November 2011 - St. Sebastian`s School

The WALRUS
The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things:
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. - Lewis Carroll
St. Sebastian’s School
Vol LXV, No. 2
November 2011
70th Anniversary Gala Dinner
Commemorates St. Sebastian’s
By Peter DeMatteo ‘13
On Thursday, October 17,
St. Sebastian’s held a dinner to commemorate our schools Seventieth
Anniversary. The event was a great
success, as over five hundred parents, teachers, and alumni attended
the celebration at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. A main focus
of this event was the new Science
and Math Center, a building that
will greatly increase St. Sebastian’s
capacity in both these areas. “Although it was the largest event of its
kind, it was one of the most well run
events, everything on time, videos
were great, speeches were great,”
says Assistant Headmaster Mike
Nerbonne about this important dinner.
The evening started with
a reception and cocktails, lasting
for an extended amount of time
as members of the St. Sebastian’s
community met and talked. Among
the decorations was a plastic replica
of the new stone wall opposite
the crosswalk, the gift of the most
recent graduating class. A group
of seniors helped usher the people
up a maze of escalators to the site
of the dinner. After everybody had
talked for some time, each person
went into the main room to dine
and listen to the program. Once
Mr. Burke delivers his speech after the 70th anniversary dinner, honoring several attendees
Unity Day Celebrates Diversity
By Kevin Wolfe ‘12
Unity Day, I think, is the best
day of the school year (besides GQ
day, of course). After a strenuous first
quarter, and if you read my previous
article about the college process, the
most difficult weeks of their time at
Sebs for the seniors, the entire school
puts the books down and unites.
Instead of having another stressful
day of classes to end the first quarter,
we end this period in a more rewarding fashion. I have not ever heard of
a school like ours that has this type
of day as part of its tradition. This
unique day is another great example
of what sets us apart from the other
schools as a bonded community.
I unfortunately missed
Headmaster Burke’s keynote speech
that commenced Unity Day. Given
that it was the end of the first quarter,
my body was about to collapse from
exhaustion. I nonetheless used my
resources to figure out what Mr.
Burke’s speech focused on. Wisely citing “Macbeth”, Mr. Burke related Lady
Macbeth’s pressure on her husband
to peer pressure today. Just before
his wife talked him into carrying out
the murder, Macbeth had reasoned
with himself that this killing would
be wrong. Lady Macbeth’s persuasion
went against Macbeth’s conscience,
but he was still convinced to follow
through with the act. Like the Macbeth story, we are often persuaded
into choosing a course of action that
is not right. We must, however, avoid
negative exterior pressures, especially those from our peers, and follow
what our hearts tell us. Mr. Burke’s
speech set the precedent that helped
make Unity Day a success.
The day was divided into
four stages: A small discussion
group, a larger Ward Hall assembly,
another small discussion group, and
an all school Ward Hall assembly. In
the first block of the day, my group
discussed the three principles of the
school: love God, work hard, and take
good care of one another. After a
very entertaining video clip made by
Quandel Johnson (great job, Q, if you
made it. And Dan-O, I love what you
said.), we jumped into thoughtful
conversation. The most pressing issue we tackled was how to love God
in a Catholic school but also be tolerant of other faiths and beliefs. We
concluded that while the Christian
tradition drives our school, whether
or not you are Catholic, Protestant,
Jewish, or a non-believer is no reason
why you cannot be accepted in the
community. We come together in
our faith, and if each person’s faith
differs, or does not exist, we are still
a tightly bonded student and faculty
body. We also concluded that teachers, coaches, and students all push
each other to be the best. I would say
that from the first discussion, we are
all doing well here with making Mr.
Burke’s statement a reality.
The second block was an
alumni panel. Mr. Lynch ( Class of
2002), Terrell Diggs (Class of 2009),
and another alumnus, Dale Anderson, who all spoke about their time
as Arrows and how their high school
experiences shaped their lives today.
These reflective, successful men
all spoke to the truth that Sebs is a
united and supportive community.
After the panel, we came
together again in small groups.
Starting with a film on civil rights, we
discussed our individual duties in our
democracy and what exactly it takes
to make a difference. Shortening our
scope to St. Sebastian’s, we discussed
the roles we each have to play in
order to make the most productive
and understanding community possible. The most divisive part of our
school day probably occurs at lunch,
we reasoned. Why are the same
groups of students always seated
together, separate from their fellow
Arrows? Why don’t we ever change
tables? A good starting point to
making the community even more
united, we concluded, would be to
change who we ate lunch with more
often. Befriending students who
might not seem to have anything in
common with you or may not seem
“cool enough” to spend time with is
exactly what we must do. Our differences only make us more complete
individuals when we come together.
This last discussion group helped us
pin down the issues of division at
Sebs that we need to fix -- or at least
begin to fix as part of an ongoing
effort.
The last part of the day was
undoubtedly the best. Quandel and
his mother put on an outstanding
performance. I had heard Quandlel’s music before, and its great,
but I never knew of his performing
capabilities. His mother is also an
unbelievable singer. Speaking before
the performance, Quandel’s mother
highlighted the success of her son in
an elite private school environment.
She explained that St. Sebs has set
up Quandel for undoubted success
in the future whereas the education
in the inner city or METCO probably
was not going to do that. The adversity that the two overcame to have
Quandel in the position that he is in
today is something that we all must
commend. They finished the day in
a great fashion with their musical
exhibition. The success of Unity Day
is a testament to the strong bond
that we all share at Sebs no matter
how different we each are.
Tyler Wiik ‘15, Thaddeus Kennedy ‘17 and Jack Connolly ‘12 (above) spoke at the Open House
See Page 5
missions video of Randall Kennedy
P’13, P’17 was shown, and later in
the night, an admissions video of
young alumni was shown for the
first time. Sandwiched between
these two videos were speeches by
Peter DeMatteo, Mr. Wilbur, and Mr.
Kingsley. The focus of the first two
speeches was how the new science
center would help that department,
and in turn the entire school. Mr.
Kingsley’s mostly centered on the
financial situation of this new building and the Faith and Future drive.
Mr. Burke followed all of these up
with his own speech on the development of St. Sebastian’s since he
first arrived as Headmaster.
After the speeches were
over, all heard the school hymn “He
Who Would Valiant Be.” Marlon Matthews ’14 led the singing while Kevin Patterson ’13 played the piano.
Although not many actually joined
in the song, Marlon and Kevin did
an excellent job, even without Mr.
Chambers. After a closing prayer
by Father John Arens, the celebration of our school’s 70th Anniversary
ended, and people gradually began
to head home. This event was both
colossal and successful, but there
have been rumors that the up and
coming 75th Anniversary Dinner
will be even grander as the school
continues its mission into the next
seventy years.
Open House Entices
Prospective Arrows
By James O’Leary ‘13
This year’s admissions
open house was a great success. On
Tuesday, October 18, 2011, over five
hundred prospective students and
their families attended what was a
night that they will not soon forget.
Although there were so many visitors in attendance, a large number
of current Saint Sebastian’s School
students volunteered to be tour
guides and representatives of sports
teams and clubs so visitors were able
to receive a full tour and learn a lot
about the St. Sebastian’s school and
community. Mr. Wishart and the admissions faculty give a special thanks
to those students who helped out on
this eventful night.
Students in grades seven
and eight met in the student lounge
shortly after five o’clock where they
were given pizza and refreshments.
Students in grades nine through
twelve met in the McCullough Room
at about five and also received food
and drinks. After a short dinner,
Mr. Wishart instructed the students
on the procedure for the night. A
student in the upper school (grades
9-12) would be pared with one or
two students from the lower school
(grades 7 and 8) and the two or three
would give a group of families a tour
through the school. The prospective
students and their families began to
arrive between 5:30 and continued
until about 7:00. Students would be
introduced to families by Director of
Admissions, Mr. Wishart, in the front
foyer. After a short greeting, students would lead to families out the
side door of the Academic building
and head across the street. The current students who were tour guides
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everyone had settled done, the
president of the Board of Trustees,
James Elcock, gave the welcoming
speech. Next, Bishop John P. Boles
gave some remarks and also said
the opening prayer for the night.
Afterward, everyone began on the
exquisite three course meal.
When the food had been
taken away, Headmaster Burke
recognized some distinguished
members of the St. Sebastian’s family at the dinner. There was a wide
range of people mentioned, among
them members from the first graduating class of St. Sebastian’s School,
as well as families which have sent
numerous generations through the
school, and others for a varied list
of accomplishment and services. In
addition, a slideshow of the history
of Seb’s was shown on to very large
projectors. Compiled from pictures
from older yearbooks and Alumni
Hall, this show showed how our
school has changed as the years
have gone by. Another multimedia
presentation was a video of very important members of the St. Sebastian’s community from the sixtieth
anniversary. This informative video
showed when the gym of Seb’s on
the old Newton Campus was made
of dirt, and the vast improvements
for the current student body.
As soon as all of these
presentations had finished, the ad-
would talk about the school and its
many different qualities. After crossing the street, students would lead
the families into the art wing that
is attached to the rink. There were
practices occurring for the pop-rock
band and a play presentation for the
drama club, so families were able
to see the art departments in action. After a tour of the art facilities,
the students guided families back
across the street and into the academic building. As the tours passed
through the halls of the school,
teachers from each of the departments invited the families into their
class rooms to talk about what they
teach and the curriculum at St.
Sebastian’s. Students also brought
their guests into the library, church,
chapel, and computer labs to talk
about the everyday life of a student
at the school and here from more
teachers about things such as a the
math departments, available classes,
and the chapel speaking program.
Students also stressed the current
building process of the new science
center. The addition to the school
was something that the students are
excited about, and it will help the
school’s image and overall success.
After an extensive tour, families were
brought into the church where the
awaited speeches from students and
faculty.
At about 7:30, the families
had taken their seats in St. Bartholomew’s Church. Mr. Wishart
opened by expressing his gratitude
to the visitors and his hope that they
received educational and fun tours.
He also introduced the students
that would speak and share their
experience as an Arrow: Thaddeus
Kennedy ’17, Tyler Wiik ’15, and
Jack Connolly ’12. Thaddeus began
by describing his experience with
St. Sebastian’s. Thaddeus spoke of
watching his brother, Henry Kennedy
’13, playing football while at his previous school and wanting to be an
arrow. He then portrayed his experience as a seventh grader. He said he
wanted to come to St. Sebastian’s for
three main reasons: academic rigor,
superior athletics, and a great community. Next, Tyler Wiik presented
his experience. He too had an older
brother, Conor Wiik ‘11 who he says
he tries to model. Jack Connolly was
the last student to speak. He also
too has two brothers in the school:
Will Connolly ’10 and Mike Connolly ’17. The students spoke of the
brotherhood and community as well
as the academic and athletic rigor.
After hearing from the students, Mr.
Burke delivered a beautiful speech
that came from the heart expressing the schools full motto and then
the abbreviated motto, “Love God,
work hard, and take good care of one
another.” Father Arnes ended the
reception with a prayer.
After meeting in the church,
families and students were invited
to Ward Hall where students set up
tables surrounding the outskirts
of the large auditorium. At each
of these tables, representatives
from class departments, clubs, and
athletics were present to answer any
questions that the visitors may have.
Soon the prospective students and
their families began to file out, leaving with a better knowledge of the
St. Sebastian’s School. Overall, the
admissions open house was a great
success and hopefully enticed many
students to wish to become Arrows
in the future.
SPORTS
Does Not Appear In Photo:
Opening Night for the Celtics...
& perhaps a season for the NBA
Stingy Defense Powers Football
See Page 8
THE WALRUS
Page 2
QUOTES of the
MONTH
“You can’t do mohawks. That’s a football
thing.”
- Scott Kingsley, failing to understand applicable patent law
“I’m not like Shaq, I’m like Kevin Love.”
- Cam Cain, musing on his basketball abilities
“The Excess of Truth is Paul Pierce.”
- Peter Cimini, in Mr. Nunan’s religion class
“I was Top 15, but I stopped to tie my shoe
and walked the rest of the way.”
- Kendall Dardy-Jones, on his November 2011
Community Thanks Mr.
Stanton for 25 Fun Years
By Kevin Ginns ‘14 and
Will Kenney’14
When I think of Mr. Stanton, the first word that pops into
my head is bald. The first thing that
pops into my head when I hear the
word bald is a senile old man. You
may think I am calling Mr. Stanton a
senile old man, but the truth is, he is
anything but that. He is a smart man
who is an excellent teacher, and an
equally outstanding coach. I will
even admit he is quite the comedian
at times, too. This year marks an
enormous milestone for Mr. Stanton, who is celebrating twenty-five
years of teaching and coaching at
St. Sebastian’s School.
According to the United
Nations, the average life expectancy
of a male from the United States is
seventy-five years old. If Mr. Stanton
were to live to the average life
expectancy, he has already devoted
one third of his lifetime to St. Sebastian’s, an admirable amount of time,
showing Mr. Stanton’s complete devotion to the school. Throughout his
time at St. Sebastian’s he has been
a big hit among both the students
and the faculty. When asked what it
is like working with Mr. Stanton, Mr.
Nerbonne had this to say:
“Mr. Stanton is a lot of fun.
How entertaining he is with you
guys [students], he is the same with
us [faculty]. He is a great father. He
has put three boys through the
school and he is a fun colleague
with a great sense of humor. He’s
devoted 25 years of his life to the
school, and that’s a pretty good
chunk. He’s taught four classes and
coached at least two sports each
year.”
I have the privilege this
year of having Mr. Stanton as my
modern European History teacher.
Initially, I dreaded the thought
of sitting through a class about a
bunch of dead Europeans every day.
However, Mr. Stanton has made the
class not only bearable, but also
quite enjoyable. The class has been
far from boring. Mr. Stanton maintains the perfect balance between
learning the history material and
joking around. The honest truth is,
most of the teachers I’ve had just
aren’t funny. They have what is
called “teacher humor”, where a few
students usually add a sympathy
chuckle to make the teacher feel
good about themselves. I can genuinely say that I laugh at a good portion of Mr. Stanton’s jokes. However,
he is known to tell the occasional
corny joke, which results in an awkward silence in the class. This humor
and his energetic style of teaching
is what keeps his class awake and
eager to learn the material.
Along with being an entertaining and informative teacher, Mr.
Stanton is also a great coach. For as
long as I can remember, Mr. Stanton
has been the head lacrosse coach at
St. Sebs, and he has done an amazing job doing it. He has had many
great seasons at this school, and
has sent many players off to great
schools and careers in lacrosse. He
is also the coach of the 7th grade
football team, and he grooms players very well for their futures in the
sport at Sebs. His assistant coach,
Mr. Peter Kittler, has coached with
him for many years, and he has
many great things to say about his
colleague:
“He’s fun to coach with
because he’s unpredictable, but
what I’ve been impressed by mostly,
although only his players would
realize this, is his inspirational talks
at the end of practice. The insight
he has and the inspiration he passes
on to the boys before a big game. I
am really impressed with the way he
encourages them to do their best.”
Mr. Stanton has coached
the lacrosse team for a long time,
and throughout his entire career he
has stayed true to himself by not
changing any one of his methods
or drills. His approach to coaching,
whether in football or lacrosse, is
one of tough love, supporting his
players but also pushing them to
their limits athletically and academically. “His coaching definitely comes
from a teacher’s standpoint, and
it shows that he can teach players
new and better ways to play the
game no matter how long they have
been playing lacrosse,” said Connor
Strachan, a sophomore defensemen on the Varsity team. With Mr.
Stanton’s experience in coaching
lacrosse and teaching at Sebs for 25
years, it is no surprise that he knows
how to handle his players and his
students, and that he knows exactly
how to find ways to teach them how
to perform better on the field and in
the classroom.
Mr. Stanton has reached
an amazing milestone in his career
at St. Sebs, his 25 years flying by so
quickly. He is poised to continue
his time at Sebs with the same vigor
and excitement he has greeted the
last 25 years with. Let’s just hope
that he avoids becoming a senile
old man, because no student wants
a senile old man teaching him about
dead and most likely senile Europeans. Congratulations, Mr. Stanton.
performance in the Hazel’s Run
“I like to call it the ‘Nerbaleum.’”
- Mr. Nerbonne, on the new “Got Heem!”
Science Building outside his office
- Brian Wilson’s battle cry
NHS Calls Inductees to Service
By Sean Frazzette ‘12
Senior Editor
On Thursday October 20th
fifty-eight students were inducted
into one of the most exclusive
and praiseworthy societies that St.
Sebastian’s School offers: the Sr.
Evelyn C. Barrett, O.P. Chapter of the
National Honor Society.
Towards the end of last
year, a number of students applied
for a position in this esteemed
group of scholars. To be considered
for a spot, a sophomore or junior
must have at least an eighty-five
percent grade average. However,
consideration alone is not nearly
enough. Secondly, the prospective
students must complete an essay
on how they embody the four pillars of the National Honor Society:
Scholarship, Leadership, Service,
and Character. With all being equally
important, the potential inductees
had to convince the selectors that
each one of these traits—traits that
are second to none in a well-lived
life—applies to their life. After the
essays are completed, teachers must
also vouch for each student, demonstrating a respect for the student’s
work ethic and application of the
four pillars. Once these three stages
are complete, the selection process
begins. This process is anchored by
some mysterious, secret entity, simply known as the Board. The Board is
entrusted with the duty of choosing
who is Nationally Honorable, and
who (currently) does not make the
cut. The identity or membership of
the Board is a complete secret—
leaving any bribing out of the ques-
tion. Once the Board makes their
decision, the students are notified.
This happens after returning from
summer break, when most if not all
of the applicants have totally forgotten they even applied for a position
in the society.
After the selection of the
newest members is complete, the
current members gather in the small
quarters of Mr. Albertson’s room, notorious for the impossible demands
it places on a select few juniors each
year. These men then nominate
their future NHS leaders—President,
Vice President, and Secretary. No
one speaks; there is simply loud
banging and hand raising to choose
who the nominees are. Then, when
three or four men are chosen to run
for each position, a secret ballet
begins. Each member writes down
his choice for the position. The races
were all close, with group eventually choosing the triumvirate of
President Sean Frazzette ’12, Vice
President Andrew Vandini ’12, and
Secretary Peter Cimini ’12. Mr. Albertson then selected John Donovan
’12 as the wild-card fourth speaker
for the ceremony. Each member
then selected their pillar, about
which they must speak during the
induction.
After this boring and tedious process was complete, it was
time for the induction (which many
may complain is equally boring
and tedious…). After a prayer by Fr.
John Arens, Frazzette spoke about
the history of the National Honor
Society before introducing the first
speaker. Donovan then began with
his speech on Leadership, citing the
Aeneid while also talking inspiringly
about classmates Jack Connolly
’12, Austin Franchi ’12, and Sam
Hodgson ’12. Then, Cimini came to
the microphone, quoting a number
of historical figures as he explained
how Character defines a man.
Thirdly, Vandini took center stage,
as he shouted to the audience the
importance of Service. He spoke of
personal examples as well as the
general call that we all have to serve
one another. Finally, Frazzette, quoting Emerson’s The American Scholar,
spoke of our duty to live life as a
scholar, always aiming to learn and
act in erudition. After the four pillar
speeches, Frazzette announced the
fifty-eight names for induction, and
then led all members and inductees in the recitation of the pledge.
Following this, Headmaster Burke
and Mr. Nerbonne presented each
new member with a certificate and
pin to commemorate their honor.
As the ceremony came to a close,
Mr. Burke offered words of gratitude
and motivation for all those in attendance, calling all forward to a life
of Scholarship, Service, Leadership,
and Character.
With the assembly come
and gone, many of the members
of National Honor Society are now
called to serve through tutoring and
other endeavors, pursue academic
excellence, show strong character,
and lead their classmates through
example and words. I would like
to congratulate all new members,
as well as call all other potential
inductees to pursue this honor. May
all of us seek to live our lives by the
worthy four pillars of the National
Honor Society.
Mr. Stanton (above) discusses his time at St. Seb’s in front of a host of community members
The Walrus
A St. Sebastian’s Publication
Senior Editors: Peter Cimini ‘12, Sean Frazzette ‘12, Chris Nadeau ‘12, Chris
Stadtler ‘12
Apprentice Editors: The Linux Club
Head Writers: John Donovan ‘12, Joe Dudley ‘12, Matt Fechtelkotter ‘12,
Tyler Sweeney ‘12, Kevin Wolfe ‘12, Bobby Wright ‘12
CONTRIBUTORS: Chris Reilly ‘13, Shane MacDonald ‘14, Colin Connolly
‘15, John Ryan ‘15, Kevin Patterson ‘13, Danny Higgins ‘15, Will Kenney ‘14,
Mike Petro ‘13, Peter Dematteo ‘13, Mike Haley ‘13, Jack Goldman ‘14, Chris
Callahan ‘14, Vaughn Gendron ‘14, Cam Kelly ‘14, Kevin Murray ‘14, John
Bartlett ‘14, Mark Lane ‘12, James O’Leary ‘13, Pat Rivard ‘14, Michael Hoff
‘13, Brandon Jones ‘14, Billy McCarthy ‘15, Jimmy Mitchell ‘15, Jay Daukas
‘14, David Abelson ‘14, Christian Kelly ‘15, John Real ‘13, John Cheever ‘12,
Matt Donovan ‘13, Kevin Ginns ‘14, Ryan Sanderson ‘12, Mickey Adams ‘13,
C. J. Santosuosso ‘15, Peter Breslin ‘13
Editors Emeritus: Edmund Murphy, Dillon Ecclesine, Tom Hoff, Alex Spear
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Dan Drummond
The Walrus is the official student newspaper of St. Sebastian’s School. The Walrus
seeks to provide news and entertainment for the St. Sebastian’s community, as well as
to provide an open forum for students to offer opinions on issues related to world, national, and school affairs. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect opinions of the faculty advisors or senior editors of The Walrus or of St. Sebastian’s School.
Correspondence to The Walrus should be addressed to The Walrus, c/o St. Sebastian’s School, 1191 Greendale Avenue, Needham, MA, 02492. Senior Editors and production staff reserve the right to reject, edit, or admit any or all submissions. To submit an
article, email it to [email protected].
November 2011
THE WALRUS
Page 3
Fall Play Rocks Ward Hall
By Ryan Sanderson ‘12 and
Mickey Adams ‘13
Mike Petro, along with the rest of the cast, had a fantastic performances after months of work
St. Sebs’ Own Tyler Goldman:
Not Your Average 7th Grader
By John Ryan ‘15 and
Ryan Lee ‘15
We get along mildly well.
Who has ever met a
professional dancer that had won a
World Championship, never mind
a seventh grader who has done so?
That’s right. Here at Seb’s, there is a
student here who recently won the
Under-12 Ballroom Dancing World
Championships in Paris. A seventh
grader, his name is Tyler Goldman.
Starting three and a half years ago,
Tyler has done very well at many
events, taking first as it is said up
above and taking second place
at the National - Junior Blackpoll
Festival 2011in England. Not many
times is it that you get to meet a famous person, never mind someone
younger than you or someone going to your school. So, seizing the
opportunity, we interviewed this
budding star on his graceful sport.
RL: Where have you gone and for
what competitions?
TG: We went to Paris last year for
U12 World Championships. We also
went to London for the Blackpoll
Championships and came in second. Those are like the Olympics of
Ballroom.
RL: Are you guys sponsored by any
companies?
TG: We get a lot of our clothes with
the help of a dancing company
called Pure Class.
RL: What are your favorite memories
from your experiences?
TG: Winning Worlds in France and
being on “Dancing with the Stars”.
Ryan Lee: How long have you been
ballroom dancing?
RL: Is Tom Bergeron funny in person?
Tyler Goldman: 3½ Years
TG: He is pretty funny. He is also
very short. On DWTS, we got to
meet a bunch of people, including
Kurt Warner, Kyle Massey, and Taio
Cruz.
RL: How did you get into Ballroom
Dancing?
TG: My sister had done ballroom
dancing for a few years. I went to
one of her rehearsals and found it
really interesting, so I started dancing myself.
RL: Who is your partner for dancing? How did you meet her? Do
you two get along?
RL: Do you keep in touch with
people you meet?
TG: Yeah, I have friends in Russia
who we have danced against many
times.
RL: Where is ballroom dancing most
popular?
TG: Her name is Sophia Latessa. My
coach paired us up a few years ago.
TG: It is huge in Europe. That is why
I have been there so many times.
RL: Is ballroom dancing popular in
the US?
TG: It has gotten a lot more popular
in the past few years, but still not
huge like Europe.
RL: Would you want to go pro as a
dancer?
TG: I don’t know yet. I have always
thought I would stop after High
School, but I haven’t made a true
decision yet.
How many of you have
actually had a conversation with a
famous person? Well, now you can.
Whenever you see Tyler in the halls,
congratulate him on his great work
and wish him good luck for his events
to come. If you take that chance and
go even further and say hi to him
every day or have conversations,
when he is an even more well-known
ballroom dancer, you can say that I
know that celebrity. So Tyler, keep
dancing because right now, you are
doing a great job. Also, if you want to
see Tyler dance, not just hear it, you
can find it on the Internet. It is truly
amazing. His success can teach the
rest of us that with hard work, you
can do your best. Tyler had been only
dancing for three and a half years yet
he soon won the World Championships. Also, try things that you might
not be good at or have done before
like the clubs here at Seb’s; it might
just become a way for you to become
famous. We have learned two things
here: the thoughts of a seventh grade
world champion ballroom dancer
and also that Tom Bergeron is short.
Tyler performs before a national audience on Dancing with the Stars with his partner Sophia
The two night event was
a rousing success both times, as
the actors put on a show much to
the delight of audience. On both
nights, Ward Hall was filled to the
brim with excited theater folk, and
they did not leave disappointed. It
was truly an exceptional effort from
the entire cast and crew, as the play
earned rave reviews from students
and faculty alike.
While it did not show on
the stage during the live performances, a last minute effort made
the show truly spectacular. Star
Mike Petro, in his exclusive interview, praised everyone for the great
“team effort”. According to Petro,
director Mr. Rogers felt that “The
show had no energy on Thursday”,
but Petro and Mark Lane turned that
around in a dramatic fashion. Pulling together as a group, the actors
and actresses from the Montrose
School turned in a heroic show.
“Friday was the best show we ever
had,” said Petro. “We really rallied
together and pulled it out.”
The play, “The Government Inspector”, originally written
by Nikolai Gogol and adapted by
Jeffrey Hatcher, is indeed a comedy
in the truest sense. Although some
of the more suggestive material
was removed per the order of Mr.
Rogers, the humor still had bellies
shaking in Ward Hall. The quick
temper of Ivan Alexandreyevich
Hlestakov (Mike Petro), the childish
antics of Peter Ivanovich Dobchinsky and Peter Ivanovich Bobchinsky
(Gus Gordon and Robert Wright),
the sheer stupidity of Shepkin, the
postmaster (Kevin Patterson), the
vaulting ambition of Mayor Anton
Antonvich (Mark Lane), the clever
ridiculousness of Alex Morin, Julian
Matra, and Marlon Matthews, and
all the other nuggets of comedy
embedded in the play had the fans
tickled from start to finish.
The casting of the play
was perfect, as it seemed at times
that there were not actors on the
stage, but St. Sebastian’s students
in their usual element. Everyone
delivered genuine and believable
performances, adding to the feeling
of professional theater. The scenes
were well set, the lighting did the
job, and the actors just had to take
it from there, and they sure fulfilled
high expectations. After losing Tom
Keefe to college, along with many
other talented pieces in the drama
department, it was refreshing to see
new faces blend in with returning
ones. Young actors gained valuable on stage experience, while the
seniors in the play made their last
fall play a memorable one.
The true success of the
play was not in the laughter of the
audience or the memorization of
the lines, but it really shone through
when, at the conclusion of each
play, every member of the audience
gave the cast and crew a well deserved standing ovation. Thank you
to the St. Sebastian’s School Fine
Arts Department for a great night.
(The above portion of this
article was beautifully written by St.
Sebastian’s own Mickey Adams). No
one would disagree the play was
truly an amazing performance by
all involved, but true greatness is
not achieved without the efforts of
those behind the scenes and sacrifice. The technical crew performed
their jobs so well that they went
unnoticed. That is the unfortunate
nature of being a member of the
technical crew of a play, when you
perform your task as it should have
been performed, you go unnoticed.
It is only when things go wrong that
the technical crew makes headlines.
Well no longer will the technical
crew go unheralded, kudos to you
technical crew, and an extra ovation
for the efforts of “don’t teach me
how to” Dougie Kingsley. When I
asked Petro how the crew did, he
singled out Doug as doing a great
job managing to keep the spotlight
fixed on Petro during his more animated scenes, which is no easy task
I assure you.
Perhaps most daring and
courageous of all the sacrifices
made was the sacrifice made by Michael Petro himself. Some men are
defined by their daunting stature,
some by their quick wit, and the one
thing Michael Petro was known for
– if not his intelligence and kindheartedness – was his beard. Yes,
you may have heard the rumors or
perhaps you even saw it yourself
and still could not believe your eyes,
well, cancel that appointment you
set up with your optometrist, because the rumors are true. Mr. Petro
was indeed forced to shave the
glorious thicket of manliness that
was thriving on his neck and jaw.
Some feared, myself
included, that with the shaving of
his beard so too would go his acting
abilities – much like Samson with
his strength – however Mr. Petro
set all those thoughts to rest with
his passion and ability to connect
with audience all night. To be honest every actor and actress present
did a wonderful job of making the
audience feel as though they were
watching a professional play.
Personally, I would go see
the play again if they put it on every
weekend, but the amount of effort
required for such a feat makes it
all but impossible. In fact, my hat
goes off the all the cast and crew
for managing to juggle school,
the play, sports, clubs, and, for the
senior actors, college applications.
Everything was working against this
group of thespians, but still they
persevered through hard work and
the guidance of their director Mr.
Mark Rogers.
Now although I’m sure
the majority of those reading this
article went to the play (I mean
who wouldn’t?) I understand that
for some it just was not possible, so
perhaps a brief plot summary is in
order. The main bullet points to note
are: Russian officials seem to enjoy
a bribe or two or twelve, characters that speak with a lisp make
everything funnier, don’t trust your
postmaster (nor principal, mayor,
townsfolk, strangers, wife, daughter,
judge, chief of medicine etc.), and
most importantly, do not, under any
circumstances, trust the guy with a
fake mustache.
Now while the fall play
was a huge success both in terms of
performance and donations (I believe the donations received totaled
more than $900), it is just the first
performance of the year. If due to
some freak accident you were rendered unable to attend the fall play,
fear not, for there will be other plays
performed before the years end.
Perhaps you have even been inspired to join the cast and crew, well
then by all means join I’m sure your
presence will only add to the level
of greatness that has already been
attained. Personally I look forward
to the upcoming performances and
cannot wait to see what the drama
club has in store for us, for one thing
though, I’m sure it will be well the
worth wait.
Celebrity Look-a-Likes
Jalen Thornton
Carmelo Anthony
MPA Supports Community
By Peter Breslin ‘13
On Sunday November 6 ,
members of the Men with Positive
Attitudes club of St. Sebastian’s
gathered to walk a 5K run and walk
to raise money for the Charles River
Center. Quandel Johnson, Brandon
Jones, Aturo Adkins, Michael Haley,
Zachary Taye, and Mark Cunningham met at the Charles River Center
at 11 on Sunday morning, led by Mr.
Jenkins of St. Sebastian’s.
Quandel, Michael and
Zachary directed and supported the
participants of the 5K, while Brandon, Mark, and Aturo walked the full
3.1 miles. The members of Men with
Positive Attitude took time on their
th
Sunday morning to walk the 5K to
help raise money in something that
they believed in. All proceeds from
the race went to the Charles River
Center, which is a nonprofit social
service agency that provides services
to children and adults with mental
retardation since 1956.
After being asked about
the experience of the walk, Quandel
Johnson, the president of the Men
With Positive Attitudes club commented that he was happy to help
out for such an important cause, and
encourages more arrows to get out
and help for the next event hosted
by MPA.
Brandon Jones mentioned
how surprised he was to see that
well over 500 people showed up to
support the Charles River Center, an
establishment which he had never
heard of before last Sunday.
The next event that Men
with Positive Attitudes will be taking
part in occurs towards the end of
November, where members: Quandel Johnson, Brandon Jones, Jordan
Barros, Zachary Chambers, Ike
Okwerekwu, Malcolm Donaldson,
Aturo Adkins, and James Tran will be
traveling to Philadelphia to attend
the Student Diversity Leadership
Conference (SDLC). Students from
all around the nation gather at this
conference to talk about subjects
such as different cultures, and problems in their communities.
Cam Quirk
Sid the Sloth
THE WALRUS
Page 4
November 2011
Movies with Shark
By Mark Lane ‘12
For this issue I watched
from the comfort of my laptop “In
Time” directed by Andrew Niccol.
The film Stars Justin Timberlake as
Will Salas, his love interest Sylvia
Weis played by Amada Seyfried
(Jenifer’s Body), as well as Cillian
Murphy (The Dark Knight, Inception).
The movie takes place in
a future where humans are genetically engineered to age until 25.
Time has become the currency and
everyone has a timeline emblazoned on their arm. When you turn
25 years old your body jolts and
your timeline becomes a constant
countdown. In this future people
have jobs to earn more time, and
the richer you are the longer you
live. The world is split into time
zones separated by wealth.
The movie is centered on
Will Salas, a 28 year old resident of
what is referred to simply as the
ghetto. Will works at a factory earning a meager salary and is forced
to deal with constantly increasing
quotas and consumer pricing. When
the movie starts we see that Will
lives a tough life and has a mere 20
hours left to live. We find Will drinking at the bar with his best friend
wondering on how he is going to
live another day, when suddenly a
strange man catches his eye. The
man is buying out the bar and is seen
with two beautiful ladies on each
arm. Ultimately the man is attracting
quite a bit negative attention from
those around him. Will then notices
that there are two men clearly planning to kill this luxurious man, which
causes Will to quickly act and save
this man’s life. Both Will and the man
hide for the rest of the night abandoned building. The man the reveals
that his name is Henry Hamilton and
reveals that he has a century on his
timeline, but to Will’s surprise, he
doesn’t want it.
When Will wakes up in the
morning he quickly realizes that he
now has a century and that Henry
gave him all of his time and in turn
committed suicide. Will, not sure
of what do to do now, decides to
travel to New Greenwich a luxurious
time zone, where he meets Sylvia a
daughter of a wealthy gambler. What
“In Time” stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried
Will doesn’t know is that while he
enjoying his new found time, he
is currently made the number one
suspect in the murder of Henry
Hamilton by expert investigator
named Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy). Soon Will is forced to be on the
run with his new love interest from
the police or as they are now know
as “timekeepers.”
Unfortunately the cat and
mouse chase between Will and Raymond is very dull. The movie mostly
consists of story building dialogue
however, the story is very boring. If
you are expecting any shoot outs or
car chases this is not the movie you
are looking for. Instead of action this
movie gives you some cheesy lines
from Justin Timberlake a few steamy
romantic scenes and tons of sob
stories about living life with a little
amount of time.
So if these things are what
you enjoy then by all means In Time
is the movie for you. The concept
of a world with time as a currency
is fascinating idea. It is fun seeing
people pay for things like coffee and
groceries in minutes rather than dollars. It also seems unique seeing 50
and 60 year olds who still appear to
be in their twenties. A perfect example of this is Will’s mother played by
Olivia Wilde (Cowboys and Aliens).
When we first meet Will’s mother we
find out that she is celebrating her
50th birthday yet she looks like a 28
year old supermodel.
Justin Timberlake proves
that he does have some acting
prowess and makes for a solid pair
with Amanda Seyfried. The movie
ultimately has the right idea and the
concept is intriguing, the problem
is not enough happens. There isn’t
a solid action sequence until about
an hour into the movie, and the
sequence only last about 2 minutes.
The movie comes off more as a
romantic thriller with action only
at the last 20 minutes of the movie.
The movie starts off well and I was
expecting to be taken on a wild
roller coaster ride but instead I was
like sitting at the peak of the ride
waiting to drop.
Overall, I would give this
movie two out of five sharks. If
you’re looking for excitement you
will find more excitement in one
of Mr. Thomasy’s Harvard Model
Congress speeches.
COMPETE FOR PRIZES HERE!
1. NAME THAT TEACHER Competition
Here are three fun facts about the mystery teacher:
1. This teacher has worked at St. Sebastian’s for 23 years
2. A graduate of Hamilton College
3. Wiffle Ball extraordinaire
4. Widely proclaimed food connoisseur
ARE YOU SMART ENOUGH FOR A PRIZE?
If you think you are right, fill out the sentence below and turn it into the Walrus box into Mr.
Drummond’s room, Room 215. A drawing will be held in late November to determine the winner
of a candy prize.
I, __________________________________________________, think the Feature Teacher for
November’s Walrus is _________________________________________.
This picture of Steve Jobs’s silhouette in the Apple logo went viral after Steve Job’s death
Apple Improves iPhone Line
By Chris Stadtler ‘12
Senior Editor
Take a look around you. The
effect of Apple is not far away. Try
to step into the remodeled student
lounge / Senior Club House and not
find someone playing Fruit Ninja or
Tiny Wings on their iPhone, much to
the chagrin of Mr. Sullivan. Or walk
into the library and avoid the familiar
glow of bitten fruit on a MacBook.
Apple fan or not, the impact that
Steve Jobs has had on the world
and our community is undeniable.
Steve Jobs often said he wanted to
put a dent in the universe and in 56
years he did just that. Armed with
knack for creating things we didn’t
even know we needed yet and an
opinion that everybody should be
able to use computers, not just the
technologically advanced segment
of the population, Steve Jobs
changed the industry.
Today many of us cannot
imagine our lives without the ease
of an iPad or iPhone and the impact
it has had on society is evident.
A popular YouTube video shows
a baby navigating an iPad with
ease. Then when given a magazine,
the toddler begins swiping and
multitouch
gesturing
without
success, mistaking the magazine for
an iOS device. Future generations
will take Apple devices as a given
part of life, which for us is relatively
new. Equipped with the ecosystem
of Apple products, tackling our days
is that much easier.
Apple’s latest product
promises to do the same. The first
iPhone in the post-Steve Jobs era has
several new features the separate
it from past iPhones and the rest of
the smartphone market. While the
physical properties of the iPhone 4s
have no changed from the previous
generation (the dimensions and
design are the same), the inside is
completely redesigned. The iPhone
4s as a new A5 processing chip that
doubles the processing speed of the
iPhone 4. The lack of loading screens
and waiting time brings the iPhone
closer to a computer then any other
smart phone on the market. Along
with the faster speeds comes a much
improved camera. Complete with 8
megapixels and a brand new optics
design, the camera rivals the point
and shoot digital camera.
The last exclusively iPhone
4s feature would be Siri, every
iPhone 4s’s personal assistant. Rather
than use simple voice recognition,
“Where’s the Walrus?” is a new challenge. A stuffed Walrus will be hidden on campus
November 16th. Use the clue below to find him in or around our school.
Hint: It’s Near the Source of The Walrus...
A picture of the coveted “Wally the Walrus”
To compete for a $10 iTunes Gift card in this month’s “Where’s the Walrus Competition”, return the stuffed animal Walrus to Room 215, when Mr. Drummond is present. Disclaimer: DO NOT go through other’s personal belongings or space (or
any part of the school that’s off limits), as the Walrus will not be hidden there.
to iOS5 that make the iPhone the
best product on the market by far.
Overall, the newest iPhone proves
Apple still can make a great product,
despite the retirement of Steve Jobs.
With Tim Cook at the helm,
Apple looks poised to continue is
dominance in the tech industry.
While some worry if Apple can
create new innovative ideas without
Steve Jobs, the reality is that to
think a company as enormous, as
Apple, could be operated by one
man alone is foolish. Nevertheless,
Steve is said to have taken care of
the transition, laying exact plans
for the next four years and broader
ideas for the next decade. These
new plans include Apple’s much
anticipated technology to tackle the
television industry with a completely
revamped Apple TV.
Regardless, Tim Cook was
one of Steve’s closest confidants and
operates the same, as Steve Jobs.
Often, people overlook the structure
of Apple’s management. Steve Jobs
was not a dictator at Apple that
somehow did it all and called all
the shots. While he was responsible
for several of Apple’s triumphs,
so were others. Apple has about
eight specific divisions, such as
retail, iPhone, iPad and computers.
To lead these sectors there are no
committees; instead there are one
man presidents of their respective
operations. These people, along
with officers like Tim Cook meet for
three hours a week to discuss their
plans. Steve Jobs did not dominate
these meetings or have absolute
power; rather he was just someone
with a very powerful opinion. The
true genius of Apple and the success
Apple has experienced came from
all of those people, not one man.
Though they may have lost their
leader, Tim Cook and the supporting
cast is still present. In the future years
they will face several challenges.
First, they have to continue to
innovate. Simple improvements to
the iOS devices and Mac line will not
cut it. The men and women at Apple
have to continue to create new
products with success, like the Apple
TV. Apple has the unique parallel
abilities of creating devices we don’t
even know we need yet, while using
customer’s opinions in their devices.
The continuation of this will be their
greatest challenge. Facing such
daunting trials, the current men and
women at Apple possess the full
capabilities to continue to blaze the
trail Steve Jobs commenced.
Costumes Light Up Sebs
By Bobby Wright ‘12
2. Where’s the Walrus?
Siri interprets what you say the way
you say it, then does it for you. Set
up a meeting, dictate a text or set a
reminder using Siri. There’s no need
for special commands or keywords.
Siri understands “what temperature is
it outside?” just as well as “do I need a
sweater?”. The possibilities are nearly
endless, given the ease of using Siri
and its limitless features.
Along with the new
hardware additions to the iPhone
4s comes an entirely new software
update: iOS5. The fifth installment
in the touch based hardware brings
dozens of new features to the iPhone
4s, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3Gs, although
several of the new functions are
not compatible with the 3Gs. First
off: the new application reminders.
Reminders allows for someone to set
notifications to appear at a certain
time prompting them to complete
a task. However, what makes the
application truly special is its geofence
capabilities. A geofence is a bubble
that can be set around a moveable
certain location. When someone
enters the bubble, the reminder
will surface. Location services have
become a major part of iOS5 and
are integrated into several aspects of
the iPhone from weather to Twitter.
Second comes Notification Center.
The iPhone sets itself apart with its
easy to use interface, demonstrated
by the previously mentioned viral
video. Notification Center takes the
iPhone’s interface a step further.
Notifications from preset apps like
Texts and Email and downloaded
apps like ScoreCenter and Facebook
are growing increasingly popular.
Because of the sheer quantity of the
alerts, sorting through them becomes
difficult and time consuming. The
new Notification center has all your
notifications, weather updates and
stock quotes in one convenient pull
down screen that is accessible at
any time. Third is iMessages. Like
its Blackberry counterpart BBM,
iMessages allows all iOS devices
(iPads, iPhones and iPod touches) to
communicate with texts that don’t
count against the 200 texts you man
have a month. The service, exclusively
for these Apple products, saves your
data plan and lets their partner know
when the other person is typing, has
received their message and read it.
Next, iOS 5 offers increased camera
editing abilities. After taking a picture,
one can crop, take care of red eye and
enhance the quality of their picture.
The process is simple and fast. These
are just a few of the new additions
Senior Costume Day, otherwise known in the most literal sense
as the “Best Day Ever”, began on a
very chilly Friday morning. At approximately eight o’clock A.M., the senior
class congregated in the parking lot
of the Henry T. Lane Memorial Rink,
giddy with excitement for the day to
come. Seeing as the weather forecast
called for snow that day, myself and
fellow senior, Alex Morin ’12, decided
to suit up in some serious snow gear,
preparing ourselves for a long day of
sledding through the halls. However,
these second rate costumes cannot
even begin to detail the creativity
and ingenuity behind the bizarrely
disguised seniors.
For starters, the common
theme for Senior Costume Day ’12
can be summed up pretty well in the
words of Anthony Arcanti ’12, spoken
the night before the big day, “ I don’t
really know what I’m dressing up
as…but whatever it is I’m gonna be
wearing roller blades.” That’s right.
Roller blades. There’s really only one
reason as to why Senior Costume
Day is the best day ever, and that’s
the fact that you can freely zip past
major, St. Sebs figures of authority,
without even a question as to why
you’re wearing rollerblades in school,
or why you’re dressed like a lunatic.
Despite this common
theme, each senior put their own
spin on the day through collaboration costumes, as well as some pretty
neat independent costumes. For
instance, seniors Connor Reenstierna
’12 and John Nicklas ’12 decided
to emulate the classic, but sporty
cop outfit dawned by Lt. Dangles
in Comedy Central’s Reno 911…on
rollerblades of course. Joe Dudley
’12 and John Donovan ’12 decided
to take a classier approach to Senior
Costume Day, dawning purple
and blue, full body Morphsuits,
underneath a couple of debonair
tuxedos. One of the major group
costumes within the grade was an
orchestrated “Female Roller Derby
Competition”, complete with referees
and with league required knee pads
and helmets. Jack Connolly ’12, as
well as Austin Franchi ’12 and Sam
Hodgson ’12 decided to brave the
morning cold with a true to life football tailgate, playing cornhole and
grillin’ some polish sausages with the
boys… or girls -- the wigs were kind
of confusing. Gus Gordon ’12 and
Chris Stadtler ’12 teamed up to be
the classic mustard and ketchup duo,
although some of their thunder was
stolen by fellow food costume enthusiast Mitchell Emerson ’12—a pack of
ramen noodles. One of the funniest
costumes however, definitely has to
go to Patrick McLaughlin ’12, who at
first glance seemed identical to Buzz
Lightyear from the popular Toy Story
saga, but upon closer inspection
could be none other than Dubstep.
Sorry man, classic mix up.
Because of the success of
Senior Costume Day, the senior class
has taken the initiative to begin a
series of dress themed days, starting with GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly)
day—where the seniors get their
chance to hone their wealth and don
their gentlemanly attire. On behalf of
the senior class, I sincerely apologize
for the debauchery and destruction
of any property on Senior costume
day. And in regards to any prospective students who were scared away
by the scantily clad, or just down
right embarrassing seniors…sorry,
Mr. Wishart.
November 2011
THE WALRUS
Page 5
No Shave November
By Tyler Sweeney ‘12
The fall sports are coming
to a close and daylight savings has
ended -- it must be November. It
must be “No Shave November.” At St.
Sebastian’s, “No Shave November” is
taken with the utmost sincerity for
faculty and those upperclassmen
who can participate, and even the
rare underclassmen for that sake.
Mr. Tremblay’s AP Calculus
AB classes take the month-long holiday as sacred. Mr. Tremblay offers extra credit to those who grow the best
facial hair. Brendan Burke has gone
as far as to grow a neck beard to receive a few bonus points. Jack Connolly sported the Mr. Tremblayesque
goatee. Not all succeed in growing
sufficient facial hair for the month,
let alone Mr. Tremblay’s ‘extra credit
assignment.’ Dave Loughborough
participated in “No Shave November.”
But, to his chagrin, he has failed to
receive any facial hair worthy of extra
credit. Loughborough sports a few
individual hairs on the end of his
chin. Although some would mock
Dave with their manly beards, Dave
is more than proud of his efforts and
is willing to show off his “No Shave
November” effort.
Other upperclassmen have
taken the month to ritual. Sam Washburne shaved completely the night of
Halloween and is yet to shave the entire month. According to Washburne,
“It might get a little itchy, but the
ladies love it.” Brendan Burke can attest to this. His neck beard has even
gotten the attention of ex-girlfriend,
Zlevor.
“No Shave November”
brings out the best of us. With all the
itchiness aside, it brings out laughs
for all, teachers and students alike.
Sophomore Luke Murphy has sported
the chinstrap, along with other facial
hair fashion types. The cleverness of
the facial hair is the best part of the
whole process, according to senior
Sam Washburne. Washburne wants
all to know that he is taking suggestions for how to shape his beard
from here. For now, according to
Sam Washburne, he plans to join the
ranks of Mr. Thomasy with his beard.
Joseph Dudley plans to get creative
with his “No Shave November” beard.
“All I want to do is filet mignon this
beard,” says Dudley. Whatever that
means… We’re all sure Dudley can
concoct an exciting, original beard.
“No Shave November”
has gotten the best of some of St.
Sebastian’s finest, as well. Senior
Ryan Sanderson couldn’t handle
the month. After a week and a half,
Sanderson said, “I couldn’t do it. It
got too itchy.” Sanderson attempted
to groom his facial hair, but said he
ended up shaving it all off in frustration. “You’ve have to go a hundred
percent with ‘No Shave November,’
I guess. I didn’t and it got the best
of me,” said Sanderson. Junior
Chris Marano has yet to shave this
month. “I hate it. I don’t even grow
that much facial hair, and it itches so
badly,” says Marano.
Whether you struggle to
grow a few hairs or can grow a lavish beard, “No Shave November” is
fun for all. It’s the best time of the
year, according to Dudley. With all
the debate over the best facial hair,
St. Sebastian’s teacher Dr. Martin
cannot be competed with. It’s been
a great “No Shave November,” see
you all next year.
No Shave November may seem trivial, but for some the repercussions are far too significant
Twitter Top Ten
By Peter Cimini ‘12
Senior Editor
As Daylight Savings comes
to a close, 11/11/11 has passed,
Thanksgiving and Christmas will be
over soon, and before you know it
we will celebrate the start of a new
year, it is truly a tumultuous time.
Only one thing, other than Modern
Warfare 3, will remain constant during this wild holiday season: Twitter.
At St Sebastian’s, Twitter has taken
on a new life of his own and many
students, mainly upperclassmen,
have made the switch to “tweeting”.
Started in 2006, it didn’t become
popular until the last few years. Some
people get a twitter to follow (receive
the tweets of ) celebrities, some join
for work, and others, like me, join to
allow people to read their hilarious
tweets. For those of you who are
wondering what is so great about
twitter, I will outline it in a Top 10 List,
in honor of Kevin Dillon’s memorable
chapel speech.
New Red Sox G.M. Ben Cherrington (above) faces the arduous task of redirecting the Red Sox
Red Sox Revamp
By Ryan Wolfsberg ‘13
John Lackey, Carl Crawford,
Starting Pitching, Fried Chicken,
Video Games, and Lack of Fitness.
All of these factors are just a handful of reasons of what destroyed Red
Sox Nation’s hopes for an eighth
World Series Championship this past
season. It was painful and agonizing to watch those last Sox games
in September; the team just flat out
played like a team who did not care.
But I must say there is light at the end
of the tunnel…WE WILL be successful
next year for numerous reasons and
the primary reason will be because
of the insightful leadership efforts
from newly hired general manager
Ben Cherington during the offseason.
Cherington can choose many different paths to follow in terms of free
agency but here is my opinion of how
we should handle free agency.
First off Ben Cherington
needs to address the shortstop position. Many people would disagree
with me and believe that Marco
Scutaro is the answer…well he’s not
and here is why. Even though Scutaro
is coming off arguably the best
season of his career, he is 36 years
old and what is more throughout his
career he has never been known for
being a power hitter. I cannot believe
he will maintain the numbers he produced last year; such as batting .299
and knocking in 54 RBI’s. Scutaro also
only played 113 of the 162 games
last year. The Red Sox have failed tremendously with offensive production
from the shortstop position in the
past; since 2004 they have had Julio
Lugo, Alex Gonzalez, Edgar Renteria,
Pokey Reese, and Nick Green who
were all disappointingly ineffective.
Cherington needs to acquire a lasting
and able shortstop and bring in a
young player with a more explosive
bat to add to the team’s powerhouse
lineup. Viable options would be Jose
Reyes or Jimmy Rollins.
With the addition of a power
bat at shortstop, this would then
allow the Red Sox to deal with right
field position within their organi-
zation as the right field position
has also been lacking in terms of
producing high-quality baseball. The
Sox management needs to create a
sense of competition this upcoming
Spring training between Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish. This past year,
Reddick excelled in mostly every
area, hitting, fielding percentage,
and base running. Meanwhile, Ryan
Kalish faced injuries throughout the
season and had suffered season ending surgery in late August to repair a
bulging disc in his neck. I anticipate
a great battle between the two right
fielders and foresee Reddick winning
the starting position.
Also, the pitching needs to
be addressed in all areas. With regards to the starting pitching, it’s not
as bad as you would think. The Sox
already have three proven locked
in starters: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester,
and Clay Buchholz. Now with John
Lackey missing the whole year due
to Tommy John surgery and Daisuke
Matsuzaka missing at least half the
year with the same injury, look for
Red Sox Prospect Felix Doubront to
fill in the fifth starting pitcher role.
In terms of a fourth starter, the Red
Sox can stay within their system and
use reliever Alfredo Aceves or they
can go out in free agency and pay
for one. I believe they will test the
market as the Red Sox like Aceves
out of the pen. So look to see general manager Ben Cherington pursue
Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson, and
especially Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda was
rumored to be targeted by the Red
Sox at the trade deadline in July but
a deal never materialized.
Finally, a change in philosophy is neccesary. If the Red Sox are to
find success under the new reigme
of Ben Cherrington, the evaluation
the GM takes has to be different.
While in the past couple of years the
Red Sox have have garnered great
prosepcts from their minor leagues
(see Ellsbury, Pedroia, Bucholz, Reddick ect.), free agent signings have
been filled with duds: J.D. Drew,
Crawford and Lackey. To eliminate
signings like these the Red Sox need
to evaluatie mental strength, as a
common thread between these
players has been their mental short
comings.
When all is said and done,
I see Ben Cherington succeeding
in his new role as General Manager
and making the necessary changes
to the team to bring the Red Sox
their eighth World Series Title next
year.
tions are great.
3. You Can Follow Celebrities: personally, I enjoy reading tweets from the
celebrities I follow, ranging from
@BrianWilson38 (got heem) to @
SethMacFarlane, to @Buster_Espn.
I can rely on Brian Wilson and Seth
MacFarlane to provide the laughs,
but if I ever need Fantasy Baseball
advice or updates before the Trade
Deadline, is there anyone better than
Buster Olney?
who don’t know, many teachers
have twitter. @burkie_dan just
tweeted “#OccupyTeacherLounge
#printerjam #wheresthecoffee?
8. Creative Names: some people
have come up with some creative
twitter names. @kd_coolkid12
(Kevin Dillon), @peatearcim (myself ), and @theHodgMahal (Sam
Hodgson) are examples of good
twitter names. @simple_scott77 is
an example of a bad name.
4. Twit Picks: tweeting pictures is
awesome: a picture’s worth 142 characters, apparently.
9: Hashtags: #EverybodyLovesRaymondAndRaymondLovesHashtagsThereforeEverybodyLovesHashtags
5. Trends: trending topics are what
most people tweet about. Can range
from anything like #wegotthecup to
top news. Still trying to get #HenrysCorner to trend…
10: Nobody judges based on ratios:
unlike how the amount of friends
one has on Facebook defines his/her
popularity, one’s ration (followers to
following) doesn’t matter because
everybody loves everybody.
6. Character Limit: each tweet has a
142 character limit. This limit keeps
the tweet short and sweet and makes
each tweeter choose his/her words
1: Tweets are always the Truth: similar wisely.
to a soliloquy in Shakespeare or
7. Teacher Tweets: For those of you
other theatrical performances, the
audience can always take tweets for
what they are, an expression of one’s
innermost thoughts.
Needless to say, twitter has something for everybody. So, if you have
a twitter or plan on getting one, follow @peatearcim and I might follow
you back #OnlyIfYourLucky.
2: The little descriptions under the
Twitter Names: For those of you who
have Twitter you probably know
what I’m talking about. But, for those
of you who don’t, these descriptions
are directly under one’s twitter name,
and sum up what the twitter account
is. For example, @KDSmoov (Kendall
Dardy-Jones ’12) it reads, “the official
twitter page of #3” with a link to his
highlight video. Others mock these
descriptions such as @ElPescado73
(Mike Fish) “A Modern Day Renaissance Man”. Either way, these descrip-
St. SEBS Rare
QuestionNaire
Grade
7:
It’s been two weeks
since...
Country of
Origin?
What’s Your
Catch Phrase?
Hawaii
Dump
I don’t know who
he is
is a funny, tall
guy
oh jeez
Djibouti
let me go
at the JetPack
store
is the man
I devoured Domino’s
Ireland
that’s tough
hughh
got sucked into
his own Jet Pack
is a FRAUD!
I had a cheeseburger
Africa
Yo
Right next to me
Talks like he has a
plugged nose
I used the bathroom.
I’m a bit concerned.
Hufflepuff
Boy I tell ya
The League of
Justice
is a
disappointment
we can’t talk about
that
don’t ask
questions
haha yeeah
Chillin at the spot
No comment
Owen
Finnegan
9:
Brendan
Albertson
10:
Malcolm
Osazuwa
11:
Connor Chabot
12:
Jalen Thorton
Patrick
McLaughlin ...
I had Wendy’s
Cam Cain
8:
Where’s Jet Pack
Steve?
THE WALRUS
Page 6
November 2011
POINT - COUNTERPOINT
Allstate’s Mayhem
By John Donovan ‘12
The Old Spice Guy is in
no way competition for Mayhem,
All-State Insurance’s spokesperson. Mayhem brings a new level of
humor to the T.V. commercial table.
His ridiculousness as the ignorant,
lawn-mowing home-wrecking teenage son or the ingenious raccoon
invading an attic has a certain je ne
se qua. Perhaps it is his husky wolflike growl or his frayed appearance
that makes him so utterly preposterous. Surely, he is the brainchild
of marketing genii and without a
doubt Mayhem caught the world’s
eye as one of history’s greatest T.V.
personas.
Often, I watch T.V. for
hours on end just hoping to see
Mayhem in the brief intermission
between lame reruns of Everybody
Loves Raymond, Friends, or King of
Queens on TBS. Every once and a
while, I will catch a glimmer of my
favorite characters. My first experience with Mayhem was when their
first add called “Mayhem: A Hot
Babe out Jogging” ran. The moment
I heard that rasping grating voice
and saw that the body to which it
belonged was a full-grown male
jogging in a pink sweatband and
swinging tiny pink rubber weights, I
knew that All-State was on to something. The commercial develops, we
see a distracted driver, observing
the “hot babe” jogging, crashing
his mini-van into a telephone poll.
My response, “Greatest commercial
ever.”
Weeks later, I was shocked
to discover that I was wrong. Mayhem, as the hot babe jogging, went
beyond my wildest dreams when
he appeared as an upset teenage girl driving a pink Escalade,
a maladjusted satellite, and the
teenage son described previously.
His blasé attitude and utter apathy
for the destruction he is causing
always gets a laugh out of me.
What makes Mayhem especially
hysterical is the randomness of
his characters. For instance, the
teenage son who destroys the
house unwittingly by mowing over
gravel is priceless. Whoever came
up with that deserves a medal. It is
an event that is highly unlikely yet
strangely possible, and it is in that
paradox his true humor lies.
Now to discuss my alltime favorite Mayhem commercial,
the Magnum Opus, if you will, of
All-State’s ad campaign: the raccoon in the attic. The scene is set
from above, the camera gazing
down upon a hole in the roof,
through which Mayhem, a sly raccoon darts, seeking shelter from
the harsh rainy weather. Mayhem,
portrayed by the same villainous
wild haired maniac, runs rampant
in the attic. One moment we see
him leaping into view from off
camera, pouncing on the yellow
attic insulator, tearing it to shreds.
And then after a moment Mayhem
says this classic line, which to this
day makes me chuckle, “I’m the
smartest raccoon I know; I’ve had
like six babies already.” This line is
so perfect because it makes the
raccoon seem so malicious, as if
he’s out to get you by destroying
your attic. This raccoon is so evil in
fact, that it knows that the worst
possible thing to do to you is to
have a bunch a babies. There is
only one thing worse than having
a raccoon in your house, and that is
having a pack of raccoons in your
house. As hilarious as this vindictive raccoon is, we all know the
problems this intruder can cause
a household. While this situation
is comical, it also serves a higher
purpose because it identifies AllState as the only brand of insurance
that will defend you against these
random situations.
Every single accident
Mayhem causes seems to us impossible (for instance snow collapsing
the roof ), yet at the same time from
the accounts of others we know
that such events are quite realistic. Every thousands of men and
women suffer from the atrocities
of Mayhem. Despite the silliness
of Mayhem’s persona, All-state
sends an important message to its
viewers: “Nothing can protect you
from Mayhem like All-State can.”
Unlike many insurance companies,
All-State protects you from these
random home-wrecking incidents.
This broader coverage plan is much
more appealing to the person
fearful of the unknown. While life
insurance, home insurance, and car
insurance are all important; however, one must also be protected from
unexpected isolated incidents like
the raccoon in your attic, the tree
branch that crushes your car roof, or
the distracted teenage driver who
totals your car through no fault of
your own.
The Old Spice Guy
By Joe Dudley ‘12
The recent Old Spice
commercials with the spontaneously speaking and changing backgrounds are far better commercials
than the Allstate mayhem commercials. The nonsensical varying and
shifting in the Old Spice commercial
remains fresh every time you see it
on T.V. Although the “Mayhem” commercials are indeed funny, each one
is based on a cliché that grows old
quickly. Also the quick thirty seconds
of the Old Spice commercial is far
more ideal than “Mayhem” commercials. Not to mention, who doesn’t
want to smell like adventure?
The basis of the Old Spice
commercial is to prove that the
aroma accompanied with the body
wash and deodorant will bring the
wearer the smell that will take them
anywhere they want to be. Although
not overtly mentioned, it is suggested that the wearer gains special power over the environment,
not unlike the ring bearers in Captain Planet. Any deodorant that can
do that far surpasses any coverage
one can receive from car insurance.
His statement at the beginning of a
commercial “look at your man. Now
back to me. Now back to your man.
Now back to me. Now back to your
man. Sadly he isn’t me” perfectly encapsulates the overtly prideful nature
of the main man in the commercial.
However, this hubris does not make
the viewer hate the man, but rather
makes the viewer envy him. He makes
the viewer want to buy Old Spice and
smell like the man who has no limits.
The main issue I have with
Allstate’s “Mayhem” commercial is
that each one is based on some sort
of cliché. For instance the one where
the “Mayhem” guy pretends to be a
teenage girl who is upset about another girl stealing her love interest is
something that anyone could come
up. Granted that Allstate executes it
very well and the first couple of times
I saw the commercial thought it was
funny, after the third time, it got really old, really fast. The “blind side of
all blind sides” one was not even that
funny the first time I saw it. Point being, there is no way to make a commercial that will not eventually get
old, but the Old Spice commercials
have a far greater re-watch capacity
than the “Mayhem” commercials. The
Allstate “Mayhem” commercials in the
end will be nothing more than a
flash in the pan.
The lengths of the commercials are also another point
where the Old Spice commercials
trump “Mayhem.” Ranging from
seventeen to thirty-five seconds,
the Old Spice commercials make
their joke and move on. Whereas
the “Mayhem” commercials seem
to drag on forever, especially if it
is one that you have already seen
multiple times. The once joy you
felt for the “Mayhem” commercial
quickly shifts to irritation, and
even new ones cannot redeem
themselves after annoying the
viewer so much. But even if the
Old Spice commercials happen
to grow tiresome for the viewer,
the commercial is over so quickly
that no irritation but only indifference will occur.
Overall, it is clear that
Old Spice commercials are more
creative and better than Allstate’s
“Mayhem.” No matter what tricks
my peer John Donovan may
throw at you, do not be duped
by his fancy phrases or fabricated
facts. All I ask is that you watch,
and you will see that Old Spice
commercials are superior to Allstate’s “Mayhem” by a wide
margin.
The Old Spice Guy has vaulted to fame in his hilarious commericials of pure absurdity
Debate Team Strives for Excellence
Despite Youth and Inexperience
By John Bartlett‘14
Christian Kelly ‘14
The popular ads have received attention for Allstate, where Mayhem causes trouble
Student Council Energized
By CJ Santosuosso ‘15
Have you ever actually
wondered how this school runs like
such a well-oiled machine? Most
people would assume that it is the
way that it is because of the faculty,
but in realty the students play a
huge role in the success of this
school.
This success is evident in
the student council. The student
council does a lot for this school.
You know the recycle bins? Well,
elves don’t come in at night and
take the recycling back to their
elf kingdoms; the student council
officers have to lug the recyclables
to the large recyclable bin in the
school every Thursday before their
meetings. You know the new lounge
furniture? Turns out it wasn’t a myth
after all, because it has arrived and it
looks awesome. How did the school
pay for this furniture? They used
the money collected by the student
council from various events such as
school dances and the magazine
drive to cover the costs of those improvements. Lately, student council
has also been making money from
the Chipwich sales.
However, student council
also has the power to enforce rules,
and that power is apparent with
the current “senior” lounge, and
although this will only last for a short
time, some are upset by this ruling,
including Brendan Albertson, who
said there have been some uprisings in the current “occupy lounge
protests.” These protests consist of a
group of kids protesting outside the
lounge. I have not noticed this but if
Brendan says it, it must be true.
Though sometimes it is not easily
recognized student council does so
much for St. Sebastian’s as a school,
and it often goes unnoticed. But
after this big change in the student
lounge many wonder, what’s next? In
order to get an inside look on what’s
going on with the student council
right now, I sat down with freshman
VP Edosa Onaiwu and asked him a
few questions regarding what it’s like
to be part of student council.
CJ: Edosa, What made you decide to
run for VP of the 9th grade?
Edosa: Well, I felt like I would get to
be able to meet the new kids and I
felt I would be able to help lead the
grade in a right direction.
C: Can you describe your time so far
in student council?
E: It’s been pretty well and fun, I’ve
met some cool upperclassmen; it’s
been cool so far.
C: What’s your take on the new student lounge?
E: I really like the color of the
couches.
C: What’s your take on this Occupy
Lounge protests?
E: I think we should all unite and
occupy that lounge so it can be
one for all. Just kidding…Albs is in
charge of that stuff.
C: Would you recommend people
run for student council?
E: Oh, of course. If you feel like you
would have a chance to bring new
things to your grade then definitely
do it.
C: What goes on behind the closed
doors every Thursday during your
student council meetings?
E: Cake.
C: Nice, finally, the big question, can
you reveal any ideas the student
council is planning for the future?
E: I cannot disclose that information
I am sorry, but stay tuned…
C: Thanks, Edosa.
E: No problem.
It is obviously apparent that the
current student government is very
ambitious and we the students are
excited to see what is in store for the
future of this school. They are making some money now off the magazine drive, so the future is definitely
looking bright. The student government has been doing great things
for this school and will continue to
do so for a long time.
On Sunday, October 16,
St. Seb’s hosted its annual novice
debate tournament to start off the
debate season. This was the first
of two tournaments that will be
held here, and the first one ever for
many debaters.
Teams came from as far
as Quebec to compete on Sunday,
and for good reason. When asked
why his team makes the ninety
minute trip every year to make the
tournament, the debate coach of
Hopkins school says it’s because of
the unique novice format offered
that gives beginners a chance to
learn the rules—and, of course,
because of the omelets. According to the Hopkins coach, The
Seb’s tournaments have always
run smoothly, with the schedule
moving right on time and never
a mistake in calculating the final
scores. This, Seb’s coach Mr. Nerbonne says, is thanks to the work
of Mr. Palmaccio, Mr. Jim Sullivan,
and also Mr. Duschenes, who does
the scoring.
Students helped out to
make the tournament happen as
well, including many members of
the debate team who have debated in previous years and therefore
were not qualified to participate in
Sunday’s tournament. Many served
as speakers, who have the job
of timing the individual debates
and gathering the scores of each
round so they can be accounted
for. Some are doing this for the first
time, and have varying opinions
on how it feels to be running the
debates instead of taking part
in them. While several enjoy the
prospect of watching others stutter
nervously and hope the judge will
sympathize with them instead of
being in that position themselves,
others can’t take not being part
of the action. Speaker Chris Kelly,
grade 10, says, “It’s excruciatingly
painful to watch mere plebeians
tackle such gargantuan issues when
you know that individuals with a superior intellect, such as me, should
be the think tanks wrestling with
these affairs.” Fortunately , most
tournaments are open for both
novice and advanced debaters.
When the results came
out, Seb’s students were slightly
disappointed. “We didn’t do as
well as I would have hoped,” says
Mr. Nerbonne, but being the first
debate ever for most of the participants, he also says that our performance doesn’t really matter. What’s
important is that we can “use it as
training” for the new guys so they
can learn the ropes and do better
in later tournaments. “We’re looking
forward to the next three especially,”
he says, where he thinks they will
reveal their true talent for the…
sport.
The highest individual
debating score for St. Seb’s went
to Conor Craven (pictured below).
Being a sophomore who had
already gotten some practice last
year, he took it in stride and, when
asked to provide a comment for the
paper, focused mainly on the food
provided by the kitchen staff: “Seb’s
lunch for life.”
Though the big St. Paul’s
debate was cancelled due to snow,
the debate team has continued to
plan and prepare for the upcoming
debates at Andover and Hotchkiss.
Looking forward, the team is
expecting a good year, as they are
going into it with a promising new
strategy.
When asked on Thursday
to reveal the secret, Mr. Nerbonne
said that the team is looking to
practice a little more this year than
they have in the past. While in prior
years the debate meetings have
been all food and planning, they
will now involve some training in
between tournaments, so debaters
will be more prepared when the day
comes. The seniors are also pitching in this year to help the team
succeed. Many of them have been
coming before meetings to provide
tips for the rookies, so the year
could easily be the best one yet.
Conor Craven (above) earned the highest individual score
November 2011
THE WALRUS
Page 7
A Missing Legend?
By Jack Goldman ‘14
Ralph Waldo Emerson (shown above) and his work were major topics at BBQ and books
anything happening on Earth. All of
these things are legitimate possibilities, but I figured I should ask other
As I walk through the hallowed halls of St. Sebastian’s School, kids just to see where they thought
he had gone.
I pass by many legends in our
The first person I asked
illustrious school history: Mr. Burke,
was Pat McGowan, and he had a few
Mr. Nerbonne, Father Paris, Mr.
ideas: 1) “He went to Belmont Hill.” 2)
Williams, and the stuffed owl in Mr.
Drummond’s room that Peter Cimini “He got recruited to NASA and he’s
going to be the first man on Mars.”
likes to play with all the time. Don’t
3) “Maybe he changed his name?”
say anything behind its back. I have
And 4) “He’s working at some sort of
been given the honor to talk about
women’s clothing store (like Forever
where Steve, our former janitor and
a giant among men, may have gone 21or something).” All of these are
now that he no longer works for our great ideas, and I’m leaning more
school. I have a few ideas as to where towards him working at a cosmopolihe may have gone: 1) He now works tan clothing store, and I’m not so sure
about Belmont Hill, because I don’t
as a roller coaster operator at Canobie Lake Park 2) He’s working for L.L. think he’d go that route since I always
got the feeling he enjoyed his time
Bean or 3) He has retired and now
here.
watches over everything on Earth
Next, I went to Kevin Patterfrom his beachside estate in New Jer- son, who had one brilliant suggessey where he has 5,672,433,189,117
tion: “Luigi’s Mansion.” Absolutely.
televisions where he can see
Can’t believe I didn’t come up with
that one. Then again, Patterson
is a genius, I shouldn’t measure
myself against him. I mean, the guy
watched “Jeopardy” and got every
single question right, even when
the contestants didn’t, including
final jeopardy. I need to be careful
around that guy. He may be able to
punch me with his thoughts.
There you are then. I’ve
told all I can. Where is Steve actually? Well that’s confidential, above
my pay grade. I can think of three
reasons why: 1) I don’t personally
know the man too well 2) NASA
would have to kill me if I told you
(and yeah, NASA does kill people,
you heard it here first) and 3) Oh…
gosh…um….uh…. Transportation
Agency? I don’t know. I can’t name
the last reason. Sorry. Oops. LOL.
#RickPerry. #Twittertalk. #Imnotontwitter. Think about it.
Students Organize BBQ and Books
By Matt Donovan ‘13
When Mr. Jenkins first mentioned his vision of a Barbeque and
Books on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s
essays, “Self Reliance” and “History,”
to say the least many of us were
confused and downright clueless
about this event. In the past Mr. Jenkins has organized an event where
students and parents alike gather in
Ward Hall to discuss the literature we
read in class over a pot-luck dinner.
Last year, Mr. Jenkins invited only
fathers and sons to discuss Arthur
Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman,
and specifically, the true meaning of
manhood. This, year, however, the
task of discussing Emerson’s erudite
philosophy seemed, to say the least,
daunting.
Generally your average
Seb’s parent is not well versed in the
subject of transcendentalism, and it
would be a big ask of the parents to
peruse Emerson’s dense essays and
come to Barbeque and Books ready
to discuss its themes. Thus it was the
students’ responsibility to condense
the essays into concise yet accessible
conversation starters. Each student
wrote a roughly one page essay that
stated his thoughts on one aspect
of Emerson’s work, be it critical or
supportive. The goal of writing a
conversation starter was to evoke
energetic discussion that the parents
could access without any substantial
knowledge of Emerson.
The event itself took place
on a Thursday in October in the
carpeted area of Ward Hall. Although
the food was designed to be entirely
pot-luck, unfortunately we had to
rely heavily on Joe to help out with
the food. After everyone had eaten,
Mr. Jenkins ordered the students
and the parents to mix, as naturally,
a polarity between the parents and
the students formed at the tables.
Following a brief address by Mr. Jenkins, each student from Mr. Jenkins’
honors and standard classes delivered his conversation starter, and the
room was opened up to free discussion. I can only speak for the table I
was sitting at, but I found that the
best conversation was based around
current events, because not only do
parents have strong opinions about
them, but they provide substance
to otherwise empty philosophy. For
example my group talked about the
Tea Party and the Occupy movement and their relation to Emerson’s
view of conformity.
Our English classes are
truly a bubble of safety; we feel free
to voice any opinion to our fellow
classmates in a shielded environment. There comes a time, however,
when we need to learn to discuss
important matters around people
that we neither know nor are comfortable around. In the business
world would one give a presentation to a room filled with exclusively
his cronies? This is what Barbeque
and Books accomplished, it not
only united parents and students to
commune, but it gave the students
an opportunity to practice the vital
skills of mature discussion with an
adult and poise in presentation.
An artist’s rendering of legendary custodian’s Steve’s current life, as possibly a businessman
Senior Retreat: Epic
By Matt Fechtelkotter ‘12
The Juniors took a night time tour of D.C.’s momuments and memorial during their trip
Juniors Sojourn in D.C.
By Julian Matra ‘13 and
Mike Petro ‘13
As the sun rose over Logan
International Airport on Sunday, its
rays touched upon an unusual sight:
a messy mob of tired juniors struggling to board an already crowded
Jet Blue E190. Bound for Washington DC, this motley crew somehow
made it through security and the
subsequent one hour flight to land
at Baltimore, causing only minimal
harm to the passengers around
them. We touched down, boarded
two busses, and it was begun. Our
epic tour of the capitol and its
environs began with a stop at the
home of George Washington, known
most commonly as Mount Vernon.
Within the first hour after we landed,
the shenanigans commenced in full.
While waiting ever so patiently to
enter our first President’s mansion,
our ears were greeted with a loud
crack and a bout of shouting as Brian
O’Malley–class of 2013– found his
wooden (why?) crutches split in half
by his good friend Patrick Healey,
leaving him in a wheelchair for the
remainder of the visit. Needless to
say, we all received a helpful lesson
in history as well as handicap awareness (ask Julian Matra about his
cane).
Sadly, we don’t have the
space (or the desire) to let you in on
every aspect of the Junior trip, so
we’ll just hit some of the most notable pieces. After Mount Vernon, we
things took a turn for the serious as
we headed over to pay our respects
at Arlington National Cemetery.
Located on General Robert E. Lee’s
plantation overlooking the Potomac,
Arlington serves as a place of peace
for those once involved in war, and
we were privileged to both observe
the Changing of the Guard and to
participate in the wreath laying
ceremony. Will Jundanian and Eddie
McCarthy, president and vice-president respectively, joined the Marines
in presenting a wreath at the Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier. Eddie noted
that he felt “honored and privileged
to be a [part of ] such an important
ceremony.”
After that, we flew through
just about every monument in the
world in a dazzling night tour. Yup,
every one. The students “stood
agape and gazed” at the various
monument, “moved heavily by their
gravitas.” Many were especially fond
of the new Martin Luther King monument, its hope contrasting with
the sadness of the war memorials.
Needless to say, the first night was
heavy on the head and the heart.
It turned out to be heavy on the
stomach as we hit up Philip’s, a local
seafood buffet. In the words of Kevin
Looney, “It pretty was good. Pretty,
pretty, pretty, pretty good.” The hotel
sustained only minor injuries as we
rested up for the next day.
The second day was no
less amazing as we found ourselves
launched into a fit of museum-going with our experience at Newseum and the Holocaust Memorial
Museum. As Andrew Sullivan observed, “It’s good to learn about the
history of newspapers, and how the
media is portrayed, and the effects
it has on society.” Both museums
proved exceptionally engaging,
and if you want to learn more about
them, go to DC.
We had dinner in Georgetown, avoided creepy psychics (just
$5 for a palm reading!), and generally had a good time. We only broke
one elevator, so the night went
pretty well. While meeting with
recent alumni Ryan Basic ’11, Sean
Sullivan ’11, Luke Sullivan ’09 and
Joe Albanese ’10, we heard a host of
speeches from successful DC alumni
and met up with our own Mr. Burke.
The next day was equally
packed–with senators, that is. We
met with both Senator Scott Brown
(R-MA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) to kick
off an action packed day of museums and government buildings.
As Peter Breslin noted, “It was too
good.”
All in all, we had a sweet
time, pulled some nice shenanigans, and saw some amazing and
profound sights in our capitol city.
continued on with mass. The mass
finished just before the start of the
Patriots-Jets game, which we were
able to watch on a big screen.
The following morning the
retreat continued with a fantastic
breakfast and a great morning
prayer, which took place in the main
room and on the beach. After the
prayer we were given time to walk
around the beach. It was a gorgeous
day. The sand was cold and there
was a breeze that blew off of the
water. However, the sun was warm.
Thirty minutes later
though, everybody met back up
at the house and we continued
with the serious part of the retreat.
Mr. Nunan asked questions about
certain aspects of ourselves and
sebs. Questions like, “What has been
your happiest moment at St. Sebs?”
Or, “What are the emotions that you
have felt the most in recent years?”
The answers to these questions were
then written down on note cards for
ourselves. We had the option to then
share some of our answers. Many
students did, and we heard from
almost everybody at least once.
After answering the questions, we were given a delicious
lunch, which was followed by about
two hours of free time. We could go
to the beach. We could take a nap.
Most kids played a game that is like
tennis. It was basically tennis with a
soccer ball and no rackets. Instead
of rackets you could use your head,
feet, chest, or knee; anything, except
for your hands. Unlike tennis, you
could also let the ball bounce twice
on your side. Despite this rule it was
still extremely difficult since you
couldn’t use your hands.
After many games of “tennis” the group once again reconvened in the main room and began
one of the toughest parts of the
trip. Nowadays, its extremely tough
to remain silent for more than 10
minutes, especially given all of the
technology on phones today. However, the retreat gave us the opportunity to spend and hour in silence.
We were allowed to go wherever we
wanted on the property of the conference center, including the beach.
It was a great opportunity to relax
and think. The calming atmosphere
was enhanced as the sky began to
change colors with the setting sun.
After dinner, later that
night, we joined again for mass.
This night was different though as
we spent a long time praying for all
of our classmates who were at the
retreat and all of those who weren’t.
The following morning, we
were given another special opportunity. We were given the opportunity to write a letter to anyone we
wanted. Not only was this a great
way to rekindle the act of writing a
letter for many students but it was
also a good opportunity to write to
someone who you aren’t normally
in contact with.
Overall the retreat was a
great success. Everybody who went
definitely had a great time and got
a lot out of it. It was a great break
from the norm and was a calming
experience in the midst of the hectic
college process. Therefore, I encourage all of the underclassmen to
go on the junior retreat during the
junior year and the senior retreat
their senior year. It’s definitely worth
it.
The fall sports season was over. The
November air was cool. The school
year was in full swing. The last place
you would expect students to be
would be at the beach.
The Sunday after the end
of the sports season, 30 members
of the senior class drove down to
Craigville Conference center for
three days of reflection and fun.
A little after three in the
afternoon, everybody began to arrive at the conference center. We all
unloaded our bags and walked into
the seaside guesthouse, one of the
many guest houses on the property.
As everybody moved in,
they placed their bags in one of the
six rooms and walked back outside.
There were two tennis courts across
the street from the house, with a tall
fence outlining one side. It was the
perfect place for kickball.
The thirty students broke
up into two teams of 15 and we
began to play. After a few innings,
the game was ended and we began
to take part in the planned part of
the retreat. We walked into the main
room, which was lit by the natural
light radiating off of the marsh and
candle light. After a few opening
words by Mr. Nunan, Father Arens
opened up the retreat with a few
opening words. The group then continued by presenting a certain object
to the group, which was symbolic or
reminded them of their time at sebs.
Some students brought a St. Sebs
blanket that they had been given
as a gift. Others brought, a St. Sebs
lanyard. Some even brought tiny
foam footballs that were given out at
homecoming a few years ago.
Later that night, we had a
little free time. Some students went
to go get desserts and snacks for the
house while others decided to play
manhunt. The base was set up in the
center of a field near the parking lot
where we parked. Half of the kids
went to hide, while the rest protected the base. It was a lot of fun and
very entertaining as most kids didn’t
realize the game was over after a
little while. This meant that they not
only stayed outside, but they also
were extremely excited when they
made it to the base; only to find that
they were the only ones out there.
After manhunt, we went
inside and Father Arnes said mass.
With the candles flickering, we all
The Craigsville Conference Center (above) housed the Seniors
blessed the person next to us and
ARROWS SPORTS
St. Sebastian’s School
Vol LXV, No. 2
November 2011
Football Rallies Late
By Mike Hoff ‘13
After a deceiving 2-2 start,
the St. Sebastian’s football team
has rattled off three straight wins
in dominating fashion to assert
itself as one of the top teams in the
ISL. Even though the team has had
to overcome an incredibly tough
schedule, the Arrows record sat
at 5-2 going into their last game
against Thayer Academy.
After a stirring yet gravely
disappointing loss to Belmont Hill at
Homecoming, the Arrows had to set
their sights on Middlesex Academy,
a team coming of a win over an undefeated Groton team at the time.
The coaching staff made sure that
the team had turned the page from
the week before, and their diligence
paid off as the Arrows jumped out
to an 8-0 lead on the first possession of the game, utilizing a ball
control offense that used of much
of the first quarter clock. St. Seb’s
dominated the play from there, but
a couple of untimely turnovers kept
the game scoreless until the fourth
quarter. In the third, however,
Middlesex had appeared to come
within a two point conversion to tie
the game, but the touchdown was
overturned on a pass interference
call. Middlesex did tie the tie the
game in the fourth, but the Arrows
won the game going away in the
last period, scoring two late touchdowns to ice the game away. Coach
Burke would call this victory “A
sound beating,” which is a certainly
apt description.
The next game on the
schedule called for a two hour trek
down to Rhode Island to face St.
George’s. It was Parent’s Day for all
the students at St. George’s, and
because many of them board, for
a lot of the players it was the only
chance they would get all year to
play in front of their parents. Even
with this added motivation, the
Dragons were no match for the
Arrows. It was a particularly miserable day down by the Rhode Island
sea, with freezing rain and a wind
chill factor of Too Cold to Care. This
conditions led to a sloppy playing
surface, but as Coach Souza said,
“Hogs love slop, so this is a day for
the Hogs,” with Hogs referring to the
Offensive Line, a term made famous
by the dominant Washington Redskins Offensive Lines of the 80’s and
early 90’s. The Arrows were able to
ride their hogs to victory, with the
Offensive Line opening up holes for
four rushing touchdowns en route
to a 30-6 victory. The weather of
this particular day deserves further
mention tough, as it was one of the
mist debilitating, miserable experiences from this reporter’s perspective. Offensive lineman Brian Wolpe
was heard on the sideline asking,
“I can’t feel my limbs—is that bad?”
When asked about his feelings on
the experience at St. George’s, junior
Ike Chukwu said, “It was bad, man.
I couldn’t feel myself. It was being
like thrown into a freezer for two
hours.” Sergio Tavares responded to
the same question, saying, “It was
bad, real bad. I couldn’t feel my face.
It was like being a statue, frozen in
time. Literally.” The toughness of
team whined through on this day,
never relenting towards a feisty
Dragons’ squad.
The next game featured
a Groton team that was still playing for a bowl game, as they came
into their matchup with only one
loss. Despite their record, they were
no match for the Arrows stout run
offense and defense. The defense
did not allow a point, and therefore
extended its streak of not along a
rushing touchdown to 14 quarters.
This D also forced 5 turnovers, leading the team to a resounding 44-0
victory.
The extent of the Arrows’
gridiron dominance has been
enough to best the team that many
think to be the best in the league,
Belmont Hill. Although that team
from Belmont may sit with an
undefeated record, the Arrows have
a higher point differential (a simple
statistic that is a good barometer
for measuring a team’s true quality)
than the bad guys from Belmont.
Even excluding the forfeit from
Brooks (which appears in the box
score as Belmont Hill 1, Brooks 0), St.
Sebastian’s average point deferential per game (points scored-points
against/number of games played)
stands at 17, while Belmont’s Hill’s is
15.1. This is also without accounting for Belmont Hill’s final game
against Governor’s Academy, which
is anticipated to be one of Belmont
hill’s toughest games of the year.
This type of dominance given the
Arrows’ schedule is quite impressive,
and is a testament to the skill and
resilience of this year’s team.
Senior Kendall Dardy-Jones dodges oncoming tacklers, after a big catch against Belmont Hill
XC Charges to Canterbury
By John Cheever ‘12
The Varsity Cross Country
team has had a successful season
so far considering Terry O’Connor,
the captain of the squad is the only
returning varsity runner. The team
has had a tremendous building year
and has enjoyed many wins over
their opponents. The team is comprised of Terry O’Connor, Michael
Haley, Cameron Kelly, John Ryan,
Caleb Aldrich, Matt Fachetti and
Anthony McIntyre. They started off
the season with a 15-44 win against
Lexington Christian Academy at
Caryl Park in Dover. Then they lost
a tough race against Thayer 26-31
in a meet at Thayer Academy. The
team then beat two ISL schools
at a meet at Rivers. They defeated
Lawrence 16-47 and Brooks 24-31.
They also had another big meet at
Nobles against BB&N, Rivers, and
Nobles where they defeated Rivers
22-33 and barely lost to Nobles and
BB&N. St. Sebastian’s also posted an
impressive 17-44 win over Portsmouth Abbey in the meet at St.
George’s. Varsity Cross Country has
just finished the regular season one
win ahead of last year.
Homecoming, however,
was huge for the cross country
team as they took on Belmont Hill at
Caryl Park. It was pouring rain and
the course was completely covered
in mud, but despite the horrible
conditions, Seb’s gave Belmont Hill
a run for their money and only lost
by ten points with a score of 35-25.
Terry came in second in the race
and lost to Belmont Hill’s number
one runner with John Ryan finishing
third behind Terry. The school community showed up to the race and
really gave the team a boost. Terry
said, “It was an incredible help to
have all the support from the school
community; teachers showed up,
parents, plus the entire soccer and
football team. We could hear the
chants all the way from the woods.”
All the support really helped the
team and helped them run faster
than ever before,” Terry said. “It was
the hardest I’ve ever run in my life.”
Recently the team competed in the ISL Championship
at Brooks School in a 5 kilometer
race with 110 runners. Seb’s came
in as the underdog and pulled off
some major upsets. Finishing in
10th place, Seb’s defeated Groton,
Nobles, Lawrence, Rivers, Brooks,
and Thayer. Terry O’Connor said,
“This was huge because we had
lost to several of these teams in the
regular season.” Specifically they had
lost to Groton, Nobles and Thayer
during the regular season. Terry
O’Connor impressively finished the
race in 30th place with a time of
18:35 and was closely followed by
Michael Haley who came in 32nd
with a time of 18:37 and John Ryan
who came in 46th place with a time
of 18:59. Cameron Kelly completed
the race placing 83rd with a time of
19:40, Caleb Aldrich finished 92nd
in 20:15, Matt Fachetti finished 93rd
with a time of 20:16 and Anthony
McIntyre in 99th place with a time
of 20:43.
The team is entering the
New England Championships at
Canterbury with high expectations.
With the great results at the ISL
Championship, the team feels confident and ready for the upcoming
race. Caleb Aldrich said, “I think we
have exceeded our expectations this
season and hopefully will exceed in
the New England Championships.”
The field is deeper and larger than
years past. Terry said, “We’re hoping
to place top four. It should be a
good race for us.” Let’s all cheer on
our Varsity Cross Country team to
new heights for a resounding wrap
of the year.
Senior Captain Tommy Allen (above) takes a booming free kick from deep in the Arrows’ end
Soccer Looks to the Future
With Optimism, Pride
Dunphy ’12, George Price ’13, and
Chris Nadeau 12’. Nadeau was also
fantastic in the back by holding off
St. George’s attack despite the tough
Going into the 2011
field conditions. Goalie Ben Piersiak
season, the varsity soccer team did
not know what to expect. The team ’13 was also stellar with dealing with
had lost the majority of their players the weather, and made a number
of spectacular saves to preserve the
from the previous year, many of
who were starters and impact play- Arrows’ lead. The Arrows had a quick
turn around and played two talented
ers. Nevertheless, the Arrows were
determined to fill those empty spots and organized teams in Groton and
Roxbury Latin. Though the Arrows
and get a fresh start to the year.
fought hard, luck was not on their
After a long and gruelside, and the games resulted in 1-0
ing week of double sessions, the
and 2-0 losses respectively.
team was finalized and was ready
Though the team was not
to begin the season. The returnparticularly successful record wise
ing players welcomed a variety of
this year, the stats do not show the
newcomers to the squad, ranging
heart and passion that each player
from every possible grade. Sucput into the team day in and day
cessful results in their scrimmages
out. The support that each player
gave the Arrows high hopes for
had for each other, particularly that
the fast-approaching ISL season.
Despite these high hopes, the team of Tommy Allen ’12 and Malcolm
Donaldson 12’ who were each unforwas forced to face three of the ISL’s
best teams in their first three games. tunately side-lined for the majority of
the year, was key in keeping the team
Despite incredibly hard fought
united through their tough stretches.
games against Nobles and Rivers,
the Arrows found themselves 0-3 to Throughout the year, Ben Piersiak
start off the year. Some teams might 13’ was phenomenal in net, and kept
have called it quits right then and
there, but under the strong leadership of captains Chris Nadeau ’12,
Kevin Dillon 12’, and Tommy Allen
’12, the Arrows were determined to
get back on track. Their next game
came on a Wednesday afternoon in
Byfield against a scrappy Governors’
team. Despite the long bus ride, the
Arrows were able to secure their first
win of the year with two goals from
Kevin Dillon 12’, and Doyle Silvia ’15.
The Arrows fought valiantly for their
next five games, including a physically difficult three games in one
week, but were not able to secure
any points in the standings.
The team regrouped, and
went into the new week determined
to achieve better results. This task
proved to be easier said then done,
especially with the absence of John
Real ’13, Austin Lewis 14’, Tommy
Allen ’12, and Malcolm Donaldson 12’, all due to injuries. Andrew
Sullivan 13’ and Matt Donovan 13’
were called in as reinforcements
for the wounded Arrows, though
Matt mysteriously was nowhere to
be found come game time. Despite
their injuries, the Arrows were able
to pull out a tie against a talented
St. Mark’s team when John O’Leary
’14 equalized in the 70th minute.
The following Saturday, the Arrows
had to travel all the way down to
St. George’s to take part in a match
where the weather and overall
conditions were virtually unexplainable. There was rain, hail, almost
below freezing temperatures, and to
top it all off, a mud-filled field. The
Arrows embraced the demanding
conditions, and showed true heart
and desire by giving their all for the
full 45 minute game. The game was
cut short at half due to the threatening conditions, but the Arrows were
able to come out with a 3-1 victory. Goals were scored by Brendan
By John Real ‘13
the Arrows in many games with
his brilliant saves. Chris Nadeau ’12
led the defense for the team, along
with Mark Cunningham ’12, Teddy
O’Hara ’13, Andrew Vandini ’13,
Curtis Yandow 13’ and John O’Leary
13’. The midfield was controlled by
superb play from center-midfielders
Matt Angelico 12’, Kevin Dillon 12’,
and George Price 13’, as well as
outside midfielders Joe Coughlin 13’,
Brendan Dunphy 12’, Doyle Silvia 15’,
and Andrew Sullivan 13’. The strikers
for the Arrows were John Real ’13,
and Austin Lewis 14’.
The team had a great deal
of leadership, but none better than
the inspirational attitudes from
Coach Lynch and Coach Schell. Even
though the team had some tough
results, both coaches were encouraging, and truly believed that the
team could beat any opponent that
they went to battle with. Overall, it
was a fun and enjoyable season for
the Arrows varsity soccer team, and
they are already excited for what
next year has in store for them.
Varsity
Results
Varsity Football:
Vs. Middlesex
@ St. George’s
W 23-8
W 30-6
Vs. Groton
W 44-0
Vs. Thayer
W 19-18
Varsity Soccer:
Vs. St. Paul’s
L 1-3
@ Groton L 0-1
@ Roxbury Latin L 0-2
Vs. Thayer
L 0-4
Cross Country:
Vs. Belmont Hill @ St. Paul’s (Quad)
@ St. George’s (Tri)
L 25-34
3W
1 W, 1L