Trinity #believes - Holy Trinity Diocesan High School

Holy Trinity Diocesan High School Hicksville, NY Volume III Issue No. 1 October 2012
For a full-color edition of this newspaper, visit holytrinityhs.echalk.com and click on the Trinity Triangle link under the Student Life tab.
Trinity #believes
Mass on Grass sets tone of faith and community
by Samantha Hoher
For the sixth non-consecutive
year, the entire Holy Trinity community
gathered together on the football field to
celebrate Mass on the Grass on Thursday,
September 13, 2012. Approximately
1,400 students and 100 faculty members
and administrators attended the opening
liturgy, with Father Joe as the celebrant.
The music was provided by
Women’s Choir, Mixed Choir, and Select
Choir. Ms. G conducted the vocalists
while Mrs. Hoher played the keyboard.
During Father Joe’s homily, he mentioned Campus Ministry’s new Twitter
account and their mission to get #believe
trending, which is this year’s theme. Each
class also had its faith statement proudly
displayed on banners. The faith statement
for the senior class is “Know God Know
Love”; for the juniors it’s “That We May
Be One”; and for the sophomores it’s
“Christ Be Our Light.” The faith statement for the freshmen class had not yet
been determined at the time of the mass,
but since then an overwhelming majority
of the freshmen have voted for “Our Faith
Moves Mountains.”
For the underclassman, especially the freshmen, Mass on the Grass
may seem overwhelming, exciting, and
even a little scary. But for many seniors,
their last Mass on the Grass was both
surreal and nerve-racking. Their last Mass
on the Grass signaled the official start of
senior year and the beginning of the end
of high school.
Senior Terence Gilmore said, “It
was nerve-racking. I just kept thinking
‘Oh my god, this is the last time I am ever
going to be a part of this.’”
However, for underclassmen,
Mass on the Grass was an exciting way to
foster their relationship with God. Sophomore Brendan Warner thought, “It was
very moving… I felt very close to God.”
The new Director of Development, Joseph Geraci, thought, “[Mass on
the Grass] was wonderful. It was a great
way to bring the community together at
the beginning of the year… It set the tone
of faith and community for everyone at
Holy Trinity.”
Mr. Geraci later concluded,
“Bringing together everyone for a single
purpose, to celebrate our faith as a community, [is the] foundation of who we
are.”
Bunco Party starts off school year for freshmen
by Alison Delaney
Holy Trinity High School started the
Bunco Party for the freshmen four years
ago and it has been a huge hit ever since.
The whole point of this was for us freshmen to meet new people in our grade and
to make a lot of new friends. Many know
what the game Bunco is, but for the people who don’t, it is quite simple: All you
need is three dice and two or more people.
In this
edition:
That is all you need! Down in the
cafeteria, all the freshmen gathered together, having no idea what we were getting ourselves into. The lunch tables had
been arranged into a snake-like formation
with tape on the table. Mr. Chorusey was
there along with the seniors to call out the
numbers. Once you know the Bunco
number, you just roll the dice and hope
for that number. Let’s say 5 is the Bunco
number. If you get one die that lands on
5, it equals one point. If two dice are 5, it
is five points. Lastly, for three dice that
are all 5, it equals 25 points.
There were four freshmen per section
per table, and each section was taped off.
The person diagonal from us was our
partner for that game. However, this person was not our permanent partner for
every game. This is where meeting people
began. Both sides of the table would
move to “our” right so that each side
would be moving the other way. After
these games were played, semi-finals
were set up and for whoever was not in it,
there was pizza and drinks to have while
you hung out. This is when you could
meet new people, talk, hang out, and
watch the semi-finalists. On the other
hand, the semi-finalists were still playing
and at the end they won prizes such as
water bottles, bobble heads, and the grand
prize was a sweatshirt!
I, personally, met a lot of people that
I know now and who are my friends.
Most of them I met after, and not during,
the games. However, Bunco is fun and it
could be played by anyone. However, that
is only my opinion. Let’s hear from other
people that were there that night. Here are
some of the other freshmen that were
there for the party.
“I thought the Bunco Party was really
fun. I met a lot of new people. The game
L.I.G.H.T.s guide Teens Focus on
HT freshmen
Election Politics
Page 4
Pages 6-7
Bunco is really simple, but it is really fun
to play,” Olivia D’Achille told me.
“So many of my friendships that I
have now came from the Bunco party,”
stated Emily Loverro.
“I am so glad that I went to the party,” John Paul Ferrante said.
As you can see, it was a big success!
I think it is great for freshmen because
now we can feel comfortable when we
walk the halls and see many familiar faces in a not-so familiar school.
Halloween
Crossword!
iPhone romance?
Page 10
Page 11
2 Trinity Triangle October 2012
Opinions
Secret Lives of the Teenage American Mind
by Sarah Pastolero
Editor-in-chief
When compared to middle
school, high school is like a great taste of
freedom in all aspects: increased opportunities for socialization among many different people, the liberty of taking diverse
classes, and the gradual assumption of
personal responsibility with schoolwork,
sports, and driving. But one of the least
talked-about topics when it comes to
teenagers and high school is mental
health. While high school is an exciting
time, it is a period in our lives where we
truly begin to experience what Charlie,
Scout Finch or Holden Caulfield lived
through in the novels we were forced to
read in English class---a real-life bildungsroman. In this time, we become more
aware of ourselves and how we relate to
others, and the trials and tribulations of
both school and home life help to shape
our views of ourselves and others. With
that, though, comes the unthinkable: these
views seem to be the opposite from how
we wish to be perceived in school.
The most prevalent mental
health issues affecting teenagers in high
school today are depression and anxiety.
According to the National Institute of
Mental Health, early-onset depression is
more common now than in past decades
and in 2008, about 8.3% of 12-17 yearolds have had depression. Even so, it is
estimated that about 20% of teenagers
will suffer from it at some point by the
time they reach adulthood, making the
illness somewhat prevalent among young
people. Unfortunately, this affliction
lends itself to other mental health problems.
Suicide is currently the third
leading cause of death among 10 to 24
year-olds, with about 15.8% of teenagers
considering suicide and 7.8% actually
attempting it at least once. Self-injury is
Trinity Triangle
Holy Trinity D.H.S.
98 Cherry Lane
Hicksville, NY 11801
(516)-433-2900
Trinity Triangle is a studentgenerated newspaper that reflects the
interests of the Holy Trinity Diocesan High School student body. The
opinions and viewpoints are not necessarily those of the moderators or
the administration of Holy Trinity
Diocesan High School. Letters to the
editors should be left in the Triangle
mailbox in room 203. All letters
must be signed. Writers may request
anonymity.
It is the mission of Holy Trinity Diocesan High School to be a living
witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
as a community of faith, hope and
love in the Roman Catholic tradition.
We seek to educate the whole person: mind, heart, soul and body, and
to motivate each student in the pursuit of truth and academic excellence, preparing them for future educational opportunities and service to
the Church and to the world.
another behavior which can manifest, in
which the average age of onset is 14-16
and which 13 to 27% of adolescents and
young adults have a history of. Unfortunately, with all of these statistics, very
few teens get help. About four out of five
youths do not receive the mental health
services that they need, and two-thirds of
those suffering from depression do not
seek treatment, which is probably due to
possible discrimination and a longstanding stigma that is usually associated
with the term “mental illness.” Research
shows that those who seek professional
help before their situation gets too serious
do end up having a very good recovery
rate.
[I hope] Active Minds and
TWLOHA will one day reach
the auditoriums of every high
school across the country.
Anxiety, like depression, is also
somewhat common, as it affects 8% of
teenagers and is usually accompanied
with a diagnosis of depression. The most
prevalent disorders among young people
include generalized anxiety disorder,
which consists of excessive worry and a
need for constant approval and perfection,
and panic disorder, which is diagnosed
after a month of worrying over the next
episode of a panic attack after two previous ones. Left untreated, anxiety can become chronic and lead to poor school
performance, as well as substance abuse.
Before college, these issues are
sometimes overlooked, treated as though
they were a passing phase that teenagers
go just have to go through while growing
up. The stigma attached to mental health
disorders is a cause of this, as most young
people are not comfortable with thinking
of themselves as “mentally ill.” Perpetuated stereotypes in the media are partially
Editors-in-Chief
Zoë Hicks
Sarah Pastolero
Managing and Layout Editor
Jennifer Bochicchio
Editorial Staff
Anthony Beckner
Antonio Lipovec
Photography & Art Editor
Alexandra Gillen
Photographers & Artists
Alexandra Gillen
Kadeem Gittens
Brittany Gordon
Joseph Jorden
Alexa Maniscalco
Trevor Young
Kevin Welge
responsible for this, with portrayals of the
mentally ill as violent, pathetically sad
and self-absorbed, and even crazy. For
example, most people tend to think that
those suffering from depression are weak
and should just get over it and try to become more optimistic, but there is more
to it than you think. Depression not only
has a psychological foundation, but also a
genetic basis, in which the condition is
more likely to occur if depression is prevalent in your family health history, but
can also be traced to a certain DNA region that was discovered in 2011. In this
case, depression is not something that is
so easily-treatable.
Internalized stigma also plays a
significant role in the disregard of mental
health issues in high school, as those suffering from such illnesses tend to view
their admissions of a diagnosis as a weakness. Luckily, many studies have shown
that educational health programs implemented in schools have done well with
starting a dialogue about the most overlooked problem among young people.
These programs have managed to lessen
social discrimination. But unfortunately,
not enough of these programs are being
held to raise the level of awareness we
need and provoke early intervention and
treatment for those afflicted.
In these past few years of high
school, I have had many friends and some
family who have dealt with some of the
health issues I addressed. Some were able
to tackle their affliction head-on and get
help through talking with a therapist, psychologist, teacher, or even a close friend;
others chose to stay silent and suffer as a
result of the paralyzing self-stigma and
lack of understanding among peers and
even some adults. Fortunately, I have not
lost anyone to self-harm, but I have dealt
with friends who were on that brink of
self-destruction, and it is truly chilling to
see a loved one willing to be so intimate
Contributing Writers
Charisheena Bailey
Alex Barone
Anthony Beckner
Jennifer Bochicchio
Brendan Butler
Shanyse Clark
Victoria de la Concha
Alison Delaney
Casey DiBari
Nadirah Gathers
Terence Gilmore
Ann Glackin
Brittany Gordon
Margaret Hans
Catherine Hartel
Zoë Hicks
Samantha Hoher
TJ O’Leary
Antonio Lipovec
Sarah Pastolero
Clare Quinn
Tyler Riebl
Meghan Whittaker
Conor Williams
Faculty Moderators
Ms. Sara Candela
Mr. Robert Walsh
with death at a young age.
After discovering an online community art project that addressed the idea
of secrets, appropriately named PostSecret, I was surprised to find that the
creator of the project supported many
organizations that sparked the mental
health conversation, especially among
young people. Two such organizations
are Active Minds and IMAlive. But by
the same token, these two organizations,
particularly Active Minds, surprised me
in that their awareness programs were
more focused on college students (even
though I do understand that the average
onset of mental health disorders occur in
college-aged students), and were heavily
prevalent in many universities across the
country. The only organization that I
knew of that was an advocate for mental
health among teenagers was To Write
Love on Her Arms, or TWLOHA for
short, but even the numerous bracelets
being sold at Warped Tour and other concerts could not bring full awareness of the
program to those who bought it, other
than to wear it for show and display that
they’ve donated to a good cause. They do
have an advocacy campaign for high
schools, known as The Storytellers, but it
is not as widespread as I believe it should
be, with only 139 schools from 39 states
having participated by the spring of 2012.
Though college is only less than
a year away for the Class of 2013, it is
still a hope of mine that programs provided by Active Minds and TWLOHA will
one day reach the auditoriums of every
high school across the country. With the
rate of teen anxiety climbing with the
introduction of cyberbullying into our
popular culture, and the emergence of
mental disorders at even younger ages
than ever before, it is about time people
start talking to America’s teenagers. No
one should have to suffer in silence.
Have a happy &
safe Halloween!
October 2012
News
Trinity Triangle 3
Braving the gap
by Zoë Hicks
Editor-in-chief
The future can seem daunting to
a senior in high school. The pressure to
choose a path, the right college, major,
career, etc. can induce much anxiety, and
for many high schoolers can cause the last
few years of school to be defined by their
stress. Even those who do know in which
direction they want to head, as well as
every step they plan to take to get them
there, can become burned out. For many,
these are reasons to consider taking a gap
year. This practice, which has been commonplace and encouraged across Europe
and in countries like Australia and South
Africa for decades, has had an increasing
popularity, here in America, over the last
few years.
For the average American teen,
their sequence of life events goes something like this: high school; then college;
graduate school, perhaps. Then a 20something-year-old, with likely little life
experience outside of school, steps out on
their own and into the real world. For
some this process works out just fine: It’s
right for them, they adapt and adjust, and
are perfectly content. Others are not so
fortunate. Many people end up in careers
that they don’t like, while others just
aren’t ready to enter the “real world.”
However, a gap year that is taken
between high school and college has the
potential to prevent adverse results like
these. It can be extremely beneficial to a
student by allowing them to step back and
away from the schools and classes that
have dominated them for nearly their entire life. Whether they decide to backpack
through Europe, or take a road trip across
the continental United States, or merely
work in their hometown, a gap year can
offer a student a little extra time to reflect
on their future and make stronger decisions about the path that they want to
The majority of all teens who
take a gap year after high school work or
volunteer, not party. Furthermore, few fail
to attend college after the completion of a
gap year. Many students don’t even have
to reapply or wait to apply to colleges to
have a spot waiting for them; most students who do take gap years apply normally in their senior year
Whether they decide to backpack along with their peers,
and, as long as the college
through Europe, or take a road trip they are accepted into and
across the continental United States, or choose to attend allows,
they elect to defer their
merely work in their hometown, a gap admission for one semesyear can offer a student a little extra ter or one year. And, the
students who do go to
time to reflect on their future and make college after taking a gap
stronger decisions about the path that year have been proven to
be more focused and more
they want to take.
driven students. They are
able to attend college retake. A student can pursue their interests
freshed, and confident, after having a year
and discover if a subject area is truly what
in which they were able to be out in the
they want to gain a degree in, or perhaps
world and think about their future, while
they will be enlightened and discover an
breaking the monotonous routine of clasentirely new direction never before conses day after day, year after year, that for
sidered by them. And, maybe, nothing
many students, causes them to lose motidramatic will happen, and they will convation and ambition in college after attinue to have as much or as little
tending straight after high school.
knowledge about their future as they did
Like many teens, I do want to
before, but with the added benefit of a
attend college. I’m eager to go out on my
year of experiences that can do anything
own, start a new chapter, and feel freebut hurt.
dom and adulthood. I even know which
A common belief about the gap
college I want to attend, what I want to
year is that it is a year in which a teenager
major in, and where I want to apply for
parties away their parents’ money and
internships and jobs. I have a pretty good
usually never returns to school after. This
plan for my future; however, I simply
is a total misconception.
don’t feel ready to commit to it just yet.
I don’t have any particular
doubts. I, like many others, am merely
worn out. I like school and I like learning,
but I feel ready for a change. And the
prospect of going straight from one
school to another, even if I’ll be on my
own and it’ll be different, seems unappealing. Not to mention, I want to explore, I want to travel and experience life,
before I become stuck on a path and don’t
have another opportunity like a gap year.
Personally, I plan to combine travel and
work on my gap year: I have family in
both South Africa and Switzerland that I
can stay with, who can help me find temporary jobs. But, I recognize that this is
not an option available to all students.
Many don’t have the money to travel or
the opportunities to go to foreign countries and stay with relatives that they are
comfortable with. However, they are numerous programs that exist to provide
students with opportunities to take gap
years and work or volunteer at little to no
cost.
Another option is to take a gap
year after obtaining an undergraduate
degree, and many students do. This is a
fine option; however, personally I want a
break before college so that I can feel
invigorated and motivated when I attend,
and I want to explore my options before I
make any strong commitments to a degree
or a path. Whatever direction any high
school student chooses to take should of
course be right for them, but all the available options should be weighed and considered before making any decision.
Ms. Hartford back at Trinity as a teacher
was interested in becoming an architect or
fashion designer, but the art teachers at
Miss Hartford, who attended Trin- Trinity inspired me. In my junior year of
ity as a student, is a new teacher at Holy high school I decided I wanted to become
Trinity and already she is involved. In ad- an art teacher.
dition to teaching Studio in Art and Drawing & Painting, Ms. Hartford is also mod- TT: Any outside interests?
erator of Fashion Club and co-moderator H: Swimming is my other passion. I’ve
of sophomore Student Council. Here is a been swimming competitively since I was
brief interview with Ms. Hartford.
8 years old. I swam at Holy Trinity and at
Springfield College. It’s a fantastic way to
Trinity Triangle: What college did you
stay in shape and a lot of fun. I spend most
attend?
of my free time painting and swimming.
Ms. Hartford: I attended Springfield College in Massachusetts where I majored in
With Fashion Club, sophomore
Art and Secondary Education.
Student Council, and teaching for the first
time, this is bound to be a challenging
TT: Have you always been involved in art? year, but the staff of Trinity Triangle wishH: Yes, always. Even in elementary
es Ms. Hartford a great first year and many
school, I was involved in a gifted arts pro- more to come at Trinity.
gram called CAP, Creative Arts Program. I
tried to take as many art classes as possible.
by Alex Barone
TT: Why did you want to teach at Trinity?
H: Believe it or not, I would tell all of my
friends in high school that I wanted to
teach art at Trinity someday. The Art Department here is phenomenal and I wanted
to be a part of it. As a student here, I was
thoroughly impressed with all the different
art courses Trinity has to offer. I wish I
was able to take all of them!
TT: Did you want to do anything else before art?
H: Honestly, no. I knew from a young age
that I wanted to have a career in an art
field. I actually considered myself lucky. I
Photo by Brittany Gordon
Junior retreat opens our eyes
by Catherine Hartel
Close your eyes. Think of a
place that is peaceful and quiet except for
the chirping birds and Father Joe’s voice.
Now, open your eyes. You are surrounded
by a serene forest. You are on Junior Retreat.
Junior Retreat gave me the
chance to clear my head of all trivial
thoughts. I was in a state of mind that
allowed me to focus only on what was
going on in the moment. The first thing
we did when we all arrived at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington
was a series of icebreaker games, which
let us learn things about each other, therefore growing closer as a community. The
first game we participated in was a guessing game in which we had to guess certain fun facts about Father Joe, Mrs.
Coffey, and Ms. G, the leaders. These
games helped us to build a closer relationship with each other and the leaders as
well.
After a delicious lunch, we took
a walk through the beautiful outdoor
grounds of the seminary. Father Joe then
led us down to an amphitheater which
was used over one hundred years ago.
Now, it is only covered with grass and
weeds, but the spirit of the area continues
to thrive. We then strode down to the wa-
ter where everyone recognized the beauty
of nature and the great wonders God has
worked to create the beautiful, natural
landscape, adding to the tranquility of the
retreat.
I returned from junior retreat
with a clear head, feeling content and
fulfilled. I realized I wanted to make a
change in my life and in the lives of those
surrounding me. The retreat showed me
how to discard the insignificant aspects of
life that everyone is so focused on, such
as how I look throughout the day or what
people are saying about me. Instead, I
will focus on improving my grades at
school, or helping out the members of my
family or my friends. The stuff that is
actually important.
Junior retreat was an incredible
eye-opener for me, and hopefully for my
classmates as well. I wish I was able to go
on junior retreat again, because it was an
incredible day during which my classmates and I became closer as a family. It
also showed us how to observe the issues
and therefore assist and better ourselves,
those with us on retreat, those at home
and at school, and ultimately those around
the world who are struggling with the
same issues that we face. If we #believe
that we can make change and act upon it,
change will happen.
4 Trinity Triangle October 2012
News
The Emmaus Program: “Models in Faith”
by Anthony Beckner
“Models in faith” are the three
words that Miss. G, our resident campus
minister, uses to sum up the Emmaus
Program.
If you’ve wondered why the
senior L.I.G.H.T.s go to the freshman
homerooms on Wednesdays, the answer
is the Emmaus Program. As Miss G. explains, the point of the program is to give
the freshman “a friend to go to” in the
senior class.
Originally,
last
year’s
L.I.G.H.T.s had the idea for a new program that could better serve freshmen as
they get used to their new school and
schedule. At the end of the year, the campus ministry team asked the L.I.G.H.T.s if
they had any ideas for future projects, and
many of them said that they had wanted
to “minister to the freshman, to help them
and guide them.” This concept eventually
became the Emmaus Program.
The program really gives freshmen someone to talk to outside their
group of friends – a student with plenty of
experience dealing with the same issues
the freshmen are going through. The
L.I.G.H.T.s are perfect for this: they’re
older enough that they seem really cool
and knowledgeable, but at the same time
they are still teenagers and in many ways
are more approachable than parents or
teachers. The freshmen now have familiar
faces smiling at them in the halls and welcoming them, and it gives Trinity a really
happy and healthy atmosphere. According
to campus minister Mrs. Coffey, the best
thing about the Emmaus Program is “The
freshmen have seniors to connect with on
a personal level. Before, freshman never
had any connection with the upper classes. This makes them feel like they really
belong.”
In homerooms the L.I.G.H.T.s
are doing two things for the freshman:
inviting them to be a part of school life,
and helping them grow in their faith. After orientation, L.I.G.H.T.s started help-
ing the freshmen blend into the school by
answering their questions and inviting
them to events outside of the regular
schoolday, such as Bunco Night, the
Communion Breakfast, and Homecoming. The L.I.G.H.T.s will also be focusing
on leading them closer to Christ in the
rest of the year. At every Wednesday
meeting they will be discussing faith and
keeping updated about how the freshmen
are doing as they go through their first
year of high school. In having role models that are both faithful and young, the
hope is that they’ll learn to understand
how those two qualities aren’t conflicting,
as popular culture might have us believe.
In an interview, I asked Miss G.
a few questions about the future of the
program and how successful it’s been so
far. She replied, “For the first year, It’s
going just as planned. I don’t think we’ll
see how successful it really is until it’s
gone through a full year, but we do see a
difference in the freshmen and their adjustment period. They seem fine and it’s
“Models in faith” are the three
words that Miss. G, our resident campus minister, uses to
sum up the Emmaus Program.
only October.” Regarding the future of
the program, she comments, “We’re realizing there is a short amount of time. So
we’re trying to target one specific topic
each week instead of trying to do a bunch
of things at once. Each meeting will have
a theme.” Furthermore, “As the year goes
on and the freshmen have less questions,
we’ll be able to focus on the ministering
more… bringing up topics like faith, God,
service, and friendship.”
I also inquired about any feedback from the freshmen so far, and they
seem to love being able to approach seniors and feel welcomed. In the words of
Mr. Mottsinger, the freshmen in his homeroom were “Absolutely ecstatic!” Hopefully, this trend of positive reactions will
continue and the L.I.G.H.T.s will be able
to really form a deep connection with
their freshmen this year. Hopefully, some
of those freshmen will do the same for
another group in three more years.
Pep rally paves way to Titan victory over Holy Cross
by Antonio Lipovec
Trinity held its fall pep rally on
Friday, October 12th during the last two
mods of the school day. Most of the students and faculty attended this rally in
excitement for their school and pride in
its spirit. Trinity's Chaplain Father Joe
Fitzgerald led the rally with an opening
prayer and introduced all of the fall athletic teams.
The varsity cheerleading squad
was up first. After their introduction, they
performed a riveting routine to the delight
and applause of the Holy Trinity community. Some of the girls then performed
different routines as part of varsity kickline. Senior Student Council won the banner contest for homecoming.
The pep rally continued with the
introduction of the other sports teams.
The boys’ varsity fall teams include cross
country, soccer, track and field, and, for
the grand finale of the pep rally, the varsity football team. The football team beat
Holy Cross in the homecoming game the
day after the pep rally with a 22-21 win.
The girls’ varsity fall sports are
swimming, volleyball, tennis, soccer,
cross country, kickline, gymnastics, and
the cheerleading squad. The cheerleading,
kickline, and gymnastics teams all elicited astonishing applause from the student
body in the gym bleachers.
Students and faculty left the
gymnasium with pride and Titan spirit,
some going home and some staying after
for athletics. The pep rally is not here to
give students the rest of the day off, but
rather to show the students of Holy Trinity the true spirit and pride of Holy Trinity
High School.
Homecoming photos by Kevin Welge
Photo by Kadeem Gittens
Student council prepared for the big game by painting banners. The Titan leads students in the “wave” while the girls’ varsity cross
country and swim teams smile for the camera.
Pep Rally photos by Trevor Young
News
October 2012
Trinity Triangle 5
This election matters to you!
by Samantha Hoher
Why does this upcoming election matter
to you? Two words: Financial aid. As a
high school senior, I am very interested in
the results of this election, and not just
because I am a politics nut. I care because
both candidates have very different views
regarding the one thing that means the
most to me, financial aid.
I come from a very modest background, and have been a part of the middle class my entire life. For most of my
life I have been a part of the lower middle
class: I come from a single-parent household, and my mother’s total income
equals about the cost of one year of college at my dream university.
Many other high school seniors
share this burden. They have the talent to
get into a top college or university but
can’t attend because of the cost. President
Obama seems to be the only candidate
who cares about students and the rising
costs of college, and actually plans on
doing something to help with these costs.
President Obama cares about
students because he cares about education: “A higher education can’t be a luxury–it’s an economic imperative that every
American should be able to afford.” He
understands that education is the key to
America’s future.
In the past four years he has:
 “Successfully fought to prevent federal student loan interest rates from
doubling for more than 7 million
students”;

“Set a goal to cut tuition growth in
half over the next decade with a plan
to double campus-based student aid
and incentives for schools that are
successful at keeping tuition growth
down”;

“Capped repayments on federal student loans at 10% of income”;
 “Established the American Opportunity Tax Credit which helped 9.4
million students and families in 2011
afford higher education and doubled
funding for Pell Grants so more
Americans can afford college”;

“Invested $2 billion in community
colleges and proposed forging new
partnerships between community
colleges and employers to train 2
million workers for jobs that already
exist.”
President Obama cares about
students and that is why, if I were old
enough to vote, I would vote for him. I
would not vote for President Obama just
because of his accomplishments in regard
to financial aid and education; I would
also vote for him because Mitt Romney’s
plan for financial aid and education is
completely inadequate. He told students
at Otterbein University in Ohio that
“We’ve always encouraged young people: Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get
the education, borrow money if you have
to from your parents, start a business.”
But Mitt Romney doesn’t seem to understand that not every student can just borrow $13,000 to $30,000 a year from his
or her parents, to pay for his or her education.
When a college student, concerned with the rising costs of college,
asked Mitt Romney what he would do to
address the student debt crisis. Mitt Rom-
ney responded by stating he would not
boost Pell grant awards or help pay off
student loans. His solution to the high
cost of college is: “If you can’t afford it,
scholarships are available, shop around
for loans, make sure you go to a place
that’s reasonably priced, and if you
can, think about serving the country ’cause that’s a way to get all that education for free.” So I am left with three
options: I can serve my country, “shop
around,” or borrow money from my parents.
While I respect those who serve in the
armed forces, I know that I would not
make the cut. Also, the problem with
“shopping around” is that even moderately priced colleges are expensive. President Obama realizes that “not everybody
has parents who have money to lend.”
Mitt Romney is out of touch, and doesn’t
understand the importance of higher education for everyone. Mitt Romney has
been accused of waging a war against
women, but I think that he is waging a
war against students, and that is the reason he would not be getting my vote.
Left: Mrs. Picatagi's senior AP U.S. Government classes
attends a Pride, Politics, and Pride program at Hofstra's
Debate 2012 Education and Event series.
Right: Hardball author Chris Matthews discusses the significance of the 2012 presidential debates with Hofstra students,
faculty, and the general public.
Red states and blue states are not black and white
by Zoë Hicks
When it comes to election season, “red states” and “blue states” are two
phrases that are thrown around a lot. It’s
common knowledge that the country’s
political views are pretty segregated and
except for a few “swing states” – another
term used often during this period – most
states vote the same way every election.
The South and the Midwest are notorious
for running red, whereas the Northeast
and the West Coast typically are a more
liberal blue. However, it is interesting to
note that some of the more liberal democrats have actually come from Southern
states, and vice versa. So if there are exceptions, why are there even “rules”?
Why do some states vote more consistently conservatively as opposed to liberally?
Or vice versa? What are the reasons for
the regional partisan divides?
Religion is a likely factor. The
South is often referred to as the Bible
Belt, and many Southerners belong to
evangelical Protestant churches, whereas
in the Northeast, more religious diversity
exists, with Catholicism and Judaism,
among others, being more prevalent.
Even regions that share a Christian foundation within their culture but differ in the
specificities of the branch of Christianity
– like the Midwest, which while largely
Protestant has a significant Catholic population as well, and the South – can have
differences within their cultures as a result. Dependent upon its religious beliefs,
and how ingrained within a community
they are, a culture may very well identify
more with one party than another.
The economy of a given region
has a large impact as well. Citizens from
larger cities and urban areas that have
business and manufacturing as their primary industries tend to have political beliefs that differ from those of rural areas
with agriculture as theirs, because they
have differing interests and thus select
parties and politicians that best represent
them. In addition, the background of the
people is influential; regions that are populated by more immigrants and are more
culturally diverse tend to be more liberal
than those that are more homogenous.
Specific cultures and areas with higher
ratios of them can also reflect discrepancies in political opinion: people from Latin American backgrounds may hold different values, political or otherwise, than
those from Asian or European backgrounds.
So with many factors linking a
state’s color, red or blue, to its culture,
states don’t tend to flip all that often. Of
course they do sometimes, but if one
looks at the electoral maps of each successive election, any changes that occur
tend to be gradual. It’s the states that flip
often and whose vote a candidate cannot
count on necessarily that are labeled the
swing states, like Ohio, a swing state that
has enough electoral votes to really attract
each candidate’s campaign efforts.
But since most states are pretty
consistent with their political views, this
can lead to people writing off Southerners
as all being conservative and the West
Coast as being full of liberals. This is a
misconception. The last three democratic
presidents prior to President Obama, i.e.,
Clinton, Carter, and Johnson, were all
from the South. President Carter, who
was criticized by some for his progressiveness, was a peanut farmer in Georgia
prior to his political career. California,
which is regarded by many to be very
liberal, most likely due to the
images of Hollywood and Los
Angeles that are evoked by
mention of the state, does have
many Democrats within the
state, but is also split, much like
the rest of the country, as evidenced by the its history of Republican governors which outnumber that of its Democratic
ones.
So, ultimately, even
though it might be easy to write
off the people as being conservative or liberal based upon
which state they are from, or writing off
an entire state as such due to its political
past, it really isn’t fair to do so. Culture,
heritage, religion, etc. all contribute to
political preferences, but it isn’t black and
white. Swing states themselves show us
this because even though nothing drastic
is altering the culture of the state, the people are making different decisions about
politics. So, when you live in a state like
New York and are a Republican, or in
Texas as a Democrat, you might feel as
though your vote really doesn’t matter;
after all, you’re outnumbered. But, your
vote does count, because even if you feel
outnumbered, you aren’t alone, and as
long as you make informed decisions
when it comes to politics, you can have
the chance to make a positive impact.
A debate on debating: when it comes to presidents, does it really matter?
by Zoë Hicks
After the October 3rd Presidential Debate, both supporters and opponents of President Obama found his performance to be lackluster. The President’s
challenger, Governor Romney, on the
other hand, exceeded expectations, which
frankly, had not been that high. The Republican National Convention had generally been seen as generating much less
enthusiasm and having a smaller impact
than that of the DNC; consequently, many
were disappointed when after the first
debate, the general consensus depicted
Romney as the clear winner.
The results of the second Presidential Debate, however, have been much
more favorable to Obama. Many found
fault with Romney’s answers, in particular his now infamous “binders full of
women” comment, which was his response to a question regarding pay equality for women. However, beyond that
comment itself, which merely served to
illustrate the great lengths Governor
Romney went through to represent women within his staff, it should be noted that
Romney never actually addressed the
question at hand. He has been panned for
one phrase within his answer, but little
attention has been paid to the fact that as
much as he talked about jobs for women,
and the flexible schedules and opportunities he offered them, he never claimed
that he had offered men and women equal
pay, or stated if he even supported doing
so.
Additionally, Romney’s performance in the debate, at times, came off as
less-than-presidential. Through his incessant pacing, and reluctance to allow moderator Candy Crowley to move on to the
next question, Romney came off almost
childish. President Obama was hardly
without fault during the debate; he, too, at
times, would interject when Romney was
speaking - as well as prevent the move to
the next question - in an effort to offer a
rebuttal to Romney and a clarification of
his own points when particularly impassioned. But, the differences lie in the
numbers. Romney did not seem to be
willing to move on from any question,
whereas Obama, for the most, part encouraged the progression of the debate.
Critics of Obama found issues
with his attitude, likening his occasional
smiles to the Cheshire-Cat-like grin that
Joe Biden was censured for during the
Vice-Presidential debate. And while this
criticism may not be totally unfounded,
and one may rightfully expect a more
composed manner from a President, parts
of Romney’s performance were indeed
laughable. Comments like Romney’s
claim that he would not cut the wealthy’s
taxes illustrate less of his stance on the
issue and more of his inconsistencies
throughout his campaign. Fallacies in the
facts he has cited have been abundant not
just in his debates, but across his entire
campaign. One good example of this is
the number of women whose jobs have
been lost under Obama’s administration,
the actual number being roughly 16% of
the 580,000 he claimed. There is also his
misquotation of Obama and claim that the
words “act of terror” have not been said
by the President in regards to the attack at
the American Embassy in Libya, which
was verified as false by transcripts. This
does not, however, mean that Obama was
wholly innocent. Obama was incorrect in
his own statements several times, including when he put emphasis on Romney’s
supposed claim that the 2010 Arizona
Immigration Enforcement law was a
“model for the nation,” as well as when
he quoted Romney as calling jobs in the
wind-energy industry “imaginary.”
Ultimately, this second Presidential Debate, like the Vice-Presidential
Debate, has had little impact on who people support. Little was learned about the
candidates’ actual positions, as both frequently spun their answers away from the
question at hand to either promote a
stance or policy they were strong in or to
point out the flaws in their opponent’s
stance or policy. This should have been
expected, though, as it is rare for the contrary to occur in politics, particularly during debates of such magnitude. Many
polls do depict Obama as the winner of
the debate, a much-needed result for him
after his lack of success in the previous
debate. However, it is most likely true
that those who went in supporting Romney came out still supporting him, as did
Obama’s supporters, and even the undecided have not all been particularly
swayed.
[At the time of publication, the
third Presidential Debate had not yet
been held.]
We are the future of America, so let’s pay attention
by Sarah Pastolero
In my 17 years, I, like many
others of generation Z (those currently
aged 11-20), have lived through 4 presidential elections, but have not really taken
the taken the initiative to pay close attention to them. That is, until now, with the
race between President Barack Obama
and Governor Mitt Romney getting tight
as the clock ticks towards Election Day
on November 6th. As the social and economic issues of this age have affected
some aspect of my life for most of my
high school career, and will affect my
move to college in less than a year, I feel
that it is really important that my eyes and
ears are open to the happenings of each
candidate’s campaign. In addition, this
digitized, technological age has made it
nearly impossible to not hear or read
something about Obama’s last rally in
Iowa or Romney’s comment on the economy. Unfortunately, even with information so easy to obtain, many of generation Z is still unaware of the events and,
really, due to the gravity surrounding this
presidential race, that fact should be a
cause for concern. But with most of generation Z’s inability to vote for this election, why should we even care?
As much as teenagers are oblivious it, government does affect many aspects of our lives, and should not be ignored. For example, the FAFSA, or Free
Application for Federal Student Aid, that
Trinity seniors will be filling out in January, is just one way that the federal government influences our college application process. The FAFSA provides financial aid in the form of grants, loans and
work-study programs for those attending
a higher-education institution, and will be
very important for many who are trying to
afford college. With many universities’
tuition growing by, according to the College Board, 72% above inflation, financial aid is a big issue among parents who
will be footing the bill for their children’s
dream university, but also for the students, who may have to decide whether
their dream college is worth the high tuition and possible loan debts they may
have to incur after graduation.
Currently, Romney wants to cut
federal spending on the Pell Grant program, which has nearly doubled in funds
due to the increase in college enrollment
and the passing of legislations that
“limited federal student aid eligibility,
increased the cost of certain student loans
and eliminated the recently enacted yearround Pell Grant,” according to the National Association of Student Financial
Aid Administrators, because of the expanded eligibility entitlement for many
students. In addition, he also wants to
simplify the complex student aid system
by cutting programs that are inefficient,
ineffective, or duplicative and putting
those funds into the programs that will
definitely help students.
Obama, on the other hand, has
pushed for increased funding for federal
student aid programs, though with the
Congress making some difficult budget
decisions regarding student aid to fill the
funding shortfall, such as the
legislation mentioned before, as
a result. Most recently, this issue
was addressed at the second
presidential debate at Hofstra
University, in which Romney
touched upon his goal of making
college affordable through the expansion
of Pell grants and loans, in response to a
local college student’s question regarding
how each candidate will reassure him and
his parents that he will sufficiently be
able to support himself after graduation.
Right now, this student’s question is one that is prevalent in the minds
of many seniors, and even juniors. His
worry of unemployment, post-college,
and probably finding a way to pay back
all the loans taken out for college tuition
is a thought that many high-schoolers
thinking about higher education are taking into account. Will my parents and I be
able to afford college? Will my intended
college major ensure me a job in a poor
economy? These questions that Jeremy
Epstein, the local college student, and we
have constantly asked are being answered
by both Romney and Obama in this election. Student financial aid, fixing the
economy, and bringing jobs back to the
country, are of tantamount significance to
both candidates. Whomever wins this
election will have the chance to put forth
their plan to resolve this problem and see
it improve the job market, hopefully by
the time generation Z is out of college
and in the workforce.
As of September 2012, the unemployment rate for those age 16 years
and over was at 7.8%, according to the
U.S. Department of Labor; this is a significant rise from where the country was in
2009, with that rate hitting 10% at one
point that year. The graph from the Department’s statistics shows that we are on
the way to decreasing unemployment, but
we have yet to reach the rate of unemployment from the time today’s 11th and
12th-graders were in middle school---a
rate ranging from 4.4-5%.
With the election season drawing to a close on November 6th, we
should hope that the country will vote for
the right candidate that will restore our
country to where it should be. Even
though we may feel powerless in all of
this, as young citizens of the country, we
should always keep ourselves open and
attentive to elections and what each candidate has to say, or else we may never
know how their policies and plans will
affect us and our future. Though most of
us cannot yet vote, awareness of key issues will lead to a more complete understanding about where we, as students,
stand in American society, as well as a
more informed vote when the time comes
for us to finally participate in the elections.
8 Trinity Triangle October 2012
Arts & Entertainment
Perks makes movie-goers feel infinite
by Conor Williams
A few weeks ago, I went in to
go see the movie adaptation of Stephen Chbosky’s beloved and critically
acclaimed novel, The Perks of Being a
Wallflower. The novel’s narrator,
Charlie, is a high school freshman
with crippling social anxiety and depression. He eventually finds friends
amongst the beautiful Sam and her
gay brother Patrick. Charlie documents his freshman year through letters to an unknown recipient, speaking
often of his experiences including his
first school fight, participating in the
Rocky Horror Picture Show, and
learning what it means to feel infinite.
I was reluctant to find out
whether or not such a sensitive and
quiet novel would translate well onto
the big screen with a PG-13 rating,
given its rather mature themes. After
finding out that Chbosky had in fact
written and directed the movie, I felt a
great deal of reassurance. The author
had stayed almost entirely true to his
1999 novel, despite leaving out one or
two memorable scenes. Perks touches
on subjects that might make some uncomfortable, such as physical and sexual abuse. However, Charlie manages
to introduce these situations with a
beautifully delicate fragility.
Perks has only been out for a
week or so, and the movie has already
received numerous comparisons to
some of John Hughes’ best work. The
movie showcases some brilliant acting
from relatively fresh new faces such
as Logan Lerman (Charlie) and Ezra
Miller (Patrick). Some familiar faces
contribute to the film as well, with the
lovely Emma Watson playing Sam,
and the always-wonderful Paul Rudd
as Charlie’s English teacher. The stellar soundtrack features songs
from David Bowie, Sonic Youth,
and – of course – The Smiths.
This movie may not be for
everyone, but it is certainly worth
seeing. If anything, I would encourage everyone to read the
book, regardless of whether or
not they are planning on seeing
the movie. Perks is a touching
and poetic tale of love, loss, and
growing up.
Comic Con invades NYC
by Tyler Riebl
This year Comic Con New York
City kicked off with a concert by Ben
Folds Five. The major attraction which
many people were dying to see was
AMC’s The Walking Dead Panel Event
which included a preview of the new season. The director and writer had promised
this season would be one of the best. People waited through other panels for up to
5 hours just to get a good seat. The majority of the screenings on Saturday, the
busiest day, were horror-related. It was
such a pleasure to get a good scare with
friends and others in attendance.
Comic Con took place from October 12 to October 14. You could have
gone early on Thursday the 11th if you
had bought a VIP pass. It took place in
the Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan.
Comic Con New York City is the biggest
and most fun multi-media convention
on the east coast.
Every year Comic Con
hosts the most recent and best comics,
graphic novels, anime, manga, video
games, toys, and television shows. At
each event there are autograph sessions at
certain times throughout the days where
you can meet your favorite creators and
actors. Over 105,000 people came last
year in 2011! And this year it was said
that there were more, making it the second largest comic book and pop culture
gathering in the country!
Fans dress up as their favorite
characters from comic books, video
games, and more for fun and to show
tribute.
The Show Floor
is the main part
of the convention
where you find
all of the booths
and vendors who
sell rare comics,
action
figures,
and even things as
far out as robotic cat ears. Artist
Alley is a block of booths for artists who
draw, sculpt, and create certain fan art,
but you might also meet some of your
favorite comic artists there! Comic Con is
a very amazing experience; you do not
want to miss it next year.
Sherlock Holmes returns to the screen, again
by Zoë Hicks
With the start of the new television season this fall came a new show
with a new take on an old hero. Elementary, which premiered on CBS in September offers not just a modern adaptation of
the classic Sherlock Holmes tales, but
also a revamped version of Holmes’ iconic sidekick, who in this show, is no longer
Dr. John Watson, but Dr. Joan. Though
Sherlock Holmes as he is depicted in the
show retains his original English nationality, the show is set in New York City,
and all of the other characters from the
original stories by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle are American.
Elementary, the second American television series based upon Holmes’
stories (the first being Sherlock Holmes,
originally airing in 1954), is unique in
both its location and interpretation of
Watson, but certainly not in its contemporary setting. A Study in Scarlet, published
in 1887, was the first novel depicting
Holmes, and in the more than a century
that has followed it, countless adaptations
of the detective and his adventures have
been created for the stage, television,
film, radio, comic books, and even video
games. Many of these have been set in the
time period in which they were created –
not faithfully recreated as 19th-century
period pieces – both allowing the audience to better relate to Holmes and con-
tributing to his enduring popularity for so
many years. Elementary isn’t even the
only television series that offers a neoteric transformation of the detective currently: a BBC show, Sherlock, is set to enter
its 3rd season next year. Sherlock, which
has been widely acclaimed and has
reached considerable popularity beyond
the United Kingdom, was actually first
considered to be remade for American
television instead of creating a new program, like Elementary.
In the last few years, it seems
that for someone who has been around for
more than 125 years, Sherlock Holmes
has been getting a lot of attention. The
film series starring Robert Downey Jr. as
Holmes has been very successful and is
set to film a third installment. Even the
popular medical drama, House, which
ended in May, has its roots in Doyle’s
notorious detective. The title character,
House, has a resemblance to Holmes that
extends beyond similar names: problems
with addiction, obsessive natures, and
dysfunctional relationships with others, or
lack thereof, are all qualities the two
share, not to mention their both having
sidekicks upon whom they are dependent
– Watson and Wilson are both doctors
too.
But why is it that a literary character from an age so different than our
own can retain such success and popularity? The question is especially poignant
when one considers the other attempts to
bring classic literature to the modern age.
Film adaptations like those of Beowulf
and Dorian Gray have been panned for
the liberties taken and digressions from
the original stories. Other adaptations like
10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless,
and She’s the Man are popular movies,
but have had their stories so twisted and
altered in an effort to keep them light and
culturally relevant, that their origins in
Shakespeare and Austen are hardly noticeable. For the most part, the adaptations of Sherlock Holmes have somehow
been able, regardless of their setting, to
remain relevant and captivate audiences
for decades without losing their integrity.
Perhaps it isn’t the faults or merits of any
individual adaptation at all, but rather
Sherlock Holmes himself and Doyle’s
original characterization that have allowed him to continue to be interesting
and pertinent. Holmes is a very fascinating person, hardly even a hero at times,
with a great many faults. His job allows
him to easily enter any time period with a
purpose; after all, crime is a constant. At
times he is very relatable, and at others,
he hardly seems human, but he is always
interesting, always fascinating, always
firmly keeping the audience in suspense
and anticipation. Sherlock Holmes may
have begun as a great literary figure, but
has since become so ingrained in our culture, that without having ever read a word
by Doyle, one might feel as if they know
Holmes.
Elementary is merely the newest
version of Holmes; many more will follow, and he will endure on in all forms of
media. It is too soon to say where the
show ranks among the other adaptations,
its own alterations to the story too different to either judge or praise yet. Though
the title, Elementary, distinctly comes
from Holmes’ quote, “Elementary, my
dear Watson,” and there is no debating
that Holmes certainly is arrogant enough
to have uttered such a line on numerous
occasions when explaining his process, in
truth, not once in the original works by
Doyle did he ever say such a phrase. So, a
literary purist might become agitated that
a show about a character from books
might ignore the fact that the title of the
show is based upon another adaptation
and not the original source; but when it
comes to a character like Sherlock
Holmes who has become so much more
than just a character from books, perhaps
it doesn’t really matter, though, that’s up
to the audience to decide.
Arts & Entertainment
The dead keep coming
again and again and again
by Meghan Whittaker
So far two seasons of AMC’s
The Walking Dead have kept viewers
glued to their TV sets. What most people
do not know is that this show is based on
a comic book written by Robert Kirkman.
The chilling TV show sheds light into a
world ravaged by man-eating zombies
(called “walkers”), with only a few survivors left travelling to find safe havens. As
the episodes continue the characters’
weaknesses and inner conflicts become
more evident.
The story begins with main
character, Rick Grimes, waking up in a
hospital bed to find the world completely
different than he remembered it. As he
attempts to make sense of what has happened, and tries to understand how to
survive, he attempts to find the one thing
that keeps him going, that keeps him human: his family. But the challenging
complication for each character on the
show is that he that must find his humanity while struggling to do what is necessary to survive; sometimes, this is not
possible. There is fallen hope and grow-
ing hatred between people that makes
each character face his potential to become the real monster, instead of only
fearing the zombies.
If you’re looking for show to
watch during any of the upcoming holiday breaks, then definitely take a look at
The Walking Dead. But try to hurry and
catch up because season three has already
started “walking.”
The Walking Dead is on AMC
Sunday nights at 9.
Fifth season of Breaking Bad mirrors first
by Terence Gilmore
Breaking Bad is a thrilling drama series about Walter White, played by
Bryan Cranston, an over-qualified chemistry teacher who “breaks bad” when he
is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
He begins synthesizing and selling the
most chemically pure methamphetamines
available on the streets of the southwest
United States with his drug-junkie partner and former chemistry student, Jesse
Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul.
This is part of a scheme to leave
money behind for his pregnant wife and
handicapped son. He finds that both he
and his partner are way in over their
heads, as they switch back and forth between selling drugs themselves, and dealing with dangerous and insane drug emperors who threaten the lives of the duo
and of those they care about.
On top of all this, Walter finds
that his new career tears his family apart.
His wife grows increasingly suspicious,
until she figures it all out and leaves him.
In season 5 of the series, Walter’s cancer is well into remission and his
wife has joined his side once more, to
help him launder drug money. Jesse
Pinkman has put an end to his habitual
drug use and the pair have grown even
more callous in dealing with the lawlessness of the drug trade. After completely
destroying the operation of their last employer to save their own lives, the two
find themselves unemployed, and tying
up the loose ends they left behind, while
still trying to make, transport, and sell the
illicit drug that has consumed so much of
their lives. The questions are many in the
dark futures of Walter White and Jesse
Pinkman.
This particular season was espe-
cially excellent. It almost seems to mirror
the first season on many levels, as Walter
is once again a freelancer in the meth
business and his relationship with Jesse is
once again fraying. However, Walter
himself has changed so much: he is much
more inclined to kill people in order to
get what he wants. In the first season he
always looked for reasons not to murder.
Jesse, although still a little childish and still using street talk, has changed
to a large degree as well. He has stopped
wearing baggy jeans and sweatshirts, and
has begun to wear sleeker pants and
formfitting field jackets. He is still the
most relatable human character: out of all
the other characters involved with the
methamphetamines, he seems to be the
only one with qualms about murder –
especially when children are involved.
The season was left with an
open-book ending, which will set up the
beginning of the next and final season of
the award-winning drama.
October 2012
Trinity Triangle 9
AMC’s lineup captures
viewers’ attention
by TJ O’Leary
For the past decade or so, television has been caught in a web of overused
genres. From generic sitcoms to overdramatic soap operas, TV shows of any actual
quality are few and far between. Few channels air truly excellent programs.
An exception to this is AMC, a
rising star amongst a galaxy of repetition.
Though airing mostly movies of all genres
and ages, AMC has produced a few of its
own popular shows. Some that you might
have heard of include The Walking Dead,
Breaking Bad, and Madmen, just three of
the multiple original shows that are part of
AMC’s lineup.
Living up to its slogan, “Story
matters here,” AMC features shows with
richly textured characters, and well developed plots. All the shows are dramas, but
don’t be fooled! They aren’t your run-ofthe-mill, anticipated-twist-after-twist story
lines. There are many changes to the plot
as the stories progress, but many of them
are not typically anticipated.
If you aren’t in the mood for a
show, AMC airs movies all week long
from all generations. AMC is actually an
acronym for American Movie Classics.
You may find an old classic, or a recent
favorite. Particularly in October, horror
movies are aired weeklong in a marathon
known as “Fearfest.” This takes place from
October 13th to the 31st.
If you
like scary movies, I completely recommend
this. If you don’t, steer clear during the
month of October. Either way, I urge you
to tune in to AMC for quality entertainment.
October’s Artist: Juliana Ramirez
by Clare Quinn
Among the great actors and athletes of Holy Trinity, there are also great
artists. While sometimes they go unnoticed, they are not unappreciated. Trinity
has had many talented art students pass
through its doors, and senior Juliana
Ramirez is definitely among them.
Juliana Ramirez has spent her
first three years at Trinity completely
engrossed in her artwork. She has taken
art classes every year and has constantly
worked to better her artwork, both in
school and at home. Juliana has worked
with every type of media: sketches,
paints, charcoal, oil pastels, chalk pastels,
crochet, and wood carvings just to name a
few.
Juliana has also been extremely involved
in Student Council. She’s the senior class
secretary and she designs most of the
artwork for Homecoming and Spirit
Night. This year, she did a lot of work
with the “Alice in Titanland” theme for
homecoming. For the past three years,
she’s been extremely involved in the artistic side of student council, which has
allowed her experience in creating many
things: from birds to football players to
cartoons to the Titan himself.
Last year, Juliana expanded her
experiences and became involved in the
set for the musical, Guys and Dolls. She
designed all the signs, including the
Times Square signs and the Hot Box sign.
She sketched and cut out them all with a
jigsaw. “I put a lot of effort into the signs,
and I’m very proud of them. I feel like
they added the final touches on an already
wonderful performance,” Juliana said
when asked about her work on the production.
While there is a lot to do at Trinity, Juliana also creates her own work
outside of school. She has become quite
the skilled wood carver. When asked
about her wood carving, she said, “I basically came up with the idea by myself. I
was in Budapest when I was younger, and
I saw something similar to the wood carvings I do. I thought it was interesting, so I
taught myself how to do it by trial and
error.” She has made many crafts this
way, such as boxes and plaques. She is
also skilled at crocheting. That came in
handy when she crocheted a letter “A” for
an English project on The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne. For Christmas
last year, Juliana crocheted a small orna-
ment for each of the nuns in Trinity’s
convent.
When asked about her favorite
type of art, Juliana replied, “I really love
wood carving and figure sketching. Figure sketching is a lot of fun because it’s
really nice to be able to draw people, and
I love trying to draw my favorite characters from TV shows or comics. Wood
carving is really individual because not a
lot of people do it. While of course I love
to draw, I really love working with my
hands. That’s why I like my ceramics
class so much. I feel like it [wood carving] is a really personal thing because
each carving symbolizes something different for me.”
Juliana hopes to pursue another
passion of hers in college: animal sciences. However, she wishes to have a minor
in art and she will definitely continue it as
a hobby. She is also thinking about getting a booth at craft fairs to sell some of
her artwork in the future.
10 Trinity Triangle October 2012
Arts & Entertainment
Have a
puntastic Halloween!
by Jennifer Bochicchio
Across
Down
1. Vampires might get offended if you tell them they have ____ breath.
2. What kind of instrument does a skeleton play?
5. Mummies tend to listen to ____ music.
3. Being kissed by a vampire is such a pain in the ____.
7. Who did Democratic zombies vote for in 2000?
4. What do you get when you cross a vampire with a snowman?
9. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? Because he had no ____.
6. Why did the headless horseman go to college? He only had one ____.
12. What type of dogs do vampires like best?
8. Why did the cyclops stop teaching? He only had one ____.
14. How does a monster score a touchdown? He runs over a ____ line!
10. Why couldn’t the mummy answer the phone? Because he was all ____ up!
15. A ghoul’s favorite dessert. I-____.
11. What does a skeleton say before eating? ____ appétit.
16. What kind of streets do zombies like? ____ ends.
13. Witches need a lot of ____ spray to keep their hair in place.
Across: 1. bat, 5. wrap, 7. gore, 9. guts, 12. bloodhounds, 14. ghoul, 15. scream, 16. dead; Down: 2. trombone, 3. neck, 4. frostbite, 6. ahead, 8. pupil, 10. wrapped, 11. bone, 13. scare
HT Student Music Poll
by Margaret Hans
I conducted a music poll using 20 students from each grade. These
results show the diverse interests of Trinity’s student body.
Pop Rock
Metal
Classical Gospel Rap/Hip Jazz R&B Opera Other
Hop
10
20
10
0
20
30
0
5
0
5
Sophomore 45
20
0
0
0
10
5
5
0
15
Freshmen
Juniors
5
25
10
0
5
30
0
15
10
10
Seniors
20
15
10
5
5
20
5
0
10
10
Dishonored’s innovative gameplay aims high
by Brendan Butler
First announced in July 2011,
Bethesda Softwork’s genre-bending game
Dishonored astounded critics and fans at
E3 2011, an international Electronic Entertainment Expo. With its innovative
gameplay, lush level design, and a memorable cast, Dishonored has lived up to its
expectations.
As a player, you take control of
Corvo Attano, a bodyguard to the beloved
Empress of the fictional nation of Passydia. After she is mysteriously assassinated
and dies in Corvo’s arms, he is framed for
her death and thrown in prison. Corvo
soon escapes prison with the help of mysterious allies and returns to the coastal
city of Dunwall, where the majority of the
game takes place. He is horrified to learn
that a new, tyrannical regime headed by
the corrupt Lord Regent now controls the
nation while a deadly plague, which causes the infected to bleed from the eyes and
become violent towards others, is devastating the poorer areas of the city. He becomes an infamous assassin and vigilante,
swearing vengeance against the Empress’s true killers and the ones who
framed him.
Played from the first person perspective, Dishonored combines elements
of a role playing game and a stealth game.
Corvo is a master fencer and marksman
and combat is done mostly through
swords and daggers as well as firearms.
However, actively seeking out fights with
enemies is heavily discouraged.
Players are advised to use to
stealth to complete missions, sticking to
the shadows, moving slowly and avoiding
confrontations with foes. What gives Corvo a major edge over his foes are his supernatural powers, which he acquires
early in the game from a creature called
“The Outsider.” He can teleport short
distances, distract enemies using summoned rats, possess enemies and other
creatures in order to sneak past guards even freeze time for a short period while
he moves at a normal pace - along with
several other powers.
All powers need energy to use
them. The player has only a limited
amount per level and more spectacular
powers consume more energy. The same
is also true with medical elixirs that heal
damage received by the player. The game
also provides random events and overall
changes to the game world based on the
player’s actions in missions. In between
missions, Corvo can meet with his allies
in a local pub, where he can buy supplies,
change gear, and upgrade or buy new
equipment.
A system of “Chaos” creates
small, but prominent changes in game
based on how little or how much Chaos
the player accumulates. Doing more violent actions in missions contributes to this
while being more passive grants a lower
amount of Chaos. For example, the player
may have a choice to help a citizen being
harassed by thugs, which results in more
civil support for Corvo and his allies.
It is also completely possible to
finish the game without killing a single
enemy- even boss characters. If unseen,
the player may have the option to knock
out an enemy and leave them unconscious
for a few minutes, use his powers to
sneak pass enemies, or just avoid them all
together by seeking alternate routes.
Although gameplay is solid and
the Steampunk-level design won’t cease
to amaze, Dishonored is not without
flaws, although mostly negligible. The
game runs on the rather aging Unreal
game engine, which sometimes results in
rough and ugly environmental textures.
Voice acting for generic guards during
combat is also comical at times, due to its
mediocrity.
On more than one occasion, I
had hid one of their unconscious comrades in crate, closet, or other out-of-sight
structure, only to have a guard somehow
spot their comrade through the box or
closet, without even opening it, resulting
in me having my cover blown while on a
mission. This doesn’t happen too often,
but just enough to make it a bit of a nuisance.
Like I said though, these problems are negligible and don’t ruin the
fantastic gaming experience Dishonored
brings. It is definitely a must buy for fans
of FPS’, RPG, and general action genres.
Arts & Entertainment
October 2012
Trinity Triangle 11
When I was your age, we didn’t have these crazy iPhones!
by Victoria de la Concha
“When I was your age, we didn’t have…”
At least once in everyone’s life
these words have been the starting point
of a very long rant, almost always from
the mouth of a person with a decent
amount of years underneath their belt.
Despite our blatant eye-rolling in response, he continues on, explaining how
he didn’t have such technology available
at your age. All while he is rattling off
lists of things he didn’t have—
computers, CD players, streaming movies!—you’re ignoring them and most
likely tweeting on your Smartphone
something along the lines of, “OMG, my
parents are #OLD.”
Now, here’s a scary thought:
One day we will all be saying the words,
“When I was your age…” to our children and the younger generation.
Now, here’s an even scarier
thought: Some of us can already say
these dreaded words as students in high
school.
I happen to be a 12th grader,
only 17 years of age—I’m not anyone’s
idea of elderly. Yet somewhere in between hearing “things have changed”
and “how lucky you are to have…” it
clicked: even though I’m a part of the
Technological Generation, the kids,
grades below me, have things that I never had until, well, now!
Take the iPhone for example.
For some strange reason teenagers need
to have iPhones like we need to consume water. Everywhere I look, I see the
sleek, stylish design of this phone glued
to the hands of friends, friends of
friends, and everyone else! It seems like
there’s no escaping the newest cell
phone craze so I have to remember back
a few years, pre-iPhone.
I did not enter high school believing I would ever own an iPhone. In
fact, in my freshman year, if any of my
classmates owned this once-elusive
phone it was definitely something to
gawk at. Now, if you take out your iPhone, the only way you can turn heads is
if you’re demanding Siri to do something ridiculous.
Right now, my handy-dandy
cell phone is the iPhone 4S. I’ve owned
this treasure since July. That’s not a lot
of time to own a phone, but I adore it—
what can I say? It was love at first sight.
Upon touching its lightweight, white
frame, I was filled with such utter happiness that I vowed never to go back to
any other phone.
Suddenly, I felt like a traitor:
whatever happened to my first phone
love? You know what they say: “You
never forget your first love.” In my case,
it was a baby pink flip phone that resembled something of a walkie-talkie. It was
so clunky that, when folded shut, it was
a good two-iPhones-stacked-on-top-ofeach-other thick. If you wanted to send a
text message, you had to smash the same
key three to four times to simply get to
the letter you desired. It had a retractable
antenna, for Pete’s sake! But, regardless,
when my parents handed me this cell
phone, to keep as my very own, my little
fifth-grader heart soared for joy. I
thought that the feelings I had for this
phone would never be replaced.
Metaphorically, my
relationship with
my phone is that of
a cheesy romance
novel.
As we all know, all good things
come to an end. My clunker was replaced with a lime-green Rumor keyboard slide phone. The buttons on that
phone were used so much that they become a discolored shade of black. Then,
when I was deceived into believing that
the Rumor Touch phone was going to be
much better, it became mine. I loathed
this phone’s ability to freeze its touch
screen, so I ended up using its slide out
Photo by Alexandra Gillen
keyboard much more. Eventually, after
this clunker of a phone stopped working,
the Blackberry Curve became the apple
of my eye. It was everything I wanted in
a phone—from its purple accents to its
BBM function—everything, until its
charging port was permanently broken,
that is.
Just when I thought I could
never find that special “One” in my life,
the iPhone 4S swept me off my feet. I
mean, Siri practically whispered in my
ear, “Everything is going to be all right
now, Victoria; I’ll take care of you forever.” Metaphorically, my relationship
with my phone is that of a cheesy romance novel.
However, what really gets to
me is that I worked my way through
junk phones; the way a high school girl
works her way through dud boyfriends,
in order to find my Phone Charming.
Now, I’m becoming more aware every
single day that the younger grades aren’t
going through this experience anymore.
Which in turn means that, yes, I now can
say the dreaded monologue of “When I
was your age…” Already? It feels too
premature to me—I hope this doesn’t
Welcome back, Once Upon a Time!
by Ann Glackin
Once Upon a Time, the hit ABC
TV show known for its fascinating mix of
real world and fantasy, has just returned
for its second season. In it we follow the
story of a 27 year old named Emma, who
remains a lonely orphan until a young boy
by the name of Henry Mills stops by her
door claiming that he is her son.
Emma soon realizes this is true
and decides that she cannot handle a kid
and brings him back home to Story
Brooke, Maine. However, this town is not
all it seems. This town is truly a prison for
every fairytale character that you have
ever known. They are all trapped here by
an evil curse that was created by the Evil
Queen. In the real world she is known as
Regina Mills, Henry’s stepmom. None of
the town's inhabitants are aware of the
curse except for Henry and the Queen
herself. However, Henry knows how to
break it. His real mom, Emma, is the
daughter of Snow White. She is destined
to set the whole town free of the curse.
Henry is eventually able to convince Emma to stay, but he will have a really hard
time trying to convince her that the
curse exists.
Once upon
a Time involves a
lot of mystery and
suspense as you try
to uncover the true
identity of the real
world
characters.
This year’s season
promises to have
just as much in-
trigue and excitement as the first. We are
expecting to meet many new characters
and maybe even learn more about the old
ones. The show doesn’t just tell these fairytales; it reinterprets them, sometimes
even linking characters from two different
stories together. If you haven’t seen any
episodes yet, it’s not too late to start. It
airs every Sunday at 8:00 on ABC. Be
sure to catch this week’s episode of Once
Upon a Time.
cause gray hairs.
If you don’t believe it, take a
look around. Kids that are as young as
students in elementary school are being
handed iPhones as their first cell phone.
I once had a toddler snatch my iPhone
out of my hand and begin to play Angry
Birds like it was nothing.
It’s a little frightening to say
that technology and its young consumers
are already evolving to the point where I
can’t keep up. I’m just going to have to
try my best not to have heart palpitations
when I see an eleven year old walking
around with the new iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 was recently released on September 21st of this year, but I can hear middle school students whining for it already.
Perhaps there is a hidden advantage to working our way up the technological ladder. Anyone who has ever
owned a Razor flip phone or Blackberry
can easily show appreciation for what
phone we have now. And now, just maybe, we can stop rolling our eyes at our
parents’ lectures and sincerely understand where they’re coming from.
Join
Trinity Triangle
and have your
opinions
published!
We meet
Tuesdays in
room 203 at
2:40.
Bring a friend!!
Sports
Athletes of the Month
Laviano leads Titans to success
by Charisheena Bailey, Shanyse Clark,
Nadirah Gathers, & Brittany Gordon
Trinity Triangle has selected senior football star
Chris Laviano as October’s athlete of the month. On
October 15th, these reporters got the opportunity to
interview him before he got back to his busy practice
schedule.
Trinity Triangle: In case people don’t know, what
position do you play and how long have you been
playing it?
Chris Laviano: I’ve been quarterback since 8 th grade.
TT: Did you start freshman year as quarterback?
CL: Yes, freshman year I was Varsity Quarterback.
TT: What have you achieved while playing this
sport?
CL: I helped lead our team to victory many times, I
got the opportunity to tour the country, and I got
offered six scholarships to schools all over.
TT: What are some schools that have offered you a
scholarship?
CL: Mississippi, Boston, Rutgers, and others.
TT: What school have you decided to go to and
why?
CL: I’ve accepted the offer at Rutgers in New Jersey because they’re ranked 15th in the country and I
liked the coaching staff. It’s a good school so I can’t
wait to be a part of it.
Chris Laviano is a talented hard worker and is lucky
enough to be graduating early because of the sport
that he plays. He is very devoted to football and we
wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors.
Swim Team beats St. Dom’s,
prepares for rest of season
by Casey DiBari
On Saturday, September 29, the
Holy Trinity Girls’ Swim Team raced
against St. Dominic’s at Chaminade’s
swimming pool, marking the first meet of
the swim season. Both teams swam
against each other before, but neither
team planned on slacking. This year, St.
Dominic’s is a good team but this only
made the Trinity girls more determined to
swim their best to beat them. On the sidelines, the girls cheered their teammates on
as their banner refused to stay taped to the
window, despite their attempts to keep it
up. How did they solve this? During the
500 freestyle – which is twenty laps in a
25-meter pool – the girls held the sign up
and screamed their cheers from behind it!
But it’s not just the meets that
make the swim team who they are. It’s
the hardworking girls who are there to
enjoy themselves and the sport. On Mondays, you might see some of the girls
running around the track, training themselves with some sprints and exercises.
Thursday, another practice day, they actually swim in the pool at Chaminade, for a
little over an hour. Meets are usually on
Saturdays. It’s all in preparation for
champs, in which every team competes
during the weekend. Saturday is qualifi-
cations for individual swimmers while
Sunday, the swimmers with the best times
go and swim again, with their team cheering them on. This is followed by an endof-the-season team dinner at Friday’s for
the Titans.
Aside from attending meets and
practices, a big part of being on the swim
team is the bagel breakfasts in the morning. Usually the day of a meet or on Fridays, the senior captains set up bagels and
juice for the girls to eat before the school
day starts. There the girls talk and have a
meeting while enjoying some breakfast
with their friends. Just before champs, the
team has a pasta party at one of the captain’s houses to get ready for the end of
the season.
Most of the girls say that the best
part of the swim team is being a team and
making friends. What are some thoughts
on how this season may go? The girls say
as long as they try hard, do their best, and
give one hundred percent, with some
team spirit and cheering on the sidelines
of a meet, they’ll be great.
Manta leads varsity soccer to champs
for first time in 14 years
by Jennifer Bochicchio
For Kelly Manta, playing soccer
is a fundamental part of life. She began
playing when she was four years old, following in the steps of her sisters. Her lucky
number is four and she has worn it since
she was little. Kelly mostly plays left and
center midfield, where she uses some of
her favorite techniques such as pass and go
and pullbacks.
Years of practice enabled Kelly to
join the Holy Trinity girls’ varsity soccer
team as a freshman. In addition to playing
at Trinity, she has been a member on
Rockville Centre Power and Valley Stream
Power for years. Kelly has been captain of
the girls’ varsity soccer team for two years
now, demonstrating her incredible leadership abilities.
The girls’ team is currently 6 and
5 with one tie, and they won the league
championship for the A division for the
first time since 1998. But winning isn’t all
for Kelly. Over the years, she has bonded
with her team and even earned the endearing nickname “Mamma duck” for always
choosing the younger players for her
scrimmage teams. Her favorite part of the
game, she says, is “playing together as a
team, making good plays, and winning.”
Her soccer career at Trinity will
soon be coming to a close, but that’s not
the end for Kelly. She plans to continue
playing soccer next fall at Mercy College
where she will major in architecture.
R.A.-Diculous
Mets' knuckleballer gives fans something to root for
by Antonio Lipovec
New York Mets fans have suffered throughout the last decade with numerous seasons of being in last place in
the standings next to teams like the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. As
predicted, the Mets ended their 2012 season with a losing record, but for the first
half of the year it seemed as if they were
going to overcome everyone's low expectations, due mostly to the surprising help
of one miraculous pitcher: R.A. Dickey.
R.A. was drafted in the first
round as the 18th pick in the 1996 MLB
draft by the Texas Rangers. He spent five
of the ten years with Texas in the minor
league and the other five in the majors. He
was then assigned to the Seattle Mariners
for one season followed by one season
with the Minnesota Twins. In 2010, the
New York Mets acquired Dickey off
waivers and assigned him to the Mets'
triple-A team called the Buffalo Bisons.
On April 29th in the 2010 season,
Dickey threw a one-hitter, which influenced the Mets to bring him back into the
big leagues. His record was 11 and 9 at
the end of the season, which showed the
Mets that Dickey belonged in the starting
rotation. The following season, R.A.
Dickey finished with eight wins and thirteen losses, an unsuccessful season in his
eyes.
Fans expected that the Mets
would rely on their all-star third baseman,
David Wright, and all-star pitcher, Johan
Santana, to scrape together a few victo-
ries, which is essentially what happened.
Wright may have led the National League
in batting average for a while (until his
disappointing July and August), and of
course Santana threw the first no-hitter in
Mets' history in June (only to be placed on
the disabled list a couple of games later),
but it was Dickey who had the greatest
season of his nine-year career and one of
the best in Mets' franchise history with his
five complete games, three shutouts, and
two one-hitters in two straight appearances. Dickey finished this season with twenty wins and six losses over thirty-three
starts. He struck out a total of 230 batters
and had a 2.73 earned run average. Except
for the revitalized Ike Davis, he was the
only reason to watch the floundering,
Queens-based team in the months of August and September.
R.A. was elected by the fans in
all of baseball to go to the All-Star Game
in Kansas City. Dickey had a good
enough season to be eligible for the highest award any pitcher can receive in a
single season, the Cy Young Award. This
award is granted to the best single season
performance by a pitcher in the whole
league.
The season that R.A. Dickey had
this year will go down as one of the best
in New York Mets history and possibly,
one the best in the history of the league.
This season will change the way everyone
looks at one spectacular knuckleball
pitcher like Dickey. R.A. Dickey, you are
ridiculous!