to plan out the costumes, draw sketches, pick patterns and fabric, and choose the overall vision for the costumes in the show. As assistant designer, Dunoff designed the costumes for three of the characters and helped Hirsch with researching, shopping, and drawing. The co-costume crewheads, juniors Claire Summers and Jordan Cooper, were in charge of scheduling work Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff times, keeping track of how far along each Photographer: Maddy Berger costume was, and answering questions.

Sophomore Maddy Berger was the phoFor Dunoff, a normal day of Players usutographer for the show. She took headshots ally started with the costume crewheads of the PDS members, actors, and coaches. sending everybody on the costumes crew up She also took crewshots, the company shot, to the balcony to bring down all the fabric and photos for the poster. If you happened and materials. Then, Dunoff and the crewto be present during a Players rehearsal, heads decided what needed to be worked on you might have seen Berger walking that day, and handed out assignments. Dunaround from crew to crew taking candid off would work on a sewing project, but she photos. Her photos appeared in the playbill would always be available to answer any for The Imaginary Invalid, and she took the questions. The crew would start cleaning photos of Fineman and senior Laura Pic- up about ten minutes before the late buses coli for the green posters around the school arrived. and the community.

“My job is to help the designer by sewing,

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

Photo by Ann Zheng/Staff

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

One of the actors in the show was junior Peter Johnston.

He played Cléante, the man who is hopelessly in love with Angélique (played by junior Hannah Weilbacher). Angélique is the daughter of Argan (senior Sam Fineman as the imaginary invalid of the title). “[In short, Cléante] is the person that read all but the last act of Romeo and Juliet; he believes that true love really can conquer all. Of course this isn’t true, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to make it so,” said Johnston. “Unfortunately, he makes himself look like an idiot in the process.”

For Johnston and the other actors, an ordinary day of Players started with all of the actors and the acting PDS meeting in the band room, where they began practice by playing a game like “Get The Cheese” to build up the confidence and intuition that actors most certainly need on stage. In “Get The Cheese,” a water bottle (also known as “The Cheese”) is placed on the opposite side of the room. The person trying to get “The Cheese” has to find it with their eyes closed.

After that, the actors rehearsed certain scenes until about 5:30. Throughout the scenes, Hirsh or assistant director junior Zoe Benditt would stop the actors and talk about the scene.

The rehearsal process was very collaborative and led to moments when the whole cast burst out into laughter.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

Senior Nadav Hirsh directed Invalid. As the director, Hirsh developed a vision for the show. He figured out an idea for the overall mood and feel of the show to help make the various designs cohesive. He also had to act as a “mirror” for the actors. “They could not see themselves from the outside, so that is what I did. I saw what they did, made it work the best it could with what the other actors did, and made sure it worked with the designs,” said Hirsh.

On an ordinary day of Players, Hirsh ran scenes with actors, gave them ideas, notes, and constructive criticism. Sometimes Hirsh had to meet with a designer about changes and new ideas to see how they could incorporate his concepts into their designs.

“My job was special because I got to watch my vision come together. The best part though, (and I know it’s corny, but it’s true) was seeing the cast and company every day and watching them all have fun and work hard and see something amazing grow from it. I loved being with the designers, throwing ideas around, and just being with creative people,” said Hirsh. “We got to flex the creative parts of our brains that are too often constricted during the school day.”

14

May 1, 2009

The Merionite

Led by strong pitching, baseball seeks consistency at the plate E. Elbaulm/ X. Wang

Date 3/23 3/26 3/30 4/02 4/07 4/13 4/17 4/18 4/22 4/24

Opponent (Home/Away)

Score

M. Newtown W 11-6 Garnet Valley L 1-2 Springfield L 2-3 Radnor W 7-3 Harriton W 10-3 Ridley W 6-3 Conestoga L 1-3 Haverford L 2-3 Penncrest W 5-4 Strath Haven L 2-10

A brief look at the LM sport stories you may have missed

Class of ‘11/’10

Coming off of a .500 season, the varsity boys’ baseball team sprung out to a fast 4-2 start this year. Despite great pitching throughout the season, though, the team lost two close games recently and now holds a 5-5 record.

Over the offseason, the players put in a lot of work both in the gym and on the field to ensure good season.

“This year ’s team works very hard, and loves to compete,” Coach John Hyman said.

Hyman, now in his seventh year as coach, had more to say about the team’s diligence and commitment: “Most of the players lift weights...we spend most of conditioning time working on offensive and defensive technique and fundamentals.”

Offensively, despite losing several standout athletes to graduation last year, the team has shown the potential to have an explosive offense. Seniors Mike Joseph and Sam Shapiro, each Second Team- All Central League selections with .400 batting averages last year, have been just as tough on Central League pitching this year, posting averages of .300 and .400 respectively with a homerun apiece.

Additionally, juniors Connor Foote, and J.J Hoffstein and seniors John Lundy and Joe Moran have also posted impressive batting averages.

SPORTS

Girls’ softball: A midseason report

The month of April has proven to be a difficult start to the girls’ varsity softball team’s 2009 campaign. The girls are still looking to score their first run and pick up a win at print time.

The team has made great strides toward overcoming inexperience and the loss of key seniors Jodie Eichel and Natalie Gay from last year’s team. Senior third baseman Jamie Levy and senior pitcher Brooke Boynton are tremendous leaders.

In difficult losses to Central League rivals, one strength that has emerged is its up-and-coming prospects. LM is one of the only teams in the Central League to start freshmen, which will hopefully ameliorate it inexperience in the coming years.

--G. Doron/E. Peltz ‘09

Junior lacrosse star commits to Duke

Photo courtesy of David Bernstein

Senior David Bernstein takes a swing during a game.

In the team’s first game this season, the offense broke out, posting ten runs. During a three game win streak against Radnor, Harriton, and Ridley, the offense averaged almost eight runs per game. However, a more consistent approach would benefit the team as the offense has virtually gone cold in games against Conestoga and Garnet Valley.

Overall, Hyman attributes most of the Ace’s success to the team’s stellar pitching. “[Our] key to this year’s success so far has been pitching.

We do not give up many runs,” he said.

In these first eight games, Aces pitching of Joseph and junior Aaron Dash has posted six quality starts giving up three runs or less, giving the team a great chance to win each. The one continual problem with the pitching has been the team’s small rotation.

“Our pitching has been great early on and it’s help us stay in a lot of games. Unfortunately, we don’t have quite enough pitchers; our rotation is short,” said Moran.

Additionally, the inconsistent offense and a few critical

errors in the field have wasted three quality starts by the pitchers, only scoring four total runs in those games.

“We’ve handicapped ourselves with too many mistakes and errors during games.

They’ve led to some tough losses. Improving our fielding is critical to our team’s success this year,” said Moran.

The coach has noted the great chemistry between the players this year.

“Statistics can only get you so far though, if the team has no chemistry and doesn’t get along, those stats probably will not translate into wins,” said Coach Hyman.

Even though the team knows it has the capacity to succeed, the players take nothing for granted due to the competitiveness and skill of the Central League teams. But they still have set their goals high.

“We definitely have our eyes set on the Central League title; we know we have the talent to compete and win. Of course, we have to work hard to get there.

We know it won’t be easy,” said sophomore Jesse Cohen.

Recently, junior tri-sport standout Jordan Wolf verbally committed to play lacrosse at Duke University, which has one of the best lacrosse teams in Division 1. The 5-8, 145 lbs attack who also stars on the varsity soccer and ice hockey teams scored over 80 points last season. Wolf had also been considering Penn, Hopkins, and Harvard before deciding to play with the Blue Devils, who are currently ranked eighth in the nation.

Crew opens season with Flicks

After a packed-practicing schedule over spring break containing two-a-day practices, the boys’ and girls’ varsity crew squads are cruising along nicely. Senior captains Gabby Mezochow, Sarah Camitta, Tom Mickler, and Casey Klein have contributed to the teams’ success. Despite injuries in the beginning of the season, the girls’ lightweight four is back to their full line up, and impressive results are expected. In the Manny Flick races on April 19, the girls’ lightweight four finished in first place, the boys’ heavyweight was first in their heat, and the girls’ varsity four got second in their heat. All boats are mainly looking to qualify for Cincinnati’s, the US Rowing Nationals, and simply do as well as last year.

4x4 girls’ relay shaves time off school record The girls 4x4 track team, consisting of senior Hayley Hanafee, sophomore Laura Peterson, junior Lauren Zakheim, and anchor sophomore Patty Neckowicz, beat the LM school record on April 23 at the Penn Relays. The girls came in second behind Conestoga with a time of 4:03:97. Hanafee ran the first leg in 59:99, and quickly following, Peterson came from third place in the second leg to pass second place and come in tied for first. Zakheim ran a 62:99, and Neckowicz finished in 59:5.

--Compiled by the Sports Staff

Boys’ tennis looks to States

From Tennis, page 16

Kay to the University of Delaware. In the playoffs, the team hopes to use its strong singles game to its advantage, as PIAA match format includes only two doubles team instead of four used during the regular season.

According to both Savran and Kay, this year’s team has an extremely tight bond, going out to dinner as a group at least once a week to either Qdoba or Olive Garden.

“We are all jokes and games before a match, but when it’s time to play, it’s time to play,” said Kay.

The team’s strong bond provides motivation to work hard. Every team member feels a responsibility to fulfill personal goals and make personal improvements that will ultimately help the team to win a state championship.

Until the state championship, the boys’ tennis team has many other hurdles in its path. Radnor, Conestoga and Council Rock North all have extremely good tennis teams, stacked with solid players from top to bottom.

Lower Merion will have to beat these teams at districts in order to qualify and obtain a high seed at States.

“We have to always be ready to fight. Other teams are hungry to beat LM because of our reputation around the state,” said Savran.

With high standards to live up to, this year’s boys’ tennis team is hungry for another state championship. Currently, the team’s biggest challenge, says Savran, is “having a tough and competitive mental attitude on the court.”

But with a lasting tradition to live up to, the team’s self-motivation and aspiration to perpetuate its successful legacy will be the tools necessary to continue its domination.

15

May 1, 2009

The Merionite SPORTS Athletic yet inexperi- The feel of the field: a look at enced volleyball aims the non-runners on track for postseason berth Drew Goldberg players are new to the sport and don’t Class of 2009 have fundamentals down. But we “Gritty and hungry” is how captain make up for it with our athletics.”

“Its a mix between athleticism and Isaac Smith characterizes the boys’ volleyball team’s energy and spirit this brains,” said Smith, on volleyball talseason. With a 2-4 record at print time, ent. “All of the top players are terrific they are competitive, driven, and will athletes, but they also know the game better than anyone on the court. For stop at nothing to reach their goals.

“Every match presents new chal- that reason, you may expect to see lenges, we’ve got a competitive them slam balls down and ‘wow’ the league that forces us to play well every crowd out of the gym, but when you match,” said Smith. “We have goals watch them you’ll find you’re more for this season and hate to see any- amazed by their execution of what seem to be fairly simple plays and thing that sets us back take place.”

Smith and senior Eric Green cap- their decision making than by the tain the young team, rookie-heavy shock they can invoke when slamteam. They have a forward-looking ming a ball down the opponents’ perspective on the season—what’s throats.”

The team has many young and done is done—and are focusing on the future while trying to learn from rookie players, which has proven to the past. They hope to make it to be a challenge due to volleyball’s steep technical learning curve, but Districts.

“We are a very athletic team. experience helps to develop players’ We’re good at hitting,” said junior talents.

At the Christopher Dock tournaDavid Ana Conna Cole. “A lot of the ment, the low availability of players—only six were free— enabled the rookies to get a lot of practice and playing time.

A hard and dedicated player, junior rookie Billy Chimekas has worked hard all season and now starts. Senior rookie Victor Segal has shone at middle. Green is the team’s strongest passer and junior Ron Mentel is considered to be the best setter.

Freshman Shane Votto also shows a lot of potential.

“He’s already started practicing with varsity and sitting on the varsity bench,” said Smith. “He’s got all the tools to become an extraordinarily talented player if he chooses.”

The team’s most exciting win this season was against Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff Glen Mills, in which they The boys have been aggressive at overcame a 0-2 deficit to win the net throughout the season. in five games.

Class of 2009

All year long, runners circle the track, recognized for their top times and outstanding performances. But only in the spring do the fielders participate, sadly often overlooked.

When announcements are made about the track and field events, most of the news comes from only the track sections. Very often, it seems that the other half of the sport, the field events, get ignored. It is important that we not forget the throwers and jumpers that contribute to the continued success of the team as a whole.

On a normal day basis, both coed throwers and jumpers begin their warm-ups with the track team by running a mile.

They then proceed into their stretches, and divide into their separate teams. Three times a week, they practice at Harriton, working alongside the fielders there.

Throwing consists of a handful of events including shotput, discus, and javelin. The throwing team, led by coach Boris Oden, begins their post warmup training by practicing form drills and fence drills. Both the boys and the girls practice together. They then start their strength and technique building.

Following their strengthening, the team practices their power positions, similar to a squat, which is a workout stance that almost every sport is based off of. Every single male thrower is new this year, and senior Aaron Goldberg-Leopald has unofficially been declared the captain. Junior Sarah Winston, a returning thrower, is the captain for girls.

Javelin throwers sophomore Oliver Herrine and junior

Adam Saltzberg are noticeably talented. Saltzberg threw the javelin record thus far with 106 feet. The same could be said for shotput throwers sophomore Lou Smith and junior Mark Potter.

“I was interested in throwing because I had never seen it before and wanted to try it,” r e m a r k s Wi n ston. “Everyone thinks that throwers have it easy, but in reality we work just as hard, if Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff not harder, than everyone else.” Junior Caitlin Bonney practices technique.

“I don’t think we’re overlooked,” said SaltzThe remaining long jump berg. “We’re just starting a and triple jump teams practice throwing program and looking similarly to the other teams, forward to getting it off the by warming up with the whole ground.” track squad and then practicing The high jump team simi- various strength and conditionlarly begins their practice by ing exercises. stretching and then moving Overall field events are one on to different jumps to help of those sports that many people improve their flexibility and know little about, and because strength. The team practices by it is such an esoteric sport, doing scissor kicks and other many people are hesitant to ask jumps. For the high jump, not about it. The throwers, jumpers only is the jump important, and pole-vaulters, however, are but also is the approach. If a essential to the track team and jumper is slightly off on their contribute just as much, if not approach to the bar, they may more, to the success of the LM not jump correctly and may not track squad. clear the bar. “[Although] we don’t work “The high jump is a very with the runners we all know difficult event. More difficult each other really well,” explains than many people think,” said Herrine. “When it comes down high jump coach Jeff Cahill, to it, at the meets, our scores are “because of its intense level of all added up for Lower Merion, technicality.” so we’re all one team.”

Sports:

Goal:

Varsity Lacrosse Sports: Varsity Field Hockey To make playoffs for both Goal: lacrosse and the upcoming field hockey season.

Hobbies: Hobbies: Hanging out with friends

and playing sports.

Will Phillies Will Phillies repeat?: repeat?: Yes Quote: Quote: “Don’t practice until

you get it right. Practice

until you can’t get it

wrong.”

Junior

Senior

Joey Stedeford

Ali Toll

Freshman

Sophomore

Erin Gallagher

Faces of the Aces

The best athletes that LM has to offer Cody Hornung

Liz Jacobs

Sports: Goal:

Improve our record and Goal: Make a run past the regular Hobbies: beat Harriton

season for baseball and win

multiple games for hockey Straight chillin.

next season Will Phillies Hobbies: Golf, pick up games in repeat?:

various sports Gotta have hope!

Will Phillies

repeat?: If they pitch well “When you are not “Ya Gotta Believe,” Harry practicing someone else is Quote: Quote:

Kalas, rest in peace and when you meet them

they will win”

Varsity Lacrosse

Sports:

Varsity Ice Hockey Varsity Baseball

Varsity Lacrosse 60% saves throughout the season Volunteer firefighting, coaching lacrosse, going to Phillies games, and painting myself If Ryan Howard gets faster, and the team’s batting average and pitching improve, then yes.

“A man is basically as faithful as his options.”

- Chris Rock

16

Volume 80, Issue 8

The Merionite Non-runners on track

Frequently overlooked, these players are key to track.

See Track and Field, page 15

May 1, 2009

SPORTS

Boys’ Baseball

After strong start, inconsistency plagues boys’ baseball.

See Baseball, page 14

Boys’ Volleyball

Lack of fundamentals clashes with players’ athleticism.

See B. Volleyball, page 15

The Ultimate story behind Babaganouj 2006, the team had to rebuild with an entirely new squad made up primarily of juniors and freshmen including current juniors Emily Eisner, Dan Harris, David Zucker, Alex Keat and Jake Bosin, and Friends’ Central junior Dan Jacobson. Since the creation of the girls’ and boys’ teams, both have gained recognition in both the school and the greater ultimate community.

The girls’ ultimate team, the Lady Baba, was formed in the spring of 2007 by Eisner and current senior Nina Bar-Giora. Led by the two captains and junior Hannah Garfield, the girls have gone from winning only one game in their first season to being a nationally ranked, dominant team in the region. This year alone, the girls’ team has won three large tournaments, beating teams from all over the Philadelphia area, New York and New Jersey. Throughout, the players on the girls’ team have retained strong spirit and enthusiasm the whole time.

“Even in our first two years, barely ever winning, we always played our hardest and worked hard to form strong relationships with both our teammates and our opponents,” said Eisner.

In the fall Kit-Kat and the Hat tournament, the girls’ team won first overall in the girls division and the spirit award.

This is an extremely rare occurrence in Ultimate – usually the highestPhoto courtesy of Hannah Garfield ranking teams Key handler junior Emily Eisner lets off a flick against Beacon Hills High School have the lowest Class of 2009 At 7:30 in the morning, kids, parents, and coaches arrive at the fields in sweatpants, sweatshirts and junky sneakers. Mist rises from the untouched fields covered in cool due, but by the end of the day the fields will be torn apart, with patches of mud and sparse clumps of grass. Players will throw themselves at the ground, only contributing to the destruction of the fields, attempting to catch the disc. And by the end, players will walk off the field covered in mud, sweat, and smiles after playing a long Ultimate Frisbee tournament all day long.

Ultimate Frisbee, formally known as “Ultimate,” combines elements of soccer, basketball, and football – players run around a football-sized field throwing a plastic disc up the field. Players are not allowed to take any steps with the disc in hand, requiring the constant movement from “cutters” downfield and strong accurate throws from “handlers” upfield.

The sport was invented in 1969

in a school parking lot at Columbia High School in New Jersey.

Today, the sport is comprised of 4.9 million players world-wide with official rules, leagues, and tournaments. Though the sport has evolved, a fundamental aspect of it has remained the same: players have always refereed their own games. Players on the field call fouls, out-of-bounds, picks, and stalls. This phenomenon, known as “spirit of the game,” has generated an extremely friendly and respectful community.

“Spirit of the game creates a great atmosphere in which players work to build bonds and create relationships between teams. On the field, games may get heated and competitive, but the spirit of the game engenders mutual respect,” said junior Dan Harris, captain of LM’s own ultimate squad.

The LM ultimate team was created by Christian Vanni in 2006 out of a jumble of senior athletes.

After half a season of practice, the outstanding athletes took the team to a fifth place finish at the State Championships. In the fall of

spirit ranking.

In the Hip Hop on Top tournament on April 18, without its captains and its top players, the girls’ team still won the tournament with a perfect record. With such success this year, the team has set the high goal of winning Pennsylvania States.

The current Lower Merion Boys’ Ultimate team, Babaganouj, has also progressed immensely since first “cleating-up” in the fall of 2006. Last season, the team was quite successful, winning the fall Cities tournament. Over this offseason, however, the team graduated seven of its starters.

“This year was an adjustment because we lost seven starters. We had to bring up many rookies without much experience,” commented Harris.

In a somewhat rebuilding campaign this season, captains Harris and Jacobson, helped by strong play from Keat, Bosin, Zucker, sophomore Tim Gilboy, seniors Joe Kozak, Chris Lake, and Simon Segal, have led the team to a solid 7-6 record. Together, the players have competed against some of the best teams in the nation including Pennsbury and Columbia.

Though the season started roughly with four losses in the first

five games, the team has recently hit its stride. With hard work in the winter with voluntary workouts to improve personal skills and physical conditioning, the team has seen huge improvements over the last few games. In the Hip Hop on Top tournament, “our players really learned to play with each other and trust each other with the disc,” said Keat. Babaganouj won three of their four games to beat their seed, and placed fifth out of a tough field of 16. In the process, it beat Central Bucks South, Westfield and Cardinal O’Hara while only losing to the tournament’s eventual winner, Pennsbury High School.

“We beat

Photo courtesy of Diana Keat

Elie Peltz

O’Hhara, to whom we’d lost twice in the past,” said Zucker.

LM’s three ultimate teams (boys’ varsity, boys’ JV, and girls’) have worked hard to gain support from the student body, but have worked even harder at improving and having fun.

“After a long and grueling tournament, I just look at Hannah [Garfield] and we both know that all we want to do is keep playing,” said Eisner.

Boys’ tennis looking to go far with strong singles game Emily Eisner

Class of 2010 After three consecutive trips to the state championship game, the boys’ varsity tennis team returned this season with one goal: to return to Hershey.

“Honestly our team’s attitude this year is a little bit cocky. The last Date 3/17 3/23 3/24 3/25 3/27 3/30 3/31 4/02 4/16 4/21 4/22 4/23

Opponent (Home/Away)

Springfield Delco Radnor Ridley Conestoga St. Joseph’s Prep Haverford Upper Darby Strath Haven Penncrest Marple Newtown Harriton W. C. Henderson

Score W 7-0 L 3-4 W 7-0 W 4-3 W 5-0 W 7-0 W 7-0 W 7-0 W 6-1 W 7-0 L 3-4 W 4-3

three years we have made it to the finals of States, won the first two, and lost in the finals last year. We know that we lost in the final last year because we didn’t work hard enough,” said senior Matt Savran.

In order for this year’s team to achieve its goal of winning states, team members will have to work harder and stay more focused than last year, especially after losing key players Courtney Scott, Steven Chen, and Ben Bar-David to graduation last year.

The need to overcome their departure was evident after the team lost its second game of the season to Radnor, the first loss to a league rival experienced by any of the current players. The team’s main weakness spurns from its doubles teams who, before this season, had little to no practice with each other.

“Everyone on the team can play great points but not everyone yet has the ability to do it repeatedly,”

said senior Robby Kay. Since their early losses, the doubles pairs including players freshman Kyle Perry, sophomore Ben Levitt, junior Ben Sataloff, and senior Brian Maislin have improved their communication and teamwork.

Singles players Savran, Kay, and senior Coby Kramer-Golinkoff — a group that Savran refers to as “the best singles roster in the state”—comprise the backbone of the squad.

This powerhouse of seniors will all be playing Division 1 tennis next year. Savran will attend Lehigh University, Kramer-Golinkoff to Tulane University, and

See Boys’ tennis, page 14

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

Senior Coby Kramer-Golinkoff returns a forehand