The Patriot April 2010, Issue 6, vol 45

Students rock the cradle of civilization

Senior returns to field healed Injury-free Dave Pons bolsters lacrosse team

Spring break trip to Greece and Italy leads to a lesson in ancient culture.

FEATURES 5

SPORTS 20

April 10

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The John Carroll School 703 E. Churchville Rd. Bel Air, MD 21014

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Recent Roberts hiring expands admissions dept

Photo by Kristin Marzullo

Students vanish from homerooms to join their advisory groups. Next year, students will be placed in advisory groups instead of homerooms, and these groups will consist of eight to ten students from all four grades under the direction of a faculty advisor.

Homeroom fades from student life Allison Walczyk Managing Editor As the 2009-10 JC school year comes to a close, so does the existence of homeroom.

Homerooms will be replaced by the advisory program. The advisory program will give students an adult mentor who will ideally stay with them for the entirety of their high school careers. “This program is above all, for the students,” chair of the advisory program’s committee Danica Zavodny said.

“We want it to personalize each student’s experience at John Carroll.”

“The mission statement of the advisory program says that its main goal is to help

the students grow spiritually, intellectually, and socially by reinforcing core values at the personal level,” Zavodny said.

The goal of the program is to help strengthen both student-teacher and student-student relationships, promote character development, help students to utilize school resources, provide each student with an adult advocate, monitor students’ academic progress, and foster communication between home and school.

“This way, each advisor, either a faculty member or administrator, will have about ten students each, so it’s a smaller group.

This way, they get to know you on a personal level,” she said. “Students will be

Sports Editor Varsity baseball coach Joe Stetka threw his hands up in triumph as the dust settled after junior KJ Hockaday slid into home plate.

“I have a passion for the game,” Stetka said. “I love working with kids.”

Stetka came to JC after six years coaching at C. Milton Wright. Athletic Director Larry Dukes offered the position to Stetka at the end of last year after the previous coach, Brian Farrell, left the team to expand his business.

“Once I met [Coach Stetka], I knew this was the type of person that embodied our mission and was passionate about keep-

see SPORTS 20

see NEWS 4

Index

Entertainment....12

Editorials...15 Sports...18

Photo by Katie Doherty

Joe Stetka directs his players in the April 21 game against Mount Saint Joseph. This is his first season as the varsity head coach.

In addition to coaching, Stetka is employed in the baseball business as a scout for the Baltimore Orioles. He follows certain high school and college baseball players and reports how they play to the Orioles.

Besides running, batting, and

News...2 Features...5

In-Depth...10

News Editor

throwing statistics, “I look at how they [potential players] carry themselves and how they respond to pressure,” Stetka said.

On the fields, Stetka emphasizes the fundamentals to his players. “Practice is serious,” junior Brendan Butler said. “He

Joe Stetka joins baseball program ing our boys competitive in the A Conference of the MIAA,” Dukes said.

Stetka started the changes to the baseball season before the official season had even begun.

For any interested players, Stetka held fall and winter workouts to get the players in shape and to get to know the players.

He changed a few “little things,” such as new helmets and dressing up the field.

Stetka has experience coaching baseball. He started 17 years ago as a coach for Hickory Fountain Green Baseball.

Stetka is still involved with the program in addition to coaching the JC team. Previously he has coached summer teams, a travel team, and the Aberdeen Arsenal for 11 to 12 year olds.

Collin Hoofnagle Jesse Roberts, now Admissions Director at West Nottingham Academy, will head the JC Admissions Department starting July 1st.

Roberts’ role will encompass a greater variety of tasks than is now undertaken by current Admissions Director Kim Brueggemann. Roberts is unsure of his title, but according to President Richard O’Hara, it will “be something like Director of Enrollment and Marketing.”

Roberts has a history in recruiting. After playing professional soccer in the CISL league and for the Baltimore Bays, and coaching at Clemson University, Roberts “got into the recruiting side” of college soccer.

College recruiting, “brought me closer to what I wanted to do, which was working with kids in education,” Roberts said.

Roberts has been Admissions Director at West Nottingham Academy, located in Cecil County, for three years. He calls the school, which has 120 students in grades nine to twelve, “definitely different.”

“My role there was very much to lead the enrollment efforts, but also the marketing efforts and help shape our message and programming,” Roberts said.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time there. Things at West Nottingham have definitely been eye opening as far as the world of recruiting and admissions. It’s definitely given me insight into what I think Catholic schools and independent schools can be doing to,” Roberts said.

According to O’Hara, the school sought an addition to the Admissions Department because, “given the changed nature of the whole admissions world, we wanted a greater variety of skills applied to the effort.”

The school “had been thinking about it [adding the position], [but] it took on a

[selected] from each grade, as randomly as possible, but with the smaller size of the incoming freshman class and the much larger size of the rising seniors, that could be difficult.”

Students will meet daily with their advisors and the other members of their advisor groups. In order to accommodate every student, all members of both faculty and staff will have a group, and all rooms will be used, “because right now not all classrooms are being used, not every teacher has a homeroom. We will make sure that every classroom is used, and if need be, we may use the cafeteria and gym,” Zavodny said.

Twice a month the groups will meet for a see NEWS 2

Rachel Kokoska

Photo by Katie Doherty

Roberts visits JC to acclimate to school life. He will assume his position in July.

news

The Patriot The John Carroll School 703 Churchville Road Bel Air, MD 21014 Volume 45, Issue 6, April 2010

Editor in Chief: Daniel Gallen Executive Board: Kate Froehlich Joey Hoff Jenny Hottle Allison Siegel Allison Walczyk

Sophomore Elaine JansingKaestner leafed through the course booklet and discovered that Dance for Fitness is now available for next year. After a year when the class was nonexistent, Jansing-Kaestner was thrilled and immediately signed up.

The Course Description Book 2010-11 has been released, with a few minor changes to class schedules for next year.

All English, religion, science, history, and health-related classes remain the same, but slight alterations are being made to social studies, fine arts, and foreign language courses offered.

Introduction to Law is no longer being offered as a senior elective. This is because there will be “fewer seniors by about 20 [next year]. There will be less demand for senior social studies electives,”

Photo by Collin Hoofnagle

Chinese teacher Fen Whey Koh educates her students about Chinese characters. Chinese I is a course no longer offered for next year.

the numbers for Chinese I, Latin I, and Russian I are simply just not there to justify a freshman class,” Russian teacher Ed Miller said. “I would love to have a Russian I class next year because I have no plans at this time to retire from JC, and so obviously I would like anything

that can be done to have that class.”

However, he assured that “we are not eliminating those courses.”

The first year classes will not be offered for 2010-11, but incoming freshmen will be able to “go back and pick up the course in their sophomore year” if they please.

Advisory groups breaks class division from FRONT PAGE

half an hour. “We will incorporate a special bell so that this will work, and all classes will be shortened that day,” Zavodny said. The groups will cover “something different every week.” At the beginning of the year, for example, the students will discuss the summer reading book. Zavodny feels the small group setting is ideal for covering the novel.

During the 30 minute sessions, the groups might also discuss service projects ideas, the honor code, or current events. Zavodny added that activities such as ultimate Frisbee competitions against other advisory groups are in consideration.

Zavodny started the program as her final project while working toward her master’s degree.

“I approached the administration and asked what they needed to be done, and they showed a lot of interest in an advisory program, so I made it happen,” Zavodny said.

The advisory committee is made up of faculty members from each department: science teacher Lyle Brennen, English teacher Celeste Smith, math teacher Susan Gradishar, psychology teacher Dr. Paul Lazor, religion teacher Dr. Joseph Gallen, and Director of Alumni Relations Sue Greig.

All of the members of the committee have different opinions about the program.

“The most challenging issues in this is to gain faculty and student support for the program, to determine the splitting up of the students, and to determine the ‘nuts and bolts’ issues present, such as how to take attendance, where the many groups can meet, etc,” Brennen said.

Lazor is enthusiastic about the idea. “If it is done correctly, it should make students at John Carroll’s experiences more proactive.

There are a lot of people that fall through the cracks and now they would have a relationship with someone to encourage them,” Lazor said.

Zavodny’s fellow committee members all share her enthusiasm

and even admire her drive. Lazor said, “[Zavodny] was the driving force. She’s the best committee leader, and very proactive.”

One of the biggest concerns that students have is the loss of homeroom. “The idea wasn’t to punish students by getting rid of homeroom, but rather we needed a place for advisory, and homeroom seemed to be the best place for it,” Zavodny said.

Special homerooms, like chorus, have to make changes to adapt to the changing schedule. Music teacher Mark Bolden said, “We are starting chorus at 7:25 in the morning so that we still have the full 30 minutes to practice.”

The mod schedule for next year will also change. Students will arrive at school at 8:00 and report to their first class. After their first classes, students will meet with their advisors for ten minutes and then go right into their mod four classes.

Despite efforts from the faculty, the reviews from students are still mixed. “I think it will be a good program if we get a teacher whom we like,” junior Kelly Vaughn said.

“If we get a teacher whom we don’t like, it could be a problem. I do like, however, how the members are from different grades.”

Other students aren’t informed about the program. “I’m okay with it, I guess, I just really don’t know much about it,” freshman Nathan Barringer said.

The program was made known to the incoming freshman class during its admissions process.

“The advisory program has absolutely been positively received by potential families,” Director of Admissions Kim Brueggeman said.

The administration is positive about the new program. “I think that it will bring many benefits to our students and develop a real mechanism for developing connectedness to the school. It will serve as a great way to monitor academic progress and it will open better communication between home and school,” Vice Principal

of Academics Gary Scholl said.

“I feel like it will bring a level of personal contact with an adult mentor to the students,” Dean of Students Thomas Vierheller said.

“Teachers, since we shortened homeroom, have not gotten the personal connection with their students. It is very college-prep like in that when you go to college you have an advisor, and not just an academic advisor, but someone to help you with career decisions. It is a way to not necessarily give you the answer, but the resources that you need to find the answers.”

Principal Paul Barker echoes Vierheller’s sentiments about the college preparatory factor in this decision. “I mingle with a lot of folks that have advisory systems through my coursework at Penn and they’re like ‘You don’t have that?’” he said. “It’s pretty established in independent schools, but not so much in Catholic schools.”

Teachers like English teacher Christine Zurkowski are eager but apprehensive about the program.

“After we get through the bumps of scheduling meeting times it can have the ability to form strong bonds between students of mixed grade levels, which could lead to students becoming more successful both academically and socially,” Zurkowski said.

“It could also help to have teachers as a student’s advisor whom they never would have had as an actual teacher. It can benefit the quieter students who may want an adult or teacher as a mentor, but may be too afraid to approach them,” Zurkowski said.

Barker, who will have his own advisory group, is looking forward to the program and the effect it may have on the school. “Schools today need to be about understanding the individual needs of students and help people make connections,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be some bumps in the road, but they’ll be worth it.”

Additional reporting by Kirby Browning and Jenny Hottle.

“It’s a good idea.

You get to be with kids from other classes.”

“It’s going to be stupid. You’ll [either] be with people that you won’t like or you will like.”

“I don’t like it. I like being with my homeroom now, with my friends.”

“It sounds like a good idea, but I’m happy I won’t be the guinea pig class.”

Katy Sheward 2010

Please email us at editor@jcpatriot.com or visit our website: www.jcpatriot.com

Copy Editor

Vice Principal of Academics Gary Scholl said.

In addition, Dance for Fitness will be brought back next year, a class that was a part of the 200809 school year. “It seems really interesting and fun to learn dance moves for the school productions,” Jansing-Kaestner said.

Fine arts will also be offering Acting I and Acting II as separate classes next year, whereas this year, they were combined into one.

“Acting I will be a prerequisite for Acting II,” Scholl said. “When the classes were combined, there were both inexperienced and experienced students, and it was tough to meet the demands of both.”

As for languages, “Based on course requests from incoming freshmen, first year Latin, Chinese, and Russian courses won’t be offered at the first year level next year,” Scholl said.

“It’s common knowledge that

Luke Hinder 2011

The Patriot is a publication of The John Carroll School.

The views and opinions expressed in The Patriot are not necessarily the views of the Board or Administration of The John Carroll School.

The editorial staff invites and greatly appreciates comments from readers on any issue.

Charlotte Hagerman

T’Keyah Lisbon 2012

Moderator: Mark Ionescu

Course list amended for 2010-11 year

Megan Tobias 2013

Editorials: Kaitlin Bobbin Katelynn Colgain Entertainment: Nico Cvach Hilary Weidner Features: Katie Clarke Taylor Schafer In-Depth: Julia Earnshaw Elizabeth Tauber News: Alex Dunn Collin Hoofnagle Sports: Erin Hanratty Rachel Kokoska Copy Editors: Alex Bahr Kirby Browning Charlotte Hagerman Gabbrielle Joseph Design Editor: Ryan Selvy Photo Editors: Haley Lynch Kristin Marzullo Mollyann Pais General Staff: Nicky Hatzidimitriou Ryan Lina Caitie Beth Shauck Contributers: Katie Doherty Morgan Seiler

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

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the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Roberts will bring new goals to admissions from FRONT PAGE

greater sense of urgency with the recession and the competition locally,” O’Hara said.

Roberts sees the new position as an “opportunity to be able to work in the admissions world closer to where I live, but also to be back into a school that was religious in nature [West Nottingham was secular]. I certainly miss having the religious component as part of daily life,” Roberts said.

According to Roberts, he and Brueggemann are currently working on how duties will be divided up. “Obviously, we want to play to each other’s strengths,” Roberts said.

“Since Mr. Roberts’ position is

160

Students registered in another school in a six to ten mile radius

439

Total number of students the administration wants for next year

admissionSTATS

The number of students enrolled for the Class of 2014

745

newly designed, we are heading into this with a broad range of ideas with regard to job responsibilities. We will both be doing Open House, School Visits, Shadows, Admissions Committee, [and] meeting on committees. However, giving you exact job descriptions is quite unfair at this point. Mr. Roberts will be concerned with overall marketing and enrollment,” Brueggemann said.

Roberts is “excited about working with Brueggemann. She has so many great tools; it will be a tremendous opportunity working alongside with her to help further the goals of the school,” said Roberts.

“I’m really looking forward to being here. From my career, this is a school that I’ve always looked up to, and I feel fortunate to join the family here. I’m excited about that,” Roberts said.

Roberts’ goals Set to take over the Admissions Department this summer, new hire Roberts has specific goals about increasing enrollment.

Roberts expresses that the students are involved in an admissions “funnel,” which divides students into three categories.

The top of the funnel, and therefore the largest group, Roberts said, is comprised of “students who could be interested.”

The middle is made up of students who “are interested,” and the bottom is made up of students who “show interest [by attending an event or sending an inquiry].”

According to Roberts, the num-

3

Photo by Kristin Marzullo

An incoming freshman looks over papers with her parents and Spanish teacher Danica Zavodny while at Class of 2014’s Freshman Orientation. With Roberts’ new plans, more freshmen should be attending John Carroll in the upcoming years.

ber of students in each category drops “as you move down the funnel.” The ultimate goal is to increase the bottom end of the funnel, or to increase the number of students who “show interest.”

Roberts feels that making sure the brand rollout gets appropriate awareness is a way to increase the top end of the funnel. However, “using students and what kind of success they have to really tell the compelling stories about JC every day” is “how it will start.”

Also on Roberts’ agenda for increasing enrollment is to have more personal communication with future students and families.

It is “a two way communication between family and office to know what their interests are, to know what they bring to the table here, and see how they will best fit the JC community and how the JC community will fit them,” Roberts said.

All of these things combined, be-

lieves Roberts, will lead to a larger number of students at the bottom of the funnel.

“When you tie having more people at the top of the funnel with a more personalized experience as they move along the funnel, that will give you a larger number [of students who show interest] at the bottom of the funnel,” Roberts said.

Roberts has no specific goals of increasing advertising in order to drive up interest. “Advertising’s part of it, but it’s really only part of the marketing mix,” Roberts said.

At the same time, “we’re going to find every avenue we can to tell the good news about JC and get our information into the hands of those people who are looking for a good high school experience,” he said.

These “avenues,” according to Roberts, may include “evangelists for the JC brand. Whether that’s current students or current parents,

[evangelists] are a fantastic way to make sure the school continues to grow in message and continues to grow in the type of quality of kids who are here,” Roberts said.

In wake of the recent Cardinal Gibbons closing, Roberts said there “are students [from Gibbons] who would fit in here.”

However, “an hour and half to an hour commute in the morning may not necessarily set someone up for success in their high school career,” Roberts said.

Roberts has “spoken to some folks there [about JC].”

O’Hara added, “In a different economy, we could let [prospective students] come to us. We can’t do that anymore. We must go out there.”

O’Hara is confident that what Roberts brings to the table will help enrollment, especially in Robert’s ability to bring an “added strategic” view.

Plans will increase involvement in Annual Fund Kate Froehlich Executive Editor The advancement team began an effort to increase alumni participation in the Annual Fund from six to 10 percent through a new campaign entitled, “I am a Patriot.”

The Dresher Foundation will match dollar for dollar up to $25,000 in donations.

Director of Development Laura Lang expects “that our alums are going to come through loud and clear.”

She added, “We’re not asking them for a thousand dollars each.

We’re asking them to consider a gift of any amount, whatever you feel that you can give. We’ve spent the last several years improving our communication with alumni. They hear from us monthly instead of just once a year to ask for money.

We are reconnecting them with the school so that they have a reason to give back.”

The campaign itself “didn’t originate with the Dreshers, but they said if you have an emergency need for funds, please contact us,” Vice President of Institutional Advancement Kurt Sudbrink said. “John Carroll proposed the challenge idea to help us with unrestricted funds, which fill the gap that tuition

does not cover.”

That “emergency need” was defined by the school. Sudbrink said, “We said we know we have some operating budget challenges and that is our highest priority and biggest area of need.”

To promote the campaign, the Development Office is focusing on the use of direct mail, email, phone calls, and videos.

“There will be a letter to alums that have given a gift at any time in the past. They’ll get a letter explaining the challenge with an envelope included. Anyone with an email address will get an email. [Director of Alumni Relations Sue] Greig and [Director of Communications] Sue Cathell will include it on their pages of the website,” Lang said.

Those who have never donated will get a postcard with an explanation of the campaign as well as directions about how to donate on the website.

Although “gone are the days of the old traditional phone-a-thons,” the Alumni Association is “going to help make phone calls if they have a connection with certain people,” Lang said.

In addition, Fine Arts teacher Bob Schick is creating a video with “very quick vignettes of people saying ‘I am a Patriot’ and in sentences

or less explaining why they are. He filmed Jen McIntyre [class of ‘87], [Vice Principal of Academics Gary] Scholl, [and] the kids that are going to Disney [World, among others].

Through our bulk email, we’re going to email the videos to our alums with a link to the online giving page.”

The campaign will end June 25.

According to Lang, “When the Dresher Foundation let us know about the challenge, it started immediately. Any new donations will be added to the campaign.”

“We’ve made great strides in bringing in new donors. This is a great opportunity to reach out to that group that hasn’t responded yet,” Sudbrink said.

To those not sure about donating, Sudbrink offers key reasons of why to do so: “The number one reason why people don’t give is that they don’t realize how needed they are and how important their giving is. They are filling the gap that tuition does not cover. Secondly, by their participating, that’s helping us as we go out to foundations or corporations. If we’re able to say we have 10, 20, 30 percent participation, it gives that foundation or corporation confidence in us as a school.”

To celebrate the conclusion of

the campaign at the end of the fiscal year, the development office will “piggyback” on an Alumni Association summer activity. “The Alumni Association officers are looking at doing something, whether it be a crab feast or something with the golf festival. [However], I hope a simple thank you will be enough for folks,” Lang said.

For next year, “We haven’t set our strategic objectives yet for next year but we have a very aggressive mail campaign, aggressive email campaign, we also do a great deal of work doing individual one-onone meetings with key constituents,” Sudbrink said.

The school’s relationship with the Dresher Foundation “has been a wonderful partnership,” Sudbrink said. “Many of the members of the family are alumni. They’ve always had a strong love and passion for the school. The Dresher foundation gives in the area of education and Harford County,” Sudbrink said.

According to the Dresher Foundation’s mission statement, the organization is “especially interested in providing educational opportunities and serving pre-selected family and human needs in Harford County, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City.”

10%

involvement goal for alumni in “I am a Patriot”

$3,953

participation in campaign as of 4/16/10

2

Reasons to Donate: z Fill

in the gap that tuition does not cover z Businesses gain confidence in the school

464

out of the needed 670 alumni donors as of 4/16/10

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the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Carnival rides to be replaced with music at fair Katie Clarke Features Editor

This year, the JC Country Fair will shift towards the more familyoriented Country Fair and Music Festival to be held April 30 – May 2. The new design of the fair removes the traditional carnival rides and adds more live music.

“We’re changing the whole look of the fair. While we are not bringing back the traditional rides, we are now going to have some new games [such as] laser tag, a rock climbing wall, an obstacle course, and a moon bounce. In addition, there will be the traditional food, crafts, vendors, etc,” Director of Development Laura Lang said.

Other attractions include a cross-campus hay ride and fishing at the pond. The main focus of the fair this year will be the music.

“We’re shifting gears. We are having a Battle of the Bands on Friday night that [religion teacher Brian] Bourne is coordinating in the hopes of attracting our students.

Outside we will be using Harford County’s Showmobile for all of the bands,” Lang said.

There will be an opening performance by Cryin’ Out Loud, a student band featuring sophomore Emily Oursler followed by a Battle of the Bands on Friday night.

Saturday from 4 p.m. until 6

p.m., Walk-Ins Welcome will play and at 7 p.m., a WXCY radio supported artist, Chuck Wicks, will perform live.

An admission fee of $10 is required to get in. The change in the atmosphere of the fair is partially due to the safety and security issues at recent fairs.

“Anyone who has attended the fair in the last few years on a Friday night knows and understands the safety and security issues that we have had to deal with. It’s just not worth it anymore to open our families and the schools up to that environment again,” Lang said.

Fate of seniors’ emails remains undecided Kate Froehlich Executive Editor The decision about whether to discontinue the email addresses of seniors upon graduation has merit-

ed discussion, but “no big decision has been made,” according to Director of Technology Greg Russell.

Originally, “we intended that the account would be cut off when students graduated because of a Microsoft licensing agreement,” Russell said. “However, in this new day and age of connectivity, maybe students want their email addresses to keep in touch [with peers].”

Russell “has some feelings about keeping” the address because it “allows students to keep in contact and the school to keep in touch with alumni. The question is how much people will use it with things like Facebook to keep in contact with friends.”

Another possible solution, according to Russell, would be to allow students to keep a JC Patriot address, but “not in the same account as the rest of current students.”

He added, “Maybe [for example] create an alum.jcpatiot.org, with the same password and account, but the address changes.”

If the accounts are deleted, students will be given warning and time to change the address on subscriptions made with the school email.

The earliest accounts would be deleted is in mid-August, when the school is “pretty sure of the new student population,” Russell said.

“That’s when I import the new students and delete the old students.”

At the same time, current seniors’ Sharepoint access will be removed. As for now, it is “still up in the air,” Russell said. The final decision will be made within “the next few weeks.”

Russell plans to “elicit the brain trust of some other tech savvy folks and the principal or president” to reach a final decision.

JC wins top award Kate Froehlich Executive Editor “Harford Magazine” has named JC the best private school in the county, with St. Margaret’s School and the Harford Day School as runners up.

“It’s so unscientific, [but] it’s nice. I agree with the judgment that says so,” Principal Paul Barker said.

According the editor of “Harford Magazine,” Jennifer Dansicker, the magazine has a distribution of 28,000.

Ballots were included in the previous issue, with 300 returned, approximately “a .01 percent response, which is a pretty good response,” Dansicker said.

Icelandic Volcano erupts, grounds planes

Photo from sxc.hu

A volcano in Iceland erupted on April 9 and again on April 19, causing the airports in Europe to shut down due to the volcanic ash present in the air.

In England, the airspace was closed to all but emergencies until 7:00 p.m. that night. The airspaces in France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, and the Netherlands were also closed.

Because volcanic ash causes jet engine failure, many airports decided to close. Delta Airlines cancelled 65 international flights for Thursday night and Friday morning, and Air China cancelled some of their flights as well.

The airports in Europe have lost close to $184 million, while more than 6.8 million passengers have been affected by the closures as of April 18.

Countries in Europe and Asia plan to reopen their airspaces.

Around 21,000 flights are expected to take off with some 40,000 passengers arriving in Brussels.

Obama plans to explore final frontier

Photo from sxc.hu

x x x x x

President Barack Obama has given full commitment to the space program by outlining a new plan for deep space exploration.

He proposed to give NASA an extra $6 billion over the next five years while at the same time cutting NASA’s project for the continuation of lunar missions.

The addition to the budget would be used for research as a way to propel the U.S. deeper into space, while developing new technologies that will enhance the living and working conditions in space.

However, the Constellation Program, a program created to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, will be cancelled as a result.

Obama’s reasoning for this is that the program is behind schedule, over budget, and less important than projects like the Explorer program and CINDI, a satellite designed to study the influence of space’s weather near the equator.

While many astronauts support the increased funding, they find the cancellation of the Constellation Program to be devastaing.

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the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

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Photo by Rachel Kokoska

HISTORY Photo by Katie Clarke

Katie Clarke Features Editor Sleeping comfortably on a hard blue row of airport chairs in the Frankfurt airport, Vice Principal of Academics Gary Scholl lay cuddling with his inflatable hot pink travel pillow. Scholl, not embarrassed at all by the color of his pillow, had finally found refuge after the uncomfortable eight-hour Lufthansa journey.

The eight-hour flight, followed by a four-hour layover in Frankfurt, and a final two-hour flight to Athens proved to be well worth the hassle. As soon as the plane began its descent into Athens, everyone could see the rising and falling slopes of the Greek mountains, the white island houses built on terraces, and the aquamarine water of the Aegean Sea. Everyone felt more than excited.

Twenty-one students, three teachers, and two spouses were about to begin their exploration of the ancient history of Greece and Italy for the next nine days.

On our first night, we met Anna Costes, our tour guide. The perfect combination of an outgoing Greek and an individual with knowledge-

(Far left) Students visited the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. (Above) Freshman Claire Zurkowski and senior Chelsea Nori teach Vice Principal Gary Scholl some of their dance moves in Pompei.

(Left) On the streets of Plaka, fresh lambs are roasted alongside their innards.

Photo by Allison Siegel

dors selling knock-off Ray Bans and older Greek men dancing around in their boxers kept us more than entertained as we tanned. And of course, Spanish teacher Jane Michael found an adorable Jack Russell terrier to play with.

In Italy, the customs were a little different. Even the simple task of crossing the street proved to be a complicated process.

However, after successfully crossing the street and “swarming like Japanese tourists” as Anna would say, we stood before several of the world’s most impressive historic architectural and creative

feats. In the quiet of the Sistine Chapel, the other group members and I marveled at the ceiling painted nearly 550 years ago by the great Michelangelo.

The most intriguing aspect of Italy for me had to be Florence.

Not only did we see the David, but we also walked by the church that holds the remains of the great philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli and Michelangelo himself.

I had the best time just wandering around, looking at the Duomo of Florence, one of the world’s greatest Renaissance architectural accomplishments, and then searching for decent gelato in the square.

As amazing as most of the museums, archaeological sites, and monuments were, some of my favorite parts of the trip had to be our free time to explore, shop, and relax with other students, or in my case, teachers like Michael.

On our last night, Anna expressed to the group how much she enjoyed her time with us and how we were different from any other group she had ever toured with before. Nothing could’ve ended the trip better than Anna’s heartfelt remarks as we were spending our last night in Rome, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

McIntyre job covering the contributes Middle East, the opportuwe have extennities at JC sive checks [on and emphasis anyone desiring on writing as a Visa],” Mchelping her Intyre said. succeed in her America’s career. safety is not “On Frithe only issue. days, Sr. AgThe individual nes would give needs to have us a book or enough ties to poem and tell his or her origius we had to nal country so write an essay that he or she Photo by Kristin Marzullo there. will return and Jennifer McIntyre, class of ’87, instructs Russian teacher Ed Miller’s Rus- right They were not try to stay in sian I class. In July, McIntyre will begin working in Pakistan for one year. getting us the U.S.to work illegally.

Intyre back to show the potential ready for the AP Exam, but frankly that has become my job,” McIntyre She spoke about her experi- JC students have. ences to the first level Russian and “[McIntyre] has so much to said.

She thinks JC “makes critical Chinese classes, along with other share. She is the top Foreign SerRussian students during mods one vice officer in Washington. I think thinkers. If you are not a critical through three on March 26. Rus- that she is inspirational for JC stu- thinker, then I don’t think you are able to supervise or have senior sian teacher Ed Miller brought Mc- dents,” Miller said.

jobs because you need to be able to see problems,” said McIntyre.

After graduating JC, McIntyre attended the University of Virginia as a Russian major. She graduated in 1991, and her brother pushed her to take the Foreign Service exam.

A year later, the State Department offered her a job.

“I thought I’ll try it for a couple of years and see if I like it. It’s just an incredible career,” McIntyre said.

McIntyre emphasized communication skills for all students. “It’s not necessarily to be understood, but to make sure it cannot be misunderstood,” she said.

For any student interested in the international studies, she advises “experiencing other cultures.”

International students should be willing to “try new things and different foods. They are people constantly looking for something new,” McIntyre said.

outside the book

Over spring break, 26 students, teachers, and family members spent 10 days observing ancient ruins, renaissance art galleries, and the modern beauty of Greece and Italy. able background in behavioral psychology and ancient history, Anna showed us everything we could possibly imagine.

Both countries provided some of the most delicious eating experiences of my life. In Athens, I witnessed a lamb roasting in the middle of the street, and the innards were removed and cooked alongside the roasting lamb. I later found out that this type of lamb is a staple of Greek cuisine.

Visiting most of the ancient sites made me wish I could be an archeologist. Anna, as well as our other guides, could explain the sig-

nificance of the smallest find, piece together an entire civilization’s way of daily life, and make it seem incredibly interesting.

While both Greece and Italy kept me hard at work and entertained with the massive intake of world history, my favorite part of the spring break experience had to be relaxing on the beach in Athens.

With makeshift bathing suits and a lack of towels, we found time to soak up the sun and dive into the Aegean Sea on Easter Sunday.

People-watching became an alltime favorite hobby of mine on the beach. The ever-present street ven-

Foreign service alum returns to inspire students Rachel Kokoska Sports Editor Jennifer McIntyre, class of ’87, started off her first day at the Turkish Embassy in 1996 on the borders of Turkey looking for American refugees from Iraq.

During the height of Saddam Hussein’s power, Kurdish people and other persecuted people crossed the Iraq-Turkey border.

McIntyre spent two weeks looking for Americans. Now, fourteen years later, McIntyre will return to the Middle East in July to become the U.S. Consulate in Pakistan for a year.

As a U.S. Consulate, she will “first and foremost protect U.S. citizens overseas,” said McIntyre. If an American citizen has a problem, the U.S. Consulate has an obligation to help them.

The other component of her job is issuing Visas. “Right now, in my

6 Major

features

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Colleges to check out: z University

Decisions Katie Clarke Features Editor

Social studies teacher Brian Powell always had a knack for politics, even in high school. Powell was looking for an easy transition to law school after his undergraduate studies at Penn State. He dreamed of becoming a lawyer working for congressional representatives on Capitol Hill and arguing constitutional cases.

While his political science path eventually led him to the educational sector, Powell has always been involved in politics, working on the campaign trail for candidates and teaching AP U.S. Government.

If you’re interested in politics, social studies, current events, and debating as much as Powell was, College Board suggests that Political Science might be the college major choice for you.

Director of Guidance Carol Heflin-Shupe sees proactive students as candidates for this major.

“If you’re one of those people who likes to watch the news and keep up on the daily situations of the

world, political science might be With more minority parties the major for you,” Heflin-Shupe forming today, being politically active has become more popular. said.

In order to prepare for a career “There are different ideologies like this, political science majors about how powerful the governcan expect to take classes in judicial ment should be, especially with the processes, foreign policy, political Tea Party right now, and [the Tea theory, American political cam- Party is] really starting to challenge paigns and elections, and global that power that the government holds. People are starting to pay issues.

Heflin-Shupe suggests major- attention [to politics and the direction of the country] ing in political scimore now either beence because of the cause they agree with opportunities for growth that the proPolitical science the Tea Party or they hate it, but it’s much gram provides. “Poacts as a door better that people aclitical science acts as tually pay attention,” a door opener and opener.”

Powell said. a gateway to a lot Students tend to of things like law - Carol Heflin-Shupe share similar perschool, history, and spectives on the iminternational relaportance of being politically aware tions,” she said.

Majoring in political science also today. “Politics is more important helps lead to a more globally aware than ever. In this globalized world, perspective. “I see the power of events that are occurring in Eugovernment increasing and the gov- rope are affecting events in Africa, ernment having more control over and things happening in China more areas of our lives, so to not be are affecting the economy here in informed is to not care about the America. The world is so much one big power that has a lot of con- more interconnected with the advancement of technology. Because trol right now,” Powell said.

‘

JC Fast Facts: compiled by Collin Hoofnagle

309

banners supporting the class of ‘10 in the lobby

12,436

69

total miles traveled by students on JC trips over spring break

Mr. Potato Head dolls adorn Math Department Chair George Appleby’s classroom

3.25

314

mean grade point average of a JC student AP tests ordered by guidance this year for students

of this, people need to be more aware of what elected officials are doing in every level of government, whether it be national, state, or local. I think a lot of youth think that politics is for old people, or it doesn’t affect them, and the most inaccurate thing I hear is ‘My vote doesn’t count.’ All of these statements are false,” junior Chris Bruneau said, who is planning on majoring in political science.

Bruneau recently began an internship with U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski. “I am learning so much while interning with Senator Mikulski. I have always seen politics looking from the outside in. Working at her office, allows me to really know what my legislators are doing,” Bruneau said.

Other options include working with the page program in Annapolis or participating in student government. Bruneau said, “I have been getting involved in political campaigns. Networking is really important in politics.” Good advice for students is to pay close attention in their sophomore U.S. government class and try to take AP U.S. Government during senior year.

of Chicago z Duke University z Columbia University z Harvard University z University of Virginia

5

$123,660 average salary of federal executive governmental lawyers in 2008

4

Potential Career Areas z Journalism z Business z Foreign Service z Law

teacherSPOTLIGHT

Dr. Paul Lazor

psychology Social studies teacher Dr. Paul Lazor instructs senior Nicole Bowman in his AP Psychology class. Lazor worked as a clinical psychologist before discovering the challenge of teaching.

Photo by Morgan Seiler

R

Kate Froehlich ebecca Siegel,

youngestEditor addition Executive

the to

Social studies teacher Dr. Paul Lazor, knowledgeable in not only psychology, but sports as well, enjoys reading “The Wall Street Journal” daily.

Lazor teaches sophomore government classes and senior psychology classes.

Q: Why did you decide to

teach?

A:

I had always wanted to be a teacher. When I graduated from high school, it was hard to get a job in teaching, so people were discouraged from going into it. It’s a pretty good segue because it’s practical to teach it, having practiced for so many years. It gives you an advantage and allows you to ilWhat was your lustrate concepts. most interesting/memorable case as a psychologist?

Why did you pursue the In my career, I en- job at JC? joyed working with the patients with schizophrenia the most.

I was interested and inA lot of psychologists wouldn’t quired about it, but there were no agree with that. I liked it be- positions available. My daughter, cause I thought it was an area who was a junior, called me and where you could really help said that the psychology teacher was somebody. There are treat- leaving, so I contacted [Principal ments that can help them a lot. Paul] Barker and reapplied.

Q: A:

Q: A:

Q:

What has been more rewarding: working as a teacher or a psychologist?

A:

It depends on what you’re doing in psychology, but comparing teaching to private practice, teaching is much more rewarding. You can see the benefits of your work more readily. It’s just more fun. I always thought you should have fun.

Q:

What hobbies are you interested in outside of school?

A:

I’m a big gardener and have a big veggie garden every year. I like to cook and I like to exercise. I like to read [more specifically] about politics and history.

features

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

7

Summer class aims student artistSPOTLIGHT to alleviate stress Lexie Wohlfort lege essays from start until finalization, do a more personalized colFeatures Editor lege search to narrow their choices It’s nearing 11 p.m. on October to about four to eight schools, com31, the night before senior Mi- plete a resume, properly prepare chelle Murphy’s college applica- for campus visits and admissions or tions are due. scholarship interviews, and fill out Senior year has been stressful at least one application, most likely enough already between her final the Common Application.

Spirit Week, developing a senior Sutton will be particularly inproject idea and the ever-increas- volved in the writing aspect of the ing challenge of AP and honors class. “[This program] gives the classes. As Murphy proofreads kids enough time to have a few her application on the illuminated writing workshops where they can computer screen develop the esone last time, she says and edit and wishes she could really come away have done somewith a couple of I think it’s a thing earlier in the solid essays or at year to prevent this have a progood idea for least last-minute anxiety. cess for how to However, the go about writing the juniors class of 2011 has a one if they get a new option for elimquestion that they to have this inating some of that already haven’t option.” senior year stress. answered at the This summer, June workshop,” Sut- Austin Golya ton said.

21 through July 2 from 9 a.m. until Seniors this 11:30 a.m. every day, guidance year did not have such an opporcounselor Carrie Siemsen and Eng- tunity to refine their college applilish teacher Eric Sutton will offer a cations. “I think it’s a good idea college “Head Start” program for for the juniors to have this option rising seniors. because as a senior, there is a lot As a teacher, Sutton sees the going on in all parts of the year and everyday implications of college to get the college applications done application stress on his students. in the summer and be the first to “I teach seniors and so I saw how apply to these colleges can only inoverwhelmed they can be in the fall crease a student’s chances of being with the reality of everyday school admitted to the university of their week, sports, homecoming, senior choice,” senior Austin Golya said. project and then on top of that, visSutton said, “I know the prositing colleges, preparing for inter- pect of coming back here a week views and writing essays, gathering after we get out of school isn’t too recommendation letters and apply- enticing [for some students] but I ing,” Sutton said. think that when the students have For $200, rising seniors can have completed the program, it’ll really personal assistance with three col- be a valuable experience.”

Katie Clarke

‘

visual & music

Senior Lexie Wohlfort practices diligently as a bird girl during a ‘Seussical’ dress rehearsal. Wohlfort has been involved in the music and theater programs since her freshman year.

Photo by Katie Doherty

Nicky Hatzidimitriou General Staff Senior Lexie Wohlfort stood watching the Theater Department perform “Racing with the Clock” during a rehearsal of “The Pajama Game” on the first day she shadowed. The set was flawless, the music was strong, and the cast was filled with enthusiasm. While the exact details remain a blur for Wohlfort, the memory lives on as a significant part of her past – the moment she realized she had found the right place to spend the next four years of her life.

Wohlfort has taken full advantage of the art opportunities offered to her during her four years at JC, participating in chorus, the musicals, acting class, orchestra, ceramics, studio art, jazz band, and drumline. Although Wohlfort’s artistic experience began with Introduction to Drawing in her freshman year, music has always been her favorite medium.

“Visual arts are fun,” Wohlfort said, “but the expression that you can put into a voice or

instrument just amazes me.”

After playing violin for two years in her middle school’s orchestra, Wohlfort decided to join the chorus instead. There, her love for singing began to grow, and only further blossomed during her time.

“I have directly observed her exceptional talent in the musical and performing arts areas,” guidance counselor and musical choreographer Larry Hensley said. “I hope that she continues to strengthen her skills on the college level.”

Through the experience she’s gained in singing, acting, and dancing, Wohlfort has decided to major in musical theatre at Coastal Carolina this fall.

“What’s unique about [Wohlfort] is that she is very accomplished in all the arts. Not only is she a good actress and singer, but she’s a wonderful painter – she has a great eye – and a great little sculptor,” art teacher Michael Gaudreau said. “She is always willing to take chances and risks. And that is a very important attribute that a creative artist needs to have. That’s why

Disney trip affords students new opportunity Kristin Marzullo Photo Editor I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. The music to “I’ve Got Rhythm” from the show “Crazy For You,” played in the background.

My hands were trembling. The words “ATTENTION TO DETAIL!” rang through my head. My adrenaline level was at its peak. I took in a deep breath before dancing out onto the stage.

After hours and hours of intense practicing, drilling dance routines into our heads, and hearing our directors guidance counselor Larry Hensley and Admissions Director Kim Brueggemann filling us with the utmost encouragement, it had all finally paid off. To be performing on a professional level in Downtown Disney, in front of not only loved ones who came to support us, but strangers who stopped to see a show as well, was, before that moment, just a dream.

A wave of relief passed over me as we struck our final pose for “I’ve Got Rhythm,” and the crowd went wild. I took a quick glance over those watching and noticed that most of them were people who we didn’t know. It hit me then that we

Photo courtesy of Pam Selvy

Students finish their performance of “Happy Face” in Downtown Disney. Theater students performed professionally in front of strangers.

were attracting a crowd who were interested in what we were doing. A huge smile fell to my face as we ran to the side of the stage to prepare for our next routine “Happy Face,” from the show “Bye Bye Birdie.”

As we waited behind the wall that separated us from our eager fans, we kept our guard up. Hensley, who had been patiently waiting backstage, congratulated everyone one by one. He reminded us to keep up our energy because we still had two more songs to get through.

As I yet again entered the stage

for “Happy Face,” the audience’s faces showed their appreciation of our performance. With a more jazz-like feel to the song we twirled to our final pose as we waited for the last song to start. My heart rate bumped up a notch as I realized this was it: this was the last chance we had as a group to really “wow” the audience.

Our momentum quickly shifted to a high school graduation sense for “We Go Together” from the show “Grease.” Our energy was high as we belted the words “rama

lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong!” The audience reacted with shouts of enjoyment.

Before I knew it, we were waving goodbye as we skipped off to prepare for our final bow. A few seconds later we ran out on stage, held hands, and bowed as the crowd filled with cheers. No one could suppress their smiles as we watched everyone in the audience jump to their feet to clap for us.

The most rewarding feeling after working on the same dance routines for months was the feeling of accomplishment. As we got back on the bus to head to our hotel after performing, the chatter did anything but decease. Brueggemann and Hensley couldn’t have seemed anymore proud than they were at that moment.

We were overwhelmed with excitement as we realized that we could now say that we had preformed professionally in front of strangers.

It was also a great feeling knowing that we had become a part of family memories of Disney for those who watched us. Before we took off for the hotel, Hensley reminded us that we should be proud, because we were “golden!”

I think she’s going to do good things in her future.”

Now that Wohlfort’s high school career is ending, she’s looking out in the community to pursue her passion. At the end of May, Wohlfort will be playing Gabriella in the Phoenix Festival Theatre’s performance of “High School Musical.”

With determination and confidence, Wohlfort works endlessly towards her ultimate goal: Broadway. Although she knows it’s a tough business to get into successfully, Wohlfort has already displayed her willingness to put forth the effort needed to realize her dreams. But perhaps most important is her family’s constant support.

“My parents have been to every musical, every play, every art show, every concert. It’s amazing that they don’t get sick of it,” Wohlfort said. “At first, my mom was a little skeptical about me majoring in musical theatre because it wasn’t practical enough, but I think she saw how happy it made me, and realized that it was all I ever wanted to do.”

HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS?

jcpatriot.com

8

seniors 2010

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 2 November 2009

seniors

Photo by Louise Doherty

The seniors of “The Patriot” staff celebrate at the Quill and Scroll Honor Society induction ceremony. (Top row from the left) Katie Clarke, Katie Doherty, Rachel Kokoska, Kate Froehlich, (bottom row from the left) Daniel Gallen, Katelynn Colgain, Charlotte Hagerman, Erin Hanratty, Caitie Beth Shauck, Kaitlin Bobbin, Nicky Hatzidimitriou, and Alex Dunn.

2010

This year was especially interesting for the seniors of “The Patriot.” With the shift to an online edition, “The Patriot” members of the class of ’10 went into the new, expanded their journalistic horizons, and led “The Patriot” online edition to two national awards. Just as John Carroll was described in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the seniors proved to be compelling, considerate, and uncompromising in their reporting to the student body.

Daniel Gallen

Kate Froehlich

Daniel Gallen reigned as the Editor in Chief of this year’s Patriot. Gallen’s quiet yet strong authority brought a relaxed feeling to the sometimes crazy paper.

Gallen always knew how to really put his personality through his writing, often showing his love for indie rock or sports in each and every issue. Gallen was intent on keeping the new face of “The Patriot’s” print version as strong and late-breaking as the face of jcpatriot.com. Gallen’s unique twist on the world will be missed in the Patriot Room as he will be attending the University of Maryland, majoring in Journalism.

Kate Froehlich was the driving force behind the release of the online paper. Her constant, intense personality and consistent dedication to the progression of the online paper was unmatched. She countlessly motivated the online staff to reach their full potential. The entire year Froehlich pushed the envelope on new stories and ideas including but not limited to the uncovering of the GOLD campaign, researching Fr. Riepe’s will and her personal greatest acomplishment, the Desperate Housewives Blog. Froehlich will attend American University in the fall to major in Business Management and Journalism.

editor in chief

executive editor

seniors 2010

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 2 November 2009

Alex Bahr

copy editor

Alex Bahr was always there when someone needed a smile. Alex kept things light in the copy editing department. Alex was diligent in her work, making sure the the writing for “The Patriot” was the best it could possibly be. In the fall, Alex will be attending Mount St. Mary’s.

9

Kaitlin Bobbin

Katie Clarke

Kaitlin Bobbin, known to the staff as Bobbin, kept everyone on their toes. With edgy opinions and a minute by minute breakdown of how she would finish her pages was always looking to her. Bobbin’s ability to give input on any subject and find a way to make the student body care is remarkable and will be missed.

Bobbin will attend Harford Community College.

Katie Clarke returned to the Patriot for her third year in journalism. She played the role as food liason, constantly collecting money and making food runs during layout week. Katie’s ability to capture the personality of JC has always shown through in her section. Clarke will be attending the Honors College at the University of Maryland.

editorials editor

Katelynn Colgain

features editor

Katie Doherty

editorials editor

photography

Katelynn Colgain returned to the paper as the Editorials editor for the online edition. She trail blazed the online editorials section with her loyal attitude and fiery opinions. She wrote countless sditorials in addition to maintaining an organized section. Her diligence to assign, write, and edit made her a team player and exceptional asset to jcpatriot.com. She will attend Georgian Court in the fall.

Katie Doherty was the go-to photographer whenever someone needed an artistic photo of a sporting event or other school function.

She was quiet but dedicated to getting the perfect shot. Her photographic skills will be missed by all when she goes to the Maryland Institute College of Art next year, where she plans on majoring in photography or graphic design.

Alex Dunn

Charlotte Hagerman

In her first year working on the paper, Alex Dunn quickly took charge as the news editor of the print edition. While she wasn’t busy breaking news and designing pages, she fascinated the rest of the staff with her extensive knowledge of Harry Potter trivia. Unfortunately, Dunn never received her letter of admittance to Hogwarts, so she will be attending Gettysburg College instead.

Charlotte Hagerman brought a humor to the Editorials section with her How-To Blog.

Hagerman often shared childhood stories, which always brought a laugh to the Patriot Staff. During stressful layout weeks, Hagerman’s voice could be heard throughout the halls as she sang and copy edited final pages.

Hagerman also loves giving hugs. She will attend Mary Washington in the fall.

Erin Hanratty

Nicky Hatzidimitriou

sports editor

general staŞ

news editor

copy editor

Erin Hanratty spent her first year on the paper this year. Bringing her passion for athleticism off of the hockey field and onto the Internet, she dove into the sports section of jcpatriot. com. Hanratty’s writing ability was demonstrated in her collaboation on a How-To Blog that spoke to the confused and misguided JC students. Hanratty will be attending the University of Notre Dame this fall.

Nicky Hatzidimitriou, or Hatz for short, brought a sense of calmness to the craziness of the paper. Hatz combined her love of film-making with jcpatriot.com to create Video Editorials.

Her unique video editorials literally let the readers speak out on current issues and stories. Hatz’s writing brought a splash of color to the features section. Hatz will attend Johns Hopkins University.

Rachel Kokoska

Caitie Beth Shauck

It may have been Rachel Kokoska’s first year on the paper, but no one could tell. She is a master organizer and was always on top of her section. Kokoska had an eye for interesting stories. She not only covered sporting events but also covered human interest stories dealing with up and coming athletes and coaches. Next year, she will attend Case Western Reserve University for Engineering.

Caitie Beth Shauck’s outgoing personality made her the perfect fit for the promotions manager position. She successfully promoted the launch of the new online paper with creative ideas, but she considers her proudest moment this year to be when Pete Wentz linked her review about the latest Fall Out Boy album on his Twitter. Shauck will attend either Loyola University or Catholic University.

sports editor

promotions manager

10in-depth

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Is where you sit in the ca

Stereotypes plague halls of JC “The Patriot” takes an in-depth look Elizabeth Tauber In-Depth Editor Walking through the cafeteria on any given day, a student can feel just like Cady Heron walking through the halls of North Shore High School on her first day of class. There are the jocks, preps, freshmen, band geeks, artists, and the legendary popular kids. While the environment at JC isn’t exactly ripped from “Mean Girls,” some of the stereotypes that plague the popular movie can be found close to home.

“I think there are athletic people, smart people, and band people, and then some just float around,” junior Kadie Hook said. These groups are often categorized by people who are not in the group.

“I feel like sometimes people judge people, but it’s getting better as everyone is starting to accept one another,” Hook added.

“I’ve been called every name out there, but I try not to let it get to me,” freshman Sydnie Griffin said.

Griffin believes that stereotyping is common in the school setting.

Stereotyping is usually negative and inaccurate. The word stereotype is generally used in a negative context. “I feel like at John Carroll it’s mostly bad stereotyping because everyone is so opinionated

and judgmental before they get to know each other,” Hook said.

Stereotyping doesn’t always have to be used negatively. “If you are saying something nice about someone, for example, if they’re known to be smart or athletic or funny, then that is all good stuff, but some things are just wrong to label others as, especially if you don’t know them,” Griffin said.

In her article “Unconsciousness Raising” in the “Regional Review” magazine, Barbara Reskin, PhD in sociology said, “Our brains are wired to reflexively categorize and stereotype people.” She goes on to say that this is especially true in high school, where students just want to fit in. It’s easy to stereotype someone else for your own security.

“I’ve had an opinion of someone from what I heard people saying about them before I actually knew if it was the truth or not,” Hook said.

Junior Lance Waters feels that there is always stereotyping. “I’m pretty sure I have been a victim [of stereotyping] because almost everyone has been judged at one point and time in their life,” Waters said.

It’s often hard not to stereotype people because of their appearance and the company they keep.

In an article on the Psych Central website, Will Meek, PhD in

psychology said “Understanding the stereotypes you hold of others is key in avoiding them getting in your way and resulting in discrimination, prejudice, and unfair assumptions.”

“If you don’t let [stereotyping] bother you, it can make you stronger and then you won’t be upset if you ever hear it again,” Griffin said. “Some stuff is really sensitive to people, and some people even commit suicide. I know that stereotyping is horrible, but I don’t think about it and then I just don’t worry about it.”

Some people may feel better than the others around them because of the groups that they are in.

“I feel like the groups that make themselves appear superior to others are the ones who get made fun of most because they look and act ridiculous,” Hook said.

“I try to avoid labeling people, but if I hear something that everyone tells me, I think ‘If that really is true [then] I don’t want to hang out with them,’” Griffin said. Rumors can create preconceived notions and ruin opinions of people.

Through the high school experience of rumors and other judgments, Waters has taken one important lesson from his time.

“I’ve learned not to judge a book by its cover,” Waters said.

studentANSWERS student ANSWERS

media portrays stereotyping, and s

Bros, Plastics, Nerds, and Gleeks are some of the many common stereotype stereotypes are especially common among students in the John Carroll com

Cliques make students c Julia Earnshaw

Do stereotypes affect the way students view each other?

In-Depth Editor

“Yup because when people hear something they believe it.”

- Olivia Difonso, ‘13

“Of course they do. Even though the stereotypes aren’t always true, people are still stupid enough to believe them.”

- Amanda Zivkovic, ‘11

“No doubt stereotypes affect the way students think. It makes them mad.”

- Colin Brooks ‘12

“Yeah, It does, because people are prejudiced because they judge you before they know you.

-Ian Jansing-Kaestner, ‘10

Sophomore Nandin Dave understands what it’s like to be stereotyped.

Since Dave is Indian, he receives much backlash and stereotyping just because of his ethnicity. “Yes, I’m Indian; it’s pretty much self explanatory the stereotypes I receive,” he said.

“Some are that my family works at Dunkin Donuts or 7-11. I ignore it because it’s basically people being blind to the fact that there’s more to a person than his or her skin,” Dave said.

Junior KJ Hockaday is also stereotyped for his ethnicity every time he goes out on the baseball field. “Sometimes they say I’m good at baseball because I look Dominican,” Hockaday said.

Hockaday isn’t the only student at JC who is stereotyped based on race and sports. According to a poll taken by 120 JC students, 31 percent of students feel that sports-related stereotyping is prominent within the school community. Another 22 percent believes money-related stereotyping is also prominent within the community.

But, Dave and Hockaday aren’t the only ones. Walking into any school, a person can almost immediately distinguish the difference between the social groups that teenagers organize themselves into.

Stereotyping amongst high school

‘

students is common in any school.

It’s the attachment of an over-standardized image that a group of people receive. There are stereotypes because of one’s identity and stereotypes because of one’s group that they associate themselves with.

Either way can affect Everyon how students view each other and themshould s selves. so judgm Sociologist Charles just try t E. Hurst of the Colwith eve lege of Wooster states in “Social Inequality: -Oliv Forms, Causes, and Consequences” that “one reason for stereotypes is the lack of personal, concrete familiarity that individuals have with persons in other racial or ethnic groups. Lack of familiarity encourages the lumping together of unknown individuals.”

Stereotyping inevitably causes social cliques to form for one major reason: security. They exist solely to unify one individual to another, enacting as a safety net that encompasses them.

The fact that their group shares one commonality, their stereotype, helps them to feel less vulnerable to the outside. This keeps certain groups of students from branching out to other students because they are afraid of being judged. Junior Olivia Beard agrees with the fact that stereotyping exists

in-depth

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

afeteria C R U C I A L?

11

at the facts on stereotyping, how the Media sows society’s stereotypes stereotyping in halls of John Carroll.

Allison Siegel

Managing Editor

es that teenagers use to classify themselves and those around them. These mmunity.

Cartoon by Ryan Selvy

comfortable in own skin

for security. “It makes people feel better about themselves to talk badly about others,” Beard said.

Junior KJ Hockaday doesn’t believe that stereotypes and social groups exist for security but instead because, “it’s their way of having ‘someone to hang out ne at JC with’, whether the perstop being son is popular or not mental and they just try to fit in.”

According to one to be friends student who wished to eryone. “ remain anonymous, students are so cliquey via Beard because, “they are too insecure to leave their comfort zone and make new friends.

Most people are also afraid of being judged based on who they are friends with. No one wants to be made fun of for befriending someone from the ‘nerdy’ clique, but the fact that someone would get made fun of for that is what’s sad.”

Dave said, “People don’t really mix social groups because if people don’t have cliques, they get set out as different. We know nobody likes getting picked on which is what being different gets done to you. It is basically because of security.” Whether out of intimidation or getting picked on, as Dave explained, students don’t really find themselves integrating within other social groups.

Negative stereotypes can cause teens to lose respect and self-worth.

“Being stereotyped just hurts,” Dave said.

Hockaday also thinks negative stereotypes can effect how teens relate to each other. “Kids always judge each other on race, and sometimes it can be taken offensively, it’s never positive, it’s always some kind of joke,” Hockaday said.

Although stereotyping can sometimes be positive, often it is taken the wrong way and found to be negative.

“I think stereotyping can affect you positively or negatively, but probably more negatively. People are more likely to stereotype someone in a negative way than in a positive way, which is sad,” Beard said.

The true danger of stereotyping comes out when used for hate crimes and discrimination. Dietary restrictions due to religious observances have caused at least one anonymous student to be the subject of discrimination.

Dave believes that stereotyping can eventually have positive side effects.

“It can cause one to feel confidence in themselves because they’re comfortable in their own skin.”

Beard offers some good advice for students: to stop the stereotyping and judging. “Everyone at JC should stop being so judgmental and just try to be friends with everyone.”

High school is often times blamed as the primary breeding ground for stereotyping, but a significant amount of stereotyping comes from the media. Advertising, entertainment, and news industries are the most common places for stereotypes to be formed in the media world.

Stereotypes are created by advertising agencies in order to boost the success rates of their products, according to EduBook. If an advertisement projects the image of the clientele desired, it appears more attractive to the customer an ad agency is searching for. Hollister clothing ads show skinny, beachready, beautiful people on their posters and over the Internet because the store wants people who look like that to buy its products.

Because that is an image many strive for, it helps boost the sales of Hollister clothing.

Women in all types of media are portrayed as mere playthings for men. In advertisements, a couple depicted in a scene often displays the man controlling the woman.

Other times, a woman alone in an advertisement will appear overly sexy because it either attracts other women wanting to look that way or men because they want someone

who looks that way. “I definitely think it’s a lie, it sets unrealistic standards, there is no such thing as a real life Barbie doll. I could look like them if they airbrushed me,” junior Ashley Snyder said.

Women often are stereotyped as the submissive wife because many television shows or movies focus around a man who merely interacts with his wife while at home. Today’s world is changing, and women are becoming more professional in society. However, television, film, and advertisement make it difficult for society to view women as anything but sexy cooks doting on their husbands.

“I think [the media] shouldn’t base opinions on how celebrities act because [celebrities] just act how the media wants them to,” freshman Martha Schick said.

Minority races tend to be at a severe disadvantage in the media world. In the past year, controversy has arisen over the MTV reality show “Jersey Shore” due to its stereotype of Italian-Americans and other members of the New Jersey community. The violent actions, excessive drinking, and moral integrity of the cast members on this show have put Italian-Americans and New Jersey citizens under the umbrella of their image.

Minority groups also tend to have a violent or ignorant image

in the eye of the media. Minorities often take on the supporting roles that are less significant in a TV show or movie behind white leads.

According to EduBook, minority races such as African-Americans are often times shown using harsh language or physical violence more than white characters in television.

The news industry fuels many of the stereotype fires. A majority of news anchors in the Maryland area are white. It may be viewed as negative stereotyping toward minorities if Marylanders are getting news of crime from a white news anchor.

One example of this comes from New Orleans during the time of Hurricane Katrina. It was reported that a group of African-American teenagers breaking into stores in order to get food were looters, while a group of white teenagers doing the same thing were considered to be fighting to survive, as EduBook states. It seems obvious that the reporting on the same event was skewed due to the race of the people involved.

Society is a changing place where more and more is tolerated and accepted every day. Although the views on different groups of people can be changed for the better, many times the availability to media influence is proving to be a negative effect on the progression of a nation headed toward tolerance.

studentGRAPHS student GRAPHS What kinds of stereotypes are prominent among students in JC?

How often do you feel that students at JC stereotype?

These statistics are based off of 120 responses to polls distributed to all four grade levels on April 21, 2010. These graphs have a ± 3% margin of error.

12 entertainment

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

‘Congratulations’ surpasses low expectations Daniel Gallen Editor in Chief With the concept of the album heading to the wayside with the advent of mp3 blogs and more emphasis on catchy singles, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser go against the grain with MGMT’s latest album “Congratulations.”

Gone are the addicting synth lines from the popular singles. Instead, listeners are treated to an album, a concept that may seem foreign to those on a steady diet of “Kids,” “Time to Pretend,” and “Electric Feel.” Replacing them are a series of solid songs displaying the artistic side of MGMT, with instrumentation far surpassing that of “Oracular Spectacular.”

While the release of “Flash Delirium” as the first single confused most people as to what this music actually was and set expectations for “Congratulations” incredibly low, the song actually makes sense in the context of the album.

Sandwiched between “Someone’s Missing,” a short pop song with the phrase “It feels like someone’s missing” over and over again, and “I Found A Whistle,” a slow guitar ballad, “Flash Delirium” meshes together with the rest of the album, ending up almost hidden by the rest of the activity of the album.

The masterpiece of “Congratu-

lations” is “Siberian Breaks,” a 12-minute epic that showcases the creative intensity found in VanWyngarden and Goldwasser. Seemingly a meditation on commercial success, a theme reflected in lines like “Balance the books, the ledges, the loons / The disappointed looks on the faces,” the track describes how success today is determined by society and the status quo. Rebellious undertones are what drive this album. The general public was not expecting MGMT to make this album and the general public did not want MGMT to make this album.

The general public wants “Kids” to be rehashed over and over again for all the party mixes that are going to come out in the next decade.

But instead, MGMT did what any rock band would and should do: do what they want and not what the public wants.

The songs on “Congratulations” are MGMT in the here and now.

VanWyngarden and Goldwasser know what is going on in society, in music, and in the world as whole.

They are not stuck in 2003 when they penned “Kids” or in 2008 when “Oracular Spectacular” hit the shelves. If they were, they wouldn’t have a song called “Lady Dada’s Nightmare.”

MGMT is evolving and with evolution comes change.

While “Congratulations” may cause some fair-weather fan back-

Patriot Playlist

What is better to do on summer road trips than kick back and listen to some music? Here is a list of some of our editors’ favorite songs of all time.

Allison Siegel “Gone” by Jack Johnson “Feeling This” by Blink-182 “Howling at the Moon” by The Ramones “Foundations” by Kate Nash “Why Can’t I Be Like You?”

by The Cure This is the album cover for MGMT’s new album, “Congratulations.” The album was released on April 13, 2010 and has gotten decent reviews.

lash, MGMT diehards know that VanWyngarden and Goldwasser are making the music they want to make and love to make.

By the time the end of the album comes about, the listener has witnessed the complete evolution of MGMT’s music.

The listener hears everything the band wants them to hear plus more. The album title and title

track of “Congratulations” seem tinged with irony.

The band isn’t saying “Congratulations” to the world. They’re saying “Congratulations” to themselves for doing what they want to do.

So, MGMT, “Congratulations.”

You’ve made what you wanted, and it surpasses the low expectations with a B.

Kristin Marzullo “Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes” by Fall Out Boy “Tell Them She’s Not Scared” by Envy On The Coast “About A Girl” by The Academy Is...

“Be My Rescue” by The Apathy Eulogy “Weekend Warriors” by A Change Of Pace Daniel Gallen “100%” by Sonic Youth “Daydream” by Beach Fossils “Midnight Surprise” by Lightspeed Champion “Living Saints” by Polar Bear Club “Sleep Paralysist” by Neon Indian Kaitlin Bobbin “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens “The Funeral” by Band of Horses “Ahh…Men” by Say Anything “Deep Blue Sea” by Grizzly Bear “Grapevine Fires” by Death Cab for Cutie Ryan Lina “Poison Heart” by The Ramones “I Know a Place” and “Tip The Board” by Bob Marley “Superhero” by Jane’s Addiction “Something You Forgot” by Lil’ Wayne

entertainment

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

13

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Nico Cvach Entertainment Editor Ever since its debut on March 2, “Battlefield: Bad Company 2” has been getting much attention from the media. As it turns out, this attention was well deserved.

DICE, the creator of Battlefield, knew that this game had to be good because it was competing with the “Call of Duty” series. “Call of Duty” has been popular for years and has always been favored over other firstperson shooter games. The best feature about this game is the single player story. Though the first mission is dark and a little dull, the action picks up and the game becomes more and more exciting.

One thing that makes the game so great is the fact that it is so much different from any other first-person shooter. Though the storyline isn’t very original, the limitless possibilities as to what can happen are unprecedented.

For example, the player can make the game much easier or more difficult for himself by destroying a single building. This can have a huge impact because it could clear an entire area in seconds as opposed to killing off your enemies one by one.

Compared to the other games where the same thing happens every time, this concept makes this game even more interesting. A downside to this game is that it is only for one player. Yes, there is a multiplayer option, but that is only for online play. To be honest, the game would be much better if it had an actual multiplayer mode.

Considering how much different the game is from other successful games similar to “Battlefield,” its online feature is surprisingly exciting.

What makes the online mode so much different from other games is how realistic it is. There are no unfair power-ups that make a character superhuman. There are only weapon attachments, which are more consistent with real life. Because of the game’s extremely large maps, it would be miserable to have to run across the entire map, die, and respawn at the beginning to do it all over again.

DICE has offered two simple, yet new solutions to this problem.

The first solution is multiple spawning outposts. This means that, depending on the game mode, a character can choose

where he wants to re-spawn.

This gives motivation to do well in the game and work as a team.

The better the game is played, the more options there will be to spawn. Another aspect of the online component of the game is joining a squad. When choosing to join a squad, the player has the option to spawn next to another teammate. The other solution to getting across a huge map is vehicles.

There are about four different types of vehicles the player can enter in order to get from one place to another. These vehicles include an ATV, a tank, a helicopter, and a boat. Each vehicle has its own advantages.

The ATV is the fastest land vehicle, so its advantage is speed.

The tank has a lot of firepower, so its advantage is strength. The helicopter is the only air vehicle, so it has many advantages, but it is hard to find. Finally, the boat is the only water vehicle, so its advantage is that it enables you to cross rivers.

Overall, this game turned out to be something that I had never seen before, so for those players that are interested, but aren’t sure if this game is worth the money, it may help to know that “Battlefield: Bad Company 2” rates an A+.

Matt Pond PA makes lasting impression ‘American Idiot’ play

enhances Green Day

Kaitlin Bobbin Editorials Editor Matt Pond’s songwriting ability has always been under appreciated.

Throughout his career, his band, Matt Pond PA has mastered covers of Oasis and Neutral Milk Hotel, and have toured with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and Neko Case.

Perhaps this lets on that they’re just another quaint band of the slow and steady variety, but their music is far from ordinary.

Their music, most notably the songwriting, is wonderfully and artistically crafted, worthy of great appreciation, yet Matt Pond PA’s albums just seem to seep into life and become quickly forgotten somewhere in the market of modern day hippie and indie bands.

The latest release, “The Dark Leaves,” has progressed from their forgettable days. In fact, it seems as though the other albums were only practice for the pleasingly melancholic effect they were attempting to perfect.

Matt Pond is a wordsmith to say the very least. He displays control throughout his writing, as if creating such a pensive mood from an album comes naturally. His musical abilities and unforgettable lyrics are comparable to that of Ben Gibbard, but his fan base is practically Gibbard’s opposite.

Maybe it’s because the audience for a mild, innocuous, reminiscent band is hard to pinpoint. It’s hard for a band to be soft without being depressing. It’s hard to write a love

Alex Dunn News Editor

This is the album cover for Matt Pond PA’s “The Dark Leaves.” Matt Pond PA’s audience was not expecting anything special this time due to its previous albums, but finally, “The Dark Leaves” has raised the bar.

song without an indie foundation.

It’s hard to be innocent and peaceful without knocking off some tune or another from the 1960’s.

“The Dark Leaves” is at times brooding, but at other times bright, yet always an incredible listen.

Their somber pathos is always contrasted with a mellow sound.

The artistic variety makes for a unique product, and it’s unfortunate that Matt Pond PA’s style is lost between Elliott Smith and Iron and Wine.

The band can be placed between so many different styles and

sounds that it’s nearly impossible to identify a fan base.

Perhaps a love for Matt Pond PA is naïve, or a teenager’s desire for something amusing that falls between Conor Oberst and Band of Horses. Their work is commendable, nonetheless.

“The Dark Leaves” is a remarkable addition to Matt Pond PA’s discography. Each track is as impressive as the next.

Maybe “The Dark Leaves” doesn’t fit into the mold popular culture embraces, but is that really a bad thing?

One would never think it would be possible for the rebellious punk rock band, Green Day, to be moved to tears. But, it can and happened for the opening of their musical on Broadway. Yes, you heard correctly. I said musical and I said Broadway.

Green Day’s “American Idiot” opened on April 20 and is already one of the favorites to win a Tony Award for best musical.

The play is based off of Green Day’s rock opera “American Idiot,” which won two Grammys and sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.

The soundtrack, which is available on iTunes, has all of the tracks off of “American Idiot” with several songs from Green Day’s latest rock opera, “21st Century Breakdown” (such as “Know Your Enemy” and “Before the Lobotomy”) and a couple songs specifically written for the play (like “When It’s Time”). The final track of the album is a pseudobonus track because it is Green Day’s own cover of the song “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).”I fell in love with Green Day when the “American Idiot” video started playing on MTV and VH1 in 2004. “21st Century Breakdown” is the band’s best album yet in my opinion, so the

skillful intertwining of my favorite songs off of it with the ones from “American Idiot,” such as “Last of the American Girls” with “She’s a Rebel,” made me unbelievably happy.

It doesn’t hurt that the cast’s rendition of Green Day’s songs doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

I usually cannot stand it when people do covers of a song that I think are perfect already, especially as their version tends to turn out terrible nine times out of ten. My favorite songs off the Broadway version would have to be “21 Guns,” “Favorite Son” of the “Rock Against Bush Vol. 2” soundtrack, “Last of the American Girls/She’s a Rebel,” and “Letterbomb.” “21 Guns” currently holds my number one spot because it has all of the cast singing in it. I personally love this version more than Green Day’s version.

The video for “21 Guns” has already been playing on MTV along with Green Day’s video for “Last of the American Girls.”

There are some who will claim that Green Day is selling itself out between this musical, their new Rock Band deal, and their hits on MTV. I, however, respectfully disagree. This musical is something Billie Joe Armstrong and the rest of Green Day has been hoping for. “American Idiot” only enhances them as a band and shows how truly versatile their music is.

14 entertainment

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Students transform local music scene said. “They should not be able to keep from clapping, or tapping General Staff their feet, or banging their heads.”

Senior Vince Gruse shakes with Gruse and Karolenko channel all excitement as he sets up his drum the excitement and emotion they kit in preparation for his band’s feel before each show directly into performance. No longer nerve- their instruments. “The people restricken by the thought of playing act to the emotion with which you in front of an audience, Gruse and play,” Gruse said. “I try to translate fellow senior Kurt Karolenko have everything I feel into music.” become accustomed to playing at Without question, emotion local shows, as have other students serves as a key element in both like senior Kelly Stetka. Although writing and performing music. StetBel Air’s music scene may not ka also shares this viewpoint. “I reseem as lively as Baltimore’s, it’s ally put emotion into my music becertainly not something to be over- cause that’s how I express myself,” looked.

Stetka said. “I love the freedom of Gruse and Karolenko became being able to use my creativity to do friends through their involvement whatever I want with a song. There in both soccer and jazz band during are no rules.” their sophomore years. “Through Stetka, who sings and plays guitar both, we built a friendship,” Gruse and piano, doesn’t perform out in said. “In jazz band, I noticed that the community as often as she used [Karolenko] seemed pretty good at to, partially because of the extenbass. So, I invited him to come jam sive practice required for preparing at my house, and I was blown away for a show. Stetka said, “Also, I’d by his talent. Ever since that day, rather play on stage with other muwe’ve played together.” sicians instead of going solo. I don’t Six months ago, Gruse and Kar- get nervous or have stage fright, but olenko decided to I think it’s more form a two piece fun to share the band. After throwexcitement with ing an assortment people.”

I just write what other of paper marked Whether Stetwith adjectives and I feel and play ka decides to conconjunctions into a tinue playing solo hat and pulling out or perform with what comes three pieces at ranother musicians dom, they settled instead, there are out.” on a name for their plenty of venues band: Lush and in Harford Coun- Kelly Stetka Bro. ty for her to take advantage of, such With their own eclectic sound, as local coffee shops that hold open Lush and Bro frequently performs mic nights. Stetka has already peraround the community at places formed at Huckleberry’s Tea and such as the Bel Air Armory. “Our Coffee, the Talking Head Club, music is kind of hard to describe. the Bel Air Armory, and Shamrock It is deeply rooted in funk, but uti- Park, and other various locations. lizes electronic, alternative, metal, Stetka compares her music to and hip-hop/rap influences,” Gruse something along the lines of acoussaid. “It would be easiest to say we tic/pop with an indie twist. She’s play whatever we feel like playing, been compared to musicians such from blues to screamo, from jazz as Ingrid Michaelson, Sarah Bato alternative, from Latin to indie.” reilles, and Taylor Swift. “I think As Karolenko plays bass and I hear [my music] differently than piano, Gruse covers drums and other people do because I analyze vocals, sometimes even inviting it so much and focus on what I guest singers, such as junior Pat could fix,” Stetka said. “I just write St. Clair and senior Lexie Wohl- what I feel and play what comes fort, to accompany them during out.” performances. Although their curMusic is the means by which rent venues for performance are Stetka is able to best express herrelatively small and low key, Lush self. Whether she’s writing lyrics or and Bro hopes to start playing at performing, music is part of who bigger theaters, such as the Recher she is. “My favorite thing about muin Towson, once the group’s album sic is how powerful it is. It has such comes out near the end of May or an impact on people,” Stetka said. mid-June.

And thanks to Bel Air’s accessible “I want people to be unable to music scene, students like Stetka, control their internal pulse [when Gruse, and Karolenko are having listening to our music],” Gruse an impact on people too.

Nicolette Hatzidimitriou

‘

Photo by Katie Doherty

Above, senior Benny Clough shows off his unique musical ability to play guitar and harmonica simultaneously. In between his gigs at various restaurants, he finds the time to perform at various school functions.

Clough aspires to musical future Daniel Gallen Editor in Chief At age 11, senior Benny Clough put a Beatles album into the CD player in his parents’ car. Seven years later, he has never looked back.

“I have a passion for music,” Clough said. “I believe I can carry a message to my audience through my performing.”

Clough’s senior project of writing and recording an album factors greatly in this mission. He wants every listener to come away with the message he is trying to spread.

“The message I’m trying to get out to my audience is that we are in a complicated world, but we’re all connected as one and there’s a lot more good than bad,” he said.

In writing his album, Clough has finally been able to channel all of his creative energy into one project.

“The experience [of writing an

album] has been incredible,” he said. “I’ve never done anything like this.”

The album, currently titled “October Streams,” showcases the wide range of Clough’s talent.

“I have blues songs on there, folk songs, love songs, and rock and roll songs, but they all tie together with the message at the end,” Clough said.

Clough started his music career by learning cover songs by his favorite bands. Two years ago, he started writing his own music before starting to play publicly last year. “[Shamrock Coffee] was my first open mic night,” Clough said.

Clough has gone from five minute time slots at Shamrock to playing a three hour cover set at Looney’s Pub in December. Of all the places he has played, he has had some of the fondest memories of playing at the Open Door Café in

Bel Air. “I play there a lot and it’s more intimate,” he said. “I get the chance to draw my audience in more.”

Clough’s audience factors greatly in his passion for performing music.

“I want them to feel good,” Clough said. “I want to give them all a chance to listen to music from another generation.”

As with most musicians, Clough’s music has gone through a transformation as he has matured to shape his musical tendencies.

“My material has changed,” Clough said. “It’s sort of evolved from music you would typically hear to music with a more subtle message. I’m more into singing protest songs because the world needs to hear it, especially now when things are changing.”

Right now, Clough has one goal in mind: “I’d like to make CDs and bring positive music to the world.”

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editorials

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

STAFF

EDITORIAL

Students should promote JC

15

What does ‘The Patriot’ have to say?

Six months ago, banners displaying the words “Compelling, Considerate, and Uncompromising” were first hung throughout the hallways.

Buttons with the same words decorated the skirts and jacket pockets of the student body. We listened to teachers give speeches about how the words from the obituary of our namesake were embodied in hearts and minds of the JC student.

However, do the students even really care? Or, more importantly, do we even know what uncompromising means?

The question remains about whether this brand is what John Carroll really means to the students. Did we decide to come to this school because the teachers are considerate, the opportunities are

compelling, and the ideals are uncompromising? We need to find a way for the students to get behind the brand so that they embrace the words and use it as motivation to love the school.

It’s not that the brand isn’t what is right for the school (as it was created after focus groups, surveys, and consultations with a professional marketing committee), but students aren’t able to get as engrossed as they need to be in order to support and understand it.

Still, we applaud President Richard O’Hara, who will be sending surveys out to the student body to assess the branding. Assuming the results are utilized, they can offer more insight into what the students really think about the brand. Hope-

fully they will have suggestions about how to make it more practical and better able to be applied to the operations of the school.

Maybe instead of just saying the words, the administration could immerse the students in the brand.

Applying it to the Black and Gold Award winners for seniors is a good start, but what about rewarding students that embody the brand on a monthly basis? The buttons assembly, while slightly cheesy and far too long, was able to get students to rise up in support. The school should continue doing similar contests but make sure they are focused on these events in respect to a time-frame, so they do not lose the attention of the students.

To promote the brand and

make it more relatable to students, the administration should use the students as a tool. There should be art and graphic design students create new promotional materials featuring it and focus groups coming up with ways to get students engaged in the ideas. In addition, TV Production should be making videos relating its stories to the school’s YouTube channel, and photo classes should be making albums of students representing the brand in the classroom.

After all, we are trying to create an ever-changing face of the brand.

Every aspect of the school would be showcased, not by open houses and brochures in the mail, but by real students with real connections to the school.

What does ‘compelling, considerate, and uncompromising’ mean to you?

“Other than the buttons?

Nothing really.”

-Ellse Adamson ‘13

-Maria Edwards ‘12

how to:

GET

“They don’t mean anything, the game took away the meaning.”

-Patrick St. Clair ‘11

to pay

“It changes the way students feel about the school.”

students

“They’re just a way to make the school look better.”

-Jesse Herliehy ‘10

ATTENTION

Editor offers advice for teachers to heed Kaitlin Bobbin Editorials Editor It’s normal for most kids to not pay attention in school as it is. But what are teachers supposed to do when it’s almost May and senioritis starts to show in the freshmen?

Well, valued and scholarly teachers of mine, I have a few ideas. This is not about giving all of your students an easy A. It’s not about class parties or free-mods. It’s about engagement. We’re teenagers. That doesn’t mean we’re incapable of getting involved in the classroom.

All it takes is something to get us interested about the subject. We don’t want you to preach to us. We understand that there is a curricu-

lum that teachers have to cover, but why can’t the curriculum relate to us? If it’s worth taking the time to study, it has to have some importance to our lives.

PowerPoint presentations and projects don’t relate to us. They don’t make us feel a connection to the lesson. We don’t like taking notes or doing mundane sequences of arbitrary activities. In fact, I’ve learned the most from the classes that never required a single note.

Not because the teachers aren’t challenging, but because they understand that education shouldn’t be separated from interesting.

I’ve always felt the most engaged in a classroom with a lively teacher.

When it’s apparent that the teach-

er’s main concern is not slamming information into our heads for the purpose of not losing their job, class becomes bearable. When the teacher genuinely cares about the students, the class becomes decent.

When the teacher truly wants to interest us in the subject, their class becomes a favorite.

When teachers are passionate about what they’re teaching and they see the connection between what they’re teaching and why it’s worth a student’s time to learn it, students enjoy school. And when students enjoy class, they learn.

Honestly, we aren’t learning what makes the information we’re taught relevant if the only thing it’s good for is a test grade at the end

of the day. Deep down, we know that there must be a reason why we’re studying the variety of subjects that our school requires. It has to be more than test grades, college acceptance letters, and big money from a successful career.

The reason why 12 years of our young lives are reserved for education is more purposeful than monetary success or academic awards.

School is supposed to teach us how to think in new ways and how to learn from the successes and failures of our ancestors. Incorporating this into class does not require a sacrifice of college or test preparation. As soon as teachers learn this, they will know what it takes to engage their students.

At Wit’s End By: Allison Siegel

Surviving ten days without internet, cell phone access, and television was supposed to be a real challenge to my communication skills.

As it turns out, the trip may have been the best thing for them.

Until recently, I had never traveled farther than United States soil could take me. But over Spring Break, I travled to Europe.

Trekking the few thousand miles to Greece and Italy showed me that there really is so much to learn about not only history, or science, or culture, but about people. Humanity is such a bizarre thing –no matter where you are in the world, it can still surprise you. People will always be people, whether that is in the most complex or simple sense.

There is something to say about getting to know a person while shipped alongside them to a place you can’t even begin to imagine. It doesn’t matter whether you have ever talked to him or her in the cafeteria before, or whether this person would be caught dead talking about the history of the Parthenon and the Greek gods worshiped there while actually in history class.

Being able to see someone out of their regular environment really lends to a truer reading of their character. Over the course of ten days, I befriended some people that I didn’t even know went to our school. It became clear that I truly have been missing out. It’s so easy to open up to someone and share jokes or tell stories when you know that no one’s under the pressure of having to fit in at school.

The people that I met and were able to talk to during my adventure showed that there is so much to be hopeful about for mankind. In America, going into your average café or coffeehouse can be seen as an individualist activity because you go in, get what you want, sit down on your laptop, explore the world of Tumblr, and leave. In Greece, most of my favorite moments and people were found while I was idly having coffee. There were shop owners that could make me laugh or determine what my grandmother would want in three seconds.

Some café waiters could carry on a conversation with you for a half hour, despite the fact that we could barely speak the same language.

The biggest surprise and the most refreshing bit of knowledge that I acquired was that there is something out there holding humanity together, no matter what we think about how it is falling apart.

This generation isn’t lacking faceto-face contact. There’s a whole world out there ready to hear a story and smile with you.

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the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Capitalizing on student stories can revitalize image Photos from Patriot Archives

a finalist in two national journalism competitions, with the possibility of winning in both, so shouldn’t our editor in chief be called to share the papers’ stories? We run trips over breaks and exchanges to all over the world, but are we telling people that we’re going to China in 2011?

We should have these students actively going out into the community and promoting the school, explaining how John Carroll has pro-

hand out awards at ceremonies, talking to kids about what John Carroll offers. Tailor promotional With an incoming freshman trips to feeder schools by involvclass numbering at 160 and the ading a greater variety of students to ministration fighting against the efaddress different aspects of John fects of the still-faltering economy Carroll. Having President Richard and the demographics of Harford O’Hara and Principal Paul Barker County, I question if advertising speak at school functions is great, and marketing efforts are being but continue to allow more indipursued correctly to reach the magvidualized time where potential stuic number of students each year. dents can listen to their peers speak I do recognize the difficulties we about what specific aspects of high face and am admittedly not school life interest them. intimately involved in the Promotional materials can process of enrollment, but profile a variety of creative I am told, when interviewand intellectual pursuits, ing various members of the and can be more effective administration, that it is the when told from the eyes of 1. Utilize student stories to better job of the entire John Cara student. promote the school roll community to promote However, to get the stuthe school. So why is that dents to do this, they have 2. Engage students in a way that not happening? to be enticed. Members makes them want to sell John CarAs a reporter, I know of the enrollment team roll that every story needs a should stand up in front of 3. Get ideas from students and face, or a description fothe school and ask for their teachers about why they chose cusing on a person at the help more often. Don’t just beginning of an article. It’s tell me during interviews John Carroll what draws people in – a that everyone has to prohuman voice, a story with mote the school. Work to appeal, a single focal point to paint vided these opportunities. They’ve engage current students in a way a picture for the reader and set the taken the tools they’ve been given that makes them want to sell John tone of the article. To increase and are running with them.

Carroll. enrollment, the school must take Their stories should be featured A teacher made the best point, advantage of the surplus of student on the website much more promi- as I ranted to them about the low achievements and stories available. nently. Where the pictures are now enrollment numbers. They gave I’m thinking about the four girls should be features about student the example that for the brandthat got lacrosse scholarships, but achievements. Athletes should go ing, it would have been effective have they been featured in promo- back to the recreational centers to get the entire school commutions? “The Patriot” was just named they played at as children and nity involved: have English classes

Kate Froehlich

Executive Editor

ThePoint

deciding on slogans, art students what to promote, as they know best making logos, photography classes what made them want to come to taking shots of everyday life in the John Carroll, whether as a student classroom and beyond. That’s how or what draws them as a teacher. you get students excited about the They know what potential students school and allow them to feel that and families want to hear and how they have a stake in its future. best to present the information to In addition to utilizing students’ young people. stories, the Board of Trustees and If we recognize the importance the administration should include of utilizing students to tell their students even more directly in story, the way to get them to rally the decibehind John Carroll’s sion makmission is to give them ing process an active say in the future We have the about what of the school. Give them aspects of chance to say why they story. We just acame the school to John Carroll to promote. to find out what best to need to sell it.” market, and then, in turn, The administration give students a chance to is either share what they’ve gained secluded in a hallway or halfway through their time on campus. across campus. The Board espeHowever, I want to make this cially isn’t in school every day, sit- clear: I love John Carroll. It has ting in the classrooms, walking the provided me with countless ophalls. That’s the students and teach- portunities for success and growth ers. I appreciate their marketing ex- as both a student and as a person. pertise, but shouldn’t the market- I want other people to have the ing committee have students that chance to belong to this commulove John Carroll come to meetings nity, to this family. We have the and give their say? Likewise, the story. We just need to sell it. administration should seek inspiraLet students be the voice for our tion from students by incorporating marketing attempts because they’re them into advertising efforts. already the most effective face.

Develop focus groups of inter- That’s how we can show potential ested students and faculty, ones students what they want to and that really have a lot to say about need to know about our school. our school. This includes a variety We owe it to 45 years of students of ages and interest levels outside passing through these halls to take of the classroom. They can pick into account what they have to say.

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School constrains Volcano eruption creates student freedoms opportunity for crime strike Ryan Lina

General Staff For some reason, the school’s faculty is constantly decreasing the amount of freedom that students have. Whether it’s as simple as the dress code or as complicated as getting involved in students’ lives, the freedoms of the student body are constantly being diminished.

With the addition of girls having to wear saddle shoes and freshman guys wearing whatever those things are that they’re wearing, and incoming freshmen having to wear the same ties next year, the dress code is starting to make less and less sense. It seems more like the leaders of the school are going on a power trip. It’s like they had a meeting and said, “The uniforms aren’t bland enough. I know! Let’s make everybody wear the same shoes, then they’ll have nothing!”

The uniform rules used to make sense. They used to say that the dress code made us look presentable and let the students know how to dress when going in for something important like a job inter-

view. Now, that no longer applies.

They act as if when you went into a job interview, the man conducting it said, “This man is not wearing a John Carroll tie, he is not getting this job, and I will smite him!” Actually, if you went to an interview wearing one of those ties you would not get the job. In fact, you would probably be dismissed as a crazy person.

Furthermore, it seems as though the administration is lurking over our shoulders outside of school as well. If somebody hears a rumor of you doing something that does not cohere to the JC moral standards of conduct or they find one picture of you holding a red cup on Facebook, you may have to face academic reparations.

The school is cracking down on freedom of expression left and right. It’s a depressing thing to think about. I’m not even looking forward to spirit week next year because of how controlled and school oriented it’s going to be. It’s a good way to keep students under control, but lately it has gone too far.

Taylor Schafer Features Editor As I woke up for school one day last week and turned on the TV, news anchors continued to pour out their own commentary on the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.

When the volcano erupted on Wednesday, April 14, a large plume of ash was blown into the air cancelling thousands of flights and causing airlines to lose over $200 million a day while ash drifted over the northern European skies.

It’s amazing how, in our hightech world, a natural phenomenon such as a volcanic eruption, where no casualties or direct devastation occurred, can throw a part of the world into havoc.

This eruption is just one of many recent windows that have been set up by Mother Nature for scammers to benefit from. Others include the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, China, and Thailand’s Tsunami. But isn’t it then that we, as neighbors, are supposed to cooper-

ate and help as much as we can? amount of cash after explaining Apparently not all of us think so. a false reason of why “they” need In the midst of this turmoil, some cash in a hurry.

In reality, they are probably mispeople looked at it as a window of erable people too lazy to work for cruel opportunity.

As frustrated travelers waited their own money. And in an urgent hopelessly in airports, airlines situation, most family members would not hesitate scampered to wire the money to reschedule to help out. I was flights, and millions of people I was stunned that stunned that people would dip this low watched the surreal events people would dip for their own benefit. unfold on the this low for their news, pathetic It’s a win-win situcon artists took ation for the scamown benefit.” full advantage mer, but a lose-lose to gain all the for the victims. Not cash they could bargain from inno- only are they hurt by the disaster cent people. that just happened, they are out a What happens in this situation few hundred or thousand dollars. is that these con artists find a parSo, props to the few human beticular person’s location (a young ings who never cease to amaze me man stuck in a London airport, for with their constant greed and selfexample) and retrieve the phone ishness. No matter what Mother number or e-mail address of a vul- Nature may have in store for us, nerable relative (mainly grandpar- a few of us always seem to feel the ents or aunts and uncles). They need to outdo her. Keep up the then pose as the stuck family mem- good work! I think we’ll really grow ber asking the relative for a large from our experiences.

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the patriot

Modern society seems caught in ‘Neverlution’

Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

okay here! I know what’s going to happen.”

People will stand behind that fan If Charles Darwin saw the cur- for years, but when they get your rent state of evolution, he would order mixed up at Taco Bell one be crying. Evolution, or at least hu- time, they’ll go ballistic. If they give man evolution, has stopped. Evolu- you a taco instead of a burrito, just tion has slowed so much that now it fold it sideways! People freak out seems more like neverlution. over the littlest things.

Recently, there was a video rePolitics around the world have leased on the Internet of a lady try- stopped evolving as well. Reing to get close to the polar bears cently, the government spent over at a zoo by going into the polar $180,000 to clone a dog. We bear tank. If you’re reading this should spend our money on someand thinking “that’s a good idea,” thing beneficial. Every five secyou’re an idiot. Obviously, while onds, a child dies of hunger related the lady tried to pet the polar bear, illnesses. We could spend our the bear proceeded to eat her face. money helping them. Did I miss What did she think was going the meeting when we established to happen, the bear would just that we were just going to clone evbe happy that an overweight g 32 ery starving child after he dies? year old woman The world has was invading his stopped evolving so personal space? much that people People just False. The bear no longer look for is going to attack traits in othdon’t learn from good the deranged ers.

Everybody woman. judges each their mistakes on their outerother That’s simply apevolution: bear pearances instead anymore. gets attacked, of personalities and bear defends itself. On the other intelligence. This leads people to hand, we humans decided to help get plastic surgery so they can fit in. the lady and hit the bear with a stick People are no longer learning until it let go. from their mistakes or trying to In my opinion, that’s bad genes. find good genes in other people.

Evolution says this lady is crazy and Instead, people continue to repeat should learn a lesson from this, but their mistakes and choose cosmetes h instead the zookeepers rush to her ics over intelligence. help and let her produce children If this continues, then the prewho are going to think it’s a good diction of the world ending at 2012 idea to go pet a lion. will come true. However, by that People just don’t learn from time, the process of neverlution will their mistakes anymore. It used to be so extreme that instead of freakbe, when we see the crap about to ing out because the world is ending, hit the fan, we step to the side of we will say, “No one is watching the the fan. However, now people will car dealership; were going into the stand behind the fan thinking “I’m apocalypse in style!”

editorials

17

Ryan Lina

General Staff

Jenny Hottle Managing Editor When my homeroom teacher passed out the little white slips of papers, I looked down and saw a balance of $258 staring back at me.

Two hundred and fifty-eight dollars for three AP tests.

Exchanging a glance with my friend, we couldn’t help but ask each other: what was wrong with the College Board and its outrageous testing fees?

To be fair, the cost of an AP test is miniscule in comparison to the amount of money a student could save by placing out of a general college course. However, many students who are taking an AP test are most likely taking more than one.

Those 86 dollars, multiplied by any number of AP tests, quickly add up to a frightening amount.

According to College Board, financial aid is available for students who meet certain requirements.

Through financial aid, the cost for an exam can be lowered to $56.

While the reduction certainly

helps, it doesn’t make the exam free. A 35 percent reduction probably will not help someone in dire need of financial aid. And while some students from middle class families might not qualify for financial aid, it still could be a struggle to pay for several exams.

At JC, the balance AP students receive in April comes right around the time when their tuition deposit and technology fees are due for the next year. So while one AP test might not break someone’s bank account, two or three might just be enough to cause one’s parents to tighten the family’s spending a bit.

After seeing the balance for the AP exam fees, some students might consider backing out. Don’t. You might not have to pay the full $86, but you’ll have to pay a small fee to cover the cost of unused supplies.

You might as well take the test.

Regardless of the actual price of an AP exam, I’m still bothered by the fact that students have to pay to prove themselves. College Board is making a ton of money at the expense of thousands of students.

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Future of state politics proves feeble Kate Froehlich

Executive Editor For two weeks, I sat on the floor of the Senate in the Maryland General Assembly in a gray jacket as a student page, soaking in the hours of debate and hundreds of papers distributed daily.

During my last week, we had an eight hour long session without a break and must have killed 938,438 trees.

After spending that time there, talking with the senators and observing the political process, I was surprised by much of what I was able to see.

On bills with serious debate, only a handful were bipartisan in the final vote. The major bill that sticks out in my mind as following this was medicinal marijuana, which saw support from both the Republicans and the Democrats in the Senate.

There was a core block of senators that voted with the President of the Senate at all times. Even with the opposition proposing amendments that made undoubtedly the most sense, they were still shut down.

I watched senators fail to argue their point and pass it off to someone who was not involved with the

bill at all and still see their work pass. One senator made a single point during his entire time presenting a bill, refusing to address the other side’s concerns, and his bill passed. He simply ignored important points brought up in proposed amendments.

However, at other times, I thought senators would argue simply for the sake of it. We literally must have spent two hours on a bill about not securing dogs on leashes during snow storms.

In addition, not all of the senators even pay attention. I watched some get on the Internet, one play chess online, and a few that put the Duke-Butler NCAA championship game up for the pages to watch.

This can be explained, however, by the fact that, according to one of the senators, much of the work is done in committees and the floor debate is “for show.”

It should not have surprised me to see this. It is politics, right?

But I wish there was less of this pointless nonsense and more collaboration.

Yeah, most of the senators care about their constituents, and believe me, they all said it about a thousand times each day. But may-

Photo by Katie Clarke

Delegate Eric Bromwell sits at his computer in the House of Delegates at the State House in Annapolis, MD. According to pages in the House of Delegates, there was bipartisan support behind the majority of the bills passed.

be instead of shoving through bills because there is a majority or proposing unnecessary amendments that don’t have a chance of passing, both sides should work to come to a logical agreement instead.

I heard from pages in the House of Delegates that only two bills during their two weeks in Annapolis were completely based on party lines. I applaud that type of bipartisanship and wish the same had occurred more frequently in the Senate chamber.

On Friday, I was able to watch a house burn in San Diego, California, via CNN live. How incredible has the online news venue become that I can sit on my computer and watch the plumes of smoke float from somebody’s home in real time? Seriously. I can only dream that jcpatriot. com will one day reach this pinnacle.

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Student deems AP exams worthy of extravagant costs

Kaitlin Bobbin Editorials Editor

When issues are based on party lines, nothing can get done effectively. How can you really expect a state to see improvements, especially with such a huge debt, when their senators can’t even attempt to see or understand both sides of the bill?

It seems to me that this is the best way to make the state stronger as a whole. And while a lot of good gets done in Annapolis, there are still a significant number of flaws that could use amending.

I was staring into the distance, living my mundane everyday life when I was told that I should live in an Earthship. Just the word blew my mind. When I first placed my eyes on this “radically sustainable home made of recyclable materials,” I discovered my life goal. All sarcasm aside, when I come across $1.5 million, I will be living in an Earthship in New Mexico.

It’s that time of the year when indie music festivals across the country sprout up like poppies. How I wish that Baltimore would have a spring festival. It’s not impossible to swing $200300 to see a plethora of my favorite bands gathered together in one place. But add in a four night hotel stay and a round-trip flight—well, my plans are slashed. I don’t understand why I must be teased like this. Please Baltimore, get your act together.

“ODDSAC” is all I have to say. What does that mean? Well, I still don’t know. Animal Collective has left every hipster in Baltimore wondering just what this visual album was supposed to be. Perhaps it means nothing, or perhaps it means everything. Are some people just weird for the sake of being weird?

Maybe the most important question of all is simply, “What color are your pants?”

Summer jobs can be the opportunity for teens to make money and gain some independence. They can also be the reason why your summer is spent in a poorlylit room full of stress and pain. I suggest picking summer jobs carefully. If you aren’t seeing the light of day enough, it’s time to rethink striving for independence.

18 sports

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Blizzard results in combined Track team smashes winter/spring athletic banquet several school records Mollyann Pais Photo Editor Assistant Athletic Director Tim Perry deemed it a “perfect storm of events” that caused the winter athletic banquet to be postponed and combined with the spring banquet.

“We were getting down to the wire, giving everybody ample notice about the banquet,” said Perry.

“But we only had a minimal number of tickets sold.”

Although he admitted that he “really doesn’t know” why there were so few tickets sold, Perry thinks that it was due to a combination of the poor economy, the weather, and the start of the spring sports season.

“Most of our athletes play multiple sports, and it’s hard to afford [tickets for] two or three banquets in a school year. Also, the winter banquet had already been pushed back because of the snow and so athletes just figured that they needed to be at their spring sports tryouts,” Perry said.

Perry is optimistic about the success of the coming combined sports banquet, saying, “Every-

body, I think, will work together on athletics this spring.”

Student athletes have mixed this.”

However, he admitted that there emotions about the combined were “a couple compromises we sports banquet. “I think it will had to make. But, I mean, it was take the spotlight off winter sports. the worst winter since I was a baby,” The emphasis will probably be on spring sports,” freshman swimmer Perry said.

Perry and the Athletic Depart- and golf-player Jon Leishman said.

Junior wresment have tler Lance Waters decided on agreed. “I’m not goMay 20 for the comIt brings everyone ing,” he said. “I don’t play a spring sport bined event. together in the JC and I think [winter The only and spring sports major differcommunity.” banquets] should ence is that be separate – each the teams - Marcus Munroe season should get its will not have own banquet.” breakout sessions.

However, the other student-athThey needed to work around the seniors’ schedules, “it [was] letes seem to think the combined banquet is a good idea. quite the juggling act,” Perry said.

“I think it’s good, because it He added, “One of the toughest challenges [in scheduling the brings everyone together in the banquet] is that some of our teams John Carroll community,” Marcus are so successful and prolong their Munroe, a freshmen on the JV basseason by advancing in the end-of- ketball team, said.

Freshmen JV lacrosse player the-season tournaments.”

Despite these challenges, Perry Hayden Sharretts agreed. “I think said that he plans to “give all stu- it’s a good idea [to combine bandents and parents ample opportu- quets] because of the economy nity to come together and enjoy JC right now.”

‘

Joey Hoff Managing Editor

Sherry Hudson

Softball Q:

How did you get involved with softball?

A:I started playing organized

softball when I was 8 years old.

I have two older brothers and a younger sister, so we were always playing Wiffle Ball in the backyard.

Additionally, my dad coached my brothers’ baseball team so I was always tagging along with them to practice since an early age.

photo by Katie Doherty

Varsity softball coach Sherry Hudson speaks to a player during the game against Mount de Sales. Hudson has been coaching the team for six years.

Q: What do you like about Q: What do you like about softball?

coaching?

A: Some people think softball A:The best thing about coachis a slow paced game, but it is actually a short game with lots of bunts and steals. In softball, the bases are closer than baseball, and the pitcher’s mound is closer. It can be a mental game. You have to decide whether to swing at a pitch that is coming at you 50 or 60 miles per hour.

Q: When and where did you start coaching?

A: I was the assistant coach at

John Carroll for many years. I took over as head coach six years ago.

ing is the interaction with the girls.

It brings me great pleasure to see them mature and grow every year.

Also, just being around the girls and the different personalities is a lot of fun. They make me laugh every day.

Q: How would you describe your coaching technique?

A:I think I am a pretty disci-

plined coach. My philosophy is to stress the fundamentals of the game. I also hope that by being on the team they become more

responsible for their own actions whether it is coming to practice every day, finishing their school work, or taking care of obligations with their family or community. I also try to convey to the girls the importance of doing things with passion and commitment. They shouldn’t just go through the motions.

Q: What is your favorite JC coaching memory?

A:Two

years ago, we beat Spalding in the end-of-the-year tournament and went to the championship game for the division. It took the program to new heights and showed the girls [that] they can play with the best teams.

photo by Katie Doherty

Junior Ben Pickett races the 1600-meter run against Baltimore Lutheran’s Corey Armes. Pickett holds the school record in the 3200-meters.

Julia Earnshaw In-depth Editor As sophomore Ben Pickett stood on the line for the 3200-meter run on April 10 at the Pikesville Invitational, he took a look around at the other top distance runners in the state and knew he was in for the race of his life. Two miles later, Pickett sprinted across the finish line in fifth place with a final time of 9:44.9, a new school record.

The Pickett family is no stranger to record-setting. Josh Pickett, class of ’07, formerly held the 3200-meter record of 9:55, until the younger Pickett shattered his mark.

Pickett credits his success to his training, eating well, stretching before each meet, and doing the best he can. To keep his motivation high during his hard practices, Pickett looks to the rest of his team.

Keeping positive, Pickett said, “If they can do it, I can, too.”

Pickett wasn’t the only one setting records this season. On April 17 at the Knights Invitational at North County High School, freshman Derek Alban, Pickett, and seniors Chris Kunkel and Ian Richardson ran 8:41.9 in the 4x800meter relay, beating the old record.

On April 21, the 4x800-meter relay record was broken again in a meet against St. Mary, Beth Tfiloh, and St. Frances, this time by a team of Alban, Kunkel, Richardson, and senior Daniel Gallen. This team shaved .3 seconds off the time, running 8:41.6.

Richardson, who set the record both in 2007 and 2010 and also set the school record in the open

800-meter run in 2009, understands that JC has a reputation to uphold in the 4x800-meter relay.

In the 4x800-meter relay, it’s not just about the individuals, but about the teamwork that is put into action. “We go out there for each other, and each win is not an individual, but a collective achievement,” Richardson said.

Sophomore Heather Kirwan initially experimented with sprinting 100-meter and 200-meter races, but once she tried pole vaulting “for the heck of it,” she found her new love.

Now, Kirwan is achieving success in pole vaulting, holding a record of seven feet, six inches.

“My new goal is eight feet and during practice my goals are to work on getting faster and [improving] form,” Kirwan said. Kirwan will continue to challenge herself, “literally to new heights,” because of her passion and love for the sport.

Freshman Kiana Wright has burst onto the scene in 2010, setting the record in the 400-meter dash, running 59.9. “Before a race, it’s pretty much the worst part of my day. I am incredibly tense and nervous and I can’t function. After the race is a whole different story,” Wright said.

As for the rest of the season, the team’s attitude is staying confident, thanks to the records. “The outlook for the end of the season is hopefully the girls will get in the top three in the championship.

The guys will do very well; we have a talented team throughout,” coach Robert Torres said.

sports

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Senior golfers play through links strongly Daniel Gallen Editor in Chief Every spring for the last four years, seniors Jon Borowy, Trey Profili, and Brad Ross have dusted off their clubs following long winters to prepare for the Patriots’ varsity golf season . While the team has struggled to compete in the MIAA A Conference, Borowy, Profili, and Ross all feel their time on the team has been some of the best they have spent in high school. “[The golf team is] the best experience I’ve had related to this school,” Profili said. Profili has been golfing under the coaching of Serge Hogg since eighth grade who convinced him to join the team.

Borowy and Ross both acknowledge that Profili is the hardest working member of the team, because he played at Winters Run Golf Club every day over the summer in addition to constructing a driving range in his attic so he could work on his swing over the winter months. Borowy and Ross would both practice at every open opportunity.

Borowy has been playing golf since he was 12 years old and met Hogg through his brother Nick, class of ’07. Ross met Hogg through his brother Matt, class of ’08, and cites Hogg as a main reason for enjoying the team.

“They’re all supportive,” Ross said about Hogg and assistant coach Eric Neff. “Serge is serious

Photo by Kristin Marzullo

Senior John Borowy follows through on his shot. Borowy has spent four years on the golf team with seniors Trey Profili and Brad Ross.

with us, but knows when to goof around with us too.”

“It is my goal to create a positive memory of their days of playing on the John Carroll golf team,” Hogg said.

“We’re the closest team, teambonding wise,” Profili said. “We all get along.” All three players feel that having a good time and staying loose is the key to having good play and good team chemistry.

“There’s some squares in the league [for whom] golf is their life and they’re no fun to play with,” Profili said.

“Even though we may not have won as many matches as we could or should have over the past four years, I truly believe that they have enjoyed their experience playing golf here at John Carroll,” Hogg said.

All three players look forward to

the end of the year individual tournament to determine who the best golfers in the MIAA are. Before this year, none of the players had made it to the second day, but they all enjoyed the experience of seeing all of the golfers in the league in one place. This year, both Borowy and Profili qualified for the second day of play.

Profili’s favorite memory of his time on the golf team is when he birdied the last three holes to tie a match with Calvert Hall’s No. 1 golfer, while Borowy’s is playing a match against Spalding in his freshman year with his brother.

For the future, Ross is attending Ohio State University to major in finance and said he is “not quite good enough” to make the Buckeyes’ squad.

Borowy plans to attend and play for CCBC-Essex for two years before transferring to a four-year school.

Profili was set to play golf for McDaniel College, but due to financial constraints, will attend either CCBC-Essex or Harford Community College while working on his golf game. All three recognize that their time on the golf team was special and an experience that will be difficult to duplicate.

Hogg knows that he may not have a group of players like this again. “The friends you meet and the experiences you share during these days are what shape those memories,” he said.

19

Overtime By: Daniel Gallen The most poignant scene in the NCAA Tournament wasn’t Butler forward Gordon Hayward’s lastditch shot attempt to beat Duke in the final game. It wasn’t Michigan State guard Korie Lucious’ buzzerbeater to sink Maryland in the first round. It wasn’t even Butler as a team advancing to the Final Four up the road from the school.

Instead, the scene that defines the NCAA Tournament is that of West Virginia coach Bob Huggins on the ground, comforting Mountaineers senior guard Da’Sean Butler after Butler suffered a scary knee injury in the Moutaineers’ Final Four loss to Duke.

I watched in shocked silence after Butler crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony following an awkward collision with Duke forward Brian Zoubek. It was the typical train wreck reaction – something you want to look away from, but you just can’t.

But I’m glad I kept watching. I saw something that defines athletics as a whole, something that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life, more so than the fact that Butler almost won the whole tournament.

I’ll remember the love that a coach showed for his player. After Huggins’ few choice words to the referees about Duke’s play, the coach kneeled down and caressed his star player’s head, talking to him quietly and trying to soothe him.

The emotion displayed was one I had never seen before. Often times, we see coaches giving high fives and offering words of encouragement, but rarely do we see anything like this. The image of Butler lying on the ground in pain with Huggins next to him wrote itself into my memory.

And after this happened, the game didn’t seem so important.

It reinforced the idea that the relationships formed on teams and groups are more important than the overall result that is reached.

When it gets down to it, a team is about caring for one another and looking out for each other, something the member of any team At halftime of the game between Duke and Butler, Butler came on to CBS to speak about his injury.

The soft tone in his voice showed that he truly had been affected

by Huggins’ act, that Butler came out of this experience physically injured, but stronger overall as a person.

We’re left with the relationships and the experiences we’ve had through bonds with others.

20 sports

the patriot Volume 45 Issue 6 April 2010

Pons overcomes injury, dominates lacrosse field tinue to play for the entire season.

“I was lucky,” Pons said. “I didn’t Sports Editor need surgery, just physical theraWith his lacrosse stick in hand, py.” senior Dave Pons prepares to “I’m always concerned for all my smash his opponent’s stick when players. I talked to them and Erik an opening arises. He immediately [Fabriziani] to make sure they can strikes when his opponent’s arm go [play],” Hinder said. But he was moves farther away from the oppo- not worried about losing Pons for nent’s body. The ball flies out of the season. “[Pons] is a very tough his opponent’s possession. player,” Hinder said.

Pons checks his opponent and Even though he kept playthrows himself ing, Pons was forward to scoop concerned he up the ball. “would never While cradling Not only is [Pons] be completely the ball in his healthy again.” stick, he races off Hinder a great captain, to pass the ball to checked in with one of his teambut also a leader Pons, along with mates without his other playand a coach on ers, before pracfeeling the pain of his hernia that tices and games the field.” he suffered from to make sure last year. they felt alright.

- Keith Hinder Pons walked “[Pons] is smart onto the team this spring com- enough to know when to shut it pletely cleared for play following a down,” Hinder said. hernia injury that sidelined him in As the lacrosse season ended the fall. last year, Pons made the decision He injured himself while lifting to forego his last football season. “I weights before the lacrosse season didn’t care. I just wanted to get betbegan last year and was not sure on ter,” Pons said. the specifics of the injury.

Pons spent many hours a week Varsity lacrosse coach Keith in physical therapy up until late OcHinder responded to the situation tober when he was finally cleared. by insisting Pons find out what was The injury was not completely wrong and get proper medical at- a negative experience for Pons. tention.

“The experience taught me how to Pons was diagnosed with two eat well and take better care of my hernias, but Pons decided to con- body,” Pons said.

Rachel Kokoska

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Photo by Katie Doherty

Senior Dave Pons checks Friends’ Johnny Magwood during the April 14 game. Pons has come back from an injury that he suffered during 2009 lacrosse season.

The next challenge for Pons was getting back in shape and building up to where he had previously been.

“I started running and then lifting. But due to my previous experience, I haven’t lifted as much and instead I have focused on lacrosse,” Pons said.

At this point in time, Pons “feels good.” He has no side effects from his injuries besides the need to see a trainer before practices and games to properly stretch his muscles.

Pons advises other athletes facing injuries to get help sooner than later. “You’re better off getting help; you get back to the game sooner,” Pons said.

He is certainly not the only player on the team with existing injuries. “Not one player on the team is 100 percent at this time of the season. The running, checking and hitting takes a toll on the body,” Hinder said.

Pons and senior Sam Chell were chosen as defensive and offensive

captains, respectively, this year.

“Having Dave on the team is great.

Not only is he a great captain along with Sam, but also a leader and a coach on the field,” Hinder said.

“Dave is a very dedicated athlete to lacrosse, demonstrated by his work ethic through adversity,” said Athletic Director Larry Dukes.

Pons plans on “aiding his team to win a championship” this year.

In the further future, Pons will attend the University of Kentucky and play club lacrosse.

Patriot of the Month highlights student athletes who may or may not get due recognition for success in their chosen sport. They are selected by the Sports Editor.

Photo by Katie Doherty

Coach Joe Stetka responds to a play made by the JC baseball team.

Stetka came to JC after a career at C. Milton Wright.

Stetka brings success back to baseball team from FRONT PAGE

Photos by Katie Doherty

Junior shortstop KJ Hockaday began his baseball career when he was three years old. His favorite part of baseball is being in “situations where it’s you and the pitcher. The game is resting on your shoulders, and you have the opportunity to hit the game winner.”

Varsity baseball coach Joe Stetka compliments Hockaday’s work ethic. “He is usually the first one to practice and the last one to leave every day all season long.”

Hockaday is committed to play Division I baseball for Maryland. “I am looking forward to first, the great education and second, to being the man who gives the state a name and brings the Maryland tradition back,” Hockaday said.

Midfielder senior Jenn Etzel has played on the varsity level for women’s lacrosse since her freshman year. Etzel started playing as early as she could at the age of six. She enjoys “the game itself” and has played for the Sky Walkers Lacrosse Program. Her favorite JC lacrosse memory is winning the IAAM championships in 2007 and 2008. This year she is a captain along with sophomore Erica Bodt, junior Sarah Dennison, and senior Alex Mezzanotte. Varsity lacrosse coach Krystin Porcella picked Etzel because “she is a true leader. Jenn takes care of what she needs to do, along with helping other players.” Etzel will play Division I lacrosse for University of Denver next year.

obviously wants to win. We work on everything from technique to game situations.”

Baseball techniques are not the only goal on Stetka’s mind. He wants to change the “losing” atmosphere into a “winning” one. To make this happen, “the players need to buy into what we’re doing,” Stetka said. “They’ve accepted me and we’re seeing results.”

For instance, junior Brendan Butler was featured by “The Baltimore Sun” as Athlete of the Week for the week of April 12. His performance in the games against McDonogh, St. John’s, St. Paul’s, and Calvert Hall contributed to the decision.

“I could not have done it without my teammates and coaches,” Butler said.

The game against Calvert Hall on April 9 was not just important

for Butler, but for the team and the school. “It is the biggest win in the school’s history,” Stetka said. The perennial power Cardinals were ranked 11th coming into the game, while JC was only ranked 13th. “It was like David and Goliath,” Stetka said.

“Coach Stetka, along with Coach Glen Gustafsson, had a huge part of me being honored with Athlete of the Week. They not only helped me become a better baseball player but also a better person. I will use what they teach me in life as well,” Butler said.

Stetka plans to continue winning and make the playoffs. “Coach Stetka is a true baseball man. His interest is always making the team better on and off the field,” Dukes said.

“I want [the players] to leave confident that they can play against anyone anywhere,” Stetka said.