The Merionite October Issue

The Merionite October 17, 2008

The official student newspaper of Lower Merion High School since 1929

Volume 80, Issue 2

School Board enters final phase of redistricting S. Barsade/M. Kozak

Class of ‘10/’10

After months of discussion and research the LM School Board introduced a plan for redistricting. Ross Haber, chief consultant for LM, presented the proposal at a board meeting on September 8. Haber suggested that students who currently attend Penn Wynne Elementary School attend Welsh Valley Middle School, and continue on to Harriton High School. Moreover, he proposed that Penn Valley Elementary school students attend Bala Cynwyd Middle School, and then continue to LM. At the September 8 meeting, Mr. Haber

ensured that all students who currently attend either LM or Harriton High School would be given a choice between following the current plan, or remaining at the school they currently attend.

“It is important to remember that after redistricting, the two high schools are going to be significantly different than they are now and much more similar to each other,” said school board president Diane DiBonaventuro. “Harriton will have more extensive course offerings and a bigger student body than it currently has. LM will be considerably smaller, but still large enough to offer a diverse curriculum and plenty of

co-curricular programs.”

This controversial proposal was based on guidelines created by the School Board and enrollment projections for the next 5-10 years, which indicated the need to equalize the middle and high schools.

The Board restrictions included equal enrollment at LMSD schools, refusal for new plan to result in increased buses, and protection against switching schools for students of the class of 2010. The proposal also tried to balance the socio-economic and ethnic minorities within the district.

Parents and students were given the opportunity to voice their opinions about the

proposal at a board meeting on September 11. Those who would be affected by the movement of Bala Cynwyd students to Harriton High school were especially vocal.

“Many of us disagree with [the school board’s] plan to move students who live in the Penn Wynne area to Harriton, mostly for social reasons but also for academic reasons,” said eighth grade Bala Cynwyd student Robin Weiner. Weiner believes time spent traveling will hinder study time. “[My younger brother] will be upset to be separated from the friends that he has

See Redistricting, page 4

Administration adopts offical LM hall pass

Now that students have grown accustomed to the noise and intiClass of 2010 macy of construction, they have been introduced to a new twist on an old high school institution: the hall pass.

On October 2 the official LM hall pass was distributed to students.

These ‘cosmic orange’ pieces of cardstock feature a calendar with school events on one side, and a chart for teachers’ signatures on the other. Currently, if a student wants to leave class for any reason, their teacher must sign their chart.

“The idea of creating a uniform hall pass has been bouncing around for a while. And now because of construction safety issues, it was very important that there be a set hall pass system,” said 10 grade principal Glenn Kilpatrick, who organized the adoption of the new hall pass.

About one year ago administrators decided to implement a standardized hall pass after requests were made by teachers and campus aides. Principal Sean Hughes said that the decision came about while discussing how to make the school even safer.

“The thought process was that we need to be more secure and accountable for who is in the building,” said Hughes. “It is all a part of the security and safety of the building. This helps us to know where everybody is.”

At the beginning of the school year, Hughes asked Kilpatrick to conduct some research and create a new hall pass. Kilpatrick

Sivahn Barsade

See Hall Passes, page 3

Boys’ soccer game incites anti-Semitism Hana Rouse

Class of 2010

Tensions between rival Lower Merion and Strath Haven boys’ soccer teams culminated in the creation of a Facebook page where members of opposing sides swapped trash talk over an upcoming game. Once the comments turned malicious, targeting students based on attributes like religion and sexual orientation, administrators at both schools were contacted, and the page was removed.

Students and alumni posted comments on the social networking site in the weeks building up to a game between the varsity boys’ soccer teams of both schools.

“The page was brought to the attention of administrators…because of the posting of Anti-Semitic slurs as well as offensive and derogatory language related to race,

ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and people of various lifestyles. This was not good-natured “ribbing,”” said LM principal Sean Hughes in a letter to LM parents.

According to the Jewish Enquirer, LM students called Strath Haven players “white trash” and told them to “talk to me when you’re in our tax bracket.”

Strath Haven students referred to LM players with strong anti-Semitic language and threatened racially tinged violence.

“It’s just surprising that students would actually say, ‘we’re going to put you Jews in Easy Bake Ovens,’ or ‘I’m going to break into your house and put poisonous gas it’,” said senior Amy Woods. “To put it simply, I walked away from the group thinking Strath Haven hates Jews and hates gays.”

According to Strath Haven students, the comments were a result of tensions over the upcoming

SADD warns students about the adverse effects of alcohol Samantha Hershman

Class of 2009 For the first time ever, the LM community will participate in the National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW) sponsored by the Save a Life Tour. Held annually during the third week of October, NTDSW inspires students, teachers, and parents to spread awareness and prevent accidents and driving related injuries.

“The program not only contains information about drinking and driving,” said 10 grade Assistant Principal and advocate of the Save a Life Tour Glenn Kilpatrick, “but it also focuses on not using your cell phone or blasting your iPod while driving.”

Over the past few years, members of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) worked to introduce

See Strath Haven, page 4

Find your flavor See Features, page 14

Coming attractions on the New York stage See A&E, page 15

LM students to the Save a Life Tour.

“SADD is to spread awareness regarding the consequences of making destructive decisions,” said co-president of SADD senior Julie Waters. “In the past, we have put up flyers before dances telling kids not to drink saying ‘ten days suspension isn’t worth it’ and people responded really well to those posters. “ We a l s o r a i s e m o n e y, u s u a l l y through bake sales, to pay for speakers to come,” said SADD co-president senior Kara Silberthau. “Last year, Katie Koster came to share her experience as a victim of date rape.”

The Save a Life Tour event, which will be held on October 31, consists of an assembly and the chance for students to operate the Save a Life simulator.

Tenth and twelfth grade students will

See SADD, page 2

In my eyes...

A first-hand account of the Georgian conflict by an LM student See Features, page 7

2

October 17, 2008

NEWS Save a Life Tour arrives at LM

The Merionite

From SADD, page 1

Photo by Debbie Williams/Staff

Itai Doron

of the annex’s ground floor still Class of 2011 remain. Once removal of any remaining parts of the Annex is Construction of the new Lower complete, the crew will start to Merion High School is currently build a new foundation for the on schedule and within budget. new classroom wing.

The major focus this month is “Students will not be able on the removal of the remnants to use any of the new facilities of the Ardmore Annex, while until the entire new high school construction of the new buildings is opened in 2011” said Project continue.

Developer James Lill.

So far, the foundations and The construction process has walls of certain portions of the had a number of effects on the future buildings have been built. student body, including overThese foundations will eventually crowding in the hallways. “The become the gym, locker room, Lower Merion student body is auditorium, and basement, which affected primarily by the hallways will house the mechanical and that are much more crowded,” electrical equipment. says Student Council President All that remains of the Ard- John Lundy, “[This crowdedmore Annex is the old foundation, ness] is not only inconvenient for a portion of the old pool, and a everyone, but can lead to tardiness concrete slab on which portions to class.”

Even with this problem, Lundy is optimistic that students will be able to adapt to the changes. “I have heard that the construction is moving along quickly and in my opinion the student body has been great with adjusting to the construction,” said Lundy.

Some students, however, feel little change in an under-construction LM. “My classes are totally normal,” said senior Sarah Perlman. “I don’t feel affected by construction at all.”

In all of the following issues this year, the Merionite will have an update on the construction of the new buildings, so look for next months construction update to read more about the upcoming plans and progress on the road to a new Lower Merion High School.

Administrators discuss possible changes to grading policy Jenny Ma

Class of 2010

The existing LM grading policy determines a student’s final grade by evaluating letter grades earned throughout the year. While the system currently remains unchanged, administrators continue to discuss the possibility of calculating final grades from quarterly percentages.

The grading policy has been under review for many years, and administrators are attempting to discover the system best suited to the LM environment.

“If it was an idealistic world, I would make grading pluses and minuses,” said principal Sean Hughes.

A pass-fail system is not an option, and instead the administration hopes to develop a system that properly measures an A and compensates for growing grade inflation.

Under the current grading system any A as a quarter grade (be it a 91.5% or 100%) adds 20% towards a student’s final grade for the year, while any A on midterms adds 9%, and any A on finals adds 11%.

The amount of percentage added to the final grade varies depending on exactly which letter grade the student received.

Under the proposed percentage-based grading system a grade of 91.5% for a quarter would not count as 20% towards a student’s final grade.

Instead, that student would receive 91.5% of 20% (meaning 18.3%), and that percentage would be added to a final percentage. If at the end of the year a student’s final percentage is above a 91.5 percent,

they receive the A. Administrators are hesitant to put the new system into place due to the unpredictable student and staff reactions, and as a result they have been meeting with students and teachers to discuss the issue.

A change in the grading policy will not necessarily occur, but many students are already voicing concerns over the lack of discussion with students on the subject.

“I did not even know [the change in grading policy] could happen,” said junior Yueyi Zhou.

“I’m really annoyed. The role of the staff is to tell the student body,” said senior Yuxin Liu. To some students, this change in the grading system seems beneficial.

“The current system says that an 83 [equals a] 91….It is inaccurate and unfair for a student receiving a 91 in a class to have a grade that does not show that he or she attained a higher level of achievement than a student who earned an 83,” said junior Jonah Mann.

Other students do not see a change as either necessary, or justified.

“I think it’s kind of unfair,” said sophomore LeeAnn Chio. “If you get 92s all for all four quarters and on then midterm and then receives an 83 or [a low grade], you end up with a B for the year.

“The present grading policy uses quality points rather than a numerical average to determine a student’s grade for the year,” said Chemistry teacher Glenn Brooks. “The quality point system is the fairest method of determining a student’s grade for the year.”

attend the assembly at eight in the morning, which features graphic footage of actual drinking and driving accidents, emergency room scenes, and genuine police and family responses to drunk driving crashes.

“The assembly shows people what can happen to them if they make bad decisions,” said senior Emily King. “You can really learn from other people’s mistakes so they don’t become your own.”

In addition to attending the assembly, students will experience a realistic portrayal of driving under the influence of alcohol.

“The simulator will be open from 9-2 for anyone who is interested, said Waters. “Freshman and sophomores can come during their lunch periods, and junior and seniors can come during lunch, frees, or whenever they have a spare moment.”

The simulator was designed to demonstrate the effects of alcohol to perception of time and motor skills from a sober perspective. Students actively participate in the program by physically steering the machine as they would a car.

“Just like the [drunk vision] goggles, the simulator will shock people how off course they are,” said senior Kelly Kempf. “But I feel like it’s just reinforcing the messages that have been pounding into our heads since elementary school.”

Harriton high school has used the Save a Life simulator for the past two years to inform students about the dangers of drinking and driving under the influence of alcohol.

“Students at Harriton have given it good reviews,” said Kilpatrick.

“Having simulations like a drunk driving car test will actually be fun and thought provoking at the same time,” said junior Nick Burgos. “If the kids drive badly in front of their friends [when using the simulator] in school, then maybe they won’t want to drive drunk in real life and look just as stupid. SADD needs to have these things to get kids interested, otherwise no one will care.” “ T h e [ S a v e a L i f e To u r ] w i l l a l l o w u s t o r e flect,” said Kilpatrick. “It’s a serious time to come together as a community and make good choices.”

October 17, 2008

The Merionite Economic crisis leads to increase in cafeteria pric es C. Bollentin/S. Hershman

Class of ‘11/’09

Students returned to the LM cafeteria in September to discover higher food prices.

“The cost of living has increased drastically,” said Assistant Principal Glenn Kilpatrick. “People want higher wages because of the inflation of our economy, so companies want more for their products.

It’s basic supply and demand.”

Jack Koser, head of nutritional services, evaluated the food prices after the increase in price of various school expenses such as food spending, labor costs, and paper supplies.

“The school board made the decision [to increase cafeteria prices],” said Nutritional Manager Brian Watts. “The prices go up every year, but it could just be five cents. This year there was a larger increase because of the increased cost of products and fuel ser charges.”

Although cafeteria profits have not decreased since last year, some students claim to buy less food.

“The hoagies at my old school were about $2.50, but they cost more here,” said freshman Bella Anton. “I usually bring my lunch now since it’s more convenient.”

“Last year I bought food from the cafeteria all the time, but now I don’t,” said senior Eugenia Jin. “It’s not like they’re making the portions bigger when they raise the prices. 25 cents may not seem like a big deal, but it all amounts up to a huge sum for [the same] small portions.”

The price of one of the most popular cafeteria items, the personal pizza rounds sold at Savi’s Hut, increased by 75 cents this year.

“I used to buy pizzas for $1.75,” said sophomore Dave Rosenfeld. “Now I am

going broke over pizzas that cost $2.50 each!”

The sudden rise in prices does not affect the number of students who buy lunch. “I will still buy the [pizza rounds] until I run out of money,” said sophomore Justin Bender.

“It’s reasonable that prices in the cafeteria are going up because the price of food everywhere is going up,” said senior Clare Chitester. “The economy isn’t doing that well right now so hopefully students will understand.”

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NEWS

NEWS IN BRIEF MRSA makes appearance on foot of LM football player

On September 15, administrators were informed of a skin infection suspected to be Methicillinresistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) on the foot of a LMHS football player. Since then, the district has taken a number of precautions to help prevent the spread of the virus.

MRSA is a variant of Staph, a common bacterium frequently found living harmlessly on the skin of 25 to 30 percent of the population. Because the bacterium has grown resistant to methicilin and other broad-spectrum antibiotics, MRSA is often extremely difficult to treat.

Although MRSA usually appears in places that house immunologically compromised people, such as hospitals and nursing homes, the infections have recently popped up in public areas, including athletic centers and locker rooms, where bacterium are easily spread by sharing sports equipment and other personal items.

MRSA is also spread through skin-to-skin contact sports such as football and wrestling.

Principal Hughes met with nurses, athletic directors, and others on September 16 to develop a plan to ensure that football players from both LM and Harriton would be checked for signs of infection.

A letter was also distributed to the LM community containing information about the infection and outlining preventative measures.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff To further counteract the spread of the disease, the district is promoting good hygienic practices, and the locker rooms, athletic team areas, and equipment will be thoroughly cleaned.

Eric Cohn Personal preventative measures include keeping Despite these extra spaces, PE classes Class of 2012 PE teacher Robert Pavia. “One reason for wounds clean and covered, washing hands frethis is that the weather has generally been still find themselves occupying the same quently and resisting from sharing personal items The pounding of hammers and buzzing good and has allowed most of the PE class- area.

A staph or MRSA infection may present with an of equipment are not the only effects of es to occur outdoors where participants can “Since half of our school has been often painful or swollen pimple or boil. If a staph or construction. With the athletic department enjoy the fresh air, sunshine, open space, knocked down, gym classes have been MRSA infection is suspected, immediately contact adjusting to the loss of two large gyms, a and the variety of team sports.” out of control,” said senior Sam Shapiro. a health care provider. weight room, a pool, and a wrestling room, “With the lack of room indoors and the “Each period, there is an average of three --Allie Cade, ‘10 LM students and faculty must find ways to amount of classes being taught at the same gym teachers, so there is no room for each Student parking unavailable for time, we can get five to class to participate in an activity.”

08-09 school year six PE classes taught Despite the lack of space, electives using the turf and grass will still be offered to students during the Students once again deal with the lack of student fields,” said PE teacher second, third, and fourth quarters. parking on LM’s campus. Consistent with the last Tom Kline. “This also “I think the students will love PE now.

15 years, there is no student parking on campus. means teaching outside We are fortunately able to keep the elective For all-day parking, students must look to other longer, which means process, providing new activities,” said sources such as a friendly neighbor or a nearby winter hats and hoodies PE teacher Jon Fadely. “Who wants to be parking lot. Students who park on the street close for gym class in Novem- forced to participate in a sport that they do to the school are forced to follow the two-hour ber and December.” not enjoy? Electives and choices are the parking rule to avoid large fines.

“Between parking tickets and gas money, it’s Old classrooms were keys. If you enjoy the activity then you almost not worth it to drive to school anymore” converted into various will put forth much more effort, resultsaid junior Jennifer Barker. “It’s just tough when athletic rooms to com- ing in more exercise, and a more healthy you hear about a huge student lot being built at pensate for the loss of lifestyle.”

Harriton, and we have to move our cars every two athletic space. Teachers “As for the new equipment and rooms, hours. “ Photo by Sam Mervis/Staff plan to convert the con- some students are excited and some are Harriton students are equally sympathetic with overcome this obstacle. ference room in the technology wing into fearful of the change in their regular PE the parking situation at Lower Merion.

“Despite the enormous changes since a spinning room, the former student lounge routine,” said Kline. “Kids loved badmin“I couldn’t believe it when I heard that LM last year, I feel as though the PE program into a yoga room, and the wrestling room ton, and we hope they will get the same doesn’t have a student lot,” said Harriton junior has had a smooth transition thus far,” said on the basement floor into a Pilates room. appreciation from our spin classes.”

Madisun Morgan. “Our juniors and seniors are guaranteed spots if they buy the 15 dollar parking pass.”

But LM has its own plans for student parking From Hall Passes, page 1 awaiting the construction of a new school.

“The new student parking area will not be availsolicited input from faculty and students across the hall?” said sophable until after the new school is opened and the to come up with with the current model. omore Isaac Silber. old school is torn down,” said project Manager of The administration still strongly encourages Yet, the administration construction, Jim Lill. “We expect the new student student feedback regarding the format of insists that the new system parking area for the new school to be available the hall pass. will not cause any extra sometime in 2011.”

“We can do whatever the students want disruption.

Until then, school principal Sean Hughes conas long as they use the hall pass,” said “I do not think this will tinues to search for student parking spaces.

Kilpatrick. disrupt any class time.

“We are in the process of meeting with the Township Commissioner in this area to start up Hughes also hopes that the hall pass will Teachers have already had the street parking permit program again – but that deter students from roaming the hallways. hall passes so this is nothPhoto by Kyra Bergen Lee Shore/Staff is on hold at the moment,” said Hughes. “Besides “We are under construction, and we are ing new,” said Kilpatrick.

Following new hall pass regulations, History teacher trying to get that program up and running, I am Jeff Cahill signs a hall pass. in closer confinements so kids walking the Some students feared that halls are disrupting classes,” said Hughes. bringing hall passes into the bathroom able,” said junior Kira Goldner. “A school also trying to fill the contractor needs in their assigned parking location. I want to see if there are “That is the problem—kids roaming the would cause hygiene issues. To combat this so concerned about MRSA ought to place any extra spots.” halls for 55 minutes.” problem, the administration placed ‘hall a little more emphasis on hygiene.”

In the meantime, Hughes asks students to be While the hall passes are intended to pass holders’ in the bathrooms to store hall The new hall pass system remains a patient. He advises students that using busses, enhance safety and inhibit aimless roam- passes while students use the lavatory. work in progress, but at least the student finding a ride, or even riding a bike could reduce ing, students claim the hall passes may “The new hall pass system was put in body can look forward to the color of congestion around school as well as helping to inadvertently interrupt class time. place without regard to cleanliness. While November’s hall pass: a toss up between avoid a parking ticket.

“Why should you have to take away the new hall pass folders are a step in the fireball fuchsia, lift-off lemon, lunar blue --Anna Menaged, ‘10 from class time just to go to the bathroom right direction, the system is still unaccept- and planetary purple.

PE teachers forced to adapt to space constraints

Hall passes bolster security

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October 17, 2008

The Merionite NEWS Redistricting plan redraws school boundaries From Redistricting, page 1

Photo courtesy of LMSD.org

Under the new redistricting plan, students at Penn Wynne Elementary School will attend Harriton High School, while students at Penn Valley Elementary School will attend LM.

made for the past three years at BC, “said junior Jason Kraman.

Parents also voiced their concerns regarding the proposal. District parent Christopher Adams said the plan “placed the burden of change solely on one sub-group” and that the redistricting proposal could “severely damage the relationships of the school communities for years to come.”

Administrators and board members recognize the concerns of parents and students, but feel that change is necessary.

“I know that there are folks who are very upset with the proposed plan. I understand

Police investigate online rivalry

From Boys’ Soccer, page 1

match, not a direct reflection of Strath Haven student opinion.

“No one [at Strath Haven] is really anti-Semitic…half of our school is Jewish too,” said one frequent Strath Haven poster.

“I just think the whole thing was blown way out of proportion,” said LM senior Jericho Sav. “A lot of kids from Strath Haven messaged me a few days later saying they were sorry and they just wanted to get under our skin and that nobody from Strath Haven really thinks [that] about Jews. I know kids who go [to Strath Haven] and they’re not like that.”

Administrators from both schools contacted the local police and Anti-Defamation league to begin an investigation of the page. According to Hughes, efforts are being made to identify the culprits who will be held accountable for their actions.

Using this incident as a teaching opportunity, advisors discussed safe online behavior with students during Connections Advisory and distributed a handout called “Internet Safety Strategies for Students.”

“It is a shame things like this incident occur, but we have to learn from our mistakes and realize that we are all people of good character and we have to use good judgment in the decisions we make both in and out of school,” said Hughes.

“I know it was thought by some people, ‘Why do I have to discuss these topics? This doesn’t affect me. This was the soccer team.’ But we can learn from others, and it is time to observe, reflect, discuss, and digest these topics,” said LM varsity boys soccer coach and PE teacher Jon Fadely.

The soccer game between LM and Strath Haven took place on Monday, October 6. After the score remained 1-1 in double overtime, the game ended in a tie.

Photo courtesy of Amy Woods

In response to Strath Haven’s anti-semetic remarks, LM students wore yarmulkes and blew the shofar at the game to show pride for the Jewish culture.

their feelings. However, the reality is, someone is going to have to move from LM to Harriton.

If not Penn Wynne, then someone else. Bala Cynwyd, Merion, Wynnewood, Narberth, and Ardmore can all make the same argument: that they are closer to LM than Harriton. However, someone has to move,” said DiBonaventuro. “I know the affection that many have for LM. I am confident that whoever ends up at Harriton will have the same affection for their new school if they just give it a try.”

Board members assured the concerned audience that this was only the initial proposal and there will probably be major revisions.

“People in our community are fiercely loyal

to their schools and their social networks. Parents and students are asking a lot of questions and providing a lot of constructive feedback, and rightfully so–school is such a huge part of our lives,” said director of school and community relations Doug Young. “A major positive that’s emerging from this process is that we are looking at new ways to further strengthen our educational program. It’s possible that we could find strategies to make the best use of our new schools that we never thought were possible at the outset.”

The board expects to present its final proposal on December 5, after receiving public comments from the community.

College leaders question current drinking age Conor Ferguson

Class of 2011

In order to combat frequent on-campus binge-drinking, many college and university presidents are asking congressmen to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18.

Colgate University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Ohio State and, Syracuse University are just a few of over 100 colleges and universities that have signed the Amethyst Initiative, a petition started by former Middlebury president, John McCardell, which proposes the creation of a drinking license. This drinking license, which is similar to a driver’s license, would be given to adults from ages 18 to 20 that have completed an alcohol education program.

While the initiative does not require the drinking age to be lowered from 21 to 18, by signing the initiative the presidents of these institutions acknowledge that the current laws are not working and recognize the need for a fundamental change.

On the Amethyst Initiative site it states that David Joyce, president of Ripon College said, “It is ludicrous that we can send young men and women to war, but they can’t legally drink a beer. They can vote

for our next president, but they can’t legally drink a glass of wine.” Donald Eastmen, the president of Eckerd College, described the current age on the same site as “a form of mini-prohibition [that] needs to be replaced with education and a focus on the value of moderation, not intolerance.”

LM senior Max Coyne-Green agrees.

“It’s quite simple, treat adults like adults and they will act like adults—treat adults like children and they will act like children.”

Though many institutions are calling for this law to be changed, many still believe that lowering the drinking age will result in even more alcohol related deaths.

Donna Shalala, University of Miami president and former secretary of health and human services under the Clinton administration said to USA Today,” I remember college campuses when we had 18-year-old drinking ages, and I honestly believe we’ve made some progress. To just shift it back down to the high schools makes no sense at all.”

Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said to The New York Times that he was, “profoundly disappointed in the initiative and contended that the signers were ignoring research showing a sig-

nificant drop in drunk-driving deaths for teens since the age limit was raised to 21.”

When asked about this topic, Joe Daly, superintendant of police for the LM Police Department, agreed that the Initiative is unwarranted. “In my view Universities attempting to decrease the legal age of drinking are doing so to avoid their obligations and responsibility to their student population. The age-old argument is that when you are 18 you are eligible to vote and to serve in the military and that is true. However the data on the number of people killed or injured from voting or serving in the military pales in comparison to the number of men and women under the age of 21 that are killed, injured or their lives permanently altered [due to alcohol].”

2,121 drivers were killed in 2006 in under age alcohol related crashes alone. In 1984, when 18 was the legal drinking age, 4,612 drivers ranging in age from 21 and under were killed in alcohol related crashes, proving that a legal drinking age of 21 has some effect.

Even so, McCardell, the creator of the Amethyst Initiative, plans to meet with government officials in the future to discuss his idea and hopefully gain more support.

Harriton goes one-to-one M. Afilalo/L. Bruss

Class of ‘12/’10

On September 2, Harriton students were welcomed back to school with personal Apple laptops.

“The one-to-one initiative has created a true 21st century teaching and learning community,” said Harriton teacher and member of Assignment for Technology Jason Hilt.

Although LM had originally planned to participate in the in the “One-to One learning” computer program, it was decided to postpone involvement to adjust to the significant changes caused by construction and faculty.

“I think that with a new principal, a new schedule, and the demolition of the annex, we didn’t need new laptops as well,” said history teacher Jeffery Cahill.

While LM students must wait a year to receive their laptops, Harriton will use this time to modify the program and solve problems involving batteries, printing work out, and carrying around the extra weight of a computer.

“At first I thought it would be a pain to carry around the laptops, but it’s so easy!” said freshman Danielle Lichtenstein, “Most students like the laptops because they can take their school work home. The only thing I hate is it makes my bag heavier, but it’s worth it!”

“I like them and hate them,” said Harriton sophomore Michael Witkes. “Changing batteries isn’t hard, but its annoying carrying them around—and plus they’re not actually ours.”

“The majority of issues encountered have been associated with battery management,”

Photo courtesy of Blake Bergen/The Banner

Harriton students (from left) Sari Tuchinsky, Danielle Frank, Celia Tong, and Brianna Brown test out their new laptops in the school library. said Hilt. To counter this problem, Harriton set up stations for students with dead batteries.

The laptop program allows students to complete their assignments easily and efficiently, saving both time and paper in the classroom.

“We can print out less homework assignments because we can just show them to teachers,” said Harriton freshman Julia Olivieri.

By giving personal computers to students, teachers no longer need to distribute and collect laptops, providing extra time in class.

“Teachers at Harriton are taking advantage of the extra time in class to allow students to accomplish research and data organization,” said Director of Technology and Information Services Virginia DiMedio.

“I seem to spend a lot of time in the beginning of class working out individual computer problems,” said Cahil. “It would be helpful to

have the kinks worked out before class.”

Administrators disabled certain applications to ensure that the Macbooks were used for schoolwork only. Users cannot install extra software on the computers, and were issued padded sleeves to protect the laptops.

The district plans to distribute laptops to LM students during the 2009-2010 school year, however not all students are happily anticipating the introduction of laptops to LM. “I was and still am opposed to the laptops because I believe blind reliance on technology creates barriers between teachers and students,” said senior Charlotte Weisberg.

In contrast, junior Lili Barlow said, “I thought it would be nice to have laptops this year because for people like myself, who don’t have them at home. The program will be very helpful.”

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October 17, 2008

The Merionite EDITORIAL

None shall pass

Fellow students, we come to you delivering sad, sad news: our school, much like our economy, is in dire straits. For uncounted years, we have taken for granted the free passage of our halls. As in the days of our glorious seafaring past, we could sail down the hallways, with naught but the wind blowing in our hair, exercising our liberty to relieve ourselves whenever we so chose. Well, now our sorry ships have shored on the shoals of societal excess.

Enter hall-pass stage left. This neon orange bladder-embargo, as it were, represents a new epoch in LM transportation policy. And we are all left shouting “Why?” to the indifferent breeze. Might it be for our own protection, as we have been so told, or are there darker forces at work here?

The administration means to guide our humble skiffs around the cruel rocks and choking smoke of LM construction. They mean to protect us from this modern day Scylla and Charybdis. But are we not protected by the guardian eyes of our security cameras? Is there not sufficient safety in the protective arms of our campus aides? Nay, the sole goal of these new Intolerable Acts is not safety, but selfish economic gains.

The administration is planning to charge the price of one dollar to replace any lost hall-passes. Let not the administration swindle you out of your petty dollars. If it is money they seek, then we shall give them their money, but we refuse to play dumb and suffer this subtle tax. You can take our money but you can’t take our dignity. We demand transparency!

We propose a tollbooth system to replace the hall-passes. Much like our cousins on the New Jersey Turnpike, we would ask a nominal fee—no more than a nickel—for passage into public service areas such as restrooms or watering holes. In a similar vein, we propose an E-ZPass system for frequent travelers; pay a small monthly fee, and travel as much as you want. In this way, the administration would still reap in profit, but expedite the process.

All can end well. Let the administration win their gold and their coins. No more complaining. For indeed, our economic pains today will secure rich rewards for our posterity tomorrow. We will help our administration raise their money today so that those who follow in our wake can live free in our dream of a new school building.

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

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Carolyn Chou, ‘09 Liz Jacobs, ‘09 Emma Saltzberg, ‘09 Sivahn Barsade, ‘10 Samantha Hershman, ‘09 Hana Rouse, ‘10 JC Chou, ‘09 Ethan Cohen, ‘09 Niklas Thompson, ‘09 Hannah Goldberg-Morse, ‘10 Bina Peltz, ‘10 Jessica Scolnic, ‘09 Sophia Hirsch, ‘09 Jenny Smolen, ‘09 Hannah Weilbacher, ‘10

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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

Grade determination without representation Dear Editor, At the beginning of this school year, I was asked to join a committee of students organized by a student to discuss the new grading system that is under consideration by the school district. In brief, the new system will use percentages from the quarters, midterms, and finals to calculate the final grades at the end of the year, as opposed to the current calculation that averages only the letter grades, for example, ignoring the distinction between a 93% and a 98%. I walked into the first meeting recently, and found myself surrounded by people just like me – essentially from only one demographic of students in our school. In fact, half of the committee is part of the Lower Merion Ultimate Team, which itself makes up only about 3.5% of our school. The question was raised: shouldn’t there be more diversity among the people in this committee. To my astonishment, the leader responded that, “diversity would inhibit our ability as a group to make any decisions or to get anything done.” This is absolutely outrageous! A committee of students, intended to represent the entire student body, which is set up to influence a system that will affect everybody in the school, needs to be diverse so that all sides of the proposed system are looked

at and all views are heard. We can see that the slow decision-making is a problem in our diverse national government, especially in the midst of this economic crisis.

But, in the case of the school’s grading policy, there is no reason that there shouldn’t be input from every type of student even if it would take a little longer.

If there is not any diversity in this group, how will it make decisions that are good for the entire student body? The origin of the problem is that a student organized this committee without the guidance of any adult authority. Without supervision, the student chose a group mostly consisting of their friends, but this is not what a committee should be.

Furthermore, this committee was inteded to be a ‘secret’ but it seems it was just a pretentious effort to change the way our school functions; however, it has accomplished next to nothing and lacks the diversity to represent every part of the student body.

We cannot leave this important decision regarding school grading policy in the hands of select few students.

Sincerely, Emily Eisner P.S. The committee is now admitting more students in order to diversify Editor’s Note: The student-run commitee is operating under the approval of the administration.

Taste of Lower Merion: to be or not to be The Taste of Lower Merion (TOLM), an LM tradition for nearly a decade, is in danger of being cancelled. The lack of parental enthusiasm is jeopardizing the entire event. This fundraiser annually accounts for nearly 80% of all money used to fund prom.

Its extinguishment would leave the Class of 2010 crippled by the sheer lack of remaining annual fundraising opportunities. The event also benefits local charities such as the ABC House, and the Lower Merion Scholarship Fund.

So, not worried about TOLM ‘cause you’re a sophomore or freshman and it doesn’t affect you? Think again. Not holding the TOLM this year will likely result in the abolishment of the event entirely.

What would it take for the TOLM to rejuvenate once again?

Parent volunteers. Mrs. Dawson, one of the Junior Class sponsors explains, “It’s not the type of event that can be run by students or teachers. It really needs to be run by a dedicated group of parents.” Historically, a sufficient number of parents are busy planning the event by the first day of school. This year, as of early September, only one parent is on the volunteer list.

During Open House, the Junior Class officers enthusiastically solicited the parents’ help to save the TOLM. While some parents did agree to volunteer, history suggests

that the current number of volunteers will not enough. “We need some parents to step up. End of story,” notes Class Secretary Marta Bean. “The class officers are trying as hard as we can to get the ball rolling. Parents should know that this year, we students are willing but they should also know that we certainly cannot do it alone.”

Jonah Mann, Junior Class Treasurer, is preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. Mann notes that construction is partly to blame for endangering the event. “It is my hope that the Lower Merion School District will persevere through this period of construction and overcome the obstacles it poses,” says Mann.

The event, formerly held in the Main Gym, would be held this year in the Cafeteria, if held at all.

Class Vice President LexiMiller Golub concludes: “The fact is that TOLM is a very important event in our community. We intend to keep the tradition alive.” So is the TOLM doomed? Hopefully not. Students need to spread the word— talk it up at home. Interested parents are encouraged to contact Mrs. Flocco (floccoS@lmsd. org) or Mrs. Dawson (daswonJ@ lmsd.org) as soon as possible.

JJ Hoffstein Class of 2010

6

October 17, 2008

Opinions

The Merionite

Melocramatic

Kim’s words

Israel’s Army in context

Two weeks before the close of summer I was worrying about what a tragedy it was that I had to read “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Ender’s Game” on my trip to Israel after procrastinating Leah Rosenbloom for two months.

Class of 2011 I was also worried about the new school year, and my teachers, and the violin lesson that loomed a mere fourteen days away after not playing for weeks. Then I boarded the plane to Israel and realized I had forgotten the math packet I had never started, which was due the first day of school.

During the periods on the plane that I was not frantically trying to pull my summer homework together, my mom and I talked about Israel’s policies. One of which I found most despicable- the law stating every Israeli teenager must serve two to three years in the Israeli army starting at. I found myself thinking: “Gosh. If they had a law like that in America, I’d be on a plane to Canada in a minute.” I want to go to college just as much as the next person, and I wouldn’t like for that to be hindered by a mandatory two to three year service in the American military. You juniors and seniors who are focusing on your SATs and college applications would probably agree, and who is to blame you?

On the second day of my trip, however, I met a 19-yearold Israeli named Kim, who thinks differently about her mandatory two-year service.

Her thoughts on the matter inspired me to change my dreary outlook, so before you decide what you would do in her shoes, hear what Kim had to say.

In the car on the way to Yaffo, we were talking about jobs. My mom was curious as to what kinds of jobs Israeli teenagers had, but we were all shocked back into reality when Kim answered in her accented English: “I am in the army.”

There was a soft “oh,” and then, quickly recovering, mom asked her what kind of work she did for the army.

Kim glanced at her mother Anda, who was driving, and a short conversation in Hebrew followed; apparently Kim was having trouble finding the words to convey her thoughts in English.

“I…help people who are… poor? These people have no

education. They don’t have good lives. They don’t have any…skills, so they need the army. The army doesn’t need these kinds of people, but we take them anyway. We give them the life skills they need to be…to have better lives. I help them apply so they can have benefits from the army.”

“And do you like your work?”

“It is hard work, and we get paid very little. But we are happy to do it. We are…”

She looks at her mother again and utters one word of Hebrew.

Anda frowns, apparently at a loss for the English as well. Finally, she answers for her daughter.

“There is no direct translation for the word, but it means something…like pride.

They are proud to do it.”

Later that evening, Kim kept checking her phone, biting her nails every time she flipped it open, and closed it nervously.

“What’s wrong?” I inquired, noticing her odd behavior.

“He always calls me by this time,” she answered.

“We usually talk every day, before now and he won’t pick up his phone. My…” “Your boyfriend?”

“Yes. My boyfriend Jacob.”

Now, some of you might be thinking Kim is one of those girls. You know the kind—one who needs to know where her boyfriend is and what he’s doing every second. Well, I can tell you right now, she’s not. There was one simple, yet terrifying explanation for her nervousness: Jacob was in the army as well.

I asked her if he was on duty doing something dangerous.

“No,” she answered. “Not anything…purposefully dangerous. But when we are in our green army clothing, our uniforms, we are under constant threat, because we are fighting for our home. I walk in the street with my army clothing on; some Arab could come and blow me up. We are both risking our lives.”

It might sound like an exaggeration, but I knew it wasn’t.

I’d heard stories, even in the three days I’d been there, and before that from American news.

“I’m worried that something…happened to him,” she added, although I was perfectly aware of her genuine fear of losing him.

If anyone reading this has family in the army, you are probably feeling close to what Kim felt that night. Even though she seems like a normal teenager on the outside, Kim is mature in ways even American adults will never know. Even though that night her fear for Jacob was a misunderstanding, she still lives with that fear everyday, all the time. Even when her attention is turned away, it is always

in the back of her mind, just as long as she and the ones she loves are wearing those green army suits. She lives under that constant pressure, and yet she is a strong, determined and courageous young woman who is proud to fight for her country.

Kim inspired me throughout my visit. Every time I saw a boy or girl in one of those green suits I thought of the burden they bear that comes along with their responsibility, and it made me stronger too. Even as I rushed though my summer reading, got home with just enough time to complete the math packet, and practiced for two hours straight to prepare for my lesson, Kim’s story stayed with me.

With this, I leave you with the hope that you got as much out of Kim’s words as I did.

And, just maybe, in between studying for the SATs and planning the map of your life, you can find the inspiration and courage in Kim’s words that inspired me to write her story.

My fellow students, many important events are occurring in our lives. The economy of the United States is deteriorating faster than Usain Bolt and Patricia Neckowicz can run.

Our Richie Weker school Class of 2011 is getting torn apart worse than the presidential candidates in those horrible “approved” commercials. A historical election is unfolding before us.

But I am here to address a direr topic. This topic concerns our very own English language. Many great films including American Gangster, The Godfather (parts 1-3) and Scarface when looked up on various search engines will be described as a Crime-Drama movies. There is something very wrong here Lower Merion—

very wrong. This description is too long; longer than other descriptions like Comedy, Horror or Action film.

So why is this description so long? I ask myself and dare you to ask yourself this question too. For too long has this atrocity been occurring and frankly I have had enough. It is time for a new description. That new description, ladies and gents, is the word Crama (crä-mə).

Crama, being the conjunction of the words Crime and Drama, is a better, faster and stronger term of description.

Crama not only makes more sense but is more appealing to the ear. It is all around an easier word. It is easy to spell. It is easy to say. It is easy to hear and most importantly easy to love. This new word should be added to every major dictionary and be made part of our everyday language. It is urgent that we overthrow the dictatorship of the term “Crime-Drama” and replace it with Crama. Barrack Obama, John McCain and Mike Huckabee would agree, it is time for change.

The Death of Superman I was a child of the nineties. I remember my tape deck and Pokémon cards and jelly sandals, but recently I have looked back to the days when the euro did not exist, when the Canadians were still forKatie Cochrane Class of 2009 ty cents short of a dollar, and when filling the car could be done with a pair of Hamiltons, and I have wondered what has happened.

If you don’t remember, the last part of the twentieth century encompassed a time when the U.S. could call itself an economic superpower and still keep a straight face.

And while they give major newspapers like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Merionite plenty of material, the recent economic fiascoes have lent to a serious knock to the collective American ego.

So now the question arises: what exactly is going on? Where do we stand in the global economy in comparison to our neighbors and friends overseas? It’s time to bring back something from the good old days, when we were indeed a superpower. Let’s look at the global economy like an issue of The Justice League.

Mid-century, there was no doubt that we were the one on

top, the Batman or Superman of the bunch. We had our European friends like The Flash, Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, and Hawk Girl, all respectable heroes, but no one was quite to our caliber. The dollar trumped most other currencies, and the exchange rates were in our favor. Recently, though, the lesser members of the League banned together to create the euro, and their super powers grew collectively, quickly outweighing the strength of the US. But that was as a team. We still didn’t have too much to fear.

Then our friend to the north, let’s call him Aqua-

man, who we thought wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon (I mean, he can’t even leave the water), reached record levels of super strength approaching and at times surpassing those of our own.

The situation took a sudden turn

for the worse. Enormous buildings in our American Metropolis began to crash down, and we had to decide which were worth saving (Were there children playing underneath a falling wreckage? Was Lois Lane involved?) and which would have to be left to smolder.

The Dark Knight, so insistent on working without Gotham’s police force interfering for years, was even now calling for regulation in the system. What could possibly happen next?

Tune in next time as we follow our heroes through a possible recession and a new chief commissioner.

Perhaps this isn’t the death of Superman and the end of the series. We can be optimistic that maybe it’s just like the death of the second Robin. Batman will be heartbroken but we can be hopeful that the tragedy will be short-lived and another Boy Wonder is on his way.

7

October 17, 2008

FEATURES

The Merionite

Georgia on my mind

A firsthand account of the Russian-Georgian conflict

by LM sophomore Teona Otarashvili

I visit my family in Georgia every summer. This summer, I was there to visit my relatives when the whole conflict started on August 7. It was so shocking because we were just sitting around having a good time, and all these horrifying pictures started coming up on the news. I honestly have not had to go through this ever before—you know, I’d hear “war” but this time I was actually going through it and seeing my family affected. We had phone calls coming from our relatives saying that their kids had to go to the war and that they were actually fighting. One of our really close friends has been trained to be a doctor, and since they were taking any kind of help, he had to go aid the war effort.

It’s not like the war was right on our doorstep—we live in T’bilisi, which is the capital, and the bombings were going around the capital near the airport. But in the middle of the night you could hear the bombs and the sounds would wake you up. My mom actually, once this all started, told us to wear jeans and clothes when we went to bed so that in case something happened we could run out and escape. It was so scary.

I was with my family and we were devastated. We didn’t know what to do— you know when you’re really panicked, and you don’t know where to go or what direction to take? That was us. We were

just watching the news all the time since it wasn’t actually going on right where I was. But even watching the news was

ten director, so she had to find temporary homes for these kids and their families, we had to help find them beds and safety.

We had a couple of our relatives, a lot of young adults, like 18 and 19 year old boys, who were injured—some died—and it was really hard for the whole family. Georgia didn’t want to fight back, and didn’t fight back; we thought that if we had started to fight the Photo courtesy of google.com whole world Some of the more would have tame protestors during the Georgian conflict. gotten inhard because you would see whole cities volved and it would have been a huge setbeing demolished. This one city, Glory, back. People were getting injured for no was completely destroyed by bombs. apparent reason—innocent people would There wasn’t one house left, and all get hurt and it was hard to see that. My these people were coming from that city dad was in the United States while my to where I was living—taking refuge in mom and I were in Georgia, and he would the schools and kindergartens. Everyone call us saying he’d watched the Russian had to help out; my aunt is a kindergar- news channel and thought they had al-

struggs subsquare

APUSH The Platt

obvs

AudLob Aaayooo

‘Foos

Is the going green initiative just a fad, or an environmental revolution? In the past year, LM has had numerous (legal) “green” projects take root, from sale of those ubiquitous Sigg water bottles by the Environmental Club to a new wave of students purchasing shoes with recycled rubber soles.

These green items have quickly sprouted, but some may wonder if the efforts are simply a short-lived cultural fad or a true out-phasing of the traditional carbon emitting lifestyle. While environmentallysafe, such “green” fads and projects are futile if they cannot be sustained. Junior Michael Kaufman says of the subject, “While some people are becoming more environmentally-friendly, others seem to be buying things like Sigg bottles because [it’s] the ‘in’ thing to do. However, some aspects of this fad will definitely last and some aspects of environmentalfriendliness will remain.” Sigg bottles are the most recent in the reusable water container trend.

They replaced Nalgene bottles

Class of 2010 (found to contain BPA, a hazardous chemical), and the aluminum containers can now be seen in various colors and designs throughout the school. As people keep jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon, the popularity of such items will most likely increase, and gain greater cultural acceptance—think “An Inconvenient Truth” on a larger scale. Senior Sarah Camitta optimistically states, “Things like the Sigg bottles are fads, but the idea of being green will continue to be the theme of the fads in the future.”

Buying eco-friendly products can have a huge effect on your carbon footprint—the average American consumes over 22 gallons of bottled water per year, which require about immense amounts of fuel to produce and transport. The purchasing power of students can certainly have quite an effect- last year in the United States, 12- to 19year olds spent over $179 billion on various items. So if you would like to preserve the environment, direct some of that green towards green causes and save some trees!

abreevs

OrGo

Savi’s

btdubs

H. Goldberg-Morse/N. Zuares

Advisory: Where a lucky handful plays Apples to Apples while the rest of us talk about our feelings.

Set 1: Not always at 7:30.

Smart Boards: Because regular chalk just isn’t good enough.

B Lunch: The best class delay since the chlorine spill.

Futures: A class that exists only the in past.

The Library: Too loud please!

The Bathrooms: Where you may or may not find a toilet.

Movie Nights on Pennypacker Field: Oh wait…

LM Varsity Badminton: AKA Seniors ‘09 The Girls’ Locker Room: Co-ed since 2008 PowerSchool: Because your grade is really different than it was 20 minutes ago.

The Dress Code: Wait what?

Spirit Days: EVERYDAY!!

Smokers’ Row: Now conveniently across the street.

Spinning Classes: Where hygiene takes a back seat to physical fitness.

Crew: The real LM cult Photo Booth: Because we can.

Superlunch

To help the Georgian peace effort, please visit: http://www.afgeorgia.org.

LM Goes Green

LM Lingo

Chadberry

ready taken over, when that wasn’t really true. The Russian media gave a lot of false information. I don’t think U.S. news was as bad, but for people reading on the Internet and getting Russian stories, it was definitely misrepresented.

My mom and I were supposed to come home August 25, and we were really scared the airport was going to be hit because it was already so close to where they were bombing. We ended up having to change our tickets because they actually stopped the flights for a little while.

There were a million things running through our heads, because if they did bomb the airport it would be a big hit for Georgia and for me personally—it would have meant I was staying at least for a year.

Since I got home, I have been contacting my family that is still there.

School just started really recently in Georgia because the city is just trying to rebuild and start over again. Obviously it’s going to take a long time. to get back to where it used to be.

Art by Molly Rowe

8

October 17, 2008

FEATURES

The Merionite

JCC: not just a Jewish Community Center

Kyra Sutton

Class of 2009

Monsieur Jean Claude Contassot is a lot of things, but pretentious Frenchman he is not. Upon his move from France to the states 24 years ago he decided to become a teacher; he taught Spanish for 3 years and French for the next 20. While he remains LM’s iconic embodiment of French culture, he assures the community that he “does not think the French are better!” Despite these claims, Monsieur has retained a “savoir faire” that is undeniably French when it comes to all aspects of life, and he has much more to teach his students than lessons on French grammar and the book of Carmen.

If you’re on the hunt for some new iPod jams, Monsieur is a great resource. “I love le rock!” he said when asked to name his favorite genre, “but I like to dance to disco music.”

When probed for the names of specific artists, however, Monsieur looked puzzled and couldn’t offer any. Of all the songs he teaches to French classes, “Je Marche Seule,” by JeanJacque Goldman is a personal favorite. “He is a great French pop rocker,” Monsieur muses of the shaggy-haired, French-Jewish 80’s music phenomenon. Yet for Monsieur, what makes a truly good song is whether or not you can dance to it. “My favorite is when you dance together… what do you call it, the boogie?” he exclaims, hunting for the right English word.

As of late, he has been learning techtonik, a hip new dance in Europe involving some crazy wrist movements and pointing (at least according to Monsieur’s demonstration). But no worries—his discotheque desires have definitely not died down now that he’s an American inhabitant: “I used to always go to Egypt at the Waterfront!” he recalls happily, before quickly amending “but—but only a few times!”

Sarah Eisenlohr

Monsieur’s wisdom can also be applied to of his youth, “at the very most mode, always”. the art of eating. Forget Weight Watchers- the So is it just in his veins? Peut-être. “French Contassot Diet seems to be more effective. “I dunk my bread in a bowl of coffee every morning, eat the salade from the salade bar for lunch, and dinner depends,” says Contassot of his daily routine.

“Sometimes chicken, sometimes fish—oh, but I love the rabbit!” Unfortunately for Monsieur, there’s really not an abundance of rabbit in the area. He also has a predilection for cool, fresh food—as evidenced by his lunch bag, which can be spotted hanging from the window of his classroom during the winter months—quite an innovative form of refrigeration! Yet despite the daily routine and need for freshness, Monsieur claims he isn’t fastidious about his food, as the French are sometimes known to be.

In fact, his favorites are simple country meals, reminiscent of what his mom would make him growing up. “You know, like Shepherd pie!” he explains. “Just plain things. But Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff if you invite me to Le Bec Fin, I JCC on a typical day in room 203. will not say no!”

Though Monsieur has an indisputably people don’t just get clothes—they choose their unique taste in food and music, it is his prim clothes,” he explains. “Here they just buy, buy, vests, well-tailored pants, and the occasional- buy.” Not that one is better than the other, he logo-ridden tee that have every student won- assures me; the process of shopping is just very dering: “what exactly is his take on fashion?!” distinct to each culture. Though he’s always “I’ve always been à la mode,” Monsieur recalls in style, Monsieur cries “non” when asked if

he follows trends. “I do not follow, I just have the best style!” he asserts, before flushing at the words he’s just uttered. “Oh no, people are going to think ‘who does he think he is, this French guy?’” But Monsieur doesn’t realize just how widely recognized he is with students for his magnificently coordinated ensembles, so listen up boys—to Contassot, the most important piece in an outfit is the belt. “As my dad said, ‘a man always wears a belt; you are not a man if you don’t wear a belt!’ I don’t know if I agree with this, but I wear one!” he explains, laughing. Hoping to emulate Monsieur’s sophisticated French style? Simply drop by H&M, his favorite store in the States, which, ironically enough, happens to be Swedish.

Contassot’s final area of expertise? L’amour.

He tells me about a situation he had last year, in which a male student was, “hitting too hard a girl! I had to tell him he was going too fast!”

Monsieur’s advice? “If you are hitting someone, try to learn what he or she likes and see if there is something in common. Then you can try a date, or whatever they call it. I never like to call it date on the first time!” The message here: “wait for l’amour, for true love”—that is, until you’re a bit older. “It’s different when you’re older, things go fast!” he says, giggling.

So if you’re looking to live your life by the words of Monsieur, go crazy at the discotheques, dunk your bread in coffee every morning, cool your lunch from open classroom windows, and always remember to accessorize.

But his true philosophy? And no, not “there is no such a day as a day without homework,” the mantra he drills into the heads of his students on the first day each year. No, Contassot’s self-proclaimed motto is “be yourself.” And if there’s one thing that’s true of the man who runs, screaming “pardon” through the hallways, it’s that he is always himself.

All the cheer without the beer

But alas, what with homework, Players, and other various constraints, the hardworking, funloving students of Lower Merion don’t have time to fly to Bavaria.

But why should they miss out on this fantastic celebration? They shouldn’t! So to fill the void of Oktoberfest in Munich, use these steps to create a festival for the ages, even if it’s a little too late for the original.

The first step to any good Oktoberfest is the decoration. Use blue and white: the colors of Bavaria (where Ludwig and Therese were married).

If your party is lacking in German style and décor, its authenticity will diminish—and what’s a good Oktoberfest with unauthentic decorations? Fresh flowers are also a nice touch. Some favorites are geraniums or Lobelia. Even wheat can be used if you get a kick out of that kind of look. The last part of the décor is posters, posters, and more posters. They can be anything from Oktoberfest advertisements to German flags and crests. You now have the ornamenting prowess of a meister.

What do you wear to Photo courtesy of google.com.

Class of 2011 Oktoberfest: the greatest sixteen-day festival of the year. From September 20 to October 5, people from all over the world gather in Munich, Germany. The initial celebration was a great horserace to commemorate the marriage of Bavarian Prince Ludwig and his unfortunately named wife, Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, but now it’s simply known as the biggest public festival in the world.

Oktoberfest? Lederhosen for the guys, of course, and a dress called a dirndl for girls. Traditional lederhosen are leather knickers, usually knee-length with braids and Slavic hunting scenes embroidered on them. Sometimes they feature edelweiss—the national flower of Austria, and very popular in many countries near the Alps, including Bavaria. If you want to look really suave, wear lederhosen with leather suspenders and knee-high socks. And here’s a fun fact: while you may not want to be caught dead wearing lederhosen, they are considered a sign of manliness.

They’re the Bavarian equivalent to a kilt in Scotland, but fortunately less skirt-like. For girls, the dirndl is a country dress made in bright, primary colors and lined with white fabric near the neckline and sleeves. It is often worn with an apron and, like lederhosen, has designs sewn onto it. But by far the most important part of your ensemble is a pair of wooden clogs.

All great festivals have food-that goes without saying. But how does one serve an authentic (yet tasty) meal for Oktoberfest? First, decide what the best German foods are. There has to be some kind of sausage on your table. No respectable Oktoberfest party is lacking in sausage. Vegetarian? Buy a veg-

gie sausage.

Anything remotely sausage-like will do, and you can go from there.

In addition, sauerkraut is always a good choice, as is red cabbage, Photo courtesy of google.com or rotkohl.

Some classical examples of true Oktoberfest Pork, beef, celebration. and fish are all acceptable, whether sour roast man metal? And if you’re having (sauerbraten) or German meat pat- trouble finding other music, it’s ties (frikadellen.) Again, if you’re always good to fall back on Nena’s a vegetarian, get whatever meat- 99 Luftballons. Believe or not, like substitute floats your boat. Just it’s the song to listen to during the make sure it’s German. Serve the Bavarian Oktoberfest. food with some delicious, buttery Now you’re ready to start your rolls. To wrap it up, have a piece Oktoberfest! Gather eleven of of delicious apple strudel—we your friends and their toy Nerf suggest some vanilla bean ice guns. At 12:00 on the morning of cream on top. the first day (seeing as how the Learn some sounds of the Ger- technical date has already passed, man world! If you want to be re- this could be any day you choose) ally old-school, play polka music fire a twelve Nerf gun salute into on a turntable and dance in those the air and crack out the beverages. wooden clogs you put on in step Congratulations! You are now two. (Make sure no one is there ready to party like a true German. to laugh at you if you’re self-con- Don’t be an ungeheuer. Celebrate scious.) If you’re more hardcore Oktoberfest. than that, blast some Rammstein.

Who doesn’t love modern Ger-

9

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

ELECTION 2008

The Merionite explores LM students’ perspectives.

From the totally apathetic to the deeply involved, everyone has something to say.

LM

INSIDE:

Survey and analysis................................10 Where they stand....................................10 The Electoral College..............................11 Student volunteers ................................12 How to stay informed.............................12 Obama and McCain endorsements.........13 Presidential standardized tests?............13 A thousand words on Biden and Palin.. 13

Editors’ Note:

nEITHER PARTY 1. eCONOMY 2. hEALTHCARE 3. iRAQ

In a hotly contested election year where the youth vote is expected to play a pivotal role, The Merionite explored the election from the LM viewpoint. We distributed 1,000 surveys to students, and received 426 responses. With this data, we compiled our special feature graphs, and invited students to comment on the race. We hope that this special feature gives LM students a forum to voice their opinions on issues that affect our future and that this is reflective of all viewpoints of the LM community

Election 2008: Where LM stands on politics

Survey, analyzed

Democrat support for candidates McCain .66%

14% 8.33% Obama Neither

Neither 3.3%

37% Neither

OBama

Regardless of party lines, LM students worry about the economy Emma Saltzberg

Class of 2009 This election season, a lot of pundits have been talking about the “youth vote.” LM is full of youths, some of whom can vote: why not find out how LMers are leaning this year?

The Merionite administered a poll to LM students and received 426 responses.

We didn’t just ask which candidate they were supporting, though: we asked how closely they’d been paying attention, what party they identified with, which issues they cared about the most, and what they thought of each of the four candidates. The results were fascinating.

The poll asked students if they would be 18 on or before November 4 th--that is, whether or not they would be able to vote (assuming that they were U.S. citizens). Of the 35 who were eligible to vote, 28 were registered. Those who were eligible to vote said that they were following the election, on average, 3.7 points out of five-- a number .5 points higher than the average for the sample as a whole. Apparently LM’s young voters are taking their civic responsibility seriously.

Seventy-one percent of the students polled self-identified as Democrats, nine percent as Republicans, and 20 percent as “neither”. Almost all Democrats--96%--support Senator Obama, along with 14% of Republicans and 51% of “neithers”. Combined, this adds up to 79.8% of the LM electorate. Senator. McCain’s support comes in at 9.63%--less than one-eighth of Obama’s.

Pretty staggering.

McCain’s average favorability rating is also much lower than Obama’s: 2.3 out of five compared to 4.1.

Among Republicans, though, McCain enjoys a 3.9 rating while Obama has just a 2.4.

Democrats rate Obama a 4.4 and McCain a 2.0, making them more extreme in their opinions on both ends of the spectrum. Among supporters of neither candidate, McCain is rated 2.8 and Obama 3.8. These numbers are lower than each candidate’s support within his own party, suggesting that students who don’t

support either candidate are less enthusiastic about the candidates. Not terribly surprising.

Given that the economy has dominated the news lately, it’s not so surprising that LMers of all partisan stripes named it as their top issue.

Students with different ideologies do have differing priorities, though: the environment was second among Democrats’ most important issues, but sixth among Republicans’. Students in neither party cared more about health care than those who belonged to parties: they placed it second, on average, on their list of concerns. Almost all categories of students placed “student issues” in the bottom third of their lists, but Democrats under the age of 18, who made up 65% of the sample, placed it fourth.

How does LM’s support of the candidates compare to national polls and polls of Pennsylvania? The Merionite’s survey was administered on September 24 th and again on October 2 nd. Outside polls taken from September 27 th to the 30 th will serve as a proxy for public opinion over those eight days.

On those dates, polling firms including Gallup, Rasmussen, and Diageo/Hotline showed Senator. Obama with a four-to-five-point lead nationally-- 44-48, 45-51, and 42-27, respectively. That’s not quite the overwhelming majority The Merionite found at LM. Among voters ages 1829, though, Gallup found that Senator Obama led 60% to 34% nationally over that period of time. That’s closer to the huge lead Senator Obama has at LM. Just in Pennsylvania over the last week of September, pollsters at Muhlenberg College, Quinnipiac University, and Franklin and Marshall College reported that Senator Obama led by five to six points: 48-42, 49-43, and 48-43, respectively.

Franklin and Marshall-- the only PA pollster to break down their polls by age-- reports the Democrat with a 12-point lead (51%-39%)among voters age 18-39. That’s twice his lead among voters overall.

LM students made their voices heard, and their choice is clear.

PA: Keystone of the election?

Students who identify with Neither party’s support for candidates

Republican suppoRt for candidates

Mccain

51% Obama

Avi Chatterjee

13% Mccain

LM’s support for the candidates

LM STUDENTs’ Party affiliations

Neither 10.7% McCain 9.63%

18-year-olds eligible to vote out of total LM Population Of 18-year-olds, those Registered

On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being best) students rated each candidate as follows:

Jacob Ochroch

2.3 McCain

Obama

3.5 Biden

1.7

National age of first

Palin

Yes, Pennsylvanians, it’s time to feel important again. April 22nd— the date of both the Democratic and Republican primaries in our state— now seems like a distant memory, fogged by the months of negative campaigning, falsehoods and smears, and lipstickwearing pigs. While Hillary Clinton claimed victory in the Democratic battle on that mid-spring day, she is now a politician of the past, succumbing like so many others to the juggernaut that is Obamania.

But Barack Obama is not omnipotent, as Republican candidate John McCain has illustrated over the course of the last two months. In what should’ve been a reliably Democratic year, Obama finds himself in a slugfest, trading smear for smear with his opposition.

With Alaska governor Sarah Palin on his ticket, McCain has suddenly become the agent of change. He has rejuvenated the conservative base, which quickly became galvanized by her selection.

And what lies in the midst of all this? Well, the Electoral College, of course. Despite the countless and often complex variables that determine an election, the Electoral College is the actual means by which we will choose our next leader. Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a state will gain that state’s respective electoral votes. With each state allocated a certain number of electoral votes based on its population, the candidate to reach 270 will become the 44th President of the United States of America.

Which leads us straight to our backyard, good ol’ Pennsylvania. In what’s shaping up to become one of the most closely contested elections in presidential history, Pennsylvania will yet again be one of the most closely contested states. In fact, Pennsylvania could very well decide the outcome of this election, what with its 21 juicy electoral votes. Talking heads and pundits have incessantly clamored that each candidate will prove it exceedingly difficult to win the election without carrying Pennsylvania. Its importance cannot be undervalued.

Deeper analysis into Pennsylvania’s demographics illustrates why the state is never a given for either party. Indeed, Philadelphia has traditionally been the

Democrats’ stronghold, often carrying over 80% of the popular vote within the county. Across the state, Pittsburgh (Allegheny County) and the surrounding counties have also been a Democratic stomping ground, with John Kerry garnering nearly 60% of the vote there in the 2004 election.

However, the Republican Party reigns supreme throughout the rest of the state. Many analysts refer to this expansive region as the “T zone,” spanning straight across northern Pennsylvania, and down through the whole middle. With a few exceptions (Erie and Scranton) McCain expects to carry 55-65% of the vote in each respective county. This area’s main constituencies— Catholics, social conservatives, and so-called “Reagan Democrats”— admire McCain’s maverick persona; they will strongly back him.

But where, precisely, will our state be determined?

Which counties, which people, will have the ultimate say? Us! The suburbs in which we live are the battlegrounds within the battleground, where rural conservatives collide with urban liberals. Our region fosters a kaleidoscope of political views, spanning the redblue spectrum.

Barack Obama will carry the suburbs, this much is nearly certain. The question is, by how much?

Delaware County, Bucks County and our beloved Montgomery County could certainly become the focal point come election night. John McCain has his work cut out for him.

Just this year, Montgomery County switched from a Republican majority to a Democratic majority through registration efforts aimed at fulfilling Obama’s mission to capture the suburbs convincingly. Obama may be able to carry nearly 40% of Pennsylvania’s entire electoral vote just within the Philadelphia and suburban counties. It will be McCain’s objective to parry this Democratic uprising by bringing aboard the Independent vote on his “Straight Talk Express.”

November 4th will be hectic. Voter registration has blown through the ceiling. Political fervor has taken new air. Everyone is ready for this election. As a teenager who may not be able to vote yet, don’t be discouraged. Relish the idea that you could be living square in the middle of history. It’s certainly something to look forward to.

McCain and Obama on the issues

Class of 2012

Given the state of our economy— especially the continuing market crash and credit crunch— November’s election is critical to the future direction of this country. And although the economy has been dominating the news recently, big issues like the war in Iraq and global warming haven’t gone away.

The candidates have very different plans for the country’s future.

Here’s where they stand.

On the economy

4.1

Class of 2011

The Democrats: •Add $25 billion into state growth funds, preventing cuts in state and local healthcare, education, housing and energy plans, and $25 billion in job and growth funds preventing cutbacks in bridge and road repairs.

•Provide tax relief for working class

families and mall businesses, only raising taxes on those earning $250,000 or more annually.

•End tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas and plan to reward companies that support and hire American workers •Invest in creating anywhere between five and seven million jobs for Americans installing sources of green energy such as solar, geo-thermal, hydroelectric and wind powered machines.

than having it imported therefore spending less money and possibly selling oil to boost our own economy.

•Repeal the 54 cents per gallon tax on imported sugar-based ethanol, increasing competition and lowering prices of gasoline at the pump •Roll back corn-based ethanol mandates, which are contributing to the rising cost of food.

•Encourage globalization to enhance trade.

•Overhaul unemployment insurance to The Republicans: get people back to work.

•Create millions of jobs for working •Keep tax rates low and enhance small Americans, get the government budget business opportunities. in order, and ensure this country’s energy security by drilling for more domestic On the environment and energy oil.

The Democrats: •Reduce gas prices by separating Amer•Create new jobs by strategically inica from oil producing countries and oil vesting $150 billion dollars over the next speculators. ten years toward independence from for•Increase the value of the dollar, which eign oil and the implementation of green in turn, should reduce the price of oil energy by drilling for more domestic oil rather •Make 25% of our electricity come

October 17, 2008

from renewable sources by the year 2025 On the war on Iraq: •Institute an economy-wide cap-andThe Democrats: trade program to reduce greenhouse gas oEnd the war in Iraq as quickly as emissions 80 percent by 2050 by reduc- deemed possible ing the gas burning cars on the road and oHave troops completely out of Iraq by creating cleaner burning fuel. the summer of 2010.

•Establish a national low carbon fuel oKeep a residual force in Iraq to help standard. counter terrorist movements and to assist in the training Iraqi soldiers, just as long The Republicans: as Iraqi leaders show that they are mov•Commit our country to more domestic ing toward political reconciliation. oil drilling so that America doesn’t need oLaunch an aggressive diplomatic efto rely on foreign oil supplies. fort to reach a comprehensive compact on •Get emissions down to scheduled lev- the stability of Iraq and the region surels by target dates using a market based rounding it. cap, minimizing the cost, and facilitate international efforts to solve global The Republicans: warming. oMaintain current troop levels in Iraq •Return emission levels to that of 1990 oSupport the government of Iraq so by 2020 (15% below 2005 levels) that it can become capable of governing •McCain plans to issue a “Clean Car itself and safeguarding its people.

Challenge” to American car companies, oStay in Iraq until Al-Qaeda is comin the form of a single and substantial tax pletely defeated and a well functioning credit for the consumer based on the re- Iraqi security force is up and running. duction of carbon emissions.

12

October 17, 2008

ELECTION 2008

The Merionite

Born to run...for president

Hannah Goldberg-Morse

Class of 2010

The energy in the air was palpable, the excitement contagious. People had been lining up since noon for the 4:30 performance.

Fans were already wearing non-official tee shirts, bought from sidewalk vendors, and anticipating the main act. It was almost like any other Bruce Springsteen concert, with excited crowds convening hours before his scheduled appearance. The Ben Franklin Parkway had been closed off for the event and a stage erected at 22nd Street. But this time, it was more than just an acoustic performance by a major recording artist.

The goal? To register voters in Pennsylvania in support of Senator Barack Obama’s White House push. The event, though, was not solely a Springsteen performance— local singer/songwriter Amos Lee opened the rally in front of an estimated 50,000 people, and various politicians, as well as Obama supporters spoke. I had arrived at the designated area around two o’clock on the day of the event, but wandered off to find some food before the speakers and singers took the stage (which was a massive, high platform framed by City Hall).

Returning at about three-thirty, the estimated start time for the event, I found a

Photo courtesy by http://disembedded.com Bruce Springsteen drew a crowd of 50,000 to his free concert in early October as part of an effort to register voters in the days before the registering deadline space towards the side of the stage, although outside the barriers for “blue ticket” holders. I had obtained a blue ticket, reserved for Obama volunteers, but the area was already so crowded that I could have ended up blocks back from the stage. As I meandered up to the barriers, an Obama organizer introduced Lee, the first act. He performed

a short acoustic set, but much of the crowd was eagerly anticipating the arrival of “The Boss.” Senator Bob Casey and Governor Ed Rendell were introduced, with approval from the mostly liberal-leaning crowd. The Governor, an ex-mayor of Philadelphia and former Hillary Clinton supporter, joked about Governor Sarah Palin’s demeanor at

a recent debate, promising “as long as I’m up here I will not wink at you.” After urging Pennsylvania college students to register with campus addresses, he turned the microphone over to an enthusiastic campaign volunteer who had been randomly selected for the honor of introducing Springsteen.

The crowd went wild as Springsteen climbed the steps to the stage in all-American blue jeans and sunglasses. “I’m not Barack Obama”, he joked, “but I’ll do my best.” And he proceeded to do exactly that.

Although solely acoustic, it rivaled every other Springsteen performance I’ve seen, with a set list that included politically motivated hits like “The Promised Land”, “No Surrender”, “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, and the September 11th-inspired “The Rising”.

As he sang, played, and spoke, the common ground between Springsteen’s ideals and Obama’s was clear in songs like “Promised Land.” He sang of his belief in something more, something better— likening the condition of America to a house in a state of disrepair. And, before launching into his last song—a soulful rendition of Arlo Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”—he left his audience with a few words of wisdom. Springsteen said, “I don’t know about you, but I want my house back. I want my America back, and I want my country back.”

LM students dive into the race Class of 2009

While most of us sit around complaining about politics and the political process, some LM students are actually taking action. Whether they work for local campaigns or national campaigns, Democrats or Republicans, they all are passionate about politics and have made commitments to help elect the candidates they believe in.

Some students have been inspired by the upcoming elections to help out for the first time, while others have always been involved in the political process. Regardless of why they got involved, most students agree that this election is important and that students should do all they can to help out.

“I think anyone would be motivated when they think about this: in the 2000 presidential election there were thousands of volunteers getting voters out to the polls. The election was decided by 728 votes in Florida. If each of those volunteers had knocked on one more door or talked to one more voter, George Bush might not have become President and who knows how that could have changed these last eight years,” said senior Aaron Goldberg-Leopold, who is currently the Outreach Coordinator

for Frank Custer, a Democratic candidate for the State House of Representatives in the Lansdale area. In his position, GoldbergLeopold does “all sorts of things from building the website to writing the voter contact strategy to managing volunteers.”

As youth, sometimes it can feel like our opinions are not heard. For those who will not be able to vote in the election, campaign work has helped them feel involved; even if they cannot go to the polls on Election Day, at least the people they registered will be able to.

“I’ve rationalized that, although I cannot vote in this election, if I can register people to vote or change enough people’s minds to vote for Obama then I feel like I’ve contributed my share to society,” said senior Andrew Hayman, who volunteers for the Obama campaign. “I feel that if everyone sat back and let the rest of the country carry this campaign, then we would lose.”

Whilethepresidentialelectionsseemtocreatethemostenthusiasm,studentsfinditeasiertomakeadifferenceinlocalcampaigns.

“I would highly suggest interning on a local campaign; you will get much more out of it. There’s nothing like working with such a small staff and having total access to the candidate and the campaign manager,” said recent LM graduate Josh Jacobs who worked on Republican Lance Rogers’ Pennsylvania State

Senate campaign before moving to Washington DC for college.

“Most people will flock to the presidential campaigns because that is where all the glory is. This is great, but I really recommend working on a smaller race,” said Goldberg-Leopold. “When I took my current job it meant stepping down from a position that was in a larger race. I was initially ambivalent, but it turned out that I traded a run of the mill intern job for a job with more responsibility than I ever imagined. It was a great learning experience.”

No matter how students choose to get involved, they have noticed more interest and excitement regarding this election year.

“What I have noticed is a far more pervasive discussion amongst young people about the campaign, which is I think a great indicator for involvement. Young people need to get informed opinions and follow through with them,” said Jacobs.

While campaign jobs are often tiring and the results are never sure, students feel that campaign work is not only a way to get their voices heard, but also to have an impact on the future of our state and our country.

“I work in politics because it is great experience for the future and it is one of the best ways for a high school student to make a difference in their community,” said Goldberg-Leopold.

How to stay informed Emma Saltzberg

Class of 2009

When asked how closely they were following the election on a scale from 1 to 5, LM students reported, on average, a 3.2. That’s pretty good—but I know you can do better. There’s too much political information out there for anyone to be uninformed. If you’re interested in the election, but don’t know where to start, here’s a primer on political browsing to help you along.

To read up on the issues, a great place to start is, OnTheIssues.org. It has a page for every candidate and officeholder on every issue. If you care more about a particular issue, check out an advocacy group you trust—they often make endorsements. If you’re curious whether the claims you hear the candidates make in debates or commercials are

true, check out factcheck.org. And johnmccain.com and barackobama. com are good places to start for the candidates’ policies. (Or, save time by reading our piece on pages 10 and 11 for a summary.)

For up-to-the-minute news, check out Politico.com. They have bloggers who cover Obama and McCain, as well as news stories about the dynamics of the race. Their “Politico Playbook” daily email is a great resource, with quotes from the most important political news stories of the day.

There are also tons of other bloggers just focused on the ups and downs of the campaign. Mark Halperin’s “The Page” for Time.com, “First Read” for msnbc.com, Marc Ambinder at theatlantic.com, and Chris Cilizza’s “The Fix” for washingtonpost.com should keep you occupied for a while.

The fast-paced world of the blogosphere isn’t for everyone. Some people prefer to get a daily dose of political news from TV. Chris Matthews’ Hardball on MSNBC is hardhitting, great entertainment: Matthews clearly enjoys nothing more than talking politics, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Matthews and his guests tell it like it is and keep up with (and shape) trends in the race.

The best way for you to keep up with public opinion, though, is to check the polls. There are dozens of organizations that poll voters— not just nationally but in each state.

Pollster.com’s poll average tracks the candidates’ performance against each other in pretty, easy-to-understand graphics. Pollster also has poll data for every state, and every Senate and gubernatorial race. They convert the raw numbers into maps that project the eventual results of every race.

Average ranking from 1-5 of how closely LM students are following the election The best site for projections, though, is a newcomer this cycle: FiveThirtyEight.com, run by Baseball Prospectus’s Nate Silver. Although Silver and his co-blogger, Sean Quinn, have an admitted personal bias toward Obama, their statistical models are totally impartial. Silver brings his baseball statistical expertise to politics—he takes the data from dozens of polls, weights it for accuracy, and each day runs 10,000 simulations of the election. It’s kind

Average ranking from 1-5 of how closely registered LM voters are following the election

Graphic by Noah Zuares/ Staff

Carolyn Chou

of hard to explain, but trust me—this site is addictive. It’s updated daily, with poll updates and entries from Quinn’s “On The Road” tour of field offices and rallies of both campaigns across the country.

These sites are just the tip of the iceberg; a little searching will yield dozens of news and analysis sources from every part of the political spectrum. Consider this an introduction to the wonderful world of election news.

13

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

Testing, testing...

By this point in their education, most LM students have been subjected to the ever-solovely government-mandated DRPs, ERBs and PSSAs. It is time to ask ourselves, in the midst of this school year as well as in the midst of this heated presidential election: should the candidates be required to take a standardized test and have their results published to the country to help use as a basis for voting?

I’m not talking about the kind of test that measures judgment, I’m talking about the kind of test Rachel Cohen Class of 2010 where there are no talking points to hide behind.

This test would not ask subjective questions like “Whose Iraq pull-out strategy is safer?” or “Whose health care plan can cover more people?” The test would consist of basic questions that most Americans would want their presidential and vice presidential candidates to be able to answer. These are questions to show an understanding of economics, foreign policy, and domestic policy. “What percentage of the country is unemployed?” “Who is the leader of Pakistan and what is their position on the war in Iraq?” Dare I say, one could even ask “What is the Bush Doctrine?” or “Did American troops find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?”

Test-takers couldn’t wiggle out with evasive political tactics. You either know the answer, or you don’t. The American

The running mates

people wouldn’t have to wait for a flop interview with Katie Couric or David Letterman to realize a candidate is or isn’t confident on basic information. The results would be accessible, no ambiguity attached.

If people in Alabama doubted Obama’s knowledge of background information on foreign policy affairs, the results could help to dispel (or encourage) some of those fears.

If young voters in Michigan doubted McCain’s memory-retention abilities on crucial facts, this test could also help to dispel (or encourage) some of those fears. Biden and Palin would not have the luxury of avoiding a question in an interview.

Some may say that this borders on the literacy tests presented to African-American voters in the 1900s. But these tests were designed for the test-takers to fail. The candidate knowledge test is different: this is specifically for people running for public office and wouldn’t be designed to induce failure. Furthermore, even IF the candidate didn’t score well, that wouldn’t be a reason to stop their campaign or prohibit them from running. If the African-American failed their voting test, they were disenfranchised. Not scoring well on this test would not take away any of their right to continue to run.

I’d hope that if these candidates truly believed in the political process, they’d want their voters to make the most informed decision possible. It’s the candidates’ duty to help the electorate by clearly showing what they know. This method would save

Why Obama

It’s time for change.

Only Barack Obama will be able to change our great country. Senator Obama was raised by his single mother and his grandparents, and understands the values and needs of the middle class.

He will cut taxes for 95 percent of working Danny Kane families, Class of 2012 with the biggest tax cuts going to the middle class families that need it most. Senator John McCain, will continue the failed tax plans of the Bush Administration (he has voted with the president 90% of the time) and plans to cut taxes for the families in the top 2 percent of all earners, cutting the corporate tax from 35 percent to 25 percent. He also believes in continuing the tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, a policy that Obama opposes. This is disappointing like a “maverick” like McCain, who plans to continue the failed tax plan of the Bush administration.

A big priority of an Obama administration would be conserving energy and saving the environment. In investing $150 billion, he will create five million new jobs in the field of clean energy. He also plans to decrease or even eliminate US dependence on Venezuelan and Middle East oil within ten years. His plan will create a windfall tax on big oil companies, using the money to provide middle-class Americans with relief at the pump. As president, Barack Obama will also increase fuel-economy standards, forcing car companies to make more eco-friendly cars, and will get one million plug-in hybrid cars, on the road by 2015.

Sadly, John McCain lacks Barack Obama’s commitment to achieving

ELECTION 2008

energy independence and saving the environment. As a senator, John McCain has repeatedly voted for tax cuts for the big oil companies that are now responsible for high gas prices. While Senator McCain claims to support energy independence in his ads, his 17 percent rating [Obama got 100 percent] by the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) indicates “opposition to energy independence.” Lastly, John McCain has stated that he wants to build 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030, a proposal which will definitely emit dangerous amounts of waste, and would likely be very harmful to the environment. Clearly, a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for energy independence, and a vote for the environment.

One of the most important issues of this campaign is the War in Iraq. In 2002, before he was a US Senator, Obama publicly criticized what was then a popularly supported war. As President, Barack Obama would support a responsible pullout from Iraq. If Obama is elected, he will slowly withdraw the troops from Iraq, with the goal being fully ending the war by summer 2010, 7 years after the war began. Even though he wants to end the war, Obama will leave residual forces in Iraq to monitor the situation. John McCain, however, believes that we should continue this futile war, even once infamously stating that the war could last “100 years.” John McCain fails to realize that continuing the war will not only cause a massive loss of US and Iraqi life, but also a huge financial burden on the taxpayers.

Clearly, McCain’s pro-war mentality would do more harm than good in a McCain presidency.

As you can see, an Obama administration would be a break from the failed Bush policies, while a McCain White House would be a continuation of those same policies, and this is why a Barack Obama administration would help save America, while a McCain presidency would continue President Bush’s destruction of America.

by AJ Schiffrin

everyone time, money, and confusion. It makes sense.

If the candidates feel that this testing is not a fair representation of their knowledge--or that the test should not really work to define them as candidates—maybe they would rethink the way the public education system is set up.

I don’t believe society should measure kids on the basis of their test scores. But all too often, it does. Why should our presidential candidates not have to prove at least some bit of their knowledge to a public examination as well? If political figures do not want to be subjected to standardized tests, then

Why McCain

Sometimes I feel like being a Republican at LM is like walking into the Linc wearing a Cowboys jersey.

(Don’t worry, I’ve never done it and I’ll always remain devoted to the Birds!) But despite getting a little flak from some classmates and friends, I stand firm in my belief that John McCain is the right choice to be our next president. His practicality, willingness to cross party lines, extensive accomplishments in the Senate, and unparalleled devotion to our country make him prepared to lead our nation.

Elliot Ebaum McCain’s self-suffiClass of 2011 cient “bridge” is a shortterm solution that will hold us until we achieve green energy. Whether we use our own oil, wind, natural gas or nuclear power during the transition to clean energy, we simply can’t continue sending $70 billion to the Middle East annually. Continuing our dependency on oil from unfriendly anti American foreign countries threatens our national security and hurts our economy.

In addition to that, no country is more careful about the environment than we are, so why not drill here? Finally, it will also help the economy by keeping oil drilling jobs here rather than sending them overseas.

Although both Obama and McCain support research and investments in long term clean energy solutions, Obama has no practical short term solution to increase domestic oil production in any way: even in his own energy plan, he doesn’t mention it once. One solution he mentions is tapping into our petroleum reserves but they are for serious emergencies only—they’re called ‘reserve’ for a reason. Another is to give families a rebate for the rising cost of gasoline which actually contradicts his wish to conserve. We’ll only be using more gasoline, even if we keep our tires inflated.

Health care is an issue that affects Americans, young and old. Obama promises high quality universal healthcare at an affordable cost. But in a government that can’t even handle airport security, how in the world is he planning on giving high quality healthcare to everyone at a controlled cost? It means more government expense and, yes, higher taxes.McCain’s plan is to shift health insurance from an employee benefit to an individually owned policy. People who change or lose their job will not lose their health insurance. Since the employer will no longer pay for the health insurance, McCain plans to give families a $5,000 tax credit to

cover the cost. McCain has been criticized by some who argue that $5,000 is not enough money to cover the premium, but they don’t realize that prices will be driven down by individuals looking for a bargain.

Low-income families and those in need will still be covered from the government. But I’d rather choose for myself, instead of having that same inept government choose for me.

Amid the recent Wall Street collapse and foreclosure crisis, our country is in serious debt. Obama’s plan will only take us in the wrong direction. Our current Social Security payroll tax applies to only the first $97,500 a worker makes. Obama supports increasing this maximum amount of taxed earnings. His plan to increasee the income tax on those making over $250,000 a year will hurt small businesses, which employ the majority of Americans. McCain wants to cut government spending, and keep taxes low, creating new jobs and helping small businesses. True, Obama wants to create new government programs, but his programs will cost money, and that money will come directly from our families and small businesses. All those lost job opportunities just aren’t worth it.

On foreign policy, McCain is just not another George Bush. Bush mishandled the war from the very beginning. McCain was fighting with Bush ever since the war started and it wasn’t until he finally took McCain’s advice about the surge that progress was made.

After disagreeing with the surge at first, even Obama has admitted that the surge succeeded “beyond our wildest dreams.” McCain’s foreign affairs experience and judgement outshines Obama. He has demonstrated a willingness to do whatever it take to keep our country safe, and is unwilling to negotiate or compromise with extremist leaders like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

John McCain has never hesitated to place the interest of his country ahead of his party, co-sponsoring immigration bills and campaign finance reform bills with prominent Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold.

Most importantly, there’s McCain’s character. After two years of torture at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” his captors offered to send him home, as the son of a US Navy Admiral. McCain refused to violate the Code of Conduct, under which two POWs were in line to be released before him. His captors told him he would regret his decision, but they were wrong. Despite three more years of solitary confinement and beatings McCain never regretted staying with his men. John McCain’s life is a strong testament to the character and experience this country needs in the man who will take office in January 2009.

14

October 17, 2008

FEATURES

The Merionite

Jake Wellens

Class of 2011

Everyone has their own favorite flavor of Gatorade, but has anyone really tried them all? (I’m talking just the real stuff, none of this “Propel Fitness Water” or “G2” nonsense.)

The selection of flavors appears to be endless: it seems as though you could hit every grocery store on the Main Line and not encounter the same flavor twice. Well, personally, I have always aspired to track down and taste each and every flavor in the polychromatic rainbow of Gatorade selections, and that is just what I did.

I don’t think you can imagine what an involved and overwhelming project it is to build up a collection of every flavor of Gatorade. Each flavor is a subset of a flavor “line”, each line with its own theme of flavoring and packaging. So the first step in this operation was to get an official list of all of the unique flavors in existence. What bet-

ter source to use to compile this list than Gatorade.com? The site shows every line of flavors, and then shows each member of each group. Each of the nine lines contain anywhere from 1-6 flavors. Right away I forecasted the daunting shopping journey this would entail, so I knew I had to enlist some help. Sophomore Patricia Neckowicz, a varsity LM athlete, good friend, and fellow Gatorade enthusiast who helped inspire this mission, was the best candidate. We divided up the list of flavors, printed out our checklists, and went to work.

When you are on a mission such as this one, you seem to notice Gatorades everywhere: in supermarkets, in cafés, in vending machines, in restaurants, in trashcans…everywhere. You also, however, seem to notice how common the “original four” are, and how ridiculously hard it is to find some of the more obscure flavors. The most elusive proved to be a flavor

from the “Xtremo” variety; this is a flavor line created especially for Latino athletes, which is, interestingly enough, the only type of Gatorade to have its nutrition facts and ingredients listed in both English and Spanish. I encountered this ‘Mango Xtremo’ in Maine, while prematurely college touring, and snatched it up, held it close, and refrigerated it well before consuming.

As the collection of Gatorades in my kitchen grew, so did my excitement, and so did my appetite. At last the time came to begin the taste testing. Neckowicz rolled up to my house sporting a

The Winners

First Place: FIERCE Melon

It’s a well-kept secret, and it’s a very unique flavor, but it is definitely the best tasting Gatorade out there. I don’t know how true the taste holds to its “Melon” name, but it sure is FIERCE. You can find at Genuardi’s, and most large grocery stores, but it is, unfortunately, not sold at most small stores and gas stations.

Second Place: Lemon-Lime + Strawberry X-Factor

An interesting combination of flavors, it makes for a nice refreshing beverage. It is somewhat uncommon in this area, however, and usually nests in the top shelves of only the biggest grocery stores. When I asked Neckowicz what her favorite flavor was and why, she replied, “Lemon-Lime + Strawberry X-Factor, but the tastes are too unique to confine to a simple sentence.”

Third Place: A tie! Original Orange and Tiger Cool Fusion

Wow. Original Orange is always a good choice to turn to when feeling dehydrated and, fortunately, is always available at almost every store. “OMG I LOVE ORANGE GATORADE!!” says LM sophomore * = Jake’s rating + Patricia’s rating Isabel Shapiro. Cool Fusion is a more recent development, a part of the new Tiger line. The rest of the Tigers are vile, but Cool Fusion is A word on Gatorall a jewel in the rough. Its ghostly pale green color is what first attracted me to it, and now I pick one up every time I enter a Wawa. Make This stuff looks like rust, but sure you drink it cold, however, as it can be kind of gross and bitter tastes like the rainbow. Seriat room temperature (unless the room is really cold.) ously, it’s delicious, and you can

So, there it is, probably some of the most influential and monumental data man has ever collected. Weeks of shopping, hours of drinking, and many trips to the bathroom have all led up to this wonderful advancement in the science of beverage selection. I urge you all to try some of these more unique, hidden gems of the Gatorade world, and digress from the easily accessible originals, and hopefully, in turn, the stores will alter their selections accordingly.

legitimately taste so many of the flavors at once, it takes flavored beverages to a new dimension of flavor. Flavor squared. We only made a few cups of the stuff, however, and despite my efforts to conserve it, our supply ran out quite quickly. Unfortunately the only way to make it is to have every flavor of Gatorade in your possession at one time, and I doubt that is something I will experience again.

backpack full of the drink, and we went about the procedure in an efficient, methodical fashion.

A stack of plastic cups, two cups of water to cleanse the palette, and 20 bottles of Gatorade, arranged in order of color, were the tools with which we were to attempt the un-attempted (to our knowledge, at least). We set aside two additional plastic cups into which we would pour a small amount of each flavor, creating the ultimate Gatorade concoction, which we later named, “Gatorall”. We didn’t quite manage to snag every flavor, but we came pretty darn

close. (We missed “Tropical Intenso Xtremo”, “Frost Riptide Rush”, and “Fierce Wild Berry”…so sue us.) We tasted them in order according to “line”, starting with the originals, followed by RAIN, Tiger, Fierce, X-Factor, AM, Lemonade, Frost, and finally Xtremo. We recorded their official names and colors, and rated them from 0-5 on both taste and ability to quench our thirst. We combined our individual ratings for a rating from 0-10. Anyway, to the pith of this article: the data.

15

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Fright, fear, and film for fall A. Julien/J. Smolen

keeping them trapped inside turns its vic- released on October 24. Dr. Hoffman, from “Evil Dead” series, but as long as we’re tims into bloodthirsty psychopaths, and in the previous Saw films, is the only person not bombarded by horror movie parodies, a film style reminiscent of The Blair Witch left to carry on the legacy of the jigsaw everyone else might be able to get a laugh Halloween will soon be here; in between Project, the video left behind by the report- killer. When his secret is on the or two out of this film as choosing costumes, getting ready to beat er is the only evidence of what took place line, he goes to extreme lengths well.

Radnor, and finding an excuse to go trick- in the building. Quarantine stars Dania to make sure it stays safe. Plot Finally, on the big or-treating, you’ll probably be out at the Ramirez, Jay Hernandez, and Jennifer Car- details from the movie are benight, Halloween itself, movies getting your penter of “Dexter.” ing kept closely guarded, but if The Haunting of Molly horror fix for the seaGerman child-vamp you watch the first four films Hartley (Does the title son. The lineup of this film Let the Right One In you will probably get an idea give you any clues?), year’s horror-flicks is being released on Octo- of how things will go. starring Chace Crawwon’t fail to send a ber 24. A young boy who Horror will take on the eleford and Haley Benshiver up your spine. faces bullying and ostra- ments of comedy this Halloween nett, bursts into theaters In fact, they may send cism befriends a strange season (and not in a god-awful, with a few shrieks and you home crying for young girl, who turns out Scary Movie way). My Name a wail. Following the your mother. to be one of the undead. is Bruce makes its premiere in film world’s tried and On October 3, the Unlike your typical vam- theaters on October 26. Bruce true formula of taking Photo courtesy of aceshowbiz.com film Blindness was pire horror movie, the Campbell, cult star of the “Evil beautiful teens in a priThe fifth movie in the “Saw” se- vampiress Eli tries to Dead” series, and Ted Raimi, released.

Murder Photo courtesy of google.com vate school setting and and mayhem ensue ries promises to deliver as much protect her new friend brother of “Evil Dead” directhen adding suspense, “My Name is Bruce” com- supernaturalism, and when an epidemic gore and terror as the others. from her secret instead tor Sam Raimi, collaborate to of instant blindness of immediately turning create this horror film about an bines humor and horror to cre- violence, teenager spreads throughout the world. As a city on him. Starring Kåre Hedebrant and Lina actor from a horror film series. ate the ideal halloween flick. Molly Hartley is still rounds up those infected and places them Leandersson, When a reeling from the trauin an old mental asylum to keep the “white this film probsmall Oregon town is ma of her own mother’s attempt to mursickness” contained, one woman feigns ably won’t be attacked by an ancient der her. As she approaches her eighteenth blindness in order to stay with her husband. in line to join Chinese war god, the birthday, she stumbles upon the horrible Adapted from a bestselling novel by Jose the Blade triltownspeople turn to truth of what will happen to her soul when Saramago and starring Julianne Moore and ogy, but the Bruce, believing he she turns eighteen. If it has to do with Nate Mark Ruffalo, Blindness scares less with vampire film can be as useful at dis- from “Gossip Girl”, it can’t be all that bad, outright violence or gore than with its im- genre is surepatching the undead can it? Heck only knows. plications about human nature. ly making a as his “Evil Dead” In between all those trips to the theOn October 10, the movie Quarantine comeback this character, Ash. Un- ater, I’m sure you’ll find time to snuggle debuted in theaters. Another movie about year. fortunately for them, up on your couch and watch your old faan epidemic, Quarantine centers on a teleThe fifth he is just an actor, and vorite horror movies, or at least a “Charlie Photo courtesy of movie.ign.com vision reporter and her cameraman. While installment in Ash is just a character. Brown” Halloween special. Keep this Hal“Quarantine” follows a reporter and her cam- The film will probably loween season scary, be safe, and rememcovering a story, they end up quarantined the Saw film eraman as they are quarantined inside an apart- have more meaning ber the reason for the season: to eat candy inside a building along with the building’s series, Saw V, ment building infected with a mysterious disease. for fans of the original and stay thoroughly creeped. infected residents. The mysterious disease will also be Class of 2009

Buy tickets, save Broadway

Elizabeth Dunoff

Class of 2011

No weekend plans? Are you in the mood for a road trip? Broadway is offering some great new shows, giving LMers a wonderful excuse to make the trip to New York.

An adaptation of the classic book by Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Broadway’s most eagerly anticipated new musicals. It tells the story of Dr. Manette, (played by Gregg Edelman), his daughter Lucie (Brandi Burkhardt), and Lucie’s fiancé Charles Darnay (Aaron Lazar). Darnay is falsely imprisoned, and the Manettes must

work with sarcastic lawyer Sydney Carton (James Barbour) to free him. The unforgettable story, set during the French Revolution, features romance, drama, and mystery. Since opening in September, the show has received rave reviews from the critics.

Another new musical coming out this year is sure to be fun for the whole family. Shrek the Musical, based on the 2001 movie, is hitting Broadway in November. The familiar story features new music and will appeal to people of all ages. Starring Brian D’Arcy James as Shrek and Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as Fiona, it will surely be a stage spectacle, à la Disney musicals.

Photo courtesy of maninchair.com

A Tale of Two Cities is based off of Charles Dickens’s famous novel taking place before and during the French Revolution.

Be sure to check it out, and bring your younger siblings along.

As anyone who has lived through the horrors of seventh grade knows, being thirteen can be rough. The energetic teenage cast of the new musical, 13, can definitely attest to that. The show tells the story of Evan Goldman, a Jewish boy who moves with his mom from New York to Indiana just before his Bar Mitzvah. In addition to his concern over his parent’s divorce, Evan must also to worry about making friends and learning his Torah portion.

13 opened in September to mixed reviews, but it will surely be a hit for its target pre-teen audience.

Making the move from London’s West End, the musical adaptation of the film Billy Elliot opens on Broadway in mid-November. Oscar-nominee Stephen Daldry directs and superstar Elton John composed for the musical, telling the story of the elevenyear-old boy who would rather be a ballet dancer than a boxer.

Three young boys will split the demanding lead role upon the show’s opening.

But there is more to Broadway than just the musicals. Equus, the drama about a seventeen year old and his obsession with horses, crossed the pond for the first time from London’s West End in September with both its famous leads. Reuniting from the Harry

Photo courtesy of jaunted.com

Daniel Radcliffe bares it all in the drama Equus, now in the United States after taking off in England.

Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe stars as Alan Strang, with Richard Griffiths as Martin Dysart, the therapist who tries to treat the troubled Strang. An intense play about the conflict between spirituality and the deviant sexuality of the teenage years, Equus leaves its audiences with a strong message of freedom and growth.

All My Sons, Arthur Miller’s classic play, has returned to Broadway in a new revival complete with a star-studded cast, including Katie Holmes, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, and Patrick Wilson. The drama tells the saga of Joe Keller and his business

dealings during the second World War. Despite mixed reviews, All My Sons has attracted a lot of media attention, mostly due to Holmes and her famous husband, Tom Cruise. Running for only a limited engagement, All My Sons closes in January.

With the current financial crisis, plenty of older Broadway shows are closing due to lack of funds—leaving room for new shows to open. With plenty of exciting dramas and enticing musicals out there, Broadway offers something for everyone this season, making a trip to Broadway is worth your while.

16

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TV shows, movies--online and legal Han Tran

Class of 2011

Do you want to watch free TV episodes and movies online? Is the only thing preventing you from doing so fear of legal trouble? Well have no fear, Hulu.com’s here!

Hulu.com is a completely legal website that lets you watch movies and TV shows for free. There’s no need to worry about getting a virus from downloading, because you don’t have to download anything to watch them. All you have to do is click on a link and you can watch whatever you want. In case you’re wondering how it’s legal, Hulu has commercials that interrupt the movie or episode several times during the viewing.

It was founded early last year by long-standing rivals Fox and NBC, and also distributes videos to other sites, including Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo!, MySpace, and Comcast.

Although many of the shows can be found online on other sites, including a channel’s own website, Hulu is one of the few that offers all the shows for free in one place, with minimal advertising to interrupt the viewer’s enjoyment of the video. Because it has clips of so many shows from so many channels, it focuses mostly on

the quality of the video to ensure viewers choose to use the site, bringing the shows to the widest possible audience.

Hulu has many popular current TV programs as well as past seasons of shows, and even some movies. Although some are rated R, by signing up for a free Hulu.com account users can watch films and video clips with any ratings. Without the account, users only have access to films rated G to PG-13.

Hulu’s growing popularity means serious competition for the leading online video website, YouTube. While YouTube has some of the same videos as Hulu, the legality of YouTube’s videos is questionable.

That may not surprise anyone, but if you’re watching an illegal YouTube video, there could be consequences. It may not be serious, but chances are that YouTube will eventually take it down so you won’t be able to watch it again.

In addition, you’re running the chance of being caught by the copywright owner every time you watch it. While there may only be a small chance of getting caught, it’s something to consider. By watching YouTube, you are taking money from artists who make those movies for a living. Regardless of how fun it is, that’s

downright immoral.

Finally, if there’s a YouTube video that is obviously illegal, it might not be the video you’re looking for, because you could be “rickrolled.”

“Rick-Rolling” is a prank where a YouTube video claims to be something it is not (e.g. the video is supposed to be Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girls” music video but instead is the music video Photo courtesy of hulu.com of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give Hulu.com features free television shows, including NBC’s popular “The You Up.) Office,” interrupted only by brief commercials.

Hulu has none of YouTube’s flaws. The site commercial break).

“The quality is really good, guarantees the legality of all Hulu is becoming quite but the commercials strongly its videos. In addition, Hulu’s popular among LMers. “I love annoy me. I use TV links and video quality is better than Hulu. I know a lot of people YouTube instead,” said senior YouTube’s. who go on it regularly to watch Yunica Jiang.

To keep the content legal, TV shows like ‘Scrubs,’ ‘King Hulu also has some lesserHulu splits the site’s revenue Of The Hill,’ or ‘It’s Always known features that make it with the content creator as well Sunny In Philadelphia.’ It’s stand out, including users’ as the distribution website; the a good website,” said sopho- ability to create their own content creator takes the larg- more Isaac Freedman. clips, send them to people, or est share. So while there are Even those who haven’t share them on a blog or other ads on the site, they are reduced heard about Hulu are now tak- website. mostly to banner ads at the top ing interest. “I haven’t looked So the next time you want and bottom of the page, with at it, but the idea is interest- to watch something online, go short commercial breaks in the ing,” said senior Katie Co- to http://hulu.com to see your middle of the video (think less chrane. Of course, Hulu can’t favorite TV shows, movies, than half the length of a normal please everybody. movie clips, and more!

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: Different in the same way

L. Rosenbloom/J. Smolen

Class of ‘11/’09

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, based on the novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, is the latest teen flick…with a twist.

The film stars Michael Cera, who we met as Evan in Superbad and came to love as Bleeker in Juno, and Kat Dennings, of 40-year-old Virgin and Charlie Bartlett. Neither have the cookie-cutter looks we’ve come to expect from movies about high school.

Cera plays a sensitive musician named Nick O’Leary. Dumped by his girlfriend on his birthday, it is almost too much to bear when she shows up to his band’s gig with another guy.

Just as he is giving up hope, he finds Norah (Dennings), who, in an attempt to seem less uptight, asks Nick to be her boyfriend for five minutes. What starts out as a simple question leads to a whole night of unbelievable shenanigans as Nick and Norah are forced to tour Manhattan together.

The reason for the unplanned excursion? Norah’s hopelessly drunk friend Caroline, who promises to stay sober during the party and fails dismally.

Nick and Norah leave her with Nick’s bandmates, who promptly lose her. As

their manhunt drags on, Nick, Norah, “Michael Cera played a very similar and company are also trying to find role to his other movies,” said senior their favorite band’s secret show. Along Ari Stern. “Its kind of a shame that the way, Nick and Norah discover just he’s being typecast.” how much they have in common, foreAlthough the cast features Cera shadowing a bound-to-be-cute ending. and Dennings, some other young, The film manages to both defy and on-the-rise actors also make their desatisfy expectations. Like basically buts. Aaron Yoo, who recently played every romantic comedy ever, “it was a supporting role to Jim Sturgess in kind of obvious that Norah would fall the Blackjack movie 21 gets a bigger for Nick in the end,” said senior Sharole as Nick’s band mate. Ari Greynor ron Oser, “But there were many places makes her big-screen debut as Nowhere you thought they would never rah’s drunken friend Caroline, lookend up together.” Guy meets Girl, Girl ing promising while displaying a wide likes Guy, range of funGuy likes ny, over-theGirl, surtop acting prise, surskills. prise! They As much get together as the fresh by the end. faces are a And though relief from the film is Hollywood not typical as usual, the teen fare, it movie’s incomes off corporation as atypical of setting and the same soundtrack way other the Photo courtesy of collider.com define recent movfilm’s uniqueies (Juno) ness. Their Dennings and Cera fall in love one New York night have been taste in music in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. atypical. brings Nick

and Norah together, with the indierock-alternative music complementing the quirky tone of the film. Nick and Norah spend weekends searching out underground shows, discovering new bands to share with their friends, and burning mixes. Their favorite bands set them apart from the usual Hollywood teenybopper, and the film’s soundtrack reflects that eclectic taste.

The setting, New York City, also helps move the film away from the crowd of other teen flicks. The suburban Jersey kids use the city as their escape, their playground, capturing that essential teen feeling of being stuck and needing to get the heck out.

The movie name-checks places only a true New Yorker will recognize, and much of the plot could never happen anywhere but NYC. A sweet, romantic moment captured on an escalator in Penn Station is just one instance of how the film plays up its setting.

“The conceptual element of what they were doing combined with the filming [in that scene] was great,” said junior Amanda Farrell.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a promising new movie full of young talent. Released on October 3, it is perfect to see with your friends on a chilly October weekend.

17

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Fashion Week in the real world Jade’s October Jams Maddie Bailis

Jade Waterman

Class of 2009

cludes this song, which has amazing vocals and a great hook.

Do you need a song to keep Killing in the Name Of on repeat during crew practice?

by Rage Against the MaA song to get you pumped for chine (sebastiAn remix) school in the morning? Lucky for Photo courtesy of naclaq.blogspot.com Taking Rage’s infamous you, these songs will get you up song and turning it into an Phantom Planet released and keep you going all day. their newest album on record electronic remix that includes computerized robot voices and label Fueled by Ramen Swagga Like Us complete synth perfection, this

by Jay-Z and T.I. feat. Kayne new song should be on repeat West and Lil’ Wayne for the rest of the fall.

With influences from M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” this song has the Don’t Touch Me (Throw perfect mix of beats and style, Da Water On ‘Em) making it perfect to rev up your

by Busta Rhymes swagga for the fall.

If you’ve seen the popular Youtube dance battle between Ego Tripping at the Gates Photo courtesy of brightcove.tv.com AC/DC (Adam and Chu Dance of Hell Crew) and Miley and Mandy’s Rapper Busta Rhymes

by The Flaming Lips M&M CRU, then you’ve The Flaming Lips are back to Do the Panic probably heard the great rap give us yet another completely

by Phantom Planet song blasting in the backoriginal song, just right for These “California” singers ground of one of their battles. walking your dog, or walking come back with their semi-recent I memorized all the words, the halls. album, Raise the Dead. It in- can you?

Danielle Moskow

Class of 2011

Photo courtesy of z.about.com

Luckily for non-models, jumpsuits like this sparkly version from Jill Stuart probably won’t make it to the racks.

designers were able to keep the look away from body shops and circus tents. Unfortunately, some designers took it too far, like prom dress queen Betsy Johnson, who sent a voluminous jestertype romper down her runway.

Still, jumpsuits sashayed down catwalks in every color and style.

This is an easy piece to slip into and to accessorize with chunky jewelry and belts. Although jumpsuits looked great hanging off the shoulders of rail-thin models, they will fail to flatter all body types.

The temperatures are going to continue to drop, but when the weather gets warmer you will already know what trends to look out for, putting you ahead of the fashion Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen show game.

frocks with metallic accents.

Class of 2010

XOXO, from 90210

Photo courtesy of style.com

Photo courtesy of mbfashionweek.com

Fall has officially begun, and the weather is finally cool enough for you to slip into your burgundy skinny cords from Urban. But just as you are adjusting your wardrobe for autumn, New York, London, Milan and Paris are already a season ahead and preparing for higher temperatures.

Designers sent their warm weather ensembles down the runway in early September at Spring/ Summer 2009 Fashion Week. It’s never too soon to start thinking about your spring wardrobe, right?

Many of the collections featured an evolved version of fall and winter trends. Metallics were popular among designers. Unlike lamé, which dominated fall runways, metallics for spring will be textured and wrinkled, so it’s finally time to let go of those American Apparel leggings. Designers like Zac Posen and Marc Jacobs incorporated frocks sprinkled with sequins into their collections, all with the higher hemlines and lighter hues appropriate for spring.

High-waisted bottoms strutted down the catwalks. Jeans, slacks, shorts, and skirts all sat comfortably at the waist at Oscar de la Renta and Dolce & Gabbana. Expect to see these high waistlines everywhere.

Influences of menswear continued to be injected into hundreds of looks. Everything from slouchy silken boyfriend blazers to, dare I say it, shoulder pads graced runways. Shoulder pads are never a good thing, but Ralph Lauren updated this 80’s power suit staple and made it more streamlined.

Don’t worry, it won’t translate well into ready-to-wear looks, so it’s not likely you will see racks lined with blazers with jet puffed shoulders at J. Crew. Also hold on to your cardigans from fall because they will continue to be popular, and pair them with a button down shirt or floral tee.

Even though there are some repeated trends for spring, new trends have blossomed. Designers seemed to create a focus on loungewear and comfort. Freely draped fabric and easy silhouettes were spotted. Tons of airily draped gowns and skirts in every shade of sherbet were shown. At Prada, sweaters and shirts had open backs sans fussy closures and tied loosely with string instead.

An ensemble that worked its way into all the collections was the one-piece, also known as the romper or jumpsuit. Generally jumpsuits are associated with car mechanics or clowns, but most

The verdict is in! Fans love the new hit TV show “90210”... but why?

What is it that draws teenagers to shows like “90210,” “Gossip Girl,” and “Privileged?” Is it true that “90210” is just another remake of a show we have seen before a hundred times? Though corny and sleazy, these kinds of shows seem to be all the rage.

“90210” follows a girl named Annie Wilson and her brother Dixon who move to Beverly Hills and suddenly enter the crazy, drama-filled world of the social elite. At first, Annie and Dixon have trouble fitting in at the high-class school, but they quickly become adjusted to the new lifestyle. The Wilson family moved to Beverly Hills to keep an eye on their aging grandmother, Tabitha. While it is hard enough initially for Annie and Dixon to fit in, their father takes the job as their school principal, only making their quick jump to popularity more impressive. Luckily, Annie and Dixon are close, because they are going to need each other’s support through the drama that is sure to happen with their new friends.

“90210” was brought back from the original show, “Bev-

erly Hills, 90210,” which last do not live such high-class aired eight years ago, but with a lives, why do teens continue to new cast and a revised storyline. thirst for such shows?

The 1990’s version was about These shows give teens hope twins named that money Brenda and is the anBrandon who swer to evmove from erything, Minnesota to and that the Beverly wealth is Hills scene. the solution The new show from stress is very similar and chalto the old one, lenges. though it is The more appealshow’s twoing to current hour preteens. miere set a While new ratings not exactly record, topthe typical ping any fairytale (comother series Photo courtesy of usatoday.com opener plete with hapin Ashley Newbrough and Lucy CW’s hispy endings and Prince Charm- Kate Hale play spoiled rich girls on tory. Teen ings), “90210,” CW’s new show “Privileged” with escapism is “Gossip Girl,” Joanna Garcia as their new tutor. really payand “Priviing off for leged” are indeed distorted the network, which is probfables that brainwash teenag- ably why the CW green-lighted ers into believing in all of the three different shows featuring benefits of social climbing and such similar premises. being filthy rich. All of these Critics don’t love the show, shows glorify characters with but the teens are the ones who ambition for having everything. bring in advertising money. So Not even designer clothes and as long as the sordid lives of nice cars compare to the com- the beautiful, rich, and famous pletely pampered lives of the continue to fascinate us, we truly prosperous. Since the will continue to watch, so we real-world economy is not do- can be sure we will be see more ing well and clearly most teens of these shows.

18

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

SPORTS

Girls cross country aims for states

J. Kraman/I. Lindy

Class of 2010

Off to their best start in recent years, the girls cross country team stands at 10-1. Three senior captains, Leah Sack, Jess Randel, and Cara Piccoli have guided the team to this impressive start. But this success has not come without hard practice and preparation.

“We put in countless hours of practice together since June 2 all throughout the summer, and, as a result of this work, we are a much closer, stronger, faster team than last year,” said junior runner Zoe Matza.

As a result of the intensive summer workouts, many runners have improved their time by several minutes, allowing the team to overwhelm opponents with times unimaginable last year.

At the beginning of the season, the Aces had strong wins against Radnor and Springfield. They advanced through

especially memorable, as it was the girls’ first time beating rival Radnor in six years.

“Our strengths are passing other teams during the second and third miles of a race and always doing our absolute best,” said sophomore Jenna Greensweig.

Coach Dermot Anderson adds that the focus this year has been working together as a team. Sophomore Francis Loeb and Piccoli, who was projected by The Philadelphia Inquirer as one of the top ten runners in the area, have been posting top-notch times, followed by other top runPhoto Courtesy of Dermot Anderson ners, including seniors Emily Kleiman, Jess Randel, Leah Senior Captain Cara Piccoli Sack, and Gabby Mezechow, decisively won Bull Run junior Matza, and sophomores the schedule dispatching their Julie Loeb and Greensweig. opponents with relative ease, The Varsity Seven is comprised including decisive victories over of these runners and varies week Harriton and Ridley. to week.

The win over Radnor was “At different meets, different

girls have stepped up to make the difference. Our younger and new runners are also improving tremendously and I am very proud of them. Everyone is united in working hard every day,” said Anderson.

Social Studies teacher Grace Chung and collegiate runner Maxine Markfield have joined Anderson as coaches this year.

The toughest test for the girls was the September 24 meet against Strath Haven. In their only loss this season, they fell short by just one point in this grueling and competitive meet.

The team, though, rebounded by soundly defeating Marple Newton, winning by 35 points.

While the girls have already secured a share of the Central League title, they continue to work hard and stay dedicated, as they try to achieve the desired goal of qualifying for states.

As they continued on the path toward a state tournament

berth, last weekend the girls ran in the Bull Run Invitational in Maryland. Despite the course being quite difficult, the team was victorious yet again.

At Bull Run, Piccoli led the field by more than a minute, attaining a decisive win over a difficult field. With her valiant effort, she led the rest of the team to victory.

The team’s future also looks promising. While the team is senior-heavy and next year will undoubtedly find difficulties with the loss of many talented runners, “the [juniors] have taken an initiative to lead the team,” said Piccoli, so “the team will be in good hands when the seniors graduate.”

The girls continue their quest for a place in the state tournament and hope to finish their successful season with a few more wins.

A berth in states would both thrill the team and appropriately cap off a tremendous season.

of 3-2, and Harriton by a score of 3-1. The win against Radnor was especially important, and really showed the true potentials and spirit of the players. The match started out badly with the team quickly digging themselves in a 2-0 hole. However, the players quickly regrouped and recorded an incredible and unprecedented comeback. The team pulled out three straight sets to cap the incredible comeback and record its first win of the year.

“This match truly proved our team’s commitment and communication when we came back with three wins in a row,” said senior captain Noy Reuveni.

One thing the team has really worked on is communication and teamwork on the court.

“Teamwork is another focus for this team,” explained junior captain Deeanna King. “Individually we are a really good team but we just need to work as a single unit.”

This season has seen the emergence of several new and talented

“I want the team to form a winning mentality that we can build off of for next year,” said King.

Though the season’s two wins may not seem substantial, the girls feel confident that they have achieved some of their original objectives.

With a winning attitude, enhanced teamwork, communication, and an improved roster, the team expects

to see dramatic improvements next season and hopes to assert itself as one of the stronger teams in the Central League.

“We have an amazing team with lots of leadership and potential, who, with all the hard work, can definitely have a successful season next year,” agreed Reuveni.

Volleyball ends season on positive note

L. Blistein/X. Wang

Class of 2011/2010

The girls varsity volleyball team finished its season only last week with two wins on the year. Though their final record may not show it, the players have experienced tremendous growth over the past few months.

“Our team may be young but we are continually growing, both individually and as a team,” said senior captain Adrienne Werth. “The girls played well together, really bonded and connected with each other.”

In the beginning of the season, Coach Andrew Magner’s goals for the young squad were to win five matches, play to the top of the team’s potential, and to have fun. Despite the loss of several varsity players over the summer, the players performed with dedication and heart throughout the season, turning in a true team effort.

Though the team did not reach five wins, it recorded important victories against Radnor, winning by a score

players. Freshman Grace DuFresne and junior Rekik Worku added new dimensions to the team’s roster.

DuFresne started every single game this season, providing stability and consistency at the setter position.

“DuFresne shows very great potential as a future setter and star,” says King.

Worku has also been a force on offense this season. With her power and athleticism, she has proved herself to be one of the team’s most powerful and fierce attackers. She still has a lot of room to improve, and can become the one of the best attackers, not only on the team, but also in the Central League, believes Magner.

Building off of the wins against Harriton and Radnor, along with its returning core of players, the team has a solid foundation for next season. Over the course of the offseason, the team plans on improving communication on the court, and more importantly, creating a winning atmosphere.

Photo by Alyssa Clinkscales/ Staff

The girls huddle up during a recent match against Haverford

Merionite’s Monthly Health Tip: Ms. Hoopes Myth or Fact: Crunches eliminate my stomach fat and give me a six pack Myth: Don’t believe everything you hear on those info commercials. Everyone stores extra weight differently, but the “gut” is one of the most common problem areas, especially for men. Even if you do a gazillion stomach exercises you won’t burn enough calories to lose the layer of fat in your abdomen so you can SEE the muscles you have been building up.

The muscles are hidden under the fat layer. To get more defined and flatter abs you need to cut calories and reduce fat intake.

In order to burn fat, you need to do a workout that includes both cardio and strength training exercises while sticking to a low-fat diet of lean protein and healthy carbs.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/Staff

Keep in mind fitness is a COMBINATION of diet and exercise. Keep doing the abdominal exercises, reduce your fat intake and you will start to see that flat stomach, and maybe even a “six pack.”

October 17, 2008

SPORTS

The Merionite

Golf impresses with solid season

“The team far exceeded J. Weinberg/E. Peltz e x p e c t a t i o n s t h i s y e a r. We Class of 2011/2009 lost two good players from last year, and we thought we Considering that LM is one would be towards the bottom of the most respected athletic of the league,” said senior Seth high schools in Pennsylvania, Pollack. expectations are quite high The team’s improvement for this year’s slate of teams. can be attributed to a wellBut one team has been greatly rounded roster as well as the overlooked this season. The leadership and play of the three varsity golf team emerged as team captains, Pollack, junior one of the better teams in the Ian Bellah, junior Greg Jarmas, Central League, posting an 8-5 as well as senior Robby Kay. final record.

“This season’s success can be accredited mostly to our captain’s tremendous leadership. Their brutal honesty and sheer determination not only inspired myself but the whole team to give our all out on the course” sophomore Eric Lieberman said.

But as Pollack acknowledged, the team “had a solid lineup from top to bottom.”

Returning second-year golfers Lieberman and Paul Schimpff and freshman Chris Jarmas have been a huge lift for the team as well. Their devotion to the squad is a tremendous asset for the coaches and to the rest of the team.

The addition of freshman Alex Liu has not only contributed confidence, ability, and poise to the squad, but also has brought a feminine essence to the team’s experience. Liu and sophomore Raina Haas, are the only two female members of the varsity team. Although golf is a unisex sport, it has been quite rare to find girls on the Photo courtesy ofYearbook Staff varsity team.

Junior Greg Jarmas takes a “The team really ap-

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

Robbins commits to University of Richmond

preciates these two girls. Alex brings a mentality of toughness and desire to the team.

She really knows how to play, and Raina always does her best,” said junior captain Ian Bellah.

The team faced some tough matches against Radnor and Garnet Valley which resulted in losses, but they also pulled out a surprise win against Marple Newtown, during which Greg Jarmas scored a sensational mark of 33.

“We wound up winning key matches against Penncrest and Marple Newton to solidify our spot as a contender in the Central League,” said Pollack.

Five players also represented the school in the Central League Championships. Liu qualified for the girls district tournament, while Bellah and Jarmas, who tied for first, qualified for the boys bracket.

At the district tournament, Jarmas finished 9 out of 108 golfers, securing himself a spot in the regional qualifier.

Although this season proved to be better then previous years, freshman coach Brian Feeney says his expectations for this 2008 golf team were only met, not exceeded. Lieberman agreed, calling for an even better output by the team next year: “This season has been far from a disappointment, yet I really feel that we could have done more. There were a few tough matches and some questionable calls but that is just the nature of the sport. Next year I expect huge things out of every returning golfer.”

LM’s current basketball standout, senior Greg Robbins, has pledged to play college basketball at the University of Richmond for the Spiders. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard/small forward received offers from Virginia, St. Joseph’s, Temple, Siena, and Richmond, but eventually chose Richmond’s offer.

Robbins feels confident about the school’s roster and location, and expects to have a good career there. In his LM career, Robbins has posted an average of 17.6 points per game, made second-team all-state, and is the only other player besides Kobe Bryant in LM history to exceed 1000 career points before his senior year. Beginning in freshman year, playing beside Ryan Brooks (Temple) and Garrett Williamson (Saint Joseph’s), Robbins has distinguished himself as a commanding player both on and off the court. The team will miss his athleticism next year and wishes him the best of luck at Richmond.

G. tennis season ends unexpectedly For the tenth consecutive year, the varsity girls tennis team captured the Central League crown. With impressive regular season wins over expected league-favorites Radnor and Harriton, the team held an 11-0 record entering district play. After cruising to an easy first round win over Chichester, the girls lost in a 3-2 heartbreaker the following day to Pennsbury, who also stopped their district run last year. With this disappointing and premature end to the season, the girls conclude a campaign full of spirit and excitement, looking ahead to next year already.

On different note, juniors Lauren Zakheim and Devi Jadeja both competed in the District 1 singles tournament with Jadeja advancing all the way to the semifinal round.

Quote:

Varsity Golf Sports: To make Centrals next year while going undefeated Goal: (excluding Radnor)

Playing sports, falconry, Hobbies: Halloween hanging with friends costume: Quote: Costume from Super Troopers that includes a bear “One of the greatest things about books is that sometimes

there are some fantastic pic- tures”- George W. Bush

--Compiled by the Sports Staff

The best athletes that LM has to offer

Senior

Cara Piccoli

Junior

Varsity Golf Sports:

Ice Hockey Goal: To make the second round of

Districts

Playing sports, shopping, Hobbies: watching TV, and going to

the movies.

Halloween costume: Poptart

Quote: “You miss 100% of the shots you do not take”

Jonny Dolezol

Sophomore

Eric Lieberman

Freshman

Alex Liu

Sports:

Goal:

Hobbies:

Halloween costume:

Girls Soccer hopes to qualify for Districts

An extremely youthful team, girls soccer started out their season with hopes of making Districts. The Central League, despite powerhouses Conestoga and Strath Haven, has been filled with surprises with shocking upsets and competitive matches. With crucial wins over opponents Ridley, Springford, and Marple Newtown, the Lady Aces held an impressive fourth seed as of Monday. The outcome of the last two games of the season against rival Harriton on October 14 and Garnet Valley on October 16 will decide if the team will achieve its goal of making Districts.

Faces of the Aces

swing during a tournament

19

Varsity Soccer Sports: Varsity Track and Field

To win the Central League, Districts, and States Goal: Soccer

Undecided Hobbies: “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, Halloween learning, studying, sacrifice costume: and most of all, love of what Quote:

you are doing or learning to

do” - Pélé

Varsity Cross Country Varsity Indoor Track Varsity Track & Field Win the Central League Champs and qualify for States Studying for Kaczmar tests Snuffalufagus “To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”

20

October 17, 2008

The Merionite

Girls XCountry

Sports Shorts: Best of the Rest

Girls start season undefeated, Find out about other sports happenings in remain a top Central League. the LM community.

See Girls XCountry, page 18

See Sports Shorts, page 19

SPORTS

Co-ed golf ends season

Golf finishes season with improved record and roster.

See Golf, page 19

Boys soccer looking to States Mike Buchwald

Class of 2011

To see the 2008 boys varsity soccer team during game time is truly a worthwhile experience.

The precision, athleticism, and sheer excellence of the squad are simply unmatched. The team has continually strived forward, replacing cockiness with determination and substituting complacency with hustle.

“It feels good to be undefeated. We’ve taken care of business so far and we need to continue to do so,” said junior forward Jordan Wolf, prior to the team’s first loss of the season to St. Benedicts.

In truly an astounding feat, the team has now out scored its opponents by a combined score of 45-4 in its first eleven games.

And a big part of this success is outstanding team chemistry.

“Our main strength is our unity,” said sophomore David Rosenfeld.

The team loves bonding and is very close-knit, considering themselves brothers on and off the field, whether hanging out

at the mall on a trip to Maryland, or going out to Chili’s after a long practice.

Many also credit head coach Jon Fadely for much of the team’s success. Fadely runs a tight ship, with a rigorous preseason and intense practices. For example, as part of preseason training last year, the team had early morning workouts the week before finals.

But one thing is certain: Fadely knows how to win.

On the field, one of the Aces most powerful weapons is returning Central League Player of the Year, senior Greg Robbins. The 6’4” dynamo is a goal-scoring, ball-swiping, game-closing senior and is a downright threat whenever he steps onto the soccer pitch.

He is complemented by an extremely talented cast comprised of players such as defensive stoppers junior Johnny Dolezal and senior captain Jason Kass, along with that West Virginian wildcat Dylan Basil. When senior co-captains Eric Stahler and Danny Dillulo charge head first into a pile of defenders

and come out with the ball, the late in the second half when tained high aspirations for this crowd cannot help but rise to sophomore Michael Lemonick season. their feet. When senior leader threw up a pass to Dillulo, who “Our team goals are to win Nick Bibbs jumps and sends the put one in the back of the net the Central league and qualify ball out of trouble with a pow- to give the Aces the victory. for States,” says Stahler. erful header, it is tough not to In a much-anticipated match Last year, the team seemed get riled up. When feisty senior up against league-rival Strath to be destined for success after Jordan Obrant bowls over two Haven, the two squads tied in a an overtime win over Abingdefenders just to snag a loose double-overtime thriller. ton gave the squad a District 1 All in all, the team has main- championship. This win, howevball, I defy anyone to not get up and cheer. er, was quickly The Aces currently overshadowed hold a 12-1-1 record by a first round with the lone loss to loss at States St. Benedicts Prep, the to Central sixth-best team in the Dauphin. With nation, on a penalty memories of kick. The team has also the devastating registered eight shutloss still fresh, outs, aided by the stellar the team is trygoal tending of senior ing to avoid Justin Corrado. The complacency. team now holds the top Yet everybody place in the Southeastknows a state ern Pennsylvania Soctitle is always cer Coaches Associain the back of tion ranking. One of the the boys’ mind. more exciting games And with the of the year was against way these the always-deadly ParkAces are playPhoto by Esther Hoffman/ Staff land High School. On ing, anything a rainy Saturday, the Junior Jordan Wolf aims a kick against Marple Newton s e e m s p o s score read 1-1 until sible.

Boys XCountry on pace for postseason

Ethan Goldstein

Class of 2010

Over the past few years the boys crosscountry team has slowly been advancing closer and closer to qualifying for states.

This year, despite losing several seniors to graduation, the team is looking as promising as ever. With the lofty goal of States in their sights, they are going after it stronger and faster than ever.

This new and improved team consists

of senior captains Ben Furcht, Neal Berman, Jake Perry, Drew LeDonne, along with seniors Harry Winkler and Jason Warrington, and junior Kyle Ingerman, who make up the top seven group. Below them is another set of seven who also race with the varsity team.

“A few guys who have really stepped it up and are running in varsity for the first time are Perry, Ingerman, and Warrington,” said Furcht.

With a final regular season record of

Photo by Eugenia Jin/ Staff

Juniors Lucas Van Houten, Ben Zielonka, and sophomore Tom Clark break a sweat during a weekday practice on the Arnold Field track.

9-2 and their only losses resulting from marginal defeats of two and one points, and all of their wins decided by thirteen points or more, this team has very high hopes.

On September 20, the team ran a race on the state invitational course at Hershey, familiarizing themselves with what could lie ahead. Furcht ended up winning the race, while Berman finished not far behind in fourth place. The team has obviously improved and is ready for the postseason, as they begin preparing for the league, districts, and potentially even state tournaments.

All of the top seven runners are posting times on par with or even better than personal records. Furcht’s top time from this year is seven seconds better than last year, which could mean the difference between first and second. Both Furcht and Berman qualified for States last year, and many expect a repeat performance. “[All of the runners] have improved a lot from last year, and Furcht and Berman are looking like two of the top four runners in the state,” said Ingerman.

The new varsity members have pushed the team to new heights and have helped secure victories, and demonstrated the depth and strength of the lineup for years to come.

The boys aim to perform well at all levels of postseason competition. As the postseason draws near the runners are training harder than ever and are determined to win. The state championship, the race that all cross country

runners have been preparing for all year, is scheduled for November 1 and LM hopes to lock up several spots in this race. With this promising group of runners, the team may just be able to accomplish this feat and establish LM as a formidable opponent for years to come.

Photo by Eugenia Jin/ Staff

Juniors Dylan Scott and Shourjo Chakravorty try to improve their times during practice.