The Graphic - Amherst-Pelham Regional High School

Serving the Amherst
Regional High School
community since 1914.
The Graphic
“Where have you gone
Joe DiMaggio?”
-Paul Simon
Volume XCV, Number 4, March 5, 2009
“Democracy and Tolerance”
brings teachers to Indonesia
Sam Camera, Kristen Iverson and Tom Fricke participated in an international
teacher exchange program to Indonesia for three weeks. For full story see page 3.
ARHS budget shows no sign of relief
By Nick Mone
With Governor Deval Patrick
cutting aid to education across
the Commonwealth in order to
balance the state’s budget, ARHS
will be facing one of the largest
budget deficits in its history.
Early estimates project the deficit
to be at least $700,000 with a
maximum of $1.2 million.
Principal
Mark
Jackson
has been exploring a variety
of options to cut spending at
ARHS. Mr. Jackson said, “We
have a three tier system in place
to deal with the budget deficit. At
the moment we are planning for
tier one.”
Tier one includes $700,000
in cuts resulting in numerous
changes for ARHS. Mr. Jackson
said, “When making cuts, we
try to start as far away from the
classroom as possible, but after
making other cuts we were still
forced to make cuts affecting the
classroom.”
For a long time ARHS has
stood out from other high schools
for its wide variety of courses
and clubs. Unfortunately due to
the deficit many are in danger
of being cut. Courses which are
traditionally underenrolled will
not be offered, and neither will
those which do not receive enough
enrollments for the 2009-2010
school year. Money dedicated
to stipends for club advisors
will also be cut. However this
will not be a deterrent to all club
advisors, Students for Free Tibet
advisor Frank Vassiere said,
“It was never about the money
and I will stay on stipend or no
stipend.”
These cuts are worrying
students as they think about
the future of the clubs they are
involved in. Mai Pham, ‘10, said,
“Clubs are the best part of ARHS
and it would be heartbreaking
if some of the clubs ceased to
exist.”
Out of the $700,000, at least
$100,000 will be coming out
of the athletic budget. This will
result in the loss of one sport and
a cut back in number of teams per
sport. Athletic Director Karen
Keough-Huff said, “There will
not be as many teams offered for
each sport and we are looking at a
10% participation fee increase.”
Yet these changes are not
enough to keep staff members
from being laid-off. Mr. Jackson
said, “Despite all of our attempts
to avoid cutting back on staff, we
have to make a modest reduction
in staff in order to compensate
for the deficit.” Currently, 6.5
Full Time Equivalents will be
eliminated from the school.
Unfortunately, these cut backs
are just tier one. Even more parts
of ARHS could be affected if the
budget gap is higher. But Mr.
Jackson said, “We are striving to
keep the best aspects of ARHS
including class size, offerings,
and teacher to student ratio, and
despite the budget deficit they
will remain staples of ARHS.”
By Daniel Hegner
It is hard to imagine ARHS
without a computer network.
As much as we all may complain about its speed or inconsistency, it is always there
when our home printers, as we
say, run out of ink. Yet with an
annual price tag of over $1.8
million, one must wonder if
there is any way to cut the upkeep cost.
The most fundamental application in our computer network is Microsoft Word. Since
this basic word processor is
bundled for free with all computers that run the Windows
operating system, many people
might be surprised to learn that
each year our school pays Microsoft approximately $13,000
to license Word on 1,500 computers.
According to Jerry Champagne, Director of Information
Services, the benefit of licensing Word on every computer is
that the district does not have
to pay for every update, which
can be a considerable expense.
But what if we could get all
the benefits of a comprehensive word processor without
paying a penny? The answer
is an application that many
students already use, Open Office. According to PC Magazine, “Open Office is smooth
and highly comparable with
Microsoft Office.” Yet unlike
its counterpart, Open Office is
completely free.
It almost sounds too good
to be true. How could a free
product be as good as one that
retails for $35? The answer
lies in the open source community that programs Open
Office.
Instead of a single company programming and owning
the code of a program, open
source programs allow anyone to access and modify the
codes. Most of the programmers in the open source community are not paid, which allows open source programs to
be available for free.
The same idea is behind the
online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Anyone can contribute to
its content, which is accessible
to all. Having a large pool of
contributors also increases the
likelihood that errors will be
Is the trimester dead?
By Daniel Hegner
Over the past few days, the
school administration has considered switching from trimesters to semesters this coming
September.
Principal Mark Jackson said,
“The budget projections for the
foreseeable future have district
revenues decreasing as expenses
continue to rise. One implication
is that for next year, as a precaution, we prepared students for
the possibility of taking only
13 of 15 blocks. As a result, I
am recommending to the faculty
that we take a look at ways to
minimize the amount of noninstructional time in students’
schedules. This would include
examining other master schedule possibilities.”
Switching to semesters would
lower the study hall requirements from two to one. There
would be 7 blocks per semester,
totaling 14 blocks a year.
Many teachers are opposed to
this change. Ms. Baer-Leighton
said “Switching to semesters
will decrease the ability to support all students. Managing 125
students per semesters versus 70
per trimester will have a huge
impact on students.”
Some teachers think the
change will be beneficial. Mrs.
Blauner said, “The advantages
to semesters outweigh the advantages of trimesters.”
Ms. Matthews is also happy
about the potential schedule,
“I am delighted. I’ve taught in
both, and the amount of content
we cover in a trimester is less,”
she said
Alex Karpinski, ’10, said, “It
seems like the wrong solution.
People have gotten used to trimesters.”
Elementary music program
might be making huge cuts
By Mark Santolucito
On February 10 the Amherst School Committee met
to discuss possible cuts to the
elementary school budget for
next year. One of the proposed
cuts was the elimination of the
elementary school music program.
Cutting instrumental music teachers would reduce the
budget by $172,000 and the cut
would save $2,000 in instrumental music supplies and travel. These cuts were proposed on
the first level of budget reductions for a total of approximately $800,000.
Further cuts were proposed
in levels two and three of the
plans. Those levels will only
be tapped if state funding is not
high enough. Level two would
cut about 1.2 million from the
budget and level three would
cut 1.8 million.
With the recent passage of
the Stimulus Bill, Amherst
schools will receive an additional $1,000,000. How this
will affect the proposed cuts
remains unclear.
Many students voiced their
concern over the termination
of the music program. “If you
don’t get exposed to music at
a young age it is harder to get
into it later because of peer
pressure,” said Taylor Middleton, ’10, a choir member.
Some students also thought
there were better things to cut
before the music program. “The
music program is more important than middle school,” said
Nick Adolph, ’09.
He has explored the possibility of switching to Open
Office, but said, “The program
would have to be tested first.”
Although the interface is very
similar to Word, he believes it,
“isn’t as network friendly.”
Mr. Moriarty, an
ARHS English teacher
who formerly worked
on the school’s computer network, has
been pushing the use
of open source for
years.
He proposed
using free open source
software six years ago
when the district began
licensing Word, but got
no reaction from the
administration. According to Mr. Moriarty, “The kids
would have no trouble switching to Open Office. The teachers would have a much harder
time.”
Mr. Champagne also believes the staff poses the largest
obstacle to using Open Office
and considers them often un-
willing to try new technology.
“Switching cold turkey would
be problematic. It would have
to be phased,” he said.
In order for the district to
adopt Open Office, the decision would have to be virtually unanimous, according to
Champagne. He would have
to make sure that any change
in technology would not have
a serious impact on the staff’s
ability to work. Since Word is
the most frequently used application, the staff would have to
be ready and willing to make
the change.
Despite the bureaucratic
roadblocks hindering the implementation of Open Office,
Mr. Champagne has made an
effort to make the change possible. He plans to install Open
Office in the school network
this summer so students and
staff can become familiar with
it. It is his hope that if the district decides to make the switch,
the program will already be familiar to the school.
Open source software could save district thousands of dollars
“Open Office is
smooth and highly
comparable with
Microsoft Office.”
- PC Magazine
fixed.
Mr. Champagne had a positive experience with open
source programs when he installed the Linux operating
system, one of the largest open
source projects, on the new
Pelham Elementary School
servers. “The system is very
solid,” said Champagne.
The Graphic
Page 2
March 5, 2009
Editorials
Save yourself for the one you love Dreams are coming true
Your virginity is meant for your husband
By Melissa Rennie
In this day and age, abstinence and purity is more rare
than intercourse.
Growing
numbers of high school students lose their virginity each
year, and sadly, sometimes their
reputation. Sex, foreplay and
immodesty have become a common part of our society. People
waiting until marriage is rather
uncommon, even laughed at by
some. But unlike a lot of students and people I know, I am
proud to be uncommon and not
afraid to be laughed at. Sex
is a beautiful thing, designed
by God for a man and woman
within the confines of marriage. I, myself, don’t wear
a bikini, because I want my
husband to be the first person
to see my body. Even though
that view could be seen as extreme, I believe that letting any
guy at the beach or pool see
your body is one fewer thing
you can save for your husband.
I, myself have decided to stay
abstinent for my husband because my virginity is the most
precious and sacred gift I can
give someone. People always
say “It’s not a big deal, it is just
a bikini” or “It is just sex. It is
fun. It is okay.” But to me it is
a huge deal. Imagine the mo-
ment when you can look your
husband or wife in the eyes and
honestly say “You are the first
person to see me naked. You
are the first person to touch
me. I loved you so, so much,
that even before I knew you, I
wanted to save myself for you.”
What a gift. This is the person
that you can lose your virginity
to and it is the most vulnerable
state you can be in. Saving that
for one person is the best gift
you could ever give.
People often say “Don’t you
want to be ‘experienced’ for
your husband?” Well, I’d rather be pure for my husband and
learn with him. People have
also said to me “Well if you love
each other, it is okay.” Yeah, I
suppose that makes sense. If
you love them, it should be
okay. But the truth is you will
probably love more than that
one person. If we slept with everyone that we loved, wouldn’t
it become less special? I love
my boyfriend and he loves me,
but we both made a promise to
stay abstinent until marriage. If
we had sex before marriage, we
would give away the gift of virginity and if we didn’t end up
getting married, that gift would
be lost forever. But since we
decided not to have sex, even
The Graphic
Vol. XCV, No. 4, March 5, 2009
Editors-in-Chief: Molly Bryck, Spencer Kaye,
Emily Stout
Head of Photography: Sean Eddings
Editors: Mimi Booth, Jessie Chasan-Taber,
Ali Cherrington, Agata Ciesielska, Rebecca
Clingman, Chris Haake, Lishai Goldstein, Micki
Kahn, Julia Sillen
Faculty Advisor: Chris Herland
Printer: Turley Publications, Palmer, MA
The Graphic is the student newspaper of Amherst
Regional High School, 21 Mattoon Street,
Amherst, Mass. 01002. The staff and advisors can
be reached by phone at 362-1506. Most articles
printed in The Graphic are written by students
in Journalism classes. An after-school staff is
responsible for the paper’s layout, editorial policy,
content decisions, and finances. The Graphic is a
forum for free speech and dissenting opinions.
Letters to the editor are encouraged. Letters
must be signed and do not necessarily represent
the views of The Graphic or Amherst Regional
High School. The Graphic reserves the right to
edit letters for length. Editorials represent the
opinions of the writer and not those of the school.
if we don’t end up getting married, we will still have that gift
to give to our partners when
we do get married. Yes, we do
love each other, but we don’t
have to prove that with intercourse.
If you are just hooking up
with different people throughout your life, you are giving
away parts of yourself each
time. Eventually, it is just
another person you are with.
Then what is left for you and
your husband or wife? The
leftovers? Which would you
prefer? A brand new 2009
Mustang with zero miles that
no one has ever driven before
or a 2008 rental car that other
strangers have driven?
By Sara Fox
It’s no secret that from the fall
of 2007 up until January 20, 2009,
we witnessed history in the making. The moment Hillary Clinton
and Barack Obama threw their
names into the race to become the
next president of the United States
of America, something in our world
shifted. No matter which of them
was nominated, no matter which of
them became president, it would be
an election year like none other.
During this unusual political
campaign, the people and politicians experienced strange and
tough events. November 4, 2008
came around and it was time for
Americans to decide where we
wanted to go. Did we want to be in
the hands of someone who would
carry us the same way we had carried for the past eight years? Or did
we want someone to pick us up,
build us up, and start us in a direction of improvement, achievement,
and greatness? As the polls came
in, many Americans sat there biting
their nails and crossing their fingers
in hopes that the person they voted
for would win.
Then it happened. The unthinkable. The near-impossible. The
unbelievable. History was made.
Barack Obama was to be our…
next… president. People were crying, shouting, dancing, singing, hugging people they didn’t know. Two
dreams had come true that night.
Obama’s dream and the dream of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Their dream
had come true. Their dreams are not
complete, however. Obama must
live them out, not just for him, but
for the people, and with the people.
And everyone knows, though a big
part of Dr. King’s dream has come
true, there is far more to be done.
The camps have always used
22 rifles and later added shotguns
as well, however just this year,
neighbors began complaining
about the firing noise, and now
they want the camp too be closed
down. It’s not just the Boy Scouts
that use the camp.
Other groups and camps do
too, also the camps only run during the summer so it’s not like
shooting happens all year long,
everyday. As a result I believe that
shutting down the camp would be
very wrong. Many scouts go to this
camp because it is the closest one
in the area also a cheaper camp to
go to, unlike the $300 I had to pay
for six days in New Hampshire.
Third, it would be morally wrong,
to deprive these boys of the training they learn as a Boy Scout are
very useful and helpful. It’s a great
hobby and keeps boys busy from
all the negative activity in our
world.
Shutting the camp down would
cause the BSA organization to
draw fewer scouts to camp. They
would lose money the organization
needs. Many scouts would miss
out on going to camp, sleeping
in the outdoors, earning the merit
badges needed to receive the eagle
award, and feeling the excitement
of taking a shot, pulling the trigger, hitting the target in a safe and
conformable environment.
Shutting down Boy Scout camps is wrong
By Dan Wilson
As a young Boy Scout, shooting is one of my first memories of
Boy Scout Camp. Although I did
not attend Chesterfield Boy Scout
Camp during my time as a scout,
I did go to another like it, “Hidden Valley” Boy Scout Camp in
New Hampshire. In fact, I would
say shooting sports were the best
things about camp for any Scout at
any Scout camp.
Today, in our area, a controversy is encircling campers and
Boy Scouts that have been using
the site for shooting for the past
70 years. The camp is located in
Chesterfield, Massachusetts, about
one hour away from Amherst.
Don’t support the slaughter houses,
Watch what you eat, don’t eat the meat
By Eliza Aierstuck
According to accounts from undercover investigations conducted
by PETA and recorded on the website, www. kentuckeyfriedcruelty.
com, workers in the Pilgrim’s Pride
Slaughterhouse, which provides
meat for the popular fast food chain
KFC, have been caught on tape doing such things as tearing beaks off
of chickens, ripping birds heads off
to write graffiti in blood, spitting tobacco juice into bird’s mouths, and
plucking feathers to ‘make it snow.’
Workers said that the behavior was
to “alleviate boredom or vent frustrations.”
Supervisors provide no help.
One supervisor was caught on tape
walking by men throwing chickens
against a wall. In passing, the supervisor said, “Hold your fire,” and
once out of the way, said,“Carry
on.”
Safety in slaughterhouses is
indeed a problem in the American
work force. 36% of slaughterhouse
workers incur serious injuries on
the job, making it the most hazardous work in America. Workers
who speak out about the working
conditions are silenced, fired, and
replaced by undocumented aliens.
I believe that animals have the
right to be free from human brutality and exploitation, exactly as human beings poses this right. I have
been a vegetarian my whole life,
and I am proud to say so. I recognize the hardships of converting the
entire human race to a purely vegetarian species. I know that it is not
something that can happen overnight. It would be a slow process,
but each time one person chooses
to no longer eat at fast food chains
like KFC, another step is taken toward eliminating businesses that
thrive on violence against animals.
A vegetarian world would not just
benefit the animals. By becoming
vegetarian, people improve their
own health, help reduce world hunger, stand up for workers rights, and
help the environment.
Those caught in the videotapes
will eventually be prosecuted under
the state laws that prohibit the mali-
cious killing of animals. Their prosecution will be a good step towards
preventing animal cruelty, but there
are further steps that should be taken. Even if becoming a vegetarian
is too much of a step for you, you
can still help by refusing to support fast food industries, which are
among the biggest causes of animal
cruelty.
Of course, the surest way to
spare animals from torture is to stop
eating meat all together. No cruelty
based industry can survive without
you, the everyday consumer, inadvertently supplying the company
with exactly what it needs to continue to operate. Don’t purchase
food in ignorance. Know what food
you are eating, and where it comes
from.
Comic by Lee Williams and Alex Holland.
T he G raphic
M arch 5, 2009
P age 3
News
ARHS teachers experience Indonesian schools
Teachers participate in an exchange program between the United States and Indonesia funded by the US State Dept.
By Ariel Wigdor
Three ARHS teachers just returned from a three week trip to
Indonesia through an exchange
program called Democracy and
Tolerance. English department
head Kristen Iverson and social
studies teachers Samantha Camera and Tom Fricke were away
visiting various sites and schools
ance and free expression.
One expectation of the trip
is to gain new perspectives, according to Mr. Fricke. On the
“ARHS Goes to Indonesia” blog,
he wrote, “As a former Peace
Corps volunteer and teacher in
international schools, I know
that the conversations and experiences we will have in Indo-
ARHS teachers in an Indonesian school.
in Indonesia from January 30 to
February 17, 2009.
“Democracy and Tolerance”
is an exchange program between
teachers from America and Indonesia and is hosted by the University of Massachusetts Civic Initiative and funded by the United
States Department of State.
According to the UMass Civic
Initiative Indonesian Exchange
website, the purpose of the program is to study how each nation
interprets the question “How
do people balance democracy,
which allows majority choice,
and tolerance, for those who find
themselves in the minority?”
The ARHS teachers plan to
produce, implement and distribute a curriculum that focuses on
two major ideas – religious toler-
Photo by arps.org.
nesian schools and cultural sites
will force us to reconsider some
of our own assumptions about the
way we negotiate political and
cultural issues in the US.”
Mr. Fricke also stated, “Every
trend that we study in our unit on
globalization [economics] has
manifestations in the Indonesian
economy; the challenges of foreign investment, export markets,
corruption, the IMF and domestic development programs are
all topics that I hope gain more
insight on as we travel from site
to site. Understanding the evolving relationships between US
and Indonesian governments,
particularly during the Cold War,
will help my history students put
other major topics like Korea and
Vietnam into context.”
The group of teachers tavelled
to a total of five different cities and met new people, but the
main goal behind their trip was
much more than simply visiting a
bunch of different tourist attractions. “To state the obvious, an
exchange like this isn’t always
about destinations; it’s about the
journeys,” said Mr. Fricke. “The
time that we have spent in cars
with Indonesian teachers has
been some of the best-spent time
of our whole trip. We’ve gotten
to know each other over long,
long talks as the rice fields and
hills slid by,” he said.
Their first destination, Jakarta,
is the capital city of Indonesia
and is filled with approximately
17 million people, comparable to
New York City, only larger. Their
very first stop on the tour of Jakarta was at the Museum Sejarah
Jakarta in the historic district of
the city. Afterwards, the group
passed through a working district
and made their way into the heart
of Jakarta where they wound up
at an amazing mosque.
“We made our way across to
the Istiqual Mosque and were
greeted by a guard who kindly
offered to give us a tour of the
mosque,” said Ms. Camera. “The
enormity was staggering. The
state was intimately involved in
the creation and design of this
mosque as a symbol of independence and Muslim identity. Directly across the street was a cathedral representing the religious
pluralism in Indonesia.”
ARPS website sports a new look
By Aidan DuMont-McCaffrey
In early December 2008,
many high school students and
teachers logged on to an Amherst Regional Public Schools
webpage that looked strangely
unfamiliar. Some may have believed that they had entered in
the wrong web address; in fact,
our school district’s website had
been given a major face-lift.
The plan for a new website
design was generated in spring
of 2008, as school officials began to believe that the old site
did not stack up well against
more modern, commercially designed webpages. “There were
many who felt the old site’s
design was dated,” said Jerry
Champagne, Director of Information Systems for the school
district. “We wanted to make
sure the new site supported
multi-media
content
such
as
podcasts,
slideshows and
video.”
After deciding against employing an expensive vendor that specialized
in designing K-12 websites,
district staff opted to use “free
and open software” (FOSS)
products and employ a local
freelance web developer to cre-
ber complicated programming
codes. “The content of the new
webpage is easier to change,”
said computer education and
math teacher Nina Koch.
The new design has received
mixed reviews from the student
body thus far, mostly due to the
use of stock photos in the
“I love the new website, I place of actual ARPS students. “The fictional picthink it’s easy to navigate, tures of kids in our school
and portrays our school district are offensive,” said
Ian Waldron, ’09. However,
very well”
the generic student photos
are not here to stay. The
- Diane Rubin, ’09
district staff plans to have
pictures
of Amherst Regional
New features of the webstudents
up
within the coming
site include support for several
months,
but
students must subtypes of media content, a news
mit
the
proper
permission forms
and coming events section on
to
be
featured.
the main page, an easily accesOther students have been
sible event calendar, and a site
able to look beyond the apparent photo mix-up, and appreciate the work that the
school district has done
to keep our website up to
date. “I love the new website, I think it’s easy to
navigate, and portrays our
school very well,” said Disearch function. The site also ane Rubin, ’09.
has a new content management
With the school site switchsystem, meaning that it will be ing to the more organized and
far easier for teachers and ad- easy navigable format, many
ministrators to update the web- are wondering whether the high
page without having to remem- school website will follow suit.
ate the site. Over the past two
months, the local developer,
Richard Hood, created the new
site design and worked on moving existing content to the new
system. “That part alone was
a huge task,” said Mr. Champagne.
As the group moved on from
Jakarta they passed through
Makassar, went to Toraja and
right after, returned to Makassar. “The days are long and full;
it seems like we’ve been gone
for weeks. It’s a different world
out here on Sulawesi. No megacities, but plenty of people, rice
patties, and knife edge ridges,”
wrote Ms. Camera.
During most of their visits
they attended Indonesian schools,
including: universities, public
high schools, Muslim boarding
schools, and Christian boarding
schools. “The boarding schools
are private but hardly luxurious institutions. The public high
school in Makassar was one of
our first stops. Every student in
Indonesia studies English from
the 7th grade on, so most of the
students are eager to put it to
some use – listening or asking
questions,” said Ms. Camera.
The group of teachers were
warmly welcomed at every school
they visited by students interested in learning about Americans.
“They’re particularly interested
in the status of Muslims in the
US and in American schools, said
Ms. Camera.
While traveling and not visiting schools, the teachers spent
many hours in cars crossing the
Sulawesi. “Every single second of
the trip was absolutely spectacular. Towns, oceanside, rice fields,
mountains, a road with holes the
size of a school bus, and insane
drivers,” said Ms. Iverson.
In Toraja, the group experienced something that Ms. Iverson called the “most otherworldly experience of my life.” This
incredible experience was of a
giant funeral ceremony for a 102
year-old man of high status who
had just died.
It was only a short while ago
that Barack Obama was elected
President of the United States.
Right now in Indonesia the campaign season is just getting started.
There are many different political parties and many candidates,
eagerly preparing for upcoming
presidential and legislative elections this spring. “The streets and
intersections are bedecked with a
bewildering array of multicolored
party flags and photo-shopped
posters,” said Mr. Fricke.
“It’s difficult for me to imagine
what Indonesia would look like
without political posters because
it’s such a part of the landscape
now. The exact number of parties
varies from province to province,
but everyone agrees that there are
at least 28 parties in this election
and maybe 38 or 40. And every
party runs multiple candidates,”
he said.
Just like our problems in the
United States, Indonesians have
many concerns including the
economic crisis.
“Democracy is messy and
these choices aren’t immutable,
but it’s a good snapshot of what
Indonesian voters are concerned
about today,” stated Mr. Fricke.
School dances are not fun
By Anthony Wilson
out what class is hosting the dance,
Everyone remembers last Win- and then request specific songs to
terfest. There were around 200 play. To host the dance the hosting
students bumping and grinding on class must pay for the custodian,
“the dance floor” of the cafeteria. the decorations, and a police officer
Some sat at the tables gossiped which is usually around $450.
while a large number of students
When it’s time for a dance evwalked in circles awkwardly try- eryone starts the gossip and chatter
ing to figure out what to do at this about who’s going. A typical dance
painful event. About one hour into will have around 300 people. Balthe dance a student tripped on the zano said when she was in high
PA cord and ruined the rest of the school they had a dance once a
night. Everyone went home around month in the gym. In addition, they
nine o’clock.
had three forA R H S
dances,
“They’re pointless and no mal
has
two
and one offmain dances: one dances. I’d go if people campus forHomecoming were to actually dance; and mal
dance.
in the fall, and
She said that
Wi n t e r f e s t if they had better music.”
the attire for
in late Feb- - Desiree Maldonado, ’09 the semi-forruary. Both
mal
dances
dances are
was
“genersemi-formal, with Winterfest being ally the girls would wear cocktail
an upperclassmen only dance, with dresses and the guys would dress
admission of underclassmen only up in suits…” This is much more
if an upperclassman buys their formal than than any of our semiticket.
formal dances.
“They’re corny,” said Desiree
“If more people went, I’d go…
Maldonado, ’09, “They’re pointless and if the dance was actually longer.
and no one dances. I’d go if people Two hours isn’t enough for people
were to actually dance; and if they to really dance,” Maldonado said.
had better music,” Jelani Peterson- “They should have more themes,
Smith ’10, said. When it comes to like a costume party… not just for
the music of the school dances, the Halloween, but for any time. Or a
class hosting the dance is respon- beach theme dance in the spring.”
sible for arranging the playlist of “I’d love to go to a Caribbeaneach dance. Therefore if you want themed dance,” Peterson-Smith
good music, then you should figure commented.
The Graphic
M arch 5, 2009
P age 4
News
Hyphenated names: long, Artists get awarded
confusing and awsome for their talents
By Aidan DuMont-McCaffrey
Imagine that your entire family is sitting in the den, eyes
glued to the TV, anticipating
a shining moment in your life.
The commercial break ends—
Channel 40 news comes on, and
last night’s hockey game’s highlights are about to be broadcast
to the whole of Western Massachusetts. You’re on
the verge of fame.
Just as the feature
is about to show your
heroic game-winning
goal, the sportscaster
utters your name—
but he does not call
you what your parents call you. He
doesn’t even call you
your team nickname.
In fact, he doesn’t
introduce you by any
name you’ve ever
heard—he calls you
“the man with three names.”
You walk out of the room—
shocked, confused, disgraced.
Your swelling pride has become
a festering pocket of shame.
This is the story of Jeremy Leiser-Mitchell.
Now, imagine that you are
walking through the airport,
back from a much-needed and
relaxing vacation and—by all
means—ready to be home in
bed. You have committed no
crime. At the customs booth,
however, you are stopped, detained, mistreated, and interrogated for nearly half an hour.
Your only offense? Your last
name. This is the story of Olivia
Bonaldo-Boyd.
Leiser-Mitchell and Bonaldo-Boyd share a particular fate,
common to at least one in every
20 ARHS students—both have
hyphenated last names.
The hyphen, a punctuation
mark often confused with the
minus sign and the dash, traces
its origin back to the 15th century and the publication of the
Gutenberg Bible, widely accepted as the first written work
mass-produced with movable
type. Ever since, the hyphen
has riddled English syntax,
and—more recently—English
last names. A phenomenon first
propagated by married women
seeking name independence, the
hyphen is now common among
men, women, and children
alike.
The stories of Leiser-Mitchell
and Bonaldo-Boyd reveal a few
of the manifold downsides of
hyphenation. For Leiser-Mitchell, it was the extraordinary
length of his name that marred
the receipt of televised praise
for his actions on the ice. For
Bonaldo-Boyd, it was a discrepancy between the spelling of her
last name on her Green Card and
her passport. In both cases, the
hyphenated-named were forced
to endure extreme psychologi-
cal distress for no fault of their
own.
The hyphen, it seems, can
cause confusion, bureaucratic
roadblocks, identity crisis, and
self-esteem deficiencies. It can
also, however, provide a great
gift—the gift of equality. The
question, then, becomes: Why
do families continue to choose
Sometimes, personal preferences even differ within the family. Akua and Araba MurrayAdoboe, ’09 and ’12, both live
with their mother, but choose
to go by different names in certain contexts. For instance, a
simple Facebook search would
not reveal their sisterhood, as
Akua uses her full name for
her account
and Araba
chooses to
use only her
father’s.
Nearly
every person with a
hyphenated
name
has
a story to
tell—at least
one
situation in their
life in which
their name has caused confusion, mistreatment, or intended
or unintended disrespect.
The intentions of the parents
of Maya Nair Noonan, ’09, originally, were to make Nair—her
mother’s last name—a second
middle name. That is how it is
officially configured on her birth
certificate. However, since an
early age, Nair has been treated
as a second last name, without
a hyphen but with the same effects. “It has caused some serious complications filling out
FAFSA, with my social security
information, and getting my
driver’s license,” Nair Noonan
said. Other multiple-named students cite the same difficulties,
especially those whose names
have morphed due to parental
separation or divorce.
Sara Barber-Just, English
teacher, faces a more peculiar problem. Ever since she
chose a hyphenated name, she
has been called “Barbara” on a
regular basis in several different contexts. Barber-Just, however, is happy that she chose her
current configuration over the
alternative—Just-Barber—as
the latter would have, perhaps,
caused further confusion, evoking an image of a fair-minded
hair stylist.
The combinations formed by
hyphenated last names, in fact,
can often elicit unintentional
humor. Jimmy Bright-Dumm,
’11, for instance, has an oxymoronic combination of names. “I
really don’t mind it that much at
all. It’s a good contrast,” said
Bright-Dumm.
Indeed, other couples have
had it worse. According to
online database Digg, married
couples who have been unfortunate enough to hyphenate their
names in the past few years
include Anna Wang and Brad
Holder of Atlanta, as well as
Joe Looney and Shelby Warde
of Salem, Oregon.
When teenagers choose
how they would like to be
identified, the choice often carries more weight
than others might think.
the hyphen for their children?
And, furthermore, is it really
worth it?
As much as people identify
with their personalities, with
their likes and dislikes, and with
their life experiences, they also
identify with their names. The
parental naming process can
often carry symbolism—the
choice of an obscure or original
name symbolizes a deliberate
departure from the norm, while
the election of a traditional name
can symbolize a strong sense of
family, or honoring the past.
The choice of a hyphenated surname signifies parental
equality—the child, according to
hyphenating parents, is equally
the product of both parents. The
child, then, is supposed to identify equally with each parent’s
family lineage. When teenagers
choose how they would like to
be identified, the choice often
carries more weight than others
might think.
Salomon Moreno-Rosa, ’09,
for instance, lives with his mother in Amherst, and has never met
his father, who has remarried in
El Salvador. Because MorenoRosa identifies more with his
mother, who has played both parental roles in his upbringing, he
has spoken recently of changing
his last name to simply Rosa.
“My last name is how I identify
myself, and a significant piece
of my identity has been constructed by my mother—not my
father,” Moreno-Rosa said.
Like Moreno-Rosa, other
hyphenated ARHS students
have chosen to go by only one
of their two last names. Both
Leiser-Mitchell and BonaldoBoyd live with their mothers in
Amherst, and both have fathers
that live abroad. Thus, both
tend to use only their mother’s
names on everything but official
forms. “It has to do with who I
live with,” Leiser-Mitchell said.
“It would be different if I saw
my dad all the time.”
By Scott Jenkins
This year at
The
Scholastic
Art Awards in
Boston 12 students from ARHS
won awards, with
three
achieving
the highest award
the Golden Key.
Maurice Robinson
began the program
in 1927 designing
it to encourage
students by giving them a way
to be recognized
regionally, state
Photo courtesy of www.arps.org
wide, and nation- The winning drawing of an alleyway by Chelsea
ally.
Dupuis, '09.
This
year
Hartl. “It was really nice to
marked the 59th Art Awards win an award be noticed for the
in Massachusetts. There were piece I made because it was a
over 5,200 applicants from hard piece and took a lot of my
grades 7-12 and around 300 time and effort,” she said.
Gold Keys were awarded in 12
Pieces were judged on five
different categories.
basic criteria; imaginative conChelsea Dupuis, ’09, won tent, skill and craftsmanship,
a Gold Key with a drawing of style, observation and inquiry,
an alleyway. “It is pretty neat and the statement the work
being recognized for my draw- makes. Each piece was reing. Knowing that others ap- viewed by judges in Boston and
preciate the work that I do is were given a score that decided
rewarding,” she said.
the award they would receive
Her teacher Mr. Sears nomi- be it Gold Key, Silver Key, or
nated her for the award and Honorable Mention. Some sesaid, “All of the art teachers niors also sent in portfolios
selected 10 students who were to be judged for four $1,000
then judged collectively on our scholarships from The Boston
set of criteria.”
Globe; however, no one from
Amelia Quinn, ’09, received Amherst received the scholara Silver Key for a ceramic pot ship.
which was nominated by Ms.
Hula Master shares his
expertise with ARHS
By Jessica Tran
Hawaiian Hula is not all about
grass skirts and coconuts. Many
students were truly amazed by
Keo Woolford, a Hawaiian hula
artist, who recently came to
ARHS to teach students how to
hula dance. This event was held
after school on Tuesday, February 10 in the dance studio. About
50 people attended this class, and
many walked out of the room
highly satisfied,
embracing this
renewing experience.
New World
Theater brings
up artists of color to perform,
and they wanted Woolford to perform some
shows around the area. Woolford
wanted to teach a couple classes,
so he taught a 5-college class and
then came to ARHS. He recently
performed “I Land" in the New
World Theater at UMass on February 11.
"I Land" is a performance
Woolford worked on with Roberta Uno, the director. This
piece contains traditional hula,
Hip-Hop, Hawaiian talk, and spo-
ken word. "I Land" is described
as Keo's "moving search for the
meaning of heritage in a post
modern world."
Woolford explained the meaning and history of Hula before
teaching the moves. In the 18th
century, Hula was considered a
vulgar dance and it was prohibited. However, by the 1960's, it was
brought back from underground
and accepted.
Since Woolford was not allowed to teach
specific choreography, he
instead taught
combinations
of the basics.
"First,
we
learned how to move our hips in
the infinity sign motion. Then we
learned the racing dolphins motion with our hands," said Mark
Santolucito, '09.
Overall, students found this
one-time class to be quite fulfilling, as they got a taste of Hawaii
in their own school. "It was a lot
of fun. Moving my hips and my
hands at the same time was hard,
but everyone was really supportive." said Santolucito.
"Moving my hips
and my hands
at the same time
was hard" -Mark
Santolucito '09
T he G raphic
M arch 5, 2009
Features
P age 5
Mr. O’Neill moves to internal, and Mr. Elliot: secret metal
loyal students are quick to follow head rocks out to Ozzy
at Ozzfest ’09
By Saffa Shahid
while she was in the Dean’s
He is enjoying the job. “I feel
I remember first coming into office,” said Mr. O’Neill. “I that it is a position where you
Terry O’Neill’s room, when he can’t say enough about her. wear many hats, so to speak,”
worked in the English Study She was absolutely wonderful said Mr. O’Neill. He thinks he is
Center, students entered and to me. She was very helpful able to connect with the students
greeted each other in different and supportive and had already and help them academically
languages. There was the created such a tremendous and that the students seem to
smell of coffee and sound of environment in the room.” respond to him in ways which
many languages spoken. It
He loved working in the allow him to relate to them.
was a favorite gathering place study center. “I knew that I felt “They are most often there
for many students including comfortable with the subjects as I because they have made some
international students, to come had a very extensive background bad decisions along the way, not
and meet each other before they in the areas of social studies and because they are bad students
headed to their morning classes.
or kids,” said Mr. O’Neill.
The room was decorated with
Even though he is an
colorful international soccer
internal teacher many of
scarves. There were smiles
his Study Center students
and laughs, as people were
still come visit him. “I
very excited to see each other.
have been very fortunate
This year, Mr. O’Neill is the
that I have been able to
head of Internal Suspension
maintain connections with
and his room can’t quite have
the students I have worked
the same atmosphere. Still, it is
with in the past,” said Mr.
a comfortable and productive
O’Neill. They often come to
place. There is still the warmth
visit him when they can after
and supportive atmosphere
school, at lunch, or any time
which is characteristic of his
they can during the course
presence. These characteristics
of the day. He also has many
have allowed him to form
soccer players and students
strong
connections
with
keep in touch from colleges.
Courtesy of Goldbug
many students, international Mr.O’Neill connects with students.
“For whatever reason, I
students
in
particular.
have gotten on well with the
Before becoming the director English at the university level,” ELL students,” said Mr. O’Neill.
of the Internal Suspension said Mr. O’Neill. He felt that When he first got involved with
program and a teacher in the he could provide a productive the schools, he got to know Ms.
English Study Center, Mr.O’Neill and supportive environment Reyes at the middle school who
was teaching at the college within
the
classroom. teaches ELL (English Language
level for many years at UMass
What he didn’t anticipate, Learners). They got along well
in the area of ethnic conflict however, was how much he and he admired the atmosphere
resolution. He was always would enjoy working with she created with her students.
involved in political situations the students. He has always
“I was fortunate to work
and it naturally led to political had strong relationships with with her and her students a
work outside of the university students and people he worked bit,” said Mr. O’Neill. When
setting. He also coached soccer with in the past. “But we just he came to the high school,
in the area, something that he seemed to hit it off. It was a very he had worked with some of
had been doing for many years. unique situation which allowed the siblings or cousins of the
“I decided that I wanted to get me to get to know the students high school students, so he
back into an educational setting especially well,” said Mr. O’Neill. already knew many of them.
and try to work in the area that I
After working in the center for
“I think the ELL students
was coaching,” said Mr. O’Neill. couple of months, he was offered offer so much to our school
Since he was coaching soccer the internal position. “I ended up community. Sure they can learn
at the high school, he decided taking over the internal position from us, but I believe they teach
to apply for a job at ARHS. because after some discussion us so much,” said Mr. O’Neill.
Mr. O’Neill became a Study with the school, they felt that “They have a perspective on
Center teacher in February 2008 this also was a unique position. life and culture which comes
when Susan Shepard began I could bring an academic from their experiences of how
work as an Interim Dean. “I had background combined with the they got here, what they are
covered for her beforehand, so ability to deal with some of the dealing with here, and what
she knew me and encouraged discipline issues associated with circumstances caused them
me to try to cover the position the position,” said Mr. O’Neill. to leave their countries.”
Come rev your engines at Car Club
By John Santos
“Car Talk,” a new club at
ARHS, is hoping to spark interest in cars, car maintenance and
other aspects of automobiles.
Only in its fourth week, founders Stefan Cejic, ’11, and David
Goldberg, ’11, hope to have more
students attend. “Learning about
cars is important, especially if
you want to pursue a career in
that field,” said Cejic.
The hope of this club is to
spur interest by talking about
cars, safety, maintenance and
new technology through presentations, videos and looking
at cars in the shop, while also
giving the consumer auto class
more publicity and encouraging
more students to sign up for it.
“We watch shows such as
Top Gear, Fifth Gear and look
at reviews by Edmund’s, among
others.” When asked if they had
any background in automobiles,
Cejic said, “No, I just like cars. I
like to attend car shows. It’s just
a fun hobby.”
Being such a new club, there
are no club events or fundraisers planned. However, according to Cejic and Goldberg,
there will be fund-raisers in the
future, perhaps a car wash when
it gets warmer.
Anyone who is interested
should check it out. Car Talk
meets Tuesday’s at 2:30 in the
Auto Shop (Room 199).
By Zack Tebo
If you happen to find yourself
in a major venue sometime in
July with loud music playing,
here’s a checklist to help find
where you might be. Look to see
the fans around you? What are
they wearing? Is their hair long?
Are they seemingly fighting
each other or “moshing”? Do
they have lots of black tee-shirts
with
jeans?
Or maybe the
other
way
around with a
denim jacket
and tight black
leather pants?
Look
to
see who on
stage.
Are
their
vocals
brutal,
with
harsh, heavily
distorted
guitar
riffs,
and
drums
fast and loud
enough
to
throw
your
heart off beat?
Is there a rather
clean-cut red
haired fellow
jumping with
the rest of the
crowd?? Is his
name James
Elliott?
If you answered yes to all of
these questions, there is only
one place you can be…
OZZFEST.
James Elliott, a social
studies teacher here at ARHS
has found himself under the
spell of heavy metal. “I had
a bunch of buddies who used
to drive around with metal
blasting through the speakers.
That’s pretty much how I got
into it,” Said Mr. Elliott. “my
first concert I ever went to was
Boston, I think. Even though
they aren’t metal, they still
are really good”. Now that
Mr. Elliott is a teacher here at
ARSH, it is difficult to dress the
part of a “metal head”.
He used to dress the part
quite well. He even had the long
“metal head hair”, which can
still be seen in some photo ID’s
that Elliott has in his wallet.
“I can’t really dress the part
anymore, when I go shows, I’ll
just wear shorts and tee-shirts
because they will most likely
get wrecked anyways,” said Mr.
Elliott.
Mr. Elliott is afraid for his
garments for one simple reason:
at rock concerts, especially
heavy metal, there is beer,
and when people holding beer
get excited, beer becomes
airborne and rains down onto
unsuspecting
innocent-ish
victims.
Mr. Elliott, has even had
the privilege of going to a live
show of European speed metal
gods, Iron Maiden, as well as
anthrax, as well as many other
bands some famous, some not
so much.
White ribbon for women
By Ian Waldron
The White Ribbon Campaign is an international nonprofit aimed at eliminating
violence against women. It is
based on the premise that men
are responsible for ending violence against women. Because
of this, men are the main focus of the campaign and are
the ones wearing the ribbons.
In order to wear a ribbon, one
must take a pledge never to
commit, condone or remain silent against violence towards
women. Although the campaign
originated in Montreal, it has
now spread all over the world.
Now young men at ARHS will
be given the opportunity to
show their support by making
a pledge at lunch. When asked
why he took the pledge, Aidan
Dumont-McCaffrey, ’10, said
“Because I don’t think that violence against women is cool.”
Many of the females at ARHS
applaud those involved. Lily
Holt, ’12, said, “I’m really glad
that the males in this school
are mature enough to support a
cause like this.”
A group of volunteers led by
Claudia Tajima, ’09, and Sam
Jackson,’09, ran the pledge
table in the cafeteria on the
Thursday and Friday leading
up to vacation. “I heard about it
from a friend.” said Tajima, one
of those in charge. “The turnout at lunch was great” added
Jackson, who had a hand in the
many pledges taken over the
two day period. After a record
number of pledges were taken
all can be thankful for the positive awareness being demonstrated at ARHS.
T he G raphic
Page 6
Features
M arch 5, 2009
ARHS student addicted to online computer game
By Barry Elkinton
cus has earned 117,000 Neopoints points,” said Marcus. “Almost
Marcus’s Neopets addiction
Its 8 o’ clock Neopian Standard which is more than many users more so than making American feeds a chronic procrastination
Time and Sally Marcus, ’09, has a will earn in their entire lifetime.
dollars.”
problem. Last trimester, Marcus
date with the Snow Wager. Dash“Since sophomore year I can’t
Marcus’s efforts have estab- had a 25 percent math homework
ing into the kitchen, she flips open remember the last time I went a lished her as one of the most pro- average which she blames fully on
the computer and pulls Neopets. day without making a few Neo- lific traders, and shop owners on Neopets. “[My obsession] started
com up from her favorites list. points,” said Marcus. “I’m ad- Neopets. Currently Marcus has because I didn’t want to do my
With astonishing speed she types dicted to Neopets.”
4,976,898 Neopoints in the bank, homework,” said Marcus, “but
Neopets.com is a Massive- ranking her at millionaire double now I can’t do my homework.”
sallydoodle into the username
box, punches in her password, and ly Multiplayer Online Game platinum. This number, however,
Neopet’s drastic effects on aca(MMOG) in which users groom, only covers what Marcus has in demic performance have caused
logs in.
“The Snow Wager is always feed, and pamper between one cash, completely ignoring what a household rift over Neopets
asleep between 8 and 9 Neopian and four virtual pets. These pets she owns in stock and assets. between Marcus and her parStandard Time,” said Marcus. “It must be constantly fed and tended “I’m an absolute Neoballer,” stat- ents. “Neopets is an utter waste
to, similar to real life animals. ed Marcus.
means I can get some free stuff.”
of time,” declared Julie Marcus,
Quickly checking her bank ac- Though intended to be a children’s
Marcus earns her Neopoints Sally’s mother. Sally’s parents
count, Marcus sets to work wreak- game, Neopets hosts a surpris- primarily through the repetition of have even attempted to stage ining havoc throughout the neon ingly complex economy, in which a routine which she has calibrated terventions, by blocking Neopets
world of Neopia. Hardly even users transact Neoitems, gamble, to produce the highest yield of from all household computers.
looking at the screen,
Marcus blasts through
the lands of Mystery
Island, The Lost Desert, Sakhmet, and The
Marakuan Ruins. Upon
reaching Terror Island,
Marcus quickly scales Ice
Mountain, reaching the
ice caves where the Snow
Wager resides.
Confidently, Marcus
enters the cave, and as
promised the Snow WaPhoto courtesy of lingualgamers.com.
ger, a man- eating worm Chia, Wocky, and Tuskaninny think Sally Marcus will soon become Millionaire Mega Platinum.
and guardian of treasure,
and trade stock to earn Neopoints. Neopoints in the shortest amount “Luckily, those efforts have been
is fast asleep. Marcus quickly These Neopoints, which are the of time. In every different region unsuccessful,” said Marcus.
makes away with a “glamour national currency of Neopia are of Neopia, Marcus knows all the
As a well known owner of
neg,” which she will sell for a siz- used by players to purchase items various tricks and secrets that can a Neoshop that receives an asable profit in her Neostore.
both simple and extravagant for get her items for free, or at least tonishing volume of customers,
Three hours later and her pace their pets.
for rock bottom prices. She visits Marcus often receives numerous
has only quickened. Marcus rapidMarcus, however, spends up- the different lands in a prescribed friend requests which allow her to
ly searches auctions, entering bids wards of two hours a day playing and methodical order, constantly chat with other Neopets users. “I
and making profits. Transacting Neopets because she is addicted repeating the cycle.
spent about six months talking on
coconuts, coins and paintbrushes, to earning Neopoints, not because
With these items in hand, Mar- a daily basis with an eight year old
Marcus is the face of efficient she likes playing with virtual cus subsequently puts them up for girl from Malaysia,” said Marcus.
capitalism. She quickly chats with animals. Marcus is as economi- auction in her Neostore, eventual- “We talked about her cat a lot.”
Basketball _Girl_13, and periodi- cally savvy as they come, dash- ly rounding up a large profit. “[My
Marcus’s non-Neopian friends,
cally ignores phone calls from her ing around Neopia and scoring routine is] not fun, often it’s more however, express both disappointreal world friends. Homework free Neoitems, which she sells of a chore, but it’s so ingrained as ment and dismay at Marcus’s adlays idle and time passes by, but for profit. “I just happen to get a part of what I do every day,” said diction. “Sally’s a bright girl, but
by the end of the evening, Mar- lot of satisfaction in making Neo- Marcus.
she’s wasting her life hustling
Neopoints,” said Julia Sillen, ’09.
Despite its damaging side effects, Marcus’s Neopets addiction has also played a therapeutic role in Marcus’s life. When
under stress, Marcus finds solace
and sense of peace in navigating
the controlled world of Neopia
and playing games such as Destructo Match. Never a fan of high
school, Marcus sees Neopets as a
tool she has used to help her make
it through the school year. It’s no
coincidence that in the summer
Marcus cuts back on Neopets significantly, though she acknowledges that “there are a few days
where I will do nothing but eat
and play Neopets.”
Ultimately, Marcus’s relationship with Neopets resembles a classic love-hate
relationship. “It drags me
down, yet holds me up at
the same time,” said Marcus. “It keeps me sane, but
it also makes me insane.”
With Marcus planning to
spend the next year living in
New Zealand, her addiction
has an uncertain future. In
New Zealand, Marcus will
be without Internet, working in a remote mountain village
as a ski instructor. The fact that
she will not have constant internet
access leads Marcus to conclude
that her addiction will probably
just fade away. “I’m not sure my
love for Neopets would make
sense out of the context of high
school anyway,” said Marcus.
For now though, Marcus has
no plans of cutting back. On the
contrary, she’s looking to step up
her game. By the end of Feburary
break, Marcus wants to break the
five million Neopoints barrier.
“Then I’ll be Millionaire Mega
Platinum,” said Marcus. “It’s the
only thing in the world I want.
By Ashley Fuller
You’re at school, hanging with
your friends, when you look up
and see your mother coming your
way. What will your friends say?
Will it be awkward? Should you
walk away or stay?
This is what many students at
ARHS have to deal with everyday.
You think that you get enough of
your parents at home, but imagine
if they worked at ARHS. When it
comes to going to school with your
parents, there is no hiding anything. “My mom knows half my
test grades before I do,” said Dan
Lee, ’10, of his mother Ji-hyun
Park, a paraprofessional.
“My first feeling was absolute
horror, I told my mom straight up
that she was NOT to go into any
classes that I might have a chance
taking,” said Lee. It seems that
some students have different opinions on the topic.
Megan White, ’10, likes the experience of going to school with
Pam White, an administrative assistant for the athletic department
and a student activities treasurer.
“I have always thought it was cool
because my sister was at the high
story, teachers of these children
were interviewed too. “I think it’s
great, but I have more info than my
daughter wants me to have,” said
Mr. Kasal. You think that all your
parents want to do is to follow your
every move and make your life
miserable, but they actually just
enjoy seeing their children.
“I really enjoy working at the
same place with my son. I love to
see my son’s face here, and I love
to see his friends too,” said Ms.
Park.
Both the parent and the child
have the same concerns about being in the same school. “If her
friends didn’t like me it would be
awkward, or if I knew personal
things about other students that I
couldn’t tell her,” said Mr. Kasal.
The parents aren’t the bad guys in
this case, even thou gh they seem
like it to their children.
“My son can be a little bit dependent on me because I’m here,”
admitted Park. Is this because
students are using their parents?
“I think it’s been convenient for
both of my daughters. If they need
money during or after school especially,” said White, she is there.
Students reap the benefits of having a parent work at the school
school with her before I was and
she liked it too,” said White. She
finds it “convenient” and said she
doesn’t mind at all.
For most, having a parent work
at the same school has its ups and
downs. Estelle Kasal, ’11, often
sees her father Alan Kasal, a special
education teacher, in the building.
“I get out of a lot of things. When
I’m late I get a pass, or if I need
money, [I ask him],” she said.
Most of the students that were
interviewed
had the
same idea
about
what the
best part
of it was. “If I need to tell my mom
something, I can just go straight to
her and tell her right away. Or if I
need something signed, no worries,
I can get it done during school,”
said Lee.
But privacy is a major issue.
“If I get in trouble or get a really
bad grade, there would be no way
to keep her from knowing because
the teacher would definitely tell
her, ” said White. It seems that
students with parents in the building don’t get much freedom as the
other students do.
“The most annoying part is
that my teachers can tell my mom
right away if I ’m sleeping in class,
not paying attention, or not doing
well,” said Lee.
When asked if they still had
concerns about it, most of them
replied with the same answer.
“I’m worried about someone hating him, it doesn’t concern me to
seem to bother her. “It doesn’t effect me, I don’t really see him, it’s
funny because when people talk
about him, it doesn’t register that
he is my father,” said Aierstuck.
“When I do see him, he usually
says a stupid remark, and I just ignore him,” Aierstuck added.
For a different point of view,
George Jean-Babets, ’09, actually
had a class with his father, David
Jean, a Culinary Arts teacher.
“Since it’s an elective class, I didn’t
feel like
I got special treatment,”
said Babets. Even
though
Babets’s father was his teacher, he
was treated like every other student.
“It was embarrassing at times, if
he got mad,” said Babets. All teenagers get mad at their parents, but
it is especially hard for Babets because he was in his father’s class.
“I was worried at first, but when
I realized that it wouldn’t be that
bad, I was fine,” said Babets.
By getting two sides of the
“You think that you get enough of your parents
at home, but imagine if they worked at ARHS.
When it comes to going to school with your
parents, there is no hiding anything.”
much because most people like
him,” said Kasal. By interviewing
these students they have definitely
gotten used to the fact that their
parents are working in their school.
“One thing I haven’t gotten used to
is seeing her walking in the hallways. I still feel surprised when I
see her,” said Lee.
To Laura Aierstuck,’10, seeing
her father John Aierstuck, an English Teacher in the hallways doesn’t
The Graphic
M arch 5, 2009
Reviews
Page 7
“Milk” shows the battle for homosexual equality in the 1970s
By Nikki Kaufman
Amidst one of the biggest
debates on the right to homosexual marriage in the United
States, the film Milk appears at
the perfect moment. The passing of Proposition 8 banning
gay marriage in the state of
California this past fall was a
step backwards for civil rights
in this country. Although Milk
shows the huge accomplishments made in the 1970s in the
fight for equal rights for gays,
it also highlights the long road
ahead for homosexual equality.
The two hour long biopic
traces Harvey Milk’s career
from his 40th birthday to his
death. Looking for a change,
Milk leaves New York City
with his with lover Scott Smith,
ending up in The Castro, a
well known gay neighborhood
in San Francisco. Seeing the
unfair treatment of his fellow
community members by the
San Francisco police and government, Milk decides to make
the change the city needs by
running for office.
It can easily be said that Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) is what
makes the movie so enthralling.
Penn vibrantly conveys the essential energy of Milk. Milk’s
combination of relentless determination and undeniable likeability is perfectly transmitted
in Penn’s acting.
Penn’s acting is only highlighted with co-stars like Josh
Brolin, Milk’s internally tortured opponent, Emilie Hirsch,
a flamboyant teenager finding
refuge in San Fransisco, and
James Franco, Milk’s first and
really one true love.
In contrast to films like Elephant, director Gus Van Sant
addresses the issues in Milk
using a more conventional approach. I believe one of the
best choices Van Sant made
was using archive footage.
The footage helps to destroy
the usual faults of simply reproduced biofilms and helps to
create more of a documentary
feeling.
If the eight nominations for
the Academy Awards including best actor and best director
don’t convince you that Milk is
a must see, take my word when
I say it is one of the most inspirational and well made films
of the century, and go see this
movie.
Photo by IMDB
Slumdog Millionaire is a depiction of the endurance of the human spirit
By Lishai Goldstein
I walked into Amherst Cinema on a recent Saturday night
prepared to see for myself why
Slumdog Millionaire was generating such enthusiastic reactions
from seasoned critics and casual
moviegoers alike. The moment
the film began I was wrapped in
the magic that is India through
brilliant cinematography, which
left me blinking at the kaleidoscope of life boasted by the
planet’s second most populous
nation.
The story follows a teenage
boy from the slums of Mumbai,
Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), as he
competes on the Indian version
of “Who Wants to be a Million-
aire?” Following allegations that he is cheating his way through the
competition, he is brutally interrogated by the
police. Much of Jamal’s
life story is revealed
through his explanations
as to how he knew the
answers, with each desperate response tying
into a separate memory.
From this enthralling method of storytelling emerges a love story
between Jamal and the
beautiful Latika (Freida
Pinto). The romance that
blossoms between these
two street children is a
single pure rose against a backdrop of continuous hardship. Jamal’s relationship with his older
brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal),
is a vital component of the film,
and the complicated relationship between these two brothers
probes the idea of loyalty, free
will, and masculinity in contemporary India.
Many scenes are supremely
cringe-worthy, such as the day
when Jamal takes a trip to one
of the few outhouses on the
edge of the slum. While taking
care of business, Amitabh Bachchan, a Bollywood superstar,
pays a visit to the neighborhood.
As everyone dashes off to bask
Photo by IMDB in the glory of this film-god, Ja-
mal finds himself locked in the
outhouse. He pulls out a picture
of Bachchan, his personal hero,
and with a desperate look on his
face he realizes that the only
way out is down. The audience
groans, seeing what he is about
to do, but the look of resolve
and joy is hard not to fall in love
with.
While referencing culturallyspecific issues, such as the tragic massacre of a predominantly
Muslim area by neighboring
Hindus, the former group to
which the brothers belong, Jamal’s tale essentially transcends
time and place. Slumdog Millionaire is a beautiful celebration
of an enduring human spirit.
T he G raphic
P age 8
M arch 5, 2009
Sports
Rafer Thomas Urban Dannenhauer is a running phenomenon
so easy to quit, so easy to
slow down and settle for
second, but he will never
surrender. Anyone else
would have surrendered
by now, but Ray is not just
anyone else.
When Rafer Thomas
Urban Dannenhauer, ’09,
was born in Roxbury,
Massachusetts on April 7,
1991, nothing extraordinary was expected, but he
was fated to grow into one
of Amherst Regional High
Photo Courtesy of Facebook
School’s
most influential perRay at work
sonalities,
not to mention one
By Sam Hart
of
its
fastest
runners.
At the age of
Sweat glistens on his brow. He
five,
this
child
moved
to the small
has trained for many weeks to get
town
of
Shutesbury,
Massachuto this point: the race. The end is
setts,
and
the
legend
began.
near, but yet so far. It would be
Since then, Ray, as he is called
by his peers, has developed a
unique personality and a set of interests that cannot be matched by
anyone else in the school. “Everyone else pales in comparison to
Ray and his awesome abilities,”
said Matt Jerry, ‘09, a friend of
Ray since first grade.
Running has always played a
large part in Ray’s life. Ray has
run cross-country all four of his
years at ARHS and he became a
team captain and was a top runner
by his junior year. “He has pretty
much established himself as the
fastest guy on the team”, said
Barry Elkinton, ‘09, a fellow varsity runner on the team. “Ray has
managed to stay a very fast runner and I often wonder what goes
down in his house in Shutesbury,”
said Elkinton.
“I’ve always found running relaxing and every once in a while
I worked hard and eventually got
fast,” said Ray.
Ray’s accomplishments as a
runner are plentiful. He came in
97th in the Northeast Foot Locker
race last year, making him possibly one of the fastest 400 in the
United States. Ray also ran a fivekilometer race in under 16 minutes, a deed that few high school
runners ever accomplish. “It was
quite a feat,” commented Elkinton on Ray’s 15:52 run.
However, Ray manages to
find a deeper meaning in crosscountry past just the running and
competing. “You really get as
much out of it as you put in,” said
Ray. “It stresses the singularity of
purpose – which can really help
people. I think it is really good for
one’s work ethic.” As for Ray’s
work ethic, he pushes himself to
put a lot of effort into becoming
a better athlete. Though he runs
year-round, during both the crosscountry season and the summer
leading up to it, Ray runs an average of over 50 miles per week. It
is even rumored that he runs a 75
mile-week every now and then.
Even with all the hard work, he
keeps it real through the whole
season. “Ray is the personality
on the team, and he always has a
distinct goofy aura,” said Michael
Lawlor, 09, another one of Amherst’s top runners.
Gates, and Richard Branson.
Most recently, they were
commissioned to perform in
front of President Obama at the
inauguration. “Although I did not
get to meet the president, one of
the coolest moments of the night
was standing on stage next to Lucy
Lu, and some other celebrities,
while watching Obama and his
wife dance to Beyonce sing live.
I looked around the room and
couldn’t believe I was there!” said
Vexler.
Luke Vexler was born in
1985 and grew up in Amherst.
Vexler’s parents own and operate
Hampshire Gymnastics Club
located in South Amherst, and
because of it, Vexler was exposed
to the world of gymnastics at a
very young age. When asked about
who he aspired to be when he grew
up, Vexler said,“My brother and
sister - I knew that they were two
of the hardest working gymnasts in
the country, and I wanted to do the
same.”
Vexler attended ARHS from
2001--2004. During his four years
there, Vexler made good use of all
the clubs and after school activities
the school had to offer. Vexler
enjoyed wood tech class, where he
made a surfboard his senior year. “
With all the after school clubs and
activities, you can really come out
of hgh shool and have a specialized
hobby or interest that really makes
you unique,” said Vexler.
Currently,Vexler attends
Temple University in Philadelphia,
on a gymnastics scholarship.
Vexler says that the transition
from the small town of Amherst
to the big city of Philadelphia
was definitely strange. “I thought
Amherst politics were a consensus
for the rest of the country. I soon
found out that that was way off. It
was a strange thing for me, but it
put things into perspective,” said
Vexler in an interview with the
Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Luke Vexler was born into a
family of gymnasts. His parents
own Hampshire Gymnastics,
where he spent most of his time
as a child. “My parents raised me
in the gym,” said Vexler. “They
are my biggest fans. They always
supported us in whatever we
wanted to do”.
“Gymnastics is a part of our
family, it’s what we do,” said
Vexler.
ARHS grad, Luke Vexler, floats on air for a living
By Fred Shepard
You put on your stilts, your
heart’s racing. “It’s all you guys,”
says P Diddy. “Let’s hear it for
Anti- Gravity!” As you jump onto
the stage, the entire theater of
20,000 is on their feet.
You start the performance
off, jumping 25 feet into the air,
litterally defying gravity, while at
the same time flipping twice. You
hear the crowd. Your heart starts
pounding faster and faster.
You jump off stage, running
into the audience, passing by hiphop artists such as Diddy, Busta
Rhymes, and Usher. “Man, I can’t
wait to tell all the kids at school
how I spend my weekends,” you
think to yourself.
Fast forward seven years. You
graduate from high school and
college, participate in the 2008 Tour
of Gymnastics Superstars, perform
at the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade, and are featured on
the Today Show. So now what?
Perform at the Neighborhood Ball
at Barack Obama’s inauguaration
of course.
Sound surreal? Well, it’s not. In
fact, its the life of ARHS graduate
Luke Vexler, ‘04.
Vexler started performing with
Today,
Anti-Gravity
has
gymnastics/dance team Anti- employed more than 300
Gravity (AG) in 2002. Vexler was performers, and has bases in four
introduced to the program by his different cities.
Anti-Gravity
brother, Aaron Vexler, at the age has performed in more than 400
of 15.
countries, has been hired by more
In 1999, Luke’s brother Aaron than 50 Fortune 500 companies,
brought home his jumping boots. “
I worked on these boots for about
a week and sent in a film of me
on them to AG,” said Luke. “The
next thing I knew, they asked me to
perform at the 2002 MTV VMA’s
with P. Diddy.”
Since then, Vexler has
performed at almost every major
event, like touring Europe last
year, accepting the Hip-hop Artist
of The Year award for 50 Cent at
the Tonys, to being in commercials
for the 2004 Olympic Games.
Anti-Gravity was created in
1990 by visionary Christopher
Harrison. Harrison envisioned the
group to be a place where athletes
and performers could showcase
their skills after their careers
ended.
Photo Courtest Of Google
Anti-Gravity is composed
of Olympic athletes, X-Games Luke Vexler ’04
winners,
broadway
actors, and has been asked to perform for
gymnasts, urban dancers, and some of the world’s most influential
people, such as Paul Newman, Bill
underground specialty artists.
Indoor Track wrap-up Boys basketball season HS Hockey
By Kate Goldstein
Girl’s indoor track flourished
despite low turnout numbers
for the team this year. Captains
Leah Haake and Chloe Zimmerman said that they bonded
really well and came together
as a team. Derek Nazar was a
key component to the team’s
success. “He has a lot of experience and was very supportive
and helpful when it came to
training for and competing in
the meets.” said Haake. Highlights of the team’s season being the meets against Agawam
and Westfield where despite the
two teams being three times
bigger than the girl’s team they
were able to come through. “For
coming through against two
teams that are just so much bigger in size than us, and to hold
our own was really great.” said
Zimmerman. With the girls finishing their season with a 5,3
record and sending the major-
ity of their members the Western
Mass tournament this weekend
really reflect the success of the
season.
The boys indoor track team
was described by teammate Aidan DuMont –McCaffrey as, “Better than you could ever imagine.”
This year’s season for the boys
went well with many of them
qualifying for the Western Mass
tournament. Atticus Brigham
qualified States this year for the
boys. McCaffrey says that “When
you have such an opportunity
to compete at a high level such
as Western Mass you truly feel
blessed.” McCaffrey said that
when Berry Elkinton showed up
to practice everyday on time that
it brought a whole new level of
chemistry to the team. Super-fan
Ben Alison sums up the season
as being, “The most sintilating
indoor track Season he has every
seen.”
By Kate Goldstein
Injuries, injuries, injuries.
Sums up the boy’s basketball
season this year. Key player
Sean Cunningham had had surgery at the beginning of this
year’s season, leaving him unable to play for the rest of the
season. Mike Jeneralcuk broke
his hand, and then later his
ankle. Kevin Ziomek missed
games due to a sprained ankle. Willie Hirschfield missed
games due to a pectoral injury. Will herd missed games
due to a dislocated shoulder.
Chris Haake missed games
due to a bad back and concussion, one player missed games
for violation of MIAA rules (
two words: John Doe) and another missed games due to bad
grades. The season was plagued
with injuries and I can’t recall
a game where everyone suited
up to play.” says Captain Ben
Brassord when asked to sum up
the season.
This year’s team, like the
girls team, was very young
with only one senior on the
team Chris Haake. “This year
we lacked experience and next
year that is something we will
have.” said Brassord. The boy’s
record this year being 3-14
does not reflect the hard work
that went into this season. Going up against Western Mass
powerhouses such as Central,
Sci Tech, and South Hadley
the boys were able to come
out strong. Brassord said, “We
would come out strong in the
first half, but unfortunately, we
could not close out.” With the
close of a rough season both
emotionally and physically
Brassord remains hopeful for
next year saying “If we can stay
healthy we could be a force in
our league.”
Season ‘09
By Kate Goldstein
The hockey season started off
well winning the first couple of
games against St. Mary’s High
school and Chicopee Comp.
Unfortunately there aren’t a
lot of people on the team and it
looks like the program is starting to die out. Captain Scott
Caldwell said the team got off
to a good start, and later hit a
rough patch. One could venture
that the rough patch was due to
another captain and the team’s
goalie being suspended for a
couple of games thanks to John
Doe. With two games left in the
season the team is trying to finish strong. “Every team hits a
rough patch, but we are really
aiming to finish out strong and
boost the programs image.”
said Caldwell