Volume 29, Issue 7

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Boston, MA Permit No. 54523

Vol. XXIX · Issue VII

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper · Newton, MA · Established 1984 · March 20, 2013

Override passed to fund education, public services David Li & James Wu

News Reporter, Managing Editor

infographic by Ravi Panse

In order to provide funds for various services and renovations around the city, Newton residents voted to pass an $11.4 million override package in a special election last Tuesday, Mar. 12.

The override consisted of three questions by referendum: The first was a general tax increase in order to fund education budgets and public safety measures, and the second and third were debt exclusions totaling around $3 million to renovate Angier Elementary School and Cabot Elementary School, respectively.

With the passing of the override, property taxes will increase by $343 on average for each Newton resident.

According to drama teacher Arika Nabutovsky, this increase allowed South to avoid cuts and provide necessary resources to students, especially in terms of electives. “Cuts in the faculty here would have been appalling,” she said. “Every single student would experience not being able to take the class that they wanted to take, not because they couldn’t fit it into [their] schedule, but because it wouldn’t be running.”

Loreta Lamberti, principal of Angier, said that the override was necessary in order to keep schools like Angier and Cabot up to the

standard of the other elementary schools across the city. “[The schools] have become unsafe. The heating systems don’t work, and the classrooms aren’t large enough,” she said. “The people of Newton cannot ignore the state of the buildings.”

Student response to different portions of the override has been mixed.

Sophomore Aleks Marceau, who went to Angier and whose sister currently attends the school, said that he regarded the proposed renovation with ambivalence.

“It’s great for Waban. It’s great for the city to have a great new elementary school, but I think education should come first, before the building,” he said.

Sophomore Jasper Primack, said, however, that the tax increase will provide much-needed funds to the school system in the most efficient manner.

“It’s a very elegant solution,” he said. “Between putting fees on memberships in clubs and increased taxes, I think that I would personally prefer increased taxes.”

Nabutovsky said that ultimately, students played a large role in passing the override.

“This was just such a great example of people taking action and making something happen,” she said. “Students talked to parents, and the parents voted. Students made a difference here.”

Student smokers bond over shared habit despite public disapproval Shelley Friedland & Carly Meisel

Features Reporter, Features Editor Cold, numb fingers curled around a cigarette and a wisp of smoke escaping with each breath, freshman Gabe Lazare stood next to a faded wooden pole by the South tennis courts, as he does three or four times each school day.

“I started smoking because everyone in my family smokes. Most of my friends smoke,” he said. “[I knew] I would start smoking cigarettes at some point in time, so might as well.”

Two days before beginning high school, sophomore Max Sternburg, Lazare’s friend, got into a fight with his father. He said he felt stressed, upset and angry. Then a friend offered him an escape from these emotions: a cigarette. “[My friend] said, ‘Try this. It will help calm you down,’” Sternburg said.

“That was my weak point, and I gave in.

You try one. You want another.”

By the beginning of his freshman year, Sternburg was addicted to cigarettes.

He needed smoking breaks during the school day, but since smoking is illegal on the school campus, he started smoking by the tennis courts across the street from

South.

Lazare and Sternburg are two of the approximately 15 students who frequent the pole during a typical school day.

In addition to serving as a place for students to smoke during the day, the pole has become a place of social acceptance in an environment that is often hostile to smokers, according to those who spend time there.

Sophomore Elyse* said that she and her friends who congregate at the pole share a sense of community. “It’s cool because everyone there is friends, and everyone knows each other,” Elyse said.

“It’s a relaxing and peaceful place. People

aren’t there just to smoke. It’s also a friend group.”

Sophomore Alex* agreed and said he and his friends have come to care about the area surrounding the pole because it is a meeting point for them to spend time together while smoking. “[One of our friends] put a bucket out there for us to put our [cigarette] butts in. It’s our little space, so we don’t want to make it dirty. People clean up,” Alex said.

“There are people who change that bin because otherwise it gets gross. We want to take care of our [space].”

SMOKING, 9

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Cheating

AP Biology

Students and faculty discuss the nature of the AP Biology curriculum

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3

The Roar examines academic dishonesty at a local and national level

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16

Gymnastics

MIAA withdraws sponsorship of boys gymnastics as an official sport

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29

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

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march 20, 2013

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march 20, 2013

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The Evolution of Biology South Spots South Spots compiled by Roar editors

Youth Summit II Mayor Setti Warren will host the second Youth Summit on Wednesday, Mar. 20 at Brown Middle School from 6-9 p.m. The event will bring together teens, parents and community members, who will discuss the solutions to the teen issues that were discussed in the first Youth Summit.

Faculty Talent Show Staff members will hold a talent show in Seasholes Auditorium on Saturday, Mar. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Ticket sale proceeds will benefit the Faculty Scholarship Funds for student trips and students in need.

Game Show Night The Habitat for Humanity Club will host Game Show Night on Thursday, Mar. 28 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. Students and faculty will compete in rounds of “Family Feud,” “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” and “Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?” in order to raise money for the Habitat organization.

Controversy over the placement of AP Biology has reached a breaking point

By Hyunnew Choi and James Wu South n an effort to better prepare and improve can give,” she said. “I feel like [the teachers] would know Spots the learning experiences of students taking what’s best, knowing what this class has done to students

I

AP Biology, the science department will in terms of stress.” no longer offer the class as a first year course AP Biology teacher Jordan Kraus disagreed and said starting this fall. Despite protest from students that the College Board’s recent alterations to the AP curriculum who feel that this policy will hinder their abilities make her class more manageable for students who have not to appropriately challenge themselves, science previously studied biology. “[The new AP Biology curricudepartment head Gerard Gagnon said that the lum] is much simpler and much [more] toned down from change will help students retain skills and comwhat the previous version of AP was in terms of both the plex concepts in the long term. “[AP Biology] breadth and depth of information that they expect students is challenging because you’re kind of serving to learn,” she said. two masters,” Gagnon said. “One is to develop a Gagnon said that while the AP Biology curriculum foundational knowledge of biology, and two is to changed for the 2014 AP exam onward and is narrower in provide students with the experience that’s akin to breadth, it requires more critical thinking and analysis. “There’s The Roar a freshman college biology course.” more significant thinking on the higher level, such as lab surveyed 100 Although sophomore Sophie Menashi design and inquiry skills,” he said, “which is pretty students on Mar. 5 said she was initially disappointed she tricky to do if you don’t understand some of the would not be able to enroll in AP Bifoundational knowledge of biology.” ology next year, she recognizes the Kraus also said that students have genneed for an introductory class. “If erally done well AP Biology without having AP Biology should you don’t have the full foundation, taken an introductory course, citing high AP be a _____ year course. you’re not going to the get the scores and end of year grades. “If they in fact full experience of AP Biology weren’t able to master all of the material 65% 35% Second First because it seems more like a in a single year, they would not be getting conceptual class that deals less these kinds of results,” she said. “We got AP Biology stresses me out more with the basics and more with these kinds of results with students who than other Honors courses do. advanced concepts,” she said. were move-ups from curriculum I. If it’s According to Gagnon, not broken, if most kids are succeeding, Agreed 60% 40% Disagreed students will have three “pathif most of the kids are getting 4s and 5s ways to AP Biology” under the [on AP exams] and most kids are walkAn extra year of introductory biology would new plan: taking an introducing away enthusiastic about science, why have made the course more manageable. tory biology course at either the would you change it?”

Curriculum I or Honors level According to 2012 AP test results, the Agreed 70% 30% Disagreed before taking AP Biology as a mean score for South students on the AP senior elective, taking a placement Biology exam was 4.54, with only 9 students test to gain admission to the AP class receiving 1s or 2s. or taking an introductory biology Vice Principal Mary Scott said that despite course over summer vacation. solid performance on AP tests, combating student Junior year Curriculum I and Honors stress is one of the most important goals of postponing biology courses will have altered curricula in AP Biology until senior year. order to prevent redundancy for students who go “It is all about balance,” she said. “We need our kids to on to take AP Biology. “We’re being mindful of the be hardworking and motivated, but at the same time, I know content we want to cover … which requires a shift in that a number of our students don’t get enough hours of sleep curriculum,” he said. “If Honors biology became a night.”

‘AP light,’ that would be problematic.”

“It is a mistake to look at AP scores as the end-all Despite the multiple pathways for entry be-all,” Gagnon agreed. “As a science department and a into the class, students have raised concerns that school, we have the responsibility to make sure that we with AP Biology as a senior science elective, they are putting students in a position where they can thrive, may face scheduling conflicts with other classes not just survive.” or increased stress.

Kraus said, however, that her AP Biology class is “There are students who want to take a lot already structured to minimize student stress. of science courses senior year,” said senior Scott “We have a system in place in my class now where I Cohen, who took AP Biology last year as a junior guarantee that no student is asked to spend more than 15 and is currently enrolled in neurobiology. “But minutes a night on homework,” she said. “There’s effectively with neuro, two AP Physics classes [and] AP no [traditional] homework.”

Chemistry, if you want to throw AP Biology on Sophomore Sumit Hariawala agreed that he and other top of that, it’s just not going to work.” students who wish to pursue science in the future will be According to sophomore Zoe Beutel, the particularly affected by the change in the curriculum. He change in the curriculum will inhibit students like said that teachers should trust students to evaluate themselves her from properly challenging themselves. and decide whether they think they can succeed in a class. “If “It’s frustrating because biology is something the student thinks that with the work, they can keep up with I’m actually interested in, and I’d rather be chalthe class, there should be no reason that they shouldn’t have lenged in a class than be bored in it,” she said. “If the right to take the class,” he said. people want to learn and take harder classes, it Gagnon said he appreciates thoughtful comments should be a first priority to provide that.” from students like Hariawala about curricular modifications Sophomore Julia Churchill said, however, and that he ultimately aims to prioritize student learning. that she appreciates the science department’s ef“I’m happy that the student body is concerned about forts to reduce student stress by restricting juniors’ this,” he said. “At the same time, I’m not the least bit threatinfographic by ability to enroll in AP Biology. ened by students’ inquisitiveness about this because I know Hyunnew Choi “Everyone knows how much stress junior year that we are coming at it for the right reasons.” and James Wu

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news

march 20, 2013

photos courtesy of Melinda Gordon

CULTURAL CROSSOVER The Newton Cultural Center held a Francophone festival on Mar. 2 and a Chinese festival on Mar. 9 to celebrate cultural diversity in the community

The Newton Cultural Center will also host a Latin American festival on Mar. 23 and a Russian festival on Apr. 19, 20 and 21. The Latin American festival will feature music, dance, food and art from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia and others.

The second annual Russian festival will display works of Russian artists and will include film discussions and food from CafÊ St. Petersburg and Inna’s Kitchen. Both events will take place on 225 Nevada St., Newtonville.

photos by Jordan Cohen-Kaplan

news

march 20, 2013

The Water Café

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Students arrange a tongue-incheek gathering to protest the ban on food in the front lobby

F

By Nathaniel Bolter and Carter Howe

ollowing the installation of bistro tables in the ridiculous but at the same time seems pretty typical,” he said. auditorium lobby, the Bake Sale Club protested Vice Principal Mary Scott said that in order to lift the the “homework and water only” policy set by the ban, the administration would need to find a way to keep administration by running a cafe that served only the area clean. water on Feb. 25 and 26.

“We need to be assured that students will clean up Although the tables were installed in late February afterwards,” she said. “Once we do that, we’re open to having as the result of a South Senate bill, the administration has [the tables] open for food if the students can take care of it.” not yet lifted its ban on eating in the lobby, which prompted In order to demonstrate that students could be responstudents to organize and take part in the protest. sible, Reed and senior Yoonchan Choi, another president of The Senate drafted a five-part proposal with the Bake Sale Club, organized two days of protest through the purpose of removing the ban. One establishment of The Water Café. of the five parts, the installation of Reed said that The Water Café tables, has already been executed. was a respectful, rather than hostile We wanted to let [the adminAccording to Senate President and protest instituted to get students to junior Jack Lovett, the rest will soon sign a petition to allow students to istration] know that we could follow. “Right now, the proposal is all eat in the lobby on the condition that organize the students to in writing and sent to the administrathey clean up after themselves. tion,” Lovett said. “If people are using “Many students do like to eat achieve a reasonable goal. the tables and [the administration out there, and they want to be able to - Nicholas Reed, Class of 2013 is] are convinced people will clean eat out there, but often the response up, ... I think that process will go [to the ban] is just to be disrespectful pretty quickly.” to the campus aides and disrespectSome students, however, said that they saw the ful to the rules and eat out there instead. And that creates a tables as a jab from administrators rather than as a mark cycle where nothing is going to get done because they are not of progress. Bake Sale Club president and senior Nicholas going to let us eat out there if people do it disrespectfully,” Reed, who helped organize the protest, said that though Reed said. “So we said we need to have an organized kind he is pleased with the comfort provided by the tables, he of gathering, not necessarily a protest, and we were going is unhappy that the restrictions still apply. to serve just water.”

“You still aren’t allowed to eat there, which seems Choi said that demonstrating the ability to maintain ridiculous to me. That [administrators] would have these order in the lobby was crucial to the event’s success. tables installed and then not allow [students] to eat there “Part of the mission statement of The Water Café ... is almost taunting,” Reed said. was that people involved with The Water Café, like myself, Senior Christopher Connell agreed with Reed but would take responsibility for the space and make sure that said he is not surprised about the situation. “It seems pretty it is clean,” he said.

Choi and Reed made sure the event followed school policies, for it would lose its weight as a legitimate demonstration if it were not, according to Reed.

“We wanted to get the administration’s notice in a respectful way. We wanted to let them know that we could organize the students to achieve a reasonable goal without doing something that was breaking the law or being disrespectful,” Reed said.

As a result of the protests, the administration allowed students to eat in the lobby for those two days.

Scott said the driving factor behind the administration’s decision was The Water Café’s taking responsibility for the area’s cleanliness. “They promised to clean up, so we allowed it on a pilot basis,” she said.

This demonstration of initiative made the event a success, according to Reed. “We definitely showed the administration that the students could act in accordance with the law,” he said.

As a result of the success of the protests, Reed said he and the others involved with the event are talking with the administration to see if they can maintain The Water Café.

The goal is to establish three blocks a week during which, under the supervision of The Water Café, the auditorium lobby would be open to eating.

Choi said he is hopeful that The Water Café will act as a moderator for school policy. “We hope ... to reach a collective agreement where everyone is satisfied with the administration and the student body,” he said.

photos by Yu-Ching Chang

Students participate in the protest planned by members of the Bake Sale Club. The organizers served various types of water to students during lunch on Feb. 25 and 26.

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march 20, 2013

Tech It Out

photo by Jordan Cohen-Kaplan

South librarians have made laptops available for students to check out during school hours Julie Olesky Sr. News Editor

To give students more access to computers outside of class, South Senate collaborated with school librarians last month to organize a system in which students can check out laptops to use in library classrooms.

“We wanted students to have more access to computers,” Senate Vice President and senior Nicholas Hurney said. “If we already have these laptops carts, why don’t we allow students to use them when they’re not being used by a class?”

In addition to signing a user agreement stating that they will respect the laptops and put them away after completing work, students can only use the laptops in the library classrooms.

According to librarian Ethel Downey, this requirement has been issued to ensure

the security of the computers as well as to encourage students to use the laptops only for school-related work.

“The laptops are there just for school use, and if they are kept in the classroom, students get a better sense that they’re there to use them for school,” she said. “We know the iPads are used to check your email, watch some videos or play some games, but we do not want the laptops to be used that way.”

Downey said that she has seen an increase in students’ academic productivity after introducing the system.

“The students who like to have a quiet place to work have discovered the laptops,” she said. “They can sign them out, and they know they can have a computer to do their research in a quiet space. At the same time we have our quiet study area, but it’s not always the quietest.”

Student response toward the new policy has been mostly positive.

Junior Patrick Torres said that access to computers and printing is integral to productivity in the library.

“I think [the new system] is great because more people will be able to do work, which is a really big part of our school,” he said.

“I basically need to type or go online for [all of my homework], but when I see that there are not any computers available, I usually leave,” Hurney agreed. “[This system] will help my productivity.”

Junior Dan Ehrlich said that though “providing students with more resources is always a good thing,” he does not think the laptops will significantly help student productivity.

He said that the availability of more textbooks would be more helpful to students than access to laptops.

“When students go to the library, and they need to study for something or want to

do some homework, they depend on a giant textbook, and they obviously don’t want to carry that,” he said. “The library only has one textbook for [each subject], and that’s somewhat difficult when there are 50 people in the library, and everybody needs the same textbook because there’s a test next block.”

According to Bolstad, as the librarians continue to improve the library, they will continue to offer the use of school laptops in library classrooms and encourage students to take initiative in initiating changes they would like to see.

“We saw the issue; [South Senate] came up with the solution that we weren’t seeing as clearly as they were,” Bolstad said. “We’ve done a lot of change in the last two years.

We’ve rearranged the library, we restructured where things are and we’ve opened it up, so coming off of so much change for this library, [laptop availability] will help to continue along that way.”

Ask The History Teacher

The Roar asks: What does South want to know about history teacher Faye Cassell?

graphic by Joe Joseph

From freshman Kate Brandel: What kind of student were you in high school?

From sophomore Nikki Caminetsky: If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

FC: I was the straight-A, president-of-everything kind of student.

FC: I really want to go to Machu Picchu and Tibet.

From junior Emma Sander: Who was your role model when you were little?

From senior Rachel Hurwitz: Who is your celebrity crush?

FC: Eleanor Roosevelt. She was one of the first female leaders I learned about.

FC: Patrick Stewart. I am a huge “Star Trek” fan.

march 20, 2013

news

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Members of the South community react to the planned addition of a new shopping center on Route 9 photo illustration by Julia Hurwit and Joe Joseph

The building site of the Chestnut Hill Square shopping center lies covered in snow. Its construction has raised concerns over possible traffic increase and competition among stores.

Sasha Kuznetsova News Reporter

Newton’s Board of Aldermen recently accepted a proposal to design and build a new 340,000 square foot shopping center at the site of the former Omni Foods on Route 9.

New England Development, a real estate development company, will transform the site into Chestnut Hill Square, a complex of stores expected to open this fall.

Chestnut Hill Square will include Wegmans supermarket, Equinox Fitness Club, Anthropologie and various medical offices and restaurants.

Vice President of Newton’s Board of Aldermen Cheryl Lappin said that the construction received positive feedback from the Board, although members were unsure of what specifically would be built. “Initially I think everybody was happy that something would be developed there,” she said. “The question of what it would be would take a long time to discuss.”

Junior Bailey Mitchell voiced concern over the efficiency of the new location and its effect on the stores already there.

“Personally, I don’t see much actually benefiting. There are shops around there that will definitely go out of business because [The Square] is literally built right in front of three other shops,” he said. “If I owned one of those, I wouldn’t be happy about this new construction.”

Members of the Board, however, viewed the close proximity of other commercial businesses in the area as a benefit to the industry of the future stores rather than a concern. These businesses include the Chestnut Hill Mall as well as another new shopping complex labeled “The Street,” which is being constructed further down Route 9.

“Sometimes the businesses do better when there are a lot of them around,” Lap-

pin said. struction of Route 9 to accommodate the cars Freshman Anna Kim agreed that the that would be traveling around the stores. building project will have a positive impact “There will be some traffic lights on on the area businesses. “It will be better for Hammond Pond Parkway, and there will the economy of that be added lanes so you area because they will can go across from for a student get a lot more business Chestnut Hill Mall to than they do right now,” Chestnut Hill Square,” perspective, Kim said. turn to page 22 she said.

Lappin said that Mitchell said the major concern the that the construction Board had was the traffic that this construc- is already affecting traffic. “I live right near tion would cause around the already busy the area; we drive past the construction all area. the time,” he said. “It’s definitely done some According to Lappin, the state required really bad things to traffic with all of the an investment of $15 million for the recon- new refurbishing they have [had] to do. I

square footage

can see a lot of problems arising from this.

It’s definitely going to make my morning commute a lot more difficult.”

Senior Elena Byun said that the new stores would provide students in Newton with a closer location to shop and socialize, given the recent closing of the Atrium mall.“It’s definitely within walking distance from South. People used to go to Atrium,” she said. “But [now] it would definitely make people go nearby instead of far away to Natick.”

The shopping center is expected to open this September, and the second phase of construction involving the building of residential condos will follow later.

The new shopping center is located 1.3 miles away from South and directly across from the Chestnut Hill Mall. Shops slated to open this fall range from retail stores to restaurants.

e th uare sq

infographic by Joe Joseph

features volume 29

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march 20, 2013

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graphic by Kylie Walters and Caroline Zola

Students who skip breakfast to save time struggle to stay healthy and focused during school

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By Faith Bergman and Feli Kuperwasser

n a race against the clock, something’s got to give. For freshman Lisa Ramin, that thing is breakfast.

“I try to eat breakfast every morning,” she said, “but quite honestly, I just don’t have the time.”

While Ramin said her breakfast habits affect her ability to concentrate in school, getting up before her normal 6:00 a.m. to save time to eat is not a preferable option.

Although a Roar survey found that 72 percent of South students eat breakfast daily, the 28 percent who do not said that skipping breakfast can be detrimental to both academic performance and physical well-being.

breakfast breakdown The Roar surveyed 167 people about their breakfast eating habits

Sophomore Tara Lanahan said that she and her sister Jessica experience difficulties similar to Ramin’s.

“Between waking up at around 6:00 a.m. and catching the bus at 6:58, there’s already little time for eating breakfast, never mind factoring in the time it takes to get ready for school,” she said.

School nurse Lesley Clark said that eating in the morning must be a priority. “If you don’t put gas in a car, it’s not going to go,” Clark said. “If you don’t put food in your body, you can’t go either.”

The effects of skipping breakfast can continue throughout the school day, according to school nurse Gail Kramer.

“A day does not go by when [the nurses] don’t see someone that has skipped a meal or is coming in with a headache or dizziness,” Kramer said. “When [we] talk to them, then we find out they skipped a meal, and it’s usually breakfast, and they haven’t had anything to eat or drink.”

Family and Consumer Science teacher Jonathan Orren agreed that the body requires nourishment at regular intervals, meaning that students should not eat breakfast only on some days.

“When you first wake up, you don’t always feel hungry,” Orren said. “[But] if you start eating breakfast, your body will get used to eating food during the day, and you will

72%

South students who eat breakfast every day

start waking up feeling hungry.”

The specific food students consume for breakfast is equally as important as the fact that they eat, according to Kramer. “You can have a quick breakfast on the go that’s not from Dunkin’ Donuts,” Kramer said.

Sophomore Jasper Primack said that he makes a concerted effort to eat a healthy breakfast each morning to start his day off on a positive note.

“I usually spend half an hour on [breakfast], and I feel like it really helps because instead of rushing through the first part of my day, I start it out relaxed,” he said.

“I definitely feel that that helps my learning as well.”

44%

Americans who eat breakfast every day *

90% 93% South students who think that breakfast is the most important meal

Americans who think that breakfast is the most important meal *

infographic

by Joe Joseph

* Statistics from the USDA

march 20, 2013

features

9

Students who smoke cigarettes have found a sense of community near campus despite animosity from peers and observers

By Shelley Friedland and Carly Meisel SMOKING, from 1

based off of that.”

Alex said that this criticism extends beyond the South community. “[Judgment] happens everywhere you go smoking a cigarette.

[But] they don’t know our lives.

[They] shouldn’t judge our lives,” he said.

Prevention/Intervention Counselor Rich Catrambone said he finds it troubling that students smoke cigarettes just a few steps beyond South’s campus.

“I’m frustrated that [the tobacco usage] is so blatant, that the community has to see that,”

very, very, very angry when I can’t [smoke].”

Freshman Tommy* said the Though they say smoking community at the pole accepted helps them deal with life chalhim right away. lenges, those who smoke at the “Once you start coming here, pole acknowledged that their habit you start to get to know a lot of is dangerous. people. It’s like a brotherhood,” he “I in no way approve of said. smoking. People who don’t smoke: Elyse said that the pole is the Don’t start. It’s not a good thing. I place she feels most comfortable in was always against cigarettes and the vicinity of South. smoking when I didn’t smoke,” “It’s kind of like a home,” she Sternburg said. “Because [before said. “It’s definitely the best place you smoke], you don’t understand. around the school.”

That time comes, and you finally Although the pole is a comforttry one, and you get that feeling. It’s able hangout place for many, several addicting.” students said that they feel animosity Elyse said though she is from the neighboring South aware of the risks of GABE LAZARE community. smoking, she does not Lazare said that stigsee herself quitting in Most of the kids who come out the near future. matization is unavoidable for here have trouble at home or trousmokers.

“I’m addicted, so “People come out here to I have to [smoke]. I’ll ble at school. They come out here quit when I need to quit, deal with their problems that and have a cigarette, and then their like if it were a [medical they usually can’t deal with in school. It’s an escape,” he said. “If but I don’t see [stress] is gone, just like that, or at problem], kids are judging, that doesn’t help that happening any time least dumbed down a bit. with that escape. We’re pretty soon,” she said. used to it, though.”

According to Sternburg recalled a time Sternburg, other people’s attempts Catrambone said. “We have parents of intense judgment that he said to pressure him into quitting are out there from the community continues to resonate. ineffective. playing tennis during the day, and “Last year, I was smok“I want to quit eventually, we have kids who are smoking. It’s ing [at the pole] by myself, and a when I’m ready to quit. Whenever embarrassing.” mom was driving by,” he said. “She someone tells you to quit, that you Sternburg said he deals with stopped [the car], looked at me have to quit, that’s not the time. attacks on his choices by staying and said, ‘Put down the fucking You quit when you’re ready to quit, away from individuals with negacigarette.’ She shook her head at not when someone tells you,” he tive attitudes. me, said ‘Shame on you’ and then said. “Health [issues] ... could be a “I usually try to avoid people drove away. That one stuck with me force quit that you do have to deal who have that much of a problem a little bit. [She] doesn’t know me with. [Otherwise], you have to with [my smoking] because it’s not or my situation.” decide it on your own.” worth my time. It’s frustrating,” he Elyse said she is often made Catrambone said he and said. to feel ostracized because of her other school administrators do According to Lazare, smokaddiction to cigarettes. what they can to stop kids from ing is a coping mechanism for him “Just because we smoke smoking, but that they can only and others like him. cigarettes, that doesn’t make us bad help to a limited extent.

“Most of the kids who come people. It doesn’t make us any dif“I don’t know how to prevent out here have trouble at home or ferent from anyone else,” she said. kids from making bad choices, trouble at school. They come out “People look at it like we’re somewhether that be drugs or tobacco. here and have a cigarette, and then thing horrible. Yes, there are people All that we can do is try to offer their [stress] is gone, just like that, who are horrible who smoke, but them support, interventions,” he or at least dumbed down a bit,” he there are horrible people who don’t said. “I’m frustrated that we aren’t said. “It also helps me deal with my smoke. You can’t judge people just more effective.” anger issues and depression. I am photo illustration by Kylie Walters

* Names changed to protect students’ identities

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march 20, 2013

Looking forward to the future Lili Kadets

The Quotation Collector

“One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.” – Michael Cibenko As I reflect upon some of my past columns, I find that it’s easiest to point out their flaws. Did I actually spend a whole column discussing the importance of stuffed animals? It’s no secret that I made some mistakes.

Looking back into the past, it’s easy to pick out the disasters, slip-ups, mistakes and embarrassments because unfortunately, those are the moments that dominate our memories and leave indelible marks.

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that a mistake will make you a stronger and better-adjusted person in the future. I’m also sure you don’t want to hear all of that bittersweet, sappy, this-ismy-last-column-ever-and-I’m-sad drama (although I cannot tell a lie: I am sad!).

Instead, this issue, I urge you not to dwell for too long on the past, no matter how wonderful or awful it was. I’ve written about the past and its significance in a couple of my columns. Don’t drown in the past and let the present become history, I wrote. Remember all of the wonderful gifts you received as a young child and pay it forward, I said.

Today, however, I’m saying something different: Use the past but don’t abuse it. While it is true that former experiences can be some of the most valuable tools for shaping the future, we must never forget that every day brings a new challenge, thrill, celebration and obstacle into our lives for which we may never be prepared. What happened yesterday or last week could be key experiences to remember and learn from, but we can’t rely on them to be our survival kits.

Writing a column for The Roar has not been perfect. I’ve rushed to finish paragraphs, I’ve been late for deadlines and we’ve had a couple of minor printing issues.

On the other hand, of course, I’ve also had the time of my life expressing whatever I feel passionate about (i.e., quotations!). There’s no doubt that I will use my Roar experience to aid me both in college and in the real world.

I also know, however, that tomorrow and every subsequent day will present events that are entirely unique. This is not to say that we can’t use history to make predictions. But as Cibenko expressed so beautifully, if we lean too much on what has already happened, we may miss the start of something new (High School Musical, anyone?).

I’ve collected quotations over the years that I strongly believe can eloquently say what I often can’t. Nevertheless, if I depend too strongly on words someone else has already said, I’ll lose the chance to create my own.

So here’s one final piece of advice from the Quotation Collector: Enjoy, relish, share, yell, whisper, ponder, contradict, question, apply and forever appreciate brilliant quotations and memories. Just don’t get stuck in the past. The future, no doubt, will be sweet. As I often say, peace out, girl scout.

SENSE & Style

photos by Jordan Cohen-Kaplan

Many South students and faculty members believe that students need to find a better balance between individual fashion freedom and appropriate attire Maia Fefer, Monica Cipriano & Jill Oliver Features Reporters

offensive on it,” Chaparala said. “Like something derogatory, something racist or sexist or something ... if you had a shirt that was making fun of the Holocaust, that wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Sophomore Jae Lee agreed that though freedom of expression via fashion is essential, it is important for certain guidelines to be in place. “I think anything is appropriate while it is not provocative or [is] anything that is related to drugs or alcohol,” Lee said.

In order to prevent students from wearing disruptive clothing that may divert or offend others, many schools across the country and around the world use a policy of mandatory uniforms, a standardized wardrobe for all students.

Consumer Science and Wellness

Walking through the halls one afternoon, Goodwin housemaster Charles Myette said he was surprised when he spotted a student draped in a curtain. The wardrobe decision, Myette said, was inappropriate.

“I went up to him and I said, ‘We need to talk.’ I told the student, ‘It is creative. It is funny. But getting down the hallways, it is a hazard. Going into classrooms, the focus is going to be your curtain and not the class at hand,’” Myette said. “‘It interrupts the student’s educational process.’”

Despite concerns from both students and faculty, South does not have a dress code, although administrators do expect the students to act responsibly when dressing for school.

The Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Handbook states: “Although Newton Public Schools has no dress code per se, it is the responsibility of the students to dress appropriately for the school learning environment.

Clothing should not be disruptive of the education process and should not - Charles Myette, Goldrick Housemaster pose a danger to the student or others.”

While South has no official teacher Lisa Petrizzi said she believes a dress code, many students and teachers uniform would benefit South students said that they believe students should be because uniform clothing would alleviate held to a professional standard of attire, the pressure of having to come up with an while still maintaining the ability to use outfit every morning. “[Uniforms] would clothing as a form of self-expression. just make everything so much easier in Junior Alekhya Chaparala said that the morning,” Petrizzi said. “Nobody has clothing at South is representative of the to waste time because you know what you variety inherent in the student body. “We have to wear and you wear it.” basically see the entire spectrum of clothLee added that school uniforms ing,” Chaparala said. “You see kids that would be beneficial to the South commudress in things that are inappropriate, in nity because they strengthen the identity my opinion, and you also see kids who of school communities. “[Uniforms] wear the shirt and tie and blazer to school promote a bit of a unity. A sense of comwhich is fine...Which is kind of reflective munity,” he said. “The uniform shows ‘You of Newton South. The thing is, we are a are this school.’” pretty diverse school not only in terms of Although uniforms can bring ethnicity but also in opinions and viewstudents together, Myette said that South points.” does not need a uniform policy in order According to Chaparala, however, for students to feel like they fit it in. anything that is racially offensive or that “[Uniforms] are a way of identifyexposes too much of one’s body is inaping with the school. I think that Newton propriate for an educational environment.

South’s students are able to have their own “I would say anything that doesn’t really styles and still feel like they belong,” he cover your whole body would be inapsaid. propriate and anything that has something Although Chaparala said that cer-

Newton South’s students are able to have their own styles and still feel like they belong.

tain elements of clothing are not appropriate for school, she does not condone a uniform policy because of her belief that fashion is linked to identity.

“Clothes are a good form of selfexpression and that is one reason, one argument for not having a dress code,” Chaparala said. “You can really express yourself and you have a little more control over how you are viewed and your comfort level.”

English teacher Jeremiah Hill agreed that clothing can be an essential vessel of freedom of speech for students. “You could argue that wearing what you want is a necessary mode of self-expression,” he said.

Lee also argued that no singular dress code would be able to satisfy the entire student population.

“It won’t make everyone happy, and it won’t make everyone not bullied.

I don’t think [having a] uniform is the solution,” he said. “I think it is a complicated thing for a school to make a uniform that accommodates everyone’s needs, and that is one flaw in establishing uniforms.”

The best solution, Lee said, would be for the faculty to enforce the expectation that students dress appropriately.

“I think the most uncontroversial thing would be to get a restriction on provocative clothing or [clothing] that promotes or advertises things like illicit or drugs and such,” he said. “The job of a school is to provide a better learning environment ... I think the school has the right to restrict clothing.”

According to Petrizzi, the best way to combat a problem of students wearing inappropriate clothing would be for teachers to enforce the expectations of appropriate attire equally.

“It is important that the teachers are on the same field, equally following through on whatever the rules are, because otherwise, the rules are avoided or ignored unless everyone follows through on the punishments,” Petrizzi said.

According to Myette, the expectations for student attire are appropriately fitted South’s community, and he does not see a policy change in the near future.

“I don’t see people wearing things with offensive language. [Students are] pretty self-aware,” he said. “I do think [the current system] works for the school.”

march 20, 2013

features

A Close Match

Students experiment with the dating application Tinder, which pairs users based on appearance and geographic proximity

photo by Kylie Walters

Some students are concerned about potential perils of dating services like Tinder while others venture into online relationships.

Allie Lushan & Parisa Siddiqui

on the outside but not so much on the inside. I now know what he likes, and we’ve had more deep conversations, since there Features Reporter, Features Editor was no physical connection.” nly a lucky few ever get the Junior Sanyi Voros, who has found chance to converse with two relationships through the Internet, sophomore Hannah Lass, said that the concept of online dating at least on Tinder. “I don’t intrigues him. actually start conversations ... If someone “It’s just about curiosity, and it’s starts one with me, I’ll talk with them or interesting to see how far the relationship my friends will take my phone and talk to will go,” he said. “But regardless of whether them,” she said. or not it works, I make sure that I always Lass is one of several students using know who I am talking to.”

Tinder, a new mobile dating application Chatting online has come with conpopular among teenagers. sequences for Voros, however. “I was talkTinder allows users to chat with ing to a woman who said she was 17, and strangers in the nearby area based on simiI looked on her Facebook page, and it said larities in their Facebook accounts. she was 32,” he said. “That really freaked A user records his or her gender, me out because it put me in a horrible location and sexual orientation and can position. I blocked her immediately on then swipe through Facebook and never [Tinder] only starts a conversation based on if you talked to her again.” other users’ profile pictures.

Regardless, both think the other one is attractive. That’s not what a Tapping a Voros said he uses relationship should be. green heart under Tinder and simia profile picture means that the user is lar sites to expand his pool of potential - Hannah Lass, Class of 2015 interested and pressing a red “x” means he friends and partners. or she is not.

Although Tinder provides the op“It’s a good way to meet people If a user “likes” an individual who portunity to check matches’ Facebook all around, not just in school, [but also] has also liked him or her back, the apaccounts, Gundersheim said that because people out of the country or out of state,” plication brings the pair into a private chat matches are both anonymous and between he said. room. individuals living in close proximity, she is Lopez agreed that services like Many students, including Lass, reluctant to chat on Tinder.

Tinder give her more opportunity to meet remain wary of meeting people through “You don’t really know who you’re new people. online dating services, but some said there dealing with. It probably won’t be danger“There’s more of a variety of people is little to fear in Tinder’s Internet chat ous, but it easily could be,” Gundersheim on the Internet,” she said. “You can meet rooms. said. “It’s weird you don’t know who you’re people just as friends and you can meet Junior Mel Gundersheim said she talking to and what they’re interested in people that are a lot like you and that uses Tinder for entertainment rather than doing.” you’re going to enjoy.” meeting potential partners.

Sophomore Ana Lopez disagreed, Tinder is best approached with “Me and my friends, we don’t use it however, and said that sites like Tinder light-hearted expectations, according to to meet up with boys,” she said. “We just offer practical ways to meet people.

Meng. use it as a joke, and we don’t take it seri“[People] think everyone is either “[People on Tinder] might just seem ously.” a pedophile or a loser [on the Internet], like they’re all looking for a relationship Lass agreed that she would not use which is pretty untrue,” Lopez said. or something, but most people are on Tinder to initiate a romantic relationship.

Lopez said she knows that dating there just for fun, just to chat with random “[Tinder is] solely based on looks. sites can result in success stories, as she people,” he said. “I’m there for fun.”

That’s the point of it,” Lass said. “It only and her boyfriend of two years met online.

Voros said that although he seeks starts a conversation based on if you both “The benefit [of online dating sites fun engagements with new people through think the other one is attractive. That’s not is] that you get to know a person deeply. services like Tinder, safety must be his top what a relationship should be.”

I got to know my boyfriend in a different priority. “When it comes down to it, you According to Gundersheim, Tinder perspective,” Lopez said. “If I had met him really want to make sure they are who they is not an ideal network for forming relain person, I would have got to know him say they are.”

O

tionships because it allows users to hide the truth.

“When you’re on [any social media website], even on Facebook, … people can do anything online and change their identity or change anything about [themselves]” Gundersheim said.

Falsehoods are easily incorporated into Tinder profiles, Lass agreed.

“Your age can be a lie. Your pictures can be a lie,” she said. “Everything can be fake if you want it to be.”

Because of this potential for fraud, junior Jason Meng checks his matches’ Facebook accounts before chatting.

“You don’t want to give away too much information,” Meng said. “You always want to be cautious, and it’s always good to have mutual friends with the person you’re chatting with.”

11

Relationships: Defining the Relationship

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.

Do me a favor: whenever you have the chance and the courage, please define your relationship with your significant other. Nowadays, defining a relationship poses difficulties because there are just so many categories: Are you dating or are you just hooking up? Friends or something more? The “it’s complicated” designation is particularly tricky because, well, it really does make things complicated.

I ran into the problem of not defining my relationship soon enough when I introduced my significant other — let’s call him John — to my friends. John does not attend South, but we have known each other for a while through our shared extracurricular activities.

One Saturday night, I received a text from my friend inviting me to her house. Because I already had plans with John that night, I replied by requesting to bring a friend along. Then I realized that John would soon be meeting my group of friends for the first time.

John came over; we drove to the party, and right before we walked in, the question arose: How do I introduce John to my friends? One minor freak out and a few deep breaths later, I decided to introduce him as my friend.

All was well until someone at the party asked if John was my boyfriend.

Needless to say, I panicked and suffered a slight aneurysm before choking out, “Um, he’s a good friend …”

For the remainder of the night, John and I didn’t talk much. When the party began to wind down, John took me outside and said he needed to talk to me.

He proceeded to tell me that he didn’t have feelings for me. In fact, he was crushing on someone else.

John later unfriended me on Facebook, but I tried to not get upset. Haters gon’ hate, right? My evening with John prompted me to consider the nature of defining relationships. In the past, labels were plain and simple. For our generation, the vast number of alternatives to “just dating” make it easy to avoid defining a relationship.

For example, I frequently hear that two people are “just hooking up.” This characterization makes a relationship seem casual. It’s also a source of pitfalls if a couple fails to define what “just hooking up” actually means. Partners might be seeing other people. Alternatively, they might be hooking up exclusively but resistant to adopting a label.

But fret not; communication can solve the definition problem, even if it’s the friends with benefits sort of communication that doesn’t involve much talking.

Communication need not be a series of analytical discussions having to do with the nature of a couple’s attraction to one another, but if both parties are excessively timid, the relationship goes nowhere.

12

features

THE

march 20, 2013

COMMON APPLICATION

The Roar follows four seniors with different interests as they navigate their way through the college process over the course of the school year and will reveal their identities and final college decisions in June

By Caroline Zola

G

reg* has decided to end his college process and study next year as a postgraduate at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. According to Greg, a postgraduate year is the sensible choice. “[Doing a postgraduate year] is the best fit for me financially, academically and especially athletically,” Greg said. “From there, I’ll look into applying to schools for the following year.”

A postgraduate year is a fifth, intense year of high school offered by some prep schools to allow students to mature academically, compete in athletics and prepare for standardized testing.

“A college doesn’t see a person who does a post graduate year and go, ‘Oh, well, they were held back or repeated.’

They actually like people who have done postgraduate years because they can be more mature,” he said.

Admission to a postgraduate program is also highly competitive, Greg said.

Only four students were admitted to the postgraduate program at Tabor Academy this year.

Greg’s decision to apply to a postgraduate program and suspend his college process was in part prompted by an acceptance to Boston University that did not include financial aid.

“Because getting recruited to BU and getting in but not getting enough aid, I felt that I didn’t have enough time to make a good decision on where I wanted to go to college and make sure I found one that would fit me both athletically and academically,” Greg said.

E

mmy* has begun to receive admissions decisions from the Canadian universities to which she applied and is waiting to hear from American schools.

Emmy was recently accepted to McGill University and McMaster University in Canada. “[McMaster and McGill] are two schools that are sort of in the middle of my list, so I’m no longer worried about not getting into a school that I want to go to, ... which is a relief,” Emmy said.

She is continuing to wait to hear about the status of her applications to Northeastern University and University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was waitlisted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The differences in the timing of college decision releases are proving to be stressful, Emmy said. “McMaster actually wants a decision by Apr. 1, which might be a problem because ... I haven’t heard back from five other schools,” Emmy said.

Emmy said she will begin calling American schools, requesting to know her application status so she can respond to the Canadian schools on time.

Emmy said she is now strongly considering a Canadian school over an American school because of their rankings and proximity to her family.

“I need to visit both of them [the schools Heather was accepted to] again ... knowing I got into them and knowing I need to make a decision, ... [but] it’s very likely that I’ll be going to Canada next year.”

T

yler* was accepted early action to University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Vermont and University of New Hampshire and is awaiting decisions from Brown University, College of William and Mary, University of Michigan and University of Virginia.

After recently spending a night at UMass during an open house weekend, Tyler said that UMass may be his top choice. “I went and stayed at UMass, ... and I think I’m leaning toward UMass out of all the schools I applied to,” Tyler said.

Tyler said that the overall culture of the school and the people he met made UMass his new favorite university. “We hung out. We went to a party. We went to an improv show. It was just a good time,” Tyler said. “The kids I was hanging out with were very laid back, down to earth, but at the same time knew how to have a good time ... That really boosted UMass in my eyes.”

The weekend Tyler visited was during Blarney Blowout, an early celebration of St. Patricks Day, which Tyler said revealed the social scene at UMass. “It was insane,” Jake said.

For now, however, Tyler is continuing to keep his options open and is hesitant to make any firm decisions. “It’s still stressful because there are a couple of other schools that if I hear back from [in the affirmative], they change my perspective ... Brown, WIlliam and Mary, University of Michigan and UVA are the four schools that if I hear back from are possibilities instead of UMass,” Tyler said.

H

graphics by David Gorelik

eather* recently completed all 11 of her auditions for theater programs and is starting to hear back from the colleges and universities to which she applied.

Heather spent a weekend in New York City attending Unified auditions, a collection of auditions hosted by schools with top theater programs from around the country. The Unified audition was, according to Heather, both rigorous and rewarding. “I guess it’s kind of sensory overload because my first audition, I got there in the morning, and it’s literally a cabana-themed audition hallway, and it’s specifically designed just for auditions,” Heather said. “It was weird because I was waiting to get into one studio and right next to me they were auditioning for a new Broadway play, ... so it was very real at that point because you were surrounded by so much talent that you’d only really heard about but you’d never seen in action.”

Besides the stress, Heather said that she found the time commitment of auditions to be difficult. “It was very hard balancing school work with this because all that travel and the huge adrenaline rushes were exhausting,” Heather said. “This is by far the most stressful part.”

Heather is beginning to receive admission decisions and continuing to wait to hear from schools. Heather recently heard she was not accepted to the BFA acting program at Ithaca College but was accepted to Emerson College’s BA program in theater studies with an acting focus. She is awaiting 12 more admissions decisions.

news

march 20, 2013

13

Emely Miniño Soto is ...

Every issue, The Roar randomly selects a student and explores what makes him or her unique

The Perfect Fit

By Caroline Zola and Joe Joseph

Emely Miniño Soto’s Quinceañera is just one of the many transformations in her life

A

t her Quinceañera this May, freshman Emely Miniño Soto will sit quietly, dressed in a bright, puffy ball gown as her father changes her flat shoes to high heels. Emely’s mother, Mercedes Soto, said this ritual is just one aspect of a larger celebration indicating a rite of passage in Emely’s life. “[The shoe ceremony] shows, like, now you become more responsible because you became a big girl,” Soto said. “For us [the Quinceañera is] like a big thing we do, like a big dance and a big dress and everything, so I’m very excited ... It’s a time when ... you become responsible to be grown up.”

According to Emely, the Quinceañera, a Latin American celebration of a young woman’s fifteenth birthday, will consist of a religious service, various traditional rituals and a party with roughly 250 friends and family members. “I’m going to be nervous because there are going to be a lot of people there and excited at the same time,” Emely said. “I’ll remember it forever.”

Emely’s Quinceañera is just another addition to the number of transformations she has undergone in her life.

According to her friends and family, Emely was originally deterred by a language barrier and her own shy nature and has worked over the years to make a home for herself in America and to become more outgoing, all the while maintaining a deep connection to her Dominican roots.

Emely and her family moved to Boston in 2007, and after starting fourth grade there, Emely moved to Newton halfway through the year. The transition, Emely said, was difficult. “[Moving to the United States] was hard because I didn’t know English,” she said.

According to Soto, the transition was so challenging for Emely that Soto wanted to move the family back to the Dominican Republic and only decided to stay when she saw Emely’s personality transform. “I saw the way she was so shy in the school, and it was so difficult for her, so I decided if she doesn’t do any good job, I will maybe go back,” Soto said. “I stopped that when I see the way she’s been doing … I have to say that God bless her because she’s being doing so great and she stopped being shy.”

Emely agreed that she has not always been as courageous and her timidity has held her back in the past.

“I was really shy [when I first moved here]. I didn’t like friends,” Emely said. “I never really talked a lot.” As she grew older, however, she began to open up more. “I don’t know [what happened],” Emely said. “I got loud.”

Despite her transition into American culture, Emely

remains attached to her own cultural roots through her community in Boston. “When I go to Boston, … I feel better because I can talk in Spanish all I want to because [in Newton] not many families speak Spanish, ... but in Boston I can really express myself.

Freshman Abigail Dumo, one of Emely’s close friends, said that she initially became friends with Emely because they both have connections to their native cultures as part of immigrant families. “It was cool because we both came from different places, so we kind of bonded over that,” Dumo said. “I told her that, and we just became friends instantly.”

One of the first instances of Emely’s branching out was directly related to her culture: a dance performance at her elementary school. Soto said that watching her daughter perform was a special moment for her. “She looked like she some kind of dancer from our country ... She was graphics by Joe Joseph photo by Dylan Block talking about how different she is, how she likes it to be that way, ... and I think that was great,” she said. express myself [when] I can just, you Dumo said Emely’s unique personality is what she know, draw it out. I can just put it down, admires about her. “She’s different,” she said. “I like her the feelings I have, and get artwork out of it.” better because she’s not like other people.”

Moving forward, Emely said she will continue to Emely’s art teacher Jeff Wixon agreed that Emely leave her shyness behind her and look toward the future. is not afraid to be different. “[She was working on an art “I’m going to try to do things I’ve never tried ... because project, and] she bent the wire, and I said, ‘No, you can’t maybe i’ll like the things I experiment with,” Emely said. do that,’ and she said, ‘Yes, I can,’” he said. “She did a reUltimately, Soto said she is extremely grateful for ally good job on [that project]. In fact, when she finished and inspired by the way Emely has changed over the it late, I took someone else’s down and put hers in the years. “When I see her — the way that she’s growing; the showcase because I was so proud of her … It’s really difway that she’s been so smart — I say to myself, ‘Wow, ferent from the others.” it really was a good thing to stay here’ because I see the According to Emely, her developing interest in way she’s doing,” she said. “I say every single day in the art has been another one of the changed aspects of her morning when I wake up, ‘Thank God for my daughters’ personality, and art has become a means of self expression because they’re really great ... When I see them, especially and an outlet for emotion when words fail her. “When I Emely, that gives myself [the strength] to say, ‘I have to do first tried art, I didn’t think I’d like it, and then I ended it. I’m going to be good. I’m going to keep working hard up liking it more than I thought I would,” she said. “I can and get her where she’s supposed to get.’”

volume 29

issue 7

14

page

march 20, 2013

Override provides necessary funds in order to maintain Newton’s educational system

by Joe Joseph

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

Funds from Override headed North for renovation Following the approval of an $11.4 million override in Newton, members of the Newton North community have signed a petition asking Mayor Setti Warren to divert all funds gained from the override toward renovating North.

“Our school is in great need of new resources,” North senior Rich Goldwater said. “The air is polluted with the gold dust that’s been peeling off of the walls, and our olympic-size pool simply isn’t big enough to fit both the North and South swim teams.”

Freshman Bill N. Monet agreed that North is in dire need of renovation. “Personally, I think we should tear down the current building,” he said. “Brick buildings are so two years ago — I say we just replace the whole thing with a floating castle in the sky.”

When asked for comment, students from Angier and Cabot elementary expressed concern over the possibility that the funds would not be used to improve the quality of their schools. “I *cough* don’t think that sending money to North would *cough* be using *cough* the money asbestos possible,” Angier fifth grader Asthma Agarwal said.

In response to these concerns, North’s Deputy Assistant Head Treasurer of the Royal Funds Andrew Rockefeller-Carnegie, III issued a statement revealing the primary motives behind the creation of the petition. “Well it’s true that they might need a few patches here and there, but in the end we have a reputation to uphold,” he wrote. “Plus, these 50 jewel-encrusted statues of tigers aren’t just going to pay for themselves.”

Smoke plume causes mass hysteria over papal conclave Members of the South community were shocked to see a mysterious plume of white smoke hovering above South’s campus last Wednesday.

After further investigation, administrators determined that the cause of the strange phenomenon was a chemistry experiment gone wrong. “It’s so weird because this has never happened before at South,” junior Meg Nee-Sium said. “All I did was let the experiment reach the boiling point and then this happened.”

Although the issue was resolved once fire trucks arrived, a larger problem emerged when students and faculty misinterpreted the smoke in different ways. “For a second, I thought we were having a sixth snow day,” Superintendent Shiv Erring said. Most community members, however, saw it as a sign of the conclusion of the papal conclave.

“Usually there’s black smoke spewing out of the generator next to the band room anyway, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise,” junior Benedict Francis said. “But then I made the connection, and I was overcome with emotion.”

Senior Popie Forman expressed a similar sentiment.

“I was freaking out,” she said. “I’ve never been more excited about anything in my entire life — and I’m Jewish.”

Quality public education that effectively prepares students for the real world is an important value and one on which the Newton community prides itself.

The tax override passed last Tuesday will not only improve physical conditions in elementary schools, but also ensure that class sizes and teacher-student ratios do not skyrocket.

In a recent editorial board discussion among Roar staff members, all 13 editors present supported the passing of the override.

Physical conditions aside, in 2012, 94.4 percent of classes at Angier had 20-24 students, according to the 2012 Annual Class Size Report compiled by Superintendent David Fleishman and

Deputy Superintendent Sandra Guryan. The override money will help ensure that this number remains constant.

Although The Roar commends the monetary support

Part of what makes Newton, Newton is its high-quality educational system.

Newton public services will receive as a result of the passing of the override, it recognizes that not all voters agreed. According to the Newton Patch, questions 1 and 2 of the override passed with 54 percent “yes” votes and Ques-

tion 3 passed with 55 percent “yes” votes. Several Roar editors pointed out that since the money would go to lower schools, parents and senior citizens who do not have children or relatives in elementary schools might not wish to pay higher taxes.

The Roar understands these concerns but rejects logic that does not put education at the forefront. Part of what makes Newton, Newton is its high-quality educational system, which comes from residents’ taxes.

Producing contributing members of the Newton community begins with elementary school students, who will now avoid the pitfalls of oversized classes and schools in poor physical condition

School community must join together, work to combat culture of academic dishonesty Several weeks ago, a cheating scandal in a senior elective science course, Honors neurobiology, sparked controversy within the South community. Many Honors neurobiology students, when presented with the opportunity to cheat via the Internet during a test, seized it.

But neurobiology, despite its advanced curriculum, is not a cutthroat environment: Students are allowed to retake and postpone tests if necessary.

Yet despite all logical and ethical reasoning, students looked up answers, revealing that given the opportunity, even a high achieving honors student in a noncompetitive environment may cheat.

During an editorial board discussion, almost all Roar staff members agreed that South is

generally an honest place, citing the fact that many classes require students to turn in papers through Turnitin, a plagiarism prevention service.

Nevertheless, editorial board members agreed there is significant pressure at South to attain grades to impress universities rather than learn the material, a mentality that leads to cheating despite students’ understanding that cheating is morally wrong.

Although The Roar acknowledges that eradicating cheating at South is not a realistic possibility, it maintains that students and teachers can work together to reduce cases of academic dishonesty.

First, The Roar encourages teachers to talk openly with their students about academic honesty,

Editorial Policy

attempting to teach why cheating will not prove beneficial in the long run.

The Roar also believes that disinterest in a course can correlate with academic dishonesty; to the best of their abilities, students should select classes about which they are passionate.

In addition, teachers should inspire in students a desire to learn, not a need to attain a good grade.

The Roar requests that teachers give students adequate time to prepare for tests and large assignments, so South’s stressed student body will be less prone to cheating.

Communication and understanding from both teachers and students can induce a real uptick in academic honesty at South.

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 four 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.

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Editor highlights importance of passion over inherited qualities

FROM THE

EDITOR’S DESK Joe Joseph

quickly.

So yes, Roar, I’ll admit it: I used you in an attempt to live up to Anjali’s legacy.

And in the beginning, I didn’t exactly use you effectively.

My first assignment was an interview with the sophomore class president for a Q&A blurb. Simple in theory: I had questions, and she had answers.

During the two-minute interview, my hands shook almost as much as my voice, and at the next staff meeting I asked a question I regret to this day: “So when you’re interviewing someone, do you have to write down exactly what they say or can you just paraphrase?”

There was no reason I should have kept going.

I could have given up, decided journalism was not for me like I had known all along and moved on to the next activity on the list. But I didn’t, partly because I still needed to keep up with my older sister but mostly because with every interview I con-

Editor-in-Chief Four years ago, journalism for me was nothing more than an occasional glance at the Sunday paper. It was an art reserved for bold reporters with pencils stuck in their disheveled hair and notepads tucked into their back pockets; all I knew about what it meant to be a journalist told me that I would never be an acceptable candidate for the job.

For one, I was shy. I avoided taking charge and speaking to others, and I constantly stumbled over my words. So how did I come to be here today? The answer is through a combination of sibling rivalry and serendipity.

My older sister Anjali worked on Denebola, another South publication, during her tenure back in the Stone Age (i.e.

2004-2008).

Compelled by my desire to meet her standard and then finally dragged in by (the one and only) James Wu, I decided I would join The Lion’s Roar a month into freshman year. As I gingerly made my way inside of the Roar room the first time I attended a staff meeting, I repeated the plan over and over in my head: Just stay for one meeting and see how it goes. Hopefully no one will see you and you can get out of here

ducted, article I wrote and page I designed, I realized that I was becoming more and more attached to journalism.

My point here is that some things in life are inherited. I will never naturally have curly blonde hair or an adequate sense of hand-eye coordination.

Yet my experience with journalism has taught me that it’s not always the innate qualities that matter when passion is involved.

For example, based on the archetypal Bollywood film star, one would assume that all Indian males are born with the ability to thrust their hips to a bhangra beat.

Turns out that in addition to a lack of hand-eye coordination, I also managed to inherit the equivalent shortcoming in my feet, meaning dance moves don’t exactly come easily to me.

For this reason, I was originally skeptical when one of my friends asked me to join an Indian dance group a few weeks

If you had told me in ninth grade that I would become editor-in-chief of a school newspaper, I would have burst out laughing.

Volume 29

The Lion’s Roar

ago.

But keeping in mind my experience with journalism, I decided to just go for it.

Along the way I’ve come to realize that our dance is less about skill than it is about the communal and cultural aspect of Indian music and dance. The final result? Well I guess you’ll just have to come to Asian Night on April 5 or Tertulia on April 11 to find out (shameless plug).

If you had told me in ninth grade that I would become editor-in-chief of a school newspaper, I would have burst out laughing. I would have told you that I wasn’t born with the qualities of a good journalist. I would have told you I was simply incapable.

I don’t meet the stereotypical criteria for a journalist; I don’t wear a fedora, and I don’t tuck pens into my back pockets (although I do have disheveled hair, according to my mother).

What I’ve discovered is that journalism, like almost all other pursuits in life, is about growth even in the face of what appears to be a lost cause.

To everyone who has accompanied me on this journey, especially my fellow editors, I sincerely thank you for helping me realize that success comes when one draws courage not only from innate qualities, but also from true passion.

Join The Roar!

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

Editors-in-Chief Jenny Friedland

Joe Joseph

Managing Editors Andreas Betancourt

James Wu

Section Editors Centerfold Editorials

News

Hyunnew Choi Julie Olesky

Dipal Nagda

Features

Community

Kylie Walters Caroline Zola

Ravi Panse

Emily Ho

David Gorelik Aidan Rose

Dina Busaba Sophie Forman

Arts Review

Marissa Vertes

Carly Meisel Parisa Siddiqui

Graphics Managers

Opinions

Anqi Gao

Photo Managers

Dylan Block Jordan Cohen-Kaplan

Distribution Managers

Faculty Advisers

Laura Kessel Charlotte Levine Elena Ramos

Ashley Elpern Brian Baron Paul Estin Thomas Murphy

Join The Roar!

Sports

Yonatan Gazit Tony Yao

Business Managers Jordi Batler RJ Hayes Sam Heesch

Copy Editors Jenny Morris Emma Race

Monday J Block Room 1201

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

Monday J Block * Room 1201

CHEAT SHEET The Roar surveyed 170 students on Mar. 5 regarding their opinions about academic honesty at South

51%

of students have cheated on a test

6% of them were caught

photo illustration by Jordan Cohen-Kaplan and Ravi Panse

The Roar investigates the effects of South’s competitive atmosphere on students’ decisions to cheat on schoolwork

B

en* was drawing a blank. The answer just wasn’t coming to him, and his grade depended on this test. Ben realized that he might be able to find the answer by extrapolating from other test questions. Then again, he could also find it by looking left, right or down at his phone. He made a choice.

“I looked over to the person to my left, looked at the answer and wrote it down, and then I compared that answer to [that of] the person to my right to make sure it [was] correct,” Ben said.

Ben is not the only student at South who said he feels fueled to cheat on tests and essays by the pressure to succeed in academics. “If you have a friend who’s always getting A’s, you want to keep up with them,” junior Emily Kaufman said. “Kids feel a lot of pressure to do whatever it takes to get that grade that their friends are getting.”

Ben said that when students resort to methods like his, there is no question that they are cheating. “On a homework, you can probably find [the answer] online, and that’s not really cheating. On a test, it’s blatant cheating,” Ben said. “The difference is one is just blatant cheating and the other one could be a little bit controversial.”

Yet a Roar survey found that this knowledge does not consistently deter students from cheating on tests or large

By Dipal Nagda and Anastasiya Vasilyeva

assignments.

Nationally, the United States has seen a rise in cheating in recent decades. According to the Educational Testing Service, in the 1940s, about 20 percent of college students admitted to having cheated in high school.

Today, between 75 and 98 percent of college students surveyed each year said they cheated in high school.

Across the nation, media sources have reported on the some of the specific incidents of cheating that yield these statistcs. In May 2012, around 125 Harvard College students were accused of cheating on a take-home final examination for a government class, Introduction to Congress. On Feb. 1, 2013, Harvard College forced “somewhat more than half ” of the students to withdraw from the Ivy League school.

A month after the Harvard scandal, over 50 students from Stuyvesant High School in New York City were accused of cheating during their final examinations, using notes and texting on their phones to find answers.

As a result, over 66 students faced possible suspension from the high school.

South is not as distanced from these events as Newton community members would like to think, according to English teacher Alexander Kaplan. “I’d be surprised if there were adults who said we don’t have a cheating problem at this school,” he said.

In fact, on a recent test administered in South’s neurobiology class, students were allowed to take their tests in various places around the school, including the library and computer lab. Some students took advantage of the situation by looking up answers to test questions online.

Senior Karen Wang agreed that South’s cheating problem is hardly unique. “People who go to less challenging schools and take less challenging courses cheat,” she said.

“People who go to Harvard cheat.”

South’s stressful environment leads to increased cheating in advanced courses, however, senior Joey Pincus said. “A lot of kids cheat in harder classes because more is expected of them,” he said. “They want to get better grades in better classes or they will just get dropped down to lower ones.”

Others, like Kaufman, disagreed. She said that personal expectations and goals prevent students in upper level classes from cheating. “I think that students who want to take a higher level course won’t cheat because they’re expecting the workload” she said. “But with lower-level courses, if students aren’t interested in the topic, they could be more likely to cheat.”

According to Kaplan, students’ perspectives, rather than their curriculum levels, determine their decisions. “I know that in environments where students feel like they

don’t know the material at all or that school is some sort of game that is rigged against them, they’re just as likely to cheat,” he said. “I can’t tell you that it happens more often on one [curriculum] level than the other. Everybody feels pressure in different situations and deals with them in different ways.”

Pincus agreed that students’ actions are based on their personal judgements. “I mean the kids who cheat, that’s their choice,” he said.

“I don’t know how to stop the rest of the kids if one kid cheats.”

Kaplan, who teaches freshman English and the senior AP English Language and Composition elective, said that student cheating has resulted from academic pressure.

“In times when you attach high consequences and high pressure to young people, who are just really learning how to apply their ideas of right and wrong to the actual world, you get a lot of people who think that they can bend rules,” he said.

South parent Hillary Spector said that in addition to academic pressure, students face a significant amount of peer pressure. Therefore, the expectation to achieve at a high standard and compete against peers can take a toll.

“Because [South] is such a competitive place and there is a lot of pressure to perform and get into top colleges, I’m sure there is some measure of cheating that occurs,” Spector said.

Again, this pressure-cooker mentality appears to exist beyond South’s bubble; in a New York Times article from Sept. 25, 2012, one of the Stuyvesant students accused of cheating was quoted as saying, “No one wants to fail a test. You could study for two hours and get an 80, or you could take a risk and get a 90.”

To effectively combat this line of thinking, punishing students is not enough, Kaplan said. “We should have an active conversation about what it means to be honorable,” he said. “The thing is there are people who get turned by the pressure who wouldn’t [cheat] under other circumstances, and those are the people whom a discussion about honor would be designed to help.”

Ben said that a discussion about academic honesty would not affect his behavior. “It’s almost a social norm, so people don’t really view it as morally wrong,” he said.

“I acknowledge the fact that I didn’t do [the work]. I don’t feel guilty about it though.”

Even when the moral argument fails, Kaufman said that simple logic can do the job. “I’ve definitely felt compelled to cheat, but I’m going to need to learn this in life, and I’m going to need to know this for the final,” she said. “It will help me for the final.” *Name has been changed to protect student’s identity.

84% of students have witnessed cheating

9%

of them reported the incident infographic by James Wu

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march 20, 2013

centerfold

Flori

2006-2007

Sixty-one Florida State University athletes were accused of cheating on an online test and various academic papers. Two athletic department academic assistance employees allegedly helped the student athletes pass the tests and typed the essays for them. The two employees resigned from the univ ersity, and Florida State was forced to forfeit victories and individual titles that the athletes won in the 2006-2007 season.

By Dipal Nagda

The Roar investigates cheating scandals at institutions across the country

Yor w e N

2010-2011

March, 2007

Up to five Great Neck North High School students were accused of taking SAT and ACT exams for other local students in exchange for money by creating fake identification cards.

One SAT stand-in claimed that he earned SAT scores between 2170 and 2220 and ACT scores of up to 33 for at least 15 people. As of Dec. 2011, 20 students in the Long Island area have been arrested.

Thirty-four graduate students at Duke business school were accused of cheating on a take-home final examination in March 2007. Students were caught collaborating on the test, breaking the school’s honor code. Four of the students were forced to leave the university and 15 students were suspended for a year.

Nor Car th oli na

New May, 2012

MasS

ach

use

Approximately 125 Harvard students were suspected of cheating on a take-home final examination for the “Introduction to Government” course in May, 2012. The students were accused of collaborating and copying each other’s responses to the test. On Feb. 1, 2013, Harvard College forced “somewhat more than half ” of the students who were accused of cheating to withdraw.

tTs

k

Yor

k

June, 2012

Twelve Stuyvesant High School students, as well as possibly 54 more, faced suspension after having cheated on New York’s city-wide Regents examinations in June, 2012. Later that month, a Stuyvesant student’s phone was confiscated. Authorities found pictures of English, Physics and Spanish Regent exams that he allegedly distributed to his classmates.

da

march 20, 2013

centerfold

An anonymous student provides a perspective about what pushes students to cheat at South

I

n one of my classes last year, I cheated on the majority of my tests. I asked kids to tell me the open response questions in advance. I wrote notes down on my arms and wore long sleeves. I printed small charts and folded them into my pockets. My final grade in the class was an A-.

I still labored over notes and feverishly reviewed PowerPoints on the nights before a test. So why was I completely okay with being dishonest when I already knew the necessary material?

Two reasons: The exams were always unreasonably difficult, and the majority of kids in my class cheated just as much as I did, including someone who went so far as to take the textbook out during a test. The fact that cheating was so deeply ingrained in the culture of that course was the root of the problem.

South is obviously a very academically competitive school. Most kids care about what college they will attend. It also follows that they care about their GPA and standardized test scores. College admissions officers probably look at grades as indicators of a student’s progress in school and how much he or she is learning.

Ideally, that is what grades should reveal, but in reality, how well someone does in school and what letters show up on his or her report card are often independent of each other.

Consequently, many kids who are stressed by competition and the prospect of perceived failure choose to sacrifice their education for numbers that colleges will see. Some even decide to push the boundaries to places that are not part of school, such as the SAT. While students’ motives are undoubtedly immoral, the logic behind them is also understandable. Every student at South is a victim of a college process that indirectly and unintentionally promotes cheating by emphasizing grades more than it does learning.

Academic dishonesty cannot possibly end until this fatal flaw is fixed. I believe that the school’s job is to teach us, and that our job as students is to learn the information and concepts in our classes. In most cases, cheating disrupts this flow of knowledge from teacher to student, hurting the integrity of school and as a result, should be avoided. But last year, when I felt certain that knowing the information we were going to be tested on was actually not enough to do well on the test, did cheating become more acceptable?

Thinking back, I sometimes wonder whether I should have acted differently if I were back in that class and could redo anything.

The answer is always a resounding no.

I would not change anything because I feel no remorse. I am completely sure that I tried my very best in that class and that ultimately, my dishonesty did not compromise the amount of material I learned. But when confronted with tests that the teacher admitted were designed to make the class do poorly, I, like many others, took matters into my own hands. After all, I did my job as a student by learning what I was supposed to learn, and I wanted to make sure my grades reflected that effort.

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arts review

Arts Review

Rebel with a cause Breakout starlet Rebel Wilson proves curvy is cool

Photo courtesy of public domain

Rebel Wilson poses for W Magazine’s “Best Performance” nominee shoot. Wilson was nominated for her performance as Fat Amy in the comedy Pitch Perfect.

Marissa Vertes Sr. Arts Review Editor

When I was younger, I wanted to be Miley Cyrus.

Miley was my idol. She had long hair, a killer smile, and was beautiful and thin. Miley represented every trait that I did not see in myself.

The summer before 8th grade, I obsessed over becoming like Miley. I lost a lot of weight, eating only small salads for meals. I was angry with my family, and no matter how my relatives tried to help, I shut them out. Despite these changes, I still stared at myself in the mirror and hated what I saw.

Later that summer I went off to sleepaway camp. A girl in my bunk was suffering with anorexia. We were both insecure about our bodies. Befriending her, I realized that I did not want to be her; I did not want to be disgusted with my own reflection.

I began to eat again, but I started exercising more and maintained a healthy weight.

Now, at 17 years old, I am confident with my body and happy with the way I am.

In Hollywood, the concept of a positive body image has been revived through multiple stars, most notably, Australian actress

Rebel Wilson.

Through her breakout role in the comedy “Pitch Perfect” and her upcoming sitcom “Super Fun Night,” Wilson shows that being overweight should not hinder your confidence or career.

“Pitch Perfect” premiered on Sept. 28, 2012 and rocketed to the top of box offices. Although the movie primarily focused on the rise of a college a capella group, Rebel Wilson’s character, Fat Amy, shines through among the rest.

Fat Amy, also known as Fat Patricia, is a sassy, curvy college girl with a killer sense of humor.

The unique aspect of Amy’s character is that she is unfazed

rable lines of the entire movie occurs when Amy responds to an inquiring a capella captain on why she calls herself Fat Amy. Amy responds, “Yeah, so twig bitches like you don’t do it behind my back.”

Through Fat Amy, Rebel Wilson shows girls that you do not have to be extremely thin to be confident.

In fact, Wilson is so confident about her body that almost every joke that Fat Amy utters is about her physicality. Phrases like “I’m surprised they let my sexy fat ass in here” are not uncommon. Wilson embraces the idea of loving yourself just the way you are.

vision superstar, Conan O’Brien.

Set to premiere during the 2013 season, the new sitcom, “Super Fun Night,” is, according to Wilson, a “funcomfortable” new show. The basic premise of the show is that three nerdy best friends make it their life mission to have a super fun night every Friday night, and chaos always seems to ensue.

Although not much has been released about the upcoming show, it is something to look out for.

Recently, Wilson has taken on a new fitness routine and it has proven to be a struggle.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Wilson revealed her

purposes and not for body image is a huge step for a Hollywood starlet, and Wilson could very well be the beginning of a new body image campaign for stars.

Wilson reassures her fans that her infamous fat jokes will not cease, and we can look forward to them in “Super Fun Night,” coming this fall.

The idea of a positive body image has been reinvigorated, and through actresses like Rebel Wilson, it will continue to grow and thrive in the upcoming years.

I am hopeful for a future in which girls stop looking in the mirror and wishing that they are someone else.

Through strong women

Through Fat Amy, Rebel Wilson shows girls that you do not have to be extremely thin to be confident. by her clear weight difference from the rest of the group. In an interview with Reuters about the movie, Wilson said, “I’m not a size two, so of course I’m going to use that physicality to my advantage.” And, in fact, she does.

It was later revealed that Wilson wrote the majority of her lines for “Pitch Perfect,” most of which poke fun at herself.

One of the most memo-

Wilson’s fantastic demeanor in Pitch Perfect led to five nominations for acting awards, including MTV’s Best Female Performance and Best Breakthrough Performance. She continues to inspire girls around the country with her confidence.

But Rebel Wilson’s career has just begun, and the heavyset comedian has written and coproduced a new sitcom with tele-

struggles, “I try to be healthy.

I train three days a week with a trainer. But I do like to eat, clearly. And I do eat dessert every day. If I cut that out, yes, I would lose weight.”

But Wilson is not losing weight for her show; she has admitted that she is doing this for her own health, and has set up a routine of walking daily.

Losing weight for health

like Rebel Wilson, this dream could become a reality in the near future.

In the words of Fat Amy, “Even though some of you are pretty thin, you all have fat hearts, and that’s what matters.”

Regardless of what you look like, love yourself and the skin you’re in, because being someone or something that you’re not is overrated.

opinions volume 29

issue 7

march 20, 2013

page

21

Perspectives: Public displays of affection Entertaining Tom Howe

Opinions Contributor When I walk through the hallways, I see a variety of emotions on peoples’ faces: tired, sad, bored, ecstatic.

Sometimes the duration of couples’ intimate embraces becomes excessive, but a positive expression is a rare and valuable sight at our school.

Public displays of affection (PDA) is really just a couple throwing their mutual affection in your face.

Why act repulsed? Everyone has the option to not acknowledge couples passing by with hands held.

If kisses and cuddling amplify the participants’ happiness, who am I to chastise them for engaging in PDA? Frankly, PDA can be somewhat entertaining. Ironically, PDA’s entertainment value is derived from the discomfort viewers experience.

I feel a strange sort of rush when I inevitably make a wrong turn and find myself face-to-face with a couple interlocked in lusty embrace.

PDA can lead viewers to invest themselves in a relationship through observation, and those who engage in PDA can consciously capitalize on the voyeuristic tendencies of South students who aimlessly wander the halls.

After watching a couple engage in PDA, classmates can not only sympathize with the PDA participants when they split up, but also empathize, feeling the sadness of their breaking up with them.

Whether one chooses to ignore a couple’s PDA or not, PDA gives

observers the option to better understand a couple’s relationship status if they so choose. Couples can use PDA to symbolize the stability of their relationship, a positive trait they may want to showcase, particularly if their classmates are inclined to think otherwise.

The general public unfairly regards PDA as uncomfortable and undesirable.

But I do not believe that PDA is especially inappropriate.

Yes, in a school setting, people should not make out without regard for other peoples’ opinions, but low-key PDA is harmless and can positively affect more than just the participants.

Some may consider PDA to be an eyesore, but averting one’s eyes is an easy solution for those who take issue with couples’ behavior. It would be cruel to deny the couple such a simple pleasure.

Moreover, studying alongside happy students makes me feel happy too. Excited, post-PDA faces create a chain reaction as their owners go from class to class.

As a generator of happiness, PDA can contribute to a less bored, sad and tired hallway environment, and for that, we should embrace it.

Inappropriate Dylan Block & Dina Busaba Photo Manager, Sr. Opinions Editor

Between packs of friends attempting to fit a 10-minute conversation into two and groups of freshmen walking at a glacial pace, the hallways of South are hardly enjoyable.

The worst aspect of the hallways is undoubtedly the couples, though. We don’t mind people who want to demonstrate their affection for one another. In the right context and in moderation, affection is great.

We’ve found that not everyone believes in restraint. Everywhere we go, in every corner in every part of the school, we see the same couples unable to keep their hands off of each other.

Every day, we fight the urge to shout, “Get a room!”

One of us is single, and the other is in a relationship, but we both agree that watching other people make out at 8:30 a.m. isn’t the most pleasant sight.

PDA comes in different levels of severity. There’s the simple hand hold: acceptable. A quick peck on the lips or a hug: bearable.

And then there’s the full-out, hands-on, tongue-in-mouth make out session: unacceptable.

Does kissing in the middle of the hallways really make sense? There are other times, places and ways to show affection for one’s significant other.

The hallways are always full, and there are so many people around that someone always bumps into the couple with their lips locked.

As we mentioned, holding hands is usually an acceptable form of PDA. There are times when holding hands does get in the way of the average student, however, such as when those holding hands are climbing up the stairs.

These couples walk side by side, forming a barrier that stops the flow of traffic. Walking down the stairs feels like a game of red rover.

PDAs are undoubtedly awkward.

We feel as though we are thrust into in a situation where we have to work to ignore couples.

If, by chance, our eyes wander, the kissing couple feels uncomfortable, and we do too. Why should we be forced to look at the floor in our own school hallway?

Moreover, how do the members of a relationship ever arrive on time to class?

And if they arrive late, can’t the PDA wait?

Beyond the time constraint, and this could just be our cynical sides talking, we don’t believe any two people can love each other so much that need to constantly display their affection.

School starts at 7:40 a.m. We barely have the patience for anyone so early in the day, so we are shocked that two people in a relationship can tolerate each other at that hour, much less kiss each other.

At the very least, we ask that if couples engage in PDA at school, they do so somewhere semiprivate.

Who said that displays of affection have to be so public?

graphic by Sophie Galowitz

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march 20, 2013

Rate of Change Joe Joseph

Editor-in-Chief A couple of years ago, my family had a monthly tradition of going out for Vietnamese food.

We always ate at the same place: Le’s, a small, patio-style restaurant on the first floor of the Atrium mall with a gurgling tank full of vibrant fish and plastic water-lilies. Every time we went, I would order Bo Luc Lac, a garlic-flavored beef dish served with fresh steamed rice.

I’m not exactly sure when or why, but at some point my family stopped going to Le’s. We found a new place, Lam’s, on Washington Street. For a while this large, closed-roof establishment across town satisfied my craving for Bo Luc Lac. Somewhere within the past couple of years, my family and I simply stopped going out for Vietnamese altogether. The tradition died out.

Upon hearing news of the Atrium Mall’s closing and its replacement by a new shopping complex, I was curious to see what had ended up happening to Le’s. I checked online, and unsurprisingly, Le’s had shut down and relocated this August.

I had a sudden craving for Vietnamese, so I checked Yelp to figure out during what hours Lam’s was open on Saturdays.

Instead, I found this message in the comment section: “Lam’s is gone !!!!!!! The landlord raised their rent and wanted a 10 year lease. No plans to relocate.” — Kathy S. So that was that. No more Le’s and no more Lam’s. My search for Vietnamese food proved to me that if there’s one

The nature of American consumerism is to constantly change

thing so predictable about consumerism, it’s that it is fickle by nature.

Much like the boom and bust cycles that have defined economic history, the mindset of the American consumer is prone to constant change, as exhibited by my family’s eventual detachment from Le’s and Lam’s.

The closing of one shopping complex to give way to another one shouldn’t be alarming to anyone. Yet on a recent Friday night, when I went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory — one of the last remaining fixtures of the old Atrium — with some friends, I was shocked to find nothing short of a ghost town.

Store fronts were barren and dark and the parking lot was practically empty.

This empty building was the place I had come just a couple years back to buy the Harry Potter books at Borders and eat Margherita pizza at Bertucci’s. One by one, each of these stores, regardless of whether they were large chain franchises or small businesses, succumbed just like Le’s and Lam’s.

When the old Atrium Mall existed, I didn’t necessarily have any sort of emotional connection with it. But the vacant, almost

eerie atmosphere that Friday night reminded me of just how quickly things can change.

With that said, I am still excited for the new shopping complexes that will replace those that have come and gone — I love a new opportunity to eat and shop as much as the next person.

But I can’t help thinking about the brand-new, luxury Showcase Cinema opening next to the AMC I’ve gone to for the past eight years, or about the new Pinkberry drawing customers who usually would go to the Angora Ice right down the street.

I think about leaving for college next year and coming back home to visit only to find that I don’t recognize what’s left.

No, change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Trends come and go, as do storefronts. This lack of longevity, however, isn’t exactly comforting.

So what, if anything, can we do about this?

The answer is nothing, honestly. It’s just important to be aware that change is natural, even in the artificial world of consumerism, and that at the end of the day, I still really want some Bo Luc Lac — I’ll just have to find it somewhere else.

Freshman builds case for new honor code at South Charles Zou

Opinons Contributor “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”

These words are instantly recognizable to any cadet who has ever attended the Virginia Military Academy.

Although the majority of schools with honor codes are colleges, the number of these codes in high schools has been recently increasing.

Honor codes can vary from school to school.

Some honor codes not only state that those who break them by cheating will be punished, but also that those who do not report others’ cheating behavior will be punished as well.

These punishments can range from simply failing an assignment or class to expulsion.

These codes generally work well. Mississippi State University adopted an honor code in 2007, and began tracking statistics on cheating instances. According to these statistics, the number of students who reported instances of cheating has risen from 155 in 2008 to 334 in 2012.

It is likely that this jump in students reporting others’ cheating has increased due to the advent of the honor code; the administration does nothing more than simply encourage students to adhere to the newly instituted code.

Could such a code work at Newton South?

Although it may reduce cases of plagiarism and other forms of cheating in our school, an honor code may have a negative effect on students’ morale.

Students reporting people

Not reporting the transgression could result in severe consequences, but reporting it could ruin a friendship. Being in high school is not only an educational experience, but a

Students need to understand that “borrowing” ideas from the Internet is considered plagiarism.

- Charles Zhou, Class of 2016

they don’t know would not be a big deal. But if someone catches his or her friend cheating, could that bring a whole new slew of other issues?

social one as well. Forcing students to pick between the two is not fair.

Honor codes are founded on the belief that students are mature

enough to police themselves. If students are leaving their high schools thinking it is OK to flout rules, they will be in for a rude awakening when they reach college, where consequences of plagiarism and cheating are more serious. Violations of an honor code in high school and in college are usually imprinted on students’ permanent records, and students can be expelled.

Another problem is the definition of plagiarism, which has changed with the growth of the Internet.

Many students have used Wikipedia and Sparknotes to help them finish essays and homework assignments. Students need to understand

that “borrowing” ideas from the Internet is considered plagiarism.

In my opinion, the best course of action would be to change South’s stance on plagiarism. Instead of expulsion, suspension or a failing grade as the punishment for plagiarism, students caught cheating should sit through further lessons about plagiarism so they don’t make the same mistake twice.

At first glance, plagiarism still may not seem to be a problem, but many students manage to do it, usually without teachers finding out. Students must learn that they cannot plagiarize before they reach college, where plagiarizing has more serious consequences.

opinions

march 20, 2013

23

Schools should adjust their schedules to adapt to the seasons as well as the changing time of sunrise Ariel Neumann Opinions Contributor

Every morning, the sun rises. We tend to take sunlight for granted, believing we have no control over sunlight and that it does little more than warm and illuminate the earth. But the sun is so much more than a heat lamp.

If we treat sunlight as a natural resource to be harnessed, we can maximize the advantages we get from it.

Daylight-savings time is the first step. We set our clocks back an hour in the fall and forward an hour in the spring to better correspond with the sunrise and sunset.

The objective is to ensure that the limited number of sunlit

hours align with the times people are awake.

With more waking hours in the sun, people can reduce their energy consumption and go about their daily activities with full visibility.

Schools should go a step further than simply abiding by daylight-saving time. Classes should start an hour later in the winter than they do in the spring and fall, taking into account the reduced hours of sunlight and later sunrise. If implemented, this system of changing school times with the seasons would positively impact students’ moods as well as their academic performances.

With the current system, school always starts at 7:40 a.m.

In the winter, the sun sometimes doesn’t rise until 7:20. Many

students wake up before sunrise and prepare for school in the dark.

Waking up early is always difficult, but it’s even more of a struggle in the dark, since darkness is a cue to our brains that it’s nighttime and we should be asleep.

Sunlight, on the other hand, signals the brain to wake up and helps us feel alert and energetic. This psychological effect shows that if school always started at a time that would ensure that students could wake up after sunrise, we would be able to wake up more easily, arrive to school more prepared and have more energy during class.

In the winter, starting school well after sunrise would allow more classes to rely on

graphic by David Gorelik and Dina Busaba

natural lighting, which is less jarring than light provided by fluorescent bulbs.

The Heschong Mahone Group, hired by the California Energy Commission, researched the effects of daylight on student performance in 2003.

Studying over 2,000 students and analyzing variables — school districts, racial backgrounds and curricula — researchers found that elementary students with more exposure to daylight during the school day learned and progressed 20

percent faster than students at schools fully dependent on artificial light.

School scheduling should allow for students to benefit from natural light during every class, not just those classes that fall later in the school day.

Since sunlight is so valuable for learning, and since it’s much more restricted during the winter than during the spring and fall, administrators ought to carefully consider how we can best reap the benefits of limited daylight hours.

Hard work, not luck, yields accomplishments Veronica Podolny Opinions Contributor

What is luck? “A force that brings good fortune or adversity,” if you look it up. What type of a force is it? Is it a supernatural force? A person? God? I imagine luck as a man-made idea, a superstition, and I live with the idea that luck isn’t real.

I used to believe in luck. I would text my friend “good luck!” before a soccer game, wish for luck before my dance competitions and pray for luck when it came to school and friends. This year my views drastically changed.

Socially and academically, I had no trouble in middle school. Entering high school, I believed my experience would be the same. I fell into my usual routine of slacking and relying on luck and common sense to bring me accomplishments as soon as the school year started.

I hoped that I could “Sparknote” an entire chapter of a book one night and be able to talk about the chapter in class while making sense, and I trusted that my math teacher wouldn’t check homework the next day.

Although I didn’t have many classes with my friends, I found myself assuming that our relationships wouldn’t change.

After receiving a few bad grades and losing some old friendships, I realized that I was the problem.

I could no longer live my life relying on luck to get me by; I had to go after what I wanted.

This realization destroyed my belief in luck by giving me a glimpse into the real world and its consequences.

I now know that I must be the one to earn good grades and mend the friendships that I want to maintain.

I asked my friends about their thoughts on luck and received mixed answers.

Some said that they absolutely believe that luck, like karma, can cause situations to go one way or another.

Others said that luck is no more than another name for coincidence.

I searched psychology forums and online articles as well. Apparently, most people do believe in luck; corporations have even commercialized luck for capital gain. Companies sell products like “good luck” charms, but I know that a person can’t buy luck.

So why do people feel compelled to believe in a force that seems so arbitrary?

Kent Sepkowitz, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, wrote an article for the New York Times about doctors’ conscientiousness when it comes to luck.

In the passage, he mentioned that because of superstition, his building has no 13th floor. Italians, however, believe that 13 is a lucky number, so a superstitious Italian patient may be very disappointed with Dr. Sepkowitz’s office for their lack of this graphic by Maggie Zhang floor.

Other people believe in luck because they want to believe that their misfortunes come from an outside source and not from their own faults.

Arnold Palmer, a famous golfer, once said, “I find that the more I practice, the luckier I am.” What Palmer really meant is that success comes from practice rather than luck.

Students can learn from Palmer

and realize that hard work brings about success. Palmer implies that his wins have nothing to do with being lucky; it’s practicing that makes him skilled.

In the context of my successes and my failures, I think about Palmer’s words.

I consider what I can do to be better, to improve myself in the future. And maybe I’m finding all these reasons to not believe in luck because I simply don’t want to believe; luck gives false hope.

Luck suggests that even if people are good and generous and do everything they are supposed to, circumstances may not go their way. They will still experience misfortunes. I’m not denying that claim; there definitely is unfairness in the world. But I take a more optimistic view on fortune and achievements.

I have no desire to accept luck’s existence because I want to think that success is a result of hard work, not some outside force. Failures are learning experiences to set goals for the future.

I want to feel that if I studied hard for a test, I’m the one that earned the grade. It’s not luck, but I that accomplished my goal.

24

opinions

march 20, 2013

The Teenage Disconnect

Adults tend to trivialize young adults’ opinions and contributions to society

SAD, or just sad?

Jack Rabinovitch Social issues and me

Vivian Li

Opinions Contributor As innocent and naive children, we are oblivious and unaware of our expiration date. Not the kind of expiration date on which we die, but the kind of expiration date where we go from being everyone’s favorite to yesterday’s news. That kind of expiration date has passed for the Madonna, Shirley Temple and now us.

As teenagers, we are the forgotten and neglected middle child. We are the awkward phase between childhood and adulthood. We are the uncouth transition, the misunderstood species whose actions are dismissed, opinions are insignificant and clothing is criticized.

Since birth, our parents and the society around us have given us warnings.

Phrases such as “Don’t get older, it’s a trap” or “Don’t be like those teenagers. All they do is go out, drink and do drugs” did nothing to prepare us for this stage. Stereotypical remarks such as these only made the process of becoming a young adult seem even more difficult and undesirable.

When teenagers try to convey opinions to adults, the underlying assumption is that nothing teens say has any credibility.

Many adults think teenagers lack the personal experience and the wisdom to articulate well thought-out views and beliefs.

While teenagers are relatively young, and have had less time to develop, age does not necessarily imply maturity. Some teens act like mature adults; some adults act like children.

Many adults believe that teenagers are a terrible influence on younger children, and lose their respect for the generations below them. At the unfortunate

period in between childhood and adulthood, some of us seek attention and there is no such thing as bad publicity, right?

There is no reason to generalize the actions of these few with all young adults.

graphic by Hadas Rosen

While studies have shown that the teenage brain is not quite as developed as the adult, leading to poorer decision-making ability, teenagers are not “problematic” to society.

On the contrary, we as teenagers are in a unique position to make it better.

According to Startups, a United Kingdom-based business blog, the un-

der-25 age group is the fastest growing in terms of entrepreneurial leaders — 15 percent increase compared to a 6 percent increase in older age groups.

Despite their relative inexperience, teenagers started nearly 10 percent of all new companies in 2011, from tech startups to construction, hairdressing and leisure companies.

Some of the brightest and most innovative ideas of the 21st century were contrived by teenagers and young undergraduates.

Teenagers have a strong desire to be their own bosses and do work they find meaningful. While these tendencies can put them at odds with adults, they also drive them to take risks and innovate.

Many adults have long since forgotten their awkward adolescent years and cannot sympathize with teenagers on the amount of pressure they have to endure socially and academically.

When young adults express opinions adults find palatable, the two get along fine. But if an adult disagrees, the elder can play the age card and accuse the younger of immaturity.

Throughout the process of becoming an adult, the period in which one is a teenager is the time when we test the waters between the shallow end and deep side of the pool. In doing so, we inevitably make a few mistakes.

These regrets should not be held against the young adult, however, but instead used to encourage them to learn.

A teenager’s opinions are crucial to our society.

They offer a new perspective that can add value to any conversation, and they are rarely afraid to question others’ statements.

I missed the basketball game because of Newtones practice. #newtonproblems

My dad yelled at me when he saw me throwing out pennies. #newtonproblems

I vacationed in Italy and there wasn’t any fro-yo. #newtonproblems

My mom took me shopping during math so I have to do a make up test. #newtonproblems

#newtonproblems

I had to delete an Instagram photo because it got no likes. #newtonproblems

Fluctuating temperatures, resurging allergens, growing excitement for summer and slumping seniors — we recognize the changing of the seasons via both physical and superficial signs.

As time passes, the seasons progress cyclically ad infinitum in a pattern that marks time’s passage in our lives. The future, which, for most, probably contains a much awaited tertiary education, is often riddled with stress, uncertainty and melancholy. This melancholy, almost entirely present throughout teenagers’ existence — manifesting itself in the urgency of assignments, the pressures of friends and social interaction or the space in between — is one that affects the student body in terms of productivity and efficiency.

Though this melancholy definitely affects some students more than others, the issue is not one of demographics, of who is more prone to getting Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but the time of year SAD is most likely to be present.

SAD is a mood disorder in which someone who may have a relatively normal emotional state for the majority of the year falls into a state of intensified depression during certain seasons. It is generally thought to be in part due to changing exposure to direct sunlight and the effect that has on the body and disposition.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) defines SAD as not its own unique mental disorder but “a specifier of major depression.” Though at times I disagree with the DSM, their description of relatively nontaboo subjects is often accurate.

Originally a disease riddled with the scent of wives’ tales, SAD is now recognized as an official and rather common disorder since the skepticism toward it decreased. Caused by the intensities of the seasons effecting the human body and brain, those who live closer to the equator are less likely to develop SAD. With around nine percent of the Massachusetts population affected by the disorder (compared with 1.4 percent in Florida), and keeping in mind that teenagers are prone to hormonal surges and emotional fragility, I wonder what our school can do to combat SAD in teenagers.

I do not believe that it is the responsibility of the school to be diagnosing students and putting them on a regimen to rid their SAD. I do not think it is the responsibility of the staff to set up phototherapy stations (a type of therapy used to help people with intensive SAD) around the school, nor do I think it has a place in the budget. A general education on mental illness would be useful, and is important.

The fact of the matter is that students have many issues in their lives with which they must deal, issues that going to school doesn’t solve. And whether it’s something as mild and temporary as Seasonal Affective Disorder or something as daunting as schizophrenia, the more the school educates people on the subject, the closer students will be to taking steps to help themselves.

I truly think that our educational system should be used to teach students how to help themselves.

community volume 29

issue 7

march 20, 2013

page

25

Every issue, The Roar features an organization in Newton that makes a difference in the community

Catching Dance Fever photos courtesy of Dance Fever

Dance Fever ballroom dance studio strives to find the balance between competition and community Emily Ho

Sr. Community Editor It’s 7:30 p.m. on a Thursday night, and at the back of an office park, dozens of couples are gliding across the hardwood dance floors at Dance Fever ballroom dance studio.

Since its foundation in 2003 as a studio with a single ballroom, Dance Fever has grown to cater to the full spectrum of dancers, ranging from those with years of intense practice to those more interested in the communal aspect of the sport.

Studio owners and former Lithuanian dance champions Emil and Ruta Loukhnikov originally owned a studio in Israel. When they moved to Newton, they started small, with only one student under their direction.

After the Loukhnikovs’ single-ballroom studio in Needham expanded to three ballrooms, the studio moved in 2007 to its current location on Wells Ave. in Newton.

Since then, Dance Fever has expanded to five ballrooms, where 20 teachers instruct over 400 students from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

With all this time, dancers prepare for an array of competitions. Local college dance teams host annual tournaments at Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Tufts and Brandeis.

On top of collegiate competitions, dancers enter competitions sanctioned by the National Dance Council of America, where they are separated according to age and skill level.

Dance Fever instructors understand the demands of competition well because they themselves compete, which adds to the educational experience, senior Rebecca Shpektor said. “The teachers always switch because they are also competitive dancers so they travel a lot, but they each have their own unique technique so it’s really fun getting taught routines,” she said.

“My first ever coach scared me with the saying, ‘There’s a competition somewhere every weekend.’ Now I think that’s complete baloney. No one wants to compete every weekend,” Jeff Plotkin, a Dance Fever instructor who began dancing at the studio at the age of 15, said. “There was a study done where ballroom dancers were examined just in regular practice setting and in competition setting, and the stress levels tripled to dangerous levels [in competition].”

The community at Dance Fever counteracts the pressure of competitions, according to South sophomore and longtime dancer Natalie Shammay.

“When friends from the studio compete

If they compete, we are happy, but, you know, our idea is to teach the dance, not to have [our students] all compete.

- Tomas Vasicek, studio manager against each other, their goal may try to beat their friends, but I think that the outcome of the results doesn’t affect the friendships,” she said.

Dance Fever also plays home to dancers who abstain from competition. “Our goal is, of course, to have a competitive level, but you have a lot of kids who doesn’t feel like competing too much,” dance instructor and studio manager Tomas Vasicek said. “If they compete, we are happy, but you know, our idea is to teach the dance, not to have them all compete.”

Maria Lavshytas, who has been an instructor and desk manager at Dance Fever for the past three years, said the studio accommodates students at various levels of competition.

“Some of [the kids] would like to be professional dancers, and they start from the beginning, from when they are really younger ages from three to four years old, and they raise up in our studio,” Lavshytas said. “We help them be professional if they want to be professional. If they only [want to dance] for fun, we help them have fun in our studio and to be able to be in a good mood and a good body condition.”

Social nights at the dance studio contribute to a communal atmosphere, senior and former Dance Fever student Jason Sydorchenko said.

The studio hosts a Standard Practice time on Sunday nights and a Latin Practice time on Thursday nights.

“Sunday night rounds were my favorite night in the studio because it was just a chance to dance to the music in front of your friends and teachers without any stressful criticism,” Sydorchenko said.

The Loukhnikovs are looking to spread their methodology of intense instruction combined with community atmosphere beyond their Newton studio.

A few years ago, they opened a second location in Marblehead.

“There are people coming in from all over the place. We’ve had people coming in from New Hampshire to take lessons, and why bother driving so far when you can go to a closer location?” Plotkin said. “We have some of our staff go to our other location and work there full time, so you get the same exact experience.”

For Plotkin, the mission of spreading the Dance Fever experience is personal. “This place is like my home. I have the same exact hopes and dreams for my home as I do for this place,” he said. “I want it to live long and prosper.”

26

community

march 20, 2013

ONE WORD, ONE COMMUNITY

Every issue, The Roar asks members of the Newton community to expand upon a one-word prompt

TI:ME Kathy Houston-Read

Carlos Covarrubias Science Teacher

Newton Free Library Director

Phil McNulty

Lydia Basque

Time is like the earth’s water supply; it constantly changes form but never disappears. Once a moment passes, we internalize it and carry it mysteriously within us. Some experiences will never climb from our souls to our brains to our lips, yet those moments shape us in some inexplicable way: a friend’s knowing smile, the smell of a camp fire, the taste of a Tango Mango burrito.

Other moments stand out like neon signs: a birthday celebration, the first day of kindergarten, the horror of 9/11, a bat mitzvah or confirmation, learning to ride a bike or drive a car, experiencing the power of a beloved book, catching a pass at a football game, performing on the South Stage, the hug of a grandpa, the annual South powderpuff game, the historic election of Barack Obama.

The seniors’ upcoming graduation will hopefully be a moment etched in their hearts. As the parent of a current senior, I wish time would stop. But like waves in the ocean, time proceeds minute by minute, day by day, year by year, and all we can do is pause, acknowledge and savor the meaning of this moment. We remember our children’s birth, their first words, their first steps, their first days of school, their first teeth falling out. For the past 18 years, the current seniors have tugged at their parents’ heartstrings. The days marched on; some were slow and some flew by.

They played, learned, laughed, cried and worked hard, growing and changing inside and out and changing their parents along the way.

As students move through high school and into the next phase of their lives, they should take time — make time — to reflect and evaluate whether they are spending their time wisely and becoming the people they want to be. Time is a blessing. Enjoy it and use it well.

Time is big. The entire universe, its history, its future and perhaps all of its possibilities fit within time. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a little more of it in the day? How is it that time can be so pervasive, yet feel so scarce?

Even in science, all measurements of time are based on other measurements of time, with no real foundation to explain the nature of time itself.

With the modern discovery of relativity, we know that objects can experience time differently depending on their relative speed, or position with gravity.

When astronauts or satellites hurtle around Earth or through space in a loose grasp of gravity, their clocks must be slightly adjusted to synchronize with those back on Earth. Even to those of us who are definitively Earth-bound, time seems to slow and quicken depending on our activity.

So is time just a made-up concept to put cause and effect in some intelligible order?

In everyday language, time seems like a real, physical resource. We make it, give it, lose it or run out of it, but we know that it is intangible. It’s much like another very abstract word: life.

Theoretically, we would have all the time we could want if we could live forever.

This line of thinking seems to contribute to the recent fascination with vampires not solely as hungry monsters, but as characters with the enviable dilemma of how to deal with eternal life and eternal time. We mortals feel comforted knowing that dilemma might not be so easy.

It is worth spending some time thinking about our personal relationships with time, since those thoughts can change how we live. Even when it seems like we’re wasting time, we might just be saving it.

Time. A constant. Rotation gives us the day, which we variously reckon as 24 hours, 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds.

A physicist would ponder time’s fluidity, but he would still arrange family dinner for 6:00 p.m. We each have the same time each day. So why does time lie heavy on the hands of some while others claim to have no time?

No time? A lie. Or a shorthand intended to mean that one has other priorities, other deadlines, other people to see. Is time money? No. Time is opportunity. The opportunity to act. Or not to act. Action is money. Can you waste time? No. Time will pass at its inexorable rate. You can only waste opportunity.

Can you give someone your time?

No. Another person has the exact same amount as you. What you can give is attention, companionship. Time coordinates action. Dinner time. Game time. Meeting time. Time is a tool. Use it; don’t let the tool use you.

People who have been around a long time may say time has sped up. Contact has sped up. Action, particularly interaction, has sped up. Is this speeding up good or bad? Up to you. You are taking the action. You must value your particular action more than other potential actions, but never underestimate the value of the quiet actions. Reflection, observation, creation of mental space for the brain to pop out its creations and not simply react to stimuli.

Does time even exist, or is it totally a derivative of action? The action of planetary bodies in relative motion, of gears and weights in a mechanical clock, of sand in an hourglass, of rowers in racing shells striving against each other. Philosophers and physicists debate it. Newton vs. Leibniz and Kant. Look it up! (You are reading a Librarian’s ramblings!). But not now.

Time’s Up.

Technically, time is the dimension in which events can be ordered from the past through the present and into the future.

However, as a sen13r (senier? That works, right?), I tend to ignore a good chunk of what’s happening in the present, instead focusing on the past and future.

The past provides endless fodder to entertain the mind.

When I graduated elementary school, for example, I was convinced that I would eventually compete in an Olympic aerial skiing event.

Little did I know that my extreme teenage laziness (and lack of Olympic-level freestyle aerial training) would soon crush that dream.

Though amusing, thinking back to the worry-free years when I dreamed big is pretty depressing.

With graduation quickly approaching, it’s time for us seniors to be realistic in making the hard decisions that will determine our paths for the future.

It’s terrifying to think that at this time next year, we’ll be miles away from the teachers and students who have shaped the past four years of our lives.

Although I constantly complain about high school, having gone so far as to compare it to jail a few too many times, I honestly do appreciate everything I’ve learned during my time here.

I am nowhere near adulthood, so I find it scary to contemplate how much I’ve changed in the last four years. And it’s scarier yet when I consider that the next four years of my life will change me once more.

I don’t want to cling to the past, but I do want to hold on to the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

And from what I’ve learned along the way, I have a piece of advice about time: Don’t waste it.

South Parent

Class of 2013

march 20, 2013

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

ROSSWORD

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

EASY: 6

7

1

2

3

2

9 6

4

4

7

7

3

2

1 8

4

8

6

2

3

9

5

10

11

13

2

3

8 2

5

9

1

6

1

4

16

4 18

7

8

4

1

24

2 26

CHALLENGING: 5

4

4

2

8

3

7

2

5 4

ACROSS:

1. Bergoglio, for example 8. Chess rating system 9. Luxurious 12. “The” in Caracas 13. Bipedal primate 14. Peru’s capital 16. Second word of “The Raven” 17. Rightmost box score statistics in baseball 19. Fiery felonies

4

9

1

7

6

6

3

2

7

3

6

1

7

9

4

22

21

8

6

19

3

O S N K C S W I N D G W L K

M H B E C U P U V L J M C M

H O M V E S V P I X F P O T

W W G A V R I R E V O L C Y

A E I T L T G N G P V A G R

R R X S C J W O N S I L O Z

M S T L E L Z A R E C R V R

Crossword by Jason Chari

DOWN:

1. Bananagrams starter 2. Skateboarding trick 3. Terse declination 4. Nuptial words 12 5. Longest human bones 15 6. Goes crazy (two wds.)

17 7. Williams of Red Sox Fame 20 10. Card game, or bar and grill 23 11. The shortest Chinese dynasty 25 13. South gospel choir 15. Male title (abbrev.)

27 18. ____ Belt (constellation) 20. Note well (abbrev.)

21. Result of blood 22. Prefix; precedes formal, circle or colon coagulation 22. Parisian preposi24. Super; “Above” in tion Berlin 26. Vessel puller & har- 23. “Which came first?” choice bor helper 28. Dormitory bigwig 25. Precursor of riches, sometimes (abbrev.)

29. Pressing; requiring 26. Egyptian king, 14th century B.C.E. immediate action 27. “Rethink possible” 30. A&W competitor service provider 31. Holds in high re30. Windows disapgard pointment (abbrev.)

4

5

6

7

Want the solution to this puzzle? Visit thelionsroar.com/crosswords!

is in the air (well, technically)! Find these Word Search Spring fresh phrases associated with the new season.

S K C I R T A P T N I A S O

27

E K R E F X V A Z C T E T Y

R U V J Q M B B Z P C T T C

H G C H X G E Q Q V U S S W

U Q Y V S S T O P C G A E D

G J D V M S Y Y V E C E E C

D K I V A G U P W C H X R Y

B P T R G Y Y N K E J P T B

V N B Q R F B A R B E C U E

U W P D R Q J I O L S L L T

C H N L F L V L W K O S Z Q

K S L L A B E S A B X F O N

S K H L E A V E S F V P T I

S H H O U T S I D E U D L D

A Q W K D T P X Z F L T E D

R E Y B L L M O V V V S N O

G A W X A W Z J Z R H J W B

1) Barbecue 2) Baseball 3) Clover 4) Easter 5) Grass 6) Green 7) Leaves 8) Outside 9) Play 10) Saint Patrick 11) Showers 12) Sun 13) Tennis 14) Trees 15) Warmer

I Y I Y U R P X X N A K A Q

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month:

Forman, pre-Photoshop.

sports volume 29

issue 7

march 20, 2013

page

28

Making it

Senior Kayla Burton was nominated to be a McDonald’s All-American basketball player, following in the footsteps of her sister

By Lizzie Fineman photo courtesy of Kayla Burton

Senior Kayla Burton (left) scores her 1,000th point in a gameagainst Taunton High School. After leading the Lions through a 14-7 season, Burton will play for Lehigh University next year.

S

enior Kayla Burton was in awe when she spotted a McDonald’s All-American (MAA) basketball player at an Amateur Athletic Union basketball tournament two years ago. “She was decked out in high top fashion and in McDonald’s AllAmerican gear,” Kayla said. “I was such a groupie and wanted to take a picture [with her] and everything.”

Kayla’s dream of one day reaching that player’s level came true when girls basketball Coach Sam Doner nominated her as an MAA player this January.

Although Kayla did not end up being selected as one of the 24 players on the MAA All Star team, her nomination as one of the three female players from Massachusetts and just 814 total players in the country is a testament to her growth as an athlete and a leader.

According to Doner, players are nominated for the award by their coaches based on a range of qualities. “You have to nominate a player as a high school coach, and they looked at who she is, at her stats, where she is going, and all that stuff,” Doner said.“A lot of things go into being [nominated]. We look obviously at the

characteristics, the attitude and leadership, … the basic basketball skills, the fundamentals, the knowledge of the game, as well as the whole package on the court and off the court.”

Kayla said although she was not one of the select few chosen to be an AllAmerican, being nominated as one of the top athletes in the nation is an incredible achievement.

“Just seeing that it is possible to be in [that] position, being able to be near that position really is just mind-boggling and cool, so I’m excited,” she said.

According to sophomore and teammate Roni Tamir, Kayla’s skill for basketball extends beyond just a technical mastery.

“Kayla is a great player but she’s also a great leader. She has really worked on her leadership and we have seen it in the past two years that I have been playing at South,” she said. “You can tell that she’s really trying hard to be a good leader for us and that’s a big part of the reason why we win when we win.”

Freshman Emily Chang said she looks up to Kayla as a role model. “On the court her decision making is great, her

shot is amazing, her dribbling skills are fantastic and the way she sees the game is so unbelievably great,” she said. “I think she definitely deserves this nomination because she’s overall a great player and she definitely knows what she’s doing when she is out there on the court.”

According to Chang, Kayla’s leadership style involves constantly challenging her teammates to improve. “When we play hard and when she plays hard everyone gets better, everyone raises a level of competition … [everyone] develops quicker and it’s definitely really helpful throughout the season,” Chang said. “Everyone is improving their skills and their aggression.

I think that is really good for our team to have individual skill as well as good teamwork.”

Because of Kayla’s excellent leadership in basketball, Tamir said her nomination was expected by many of her teammates. “I wasn’t really surprised because she is a very, very good player, but I was really happy for her,” she said.

Junior and teammate Shaylah Kelly agreed that Kayla’s superb athleticism and determination throughout her basketball

career are what made her eligible for a spot on the All-American squad. “She deserves to be rewarded for all her hard work,” she said.

In addition to her nomination for the prestigious basketball award, Kayla was recruited earlier this year to play basketball at Lehigh University, a Divison I school.

According to Kayla, she was initially surprised to have made it to the level where she could be nominated. “I had confidence but I didn’t think that I was good enough to really play Division I and my dad and my coach said, ‘Just keep working, just keep working’, and I had to believe myself at one point.”

Kayla added that she has grown significantly since her early years playing basketball at South. “I look back on some tapes of me playing basketball in my freshman year and now, and it is really cool to see the difference in how I’ve grown and changed,” she said. “I think back to my freshman year and I was immature compared to where I am now. I have been able to see through the past four years and hopefully I can really take that to Lehigh next year.”

sports

march 20, 2013

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The MIAA has decided to stop sponsoring boys gymnastics next year of MIAA sponsorship. “[Participation] is Yonatan Gazit & Tony Yao down, but it’s been solid for the past 20 Sr. Sports Editors years, a solid seven [schools], and there’s a prospect of more teams coming in,” he The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) will no longer said. “If there was a concern now, why sponsor boys gymnastics, the association’s wasn’t there a concern 20 years ago when we were also seven teams?” board of directors announced on Jan. 31.

Steeves said he rejects the thought As a result, South will not have a boys process behind the MIAA’s decision. “Only gymnastics team next year.

Illinois and New York and Massachusetts Despite the formal announcement, still have boys teams,” he said.“So it makes members of South’s team have decided to sense for [the NFHS] to not upgrade their fight the MIAA’s decision. rules book, but when they announced that Junior Khashayar Dashti said he to all of the state associations, the MIAA struggles to think of a senior year without took that as a denouncement of boys gymgymnastics. “ Since I was a freshman, I was on the nastics, which isn’t the way it is.”

High school sports associations in team, and we’ve been working step by step Illinois and New York continue to sponsor to get our guys to a level to actually get boys gymnastics. MIAA representatives South the state title, which actually hasn’t happened for a lot of years,” he said. “Next told The Roar they were unavailable for comment on why they made a decision difyear would have been our shot.” ferent from other states’.

The MIAA previously stated that it Sophomore Miles Welbourn said he initially considered ceasing sponsorship of boys gymnastics earlier this year, when the believes the MIAA has not been completely transparent about its reasoning. “We all National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) decided to stop writ- think there’s some sort of ulterior motive, probably not to do with the budget, since ing rules for the sport. “Given that only we all pay a $300 user fee,” he said. “There seven of our 370+ schools sponsor boys’ gymnastics, and there will be no set of spe- has been a lot of speculation between all of us, but right now we’re in the dark.” cific high school rules for this sport, after Steeves agreed with Welbourn that the upcoming winter season, the Board the MIAA has not publicized the content may consider eliminating recognition of of its internal communications. “I think this sport,” the MIAA announced. there’s some kind of hidden agenda,” he South boys gymnastics coach Tom said. “I think someone has something Steeves said he does not believe that against boys gymnastics.” having only seven schools participate in The MIAA’s ruling came as a surprise boys gymnastics justifies the withdrawal

photos courtesy of Will Zhang

to South’s team, Welbourn said. “I came in one practice, and suddenly there were huge cameras everywhere, and surprisingly this was the first time I heard about it,” he said.

“They were asking my coach … and a few of the captains about what they thought about the MIAA dropping mens gymnastics. So it sort of crept up on us really quickly.”

Welbourn said he looks at the MIAA differently now. “Well it certainly dropped them a little bit lower in my eyes, and after that day where all the cameras were in, I sort of thought of them a little bit as the enemy,” he said. “I know that sounds a little bit extreme, but they went from an organization to ... just some sort of antagonist.”

Dashti agreed with Welbourn that the MIAA’s decision regarding boys gymnastics impacts the association’s reputation on the whole. “[The decision] reflects pretty low on the MIAA. I mean the whole reason for such a thing is for young people to engage in physical activity and to lead a healthy lifestyle, and I think withdrawing the sport, it reflects pretty badly.”

Carlos Morales, ‘11 graduate, said the withdrawal of MIAA support from the South varsity boys gymnastics team he helped create is hurtful. “All of my former teammates and my new teammates from Newton South gymnastics are guys who have worked really hard,” he said. “I want to be able to go see them at practice a little bit. They deserve a right to keep competing at the level that they’re competing, and on the whole, the MIAA should reconsider

what it’s doing.”

South’s team has chosen to take a stand in an attempt to get the MIAA to reconsider. Boys gymnasts have created a Facebook page entitled “Save Massachusetts Boys Gymnastics” and written an online petition to the MIAA at Change.org.

Current and former high school gymnasts, along with concerned parents, have sent letters to the MIAA. The MIAA has not shown the response gymnasts are looking for, however, according to Welbourn. “As far as we can tell, they haven’t had any response, which is kind of disheartening,” he said.

In Dashti’s opinion, the options for his teammates next year do not live up to current opportunities.

“Some of us will have to join girls teams or compete at the club level, but knowing there’s not a varsity gymnastics sports team, there’s not going to be that commitment,” he said. “You know you’re not required to show up at a club practice, but you are required to show up if they have a team practice.”

Steeves said that if the MIAA refuses to reverse its decision, the future looks bleak for boys gymnastics. “If, in fact, the MIAA is permanently backing away from boys high school gymnastics, then it’s up to the schools to try and either see if they want to support a varsity program independently of the MIAA or provide it as a club sport,” he said. “If they do that, depending on how it’s funded, it’ll probably die.”

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sports

march 20, 2013

South baseball starts new preseason regimen Darren Trementozzi & David Kim Sports Reporters

Achieving a perfect record against Newton North has been a dream for generations of South athletes, according to South baseball coach Ron Jordan.

“As far as I have been told by people around the school, [going undefeated against North] may have never happened here in any sport,” Jordan said.

Frequent and intense practices will aid the baseball team in accomplishing this feat, Jordan said.

Aiming for an undefeated season, Jordan decided to move unofficial preseason practices from Catz, a sports performance center in Needham, to South this year.

“This year, we have ... workouts at South, which [is] more accessible to the kids, and as a result, more kids are coming,” baseball captain and senior Justin Moy said.

These practices are entirely voluntary because, according to Jordan, “due to MIAA rules, we cannot practice until Mar. 18.”

Sophomore Leo Orlando has attended

several optional practices. “We practice sit ups, jump ropes and squats during these practices,” he said.

Preseason practices are more organized than those in

past years, according to baseball captain and senior Jesse Feldstein.

Feldstein said that coaches are tracking players’ offseason work ethic in

order to push them harder.

“Progress is being recorded and publicized, so players are being held accountable if they are not improving or preparing for the spring season,” Feldstein said.

graphic by Alex Cohen

W

ith the final seconds ticking down, a player from Franklin stole the ball from Kayla Burton on March 5th, ending South’s magical run for the state championship as well as an unforgettable season. Although the score was 54-53 Franklin at the buzzer, the final tally did not tell the whole story.

South came back from a 10 point deficit to tie the score late in the fourth quarter. South coaches and players made the necessary adjustments as South made its way back into the game. The team knocked down three pointers, one after another. Junior Shaylah Kelly’s clutch three tied the game at 52.

The Lady Lions closed out their season on a high note. As the team prepares for the coming year, coaches and players say they are determined not to stop until they come out on top.

Girls

13-10

T Boys

he boys basketball team improved from last year’s 2-18 record to finish with a strong showing this season. Despite players’ best efforts, the team started off the season with a losing streak, finding themselves with a 0-6 record a third of the way through the regular season.

This did not stop the team from qualifying for the Massachusetts playoffs, a first for all players on the team.

During the Lions’ first playoff game against West Roxbury High School, South’s passionate fans packed the bleachers and spurred their team on to a 56-54 win.

During the following game against Mansfield High School, South’s players could not recover from Mansfield’s early 17-2 lead, bringing their season to an end on a 72-56 loss.

The team hopes to keep the momentum going for next year’s season.

10-12

photo courtesy of public domain

“Those who take advantage of having early practices will get better and stronger for the season.”

According to Jordan, preseason practices are crucial for success in the season.

“The question is how players will accept their roles and buy into the team concept.

We have some strong-minded kids who need to accept that things are done my way and not their summer team’s way,” Jordan said.

This year, with more baseball players getting a head start on their season, a run to the playoffs is not out of reach, baseball captain and junior Eric Manditch said.

“You get out what you put in, so since a lot of guys have been working hard, I think we can expect to contend for the Dual County title and make the playoffs once again,” Manditch said.

Jordan said he is keeping his eyes on the prize: beating North.

“Let us watch as these players, who have attended these extra practices, help the team beat North, make Newton South history and bring the team rightfully back to glory in the playoffs,” Jordan said.

sports

march 20, 2013

Reaching new heights

All you need to know about March Madness: from brackets to baskets Brendan Duggan Sports Columnist

This season, South’s girls gymnastics team gained a new member, freshman Sally Jenks, who helped lead the team to states for the first time

By Daniel Carney, George Morgan and Daniel Rosenzweig-Ziff

F

or the first time ever, the girls gymnastics team competed in the state championship gymnastics meet on Feb. 27, following an undefeated 12-0 season led in part by freshman gymnast Sally Jenks.

Jenks’ career as a gymnast began at age two. “People would see her on the playground and say, ‘Boy, that child has so much energy,’” according to Jenks’ mother, Julie Mallat.

Jenks agreed that she joined gymnastics due to the fact she was a very energetic toddler. “When is was about two years old I had too much energy, so my parents signed me up for gymnastics classes.”

After two years of taking gymnastics classes, Jenks was placed in an accelerated class. “That’s when I realized she was really good,” Mallat said.“I remember thinking that 90-minute classes are too much for a four-year-old, but that’s when she started becoming more competitive.”

Mallat added that gymnastics has affected her daughter positively. “She has practice about four days a week, and each of those are usually a couple of hours long,” she said. “Since it takes up so much of her time she has developed really good study habits, and has become highly disciplined.”

Recently, however, Jenks decided she wanted to reduce stress and the feeling of high-stakes competition and moved from a club gymnastics team to South’s gymnastics team. “I switched because I heard it was more fun and relaxing than club sports,” Jenks said.

According to Mallat, this year Jenks has valued not just the sport but also her new team at South. “For Sally, it is now more about the team than the actual sport itself,” she said.

According to sophomore Camila Hernandez, Jenks has since become one of the leading members of South’s team, and a role model for her teammates. “She’s a huge part of the team, a great gymnast with really clean skills, and we look up to her.”

Girls gymnastics coach Greg Beaupre said Jenks’ contributions reach beyond her technical ability. “Sally has trained many years and trains usually 30 or more hours a week,” Beaupre said. “She is a great gymnast to have with a great personality type. She is also upbeat, fun and has good humor.”

As the gymnastics team pushed toward states, Jenks’ own effort and hard work pushed her peers to improve, according to Hernandez. “Sally motivates us to work harder because of her work ethic,”

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she said.

Over the course of this year’s season, Jenks and her fellow teammates swept past team after team undefeated in the Dual County League as well as in the Merrimack Valley League and finished with a 12-0 record.

Jenks said the Newton South team did better at states than she and other teams expected. “I don’t think we were expecting to do that well because we were seeded for, like, sixth place, and we came in fourth.”

In Beaupre’s opinion, Jenks adds to a talented team. “This year already had strong talent, and then we got Sally Jenks who is the best gymnast South has ever seen,” he said.

Based on her performance at states and throughout their undefeated season, Jenks’ future in gymnastics is bright, Beaupre said.

“Sally would definitely be an NCAA recruit. She is really focused on going to a Division I college for gymnastics.”

For the moment, however, Jenks is looking forward to her sophomore season at South.

“Next year is going to be a really big year because we’re only losing one senior and there are going to be a couple of gymnasts coming on,” she said.

“Next year is going to be a really big year because we’re only losing one senior and there are going to be a couple of gymnasts coming on.”

- Sally Jenks, Class of 2016

Sixty-four teams. The best of the best colleges move on to the sweet sixteen, then the elite eight, then the final four and eventually to the NCAA championship game. Anything can happen. The sky is the limit. Last year, two different fifteenth seeds upset second seeds in the first round.

Lehigh fans are still talking smack to the Duke faithful.

College basketball is unlike the NBA in that it has no dream teams of professional players. There are no Miami Heats in the NCAA, although Kentucky regularly produces a powerhouse team. Just like the Alabama Crimson Tide in college football, Kentucky has been dominating the college circuit in recent years. This year, however, Kentucky’s youthfulness has become problematic and injuries have derailed any chances for them to win the “big dance”.

Without Kentucky in the picture and many other top schools struggling, this year’s March Madness Tournament will be even more entertaining, as any team can come out on top.

One of the biggest differences between professional and college basketball is the prominence of defense in college hoops. In the NBA, 90-100 point games are the norm, whereas college scores tend to be lower because players spend more time focusing on defense. Scores in the 50s and 60s are nothing strange.

NBA players receive fat paychecks at the end of each season, while college players receive no monetary compensation.

Despite not getting paid, college players must perform at a high level if they hope to make it to the NBA. With their futures on the line, college players consistently give it their all on the court. And that’s what makes this month so exciting.

The crucial March Madness games bring college students together as their school teams make runs in the tournament. Students are not afraid to show their school spirit; in the next few weeks, these schools will be in a basketball frenzy. Students will be camping out nights before in order to purchase the best seats at games.

Students are not the only ones that will be watching the games live, as parents, alumni and devoted fans will be flying around the country to support their teams.

The best thing about the tournament for the rest of us? Filling out brackets with friends and family. Basketball fan or not, elementary school student or elderly, anyone can fill out a bracket. Even the president of the United States takes time out of his busy schedule to map out a winning bracket.

Some of my friends feel sufficiently confident to put money on the table, hoping their brackets are perfect. Nothing could be better than picking underdogs, watching daily games with friends and maybe even winning some money.

March Madness brightens this otherwise dreary month. It can write Cinderella stories and realize . College players are pushing hard and without a paycheck to show for their efforts at the end of the day. The tournament began yesterday, and I suggest that you turn off the reality TV and watch some basketball. Let the madness begin!

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