WI’s texting banLearn about the new consequences for texting and driving. See In-Depth, p. 6.

“127 Hours”Read a review of the new movie starring James Franco.See Reviews, p. 10.

7500 Milwaukee Avenue · Wauwatosa, WI 53213 Volume 85 · Issue 4Thursday, December 23, 2010

CARDINAL NEWSWauwatosa East High School An Alert Student Publication

Boys’ wrestlingSee how the start of the boys’ wrestling season is going so far. See Sports, p. 11.

NHS improves school, communityKelley Annesley

editor-in-chief

National Honor Society (NHS) is one of Wauwatosa East High School’s larg-est clubs. NHS requires its members to apply each fall and members are only inducted after a screening process by a panel of East teachers.

As well as being a coveted addition to any student’s college applications, NHS provides its members a chance to partici-pate in community service.

“We provide community service op-portunities that some members may not have outside of NHS,” NHS president senior Mikaela Ferril said.

NHS is run by four East se-niors. Ferril is President, Erik Pintar is ac-tivities officer, Lauren Brown is secretary and Mary Lee Hope is vice-president.

Pintar believes the opportunities NHS provides are not only for its members.

“NHS provides even [non-members] the opportunity to help out the communi-ty,” Pintar said.

This month, NHS is hosting a coat drive.“NHS does the coat drive to provide

warm clothing for people during the cold winters in Wisconsin,” Ferril said. “So far the coat drive is going pretty well, we still want to get more coats in to help those in need.”

Pintar thinks the coat drive fills an obvious need in the community.

“We recognized the need for coats inWauwatosa and Milwaukee and so we help our community every year by collecting coats,” Pintar said.

As of press time, officers plan to donate the coats from the drive to an area charity organization called Reformation.

Though the coat drive is important, Ferril believes the blood drives hosted sev-eral times each year by East’s NHS are its most important charity events. One reason is the large amount of participation by East students who are not members of NHS.

“A lot of East students show up and [give] back to the community,” Ferril said. “The blood drives reach so many people, people we don’t even know.”

Pintar agrees.“The blood drive is a lot of work but

we have a good team with the officers set-ting up the dates and organizing,” Pintar said. “the red cross does everything relat-ed to the day of activities of the blood drive.”

The last NHS blood

drive took place this September. Ferril also believes NHS is beneficial

to East as well as the community. “We make it a duty [for members] to

recognize those students who achieve in school by putting honor roll locker signs up,” Ferril said.

NHS also hosts “eighth hour study hall,” an activity where students can go to the Raider Room after school on Wednes-

days and receive help on homework from NHS volunteers.

There is no doubt being an NHS of-ficer is a lot of work for the students involved, but Ferril en-joys the position.

“I wanted to be an officer because junior year I always enjoyed going to meetings and I enjoy...having a leadership role in one of the largest clubs at [East,]” Ferril said.

As President, Ferril is in charge of setting up board meetings and planning NHS’

monthly meetings and activities. Brown considers NHS a generally useful re-source for East.

“Whenever teachers or the school needs help with events, we are always there to help out,” Brown said.

Ferril agrees. “I think NHS has an important ef-

fect East and the community as well,” Ferril said.

Upcoming events sponsored by NHS include special 8th hour study hall sessions to help students before East’s exam week in January and a blood drive in February.

Students enjoy new advanced English offeringsIn nearly every subject there is an opportunity to

accelerate here at East. This year, freshman and sopho-mores also have the chance to accelerate with the ad-dition of Advanced English 9 and 10 courses at Wau-watosa East High School as well as Wauwatosa West High School.

There was much discussion among teachers as to whether to add the advanced courses.

“The issue of how to best address student needs and ensure they are receiving rich, rigorous experi-ences in our classrooms is always talked about, and the advanced course offerings grew from those dis-cussions,” challenge, media and English teacher Jean Biebel said.

Since sophomores graders did not have a chance to be in advanced English nine last year, it may seem as though they are not pepared for an accelerated English course.

English teacher Jonathan Balcerak, who teaches Ad-vanced English 10, thinks students are prepared.

“For the most part [the students are prepared,] though I expect that next year’s sophomores will be even more prepared,” Balcerak said.

Sophomore Anna Leach agrees. “I feel like we have done a great

job going over the new material,” Leach said. “Everything is taught in a very understanding way. We seem to be learning at a faster pace, too. It gives us a chance to learn and expand on things other than just sticking to a really strict curriculum.”

One good thing about the ad-vanced English programs is there is no test or other indicator to tell students where they have to go. If advanced is too hard or regular too easy, students can always switch classes at the beginning of the semester or drop back down to a non-accelerated course the next year.

“The best indicator is probably a recommendation from the teacher who has worked with the student over the course of the school year,” Balcerak said.

School counselors and other teachers also can pro-vide their opinions and advice for the student.

Sophomore Mitchell Thomas is enrolled in advanced English 10.

“[The class] has a faster pace and there is more thinking about what we read,” Thomas said. “I [have never been] in a rush to finish English assign-ments before [this class.]”

Although it is not re-quired for a freshman to continue with regular or

advanced, most think they will. The work load may be a bit larger but overall students can handle it and are very willing to work hard in order to have a better learning experience.

So far, students have enjoyed the new classes.“It has been good,” Thomas said. “We have done

more [things] in class. Its a lot different from [regular English] classes.”

Raci Lynchstaff writer

“It gives us a chance to learn and exand on things rather than sticking to a really strict curriculum.”

Anna Leach‘13

Participating in the coat drive, sophomore Catherine Hughes gives a coat to NHS Activities director senior Erik Pintar. NHS plans to donate the coats it recieves to a local charity which will give the coats and other warm items to those in need this winter.

photo by Franki Ludwig

“Whenever teachers or the school needs help, we are always there to help out.”

Lauren BrownNHS Secretary, ‘11

fast factsadvised by

jodi perrone~160 membersled by a four-officer boardNHS

2 the cardinal news december 23, 2010News

Tie mincipit, quat iusto odiam volore magnim doluptat praessis alissis iscilla feugiam vent vel utpat, velessi tat. Ignit praessed do consequat, commolesequi tat.Bortisci blam zzriusto exercing ero odiam dig-nibh eum zzriure rostrud tio dunt wismolore modo commod tinibh ea faccum veniat, volore magnit, quipissi.Pat, quamcom molorer ostincil eraesed eros eu feuis adio essis etummodit augiam el ullam, susto odolorp eraessim in hendio

Wauwatosa East High School English teacher Jonathan Balcerak and special services teacher Su-san Volz have been nominated to re-cieve Herb Kohl Edu-cation Foundation Fellowships.

The Herb Kohl foundation awards grants to teachers with excellent lead-ership and teaching skills. Teachers are nominated by com-munity members, stu-dents and parents. Since 1999 when the Herb Kohl Education Foundation began distributing fellow-ships, the organiza-tion has given over seven million dollars to Wisconsin schools.

East bands prepare for

international travel

News Briefs

raNdom fact

On Dec. 27, the Wauwatosa East High School bands will travel to London, England. There, the band will perform in the London New Year’s Day Parade as well as participate in a concert at the his-toric Cadogan Hall.

East teach-ers nominated for education foundation

grants

AP art establishes new social media presence

Balcerak returns to forensics

The Wauwatosa East High School AP Art Alumni News facebook page is now up and running. Past alumni have al-ready been using the website. Links to alumni websites are just waiting to be discovered by fellow alumni, current students and future employers.

“Students can use [the face-book page] for networking,” art teacher Kelly Frederick said. “If it provides an employment opportunity or a scholarship opportunity, then the page has done its job well.”

Students from East have been producing art for years and now alumni have a place to come together to share their new works and promote their services.

The opportunities for alum-ni in the field of art may be more varied than most can imagine.

“Students currently enrolled at East should see just how di-verse jobs are,” Frederick said. “There are so many different paths to pursue.”

There are many jobs in the art field. Other jobs in the art field rather than a professional “artist” include graphic designer, pho-tographer and costume designer. The traditional title of “artist” has now turned into a much broader term for people working in any artistic atmosphere.

“We are hoping to break the myth of starving artists,” Fred-erick said. “All of the artists

in my family specifically have gone on to be very successful.”

Senior art student Jane Heer believes the site will also help alumni and students with networking in the future.

“Networking is extremely important for professional art-ists,” Heer said. “In most cases they are their own bosses so they need to advertise and make friends in the art world.”

Networking and showcasing were not Frederick’s only goal with the site.

“A secondary [goal of the facebook page] is to inspire cur-

rent students and also possibly draw other students to East,” Frederick said.

On the page, alumni are en-couraged to post recently cre-ated works of art. This gives the East art department a chance to show off the quality art educa-tion they have given students in preparation for life after they graduate from high school.

“We’re really proud of them,” Frederick said.

The East AP Art Alumni News page is an excellent place to find support and inspiration for past alumni and even current students.

Heer sees value in the new online resource.

“I probably won’t post my own art on the page,” Heer said. “I’ll definitely look at what gets loaded onto the facebook page so I can see what other East art-ists my age are doing once we have graduated.”

Reviewing forensics pieces, forensics coach and English teacher Jonathan Balcerak gives advice to freshman Hannah Dion-Kirschner. Balcerak returns to the position of head forensics coach this year after a several year absence. The first forensics meet for Wauwatosa East High School’s team will take place Jan. 22, 2011.

photo by Sarah Otto

Wauwatosa East High School offers many clubs and activities to students, in-cluding forensics. This year, forensics will be coached by English teacher Jonathan Balcerak and assistant coached by English teacher Katie Larson.

For the past two years, forensics was headed by East alumni Erin Donohoe. Bal-cerak was chosen to replace Donohoe for the upcoming season because of his past experi-ence with forensics.

“[Principal Nick] Hughes and I discussed the value of East teachers coaching forensics as opposed to someone who does not teach here,” Balcerak said.

Balcerak was the forensics coach at East from 2003-2007.

“I had to step away because, at the time, I underestimated the time and energy needed to be both a new teacher and a forensics coach,” Balcerak said.

Forensics is a social and competitive club that highlights students’ abilities to speak or perform in front of an audience. Forensics members prepare pieces to present in order to compete in one of 19 categories. They start off competing in three preliminary rounds being scored by three different judges. High scorers then move on to the “power round,” which de-termines the winners.

Senior forensics member Morgan Lucey is excited to see Balcerak as coach again.

“He brings a new intensity to the team that has been lacking in previous years,” Lu-cey said. “While he certainly has a competi-

tive nature, his main focus, however, is not on winning. His enthusiasm comes from making students better speakers and creating a team out of students with little in common.”

Balcerak and Larson have many goals for this year’s season, including “to make [students] better speakers and users of lan-guage, to build a team dynamic that pro-motes positive attitudes, respect for others and accountability to both self and team...and to have fun,” according to Balcerak.

Balcerak believes forensics in addition to being an extracurricular activity can be benefi-cial to student academic performance.

“Students who do well in speech activities such as forensics tend to score higher on AP English tests,” Balcerak said.

Joining forensics is as simple as seeing an advisor. Coaches will ask to see a short audition, but are eager and willing to work with any stu-dent with a postiive attitude. The first competi-tion of the season will take place Jan. 22, 2011.

Kalene Jassostaff writer

Student re-cieves na-

tional merit award

Wauwatosa East High School senior and art student Emma DeBord was recently named a YoungArts 2011 Merit Award Winner in visual arts. This means DeBord placed in the top 5% of the 2011 pool of ap-plicants.

DeBord will recieve an award of $100 from the National Foun-dation for Advance-ment in the Arts for her achievements.

To prevent sinking in quicksand, lie on your back and raise your

legs slowly.

Similar to finger-prints, each person’s tongue print is com-

pletely unique.

Ally Meauxeditorial intern “If it provides an employment opportunity or a

scholarship opportunity, then the page has done its job well.”

Kelly Frederick, art teacher

Jazz One prepares for “Essentially Ellington”

Rehearsing before school, Wauwatosa East High School’s Jazz Ensemble One practices one of the three pieces the band will submit to the Essentially Ellington Competition and Fes-tival. Last year, the band was named one of the top 15 bands in the competition and traveled to New York City to compete. The band will record their audi-tion CD Jan. 21. They plan to in-clude Duke Ellington’s “Portrait of Mahalia Jackson” and Count Basie’s “Tippin on the QT” and “Every Day (I Have the Blues).”

photos by Franki Ludwig

Korean peninsula conflict heats upA half-century-old ceasefire was broken on Nov. 23,

when North and South Korea engaged in an exchange of artillery fire. North Korea launched dozens of rounds of artillery at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which holds a garrison of about 1,000 Marines and also supports a civilian population of around 1,600. Two soldiers and two citi-zens were killed in the attack and several more were wounded.

North Korea claimed that the attack was only in response to South Korean fire. South Korea admitted that they had been firing test shots from an artil-lery battery but denied accusations that any shots had fallen in North Korean territory.

“[North Korea] wants something, and it doesn’t know how to ask in normal diplomatic terms,” social studies teacher Mike Ryan said. “[Americans] have a hard time understanding why North Ko-reans get behind the regime. They don’t have access to the outside world.”

China, one of the only support lines for North Korea, did not official-ly denounce the attacks. The United States, a loyal friend of free-market South Korea, has been outspoken in its condemnations of what it sees as North Korea’s aggression.

“I think we’re seeing that the conflicts be-tween North and South Korea reflect the differ-ences of their allies,” junior Joe Glowacki said.

Further straining the relationship be-tween the two nations is North Korea’s nuclear ambition. Recently, the North re-

vealed a new uranium enrichment facility, adding to con-cerns over its nuclear weapons capabilities.

Foreign countries have been quick to take sides and point fingers in the wake of the attacks. While China— one of North Korea’s only allies— did not officially denounce the attacks, China has been calling for six-way diplomatic

negotiations between itself, America, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

These international meetings were originally held to discour-

age nuclear efforts on the Ko-rean Peninsula but efforts proved unsuccessful.

The United States re-fused to join immediately,

instead holding a conference in Washington, D.C., with leaders

from South Korea and Japan. “North Korea first needs to take

concrete steps to demonstrate a change of behavior,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said

Flexing their military mus-cles, the U.S. and South Korea participated in a joint naval exer-cise. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral and his South Korean equivalent General Han

Min-koo, released a joint statement about the drills. They reported that the drills were designed to deter

North Korean aggression, but some see it as a roadblock to peace.

China has voiced displeasure with said actions, especially in waters where they hold economic stake. America has put pressure

on China to reign in the behavior of its financial benefactor, but China refused the obligation to the Obama administration, urging the American government to be involved in the talks.

“China is the key,” Ryan said. “They want to be rec-ognized as an elite superpower. This is their opportunity to show the world they can handle this situation.”

On one hand, American politicians do not want to reward North Korea’s belligerent ac-

tions. On the other hand, cooperation be-tween Washington and Beijing is essen-tial to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

The November shelling marked the first time that civilian areas have been attacked since a ceasefire ended the Korean War in

1953, although there have been several military skirmishes between the two sides.

South Korea responded with its own artil-lery barrage, but South Korean President Lee Myungbak and his administration have come under heavy criticism for what many saw as a feeble retaliation. Within days of the attack,

the South Korean defense minister resigned and was replaced by a four-star general. Na-

tional image is at stake, but few desire to see the situation escalate into open warfare.

“North Korea has nothing to lose, while we have everything to lose,” Kang Won-taek, a profes-sor of politics at Seoul National University said.

South Korea’s capitol city Seoul, which boasts a population of over 10 million and a large

portion of the nation’s economy, lies only about 30 miles south of the North-South Korean border. If war were to break out, the economic and political center of South Korea would likely be devastated.

“I’ve seen enough in my lifetime to know that [war] is possible,” Ryan said. “Certainly I hope it would not come to that.”

Girard Gorelickstaff writer

3the cardinal newsdecember 23, 2010 Nation/World

Glance at the Globe

The 119 year old original rulebook of basketball was sold at an auction in New

York City for 4.3 million dol-lars to a private collector.

A man in downtown Beijing, China constructed a minis-

cule egg-shaped house which contains a lamp and a bed. It is completely solar powered.

world Briefs

Longtime high-octane American diplomat Rich-ard Holbrooke died at age 69 after over 20 hours of surgery for a torn aorta.

After 9/11, the American government knew it had to

implement new drastic measures to stop terrorism. What came out of that tragedy was the “no fly list,” which contains the names of individuals who are not allowed to board or exit an airplane in U.S. airspace. The list, which is actually surprisingly light on real terrorists, is full of deceased people, foreign politicians, small children and military veterans.

The system is also costing the U.S. government about 100 million dollars each year due to countless passengers being delayed. When asked by international reporters if any terrorists had actually been detained, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was unable to provide any specific examples.

During the past year the TSA unveiled a new set of safeguards including full-body scans and pat downs.

While being scanned, one is required to stand still with both arms up while two powerful machines scan the front and back of the body for any unpermitted items. The pat downs are akin to the ones prisoners at detention facilities receive. A security worker combs every surface and crevice of the body with their hands to find any hidden tools of terrorism.

Then come the full-body scans, which have been proven ineffective to detect weapons hidden in the body. The scans are so crude that former chief security officer of the Israel Airport Authority Rafi Sela said that he could overcome the scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747.

While it is understandable that the government wants to protect the nation from terrorism, this is simply not the way to do it. Utilizing easily-bypassable technology while making the lives of travelers miserable everyday isn’t the way to do it. Any real terrorist worthy of his make-shift bomb will easily pass through a rubdown.

Instead of just trying to prevent attacks, we need to solve the issue at its root. But until then, just try to think of something pleasant every time Uncle Sam puts his hands all over you.

Security has an uncomfortable price

the disparagement by Max Smith

The Ukranian government promised to lift restric-

tions on tourism around the Chernobyl nuclear power

plant in 2011.

home sweet egg by Elise Walker

Voice of Reason

Zhengqi Fan

Current American society makes one wonder whether we actually live in a fair society marked by years of sustained, moderate economy, or the ruins of a divided society in which an unsustainable community and way of life has collapsed in on itself.

On its current path, the United States heads towards the latter. The elite 1 percent dominate society and own around 20 percent of the wealth. This disparity in social classes contin-ues to be encouraged by certain issues. The most recent of these issues being the Bush era tax cuts extension.

Again we see the elites win over the government’s favor, the millionaires and billionaires carry congress’ favor once again. The upper class is given too many benefits while being propped up by the common man.

King Louis XVI had a similar plan, before the peasantry revolted and lopped off his head

with a guillotine. Clearly, that is not the solution. What our nation needs to do is figure out why this is happening. The reason is simple, the elites control society.

As of 2010 the top 10 richest people include Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, two Kochs (Koch industries), four Waltons (Walmart), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Michael Bloomberg.

Bill Gates and Larry Ellison con-trol various types of communica-tions. The Kochs control one of the largest goods-producing companies and the Wal-tons own one of the biggest distributors of goods. Warren Buffet controls one of the largest holding companies. Michael Bloomberg is the

Governor of New York. As if it is not enough that they control society, they are also running the government.

Within 10 people and only six families, large amounts of power over production and distribution of goods is held, as well as large

amounts of private invest-ments vital to the economy. What American citizens know

and communicate is held within the top 10 richest people in

America. The elite con-trol vast amounts of

American society. Unfortunately,

the bottom 50 percent has

much less than the top 1 percent. They have a

broken social security that

will not cover the next generation. They are

also trillions of dollars in debt, caused by bailing out the top 1 percent. They might even have mediocre healthcare.

This continues because the elite have it all; they own 20 percent but they control so much more. They do not produce what the people need, they produce ideas, then tell society what they want. And society buys into it, the upper class rules because society lets them rule.

They will get the better tax break as long as American citizens just sit there, appeased by their philanthropy. The citizens will pay for them and then they will not have any money to fall back on in old age.

Have no fear, there is a solution to this problem. America must nationalize the indus-tries that use natural resources. America must have a democratic society where the lower classes’ needs are heard and given a chance.

To quote the great James Connolly “the great appear great because we are on our

knees, let us rise.”

Student opposed to elitism,

Christmas tree choice proves complex

“...[The elite] own twenty percent, but they control so much more. They don’t produce what you need, they produce ideas, and tell you what you want.”

The Christmas tree has served as a universal symbol for family, presents (not to mention family presence) and the jovial fat man in red for over 400 years. But for the past century or so, the artificial Christmas tree has begun to emerge as a worthy contender for the traditional Evergreen. So the question is, which is better, fir or faux?

Let’s start with the basic pros and cons of each. On one hand, real Christmas trees have a lovely scent that is undeniably “Christmas-y.” The mo-ment any of us walk into the room, our minds can’t help but flash to scenes of family gathered around a fire while Bing Crosby sings “White Christmas.”

On the other hand, many people complain about the shedding problem that comes along with having a slowly decaying tree in their living room. Those pesky needles do tend to get everywhere (even embedded in feet).

But have no fear, there is a synthetic solution to this situation. The artificial tree is valued for it’s no-shed, easy-to-setup reusability. Over the years, manufacturers have perfected the art of storing the trees, so that people don’t have a six-foot evergreen in their basement all year long. Also, most artificial trees

come complete with lights already woven into branches, which can be very helpful for the average on-the-go American.

But then again, because it’s a fake tree, it doesn’t have the fresh pine smell that everyone associates with this time of year. Sure, one can buy some nice piney can-dles or spray, but nothing ever seems to come close to the sweet fragrance of a real Christmas tree.

Another thing to consider in this day and age is which option is more environmentally friend-ly. At first, one might think that artificial trees would, in the long run, be friendlier. They can be used year after year, and minimize the number of trees that are cut down.

However, when considering the other side of it, we must consider what happens when fake trees are thrown out, as everything in this world eventually is. They will end up in a landfill somewhere, and these trees are made from petroleum, which is far from “green” (no pun intended).

Real Christmas trees are, of course, biodegradable and

can even be recycled to make mulch or firewood. As for cutting the trees down, having plots of land set aside just for the growth of trees is about as eco-friendly as it can get, and every time a tree is cut down, a new tree is planted.

All in all, real trees offer more benefits than fake ones. In fact, there really is no comparison. Taking a needle in the foot is worth it for the payoff of an aromatic reminder that Christmas is on its way.

4 the cardinal news december 23, 2010Opinions

American income disparity

Money Bags by Evan Olson

Faux or Fir? by Elise Walker

elisa shapson

ben johnson

staff writersAlex BrannanEmma DebordZhengqui Fan

Girard GorelickNick Hill

Kalene JassoBen JohnsonRaci Lynch

Vince PrangeSami Reimer

Grace SchlickmanElisa ShapsonAlayah Walls

photographersCaylee HeraldNatalie Patton

PJ Johnson

artistsElise WalkerEvan Olson

editorial internAlly Meaux

adviserElaina Meier

assistant adviserMegan Sampson

editor-at-largeSarah Pease

printerAmerican Litho

professional organizations

Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Kettle Moraine Press Association, National

Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll, Student Press

Law Center

awardsJEA/NSPA Best of Show Sixth Place Fall 2009; JEA/NSPA Best of Show

Special Edition Sixth Place & Best of Show Eighth Place Spring 2008, Best

of Show Seventh Place Fall 2007;KEMPA - First Place 2007

CSPA Silver Medalist 2007, Gold Medalist 2003-6; KEMPA All-Kempa 2004-5; NSPA First Place, 2009; NSPA

All-American 2003, 2005; Quill and Scroll George H. Gallup Award 2001-

The Cardinal News is an open forum for questioning, expressing opinions, reporting facts and exchanging ideas concerning the student body and the world in which they live. The Cardinal News recognizes that the students of Wauwatosa East High School are diverse in their viewpoints and lifestyles. Therefore, a wide range of topics will be explored and many viewpoints presented whenever possible. We recognize and will work under the freedoms granted by the First Amendment.

Editorials express the perspectives of a majority of the editors. Signed opinions and letters to the editor express the views of the writer. Letters to the editor must be signed when submitted. The Cardinal News reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammatical errors. Letters to the editor for the next issue are due by Feb. 14. All content decisions are determined solely by the editorial board.

Copies of the complete Cardinal News editorial policy are available in room 262A at Wauwatosa East.

editorial statement

the cardinal news

2006; WEAC School Bell Award 2004; WNA Second Place General Excellence

2010,First Place General Excellence 2005-7

E-mail us at: tosacardinalnews@gmail.com

CardinalNews@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us

Online: www.CardinalNews.com

The Cardinal News is always looking for writers, photographers and artists. If you are interested in joining the staff, contact Elaina

Meier in room 251.

copy editorsMaggie ElliottLorenza Zebell

nation/world editorLee Murphy

in-depth editorAnnie Burnett

graphics editorMax Smith

photo editorFranki Ludwig

sports editorJack Lockhart

feature editorMartina Ibanez

opinions editorHanna Johnson

editor-in-chiefKelley Annesley

managing editorPaige Gardner

5the cardinal newsdecember 23, 2010 Editorials

staff editorialAssessment debate brews in Tosa

Recently, there has been discussion among Wauwatosa School District staff about how best to facilitate, and assess, student learning. This is a critical dia-logue for the District. There is vast poten-tial for Wauwatosa to be an educational leader and pioneer the best practices for educational professionals.

Students and district leaders, whose roles will be addressed in the second of this two-part series, also have potential to break new ground in American education reform efforts.

During teacher meetings, staff members have discussed the role of both summative and formative assessments as the Wauwa-tosa school district continues to evolve in its nurturing of student learning.

Formative assessments give teachers feedback as to how much and to what depth students understand material. Examples of formative assessments include homework and quizzes.

The second type of assessment is sum-mative; these are unit tests and final

exams.

Discussions have included to the math-ematical aspects of grade tabulation given the end goal of truly assessing learning.

Teachers and staff continue to wrestle with the implications of “zeros” in students’ overall grades.

While the “zero effect” discussions are hypothetical at present, it is clear from the existence of the debate that the district is looking to implement change of some sort in the future. This change must be carefully executed and with a clear focus how to best assess student learning of both the content and life skills required for success in the world after high school.

The balance between formative and summative assessments is a fundamental yet delicate one. The question of assigning a numeric value to such assessments further complicates the discussion.

Relying on either style of assess-ment too heavily or leaning too far to either direction on the role of zeros will not benefit students. Courses at the

college level rely on summative assessments, with most of one’s grade being composed of exams and tests, with little to no credit for homework. Given the dis-trict’s stated goal that all students take an AP level course during

their high school years and that the district would aver-age a score of 26

on the ACT, the role of high stakes, summative assess-ment cannot be discounted.

If summative assessment were to be the norm throughout middle and high school, teachers could punish students who struggle with test-taking or those students who improve through homework process. Rely-ing on summative assessments before the college level serves too narrow a purpose.

As math teacher Juliebeth Farvour stated, “the job of high school teachers is not only to teach math or English…we are teach-ing our students how to be good citizens.”

If teachers do not give any grades for homework, German teacher and foreign language content team leader Eva Tuin-stra recognizes that teachers will not be providing enough incentive for students to complete the work and the learning that occurs during the process of such work. Homework is a necessary part of learning, as there is not enough time in a 50-minute class to provide students sufficient practice with new concepts.

However, leaning on students to do their homework without the incentive of points in the grade book would benefit a significant subset of the student body. Students who are self-motivated and emerg-ing as successful students in school move ahead. Yet another subset of students who are still developing self-motivation skills will be left in the proverbial dust.

Due to all of this, the issue of zeros takes center stage. In Tuinstra’s words, “Students should not get something for nothing.”

Zeros are a necessary evil in grades. If students know that there are virtually no consequences for “forgetting” or ignoring assignments or simply not doing an assign-

ment, many students would not complete the work and thus fall behind in their learn-ing. Seeing a zero in the grade book is a powerful reason for most students, moti-vated or not, to make up missing work.

Some teachers have policies that prevent late and/or make-up work. This kind of poli-cy does not promote student learning. Once a student misses a deadline, if he or she knows the assignment will still be a zero in their grade whether they do the work or not, most students will not complete the assignment, thus depriving them of further learning.

Prohibitions on late work defeat the purpose of the homework assignments in the first place—to make sure students are learning. For some students, the absence of an incentive to make up missing assign-ments is tantamount to a death sentence for whatever learning was originally intended.

As district staff continues to discuss assessment issues, they must keep in mind the unfortunate lack of self-motivation in the modern American teenager. This lack of motivation dictates that formative assess-ments must still count in grade books and zeros serve as an important warning to students. These zeros, however, must not be set in stone, lest they actually provide incen-tive for students to ignore homework, which would inhibit learning significantly.

The balance between for-mative and summative as-sessments is a fundamental yet delicate one.

Sketching Out

New Program?by Max Smith

point counterpoint

Distracted driving has become increasingly problematic with the rise of cell phone use. Texting while driving simulations have been done to prove that the danger is similar to that of drinking and driving.

One study done by the Virginia Technical College shows that those who text and drive risk crashing 2.8 times more than their text-free counterparts. Wisconsin’s answer to this bad habit is legislation banning such behavior.

The law went into effect as of Dec. 1, and the penalties include a fine be-tween $20 and $400 and up to 4 points against a driver’s license.

Let’s compare these penalties with those of a first DUI. In Wisconsin, a driver with their first DUI cannot be fined more than $300 for the DUI alone, whereas the texter can be fined up to $100 more than that. Also, a DUI is de-fined as a driver with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .08 or greater.

A 250-pound man would have to drink nine beers (one and a half packs) over the course of a football game just to be over the limit. If he only drinks eight, Wisconsin law does not recognize his BAC as “over the limit.”

Distracted driving is awful. Distractions need to be minimized for the safety of the driver as well as the safety of others. But alcohol should not be tolerated. Alcohol is responsible for 40 percent of all traffic fatalities, some of which occur when the driver is not over the .08 limit according to drivers.com.

Items such as cell phones and food can be easily taken care of if a driver finds him or herself distracted by them. But if a driver is intoxicated, it will take hours for that alcohol to empty out of their system.

The texting ban is a good idea and may help in punishing distracted driving. But the state also needs to stop defending alcohol. Driving under the influence of alco-hol, however small the amount, musn’t be punished less severely than reading a text message.

On Wednesday, Dec. 1st, Wisconsin became the 25th state to enact a law banning texting while driving. This law comes from multiple 2010 legist-lations focused on addressing inattentive driving.

Bill 496 outlaws texting while driving, Bill 103 prohibits the use of text messaging devic-es while driving on state roads and highways, AB341 prohibits any driver un-der the age of 18 driving under an instruction permit from using a cell phone of any kind, and SB91 bans school bus drivers from using cell phones while driving.

Bill 496 (now law), aimed at distracted drivers, comes with heavy consequences if drivers are found in violation. The reper-cussions for a first time offense include fines from $20 to $400 the possibility of 4 points against the driver’s license. Second time offenders may re-ceive tickets up to $800.

However, many are concerned about enforc-ing the law.

Senior Caylee Herald believes “the law is a great idea in itself but there are a lot of laws that

people break. The reality of it all is how it is go-ing to be enforced.”

Officials have not given much information as to how texting will be distinguished from other kinds of behaviors, such the use of iPods. Driv-ers should be aware that texting will fall under primary enforcement, meaning law officials can stop drivers caught texting without citing any other infractions.

Captain Tim Carahan of the Wisconsin State Patrol an-nounced that his team is “more interested in increasing safety than the number of tickets” they write. For the first few weeks, they plan to issue warnings only.

Senior Tony Lomenzo does not believe this threat will

prevent drivers from texting.“The ban is irrelevant,” Lomenzo said. “The

ban enforcement will be very weak and it won’t stop the common man from texting.”

It appears that the common belief is that en-forcement will be lacking. Officers will need to prove they are serious about the ban in order to make it effective. Drivers should be aware that regardless of how society views the ban, law en-

forcement will be out full force, searching and reprimand-

ing offenders.

consider this

Emma Debord staff writer

Students approve of legislation

45

NEW WISCONSIN TEXTING BAN

CAUTION: TEXTING

STOP

Wisconsin enacts new texting lawsPUT T DOWN

plz

7december 23, 2010 the cardinal newsIn-Depth6 the cardinal news december 23, 2010In-Depth

Paige Gardner managing editor

46.7% of teens

never text while

driving18.7% of teens

sometimes text

while driving32.7% of teens

regularly text while driving

According to state of-ficials 18 percent of Wis-consin’s vehicle crashes in 2009 were caused by distracted drivers. The new texting ban is intended to lower that percentage and it affects everyone in Wiscon-sin, including Wauwatosa.

“I think it’s a good ban, because people can’t multitask while driving, and they stop do-ing it once they or someone close to them have experienced the con-sequences of texting while driving or from this new penalty,” senior

Laetitia Diouet said. “A $400 fine is definitely a con-

sequence I would not like to deal with.”

Senior Lauren McElroy agrees.

“Texting is just another thing that distracts us, it’s only natural that we pro-pose a ban to promote our safety,” M c E l r o y said.

Texting while driv-ing does pose a dan-ger. Studies have shown

that driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent, according to Carnegie Mellon University.

“I think the texting ban is needed,” se-nior Angie Comte said. “People have be-come too distracted while driving and it has gotten pretty dangerous.”

Senior Audrey Zimmerman also has sig-nificant concerns.

“Texting is a really attention consuming ac-tivity — you need your eyes, fingers and brain,” Zimmerman said. “It can take away from the senses you need to drive, which can be very dangerous,” Zimmerman said.

Senior Jane Heer agrees. “It always makes me very uncomfortable

when people text and drive, I know they can’t be completely paying at-tention to the road,” Heer said.

The new ban spe-cifically prohibits writing text messages while the car is in motion, does not outlaw reading texts or going on the internet.

“I think the texting ban is very smart, there’s never a real need to text in the car,” senior Brad Halverson said.

“Most likely the text being sent does not contain any meaningful information,” McElroy said. Teenagers need to notice the things around them, especially while driving, and put down their phones.”

Freshman Lauren Remmel shares a similar viewpoint.

“Teens should really think it over before tex-ting, wonder if that text is worth risking their life for,” Remmel said.

Senior Zach Brown agrees. “I don’t text while I drive and I think it is stu-

pid so I think the law is a good one,” Brown said.

Senior Kathryn Ensch believes otherwise.

“I think it’s obviously necessary to have a texting ban, but I also believe that kids are going to text no mat-ter what,” Ensch said.

Senior Caitlin Marten agrees with Ensch.

“Teenagers are natu-rally pretty unsafe drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if tex-ting while driving didn’t let up,” Marten said. “Perhaps there will be a larger impact if police really do take serious action about it.”

Jun ior Alex Yang is hopeful for change.

“I think this texting ban in Wisconsin will reduce the number of dan-gerous drivers on the roads,”

Yang said.

Annie Burnettindepth editor

“Teens should really think it over before texting and wonder if that text is worth risking their life.”Lauren Remmel, ‘14

“The real issue is how it will be en-forced.”

Caylee Herald, ‘11

During passing times at Wau-watosa East High School, one will likely notice the various brands of headphones in the ears of the student body. Many East stu-dents listen to iPods and other music devices during free time and in- between classes.

“Having a music player lets you tune the world out and listen to whatever you want,” senior Audrey Zimmerman said. “They

help make the day go by easier.”Over the past few years music

devices have become an increasingly integral part of student culture. With this

rise of mp3 players there has been a simi-lar rise in the importance and diversity of

headphones and earbuds.Earbuds tend to be cheaper than head-

phones and can cost anywhere from $10 to $50. They are widely available and offer a way to listen to music without spending too much money.

“Even though they’re not as high qual-ity as headphones, earbuds are a lot more affordable,” freshman Logan Schmidt said. “They’re also handy because you can just car-ry them in your pockets.”

Earbuds, however, tend to be less durable than head-phones and tend to offer a lesser quality of sound.

“Most earbuds only have a lifespan of about one year,” junior Ted Kraus said. “It’s really easy to lose the rubber things that are used to cancel out outside noises.”

Headphones consist of two speakers which play music from outside the ear while pads around the speaker cancel outside noise. Headphones cost be-tween $60 and $300. Brands such as Koss, Sony, Apple and Dr. Dre offer a huge variety of different headphone models.

Many students have distinct brand preferences when purchasing headphones.

“I like some of the midrange headphones from Sony,” Zimmerman said. “They’re relatively affordable and they are way better than earbuds.”

Kraus believes that spending more on headphones is a worthwhile alternative to earbuds.

“I would definitely recommend Solo HD Beats head-phones by Dr. Dre,” Kraus said. “They are pricey at $200, but in my opinion they are well worth it. I have always been an [earbud] loyalist, but I have come to realize that they just don’t match up to a higher-end outer-ear listen-ing experience of [headphones]. Plus, they’re ridiculously comfortable to wear.”

Because headphones and earbuds are so popular, they make ideal gifts for friends and family members. They can be found at most any electronics stores in a variety of models and price ranges. With the holidays right around the corner, popular gadgets such as headphones and ear-buds are bound to be on many wish lists.

Ally Meauxeditorial intern

8 the cardinal news december 23, 2010Science/Tech

The holiday season is the time of year when everyone always seems have a smile on his or her face. 2010 has proved to be a great year for the electronics department but find-ing high quality items with budget friendly prices can sometimes be a hassle.

An issue that seems to surface each year is that holiday shoppers have a hard time deciding what type of electronic gadget to purchase.

“My parents want wireless stuff, like a wireless mouse and key-board,” earth/space and astronomy teacher Toni Grab-ski said. “We’re looking for a some-what inexpensive camera that will take non-delayed photos.”

The search for technology gifts can be difficult at best.

“The obvious and easiest answer is a gift card,” senior technology buff Erik Islo said.

Some technology that people want can-not be purchased for less than $50 (iPods, laptops, etc). With a gift card, the money can either go towards something small, such as digital music or appsor the recipient can put the funds towards something larger.

“At the same time however, I would not suggest store-specific gift cards unless spe-cifically asked for—Otherwise it can be frus-trating with five cards to five different stores, and the best price is at a sixth store,” Islo said.

Besides gift cards, there are many new items out there just demanding to be no-ticed by the general public. One is the new “iPals” headphones.

“The sound quality is actually really good and [the headphones] are really comfy,” freshman Hannah Dion-Kirschner said. “They are like earmuffs that play music.”

The quirky yet easy-to-use USB Rocket Launcher will be on every teacher’s wishlist this year. Simply hook up the USB cord to a computer and the launcher is ready to shoot out Nerf Missiles.

“[It would be great to] fire at students if they’re not paying attention,” Wauwatosa East

High School math teacher Michael Walhovd said.

Although Wal-hovd does question whether school au-thorities would ap-prove of this mind captivating device, at under $30 the new gadget may prove too good to pass up.

Another great gift idea this holiday season is a speaker pil-low. Many well-made speaker pillows can be found for under $50. Plug an iPod or mp3 player into the pillow and it plays music just like any other set of speakers.

It seems that in today’s world perhaps people have been focusing on what elec-tronics friends and family would want over what people need.

“Something a lot of people underesti-mate in giving technology gifts are periph-erals,” Islo said.

A peripheral is an accessory for a techno-logical device.

“A really nice keyboard or mouse can be a godsend for students frequently typing papers and researching,” Islo added. “Logi-tech makes really good mice. Bamboo tablets made by Wacom are also near this price range and great for digital artists.”

While name brands may be more ex-pensive it sometimes pays off in the long run. Well-known electronic brands that have been around awhile will most likely have good products. Electronics manufac-turers that have continued to bring great products to the market include Sony, Apple and Samsung.

“Sony is the first one that comes to mind,” business teacher Nicholas Heiting said.

Islo agrees. “My favorite brands in-

clude Sony, Apple and Sam-sung. These brands have always delivered products as promised, and of good build quality,” Islo said.

Freshman Max Walker prefers Mi-crosoft products.

“They have great customer service and their products are built rather well,” Walker said.

Over the past few months, Blu-ray play-ers and gaming consoles have become more popular. Pur-chasing one of these de-vices usually means purchasing expensive cables for the Blu-ray player and gaming consoles.

“People spend tons of money on ex-pensive cables for Blu-ray players and game consoles,” Islo said. “It is nearly impossible to find an HDMI cable for less than $30. Monoprice.com sells cables, iPod accessories, and other peripherals for

only a few

dollars, and I can say from experience they work perfectly.”

Often, one can find there is a bet-ter price online than in stores. Online it is important to make sure that the pur-chase is through a trustworthy seller. Reliable online retailers include Amazon.com, Buy.com, Best Buy, Target and Newegg.com.

Lee Murphynation/world editor

“Something a lot of people underestimate in giving technology gifts are peripherals [accessories].”

Erik Islo, ‘11

da kwistmass twee by Aaron Czarnecki

personal music players:a brief history

1972Stereobeltthe world’s �rst portable

cassette player, worn around the hips

1979WalkmanSony’s portable cassette tape player enjoys much success

1984Discman

Sony’s portable compact disc player dominates

the new CD player market

2001iPod

Apple’s wildlypopular mp3 playeris sold for the �rst time

graphic by Kelley Annesleyart by Aaron Czarneckiinformation courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times

Headphones part of student life

Holiday gadget gifts under $50

Located in the middle of the Wauwatosa Village on Harwood Avenue, Ur-ban Laundry sells cloth-ing from designers that live in the Milwaukee area.

photo by Franki Ludwig

Village stores encourage local shopping Tis the season to be jolly, and everyone is this time of

year. With the holidays right around the corner there is so much to look forward to; trips to grandma’s, decorating cook-ies, and shopping for something special aimed at everyone on your list. However, shopping can be a daunting task, with the overwhelming number of stores and gift geared merchandise.

Frankly, the majority of people will not find genuine and meaningful gifts at the mall. The merchandise is not original, so finding something one-of-a-kind is unlikely. The Wauwatosa village is an unexpected place to find presents for everyone on any Christmas list.

Stores in the Village are very unique. Gracie’s Boutique on Underwood offers tons of women’s clothes and accessories ranging from $30 to $100. If one is looking for cute household items, Underwood Gallery provides blown glass and other pottery items. At other stores you can pick up a unique painting or picture by local artists.

Salamander on State Street and Urban Laundry on Harwood have a wide variety of clothing that will fulfill your every fashion need and desire.

Urban Laundry shows off clothes, jewelry and purses all from different designers around the Milwaukee area. One of the newest designers, Karen Axt, under the brand name karynmarie, is selling original handbags ranging from the casual beach tote to the fancy “night out” clutch. Accom-

panying the assortment of fashions is an array of prices. Amounts can range from a $15 karynmarie clutch, to a $200 Three Dots dress. Either way, you are guaranteed to leave the store with a gift every lady on your list will love.

Tuesday’s Child on Harwood Avenue offers resale children’s clothing. Because clothing is being resold, prices are low and affordable for everyone.

Stores in the Village are offering a special deal for shoppers this season. The Village Holiday Pass-port, available at most stores, is available for shoppers through December 31st. At each store a shopper visits, a stamp is received. When 13 are acquired, the shopper is automatically qualified to win one of three village gift baskets. The baskets are compiled of different merchan-dise from stores in the village, so make sure to turn in your passport to Waterstone Bank.

Even when you aren’t shopping for a female, the village is the place to go. Absolutely everyone loves

chocolate, so stop by Niemann’s on Harwood and pick up an assorted box. Or drop by The Little Red Book on State Street, where a horde of novels waits every book worm on your list.

During this holiday season, make an effort to skip the cookie-cutter gift cards from the mall. Beat the crowds and support local businesses. Start shopping in downtown Wauwatosa.

Grace Shlickman staff writer

Fair Trade offers a variety of different items from around the world. It is easy to find something for every-one, these keychains (right) cost a mere five dollars. the colorful gloves (far right) are $20.

photos by Franki Ludwig

During the Christmas season, online shopping is more convenient than shopping in stores. One does not have to go through all the pain of driving to the mall, parking and waiting in lines when using the internet.

Going to the store’s website is more

efficient. Pick an item, pay, and

the item is shipped straight home. This

is a simple process, especially during the

busy Christmas season. Christmas Eve is

one of the busiest days of the year for shopping,

especially at the mall. Rather

than going through that hassle, one can go online and order whatever one could want for whomever one needs to shop for.

Online stores now have gift finders to help find a gift for that special someone. By entering information about who the gift is for and the price range, a few choices are recomended based on the information.

Stores like Target, Kohl’s and Ebay have a variety of gifts easy to find inexpensively online.

Ebay is one of the best online shopping websites. On Ebay’s website, it is easy to search for any item wanted and it is almost gauranteed they will have it. The products are owned by other people wanting to sell, so there will be plenty of pricing options offered by different sellers. All that is needed of the shopper is to pick the best option.

These online stores are perfect

for finding just what you looking for for mom, dad, brother, sister and whoever else.

More benefits to shopping online would be that stores carry items exclusively sold online and not in stores. Also it is not neccesary to worry if they will have the size needed or not.

“When you shop online you don’t have to worry about if your clothes are [available] or not,” junior Marquis Newberry Payne.

So, if one is running short on time or don’t like the shopping in general, he or she should give online shopping a try.

“Stores like Target, Kohl’s and Ebay have a variety of gifts that you can find inexpensively on their online sites.”

Sami Reimer staff writer

Online shopping reduces hassle, saves time

Cyber cart by Elise Walker

9the cardinal newsdecember 23, 2010 Features

Renowned director Daniel Boyle’s newest film “127 Hours” is heartbreaking, gruesome and thought-provoking but above all it is high quality entertainment.

Set in Utah on the scenic Blue John Canyon, “127 Hours” tells the true story of 28-year-old rock climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) and the five days that changed his life. The story begins innocently enough, with happy-go-lucky Ralston setting out on his trip, meeting some girls and having and all-around good time.

Ralston now alone becomes trapped in one of the canyon’s crev-ices, his right arm pinned by a fallen boulder. The rest of the film chroni-cles his physical and mental struggles in the crevice.

With a great soundtrack, setting and storyline the film can also point to two other things for its success—its cast and director.

The role of Ralston calls for an excep-tional actor, given that the majority of the film focuses specifically on his character’s plight. Franco does an admirable job por-traying this suffering, while still keeping the story believable and relatable.

Not only does Franco have to de-pict extreme physical pain but he also has to appear to be mentally grap-pling with the fact that inevitably he will either die or have to amputate his own arm. On top of that, as if these challenges aren’t already enough for one actor, he is dehydrated, hungry and hallucinating.

In spite of these complications, Franco pulls off the role with surpris-ing finesse, and is likely to get at least an Oscar nod.

The film may also be looking at other Oscar nominations. For Boyle’s excellent direction and screenplay writ-ing. Best known for directing “Slum-dog Millionaire” and “Trainspotting,” Boyle has yet again left his viewers speechless with his cinematography.

As a warning, this film is not for the squeamish or weak-stomached. It makes the audience think about their own mortality, as well as what kind of measures they would be willing to take to survive. For all strong minded movie-goers, “127 Hours” should be top on the list for a captivating, refreshingly modern and inspirational story.

used with permission of Fox Searchlight Pictures

Pretty Lights, an up-and-coming electronica band, just released their new-est album, called “Glowing in the Dark-est Night.” The band is actually only one person, Derek Smith who creates all of the music himself. Smith is assisted by others during live performances. As al-ways with Pretty Lights, the album is free to download on their website.

So far, Pretty Lights has released six albums, starting with “Taking Up your Precious Time” (2006). While the first was revolutionary, their material be-came somewhat repetitive.

However, with their newest album, Pretty Lights has broadened their hori-zon with new musical ideas. The second track on the album, “Out of Time” is an upbeat, fuzzy-sounding jam that is unlike any previous Pretty Lights song.

The sixth song, titled “Drift Away,” utilizes new ideas and is defi-nitely one of the better songs on the album. “Drift Away” mixes harmonic piano/synth sounds with the usual techno jumble, but also includes vocal

parts, more than ever before heard on any Pretty Lights song.

Overall, “Glowing in the Darkest Night” is a great album. It still sounds like the classic Pretty Lights music, without sounding too repetitive or similar to other Pretty Light albums. Of course, the album is free, which is a great reason for all Pretty Lights lis-teners, first time or otherwise, to down-load it right now.

New ‘Pretty Lights’ album worth a listen

used with permission of www.prettylights-music.com

‘127 Hours’ proves

The other day I was putting away books at the library, moping around, hating my job at the Wauwatosa Public Library when my phone buzzed in my back pocket. Unconsciously, I pulled out my phone to look at the new text. It read:

“Congratulations, Angela! You have been accepted to the Layola University Chicago Class of 2015! Watch your mail for more information on your acceptance.”

Thank goodness I was downstairs in the library’s workroom with coworkers, or else my scream would have probably scared off every single library patron.

This time of year, when most seniors routinely check their mail boxes in hopes of seeing an extra large envelope with their name on it and a distinguished college on the return address, I never expected a text.

Nevertheless, an acceptance notification is pivotal. As expected, I called my mom, dad and all my closest friends to share the news. My dad was especially surprised to hear Layola had texted me the acceptance. My brother was skeptical, telling me that the text was probably a prank.

I won’t deny that the thought had crossed my mind but I convinced myself it wasn’t possible. As advised I checked my mail regularly waiting for the letter that confirmed any doubts about the text.

But even three weeks after the message, no letter had arrived from Layola except for a “Happy Thanksgiving” greeting. When my dad suggested the text was a prank, I started to get scared. I don’t think anyone would be mean enough to fake a acceptance text. I had even made my facebook status, “Accepted! I’m going to college!” It would be embarrassing to explain that I hadn’t actually been accepted, that I had been fooled into thinking that I would

actually be accepted through a text. On the other hand, the text was

from a five digit number (from a business). The text was completely grammatically correct, something I doubt a prankster would think about.

I finally did get the letter, but a future note to Layola—acceptance texts are terrifying and very counter-productive, stick to application letters.

Trial by fire, acceptance by text message“Most seniors routinely check their mail boxes in hopes of seeing a extra large envelope with their name on it.” Martina Ibanez

Revelations from me to

you

Lorenza Zebell copy editor

Nick Hill staff writer

‘Fair Game’ entails opinionated

In “Fair Game,” a political drama based true events, director Doug Li-man depicts the CIA leak scandal of the early 2000s. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), a covert officer in the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division who is leading an investi-gation on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, brings her hus-band Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn) in to sub-stantiate an alleged sale of enriched ura-nium from Niger.

When the White House ignores Wilson’s findings and uses the issue to support the idea of war, he writes a news article expos-ing this scandal and lighting an array of controversy.

From this, Plame’s position at the CIA is revealed, leading to her termina-tion. Years later, this leads to a strug-gle. To clear her name, set the record straight and save her marriage.

With any biographical epic espe-cially those regarding controversial

figures, it can be very difficult to avoid opinionated portrayals. This is the first visible pitfall of the movie. It is easily arguable that facts were dis-torted and leaning towards Plame and Wilson (the movie itself being based on their memoirs).

This being said, to overlook the politics of a political movie is to see

it for what it is—a movie, simply enough. What begins as a luke-warm leading perfor-mance from both Watts and Penn, becomes a chemistry, plastered with tense, emotional dialogue. Furthermore, supporting roles are

hit-or-miss, highlights being David An-drews’ portrayal of Scooter Libby and Noah Emmerich’s Bill Johnson.

Aside from a hailstorm of emotion from the leads (with kudos to writing duo Jez and John Butterworth), the second downfall of this movie lies in what it lacks, memorability.

In essence, “Fair Game,” a movie with spellbinding attributes that plea-sures itself on liberties and opinion-biases, is considered a wash.

“To overlook the politics of a political movie is to see it for what it is—a movie, simply enough.”

Alex Brannan staff writer

portrayals, lacks memorability

refreshingly modern

10 the cardinal news december 23, 2011Reviews

Traditionally, Wauwatosa East High School’s girls’ bas-ketball program has had its ups and downs. Girls basketball at East peaked in 2005, when the team tied Divine Sav-ior Holy Angels High School (DSHA) for a piece of the Greater Metro Conference championship. Within two years they had sunk to the cellar of one of the Wisconsin’s most competitive conferences.

Since 2007, the Raiders have endured three consecu-tive sub-.500 seasons. Despite recent dissapointment, the Raider girls are preparing accordingly for a successful year. The Raider girls are preparing accordingly for an-other sudden shift in their performance.

“The effort is always there,” Head Coach Rob Ha-mill said. “Although our skill level may not match, we never quit.”

As the team prepares for their 2010 campaign, the squad is eager to gain the respect of an antagonistic student body, and dodge constant comparison to the competitive boys’ program.

“We are sick of constant com-parison to the boys’ team,” junior Emily Jensen said.

The coaching staff of Hamill and Nancy Bradigan are the masterminds behind the task of engineering East’s first winning season in four years.

“To compete in conference, we need to beat teams that are similar to us in skill,” Hamill said.

Preparation and scouting could be the difference late in a close game.

“We need thorough scouting for tendencies,” Hamill said. The team has plenty of potential with four seniors

and good leadership. “Being on Varsity last year taught me that leadership

goes beyond the court,” senior captain Carly Herald said. Herald and fellow senior captain Cassie Osinski are

not only leaders but key scorers for the Raiders. Yolanda Coleman and Alexa Kramer are the two other seniors on the team who will provide leadership and varsity playing experience.

So far, the East girls’ season has had its ups and downs as usual. They started the season at Wisconsin Lutheran High School on Nov. 27. The Red Raiders kept the game close in the first half. They trailed by 12 going into halftime, 39-27.

In the second half, Wisconsin Lutheran took over the game. The Raiders lost to the Wisconsin Lutheran Vi-kings (39-27).

The Raiders needed to play to their strengths ac-cording to sophomore Shea Conway.

“We need to be able to find our [forwards] because they could potentially do damage.”

East played at Milwaukee Washington High School on Dec. 7. After a high scoring first quarter, the two teams were tied at 14. Going into halftime the Raiders were narrowly leading by one point.

In the third quarter the Red Raiders expanded their lead by a little. The Generals from Washington High School came back in the fourth quarter. They tied the game up, and forced an overtime period.

In overtime, the Raiders out-scored their opponent six to two, and earned their first win of the season in a dramatic fashion.

On Dec. 10 the Raiders were crushed by Brookfield East High

School, they lost the game by 17.The next week, on Dec. 14 East played in another

away game at rival DSHA. The Dashers took a lead ear-ly, and held on for the rest of the game. The final score was (47-33).

One positive from the game was the Raiders success-ful full-court defense.

“Against DSHA our...press worked really well so that’s what we will stick with for now,” Conway said.

When East returns to action after Christmas, they will test out this press. Their first opportunity to do so will be at home on Dec. 29 against the Homestead High School Highlanders.

After this non-conference match-up the Red Raiders will have nine days to prepare for a conference game at West Allis Nathan Hale High School on Jan. 7.

Wauwatosa East High School’s competitive wres-tlers are part of a combined team with Wauwatosa West High School. This combined team has been relatively succcessful in the past seasons. In the first few meets this year, the team has shown promise.

Seniors Ryan Reagan and Aaron Sobieszczyk are captains from East. So far this season they have led their teammates into competition in three head-to-head meets and one tournament.

First off was an away meet at Pewaukee High School on Dec. 1. Tosa lost narrowly to the Pewaukee Pirates. The team felt like their result could have been better.

“We can do better,” Sobieszczyk said.Tosa Wrestling had to recover quickly form the loss

and compete at the Slinger Invitational only days later on

Dec. 4. The team placed ninth in the 10 team tournament. They were short a few key wrestlers, so the result didn’t come as a surprise.

“I think we did good with the people we had,” So-bieszczyk said.

Tosa Wrestling was back to full strength when the team traveled to Greendale High School on Dec. 8. Tosa got key contributions from all the wrestlers, and earned a victory in a landslide, winning by 70 points.

“We came ready to wrestle, we had intensity and we knew what we were doing,” Sobieszczyk said.

In their first home meet of the season at Tosa West, the team narrowly lost to Greenfield High School by only 10 points.

At press time, members of Tosa Wrestling were pre-paring for challenging matchups the next two weekends. The wrestlers will be able to test their abilities against tough competition during the holiday break.

In a series ending tonight, Tosa wrestlers face Mil-waukee Hamilton High School in a dual meet.

Many wrestlers have ambitions for individual aciev-ment along with the success of the team.

“We want to send a lot of people through regionals up to sectionals and maybe even to state,” junior Eric Ehlert said.

11the cardinal newsdecember 23, 2010 Sports

MLS stands for Major League Soccer. It’s true that it is the most “major” league we have for soccer in the United States but it is far below other “major” leagues in the world.

In fact, the only league worse than MLS might be the MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League). Sorry, Milwaukee Wave.

Maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe the MLS is not that bad but they’re not good in comparison to other leagues.

Turn on an English Premier League match, specifically the tough matchup between Tottenham and Chelsea on Sunday, Dec. 11. After 90 minutes plus four minutes of stoppage time, it ended in a draw, (1-1).

Watching this game one witnesses some of the best players in the world: John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Gareth Bale.

Turn on a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) match AC Milan vs Real Madrid for example and one can watch more amazing players like Christiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Kaka, Ronaldinho and (my personal favorite) Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

My point being none of these players are American. The majority of the male population at Wauwatosa East High School plays FIFA (a soccer video game).

When students need to pick a team they think will win them that specific game, there is no way that they choose a MLS team.

They choose teams from the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A League, or the Spanish LA Liga. These leagues simply have better talent and more exciting, higher quality games.

However, kudos to the few American players that escaped the MLS, like Clint Dempsey (midfielder for US National team), who now plays for Fulham in the EPL, or Jozy Altidore (forward for US National team), now playing for Villarreal (Spanish LA Liga). A very smart move in my opinion.

You can watch these players even more now because American sports networks like ESPN are covering their leagues. American sports networks are not giving the American league (MLS) as much air time. They know what people want to watch.

This might be why I had no idea that the MLS Final was on Sunday, Nov. 21, or that the Colorado Rapids won the game against FC Dallas (2-1).

Yes, they are called the Colorado Rapids...Maybe the MLS is actually really good, and I’m just distracted by the corny team names and the bright, ugly jersies with XBOX LIVE splashed across the front (Seattle Sounders).

It is just unclear to me why the MLS isn’t better. American kids get started playing soccer at a young age, and many of them play for high-level club teams.

From there, kids have the opportunity to do ODP (Olympic Development Program), camps, or go on to play college soccer.

Then, good American soccer players can get recruited into the MLS. Once they turn professional, all the progress seems to stop.

It makes me question the American soccer players’ effort and passion. America needs to figure out how players in Europe got so good.

Even though other world leagues are far better, I do believe the MLS is gradually getting better and hopefully will only continue to improve. But for now, I think I’ll stick to watching the real soccer to the leagues overseas.

MLS lacks kick

Girls’ basketball starts season with optimismVince Prange and Jack Lockhart

staff writer and sports editor

Tosa Wrestling starts off strong Jack Lockhart

sports editor

Struggling to gain the upper-hand, Tosa Wrestler junior Michael Meade and his Greenfield High School opponent fight for position. Tosa lost to Greenfield High School on Dec. 15.

photo by Franki Ludwig

Pep Talk

alayah walls

“We can do better.”Aaron Sobieszczyk,

‘11

“Although our skill level may not match, we never quit.”

Rob Hamill, Head Coach

12 the cardinal news december 23, 2010Sports

The Wauwatosa East High School Red Raider boys’ basketball team did not start off the season in the fashion they wanted.

It all began at the NY2LA Sports Clas-sic with a matchup against Dominican High School on Nov. 27.

In a low scoring game, East had a nar-row 23 to 19 lead at halftime. The Raiders were led by in the first half by juniors Da-ryl Bowie and Diamonte McKinley who both put forth key performances.

After the third quarter, even with qual-ity play from Bowie and McKinley, the Raiders clung to a two point 39-37 lead.

The squad started the forth quar-ter with a collapse that resembled per-formances from last year’s East squad, The Dominican Knights outscored East by a tally of 18-4 in the final quarter of the game and the Raiders lost the season opener (55-43).

Head Coach Tim Arndorfer says this loss was partly due to inexperience.

“I think it was just our youth,” Arn-dorfer said.

The Raiders started off conference play the next week with a Dec. 3 match at Brookfield Central High School.

East kept the score close throughout the game and survived another low scor-ing fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.

The Raiders, who stayed composed in the fourth quarter, struggled on both ends of the court during the overtime period.

Central outscored the Raiders 17-3 in the eight minutes of overtime. The 58-44 final score did not reflect how close the first four quarters of the game was.

After four periods of solid play, the overtime performance and final score amounted to another frustrating loss for the team.

“We gave those two games away,” Arndorfer said.

With an 0-2 start for the first time in eight years, Raider supporters had reason to be worried heading into the home open-er against Whitefish Bay High School on Dec. 7.

The Raiders were evenly matched with the Whiftefish Bay Blue Dukes through the first half.

Coming out of halftime, the Raiders used a stifling defense that limited White-fish Bay’s offense. The Blue Dukes man-aged a mere six points during third quarter. The Raiders built on their solid defensive play and produced a surge of offense at the end of the third quarter, notching 17 straight points.

Unlike previous games, the Raiders found themselves with a lead going into the fourth quarter.

Whitefish Bay came back and pulled to within six point game with five minutes left on the clock. The East squad ma-tained the momentum of the begun in the third quarter with a final period of solid play. The Raiders topped the Blue Devils in a decisive 64-46 victory, the first of the season.

Defensive play was vital to the Raider success against Bay. East’s defense forced

the Blue Dukes to commit 23 turnovers. Offensively, Bowie continued to lead the team in scoring with a 17 point effort.

In addition to strong fourth quarter play, East’s first win was also the result of cummulative time spend on the court as a full squad.

“With more practice we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” senior Jackson Orin said.

East rode the momentum from their first victory of the season and captured their first conference win on Dec. 10 against the Brookfield East High School Spartans.

During the 2009-2010 season, East lost both matches against the Spartans, one of which on a last second three-point-er by the Spartans.

This year’s success over the Spartans anything but a high-scoring shoot-out, as defense was a key factor in the game’s outcome.

After a slow first half, Tosa East led 20-16. Only 15 points were scored by ei-ther team in the third quarter. The Raiders held onto a three point lead going into the fourth.

In the final quarter, Tosa slowed the game down and scored on almost every possession.

The Raiders were leading by one point when sophomore Anthony Carroll hit a three pointer that would ultimately be one of the daggers stuck in the Spartans.

Senior captain Walter Clark Jr. was another dagger to the Spartans as he stayed poised in the final minutes and nailed four consecutive free throws to clinch the game for the Raiders.

Despite the victory, offense was a problem for the Raiders, according to Arndorfer.

“Offense is still an area of concern for us,” Arndorfer said.

The first four games of the season seemed irrelevant, however, compared to the match up versus Marquette University High School on Tuesday Dec. 14.

The Raiders were defeated narrowly by the Hilltoppers on two occasions last season. This year’s Marquette team fea-tures many players that were part of the team that took second at the state tourna-ment last year. Right at the start of the game Marquette went into a full court de-fense. The Hilltoppers also threw a zone defense at the Raiders.

Junior Vince Cupertino and other East guards were not flustered and em-braced the up-tempo style. The Raiders led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.

The blistering pace continued into the second quarter. East expanded the lead and went into halftime up by 15, 32 to 17.

“It was probably our best half of bas-ketball,” Arndorfer said. “With a team like Marquette you can’t just play two quarters.”

The Raiders understood this, and started off the second half well. Within seconds East forced a turnover and Carroll drove down the lane and scored. He was fouled on the play and made the ensuing

free throw as well. During the next Raider possession, McKinley hit a three-pointer from the corner.

Suddenly, the Raiders were up 18 points. East scored 22 points in the third quarter alone. The Red Raider defense was active and the Hilltoppers did not score until halfway through the third quarter.

East was not content with a 27 point lead. They continued to score on their ri-val Hilltoppers in the fourth. By the end of the game the Red Raiders scored a season-high 70 of points and held Marquette to only 41.

Bowie and Carroll finished the game with 20 points each, leading the Raiders in scoring. Defense was also important for the Raiders. Kopriva and Phil O’Connor, Marquette’s 6 foot 7 inch forwards were defended by the combination of Clark Jr., Bowie, and senior Aaron Uden.

“Daryl [Bowie], Walter [Clark Jr.], and Aaron [Uden] all did a tremendous job,” Arndorfer said.

The win gave the team a record of 3-2, and put them atop the Greater Metro Conference standings. The Red Raiders are not able to relax for long, as they have a challenging non-conference schedule coming up. They plan on getting more used to playing with each other and im-proving from this point on.

“We have just been building up our chemistry,” Carroll said.

On Saturday, Dec. 18 East will test their chemistry and defensive prowess when they play at Division II powerhouse Wisconsin Lutheran High School. Three days later, on Dec. 21 the Raiders play another away game versus Milwaukee Lu-theran High School.

After a short holiday break the Raid-ers will compete in the Wisconsin Basket-ball Yearbook Shootout against defending state champions Arrowhead High School on Dec. 28.

Jack Lockhartsports editor

Rising up to take the shot senior Aar-on Uden is defended by a Whitefish Bay High School player during a home game on Dec. 7. Junior Riley Poe looks on.

photo by Alex DeBord

“[We] want to use the Marquette game as a stepping stone and continue with the same intensity and confi-dence.”

Tim Arndorfer, Head Coach

Santa delivers early present

After slow start, East plays Grinch to Hilltoppers’ holiday hopes

Dribbling around his opponent, junior Vince Cupertino eyes the basket. East went on to win the early season matchup with Whitefish Bay High School (64-46). photo by Alex Debord

as Raiders thump Marquette