The
Gryphon Gazette
September 2014
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The Student Voice of St. George’s Independent School
“Veracrossing” into a new system
Senior Cole McLemore and sophomore Henry Adkins struggle with Veracross. Some students raised concerns about the system.
Courtney Harshbarger ’15
Courtney Harshbarger ’15
Student
information system Veracross is replacing sixteen school systems this year in an attempt to improve school operation, but some students are unhappy with this change. The bulk of complaints from students were regarding the differences between Veracross and the student portal from previous years. Since it is so early in the year, the only functions that students have been able to use are class webpages, but eventually they will be able to see any other information they may need. This new system has the
capacity to carry out the functions of the old student portal as well as those of fifteen other school systems that were previously used separately from each other. As problems arise, solutions are sought out. “Veracross software engineers are willing to engineer the product to make it better fit the school’s needs” said Mr. Will Bladt. Veracross gets rid of the need for multiple people to enter the same information into different systems by providing a single program through which all facets of the school can connect and share in-
formation. Although Veracross does not have some of the specific benefits to the old systems, it will be better for the school overall. “Everyone has to make sacrifices. However, there are all these different benefits” said Mr. Bladt. Once the program is up and running properly, students will be able to view their grades, homework assignments, attendance and many more useful things that the portal could not offer. Many students are not optimistic about these updates.
Cont. on Page 2
• Volume XIII, Issue I
TTYL: teacher-student
texting banned Caroline Cannon ’15
T
his school year’s new texting policy, preventing students and faculty from communicating via text, was put in place in order to prevent future inappropriate situations from arising at St. George’s. The purpose of the latest regulation, as Mr. Will Bladt explained, is to protect students from being put into intense circumstances and under more pressure than already present. The reason for this new change in communication is due to incidents that have occurred at other schools. A school in Los Angeles, where Mr. Bladt’s wife previously worked, had a situation arise that stirred up investigations. A recently
graduated senior girl posted an essay online about what happened to her while she was still in high school. “I do not think it is fair for students to deal with that kind of stuff,” Mr. Bladt said. In her junior year, her male teacher made uncalled for advances. It first started with emails, then texts, and finally an inappropriate encounter. Once the story got out, eight other girls came forward with similar stories and the teacher was fired. “I am not saying the people at this school are that way, but I want to protect the kids,” said Mr. Bladt.
Cont. on Page 3
Though an error message may not appear, teachers and students are not allowed to text one another. This new policy has already helped other schools in preventing future incidents.
Juliana Wall ’15 (altered photo)
Top Stories Opinion
Entertainment
• Caroline’s Column: the • Otherlands Food Resummer experience
view
News
Features
• Camp IMPACT finishes • Flik Dining serves fourth year
St. George’s
Sports • Mascot Head Passing
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September
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New faculty arrive in a time of change
News
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The Gryphon Gazette
Textbooks at St. George’s have become available online Heather Stevenson ’16
T
Annie Vento ’17
New teacher, Mr. Roszel, teaching his English I class. Mr. Roszel came to St. George’s this school year, along with twenty-two other new teachers and faculty.
Taylor Owens ’15
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wenty-two teachers, staff, and faculty new to the school arrived at the St. George’s Collierville campus during a time of changes to the school system. Recently, St. George’s has moved to Flik Independent School Dining and Veracross School Information Software, as well as introduced new furnishings to the school and new policies affecting the teacher and student out of class dynamic. School President Bill Taylor, said that transitions and change are “extremely healthy for schools and teachers” and that it is “easier for teachers new to St. George’s” to integrate themselves into school culture and life. Teachers and faculty that are new to the school have experienced all the adjustments that the school is currently undergoing. For some newbies, change is welcome and has been an outlet to ease the switch to a new school. New Pre-Calculus and Geometry teacher, Mr. James Oxsalida, said
Newspaper Staff Co-Editors-in-Chief Lexie Marotta & Taylor Owens
Advisor
Dr. Margaret Robertson
that it was “comforting” coming into a school that is in transition. “It’s like being the new kid and you feel a little lost, but, in this case, everyone feels a little lost,” said Mr. Oxsalida. New Assistant Dean of Students Kayla Irvin, said that “there is so much to learn” during her first year at St. George’s and that “everyone has been extremely helpful and intentional in easing the transition.” “Change is an inevitable part of working in schools,” said Upper School Director Tom Morris, and said that the addition of new teachers at this time brings “new energies, perspectives, and passions for students.” Mr. Morris said, “We are in the midst of a year of great change” and that the new faculty are the “best part of this year’s changes.” Faculty and teachers new to the school may be coming in at a time of transition; however, changes are often part of a healthy school environment and bound to occur.
he start of the 2014-2015 school year for many students has meant the purchase of access codes rather than textbooks. The math, history, and biology departments have made the switch to have the course textbook accessible from a computer. School President Bill Taylor said that the decision is going to help out students in the long run. “Your life in jobs and just navigating the world is going to have to involve things beyond books and you are going to find ways to manage that information, online books is a step in that direction,” said Mr. Taylor. “Who knows what things are going to be like twenty years from now, but my guess is it’s not going to be confined between two bound covers.” Upper school math teacher Page McMullen said that some good things have come from the change. “I like that students get instant feedback and immediately know if they have done it wrong or right. I like that I get to see very quickly the homework and see [that] we need to go over this [particular] problem.” Ms. McMullen also found some concerns about MyMathLab. “What happens if somebody doesn’t have [wireless access] at home to the Internet, or what if we can’t access it here?” said Ms. McMullen. The history courses, mainly for ju-
Textbooks at St. George’s are going online. Now a majority of our resources have been compiled onto a computer.
Features Editor
Layout Editor Caroline Cannon
Copy Editors Photo Editor
Juliana Wall
Heather Stevenson ’16
News Editor
Anna Marie Beard
Nathan Weinreich
Entertainment Editor
Opinion Editor
Tatum Nix, Heather Stevenson, & Annie Vento
niors and seniors this year were encouraged to make the switch. “I think the pros,” Mrs. Charnes Martin, head of the history department said, “are that they’re cheaper, that you get extra resources, [but] I think some of the cons are going to be it’s going to take some getting used to for some kids who really still like a textbook.” “Another pro,” said Mrs. Charnes Martin, “is that a lot of colleges are using e-textbooks, so we are getting you guys ready for that collegiate experience.” However, students are having some mixed feelings about online textbooks. Junior Allie Harbert found some positives and negatives to the e-texts. “I think a pro would be it lightens your load on how much you have to take home and carry around everyday,” said Harbert, “but a con would be what if your power goes out or computer crashes, you don’t have anything else to resort too.” Bill Taylor has tried to keep minds open to the change. “What we’re trying to do is to help students out, so you’re not lugging 50/60 lbs. around in your backpack. You have resources available to you anywhere. I think that [it] is going to be an adjustment…it is just going to take a bit of time.”
Lexie Marotta
Sports Editor Taylor Owens
Courtney Harshbarger
Staff Writers Zach Obaji, Grant Webb, Katie Boyle, Miriam Brown, Emily Persons, & Kai Taylor
September
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The Student Voice of St. George’s Independent School
Camp IMPACT finishes fourth year
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News
3
TTYL: teacher-student texting banned Continued from page 1 “I understand reasons behind it but as both a teacher and parent, sometimes it is the easiest means of communication when I cannot call or email,” Mrs. Page McMullen, upper school math teacher, said in regards to the subject. “Since I was an assistant director for the middle school play, communication via texting was essential to the success of the performance,” said senior Murry Goldberg. He said how easy it was for Mr. Brown to text him saying if he was going to be late for rehearsal and then Murry could relay the information to everyone else. Mr. Bladt points out that students can be impulsive. A concern here is
that students might text teachers inappropriately without using proper judgment on how to react to certain things. Mr. Zack Adcock said that it is probably a good thing to have this new policy set in place. He said that the fact that students and teachers have such a close relationship that they are comfortable texting is admirable, but “the purpose of it is to ensure there is a level of formality between students and teachers.” All in all, the reason for the teacher-student texting prevention is to ensure the safety of both faculty members and students.
Campers express their love for IMPACT with Jenga pieces during their Annie Vento ’17 free time. Within the rotation, kids had time to play board games indoors, as well as playing intramural sports and water activities.
Annie Vento ’17
Camp
IMPACT concluded its fourth year of summer camps this summer as it introduced a new program specifically for counselors-intraining and continued to welcome campers from all schools. With so many different plans students had for the summer, St. George’s worked to create a summer camp for kids that gave older students an opportunity to gain job experience, and Camp IMPACT was born. Headed by Coach Cate Foy and Ms. Julie Loftin, Camp IMPACT is designed to keep rising 1st through 6th graders active and thinking as they are immersed in games of soccer, rehearsals for a play put on at the end of each week, or even fun in the pool. Although camp sessions are limited to five days, many children spend more than one week attending Camp IMPACT and have participated for several years. This past summer, Hayley and Thomas Lambert, who are sixth graders at St. George’s, spent the last summer they were eligible at IMPACT there, Hayley spending four weeks and Thomas spending three. “I loved trying to pull the counselors down on the waterslide,” said Hayley. Similarly, Thomas also said that his favorite memory of IMPACT was all of the games and the waterslide at the big carnival during his first year attending. “I like going knowing that my friends are going,” said Emma Riales, who spent three weeks of her summer at IMPACT. This factor made returning each year less warrisome, but
rather something to look forward to. Because IMPACT is located at St. George’s, but is not exclusively for St. George’s students, it is considered an opportunity for campers to bond with their old friends over the summer while also meeting people from different schools. Looking forward to attending Camp IMPACT again is also the case for high school students who apply to become counselors at the camp, as many of them have spent past summers training to work there as a summer job. “The most rewarding part is when the kids really start to like you,” said Megan Umansky, a St. George’s sophomore. “You feel like a great person when those kids always come to you wanting a piggy back ride or just want to talk.” St. George’s seniors and even graduates are also more than willing to return to school for the summer. “It was a good way for me to stay connected to the St. George’s community, which I wasn’t completely ready to leave after I graduated,” said Dean Brown, who graduated from St. George’s, class of 2014. He spent this past summer working at Camp IMPACT before leaving to begin his freshman year at the University of Virginia. For more information about Camp IMPACT, contact Coach Foy or Ms. Loftin. Applications for campers, counselors-in-training, and counselors become available in the spring through the summer camp brochure.
Veracross receives mixed feelings Continued from page 1 “I don’t want to bother trying to figure out how [Veracross] works” said Henry Adkins, class of 2017. Mr. Bladt addressed student complaints like this one by encouraging everyone to take the time to learn how Veracross operates. “Everyone needs to have a growth mindset and be open to a different way of doing things,” said Mr. Bladt. “There is definitely a learning curve,” said Cole McLemore, class of 2015,
about the software. He did not like a few things about the class webpages, but admitted that the program was better at providing an overview than the portal had been. Many students have complained about the new system, but software engineers are working with the school to find solutions to problems and improve the system. Any valid complaints are welcome, as they could help improve the software.
4 September
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The Gryphon Gazette
Features
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Flik Dining serves St. George’s
Lexie Marotta ’15
S
t. George’s switched their dining service from Sodexo to Flik Independent School Dining as of this school year. The first lunch that was served provided a different experience than Sodexo had provided previously. “The food is better quality than Sodexo” said senior Cole McLemore. St. George’s is the first school that Flik Dining will be serving in the Southeast region. The company hopes to spread to other independent schools in the area. Flik Dining is known for their fresh and organic ingredients that are used when preparing their meals. Their menus are designed specifically for the school that they are serving. All of their ingredients are prepared fresh daily.
Students line up to enter their pin numbers in order to purchase their meals. The new check-out system led to slow lines at the start of the school year.
This includes smoking their own meats and cutting up vegetables. Executive Chef Quan Anderson is in charge of a team of 11 chefs currently working in the St. George’s kitchens. “We are trying to bring something new and different to St. George’s… just trying to do some upgrading” said Chef Anderson, “We are making sure that we are providing quality food and quality product each and every day”. Upper School Director Tom Morris said the switch from Sodexo to Flik was decided by School President Bill Taylor, who is very pleased with the change. “The move to Flik afforded the school an opportunity to partner with a company with long experi-
ence in independent schools,” said Mr. Morris. The change in dining services has been the subject of a lot of conversation among students and teachers. “It’s something different. I’ve been teaching here for nine years, and it was always the same thing,” said art teacher Danny Broadway. “I really like that there are lots of options and that a lot of it is healthy,” said Sophomore Cecilia Cordera who is also pleased with the new food services. Several students have expressed their disappointment at the lack of certain packaged foods, like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Senior Curt Bennett said that he does miss Sodexo’s chocolate chip cookies.
Zach Obaji ’15
Flik offers several benefits for parents as well. Parents can see what their children are buying and are able to load money onto their accounts online without having to make sure the check they sent in made it to the front desk. “This new service is definitely an improvement,” said Laura Cordera, a St. George’s parent. The switch in dining services also meant a switch from the lunch card to the PIN number. Some students were unsure about whether they could remember their number every day. “The pin is easy to memorize and easier than remembering my lunch card every day,” said Jacob Gettig ’20, “it will be a good and accepted change.”
September
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The Student Voice of St. George’s Independent School
New carpet, new you:
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Features 5
adoption of Flik results in redesigned lunchroom
Anna Marie Beard ’15
Students use the new Flik setup. This corner, formerly dedicated to microwaves, now houses panini presses.
Anna Marie Beard ’15
O
ne of the many changes resulting from the switch to Flik Independent School Dining Services is the adoption of a new lunchroom design. Several of these changes are very visible, such as the addition of panini presses where the microwaves were previously, or the movement of the silverware dispensary. Others have been more subtle, such as relocation of the soup line, or the new
carpet. Many students have been in favor of these changes. “It looks fresh and clean,” said senior Murry Goldberg. “It looks really nice,” said Kate Stoddard, another senior. “I like Flik a lot better than Sodexo.” Other students echoed their opinions, adding that they especially enjoyed having a cleaner carpet. Goldberg said that the previous carpet
was so dirty that it “made your socks as black as the night sky.” Stoddard said that the previous carpet was “really gross… with food and dirt mashed into it.” Ms. Hillery Efkeman, a librarian, said, “I really like where they have the silverware in the dining room now because it improves the flow [of traffic] and you only get what [silverware] you need.”
The silverware had previously been inside the food dispensary, at the beginning of the “hot lunch” line. It is now located roughly in the center of the dining room. Some students were not entirely satisfied with the changes. “I don’t like the fact that they don’t have a chocolate milk fountain,” said senior Chris Dinicolantionio.
Vegetarians go vocal about Flik
Zach Obaji ’15
“It tasted like cafeteria food. The soup was good, it was close to home, but it tasted like cafeteria food.” -Mr. Luther Mercer
Zach Obaji ’15
“I appreciate the options that Flik has given me, and it is a lot easier than making my own lunch. I am a happy vegetarian.” -Kathryn Smith
Zach Obaji ’15
“[With Sodexo] I mostly just ate sandwiches and the same thing everyday, which was very boring. I like that they have vegetarian options and that the food is a lot healthier.” -Francesca Healy
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September
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Sports
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The Gryphon Gazette
STATS A LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE
Last year,
295 387 of
students were on one varsity team.
Miriam Brown ’17
Open the 2004 St. George’s year-
book to the athletic section. Flip past the fall sports and winter sports. When you reach the second page of spring sports, examine the small, black-andwhite varsity boys’ tennis picture closely. You will see three boys included in the varsity tennis picture - two awkwardly sitting in front of the net and one standing behind it. All three boys are in their school clothes and squinting into the sun. They are joined by their coach, Mr. Bill Taylor. Compare this picture with the most recent boys’ tennis picture. You will notice that the tennis team now consists of fourteen boys and Coaches Mark and Ronny Bran. These two pictures indicate that St. George’s athletics have come a long way in a short amount of time. According to Coach Cole Hoppe, 295 of 387 St. George’s high school students, or 76.22 percent, participated in at least one varsity sport last year. In only twelve years, the athletic program has won seventeen team state championships and eleven individual championships. When the St. George’s Collierville Campus first opened in 2002, the school did not have a single varsity athletic team, just junior varsity teams. School president Bill Taylor, said that even then, families came out to watch and support the small, junior varsity teams. “I remember a football game when we had to line cars up because it was
Miriam Brown
getting too dark. There were no lights of course, so that’s how we finished the game- with car lights,” said Mr. Taylor. After two years, varsity tennis teams were formed. These teams were shortly followed by varsity cheer, football, cross-country, golf, soccer, wrestling, and basketball teams. Sophomore Sydney Brown said that this switch from junior varsity to varsity was essential to the school’s athletic progress. “Playing on JV means you get to develop more as a player, but playing on varsity means that you get to excel at the highest level of play,” said Brown. The St. George’s athletic record suggests that the program did indeed excel. At the beginning, independent sports such as golf thrived because they relied on individual competitors instead of large teams. “We’ve had two golfers, [alumni Hunter Kraus and Grant Hirschman], who have won three individual medalist awards,” Ms. Sharon Lathum, the executive athletic assistant, said. “There’s only three boys in the whole state of Tennessee to ever have done that.” Despite having teams that were new to varsity sports, after two years, St. George’s won four state championships: football, boys’ golf, girls’ soccer, and boys’ soccer. Freshman Kate Seabrook attributes this early accomplishment to St. George’s athletics being underestimated by other schools. “You have more fire in you when you’re an underdog,” said Seabrook. Within the next six years, the success
dramatically increased as twelve more team state championships and seven individual championships were won. Recently, the St. George’s legacy has started to include more unconventional sports, such as water polo, whose first team won a state championship this past year. Despite these victories, Coach Cole Hoppe denies that these accomplishments make it harder to be successful. “Our student-athletes know that success is not defined by championships,” Coach Hoppe said. “Our athletes work hard every year to create their own legacy.” However, the school’s legacy of excellence has not just been about state titles. fifty St. George’s student-athletes have gone on to play a sport in college; one alum, Elliot Williams, currently plays in the NBA. The late Coach Ken Netherland became the winningest high school football coach in Tennessee history while he was at St. George’s. St. George’s has also had numerous athletes named to all-district and all-state teams. Nine individual athletes, eleven coaches, and four scholar-athletes have won awards at Best of the Preps. As a school, St. George’s has won four times in the Best of the Preps team champions’ category. According to new athletic director Tom Densford, the school is looking to continue upholding this legacy for decades to come. “It’s amazing that we are where we are in twelve years. I don’t know where it’s going, but it’s going to be a fun ride,” said Mr. Densford .
(Left photo) Coach Bill Taylor and first varsity tennis team pose for a yearbook picture. There was one ninth grader on the team who graduated in 2006 and two eighth graders who graduated the following year. Source: Sarah Cowan
(Right photo) Coach Whicker flaunts his five state championship rings. Girls’ soccer won three of his five state championships, and the boys’ team won two.
Miriam Brown
12 17 In
years we’ve had:
state championships,
11 50 individual championships,
student athletes went on to play a college sport.
September
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The Student Voice of St. George’s Independent School
Opinion
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The opinions expressed in this section reflect the views of individual writers and are not necessarily those of the Gryphon Gazette or its staff.
7
Caroline’s Column:
Change is afoot the summer experience
Lexie Marotta ’15 and Taylor Owens ’15
G
oing from humble contributors on our school newspaper to the Editors-in-Chief has been quite a change for us. Filling the void that last year’s fearless leader Regan left has definitely been a tough job with big shoes to fill. This transition to being the leaders of not only the paper, but also leaders of the school as seniors has led us to the rather abrupt realization that change is indeed a part of life. It will happen whether we want it to or not, and so, sometimes we have to accept it and move forward. Not only is change a part of every day that we live, it is also part of our school. St. George’s has undergone a lot of changes as the school year has begun and we have all our strong opinions on what has been altered this year. The school is changing. From new dining, to new faculty members, to new policies, and to new online systems, some have said that they find St. George’s to be rendered almost unrecognizable. For those of us who have been here for years, we are used to the occasional change, but this year seems to require more adapting. All of these new adjustments have become very apparent to us ever since the school year began; however, after reflecting on our time here at St. George’s we realized each year comes with its share of big changes. There are little ones beginning their first year of kindergarten. This is a big deal! Not only are we all undergoing
these small changes in the school system but there are some of us who are just starting school for the first time. 6th graders are starting their first year of middle school. Personally, we would consider middle school to be the biggest challenge in our school careers. These were the years you figured out what your identity as an adult may look like. I think those of us who have made it out of middle school will acknowledge it was a tough time, full of change. Freshmen are starting their first year of high school. With the move to the upper school comes a lot more independence and the transition comes with the realization that college is not that far off, and that now, their grades do matter. And finally the seniors. The biggest change in our lives so far is just around the corner. We are all facing our college decision. In a year, we will no longer live with our families, we will be with new groups of people. However, St. George’s is a place that embraces and encourages change for the better. St. George’s connects change with personal growth. Some people love change and thrive in new situations. We will readily admit that we are not always so confident in the outcome when it comes to changes that heavily affect our lives. However, it is true that acclimating to change is a difficult necessity. Our St. George’s family has risen to the challenge and pressed on in the implementation of these changes, and we will continue to do so this school year.
iPads at the front desk photograph guests and students. Changes at St. George’s include a new system for checking in visitors.
Zach Obaji ’15
Caroline Cannon ’15
Sometimes summer is not as
relaxing as one hopes and dreams. An example of this was my most recent summer, the summer of lost aspirations. Though trips to Greece and the Naval Academy may seem to be filled with fond memories, this was not the case for Caroline’s 2014 summer. To start off the trip to Greece, my feeble body was stricken with airsickness. It took three trips to the back lavatory to be able to finish out the flight comfortably in my 47A seat. Relieved when the flight landed, I scurried off the plane to go get my bag from luggage claim. The carousel went round and around but to no avail did my four wheeled, blue bag appear. I quickly came to the conclusion that it was dropped into the Atlantic Ocean or during our connecting flight in Rome, the Italian Mafia really wanted my size nine and a half Asics running shoes. At last! The bag arrived our last night in Athens just before we moved to Crete. When the next morning came, I soon realized that my bag was being checked to the same airline that lost it in the first place. Thankfully it was a direct flight and my luggage came through safe and sound. I immediately put on my running shoes and went for what I thought would be a nice, easy run. After being honked at twice by
Courtney Harshbarger ’15
the same man, I then started on my trek up the 98-degree angle hill that continued for five miles. Extremely dehydrated with my blood boiling hot enough to make macaroni and cheese, I concluded it was time for me to turn back. I soon discovered that I did not have a room key and was locked out of every building. I befriended the maintenance woman, and she let me into my room where I collapsed onto the floor. Fast forward a week, and it is off to the United States Naval Academy. I thought I was going to improve immensely but my endeavors came to an abrupt stop with a pole. This then led to a concussion. This incident put a damper on my running abilities for the next two weeks. Right when I thought I could run again, a surprise visit to the wisdom teeth stealers was in order. Another two weeks passed and cross-country started. To myself, I stated, “Nothing more will happen to me this summer!” The statement was true but on the fateful morning of Friday August fifteenth, a car grazed my leg while enjoying my daily run. The moral of this story is never let your guard down, especially when you think it is no longer your season of demise.
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September
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The Gryphon Gazette
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Entertainment
Otherlands serves fantastic food sandwich. The cappuccino was very well made: the espresso had a nice strong flavor and a texture that was extremely silky. The foam that topped the cappuccino was my favorite part. It was incredibly fluffy and added a touch of sweetness to my day. The bagel sandwich was surprisingly good. I do not usually enjoy bagel sandwiches because of the messiness and the usual lack of effort put into them, but this particular one was fantastic. The sandwich came with a choice of bagel (I chose plain), cheddar, tomato slices, and a secret Otherlands sits in the heart of midtown. Coffee drinkers enjoyed delicious food Courtney Harshbarger ’15 sauce. I also paid an extra fifand drinks during their visit. teen cents for cream cheese. While the individual inCourtney Harshbarger ’15 gredients do not sound all that amazing, the sandwich therlands Coffee Bar local artists’ work on the out on the weekend. There was delectable. The bagel in midtown is definitely walls. Live music plays ev- is coffee, food, cool and was toasted perfectly so that worth the drive. The restau- ery Friday and Saturday weird gifts, and live music. there were no hard crunchy rant has a nice atmosphere from 8pm to midnight and During my visit, I ordered parts but it was completely with cute little tables and it is a great place to hang a cappuccino and a bagel warm and soft. There was
O
also a nice toasty aftertaste that left me wanting more. The tomato slices and the cheddar cheese tasted delicious together. Whatever the secret sauce is made of, it definitely works! There was a tangy flavor in the sauce that really made me fall in love with the sandwich. I was very tempted to order another sandwich because I ate mine much too quickly. The sauce had some kind of spice in it that gave the sandwich a very unique taste that I cannot relate to anything I have eaten before. Although I can usually recreate recipes at home, I was pleasantly surprised at my inability to identify the secret ingredient in the sauce. This cute little coffee bar in the heart of midtown is a fantastic place to go do homework or just hang out and have some coffee and a perfect bagel sandwich.
A stylized love story lacking naval ships Submarine (2010)
Nathan Weinreich ’15
D
espite its title, the 2010 directorial debut by British actor Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, The Boxtrolls) has little to do with naval crafts. Submarine tells the story of 15-year-old loner Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) as he navigates the twisted world of relationships. His odd and sudden romance with the enigmatic Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Page), whose “only real faults are her sporadic bouts of eczema” according to Oliver, puts forth a series of challenges that he clumsily conquers. Oliver and Jordana don their own unique colors (Oliver’s being blue, Jordana’s being Red) and their own unique styles, but as the two fall deeper in love, they begin to show hints of the other’s color in their dress. They do not merge colors to make purple however, for the two are still very much separate entities; instead they begin to show both emotionally and sartorially
The image is courtesy of Warp Film Productions.
the pieces that they have taken from each other’s personality and added to their own. While Oliver struggles to stay afloat in his relationship with Jordana, he also faces the loss of passion in his parent’s relationship. He fears that his mother has rekindled an old flame, and that his father is not brave
enough to face her about it. What follows is a neurotic and manipulative plight to save his parent’s marriage that leads to a lack of regard for his own romantic problems. Submarine is a dramatic masterpiece of a directorial debut. The symmetrical framing is reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s cinematog-
raphy, yet Ayoade retains an element of British flair that makes it all his own. The dichotomy between the orchestral music playing within Oliver’s own head as the sort of soundtrack to the biopic that is his life and the music written by Arctic Monkeys front man Alex Turner that exists physically on his mix tape
displays the two sides of the protagonist: the obsessivecompulsive man who wants to control everything and the lonely boy who wants to be loved. With beautiful performances, brilliant writing, and a unique aesthetic to it, Submarine truly is, as Oliver Tate puts it, “An important film. Watch it with respect.”