Give Us a Song, You`re the Piano Man Winning Poetry Loud and Clear

EDITORIAL
The Long Winter -- Thanks,
Guys
Page 3
ARTS
Spellbound by The Wiz
Page 4
NEWS
100 Days: The Countdown
Begins
Page 2
GLOBAL
Multi-Cultural Week Means
Good Food
Page 5
SPORTS
Boy’s Lacrosse: Small but
Strong
Page 6
Wilbraham & Monson Academy
®
TLAS
A
Volume III, Issue 6
The Global School
April 15, 2011
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Give Us a Song, You’re the Piano Man
By EVAN FILKINS ‘11
Staff Writer
This winter trimester,
Yashar David Yaslowitz ‘95 returned to his alma mater to give an
extensive concert on February 24th
as well as to offer several master
classes and less formal seminars
to the students of Wilbraham &
Monson Academy.
During his recital, aptly
titled “The Return”, Mr. Yaslowitz played a variety of music – a
selection of high-brow pieces like
Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in G
Minor” and works by Chopin and
Mendelssohn’s “Venetian Boat
Song.”
In contrast with the formality of his evening performance,
Mr. Yaslowitz’s demeanor during
school meeting was relaxed and instructive. He played arrangements
of Bach and Britney Spears, and
never made the mistake of taking
himself too seriously. According
to Mr. Cook, one of Mr. Yaslowitz’s teachers while he attended
Wilbraham and Monson Academy,
“[David] always had his wit.”
Mr. Yaslowitz has had an
interesting relationship with the
music he plays for a living. Despite being extolled as a “champion
of the romantic movement, whose
touch and phrasing mirrors that
of the old masters”, Mr. Yaslowitz was not always certain of his
career as a professional musician. Although he had received
special training at Juilliard Prep, a
pre-university program designed
for high school students, Mr.
Yaslowitz took a year off between
high school and his first year at the
Juilliard Conservatory. During that
time he found himself playing for
the descendents of Turkish royalty
who urged him to continue his
pursuit of music.
After that chance encounter, David worked for a year at
Juilliard before taking up study at
the Hartt School at the University
of Hartford. Mr. Yaslowitz was
then admitted to the SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of
Music – one of only three students
admitted.
Mr. Yaslowitz began his
training at the age of eight and took
to the piano rather quickly. He described his method of tackling the
instrument as somewhat ambitious,
striving to play difficult songs before he was fully capable, improving his technique. During high
school, David Yaslowitz drove to
New York every weekend to take
lessons at Juilliard – a program that
has produced a roster of famous
musicians. In the words of
Continued on page 7
Winning Poetry Loud and Clear
By CATHERINE LIANG ‘12
Staff Writer
If you entered the student
center on the night of Feb. 24th,
you would have found all the desks
and chairs rearranged and one lone
light shining on center stage. The
dramatic setup was not for a dance
party. Instead, it was for WMA’s
second-annual Poetry Out Loud
competition.
At 7 p.m., Mrs. Dziura
came to the stage to announce the
rules of Poetry OutLoud before declaring the start of the competition.
Then, Mrs. Dziura introduced the eleven students competing in Poetry Out Loud in the
order of the performances. Jeremy
Gilfor’11, Bethany Lyon’ 11,
Catherine Liang’12, Sophie Albano’13, Nora Harrington’13, Patrick
Seo’13, Mamie Mei’13, Brianna
Goncalves’12, Malachi Shy’13,
Godwin Ge’12 and BeongJo
Kang’11 all aspired to move on to
the state competition.
But by the end of the evening, there was only one winner,
Malachi Shy, ‘13 who a few weeks
later represented Wilbraham &
Monson Academy at the Western
Massachusetts regional contest.
Shy’s dramatic recitation of Amiri
Baraka’s “New World” and Larry
Levis’ “The Oldest Living Thing
in L.A.” also won him an award
of one hundred dollars. As Ms.
Levheim commented, “he clearly
chose poems and poets that speak
for him.”She added that she felt
that “he loved his poems, showed
understanding, and [he] had a dynamic style of presence.” Coming
in second place was Bethany Lyon,
who finished just a few points
behind the winner. Ms. Levheim
observed that Bethany “had a slice
of humor and enjoyed making fun
of that.”
The five judges for the
WMA competition included a panel comprised of Ms. Levheim, Ms.
Norman, Ms. Feldheim and Mr.
Rosenbeck as well as Ms. Kelly,
who focused on the accuracy of the
recitations. There were two rounds
in the competition; in each round
the students presented one poem
they had selected. Ms. Levheim
explained that the final grades of
each performance were based on
presence, performance, voice, annunciation and accuracy. If a competitor forgot a line of the poem, he
or she could ask for prompting by
saying “words” to Mrs. Dziura, but
lost points if they had to do so.
An interesting element of
the competition was the different
styles of each competitor. Some
were enthusiastic; some conveyed
a sense of humor; and others tended to be more serious. While unfortunately this contest was limited
to US citizens only, a few international students enthusiastically
took part in it and gave impressive
performances. Mrs. Dziura says
that she sent letters to the organizers of the program asking them to
open the contest to all high school
students in the U.S. but so far this
request has gone unheeded.
The poems selected by the
contestants represented a wide
cross-section of American and
English poetry. However, several
Continued on page 2
2
News
ATLAS Staff
Editors-in-Chief
Jeannette Viens ‘11
Jeremy Gilfor ‘11
Jessica Duncan ‘11
Production Editor/Photographer
Eric Diogun ‘11
News Editor
Jacqueline Smith ‘11
Department Editors
Matthew Pajak ’11
Austin Little ‘12
Sara Tardiff ‘12
Faculty Advisor
Timothy Harrington
Photographer/Staff Writer
Vivian Wang ‘11
Sarah Goolishian ‘13
Faculty Writers
Christopher Ayers
Melissa Donohue
Staff Writers
Timothy Manghan ‘11
Jason Duke ‘11
Evan Filkins ‘11
Timothy O’Reilly ‘11
Nicholas Sarno ‘11
Clare Bi ‘11
Teresa Kennedy ‘12
Max Rankin ‘12
Eva Landers ‘12
Alexandra Comey ‘12
Nicholas Jalbert ‘12
Arnelle Williams ‘13
Emma Bourgeois ‘13
Nora Harrington ‘13
Mia Konstantakos ‘13
Slammin’ Poetry (Cont’d)
Continued from page 1
poems proved popular among the
contestants. “A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti, “Recuerdo” by Edna
St. Vincent Millay and “The Tree”
by Anne Finch were each recited
several times yet with different
interpretations and presentations.
Once the competition round
was over, the judges went into
the conference room to add up
the scores. During this time, the
microphone was open for anyone
to recite poems they had memorized or written themselves. First to
break the silence was Ms. Norman,
who read a poem she wrote her
freshman year of college. A number of students followed, including
contestants and audience members
who went up to the stage to share
poems they wrote themselves or
others they found on the Internet.
Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”,
recited and acted out by Bethany
Lyon and Evan Filkins ’11, was
one of the more memorable performances of the night. Strange
noises and flailing hand motions
accompanied the recitation, adding
to the drama. Even Ms. Goncalves,
mother of contestant Brianna
The Countdown Begins: 100 Days Celebration
By MIA KONSTANTAKOS ‘13
Staff Writer
Additional Photography
Matt T. Risley
Risley Photography
Make your
voice heard!
Write a letter to the
editor and you could be
published in our next
issue!
Jeannette Viens
[email protected]
Goncalves and Andy Goncalves
’15, provided a humorous Spanish
version of “Itsy Bitsy Spider” that
brought howls of laughter from the
audience.
Ms. Hutcheson, Chair of
the English Department, spoke
highly of Poetry OutLoud. Though
it was only the second year for this
contest at WMA, she had seen the
students make impressive progress in presenting poems. To her
surprise, competitors chose more
difficult poems than last year. Mrs.
Hutcheson hoped Poetry Out Loud
could help engage students in
poetry. As for making them recite
poems, she thought it was a good
way for students to feel and experience the charm of poetry.
When asked what students
should strive for in the upcoming years Ms. Levheim replied:
“choose poems that really mean
something to you and think of them
carefully.” All the judges hope that
the competition will grow in the
future.
The Poetry OutLoud Program was launched in the spring
of 2006 in high schools across
America. Tens of thousands of
students participate. The program
encourages the nations’ youth to
learn about great poetry through
memorization and recitation. The
program also helps students master
public speaking skills, build selfconfidence and learn about their
literary heritage. This program uses
a pyramid structure that begins at
the classroom level, the winners
then advance to the school-wide
competition, then to a regional and/
or state competition and ultimately
to the National Finals. At WMA
this year, the classroom level competitions were held in all English
10 classes as well as honors and
AP courses. Those students who
weren’t required to participate
were also encouraged to join the
competition.
Thursday, February 24th
was a big day for the Class of 2011
at Wilbraham & Monson Academy.
This day marked the 100-day celebration for seniors, which marks
the last 100 days before graduation.
The significance of this day goes
beyond numbers, and really gives
an emotional view to many seniors.
In just 100 days, they would be
graduating high school, and most
would leave behind a place that
had a large impact in their lives.
In order to properly celebrate, the
senior class was taken out during
the lunch periods, and treated to
pizza at Gregory’s (owned Derrick
Barnagian’s ’11 parents). Afterwards, they returned to the Campus
Center for ice cream sundaes. It
was a time to relax, and enjoy the
bliss of knowing the end of all their
hard work over the years was near.
Not only was this a time for fun,
but it also gave occasion for the
senior class to be spoken to
about their future alumni duties. During the celebration,
the seniors were taught about
WMA alumni, and what they
could do for the school in
the future. With only 100
days left, students who used
to be seniors would soon
become alumni. A big topic
in the discussion was student and
alumni monetary gifts, and how
important it was to give back to the
school. They were spoken to by
Mr. Callahan, who attended WMA
for a year and who is the father of
two WMA alumni and two current
students. He talked
to them about the
importance of being alumni, and
how even though
they may be tired
of high school
now, they will
come to miss it in
the future. All in
all, it was a nice
day for the seniors
to celebrate and
learn about their
responsibilities as
future Wilbraham
and Monson alumni.
The 100-day celebration
is just one of many perks WMA
seniors get during their final year at
the Academy. Since the beginning
of the academic year, day student
seniors have been enjoying their
parking spots up the hill. With the
spring trimester starting, senior
privileges will soon begin. Among
many privileges, the seniors will
soon be allowed to leave during
their lunch period to go of campus
to eat. Also, senior dress code will
become a bit more relaxed. Many
seniors are also looking forward to
the traditional fish game, in which
each senior is given a toy fish and a
picture of a fellow senior to squirt
water at. The person
at the end of the game
with the most pictures
wins a prize and a lot
of glory. Not to mention seniors will soon
be planning their annual “senior prank”,
which all the underclassmen are anxious
to see. This time of
the year marks the
beginning of the end,
and for many seniors,
that end cannot come
soon enough.
Commentary
Thanks, Guys (for Losing the Snow)
By EVA LANDERS ‘12
Staff Writer
We have all seen them,
shoveling, plowing, spreading
salt, and chipping ice to ensure
the smooth continuation of our
school days. Braving blizzards and
the unbearable cold, they created
pathways allowing us to safely
make the trek up the Hill and to
class. Without the maintenance
crew, WMA would not have made
it through the winter of 2011.
Those who have endured
harsh winters before know the excruciating pains of snow removal.
The weight of your shovel, walkways that transmogrify into treacherous snares with the addition of
ice, the impossible-to-maneuver
gloves that transform your hands
into motionless lobster claws. For
WMA’s maintenance crew, these
common hardships were made
worse because of the size of our
campus. They had to figure out a
way to clear the entire property after every storm, which was no easy
task.
This task was all the more
daunting this year as a result of the
massive snowfall – in excess of
97 inches in the Springfield area.
By JACQUELINE SMITH ‘11
Staff Writer
Most of this snow fell during a
horrid two-week period in January.
Despite the record snowfall, WMA
had only two snow days, which
meant the crew was out there in
the early morning hours preparing the campus for another day of
classes. The crew of ten or eleven
people had to arrive before sunup
each day; they were divided up
into designated groups. Some guys
shoveled walkways, some cleared
the stairs, and others plowed the
parking lots—becoming the WMA
masters of machinery. . Maintenance head Joe Salvador said: “Our
main concerns were that students
and faculty would slip and injure
themselves, we also needed to
make sure that everyone could get
in and out of buildings without difficulty.”
The rapid accumulation
of snow this winter created many
obstacles to overcome. In previous winters, snowfall began earlier
and was spread out over a larger
period of time. This season, however, the WMA campus was hit
all at once, catching everyone
off guard The first problem to be
overcome was finding space to put
the cleared snow. Snow banks soon
became monster parapets which
ASK ATLAS
out two weeks ago today. I really
like him and I think we’re official
but he didn’t ask me to be in a reDear Atlas,
lationship on Facebook. Does this
A video on YouTube is
mean he’s single like his relationgoing viral! All I’ve heard is the
ship status says or did it actually
same annoying song about partying count when he asked me to be his
on Friday! To be perfectly hongirlfriend?
est, it’s making me hate Friday! I
Signed,
kind of feel bad for the girl who
Girlfriend?
sings it because she’s being picked
on a lot but it’s driving me insane! Dear Girlfriend?
FRIDAY FRIDAY GOTTA GET
Everyone knows if it’s not
DOWN ON FRIDAY! Ah it’s
Facebook official, then it’s not real.
stuck in my head!
Sincerely, Dear Atlas,
I hate Friday We got an out of dress code
day for Multicultural Week and we
Dear Friday,
were supposed to be wearing our
First off, I have to thank
country’s colors. I saw someone
you for now getting that song stuck wearing brown and black. What
in my head. I concur it’s not my fa- country is that?
vorite song, but be careful how you
Sincerely,
voice your opinion. Conversation
Where in the World
between you and a friend is okay,
but remember, once something is
Dear Where in the World,
on the internet, EVERYONE can
About 10% of the school
see it. As for your recent distaste
followed those guidelines. Where
in Friday, try listening to a song
did you think the girl in pink and
with a different day of the week in purple was from?
it, like Sunday Morning or Manic
Monday.
Dear Atlas,
My mom keeps nagging
Dear Atlas,
me to “Get a job!” And I’m tell
My “boyfriend” asked me
ing you, I’ve tried! I went to Big
were impervious to the too-brief
warm spells between storms, which
forced the maintenance workers
to search for alternative solutions.
The mass of snow also resulted in
ice dams that caused significant
damage in the residential and classroom buildings in mid-winter and
led to floods in the spring when
the snow banks finally melted. The
weight of the snow on the rooftops
also caused no little worry when
nearby public schools were closed
for the same reason. Mr. Salvador
remarked “We had to evaluate all
of the buildings, especially the
houses, to determine what roofs
could not withstand the snow’s
weight. Most of the time after we
cleared the snow, we then had to
fix any resulting water.”
Maintenance worked hard
this winter to make sure that all
students, especially boarders, had
the ability to walk around campus.
As one worker stated “Whenever
it snowed, we were here.” As a
result of the crew’s nonstop work
this winter, we on the Atlas applaud these unheralded members of
the community and thank them for
their hard work and congratulate
them for a job well done.
Y last week—denied. I went to
Dunkin Donuts—denied again.
Seriously, I thought I was going to
be a jobless loser for the rest of my
life until I had the best idea EVER!
I’m going to become the next
Teen Mom! The girls are so pretty,
smart, and classy and make over
$60,000 an episode for just being
themselves. I think I found my
calling. What are your thoughts?
Sincerely,
Teen Mom Season 4
Dear Teen Mom Season 4,
I think you are gravely confused as to the message that show
is sending out to young women.
The girls in that show have little to
no money and have to give up their
youth and rush into parenthood.
Many of the girls on the show are
raising their child alone. Stop and
ask yourself: why does your mom
want you to get a job? Probably
for extra spending money for college, and if you were to become
pregnant, not only would you demolish any college dreams, but all
of your money would go to providing for a child. On a different note,
I have no idea how you could be
under-qualified for Dunkin Donuts.
Try Micky-Dees!
Tips From...
3
By MELISSA DONOHUE
Faculty Writer
Revolution in Egypt.
Bloodshed in Libya. Resignation in
Tunisia. We are living at a dramatic
moment in history as popular revolutions are overthrowing governments in the Middle East. So what
does that mean for the rest of us?
Well, have you filled up
your gas tank lately?
With political change in the
Middle East, energy prices are up,
and that has all sorts of ramifications for the world. Why is energy
so important? Think about it – oil
fuels much in the world today.
Oil, which is pumped out of the
ground as a natural resource in
places like the Middle East, North
Africa, North America, Russia, and
Latin America, is refined into gas,
diesel fuel, and heating oil, among
other things. Most companies rely
on oil-based energy products for
everything from fuelling factories
to transporting products by truck,
sea, and air. Consumers use energy
to heat their homes, and fuel their
transportation.
Energy is a basic need, not
a luxury item. Rising energy costs
can cause inflation, which means
that purchasing power declines as
costs go up. It means that corporations and companies have higher
costs for a basic need, and consequently, spend less on other things.
In the case of corporations, that
might mean not expanding, or even
laying people off to cut costs. For
individual consumers, it may mean
buying less.
These outcomes are factors
in an equation that impacts economic growth. In the case of the
world today, the global economy is
in different phases of recovery. We
are starting to see indicators that
indicate a healthy recovery in the
U.S.
But economists warn that
the nascent U.S. recovery could
slow if energy prices continue to
climb. What this dynamic illustrates is how interconnected we
find ourselves in 2011. A political
demonstration in Tahrir Square in
Egypt can have a far-reaching impact – not just on political systems
in the region, but ultimately on
global economics. And even on gas
prices in Wilbraham.
4
Arts
No End in Sight for Rise Against
By SARA TARDIFF ‘12
Arts Editor
One thing Rise Against
is truly good at, other than being
pissed off all the time, is writing
songs with a bit of substance. Sure,
their new album Endgame is filled
with metal-guitar action. But the
lyrics address some heavy topics
such as teen suicide, economic
inequality, environmental collapse,
and other unanswerable wrongdoing. They may sound mad, but
they have a positive message.
Endgame is Rise Against’s
third album produced by Bill Stevenson, a pop-punk legend from
the Descendents. The face, and
primary songwriter, of the band,
Tim McIlrath broke through in
their 2009 album Appeal to Reason, and fully establishes himself
as one of the most radical voices in
mainstream music today with Rise
Against’s sixth album, Endgame.
Even with some lungscorching ballads about civic
apathy (“Architects”), the pitfalls
of partisanship (“A Gentlemen’s
Coup”) and economic injustice
(“Disparity By Design”), McIlrath
still manages to humanize some
lyrics in the midst of all the melo-
NORA HARRINGTON ‘13
Staff Writer
From February 18 until
February 20, the Academy Players performed the The Wiz for a
large audience at Wilbraham and
Monson Academy. The play was
adapted for the racially and culturally heterogeneous WMA cast and
the result was both intriguing and
captivating.
The Wiz, written by Ken
Harper, is a 1975 Broadway musical adaptation of the Wizard of Oz,
which exclusively featured African
American actors. Wilbraham &
Monson Academy’s production of
The Wiz was very different from
recent musical productions seen
in the Fisk theater in both scope
and ambition, but the depth of the
ensemble cast and the quality of
the Ms. Reilly and Brooke Mele’s
instrumentals set a new standard.
“The musical is very exciting; it is a lot more technically
challenging,” said Director Ms.
Susan Dziura. “It really celebrates
the diversity of the community.
The musical was created in order
to celebrate diversity, giving us a
new understanding of The Wiz.”
drama. In “Help Is On The Way”,
the group shows its poetic side
with lines like: “I have my mother’s dreams/ I have my father’s
eyes”.
However, expecting Rise
Against to lighten up musically is
a waste of time; it’s never going
to happen. Although critics often
bash their almost violent-sounding
punk riffs and sometimes demonic
harmonies, Endgame is no exception when it comes to the band’s
musical expression. Rise Against
is at the top of their game with
this album, and with its evident
success, fans aren’t too both-
ered by the satanic melodies.
The disc opens with the
previously mentioned track, “Architects”. Although a powerful
number, it’s a pretty predictable
opening for Rise Against, with Tim
McIlrath’s classic yelling vocal
styling and gritty guitar riffs.
Following “Architects”
is “Help Is On the Way”. It’s a
genuinely cool track with a lot of
melodic, head-bobbing guitar work
and a crisp cymbal beat throughout. Somehow in this one, McIlrath
manages to address the distance
between the promises the government has made regarding the oil
The Wiz Casts a Spell
In the weeks leading up to
the musical, the school was abuzz
with hype and the theater sold out
quicker than anyone could have
expected, especially since this was
the first time the Academy Players
actually charged for tickets.
The Wiz was filled with
talented performances from every
member of the cast whether it was
the dancing, singing, acting or the
well-timed delivery of jokes that
guaranteed laughter from the audience. Much of the talent was due
to the middle school’s participation
in the musical. Some students even
spill disaster in the Gulf, and the
realities. This song specifically
shows Rise Against’s growth and
maturity as a band; this is a more
diverse style than they’ve ever
shown.
Rise Against also addresses
a popular topic in “Make it Stop
(September’s Children)”: bullying.
The message is blunt, asking kids
to stop bullying one another before
more school shootings and suicides
occur, “And too much blood has
flowed from the wrists / From the
children shamed for those they
chose to kiss”. Another song with a
deeper meaning, “Survivor Guilt”,
is sung from the perspective of
a deceased soldier. The soldier
reminds us that all great civilizations come to an end, and he also
questions the motives of those who
are anti-war, “And I fought with
courage to preserve / Not my way
of life, but yours”.
Few bands take advantage
of their viral popularity to be active
in a sociopolitical setting, but Rise
Against fans know they’re not the
type to take things lying down.
With bold lyrics (like “We are
orphans of the American dream”),
Endgame is an album as strong as
their personal ethics and beliefs.
played by Ntagkounakis, and uncle,
played by Jason Duke ’11. She
then meets Addaperle, the slightly
eccentric good witch, played by
Rachel Ostrom ‘12.
After celebrating the demise of the Wicked Witch of the
East with the Munchkins, portrayed
by ensemble members Rachel
Adelson ’14, Hunter Donovan ’14,
Kristen Klebart ’12, Tim Manghan ’11, Elizabeth McClellan ‘14,
Olivia Milne ’14, Danielle Pytko
‘14, Ryan Robitaille ’14, Jessica
Smith ’14, Jeannette Viens ‘11, and
Soorim Yoon ‘14, Dorothy departs
for the Emerald City on a live yellow brick road played by Callahan,
had leading roles, such as Julia
Kristin Reeves ’14, Amber WilMcClellan ‘15 who played Evilliams ‘13, Dance Captain Arnelle
lene, the evil witch. Other middle
Williams ‘13 and Zhang.
school talent included Mary Cal
Dorothy encounters a
lahan ‘15, Alina Shirley ‘15 and
scarecrow, played by Evan Filkins
Antigone Ntagkounakis ‘15.
‘11, who wants to join her because
The Wiz follows the plot
he has a feeling he isn’t “going
of the “Wizard of Oz,” but with
anywhere”; an uptight Tin Man,
some interesting urban variations.
Priyanka George ‘11, who needs
After expressing a desire to leave
small-town life Dorothy, played by Dorothy’s help to hang loose again,
Ashleigh Morris ‘12, is swept away and a mama’s-boy Lion, acted by
Issa Best ‘13, who has lost faith
by a tornado in the form of an impressive dance by Ying Zhang ‘13. in the psychiatric help he’s been
getting from an owl. This foursome
As soon as Dorothy arrives in Oz,
was hilarious. Even the stone-faced
she yearns to return to her aunt,
continued on page 6
Global Perspective
Democratic Revolution Spreads to Libya
By AUSTIN LITTLE ‘12
Staff Writer
Since Libyan rebels began
protesting against the reign of
Muammar Gaddafi on Feb. 15, the
death toll has risen to over 1,000
people. . The Libyan Army has reacted violently in attempts to dispel
resistance. However, rebels have
made huge strides towards toppling
Gaddafi’s regime.
Libya is a north-eastern
African country located next to
Egypt. It is an oil-rich country—95
percent of the national exports are
petroleum products. Gaddafi has
led Libya since September 1, 1969,
after a coup against King Idris I.
From the 1980s to present day,
Gaddafi has ruled the country as
a dictator. Under Gaddafi’s reign,
Libya became the most censored
country in the Middle East and
North Africa. Between ten and
twenty percent of Libyans work
for the government by spying on
Libyan citizens.
Gaddafi also heavily
restricted interaction between
Libyans and foreigners. Gaddafi
also removed foreign languages
from Libyan Schools in an effort
to reduce communications with
outsiders. In
addition to
censorship,
Gaddafi’s regime is also
notorious for
imprisoning political
opponents.
The Abu
Salim prison
in Tripoli is full of political prisoners; it was here that Gaddafi sent
human rights activist Fathi Terbil.
After Terbil was imprisoned, a riot of 600 protesters broke
out in front of police headquarters
in Benghazi. Demonstrations lasted
until police violently broke up
the protest—injuring 40 people in
the process. Following the police
brutality on Feb. 15, more protests
surfaced throughout the country.
On Feb. 19 military helicopters
fired shots into crowds of anti-government protesters.
In retaliation to police
brutality, protesters seized control
of the streets of Benghazi. Looters took weapons from the main
security headquarters, which led to
further attacks by Gaddafi’s military in order to restore order.
On Feb. 24 protesters took
control of
Tobruk.
Libyans
waved the
Libyan flag
of the preGaddafi era.
Gaddafi’s
government
responded
with more
violence and the installation of
African Mercenaries in Tripoli.
Rebel groups continued demonstrations and violence through March
5 when they captured the town of
Ra’s Lanuf. At this time, international powers began their involvement in Libyan affairs.
Hillary Clinton announced
that the United States would support a no-fly zone over Libya.
With the no-fly zone, Gaddafi’s air
strikes would no longer be effective, and the US would be required
to shoot down any Libyan Aircraft
in the air space.
On March 16, two military
fighter jets landed at the Benghazi
airport and joined rebel forces.
May 16 was also the day that rebel
troops regained the advantage over
loyalist forces as they re-gained
more control in Ajdabiya.
5
Many countries are now
reaching out to help the rebels in
Libya. The Egyptian Military has
smuggled weapons to rebel military groups; the UN has instituted
a no-fly zone and France, England
and the U.S. are contributing jet
fighters and bombers to enforce
the no-fly zone and to support the
rebels from the air. In the U.S., a
debate is in progress about what
will happen if air support is inadequate to remove Gaddafi.
At the Global School, we
try to look at global issues and consider possible solutions. We learn
we are future global leaders, and as
future global leaders we should ask
ourselves: does the US have a right
to assist anti-Gaddafi forces? What
about a responsibility?
Without U.S. aid, Gaddafi
would continue his ruthless reign
of Libya. Tens of thousands of
innocent people would die, when
the deaths may be preventable.
With US aid, innocent lives may be
saved.
Because of the progress
that rebel groups have made, Libya
is in a state of turmoil. Thousands
of Libyans have joined the rebels
in their fight for freedom. How
should the world respond?
Diversity at its Best
By EMMA BOURGEOIS ‘13
Staff Writer
Wilbraham & Monson
Academy’s Second Annual Multi
Cultural Week this past February
added international food as a central component of both culture and
national identity.
The ‘Food of the World’
buffet, which was held in the spa,
introduced foods from around the
world to students made primarily
by Bethany Lions’11 and Co-President Evan Filkins ’11, and YaeHee
Oh ‘13.
The dishes included Russian crumble cake, fish cake- a
Korean delicacy, sweet rice from
India, Spanish rice and meat,
Angolan bread, Mexican jalapeño
pepper casserole, and scones from
Great Britain.
For Monday lunch, the
dinning staff was gracious enough
to cook a Multi-Cultural lunch
including the Korean dish Bulgogi,
which means ‘fire meat’ and which
dates back to 37 B.C. Bulgogi is
a meat dish containing marinated
barbecued beef or pork over rice,
an excellent representation of the
Korean population at
Wilbraham & Monson.
R.I.S.E.,
which stands for
Reach Out In Support of Ethnicity,
and S.O.A.R., which
stands for Sexual
Orientations Accepted and Respected,
has hosted Multi-Cultural Week
since last year when club president
Z Sulieman decided that differences between students should be
celebrated, not a cause for discrimination.
Last year’s Multi-Cultural
Week consisted of an out of dress
code day for students who wore
their country’s colors and apparel
traditional to their nations. This
year it was less like a week and
more like two days. However, the
“Food of the World” buffet and
international lunch the following
day were nice additions to this new
WMA “tradition.”
On Friday, the WMA campus was a sea of colors, with hundreds of students parading around
the school in their country’s colors
as students were again granted an
out-of-dress code day.
R.I.S.E. and S.O.A.R. also
added a dance this year. Friday
night the dance sent Multi Cultural
Week out with a bang! Two other
schools came to the dance, which
was a first!
Even Ms. Cole sent out an
e-mail thanking the student body
for one of the highest dance turnouts in the school’s history. An
estimated 120 students attended. “The dance was great! We
had an awesome turnout from both
our school and other schools”, says
Heather Little ’13.
CJ Woloshchuk ’13 added:
“At this dance, there was actual
dancing! And a lot of people plus
free pizza! It was a lot of fun!” The
dance played music from around
the world to celebrate Multi-Cul-
tural Week.
Though many were unaware of Multi-Cultural Week,
those who participated said the
week-long event was a success.
Woloshchuk, when asked whether
Multi-Cultural Week was a success
responded, “ Yes. Multi-Cultural
Week was a success. The food
buffet gave me a taste of different
cultures, and I’m eager for more!”
R.I.S.E. and S.O.A.R.
Co-President Jessica Duncan ’11
agrees, although admits that the
week was not as well planned out
as last year’s multi-cultural week,
but the addition of cultural food
and the dance were both excellent.
Continued on page 7
6
Sports
Endangered Species: Lax Bros
By JASON DUKE ‘11
Staff Writer
The Wilbraham Monson
Academy boys varsity lacrosse
team appears to have a tough season ahead due to a relative lack of
players. They will likely have fewer than 20 participants, with only
a dozen or so with lax experience.
The limited roster size will present
certain obstacles, the most obvious
being the limited number of game
substitutions available, which will
put a premium on fitness for those
key players that the team depends
on for defense and for scoring.
The players will also need
to be able to play multiple positions in order to create a little more
depth. Another aspect to consider
is the possibility of injuries as the
team clearly does not have the
depth to absorb the loss of any
more players. There are a few
different reasons for the team being so small, but the most notable
reason is the amount of options
that students have for spring sports
at WMA. Because there are so
many choices, people who might
otherwise choose lacrosse end up
participating in a different sport.
Another thing to consider is
the team’s need of a goalie. According to Head Coach Vartabedian, goalie is a position that “needs
to be solidified.” This means they
will have to take a player that has
never played the position, and turn
him into their every day goalie.
Although this will be challenging, Mr. Vartabedian said that it is
something that happens almost on
a yearly basis at WMA.
Freshman Mikey Callahan
started in the nets in the
Titan’s first home match of the
season versus Vermont Academy.
Despite losing 12-6 to VA, the
Titans had their chances and were
in it for most of the game thanks
to some solid work by Callahan.
Coach Vartabedian noted that Callahan “will only get better as he
gains more varsity experience.”
Callahan’s potential as a four-year
starter in goal may be one of the
big positives that comes out of this
season.
Though there are clearly a
number of problem areas on the lax
team that will need to be addressed
over the course of the season, there
are also some significant strengths.
For example, the team has a good
mix of experienced, older players and young, fresh players. The
returning players, such as captain
Derrick Barnagian ‘11 and John
Moran ‘11, serve as team leaders
both on and off the field. PG Niko
Manning also adds a dash of speed
and talent that will give the Titans
a bona fide scoring threat. Manning tallied four goals in the home
opener against VA.
According to Coach Vartabedian, the Titans will play
a “very challenging” schedule
against teams in their division as
well as a few teams from outside
their division. They will play a
total of 15 games—seven of which
are at home. The home games are
against Tilton, Vermont Academy,
King, Suffield Academy, Cushing
Academy, Cheshire Academy, and
Kingswood-Oxford. Their away
games are against Monson High
School, Worcester Academy, Williston Northampton, Marianapolis,
Cheshire Academy, Canterbury,
and Gunnery.
Though the lacrosse team
is obviously focusing on the task
at hand, which is to have a successful season, they are also looking towards the future as well.
The younger players, especially
those who would benefit from a
JV program, may not get the same
Athletes of the Month for Feb./March
By MATTHEW PAJAK ‘11
Sports Department Head
number of minutes but they will
gain experience and mentoring that
they would otherwise not receive.
Recruiting is also looking bright.
According to Coach Vartabedian,
there are “up to half a dozen kids in
the mix with admissions”, including some that play both football
and lacrosse. Coach Vartabedian
said that he felt “optimistic” about
the students that were considering
WMA because there is an increasingly strong attraction for athletes
to attend WMA.
Though the boy’s varsity lacrosse team may have its
struggles this season, the team can
look forward to the future. Despite
their tough schedule, the number
of young players getting significant
playing experience bodes well for
the team in the years to come.
The Wiz (Cont’d)
Continued from page 4
Name: Jaylen Brantley
Sport: Varsity Basketball
Position/ Role: Point Guard
Accomplishments: On AAU National Championship team in the summer of 2010; selected as one of the top twenty underclassmen in New
England. In February, Jaylen led the Titans to wins over Cheshire, Deerfield, and Berkshire.
Favorite Athlete: LeBron James
Favorite Sports Team: Miami Heat
Pregame Music: Lil Wayne and Trey Songz
Favorite Food: Chicken
“Jaylen Brantley is the team clown. He always has everyone laughing
and makes everyone have a good time around him.” – Karl Baptiste Jr.
’13 (Teammate).
Name: Mia Konstantakos
Sport: Varsity Swimming
Position/ Role: Races primarily 50 free, 100 back, and 100 free plus relays.
Accomplishments (at WMA): Broke 100 back record freshmen year and two
times since. Voted MVP of varsity swimming three seasons in a row; voted
athlete of the month for swimming last year, also. At New Englands in March,
broke WMA 50 free record and she was part of the record breaking 400 free
relay team.
Favorite Athlete: Ryan Lochte
Pregame Music: Kanye West& Blink-182
Favorite School Lunch: Caesar salad wraps
Favorite Class: Chemistry
“She works hard every practice and is very encouraging… she just practices a
lot harder than everybody else.” – Eva Landers ’12 (Co-Captain).
Mr. Easler was seen laughing at
Sunday’s performance due to the
acting talent of Best, who wore his
fur mane as naturally as his own
skin.
Together the four seek help
from the Great Man in Oz played
by a footie pajama-clad Jeremy
Gilfor ‘11. Along the way, they
encounter the deadly poppy field, a
mice squad, evil monkeys, Glinda
(played by Reeves) and Evillene,
which adds up to one colorful
adventure, all set to music in a
dazzling, lively mixture of rock,
gospel and soul.
If you failed to attend this
year’s winter musical then you
missed out on what many are calling the school’s best production
ever. The choreography was vigorous and challenging and unlike
anything WMA has seen before.
The musical was funny, energetic,
and overall fantastic.
4 out of 4 Lightning Bolts!
7
Sports
Remembering the Titans’ Winter Season: Playoffs
By TIMOTHY O’REILLY
Staff Writer
The 2010-2011 winter
playoffs were atypical and, from
the surface, appeared nonexistent.
Among the
many talented
teams on campus, not one
qualified for
a post-season
berth. Sadly
there were
no fan buses,
face- painted
fans, or spirit
days.
But the lack of team success should not overshadow the
post-season success of several
noteworthy individuals. Three
athletes, from two sports, distinguished themselves in the post-season. Wilbraham & Monson Academy was represented in wrestling
and skiing at the National Prep
Wrestling Championships and the
NEPSAC Class C Ski Championships, respectively.
Joseph Thibault ‘13 and
Keoni Colson ’11 led the charge at
the National Prep Wrestling Championships at Lehigh University in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Thibault wrestled up one
weight class compared to last year,
tipping the scales at 119 pounds.
This proved to be a challenge,
as physicality becomes a
larger part of
success—rather
than just skill
and technique.
Despite
being eligible
as a freshman, this was
Thibault’s first
trip to nationals. Last year he suffered an ankle injury that prevented
him from competing. But this
year, he bounced back and was
determined to make it to nationals.
His goal was to win two matches at
nationals, which is no easy feat.
Unfortunately, Thibault
lost in the first round to Matt Pente
‘14 of the Arch Spalding School in
Maryland. However, he was able
to advance to the second round in
the consolidation bracket, where
he eventually lost to James Corbett
‘12 from St. Paul’s School in New
Hampshire. Although Thibault
went 0-2 at nationals, he felt that
the experience will help him succeed in the future. Coach Allen Hsiao praised
Joe’s wrestling talent, but noted
that Joe can improve physical-
ly—which will be the key to his
success in the future. In the end
Thibault avoided a sophomore
slump, going 26-1 on the season,
and getting another invitation to
nationals. He looks to build upon
his success in
the coming
years by winning more
matches and
going deep
into the national tournament.
Todd (Keoni)
Colson, a PG
from Waimei, Hawaii, is a phenomenal three sport athlete who
graduated last-year from Hawaii
Preparatory Academy where he
won “Athlete of the Year.” He has
been wrestling “on and off” since
7th grade while also playing football and running track.
Keoni’s goal at the start
of the wrestling season was very
similar to Thibault’s: “make it to
nationals & nothing less.” Colson
easily reached this goal and beyond. According to Coach Hsiao,
Keoni “came incredibly close to
All-American.” Colson had an
impressive record of 26-2. His
two losses came at the hand of
one wrestler, which were the only
blemish on his otherwise outstanding season.
This year, Colson wrestled
at 160
pounds, up
from last
year when he
wrestled at
152. Despite
jumping up
a weight
class, Colson
had to lose
15 pounds
in preparation for wrestling; dropping from 175 which is what he
weighed during football season.
Keoni felt that this drop boosted
his overall performance, saying, “I
felt much quicker, stronger, [and]
more saiyan (confident) throughout
the season.”
Keoni brought this confidence and focus to the tournament,
where he fared well despite this being his first trip. His won his first
match in 52 seconds, pinning Will
Moor ‘13 of the St. Marks School
in Texas. In the second round,
Keoni lost to Taylor Reuss ‘12 of
the Woodberry Forest School in
Virginia, who ended up placing
6th overall. In the consolidation
bracket, Colson made quick work
of Zach Griffitt ‘11, pinning him
in 48 seconds. Colson ended up
losing the ensuing match to twelfth
seed Stephan Piascik ‘13 of Northfield Mt. Hermon. Overall, Colson
went 2-2 at nationals and is ranked
top 12 in the nation.
Only a few weeks earlier,
the WMA ski team competed on
the slopes of Mt. Sunapee, NH, at
the NEPSAC Class
C Ski Championships. Although the
boys and girls teams
did not do as well as
past years, they still
had a strong showing.
Libby Hodson ‘11 has been
skiing almost as
long as she has been able to walk.
She began at the ripe young age of
2, but it wasn’t till age 8 that she
began racing. At WMA, Hodson
has been getting steadily better
since her first season. In 2009 she
placed 16th in giant slalom. She
moved up one slot, placing 15th
overall last winter.
This year she made a huge
leap, jumping up 6 spots and
placing 9th out of a field of 49 (of
which 41 finished). In a sport that
is as individual and competitive as
skiing, a top ten finish is an impressive accomplishment.
Although the “[ski] team
wasn’t as strong as it has been in
the past,” Hodson felt that it was
still a satisfying season. Hodson,
along with fellow senior Kat Corbett ’11, carried the girl’s team to
a top 10 finish despite only having
three racers by the end
of the season.
This was very impressive considering
the tough competition.
Hodson does not plan
on racing in college,
but that is something
she said “could always change.” Along
with her top ten finish,
Libby was the lone captain and
earned the MVP award in her final
ski season at the Academy.
WMA did not have the most
successful winter athletic season on
record. No new banners were hung
and no trophies were added to the
many display cases. The usually
dominant winter teams did not flex
their collective muscle and make a
playoff push.
This time it was the individuals who brought post-season
success to WMA; from the distant
slopes to far away mats the Titans
made their name known.
Piano Man
Culture (Cont’d)
Continued from page 1
Continued from page 6
Mr. Cook, “David was phenomenal
then, and he’s only gotten better”.
Mr. Yaslowitz, in keeping with
his emphasis on connecting to current WMA students, devoted two
days to giving one-on-one attention
to several of our on-campus musicians.
Mr. Yaslowitz spent the entirety of two school days on campus, working with students from
both Chamber Ensembles as well
as students who play outside of
these classes. And Mr. Yaslowitz
offered his constructive criticism to
pianists, violinists and flutists.
In his master classes, Mr.
Yaslowitz focused on each student
regardless of age or talent, and his
approach to teaching was direct as
well as instructive – and, particularly when he sang (or attempted
to, at any rate), hilarious.
And the surest sign of an
artist’s talent is their ability to support themselves (i.e. not starve)
and, judging by Mr. Yaslowitz’s
frame and imposing stature, WMA
has had the pleasure of being
instructed and entertained by an
astounding musician, and he is one
of us, a Titan among men.
The planning behind this year’s
event was not as strong as last
year’s, Duncan acknowledged.
But she also pointed out that there
is much preparation that goes on
behind the scenes, including: finding funding for the dances; creating
and putting up posters to advertise
the event; and shopping for and
cooking the many different cultural
foods.
Next year, Duncan suggested that event reprise last year’s
scavenger hunt and perhaps add
some sort of trivia game that would
interest students and have them
walk away more educated about
their peers.
Whether you went to the
dance, tried the many different
foods, or just noticed the posters
around campus, Duncan hopes that
one thing clicked for all Wilbraham
& Monson’s students. “I hope that
through Multicultural Week students will begin to be aware of other cultures around them. Students
are surrounded by people from 28
different countries. Multicultural
Week hopes to encourage everyone
to stop and learn a little bit about
all the cultures represented here.”
Sports
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming!
By MAX RANKIN ‘11
Staff Writer
Her toes tingled with anticipation as the swimmer leaned
forward in perfect diving position.
She awaited the
touch of her teammate who had just
plunged into the
pool and who was
swimming well.
The sound of the
starting buzzer
reverberated in her
ears as she saw her
teammate turn back
for her final lap.
And then it was her
turn. The girl dove
into the water to
continue the race at full force until
she had finished her laps. Now
the girl’s eyes were fixed excitedly on the clock as the two other
members of the relay team finished
their laps. Her anticipation grew
tenfold as the seconds ticked down.
Then joy overtook her as the team
realized they had broken the school
record.
This was the feeling that
Kaylee Walton ‘12 shared with
Meg Harrington ‘16, Maddy McCloskey ‘16, and Mia Konstantakos ‘13 as these girls broke the
school’s 400 freestyle relay record
for the second time this season at
the New England championship.
“I was overjoyed and so proud of
my girls” says Kaylee. But she
admits: “I was nervous as the race
started because I knew we could
break our record, and we did!”
This event was the latest accomplishment for the girl’s
varsity swim team. “On the Girl’s
side of things” says coach Moran,
“Mia Konstantakos and Madeline
McCloskey
were the two
most valuable
swimmers.
Madeline
finished the
dual meet
season nearly
unbeaten and
was the only
eighth grader
in New England swimming to finish
the season
ranked in the
top thirty in her events. Mia
Konstantakos broke two school
records, the 100 backstroke and 50
freestyle and placed 18th overall
for New England in the 100 Back,
our school’s highest female finisher
since Bridget Jurgens finished 18th
in 2008”.
These enormous accomplishments were the icing on the
cake of the already impressive
girls swim team season. “We have
determined individuals who are
focused around the goal of creating
a championship team,” explained
Coach Moran. During the New
Englands, Coach Kelly added,
“every member of the team broke
their personal record.”
The boys on the swim team
did not let the girls hold all of the
glory this year. “Nick Sarno’11 and
Kevin Lambert’13 were the stars
of this years boys team,” Coach
Moran said. “Nick developed into
a confident swimmer in the 100 fly
and freestyle events, and he was
usually fast enough to win dual
meets for the Titans.”
Coach Moran noted that
Kevin Lambert, though only a
sophomore, “established himself
as one of the premier swimmers in
New England, posting times that
put him in the top 3 or 4 percent of
competitors in four different events
and claiming school records in the
100 Butterfly and 500 Freestyle, at
56.01 and 4:57.48, respectively.”
Despite such impressive
performances, some would argue
that swimming does not require
as much commitment from teammates as many other team sports.
However, Kevin Sun’11, a senior
on the team, says “this is completely untrue”. He pointed out
that “swimming is a big team
sport where everyone has to work
together”. Coach Moran expanded
on Kevin’s point: “Swimming is
often thought of as an individual
sport; however, the preparation
required to perform at a high
level can be grueling and
requires a strong team
environment, and that
team environment was
the key to our success this
year both as a team and as
individuals”.
This success was
not attained without hard
work. Nick Sarno describes practices as “a rigorous workout where the
team swims on average
between 5,000 to 7,000
yards a day”. When
another swimmer was asked what
was the hardest part of practice, he
responded: “Mr. Moran.” He went
on to explain that coach was “just
trying to help us find what we were
capable of.” Coach Moran said
he expects that “all swimmers at
WMA”
work hard
at three
things.
“First,
they
must stay
positive,
because
positive
attitudes
breed
positive
results.
Second,
they must
think while they swim since swimming is more technical than most
people realize and technique and
strategy often decide who wins.
Last, I ask that they trust in themselves and the coaches that
they can complete everything
we ask of them. In sports,
athletes are often limited by
self imposed expectations
or limits to what they can
achieve. Not knowing what
you can’t do, can be more
important than knowing what
you can,” says Coach Moran.
Tough swim practices and
perfecting technique is not
all that happens in the pool
because fun times were had.
Games of Fishy Fishy Cross
My Ocean and protecting
candles while swimming were just
a few of the fun things that the
swimmers did this season. Senior
Ding highlighted the time the boys
threw Coach Moran “into the water” after a strong performance.
Although most swim-
8
mers found the season enjoyable,
the team faced some challenges.
Coach Moran says that “the largest challenge for the team this year
was our age and experience.
“While we have a lot of talent,” Coach Moran explained, “our
talent is often very young. Young
swimmers make mistakes and
often fail to prioritize certain skills
in practice, thinking that the harder
you swim the faster you will go.
While this is often true, bad habits
can also develop and solidify while
you’re working hard in the water
physically. I think staying on top
of technique was our biggest challenge”.
The team also encountered
some demanding opposition during
the season. “Our most challenging match and toughest loss was
against Canterbury,” says Eva
Landers, a returning junior. “But
overall we had a great season,”
declared Coach Kelly.
One factor that all sports
teams face at one point or another
in their season is adversity. However, successful teams are the ones
that can overcome this adversity
when it strikes. Hardship is the
one constant that holds true for all
sports but it is for this fact more
than any other that makes any sport
so enjoyable for both the athlete
and the onlooker. Difficulty in
athletics is usually associated with
external problems such as obstacles
in a game or in the opponent; however there is a larger internal issue
that is often over looked. This is
the cohesion of the team itself. It
is only when a team can conquer
both external and internal hardships that they can truly overcome
adversity and achieve success.
This year the WMA swim
team overcame both internal and
many external problems, and had
a productive and fun season to
show for it. With this season’s
experience and the large number of
returning swimmers, Coach Kelly
hopes “that we can build to a point
next year where we can finally
bring home a banner.”