The Lion's Roar 31-7

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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

NEWS page 2|April 17, 2015|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

NEWS@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 31, ISSUE 7

SOUTH

SPOTS

Weighed down Weighed

information on school events compiled by Roar editors

Spring Celebration

The event will take place on April 30 at 11 a.m. in the student center

The Jazz Combo, Jazz Ensemble, Improv 2 and Improv 3 groups will perform in the celebratory concert

Directing Festival

South Stage’s student directing festival will take place from April 30 to May 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Students will perform one play and one musical, each written and directed by their peers

Sports Awards Night

Coaches will present awards to their athletes on May 26 at 7 p.m.

This event is for all athletes participating in lacrosse, baseball, softball, tennis, track and field or boys volleyball

‘Macbeth’

In the annual joint North-South production, students from both schools will perform “Macbeth” from May 28 to 30 at 7:30 p.m in the courtyard

The production is directed by Jeff Knoedler and Paige Perkinson

photo illustration by Alexa Rhynd

Following proposals to eliminate weighted GPAs and limit honors classes, South seeks to reduce stress while recognizing achievement Ange Lu and Sophie Lu News Editors

In a recent meeting, the Faculty Council and South Senate jointly proposed eliminating weighted GPAs and limiting the number of honors classes students are allowed to take in an attempt to reduce the stress that rigorous courses place on students. Although rejected by the Senate, the proposal to has initiated a schoolwide conversation on how to reduce stress while recognizing achievement.

Faculty Council head and English teacher Alan Reinstein said that many students take honors classes out of a desire to improve college applications, rather than out of real interest.

“That increases the homework load they have, and it might be a subject they’re not really passionate about. It increases the level of stress that students feel [and] — the anxiety they have coming to school,” he said. “It also creates tension [for] the students who aren’t properly placed. …

No students should feel dumb if they’re working as hard as they can.”

South parent Amy Segal agreed that students should not feel pressured to try to earn a perfect weighted GPA by overloading on honors classes.

“The expectation [of a 5.0 GPA is] unrealistic and perhaps not even really desirable [if] you don’t take certain classes just because you can’t get a five. That’s a bad incentive,” Segal said. “I think that educating the kids about why that is not necessarily your goal is probably more useful than simply getting rid of the system.”

Senior Anton Malin agreed that the problem of stress is too ingrained to be addressed by any aesthetic change.

“I think the grading system in itself isn’t exactly a problem. I definitely agree that the landscape of our school and our

culture has a potential of creating a stressful environment. Maybe some people will feel pressure to take as many honors classes because they see other people doing it,” he said.

In accordance with this view, the Senate voted against the proposed elimination of the weighted GPA. The Faculty Council first introduced the idea with the purpose of reducing stress.

Stress, however, is a normal part of a student’s life, according to Senate Vice President junior Mikaeel Yunus.

“The goal is not to eliminate stress,” he said. “Stress is an important part of life and students should know how to deal with [it]. The problem is excessive stress.”

“Stress is an important part of life and students should know how to deal with [it]. The problem is excessive stress.”

To avoid this excessive stress, Principal Joel Stembridge said that the administration encourages students to maintain balance.

“Yet we also know that for some students and for some families, that’s a hard thing to accomplish,” he said. “There’s a feeling that ... If you don’t take enough then you’re short-changing yourself on [accomplishments] … for college applications.”

Using an unweighted GPA, Reinstein said, could help to recognize all students’ achievements, not just those of students in honors classes.

Like eliminating weighted GPAs, freshman Catherine Patti said that limiting honors classes could make students feel more comfortable taking fewer.

Although South Senate was more in favor of capping honors classes than eliminating weighted GPA, Senate President and senior Peter Klapes did not foresee either motion passing in the near future. He said this prognosis is partially due to the fact that many students at South are capable of taking multiple honors classes while managing the accompanying workload. “[If] I legitimately have a thirst for academic exploration, and I come in and I see that the school is not permitting me to follow through on that virtuous thirst, then I think we’re going to have a lot of irritated students,” Klapes said. “[To] limit the number of honors classes is just a deviation from what academia should be.”

Irritated students, however, should not be a higher priority than struggling students, according to Reinstein.

“It’s true, there may be a cramping or curb on those students who are most intellectually gifted. I guess at the moment, it seems like it’s of more important virtue and value to protect those students who are in great need of that protection.”

Due to South’s intellectually varied student body, Malin said that he would not want such a significant decision to be made by the administration.

“Everyone has different priorities, so creating an arbitrary limitation ... just tells students that the faculty thinks there is no way you can take above x amount of honors classes, and there’s no way you can do well in them and … that’s just not true,” he said. “There’s plenty of people who can achieve those upper bounds and you’re really limiting them and their success if you decide to cap the honors classes.”

The Faculty Council is no longer considering a hard cap on honors classes, although they continue to seek a way to ensure that students are not improperly placed and unnecessarily stressed.

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|NEWS

Expanding the Focus

April 17, 2015|page 3

In the ninth grade history curriculum that spans 8,000 years, Africa and Meso America take a backseat to Europe and Asia

A

By David Li and Hans Wang

graphic by Sophie Galowitz

ccording to sophomore Jonathan Lee, covering 8,000 years of history without leaving a few casualties is a nearly impossible feat.

“In my year, when we reached the [Americas] unit, it was already late May. As a result, we couldn’t go too indepth. ... It was a bit like a crash course in the history of the Americas,” he said. “We still learned good things, but due to time constraints, I don’t think that the unit received as much focus as it should have.”

Europe and Asia have long dominated the ninth grade world history curriculum that spans from 6,200 B.C. until 1,800 A.D., while other civilizations — notably those from Africa and Meso America — have received sparse attention, if any.

Sophomore Louis Plottel said that his class neglected the Americas entirely. “In my class, we did not study any ancient civilizations in the Americas. I heard that some other classes did, but that it was an add-on at the end of the year,” he said.

The history department recognizes this imbalance, and is searching for ways to teach world history without omitting certain regions of the world.

History teachers Marcia Okun and Jonathan Greiner said that one of the reasons for the disparity is that Africa did not interact with the rest of the world in the same way that Europe and Asia did. “You don’t see the rest of the world looking to Africa and then responding to developments going

on [there],” Greiner said. “Africa is sort of isolated, ... and it fits through trade and it fits through resources.”

Relating African history to other regions of the world is not the only issue the history department faces, according to history teacher Faye Cassell. Teachers are also faced with the daunting task of teaching 8,000 years of world history in 180 days.

Greiner said that because of time limitations, teachers must pick and choose what to focus on. “Certain things are definitely always going to be left out, no matter what,” he said. “You can’t have a [true] world history [course] and fit it within the 180 days of the school year and make it relevant and meaningful.”

The department is also limited by resources. According to Okun, the textbook used in the course provides thorough information on certain aspects of history — European and Asian civilizations, for example — but not on others.

To include new content, Greiner said, teachers must have access to additional materials. “Within the past 20 to 30 years historians have started to actually look at these places and actually view them as something other than a victimized or conquered people, and so the scholarship is really new,” he said. “We are in a new world where we are starting to look at [ancient peoples] as equals, as actors with agency.”

Greiner said the problem has even deeper roots, beginning with the skewed education of the teachers themselves.

“Not a lot of us took classes on African history. Not a lot of us took classes on the Inca, but we all probably took a class on European history, and we all probably took a class on Asian art or something along those lines,” he said. “I think it’s going to take time, but I think there’s a real desire among people to present these societies as contributors rather than just receivers.”

Cassell said the history department is actively looking to make the curriculum more equitable. “We as a department have very lengthy discussions about this very issue where sometimes we feel as though we’re losing Africa. But I would say it’s a point of debate — continual debate — in our department about whether or not we’re giving enough time and energy to civilizations that we don’t often cover,” she said.

A change in coverage also requires a change in perspective, according to Okun. “We’re trying to work to take a more world history perspective on teaching history, a more thematic perspective as opposed to the more traditional way,” she said.

The challenge, Greiner said, is to present a course with a unifying but equal narrative.“We spend a good portion of [our meetings] talking about the ninth grade curriculum and how to make it both narratively coherent and more balanced among various cultures,” he said. “[When] we just talked about the rise of the West, ... it was imbalanced. [When] we went for balance, it wasn’t narratively coherent, so now trying to make those two work together is our real challenge.”

Fleishman appoints interim principal for North Jake Rong & Harrison Wong Sr. News Editor, News Contributor

The search for a permanent replacement for departing North principal Jennifer Price has temporarily come to a halt.

In a March 25 letter to the community, Superintendent David Fleishman announced that he would not select one of the two finalists for the position as Price’s permanent successor. Instead, on April 14, Fleishman named Mark Aronson, a housemaster set to retire at the end of the year, as the interim principal for the 2015-16 school year.

After a three-month-long search for a permanent replacement, the administration had settled on Geoffrey Walker, the principal

of Boston’s William Barton Rogers Middle Fleishman said that after much delibSchool and William Klements, the assistant eration, the administration concluded that principal of Sharon High School. it was in everyone’s best interests to appoint In the weeks an interim principal. leading up to the “Both finalists March 25 announce- “Both finalists had a lot of had a lot of talent, but it ment, the semi-fireally about match talent, but it was really about was nalists visited North and the needs of the several times, cul- match and the needs of the school,” he said. minating in “finalist school.”

According to days” on March 18 Fleishman, the ideal and 19 when Walker - David Fleishman, Superintendent principal is “a strong and Klements spent educational leader — the entire day at North someone who … can meeting with both students and faculty. The manage large and complicated institutions, finalists were informed that neither had been [maintain] very strong relationships and chosen on April 1. understand it’s important to work collab-

oratively in making decisions.”

Evidently, neither of the two finalists were deemed suitable, although the choice to select an interim principal was not controversial, according to Fleishman.

“Most people understood and respected the decision,” Fleishman said. “I think what’s most important about making a sound decision is to have a process that is respectful and inclusive, and I think we achieved that.”

Despite the absence of a long-term leader, Fleishman said he is confident that North’s administration and new interim principal will collaborate “to make sure that [the] positive work taking place at North will continue.”

page 4|April 17, 2015

News|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

NSC unanimously approves FY16 budget,

PROTEST, from 1 When asked why the march was important, a North teacher who declined to be named said, “We love our job, we love what we do, but we also have families to support.”

“It’s a way to bring the discussion ... out into the community so that people are aware of what’s going on,” another North teacher, Annie Blais, said. “I’m very hopeful that the support that I’ve always felt from parents and students for us as teachers … will come across the School Committee as well.”

At 7 p.m., the teachers crowded into the meeting room and surrounding halls in the Education Center, exchanging awkward smiles with the School Committee members who filed in after a closed-door executive session.

Before the vote, NTA Chief Negotiator and history teacher Jamie Rinaldi, Roderick and NTA President Mike Zilles spoke in opposition to the budget, which determines the school system’s finances for the upcoming 2015-16 school year. The approved budget allocates $5.3 million of its $204 million for salary and benefits increases, a 3.2 percent

increase that remains below the NTA’s expectations.

“Our commitment to the children of Newton has held fast, but your commitment to us has not,” Roderick said in her address to the School Committee. “When I started in Newton, I knew I’d be asked to work hard.

I knew I’d put in lots of hours beyond the school day, and I knew I would be respected, appreciated and well-compensated for that.

That has all changed. The pace, the stress and the load have taken a toll.”

Zilles spoke last, without any notes.

“If you are so unwilling to come to the table, and say ‘These teachers are valuable — they matter more than anything else in the Newton Public Schools,’ ... It’s just deeply painful,” he said, continuing past the threeminute time limit. “You’re not just negotiating a contract, but ... you’re telling the teachers of the Newton Public Schools ... what you think of them and how much you value the enormous contribution that they make every single day.”

When he finished, the room broke into a standing ovation. More applause came from the adjacent hallway, where the teachers who

did not fit into the room waited to hear the results of the vote.

Before School Committee Chair Matt Hills called the roll for the vote, Mayor Setti Warren and School Committee vice-Chair Margie Ross Decter stressed that the teachers are indeed valued and appreciated, and seemed to hint at a more favorable budget in years to come.

Although the teachers appeared disappointed by the results of the vote, Rinaldi, like Warren and Ross Decter, expressed a guarded optimism. “It’s possible that we could see a workable proposal soon, but we’re not going to trade a speedy resolution for a fair deal,” he said.

The budget dispute is the latest in a series of escalations in the contentious teacher contract negotiations between the NTA and the School Committee that began last spring.

While the budget does not directly affect the teacher contract, which determines teachers’ wages and is negotiated every three years, the fixed amount of money allocated for salaries could limit the NTA’s latitude in negotiating a more substantial wage increase, according to Rinaldi.

Although the budget determines the city’s finances only for the upcoming school year, the first year of a potential contract, Rinaldi said that the budget would also set a precedent for the second and third years of the contract, locking the Newton Public Schools (NPS) into programming commitments that would drain money from a future wage increase.

The march was the NTA’s second demonstration in three weeks. The NTA also aired its concerns about the budget at the School Committee’s public hearing on March 26, which was attended by approximately 80 teachers.

Around 20 teachers spoke at that hearing, adding a personal touch to the boilerplate union narrative that Newton must pay wages comparable to those of surrounding districts in order to retain the best teachers.

Many teachers described their frustration at not being recognized for going beyond what is expected, or at being unable to afford a home in Newton even after years of teaching in NPS. Others expressed concerns about whether the Newton schools attended by future generations will live up to

April 17, 2015|page 5

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|NEWS

as union stages protest with 300 teachers

photos by Nathaniel Bolter

their reputation without efforts to close the wage disparity.

Sean Davan, a fifth grade teacher at Lincoln-Eliot, read a letter from a colleague who left the district due to the wage gap.

When the story reached its culmination — the moment the colleague discovered that a district far closer to his home had offered him $3,000 more than Newton was paying him — the room let out a knowing groan.

“Yikes,” a teacher toward the back of the room said softly.

Several other teachers used the budget hearing as a platform for opposing an aspect of the budget unrelated to contract negotiations: the latest reductions to the informational technology department.

The new budget will cut 2.6 FTE, the equivalent of 2.6 full-time jobs, from the instructional technology specialists at the two high schools and four middle schools.

Instructional technology specialist Brian Hammel, faced with a choice between accepting a part-time job and leaving South, said

he has decided to leave the school next year.

“It was incredibly hard. It was probably the hardest decision that I’ve made here in the 11 years I’ve been here,” Hammel said.

Six South teachers from three departments spoke at the hearing. Spanish teacher Viviana Planine wondered who, with current wages being what they are, will be the next “master teachers” at South; English teacher Samuel Lee, in a speech that alternated between moving and hilarious, described having to live in a house where the rent was so low that he washed his dishes in the bathtub for three months when his sink broke; history teachers Deborah Linder and Corey Davison urged the School Committee not to take Newton teachers for granted.

“Even though I’m so grateful for my job,” Davison said, “I’m beginning to think that it’s not worth working in a district that tells teachers over and over that they are not as valued as they are in virtually every neighboring town.”

One of the most poignant moments of

the evening came from history teacher Marcia Okun, who attended South as a student. “I have never felt more stressed and put upon as a teacher than I have been feeling recently, and more underappreciated as a teacher than I’m feeling recently,” she said. “And if another job came up, somewhere else, I would take it.

Because I don’t feel supported here anymore.”

Hills maintained the stance that any increase in wages would have to accompany a commensurate increase in class size or decrease in program breadth.

“I thought the teachers spoke passionately, with conviction. We heard what they said,” he said. “At the same time, we have our realities. We have extremely difficult trade-offs to make. And we have to make those trade-offs and not pretend that they don’t exist.”

While Rinaldi conceded that given the amount of money on hand in the current budget, a wage increase for the upcoming school year would require trade-offs, he said that the School Committee has consistently

prioritized class size and program breadth over proper teacher compensation.

Moreover, Rinaldi said, these tradeoffs might not exist if the School Committee agreed to seek out additional funding. In a shift of rhetoric, Rinaldi acknowledged that if the School Committee did agree to seek out additional funding in future budgets, the NTA might be willing to compromise further.

“In some way we’ve conceded that fiscal moderation is the order of the day, but we cannot accept that fiscal austerity is the order of the day,” he said.

Last to speak at the March 26 hearing was English teacher Kelly Henderson, who, striking a moralistic tone, posed a larger question to the School Committee.

“I’m just kind of wondering what your values are, and what you value in the education system,” she said. “And I hope your actions reflect what we hope — as teachers and as parents and as citizens — that you value.”

Additional reporting by Shelley Friedland

EDITORIALS page 6|April 17, 2015|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

editorials@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 31, ISSUE 7

the CAT’S

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

300 Students Stage March A group of 300 students, upset that their test was not scaled, marched to their biology teacher’s house in protest on March 28.

The students gathered in the teacher’s front lawn, wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan “High Grades = Happier Students.”

“This is about values,” senior I.V. Bound said. “Harvard values an A far more than it values a B.” The teacher voted unanimously, 1-0, to keep the scores the same. Standing from his front porch, the teacher calmly informed the students of his decision.

“We have some difficult trade-offs to make,” the teacher, Yoon Yun Buster, said.

“Trade-offs, tough choices, realities, hard decisions, work together, class size, program breadth. Trade-offs, trade-offs, trade-offs.”

After an hour, the students realized they have no real power and went home.

A Southern Focus In an effort to address the imbalance in the freshman world history curriculum, the history department announced Tuesday that next year’s course will now devote at least a third of the year to the world’s coldest continent.

“We hope that a focus on Antarctica will really bring the world into perspective,” history department head Peng Nguyen said. “Antarctica’s rich history has impacted everything from migratory patterns to the Cold War.” Freshman Ae Sperg said that she looks forward to exploring her cultural heritage.

“I’m glad they’re finally moving toward a more inclusive curriculum,” Sperg said. “All my ancestors are from Antarctica, and I’ve never really felt like it has gotten the attention it deserves.”

In order to make room for the addition to the curriculum, the history department was forced to cut Africa and Meso America from the curriculum entirely. “Yeah, but who ever learned about that anyway?” Nguyen said.

Pyongyang Bound After being rejected from Homafobya National Academy in Moscow, senior Weehav Nooks was accepted to Pyongyang University on April 2.

“CW TO VISIT U @ PYONGYANG UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2019!!!,” Nooks’ friend wrote in a Facebook post, before it was promptly removed by North Korean censors.

School Committee intransigence hurts both students and teachers Despite the protests of the 300 teachers who marched to the Education Center, the School Committee unanimously approved a destructive budget Monday that will harm Newton’s students as much as its teachers.

Newton teachers have been working without a contract for 30 weeks, as the negotiations between the School Committee and the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) have stagnated. The NTA has maintained that in order to retain great teachers and attract new ones, any contract should include a wage increase that closes the pay disparity between Newton and surrounding districts of comparable quality, whose teachers make thousands of dollars more on average.

The School Committee, on its part, has postured as the responsible one, swooping in with paternalistic condescension to talk about “realities” and “tough choices.” Although the recession’s austerity seems to have passed, the School Committee remains in full belt-buckling mode, invoking Proposition 2 ½ and the city’s $1 billion in unfunded liabilities for public employee pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits. And within the money allocated for the schools budget, the

School Committee insists that any additional wage increases would result in programming cuts and increased class sizes.

Indeed, fiscal “realities” do exist, and maybe even some “tough choices” too, but perhaps the School Committee is not aware that its intransigence will only cause the students whom they claim to protect to suffer the most.

Although the School Committee evidently believes otherwise, teachers are unequivocally the most important factor in a student’s education. It is the quality of the teacher that makes or breaks a class, not whether it holds 21-23 students.

More than anything else, if the School Committee wants Newton to maintain its standing as a top school system, teachers must be appropriately compensated for their extraordinary work. As many pointed out at the March 26 hearing, teachers here consistently go beyond what is required and expected: they advise clubs, write recommendations, give up lunches, come in early and stay late before going home to grade and prepare the next day’s lesson.

Strikingly, the School Committee displays a conspicuous lack of empathy. In addition to the stresses of the classroom, teach-

ers face the burdens of defraying mortgages and student loans and funding their children’s education.

Many not only stay late to help students, but also hold second jobs on the weekends, working as tutors or proctoring SATs to make ends meet.

Suggesting that Newton’s reputation will continue to attract the best new teachers despite these burdens, ignores economic “realities.”

Moreover, teachers have been effectively priced out of the Newton community as wages have stagnated while property values have skyrocketed. Ironically, the quality education that these teachers provide is the main reason that Newton property values are so high in the first place — something is wrong when Newton’s most valuable assets are excluded from the community they have forged.

The NTA’s request for a wage increase is neither naive nor unreasonable. Given the FY16 budget, the School Committee ought to make minor concessions in class size and program breadth to begin to redress the wage disparity. More importantly, the School Committee ought to promise to seek more funding for future budgets so that the NTA has the freedom to seek the wage increase that teachers truly deserve.

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 four weeks

by Newton South students. All funding comes from advertisers and subscriptions.

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.

April 17, 2015|page 7

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|DESK

Editor encourages students to EDITOR’S make the best of high school years DESK from the

Parisa Siddiqui Editor-in-Chief

As an exhausted senior and an overall bitter human being, I am not one for school events. I am just too tired to put in the effort to show my spirit and be more involved.

As a result, participating in the infamous senior scavenger hunt will not be on my to-do list for the remainder of my last year of high school.

I hereby present to you a sort of alternative scavenger hunt/bucket list for people of all grades and school spirit levels.

None of them is particularly difficult, so what have you got to lose? Your reputation? Nobody cares about that.

These are things that I have done in some way during my four years at South, and I suggest you try at least a few.

Take a photo with the shrine to Vladimir Putin in the Goldrick teachers’ lounge.

Find the Denebola room, enter it and high five Mr. Lee. In the basement, there is a hallway of files from students of years past. Find John Krasinski or B.J. Novak’s file.

Find the Dorling Kindersley handbook on whales, dolphins and porpoises in the library; pick out your favorite whales, dolphins and porpoises; and create a

Snapchat story dedicated to those whales, for a while — if not forever. dolphins and porpoises. #whaledolphinGo on a long walk around your porpoisepageant neighborhood and see how many purple If you have consecutive free blocks, houses you can find. watch a movie on your laptop or phone.

Learn what a passive periphrastic is.

Eat food in the library. Be rebellious. Use it in a sentence.

Find a British monarch from the Buy a turtle off of a lady in China1500s and learn everything there is to town with a van full of turtles and make know about him sure your — just for fun. parents do not Add some find out and intrigue to some“Take stock of what your life make you reone’s day by disturn it because has become since you first creetly dropping a it “looks like it flower in a strangis struggling to came here. Reflect on what er’s backpack. But break free.” you did right and what you first make sure that Watch they are not aller“Dirty Danccould have done differently.” gic to pollen. ing,” “Footloose” As a teacher and “Forrest is leaving the facGump” and try ulty bathroom, to learn a dance quickly slip in after them before the door routine from one (or all) of those films. locks shut. Fact: if you turn the red faucet Do not do homework for one day knob in there, it actually dispenses hot water. and instead spend the afternoon watching Memorize the “to be or not to be” documentaries about prison gangs. soliloquy from “Hamlet.” It’s more useful Attend a protest rally. You will meet than you might think. some interesting people and you will probDeactivate or delete a social media ably have your foot stepped on more than account, create a new one under a fake four times. You will return home more name, friend or follow only people with socially conscious and with dirty shoes. whom you are actually good friends in real One day, when you are walking into life and use only that social media account the school, stick your neck out forward,

throw your arms back and shuffle-run into the building in front of everyone. Own it.

Go to a performance of a school musical, no matter how much you dislike most musicals.

Strike up a friendship with someone based entirely around one thing, like a band, book series or TV show. This should be at least 70 percent of what you talk about with this person.

Write your favorite teacher a good review on ratemyteachers.com.

And lastly, in your final weeks at this school (whenever those may be), take stock of what your life has become since you first came here. Reflect on what you did right and what you could have done differently.

Appreciate the relationships you have forged and the person you have become because of your time here, regardless of how good or bad your South experience was.

I don’t want to tell you how to live your life, but guess what? I’m going to.

It is difficult to differentiate between what you want and what everyone else wants.

It is okay to err a little bit on either side, but make thoughtful decisions, take time for yourself every now and then and make sure you are doing what is right for you. And with that, I am done.

Volume XXXI The Lion’s Roar

Volume XXXII The Lion’s Roar

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper

Newton South High School’s Student Newspaper

140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

140 Brandeis Road Newton, MA 02459 srstaff@thelionsroar.com

Editors-in-Chief Hyunnew Choi Parisa Siddiqui

Editors-in-Chief Nathaniel Bolter Veronica Podolny

Managing Editors Sasha Kuznetsov Carly Meisel

Managing Editors Sophia Fisher Shelley Friedland Section Editors

Business and Production Managers Faith Bergman Julia Mount

Chief Copy Editor Darren Trementozzi

News

Nathaniel Bolter Bella Ehrlich David Li Bhavik Nagda Amelia Stern

Centerfold

Sports

Features

Maia Fefer Shelley Friedland Amelia Stern Nicole Yu

Sophia Fisher Veronica Podolny

Graphics Managers Sophie Galowitz

Helen Haskin David Kim Jack McElduff

Opinions

Ariel Neumann Ben Rabin

Faculty Advisers Ashley Elpern Brian Baron Paul Estin Ryan Normandin

Maia Fefer Andrea Lirio Karin Alsop Emily Belt Nicole Yu

Section Editors

Photo Managers Katie Asch Max Baker Alexa Rhynd

Opinions

Features

Centerfold

Mona Baloch

Aidan Bassett Clare Martin Ben Rabin

News

David Li Carina Ramos Jake Rong Ange Lu Sophie Lu

Sports

Bhavik Nagda

Josh Goldenberg Noah Shelton

Business Manager Distribution Manager Andrew Fu

Graphics Managers Sophie Galowitz Celine Yung

Daniel Morris

Faculty Advisers Ashley Elpern Ryan Normandin

Webmaster Sasha Badov

Photo Managers Alexa Rhynd Bailey Kroner

OPINIONS page 8|April 17, 2015|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

Opinions@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 31, ISSUE 7

Perspectives: Should South weight GPAs?

4.0

4.5

5.0

graphic by Josh Finkel

I

no, it should not

yes, it should

By Cassandra Luca

By Risa Gelles-Watnick

hadn’t really thought about weighted GPAs until the time came for me to choose another elective this time last year. I was searching for an enjoyable course that also wouldn’t give me too much extra work; eventually, I settled on ceramics 1 and was relieved to find out that this class would have no bearing on either my weighted or unweighted GPA. Granted, should the course have been leveled and contributed to the final calculations of my GPA, I would have still taken the class, but I probably would have grumbled to myself throughout the year about how the ACP course was damaging my weighted GPA even if I were receiving all As. But what if I had avoided a lowerlevel arts class because I was worried about my GPA? I would have been left with a schedule full of demanding core classes that did not give me an opportunity to stop, relax and try something new.

Taking an honors or AP course certainly has its benefits; classroom discussions are nuanced and one has the chance to explore topics in greater depth. Assigning more value to these classes can motivate students to register for challenging courses.

Even so, the number that will appear on one’s transcript should not be the biggest reason for accepting the challenge of an honors or AP level course. It would, after all, be hard to accept a term grade of a C in honors biology knowing that you could have taken ACP biology and just as easily earned an A. Any potential benefit of scoring a higher GPA could vanish amid the stresses of daily life.

As college admissions officers stress repeatedly, colleges often recalculate GPAs using their own algorithms, rendering the painstaking attempt to increase one’s

GPA an exercise in futility. Other colleges disregard GPA completely.

To complicate matters, other high schools around the country assign greater weight to AP classes than they do to honors classes.

After all, loading up one’s course load with four honors and AP classes solely for a more impressive number on a transcript might, in the end, cause more harm than good. This struggle to stand out a little bit more in the college admissions process reveals a bigger, more disturbing trend.

Our preoccupation with whether or not an A is worth 5.0 or 4.0 shows that we are not in school to learn for the joy of it; we are here because we seek the competitive edge and the bragging rights that accompany a schedule full of advanced classes.

The debate surrounding weighted GPAs stems not from our desire to learn as much as we can, but from how much we can be rewarded for our travails.

Suddenly, it is no longer enough that we attend school and learn about subjects that interest us; we must have a higher GPA to prove that we are worth something. This fallacy undermines the natural process of learning: if we are not studying to improve ourselves, then why do our studies even matter?

At the end of the day, our weighted GPAs might improve if we signed up for that extra AP class, and colleges might give us a second glance before quickly shuffling through the rest of their admissions. But if we eliminate the 5.0 scale, we can begin to focus on what really matters: registering for class levels right for us, selecting gratifying courses and remembering that we are not defined by a black number on a white sheet of paper.

Y

ou have a job where you work as hard as you can and finally earn a promotion. Yet, no matter how much effort you invest in your career, you still receive the same salary as an employee who has never advanced. Sounds like a pretty unfair system, right? This scenario highlights one of the major flaws of unweighted GPAs. Granting students equal credit for an A in a CP class and an A in an honors class is not a fair representation of what students have learned. An honors class typically covers more material than the corresponding ACP or CP class does.

Because higher-level courses delve into greater detail than regular courses do, students must master more content in a shorter period of time. Honors teachers assign their students more homework and administer harder exams than ACP or CP teachers do.

All of this extra time devoted to homework and studying merits a boost for students’ GPAs. It is illogical to award the same GPA to two B+ students taking courses with different workloads.

Higher-level classes also provide less support for students, who are expected to learn and synthesize class material more independently.

Moreover, higher-level classes often are more rigorous than their lower-level counterparts. In honors English classes, for example, students typically have inclass essays at least every month, while ACP classes may have one or two per year.

In-class essays require the most independence of any writing assessment as students receive virtually no support during these stressful exams.

Even with the boost in GPA that honors students receive, their grades will be lowered anyways due to harsher grad-

ing standards.

Those who oppose weighted GPAs often talk about inconsistencies from teacher to teacher. They assert that every teacher at South has a different way of presenting the material, and therefore has a significant influence on the difficulty of the class.

Some history teachers, for example, assign hours and hours of work to their ACP classes as well as their honors classes; thus some people say that a weighted GPA is not an effective way to measure the difficulty of a course.

But what is the alternative? A ranking system for teachers would not be any fairer. Each student has a unique learning style, and different teachers cater to certain learning styles better than others.

While it is impossible to create a perfect system for measuring the difficulty of a class, weighting GPAs is the most efficient and impartial method for doing so.

Weighted GPAs also encourage students to take more challenging classes.

Assigning all courses equal weight despite variation in difficulty gives students no incentive to strive for classes that would provide them with an academic challenge.

It is important to urge qualified students to take these higher-level courses, especially APs, as colleges recognize many of the AP courses offered at South and allow students to skip introductory courses in whatever higher education they might pursue.

Although the system of weighted GPAs remains far from ideal, it recognizes students for the added time commitment and difficulty of harder classes, while at the same time motivating students to challenge themselves by taking higher-level courses.

april 17, 2015|page 9

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|opinions

A FLUSH OF EQUALITY

Should voting be mandatory?

Aidan Bassett

sr. opinions editor

Political positions

A

Junior explains why South should install gender-neutral bathrooms photo illustration by Bailey Kroner

By Samuel Fishman

I

t is human nature to try to draw easy distinctions; it is a vestige from a time that saw the world in black and white, an impulse that we must resist in a time of ever-expanding complexity. Even at South, a progressive bastion, this impulse retains influence in a concept that most students accept as simple fact: the gender binary system, by which gender is sorted into only two sexes — male and female.

The term may not be familiar, but its effects are. For instance, single-gender classrooms are now being implemented in hundreds of schools across the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union found that in one such classroom in Maine, girls drank hot chocolate and read the newspaper, while boys participated in an exercise routine sponsored by the National Football League.

In a Louisiana school, boys read “Where the Red Fern Grows,” a novel about a boy who raises hunting dogs, while the girls read “The Witch of Blackbird Pond,” a romance story set in the 17th century, because, as one teacher put it, boys like “hunting” and girls like “love stories.”

Single-gender classrooms are evidence of the extent to which the gender-binary system dominates our culture.

South may seem untouched by the system, but evidence of it exists in every hallway.

A walk around the school reveals that every bathroom is designated for use by males, females or staff members. Even though Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination in schools based on gender identity, South has not properly accommodated genderqueer students or staff.

A common excuse for the lack of facilities is that genderqueer students can use enclosed stalls in the bathrooms, but this argument fails to address two problems. For transgender students, who identify as a sex that differs from their sex at birth, or for students who have sexual organs from both sexes, the possi-

Thankfully, two simple solutions are readily available.

Access to locked staff bathrooms would provide genderqueer students with the privacy necessary for them to feel comfortable using the bathroom in school.

Genderqueer students could talk to their guidance counselor to receive a key that opens these facilities. Also at our disposal is an easy solution that goes further toward accommodating students of all gender identities.

The creation of genderneutral bathrooms would not only reduce mental burdens, but could also initiate a schoolwide conversation about gender. This is not to say that one bathroom is going to solve gender discrimination and completely eliminate our antiquated phobias.

Gender-neutral bathrooms will help us critically examine how we think about gender.

South proved that it could be a pioneer when it launched the first gay-straight alliance in a public school. With gender-neutral bathrooms, South could demonstrate similar leadership in the incipient fight against the gender binary system.

Gender-neutral bathrooms are common-sense accommodations for people who need them.

But they can also be so much more. They can begin to bring to an end those easy distinctions that make our world more opaque, never clearer.

Gender-neutral bathrooms will help us critically examine how we think about gender. bility of being seen in a particular bathroom can deter them from using a stall at all. Vandalized stalls are another issue. Sexual slurs and references can be more than enough to make a student feel uncomfortable and not want to use the bathroom. Genderqueer students might even avoid using bathrooms entirely.

Reluctance to use bathrooms can cause problems like urinary tract infections and dehydration, as students may stop drinking water to suppress the need to urinate.

A lack of appropriate accommodations could also contribute to psychological problems like depression, which affects 44 percent of the transgender population, according to the American Journal of Public Health.

merican citizens’ frustration with an argumentative and ineffectual government is well exemplified through voter turnout. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, barely 57.5 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2012 presidential election. Worse still, The New York Times bemoaned 2014 as “The Worst Voter Turnout in 72 Years,” with scarcely over a third of eligible voters appearing at the polls. This is not a new trend; few turnouts in recent decades have surpassed a bare 60 percent.

The implications of such perennial apathy are writ large over our current political climate: rampant dissatisfaction with Washington, D.C., hyper-partisan polarization and a new wave of obliquely racist voter suppression tactics. To solve such an array of issues, policy must change; this epidemic can be cured by mandatory voting. With citizens required by law to engage in the democratic process, representation in government would increase substantially, for the voting electorate would finally be proportional to the actual population.

While requiring all adults to vote could not possibly solve all the U.S. government’s problems, the policy would certainly address some critical issues.

There would finally be closure to all the voting rights issues that have plagued the American South since the 1960s, and the African-American population, in addition to other underrepresented groups such as the LGBTQ community and ethnic minorities, would finally be able to fully exercise their electoral clout.

The true necessity of mandatory voting, however, is rooted in the need to shift voting from a right to an obligation.

It is long past time for the American people to be involved in the maintenance of their democratic system, and having over 300 million custodians of a government would lend greater weight to all voices.

Now more than ever, equity among voters and engagement in the selection of new leaders could do much to remake the cynical attitude with which Americans excoriate their elected officials.

Not only would mandatory voting be an immense boon for America, it would also be a novel policy that would resemble similar practices in Australia and Brazil. Compulsory voting would need to be enforced, and we would need repercussions for those who failed to vote without an acceptable excuse. No matter what legislators select as a disincentive, it is very likely that turnout in each election would approach 99 percent rather than languish around 55 percent. Politicians would be forced to run campaigns geared towards every constituent rather than special interest groups.

In a poetic twist of fate, it is very likely that the answer to Americans’ dissatisfaction with their government is in fact Americans themselves. Additionally, mandatory voting would result in meaningful reform and greater political involvement across the spectra of gender, race and age. Free selection of one’s leaders is a very small price for membership in what politicians like to call the “greatest country on earth.”

page 10|April 17, 2015

opinions|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

Xenophobia and Racism: The Rise of UKIP

By Nathaniel flemming America has long had a two-party system. Even with the recent increase in dissatisfaction with the U.S. government, no third party has emerged, and the Democrats’ and Republicans’ stranglehold on power is stronger than ever.

Similar to the structure of U.S. politics, the U.K. has three major political parties: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.

These three parties have dominated U.K. politics for over a century, but unlike in America, a fourth, more radical party is on the rise. Rather than introducing a fresh perspective to U.K. politics, this new party promotes racism and xenophobia.

In a diverse, multicultural country like the U.K. such an outlook will only prove more and more destructive and harmful the further it spreads.

The U.K. Independence Party, nicknamed UKIP, was founded in 1993 with the goal of removing the U.K. from the European Union.

For a long time it held a similar status to third parties in America – failing to achieve significance because of its far-right views. During an interview, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron described UKIP members as “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly.” According to The Guardian, a British newspaper, UKIP rose to prominence alongside other far-right nationalist parties in Europe in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis.

Although these parties differ in the specifics — some being anti-Semitic, others anti-Muslim — these parties all hold similar isolationist beliefs, seeking to return their countries to more racially homogenous states.

Although it still preaches separation from the E.U., UKIP’s main draw is its anti-immigration stance. The head of UKIP, Nigel Farage, recently proposed a five-year ban on permanent settlement in the U.K. Anybody in the country on a

work permit would be forced to leave immediately after its expiration.

The party’s main support comes from blue-collar white voters who are worried about having to compete with immigrants for employment. Due to these voters, UKIP won the European elections, a national election that determines the British members of the European Parliament. This was the first time in modern history that neither the Labour Party or the Conservative Party has won a national election.

Removed from its historical context, however, UKIP’s victory is mostly symbolic and will have little real effect.

In fact, many of these new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) refuse to participate in the European Parliament, as it contradicts their philosophy of withdrawal from the European Union.

(This philosophy does not, however, apply to their salaries, which are paid by the EU, but which they are nonetheless happy to receive.) Instead of representing their countries’ interests, MEPs choose to stage a childish protest, reducing the international power and presence of the countries they claim to love.

Some members of UKIP also seem intent on living up to Cameron’s description of them as racist “loonies.” The chair of UKIP’s Oxford branch claimed that “some homosexuals prefer sex with animals,” a former MEP referred to foreign nations receiving U.K. aid as “bongo bongo land” and a UKIP councilor blamed floods on gay marriage. While it is concerning that anyone could make such bigoted, racist or downright factually incorrect statements, it is more worrying that two of these three people were elected to positions of power.

Instead of sending UKIP back into the depths of political obscurity, however, these tactless remarks appear to have had little effect on its radical supporters, as

Nigel Farage, here portrayed as the Godfather, is the leader of UKIP. evidenced by UKIP’s stability in opinion polls. By turning to UKIP as an alternative, voters may not merely be showing their dissatisfaction with with other major political parties; they may actually agree with UKIP’s racist, homophobic leaders.

As UKIP grows, so will the influence of its ideas and opinions, potentially infecting other parties as they try to appeal to the voters that would otherwise defect to UKIP. Even if UKIP ultimately fails, it may have already started the process of political polarization that has paralyzed the U.S. government.

Similar scenes are playing out across Europe as an increasing number of citizens are becoming fed up with governments

graphic by Olivia Larosa

that they accuse of caring more about political correctness than the people’s wellbeing. Out of frustration, these citizens, believing they are witnessing the death of their culture at the hands of immigrants, turn to the far right. Nationalist parties promise salvation and reassure their supporters that they are men of the people, completely different from their plutocratic opponents.

Although UKIP currently lacks the credibility to gain major political power, the party and its growing number of supporters have made the U.K. more radical, and are a serious threat to the advancement of U.K. society. The future of Europe has suddenly become far less certain.

Climate Change: Our Most Pressing Concern

By LIZA SOCKWELL In February, I missed a day of school to attend the Fossil Fuel Divestment Day at the State House with fellow high school students from the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE).

After training with a group of Action Fellow high school students from across Massachusetts, I felt confident enough to spread my knowledge about the climate crisis and add my voice to the movement. Attending Boston events such as the divestment day is one of the best ways to get involved in climate change activism.

The event consisted of a daylong press conference about the logistics of carbon taxes and divestment, a process though which investors remove stock from a destructive or morally unjust company and transfer it elsewhere. We heard from State Senator Benjamin Downing, a major supporter of the divestment bill that is currently awaiting approval in both chambers. Climate activist Tim DeChristopher led us around the State House and told us not to appease those you speak to about climate change, saying that our time has come to challenge the powers that profit from dirty energy.

My friends from ACE and I also had the opportunity to speak with State Representatives Byron Rushing

and Jeffrey Sanchez. At first, I thought it would be intimidating, but they were actually quite receptive to our plea for attention to the issue of divestment from fossil fuels.

We proved we had done our research and coherently answered their questions about the reliability and benefits of divestment.

This conversation signified a triumph for my peers and me. Because lobbying is easy and effective, we realized that everyone can and should lobby their state representatives and senators about important issues.

People can also get involved in the climate change movement by attending rallies. I had the opportunity to speak at the Feb. 28 Cape Wind Rally on the Boston Common. I felt an electric positivity in the crowd as we all chanted “down with the pipelines, up with the turbines.” People spoke of the tangibility of this project, which would power 75 percent of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket without emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Cape Wind would erect 130 offshore wind turbines in federal waters off the coast of Cape Cod, the most technically optimal offshore wind power site in the U.S., according to capewind.org.

While at climate rallies, I connected with men and women of various backgrounds: college students, hipsters, old men, and middle-aged women. People at these rallies want to effect change because they genuinely care about the Earth and other beings. They want support, no matter age, gender, race or background.

Though climate change can seem to be an insurmountable challenge, these rallies and events are excellent venues for people to get involved and connect with other activists.

I made instant friendships with girls from Concord Academy and spoke in Spanish with a student from Northeastern. I felt part of a greater whole, and for me, that is the best feeling in the world. At the end of both Divestment Day and the Cape Wind Rally, I was left deeply satisfied as well as invigorated and inspired by all the people I met.

We must keep fighting to divest from fossil fuels and implement Cape Wind, and in doing so, help provide clean and sustainable energy to people in the United States. These movements motivate people to unite around that intrinsically American and democratic belief: that the people have the power to enact change.

april 17, 2015|page 11

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|opinions

UPGRADE

9 Weather in the 60s Snow melting Marathon Monday College visits More parking spots

campus chatter The Lion’s Roar asked...

What is the most important social issue at South?

“Academic competitiveness. I just don’t get why [students] care so much about grades. They always compare grades with each other. I’m a sophomore and I have friends who are already paranoid about getting into college.”

- Michael Pasqualini, Class of 2017 “[It is problematic] that people get really stressed out about schoolwork and doing the best that they can when it does not really [matter] in the end.”

- Emily Goetzler, Class of 2018

April Break Red Sox season Seniors have one month left Racially diverse Emojis

“I would say that coordinating homework could be an issue for everyone.

I [have friends] who want to play sports and then they want to take lots of honors classes, but they know the workload would be too much.”

- Varun Oberoi, Class of 2018 “South is a stressful school, so in general, you are going to expect a lot of competition from your peers.”

- Andy Wang, Class of 2015

9

DOWNGRADE

AP exams next month Snapchat update Outdoor sports delayed Prom/semi ticket prices Potholes Too much rain Yogurtland closed Allergies Zayn Malik left One Direction

photos by Alexa Rhynd

“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

BY Parisa Siddiqui

I tend to enjoy books and movies that showcase a mix of Indian and western cultures, since they reflect my own life to some degree. This film’s predecessor — “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” — however, was only mildly entertaining.

“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” which revolves around Sonny (Dev Patel, of “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Skins” fame), the young Indian proprietor of a decrepit hotel in the Indian city of Jaipur, and a motley crew of elderly British expatriates looking for an inexpensive place to retire, seemed to cater to an older crowd. The retirees were beginning to find love and new leases on life toward the end of their lives, which added some hope and excitement to an otherwise predictable plot.

Following the film’s success, the creators decided to bring a decidedly fresher and more energetic vibe to the sequel. “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” wastes no time on exposition, opening on a cast of legendary British actors (including Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and more) slipping into their old characters with ease and pleasant familiarity.

The sequel follows the original characters, who now live at the hotel, adjusting

“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

Sonny (Dev Patel) and Sunaina (Tina Desae) dance in traditional Indian attire at their wedding.

to their lives in India. The cinematography, while employing the typical romanticization and emphasis on the colors and vibrancy of India, felt more put together than in the first film. The performances were far more interesting, and the comedy was sharper in the sequel. Patel’s bubbly exuberance and his overwhelming chattiness were more endearing this time around, and balanced nicely with Maggie Smith’s character’s caustic wit and intentionally vague and potentially dark storyline.

The addition of a mystery element in

Richard Gere’s character increased the plot’s complexity and raised the stakes for the characters.

What is most praiseworthy about “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” however, is not only its extravagant depiction of the fanfare surrounding Indian weddings (which is a lot, believe me), its inclusion of alternative love stories or its intermittent punches of dry British humor. What is most admirable is the sense of optimism that permeates each scene, showing viewers that it is never too late for a new beginning.

LICENSED TO DRINK

Fake IDs are rivaling older siblings and lenient parents as a primary source of alcohol as they become increasingly available to underage students

By Mona Baloch

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Jane Doe DOE JANE 123 MAIN STREET NEWTON, MA 02459

graphic by Celine Yung

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these things,” he said. ast month, senior Dylan* and 14 of his friends gathered to place an online order Several students cited the high drinking age in the U.S. as a reason for teenagers to for a batch of fake IDs. “We had a friend of mine who is a very good photographer break the law. take her expensive camera, and we stood in front of a blank white wall,” he said.

“It’s just part of the phase in life where teenagers feel invincible and want to “She took pictures of us from the waist up and just followed their guidelines: no hair experiment. It’s not like they’re too young at 18 to go clubbing,” junior Lauren* said. covering the face, standing [up] straight.”

“I don’t think … drinking is a bad thing. I think drinking in excess is bad, but I The teenagers then prepared their signatures and relevant personal information think having the drinking age as 21 has been a big mistake for the United States,” Dylan before scanning everything and sending the materials to a service based in China.

As dealers and websites proliferate, more and more students are turning to fake IDs said.

Hirschhorn, however, believes the drinking age is in place for a reason. “People at as a source of entertainment — like concerts and bars — as well as alcohol. Increasing that age don’t have the kind of maturity that’s needed [to drink],” she said availability and a lack of law enforcement has made teenagers more likely to engage in In theory, Panica said that the strict laws prohibiting sale of alcohol to minors these illegal behaviors. should be effective.

With prices ranging from $40 to $110 for a single ID and the online market for “I know the bars and restaurants here are pretty vigilant about checking and suppliers growing, a teenager can acquire a fake ID within weeks. For Dylan, purchasing making sure because there’s quite a penalty in these establishments [for] serving to a fake ID was as easy as doing a quick search on the internet. underage people,” Panica said.

“You just go on a website and fill in an information sheet, collect money ... and Debra Meyer, assistant manager of Martignetti Liquors in Brighton, said that send it to some sketchy address in China. You get a confirmation email, and it shows up workers at the establishment are well aware of the punishments they could face. in a box covered in Chinese characters about a month later,” he said.

“If you’re detected [selling to minors], they almost always close you for three days.

Despite the seemingly mysterious process of creating and receiving IDs, they are The [cashier] can be fined, arrested, all sorts of things,” she said. “The cashier would far from rare, junior Allison* said.

Emma*, a sophomore in New York who sells fake IDs, agreed with Allison. Most of obviously be in extreme danger in their job.”

This fact, however, does not prevent all local establishments from providing alcohol her friends, she said, have fake IDs and go out weekly without getting caught, which she to illegal customers. said prepares them for their future.

“It’s so common at this point that I just don’t think the consequences are that “If you never experience certain things at a young age, then when it’s actually time to experience them, you might not know the right limit or amount that you should have,” severe. … If you’re caught it’s not the end of the world,” Allison said. “The people who catch you will just cut [the fake ID] up or she said. “You might be inexperienced compared to everyone around you, ... and It’s so common at this point that I just don’t think the consequences are take it away. They don’t usually call the cops.” it might not be safe for you.” that severe. ... If you’re caught it’s not the end of the world.

Dylan agreed, adding that businesses For freshman Ariel Hirschhorn, would have to take a risk in order to abide by - Allison, class of 2016 the risk of using a fake ID is not existing laws. worthwhile. She said that students who “A lot of places that people are using their fakes at have accepted fakes in the past. obtain fake IDs are not doing it to plan for the future; rather, they are causing themselves If they brings cops around, they’re going to draw more attention [to themselves],” he said. more harm.

“If they take your ID ... no one from Newton South is ever going to purchase from them.”

“They just want to do something really desperately, and it’s impulsive that they’re While legal punishments can be threatening, some said that they do not feel the willing to go get a fake ID,” she said.

Dylan, however, said that students preparing to order fake IDs are not uneducated. same pressure from their parents. Although his parents do not know about his ID, Dylan said, they are open to the idea of teenage alcohol consumption.

He said that the group with which he ordered fake IDs conducted meticulous research “[My parents are] pretty understanding about alcohol consumption in general, and and examined their options before making a final decision.

“The place we used is known for being able to scan and pass tests very well. That’s they wouldn’t be too upset if they found out,” Dylan said. “I know friends whose parents know, and they’re completely fine with it.” why we chose them. There are other groups that do similar jobs, but this particular Due to the proliferation of fake IDs, the Police Department must be extremely individual is known for having the best IDs [that are] able to pass,” he said. viligant, Panica said.

The process is not as haphazard as it seems, even from the production side of the “We’re actually in the middle of a program where we’re targeting underage drinkers operation, according to Emma, who has been part of her friend’s business of making fake and targeting different locations around the city where kids may go purchase alcohol,” he IDs since last year. said.

“I know everyone who I’m giving it to, and I know that they’re going to be smart Cracking down on fake IDs, however, would not solve the problem, according to about it,” she said.

While some use fake IDs to gain access to concerts that ban minors, most use them students.

“If I didn’t get alcohol with a fake I’d buy it somewhere else,” junior Sydney* said. to purchase alcohol or go to bars.

Meyer agreed. “Everybody’s obtained alcohol illegally somehow,” she said. “I hope According to Officer John Panica, a resource officer for Newton Public Schools, they just do it from home, from their brother or mother’s cabinet, and don’t involve us.” underage drinking has always been a part of teen culture.

While the Newton Police Department’s drug and alcohol education programs “It’s a rite of passage, where this is what kids have been doing for the last 50, 60, continue to grow, Panica said that there is only so much that they can do to discourage 70 years,” he said. “I think it just goes along with the whole growing up and risk-taking illegal behaviors. portion of your life.”

“Do we catch every kid that’s in possession of a fake ID? No. Do we catch Fake IDs, like alcohol itself, appeal to a teenager’s tendency to rebel, according to Allison. “It’s the power ... that appeals to high schoolers, just to know that they can access everybody that uses it? No,” he said. “Hopefully we can educate kids on the dangers and the consequences of getting involved in it, but truthfully, I don’t think anyone can illegal things right now,” she said.

Panica said that teenagers today have even more opportunities to become involved completely stop it.” in illegal behaviors. *Names changed to protect students’ identities “There’s a lot more information out there, and maybe a lot more kids that have

page 14|April 17, 2015

centerfold|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

d i n n e g B the Rules

By Isabella Auerbach

photo illustration by Alexa Rhynd

Sophomore explains why Newton teenagers’ illegal activities often go unnoticed and unpunished

On April 14, The Roar surveyed 163 students and found ...

8%

other

Students primarily use their fake IDs for ...

alcohol & drugs

of South students have a fake ID

concerts

most likely hire a well-known lawyer to ensure that their child’s perfect record for college applications would not be stained with inconvenient proof of illegal activity.

The idea that getting caught by the police is something to be fixed by paying someone is part of the reason that relatively few people in Newton are punished for underage drinking and drug use.

Lastly, the reason we so rarely hear of arrested teenagers is because one of Newton’s remarkable talents is the ability to showcase its accomplishments while hiding its flaws. This city “One of Newton’s re- has been labeled as an upper-class markable talents is the suburb that raises bright childedicated to getting a good ability to showcase its dren education. accomplishments while For many living in Newton, the discovery that their “perhiding its flaws.” fect” town is breeding teens who choose to spend their weekends drinking and smoking would Newton is because Massachusetts be a wake-up call. The people of takes a more lenient stance on this city often ignore this reality crime overall. because they subconsciously fear Secondly, Newton is living in an area that is not as extremely wealthy and is home perfect as it appears to be. to many doctors, lawyers and As a result, we tend not to successful parents who are intent hear much about teenagers being on creating a life filled with oparrested in Newton and assume portunities for their children. In that few high school students are 2006, 64 percent of federal drug caught drinking or using illegal defendants tried in Chicago were drugs. detained between arrest and These three factors have adjudication. It is unlikely that created a city in which the majormany of these people spent stagity of citizens believe they live gering amounts of money to hire in an area where barely anyone a lawyer to defend their case. breaks the law and that the few In Newton, if a teenager who do are rarely caught. Alwere arrested due to drinking or though this idea comforts us, it is drug use, his or her parents would far from the truth.

bars

of people incarcerated and the percentage of people committing crimes. Massachusetts was labeled as most lenient, while Mississippi, Idaho and Alabama were placed in the ten most strict states.

From this information, one can infer that conservative states tend to have less tolerance for crime, while more liberal states (such as Maryland and Massachusetts) are less stringent about these matters.

One of the reasons fewer students are prosecuted for illegal possession of alcohol and drugs in

Most students used fake IDs approximately

N

ewton is not considered an “unsafe” city.

This suburb raises academically-driven children, many of whom go on to attend high-ranking universities across the country. Despite this trend, a significant percentage of the city’s youth experiments with alcohol and drugs.

As a student travels through the hallways of school on a Monday morning, he or she can hear whispered conversations about the events of the past Saturday night. Many of these discussions include stories of drunk girls who made fools of themselves or that one guy who became “totally faded” after smoking with a group of friends.

Although a large portion of high school students at South drink and experiment with drugs on weekends, one rarely ever hears of Newton students being arrested for underage drinking or use of illicit drugs.

Why is this? There are three main reasons, each of which is related to the morals and norms of the Newton community.

First, we live in a considerably liberal city. Compared with many southern towns, which still teach abstinence in sex education classes and generally do not accept homosexuals in their communities, we live in a place that does not punish those who venture outside of our society’s norms.

In a report titled “One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008,” states were ranked by their strictness on jailing citizens based on the relative percentage

once

a month

62%

of students got their fake IDs online infographic by Mona Baloch;

FEATURES page 15|April 17, 2015|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

Faulty Parallelism FEATURES@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 31, ISSUE 7

The Roar investigates possible reasons behind the lack of diversity in South’s English curriculum

By Maia Fefer and Nicole Yu

W

hen English teacher Kelly Henderson had actively seeking out this male-written material,” he said. becomes really hard to engage with what we are reading.” to choose between “1984,” George Orwell’s English department head Brian Baron presented A diversity of perspectives, Baron said, expands dystopian classic read by many sophomore one possible explanation for the discrepancy: women, students’ thinking.

English classes, and “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Julia he said, have been deprived of opportunities to write “Part of our responsibility is to open new horizons Alvarez’s novel following four dissident sisters under the throughout history, and thus never fully integrated into for kids in their reading, and [help them] understand that Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, she had the canon. the world is much more complicated and interesting than no trouble making up her mind.

“I think it is a remnant of a historical patriarchy in they thought it was when they came in as freshmen,” he “The choice really was between another male authat our curriculum has been dominated by canonical said. “I do think we have some responsibility for every kid thor, and in this case, a white male author, and a woman authors that are part of a group of people that have been to see him or herself reflected in the literature that we are of color who represented a different point of view. [“In read for quite a while,” he said. teaching.”

The Time of the Butterflies”] just seemed like the logical Despite the disproportionate number of maleEven with male-authored works, Spector said, Engchoice given the goals of the sophomore curriculum,” she authored books, this disparity has not affected female lish classes can examine the perspectives and importance said. “A lot of the essential questions that of women. frame the sophomore year have to do with “In past English classes, I read We read literature to understand ourselves and our world ... If we leadership and changing societies. … It just “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe. are only viewing the world in one way, ... then we live in danger seemed to fit with that curriculum to have Although [it] is a very male driven book, of accepting and perpetuating that reality.” as much [of] a variety of voices as possible.” many of the females in the book expand Henderson is not alone; her decision the story. I think that it is important to - Kelly Henderson, English teacher reflects a slow but inexorable shift toward remember that even if the female characters further diversity in the English curriculum, which curenrollment in upper-level English classes. In a typical are not the main characters, they often drive the story rently remains dominated by a patriarchy of male authors, English classroom, there actually tends to be more female forward,” she said. male characters and old-fashioned male values. students.

Henderson agreed. “We need to do a better job at To some, including sophomore Rebecca Shaar, the In fact, South’s honors English classes almost always interrogating the literature that we already read,” she said. preponderance of male authors seems almost inevitable have more females than males. In sophomore honors, 72 According to Baron, Global English classes have given the overall themes and timeless literature the school percent of student are female; the number decreases to already taken steps to wean themselves off the canonical looks for.

61.6 percent for juniors and then 66.5 percent for seniors. “patriarchy,” incorporating into the sophomore curricu“For the most part, [the curriculum] is male auStill, senior Emma Spector, co-president of the Felum books such as “The Bastard of Istanbul” and “White thors, but we are also studying classical literature, so the male Empowerment Movement club, said there are inher- Tiger,” contemporary novels that prominently feature majority of the people who wrote literature are males,” ent problems in underrepresenting a group of people. female characters. “The Bastard of Istanbul” is written by Shaar said. “It kind of makes sense.”

“As a woman who likes to be a leader, it is kind of a woman, “White Tiger” by a man.

Senior Adam DeAngelo agreed that the male domi- frustrating to not know more about the woman’s perspecYet, the curriculum has a long way to go before it nance in the English curriculum may simply reflect the tive [even if] the woman’s perspective just wasn’t taken represents both genders equally. At the moment, of the male dominance in the classics. into account [at the time],” she said.

26 books Baron listed as taught at South during the first 3 “I don’t think the Henderson agreed that the voices of women and years, only six are wriitten by woman. school is other underrepresented groups, though perhaps not DeAngelo agreed that a mixture of contemporary prevalent, are nonetheless important. and classical works would improve the English curricu“We read literature to understand ourselves and lum. our world, and we read literature in part to “I think that [teachers] should strive to do more become better citizens in that world,” contemporary work that is going to talk about issues that she said. “If we are only viewing the are talked about now,” he said. “That being said, one of world in one way, … then we live in the benefits of reading a classic is that they are so complex danger of accepting and perpetuating that you can have really deep conversations. What I want, that reality.” though, and what I think we are [getting] in AP LiteraInstead of a limited outlook, ture, is that we have some contemporary [works] as well Henderson said, English classes should as the older, well-read novels.” expose students to other perspectives Although Baron said he aims for a more diverse through female authors and characters. curriculum each year, he said that students in search of “We, as humans, need to learn more than a fragmentary diversity should pursue their to identify with folks who are different interests beyond the classroom. from us, but we also naturally identify “One of the things I think we ought to be doing a with folks [like] us,” she said. “I think kids better job of, in general, is encouraging kids to read on need a balance, or otherwise it their own, because I think that is part of where you find this [interest],” he said. “It’s not just what we give you, it’s what you are reading, and what you are reading should not be just what we give you.”

photo illustration by Alexa Rhynd

page 16|April 17, 2015

Tertulia 2015

Features|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

photos by Bailey Kroner and Alexa Rhynd

SASA dances at Tertulia (top-left). Juniors Andrew Fu, David Zhang and sophomore Ayush Upneja play an arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon (bottom-left). Children of the Candy Corn perform their improv (top-right). Newtones sing a Justin Timberlake medley and “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye (bottom-right).

THE

COMMON APPLICATION

The Roar follows four seniors with different interests as they navigate through the college application process and will reveal their identities and college plans as they make their decisions

By Shelley Friedland

E

lizabeth* has been accepted to MassArt, Maryland Institute College of Art, Lesley University and UMass-Dartmouth. She said she will most likely attend MassArt. “I want to stay at home for my first year,” she said. “I really like their campus [and] how small it is.”

She said she is still unsure of what type of art she wants to pursue. “I still have no idea what I want to major in,” she said. “It’s a really tough decision.”

Although the college process has been difficult, she said the acceptances were worthwhile.

“The most rewarding part [of the college process] is knowing that people have looked at my work and decided that they want to watch me grow at their school as an artist,” she said.

S

photo by Alexa Rhynd

enior Ben Weingart, previously referred to as “Leo,” has committed to Miami University of Ohio.

Although he was accepted to seven other schools, he said he is looking forward to the opportunities he will have at Miami.

“I’m really excited to continue to compete at a high level. … It’s cool to think that I’ll actually be a D1 athlete,” he said. “One of the benefits to living in Ohio is that everyone is really friendly. I’m looking forward to this new experience that lies ahead.”

Weingart said he is particularly excited to continue to pursue track, one of his passions.

“The mile has really become my race over the past couple of years,” he said. “I’d like to continue that success going forward. … My heart’s on the track.”

G

graphics by David Gorelik

regory* has been rejected by Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and waitlisted by Harvard University. He was previously accepted to Case Western Reserve University and University of Chicago.

He said he liked Chicago when he visited. “It was not quite what I was expecting, but it was pretty good and I liked it anyway,” he said.

Although he plans to stay on the Harvard waitlist, he said he is committed to University of Chicago. “[Chicago] has a very interesting culture that I think I’d fit in well to. They seem to be very big on academic exploration,” he said. “The reason that I didn’t apply to more schools after getting in there early is because I liked it.” *Names have been changed to protect students’ identies

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|Features

Students seek thrill in shoplifting 1 in 11 people in

America has shoplifted

April 17, 2015|page 17

Benefits of Taking Risks

ift er er c s en ar e t m of in or s

Relationships

sh o

pl

17

p

43

SHOPLIFTING, from 1 “If they take one thing it’s for exhilaration, [and] if they take a lot of the same thing, they’ll sell it.”

A security guard at the Chestnut Hill Mall said that although she has never caught anyone shoplifting, she knows it happens. “Our society glorifies the nice superficial things in life, and I also think people are always competing with each other, such as who has the nicer watch,” she said. “Everybody always wants nice things, just not everyone can afford it.”

At South, however, students shoplift because they want to, not because they have to, Mary said.

“We live in Newton — we have enough money to buy a $10 bottle of mascara. It’s more for exhilaration,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s fun to challenge authority and the rules of society.”

Junior Abby* said she was conflicted when she began recreationally shoplifting. “It was kind of nerve-wracking but also exciting, almost like you won a prize or something,” she said. “It was less about what [the product] was and more just about the fun of [shoplifting].”

The frequency of shoplifting varies among students. For some people, like junior Rachel*, shoplifting is a one-time occurence, done on a passing whim, whereas Mary said she knows some people who shoplift habitually.

“People would take huge duffle bags ... and just stuff them with thousands of

dollars worth of merchandise, and they’d do that on a regular basis,” Mary said. “My friend — her entire closet is just stuffed full [of] all these [stolen] clothes.”

According to Rachel, habitual shoplifters try to justify their actions by imagining themselves as standing up to the predation of big chain stores.

“I just thought that a lot of clothes were overpriced. I wouldn’t [steal from] small boutiques that I knew were dependent on sales from that one location,” Abby said. “I’d go after the bigger chains that I knew were ripping people off all around the country. If anything, it was almost like ... I was getting my justice [against the stores] for people who were being ripped off.”

According to the Coach sales assoiciate, however, large chains can be affected as much as a small shop.

“If 1,000 people take one piece of merchandise, it adds up,” she said. “It causes something called shrinkage. ... The store can only pay so many people if their value is lower than what it’s supposed to be.”

Many students believe that, if caught, the consequences of shoplifting are negligible. “I think it’s just calling your parents in the back room of a store or something,” Mary said. “I don’t think I’d go to jail or anything for it.”

“I just feel like people don’t really realize how big a deal it is to shoplift until they get caught,” Rachel said.

But the Coach sales associate said

Shoplifting accounts for percent of retail loss — more than any other source

the seemingly trivial punishments for shoplifters can potentially be far more severe.

“The [punishments] are getting so much stricter because it’s such a big problem. I know if people are seen stealing at Coach and the mall security can catch them, then they end up in jail.”

The severity of the punishment can vary depending on the value of what is stolen, but no matter what, shoplifting has its consequences. In Massachusetts, if the value of the item stolen exceeds $250 dollars, the shoplifter could go to prison for up to five years. If the value of the item stolen does not exceed $250 dollars, the shoplifter could go to prison for up to one year. Heavy fines are also associated with the crime.

Store workers, however, usually cannot do much to prevent shoplifting from occuring.

“You can’t accuse someone of shoplifting even if you see someone put something into a bag with your own eyes,” the Coach sales associate said.

“That’s illegal to ask someone to see inside your bag.”

Even when she knows somone is shoplifting, the Coach sales associate said, her hands are tied. “The shoplifters have all the rights,” she said. “We can’t stop them while they’re still in the store, and if the security can’t get to them in time, then they’re free, which is really not fair.” *Names changed to protect students’ identities

photo illustration by Alexa Rhynd

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.

Last year, a guy I had smiled at once or twice messaged me on Facebook and started making small talk. We spoke online for a while, and after getting to know each other, realized we were very similar.

We began to hang out and soon he asked me to be his girlfriend.

Eleven very happy months later, I could not be more thankful that he had the guts to message me that day last February.

Over the past year, our relationship has grown into one I have only seen in movies and read about in books. He is not only my boyfriend, but also my best friend in the entire world. We can rely on each other for anything; we practically read each other’s minds; and we never pass judgment on each other or fear being judged.

The best part of our relationship is how comfortable we feel around each other. It is clear that our relationship is one-of-a-kind. I feel, for the first time in my life, truly happy with being myself. I can walk through the halls and laugh my ugliest laugh, and I really don’t care who hears or judges me because I am so satisfied with my relationship.

We have a connection that I honestly had not believed could exist until I experienced it myself. Before meeting my boyfriend, I had never been so close with someone. I’d always had a lot of best friends, and I continue to have a lot of really close friends, but not anything like the connection I feel with my boyfriend. This sensation was entirely new to me.

The relationship that my boyfriend and I have is a natural kind of relationship.

We don’t have to think; we can just be with each other. I know that I will be able to rely on him, and that he will understand what is going through my head before I even tell him. The bond we have is a feeling like no other.

Many people may think it is weird that my boyfriend and I spend so much time together. We went from not knowing each other to being inseparable in less than two months, but the same is acceptable in a normal friendship — you become close with someone, and do everything together simply because it’s enjoyable to be around each other. If this behavior is appropriate for a typical friendship, it is perfectly healthy in a romantic relationship too.

Now, I’m not encouraging people to shun everyone except significant others or their closest friends, but I am saying that it is just fine to be closer to one person than to everyone else.

If you have a connection with someone, embrace it — you’re lucky. If you haven’t experienced this kind of relationship, go find it. It was the best decision I ever made.

page 18|April 17, 2015

Features|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

NEW turns South students into instructors Karin Alsop & Ella Kim Features Editor, Features Reporter

For five weeks each year, volunteers at South’s Newton Educational Workshops (NEW) put aside their free Saturdays to teach some of Newton’s fourth and fifth graders.

In a contrast to the regimented world of South, students participating in NEW have the opportunity to organize their own unique classes and build friendships with elementary school students. Through these classes, students learn and teach skills that extend beyond the classroom.

“For the kids, I don’t think it’s like going to school,” NEW’s supervisor and English teacher Jeanne O’Reilly said. “It’s just a lot of fun, … and I think that because it’s run by teenagers, it’s just really more relaxed.”

NEW is a student-run program that aims to help younger students expand their knowledge and give to high school students an opportunity to improve their leadership and teaching skills.

“There are two positives: one is to give kids a good experience with teenagers, and [the other is] for the teenagers to have experience running the program and the classes,” O’Reilly said.

NEW donates the money it raises annually to a charity devoted to helping children. Last year, the donations went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation; this year the money will be sent to Homeless Horizons, an organization that assists homeless families.

The program offers advantages for both the students and volunteers, according to participants. While the younger students can have affordable fun, the volunteers learn how to be leaders and earn community service hours.

According to senior Vivian Li, copresident of NEW, the classes vary each year based on what the volunteers are interested

photo by Kiana Lee

Junior Stephanie Man helps a student decorate a homemade cupcake. “Cupcake Creations” is one of the 16 courses offered at NEW. in teaching. This year, the elementary school students can choose from 16 courses that range from cooking to floor hockey.

“You have to really love the program to be able to run it all the times that we have to visit elementary schools, ... to have meetings ... We even had to go to the superintendent’s office this year to get into a school to present about it,” Li said.“Patience is one of the lessons I’ve learned, and I think it’s the most important one.”

Dick Lee, father of sophomore Kiana Lee who teaches a DIY class, said that the program is a meaningful experience that helps his daughter gain self-confidence in her instruction.

“She’s a very caring person; it doesn’t matter whether they’re kids of that age or kids at her Kung Fu school. She’s always

training and helping others. It teaches her to be a leader,” he said.

Sophomore Wingyee Huang said that teaching a class on model magic has helped her connect with younger students. High schoolers, she said, are better at communicating with elementary school children because of the proximity in age.

“I feel like I have grown from it because before … I didn’t really know how to communicate with kids a lot. Through this, I was able to open up more and reach out to kids that are shy like me,” Huang said.

“I feel like high schoolers … would probably be able to connect to kids more; they’re more modern. Adults are a lot older and … more sophisticated than high schoolers. We tend to be more playful, in a way. I feel like we connect to the kids more,” she said.

A Poem From ...

John Lawless

John Lawless, Custodian and Poet

In some instances, high schoolers can be better mentors than adults, sophomore Bailey Kroner, a NEW teacher, said.

“With teachers, kids might feel more condescended [to], … but with high school kids … it’s more of a friendship experience, rather than a teacher-student relationship,” she said.

Senior Caroline Dellheim, co-president of NEW, attributed this positive relationship to students admiration of the high schoolers.

“I think it’s really fun for the kids because I feel like, when I was little, I always looked up to older kids. I thought they were really cool, and I think that’s sort of how they see us,” she said. “You can see the excitement they have with playing with the older kids, and they want to be like the ‘big kids.’”

Silence ain’t Golden And what have you to say about those who have nothing to say, the silent ones, the pseudo thinkers, the eye squinters, the mindfully politically correct.

These puppets of the committee consciousness mumblers of the harrumphers harangue mackerel eyed mercenary minions riding on the coattails of the confused.

Convinced that a chorus of cowardice spewing melliflous misinformation sung in unison by the cowardly can confound the common people.

Unknowing dupes convinced of the superiority of repetitions regurgitated righteousness now confronted with the sweet truth of a single singing sparrows song.

Thus do they sit, eyes glazed, mouths agape, in awe of so clear a thought so simply expressed, recoil at the soung of one voice speaking in a clear and conscious flow.

April 17, 2015|page 19

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|fun page

South Crime Watch

To My SeventeenYear-Old Self COREY DAVISON & SAM LEE

Editors’ Note: Individuals are presumed guilty until proven innocent.

NOISE COMPLAINT March 31, Brandeis Road A 60-year old resident on Brandeis Road reported consistent disuptions every 55 to 75 minutes Monday through Friday, excepting the summer.

Public Domain

BREAKING AND ENTERING April 3, Senior Lot A senior reported his Jeep Wrangler rummaged through after he left the car running in the lot with its doors and roof removed.

Nothing was reported stolen.

VANDALISM April 7, Wheeler Lot Student reported her 2017 Lexus vandalized after it was covered in sticky notes spelling out “Prom?” Upon invstigation, administrators found that a promposal was sticky-ed on the wrong car.

TREASON April 11, Library Inspired by the newly-formed People’s Republic of Donetsk, the history department declared a new communist republic on the third floor of Goldrick house, South’s resident conservative reported.

Chairman Rinaldi could not be reached for comment.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY April 15, Cutler Two suspected impostors were seen sitting on the Lbench, conspicuously lacking Starbucks coffee or a punny semi poster.

Overheard at SOUTH Yes, we heard you say that.

Nostalgic junior girl: “I miss Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I had such a good social life in seventh grade.”

Sophomore girl #1: “I woke up butt-naked. ... I went to bed wearing sweatpants.”

Sophomore girl #2: “Apparently I had an entire conversation with my mom while I was asleep.”

Smelly sophomore boy: “My dog went outside at 10 and just got drenched in skunk ... just like soaking wet. She rubs up against f*cking everything.”

Stereotypical freshman boy #1: “There’s this really funny video — this guy gave laxatives to seagulls on a beach, and they started sh*tting everywhere.”

Stereotypical freshman boy #2: “That’s hysterical!”

bffls & bad puns Dear 17-Year-Old Me, There’ll come a moment in your life — just around the time that you’ll begin to pack for your fourth move within the greater Boston area — where you’ll stumble upon a neglected, dust-laden yearbook and decide (on a procrastinating whim) to thumb through its contents. And, somewhere between the bemusing inside joke scribbled inside the front cover and the embarrassing candid of your physics class on page 13, you’ll realize: “I was an idiot.”

I know that you’re not planning an elaborate promposal for Jess, even though she wants to go with Evan, who wants to ask Sam — but only because Shauna and Jon agreed that she would say yes — who hates Jess because she got Chipotle that one time with Allie when she was with Derek, who actually liked Sam, but didn’t know it yet because he was talking to Rachel, Dana and Paul, all at the same time, but trust me: “borrow” Mom’s credit card; perform at Tertulia; call yourself out of B block. This is it. This is forever.

You will work WAY too hard in the few months before graduation. Let me tell you something you haven’t considered: it is your inalienable right, provided to you by the natural laws of humanity, to Sparknote “Hamlet.” The gods have bestowed upon you the prerogative to turn in that Comp Gov paper seven weeks late without penalty.

Sure, all you’ve done is fulfill the most basic expectations of our society, but does that not entail you to some long, overdue reward? Is it not time for the system to give back to you? Think about it.

At my age, one thing I’ve realized is that, as a highschooler, I did not pay nearly enough attention to grades. They may not seem important now, but just wait.

One last thing: that moment in adulthood when you figure it all out? Managing a budget, figuring how to fold your fitted sheets, deciphering your health insurance policy? It comes at 27.

Your future self, Corey Samuels

Embarrassing Roar Staff Photo of the Month: 35 Border St. West, Newton, Ma 02465 617-969-8724 info@jldancecenter.com

Rhynd prepares to head into the wild.

SPORTS page 20|April 17, 2015|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

Kill‘em

sports@thelionsroar.com|VOLUME 31, ISSUE 7

Ooh,

A year after their undefeated season, the boys volleyball team prepares for another shot at the state championship

F photo by Alexa Rhynd

MEET THE CAPTAINS Position: Setter Number: #9 Favorite class: Woodworking Hidden talent: Can do a belly roll

Jonathan Lee Class of 2015

Position: Outside hitter Number: #38 Dream job: Doctor Favorite comedian: Kevin Hart

Brendan Duggan Class of 2015

Position: Outside hitter Number: #6 Favorite song: Shake It Off Guilty pleasure: Gummy bears

Jared Chin

Class of 2015

By Ethan Krop and Darren Trementozzi

ollowing a 25-0 season, which culminated in a state championship, the boys volleyball team has high hopes to win another championship this year.

The 2014 season ended with the Lions ranked 16th in the country — the highest ranking South has ever reached.

Having lost only one of its starters, the experienced team will look familiar on the court this season. Led by senior captains Jared Chin, Brendan Duggan and Jonathan Lee. South enters the season as the clear favorite to return to the state championship.

The Lions look to carry the experience they gained on their journey last year into this season.

“Winning the state championship was unbelievable. We learned how good we can be as a team and now we strive to that potential every day when practicing and playing,” Duggan said.

“Last season was unreal,” Lee said. “It seems fake, almost, because how many teams go undefeated?”

While an undefeated season is a significant accomplishment, the team now faces new levels of pressure.

“The biggest challenge is the fact that we won the state championship last year,” sophomore Krish Maypole said. “When you are ranked number one in the state going into the season, every other team in the state would like nothing more than to see [you] lose that ranking.”

Although the varsity team looks almost identical to last year’s state champions, the Lions

lost two key seniors — Alex Mei and Phil Levine-Caleb.

“They were the backbone of the team, and they had passion for the game that was contagious,” Chin said.

“We lost spirit and energy because [Caleb-Levine] who graduated always started cheers and chants making the whole gym alive,” Lee said.

The Lions, however, said they have carried over more than just talent from last season.

“We still have the motivation and 110 percent effort from everyone,” Lee said.

“This year, with a lot of varsity players returning, we should be better than last year,” Duggan said.

Head coach Todd Elwell does not see the 2014 team’s skill level as its current ceiling.

“If we can get two percent better in our seven volleyball categories, we can keep that step ahead of other teams who are also improving,” Elwell said.

The returning players are optimistic about another title run, but they also said it is important to resist complacency.

“If we continue to work hard in practice, ... we hope to do as well as last year, if not even better,” sophomore Timmy Hwang said. “We need to focus on getting mindful reps and to play harder than we did before.”

Specifically, Lee said that the team is working to improve blocking and covering for hitters, which would allow the team to sustain longer rallies.

Chin added that the team needs to work on communication on the court.

While Elwell wants the players to keep improving, he is not as concerned with continuing the undefeated record from last season.

“If we lose one or two games during the season it’s not a big deal,” Elwell said. “Our goal is a state championship.”

The team acknowledges that, in order to return to the state championship, they must stay focused and avoid underestimating their opponents.

Some difficult matchups the Lions will face during the regular season include games against Arlington, Framingham, Lawrence and Needham.

“Framingham has a new junior this year who was a Puerto Rican national player, and Needham nearly beat us in the tournament last year,” Hwang said.

Lee said he expects competitive rallies against these teams this season.

“We’ll make sure to never give up and don’t let them get the momentum to win,” he said.

In a game of momentum, spirit and energy, support from the student body helped the Lions throughout the 2014 postseason, according to Lee, when hundreds of students attended the games.

With the 2015 season underway, students can cheer on the Lions as they try to battle their way back to the championship.

“It’s all about coming together as a team and doing our best out there on the court to stave off those challengers,” Maypole said. “We have to prove that we are the best team in the state all over again.”

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|sports

april 17, 2015|page 21

Moving Forward Junior Phil Batler broke the South record for the 300-meter dash, qualifying for nationals

By Noah Shelton and Cam Miller

I

n February, junior Phil Batler ciplined about staying on top of his qualities that distinguish him; Batler qualified for Nationals in the work,” Thompson said. “He is very came out to his friends as gay during 300-meter dash. The same month, thorough in his work. He’ll ask quesfreshman year. The team, Rosensweighis strong performance at the 28th tions and make connections, and he Ziff said, has embraced Batler’s identity.

New England Indoor Track and Field adds good ideas in discussions and “He is very active in the GSA. I Championships was second only to Si- works hard.” think that he hopes to be their presimen Okoro of Weston, as Batler posted Junior Brad Weissel, a friend of dent next year,” he said. “I was one of a time of 35.28. Although Batler makes Batler’s, has also noticed Batler’s work the first people that he came out to. It his performance seem natural, it took ethic in the classroom. was very hard for him in the beginning. a late start and hours of hard work for “Phil is extremely academically A lot of people didn’t know, [and] he him to get where he is now. motivated. I have done group projects didn’t really know how to come out.

It was during middle school in the past with him, and he pushes [But] he has come a long way — he has that Batler, in search of a new hobby, everyone in the group to try their best embraced who he is. He is not ashamed decided to begin running. and do their part in the group,” he said. of who he is at all.”

“The spring of seventh grade, Though praised for his determiBatler said his running experiI started doing club track with the nation and hard work, Batler also is ence has taught him the virtues of selfWaltham Track Club. I had always known for his lighter side. confidence and self-reliance. wanted to try track, but my middle “I would love to see people have “I’ve learned that at the end of school didn’t have a team,” he said. the same humor [as Phil],” Thompson the day it’s really only your actions that “I spent the affect your When Phil gets ready for a race, he has an intensity that you really life,” he said. whole spring and summer want to see in an athlete. ... He is never intimidated. He always “You know, running with you can have rises to the level of the competition. the team, and a great team fell in love with - Michael Lenzi, English teacher and boys indoor track and field coach and they can the sport.” help tremenEver since then, Batler has been said. dously, but when you’re doing a determined to become the best. Boys Weissel agreed that Batler, a workout, it’s up to you to push yourself indoor track and field coach and member of South’s improv group, Chil- to go faster and get better. It’s up to you English teacher Michael Lenzi said he dren of the Candy Corn, has a unique to watch what you eat and when you admires Batler’s ability to tune out any sense of humor. stretch and how much sleep you get outside distractions. “[Phil] is always making me and and all that stuff.”

“When Phil gets ready for a race, others laugh, and he has a special way Running, Batler said, is just an he has an intensity that you really want of doing so. He is funny, while still exhausting and anaerobic metaphor to see in an athlete. You see that in being kind and respectful to everyone, for life. him. He will get up to the line the same something hard to do,” he said.

“I’ve also learned that you can’t every time — it could be in a regular Batler’s humor and determinaget what you want without a little DCL meet, it could be in a state cham- tion make him an amiable but strong struggle. You really just have to push pionship meet,” Lenzi said. “He is never leader, a contagious combination, acthrough the pain during a workout, intimidated. He always rises to the level cording to junior Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, — during a race the last 50 meters of a of the competition.” a friend and teammate of Batler’s.

300 are always just awful and hurt so Batler’s determination extends “[Batler’s] sense of humor is a much,” he said. beyond track, according to his history great thing to have on the team. He “I feel like there’s a life lesson in teacher, Andrew Thompson. can lighten the mood when we have a to keep running even though it hurts, “Phil is most definitely very tough workout,” he said. because the end result will make it determined in class. He is very disThese traits are not the only worthwhile.”

photo illustrations by Sophia Fisher

page 22|April 17, 2015

The Fourth Quarter

sports|THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM

Little league participation dwindles

BRENDAN DUGGAN sports columnist

A

DUGGAN’s corner

s I write this final column, I’m finishing up my fourth year (or quarter) of high school at South.

As a sports writer for The Roar, I’ve come to one overarching and inevitable realization: sports matter.

I assume most people reading this article already agree with that statement, so I encourage you to share this article with someone who may not understand or appreciate the significance of sports. The way I see it, sports matter on an individual, team and community level.

Let’s start with an individual basis.

My volleyball coach Todd Elwell shared a quote with me during my freshman year that went something along the lines of, “My whole life I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself.”

At the time, the words didn’t mean that much to my freshman self, but now, as a senior, it’s all starting to make some sense.

Being committed and invested to a team makes you a more aware and selfless human being. Be part of a team — both on and off the court.

On the court, you and your teammates work toward one common goal, whatever that may be. For some teams, the goal is to win a game; for others, the goal is to win a state championship. Regardless, there’s a feeling of solidarity and pride as you step on the court among your teammates.

Off the court, there’s a special chemistry that naturally develops, no matter the team, level or year. Looking back, no matter how many wins or losses a certain team had, there was always one commonality: the family-like bond every team had established.

Who cares if we didn’t win every game? I promise you that no one will care 10 years from now about which team won the most games — it genuinely will not matter.

The friendships and memories created, however, will continue long into the future. This all sounds pretty corny, but since this is my last article, please bear with me.

Finally, on a community level, sports bring people together to support and cheer for one another. I’m talking about the South community supporting a football game, the Boston community cheering on the Red Sox and the United States rallying around our Olympic teams.

As Boston sports fans, we’ve been spoiled to have won nine championships in 13 years. Nine? In 13 years? That’s almost comical, unheard of.

Watching and playing sports is also a great way to relieve academic stress and just enjoy yourself, which I recommend everyone does more of with finals, AP tests and end-of-the-year projects coming up.

Don’t forget to enjoy high school while you still have the chance.

Big ups to my brother Mike for setting the stage for me at South with everything from volleyball to writing these columns.

Special thanks to the entire Roar team for letting me share my thoughts, and lastly, to anyone who has ever read one of my articles. It’s been a great run.

photo by Kiana Lee

Two baseball players from Newton Little League practice together for the first time after three leagues combined.

Eli Braginksy & Cam Dubin Sports Contributors

The slow pace of baseball is causing the sport to lose players across the country as kids are putting down baseball gloves and picking up lacrosse sticks and soccer cleats, according to The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal.

The loss of numbers is apparent within Newton as well. Several years ago, Newton had five little leagues throughout the city, with multiple teams in each division of each league; in 2015, however, only two little leagues exist.

Now the Newton little leagues have merged due to the decline in enrollment around the city, according to Vin Shelton, Major League Commissioner in the nascent Newton Little League. Newton Little League is a combination of the Newton North, Central and West Little Leagues.

Newton South Little League and Newton East Little League also combined two years ago to create Newton SouthEast Little League.

“Perhaps it is fair to say that little league numbers may be in decline; however, I am not sure if it is necessarily fair to say there has been a precipitous drop-off in the demand for baseball in Newton,” Van Eswara, former commissioner of Newton West Little League, said.

According to Eswara, some players

“Combining leagues presents us [with] an opportunity to increase the quality of play.”

- Vin Shelton, Newton LL Major League Commisioner are leaving little league for more competitive private teams such as Nokona.

The decline in little league enrollment, however, may benefit players at both the little league and high school level, according to Shelton.“Combining leagues presents us [with] an opportunity to in-

crease the quality of play,” Shelton said.

With the leagues combining, the best players throughout the city will now play on the same teams.“These kids who play baseball will have team chemistry with each other from a younger age,” baseball captain and senior Jeremy Knight said.

South’s own baseball program has not had a problem with excess players recently. Baseball coach Ron Jordan said he has not had to cut a player since 2008.

“It is pretty clear that every year we lose more and more guys as well as less and less freshmen sign up,” Knight said.

With the state champions from Newton SouthEast Little League set to enter South next year, the baseball program might have to make its first cuts in seven years.

Junior Avery Kaiser, an outfielder on the baseball team, played little league for eight years with a variety of players.

“I always look forward to the game between North and South during spring break,” he said. “It is just nice to be friendly with players [from] all over Newton.”

south scoreboard

***All information is as of 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, 2015***

Team

Next Game/ Meet

Boys Volleyball

April 22 vs New Bedford

6-0

Boys Track Girls Track Baseball

April 22 at Westford April 22 at Westford

0-1

Softball Boys Tennis

April 22 vs Lynnfield April 22 vs Westford

2-2

Girls Tennis

April 22 at Westford

3-1

Boys Lacrosse

April 23 vs Framingham

1-5

Girls Lacrosse

April 18 at Waltham

2-1

April 21 at Newton North

Record (W/L/T) 0-1 0-3 2-1

April 17, 2015|page 23

THE LION’S ROAR|THELIONSROAR.COM|SPORTS

Boys track looks to bounce back

Stealing Second Nathan Elbaum & Noah Shelton

sports columnist, sr. sports editor

G

photo illustration by Nathaniel Bolter

The boys track team placed third in January’s indoor DCL championships after three consecutive years of first place finishes.

Liam O’Brien

the Lions are confident that the upcoming spring will yield a better result.

“We fell short last season, and we Following a disappointing finish to had a bunch of kids fall apart [down the this winter’s indoor campaign, the boys stretch],” senior captain Ben Weingart, who track and field team appears poised for a finished third in the mile at DCLs with a bounce-back season in outdoor this spring. time of 4:32, said. “The goal this season is The boys fell short in the indoor to stay healthy and keep a really high intenDCL championships (DCLs) in late Janusity at practice.” ary, finishing third — well below their “Our primary goal is to win DCLs, expectations after placing first in the previ- but we also want to have some strong perous three years. With a revamped group, formances at states and send some kids to Sports Contributor

nationals,” senior captain Ben Cooper said.

Senior Noah Shuster, also a captain, said he shares the same goals for the upcoming season.

“As a team, I expect us to win DCLs, and place very highly — if not win — divisionals and states,” he said.

One runner to keep an eye on is freshman speedster Noah Whiting. Despite his lack of experience at the high school level, Whiting burst onto the scene with a 4:45 mile at a January meet, good enough to beat Cambridge and finish third in the pool of Lincoln-Sudbury runners.

Whiting also finished fifth in the mile at the indoor DCLs. When asked who deserves attention this season, Weingart instantly mentioned Whiting. “He’s a 4:40s miler in his freshman year, which is crazily impressive,” he said.

Other notable runners include Cooper, who scored in the 300-meter dash at the indoor DCLs with a 37.39 time, while also earning the Lions points in both the 4 x 200- and 4 x 400-meter relays, and junior Anthony DeNitto, who, despite recovering from a broken collarbone, scored points at the indoor DCLs with a 5’9” long jump and a 41’10.5” throw in the shot put.

Cooper also mentioned junior Phil Batler, who captured first place in the 300-meter dash, second in the 55-meter hurdles and fourth in the 55-meter dash at indoor DCLs. Batler went on to enjoy success at New England regionals as well, placing second in the 300 with a time of 35.28.

In a January indoor meet against Cambridge and Lincoln Sudbury, his 6.62 55-meter dash set a new school record.

With this winter’s lingering snow making practices difficult, the Lions have fought through the conditions to adequately prepare for the season.

“It’s been a bit of a bummer, as we usually do track workouts pretty frequently, and we really can’t right now because the track is covered with snow. But since the start of the season, coach has been having fun with it, having some sprinters do some running on the snow,” Weingart said.

The team has also put in time for strength training. “I’ve been in the weight room a lot, building and strengthening muscle, getting bigger,” Batler, who has also put an emphasis on improving his eating habits, said.“I just started eating quinoa, and I’m very proud of that.”

Eninen

eorge Foster of the Cincinnati Reds was awarded the first Game Winning Run Batted In (GWRBI) on opening day of the 1980 season. Little did he know that he had helped start an explosion in the use of advanced statistics in baseball.

A GWRBI was given to the player who drove in the run that gave his team a lead they never relinquished. While many saw it as a silly statistic, it was the pinnacle of sabermetrics at the time. GWRBI didn’t last — it was dropped after the 1988 season. Nevertheless, 27 years later, the use of sabermetrics has only grown.

Another statistic created around the same time is Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched (WHIP). WHIP is used to measure a pitcher’s propensity for allowing runners to reach base. Created by writer Daniel Okrent to rival Earned Run Average (ERA), WHIP has become the premier way to analyze a pitcher’s worth.

Although WHIP hasn’t cracked the pitching Triple Crown — wins, strikeouts and ERA — the Baseball Writers Association of America weights it heavily when voting on the Cy Young Award winner.

Half of the winners in the past six years led their league in WHIP, and only two were not in the top three in the league.

Even more advanced than WHIP, Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is now the most ballyhooed statistic in baseball.

WAR measures how many more wins a team gains with a specific player than it would with an average replacement player.

WAR uses a complex formula that varies across different statistics websites; players can see discrepancies of up to two wins between some websites.

WAR is the most advanced statistic that exists for baseball now, but it is not perfect, failing to take into account discrepancies among players. It lacks comparison between salary and performance.

Many of the best players in baseball are still under meager rookie contracts, making the wins they account for according to WAR cheaper than those of a free agent who has signed for $25 million per year.

The young Mike Trout, for example, has led the league in WAR the past three seasons. In that time, he made $2.4 million and had a combined WAR of 28. On average, the Angels paid him about $80,000 for every win that he earned them. For every win that an average player provides the average MLB team, the player is paid $3.5 million, meaning that the Angels paid Trout only two percent of his total value.

If Trout were to hit the free agent market this year, he would deserve $25 million for each year of play, according to his WAR. It no longer matters whether a player is aesthetically pleasing during a game, and the “dumb” stats are taking a downhill plunge. To be considered good nowadays, 40 home runs or 200 strikeouts will no longer suffice — a player must lead the league in WAR or WHIP. The same thing has happened to career measures of greatness: 3,000 hits or 500 home runs no longer guarantee a Hall of Fame spot as they used to. These developments are great for those who enjoy advanced statistics, but as you get caught up in the numbers, try not to lose touch with the game.

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