NED HARDY ’13Web A&E Editor

InklingsJan. 17, 2012 Founded in 1933 inklingsnews.com

Education, awareness meet the jaded teen

Rock and Roll Hall of Shame

Dr. Morgan, The Planetary Man

12 15 Inside the Issue

er Laddie Lawrence said. “But there’s still a pret-ty high number of smokers.”

In fact, students who agreed to be inter-viewed for this story acknowledge that they know the risks of smoking cigarettes.

“It’s weird, because when it comes to tanning beds, for example, I freak out at my friends for using those because they are so bad for you. So I guess that I’m a little oblivious,” an anonymous smoker said.

According to the Westport News, a 2011 survey conducted by the Governor’s Prevention Initiative for Youth, which polled approximately 1,000 Westport teenagers, found that 11 percent of juniors at Staples reported smoking cigarettes.

Some smoke as a form of rebellion. Some smoke socially, after parties and while spend-ing time with friends. Some have more regular smoking habits, using cigarettes as stress reliev-ers.

Welcome to the Cigarette Confessions.

The inherent danger of cigarettes is so widely known. Packets of cigarettes are em-blazoned with striking black-

and-white letters stating not that cigarettes can cause cancer but that they do, in fact, cause can-cer, as well as other bodily complications:

“CAUTION: Cigarettes cause cancer.” ... “WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease.”

Students in Westport are hardly strang-ers to this information. Year after year, the D.A.R.E. program makes its way to each and ev-ery fi fth grade classroom to stress, among other things, the danger of cigarettes. Middle school health classes continuously emphasize the risks of tobacco. Yet a sizable percentage of Staples students choose to smoke cigarettes.

“You would think that in this day and age, more people would stop smoking,” health teach-

For the purposes of this article, nearly a dozen sources were approached, but most de-clined interviews, sometimes hinting at a fear of judgement by family and friends. Three sources ultimately agreed to be interviewed.

One source is an athlete, a junior girl who calls herself a “party-smoker,” and says that she only smokes when she is around other people in social situations. One is a musician, another junior girl, who smokes in what she calls a “so-cial” manner. One is a senior boy who smokes cigarettes “almost every day,” even at school, al-though he said that the punishments for doing so are “stupid and outrageous.”

Each source began smoking cigarettes in a different way, and each source has different smoking habits.

“The fi rst time I tried a cigarette, I was ac-tually with my parents. My dad was like, ‘Try this,’ and I coughed for an hour and swore that I would never do it again,” the athlete said. “Then

Cigarette Confessions

Continued on pg. 3

t seems obvious.

2 NEWSJanuary 17, 2012

BOYS VS. GIRLS

Differences in graffi ti within boys’boys’ and girls’girls’ bathrooms

Graffi ti dates back to times of Ancient Egypt and the Roman Em-

pire. To this day, people are doodling on the walls.

Research shows that graffi ti can be a form of self-expression, but the boys and girls at Staples sure have dif-ferent way to express them-selves.

When you enter the boys’ bathroom, be prepared. It is defi nitely not a PG-environ-ment. In fact, Inklings did not include the many explicit photos. It is covered in graphic images that you cannot miss. There are exploiting lists of the “Hottest Girls in School” and inappropriate anatomical doodles. But entering the girls’ bathroom is different.

You aren’t attacked by horrifying images but rather are welcomed and encour-aged. The graffi ti is planned to make girls feel good about themselves and escape the pressures of high school dra-ma. This place has become more than just a place to use the bathroom, but now a place for girls to raise their self es-teem.

MADISON HORNE ’12Photo Editor

The girls’ room is fi lled with uplifting phrases, relaying

positive messages. And remember,

DFTBA: Don’t Forget To Be

Awesome.The messages on the boys’ room are anything but welcoming. The graf-fi ti from cartoonish cat named “Gato” to “Killit.”

3NewsInklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

And the Electorate Goes Wild

In a dimly-lit Westport home last week at 6:59 p.m., seven Sta-ples students crowded around a television and began a fran-tic countdown. When the clock struck seven, the students started to cheer, laugh, and complain all at the same time.

These students weren’t cel-ebrating the end of New Year’s Eve or even watching a football game. Their sport of choice was an en-tirely different animal—the Re-publican primary in New Hamp-shire, and they were celebrating the closing of polling stations.

“Watching the primaries is as dynamic as any sport,” said ‘Primary Party’ attendee Doug Russ ‘13, who’s attracted to the excitement surrounding the cam-paigning season. The primaries are particularly exciting for spec-tators like Russ this year, as mul-tiple candidates such as Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain have surged to fi rst place only to crash and burn mere weeks later.

“Watching the primaries is like rooting for a sports team, but here you actually believe in a vi-sion for the future for America,” said Russ, a student who leans

Continued from pg. 1

MARK SCHWABACHER ’13Web Opinions Editor

right politically.Russ is one of a few Staples

students who follow the Republi-can primaries extensively. Most won’t be found at primary parties anytime soon; they’re either too busy or disinterested .

But like Russ, fellow ‘Primary Party’ participant Michael Holtz is excited to watch the primaries. Even though Holtz and Russ are on a different sides of the political spectrum, they watched the pri-maries together.

“Watching the primary helps me get into the shoes of a Repub-lican candidate. The Republicans have reasons for what they do, and watching the campaigns helps me understand why they think as they do,” said Holtz.

Some Staples students pay attention for an entirely different reason.

“I follow the primaries be-cause they’re funny,” said Cole De-Monico ’13.

For DeMonico, the primaries are less about deciding who to vote for in the eventual presidential election and more of a non-stop comedy show.

“Honestly, if I could vote, my vote would be very counter-productive. I would vote for San-

torum. He’s just an attractive guy!” DeMonico said. “Have you Googled his name?”

In some students’ eyes, the primaries possess a much darker humor.

“I don’t know if I should laugh because of how funny it is or cry because these are the people who will be running our country,” said Gabrielle Wimer ’12. She said if the public makes an uninformed and uneducated decision on election day, the joke could turn sour fast.

“I don’t follow politics be-cause it depresses me,” agreed Sarah Wainshal ’12.

Wainshal’s reason helps ex-plain why some Staples students are not following the early stages of the race. Others, such as Ian Teran ‘13, are too busy with the hustle and bustle of high school.

“I just don’t have the time,” said Teran.

The remaining Staples students choose not to hound the campaign trail because politics

fails to capture their interests.“I can’t vote, so I really see no

reason [to follow the primaries],” said Dylan Klein ’13. “It doesn’t re-ally affect me.”

But the ‘Primary Parties’ will continue to be held across West-port. Be it the excitement or the humor, following the news is very attractive for some Staples stu-dents.

As Holtz said, “It’s friends, food, and politics, all in one night. What can I say: it’s a lot of fun.”

two years later, in ninth grade, I tried it again. I started smoking once in a while at parties, and it later turned in to almost every time I go out.”

The senior said that he had started smoking “at a really ear-ly” age. However, the musician had never smoked before Novem-ber of 2010. Even now, she said, she doesn’t smoke often. “A rough estimate is about a couple times a month, often less.”

How friends react appears to depend on the friend group. The senior’s friends don’t seem to mind, he said, perhaps because he began so young. The athlete’s friends, however, do not feel the same way. Most of her friends do not smoke cigarettes, and many do not agree with her decision to smoke.

“I have a couple of friends who fi nd it disgusting, and others that tell me that they just don’t want me to get addicted,” she said.

However, the musician made it clear that she smokes ciga-rettes in a purely social manner, and never spends money buying them.

“I’ve never purchased or owned my own cigarettes,” the musician said. “When I smoke, I am with other people and bum off of them.”

The athlete explained that she obtains cigarettes in a num-ber of ways. Sometimes she has friends that are legally able to buy cigarettes get them for her. Other times, she goes to gas stations around town to buy cigarettes, which she said, “only works once in a while.”

All three feel differently about why they choose to smoke cigarettes. When asked why cigarettes are a part of her life, the athlete responded, “That’s a tough question.” She later went into further detail.

“It’s soothing, calming and relaxing. Sometimes if I’m stressed I think, ‘Man, I could use a cigarette,’” the athlete said. “It’s hard to explain, but I just get such a chill feeling from it.”

The musician does not clas-sify herself as a “rebel,” but rather as someone who enjoys the occa-sional cigarette.

“Although there is an unde-niably tantalizing rush of doing something ‘bad,’ smoking ciga-rettes for me is not a form of re-bellion but merely a stress reliev-er and bringer of pleasantries,” the musician said.

Such pleasantries, however, come with proven consequences. While the senior understands that cigarettes cause serious health issues, he does not see this as a reason to stop smoking.

“I don’t care about the risks, but I know what they are,” the se-nior said.

The athlete echoed this train of thought. She understands that serious health risks are associ-ated with cigarette smoking, but chooses to smoke anyway.

“My attitude is that I’m young and having a good time, and if a cigarette once in a while makes me happy, then I should have a cigarette once in a while,” the athlete said.

The Staples Code of Con-duct, a form which is signed by athletes, musicians, and many others clearly states that students are prohibited from smoking cigarettes: “No possession, sale, and/or use of tobacco products.”

Many believe that signing the Code of Conduct implies an understanding of the guidelines outlined within it and relinquish-es the right to smoke cigarettes and use tobacco products. How-ever, the musician, along with many others, chooses to disre-gard the Code of Conduct, a deci-sion that she understands could result in suspension from her ex-tracurricular activities.

The student’s parents are oblivious to her smoking habits. When asked what her parents would do if they were to learn of such habits, the musician said, “I would probably be punished for

the rest of my high school career.”However, she believes that

neither the risk of her parents fi nding out nor the health risks involved with cigarettes are good enough reasons to refrain from smoking.

“Of course the health risks have crossed my mind. I’m nei-ther oblivious nor ignorant to the obvious lethal elements of ciga-rettes,” the musician said. “But because I only engage in smoking from time to time, it’s not one of my primary concerns.”

This lines up with a common theme among cigarette smokers at Staples. The dangers of ciga-rettes are well-known, perhaps even hard to miss in this age of eye-catching labels and Surgeon

General Warnings—and yet, they are ignored.

It is important to note that cigarette smoking among Staples students has not died out, regard-less of what is seen as an abun-dance of publicity on the perils of smoking. Some students believe that tobacco does not need to be focused upon as much as it has been in the past.

“I don’t know if it should be the biggest concern for health classes,” Caitlyn Rand ’13 said.

“I think that the bad effects of cigarettes are well known,” Dan Haroun ’12 said.

Smoking is undoubtedly a dangerous personal choice, but it is seen as a personal choice none-theless.

Teens smoke despite anti-smoking education

PHOTOS BY MADISON HORNE ’12

GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA HAMPTON ’15

WEIGHING THE RISKS: The Surgeon General’s Warning on the side of cigarette boxes have evolutionized, and now explicitly state health risks of smoking.

Staples students follow the GOP nomination

WhaWhat notto do: t not

There’s a 17-year-old boy who gets rejected from his dream school. He slaves over applica-tions over the next weeks.

But then there is another 17-year-old boy. This one did get into his early decision school—perfect, he’s done. But instead of clearing his application slate, as he’s supposedly agreed to do, he decides to keep his apps pend-ing, curious to see what other schools he could have gotten into. Brown? Princeton? UVA?

What he may not get is that he’s hurting students who apply to schools regular decision, still facing face the stress and work of applications and second quar-ter grades. An anonymous senior who did not apply early decision expressed frustration.

“I understand the delight one has when getting into their early decision school, and of course I doubt one’s fi rst thought would be to retract all their other applications,” the student said. “However, they need to under-stand that they are hurting their friends when they outright don’t retract, or procrastinate.”

Early decision applications play a major role in determining college admittance. According to

NewsInklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com4

New Drivers, New Dangers

When Just Getting In Isn’t Enough The implications of not retracting applications

On a rainy morning in Oc-tober, Margaux Clayton-Stamm ’12 made a pit stop

on her way to school at Starbuck’s Coffee. Unfortunately, upon her exit, she made the decision to turn left onto the Post Road.

The passenger side of her car was smashed in by a speeding car, which ricocheted and hit yet another car. Though Stamm’s car was wrecked, no one was hurt.

“It was a really big mess,” Clayton-Stamm said.

Clayton-Stamm’s incident is not unlike others among Sta-ples’s young drivers, and among young drivers across the country, who, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are at a higher risk for motor ve-hicle crashes than any other age group. Drivers aged 16-19 are four times more likely to crash than adult drivers. In the midst of Connecticut’s winter storm season, Staples upperclassmen who are new to the roads are taking extra care to avoid extra scrapes.

Elliott Enriquez ’12 will be cautious with potentially slip-pery roads this winter because he is no stranger to car accidents.

What NotTo Do

Don’t roll over the line. “STOP” literally means stop.

Don’t make good time, make time good. If you’re catching rays in the winter, at least wear sunglasses.

the New York Times’ education blog, “The Choice,” up to half of a college’s incoming freshmen class is students accepted early decision.

But when students apply to a school early decision, they, along with their parents and guidance counselors, must sign a binding agreement from the Common App.

This agreement states in bold, “If you are accepted under an Early Decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applica-tions submitted to other colleges and universities and make no ad-ditional applications to any other university in any country.”

But some students don’t. Elaine Schwartz, Director of

Guidance at Staples, says that it is completely in students’ hands to retract their other applications.

Guidance frequently re-minds students of the agreement they signed.

According to Schwartz, re-tracting applications is essential because otherwise students are occupying spots at a college that they have no intention or ability to attend. Though Schwartz said that she has never heard of stu-dents facing, she believes there is a moral issue.

“Students must remember

to be sensitive to other students who want the spot they are tak-ing away. They must remember the position these students are in,” she said.

Aaron Liu ’12, as a student who was not accepted to his early decision school, can attest to this disappointing situation.

“Not getting in is tough. Es-pecially because you see so many other people getting in. You just have to regroup,” he said.

Though some students might fail to retract their applications because they are unaware of the impact of doing such, others in-tentionally don’t retract. “Stu-dents are curious to fi nd out if they would have gotten into the other schools they applied to,” Schwartz said.

Kenzie Roof ’12 has strong feelings about attitudes like these.

“It’s not fair,” Roof said. “If you get into your ED school, you don’t need to hear back from anywhere else because it doesn’t matter at that point.”

There is one legitimate rea-son for not retracting these ap-plications. Students still waiting to hear about fi nancial aid may need to hold off until they hear about any awards of aid they may receive.

DANNY COOPER ’13Features Editor

Stopping Speeding Visibility

HALEY RANDICH ’14Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY RACHEL GUETTA ’13

PHOTO BY MADISON HORNE ’12

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY MARGAUX CLAYTON-STAMM ’12TOTALED: Student drivers are more prone to accidents due to inexpe-rience.

WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS: After getting in Early Decision, some students hesistate to withdraw other applications.

Inexperienced student drivers may face unexpected dangers on the road

A mere week after he was granted a license, his car hydroplaned off the road and into a tree. While he escaped with only minor injuries, the police told him he was “lucky to be alive”.

“Teens need to understand that a simple mistake can have deadly consequences and that two-ton blocks of metal should be driven responsibly,” Enriquez said.

Winter could prove a chal-lenge for students new to driving, as this may be their fi rst experi-ence with snow. However, Fair-fi eld Driving School Director Jeff Valko, suggested that by doubling (or even tripling) one’s following distance and slowing down, one can avoid accidents.

According to Valko, cruise control should not be used in slippery conditions, especially when the road is not completely frozen.

“The most dangerous condi-tion is around freezing, due to the mixture of snow and ice,” he said.

Finally, Valko warned that four-wheel drive is not as help-ful as it may seem for driving on slushy roads. Having all four wheels moving will only help in speeding up, not turning or stop-ping,” he said.

“New drivers don’t know the

physical limits of their cars yet,” Valko said.

Among the many factors in-volved in teen driving accidents, Valko says, a lack of experience is the most to blame. He conceded that the only way to learn how to drive safely is to “get out and just do it.”

Now that Clayton-Stamm has had her license for more a year, she realizes that her deci-sion to take a left hand turn onto the Post Road was unwise, and so she is unafraid of continuing to drive.

Enriquez, who, with diffi -culty, was able to get behind the wheel again after his accident, has his own take on what causes teens to have accidents soon after they receive their license.

“Kids tend to abuse their freedom in the early months of driving, hence why there are so many accidents. Its not because they are incapable drivers,” En-riquez said.

Enriquez acknowledged the frequency and danger of these accidents.

“I see it happen to almost every new driver. Kids just think that these accidents won’t hap-pen to them, but it can happen to anyone at any time,” he said. “People need to be careful.”

OPINIONS“Silver Crown Award” for

Inklings News and Inklingsnews.com from Columbia Scholastic

Press Association 2011

“Crown Newspaper Finalist”Columbia Scholastic Press

Association 2012

First Place “All-American” from National Scholastic Press

Association 2010-2011

All the opinions, news, and features in this paper are those of Staples High School students. Inklings has a circulation of 1,800. The paper is a member of the Columbia Scholas-tic Press Association, the Natioanal Schoalstic Press Association and supports the Student Press Law Center. All letters to the editor must be signed before they will be pub-lished. The editorial board reserves the right not to publish letters and to edit all submissions as it sees fi t.

Editors-in-ChiefEric Essagof Stevie Klein

Managing EditorsJulian ClarkeAlix Neenan

Web Editor in-ChiefIsaac Stein

Web Managing EditorEmily Goldberg

News EditorsRachel Guetta

Alicia LourekasBen Reiser

Bryan Schiavone

Opinions EditorsMolly Barreca Hannah Foley

Jordan ShenharJamie Wheeler-Roberts

Features EditorsLeah Bitsky

Danny CooperCarlie Schwaeber

Nicolette Weinbaum

Arts & Entertainment EditorsJackie Kerames Rachel Labarre

Deanna SchreiberSammy Warshaw

Sports EditorsRyder Chasin

Kelsey LandauerWill McDonaldJulia Sharkey

Graphics and Photo EditorsMadison Horne

Nate Rosen

Business ManagerCharlotte Breig

AdvisersElizabeth Humphrey

Julia McNameeStephen Rexford

Correspondence and Subscriptions:

Inklings70 North Ave.

Staples High SchoolWestport, CT 06880

Phone: (203) 341–1994Inklingsnews@gmail.com

Printed on recycled paper

5 Dodig Ditches the Red Pen

If you went to a different school, you’d likely see a tamer front page.

A student at a confer-ence told us about his unfor-

tunate experience with high school censorship. His paper reviewed the popular music group LMFAO. Uproar over the inclusion of the letter “F” prompted the principal to give himself total editorial. This means that the principal sat with a red pen every issue be-fore it was published, decid-ing what would stay and what would go. Sometimes it was stories, sometimes quotes. All over the letter F.

Another paper editor chimed in. Her paper can’t run pictures of students with tat-toos. A fellow Fairfi eld County paper couldn’t run an article about the fi ring of a teacher.

Censorship like this oc-curs because of a little-known Supreme Court ruling, Ha-zelwood v Kuhlmeier, which says students don’t have full First Amendment rights. So administrators can censor

newspapers if, in their opin-ion, something interferes with the school’s academic mission.

We have had condoms on our front page. Pot. Parents buying alcohol. And we have run articles about the true effect of budget cuts on the Staples community. We ran an entire page of photos of stu-dents with tattoos.

The difference is John Dodig. His restraint in cen-sorship seems rooted in his love for Staples, his recogni-tion that honesty and thinking spur learning and change.

Recently, we won the Crown award, only given to 41 school papers nationally. This and many other awards we’ve won would have been impos-sible without the freedom given under the Dodig admin-istration and in the Westport schools.

We also thank the stu-dents, teachers and coaches who are the voice of every ar-ticle we write. Even when their jobs were on the line, teachers offered their opinion to re-porters. Students have grant-ed depth, humor and a unique

perspective to our writing. Where else would a stu-

dent respond to a grinding article with the comment, “It just feels good”? Or coaches talk to our reporters before speaking to the Connecticut Post and CBSNews?

Without trust, our report-ing would be like that of the bubblegum papers with prin-cipal-censors.

Recently, an Inklings re-porter discovered a security problem in the school Y-drive that allowed students to hack into other students’ fi les. Within minutes, the problem was fi xed by the Westport BOE IT team.

Our continued success de-pends on you. Thank you for loving us, thank you for hating us, thank you for reading. And if you have an opinion, write a letter.

We can’t show the real Staples without you.

Last week I had a brain tu-mor.

I scheduled a doctor appoint-ment for that day just to verify my diagnosis for my family and friends. And, sadly, to make the necessary plans for my life after the diagnosis.

Turns out it was a swollen gland.

The week before that I was having heart failure.

I was dizzy, my heartbeats were rapid and irregular. “Un-derstanding Heart Disease” was a big help; I thought I had Coro-nary Artery Disease because those were the symptoms, along with black dots that cause you to lose your sight. And shortness of breath. And the “fl ip-fl op feel-ing.”

Turns out it was only a few palpitations before a test.

Some call me a hypochon-driac. I prefer to be called a mis-informed and overly active re-searcher. In fact, it turns out that every symptom I have can some-how be turned into a deathly dis-ease online.

WebMD is no help.Being able to type in symp-

toms and see the site magically expel the absolute worst possible case scenario is what I experi-ence daily.

One might think that I would quit using the Internet if this has been the trend, yet I can’t seem

Confessions of a Hypochondriac

GRAPHIC BY ERKINA SARTBAEVA ’14GRAPHICCC BYYYYYYBY EEEEEEEEEEERRRRRKRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I

to put away the medical diction-ary and blog posts, as online user after online user transmits their dire tale of how they, with the ex-act same symptoms as me, have just undergone extensive surgery and are at death’s beck and call.

Once you start, you really can’t stop.

How can you quit Safari when you need to seek medical attention immediately?

Now, the problem with be-ing a hypochondriac is that I have come to embody (and suffer the effects of) the girl who cried dis-ease. No one believes me.

I have gotten a dozen blood tests because I just knew I had lyme disease. And when my nor-

mal doctor said no, I sent them to a lab in California.

At least it conquered my fear of needles.

Unfortunately now, whenev-er I tell my parents that I am dy-ing, for some weird reason, they don’t believe me. Even my doctor has come to accept that eight out of ten visits will be pointless. In fact, according to the online Bipo-lar Center, hypochondria causes over $20 billion a year in unnec-essary medical procedures and examinations.

So, if I ever have a real prob-lem, I’d be surprised if anyone paid an even remote amount of attention to it.

You are probably asking why

on Earth I haven’t learned by now that I am clearly wrong about my medical speculations.

I can’t really answer that. All I know is that every time I type in my most insignifi cant ailment into Google, I expect a fatal ill-ness.

But unlike many hypochon-driacs, I have learned of the an-noyance that my complaints have caused. I have ceased to address my problems in front of friends, and have confi ned my qualms to my parents and doctor.

For instance, right now I have a disease that’s undiag-nosed. I told my mom last night. She said I wasn’t going to die. And then she left.

January 17, 2012

CORRECTION

In the article “Shedding Can-dlelight on the Production Number” in the December 16 issue, Gregg Bonti ’12 was re-ferred to as the Choir Presi-dent. However, that position is held by Will Bitsky ’12.

GRAPHIC BY AMY PERELBERG ’15

Inklings EDITORIAL

6

Hands trembling.Fingers aching. Mind racing.

Eyes searching.My name is Cheyenne Has-

lett, and I am a multitaskaholic. I can’t help it. None of us can.

We are all victims to its control-ling grasp: we multitask, and we know it. (We’re also sexy, and we know that, too.)

Some may think that mul-titasking is a godsend—it’s in the name, you can do MULTIple things at once… What’s the prob-lem with that?

This is the fi rst way that mul-titasking will draw you into its deceiving ways. According to the University of Arizona, by adoles-cence, a girl’s corpus callosum, which is the part of the brain that allows for the switching between different thoughts, is 25 percent larger than boys.

So maybe girls can multitask better or switch between subjects faster, but being a girl, let me speak to all the boys out there: you are not missing out.

Take the other night, for ex-ample. I had fi nally caught my mother at a time where she was sitting down at her desk, doing what looked a lot like nothing.

After much convincing, she de-cided she could pencil me in and read my research paper. This was great; I could get an English ma-jor to read my paper. Things were looking up for me and the eight pages I had told myself would get me a passing grade.

But then multitasking had to come along and ruin it.

As soon as we sat down at my computer to read and edit, my fi ngers began to tremble. iChat sat in the corner of my screen, looking seductive in its turquoise and white, cloud-like appearance. It was waiting for me to open it, to let it bounce up and down with joy, and to chat with anyone on my buddy list.

Luckily, I resisted opening the application and doing what I do every time I sit down to do work, which is multitask my way into procrastination. I do my Spanish homework with my phys-ics UTexas problems up and my English essay open, as if at any given moment I’ll turn into Jim-my Neutron, have a brain blast and realize that doing energy problems in physics is just the an-swer to fi nishing off my English essay.

But what really happens is that I give less and less of my un-divided attention to each item re-quiring just that. It was too late, though; my mom had noticed that my attention faltered (possibly due to the fact that she had just repeated herself six times, elic-iting no response from my dis-

tracted corpus callosum, even if it does have a 25 percent advantage over half of the adolescent popu-lation).

“Cheyenne, this should be a different sentence,” she told me.

“Cheyenne, are you listening to me…”

“Cheyenne!”“Cheyenne, do you want me

to read this or not?”“CHEYENNE, you need a pe-

riod here, ok?”From there, it all happened

so fast: she was pissed, I was out of an editor, and more important-ly, I had a problem to deal with.

I had to stop multitasking from ruining my life.

Yet the next day I found my-self texting in class (only impor-tant messages to my mom about… well, about my Counties dress, but that’s as important as any decision and whether my dress is jet black or turquoise is a very

Smooth peanut butter, blue-berry jelly, whole wheat bread. Sliced Red Delicious apple. Baby carrots. Seeded pretzel slims.

Lunch.As I sit at the table in the ju-

nior section of the cafeteria, I pull my green and navy fl owery lunch-box out of my backpack, and open the tinfoil covering my sandwich.

Right as I am about to take my fi rst bite, however, I look around to see backpacks, not friends, on all the seats around

Brown Bagging It: me. I become immediately em-barrassed, my face turning bright red, my mind reeling: What are people thinking about the girl sit-ting all alone? I drop my sandwich back on the tinfoil and scurry away from the empty table into the cafeteria to fi nd my friends who are buying a school lunch.

Walking through the cafete-ria, I push through hordes of peo-ple who knock into my backpack and reach for food in front of my face. On my way to the sandwich line, I must maneuver my way through the never-ending line, pushing my way through the tiny gaps between groups of people.

I fi nally spot some friends and proceed to spend 15 min-utes waiting for them to get their toasted paninis. The table fi nally fi lls up enough for me to feel com-fortable to sit down. With half of

The More the Merrier?

important decision…), simulta-neously doing my Spanish and math homework during my free period (those 40 minutes need to be used as fully as possible), and taking notes in English while also post-it-noting rhetorical devices into my book and looking up the imperfect on my computer.

Maybe I get twice as many things done at once, but at what cost?

It’s true that students at Staples have their plates full and that sometimes it’s necessary to give just a little less than our un-broken, wholehearted, absolute attention to every little work-

lunchtime gone, I am able to chow down on my long-awaited PB&J.

As I sit eating my lunch, people ask me why I use plastic bags to bring my apple and car-rots every day, why I even own that lunchbox, meant maybe for a kindergartener.

Should I bring my lunch in a brown paper bag? I think not.

As I eat my home-packed lunch, people sometimes ask me how early I need to wake up to be able to make lunch in the morn-ing.

I proceed to answer that while I eat breakfast every morn-ing, my mom sits at the kitchen table with me and makes my lunch. In elementary school when I didn’t even know how to make a sandwich, my mom would of course pack my lunch every morning.

Eleven years later, we have yet to change this routine.

I have been one of the only kids to bring my lunch to school every day since elementary

Inklings / January 17, 2012/ inklingsnews.comOpinions

PHOTO BY HANNAH FOLEY ’14

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tracted corpus callosum, even if it does have a 25 percent advantage over half of the adolescent popu-lation).

“Cheyenne this should be a

PHPHOTOTO BY HANNAH FOOLEY Y ’1144

PHOTO BY JUSTINE SELIGSON ’15

The trials and tribulations of bringing lunch to school

sheet or homework assignment. But when multitasking takes over, when doing everything at once comes to mean doing everything wrong: that’s when you know it’s a problem.

It may be time for a deep breath and some focus to head my way. But until then, I have emails to answer during physics, texts to respond to during lunch, and friends that I need to catch up with while I do my homework on the Gilded Age during free. Or better yet: I’ll just do them all at once.

school. I know that as a proud owner of a lunchbox, I fall within the vast minority of juniors in high school. In fact, according to the Census Bureau, 31.3 million children in public schools buy their lunch from the school caf-eteria each month.

Even so, bringing lunch to school makes sense to me. De-spite being chided for my lunch-box, I save so much money. It costs the average person $1,025, to buy lunch every day for the school year, according to David Bass of Education Next. For me, it costs $3.75 for a loaf of bread, $4 for a jar of peanut butter, and $2 for the jelly. The bread lasts at least a week, while the peanut butter and jelly usually last more than a month. This totals to about $220 for the year, allowing me to save about $800 each school year.

Also, my mom has mastered the art of making my lunch. The proportion of peanut butter to jel-ly is perfect, the bread never gets soggy, the apple is never brown. It always tastes exactly the same, never failing in its deliciousness.

Most importantly, how could I bear to do away with my lunch-box? I defi nitely couldn’t and no one can change my mind on that.

box out of my backpack, and open the tinfoil covering my sandwich.

Right as I am about to take my fi rst bite, however, I look around to see backpacks, not friends, on all the seats around

HOMEMADE LUNCH IN A DEEP FRIED WORLD: Students who pack lunch fi nd themselves sitting alone as their friends wait in endless lunch lines.

Make the Most Out of MidtermsInklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com 7Opinions

1. Dump everything

out. Absolutely ev-

erything. It’ll look

like your binder

just threw up.

2. Separate any key

worksheets, impor-

tant notes (throw

out the doodles),

and all tests into

three slightly neat

piles.

3. Put these into

a folder.

4. Take a break,

grab a sandwich,

go on Facebook

and Twitter for

half an hour

(no longer than

that).

5. Take out the

folder, sit where

you can work most

effi ciently and start

from the beginning.

6. Take breaks every

30 minutes, unless

you are on a roll and

feel like you can keep

going through the

hour.

7. Repeat these

steps for the

remaining 5 classes

over the course of

the week.

It’s only worth 20% of your semes-ter grade, not a big deal, right? Just two hours that can make or break the

grades that you have worked tirelessly to earn for four months.

This year will be my 3rd time taking midterms, and my 7th time taking any sort of semester exam. I don’t want to say that I have the art of midterms down cold, but I do know a lot more than I did as a fresh-man.

Yes, it can seem overwhelming think-ing about the fact that you have around fi ve or six exams to take over the course of four days. But in reality, it’s only as stressful as you make it. Easier said than done, I know. However, there is some truth behind this motto. The more that you put into freaking out about how much material you need to review or how horrible the test will be, the more stressed you will actually become. The key is organization.

Yes, this is a simple procedure, but done routinely for every class, it will ac-tually ease your stress and make things feel a lot more manageable.

While students feel pressured to study days and days in advance, I have found what is most successful is only tak-ing on the two classes you have the next day. Certainly do not study only one day in advance, but do not worry about the last exam you have before you have taken the fi rst one. I have Calculus and Physics the fi rst day, so I will I have been most successful when I am able to focus in on one or two subjects at a time. It elimi-nates stress and makes exams seem a little more like an average quiz.

How much time should you spend on each class? Never more then four hours in total; there is such a thing as over-preparing. Again, each test is two hours, meaning that it won’t cover topics in as much detail as when you did the actual unit. It is important that you understand major topics as opposed to attempting to memorize every type of problem that your teacher could throw at you.

Above all, the most important thing to acing midterms is sleep. Not just fi ve hours but eight or nine. If you stay up until 3:00 a.m. all of that time spent studying rather than sleeping will go to waste. If you can barely keep your eyes open during the exam, you certainly will not be able to focus and get the grade. I have stayed up all night, getting maybe two hours of sleep, thinking that because I studied for seven hours I would know everything. Well, I didn’t, and you won’t either. It was only during the exam that I realized that after 2:00 a.m. I didn’t re-tain anything.

Organize and sleep. Do that, and you’re sure to make it through without a breakdown.

The Boy’s Code of Conduct

As a junior girl, I’ve been looking for-ward to Counties for basically my entire life.

To some—particularly boys—this sounds unbelievably silly. “It’s just a dance.” “Not a big deal.” But hear me out.

This will be the fi rst dance that I have ever attended. There was a devastating cancellation of my middle school gradua-tion dance, and an even worse discontinu-ation of Homecoming dances two years before I arrived at Staples.

Throw in the fact that proms here are solely for upperclassmen, and you’ve got many years of anticipation building up for Jan. 20.

From the images of the elegant ball in “Beauty and the Beast” to the exciting prom scene in “High School Musical 3”, I guess you could say that I have pretty high expectations. Even when Gabriella couldn’t go to prom, Troy still drove 1,000 miles in a broken-down truck to be with her! Cue the girlish squeals. Talk about romantic.

Dances are a big deal for a girl, even if it’s not her very fi rst. And you can bet that we’ll all be waiting on the edge of our seats to see whether or not the years of waiting will be worth it.

But there’s one thing that can guaran-tee a disappointment: a bad date.

Unfortunately, Disney movies and Ryan Gosling have given girls a bit of an optimistic view on how boys should be, how they should look and talk and act. We’re not going to be ridiculous; we don’t want you to pull up with a horse and car-riage (although it’s not completely out of the question). We just want our nights to

be unforgettable. But don’t fret. Staples boys, there’s

still hope. You can still be the topic of dis-cussion the next day as being the best date ever, which I’m sure is every guy’s dream. If it’s not, it is now. That’s lesson one.

You play a big role in making sure that dances, particularly the upcoming Counties, fulfi ll the dreams of “a night to remember.” We know you’re no Superman, but you should all be able to pull off at least the bare minimum of proper conduct.

That’s not optional. Horror stories of your date chasing an-

other girl or completely ignoring you haunt the gossip circles of upperclassmen ladies. So here’s everything you need to know about your own personal dance Code of Conduct. Colin, you should be reading this.

1. Act like you care. Look, we know you’re not particularly interested in mak-ing sure the tie and the corsage match, or all the planning that went into fi nding the right bus. But if you are blatant about

your lack of enthusiasm, you may as well have not shown up at all. We defi nitely don’t want to hear you complain about be-ing “dragged” there, like my senior friend did last year. Smile for the pictures and be polite to our parents. It’ll make a big dif-ference.

2. Look nice. On this most sacred of days, spend a little more time than the standard 14 seconds on your hair. Straight-en up a bit. Spray some cologne. Even the most basic hygienic efforts can go a long way, and I guarantee that your date will ap-preciate it. And yes, tuxedos are required.

3. Pay attention. You cannot even be-gin to fathom how many hours we spent searching for the perfect dress and styling every last strand of our hair. The amount we spent on just the right dress that fi ts just the right way? For some of us, up to $600. How much does it cost to get your hair done professionally? At least $130. A last minute mani-pedi? Usually around $50.

Your date appreciating all this effort? Priceless.

There’s nothing worse than fi nally ar-riving at the dance and having your date pay more attention to the food than to you, like my other friend’s experience at Coun-ties. “There were a bunch of couples and they were being really cute and my date was totally neglecting me,” she said. Don’t let your other friends show you up—be a

gentleman. 4. Just play along. Surprised to see

a bright pink bus pulling up? Has your date’s mom cried for the third time? Disap-pointed at the quality of decorations in the venue? It all comes with the territory. Just grin and bear it, and maybe you’ll even en-

joy yourself. Most of this should, I hope, be com-

mon sense. Follow these tips, and you’ll be sure to be a highlight of your date’s night. And hey, you never know. You could end up having just as much fun as her.

GRAPHIC BY SOPHIA HAMPTON ’15

8 FEATURESJanuary 17, 2012

Stuff to pack for Dad’s: 1. Toothbrush2. Deodorant

3. Pajamas 4. Clothes for Sunday 5. Homework Put everything in the bag, kiss her-

mom goodbye, and Amanda Beusse ’12 is off to her dad’s house for the week-end.

For Beusse, transferring from house to house is a process that she has had to endure ever since her parents divorced when she was four years old. This is Beusse’s life, “It’s just part of the routine,” she says. Beusse is not alone.

With the divorce rate currently sit-ting at around 50 percent, many stu-dents at Staples leave school only to pack their belongings and head over to Dad’s house. Living in two homes of-ten requires a busy schedule, which at-tracts numerous factors that can some-times cause each house to become very chaotic and stressful.

One factor includes remembering to pack every belonging necessary when traveling to each of the houses. One stu-dent, who has been granted anonymity, noticed the impact of her parent’s di-vorce trickling into her everyday school

life due to forgetting certain items at each house.

“It gets super annoying to bring everything back and forth because I always end up forgetting something re-ally crucial and having to go back and get it,” she said. “This has also really impacted my success as a student be-cause there are many times that I forget an assignment at one house when I’m at the other.”

Like many students with divorced parents, Beusse also has to deal with the issue of forgetting important items at each house.

“I went shopping with my dad at one point to try to get clothes that I could keep at his house so that I wouldn’t have to pack as much when I went there, but I outgrew them quickly and they never felt like my clothes,” Beusse said.

Yet she soon discovered that even with the necessary items, she still nev-er established her father’s house as her “home.”

For her entire life, Beusse has passed the wall of family pictures that greet her every day after school, she knows where every pot and pan hides in her kitchen, and she can curl up with her old stuffed animals and her favorite bed comforter at night. These aspects to her mom’s house are what make it feel like home, and they simply cannot

be transferred to her dad’s house. She even bought other items to try

to adapt to her father’s house, such as deodorant, a toothbrush, face wash, the same shampoo and conditioner that she had at her mom’s, and a hairbrush.

“It didn’t work though, it still didn’t feel like my house,” Beusse said. “It feels like I’m living at somebody else’s house for the weekend.”

Casey Haffner ’12, whose parents

divorced when she was just three years old, also has experienced firsthand the difficulty of adapting to a schedule. As a child, she remembers her schedule being very confusing. She often did not know what house she was supposed to be in. After 15 years, she has finally gotten used to the schedule, still ac-knowledging that the divorce impacts her life.

“Living in two different homes is difficult. There are different rules in each home, and I have to constantly travel between houses to get my things. It’s more annoying than difficult,”

Haffner said. While bringing items back and

forth from each house can be chaotic, another level of stress also comes from leftover family tension and the lack of stability in a household. In terms of school-life, the divorce of a student’s parents can impact a student in several ways, specifically in terms of their per-sonality and academics.

As PJ Washenko, a guidance coun-selor at Staples said when talking about different circumstances that come with divorce. “No matter what, it’s going to be difficult.”

In Washenko’s experience as a counselor, he has found that there were instances in which a teacher would talk to him about a student, and Washenko would then discover, through talking to the parents or the student themselves, that they have been struggling with a divorce. He has also found that situa-tions such as a student wanting to see their father but not feeling comfortable with their stepsiblings or another as-pect of their father’s home make it dif-ficult to move from house to house.

“For many students who do deal with that, they’re almost torn between two different worlds,” Washenko said.

I’ll Check My Calendar The scheduling struggle that comes with divorce

CARLIE SCHWAEBER ’12Features Editor

PHOTOGRAPHIC BY ALEX GREENE ’13 ERIC ESSAGOF ’12

“They’re almost torn between two different worlds.

— PJ Washenko”

While it is scientifi cally proven that females can multi-task better than males, there is one form of multitasking seen at Staples on a daily basis that both genders have yet to master: tex-ting and walking.

During any given passing time, one can witness the perils of such multitasking efforts un-fold before one’s very eyes.

Fleet-fi ngered teenagers at-tempt to safely navigate the halls of Staples High School while keeping both eyes on the social lives that lie within their phones.

While publicity regarding the dangers of distracted driv-ing has reached a fever pitch throughout the country, even distracted pedestrians in the Staples hallways have proven themselves to be a threat to the safety of those around them, as well as their own safety.

Just ask Bridget John-son ’13. A friend of hers who was innocently walking while texting,managed to walk

straight into an iron pole.“She ended up suffering a

mild concussion,” said Johnson. Not to mention the humilia-

tion and ridicule of any onlook-ers.

Staples graduate Kevin Moss ’11 is simply baffl ed by the whole concept.

“I just don’t get what’s al-ways so important,” he mused. According to Moss, who is a freshman at Keene State Col-lege, it doesn’t end after high school.

“I’ll see these girls walking to their 8 a.m. classes and star-ing down at their phones, and

I just want to be like, ‘What is wrong with you?’”

For many, however, texting in the hallways has proved to be a foolproof way to avoid any un-wanted exchanges.

An anonymous junior boy shared his story as to how tex-ting and walking has been his savior, time and time again, par-ticularly with members of the opposite sex.

“There’s this girl in my grade who stalks me and has a lot of my passing times,” he explained. “If I see her coming from a dis-tance, I pull out my phone and start pressing buttons.”

“It’s defi nitely useful for awkward moments with teach-ers, too,” he said.

One teacher who can attest to how awkward student-teacher hallway interactions can be is Catherine Hernandez.

“I’ve had it happen when I think a student is waving at me, so I wave at them, when the wave was really intended for someone else,” she said. “It’s moments like those where I wish I had a phone to text on.”

Hernandez was quick to clarify, though, that most of the waves she encounters are indeed intended for her.

But even she can appreci-ate the art of the fake cell phone conversation.

“I have a neighbor who is quite inquisitive, and I hate to admit it, but sometimes I’ve pretended to be on the phone to avoid talking to her,” she ex-plained.

Regardless of motive, the ubiquity of texting and walking has become undeniable.

Legislation banning the practice of “distracted walking” has been proposed by state sen-ators from both New York and Arkansas, as well as the Illinois Secretary of State, in response to an increase in distracted walking related emergency room visits. Nothing signifi cant has come out of it so far.

In the meantime, it is best that Staples students, both in school hallways and on side-walks, keep an eye for the on-coming pedestrian who is heavi-ly involved in their dinner plans.

Avoiding and Collisions The texting habitRYAN PANNY ’12

Staff Writer

GRAPHIC BY CHIARA PUCCI ’12TEXT OFFENDERS Student texters pose threats to innocent walkers.

9FeaturesInklings / January 17, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

The imagination of a child is vivid. Children can transpose their lives

to a different key. They breathe in a world of fantasy and live among enchantment.

Through his passionate interest in Disney, James Bell ’12 has kept his beliefs and imagination active to this day. He lives quite the magical life.

“There is only one hope for Disney-land; it’s up to one boy and all his friends to stop those evildoers, rescue the lives of all Disney Heroes and Heroines, and re-store and save the world of Disney; and that boy is me.”

This excerpt is just a snippet of “Dis-ney’s Heroes at Last”, a 352-page story that James Bell ’12 has been writing for the last four years.

He recently fi nished this story and is now onto the editing process.

“I thought it up and dreamt it up as I went along,” Bell said when describing his story, which features a variety of iconic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse

FeaturesInklings / January 17, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

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Disney Inspires Student Screenplayand Minnie Mouse. Bell said he also hopes to get this story published by the Walt Dis-ney Company and eventually transform the story into a movie, which will star Bell and all of his friends.

Although the story progression has consumed much of Bell’s last four years, his love for Disney has been lifelong. This love was birthed in Paris, where he lived for the fi rst seven years of his life and where he and his family would frequently visit Disneyland. Out of all the attractions, Bell particularly enjoyed Jungle Cruise, Golden Horseshoe Revue, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Enchanted Tiki Room and Carousel of Progress. However the ulti-mate attraction for Bell was when all his favorite Disney characters came alive on the streets of Disneyland.

“My favorite part was seeing the pa-rades,” said Bell. Bell recalls that as a child, he believed the characters partici-pating in the parade were real, making the experience all the more magical.

When he learned that these charac-ters were fi ctional, his interest in Disney became even more intense. Over time, he

became increasingly more educated on the history of Walt Disney, the company itself, and voices that played each Disney character. His all-time favorite characters soon proved to be Mickey Mouse and Yen Sid.

“As I grew up, I became an inspired follower,” Bell said.

Bell seems to be inspiring others as well. At this point, Bell is such an expert on Disney that he often leaves his teachers and friends impressed.

“I consider his expertise on Walt Disney and the Disney enterprise a very unique thing to have. It’s almost superhu-man how much Disney-related knowledge he possesses, and I’m sure that it will be handy in his future,” said Jeremy Heitz ’12, who is a friend of Bell’s.

Bell’s love for Disney is expressed through his apparel as well. Bell can of-ten be found proudly wearing his Disney watch and ring, along with a shirt or hat. He has to tone it down at school, but at home, Bell’s activities are decorated in Disney.

For instance, Bell has spent count-

less hours at home working on miniature drawings of Disney characters and anima-tions to go along with his story.

He draws this inspiration from over 100 Disney fi lms that he owns and watch-es. A few of his favorites are Steamboat Willie, Silly Symphonies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Fanta-sia. Bell said he will either pause the fi lms in order to draw each character, or he will just draw from memory.

On top of that, Bell participates in his church’s choir, Staples’ Orphenians, and Western Regionals, which is a Con-necticut choir group. Of course, Bell also loves to sing some Disney tunes on his own time.

And just like most teenage boys, Bell is always up for some video games. Yet even his video games have a Disney theme to them, as his favorites include Kingdom Hearts I, Kingdom Hearts II and Chain of Memories.

Between his story, his artistic talents, and his musical career, Bell has managed to keep a little bit of Walt Disney alive.

One day we may even see Bell’s name in bright lights.

James Bell’s drawings

CARLIE SCHWAEBER ’12Features Editor

PHO

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10 FeaturesInklings /January 17, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

Ending the caffeine resolutionWhile some people resolve to cut back

on spending money and some try to cut back on binge eating, Haley Garrison ’13 is cutting a different consumption: cof-fee. Since her freshman year, Garrison has been drinking two cups of Dunkin Donuts iced coffee or French vanilla Green Moun-tain coffee a day.

“I’m always exhausted in the morning so I drink coffee to wake me up and give me some energy for the rest of the day. The amount I drink of it isn’t a lot but it’s a re-ally good pick-me-up,” Garrison said.

In order to be successful, Garrison realized that she would need an alternate plan to make sure she isn’t tired through-out the school days. Part of her resolu-tion is to go to bed earlier, a natural fi x to school-morning exhaustion.

“I didn’t drink any coffee for a few days but once I got back to school, I had to have coffee in the mornings. Waking up at 6 a.m. after 10 days of sleeping late made it impossible to start my resolution,” Gar-rison said.

Despite not starting to implement her resolution immediately, Garrison believes she will be able to do it. She said that her more realistic resolution is to cut back on her coffee, rather than cutting it out of her diet completely.

Hitting the gym for a buffer bodyWorking out daily is a resolution com-

mon to many people, including Alec Maki ’13. He stated his sole reason for making his resolution to go to The Edge every day as “getting my six-pack on for summer and being more of a chick magnet.”

Maki’s parents were really supportive from the moment he conceived this reso-lution, which they demonstrated by giving him a membership to The Edge for Christ-mas. Despite his parents believing in him, Maki didn’t think he would succeed even when he fi rst chose this as his resolution.

“Honestly, two to three times a week is much more realistic for me. I have nev-er been able to keep my resolutions. One year it was to be nice to my sister but that worked for less than a day,” Maki said.

So far, Maki did not keep his either his “extreme” resolution or his “more realis-tic” one. In the week following winter break, Maki did not go to The Edge once. Given his past failed res-olutions, Maki is not too sur-prised.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow through completely, but I’m defi nitely go-ing to start going more once midterms are over and school isn’t as crazy. I’m a little disappointed in myself because I thought this would be the fi rst year I actually stuck to my resolutions,” Maki said.

With a new subscription to the gym and a determined attitude to attain a more muscular build, Maki is hopeful about ful-fi lling his resolution before the summer- so he can show off his “beach body.”

Self-improving in the new year

Many students go for the generic reso-lutions. There’s eating healthier, watching less TV, getting better grades, volunteering more often- and that’s just to start. How-ever, this year, Jon Wormser ’12 resolution digs a little deeper: to stop having “anger blackouts.”

“My main issue in 2011 was that a typ-ical high school fi ght with a friend would quickly turn sour because I would suf-fer from something I like to call an ‘anger blackout,’” Wormser said. “I’ve defi ned it as when an individual gets extremely an-gry says things that are extremely rude to

hurt another in-dividual’s feelings and a few days later forgets what they said.”

Wormser is hoping that in 2012 he will not be as mean when in the middle of a fi ght. He plans on doing so by hold-ing in some of his

thoughts and concentrating on the prob-lem rather than using low blows and inse-curities to hurt people.

“The problem is not that big of a deal so I don’t think I’ll refer to purchase any self-help books or watch any Dr. Phil,” Wormser said.

During the week following break, Wormser got into a mild fi ght with a friend and did have a little bit of an “anger black-out,” though he said it was defi nitely not as bad as most of the ones he has had in the past.

As New Year’s Eve steadily approached, stores started to fi ll with different variations of black and gold 2012 head-bands and endless amounts of plates and napkins donning the “Happy New Year!” slogan. Television channels were swamped with New Year’s Eve themed episodes with the estranged man and woman miraculously fi nding each other for a kiss as the clock struck midnight.

With the holidays recently over and New Year’s hype buzzing throughout the world, Staples students were faced with the closest thing they had to homework this break: coming up with New Year’s resolutions. But for some people, these resolutions were broken before Mayor Bloomberg and Lady Gaga’s shocking midnight kiss was even over.

Shattered Resolution

“One year it was to be nice to my sister but that worked for less than a day,

— Alec Maki ’13”

CHLOE BAKER ’13Web Opinions Editor

GRAPHIC BY NATE ROSEN ’14

11FeaturesInklings /January 17, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

The Most Broken Resolutions

Get more sleep

Get organized

Improve grades

Start excercising

Less social networking

Eat healthy

Lose weight

Get a girlfriend or boyfriend

Go green

“My resolutions have generally failed but I have no regrets in life. It’s rare that people actually follow through with theirs,” Wormser said.

Joining the ranks of Ra-chael Ray and Wolfgang Puck

R e b e c c a Finell ’13 has many hobbies. She dances bal-let, has travelled to Paris, is devoted to fashion, and sings in Staples’ own choir. One hobby she has never had is cooking. However, this year her resolution is to acquire that as her next big hobby.

“I have always loved watching ‘The Martha Stewart Show’ and ‘Julie and Julia’ is one of my favorite movies, so I thought it was about time I started cooking,” Finell said.

Finell’s goal is not as vague as just cooking. In fact, it’s as specifi c as cooking a different meal each day, each varying in the ethnic background of the food. She said she wanted to make Pad Thai, a Thai noodle dish, and Crème Brulee, a French custard dessert, for her fi rst meal.

Despite her determination, Finell ended up breaking her resolution within the week. “I just didn’t realize how hard it would be to fi t that into my schedule since I have so much dance and homework to do. When I came up with it, I was so excited that I didn’t realize how unrealistic it was,” Finell said.

Even though Finell’s large number of hobbies makes it impossible for her to carry out her resolution, she hopes to use

her excitement and enthusiasm to turn cooking into her next hobby— even if it’s only making an ethnic dinner once a month.

A fi zz-less suc-cess

M o l l y O’Shea ’14 decided that this would be the year she would fi nally fulfi ll a resolution she has wanted to for several years already: not drinking any soda— except for ginger ale.

“I can easily give up all soda except for ginger ale. I just love ginger ale too much, and I could never even imagine giving that up,” O’Shea said.

O’Shea has two reasons for giving up her soda-drinking habit. She says that its health effects and tooth damage are two very big drawbacks from drinking soda and that discovering them made her want to give up soda for good.

“Everyone knows that soda rots teeth, and I like my teeth too much to do that to them. Also, I just want to be healthy,” she said.

Unlike most of her fellow schoolmates, O’Shea has not broken her resolution. Since New Year’s Eve, she has not had one sip of any kind of soda— of course, except for ginger ale. O’Shea plans on keeping this resolution for at least the next fi ve years.

ns

“My resolutions have generally failed but I have no regrets in life,

— Jon Wormser ’12”

Th is is a random survey conducted on 100 Staples students in the cafeteria.

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nn,,, shshshs e e hohohopepepep ss totoo uuuuseeheherr eexxcic tetet mmemment

PHOTO BY LEAH BITSKY ‘12

12 FeaturesInklings /January 17, 2012/ Inklingsnews.com

BEN REISER ’13News Editor

CHARLIE GREENWALD ’12Web A&E Editor

When He’s Wrong

One student whines, “I was count-ing on you!” Another quips, “What gives?” A third sums it up in two

words: “Come on.”These are just several of the complaints

on Facebook when Jacob Meisel ’13, infor-mally known as Westport’s own meteo-rologist, incorrectly – sort of -- predicts the weather report.

“Weather can be unpredictable,” Meisel said. “But that’s why I have so many websites up at all time — I try and get it right as best as I can.”

Although Meisel is both exceptionally bright and strikingly good-looking, even he can’t guess the weather for sure more than a day or two in advance, meaning townspeople feel misled. He acknowledges that the busi-ness of weather is a tough one.

“What I am interested in is very com-plicated,” Meisel said. “A lot of things can go wrong.”

But how does Meisel handle a fore-cast that began a week out but which, when weather conditions change, turns out to be incorrect?

“I just try and adjust, and give people as many constant updates as I can so that my latest update is always the right one,” Meisel explained.

Meisel, like many students, enjoys in-clement weather and fantasizing about snow days. Some students, like Sofi a Weinberg ’15, aren’t pleased when Meisel’s weather reports end up being wrong.

“When that happens, the town pretty much gets ready for something they don’t have to put up with, and it’s annoying,”

Weinberg said. “I’m not a fan of incorrect weather reports!”

Some students, however, think Meisel, as he’s known by his friends, goes above and beyond the call of duty for a teenager.

“I think he does a pretty good job,” said Jack Dobrich ’13.

The real question facing Meisel this year is whether or not this winter will be as dra-matically cold as last year and, if so, how to prepare for it.

Last year, a record 68 inches of snow fell within two months. Superintendant of West-port schools Dr. Elliott Landon announced fi ve snow days and was uncomfortably close to taking away a Holiday Break.

“We had an extremely cold and icy winter last year, but it started late and died early,” Meisel noted. “There was a specifi c period where it was really bad, from Decem-ber 26 to January 26. It was one of the most wintry time periods in Westport on record.”

But what can we expect this year?“I think there’s going to be another cold

winter, with similar trending as last year: January into February will be brutal,” Meisel said with a grin.

“I saw Hurricane Irene coming a week in advance, so I think my predictions for this winter should be all right: I have too many reliable sources.”

This is why of all the people in West-port, Connecticut, a town with over 25,000 residents, everyone turns to him. If he doesn’t fail at his job, he will keep us updat-ed on the Westport weather until the glori-ous moment everyone has been waiting for: a 2011–2012 snow day.

“I am predicting 3–5 snow days this year but we’ll see what happens,” Meisel said.

He grinned again.

PHOTOGRAPHIC BY NATE ROSEN ’14 ALEX GREENE ’13

I t all start-

ed with a gift: a telescope from

his parents.Since the day that

gift was given to a then-12-year-old Nicholas Mor-

gan, he knew that his true pas-sion lies in the fi eld of astronomy.

In fact, Dr. Morgan, now a science teacher at Staples, has an accom-

plishment not many on this planet can lay claim to: there is another planet

named after him. Its name? 26267 Nickmorgan.

It began in 2010, when Jason Gandel-man ’10, one of Morgan’s students, became a

fi nalist in the renowned Intel Science Talent Search. Because Morgan had advised Gandel-

man through the project that earned him a fi nal-ist spot, the competition named a minor planet

discovered in 1998 after Morgan. Thus, 26267 Nickmorgan was offi cially born.

The planet, which takes about 3.4 years to or-bit the Sun once in between Mars and Jupiter, has a diameter of around fi ve kilometers, or about half the length of the meteor that likely caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fortunately, however, its orbit is stable, and it is not expected to ever make impact with

Earth.Morgan feels that being

named after a planet is cool.“It doesn’t affect anything, but it’s cute, I guess,

right?” Morgan said.Before Morgan came to teach physics and scien-

tifi c research (ASR) at Staples in 2007, he immersed himself in backyard astronomy and went on to major in astrophysics at Villanova University.

From there, he spent fi ve years in graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he and other researchers developed a thesis involving gravitationally-lensed quasars for cosmological stud-ies.

Morgan’s devotion to these quasars—which he defi nes as “rare optical mirages in space that occur when gravity from a foreground galaxy bends and distorts the light from a distant quasar or a bright type of galaxy toward the edge of the universe-” has had a signifi cant impact in the fi eld of astronomy.

“The phenomena are extremely rare; only about a hundred are known in the entire universe,” Morgan said. “My research colleagues and I found seven over fi ve years.”

After that, Morgan and his colleagues conducted studies involving the age of the universe, the presence of dark matter, and how fast the universe is expand-ing as a result of the presence of dark energy.

It appears that Morgan’s dedication to the sci-ence fi eld has paid off. Students and teachers alike report an admiration and respect for the man both as a teacher and a human being.

For Gaïane Offredo ’13, an ASR student, Mor-

gan’s e n -t h u s i a s m for science is palpable,and a source of encourage-ment for her.

“You can defi nitely tell he is passionate about science if you’re in his class,” Offredo said. “He really loves it and wants to share it with his students.”

Jimmy Kopack ’12, who is cur-rently enrolled in Morgan’s AP Physics B class, said that Morgan’s ability to con-nect with the students is what makes him a successful teacher.

“Before most tests, everybody complains about how hard it is going to be and how every-body in the class is going to fail,” Kopack said. “But he always says, ‘There’s a curve,’ and some-how, he changes the mood of the class.”

Kopack added that Morgan’s humor and cha-risma contributes to his success as a teacher: “He’s very funny; we talk more about ball bearings and honey than we do physics,” Kopack said. “He even fi gured out how destructive bleu cheese is at the speed of light, a question a few of my classmates and I had been bugging him about forever.”

GRA

PHIC

BY

SOPH

IA H

AMPT

ON

NOT WHAT I EXPECTED Meisel has learned to cope with the struggles that come with

being a weather man.

A&EJanuary 17, 2012

13

The “iRevolution” all began with a simple piece of technology known as the iPod that letpeople enjoy the music of their choosing. Getting back to its roots, SoundHound is an application that continues the tra-dition of helping people enjoy music.

There are many apps that can identify music by hearing it. However, SoundHound takes music identi-fication to a whole different level.

This application doesn’t even need to hear the ac-tual song to determine what it is. By simply hearing a tune played from a guitar, piano, drum set, or even a

person humming, SoundHound can determine what song is being played.

There is nothing more frustrating than knowing the exact tune of a song and forgetting the name of it. The irritation of having the name of a song on the tip of your tongue and forgetting couldn’t be worse. Thankfully, that has been eradicated.

That is why Sound Hound deserves a thank you. That is why SoundHound deserves a spot on the list of coolest apps. And that is why SoundHound rocks.

Pun intended.

Sound Hound

Technology always seems to find a way to shock and awe people. Word Lens is very dif-ficult to outmatch.

This application could be the new worst enemy of language classes today. You open up Word Lens and direct the camera at any phrase in any language, font, size, or shading, and the phrase is translated into any language you want.

Talk about a good way to cheat.But, Word Lens will not just be a great re-

source for cheating in language class. This app can help bridge the lingual gap that has sepa-rated people for a millennia.

An application that can bring people closer together and help kids cheat definitely deserves a spot in the list of coolest apps.

Words Lens

Finding the Coolest

How do you judge cool-ness — what criteria do you use?

Sheer number of friends? Number of Facebook friends? Athleticism? Fashion trendi-

ness? Maybe in the past, but with

a new generation comes a new measuring stick.

It is no secret that apps on the iPhone, iPad, and iTouch

have forever changed the way modern technology is seen.

The variety, knowledge, and entertainment accessible to anybody are beyond incred-ible.

Through the vast amount of extraordinary applications that are looming at people’s fingertips, a decision on which ones are the coolest must be made. Let’s get to it.

Sleep. The thing every high school student is dy-ing for. If we could steal it, we would. Unable to get to bed early or wake up late, it is nearly impossible to feel well-rested in the morning. That was before Sleep Cycle.

“ It measures how long you sleep, how deep you sleep,” Ethan Bradeen ’13 explained, “ and it wakes you up in the morning when you’re least tired.”

By monitoring your breathing and movements,

the app can pick up on how deep the user’s sleep actu-ally is. When the app identifies the moment that the user is at his or her lightest sleep, within the 15-min-ute time frame the user chose, the app wakes him or her up.

Sleep is scarce to come by; this application is a lifesaver. It is because of this there should be no dis-pute that Sleep Cycle is one of the coolest applications on the market.

Sleep Cycle

This game has become overwhelmingly well -known amongst the mass majority of people. The sole idea is to load up a slingshot with a tiny “angry bird.” Pull back the slingshot and let it rip at towers being placed in front.

While this is a very basic idea, it has caused what could be described as a revolution.

Students like Greg Shikowitz ’13 have claimed to have phases where they are playing Angry Birds almost every day. They are certainly not the only ones who have gone through these Angry Birds ad-diction phases.

The popularity that has ensued has redefi ned the way society has come to look at casual games. More than 500 million people have downloaded Angry Birds in less than two years since its launch. From the people that have downloaded this game, over 44 billion stars have been collected, and 200,000 years have been played. (Statspotting.com)

With statistics like these, it is clear Angry Birds is no longer just a game to people. It could very well be put on the same level as crack. That gives me enough reason to put it on the list of coolest apps.

Angry Birds

14A&EInklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

‘It’s rare that you’re able to force somebody to see from your perspective,” says Jor-

dan Olsen ’12. Yet, as an experi-enced photographer, this is ex-actly what she does.

Olsen has been interested in the art of photography since age seven, starting with her fascination with her mother’s old 35mm Canon 81. “My mom was an art major in college, and when she gave it to me, I just began loving every aspect of de-veloping photos,” Olsen said.

Since then, Olsen has come a long way. She has taken the course Darkroom eight times, participated in a summer pro-gram at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and continues to photograph recre-ationally.

Through the lens of her Canon AE-1 or her Ricohflex, Olsen explores the world of por-traiture and candid photogra-phy, aiming to capture genuine emotion. “People are my favor-ite subjects…I work hard to find what’s really going on in their heads.”

However, this isn’t always an easy task. “When people see a camera they tense up and act how they think they’re sup-posed to act,” says Olsen. One of her main obstacles as a pho-tographer is capturing her sub-jects in a natural state, without the forced emotions and staged scenes.

To find this balance, Olsen often turns to her friends or her 12-year-old brother to use as her muse. In some cases, she will even bring her camera with her when she babysits, asking the children’s parents for consent before photographing them.

And it’s in that instance

that you know photography is more than a hobby for Olsen, whose camera is practically glued to her at all times – it’s a lifestyle.

Still, her passion in the subject has not kept her from discovering her other artistic talents. Olsen explores the wh world of art, hoping to eventu-ally work in a field with aesthet-ics. Career options on Olsen’s radar include working in adver-tising, product/toy design, or industrial design.

Olsen contributes her inter-est in industrial design to her father, who works in low-in-come housing development. In fact, it was on the site of one of his projects that she attributes her most interesting photogra-phy experience.

It was an eerie scene, says Olsen, referring to rummag-ing through what was left of Bridgeport’s old Pitkin Theater, just hours before her father’s company was going to knock it down.

Of course, she turned these rare circumstances into a pho-to opportunity. “There were so many memories in there; it was so interesting and beauti-ful,” Olsen said. The haunting setting has been etched in her mind ever since, inspiring her to continue to find the hidden beauty in her subjects.

What inspires Olsen when she’s looking for one of these “photo-ops” is lighting. She is constantly looking for unique light and attempting to recreate it in shoots. Olsen believes that the light is what truly makes a photograph. Janet Gartska, Olsen’s darkroom teacher de-scribes Olsen’s talent with light-ing as “unique – one of a kind.”

Other inspirations include the work of photographer Juer-gen Teller, who is widely known

Student Photographer Captures World Around Her for his photos in Marc Jacobs advertisements. Olsen looks up to him because he’s the only remaining “passion photog-rapher,” who doesn’t airbrush or Photoshop his work. “His work is really strange,” Olsen said. “He does what he wants and doesn’t care about anything else.”

The uniqueness of Teller’s cohesive collection is a quality that Olsen hopes to produce in future projects.

As of now she plans to start a series on age, consisting of portraits of various ages, rang-ing from babies to senior citi-zens.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to do that,” Olsen said. “You can see what they’ve ex-perienced at different ages; it’s something in their eyes.”

Meet the Artist: “People are my favorite subject — I work hard to fi nd what’s really going on in their head.”

SEE SPOT DRIVE: Olsen loves to showcase her friends in her photos, but here she focuses on a four -legged friend (pictured above), artist herself (be-low) and another photograph of hers (below).

JACKIE KERAMES ’12A&E Editor

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY JORDAN OLSEN ’12

PHOTO BY SAMMY WARSHAW ’12

A&E 15Inklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

For nearly 26 years, Cleveland, OH has been the proud home of the be-loved Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

an establishment dedicated solely to the celebration of rock and roll’s most promi-nent and infl uential artists.

Which is why Kiss, Rush, Deep Pur-ple, Journey, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, and Cheap Trick have been ignored by this illustrious in-stitution.

And I guess it also explains why icons of rock and roll, like Run-DMC, Abba, Grand Master Flash, and Madonna are honorary inductees.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is like the opposite sex. You’ll simply never understand some of the decisions they make.

The Deep Purple snub alone is just outrageous. I mean, Smoke on the Wa-ter? DUH-DUH-DUH. DUH-DUH-DUH-NUH. That is about as iconic a riff as any rock and roll band has ever played.

But apparently not as iconic as all the great guitar riffs Run-DMC has written.

Now before I continue ranting, I would like to take a second to congratu-late the Hall on recently inducting two legitimately credible rock bands this year, in Guns ‘N Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These two bands can now

be mentioned in the same breath as other legendary rock and roll acts, like Madon-na and Run-DMC.

And even when the Hall gets it right, they get it wrong. On the few occasions that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has farted out a credible inductee, it has come after years of disrespect.

Black Sabbath, Van Halen, and Alice Cooper all waited 10+ years to be inducted after being eligible. Who is more iconic in rock and roll than Van Halen? The 80s hard rock era is entirely their fault. And Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper? Both acts singlehandedly invented entire genres.

Now at this point, readers are proba-bly waiting for some justifi cation for a rant of this magnitude. Here’s why you should care: people simply are not aware of the atrocities that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame commits year after year: who’s in and who’s left out. It is my job here to be your source of enlightenment, the catalyst to your epiphany.

Yes, the bands who played “Rock ‘N Roll All Nite” and “Smoke On the Water” have not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You also read correctly when I said that Madonna has been in-ducted.

There must be some strong smoke in the room when the “expert committee” makes its selections.

It is atrocious, blasphemous, and sickening. I mean for God’s sake, LL Cool J was nominated last year. No one with half an ounce of respect for rock and roll and its history can justify that action.

I guess what I’m hoping for is that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chooses to induct some of the most infl uential and iconic rock bands of all time, and that they not induct hip-hop and rap artists into a rock and roll institution. My sincere apol-ogies if that is too much to ask.

Welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame

My Survival Music Playlist Through Midterm Hell

Music is one of the best ways to help you focus, but only for certain subjects. For example, for those that are more content-heavy and require memorization, you might want to turn your speakers off, studies have shown that listening to practically any type of music while trying to memorize

information is detrimental. For every other subject, though the following songs are not only good quality music, but will also help you focus and study better. They’re not overwhelm-ing electronic beats, but they’re not fl imsy fl ute solos either. They’re meant to help you focus, not fall asleep.

1Piano Concerto in D Minor – Bach: If study music were food, this would be pure protein. Countless studies have shown that classical music is the best to study to, especially Baroque. Plus, whenever I

listen to Bach, I can practically feel my IQ rise twenty points.

2Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymtic – Isaac Hayes: Think your vocab term list is difficut to memo-rize? At least you don’t have jazz pianist Isaac Hayes as your English teacher.

3 Heartless (Kanye West Cover) – William Fitzsimmons: Normally I love hip-hop, but when I’m try-ing to recall all of the Chinese dynasties, the loud beats and lyrics can become a little distracting.

Thanks to William Fitzsimmons and his soft acoustic guitar and his even softer crooning, you can listen to an awesome cover of a decent Kanye song (I promise you, it’s a lot better than The Fray’s cover of the same song).

4 Intro – The Xx: Or, for that matter, anything by the Xx. This British band has an amazing, intro-verted sound that helps even the most restless mind focus. I picked “Intro” mostly because it has no

vocals. They also just released a great demo song, “Open Eyes,” that sounds amazing as well.

5 Crosses – José González: Another great acoustic guitarist, González has a calming voice and lyrics that can destress you upon the very first chord. The soft guitar will make you put this song on repeat.

6 The Wind – Cat Stevens: This song is a short and sweet minute and 42 seconds, but that doesn’t stop “The Wind” from giving you a brief, 70s-style tranquil moment in the midst of chaotic notetaking

and fact-memorizing.

7 Derwentwater Stones – Robin Pecknold: The frontman for Indie band Fleet Foxes is now doing a solo project of making folksy songs, and by the sounds of “Derwentwater Stones,” it seems to be working

out pretty well for him. When I say folksy, I don’t mean banjo and bluegrass, but rather beautiful lyrics.

8 Nightlife – Phantogram: To make up your lack of one during midterms, “Nightlife” serves as a peace-ful break from Phantogram’s usual electro trip-pop junk. It’s refreshing until you listen closely to

the angsty lyrics, but hopefully you’ll be too busy studying to do that!

pp g y g g

GRAPHIC BY CARSON EINARSON ’12 NOT SO COOL: While rapper LL Cool J has had success in the rap world, he doesn’t belong among rock’s greats

16 A&EInklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

As 2011 came and went, so did several horribly entertaining music videos. Here’s what you may have missed

from the past year of videographed medi-ocrity.3.Ke$ha “Blow”:

I’ve never thought much about it, but I can imagine liking unicorns. They seem like nice enough creatures. However, Ke$ha had to ruin any admiration I had for the species by repeatedly making out with them in her music video entitled “Blow.” I understand that she craves attention, but there is no reason to ruin childhood fanta-sies in the pursuit of fame.

I apologize if I am overreacting; I know she’s not hanging her baby out the window here (too soon?).

But for the love of (whatever doesn’t offend you), no innocent child deserves to be corrupted by Ke$ha’s twisted fetishes. I know that it may be diffi cult to promote musicians who on-ly con-verse with them-selves like this ov-er pre-made beats, but talent cannot be replaced by horses with fake horns and vulgar dancing.

This is especially true when one at-tempts to combine mystical creatures with a song regarding how “this place [is] about to [fi guratively] blow,” a subject that has no correlation with any magical creatures. It would make much more sense to put these visuals with Puff the Magic Dragon.

If you are exhilarated by some un-founded use of shock within this video, I’m not going to judge. Just remember that this may not be the best song to sing in an air-port; the ensuing surprise would not be so pleasurable.

2. Willow Smith “Fireball” I have a lot of respect for the Smith

family, so I feel somewhat bad about this. It would be nice to assume that Willow inherited the talent genes either from her mother Jada Pinkett Smith, or her Gram-my/ academy award father Will Smith. She may have the capacity for greatness in the music world, but from what we’ve seen so far, it certainly doesn’t seem like it.

There is no right response to a Willow Smith music video like “Fireball,” because nothing important is said or done. Unex-pectedly, the whole song seems to point to the fact that “Willow [respectfully believes she is] the fi reball, [she hypothesizes that she’s] the fi reball, [apparently she’s] the fi reball.” And really, I’m happy for you Wil-low- I’m very glad that you think you’re “the fi reball”; I don’t understand what that means anymore than I comprehend the defi nition of whipping your hair back and forth, but have fun with that.

Maybe I’m being slightly unfair in that it would be near impossible for any director to properly portray an 11-year-old while making her sellable. However, I can-

not deny that it’s somewhat uncomfortable watching Willow pretending she’s 10 years her senior; nearly the whole music video is a close-up of her masked in makeup while dancing promiscuously with 20-year-olds behind her.

I don’t know if the thought process was along the lines of, ‘“Maybe if we bathe Willow in Mascara and have her talk about her “fresh [twenty year old] crew,” then people will forget that she is an 11-year-old girl from an affl uent family.”’ Well unfor-tunately for Willow, we’re not that stupid.

1.Friday “Rebecca Black”:I feel terribly mainstream hating on

Rebecca Black, but what else am I sup-posed to do? As a journalist, I apparently have a responsibility to tell nothing but the truth. There really is no way of getting around it; Rebecca Black very well may have produced the worst music video of all time. This is especially accurate when one takes into account the $4,000 dollars paid to Ark Music in the hope that the pro-duction company could provide the music, creepy rapper, and large quantity of auto-tune necessary to make Rebecca a star. Needless to say, the plan didn’t exactly come to fruition.

Corny is a vast understatement in de-scribing the music video. There is honestly not a word that does justice to verses like “Kickin’ in the front seat/ sittin’ in the back seat/ gotta make my mind up/ Which seat can I take.” And one can only laugh at the visuals, for example of Rebecca driving with her 13-year-old friends in a poorly animated freeway without an adult.

The fact that Rebecca’s mother never told her daughter, “you know that me and your father love you, but this music video is absolutely awful in every way; I think I re-gretted having you,” is a testament to what a great family Rebecca has. But the overall fame she received also refl ects badly on our perception of music. There is, most likely, some incredibly talented, 12-year-old rap-per in Harlem right now who would dream of getting $5,000 views on YouTube, let alone over 150 million.

Her case is unique in that almost ev-eryone sees her music is a joke, as displayed by the 87 percent dislike-to-like ratio on the video. But many well-received artists, who will go unmentioned, are heavily ad-mired despite being clearly unqualifi ed to make music.

They can’t write, produce, or sing. So why are these people megastars, while many truly gifted musicians reach a dead end in the music industry before even starting? The answer is the music video. By no means am I suggesting that the medium is evil or bad; I am only reminding you that if there is a moral to the atrocious produc-tions I shared above, it revolves around us adoring artists for how they look, rather than how they sing.

Music’s True Low PointERIK SOMMER ’13

Staff Writer

2

1

VIDEO SNAPSHOTS REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF VEVOWHAT WERE THEY THINKING?: (From Top): Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” Willow Smith’s “Fireball,” and Ke$ha’s “Blow” “ All of these videos will live in infamy, but of course “Friday” is the clear-cut worst.

3

Worst Videos of 2011

17

As Laddie Lawrence, the boys track coach, anxiously cheers on his players from the sidelines, he is not alone. As Ed Huydic, the girls varsity basketball coach, shouts important plays across the court, he is not alone either. Both Lawrence and Huydic share the pleasure of having their sons as assistant coaches.

For Lawrence and Huydic, coaching with their sons is not a new occurrence. Lawrence has been coaching with his son, Andrew, for six seasons, while Huydic has been coaching with his son, Eddie, for four seasons.

Huydic describes the athletic direc-tor, Marty Lisevick’s, decision to employ Eddie as a “great hire.” “Eddie coaching both girls basketball and boys freshman lacrosse is defi nitely a premium,” Huydic said. “It did not take long for Lisevick to hire Eddie.”

Andrew, now 26-years-old, is the third member of Laddie’s family to be one of his assistant coaches. Andrew had no coaching experience before working with his father. Previously to working with An-drew, Laddie had worked with his wife and other son Jon. Each son has competed for and has been a track captain at Staples.

From his experience on the Staples track team and as a Staples student, An-drew certainly knows what Laddie expects of his players. His main track responsi-bility is supervising pole vaulting. “He is probably one of the best pole-vaulters in the state,” Laddie said. “Other schools in Connecticut have even asked him to come

and train their players. “ Because Andrew lives at home, he and

Laddie are able to “talk track” whenever they would like.

Matt Mula ’13 fi nds it helpful that Lad-die and Andrew do not have the exact same coaching style. “They are both different, yet they defi nitely compliment each other” Mula said.

At each practice, they are able to work with separate players in order to accom-plish what they need to.

Andrew tends to be more verbal than Laddie. “I am older and not as crazy as Andrew. But I can always count on him to make a lot of noise,” Laddie said.

One of Andrew’s many favorite parts about coaching with his father is the fact that it reminds him of when he was a player at Staples. “It is great being able to coach in the program that I grew up in, and participated in.”

Ed Huydic, on the other hand, tends to be a little edgier on the court than his 26-year-old son and assistant coach, Ed-die. Both have their own distinct coach-ing styles, but their approach to coaching is also very similar in some respects.

“Eddie has his own way of reaching his players, his own way of approaching them and his own way of expressing his concerns to them,” Huydic said. “His coaching style is distinctly his own.”

Remy Nolan ’12, one of the captains of the girls varsity basketball team, likes the fact that Eddie and Ed give the team a family-like feeling. Nolan likes how Ed and Eddie have similar thoughts on the court. “This makes it easy to get advice from both of them and not get two differ-ent answers,” Nolan said.

Although Huydic and Eddie expect similar things from their players, they both see the court differently. Eddie’s strengths lie in his ability to see the total court, while Huydic tends to only see a smaller portion of the court.

Four years ago, Eddie joined the West-port school system as a paraprofessional at Kings Highway Elementary School. His plan was to enter graduate school for teaching, but with the job market as uncer-tain as it is, his plans for getting a teaching certifi cate were put on hold. In addition to being the assistant varsity girls basketball coach, Eddie is the head coach of the junior varsity girls basketball and the freshman boys lacrosse coach.

Two years ago, under Eddie’s coach-ing, the boys freshman lacrosse team won more games than any of the past freshman boys lacrosse teams. Eddie loves coaching around his father and recommends anyone given the chance to do so. “My dad makes my job more fun. I am learning everything

he has stored from his days of coaching,” Eddie said.

Huydic describes the moments that he and his son have experienced on the court as “indescribable.” “It’s hard to express, but there are highs and lows, with coach-ing,” Huydic said. “Within one game there are highs and lows and having the ability to decompress with your son is impossible to describe.”

Laddie also cherishes the time that he and his son spend together coaching. “It is a pleasure working with Andrew. He is a great kid and I really enjoy having him around.”

Eddie will continue coaching with Huydic as he assesses what he would like to do with his future. Andrew will continue coaching with Laddie until he completes his training to become a police offi cer. But for now, both Lawrence and Huydic will share the unique coaching experiencing with their sons.

All in the FamilyFor Some, Coaching is a Family Buisiness

ELLIE MANN ’13Staff Writer

Collectively, Huydic and Lawrence have coached at Staples for over 75 years

January 17, 2012SPORTS

PHOTOS BY ALEX GREENE ’13

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B R I D G E P O R T • S T A M F O R D • W A T E R B U R Y

FATHER KNOWS BEST: The elder Lawrence and Huydic instruct their sons on strategy.

At 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, a pressure began to grow inside the head of Jon

Heil ’12. Before long, the pressure grew to pain, the pain amounted to pounding, and by the start of that night’s football game, a play-off game against an 8-2 Ridgefi eld team, the pounding had turned to a full blown headache.

Sweat already emerging from his hairline, Heil gingerly secured his helmet around his chin. Head Coach Marce Petroccio put him in as their starting running back.

“I thought I was going to throw up most of the fi rst half,” Heil said. “Breaking a record nev-er crossed my mind.”

Nonetheless, in what can only be described by Petroccio as an “electric” game, Heil ran for a school record 366 yards on that night, scoring four touchdowns on 27 carries, more than doubling his season total of 364 yards, and leading Staples to a 48-21 victory.

And he sat out the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t even realize. The number 300 never came up. To do that in a playoff game—it’s un-heard of,” Petroccio said. “He’s just a great kid, and it was a beau-tiful thing to watch.”

Heil started playing as a run-ning back in seventh grade, and according to Petroccio, he is now an asset to the team.

“We have three guys who can play the position. One guy is a slasher. One guy is bigger,” Pet-roccio said. “Then you bring Jon in and he’s got a little of every-thing.”

He doesn’t just run, though. According to Petroccio, Heil

blocked three punts during the regular season, which Petroccio-said “had to be the most in the FCIAC, absolute-ly.”

“Some teams don’t block three punts in a sea-son,” Petroccio said. “When you block a punt, it’s de-moralizing—you get momentum, you get confi dence. It’s really a game changer.”

However, as good as he may be, his running back prowess isn’t what’s getting him national atten-tion. Neither is his ability to block punts.

Although he started just this year, Heil is already ranked the eighth best punter in the country, averaging a CIAC-best 44 yards per kick. Petroccio has received calls from colleges nationwide, in-cluding one from Harvard, asking about Heil’s punting ability.

“Punting is never a bad play. The fact that he can boom the ball the way he does—it’s a great weap-on,” Petroccio said. “You know when you’ve got a guy like that, who can kick the ball the way he does, you’re in good shape.”

To Heil, punting was never something that occurred to him to try. Yet, after the season, he was named to both the All-FCIAC team and the New Haven Register All-State team.

“It was kind of a surprise that I did that well at punting because I started senior year practicing maybe once or twice a week,” Heil

said. “It still hasn’t really hit me that I was eighth in the country, but it’s defi nitely something I’m proud of.”

According to Petroccio, the element that Heil brings to the punting position is his speed. Pet-roccio says he’s always a threat to fake the punt and run down the fi eld.

“He caught a bad snap in a game earlier this season and said ‘I’m not going to get it off.’ So in-stead, he ran 68 yards and scored a touchdown,” Petroccio said. “That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Petroccio and Heil alike at-tribute this speed to Heil’s winter and spring sport: indoor and out-door track. This year, as one of the team’s captains, Head Coach Lad-die Lawrence says he has some big expectations for Heil.

“When he fails, he sucks it up and tries to do better the next time,” Lawrence said. “That usu-ally doesn’t happen though. He usually does well.”

According to Lawrence, Heil has been the leadoff runner in the New England champion 4x400-meter relay team and has been named to the All New-England team for each of the past two years. His 11.3 second 100-meter dash is the team’s best return-ing time, and his 36.16 second 300-meter dash leaves Lawrence like Petroccio, with no other word to describe Heil’s performance but “electric.”

“He’s one of the hardest working guys on the team. If you told him to run into a wall, he’d do it—although, he’s smart enough not to,” Lawrence said with a chuckle. He smiled. “I love work-ing with kids like that.”

And, according to Heil, he loves being able to work with Law-rence and the rest of the team.

“It was an honor to be named a captain,” Heil said. “But I also knew that that meant I needed to step up and become a leader and a good example for the younger kids.”

To Lawrence, that’s not a point of concern.

“He’s quiet and unassum-ing. I like quiet leadership,” Law-rence said. “He doesn’t hide when it’s time to do a good workout, he just shows the newer guys how it’s done.”

But what both Lawrence and Petroccio agree on is Heil’s athleticism, and in the end that’s what matters to the team’s perfor-mance.

“In my 19 years we’ve had a lot of great athletes. Jon is right up there with some of the best,” Petroccio said. “Defi nitely in the top 10. No doubt.”

Although Heil has proven himself enough to be named team captain, Larwrence still wants to take one more look.

“He’s defi nitely one of the bet-ter athletes. It’s usually your se-nior year where you peak—where everything comes to fruition,” Lawrence said. “We’ll just have to see what Jon can make of it.”

18Thinking on His Feet

Heil by the Numbers366 rushing yards in the state quarter fi nals, a school record.

49.6 seconds, Heil’s 400-meter time

46.03 average yards per punt

9.5 yards per carry av-eraged by Heil this season

8th best punter in the

country according to Max-preps

5 time All-State honoree

2 time New England championPHOTO BY ALEX GREENE ’13

PHOTO BY ERIC ESSGOF ’12

“Jon is one of the 10 best athletes I’ve coached, no doubt,” — Marce Petroccio

SportsInklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

PHOTO BY ERIC ESSGOF ’12

STARTING STRONG: Heil runs the leadoff leg of the 4x400-meter relay enroute to their State Open Champi-onship victory last June.

FINDING DAYLIGHT: Heil eludes the grasp of a Fairield Warde tackler.

UNSTOPPABLE: Heil prepares to stiff arm a Newtown defender. He ran for 795 yards this season.

RYDER CHASIN ’14Sports Editor

From Sprinting to Punting, Heil ’12 Does it All

PHOTO REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF STAPLES RUNNING

STRETCHING OUT: Heil prepares for a track workout.

Sports 19Inklings / January 17, 2012 / inklingsnews.com

The whistle is blown. The crowd goes wild and screams what they think

the call should be. The Staples athletes freeze and silently wait for the decision. It is all up to the individuals clad in black and white stripes to dictate the game and make sure it is played ac-cording to the rules. The question is, will they make the right judg-ment?

It is tough to be a referee. Being out on the fi eld with the power to control the game can come with a lot of baggage. But, at the same time it can be very sat-isfying, which is why the referees took up the job in the fi rst place.

In recent interviews, several referees who offi ciate a number of different sports agreed that what pushed them to offi ciate was the desire to stay involved with the sports they loved.

“I grew up playing a lot of football and basketball. I want-ed to stay involved in sports but didn’t have time to devote to full time coaching, so I got into reff-ing,” said Bill Howard, a high school football and basketball referee for Fairfi eld County since 1975.

Jim Carroll, a high school football referee for Fairfi eld County for 19 years, agreed. “I played in high school and just wanted to be a part of it again,” said Carroll.

Although refereeing is not as big of a commitment as coaching, it does take up a lot more time than one would think. “People think that referees just have to show up to the game for an hour. But we have to commute, get there an hour early, go over dif-ferent scenarios and make sure everyone is on the same page,” said Carroll.

Just like coaches watch fi lm of opposing teams to prepare, ref-erees come equipped with back-ground knowledge. Before each game, the referees discuss po-tential plays or fouls that may oc-cur, so they can focus on certain areas. “The rules are the same for every game, but there are always different nuances for each team that we need to keep an eye out for,” said Howard.

Alice Addicks, a high school fi eld hockey referee since 1977,

ally know what they’re talking about and hardly know the rules,” said Addicks.

Howard also voiced the pres-sure referees are forced to endure. “We have to start with perfection and work ahead from there,” said Howard. “Everyone wants us to be right on every single call all the time. That’s not going to hap-pen because we’re human. We do make mistakes and we feel bad about it and try to correct it, but sometimes we blow it.”

Howard’s biggest regret is a result of a 2000 Thanksgiving game between Norwalk and Brien McMahon. He penalized Norwalk

with a bad call and wound up costing them the game. “They lost because of a poor decision on my part, and I felt really bad about

said that she also uses background information to position herself to see the plays more clearly. Some teams have trick plays that refer-ees need to be aware of in order to avoid losing contact with the ball or player.

“The big thing is to be in the right position at the right time to be able to make the right call,” said Addicks. “You can’t make a call that you can’t see.”

But refereeing is not just about being engaged with sports. Carroll fi nds it a lot of fun because of the camaraderie. For football, referees work in crews, a group of referees who offi ciate together for

every game. “Offi ciating brings people

together who normally wouldn’t become friends,” he said.

New friendships are not the only thing earned. Money, ex-ercise, and self-esteem are just some of the benefi ts reaped from refereeing. Depending on the lev-el, a referee is paid up to $90 per game.

In addition, there is a lot of exercise that is involved, requir-ing referees to stay in shape. “If you’re not in shape, you’re not do-ing a good job,” said Howard, who offi ciates all year long and uses refereeing as his motivator to go to the gym.

According to Carroll, a bonus to refereeing is that it keeps him in touch with a new generation of players and coaches and provides him with a good chance to stay in shape. “I like to think that it’s keeping me young,” he said.

There are also some diffi -culties that come with the job. Addicks fi nds her biggest prob-lems are found on the sidelines. “Sometimes there are cantan-kerous coaches who try to coach and referee at the same time, constantly talking in my ear and screaming that I made a terrible call,” said Addicks. “I am just try-ing to do my very best.”

But it’s the parents who can be the real nuisances. “Some-times it can be worse when you have parents screaming from the sidelines because they don’t re-

The Life of a Refit. I wrote a letter to the head coach, but it didn’t help because you can’t reverse the call at that point,” said Howard.

The guilt that may come with refereeing can be upsetting, but there are always moments that make up for mistakes. “As refs, we don’t have a lot of proud mo-ments, because the coaches and players expect us to get it right every time, and if you don’t, then you’re a failure,” said Carroll. “But I remember one game in particular, we had about fi ve calls where the coaches all thought we were dead-wrong, and the instant replay showed them that we were right on all of them. It was very satisfying.”

Making wrong calls is not the only diffi culty. Carroll feels that the biggest challenge that a referee has to overcome is to stop watching the ball. “Any game you go to, you’re mainly watch-ing your team and very rarely watching what the other team is doing. When you’re offi ciating, you can’t just focus on the ball but also must observe what everyone

The Imperfect Game: June 2, 2010—Comerica Park, Detroit, MI - Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga had two outs already recorded in the bottom of the ninth inning. One more, and he would become the 19th pitcher since the begin

ning of the modern era to throw a perfect game. It looked good. A ground ball went to fi rst baseman Miguel Cabrera, followed by an easy fl ip to Galarraga, who beat Cleveland hitter Jason Donald to fi rst base by a step and a half. Cabrera’s arms went up in the air, a smile graced Galarraga’s face—but the fi rst base umpire waved his arms to his sides. He called Donald safe.

The Fifth Down: October 6, 1990—Faurot Field in Columbia, MO - Col-lege teams Missouri Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes were battling with under three minutes to play in the game, Colorado trailing 31-27. The quarterback completed

a pass just feet short of the goal line. The Buffaloes burned through fi rst, second, and third down: no success. On fourth down, a running back took a handoff but was stopped inches short. The QB spiked the ball at the ground in anger; however, the refs had recorded the last drive as the third down. Quickly, the Buffaloes lined up for a second fourth down, only to score a touchdown and win the game. That meant they were joint Division 1A National Champions.

Take Three: September 10, 1972—Summer Olympics, Munich, West Germany - The USA basketball team had played 12 exhibition games together heading into a game against the Soviet Union, which had played 400. But near

the end, the underdog team had jumped out in front for the fi rst time. With a second left, it was 50-49. Offi cials put another three seconds on the clock, saying the Soviets had attempted to call timeout. A short play later, and the buzzer went off to signal American victory. The fans rushed the court. Again, the offi cials added three seconds to the clock, this time saying the clock had not been properly reset. “It was like they were going to let them do it until they got it right,” a USA forward said. The Soviets won with a lay-up.

else is doing at the same time,” said Carroll. “It gives you a com-pletely different perspective of the game.”

When they are not referee-ing, Carroll, Howard and Addicks have other jobs to attend to. Car-roll is an insurance agent, How-ard owns a sporting goods busi-ness, and Addicks is a grade level coordinator at Staples. For most, refereeing is their preferred oc-cupation.

“Anyone who does it, despite the fact that we get yelled at, is not doing it for the money,” said Car-roll. “I don’t play golf, I offi ciate. It’s challenging, but you get the satisfaction for a job well done.”

Addicks would not differen-tiate between her job at Staples and refereeing because she loves them both. However, she did say, “I don’t consider it a job. Referee-ing is part of my life, and I love it; otherwise I would be retired be-cause I’m defi nitely at that age.”

Howard has the same mind-set. “I’m in my 60s, but as long as my legs hold up I’ll keep doing it,” he said.

SAMI BAUTISTA ’13Web Features Editor

Irreversible: Three of Sport’s History’s Most Notorious Blown Calls

RYDER CHASIN ’14Sports Editor

“I don’t play golf, I offi ciate. It’s challenging, but you get the satisfaction for a job well done.”

— Jim Carroll, Referee

PHOTO BY WILL MCDONALD ’14 PHOTO BY ERIC ESSAGOF ’12KEEPING WATCH: Two referees offi ciate during the CIAC Class LL State Championship game.

The Wreckersports

As children, kids often have far-fetched career aspira-tions that are unrealistic,

and eventually they let them go. Parker Kligerman ’09 is an

exception.Years ago, as a seemingly

typical teenage idealist, he walked the halls of Staples with dreams of becoming a famous race car driver on a super speedway. Today, he is ranked #11 in the 2011 NAS-CAR Camping World Truck Series standings and is proving himself and his bright yellow Dodge Char-ger to be Penske’s most up-and-coming young talent.

“I didn’t give up on my dream, and with much success, being at the right place at the right time, I was able to climb the ladder,” Kligerman said.

Kligerman’s drive to success began at the tender age of 13 when his parents bought him the two-stroke go-kart he had coveted for four years prior. He immediately began racing at tracks in Norwalk.

“After two-and-a-half-years of go-karts, I started car racing at 15,” Kligerman said. “ I won my fi rst two races and from there moved up to NASCAR.”

Though Kligerman demon-strated a born talent for competi-tive racing, he explains that it was his ruthless sense of ambition that got him to where he is today. His sophomore English 2B teacher Kim Palca concurs that Kliger-man’s unwavering dedication fos-tered success both on the tracks and in the classroom.

“He was often out of school for races, yet he always made sure to fi nd out and complete any work he missed. He added a lot to the classroom,” Palca said.

Kligerman went professional after capturing the Formula TR PRO Series class title in 2006, winning an astounding 11 out of 14 races. From there, he began a life-changing partnership with Dodge Motorsports that allowed him to join the Cunningham Motorsports Junior Team in 2008. Kligerman was a senior at the time.

“But it never changed my relationships. Many of my high

school friends became more sup-portive of my racing as I continued to reach higher levels,” Kligerman said.

A lifelong friend of Kliger-man, Cronin Cullen ’09, described how magnifi cent it was watch-ing his best friend’s dream turn

Parker Kligerman ’09 Lives Life in the Fast Lane

into reality. Cullen recalled hav-ing adrenaline rushes of his own while watching Kligerman’s rise to fame.

“It’s just unreal knowing that my best friend has thousands of Twitter followers and his own of-

The Ballad of Parker

Kligerman

AMANDA PICCOLINO ’12Staff Writer

From Staples to NASCAR

INSIDE:

Inside the Life of a Ref,

Pg. 19

MOVING UP IN THE WORLD: Despite graduating from Staples a mere two years ago (top left), Kligerman established himself at Penske Racing.

FULL SPEED AHEAD: Kligerman races at Kentucky Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

PHOTOS REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM JORDAN HOLLENDER

ON THE CUSP: As Penske Racing’s developmental driver, Kligerman hopes to soon be racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

fi cial t-shirt,” Cullen said. “I still can’t believe Parker’s a celebrity.”

Kligerman has stopped at-tending school at University of North Carolina due to his sched-ule revolving around professional commitments and daily training with a personal coach at Penske racing. He describes this as being a minor setback, as he attributes most of his success to “making the most of high pressured, large op-portunities.” For Kligerman, ca-reer comes fi rst.

“It was his goal and remains his passion,” Palca said. “It’s abso-lutely fantastic to have seen where he was a few years ago, and what his ultimate dream of becoming was, and to see him reaching it now.”

Kligerman’s next race will take place Feb. 24 at Daytona In-ternational Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. at the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck series.

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