Whittier April 2010

Inside!

Page 3

The PDA Debate

— Senior Explorations —

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Page 3

Catertainment Page 8

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The Whittier

Miscellany

April 2010

Wilmington, DE

Paul

Wilmington Friends School's Community Newspaper

Inside!

Spread the Word to End Philly School Spies on the Word — — Students

Students Debate Politics at World Affairs Club Mara Freilich '11 News Writer

Photo of the Month: Students enjoy Senior Kelsey Mellow's artwork in the Library

A Welcome Hug For Zug Annie McDonough '13 News Writer The entire student body and faculty will be sad to say goodbye to Head of Upper School Rob Lake next year.

However, we all should be excited to welcome Rebecca Zug, who will be the new Head of Upper School. Next school year, we will welcome Zug from Sidwell Friends School (SFS), another Quaker school in Washington, D.C. SFS is a Quaker school, much like our own, in Washington, D.C. However, SFS is bigger, and quite a bit more famous than Wilmington Friends School. In 1997, Chelsea Clinton graduated from SFS, and both Sasha and Malia Obama currently attend the Middle and Lower Schools at SFS. Also, both the daughter of Richard Nixon and a former princess of Japan graduated from SFS. Despite its heightened reputation, though, SFS still has a lot in common with WFS. Zug comments, “At both schools, the students and teachers are incredibly dedicated and passionate about what they do each day. SFS is a bigger school, however, so that changes the feel of the community. I look forward to the size of Friends, and the inspiring mission of the school.”

Zug grew up in Delaware and attended Westtown School. During her time at SFS, Zug was the Assistant Upper School Principal and Dean for Students. When asked about her position, she explains, “I spend all my day meeting with students, faculty and parents over all different kinds of issues.”

She, like Lake, teaches a History class. Zug says, “My door is always open and I get the most pleasure from connecting with people and making their school experience better. As Upper School Head, I hope I will have much of the same kind of day. I will certainly spend time in classrooms, getting to know the teachers, the curriculum and the students. I will lead, with the help of the faculty and students. The Quaker process is extremely important to me. I am a firm believer in the power of collective, reflective decision-making.”

Zug belonged to a Quaker meeting in Washington, D.C., and she looks forward to bringing her family to another Quaker school. She could not be happier in a Friends School, adding, “I think Friends education adds a powerful dimension to learning for all involved. The

testimonies of simplicity, peace, stewardship, compassion, integrity, equality and community, among others, help make all of us do the best we can each day to make the world a better place. Reflection and Quaker decision-making deepen and strengthen the community.”

Zug has come to visit our school before, while applying for the job, and she has found that the environment is much like her school environment at SFS. Observing Lake, Zug feels welcome and excited. “I have been lucky to meet with Rob Lake several times. He does leave me with big shoes to fill. He has loved his time at WFS and is helping me make the most seamless transition possible. I have lots to learn from him,” she says, also adding, “I really felt at home the first time I visited WFS. I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, the students in the hallways, and the small classes engaged in critical thinking and dynamic learning. I felt welcomed by everyone on my visits.”

Although this will be a new adventure for Zug, it seems like a big change to be moving her family and career from D.C., to Wilmington. When asked how the move will be for her, Zug says, “While we have many close friends in DC, moving to Wilmington will bring us closer to other friends, and to our families. My mother grew up outside of Philadelphia, as did my husband. Many relatives live between Philly and Wilmington. The city of Wilmington has great museums and lots of wonderful things for children. The surrounding countryside is breathtaking. My husband is a Phillies fan so he could not be happier.” So not only will Zug be returning to another Quaker school, it will be like a homecoming as well.

It is exciting to think of a new and refreshing personality joining our school community next fall.

Zug is looking forward to the challenge of a new job, commenting, “The job is a challenging one. I am not worried or nervous, but I do want to make sure that by my actions and words, the whole WFS community understands that I am here to support the school and all its constituents going forward. I feel lucky to be coming to such a wonderful institution.” As we sadly say goodbye to Lake, we will welcome Zug with open arms at WFS.

The newly formed World Affairs Club specializes in provocative statements. The opening statement for the first club meeting in January was; “Obama’s foreign policy has been a failure to date.” This statement inspired a lively debate, including both students and faculty. Since then, the club has moved on to equally controversial topics, discussing the role of the United Nations in the world, the United States’ terrorism policy, and the use of “enhanced interrogation” methods.

The club is clerked by juniors Louise Connelly and Kevin Anglim. Says Anglim, “Louise and I started this club in the hopes of making the student body more aware of major events and issues on a global level.”

Freshman Jack Hollingsworth, an active participant in the club, appreciates their leadership. He comments, “Louise tries to guide the conversation while Kevin takes a more active role in debating.”

Faculty advisor Javier Ergueta also comments that the clerks have “a good formula for running the club,” and do well in choosing controversial topics not often discussed in school.

The World Affairs Club meets every day 7 in Ergueta’s room. The debates start with a presentation of the opening statement, and then someone will make a challenge to the statement or bring up evidence in support of its claim.

Some members are very active, while others prefer to listen. New members are present at each meeting and members come depending on their interest in the topic to be debated.

Club member junior Jessica Venetianer says, “I really enjoy World Affairs Club. It is a great opportunity to learn more about global issues and to have a chance to share your viewpoint and debate with other students.”

Since the club hopes to attract members whose political views might not be as well developed or who are not as aware of the global issues the club addresses, the clerks set up a website so that members can prepare in advance and explore the issues to be debated. The clerks post information supporting each of the viewpoints for every issue, and students and faculty can use the discussion board to debate the topics before or after the meetings. Anglim explains, “Students and faculty are free to come and go to each debate and don't even need to take a definite position on a topic if they do not wish to.”

The club also hopes to be open to students of all viewpoints. The statements that the club puts out for each meeting are meant to stimulate discussion, and students appreciate the wide variety of viewpoints presented at each meeting. Hollingsworth says, “I like that it's not just liberally-biased like so much of our school.

People are tolerant of others’ viewpoints even if they don't agree most of the time.” Anglim adds, “Every student that comes to debate will experience a challenge to their original perspective.”

In this way, the club is helping to not only expand student awareness and to develop students’ viewpoints on important global issues, but it also helps all students establish new ways of thinking

Continued on page 3...

Community

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

Oh, Mamma, Can This Really be the End? university hardly ends the anxiety of life; in fact, it presents entirely new mountains to climb: new people to meet, new subjects to learn. And the most daunting As a senior, I’ve experienced a great deal of part of it all is that the mountain range doesn’t end finality as of late. By January I had turned in all my until we die. We spend our lives waiting to reach college applications, by February I had completed certain destinations just so that we can relax for a my athletic career, and just the other week I decided little, but no matter how much we accomplish, there is where I would spend the next four years of my life. always another peak on which to set our sights.

For four years, it felt like everything was building The French philosopher Jacques Lacan expounded up to this moment. Throughout my high school on this idea in his work. He wrote that human beings experience, I looked towards the burdensome task of are only fully satisfied when thinking about the deciding on a college as the climax of my education. future. Thus our hopes and aspirations are inherently I hoped, and therefore believed, that once I got my unrealistic because it is not the fulfillment of these acceptance letters, the rest would be pure cake. But desires that completes us, but rather the desire itself. to my unfortunate surprise (and this may come as a As the philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “If our condition shocker to the reader) I have discovered that despite all were truly happy, we would not seek diversion from the completion and accomplishments I have recently it in order to make ourselves happy.” Yet we do seek experienced, life has strangely decided to keep going. diversion. We set our minds on a myriad of goals; and Upon the completion of a chapter in life, it feels these goals are often unobtainable ones. Because the as if there should be some sort of natural epiphany-- second we have obtained something, we have nothing a clear new beginning to follow such a definite end. else to strive for and no other mountain to climb. Bob But, if I’ve learned anything in the last month, it’s that Dylan poignantly sums this tragic disappointment of life is not a book. Experience cannot be broken into accomplishment in his song “To Ramona”: “You’ve chapters, paragraphs or words-- and experience is not been fooled into thinking/ That the finishin’ end is at composed of measurable building blocks. Lately I’ve hand/Yet there’s no one to beat you/ No one to defeat been pondering an old Zen saying that an old friend you/ ‘Cept the thoughts of yourself feeling bad.” In a shared with me: way, the finishing end is never at hand, because the second we feel that it may be, we may have our prey, First there is a mountain, but we are left without a hunt to give our life purpose.

Then there is no mountain, Perhaps our inability to be content with what Then there is a mountain. we have achieved is a product of biology. After all, in evolution only the fittest survive, and who are the While this kōan could mean lots of things, to me fittest but those who most strongly desire survival? it is a comment on completion. No matter how many Millions of years ago, the Neanderthal that wanted the mountains one may climb, there’s always another wild boar was going to survive while his counterpart one looming in the distance. The acceptance to a who lacked desire would surely die. Once the former killed the boar, he would move right on to his next desire. Yet in today’s society, a large part of the population has filled the bottom portion of the hierarchy of needs The pyramid. Natural selection has bestowed unto us the tendency to perpetually desire, but with food and shelter provided for many of us, we set our sights on less physiological factors: college acceptances, job opportunities, and relationships.

Founded 1884 So what can we hope for? If Volume CXXVII, Number 1 nothing is ever good enough, why April 2010 do anything? If everyone’s life ends in death, no matter what mountains one may climb, what can we hope to Editors-in-Chief attain? In the end, I do not think we Abby Walter ’10 know what we can attain. Perhaps Samuel Finkelman ’10 every individual’s mountain range of difficulties adds up into one News Editor Sports Editors larger mountain of humanity that is Josh Zimmerman ’11 Trish Johnston ’10 only one more stage of evolution.

Maybe every peak we climb does count for something larger. In Features Editors Entertainment Editor our cosmically insignificant lives Caitlin Foley ’10 John Fairchild ’11 we make choices that feel very Louise Connelly ’11 significant to us, because our lives are all we have to leave behind.

Community Editor Copy Editors Our choices and actions are all that Mara Goodman ’10 Sarah Tufano ’10 we have, and we can only hope that Amanda Gill ’11 future generations can build upon what we have accomplished. In the end, there will always be another Photo Editor Freelance Columnist mountain, but we can always hope Jesse Paul ’10 Connor Juers ’10 that the universe is making its Benjamin Schmidt ’10 way towards one beautiful climax Emily Letcher ’10 of meaning. To retain any sort of Advisor sanity or sense of purpose, we have Peter Wenigmann no choice but to believe that our accomplishments matter. As Carl Jung said, “Man needs difficulties; The Whittier Miscellany is published six times during the school they are necessary for his health.” year by the upper school journalism staff of Wilmington Friends School, Thank you to everyone who 101 School Road, Wilmington, DE 19803. Subscription rate: $15.00 made this a great year of per year. To subscribe, contact pwenigmann@wilmingtonfriends.org.

Samuel Finkelman ‘10 Editor-in-Chief

Whittier

Miscellany

Whittier!

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-Sam and Abby

Musings on the Military Abby Walter ‘10 Editor-in-Chief

For my final editorial for the Whittier, I planned to write something appropriately nostalgic about my past twelve years at Friends. I would write about the little memories that have come to define Friends school for me—playing (and breaking bones) on the Big Toy in Lower School, choosing fun ‘Activities’ in Middle School, and Business Meeting in High School. I would then broaden out to the bigger things—the Quaker ideals of peace, equality, and diversity that I strongly identify with, the inspiring discussions taking place in every classroom, appreciation for my teachers, and, of course, my friends at Friends.

I could easily write an entire article encompassing all of those aspects of my WFS experience, because they are all true and meaningful. But as I sit down to write my final farewell, there is one thing holding me back from using this space simply to expand upon how thankful I am, one recent experience that has been nagging at my conscience. More specifically, I have begun to rethink my opinion on the United States military.

I recently attended the United States Senate Youth Program, a weeklong conference in which 104 student delegates traveled to Washington DC to engage in politics. We had seventeen military mentors, who served as our chaperones, counselors, guides, and ultimately, friends for the week. It was this exposure to current military officers that has drastically altered the way I view our country’s military.

Each one of the seventeen military mentors was a distinguished officer in the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, or Marine Corps. They wore uniform at all times and shepherded us from place to place in prescise military fashion (we were never late to a single engagement, which is saying something when you have to move 104 teenagers across DC multiple times a day). They outlined for us their respective duties, described the hardships of boot camp, and explained what each of the medals on their uniforms meant.

While I learned much about the traditions of the military, there was one realization that hit me halfway through the week, that I had never fully appreciated before—these members of military, these Lieutenants, Captains, and Majors, were real people. For instance, the military mentor who I was assigned to and got to know best not only worked in the Pentagon, but also was an amazing salsa dancer and taught yoga. One Captain told me that he was buying a plot of land and building a home to one day pass on to his children. Most of the seventeen, when asked what the toughest part of being in the military was, described sacrificing time with their family in order to perform what their considered their honor-bound duty to the country.

I realized then that I had a preconceived stereotype of what a military member was. Going into the week, I expected brusque, demanding, serious men with crew cuts. I expected conservative Republicans who came from a longstanding military family, talked constantly about fighter planes, and lectured us about serving our country. But what I encountered was nearly the exact opposite—our mentors were from all walks of life, and each had her/his own reason for joining the military, such as my mentor, who was born in Brooklyn but grew up in South America and joined the military to start a new life in the US. We talked about everything imaginable—rap songs, the benefits and drawbacks of crew cuts, food, you name it. There were also the serious topics—one Lieutenant attempted to explain to me the reasoning behind Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (which I strongly disagree with), and I learned it was largely a Congress-supported policy, rather than stemming directly from the military. My friends and I had lengthy discussions with a Major about capital punishment; he was pro-death penalty, but admitted by the end of the week that we were starting to persuade him otherwise. And I will never forget the overwhelming surge of respect and awe I felt when my mentor tearfully told us on the last night that she would lay down her life for each one of us, and every American citizen, in a heartbeat, due to a sense of honor and respect for what America has done for her.

Now, I had always agreed with the Quaker philosophy that, “There is no way to peace: peace is the way.” And I still do—I’ve learned enough about the atrocities of war at this point, especially through sophomore year’s Peace, Justice & Social Change, to recognize that peace is always the best option. But in the past twelve years, I also feel that Friends school’s emphasis on peaceful resolution may have left me with an unbalanced view of the military itself.

What I gained in Washington—that wasn’t as obvious from all my years of education—was respect for those who are brave enough to put their lives on the line, each and every day, to protect our country. Each and every military mentor I met hoped for peace one day, but they are willing to face the practicalities of the world we live in right now, and protect us for the time being, until that peace can be attained.

News

Friends Students Help Spread the Word to End the R-Word dies is a non-profit organization that aims to, “Enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment.”

The event takes place on March 3rd every year. The event takes place at schools across the country, and this year Wilmington Friends School

different opinion. Eight Ellen Bragg says that using the r-word is not okay, even medically. However, some with Spread the Word to End the Word: a parents who are doctors talk about catchy slogan that deals with a serious ishow the parents used the word medisue. The cause allows students to pledge to cally, without any offense intended. end their use of the word “retard.” Many Whether or not the pledge will people use the word without thinking be effective remains to be seen. When about the harm that it might cause, but in asked about the results of the event, reality the word “reVice President tard” can be harmful. of Best Buddies The r-word was Amanda Cooper first used as a medisays, “I think that cal term, describing the event was a someone with an IQ success.”

Other of under 70. Since students, like then, it has been used freshman Cavenas a casual insult. der Salvadori said The word suggests that they are rethat people with inthinking their use tellectual disabilities of the word. He are less than human says, “I used to use because they learn the word without at a slower pace. thought but now I The Spread the try not to, but I do Word to End the slip sometimes.”

Word campaign beAnother student gan in 2009 at the says, “I try very Special Olympics hard not to [use Global Youth Actithe word] because vation Summit. A we learned how young man named disrespectful it Soeren Palumbo is.” TyLisa Johnstarted the campaign son also takes it a last year out of his restep further, sayspect and concern for ing, “When other his sister intellectupeople say the rThe Spread the Word to End the Word pledge banner, which has 258 signatures of people pledging to end their use of ally disabled Olivia’s word, I let them the r-word. unpleasant past exknow, and they periences. The summit now occurs annu- hosted its own banner signing and asbut Best Buddies strives to teach peousually take it back.” Virginia DeWees ally. Attendees of this year’s summit had a sembly for awareness. Juniors Amanda ple to rise above this behavior and to says she calls herself “r-word free!” chance to listen to speeches promoting the Gill and Lindsay Reese piloted the avoid accidentally offending someone.

Many families and communities cause. The event culminated with the sign- effort, along with the Best Buddies There is some debate as to know someone with intellectual dising of the banner—a large poster with the Chapter President Jordan Beard and whether or not it is okay to use the abilities. However, this often does not enlarged words, “Pledge to show respect the members of the Best Buddies and r-word for medical diagnoses. For stop people from using the r-word, simto everyone.” Anyone can sign the ban- Special Olympics clubs. They planned example, a doctor might say that a ply because they are unaware of how ner to pledge to end their use of the r-word. the event with the hopes of ending person has mental retardation as a offensive it can be. Hopefully, this This campaign is also in partnership the use of the r-word at our school. way to classify what kind of condicampaign will help to promote more The cause touches many people with a program called Best Buddies, as tion a person has and what type of awareness of the hurtful, although ofwell as the Special Olympics. Best Bud- personally. Junior Alexa Pierce-Matcare they need. Some people have a ten unintentional, power of the r-word.

lack says, “Because my younger cousin has Cerebral Palsy, it really hits home for me when people use words like that.” Scott Rhodewalt talks of having a brother-in-law with Autism.

And I myself have a sister with Rett syndrome. Many people use the word as a joke without even thinking twice about possibly offending someone,

Paul

Chelsea Terrell ‘12 News Writer

World Affairs Club

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about global issues and to effectively discuss their opinions.

This fits with the school’s mission and the new QUEST center. One component of QUEST is global engagement, and Assistant Head Peter Wenigmann says, “The school is focusing resources on increasing students’ engagement in the world.” Clubs such as the World Affairs Club increase awareness, understanding, and commitment on the student level.

In addition to benefiting the students and faculty who attend the once-a-cycle meetings, the World Affairs Club has a spin-off group called the Global Awareness Club, which hopes to promote general awareness of world events. This group maintains a bulletin board with notable events for each day, called “This Week in History.” The group also coorganized a trip to Washington, D.C. with the Diversity Committee to participate in a march for immigration reform. Both groups hope to heighten student awareness and involvement in issues that are important to every community member’s daily life. Anglim says, “This club has helped developed students’ viewpoints on issues that affect each and every one of us.”

If you are interested in joining the World Affairs Club and sharing your view while developing skills in debate, visit the club Wiki at wfswac.wikispaces.com and come to Mr. Ergueta’s room on day 7. As Anglim says, “All views are welcome here.”

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

Philly School Spies on Students Porter Ergon ‘12 News Writer A suburban Philadelphia school district not far from here has been the topic of local news lately. Harriton High school of the Lower Merion School district in Pennsylvania allegedly spied on its students. The school, like many other wealthy Philadelphia area schools, issues laptops to every student attending it. The school has admitted that in the past 14 months the laptops were remotely activated 42 times. Harriton High claims that the laptops were only activated in order to find lost or stolen laptops, and not for any other reason. However, even this claim still leaves many feeling uneasy.

The Vice Principal of Harriton thought that one of the students was selling drugs and took a photo of his actions. This photo was taken through the webcam of student Blake Robbins’s laptop while he was in his own home. This appalled him and his family, and gained widespread media attention. Blake’s family claimed that the vice principal mistook a piece of candy as a pill.

They believe the school, and not their son, is to blame.

The family filed a lawsuit against the school, accusing them of turning on the webcam while the laptop was inside their home. They allege that this is a violation of both wire tapping laws and their right to privacy.

Some side with the school, claiming that they have the right to implement the security tracking software as a means of protecting their laptops. Others are against anyone having the ability to watch them in the privacy of thier own home, like Katy Kenney, who says, “Why would a teacher even want to know about what a student does at home? It makes no sense.” Most agree with Kenney and

think Harriton High School’s methods are a step over the line and are quite disturbing. The case is extremely controversial as those being watched are all minors. Many are outraged that the school had the power to watch intimately private acts such as students changing their clothes or having private conversations. Upon asking the Wilmington Friends community their views on the so-called spying, practically all were infuriated by Harriton High School’s actions. Junior Alexa Pierce Matlack said, “It’s an invasion of privacy and it’s just wrong.” This is the general feel of the public as well.

Harriton High’s website claims, “The district has not used the tracking feature or webcam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever.” After that statement the website goes on to explain that there was nothing stopping the students from blocking their webcams with tape. Of course this brings up the argument that no one should have to worry about taping their webcam due to the worry that a teacher at their school may be watching them. Sophomore Lauren Tamar agreed that Harriton’s actions are utterly reprehensible, and summed up the situation by saying, “It’s very creepy.”

Although all of the facts continue to be investigated and uncovered, officials of Harriton High School are upset with themselves, saying, “This notice [of the software] should have been given, and we regret that was not done.”

None of the students even knew this software was installed on their laptops. The Lower Merion School district feels that since all of the facts are not yet found, “…the administrator at Harriton has been unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked in connection with her attempts to be supportive of a student and his family.” While many of the facts of this case have yet to emerge, this debacle hits close to home to any high school student and raises interesting questions about how much privacy we really have.

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Features

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

Should PDA Be Sent Away? Let’s Debate! a good rule -- PDA should be limited to what best friends do. Holding hands and hugging are fine, even cute, but anything more than that is inappropriate and distasteful, and it should be saved for another time. One anonymous senior said: “I have nothing against public displays of affection in general, it can actually be kind of cute sometimes! But when some couples take it too far, and make other people around feel like they just walked into a porno, then it crosses a line. Keep it sweet and innocent and save the passion and the groping for a more private place.”

There are some couples who you wouldn’t know were going out if you didn’t know them, but other couples are just painfully obvious because they are together all the time – at each other’s lockers, in the cafeteria, in the halls, in the library, in Meeting for Worship, etc. There are some people whose boyfriend or girlfriend does not go to this school, or god forbid, people who don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend at all, and somehow they manage.

A couple should not spend all their time together in school; they should spend more time with their friends.

If a boyfriend and girlfriend live too far away from each

Ellen Rodowsky Features Writer We’re in high school; we’ve seen fights, drugs, alcohol, hateful language, and – oh no! – PDA. Public Displays of Affection have become the new area of concern around school.

But what I want to ask is: why is PDA such a major concern?

Students at Wilmington Friends School are given a great amount of individual responsibility.

Much control is placed in the hands of the students to discipline their Awww! own classmates and propose changes to be made to the school. Clearly, the entire WFS community believes in the maturity of

the students. So aren’t students responsible enough to decide how they “publicly display” their love?

Granted, there must be some sort of restriction on what is appropriate for a school setting. Some students offered a suggestion: “Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want your grandma to see.” But what Suzie Q. is comfortable with may not be the same for Jane Doe, and therein lies the issue. For example, I refuse to even discuss my relationships with my grandparents, much less show any form of affection in front of them. On the other hand, I have a friend who hugs and kisses her boyfriend in front of her family without any problems. Clearly, trying to pick a specific “maximum” for appropriate PDA is not as easy as it seems.

What’s more, much of the Friends School population feels that a restriction isn’t necessary, and that their classmates are able to “keep it clean” in school. And if we trust our classmates to discipline each other, then shouldn’t we trust them to decide for themselves how much PDA is appropriate?

Senior Will Graves agrees, saying, “As long as you handle it maturely, it’s not a problem.” Many students have given input as to what they feel is appropriate in dchero.wordpress.com

YES!

NO!

other, or they just don’t have time to see each other on weekends, maybe they shouldn’t be going out. It’s better for the couple too to save their PDA for outside of school, w h e n they can be freer about it and not have to worry a b o u t people watching or about blocking people’s ways. As sophomore Hannah Smith says, “Giving death stares is not part of common courtesy, and it’s not fun for those walking by, not fun for those performing PDA, it’s just awkward in those large spaces.” my.hsj.org

Sabrina Lessner Features Writer You see it everywhere - in front of lockers, blocking doors, in the middle of the hallway, even outside the auditorium. It makes other people cringe and look away in disgust. What is it? It’s PDA and it’s got to go.

PDA – Public Displays of Affection – is taking over the school. You’ve witnessed the familiar scenario: a couple is standing by the girl’s locker, they hold hands while the boy walks the girl to class, and then they kiss before the girl walks in. It’s like, oh no, I’m not going to see you again for, what, 45 minutes? Everyone has to witness the couple kiss one last time as they walk in the classroom, trying to avert their eyes. I know it’s a tradition for the boy to walk the girl to class, but it’s a stupid tradition. Is the girl unable to find the class on her own? And then the boy is usually late to his class. Plus, walking a girl to class gives the boy maybe a minute and a half extra to spend with his girlfriend. It’s ridiculous.

In Business Meeting, we talked about PDA and how it has gotten out of hand. Some people said that it’s not a big deal, since best friends hug each other all the time and we don’t care about that. The thing is, best friends don’t make out in the middle of hallways! In fact, that’s

school. An anonymous junior believes that “ a kiss is fine to show someone that you care, just don’t go overboard with tonsil hockey,” and that PDA is fine, as long as you remember that there are other people around. Now doesn’t that seem reasonable enough?

Furthermore, high school is supposed to provide us with information, as well as help us develop skills to use in college and in the rest of our lives. Part of the reason that our parents sent us (or that we chose to go) to a coed high school is to become accustomed to learning and interacting with members of the opposite sex. PDA is something that is going to exist wherever you go in life, and now is the time to learn to deal with it. Students need to become comfortable saying “excuse me” when there is a couple sharing a moment by their locker.

Finally, I’d like to elaborate on the “why?” that I posed earlier. Wilmington Friends is a school about love.

We love our world, our community, our classmates, and our teachers. Our school denounces hatred; however, in the past students have been known to shout profanities and hurtful language at each other down hallways. Why attack the displays of love rather than the displays of hatred?

I don’t mean to sound like a hippie when I say to spread the love and end the hate, but I do think it’s important.

Why are we currently focusing on PDA as an issue when students are disrespecting teachers and classmates? That just seems a bit backwards.

Désolé Mes Amis, à l’Année Prochaine !

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me that if I wanted to go I had to pay for the trip myself. I’ve been saving up but it’s just not going to be enough.” In previous years, bake sales and other fundraisers were held to help pay some of the cost, but that did not happen this year.

This year there was another problem as well: the trip was not announced until much later than usual, meaning that many people already had plans. The school had originally offered a trip to Senegal open to both French and Spanish students. However, concern of the safety of such a trip and the little interest shown caused it to be abandoned in favor of the traditional trip to France. “I really would have liked to go, but my family already made travel Want to see it in person? plans for the summer and we’re going away the Not this summer! same weeks as the French trip,” says freshman Catherine Curran, “I guess I’ll just have to wait until junior year.” “The same thing happened to me,” chimes in Leah O’Brien, another freshman, “I was really exited about going but by the time we were told about the trip we were already busy.”

Students next year will have the opportunity to attend either a trip to France or to Costa Rica, both of which the school plans to present before school starts so that families may plan vacation calanders and plan financially. Despite the many setbacks this year, Bulk encourages students to come on the next trip. “It is an amazing experience. Students are suprised just how much they are able to understand and how easily they are able to communicate with the locals. I think it’s the best way of seeing all your years of studying a language finally pay off.” thetravelpeach.com

Dunia Tonob ‘13 Features Writer Who has ever wished they were able to go to France? Probably everyone has wanted to at some point in his or her life. There is a bit of something for everyone. The food is delicious, the museums are beautiful and plentiful, and Paris is the fashion capital of the world. Unfortunately, students this year will not have the incredible opportunity to visit the great City of Lights; the summer trip to France scheduled for this summer has been canceled.

Every other year the Upper School French students have had the opportunity to visit France with their class for a couple of weeks in the summer. The program was filled with chances to practice the French they have learned, learn about French culture first-hand, take in the beauty of the country, and it even gave 24 hours of service credit.

Sound good? Freshman Jack Hollingsworth certainly thought so: “I’ve always wanted to go to France, but this year it’s just not going to be possible.” He was not the only one.

With the rising cost of fuel, the price of air travel is more expensive than ever, and with the way the economy is now, fewer families are willing to spend money on vacations.

When asked what the price of the French trip would have been, Brady Bulk, the Head of the Foreign Language Department and coordinator of the trip stated: “The program itself would have cost a little bit over $2,000, but we got hammered on airfare.

I spent hours on the computer looking for cheap flights but the best I could find was over a thousand dollars per person.” That means that in total, the trip would have cost over three thousand dollars.

The program cost included a four-day home stay, as well as hotels, meals, and transportation all over the country. When you consider that for many students this could have been their first time out of the country or even a once in a lifetime experience, the cost might be tempered, but it was still more than many were willing to pay. That the French class is so much smaller than the Spanish was another factor that increased the price. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go,” complains a sophomore, “My parents told

Features

Friends Save Lives, One Pint at a Time Street Talk: So what exactly is the process of donating blood like?

First off, before donating blood, participants should eat regular meals and drink plenty of fluids. On the day of donation, donors needed to bring a form of photo ID to registration. They filled out a questionnaire on computers set up in the gym, and had a medical history review and a mini physical, including blood pressure, temperature, and pulse readings. The blood bank staff also had to take samples of the donor’s blood through a small fingerprick.

The actual donation only took about 5 to 10 minutes, but students needed to rest for 15 more minutes in the “canteen” that served juice, cookies, and crackers. Donors stayed until they were well enough to go back to school, but athletes were not allowed to participate in practice on the day of the drive. Each person donated about one pint of blood. The Delmarva Blood Bank says that there may have been a little pinch when the needle was inserted, but there should not have been any pain during the donation. On average, the entire process took about an hour.

By age 72, 95% of us will require a blood transfusion, and one pint of blood can save up to three lives, so blood donated at the WFS blood drive will be put to good use.

The most common reasons why a patient would need blood are due to cancer, heart and blood vessel diseases, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, or emergencies, such as car accidents and burns.

Despite problems due to the timing of the blood drive, students seemed to think that it was an overall success.

Jordan Beard ‘11 says, “I think it was successful for two reasons: it brought attention to a cause that involves helping others and it brought the school together. So you have the awareness factor as well as the action factor and that made it a successful day.”

Students are already planning to give blood next year.

Daniel Potter ‘12 says, “I will most likely be participating in the blood drive next year. I think it is a good way of helping people that requires little effort on the part of the participant, which makes for the ideal service project, or in this case, blood drive.” Mary Woodward sums everything up. “I think it’s fantastic. [The blood drive] makes it easy for people to be a hero.” That’s the best part of service, knowing that you’re a hero.

Seniors Set Out to See the World

venturebeat.com

Lindsey Turner ‘10 his head. “I’m finding out what life lessons I can learn in a Features Writer barbershop. Clearly I’ll learn how to cut hair, but I also plan Ambitious though antsy seniors hereby approach the to sit and journal about discussions that take place in that end of running on autopilot; via the Friends school Senior environment,” briefs recently returned Student Year Abroad Exploration, the class is soon to manufacture over fifty participant, Darrell Seeney. What an intellectual craving for great manifestations of John Hope Franklin’s following exploration can be planted by the pull of the unknown… valiant words, “We must go beyond textbooks, go out into Last but certainly not least in prominence is the third the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and chief descriptor of the Exploration: problematic. Dori explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”

Brooks tells of her extreme devastation concerning her In probing a world outside of prospective activity and lets the bad their familiar, academic microcosm, times roll, “Currently, my project individuals touring the ‘depths of the topic is undecided. I love animals, wilderness’ are few and far between, especially dogs, except Chihuahuas, but with the infamously grand class and I was really excited to follow a of 2010, the sky has always been the vet. I was informed I wouldn’t be limit. The explorative endeavors of able to do so because of liability these uninhibited seniors range from issues. My dreams are crushed. I the typical teenaged, ‘undecided’, guess I’ll have to figure out where to two of the schools’ biggest, to go from here.” One other senior’s burliest football-playing jocks musical inclination lacks extreme teaming up to reach their Zen—in practicality, “I am going to learn yoga. But ultimately, in three major how to play guitar. There’s an issue, categories – relaxing, intriguing, Apparently farms exist off of facebook... just though, because they said they don’t ask Mia! and problematic – the Senior know how I’m going to be able to Exploration scoop can be dished. play for eighty hours without my fingers falling off.” Lastly, We see neither extreme sports nor pyrotechnics in senior Allie Frosina doesn’t seem to identify small-scale this scene; the mellow class seems to largely seek repose. personal quandary, but highlights some fault in the very On the bandwagon for tranquility, restfulness, and theoretical notion of the Senior Exploration, “It really is peace of mind is the previously mentioned big, burly, and a good opportunity if you have a longing to do something soon to be meditative Hunter Witmer: “I’m doing yoga you’ll realistically never be able to do at another point in because I’m trying to relax my body and I want to become your life. In general, however, the Exploration is a way for more flexible. Eric Kelly and I are doing it together.” The the school to fill two weeks of time and perhaps we should inquisition of leisure seems to take the cake. instead be let out early. Our parents continue to pay two A second major explanation for Senior Exploration weeks of tuition for which we won’t be in school and then choices entails pure, intrigued curiosity. Senior Mia they must subsidize that expense with the cost of the activity Reynolds describes the rural and rustic recreation that we chose to do. Gymnastics classes, private instruction, and aroused her concern a while back, “I’ll be working on a leotard shopping all add up!” farm. Of course I’ll be hanging out with the cows, planting To the class, the congregation, the prodigy of 2010, crops, and stuff of that nature, but I’m mostly interested “That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars in discovering first-hand where our food comes from.” and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities Another senior’s vast fascination reaches the hair atop of existence,” says Leonard Nimoy.

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

If Friends was on the Screen, What Would it be?

Sophie Mester ‘13 Features Writer “Harry Potter. We have a lot of diverse people and activities. Friends can be very trying, but sometimes it can be fun and magical. And like Hogwarts, it is rewarding in the end.”

Jordan Beard ‘11 www.impawards.com

Keiko Endo ’12 Features Writer By the time you have finished reading this sentence (depending on your reading speed – let’s say, four seconds), donated blood will have helped save two more lives. More than 4.5 million patients need blood transfusions each year in the U.S. and Canada. This past March, Friends students, faculty, and staff lined up in the West Gym to donate blood under the supervision of the Blood Bank of Delmarva. The blood bank is a non-profit community service program that provides blood to 17 hospitals on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Mary Woodward, Library Media Specialist, was the coordinator of the blood drive and Darrell Seeney ’10 stood as the clerk of the Blood Drive Committee.

The blood drive occurred on March 2nd and lasted throughout the day, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Juniors, seniors, and faculty members participated in the blood drive, along with even a few especially altruistic parents.

Anyone was allowed to donate blood as long as they were at least 17 years old, weighed over 110 pounds, had no tattoos or body piercings in the past year, and were in general good health.

Many students were interested in giving blood. Brook Kebede ’10 comments, “I wanted to give blood because I know of people, including some in my family, who had their lives saved by a blood transfusion.” Hannah Smith ’12 ponders, “You regenerate blood, why not give it to potentially save people’s lives?”

Unfortunately, a number of students were not able to participate in the blood drive due to its timing. 59 student and faculty donors were scheduled to donate blood, but only 39 were able to give blood due to various reasons, most commonly due to vacations taken during the past year.

If someone traveled to an area where malaria is found, he or she must to wait one year until donating blood. Students who went on the Costa Rica trip or the India trip were unable to give blood. Kebede was one of the unfortunate ones. “I traveled to India last year. I had two more weeks [until I could have given blood]; I was so mad.” However, the number of donations increased from the previous year, when the Blood Bank of Delmarva collected 28 donations from WFS.

“Lizzie McGuire, because everything that happens in the school community is magnified and exaggerated since it’s so small.”

Lindsay Reese ‘11 “CSI Miami, because of the characters in our school like Jermaine and me.”

Calynd Johnson ‘11 “90210, because there’s a lot going on with everyone.”

Emma Paul ‘13 “Man vs. Wild. We learn important survival skills that are essential to real life situations, just like Bear teaches us on the show.”

Anonymous “Degrassi, because we have so much drama all the time.”

Brook Kebede ‘10 “I wish it was like Rocket Power where they don’t go to school and skate board all day.

Wuggidy-wuggidy-wuggidy!”

Katrina Sotiropoulos ‘11 “The Hangover, because crazy hijinks occur on a daily basis.”

Becca Casper-Johnson ‘11 “Jersey Shore, because people got their fistpumpin’ all day every day.”

Caroline Scott ‘11 “Silent Library, because we like to have a good time while maintaining a workable environment.”

Kristin Lang ‘10 “High School Musical, because we have singing meeting for worship.”

Erin Skibicki ‘13 “Growing Pains.”

Ryan McGheehan ‘10

05

Sports

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

Boxing is in a unique state right now. For decades the heavyweight division was the main attraction for viewers. With the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, and Mike Tyson, the boxing world was dominated by the heavyweight division. These heavyweights boxed with one another for years with multiple rematches that captivated and inspired people across the world.

But now the tides have changed.

It is an era for the little guys. In recent years the lack of excitement in the heavyweight division has led to the rise of new stars.

And although they may be small in stature, their stardom stands tall next to the superstars of the past.

In 2010 we have many great athletes who occupy the smaller weight classes to go along with the stars who dominate them. There are so many multi divisional fighters that fights we dreamed of in the past are now completely possible. We see fighters gaining and losing lots of weight just to get the biggest fight possible, and as fans we should be so grateful. When the still undefeated Floyd Mayweather entered the professional ranks, he was a Super Featherweight. During the next 14 years (since 1996) he has hopped around from Lightweight

to Super Welterweight and every weight class in between. He has won multiple titles in each and held many at the same time. It is because of boxers like Mayweather that boxing has become a popular sport across the globe.

Manny Pacquiao is another super famous fighter. His path was much different than Mayweather’s. He joined the professional ranks to earn money for his family. At the beginning of his career he took big fights and gained popularity because of his style. Many of his fights featured lots of blood and little defense, just what many boxing fans want to see. Because of his recent successes over British superstar Ricky Hatton, and Latin icon Oscar de la Hoya, Pacquiao has rocketed to the top of the boxing world and popularized the sport not only in his home country of the Philippines but also all of southeastern Asia.

Boxing is in a good place right now. There are many superstars from many different nations. Its popularity is growing rapidly, and more and more new boxers are coming up through the ranks. Right now the two top boxers are Mayweather and Pacquiao, and these two little guys ,neither taller than 5’ 8”, are filling the empty shoes of the biggest fighters of yesterday.

The World of Club Volleyball The dynamic of club volleyball is very different from the high school volleyball program at Wilmington Friends. Firstly, club teams are divided into certain age groups rather than the entire four grades that would be able to be on the high school team. Although it is possible to play up at a higher age group, most players play with other athletes their age. Secondly, high schools like Friends usually work their season up to the state tournament and compete with teams within their state. But in the club world, the season builds up to the regional tournament with other teams in their region.

Each region is a division of the United States, usually determined by the number of teams in the area. For example, Delaware is part of the Chesapeake region, which also includes Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland and Virginia. On the other hand, larger states like Texas that have more teams are divided into multiple regions like the Lone Star Region and the North Texas Region.

Next, the specific rules of club volleyball differ from high school, especially the rules about net violations. Finally, rather than having a few games spread out throughout each week, club volleyball only has tournaments.

Tournaments throughout the club season help to form a team’s ranking for the regional tournament. If a team places well in tournaments, then its ranking goes up. Therefore, the team has a better chance of succeeding in regionals and obtaining a bid to nationals. This puts a lot of pressure on a team to do well at each and every tournament. Each region has a certain number of bids to make it to nationals, based on the number of teams in the region. Larger regions have more bids, but they are more difficult to win regionals in. Many teams in larger regions go to qualifier tournaments as another way to receive a bid to nationals. Although qualifiers are far more difficult than regionals for some

06

teams, they allow team members to play with better teams and give another opportunity to get a bid.

Big tournaments like national tournaments or qualifiers usually take place in convention centers of big cities. Also, tournaments can be at colleges or athletic centers. At the big tournaments, the tournament employees put down tiles on the concrete flooring to form what is called “Sport-Court.” The “SportCourts” are convenient to use because they can easily be taken apart and put back together. There can be as many as seventy courts set up in the convention centers.

At tournaments each team has a schedule for pool play that includes their play times, work times, and rest times. For most tournaments, instead of having scheduled times for matches, the next match starts right after the previous match ends, making for a very tiring day. Before each game, each team has four minutes to warm-up, any way their coach chooses. For the matches teams are assigned to work, each team is required to provide six players to help officiate another match.

After pool play in a large tournament or qualifier, each team is separated into a bracket. The top teams go into gold bracket, the next best teams go to silver and so on through bronze, flight one, flight two, etc. The teams in the gold bracket are the only teams eligible to win the tournament. The teams play single elimination within their brackets until there is a winner.

Playing club volleyball is much more of a commitment than high school volleyball. Because the club season is much longer than the high school season, there is additional time for individual training and intense team training. Although most teams don’t practice every day of the week like high school teams, tournaments on the weekends can be three or four days long. On top of that, there is a lot of traveling involved.

For big tournaments and qualifiers, teams fly in from all across the country to compete. In conclusion, Junior Olympic Club Volleyball is a great way (for those willing to make the time commitment) to gain experience and intense training to bring back to your high school season. brandywinevbc.org

Erin Skibicki ‘13 Sports Writer

DISC Games Schedule

timeslive.com

Ernest Higginbotham ‘10 Sports Guru

quakerssports.com

Beyond Balboa – Boxing is Back

Boy’s Baseball April 24 - Vs St. Andrews May 1 - Vs Sanford May 6 - Vs Tatnall May 7 - At Tatnall May 14 - Vs St. Andrew’s May 15 - At St Andrews May 18 - At Tatnall

Girl’s Soccer

April 22 - Vs Sanford May 6 - At Tatnall May 18 - At Tower Hill

Boy’s Lacrosse

April 24 - At St. Andrew’s April 26 - Vs Tatnall May 5 - Vs Sanford May 11 - Vs St. Andrew’s

Girl’s Lacrosse

April 22 - At Tatnall May 1 - At Westtown May 5 - At Sanford May 7 - Vs Tatnall May 11 - Vs St. Andrew’s May 18 - Vs Tower Hill

Boy’s Tennis April 22 - At Tower Hill May 4 - At Sanford May 6 - Vs Tatnall May 11 - Vs St. Andrew’s

Girl’s Tennis April 22 - Vs Tower Hill May 4 - Vs Sanford May 6 - At Tatnall May 11 - At St. Andrew’s

Sports

The number of years Quarterback Donovan McNabb played for the Eagles. He was recently traded to the Washington Redskins for a second round draft pick this year and a third or fourth round pick in next year’s draft.

10

The number of players on the Philadelphia 76ers’ active roster that are under 6 feet tall. Jason Smith and Francisco Elson are the tallest on the team, standing at 7 feet tall.

0

The number of WFS students on the track and field roster, up from the small numbers the team had last year. The roster hails 22 boys and 7 girls. Good luck this season!

29

The difference in the number of players between the football roster and the boys lacrosse team. The football team had 35 boys while the lacrosse team boasts only 34.

1

The number of feet a baseball flew when Mark Campanella hit a home run in the first game of the season on March 24th. Let’s hope there are many more where that came from!

340+

The number of senior girls playing sports this spring.

Kristin Lang plays lacrosse, Samantha Gagliano, Caroline Armstrong, and Verena Khennache play soccer, and Trish Johnston and Hannah Frail play tennis. Way to represent 2010!

6

The number of top ten records Senior John Taggart holds. He has records in the 100m race, the 110m race, the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Keep it up, John!

5

The number of state championships Troy Beneck holds in boys tennis. Beneck has been playing first singles since his freshman year and has appeared in the state championship match all three years.

2

The number of goals Philadelphia Flyers center Jeff Carter has so far this season. As of April 6th, the Flyers had 39 wins and 34 losses, having played 6 games in overtime.

33

The number of players the girls tennis graduated from last year’s roster. Corey Ufberg, class of 2009, played third singles. Anna Melnick, Class of 2011 has taken her place this year.

1

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

Zach Lessner ‘13 Sports Writer After an eventful Phillies off-season - during which the Phillies brought in a former Cy Young award winner, Roy Halladay, at the expense of another former Cy Young award winner, Cliff Lee, brought in third baseman Placido Polanco, got rid of slick fielding third baseman Pedro Feliz, and re-shaped three-fifths of their bench - the Phillies are again looking like contenders for 2010. There is no reason to believe that this team will be getting any worse, with most of their core of players in their prime. That being the case, let’s look at a position by position preview for Manager Charlie Manuel’s Phillies.

Catcher Carlos Ruiz, known as one of the best defensive catchers, always remains a strong option to handle the Phillies rotation. He also has improved at the bat, turning his batting average of .219 in 2008 to a batting average of .255 in 2009, and his homerun total, too, increased from 4 to 9. He also knows how to turn it on in the clutch with a career average of .353 in the World Series.

Ryan Howard is still regarded as one of the top first basemen in the league with his great power. As long as he keeps his strikeout totals down (and even if he doesn’t), there is no reason to believe he won’t have another 40+ homer year as he has done in the past four years.

Second Baseman Chase Utley is clearly the best second baseman in the game, with a great desire to win. As a true winner who loves to play the game, the stats are only half of the equationI wouldn’t mind this guy on my team.

Longest tenured Phillie Jimmy Rollins needs no introduction as the best Phillies shortstop of all time. Even though he had a down year last year,

hopefully his miracle walk hit in Game four of the NLCS last year will spark him to have a more successful year this year.

The Phillies welcome back Placido Polanco, who was on the team from 20022005. Even though he will switch over from second base to third and may not be as good a defender as Pedro Feliz, his bat makes up for the difference and then some.

Fan favorite left fielder Rauuuuuuuul Ibañez returns to Philly after groin surgery following the World Series last year. He had a great first half last year when he was healthy, so if he remains uninjured this whole season after the surgery, he could produce solid numbers.

Center Fielder Shane “Flyin’ Hawaiian” Victorino comes back after winning the gold glove in center field last year.

Victorino’s energy brings the spark the Phillies need for this upcoming season.

All-Star Jayson Werth returns with a big beard after producing monster numbers last year in right field. He will be a free agent after this year so the Phillies have to enjoy him while they can.

The relief pitching this year has mostly familiar faces returning from last year. A lot of their success will depend on the productiveness and health of Closer Brad Lidge and lefty J.C. Romero.

Brad Lidge will have to bounce back from a horrendous 2009, and set up man Ryan Madson always plays a key role in the pen.

In addition to the returning stars, the Phillies bench has three new faces: Ross Gload, Brian Schneider, and Juan Castro. If these players get enough at bats and don’t get too rusty, they may prove to be quite productive at times.

Everyone is excited about the fourth

new face: New Ace Roy Halladay joins the Phillies after many outstanding years in Toronto and is widely regarded as a top five pitcher in baseball. Pitching in the easier NL should help him continue at the pace he is at. A lot of the Phillies’ success will rely upon 2008 World Series hero Cole Hamels having a bounce back year from his bad 2009. If Hamels should bounce back and become a co-ace with Roy Halladay, the Phillies will be a hard team to beat come playoff time. Steady Joe Blanton looks to have another stellar year, as sophomore J.A. Happ looks to build on his success of last year’s rookie year. The fifth starter’s spot will be determined in spring training between 25-year-old Kyle Kendrick and 47 year old Jamie Moyer.

Around the school, a lot of people also have positive feelings about this team.

Sophomore Alex Balis says, “They’re going to make the World Series again with a great 1-7 lineup and baseball’s best pitcher.”

Freshman Chris DiMaria has more reservations, “They are in between the 2008 and 2009 Phillies.

They have made a bunch of changes over the off-season, but a big part of the roster is still here and strong. I think we’re looking at a 2010 NL East title, but it’s too hard right now to fully guess their outcome.”

Freshman Ben Pickles adds, “Their defense is hurting at third base now that Feliz is gone, but with Roy Halladay, they look about the same as last year. They look like NLCS contenders.” There is no reason to believe that this team, that has won three divisions in a row and appeared in two World Series’ in a row, shouldn’t return to where they belong. derii.org

Trish Johnston ‘10 Sports Editor

Phillies Look to Move on Up

Spring Sports Strive to Impress Michael Galardi ‘13 Sports Writer This spring all the Quakers teams are looking to have strong seasons. Last year the Quakers had six of the eight sports teams in the spring make their sport’s state tournament. The Quakers are looking to improve on that this year and are working to get all eight teams into the state tournament.

Last year the boys sports at Friends all had very strong seasons.

The boys lacrosse team is looking for a strong season yet again, after another run in the state tournament last year. The Quakers are led by a great core group of seniors led by Drew Malinsky, Reed Salmons, Will Graves, Eric Kelley, Hunter Witmer, Ernest Higginbotham, and this year’s goalie Eric Detwiler. The team also features talented juniors who will play a big role, such as Sam Davis, Wesley Carr, and Dan Carbone. The team also has a very strong freshman class coming up, and with this leadership and strong coaching by Coach Rashkind, it looks like the Quakers will have a strong season and more to come over the next couple years.

As last year’s state runners-up, the boy’s tennis team is looking to have another great season. The team is returning Senior Troy Beneck,

who has won the state championship the past two years and this year is looking for a third. Other seniors Will Mangan and Ryan McGeehan also lead the team.

This year the Quakers boys track team is also looking for a strong season. With fast senior runners such as John Taggart and John Hill, the Quakers look to be a strong team. Also the team has a very strong sophomore class including runners like Chazz Higginbotham and Logan Joyce. The team this year also has a new large addition in junior Jermaine Young. The team will be looking for a strong season and an improvement on last year.

Though the girls track team is small, only five runners, they plan to work to overcome this disadvantage. Lead by returning runner and junior Gabbi Harris, the team hopes to achieve lots of personal bests this season.

The boy’s baseball team this year will be lead by Seniors Jesse Paul and Greg Miraglia. The team lost many players from last year, but they have many strong juniors such as Glen Felder, Matt Davis, and Chad Wood. The team this year will have great senior leadership and they will hope to have a good season.

The girls tennis team may lack skill but has an abundance of passion. With first singles player Caroline Provine leading the way, they hope to stay strong in this very challenging conference.

Under the leadership of Senior captains Hannah Frail and Trish Johnston, you know these girls will be out there having fun this spring as always.

Last year the girls spring sports at Friends were all very successful. This year the girls soccer team will be hoping to get back to their winning ways after a disappointing season last year. The team will be lead by Seniors Caroline Armstrong and Samantha Gagliano. The team will also have strong players in junior Jess Swain, and sophomores Leah Handwerk and Chessie Aleman. The Quakers are also bringing up a strong freshman class. The Lady Quakers will be hoping to have a strong season, and an improvement on last year.

Last year the girls lacrosse team made it to the first round of the state tournament. The Lady Quakers lost many seniors from last year, but they are working to keep up their winning ways even with the losses. The Quakers will be lead by senior Kristin Lang and Juniors Alyn O’ Brien, Julie Ly, and Lindsay Reese. The team is working to have another strong year in our difficult conference and advance to the state tournament again. pictopia.com

STATS

© YMCA

Sports by the

07

Catertainment

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

A New Kind of Cat Food Cats (felis domesticus) are rare yet scrumptious delicacies and a great source of protein! China has been facing a rise in the demand for cats, and many Chinese patrons are willing to pay extravagant prices for cat dishes. In fact, there have been reports of “cat burglary” in Beijing. In Canton, China, a dish called “The Dragon and the Tiger,” is a particularly favorable delicacy; it is made with snake and cat meat stir-fried together. Cats are also eaten around the world in places such as Vietnam, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Peru.

Although our society often frowns on the concept of cat-eating, everyone faces a time of life whence eating a cat may be considered desirable. Even if this is not the case, in famine or pestilence, eating a cat may make all the difference between life and death.

Since cat meat is not available at your local supermarket, as well as illegal in the United States, certain steps must be applied in preparation for this exceptionally palatable meal. There are several ways to hunt a cat, depending on the cat’s environment. A domestic cat is typically most savory, given the recent feline obesity epidemic that plagues most cat loving homes in America.

Such cats can often be lured by Tuna Flakes, or for the particularly “frisky” cat, catnip. Once the cat has been successfully lured, entrapment may be necessary.

From here it’s the simple matter of decapitating the former feline friend.

Lay out the cat on a large cutting board. Begin with the removal of the head, followed by the tail and feet using a large butcher’s knife. Discard these items, as it is unlikely they have much edible meat. Next, make a longitudinal incision through the cat’s stomach, remove the cat’s internal organs (remember, the liver of a cat is toxic for human consumption).

Before skinning the cat, it may be necessary to boil the cat in water. Lay the cat on a slight incline, and the skin should be relatively easy to peel off. Wash the cat meat, when all the skin is peeled.

Now its time to cook the cat! The following recipe should make for a yummy dish:

Friendly, Feral, or Forgotten?

Ingredients • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

3 1/2 lbs. cat meat 6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled 1 sprig fresh rosemary 1/2 cup dry white wine 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 large onion, peeled and chopped Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 teaspoons sweet paprika 3 canned roasted red bell peppers 1 large ripe tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped 4-6 sprigs parsley, chopped 1 bay leaf 1/2 cup dry, full-bodied red wine 1/2 cup chicken stock

Anna Melnick ‘11 Entertainment Writer

www.petinsurance.com

Amanda Cooper ‘11 Entertainment Writer

Preparation 1.

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Combine the cat, 3 of the garlic cloves, rosemary, and white wine in a bowl. Let marinate for 2-3 hours.

Drain the meat, discard the marinade, and pat dry with paper towels.

Mince the remaining 3 garlic cloves and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan with lid, over medium-high heat.

Working in batches, brown the meat on all sides, about 10 minutes per batch.

Return all meat to the pot. Add onions, minced garlic, pepper and salt. Cook, scraping browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

Stir in paprika, add roasted peppers, tomatoes, parsley, bay leaf, and red wine.

Boil and simmer until juices in pot reduce and thicken slightly, about 10-15 minutes.

Add chicken stock, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat is very tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Serves 4 to 6.

John Fairchild ‘11 Entertainment Editor This month on Friends’ Favorites, it was time to reflect on the past and decide one of the more pressing issues of today’s society: What is your favorite cat? Without any guidelines or further explanations, responses ranged from Hello Kitty to Eric Cartman’s cat, among a myriad of others. So, Wilmington Friends School, what is your favorite cat?

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Friends’ Favorites: Famous Felines

“My favorite is Garfield. It’s got to be. He’s a fresh cat.”

– Calynd Johnson ‘11

“My favorite is Meowth because he’s a rebel from Team Rocket.”

– Chris Palmer ‘13 “My favorite is Eric Cartman’s cat from South Park because that’s a cat that sticks out to me when I think of cats...I’m not a cat person.”

– Alex Balis ‘12 “My favorite is Sassy from Homeward Bound because of her sass and because I love that movie.”

– Emily Letcher ‘10 “My favorite is Puss In Boots from Shrek because of his accent and his swag.”

– Emma Paul ‘13 “My favorite is Hello Kitty because she’s really pretty, she has a bow on her head, and she likes to learn about the world around her. And she likes books, and she likes to travel. I’m about to become obsessed with Hello Kitty.”

– Lauren Kerrigan ‘13

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“My favorite is The Cat in the Hat because he’s funny and he wears a hat. I’ve always loved Dr. Seuss books.”

– Dunia Tonob ‘13

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“My favorite is Lion-O from the Thundercats because Thundercats are on the move, Thundercats are loose.”

– Austin Shoenkopf ‘11

Most people recognize when someone offhandedly sings, “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?” as a Pussycat Dolls song. In fact, when posing a Pussycat Doll-related inquiry as to their listening preferences, more than one student simply started to sing the song “Don’t Cha,” as well as “Buttons,” two of their most successful single songs.

But is their fame anymore than suggestive lyrics and dance routine. Do they actually possess talent?

Their group is described as a “burlesque troupe” based in Los Angeles. When asked what first comes to mind when the words “burlesque troupe” are mentioned, Junior Hannah Day responded, “Moulin Rouge or like a classier, more BAMF version of stripping” These words are obviously not a great association for an “American pop girl group and dance ensemble” to have.

Junior Jermaine Young agreed with the general point of the band, saying that, “I don’t care about their music, as their songs are pretty sub-par, but they are very nice to look at.” Throughout their rise to fame, the group has certainly been criticized for its overtly sexual image and explicit dance routines. From music videos to group posters to the song lyrics, the Pussycat Dolls know how to push their conservative critics’ buttons.

Founded in 1995 by Robin Antin, they are certainly the best selling female act active in the music industry. Yet most people had not heard any of their music recently or chose to avoid their music at all costs. Few students report that they appreciate their music for its talent and style.

Senior Bryce Sheppard reports that he “doesn’t listen to them at all.” Senior Will Graves says, “I don’t know who they are at all...Who are they?” This trait was not only found throughout the members of the high school but among the teachers as well. World History teacher Scott Clothier feigned ignorance to their existence, either as a band or as a dance troupe.

Instead, he suggested, “Mojave 3, a part of the late 90’s shoegazer music. Very ambient!”

While some people expressed mild enjoyment of the music, few shared true appreciation for it. Junior Lindsay Reese thought, “It is very teen-friendly, and also good for the radio.” Fellow Junior Kristin Siegfried said jubilantly, “They’re my Friday night dance music!”

No one said, however, that they think the Pussycat Dolls are actually talented. Junior Jess Swain agreed with that sentiment, saying, “I like their music to dance to, but it’s not very deep and I don’t relate very well to their message. Also, their lyrics don’t captivate me as much as a group like the Shins or Maroon 5 does.”

A group that once boasted ridiculous membership numbers, the Pussycat Dolls currently have only two members remaining. Not only have the Dolls seem to be falling out of the spotlight of most of our Upper School students’ musical minds, but they also seem to be falling apart themselves.

Six members have left the group, including Asia Nitollano, who became the group’s seventh member after winning the reality show Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For the Next Doll in 2007. Oddly enough, even though she was an official part of the troupe, she only participated with the group twice, and the strange air surrounding her membership was only heightened when she did not partake in the Dolls’ performance at the Live Earth concerts.

Regardless of the negativity and downward spiral, a member of the Pussycat Dolls told MTV on March 4th that there are hopes for a new lineup and the release of a new album near the end of 2010. Will new group members and a different focus on “more rock, soul-inspired sound” be able to revive this seemingly decrepit band of two people?

Or will the Pussycat Dolls continue their descent into unpopularity and scorn for their rather vulgar message?

Catertainment

Frank Sinatra, Casablanca, and Thirty Cats

Online video sites frequently showcase cat videos atop the most viewed, most popular, and highest rated categories. But the popularity does not stop there.

There are now Let’s face it. Cats get no respect. Compared to the almost universal appeal of man’s best friend, the dog, the even many websites cat lags behind in likeability and popularity. And things devoted to funny or are not improving for the feline. Although ownership of cute cat pictures. The cats outnumbers dogs by more than ten million, recent Internet has caused a dramatic shift in the polls show that more than half of people dislike cats.

Even in Hollywood, the cat is at a disadvantage. tide of battle in favor We all know the lazy but lovable tabby cat, Garfield, Dr. of the furry felines.

Seuss’s character, the Cat in the Hat, and the comic book Could this signal a dramatic shift for cats legend, Hobbes, from Calvin & Hobbes.

On the television side of things, predatory cartoon to launch themselves a position cats, Sylvester from Looney Toons and Tom from into likeability, Tom and Jerry, never disappoint. The big screen has of and showcased the famous Cheshire Cat from Alice in popularity, Wonderland and the Pink Panther in its own movies. And respect? All signs even in advertising, Hello Kitty and Tony the Tiger have point to yes.

Canines have their own respective and generally respected roles.

But these well-known felines stand no chance against cemented themselves as household pets and have the plethora of legendary dogs. Just to name a few: Scooby respected roles in many types of media. Where dogs lag Doo, Goofy, Air Bud, Gromit, Sadie, Snoopy, Clifford behind now is in the Internet. Cats have a chokehold on the Big Red Dog, Huckleberry Hound, Pluto, Tramp, the worldwide web and are not looking to release their and Underdog (don’t even call him that, considering the hold. Next step: world domination.

Cats’ rise to fame is a mutt’s popularity…). It’s not even two-part strategy: be funny fair – that is, it wasn’t even fair.

Although it seems like a or be cute. Many times, a cat futile battle, cats can now meow will succeed at both. Take, for in triumph. Our feline friends example, the popular website, have found a secret weapon in the icanhascheezburger.com. The war against dogs: the Internet. website dawned when one lone While general perception of picture of an eager, happycats invokes their laziness, love looking, mildly obese cat was of sleep, and rejection of love, a given a text caption: “I can has number of felines are shattering cheezburger?”

Preparing to take on the Red Baron the stereotype with Youtube Now, there are thousands of videos and pictures by just being their quirky selves. pages of funny or cute cat pictures with grammatically

incorrect text captions on the website. The text captions are purposefully incorrect, as people thought if a cat could talk, it would do so in a childlike, naïve way. These cats got so famous, people invented a new term to describe them: LOLcats.

Needless to say, a newfound appeal for cats was born.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, a few cat superstars helped pave the way for a surge in feline acceptance.

Keyboard Cat, a tabby cat dressed in an Elton John kimono, plays a tensecond piano verse on the now-legendary video. Keyboard Cat has a popular catch phrase, “Play him off, Keyboard Cat,” and its own website, playhimoffkeyboardcat.com.

In Japan, there’s Maru the cat, whose owner frequently uploads videos of Maru jumping into cardboard boxes, dashing into empty yogurt containers, and getting his head stuck in paper bags. Without fail, Maru’s Youtube channel is currently the ninth most subscribed in Japan.

Other popular Youtube cats include Nora the piano playing cat, OMG cat, who makes the appropriate facial reaction, the extremely long Longcat, and Dramatic cat.

All provide worthwhile entertainment and laughs.

Can cats become man’s new best friend? If the recent trend of exploding cat popularity continues with increased Internet use, dogs may have to learn a couple of new tricks to keep the war interesting. But we all know you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

I have a confession to make. It must be said, regardless of the reactionary crushing wave of judgment and criticism that is bound to engulf me. Here it goes: I love cats. Three words and already I can see readers placing me in a fur-covered burgundy arm chair, surrounded by several aging cats – all of whom are named after various 1940s crooners – watching Casablanca, and knitting an afghan.

“If anyone has over five cats, then they are crazy,” decrees junior Brian Hoscheit. But why does claiming affinity for the feline species immediately lead to an assumption of a lack of social skills?

Some entertaining research had to be done. I felt a combination of shame, curiosity and excitement at typing the words “celebrities and their cats” into the Google search box. Those with a love for their feline friends make a fairly diverse group.

The world of television is strangely well-represented with Regis Philbin, Jay Leno, Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes, and The Office’s Jenna Fischer all being brave enough to pose cuddling with their kitties. Other cat-owning notables include comedian Russel Brand and actors Sean Connery and Morgan Freeman, not to mention cat loving stereotypes Martha Stewart and Susan Boyle.

From the data, I could see no overarching similarities (besides perhaps a slight twinge of sadness accompanying each owner), although there were an unusually low number of females. “It’s weird if a guy is really into his cats,” reflects senior Dori Brooks. “I once knew a guy who was obsessed.

It was really creepy.” Of course, I could go on forever forcing celebrity kitty possessors into the public light, but enough “catmail.” (Get it, like blackmail?)

Convinced that I had found the “made fun of in high school” category of pet owners, I headed back to Google to see how the other half lived. The findings proved the worst: dog people are friendly, sane, and generally content folk!

“A dog can be your best friend and sit by your side until one of you dies…Dog people will be loyal to you for all of your days and shower you with affection daily,” asserts junior Caroline Scott.

In angreement with Scott, many celebrities find themselves crazy about their canines, including Oprah Winfrey, Hugh Jackman, Drew Barrymore, Ashton Kutcher, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jessica Simpson.

www.damncoolpics.blogspot.com

A true testament to the popularity of dogs is the fact that I was forced to have “Love Meow: A Blog for Cat Lovers” on my Internet history, when a shiny, professional celebritydogwatcher.com proved a far less shameful source.

The Friends community freezes in the face of a very critical query: Cats or Dogs? “I can’t answer that question,” announces freshman Allie Rudin sternly. After much careful thought, Brooks decides she likes “dogs a smidgen more; they are loyal versus cats which are more independent.” Junior Katherine Beckwith replies immediately, “I hate cats because they scratch people, and they always sit on you then dig their claws into you.”

Outed as a cat lady by her friends, freshman Sophie Mester says, “I don’t love all cats, only mine.” Mester also throws a shout out to her two cats, Chase and Trixie.

This issue becomes increasingly relevant with the releasing of Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore this July. According to the Internet Movie Database, the film, a sequel to the 2001 masterpiece Cats & Dogs, studies “the ongoing war between the canine and feline species [which is] put on hold when they join forces to thwart a rogue cat spy with her own sinister plans for conquest.”

The sequel features the vocal talents of “Big Mike” Duncan, Alec Baldwin and Bette Midler. The trailer is packed with cinematic gold, such as self-destructing squirrels, house pets wearing corrective eyewear, and G-rated weed humor. The only worry for director Brad Peyton will be to find a place for his Oscar where the cat won’t knock it down.

Although I haven’t truly begun to understand the link between cats and lack of social skills, I have discovered that I am not alone. There is a community somewhere that won’t judge me for watching Cats 101, having a beaded cat change purse, or subscribing to Cats and Kittens Magazine.

Author Charles Dickens once said, “What greater gift than the love of a cat?” The only thing that comes to mind is proclaiming a shame-free feline appreciation. After all, the first step is admitting there is a problem. The next step is listening to Sinatra and relaxing in my chair, because I’ve got an afghan to knit!

Annie Sheslow ‘11 Entertainment Writer

Well, at least Regis seems happy.

www.icanhascheezburger.com

Richie Monsaert ‘10 Entertainment Writer

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

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I Can Has Shift in Popularity? LOLyesplz

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Community Resident B.S. Expert, Connor Juers, Shares His Ways

The Whittier Miscellany April 2010

appears to everyone to be a well reasoned point. And the beauty of B.S. is that we live in such a society where ambiguity and subjectivity is so prevalent in education, By the time you read this, I will hopefully be well that the point is often a valid one. So who is to say under way upon my senior exploration, safely displaced that my ideas about Saleem in Midnight’s Children are from any wrath that these not justified just because I have scribblings might incur. only read two and a half chapters I, Connor Sheehan Juers, of the novel? If it makes sense senior slacker extraordinaire, and is still based on some part hereby reveal unto you of the book, who is to say it isn’t my deepest darkest and valid? The BSer is essentially just most predictable secret. expressing his mental adaptability, I am full of crap. Yup. his ability to rapidly formulate Here, in this very column I opinions and arguments with only wholeheartedly admit that at the information that is at hand. For least 75% of every word that this reason, I think that, not only is comes out of my mouth is B.S. not the bane of a successful pure hogwash, horse manure, education but, in limited quantities, scat, excrement. Call it what an essential skill which one should you will, but when it comes in fact make strides to develop down to it, I rarely, if ever, during high school. B.S. reflects know as much about the thing the user’s ability to logically I discuss and argue as I lead extrapolate meaning and to make others, both intentionally conclusions. In real life, unlike and unintentionally, to school, you will not always be believe. There are times given all the information you need, when my knowledge of the harsh as it may sound. Sometimes topic at hand extends only Connor Juers, the master himself, hard at work you just have to suck it up, act to snippets of discussions I confident and pretend you know hear in the halls before class. what you’re talking about. And you Anyone in my English class this year will testify to the know what? If everyone believes it, you might as well fact that every point I made inevitably referenced the know what you are talking about. topics relevant only to the first chapter of a book. What For this reason I have decided to lay down here it comes down to is the clear and simple fact that I love a couple of pointers and tips as to the art of BSing in to B.S. And why not? It got me through four years of English class because it is an easy place to start for high school. Those who get angry at me and other BSers inexperienced BSers and other motivated, goal-oriented for our gift simply don’t understand it. It is important to students. WARNING: THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE understand B.S. in order to truly appreciate it, and realize INTENDED FOR EMERGENCY FORGOTTEN its importance.

HOMEWORK USE ONLY. PAPA JUERS The first importnat thing to realize is that there is PUBLISHING, AND ITS SUBSIDERS DO NOT a huge difference between BSing and making stuff up. ENCOURAGE SLACKING IN ANY WAY, SHAPE Most people can make up a fictionally-based, interesting, OR FORM AND SUGGEST YOU ALWAYS READ and convincing argument, but it is the skill and artistry THE ASSIGENED READING. FAILURE TO DO of the master BSer, such as myself if I may be so bold, SO COULD RESULT IN SERIOUS SLACKING to weave what little knowledge he has into a scaffolding OR EVEN Fs. Ok now that that’s out of the way, here of truth, upon which he then sculpts pure crap into what is the scenario: it’s 7:45, you have English first period Connor Juers ‘10 Columnist

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and you didn’t read the short story/chapter last night, and Mr. Rashkind said last class he was going to call on each student to share an observation about the story.

Step one is not to panic, but instead calm yourself and ask a close and studious friend to give you a very quick overview of the story/chapter, just the basic stuff so you don’t sound like an idiot in class. Next, it’s important to find someone, not in your class, who keeps great active reading notes and ask if you can borrow their book for class, even if you have it yourself, as their notes are a helpful tool to any BSer. Now as class is about to begin, take a moment to memorize the characters’ names and read the brief authorial biography on the back. When choosing a seat, make a point to sit far from the teacher, but not directly across, in order to avoid being called on too soon. As class starts, begin to casually flip through the story, analyzing the notes which your helpful friend has so dutifully provided, all the while casually listening to your fellow classmates share, until you come upon a passage which is especially crowded with pen and highlighter. Take some time to read this passage; this is your golden ticket, the nugget of truth around which you will construct your B.S. Now at this point your best bet is to look for one of two things, the presence of two contrasting or opposing things in the passage such as ideas/images (e.g. dark vs. light or hot vs. cold imagery) or sentences of at least mildly varying length within one paragraph (e.g. one longer-than-expected sentence and one shorter sentence). In the first case, all you need to explain is how you found the juxtaposition between image A and image B interesting as well as how it helps develop the main conflict (which you should have picked up by listening to your classmates). In the second case, simply point out the author’s interesting use of contrasting (if you really want to push it you could say juxtaposition) long, rambling/flowing and short simple sentences and how this juxtaposing syntax emphasizes and accentuates the short sentences. If you are really stuck and can’t think of how to apply either of these, think back to the little mini-bio you read about the author on the back and try to connect some aspect of your passage to his life. Now I can’t promise you will get an A, but these techniques, if employed properly, will get you through class. And all it takes is a bit of confidence, some minor knowledge about literary techniques, and an enormous steaming pile of B.S..

We Had a Great Title... But Then It Was Censored

There comes a point in all our lives when people say “no.” You can’t go here, you can’t go there, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. The big bad government controls what you see and what you hear, and your big bad parents tell you where to go. To a certain extent, there is a lack of freedom in our lives for there are often no escapes from the overpowering demands and restraints others can put on us. This is a harsh, brutal reality, one where we are forced to accept that the very ideals of the first amendment that we so cherish are disregarded.

You may be wondering what I am talking about here.

It’s quite simple really: a control of information, a seizure upon the very ideals of our liberal social values, not only in this school, but in our own nation. I am referring directly to a recent Texas Board of Education decision to decide that all history textbooks should be written for a highly conservative, religious-oriented agenda. Amongst the biggest changes from the usual, truthful textbook to this new textbook is that this new book states that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. However, I think the falsity of this claim is quite apparent to all of us. And just to prove this accepted point even further, I shall point out that the man who wrote our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was antireligious. He famously took the King James Bible and cut out all the bits that he thought were untrue. Jefferson claimed that these excerpts were put there as political statements by the many writers of the New Testament. Without needing to argue further, all the historical evidence points to the fact that the constitution is a nonreligious document, so please, don’t make the history books lie.

This decision wouldn’t really be a big deal (the State

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Board of Education of Alabama had made this decision too) if it wasn’t for the fact that textbook companies make their decisions based on the Texas Board of Education.

After all, Texas has the largest population and therfore the largest amount of textbook buyers. So starting next year, school children around the country will start to learn about a false founding of their nation, built on a false religious context, rather than the true political ideals that form our nation’s backbone.

This horrific slap in the face to our nation’s legitimate original ideals and founding is shocking.

It is one of the worst kinds of censorship out there. It is a clear-cut replacement of truth with lies.

The truth is that we trust what we are taught.

Not often do we sit and question what we learn in our science and math classes; yet maybe it’s necessary. How do we determine the line between censorship that protects and censorship that blatantly lies? The fact of the matter is that we don’t know, and we probably never will. It is unfortunate, though, that since this line is so gray, we more often than not accept what we are told as the truth, while all along there could be some state-wide board voting to teach us something that is completely fictitious and misleading.

Sure, censorship has many ugly faces and forms. It can range from a removal of works from press, a banning, or even a down right cessation of production. Censorship takes place all the time; just check your history books (while you still can). Yet the repetition of the crime does not justify its mistake; it is down right wrong to force false ideas down the throats of innocent children, who are simply trying to learn.

There comes a time when censorship takes away our personal power.

At these times, we must look censorship in the eyes and challenge it. These are the times we must rise up and seize the power back. We are forced now to have a milder history, spewing of lies and falsehoods, a history that can do nothing but lead to a doomed generation that does not know and understand where or why they came to be. We must challenge all censorship and if we believe it to be wrongful, we must take a stand and say “No, we will print what we wish.” We shall rock the Casbah. We shall stand up on our soapbox and we will not step down until our piece has been said. We shall paint and make art. To this preservation of truth and equality in our papers, our books, our textbooks, our art, and our music, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/

Ben Schmidt ‘10 Columnist