Roeper resists change

Volume IX, Issue IV
Tuna Talk
January, 2008
Roeper community
members and guests
listen to the Deep River
Choir of Detroit during
the annual Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Candlelight Walk.
During the program,
students read portions
of MLK speeches,
shared poetry, and presented some history of
racial injustice.
Photo courtesy of Student and
Athlete .com
Roeper resists change
BY TOM HICKEY
The most popular word in
presidential politics these days
is ―change.‖
ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Jake Tapper
says, ―New or different, even
thought it may be vague, is as
American as apple pie.‖ But
change is not as Roeperian as
the Fighting Tuna.
Roeper, unlike the American presidency, undergoes some
relatively minor changes to
keep the school up to date with
the technological and other
advances of the world, but remains anchored to its earliest
ideological roots.
After his victory in the
Iowa caucuses, Democratic
candidate Barak Obama insisted
that the American people want
change. Since that speech,
nearly every major presidential
candidate has been campaigning
for some type of change.
The definition of ―change‖
in the presidential campaign is
vague. But the American electorate‘s positive response to the
gratuitous use of ―change‖ is
proof enough that Americans are
ready for some kind, any kind, of
change.
Roeper students, however,
are actively pleading for more of
the same, uncharacteristic as it
may sound.
The very notion of change
can stir up a catalogue of reasons
from students that Roeper
should stay rooted in the Philosophy and the writings of
George and Annemarie Roeper.
When a new Director or
teacher comes to Roeper, students quickly take to worrying
that the ―new guy‖ might implement a rule that will ―change‖
their life at Roeper.
When Upper School Director Lisa Baker was hired, students fretted at rumors that a
―no swearing‖ rule might be
implemented. Students view
minor changes like these as major alterations to what they think
of as the essence of Roeper –
freedom, responsibility, and
See Change, page 8
Teen girls quietly suffer abuse
BY SILVER MOORE
Before she reached cover girl
status, former America’s Next Top Model
winner Jaslene Gonzales was in an abusive relationship. ―He used to embarrass
me in front of other people, and then if I
[did] something wrong he tried to hurt
me physically…he said he will kill me if I
[left] him and I got scared,‖ says Gonzales about her former boyfriend.
Gonzales was in an abusive relationship starting ―when she was only 17years-old…until [she] won America’s Next
Top Model.”
Teen domestic violence is more
common than many realize. A survey
done by the Alabama Coalition Against
Domestic Violence (ACADV) finds that
―of 500 young women ages 15 to 24…60
percent were currently involved in an
ongoing abusive relationship.‖
Like many teens, Gonzales did not
only undergo physical abuse but emotional as well. ―Many teens think that
abuse consists of someone hitting
them when abuse can be emotional
and verbal as well,‖ says Veronica
Sharpe from Love is Respect, an organization partnered with the National
Teen Dating Abuse Hotline. ―Some
examples of these other forms of
abuse are if your partner calls you
names, belittles you or controls where
you go, and who you see, calls you or
texts you all the time, threatens to
commit suicide if you break up with
them, or to tell others about your sexual relationship, or use email, or
MySpace to threaten you.‖
Liz Claiborne Inc., an organization Gonzales works with, reported
that one in four teenage girls who have
been in relationships admit that they
See Abuse, page 9
Inside This Issue
G2G
Internet chatspeak
like “G2G” and “LOL”
is obsolete
Page 5
Adam Klein writes a
profile on Adam Klein
Students react to the
Writer’s Strike
Page 7
Page 9
2
Tuna Talk January, 2007
Editorial
ISSUE
SUMMARY
EDITORIAL
The Legend of Mary Kay
Page 2
Mac Daddy! Macs and PC‘s
battle it out
Juniors Aparna Ananth
(top right) and Adela Jaffe
(bottom left) react to the
two faces of “scary”
English teacher Mary Kay
Glazek.
Page 3
FEATURE
David Koppy answers
questions about Roeper‘s
recent tech troubles
Page 4
Chatspeak sizzles out of the
Roeper student lexicon
Page 5
The scariest teacher?
BY AISHA ELLIS-GORDON
―I don‘t eat babies for
breakfast‖ says Roeper‘s
―scariest teacher‖ Mary Kay
Glazek.
Is she really that scary?
Glazek thinks she has a
pretty good sense of humor and
that the students in her class
appreciate it.
After you take her class,
you won‘t be as scared. Her
jokes make you laugh, and her
intellect keeps you thinking.
―People who are brave
enough to take [my classes]
tend to take them again,‖ says
Glazek.
Glazek wonders, ―Where
do people get this information
[that I‘m scary] from?‖
Is it from previous students who have attended her
classes?
While this might be the
case, many students say that
they are not scared of Glazek
but of the workload for her
courses.
Sure, there‘s reading
every night with notes, and a
few papers here and there, but
her classes are very helpful.
So when you see Glazek
in the hallway - which is rare
because she‘s usually in her
room working - smile, stop,
and have a little chat with her.
Sign up for one of her classes.
Remember, she doesn‘t
eat babies for breakfast.
Tuna Talk Staff
Reporters: Stephen Buckley, Nicki Friedlaender, Brad George, Jeremy Gloster,
Aisha Ellis-Gordon, Tom Hickey, Brittani Holsey, Adam Klein, Brian Knall,
Daina Harshaw-Minley, Silver Moore, Terrence Way, Emi Wilkinson
Editor-In-Chief: Tom Hickey
Assistant News Editor: Stephen Buckley
Assistant Features Editor: Emi Wilkinson
Layout Editor: Tom Hickey
Advisor: Linda Vernon
Students realize the danger
of Facebook, clean up
their pages
Page 5
The technology of 2010 unlike anything we‘ve seen
Page 5
A completely objective
profile of Adam Klein
Page 6
Roeper tradition - the
Fighting Tuna - may take
new direction this year
Page 6
Students react to
Writer‘s Strike
Page 9
COLUMNS & REVIEWS
Can‘t Stop, Won‘t Stop
Page 11
Tuna Talk January, 2007
3
Editorial
Student
Government
Updates
a.k.a.
“Tina Talk”
Mac and Windows duke it out for title of supreme laptop. Picture borrowed from blog.sifi.com
Mackin’ it, baby
BY STEPHEN BUCKLEY
By all accounts, Macs are
better than PCs.
In the last two years, both
Macs and PCs have released
new Operating Systems (OS‘s),
the Mac OS X Leopard, and
Microsoft Windows Vista. In
order to gauge the current performance of both companies,
these two will be compared in
features as well as in popularity.
Vista will be the first system examined since it was the
first released, way back on November 8th, 2006. Windows
users the world ‗round had
waited five years for a new Operating System, and thousands
immediately dumped their old
OS (Windows XP) in favor of
the flashy new Vista. Within a
month, some problems became
far too evident to even the
most die-hard Windows fans.
Vista‘s new software and hardware changes makes it largely
incompatible with what came
before it, and users are forced
to pay money for ‗updated‘
versions of programs which
worked perfectly on Windows
XP. Vista is also a massive OS,
taking up an inordinate amount
of space and running slowly on
most home computers, if it
runs at all. The largest problem
was a fatal combination of the
two listed above: while Vista‘s
‗Upgrade Advisor‘ program told
users that their computer was
ready to run Vista, many found
that after they started the system up, their sound cards, mo-
dems, printers, and other external hardware devices didn‘t
work! Vista is incompatible
with many drivers, the programs which run hardware,
leaving hundreds of angry customers and a general feeling of
disdain for the new OS. In its
year-end review, PC World
listed Vista first on ―The 15
Biggest Tech Disappointments
of 2007,‖ and said, ―many users
are clinging to XP like shipwrecked sailors to a life raft.‖
In the months following
its release, Vista has been so
onerously unsuccessful that
users are constantly
‗downgrading,‘ or re-installing
the old OS‘s on their computers. This can only last so
long, though, as Vista penetrates the PC market, driving up
prices and decreasing efficiency.
The biggest argument for buying a PC, better prices, is likely
to become less and less effective as Vista becomes more
widespread and slower processors are incapable of handling
the monstrous OS.
Now, on to Leopard.
Almost a full year after
the release of Vista, Mac released its upgrade to the OS X
Tiger (or v.10.4) on October 26,
2007, and Mac fans have been
pleasantly unsurprised.
The
new OS has a few new features,
and runs a little faster than Tiger, but overall performance is
still peak and the new features,
while minor, are useful and well
managed.
The largest and flashiest
new idea from the brains at
Mac is Time Machine. While
Time Machine is actually a traditional incremental backup
system, it has an edge over its
competitors in that it works.
(An incremental backup system
allows users to ―look backwards
in time‖ to see what they‘ve
changed about their computer,
retrieve lost files, and backup
everything on your computer.)
Time Machine is extraordinarily
simple to use, and once you
select a hard drive for it to
back up to, even the most brain
-dead monkey on the planet
could find, copy, and replace a
file that same monkey had lost
the week before.
Another significant selling
point of the new system is its
Parental Controls. The new
system is an effective block on
inappropriate websites which
parents can build into the computer. The Controls seem far
more constrictive than their
predecessors, which allowed for
fairly simple ways to scoot
around security.
Leopard
monitors any attempts to visit
inappropriate sites, and the
administrators can view the list
at their discretion. Even off of
the internet, the Controls can
limit the computer time of certain users, and warn of bedtime
or other important child-related
events coming up.
But putting aside the undeniable advantage Macs have
in the OS department, there‘s a
brand new reason to buy Macs.
See Mac Vs. PC, page 9
The Junior Class,
with the advice of Student
Government, is working
to standardize elections. If you have any
suggestions, talk to Adela
Jaffe, Jim Smith, or a Student Government Rep
(who will pass your suggetions along).
The SG Communications Committee is working towards creating a
Roeper news weekly video
that would be posted on
YouTube. Talk to Rachel
Ratchford or Reilly Drew
for
suggestions/
comments/questions.
Philumni Day has
officially been approved
for May 16, 2008! Look
for more information
coming in the Spring.
Leave any questions, comments,
or concerns in the Student
Government mailbox in the
Main Office at the Birmingham
Campus.
Check out the Student
Government board in the
Student Life Center for further
updates and posts.
Questions? Comments?
Concerns? E-mail Tuna Talk
at [email protected]
if you have something to
add to the discussion. We
appreciate all letters to the
editor, community alerts,
event reminders, and other
comments. Remember, it’s
your turn to contribute to
the dialogue. We look forward to your e-mails.
4
Tuna Talk January, 2007
Technology Talk
Student’s utilize new technologies
BY BRIAN KNALL
After a long day of school,
junior Adela Jaffe finds it reassuring to know that when she
gets home there is technology
that will make the rest of her day
more enjoyable, such as Facebook,
laptops, and I-pods.
―My laptop allows me to
do all my homework and stuff in
my room.‖ says Jaffe. She really
likes that a laptop can travel and
is glad that, ―It‘s just mine.‖
Sophomore Chris BatdorfBarnes finds that, ―I‘m not good
at writing without a laptop.‖
―It‘s good to have your
own computer,‖ sophomore
Chris Pool says. Pool enjoys his
laptop because ―it‘s portable and
it makes me able to do things.‖
He believes that being able to
take a laptop to multiple places
allows you to send and receive
important information wherever you‘re at.
Many students, like Pool,
have a Facebook and most people like it for easy communication. ―Facebook keeps me up to
date with other people‘s lives,‖
said sophomore Anna Nowinski. Classmate Joey Steinberger
agrees and says he likes it because it‘s like ―socializing while
you‘re at home.‖ He says he
uses it daily because ―it helps
me combat boredom.‖
Other people find Facebook a good way to communicate with old friends. ―My
friend from a long time ago, he
moved to Germany so he can‘t
even be called, but he has a
Facebook so I can still talk to
See Helpful Tech, page 6
The new Estari laptop will change the way students use computers.
Koppy Answers Tech Questions
BY EMI WILKINSON
It‘s no secret that there
have been some problems with
the computers at Roeper this
year. Computers seem slow, the
Tech Department seems overloaded and, thanks to a bevy of
new features, there‘s a bevy of
new issues.
Tuna Talk sat down with
Director of Technology David
Koppy to sort through some
common problems, as well as
find out what we can look forward to in the future of
Roeper‘s computer systems:
Tuna Talk: What are
some of the newest capabilities of the Roeper technology
system?
David Koppy: Well, we
have a new email system that
has updated webmail, we have
the new NetCommunity website which has a bunch of stuff,
we have NetClassroom which
gives parents and students the
ability to log on and check
grades. Some things have been
added to FA Web so that teachers can upload documents that
students can then download.
We‘re updating computers all
the time. . . we have all new
computers for the Tech Lab
that came in during break that
we‘re in the process of setting
up right now. The list is kind of
long. We update software every
year. We‘re using Office 2007
across the campus this year. . .
those are the big ones.
TT: What are some of
the different problems that
arise between the Birmingham campus and the Bloomfield campus?
D.K.: We have different
needs. Students are much more
active in computer use here in
Birmingham. In Bloomfield,
students pretty much use computers primarily in computer
classes which they have far
more structured program because they‘re still learning ba-
sics. By the time they get here,
we hope they‘ve learned the
basics. We teach some computer classes, but mostly students are using the computers
as tools to do their work in
their other classes.
Another difference is that
we have far more administrators at the Bloomfield campus
than we do at the Birmingham
campus. The thing about administrators is that they are
someone who uses a single
computer and uses only that
computer. This is opposed to
the student use, where you
could be using a computer in
the library one day and in the
Tech Lab the next day and one
in the Resource Room the day
after that. So we have to provide the right sort of service for
whatever the individual is working on.
TT: Some of the computers can be ill-equipped or
unevenly equipped or Micro-
soft Word may not be coming
up in the start menu or Photoshop may not be installed.
Why is that?
D.K.: It has to do with a
couple of things. Why does
Word appear on some computers when it‘s supposed to be
on all computers? Well, people
delete the icons. And it doesn‘t
mean that Word is no longer
there, it just means that it‘s no
longer is on the start menu and
we have to go in and fix that. It
would help if students would
refrain from ―fixing‖ the computers by deleting things that
they think are unnecessary.
As for Photoshop, if your
instructor has told someone to
put that icon on their desktop,
their desktop follows you wherever you are. When they‘re in the
Tech Lab, that icon works fine.
But everyone has their own
menu and their own desktop. We
don‘t have money to buy PhotoSee Koppy Q&A, page 10
ROEPER TECHNOLOGY TIPS
To get help with your computer from the Technology Department, log on to your ―Roeper Community‖ page
on the Roeper School website and leave a question at the online help desk.
Make sure you let your computer load without skipping any steps. This way, all of your printers and drives will
be connected to your computer station when you log on.
Read the Technology Department ―Tech Tips‖ posted weekly around the Birmingham campus to help you
navigate your daily computer tasks with a bit more ease.
Bring your flash drive to school so you can back up important files. Sometimes files won‘t save on student
profiles because the drive is full. Save your work on a flash drive so that you don‘t lose all of your progress.
Tuna Talk January, 2007
5
Technology Talk
OMGWTFBBQ!!!
BTW TTYL WTF
G
M
O G2G
FTW JK BRB ROFL
Chatspeak has G2G
The chatspeak phrases that have infiltrated the American lexicon.
BY JEREMY GLOSTER
Chatspeak, the internet
slang that brought terms such
as ―LOL‖ into the mainstream,
is obsolete.
This isn‘t a bad thing –
there‘s no need for BRB‘s,
G2G‘s, or L8r‘s. Instant messaging, be it via cell phone or
computer, has evolved since the
creation of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) in 1997.
AIM was a cultural phenomenon of the early 2000‘s,
and at that time necessitated its
own culture – chatspeak. The
popularity of AIM also resulted
in numerous fictitious ―robots‖,
and humorous ―buddy icons.‖
But those frivolities have
faded with the decline of AIM,
and so will the IDK‘s and
ROFL‘s.
Despite the AIM revolution, chatspeakers face the same
problems they did from the
start. ―I don‘t understand it,‖
says junior Hale Williams of
chatspeak. Though a decade has
past since its formation, chatspeak remains an outsider‘s art.
It is especially disconcerting when the inferior language
is used in verbal communication. ―It‘s convenient when
you‘re talking to someone
online, but a lot of people get
so used to it that they start using it in conversation,‖ says
freshman Lee Ben-Ze‘ev.
―Sometimes you‘ll be talking to
someone and they‘ll say ‗OMG‘
or ‗LOL‘ and you can‘t help but
give them a weird look.‖
Even sophomore chatspeak addict Marcel Hite seems
to distance himself from the
topic. ―I don‘t use chatspeak
when I‘m talking to someone
[in person],‖ he says.
Yet chatspeak terms do
appear in conversation, and,
according to English teacher
Susannah Nichols, even in essays.
Despite his disapproval,
Williams does not believe that
chatspeak degrades the English
language. ―[Chatspeak] is just
changing [English],‖ he says.
―It‘s a new type of Ebonics.‖
Ben-Ze‘ev agrees. ―Hardly anybody uses correct grammar
anymore, so [chatspeak] isn‘t
really a big step ahead.‖
The ―dumbing down‖ of
the English language is one of
the biggest concerns that has
surrounded chatspeak, but the
issue has distorted the impact
of the actual language. With the
rise of Web 2.0 websites like
Facebook and Myspace and cell
phone keyboards, chatspeak has
become less necessary. With no
need for quick expression,
chatspeak is just a collection of
nonsense letters. ROFLZ, indeed.
Go, Go
Gadget!
Future Technology
beyond comprehension
BY AISHA ELLIS-GORDON
Cellphones with Mp3
players and t.v.‘s and DVD‘s
are all so old school. Laptops
that turn your writing into typing will soon be relics of the
distant past. If you think students are technical now, just
wait a couple more years to see
what technology brings.
In 2010, one billion cell
phones will ship with a camera,
and the estimated number of
camera phones to be sold this
year is 589 million. Cell phones
have been on every pre-teen
and teen wish list for the last
five years.
When these teenagers got
these gadgets, they always
wanted a new one because of
the new features coming out on
the next new phone. Today
students owns cell phones with
TV‘s, Mp3 players, Navigation
systems, internet access, handsfree calling, touch screen, GPS
systems, and tracking devices.
One thing most cell
phones don‘t have yet is a
handset that can run on water.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics
has created a micro-fuel cell and
hydrogen generator that uses
water to power cell phones.
―When the handset is turned
on, metal and water in the
phone react to produce hydrogen gas. The gas is then supSee Gadgets, page 6
Students get smart about Facebook
BY BRITTANI HOLSEY
―I know putting up bad
pictures of myself is not a good
idea, it just leads to trouble,‖
says freshman and Facebook user
Cachet Colvard.
This is the view most
teenagers share these days.
Teens know the consequences
of posting inappropriate pictures. ―It‘s as big of a problem
as it was in recent years,‖ says
College Counselor Patrick
O‘Connor.
Sophomore Sarah Trigger
says, ―I‘m on Facebook kind of a
lot, but I wouldn‘t put up pictures like that. It‘s not good and
will lead to bad things, and I‘m
just not the kind of person who
would do that.‖
Employers and colleges
are no longer considering applicant‘s pictures on their MySpace
or Facebooks since it is an invasion of privacy. O‘Connor says,
―Some colleges do look at pictures, but now they are reconsidering because they feel that it
is invading privacy.‖
Most teenagers understand the penalties of putting
vulgar pictures and videos on
their online profiles. ―I don‘t
have any pictures that I will
regret in 10 years‖ says Colvard.
―Its almost rude to have those
types of pictures on the Inter-
net. It hurts the person who has
them because it makes people
view them the wrong way,‖ she
said.
Instead of using online
profiles for negative purposes,
teens are using them to their
advantage. ―You can keep your
Facebook or MySpace if you are
applying to college. It‘s a good
way to display artwork, or photography, or film works - even
writing,‖ says O‘Connor. ―Just
be careful and cautious of the
kinds of things you put on your
Facebook, but it can be a positive
thing to be able to show off
your talents,‖ he said.
―I think Facebook is a good
way to talk to your friends and
keep in touch with people,‖ says
Colvard. ―But don‘t put bad
pictures up. there is no point and
there is no reason to get in trouble for that. You have to be
smart with what you put online.‖
Trigger adds, ―Most
kids are smarter than to do that.‖
6
Tuna Talk January, 2007
Technology Talk
Mac Vs. PC
(Continued from page 3)
In the last year, Macs have
shifted their processors to Intel, the same as the processors
used in most brand-name PCs.
While many traditional Mac
fans weren‘t pleased by this,
no problems seem to have
ensued as a result, and at least
one important window has
been opened: Macs can now
run Windows natively. That
means that if you‘re worried
about making the transition to
a Mac, or you think that you‘d
still like Windows Media
Viewer or Microsoft Office
(and even Mac fanatics will tell
you, you want Microsoft Office) then never fear. When
you buy your Mac, simply slide
the old Operating System‘s
installation disc in and in under an hour your computer will
be able to run either system wired networking on Vista far
from startup.
simpler than it is on XP, Mac
Then it got even better! invented the iDisk years ago,
Mac came out with two pro- with Tiger. iDisk is a program
grams, Parallels and its succes- which is on all new Macs and
sor, Fusion,
PCs which alwhich allow
lows a user with
90% of Roeper a .mac account
you to run
Windows and
access the
students prefer to
Mac
OS‘s
information on
simultanecomputer
Macs to PCs. their
ously,
and
from any comtransfer files
puter with an
between the two. In fact, the internet connection.
best computer to run that
The technological advanVista you wasted your money tages aside, which is the more
on is a Mac. It can handle the popular system? A poll taken
outrageous prerequisites with- of Roeper students showed
out upgrade, and if your Vista that over 90% of Roeper stucrashes, your Mac won‘t.
dents prefer Macs to PCs.
While Windows was the Junior Amelia Hefferon justicompany which set out to fied her support, saying, ―My
make networking easier in its Mac is so much faster and so
new system, and opened up an much easier than my old PC.‖
array of features which make She also added ―Macs are just
straight up sassy.‖ Senior Ned
Baker had something to say
about Mac‘s sass, ―Macs are
better than PCs, but Mac people are also more obnoxious
than PC people [about computers].‖ Ned‘s theory received
support from the two other
people listening in. The best
thing said about PCs was Senior
Donvivan Abraham‘s ―I‘ve had
a PC my whole life.‖ Familiarity seems to be all that Windows
has going for it.
Without question, Mac has
done a fantastic job in the last
few years, and while its understandable to want to cling to
familiarity, why not cling to it
on a new, and better, computer?
Helpful
tech
Continued from page 4
him,‖ said Pool. Jaffe says she
uses her Facebook mostly to
keep up with the lives of her
friends in other states or countries.
There is a sort of draw to
being part of Facebook. ―It‘s like
I‘m in the loop,‖ said Pool.
Junior Amelia Hefferon says,
―It‘s sort of a normal part of
life,‖ and likes it because it‘s a
good way to raise awareness for
upcoming events. She says
Facebook helps students participate in more events and
keep in contact with people.
Hefferon also likes her Ipod. ―It‘s sweet and handy and
holds a lot of music,‖ she said.
Sophomore Abby Lane
said she listens to her I-pod ―all
the time.‖ Lane likes it because,
―It allows you to carry around
all your music.‖ She finds it
especially beneficial during
tests. ―It helps me stay focused.
Nowinski ―loves music‖
and says she likes her I-pod
because it‘s portable and holds
all of her music in one place,
whereas a CD player requires
hundreds of CD‘s.
Jaffe says her I-pod is
helpful. She listens to it about
Roeper students (L-R) Kristine Vegard, Jacob Saslow, and Ali VanOverbeke play with their tech gadgets.
three or four hours a day.
Pool listens to his I-pod
almost every day. ―It helps me
kind of tune out and do my
work,‖ he said.
Lane says I-pods hold
hundreds of songs so you can
listen to any song you have
without carrying CD‘s around.
She thinks music helps some
students concentrate on tests,
which will help them to succeed
in school.
Gadgets
Continued from page 5
plied to fuel cell where it reacts with oxygen in the air to
generate power‖ says YungSoo, Vice President, of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Research Center. This gas gives
phones about 3 watts of electricity, which powers the
phone for ten hours. This
phone is expected to be on the
market in 2010.
Cell phones often lose
their signal if they are not near
a specific carrier‘s cell tower.
By 2010 you will be able take
your cell tower with you.
―These routers create what are
called femto cells, or small
personal cellular sites. And
they could help solve a major
problem for cellular operators
who have trouble covering less
-populated regions or have difficulty reaching outdoors‖ says
technology review website
CNET.com
Another future trend is
touch screen technology. There
is new laptop coming out that is
totally touch screen, from the
keyboard to the desktop, using
only tour touvh to type and
select the chosen action. This is
called the Estari DC15. ―The
marvelous 15 widescreen stares
back magnificently at you with
all the glory of a masterpiece.‖
Says hem.com on the Estari
DC15.
Tuna Talk January, 2007
7
Feature
Mirror, mirror on the wall
The Adam Klein chronicles
BY ADAM KLEIN
When sophomore Adam
Klein was four-years-old, close
family friend Eric Lipchitz took
one of his Lay‘s Mesquite Barbeque Chips without permission. Klein responded with a
temper tantrum that would not
only shock his family but
change his attitude toward life.
Sophomore Adam Klein admires himself in the Senior Hallway mirror.
Mother Peggy remembers,
―As the youngest of three boys
Adam was often taken advantage of by his brothers, and I
interpreted the incident with
the chips as a sign that [he wasn‘t] going to take it anymore.‖
As Adam aged (like a fine
kosher wine), it was clear that
he had derived skills and characteristics from siblings Dan
and Jordan. ―[Adam is] a
combo of the Klein trio. [His
brothers] carried him, and
passed on the Klein family
teachings,‖ said junior and long
-time friend Brad George.
Sophomore Chris Pool agrees.
―From Dan [he‘s] got a greater
sense of humor and the ability
to think outside the box. From
Jordan [he] got a moderate
amount of coordination and
athletic skill.‖
Although a portion of
Klein‘s D.N.A. is an intertwined staircase of brotherhood
teachings, and heredity, he has
many traits all his own.
―[Adam] has the uncanny ability
to make pants that don‘t fit, fit,‖
said George, referring to Klein‘s
jean collection. This collection
consists of no size greater than
28X30 and has gone untouched
since sixth grade, until this past
November, when Klein purchased his first pair of new denims. He now has two pair of
pants that fit him at his measured size of 30X32.
The ability to visually distort the size of his pants by sagging is not Klein‘s only selftrained quality. ―[Adam‘s] sense
of humor and love of life make
beautiful droplets of golden sunshine rain down on me, instilling
a feeling of joy that only [he] can
conjure,‖ said freshman Werner
Roennecke.
Klein‘s siblings, childhood
experiences, and some of his
own instinctive life lessons have
molded him into what we know
today: a 15-year-old man ―with a
desire to be free and wild,‖ according to freshman Todd
Baker. In 20 years, sophomore
See Klein chronicles, page 9
Old tradition, new direction
BY TERRENCE WAY
Tradition…tradition…
tradition…LOOK AROUND!
This school was built on tradition.
One of the most famous
traditions at Roeper is the Order of the Fighting Tuna. This
was started in 1985 to ―protect
the honor of the members of
the community of Roeper City
and Country School,‖ in the
words of First Knight of the
Order of the Fighting Tuna
Brian Felder ‗85.
In ‗85, Felder laid out the
following guidelines regarding
the Order of the Fighting Tuna:
Knighthood shall be done by
means of an appointment by the
knight of the preceding year and
approved by another knight.
Appointment shall be based on
the personal decision of the appointing
knight for reasons deemed by the
appointing knight.
Appointment should be made
to an individual who will carry the
responsibility of Knighthood well and
who has demonstrated high commitment to the protection of the Roeper
community.
Appointment is not reserved
for men: but a woman, if chosen, will
be appointed Dame Commander.
One appointment will be made
each year and only once a year.
The appointee will be sworn to
knighthood prior to the day of
knighting.
Appointment for knighthood
shall be granted to a member of the
junior class.
“I’m drawing up the
Magna-tuna of Roeper,
the Declaration defining
Tuna-dom,” says current
Tuna Ned Baker.
The reigning knight will
knight the appointee at the closing
day exercises.
Amendments to this Decree
can only be made with the approval of
a majority of the knights.
It‘s a complicated process.
In order to even be considered
for the position, you have to
impress the current Fighting
Tuna with your Tuna-ness.
―Exemplifying Roeper
spirit and maintaining a certain
level of Roeper-dom that is
unrivaled . . . , being totally
sweet 24/7, inventing new
parking spots, chillin‘, keepin‘
Roeper weird and positive, and
getting people amped to learn,‖
is what it means to be the
Tuna, in the words of 16th
Kinight of the Order of the
Fighting Tuna, Nick George
‗06.
Also, to be the Tuna, you
have to have the desire to be
like a real Tuna, like the current
Fighting Tuna Ned Baker ‘08.
―Being Tuna is like being a
Roeper kid. . . and I want to be
Tuna all the time. Roeper equals
Tuna,‖ he says.
The experience as the
Fighting Tuna is usually a great
experience. ―I‘m looking deep
into the meaning of Tuna,‖ said
Baker. ―I‘m drawing up the
Magna-tuna…‖
The Magna-tuna?
―Magna-tuna – The
Magna-carta of Roeper; the
Declaration and Contract defining Tuna-dom,‖ says Baker who
has been working on the document for future Tuna to utilize
on making their choice on next
year‘s Tuna.
Baker is in the process of
discussing his ―Magna-tuna‖
with former Tunas, in order to
gain approval. Baker is also
following his Fighting Tuna
Hero - 13th Knight Alex Gorosh ‗03—by posing shirtless in
his ID photo.
18th Knight of the Order of the Fighting Tuna Ned Baker in his glory.
8
Tuna Talk January, 2007
Feature
Do you feel safe at Roeper?
BY BRIAN KNALL
New freshman Cachet
Colvard feels that the building
is too open. ―People can walk
up in here and you‘ll think it‘s a
parent and really, they‘ll be a
horrible person,‖ she said. She
feels it would be wise to get a
security guard. ―What‘s a
Roeper teacher going to do if
someone comes in here?,‖ she
asked. ―A teacher‘s going to be
just as scared as we are.‖ Colvard feels that Roeper needs
some type of security or else,
―Something‘s going to go down
and I‘m going to say I told you
so.‖
Sophomore Grace Krysinski disagrees and says Roeper
doesn‘t have a safety issue and
enforcing more safety is ―a
waste of money.‖ ―We can
spend our money on different
things, like updating our facilities.‖ Krysinski is not the only
one that feels this way. ―A security guard would be useless,‖
says sophomore Reilly Drew.
―Our community kind of polices itself.‖
Senior Jonathan Parker
said, ―I don‘t think anybody‘s
coming up in Roeper.‖
A student who wishes to
remain anonymous said, ―I‘ve
broken in when the school was
locked from the downstairs.
Even when the alarms are on,
it‘s not that hard.‖ They suggested, ―Improve the building‘s
weak point where you could
break in and do something
about the windows in the
Lounge.‖
Roeper offers a safer environment then some other
schools. Sophomore Sarah
Trigger went to Andover before
coming to Roeper. She says
there were about three small
fights a week and one big fight
a month. She describes a small
Change
Continued from page 1
equality. The rumor was entirely
unfounded. Students were
pleased.
Senior Adam Kinzel says,
―Lisa [Baker] is trying to keep
up the same Roeper philosophy‖ that George and Annemarie Roeper penned when
The Roeper School first
opened.
But it‘s not just Baker.
This happens with all new Directors and teachers. Always.
Students will fret, students
will fume, students will cite the
Roeper Philosophy and the
long history of authority figures
who have allowed students their
due freedom. Students will resist change.
Roeper‘s static essence is
clearly a valued aspect of the
Roeper education. Less change,
more of the familiar. Less turmoil, more dependability.
fight as three or four kids yelling and a big fight as 10 to 15
kids physically fighting each
other. Trigger said there was a
security guard at the main
doors, but she says at Roeper ―I
feel much more safe.‖
There are safety protocols
in place to help ensure that no
one gets hurt in case a stranger
enters the building. ―We have
two types of lockdowns,‖ Middle School Director Emery
Pence said. The first lockdown
is when someone dangerous is
in the building. All of the students head to a classroom and
the teachers lock their doors
until the threat is gone.‖ The
second lockdown is in case of a
gas leak or something dangerous that is happening outside
close to the school. ―All the
doors to the school are locked,
and classes continue as regular,‖
Pence said.
There are other kinds of
safety issues at Roeper. ―We do
have problems of theft and that‘s
a safety issue.‖ Pence said. Junior Brett Kline is highly upset
with the thievery increase, ―I‘ve
had over $100 stolen from me,‖
he said. He noted that the money
was in his wallet, which was in
the Commons with other students.
Theft has become such a
problem that parents were notified by e-mail that there was a
thief going around snatching
money and electronic items in
particular. Upper School Math
teacher Jamie Lyons-Eddy said
that she is ―aware of things being
taken.‖ but feels that, ―If you
don‘t want your stuff stolen you
probably shouldn‘t leave it on a
bench.‖ Krysinski thinks that
there have always been issues of
theft and doesn‘t feel like that is
a big enough problem to take
measures to increase safety.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY
The presidential candidates will continue to peddle
―change,‖ and American voters
are likely to continue to respond positively.
But at Roeper, the Philosophy is the ballast.
Of course the curriculum
will ―change‖ with the advancing technologies. Of course the
school will ―change‖ in ways
that will improve student life.
But Roeper won‘t turn
away from its roots anytime one
of these ―changes‖ comes
around. Roeper is happily and
stubbornly The Roeper School.
It always will be - even if America is not at the moment happily
and peacefully the United States
of America.
Senior Joel Kimpson hosted the Community Center portion of the evening.
Tuna Talk January, 2007
9
Feature
The shows must go on
BY NICKI FRIEDLAENDER
There‘s nothing good on
TV anymore.
According to eonlin.com,
CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox are
retaliating to the writer‘s strike
with an ―exciting lineup of reality series premieres,‖ and view-
ers don‘t seem to mind.
But even the most diehard fans may start to grow
bored at Rock of Love with Bret
Michaels 7 and Scott Baio is… 50
and Pathetic. Then what will
they do? Read? Please - of
course not.
Seinfeld star Julia Louis Dreyfus shows her support of the Writer’s Strike.
Abuse
Continued from page 1
have been pressured to perform
oral sex or engage in intercourse. More than one in four
teenage girls in a relationship
report enduring repeated verbal
abuse.
―I didn‘t tell anyone at
all,‖ says Gonzales. This secrecy
is common. ―There are many
reasons why teens don‘t tell
others about their abusive relationship ranging from fear of
threats coming true, the abuse
getting worse, shame from
peers, to still caring about their
partner,‖ Sharpe said.
Peers, teachers, and parents should keep their eyes
open for any signs of teens
being involved in abusive relationships, because teens often
won‘t reveal that they are in
one. The Office of the Prevention of Domestic Violence reported that ―43% of teen dating
violence victims reported that
Viewers want easy, mindless entertainment. Some serious addicts will need the constant presence of a screen
straining their eyes, so they‘ll
pour into their FaceBook page
or watch YouTube for days to
cope. Then slowly they‘ll lose
touch with reality and will forget how to interact with real
people. That‘s never a good
thing.
For everyone who says
―Oh… I don‘t watch television‖
with emphasis on that word like
it‘s a toxic substance, this matters to you, too. Almost everyone has that one show that
they‘re obsessed with, that they
justify watching because they
believe it to be less trashy than
others. There are those fans of
hit cult-shows who say things
like ―I don‘t watch TV… but I
love Steven Colbert with a passion.‖ Well, won‘t you care if
his show goes off the air? For
those who don‘t like those
shows either, won‘t you be upset if they stop making those
Discovery Health Channel or
BBC specials or whatever
―intellectual‖ shows you occasionally watch?
When you have that day
where all you feel like doing is
sitting down and watching
mindless fun TV, wouldn‘t it
suck if all you could find were
those ―inspiring shows with a
message‖ like The Biggest Loser?
Hollywood is in a slump.
There is no creativity left. Are
people losing talent? There‘s no
way to calculate that, but what
can be calculated is salary. It‘s
obvious form the writer‘s strike
that they‘re not happy with the
money situation. Writers don‘t
have the motivation to create
quality shows if they don‘t earn
what they think hard work is
worth.
So they went on strike. But
so far the strike hasn‘t helped –
the writers were just replaced by
reality shows, which are cheaper
to produce and are as popular as
regular shows.
People seem to like reality
shows. Freshman Leah Walkiwicz says, ―I think they‘re
funny.‖ She mentions ―reality
TV shows like America‘s Next
Top Model that have been
around for a while that are consistently good, I like that.‖ She
watches reality shows because
they‘re ―the only thing on.‖
Reality TV can satisfy your
TV needs for some time, but
eventually Survivor 20: Connecticut
(will these trashy contestants
manage to integrate into high
society? Tune in!) are just going
to make you want to pull your
hair out. That‘s not hot.
Klein
the dating abuse experience
occurred in a school building or
on school grounds.‖
Many girls like Gonzales
remain in an abusive relationship because threats are made
on their lives if they leave. Girls
should pay attention to warning
signs, so that they can get out
before things go too far.
Sharpe says to look out
for such signs as, ―If your boyfriend [or] girlfriend gets jealous
when you talk to friends of the
opposite sex, they call or text
you excessively, push you to do
things you aren't sure you want
to (like sex, drugs), they tell you
what to do, wear, or how to act,
they threaten to hurt you or
themselves, they don‘t treat you
with respect, and belittle or call
you names, they want to spend
all their time with you and you
find yourself spending less and
less time with friends and family.‖
Gonzalez now says, ―He
was never in love with me…
[at the] time I was mistaken
that it was love.‖ ―I would
love to share with young girls
that they need to put a stop to
abusive [an] relationship [and]
get help regarding it if they can
because they don‘t deserve
that, they deserve some one
who cares [for] and loves
them.‖
There are several organizations that teens can contact
if they in an abusive relationship and/or are ready to break
-up and get help creating a
safety plan. The National Teen
Dating Abuse Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1-866331-9474. An online anonymous and confidential chat—
loveisrespect.org can be
reached from 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Teens can always call 911 if
they ever feel their life is in
danger.
Continued from page 7
Jacob Saslow believes it is Klein‘s
―desire to learn and be free‖ that
will carry him later in life to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry, and ultimately to the
position of Prefect for the Hufflepuff house.
Junior Tina Krysinski‘s sees
Klein‘s future from a more practical view. ―[Adam] will be married to a nice Jewish girl. [He] will
run a bagel store, and have eight
kids. Two of [them] will be
named Adam.‖ Krysinski‘s prediction is based not as much
upon Klein‘s desires, but more
on his excessive ego.
Adam Klein has been on
this earth for 15 years, bringing
life and hope to a society in
shambles. We can all agree with
freshman Daniel HurwitzGoodman when he says, ―Thank
you, Adam Klein. Thank you for
living.‖
10
Tuna Talk January, 2007
Koppy Q & A
Continued from page 4
shop for every computer in the
school, and we don‘t need it.
But that‘s why Photoshop may
be appearing as an icon that
doesn‘t lead anywhere.
TT: Which computers
do have Photoshop installed?
D.K.: The ones in the
Tech Lab, the ones in the library and the ones in the Yearbook room. [Linda Vernon‘s
room].
TT: What are the technical impediments to putting
Macs on the network?
D.K.: Mostly configuring
them. We don‘t have anyone
who knows enough about Macs
to support them. There is one
Mac we have put on the network, and that‘s Lisa Baker‘s. I
used hers as a test and we were
reasonably successful, but it
took a lot of time and it‘s still
not working perfectly. Unfortunately, this year we are short
staffed and overworked, but
we‘re hoping eventually to get
Macs on the network.
TT: Does Lisa run Windows on her Mac?
D.K.: Yes, but she also
runs Mac natively.
TT: You mentioned
that you felt the Tech Department was understaffed
this year. What are some of
Feature
the problems with being understaffed and overworked?
D.K.: We sometimes lose
track of things, but more importantly, we don‘t provide the
kind of service that we think we
should provide. We can‘t get
things done quickly enough.
Sometimes things sit. When you
have a lot of stuff to do, you
have to prioritized. Some people have to wait and they‘re not
always happy. We‘re never going to be able to afford all the
staff we would like. I have
hopes that next year things will
be a little bit better.
TT: Sometimes the
public and user drives get
disconnected. What does this
mean and how does it affect
how you save files?
D.K.: It still saves the
files, but it is more difficult to
find files. It doesn‘t mean that
the files are gone. Most of the
problem was with Desktop
Authority. We‘re working on a
different log-on procedure that
will eliminate Desktop Authority, something that we hope will
be faster and more reliable.
[Editor‘s Note: during Winter
Break, Desktop Authority was
eliminated.]
TT: A lot of students
are saying that that they’re
having problems with Outlook this year. Why would
Outlook be crashing the
computers?
D.K.: It‘s not crashing it.
It‘s not working because we
changed the servers. One of the
things Desktop Authority was
supposed to do was build new
profiles. If you want help, come
to the Information Technology
Center (ITC) and it‘s a threeminute procedure.
TT: A lot of people are
noting that computers are
seeming slow.
D.K.: Because they are.
We use roaming profiles. When
you do that, it takes a lot of
information. When you log in,
it copies all the information
from the network drive. That
can take awhile, especially when
people are logging in all at once.
TT: What can we do to
make sure that we can use
our software?
D.K.: If that is true, that‘s
news to me. We do have people
that threw away their passwords. It is a problem that people can‘t change their passwords, and we‘re not happy
about that. If people can‘t log
in, people need to come to ITC.
That‘s what we‘re here for.
TT: Do you think that
we transitioned to a completely computer-based system too fast?
D.K.: No. Attendance is
THIS WEEK AT ROEPER
SENIOR PROJECTS BEGIN
As second semester opens,
many Roeper students won‘t be attending a regular schedule of classes.
Students who have chosen to
partake in a Senior Project will attend
roughly three classes per day, and will
pursue a subject of interest in-depth
for the rest of the day.
Some senior projects include
working with a Stage III teacher at
the Lower School, working at a
local art gallery and taking cooking
classes and interning at a local catering service.
JAMNESTY ROCKS
OUT ROEPER
On Friday, February 1st,
Roeper‘s chapter of Amnesty International will host Jamnesty. Various
student bands will play from 7:30
p.m. - 10:30 p.m. in the Commons
Theater. Profit goes to Amnesty‘s
Control Arms Campaign. $5.00
SPORTING EVENTS
The Boys‘ Junior Varsity and Varsity Boys‘ Basketball Teams play on
Wednesday night in the Community
Center against Westland Lutheran High
School. J.V. starts at 5 p.m. and Varsity
starts at 6:30 p.m.
On Thursday night, the Junior Varsity and Varsity Girls‘ Basketball Teams
will take on Academy of the Sacred
Heart in the Roeper Community Center.
JV starts at 6 p.m. and Varsity plays at
7:30 p.m.
RIGHT TOP: Sophomore Jacob Saslow
hustles down the court during the
Plymouth Christian game.
Photo by Nick Lauer
BOTTOM: Sophomore Tricia
Haslinger sizes up her Parkway
Christian opponent.
Photo by Stacy Holloman
not as difficult a data collection
problem as many data-based
applications are. The system
does a good job keeping track.
Since we started using FAWeb,
teachers have had a very reliable
way of taking attendance, but
[faculty] weren‘t able to get that
information out of the system
until Webmaster and Applications Support Specialist Jen
Brevard started here in August
and wrote a program to get
information out of the system.
TT: What are the things
you’re excited about doing
with NetCommunity and the
other new features?
D.K.: Getting people
more involved in the school.
One of the things we were supposed to get with NetCommunity that we didn‘t were class
pages. Unfortunately, BlackBaud did not deliver.
The objective behind NetCommunity is to provide more
timely information and get people involved. That‘s been a slow
thing. We‘re finding that a lot
of people threw out their passwords. We know that when
grades go out in January, that‘s
when people are going to want
to get online. Jen spends a considerable amount of time everyday retrieving passwords.
Tuna Talk January, 2007
11
Columns & Reviews
Can’t Stop,
Won’t Stop
WITH EMI WILKINSON
AND JEREMY GLOSTER
You only
thought you
knew what
“baller” meant
No Country for Old Men
BY STEPHEN BUCKLEY
When it comes to gunslinging, drug-dealing, gory
action movies, the American
appetite cannot be sated.
Whether Triple-X or Mission:
Impossible, we will pour in to see
movies in which blown apart
bodies are more plentiful than
dialogue. But dialogue and
pauses in action are what drive
the Coen Brothers' subtle masterpiece, No Country for Old Men.
Based on Cormac
McCarthy's novel of the same
name, No Country for Old Men
superficially presents the story
of a botched drug deal, a hunter
who finds the money from the
deal, and the murderer who
wants the payment back.
But a Coen Brothers'
movie would never fit the
stereotypes of its genre so
closely. Rather than focus on
the violence of the deal, the
chase, or the conclusion, the
movie focuses on its gaps.
Javier Bardem's portrayal
of Anton Chigurh, the murder-
ing drug-dealer, is beyond a
doubt what sets the tone for the
film. Chigurh's look, actions,
mindset, and method are so
intrinsically bizarre as to make it
impossible to fit him into any
genre. (Bardem won a Golden
Globe for the role.)
Nor are the other characters the norms. Sheriff Ed Tom
Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is not
a young stud with a gun, fresh
on the corps, but an aging cop
who's seen more than his share
and wants to retire. His pursuit
of Chigurh is steady instead of
pulsing, and his attitude is more
depressed than desperate. The
unflappable melancholy of the
Sheriff nicely matches the other
characters' lack of passion.
The hunter, Llewelyn
Moss (Josh Brolin), is cautious
prey, who can think but can't
precipitate and gives Chigurh's
singe-mindedness a run for its
money. He does not shout at
cab-drivers to take him somewhere, he never uses his gun to
get something from an innocent
person; he acts as anyone would
hope to in the face of impending doom: calmly, rationally,
and carefully.
The consistent inversion
of hunter and hunted, first with
Llewelyn, then Chigurh, is one
theme among many which
transferred nicely from novel to
screen. The story is concerned
mostly, however, with chance
and predestination, both embodied by Chigurh, whose logic
is "If the rule you followed
brought you to this, of what use
was the rule?"
Perhaps the most powerful line in a forceful film is Chigurh‘s explanation of why he
obeys a coin toss, instead of
common courtesy, to determine
whether he will take a life: "I
got here the same way the coin
did."
In a genre known for fast
paced music and shallow
thoughts, No Country for Old Men
breaks laws and (literally) blows
minds.
Armor For Sleep – Smile For Them
BY EMI WILKINSON
It could be easy to pass
Smile For Them up by saying that
it‘s ―just the same‖ as Armor For
Sleep‘s 2005 near-masterpiece
What To Do When You Are Dead.
It could also be easy to pass it up
as ―just another‖ guitar-rock-nüemo album. It could also be easy
to be wrong. And if you‘re thinking either of those first two
things, you‘re unfortunately falling into the trap of the third.
Leaving behind the existential concept album shtick of Dead
and AFS‘ debut Dream To Make
Believe, frontman Ben Jorgensen
decided to write about ―real
things.‖ Rather than the firstperson ―confessions‖ on the
consequences of suicide that
made up Dead, Jorgensen deals
with the Brooklyn hipster set
(―Williamsburg‖), his own breakups (the insta-classic ―Somebody
Else‘s Arms‖) and bizarre reality
TV fantasies (―Smile for the
Camera‖). His vocals benefit
from the lyrical change. Where
he sometimes (although not always) sounded distant on AFS‘
previous efforts, on Smile,
Jorgensen sounds sincere and
passionate on every track. On the
superb ―End of the World‖,
Jorgensen even sounds slightly
taunting and sarcastic, his vocals
perfectly accenting the song‘s
apocalyptic lyrics.
Smile also finds AFS
taking more risks than ever before. Their sound is becoming
more like Foo Fighters (back in
the 90s when they were exciting
and cool) and Texas Is The Rea-
son having a cute little baby who
grows up to wear headphones all
the time and cut long bangs to
hide his ―pretty face.‖ The sound
is big and arena ready, but never
dull. ―Stars in Your Eyes‘ even
utilizes ―na na na‘s‖ to genuine
artistic effect, helping to pull the
band above and beyond where
they were two years ago.
Even more important
than it‘s lyrical and sonic prowess, is the fact that Smile is a truly
enjoyable album. It‘s the sort of
album that, on second listen, you
can sing along with every chorus.
Smile strikes a perfect balance of
melody and a little hint of aggressiveness that makes belting every
song in the car just so satisfying.
Smile is an accessible album that
still has plenty of interesting
elements. [9.6/10]
If your only exposure to
hip-hop was on the Billboard
charts, 2007 seemed like sort of
a lame year. Forgettables dominated the charts (no one will
care about Flo Rida in a year,
but his back piece will be
around for the rest of his life).
However, 2007 was also the
year that revived the 80‘s and
90‘s hip-hop sound (and fashions) and European influences
in the American mainstream.
It wouldn‘t be a 2007 Rap
-Up without Kanye West. Mr.
West isn‘t exactly new to this
whole ―taking over the world‖
thing. He released two hit albums in the past several years,
The College Dropout and Late
Registration. But, thanks to the
crossover success of Graduation,
a (possibly record label-started)
feud with 50 Cent, remixes of
several songs (including Fall
Out Boy‘s ―This Ain‘t A Scene,
It‘s An Arm Race‖), assorted
mix tapes, and various other
projects, both in and out of
music, this was Kanye‘s year.
And Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
called it, way back in the first
column this fall, when we had a,
entirely Kanye-centric month.
This wasn‘t entirely a year of
good news for Kanye, though.
In November, Kanye‘s mother,
Donda, died due to surgical
complications. However, Kanye
kept going, making his mama
proud.
Lupe Fiasco could have
been 2007‘s next-greatest success story. Having achieved
more success for his guest spots
than his own music, he released
The Cool this December. Unfortunately, a host of mediocre
producers ruined what could
have been the best album of the
year. Patrick Stump (yes, the
guy from Fall Out Boy) did
some of the best production on
the album, with the monk chant
-sampling ―Little Weapon.‖
Sadly, rumors are floating
around that Lupe will complete
his trilogy of falling short with
LupEnd next year. But hey, JayZ retired too, and we all know
how well that went.
See Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, page 12
12
Tuna Talk January, 2007
Columns & Reviews
(L-R): Old school rookies The Cool Kids, refugee-rapper M.I.A., and super-producer Timbaland
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Continued from page 11
Oh, Lil Mama. She‘s the
cutest MC since Lil Romeo.
Her bubblegum rap brought us
all back to the 90s, when rap
was okay for children to hear
and when women didn‘t have
to sell their sex appeal to get
famous. But unlike Romeo and
his peers, Lil Mama has legitimate skills. Her flow is impressive and her sound is somehow
both radio-ready and not embarrassing to have on your
iPod. Unfortunately, Mama‘s
yet to release her debut, apparently titled The Voice Of The
Youth. Instead, she released the
smash ―Lip Gloss‖ and the
much-less smashing ―Tour Bus
(G-Slide)‖, and then elevated
Avril Lavigne‘s ―Girlfriend‖
from ―so stupid it‘s good‖ to
―good‖. Here‘s to hoping that
Lil Mama conquers ‘08. And
actually releases a third song.
The Cool Kids are also
helping to bring back the old
school. Although their catalog
is tragically small, there are
some very flossy songs in it. Lil
Wayne loves The Kids; he raps
on ―Gettin‘ It‖. Barak Obama
loves The Kids; he put them in
his Rock for Chance concer.
Sadly, they‘re also following the
trend of not releasing their debut album. However, some
Dear Readers,
more from The Kids should be
coming out in ‘08. Dopalicious!
Bonus trivia: Chuck Inglish,
half of The Cool Kids, is from
Detroit. No word on why his
remix of the Plain White T‘s
―Hey There Delilah‖ isn‘t currently taking over the Internet,
but if there is any justice in the
world, that should be happening any day now.
The Wu-Tang Clan
made a comeback and released
their first album since 2001.
Their new album, 8 Diagrams, is
still not as good as 36 Chambers,
but is excellent nonetheless.
Still, not everyone enjoyed the
album, including Wu-Tang‘s
own Ghostface Killah. Unhappy with Diagram‘s production, he referred to long-time
producer RZA as the ―hip-hop
hippie‖. At recent RZA-free
concerts, WTC have neglected
to perform songs from 8 Diagrams. Let‘s hope this feud is
only temporary, and that WuTang is forever. There were, of course,
disappointments in 2007. As a
wise man once said, ―50 Cent
looks like a baby who got
punched in the face.‖ And, hey,
that‘s probably half the reason
Kanye outsold him. The other
half is both 50‘s lack of creativity and his abysmal flow, which
attempts to be lazy but ends up
marble-mouthed. Curtis was
easily one of the worst albums
Oh-Seven, but unsurprisingly
so.
Snoop Dogg apparently
received the memo that hiphop is dead. But, rather than
crawling back to his mansion,
Snoop Dogg decided try to turn
into Prince. In his video for
―Sensual Seduction,‖ Snoop
tries his hardest to be the man
in purple, even copying his signature hair-wrap. However,
Prince not only had sex appeal,
but talent as well. Even more
preposterous about the Snoop
Dogg clip? The hilarious blending of 70s and 80s trends
probably meshed after Snoop
smoked a whole lotta you-know
-what and lost track of just
which VH1 flashback he was
watching.
Someone has to explain
the most shocking revelation of
2007 to us: why is Timbaland
the big man on the metaphorical campus? First, he revived
Nelly Furtado‘s career (which
we‘re not 100% sure needed to
be done). Then he turned into
Justin Timberlake‘s BFF. His
best work all year was a remix
of a song by OneRepublic, a
piano-pop band that is perfectly
boring and trite without Tim-
baland‘s touch. But since when
does this earn him the points to
actually be credited as being
featured on OneRepublic‘s
―Apologize‖? Nothing Timba
has done all year has brought
him close to the delicate laziness of Missy Elliot‘s 90‘s
classic ―Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)‖,
so why are we worshiping at the
altar of Timba?
M.I.A., the Sri-Lankan
refugee-turned rapper, doesn‘t
need Timbaland. Though she
originally intended to have the
2007 opus Kala produced by
exclusively by the Big Man, visa
issues prevented this from happening. She instead worked
with producers from ―third
world‖ countries, and with excellent results. ―Bamboo
Banga‖ and ―Paper Planes‖ are
among the best tracks this year
– hip-hop or otherwise. And
Timbo does produce one track,
the deliciously commercial
―Come Around‖. By choosing
her eclectic no-names, M.I.A. is
in command of every moment
of her awesome jungle music.
Oh, and Dizzie Rascal
released an album that no one
really cared about and didn‘t
even get released in the US,
except maybe on iTunes, but
we‘re too lazy to check.
The Hunt For Red Herring
We’ve heard that you enjoy Tuna Talk. We’ve noted that you’ve taken copies from the Student Life Center. But we are not sure
that you’re not just lining your cat’s litter box with them. To check to see that you’re actually reading the newspaper, we are including a little
treasure hunt in each publication. Only one copy of Tuna Talk will have an article that is changed in a noticeable way. If you’re the lucky
reader of this copy and you bring it to Advisor Linda Vernon, we’ll give you a free Palladium movie pass. You will also be entered in a raffle for
a mystery prize that will be given at the end of the school year. Oh, it’s a great prize. Seriously. Trust us. We have a budget.
In January’s issue, we’ve changed all of the instances of the word “the” to the word “fish” in one article.
Example: In January’s issue, we’ve changed all of fish instances of fish word “fish” to fish word “fish” in one article.
Let Fish Hunt Begin!
Tuna Talk Arts
Brought to you by The Muse
Featured Artist
Sophia Mannisto
Sophia Mannisto
VEINS
I can see my veins
blue-green under my yellow-pink skin
not as intricate as tree roots
but creeping all the same.
I can’t see blood run through them
but I imagine it’s similar to my red bracelet
if my red bracelet were a liquid
warm and alive.
Kurt Burbulla
UNTITLED
Hello selfless stranger
without hatred possessed.
How far you have come, an
enigma beholden
inside turquoise tulip
houses. Sitting upon
a black and white world with
helplessness protruding.
Painless torture throwing
conscious hatred between
two parts of my ego where
confusion converses
without pausing between
orange clamors escaped
from the hole in my face.
Thoughtfully flailing
I quickly grab the hues
tumbling from my mouth
because the planet is
supposed to be black and white
Zoe Miller
KEY
Sitting inside by only a roof
placed on a desk, the key to
wander on the other side.
Enclosed by the ceiling
and shadows that hide the
hard copies that press 2000
decades against one another.
Llave, the Spanish word for
Key, makes my mind worry
for all the non-Spanish speakers
who will misunderstand llave for
lava and then the empty space
on the bookshelves will be filled
with dreadful tales.
DISCUSS
Let’s discuss us
at a restaurant
we hate and eat
it up! Go back to
when you mocked
your peers and
remember how no
one could dig
our missions out.
Now we fail and
fuss in a war of
hypocrisy.
SQUIRREL
The mission of the squirrel,
sabotaging the birth of a
sunflower, after four
failed to survive.
Sophia Mannisto
BY NOAH HEINRICH
Muse Editor-In-Chief
Sophia Mannisto is a senior. She is also a skilled and
creative artist whose poems and photos have been featured in
The Muse, the W. Hawkins Ferry Art Gallery Hallway, and now
Tuna Talk.
TT: What got you interested in photography?
S.M.: I've grown up around art, but I didn't really start thinking
seriously about doing photography myself until I came to Roeper and
took the class in ninth grade. It ended up being something fun and
intriguing.
TT: Are there any sorts of techniques and subject matters that you are especially fond of?
S.M: I like experimenting with a variety of techniques, but I have fun
doing Polaroid lifts. They involve lifting the emulsion from the
print using hot water. It can be incredibly tedious and takes several
tries to get right, but they end up looking amazing. My series of
faces was done this way. As for subject matter, it always depends on
the particular project I'm working on. I do think I tend to
photograph things that are part of my life, even if that wasn't my
intention at the time. Looking back, a lot of my work takes my life
and romanticizes it in a way, giving the familiar a more dream-like
quality.
TT: Is there any type of photography that you are particularly interested in?
S.M: I'm especially drawn to any sort of darkroom photography. I feel
more of a connection to what I’m making than I do with digital.
TT: Is there any photograph you have taken that you
are particularly proud of?
S.M.: Last year, I did a series involving a teacup in different settings, and there were a few that surprised me. One of my favorites had
the teacup in a cabinet full of more stacked teacups and the other
was the silhouette of the cup in front of a light. The shadows gave
great contrast and made the images look really clear, but the mundane qualities of the cup left them somewhat mysterious.
TT: Are there any artists that you think influenced
you?
S.M.: I love Frank Stella's work. I'm most familiar with his
older paintings, which are usually simple designs or lines.
Simplicity in art is attractive to me, perhaps because I get a sense of
both systematic and meditative thinking.
TT: Do you plan to continue making art in college? Do
you have any other plans?
S.M.: I'll definitely keep making art, but there are so many other
things outside of it that I also want to learn more about. Even though
I doubt it will become my career, I'm sure making and thinking
about art will always be a big part of my life. I like experimenting in
mediums other than photography, as well. I've done a little painting,
sculpture, and graphic design, and I want to learn to weave and
screen print. I think I'm just more concerned with learning and
experimenting for right now than becoming an expert in any one area.