leaf
the
FRIDAY November 16, 2007 Volume LVIII Issue IV 7400 Cornell Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 513 686. 1770 ext. 3089
newsbytes Romeo and Juliet
Aves Theatre is putting on three performances of Romeo and Juliet. If you missed the opening performance last night, you can still catch a performance tonight or tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the main auditorium. Check out page 22 for more details.
Overture Awards: Students continue legacy
Musicians, singers, actors, writers advance to next level of competition JENNIFER LEE
N
editor-in-chief
Operation Smile drive This week, Operation Smile held a toiletry drive for soldiers in Iraq. They will be sorting and bundling items to send to Iraq next week. The class with the most donations will win pizza before Thanksgiving break.
Variety Show
If you have any hidden talents, it’s your time to shine. Auditions for the variety show will be held on Monday, November 26 in the main stage auditorium beginning at 4 p.m. The sign-up sheet and requirements for auditions are located in the choir room. The variety show will be held on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the main auditorium; tickets will be on pre-sale at lunch on December 5, 6, and 7.
Feast of Carols
The Chamber Choir, directed by Ms. Dawn Stone-Voss and Mr. Kenneth Holdt, will be featured at the Feast of Carols at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music. Tickets are anticipated to sell out, so be sure to order them early by calling the CCM Box Office at (513) 556-4183 or visiting the website.
Green Space
A group of Environmental Club students advocated for Green Space, an issue on the ballot, on Tuesday, November 6. However, Green Space did not pass, despite the students’ efforts. The last bit of undeveloped land in Montgomery will now be developed for an extension of Twin Lakes Retirement Center.
2-3 4-8 diversity 9 fun&games 10 feature 11-20 21-24 a&e sports 25-30 calendar 31 32 spotlight
inside
news opinion
SYCAMORE HAS FINALLY gained representation in the NFL. ‘02 GRAD Mike Matthews has recently landed in the NFL, signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent. Learn more about Matthews, and read some of his former teachers and coaches’ perspectives on page 30.
ON SENIOR HALLOWEEN, many students wowed, impressed, entertained, or even created controversy with their costumes. While some received awards from the administration, we thought that there were still a few awards to give out . Check out the photo essay on page 11 to see the results.
ANNA STONE, 12, performs a turn sequence on stage. She was recently chosen to represent the school in the dance category at the regional level of the Overture Awards competition, joining several other student artists who were chosen to compete in other categories.
image by jennifer lee
ot everyone has the talent, motivation, or energy to be an artist. Many students at our high school, however, do have special artistic abilities—and for these individuals, the Overture Awards hold special meaning. The Overture Awards Scholarship Competition is the region’s largest solo arts competition for high school students. The annual contest rewards excellence in six artistic categories: Dance, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Theatre, Creative Writing, and Visual Art. Every year, students compete for a $2500 scholarship awarded to one finalist in each category. 18 finalists are also awarded scholarships worth $500. “It is extremely prestigious and highly competitive,” said Mrs. Stone-Voss, choral director. The Overture season began this month with the preliminary school round, in which a few individuals were selected to represent the high school in each
category of competition. Auditions and selections were recently held to designate the school’s representatives for this year, who are as follows: Laura Wacksman, 12, and Lindsay Hill, 12, for theatre; Anna Stone, 12, for dance; Aimee Morton, 12, and Michaela Mondro, 12, for vocal music; Wenjun Zhang, 12, for instrumental music; and Anjali Alm-Basu, 12, and Meena Thatakunta, 11, for creative writing. The visual arts category has not yet been determined. “We hope to continue our fiveyear streak of [creative writing] contestants making it at least to the semi-finals,” said Mrs. Melissa Wolfe, English teacher. “The judges for the vocal auditions were impressed with the quality of the singers here,” said Voss. School representatives will compete at the regional level in January, and will then have the opportunity to advance to semifinals and the finals. “It is a huge honor to be chosen,” said Voss.
Staph infection rumors raise questions, concerns MICHELA TINDERA staff writer
“
Since the death of a 17-year-old boy in three times the previous estimates, and came Virginia, a 12-year-old boy in New York, and as a surprise to many people. local reports of infections at Mason, Cincinnati But the fact is, “No one at our school has Public, and other surrounding schools, rumors MRSA,” said Mrs. Susan Murphy, school of MRSA, an antibiotic resistant strain of the nurse. common staph infection, Of course, in order to have bombarded the make sure that this school students and faculty of is completely sanitary, this school. Mr. Brad Walker, head of But is it really - Mrs. Susan Murphy, school nurse custodial department, has threatening the school? gone to great lengths to Actually, MRSA is protect students from this an infection that has been around for several rare but deadly “superbug.” years now. The only difference is that the “We have been taking extra precautions,” CDC recently released a report estimating said Mrs. Jennifer Ulland, Dean of Student that 94,000 Americans get the potentially lifeLife. In order to prevent the spread of the threatening MRSA infection every year. This is infection, the district has hired several new
No one at our school has MRSA.
custodial employees to fill up first, second, and third shifts, so people are working around the clock to sanitize the school, a luxury many schools do not have. The cleaning products that our school uses are also superior compared to surrounding districts, as they contain a chemical that kills MRSA, other staph infections, ringworm and other diseases on contact. “Overall the high school is doing really well in preventing a MRSA outbreak,” said Walker. Other procedures include cleaning the places in our school dubbed by Walker as “high risk” areas, such as the main computer
>> STAPH INFECTION: PAGE 2
Senior out-to-lunch passes voided:
Low rates of senior attendance result in revoked privilege ALEXA FOGLER
associate editor
After a high absentee rate during the state attendance count week, out-to-lunch passes have been voided for seniors until a “difference in attitude and attendance” is seen by the class, said Mr. Antonio Shelton, assistant principal, on November 6. Each class was supposed to reach a 95 percent attendance rate during the first week in October to ensure that school funding remain at its highest. Every class met the goal and received a reward except the senior class, who missed the mark and has to pay the penalty. “The constant tardies and absences need consequences,” said Shelton. “Seniors are playing a game; they’ve been here four years and they know the rules.” Though it is true that attendance can be a problem, some seniors thought the class-wide ban of lunch passes is unjust. “I’ve been here every single day and I think it’s unfair that we are all being punished,” said Allison Pyles, 12. Others had a different take. “It’s stupid they’re taking the passes away
because a lot of people who skip school also go out to lunch without passes.” said Rima Takkiedine, 12. “This ban only restricts those who do follow the rules.” Taking away out-to-lunch passes was the result of many attendance problems: the missed percentage, seniors going out to lunch without passes, and the two organized senior skip days that occurred after homecoming and Senior Halloween. The administration saw the skip day after Senior Halloween as “inappropriate,” said Shelton, but students see it differently. “Tradition is tradition when it comes to senior skip day,” said Takieddine. “Sure teachers don’t like skip days, but if we don’t have them we’ll all skip on different days.” Though some seniors skip for the sake of skipping, others have more legitimate reasons for missing class, such as college applications. “If you’re applying early, there are deadlines to meet,” said Jessa Ramsey, 12. “How else can you balance five or six AP classes, applications, and everything else?”
>> STAFF EDITORIAL: PAGE 4
photo by jeremy mcdaniel
KYLE GOLDHOFF, 11, hugs her sponsor at the National Honor Society Induction held on Thursday, November 8. This year’s group of 142 inductees made school history as the largest group to ever be inducted into NHS. “There were so many new members that we didn’t have room for current members to be on the stage,” said Mrs. Janene Chavis, NHS advisor. “This was really huge.” Students inducted into NHS were juniors and seniors with a 3.6 GPA or higher and at least 30 hours of community service.