April 2012 - Greenwich Public Schools

April 2012 — THE BEAK — 1
AND HERE’S
THE REST
OF IT.
“All the News
That’s Fit to Print.”
ALL OF IT.
VOLUME XLII, NUMBER 4A
GREENWICH HIGH SCHOOL, GREENWICH, CT 06830
APRIL 1, 2012
SRO:
Winning
Bella invades
Clark as house
war continues
Seniors’ performance
well received by world
The recent
performance of SRO
by the Class of 2012
was praised by the international arts community.
Recently, the
show was awarded six
Academy Awards, four
Grammys, five Tony
Awards, and two
Nobel prizes.
Panelists cited
the large number of
nerdy jokes, zombies,
and shirtless men as
key factors in their
decision.
SRBros in action.
T H I S
Texting in class
becomes illegal
J U S T
I N
Political scientists warn: MISA to be GHS’s Afghanistan
Recent reports
from think tanks suggest
that MISA may become
GHS’s Afghanistan.
There are already an estimated 300
civilian casualties and
400 wounded in the battle. Headmaster Winters
recently deployed another 40,000 troops in
order to regain lost territory in the south senior
lot.
Yet as valiant
as his efforts seem, political opponents suggest
that Winters is merely
looking for oil.
The thea ter
kids’ cartel has been
raising the price of oil,
which now is at $200 a
barrel.
Rumors indi-
GHS administration recently passed a
measure giving security the
right to detain students
indefinitely for texting in
class.
Controversy
erupted when about 50
students did not go home
for the night. Police reports
were filed and students
were later found washing
graduated cylinders in the
attic of the science wing.
Some argue that
these measures are necessary in order to provide a
safe learning environment;
while others contend that
detaining students interferes with the attendance
policy
cate that Osama bin
Laden may be buried
underneath the concrete
floors of MISA.
Tapes of his
burial have yet to be
released. Political strategists suggest that Mr.
Winter’s should pull out
of MISA “riiiiight….
now.”
Efforts to reach
Mr. Winters by telephone, internet, email,
Twitter, and Facebook
have not been successful.
Relationship
for bros:
tips
Tip #47: Grow the
flow to a length that
is inversely proportional to your attractiveness.
Lower Cantor
plans secession
Inst abilit y
continues unabated
in Greenwich High
School as the houses
continue to wage
war against each
other. Bella recently
invaded Clark, leading to 17 freshman
casualties. Analysts
believe Bella’s actions are due to its
insecurities about
being below Clark.
C a nt o r ,
meanwhile, is in an
on-going civil war as
Lower Cantor threatens to secede from
Upper
Cant or.
Lower Cantor representatives claim they
are a completely
separate house and
deserve their own
name. Upper Cantor
has far more windows and natural
lighting—something
that the depressed
Lower Cantor envies. Also, Lower
Cantor wants to keep
its Yu-Gi-Oh Cards.
memedepot.com
Fake student ID usage increases;
Science can solve almost everything
The school’s
policy that prohibits
students from going into
the science wing (except
through every other
door in the school) without school identification
has created a black market for student identifications.
These fake student IDs can be made at
home easily with cray-
ons and a coloring book
for those who refuse to
shell out a few dollars
for an actual ID card.
Recently, the
school raided a fake
student–ID kingpin’s
sweatshop and gave him
detention; they found
aliens on the scene
whom he used to make
the IDs.
US News and World Report Rankings: Greenwich High
-#30 for amount of
sinks that don’t work
-#2 concrete structures
that resemble toilet rolls
-#7 public high school
in Greenwich, CT
-#1 To be featured in next
-#3 freshman
graduation rate
week’s issue
Toilet paper roll?
Mr. Winters eats tuna salad
sandwich; cannot find
student with gum
Joseph Kony wins Nobel
Peace Prize for bringing
world together
Man finds statistically
significant evidence that
Disappeared
into cyberspace
Libertarian and socialist
engage in heated debate; 12
freshmen caught in the
crossfire
Subsidized lunch program
head refutes socialism:
“There’s no such thing as a
free lunch.”
A—
TheBEAK
Beak —
— April
April2012
1, 2012
22—
THE
APRIL FOOL!
AP Opens
Bradford Kim
Editor-In-Chief
GHS students were very excited this spring to hear that Greenwich High School would be offering
AP Opens as a class during the 20122013 school year. While GHS already has offered a large selection of
advanced courses like Multi-Variable
Calculus, a plethora of CollegeBoard AP classes, and Yoga, classes
like AP World History and AP Computer Science have long been desired
by eager students.
Recently GHS added AP
Economics to the list, but AP Opens
have been especially sought after by
those students who truly wish to challenge themselves. Opens are currently the most popular elective, and
many students have wished for years
to exploit their free time at the college level. GHS has finally answered
their call.
The class, like many other
AP courses, will have summer work.
Unlike many other AP courses, however, the summer work for AP Opens
will not simply be a large packet to
complete or a set of essay prompts.
Rather, it is a large list of activities
designed to enrich the student’s inter-
est in opens and prepare them for the
kind of material to expect in AP
Opens.
Some of the more challenging activities include “sneak food
into Greenwich Public Library” and
even “Ignore summer work from
other AP classes until the night before it is due.” Proponents say that
the summer work for AP Opens deviates from the standard grind of other
AP classes and allows students to
truly experience slacking off at the
college level. As an AP class, it’s
bound to be full of tryhards in the
race to nowhere, but this course is
designed for students of all academic
pursuits and levels.
Prerequisites
include having taken at least 10
opens in their previous years at GHS.
While not officially required, students should also demonstrate a
strong interest in procrastination and
be prepared to complete several,
week-long projects in the space of
one hour before they are due. Juniors and sophomores considering
station employees, or a pinky promise that they are qualified.
Students
will
also be involved
in
ext ens ive
computer lab
time. Activities, such as
playing flash
games on the
Internet and
pretending to
do work in
front of media
center
staff will be
required.
Extra credit
projects like
p u r cha s in g
an
omelet
with everything
and
ordering
a
AP Opens as a
course next year
will be required to
leave campus illegally during at
least two lunch
block opens of
their previous
year. Interestingly
enough, because
opens are not exclusive to any
subject, students
will not be required to get signatures or recommendations from
any of their current teachers.
Rather, they will
be asked to get
approval from the
Corbo’s guys, gas
pancake with extra butter will be
available to students who truly wish
to go below and short of their expected responsibilities.
The College Board has not
released many details about the AP
test, but there are some things we do
know. It will be curved relative to the
national norms. This is lucky for
GHS students, since Greenwich is
extremely lazy compared to the rest
of America. It will consist of both a
multiple choice section and openended essays, but students will also
be graded based on how much testing
time can be wasted prior to the start.
Studying is strongly discouraged, and
Princeton Review has been asked not
to publish a review book for AP
opens. Only Opens for Dummies will
be available for first-time AP candidates.
The school hopes many students will consider this class. Also,
coming soon to our school:
Honors Coma.
April 2012 — THE BEAK — 3
VOLUME XLII, NUMBER 4
www.film.com
GREENWICH HIGH SCHOOL, GREENWICH, CT 06830
www.newstimes.com
Working For A Better Tomorrow… Tomorrow!
PAGE 11
wikipedia.org
Wikipedia: Reliable?
PAGE 4
April 2012
granite.ie
Spring Sports!
Social Networking!
PAGE 7
PAGE 3
images1.fanpop.com/
The Hunger Games!
PAGE 10
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/
Will Willard Win?
PAGE 5
The BEAK
Beak —
42——THE
—April
April 2012
The Greenwich High School Newspaper
Greenwich High School
10 Hillside Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
(Phone) 203-625-8067
(Fax) 203-863-8031
E-mail: [email protected]
2011-2012
EDITORIAL STAFF
Jennifer Hilibrand
Christian Fazio
Bradford Kim
Editors-in-Chief
Michelle Socher
Nicholas Debany
News Editors
Jamie Denton
Opinions Editor
Helen Hansel
Chloe McGovern
Features Editors
Annie Manacher
Entertainment Editor
David Berdoff
Sarah Brecher
Sports Editor
State Governance In Crisis;
Three Different Approaches
By Jennifer Hilibrand
Editor-in-Chief
It goes without saying that
taking over the gubernatorial position in a recession is difficult and
taking over when public finances
are distressed is very difficult. Governors use many different and varying approaches to meeting the challenges of a recession. The tri-state
governors, in fact, are examples of
three vastly different approaches to
the public finance problems troubling our economy. Chris Christie
of New Jersey, Dannel Malloy of
Connecticut, and Andrew Cuomo of
New York are three governors of
neighboring states each of whom
have taken different approaches to
dealing with the fiscal issues in
government. Although it is too soon
to tell, these contrasting methods
will eventually offer interesting lessons on fiscal responsibility and
economic policy.
Chris Christie (below),
governor of New Jersey, has held
governorship for two years. This
narrowly elected
in 2010, has taken
the approach of
raising taxes. He
incr eased
the
sales tax, income
tax, and corporate
tax. He has paired
these increases
with
moderate
changes to benefits,
decreasing
unrealistic pension promises.
Another interesting aspect of
Malloy’ s
approach has been
his attempt to receive
support nypost.com
from public unions by negotiation. This differs
from Governor Christie’s approach,
which involved going over the
heads of all unions. Embarrassingly, for Malloy, the changes he
first attempted to implement were
voted down by the unions themselves, but were eventually ac-
Tyler O’Connell
Photographer
Dwight Wall
Faculty Advisor
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extended period of time allows us
cepted. Governor Malloy has done
to have more of a chance to see his
more to reign in public spending
approach. Governor Christie’s polithat his predecessors, but less than
cies have been in sharp contrast to
his contemporaries.
those of his predecessor, Governor
Governor of New York,
Corzine. Christie, a Republican in a
Andrew Cuomo (top right), may be
state with Democratic control of the
considered a compromise between
legislature, has dealt with this crisis
the approaches of Malloy and
in public finances primarily with benefit reductions for government
employees, rather than
tax increases. There is
another interesting dimension to Christie’s
approach called “truth
telling”. The objective of
this tactic is to bring to
light the true state of
pensions in New Jersey.
He has combined this
controversial approach
with tax reductions that
have limited the property
tax and income tax.
Dannel Malloy
(right), governor of Connecticut, is on the opposite side of the spectrum.
The former mayor of
Stamford, who was very blogcea.files.wordpress.com
Christie. In 2010 he was elected with
the largest winning margin of the
three governors, and has remained
the most popular of the three. He has
implemented moderate changes to
spending, somewhere between the
approaches of Connecticut and New
Jersey, and has reduced benefits more
than Connecticut has but less than
New Jersey. Cuomo’s cancelling of
scheduled tax reductions have expanded revenue along with reduced
spending.
How can one measure success in these three cases? The truth is
that looking at a state over a period of
less than five to 10 years is not very
reliable. But indicators that may be
considered important or meaningful
in comparing outcomes might be average percentage income growth per
state and average percentage population change per state. Although it is
too early to tell, based on my belief
of what will be successful, New Jersey Governor Christie has the most
realistic and effective plan. Many of
the public finance issues we face now
exist largely because of unrealistic
and long-dated promises. Christie’s
truth-telling approach, however brutal it may seem at times, appears the
only approach that can actually return
finances into shape. Only by dealing
with these promises will states truly
have control.
NEWS
April
2012—
The BEAK
Beak —
April
2012
— THE
—35
Social Networks And The Evolution Of Cooperation
Michelle Socher
News Editor
A recent study from Harvard
Medical School indicates that from
gatherings around a campfire to updating a Facebook status, social networks have been an integral part of
human behavior. James Fowler, who
co-authored the paper, stated, “From
the time we were around campfires
and had words floating through the
air, to today when we have digital
packets floating through the ether,
we’ve made networks of basically the
same kind…We found that what
modern people are doing with online
social networks is what we’ve always
done – not just before Facebook, but
before agriculture.” The research was
funded by the National Institute on
Aging and by the Science of Generosity Initiative of the University of
Notre Dame.
This study also found that
social networks contributed to the
evolution of cooperation by forming
ties “with both kin and non-kin based
on shared attributes.” This is based
on the understanding that “if you can
get cooperators to cluster together in
social space, cooperation can
evolve.”
Some animals (such as human beings) defy the survival tactics
of competition and instead act cooperatively and altruistically. Such behavior, in order to persist in nature,
would need to have some advantage
in the context of Darwinian fitness –
that is, it would necessarily increase
the chance that the genes of a given
individual
would
be
passed on to
future generations. All current theories
utilized to explain altruistic
behavior – kin
selection, reciprocal altruism, group selection – are
contingent
upon the existence of social
networks.
While
it would now
be impossible
to observe the
behavior
of
ancient human
ancestors, researchers from
Harvard Medical School, the
University of
California, San Articlesweb.com
Diego, and the
University of Cambridge have studied the social networks formed
among the Hadza to gain an understanding of how these ancestors
may have interacted. The Hadza, an
ethnic group in Tanzania, is one of
the last surviving groups of huntergatherers.
The researchers mapped the
relationships among the Hadza by
several means, including giving
three honey straws to each adult
and telling them they could give the
honey as gifts to anyone in their
camp. The researchers then gave
the adults additional straws that
they could either keep for themselves or give to others. They found
that cooperators and noncooperators
formed distinct clusters. Fowlers
stated that they “turned the data
over lots of different ways…we
looked at over a dozen measures
that social network analysts use to
compare networks, and pretty much,
the Hadza are just like us.”
This research indicates that
“social networks are a truly ancient,
perhaps integral part of the human
story.”
Find more detailed information at:
http://news.har var d.edu/gazette/
story/2012/01/with-a-little-help-from
-our-ancient-friends/
“PartyHardPolitics is like an up-and-coming Politico. Anytime I want to read a clear, intelligent position on an issue I head to the Wall Street Journal; but since they started charging
for reading articles online, I sometimes head to PHP. This site is pretty interesting!” Christian Fazio, Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Beak
“Fazio is right! He’s always right…” - Jen Hilibrand, Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Beak
OPINIONS
The BEAK
Beak —
64——THE
—April
April 2012
Intelligence, And Its Role In School
Jamie Denton
Opinions Editor
The other day, as I was just
beginning to doze off, my psych
teacher asked a question that sparked
my attention.
Snapping out of a reverie, I
turned to listen. “What is intelligence, and can it be measured?” He
asked the class. As he went on to explain, theories of intelligence are varied and often contradictory.
French psychologist Alfred
Binet first introduced the idea of designing a test that would measure
one’s aptitude. Hoping to reform the
French school system, Binet created a
“mental age test” that would place
children in classes based on their
score. If they were advanced for their
age, then they would be subject to
more advanced material, while if they
scored below average, they would be
placed in a less difficult class.
However, Binet’s goal was
never to measure the intelligence of
French students. It was solely designed for placement. In fact, when
Lewis Termin, a psychologist working at Stanford University, developed
his ideas to create the Intelligence
Quotient, he regretted ever introducing the idea of aptitude testing in the
first place.
Since then, intelligence has
sparked debate and controversy in
the field of psychology, and the
very question that my class pon-
dered that day continues to be actively discussed.
Theories about intelligence
vary dramatically. Psychologist
Charles Spearman, for one, defined
intelligence as merely the ability to
understand things quickly, make
sound decisions, carry on interesting conversations, and behave
“intelligently.” In contrast, Howard
Gardiner argued that humans all had multiple intelligences, each in a different facet of life (his
views led to the popularity
of terms like “street smart”
and “book smart”).
The general consensus, therefore, is that
there is no consensus. So
what does this mean for
students? Well, it has several implications.
As some may
know, a number of school
executives have a longterm goal of ensuring that
every student successfully
completes the same, high
level classes. But given
what we know about intelligence, it certainly should
make us question the prudence of even having these
ideas on the table.
While it is questionable
whether intelligence can really be
measured, it’s apparent that given
the diverse curriculum at Green-
wich High School, everybody has
different interests; and some are more
likely to thrive in specific fields than
others. So why, then, is it reasonable
to assume that everybody would
benefit from being put in the same
courses with the same rigor?
Of course, it’s an exciting
idea to envision every student successfully completing the same, challenging classes, and passing with flying colors. However, it’s unrealistic
to assume that every student is going
to perform well on the same level
with the same learning style. This
was not Binet’s original goal.
Also, it’s important to note
that not everybody is going to do
well in every subject or even have
any interest in doing so. This by no
means mandates that these students
would have a lesser intelligence than
those in a more advanced course, but
rather a different form of intelligence.
An aptitude for music or athletics, for
instance, rather than math and science, does not suggest stupidity. As
Spearman inferred, each of us is going to have a different propensity for
different subjects. When it comes
down to it, as long as they are legitimately pursuing something, students
should be able to pursue what they
want.
Wikipedia: Reliable?
Brad Kim
Editor-in-Chief
Every year of high school
involves more than one assignment,
whether it is the sophomore research
paper or summer work for an AP
class, that requires outside sources of
information. This always goes handin-hand with a properly formatted
works consulted, and sometimes piles
of labeled note cards. Students tend
to do most of their research online.
After all, using a search engine often
produces the desired piece of information extremely quickly and eliminates the need to read large books or
organize large quantities of material.
As anyone who has ever
done research on the internet will
know, entering a topic of interest into
Google will undoubtedly yield a corresponding Wikipedia article. More
often than not, Wikipedia dominates
all others as the first result at the top
of the page. Wikipedia holds massive
volumes of information, over three
million articles in English, all of
which are available for free. No ads
pollute the website either. It is a nonprofit organization, despite being one
of the most visited websites in the
world, and it sustains itself through
donations.
Despite what a wonderful
resource and testament Wikipedia is
to both public expertise and human
generosity, students have been told
since elementary school that using
Wikipedia as a legitimate source of
information is not allowed. Teachers
call it unreliable and incomplete.
Among other reasons, the
main argument against the validity
of Wikipedia is that fact that anyone
can edit or contribute articles.
Whether the contributor has written
a doctoral thesis on the subject
or whether she is a 12 year-old
child, everyone is required to
contribute under Wikipedia’s
rules. This does, of course, bring
reliability into question. After
all, can users trust Wikipedia,
knowing that any article could
have been written by someone
unqualified?
Even Wikipedia itself
warns the user who is trying to
base accurate research upon its
content:
“Most educators and
professionals do not consider it
appropriate to use tertiary
sources such as encyclopedias as
a sole source for any information—citing an encyclopedia as
an important reference in footnotes
or bibliographies may result in censure or a failing grade.”
This concern, however, is
over exaggerated. Wikipedia correctly states that it would be insufficient to use Wikipedia as the sole
source of information. That does
not mean that using Wikipedia at all
should disqualify a research assignment from being taken seriously.
Many students use it anyway to get
names, locations, statistics, dates,
etc. They then have to “cite” another source and pretend that they
got their information there, often
times simply scrolling to the bottom
of the page and taking a few of the
sources that Wikipedia links to. If
Wikipedia is used, it ought to be
referenced. It is not as hazardous to
research as some would believe.
First of all, contributing to
Wikipedia is not simply replacing
wikipedia.org
any text on every whim or picking a
template and writing nonsense.
Composing or changing Wikipedia
articles involves more complex
processes than one might think. It is
done either with a Wikipedia account or as a guest edit that will
record your IP address with Wikipedia. In either case, editing Wikipedia resembles editing an actual web
page. The formatting necessary to
make a professional-looking
Wikipedia article, while not as difficult as actual programming, is
something that would require some
effort to learn, therefore deterring
non-benevolent contributors without actual purpose.
Second, Wikipedia has a
remarkable self-cleaning nature.
Posting false or misleading information will usually get rectified within
minutes, and repeat vandals do get
banned from further editing. Certain
articles, like World War II and the
article on Barack Obama, are locked
or partially locked from edits. This
makes the more significant and well
known articles safer from vandalism.
Nature, a science and medicine journal, did a study in 2005 testing Wikipedia against Encyclopedia
Britannica. Experts in fields of study
picked articles from both encyclopedias and looked for errors, omissions,
or misleading statements. On average, about four such mistakes were
found in a Wikipedia article, while
three such mistakes were found in a
Britannica article. While this does
mean that Britannica is slightly more
accurate, the accuracy difference
strikes down the notion that Britannica always has correct information
and Wikipedia is a minefield of lies
and misinformation.
One should certainly not use
Wikipedia, or any encyclopedia for
that matter, as the sole or primary
source of information. Research
should be gathered from real experts
and dedicated material on the subject
matter. But if Wikipedia is used, and
it is much more often than teachers
may know, then it ought to be cited.
It is incorrect to use outside information from somewhere and not cite it,
and yet that is exactly what many
students do regarding Wikipedia because of the stigma against it. It is
time that this wonderful, free, resource is finally appreciated for what
it offers.
OPINIONS
April
2012—
The BEAK
Beak —
April
2012
— THE
—57
The Year Of The Presidential Re-Election
Robert Graham
and Eric Anderson
Staff Writers
It looks like Barack Obama
is the only person in America who
can be confident that he’ll still have a
job next year.
With any other group of candidates for the Republican nomination, he might feel endangered; but
with the current contestants being
offered to run against him, all he
really has to do is sit back and let
them keep killing their own chances.
Midwest
Voic es
a t
voices.kansascity.com refers to this
year’s Republican race for the presidential nomination as “the worst
lineup in the history of presidential
nomination fights.”
The champions of the Republican Party this year, the supposed
cream of the crop, have made a weak
showing. The past year has been a
roller coaster for the entire GOP
(Grand Old Party). Virtually every
candidate (except for Ron Paul and
Jon Huntsman, who was beaten in the
South Carolina polls by comedian/
talk show host Stephen Colbert, not
actually on the ballot) has had his or
her chance at the lead, and all of
them have either blown it for themselves or been shot down by the others. First Michele Bachman won the
Iowa Straw Poll in August, but found
herself unable to retain support.
Then came Rick Perry’s surge in the
polls, but he slowly and surely defeated himself with his atrocious debating abilities and preparation.
Then we saw the Herman Cain explosion, the electrifying new personality
who lit up the debates with his revolutionary but simple idea, but unfortunately the word “nine” spoken
thrice in succession got old after two
weeks, and Republican voters moved
on.
These three candidates and
Jon Huntsman have all dropped out
of the race. Newt Gingrich became a
presence at the debates after Mr. Cain
and has been since, but the personal
problems in his past have been fighting to bring him back down. Rick
Santorum has had a few recent surges
and some polls currently place him in
first. However, his surprising idealism on some key issues, such as opposition to contraception, coupled
with his inability to spark interest
with voters has kept his support base
very finite with little room for
growth.
Ron Paul has stayed fairly
constant throughout the battle and
seems politically sound on most issues, but he has a very static support
base that neither grows nor declines
very much. Unless the media warms
up to him a bit, Mr. Paul has little
opportunity for a momentous increase in support.
Mitt Romney has for once
been the only consistent contender.
He has been in or near the lead for
essentially the entire race. Mr. Romney has always been there for Republicans to run back to after they’ve
finished supporting a more interesting candidate. He’s always willing to
take them back in once they realize
ment regulation and companies
that the other candidate was crazy,
committed major fraud as a result.
at least until a new candidate comes
Another problem with Ron Paul’s
and sweeps them off their feet
position is what he wants to cut.
again. Ultimately whoever wins the
Two major components of Paul’s
nomination won’t be the best candi“Plan to Restore America” go didate, but the candidate who isn’t
rectly against the wishes of the maquite as bad as all the other ones.
jority of Republicans in America.
At this point, the GOP race has beSince the creation of the
come more of a reality show than
GOP and especially since the ecoanything else. It’s a joy to watch,
nomic recession America experibut let’s hope that none of these
enced, Republicans have been all
people ever become president.
about job creation. They praise
One candidate has unexcompanies bold enough to hire
pectedly moved up in the Republimore people and cringe when the
can ranks. Ron Paul, the elevenunemployment rate rises.
Ron
term congressman from Texas, has
Paul’s plan goes not fall into this
moved from becategory,
ing an after- usconservatives.about.com
actually cutthought to stepting the fedping into the role
eral governof a formidable
ment’s workopponent to other
force by 10%
known Republior 250,000
can leaders, like
people
acMitt
Romney.
cording
to
This is extremely
wnyc.org.
interesting, as the
Antwo have vastly
other huge
different viewissue in his
points, showing
platform is
that the Republihis plan to
can party is very
stop foreign
divided currently.
aid
comWhile Mr. Rompletely. This
ney has said that
has been met
he wants less
by a wall of
government, he
r esista nce
has also stated
from fellow
that he supports
Republicans,
something similar
who feel that
to ObamaCare, a major inconsisthe aid is a way to have influence in
tency. In fact, it is difficult to say
other governments around the
much about his platform due to the
world as well as to maintain the
many inconsistencies surrounding
image that the United States is a
him.
charitable and caring nation. To
According to the Washingmake a long story short, Mr. Paul
ton Post, he has changed his views
has some serious hurdles to overon abortion, gun control, gay rights,
come if he wants to have a shot at
climate change, immigration, and
being the next President, starting
even Ronald Reagan (at least he is
with the revision of his plan for
consistently inconsistent). There
government spending. We can hear
are few things really known about
him typing already....
Mr. Romney, one being the size of
The growth of the Tea
his bank account, or rather accounts
Party (a radically conservative sect
(at least $200 million in total), and
of Republicans) over the past year
the other being the number of
or so has had a major influence on
houses he personally owns (three).
the GOP race because their votes
Then there is Ron Paul, who has
now count for so much, and each
(much to the relief of the GOP)
candidate is fighting to look more
stayed consistent in saying that he
Republican than all the others. The
wants very limited government.
new look is unflattering and clearly
However, although this position has
unnatural on some, like Mitt Rombeen popular with Republicans in
ney, who has historically been
the past, many Republicans now
closer to the moderate side of requestion how much of a limited
publicanism. However, the push
government they want.
toward conservatism has benefited
For instance, Republicans
Rick Santorum greatly.
were thrilled when the governMr. Santorum’s recent
ment’s economic regulations were
surges in the polls can be attributed
relaxed under Ronald Reagan and
to the recent support from the Tea
led to the largest amount of ecoParty. Since the Tea Party has
nomic growth in the modern era.
taken notice of him, he is all for
Recent similar actions by Republireducing the size of government,
cans, however, have lead to fraud,
decreasing government spending,
scandals, and companies not lookand cutting the corporate tax rate in
ing out for the consumer's best inhalf. Additionally, he wants the
terests.
United States to cease pursuit of
A classic example of reducgreen energy and green jobs and
ing regulations is seen in the housfocus completely on fossil fuels and
ing collapse. Republicans during
nuclear sources for energy. Where
the George W. Bush administration
he strays from sanity is his desire to
said that they wanted less governban contraception and belief in
teaching creationism in schools. His
devout religious pillars often seem to
get in the way of his success as a candidate. Though it is certainly possible that these beliefs could win him
the GOP nomination, Mr. Santorum’s
prayers won’t be enough when he is
pitted against Obama in a debate.
Another serious problem Mr.
Santorum has is that, quite frankly,
he doesn’t possess the ability to inspire. Unlike Mr. Cain and Mr. Gingrich, he can’t wow audiences. He’s
just really not that interesting as a
speaker. American voters don’t share
a rich camaraderie with candidates
who bore them to sleep. Although
Santorum has gained support as of
late, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able
to take his campaign to the next level.
Former Speaker of the House
Newt Gingrich, however, is a very
different type of candidate. His political views are generally accepted
by Republicans, such as passionately
opposing ObamaCare and excessive
government spending.
He also
wants better border security, is prolife, and wants to increase the already
enormous spending on the military
while taking a position against gay
marriage. These views are consistent
with the views of the majority of Republicans.
However, his campaign has
suffered much for the mistakes in his
past concerning his personal life. He
has had three wives. He had two
children with his first wife. He divorced his second wife soon after she
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and he was having an affair with
his third wife behind his second
wife’s back (while he was publicly
chastising then-Pres. Clinton for having extramarital relations). Callista
Gingrich, the third and current Mrs.
Gingrich, is twenty-three years
younger than her husband. Though
Mr. Gingrich has apologized for his
mistakes, it’s hard for America not to
be reluctant to support him. What if,
while president, Mr. Gingrich decides
to run off with a younger, prettier
nation just when America needs him
most?
But personal problems aside,
he is the best debater still left for the
GOP because of all his experience,
and therefore may have the best
chance at defeating Obama if he gets
nominated, which at this point looks
unlikely. He is a loose cannon, and
most Americans are wary of him.
Most polls currently have
Romney with 29% favor, just behind
Santorum’s 33%, sharing the majority of Republican support. Third
place sees Gingrich with about 14%,
and Ron Paul is in fourth with about
12%. As of late February, Santorum
and Romney both have won four primaries each, and Gingrich has won
one. The pack is narrowing and Republicans are close to choosing their
candidate for president, but the nomination is still up for grabs. To
Obama’s glee, Sarah Palin has even
said she has considered throwing her
name out there for a late and improbable attempt at candidacy. Here we
go again...
The BEAK
Beak —
86——THE
—April
April 2012
SPORTS
A Brainy Backcourt
Jonathan Muhlrad
Special Correspondent
Any sports fan would have had
to be living under a rock not to have
heard the recent hype surrounding the
Knicks’ starting point guard Jeremy Lin.
Lin’s stat lines have been more than impressive, but what makes it unbelievable
is the journey he has taken to reach
where he is today. His partner in the
Knicks’ starting backcourt, shooting
guard Landry Fields, has a story that is
also rather extraordinary. Both Lin and
Fields went from being high-scorers on
the SAT to being high-scorers in the
NBA.
The league that Lin and Fields
now play in was drastically different
when they were growing up during the
1990s’. Basketball, then, was ruthless.
The player’s roughness was not only
displayed on the court, it was also reflected through their actions off the court.
But while it may not have demonstrated
good sportsmanship, the NBA made it up
to its fans by producing some of the
greatest quality of basketball the league
has ever had. With the retirement of
many of the NBA’s greats such as Michael Jordan and Karl Malone in the
early 2000s, the quality of play in the
NBA decreased, along with the league’s
reputation. The NBA’s popularity took a
hit, exemplified by the record-low TV
ratings that were posted during the 200204 seasons.
The commissioner of the NBA,
David Stern, made two crucial changes in
2005. The first was implementing a dress
code requiring players to wear businessattire when going to and from the arena.
It is much easier to look up-to and respect an NBA player when they are
cleaned up and fitted in a nice suit.
The other change that Stern
made altered the entire sport. Upon signing the 2005 Collective Bargaining
Agreement between the league and its
players, the commissioner announced
that high school players must play one
year of college basketball before they
their playing skills as well as their individual character. This has allowed for
the entrance of players like Jeremy Lin
newsday.com
enter the NBA draft. The previous rule
in place allowed high school players to
go directly from high school basketball
to the NBA. The one year that players
were forced to spend in college refined
and Landry Fields into professional
basketball.
Lin and Fields have been told
more than once in their lives that their
basketball careers will soon come to an
end. Despite illustrious high school careers, neither player was likely to be recruited to a college program. Despite
gaining All Pac-12 1st team honors or
single-handedly bringing recognition to
their school as a top basketball program,
neither player was expected to find a
place with a pro team. And despite earning spots on NBA rosters, neither player
was supposed to experience success in
professional basketball. Today, Lin and
Fields make up the starting backcourt for
one of the NBA’s most famous franchises and have become essential to the
New York Knicks’ success.
The epitome of NBA role models, Fields and Lin have been told “no”
numerous times, yet they been persevered through adversity. Lin and Fields
did not let the distractions of basketball
divert their attention away from the
classroom, as both players excelled academically and gained acceptance to two
of the country’s most prestigious universities. But along this path, the Knicks’
guards have astonishingly remained
humble and demonstrated a continuous
desire to better their basketball-abilities.
While their rise to stardom
would have been less feasible without the
NBA’s reformation over the last decade,
Lin and Fields are ushering in a new era
of basketball role models. Instead of engaging in brawls with fans, Landry Fields
can be seen jogging around the court
before games, giving the crowd highfives. Rather than ranting about the insignificance of practice, Jeremy Lin can be
heard in interviews after every single
game, stressing the importance of continued improvement. The Knicks starting
backcourt will continue to inspire the
sports world with their enthusiastic play
on the court and their admirable demeanor off the court. Jeremy Lin and
Landry Fields represent the new National
Basketball Association, truly a league for
extraordinary gentlemen.
What About That Other Guard In New York's Fields Of Dreams?
Ryan Marks
Special Correspondent
Linsanity, Lincredible, Super
Lin-tendo. By now, you know who he
is. Jeremy Lin, a budding, young NBA
superstar who graduated with a degree in
economics from Harvard. This young
man has even been called the “Tim Tebow” of the NBA. (A lofty compliment
in its own right). We’ve all heard the
story: undrafted from Harvard, gets cut
from his hometown Golden State Warriors after growing up in Palo Alto. Blah
Mr. Linsanity. According to US
Newsweek this Knicks’ alma mater
sits a mere four rankings behind Lin’s
school (Harvard) on their list of “Best
Universities 2012”. That superstar
worth talking about is Landry Fields,
who graduated from Stanford University in 2010 where he averaged 22
points per game on the court and had
a 3.1 GPA in the classroom.
According to one NBA
scout and fellow GHS student, Jonathan Muhlrad, he’s “The G.O.A.T.”
For those of you who don’t know:
“Greatest of All Time.” And yes,
kffl.com
blah blah. But seriously, who cares anymore? In New York it’s all about the
flavor of the week anyway, right?
It’s time to appreciate the other
Knicks superstar who also hails from
Palo Alto and is every bit as educated as
New York last season. He dropped
buckets left and right averaging 9.7
points per game and rebounded like a
young Dennis Rodman, pulling down
6.4 boards per game. That tied him for
first with Dwayne Wade for the best
rebounding average among all guards
in the NBA last season. But this year,
Super-Lintendo, has stolen the spotlight.
Did Jeremy Lin make the AllNBA rookie team? I think not. Was
Jeremy Lin ever called the best rebounding guard in the league? No,
again. As far as I’m concerned, the
game-winners, putting the weight of a
combined 490 pounds of Amar’e and
Melo on his back (as well as the weight
of their combined, $37 million salaries).
But so what? Landry Fields has been
nothing but a great teammate during this
hot streak even letting Mr. Lincredible
crash on his couch in his NYC apartment.
So I ask you, students of GHS,
to trash those mainstream “Linsanity”
shirts and to go to the clearance rack at
Modells to find those Landry Fields
shirts we all came to know and love.
Let’s bring them back. Even you, Spike
toptentopten.com
he is fully deserves that title….well
maybe not fully, but you catch my
drift.
Landry’s good looks, charisma, and jaw dropping ability
helped him become the fan favorite in
G.O.A.T has the same base salary of
$762,195 that Lin has.
So why are we praising this
Lin guy again? Well, the Knicks have
won 6 of their last 8 and he’s hit a few
Lee!
We can only hope the Knicks
keep winning; but at some point we must
ask ourselves: What good-looking face
is best suited for those New York City
billboards? We all know who that is.
April
2012—
The BEAK
Beak —
April
2012
— THE
—79
SPORTS
GHS Spring Sports Overview
Sarah Brecher
Sports Editor
GHS’s spring sports season is
approaching quickly, especially with the
unseasonably warm winter coming to a
close. The coaches are looking forward
to successful spring seasons. Some
teams are looking to continue on their
winning ways and repeat as FCIAC
champions, while others are motivated to
try and reach championship levels
through hard work and dedication. Either way, all of GHS’ athletes and
coaches are excited for their upcoming
season and are committed to put in the
time and effort to play their hearts out
and leave everything they have on the
playing field.
Girls Softball
Girls varsity softball is looking
to improve their record from last year (911). Coach Fratello comments on the
team’s record: “We finished strong at the
end of the season going on a 7-2 run. We
would like to qualify for the FCIAC tournament and return to the State tournament and advance past the first round.”
Captains for this year include seniors
Erica Ambrogio (short stop), Lindsey
Bemis (center field) and Emily Raviele
(right field). All three were starters last
year and “will play a key role again this
season”, Fratello says. Other returning
players include Alison Kach and Ebba
Mark. Prime rivals for girls varsity softball include Stamford, Trinity, Westhill
and Darien. Fratello comments on her
team’s camaraderie: “They are a hard
working group of girls who are determined to improve on last year’s record
and winning a lot of games this year.”
Girls Tennis
Girls varsity tennis had an outstanding season last year, winning both
FCIAC and State championships. Coach
Betsy Underhill says “Our expectations
are the same every year and that is to
become a strong team within ourselves
so we can do the best we are capable of
doing. Our hopes are to recapture the
FCIAC and State titles.” Nine players
will return to play for the team, including
singles players are Jenn Deluca, Sam
Stone, Danielle Cepelewicz, Claudia
Kessala, and our captain Audrey Villemure. 5 new players will be added to the
roster from JV, and the rest of the team
includes returners. New Canaan is expected to be the chief rival for the team,
once again. Two of the three losses of
the season last year (record 19-3) were to
New Canaan. Coach Underhill comments on her team overall: “You can
know that no matter how our record
stands at the end of the season, our players will be giving it their all, and no matter whether they win or lose, they will
give it their best shot. They will work
hard all season, they will commit 100
percent to
me
and
the greenwichtime.com
team, they will sacrifice time, and remain
patient, and hopefully all that will be
enough to produce a trophy. If not, it
won't be a lack of effort!”
Girls Golf
Girls varsity golf is looking to
build upon the successes it has earned
over the past eight seasons. Coach Marie
Shimchick says, “I'm very excited for
this season. There have been a number
of girls who have expressed an interest in
the team who come with a great deal of
competitive experience. We should be a
very strong team not only in the FCIACs
but also in the state.” Returning star
players are captains, seniors Emma Lunder and Brooke Nethercott. This is Lun-
der’s second year as team captain, and
Coach Shimchick says she relies on her
leadership to help mentor and guide the
younger players. Nethercott was the
2010 Connecticut High School Association Player of the Year and named
All State in 2010 and 2011, as well as
First Team All-FCIAC both years.
According to Coach Shimchick, next
the FCIAC conference. We also hope
to win States.” Most of the team’s
starting lineup returns. The team’s top
singles player, tri-captain Tyler Kratky
is in a strong position to be the top
singles player in the state. Top-ranked
doubles partners, tri-captains CJ Purse
and Mike Grund, are physically and
mentally strong and play well to-
greenwichtime.com
year Nethercott will be playing golf at
the University of Hartford. Shimchick
talks highly of her two captains: “Their
love of the game and the ‘spirit of the
game’ are infectious both on and off
the course. They raise everyone’s
game.”
A deep field of returning players for this season is expected, not only
with Lunder and Nethercott, but also
junior Connie Bowman and sophomore
MacKenzie Freder.
Juniors Carly
Simmel and Maddie Popp are working
on their skill and technique in order to
make the jump to the varsity level.
Unfortunately, one of the team’s key
players, Caroline Lee, is unable to
compete this coming season due to a
knee injury incurred during the ice
hockey season this past winter.
“The FCIAC will be very
competitive this year,” Shimchick says.
“Only the top four teams qualify for the
FCIAC Tournament (this year at
Tashua Knolls in Trumbull). Staples
will be our strongest competition since
they are returning their entire starting
five but I also expect Fairfield Warde,
Darien, New Canaan, Danbury and and
of course, Trumbull to be very strong.”
Boys Tennis
Coach EJ Haskell is excited
about the season. “We expect to be
even stronger than last year, with almost out entire starting lineup returning. We hope to repeat our winning of
greenwichtime.com
gether. Coach Haskell believes the
pair has strong potential to go undefeated in the FCIAC conference.
“States are tough for doubles because
teams often move their top singles
players into doubles for this tournament, but CJ and Mike made it to the
semi-finals last year. With their additional experience together, the state
doubles championship is within their
reach,” Haskell says. Three additional
singles starters plan to return: juniors
Blake Niehaus and Tatsuya Tasaki,
and sophomore Ari Cepelewicz. Haskell says, “In addition to our returning
starters, we have three seniors who
will continue to bring strength and
depth to our lineup: singles player,
Mike Mannion, and the doubles team
of Jeff Shull and Alex Ertel.” Although the team’s chief rival continues
to be Staples, most of the other teams
in the league will also impose challenges for the team. The team had a
nearly impeccable FCIAC record last
year: 19-1, and hopes to continue their
hard work and commitment for the
upcoming season.
Boys Lacrosse
Although the boys varsity
lacrosse team is very young this year,
it should not be underestimated.
Coach Scott Bulkley says, “The focus
will be on learning to work and play
together. This is a great group of
young men, who have a ton of talent.
We just need to learn to play for each
other and as a team before we can set any
realistic expectations for the season.”
The team only has a few returning starters, including captains Ryan Fisher
(senior) and Alex Moeser (junior).
Fisher will bring two years of starting
experience into his senior year. Bulkley
counts on Fisher taking a dominant position in defense. “Moeser is one of the
best midfielders in the state, and the offense will run through him and his experience as a starter since his freshman
year will prove to be very valuable this
coming season,” Bulkley remarks. In
addition, Bulkley says the team has a
great group of young offensive players
who will be asked to step up this year
and be big contributors. “Kyle Foote,
Will Gibian, JP Carey, Shawn Dunster,
and Devon O’Connor saw varsity time
last year and should be able to help the
new additions adjust faster,” he comments.
Defensively, the team has a little more experience with Dan Griffin,
Cole Perry, and Jack Harrington, who
had valuable time last year and should
expect the same for this year. William
Waesche will prove to be great competition to start in goal for Ryan Fisher. In
addition, “Tim Swaby will help
strengthen our defensive middie corps
with his toughness and leadership. We
have a ton of young defenders who will
battle for starting spots”, Bulkley says.
The team’s experience will hopefully
help them to fight hard in all games, especially against biggest rival Fairfield
Prep. Coach Bulkley comments on his
team’s work ethic and commitment: “We
are going to play very hard and with a
ton of heart. If we can consistently do
that we will position ourselves to do
some great things.”
Girls Water Polo
Girls water polo has a large
number of experienced players returning
for the 2012 spring season. “All of the
returning players are students of the
game with strong swimming backgrounds and a love of the game,” Coach
Harris says. Last season, the team had
two All-American players, with graduate
Jesse Evans and returning senior Ally
Hay. Hay is one of the team’s captains,
along with juniors Milena Meehan and
Daniela Screnci. “Ally is a strong all
around athlete who can score goals and
play solid defense. Milena is a playmaker who is steady at both ends of the
pool. Daniela is an offensive threat who
can score with a strong outside shot,”
Coach Harris comments. The team will
also have good depth with talented second and third year players returning, including juniors Nicole Bellamy, Mary
Harrigan, and Chloe Potsklan, who will
bring added experience and skill to the
squad. Sophomores Claire Baxter and
Hollis Jomo will see additional playing
time and will contribute more this coming season. Harris says, “I am looking
forward to having some talented first
year athletes with age group experience
joining the team. They will bring added
depth and help to raise the level of our
program. I am confident they will blend
in well with the returning veterans.
The team will play against the
top prep schools in the northeast, with
Loomis and Choate at the top of the list.
“We will need to work hard to defeat
teams from Navy Aquatics and North
Penn later in the season,” Harris remarks.
He adds, “We had another winning season last year with 16 wins and 4 losses.
With the return of experienced athletes
and talented new comers, I am looking
forward to another winning season with
the Lady Cardinals.”
8—
— THE
The Beak
——
April
10
BEAK
April2012
2012
ENTERTAINMENT
REVIEW
A Masterpiece Blooms: The Blue Flower
Julia Rosenfeld
Special Correspondent
An old park bench sits in the
middle of the stage. An elderly man
slowly drifts towards it and sits down
with a sigh. He pulls out a scrapbook, old
and faded, and gently turns the pages.
The look on his face is solemn and filled
with old memories. He takes out pictures
and stares at them, fondly remembering
past experiences.
This is only the beginning of an
astounding and innovative off-Broadway
musical that I recently attended: The Blue
Flower. I went to The Blue Flower on a
whim, as a last minute change of plans.
By the end of the play, I was speechless.
I left the Second Stage Theater not only
with beautiful melodies engraved in my
mind, but also with a deeper knowledge
of World War I.
The Blue Flower is driven by
Dadaism, which originated in Zurich,
Switzerland, during the first World War.
In brief, Dadaism was a radical form of
artistic expression that people used to
articulate their opposition to the military
events of the time. The Blue Flower features characters based on famous historical figures, such as artists Max Beckmann, Franz Marc, Hannah Höch, and
scientist Maria (Marie) Curie. Beckmann, Marc, and Höch were all famous
Dadaist artists during the 1910’s to
1920’s.
The story starts with the sudden
death of Max in Central Park in the
1950’s. Time stops, and the story is continued through creative slideshows projected onto the screen. This slideshow is
periodically accompanied by song. We
are shown his connection to Franz whom
he lives with in Paris. Max works on
expressionist paintings, while Franz is
inspired by his favorite muse, the horse.
Jealousy, however, slowly separates
them. They both fancy Marie Curie, who
Noah Freeman
Special Correspondent
It generated over a billion
dollars at the box office, it appeared
on 33 top-10 lists for best films of
2008, got a 94% review on Rottentomatoes.com from critics, and received countless awards and nominations. It can be safely said that The
Dark Knight was a well-liked movie.
What then, about it’s sequel?
Spoiler Alert: The Dark
Knight ended with Batman driving
off into the night, after taking the
blame for Harvey Dent’s crimes. The
Joker was
captured
and Twoface died.
Now
the
question is
who,
or
what is the
B a t ma n ’ s
next opponent?
I n
his
next
installment
in the batman series,
The Dark fandango.com
K n i g h t
Rises, Christopher Nolan is introduc-
at that point, is a young and naïve woman
in Paris. Max sees her first, but Franz
steals her heart. Unfortunately, their
efflorescent love for each other is suddenly interrupted by the horrors of the
war. Cities are bombed, people are killed,
and the friends soon separate. The maelstrom of the war deeply affects the lives
of all four characters and before long, the
musical ends on a note of tragedy.
What is truly innovative about
The Blue Flower is the music. The songs
vary between emotional ballads and uptempo rock songs. Although the musical
takes place in the early 1900’s, there is a
modern influence, with harmonica and
guitar parts intertwined with classic
Broadway tunes and jazz pieces. There is
also a discernible country twang and indie effect in many of the songs as well.
The harmonies were enchanting and
there was a perfect use of dissonance.
The lyrics were clever as well, with some
being romantic and others satirical. The
melodies never left my head, and I found
myself humming them continuously after
the play.
At the end of the show, I got to
go backstage and meet the actors. I know
the woman who plays Hannah, Meghan
McGeary, so she kindly showed us
around. Teal Wicks, the woman who
played Marie Curie, was incredibly
friendly. As it turned out, she had previously played Elphaba in the musical
Wicked on Broadway.
I walked out of the Second
Stage Theater a completely different person. I had experienced the harsh reality
of the war, the ideas of Dadaism, and the
confusion of life itself. Despite this chaotic play, The Blue Flower is a story of
hope, and that hope continued to affect
me after the performance. Once in a
while, something truly amazing comes
along, and blows you away. Seeing The
Blue Flower was one of the best last minute decisions I ever made.
PREVIEW
Looking Forward To The Avengers
Sean Dillion
Staff Writer
I am a comic book fan. I love
the lavishly creative things comic book
stories tell that no other media can
without making fun of it. I love stories
like Grant Morrison’s Animal Man,
Watchmen, and Joe Kelly's Deadpool.
These books have wild ideas like the
main character meeting the writer of
his story, or a giant squid saving the
human race, or traveling back in time
and replacing an important historical
figure who has a secret identity, all the
while, making great humorous entertainment.
In my opinion, all the adaptations of the Marvel comics in the film
universe have ranged from good, such
as The Incredible Hulk to great, such as
Captain America. Now, they are all
culminating into one story: The Tales
of The Avengers.
In order for The Tales of The
Avengers to be a success, the publishers
w o u l d
have to get
a
great
storyteller
familiar
with comic
books.
Enter Joss
Wh ed on ,
the
guy
behind
such great
stories as
Buffy the
Vampire
S l a y e r , ht t p: / / www .go o gl e. co m/ i m gr es?
Firefly,
Toy Story, and Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog. If you’ve never heard of
any of these stories, get out and watch
them!
Whedon’s characters can be
The Dark Knight Rises
ing two villains, the sleek Selina
Kyle, otherwise known
as Catwoman, and the
enigmatic, masked villain Bane.
Taking
place eight years after
the events of The Dark
Knight, Batman must
stop the terrorist Bane
from wreaking havoc fandango.com
on
his
b el o v e d
Gotham.
The trailer for The Dark
Knight Rises starts out with a young
boy singing the national anthem, in
a football field about to be attacked
by Bane. A football player runs
across the field, oblivious to
the fiery destruction occurring
behind him. Selina Kyle then
tells Bruce Wayne, “There is
a storm coming… … when it
hits, you’re all gonna wonder
how you could live so large,
and leave so little for the rest
of us.” Convicts are freed,
waving their guns, and Bane
ominously walks up a tunnel.
One of the best things about
the previous movie, The Dark
Knight, was the late Heath
Ledger’s remarkable performance as the Joker. Will Tom
Hardy and Anne Hathaway be
able to fill his shoes? In an
interview with Empire magazine,
Hardy said about his character,
“He’s brutal.
Brutal.
…
He’s a smashing machine.
He’s a wrecking ball.”
And he intends to portray Bane as
such, saying
to Empire magazine, “He's a big
dude who's incredibly clinical, in
the fact that he has a result-based
and oriented fighting style. It's not
about fighting. It's about carnage.
The style is heavy-handed, heavyfooted, it's nasty. Anything from
small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages,
stamping on shins and knees and
necks and collarbones and snapping
heads off and tearing his fists
through chests, ripping out spinal
columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action."
The character of Bane in
The Dark Knight Rises is radically
different from Joel Schumacher’s
portrayal of the character in Batman
and Robin. In Batman and Robin,
Bane was little more than a henchman. He roared and grunted and
charged at people. However, in The
Dark Knight Rises Bane is a highly
intelligent terrorist leader, on top of
summed up as likeable, strong, and hilarious. His stories range from the musical comedy of Once More, With Feeling
to the utter despair of Act 3 of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.
However, be warned of two
things. First, Nathan Fillion will be in
this movie. For those who don’t know
who he is, watch Castle. He will be in
this film because Joss Whedon made his
career with the role of Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly, which can best be described as Han Solo meets Clint Eastwood meets a five year old.
The second warning you should
heed is that Joss has a tendency for killing off the most likeable, comedic, and/
or cutest character of the story, dying in
the most painful ways imaginable. So,
expect a wonderful film with great characters and fantastic dialogue.
Other adaptations I am looking forward
to:
Dark Knight Rises (The Grand Finale
of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight
Films)
Before Watchmen (Comic book prequels of Watchmen written by Brian
“Joker” Azzarello, J Michael” Straczynski, “Babylon 5, Darwin Cooke, “New
Frontier”, and Len Wein, “Editor of
Watchmen”)
World War Z (An adaptation of Max
Brooks’ zombie classic)
Cabin in the Woods (Written by Joss
Whedon, “Serenity”)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with
Scientists (From the guys who brought
you Wallace and Gromit)
Prometheus (Ridley Scotts’ return to
Sci Fi)
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
GI Joe: Retaliation (From the guys who
made Zombieland)
ParaNorman
Hotel Transylvania (From Gendy
Tartakofsky, “Samurai Jack”)
being a brutal titan.
Another big name starring in
The Dark
K n i g h t
Rises
is
A n n e
Hathaway.
Accor ding
to
Ms.
Hathaway,
the role has
not been an
easy one.
Apparently,
she’s been
living on
“kale and
fandango.com
dust,” just
so she can
fit into the costume! The Huffington
Post reported she also called the roll
her most physically demanding yet.
"They've given me a martial arts exercise that I have to do all the time to
teach me grace and proper stance and
fluid movement. It looks so gentle,
but when you're actually doing fight
choreography it's 'Oh my gosh, that's
actually a block. Oh, I'm hitting
somebody's throat right now.’”
After the success of The Dark
Knight, expectations are high for it’s
sequel. We can only hope that The
Dark Knight Rises lives up to its
predecessor
ENTERTAINMENT
Fashion Night Out
Jordan Missions, a foundation dedicated to helping those in need, by
coordinating a clothing drive for
underprivileged children going back
to school.
Across the pond in London,
thousands of people swarmed the
streets in their chicest outfits, hoping to be photographed by maga-
Annie Manacher
Entertainment Editor
Early fall is a busy time in
the world of fashion. Not only is it
the time for new autumn trends to
make their way onto the streets via
fashion magazines, but it holds one
of the fashion world’s busiest nights:
Fashion Night out.
Fashion Night Out
(FNO) began in 2008 in New
York City, and since then has
spread to 17 other countries,
including the United Kingdom,
France, and Brazil. FNO celebrates the kick off of Fashion
week in New York City. On this
early September night, FNO
festivities begin at 6 PM and
fashionpulsedaily.com
continue until 11 PM. Typical
FNO celebrations include live
zines like Vogue. FNO’s hometown
music acts, champagne, star-studded
of New York City was nothing
parties, and of course, shopping!
short of chaos. Crowds were sigAccording to Fashion Night
nificantly larger than last year’s
Out’s official websites, cities all over
event, and the city was full of fathe world had fun, successful, shopmous celebrities. A-Listers like
ping nights this year. In Los Angeles,
Justin Bieber and mentor Usher
participating stores ranged from afattended Dolce & Gabbana’s Celebration in Manhattan where the 17year old superstar signed t-shirts for
$195 a piece. Part of the proceeds
went to one of Bieber’s favorite
charities, Pencils of Promise.
(myfoxny.com) Rapper Drake was
seen taking a turn DJing at Versace’s FNO party, and fellow
Young-Money artist Nicki Minaj
celebrated Fashion Night Out at
Giuseppe Zanotti Boutique. (Rapup.com)
So what trends can we expect this upcoming fall? Menswear
chic has been increasingly popular,
making good use of materials like
leather and denim. Bold prints with
thejustinbiebershrine.com
stripes and spots will be making a
fordable H&M to high-end designers
statement as well, as will animal
like Fendi and Gucci. The City of
prints and lace.
Angles even teamed up with Fred
April
TheBEAK
Beak —
—9
April
20122012—
— THE
11
Adele And The Music Within Her
Karena Ardaji
Special Correspondent
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins
was born May 5, 1988, in Tottenham,
England. Twenty-years later, when
Adele dropped her first album, 19, it
took off immediately. Her song
Chasing Pavements became a hit and
scored Adele a Grammy for Best
New Artist in 2009. That’s a lot for a
19 year old to go through! Adele’s
new album 21 is even more complex,
deeper, and
darker.
She
recently told
MTV News
reporter
James Montgomery that
the making of
21 was heartbreaking
in
more
ways
than
one.
Adele
took
her horrible
break-up and
turned it into artsfuse.org
something
beautiful.
Adele fits in to the genre of
Soul and Jazz. Her soulful voice
makes her sound older than her 23
years. Adele is known for many hit
songs, including Chasing Pavements,
Set Fire to the Rain, and Someone
like You. Adele's song "Rolling in the
Deep" was #1 on the charts for seven
weeks straight, and her song
"Someone like You" was #1 for two
weeks straight.
CNN’s cover about the
singer story says "She's a rare case of
an artist where she can breeze in, sit
down and just knock everyone out.
On top of the quality of songwriting,
there's just an indefinable charisma
and power to her voice. It was so obvious that there didn't need to be any-
thing to mask it. There wasn't an issue of production…there was nothing
dressed up about it".
What most people love about
Adele is her 100% reality. At the
2011 MTV Video Music Awards,
Adele performed standing in a simple
black dress, while other celebrity like
Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj wore
extravagant costumes. Adele doesn't
need to wow people with fashion.
She wows people with her strong,
graceful voice.
I n
other Adele
news: The
singer performed recently
in
London's
HMV Hammers mit h
Apollo and
stopped the
show to allow medics
to treat a fan
who
had
fainted. After hearing
co nf ir ma tion of the incident, she cried 'medic'
into her microphone, before walking
t o t h e f r o nt of t h e s t a g e
(DailyMail.co.uk).
Some of Adele’s more inspiring quotes come from when she has
discussed singing about heartbreak.
"Heartbreak can definitely give you a
deeper sensibility for writing songs. I
drew on a lot of heartbreak when I
was writing my first album, I didn't
mean to,
but
I just
did." (BrainyQuote.com).
Adele will continue to influence people around the world. With
her beautiful music, powerful lyrics
and her gracefulness, she might just
end up leaving her fingerprint on the
world.
Don’t Forget The Classics
Jonna Mosoff
Special Correspondent
Movies are a part of everyone’s life. We go to the movies for
entertainment, but we don’t often
think about how movies have
evolved. Like everything else, they
have a history. Our generation, however, has lost touch with its beginnings. Black and white- silent movies and movies where married couples slept in two double beds are not
familiar to most teenagers. The forties, fifties, and even the sixties seem
like centuries away, but these were
what impacted our parents and grandparents. Their point of view of life
was impacted by these movies and
now we are ignoring them. The fact
that they were released decades before we were born does not make
them any less important
We are forced to read classic
written works in school. We will
have read Catcher in the Rye and
Lord of the Flies by the time we
leave high school along with Macand that is what is on film. Movies
beth, Romeo and Juliet and A Tale
are time capsules and every time
of Two Cities. These are a vital part
you watch the movies you are openof our education and our undering the time capsule. They are pristanding of our cultural history.
mary sources, important to an unThey are primary source examples
derstanding of history. People have
of the views of a certain era, from
said time after time that the media
Shakespeare and his description of
has an incredible impact on the
the Elizabethan Era to Arthur Miller
populace. They tend to be referring
and his description of
to television and raA mer i ca
du r in g
dio, but movies
McCarthyism. Classhould not be exsic movies can serve
cluded, they are a
the same purpose.
form of media. And
Dir ect ors,
despite liberties taken
writers, and actors
with actual evidence
come to together to
they are, for the most
create a film that depart, accurate.
picts their views of an
Movies also
event. Casablanca
have an incredible
and Mrs. Miniver
ability to affect the
were made during www.doctormacro.co
lives of millions of
World War II; the
moviegoers. They
directors and actors didn’t know the
affect social change. For example,
Allies were going to win the war or
the 1967 film Guess Who’s Coming
that we were going to drop an
to Dinner was the first time a black
atomic bomb. They knew only what
man kissed a white woman on film.
they felt at that time during the war,
This was completely unheard of and
it made theatergoers think. Was it
really that bad? South Pacific gives a
similar vibe with a song dripping in
irony titled “You’ve Got to be
Taught”, in which a sailor lists all the
prejudices people “must” have to fit
into the society of the 1940’s. He
loved a Polynesian woman, which
was shocking at the time, and yet
when the sailor dies, the audience’s
hearts go out to the young woman
who has lost her love. Movies play
with people’s emotions and their
greatest gift is showing us that all
people despite color and race have
the same emotions. This is how and
why one film can affect millions of
people around the world. They project universal truths, such as love,
hate and redemption.
So the next time you go to a
movie with a friend and marvel at the
computer generated imagery and
wonderful special effects, remember
where they came from and, please,
don’t forget the classics!
10——THE
TheBEAK
Beak — April
2012
12
April 2012
ENTERTAINMENT
Big Wins At The Oscars
Eamon Cartine
Special Correspondent
A story about a relationship
between a silent film star, a rising young
actress, a young boy solving a mystery
alone in Paris, and Margaret Thatcher
stole the show this year at the 84th Annual Academy Awards at the Hollywood
and Highland Center. Stars graced the
Red Carpet, among them Jessica
Chastain, Stacy Keibler, and Missi Pyle
as best dressed and Gwyneth Paltrow,
Kristen Wiig, and Berenice Bejo as worst
dressed of the night.
After many compliments and
questions the stars entered the theater and
took their seats to get for the great night.
The theater was decorated with a cinema
theme, including old-time model ushers
handing out popcorn and snacks during
commercial breaks.
Billy Crystal hosted Hollywood’s biggest night this year for the 9th
time. Eddie Murphy, the original host,
dropped after producer, Brett Ratner,
resigned. Ratner’s use of a gay slur while
discussing rehearsals forced him to resign. The incident caused Murphy to step
down as well, disgusted by the whole
ordeal. So that’s where Billy Crystal
came in. Crystal was great with many
humorous skits and a low-key, but still
witty opening. Billy was back!
The big winner of the night was
The Artist, a silent French romantic comedy drama film. The story takes place
from 1927 to 1932 in Hollywood, at the
time when silent films were falling out
and being replaced by “the talkies”, movies with sound. The plot follows the relationship between an older silent film star
and a rising young actress.
The Artist won Best Picture,
beating out 8 other films including Hugo
and The Descendants. The Artist’s Michel Hazavicius won Best Director and
French actor Jean Dujardin surprisingly
beat Hollywood hit George Clooney for
Best Actor. The Artist also took home
Best Original Score and Best Costume
Design.
Even though Hugo also won
five awards and received the most nomi-
RETRO REVIEW
Sean Dillon
Staff Writer
Act I: The Dawn of Man.
This act is pointless! All that
happens in this part of the film is monkeys sit around and suddenly they learn
to use tools for ill. Grade F (0%)
Act II: TMA-1.
Of all the acts of the film, this
one had the most squandered potential. It
could have shown us a possible future of
mankind in the year 2001 and explained
what exactly monoliths are. (For the record, monoliths are advanced machines
created by an unseen extraterrestrial creature.) There are problems with some of
the director’s decisions. In the movie, we
never find out what the monoliths are!
This subject, in a science fiction film, is
left for us to ponder without giving us
any clues at all. Also, in one scene
which I assume is meant to show space
travel as being perceived with the same
casualty as air travel, there is very little
human interaction. Where is the emotion? The director does show us a future
with video screens, PowerPoint, and revolving doors with comfy chairs. I guess
that’s worth something. Grade D+ (68%)
nations of 2011, it only received technical awards. Hugo won Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Art
Direction, Best Cinematography, and
Best Visual Effects. Hugo is the story
of a boy who lives a Paris railway station alone, and also follows a toyshop
owner in the French city.
Meryl Streep won Best Actress for her portrayal of the historical
head-strong Margaret Thatcher in The
Iron Lady. Even though she is a respected big-name actress, the award
was expected to go to fan-favorite newbie, Viola Davis. The Iron Lady also
won Best Makeup.
Christopher Plummer, who
played an openly gay man with terminal cancer, won Best Supporting Actor
for Beginners and Octavia Spencer,
who played a big-mouth Southern maid
in the 1950’s, won Best Supporting
Actress for The Help, as expected.
Christopher Plummer broke
the record for being the oldest person in
history to win an Academy Award for
acting at the age of 82. Meryl Streep
continued her record for most nominations, 17, and is now one of five actors
whom have won 3 or more Academy
Awards. This was also her first win in
28 years, since Sophie’s Choice, after
14 straight losses. In addition, she was
the 9th actress in the last 14 years to
win Best Actress for portraying a real
person.
Overall, the Oscars were a
great success and a most memorable
night. Hopefully next year will be just
as great , and more advanced movies
can be created in the future. After 84
years, the Academy Awards continues
to honors movies of all shapes and
sizes.
euronews.com
The Hunger Games Hit
The Big Screen
Annie Manacher
Entertainment Editor
The Hunger Games Trilogy
written by Suzanne Collins, are easily
the most popular books since the Twilight Saga franchise. By the end of
March 2012, fans finally have seen the
first installment of the trilogy come to
life.
The first story in Hunger
Games Trilogy follows Katniss as she
embarks on a dangerous adventure
competing in her country’s annual
“ H u n g e r
Games”.
Two
tributes,
one
male, one female, are selected from each
of the twelve
distr icts
of
Pamen ,
the
country where
the games take
place. Only one
can win. The
Hunger Games
movie stars Jennifer Lawrence
as Katniss Everdeen, the main
character, Josh
Hutcherson as
Peeta Mellark,
Katniss’ fellow
competitor, and
L
i
a
m
Hemsworth as
Gale Hawthorne,
Katniss’
best
fr i en d
fr om hungergamesmovie.org
home.
E ven
though the movie is receiving a lot of
hype, not everyone was always a fan,
including Jennifer Lawrence herself! In
an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence reveals how she ignored the offer for three days! The 21year-old says, “It was the middle of the
night in England, and I was in bed
when I got the call, and I was so in love
with the books and the script, and suddenly it was right in my face -- and the
size of the decision was terrifying."
So what made her accept the
opportunity? Calling her mom! The advice she received prompted her to take
the role. She tells The Hollywood Reporter, "I thought, 'I don't want to miss
out because I'm scared. Me being scared,
I never want that to stop me from doing
something.' But I knew in my heart that I
wanted it -- it was about working out all
the fears." Despite the publicity the
movie is receiving, Jennifer will only
r e c e i v e
$500,000 for
the first film
in the series.
She
along
with costars
Hut ch er s on
a
n
d
He m s wor t h
are signed on
for all of The
H u n g e r
Games movies.
This
film was anticipated so
much,
that
tickets went
on sale a
little over a
month before
the
release
date! Lionsgate,
the
movie’s studio, generated
more
hype for the
movie
by
creating a week-long mall tour with the
film’s three main stars, where fans are
able to take part in and question/answer
session directly with the actors.
The Hunger Games is sure to
become a hype rivaling the likes of other
series before it. Make sure you catch it in
theaters as soon as possible!
2001: A Space Odyssey (The Movie)
Act III: Jupiter Mission.
I wish the rest of the film were
created to this level of quality. Everything in Act III is excellent. I both fear
and sympathize with Hal, a character
with multiple layers. The actor who
plays Hal is the only convincing actor
in the entire
film.
This
works for the
character because he is
supposed to
grow
emotions by becoming more
and more self
-aware and he
is afraid to
die. Grade A
(95%)
Act IV: Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite.
This act is
very confusing.
From
what I gather,
the
main
character is
transitioning
into a space
baby, which contradicts the monolith
machine giving knowledge to early
man in the first act of the film. Not
only that, but we never find out why
the machine did that or why it changed
the protagonist. Does the monolith
speed up evolution? No, because evolution does not
work on individual
species. Is it
moving
the
character to a
higher plain
of existence?
Maybe, that
seems to be
the most reasonable explanation.
Another theory
could be that
the baby is
watching
a
new
planet
and the first
act is in fact,
actually the
ending of the
film. Grade F
(42%)
O v e r a l l
Grade:
F
(52%)
psychedelicadventure.blogspot.com
think
Here are 10 Sci Fi stories that I
ar e bett er than 2001:
1. I Have No Mouth and I Must
Scream by Harlan Ellison
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore and
Dave Gibbons
3. Gattaca by Andrew Niccol
4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
by Nicholas Meyer and
Jack
B. Sowards
5. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country by Nicholas Meyer andDenny Martin Finn
6. Blade Runner by Ridley Scott,
Hampton Fancher, and David Peoples
7. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy series by Douglas Adams
8. The Caves of Androzani by Robert
Holmes and Graeme Harper
9. Out of Gas by Tim Minear and
David Solomon
10. In the Pale Moonlight by Michael Taylor, Peter Allan Fields, and
Victor Lobl
FEATURES
A STUDY
Chloe McGovern
Features Editor
With mid-terms in our wake
and AP exams leering ahead on the
horizon, more often the challenge of
condensing an entire semester’s
worth of material into a study plan,
and not the test itself, that causes
stress and sleepless nights. The Beak
recently conducted a survey among
25 Greenwich High School students
to examine what has proven to be the
most effective study methods and
patterns that permeate the student
body.
The one method that has
prove to be unanimous, with all 25
students providing the same response, is using a combination of
notes, study guides, and the textbook
as prime study materials. If pressed
for time, senior Jamie Denton says,
”Reading straight from the textbook,
or an AP review book, is the way to
go.” The subjects of this prestigious
study were also divided about the
practicality of studying with friends.
While 10 responded that friends were
an invaluable source of information
and that the peer pressure often
forced them to commit to their studies, 15 others contended that the
temptation to socialize during study
sessions was too strong and only
served to lower their final grade. Ultimately, the study skill of choice
depends upon personality and better
judgment.
Although many often complain about sleepless nights blurred
with highlighters and sticky notes, a
April
2012—
The Beak
April
2012
— THE
BEAK——11
13
How Do You Study?
surprising number of students responded they make it a goal to receive a sufficient amount of sleep
prior to each test. Seven students
responded that they sleep for five to
seven hours on average, while another ten say they receive eight or
nine hours. Though cramming is a
common cop out method, most students prefer spreading their study
time in one to two hour chunks of
time during the week leading up to
the exam. However, at least five
reported that the majority of their
studying is accomplished the night
before.
Several students provided
additional tricks to improve one’s
study habits. Senior Michael Grund
noted, “A spoonful of sugar works
just as well as, if not better than, a
cup of coffee”. Junior Brad Kim
advises that simply paying attention
in class and doing your homework
throughout the entire school year
will guarantee at least a B on any
test. And finally, Senior Jennifer
Hilibrand says that coffee is her fail
-proof study weapon.
Listed below is the complete data collected from this survey:
Who Students Prefer Studying With
Preferred Study Location
Study Period
Home……………………….14
The Library…………………8
Starbucks……………………2
School………………………1
2 + Wks Prior..……………......3
1-2 Wks Prior…………...…….7
1 Week Prior……………...…..9
Several Days Prior…...……….4
The Night Before……………..2
100% of students
use a combination
of notes, study
guides, and textbooks to study
Searching For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow
Peter Russell
Special Correspondent
Political Action Committees,
also known as Super PAC’s, recently
outspent the candidates almost two to
one in Election 2012 primary advertisements, according to
the San Francisco
Chronicle,
PAC’s have received more than $96
million for advertisements. Half of
this has so far been spent on attack
advertisements, which are advertisements that have the sole purpose
of attacking a candidate and their
position.
PAC’s. However, in early February,
President Obama, perhaps accepting the inevitable, approved Super
PAC’s and encouraged wealthy democrats to start donating to them as
their Republican counterparts have
been doing.
Every major candidate has
a Super PAC which supports them
in some way. Until recently, incumbent President Barack Obama was
the only candidate who did not officially endorse the existence of super
Overall, one can safely say
that Super PAC’s are shaping up to
be a huge part of the campaign
landscape for the 2012 GOP nominations and the general elections.
Super PAC’s have even encroached
This marks an
important landmark in the
history of Super PACs,
which were created by the
ruling of the Citizen’s
United supreme court
case in 2010. This case
was successful in allowing Super PACs to donate
unlimited sums of money
to political campaigns as
long as the groups do not
affiliate or coordinate
with the candidate himself. If one group receives
more than $1,000 in politically driven donations,
it qualifies as a PAC.
Overall, Super PACs have
raised incredible amounts of money,
much of which goes undocumented.
According to Opensecrets.org, a center for Responsive Politics, Super
into modern popular culture with the
dawn of the, “Colbert Super PAC,
Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow,” led by political pundit Stephen
Colbert.
Colbert, a Comedy Central
political satirist,
has long poked fun
at our nation’s
political system;
from his run for
president in 2008
to his exploratory
committee for the
presidency of the
United States of
South Carolina in
2012. His remarks
and satires are often found by political scientists to
be more truthful
than not and as a
result the pundit’s
a ctions
ha ve
brought him under
both acclaim and
criticism. One of
his more recent forays into politics
and government has been the Super
PAC, which he created as a mock up
in 2011. So far, according to Federal
Electoral Commission records, Colbert has raised over a million dollars
for his PAC.
3A——
TheBEAK
Beak —
— April
April2012
1, 2012
14
THE
APRIL FOOL!
April
1, 2012
— THE
The Beak
——
4A15
April
2012 —
BEAK
Let’s Have A Tea Partay!
Helen Hansel
Features Editor
What’s the next best thing
since sliced bread? Simply put, sliced
bread. And nothing could be better
than sliced bread with a bit of jam on
the top and a nice hot, steeping cup
of tea by its side. You may call me
silly, but what you’ve just prepared
yourself for is nothing less than a full
blown-out tea partay.
Tea partay. Does this make
you reminisce about those tea partays
you had when you were four, when
nobody but your stuffed teddy-bears
attended? No? Maybe, then, what
comes to mind is that day in American History last year when you
learned about the colonists and how
they threw barrels and barrels of tea
into the Boston Harbor. Did you fall
asleep in that particular class? Nice.
Well, perhaps for the more politically
astute of you, the conservative movement is what you immediately comes
to mind.
Well, I propose something
new -- something hopefully much
more impressive than any of the three
Christian Fazio
Editor in Chief
above choices, something that will
hopefully change the world through
commitment, cooperation, and coolness: a Tea Partay Club.
The
Tea Partay
Club would
have all the
elements of
the typical
club
at
Greenwich
H i g h
School. It
supports an
arbitrary
c a u s e
through
bake sales,
it elects the
top 98.7%
(r ounded
up) of all
members to
lea der ship
p os it ions
that
look
“ a ma zi n g
for
college,” and
finally, it posts ads for club meetings (ALL ARE WELCOME!) in
the places where students least want
to be reading about them -- places
such as bathroom stalls,
library bulletin
boards,
and the floor,
of course.
But the
Tea Partay
Club is, in
fact, outrageously distinct
from
other clubs at
Gr eenwich
High School.
It also has
nothing to do
with
fouryear-old
girls, American history or
politics. Its
simple goal
is to return
tea back into
American
culture and distract Americans from
drinking unhealthy soda, sugary
juices, and even (indulge me in a bit
of optimism) hard liquor. Who needs
those drinks that are simply awful for
health and decaying teeth?
Ooooohh, do I sense a health
-conscious aspect to this club? Gosh,
we are just so hipster!
Unfortunately, it has come to
this — the moment of truth — the
final ultimatum. Should we, can we,
ask Student Activities to please let us
start a Tea-Partay Club despite its
many political nuances? Will we be
allowed to start a club for the simple
joy of pursuing our fierce passions of
tea and its fabulous flair? Are we not
justified in spreading the wealth of
tea to the poor and ignorant souls
who are tragically unaware of its
beauty, power, and existential glory?
As missionaries (and, on the side,
members of the Tea Partay Club), it
is our right, no, it is our duty to
propagate the great qualities of tea
that seem to have transcended time.
Or, should I say seep through time
just as tea itself seeps through the
napkin that separates the tea cup from
the saucer? And steeps in a cup?
Viva La Revolución!
The grade weighting system
at GHS has been under much talk
recently, sparking debate at school
among students, PTA meetings, as
well as headmaster forums. The issue
even started appearing on Facebook
following a proposal to reduce the
weighting from 1.0 to 0.5. With inflammatory and misleading titles of
groups like "Keep Weighted GPAs at
GHS" and "Petition Unweighted
GPAs!," it is evident that students at
the school are ardent about GPAs.
I do not think weighting is
the problem when it comes to grades
at GHS; I think the entire system of
grade delegation requires reform.
Hopefully, I may capture some of the
enthusiasm shown by the student
body regarding weighting and direct
it toward what I think is the bigger
problem: GPA inequality.
It seems that every day the
smart get smarter and vice versa.
Students who consistently receive D's
and F's live in the forgotten world of
starving GPA’s; while others who
receive A's and B's sit in their hilltop
megamansions smoking Cuban cigars
and drinking molten gold.
I propose we end this unequal distribution of grades and institute a redistribution of grades program. The current system unfairly
punishes the less fortunate, favors
children privileged from birth, and
creates gross inequalities between the
top 1% and the remaining 99%.
Based on my own mental
calculations the Gini coefficient (a
measure used for income inequality,
where 1 is perfect inequality and 0 is
perfect equality) for distribution of
GPAs at GHS is .89; this ratio is
above the .6 mark that signals a distribution is highly unequal and is
far above even the worst of African
dictatorships! We live in Greenwich, Connecticut in the United
States of America (in case you didn't know or are suffering from a
rare case of amnesia), not in
Swaziland.
If
we don't alter
our course we
will soon turn
into Swaziland
and famine, rioting, and bad
stuff will happen!
G P A
inequality occurs
because
certain students
master and apply skills better than their peers.
Just as in capitalism, because people work in different ways with different talents, they ultimately
achieve different outcomes. We,
however, can't allow this to continue! Just because a student is less
gifted, doesn't do any work, or cuts
every single class doesn't mean that
he should be given poor marks. It
is, after all, probably not his fault
that this is happening to him, but
the fault of the more intelligent,
who exploit the less intelligent for
grades and the gods.
The argument that people
should be able to succeed or fail by
their own merits is an immoral, unfair, "dog-eat-dog" argument that
has failed when applied to free market capitalism; the poor (or less advantaged) deserve money, good
grades, and services to be paid for
by the rich (or more privileged).
Anyone who argues against this is
insensitive and elitist.
All men (students) are not
"created equal" at birth. This is a
fact. All people also don't have the
same parents, so they are brought
up differently. This variety of backgrounds
produces gross inequalities in education
level
upon entering
school, physical
abilities,
and
personal interests. Some will
have unfair advantages, which
doesn't
make
the playing field
level. The policy of grades is
especially prejudiced against those who don't attend
school or who were never born into
existence! Should we really continue to sit back and let people not
in our school system or who were
never conceived to be without a
GPA: which is fundamental to their
"general welfare" and "pursuit of
happiness"? I think not!
"We are the 99%" has become a popular catchphrase
amongst anti-elite, anti-capitalist,
anti-Wall Street, anti-1%, antiworld, anti-anti Occupy Wall Street
protestors (I <3 #Occupy, #OWS). I
think the occupiers should stop directing their attention toward the
failing, unfair system of capitalism
and instead focus on the inequality
of grades that exists in school. If
#OccupyGreewich and #Occupy
(Insert place with wealthy people
here) can become popular, so can
#OccupyGHS (although we would
have to set up our tents and bongos
away from school property, because
otherwise the cops will brutalize and
blind us with pepper spray).
We can't continue to let hard
workers achieve high GPAs at the
expense of poor workers! Since everyone knows that only a certain
amount of high grades can be given
out, just as only a certain amount of
wealth exists and no more can be created, we must distribute them equitably.
Every student should be
given a C average (2.0 GPA) regardless of his courses, performance, participation, attendance, or existence.
To supplement this policy, the ability
to give out grades should be vested in
the administration alone and not
teachers (in order to ensure fair distribution) and all children who attend
GHS should be clones of each other
and be raised by glorious government
parenting agency to ensure fairness.
These policies are not unlike
the policies that exist in much of
Western Europe regarding welfare
and that have existed in places like
Cuba, China, and the former USSR.
In all cases they have produced
greater equality. The claims that
equality was attained by making everyone poorer and that these policies
ultimately led to dependence, shortages, famine, economic deterioration,
and destitution don't hold water. They
are based off of things like
"statistics" and "economics" that are
mere tools used by the elites to
change history and subdue the swinish multitudes; anyone who uses statistics to say that redistribution or
socialization are bad is a bigot and
should be imprisoned without trial
for 1000 years or until he says his
sorry.
12——
The
Beak—
—April
April2012
2012
16
THE
BEAK
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