December - South Brunswick School District

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THE
VIBE
ROSE
PARADE:
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VIBE:
CULTURE:
The two
sides of The
Dark Knight
entertainment 1
Volume 10 - Issue 3
December 2008
South Brunswick High School
750 Ridge Road
Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852
Happy
Holidays
from The
Viking Vibe!
“Warning: Speed Can
Cause
Blurred
Vision”
Girls Cross Country Makes History!
Kayla Noll
2012
The girls cross country team finished
a historic season by winning the county
meet for the third consecutive year, the
Group IV Sectional Championship for
only the second time in school history
and placing 9th in the state at the Meet
of Champions for the first time.
In toal, they have had six dual meets,
and swept them all, giving them an undefeated season of 6-0.
On Saturday, November 1, the girls
won the Greater Middlesex County
(GMC) Championships, defeating the
other teams by a large margin.
Coming in first for the team, freshman Cayla Del Piano took third in the
county in the girls varsity race with a
time of 19:17.
Junior Sophia Ginez, who had just returned from a knee injury that took away
about a month of her training, still came
out on top, taking fifth place with a time
of 20:02.
Close behind was junior Lyndsey
Sample (20:23), senior Ashley Edwards
(20:24), junior Jenni Smilgis (20:26),
senior Kim McGrath (21:15), and junior
Amanda Smilgis (21:25). The team had
five girls finish in the top eight.
Ginez said that she had expected the
team to take first at the county meet.
“We put in a good summer, and county’s is where we get to show everyone
what were made of,” Ginez explained.
This is the Vikings’ third year in a row
winning GMCs, giving them a three
peat!
On November 8, the team took part
in the sectionals meet held at Thompson
Park. For the first time in 16 years, the
girls earned the first-place trophy by one
point, with five runners finishing in the
top twenty.
The Cross Country Group championships took place on Saturday, November 16 at Holmdel Park. In order for the
Vikings to advance they had to finish
in the top 3 or move on as a 4th or 5th
place wildcard, which meant that their
team time had to be better than any of
the other teams that finished 4th and 5th
in the other races.
Runners Cayla Del Piano, Sophia Ginez, and Ashley Edwards all finished in
the top 50. The team did not finish in the
top 3, but instead took 5th place.
It was a lucky day for the SB Girls, when
they moved on to the state meet (Meet Of
Champions) as the second wildcard.
At Holmdel Park, on November 22 the
girls cross country team ran their last race
of the 2008 season.
Sophia Ginez came in first for the team,
earning herself the title of the 38th best
cross country runner in the state of New
Jersey. Her time was 19:39.
Cayla Del Piano came in 53rd in the
state, with a time of 19:59. Jenni Smilgis was 64th (20:08), Lyndsey Sample
was 82nd (20:28), Ashley Edwards was
97th (20:46), Amanda Smilgis was 133th
(21:43), and Kim McGrath took 138th
place with a time of 21:50.
The Viking girls cross country team
has had successful seasons for the past
few years, but this season was special-due to the relative inexperience of the
team overall. There were eight new additions, five of them freshman.
“The transition from middle school
cross country to high school cross country was very difficult,” freshman Melanie
Huen said, “In middle school we only
had to run for twenty-five
minutes a day, in high
school we run much more
than that. Also, you have
to commit a lot more and
be very dedicated.”
Despite what people
may think, cross country
is not an easy sport. The
girls have been training
hard since the beginning
of July, running anywhere from six to ten
miles a day. Even though
it can get tough at times,
the girls just can’t keep
away.
Varsity runner and
senior Ashley Edwards
has returned to the team,
after missing the season
last year.
“It was a little scary
because it felt like I was
vibe:culture
Contribute to the new entertaiment section!
Writers meet on Tuesdays
in A205 with Mr. Honig.
starting over, but I was excited to be
back. It’s my last year and I wanted to
make the most of it,” Edwards said.
Even with all the new runners added
on this year, the team still remained very
small. Most of the cross country teams
in the county are almost double the size
of the Vikings, presenting South Brunswick’s team with both advantages and
disadvantages.
“If someone gets injured, it would
have a bigger impact on a small team,
than on a large team, but our small size
means we have a closer team. That is an
advantage that larger teams don’t have,”
said Ginez.
Coach Mr. Wilfredo Rivera said of
the team, “I am very proud of them. This
season we overcame a lot of injury and
conflicts but in the end, we were able
to accomplish something no other team
accomplished - going to the Meet of
Champions, the pinnacle of our sport.”
Girls XCC Team./PHOTOS COURTESY OF
Bill Gaze, www.bgsportshot.com
Check out the
http://www.sbschools.org/
schools/sbhs/school_information/
communications.php
2
The Viking Vibe
December 2008
From the
Editor’s Desk:
news
2008 in Review
First and foremost, we at the Viking Vibe would like to wish all of our readers
a spectacular holiday season, filled with warmth and joy and, hopefully, some snow.
And just as shopping malls, television commercials, and catalogs alike have
all built up the anticipation for the season that’s finally here, we’d also like to end
the build-up of our entertainment section by finally and formally introducing Vibe:
Culture--the pull-out at the center of the paper. Check out Vibe:Culture for reviews
of the latest films, Broadway shows, and music; and feel free to contribute, too!
We’ll sign off for the year with short & sweet recap of this year, Vibe-style. The
following is a list of the past ten front-page stories of 2008. Enjoy!
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
Senior:
October:
November:
December:
Dead Presidents Society Presents the Inaugural Ball
10 Seconds, by Bobby Petrocelli
Temptasian 2008
Mr. SBHS 2008 a Crowning Glory
Mirror Mural Reflects SBHS Community
Ctrl+S Earth
Senior Prom!
SBHS Dreams Big for Homecoming
“Leonardo Dreams” Take Flight
“Warning: Speed Can Cause Blurred Vision”
Anita Modi (‘09)
The Viking Vibe
2008-2009 Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Anita Modi
E-vibe Editor
Hannah Green
Layout Editor
Jovelle Tamayo
Managing Editor
Amy Rowe
Sports Editor
Tom Dunleavy
Illustrator
Amishi Desai
Editorial Staff
Zohrain Hassam, Natalie Twerdowsky,
Saadia Ahmad, Samantha Orlan, Roshni Shah
Staff
Corey Allen, Riya Arora, Justin Berger, Matthew Brown,
Alexis Bruno, Emily Campisano, Tori Capps, Prerana
Chatty, Jaya Chinnaya, Alyssa Chrysafis, Zachary Cohen,
Maxine Deines, Jennetta Dellapa, Brooke DelGuercio, Mark
Desmond, Kevin DeVito, Timothy Doehler, Sukanya Dutta,
Tajah Ebram, Rachel Finklestein, Georgia Foulds, Rosalia
Gambino, Breona Garrison, Andrew Gong, Joshua Gonzalez,
Kristen Huang, Brandon James, Bhanupriya Jayarangan,
William Johnston, Cassandra Joiner, Cassandra Kot, Melissa
Katz, Aaron Lassin, Minna Liu, Catherine Lordi, Gregory
Madia, Ramsha Mahmood, David Mariano,Cody McHugh,
Gunjan Mehta, Alissa Mesibov, Mona Mostafa, Michael
Muha, Monika Nandi, Suman Naringrekar, Sidney Nelson,
Kayla Noll, Alexa Padovano, Ashna Pai, Danilyn Parlow
Tanvi Parmar, Ellen Plocic, Ektaa Sanghvi, Priya Shah,
Kevin Shiraldi, Miranda Sirimis, Jordan Smtih, Jacob Stern,
Morgan Sturgeon, Nicole Tyburczy, Jeffrey Veith, Jessica
Warner, Michael Weber, Krystal Wilson, Keith Zients.
Advisor
Andrew Loh
The Viking Vibe welcomes article submissions and
letters to the editors, which may be delivered to Mr. Loh or
dropped off in his mailbox. Submissions can also be sent to
[email protected]. The Vibe reserves the right to edit,
shorten or comment on any material submitted to the
publication. The opinions expressed on the editorial page do
not necessarily represent the views of the advisor, editorial
staff, faculty, administrators
or the Board of Education.
Students interested in journalism are also encouraged to
join the Newspaper Club, held every Tuesday in room A204.
Letter to the Editor
re: The 5984 Facebook
Friendicus Personus
With the (fairly) recent internet phenomenon of social networking sites, an even
more (fairly) recent internet phenomenon has emerged: The 5984 Myspace/Facebook
Friendicus Personus.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s likely that one can have 5984
friends. Unless you define a friend as “someone whose face you vaguely recognize
if you were shopping in a crowded mall, but wouldn’t necessarily talk to if you were
waiting in line behind them at (insert name of store here).” Hopefully, this isn’t your
definition of a friend.
The Tipping Point, a book written by Malcolm Gladwell, mentions an apparently
well-supported, well-accepted theory that the maximum number of relationships a
single person can handle is 150. So technically speaking, it is not possible to have
more than 150 friends. In today’s social-networking age, 150 is not a large number at
all. In fact, I think some of you reading this may have Facebook friend numbers that
exceed 150. If you do, don’t get the wrong impression that you can’t have more than
150 friends. I’ll justify the possibility of having more than 150 friends later.
What I want to address is the fact that your “Facebook/Myspace/Bebo/Etc. friend
number” is a ridiculous, subjective, non-accurate measure of your popularity. The
logical reasoning behind it is this: the more Facebook/Myspace/Bebo/Etc. friends
you have, the more popular you are. This is both true and false. I’ve realized the
friend-adding business is beneficial to you and your new “friend,” even if you don’t
know each other at all. It boosts the number of friends you have, so both of you
appear more popular than you are. It’s a win-win situation, I guess.
On a personal note, I’ve turned down various friend requests because the
people’s names requesting my friendship were unfamiliar to me. Why the should
I consider someone who’s name I don’t even recognize as my “friend?” I’m not,
as Gladwell calls in Tipping Point, a Connector. A Connector easily makes many
friends and acquaintances from many different parts of society (e.g. an individual
with friends who are thespians, computer programmers, artists, and white-collar
workers) who play an essential role in making fads/ideas/etc. “tip”, or move past the
threshold, because of their influence in many different circles of society.
Yeah, I’m not that. But I’m pretty sure it’s possible for the Connectors out there
to have thousands of friends—genuine friends who aren’t just there to boost their
Facebook/Myspace/Bebo/Etc. Friend Number Count. To the Connectors out there, I
salute you. To the 5984 Myspace/Facebook Friendicus Personus, shame on you for
using people to boost your pseudo-popularity on social networking sites.
Perhaps the 150 theory should be revised in this new age of social networking.
We now have the resources that enable us to keep relationships alive that would have
otherwise deteriorated without any convenient forms of “friend-like” communication.
I don’t believe 150 is the “magic number”, especially because of the Connectors
out there who have 5984 genuine friends (“friend” being defined as “someone you
wouldn’t mind talking to if you were standing behind them in line at a store.” So
I guess that would include acquaintances as well). For the people who have 5984
“friends,” you need to get off the internet and go find some real friends.
Catherine Guo (‘09)
news
December 2008
Night Conferences
a Success
Prerana Chatty
2009
SBHS students see their teachers
every day. Their parents, on the other
hand, only have one opportunity to see
their child’s teachers during the first
quarter, the words some dread- parent-teacher conferences. Parent-teacher
conferences take in the afternoon as
well as the evenings to benefit working
parents. This night parent-teacher conference seemed to have been a success
because of its new arena-style format.
SBHS parents have three days in
which they can attend conferences with
their child’s teachers, including three afternoon conferences which parents can
attend from 1:00- 2:30. However, many
parents such as working parents, cannot sacrifice time in the middle of the
day to attend conferences. Therefore,
SBHS offers one night conference from
6:45-9:00 for parents to attend.
This night conference, this year however, followed a different structure than
the more traditional afternoon conferences. All teachers were designated to
one of the cafeterias or gyms. Parents
received a sheet with the listing of all
department locations. They could then
move to the provided location on the
sheet to meet a specific teacher.
According to SBHS Principal Mr.
Timothy Matheney, this system was
used because “it became very obvious
…that the current format for night conferences was not working. The lines
got really long. Sometimes, the parents
and teachers were not aware that there
were really long lines outside the door.”
This structure also solved another problem common among SBHS
parents during conference week.
“My dad has never been to the high
school before,” stated freshman Neha
Dutta, whose father attended an afternoon conference, “He was really confused because he had to go to all the
classes across the entire building.”
The night conferences seemed to
have received a more positive feedback.
“The system is so much better now,”
said junior Sanjana Proddutur, who has
attended night conferences with her
parents for the past three years, “We
don’t have to go all the way to classes,
so we can make better use of our time.”
The results of the night-conferences
were positive from SBHS parents, as
demonstrated by surveys conducted.
“We received 109 written surveys back
from the parents,” Mr. Matheney said, “and
of those 109 surveys, 106 were positive.”
It is evident that the arena format was
a success. Yet, that leaves one question
to be answered. Why is there only one?
“It is mainly because we only have
one afternoon scheduled in compensatory time,” Mr. Matheney explained. “For
every time we hold the teachers back,
we have to give them an afternoon off.”
Every year, parent-teacher conference week in SBHS is scheduled so
that there are four half-days in the week
and one full-day. Of the four half-days,
afternoon conferences take place on
three, and the night conference takes
place on one. The fourth half-day is
considered as compensatory time.
According to Mr. Matheney, another night conference seemed unnecessary, as the first conference
was so prudent and time-efficient.
“I don’t know if a second evening conference night is necessary,” Mr. Matheney
said, “I noticed that there were very few
short lines by nine. If there had still been
long lines by nine, I’d consider it.”
Freshman Avani Shah agreed,
“My parents went to night conferences and they said the lines were really short and it was really empty.”
Mr. Matheney added, “The whole
evening worked because of our hardworking custodial staff, Mr. Varela,
and Ms. Murphy. They were all crucial to making the setup work and the
whole night as successful as it was.”
Check out the
Vibe Blog for
audio feeds,
photo reels, and
videos!
http://blogs.
sbschools.org/
vikingvibe/
Feel free to post
your comments and
thoughts on our latest
issue!
The Viking Vibe
3
Dead Presidents Society
Anticipates Inauguration
Trip to Washington, D.C.
Above: DPS members pose in the annex; Below: Ms. Gaylord conducts a
DPS meeting./PHOTOS BY Saadia Ahmad (‘10)
The club goes on many other trips
Miranda Sirimis
throughout
the year, some of which inKristen Huang
clude
a
tour
of New York City on a dou2012
ble decker bus, a trip to Ellis Island, and
a trip to Williamsburg.
This year, the Dead Presidents SoNot only does the club go on many
ciety will be going to Washington DC trips throughout the year, but they also
on January 18 through the 21 to see the plan many school-wide events. One of
Presidential Inauguration of President- these events is the Inaugural Ball, which
Elect Barack Obama.
all members of the community can atThe itinerary for the Inauguration trip tend in addition to club-members. It is a
includes trips to various Smithsonian semi-formal dance with a DJ and food.
museums, a private tour of the Capital This year the Inaugural Ball will be held
Building, and of course The Presidential on January 9.
Inauguration.
This year, the club will also host their
The Dead Presidents Society is grow- annual Duct Tape a Teacher event in
ing increasingly popular each year.
May and a second car show.
“When the club first started here there
“Students can understand things betwere a dozen kids,” stated Ms. Corie ter by going places. History can actually
Gaylord, one of the advisors of the club. be a lot of fun,” said Ms. Gaylord.
“According to my list now, there are
When some people hear the word hisover one hundred kids.”
tory, they often associate it with a boring
In order to maximize the attendees, class. Others think that history is defiDPS and its advisors have been fund- nitely vital to students’ curriculum.
raising to make the trip as affordable
“Learning about the past is very imas possible. Some fundraisers that they portant,” said freshman Emma Rusbarhave conducted include selling Major sky.
Car Wash gift certificates, coordinating
The 46 students that are going to
the Autotrendz car show, and spending Washington D.C. in January, participata day at Confectionately Yours where ing in one of the most historical eleca portion of all proceeds was given to tions to date, think likewise.
DPS.
4
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
news
South Brunswick High School: 08852
Lessons You Won’t Learn In High School Classrooms
Ektaa Sanghvi and
Alyssa Chrysafis
2012 and 2010
South Brunswick High School
provides a well-rounded education to
its students; however, this education
is not limited to what teachers lecture.
Similar to the popular television show,
90210, students learn most of their life
skills from high school. These skills
include multitasking, working under
tremendous
pressure,
maintaining
serious relationships, and handling social
cliques. Let’s face it, there are many
more reasons to love school-texting,
drama, cliques-than to love waking up
early to solve exponential functions in
calculus.
Tackling the Pressure of High School:
Most commonly, students make sure
to exercise their usage of procrastination,
or as they would like to call it, their
ability to work under pressure efficiently.
Thanks to block scheduling, SBHS
students have an extra day to complete
their homework, although completing
assignments the class before they are
due, is proven to be just as effective.
“I’m always busy after school, and
I sit in the back of most of my classes,
so I always get away with doing my
homework in class,” admitted junior
Alison Burnett. “I know it works
because I always get my homework
done on time.”
Of course, students don’t have time to
do homework after school because they
need to keep up with their social lives
by gossiping on AIM or stalking each
other on Facebook. This of course does
not interfere with required amounts of
sleep, because there is always time left
to sleep during class.
When asked what his favorite class
is, freshman Michael Knapp answered,
“HAP- because you get to sleep.”
Choose Friends Wisely, Or There Will
Be Drama:
Students will tell you that social
cliques can make or break you; this
being a particularly important life
lesson that high school will provide you
with. Basically, it is known that where
a person sits in the cafeteria categorizes
them, introducing their place in society.
High school students are best known
for being melodramatic. A simple walk
in the hallway can be perfect for drama
sightings or historic catfights. Many
students are known for keeping their
guards up, making drama especially
achievable, even desirable. But that can’t
be true, because of course, everyone
hates drama, right?
Chemistry teacher, Dr. Roberto Debari,
said high schools students know “how to
create drama out of nothing.” There it is;
SBHS students have perfected this skill.
Although, keeping your guard
up seems like a preventative action
for drama, paranoia can cause mere
accusations or meaningless rumors to
seem amplified.
High School Sweethearts:
Students have also learned about
the dynamics, and many steps of a
relationship. First there is talking,
togetherness, and then soon, your
Facebook status might advance to “In a
relationship.” Beginning in high school,
you can learn the dynamics of “serious”
relationships. The most serious ones,
of course, last about two months. After
that, things seem to get monotonous.
“I never see my friends anymore
because they’re always with their
boyfriends,” said sophomore Disha
Mathur, “I know that I’ll have them back
in a few weeks.”
T3xting in sk00l:
Text messaging has become an
epidemic and greatly affects the student
body. Face it, we all know how to text
message while in class without teachers
noticing. By junior year, students have
become very familiar with the building
and more importantly, the teachers.
Within four years, students learn that
stressing out vocal chords is simply
unnecessary when they can just as easily
text their friend sitting next to them. (To
learn more about slick texting, see How
to Hide Your Cell Phones: A Humorous
Look at a Daily Battle in the October
issue.)
Andrea Zuckerman of Beverly Hills:
90210 said, “We haven’t just learned
facts and figures, logic and reasoning
skills, but we have learned the value
of friendship— friendship, loyalty, and
love.”
While students are very passionate
about learning, there are many other
tools for life that can be learned at South
Brunswick High School. Things that are
important to students now may be a lot
less important when they are older, but
be that as it may, students learn a lot from
high school than test of significance and
chi-square tests.
Jones New York in the Classroom:
Where Fashion Meets Education
Justin Berger
2011
Ms. Yoshi Lassiter has taught English
at South Brunswick High School for
seven years. She’s the mother of 3-year
old Jayna Lassiter. She’s also currently a
Sergeant First Class for the United States
Army working as an Army Reserves
Career Counselor. Now, Ms. Lassiter
can add modeling to her growing list of
accomplishments.
Because of her involvement with
the program Jones New York in the
Classroom, Ms. Lassiter had the
opportunity to stride down the runway
in the Macy’s at Bridgewater Commons
Mall wearing outfits designed by Jones
New York on October 11.
The show was one of many held by
the fashion line, which donates money
to three non-profit organizations:
TeachersCount, Fund for Teachers’, and
Adopt-a-Classroom. All three of the
charities focus on improving classroom
conditions for teachers across the
country.
Ms. Lassiter first learned of the
show from her twin sister, who teaches
in Somerset and was also able to
participate.
“My sister’s always on the internet,”
Ms. Lassiter said, “She found this, sent
the link to me, and we got chosen.”
Ms. Lassiter, her sister, and four other
teachers from the area had a fitting six
days before (as well as one practice run
an hour before) the show.
Ms. Lassiter didn’t go without any
experience however; as a child she got
a taste of the fashion industry in “a few
community fashion shows.”
Although not widely attended by
students, the fashion show was still a
popular idea.
Ms. Lassiter enjoyed the event,
saying, “It was one of the best rewards
I’ve received in my tenure as an educator,
next to seeing my students graduate.”
No fame or fortune came to Ms.
Lassiter since the show, but it served as
a reminder of the variety of ways to lend
a hand to others.
The Jones New York in the
Classroom experience./PHOTOS
COURTESY OF Ms. Yoshi
Lassiter
features
The Typical Wish List:
Gift Ideas and the
Latest Trends
Miranda Bhanuj
2009
With the holidays approaching, the
malls are as crowded as ever with people struggling to find the perfect holiday
gift for their friends and family. With the
economic struggles, people are having a
difficult time finding the perfect gift at
an affordable price.
“It’s very hard to find good gifts for
everyone, especially when everyone
likes different things,” said junior, Louisa Sirimis.
The malls are filled with thousands of
different holiday gifts for every person
and every age group. A popular gift item
that many students have on their wish
list is the popular Apple iPhone.
The iPhone is a brand new device
that helps Americans out in their daily
lives but also serves as entertainment. It
has a touch screen, email, GPS, music
player and a phone all in one. For any
music lover the new iPod nano is also a
popular music accessory.
However, some people electronics
can be expensive.
“I think that electronics are nice but
too expensive and unnecessary,” said
sophomore, Elena Georgopoulos.
A number of high school students also
try to get smaller gifts for their friends
during the holidays. Some trendy ideas
can include lotions and other cosmetics from Bath and Bath Body Works or
iTunes Gift Cards. Gift cards are a good
idea for the people that are always hard
to shop for.
2008 has surely been a year where
many new gadgets have been invented
to help out American’s daily lives. A new
gadget this year is Clocky. Clocky is a
moving alarm clock that rolls off your
nightstand and hides when you don’t
turn off the alarm. This is sure to make
any lazy sleeper get up in the morning. It
is priced at around fifty dollars.
Another popular gadget is the digital photo keychain, which allows the
consumer to carry various numbers of
photos in a small compact device. This
item’s cost can range anywhere from
twenty to fifty dollars.
Some people, however, depend on
gadgets too much to help them perform
simple tasks.
“I think that people are too obsessed
with all the latest gadgets,” said sophomore, Pooja Shah. “I really could care
less about all these new things.”
As many people should know the
economy hasn’t been in a very stable
condition. With so many people unemployed, it has been difficult for holiday
shoppers to find affordable gift items.
“I make a budget for all my shopping
trips so I don’t spend too much,” says
Spanish teacher, Ms. Vilma Riestra.
For those people who are on a budget
there are plenty of alternatives instead
of spending money. From scrapbooks to
photo frames, these are the gifts that are
truly treasured.
“I make bracelets for all my friends
instead of buying things,” says senior,
Jenn Zelaya.
Annual Craft Show
Raises Money for Project
Graduation
Hannah Green
2009
On Saturday November 29, SBHS
hosted its 4th annual craft show. The
event raised money for Project Graduation.
Mrs. Mariann Long, who ran the event,
said “ The event went very well -- over
800 people came to our Craft Show. We
are still going through our expenses, but
I think that we made between $5,000$5,500 for Project Graduation.”
The craft show was held from 10
am to 4 pm, and the admission cost was
$2. Over 70 vendors from the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area set up tables
in the first floor hallways and the blue
cafeteria. They were selling a variety of
items, including clothing, jewelry, handmade scarves and hats, picture frames,
holiday wreathes, SBHS apparel, and
athletic merchandise.
Vendors also contributed items to
a Tricky Tray Auction, where people
bought a number of tickets and could
choose to put them in the bags for
whichever items they hoped to win.
There were also door prizes and the
Craft Show Café, which sold snacks and
drinks.
Parent and student volunteers helped
before, during, and after the craft show,
collecting admission money, working at
the Tricky Tray Auction and Craft Show
Café, assisting vendors, and setting and
cleaning up.
“It was good to have so many volunteers,” said senior Lauren Nissenblatt,
“A lot of people came out to support
Project Graduation.”
The event was held to benefit SBHS
Project Graduation. Project Gradation
raises money for a drug and alcohol free
all night celebration after SBHS seniors
graduate in June. South Brunswick has
been organizing this event for over a decade. Other fundraisers, such as a used
book sale and another shopping night,
will be held later in the year.
Senior Becca Dahl said, “Seniors
all look forward to Project Graduation
night, so its great that we’re already raising money for it,”
Mrs. Long said, “People can contribute to Project Graduation in many ways:
Sponsor-a-Senior, come to one of our
events, volunteer, or just a direct donation to the Class of 2009!”
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
5
Twilight,
New Moon,
Ecilpse,
Breaking Dawn:
The Twilight Series
Sweeps SBHS
Jaya Chinnaya and
Tanvi Parmar
2012 and 2012
A “vegetarian” vampire has stolen the
hearts of teen girls all across the nation,
and SBHS is no exception. Edward Cullen embodies perfection, especially since
he is in love with an average, everyday
girl, Bella Swan. The love story that author Stephanie Meyer has brought to life
through the Twilight saga, a Teen People
“Hot List” pick. All four novels elicited
a total of $6.6 million in sales, outselling
the first four Harry Potter novels by J.K.
Rowling by about $5 million. The first
success of the series is now a $70.6 million box office hit produced by Summit
Entertainment.
Many who have not been sucked into
the Twilight whirlpool have one question in mind – what made this story such
a success?
“The storyline was unique and though
it was fiction, it felt so realistic as I read
it,” said freshman Saradha Natarajan,
“Each novel in the series is a page turner
and it’s finally possible to fall in love
with a fictional character.”
Based on the craze behind this “Romeo and Juliet meets Dracula” love story, Meyer seems to have an innate talent
when it comes to making readers really
believe. Every word from her novels
seems to capture the attention in a way
that makes the story seem real. Sophomore Lisa Zhu said that the story allows
girls to fantasize about their dream guy
and “fill Bella’s shoes.”
There are aspects of this odd couple
that draws the attention of not just teen
girls but people of all ages and even gender.
“It was a heart-warming story,” said
SBHS parent Namrata Mohanty, “Edward Cullen certainly knows how to
steal a show.”
The love-struck teen girls are not the
only ones who have been swept away by
this soon-to-be called classic.
“It’s obvious by the high-pitched
screaming and dreamy eyes that Twilight fans are mostly made up of girls.
However, I found that both the saga and
move were enjoyable. I am not in love
with Edward Cullen like every other
fan, but I do admire the story and pivotal
plot,” explained freshman Aakash Patel.
The movie interpretation of “Twilight” that took $37 million to make has
raised mixed opinions of several SBHS
students.
“I liked the book a lot better for many
reasons. It was more detailed and the
movie left out a lot of interesting parts.
Also, it seemed a little rushed because
the movie didn’t show how Bella and
Edward fell in love,” said sophomore
Disha Mathur, “I think the movie needed to be a little more romantic. Overall,
I thought the movie wasn’t that bad, but
I still prefer the book.”
Freshman Sahil Bambulkar said, “I
didn’t like the movie at all. The lead actors were a bit spastic and awkward on
screen. Some parts of the movie actually
seemed like a parody; like the directior
was making fun of the book.”
Despite the indifference towards the
movie, it was in the Top Five box office
hits within its first week of release. For
those who were not satisfied with the
film, the next novel will not be directed
by Cahterine Hardwicke.
Another aspect of this vampire frenzy is the Twilight soundtrack packed
with artists like Paramore, Linkin Park,
Mjuse, and even a song by Rob Pattinson, the actor who plays Edward Cullen.
One of the tracks, “Decode” by Paramore, is number three on iTunes, and the
music video was used as a movie preview. Almost every song was written especially for the film. It shows that even
the background music was a success.
The hysteria behind this “legend
meets modern love” story is not expected to die down anytime soon. So
for now, sink your teeth into the magical
world of Twilight.
The Twilight movie proved a huge
hit, fueling the craze of Stephenie
Meyer’s four-book series./
PHOTOS COURTESY OF The
Associated Press
6
The Viking Vibe
December 2008
Concert Choir Goes to
Carnegie Hall
Melissa Katz and
Jess Warner
2011
On November 23, 2008, the South
Brunswick High School Concert Choir had
the chance of a lifetime when they performed
at Carnegie Hall in New York City. They were
one of nine choirs who performed during the
New England Symphonic Ensemble concert.
South Brunswick’s was the only high school
choir to grace the famous stage that day.
“Performing there was amazing! The
sound quality of the hall was breathtaking
and the view from the stage into the audience
was one to remember,” said sophomore choir
singer Alyson Hogan.
Carnegie Hall was founded by Andrew
Carnegie in 1891 and is one of the most
recognizable concert halls in the United
States for live musical performances. About
250 performances are held at Carnegie Hall
each year and South Brunswick was lucky
enough to be represented at one of them.
“It was the most amazing experience of
my life. People wait their entire lives to get
an opportunity like singing at Carnegie Hall
and most never get it,” said senior Theresa
Tuskey, “To think that I experienced it as a
high school senior is just surreal.”
The performance hall imposes a lasting
impression on most of its performers and the
South Brunswick choir members could not
agree more.
“My jaw dropped. It was gorgeous, and
very overwhelming,” Tuskey added.
“When I first stepped on to the stage
at Carnegie Hall, I was speechless,” said
sophomore Demetri Mavronicolas.
Together the concert choir sang with other
vocal groups. The songs they performed
were Mark Hayes’ “Te Deum” and John
Rutter’s “Gloria.” Both songs are becoming
quite popular in the music world.
The high school choir practiced every
other day in class. On Friday, November 21
and Saturday, November 22, the choir went
to New York to rehearse with the other choirs
scehduled to perform on the same night. The
choir members strive to sing their best and
represent their school with dignity.
“There is a saying; the only way to get to
Carnegie Hall is practice, practice and more
practice,” choir director Mrs. Ginny Kraft
said.
Junior Daniella Elia said, “The experience
was unbelievable. Not many people can say
that they have sang at Carnegie Hall and I
feel honored and blessed to have been able
to partake in it.”
news
Turn the
Music Up!
Commercial Songs
“
My
jaw
d
r
o
p
p
e
d.
Amy Rowe
2009
It
was
gorgeous.
”
-Theresa
Tuskey
(‘09)
Glimpses of SBHS’s Concert Choir./PHOTOS COURTESY OF South
Brunswick Music Department
Commercials used to be really
boring. Maybe because when we were
younger, they weren’t as entertaining as
they are now. Or maybe they are just as
entertaining but we have grown up and
gained the ability to sit through them
patiently. Whatever the reason, I know
that I find commercials very amusing,
and that is because they feature great
music in the background.
I have noticed a lot of indie music
in commercials recently. Just the other
day I was lounging on the couch, and I
heard “Pink Batman” by Dan Deacon
in a commercial for the Crayola “Glow
Station.”
“I heard ‘The Crane Wife 3’ by The
Decemberists in a Beijing Olympics
advertisement and, god, it was really
exciting,” said senior Jovelle Tamayo.
Other notable indie songs in
commercials are “The Bleeding Heart
Show” by The New Pornographers in
a University of Phoenix commercial,
“5 Years Time” by Noah and the Whale
and “Lolita” by Throw Me the Statue
in Saturn commercials, “Oh Mojave”
by The Ruby Suns in a Windows Vista
commercial, and every Santogold
song in just about every Budweiser
commercial.
So what is that all about? It looks like
indie artists with generally underground
followings are cashing in their catchy
songs for the big bucks.
Social Studies teacher, Mr. Justin
Negraval added to this notion saying,
“Companies like Microsoft may shy
away from paying the Rolling Stones
millions of dollars for the use of ‘Start
Me Up,’ when they can find a catchy
song by an independent artist and cut a
cheaper deal with them.”
Does this put indie artists’ “authentic”
music into the hands of a lot of
mainstream listeners? Yes. Does this
upset fans that have been following these
artists before their commercial success?
Somewhat.
“Independent artists are certainly
selling out through commercials. Take
M.I.A. for example. A few seconds of
her single ‘Paper Planes’ during the
Pineapple Express trailer and basically
everyone knows it by heart. It is sort of
a let down to those people who listened
to her beforehand,” said senior Brendan
Coleman.
I do not necessarily view indie artist’s
commercial success negatively. The
songs are good and deserve to be heard
by wider audiences.
“Indie songs aid in creating an image
in the minds of commercial viewers.
Perhaps you have a favorite song that
reminds you of a certain time and place
in your life. Companies don’t want that
memory. They want you to hear a song
and remember their product,” said Mr.
Negraval.
I do get territorial of my music
sometimes, it’s almost as if companies
are exploiting it through commercials.
One eye-rolling instance was in an
Outback Steakhouse advertisement that
featured Of Montreal’s “Wraith Pinned
to the Mist (And Other Games)”. The
restaurant changed the lyrics from
“Let’s pretend we don’t exist/Let’s
pretend we’re in Antarctica” to “Let’s go
Outback tonight/Life will still be here
tomorrow”. Who thinks of Of Montreal
when they think of steak? I was first mad
about this commercial, but I warmed up
to its cheesiness and got used to hearing
my favorite bands while watching TV.
In fact, many students have.
Senior Calvin Gohd even started a
“Commercial Songs” group on Facebook
in which members exchange their
knowledge of songs in commercials so
that others can appreciate the music.
Gohd said “I like a lot of commercial
songs. It’s nice to be able to identify
music for other people and see what
members can contribute to the group as
well”.
So what may have initially began
as an annoyance actually turned into
amusement. Indie bands deserve a little
credit here and there, even if the words
“indie” and “commercial” are a bit
contradictory.
Screenshot from Apple’s iPod nano commercial
featuring “1234” by Feist/PHOTO COURTESY OF
community.livejournal.com.
news
SBHS Students Participate in
JSA Fall State Convention
Zach Cohen
Aaron Lassin
2010, 2011
During the weekend of November 15-16,
the Junior Statesmen of America (JSA)
ventured to Cherry Hill for a weekend of
good times debating with over 700 fellow
students from various places at its annual
Fall State trip.
Sophomore Siddhartha Bhupathiraju
said, “This was my first JSA convention,
and it was absolutely amazing. The
debates were really interesting, and I met
some really cool people who I would not
have met otherwise.”
JSA arrived at the Crown Plaza hotel,
where the convention was held, early
Saturday morning for the opening events,
which included short speeches from the
students who planned the convention.
With 32 students attending, South
Brunswick was not only one of the
largest groups at the convention, but also
included many coordinators.
Lieutenant Governor Manas Kulkarni,
Convention
Coordinator
Skanda
Amarnath and Head of Activism Stephen
Kaplan all made brief opening remarks to
those in attendance.
After the opening, students dispersed
into various rooms each with a different
debate topic which varied from debates
about America’s current financial crisis
to debates about America’s conflicts with
other countries.
Following a recess for lunch, the
students piled into the main hall to
listen to a speech from current mayor
of Philadelphia, Mr. Michael Nutter. He
spoke to the students about his struggle in
his local election, his work for the city of
Philadelphia, and his thrill to see so many
students involved in the current events of
the world.
He then fielded questions from the
audience, which varied from education to
the Phillies win of the World Series.
Junior Bindi Patel said, “Mayor Nutter
was a extremely good speaker. I thought
it was very nice of him to talk to us,
and even nicer to let us ask him some
questions.”
Following his speech, the students
once again walked off to the conference
rooms where they could further practice
their debating skills. Students had the
opportunity beforehand to sign up to
speak at or moderate a debate, which
many South Brunswick students took
advantage of.
In between debates, there were many
fundraising activities to raise money for
the attending chapters. Some fundraisers
were also held on behalf of the two main
charities of the convention, the Central
Asia Institute, and Kiva. The Central Asia
Institute helps education in the Middle
East by funding school construction,
teacher salaries, and scholarships. Kiva
is an organization that gives loans to help
start up small businesses in the Middle
East.
Kaplan said, “We picked the Central
Asia Institute because we think it’s a
really great organization, and it’s also in
Asia like our other charity Kiva.”
According to Kulkarni, charged with
the Community Service department of
JSA, Kiva was chosen randomly at a JSA
Cabinet retreat held in early September of
2008.
“We raised over 1000 dollars,” Kulkarni
reported, “It was much more successful
than our efforts last year.”
After debating and dinner the students
were able to loosen up and put on casual
clothes for some night-time fun. They
first had the opportunity to participate
in Quiz Bowl, in which a team of people
from each chapter competed to answer
general knowledge questions. They also
could participate in the Master Debater
game, which involved in debating an
often silly topic for laughs. A mock trial
of Elliot Spitzer v. State of New York was
also held.
Students later had a choice to either
participate in a dance with their peers, or
in a Guitar Hero tournament for charity.
The next morning was spent engaging
in more debates before students gathered
for the closing of the convention. All
those who spoke at the opening gave
speeches again, then announced best
speaker awards.
South Brunswick boasted Ellis Klein,
Skanda Amarnath, Zach Cohen, Emil
Chen, Stephen Kaplan, and Sanjay Paul,
as best speaker award-winners.
South Brunswick Advisor Ms. Keisha
Thom said, “That was exciting and great!
I think it speaks of the strength from our
chapter as a whole.”
The students then said their goodbyes
to friends from other chapters of other
schools, and boarded their respective
buses to come home.
Congratulations to...
Skanda Amarnath
Ellis Klein
Emil Chen
Zack Cohen
Steve Kaplan
Manas Kulkarni
and
Sanjay Paul
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
7
Viking Volunteers Help
the “Camelmobile”
The bookmobile on the road./PHOTO COURTESY OF The Camel Bookmobile
Bhanu Jayarangan and
Ektaa Sanghvi
2011, 2012
South Brunswick High School,
through Viking Volunteers, collected
books from November 17 to November
21 for the Camel Bookmobile, an organization designed to provide books for
poor villagers in Kenya.
The Camel Bookmobile started in
1996 with three camels which travel
with books secured on its back, bringing
the joy of reading to people all over Kenya. Today, the group has 12 camels that
travel to four settlements a day, four days
a week. The patrons of the Bookmobile
are often semi-nomadic people who are
forced to live with drought, famine and
extreme poverty.
“If you have books you’re not using,
it’s better to donate to these children so
that they get a chance to a better life,”
said sophomore Taban Khan.
For one week, the members of Viking
Volunteers gathered 300-400 books—
from children’s storybooks to books
about history and geography.
“Here we have so much access to
books. We can go to the library, or just
pick up a book and start reading. Some-
times we don’t realize how lucky we
are,” sophomore Rosie Cosgrave, the
organizer of the book drive, said. “Many
people in these villages don’t have other
opportunities to educate themselves.”
To students in a community like
South Brunswick, reading seems like
such a simple activity, whereas in other
parts of the world, opening up a book is
like learning a new language.
As Cosgrove explained, a disconnect exists between the people of Kenya
and their government. While the government conducts itself in English, the
people of Kenya usually don’t develop
fluency in that language, instead speaking their native languages of Swahili or
Somali. Donations of books written in
English could help the Kenyan people
be more in tune with their government.
In addition to books, the Viking Volunteers are looking to collect money at
a later date to cover the cost of shipping
and perhaps the cost of another camel to
deliver the books throughout Kenya.
“We are hoping to collect as much as
we possibly can,” stated Cosgrave, noting that at least $350 would be needed
for the minimal shipping costs.
“They have limited resources in Africa,” noted sophomore Milan Modi,
“And they need the books in order to get
the education they need.”
8
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
Pasta.
Rice.
Tofurkey.
A Look at the Vegan/
Vegetarian’s Holiday Table
news
Exploring the history
behind
Thanksgiving
Day Parade
Elizabeth Puzio
2010
Emily Campisano
Morgan Sturgeon
2010
Most imagine a holiday feast consisting of various golden-brown meats,
fresh, warm stuffing, steaming hot
gravy, and many other appetizing side
dishes crowding the table.
For some, however, this dinner table
camaraderie is harder to come by than
for others: those who are vegetarian or
vegan cannot join their families in the
often meat-centered festivities.
Since vegetarians don’t eat meat,
fish, or poultry, they have difficulty finding substantial alternatives. But what is
even harder to find are meals for vegans,
who don’t eat any animal products or
by-products, such as eggs, dairy products, or honey.
Junior Chelsea Gohd said, “Sometimes I separately make myself a salad
or some tofu, and I also eat a lot of broccoli and corn, but there are not a whole
lot of options.”
While Thanksgiving features turkey
as its main course, Christmas can bring
conflict because of its main courses of
pork and ham. The seven dishes of fish,
a popular Christmas meal for Italians, is
similarly out-of-bounds for vegetarians.
Meat is a prominent feature of traditional Jewish holiday meals, as well.
Two out of the five items on the Passover Seder plate are derived from animals, and therefore must be avoided by
vegans.
It can be a challenge for holiday party
hosts to accommodate vegetarians and
vegans.
As a vegetarian, senior Mark Ruf said
he “sticks with the vegetables, like potatoes. The host will usually make sure a
pasta is made and placed next to me.”
Since 3% of 8- to 18-year-olds are
vegetarian, it is a rising concern to appropriately accommodate their needs
in an easy and suitable way according
to the poll information section of www.
vrg.org.
Senior Calvin Gohd said, “It’s occasionally inconvenient because I ate
meat when I was younger and know
how good it tastes. It’s sometimes hard
when everyone else is eating delicious
food and I’m stuck with a salad.”
Those who choose to forgo meat may
also be faced with scrutiny from family
and the difficulty of finding adequate
food. This can cause extra stress on
them as well as on their hosts during the
holiday season.
Ruf said, “It is really annoying when
my family grills me and questions my
views about giving up meat.”
While the holidays may be somewhat
straining for vegetarians, most report
that the rewards of their choice are unmatchable.
Gohd said, “[People generally] can’t
think how someone could stop eating
meat because I guess they see the pros
of it tasting good outweighing their food
morals. It’s just the opposite with me.”
Even though the holiday season
brings some stress and inconvenience
along with it for vegetarians, many respect and admire their arduous choice.
Junior Alison Burnett said, “ I don’t
know how [vegans and vegetarians] restrain themselves, especially around the
holidays.”
Whether it involves gathering around
a tofurky or a Christmas ham, all can
enjoy and be thankful for the time they
have together during the happiest season
of all. However, supplying the proper
replacement foods like tofu, vegetables,
and other foods not derived from animals could make the holidays easier for
vegetarians and vegans.
Although the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day parade is held on Thanksgiving
morning, the conclusion of the parade
marks the beginning of the Christmas
season. Since the first parade held in
Manhattan in 1924, Macy’s has been
thrilling crowds with lavish floats and
breath-taking balloons.
Macy’s.com, which hosts the official Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
website, states that every Thanksgiving
morning, millions line the streets of the
two-and-a-half-mile-long parade route
and millions more tune in to enjoy the
annual parade from the comfort of their
homes.
Throughout the parade, if watching
from home, audiences enjoy a bird’s eye
view of the route from a video taken
from a helicopter. Those lucky enough
to get seats in front of Macy’s can enjoy
performances from popular Broadway
shows, marching bands, cheerleading
squads, and various musical talents.
Right before Santa Claus makes his
debut, the Rockettes annually awe the
crowds keeping the Christmas spirit and
tradition of the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade alive.
Junior Julie Rekant said, “Going to
the parade was an amazing experience.
There is so much energy and excitement
and I will never forget how much fun it
was.”
Parade-goers note that even when
standing along the crowded city streets
in the cold as a spectator, the parade is
an incredible and overall unforgettable
experience.
According to the aforementioned
website, balloons were not incorporated
into the parade until 1928 when helium
balloons were released as grand finale.
When they unexpectedly burst above the
Manhattan skyline, Macy’s began working on balloons that would last longer. In
1929 these stronger balloons made their
debut, boasting return address labels
and offering prizes to those who found
and returned them to Macy’s. With these
stronger balloons so successful, Walt
Disney and Macy’s collaborated in 1934
to create the first Mickey Mouse balloon. From then on, the parade continued to grow, incorporating hundreds of
other balloons, theatrics, and floats, until
it became what it is today.
Junior Danielle Bartolotta said, “This
year I went to go and see the balloons
being filled the day before the parade,
and it’s amazing how much effort people
put into it. The parade has truly become
an American tradition, and without it, it
would not feel like the holiday season
has officially begun.”
The parade has been held each year,
rain or shine. The only years the parade
was not held were 1942-1944 when
Macy’s donated the rubber from the balloons to the war effort. When the parade
re-debuted, it was televised for the first
time, catching the attention of millions.
This information, along with a more
detailed explanation of the parade’s history, can be found on the official Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day parade website.
“If you can find an opportunity to go
to the parade, you shouldn’t pass it up,”
junior Lauren Lally said, “Being on the
cold streets of NYC on Thanksgiving
morning is something that every American should experience at least once in
their lives, and not just from their homes
by watching it on TV. Being there is really a completely different experience
and the parade is so much more exciting.”
vibe:culture
The Return of The Dark Knight
A double-sided second look at 2008’s biggest film, now available on DVD
Alex Kuhn
2009
Craig Maltese
2009
Alex Kuhn (‘09)
I must be completely honest with you, I wanted
so bad to hate this movie, I wanted it to be the polar
opposite of everything everybody said it was. But I
sit here, with the sad realization that I, Craig Maltese,
actually fell in love with a pop culture phenomenon.
The Dark Knight, the movie everyone who has
turned on a T.V is aware of, is truly worth spending 152
minutes on. Christian Bale once again returns to the
big screen playing his second role as Batman, a crime
fighting millionaire from Gotham City. Bale plays the
rich pretty-boy role beautifully, and crime fighting hero
even better. In this latest installment on the Batman
series, Batman finds himself facing off against the joker,
played by the late great Heath Ledger.
Another one of those things I didn’t want to admit—
Heath Ledger’s performance, though not flawless, was
absolutely Goosebump-inducing. In the beautifully
filmed interrogation scene, Ledger is getting beaten
by a cop, and as he lays bloody and bruised, he laughs
hysterically. Ledger does a beautiful job of blending
a sadistic criminal mind with a disturbed lost soul to
create the unstoppable force that is The Joker.
Aaron Eckhart has the single most dynamic character
arc in the movie, and the greatest part about it is that
it is believable all the way through. Aaron Eckhart plays
Harvey Dent, the fresh new DA in Gotham, who has
ambitious ideas about how to clean up crime. Harvey
Dent was by far the hardest roll to play in the movie.
Eckhart shows a full range of emotions from rage to
happiness, and everything in between. The beautiful
thing about his acting is we believe him all the way.
The special effects in this movie were absolutely
stunning, from explosions to the awesome gadgets.
Batman gets his hands on some awesome cold war
technology. He somehow bugs half the phones in
Gotham so he can have sonar, while the Batmobile no
doubt had some awesome overhauls.
The A+ acting in combination with a gripping story,
some amazing acting, and a stunning special effects
team, created the single most powerful force in cinema
of 2008. When comparing The Dark Knight to all the
other B- superhero movies over the last few years
(including the Spiderman trilogy, The Hulk, and The
Punisher), The Dark Knight truly changed the genre
forever. Superhero movies aren’t just for the nerds
anymore, people. Get up, get out, and rent or buy The
Dark Knight if you haven’t seen it already. You won’t
regret it. I join Alex in applauding The Dark Knight as
(despite its flaws) the greatest movie of 2008, and the
finest piece of film I’ve seen in a very, very long time.
physics surrounding a VERY heavily
CGI Ledger. If you’re going to do
something, Nolan, do it right. Hire
ILM next time.
Some of the visual effects that
Nolan did manage to achieve
physically were good, yes, but also
leave quite a lot to be desired. Take
for example the 180-degree flip
of a fully decked-out 18-wheeler
on a street about a half-mile long
in the heart of Chicago’s banking
district. The flip itself was beautiful,
but nowhere in the scene do I
see Batman slapping a 50-gallon
tank of nitrous on the bottom of
the trailer when he zips under it
on his Batpod. The nitrous, I might
add, that is clearly visible during the
entire flip. Come on, Nolan. You’ve
got millions of dollars poured into
viral marketing but you cant hire a
group of high school students to go
into Photoshop and get that stuff
out of there, frame by frame.
Other than that, there were only
a few plot holes in the story, which
for the most part could be chalked
up to the ignorance of the Gotham
City P.D. and just about every other
citizen. Why didn’t they wipe off
the Joker’s makeup? How did a
cell phone blow up the internal
structure of an entire building? Why
does Batman keep blueprints in an
accessible place? How does a man
with half a face survive for more
than an hour? And how in the world
did Rachel Dawes age 10 years in a
few months?! Blah. Blah. Blah.
The truth is, I loved the movie.
I’ve seen it upwards of 30 times
and I’m even seeing it in IMAX in
January. Were there flaws? Yes. But
were they able to be overlooked?
Of course. It’s a comic book movie.
It’s fantasy. When you paid for your
ticket, no matter what you took
away from the theatre, for two
hours and thirty-five minutes you
were mesmerized. The Dark Knight,
good or bad, whatever your point
of view, is here to stay forever.
From a die-hard comic book fan
and movie lover to every person in
the world: I say we let it. I join Craig
in applauding The Dark Knight as
(despite its flaws) the greatest
movie of 2008, and the finest piece
The Viking Vibe
Entertainment Section
Sean Tyree (‘09)
Whether you wanted it to
be or not, The Dark Knight was
undoubtedly the greatest movie of
2008. It’s obtained a box office sum
second only to Titanic (some say
it’s behind by 30 million, but please,
please adjust for the changed value
of the dollar—it’ll make you sound
smarter) and built up Oscar buzz
that hasn’t been seen since The
Lord of the Rings series ended. But
does it deserve to be number four
on IMDB’s top 250 Movies of All
Time (right after The Shawshank
Redemption, and Godfathers 1 &
2)? No. But was it an excellently
crafted movie? Here’s where we
come to the problem.
On January 22, 2008, Heathcliff
Andrew Ledger passed away, which
put the actor at the forefront of
a movie that he would have no
doubt stolen from Bale, Eckart,
and Oldman in the first place; but
too much emphasis was put on his
performance over his colleagues’.
Aaron Eckhart was stunning. He
built up Harvey Dent from the
beginning of the movie as a just,
level headed District Attorney.
An hour and forty minutes later,
he manages to turn his entire
character completely around
without making it look sloppy.
Call it the script. Call it the editing.
Eckhart was the true acting gem
of this movie. Sorry, Heath.
Which brings me to the two
worst pieces of acting in the entire
movie. Christian Bale’s Batman
voice sounds like that of a 30-year
smoker. Epic Fail. Let’s hope the
producers wise up and Bale gets
some surgery on his vocal cords
before Batman III starts filming.
Secondly, while I commend Mr.
Ledger’s performance, I have to call
out his flaws in the interrogation
scene. When he asked Christian
Bale to beat the living daylights
out of him for real, I doubt even he
knew that he would instinctively
cringe before every one of Bale’s
devastating hits. Not even a great
actor can overcome a human’s
instinct for self-preservation.
Color distortion was used so
heavily in The Dark Knight that
you could swear the crew painted
all of Chicago blue. I
know, via the posters
and the overall tone
of the film, that blue
was supposed to be
a very predominant
color, but that doesn’t
mean that the postproduction team had
to filter every intense
scene with a shade of
blue. Distorting colors
sounds an awful lot like
a cheap old comic book
trick.
Nolan’s an extremely
conservative director.
He’s a visionary, yes,
and he uses computergenerated
imagery
very sparingly, which
is rare and very risky
these days in the film
industry. But even the
times when it is used,
it is used badly. This is
particularly noticable in
one of the final scenes
in which Batman hurls
the Joker off a ledge
of the Prewitt Building.
The viewer cant help
but notice the distorted
1
vibe:culture
Alissa Mesibov
2009
On December 10, 2006,
Spring Awakening opened,
and Broadway was never
be the same. Never before
had the minds of teenagers
been explored in such
an open manner. With
its modern rock music,
angst-ridden scenes, and
actual teenagers playing
the young characters,
composer Duncan Sheik
and lyricist Steven Sater
created a musical that
long-time theatergoers and
newcomers alike will fall in
love with, if they can open
their minds to the show’s
controversial concepts.
Spring Awakening,
based on a play of the
same name, takes place in
a small, provincial town in
1891, Germany. The show
opens to the thirteenyear-old Wendla Bergmann
(Alexandra Socha) trying
to figure out the pubertyinduced changes that are
going on in her mind and
body. Her mother offers no
useful advice to her daughter,
leaving Wendla to wander
the frightening enigma of
puberty alone. Meanwhile,
the rebellious Melchior
Gabor (Hunter Parrish)
and his friend, Moritz Stiefel
(Gerard Canonico) quickly
learn that authority is not
to be questioned when
Melchior is hit by their
closed-minded teacher for
defending Moritz in school.
Soon enough Wendla and
Spring Awakening enters the end of its run on Broadway./PHOTO COURTESY
OF Joan Marcus
Melchior, both yearning for a
world where they are allowed
to ask questions, find comfort
in each others’ presence.
They spend more and more
time together until they kiss, a
verboten activity amongst the
youth of the time. Unaware of
the potential consequences,
they engage in sex, inevitably
leading to a downward spiral
for both of the young lovers.
The three young actors
who play Melchior, Moritz, and
Wendla have the weight of the
entire play on their shoulders.
Now imagine trying to do
that when the oldest of the
three, Hunter Parrish, is only
21 years old. Parrish, better
known as Silas on the TV
show, Weeds, is phenomenal
as Melchior. He takes the
character through his wild
mood swings in a realistic way
that no older actor would be
able to accomplish. He has a
Elena Georgopolis, 2011
Alex Kuhn, 2009
Craig Maltese, 2009
Alissa Mesibov, 2009
Conner O’Reilly, 2010
Chris Palumbo, 2010
Katie Rolwood, 2009
Tina Saienni, 2009
Kyle Self, 2012
Mr. Peter Honig
2
Jovelle Tamayo, 2009
fantastic leading-man singing
voice, not to mention his
stage presence. His stage lover,
Wendla is played by Alexandra
Socha, who is eighteen, and
barely older than her character.
Her vocal talent is undeniable.
However, her acting choices
weaken her performance. The
line between innocent and ditzy,
which should be well defined, is
blurred in Socha’s performance.
This characterization works for
the few lighthearted scenes,
but “Spring Awakening” is not a
lighthearted show.
If Socha was able to find a
way to innocence without airheadedness, her performance
would increase tenfold. Gerard
Canonico, an understudy until
this past August, plays the
confused and frightened Moritz
Stiefel. Rather than playing
Moritz as the spastic boy
that the previous actors had,
Canonico turns the turmoil
more inwards. It is easier to
buy into the character as
Canonico plays him. Other
standouts in smaller roles
include Emma Hunton as the
bohemian Ilse, Matt Doyle
playing Hanschen, and Blake
Daniel as the innocent boy
whom Hanschen seduces.
Spring Awakening has
some of the best theatrical
rock music to hit the
Broadway stage since 1996’s
Rent. The stylistic range of
the show is incredible, with
its pulsing, fast-paced songs
and mournful ballads, It was
no surprise that Sheik won
a Tony Award for his score,
nor was it a surprise that
Steven Sater won the Tony
for his book and lyrics. While
all of Sater’s lyrics are more
than good, the best lyrics are
those with a color motif that
Sater creates. With songs
like “Mirror-Blue Night” and
“The Song of Purple Summer,”
colors come to represent the
emotion of the scene. Bill T.
Jones’s choreography assists in
creating emotion, as well. The
same simple hand motions
appear throughout the show.
Audible and visual motifs play
a strong role in the show’s
progression. It is comforting to
see classic theater technique
used in an age when shows are
broadcast on MTV or are stage
recreations of popular films.
Michael Mayer’s directing is
exquisite and risky.The concept
is shockingly simple. The only
set pieces, wooden chairs,
become a bed, a fallen tree, and
numerous other items. Mayer’s
true directorial genius is most
apparent in not what is center
stage, but to the sides. There is
the onstage seating at the show,
where audience members sit
amongst an ensemble of actors
dressed in modern day clothes.
Like their 1890’s counterparts,
the ensemble sings of crushes,
sexual cravings, and devastation.
Besides giving the audience
the thrill of sitting next to the
actors and being in the middle
of the action, the concept
clearly represents the idea that
modern teens still go through
the same troubles and feelings
that the characters go through.
Some things, these things, are
timeless.
Unfortunately, “Spring
Awakening” is not going to
be timeless. The show will
close on January 18, 2009. I
highly recommend “Spring
Awakening” to anyone who
even thinks that they may want
to see it. It is an experience
never to be forgotten.
staff letter from the advisor
advisor
layout
It is with great pleasure that I introduce the first issue of South Brunswick’s
entertainment publication, Vibe: Culture. This idea began years ago, when I
began writing movie reviews for my high school and college newspapers.
Those experiences were very important to me. They focused my interest
in entertainment and the arts, ultimately leading me to an early career in
journalism.
However, the real inspiration for Vibe: Culture came during everyday
classroom discussions. Over the past few years, I came to realize just how
prominent a role entertainment plays in the lives of all students. More
importantly, I realized how knowledgable high school students are when
it comes to the arts. I never cease to be amazed at the insight students
have into film, music, TV, theater, comedy, e-media, and any other type of
entertainment out there. To some extent, this is the modern literature, and
can be as valuable to students as Shakespeare is to English teachers.
This paper is a way to harness these interests. The reviews and articles
in Vibe: Culture provide a window into what South Brunswick is watching,
reading, and listening to.
Since Vibe: Culture is a reflection of the students, we want to hear your
voice. You can do this in two ways. One is to write. Anybody can submit an
article or review. Just send it to [email protected], and it will be
considered for publication. The other way is to join. We meet after school
every Tuesday in room A205. All are welcome.
So enjoy this issue, and all that will follow.
Mr. Peter Honig
Vibe:Culture advisor
Although it is currently receiving a
very limited release in the United States,
a movie to keep your eye out for is Ron
Howard’s Frost/Nixon, an adaptation
of a play by British screenwriter Peter
Morgan (The Last King of Scotland, The
Queen). The film reunites much of the
key cast from the original production
of the play, namely Michael Sheen (The
Queen, Blood Diamond, Underworld)
as foreign TV personality David Frost
and Frank Langella (Good Night and
Good Luck, Superman Returns) as an
eerily spot on Richard Nixon.
The film begins with various news
clips detailing the ins and outs of the
Watergate Scandal, Nixon’s resignation,
and his departure from the White
House in a helicopter. Surveying this
footage carefully is TV talk show host
David Frost, who sees immediately the
kind of numbers are being brought in
by the broadcast. Through a thankfully
short and relatively simplified segment
on finances and network bureaucracy,
Frost pitches the idea of a series of
interviews with Nixon to his staff and a
representative of the former president,
successfully gaining the rights to film and
air four 90 minute specials.
The first interview goes horribly
wrong, with Nixon dominating the
conversation, and Frost stumbling
through his questions. The second and
third sessions are a grand-scale staring
contest with the fourth and final one
being the focus of the film. Frost and
Nixon realize that the outcome will
make or break their careers and the
former dives into a three-day binge
of research and preparation, coming
into the final taping with confidence
unseen before this point. Nixon is
unable and unwilling to lie any further
to the world, admitting he “let the
American people down” with acts
that (were he not president) would
have been illegal.
As is the case in any film about
interviews or television, the acting
needs to be extraordinary, as the
viewer will be staring at and thinking
of nothing but a face or two for hours.
Let’s just say extraordinary is a pretty
good word, and I’m going to stick
with it. Sheen is perfect as the pop
culture obsessed, somewhat bumbling
talk show host who undergoes
an extreme change and stoke of
conscience (a la Two Face) part way
through the movie when he realizes
the gravity of what he’s doing. During
the final interview scene, his character
completely transforms into a powerful
dominating force that most likely
would have made the real Nixon
quake in his boots once more. So good
is the dynamic of the character Sheen
manifests on screen, it somehow tops
Langella’s perfect Nixon (resonating
baritone and all).
Howard pulls off a very good
directorial performance overall, but
by his own standards; the majority of
the film was fairly average. As typical
Metallica
Conner O’Reilly
2010
Metallica’s newest record, Death
Magnetic, is a rip-roaring return
to classic form, and re-establishes
the band as the reigning kings of
commercial Heavy Metal. Impressive
guitar work, progressive song
structures, and lyrics dealing with
themes of death and redemption
are elements that echo the late 80’s
‘golden’ era of Metallica.
Since their landmark commercial
smash “The Black Album” in 1991,
Metallica has been caught in a creative
and popular decline that has lasted
over a decade. This trend reached its
climax with the disastrous St. Anger
in 2003 and the release of an all-too
revealing documentary titled ‘Some
Kind Of Monster’ in 2004.
In the years since, old school metal
has experienced a major resurgence
in popularity.This can be attributed to
the appeal of bands such as Avenged
Sevenfold and Trivium, both of whom
consider Metallica to be their biggest
influence. Another factor in this
phenomenon are the video games
Guitar Hero and Rock Band, who
introduce hordes of new fans to the
music of hard rock and metal bands
everyday.
The public’s newfound interest
in heavy metal prompted Metallica
to dig themselves out of the creative
grave and redeem themselves with
a record that brings new life to
the monster. In September 2008,
they released the incredible ‘Death
Magnetic’. Tracks such as ‘That Was
Just Your Life’, The Judas Kiss’, and the
album’s frantic closer ‘My Apocalypse’
are all evidence that Metallica still
possess the thrash metal chops
that made their first three albums
masterpieces within the genre.
‘Cyanide’ and ‘The End Of The Line’
are a bit more mellow and rocking
songs, but are just as memorable
with melodic and fluid verses that
flow into catchy choruses that sound
larger than life.
Perhaps the greatest song on the
album is the incredible ballad ‘The Day
That Never Comes’. Beginning with a
touching vocal line and lyrics dealing
with lead singer and guitarist James
Hetfield’s troubled youth, the song
picks up near the end, before evolving
into an all out assault complete with
an impressive guitar solo from lead
Guitarist Kirk Hammet. The song
is similar to their grammy award
winning epic ‘one’, which appeared
on ”..And Justice For All”.
The album isn’t without its flaws
though. ‘The Unforgiven III’, while
not a terrible song, doesn’t quite
live up to the power and beauty
of its predecessors, ‘Unforgiven’
and ‘Unforgiven II’. ‘Suicide and
Redemption’ is a ten-minute long
instrumental that seems overlong
and plodding in some areas, but still
features marvelous guitar playing
from James and Kirk.
Overall, Death Magnetic is an
exhilarating dose of Metal that seems
custom fit for the changing culture
of the new millennium. It is the true
return to form the fans have been
waiting for, complete with thoughtful
lyrics, riffs, and actual guitar solos.
With a running time of 75 minutes,
this record reveals new secrets with
every listen, and never grows dull or
old.
in a Ron Howard film, the lighting
is probably the most labored
over, extensively thought out
piece of movie, especially seeing
as it’s a film about television,
where spotlights and shadows are
almost always present to create a
mood. Distances are used almost
flawlessly, colors are methodically
chosen in ever scene
The best thing about the entire
film, in my opinion, was the score
composed by usual Ron Howard
affiliate and musical genius Hans
Zimmer (The Dark Knight,
Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean).
Zimmer’s score far exceeds any
expectations for a political thriller.
Zimmer made his name producing
grand scale motion picture scores
for Hollywood blockbusters, but
has recently settled into a variety
of projects, Frost/Nixon being
one of his most personal, almost
independent releases ever. We
are introduced to all of the main
elements of the score in first
couple of tracks. The first track
“Watergate” is very ominous and a
heavy string presence provides the
backbone and establishes the darkthread immediately – much like
The Da Vinci Code suite. Zimmer
increases the tension through
cellos and piano, exchanging
performance of a quick rising and
falling motif, which serves as the
score’s most consistent segment
and could be called its main theme
(since the score lacks a “Frost/Nixon
Suite”. Zimmer makes use of the motif
in some of the score’s most intense
moments, namely “Research Montage”
and the finale “Nixon Defeated”, where
we hear a very mournful performance
of the piece on cello once again. (An
interesting side note is that coursing
in the background of several tracks,
beginning with “Watergate”, the listener
perceives a light but methodical clicking
as if the entire movie is sitting on a time
bomb (metaphor galore). This device
is used throughout the score and will
be familiar to those fans of Zimmer’s
contribution to the two most recent
Batman films.
Overall, Frost/Nixon delivers
exactly what it promises. The tension
and incredible acting drive this sureto-be Oscar nominated film. While
it may hold more meaning for those
who can remember the Nixon era
and more specifically these interviews
themselves (released in their entirety
on DVD in early December for any
History buffs), the movie is a wellrounded production with something
that nearly anybody up for a politicallyfueled thriller can enjoy. Frost/Nixon
will receive a wider national release on
the 25th of December, so if you need
something to see over winter break, I
highly recommend it.
vibe:culture
Alex Kuhn
2009
Frost Nixon
The Raconteurs
Alex Kuhn down probably ten times before they
2009 begin to improvise and play whatever
A choice cut of 2008’s Alternative
underground hits wasThe Raconteur’s
sophomore effort; Consolers of
the Lonely. Following the lukewarm
reception of their debut Broken Boy
Soldiers, few expected much of the
band’s next release, and the rest didn’t
expect one at all. But upon release a
mere week after the announcement
of its existence, Consolers of the
Lonely began garnering rave reviews
courtesy of every publication from
the Rolling Stone to The New York
Times.
Jack White III (of The White
Stripes) returns with his downhome Tennessee band for a 14-track
exploration into what a mash-up of
heyday Led Zeppelin, The Who, The
Beatles, and Johnny Cash might have
produced. The lyrics and melodies
have been significantly refined since
the band’s debut, sheltering more
meaning and emotion than before.
Never mistake White and his
bandmates for what they really are--a
jam band. More often than not, the
music descends into a screeching,
feedback-filled, auditory hell…which
isn’t as painful as it sounds. These odd
side trips are actually quite artistically
executed.
The first half of the album is
pretty consistent in its sound, being
mostly guitar- and drum-driven rock,
whereas the second half is much
more experimental and somewhat
more emotional. The title track starts
off with White and fellow vocalist
and guitarist Brendan Benson trading
off as they typically do, bringing the
pace of the song up, and taking
comes to mind. The next powerful hit
off the album is “The Switch and The
Spur,” which tells the haunting pianoand guitar-driven tale of “an appaloosa
and a wanted man sprung from jail”
who wander the desert in search
of freedom, eventually only finding
death.
Everything between “Consoler”
and the album’s finale holds true to
the band’s erratic sound, yet each
song differs in its level of complexity,
never letting things get boring enough
for your mind to wander. Sometimes
you’ll have to turn the music down,
other you’ll have to crank it up, but
make no mistake that the finale of this
album is where all of your attention
needs to be.
White shows all of his songwriting
and storytelling prowess in the final act
of Consolers with the all too properly
titled “Carolina Drama,” A story about
a little boy named Billy who finds his
mother beaten half to death by her
abusive boyfriend. If it sounds a little
disjointed, it isn’t, I’m just obviously
not up to par with White. By the end
of the song, The song is accompanied
by soul- and blues-like guitar, with
surprisingly little drum presence save
for the absolute last moments when
the insanity-reflecting background
vocals and every instrument a rock
musician can play reach an extremely
emotional crescendo and fade to
White’s farewell.
The holidays are just around the
corner, so spring a few bucks and
pick up a masterpiece for yourself
or a friend. Just make sure you’ve got
borrowing privileges; this is one you
definitely don’t want to pass up.
3
Since his starring role in the summer
blockbuster ‘Independence Day’, actor Will
Smith has become an instantly recognizable
figure in pop culture, commanding a larger
than life personality both on and off screen.
Contrary to popular belief, Will Smith is not
a one trick pony when it comes to acting.
Throughout his career he has been slowly
evolving artistically and creatively as an actor.
From comedy, to action, to serious drama,
Will Smith has a very diverse career under
his belt, and with the upcoming release of
his latest film, ‘Seven Pounds’, we take a
look back at some of his best, some of his
worst, and the ones in between, in hopes of
bringing audiences a better understanding
of Will Smith’s craft, as well as his personal
journey through a long and fruitful career.
GOOD
Men In Black (1997)
The Pursuit Of Happyness (2006)
BAD
‘The Pursuit Of Happyness’ is an
inspiring film profiling the difficult journey
of a real life man by the name of Chris
Gardner, who has fallen on hard times
and struggles to support his young child,
let alone himself.
Will Smith’s portrayal of Chris is amazing,
to say the least. The level of realism and
heart that Smith puts into the character
was essential to the effectiveness of the
film.‘Pursuit’ is meaningful and uplifting, but
many times painful to watch, as it touches
on a variety of emotions, from joy and
happiness, to fear and depression.
Smith’s performance carries the movie,
and it carries it well, very well. ‘Pursuit’
surprised fans and detractors alike, and
marked Will Smith’s final step towards
becoming a legitimate actor.
9/10
AVERAGE
Hancock (2008)
Will Smith’s role as Agent J in the 1997
smash ‘Men In Black’ was a memorable and
defining role in his career, considering it was
this film, as well as 1996’s ‘Independence
Day’, that launched him into superstar
status.
The film revolves around Agent J (Smith)
and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) as they
track down intergalactic terrorists in an
attempt to save planet earth.
The relation ship between Smith and
Jones is the centerpiece of the movie, with
Jones’ dry, straight, and hard personality
acting as a perfect foil for Smith’s streetsmart, loud-mouthed persona.
The originality of this film is amazing,
especially for a big-budget summer
blockbuster, a genre usually reserved for
artistically devoid garbage. Everyhing from
the story, to the setting, to the wonderful
characters are all unique and inventive.
The special effects in this film are also
simply incredible, even by today’s standards.
Although there is a copious amount of
special effects present in MIB, the film
doesn’t rely heavily on them, focusing more
on the characters then on the style.
‘Men In Black’ can be viewed as Will Smith’s
most recognizable role, but unfortunately, it
would take him nearly a decade to deliver
another film on par with Men In Black.
8.5 /10
(which is more than what can be said
for it’s dreadful sequel), but since this film
features nearly every action cliché in the
book, as well as its preference to ‘style
over substance’, the movie will never be
regarded as anything more than another
action blockbuster from director Michael
Bay (for the record, this is one of Michael
Bay’s best pictures, far exceeding some of
his later work in the genre).
6.5/10
Hancock’ is a mildly entertaining action
movie centering around a superhero who
causes more destruction and chaos then
he does order in the city of Los Angeles.
Although the premise of the film is
solid, and the first hour is well-acted and
satisfying, the film falls short near the
end due to a confusing and un-inspired
twist. Smith’s performance as Hancock
is convincing and charismatic, but the
bad cgi, mediocre plot twist, and an
unsatisfying finale make this a forgettable
Will Smith movie not worth viewing
more than once or twice.
5/10
Wild, Wild West (1999)
‘Wild Wild West’ is a poor excuse
for a film and features Will Smith in his
cheesiest and most forgettable role yet.
At this point in his career, Smith was a
sure-fire box office draw coming off the
success of ‘Independence Day’ and ‘Men
In Black’, and he was paid big bucks for a
starring role in this piece of commercial
trash.
In the film, his trademark charm is
lost in a sea of cringe-worthy jokes,
each one growing progressively worse
as the audience awaits the glorious
ending credits to save them from the
endless onslaught of unfunny and fruitless
attempts at humor.
It is simply painful to watch this movie,
everything from the unrealistic action to
the unfunny jokes are embarrassing to
watch and an even bigger embarrassment
to the actors, who should have listened
to their common sense as opposed to
their wallets.
‘Wild Wild West’ was a film made for
the sole reason of exploiting Will Smith’s
newfound fame, but ultimately failed in
doing so when the film unsurprisingly
bombed.
The only positive aspect of WWW
was the fact that it acted as the turning
point in Smith’s career, the point where he
realized that playing the same character
in all of his films simply wouldn’t be
accepted by the audiences anymore after
failing to carry this garbage film. In a way,
it was his first step towards legitimacy.
Unfortunately, it came at the price of
exposing movie-goers to a horrible film
full of lame action and lamer jokes.
Avoid Wild Wild West like the
plague.
1/10
K, he decides to bring him
back in hopes of defeating
an evil alien.
Everything from the
action, acting, and comedy
in this movie are all vastly
inferior to the original. The
characters that made the
first film so enjoyable seem
under developed and taken
for granted in this film, they
seem to be on the screen
just for the sake of being
there, without any reason
whatsoever besides to
please the fans.
There are no relationships
developed, no interesting
characters introduced, and
not a single memorable
scene throughout the entire
movie. In fact, the movie is
extremely short, at a mere
88 minutes in length.
Ultimately, Men In Black
2 was a movie that didn’t
need to be made; it had
no originality whatsoever,
and isn’t even a patch
on the inventiveness and
uniqueness of the first
film. The studio obviously
intended he movie to be
nothing more a quick cash
grab, and Will Smith was
happy to throw his fans a
bone after the disasterous
Wild, Wild West three years
prior.
The problem was that
this film was no better, and
it was yet another blow
to Smith’s image and ego,
further inspiring him to
explore a wider variety of
characters and movies, as
opposed to the big budget
Hollywood disasters that
had tarnished his image.
2/10
vibe:culture
Conner O’Reilly
2010
Will Smith
Men In Black 2 (2002)
Bad Boys (1995)
‘Bad Boys’ is a 1995 action / buddy
cop movie starring Will Smith and
Martin Lawrence as Miami police officers
who have 72 hours to find 100 million
dollars in heroin before Internal Affairs
intervenes.
What proceeds is a stylish and action
packed thrill ride. Actors Will Smith and
Martin Lawrence have wonderful onscreen chemistry, and their relationship
makes their characters likable to the
audience, making the action all the
more engaging. ‘Bad Boys’ is an very
enjoyable and entertaining experience
‘Men In Black 2’ is an uninspired sequel
to the 1997 blockbuster that skyrocketed
Will Smith into superstardom. In this
film, Smith reprises his role as agent J,
who is now a conditioned and respected
member of the secret organization. After
realizing that none of his partners are
up to par with his former partner, Agent
4
features
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
7
Rockefeller Tree Comes
From Local Town
Samantha Orlan
2010
Every year people from around the USA
submit pictures of their opinion of the ideal
Christmas tree for Rockefeller Center in
New York City. Subsequent to the holiday
season, the manager of the Rockefeller
Center gardens flies in a helicopter in
search of the perfect tree to display for the
next Christmas. This year, the “miracle”
tree was found locally in Hamilton, New
Jersey, about 20 minutes south of South
Brunswick.
Mr. Bob Varanyak nurtured the tree that
was once his mother’s, 77 years ago. It
began as his parents’ Christmas tree in 1931,
and they planted it outside afterwards.
Coincidently, the first Rockefeller Center
Christmas tree was also displayed in 1931.
Prior to the tree’s Rockefeller Center
debut, “people in Hamilton didn’t even
realize it was here,” Varanyak said in an
exclusive phone interview with the Viking
Vibe.
“Super excited” resident of Lawrenceville
and SBHS science teacher, Miss Alison
Cooper explained how local newspapers
published
articles
about
alleged,
unconfirmed rumors about the tree in
November.
Miss Cooper lives near the Tree King
Nursery (owned by Mr. Varanyak) and
described how “Local police were guarding
it and the articles said that extra police were
assigned to a non-specified special task.”
Hamiltonian and SBHS English teacher,
Mr. Andrew Loh discovered the tree’s
destination in a similar way, “There were
rumors which were printed in the Trenton
Times.”
He also said, “I’ve gone past for much of
my life. It’s exciting to know that the tree
I have seen so often is now in New York
City.”
For the past five years, Mr. Dave Murbach
has been the manager of Rockefeller
Center gardens and the one to hand-select
the Christmas tree.
In a phone interview, Mr. Murbach
described the tree as having “grown in
stature over the years, and it takes a lot of
people and a lot of time, so after having
done this so many times, the people
with experience are the ones to pull it all
together.”
Ms. Iva Benson, representative for
Rockefeller Center, said in a phone
interview, “The first tree, in 1931, was
put up by workers who were constructing
Rockefeller Center. It was a small, 20foot tree, and the workers had put money
together to buy it. They put it in the pit
where Rockefeller Center was being
built.”
Mr. Varanyak said, “[I wanted my tree
to be the Rockefeller Center Christmas
tree] because it was my mother’s wish that
someday this tree was going to wind up in
New York. She planted it in 1931 during
the Great Depression.”
Varanyak described how “the tree grew
[in Hamilton] from a baby; a small, little
tree at about three and half to four feet tall
when my mother planted it.”
The tree was a positive reminder of
the Varanyaks’ mother and when the
Rockefeller Center crew spotted it in a
helicopter in March, it was destined to
be the same “picture perfect” tree to the
entire country that it was to Varanyak and
his family.
Varanyak said he was in New York
at the tree lighting on December 3 and
will be present throughout the Christmas
season.
Miss Cooper said, “I am really excited
[that the tree is in New York City], but I
am also surprised because I never realized
how big it was!”
The 72-foot tall, 8-ton tree “never got
damaged because it was in a protected
spot,” Varanyak explained, “but we’ll
miss it as far as its spot on the lot because
now it will be empty.”
The tree’s spot is marked by a sign
that says “Home of the Rockefeller Center
Christmas Tree,” Miss Cooper said.
Though sadness remains in the empty
spot on the Tree King lot in Hamilton,
to see the tree in lights “is a miracle,”
according to Mr. Varanyak.
Rockefeller Center in the wintertime./PHOTO COURTESY OF Kevin Tachman/
Tishman Speyer
The following timeline is based on information derived from www.thetreenyc.com.
1933: The first formal tree-lighting ceremony was held.
1936: Two trees, each 70 feet tall, took the spotlight.
1942: Rockefeller Center put up three trees, and decorated one in red, one in white, and
one in blue to “show support for the troops in World War II.”
1966: The tree was given to Rockefeller Center by Canada in honor of the Centennial of
its Confederation.
1999: The tree stood 100 feet tall and was acknowledged as the largest tree in Rockefeller
Center history.
2004: “The Swarovski-designed star was created, the largest star to grace the tree,
measuring nine-and-half feet in diameter and one-and-a-half feet deep, and it is adorned
with 25,000 crystals.”
2007: The tree was wrapped in 30,000 colorful lights measuring five miles long.
Class Sends Record Number of Packages to Troops
Corey Allen and
Josh Gonzales
2009
Since the start of the War in Iraq in
2003, social studies teacher Mrs. Corie
Gaylord and the students of her Vietnam
Era classes have been collecting and
organizing packages to donate to the
American troops.
During the Vietnam Era, there was
not a lot of support for the troops due to
the overall lack of support for the war
itself.
However, Mrs. Gaylord and her
students made these donations to show
the troop that regardless of political
views, we are all appreciative of their
service.
Junior Kaiya Denson said, “With all
of the negative attitudes toward the war,
the donations are good because they
uplift their spirits.”
Students and staff were asked to bring
in items such as snacks, shampoo, soap,
deodorant, magazines, DVDs and CDs,
and even Beanie Babies.
“The Beanie Babies are great because
the soldiers give them out to kids,” said
Mrs. Gaylord.
Once all of the donations were in,
Mrs. Gaylord and her students sorted
everything into different categories.
Then, they packaged individual boxes
for each troop. Mrs. Gaylord took every
box to the post office to be shipped over
seas.
In addition to the donations, every
box contained letters from kids from
pre-school to twelfth grade to add a
personal touch to the packages.
Over the years, this event has been
successful. Last year, there was a total
of 250 boxed donated to the troops. The
students this year surpassed that number,
with an astonishing 409 boxes.
And the donation boxes couldn’t be
sent at a more perfect time.
“The donations bring cheer to the
troops for the holidays,” Mrs. Gaylord
explained.
The soldiers appreciated the past
donations greatly. The American flag
outside of the library was donated
to SBHS from a unit, as thanks for
donations from previous years.
“They’re fighting for us and we
should support them,” said junior Taylor
Jenkins.
Senior Jeffrey Johnson added, “The
donations are an excellent idea because
the troops are going through rough tines
right now and they need our support.”
Vietnam Era students./PHOTO COURTESY OF Ms.
Corie Gaylord
8
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
LED Lights May
be Holiday Light
Alternatives
Minna Liu and
Morgan Sturgeon
2009, 2010
Holidays bring to mind family
gatherings, gift exchanges, and holiday
light spectacles. However, with the
ongoing energy crisis, people may need
to reevaluate their holiday decorations.
In today’s modern holiday season, many
families are keeping the environment
and economy in mind as they decorate
by replacing old-fashioned incandescent
lights with new LED lights.
According to consumerreports.com,
LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights use
less energy and have longer-lasting
durability than incandescent lights.
Because LED lights still work after
4,000-plus hours of use, they are better
for the environment, run much cooler,
reduce fire risk, and allow families to
save money for more important financial
needs.
According to www.environmentallights.
com, traditional lights drain 300 watts
per strand, amounting to $4.50 per 30
days per strand of lights. Taking into
account households using multiple
strands, the cost and watt usage may add
up to quite a lot.
In comparison, LED lights only use
4 watts per strand. Powering 6 strands
of these lights would still cost less than
the $4.50 per strand it costs to light
incandescent bulbs for 30 days.
“My family and I have tried both
LED lights and traditional incandescent
lights, and we definitely prefer the LED
lights. They’re longer-lasting and better
for the environment,” said senior Jessica
Liu.
Other students agree that LED lights
are a better choice than incandescent
holiday lights.
Senior Dahlia Grgic said, “LED lights
sound way better than traditional lights.
Even though they cost more then the
regular holiday lights in the short-run, it
seems like my parents have bought tons
of incandescents lights each year just in
case some of the incandescents run out
of power.”
According to http://www.dom.com,
LED lights are a much smarter financial
decision. The website calls the lights
efficient, economical, environmentally
friendly, practical, safe, and attractive.
It says that LED lights are usually
more expensive than traditional holiday
lights, but the LEDs virtually pay for
themselves in the first year’s electricity
savings.
Furthermore, LED lights are much
more energy efficient, as each bulb uses
a mere .08 watts, as opposed to 6 watts
for a standard bulb.
Traditional incandescent lights, on
the other hand, are nowhere near as
advantageous. Inefficient lights may
add up to $50 or more to a December
electricity bill, and they are much
less sturdier and durable, thus more
susceptible to breaking.
On the other hand, LED lights have a
long lifespan of up to 100,000 hours in
ideal conditions, and some even include
a limited lifetime warranty.
“With all the advantages that the
LED lights provide, it’s no surprise that
more people are choosing them over
traditional incandescent bulbs,” said
junior Amy Kuan.
With the growing energy and resource
crisis, many may find that buying
LED lights and conserving energy is
a responsible way to do their part in
helping the environment during the
holidays and throughout the year.
features
Jewish Students Celebrate
Hanukkah
Emily Campisano
2009
One of the most celebrated and popular
holidays of Judaism is Hanukkah, even
though it is not necessarily one of the
most significant holidays.
Hanukkah commemorates the miracle
that enabled the Jews to light the menorah
for eight nights with only enough oil for
one night. The miracle occurred during
the reign of the Maccabee dynasty in
ancient Israel about a century-and-a-half
before the birth of Christ.
In the modern-day state of Israel,
the Festival of Lights is a nationally
recognized holiday. Schools close and
menorahs glow in countless windows.
Senior Lauren Nissenblatt said, “My
family lights the hanukiah, which is
another word for the menorah, every
night after sundown as we say the
prayers.”
The menorah consists of nine candle
slots--one for each night plus the
central candle called the Shamash. The
Shamash, or “servant,” in Hebrew is
used to help light the other candles.
This year, the menorah will be
lit for the first night at sundown of
December 21. Some may wonder why
Jewish holidays always seem to fall on
different days each year. The answer is
simply that the holidays are based on the
Jewish calendar, which is derived from
the moon’s cycle rather than the sun’s
cycle.
The Chinese and Islamic calendars
are similar to this pattern because these
calendars are also based on the lunar
cycle. This is why the Chinese New
Year, like Hanukkah, falls on a different
day each year.
A recognized tradition of Hanukkah
is the use of oil. Today, Jews honor this
by cooking traditional foods that use oil.
Crispy, warm, tasty treats called latkes
are a popular dish.
Senior Jenn Illis said, “The main
thing my family cooks are latkes
because they are cooked in oil which is
meant to remind us of the miracle of the
one pitcher of oil our ancestors had that
lasted them eight days and nights.”
Another dish made with oil is Israel’s
version of jelly donuts, “sufganiot.”
In addition to the traditional foods,
Hanukkah also involves playing
traditional games.
Most can identify the well-known
Hanukkah tune, “Dreidel, dreidel,
dreidel./I made it out of clay./And
when it’s dry and ready,/Oh, dreidel I
shall play!” Dreidel is played by one
participant spinning the dreidel in hopes
it will land face-up on the “gimmel” side-which means “take all” the chocolate
gold coins (“gelt”) from the given pot.
Illis added, “Besides celebrating
by playing dreidel, my family also
gives small gifts every night. The most
important thing, especially to my mom,
is to tell the Hanukkah story at least once
throughout the eight nights.”
Delicious food, memorable gifts,
and enjoyable games represent the
miraculous eight nights that the menorah
was lit in Israel. Today, celebrations with
family and friends take place all around
the world for Hanukkah.
sports
SBHS
WInter Sports
Capsule
Tom Dunleavy
2009
Football (9-2) - The Vikings took
back the Mike Elko trophy after they
defeated the North Brunswick Raiders in the annual Thanksgiving Day
game. In a historic season of firsts,
the Vikings won the division crown,
earned a #1 seed in the playoffs, won
a playoff game, and finished with a
record of 9-2, the most wins in school
history. Seniors Jimmy Mikides,
Devin Young, and Justin Mclendon
were named to the HNT (Home News
Tribune) All Area 1st Team defense.
Also, head coach, Mr. Rick Mantz
was named the HNT Coach of the
Year.
Cross Country – Cross Country
coach, Mr. Wilfredo Rivera, was
named the HNT Coach of the Year.
On the boys side, Matt Boley was
named to the HNT All Area 1st team.
And on the girls team, Sophia Ginez,
Jennifer Smilgis, Ashley Edwards,
and Cayla DelPiano were all named
to the HNT All Area 1st Team.
Gymnastics – Junior Jess Macay
was named the HNT Gymnast of the
Year. Also, junior Shannon Martin
and freshman Lindsay Carbone were
named to the HNT All Area 1st Team.
Boys Swimming (2-1) – Senior
Captains James Kugel and Tyler
Wardlow lead one of the best teams
in the GMC. The boys are off to a hot
start with wins over North Brunswick
and Manalapan, and a close loss to
powerhouse St. Joe’s.
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
Seniors “Recycle” Win
During Annual Charity
Powderpuff Game
Tim Doehler and
Tom Dunleavy
2009
On Saturday November 23, 2008
SBHS held its 8th annual powderpuff
competition, and after three intense,
hard-fought games, the class of 2009
emerged victorious for the second consecutive year.
The night was a great success, as
about $7,000 was raised for Tomorrow’s Children Fund, Quilts for Kids,
Ovarian Cancer Research, Parents of
Autistic Children, and SBHS Families
in Need. Student Council Advisor, Ms.
Lauren Van-Hook, as well as the many
Student Council representatives played
a huge role in the preparation and execution of the night.
“It was a frigid night but the girls did
a wonderful job. We raised about 7,000
dollars. I’d like to thank everyone who
helped to make the event a success,”
Ms. Van-Hook noted.
The girls did not let the weather conditions affect their play, however, and
nor did the cold affect their desire to
win.
Ultimately, the senior girls prevailed
and refused to be denied the bright yellow championship t-shirts. They received their first one last year, when
they dashed the class of 2008’s hopes
in possibly the most exhilarating powderpuff contest SBHS has ever seen: a
triple overtime instant classic.
Instead of being content with last
year’s improbable victory, the class
of 2009 began practices weeks before
the big night, adding new plays and refreshing themselves on their complex
defensive schemes.
Senior Lexi Iorio explained the
team’s mindset while preparing for the
contest, “We were happy to win last
year, but we knew we had to come in
this year and work just as hard. We were
motivated. There was no way we were
going to lose in our senior year.”
The senior team was coached by Tyler Zenda, Jimmy Ryan, Matt Mortenson, Teddy Holmes, Joe Mastronardi,
Omer Saleh, and Stanley Baguchinsky,
in addition to twin brothers Corey and
Gregg Allen who were the driving force
behind this powerhouse. Corey, with his
motivational speaking, and Gregg, with
his stretching prowess contributed tremendously to the success of the team.
“I felt that the stretching and conditioning we did in the weeks leading
up to game played a huge role in our
success. We outlasted the other teams.
We had fewer injuries, and did not show
any signs of fatigue,” explained Gregg.
In the first game of the night, the
seniors took on a strong sophomore
squad. The sophomores, built on pure
speed, were able to turn the corner a few
times throughout the game, but could
never break the big run. This played
into the hands of the seniors who based
themselves on a “bend, but don’t break”
philosophy.
After a touchdown by running back
Jessie Strincoski, quarterback Jess Pietrefessa sealed the sophomores fate
when she found the end zone on a beautifully designed quarterback keeper. In
a game some would say was closer than
the score, the seniors won 14-0 and advanced to the championship game.
In the second game of the night, the
juniors took it to the freshmen early
after a 70-yard touchdown run by Jamie Scoff on the first play of the game.
The run electrified the juniors while it
shocked the young and excited freshmen who were simply not experienced
enough to overcome the early blow.
The juniors, led by Scoff’s three
touchdowns dominated the rest of the
game and delivered the knockout punch
with a 95-yard touchdown run by Scoff
on the final play to make it 28-0.
It would be the high-octane offense
of the juniors vs. the stingy defense of
the seniors in the championship. Something would have to give.
The first half of the game proved
to be a battle of field position. The juniors could not get anything going on
offense due in large part to the great
defensive play of Maggie Ford, who
seemed to knock over the opposition as
if they were bowling pins on her way
to the ball carrier. However, the juniors
also got strong defensive play from
linebacker Ali Sisco who several key
tackles throughout the half.
The defensive struggle continued
until late in the second half when Pietrefessa hit Emily Gabriele in the back
of the end-zone to give the seniors a 7-0
lead.
The touchdown proved to be the
only one of the game, and after a key
fourth down stop with a minute left in
the game, the seniors took the powderpuff title.
“Jess threw a beautiful pass and gave
me a great opportunity to make a play.
It just feels great to contribute to the
win,” said Gabriele.
Junior Kelly Taikina was upset with
the loss but was proud of the way the
juniors played, “Even though we lost,
we all played really hard. I think being in the championship and losing in
a close game will motivate us for next
year.”
Can the class of 2009 be considered
an SBHS powderpuff dynasty? Not
quite. However, back-to-back championships is a great accomplishment the
senior team will always remember.
Girls Swimming (1-1) – The lady
Vikings are led by senior captains
Sarah Malinski and Liz Samtur. On
December 3, the girls won their first
meet of the year by beating Manalapan 121-49.
Hockey (3-0) – Coming off a very
successful 2007 campaign, the
Vikings look to play for another
championship this year. This year the
Vikings will be led by senior Matt
Repka and junior Kush Patel. Come
and support the Vikings in their next
home game on 1/7/09 at 3:45 at
ProSkate.
Boys Basketball – The Vikings will
open up their GMC conference season this Friday at J.P. Steven’s High
School. Come support the Vikings in
their first home game on 12/22 at 7
pm against Piscataway.
9
From left to right: Powder Puff Players from all classes.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF Bill Gaze, www.bgsportshot.
com
10
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
sports
Hard work. Dedication. Competition.
Viking Basketball 2008
Elizabeth Puzio
2011
Slam-dunking may not be their forte,
but the girl’s basketball team is bound to
impress this year: the program consists a
group of girls who never stop working.
Basketball is a winter sport, but even
in their off-season, the team strives to
improve. Throughout the summer, the team
paricipates in a summer league as well as
in summer conditioning workouts. In the
fall, players who not are not playing a fall
sport play in a fall league and continue
their fall workouts. This conditioning will
play a large role in getting the team ready
for the upcoming season.
However, experience is the main
component to a successful season and the
varsity team is not going to have much of
it this year.
Crossroads South teacher and the head
coach of the varsity team, Ms. Beth Barrio,
said, “I believe the biggest challenge this
year for the basketball team is going to be
the lack of experience that many of the
players have on the varsity level. We will
have many players on the varsity team and
on the court who have never been there
before.”
Junior and returning varisty starter
Katie Jansson explained that the team’s
overall lack of expereience: “We lost three
of our starters from last year and we only
have a handful of returning varsity players
this year.”
The team will suffer the loss of talent
from graduated seniors, injured players,
and girls who moved or transferred
to different schools. The positions of
leadership on the team are going to be
placed upon the shoulders of the three
returning players.
As the only senior on the team that
is returning to the varsity level, Shannon
O’Brien said, “I’ll have to make sure
everyone is focused and working hard
and has the right attitude about drills and
games.”
Although the underclassmen may not
be as experienced, “we have many players
who are ready to step up to the varsity
level and fill in the positions that were
lost,” Jansson stated.
Even without experience, the team
is still going to have the strength and
perseverance needed to have a successful
season.
With many new players to the team,
additional problems arise other than lack
of experience.
“Most of us haven’t played together
so we’re going to have to adjust to each
other’s strengths and weaknesses and that
is going to take time,” O’Brien said.
Summing up her hopes for this years
team, Coach Barrio said, “A main goal we
have for this season is for our players to
continue to gain experience and confidence
as a team through hard work, dedication,
and competition.”
SBHS Basketball Players./
PHOTO COURTESY OF Bill
Gaze, at www.bgsportshots.com
G
I
R
L
S
BOYS
Greg Madia
Jordan Smith
2010, 2009
The South Brunswick Vikings Basketball team will look to have another
successful season. The Vikings had an
above-average season last year, with a
GMC Tournament Berth and a trip to the
State Playoffs. Before losing to Trenton
Central High School in the quarterfinals,
the Vikings defeated Hunterdon Central
in the first round. This year’s team looks
to build on their experience from last
season.
Head Coach Joe Hoehman will also
look to improve on last year. Now entering his second year as head coach, he
said, “With experience comes wisdom. I
think last year, as with every year, was a
learning experience. I have learned a lot
about myself, our staff and our players.
We plan to use that knowledge and not
to make the same mistakes.”
This frontcourt will be lead by seniors Jean Paul Issacs, Cody McGuh
and Andrew Buckner. All three players saw quality varsity minutes as role
players last year. This year they will
definitely have more of an impact, as the
team will rely heavily on the low post
for defense.
Coach Hoehman said, “We did a great
job on defense last season, which kept
us in every game. In order to improve on
last year’s record we are going to have
to continue to play tough defense.”
The backcourt is lead by seniors Brett
Pinnix and Vito Ross. Pinnix has a fair
amount of varsity experience, just like
Issacs, McGuh and Buckner.
Though Ross has little experience at
the varsity level, playing JV with four
above-mentioned seniors during his
high school career should make him a
good fit for the guard position.
Coach Hoehman said that most of
the teams strengths will come from the
backcourt.
He said, “Some of our strengths include speed, depth, and the ability to
shoot the ball from the outside.”
As an undersized team they will have
to use all three of those attributes in order to be successful.
Coming off the bench for the Vikings
will be a cast of juniors including Jared
Kling and Dan Martinez. The duo will
provide the Vikings with a good amount
of depth. They will serve to play the
roles of last year’s serniors.
Junior Dan Martinez said, “In order
to win, we’re going to have to support
our starters and play our game to win the
GMCs.”
The Vikings opened up at Neptune
High School on Saturday, December
6th at 10:00 AM. Their first conference
game will be at JP Stevens High School
on Friday, December 19th at 7:00 PM.
The team will look to build a solid start
to the season, which could possibly
bring them to a GMC Title.
Coach Hoehman said, “We are going
to have to play intense ball night in and
night out. There is a ton of talent returning to the conference. We will have to
battle the size of Piscataway and the experience of St. Joe’s, but with our speed
and depth, anything is possible.”
sports
The Viking Vibe
December 2008
11
Music Students Invited to Perform in
Tournament of Roses Parade
Tajah Ebram
2010
On January 1st 2009, some of South
Brunswick High School’s own band
members will be high stepping among
festive floats at the 120th annual Tournament of Roses Parade themed “Hats
off to Entertainment!”
The Tournament of Roses Parade is
held in California’s City of Pasadena
beginning at 8 am. Alongside the floats,
Equestrian units, and other performers will be a few lucky members of the
South Brunswick High School Marching Band.
All of the students have worked hard
to earn a spot in the line of the Parade.
These students include Michael Roche,
Kyle Kraft, Amanda Gorzynski, Brenda
Falk, Matt Wolf, Kenny Shupak, Zachary Crowley, and Cody Crespo.
The tournament began in 1980 as
a celebration of California’s mild winter climate, and was founded by Valley
Hunt Club members Dr. Francis Rowland and Professor Charles Holder.
What was once a modest procession of
floral carriages has evolved into a grand
celebration of the New Year. Nearly 40
million Americans will tune in to stations such as NBC, ABC, KWHY, and
KTLA to witness the live festivities that
precede the Rose Bowl football game at
2pm.
“The best high school musicians are
sunday
selected from around the country and
brought together to form an All Star
Band,” said Mr. Mark Kraft of the Music
Department, “Our students will fly out
on December 26 and intensive rehearsals will be held the first two days.”
Qualified instrumentalists across the
nation were invited through e-mail to
audition for the All Star Band. Music
For All, an organization that hosts the
musical events for the tournament, invited and selected winners.
“I auditioned through computer software. I had to record myself and send in
the tape. I was selected along with the
other 300 in the country who will be in
the band,” said junior Kenny Shupak
who plays the saxophone.
Others who completed the extensive
application process found that it all paid
off in the end.
“We’re all really excited to go with
others from our school and to meet
people from all over the country,” stated
senior Amanda Gorzynski who plays
trumpet, “It should be interesting to see
how things come together.”
Mr. Kraft commented, “I think one
of the big honors is that each band has
student conductors. The top student is
selected as drum major, this year it is
Mike Roche.”
Roche said, “As drum major, I am in
charge of leading the band along the 5.5
mile parade route. I will be conducting
the ensemble as well.”
To clear up some very common misconceptions Roche imparted, “Drum
majors have nothing to do with playing
drums. They are conductors and student
leaders. I am a euphonium player by
trade.”
In order to meet with the standards of
the All Star Band, the selected students
will practice and prepare extensively.
“Everyone has been going to the gym
and working out more to get in shape for
the 5-mile march,” Gorzynski noted.
Junior Brenda Falk, who plays baritone, stated, “We recently received all
the music we will be performing. We
have to submit our new recordings of
each song so I have been preparing my
recordings so far.”
While it may seem quite intricate and
difficult for band members from different states to be on one accord the day
of the parade, the skillful musicians will
manage this challenge as well.
“The recordings we send in are done
with a program that plays the other parts
in the background. This is helpful so that
we have a good idea of what to expect to
hear from the other musicians,” said junior and mellophone player Kyle Kraft.
In addition to being a part of the traditional Tournament of Roses Parade,
students will be visiting Disney Land
during their trip to California. All of
their hard work will surely be worth
their while.
“I think this will be an exciting once in
a lifetime opportunity,” Falk exclaimed,
“I am extremely thrilled for this experience.”
JANUARY 2009
monday
tuesday wednesday thursday
friday
saturday
NO SCHOOL!
1
2
3
DPS Inaugural Ball
7-11pm
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Ski Club Trip
Fall Play “Mystery Weekend” 7:30 pm
11
12
13
14
15
19
25
20
Math Midterms
SKi Club Killington Weekend
26
17
Ski Club - Killington Ski Club - Killington
Weekend
Weekend
NO SCHOOL!
18
16
27
21
Math Midterms
PEER Dinner 5pm
28
22
23
2nd Quarter Ends
1/2 DAY!
29
30
24
Class of 2010
Snow Tubing Trip
31
12
December 2008
The Viking Vibe
vikings end
season 9-2
Justin Berger and
Brooke DelGuercio
2012
At times this season, the
South Brunswick football
team looked unstoppable.
The team won their first six
games of the season by a combined score of 168-65. For
the first time in school history, the Vikings earned GMC
Red Division Co-Champion
honors, were the first seed in
Central Jersey Group 4 state
play offs where they made
it to the semi-finals. South
Brunswick also set a record
for wins in a single season,
with nine.
Head Coach and Assistant
Athletic Director Rick Mantz said, “I’m very proud of
the team and I thought they
did a tremendous job this
season.”
The season opened with a
victory over the Woodbridge
Barrons with a score of 2713. The following week the
Vikings beat the Soaring
Eagles of Union City 28-7,
in its homecoming game.
After rattling off three more
victories against the Old
Bridge Knights, East Brunswick Bears, and JP Stevens
Hawks, the Vikings faced
the undefeated Sayreville
Bombers in blackout conditions at SBHS.
Coach Mantz stated,
“When [preparing for the
Sayreville game] we just
tried to focus on the game
and just approach it like we
would any other football
game. We left all the hype
to the [students]. If you look
at the abstract, you can lose
your focus on the game.”
The team fought back
from a three-point deficit at
halftime and won the game
13-9, putting the first blemish on Sayreville’s record
and clinching the GMC Red
Division Co-Championship.
Playing for sole possession the GMC Red Division
Championship the Vikings
traveled to Piscataway to face
the 4-1 Chiefs on October 24.
Accompanied by two South
Brunswick fan buses, the Vikings played a tough game but
came up short, losing 27-7.
However, the team was able to
recover the following week by
beating the Monroe Falcons
19-7 in the regular season finale.
“Physically we were a little
beat up. Not playing well [in
Piscataway] was disappointing,” Coach Mantz said.
The playoffs began on November 14, when the Vikings
beat the Pennsauken Indians
21-12. Senior Thomas Dunleavy scored the first points of
the game on a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
Tim Doehler; and late in the
third quarter, Senior Justin
McClendon scored on a run
from 23 yards out. Dunleavy
scored again, late in the third
quarter, on the final play of a
67-yard touchdown drive.
Senior quarterback Tim
Doehler said of the game,
“Being the number one seed
and finishing the season with
the victory against Monroe we
came into the playoffs confident, hoping to make it to the
championship. The first game
we came out and after a tough
beginning, picked up towards
the end of the first half, and
that gave us momentum. Every time Pennsauken would
respond with a touchdown of
their own, we would come
back with a drive and respond
with our own scores; which
showed how resilient our team
was.”
The run to the state championship came to a halting stop
on November 21, when the Vikings lost to the Brick Memorial Mustangs 14-7, who were
the eventual state champions.
South Brunswick fell behind
early, and was not able
to achieve another comefrom-behind victory.
Junior quarterback Mike
Muha said, “We had a great
week of practice again and
were confident that we knew
what they were going to do
and that we could move the
ball against them offensively.
A football game comes down
to who makes more
plays, and in that game
Brick came out on top
because they made
more plays and we
didn’t make enough.”
“Brick Memorial
played their butts off.
There were a couple
plays we didn’t make,
and they did,” said
Coach Mantz.
With one game left,
and the opportunity to set a
school record for wins in a
season the Vikings faced the
North Brunswick Raiders in
the annual Thanksgiving Day
game. The team relied on excellent defensive play, the only
points surrendered when Doehler took an intentional safety,
and won 7-2, to get their revenge for last years loss. Senior Devin Young stood out in
the game with 13 tackles.
“The couple days after the
loss to Brick everyone was a
little down and didn’t want to
play, but later in the week we
started to get pumped up for it
because we realized what an
accomplishment 9-2 would
be—setting a school record
for wins,” Doehler said, “As
a senior, you never want to
end your career with a loss so
I think our senior group did a
great job beating North Bruns-
wick
and
ending our
high school
careers on
the
right
note.”
That senior class,
consistof seva t h seen
i n g
enteen
letes, has
a coaching
change, a 46 season, and
has
matured
into the successful class that led
the team to their
historical season. The group
consists of Johnny Mayfield, Tim Doehler, Jimmy
Mikedes, Royce Jones, Mike
Ferrara, Cody Shelcusky,
Justin McClendon, Thomas
Dunleavy, Devin Young, Terrance Hayes-Privett, Robert
Powers, James Kugel, Jeremy Zadek, Dillon Bruzzano,
Billy Rodgers, Patrick Goldsmith, and Dan Acevedo.
Reflecting on this past season Coach Mantz concluded,
“South Brunswick was a
tough place to play this year.
The support from all the students was excellent and we
also had tremendous support
from the community. The
cheerleaders and the band
and the students were so supportive and the guys were really appreciative.”