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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Boston, MA Permit No. 54523
Volume 31, Issue 7 140 Brandeis Road Newton Centre, MA 02459
Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper · Newton, MA · Established 1984 · April 17, 2015
300 teachers protest budget
Junior Mary* saw the chapstick sitting on the shelf. With a quick glance around, she grabbed it and slipped it up her sleeve. No one saw her. She walked slowly down the aisles, casually peering at the other products without any intention of buying them. With a last look around, she walked out of the store, a buzz of exhilaration tingling down her arm.
Nathaniel Bolter & Veronica Podolny Editors-in-Chief
TAKING IT photo illustration by Sophia Fisher
By Emily Belt Students shoplift less from necessity and more for the thrill of breaking the law with no repercussions
“I kind of just put it up my sleeve, but then after I would walk around some more and would ask the shop people some questions so that I [wouldn’t] look suspicious,” Mary said. “I’d maybe ask for a sample from the shop people so it would at least look like I’m doing something at the store, and then I’d walk out.” Mary, like some South students, is part of a contingent of teenagers that, every so often, shoplifts — for fun. While these students justified their actions by downplaying the impact they have on large chain stores and the consequences of getting caught, others said they see real dangers for both shoplifters and the stores from which they steal. According to a sales associate at Coach in the Chestnut Hill Mall, who asked to remain anonymous, teenagers are archetypical shoplifters. “When teenagers shoplift at Coach it’s usually out of exhilaration or [because] their parents wouldn’t buy them a new pair of earrings or something, so they’ll steal it for themselves,” she said.
In a unanimous vote Monday, the School Committee approved the superintendent’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) budget over objections from the Newton Teachers Association (NTA), which staged a march of approximately 300 teachers to protest the vote. The budget has gotten swept up in the dispute over ongoing contract negotiations between the NTA and the School Committee, with the NTA arguing that the money allotted for teacher salaries and benefits in the budget would hamstring their ability to negotiate a higher wage increase. Teachers from schools across the district marched down Walnut Street from North to the Education Center, the site of the School Committee meeting, on April 13. Many carried blue and white picket signs with the message “We support Newton educators,” and almost all wore the hallmark yellow T-shirts bearing what has become their mantra over the course of the past year — “Excellent Schools = Competitive Wages.” “One of the things we don’t want to do is anything that is going to affect student learning or our interactions with students,” physics teacher Alexander Kraus, who attended the march, said. “This is a way that we can make a public show of solidarity without going to more severe job actions like workto-rule, which by no means are we remotely considering in any way, shape or form.” The teachers chatted excitedly as they walked, cheering at passing cars that honked in support. Some teachers brought their children, who rode in strollers or sat on parents’ shoulders; others were accompanied by their dogs, one of which was garbed in a yellow union T-shirt. Just before arriving at the Education Center, the teachers gathered at each corner of the intersection of Walnut and Watertown Streets, while NTA Vice President Jane Roderick led them in a call-and-response cheer of “Competitive wages, excellent schools!” and police attempted to keep traffic flowing. PROTEST, 4
SHOPLIFTING, 17
photo by Nathaniel Bolter
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
continental shift
The freshman history curriculum has largely ignored Africa and Meso America.
3
FAKING IT
A growing number of students turn to fake IDs as a means for getting alcohol.
12
DEFENDING CHAMPS
The boys volleyball team looks to repeat its success and return to state tournament.
20
NEWS 2 EDITORIALS 6 OPINIONS 9 CENTERFOLD 12 FEATURES 15 fun page 19 SPORTS 20