What’s Inside:

Green HornThe Award-Winning Student Publication of Springfield High School and the Tech Center

March 15, 2011 Volume 31, Edition 4

College-bound students want to carry a rigorous course load in high school to prepare for col-lege. However, some courses, such as Advanced

Placement (AP) classes, may not be offered at SHS.

Online ClassesDedication Meets Procrastination

By Maria Stern

See Online page 21

Online students Laurel Porter, Maria Stern, Olivia Thayer, and Alexis Esposito.

complete reading assignments and reinforcing activities, and engage in discussions. Virtual High School offers an accredited curriculum. 35 U.S. states and 42 countries participate in the program with 12,893 students enrolled in the 399 course sections offered. SHShasofferedonlineclassesforaboutfiveyears. Seven students enrolled in VHS classes during thefirstsemesterthisyear,while13studentsenrolledin VTVLC. Dues--paid by the school-- are required for access to VHS, while VTVLC is free. SpringfieldHighSchoolStudentswhoelectto take online classes have had mixed results. Across the board, students feel that online classes pose a challenge, either due to the curriculum or program. SHS senior Alexis Esposito enrolled in Art HistoryonVirtualHighSchool.“Icouldn’tfitart,whichis the only credit I need to graduate, in my school day, so I was forced to take it online,” she said. Esposito is given paintings to study, then creates work on her own that is influencedbythepiece.Shewasmailedasketchbookandpencilstoworkwith.Whenfinishedwithherworkshe scans it and e-mails it to her instructor. “I feel like I’m learning more about art,” she To compensate for this, SHS students enroll in Virtual

High School (VHS) and the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative (VTVLC). These programs require that students log on to their accounts on a regular basis,

Winter Carnival

By Sarah Gray

Community & Friendship

WhileSpringfieldHighSchoolstudentswerefilledwithanticipationconcerninganexcit-ing February break, their fun actually began

before the last school bell rang. On Friday, February 18th, SHS students attended classes through lunch time and then spent the rest of their school day participating in activities as part of the Winter Carnival. The Winter Carnival is a festival that features activitiessuchasboardgames,wiffleball,andsledding.This array of fun was organized by the SHS Student Council, with help from SHS faculty. By promoting the Winter Carnival, student council members hoped to bring students together for friendly competition and

See Carnival page 22A winter carnival favorite: tug of war.

Spanish for the future,

p. 4

Armstrong's wonderful world,p. 13

Girls basketball beats Milton

63-52,p. 17

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Green Horn Interview By Laurel Porter.

Nikka Bactad, Andrew Bladyka, Tabitha Celani, Justin Derosier, Alexis Esposito, Liza Fontaine, Lauren Fountain, Sarah Gray, Jessie Haskell,

Chelsea Howland, Holly Hooke, Alexandra Johnstone, Vicki Kopidakis, Alexis L0cke, Angelina Mei, Cooper Naess, Jill Rushton, Jennifer Stein, Olivia Thayer, Sarah Vredenburgh, and

Michael Whittemore

GREEN HORN STAFFLayout Editor/C0-EditorC0-EditorCo-EditorPhoto Editor/Co-EditorSports Editor

S am Benton.........................K elsey Christensen...............M aria Stern..........................L aurel Porter.......................C ourtney Downing..............

----------------REPORTERS---------------

Kiely Shuck, a freshman at SpringfieldHighSchool, wants to supplant Meredith Vieira, graduate high school as valedictorian, and visit

France, though not necessarily in that order. A native of Edison,NewJersey,SchuckmovedtoSpringfieldduringseventh grade when her father changed jobs. Schuck is an only child. She lives with her parents and the family’s two cats, Sugar and Twix. The Green Horn interviewed Schuck and asked her about her involvement in drama and other extracurriculars, her career plans, and her interest in writing.

What do you do for fun?I absolutely love to read and write. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is one of my favorite books. And I also like A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle.

What are your favorite genres of writing?I likerealisticfiction.A Wrinkle in Time [is different from that], but the protagonist is still just an ordinary girl, and then stuff happens and she has to go on an adventure across the universe. I like Madeline L’Engle’s Austin series, too. Those are more realistic.

What do you want to be when you grow up?I would like to be either an author or a broadcast journalist.

Do you write now?I do write right now. I write stories and poems. My storiesarerealisticfiction.

Have you written anything that you’re proud of?I wrote a poem that I really liked. It was called “Buried Beneath,” and I was really proud of it. It’s about how people have many layers to them, and you don’t know everything about them.

Why are you interested in broadcast journalism specifically?

Kiely Shuck on Reading, Writing, Drama, Math

I love being on stage. Also, I’ve been watching the TODAY Show since I was really little. I want to be an anchor on the TODAY Show.

What are your favorite extracurricular activities?I enjoy drama club and mathletes.

Can you talk about mathletes a bit?I love mathletes. In the beginning of the year, I was the only person on the junior team. It was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with the older team, but it was kind of lonely because I was the only one. My coach is Mrs. [Marlene] Allen. I sometimes go over the practice sheets [problems] at home, but I do most of my training at our practices.

What’s your favorite part about mathlete meets?The food. I also really enjoy just sitting down and doing the math problems during the competition.

What are you doing right now in the SHS Drama Club?I’m playing Queen Aggravain in our spring musical, Once Upon a Mattress.

How do you feel about playing a lead role as a freshman?I’m really proud, and I hope that I do a good job. I’m really happy that I got the part, though.

What are some of the challenges involved in playing the queen?Well, she’s really mean, and I’m not. It’s out of char-acter for me.

Do you pursue drama outside of school? [I do a summer day camp in New Jersey] called “A Children’s Theatre Workshop.” We put on a semi-professional show, with costumes, props, and sets, in

three weeks. It’s really stressful, but it’s a lot of fun. I really like it. I’ve been doing that camp for about three years. I also did a different summer program called “Kids in the Park” for four years. We had two weeks to prepare a show, and it actually took place outdoors in an amphitheatre. It was less professional than the Theatre Workshop, but it was still a lot of fun to do.

What are your favorite parts of these camps?Both of the camps were great. My favorite part is at the very end, when we put on the show. Everyone comes to watch us. I also really like to hang out with my friends there.

What was the most recent show you performed?The most recent show I did was the musical Fiddler on the Roof. I was Grandma Tzietel, and I really enjoyed playing her. My character was a little old lady who was a ghost, and I had a song to sing. I also liked the story, and the music is really great in that show.

A Change Is Gonna ComeJeanice Garfield registers SHS seniors in early February. The school budget squeaked by in early March.

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NewsThe Dropout Rate

A Serious Problem at SHSBy Vicki Kopidakis

Students have heard it at least once in their high school career from one of their peers: “I can’t take this anymore. I’m just going to drop out.”

However, what they don’t realize is that while some students may toss this statement around nonchalantly thinking it’s an empty claim, dropping out is a serious issueatSpringfieldHighSchool. A reduced graduation rate led the Vermont Department of Education to place SHS on a list of schools needing corrective action. According to the Vermont Public School Dropout and High School Completion Report For the 2004-2005 school year, SHS had the fourth highest drop out rate in the state of Vermont at 6.04%. In 2010, with only a little more that a quarter of the year completed, 13 students withdrew from a high school population of 490. “I don’t like it,” said guidance counselor Kelly Ryan. “It’s a no-win situation. The kids don’t win and the school doesn’t win. It gives a bad image of our school to the community.” The process a student follows to drop out is simple. Once a student turns 16, he or she simply needs a parent to sign a form to withdraw their child from school. At 18, students can sign these forms themselves. SHS Principal Bob Thibault intends to institute an exit interviewinthedrop-outprocesstogiveschoolofficialsinsight into what they can improve to make the school a better place for students. Administrators and counselors plan to reduce or eliminate dropping out completely by developing strategies and making options available for students who consider dropping out. “Our rate is high,” said Ryan. “But there are a lot of things we’re doing behind the scenes to lower it.” For example, parent/teacher conferences were instituted in November to improve communica-tion between the school and parents. Also, to motivate students to do well in school, SHS Assistant Principal Zach Mclaughlin hopes to create a Hall of Fame with recently-donated funds. The Hall of Fame would feature photos of successful SHS graduates. These photos may be posted throughout the school or displayed in a trophy case. “We want the pictures to inspire students to

do great things,” said Thibault. “We hope it’ll show students that a diploma from SHS means something.” The block schedule, which wil be used nextyearatSpringfieldHighSchool, isanotherwaythe administration is trying to reduce the dropout rate. This schedule should help students who fall behind in, or fail, a class. Rather than repeat the class the next year, a student would be able to retake the course the following semester, ensuring they won’t fall behind their classmates. “If students are doing well,” said Thibault, “they won’t want to drop out.” Despite administration efforts to encourage students to remain in school, however, dropping out occurs too often. “Students aren’t thinking long-term,” said Thibault. “They get bored or they have a part-time job they enjoy. They don’t realize the salary isn’t enough to live on.” In other cases, students may be required to work. “A family may be in immediate crisis and need their son or daughter to get a job,” said Ryan. Becauseit’simpossibleforschoolofficialsto force a teen to remain a student at SHS for these reasons, they further offer three other options for stu-dents. “We work hard to provide options for stu-dents,” said Ryan. “The best is to stay in school, but we need to provide other options.” ThefirstoftheseoptionsinvolvesthePreci-sion Valley Program, a program for students who are unsuccessful in a traditional classroom setting. PVP is largelyproject-basedwithlearningenhancedbyfieldtrips. Students who complete this program receive an SHS diploma. Job Corps is another option to ensure greater student success. In this government program, students live at one of the location sites, receive technical job training, and conclude the program with a high school diploma from the state in which they live. According to ehow.com, any student 16-24 can enroll in the program once they have met income requirements. If accepted, a student is assigned an admission counselor with whom they will develop their Personal Career Development Plan. Additionally,SHSofficialsoffertheHigh

Kelly Ryan says dropping out is a no-win situation. Bob Thibault will

initiate an exit interview to figure out how to reduce the drop out rate.

School Completion program. Students who opt for this choice must meet with the coordinator of the program and then pass an assessment test. In the High School Completion program, a student works directly with a Vermont Adult Learning coordinator to develop a graduation plan. This program allows students to take classes at SHS and graduate with an SHS diploma. Whiletheseprogramsbenefitstudents,theymaycontributetoagreaterdropoutrateatSpringfieldHigh School. “The programs count against the dropout rate,” said Ryan. “But the students receive a Vermont diploma so they’re not really dropouts.” Despitetheseoptions,theSpringfieldHighSchooldropoutrateremainshigh.Yetschoolofficialscontinue to help students prioritize their education and contribute to the SHS School Board’s mission of a 100% graduation rate. Once this goal of 100% graduation is reached,schoolofficialsarehopingtoseestudentsusetheir SHS diploma to go on to great things. “Educa-tion is the only key to success after school,” concluded Thibault.

1.2 million students drop out in the United States every year.

12% of the nation’s schools, or approximately 2000 schools, produce half of the nation’s dropouts.

40% of students in these schools drop out between freshman and senior year.

Children from low-income families are 7 times more likely to drop out than children from prosperous families.

Most students who drop out of high school have low grades and low attendance in middle school.

The Low Down on Drop-Outs

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News

Forthepasttwoyears,SpringfieldHighSchoolhasoperated with an eight-period schedule consisting of 45-minute classes each day. From the mid-90s

to 2009, SHS used a trimester schedule that included a 6-period day with six 55-minute periods. Many students are unhappy with the 8-period schedule, because too much homework is assigned in classes like math and science and students don’t have enough time to learn, though some prefer the eight-period to the six-period schedule. However, students who don’t like the eight-period schedule can look forward to next year’s switch from eight periods to block scheduling. SHS has always used six and eight-period schedules,thoughamodifiedblockschedulewasusedbefore the six-period day was instituted in the mid-90s.Though still beingfinalizedby school officials,next year’s block schedule will consist of three or four 90-minute classes running for a semester. Second se-mesterstudentswillswitchtheirfirstthreeperiodsorfour periods with the other classes they have elected to take. Art teacher Lisa Murray is pleased with the block schedule. “We are hoping that [the block schedul-ing] increased class time will help the problems from

Block Schedule Next YearSwitch From 8 Periods

By Cooper Naess

the eight-period day.” Murray also hopes teachers will be more inventive with the block schedule. “I’m hoping teachers will be more creative in an 90 minute class,” she said. English teacher Kevin Coen has mixed feelings about the options of eight periods or block scheduling. “ I don’t like how frazzled I get from a 45-minute eight period day,” said Coen. “I think there are challenges at longer periods, like keeping kids occupied for 75 minutes.” Junior Derrick Grailich is unhappy with the block schedule. “Not a good idea,” Grailich said, “There is too much time in class and kids probably won’t focus.” Sophomore Kiana Blair agrees with Grailich. “I think that we should be able to have every class on a daily basis,” Blair said. “ Also if you hate a class then it would be boring to sit in it for an hour and a half rather than just being in it for 45 minutes.” Green Mountain Union High School student Melanie Thompson has been going to school with a block schedule since her freshman year. Thompson agrees with block scheduling. “I like block scheduling,” Thompson said, “I found that on average my grades dropped when we had shorter classes.”

Lisa Murray chaired the schedule committee that studied new models

for teaching and learning. Kevin Coen worries that students might have trouble focusing for long classes.

No Hables Español?A Minority View

By Vicki Kopidakis

Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world and the second most prevalent language in the United States. Hispanics account for more

than half of Miami, Florida’s, population. For the past 20 years, it’s been mandatory for Los Angeles police of-ficerstopossessbasicSpanishskills.Thesefactsshowthe growing importance of Spanish education. The ability to speak Spanish, as it continues to spread throughout America, gives an individual an edge: an advantage in business, a greater understanding of various cultures, and the ability to break free from communication barriers. And what better a place to gain thiscompetitiveedgethanSpringfieldHighSchool? “All students should learn a second lan-guage,” said SHS French and Spanish III teacher Diane Root. “The common perception is that Spanish is what they should learn because there are so many people who speak it.” SHS Spanish teacher Rina Barreda encour-ages students to enroll in the Spanish classes offered at the high school because of the great importance of the

language. “ S p a n i s h is the most important language, especially in America,” said Barreda. “The Spanish popula-tion is growing and the benefits for bilinguals arebig.”Thesebenefitsinclude greater job op-

Native speaker Rina Barreda teaches Spanish classes at SHS.

portunities and advantages in fields such as politicsand business. “The ability to speak Spanish makes politicians able to reach Hispanic voters and allows businesses to communicate with Spanish populations,” continued Barreda. Many students at SHS are aware of the ben-efitsoflearningSpanishandunderstanditssignificancein the United States and around the globe. “All over the world, Spanish is a language that is very common,” said senior Nikka Bactad, who has enrolled in Spanish classes throughout high school.

“Being able to learn it a younger age and in school gives me a bigger opportunity to know it when I get older.” Bactad is not alone in her enthusiasm for the language. 92 students take Spanish at SHS. “It’s important once we get out of our tiny high school with little diversity,” said senior Ben Sidler in regard to learning the language. “In college, there are going to be people who speak other languages.” Barreda also credits the great interest in the

See Spanish page 20

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Four-Day School WeekSavings and Preparation

Spur School ChangeBy Andrew Bladyka

If you are an American high school student, chances are you have dreamed of a four-day school week. Only four days of the one-of-a-kind education given

by the government. Since such a possibility is being experimented with in various school districts, opinions about the length of the school week have become more noticeable. “We should have a seven day week and a longer summerbreak," saidSpringfieldHighSchoolsenior Forest Jade. "It would never happen, though, because everyone wants satisfaction now." A four-day week has its advantages and disadvantages. The two greatest advantages involve an increase in productivity and a reduction in the cost of maintaining facilities. SpringfieldSchoolDistrictSuperintendentFrank Perotti keeps an open mind when he considers changes to the school week. In response to a question about the 4-day school week, he mentioned challenges related to budget and staff. “We have had staff reductions for the last two years and the resulting staff has had to do more with less,” Perotti said. “If we lose more people, it will be doing less with less. Everyone is pretty much maxed out.” Perotti has other reasons for looking at a four-day school week. “Challenge for Change was going to ask Springfieldtoreduceourbudgetbyover$2.5million,"he said. "Savings [with a 4-day school week] come through shutting down utilities for 20 percent of the time, less transportation, less fuel, some savings in support and maintenance, staff time, cafeteria savings, and things of that sort.” National studies show that the 4-day school weekhasenormousbenefitsforstudents.Studentshavean extra day to themselves. This improves the overall mental health of students and motivates them to do more in classes. “I would have no problem rolling with it [the 4-day school week]," social studies teacher Jeff Lavin said. "There would be some things to solve. Athletics are a big deal. People care about them and they are important." Lavin added, "The other side to this is that it would substantially extend the school day. I’m not sure where parents would be on this. What would kids do on Fridaywhiletheparentsareatwork?”heasked.“Thisis like any issue with its pros and cons. There’s also the law of unintended consequences.” “There are lots of advantages to a four day school week,” said English teacher Ed Wilkins. “There are reduced costs on heat and transportation. There are lots of savings. However, from an educational side, there are the same general problems with other varia-tions in the school day. School is not about seat time or

about the hours spent in classes. It’s about the skills to prepare students for life after high school. However, Wilkins has doubts about the workability of the 4-day school week. “It would be toodifficultforstudentstolivetheirlives,todothingsin and out of school, being sports, drama, and music, and be successful," he said. "It would be more pressure on everyone to get stuff done with extended days and classes. Everyone would have to focus more on condens-ing classes and it would make everyone’s life harder. Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Frank Perotti sees savings with the 4-day school week. Jeff Lavin and Ed

Wilkins wonder about students acclimating to this new system.

FeaturesSexual

Activity at SHS

By Jessie Haskell

SpringfieldHighSchoolmathteacherJohnDean’sthird period Advanced Placement Statistics class split up into groups in late November to do their

own independent studies on any topic of their choos-ing. Two of the three groups studied students’ tasting abilities. But one group decided to dig deeper into the personal lives--the sex lives--of SHS students. This group focused on sexual activity be-tween freshmen and seniors. Twenty students, ten boys and ten girls, represented the study group for this AP Stats activity. The question under study was a simple one: "Aremoreseniorssexuallyactivethanfreshmen?”Thequestion students answered was equally simple: “Have youparticipatedinsexualactivityinthepastyear?” 30% of seniors surveyed responded no and seventy percent responded yes to this question. 70% of freshmen responded no, and 22% percent said yes. One percent (two students) were absent and did not respond to the survey. Overall, 47% of students surveyed claimed they had not had sex and 53% claimed they had sexual relationships. To most students, these statistics may be reasonable and acceptable. However, some students and staff are frightened by these results. Senior Laurel Porter is revolted by this rate of sexual activity. “Too many people have sex all the time, everywhere," said Porter. “It [sex] hurts people both physically and mentally.” In national studies, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that almost three quarters of teens have had sex by age 20. And, according to the American Public Health Association (APHA), the reason most teens give for having sex is that their peers do it. Most of their friends and other people around them are not

Health teacher Ruth Haskell worries students ignore risks when

they become sexually active.

See Sex page 21

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Feature

We all know how much of a drag it is to crawl out of a warm, comfortable bed at six in the morning. We all know how irritating it is

to be nagged and scolded about going to bed earlier. Finally, thanks to recent studies, there may, in fact, be some scientificvalidationbehind the age-oldpleaofteenagers:“Mom,justfivemoreminutes,please?” Parade magazine reports that adolescents need from 8.4 to 9.2 hours of sleep on average a night, compared with 7.5 to 8 hours for adults. However, be-cause many teens end up going to sleep around eleven o’clock and waking up at six, they’re only getting about seven hours of sleep. Whynotgotobedearlierthen?Well,itturnsout it isn’t that simple. The sleep-promoting hormone called melatonin sets in and rises later in teenagers than in children and adults. This boils down to one cold, hard fact: teenagers are physically programmed to stay up later and sleep later. Additionally, research done in previous years has shown that about 20% of teenagers fall asleep during thefirsttwohoursofschool.Accordingtoastudydoneby University of Minnesota Ph.D Kyla Wahlstrom, high schoolsthatstartlaterweremorebeneficialforstudents.Wahlstrom collected data from two districts in Minne-sota that moved the start time for high school about an hourlater.Wahlstromnotedasignificantreductionindropout rates and teen depression. Doctor Judith A. Owen of the Hasbro Children's Hospital, conducted a similar study and wrote the following: “Beginning at the onset of puberty, adolescents develop as much as a two-hour sleep-wake phase delay (later sleep onset and wake times) relative to sleep-wake cycles in middle childhood." In Owens’ study, students were required to complete the online retrospective Sleep Habits Survey before and after the change in school start time. The results of the study revealed students were experiencing improved motivation in school, and daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and depression levels were all reduced. The percentage of depressed or unhappy students prior to this study was about 65.8 percent, but had dropped to 45.1 percent after the study concluded. Also, the number of studentsvisitingtheschool’shealthofficeforfatigue-related symptoms had dropped from 15.3 percent to 4.3 percent. SpringfieldHighSchoolsophomoreIsaiahHandly believes schools should start later, around 8:30 am. “That’s the time I usually wake up on my own,” said Handly. “Even if I oversleep [on school days] 8:30 is the time I usually wake up and get to school anyway.” Although Handly falls asleep at about 11 pm or midnight, he feels that, on average, he gets an adequate amount of sleep every night. Springfield High School nurse Wendy Reeves encounters about two or three sleepy students on a daily basis.

Waking Up is Hard To DoSleep Deprivation and Students

By Tabitha Celani

“Lack of sleep can actually make you sick,” says Reeves. “Many students who come in with small colds are lacking in sleep. Lack of sleep can even cause things like headaches and nausea,” Reeves concludes. If stunning results like those from the previ-ously-mentioned studies occur from simply moving the school’s start time back a bit, why aren’t more schools movinginthisdirection?Well,theanswertothatisn’tas straightforward as it seems. Ph.D Kyla Wahlstrom wrote, “Longitudinal researchhassincefoundseveralsignificantacademiceffects, such as decreasing the dropout rate, but a di-rect correlation between later start time and academic achievement on normed tests has not been substanti-ated." Essentially, this means that although both of these studies displayed compelling results, there has beennoclear-cutscientificproofthatlaterstarttimesarethereasonforhigheracademicefficiency. SpringfieldHighSchoolAssistantPrincipalZach McLaughlin believes that school start times have a great impact on students, especially those who attend highschool.SHSwillstartfifteenminuteslaternextyear at 8:00 am, something McLaughlin views as a positive change. “Honestly, I think that if we wanted to see a bigger change in student motivation," McLaughlin said, "we would have to start schools around 9:30 or 10:00 am.” McLaughlin is not sure why high schools

around the country start so early. “I don’t know the exact history of it," he said, "but nowadays it revolves primarily around work schedules for parents.” McLaughlin said he has read multiple studies about teenagers and their sleep habits. “I’m convinced by what I’ve read,” said McLaughlin. “There is no doubt that later start times have an impact on students," he added. "In fact, there have been discussions with the superintendent [Frank Perotti]aboutflippingtheelementaryandhighschoolstart times.” McLaughlin also stated that Brattleboro High School might enact this time-swap next year. Start times for the school day may serve to accomodate the high school sports schedule. Since students leave school early for games, they would miss even more class time if school began and ended later. Junior Alaina Orth, who started in goal for the school's girls soccer team, believes that high schools should start later. She thinks that a reasonable start time would be around 9:15 am. Like Handly, Orth said, “I usually hit the sack around 11:00 pm," then added, “not once this year have I felt fully rested on a school day. I would sleep in class if I could, but there is too much light.” Despite these suggestions from hopeful students,SHSofficialswillonlymoveschoolforwardby a quarter of an hour in the 2011-2012 school year. Although the bit of extra sleep should be wonderful (and beneficial),thebright-and-earlyarrivalofstudentstotheever-waiting lobby will continue to rule the mornings ofSpringfield’steenagedcitizens.

Isaiah Handly and Alaina Orth demonstrate their need for sleep in

school. Handly and Orth get to sleep around 11:00 pm each night. School

nurse Wendy Reeves sees many students who suffer from lack of sleep.

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Features

For United States students, homework is an es-sential part of their grade. However, this may be changing. In some southern school districts in

the U.S., homework is not making the grade. Instead, homework is now used to prepare students for a formal finalassessment,whichisusedtodeterminegrades.Thischange has come about because students who previously received A's in classes with a grade based largely on homework are scoring poorly on major standardized tests, according to a recent New York Times article. According to the Times, in the Irving School District in Irving, Texas, educators are no longer count-inghomeworkasapartofstudents'finalgrades."Thegrade should depict whether the student has mastered the material," Irving superintendent Dana Bedden said in a recently-published news article at Texas Cable News.com. Homework assignments in American pub-lic schools increased in 1957, the year that thefirstman-made satellite, Sputnik, was launched by the So-viet Union. At that time, United States educators were pushed to advance students' knowledge in mathemat-ics and science. American schools were criticized for presenting a weak curriculum and were encouraged to improve teaching to raise students’ performance as the United States competed with the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

HomeworkTo Grade or Not to Grade

By Lauren Fountain

After Sputnik, American leaders believed that by giving children homework, they would be able to learn more in short periods of time. Today, in school districts where the importance of homework has been diminished, a student’s grade may consist of tests, finalessays,projects,andpresentations,anythingthatdemonstrates that a student has mastered the material presented. Homework is viewed as practice, therefore, not as an important element in grading. Some parents in the Irving School District are angry about this change. "I am closely monitoring my children to make sure that they are completing their homework assignments," said Gabrielle Velasquez, a parent of a student attending the Irving School District, who was quoted in the Times article. Parents say that previously the consequence for children not doing their homework was that their grade would drop. However, now that homework is not being used to compute grades, parents feel that students are not as obligated to do the work. SpringfieldSchoolDistricteducatorshavetheir own views on the importance of homework. “A school's homework protocol should include guidelines onstudentfeedback,"saidSpringfieldSchoolDistrictCurriculum Coordinator and Assistant Superintendent Vin Hawkins, in an email. "In the case of voluminous homework, ran-domized or strategic feedback and grading suggestions should be included along with assignment make-up timelines, alternative assignments and so on.," Hawkins added. "Communication regarding homework should be clear and consistent including its (formulaic) inclusion when calculating a course grade.” Other administrators view homework as an embellishment of teaching. "Homework is used to practice what you are doing in class and plays a role in student' grades," SHS Principal Bob Thibault said. In most classes at SHS, homework is included in students'finalgrades.The importanceofhomework varies from class to class, however. In some classes, homework is worth 10% and in other classes homework is counted the same as a test. This concept is debated. “ I don’t have an issue if teachers don’t count homework," said English teacher Edward Wilkins, "but if it is counted, it should count equally with tests and quizzes.” Students are sensitive about a change in homework policy. Some feel that though the homework is practice, they should get a grade to provide incentive to do the work that teachers have assigned to them. Junior Taylor Fontaine said, "If I take time out of my night to do the homework that my teachers assign to me, I expect that in return they will take time to give me a grade for my effort." "I believe, along with many others, that teachers should take the time to grade the homework they assigned us, especially if we took the time to do it,” concluded senior Ryan Gottschalk. “It's not fair otherwise."

English teacher Edward Wilkins believes homework should be counted

as much as tests and quizes. Senior Ryan Gottshalk thinks it is wrong not

to grade homework.

Students Share the

Love

Storefronts filledwith heart-shaped chocolatesand giant stuffed bears, shades of pink and red everywhere in sight, and the look of love

in people’s eyes. These events signal the arrival of Valentine’s Day. The holiday began when a priest, Valentine, refused to obey Emperor Claudius II’s law against marriage. Valentine continued to marry couples and, once discovered, the priest was executed. This act of love inspired the holiday celebrated on February 14th. As timepassed, cards, candy,chocolate, andflowersbecame signature marks of the holiday. Yet not only was the spirit of love found in the Hallmark stores this February 14th, but also in the hallsofSpringfieldHighSchool.“It’sexciting,”saidsenior Desmond Dana. “Everyone’s happy and friendly because it’s a holiday about love.” True enough. As the 14th approached, couples were happier and students were excited about the prospects of this holiday of love. Highlighted by the SHS French Club, young people enthusiastically spread the love. French Club members sold carnations, at$1.00each,duringtheweekbeforeValentine’sDay.Purchasers filled out a card and had their carnationdelivered to those they love. These carnations were a popular buy for students. “I would buy one because it’s a great way to show the people I care about that I’m thinking about them,” said senior Alexis Esposito. Other popular tokens of affection include flowers,chocolate,andstuffedbears.“It’soldfashionedbut Iwould loveflowers and chocolate,” said juniorCameron Freitas. For others, like senior Max Blake, a mix tape of classic love songs represented the perfect way

By Vicki Kopidakis

French student Coral-Mae LaMontagne holds a sign advertising

the carnation sale.

See Valentine's page 22

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News

Travelin' BandSpringfield High School hosted the Annual District Music Festival on February 5th at 3:00 pm in the high school auditorium. This festival included high school choir, high school jazz band, and middle school regular band. Each participant had successfully passed an audition and paid a small fee to cover the cost of outside conductors. Musicians and singers rehearsed for the festival on February 4th and 5th. In the large photo, the middle school band rehearses “Five Minutes a Day,” one of four pieces they performed. SHS Music Director Jim Chlebek (left) and Riverside Middle School Director Cindy Hughes acted as hosts for the festival. This festival represented Dictrict VI, which included 27 schools. Eight students from SHS participated in the event.

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Features

Fast FoodUnhealthy Yet Pleasing

By Liza Fontaine & Holly Hooke

Notimetomakedinner?Havenothingtoeat?Running late? Just in themood for it?Mostpeople take the easy way out and cruise through

the drive-through at McDonald's. But the question remains,“Isitworthit?” “When I’m busy and my family doesn’t feel like making a real dinner," said junior Eric White, "it’s so much easier to go out." DespiteWhite’seasyfix,someviewfastfoodas fattening, addicting, and unhealthy. Considering the 400 calories in one large container of French fries found at a typical fast food restaurant, in terms of weight gain and added bulk to one's body, this is one ghastly meal. “It’s not good for me to eat because of all the grease and fat” said freshman Meghan Thomas, “and it just slows me down.” Unknown to most people, eight billion ani-mals are slaughtered each year for food, according to tchnews.com. With this in mind, controversy has grown about the inhumane way meat is produced for fast-food restaurants. Critics accuse slaughterhouses of forcing

You are a sorcerer. You do magic and create awe-some things. So that’s cool and now you need thegarb.Howaboutanawesomerobefor$15

thatcandoubleasablanket?It’scalledaSnuggie. With over 20 million units sold, there is no denying the fact that the Snuggie has invaded America. That would mean that 15.5% of Americans own a Snug-gie. Wouldn’t it be ridiculous if 20 million people were justsittingathomeinabackwardsfleeceroberightatthismoment?Thatmaybethereality. Coming in a multitude of colors, Snuggies have invaded the houses of people who fancy burgundy, royal blue and sage green, and other “designer patterns” includingleopardprint,peacesigns,camouflage,mon-keys, zebra stripes, spirals, clouds, skull and crossbones, sweatshirt style, tie-dye, princess, camel, and zebra. You can get one of each color for a variety of purposes. The burgundy Snuggie is for that party with the red punch. If you spill your precious nourishment, you still look totally radical. Royal blue is for that person wholovestoflybutdoesn’twantanyonetoseebecausethey’ll just blend into the sky. Sage green is for the creepiervarietypeopleofyourcommunity,specificallydesigned for the person who hides in the trees. The sage green Snuggie will allow you to blend perfectly.

SnuggiesBackwards

By Andrew Bladyka

The design-er patterns are for the more outgoing compadre. Camel is for the local desert rat, zebra is for the adventurous cabin-fever-ridden friend who you don’t know too well but you are forced to go to their party anyway, and leopard for the king of your jungle. Tie-dye will become your local hippie’s favorite thing to wear as he tries to catch a

A trip to the zoo. Liza Fontaine and Alexandra Johnstone relax in their leopard and zebra print Snuggies.

ride down to New York. And, it’s truly an epitome of manliness to tote any style of Snuggie around on your front side while you’re at the market purchasing milk with your dark sunglasses on. At night. Snuggies, for all of their pleasures, have accounted for more litigation and lawmaking: the Com-mercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act. The bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in June of 2008. The act said that televi-sion broadcast stations must regulate their commercial

volume levels and make them more tolerable. We all remember watching that C.S.I. episode and Grissom is saying his horribly punny line and all of a sudden here’s a Snuggie commercial trying to blow viewers' ears out by selling themfleece blanketswith sleeves. In thisrespect, Snuggies have been good for something else other than looking awesome and being warm. Whether Snuggies are a plague on suburban communities or just a neighborhood-friendly fleece

See Snuggies page 22

RobeThe

The ubiquitous cheeseburger at a billion plus one. Holly Hooke knocks

down another one. And loves it.

animals into tight spaces, cutting their heads off, and giving them steroids to gain weight for the fast food industry. “It’s revolting,“ said senior Alexis Locke. “No one should be eating meat that can't even walk and the quality of meat is terrible. People don’t gain any nutritional value.” Dating back to 1916 when sodas and hamburgerswerefivecentsapiece,thefirstfastfoodhamburger chain in America, White Castle, opened its doors to this eternal industry and offered a way to satisfy Americans' craving for a greasy burger and salty fries. Although the number of calories and fat in the food may be high, the taste of this meal cannot be resisted. “I eat fast food all the time because it’s just so good,” said junior Frank Gould, “and I especially like McDonalds.” According to nationmaster.com, out of 195 countries America holds the number one spot for high-

See Fast Food page 23

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FeatureSanitized Huck Finn

By Kelsey Christensen

Though the racial slur nigger appeared endlessly in the South as depicted realistically in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which

chronicles the picaresque descent of Huckleberry and slave, Jim, down the Mississippi River in the 1830s, the word remains entirely uncomfortable to say, discuss, or teach in 2011 English classrooms. For the uneasy teacher or student, however, help is on the way. A sanitized copy of Huckleberry Finn has been produced by Auburn University professor Alan Gribben. The sanitized copy replaces the some 200 niggers with the word slave, a comfortable euphemism for some. Naturally, controversy surrounds this cleansed Huck Finn. Most English teachers around the countrywere horrified that theAmericanvernacular,which Twain famously used to criticize, not glorify, the backwards South, would be compromised. Though none predicttheeditionwillmakeitswaytoSpringfieldHighSchool bookshelves or classrooms anytime soon, SHS English teachers and students have some words of their own about the censored copy. AtleastafewSHSteachersfindthewordnigger to be instrumental to students’ understanding the realities of the 19th Century Missouri River region. “It’s a loaded word, and it’s an uncomfortable word,” said American Literature teacher Kevin Coen. “But if you sanitize the book, it denies the existence of the word. We [teachers] try to be sensitive and explain why it’s a loaded word.” Coen feels that the word provides evidence of linguistic racism as opposed to the physical racism of slavery, which had been abolished. Even though the country made strides in racial acceptance with the abol-ishment of slavery, the word nigger has not disappeared in our culture, which negates the idea that racism has disappeared. Ed Wilkins, AP Language and Composition andAmericanLiteratureteacher,alsofindsthebowdler-ized copies of Huck Finn a poor idea. “Is the language racist?Absolutely.Butthelanguageiswithinthecontextof the characters and the time,” he said. To introduce books in her curriculum with nigger, such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men Joanna Coleman, sophomore and senior English teacher,usesthearticles“Whocansay“Nigger”?...AndOther Considerations” by Randall Kennedy and “Black Mischief Minority Report” by Christopher Hitchens along with Huck Finn. The articles explain the his-tory of the word to fully illustrate its offensiveness to students. Jennifer Dodge, language team leader, feels that omitting the word is detrimental because of its importance in the story of Huck Finn. “Huck uses the word in the beginning,” she said. “His use shows how Huck was raised and how society used the word.” Dodge has her own spin on the problems

with word replacement as a means of censorship. “When students use f-ing [for example], it replaces the nasty word,” she said. “But it doesn’t replace what the student means to say.” To Dodge, censorship doesn’t amount to very much because everyone knows the word that was meant to be in another word’s place. Some SHS students are also offended by the change. “Great American novels should remain unchanged,” said American Studies student Austin Smith. “I can’t believe they would do that,” agreed Forest Jade, who is enrolled in AP Literature and Com-position. To some, the bowdlerization of Huck Finn may represent a disintegration of literature. “Good art must stand for humane values, not conventional moral-ity,” said AP Literature and Composition and American Studies teacher Mike Janiszyn. Janiszyn feels that the elimination of the offensive word nigger represents the dystopian fate of literature in Ray Bradbury’s Fahen-heit 451, another literary classic, in which people lose interest in books when literature is cleaned up to make it more acceptable. There is less controversy, however, about challenging books in general. “Sometimes censorship is appropriate,” said Wilkins. “There are some books we should not teach.” Some books, for example, may use the word nigger without providing the constructive social commentary of Twain’s. Freshman English teacher Rebecca Skrypeck agrees with Wilkins. “There are a ton of other things, books, television, music, movies that are written today that should be censored,” she said. “Censoring Twain is like censoring history.” Coen feels that challenging books can be positive. “We need to constantly revisit why we teach thebooksweteach,”hesaid.Recently,aSpringfieldparent challenged the educational merits of If I Die in a Combat Zone, a Vietnam War memoir by Tim O’Brien. ThechallengewasbroughtbeforetheSpringfieldSchoolBoard in a formal procedure. However, not all teachers were alarmed by the news about Huck Finn. Freshman English teacher Susan Hunt, who teaches Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, has been replacing the word nigger with slave for years. “I was a little vindicated when the edition came out,” she said. “I understand censorship is a slip-pery slope, but I think this [the change] is a good idea.” Hunt feels that 127 years after the cultural prominence oftheword,itistoodifficulttoexplainaway. However, as long as new copies of Twain's classic are not on order, most SHS English teachers will embrace the merits of Huck Finn as it is. “We have a lot of white kids who have limited experiences with other cultures,” said Coen. “We try to teach respect of other cultures, since it’s an issue we don’t interact with.”

The Horror, the Horror

Unruly stacks of unsanitized Huck Finn can be found at SHS. Below, a

smoking mad Twain and the bowdlerized edition.

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Features

In the United States, people celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. But my most cherished time of the year is Chinese New Year.

Unlike traditional New Years, which is celebrated on the same day every year, Chinese New Year is celebrated on a different day each year because Chinese New Year is based on the Chinese calendar, which is a combination of lunar and solar movements. TheNewYear startswith thenewmoonon thefirstday of the new year and ends on the full moon, 15 days later. This year, Chinese New Year was celebrated on February 3rd. Unlike the traditional New Year's celebra-tion, the Chinese use a different animal to designate each year, based on the Chinese zodiac, twelve animals in

Chinese New Year

By Angelina Mei

Seniors ask many questions: What do I bring to college?ShouldIpackupmycloset?ShouldIbringthoseplasticdrawersfromWal-Mart?

“Bring comforts from home,” said 2008 SpringfieldHighSchool graduateHeatherRinder, ajunior at Syracuse University, in an email. “Pictures of friends, favorite knick-knacks for your desk.” Rinder brought a My Little Pony. “Bring money,” 2008 SHS graduate Kristen Fuller added in an email. “College is an amazing time where you're constantly meeting new people and, of course, wanting to do new things. Everything costs money.Orbringapenandbereadytofilloutparttimejob applications.” Collegeboard.com’s Off-To College Check-list suggests bringing under-bed storage trays. Rinder and Fuller agree that under-bed storage can save one's life in a cramped dorm room. “Under-bed storers will become your best friend,” said Fuller. “I have a bunch. One for jeans, one for shoes, one for food, and one for laundry.” “Under-bed storage is the best way to keep things out of sight,” said Rinder. “Extra notebooks, food/snacks, bins of out-of-season clothes, unless you send them home, shoes, anything. I throw everything under my bed.” Shower shoes may be another crucial item. “Dorm showers are gnarly,” said 2008 SHS grad Ben Bolaski, attending Plymouth University, in an email. Showers are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. Showers are never fully dry. If you are liv-ing in a suite, or have cluster mates (two dorm rooms with a bathroom in between) you may not need shower shoes. Suite and cluster showers will not be cleaned by

What to Bring to College?

By Alexis Esposito

Lunar Movement Celebrated

all: the rat, ox, tiger, rab-bit, dragon, snake, horse, monkey, ram, rooster, dog and the pig My mother told me a myth that ex-plained these animals. Buddha invited animals to participate in a race across a river. The prize was a position on the Chinese zodiaccalendar.Thefirsttwelve animals to cross the river would appear in the zodiac calendar in the order in which they won the race. First was the rat,

then the ox, then the tiger. After the tiger came the rab-bit that jumped its way across along the dragon's back.

The snake, which hid in the horse’s hoof until the last minutewhenitscaredthehorse,finishedseventh.Themonkey,ramandrooster(thenextfinishers)allhelpedeach other across. The dog decided to take a bath in the riverbeforecrossing.Hefinishedeleventh.Thepig,the

laziest animal, finished last. Because the Chinese New Year be-gins a new season, one must start off fresh as part of the celebration. Everything is cleaned, from head to toe. My parents go so far as to clean our whole house, as well as our restaurant, the day before Chinese New Year. Food is prepared in the afternoon. By the time one is done cooking everything, the dinner table should befilled tothe edges with food. F o o d h a s special meaning in the Chinese New Year. Ev-

For dessert: Sponge cakes.

See Chinese page 20

erything,whetherit’sfish,meator vegetables, is prepared whole.

The author's uncle and her mother, Rose Feng, watch as the author's father, George Mei, dips into a hot pot.

The author's uncle, former owner of Chef Mei in Ludlow.

The author tries to decide what to bring to college.

See College page 20

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Editorials

Marijuana LegalizationThe Highs and Lows

You know the tragic story. They’ve smoked one toomanyataparty,buttheythinkthey’refineto drive. They start driving home in the dark.

They’re going a little too fast. They’re being a little too careless. Suddenly, before they know it, they’ve launched themselves into a ditch, or collided with a freight truck, causing their all-too-early death. And it’s all because of marijuana, the illegal hallucinogenic depressant. Hold on, though. Wait a minute. This cata-strophic scenario usually happens because individuals drank one too many. Alcohol, that is, the legal depressant for anyone over 21 years of age. According to the Center for Disease Control and myaddiction.com, alcohol caused 35,919 in 2010. 22,000 of these deathswere not traffic-related.Thenumber of marijuana-related deaths during 2010 was 0. In fact, no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose, which would require a person to consume more cannabis than Bill Gates could afford. However, according to citydata.com, marijuana is decriminalized in only 12 states (California, Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio, Mississippi, Maine, New York, North Carolina, Nevada) and used for medicinal purposes in

By Kelsey Christensen, Tabitha Celani, & Andrew Bladyka

Sinks, Toilets, and GraffitiBathroom Disrepairs

By Justin Derosier

AtSpringfieldHighSchool,oneparticularloca-tion is vandalized, misused, and consistently ignored. What place could be the source of all

thisabuse?Thebathrooms.10bathroomsarefoundatSHS, including one set of boys’ and girls’ bathrooms and ahandicapbathroomonthesecondfloor,onebathroomlocated in the Precision Valley Program wing, one set ofbathroomsonthefirstfloor,onebathroomineachof the locker rooms, and one set of bathrooms located ontheartandmusicdepartmentfloor. In these bathrooms, one contends with empty soap containers, low-pressure sinks, and faucets which demand that one hand be used to hold down the handle while the other maintains a process of cleaning and washing. The worst bathroom problems are usually reportedtothemainoffice.“Ihearaboutthreeorfourproblems amonth,” saidmain office secretary JeanStocker. “And it’s usually deliberate vandalism in the bathrooms,includinggraffitiandtoiletoverflows.” However, some SHS students are fed up with the constant disrepair of the bathrooms. “Ashleigh Bone

and I are fundraising,” said sophomore Saiana Pianka, who wants to improve SHS bathrooms. “Because we think it’s a good way for Springfield High School students to show that we think some things need to change.” Pianka and Bone have been fundraising to improve the bathrooms by creating the Student Renewal Projectclub.Theyfirstdecidedtodosomethingaboutthe bathrooms when they heard complaints from both male and female students. Right now, Pianka and Bone aremostinterestedinfixingthefaucetsandreplacingthe mirrors in the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms. Fixing the faucetswillcost$6,000andreplacingthemirrorshasa$945pricetag.Toraisethismoney,PiankaandBoneare hoping to hold a concert for local bands, promote car washes, and host a movie night. School officials are also concerned aboutSHS bathrooms. SHS Assistant Principal Zack McLaughlin said, “I worry that things like bathrooms are sending a bad message to students that the commu-

See Bathrooms page 21

Immodest portraits of an indelicate situation. An abundance of mess and disagreeable stains tarnish Springfield

High School bathrooms.

16 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.) To continue the alcohol-marijuana compari-son, alcohol is often a contributor to violence. The Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog, reported that communities with more liquor outlets and bars per capita have more cases of violence. Women whose partners abused alcohol were over three times more likely to be assaulted by their partner. In 1997, a study showed that 40% of rape and sexual assault offenders were drinking during the time of their crimes. Also, approximately 480,000 children each year are mistreated by alcoholic caretakers. The sale of marijuana, however, contrib-utes to violence between gangs responsible for selling marijuana.Butgangstraffickingmarijuanaonlyexistbecause possession and the use of marijuana, for the most part, is a criminal offense. As prohibition created speakeasies, crime syndicates, bootlegging, and gang-sters like Al Capone in the 1920s, marijuana’s criminal

Marijuana Crime in Vermont

----Possession of 2 oz. 6 month incarceration, $500 fine.

---Possession of 1 lb. 3 year incarceration, $10,000 fine.

---Possession of 10 lb. 15 year incarceration, $500,000 fine.

---Cultivation of 3-10 plants. 3 year incarceration, $10,000 fine.

---Cultivation of over 25 plants. 15 year incarceration, $500,000 fine.

---Sale of under 1/2 oz. 2 year incarceration, $10,000 fine.

---Sale of over 1 lb. 15 year incarceration, $500,000 fine.

See Marijuana page 23

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FeaturesWhat a Wonderful WorldSmile for Louis Armstrong

By Jenn Stein

Trumpets, pianos and sweet melodic voices are scarce in this day and age. One must go back in time to leave electronic beats behind. Frank

Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington create a wonderful world of music. This is jazzatitsfinest.Mostofall,mynewleadingmaninthisjazz music ensemble is the late, great Louis Armstrong. I’ve let their rhythmic swing penetrate my heart. And now I think I’m in love. While out driving one day, my dad put in Louis Armstrong in Concert: What A Wonderful World Live. I wasn’t very impressed by the sound of Armstrong’s gravelly voice. But I soon grew familiar with his singing. Then I recognized the beauty of Armstrong's music. His duets with Ella Fitzgerald were funny, especially when accompanied by Armstrong’s bubbly, laughing voice. I’m in love with the richness of Fitzgerald’s

Blow, Satchmo, blow.

voice and the melodic sound of Armstrong’s trumpet solos. Artists like Louis Armstrong worked for their performance. They were good. But they practiced. The product they presented to the world was memorable. They did not rely on technology to make them stars. They made their sound by practicing. In the current era of electronic recording, it seems that anyone can become a pop sensation. With auto-tuning, layering of voice recordings, and an elec-tronic background beat, almost anyone can become a singer, whether they have talent or not. As shown by the Gregory brothers, a little auto-tuning can go a long way, a technique utilized in TV news broadcasts, YouTube videos and during political meetings. Check them out at thegregorybrothers.com. However, Louis Armstrong set a different goal to aspire to: work hard to make beautiful melodies and love what you sing about. Armstrong introduced scat singing into his songsandwasthefirstartisttorecordthenewsensation.Scat singing involves using the human voice as a musical instrument. For example, instead of playing his trumpet for a few notes, he’d barrel out a short rhythm depending entirely on his voice that added character to many of his songs. Unfortunately, scat singing isn’t incorporated much into 21st century music. It may the result of genius or it may be another example of Armstrong's hard work

and practice. Armstrong knew how to put on a show. His showmanship made him popular. He sang about food a lot, because he was a very passionate eater. The laughter and lighthearted vocals were fun, making Pops (as he was called by friends) a lovable performer. Listening to songs titled “Struttin’ with a side of Barbecue Sauce,” and others similar food-named songs, is odd. No words are found in these compositions. Instead, a mixture of trumpet and clarinet solos and piano romps create the musical magic. Armstrong's passion for food reminds me of my sister’s hunger. I don’t think she likes barbecue sauce, though. Maybe one day she could write a song “Hollandaise Sauce.” Armstrong, like all great artists, offers ways for all people to think about his expression. He was not a star that set himself a level higher than people. Louis Armstrong: jazz king, lovable per-former, inspirational human being. Pops just goes to show what a wonderful world this really is, and urges one that when you're smiling to remember to “Dream a little Dream of Me” and think of all that Louis Arm-strong stood for. Use his achievements to make everyone around you a little bit happier.

Television

Forget Twilight and Justin Bieber. A new, better, teenage obsession is sweeping the nation. What is this trend that can overcome the abs of Jake and

Edward?Whatcouldtaketheattentionofthenationawayfromateenagerwithperfecthair?ABCFamily’snewest series Pretty Little Liars. Based on a series of books by Sara Shepard, Pretty Little Liars premiered last year as a series on television. With Pretty Little Liars, American viewers wereintroducedtofiveteenagegirls:AriaMontgomery,Emily Fields, Hannah Marin, Spencer Hastings, and the infamous Ali DiLaurentis. The series opens at Ali's funeral. Thefivegirlsused tobebest friends.ButAli disappeared after a sleepover and afight ensuedamongthefivegirls.Atthefuneral,thegirlsreceiveatext message from an unknown sender, A. A says she is alive and threatens to reveal their secrets. A, who mysteriously and inexplicably knows all about the girls, becomes the main character of Pretty Little Liars.

Pretty Little LiarsAn Alternative to Twilight

By Olivia Thayer

As the show continues and the plot deepens, viewers learn more about each of the girls, including their dark past. Much is revealed in the following about each one in the following manner. Aria: After witnessing her father cheating on her mother with his teaching assistant, Aria goes abroad with her family to Iceland. When Aria returns, she meets her English teacher Ezra Fitz, with whom she developsadangerousandflirtatiousrelationship.Aliis the only girl who knew about Aria’s father’s affair. A knows about the secret relationship between Aria and Mr. Fitz and threatens to share her knowledge. Spencer: Athletic, smart, and wealthy, Spen-cer seems perfect. But Spencer has been living in the shadow of her sister, Melissa, and seems unusually close to Melissa's boyfriends. Ali knew about these friend-ships. A threatens to share this information. Spencer was next for the Queen Bee spot in the circle of friends, andSpencerandAlihadafightjustminutesbeforeAlidisappeared. Hannah: Hannah appears to be sweet. Han-

nah used to be unpopular and overweight, until Ali encouraged Hannah to join the group of friends. Hannah was so close to Ali, in fact, that Hannah was suspected

See Liars page 23

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Columns Colloquial Critique

By Kelsey Christensen

It's A Fact...

By Alexis Esposito

This is the kind of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put!” When confronted about his tendency to end

sentences in prepositions, this is how Winston Churchill responded. Churchill addressed an unfortunate issue of priggish, pedantic, and overly-stringent perspectives about language. Stephen Fry, British writer and television

host, also addressed the issue of pedants in a recent podcast. “The only people who seem to bother with language in public seem to go about it in quite the wrong way,” Fry stated in his podcast. Among others, he cited pedants who write to publishers about mistakes and people who fret about grocery store signs that say 10 items or less rather than 10 items or fewer. Fry and Churchill make an important point. Lovers of language should embrace, not criticize, its varied applications and uses. This author also suffers from pedantry, which is an unfortunate side effect of my love of language. But, no matter how heavy-handed my criticism of other speakers and writers become, thereisonesituationofgrammaticalre-alignmentIfindcompletely uncalled for. And, any student who has ever needed to use the bathroom has experienced it: Student:CanIgotothebathroom? Teacher:Idon’tknow.Canyou? Student: MAYIgotothebathroom? Teacher: Yes. Generally, my grammar is pretty good: sentences aren’t things I put prepositions at the end of. I describe actions with adverbs good. And passive voice can be avoided by me. But, I usually step directly into the I don’t know, can you? trap. Maybe this snarky and passive admonition worked for teachers in 2nd grade when students still

truly needed to understand the difference between can and may. But if you’re a teacher in high school and you’ve ever uttered the response I don’t know, can you? you should be aware that you are abusing sarcasm. The meaning of the sentence is not lost when someone asks “CanIgotothebathroom?”One’sintentionofgoingto the bathroom is fairly clear. It’s pretty apparent that the speaker has the capacity to go to the bathroom. Maybe the biggest annoyance about this usage mess is this: people who are generally ungram-matical elsewhere still know enough to point out the can versus may mistake. I can only assume that to cover up their grammatical ignorance elsewhere, they employ pedantry in these scenarios. The same people who jump at an opportunity to admonish people who say can rather than may are often the same people who say things like “The game went awesome!” and “The Cosmos are a excellent team!” And, yet, I don’t feign utter confusion when I hear these things and urge the speaker to correct their error. In this context, I say judge not lest you be judged, partial-pedants. Your Grammar Policebadgeisgoingtobeconfiscated. I’m not glorifying the not-so-gradual dis-integration of language. Shall versus will, who versus whom, and less versus fewer are becoming archaic facets

Arrant Pedantry

See Colloquial page 22

I've Learned A Lot

1. In the end, you only have yourself. No matter how much you think your best friend would never tell one of your secrets, or that you’re destined

to be with your boyfriend forever, things happen and people leave. You need to love yourself without hav-ing to have someone else loving you. You’re your own best friend. You would never turn against yourself, stop talking to you for no reason at all, or give yourself attitude. When everything boils down, you’re not go-ing to go to college with your best friend, you’ll forget your boyfriend’s name in ten years, but you will be the same person, pushing to do your best, because you stood by your side.2. Be confident in every single thing you do.Confi-dence shines. People can tell when you feel good about yourself. Even if you know you’re doing something wrong, do it wrong well. I get in arguments all the time, and I get proven wrong, but I defend my position and make it seem like I was right. I go into situations thinking aboutthebest.Iwalkinconfident,anditshows.Smile

a lot, that helps too.3. The power of intention works. At least it does for me. Power of inten-tion goes like this: throw an idea into the universe and wait for the universe to answer. If you intend for something to happen, it will. This has worked for me in several instances. I applied to Suffolk, and spoke like I was already going there. I would talk about my acceptance letter coming (never referring to it as a deci-sion letter), I’ve planned out my housing arrangement for sophomore year, and I’m entirely positive about the whole thing. I’ve been accepted to Suffolk, and no mat-ter what, I will be going there in the fall. I fully intend toflourishinBoston.Powerofintentionisagreatthingand has gotten me things I never thought I’d have. Try it. It’s as simple as wanting something.4. Speak up. Too many people are silent about things. I speak up about anything and everything. If I don’t

understand something, I ask a question. If someone is giving me attitude, I let them know it’s not allowed. I stand up for my friends, I point out when people are incorrect about things they think are facts. I’m not shy about voicing my opinion. I think speaking up is part of not being fake. I mean, you don’t have to say the constant truth. For example, if you see someone on the street whose shirt is ugly, you wouldn’t call them over just to say it. But if some one you don’t like asks you to drive an hour to pick them up, you say no. I would never agree with someone I thought was wrong, because that’s not being truthful to myself or anyone else.

See Fact page 20

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Music

Column

The Promise(Bruce Springsteen; 2010)

By Samuel L. Benton

Dreaming By the Panorama

By Tabitha Celani

Imaginations

Childhood innocence is something we all take for granted. It isn’t exactly a conscious decision, but a six-year old brain isn’t quite capable of deep

reflection.Forexample,whatsix-yearoldthinksalongthese lines: “Wow. I should really stop and think about

howgreat life isformerightnow"? Whenyou’reayoung child, all you want to do is eat candy, play, and of course, express yourself. Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves. But when it comes to children, drawing or painting or coloring is most often a way of letting go and having complete control of one’s feelings. As a youngster, it’s sort of a comfort to know that you can draw anything and everything you want, and nobody can tell you you’re wrong. Many children don’t even really think about this. It’s a subconscious notion. Getting into the creative mind of a child is an idea that stymies and bewilders many people, but I thought I’d try my hand at it. ElmHillfirstgraderThomasDedrickisabudding little artist, and he was the child I chose to talk to. Dedrick announced that, in his opinion, the best thing about art is that you get to draw. Dedrick prefers making art at home rather than in a structured art class, “because I don’t get to draw what I want at

school.” “I really like to paint,” said Dedrick when he was asked about his favored medium. “My favorite thing to paint is my imaginations.” Many artists prefer to create when they’re in a certain mood, so they can release all of their innermost

See Panorama page 22

Originally conceived for the 30th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978), numerous setbacks

pushed The Promise (and a new box set devoted to Darkness) back two years. The Promisefinallysawthelight of day on November 16, 2010. During the recording sessions for Darkness on the Edge of Town hundreds of songs were recorded, thoughonlytenmadethefinalcut.Afterthereleaseof Darkness, many of the other songs recorded began showing up in bootleg form and spread throughout the music underground. They remained bootlegs for years, untilfivecutswerereleasedonSpringsteen's1998col-lection of B-sides and rarities, Tracks. The Promise was the next serving of Dark-ness-era tracks, two discs and 21 songs' worth. Unlike the untouched Darkness songs found on Tracks, most of the cuts on The Promise have been touched up and edited by Springsteen in one way or another. Additional guitars, drums, bass, and other instruments have been added. These edits come at a cost: many of the songs soundmorelikesomethingyouwouldfindonanewSpringsteen record, as opposed to something the Boss would have created in the late seventies. Like modern Springsteen albums, many of the songs are over pro-

duced, lacking the raw, live sound that Springsteen had sought while recording Darkness on the Edge of Town. The most clear representation of this over-production is in the form of added horn tracks. These horns add nothing to the songs, and at times can be distracting (excepton"SpanishEyes,"wheretheyfitwell). Fortunately the lyrics and the original music are good, and they serve as a great portrait of Springsteen's mindset at the time. They are an equal blend of the upbeat Darkness-era cuts, like the ones found on Tracks, and the kind of bleak, downcast songs that were found on Darkness. In fact, many of the songs on The Promise would evolve into the songs found on Darkness on the Edge of Town. Upbeat love song "Candy's Boy," evolved into night rocker "Candy's Boy;" "It's a Shame" features a guitar track that would become the main riff for "Prove It All Night;" and "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)" is al-most a carbon copy of "Factory," with different lyrics. The best cut on the album is easily "The Promise." The song is the ultimate portrayal of heart-ache. In it Springsteen sings about all his dreams being broken, and you can hear the desolation in the despera-tion of his voice. At one point, he even croons out two words that any Springsteen fan knows by heart: "Thun-der Road." This famous phrase, however, becomes a

dark spot in the song, rather than the optimistic symbol that broke open the album Born to Run. “The Promise” is as good as anything Springsteen has ever released. While that might be the case with “The Promise,” it isn’t so with the album that champions its name. The Promise is a great album, no mistake about that, but it doesn’t match up to Darkness on the Edge of Town or any of the other albums Springsteen released during his 70s and 80s heyday. Re-worked and new as they might sound, it’s still pretty clear why Springsteen leftthesesongsoffthefinalproduct(withtheexceptionof “The Promise” and “Racing in the Street ‘78”). Still, The Promise is a wonderful exploration into Springsteen’s creative process. The album bursts with its own kind of greatness. And that makes it a must for any fans of the Boss.

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Basketball

Girls Start Off on the Right FootBy Jill Rushton

Afterlastyear’srecordof4-17,andwithonlyfivereturning varsity players, second year Spring-fieldHighSchoolgirlsvarsitybasketballcoach

Brodie Ladue knew this season wasn't going to be easy. But after topping Bellows Falls 52-24, and turning in close games with Oxbow and Fair Haven the Cosmos proved early that this year would be different. “I think this season will be good,” said senior co-captain and point guard Desmond Dana in December. “I hope that we beat the teams we had close games with last year, and that we all improve as a team.” Since last spring, Ladue prepared her team for the regular season by holding weekly open gyms and fundraising for new uniforms and shooting shirts. Players also dedicated every Tuesday and Thursday of their summer break to a summer league, held at Stevens High School in Claremont. “In the summer we did a league where we scrimmaged different teams. We played Claremont, Newport, and Green Mountain,” junior guard Emma Esty said. “We also did open gyms and a car wash in the spring to raise money for new uniforms.”

Due to a new rule by the VPA (Vermont Principals Association) the regular season didn't start until after Thanksgiving break. This left the Cosmos with only three weeks of conditioning and practicing before their season opener. “It [the new VPA regulation] was tough because we didn’t get as many practices in before our firstgame,”saidsophomoreguardAbiCox. On November 29th, the girls hit the gym and the season began. During pre-season, the girls scrim-maged Arlington and Green Mountain to get back into the feel of the game. Although the Cosmos did not win against Arlington, the girls dominated most of the Green Mountain scrimmage. Last year, theCosmos graduatedfive se-niors, including three starters. Six previous JV players, including juniors Emma Esty, Kristin Cook, Larissa Bargefredge and sophomores Abi Cox and Jill Rushton were added to the roster. Senior captains Dana and Brittany Grant-Paul would lead the squad while juniors Liza Fountaine and Jenna Paul would be depended on for their shooting ability.

“We lost a lot of good players from last year,” said junior forward Morgan Johnson, before the season got underway. “But I think that we’ll have a good season. I think we will have a better record than last year.”Unfortunately, the teamhad a significant injury listin the person of last year's co-captain, senior Chelsea Howland. Howland was unable to play due to a knee injury, which she had operated on in early winter. On December 22nd, the girls lost to Oxbow, 37-46inDresselGym.InthefirstminutesofthegametheCosmostookcontrolbyscoringfivequickpoints.ButafterthefirstquartertheCosmosshotscouldnotfallinbasket,leavingtheCosmoswiththeirfirstloss.Johnson led the team with 11 points, while Dana put in 6. “I think [the season] so far is going well. It looks like it’s going to be more successful than last season,” said Esty. “I hope we win more games than lastyear,andthatweadvancepastthequarterfinalsinplayoffs.” Esty's optimism and spirit was shared by her teammates as they played through their schedule.

Determination, Sweat, and Nets

Senior captain Desmond Dana defends against Oxbow. Junior Sarah Gray rotates on defense to close down a

scoring lane. Dana hits the deck in an all-out style of play that has become

well-known to fans of the team.

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Girls Beat Milton 63-52

By Maria Stern

Brittany Grant-Paul lines up during a foul shot. Free throws spelled victory for the Cosmos against Milton.

Abi Cox scored 18 against Milton.

Afterfinishingtheirregularseasonat6-14,oneof their best records in years, the Cosmos girls’ basketball team earned a number 8 seed in the

Vermont Division II playoffs and a home game for the firstroundofthetournament.ThiswasthefirsttimetheLady Cosmos have hosted their opponents since 1998. The Cosmos, under direction of second-year head coach Brodie LaDue, claimed a hard-fought game against the number 9 Milton Yellow Jackets 63-52. “Itwasdefinitelyanadvantage[toplayathome],” said senior captain Desmond Dana. “We had a lot of fans cheering us on.” The Cosmos were energetic from the start, playing their best game of the season. Scoring was well-distributed for the Cosmos. Junior forward Morgan Johnson led the Cosmos with 19 points while sophomore

Abi Cox added 18. “At the beginning of the game coach talked to us about it maybe being our last game, so we should play every minute like it was the last minute, and that’s what we did,” said Dana. Despite a 10-point halftime lead the game was close. However, the Cosmos were clutch with their free throws, which was the deciding factor. “We did really well with our free throws,” said Dana. “Abi did especially well at the end with her free throws.” Aftertheirfirst-roundwintheCosmostrav-eled to take on number 1 seed Lamoille on the Lancer’s homecourt.TheCosmosputupagoodfightbutfell59-29. Sophomore Jill Rushton was the leading scorer for the Cosmos with 6 points.

Win Home Playoff Game

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Sports

Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many,” wrote New York Times dance critic Alistair Macalaulay

this winter about the New York City Ballet star Jen-nifer Ringer. “As a dancer, I do put myself out there to be criticized, and my body is part of my art form,” Ringer, who has struggled with eating disorders, responded in a statement. “At the same time, I am not overweight.” No amount of criticism caused Macalaulay to retract his statement, however. In a response of his own, his criticism continued. “If you want to make your appearance irrelevant to criticism,” he shot back. “Do not choose ballet as a career.” Macaulay’s criticism represented poor tim-ing.ThefilmBlack Swan, a sensation in the media, chronicles, among other things, dancer Nina Sayers’ (Natalie Portman) struggle with the body standards among ballerinas. For this role, Portman dropped 20 pounds. Local dance teachers have their own view of this collision between dancer and critic. “Pure clas-sical dance has the most stringent requirements for a professional career,” saidSpringfieldDanceFactoryowner and instructor Susan Hagan. “Much is made of the fact that ballerinas have slender bodies with long

Dance Factory Avoids Industry Standards

By Kelsey Christensen

Ballerinas at the Dance Factory, in-structed by Ashley Hensel-Browning,

represent a variety of body types.

arms and legs, long neck and a fairly small head. The slender physique is often a standard from company to

See Dance page 23

The UConn Record and Gender BiasWhen Will the Harassment End For Girls?

By Jill Rushton

The classic Gatorade commercial from the 90s features women’s soccer sensation Mia Hamm challenging basketball legend Michael Jordan

to a series of sports contests which include tennis, bas-ketball, soccer, track, and fencing. In the commercial, Hamm sings Irving Berlin’s famous lyrics “Anything you can do, I can do better.” In response, Jordan sings back “No, you can’t.” Although this was just a commercial, Hamm and Jordan dramatized an issue in real life: girls mea-suring up to boys’ athletic abilities. At the end of the commercial,HammsurpriseseveryoneandflipsoverJordan, symbolizing that women can be athletic, just like men. Maybe with a chug of Gatorade to help. It’s a simple myth we have all grown up with: girls play dress-up with ribbons and with dolls, while boys play sports. This myth highlights the dilemma of the female athlete, who is often ridiculed for being too slow, too clumsy, too delicate. And as the years go on, the put-downs seem to get worse. Now, with male sports fans complaining that the UConn women’s basketball team’s winning streak for college basketball deserves a different inferior category, the problem of equity between girls and boys sports is out in the open again. “It’s a problem because more people go to guys competitions than girls,” said junior Taylor Foun-taine. “Guys games are faster and there’s more excite-ment. I think that’s why girls sports get ridiculed.” The major difference between male sports and female sports may be based on the supposition that men can do more than women. Men have more muscular strength and endurance, perhaps making them more athletic. For example, according to statistics from www.faqs.org, “Men tend to have a lower percentage body fat than women with similar training and athletic capabilities;anextremelyelitefitmale100-msprintermay have a percentage body fat as low as 5% to 7%; an elite female will rarely achieve a 7% level.” “I don’t think they can be compared record

wise in sports,” said sophomore Kirby Goodrich as she considers comparing girls and boys sports. “But they both have the same competitions, so they should be given the same attention.” “Honestly, guy sports have a higher advan-tage than girls sports,” added junior Taylor Fountaine. “The competition between girls just isn’t as tough as guys. Guys just make better plays, like dunking and stuff.” After beating Florida State for their 89th straight win, the UConn women’s basketball team broke the UCLA men’s college record of 88 straight wins. But after losing to Stanford 59-71, nine days later the game arguments concerning whether the record should be separated into two separate records, since the competi-tion is not the same. “I think that the UConn [womens] team earned it and that they deserve to be awarded with the streak,” said sophomore Jacob Therrien. “But I would really like to see them play against a boys championship team, just to show people that it’s not the same.” “Yeah, of course they should keep their See Harassment page 22

Megan Courchesne kicks aside the stereotype about girls in sports.

record. If you think about it, even though the teams they’re playing aren’t as good they’re not as good,” said an SHS junior, who prefers to remain anonymous. “It’s just as hard as them [UConn] to win that many games than men’s teams. They still work just as hard I bet. Was it88games?That’shardforanyonetodo.” But even after the record was broken, the UConn achievement barely made any appearance on ESPNandthenewsfizzledoutinlessthanaweek. Even though television ratings for women’s sports do not match ratings for men’s sports, Title IX boosted women’s sports decades ago. Title IX, which was became law in 1972, required federally-funded institutions to give equal support to men’s and women’s sports. OneexampleofTitleIX’sinfluencecouldbe seen during the 1999 Women’s World Cup, which brought 650,000 fans to stadiums across the United States during the tournament’s 32 matches, with 40 millionfanswatchingathomeduringthefinal.Ironi-

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HealthGranola Girls

By Alexis Locke & Maria Stern

Depressed and obese, Ben Davis lost a girlfriend and was pressed by his grandmother to lead a healthier life in December 2008. He decided it

was time for him to feel good again, inside and out. So he ran. He ran to feel happier, get healthy, and to please as he fondly called her, Meemaw. On Friday, February 4th, Ben Davis dis-cussed his weight loss with Precision Valley Program studentsandSpringfieldHighSchoolgymstudentsinthe SHS Library. “It’s not about me now," Davis said. "At firstitwaslosingtheweight.Butnowit’sabouthelpingothers.” By talking to high school and college students

A 130-lb JourneyBen Does Life Comes

to SHSBy Jenn Stein

Ben Davis lost 130 pounds in just over two years.

and health fans, Davis in-tends to spread the word about living healthier. After training with brother Jed Davis and his father, Spring-field PVP teacher John

If people had the right knowledge and made the right choices [food wise] he insisted Americans could be a lot healthier and feel better about themselves. With his brother and father at his side, Davis said, “I was not in it alone. You can cancel on yourself, but not [the friends and family] around you.” Davis sought to inspire listeners with a single, stark message. “If you want to do something, do it,” he said. “Don’t worry about the image or the consequences, just do it well and better yourself.” Father John Davis echoed his son Ben. “People think it’s about eating right, or exercising, which is all a part of what we do," he said. "But the most important part is community.” A proud father, John Davis was happy to be a part of Ben’s transformation and delighted they can train together. As both insisted in February, it’s important to have someone there to help with changes. This fact of self-improvement compelled the Davis family to share their story with SHS and PVP students and the world.

Davis, this family team competed in 5Ks, half mara-thons, marathons, and an Ironman (a triathlon held in Kentucky). Davis started his blog, Ben Does Life on Tumblr to assure that he would stay on track, since other people, including his grandmother, would be reading about his weight loss journey. Davis couldn’t disappoint these people in his life. Thus he stayed accountable. It’s been two years and two months since the 358-pound, 5’ 11” Davis started shedding the weight. His weight in early February 2011 was about 230 pounds. Davis is comfortable with his weight now. During his talk, Davis suggested that people may gain weight because of a lack of health education.

Ben Does Life

Television and Internet are filled with scams claiming extreme weight loss simply by eating “perfectly portioned meals” or by taking a pill.

Before and after pictures are shown with claims of im-mediate results that will help you get that trophy body that you have always dreamed of. Most of these appeals arescams.Whatyoudon’tseeisthefineprintatthebottom of the ad, and what they don’t tell you is that ifthedietissuccessfulyournewweightisdifficulttomaintain once off the plan. The Jenny Craig Diet, South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers, and Atkins Diet all offer success to members who must purchase meals and meal plans from the company. These plans suggest that creat-ingone'sownmealsmaybeefficientandcosteffective,yet may lead a dieter astray from the diet. Recently,BenDavis,sonofSpringfieldHighSchool teacher John Davis, brought his story of diet suc-cess to SHS. Ben’s story started with depression, and a decision to change his life. Over two years later, Ben is 127 pounds lighter, and most important, happier.

Hissecret?Hedidlifeandheran. Ben’s journey is chronicled through his You-Tube video and blog, BenDoesLife.tumblr.com. Ben’s firststeptoweightlosswasthedecisiontochangehislifestyle. He achieved his goal through running. Initially he started small by running short distances, then built up to a 5K. In 2010, he ran the Boston Marathon. He has also competed in an Ironman, which combines a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. After his decision on December 25, 2008, to lose weight Ben weighed in on January 1, 2009 at 358 pounds. He worked to improve his running times, whichinturnledtomoreefficientmilesandahappierlifestyle. He documents these statistics on his blog to exemplify his progress. WefindinspirationinBen’sstoryandhopethat you do too. Even if you’re not looking to lose weight, Ben's work ethic should be admired. Stories likehisreflecttruesuccess,unlikeweight-lossadsyousee on television.

Jenny Craig. Another testimonial for weight loss. Another fake?

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5. Not everything has to be nice. Sometimes the only way to get people to listen to you is to be mean. People won’t listen to you if you’re not stern. I admit I’m mean. Not like a bully, but if people need to be doing something, they need to do it. The only way to really hammer that in is to be forceful. I guess it’s more of being bossy than mean. 6. Don’t apologize. I apologize very seldom, and when I do it’s sincere. I only apologize for things I truly feel bad about. I will not apologize to someone if they took what I said the wrong way. I can’t even give an example of when I would apologize about, because I do it so spar-ingly. It’s not that I always think I’m right, but when I say something I mean it. Why would you apologize for somethingyoumean?Ifyouevergetanapologyfrom

Fact from page 14

The use of knives before Chinese New Year is consid-ered to be bad luck. In many homes, a platter with either fivemeatsorvegetablesisserved.Thisdishiscalled“thefiveblessingsofthenewyear.”Itissupposedtobring longevity, peace, riches, wisdom and virtue. After greetings, one is seated and begin to enjoy the food. Then the little red envelopes start coming out. The envelopes are decorated with various things,

Chinese from page 11 peaches, plum blossoms, Buddhas and sayings that are good luck to the Chinese. These little red envelopes are filledwithmoneyandgiventothechildreninthefamilyso they will be rich and prosperous during the coming year. Of course, you must be humble and not take the moneyatfirst.Onceone’srelativeshavepesteredyouenoughtotakethemoney,youfinallyaccepttheoffer-ing. After dinner has been consumed and enve-lopes have been passed out, my favorite event occurs:

me, you are one of very few. Cherish it, because it may not come around again.7. Do what you feel. If you want to go to California, then hop on a plane and head over. Don’t get pressured into something you don’t want to do. If you can’t do something with passion and perseverance, then don’t do it. Do what makes you happy and is important to you. Live your life for yourself. You shouldn’t be liv-ing for someone else. You should be yourself all the time, doing what you feel is right. Your style should be your own. Your voice should be your own. Do you what you feel.8. Don’t lie to your mom. I can’t lie to my mom. I feel extreme guilt, I get sick to my stomach, and I just can’t do it. She gave me life, and I appreciate her for it. She doesn’t deserve to be lied to. Just appreciate your mom,

language to students’ understanding of the importance of Spanish in their academic career. In addition, Barreda emphasizes how easy learning Spanish is due to the high number of cognates (words that are similar in English) in the language. For example, can you guess what the word importantemeans? The popularity of the language will even continue to grow in the 2011-2012 school year as fewer language classes are offered. Beginning in the fall of 2011, students will no longer be able to take French I as a result of small classes in the subject. A part-time instructor will teach the upper level French classes. “The French program is under-populated,” explained SHS Principal Bob Thibault. “French num-bers have been declining.” “School districts are encouraged to only offer classes with high enrollment as a cost-cutting mission,” added Root. Because of these reasons, and the growing

Spanish from page 4influenceofHispaniccultureinAmerica,teachersandadministrators feel that Spanish education should begin at a younger age, a belief that has many advantages for learners. “Research has been clear for many years that language acquisition and automaticity is much easier when students are younger due to language development inthebrain,”saidSpringfieldSchoolDistrictAssistantSuperintendent and Curriculum Coordinator Vincent Hawkins, a strong advocate for language education, in an email. Therefore, a student beginning their educa-tion in foreign languages at a younger age has a better chanceoffluencyinthatlanguagethanonebeginningin high school. Barreda feels the spread of Spanish education into younger grades is not only advantageous but also necessary. “The best way to start is in kindergarten as in Europe where kids are required to learn English from elementary school,” said Barreda. “Some students go to

high school without any basis in Spanish and that makes learningmoredifficult.” PresentlyinSpringfield,Spanisheducationbegins in sixth grade with an introductory course. In later years, students have the choice to continue learning the language. Though this is the only option currently of-fered, administrators are hoping to expand the language program. “The superintendent and I have advocated for years starting an elementary program," said Hawkins in an email. "Budget considerations at this time, however, cannot entertain that." Though it may be some time before Spanish becomes a staple in the elementary curriculum, Barreda hopes that students available to Spanish classes are en-couraged to study the language. From there, the beauty and ease of the language will speak for itself. “If it’s mandatory for 1-2 years, students will continue,” Barreda concluded.

a janitorial service like the residence hall bathrooms will be, so bring shower shoes if you don’t think you’ll cleanregularly.Mostpeopleuseflip-flopsasshowershoes.OldNavyhasflip-flopsthatcost$1.00-$2.00. “Prepare yourself for the showers,” said Rinder. “Bring shower shoes, a shower caddy, a bathrobe or extra big towel for walking to and from the shower down the halls.” Remember you will be walking down the hall after you shower to get back to your dorm and your hall may be co-ed. Cover up. Consider weather when packing for col-lege. Itwillgetchillybeforeyourfirstvisithomeinmid-October. Pack up summer clothes, dresses, shorts, tee-shirts, a few pairs of jeans, and a couple sweaters. Dependingonyourmajor,bringaniceoutfit.Youneverknow when you may interview for an internship. Rinder opposes packing one's entire closet. But for those who need many options, put your clothes in a few Space Bags

and suck out the air. This forces clothes into a thin layer thatfitsintoadrawer. To make sure you get the most space out of your tiny room, plan with your roommate. Some schools rent out mini-refrigerators to students so you don’t have to bring one with you. Plan on who will bring what. If you and your roommate decide to do any decorating in your room, wait until you move in. You won’t know if you have cinder block or sheetrock walls, and if you do have sheetrock walls you may not be allowed to use tacks. Once you both are settled in, shop--Target might be great for this--for decorations and supplies. “Another storage item I would suggest is some kind of mini bin, or box to stash all your chargers, and cords,” said Rinder. “Keep all of them in one place so you don't misplace them. When your laptop is down to 10% battery life while typing a paper, you'll want to know exactly where the charger is.” Most college students purchase laptops to bring to school. A printer may also be useful. Bolaski

College from page 11 suggestsaflashdriveasamobilestoragedevice. Other, more strange necessities exist for college,suchasafishbowl.Fishmaybetheperfectpetfor dorm life. An extra table. Your college will provide you with a desk, bed, and a dresser. You don’t get much else. Clorox wipes. College dorms get dirty quick. Give your laptop and door handles a quick swipe to get rid of germs. Bed risers. Dorm beds can be low to the ground, so you might want to invest in a few bed risers to make yourself more comfortable. Remember, you’re not at home. You can’t just grab a bowl and spoon out of the cupboard for a quick midnight cereal run. Bring inexpensive plastic dishware such as plates, knives, spoons, forks, and bowls. Tissues will not be on your bathroom counter, and when you run out of shampoo it’s not going to be magically replaced. When you go to college, you have to take care of yourself. Things you take for granted --like tissues--won’t be bought for you.

it’s so important.9. People change. Things happen, people move. Friends become enemies, couples break up. People will come in and out of your life more than planes at an airport. You’ll meet so many people, and each will have their own impact on your life. I’ve learned so much from my friends, and people I’ve been close to. I don’t speak with some of those people anymore, but I am who I am today because of them.10. Love will come. It just takes time. It will happen when you’re ready. Not everyone has a relationship in high school, others marry their high school sweethearts. Just let fate take hold. Take each day by itself not think-ing about the past or the future. The past is the past, and youcan’tchangeit.Gowiththeflow.You’llgetthereeventually.Stayfly.

dessert. Traditional Chinese New Year desserts consist of almond cookies and pink and yellow sponge cake, which are supposed to bring good luck. They are called Niángāo,whichinChinesemeans“higheryear.” The celebration goes into the early hours of the morning, with family talking little nibbles of left-over food here and there. After you can barely walk from all the food you’ve eaten and you are in a slight coma, it’s time to go home, hop in your bed, and rest up for next year’s celebration.

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said, since she has to do her own research without an instructor available to help. Freshman Chelsey Harmer also persevered in her VHS class despite being three weeks behind at the start of the year. She took Spanish I online in addition taking Spanish II at SHS. Harmer doubled up, as she said, “so I get the language down and can use it later in life.” The procedure used to participate in an online language is a little more complex than in the classroom. “We have to record our voices saying certain assignments and send [them] and she grades them on pronunciation,” Harmer said. She uses Garage Band, which all the computers at school are equipped with, to perform this task. Harmer appreciates the dedication of her instructor. “Sometimes she calls the house to talk to us,” she said. “She’s really nice.” Harmer can also have discussions by listening to her classmates’ recordings. “I like it because I’m learning a lot,” she said. “I think I would do it again next year.” Juniors Larissa Bargfrede and Lucas Sheldon had a brief stint with VTVLC’s Advanced Placement United States History class, a class previously offered at SHS. The online course is taught by SHS social studies teacher Angelo Jardina. “I don’t think the program was set up well enough,” Bargfrede said. “I’m not sure if it would have been different if we were taught how to use it.”

Both she and Sheldon disliked online learn-ing because of the absence of a physical teacher. This led to her decision to drop the course. “I like having a teacher,” said Sheldon. “I’d rather have a teacher,” said Bargfrede. “It’s more stable and a steady program.” Jardina has found teaching online challeng-ing.“It’slikebeingafirst-yearteacheralloveragain,”he said. Jardina is responsible for assigning and grad-ing lessons. He uses Skype, email, and phone calls to motivate his students, because “it’s so easy to put that virtual world away.” Jardina’s AP US History class is taught through VTVLC. All his students come from Vermont, andsomeareSHSstudents.“IdohavesomeSpringfieldstudents,” he said. “They don’t take advantage of seeing me. I hope they start to.” SHS senior Kelsey Christensen also dropped her online class, after giving it a few months. “I just really examined how happy I would be without AP Euro on VHS in my life,” she said. She dropped the class, despite how it may appear to college admissions officers. Christensen opted to take AP European His-tory since it is not offered at SHS. “There isn’t really a European History class that lasts a full year that is a survey class,” she said. Her course required about 50 pages of reading each week, discussions with classmates, docu-ment based questions (DBQs) and other activities in

Online from page 1

even having sex, but the mindset of teens make them feel as though they should be or they aren’t cool. Manystudentsfindthatbeingsexuallyactivein high school is something that should be illegal. And some adults remember a time where sex only happened when two people were married. Lately, there’s a disturb-ing trend of younger and younger people having sex. “Babies having babies” is what seems to be the term for it. Senior Courtney Downing thinks that based on the population of students at SHS, the pregnancy rate is too high. The SHS nurses only see the students who have problems or need questions answered. They don’t see the people who are practicing safe sex. Although they don’t see an overwhelming amount of people who don’t know how to be safe, they know there are more people who are safe or just aren’t asking for help. Teens having sex is one thing. Unprotected sex is another. Everywhere you look, it seems, young girls are having more babies. SHS health teacher Ruth

Sex from page 5

nity doesn’t care about them, when we do care about them.” However, the biggest obstacle to repairing the bathrooms appears to be a lack of money. “What you are witnessing is what a lack of funds can do to a building,” said social studies teacher Dave Slivka, whose classroom is located near the student bathrooms in the C200s wing of the school. “The bathrooms are well maintained during the day, cleaned every night, and let’s just hope they repair the roof. If they don't, the bathrooms will be the least of our problems.” The high school maintenance staff had bud-geted for sinks and partition walls for the bathrooms on thesecondfloorandthebathroomsinthebasement.But

Bathrooms from page 12 their funding request was taken out before the budget wasfinalizedinJanuary.Additionally,themaintenancestaff intends to paint the bathrooms over the summer. “I think the bathrooms are bad partly because of the students writing on the walls,” said one custodian who preferred to remain anonymous. “And also because they are old and need replacing.” Whether or not they have adversely affected the bathrooms, a few acts of vandalism have managed to catch the attention of some students using the facili-ties. One act of vandalism involved a swastika that was drawnintheboys'bathroomonthesecondfloorinearlyJanuary.Underneaththisactofgraffitiwasthestatement“Hitler Rulez.” “We, as administrators, are worried about this[graffiti],”saidMcLaughlin.“Butarenotsurehowto pursue this without knowing what time this [vandal-

ism] took place.” Graffitiiscommonlyfoundinboththeboys’and girls’ bathrooms. In the girls’ bathroom, vulgar language pertaining to sexual activities is often found in thestalls.GraffiticonvincessomeSHSstudentstoavoidthe bathrooms altogether. “I don’t use the bathrooms here because they are disgusting,” said senior Cody Kimball. With bathroom repairs out of the budget picture, it’s up to students to make the best of the bath-rooms that they can. Educators suggest that students can help stop vandalism in the bathrooms by reporting such incidents to staff members. “ The bathrooms need to be better monitored by the teaching staff and students,” said social studies teacher Angelo Jardina. “If students start to report the problems when they begin, teachers can intervene sooner and stop the vandalism.”

preparationfortheAPtestinMay.Atfirstshethoughtthe class was ideal, “but then it got immensely hard,” shesaid.Shefounditdifficulttoaskquestions,groupdiscussions were redundant, and she had no previous experience with DBQs. In addition, all work was due on Tuesday before 11:59 pm. “It was just too easy to put it off until the last day because there was only one due date a week,” Christensen said. SHS junior Olivia Thayer uses Virtual High School to get ahead for college. She plans to major in secondary education with a double major in history and English. To be best prepared, she is doubling up on these courses at SHS. Thayer is enrolled in both American Studies at SHS and AP US History on VHS since the course is not offered at SHS. VHS’s scheduling flexibilityallowedittofitintoherschedule. “In a way, I like it more because you are responsible for your own learning and can work at your own pace,” she said. “We move really fast, and I wonder if I’ll re-tain a lot, but I’m a visual learner, not an audio learner,” she said of the learning techniques utilized by online classes. Her studies are reinforced by her experience in the American Studies classroom. “Students are able to take classes beyond what we are able to offer here,” said SHS guidance counselorHeatherTothofthebenefitsofonlineclasses.“For the school, that’s an advantage because students are able to take classes that are interesting to them.”

Haskellfindsthatkidshaveahardtimegettingaccesstodifferent types of birth control since Planned Parenthood closedinSpringfield. PlannedParenthood closed inSpringfieldbecauseoftheeconomy,whichtroublesmostnon-profitorganizations. This organization can still be found in nearby towns, such as Brattleboro and Claremont, with 10 locations throughout Vermont. Haskell believes there could be alternatives to Planned Parenthood, perhaps the nurses being supplied with condoms that students could pick up when needed. In fact, SHS nurse Wendy Reeves would be willing to dispense condoms. “ Whether or not birth control is provided, kids are going to have sex,” she said. Next year a health clinic should be in opera-tion at the high school. “The health clinic is supposed to have doctors come in a couple days during the week,” Reeves said. “The doctors will be able to prescribe birth

control as well as have condoms handy for kids who need them.” However, Physical Education teacher Joe Brown believes that giving out condoms will encourage teens to have sex. “Sex should be sacred and special,” he said,” not just a physical activity.” Teens may have sex because they convince themselves that their friends are having sex, though nothing may be going on. Communication needs to happeninordertofixthisproblem.Ifmoreteensspoketo each other about whether or not they actually have sex, less sex might happen. “The physical and emotional risks of having sex are never a consideration for teens,” Haskell said. “They think they won’t get a disease, and don’t foresee emotional damage it [having sex] has.” “Teenagers need to worry about other things than sex,” concluded Brown.” Like their relationships with their friends and family.”

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cally most of the players that comprised these teams, including Mia Hamm, were born at the same time the law was passed. “Girls sports aren’t treated the same as guys, but they should be,” said senior SHS athlete Jessie Haskell,whoplaysfieldhockeyandsoftball.“Weplaydifferent teams, but just at a different level.” More vulgar sexist harassment not only oc-curs among adults who watch professional and college sports on television. Many harsh comments are heard among teenagers, some of whom have been verbally

Harassment from page 18

My Great Grandpa Andy passed away in March 1995. Grandma Weezy and Grandpa Andy certainly had their hands full with Grandma Weezy and Grandma Linda and her siblings. The Hanson children were clearly associated withtrouble,ormischief.Whetheritwas,pullingfirealarms,settingtheforestonfireordroppingoneanotherdown the heating vent, more often than not, trouble was being made and the wrongdoers were usually being caught in their crimes. One night as a teenager Gram had ventured out with a lack of permission from Grandma

Footprints from page 24

harassed on a daily basis. With this attitude so apparent, girlssportsatSHS,whichincludefieldhockey,basket-ball, soccer, tennis and softball, receive less attention than boys sports. “I’ve heard a lot of jokes being said about girls sports by different boys sport teams,” said Haskell. “Every team has bad years. It has nothing to do with gender.” “In all seriousness, I have made fun of girl's sports many times because they just aren’t as intense,” said an anonymous Cosmos fan. “Like you kid around with your friends and stuff, it’s kind of like discrimina-tion. Women’s sports just aren’t as fast or aggressive as

that it would create a sense of community throughout SpringfieldHighSchool. “I think a lot of students complain about school not being fun and there not being a lot to do in school,” SHS Student Council member and senior Sarah Vredenburgh said. “By having the Winter Carnival, we are trying to change the school’s atmosphere to a more positive one.” “We are trying to encourage school spirit,” SHS Student Council member and senior Chelsea Howland said. Students were encouraged to wear their class colors on the day of the carnival, and the activities were organized as competitions between classes to give the activities a fun, competitive edge. “Kids get into competition,” SpringfieldHigh School Student Council Advisor Liz Goddard said before the Winter Carnival. “And we hope that it will

Carnival from page 1help students bond as a class.” “Everyone is more into it and involved [in the activities] when there is something to gain, and we think friendly competition adds a little twist to it [the Winter Carnival],” Vredenburgh said previous to the Winter Carnival. The Winter Carnival was an annual tradition atSpringfieldHighSchoolabouttwentytothirtyyearsago, and it appeared to be a popular event at SHS. “Winter Carnival used to be a big feature of the SHS school year. Talking to some veteran teachers and looking through the yearbooks from 20 and 30 years ago, it looks like teachers and students were having tons offun,”SpringfieldHighSchoolEnglishteacherandSHS Student Council advisor Kevin Coen stated via email.“Where'dthattraditiongo?We'renotsure,butwe hope to bring that back to SHS.” TheSpringfieldHighSchoolWinterCarnivalreturned to SHS last school year, but it lacked strong

organization, and student attendance. The SHS Student Council looked at feedback collected from students about last year’s Winter Carnival, and used that infor-mation to create a more organized and exciting Winter Carnival for the 2010-11 school year. “Our goal this year was to improve organiza-tion,” Goddard said before the Winter Carnival. “Last yearwasourfirstyear[organizingtheWinterCarnival]and we weren’t very organized. So hopefully we will be more prepared this year.” Overall, the SHS Student Council and faculty hoped that by having the Winter Carnival, it would give students a chance to bond with their classmates, and see that school can be fun. “By having the Winter Carnival, we are building community in our school, we want to balance academic and social learning, and we want to rebuild some traditions that have been lost at SHS,” Coen said.

blanket, one thing cannot be denied. They are more comfy than that annoying blanket that won’t ever let your hands free unless your pry it off completely. Snug-gies are a very practical and intuitive device but as the saying goes, “Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer” and your Snuggie will be very close to you. Stay safe, these murderous blankets are just looking for some sap to come along and embrace their deadly warmth.

Snuggies from page 9of composition. Linguists are declaring that it’s often okay to end a sentence in a preposition. And that’s all very frightening. But, The Elements of Style is not going to shatter if you spare the next student who, urgently dancing about and distracted by their need for bladder relief, asks Can I go to the bathroom?

Colloquial from page 14to express love. “It’s hard to tell someone how you feel without it being awkward,” said Blake. “Lyrics in songs are an easy way to express how you feel.” “It’s a time of caring,” said Freitas. “It brings out the passionate side of people.” Whether students had a special someone or not, many let their passionate clearly show during the French Club carnation sale. They seemed ready to stand with the Valentine against Emperor Claudius on this day celebrating the magic of

Valentine's from page 7

Weezy. She came home and thought that she had made it back undetected. There was no way she could be caught, or so she thought. Her feelings soon changed when she got to the top of the stairs to see Grandma Weezy waiting for her in Grandpa Andy’s bathrobe in order to blend in with the dark of night. Needless to say, Gram almost had a heart attack. Once again she had been caught on Weezy radar. At the age of 20 Grandma Linda had my Auntie Jen and four years later she had my dad, Matt, and the tradition continued. Gram had her hands full with both of them. Grandma Linda and my Grandpa

Snook had eventually separated and Gram began life as a single mom, working hard and caring for her kids. Gram certainly did an amazing job with both of her kids. She has three grandkids(me being her favorite, naturally) and one more on the way. My Auntie Jen and Uncle Lou are in the middle of adopting a child from Korea, which will make her a gram once again. Living with my gram is amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better role model. Her wisdom and caring is something I hope to obtain someday. My gram is, without a doubt, not only the person I admire the most, she’s my best friend.

feelings and let their heart spill into their work. I asked Dedrick if he preferred to draw or paint most when he was happy, sad, mad, or if his mood even really made a difference at all. “It doesn’t matter,” Dedrick replied. “I think I draw better when I’m happy, though.” Dedrick mentioned that although he enjoys creating pictures for family and friends, he usually likes to draw for himself most of the time.

Panorama from page 15 When asked if he had a favorite color that he liked to use in his work, he happily answered, “Every color!” This conversation started turning the gears in my mind. Even if they don’t know it, kids put a great deal of themselves into everything they make. Their unbiasedandcuriousmindsflowfromtheirhandstothepaper to the world, and what they’re thinking or feeling can sometimes easily be observed in their art. I feel as though children’s art is the most

versatile and carefree art out there. Kids don’t worry about criticism, or who does or does not like what they’ve produced. Essentially, to a child, if it goes on the fridge--and it will--they’re happy. Life would be easier if people could be satis-fiedthateasily.Unfortunately,thehouseholdrefrigeratoris no longer an acceptable showcase for mature artists. They strive and persevere and sweat to have their work hanging on the walls of prestigious museums. To me, though,fridge?Museum?What’sthedifference?

men’s sports.” No matter the negative opinions about the UConn record or girls sports, girls are still strongly supported. “I think sports for girls are extremely impor-tant no matter what sport they enjoy," concluded SHS Athletic Director Nicole Therrien. "They are going to getmanybenefitsfromplaying.Throughsports,girlscan learn many life lessons that are very helpful to them--teamwork, responsibility, organization, time man-agement, goal setting, decision making, socialization and comminication skills--not to mention the healthy benefitsandfriendships.”

Green Horn online: www.ssdvt.org

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company.” Often, the demands of body type depend on the choreographer. CodiLynch, amember of theSpringfieldHigh School dance team, thinks the standards surround-ing body type is too high. “Professionally, dance isn’t about feeling good about yourself,” she said. “It’s about making the company look good.” “Dance is hard,” said Lauren Fountain, who studies tap, jazz, ballet, and modern dance at the Dance Factory. “You see all these prima ballerinas who are stick figuresandit’shardtocompareyourselftothat.” Before this Times debate about body type in ballet,onewouldhavefiguredthatAmericansocietyhadbeen growing more enlightened about body image. “I think the dance world has grown to include bodies of all kinds and is more inclusive than ever,” said local dance instructor Ashley Hensel-Browning. “As a modern

dance, I've been accustomed to working with all kind of bodies.” However, both Hagan and Hensel-Browning assert that attitude about weight has remained strict in the professional ballet world. Springfield’sdancestudio,TheDanceFac-tory, avoids this reality of professional dance. “I like to believe that the Dance Factory creates a safe space for people of all body types,” said Hensel-Browning, who teaches Modern Dance and Jazz/Hop-hop, as well as ballet at the studio. She believes that dance creates a healthy relationship with one’s body, not a disorderly one. “Believing and seeing your body as capable and strong will naturally encourage healthy habits and a positive body image,” she said. Lynchhasbenefitedfromthiseffectofdance.“When you dance, you push your body to the limit,” she said. “I respect my body more.” Fountain feels comfortable dancing at the Dance Factory. “The Dance Factory handles body image really well,” she said. “They don’t critique you on your

Dance from page 18eating habits or your appearance. We’re there to have fun.” “They’re very open all body types,” Lynch added. She feels Dance Factory instructors want pupils to feel beautiful because they are so passionate about the craft. Mariama Roldan, a student of jazz, ballet, and modern dance at the Dance Factory, echoes this perspec-tive. “At the dance factory there’s not one perfect body type,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you look like. It matters how you perform.” Hagan was worked to enforce this attitude at her studio. “Often in dance these students have bodies that make it easier to study the art,” said Hagan. “But body type should never stop an individual from experi-encing and studying dance.” Hagan never rewards roles in performances based on body type. “We celebrate the differences in movement qualities, and personalities of all our performers,” con-cluded Hagan.

of having a hand in Ali’s disappearance so she could take her spot. After the group fell apart, Hannah became more popular and befriended Mona. Hannah’s drama involves shoplifting, her mother’s relationship with the lead detective on Ali’s case, the friendship with bad- boy Caleb, the loss of her mother’s money and her lifestyle. Hannah’s largest contribution to this story came at the endofthefirstseasonwhenshethoughtshesawwho A was, but was hit by a car. Hannah’s drama continues this season. She is A’s puppet to earn money to help her mother. Emily: Emily's role in this mystery is based on her relationship with Toby Cavinor, Jenna’s brother. Jenna was the victim of a prank gone wrong:Ali and thegirlsendedupsettingtheirgarageonfire. Jennawas blinded by the accident, and Toby--blamed for the incident--was sent away for a year. When he returned, Toby and Emily become friends, a friendship which hor-rifiedtherestofthegirls.Attheendofthefirstseason,

Emily leaves Toby. He is arrested for Ali’s murder, but cleared. And Emily reveals that she is gay. In Pretty Little Liars, minor characters deep-en the plot and add twists in the story. Jenna becomes a leading suspect in the effort to identify A: she seems to know everything about the girls. Toby Cavinar makes viewers think he possesses a big secret. Could he be A?HannahclaimstohaveseenaboynamedNoelatthe scene of her accident. Noel, a friend of Aria’s, saw Aria and Mr. Fitz in the car together. The girls wonder if he could be A, especially when he is at another location where A has led Hannah. However, could Noel, who was seemingly unimportant in the past year, really be A? Ian is a final suspect. IanwasMelissa's(Spencer’s sister's) boyfriend, but was had an overly flirtatiousrelationshipwithSpencer.Thegirlsdiscoverthat Ali and Ian knew each other, and had been at the same hotel the weekend before Ali disappeared. Ian had been best friends with Ali’s brother and had been at their housealmostallsummer.ThefightthatSpencerandAlihad the night before her disappearance concerned Ian.

Liars from page 13 ThegirlsalsofindavideotapeofAliandIantogetheron the night Ali vanished. Most viewers have no idea about A's identity. Some who have read the Pretty Little Liars series, of course, know the answers. What is it about this twisted and overly dramatized teenage series that has attracted so many viewers?ThePretty Little Liars Facebook page has al-most four million fans. One cannot check this Facebook news feed on a Monday night without being bombarded by fans' exclamations about Pretty Little Liars. Have we gotten so used to sex, lies, and love that we need death,crime,andillegalaffairstoentertainus?Dowewant a good mystery that leaves us questioning after eachepisode?OrhaveproducersofPretty Little Liars simply learned that nothing better is on Monday nights tooccupyviewers'time? Whatever the explanations for the popular-ity of Pretty Little Liars or whoever A turns out to be, viewers are hooked. Monday night by Monday night, thisdrama-filledthrillerisovertakingthetelevisionformany teens and adults.

est obesity rate in the world. Some believe fast food contributes to America’s obesity rate. Others cannot resist traveling to the restaurants due to low prices of every day food. “It’s very accessible,” said White, “especially because it’s cheap.” Part of the strategy for changing the outlook on fast food may involve working at a restaurant hat

Fast Food from page 9

status worsens the fabric of American society. Marijuana is notwithout health benefits,exemplifiedwithitsmedicinalavailabilityinagrow-ing number of states. www.drugpolicy.org, along with numerous other sources, states that marijuana prescribed by a licensed caregiver relieves nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety. Additionally, those being treated for some serious illnesses such as AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsycanfind relief from theirmaladies. Therearepotentialfinancialbenefitsaswell.CNN has estimated that based on average consumption ofmarijuanainVermont,Vermontcouldbringin$2.8million of tax revenue a year from authorized sale of marijuana. Evenmore pressing of a financial issueinvolves the cost of incarceration for marijuana offend-

Marijuana from page 12ers. According to data with the Vermont Department of Corrections, the annual cost of incarceration for one personis$149perday,asof2010.InVermontprisonfacilities, there are 367 inmates incarcerated for drug misdemeanors and 610 inmates incarcerated for drug felonies. If only the misdemeanor inmates - marijuana offenders – were not incarcerated, the state could save over$10millionannually. The penalties for marijuana possession and sale are excessive. The minimum punishment for mari-juana possession in Vermont is a 6-month incarceration periodanda$500fine.Andthat’sofyou’recarrying2 ounces or less. If you’re carrying 10 lbs or more, it’s afelonywitha15-yearsentenceanda$500,000fine.Cultivators would serve a 3 – 15 year sentence with a $10,000-$500,000fine(dependingonthenumberofplants they are growing), while sellers face a 2 year

sentenceanda$10,000fineforsellingless thanhalfan ounce. Purchasing marijuana illegally can be dan-gerous; if you buy some from an unprofessional dealer, there is a chance you could be receiving other drugs as well. This is one of the many concerns that has been repeated over and over by parents and health teachers. Smoking marijuana, of course, has draw-backs. Inhaling smoke can cause emphysema and lung and throat cancers. Like any drug, marijuana – used to excess - can be abused. It can become addictive. Ashealth officials insist, it is ill-advised to use thesubstance to excess. But these negative effects are far outweighedbythefinancialandhealthbenefitsofthedrug marijuana. An examination of marijuana’s poten-tialbenefitsalsocausesonetoquestiontheAmericandouble-standard associated with alcohol.

sellsthegreasefilledproducts.SomeSpringfieldHighSchool students offer advice and true facts about the fast food industry since they work at the restaurants. “I don’t think it’s healthy at all,” said senior fast food employee Brittany Grant-Paul. “It’s all pre-cooked. And we fry it or put it on the grill then we put it in the cabinet which holds food until someone orders it.” Although the food is projected as unhealthy,

schools and athletic coaches acknowledge the ease and accessibility of the food. After sporting events, such as games and scrimmages, typically the team will be brought to a fast food restaurant for a late meal. How-ever, some feel that consumption of fast food sends a negative message towards athletes and teenagers. “Iknowit’satimecrunch,”saidfieldhockeycoachBindyHathorn, “but I thinkwe shouldfind ahealthier place to eat.”

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SHS Speaks Out By Laurel Porter

With the proliferation of snow days this winter, SHS students and staff have been lost in a sea of effervescent white. However, the volume of snow has garnered mixed reactions: it is enchanting to some and disenheartening to others. With this variety of reactions in mind, the Green Horn asked students and staff: How does snow make you feel, and what do you do during snow days?

Footprints in the Sand

By Courtney Downing

Column

Sophomore Erika Christman“It makes me feel yucky and not happy. On snow

days, I watch movies.”

Junior Hali Bailey“Cold, but I like to explore when I see snow. On snow days I go snowboarding and spend time with family.”

School Nurse Sierra Kent“It makes me feel happy. It’s very pretty, but then I have to shovel. I sleep in, sled, read, and go on

Facebook.”

Network Technician Matt Hanson“If I told you, they’d put me in a little padded room. Slippers are nice, though. On snow days, I turn my

room into a cave and sleep as long as possible.”

Freshman Alex Hall“It’s cold, so I like staying inside to be warm. I watch

movies or go on the computer.”

Junior Chelsea Carlton“I love the snow; it makes me feel happy. I love

skiing. Snow days, I go sledding and go out and play with my little cousins.”

You know those friends you’ve had for what seemslikeallyourlife?Theoneswhoaretherethrough it all, the good days and the bad. The

daysthatflybyandthosethatseemtodragonforaneternity. Those are the best friends. Everyone deserves at least one best friend in their lifetime. I’ve had this friend, who I like to think of as a best friend, who I’ve known for 18 years. To some she’s known as Linda. Others call her Grandma D. To me, it’s just gram. Grandma Linda is my grandmother and my best friend.

I am currently living with my gram and I love it.Imean,whowouldn’t?There’swonderfulcooking,a great laundry service, and there’s always someone to talk to. My gram has always been my biggest support system, through the little decisions I once had to make as a child, to the life-changing decisions I have to make now. Due to the decisions I’m forced to make and my current situation, I have, in fact, grown apart from my parents. However, my gram has been pushing us to stay in contact with one another in order to keep the communicationflowing.Whilethiscourseofbehaviorisn’tmyfirstchoice,I’mgladmygramispushingusto stay in touch. I findmy gram to be a rather humorouswoman, and I have a story to illustrate her sense of humor. About four years ago my gram’s dryer broke. Aftershedidallshecouldtofixtheproblem,shefinallythrew in the towel and did the laundry at the laundry

mat for three months. My aunt and uncle were visiting onedayandmyuncle(misterfix-it)decidedtotakealookatthedryerandseewhathecoulddotofixit.After inspecting the dryer, he asked my gram to come stand beside him and asked if she had, at any point, considered pushing the start button in order to get the machine to commence. She, in turn, said, “No, I guess I forgot that minor detail.” Her sense of irony, as always, created humor in this situation. Grandma Linda grew up with her mother, father, and four siblings in Montpelier, Vermont. Gram was the middle child out of her six siblings, two of whom died in infancy. Today, years later, Grandma Linda and all her siblings still stay in touch and talk on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Her younger brother,myUncle Peter lives inNorthfieldwithmy Aunt Theresa, near my Great Grandma Weezy.

See Footprints page 22

Yo Homes. It's Dubby.