Volume 28, Issue 7

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

Vol. XXVIII · Issue VII

march 9, 2012

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

The Global Grading Gap 4.26

Despite Global Communities’ popularity, Honors classes raise questions about their level of difficulty compared with other classes at the same level

By Tricia Ho & Julia Lee

Average weighted GPA in AP U.S. History

When asked about the Global program’s reputation as an easier alternative for Honors students, history teacher Michael Kozuch stressed how troublesome the misconception is.

“The perception is definitely a problem,” he said. “I don’t know how to change that perof the students in the classes ception, but that needs to change, because it’s not received some kind of A the reality.”

The Roar collected information about Global’s sophomore and junior grades from the ‘10-‘11 school year, however, and found that, despite Kozuch’s claim, perception and reality are very much in line.

One of the most striking differences is between Average weighted GPA the grades of AP U.S. (non-Global) History and junior in sophomore Honors Global history students. Of the 64 kids who Honors English took AP U.S. History, 39.1 percent received an A or A-; this figure stands in stark contrast to the 22 Honors Global students, 63.6 percent of whom received some form of an A. The trend held for sophomore English grades; of the 74 students who took Honors English, only one received an A. Of the 18 students who took of the students in the classes Global Honors English, three received As. In received some kind of A sophomore Honors history, the average GPA was a 4.13; in the Global class, the average was a 4.43.

Of course, The Roar understands that correlation does not imply causation, but these numbers are hard to ignore.

Some stuAverage weighted GPA in

39%

4.18

27%

4.13

4.51

Average weighted GPA in junior Honors Global history

dents recognized the grade disparity and attempted to take advantage of it. An anonymous senior said, “Playing South is something I’ve gotten good at. Taking Global Honors … it’s one of those things you’ve just got to play.”

The data do not suggest, however, that the same contrast exists between Curriculum I classes.

For junior history, the Curriculum I GPAs were almost identical — 3.54 for Global compared to 3.49 for non-Global students. Only 5.3 percent of Global history students received As, however, roughly a third of the non-Global percentage.

In sophomore Curriculum I English classes, the Global average GPA was .35 below the grade-wide average (3.26 compared to 3.61), and not a single one of the 53 Global English students received an A. Regardless of the program’s relative facility, several Global students still said they find it more rewarding and enriching than typical English and history classes.

“I loved Global. I think it’s great,” senior Emily Malec-Brown, who took Global Honors English sophomore year, said.

“I’d say it was probably easier than the standard Honors English class … [but] I liked the focus on current events, and there were lots of LANGUAGES, GLOBAL,10 5

64%

of the students in the classes received some kind of A

4.43

Average weighted GPA in sophomore Global Honors English

44%

of the the students in the classes received some kind of A

4.42

Average weighted GPA in sophomore Global Honors history

sophomore Honors history

statistics courtesy of vice principal Mary Scott; data from ‘10-’11 school year

Turner accepts Bedford position

By Peter Haskin

Goldrick housemaster Henry Turner announced this past Monday that he will take a position as Bedford High School principal.

He will finish the year at South and begin his new position on July 1. After completing his fourth year at South, Turner will hand over his duties to an administrator, who will be selected by a South search committee.

“I imagine I will be working with that person to help them make that transition,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to taking on this new challenge [at Bedford High School] … [but] I’m going to look back [on South] very fondly.”

Turner will be missed by the South community. photos by Olivia Kennis

Teacher mixes DJing passion with conventional education

page

8

pg.

12

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Bookstore

DJ Kraus

School competitions: helpful or helpful?

Bookstore moves to Newton Center to expand audience at events

page

25

Football

Senior extends high school career to focus on football

page

28

NEWS 3 FEATURES 8 EDITORIALS 14 CENTERFOLD 16 OPINIONS 20 COMMUNITY 25 SPORTS 28

2

ads

thelionsroar.com

news volume 28

issue 7

page

march 9, 2012 • thelionsroar.com/news

South Spots compiled by Roar editors

Faculty Variety Show South will host the annual Faculty Variety Show in the auditorium from 7:309:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 10. Faculty and staff will exhibit their musical and theatrical talents.

Winter Sports Awards South will present its winter sports season awards on Monday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. Monday will also be the deadline for spring sports registration.

South Stage Cabaret South Stage members will perform the opening night of the Cabaret show at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 15. The show will run in the Lab Theater through Saturday, March 17.

GELF Dinner The Global Education Leadership Fund will hold its annual fundraiser dinner from 6:30-11 p.m. on Saturday, March 24.

The money raised will go toward funding the program, which offers financial aid for students who wish to travel abroad with the school.

3

TAKING KINDNESS A S R PIN O F

Is rewarding kind acts the right approach to creating a caring majority at South? The Keys to Success program says yes, but members of the South community question the sincerity of incentivized kindness

photo illustration by Joe Joseph

Julie Olesky News Reporter

The Creating a Caring Majority Club (CCMC) implemented Keys to Success (KTS), an anti-bullying program based on positive reinforcement, as a continuation of the efforts to create a “caring majority” among students this year.

The program, sponsored by Village Automotive Group, recognizes students for academic excellence and acts of kindness.

Chosen students will receive “Key Cards” from teachers that can be turned in to Prevention/Intervention Counselor Rich Catrambone in exchange for an online code.

The code will allow students to automatically select a small prize from a selection of prizes that local sponsors provide and also enters them into a drawing to win either a $5,000 scholarship or a car.

After being asked by principal Joel Stembridge to lead the program, Catrambone met with students involved in CCMC, which was established earlier this year, to come up with the criteria for KTS. “[The goal of KTS] is really to acknowledge kids in two areas,” Catrambone said. “One is to acknowledge kids who push themselves academically, and the other is around kids who do things in kindness or help build a more caring community at South.”

“The intention of the program is to create a better school climate and a better school in terms of how we help others,” he said.

The students involved in CCMC introduced the idea to the faculty in January.

Catrambone said he is hopeful that moving forward, the new program will “help teachers be proactive in acknowledging and recognizing students, which usually only happens in terms of giving them grades.”

According to freshman Hannah Elbaum, one of the students involved in bringing KTS to South, members of CCMC

were encouraged to adopt the program because many of the goals and principles of the program coincided with those of Rachel’s Challenge, the anti-bullying presentation shown at the beginning of the year that gave rise to the CCMC. Elbaum said, however, that she hopes the academic aspect of the program does not overshadow the intended goal of providing rewards based on outreach to the South community.

“Teachers are going to reward kids who do better in their classes academically, but the hope is that we also don’t lose sight of what Rachel’s Challenge is about in terms of random acts of kindness,” she said.

It’s like being really nice only around Christmastime so Santa won’t bring coal.

- Celina Siegel, Class of 2014 On the other hand, junior Lili Kadets, who also helped introduce KTS, said she hopes students and teachers will not be disenchanted by KTS because of its close relation to Rachel’s Challenge.

“Although it was very heart-wrenching and very emotional, in some ways I thought [Rachel’s Challenge] was too dramatic, and I think a lot of people were turned off by the whole presentation,” Kadets said.

“I want [KTS] to move away from the presentation, and move more toward the general idea of it,” she said.

Elbaum said now that the program is being implemented, the club members are wary of the possible consequence that KTS will encourage kindness only in exchange for rewards.

“There are going to be situations where kids are just going to be nice to get a card and win a prize, but we’re hoping for the best,” Elbaum said. “People want to be recognized for good things.”

Sophomore Celina Siegel said she is skeptical of the methods of KTS and doubts it will last as part of the anti-bullying program.

“It’s like being really nice only around Christmastime so Santa won’t bring coal,” she said.

“It’s a good incentive, but it’s almost like bribery. If you’re mean every day of the week and then one day you do something nice, that’s not being a good person — that’s doing something for a reward.”

History teacher Adam Coggeshall agreed with Siegel that the program faces problems with students being insincere in their kindness.

“As I’m teaching, I don’t like rewarding kids for things they should be doing already,” he said.

“If you’re being nice to someone to just win a car, you’re not doing something nice for someone else, you’re doing something nice for yourself.”

Kadets said that even with negative possibilities in mind, if students know the program has been launched and start to change how they behave, the program will have been worth installing.

Catrambone agreed that the benefits of the program outweigh the drawbacks and that KTS will ultimately have a positive impact on the South community.

“This is just in some ways reinforcing what kids do already,” he said. “I see kids doing nice things for other kids, I’ve had kids stand up against bullying, I’ve had kids who have gone out of their way to help others, and this is just our way of acknowledging that.

We have a great student body here, and our students don’t need this reinforcement, but it’s nice to have it.”

4

thelionsroar.com/news

news

bro a d e n i ng perspectives Academic field trips, such as the recent visit to the Broad Institute, allow students to experience real-life applications of what they are learning in class Dipal Nagda & Derek Nie News Editor, News Reporter

Sophomore and junior chemistry students took a field trip to the Broad Institute in Cambridge on February 7 and 8. The Broad Institute, a collaboration between MIT and Harvard, is a biomedical research center focused on science and, in particular, the human genome.

The Broad Institute has recently undergone an expansion and now includes over 1,500 faculty members.

The field trip was possible because of the Broad Education Outreach Program, an initiative designed to raise awareness about science among high school students in the Boston area.

“Our goals are to increase student knowledge about careers in science, interest in science and excitement about it,” Education Outreach Program director Megan Rokop said.

The Education Outreach Program has three components for high school students, bringing in over 1,500 students every year, according to Rokop.

The most significant component is the field trip, allowing up to 30 students to visit the Broad Institute lab for part of a day.

Other parts of the program include a summer internship and an independent research project over the fall and spring semesters.

Students in both Curriculum I chemistry and AP

Chemistry visited the Broad Institute in early February.

They had the chance to work on labs on topics such as gel electrophoresis, see biomedical equipment and ask Broad scientists about their experiences in scientific research.

Chemistry teacher Patrick McFarland said that a trip to the Broad Institute is an enriching experience for students.

“It gives students an appreciation for cool experiments and sparks interest that allows people to see science in a different way,” he said.

To read more about the educational value of field trips, turn to page 23 Sophomore Janice Tso, who went on the trip, said she enjoyed taking part in real-world scientific application. “It was fun being the scientist for a day, being in an actual lab and doing experiments,” she said. “They weren’t big, exciting experiments, but the atmosphere was different from doing experiments in school. Doing experiments in the lab felt like the real thing.”

McFarland said there is a limited number of labs students can do at South because the school’s budget restricts

access to materials.

Sophomore Justin Liao agreed that the cost of materials can be problematic. “Science is expensive,” he said. “You have to replace the tips of some measuring instruments every time you squeeze.”

McFarland said that at the Broad Institute, however, students do not encounter such difficulties. “The Broad is so amazing. There’s just nothing else like it,” he said.

According to Rokop, the Education Outreach faculty hopes that exposure to the Broad Institute facilities will help students make more informed career choices. “Bringing students in to do the actual things we do in lab with the actual people and real equipment is a way to get a little window into [biomedical careers],” Rokop said.

Junior Benyamin Meschede-Krasa said that his time at the Broad Institute helped him see chemistry and biology in a new light. “It broadened my idea of research because there were so many different labs,” he said. “It definitely gave me an idea of what research is like.”

Tso agreed that the Broad Institute field trip expanded his knowledge of science and technology. “I knew from the back of my mind that science would be like this,” he said. “A lot of the stuff surprised me, though, like the robots. It was great to actually see a robot move and do science.”

McFarland said he hopes that the science department will continue to offer similar field trips. “We do not tap into the community as well as we would like to,” he said.

They weren’t big, exciting experiments, but the atmosphere was different from doing experiments in school.

Doing experiments in the lab felt like the real thing.

-Janice Tso, Class of 2014

photos by Shawheen Rezaei

Students from both Curriculum I and AP level chemistry classes participated in hands-on experiments, toured research labs and explored new technologies at the Broad Institute.

march 9, 2012

news

Curricu

II

rriculu u C * m

I

onors *H

lum

G l g o n b i a o l G

5

graphic by Ale Diaz

GLOBAL, from 1 breakout sessions where students were able to have their own discussions.”

The mixed-curriculum classroom Global presents was designed to give students a chance to create and maintain friendships with students of different levels, according to English department head Brian Baron.

“We started because we felt like we could give kids a more coherent experience, and we believe in the idea of mixed levels,” he said.

Baron and Kozuch said mixed levels allow students to be challenged by their peers.

“We wanted to have kids challenge each other in order to reach their highest potential, and we saw some benefits to kids working in a heterogeneous classroom environment,” Kozuch said. “[In Global,] we can raise the level for kids who are struggling and we can give the kids who are in Honors a chance to understand more complex ideas,” Baron said.

The Global program also started with the purpose of creating a smaller community due to a rapidly increasing student population.

“When Newton South went from 1,200 students to 1,800 students about six or seven years ago, we passed the point where it becomes really easy for students to become anonymous,” history teacher Joseph Golding said.

According to Golding, establishing the Global program not only created a tighter community within South but also allowed students to feel more connected to the school.

Junior Emma Race, a former Global

student, said that being in a smaller com- tide does lift all boats,” Rinaldi said. munity helped her make the jump to high “What I would be interested in seeing school. “I liked how you had the same people is, [does] the rising tide significantly overin your class for two classes, which was a nice come whatever sort of loss of intellectual rigor transition from middle school,” Race said. that you lose from a pure Honors classroom.”

Golding said that because of the Kozuch said that Honors students classroom environment, Honors students in Global classes end up doing more work do not receive on their own as much attenin order to tion as they cover enough would in a material than normal classstudents in room setting. typical Hon“ There ors classes do. are ways “I’m not w h i ch [ t he able to cover Global proall the mategram is] not rial in U.S. hisa supportive tory that they - Sean Turley, History teacher environment would get in because we so a normal AP often have to class, so in say, ‘Look, you’re in the Honors section, and some ways that’s more challenging,” he said. you have to go read these chapters, and you “But I’m doing the same documentneed to do it, and I’m not going to be able to based questions and giving them similar walk you through it,’” Golding said. tests that my colleagues are giving their AP “In an Honors class, you get a bunch level kids.” of smart kids and you give them something History teacher Sean Turley said he way too hard; then you help them see how finds that students studying for the AP exam it works, which is more challenging to do in in a Global class will not receive the same a Global class.” kind of preparation as in a typical AP U.S. History teacher Jamie Rinaldi, who has History class. taught mixed-curriculum courses outside of “A lot of the preparation is their own the Global program, said he also sees how reading for the AP test, [instead of] having a multilevel classroom can benefit students. discussions,” Turley said. “You’re taking a “The presence of Honors or AP stu- little bit of an Honors independent study, dents in a mixed-level classroom does elevate which is weird to me, because it gets the same the discussion, sometimes dramatically. I credit as someone who sits in an Honors class think there is a situation there where a rising for 55 minutes, four times a week.”

What ends up happening is that the Honors students do more work, but we’re not really teaching them. We’re just having them do it.

According to Golding, regardless of any perceptions students have of the Global program, it has become quite popular among students, doubling in size since 2006.

“I know some students take it because the idea of community really appeals to them.

I know that is a driving force for some kids,” Golding said.

“Some students take it because their friends take it because it’s a way to opt into a program where you’re more likely to be in a room with a set of people who self-select each other.”

According to Golding, another reason the Global program appeals to students is that it allows them to experience different levels with flexibility in terms of schedule.

“If you take Curriculum II English [in the Global program], it would be a class where sophomore year you could try Curriculum I and sort of experiment with it without rearranging all of your schedule,” he said.

“You could switch from Curriculum II to I without devastating your entire schedule.”

Turley said he ultimately has concerns over whether the Global programs truly teach at an Honors level rather than merely giving Honors-level work.

“You can give kids who are taking Honors more questions or have them do a harder reading, but the issue with that is I don’t feel like it’s teaching them Honors.”

Turley said.

“I think ultimately, what ends up happening is that the Honors students do more work, but we’re not really teaching them.

We’re just having them do it.”

Additional reporting by Danny Gifford

6

thelionsroar.com/news

news

OUTBOUND

photo by Olivia Kennis

Due to major cutbacks in funding for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Newton’s public transportation services may face reduction, elimination or fare increases Emily Ho

T

News Editor

he Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced plans in January 2012 to increase fares and begin cutting back on various services.

Currently, the MBTA is debating two scenarios, both of which will raise the prices of the subway and the bus system.

The proposed plans would raise the price of a single subway ride from $2 to $3.

Included in the projected scenarios are service cutbacks, such as shorter bus routes, reduced ferry services, reduced “The Ride” services, which provides transportation for people with cognitive, mental or physical disabilities, and a cut in funds for the commuter rail and the subway Green E Line on weekends.

According to Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary Richard Davey, after Massachusetts residents expressed concern over the announcement, the MBTA decided to continue listening to feedback until the planned implementation date of July 1, 2012.

“I am confident with the public’s involvement in this process,” Davey said in a press release.

“We can review the study, propose recommendations and together generate new revenue to continue the progress the MBTA has made in serving its customers.”

Freshman Jonathan Kirshenbaum said that the cutbacks

will have a negative effect on the Newton community in general.

“Absolutely every mode of MBTA transport is utilized by some demographic. The trains are used by students on a daily basis and ‘The Ride’ is used by the elderly who cannot transport themselves,” he said. “Because everyone needs the services it provides, a price hike will most likely make MBTA travel more difficult.”

Junior Jonathan Stricker also said he expects inconveniences.

He said the subway system that

runs right through major Newton locations is a common source of transportation, especially for traveling into Boston. “[The subway] is convenient; it’s right by my house,” he said.

METCO counselor Katani Sumner said the price hikes might adversely affect students who rely on the subway.

“It might affect METCO kids who miss the bus and have to ride the subway to get to school,” she said.

“If they can’t afford to ride

the T, they’ll stay home instead of just being late to school.”

Sophomore Nadav Raz said that a price increase in subway fares could harm the MBTA’s system. “If they raise the fares, kids will sneak on the subway more often and will use the subway much less,” he said.

Kirshenbaum agreed that the MBTA should find a solution that will not drive away users.

“In my mind, [the MBTA] is only hurting their chances to pull themselves out of debt,” he said.

Stricker said that although he

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

43%

35%

Overall fare increase

Eliminated or reduced services:

Commuter rail, bus, light rail, ferry, “The Ride”

Percentage of riders affected

9-13%

14-17%

would rather not see cutbacks to the subway system, an increase in fare would not significantly decrease student use.

“I don’t think it’ll affect the number of people taking the subway,” Stricker said. “[Students] will use it regardless because it’s a necessity.”

Senior Allie Haber agreed that students will continue to use the subway. “I think people will resent the changes,” she said, “but it won’t stop the amount they use MBTA services.”

Stricker, however, said he foresees that passengers will be upset with the changes. “I support [the changes] if the MBTA is in debt,” Stricker said, “but overall I think it’s going to hurt the morale of the passengers.”

Kirshenbaum agreed that there will be a large negative response, since the MBTA’s reputation of low fares will make it harder for users to accept price changes.

“While other cities have increased their prices exponentially, Boston has kept their prices low, and therefore kept the mass transport system usable by the majority of the public,” he said.

Haber said that whatever changes are made will have a significant and wide-reaching effect.

“I don’t know how often South students depend on the subway, but it’s one of the greatest parts of living in Newton because it makes going into the city so accessible,” she said. “People all over the state use the MBTA to get to work, and it’s safe to say the changes won’t go unnoticed.”

march 9, 2012

news

BUILDING BLOCKS

In order to allow students to take morning classes at North, South will introduce a new schedule system next year, eliciting mixed reactions from the community

A

F

Alex Verbitsky News Reporter

In response to the late arrival of students who participate in courses offered in the mornings at North this year, Vice Principal Mary Scott proposed the first draft of amendments to the academic schedule to be implemented next year.

Scott said that the problem of students missing A block classes became more prevalent this year because of the appeal of new courses provided due to additional resources at North, such as the Career and Vocational Technical Education program.

According to Scott, student desire to take advantage of the classes at North inspired the administration’s drive to alter the schedule. “A number of students took such classes this year, but it

affected too many blocks in their schedule,” she said. “Therefore, we are changing the blocks so that it will be much easier for them to be able to take courses A block at North and come back to South and have a full schedule.”

While the length of classes at South will remain unchanged, the proposed changes, which have not been finalized yet, include beginning with G block instead of A block on Tuesdays and ending with a different block every day to ensure that no class is affected disproportionately by the morning classes.

Furthermore, school officials have agreed that if a number of students have the desire to take a course that is not offered at South, that course will be moved to A block at North.

Sophomore Rusty Lodi, who took the first semester

E

B

D

C

G automotive technology course offered at North this year, said that taking the class affected his participation in other classes. “I was practically taking history three times a week because I would come in late and would miss most of the class,” Lodi said.

Cutler housemaster Donna Gordon said that the changes will help streamline the cooperation between South and North on inter-school courses. “The more we can do in line with North, the better,” she said.

Math teacher Sharon O’Connor said that while the changes could be beneficial, she does not agree with the plan to have a different block end each day.

“I would like to see at least one block remain at the end of the day since I come in at that point, and if they were flipped

all over the schedule, it would be very difficult for me,” she said.

“Change is okay if it made sense, but I don’t see this one making sense.”

Freshman Jasper Primack said adjusting to the schedule changes will be frustrating. “For those of us who know the schedule by heart, the changes would be very inconvenient because we would not be able to carry that experience over into other years,” he said.

Although Primack said he is hesitant to accept the schedule changes, Scott said that the benefits of the transition will justify the initial confusion for the South community.

“Both North and South offer a very rich variety of courses for students to take,” she said. “If you put the two schools together, it’s a phenomenal number.”

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

Since 1989 - Providing the shades that keep South students asleep.

(Hopefully not through A block though!)

595 Worcester Road Natick, MA 01760. 508-650-9922. info@innuwindow.com

7

The Norquist Pledge Eric Allegro Common Cents

The most influential and powerful man in the capital of the Union is not living in the White House. The most powerful man in Washington is, in fact, feared lobbyist Grover Norquist. The founder and current president of Americans for Tax Reform has taken over both the House and the Senate.

He has done this by designing a pledge, signed by 238 representatives and 41 senators, in which the signer promises to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”

All but 13 Republican legislators have signed the pledge, promising that under no circumstances will they raise taxes. This pledge is so strict that the party’s first president, Abraham Lincoln, and the hero of the majority of Republicans, Ronald Reagan, would have been in serious violation to this pledge had they signed it. This means that there is very little chance that any tax increase to any group of people will pass in the near future. This would seem like a great idea. Fewer taxes means more income to the people.

With this general low revenue for the government, however, $770 billion are still spent on war every year, and more are spent on social programs such as health care and public education. This means that the U.S. government must borrow money from other countries — China, to be specific — and the debt can get only bigger and bigger. To add to this, the same Republicans that are refusing to raise taxes are asking for a new conflict to be started in Iran, as they see that country as a threat to national security. This means more money for the military, but no increase in taxes to pay for the war that may very well happen. The U.S. will just slip deeper and deeper into the pit of debt.

The other option is to cut social programs. Health care, parks and recreation departments, education and the police are just some of the programs that are vulnerable.

Any social program becomes fair game when there is not enough tax money to keep all of them running smoothly. These programs get all their funding from taxes. They need to either gain new funding or cease to exist.

This was the case in Colorado Springs.

The city voted down an increase in taxes that would amount to $200 a year per homeowner.

Because the city needed more funding than it possessed in order to run, the people had to pay for simple things such as streetlights and trash collection in the parks. Any reasonable legislator would stay away from a pledge such as the Americans for Tax Reform pledge. They fear too much, however, for their political careers. George H. W. Bush ran on the same platform when he said in a speech, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” This speech ended up being the nail in the coffin for his opponent, as Bush ended up winning solidly. Later in his presidency, he realized that the only way to stay away from more debt would be to raise more taxes, and he lost the ensuing election by more than 200 electoral votes.

Because of this fear, the pledge made by Grover Norquist, one that he designed when he was 12-years-old, and in seventh grade, has infected and taken over our government. Grover Norquist is the most devious and powerful player in government and is able to hold politicians like puppets in his conservative tax-hating show.

features volume 28

DJ

issue 7

page

march 9, 2012 • thelionsroar.com/features

8

KRAUS

Physics teacher and former professional disc jockey Alex Kraus incorporates his passion for DJing into his life as a teacher graphic by Ale Diaz

Hannah Shields & Caroline Zola

F

Features Reporters

or physics teacher Alex Kraus, the most thrilling part of being a disc jockey (DJ) is having the ability to manipulate the emotions of the people in a room.

“It’s a fine art. [As a DJ] you are not solely in control, you have to feed off the energy of the crowd and make decisions about what comes next … and there is nothing better than … looking across at 500 to 1000 giddy people that just go nuts when the bass line hits,” Kraus said. “That’s pretty much one of the coolest feelings in the entire world.”

Although Kraus was once a professional DJ, he has had to fit his passion for DJing into the many parts of his life.

According to his mother, biology teacher Jordan Kraus, Kraus has maintained an interest in music for his entire life.

“By the time he was in early elementary school he was lobbying to take piano lessons, which he did, and trumpet, which he also did,” Jordan said. “By the time he was in late elementary school he got a paper route and started saving his own money from that paper route in order to buy his first guitar.” Kraus brought the technical music skills he acquired from his young experience with music to the world of turntables and synthesizers.

“I started going to venues where there were DJs performing and I thought it was cool and I wanted to know how it worked and I wanted to learn how to do it,” Kraus said.

Kraus attended North until he transferred to the Commonwealth School for his junior year. He said that during high school, his interest in DJing blossomed. “I started DJing my sophomore year in high school when I bought a used set of turn tables off a friend for about 100 bucks and didn’t have any idea what to do with them,” Kraus said. “I started collecting records, and by senior year I had some

idea [of] what I was supposed to be doing way to reach them,” Jordan said. with them.”

Though Kraus said he has always When he was a student at Skidbeen attracted to science, his interest in more College, he began working semimusic sparked his love of physics, a reacprofessionally as a DJ, playing at venues in tion he said he hopes other students have. the upstate New York area. “I DJ mostly “If it weren’t for my love of music, I never ‘Drum and Bass,’ which is a form of music would have gotten into physics,” Kraus that was made popular in the United King- said. “The Physics and Music class was dom. It’s typically very fast and very bass created in an attempt to share that type of heavy, usually around 170 to 180 beats experience with students at South.” per minute,” Kraus said. “I also spin some Several students in Kraus’ class have amount of New School Breaks and Two responded positively.

Step, which are what came before DubSenior Ben Korsh, a drummer and step.” visual artist, said In college, that although the Kraus ran a studentclass does not There is nothing better based entertainment directly improve his group that threw parmusical abilities, the than ... looking across at ties at at which they science he is learn500 to 1000 giddy people ing is “definitely and other musical guests performed. It important knowlwho just go nuts when was also in college edge.” the bass line hits. that Kraus decided Senior Aaron to pursue a career Wolff, a cellist and - Alex Kraus, physics teacher outside of DJing. “At vocalist, said that a certain point, the Kraus’ class also need to have a career benefits him outside that paid a salary and offered health insur- the classroom. “[Kraus] is uniquely pasance took over ... and so I decided, ‘I like sionate about everything he teaches,” he science, I like music; how can I make that said. work?’” he said.

Wolff said that the class has also inKraus completed college as a Music fluenced his career as a musician. As direcProductions and Engineering major, a tor of Newtones, Wolff said he especially union of his two passions, and then started benefited from learning about “beats,” teaching at South. This year he finished his which is when two close frequencies fail to graduate degree in education. match, producing a wobbly sound.

His passion for music has never “In Newtones, we try to look out faded though, according to Kraus. Much for the beats, and if we hear them, we like he did in college, Kraus found a way know something’s wrong, and we fix it ... I to blend the two disciplines of music and think it’s a good thing for all musicians to science with the Physics and Music class, explore the physics behind [their music],” a senior science elective. Kraus said that Wolff said. the class strives to teach science in a way Senior Mitchell Wong agreed, citthat is applicable to the real world, but also ing the class’ term project as a means to to introduce science to students who may improve his trombone playing. “Our first never have been especially interested in semester project was building an instruthe subject before. ment and that was really fun ... learning “There are a lot of kids who are very the science behind how strings and woodexcited by and interested in music, but winds and brass work, that was interestmay not see that as a part of science. I ing,” Wong said. think [the Physics and Music class] is a Wong also said he appreciates the

opportunity to take a science class specifically linked to music.

“Whenever I tell people that my physics class is Physics and Music, my friends are like ‘I wish we had that. That sounds so cool,’” he said. “I think it’s such a rare opportunity. To my knowledge, [Kraus is] the only teacher that does that sort of thing, and it’s really great.”

For Kraus, incorporating DJing into his life has become increasingly difficult.

He said that with the responsibilities of teaching, earning a master’s degree and buying a first home, DJing has not been a priority.

“It’s mostly recreational at this point,” Kraus said. “I would love the opportunity to get back to doing some of it as semi-professional.”

Kraus does not plan on DJing for students, which he said would be both inappropriate and a conflict of interest. He said he does, however, encourage students to start DJing themselves. “I’d ... really encourage students interested in learning DJing to go learn your roots,” Kraus said.

“Learn where DJing came from. Learn how that evolved into both the hip-hop culture here and the dance music culture in England.”

According to Kraus, overuse of modern technology can be detrimental to the artistic integrity of the DJ. “Don’t rely simply on the Sync button,” Kraus said. “A real DJ should understand how to match a beat and how to transition from one song to another without a computer doing it for them. You have got to know the fundamentals.”

Kraus said that his musical career is far from finished. He said he is currently converting a small outdoor shed in his new house into a recording studio where he hopes to produce music. Kraus said he also plans on producing original music, a passion he discovered later in life.

“I would like to get to the point where I’m starting to turn out more original music again, where maybe once a month I get to go play out,” Kraus said. “I would love to get that back to that point.”

march 9, 2012

features

9

ASO, Korean Club spread culture, language Julia Snider

S

Features Editor

outh Korean R&B boy band SHINee provides the soundtrack to students practicing their Hangul, or Korean alphabet, every Wednesday and Thursday J block. The band’s songs are all part of a larger plan to introduce Korean culture to South, according to junior and Korean Club president Yun-Hee Seol. “If you’re interested in … cooking Korean food, playing Korean games or just learning about what makes Korea different from other Asian countries, Korean Club is a good place to start,” she said. “In the end, though, it’s really just a place to sing SHINee songs with your friends and dance to K-pop [Korean pop] music.”

According to its members, Korean Club intends to fill a gap in education about Korean culture at South that the Asian Student Organization (ASO) does not provide.

Seol said she started Korean Club, this year after receiving requests from her peers to teach others Korean. Seol said that since then, the club’s mission has evolved to include greater education about Korean culture. “We’re not trying to make people like Korean culture. We just want to introduce it in a positive way so that it can be welcomed into the community more,” she said. “I’m sure if people knew a little more about Korean culture they would love it; it really is an awesome country.”

Family and consumer science teacher Jon Orren said he advises Korean Club in order to provide the club with easy kitchen access for cooking lessons.

He said, though, that he has gained insight into Korean culture as he spends time with the club. “I’m actually pretty hands-off with them. They’re a very self-motivated group,” Orren said. “I just sort of hover

and listen and try to learn whenever I can from them.”

Orren said that although Korean Club does emphasize culture, its members focus on learning. “They spend most of their time … doing language lessons and vocabulary quizzes,” Orren said.

Seol said that though most members of Korean Club are not of Korean descent, they all seek greater immersion specifically in Korean culture, allowing it to spread at South. Language can be a significant component of cultural understanding, according to Seol.

“We have a really good group of students who really want to learn Korean,” Seol said. “We have several people who are starting to read, listen and write Korean really well, and I think by the end of the year they can get something out of this club.”

In contrast to the activities at Korean Club, ASO meetings are not language-

based. “ASO is for all the Asian students that can come together and play games every J block,” Liu said.

Senior Kristine Liu, a member of ASO, said she appreciates the casual, multi-cultural environment at ASO meetings. “[An ASO officer] asked me if I wanted to come, and after that I’ve just been going … and having fun,” she said.

May Chin, mother of sophomore Samantha Chin, agreed that a key piece of ASO is the social aspect. “ASO benefits Samantha by allowing her to interact with other people who she does not necessarily see every day, and she also gets to meet new people,” Chin said.

Liu said that despite her dedication to ASO, she sees the benefits of clubs specific to a single country, because they can provide a link to students’ native cultures in a way ASO cannot. “I’m from China.

I don’t think [ASO] helps me connect back to these roots because it’s all Asian

photo by James Wang

Students serve traditional Asian food at a recent Asian Student Organization potluck.

cultures,” Liu said. “The Koreans are all together, but we are more broad.”

Junior and ASO officer Jackson Hsu said he favors ASO both for its diversity and its drive to aid the community through events and charity work. “I think it’s better to have a broad [Asian group] because we try to include all the ethnicities. We don’t want to be discriminating,” Hsu said. “Every year at the end of the year we take all the money we make, and … we donate about $1,500 to various charities.”

Hsu, who is not a member of Korean Club, said he sees ASO and Korean Club as each serving different needs for their members rather than as competing entities. “ASO is more of an organization. [It creates] events such as ASO Potluck and Asian Night, and they’re really fun to go to,” Hsu said. “But Korean Club was created for a different reason, [the concept being] ‘I don’t want to do something “Asian” with Asian people; I wanted to do something Korean with different people.’”

Freshman Virgil Wong, an ASO member, said he appreciates ASO’s involvement in the community. “The best part about ASO is going to the events … and planning events,” Wong said. “One of the bigger ones is Asian Night. The Tai Kwon Do Club presents some of the things they’ve learned, and there’s a lot of food.”

Seol said Korean Club also takes part in Asian Night, allowing it to cooperate with ASO. “Korean Club has a dance group that is working on a Korean dance to audition for Asian night,” Seol said. “It’s something they’ve wanted to do ever since the start of the club.”

Hsu said Asian Night is an evening of unification. “Through Asian Night we bring all different clubs together,” Hsu said.

Additional reporting by Dylan Block

Recently established Seasons Club flourishes Eliza Beth & Katherine Dorfman Features Reporters

The steam from hot chocolate filled the air as Seasons Club members commenced their meeting one cold December day. But the warm drinks were not an accompaniment to the afternoon’s main event; they were the main event. “We try to bring cheer,” junior and Seasons Club co-president Elena Ramos said. “[The club] is about enjoying what’s now.”

According to Ramos and other Seasons Club members, the group strives to differentiate itself from others at South by embracing a low-stakes mentality that allows it to foster an appreciation for the extraordinary in everyday life.

‘11 graduate Martha Schnee said she founded Seasons Club last school year to help classmates “slow down and embrace each season. We move so quickly that we often forget to stop, look around and appreciate our environment,” she said.

What began as a gathering of four girls has bloomed into a group of over 20 students committed to “[trying] to bring everyone together,” Ramos said.

Principal Joel Stembridge said that Seasons Club members’ goal of living in the moment sets them apart. “A lot of the clubs have a goal for something external,” Stembridge said. “Seasons Club is just about students gathering together, enjoying being alive.”

Schnee said the club initially struggled to gain its footing. “[In] the beginning, it was me trying to organize everything,” she said. “It sort of fizzled out.”

Ramos, however, said a few devoted members

worked to rebuild and transform Seasons Club. “We completely adapted it,” she said.

Ramos said club activities now include baking cookies and making paper snowflakes in an effort to connect to changes in weather. The group also recently held a seasons-themed scavenger hunt at school.

Although Seasons Club is non-religious, activities sometimes center around holidays and associated traditions. Around Christmastime, the club attempted a Yankee swap.

Club adviser John Cascino said that such Seasons Club activities should not be trivialized. “They talk about things that are the consequence of the earth rotating around the sun,” he said.

Seasons Club member freshman Tara Lanahan said that the club provides a forum for her to actively appreciate these consequences in every season. “I like seeing how the climate changes,” Lanahan said.

Seasons Club’s impact is even greater because it provides respite from academic and extracurricular rigors, according to Cascino. “A tense, competitive atmosphere engulfs Newton South,” he said.

Schnee said she hoped that Seasons Club would help students step away from this atmosphere in order to appreciate their surroundings. “We would go month by month and watch the trees,” she said.

According to Schnee, few people take time out for activities like tree watching. “I feel like a lot of people just don’t even consider nature around them a lot,” she said.

“I thought it was cool that we were watching the seasons change and grow.”

Ramos said this laid-back attitude draws students

to observe nature as part of Seasons Club. “Seasons are pretty exciting things,” she said. “It’s a fun club without commitment, and that’s the appeal.”

Club director and guidance counselor Lenny Libenzon said he thinks Ramos and her peers are taking a healthy approach to extracurricular life. “It’s the point of clubs to have fun,” he said. “We have enough stress at South.”

According to Morris, the group has taken Libenzon’s message to heart. “Although we help other causes, have donated to charity and held events, we try to ease tension and bring lightheartedness to a school where … everybody feels they need to always be working as hard as they can,” Morris said. “We try to bring a breath of n ohe fresh air at the end xC Ale y b c of the school phi gra day.”

Stembridge agreed that Seasons Club’s take on extracurricular activities contributes positively to the South environment. “[It’s a] good example of a club that’s there to have fun … [and] exists for no other reason then being in existence,” Stembridge said. “It tickles my fancy.”

Morris said club members notice Stembridge’s appreciation for their group. “We’re Mr. Stembridge’s favorite club,” she said.

10

thelionsroar.com/features

features

Boston Globe Scholastic Key Winners

one

two

three

Students submit their artwork to The Boston Globe’s Scholastic Art & Writing contest each year.

On Jan. 31, 36 South students won individual awards in visual art categories. Here is a selection of winning photographs.

Photo One Olivia Kennis ‘12, Gold Key Photo Two Jackie Lebovits ‘12, Silver Key Photo Three Nicole Kestenberg ‘12, Gold Key Photo Four Jonathan Stricker ‘13, Gold Key

four

march 9, 2012

Student defends Pastafarianism Yonatan Gazit & Anastasiya Vasilyeva

A

Features Reporters

pirate costume is typical Friday attire for freshman Ari Zerner, who said the special clothing is a way to honor a weekly holiday of his religion, Pastafarianism. “It’s a valid religion,” Zerner said. “It’s not a joke. It’s not here to satirize religion.”

Although Zerner said he follows Pastafarianism seriously, others said they see it as a mode of mocking traditional religion rather than as a legitimate belief system.

Pastafarians and non-Pastafarians have different thought on the origins of Pastafarianism, according to Zerner. “[There is] the official [explanation] in the holy texts and the one that most non-Pastafarians agree on,” he said.

Bobby Henderson founded Pastafarianism in 2005 as a protest of the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to allow public schools to teach intelligent design in science classes as an alternative to evolution.

Henderson also wrote the official texts of Pastafarianism, which state that the religion has been around since the first midget was created.

Zerner’s pirate costume is specifically intended to honor what The Daily Telegraph calls Henderson’s “discovery of a causal relationship between global warming and a decline in the number of buccaneers in the past 200 years.”

Freshman Itamar Levy-Or, who said he believes in Pastafarian ideals but does not consider himself a Pastafarian, said that explanations such as that for the pirate costume are intended to make a statement. “I think the point that [Pastafarianism] makes is people take religion too far,” Levy-Or said.

Zerner first heard about Pastafarianism in history teacher Paul Estin’s class and then conducted further research on the religion’s official website.

Since then, Zerner has read both of the holy texts of Pastafarianism from cover to cover. Although Zerner said he has taken on Pastafarianism as a legitimate religion, Estin said he thinks of Pastafarianism in a different way.

“It is intentionally designed not to be taken seriously,” he said. “I know that it’s kind of a joke based on making fun of people who believe in intelligent design.”

Zerner said he has encountered peers who believe that Pastafarianism is a joke, particularly when they hear his explanation for wearing a pirate costume on Fridays. “[People] think I’m joking, and once I tell them I’m not, they either say I’m crazy or stupid,” Zerner said.

Freshman Jasper Primack, who said he pretends to practice Pastafarianism in order to elicit observer reactions, said that he too would believe Zerner to be joking.

“I doubt many people [take Pas-

tafarianism seriously],” Primack said.

“In fact, I doubt anyone does because it involves the worship of a Flying Spaghetti Monster.”

Pastafarians adhere to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or FSM, which promotes belief in a supernatural creator resembling spaghetti and meatballs.

Primack said he first heard about Pastafarinism from the Internet. “Pastafarianism is something that we call a meme, or a topic that appears often for humor value. Pastafarianism is not a religion,” he said. “It was created as a joke, and it remained a joke.”

Freshman Kristen Magliozzi, who does not identify as a Pastafarian, disagreed with Primack and said that Pastafarianism deserves

respect. “Any religion is religion no matter where it comes from or what it believes in,” she said. “I find it pretty ridiculous that people can be so inconsiderate of other people’s beliefs.”

Zerner said, however, that even though his parents are generally supportive, he feels that his father is not completely on board with his choice of religion. “[They’re] mainly neutral,” he said, “but I think my dad disapproves of it. He always sighs when I talk about it.”

Zerner, who was raised Jewish, said his parents’ religion does not resonate with him. “I never really believed in the religion,” he said, “so Pastafarianism is something to believe in.”

Freshman Ashley Wasilewski, who discovered Pastafarianism about a year ago while browsing the Web, said that Pastafarianism gets a diverse group of people involved in religion. “[Pastafarianism is] an opportunity for people who want to believe in something but do not believe in any other religion,” Wasilewski said.Though she does not practice Pastafarianism,

Wasilewski said her first encounter with the religion left a big impression. “I just thought, ‘Wow! A modern person created a religion that is actually followed by a bunch of people,’” she said.

Zerner’s mother, Rachel Zerner, said she approves of her son’s motivation to take control of his own beliefs by following Pastafarianism. “I’m proud of him for challenging people and for making a choice for himself about his belief system.

I think it’s great,” she said. “It makes me stop and think about my beliefs that I take on.”

Rachel said, however, that she struggles to accept Pastafarianism as an entirely legitimate religion. “It’s a funny religion, and some of the practices of it are funny,” she said. “The religion was founded with a humor piece of it, so it’s hard to take it seriously because I’m not sure it takes itself seriously.”

Rachel said she also has concerns about her son’s particular approach to Pastafarianism.

“I think that one of the challenges for me in relating with him is my concern that he is presenting Pastafarianism like a way of challenging people in an in-your-face kind of way,” she said. “I support him and his choice, but I’m not as thrilled with that piece of it.”

Primack said he intentionally takes an “in-your-face” approach, though he does not actually identify as a Pastafarian.

“I decided to continue the meme, which many people choose to do hoping they can get humor value,” Primack said.

“I often present myself as worshiping a Flying Spaghetti Monster, [which] tends to get [a] reaction, and it’s often amusing.”

Zerner said that though he encounters people who do not accept his beliefs, he can still take comfort in Pastafarianism. “[Pastafarians] are scattered around the world, but we communicate on the [Internet] forums. I get a sense of security,” Zerner said.

Rachel said that Pastafarianism can make an impact beyond these forums, though. “Ultimately, it causes people to sort of sit up and think, and that’s never a bad thing,” she said. “Even if you don’t believe it, ... if it causes you to give some thought to your own choices, it’s all good.”

photo by Julia Hurwit

features

11

When dreams become nightmares Annie and Lili Kadets Are You Seeing Double?

Dreams. Some people remember them, and some even jot them down in the morning. Others are clueless as to where their minds went that night. As for us, we tend to remember our dreams: the good, the bad and the bizarre. And even stranger, sometimes we even have similar dreams on the same night! It must be a twin thing.

Whether we remember our dreams or not, we can all agree that there’s nothing worse than an anxiety dream. So our question today: What the heck should we do about those angst-producing night frights?

This time, we are serious when we say, “Never fear. The twins are here!” We therefore present to you Anxiety Dreams 101.

Have you ever had an anxiety dream? You must have. If not, let’s start with the basics. (After all, that’s how an introductory course is supposed to begin.)

It’s a beautiful, sunny January day.

You are driving. Your father is in a great mood, and he’s smiling at you from the passenger seat. There is nothing in the scene so far that screams discomfort, abnormality or menace.

The road you are traveling is familiar. Fortunately, you feel relaxed.

This doesn’t seem to be a circumstance to worry about! You (supposedly) know how to drive. You’ve suffered through Driver’s Ed, you’ve sat in the car with a driving instructor for way too many endless hours and you’ve watched your mom and dad whiz down the highway with one hand on the steering wheel. You practically live in the car. What’s the big deal?

This is where we finally reach the turning point. It starts to rain a little bit, and the clouds slowly diffuse into an ominous, gray backdrop. The car shifts into some strange contraption you never dreamed you could dream. Then the lake shows up. Soon the car is in reverse, rolling backward toward the navy blue depths of the lake without your consent. That once-reliable brake system won’t seem to give you a break this time.

It’s not long until the car is engulfed by angry waves. Your father, of course, is still beaming and seems ignorant of the fact that his brand new Lexus is slowly descending into murky water.

An alarm clock abruptly punctures your sleep. So, what should we think of these anxiety dreams? They show up constantly, at times like the night before a dance performance or a final exam. As long as major events are occurring, anxiety dreams will exist.

Rather than curse the darkness and pull an all-nighter in fear of your dreams, take some advice from the Beatles instead.

Let it be. Let’s think of these stressed visions as a way for our minds to cope.

Once our minds have flushed every worst-case scenario out of our brains via sweat-inducing, heart-palpitating anxiety nightmares, we just might be able to succeed the next day. Yes, we understand that letting dreams be may not be very comfortable. Yet those dreams that make us shudder may be the price we have to pay to get a good night’s sleep. Always remember that it’s only a dream.

12

features

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.

W

arning: Relationships ruin friendships! It doesn’t matter how hard you try to remain friends with your ex after you break up; it’s just not possible.

My best friend and I dated for over nine months, and the whole time we said that when things ended, we would remain close. We were very close after our separation, talking as much as I do with other friends, joking around and being ourselves.

As time went on, though, we both felt like the friendship was forced. Our feelings toward each other kept getting in the way because we wanted to have the relationship back but couldn’t.

I knew from the start that our relationship would end when it did because he went to college, and, well, I was stuck in boring old Newton.

As time progressed, we talked less and less, until one day I realized we weren’t speaking anymore. I contacted him, and he said he wanted nothing to do with me ever again.

Um… what? I thought we had agreed on remaining friends. Clearly our promises didn’t matter anymore, even the ones from before we started going out.

After that, I realized there was no use anymore and stopped trying. What we had in our relationship was too amazing to go back to being just friends.

So, if you don’t want to lose a friend, don’t go out with one of your friends.

Nothing good comes of it. Trying to be friends with someone after going out means changing how you see that person entirely.

Completely changing how I saw my ex was impossible for me because he was the one person I could talk to about a big issue I had.

I needed someone to support me during my struggle, and as a boyfriend he was great, but as a “friend” he wasn’t. Had he been there for me even after we broke up, our friendship might have worked out better, but whatever because I’m a better person without him around.

Seriously, though, going out with a friend sucks when it’s over. There are those awkward moments when mutual friends bring him up and you’re just like, “we’re done; don’t talk to me about him anymore.”

That happens no matter what, but it is way worse when you have countless mutual friends. Unless you love that awkwardness, don’t go out with a friend, or someone from school, or anyone for that matter.

Relationships are just too much work, and who really has the time for one?

Casual hookups are the way to go. You get some of the benefits of a relationship without all the hassle. So, South, keep hooking up, but stay away from all that middleschool drama that accompanies going out with a friend.

thelionsroar.com/features

Competition motivates students Jessica Bolter & Jillian Marks

Managing Editor, Features Contributor English teacher Rachel Becker has seen sophomore speech transform students. “I definitely had students who had no idea what they wanted to do and then by the end of speech were like, ‘I really love recycling, and I didn’t know that I thought that this was so important, and now I’m just going to recycle all the time,’” she said. “It’s just those kinds of things that really make a difference to people.”

She said she has noticed that some students get nervous about the competition, but that its benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Several teachers and students said that in-school competitions, such as sophomore speech and the Heintzelman contest, add some pressure, but more importantly encourage students to work hard and get them more involved in the assignment. Sophomore speech is a speech competition in which students write speeches about topics of their choice, and the Heintzelman is a creative writing contest for juniors and seniors at North and South.

Sophomore Isabel Snyder, one of the six sophomore speech finalists, said the reputation of the competition added some pressure for her. “[The competition] is making it into a bigger deal than I think it needs to be,” Snyder said.

Although he said that the competitions are generally beneficial, English department head Brian Baron said that he, too, noticed the over-emphasis on winning in sophomore speech and the Heintzelman contest. “It ... exacerbates the underlying problem: that people see learning as a competitive enterprise, which it just isn’t,” Baron said.

Last year’s Heintzelman winner, senior Hannah Weller, said she, like Baron, sees a downside to the competition. “If this is what you have chosen to do with your life and someone beats you at it this early on in the game, it can be a blow to your ego,” Weller said. “Competitions in general can damage anyone’s ego.”

Snyder said that although she was not caught up in winning sophomore speech, she would change the vagueness of the competition, the aspect which added the most pressure for her. “The hardest part about this whole thing was that my anxiety was crazy, and I made myself sick the day before semifinals because I did not know what was going to happen,” Snyder said.

English teacher Emma Leslie said that while she feels that sophomore speech is overall a very beneficial and educational part of the curriculum, she is concerned with the end result of the competition.

“I worry that it’s one more place where we end up rewarding the kids who are in Honors classes and not doing enough for the kids who struggle,” Leslie said. She said she thinks, however, that the benefits of the competition are worth the drawbacks.

Snyder said that even though she did not struggle with sophomore speech, she did not think that she would make the finals — because she thought that her speech did not measure up against other speeches.

“Mine just sounded so juvenile and not as exciting and controversial compared to [other students’],” Snyder said.

photo by Olivia Kennis

Sophomores Amy Cohen (left) and Lauren Forrow receive trophies for sophomore speech.

“I was just focused on the [classroom] assignment part of it.”

Baron said that this inherent comparison among students is the most detrimental component of sophomore speech. “We’re better off when we work together rather than when we’re butting heads with each other and trying to get ahead,” he said.

But, he said, competitions that South promotes, particularly in the English department, ultimately teach concepts and skills that would not otherwise be addressed in the curriculum.

English teacher Robert Jampol said that the Heintzelman expands students’ horizons and capabilities. “This contest provides students an opportunity to write something other than the boilerplate essay on the piece of literature just studied,” he said in a flier distributed to the English department.

Likewise, Becker said that sophomore speech drives students to work harder because they can be creative with both its content and organization. “It’s not just about the component of public speaking, which I think is really important, but it’s also the whole process,” she said. “I get to see students really investing in something, and it’s a little bit harder to invest personally in that ‘Things Fall Apart’ essay or that paper on ‘Antigone’.”

Weller said that since the Heintzelman is a contest, students are more driven to put forth their best efforts. “[The contest] gives people a lot more incentive to … put their writing out there instead of just throwing it away and never getting any feedback on it,” she said.

As students work harder, they become more involved — in the skills they’re gaining and in the assignment and competition itself.

Baron said that students’ knowledge of the assignment being a competition changes their attitudes for the better and

provides them with a chance to really give their all. “I don’t know that people would put as much effort into the entries if there weren’t that recognition that goes along with it,” Baron said.

He said that sophomore speech is important in maintaining some consistency across classes, which he said bolsters students’ involvement and effort. “The more optional you make it, the less prestigious it is to do well,” Baron said. “Because everybody’s working on it, it becomes more of a thing.”

This increased engagement pays off not only in the classroom, but also outside of it, according to Weller. “[The Heintzelman has] gotten people talking about stories, and I hear mostly positive things,” she said. “I think that’s cool; you get to see a different side to people.”

Baron said he worries that without the added competitive component, the structure of both assignments would disintegrate, and with it, the extra skill sets and the different opportunities that each assignment imparts. For sophomore speech in particular, the competition props up the assignment, he said; even though it is tempting to eliminate competition, doing so would eliminate positive factors as well. “If we just said we’re not going to do a semifinal round … you would lose education,” Baron said. “Kids would try less hard, and over time teachers would go off in their own directions, so I think that would affect the level that people learned.”

But Snyder said that the extra acknowledgement does not matter to her, that just being able to share what she had to say with all her classmates was enough. “Winning sophomore speech to me means going to the finals because that many people get to hear your speech and to me that’s the biggest thing you can win,” Snyder said.

“Anything else that you get after that is just your name on a plaque.”

march 9, 2012

features

13

By Jenny Friedland and Kylie Walters

Rusks bring a taste of South Africa to Newton Once every winter, sophomore Beth Yudelman sits down with her family to enjoy traditional South African rusks, hot chocolate and coffee.

According to Yudelman’s mother, Marlene Yudelman, the South African rusk is similar to biscotti. “It’s a South African influenced cookie … like a biscotti without any other things added.”

Yudelman said she prefers South African food to American food. “[A rusk] is a biscuit … it’s really crunchy — you can’t bite it on the first time. It’s really crumbly,” she said. “[South African food] is tasty …

American food is disgusting in a way.”

Yudelman, who has visited South Africa seven times, said that rusks have become familiar to her. “When we go [to South Africa] and see the food, I’m like ‘Oh, I have that at home,’” she said.

Marlene said the most common type of rusk in South Africa is made by a company called Ouma’s Rusks. “They originated in … the farming towns. There’s a brand … called Ouma’s Rusks, and Ouma means grandmother in Afrikaans,” she said. “That’s the most common rusk

recipe.”

Marlene said the baking of rusks is simple.

“You make the dough, and then you make little balls and put them onto the baking sheet and then you put them in the oven,” she said. “When they come out you slice them in half and you put them back to dry.”

Because the rusk is dried after baking, it is preserved for a longer period of time.

Marlene said that rusks were used during wars because of their ability to keep fresh. “You’d dry it in the oven so it wouldn’t get stale in a short time,” she said. “They were used for travelling long distances in the war … because they could last for much longer.”

Marlene said she carries on a tradition of dunking her rusk into tea or coffee.

“In South Africa, like [in] England or European places, at 4:00 it’s usually tea time … and people like to

Johannesburg makes an impact Spending time in South Africa encourages freshman Daniel Nissenbaum to appreciate the benefits of American government The America during the Civil Rights movement is not all that different from today’s South Africa, according to freshman Daniel Nissenbaum.

“It’s kind of like what America went through in the ‘60s … South Africa has just gotten through that only 10 years ago.

You still see major separation in races,” he said. “[At South], there’s no real racism or

anything like that, but in South Africa you still see some of that.”

Nissenbaum said that seeing racial relations and politics in South Africa gives him a unique lens through which to view life in Newton.

Nissenbaum’s mother, Patty Nissenbaum, said that she, like her son, sees a difference in how members of different races interact in America as compared

have their tea and a rusk and they dip the rusk into the actual tea,” she said. “My father used to always do that.

[Dunking is]

to in South Africa. “It’s very evident when you go there, of people who just have nothing, and I don’t think he has that same exposure here.

Definitely not in Newton,” she said.

“It’s all laid out for us, in particular in this community, … but you just don’t have that opportunity [in South Africa] if you look at the racial division.”

Nissenbaum, who was born in South Africa, said he also notices a difference between the American

still something I do to this day.”

Freshman Daniel Nissenbaum said that rusks also hold a special place in his family. “My dad likes [rusks] a lot,” Nissenbaum said.

“We bring them back when we go [to South Africa].”

e et sourc f Intern rtesy o u co s photo

and South African governments.

Although Nissenbaum does not read South African news daily, he does stay updated on major events. “[I read about] politics [and] new governments,” he said, “especially now, since there’s a lot of change and troubles going on with the government and corruption.”

Patty said the corruption in South African government stands out to her as well. “Law enforcement isn’t as strongly upheld there as it is here,” she said, “so I think it gives him a perspective on why we left and a perspective on why things work here.”

Nissenbaum agreed with his mother that politics work well in America, particularly in comparison to those in modern

South Africa.

“A lot of Americans have a kind of negative view right now of politics,” he said, “but then you go to a country like South Africa where there [are] so [many] more problems in the government, and this is actually a very good government here.”

Junior Henry Yun agreed that looking at American government in a global context impacts people’s perspectives.

“A lot of people [have] a lot of anger toward the U.S. government, and I think [that anger] is a bit narrow-minded,” he said. “Especially now, if you look over at Europe, there’s so many countries that you wouldn’t expect to have a lot of corruption that actually have a lot more corruption than the United States.”

editorials volume 28

issue 7

march 9, 2012 • thelionsroar.com/editorials

page

14

Written feedback should supplement grades

The Cat’s

Meow by the Roar Staff

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

Students Sue After Snow Day Calculator Fails, Induces Nihilism Students filed initial paperwork for a class action lawsuit against David Sukhin, creator of the much-derided “Snow Day Calculator,” on Tuesday. The students, led by seniors Micki Minaj and Lucy Lou, claim “physical and emotional damages” after last Thursday, when Sukhin’s calculator predicted a “99 percent chance” of a snow day. “I was counting on it, so I didn’t do any homework,” senior Jack Winter said, “especially not my Bible reading.” Other students had more drastic reactions. “I just didn’t get up. I refused. My comforter was simply too warm,” junior Sammy Sumo said.

Such catatonia was widespread. “I spent the entire day crying in my bathtub,” senior S. Donny Van said, “which was effectively a snow day.”

Seniors Post Failing Grades to Web, Enhance Slump Credibility The Internet is blowing up with F’s and N’s. Just check senior newsfeeds, replete with stories of flunks and skips. “I got a two on my quiz!!!! (it was out of 10),” senior Jackson Leibowitz posted on his tumblr, accompanied by a picture of his disapproving parents. “We just don’t know what’s gotten into him,” Shirley Leibowitz, Jackson’s mom, said. “He said something about his ‘slump swag.’” Others have posted similar tales of inadequacy. “Showed up to English today — didn’t know the name of the book we finished OR that we had an in-class essay on it,” senior Maya Oumie tweeted, adding #seniorproblems. (Ironically, the #seniorproblems trends includes both these lurid tales of slump delinquency as well as old people’s problems, such as, “Prunes soar to $5.00 a pound!” and, “AMC Theaters upped the age requirement on senior discounts.”) School administrators have tried cracking down on senior slacking, but they are impotent in stopping the slump-cred culture springing up organically on the web. “There’s not much we can do,” principal Joel Stemzy said. “Slump has gone viral.”

Student Submits Erotica to Heintzelman; Teachers Turned On “I was surprised, of course, but not unpleasantly so,” English teacher Danya Harding said of James Jennison’s erotic fiction piece. Jennison submitted the story — an atypical entry for the contest — to Newton’s Heintzelman contest.

But Jennison’s originality seemed to pay off; the story was a big hit inside the English department. “It’s like literary Cosmo,” English teacher Jack Offenheimer said. Other teachers had mixed reviews: “I liked it through the first half,” English teacher Robin Rabinowitz said, “but he lost me after the climax, and I couldn’t finish.”

A, B, C, D. Plus or minus. Into this construction, our academic performance across an entire year is condensed.

Class participation, homework, assessments, J block attendance — it all fits neatly into the horizontal width of an B- or a C+.

A millimeter here or there dictates so much and yet so little.

There is a fundamental asymmetry built into our education system. The point of high school, it seems to The Roar editorial staff, is to teach kids how to effectively communicate.

In math and science, this means showing your work in a clear, logical way; in history and English, this means conveying your ideas in a sophisticated yet concise manner. This is the expectation our schools set for us as students.

But what do we students receive from our teachers for the thousands of letters and symbols we spill each term? Besides, a valuable education, one letter and perhaps one symbol. The onus of effective communication falls far heavier on the student than it does on the teacher.

This is a bit of a simplification. Comments on history and English papers are exceptions, though their length and quality depend on the teacher.

Some members of our editorial staff considered math and science classes a distinct category, because definitive answers mitigated the need for long feedback.

Feedback should not, however, end at assessment, definitive or not; it should also reflect the student’s attitude, effort and, most importantly, intellectual growth.

It would be one thing if these pint-sized bits of feedback didn’t seem to matter so much, but they do.

As college applicants, our high school transcripts, replete with letters and symbols, are probably

the most important credential we put forth.

And so it’s no wonder that kids fake it. As discussed in “Cutting Corners” (page 15), bullshitting — communicating superficial intelligence in order to get a high grade — is a common phenomenon at South.

It’s a shame; bullshitting makes both teachers and students into nothing more than actors who are putting on a charade of education.

When students’ work doesn’t reflect their knowledge, they receive letter grades that don’t reflect

either supplemented or replaced by a more in-depth explanation of that student’s ability.

Furthermore, the advantages to such a system for struggling students cannot be underestimated.

There are few things more demoralizing for a student than receiving unexplained C after unexplained C on his or her work.

Very few kids actually lack any desire to do well in school; many, on the other hand, have been reduced to a state of learned helplessness.

Since they are essentially told, “You’re not good enough” over and over, regardless of effort, it sends the message that it is not even worth it to try.

[Letter grades] are insufAnd even if these poor ficient in articulating the grades are accompanied by slightly more in-depth more subtle differences befeedback, when it comes tween students that prompt down to it, many students are far too disillusioned by the most cognitive growth. the letter to pay attention to the comments.

If feedback were used their ability. not to justify a one-letter mark of Ultimately, this is true of all mediocrity, but instead to replace term grades. What does a B mean it, kids would be far more likely to about a student? Does he write heed its content. great essays but doesn’t do any Teachers should use grades nightly homework? Does she write as tools to maximize the amount exceptional lab reports but bomb their students learn. the tests?

While The Roar acknowlAnd wouldn’t anyone like to edges the necessity of objective, know the difference? universal standards in evaluating A grade can say only so much. students, grades should serve Perhaps, as was the standard in el- primarily to increase students’ acaementary school, grades should be demic motivation and, ultimately, replaced with paragraphs. intellectual intake.

Paragraphs would provide a Letter grades communicate three-dimensional picture of the a student’s success relative to a three-dimensional student. teacher’s or class’ standards, but are The benefits of such a sys- insufficient in articulating the more tem are twofold. When a student subtle differences among students is forced to send a B to a college, that prompt the most cognitive that college can extrapolate nothing growth. beyond, “This student performed at For that, South should conan average level in his or her class.” sider turning to a more threeSurely it would be more dimensional system of grading that valuable to both the college and allows for more teacher appraisal the applicant if the letter were of individual students.

Editorial Policy

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

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

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

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

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

Violation of this policy shall constitute theft.

march 9, 2012

editorials

Editor encourages students to savor high school experience

THE EDITOR’S DESK Danny Gifford Editor-in-Chief

“Franklin Delano Roosevelt, one of our nation’s finest presidents, once stated, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’

FDR obviously never attended high school.”

This was the first sentence of the first piece I ever wrote for The Roar, which appeared in the September 2008 issue. In this opinion piece from the perspective of an incoming freshman, I continued to write, “I’m a guy who likes to have time to hang out, and in middle school, with 10-minute homework assignments and virtually no extracurriculars, I had all the time in the world to do anything and nothing at all.

I need to accept that these days are over, and I’ll have to step it up a notch. Classes will be harder, assignments will be bigger and, from what I hear, math is going to be miserable.”

Writing my final Editor’s Desk has gotten me in a bit of a nostalgic mood, so I’ve spent the past couple hours looking through the pieces I’ve had appear in the paper over the last four years. And in this somewhat self-indulgent reflection, I’ve realized something: four years is a long time.

That bright-eyed freshman, the one who “likes to have time to hang out,” now sits over 1,000 days in the past. My accumula-

tion of experiences over the course of high school has changed me immeasurably; my freshman self and I have little in common — besides a name and a strong aversion to physical activity.

So why, if four years is such a long time, does it feel, as I reflect on my experience, almost like it never happened?

Somehow, I’m left feeling a little empty, like I didn’t savor every moment as much as I could have.

Freshmen, sophomores, juniors — I’m sure that this sounds fairly ludicrous to you. As you work on research papers, sophomore speeches and SAT prep, nothing sounds more appealing than fast-forwarding to the end of the road. Believe me, I can empathize. Two months into high school, I wrote the following in a Roar column: “In my opinion, the whole education system is a good idea that has wandered aimlessly off the right path and gotten itself lost in the woods of tyranny and insensibility. Now it waits in the forest, snatching up unsuspecting children in its talons of early mornings and homework.”

Look, high school is tough. As you can see, I know how easy it is to wallow in self-pity and count the days until it’s over. I know how easy it is to spend every moment looking forward, every second dreaming about the future.

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

Editors-in-Chief Emily Breuer

Danny Gifford

Managing Editors Jessica Bolter

Ari Ebstein

Peter Haskin Ali Meisel

Section Editors Centerfold

Opinions

Joe Joseph James Wu

Julia Gron Peter Szabo

Anqi Gao Ravi Panse

Features

Community

News

Emily Ho Dipal Nagda

Jenny Friedland Kylie Walters

Yoonchan Choi

Sports

Dani Glasgow Victor Moisescu

Emma Loeb Julia Snider

Graphics Managers Ale Diaz Eleanor Richard

Faculty Advisers Brian Baron Ashley Elpern Paul Estin Thomas Murphy

15

Photo Managers Dylan Block Olivia Kennis

Copy Editors Rachel Hurwitz Jenny Morris Charlie Yang

Business Manager RJ Hayes

Web Staff Jack Lovett Derek Mei

Stop. Take a good look around you and, if only for a moment, don’t worry about tomorrow and just appreciate today.

Because I’ve seen a concerning trend spreading around South recently. Clubs have been advertising themselves as ways to boost college résumés. Kids have been taking pride in the fact that they do what they do only because they think it’ll look good on an application.

As my high school tenure comes to a close, I recommend that you all do the opposite. Forget about college, at least until it’s time to apply. Work hard, but do what you love. Four years is a long time, but it’ll be gone in a blur, and if you don’t pursue your passions you’ll always be left wondering what could’ve been.

I can’t stress how lucky I am that I found what I love early on. Roar has been my home since freshman year, and I don’t know how I would have made it through high school without it. Emily, Jess, Pete, Ari and Ali, you’re the best Senior Staff — and more importantly, the best friends — a guy could ask for. Working with you over the past two years has been an incredible experience, and I’ll miss you all immensely next year. But I digress. My point is not that you should all come join Roar (though you should). My point is that you need to find your own Roar, your own home, one that

you love not because of what it will do for your future, but because of what it does for your present.

Because when I look back on high school, I won’t remember my freshman research paper, or my sophomore speech, or my SATs. I’ll remember the six of us sitting around my kitchen table at 2 a.m., trying to figure out how to graphically represent budget cuts using only pencils and a coffee mug (thanks again, Dad).

I concluded my first piece for The Roar by writing, “Today, I will walk through the doors of Newton South, with high hopes but no expectations. I will be nervous, just like everybody else. I will no doubt be intimidated, perhaps even scared. Part of me will want to turn around and walk back home, crawl back in bed, and go to sleep for another few weeks. But the adventurous side of me, the part that is enthralled by the thought of something new and exciting, will make me walk to my first class, sit in my seat, and start my tenure as a high school student.”

Soon, I will walk out of the doors of South for the last time, still with high hopes but no expectations, now not for high school — but for the rest of my life.

This is the last piece I will ever write for The Roar, and I’d like to use it, once again, to say thank you.

Join The Roar!

Monday J block Room 1201

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

Love The Roar?

Hate The Roar?

Have a better idea? email srstaff@thelionsroar.com

By Peter Szabo

S

outh students, pressured by the increasing competition to get into college, often find that they are able to keep up with demands of school and extracurricular activities by cutting corners on their work

LANGUAGES, GRADES, 10 18

START FINISH

As the day

goes on, s tudents h assignmen ave less and less tim e ts and reso rt to cuttin to thouroghly comp g corners. lete

on lia Gr

department head Brian Baron, students have been cutting corners mainly as a result of the pressure to achieve and gain admittance into a prestigious college and because they view some work as somewhat unimportant.

“The pressure [to achieve] is getting more intense … leading to more cutting corners,” Baron said. “We exist in a culture and a context that tell kids that what is important is where they go to school.”

Ogden agreed that the trend of doing enough to scrape by prevails because of the pressure to get into college.

“People care more about getting a good grade because that is actually what counts for college,” he said. “Even though the whole learning process is important and definitely should be emphasized, people care more about grades because it has more effect on their lives.”

According to Baron, the grading system is also partly to blame for why students might skimp on certain homework assignments. “Trying to sum up everything in one letter is a foolhardy mission,” Baron said.

But because grading is a difficult task, students are not the only ones who skimp, according to Baron. “[Grading] is a source of stress for people and stress causes people to cut corners,” he said.

One way for English teachers

ic by Ju

a time when you are stressed the homework,” Kaplan said. whole time.”

According to Kaplan, students Zolit said she believes that are doing a cost-benefit analysis and teachers sometimes do not realize might cut corners. “The students in that their students have demanding my class have to weigh six classes schedules, and that this sometimes against each other … it is necessary r e s u l t s for students in excess to make those home work, decisions for The whole learning some of themselves,” which is he said. “Part process is important ... superfluous. of getting [but] people care more “If you can through life is still do well about grades because it has understanding [without what you can more effect on their lives. completing do just the t h e minimum on - Evan Ogden, Class of 2012 homework] and where you and you need to invest understand a majority of [the material], then I think that a your time.” lot of homework can be tedious,” she Murphy said that students said. “In those occasions, it is really learn this strategy as they get older. just helpful to just not do it.”

“The freshmen are still pretty serious Senior Evan Ogden, however, about their work,” Murphy said. “As said he does not believe that all they start to mature and get involved students need to learn to cut corners, in more and more activities, then it although he said that it is a fairly takes time away from schoolwork.” common practice. “If you try your Although most of Murphey’s hardest and work to your full freshmen complete their homework potential, then you can do well,” he thoroughly and on time, this is said. not the case with his senior AP According to Ogden, U.S. Government class. “It’s hard skimping on assignments is for seniors at this time of year,” detrimental to one’s academic Murphy said. “People have slacked performance. “It’s hard to do well off because they are in college and in a high level course by [cutting they just want to get a passing grade, corners],” Ogden said, “If you really so the college won’t [revoke] their want to get straight A’s, then you are acceptance.” going to have to work to your full According to Murphy, many potential and not just BS your stuff.” of his students put off taking notes Kaplan said that most of his and put less effort into their current students do not cut corners. He events essays. “I am concerned with also said he does not heavily weigh that because I think that taking homework grades. notes has the benefit of making “I try not to assign any you remember and understand the emotional investment or shame information better,” Murphy said. to students not doing their According to English

graph

While history teacher Thomas Murphy said that about three-quarters of the students in his freshman history class complete their homework on time, English teacher Alexander Kaplan said that he can depend on 23 out of 46 seniors doing the same thing.

Some students, especially as they progress from freshmen to seniors, increasingly skimp on the quality of their work in order to survive their many commitments.

Despite hopes of engaging in conversation about the pressure on students, junior Jake Gitlin said skimping on work is unavoidable.

“Cutting corners is an unfortunate necessity at South,” he said. “Unless you are going to Harvard, then you’ve got to cut corners.”

According to Gitlin, students’ heavy workload and multitude of extracurricular activities force them to skimp on their assignments.

“South has so many activities and the homework load for each class is ridiculous,” Gitlin said. “[Students] need more time to wind down; they need to cut corners on some work to get other homework done.”

Junior Charlotte Zolit agreed that cutting corners on assignments is a common practice that is sometimes necessary to make school less stressful while still performing well.

“Some people spend four years in high school being stressed,” she said, “and I don’t think that it is necessarily supposed to be

18

centerfold

When

the

thelionsroar.com/centerfold

BS

hits

the

FAN

Although students may be able to bullshit and get by in high school, they will face harder circumstances in higher education Julia Gron

is taking a kind of another leap,” he said. mary. “I haven’t heard that many teachers “[Online reading supplements are] pretty talk about [the use of] SparkNotes,” she useless for the kind of assignments that said. The general idea, MacArthur said, is [college professors assign].” In addition, enough to get by on quizzes and in class According to senior Adam GoldCarroll said that getting analyses from discussions. stein, bullshitting schoolwork is a skill. indirect sources in Although they “The more you [cut corners on work], the high school could might do well enough better you are at it,” Goldstein said. “The make it more difkid who has been doing it since sixth grade on quizzes, Goldstein We want students to ficult to keep up in a said that students has gotten pretty good at it come eleventh learn ... the process, not college level class. grade.” Goldstein does not, however, credit who regularly cut History corners with sources himself with having such a skill. “I’m not necessarily to make the teacher Kirsten such as SparkNotes good at bullshitting because I’ve always product.

Russell agreed that or CliffNotes may been too scared to practice it,” he said. In cutting corners in not score as well on addition, Goldstein said he refrains from - Kirsten Russell, history teacher high school could skimping on work because it will leave him assessments as those make it more difunprepared for the more rigorous demands who do not. ficult for students to “ They’ll get of higher learning. away with it in that they’ll get a B or a C succeed in higher education. Russell also Even so, Goldstein recognized that average on all the quizzes they do and the said that skimping on the multiple steps of other students frequently use SparkNotes paper they’ll write eventually,” Goldstein said. the research process would put students at and other similar websites to cut corners Although students who use summary a disadvantage for more in depth research on schoolwork. “Kids do that all the time if assignments in later years. “What we want they don’t want to read the books,” he said. sources might not receive poor grades at South, Boston University English professor students to learn is the process, not neces“They just Spark it and hope they can get William Carroll said that cutting corners sarily to make the product, but to know away with it.” on reading is not adequate in college. how to achieve that product,” Russell said.

According to sophomore Sophie “Freshmen encounter a leap into a differ“If they are cheating in one way or another, MacArthur, teachers rarely catch students ent kind of culture in which literary study then they don’t know how to achieve that who have only read the chapter sumSr. Centerfold Editor

Do you feel that you have enough time to complete all homework and extracurricular activities?

product ... they are only cheating themselves.”

Among other things, Russell said that she counts incorrectly citing information from Wikipedia as cheating. Russell also said that it is difficult to detect wrongly attributed information in essays.

According to Goldstein, students often purposely cite sources incorrectly.

“I know kids who get information from Wikipedia and cite is as from Britannica for all of their essays,” Goldstein said.

MacArthur said that using Wikipedia is often tempting to students because it is generally the first link that comes up in Internet searches.

Goldstein said he thinks that it takes practice to use Wikipedia without a teacher noticing.

“If I wanted to learn about software from Wikipedia, I would have trouble ... because I don’t really know physics that well and I can’t distinctively point out what looks unusual and what I should check the source on,” Goldstein said. “You definitely get better at using [Wikipedia] the more you use it.”

Students skimp on work to scrape by GRADES, from 17

57% YES

43%

Is it necessary to thoroughly and thoughtfully complete all homework to get a good grade?

56% YES

44%

Which is more important to you?

you could maybe do three, and if you still need practice, then you to guard against students cutting can keep going.” corners is with reading quizzes, Zolit also said she thinks Baron said. that teachers should give mul“I have mixed feelings about tiple days for assignments in case [the reading quiz],” he said. “I students have other obligations on do think that it takes away from the day the homework is assigned. enjoying the literature ... it leads According to Baron, to a certain kind of reading of lit- teachers should understand why erature that isn’t always perceived students cut corners and should as healthy.” work with them to devise soluBut taking away enjoyment tions. is not the only way for teachers to “We need to talk to kids to check up on students, according understand what the pressures to Zolit. She said teachers can play on them are and to really listen to an active role in helping reduce what they have to say and to try the need for students to cut to adjust our expectations and our corners. “Some homework should workloads accordingly,” he said. be partially optional,” she said.

“It is important that we have an “Instead of having to do 15 math honest and open dialogue about problems on the same thing, then this.”

Join The Roar, get half-zips!

35% Fully learning and understanding class material

65%

Getting a good grade in class

Monday J block Room 1201

march 9, 2012

centerfold

What’s the point?

19

Two students debate the importance of thoroughly completing assignments

Shoot for the 83

School is not about the number

to survive the stress

By Ekin Dedeoglu

By Thomas O’Leary

I’m in three APs. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have much homework.

On occasion, it becomes necessary to, shall we say, BS my way through a homework assignment. Or essay. Or short story.

When I get home I don’t have the time to do a good job on every assignment, so sometimes I have to cut corners.

Sparknotes won’t help much on a reading quiz, but it sure helps with writing an essay on classic literature that you haven’t read or that you did read while slipping in and out of consciousness at 2 a.m. after getting home from practice at 7:45 p.m.

Most of the time, the choice between dotting every “i” and getting seven hours of sleep is mutually exclusive. And unless it’s a project or a paper, that seven hours of sleep wins every time.

My philosophy is that if I kill myself trying to finish every homework assignment, I won’t be able to function during the day, when I’m actually learning.

I place far more value on participating in class discussions and listening to my teachers’ lectures than upon writing assignments and note-taking designed to help me memorize useless facts.

If I spend the school day in a bleary haze from staying up all night to finish my homework, I’ll be worse off than if I make sure I go to bed by 12:30 a.m.

But I still have to do my homework

That’s where the bullshit comes in.

So, sometimes I might end up doing that creative writing assignment about how much I hate creative writing assignments, and then I might do a different one about my burning, passionate hatred for writing fiction a couple of years later.

Sometimes you might be researching a book for an AP Euro simulation and you realize, “Hey, I could probably do a better job faking my way through an essay about this than if I actually read a book in the eight hours I have before class and try to write a paper on two hours of sleep and a Box O’ Joe.” And, most of the time, it’s enough.

So yeah, I sometimes bullshit my way through assignments, but there’s a iaz difference between doD le

by A ing a lazy job and doing hics p a gr a bad one.

Cutting corners is inescapable at South. If you don’t, you’ll burn out before the end of sophomore year.

But you can’t just not do the assignment. You can’t just write a bunch of nonsense words on the page (except for science notes).

You do have to say at least one somewhat intelligent thing and then surround it with vague platitudes about stuff that’s only tangentially related to your topic.

I always do at least one of each type of math problem, or else I’ll fail the quiz.

You have to shoot for that 83.

Bullshitting an assignment isn’t about slacking off on school, it’s about surviving it.

Grades don’t really measure anything of value.

At the high school level, grades measure your ability to complete menial tasks and cram unhealthy amounts of information into your brain for a few weeks, then forget about it to make room for the next unit.

Despite this pattern, grades have become the main focus of most high school students across the country.

The problem stems from many sources.

Teachers, usually following a strict curriculum, are forced to give us grades.

Colleges see grades as one of the easiest ways to evaluate a potential applicant because a grade is just a number and doesn’t involve reading any long essays.

Tack on pressure from parents and even other students, and it’s no wonder that grades have become the central focus of everything related to academics.

It has become obvious that almost everyone involved in the school system, from students to teachers to administrators, has lost sight of what school is really for.

School is for learning. It’s that simple.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to focus on learning when you’re always desperately trying to do that last bit of work to raise your grade a few percentage points, when you’re really doing the work only so that your arbitrarily assigned number will be

the highest one around.

It’s sad, really, because there are so many cool things that we can learn at school, but we’re too distracted by being assessed to pay attention.

The system is screwed up, and there really isn’t much we can do about that.

If you ignore your grades, you might not be able to go to the college you want to go to.

We can, however, be aware that the reason we roll out of bed at 6 a.m. and drag ourselves to a building where we then proceed to sit for six hours, five days a week, for four years can’t just be to end it all with a number to our name.

Maybe if we go through school with the mindset that this place most importantly offers us knowledge, we just might come out the other side having learned something The day I realized grades weren’t all that important was the day I really began to enjoy myself.

Don’t take Honors classes to be in Honors classes, and don’t slave away for hours for two percentage points.

Take the classes you want to take, learn something interesting and, once you graduate, or perhaps even before, go off and do something worthwhile with that knowledge.

Going to Harvard might be nice, but it won’t be worth it if you show up having learned nothing in high school, even if you do have a 4.0 GPA.

The Roar polled 210 students on Feb. 28 to learn their opinions on cutting corners on schoolwork.

How often do you use SparkNotes (or similar resources) instead of reading the actual book for class?

60%

How often do you take information from Wikipedia and cite it as from another source?

How often do you purposely do the absolute minimal amount of work required to receive what you consider a good grade on an assignment?

depends on the class

never

sometimes

always

never

sometimes

always

never (I always read the book)

rarely (I usually read the book)

15%

on some reading assignments

30%

on every reading assignment

percentage

45%

opinions volume 28

issue 7

page

march 9, 2012 •thelionsroar.com/opinions

20

In light of relationship abuse at South, students shouldn’t forgive Chris Brown graphic by Esther Chang and Ravi Panse

Chris Brown should be held responsible for beating and hospitalizing his girlfriend Rihanna, regardless of his talent and status as a singer.

Lindsey Walters Opinions Contributor

In June 2009, Chris Brown pled guilty to charges of felony assault for beating his former girlfriend, pop-singer Rihanna, so violently that she had to be treated at the hospital for multiple contusions.

Last month, he performed at the Grammys.

As if this weren’t shocking enough, the Executive Producer of the Grammys, Ken Ehrlich, recently said, “We’re glad to have him back. I think people deserve a second chance, you know. If you’ll note, he has not been on the Grammys for the past few years, and it may have taken us a while to kind of get over the fact that we were the victim of what happened.”

I assume Ehrlich is referring to the fact that both Brown and Rihanna were scheduled to perform at the Grammys in 2009, but after the assault occurred the night before, neither did.

But he basically said the reason Chris Brown hasn’t performed at the Grammys is not because he put his girlfriend in the hospital, but rather because the Grammys were angry at having to fill what would otherwise have been two vacant spots.

The Grammy Awards were, after all, the victim in this situation.

Although I’m being sarcastic, his comments indicate a lack of acknowledgement of who is guilty and who has been victimized.

Immediately after the assault, the Boston Public Health Commission surveyed 200 Boston teenagers and found that 46% said Rihanna was responsible for what happened.

This is shocking and underscores the serious lack of understanding about domestic violence in our society. It also probably explains why people have been so willing to blindly accept Chris Brown again and to pretend the abuse never happened in the first place.

Rihanna has received an inordinate amount of critical attention since the abuse, first from loyal fans of Brown, and then later from people claiming she shouldn’t have forgiven him and should have been more of a role model for young women.

Both ways, scrutinizing Rihanna’s actions to that extent reinforces the blame-the-victim mentality.

People seem to forget that she went through an incredibly traumatizing experience, none of which was her fault.

Although in an ideal world Rihanna might have become an activist against domestic violence, she has no public obligation to do so.

One thing I’ve learned from working in a center for survivors of domestic violence is that many victims return to their abusers.

Rihanna may still love Chris Brown, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy, and that doesn’t mean his actions should be excused.

Just because Rihanna may have forgiven him doesn’t mean we have to.

The idea that Ken Ehrlich and other corporate executives claim to be victims diminishes the seriousness of the violence that

Let people know that it doesn’t matter how famous someone is; domestic violence is unacceptable.

Next time you feel the need to purchase a Chris Brown song, consider the fact that the singer, according to the case affidavit, “continued to punch [Rihanna] in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left.

The assault caused [her] mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle.”

To turn a blind eye to Chris Brown’s actions tells people that assaulting a woman is not a big deal.

In light of a recent Roar relationships column, in which an anonymous student gave a harrowing account of relationship abuse at South, we need to be even more aware that what happened to Rihanna happens to women all the time, and we need to take a stand.

One in three women around the world will be raped,

While Rihanna may have forgiven Chris Brown, we, as listeners, have a responsibility not to.

Rihanna experienced.

The music industry’s endorsement of Chris Brown blatantly chooses money over women’s lives. This kind of crime is inexcusable.

Regardless of his musical ability, he should be held accountable for his actions.

His success sends the message that what he did is okay, that it’s forgivable to abuse your girlfriend, and that after three years, everything goes back to normal.

I’m not okay with that. If you aren’t either, say something.

Stop buying his music. Stop listening to his music.

Un-like him on Facebook.

(He still has 19 million fans.)

He then, “placed [Rihanna] in a head lock positioning the front of her throat between his bicep and forearm. Brown began applying pressure to [her] left and right carotid arteries causing her to be unable to breathe and she began to lose consciousness.”

I don’t know about you, but I can’t read that and stomach listening to “Run It” now, regardless of how much I once liked it. As consumers, we should consider the message we’re sending when we listen to or purchase Chris Brown’s music.

According to the National Institute of Justice and the CDC, one in four women has experienced domestic violence.

beaten or abused in her lifetime, but apparently Chris Brown should be allowed to “move on with his life,” and regain public favor.

One blogger, Sasha Pasulka, said the success of Chris Brown basically tells women, “We will easily forgive a person who victimizes you.

We are able to look beyond the fact that you were treated as less than human, that a bigger, stronger person decided to resolve a conflict with you through violence. We know it happened, but it’s just not that big of a deal to us.”

So do you really need to buy that song?

march 9, 2011

opinions

THE PURSUIT OF

21

HAPPINESS

Representatives of the Transcendentalist Club suggest ways to avoid the pitfalls of utopian experiments Stephanie Li, Hannah Weller & Emily Wu Opinions Contributors

A grand experiment took place in West Roxbury, Massachusetts from 1841 to 1847. Intellectuals, carpenters, farmers and even shoemakers flocked to the 200acre space to participate and pursue an ideal of just “plain living,” as the Transcendentalists described it. In this attempted utopia, the community provided housing, fuel, wages, clothing, food and education for all members. The utopia, however, would not and could not last very long.

Financial troubles persisted, and in 1847, the great experiment, Brook Farm, came to an end when author Nathaniel Hawthorne sued its founders so that he could recover the money he had invested in the failing project.

Brook Farm is only one of many attempted utopia projects created to achieve an ideal society. Humans have expressed a fascination with utopias for centuries, dating all the way back to the time of Plato, who coined the term “utopia” (ou meaning not, topos meaning a place). These “not-places” arose in many early American communities, such as the Shaker, Oneida, Harmony and Nashoba communities.

Communism attempted to create an

ideal and perfect society as well. Works of literature such as “1984” by George Orwell, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

by Ursula K. Leguin and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins suggest that utopias are impossible to achieve and often result in failures like Brook Farm, the creation of dystopias and even the rise of totalitarianism.

So why do we need utopias? As we, members of the Transcendentalist Club, discussed the hopelessness of ever reaching these perfect, idyllic societies, we arrived at a conclusion: utopias are only guideposts; we are on a never-ending process to improve and progress society. Given the climate and circumstances today, we can only hope.

The tricky part about utopias is that there is no set condition for one. Is a perfect society one where everyone has the opportunity to succeed or one where everyone is equal and the same as everyone else? Each person believes in a different utopia, a different kind of perfect society.

With no consensus, utopia projects and communities can easily crumble over time.

The famed Brook Farm community began with only 15 people and never contained more than 120 people at a time. The group could never sustain and fund a large num-

ber of people with hundreds of voices, each articulating different visions. In the novel “Divergent” by Veronica Roth, the government of Chicago splits into five factions as it attempts to form a utopia. Each faction dedicates itself to a different virtue: candor, abnegation, dauntlessness, erudition and amity, respectively, but chaos quickly takes over as the factions fight over which group is most capable of leading society. While small communities seem to last longer, large-scale utopias in the form of countries like the United States and China stand almost no chance for a long survival.

During one Transcendentalist Club meeting, each member took turns describing what his or her utopia was. The answers were incredibly mixed and varied.

Some believed a perfect society was one where each individual had perfect freedom, while others believed it required perfect justice. Some even described their utopia as life during the olden days, completely surrounded by nature. And one student believed that the closest form of a utopia was Eastern Europe, for “the philosophy behind their happiness is key.

Even though they are an oppressed people, their beliefs and continually positive — yet realistic — outlook on life is what makes the majority of their population happy.”

With such varying views within such a

small group of people, utopias become difficult to sustain and impossible to define.

By the end of the discussion, we had to ask ourselves this question: What can we do with utopias? The Transcendentalist Club proposes a bonatopia as a solution.

A bonatopia is a society that isn’t perfect, but one that is the best as is humanly possible. A bonatopia may include widespread middle class standards with basic living needs met, a semblance of social justice, rewards for work, allowance for change and a resolution to continue to improve society.

A perfect society may be impossible to reach, but a society working to improve is a bonatopia, the best that we can make it.

As Daniel Nettle, author of “Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile,” wrote that “Nothing, not even a utopia, can necessarily make the pursuit of happiness a successful one that ends in capture. The best society can merely allow every individual to flourish in the pursuit.”

At the end of the discussion, we concluded that human happiness is based on a rise in living quality. It is the process of making a community better that is important. Letting all people flourish in the community and providing society with social justice are simply guidelines in continuing our journey toward a happy, just and productive bonatopia.

graphic by David Gorelick

22

thelionsroar.com/opinions

opinions

Senior searches to fill “hole,” looks beyond the truth Ari Ebstein

Managing Editor We are all doughnuts. You, me, everybody — doughnuts.

Consider the hollow tube that winds from your mouth to your anus. There is a cord of emptiness that runs throughout the human body. This is fact. It is as plain as any mid-morning poop: We are built concentrically around a three-dimensional hole.

The takeaway from this fact is not immediately obvious, but with a little math and some extrapolation, I hope to convince you that there is something fundamental here about the human condition. Man is constructed around a void.

The assertion that we are all doughnuts is not my own. It’s a little joke mathematicians use to explain algebraic topology. Algebraic topology is the study of shapes reduced to their simplest components through a process of “continuous deformation.” Essentially, algebraic topology asks: If you stretched out the perimeter of a shape in an infinite number of ways, which characteristics of the shape would always remain true?

For example, consider again the hole from your mouth to your anus. Theoretically, if you compressed the human body around this tube into a kind of three-dimensional ring, could you not deep-fry it, glaze it and reasonably call it a doughnut? (Algebraically, I mean; no cannibalism please.)

This is because from a topological perspective, both human beings and doughnuts are called toruses, shapes that are constructed around an interior curved hole.

Other examples include didgeridoos, coffee mugs (because of their handle), eyeballs, peach rings, etc. Toruses we are; a human being is a doughnut. But is the congruence purely physical? What does man’s likeness to a doughnut imply about his soul?

I think it means that there is an amount of self-knowledge that will always remain beyond our grasp, an inner hole that has no mass. We can shrink the hole with physical science: this neurotransmitter does this, this gene codes for that.

But kind of like the 3-year-old who keeps asking, “why?”, at some point we hit a logical wall. We don’t really know why the brain works the way it does. Why we even have brains. Why we aren’t all frogs. Or doughnuts.

Of course, we are doughnuts. The void is everpresent.

We are making the hole smaller every day. This

is the point of knowledge. And yet, as humanity whittles the hole downward in size, the void itself becomes more fundamental, altogether more terrifying. For instance, take your understanding of this clause. Why is it there?

Well, because you can read and understand English.

Which here is black ink on paper.

But the paper and the ink are actually just molecules made up of atoms, made up of protons and electrons, etc.

All dis-

Newton Problems

graphic by Mika Gross

played in photons, which are really just waves. And yet out of this we form words? And meaning?

How does a question even become a question?Everything is formed from a fundamental hole, which is a homophone for whole.

So what do we do with this hole? We cannot live inside it. We must fill it! Food is the most literal example (consider the tube), but other stuff works, too. Religion used to fill it. So did fascism. Love can fill it as well. Anything that offers a temporary reason for existence, really.

Most often though, the hole isn’t filled with the big nouns but the banal ones: “Grey’s Anatomy,” math homework, “Half-Life 2,” chocolate almonds. The hole creates existential confusion, and so we bide our time with little vectors that have direction, give a purpose to the answerless quest.

We are hungry; we eat. We are bored; we watch something. We are sexually frustrated; we … also watch something. Life consists of these petty needs and their ameliorations. And we do so to avoid the largest need: our quest to find purpose in the world.

Our raison d’être. The truth, as I see it, is that there is no reason.

The infinite regress of whys yields a vacuum of meaning. The hole is a mathematical fact. It is not that we cannot understand the truth at the bottom of our existence, but rather that no such truth exists. And trying to find it won’t help because it was never there. It just is.

To me, stuffing the hole with reasons doesn’t seem to be the answer. Rather, we need to change what we value.

If the Truth to Our Existence is not there, we should not seek it so devoutly, because there is no end in truth. Because we are built around a hole, our quest for truths about the self is futile and can only lead to suffering.

Our hunger for truth is nibbling away at the magic of existence. The more we profess to understand about the brain, the less things there are in life that seem special. A flower becomes a process of olfactory reactions.

Chocolate becomes sucrose and energy. Love becomes hormones. These things may be true, but what is truth?

It’s just a word really, like ink.

I think there is something greater than truth. I’m not sure what yet, but I have some ideas. Beauty isn’t a bad start. Neither is art. What I know is that if we are going to be doughnuts, there’s no reason we can’t shine.

compiled by Sophie Forman

newtonproblems Sophie Forman #youknowitsnewton when the student parking lot has nicer cars than the teacher lot. #newtonproblems 22 Feb

newtonproblems Sophie Forman Didn’t do any of my homework because today was supposed to be a snow day. #newtonproblems 1 Mar

newtonproblems Sophie Forman My parents are making me do a service trip this summer.

“But mom, Africa’s dangerous!” #newtonproblems 24 Feb

newtonproblems Sophie Forman I hate when I want to go out but no one else wants to. I can’t just go to Starbucks by myself! #newtonproblems 2 Mar

newtonproblems Sophie Forman What’s Lent? #newtonproblems 28 Feb

newtonproblems Sophie Forman Our lion mascot costume is worn by a freshman. #newtonproblems 3 Mar

march 9, 2012

opinions opinions

23

Fishing for the perfect !"#$"%&'­ wich.

Jake Abramson & Jonah Reider Food’n’Stuff

photo by Shawheen Rezaei

Curriculum I and AP Chemistry students visited the Broad Institute, where they conducted experiments and talked to researchers.

Broad visit inspires call for more field trips John Deng

Opinions Contributor

“Yeah! Field trip!” These are the words that every student wants to hear.

Unfortunately, we aren’t in elementary school anymore, and it seems that South has placed less of an emphasis on field trips.

Whereas field trips signify days of fun and games for elementary and middle school students, high school trips offer more meaningful learning opportunities.

Many argue that field trips are a waste of time, that they don’t provide educational experiences and that they take away from important classroom time.

In fact, many parents and administrators question the need for field trips at all, citing them as simply another day off of school. I have to disagree, as field trips are an essential part of learning as well as widening a student’s horizons.

For example, I recently attended a field trip to the Broad Institute, a renowned genomic research center in

Cambridge.

In the facility, we worked on a lab in which we identified hemoglobin (the stuff blood is made of!), toured the building and then wrapped everything up with an absolutely delicious lunch while spending time with some of the brilliant researchers that work there.

I had an incredible time there, as it was a great opportunity for highly motivated high school students to work alongside and talk with experts in their fields of study.

For many students, myself included, this visit served as an example of a high school field trip that combines having fun and learning skills that would advance and further strengthen the curriculum currently taught in the classroom.

Classes at South should offer more field trips, as they are important opportunities for students to experience real-life situations pertinent to their interests or to explore a particular academic subject in detail.

No textbook, no matter how de-

tailed, can compete with hands-on experience in a lab or a visit to a local historic site. Sometimes it’s impossible to demonstrate a procedure or illustrate a particular concept in a classroom setting, and that is where field trips come in.

In addition, field trips reinforce what students have already learned in class.

Learning and memorizing material is one thing, but actually applying that knowledge in a real life situation is something that requires a deeper understanding.

At Broad, students gained a deeper insight of the diverse roles and jobs in a research institution. The $100,000 equipment, the technicians and the researchers all provide a look into the professional world and future career options.

Classwork alone cannot offer students a balanced curriculum, as students rarely have the chance to actually apply their knowledge.

South should offer more field trips because not only are they enjoyable, but also educational and essential to a wellrounded high school experience.

Because teachers are humans, they express both positive and negative emotions. Among the negative emotions expressed in the classroom are anger and aggravation, especially in classes that are difficult to manage.

When students become intolerable, a teacher may act in a way that, though reasonable due to frustration, could hurt a student’s feelings and make him or her feel uncomfortable or even harassed.

Unfortunately, most of these occurrences are ignored, and “teacher bullies” are much less addressed than they should be.

In an ideal school environment, a student should feel comfortable confronting the teacher about feeling insulted or uneasy. This ideal, however, almost never plays out.

In fact, the amount of power the teacher holds over the student, as well as the authoritative respect students give teachers, prohibits students from confronting teachers about their hurt feelings.

They can’t do so without the fear that they might insult the teacher in the process, somehow get themselves in trouble or even increase the tension.

This environment is not bad; it is simply something people have to get around to make sure no one is offended or hurt.

It seems only right that dealing with “teacher bullies” should be added to the

anti-bullying presentations at South. The format so far in school assumes the idea that teachers are the safe-haven for bullying.

It is true that teachers mediate student-student bullying; however, school administrators fail to recognize a second dynamic, in which students can be victimized in a teacher-student relationship in addition to the student-student relationship.

While presentations comprehensively address the latter, they do not address the former, leaving students with no formal protocol as to how to react respectfully and safely.

My suggestion is to establish mutual respect. One of my friends and I had a conversation concerning “teacher bullies” and agreed that the teacher-student relationship can function properly only if both the teacher and the student, though at different positions hierarchically, understand that they are in positions of learning that call for respect.

In the end, even the thorough and frequent presentations on anti-bullying leave out some important aspects of our school’s interpersonal dynamics.

We cannot simply assume that every student is comfortable with every teacher; however, addressing that fact in the South anti-bullying program can get us closer to a school where students and teachers interact more harmoniously.

Anti-bullying program fails to address teacher bullies Jack Rabinovitch Opinions Contributor

South does not take the anti-bullying program lightly. Presentations occur approximately every other month and are composed of Powerpoint slides and videos demonstrating how to act in a bullying situation.

To many students, the amount of time spent on anti-bullying may seem excessive, but there are some areas upon which even the thorough presentations do not touch.

The presentations focus on studentstudent bullying but do not mention when a teacher intentionally or unintentionally offends a student. As a result, if a student feels uncomfortable around a teacher or harassed by him or her, the anti-bullying program cannot advise students on the most appropriate way to respond.

In a school system, teachers are placed in a position of power. Reasonably, when this power is challenged, some teachers feel insecure or feel the need to reassert their authority.

If students question educators’ teaching capability, for example, teachers may be inclined to prove themselves, act more authoritatively and regain what respect they feel they may have lost. This aspect of any hierarchy can cause tension between students and teachers, which often ends in unpleasant situations.

Leatherworld kind of smells like fish. So do the fish sandwiches from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s.

Seriously, the Newton Centre establishment is very fishy. The leather is so fresh you can almost hear the cows mooing. Let’s be honest – Leatherworld is really weird. The leather doesn’t always appear to be full grain. Also, they don’t even sell a lot of leather material, mostly just non-leather suitcases and bad bar mitzvah presents. Who is the guy that works there?

Why are their hours so weird?

Back to the fish-based sandwiches, though. We visited three of America’s favorite upscale meeting places and reviewed their competitive line of seafood dishes: McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, Burger King’s BK Big Fish and Wendy’s Fish Filet.

The fish sandwich is a great choice for anyone looking to eat seafood at a fast food restaurant. It offers the comfort of a bun-based item without the mundane regularity of a beef patty. Also, fish has protein and omega-3 fatty acid to ensure that you lose the fatty ass. There’s nothing that makes you look more attractive than having tartar sauce oozing around your upper and lower lips.

All three of these sandwiches consisted of a square white fish patty, tartar sauce and a bun. The subtle variations result in differing signature tastes that we will attempt to inform you about, so that you may make an educated choice next time.

Everyone knows the Filet-O-Fish, a classic staple in every American diet.

With tangy, chunky tartar sauce and glowing American cheese, the Filet-o-Fish is truly a wise choice for fish lovers. The fresh Alaskan cod, reduced into a flaky square, breaded and fried, is some of the finest fish we have tasted in the New England area.

McDonald’s has conquered the bun.

The Filet-o-Fish bun is silky and smooth with a nuanced flavor and undertones of saffron. The bun, texture-wise, is just resilient enough to provide a magical experience.

Unfortunately, Burger King’s fish sandwich did not live up to the high standards set by Micky D’s. The BK Big Fish is a really lame name, for starters. Also, the servers attempted to sway our opinion by noting such features as a “corn dusted bun,” which literally made us vomit onto other patrons (as it was our sixth fish sandwich of the day). We found nail clippings in the tartar sauce, which was a concern, and all in all it tasted like sh*t.

Wendy’s was surprisingly uncreative with their seafood offerings. In fact, the sandwich did not live up to its advertisement, as it did not include a fish patty. We were upset, to say the least, when our fish filet came only as a bun overflowing with mayonnaise. Yuck.

In conclusion, the next time you feel the urge to fill your mouth with fish product, first go to Leatherworld buy a suitcase. Then make your way over to the nearest McDonald’s and fill up your new Leatherless suitcase with some healthy, local, crispy and flavorful Filet-O-Fishes.

24

thelionsroar.com/opinions

opinions

South Stage actors master “Beauty and the Beast”

ARTS

Dana Cohen-Kaplan Arts Review Column

It is again without bias that I loudly praise a South Stage production. I was pleasantly unsurprised when an excellent performance of the musical “Beauty and the Beast” melted my face off a few weeks ago. The long hours these players invested into perfecting this production really showed on stage (if they screwed up, I had no idea!), and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

In my opinion, it topped even Spelling Bee, which is truly saying something.

The characters all matched spot-on with their Disney cartoon counterparts and moved none the worse for it, even with cumbersome attire. Shout outs to Taylor Biedler as Madame de la Grande Bouche, who wore a full wardrobe, and to Charlotte Cohen as Mrs. Potts, who danced gracefully across the stage despite a spherical lower body and a golden boob on her head.

This production’s multi-purpose, student-constructed set also left little to be desired, spanning the entire stage and serving as balcony, ballroom and book room with equal distinction. “Props” to Evan the TechMaster for this impressive structure. South’s masterful pit orchestra, composed of our school’s finest musicians, provided movie-quality accompaniment and should be recognized for its outstanding job keeping time with the actors and choreography, which was no small feat.

Although I enjoyed the performances of all characters, I picked out a few roles I thought were particularly well-cast.

Daniel Bender Stern and Sam Fidler as Lumiere and Cogsworth, respectively, formed a convincing, well balanced duo while the petite Jonathan Kirshenbaum provided comic relief as a likely LeFou along with his idol Gaston, played by a dashing, bearded Sean DiMarco.

Allegra Borak embodied her role superbly as well, playing the ravishing feather-duster Babette. The hard work of the ensemble was obvious in the extravagance and tight, silky smooth execution of the musical number “Be Our Guest,” which was truly dazzling. My eyes literally hurt from the glare on the sparkly silverware.

All kitchen utensils danced beautifully (Peter Harrington, imma letchu finish but Paul Bridi was the most adorable dancing knife of all time), large protrusions on their backs notwithstanding, and Emily Ho wowed the audience with a brief but impressive acrobatic display.

Taking on a lead role as the Beast, Nathan Matzka had me convinced, with detailed makeup, genuine attire and a pleasant voice betraying his feral growl.

He just needs to keep his paws to himself.

Saving best for last, the aptly titled Belle stole the show with the stunning performance she gave despite a sore throat.

Standing out with a voice like a combination between Fergie and Jesus, she put her all into a stellar performance worthy of Broadway. She also wore her extra hair and multiple gowns like a boss. My sole criticism is that the kissing scenes were kind of gross. Seriously, no one wants to see that.

The combined effort, dedication and

Review THE NEW

British INVASION

graphics by Ale Diaz

Clockwise, from top left: Dr. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from the “Sherlock Holmes” films; comedian Russell Brand; Christopher Nolan, director of “Inception” and the Batman films. Below: Harry Potter from the “Harry Potter” films and novels.

Joe Busaba

Opinions Contributor Whenever I watch an awards show — be it the Oscars, the Emmys or even the Grammys — I notice that many of the big winners tend to be British actors, directors and musicians.

The last few years have seen the rise of Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand as two of the world’s most popular comedians and of several blockbuster American action series headlined by British stars like Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Daniel Craig.

Why are many of the best and most highly acclaimed creative men and women in the field of entertainment British? Is American media becoming uninspired and overdone, or are all of the American TV shows and movies based on originally British ideas just respectful emulation?

Some of the most popular American TV shows and movies began, in fact, as British versions that were later adapted for an American audience.

Drawing inspiration from popular British programs is common practice; shows like “The Office,” “American Idol,” “Being Human” and “Shameless” are all examples of American shows based on British predecessors.

Shows like the BBC’s “Merlin” about medieval wizardry in the British countryside could be the source of new shows in the U.S. with whimsical folklore themes.

ABC recently developed a new show, “Once Upon a Time,” that centers around many old fairy tales and legends borrowed from British culture.

HBO recently created a show with a similar premise, “Game of Thrones,” about royal families fighting for status and sovereignty.

While most artists in today’s pop music scene come from the U.S., several successful British artists stand out — particularly Coldplay, Lily Allen, Jessie J and Mumford & Sons.

While artists such as Lily Allen and Jessie J create fairly generic pop music that could easily come from the U.S., Coldplay’s sound is grounded in the Britpop of Radiohead and Oasis.

Mumford & Sons draws heavily from traditional British folk music.

I think many American shows take from preexisting British ones because of the high demand for entertainment in the U.S. While there are many distinctly American shows, the American audience is large and demanding enough that producers here need to look to a source to satisfy this audience. When developing the concept for a new show, directors and writers in this country can look to what

has been popular overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom, to see what will work here.

Sometimes, the most successful directors and masterminds from the United Kingdom bring their business to the U.S. One of the most successful British directors today, Christopher Nolan, has been making movies in the U.S. for some time. Some of his most widely known movies, like “Memento,” “Inception” and the Batman series, have been box office hits. He uses mainly American actors and sets many of his movies in the U.S. Nolan became successful by putting his own distinctive spin on some classical American icons and tropes.It isn’t surprising that British culture can influence the American entertainment scene.

A long-lasting relationship has existed between the two countries historically; culturally speaking, Americans are probably most similar to the British.

British culture is just different enough from American culture; it offers a sense of novelty to Americans, while also appealing to our sensibilities.

On the other hand, The Killers, an extremely popular band from Las Vegas, actually hit the top of the United Kingdom charts before they were ever popular in America. It seems that British audiences share the same desire for foreign entertainment that American audiences do.

Though it may seem that Americans are becoming uncreative, this shift toward British culture actually reflects high demand on our end. We are constantly waiting for new shows and music.

Although it may be concerning that many of the big winners in American awards shows come from across the Atlantic, we, as viewers, are in the best position.

Our access to the best of both cultures ultimately makes for the most entertaining cultural landscape. In our increasingly globalized world, the crossing of a few ideas is bound to happen.

community volume 28

issue 7

march 9, 2012 • thelionsroar.com/community

page

25

Independent bookstore moves to Newton Centre Yoonchan Choi Sr. Community Editor

Christine Kahane walked into Newtonville Books and headed straight for the counter.

“I’m looking for a book for my 14-year-old daughter,” Kahane said. “She just finished the Josh Green books and loved them.

She’s not really into vampires, though.”

“Do you mean John Green?

And yeah, I can think of a few suggestions,” employee Luke Damrosch said from behind the register.

“Come with me,” another employee, Jacqui Teruya, said.

She led Kahane to the back of the store and the two discussed different books until Kahane found the right ones.

Employee Deb Handy said Kahane’s experience is not a unique one for Newtonville Books’ customers.

“You can come in, and if you ask us if we have a particular book, we walk you to the book instead of pointing you to it,” Handy said. “It’s the level of service — if it’s available, we’ll get it in.”

Come April 5, the bookstore will bring its services to Newton Centre. Newtonville Books, located on Walnut St. in Newtonville, will be moving to Langley Rd. Owner Jamie Clarke said that Newtonville Books is moving across town to accommodate patrons who require public transportation.

“A lot of people have told us that they want to come to our events, but if they don’t have a car, they can’t come,” Clarke said. “We wanted to be off the subway so people from all over can come to our events.”

photo by Yoonchan Choi

Jacqui Teruya (right) helps a customer find a book at Newtonville Books, an independently-owned bookstore moving to Newton Centre in April.

Newtonville Books hosts events throughout the year for its patrons.

The store hosts four to six author readings each week, multiple writing workshops and three book clubs: The Celebrity Book Club, The Latino Book Club and the store’s own Newtonville Book Club.

“The bookstore’s main focus is literary programming,” Clarke said. “We feel that’s the value of an independent bookstore to the community.”

Clarke also said that Newtonville Books has hosted between 500 and 700 events since the bookstore opened 13 years ago.

“All of our events are free,

and that’s really its personality,” he said.

Sophomore Alyssa Erspamer said she did not know about the bookstore’s move, but she is interested in going to the events when the store opens in Newton Centre.

“I would definitely be interested, and they will definitely be interesting for a lot of people,” Erspamer said. “If more people know about them, I think [the store] could become really popular.”

After it moves, Newtonville Books will face changes. “We’re going to increase the size of the children’s section, and we’re getting out of the used book business completely,” Handy said.

The Ladies Auxiliary

by Tova Mirvis

When free-spirited Batsheva moves into the close-knit Orthodox community of Memphis, Tennessee, the already precarious relationship between the Ladies Auxiliary and their teenage daughters is shaken to the core ... Mirvis takes us into the fascinating and insular world of the Memphis Orthodox Jews, one ripe with tradition and contradiction. — W.W. Norton

Junior Matt Dahl also said that having a bookstore in Newton Centre would benefit Newton students. “I think it’d be an easy alternative for students to get books for school,” Dahl said.

“Like for English classes, if they were not able to purchase a book in any other way, they can get books in a timely fashion.”

Erspamer agreed that students should take advantage of the new location.

“Since so many libraries and bookstores are closing, it’ll be really convenient to have a bookstore so close, for both high school students and kids who are younger,” Erspamer said. “Plus, I know a lot of people that would want to work at bookstores, in-

Americans in Space

by Mary E. Mitchell

Life is a challenge for 36-year-old Kate Cavanaugh, high school guidance counselor to a motley group of at-risk students. Two years after finding her young husband dead in bed beside her, Kate’s storybook life has vanished, and she and her two children are still reeling ... When a tragedy occurs at the Alan B. Shepard High School, it’s Kate who finds herself in need of counsel and guidance. — Thomas Dunne Books

cluding my sister.”

Handy said that those who do work at Newtonville Books have a unique affinity for books.

“To quote my daughter, books are my life,” Handy said.

“I think the knowledgeability of the staff is very high; we’re all seriously serious readers.”

A shelf at the front of the store displays a new collection of books that the staff picks every month. A written recommendation that staff members write. accompanies each book on the shelf.

“We have very eclectic tastes,” Handy said. “People will come in and say, ‘I need a good book to read,’ and we’ll be able to help you out. It’s very much about the human touch.”

The Tree-Sitter

by Suzanne Matson

Julie Prince is a top college student, destined for conventional success. But then she falls in love with Neil, a radical graduate student, and abandons her privileged East Coast life to tree-sit in the forests of Oregon ... Julie finds herself increasingly moved by the magnificence of the endangered forest and, like Neil, invested in its protection. Eventually pulled into a militant act of sabotage, Julie is forced to reassess her deepest held loyalties and beliefs. — W.W. Norton

26

community

thelionsroar.com/community

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

Setti Warren Mayor

Here in Newton, education is the bedrock of our community. We pride ourselves on having a world-class public education system, one that draws families from across the world.

The future of America depends on our capacity to educate, train and prepare citizens to innovate, create and lead a workforce that will compete in the global marketplace.

In order to be prepared for the 21st-century job market, we must provide a window

photo courtesy of Setti Warren

of opportunity for our students to learn the innovative job skills that will prepare them for the modern world.

My wife, Tassy, who is project director of the Frontiers of Innovation Initiative at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard, and I believe strongly that this starts with a focus on the youngest children and

continues through elementary school, high school and adulthood.

Newton is leading the way in answering the call through its innovation lab at North.

Time magazine wrote in a 1964 issue that Newton and its public schools have been known as “the most creative school system in the U.S. today” ever since 1848.

“Newton never seems to be afraid of a new idea,” Harvard education professor Herold Hunt said. “There ought to be a lot more Newtons all over the United States.”

More than 45 years have passed since that article appeared in Time magazine, but Newton maintains its position as a thriving and creative school system.

Through partnerships with private sector and non-profit institutions, the innovation lab gives students an opportunity to

acquire critical 21st-century skills.

At South, students participate in innovative programs such as the Ligerbots Robotics Team. The Ligerbots program offers students the opportunity not only to learn cutting edge engineering techniques, but also to develop relationships with external parties that will further help prepare them for the workforce.

Through the leadership of highly knowledgable teachers at North and South, the window of opportunity for learning innovative job skills is open to students for years to come.

WINDOW

photo courtesy of Harrison Goldberg

Harrison Goldberg founder of HG Skis

A window can be used to see into an oven, out of a car or through a wall.

There are many other uses, but windows are almost always used to see what is really happening.

From daily decisions all the way to the world’s greatest innovations, the best conclusions are always drawn from great observations.

The Wright brothers observed the way birds were able to coast through the air, and this concept of avian lift inspired the design of the Wright Flyer.

The craft would make the world’s first flight in 1903.

Sixty-six years later, Americans applying these same observations would view the Earth in its entirety through the window of a spacecraft and then put a man on the moon for the first time.

Observation is the most powerful tool we posses. Every action a person makes is the result of one’s perception of his or her surroundings.

Since humans tend to rely so heavily on vision, it is no wonder that most of the everyday things we use tend to have these glass-filled frames.

A window makes me think of all the things I have seen and how they have inspired the best things I have done.

The window has been used to make some of the most profound observations in history.

These same glass sheets, however, often keep ideas inside.

The greatest innovators made their observations, broke the glass and brought about the greatest changes the world has ever seen.

photo courtesy of Neelam Ravel

Neelam Ravel

Montessori School faculty During my 20 years as a Newton Montessori School teacher, each young child in my class has been a window to the world. Maria Montessori once said, “I don’t need to teach anything to children; it is they who, placed in a favorable environment, teach me.”

Children are honest — brutally honest, hilariously honest and even inspirationally honest.

If they are proud of something, they tell us. If they are confused or hurting, they tell us. If they know they made a mistake, they own up to it, apologize and move on.

Our kids can play, fight, apologize and continue playing together all in one day because they can trust that their friends will tell them when they are upset and when they are ready to forgive.

Children thoroughly enjoy the process of learning and doing things. Unlike adults, who are often only concerned with the outcome of their efforts, children can gain satisfaction from an activity, even if it is not successful.

There is no doubt we can learn as much from our mistakes as we can from our successes. Seeing the world through the windows of our children teaches us so much: to be kind and forgiving, open-minded and curious, and enamored with each element of our daily routines.

VOICE

Next Month’s Word:

march 9, 2012

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

EASY:

1

7

8 4

9

3

1

9 2

9

7

5

4

2

3

2

4

3 4 7

8

7

9

2

3 1

8

CHALLENGING: 3

1 4

4

7

3 8

6 8

3 5

6

2 4

8

8

5 2

7

1

Z D D R C K S L T H B J H L

S N H X E E J O T R T D Y U

Z U E F S P B N P E R Z X Y

R O L E G L P S G E T F Q G

1

5

6

Word Search O S X Y E T Y D E T Q Q S O

1

9

8

D M E V E N Z O T M A P H R

B R A R C X E A T U G T W J

D U O Q Q P L V T S E J R U

O N T Z G D N G Z K B L A K

E I M T N J Y R L E U O K L

5

4

3

C U W H O R J K G E H S W S

W O F S G R F Y E E T N X F

N B P I O T A I G R L I Y T

DOWN:

8

Willy Wonka would be pretty upset with Michelle Obama’s campaign to put healthier food in schools. Our big, friendly giant of a First Lady can take our twinkies, but she’ll never take our candy.

Q C H A E H V S G T I W G O

6

By Danny Gifford

1. Julia and William Tecumseh.

2. John ‘n’ Joan.

9 10 3. Actor Torn, or the archetypal epitaph.

11 12 4. @.

14 16 15 13 5. Jane Goodall’s BFFL. 6. A cry for help, popu17 larized by Rihanna.

8. One caused Lupe 18 19 Fiasco to fall asleep beneath the flowers.

20 22 21 12. American alpine ski 23 24 champion Lindsey.

14. Nutrisystem and 18. Walked in the door. Weightwatchers, or forACROSS: 20. Card game in which mal deliberative assem1. Scooby-Doo’s blies in the Holy Roman players attempt to nephew. make groups of similar Empire.

7. French for eight.

15. 5’9” Warriors guard shapes, colors or pat9. Ability to receive and former dunk coninformation by mind- terns.

22.Frank A.’s surname; test winner Robinson. reading (abbrev.).

16. One of two houses 10. Turkish currency Sandra O’Connor’s middle name. of the United Kingdom’s (plural).

Parliament.

11. Egyptian sun god. 21. What Peter Pan is 19. Colored substance, 13. The Golden Arch- impervious to.

23.

Utilize, for the less or Jermaine. es. pretentious.

21. A failing, 27 mem17. “Twenty ques24.

Edward Cullen’s ber economic and tions” iPhone app, apadoptive mother. political union. pears to be endowed with 9 down.

6 2

2

7

9

5

5

1

1

7

4

ROSSWORD

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

27

O T N F T A X Z N S K C Z W

H G D H L R G I Z G V K F N

U A A S P Z E R W L E E T Y

L J K I P C X W A T E R T H

C A N D Y B U T T O N S R H

G B O E M X X Y P A P K I B

B U U W V I K M O Z K F F X

A K T S R U B R A T S D K P

S K Y B A R O R A M D E W U

I S W O L O R F D V E M H S

1) Butterfinger 2) Candy Buttons 3) Gobstopper 4) Mounds 5) Now and Later 6) Razzles 7) Reese’s 8) Rolo 9) Skybar 10) Snickers 11) Starburst 12) Swedish Fish 13) Three Musketeers 14) Toblerone 15) Twix

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month:

C X P T X A R V E I L K Z X Betancourt’s signing bonus with The Roar included $100 to Gap Kids.

sports volume 28

march 9, 2012

•

issue 7

thelionsroar.com/sports

page

28

Senior Sam Russell will repeat his senior year at a prep school to play football and raise his chances of playing in college

Darren Trementozzi Sports Reporter

This past fall, most seniors sent out their college applications. Senior and football captain Sam Russell sent out applications as well — to prep schools. To increase opportunities of playing football at the college level, Russell is repeating senior year at prep school. “An extra year not only gives me [football] experience, but allows me to train and get stronger, bigger and faster,” Russell said.

Russell also said that an extra year at prep school not only will contribute to his football playing but also will increase academic opportunities in college. “Having another year to improve my test scores and bump up my GPA will help me get into a better college,” he said.

Senior and captain Michael Forman said he is not surprised by Russell’s decision to spend an extra year at prep school. “He loves the sport so much. He really wants to play in college,” Forman said. “He’s a competitor. He wants to be the best.”

According to senior and captain Aaron Weinstein, though, Russell is prepared in both mind and body to take his football game to the next level.

“Physically, he’s grown like six inches in the past two years, but I think he’s always had the mental capacity and the mindset, and I don’t think that’s anything new,” he said.

Russell’s older brother, ‘09 graduate Derek, who plays football for Yale, said Russell has always had the intangible qualities of a good football player. “When he got on the field, you could always just tell that it was what he was meant to do,” Derek said. “You could just tell by the way he loved it.”

Weinstein agreed that Russell’s commitment to football is impressive. “He was probably one of the most dedicated players in the program,” Weinstein said. “If football were half as important to me as it is for him, then

photos courtesy of Sam Russell

I would repeat my senior year.”

Russell said that he had considered transferring to prep school last year to repeat junior year, which would allow himself two years of prep schools, but decided to stay at South. “I decided to stay at Newton South because I

school can be helpful for many athletes. “A lot of kids aren’t ready for college, [so] prep school is a great way for them to mature before college,” he said. “College is a whole different world from high school. I think that a lot of kids, especially in athletics, would benefit from a year of prep school.”

Athletic director Scott Perrin said that many top college recruits take one or two extra years of high school to help them prepare for the college game. “There are a lot of benefits of going to prep school. You can get better athletically. You can get better academically. You can grow up for a year two. A lot of times, kids aren’t ready to go to college right away,” Perrin said. “For a kid like Sam, who hopes to play [in college], it’s a great opportunity for him, and we wish him the best of luck.”

Russell said that college football players play at a much higher level than high school athletes do. “The schools are designed for post-graduates, especially in football,” he said.

Perrin said that because college athletes play at this high level, an extra year helps mainly with developing maturity. “To [say] that prep school is great for kids to get that extra year to be noticed by colleges, that’s not what it’s about,” he said.

“Athletes should not expect an extra year of high school to dramatically change opportunities to attract college attention. You might have certain colleges that say: ‘Look, go to prep school, then I’ll give you another chance,’” Perrin said. “If wanted to finish my senior year, but also because I had re- you’re going to wait until your fifth year to wait if you get ally good relationships with all the players and the coaches noticed, it’s not going to happen. You would have been on the team,” he said. noticed already.”

Football coach Ted Dalicandro said an extra year Forman said he is confident that an extra year of of high school football would be especially helpful for prep school will be beneficial for Russell, though. “I don’t Russell. “Sam is what I call a late bloomer in terms of see it hurting him or making him go down one bit,” he his ability physically,” Dalicandro said. “I think he’s just said. “Sam is a very smart kid, and going to prep school beginning to realize his potential.” will only make him smarter, but on top of that, his athletic Dalicandro said, however, that an extra year at prep ability is going to get even better.”

march 9, 2012

sports

Unsuspected injuries hurt runners

photo by Jordan Cohen-Kaplan

Senior Daniel Cutright is one of several runners who have suffered from stress fractures.

Jack McElduff Sports Reporter

Sophomore and indoor track runner Alexander Mei ran through a month of pain, pain that he tried to brush off, but that persisted and worsened. He said he never suspected that his discomfort indicated a serious problem. “I’m not sure how [I was injured] exactly because I was surprised I was actually injured,” Mei said.

Although he was unaware of it, Mei had been feeling the pain of a stress fracture. Stress fractures are especially prevalent in track and field athletes, according to Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit medical research program. According to several track athletes, stress fractures can wreak havoc on unsuspecting athletes’ seasons.

Sophomore Ethan Wehrwein, a runner who suffered from a stress fracture last year, said that stress fractures are known among the track community as serious injuries. “Everyone who runs at all knows it’s like you’re automatically done [for the season],” he said. “With other injuries, there can be gray areas.”

He said that other injuries can be harmful to runners, but that stress fractures almost always take precedence.

“There’s other serious injuries,” Wehrwein said, “but if you’re just like, ‘Oh, my foot hurts. I’m not going to run today,’ or, ‘Oh, I’m feeling sick. I’m not going to run to-

day,’ it’s not the same as, ‘Oh, when I got an X-ray of my shin there’s a little black “Y” six inches long.”

Stress fractures are tiny breaks in the bone caused by repetitive stress, often from activities such as running. They usually occur in the shins and ankles, and, depending on their severity, can take two or more months of rest to fully heal.

Even though stress fractures are really hard to see, they’re still painful and pretty serious.

- Emily Chen, Class of 2014 Sophomore Emily Chen, who suffered from a stress fracture last spring, said they should not be treated lightly. “Even though stress fractures are really hard to see, they’re still painful and pretty serious,” she said.

Because stress fractures often do not feel as serious as they are, Wehrwein said that he, like Mei, tried to ignore the pain he felt last year. “Last year, I ran through a stress fracture for two weeks,” he said. “I thought it was just shin splints, so I took a lot of Advil, but it wasn’t getting better.”

Once an athlete has had one stress fracture, she or he is increasingly susceptible to a repeat injury; according to studies by WebMD.com, 60 percent of people who suffer from a stress fracture have had one in the past. Girls track coach Steve McChesney said that because it is difficult, in this way, to ever completely recover from a stress fracture, the team does what it can to avoid them. “The number one [preventative] measure is trying to get your kids to communicate,” McChesney said.

He said, however, that physical work should supplement communication in order to reduce risk.

“One of the best ways to avoid overusage is building a stronger body, so we spend a lot of time in the weight room,” McChesney said. “That is to build connective tissue and build muscular strength so your risk of injuries is less.”

Sometimes, he said, he resorts to more direct strategies in order to preserve the team. “I rather have kids working at 100 percent than limping through 70 percent,” he said. “If you take three days off and ice, you can prevent a large percentage of what can become a stress fracture.”

Even with all the effort taken to prevent stress fractures, sophomore Jason Chari said that they can be inevitable. “As workouts get harder and runs get longer during a given running season, the chance of injury shoots up, and that’s probably why so many people get injuries, including stress fractures,” Chari said.

Injuries are not results only of outside conditions, however; McChesney said that inherent traits can also increase the probability of injury. “There are people whose structural set up combination of bone density and muscle balances just makes stress fractures a lot more likely,” he said.

Chen said that personal experience has familiarized her with this greater likelihood of injury. “I was doing a lot of running every day for track, and I have flat feet, which makes my body less able to handle the impact from all that running,” Chen said.

Even though, according to Chari, injured athletes can lose their spots on the team depending on whether other athletes are available to take their places, Chen said that the team atmosphere was nothing but supportive when she was out for eight months because of her stress fracture.

“The team is great about it because they support everybody who’s on the team regardless of whether you’re racing or not,” she said, “as long as you’re there to support the team and willing to just be a part of the team.”

And Chen said she was just that while she was unable to race because of her injury. “When you get to race it’s great because you get to focus on improving yourself,” she said, “but when you can’t race you have to support the team in other ways. You get to do it by encouraging teammates and cheering them on.”

She said that even though stress fractures can devastate athletes and their teams, she has been able to learn from her unpredictable, and often unnoticeable, injury.

“At first, I thought it was really awful that I couldn’t race,” Chen said, “but it eventually taught me that you have to listen to your body.”

29

March Madness reigns supreme over all playoffs Michael Duggan Senior Column

March Madness. Holy !@#$. Right now, we college basketball fans gear up for what will hopefully be another unforgettable tournament in the terribly muddy month of March. One cannot help but realize the greatness of this 64-, excuse me, 68-team tournament. As NBA and NHL playoffs are, alas, further in the future than we think, March Madness helps college sports fans fly through this otherwise long and miserable month.

The unprecedented excellence of this tournament stands far above that of any other sport’s playoffs. Why college football still hasn’t changed its system of bowl games — with absolutely ridiculous names like the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl or the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl — into, perhaps, a 32-team tournament never ceases to amaze me.

No best-out-of-seven series, where even the first round lasts three weeks, like in the NBA and NHL. No first round byes like in the NFL. No two-game series where the team who scores more goals advances to the next round like in the MLS. See, college basketball is efficient and intense. Each round is one game. You win; you move on. You lose; you go home. Underdogs and upsets go hand-in-hand, and each year has its Cinderella story. Rankings don’t mean a thing.

Once on the hardwood, the game is 50-50. Four times the fifteenth seed has upset the number two. Hell, even the Ivy League has a shot. In fact, two years ago, Cornell, a 12 seed, reached the Sweet 16 before falling to number-one-ranked Kentucky.

College basketball, unlike college football, doesn’t rely on polls and computer selections to determine who plays in the championship. Rather, each team advances toward the championship in the right way — winning.

Best of all, these players don’t receive a cent (except for the 1991 Fab Five). They leave it all out on the floor. They play for school pride. Players show their true colors in emotional wins and devastating losses.

Teams meet and rivalries are formed.

When basketball isn’t being played, cameras show thousands of students who have traveled to far-away neutral arenas to cheer their team on and chant fight songs with their loud and obnoxious bands. Cheerleaders on the baseline dance up and down every time their team makes a basket.

Coaches match their button-downs and ties to their school colors and always find something to argue about with one of the zebras.

So, sports fans, don’t dread the upcoming month. Instead, prepare yourself for the most exciting tournament in the whole wide world.

There will be upsets. There will be buzzer-beaters. Better yet, there will be 67 games in 21 days. Now that’s what I call madness.

I can’t believe this is my last column… Thanks to Kathe Langberg for suggesting I write for The Roar back in eighth grade. “I’m liable to go Michael, take your pick/Jackson, Tyson, Jordan, Game 6.”

30

thelionsroar.com/sports

sports

Tennis coach explains changes, consistencies

English teacher Robert Jampol has coached tennis at South for 30 years. He was the boys JV coach for eight years and became the girls head coach in 1991. The Roar interviewed him to find out about his experience as the longest tenured coach at South.

The Lion’s Roar: Was there any particular reason you switched from coaching boys to girls?

Robert Jampol: Well, I was JV coach for the boys and waiting for an opportunity. Sadly, it came along when my predecessor, a good friend of mine named Bob Hoffman, passed away in an accident over the summer of 1990. That fall, Bob Chrusz, the athletic director, offered me the girls varsity position, which I accepted.

LR: What have been the most prominent changes since you started coaching tennis at South?

RJ: At first, I had to adjust to coaching girls who have a different consciousness. A coach has to have a different way of speaking with them and running the team. Girls and boys are equally competitive; they just come at it in a slightly different way.Tennis has changed; it’s more a of a baseline game. With the new rackets and the new techniques, players hit the ball harder than they ever have, but I still try to encourage the girls to use the whole court. To lob, drop-shot, hit overheads and just play a dynamic game. That has always been my philosophy: don’t be a one-trick pony.

LR: Has your coaching style changed since you started coaching the girls?

RJ: I’m still a pretty demanding coach, but everything I do these days, from teaching to coaching, I’m a kinder, gentler Mr. Jampol.

LR: Do you think the level of competition among the players has changed?

RJ: It fluctuates. My girls are just as serious as they ever have been. I have good quality players, serious girls. That’s about the same, it just depends on the year.

LR: Do the girls practice more outside the tennis season than in the past?

RJ: More girls play all year round than when I started. At that time I would have maybe two or three, and now I’ll have eight or nine or 10 girls who play all year round in some form — not all of them that seriously, but at the very least taking clinics and occasional lessons.

LR: Have you ever considered not coming back to coach?

RJ: The end is approaching. I don’t know exactly when; all things have their time, but I still enjoy it a lot. It certainly complements what I do in the classroom, gives me something to look forward to every day and gives me a chance to work with kids in a different context.

LR: What elements have stayed the same about coaching tennis every year?

RJ: At the beginning of the season, we all wonder who will be the singles players, who will be the doubles players, which combinations of kids will play together, what will the competition be like — those kinds of things are constant. We also share the desire for the team to form a family — when things go right it happens. The girls are really good at bonding and trying to make an occasion out of spending all this time together, which I appreciate. I have learned a lot from them in that regard.

LR: Are there any seasons that stand out?

RJ: We’ve been close on several occasions to having the right players to go all the way and win the state title, but for one reason or another, usually injury, we never quite pulled it off. But sometimes I have more fun with weaker teams that overachieve. I remember one year in which we made the state tournament, and I didn’t think we would win three matches.

You never can tell. Some players and captains really make a permanent impres-

photo by Dylan Block

English teacher Robert Jampol said he appreciates that his tennis teams have taught him to cherish the time that they spend together and create a strong community bond. sion on you while other players enjoy their time on the team and move on.A very special experience was raising the funds to repair the courts. That was almost a year-long effort, and I had never done something like that before. It involved everything from fundraising, to meeting with the mayor, to attending alderman committee meetings. I felt a lot of satisfaction

because the courts were almost unplayable when we started, and now they’re safe, at least for a few more years. And we did it all in honor of Linda Zuker, my former assistant coach who passed away in an untimely way, so that gives me a lot of pride, as does the Garden City Cup, our exhibition match every year against North, which is also in Linda’s honor.

Athletes underestimate effects of drug usage Emily Breuer & Victor Moisescu Editor-in-Chief, Sports Editor

Before senior Alexa* went to her meet, she smoked marijuana to make herself feel different while competing.

“It gives me another take on my event, and I get a chance to see the sport in a different way,” she said. Instead of the marijuana having a negative effect on her performance in the meet, Alexa beat her personal record.

In fact, Alexa said she was sure it would not do any harm to smoke before the meet. “I knew it wasn’t going to affect my performance,” she said.

Alexa is not the only student who has competed under the influence of drugs. Senior Jeremy* was hungover the morning of a recent meet. He, too, beat his personal record in his sport. “I drank because it’s fun, and I didn’t feel it affected my athletics that much,” Jeremy said.

dents] realize the effects it has a couple hours after, but they don’t realize it carries over from 48 to 72 hours.”

Even though Kramer and Quern said the drugs have detrimental effects on players’ performances, both Alexa and Jeremy said they are concerned only with some of the effects. “Being drunk affects your body, and you’re a lot weaker when you’re drunk,” Alexa said. Alexa said, however, that she did not think being high made a difference, but rather the athletic preparation did. “It’s mostly the training that matters, not the state of mind,” she said.

In contrast to Alexa’s concerns, Jeremy said he perceives smoking to be a bigger problem than drinking.

“I feel like [smoking] affects me a lot more than drinking does because it’s bad for the lungs,” he said.

Because of the discrepancy in knowledge about how harmful it is for students to partake in sports while using drugs, Quern said it is important to educate students.

It’s mostly the training that matters, not the state of mind.

- Alexa, Class of 2012

Although both Alexa and Jeremy had positive experiences after using drugs, smoking or drinking prior to participating in athletics can cause harmful effects, according to nurse Gail Kramer. “You can’t function to your top capacity,” she said. “You’re not as focused.”

Athletic trainer P.J. Quern agreed and said that students often do not realize the lingering affects those drugs have on their bodies. “For both alcohol use and marijuana use, it slows the reaction time significantly,” he said. “[Stu-

“This age group specifically needs to be aware of the negative influences on their body,” he said.

Sophomore and soccer player Lucy Holmes said, however, that she does not think additional information will change students’ mindsets. “I’d like to say that it would, but not really,” she said. “People are stupid and are going to do it regardless.”

According to Jeremy, though people are aware of the harmful effects of consuming drugs while playing a sport,

more education would be beneficial. “I think everyone knows the effects, but giving them more information will make them care even more,” he said.

Not only does drinking and smoking affect one’s performance at a sport, but consuming illegal substances while playing a school sport is also a violation of the MIAA Chemical Health Rule. Students must sign a contract stating that they will not partake in these activities during the season.Sophomore Susie Frechter said she thought that not only would drinking before a soccer game “totally” affect players’ coordination, but it would also violate the code and betray the team. “You know what the expectations are, and if you don’t fulfill your expectations, you let your team down,” she said.

Although he is aware of the negative consequences, Jeremy continues to drink and smoke on the weekends. “It helps me loosen up and be more focused for practice the next week if I can have fun on the weekend,” he said.

According to Alexa, students don’t notice drugs’ harmful effects. “I don’t think that kids see that much of a correlation between being high and a negative impact on athletic ability,” she said. Instead, she said that using marijuana before a competition can positively change one’s mindset. “[You can compete] for fun instead of to exceed, and you don’t psych yourself out,” she said.

Even if these substances make athletes feel better in the short run, Quern said they will have a lasting effect. “It might calm them down,” he said, “but … it can become a mental addiction.” *Names have been changed to protect students’ identities.

march 9, 2012

sports

31

Girls Track

Softball

Boys Lacrosse

Girls Tennis

Last Year: 5-3

Last Year: 9-11

Last Year: 2-18

Last Year: unknown

Captains: Anna Laurence, Hannah Friedman, Mary Testa & Nicole Kestenberg

Captains: Andrea Epstein, Isabel Carter, Janelle Tartaro & Maya Alper

Captains: Jon Katz, Josh Kasten, Matt Roberts & Zach Pawa

Captains: Katie Freer, Lauren Bamel & Marisa Shocket

Coach: Michael Fleming

Coach: Steve McChesney

Coach: David Macallum

Coach: Bob Jampol

Quote: “We’re a team that has a lot of potential to be successful not only this season but in the future too, so the goal this season will be to prepare kids not only to achieve their goals this season but also in the long run.”

—Anna Laurence

Quote: “We are very excited about our prospects this season. We had a great graduating class last year who will be missed, but we are very optimistic about the young players coming up.”

— Maya Alper

Quote: “This season we have a lot of talent and a group of kids who want to win.

The goals for the team are to work as a cohesive unit and be successful.”

— Zach Pawa

Quote: “This year we’re rebuilding our JV team, and we have a lot of good upperclassmen competing for the varsity positions, so hopefully we’ll push each other to improve throughout the season.”

— Katie Freer

Sarah Sugarman

Jesse Feldstein

Michael Duggan

photos by Dylan Block and Olivia Kennis

Boys Track

Girls Lacrosse

Volleyball

Boys Tennis

Baseball

Last Year: 7-1

Last Year: 8-12

Last Year: 18-5

Last Year: 16-2

Last Year: 12-8

Captains: Dan Cutright, Youssef Elkorchi, Andrew O’Hagan & David Wortham

Captains: Michaela O’Flaherty, Siobhan O’Flaherty & Sarah Sugarman

Captains: Jordan Lee, Michael Duggan & Peter Haskin

Captains: Jonah Schwartz & TBD

Captains: Eric Davis, John Jennings & Jesse Feldstein

Coach: Ted Norton

Coach: Jessica Dolliver

Coach: Todd Elwell

Coach: Patrick McFarland

Coach: Ron Jordan

Quote: “We have a lot of guys returning for outdoor [track] that didn’t do indoor [track] and I beleive that will make us a much stronger team.”

—Youssef Elkorchi

Quote: “The women’s lacrosse program is going through a lot of changes, but I believe that these changes are going to push all of us to work really hard and have a great season.”

— Sarah Sugarman

Quote: “Last year we felt like we came up short, so this year our goal is to win sectionals like we did two and three years ago.”

—Michael Duggan

Quote: “This is a big rebuilding year, but we have a very deep team, considering we lost five or six seniors.”

— Jonah Schwartz

Quote: “The baseball team will be like Coca-Cola: Good.”

— Jesse Feldstein

march 9, 2012

ads

32