Volume 28, Issue 4

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Vol. XXVIII · Issue IV

november 10, 2011

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper · Newton, MA · Established 1984 · www.thelionsroar.com

Unaffiliated clubs thrive independently Danny Gifford

W

Editor-in-Chief

hen the doors opened to South’s firstever homecoming dance at 7 p.m. last Saturday night, senior Gil Avramovich was at home playing videogames. Avramovich, along with the vast majority of the senior class, decided not to attend last weekend’s football game and dance, a national standard brought to South for the first time this year by the junior and senior class officers.

Avramovich said that he opted out of the activities because of a lack of school spirit. “I never really felt like it was a big part of whatever you could call ‘South culture,’” he said. “School spirit was never really shoved in my face or deemed necessary.”

According to senior Emma Friedman, the lack of attendance was caused by a chain reaction of indifference among the senior class. “I heard that a lot of people weren’t going, and me and my friends decided we didn’t want to go because we thought it

was going to be lame,” she said. “We didn’t want to spend $10 to dance by ourselves.”

Though many seniors were in solidarity with Friedman, a much larger contingent of underclassmen chose to attend homecoming, a fact which the dance’s organizers said they saw as an indicator of progress toward a more spirited student body.

While Avramovich was preoccupied by “League of Legends,” sophomore Emma Sander and her friends were enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Ironically, Sander said she went to the dance because of the same domino effect that kept Friedman and her friends from attending. “I went because everyone else was going,” she said. “It’s a school dance, so that’s fun.”

Freshman Zachary Pittel agreed. “[I had] never been to an event with the entire school before,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Senior class president Greg Ly said Sander and HOMECOMING, LANGUAGES, 10 6

Carly Meisel & Julia Smith Features Reporters

Lacking a faculty adviser, the a capella group Newtones has had to develop its own forms of leadership. “I think one of the defining traits of the group is that we’re student run,” junior and Newtones member Kitty Crowley said.

“There isn’t any adult who is organizing everything; we do it all ourselves. There’s a very important freedom and responsibility that comes without having a faculty adviser. “ Those involved in clubs that are unaffiliated with South said that their independence allows them greater control over club activities — though it is not without some drawbacks.

Because separation from South lessened Newtones’ restrictions as a school club, the club proposed becoming unaffiliated with South to Principal Joel Stembridge last year. Now, the club is no longer directly connected to South. Senior and Newtones music director Aaron Wolff said that the group’s new status as an independent club comes with mainly positive effects.

“We have a lot of independence,” Wolff said. “It’s really empowering for kids to know that they can do what they want.”

Crowley said that this is an important aspect of being a club without an adviser. “Nobody’s constantly guiding us throughout the process,” she said.

Newtones faces fewer obstacles in planning events, Crowley said, now that it is unaffiliated with South.

LANGUAGES, CLUBS, 10 11

Rachel’s Challenge South speaks up

photo by Lindsey Walters

pg. 7

photo by Lindsey Walters

You have to change the heart before you change the mind. That was the intention of the presentation.

The emotions will fade, and we are left with no memory because there was no substance.

- Henry Turner, Goldrick Housemaster - Dylan Royce, Class of 2012

To read The Roar’s editorial on our Rachel’s Challenge discussion, see pg.

Occupy Boston Students join protests and get involved in the worldwide movement.

page

5

14

photo by Irene Clifford

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Caffeine

The social aspects of consuming caffeine dominate among students.

page

8

Badminton

Sophomore Alan Shektman wins the national championship.

page

28

NEWS 3 FEATURES 8 EDITORIALS 14 CENTERFOLD 16 OPINIONS 21 COMMUNITY 25 SPORTS 28

2

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news volume 28

issue 4

november 10, 2011 • thelionsroar.com/news

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3

Contemplating Controversy South Spots compiled by Roar editors

Luminary Night The organization Birthday Wishes held its second annual “Luminary Night” in Newton on Nov. 6. Families across the city lit luminaries, which could be purchased for $15 from Birthday Wishes, in their front yards. The event raised funds for the foundation, which helps bring birthday parties to homeless children.

Freshman Play The annual freshman play, “It’s Complicated,” will be held in the Lab Theatre on Nov. 17, 18 and 19. The play will feature a night of many separate 10-minute acts.

Tickets cost $8 and can be purchased on the South Stage website.

Russian exchange students Students from the Russian exchange program arrived at South from School 238 on Nov. 4 and will stay in Newton until Nov. 18. South students will visit School 238 in Moscow in spring 2013.

Thanksgiving pie fundraiser The PTSO is holding a Thanksgiving pie fundraiser.

Those who wish to purchase a pie can order them for $15 each on the PTSO website.

The pies, from Russo’s Market, come in four flavors: pecan, pumpkin, apple and blueberry. Pies will be distributed on Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving break.

Concerns regarding the teaching of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict lead to debate over how educators should approach controversial topics.

James Wu

points of view other than those of their parents. The only true defense is to learn to parse words, analyze meaning, and deconstruct ebate stirred about the teaching of what a particular source is saying,” he said.

“Any attempt to avoid controversial controversial issues in the classroom when a parent raised concerns to the topics or to use neutral language will only history department over a reading from its relegate to classroom use bland, uninteresting and probably incomprehensible material.” ninth grade Islam curriculum.

“It’s important to hear [the author’s] Freshman Shiri Pagliuso said she was surprised to find out in a packet given voice and then evaluate it. Not just to hear it to her by her history teacher that, “Israeli and agree with it, or memorize it, but hear armed forces tortured and murdered Muslim it and say, what are these people saying? Are women.” When she asked her father about it, there some parts that are valid? Are there he brought the issue to the school, sparking some parts that I disagree with? And come debate about how such subjects should be to a determination, “ Rinaldi said.

Pagliuso’s case was not one of a taught in school in general.

“I think that there should be two sides kind. According to Rinaldi, five years to the story,” Pagliuso said. “It isn’t true what ago many members of the Newton they said, but I think that if they are to do community raised concerns what they did … they shouldn’t present it as when MIT professor Noam a fact, they should present it as an opinion.” Chomsky was asked to According to Pagliuso, her parents, speak about the war in Superintendent David Fleishman, Principal Iraq.

“There was Joel Stembridge and Mayor Setti Warren met a loud protest to discuss the issue.

The history department is in the process that came from of selecting additional resources to add to its members of the comunit on Islam.

Currently, students in many classes are munity who expected to read opinionated articles in order said that as a figure to enrich classroom discussions.

History teacher Jamie Rinaldi said who is that allowing students to learn about such critical of Israel, we disagree controversy is beneficial.

“We have [the right] to have students with him speaking hear multiple viewpoints, including view- in the school,” Rinpoints that they disagree with, and even aldi said. “The School viewpoints that large sectors of the commu- Committee and the teachers of the school nity disagree with,” he said.

“As history teachers, we are going to and the principal deassign a lot of perspectives that we as teachers fended his right to speak because … Noam and as a community disagree with; we talk Chomsky is an academic [and] the mainabout Nazis, we talk about terrorism, we talk stream press recognizes him as a legitimate about warfare, we talk about genocide. And academic figure, just as the texts that we assign in our classes are from vetted academic we have to confront those issues head on.”

Former history department head sources.”

Two years ago, the English department Marshall Cohen agreed that controversy is faced a similar issue when a student refused necessary in the classroom. to read the Bible “History … is because of personal necessarily filled with beliefs, according to controversy,” he said.

It’s important that parEnglish department “If a teacher is “avoidhead Brian Baron. ents are able to have a ing controversy” then “[The bible] students are not getdialogue with teachers is a difficult topic to ting a proper educateach about, because tion.” about readings. it has so many difJunior Dorie - Jamie Rinaldi, history teacher ferent fundamental Klein said that knowmeanings for differing all the facts is ent people,” Baron important when discussing a controversial issue. “I believe in said. “What we try to stress is that we’re an full disclosure. If there’s something going on, English department that is focused on teachkids should be able to learn about it,” she said. ing important pieces of literature, and there Cohen said that while such readings really is no piece that is more influential than may cause unexpected reactions in some the Bible.”

The student spoke with Baron and students, it is important that each student Stembridge, and reached a compromise with learn to analyze and form opinions.

“Students can’t be protected from Baron for an alternative assignment, and the

D

Sr. News Editor

issue was resolved.

Cohen said he had similar issues arise frequently when he was the history department head.

“Every year I was department head I received complaints about the teaching of controversial issues. Much of that had to do with trying to get rid of a source that some particular group of parents disagreed with,” Cohen said.

Ultimately, teachers such as Rinaldi and Baron agree that such issues can be avoided and proactively resolved with better communication between parents, teachers and students.

“By no means do I want to say that there should be a wall between the classroom and the outside world. I think parents should be able to talk to teachers about what’s going on in the classroom,” Rinaldi said. “It’s important that parents are able to have a dialogue with teachers about readings.”

“You have to listen to whoever has an objection,” Baron said. “Even if we disagree with a person who is voicing an opinion, we owe it to people to be able to continually look at our own practice just as we teach kids to do that.”

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thelionsroar.com/news

news

An Empty Threat photo by Yu-Ching Chang and Ben Gordon

The majority of students have not paid the activity fee, a $125 fee for club participation.

Tricia Ho & Julia Lee

News Reporter, News Contributor The activity fee for participation in extracurricular activities implemented at the beginning of this school year has been largely uncollected. School officials attribute this lack of payment to the fact that many students and club advisors have overlooked the fee up to this point in the year.

The $125 fee allows students to participate in an unlimited number of extracurricular activities each year, with the exceptions of drama and athletics, which have separate fees. The extracurricular activity fee is just one of a number of new or increased student activity costs this year, such as the drama fee and All-City performance ensemble fees. The School Committee approved these new fees in an attempt to close the Newton Public Schools’ $4 million budget gap for the 20112012 fiscal year.

“The fees are in place to help offset the cost associated with [any] particular activity,” School Committee Chair Claire Sokoloff said.

“There are subsidies for most of these activities. The activity fee is designed to offset the total cost associated with the faculty stipends for running those activities, but it doesn’t fully cover the cost of all of the activities. It just covers a portion of the cost.”

According to Principal Joel Stembridge, the district does not want to discourage students from participating in extracurricular activities. “The concern was that if the district was too firm about [students] paying for clubs before starting to even participate in the clubs, that students wouldn’t even try to get involved,” he said.

Stembridge said that students have been able to participate in clubs without paying the activity fee because clubs have not been keeping track of the club members that have paid.

“Since the clubs are underway and

students are finding their places, at this point I think the district is going to start to say, ‘OK, now we need those club fees in,’” he said. “The students for whom that is a financial difficulty will be able to talk with adults, and we can make sure those students are not denied an opportunity to participate due to financial reasons.”

Though the fee was introduced at the beginning of the year, All You Can Eat Cooking Club adviser and cooking teacher Jon Orren said that he was unaware of the fee’s existence.

“I have heard rumors about the fee. I also heard that there were some problems with the enforcement,” he said. “Even I, a club advisor, didn’t know about this fee until now, and I don’t think many of the students know about it either.”

According to Deputy Superintendent and Chief Administrative Officer Sandra Guryan, who is in charge of the collection of fees, the district is currently still in the process of collecting fees and will have a

No 80%

better sense of the number of students who have paid the activity fee by late October.

Stembridge added that the method for collection of the fees is still being discussed.

“We haven’t figured who it’s actually going to be [that will ask students to pay the fee],” he said.

“Whether it’s going to be advisors or me, eventually students who have not paid will be asked to do so, or to have a conversation with adults.”

Orren said he believes that in order to avoid miscommunication, the school should be clearer with its enforcement of new policies. “There seems to be confusion as to who is paying it and when they’re paying it,” he said. “If this is a policy, then it should be clearly enforced or not enforced.”

Junior Drew Paul said he is not happy with the increased and new fees this year.

“I think [the activity fee] is a bit too much money, because last year we didn’t have to pay anything, so it [is] a huge jump from $0 to $125,” he said.

On Oct. 25, Yes The Roar 20% asked 220 students who participate in clubs whether they have paid the activity fee.

Sophomore Hannah Nahar disagreed.

She said she realized the need for the activity fee, despite the burden that the extra cost can have on some families. “I understand that it might be necessary for this town because we are in a crisis,” she said. “For the people who can’t afford it, the town will help … I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, although it’s a little irritating.”

Orren said he is concerned that the eventual enforcement of the activity fee might discourage students from joining clubs.

“I think [$125] sounds pretty steep,” he said. “At this time, I think both students and parents are already burdened to pay for other things and I think that this will be one more burden for them.”

Stembridge said that though the district does not want students to feel restricted by the activity fee, all students participating in extracurricular activities will eventually need to pay the fee or ask for waivers in order to alleviate financial issues.

“If we don’t end up collecting the number of fees that the district anticipated, we’re going to have a shortfall,” he said. “If we don’t have the money at some point, [the district] will have to make some sort of reduction that we haven’t planned for.”

Sokoloff said she realized that the activity fee is not something “that we are excited about or see as our first choice in terms of how we would provide limitless access to activities for all students.”

For that reason, the district will monitor the situation to make sure the fee is not discouraging students from participating in extracurricular activities, according to Sokoloff.

“If it’s having any negative impact on student participation in activities,” Sokoloff said, “then we need to take another look at this fee and see whether there are ways that we can make sure that it’s not going to have an adverse impact on student participation.”

november 10, 2011

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Students express their opinions through the “Occupy” movement, a series of protests ocurring across the world.

Emily Ho

O

News Editor

n Sept. 17, close to 1000 protesters began a movement called Occupy Wall Street. The protesters, who refer to themselves as “the 99 percent,” have called for action against what they term the economic monopoly among America’s wealthy. Occupy Wall Street has sparked the creation of many other “Occupy” movements throughout the world, such as Occupy Boston, centered in Dewey Square. Several students and teachers have participated in the protests.

Although minors are not allowed to partake directly, senior Max Simon said he was able to take part in different parts of the movement, such as marching with protesters and helping to create an organic food banner. He said he was also able to see the Occupy Boston campground.

“I was amazed at how established it was,” Simon said. “I was half expecting a bunch of people hanging out, but instead it was a real campground with a medical tent, free food and lots of interesting people. [The protesters] also gave off the vibe that they were truly devoted to the cause.”

Junior Madeline Emmett said that although she has not visited the Occupy Boston campground, she went to the Occupy Wall Street site. She said that the movement offers a productive mode of protesting. “[The movement] is effective [in] raising the voice of the people, and I think it has been successful in getting the attention of the media and the government,” Emmett said.

“I also think it’s not really harmful to anyone, and it’s a good and peaceful way of protesting.”

History teacher Jamie Rinaldi has already visited three movements: Occupy Boston, Occupy Philadelphia and Occupy Wall Street. He agreed with Emmett that the cause is significant.

“This movement represents a pretty broad-based movement that really wants to find some sort of solutions to the problems of inequality, economic injustice and political gridlock,” Rinaldi said. “I felt like things that I’ve both hoped for and felt frustrated by motivated me to be there.”

Emmett said that students should take advantage of their proximity to the event. “It’s a really unique opportunity to live so close to one of these movements,” Emmett said. “It’s definitely worth it to go see.”

Junior Jenny Olins, however, said that after attending an Occupy protest she believes that the move-

ments have strayed too far from the original protests in New York.

“It started with a focus, but I think at this point there are too many people who come and just complain.” Olins said. “I saw a picture of a woman holding a sign just complaining about the time her children eat lunch at school — that just seems so out of place.”

Sophomore Emily Goldstein agreed with Olins that there is a danger in protesters losing the original focus of the movement.

“It’s important that Occupy

Boston doesn’t become a place where homeless people go and sleep and get free food,” Goldstein said. “[I hope Occupy Boston] stays a place where people are protesting and fighting for ‘the 99 percent’ of the population.”

Rinaldi said he believes the ambiguity of the arguments may be necessary in this particular moment of the movement. “We need some sort of change … but I think that the movement has been wise to hold off on specific demands so far,” Rinaldi said. “Before you make

demands, you have to be very aware of the political arena that you’re about to enter into.”

Emmett agreed that the diversity of the movement’s argument is positive.

“I really liked that even though it could be hard to articulate what their focus is, [the protesters] are all okay with that and are just focusing on asserting the right of speech and raising their voice to make a point about the current system,” she said.

Rinaldi said he believes that

photos courtesy of Allie Haber

Students protested in Dewey Square in Boston’s Financial District as part of the “Occupy” movement.

the issues the movement brings up should be discussed in classrooms at South.

“This is historically unprecedented in the last few decades,” he said. “I think it’s important that students either see it on a newspaper, on TV [or] on the Internet.

If students are interested enough about it they should go see it with their own eyes.”

Despite personal interest and participation in the movement, Rinaldi said he still feels both sides of the argument are important to discuss. “In my classes I try to keep [discussions] open dialogue,” he said. “If students disagree, I welcome those voices because I think that’s how we better understand things, and that’s how movements grow.”

Rinaldi added that it is important to recognize the movement’s uniqueness. “You can’t deny that [the movement has] had an impact,” Rinaldi said. “We haven’t ever seen any movement quite like this. [It has] had such a broad support, that’s so global [and] has such a diversity of people involved in it.”

Emmett said that the movement has such a wide significance because it opens discussion among national leaders.

“What’s most important about this movement is not changing the current system immediately, but starting a discussion among politicians and people in the government and the general population about whether we should just take the current system the way it is or try to do something about it,” Emmett said.

Olins said she feels it is not necessary for students to actually attend the protests.

“I don’t know why you have to go see it because you hear about it on the news, and you see it on TV,” Olins said. “I doubt it would be different for me to go see it and change my mind.”

Goldstein agreed that students can be informed about the movement, whether or not they experience it first-hand.

“I think it’s interesting to see current events in action and get a sense that there are real problems with our economy, but I think it’s just as good to read about it and look at pictures online,” she said.

“It’s not that amazing or different than seeing it in person.”

Simon said that despite doubts concerning the importance of participating in the movement, it can still have a powerful effect. “I suggest that everyone visit the site at least once. Stuff like this does not happen often,” he said. “The world is in a delicate state, and this is perhaps the beginning of things turning around.”

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news

Change will occupy our lives, eventually Henry Yun

Common Cents

When I first heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement, I was scared.

I let my imagination get the best of me, mistakenly assuming that it was something similar to the revolts happening in the Middle. Upon formally researching the topic, however, I found out not that the Arab Spring had actually arrived in America, but rather a movement of peaceful demonstration had.

My panic quickly turned into disinterest as I scanned the familiar images of tired protesters huddled in makeshift tents, most of them adorned in tie-dye sweatshirts and peace-sign necklaces.

I shouldn’t have overlooked this movement. While the Occupy movement is not as drastic as any revolts occurring in the Middle East, these peaceful protests should not be taken lightly.

They are best described as a portent of impending change.

The activists, who call themselves “the 99 percent,” are frustrated at income disparities in America. Currently, 99 percent of the population shares less than 30 percent of all financial assets in America. Furthermore, 400 of America’s richest people are more affluent than 50 percent of America’s population. In other words, 400 people control more money than around 155 million people combined.

Many other protesters are fighting against government corruption and the influence of big businesses. Some extreme activists are even going so far as to propose the elimination of capitalism from the American economic system.

Getting rid of capitalism is certainly not plausible for a nation reliant on it since its formation. The other issues, however, certainly express a need for change that is not only plausible but also necessary.

It is essential to note that change is imminent. The recession and subsequent world economic deterioration cannot pass without notice. The scale of change is still ambiguous, but the protests as of now are clearly attracting global attention and most likely will not conclude until change is achieved. Americans are exercising their right to free speech in over 600 cities across the U.S. through the Occupy movement, and this time — as opposed to in past protest movements – protesters are making sure their voices are heard.

Newton is an affluent community; therefore it wouldn’t be surprising to me if some of us watched the commotion and didn’t think twice about its repercussions.

I urge everyone to take into consideration that ultimately these protests and whatever outcomes they lead to will be important in determining the future of our country. If America needs this protest to bring change to the country, I fully support it, and I think we should all at least acknowledge it.

Now, I’m not encouraging everyone I know to grab a sleeping bag and a tent and go camp out in Dewey Square. I am asking everyone, however, to acknowledge that change will eventually be achieved in some form.

It is our responsibility to be aware of that fact, pay attention to signs of its proximity such as the Occupy movement and always keep in mind the effects that the change might introduce to our lives.

thelionsroar.com/news

Homecoming unites classes HOMECOMING, from 1

Pittel were representative of the dance’s attendees. “It was mainly underclassmen … there were some juniors and seniors, but they were lacking.”

Senior Aaron Weinstein, who played for the Lions in the homecoming football game, chose not to attend the dance for the same reasons as Avramovich and Friedman.

“There hasn’t been that good of a reputation for school spirit,” he said. “Especially for us, the seniors.”

Weinstein said he did notice, however, the same demographic of students in the bleachers that Li noticed at the dance. “I actually think that more younger kids showed up,” he said.

Ly attributed this disparity to upperclassmen’s reluctance to attend school events with younger students. “A lot of seniors … didn’t want to really party with freshmen,” he said. “They felt that they had other things to do.” Despite the upperclassmen’s relative absence, Ly said he considers the event a success. “I was very happy with the outcome and the turnout,” he said. “I think it will bring a lot more school spirit, which our school definitely needs.”

Junior class officer Chris Keo agreed.

“A lot of people had a really good time,” he said. “There were not too many seniors … [but] the turnout was much better than we expected.”

According to Keo, the point of the event was not to reform the upperclassmen but to instill a new sense of spirit in younger students. “The purpose is just to create this great sense of school spirit,” he said. “We really wanted to create a new tradition for the future classes.”

According to science teacher Alan Crosby, the class officers’ efforts could lead to a more collaborative environment between grades. “To couple [one class’] spirit with the spirit of other classes to motivate the school to

photo by Ari Ebstein

In their inaugural homecoming game, the Lions lost a close game to Bedford 13-3. higher levels of school spirit is great,” he said.

Weinstein said, however, that South not only lacks these spirited elements but prevents them from existing altogether. “A lot of it is just the environment at South, which is really academic-based and rigorous,” he said.

Avramovich agreed, and said that many of his friends who do not attend South feel a much stronger attachment to their schools. “They just have so much [spirit],” he said. “It’s almost nationalistic, their attitudes about their schools.”

Though Weinstein expressed doubts about South’s ability to foster a highly spir-

ited environment, he said that events like homecoming are a step in the right direction, even if it is too late to bring this attitude to a disinterested senior class.

“I guess our grade wasn’t really affected that much by attempts to increase school spirit … [Principal Joel Stembridge] hasn’t established much or really changed the culture at South,” he said. “But slowly, starting with homecoming, it’s starting to show a bit more.”

Additional reporting by Dipal Nagda and Derek Nie.

A Letter From South Senate

By Jack Lovett

“We have made it our primary goal to regain your confidence” As a new school year begins, so does a new year for South Senate, South’s governmental body of students. Every year, in May eight members of each class – with the exception of freshmen – are chosen through the electoral process to be a voice for students. Our job is to improve the quality of South for the students by passing bills and taking other actions to better our community. We have passed bills that allowed students to use cell phones in the cafeteria and sophomores to have free blocks rather than study halls second semester. Other bills have placed picnic tables outside and have made more textbooks available to students in the library.

South Senate over the years has, however, faced multiple challenges. South Senate lacks communication with the student body, making it harder to represent its opinions. Expectedly, that has led to a growing lack of confidence in the South Senate. The purpose of this letter is to close that gap and to connect the people of South with the South Senate. From now on, South Senate will be releasing articles periodically in The Roar to let people know what we have been doing in South Senate, what we have accomplished and what our goals are for the future. As Catherine the Great of Russia once said, “Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing.” Without your confidence, South Senate cannot function and make a better community and school for you. And we have made it our primary goal to regain your confidence.

Thus far, South Senate has taken great steps in attempting to implement multiple reforms to change South Senate for the better.

In the past, South Senate’s only way to communicate with the school was through one Senator, the Secretary of Public Relations. One of first steps we took in order to expand communication with students was to extend that position to a committee with four people. As the chairman of that committee, I have set multiple goals: I am ensuring that the South Senate board outside the cafeteria is constantly updated, updating our Facebook page much more frequently, taking over the project of creating South Senate’s website, writing a mission statement for the Senate as a whole, writing this series of articles and possibly even holding a school-wide assembly down the road.

We have also been striving to fix the lunch schedule, and pass a teacher survey bill that would allow students to voice their opinions on their respective teachers and courses and a technology bill that would give students more freedom with their electronics.

We have also reformed our committee system by making sure every committee has a clear set of goals, so that South Senate will never be wasting unnecessary time on projects with no clear goal.

Our final change is certainly the biggest. On Oct. 20 the South Senate decided to discard our four-year-old Constitution. We realize that the document is outdated and not sufficient nor flexible enough to allow South Senate to be as active as possible. Six people have been appointed to write a new Constitution of the South Senate.

I hope South is pleased with our efforts to reconnect to and improve our community. Expect great change this coming year and another update from the South Senate soon!

november 10, 2011

the

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CONTENTon this page speaks for itself

An edited transcript of The Roar’s Oct. 25 community discussion about Rachel’s Challenge.

Was Rachel’s Challenge an appropriate anti-bullying initiative for South?

Thomas O’Leary ‘12: It seemed like it was much too simple and aimed at a lower level of intelligence than the average high school student has. A high schooler doesn’t need the juxtaposition of Anne Frank and Hitler. After seeing Anne Frank [next to Rachel] for the third time, it pretty much killed the entire lecture for me.

Sam London ‘15: I thought that it was just a little bit of a strange approach because it was devoted to Rachel’s memory — like how similar she was to Anne Frank, and how the killers supposedly worshiped Hitler. Many sources say they did not. I think that they should have talked more about how the killers themselves were victims of bullying, which was what Rachel was trying to stop.

Caroline Zola ‘13: I think it was a very moving and very emotional program. But I think a lot of the program operated as a sob story, [rather than as an attempt] to get a message across. I think being kind to everyone is an important message, but so much of the program was devoted to Rachel’s drawings in her journal and the man from Ohio who called about his dream. Though that’s emotional, it’s unnecessary.

Jack Rabinovitch ‘15: I think that the whole thing was built around the idea that we need to become our own Rachels, [yet] when Rachel was being described, they didn’t say anything negative about her.

They made her so saint-like. And the fact that they didn’t show her flaws makes the whole point [of the program] almost impossible. They juxtaposed that with the bad guys who they didn’t say any good things about — they compared them to Hitler.

Dylan Royce ‘12: [The program] needed to have a much greater emphasis on what caused [the killers] to do [the shootings]. Granted, most people who are bullied don’t go shoot a bunch of people. But [the killers] were bullied, and I thought that was going to be addressed. [Instead], the killers were given no motive other than Hitler, who died 60 years ago but caused these two American kids to shoot up their school.

Alyssa Erspamer ‘14: I’m going to disagree with everyone. I think that [the program] should not have talked about the boys. [The program] should not have compared them to Hitler, but I think that if it talked about the past of those boys and why they did [the shootings], it would have been too focused on Columbine. The focus was supposed to be on bullying in general.

Sophie Cash ‘14: I agree with people saying that there was not a lot of emphasis on the motives of the shooters. I think that that would have been interesting to touch upon, since the whole point of the presentation was to demonstrate what happens when people are bullied. But I disagree that it was gone about in the wrong way. From my point of view, most people that I talked to were really moved by the presentation and therefore are more inspired to go about their lives fighting bullying.

And even if [the program] went about the presentation in the wrong way by making it into a sob story, it still made you think really deeply about the motives behind people and why we should be nice.

Rich Catrambone, Prevention/Intervention Counselor: I want to separate the message from the presentation. I guess what I’m curious about is … how people feel about the message. Anti-bullying is trying to change the school climate from being [one of] the silent majority to [one of] the caring majority. The foundation of creating a caring and respectful community, which will affect bullying in general, was the reason I felt Rachel’s Challenge hit home for me. Did I like the presentation? Well, parts of it I didn’t like. But certainly its core message was something that I think we, as a community, need to build on, and I hope we don’t lose sight of that.

David Weintraub, English teacher: I want to briefly respond to your com-

ment, Rich … You’re right that the message has to be central in what we do with this program, but from where I was sitting in the audience, it did feel as if the challenge part of it was far less memorable than the Rachel part of it. As much as I want to incorporate that message, I don’t know what those five points are. I sat through it and I could tell you everything about Rachel, but I can tell you very little about the challenge, and I think that’s by design. It was almost like an evangelism of Rachel rather than an evangelism of her message.

Dylan Royce ‘12: The goal was so basic: [get students to] be nice. You have to look at the shell [in which the message] was conveyed to really find anything worth discussing, because most people say ‘be nice,’ but the thing that defines the program is how it is presented. The emotions will fade, and we are left with no memory, because there was no substance.

Molly Gadenz, Guidance Counselor: I want to agree that it was hard to separate out the message from the delivery, because I felt the delivery was so much more powerful. I teach Leadership and Diversity so I talked to [my students] a lot about Rachel’s Challenge after that day.

They know bullying exists, and they know that there’s bullying here at South, and yet they didn’t see the problem as being proportionate to the type of delivery system that Rachel’s Challenge gave. They did play on the emotions a lot rather than making you think about things. I do think that [bullying] is a problem here. Maybe it isn’t as blatant as the extremists at Columbine. It is a lot more subtle … You probably have to look a lot harder for it here.

Lauren Forrow ‘14: I think there’s a big problem with the definition of bullying at South because people here still tend to picture someone throwing a kid against a locker and stealing their lunch money, and that, to my knowledge, doesn’t happen here. But there is a lot of bullying here and it’s very, very subtle and very psychological … It is more in body language than in verbal confrontation. It’s in excluding people. I think that a big problem is people not really understanding [bullying at South] because they don’t see a lot of in-your-face bullying.

Caroline Zola ‘13: I think we don’t have that extreme bullying, but I also think the subtle bullying can feel just as bad and can be just as emotionally damaging.

Henry Turner, Goldrick Housemaster: Something I learned from Rich that really has influenced me and my philosophy of education is that you have to change the heart before you can change the mind. That, I think, was the intention of the presentation: to get us to feel a certain way, as opposed to the intellectual stimulation that we are constantly getting here at South. It’s so simple to be nice, and [yet], I think it’s so hard. Our challenge is to get ourselves to do those simple things to each other, those small things, those positive things, that will alter our community.

Lauren Forrow ‘14: I do think that in one day you can actually make a significant difference here at South. I know that for that hour that I was in the field house for the additional [Rachel’s Challenge anti-bullying] training, a lot of people shared a lot of really personal stuff that made me reevaluate how I treat them.

Sophie Cash ‘14: Yes, there was a lot of focus on the emotional part, but I think that’s what really caused the presentation to be meaningful to most people. I think that if we were just lectured intellectually about bullying at South, people wouldn’t have paid attention.

Sam London ‘15: One last thing I have to say [about] whether Rachel’s Challenge applies to South or not is that here, it could be just snickering or gossip behind people’s backs, but I think what Rachel’s Challenge was really successful at doing was just telling us how we should be nice. It seems a little cliché, but when you say ‘be nice,’ it kind of stops the whole gossip and bullying thing to begin with — if people actually embrace it.

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Caffeine

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Students see coffee as a symbol of social status

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morning run to Starbucks for coffee or chai tea has become the norm for senior Skylar Krug since she started consuming caffeine freshman year. “My sister would always go to Dunkin’ Donuts every morning, and I would go with her,” Krug said. “I just started doing it because she did, but [I] overdid it with milk and sugar every time, and [my coffee] was basically just sugar.”

Sophomore Ian Greer said that though caffeine often gives him a headache, he considers his cup of coffee to be a social accessory. “I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t feel cool because I do think [drinking coffee] is a status thing,” Greer said.

For students like Krug and Greer, caffeine consumption has become a social activity in addition to a way to keep up their energy levels.

Spanish teacher Viviana Planine, who grew up in Italy, said that misguided characterizations of coffee as a status symbol are common in America “Most people [in America] carry their coffee around out of habit, not because they need it,” she said.

Planine said that in Italy she

show that [they] went out,” Krug shared a hot cup of coffee with her realm and that students make said, “so I think it’s kind of a mother every night and that South a statement by carrying coffee students should take the time to cups. “You look … like, ‘Yeah, I’m social thing.”

Senior Daniel Cutright, sufficiently appreciate coffee as she drinking a venti quad skim latte did. “[I] see people with this sort of from Starbucks. What are you go- who drinks coffee twice a day, said he thinks social coffee Styrofoam cup walking around, … ing to do about it?’” he said. consumption is more prevalent Kramer said she has noand I really think that sometimes among the female population at [they] really need to slow down and ticed that students rarely order South. Male students, he said, enjoy a cup of coffee,” she said. “It’s plain coffee. “They’re not just more frequently drink cofalmost like sharing a meal … fee for an energy boost. [and] should go together with “I do cross country a social interaction.”

‘Yeah, I’m drinking a venti and track, and I think it School nurse Gail quad skim latte from Starhelps me run better [beKramer said that the number cause] I have more energy,” of students walking around bucks. What are you going to Cutright said. “It’s not so school in the morning cardo about it?’ … [social] for guys, but … rying coffee has increased in girls go out and get coffee a recent years. “You see it more - Ian Greer, Class of 2014 lot together.” and more every year,” she Krug said she used said. “I don’t think 10 years to drink more coffee and ago we were seeing lots of soda. She said she now drinks coffee.”Kramer said this increase having a decaf with skim milk,” in coffee consumption may be she said. “People are drinking lots tea almost exclusively so that she can avoid negative health effects linked with teenagers’ conceptions of stuff with sugar, … [which is] while still going to Starbucks of social norms. “I think socially it more like caffeinated candy.”

Though Krug said that with friends and getting a cafmight be the ‘in’ thing,” she said. coffee outings can be a chance for feine boost. “When I was only Krug said that she and her friends to spend time together, drinking coffee, it would give me friends go out for coffee because she said that students like to really bad stomach aches, and it is a group activity. “My friends show their peers that they went it would make me shaky,” Krug will just be like, ‘Want to get cofoff campus. “Last year, people said. “That’s why I stopped drinkfee?’ and then we all will go, so would make fun of each other ing coffee and [started] drinkI think it has become more of a for having nothing in their coffee ing sugary chais from Starbucks social thing,” Krug said. cup anymore but still walking instead.”

Greer said he too has noKramer said that caffeine ticed coffee’s move into the social around school holding it just to

can cause elevated heart rates, shakiness and stomach aches but that students do not always link the symptoms with their cause.

“Students drink a lot of caffeine, and they don’t eat, … so it really upsets [their] stomachs, and then they come in here feeling nauseous,” she said. “They don’t say it’s because of caffeine, but when you start interviewing them, that’s what it usually is.”

Senior Brandon Kee said that caffeine’s negative effects on the body outweigh any benefits to him.

“I’m avoiding soda because I’m trying to stay healthy, and I’m avoiding coffee because it does not mix well with my ADHD medicine,” he said. “All [caffeine] did was make my body feel tired and worsen my complexion.”

Though school nurse Leslie Clark said she worries about such negative health effects, she said that coffee drinking is nevertheless more popular among younger students now than in the past. “You used to see it more [with] juniors and seniors, but now you see it with all grades,” she said. “Even the first day of school, freshmen come in with a cup of coffee.”

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Upperclassmen teach younger photo students Hyunnew Choi & Andrew Feng Features Reporters

When senior Adam Macalister first walked into the photography room during his freshman year, he was “absolutely terrified.” Macalister had enrolled in the course late, and his classmates had already learned the basics.

“Everyone else kind of knew what they were doing, so I had to catch up,” Macalister said. “It was very overwhelming.”

Macalister said that guidance from more experienced students, in addition to the help he received from photography teacher Robert Bouchal, was instrumental in filling in the gaps in his knowledge of basic skills.

Bouchal said he structures his classes so that upperclassmen provide instruction to newer photography students.

Macalister, and others like him, said that this system enriches the learning process and fosters a positive environment.

Senior Lauren Ashbrook, who has taken photography every year of hers at South, said that older students are able to assist in significant ways. “Older photo students have gone through the confusion of first-year photo, so they know how to help, and they also know tricks that they can suggest to you,” Ashbrook said.

Macalister agreed that older students’ experience with the course is key.

“The senior photo students, when I was a freshman, were incredibly helpful,” Macalister said. “I learned most of the process

photo by Olivia Kennis

Senior Adam Macalister, whose training in photography class came largely from older students, now assists first-year students. from them.”

Now a work-study student for Bouchal, Macalister said he gives younger students the same help he received as a freshman.

Ashbrook also assists younger students with photo processes. “I help them in the darkroom because they don’t totally understand time and contrast yet,” Ashbrook said.

Junior Miranda Bachman said she, like Macalister, has benefited from the guidance of upperclassman photography PHOTO, 13

Anonymous grading systems fight teacher bias Charlotte Huth & Caroline Melly Features Contributors

Thirteen years ago, English teacher Michael Kennedy started using an anonymous PIN system to grade essays. His students choose four numbers to use instead of their names on turnedin assignments.

Kennedy said he implemented the system in order to eliminate the possibility of bias in his grading system.

“Before I used the PIN system, I would unfairly reward a student, and so I thought the best thing I could do was keep myself from knowing who that student is,” Kennedy said.

Sophomore Ben Robinson said he believes that an anonymous grading system would have been helpful in various past classes.

Robinson said one teacher showed blatant bias toward one student and preferred one class over another. “[Our teacher] liked the other block more than she liked our class,” Robinson said. “She called us slackers compared to them.”

Sophmore Mackenzie Targett agreed that teacher bias exists at South.

“With one of my teachers, I got off on the wrong foot in the

beginning of the year, and for the rest of the year she never gave me a second chance,” she said.

Targett said her teacher judged her and thus treated her differently when grading assignments and recommending Targett for upper-level courses. “[My teacher] only had stereotypes, and she would decide who was studious and who was not,” Targett said. “She thought that there was only one type who could succeed in her class, and that was not me.”

Senior Grace Nathans said that teacher bias is unfair, but unavoidable. “Teachers are human, and they like or dislike people,” she said.

Junior Jacob Jaffe, however, said that anonymous grading can counteract teachers’ personal opinions of students. “I like the idea of anonymous grading because ... either my teachers really like me or really don’t,” Jaffe said.

“With a policy like this, I’m protected from the ones that don’t.”

English teacher Robyn Marder also uses an anonymous grading system, in which students write their names on the back of graded assignments, so she knows their identities only after grading the assignment.

Marder agreed with Kennedy that an anonymous grading system makes students more confident in their teachers’ grad-

ing standards. “[Students] feel more secure that their product is being graded, rather than their personality,” Marder said.

Students whose teachers grade anonymously, said that such systems fight bias but are not always perfect.

Sophomore Clara Ives said she feels anonymous grading does not entirely protect the identity of a student. “[The teacher] can still kind of tell from the writing style whose paper it is,” Ives said.

Jaffe also said he noticed flaws with the anonymous system, despite its admirable intentions. He said that students write their names and PINs on a list, which Kennedy collects but promises not to memorize.

“It’s very possible that he may accidentally memorize the numbers or recognize them by the end of the year,” Jaffe said.

Junior Charlie Yang said that one of his teachers, English teacher Dana Arnaboldi, also uses an anonymous grading system with PIN numbers.

Yang said he does not mind the fairness or logistics of her system, but rather the effect it may have on a student’s academic growth.

“It’s fair, and everyone gets an equal shot,” Yang said, “but it’s possible that you may not get as

much individual love because if a teacher grades based on who you are, they can tell if you’ve improved on certain things, which may be really helpful to you.”

Nathans said she has felt discouraged without an anonymous system.

“I put less effort into my work because I kind of knew I

wouldn’t get a good grade anyway, and that [my teacher] wasn’t going to like whatever I did,” Nathans said.

Kennedy said that the main benefit of the PIN system is that students “learn to take constructive feedback. They can say, ‘Honestly I know … my teacher was objective.’”

photo by Emily Malec-Brown

English teacher Michael Kennedy uses an anonymous grading system.

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features

Freshman class president shares reactions, goals

The Roar interviewed the new freshman class president, Jae Lee, about his life, goals and passion for math.

How do you feel about the results of the election?

I really think [other candidates] had a lot of potential, and some of them really deserved a place as president. I was really surprised when I won. I will try to do my best..

What do you think allowed you to win?

Do you have any general goals?

I want [to create] a fun atmosphere. I don’t want to mess up the freshman cruise. I want [events] to be fun, but I think the process in which we create these events should be serious.

Many people think I’m this math nerd, … and so I’d actually do stuff for class office. Lots of people liked the posters I posted. I guess it was just luck. I got lucky.

What made you campaign the way you did?

What are your hobbies?

Do you have anything to add?

I really love math, and I do a lot of stuff with it. I like to do sports, play soccer, musical instruments like clarinet. … I guess what stands out for me and I’m really good at it is the math card.

What are your plans for your class this year?

I think this is going to be a good class. I’m hoping to get help from former class presidents or [current] presidents.

People know my interest, math, so I decided to take a track on that. Many people might think that’s funny.

When I was at Brown, people actually loved the math team. I think people in our class generally have respect. Maybe [South freshmen] thought it was funny [and] … a peculiarity.

“Math nerd” is not really the most conventional way of approaching class office.

I just presented the way I was, and I’m glad people voted for me.

Jae Lee’s Favorites Favorite movie: Armaggeddon

FAVORITE SCHOOL SUBJECT: MATH

Favorite song: Bad Day

FAVORITE MAGAZINE: THE ECONOMIST

Favorite TV show: Sherlock

FAVORITE BOOK: NAKED ECONOMICS

photo by Yoonchan Choi

I believe in working hard to make something happen and not [just] hoping that it will happen.

I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make freshman year unique and unforgettable.

I want to ... get [freshmen] more excited for school events.

We want to throw a killer freshman cruise as well as raise a lot of spirit in our grade.

- Roee Grutman, Vice-President

- Hyunnew Choi, Officer

- Haley Eagle, Officer

- Ahaana Singh, Officer

photo courtesy of Roee Grutman

photo courtesy of Hyunnew Choi

photo courtesy of Haley Eagle

photo courtesy of Ahaana Singh

Upperclassmen vital to photo atmosphere PHOTO, from 9

students.

Bachman said she also joined the class late and missed the introductory sessions, and thus required extra assistance.

“Mr. B. helped me learn how to use the camera, ,” Bachman said. “The rest ... was help from other [more] experienced students.”

Macalister said that advice from peers helps students develop their own ideas. “By getting help from different people, you get many perspectives and opinions on what works best,” he said. “You’re able to compile all the information and learn how to do it your own way.”

Ashbrook agreed that Bouchal’s teaching methods

are helpful because they allow students to learn on their own.

“Everyone develops their own style and their own techniques,” she said.

Sophomore Rachel Jung, who is taking photography for the first time this year, said that focused attention from upperclassmen supplements the information Bouchal teaches the entire class. “If there is somebody helping you individually, you can learn more details,” Jung said. According to Jung, help from upperclassmen “is less vague than … [that from] a teacher who is trying to handle all students.”

Bouchal said that students who serve as mentors invigorate the entire photography program. “Without [up-

perclassman] assistance, we wouldn’t be able to get the large number of intro students to the point where they can use their cameras, develop film and make contact prints and enlargements in just the first six weeks of the school year,” he said.

According to Bouchal, the structure of his classes provides both novices and veteran photographers with opportunities to broaden their experience. “[Upperclassmen assistance] allows me to direct my attention to those students who require more specific or advanced advice while giving the upper-level photographers the opportunity to share their growing expertise,” Bouchal said. “It gives them a chance to build their self-confidence.”

photo by Olivia Kennis

Upperclassman photo students encourage and help underclassmen.

Bouchal said that he tried to promote interaction between students with this system.“[This method] lets me know that [students] are fully immersed in

the positive classroom culture that has been the hallmark of the photography program for the past two decades,” Bouchal said.

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Relationships: Boy, girlfriend seek wild dreamworld

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every issue The Roar publishes a different anonymous student’s perspective on relationships. The views expressed in the “Relationships Column” do not reflect the official views of The Lion’s Roar, nor are they intended as a guide or source of advice for others.

O photo by Olivia Kennis

Newtones, an a capella group without any official affiliation to South, rehearses at senior and music director Aaron Wolff ’s house.

Clubs flourish without advisers CLUBS, from 1 “It allows a lot of flexibility in our schedule,” Crowley said. “We don’t have any obligations to the school.”

Athletes Serving the Community (ASC) similarly lacks obligations to South as an out-of-school club, although ASC has never been affiliated with South. ASC organizes volunteering events for teenagers from South and other schools on the weekends.

Kim Boucher, mother of junior Sammy Boucher and the president of ASC, said that being unaffiliated with South allows her club to more easily accomplish its goals and avoid some of the barriers that others might face. “If you want to form a club at school, I’m sure there are certain rules and regulations,” Boucher said. “We don’t have that. Basically, we’re just a group of people that are interested in volunteering, and we can basically do our own thing.”

Boucher said she is looking into developing a greater connection with South but that such a relationship would benefit the school more than her club.

“For us, we don’t need it to be a part of the school, but … we basically have something to offer that the administration really wants and a lot of the kids want,” Boucher said.

Crowley said she feels that separation from South has made it easier for Newtones to organize rehearsals. According to Crowley, planning meetings to fit an adviser’s schedule and to avoid students’ academic conflicts can pose difficulties. “[Rehearsing at night] helps so that even if students need time with teachers during J block, they can ... get to rehearsals,” Crowley said.

Guidance counselor and club director Lenny Libenzon said that Newtones’ separation from South limits their opportunities within the school. “They cannot advertise or run fundraisers at South,” Libenzon said.

Junior Nicholas Reed, president of the Live Action Role Play club (LARP) said that his club, which does not have a faculty adviser, is also forbidden to advertise in school. The club, which meets on weekends, stages fake battles with soft weapons and role-plays historical events.

Unlike Newtones, however, Reed said that LARP is not allowed to become an official school club because weapons of any kind are prohibited on school property.

Reed said he does not think that LARP’s unofficial status will have negative effects, though.

“There’s no point in having this be an official club anyway,” Reed said. “We will probably find members by word of mouth.”

Boucher agreed that advertising is not a problem, because ASC uses student leaders, a website and Facebook to recruit members. “With Facebook now, there are so many people that are asking to join on a daily basis, … which means that they’re getting our notices when there are events, and we’re not having any trouble getting people to sign up,” she said.

Wolff, on the other hand, said he has noted some issues with Newtones’ unofficial status, particularly in regard to performances. According to Wolff, Newtones is no longer allowed to perform at step-up day for incoming freshmen or at Acafest, a South a capella event in April. Instead, Newtones must “sign a bunch of contracts

... just to rent out the auditorium. We can’t even do a dress rehearsal without [doing the paperwork],” Wolff said.

Crowley said that these obstacles can produce positive side effects. “It’s a learning experience for kids to have go to out into the community and find events,” she said. “It’s that whole responsibility piece. It’s a good representation of how if students really want to do something, they can do it without help from adults.”

Libenzon said that though students are capable of running clubs, having a faculty adviser to assist them is important.

“Any time you get a bunch of teenagers together, … it’s good to have someone checking that everything is legal and makes sense.”

Wolff disagreed, saying that Newtones prefers to deal with its own legal issues in the absence of an adviser. “If anything bad happens, there’s no liability,” Wolff said. “We deal with ourselves.”

Libenzon said that advisers are also helpful in regulating clubs’ financial situations, however. “We need to make sure that money doesn’t disappear,” Libenzon said. “They [have to] open an account ... and follow school rules.”

Crowley said that the necessity of a faculty adviser is exaggerated, though.

“Why is there a need for there to be a faculty adviser if [Newtones] wants to sing in the cafeteria?” Crowley said. “Even though we are not a school group, we should be allowed to sing at school events.”

[Unaffiliation with South adds] that whole responsibility piece. It’s a good representation of how if students really want to do something, they can do it without help from adults.

- Kitty Crowley, Class of 2013

n my way to the bathroom a week or two ago, I passed some friends reading the French version of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are. The nostalgic, washed-out greens and browns and grays on the cover prompted me to give some thought to a story that hasn’t been a part of my life for a dozen years or so. But sometime between when I finished my business and stuck my hands under the faucet, I realized that not more than a month could’ve elapsed since I’d watched the 2009 movie based on the children’s classic.

The reasons that I couldn’t recollect having watched the movie so recently escaped me at first. It wasn’t like I had decided to pop in Where the Wild Things Are and trip on acid until I’d lost my mind.

I’ve never even done acid, and thus haven’t a clue what kind of psychological effect it would have on me. I have come to know over the last six months or so, though, that a certain lady in my life is certainly capable of making me lose my mind.

My momentary forgetfulness was a case of this phenomenon. I will admit that while “watching” the film, we had devoted far more attention to exploring the insides of one another’s mouths with our tongues than we had to exploring the subtleties of Spike Jonze’s animatronic masterpiece with our brains. But even so, I still think it is astonishing how easily I was able to forget having watched an entire movie.

This led me to a realization of somewhat more consequence. Not only did I realize, in that bathroom, that I had just recently seen Where the Wild Things Are, but also that one girl in my life reigns supreme, over even my memory.

When we’re together, I often inexplicably have trouble finishing my thoughts. I guess I’m just always so excited to be with her … that I forget. We’ve been together for too long for this to be the case, but I get the first-date butterflies in my stomach every time we hang out. It is the unexpected, the spontaneous, the fantastical — the wild in our relationship that makes it so exhilarating.

So I really don’t remember much from the movie. But more recently, I hunted down my childhood copy of the book.

What struck me most about the book was the conclusion: Max returns home from his kingdom to a still-hot supper.

Herein lies the difference between Max’s fantasy world and our real one. Instead of a warm meal waiting for me when it’s time to leave her, I usually have a few hours of sleep and a full day of schoolwork to look forward to.

So, like any teenage couple, we’ve mapped out our fair share of dreamlands — though none of them include monsters that roar their terrible roars or gnash their terrible teeth.

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features

Breakfast: The Meal of Champions

Making the Connection Students report difficulties in forming personal relationships with guidance counselors.

Annie and Lili Kadets

Hannah Shields Features Reporter

Are You Seeing Double?

We love that odd Jimmy Dean breakfast commercial. You’ve probably seen it. It depicts a few below-average office employees dressed as various planets that are “completely out of orbit” because they have not eaten breakfast. Fortunately, though, one bright, peppy employee dressed as a sun just happens to bring the rest of his coworkers some Jimmy Dean sausages. And voilá! Everyone magically returns to proper solar system organization.

Believe it or not, this mid-morning drama is really not far from the truth.

Breakfast = goodness, in all sorts of ways.

We will do our best to avoid sounding like those repetitive nutrition surveys that lecture teenagers on the importance of a well-balanced meal. It’s a topic that should not go unmentioned, however, and must therefore receive some airtime in our 500word column.

Today’s question: How can we make breakfast more appealing? What’s the big deal about breaking that fast? To humor some Shakespeare fans, thou shall not feareth! The twins are hereth!

Whether or not you take our advice, we’d at least like to state a few facts. The basics are always a good place to start. If you google breakfast, you’ll probably get a million hits concerning why the meal is so important. Although we are often told not to believe everything we read on the Internet, these search results are an opportunity to appreciate every typed word.

According to these results, it’s generally a unanimous belief that after sleeping for (hopefully) 8-10 hours, you need to reboot. Feeding your exhausted, grumpy, bed-headed self offers a much-needed jump start to your wild, nonstop day. (Do we sound like a poster in the nurse’s office yet?) Basically, just think like the Energizer bunny. You need a vibrant, pink, glowing battery to get you moving.

Yet much advice is easier said than done. So, how can you successfully integrate breakfast into your morning?

Suggestion #1: Plan the meal the night before.Every night, we take 30 seconds to debate what to eat the next morning. Here’s the benefit: When you roll out of bed at 7:32 a.m. thanks to your snooze button, you already know exactly what’s in store for your stomach. And now you have two more minutes to straighten your hair and feed the dog. Perfect.

Suggestion #2: Change it up. Cereal is no doubt a brilliant invention. Tony the Tiger really has a knack for sales. But cereal for breakfast every day? It can get old, and change is healthy. It might be time to part with those Wheaties and look into something new. Scrambled eggs? Toaster waffles? Yogurt? Oatmeal? A smoothie?

Leftover pizza? The options are endless.

So, even if you’re running out to catch the bus with your shoes untied, your backpack half open and only time enough to grab that granola bar, we still applaud you (S’mores Luna Bars anyone?). At least you’re putting in the effort to get the most out of your day. Even Shakespeare had some insight on the subject of breakfast: “To be [hungry] or not to be?”

Senior Natasza Gawlick has had three guidance counselors during her high school career. Gawlick said that the frequent changes have made it difficult to build a personal relationship with each counselor. “They’re the ones who are always there for you — teachers change every year, but the guidance counselors are supposed to stay the same,” she said.

“They’re supposed to get to know you and help you out.”

Guidance counselor Aaron Lewis said that he attempts to play a significant role in students’ lives.

“The job of a counselor is to get to know the whole being because life can be really complicated, and it can be hard for kids … to focus and to be a solid person,” Lewis said.

Despite Lewis’ desire that guidance counselors help students deal with personal issues, some students said this relationship is uncommon. As these students enter senior year, they say their lack of a personal relationship can interfere with the college process.

According to senior Ruthy Allard, it was difficult for her to open up to her guidance counselor.

“I had a personal issue that I was dealing with and eventually I did talk to him and he helped a lot,” she said. “It is hard to talk about such personal things with guidance counselors.”

Allard said that most students’ relationships with guidance counselors are based on the college process.

“I don’t think that many people have personal relationships [with their guidance counselors] ... it is mostly about the college process.”

Gawlick said that her relationship is mostly about academics. “I don’t really talk to them except for school stuff.”

Senior Cary Potochnick said his guidance counselor has only recently begun to play a large role in his life. “Before this year, [I went to her] less than once a month … and I’ve seen her too many times this year — like 10 times already,” he said.

Allard agreed that she has had to talk to her guidance counselor much more

graphic by Veronica Wang

A majority of students said they choose not to discuss personal issues with their counselors.

often this year. “I didn’t talk to him that much before senior year, but now that I’m a senior I talk to him all the time about colleges.”

Guidance department head Shelly Borg said this increased number of visits can be attributed to guidance counselors’ integral role in the college process. “The role of a guidance counselor is … to help [students] understand the implications of their years at South and what that might mean going forward ... in terms of their GPA and what their transcript looks like,” Borg said.

Borg agreed that it is important for

students to get to know their guidance counselors early on in high school. “As [students] get to the point of being seniors, if [guidance counselors] don’t know them well, it impacts the fact that they’re going to be writing recommendations for students,” Borg said. “The more you know the student, the better and more thorough and easier it is to write a thoughtful, complete recommendation.”

Borg said that establishing a strong relationship with a guidance counselor has many benefits. “It always helps going forward to have a relationship with the student,” she said.

On Oct. 25, The Roar surveyed 234 students about their relationships with guidance counselors.

How many guidance counselors have you had at South?

2 3 1

4

Do you talk to your guidance counselor about issues related to your personal life?

NO

80% 73%

14%

12%

1%

YES

20%

november 10, 2011

features

13

boy with a green thumb Junior Ben Eisenberg took his family’s gardening hobby to the next level by establishing a personal garden at home.

Emma Loeb

A

Features Editor

garden is more than a source of fruits and vegetables for junior Ben Eisenberg; it is a place where family comes together. “My dad has always been a big gardener, so I followed in his footsteps,” Eisenberg said.

Eisenberg has been assisting his father, David Eisenberg, in the family’s garden since a young age. With his father’s instruction, Eisenberg said that he has acquired passions both for gardening and for cooking with the produce he grows.

David said that gardening can draw family members closer and also generate tangible rewards. “Gardening can be a fun thing and something that people in a family work on together,” he said.

According to David, cooking with home-grown ingredients has become a bonding activity for him and his son. “Every night I am home we cook, and it is a special time for us,” David said.

“Creating special meals is a part of who we are.”

Following generations of cooks and bakers, David said that he and his son have learned that a garden produces “a heck of a lot of great food if you work on it right.”

In order to cultivate the ingredients for these meals, the Eisenbergs spend late March through late June or early July preparing their garden in a team effort, which David said he enjoys. “[Gardening] is certainly one of the most fun things we do together,” David said.

Eisenberg’s friend, junior Jenny Olins, said she notices the bond between Eisenberg and his father. “They go in the spring to plant stores, and they go multiple times a month,” she said. “It’s pretty cute, him and his dad going together.”

Last year, Eisenberg’s family installed a new irrigation system in an effort to mitigate issues related to the shade around their house.

This installation permitted Eisenberg to expand the family garden and establish his own separate garden. “[The] vegetable garden is all me,” Eisenberg said.

In his garden, Eisenberg grows okra, eggplant, Chinese string beans and strawberries, among other fruits and vegetables.

Eisenberg said that while not all of his crops succeed, he enjoys experimenting with new plants. “We have always grown tons and tons of things and failed at tons and tons of things,” he said.

photos by Olivia Kennis

Eisenberg said he gained a love of gardening from his father, which prompted him to volunteer at the Newton Community Farm this summer.

Working in his personal garden, Eisenberg said he has also acquired new knowledge to add to his father’s lessons.

“It’s interesting … to see how you can make plants grow without a lot of sunlight,” Eisenberg said. “You can push the limits of plants.”

In addition to stretching their plants’ natural capabilities, Eisenberg and his sister, sophomore Naomi Eisenberg, joined together to plant hundreds of shade plants around their house.

Olins said that by spending time in both the family garden and his personal one, Eisenberg has acquired a vast knowledge of plants.

“Walking around with him, he will stop and talk about a plant he sees and tell you the scientific name of it,” she said.

According to David, Eisenberg’s knowledge comes from a strong work ethic and delight in gardening.

“He is unbelievably hardworking and meticulous … [and] gets tremendous satisfaction out of getting something to grow,” David said.

This past summer, Eisenberg took his skill set beyond the family garden, volunteering for approximately 15 hours each week at the Newton Community Farm.

Megan Talley, assistant

farmer at the Newton Community Farm, said Eisenberg’s early exposure to gardening made him an asset at the farm. “[His work was] beneficial because he already had background knowledge and already has a sense of working with plants,” Talley said.

In an environment similar to that of his family’s garden, Eisenberg spent his time working alongside others. Talley said that Eisenberg contributed positively to the group environment.

“He seemed to be very inclusive of other people. It was really mature,” Talley said. “He and another fellow would sing while they worked, which was

pretty excellent. It was nice to have communication and singing going on at work.”

David said that working at the Newton Community Farm gave Eisenberg a unique opportunity to augment his gardening knowledge.

“He learned [information about] organic gardening that I couldn’t teach him,” David said.

“It’s time he could learn beyond my skill set.”

David said that because Eisenberg now has his own garden and a greater knowledge of plants, family roles are shifting.

“For the 15 years before, he was helping me, and now I am helping him,” David said.

editorials volume 28

issue 4

page

november 10, 2011 • thelionsroar.com/editorials

The Cat’s

Meow by the Roar Staff

All the news that’s fit to print ... and then some!

Stembridge pulls fire alarm, punishes himself The newly installed security cameras, which have been a topic of much debate among the student body and administration, were put to use last week when Principal Joel Stembridge was caught pulling a fire alarm during school.

He gave himself a three-day in-school suspension and a stern reprimand. “This type of behavior is downright unacceptable,” he told himself. “No longer will I put up with such delinquency.” “Whatever dude,” he responded. “The man can’t hold me down.” Vice Principal Mary Scott was forced to intervene and break up the ensuing brawl between Stembridge and himself.

Bathtub crash wreaks havoc Several classrooms in Wheeler house were destroyed last Friday when an unknown student broke a bathtub on the fourth floor, leaking sewage throughout the building. Each student has been asked to contribute $20 to building repairs, pending the discovery of the perpetrator’s identity. Luckily, no students were injured, as they had all been evacuated earlier by a pulled fire alarm. “It’s really awful that somebody would do this,” senior S. Donny Van said. “Honestly, why do we even need bathtubs in the building?”

Underclassmen occupy senior commons, protest the 25 percent Campus aides broke up a peaceful sit-in the senior commons last week, drawing the ire of the occupying underclassmen who say they’re protesting commons inequality. “We are tired of the privileged elite,” freshman Cornel East said.

However, not all of the protesters seem united behind this message. “I’m here for lighter textbooks,” sophomore Naomi Chomsky said. Though diverse, the protests generally convey an anger about the disproportionate distribution of the Wheeler commons. “The top 25 percent of this school occupies 100 percent of the senior commons,” sophomore Paula Krugwoman said. “It’s unfathomable, that kind of inequality.”

After being kicked out, the protesters moved to the Goldrick commons, where they have set up a small community that includes a kitchen and a medic station. “It’s just a hot plate and a stack of band-aids,” junior Nicki Kristof said, “but it’s a start.”

14

Rachel’s Challenge discussion strives to expose varied perspectives, engage school community On Wednesday, Oct. 26, The Roar held an open forum for both students and teachers to discuss their reactions to Rachel’s Challenge.

As members of a high school newspaper, the editors at The Roar have countless dreams for our paper and its effect on our community.

One of our primary goals, one that we constantly strive to achieve, is to involve a range of perspectives and opinions in our paper, to give voice to as many sides of the story as we can.

Beyond that, we want to distribute a publication that everyone at South can relate to in some way.

In the past, we have acknowledged that the members of the newspaper comprise a somewhat homogenous sample of South’s community. We have acknowledged that this is a problem. We have thought about how to more fully incorporate underrepresented students, for as much as we consciously try to avoid bias in an article, it will inevitably seep in; our choices of interviewees and our questions will unavoidably belie our purpose.

Our Rachel’s Challenge discussion, however, was a step toward

remedying this problem. Although we were still hearing the views only of a concentrated sample, a group of people devoted enough to improving our school community to choose to attend our discussion, the perspectives that this group presented were quite diverse.

And even though there are innumerable nuanced opinions circulating around South that were not included in our discussion, we believe that the transcript we are publishing will promote not just the opinions expressed in it but even more: the importance of forming and standing by an opinion. To be a true asset to a community, a newspaper should not only report on where that community has been but influence where it is going. The Rachel’s Challenge presentation was too emotional to leave anybody who saw it without an immediate opinion or at least an immediate gut-reaction.

After hearing conversations throughout South in the days following Rachel’s Challenge, the editors at The Roar came to the conclusion that while Rachel’s Challenge could not force everyone to “be nice” in just one day, it could spark debates and bring to the

surface conversations that could, eventually, change the climate of South.

On The Roar, we want to develop sustainable opinions that, in turn, will develop our community and influence its future for the better. We also know that we, as journalists, have an opportunity to affect the future of our community.

Even though our 40-minute-long discussion may not directly or immediately change South’s attitude toward bullying, it encourages involvement in the school community. It encourages people to think about what they want out of South and reevaluate what they are getting out of South. Rachel’s Challenge stressed the importance of being active rather than passive; this applies to so much more than bullying.

As student journalists on The Roar, it is our responsibility to stimulate community activity. It is our duty to provide South community members with a medium through which to discuss ideas.

We aim to continue thisdiscussion, which has the potential to alter the atmosphere of our school in ways that an emotional presentation cannot.

What do you remember?

On Nov. 3, The Roar asked 100 students which details they remembered from Rachel’s Challenge

73%

remembered that there were 13 teardrops in Rachel’s drawing

29%

77%

remembered that there was a hand drawn behind Rachel’s dresser

remembered more than one of Rachel’s challenges remembered that the man who claimed remembered that the presentation to have seen Rachel’s drawing in a claimed Rachel’s idol was Anne Frank dream was from Ohio and the murderers’ was Adolf Hitler

49%

Editorial Policy

83%

The Lion’s Roar, founded in 1984, is the student newspaper of Newton South High School, acting as a public forum for student views and attitudes.

The Lion’s Roar’s right to freedom of expression is protected by the Massachusetts Student Free Expression Law (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 71, Section 82). All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of The Lion’s Roar in no way reflects the official policy of Newton South, its faculty, or its administration.

Editorials are the official opinion of The Lion’s Roar, while opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lion’s Roar. The Lion’s Roar reserves the right to edit all submitted content, to reject advertising copy for resubmission of new copy that is deemed acceptable by student editors, and to make decisions regarding the submission of letters to the editors, which are welcomed.

The Lion’s Roar is printed by Seacoast Newspapers and published every three weeks by Newton South Students. All of our funding comes from advertisers.

In-school distribution of The Lion’s Roar is free, but each copy of the paper shall cost one dollar for each copy more than ten (10) that is taken by any individual or by many individuals on behalf of a single individual. Violation of this policy shall constitute theft.

november 10, 2011

editorials

Editor discourages competition, asks students to pursue genuine interests

THE EDITOR’S DESK Emily Breuer Editor-in-Chief

I am a thinly stroked red circle with a diameter of approximately one centimeter. Surrounding me are green squares and red Xs, with a few blue, green and red diamonds mixed in. Seniors, you know what I am talking about, for we stare at ourselves in this form for far too long.

I am a data point on Naviance, the website used to research colleges based on statistics of past applicants from South. All the shapes around me are also data points, representations of past students’ test scores and GPAs. This tool on Naviance, the scattergram, is meant to help us in our college search, and it most certainly does — to some extent. I often find myself jumping from graph to graph of different colleges — it is almost as bad as Facebook-stalking. But after realizing that each circle, square, X and diamond actually represent a person’s individual work, the graph’s attractiveness immediately plummets.

Throughout the college application process, the ideas that data points represent people and that students are constantly compared to other students are magnified. Even after spending hours writing essays and creating résumés, we are all condensed into numbers.

we conducted an experiment in which Moreover, the fact that each of our pressure from others influenced people’s individual data points is compared both decisions. The experiment consisted of to others from our school and to othplaying a “game” with the objective of ers from around the nation diminishes throwing a quarter into a cup. people’s hard work when all around us On the floor were pieces of tape at are students who appear identical.

And this holds true for more that just various distances from the cup, reprecollege. Everyone at South has experienced senting the different number of points some sort of comparison, either in school one could earn by throwing the quarter or extracurriculars. They are unavoidable. into the cup from each location. After But comparing ourselves to others is not completing the experiment, we discussed its implications. necessarily a probAll four lem; the problem students who took arises when we act Everyone needs to choose part in the experifor the sole purpose classes, activities and pathways ment admitted that of setting ourselves pressure from the apart from others. that convey their own opinIn the highly others influenced ions, rather than others’ ideas. their choice of stressful and line from which to competitive atmothrow the quarter. sphere of South, Some said that they wanted to “show many students feel the need to take as many AP classes as possible or scrutinize off ” by throwing from the farthest line, even though they had less of a chance of minute differences in GPAs. We do not getting the quarter in the cup. Others said realize, however, that this is all unnecesthey threw from the front line to avoid sary. Everyone needs to follow his or the embarrassment of missing the cup. her desires, without thinking about the coming year or college. Everyone needs One student even said that had there not to choose classes, activities and pathways been people judging her, she would have that convey their own opinions, rather thrown the quarter from a different spot. than others’ ideas.

In each case, those participating compared themselves to others and Just last week in my psychology aimed for the highest score. In activities class, while learning about motivation,

Volume 28 The Lion’s Roar Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper The Lion’s Roar 140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

Editors-in-Chief Emily Breuer

Danny Gifford

Managing Editors Jessica Bolter

Ari Ebstein

Peter Haskin Ali Meisel

Section Editors Centerfold

Opinions

Joe Joseph James Wu

Julia Gron Peter Szabo

Anqi Gao Ravi Panse

Features

Community

News

Emily Ho Dipal Nagda

Jenny Friedland Kylie Walters

Yoonchan Choi

Sports

Dani Glasgow Victor Moisescu

Emma Loeb Julia Snider

Graphics Managers Ale Diaz Eleanor Richard

Faculty Advisers Brian Baron Ashley Elpern Paul Estin Thomas Murphy

15

Photo Managers Dylan Block Olivia Kennis

Distribution Manager Lauren Ashbrook

Business Manager RJ Hayes

Web Staff Jack Lovett Derek Mei

as trivial as this experiment and in more significant situations, we care so much about what other people think that we don’t realize what we actually want.

In order to understand just how much we compare ourselves to others, it is helpful to take a step back. Each week I work with kids with special needs at a Hebrew School, and every time I leave I feel that I have learned something new from them. The kids, who all have different disabilities, have class together.

They strive to do the best they can on their individual projects; they say what’s on their mind without thinking about how others will react; they interact with each other, even if they aren’t best friends. At South, these assets would keep in check our sense of competition. We need to forget about our classmate’s GPA that is 0.1 points higher than ours and be proud of all that we have accomplished.

We should make decisions based on our desires, not pressure from others.

If you are genuinely interested in taking five AP classes, then do so. If you actually want to apply to the most competitive colleges, then absolutely do so. And if you love the sport or club in which you participate, then by all means devote yourself to that activity. You will only succeed at what you do if you actually want to be doing it.

Join The Roar!

Monday J block Room 1201

Positions available for writers, editors, photographers, graphic designers and web designers

Love The Roar?

Hate The Roar?

Want to contribute? email srstaff@thelionsroar.com

SICK OF STRESS Students find that the constant pressure of excessive commitments is detrimental to their lifestyles, causing sleep deprivation, physical sickness and decreased efficiency.

By Julia Gron

I

t is common for senior Cecilia MacArthur to stay up through the early hours of the morning doing homework. This type of schedule, she said, has become the norm at South.

“We’ve been kind of desensitized, in a way, to a couple hours of homework; staying up until 1 [a.m.] is not necessarily overwhelming,” MacArthur said. Even so, she said, “People are generally overwhelmed.”

South psychologist Andrew Aspel said that students who are swamped with work often allow this work to affect their health. “There are a lot of students who are very overwhelmed by their academic work and are exhibiting significant amounts of stress,” Aspel said.

time to avoid health problems.

“If I don’t get my work done, I won’t get to sleep, and then eventually it’ll catch up with me and then I’ll get sick,” MacArthur said.

Junior Michael Kenny said he has also experienced the negative impact of stress on his health. Throughout the school year his symptoms of stress are headaches and fatigue, which have only increased since his recent

concussion. He said that stress is now interfering with his recovery. “The key point of recovery is cognitive rest, and in order to keep up with school I have to do a lot of work,” Kenny said.

“Doing so much work and not getting as much sleep as would be natural slowed down my recovery quite a bit.”

Although Kenny said he had the opportunity to

opt out of some school work because of his injury, he chose not to reduce his work to an amount that would benefit his recovery for fear of falling behind.

“Even though I was allowed to take tests off and whatnot, which I did a little bit, [not doing work] is not all that realistic,” Kenny said. “The work just piled on and caused more and more stress, which just made my head hurt more and more.”

Perils of procrastination

According to MacArthur, lack of sleep and stress can also cause decreased productivity and focus in the classroom. “There have been days when my eyes have been drooping, and I just can’t pay attention to what a teacher is saying,” MacArthur said.

Even at home, MacArthur said she sometimes finds it impossible to stay awake. “It’s a lot easier to stay awake in school because of the atmosphere than when you’re doing homework,” MacArthur said.

MacArthur currently takes five AP classes and plays volleyball on the school team.

MacArthur said she found a method to beat procrastination, however, by activating the computer application Self-Control. The application allows the user to create a list of websites that they cannot access for a predetermined amount of time.

Even so, MacArthur said she often finds herself overwhelmed by work.

For Kenny, who plays 20 hours of soccer a week in the fall, athletics help him beat procrastination. “Playing sports makes a big difference in procrastination because it’s the difference between getting home at 3 [p.m.] and getting home at 6 [p.m.],” Kenny said. “It eliminates any possibility of procrastination.”

Sophomore Amy Cohen agreed that sports help to increase productivity. “[In the] off-season you just go home and watch TV, and you have that mindset of, ‘Oh I’ll do it later,’” Cohen said. “But if you have a sport to play it’s strictly sport, homework, shower, bed,” she said.

Root of the problem

According to Aspel, making excessive commitments is the cause of most students’ stress. “Sometimes students will take on much more of an academic load then they can really manage,” he said. “They are taking on a high level of work and are participating in a lot of extracurricular activities and things like that, and they might be putting a lot of pressure on themselves to achieve exceptionally high grades.”

Junior David Rabinowicz said the main reason for over-scheduling is the pressure to appeal to college admission committees.

“If someone says, ‘Oh no, I’m taking honors English so that I’ll be able to speak eloquently because I want to do better on speech team,’ that is maybe an eighth true,” Rabinowicz said. “But I think it’s mostly because they know colleges like to see [AP and Honors courses].”

Beyond the pressure to appeal to colleges, Rabinowicz said he believes that students induce their own stress by procrastinating.

“In most cases, I think there was a lot of time that could have been put to completing these assignments that just wasn’t,” Rabinowicz said.

Aspel agreed that when students do not stay on top of their responsibilities, stress increases. “students decide that they want to take certain courses and that they want to have a certain workload,” Aspel said, “they really need to be aware of the amount of work that is going to be involved and … whether or not they can really manage it.”

When students are aware of their responsibilities, however, they can more easily avoid stress, according to Rabinowicz. “Students that sign up for a lot of AP classes or a lot of Honors classes, I think that they tend to know what they’re getting themselves in to,” Rabinowicz said. “Most of my friends who are taking all APs or all honors classes are people that can deal with a lot of stress without breaking,” he said.

Solution to Stress

Some adults at South have taken notice of the stressful atmosphere, which led to the creation of the Stress and Resilience Committee last year. According to co-chair Ryan Augusta, the committee looks for long-term solutions to student stress instead of short-term results.

“We’re not focusing as much on the stress part and alleviating the stress; [the focus] is really on how to build a resiliency to then develop skills to monitor student stress,” Augusta said.

Cohen said that she puts time aside to relax in order to counteract her stress. “I’ll just take a break to watch a TV show, go on the computer … [or] hang out with a friend,” Cohen said.

One long-term outcome of the Stress and Resiliency Committee, Augusta said, could be a greater understanding of not only how to deal with stress while in high school, but how to cope with it even after graduation. “[Stress is] just a part of life, no matter if you’re an adult, a student, a teenager,” Augusta said. “[Stress is] just something that we have to deal with, and for me, that resiliency part is, How do you deal with it?

Do you seek out help, do you spend an hour a day sitting and reading, or doing something that you enjoy?”

Health hazards

Stress, if not under control, can negatively affect students’ wellbeing. Lack of sleep is one result of stress and over-scheduling, which Rabinowicz said he has noticed.

“On Facebook ... I saw one post that said, ‘Is anyone else pulling an all-nighter to finish this assignment that some teacher gave us,’ and there were … comments that said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m with you,’” Rabinowicz said. “It was one night, and there were so many people awake.”

Whether students are staying up until midnight or not going to sleep at all, the course loads that some take on paired with extracurricular activities prove too demanding. The excess amount of work then adds more stress because students are pressed to finish their work in a set amount of

photos by Dylan Block

18

thelionsroar.com/centerfold

centerfold

High tech, low stress

Many teachers use online resources to better organize and diversify assignments, as well as to easily communicate with students. have down time; we should be disconnected at times.”

In addition to using Turnitin for homework assignSr. Centerfold Editor ments, some teachers use the Internet as a medium for With the advent of new Internet educational redistributing homework. Psychology and history teacher sources, teachers have been turning to the Internet as a Sean Turley has his students download files containing resource for both homework and enrichment materials. videos, online readings and scholarly articles for nightly For some students, the stricter due dates and 24/7 availhomework. ability that accompanies online homework is a burden, but Before exclusively using the Internet for assignfor many others, it is a way to stay organized and reduce ments, Turley said he would hand out printed materials, stress. which he said was time consuming and created a mess For sophomore Emily Kaufman, who uses the antiof papers for students to keep track of. “I don’t rememplagerism site Turnitin.com for her English and history ber having any flexibility in terms of what was assigned classes, technological resources are useful. or what I could do,” Turley said. “It was literally just the “I like [Turnitin] because it definitely reduces stress,” textbook.”

Kaufman said. “[Turnitin] helps you make your paper the Turley said he wants to increase his students’ best it can be.” literacy in media by giving homework online. “When stuKaufman said the peer editing and anti-plagiarism dents go out into the real world, they aren’t engaging with aspects of Turnitin are helpful, but textbooks. They’re engaging with there are drawbacks as well. “Last videos and media and YouTube year, my history teacher had a lot of and articles online,” Turley said.

I like [Turnitin] because deadlines on Turnitin on Friday, and “It’s skills that they’re all going that was really hard,” Kaufman said. it definitely reduces stress to need, but it’s also something “My classmates and I had to alter our they’re already familiar with.” ... [and] helps make your schedules outside of school … so it Senior Evan Balmuth said wouldn’t be late.” that Turley’s online homework paper the best it can be.

According to history teacher assignments are both useful and - Emily Kaufman, Class of 2014 and stress committee member Marcia enjoyable. “I really like how we Okun, online deadlines allow teachers have learned psychology not from to be more generous with due dates, the textbook but from primary thus reducing the amount of student stress. Okun, who gives sources, case studies and through pop culture,” Balmuth her students seven days to complete journal assignments, said. “It is easier for people to absorb information, at requires them to submit their papers on Sunday. least it is for me, so the time doing the homework goes by “If I wasn’t going to have it done Sunday evening, then faster.”

I would have it due the Friday before, which would be more Senior Kj Brownell, however, said online assignstressful,” Okun said. ments are more difficult to complete. “It’s a bit harder to Since teachers can assign homework online at any read material online,” Brownell said. “There is more to time of the day, Kaufman said she feels the need to check distract you … I prefer reading things on paper.” websites such as Turnitin and Moodle, an application that Brownell said some aspects of doing work online, allows teachers to make their own educational sites, more however, are advantageous. “Using technology in other frequently. ways, such as Google docs, has decreased stress because “That was really hard because they would give the there is less pressure to do everything in class,” Brownell assignment an hour or two before we would go to bed,” said.

Kaufman said. “I thought that was really unfair.”

According to Okun, the benefits of assigning work Although she takes advantage of online resources, online will continue as long as teachers understand the Okun said the prevalence of technology increases the exscope of students’ capabilities online. “The amount of aspectations students have of teachers. “One of the problems sets and information that we have is only a problem if we with technology is that there is this mentality that [teachhave the mindset that students need to know everything ers] should be reachable 24/7,” Okun said, “We should and learn everything that is out there,” Okun said.

Peter Szabo

Do any of your teachers assign homework that must either be downloaded or completed online?

On Oct. 25 The Roar surveyed 168 students about their thoughts on technology use in classes.

81% Yes

19% No photo illustration by Olivia Kennis

november 10, 2011

centerfold

Boise, Idaho Students are required to take an online class in high school

Ramona, California Schools Use iPod Touches for memorization and math activities

Cook County, Illinois school district gives free iPads to high school freshmen

Huntsville, Alabama First graders hold yardsales to help pay for technology

Statistics on Stress On Oct. 25, The Roar surveyed 168 students on the main sources and repercussions of stress in their lives.

Procrastination: 72%

19

20

opinions

Arts Review Going GAGA for

ADELE Adele’s authenticity trumps Lady Gaga’s over-the-top persona Joe Busaba

Opinions Contributor Our generation is often criticized for not producing any real musical talent. With auto-tune and the way fame has developed, it’s hard to tell who is actually talented and whether their talent is well deserved.

In this oft-criticized political landscape, two stars, Adele and Lady Gaga, have recently come to dominate.

Adele and Lady Gaga have very different ways of dealing with fame; they show off their talents in very different ways, and this year, the two dominated the American Music Award nominations for very different reasons.

It says a lot about our generation that these two very different artists are standing at the top.

Although she has been around longer than Adele, Lady Gaga rose to stardom relatively quickly. In a 2008 episode of MTV’s “The Hills,” Lauren Conrad’s boss informs her that she has to go to a shoot for, “some girl named Lady Gaga.”

constantly trying to outdo herself with antics such as dressing up as a man for the 2011 VMA awards.

Her music videos don’t make any sense, and her most recent album was really nothing impressive. If she is so talented, why does she need ridiculous costumes, products under her name and political involvement to stay relevant? In my opinion, Lady Gaga isn’t really about the music anymore.

I do, however, respect Lady Gaga for staying discreet despite her fame. She manages to stay relevant and popular without oversharing the extremely personal details of her family and love life.

Adele has followed a path completely different than Lady Gaga’s. Her music is extremely straightforward and real, and fans have gravitated to that realness.

Her most impressive trait is her voice, which sounds the same live

Adele’s Hits •Rolling in the Deep •Chasing Pavements •Someone Like You •Rumour Has It Lady Gaga has used many media to reach her fans. She recently became the most followed person on Twitter, and her Facebook page has 44 million “likes.”

She has also come to be known as an artist who aims to shock; with her dramatic performances and outlandish wardrobe, she seems to be achieving her goal.

I used to be a fan of hers, but I feel like Lady Gaga has become extremely arrogant. She has come to give her opinion on political matters like the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and she seems to think she is responsible for its repeal.

In addition, Lady Gaga is

“Spelling Bee” cast puts on an excellent performance

Dana Cohen-Kaplan Arts Review Column

It is without any kind of bias, in any form whatsoever, that I applaud the South Stage production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” I would even go so far as to say that it was my favorite South Stage production I have ever been to. With references to instant classics like “My Unfortunate Erection” (we’ve all been there) and (Life Is) “Pandemonium,” in addition to the sharp, edgy dialogue, I found

my cheeks sore from laughing.

Composed of a cast with varying ranges of previous South Stage experience, the play chronicles the issues that the participants battle and conquer during the nerve-wracking and competitive 25th annual Spelling Bee in Putnam. Every single cast member was stellar, and I didn’t catch a single mistake, nice job guys.

Personal highlights include Jeremy Oshins’ hilarious performance as William Barfee (pronounced Bar-fay, mind you), Sean Dimarco’s colorful representation of Leaf Coneybear (who reminded me of myself, minus the heelies), Emily Ho’s character, Marcy Park, who speaks six languages and (actually!) plays the piano and Alex Levy’s crisp and hysterical part as vice-prinicipal Panch, some of whose lines had me doubting that the play had been scripted for the

as it does on the record.

Adele is also much more stripped-down than Lady Gaga; her vocals speak for themselves (maybe not so much recently, given her recent cancellation of a US tour due to voice problems).

Her performances aren’t shows or theatrics, just a venue for fans to gather and hear her music.

Unlike Lady Gaga, Adele’s music videos tend to be clear-cut and simple. Her most recent one for “Someone Like You” is in black and white and consists solely of her walking down a London street while singing. Cut to Lady Gaga’s music video for “Telephone,” in which she makes hamburgers in jail with Beyoncé.

Both Lady Gaga and Adele are young, which seems to be something viewers look for nowadays. Both are passionate about their music and, despite their different approaches to success,

have managed to stand on top of a multimillion-dollar industry.

It seems like appreciation for Adele and her music is a more recent development, a backlash against Lady Gaga’s overdramatic stage performances and need to make political statements any chance she can. If the nomina-

Lady Gaga’s Hits

sensitive, rich, white, suburban ears of the audience. Last but not least, Ms. Hannah Dober performed excellently, no matter what she thinks. With stunning vocals, she hit notes that I haven’t heard since puberty.

Joel, you were alright. Maybe we should be giving you words of the week. Vigintillion is the first one.

Though I had never heard of this play before this production, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I found the themes to be relevant and reminiscent of my middle school years. Back in the day, I was a bee champion as well (you were good, Jeff, but as long as I’m around, you’ll always be second best). A developing romance between two cunning linguists pleasantly thickens the plot; their nerdy idiosyncrasies and affinity for wordplay was just adorable.

Another aspect, an anomaly to the

•Edge of Glory •Poker Face •Paparazzi •Born This Way tions in the 2011 AMAs say anything, it is that we have a dynamic generation that enjoys many kinds of music, and isn’t all about over-the-top celebrities. People have begun to show respect for real talent and artists who should be recognized for what music is really about.

rigorously rehearsed performances of the usual, was the flavorful element of audience participation. Guest stars included our very own Principal Stembridge, junior Noah Rivkin and arts department head Jeff K-no-edd-lurr. Their impromptu performances offered a switch from the usual, and it was good fun to watch them squirm on stage. Good ol’ jokes at the expense of others – you can’t beat it.In addition to the unexpected response of us non-performing lesser folk, the actors themselves threw in a bit of improvisation to spice things up. I commend you, quick thinkers.

Unfortunately, the play stopped viewing weeks ago, but if you’re lucky you can hit up the delayed encore that I’m sure the cast will graciously agree to put on.

Otherwise, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

opinions volume 28

issue 4

november 10, 2011• thelionsroar.com/opinions

page

21

Missing 99% of the Story Students must witness the Occupy protests firsthand to gain a complete perspective on the nature of the movement.

Lee Schlenker

Opinions Contributor

A

bout a month ago, some friends and I ventured into Boston with the hopes of better understanding the Occupy movements that have swept across the country.

Having only heard of the wheat-beer-drinking, bong-ripping radicals who marched around aimlessly in misguided rage, I tried to enter the afternoon a nonpartisan and objective observer – perhaps I’d speak with some of the protestors about their concerns, hold a sign or two that would express my personal qualms, eat some free food and then finally be able to reflect on what I had experienced.

At first, I secretly thought that our journey would validate the accounts of savagery, disorganization and impudence that the media has presented to characterize the Occupiers. I found, however, that the media protrayed the movement in its worst light. Although there was a fair number of bumbling, stoned hippies floating around the encampment, the people there were generally concerned and participatory citizens trying to legitimize a crusade whose initial message had been perverted and distorted from its original context.

Upon arriving at Dewey Square, my friends and I were pleasantly surprised by the people’s outwardness and camaraderie. Everywhere we turned, there was a wealth of ideas and somebody to speak and debate with. Nobody would turn us away when we politely questioned their steadfast beliefs.

We continued on, weaving around tents and making our way from booth to booth. Each one provided more information on how unique and innovative ideologies can rid America of its corrupt and inherently unequal nature. There were some interesting propos-

photo illustration by Jay Sobel

Before judging the Occupy Boston protestors, one must personally interact with them and discover their individual beliefs instead of following generalizations.

als that made me step aside and think for a bit, although other voices I heard were sadly either imprecise or unrealistic. Take for example the “Anarcho-Communist” 20-something who claimed that the reform efforts of the past 200 years have done no good for America’s most impoverished, or the near-death advocate of “home rule” policies. His initiatives seemed valid until the sign behind his head calling for the elimination of the Supreme Court and Social Security forced me to discredit anything he said.

Not only were the crazies a clear minority at Dewey Square, but their seemingly outrageous proposals were overshadowed by the organization, ingenuity and surprising professionalism of those who tried to pull in the reins and take command of the demonstration.

One of my friends and I went off for about half an hour to sit in on a group of students, community journalists

and media and film majors planning to create the Occupy Boston Globe, a daily newspaper and webcast to highlight the movement and its direction and stream live

in the trenches. We found out that they had been helping a woman from Detroit cook and prepare fruit salads for anybody who wanted them at no price.

you aren’t going to go out now and join the ranks.

(Please don’t; I’d get too many angry messages from parents.)

But before forming

It’s not fair to denounce a cause because of what you’ve heard on TV. video online from the protest site. The group was operating near the media tent, which housed a tireless staff of tech gurus who were providing the Occupiers with a forum through which they could gain publicity and coverage.

Also next to the group meeting was the logistics tent, which provided the diehards with pens, markers, paper, poster board, water, sunscreen and other valuables to sustain their efforts.

Better yet, as we were off listening to ways to spread Occupy’s message, my two other friends were working to provide for those

More than just a disgruntled group of unemployed and under-compensated, those who constitute the Occupy movement are part of a functional, self-sufficient community, washing each others’ dirty clothes, passing out medical and sanitation supplies and sharing the land and its resources.

It may seem a valid characterization that the Occupiers have no unifying vision, as FOX and other news institutions like to claim, but they know exactly what they want; they just have no feasible way to achieve it.

I know that most of

your opinion about Occupy Wall St. ­— or any other protest, idea or set of beliefs for that matter — you must familiarize yourself with its constituency and basic tenets.

It’s not fair to denounce an effort or a cause because of what you’ve heard on TV or read in the newspaper; you have to go out and experience it firsthand.

I’m not going to tell you how to react to Occupy Wall St., but before you go rattling off the pitfalls and impracticalities of its rhetoric, you must do your research. Then, analyze and criticize as much as you like.

graphic by Ale Diaz

22

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opinions

photo by James Wang

Removal of the school Wi-Fi password would allow students to study at any location in the building, instead of confining them to the library computers.

Wi-Fi password poses unnecessary challenges John Deng

Opinions Contributor I have five minutes. My printer ran out of ink last night, and I emailed my essay to myself to print at school. Running into the library, I check for any free computers. No luck. Three minutes left.

I glance over one last time and spot the back of my friend’s head. I ask him if I can use his computer to print something, and I have my essay in my hand when the bell rings. Catastrophe averted.

South has a few dozen computers available to students, almost all of which are in the library. There are too few computers to effectively serve the

approximately 1,700 students.

Every time I walk into the library, either during a free block or before school, the computers are almost always completely occupied. If you don’t get there right at the beginning of the block, you’re out of luck. Waiting for a new computer can take ages, as the computers take about five minutes to log into your account and another few minutes to boot up the Internet and Microsoft Word.

South uses a filter by Barracuda Networks to limit the sites that students can access at school.

It’s undoubtedly successful, as I have seen countless frustrated students trying and failing to check if they have any new notifications on Facebook.

Barracuda Networks places a ban on various inappropriate sites on all computers, whereas the Cisco Wireless Network demands a password for a student to access the Internet from a laptop or smartphone.

I can’t say I disagree with the block on Facebook and other related sites, but I strongly disagree with the password requirement for the Cisco Wireless Network.

We live in an age where the majority of students has a laptop available, so why is a password necessary to access Wi-Fi? Without the password, students could hop onto their laptops wherever and do what they need to, whether that means opening an email or doing

Newton Problems NewtonProblems SophieJonJasper

All my clothes are from Urban, and people still don’t think I’m artsy. #newtonproblems 3 minutes ago

NewtonProblems SophieJonJasper

No one asked me to semi OR prom freshman year.

homework. Allowing students to use the Internet on their laptops would make the school computers available for those who need to print documents and for other purposes.

Not everyone uses the computers for printing; many students use them for doing research or typing up essays, all of which can be done on their own computers.

Sometimes we forget that some students do not have access to a computer or the Internet at home. They really need easy access to school computers, and allowing more students to use their laptops will free up space for them to use the school computers.

If the Cisco Wireless Net-

work password is removed, the block from Barracuda Networks would remain in place, so websites the school currently blocks will remain blocked.

In reality, acquiring the password isn’t as hard as it sounds; anyone can ask around for it. It’s almost common knowledge among tech-savvy individuals. But for every student who can circumvent the Cisco Wireless Network password, there is another who is forced to use a school computer.

The sad fact is that in the end, some students will never be able to access the Wi-Fi at school.

Just kidding guys; I would never do that to you. The username is “guest,” and the password is “G0ldr1cK.”

by Jasper Barbash-Taylor, Sophie Forman and Jon Stricker NewtonProblems SophieJonJasper

My Chobani yogurt exploded in my Longchamp bag. #newtonproblems 8 minutes ago NewtonProblems SophieJonJasper

Starbucks was out of non-fat milk.

#newtonproblems 4 minutes ago

#newtonproblems 10 minutes ago

NewtonProblems SophieJonJasper

NewtonProblems SophieJonJasper

I had to take the bus to school. #newtonproblems 6 minutes ago

I got an 89 on my test, and my teacher wouldn’t bump it up to a 90. #newtonproblems 15 minutes ago

opinions

november 10, 2011

New Turnitin policy conflicts with South values Lauren Forrow Opinions Contributor

South’s new reliance on the antiplagiarism site Turnitin.com is less than ideal. I understand that there have been instances of plagiarism at South in the past, and there most likely will

be more in the future. But requiring students to submit their work to a website that scans it and checks for originality is not the way to go about preventing plagiarism.

For students who work hard to come up with their own work, it is an insult. Students are presumed guilty until proven innocent; we’re taught to trust our teachers, but how can we if they don’t trust us? It’s a two-way street.

Like most other websites, Turnitin is driven by the desire to make a profit. One paper from one student may not make a huge difference in Turnitin’s bottom line, but the thousands of papers submitted by

students do and will. Schools have to pay to use the website.

According to Techlearning.com, Turnitin makes $2 per student. South has about 1700 students, which amounts to roughly $3400.

Turnitin’s database grows with every paper uploaded, allowing the site to more effectively find plagiarism and drive up its cost.

Turnitin has flaws in its functioning; the site has flagged “Martin Luther King Jr.” as possible plagiarism.

In addition, there is the chance that students who actually do plagiarize might get away with it.

The system can’t access some sites such as “The New York Times” website without a subscription to the newspaper.

Turnitin says that it is subscribed to a large number of online newspapers and journals, but it obviously can’t subscribe to them all.

Considering how many different sites there are on the Internet, this is understandable, but it also provides a means for students to submit completely

plagiarized work without getting caught.

Using Turnitin may be better for the environment than printing and handing in hard copies, but if that’s the main reason to use it, why not just make it mandatory to e-mail papers to teachers?

This policy would eliminate any use of paper, and teachers could just e-mail students back with comments.

Furthermore, teachers wouldn’t have to worry about organizing piles of student papers, and work wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle or put in the wrong place.

Does using Turnitin help prevent plagiarism? Probably. Does it help most teachers spot plagiarized work? Yes. I do not believe, however, that catching a few students cheating is worth compromising South’s values, which is what Turnitin ultimately does.

South’s website says that South “fosters selfconfidence and success for all learners.”

I feel neither confident nor successful about school when my teachers think it is necessary to use a computer program to ensure that I’m not cheating.

While Turnitin may have its uses, South should strive to create a better atmosphere than the demeaning one Turnitin offers. graphics by David Gorelik

“The Osbournes” fills a void in current pop culture Allie Haber & Hannah Leikin

British accent, while dressed in a gloomy yet psychedelic get-up. The show features Ozzy performing everyday challenges such as turning on the TV, getting dressed and making a sandwich.

“The Osbournes” revolves around his family life, particularly that of his ultra-spunky yet eager elf of a wife, Sharon.

She is a mélange of doting British mother and wife of rockstar with zero inhibitions. She is a minivan driving soccer mum on the exterior, while her interior presents an aggressive wild child with a vulgar vernacular.

and stumbles around the house swearing to herself. Though in a constant haze, she often bickers with her younger brother Opinions Contributors Jack, “the Accident Child.” A faux-gothic Upon dissecting and reflecting upon teenager who also struggles with narcottoday’s pop culture, we essentially had an ics, Jack complements Kelly perfectly in epiphany: the ‘90s and early 2000s were constant duels over the remote. awesome, and we need them back — imThis politically incorrect family mediately. Our nation currently suffers provided viewers with conversations so from bad rappers, sub-par fresh meat in explicit that the family was flooded with the acting world and generally disappointbleeps as well as crude interactions with ing television. Creativity, spunk and talent, real humans outside their home. where’d you guys go? Please come back.

There was also a third Osbourne Remember when reality TV was child, Amy, who refused to partake in some sort of a foreign the madness and was not experiment? Before all of featured on the show. this “Rock of Love” and This series was so “Jersey Shore” nonsense, successful because of its TV candidly filmed acnonexistent plot lines and tual freaks on leashes, not off-beat subjects. Viewers minimally dressed posers primarily tuned in to watch hoping to achieve fame.

Sharon pull juvenile hijinks, In 2002, MTV was retell stories of Rock and lucky enough to create a Roll life in the ‘70s and disshow with a very quespense nonsensical advice to tionable, yet entertaining, her two angsty children. clan of weirdos: “The Do you miss this type Osbournes.” This show of TV yet? Underneath all was the bomb; it had evthis chaos and inapproprierything one would ever ate subject matter, Ozzy graphic by Eleanor Richard want to view on the silver Osbourne was the star of Shows like “The Osbournes” are vastly superior to the trite ones that air today. the show and Sharon emscreen.

Ozzy, the patriarch bodied the spunk. This is the of the Osbourne family, is a washed-up These two crazies produced two kind of show that does not currently exist, rockstar who once gave us nightmares other crazies: Kelly and Jack Osbourne. though networks are bursting at the seams because he bit the head off a bat in the Kelly is basically an angsty and with reality TV. We’re grateful for this ‘80s. After decades of debilitating drug confused drug addict, complete with a lip brief golden era in TV, but we can’t help use, the utterly inarticulate father would piercing and pink hair. but mourn its demise. Honestly guys, this storm around his house, stumbling in a She, too, wears sunglasses indoors show had everything... YouTube it.

Inna’s Kitchen offers great Jewish cuisine

23

Jake Abramson & Jonah Reider Food’n’Stuff

Klezmer music fills the restaurant, sending visible sound waves rippling through the membranous exterior of the potato knish. Our heads throb with passion as the sweet sounds of both clarinet and sizzling onions wash away our sorrows.

To add to the atmosphere is the extremely unpretentious and chillax vibe set by the two most gracious hosts of our time, Alexander and Inna. Alex, or should we say Xander, has a moustache as luscious as his gluten-free cupcakes.

Inna’s Kitchen is Newton Centre’s first Jewish cuisine establishment in ages.

With timeless classics like Shuba (visually appealing layers of herring, potato, beets, carrots and egg), stuffed cabbage (stuffed with beefy onions) and kasha (an Eastern European grain with celery, carrots and onions), you are sure to feel like a rabbi with every bite.

Check out Inna’s kitchen.

It is of a caliber similar to Six Flags or Todd English’s restaurants.

Practically everything is homemade at Inna’s. They buy only ketchup, bread and pickles. Even so, at Inna’s, wholesome quality is a priority. Their bread, vegetables and other ingredients come from smiling people like you and me.

From the falafel (made from scratch with dried chickpeas) to the corned beef (corned in-house by artisan chefs), everything is delicious.The falafel is squishy, green and hot — just how I like it.

When positioned ball to ball and surrounded by an array of salads — creamy hummus, pickled cabbage and fresh lettuce, encompassed in a pita wrap — it is fit for the affluent.

Bear in mind, however, that one need not be affluent to indulge in Inna’s juicy offerings. I felt like a duke when the corned beef, that savory, richly cured slice of cow, positioned itself upon my tongue.

I felt as though my toenails were made of gold. It was as tender as Adam Sandler. The super-thin ribbon was sensational and full of complex tastes. There was definitely a lot of umami in there.

My umami sensors, as usual, were off the charts. Speaking of charts, the menus were delightful to look at, handmade with cute handwriting and vibrant colors.

The only bad thing was that my stuffed cabbage was hot on the outside and cold on the inside.

This difference in temperature was as jarring as that time I discovered hundreds of autumn squirrels taking refuge in my bed. I went to bed and was shocked to be eaten alive by the rabid, furry acornmunchers. That was a jarring experience.

His moustache quivering in the mountain wind, Alex bade farewell to us.

Check out Inna’s Kitchen. It is of a caliber similar to Six Flags or Todd English’s restaurants.

24

thelionsroar.com/opinions

opinions

Seniors Lindsey Walters and Stephanie Li explore problems students have with language and possible ways to prevent them.

Lindsey Walters Opinions Contributor

I have been to countless college information sessions at which the first thing an admissions officer said was, “Proofread your application.” Unless you are under the age of 10, people will always expect you to have decent grammar, and you would do yourself a disservice to pretend otherwise.

The popular argument that “what you say is more important than how you say it” is flawed. Although the philosophy behind this statement is valid, in reality, content cannot be deemed more important than form.

What you say and how you say it are intrinsically connected. The very purpose of language is to communicate, and the way you say something determines the way it’s received by others. Ultimately, grammar and sentence structure, the “how” of the equation, are just as important as “what” you’re actually saying.

In December 2010, The New York

Times published an article on the front page of what was then the “Week in Review” with the giant heading, “If Bill Clinton was President.” I inadvertently devalued what was objectively a rather good article because I couldn’t see past the mistake in the headline. If the editors of The Times couldn’t catch such a glaring error in subjunctive mood, what other mistakes had they let slip past?

This one, relatively trivial error made me question the integrity of an entire publication.

I still read and appreciate The Times, though, and I don’t mean to suggest we should completely write it off.

Similarly, I have a friend who has an Ivy-league degree and whose intelligence I respect a lot, but every time he says, “Will you come to dinner with my friend and I?” I have to resist the urge to kill myself.

Clearly his inaccurate pronoun use doesn’t detract from his character, but if he were speaking to people who did not already know him, they might

Stephanie Li

Opinions Contributor

E by hic grap

Language. The building block of society. The basis of communication and self-expression. The unifying factor for mankind.

The beauty of language is that it is a science, a history and an art. Linguists study the scientific rules and regulations behind all languages. Language provides insight on a nation’s or civilization’s culture. Poets and novelists can use language to depict the most ordinary of objects through different lenses.

Whether it is through written works of art or day-today chats, language permeates every aspect of society. In his novel “1984,” George Orwell even suggests that language is tied to thought.

We think in terms of words, and words allow us to express our thoughts. If such a relationship between language and thought exists, then in what ways do words limit our ideas?

In his novel “Beatrice and Virgil,” Yann Martel writes,

rR no lea

i

ch ar da nd

Al e D

iaz

think he is not as smart as he actually is.

We are entering a world of job and college interviews where we hope to present ourselves in the best possible light. There is obviously so much more to each of us than we are able to convey in the short amount of time and space we have in a job interview or college application, but speaking eloquently and correctly

“Words are cold, muddy toads trying to understand sprites dancing in a field.” The muddy toads will never have the beauty and elegance of the sprites; likewise, words may get at only the gist of thoughts and experiences.

Although language can satisfy us on a practical, day-today level, there are times when it simply cannot capture the beauty, power and complexity of our thoughts.

Even for a great author like Martel, it is impossible to truly “master” language. Sometimes, words cannot capture even many basic feelings and instincts.

While we certainly can improve the way we use language, it’s possible that language will still constrict our range of thought.

The quality of our thoughts is determined by the quality of language we use to express them. As English speakers, we have a wide variety of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs at our disposal. In order to express complex ideas, we must learn to

conveys just as much to your audience about your intelligence as “what” you’re saying.

I recognize that in writing this article, I’m basically inviting the entire school to take a red pen to my life. Anything I say is probably going to be picked apart and underlined after this is published, but I don’t mean to claim I have perfect grammar (that would be ridiculous). I do, however, think we should strive for perfect grammar and not write it off as a thing of the past.

wield words with subtler meanings than “good,” “bad” and the other simplistic words that make up Orwell’s “Newspeak.”

Writing in general lends itself to a host of frustrating scenarios. When I’m writing English essays, I occasionally have ideas that I’m just dying to write about.

I fill the document with my ideas, quotations and analysis, but when I go back and read what I wrote, it is one of the worst things I have ever written.

The piece would suddenly seem vague, simple and clichéd, nowhere near my original vision.

The thoughts bubbling around in our heads can be brought to life only with language and words.

Without some mastery over language, even the greatest ideas can become limited and restricted.

For this reason, many politicians end up relying on speechwriters to convey their thoughts and plans. From bills to cam-

paign speeches, without motivating and clear rhetoric, politicians are unable to move audiences to vote for them. Obama’s campaign speeches and Kennedy’s famous inaugural address, at the time, asserted immense power and influence over the public simply because of the way they used language.

While words may be unable to perfectly convey ideas, they can certainly come close to our original visions.

Through language, we are able to share our ideas and thoughts with others. In order to spread all the rich ideas floating around in our minds, we must continue to grapple, fight and play with language.

The real treasure in language is being able to communicate with friends, family — or even audiences.

Each person expresses and interprets language in unique and inspiring ways.

Without that quality of language, our ideas decline until they are merely muddy toads trying to understand sprites dancing in a field.

community volume 28

issue 4

november 10, 2011 • thelionsroar.com/community

page

25

photos by Yoonchan Choi

Savaas Illiades and Kostas Sarantopoulos founded the Farm Grill Rotisserie after immigrating to America; the popular Newton restaurant now serves a wide range of customers.

Local restaurant offers warm environment Yoonchan Choi Sr. Community Editor

Greek immigrants Savaas Illiades and Kostas Sarantopoulos, disappointed by the quality of restaurants they frequented, took matters into their own hands in 1992. “[Illiades and I] like to go out and eat well. Most places we went to were not really satisfying,” Sarantopoulos said. “So one day, we said, ‘We’re going to open our own place, Mediterranean and Greek.’”

Founders of Farm Grill Rotisserie, Sarantopoulos and Illiades dreamed of starting their own restaurant early on, when they both immigrated to the United States in 1974 and worked together in different restaurants.

The restaurant has since grown from two immigrants’ dream to a reality.

Located on Needham St., the restaurant now draws customers from all around the area.

“Although it’s really out of the way, I come when I can,” Roslindale resident Michelle Termine said. “Today [my coworkers and I] were doing some errands in the area, and I said, ‘We have to go to this place.’”

According to Illiades, Farm Grill is a “real family business.” Alexi Illiades, Illiades’ son, now works as a chef and is a co-owner of the restaurant his father created.

“The business now goes from the father to the son,” Illiades said. “That’s why we give customers good quality food.”

Sarantopoulos said that he and Illiades have become very close over the years.

“Little by little, [Illiades and I]

became very good friends, and we tied the terranean. We have a blended cuisine: a nice combination.” friendship with this restaurant,” SarantoIlliades said Mediterranean-style poulos said. “We became family.” cooking has distinct traits that a diverse Today, the immigrant-founded restaurant is run by immigrants from all over crowd can enjoy. “[Mediterranean-style cookthe world. ing] means the food has lots of veggies, “We’re from Egypt, Brazil, Guatefish and meat combined,” he said. “It’s mala, el Salvador, Albania, Eritrea, Peru,” healthy; combining meats and veggies employee Sandro Gomes said, “and of gives balance to your diet.” course Greece.”

SarantoGomes said that poulos said all the the different backdifferent ingredigrounds of the emSometimes we fight, ents are as fresh as ployees sometimes present obstacles sometimes we misunder- possible in order to create the best when working tostand, but nothing can dishes. gether.

“All the stuff “Everyone is break the relationship. comes fresh from from a very different - Sandro Gomes, employee the farm to the grill culture and custom, and the rotisserie,” so it’s very difficult he said. “Nothing sometimes to have 100 percent good relationship,” he said. “For comes [pre-made] from outside; everything example, some jokes are okay and funny to is cooked here, even the desserts.”

Many customers agreed with Saranone person, but offensive to another person topoulos and Illiades that the variety and from a different culture.” quality of the food is a big “draw factor” Gomes said, however, that he enjoys for Farm Grill. and benefits from the cultural experience.

“The food is consistently good, and “It’s like a big family. Sometimes there’s a nice variety,” customer Elaine we fight, sometimes we misunderstand, Sandler said. “I can always get different but nothing can break the relationship,” things; I love that.” he said. “I learn something different from Sandler said that the scope of cusother countries and cultures.” tomers is wide.

Sarantopoulos said there are other benefits to having a diverse staff at Farm “I know people that come in from Grill. the South Shore because they enjoy this,” “Everybody put their own style to the she said. food,” he said. “We have a chef that knows Sarantopoulos said that the food at Mediterranean cuisine very well because Farm Grill also reflects the family nature of the restaurant. he’s from Egypt, so he’s able to blend the “The cooking is like old recipes Greek with the Middle Eastern and Medi-

from the families; sometimes we sample my mom,” Sarantopoulos said. “Every day we have different cooking from different family recipes.”

Termine agreed with Sarantopoulos that the dishes are both diverse and highquality.

“It’s more like home cooking than takeout food,” she said.

Senior Jackie Poster said that meals at Farm Grill are different from the other foods students typically get at other restaurants.

“It’s not really fast food, but it’s quick and tasty,” she said. “They make your food in front of you, so you can see what goes in your food.”

According to Sarantopoulos, the layout of the building that he and Illiades created also adds to the restaurant’s character.

“This place took two years to renovate,” he said. “[We] wanted to gave this open Greek-style, windows all around so everybody can eat comfortable and have a view.”

Their efforts to create an open environment do not go unnoticed by customers.

Termine said she goes to Farm Grill whenever she can, and that one of the reasons she appreciates the restaurant is the decor. “It’s spotless in here, and it’s so bright, so it has a great, clean atmosphere,” she said.

Termine said the food’s quality, restaurant’s atmosphere and staff ’s friendliness adds up to create a special experience for customers.

“It’s like you’re eating at your Greek grandmother’s,” Termine said.

november 10, 2011

community

Theater artists use the rehearsal process as an extensive journey of discovering — and ultimately becoming — a character.

Character is standing up for what I believe in and being there for my family and friends in times of need.

photo courtesy of Matt Siegel

photo courtesy of Matt Stern

Matt Stern Musical Director

Character is an interesting and important concept in the work I do. In my work as a music director for theater, character might refer to the individual someone portrays on a stage.

In theater, we often talk about “finding a character” — making a commitment to the piece of art that we’re creating as a team. Theater artists use the rehearsal process as an extensive journey of discovering — and ultimately becoming — a character.

Because members of the audience simply see the final product when they

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watch the show, it may not occur to them that the actors on stage have had nothing more than the text of the script to work with in creating and portraying people who have their own idiosyncrasies, pasts, feelings, desires and dreams.

But character also refers to how we act, and who we truly are.

When working on any kind of collaborative performance, it’s just as important to learn about each other’s character as it is to learn about the people you’re portraying.

Only when we live up to our personal character and accept others for who they are can we hope to engage in a collaborative effort to create something.

Matt Siegel Radio Host

When I was a kid, I would overhear my parents’ friends tell my folks, “That kid of yours is some character!” I was a funny kid. Not necessarily a happy kid, but certainly a “character,” someone you could count on for a laugh. To be honest, I would have preferred to be a great athlete. Funny was okay, however, even though I did get fewer girls.

When I went to college, my plan was to be taken seriously. In fact, I wanted to become a teacher. When my adviser watched me student-teach (my de facto final exam), he concluded that I

wasn’t much of a teacher, but was pretty funny in the classroom. He asked me if I considered show business. I did, as a hobby. He then told me to give radio a shot.

It was great advice. Forty years later, here I sit, quite successful. Being a character has made me rich and successful, but at this time of my life I am more interested in being a man of character.

Character is standing up for what I believe in and being there for my family and friends in times of need.

I am still that funny kid, but now I have funny kids of my own. I hope that our community will consider us people of character.

CHARACTER John MacGillivray Veteran Service Officer

photo courtesy of John MacGillivray

Much like lifting weights to develop muscles, character is developed with repetition and increasing resistance.

The Marines with whom I served came from all over the country (and some from outside of the U.S.) and from all walks of life. We were a cohesive unit.

Now, not all Marines are alike, nor do they share the same values.

Some are Democrats, some Republicans. Some are rednecks, and some are liberals. Some are saints and others sinners.

They all, however, share the same character that is developed at Parris Island — one of integrity and loyalty.

As Veterans Day approaches, I find myself thinking about the men and women who have served in our country’s armed forces and how they have influenced our country’s history.

I think back to the Pilgrims and their militia.

I think about Roger’s Rangers in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War troops who spent the harsh winter at Valley Forge.

I think about the mishmash of pirates, militia and professional military that fought at New Orleans in the War of 1812, the Pickett’s Brigade that advanced across an open field under withering fire at Gettysburg during the Civil War. I think about the Marines that fought at Belleau Woods in World War I

and then again at Iwo Jima in World War II, the Marines that persevered against overwhelming odds at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea.

Finally, I remember the Marines that never gave up despite being surrounded at Khe Sahn in Vietnam and the Marines that fought at Fallujah in Iraq.

Why is it — what is it — that enabled these men to endure and eventually prevail against great forces? I believe that the answer is character.

Character is learned and developed over time and through experience.

Much like lifting weights to develop muscles, character is developed with repetition and increasing resistance. Having served in the U.S. Marine Corps, I was taught the motto “Semper Fidelis” — Always Faithful.

That means remaining faithful to your country, your Corps and your fellow Marine. You never leave anyone behind.

Marines are taught that there is only one color: olive drab. We are loyal and devoted to our fellow Marines.

Being a Marine also means doing the right thing even if no one else is there.

These are just a few traits that make up the character of all Marines.

Marines from all walks of life come together on the Marine Corps birthday, Nov 10, to honor and celebrate the character that they recognize in, and share with, each other.

november 10, 2011

fun page

Columns, rows and squares Each take a digit, falling Between one and nine.

EASY: 1 7

3 3 4

5

7 1

2

1

1

2

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8

2

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1

6

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3 5 9 1

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2 1

1 6

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2 3

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4 6

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1 1

Word Search

10

11

6

6

8

9

11

14

18

19

20

21 25

16

16

20

22

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ACROSS:

1. Two solutions with the same osmotic pressure.

7. Pineapple company, or 1996 presidential hopeful.

8. Common helping verb, or a complement to FM. 10. 1986 Stephen King horror novel.

12. Kwik-E-Mart proprietor.

13. Sticky, green substance against which Bartholemew fought.

15. Type of fighting that UFC promotes.

16. An approximate calcu-

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lation (abbrev.), or our time zone.

18. Species to which Arthur belongs.

20. Its most famous line of products are the Beanie Babies.

21. Implies a response to the contents contained in the subject line of an email.

22. A small mouthful of liquid.

24. An extremely small amount, or the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.

27. A preposition or six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.

Are you craving your grandma’s warm apple pie? Do you love Matthew Stafford? If so, get ready for Thanksgiving by finding the following words.

F E I P N I K P M U P R P A Y H S T F L O Z T M N S T U F F I N G F R J E U I W R U K L E V R A U O L R U P Y L I M A F T W R H L R R A N B A C Q N V R H B F W B Z Z A O E O R K K G B E H A Y S I G E G R A V Y X K L S H A L N E E T R E B S H X T K M B Y O A X Y I N Y E X F Y I O L J I D N F T X Z B O O T F O S A L B R Z Y F O E X Y A M Y A I Y B E B W D G O M Z A O R C A F V P L Y S F S L R V D R K E F H H N R I V H X M A E Q P G E I R L X C I R D C E E C H E Q V D F R X F A N T N X G I Q J V E U Z T D V M N V P W T K D R R W Z U R E G O V M I Y G U Y L Z N D K Z T V A O V J S F N V Z O C N W E R R B A F I Z Q V L D S J M I R V D J Y I B L I P D W N A G D P C Y E J V G M H Q C F J C C K R N 1) Cranberry 2) Dinner 3) Fall 4) Family 5) Feast 6) Football 7) Gravy 8) Macy’s Day Parade 9) Mayflower 10) November 11) Pilgrims 12) Pumpkin Pie 13) Stuffing 14) Thanks 15) Travel 16) Turkey

By Danny Gifford

28. Most cranky, or most like a certain decapod crustacean.

DOWN:

12

28

4

2

5

4 8 4

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CHALLENGING: 6

3

15

9

6

2

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13

2

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ROSSWORD

bad haiku by Tony Vashevko & Rob Hass puzzles courtesy of sudokuoftheday.com

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1. Type of expression natural only to a native speaker.

2. First Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

3. __ Dirty Bastard, founding member of the Wu Tang Clan.

4. Medium blue-green color.

5. 13th letter of the Greek alphabet, or a nearby university.

6. A hat, or the first name of the first MLB player to tally 3,000 hits.

9. Be obliged to, or moldy dampness.

11. What is done to a meal or subpoena.

12. Placekicker for the 49ers, most famous for his time with the Eagles.

14. It can be tended, or taken by prospective lawyers.

17. Short comedy sketches.

19. Drearily dull.

23. A usually metal container, or a slightly racier homonym.

25. Aides to South teachers; many may be found in Mr. Crosby’s room.

26. “We are the knights who say __!”

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month:

Dani Glasgow likes to spend his free time tending to his chickens.

sports volume 28

november

10, 2011

issue 4

•

page

thelionsroar.com/sports

28

Badminton phenom

Sophomore Alan Shektman wins first place at nationals, brings badminton to South students

William Fleisher

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photo by Dylan Block

Boys soccer makes the cut Dani Glasgow Sr. Sports Editor

After starting off the season 2-0-2, the boys soccer team went seven games without a win. In there next game against Weston, they were tied 0-0 going into the second half when senior Michael Duggan said to his team: “this is the season”. The Lions scored three goals in the second half, winning the game 3-0. They then went on to win five straight games, clinching a playoff berth for the first time in six years. The team finished the season 8-7-3.

“We had some great play. We made our first goal of making the tournament, but we’re hungry,” senior captain Miles Meth said. “We’re looking to make a deep run in the torunament. We’re not satisfied just getting here.”

Their first tournament game was a remarkable victory. Things looked bleak for the Lions, who trailed 1-0 late in the game, until they leveled the score with two minutes remaining. Overtime seemed inevitable, but senior Brooks Remy had other plans. After sophomore Rey Trevino slotted him the ball, Remy put it in the back of the net, propelling South to their second round matchup Monday against Nauset.

Sports Reporter

ophomore Alan Shektman said he discovered his interest in badminton at age eight when his father, Igor Shektman, brought him to a badminton club. “I saw a few people playing, and the game itself sparked an interest,” Shektman said. “I loved the explosiveness and the different shots and the placement of the shots; it just really appealed to me.”

Eight years later, Shektman has earned the number one national ranking in the men’s 17-andunder age group.

At age 10, Shektman won his first tournament, the junior regional tournament in Philadelphia, in the under-11 doubles competition. Two years later, he reached the junior national semi-finals in the under-13 singles competition. “[Making it to the semi-finals] was really inspirational for me,” Shektman said. “That motivated me to train even harder.”

Shektman now trains six days a week for three to four hours each day at the Maugus Junior Badminton Club in Wellesley. “Training is really tough. All of

the shots, footwork and movement are all things I need to practice daily,” he said. “All the drills have a purpose, and everything builds to create, hopefully, an elite athlete.”

According to his coach of six years, Sasha Coyarin, Shektman has a strong work ethic. “He is willing to give up certain things in his life to excel in badminton, and that’s something I look for right away,” Coyarin said.

Sophomore Daniel Ehrlich, who trains twice a week at the same time as Shektman does, said that watching him play is “stunning.”

“He is notorious for putting in a lot of time,” Ehrlich said. “He finds a lot of time to train and be as good as he can.”

Igor said he attributes his son’s success to factors other than dedication.

“Being a fast thinker, for instance, is one thing that helps him while he plays,” Igor said.

Coyarin said Shektman’s competitiveness has also contributed to his success. “Another thing that sets him apart is his fighting spirit, his killer instinct,” Coyarin said. “Even if he is playing and he’s not feeling well, or something is not going right, he’s not going to give up until the very end, which helps him scrape out a lot of tough matches and

win a lot of difficult tournaments.”

Last year, Shektman began coaching the South badminton team. The team is composed of eight members of the badminton club who compete against local high schools in badminton tournaments.

“I really want to develop interest an the sport,” Shektman said. “The whole world loves it, but in America it isn’t as popular.

I wanted to spark some interest in people and bring the game to the students of Newton South.”

Junior Anastasia Rastokina, who is president of the badminton club and a member of the badminton team, said the team has improved and become much more organized since Shektman became the coach.

“We didn’t have anyone to train us [in the past],” she said. “Alan sees what we’re doing wrong, and he really tries to fix it.

He is really good at what he does, and he has really taught us a lot.”

Rastokina said that Shektman’s success has drawn attention to the club.

“During J block, there are kids who just want to see him smash birdies and see how great he is,” she said.

According to Igor, Shektman’s success in badminton extends outside the sport. “It also helps him learn how to win in

anything he is doing in life and to succeed in anything he is doing in life,” Igor said. “I am very happy that he is playing the sport at the level he is.”

Shektman said his greatest achievement was earning the number one ranking in his age group but he is already focused on the future. “My biggest goal is going to be to qualify for the world junior championships in Tokyo, Japan,” he said.

In January, Shektman will move into the 19-andunder age group, meaning he will have to re-earn a high rank in his new age group to qualify for the world junior nationals.

Shektman said he is excited to move into the new age group. “I’m ready for the challenge. It motivates me more,” he said.

“It’s going to be tough for sure, but I wouldn’t say I’m nervous about it; I would say I’m more excited and ready to play against them and showcase my game.”

Coyarin said Shektman can achieve any goal he sets for himself. “It’s very hard to say at this age who is going to be playing in the Olympics, but if it’s something he really wants to do, there is absolutely no reason he can’t accomplish that,” Coyarin said. “It’s a pleasure coaching him, and really there is no limit to his game.”

photos by Dylan Block

In a sign of solidarity, the players on the boys soccer team shaved their heads into mohawks, which they say promotes team unity.

november 10, 2011

sports

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!"#$%&'())*!&%+,%#*

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enior strengths: Our girls don’t need their college boyfriends to walk them from class to class, and our Jeep Compasses aren’t covered in dog poop. A couple of junior girls actually play for us (hey, Mike). Mommy and Daddy don’t need to sign insurance waivers for us to play in the game, either.

Senior weaknesses: In the midst of preparing for a future brighter than one that any of the juniors will have, lately we’ve been making it rain a little too hard at parties (literally). At least our parties are worth crashing (as a few juniors can attest).

Tori Bryan: Juniors, beware: If you try to cover T-Money, she’ll scalp you at the line and then drag you by the Hard Tail down the field and into the end zone. Elwell trained her well, and for any minivan-driving junior it’ll be: 1. Spike 2. Kill 3. Repeat.

Aley Lewis: The A-Train will hit these juniors so

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unior strengths: Pure athleticism, we will not be wearing hideous royal blue, we are not taking chem this year and Kevin Wu. Junior weakness: Can’t really think of anything … oh wait, Kevin Wu. Kayla Burton: Quick as lightning, Burton has broken defenders’ ankles in the past with her jukes. In fact, Principal Stembridge took money out of his own savings account to purchase ankle braces for the entire 2012 defense to help them avoid injury. He did note that the braces do not have a 100 percent safety guarantee. OUCH! Maya Alper: The softball pitcher has met with the science team captains to alter her throwing motion to suit football. That is not, however, why she is so good. Alper is notorious for her vicious blind-side hits, which have drawn parallels to those of Ray Lewis and Troy Polamalu.

SENIORS

By Dan Frechter

hard that they won’t try to run the ball until their 50year reunion. She breathes intimidation and will scare the under-five-foot junior offensive line to the point of an unprecedented split between Finn and sidekick Reeg, resulting in them no longer arbitrarily hanging out with random sophomores.

O’ Flaherty Sistas: They are the reason the junior girls sleep with the lights on. These two sisters comprise the heart and soul of the 2012 squad.

As we saw last year, they aren’t afraid of popping a Division I recruit in the face, and that doesn’t bode well

photo by Olivia Kennis

for the junior girls who have barely felt the touch of a JV bench. While the 2013 girls are preoccupied with Starbucks passion-fruit iced teas, Forever 21 and Land Rovers as first cars (to make Newton look even more modest), the O’Flaherty twins are focused on avenging last year’s 14-12 loss. It’s an O’Flaherty’s world; we’re just living in it.

Naughty N9NE and Brown Girls: The Montagues and Capulets of South will need to reconcile their differences if a SENIO12 victory is in store.

Are the two sides friends again, just “friends” or BFFs? Can the power of Karma and E. Coli come together against a common foe? Will the power of the almighty chai latte bring the two together, or are we destined for another pregame catfight?

The Hatfield-McCoy dispute ended in a blood battle. and this tale of two sides could end the same — only no bloodshed, just some spilled iced coffee.

JUNIORS

it she will be fist-pumping in the end zone.

Abby Rice: Oh yeah, you forgot about our secret weapon. After being claimed off waivers late last year, Rice has been meeting with the coaching staff to go over 2012’s entire playbook and interpretive dance warm-up (which is strangely similar to that of Mr. Doctor).

Anyway, that is less than 1 percent of Rice’s role Hopefully the 2012 coaching staff is teaching its players on the junior squad. Although she is listed as questionto keep their heads on a swivel, or else the entire senior able with a concussion, she expects to play and make a roster will end up at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. large impact by catching the ball. She flew to California Kyra Visnick: Visnick, who competed as a sprinter this summer to train with her uncle, Hall of Fame wide at New Balance Nationals, will be in the end zone before receiver Jerry Rice. Don’t you see the resemblance? you can say touchdown.

Julian Geltman: One of the 2013 trainers, Geltman After she placed first at nationals, Usain Bolt told just loves sports, as you can see from his outfits. He will be her, “I thought I was fast.” Visnick casually responded, sporting Columbian war armor and headdress to intimi“That was 50 percent — wait until Powderpuff.” Get excited every time she gets the ball, because before you know date and distract the senior squad.

By Sam Houston-Read

photos by Dylan Block

thelionsroar.com/sports 30 sports Volleyball team succeeds through discipline, determination RJ Hayes

Sports Reporter The girls volleyball team clinched a state tournament berth for the sixth year in a row with a 3-0 win over Waltham on Oct. 19. Senior captain Michaela O’Flaherty said the team owes part of its success to encouragement from former senior classes.

O’Flaherty said the past seniors emphasized that “this is going to be you guys next year, so you guys learn everything you can, and you really got to work hard.”

Head coach Todd Elwell said he remains impressed by the continued success of the volleyball team.

“I am constantly amazed that we can put together teams and compete at a state level,” he said. “Five years ago, we were just happy to make the tournament.”

He said he credits the volleyball program’s success to the relationship between older and younger players. “The bar was raised five or six years ago by a couple kids,” he said. “Every year, more kids bought into this standard of excellence.”

Senior Ariel Kaluzhny agreed that everyone is dedicated to the team. “There is a big level of commitment for everyone that is on the team, which is instilled by the coaches and the classes above them,” she said.

Elwell said the volleyball team has built a culture around its success. “There is a culture now at Newton South that they know their stuff, and they play hard, and they know on any given day they can beat

anyone,” he said. “That’s a pretty powerful thing psychologically.”

O’Flaherty said players are fueled by the standard of success. “The expectation and work ethic is what really pushes people,” she said. “The kids going into the next year always know how to work hard and what they need to do to make the tournament, be successful and have a winning season.”

According to junior Maddie Emmet, the volleyball team’s success has changed the overall attitude of the players. “Now that we have been more successful, every grade takes it a little more seriously and takes it to another level,” she said.

Junior Sydney Rubinstein said that this year, the captains set an example for her over the off-season. “I saw [seniors] Tori [Bryan] and Chloe [Jackson-Unger] working in the off-season, and I joined them, and they gave me pointers,” she said.

Emmet said the captains have helped show the underclassmen how to lead. “The captains have definitely shown us what it takes to be a leader and how we should be treating the rest of our team and thinking about future seasons,” she said.

Leadership among younger players is present in games as well as practices, according to Rubenstein. “In time outs, it’s not like only captains can talk,” she said.

“Everyone has a voice in the team, and everyone can share their ideas.”

Kaluzhny said the support among teammates is integral to the team’s atmosphere. “I try to mentor kids with things that I feel like I know more about,” she

said. “If I see something a little off, I try to point it out so people can fix it.”

According to Elwell, the most important characteristic of the volleyball atmosphere is that the players understand what it takes to succeed. “I know the system works. The discipline equals the success,” he said. “The girls will tell you we’re a pretty focused group, and we work every moment possible.”

O’Flaherty agreed that the volleyball program is defined by the competitiveness of its players. “We’re not the tallest program, or even the program with the most experience, but we do have girls that are competitors and who really want to win and work hard to win,” she said.

Senior Sioban O’Flaherty said this attitude is unique to the volleyball team.

“In all my experience playing sports, I don’t think I’ve ever been with a group of girls who are so passionate about their sport and dedicated [to it],” she said.

photos by Jay Sobel

The girls volleyball team clinched its sixth straight state tournament berth on Oct. 19.

Shades, Blinds, Window Treatments and lots of other great home furnishings.

Since 1989, Proudly keeping South students asleep. (Hopefully not through A block!)

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sports

november 10, 2011

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Goalie reflects on soccer team’s success Michael Duggan Senior Column

photos by Dylan Block

Now with a varsity title, cheerleading has seen a boost in morale and is allowed to stunts and travel to games with the football team.

Cheerleading squad brings it on Eliza Spiegelman Sports Reporter

The South cheerleading team regained the title “varsity sport” last year, after being a club sport for two years.

According to junior captain Ashton Andrews, the new status has motivated the team. “It really makes us want to do well — not only for ourselves, but for our school,” she said.

Now that cheerleading is a varsity sport, the team has a coach. Andrews said that this has helped the team improve its image and atmosphere. “We have an amazing and talented coach that is going to lead us to many heights, and South is starting to recognize us more,” she said. “It’s easier to cheer at South in general now.”

Senior Marina Nedeljkovic agreed that the team has new advantages associated with having a coach. “[We are] able to ride the bus with the football players to away games, and we can enter in competitions,” she said.

Coach Elizabeth Sullivan said riding on the bus has also provided an opportunity for football and cheerleading teams to support each other. “On the bus, the JV players are really supportive of the girls, just like the girls are supportive of them, which is really good,” she said.

Junior Eliana Golijov said the team also has more flexibility in its performances. “As a club, we weren’t even allowed to stunt, so it was mostly dancing,” she said.

“But now that we actually have a coach, we’re allowed to stunt, we’re varsity, we practice a lot harder, it’s a lot more vigorous.”

According to Nedeljkovic, becoming a varsity team has changed the players’ approach to cheerleading. “Cheerleading is a very fun sport and we joke around a lot, but when we need to get work done, we do act more serious,” she said.

The team is also more concerned with safety, according to Golijov. “Stunts are so dangerous; you have to be really serious when you practice,” she said.

She said that despite the change in status, some students still dismiss cheerleading as a sport that does not require commitment. “I hear people trash talking us, or at school even some of my friends poke fun at us,” she said.

Senior Naomi Klickstein said she respects cheerleading but does not think of it as a sport. “I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be cheerleaders,” she said. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t have a team, but cheerleading is not a sport.”

Senior captain Camilla DaSilva said she finds the opinion that cheerleading is not a sport offensive. “I really hate how people turn to me and tell me cheerleading isn’t a sport,” she said. “[Cheerleading] is something I work hard at with my team.”

According to senior captain Ashley Moore, the cheerleading team’s lack of recognition can be discouraging. “It’s really hard to stay positive,” she said. “We go to so many events, and we don’t get that much recognition.”

DaSilva agreed. “I wish that people would step into my shoes and see how much work we do. It takes a lot of effort to be able to get our jumps high or lift a girl up and not let her fall,” DaSilva said. “Any of our girls could tell you how difficult it is

to cheer, and we have recently put so much effort into it that we managed to learn a routine in a week or two.”

If South had more spirit, DaSilva said, people would be more supportive of cheerleading. “We could do things like spirit week and more pep rallies or school dances that would just make South more fun,” she said.

Moore agreed that more spirit would benefit the team. “It just gives us more drive to bring spirit to the school,” she said. “We do spirit to get pumped up for games [because]… since the school doesn’t have [much spirit], we have to bring it to the school in any way we can.”

Sullivan said she tries to foster optimism on the squad. “We just work with them to make sure they’re being represented as they want to be seen and to keep a positive attitude,” she said.

DaSilva said she hopes the student body will eventually appreciate the cheerleading team for its spirit. “Although some people still think that we’re a joke, I believe that in time we will be appreciated for all the spirit we put into the team and try to give to the school,” she said.

Sullivan said she encourages “working as a team and hopefully getting the program how [the cheerleaders] want it to be seen in order to have a better reputation and a better year to come.”

Andrews said she stays positive when people do not give the cheerleading team the credit it deserves. “People are going to have their views about any sport,” she said. “But if you love a sport enough, you’ll ignore the comments and strive to prove them wrong.”

In my mind, the only feeling better than achieving a personal goal is reaching one with a group. In this case, a group of young men who were thought to have no chance of accomplishing what they set out to do had the heart and determination to prove everyone wrong. For the first time in six years, the boys soccer team earned a spot in the MIAA state playoffs.

Before this year, the boys soccer team had won only eight games since 2008. Eight single games. Every year, we would meet in a classroom and discuss our goals for the upcoming season. Every year, the seniors would say, “Let’s make the tournament.” And every year, we would lose over 10 games and never win more than four. Last spring, we met in a classroom to discuss our goals, just as we have in the past. But this year, senior Peter Natov suggested a different goal: to win more games than we did last year. No one objected. Although the tournament remained in the back of everyone’s mind throughout pre-season, this modest, more realistic goal gave us a task to achieve.

We came out of the gates strong, opening the season with a 3-2 win against Acton-Boxborough, followed by consecutive 1-1 ties against Bedford and rival North. Through four games we were undefeated, our best start in years. Our confidence level ran high — too high. We stopped working hard at practice. Our coach said we had developed T.J. Maxx syndrome — we would try to improve our game to our full potential while doing the least amount of work possible during practice. It was like a switch turned off; we lost the intensity and the fire we had in the beginning of the season. Before we knew it, we had dropped six of our next seven games. And we didn’t just lose — we got manhandled. Over the course of these seven matches, we allowed eighteen goals while only scoring four (all of which we scored in one game against Boston Latin; the rest of the games were shutouts). It seemed like this season was going to be just like the previous three.

Following a 4-0 loss to Acton-Boxborough, our team gathered on the softball field bleachers to discuss our countless issues. At 2-5-2, we had a lot to figure out. After sharing our thoughts and ideas ranging from tactical decisions to team chemistry, we came away asking ourselves: “Do we want to be remembered as the team who turned this program around?”

Our performance over the next six games more than answered that question. We couldn’t lose. Not only that, we destroyed teams; only twice did I have to kick the ball out of the back of my net after an opponent scored. After a scoreless draw against Bedford, we knocked off Weston, Westford, Cambridge and Concord-Carlisle, which was ranked fifth in the state at that point. Natov’s goal had been more than reached. We stood at 7-63, one win away from clinching a playoff berth going into our third to last game of the season against Boston Latin.

As the final whistle blew, marking a 3-0 victory and our first playoff berth in six years, our team was soaked in the satisfaction of achieving a goal that we had all dreamed of. Together, we had done it.

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features

By Jenny Friedland & Kylie Walters

Bentos beautify lunch Sophomore Haruka Wakimoto uses a traditional Japanese method of bringing her lunch to school. Wakimoto carries her food in a bento box, a small, two-tiered container, in which her mother hand-packs her lunch. According to Wakimoto, bento boxes are so small because Japanese people eat “smaller … portions of food compared to American [people].”

Wakimoto’s mother, Hiroko Wakimoto, said the bento box partly owes its size to history. The box originated about 600 years ago, when Japanese people needed small meal containers for traveling.

Hiroko said that she first started making bento boxes at age 15.

Now, she prepares Wakimoto’s bento box every day. “I like to put some kind of meat, either beef or pork, and vegetables [in her bento box],” Hiroko said.

According to Wakimoto, the art of bento box decoration is called dekoben. “There are people who spend time decorating bentos so that they’re in a shape of some kind of character — like Mickey Mouse or something,” she said.

Hiroko said she enjoys preparing the bento boxes and cutting the contents of a bento box into interesting shapes. “Apple, I always make in a rabbit shape, … cooked carrot ... a flower shape and … pickled cucumber you can make as a snake,” she said.

According to Hiroko, the aesthetics of a bento box are critical. “The most important [element] of the bento box is the colors,” Hiroko said. “It’s very important to have yellow, red and green.”

These different decorations are important to many Japanese, Hiroko said. “We Japanese … usually try to decorate [bento boxes] very beautiful.”

Tea links tradition with everyday life Senior Yoko Fukumura said that she and her sister, freshman Yuriko Fukumura, like to sip cups of green tea some afternoons — but never the kind that comes in a bag from the grocery store.

Their mother, Takako Fukumura, prepares the tea for them from leaves, a skill she learned in her weekly Japanese tea ceremony class.

“We share a cup of green, thick tea, but [it’s] not bitter,” Takako said.

Yoko said that by learning and performing the tea ceremony, her mother is able to bring this ancient Japanese custom into their own home. “[The ceremony consists of] really old Japanese traditions where drinking tea was a really formal thing,” Yoko said. “You have specific ways to move and serve the tea, and … it’s a really social thing, but you can learn a lot about the culture.”

Takako said she must learn many skills to properly conduct all aspects of the Japanese tea ceremony.

“I’m learning to be a guest

photo by Kylie Walters

[and] the making [of the] tea itself,” Takako said. “The ceremony [includes] flower arrangements, … the tea bowls or the tea itself or Japanese calligraphy or traditional sweets.”

Yoko said that although she recognizes the importance of maintaining cultural traditions, she currently has no desire to learn how to perform the Japanese tea ceremony.

“When I grow up, I photo courtesy of public domain

Animation: a cultural classic think I’ll have more interest in it because right now I don’t really appreciate it that much, but I think I should,” she said.

Takako said she is studying about Japanese customs now so that she can pass the knowledge on.

“I’m learning the tea ceremony class for myself and for my children — for my family,” she said.

graphic by Eleanor Richard

Three years before the release of the English version of “Spirited Away,” an animated movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki, sophomore Monica Nair viewed the film in Japanese.

Nair, whose mother was born in Japan, said that animated movies are a central aspect of Japanese culture.

According to Nair, Miyazaki’s films such as “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Castle in the Sky” are extremely popular in Japan.

Nair said that the animated films convey themes applicable to people of all ages. “[Japanese

animation] is usually based on little kids, but adults still watch,” she said. “Everyone watches the same animated movies.”

Japanese animations are like classics ... if you mention one, basically everyone knows about [it].

- Monica Nair, Class of 2014

She said that because of this, animated films are widely popular. “Japanese animations are like classics,” Nair said. “If

you mention one, basically everyone knows about [it].”

Junior Robin Kurosawa, whose father was born in Japan, said that one of his favorite aspects of Japanese animated movies is their simplicity. Japanese animated films do “not discuss morals or ethics,” Kurosawa said. “[They are] just … nice family stories.”

Kurosawa said that the artistic style of Japanese animation gives off a positive vibe. “[The art] is kind of abstract,” he said. “It gives you a nice caramely feeling.”