SAES ON STAGE

MANE NEWSthe

ST. ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOLVOLUME 16, ISSUE 2billboard: what’s inside this issue

graphic: Johnathan Burkett photo: Sue Harris Phillips

2photo: www.zynga.com

8-96

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

St. Andrew’s Announces Kitchen Pilot ProgramNew Community Outreach Effort Offers Great Opportunity for School

On Tuesday, January 19th, St. Andrew’s will be testing a new after school volun-teer program which will take place on campus. Students will work in the kitchen and cook meals for the homeless popula-tion of the DC area. Mr. James, the ar-chitect of the program, came up with the idea when he volunteered at DC Central Kitchen. “The idea is that there are thou-sands of pounds of unused food each day that is being wasted...” said Mr. James. “They come from kitchens and super-markets.” Restaurants and supermarkets carry food which is still weeks from ex-piring; it is still absolutely fine to eat, but because they have difficulty selling it, it is thrown out. Mr. James has since been preparing for the program, which will be piloted on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. If the program takes off, our school will be the second school to take on this kind of program. Students will be sent to neighboring su-permarkets and restaurants to ask for food. The goal is to have the majority (est. 75%) of the food to come from restaurants and supermarkets, and the rest (est. 25%) will come from things like school food drives. Some of the school kitchen staff will be

involved in the preparation of the food to make sure students prepare it in a way so it is edible, safe for consumption, and le-gal to serve. “One of the main goals, in addition to serving the community, is to teach kids how to cook,” said Mr. James, who went on to explain how over the summer the school took part a summer school cook-

ing program. The concept is that school kitchens are empty during the summer, and are an untapped resource that can be used by students for many purposes, like community service. “I liked the cooking part,” explained John Peatross, one of the school students who participated in the

Summer Programs Picture of Kids in Kitchen

Peter JamesStaff Writer

On a mid-October day, my uncle, An-tonio Aspite II, receives a phone call from a friend informing him of a news paper article stating that a certain section of Margarita Island had been placed under a government decree. This section of the island belonged to my family. On October 15th president Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, passed a government decree that nationalized the Hilton of Margarita, a Casino, and a privately owned marina. This is part of his wide spread plan na-tionalization, socialism, and enhancement of relations with others South and Central American nations called, Bolivarian Al-ternative for the Americas (ALBA). In the capital city of Caracas, Chavez, with the help of many supporters, passed a similar decree over a golf course. A few days later, the entire golf course was bull-dozed and prepped for construction of homes for the poor. Chavez, a big supporter of the lower class, nationalized this land mainly be-cause he believes that Hilton hotels, Ma-rinas and casinos are only for the middle and upper class, and if only that minor-ity get to use those facilities, then that is unfair towards the lower class, less than a quarter of the nation according to the CIA. Several top news agencies believe that Chavez plans to the do the same to the Margarita land what he did to the golf courses in Caracas. In the ALBA campaign, Chavez also plans to spread socialism to all nations within the group. In Venezuela, he heavily criticizes the middle and upper class call-ing them “bourgeoisie” or claiming that they are not the real people of Venezuela. Hypocritically, his circle of friends and himself are most likely the richest people in all of Venezuela and possibly all of South America because they own the oil companies, the banks and many other

Venezuelan NationalizationChavez passes decree over private land, people left in despairAndres GrimmStaff Writer

SEE VENEZUELA, PAGE 2

SEE PILOT PROGRAM, PAGE 4

St. Andrew’s is known for the excit-ing and educational trips that are offered every year. Last year, students joined Ms. Raquel Yerbury for a journey along the Nile, and the year before that they traveled across Italy. Every spring break, however, Mr. Roy Barber gives students the incred-ible opportunity to visit South Africa. This year, the school has three planned trips; two during spring break and one during summer vacation. The first trip in the spring is to South Africa (March 15-28). Highlights of this South African experience will include home stays, a visit to bokomoso, and a safari where you will see hippos, rhinos, lions, and giraffes. There will be many opportunities to learn about the different cultures, languages, foods, and unique history of South Africa. If you want to learn more about this trip, contact Barber. Combine a spiritual experience with sightseeing this spring by traveling with Ms. Yerbury to Jordan and Jerusalem (March 17-27). This trip is available to all students in grades 9-12. Students will be visiting Petra, the Dead Sea, Jericho,

Shrine of the Book Archaeological Park, and Fort Azraq – which was used by Law-rence of Arabia in World War II. This trip is especially relevant for students study-ing Latin, interested in Arabic, politics, history, religion, and world travel. If you are interested or have questions about this trip, contact Yerbury.

The final trip, during summer vaca-tion, is to Peru (June 20-29), led by Mr. Mike Davila. Though spanish students are encouraged to attend, all high school students, including graduating seniors, are eligible to participate, especially those

SEE TRIPS, PAGE 3

St. Andrew’s Trips UnveiledSummer Trip to Peru among opportunitiesMatt AdamsStaff Writer

phot

o: J

oe P

hela

n

phot

o: J

oe P

hela

n

Senior Chrissy Goldbaum quickly makes new friends on the South Africa Trip

photo: googlemaps.com

The Hilton Margarita was part of the property Chavez nationalized

FARMVILLE OBSESSION

WHO TEACHES THE TEACHERS?

Mr. Chuck James with students during the Summer Cooking Program that inspired the Kitchen Pilot Program

NEWS THE MANE NEWSNOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MANE NEWS2

BECOME A MANE NEWS STAFF WRITER!Listen for announcements in Morning Meeting

You may know Mr. Glenn Whitman as the history teacher that started the oral his-tory project and who teaches both lower and upper school history. You may know him as the girls varsity soccer coach. But what you may not know is that he is also the Dean of Studies. The Dean of Studies position was created in 2007 by Mr. Rob-ert Kosasky, Head of School, in order to have someone whose major responsibility is to work closely with senior administra-tors and department heads to help critical-ly examine where St. Andrew’s is regard-ing its curriculum and where it wants to be in the future. The position initially focused on grades 6-12, but the addition of the Lower and Intermediate schools has broadened the scope of the dean’s responsibilities. The ultimate goal is that curriculum will be more than adequate in preparing students for each phase of their lives. Mr. Whitman works closely with de-partment and division heads to assess the curriculum and collaborates with teachers on what changes may be needed through-out the school. Dr. Ian Kelleher, Head of the Science Department, said that “Whit-man is like our own advisor, he makes sure we stay focused and talks to me about my views for the department. He brings expectations of professionalism, he’s on time and makes the meetings run like clockwork.”A large part of Whitman’s work requires him to coordinate with teachers and administrators on curricular initiatives that refl ect the faculty’s collec-tive knowledge in how kids learn. These recommendations are made to the Aca-demic Team and Mr. Kosasky. The “A-Team” consists of Mr. David Brown, Ms. Joanne Beach, Mr. Mark Segal, Mr. John Holden, Ms. Stacy Kincaid, Mr. Randy Tajan, Ms. Ginger Cobb, Ms. Amanda Macomber. When speaking about the A-

Glenn Whitman: Dean of StudiesMatthew GravesStaff Writer

Oversees Teacher Cirriculum, Department Heads, Academic Direction

Team, Whitman said, “Their collective wisdom about their disciplines will always be deeper than mine. I work closely with them to help them develop and implement their vision as well as to see where it fi ts into the big curriculum picture.” Whitman’s vision for the curriculum is, “to insure that it is both challenging and supportive for the different passions and learning styles that exist among our Pre-School-12 students, the curriculum should encourage both teachers and students to take risks and lean into their personal dis-comfort as they work together to explore new ways to teach and learn.” Whitman wants kids to enjoy taking their classes, and at the same time makes an effort to make new and optional courses more en-ticing to students. His work can be seen in the service learning program, visual art courses, the Oral History Project, and in science electives like robotics. All school

curriculum initiatives, such as integrat-ing our Schools Attuned training into our teaching and learning, Service Learning, and multi-cultural education are aspects of the curriculum that Whitman is respon-sible to oversee and implement across the various disciplines and divisions of the school. Whitman is also involved with the map-ping of each class, an initiative which began nearly fi ve years ago during the schools accreditation by the Association of Independent Maryland Schools. Every 6-12 class has a “course overview” map

that focuses on the essential questions, skills, content, and all else that goes into designing a class. Maps for the Lower and Immediate School will be developed at the end of this year. Whitman says, “In the end, we are mapping because of our teachers commitment to fi nding ways to better think about how they design their classes. The big step our school has made this year is to make the maps available on-line through the St. Andrew’s web site.” The map of the courses allows parents to get a deeper understanding of each course as well as provides prospective families a look into our schools curriculum. Whitman’s vision is clear: “Every stu-dent should be able to see themselves in the curriculum of each class.” Ms. Kin-caid, our Director of Diversity, and Ms. Dresden Koons are working closely with department heads on issues of multi-cul-tural education so there is more integra-tion refl ected in our curriculum maps. Whitman says, “We all feel strongly that better understanding the many faces, voices, and colors that have shaped and continue to shape the world make us more empathetic global citizens and able to better understand perspectives and expe-riences other than our own.” One of the potential ways in which we can diversify our curriculum is to have new language choices. Whitman is trying to make sure that all aspects of our curriculum are best preparing our students for the world they are going to inherit.

“Whitman’s vision for the cirric-ulum is “‘to insure that it is both challenging and supportive for

the different passions and learn-ing styles that exist among [the

student body.]’”

When Ms. Dresden Koons proposed to her students a project involving writing their own children’s book, many seniors in her third period critical literacy course did not know what to think. Koons also informed her students that the stories must be created with the fi rst graders. The students were told that they would be making a 28-32 page picture book that would be created around two 15 minute interviews with the 1st graders. With the partner they were assigned, each 12th and 1st grade pair would cooperate to create the ideas that would shape the books. The most diffi cult part for some of the 12th graders was keeping the attention of the 1st graders. Some of the 1st graders were not able to focus and some groups struggled to come up with a solid story-line. While some groups came up with stories full of inconsistencies and plot holes, other groups were able to write about chivalrous knights and fair maid-ens. “I didn’t realize how creative these kids were. I had a great time,” said senior Donte Taylor After the interviews, the seniors were told to begin writing the book and em-ploy literary tools like rhyming, imag-ery, repetition, and similes. The goal of the books were to succeed in capturing the reader. They were then told to cre-ate pictures to correspond with the text of the story. Finally, after all the stories were fi nished, the 12th graders were told they were going make one more trip back to the lower school to read their book to their fi rst grade partner. Many seniors are excited to see how their stories are received.

Crafting Stories with the Lower SchoolersKoon’s Critical Literacy Class Makes Picture Books with First GradersTom BelikoveStaff Writer

Glenn Whitman talks to Ian Kelleher about important departmental issues

phot

o: C

huck

Jon

es

socialized industries and products that Venezuela produces. For over 25 years, my grandfather, An-tonio Aspite and my grandmother Irene de Aspite had been developing the land that the president took. On this land, a Hilton and a Casino were built and on the shore was a marina. The marina has been the pride of my grandfather for 16 years, ever since he began the construction. Rumors spread around the whole is-land and much of the Caracas, the capital city, about how one of Chavez’s friends might become the new owner and manager of the land and marina. He was only an inves-tor. This man, whose name I may not give away, owned only 2% of the land. For the three days after the decree was passed, no one heard my grandfather speak a word. He remained silent and alone in his offi ce staring at the blue-prints of his marina. He also had just had his second stroke less than 3 months before. The whole family was fearing for his life. When my mother called to see how they

were doing, I overheard people crying. My grandmother, a strong Italian woman, was crying the hardest. When my mother put her on speaker phone, I heard a few people in the background crying as well. It was my aunt and my uncle. My uncle wasn’t crying out loud, but I could tell from his crackly voice that he felt a lot of pain inside. Over a month later, there has been no

mention of reim-bursement. Because my grandfather is the contractor and the ar-chitect, he had to use his own cash to buy the supplies. Chavez plans on converting the hotel into a place of re-

laxation for “the people.” One year ago he did the same to the Hilton of Cara-cas. When the renovations were fi nished, pictures of Chavez hung on most walls, the service was terrible and the prices of the rooms remained at the same price if not increased. If these hotel are for the “people”, and if they are funded for the government, then why would the service become worse, and why would the prices increase?

“For over 25 years, my grandfather, Antonio As-pite and my grandmother Irene de Aspite had been developing the land that

the president took.”

VENEZUELA, FROM 1

NEWSTHE MANE NEWS NOVEMBER 23, 20093SAES CLUB REPORTth

e

Mane News The Mane News is a forum for news, opinions, and features by and for the students at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. It is a school-supported publication produced six times a year through the extracurricular work of its student staff and faculty advisor, as well as contributions from the Journalism class. The staff makes every effort to report the news free from bias and editorial slant; additionally, not all editorials reflect the opinions held by the newspaper staff and its writers. The Mane News reserves the right to restrict or deny publication of any stories it does not deem fit to print. Letters to the editor may be submitted via e-mail to manenews@saes.org. The newspaper staff welcomes all letters, but reserves the right to edit or deny publication to any received. All letters must be signed, though writers may request that their names be withheld. The Mane News is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and a proud recipient of the CSPA Gold Medal.

The Mane NewsSt. Andrew’s Episcopal School

8804 Postoak Road, Potomac, MD 20854(301) 983-5200

- www.saes.org -Co-Editors-in-Chief ........Benjamin S. Wald ........Stephen E. WhiteAsst. Ed.-in-Cheif.......................Chris Pitito Layout Co-Editors..............Brendan Harvey ...................Scott WomerPhotography Co-Editors........Clinton James ...............Matt TochOnline Editor ......................Emily WilliamsFaculty Advisor..................Mr. Chuck JonesTech Support..................Ms. Joy Bodycomb

News Co-Editors...................Ben Mitchell ............Marco BonvillianMS/IS/LS Editor...............Gregory MichelOpinion Co-Editors...................Noah Platt ........Sabrina ManfieldAsst. Opinion Editor.........Connor BuckleyStyle Editor........................Janice FreemanSports Co-Editors..............Jimmy Petersen ...............Tommy FintonCopy Editors............................Kati Richer .................Alexa Klien-Myer ....................Jessica Figueroa

Matt AdamsTom BelikoveRehan ButtJoe ChaneyBen ColemanPhilip DoerrMatthew GravesAndres GrimmAlex HastingsLauren HeywoodPeter James

For advertising contact Ben Wald at b10wald@saes.org

with an interest in ancient civilization, archeology, and Latin American culture. Ancient Peru will come alive as the group will visit Cusco, Ma-chu Picchu, and Lima, Peru’s capi-tal. Some of the highlights of the trip in-clude visiting catacombs, salt mines, vil-lage tours, hot springs, ancient trails, and a guided tour of the Machu Picchu ruins. You’ll see weaving and farming demon-strations and attend a local cooking class. If you are at all interested in this trip to Peru or have questions, contact Davila. Though some informational meetings have already taken place, many deadlines for deposits have not yet happened. Con-tact the head of a trip and find out when the money is due if you would like to at-tend.

If you walked out of the main entrance several weeks ago on a C alt Friday, you would have seen something a tad out of place. On the patch of grass next to the flagpole lay about seven students, another standing next to a lit barbecue grill and a cooler full of marinating chicken. Another student hands the guy at the grill a few dollars in return for some grilled chicken. She quickly hands him the money, swings her bag over her shoulder, and thanks him as she rushes off to her nanny’s car. Senior Carl Curran came up with the unique idea for this after school club. The idea behind it was to entice the students of St. Andrew’s to learn easy and healthy ways of cooking and providing food for themselves. “Peo-ple should be required to know how to cook,” Curran explained. He went on to say that many of the foods we eat are both unnatural and unhealthy. “People will eat a power bar, look at the ingredients, and not know what it

is they are actually eating,” said Carl. With students going to collage soon, they will either have an unhealthy meal plan or be left to their own de-vices when it comes to food. With the Grilling club, Carl hopes to show the student body how easy it can be to cook simple, cheap, healthy, and quick food for yourself or others. Carl spreads his message through ex-ample. Students may hand him a few dollars (which cover only the cost of the food), and Carl puts something as simple as shrimp or chicken on the grill for them. Within only a few minutes it will be ready for them to enjoy. When spring games like lacrosse or tennis roll around, you might see Carl standing next to his grill by the field selling food to the fans in the hope that he is inspiring students to de-velop one of the many life skills that they need to know and are not taught in the classroom.

The Grilling Club:Carl Curran Brings a Sizzle to SAES

Peter JamesStaff Writer

Senior Carl Curran talks to Assistant Head of School John Holden during one of his popular cook-outs. Curran has grilled chicken, steak, and shrimp.

Photo: Clinton James

As the familiar adage goes, the early bird gets the worm. When applying to college, many students feel that sending in early applications increases their chances of getting that proverbial worm of accep-tance. As a result, there has been a sub-stantial increase in the number of early applications sent to colleges over the past decade. Early applications can fall into one of two main categories, early decision and early action. An early decision applica-tion involves a commitment by the school to render a decision by a date in Decem-ber, and a commitment by the student to attend the school, and withdraw all other ap-plications if accepted. An early action appli-cation involves a com-mitment by the school to render a decision by the December date, but there is no correspond-ing commitment by the student to attend if ac-cepted. To further complicate the situation, there is single choice early ac-tion and rolling admis-sions. Single choice early action is a variant of the early ac-tion scenario with the requirement that the student to limit early applications to a single school. Rolling admissions works like regular admissions except the earlier you send in your application, the earlier you receive your acceptance/rejection. With all the odd scenarios and confus-ing rules, one may wonder why procrasti-nating teenagers would in large numbers choose to bother with all the extra hassle of early applications. The most common reason that students file early applica-tions is that they hope to obtain some spe-cial consideration by virtue of their early application. A close second is the hope to end the application process early. Like many of his peers, Senior Phil-ip Doerr filed an early application at the Uinversity of Michigan. He said that he applied early because he “likes Michigan” and knew that if he got in, he “would not have to apply to safeties.” But there are some risks. Not everyone

who applies early is accepted early. Some are rejected and some have their applica-tions deferred for later consideration. In either case, the student did not achieve his or her goals, and may have lost confidence in the process. While early acceptance sounds wonder-ful, early rejection has the power to cast an ominous shadow over most of the sec-ond trimester. Regardless, the number of early applications still continues to rise. Colleges like early applications because it makes the admissions process less con-centrated and thus gives admission com-mittees more time to go through the co-pious amount of applications. The early

application process also gives schools an-other tool to gauge student interest. In just the past cou-ple of years, however; some schools have moved away from the early application pro-cess. Harvard, Prince-ton, and the Universi-ty of Virginia have led the way. Among their many reasons, these schools state that early applications were un-fair for lower income families who need to

compare scholarship options. Perhaps the unintended consequence of this was to make other competitor schools (with early applications) more competi-tive. Students who would have applied early to Princeton and Harvard now apply early to schools like Yale, Dartmouth, and Columbia and in the process make these schools more competitive. Perhaps this is the most compelling rea-son to believe that the early applications process is here to stay—because schools with the program will tend to rank higher. As long as there continue to be perceived benefits for schools and for seniors, early applications will probably continue rise in their popularity. For the present, many are hoping that their early application will end the night-mare of the college process. Regardless, it would perhaps be wise to remember that while the early bird gets the worm, the early worm also gets eaten.

While early ac-ceptance sounds wonderful, early rejection has the power to cast an ominous shadow over most of the second trimester

Early Apps on the RiseMarco Bonvillian

TRIPS, FROM PAGE 1

Photo: A

bout.com

Machu Pichu, Peru

Co-News Editor

Staff WritersCatherine AhmadEmily BroeckaertTristan ChenChristopher JungBobby RadeckiIzzy Schellenger

THE MANE NEWSNEWS4 THE MANE NEWSNOVEMBER 23, 2009

When a possible merger between St. Andrew’s and St. Francis was brought up in March 2008, one obvious benefit was improved and expanded admissions for both schools. In St. Francis’s case, it gave them the option to continue being a school, with an influx of students and money that would come from St. Andrew’s. St. An-drew’s gained the opportunity to give the school, which had previously been a 6-12 grade institution, the option to become one of the few schools in the area that of-fered a pre K-12th grade program. The unique chance to become a Pre K-12th grade school proved too good an offer to pass up, and a bond was formed. The deal was that St. Francis would become the lower school campus of the combined programs, and that in return the St. Andrew’s would make an initial investment of $700,000 to help fix up the St. Francis and pay for new teachers and materials. Among renovations was a new playground built on the Potomac Village campus. The investment would be paid back over the course of four or five years through the tuition paid by lower school attendees. Head of School Robert Kosasky said there was “No negative effect on upper school campus.” In fact, having the lower school campus was a “much more effi-cient” way to achieve a Pre K-12 grade school than building a lower school cam-pus on the Postoak property. Initially this year, St. Andrew’s would house pre K-3rd grade classes on the lower school campus in the village while incorporating a 4th and 5th grade over the next two years on the upper school campus. This first year, the admissions process for the new 4th grade took off, with a total of 14 new children being admitted. This

number is much higher than anticipated and shows the realization that families are enticed by the option of putting their children in a school that can keep them from Pre K-12. Head of Upper School Admissions, Ms. Julie Jameson said, “We have seen a steady flow of potential fourth grade applicant parents touring this fall,” and “We have heard wonderfully positive feedback from administrators, parents and students about this year’s 4th grade. We anticipate the same for next year’s first 5th grade.” A major question being asked is: how has the addition of the new lower school and 4th and 5th grades helped St. Andrew’s as whole with it’s financial aspect through the whole recession? Kosasky explained, “As a family, if you have the choice of hav-ing your kids in two different schools ver-sus one single school, you’re going to put your kids in that single school. English teacher Liz Kiingi, who has a child in both the upper school and lower school said, “A major reason that I put both my kids in St. Andrew’s is so that they would have the same approach to learning. That and the alignment with the same vacation time makes having them both at St. Andrew’s really convenient. Logistically it is easier for me.” Although the school’s acquisition of the lower school has made immediate im-pact in some parent’s decisions to send their children here, Head of Upper School Joanne Beach made it clear, “This is a multi-year project” and that it can take a while for word to get out to families that St. Andrew’s is now Pre K-12. As the years go on though, the school expects more and more applications.

Lower School Union Proves BeneficialAdmissions numbers show parent interest in Pre-K - 12 Program

As the school year moves forward, the Student Government Association (SGA) attempts to pass new proposals for the benefit of the students. A topic that has come up on numerous occasions is re-garding the new honor roll system. SGA President Philip Doerr recently submit-ted a proposal that suggested that college level classes, Advanced Placement or otherwise, should be weighted to reward students opting to take on more difficult classes and increase their chances of mak-ing the new, more difficult honor roll. Though this has been met by some hesita-tion from a few teachers, the students are lobbying for this motion to pass. Another proposal, made by Vice Presi-dent Marco Bonvillian, was drafted in order to keep SGA active. Bonvillian’s proposal requires all members of the SGA to create their own proposal before Christmas break. Through this, Bonvillian

Over the past few months Congress and President Obama have made it a priority to create and pass new Health Care Legis-lation in order to reform what some con-sider to be a broken system. On Novem-ber 5th, the House of Representatives passed their version of a Health Care Reform Bill (H.R. 3962), also known as the Affordable Health Care for America Act. According to the Li-brary of Congress, Sen. Jim DeMint (SC) first introduced the Health Care Reform Bill in the Senate on June 11, 2009. As stated on the website www.thomas.loc.gov, the bill was introduced “ to pro-vide for the reform of health care, the tax code for individuals and business, and the budget process.” On October 30, 2009, Speaker Nan-cy Pelosi (D-Calif.) first announced the health care reform bill that was sent to the House floor. The bill is over 1,900 pag-es long and was unveiled behind closed doors. Most estimates suggest that the to-tal amount spent will add up to around 1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. There are many ways that the United States Government is going to be paying for the Health Care Bill. There will be a new income tax surcharge for families that earn over $250 thousand a year, tax adjustments, cuts in Medicare and Medic-aid, and penalties for people who opt out of health care coverage (www.examiner.com). Under the Health Care Reform Bill, individuals must have insurance and em-ployers must provide insurance. If the individual or employer does neither, the individual must pay a penalty of 2.5% of total income and the employer must pay a penalty of 8% of their payroll. According to www.health.blogs.foxnews.com,the Injury Prevention Pro-gram (TIPP) and Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) conducted a poll with1,376 practicing physicians about the implica-tions of the bill. Some of the results from the poll are shown below: The poll results seemed to show a similar trend in protest against the bill. 72% of doctors polled

disagree with the administration’s claim that the government can cover 47 million more Americans will better quality care at a lower cost. An informal survey, which polled almost

40 high schools in the Virginia, Maryland, and DC area, asked students whether they supported or opposed the Health Care Bill. In the end, there was an even balance be-tween the students who opposed or supported the bill. A majority also stated that the lower class, the wealthy, and small busi-ness owners would be

most affected by the bill. One student stated “There simply isn’t a way to get adequate and equal care to all American citizens. The only way to solve the health care system problem is to put more emphasis on private and personal health care which could adjust adapt to each personal issue”. Spence, a student at Chevy Chase High School said “I believe a bill will eventually pass. Will it be this bill, this Congress, this President? I hope so, I think so, but I can’t be certain. How-ever, if one observes the state of the world today, most other major developed nations have national healthcare system of one sort of another. It’s the tide of progress, and eventually it will hit the USA.”

Caring About HealthcareMatt AdamsStaff Writer

“Will it be this bill, this Con-

gress, this Presi-dent? I hope so, I think so, but I can’t be certain”

hopes to help create more traditions. The SGA is also working to incorporate more Class Cup Events into the students’ lives. The presidents of clubs have been asked to come up with an event based on their club. This could help strengthen the bond between clubs and the students, hopefully adding a little more fun and something extra to look forward to at morning meeting. With all this talk of change in our school’s SGA, some might be moved to assist in creating this change. A reminder to all students thinking of running for SGA next year: you must attend at least three meetings. Meetings are Friday mornings at 7:45 in Mr. David Brandt’s room. So, whether you are interested in creating change or just want to see the change for yourself, the SGA looks forward to seeing you there!

Student Government UpdateEmily WilliamsOnline Editor

program over the summer, “It’s not like other school programs where you simply learn about poverty; you’re actually do-ing something about it.” Most of the food produced by the school over the summer was bread, muffins, and baguettes. The students did very well despite taking on the challenging task of baking. The program lasted for one week and the students received about 21 hours of community service. “I would definitely recommend it,” concluded John. “There will definitely be credit given,” explains Mr. James, “any time you do service, you will get a credit.” The program will run like a club, in that students will meet after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to prepare food for the homeless. On Thurs-days, the food will be donated to Bethes-da Cares. The eighth and ninth grade will have the program incorporated into their community service/religion courses. Sports teams will also be recruited to help periodically.

There were varied reactions among some of the students when they were asked for their opinions about the program. “That sounds great!” said sophomore Michael Fuller, expressing interest at the idea of community service credit. “I would defi-

nitely do it,” He continued. Howev-er sophomore Ben Coleman had his doubts, “It sounds like a good idea, but I think it would be hard to get enough students to vol-unteer.” Despite the doubts among some students, the

program continues to garner interest. The most enticing part of the new program is the prospect of community service hours. The pilot program will fulfill community service requirements for students looking to get their hours. If you are interested in knowing how to sign up, how you can help, or you just want to know more about the project, stu-dents are encouraged to contact Mr. James. His email is: cjames@saes.org

“The pilot program will fulfill community service requirements for students looking to get their hours.”

PILOT PROGRAM, FROM 1

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, has marshalled the Healthcare Reform Effort.

phot

o: g

oogl

eim

ages

.com

Tom BelikoveStaff Writer

THE MANE NEWS 5NOVEMBER 23, 2009The Cub’s Den: Lower and Middle School News

New Fourth Graders Join Honk! Hits the StageEmily BroeckaertMiddle School Staff Writer

The girls Middle School Volleyball team had an amazing season. With the guidance of Coach John McMillen, they won three games against Maret, NCS, and Holy Child. They only lost three games to GDS and Sidwell Friends. Due to sickness, one game against Holton Arms was canceled. McMillen commented: “The 2009 Middle School Girls Volleyball team was a mix of ex-perienced and new players that came together as a team very quickly. The team showed great improvement over the course of the season, and finished with a 3-3 record. I’m proud of what the team accomplished and appreciate

Girl’s Volleyball Season RecapIzzy SchellengerMiddle School Staff Writer

the support of the players and parents.” The whole team is proud of their fun, successful season.

Pho

to: G

rego

ry M

iche

l

Coach John McMillen prepares his team for their final game of the season.

Christopher JungMiddle School Staff Writer This year’s first annual middle school Halloween costume contest was very ex-citing. Middle school students were want-ed to show their spirit for Halloween by wearing their costumes, so the Student Government scheduled a costume con-test. All students in their costumes stood in front of the student judges. For the 6th

grade, Aidan Lucas, who dressed as a Mad Scientist won. In 7th grade, Con-nor Gianlorenzo-Leach won dressed as a chicken, and Alex Casasola, who dressed as a Gorilla, won for the 8th grade. The prizes were a collection of candy that were shaped like body parts, a bag of Candy Corn, and a giant Gummy Spider.

In the final round, Lucas took 3rd place, Casasola won 2nd place, and Gianloren-

zo-Leach won 1st place. The competi-tion was a lot of fun for all students who watched and competed.

Shown above are Aidan Lucas, dressed as a mad scientist and Connor Gianlorenzo-Leach, who won the overall competition with his chicken outfit.

Middle School Costume Contest

Gregory MichelMiddle School/Lower School Editor

Fourth graders Tommy Dekker and JoJo Johnson, the week’s guinea pig caretakers, are shown taking care of Blondie and Fluffy, the new class pets

Pho

to: G

rego

ry M

iche

l

In the last few weeks, two new mem-bers have entered the fourth grade. Blondie and Fluffy, the new class’s guinea pigs, now have a permanent home in the classroom corner. Originally, Ms. Natalie Adams, the fourth grade teacher, brought up the idea of rescuing an abandoned animal as a class pet since she had adopted dogs in the past. The students loved the idea, and they voted on their preferred pet. Unfortunately, the majority of the students chose a dog, hoping they could get a small dog in their class-room and give it some space under a desk to live. However, Adams quickly explained to the class that a dog needs more space. After teaching a lesson on an an-imal’s environmental needs, she made the choosing process into its own class project. Each student chose an animal, had to research it, make a Pros and Cons list for each animal, and give a three- min-ute presentation about why or why not their animal would make a good class

pet. Their animals included a dog, cat, ham-ster, bunny, guinea pig, snake, iguana, ferret, tortoise, and fish. After each student analyzed the presentations and how they could care for each class pet, they voted again. While a few hold outs still wanted a class dog, the major-ity swayed towards guinea pig as the most logical option. Unfortunately, they could not adopt any guinea pigs, so they had to buy them from Petsmart, much to Adams’ dismay. The stu-dents then held a bake sale in which they raise $202.90 towards getting the guinea pigs. The class continued to research guinea pigs, and shortly after, Blondie and Fluffy made their first appearance. Fourth grader Case van Stolk described Fluffy as a “juvenile delinquent” and called Blondie “sweet and adorable.” His twin sis-ter Claire, excited to be the first grade with their own pet, said that she loves to play with them every day. The search for a class pet was fun for the students, but it also forced them to actually think about taking responsibility for another living thing: what it would need and what they needed to do.

Maria Naab prepare some cake to be sold at the fourth grade bake sale, the proceeds for which went toward the new guinea pigs.

Pho

to: G

rego

ry M

iche

l

After weeks of preparing, the middle school musical: Honk! is done. The mu-sical tells the story of the ugly duckling with a whole new cast of characters and many, fun musical numbers. Some new characters included a comedic bullfrog (Raffi Ohanian) teaching the ugly duck-ling (Cameron Mitchell) that one day he will be accepted: “Warts and All.” There was also an air force of geese (led by Connor Gianlorenzo-Leach and Emily Broeckaert), as well as a sinister cat (Kai Waller) whose goal was to end the poor

ugly duckling’s life a l’orange. The play’s main goal was to teach everyone that be-ing different is alright and that everyone is special in their own way. Offstage, the band and tech crew worked just as hard. With the band using multiple instruments to help out with musical num-bers or even just simple sound effects, they worked their hardest and certainly did their best. The tech crew worked hard behind the stage preparing it with props, working with the lighting, making the stage, and even making sure the cast was ready and in the right position before going on the stage. The musical was a great experience that was fun for all those involved.

Pho

to: R

uth

Fais

on

Pho

to: R

uth

Fais

on

Eighth Grade Leadership Initiative2014 Focuses Their Efforts on Domestic ViolenceCatherine AhmadMiddle School Staff Writer This year, the eighth grade decided to use the “domestic violence” as their topic for their eighth grade leadership initiative. Last year, the theme was “Going Green”. They have been learning about domestic violence throughout the year and their ef-forts began with their bake sale on Friday, November 19. Being in the eighth grade, I, as many oth-ers, believe that domestic violence is an important issue that needs more aware-ness. Women, children, and teens are physically and mentally abused by their fathers, husbands, and boyfriends, which can bruise them on the inside and on the outside. Home has always been a place of well-being and safety. Most victims don’t have a place that welcomes them and they have

no one to talk to about how they feel. For example, if a child is beaten daily by their own father, that child may never be able to love and trust someone the same way again because of their experience. To see someone that beat you, who supposedly loves and cares for you, is disturbing be-yond belief. We all must to come to re-alize that domestic violence is an intense

struggle and a robbery of life. Learning about the vic-tims is one of the first

steps in finding a solution for the millions of people that are hurt daily. The eighth grade’s goal is to help people understand what domestic violence is and learn the affect it has on its victims. We all hope that our actions will help improve some other person’s life, and that is the greatest of all accomplishments.

Middle School Calls for CansTristan Chen and Bobby RadeckiMiddle School Staff Writers This year, the annual middle school canned food drive that is going to be a big success! The cans go to Smaritan Ministries along with the cans from the upper school canned food drive. But, the middle school grade that brings in the most can will win a dress down day. All 6th graders should bring their

food to room 207, 7th graders to 209, and 8th graders to 118. Students can bring in things such as canned vegetables, canned yams, dif-ferent varieties of pie mix, pie crust mix, corn bread mix, stuffing mix, cranberry sauce, canned fruits, rolls, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese mix, canned tuna, canned soup, and supermarket gift cards. Middle school-ers: Hurry up and bring in those cans!

“We all must come to realize that domestic violence is an

intense stuggle and a robbery of life”

Wendy Lazo-Salvador, who played Ida, teaches her newborn son, Cameron Mitchell about the world even though he is different from other ducklings.

The Lower School gathers in MacDon-ald Hall to see a preview performance of Honk!

Pho

to: G

rego

ry M

iche

l

They’re real animals!

THE MANE NEWS THE MANE NEWS~STUDENT LIFE~6NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Apple computers recently released the Magic Mouse. Some thought it was just another mouse and not worth the extra money while others thought it was absolute-ly amazing and a must have. The mouse has a sleek design. It is a small profile mouse with many new features; one of my favor-ite features is the multi-touch function. The multi-touch function is my favorite because it is just like an iPod touch without a screen, which is bent in the shape of a mouse. Apple could release new software and it would be practically new because it has multi-touch making very versatile. Another nice fea-ture is that the mouse sleeps just like your computer so no more needing to shut it off every night and turning it back on the next morning. It automatically recognizes when a computer in not in range and sleeps; sav-ing battery life and the hassle of turning it on and off. I would highly recommend this product for anyone who uses Photoshop on a regular basis. If you do not use Photoshop you probably would not choose to spend the $69 for this mouse, as all the functionalities would not be optimized. I would also not recommend this mouse to anyone would keeps their hand on the mouse for long pe-riods of time because it is not designed for your hand like many Logitech mice are and may bother your wrist at times. Apple usually release new products about every seven months. So if you are in the market for a new computer then waiting till the beginning of next year when it is ru-mored that Apple will be releasing a tablet. The apple slate or apple tablet, as it is more commonly known, has been a rumor for a

Everything AppleRehand ButtStaff Writer

very long time now. It has been said that it will come out during the first quarter of 2010 from many different sources. It is not certain the exact date of the re-lease but I would guess between Janu-ary 10-12th since Apple just purchased a couple hundred thousand touch screen monitors. You probably or thinking what is Apple going to do with all those touch screens, well I say they are going to make apple tablets. The only question is when it will come out and how much will it cost.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

November 20th 1st Mariner, Baltimore 7:30PM

Chris Brown December 4th Warner Theatre, DC 8:00PM

Flobots December 5th Recher Theatre, Baltimore 8:00PM

Trans Siberian Orchestra December 9th Verizon Center, DC

Upcoming Concerts

Artist of the MonthTHE SPOTLIGHT ON WENDY EISENBERGMatthew GravesStaff WriterNovember’s art-ist of the month is Wendy Eisen-berg. She has contributed to both the Upper School’s fall production of “Up the Down Staircase” and is an important lead and rhythm guitarist in the Jazz Band. Head of the P e r f o r m i n g Arts Dept. Mr. Ritchie Porter said that Eisen-berg’s “role drives the show, and requires a mixture of intelligence, passion for literature, warmth, determina-tion, defiance and self-doubt. I cast Wendy

A Survivor’s Guide to Oral HistoryAs Thanksgiving approaches, so does the most dreaded, terrifying, and endless proj-ect in every St. Andrew’s student’s career: the Oral History Project. But before you intrepid juniors start cowering in fear (don’t worry, you’ll get a chance), there are some steps that can be taken to eliminate… well, at least mini-mize the difficulties of this terrifically try-ing period in your lives. The first, most obvious, and least like-ly to actually happen: is planning ahead. When you write the context paper (10+ pages of pure, solid, sometimes tenuous-ly connected facts) be sure to start writ-ing—not researching, people, writing—at least a week in advance of the actual due date. This is guaranteed to significantly decrease the chance of you staying up all night writing a paper of steadily declining quality. This of course doesn’t count the hours between 2 and 4 A.M you’ll probably spend chatting with some equally bored classmate on Facebook. Nor your deci-sion to come to school three hours late, just minutes before your history class starts, to buy yourself more time. We want to avoid that. Secondly, if you’re going to waste time on Facebook, do it right. Download Tetris or Bejeweled immediately to make sure you’re fully prepared. Third, when it comes to getting research books, the big, scary, heavy-looking ones are usually the best, since each one pretty much contains all the information you could possibly need covering pretty much anything. Bonus points if there’s more than one volume. Now, when it comes to actually inter-viewing the person, keep a few things in mind: first, that they probably want to tell you all the details of their life as much as you want them to tell you; secondly, they

aren’t scary people, even if they have the intimidating ability to recall quotes and dates verbatim from memory like my in-terviewee did. I still have nightmares—but I digress. By this point, if you studied the 4-pound 3-volume set of books well enough while writing your context paper, you really are an expert in your subject. Make sure to have plenty of questions for your inter-viewees—probably a good idea to have 10 or so more than the “requirement,” since you can blow through them pretty darn quickly. Once you do the interview, it’s all down-hill. Transcription, well, it takes a few… days. Literally. The analysis paper is pretty simple, just follow this basic formula: According to historian Howard Zinn, “[insert appropriate Zinn quote here, pref-erably endorsing socialism.]” However, according to [Interviewee’s name], “[In-terviewee quote].” Therefore, [scholarly and intelligent conclusion]. As for the posterboard, my expertise never extended very far into the artistic, but I can offer a few hints: Use double-stick tape. It works better than whatever else you were thinking of using, really. Don’t plaster the entire thing with so many pictures that it hurts my (more im-portantly, your teacher’s) eyes when I look at it. Keep it simple. Yup, the rumors are true, the Oral His-tory Project is a lot of work. But the truth is that although it takes time, it really isn’t that hard. Just keep the pace, keep work-ing, and look ahead to what it will all be like when it’s over. Because then you can focus on exams, SAT’s, college applications, and the AP U.S. History test that you just spent three months not studying for.

Steve WhiteCo-Editor-in-Chief

Wendy Eisenberg, pictured as Sylvia Barrett in “Up the Down Staircase,” is a talented actor and lead-ing guitarist in the SAES jazz band.

in the role, because I thought she was the actor who could best capture all of those levels. Many rehearsals were spent trying

to find the right balance of the above, and it was hard work, but Wendy did not back down.” One of the chal lenges of the Jazz Band this year is that there is no k e y b o a r d player. As a

result, Wendy is providing a lot of the sound and textures usu-ally added by

the piano. On top of everything she is au-ditioning for some of the top music pro-grams in the country.

phot

o: S

ue H

arris

Phi

llips

Current Class Cup Points

Seniors: 34Freshmen: 26

Juniors: 24Sophomores: 16

THE PALE TUCANBy: Co-layout Editor and cartoonist Scott Womer

THE MANE NEWS 7NOVEMBER 23, 2009~STUDENT LIFE~

Mane News Trivia Smackdown!Look for the Mane News Trivia Smackdown! ia all our upcoming is-sues! You could be one of our lucky contestants Photos: Gregory Michel

CORRECT ANSWERS

Andres Grimm Jamee WilliamsJoe Chaney

Billy PetitoSusheela Williams

Willie Atchole ------------

1. Which LA Laker has scored the most points ever in Basketball history?

Kareem Abdul Jabar

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant The Tall One Kobe Bryant Kobe BryantKareem Abdul

Jabar

2. If you type 4! into your calculator, what comes out? 16 24 24 24 A Smiley Face ERROR 24

3. What is the capital city of Nevada?

Carson City Carson City Las Vegas Pheonix Las Vegas Juneau Carson City

4. What is the student;faculty ratio at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School?

6:1 6:1 12:1 12:1 12:1 12:1 6:1

5. What is the First Commandment?

There is one God and one

God only

Thou shalt not have any God other than me

Thou shalt not kill

Thou shalt not steal

Thou shalt honor the Lord your

God

I am the Lord your God

I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other Gods but

me

FINAL SCORE: 4 4 1 1 1 1Total:

]5

Holiday Games GaloreDavid UttStaff WriterFriends, students, gamers alike lend me your ears, the video game holiday season is here, and this year the flood gates come crashing open with a plethora of amazing games. Each with its own Story, Style and shockingly good game play, they all de-serve special attention. So read on and to find the best games!To start the list off is Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 2. This game follows the original Assassin’s Creed as Dezmond where he enters the Animus Machine to relive an-other one of ancestor assassins. Formerly you played as Altar in Jerusalem. Now you play as young noblemen-turned-as-sassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze during the Italian Renascence. You follow his path to revenge, paved with blood, when his parents are killed. The story is strong, deep, and emotional; going 30 years into Ezio’s life allowing you to really see Ezio develop as a person, as a man, and as a true assassin. The game play in Assassin’s 2 is a one of a kind experience. If you ever played the First Assassin’s Creed the free running is back and is as good as ever. On combat the people over at Ubisoft have undeniably learned from the problems from the first and have improved upon them. First of all the weaponry of the assassin is now over 30 tools of death dealing, ranging from

fisticuffs, dual hidden daggers, throwing knifes, smoke bombs all devised by the one and only Leonardo de Vinci. The oth-er part they have fixed on the fighting end is that the assassinations (to me the most important part of being an assassin) have had a major upgrade. Another crowning aspect to the game is the mission set up. It is developed to be a “evolving state” type; where the mission will change depending on how you complete the task. Next on the list of Holiday games is the squeal to the zombie killing madness game of 08. Left 4 Dead de dos. If you hadn’t played the original game (and then your crazy) don’t worry this game bring all of that fun back and more. With Left 4 Dead 2 you and 3 of your friends pick of 4 characters, Ellis the framing lad, Nick the con-man, Rochelle, the hard hitting re-porter, and last but not least Coach… yea the coach. All thrown into the Deep South for some good old fashion zombie killn’. This game brings a lot to the zombie game genre and need to be familiar with all of it to be able to survive the horde.

For about six dollars you can either get a value meal at McDonald’s, or something much healthier, and much more appetiz-ing. Crepes a-Go-Go is a small chain of restaurants which offers over 50 types of crepes, as well as a full espresso bar. Immediately upon walking in you are hit with the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, visible from across the counter. Hanging above the counter are four large tablets, each with 20 crepes to chose from. The choices are overwhelming and all equally enticing: sauteed spinach crepes, banana and nutella crepes, and salmon and egg crepes, to name only a few. And, if for whatever reason there is not some-thing on the menu which you would like to order, you can build your own crepe. The line was just long enough to make a decision (I went with the blueberry, raspberry, and banana crepe). You then sit down next to one of the many costum-ers who is busy conversing with friends and enjoying her food. The scent of her food hooks your eyes and reels them in towards her plate. After you watch her eat her meal (trying not to look like a complete psycho), a young waitress floats over and sets your food on your table. Looking up at you is a crepe folded in thirds and stuffed with sweet fruit, lightly

Crepes-a-Go-GoPeter JamesStaff Writer

sprinkled with powdered sugar, and lay-ing next to a line of whip creme roses. After you marvel at its beauty, you wonder how exactly you will go about carving up this beautiful thing. You impatiently cut off a piece of the corner. You then lift it to your mouth and begin to chew. The first thing you notice is the texture. The crepe is soft and warm, the edges crisp, while the rest is soft and faintly sweet. After wondering where your food went, you feel sad, but satisfied. You decide to spend about 15 minutes bask-ing in the warm of the restaurant, and continue listening to the soft French music being played as you sip on your unsweetened tea and let the food that you can still taste digest. This small, cafe style creperie can be found in Washington, DC, on “P” Street NW, just off Dupont circle, or in Gaith-ersburg, Md. Prices generally vary from $5.99 to $7.99. If you wish to try them out, or learn more, visit : www.crepes-a-gogo.com/home . This restaurant gets four-and-a-half deliciously stuffed crepes out of five.

PREFORMING ARTSTHE MANE NEWS THE MANE NEWSPREFORMING ARTS8NOVEMBER 23, 2009 9NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Up The Down Staircase: ReviewedAlex HastingsStaff Writer As character Lou Martin would say, we are behind St. Andrew’s performance of “Up the Down Staircase ” 100%. After watching two of the shows, it became ap-parent that the long hours after school for both the members of tech and the cast paid off. A combination of a well-constructed, creative set, outstanding actor that kept the audience not only on the edge of their seats but also on the floor laughing, and great costumes that matched the time peri-od ensured that “Up the Down Staircase” turned to be a success. Originally a novel written by Bel Kaufman in 1965, the author intended for Up the Down Staircase to be humor-ous, which St. Andrew’s rendition of the play accomplished. The performance also fully captured not only the style that the author chose for the book, but the main themes as well. The sharp contrast of the attitudes of the characters from the begin-ning of the play, when they were apathetic and disrespectful, to the end, when they showed enthusiasm and even trust in Ms. Barrett illuminated on the idea that even one voice can make a difference. Since the novel was written in epistolary form, meaning that it compiled of a chain of documents, notes, or letters, the directors and tech did an excellent job of express-ing this style by using a “suggestion box” that actors could crawl out of and speak as if they were reciting a note that they had dropped in the box. In addition, characters in the spotlight often read letters to each other on different sides of the stage while the audience watched, making you feel as if you were reading a letter sent between the two readers. Actors took on the roles of inner New York City teenagers from the 1960s and did an extraordinary job of staying in char-acter throughout the play. They consistent-ly spoke using Brooklyn accents, with an exceptionally good performance by Liam Sullivan who talked with a Spanish accent for his character, Jose Rodriguez. Wendy Eisenburg portrayed main character Syl-

via Barrett, capturing the audience with her strong disposition as a teacher who wants to get close to her students and help them to the best of her ability. Ben Mitchell also gave a stunning presentation as Mr. Barringer, keep-ing collected and cool throughout the play, perfectly representing the heartthrob teacher of all the girls at school who is a tad narcis-sistic. David Dunn as J.J. McHabe, Brendan Toussaint as Joe Ferone, and Astrea Somar-riba as Ben Schachter also had large roles and acted excellently, as well as all the student characters who kept all of us laughing with their over dramatic antics and funny facial expressions. The accents enhanced the setting and at-mosphere of the play so that the audience ac-tually felt as if they lived in 1960 New York City, even though the set did not at all need any improvement. It was well constructed and, although complex with many doors, shelves, and openings on different levels, it was not confusing to look at. Perhaps the most inventive part of the set were the three window-doors that Steve White, the prin-cipal, and other teachers would peak their heads out of if they were pretending to say an announcement over the loudspeaker. Creat-ing the look of a classic classroom environ-ment by painting the back round an offset yellow color and making a large blackboard to put behind the teacher’s desk further es-tablished a sense that the people watching had been transported back to the time period from when the play was written. In addition, to keep the set from appearing to drab from just painting the backdrop off-yellow, tech added drops of bright colors such as green, blue, and red on the floor upstage. The performance clearly exhibited ex-cellent directing, acting, and set building. It would be a perfect play to take anybody in your family, and was suitable and could be enjoyed at any age. Never once did “Up the Down Staircase” fail to entertain. Shows like this are what remind us that going to a theater

Honk if you loved Honk!

The Lower School enjoy a preview of the Middle School Musical, Honk!, a reimagining of the story of the ugly duckling.

READ MORE ABOUT HONK! ON PAGE 5.

photos courtesy of Ritchie Porter and Ruth Faison

Cameron Mitchell (center) is shown above being criticized by his duckling siblings for being different.

The cast of Honk stands together for the curtain call at the end of the show. Good job cast, crew, and band!Lily Shahabi played Penny, the swan, who the ugly duckling saved from a disaster and eventually comes back to end the show.

Cameron Mitchell, the protagonist of Honk!, takes the stage embracing his differences as the ugly ducking.

Kai Waller, the antagonist of Honk!, takes the stage as the cat as she decieves the ugly duckling into coming with her

THE MANE NEWS10 THE MANE NEWS NOVEMBER 23, 2009 ~-STUDENT LIFE~

Are Macs safer from viruses than PCs?Joe ChaneyMane News Writer

MAC VS PC

Quinn McGuireMane News writer

TH

E P

AL

E T

UC

AN

You’ve heard it. Either from commer-cials or your friends. But you’ve heard it. “Mac’s don’t get viruses.” But is it true? If it is, why don’t they get viruses? And why doesn’t Microsoft figure out what Apple is doing to prevent viruses? Almost everyone has gotten a virus, or knows someone who’s gotten a virus. There are so many ways to get a virus these days, whether through spyware, pop-up ads, spam e-mails, programs like Limewire, or even through Facebook. If you didn’t know, Facebook users can fall victim to viruses very easily. You might have noticed one of your friends on Face-book, maybe someone you don’t talk to anymore, post a video on your wall. These kinds of posts can be dangerous. Usually the link to the video will be described as “a funny video” or one that “you have to see.” When you click on it, your Face-book account becomes infected and posts the same type of link on the wall’s of ev-eryone on your friends list. However, it is not impossible to get a virus on a Mac. The vast majority of viruses are either PC-specific or Mac-specific, but not both. Macs are not virus-proof, but they do get infected a lot less. Why is that, you ask? It’s not because Macs have superior virus protection. It’s because virus-writers just don’t target Macs. Most virus writers are focused on either stealing information, or causing widespread havoc. Junior David Vogel, a devout PC owner, stressed exactly that

point. “The reason why Macs never had viruses was not because Macs had crazy awesome security. It was that Macs never had (until recently) enough people us-ing them to get any hackers to feel they should develop viruses. The overwhelm-ing majority of people had, and still do have, Windows based PCs. Even if the teen population has started going to Macs, the majority of businesses and such still use Windows, which means that for hack-ers, developing viruses for Windows is where the money is at. It’s where they know they can keylog computers and get access to bank accounts and credit cards with a relatively higher success rate, since so many use it.” Senior Olivia Sentelle, a cur-rent Mac owner, and former PC owner, has never gotten a virus on either type of computer. When asked about PCs, Macs and viruses, she said “I had a PC before, but viruses were never an issue because I know what to stay away from.” When asked about the security of her Mac, she mentions that websites she frequently visits often have pop-ups that potentially contain viruses, but she knows that the majority of them are written for PCs. Sen-telle knows however, that there are viruses written for Macs, but said that there are so few that “you pretty much have to TRY to get them.”Although some Mac users may think that they are impervious to the threat of virus-es, they are gravely mistaken. Worldwide, Macs and PCs alike are infected on a daily basis. Among St. Andrew’s students, the number of Mac users has far surpassed the number of PC users. I find it shocking to see other PC users in our school these days. No matter what kind of computer you have, the only way to protect it is to

exercise caution in your clicking. Here are some ways to avoid vi-ruses. First of all, get a subscription for anti-virus software. Anti-virus software names like McAfee and Norton do a good job, but also come at a price. If you come across a download for anti-virus software that you don’t have to pay for, chances are it re-ally IS too good to be true. If you’re sus-picious about something you’re consider-ing downloading, trust your gut feeling, and just don’t do it. Taking unnecessary chances with your precious computer, an investment worth hundreds of dollars, is simply a poor choice. If someone puts something on your wall on Facebook that’s a link, don’t click on it. If you’re really curious about it, call them or send them a message asking about it. If they confirm that they actually did send it to you, it’s probably safe to click on. Don’t download illegal music. Downloading sharing programs like Limewire is the computer world equiva-lent of sticking a post-it note on your fore-head that says “Hack me.” Chances are there’s a spam filter on your e-mail address. Learn how to use it, it’ll save you a lot of time that you’d have to spend analyzing the subject lines and “from” addresses of e-mails sent to you. There’s a very high probability you’re not actually being contacted by needy members of Nigerian royalty. Don’t download files from risky websites. You can generally tell if a web-site is risky by whether it’s well known or not. If it’s not, find a more reputable site to download your file from. Finally, be careful what you click on. This one’s pretty obvious. Don’t click on pop-up ads. There’s a reason why ev-eryone hates them.

“One sec, Mom, I’m harvesting my grapes.” That’s the new response to “put your dishes away” or “start your home-work.” If some of you have no idea what I’m talking about, the fairly new Face-book game, Farmville, has swept the na-tion. Farmville is a game where you start out with a small piece of land, a character that you can design, and four plants. Af-ter you harvest the four given plants, you earn a profit of a certain amount of Farm-ville coins. You can use these Farmville coins to buy more plants, and when you harvest those plants you gain even more profit. The profit you earn can be used to buy decorations, vehicles, buildings, or to expand your farm. Every time you buy these objects at the market or harvest your plants, you get experience points. Every time you get more experience points, you get closer to moving up a level. Each plant takes a different amount of time to harvest, so you have to get back on your computer in time before your crops wither. The first reaction when someone starts playing this game is “what the heck is this”? But when you start playing, it becomes incredibly addicting. It’s not so much the joy of farming, it’s being able to progress and expand. And, having friends in the game makes it social and competi-tive. How popular is Farmville? Well, for every real farm in America there are 60 Farmville farms. Farmville is spreading around the world, and the only way to keep up is to start now.

Farmville Obsession

By: Co-layout Editor and cartoonist Scott Womer

THE MANE NEWS 11NOVEMBER 23, 2009THE MANE NEWS

THE OPINION

EDITORIALS the staff takes a stand

Mercy for the Pumpkin Please

Thanksgiving approaches. Oh, I know what you are thinking, you typical blood-thirsty American. You are looking for-ward to the family, the food, the generally merriment, in the spirit of the season of “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!” And you dare to give thanks. Well, the Board of Politically Correctness has told me that apparently Thanksgiving is not politically correct. How dare you have fun and eat well and be with family? How dare you have a turkey bowl? What insensitivity! The HORROR!!! As a side note, the Board of Polit-ically Correctness has also asked me to in-form the readers of the Main News, be you small, large, or merely indifferent, that no, they do not have dark rooms in the back of suspicious-looking government build-ings into which they drag you if you dare disobey their rules. Apparently, they do not, contrary to popular belief, control the weather (de-spite the lovely – cough, cough – rain that has been falling). And no, no one is standing over me with a weapon that looks suspiciously similar to the tur-key to which I previously re-ferred. Whatever gave you that idea? The Board (can’t you just see it? A bunch of people sitting around a table wearing t-shirts with the giant logo “PC or Perish!”) only wishes to make the world better than it is currently, with their new Five Year Plan. What’s that? You seem to remember Stalin having the same name for his ruthless plan? Well, placing Stalin in the category of bad men is also being unfair and judgmental. Just because a man happens to kill people doesn’t mean he’s necessarily done bad things. But moving on. The Board of P.C.-ism, as they are fondly (cough, cough) called, insists that we give up our national tradition at once. And no, this isn’t merely so that the food can go to the poor, or to some other worthy recipient. It is to save the turkeys and the vegetables that we have so ruthlessly condemned to death. They are people too!!! Well, I mean, not exactly people...but people, nevertheless. That doesn’t make sense, you say? Well, and why do I always have

to make sense?? Are you forcing me into a tiny box of expectations and stereo-types??? Forgive the outburst; I am merely rather tense with this man standing over me with a turkey-weapon. Fine!!! IF you insist!!! The man that’s not standing over me with a turkey weapon!!! Are you sat-isfied, Mr. PC?! And where on earth is your t-shirt? Oh, I see, you got cold and put on a sweatshirt. Fine, but you should have one made with your logo... Well, moving on. Again. You in the back, a question? Am I mentally

stable? Well, sanity is rela-tive, is it not? So, the real question is, are you mentally stable? No, I am not trying to avoid the question. Next question!!! I return to the matter at hand: How can you make a holiday out of killing poor innocent potatoes? And cran-berries? What have they ever

done to you? Oh, certainly, you see the President pardon a turkey, but what about the poor vegetables??? What about the pumpkin? Doesn’t it deserve to have a family?! (Yes, pumpkins can have a fam-ily...sort of) I hope that you will take what the Board of P.C.-ism has said, I mean what I have said, to heart. Eat something that’s not living for Thanksgiving, like dirt. Or better yet, don’t eat at all. But REMEM-BER!!!

Lauren HeywoodMane News Columnist

What are your feelings about the change in the tent format?

“I think the tents are more creative be-cause there is more structure.” -Grace Chupka (9th)

“It’s dumb because it takes away from school spirit, which we already don’t have enough of.” -Darian Conklin (12th)

“It is easier to do just the skit, but I like the tent decorations.”-Tasha Belikove (11th)

“The tents are better because peo-ple create more props as opposed to just skits.”-Matt Smith (10th)

T H ER E D

ONION

Hallway Soundbit

There are many different viewpoints on capital punishment. The utilitarian view says that if it makes the most peo-ple happy, then capital punishment is ok. Kant says something a little different. He says that the severity of the punishment depends on the severity of the crime. Phi-losopher Immanuel Kant would support the execution of the DC sniper. Person-ally I do not believe in the death penalty. Not because it is too harsh, but because it puts the criminal out of his misery. I think that the sniper should receive life in soli-tary confinement. Some people may say that he deserves to die for what he did. I think that if he is killed, he is being set free from any feeling of guilt or remorse he may feel. Solitary Confinement traps the crimi-nal within his own mind. Isolation is just as torturous as death. In addition, if the criminal remains alive, he is forced to think about his actions; as a consequence, he may be consumed by guilt. The psy-chological pain caused by solitary con-finement is a punishment that will un-doubtedly make the criminal for regret his decision. Also, the death penalty is so quick that in reality it barely causes the person any pain. While some may believe that life in solitary confinement could be considered a cruel and unusual punishment,what would they consider killing someone? Yes, the sniper did a horrible thing, but life in solitary confine-ment is an equally just punishment, yet it keeps our morality clean.. A life sentence to prison is a devastating way to spend one’s life, and it fits the suf-fering that someone like the sniper has put so many families through. Those families have been condemned to a life of sorrow and regret that the loss of such important family members could create. The snip-er had no mercy for his victims, and he should be forced to face the consequences of those horrifying and cruel choices. We

as citizens of this country have a duty to make such choices as undesirable and as painful as possible. The sentence of a life condemned to prison achieves that; mere death is not sufficient. In addition, while a life sentnece al-lows the criminal to reform and stand as a continual reminder to the public that murder is wrong, the death penalty allows the public to forget quickly and thus dis-miss the consequences of mass murder. A punishment ought to reform the offender, giving due time for repentance and under-standing of a crime. It should also stand as a warning to all that such crimes will not be taken lightly. The life sentence al-lows the time and the severity to be fit-ting for the horror of the crime. The death penalty is too fast a death, and too easy a sentence to truly punish a crime so hor-rifying as mass murder. Of course, there is one more reason I oppose the death penalty: the hypocrisy of punishing murder with murder. This would only be overcome by a mass mur-derer so coldly cruel that he is too danger-ous to his fellow prisoners to be allowed life. However, that is a rare and excep-tional situation. Thus, the death penalty is insufficient to the task to which we put it, and puts us as citizens into the position of hypocrites. The life sentence is harsher and more fit-ting to the crime; it helps both the vicitms’ families and the criminals themselves more to serve that sentence than to die a quick, painless death. Either way, he is off the streets, and the people are safe.

NOVEMBER 23, 2009OPINION

Recently, on the newly formed mane-news.com, Brendan Harvey’s article “A Decline in Service” placed the annual community service trip to Chicago under undue criticism. The Chicago trip has come under scrutiny for two reasons: its lack of meaningful service due to a com-fortable setting and its social tendencies. As a result of a more familiar environment for students, the trip’s popularity has been attributed with facilitating the removal of the Habitat for Humanity trip. However, it is inaccurate to attribute its success to the downfall of the Habitat for Humanity trip. So, inevitably, you ask, “What is the real reason for the cancellation of the Habitat for Humanity trip?” The answer is actually rather practical. Foremost, after Rev. Thomas who had chaperoned the trip for several years left following the 07-08 school year, there was a void in who would chaperone the trip. Temporarily, Mr. Rich decided to run the trip, but due to a lack of interest, combined with Mr. Rich leaving school as well, it was canceled. As for the criticisms of the Chicago trip, they too are well explained. Just because the trip is run in a city with comfortable accommodations, such as cellular service (even though students are not allowed to have cell phones while doing service), a hotel with a gym and pool (despite the fact that students leave the hotel around 7:30 in the morning and do not return until 10:00 at night), and social environment, doesn’t mean that students can’t complete mean-ingful service. Unfortunately, Chicago is in need of a lot of service. According to the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Insti-tute on Poverty’s 2009 Report on Chicago Region Poverty as many as 253,000 more Chicago area residents are likely to have been pushed into poverty as a result of the recession. Furthermore, according to poli-cyarchive.org, over 9% of the city’s popu-lation is unemployed and 11.3% lived in poverty even before the current recession. While obviously one community ser-vice trip can’t change a city’s statistics, students on the Chicago trip spend an av-erage of 7 hours (plus 2-3 hours traveling, grocery shopping, planning, eating, etc.) a day doing service. While working at soup kitchens, shelters, daycare centers, nurs-

ing homes, senior centers, social centers, food banks, and more, students have the opportunity to experience multiple types of community service. Unfortunately, Chicago is in need of a lot of service and a service trip is an effective way to help out the city and its community. While Chicago offers an opportunity to complete service, it also offers a chance to see one of the world’s greatest cities. While leading to criticism in the afore-mentioned manenews.com article, the Chicago trip does allow students to expe-rience the city as long as they are com-pleting service. Gregg Ponitch, founder of the trip and Chicago native, says that, “Having run the trip for eight years, I feel there has always been a perfect balance between service and ‘fun.’ The students are out in the city for about 13 hours each day, and I try my best to fill in the free time that they have with opportunities to sightsee, relax, and enjoy their time off.” It is important to realize that while the students have an opportunity to relax and enjoy the city, the focus of the trip is un-doubtedly about community service. Se-nior Kevin Wyatt, a three-time member of the Chicago trip, says, “The trip has always been about community service. I think a lot of people have a negative view of community service because it means you have to do work, but the Chicago trip allows students to incorporate fun into meaningful service, hopefully changing their perspective. That’s a valuable lesson for students.” The Chicago trip aims to allow kids to have a positive experience with community service and experience different forms of service, in the hopes that they will be inspired to do more. In the end, if you are a student that does not know what type of service would be fun or how to complete 40 hours of ser-vice, the Chicago trip is a great way to answer both questions. On the other hand, if you do not have interest in the Chicago trip, but want to complete your hours via a trip, the Habitat for Humanity trip already has dates and reservations and just needs kids to sign up. So, if you are a student that needs community service hours, par-ticipating in either the Chicago or Habitat for Humanity trip is a great way to fulfill meaningful service.

CHICAGO COMMUNITY SERVICE TRIPSenior Mark Small volonteering at Saint Vincent’s Children Center.

Mark SmallStaff Writer

This year, due to unfortunate circumstances, all of the students’ hard work and planning to decorate their tents went to waste as the Homecoming Tent competition was moved to MacDonald Hall where the classes could only perform skits. While I understand that this move could not be avoided, what can be avoided is the drastic change in the compe-tition that would permanently relocate the event to MacDonald Hall, something that is being considered by the administration. This is not to say that the new format ruined the day, and in fact there were many positive aspects of the altered presentations. For the first time in the competitions his-tory, the entire student body, rather than just a handful of judges and students, got the chance to experience the skits of each class. Furthermore, by having the events held in MacDonald Hall, it made the entire ordeal much easier to handle in terms of logistics, and in turn made the rest of the day run more smoothly. While the indoor competition ended up being a positive last resort, it should definitely not be established as a tradition. As it has often been noted, St. Andrew’s main fault is its lack of inspiring traditions. Recent senior classes have tried to change this with new additions to the school such as the Class Cup and the Whiz Quiz, but by far the most lucrative and highly antici-pated class event has been the Homecoming Tents. It may sound odd, but the simple ad-dition of a tent to the competitions (which were previously held in the hallways of the school) constructed the central identity and character of the event. While the skits this year were successful, we never will know how much better they would have been had it not been for the rain. For ex-ample, the freshman, in order to celebrate the Redskins 1980’s Superbowl win, had planned to pour a cooler of Gatorade on the “coach.” Instead, they were forced to turn over a bucket with colorful scarves that slowly yet majestically floated down to the ground. The senior class skit was drastically

altered as well. Because of the limitations of being indoors, the seniors had to omit launching rockets into the field in honor of the Cuban Missile Crisis and they could not throw several smoke grenades during their interpretation of the Vietnam War; in ad-dition, what was going to be a full-fledged tailgated rock tribute to Woodstock, was reduced to nothing more than a coalescing of people in the center of the stage. Also, the most important feature of the tents was the amount of class participation, which the skits lacked. This was not because the kids were un-inspired, rather it was because there was literally nothing for people to do. As a class president, I had to experience this first-hand when on the day before the skits were to be held, when the majority of the work on the tents would have taken place, around 50 people approached me asking what they could do and I had to deny them. With only a skit, there is only the opportunity for around 15 people to participate and there is almost no chance for other kids to help. What made the tents so great was the at-mosphere that developed around the tent on that one special day when the entire class came out. Some people might be throw-ing a football around or talking to friends and not even helping out with the tent, yet what mattered was that the class was there together, united as a grade. Because there are no bonding trips at the beginning of the year for high school classes like there was in middle school, the day of the tent competitions is the day that the classes unite for the year. But this year we were denied that experience, and it shows with the lack of school spirit in most grades, as best exemplified by the meager turn out with the can food drive. The solution to move tents this year to the MacDonald Hall was an extraordinary one by the administration as it allowed the tents to happen instead of canceling the whole day, but it should only be used as a last resort, and the change from tents to skits should not be permanent.

A Change in TentsNoah PlattOpinion Co-Editor

A New Perspective on Service

As promised, the SGA successfully established the first Presidential Cabi-net with the hope that doing so would increase efficiency and clarity in the distribu-tion of responsibilities within the SGA. Four new positions were cre-ated: Secretary of Spirit, Secretary of the Arts, Secretary of Class Cup, and Secretary of Public Relations. The SGA members feel that these four ar-eas are prominent in student life and deserve additional attention. By appointing students to these positions and by giving them clearly de-fined responsibilities, we hope to ensure that there will always be someone to get the job done when necessary. In electing nominees, we considered the student’s interest in the specific cat-

egory, their previous time commitments, and their enthusiasm about participating in SGA. Two weeks ago, we officially

nominated Elliot Silver-man as Secretary of Class Cup, Wendy Eisenberg as Secretary of the Arts, Em-ily Williams as Secretary of Public Relations, and Donte Taylor as Secretary of Spirit. Starting next week, all cabinet members will be

expected to attend the meetings, however, be-cause they were not elect-ed by students they will be unable to vote. Never-theless, we look forward

to the rest of a great year and anticipate even more

great things from the SGA with our new members. Once again, thanks to the many SGA members who helped this idea come to life.

PRESIDENT’S CORNERSGA Installs CabinetNew Positions Created, Students Appointed

Photo: M

arco Bonvilion

SGA President Philip Doerr

12A rainy day could change SAES Tradition

OPINION

Every year, se-nioritis serves as an object of pleasure for seniors and one of contempt for the fac-ulty and administration. While many view senioritis as nothing more than a well-de-served break after three and a half school years of hard work, I find that its implica-tions are greater than just that. Throughout high school, students are motivated to study and get high grades in school with the goal of being accepted into the college of their choice. So, in those moments when one asks him/herself, “Why should I do this work if I don’t want to?” he or she remind him/herself that at some point his or her toil will be compensated with a glorious college acceptance letter. And so, it should be expected that once the incentive system of working for a reward no longer applies, students stop working. What does this tell us about what we have been taught to value

in education? By having been taught that grades and college acceptance are a clear priority, students are conditioned to apply themselves in school only when their suc-cess or failure will affect something else that is important to them. The reward in school is not simply the gift of learning and education itself, but rather what those things will bring with them. Now, I don’t mean to suggest that we should sudden-ly restructure our educational system in some radical way so as not to marginal-ize the value of learning and to emphasize that grades are not all that matters. Sadly, I think that were it not for the grade-based incentive system, very few of us would be motivated enough to work in the way that we do now. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that senioritis is simply an expected response by students who are conditioned to work only when it “mat-ters.” The school does make an effort to remind us that learning is not all about the grades. This focus is often manifested in AP courses that make a point of forming a curriculum that does not only focus on the AP Exam. Despite this, the root of the problem lies in the incentive system, not in any specific academic institution.

SenioritisCartoon by: Co-Layout Editor and Cartoonist Scott Womer

Philip DoerrStaff Writer

HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL SURVEY 1.How much do you know about the pending health care bill?

Very little= 45 votes Little=35 votes Some What=26 votes Knowledgeable=14 votes

2. As far as you know, the health care reform bill will most likely affect me and my family.... BIG Negative Impact=10 votes No impact=43 votes

Small Negative Impact=23 votes Some Benefit=25 votes Very Beneficial= 3 votes No idea= 16 votes

3. If you were a Senator, would you vote for or against the health care reform bill? For=39 votes Not Sure=60 votes Against= 21 votes

There is no question that Tuesday, No-vember 3rd served as a warning to the democrats: It is not 2008 anymore. Ef-fective January 20th, Bob McDonnell will be inaugurated as the 71st governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The repub-lican party of Virginia, a state that had effectively turned blue in recent years, made such large gains in the recent elec-tion that democrats on the national level had to take a step back. I had the privilege of working for Mr. McDonnell over the summer and got to see first hand what a hard fought campaign he truly ran. McDonnell won the state by a whopping 59% over his challenger, state senator R. Creigh Deeds, who garnered just 41% of the votes. While this may not seem that convincing, this was the larg-est margin of victory that any politician has carried Virginia by on the national or statewide level since 1963. There was no question that Deeds ran a negative cam-paign from the start. He began his cam-paign by attacking McDonnell’s views on divisive social issues such as abortion. McDonnell, on the other hand, focused on pressing issues such as creating new jobs and revitalizing the economy. Creigh Deeds was likely a very poor choice for the democrats as they voted him their party’s nominee in their early June primary. Deeds ran against tough challengers such as Terry McAu-liffe and Brian Moran. McAuliffe, the former chair of the Democrat national committee (DNC) and Moran, a former state delegate, would have posed much larger threats to McDonnell. In fact, had McAuliffe won the primary, the race would have been neck in neck from the beginning seeing as McAuliffe already had offices set up around the state to run for governor, even before he received

his parties nomination. The only reason that Deeds won the primary was because he received the endorsement of the very left-of-center newspaper, the Washington post. The post was against McDonnell from the start. In fact, they broke a story about him mid-August quoting from 1989 thesis paper McDonnell wrote in college. They quoted McDonnell saying “working woman are detrimental to the American family”. The Deeds campaign featured this quote in almost all of his television advertisements and circulated plenty of literature about it. The Washington post tried to spin the story in as negative a light as possible. This strategy to help Deeds claim the governors mansion completely back-fired. First of all, if the post wanted to really hurt the McDonnell campaign, it would have broken the story much closer to the election so McDonnell would be under tremendous pressure. What the Deeds campaign did not take into account was that McDonnell is an incredibly sharp talker with a memory like none other. Not only that, they never had a legitimate ar-gument to bring on him. McDonnell had never acted on his thesis views legisla-tively, AND he made it fully known that he supports his daughter who recently returned from Iraq, serving as a platoon leader. All off this was only a minor hic-cup in an otherwise flawless campaign. McDonnell ran a tremendous grass roots effort and brought more Virginian voters to the polls than ever before in a statewide election. As soon as the election was called, McDonnell was being praised, rightfully, from both sides of the aisle. after personally campaigning for Deeds, President Obama called Mcdonnell the day after the election to congratulate him. Karl Rove praised McDonnell as the fu-ture of the Republican Party. There is no question that McDonnell has what it takes, once he finishes his tenure as governor, to transition to the national level of politics. Mitt Romney, former presidential candi-date, made multiple appearances for Mc-Donnell during the campaign along with other high ranking republicans. Analysts call McDonnell a new type of republican. In 2008, the country made it clear that the Republican Party has some work to do. McDonnell is answering that call. He is a moderate conservative who wants to focus on the most pressing issues, with-out raising taxes. He has a bright future ahead of him in politics, especially with the backing of a very crucial swing state for upcoming national elections.

GOP Reclaims VirginiaBob McDonnell Elected As Governor of VirginiaElliot SilvermanStaff Writer

Fight to the Finish

Elliot Silverman with Governor Bob McDonnell at a thank you reception for all of the people who worked on the campaign.

Senior Ben Wald asleep in the Senior Lounge

13

Listen for announcements durning morning meet-

ing and come in to a story meeting.

YOU COULD WRITE FOR THE MANE

NEWS

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

OPINION THE MANE NEWS14NOVEMBER 23,2009 THE MANE NEWS

Even though I am an Obama supporter, I was skeptical when Obama was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. I experienced the same reaction that was felt by the ma-jority of Americans: shock. I did not think that Obama had made enough contributions to-ward world peace to deserve the prize; however, after some contemplation, I re-alized that visible results are not the only criteria for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama’s past ac-tions were not what warranted his recep-tion of the prize; he was rewarded with the prize because he has the potential to transform the future of the the United States and the world. The prize was given to Obama not as a reward, but as an incentive. In honoring Obama with the prize, the Nobel committee has given him a great responsibility. The com-mittee members selected Obama because they believe he is the person most capable of ending brutal violence and spreading world peace. Though O b a m a ’ s plans show i n c r e d i b l e potential for the future, he has already initiated several peace projects, which include abandoning the European defense plan, expediting the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, working to end Israel’s occupa-tion of Palestine, and shutting down the

prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. The Comitee believes The Nobel Prize will motivate Obama to fully dedicate himself to peaceful courses of action. In addi-

tion, the prize puts a significant amount of pressure on Obama to make his plans for peace a reality; it forces him to act with a sense of urgency. I believe that the prize will provide Obama with the momentum that is necessary for him to further inten-sify his efforts toward global peace. Most importantly, awarding Obama with

the Peace Prize sets a precedent for change. The Nobel committee wants to send a message to people all over the world and create a new

environment for international politics. The prize draws international attention to the importance of peace, democracy, and human rights. Obama has the gift of inspiring hope

It should not surprise anyone that I, of all people, am the one to write the article in opposition to a success of Obama’s. However, I feel that this time, my com-

plaint should be well received, even by Obama supporters. For it is not Obama who warrants my scorn, but the people in Sweden who named him the recipient of the Nobel Prize. The decision to give Obama the award was a premature action on the part of the Nobel Prize committee. He promises to create a better and more peaceful tomor-row. He may prove to be one of the great-est of American presidents. He may cre-ate world peace and end all suffering. But, the fact remains that so far he has done very little to help anyone or do anything. He has not been in office for even a year, so clearly he cannot have affected a great change in the world as of yet. It was too recent for him to even be considered a national figure, let alone an inter-national one. The committee justified their decision by stating that he was given the award based more on his promise than on his actual achievement. This is such a ludicrous idea on which to give any Nobel Prize that I should not even need to mock it. Imagine what it would be like if the committee created for determining the Nobel Prize for Physics based upon promise. The scientific com-munity would be outraged, and rightly so. The Nobel Prize should not be given out by those who we guess might do some-thing useful in the future. The final argument that I would like to present is the fact that Obama is currently overseeing both a war in Iraq and a war in Afghanistan. How can someone who is

overseeing a war in two different coun-tries even be considered for a peace prize of any kind? I do understand that he inher-ited these wars, but that does not justify

continuing them. While they may prove to be beneficial, those people in Sweden can wait for the rest of Obama’s life to award him with this prize. They can wait to see what he does with all of his four or pos-sibly eight years in office. While unlikely, he may end both of these wars in a way that proves to be so effective that it results in peace in the Middle East. He also may mess up his decisions on the war so badly that it causes millions of casualties. One cannot determine his effectiveness well in this regard until after both conflicts are over. The Nobel Peace Prize committee failed to do an adequate job in choosing the No-bel Peace Prize winner this year. What was

completely ignored was the fact that the world has not had time to see

the consequences of any of his actions. It should be noted that people like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. were considered terrorists at one point in their lives. Clearly, they are now considered to be among the most important and well-like people in history. Mandela even won the Nobel Peace Prize, just as Obama has done recently. I hope that Obama fulfills the promises that the Nobel Peace Prize committee claims that he has, but the sheer fact that I can doubt that Obama has or will do anything that significantly ad-vances peace should raise a red flag mak-ing it known that he received the prize prematurely.

Students Face Off on Obama Nobel: HEAD TO HEADAre You Serious?Michel Siddall Staff Writer

It’s All About the IncentivesSabrina ManfieldOpinion Co-Editor

“The Nobel Prize will provide Obama with the momentum

that is necessary for him to fur-ther intensify his efforts”

“The fact remains that so far he has done very little to help

anyone or do anything.”

Ben MitchellNews Co-Editor Today, it’s hard to find news that’s ac-tually worthy of any attention. 24 hour channels such as CNN and MSNBC have access to virtually all information yet they can only come up with weak, short snip-pets of almost-stories to fill the airwaves. The news is hardly informative and, if anything, it leaves people less informed than they were before. Pundits who have little to no hard facts now blather on and on in endless rhetoric, while others even take their facts and bend them to match their own opinions. But, the reigning champion, the heavyweight slugger of disgusting, blatantly biased, inaccurate, and flagrantly conservative, media mon-sters is FOX’s rising star, Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck makes me many things: an-gry, sick, entertained, and depressed. An-gry because he’s a sleaze who is basing his career on lies and logic that are both false and backward, like claiming that Obama is causing the economic downturn, or that the media (which he is a part of) has cor-rupted our values. I’m Sick because his backwards thinking breeds backwards thinkers who buy into his claims, and

spread it. Entertained because of his ab-surd hysterics that are just laughable (He “cried” on his own show, claiming “I’m sorry. I just love my country…and I fear for it.”). And depressed because its people like him that keep the conservative ma-chine chugging away, producing more and more blind ideological followers who have no idea what it is they truly support. This could sound overly harsh, but in my mind there is nothing worse than someone abusing their power by spewing blatant lies to gullible people who absorb it, retain it, and spread it to others. But don’t expect to hear any sort of measured or unbiased presentation from Mr. Beck. Oh no. The liberal media, the liberal elite, the media elite – these people are your enemies! They surround you and they are destroying the country you love and live in. Comedy Central media personality Ste-phen Colbert tore Beck down, however: “Glenn Beck tells his audience…that vague, unnamed enemies have failed them, and that its time to take angry ac-tion,” said Colbert,with an almost-smirk on his face. “We weren’t told how to behave that

day after 9/11. We just knew. It was right. It was the opposite of what we feel today. Are you ready to be that person you were the day after 9/11 on 9/12?” Beck said. We were scared. We were hurt. We were filled with grief and emotions that spilled over in pain and anger. We felt awful for the victims and yes, we did come togeth-er. But the hand holding and the candle lighting and the unity was created from something incredibly tragic. The fact that he would suggest that being that person

again is an option is horrifying to me. It’s a terrible suggestion. I understand what he is trying to say but being a country united and being a caring, compassionate indi-vidual doesn’t have to be spawned from that pain and suffering. The scary bit: people listen to him. So, to Mr. Beck, I hope you get a better un-derstanding of the facts before you spread your ideals to the world. And I hope that you become a better person than you were on 9/12.

Glenn Beck: A Balanced Appraisal

SPORTSTHE MANE NEWS 15NOVEMBER 23,2009

Sean Hurney—The Washington Red-skinsHow long have you been a fan of this team?My dad has had season tickets since 1972, all I can remember is having burgundy and gold in the house, I mean I had a Redskins lamp. When I was in second grade skins went to the Superbowl. For class projects everyone was making skins stuff, signs and posters for the Superbowl. I thought it was natural, I just thought it was part of life.How big of a fan are you? Do you have a room dedicated to this team? How much paraphernalia do you own? I am not one of those guys, that every sin-gle thing I own is either Caps or Redskins, but there definitely is a lot of stuff in my house that is Caps and Redskins.Why is this team the best?They are not the best team.How many of their games have you been to?Skins games in the last five years I have missed maybe one or two. Caps I have missed a little more because there are so many more games, you know there are 41 games and you have a wedding or some-thing on a Saturday, so I miss a little more. But out of 41 games I probably won’t miss more then 5 a season.What are some memorable moments you have about this team?Redskins, the 1992 playoffs, I was there for the infamous seat cushion game, where Deon Sanders was playing with the Atlanta Falcons at the time, it was a rainy day and the skins took a big lead and next thing you know, there were seat cushions everywhere. They had given them out that day, it was the give away and they scored and some fan just decided to do it and it was just a sea of yellow. A couple weeks later I guess they played Detroit, and Barry Sanders came, and it was for the conference championship to go to the Superbowl, that was another huge game, and the Skins won that. As a Redskins fan what opposing team do you hate the most?Redskins, you’ve got to hate Dallas, I mean you call them the Cowgirls, the crybabies, whatever you want. Each week you root for the redskins and whoever plays Dallas. Philadelphia and New York are always up there. Philadelphia is known for the worst fans in all sports, obviously in hockey you absolutely hate the Flyers. You ‘ve also got to put Pittsburgh up there.

Dr. Liz Weber—University of Michigan WolverinesHow long have you been a fan of this team?My team is The University of Michigan Wolverines. I especially follow the foot-ball team, although other UM teams are important as well. This interest/loyalty began when I was a baby; actually I can’t remember NOT being a UM fan.How big of a fan are you? Do you have a room dedicated to this team? How much paraphernalia do you own?I am a relatively major WOLVERINE fan. I do not have a University of Michi-gan room at home, but I do have loads of Michigan paraphernalia: numerous Uni-versity of Michigan sweatshirts, T-shirts, a scarf, a mini-helmet, an empty PEZ dis-penser, AND a Tom Brady action figure, to commemorate when he was Michigan’s quarterback in the 1990s.Why is this team the best?What a question!!! It’s MICHIGAN! Even in their off-years, they are spec-tacular. What a tra-dition - who won the first Rose Bowl: MICHIGAN!! The record is undeni-able. Even the fight song says it all: “The Leaders and Best!”How many of their games have you been to?Good grief, I’ve lost count! But I can tell you I never missed a home game in SIX seasons when I was an undergraduate and graduate stu-dent there, and I got to the Rose Bowl once myself, the ulti-mate “away-game!!”As a Michigan fan what opposing team do you hate the most?In this order: The Ohio State University (eat your hearts out, Ben, Tommy, & Mi-chael). 2) Notre Dame University (ditto, Jonah). 3) Michigan State University - the in-state rival; we call it “MOO U, up the street.”What are some memorable moments you have about this team? Every Michigan game is memorable. But my favorite memory was Michigan’s

1969 victory over Ohio State. The Wol-verines were coming back from two los-ing seasons (like next year!) and the Rose Bowl invitation depended on the last game of the season, which is always with Ohio State. It was in Ann Arbor and the legend-ary Bo Schembechler was our coach - only in his second year! The OSU coach was the legendary Woody Hayes. My seat was on the 50-yard line and no one expected the Wolverines to win this one. But after four glorious quarters, UM WON 24-12, and the fans went wild!!! We won a Rose Bowl bid, and walking home after the game, we danced in the streets, as some students threw roses down on passers-by from their balconies. That was forty years ago, but it could have been last weekend - I’ll never forget the thrill.

Mrs. Koons—Duke University Basket-ball and Washington RedskinsHow long have you been a fan of this team?I probably became a fan in 8th or 9th grade, my grandmother believe it or not, was not an alumna but has always been a basket-ball fan as has my father and he played, and they both just liked Duke basketball, so as a 13 or 14 year old kid, I liked Duke Basketball too. But in ’91 I was a sophomore and I was sitting on the couch in my Aunt and Uncles couch watching them win the national champi-onship and just being caught up in that moment was so powerful.... How big of a fan are you? Do you have a room dedicated to this team? How much paraphernalia do you own? Yes, well if you came to my house, my entire basement. My spouse and I are

avid sports fans and he played football at Richmond so its sort of like a third Duke, a third Redskins, and a third Richmond football but I have tons of parapherna-lia. In fact when my older daughter was 3 months old, I took all the Duke stuff that I own which is a lot and put it all over the sofa and just decked her out in a little Duke outfit, just stuck her in the mid-dle of it, and she has her hands out like she is praying.Why is this team the best?Because we play

with class. And I think that we are a school that represents the student-athlete model. I think a lot of the Duke basketball players and I can name a few, who sort of embody that model better then other athletes I know. Coach K sets higher stan-dards for academic performance then the NCAA does and if you don’t meet those standards you sit. And so I have a lot of respect for those standards and encourag-ing young people....How many of their games have you been to?I probably went to 90 percent of the games

when I was there, as a student, as many as I could, I mean I can’t think of any that I missed but I am sure I missed a handful. And since then, our goal was to get back to a game every year, but tickets are really expensive so we haven’t done that....What are some memorable moments you have about this team?When I was there we lost to Carolina 8 times in a row, my father always said I should have gotten a refund but the 9th and final time we played Carolina at Cam-eron we won. And it was the middle of my senior year, and we burned benches, every fraternity house at Duke has a bench and so we just took each other’s benches and had a huge bonfire in the middle of west campus and people were dancing, singing, and it was just a wonderful night.Last year for Christmas my spouse got me tickets to take our older daughter to Cameron for a game and she watched all the Duke cheers on Youtube and she was barely 4, memorized them all, like painted her face and stood in the nose-bleeds of the bleachers, chanting “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “ Go to Hell Carolina” and all these different cheers thinking that the stu-dent body was chanting with her. So as a parent that was awesome. I mean she will

probably hate Duke in her ad-olescence but she loves them now.

As a Duke/Redskins fan, what opposing team do you hate the most?Carolina. Carolina I hate but with respect. Kentucky and U-Conn, I hate and don’t respect. And Maryland fans would want me to say Maryland but I don’t hate them because I don’t put them in the same league as the other teams. Maryland just wants a rivalry with Duke.

Kurt Sinclair—The Pittsburgh SteelersHow long have you been a fan of this team?I don’t even remember when it began. I’ve been a Pittsburgh fan for all of life. In fact, I was born with black and gold blood in my veins. I guess it started from dear old dad. He’d lived most of his life in Pittsburgh, and he was quite the devot-ed fan.How big of a fan are you? Do you have a room dedicated to this team? How much paraphernalia do you own?It’s big, but I don’t have a room devoted to it. My paraphernalia is limited to a Terry Bradshaw doll, my terrible towel, and my Ben Rothliesberger Jersey.Why is this team the best?Let me just say: 6 superbowl wins in 7 appearances. They’ve been among the best in the NFL for 40 years, so longev-ity. They’ve had good coaches, and few of them. Most importantly, after their last Superbowl victory, they were promoted to galactic champions.What are some memorable moments you have about this team?First of all, the immaculate reception. Then there was Lyn Swan catching any-thing. He was a ballerina on the football field. There was also Ben Roethlisberg-er’s rookie season, when the Steelers went 15 and 1.As a Steelers fan what opposing team do you hate the most? New England, of course. We’ve met them in many AFC championship games, and they’ve kept us from going to even more Superbowl games.

SAES Teachers Discuss Their Sports ObsessionsTeachers Show Their Colors

“I was born with black and gold blood in my veins.”

Dr. Liz Weber, 10th grade and Art His-tory teacher, poses as an ardent Univer-sity of Michigan fan.

Jimmy PetersenSports Editor

Kurt Sinclair, Liz Weber, and Dresden Koons cheer for their favorite sports teams.

Students Face Off on Obama Nobel: HEAD TO HEAD

SPORTSOUTBACK16 NOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MANE NEWS

phot

o: K

evin

Mils

ted

phot

o: B

ob Y

oung

ento

b

phot

o: B

ob Y

oung

ento

b

phot

o: B

en R

ich

WINTER TRACK GIRLS BASKETBALL BOYS BASKETBALL WRESTLING

On October 20, 2009, the St. Andrew’s Varsity Golf Team went to the Mont-gomery Village Golf Club for the MAC Championships. Six other schools – Flint Hill, Sidwell Friends, Maret, St. James, GDS, and Potomac – competed for the MAC title, and for the third year running, St. Andrew’s came out on top. The teams played eighteen holes in the MAC Championship; the top four scor-ers from each team were counted for the overall team score. Freshman Richard Koch, Sophomore Michael Fuller, Junior Tim Gregg, and Senior Jeremy Burke were the top four scorers. Tim Gregg shot a staggering 69 strokes, which was two under par at Montgomery Village Golf Club. In second place for the team was co-captain Jeremy Burke, who shot 86 strokes in the championship match.

Michael Fuller and Richard Koch tied in third place for the team with 89 strokes. Although the team’s top second and third place competitors shot above their sea-son averages, they collectively did well enough with Tim Gregg’s school record breaking score of 69 strokes to take the banner for the third time in a row.

The fi nal scores for the top three schools in the championship were St. Andrew’s – 333, Potomac – 337, and Sidwell – 339. The team proved to be the better of the bunch, and their returning skill gave them the boost they needed to win. Mr. Tim Rose, the assistant Golf Coach, ex-plains, “With two loses and some close scores against MAC opponents, it was anyone’s banner.” “The team supported each other and developed a strong rapport throughout the season. It was a very positive experi-ence for the coaches and players which translated into great achievements in matches,” said Rose. The team’s record for the season was eight wins and two loses. Over the past three years, the team won twenty-eight matches and only lost three. Although

Three’s a Magic Number Ben ColemanStaff Writer

there has been great success for the golf team very recently, four seniors on the golf team, Jeremy Burke, Michael Sid-dall, Aidan Bundy, and Jonah Orr are leaving this year. Will it continue to have the same level of accomplishment in the future? Rose responds, “Yes, we have a strong core of players with Tim Gregg, Michael Fuller, Richard Koch, and Sami Spacassi returning next year.” All though the seniors are leaving, the team has great talent. And mayber, if the team is lucky, next year’s new students, especially the the Freshaman, might bring some needed talent to the team. The third team banner, was presented to the school and Mr. Rob-ert Kosasky on Monday November 15. Senior Captains Aidan bundy and Jer-emy Burke presented the banner, and the everyone in the school was excited. Now all three Golf Mac Champion banners are resting in the gym. Now everytime we walk into the gym, we see the Golf banners and are reminded of the amazing seasons our team has had. On behalf of everyone, we would like to congratulate the team on their success and we hope

The track team had a great season last year, and they try to continue their effort this year as well. For the girls, returning seniors Danae Wheeler will help lead the team with the the help of guy senior run-ners, Ben Naughton, Elliot Silverman, and Tom Belikove. The team is looking forward to a tough season, and is hop-ing to win races. The biggest race of the season is the Georgetown Prep Invita-tional, and that race helps establish the top schools in the division.

HIGHLIGHT REEL

Compiled by Tommy Finton and Jimmy Petersen

The girl’s basketball team, after coming off a tough season last year, is hoping to be a contender for the banner this year. With returning seniors Nikki Azzara and Danielle Burthey, the team is ready for a tough and gruelling season. Last year the team had a great record, and they made it into the ISL Tournament. The girls hope to again make it into the tournament and hopefully make it far.

Over his upper school career, senior Mark Small has been a four-year, three-sport varsity athlete. He is also a two-time co-captain of the soccer team and is a prospective captain for both basketball and baseball. When asked why he played three sports, Small said, “I did it because I have always enjoyed sports, it is a place where I can get away from all the pres-sures of school.” He says he plays be-cause he loves the sport. A recent highlight of his permoance in this soccer season includes his hat trick

in the game against St. Alban’s. This year in basketball, he hopes to fi ll the hole left by the graduation of Alex Zurn with the help of seniors Darian Conklin, Philip Doerr, and Noah Platt. How does a student be a three-sport athlete and still be able to handle all the other responsibilities? Small said it is all about time management: “You have to be able to know when to work and know how much time each responsibility requires. If you can’t handle all the pressure, then it’s not something you should do.” In college Mark plans to play intramural sports but focus more on schoolwork.

With the loss of superstar Alexander Zurn, the team will have a rough season this year. With seniors Mark Small, Phil Doerr, Darian Conklin, and Noah Platt leading team this year, they will need to make up for the loss of their best player. Last year the team made it into the MAC Tournament, and this year they hope to do the same. Mark Small will lead the team this year, and will fi ll the void that was lost last season.

The wrestling team this season is hop-ing for a great season. With returning seniors John Gill, Daniel Parker, Alex Facciobene, Kevin Wyatt, Severn Hen-ry, and Chris Petito. The team this year is fi lled with talent and are ready to be a threat for the banner. Last year Daniel Parker’s break-out performance in the MAC Champioship gives hope to this year’s team. He won his weight class and took home the MAC for his class. With his help, and with the help of the seniors, the team is looking forward to a great season.

Senior Nikki Azzara is a three-sport varsity athlete who recently led the girls cross country team to a successful sea-son. Which concluded with their Mary-land state championship title. “This years basketball team has a lot of potential.” said Azzarra. “We have fi ve returning varsity players, and I think we really have a good chance of winning the banner.” Azzarra, the leading scorer for the girls’ last season, was selected to the All-ISL team along with junior Claire Devaney. Azzarra has several goals for the bas-ketball season: beyond winning a ban-ner, she hopes to become the second St. Andrew’s basketball player in history to

reach the 4-year 1,000 point total. The fi rst was her sister Alex Azzarra, who graduated in 2007. Azzarra is currently 224 points away from this milestone. This year the girls varsity basketball team has two new coaches led by head coach Tish Few and assistant coach Christina Brown. They are particularly excited that they have four seniors: Aly-sha Howar, Carolyn Rush, Danielle Bur-they and Azzarra. The girls team fi nished last season with a record of eleven wins and nine losses. As for her future, Azzarra says, “I have been playing basketball since third grade and I’ve decided not to play in college so I am looking forward to my last year.”

Jimmy PetersenSports Co-Editor

Featured Athlete: Nikki Azzara

Matt GravesStaff Writer

Athlete Feature: Mark Small

SAES golf team holds 2009 banner after historic third win