On May 18 The Coalition for Youth of Lower Merion and Narberth held a press conference to discuss family re-lationships regarding drunk driving and smart decision making. The Coalition invited representatives from Main Line schools to the Administration Building of LMSD to push for fostering a safe atmosphere, especialy regarding alchohol consumption.

By bringing together students and parents, the Coalition, a partnership

of community agencies, promotes the “Make the Call, Take the Call” prgram. This program encourages teenagers to have an agreement with a parent or an adult to take their call if they are in a situation where they cannot find a safe way home.

The Coalition hopes that students who attended, mostly members of their school newspapers, will now raise awareness in the community. The panel of judicial and community representatives hope to lower the number of teenage lives put at risk when these teenagers do not have anyone

to call for a ride home and instead get into a car driven by another drunk friend.

The panel of members, including LM police officers, such as Det. Michael Fla-sinski, members of the judicial branches, such as Judge Karen Zucker and first as-sistant district attorney Kevin Steele, and coalition representatives, Paula Singer, Kate Cornwell, and Art Levy, discussed the issues of modern teenage life and the relationships between teens and adults.

Michael Flasinski urged the necessity for a child to be able to call his or her parent in a bad situation.

“We have to start [this] message young,” said Flasinski.

All of the members in each of their introductory speeches mentioned the urgency of the issue. Lower Merion Sophomore Wenwen Yang agrees. “Too many kids are taking risky decisions while they are drunk. I am glad that the community is working hard to solve these problems,” said Yang.

One solution to the situation is to solve the problem not directly, but in-

The MerioniteThe official student newspaper of Lower Merion High School since 1929

June 2, 2009

See Wii, page 3

Photo courtesy of Anna O’HoraStudents will now be able to enjoy a wide variety of electronic games in gym, including Wii Fit, Dance Dance Revolution, and Wii Sports, picutre above. LM administrators give school

finals massive makeover

Volume 80, Issue 9

School board considers new grading policy

Program encourages students to “Make the Call, Take the Call”

Technology offers students unique gym experience

LM students will be playing Nintendo Wii next year as part of a new program in Physical Education classes.

“Students now have the opportunity to exercise based on their own interests in videogames,” said Health/PE Teacher Tom Kline.

The curriculum, developed by Kline, has been tested in one class so far and will expand to more classes next year as part of its trial run. The primary focus right now is getting out the bugs, according to Kline.

The idea for Wiis to be incorporated into physical edu-cation stemmed from Kline’s own Wii use at home.

“I really loved playing the Wii at home with my family so I thought about how it could possibly work at school,” said Kline, who has had his Wii for about five months.

Kline has set up five Wii consoles and five TV moni-tors in room T001 to take advantage of the room’s large amount of space. Different stations within the room are equipped with Wii Fit Boards, Wii Dance Mats, and other software components. Students can play Wii Sports and Wii Fit with the consoles, along with other popular games such as Active Life: Outdoors, EA Active, Dance Dance Revolution, and Mario & Sonic.

While students will have the chance to play these

In order to comply with the state laws and efforts to improve the current system of final exams, Lower Me-rion is changing the way material will be tested. These changes were considered throughout the year, and now the final decision has been reached. The finals will be 80% identical between different teachers and they will be administered by subject instead of class period.

In the past, most finals, with a few exceptions, were written by individual teachers and given during finals week according to the order in which the student had each class in his or her daily schedule. The Administra-tion sent out letters to students’ homes notifying them of these changes.

“This is the first year we’re trying this out. We’ll con-tinually tweak it,” said Principal Sean Hughes.

A major difference between the finals schedules this year and last year’s is the order of each exam. Instead of going by numerical order of “set,” the exams will be given by “subject.” For example science will be given on Thurs-day June 11 starting at 7:45 am. All students will be as-signed a room and proctor to complete their science exam, whether it is chemistry, biology, physics, etc. If a student has a question in regard to the exam, he or she may ask

the proctor to call the teacher.

“ W i t h t h i s n e w schedule, a l l k i d s c a n t a k e the same e x a m o n the same day. The number of kids cheat-i n g w i l l decrease,” says Soph-omore Billy Gu.

Teachers point out another benefit to the new sched-ule.

“It should eliminate any reliance on the teacher in the sense that if I proctor the exam, the class has a tendency to ask me more questions. In another room, they won’t have the same sense of reliance,” said math teacher Ni-

See Finals, page 2

Photo by Ann Zheng/Staff

See Make the Call, page 4

Students will take their finals in as-signed classrooms instead of with their teachers. Room listings for finals are posted outside of the guidance suite.

The Board of School Directors is considering changes to the District’s current grading policy which were recom-mended by a grading committee. This grading committee, comprised of students, teachers, parents and administra-tors, suggested changing the calculation of final grades from quality points (specific points alloted to each letter grade) to percentages. Using percentages, the commit-tee said, would “provide the clearest picture of student progress”.

In the proposed system, the numerical average, instead of the letter grade, for each quarter would be multiplied by .2. The scores of the mid-term and final would be multi-plied by .09 and .11, respectively, and the total would then be determined and converted to a letter grade.

The committee, comprised of 34 members of which two were students, conducted a survey within the school community that found more than half of teachers and 75% of parents supported a percentage system. Cur-rent research indicated, according to the committee, that percentages would best depict a student’s achievements. The committee also looked at similar school districts and discovered each of them used percentages to determine fi-nal grades. After completing research, 22 members of the committee (65%) voted for the new calculation system.

Students, however, overwhelmingly opposed the new system by a 2:1 margin in the survey. A petition has circulated around the school with hundreds of signatures opposed to the proposed system. Some think that mid-terms and finals would have more weight in determining final grades. Thus, they believe this new system would be unfair and burdensome.

“With this system [the committee is] proposing, you have to start off the year perfect and end perfect,” said sophomore Maia Wikler, one of the student leaders against the new grading system. “One mistake will show up with your final grade.”

Other students opposed say laziness and lack of effort will become more prevalent.

“Students who recognize that they can’t get an A in the class won’t try as hard [later in the year],” said sophomore Seth Feldman.

Some think, however, that students should benefit from higher grades.

“Hard work should be rewarded,” said sophomore Nate Diehl. “If you put in [enough] effort, you should not even have to worry about [your final grade].”

The grading policy committee also recommended that the Board to eliminate the “E”, and keep current practices such as reporting grades without pluses and minuses and maintaining the current grade ranges.

Matt RublinClass of 2011

Jenny MaClass of 2010

Matt RublinClass of 2011

Jenny MaClass of 2010

Congratulations Seniors! reflect and rejoice

See Senior Section pullout

Best sports achievements of 2008-2009

Relive every dunk, pass, and goal

See Sports page 18

What did happen this past year?

See Features page 10/11

June 2, 2009

NEWS2

The Merionite

The art rooms in the new LMHS feature wall to wall windows, with an outside area to work on projects. The doors in the new classrooms swing into special alcoves, so “There’s no more hit-tingpeople in the hallways,” said Project Manager BK Horner.

Since construction began in 2008, workers have built the basic structure of what will become the new Lower Merion High School. The Merionite was given an exclusive tour of the construction site, and the following is a photo compilation of the progress of construction over the 2008-2009 school year.

An L-shaped coutrtyard occupies the middle of the new high school, providing a space for students relax during frees and be-tween classes. Workers will plant No Mow Grass, a special type of of grass that stops growing after it reaches a certain height.

All of the old school except the administration and A buildings will be demol-ished. Portions of the old school and Pennypacker Field will be converted into a back parking lot, which will contain 100 spots for student parking.

For additional photos and to read a more detailed description of the construction progress, visit www.themerionite.org

cole Sizgorich Although only 60 students are affected by conflict-

ing exams, another benefit to this new schedule is the large amount of make-ups blocks, one per the first three days and all make-up conflict time periods for the last day of finals.

As discussed previously this year, the common final will also be adhered to this year. Teachers do not have the choice of administering a common final to their class regardless of their teacher style.

Many teachers agree with the concept the common final since many schools in the Central League give 100% common final exams.

“I think it makes sense because if students are being accessed on the same content we should have a com-mon assessment. Ultimately, people are assessed by the PSSAs,” said Sizgorich.

Although the PSSAs are simply a sort of byproduct of these common exams and not a factor that drove the need for common exams, many teachers support the

idea of teachers working together to teach and assess a group of students.

“It guarantees that everyone learns the base educa-tion. I agree with it. I don’t think final exams are that much in the great scheme of things, but I do like having students review for the finals, which is intellectually stimulating. They’ll pull together what they have learned from the year,” said math teacher Diane Sweeney.

Junior Eric Guo agrees.“It’s more effective in evaluating people’s knowl-

edge,” said Guo. “It tests what you’ve truly learned and what you can take out from the class in the future.”

However, some teachers feel too structured and lim-ited by these new state standards.

“While cumulative finals do not affect art, I’m troubled by the idea that everything needs to be the same. Teachers have different ways of working with the students and assigning work, ” said art teacher Russ Loue.

Others worry about how well they will be prepared for the final exam and whether or not it will be reflec-tive of their class.

“If you’re trying to measure mastering of the infor-mation, then grading should be done the same way it’s been done for all the tests given during the rest of the year,” exclaims junior Jennifer Jovinelly.

Some teachers are already thinking about common midterms for next year.

Chemistry teacher Lawrence McAfoos addressed the future problem, “I am much more troubled by the thought of common midterm exams. I do Stoichiometry and chemical reactions in the third quarter. However, all the other chemistry teachers have already taught these two topics in the first half of the year. What it means is that I have to throw it out of my curriculum or I have to convince the others to change theirs. Neither will be easy.”

Overall, the administration and the district agree that these changes will be beneficial to the education of LM students.

Principal Hughes says, “[The new system] gives a chance for all of us to foster some more collaboration in what we teacher and how we teach. We’ll see what the future of the program will be.”

From Finals, page 1

Students will begin moving into the new school in 2010, and the old building is slated to be torn down from 2010 through 2011. By 2012 the new school will be complete.

Photos by Hannah Weilbacher/Staff

LM adopts policy of universal finals

Administrators and students alike have ex-perimented with the new technology since it

was installed by the PE department.

Modifications to Senior Project for 2010

games, the focus of the Wiis will be on “training sessions” and not free-playing. The full-time “Wii room” (the current ISS room) will be a circuit with six stations; stu-dents will go from station to station, filling out progress cards and using heart rate monitors. This way, says Kline, students “will be able to track their progress and improvements.”

Plans are still being developed for the program, so there is no guess as to how many students will be able to experience the Wiis next year.

But for now, everyone has en-

joyed the consoles.“There has been a tremendous

response from both administration and students,” said Kline. “The kids are really having a blast.”

“I love [using the Wiis]!” said sophomore Lia Mastrogiacomo. “The Wii is a great way to keep students active.”

Looking towards the future, Kline believes the Wiis are important in evolving PE classes.

“The [Wiis] change the mind-set of old school PE,” said Kline. “We’re progressing into the 21st century and we need to start using technology.”

June 2, 2009

The Merionite NEWS3

NEWS IN BRIEFAdministrators will distribute personal lap-

tops to LM students as part of the District’s One-to-One program.

LM was originally going to participate in One-to-One this year but the start of construc-tion delayed the program to this coming year. The program, made possible by grants from the state’s “Classrooms for the Future” initiative, was successfully introduced to Harriton this past school year in its first run.

“At Harriton, everything went really well. No issue went unaddressed,” said District Director of Technology Virginia DiMedio.

Student laptops are equipped with a wide va-riety of software that can be accessed anywhere with a wireless connection.

The introduction of laptops at Harriton has alleviated nitial concerns with the program, as study halls were quiet and very little theft oc-curred, according to DiMedio. The District has received very few negative responses.

“The [Harriton] students’ responses were overwhelmingly positive,” said DiMedio.

LM students will be given their laptops on the first day of school after submitting an insurance fee and completing the acceptable use policy. They will carry the same laptop all year and every following year.

Technology staff will be on hand to help students with the transition. To protect laptops from damage, the district will give padded sleeves to students. Students will also have the ability to charge their computers during the school day.

With money from the grants, teachers have been trained to incorporate the new technology into their lesson plans. Laptop carts were also a management issue for teachers, said DiMedio.

DiMedio believes that ultimately creativity and student engagement will be more prevalent in the classroom.

“[It’s] not just about giving each student a laptop,” said DiMedio. “It’s about changing instruction and improving 21st century skills and problem-based learning.”

--Matt Rublin, ‘11

1:1 Laptop initiative comes to LM Administrators have been discussing changes to the senior project process for future years. Although these changes are not definite, the system will be discussed this summer and throughout next school year, and modifications will most likely apply to the graduating class of 2010.

“The intention of the project will remain the same. The project will still be student centered, individualized project or intern-ship based on a student’s interest,” said field expert, cooperative educator, and director of Senior Project Ronnie Manlin.

Both Harriton High School and Lower Merion High School will be making these changes based on the District’s decisions, and a Senior Project handbook will be available for both students and faculty outlining the final policy.

The Senior Project is worth 0.5 credits and is a state requirement for graduation. The project is currently a 3-week commu-nity based learning experience. Students began planning in October under the guid-ance of both a mentor and an American Government teacher.

Next year the project will begin in January; there will be less paperwork and will no longer be under the guidance of the Government teachers.

Each student will be assigned a faculty

partner with whom they must attend man-datory meetings.

Administrators that these changes will decrease the number of students turning in last minute projects.

Student feedback on the current system has shown that they dislike the large amount of tedious paperwork that must be filled out at different stages of the project.

“I’m not confused by the paperwork, but it is ridiculous,” said senior Danny Green-berg of the number of deadlines. “This is so arbitrary.”

By making the project more “stream-lined,” says Manlin, the confusion over redundant forms will hopefully be elimi-nated.

The switch from two faculty partners to one is due to the future curriculum changes in the American Government classes.

“US Government classes were offered for 3/4 of a credit and the remaining 1/4 was senior project,” said Humanities Su-pervisor Jack Maguire. “The senior project had nothing necessarily to do with the US Government class and I never quite under-stood why the connection had been made. It predated my arrival into the district. I did support separating the class from the project and that is what will go into practice next year.”

Student responses to these changes have been both positive and negative.

“These changes are for the better since

some projects now are not taken as seri-ously as they should be,” says junior Yueyi Zhou.

Junior Alexandra Cade says, “I think the Senior Project should be an individual process. As long as the ‘partner’ doesn’t take away my freedom of learning on my own.”

School treasurer Jonah Mann states, “I have heard rumors that the Senior Project is changing. I will try to make sure no changes are made without the consent of the students.”

Manlin plans to discuss these changes with the entire faculty in June, since some parts of the new project design remain uncertain.

According to administrators, recently LM has greatly heightened its campus security.

“[The number of students leaving campus] started getting worse,” said 10th Grade Assistant Principal Scott Kilpatrick. “It’s a safety issue, and we can’t have kids wandering all over the neighborhood.”

Now if a student is caught leaving campus, he or she is given an extended detention for their first offense. Subsequent offenses can lead to an in-school suspension.

Said Kilpatrick of the recent situation, “We have repositioned the campus aides to address the issue, and it’s gotten a lot better since the seniors left.”

If one would like to avoid trouble, Kilpatrick advises students to “Stay on campus.”

From Wii, page 1

--Hannah Goldberg-Morse, ‘10

Photo by Ann Zheng/StaffSenior Molly Hanlon, pictured above, worked with elementary school students for her senior proj-ect. Current seniors have began presenting their projects last week.

On May 21, the Class of 2009 pulled their Senior Prank.

At 5:00 AM in the morning, seniors began arriving in the main parking lot, across from LMHS. Seniors parked around 80 cars at an angle throughout the parking lot, taking up free parking spaces. They also brought along grilling equipment to cook breakfast food.

When teachers arrived later, they were left with few places to park. Negotiations between the students and administrators began with ad-ministration threatening to call in law enforce-ment, and one student was towed

By 7:30 AM, the seniors had vacated the parking lot.

--Connie Hua, ‘10

Senior prank causes a stir in parking lot

Photo courtesy of lmsd.org

Jenny MaClass of 2010

Administrators introduce revised advisory systemHannah Golberg-Morse

Class of 2010

Administration cracking down on leaving campus

On the week of May 18, a new Academic Recovery plan was instituted at LM in re-sponse to the low number of students signing up under the past system.

Under the new plan, students must check in each day during Advisory with their Con-nections Advisor in order to go to another teacher. Students must stay in their Connec-tions Advisories unless they solicit a pass permitting them to work elsewhere.

The previous system required students to sign up for Academic Advisory in advance through a website separate from the usual at-tendance monitoring system of Powergrade. This program was discontinued due to the significant num-bers of students not regularly signing up for the advising period.

Students who hadn’t signed up for Academic Recovery sometimes roamed the hallways or even left campus, posing a liability problem for the administration. “It’s a safety and security issue,” said 10th Grade Assistant Principal Scott Kil-

patrick. “If a parent calls, they need to be able to find out where you are at a given time.”

The new system is also run through Powergrade, allowing teachers to use just one program to keep track of the daily atten-dance. PE teacher Tom Kline, with the help of Kilpatrick, came up with this new system of advisory.

With the problems of the previous Academic Advisory,

many administrators advocated the abolishment of the advising period entirely, and the extension of regular classes to accommo-

date the extra time. Kline developed the idea of checking in with advisors before leaving to work with other teachers or attend club meetings.

“I think it’s been successful so far. Kids can get the passes but also touch base with their advisors every day,” said Kil-patrick. “As long as students continue the right thing, which we know you can do, we will continue this next year.”

New technology introduced to PE classes for next year

Photo by Ann Zheng/StaffLM students must now report to their ad-visors before attending Academic Recov-ery to confirm their intended location.

June 2, 2009

NEWS4

The Merionite

What do you plan to do as president?

I intend to improve communica-tion between the student body and the administration. I would also like to provide the student body with more community service op-portunities.

How do you feel about fol-lowing in the footsteps of John Lundy?

John Lundy and I were good friends, and I learned a lot about be-ing President from him. I’m excited for a new year of Student Council and a fresh administration.

Why did you run again for president?

As the former President of the Junior Class of 2010 I think my experience in a position of high re-sponsibility is a befitting credential for any leader of the student body. I think I have a lot to contribute to Student Council and want to work hard to improve the school and the Lower Merion community.

What do you plan to do as VP?

I want to change the role of student council. Too often in the past, Student Council has been merely a messenger for the ad-ministration, passing word of new and often detrimental policies on to students, but failing to take any initiative. Under the new student council administration, I want to begin a productive dialogue with the school administrators so that the voice of the student body can no longer be ignored.

How do you plan on solving Academic Recovery?

I believe that Academic Recov-ery, although imperfect in its cur-rent form, is crucial to students’ academic pursuits. When else can students make up quizzes, meet with teachers, or have important, concise activity meetings? How-ever, the school administration’s concern that many students have consistently failed to sign up for recovery is valid. As such, I believe that we need two things to happen in order to perfect AR. First, students need to sign up, and second, the administration needs to make sign up easier and more accessible, for example, by implementing the proposed default system.

What do you plan to do as secretary?

My biggest goal is to improve communication- I hope to do this through the facebook group or twitter that anybody can see, regular email updates to homeroom representatives and members at large and a consis-tent meeting schedule for all commit-tee heads and representatives. I also want to make more opportunities for everybody to take part in com-mittees such as the committee that was reviewing the grading policy or the committee that (supposedly) had input on the cell phone policy. Finally, I hope everybody plans on listening to tons of student council announcements and reading a bunch of posters next year because I believe that awareness through methods such as these is the most effective way to improve communication.

Why did you decide to run?I really wanted to make a change

in the school- I believe that recent changes in things like the cell phone policy and the changes to the ad-visory system had not been fully introduced to us before they were implemented and I want to make huge changes like that clearer to the students before they’re thrown into a new system that they feel is too restrictive. I also have been a homeroom representative in Student Council for two years and I think I can utilize that experience to help me cater to all of our future homeroom representatives and students who just

Why did you run again?Transcript credit....and ?I want to be able to fight for more

student rights.

What does the Treasurer actu-ally do?

Are you kidding? I have no idea.

Really?No. Actually, the Treasurer is in

charge of finding funding for the stu-dent copier, which is one of the few realms where student government has an effect on every student’s daily life. I’m incredibly excited that I get to defend our right to copy for free. I think it is student government’s most important role.

I can never tell when you are kidding. Are you serious?

Completely.

How do you plan to deal with Academic Recovery?

I’m conflicted because the only way to make Academic Recovery successful is to issue a thousand detentions, but I do like the policy of the administration turning a blind eye to almost everything. We need to find a balance between liberty and effective programs. Although I don’t want to sacrifice liberty for an effective Academic Recovery, I think this is the only way.

Can we have a baby picture for the Merionite?

Do you think I was ever a baby? What kind of interview is this?

What do you plan to do as Sergeant at Arms?

Currently, there are issues that hinder our efforts to make Lower Merion High School the best that it can be. For example: Academic Recovery. It’s unfair to punish the majority of students who are signing up, so Student Council is working on a new program that will be more convenient for those who sign up and will punish students who don’t. Student parking is also an issue we hope to fix. Lastly, we’ve been discussing ways to make our school more environmentally friendly.

How does it feel to follow in the footsteps of Dan Saris and the of-ficers from previous years?

I am honored to follow in the footsteps of such a great leader like Dan Saris. Dan had a huge influence on all of the changes that took place this year and he did a great job fulfill-ing the duties of Sergeant at Arms. I will attempt to emulate his poise, dedication and diligence. Like Dan, I will forge a strong relationship with both the administration and the stu-dent body so that every student can have their voice heard by principals and administrators. I am confident that I will be able to do a great job as your next Sergeant at Arms.

PRESIDENT JJ HOFFSTEIN VP DAN ARONOWITZ SECRETARY LAURA SOKIL TREASURER JONAH MANN SERGEANT AT ARMS GUY MENTEL

directly. By attacking the problem of teenagers getting into the wrong cars in-stead of the actual problem of drinking, the Coalition hopes that the rate of DUI car accidents can be lowered.

“A relationship that involves coopera-tion between an adult and a teenager will allow the kids to mature, as they grow more independent,” said Paula Sing-er, a member of the Youth and Panel. “We have a two pronged approach: one for kids to make the call and two for parents to take the call.”

The panel discussed relevant topics and

students posed questions as a form of get-ting feedback on the program and its future efficiency. A representative from Harriton High School presented the problem of a possible abuse of the program, or using the system as a sort of “bailout.”

Although Karen Zucker recognized that flaw in the system, she stated, “maybe it is a bailout, but it is the lesser of the two evils. It is a mechanism for kids to get out. Let’s be realistic and hope that kids will use it responsibly.”

The Committee is unsure of its exact projects next year. For example, the pos-sibility of distributing a list of the names of the students and adult drivers partici-pating in the program is still in question. However, the general idea has been laid out and has established an agreement on the urgency of the issue.

According to Flasinski, 150 of his cases per year are underage drinking arrests. Since underage drinking has become a significant part of the changing lifestyle of American teenagers, the role of this Coalition has become even more important.

As part of Lower Merion High School Senior Rachel Kramer’s Senior Project, the members of the coalition are pushing for more awareness. By recruiting more participants, the Committee hopes that the students will drive the process and a group will be developed to work with as the year progresses.

“The coalition is trying to get more input from you, whether it is advantages or disadvantages,” said president of the Coalition for Youth Kate Cornwell.

The program will go into full swing next year as students begin to sign up and the coalition hopes that the number of DUI accidents will decrease as the number of students begin to have safer rides home.

To contact the coalition for further information, please email Paula Singer, the community organizer and member of the Coalition of Youth of Lower Merion and Narberth at paulasinger@verizon.net or call at 610-896-6966.

The coalition’s website is http://www.coalitionforyouthlmn.org.

From Coalition, page 1

LM Senior Rachel Kramer discusses her ideas from a teenager’s perspective. As

part of her Senior Project, she is assisting the coalition in raising awareness.

Photo courtesy of Allie Volinsky

Photos by Jenny Ma/Staff

Community urges DUI awareness in press conference

At a glance:Info from www.sadd.org

28.5% of high school students in the past month have ridden in a vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol52% of fatal crashes occuring during the weekend involve alchohol

June 2, 2009

The Merionite Editorial/Letters5

Letters to the Editor

The MerionitePublished since 1929

The editors believe all facts presented in the newspaper to be accurate. The paper acknowledges that mistakes are possible and welcomes questions as to accuracy. Inquiries regarding accuracy should be directed to the editors of the paper. Editors can be contacted via e-mail at merionite@gmail.com or in Room 116. To represent all viewpoints in the school community, The Merionite welcomes all letters to the editor. Letters can be sent via e-mail or dropped off outside the Merionite office. The Merionite reserves the right to edit letters to the editor for length or clarity.

Open your minds to an open campus

Unsigned editorial on this page reflect the general opinion of student editors, not the views of individuals.

Sivahn Barsade, ’10Hana Rouse, ’10

Hannah Weilbacher, ’10

Hannah Goldberg-Morse, ’10Jenny Ma, ’10Matt Rublin, ’11

Isaac Lindy, ’10Leah Rosenbloom, ’11

Rachel Cohen, ’10Bina Peltz, ’10Emily Sorensen, ’10

Han Tran, ’11Jake Wellens, ’11

Editors-in-Chief

Managing Editor

News Editors

Op-Ed Editors

Features Editors

Arts & Entertainment

Editors

Sports Editors

Layout/Web Editor

Business Manager

Photo Editor

Copy Editors

Advisor

Business Advisor

Emily Eisner, ’10Conor Ferguson, ’11Xinran Wang, ’10

Noah Zuares, ’10

Ben Forer, ’10

Ann Zheng, ’12

Avi Chatterjee, ’11Connie Hua, ’10

Mr. Chad Henneberry

Mr. Sean Flynn

In the midst of near-constant change at LM, one policy remains un-touched: LM’s strictly closed campus. But this policy is one that ought to be reexamined. Unfortunately the Administration has dis-missed calls for an open campus because of feared legal ramifica-tions and potential breaches in student safety. Yet if the Adminis-tration, students, and community initiate efforts to develop such a policy these concerns can be addressed and the student body can benefit.

What we lack is a period of time during the school day when we can learn responsibility free from the watchful eyes of multiple cam-eras and omnipresent administrators. Simply walking off school grounds during the school day (permitted on an open campus) makes a student realize unadulterated, individual responsibility for self.

There are no bells to keep track of time. There are no teachers to hold our hands to cross the street. We are in charge of our own actions, freed from the confines of the school. No longer do extrinsic factors such as cam-pus aides or hall passes restrict our movement. Rather, it is we who decide where to sit and which sidewalks to roam. So while this experience may not be PowerSchool-compatible (the horror), it is still a vital opportunity to ex-ercise precisely the same responsibility both in high school and later in life.

Of course administrators all over the school have already counted the lawsuits that could result from an open campus. While these con-cerns are legitimate they do not warrant dismissal of the overall goal of an open campus. LM students have already demonstrated their prowess at navigating the mean streets of Suburban Square after the sounding of the 2:40 bell; after all, total chaos does not currently ensue when fresh-men stampede to the Ardmore Farmer’s Market on Friday afternoons.

LM’s neighbors may also harbor fears of herds of rambunctious students ransacking their property during school hours. This fear, while not complete-ly unfounded, can be addressed. We at LM are open to compromising with the neighbors, as shown through the solutions reached regarding night games on Arnold Field and the closure of Owen Road. The student body is eager to reach additional compromise, and the Administration should follow suit.

Within the walls of LM, complacency has plagued all hopes of an open-campus. This does not have to be the case. We can overcome the legal obstacles and cooperate with the community to instate an open campus system which would simultaneously benefit the student body and establish a precedent for a dynamic dialogue between students and Administrators to solve problems previously thought insoluble.

Over the past few years, student government has been unable to do much of anything. We have no school dances, there is virtually no school spirit, and the administration walks all over it. Its top-down organizational structure has stifled the creativity that should be present in any legislature and its failure to adhere to its own constitutional procedures has rendered student government incapable of effecting any real change. Fortunately, this year the constitution is due to be revised; a few simple changes will suffice to transform Student Government back into a force of positive change in our school.

The Student Government constitution clearly states that “The Student Council, as a legislative body shall vote to approve actions, motions, and resolutions brought forward by the Executive Committee.” During my term in student government, not once was a measure ever put to a vote. If we just began respecting the constitution that we have, it would go a long way towards energizing student government and restoring power to the elected advisory reps.

More than simply restore the rightful powers of the advisory reps, we should give them more power. Under the current constitution, reps do not have the power to make motions or propose resolutions. Their purpose is merely to approve or disapprove of the actions taken by the officers. Great ideas should be put to a vote and the officers of student government should be required to take whatever position is agreed upon to the administration. Further, student government should be required to meet for longer meetings and for more meetings. Although much work can be done in committees, student government should be required by its constitution to meet for at least one hour every three weeks.

The officers still wield considerable power and although they are elected by a general vote, that vote is the only time they are ever accountable to their constituents. Most officers are seniors during their term. They have no incen-tive to listen to the students who elected them because they will never again be held responsible to the people with an election. I therefore propose that all student government officers be subject to a vote for retention midway through the year. If a majority of the students vote to recall an officer, he or she will have to run in a mid-year election that is open to any qualified student.

These changes, if implemented, will help to revitalize student government and restore power to the people and their elected representatives. It’s clear that the current system isn’t working. It’s time for some change.

Jacob Adenbaum Class of ‘10

My Fellow Students,Abraham Lincoln once observed that “the philosophy of the school

room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next”. With that in mind I offer my brief list of values.

That government is best which governs least. We all should be grateful for Lower Merion’s extraordinary administration. It is one of the finest in the state, by any standard. That having been said, Student Council and I will oppose all arbitrary restrictions put on the student body. Where the policies of the administration impede on student contentment, I stand with the students always.

Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. Lower Merion currently offers a Community Service course where students can sign up and receive credits for their service work out of school. Community in-volvement by the student body, however, should go beyond the Commu-nity Service course because volunteer work offers a learning experience beyond the teaching capacity of a school environment. I believe that every student has something to offer his or her community; that is why in the coming year Student Council will offer the student body more service op-portunities. Improve the community; improve yourself.

Get your GREEN on. The students, the faculty, and the administration must all make decisions that favor the healthy future of all people and the planet. Take the bus to school, carpool, walk, or ride a bike. Use less paper. Recycle. We can make a difference.

Individual commitment to a group effort. Over the past two years, attendance at Student Council meetings has dwindled. I and my fellow Student Council officers intend to reverse that trend. It is important to know that anybody can be a member of Student Council. I also cannot say enough how extremely confident I am in my fellow officers: VP Dan Aronowitz, Secretary Laura Sokil, Treasurer Jonah Mann, and Sergeant at Arms Guy Mentel. I absolutely mean it when I tell you that I believe no students are more capable or better suited members of the Student Council administration than the ones you the students elected. While I am wholly certain that I and the other Student Council officers will make every ef-fort to improve Student Council next year, the success of Student Council as always rests on the shoulders of the student body. More involvement equals more power.

Thanks for reading, and let’s go Aces.

JJ Hoffstein Student Council President

Power to the students

A presidential bulletin

E D I T O R I A L

June 2, 2009

OP-EDThe Merionite6

In America, most kids grow up eating hotdogs and hamburgers at barbeques in the summertime. I

grew up e a t i n g v e g g i e burgers and tofu pups.

T h e m o s t frequent question I g e t a b o u t being a vegetar-

ian is definitely “don’t you ever miss it?” And the answer is no. I was raised a vegetarian because my dad and mom were vegetar-ians, but after they split my mom lapsed and the decision was mine. Now, I’m a vegetarian because I strongly believe in the principles of vegetarianism.

Back when agriculture wasn’t as developed, our distant ances-tors killed animals to survive, and used as many parts as they could for clothes, insulation, tools, and weapons. Killing wildlife was a completely legitimate part of sur-vival, and they recognized this by doing things like viewing animals as reflections of God, worshiping animals, and respecting them like kin. Today, America’s meat indus-try is the exact opposite. Animals are overbred, kept in horrible conditions, and then slaughtered in inhumane ways for a minimal amount of meat.

And breeding animals only to be killed is not part of the natural food chain, as many meat-eaters will argue. With today’s agricul-tural technology, it is certainly possible to have a balanced diet

without going overboard with the meat. And besides, most of the health benefits of meat are completely obscured by the health risks. Although this might not be much of a problem in wealthy LM, for the majority of the lower class American population, “meat” is a McDonald’s Big Mac; pretty much the furthest thing from healthy you can get. A diet full of meat like that (as we can all see in the docu-mentary Super Size Me) is killing America faster than car crashes by a wide margin. The necessary pro-teins and fats in meat can be easily replaced with soy and dairy, two things very readily available in local grocery stores, so the excuses to be mass-producing cow meat and processing it into McDonald’s “food” are running out.

That’s not to say I think we should cut meat out completely. It’s a necessary part of our econ-omy and I understand a lot of

people would be out of jobs if McDonald’s suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. That being said, the quantity of meat we eat and the way it becomes available to us is unacceptable and needs to be fixed. Although I admit the government’s attention should not be solely focused on the meat industry at the moment, enforcing more health and animal rights reg-ulations on fast-food companies like McDonald’s could be the first step. Working towards making soy protein, vegetables, and other groceries more affordable for America could be a second step. After years and years of reliance, the road to end America’s depen-dence on meat is a long one, and no one solution is going to solve the grotesque misuse of animals overnight. Through diligence and commitment to reforming meat consumption, however, this lofty goal can be attained.

I eat meat. And I am not ashamed. No matter how many disgusted looks I get from vegetarians and despite the

countless PETA ads I see, I am un-fazed. Meat is delicious. This is not to say that vegetables aren’t per se, but meat is an essential part of any meal (well, maybe with

the exception of breakfast). It pro-vides protein and essential amino acids necessary for humans. High concentrations of nutrients like iron and phosphorus are found in meat and more easily absorbed by the body when from meat rather than from veg-etables or vitamin supplements.

But I know, I know. Eating meat is evil! The w a y s i n which all the cows, pigs and chick-ens are killed are cruel and unethical. I struggle to argue with this point. I’m not na-ïve. I know about the c r a m p e d conditions in which animals are raised and the horrify-ing ways in which they are slaugh-

tered. It’s disgusting. But this is a prob-lem with the meat industry, not meat itself. And the companies that choose to treat their animals in such gruesome ways pay the price. Their meat is bad. It tastes awful and it’s not very good for you. I wouldn’t eat it, and really, neither should anyone.

But this doesn’t mean all meat is off-limits. Great tasting beef comes from grain-fed cows who’ve been raised to maturity, and is noticeably more expensive than it’s subpar coun-terpart. After all, let’s face the facts. Humans are evolutionarily designed to eat meat. Our ancestors were om-nivores and we have the enzymes necessary to digest meat. Vegetarians and vegans argue that despite this, it is possible for humans to subsist on a no-meat diet. Which, in all fairness, is true. But I also know while humans should probably get eight hours of sleep, it’s possible to survive on six (I mean, have you visited LM recently?). You can definitely survive without meat and chow on nuts and veggies, but can you be happy?

I admire you if you can, I really do. But I can’t, and that’s okay too. I simply cannot function without hav-ing meat at my meals. I feel tired after a week without beef. I’m cranky if I don’t have bacon for breakfast. I need to eat meat, but I don’t need your snarky comments or gruesome anti-meat propaganda ads.

So please, leave me alone with my steak, chicken wings and bacon. I have never bothered vegetarians and vegans for their views, but somehow I get a lot of unfair abuse about what I eat for my dinner. There’s nothing more an-noying than fielding away dismissive comments about what’s on my plate. Because really, if you are what you eat my dear vegetarians and vegans... well then, in that case you are really quite tasteless.

Leah RosenbloomClass of 2011

Connie HuaClass of 2010

You say tomato, I say pork chop

The oppression of feminine aggressionA high school student (not at

LM) recently spoke at a school meeting, analyzing who she was as

a person. S h e ’ s aggres-s i v e , s m a r t , athletic, s o m e -t i m e s callous, strong-wil led, solitary a n d c o m -p e t i -t i v e ,

and ultimately she drew the con-clusion that she was in fact a man living inside a woman’s body. Without a doubt, this person was incredibly courageous in speaking to his/her whole school about his/her struggle, and every individual person should be allowed to de-cide for his/her self who he/she is;

Emily EisnerClass of 2010

however, why is it that these human qualities – aggression, strength, and will-power among them – are so forcefully identified as male characteristics? And further, why should a biological woman feel so unnatural – even unacceptable – with such, deemed “masculine,” qualities?

Think about some of the quali-ties that we consider feminine: elegance, poise, grace, courtesy, obedience, cooperativeness, com-pliance. And then consider the masculine qualities: aggression, strength, power, athleticism, deter-mination, forcefulness. The sheer dichotomy of this divide provokes the thought that there is overlap between genders. I know as a young woman that when I step on to the ultimate Frisbee field, I am no longer courteous or poised or docile. I am aggressive, ruthless, and powerful and I am a woman. Even off the field, the person I am is not the stereotypical picture of a woman. I speak out in class, I

argue with friends, I burp loud, pro-longed, resonant burps freely, and I am told by even my best friends that I am “a man.” This phenomenon, the labeling of male and female according to a person’s personality, narrows the window for both men and women of what is normal and consequently increases the oppres-sion of both genders.

Particularly for women, but for men as well, there exist many quali-ties that are simply unacceptable under the definition of “woman.” An aggressive woman is too much of a bitch, and a muscular, athletic woman is unattractive. These posi-tive qualities, possessed by many women, are used to destroy women – to tell them that they aren’t women at all, but are men. When Hilary Clinton ran against Barack Obama for democratic nominee for presidency, she was attacked from all sides as too aggressive and too much of a bitch. No male candi-date gets attacked for being too aggressive, and even if he were, the

damage done wouldn’t be nearly as detrimental to the campaign as it would be to a woman’s campaign. This oppression – telling young men and women that they are not right the way they are, that they are not true men or women – springs from the way we all categorize. By initially creating a distinction between men and women, a natural instinct induced by the need to con-ceive and reproduce, society creates boundaries that limit people’s abil-ity to feel natural as who they are and accept others as who they are.

In recent thought, the distinction between sex and gender has been created to draw attention to the dif-ference between a person’s organs and a person’s self. “Sex” is used to refer to the biological make up of a person, while gender is used to dictate how a person identifies socially and emotionally. While this distinction does draw attention to an important distinction between the physical and the cognitive, it simply serves as a further divide,

creating more boundaries – more categories – that people should fit into. To argue that a biological woman could house the soul of a man is to admit that there is a seri-ous distinction between the charac-teristics of men and women.

When I originally heard about this high school student, physi-cally a woman, self-proclaimed a man, I couldn’t help but be mildly offended at the suggestion that any person with those specific, widely considered positive, qualities and with that specific outlook on life would have to be classified as “man.” Because I myself do not feel the same way as this person, I do not feel comfortable passing judgment on his/her decision, but I do feel as though the concept of either a man or a woman trapped within the body of the opposite sex is simply a surrender to the classic, outrageously conservative social norms and stereotyping that we should as a society be fighting to eradicate.

June 2, 2009

The Merionite OP-ED7

I had seriously considered tak-ing physics in summer school. I am not the archetypical math stu-

dent, so physics sound-ed like a bore. I wanted an ex-tra free. A n d t o t o p i t o f f , p h y s -ics was

synony -m o u s with We-bAssign.

I had heard horror stories of students staying up all night, physically fighting with their computers striving to make the green checks magically appear to denote correct answers.

Due to indecisiveness and an innate aversion to school in June and July, I decided to take physics during the normal school year. While I have thoroughly enjoyed almost every part of physics, from my outrageous classmates’ antics to the won-derfully messy egg drop contest, WebAssign has dreadfully lived up to its infamous reputation. It has become the bane of my junior year existence.

Through the total of 15 We-bAssign assignments that I have (almost) completed this year, I have come to the conclusion that WebAssign could be one the worst teaching tools in the world. I hate to make sweeping unsub-stantiated accusations (most of the time); fortunately, my junior year experience with WebAssign has provided me with an endless amount of evidence to support the claim WebAssign truly is the devil incarnate.

First, WebAssign fosters an atmosphere of cheating. This can be attributed to the premise of WebAssign: to get full credit for an assignment, all answers (or

a pre-defined amount designated by the teacher) must be correct. No work has to be shown. No process must be explained. It is simple: get the answer, get the points, get out. WebAssign thereby offers a pseudo-invitation to practice academic dishonesty. It is a well-known fact that to get through AP Physics (a realm of physics I shudder to think about), students must “work together,” which is a euphemism for bla-tantly sharing answers without explanation.

Working together is inherently a good concept. It creates a sense of community within a classroom while building independence from the teacher. WebAssign, however, creates a new form of “working together” called Cramster. One can tell from the name that this website is slightly shady – Napster, Cramster – the similarity is uncanny! Using a classmate’s premium Cramster password to get the answer to an even-numbered problem is the only sort of “working to-gether” that WebAssign fosters. Cramster is cheating, plain and simple, despite what many stu-dents and teachers say, and using it is encouraged by our friend WebAssign.

I held on tightly to my Cram-ster V-card throughout most of the year, just as I ethically avoid Napster and its cousin Limewire, which made WebAssign marked-ly harder for me to complete than for other students. I eventually succumbed to the alluring call of Cramster’s “problem solved” slo-gan, but not before realizing the tension that WebAssign creates. The purpose of WebAssign is to be finished, to get it done. Each blissful green check represents one step closer to the wonder-ful finish line – at least for a week until the next assignment is posted. This is the case with many assignments in school. I find myself nearly holding my breath until all my homework is finished, utterly ignoring the

Isaac LindyClass of 2010

process of learning that is sup-posed to carry me through these trite endeavors. I sometimes am able to remove myself from the fury of completion to somewhat appreciate the process, whether it be writing a paper or figuring out a math proof. The problem with WebAssign is that there is no higher purpose to appreciate. Yes, the exercises serve as prac-tice, but for what? For getting a 100 percent in “the real world”? And if there ever had been an educational purpose to the mad-ness of WebAssign, it has been thoroughly annihilated by the rampant cheating.

In a society where being right all the time is extremely over-valued, and experimentation and failure are frowned upon, WebAssign is an unwelcome visitor. It supplements the un-healthy, perfectionist attitude so pervasive at LM. Contrary to many people’s beliefs, if WebAs-sign teaches anything at all, it teaches the wrong lessons. I do not care what other claims exist, that WebAssign “aids education through technology” or “creates a student body ready to take on the 21st century” – what WebAssign truly does is augment the tension in this school by fostering aca-demic dishonesty and a terrible mentality of “get-it-done-now.” WebAssign should be promptly removed from the LM curricu-lum.

Gasp! What is this blasphemy? Remove WebAssign? I do realize the consequences of my sug-gestion. We would have more class time for enrichment activi-ties. Teachers would have more latitude with the curriculum. Oh, the horror!

But do not fret. I am sure that LM could quickly replace We-bAssign with an equally useless, mind-numbing program. After all, in this cutthroat, ruthlessly competitive academic environ-ment, we grade-grubbers need some way to get meaningless points.

Following weeks of spirited contention, President Barack Obama delivered his much-awaited

s p e e c h at Notre Dame’s c o m -mence-m e n t ceremo-n y o n May 17, 2 0 0 9 . The de-bate was over the issue of a b o r -t i on ; a C a t h o -

lic university, Notre Dame was founded on fundamental Christian principles including preserving the sanctity of life, making the cam-pus largely pro-life. Mr. Obama, meanwhile, is as liberal as they come in regards to abortion, fully supporting a mother’s prerogative to choose in all situations.

While hundreds of students and advocacy groups asked for Obama’s removal from the cer-emony, it was to no avail: Obama gave his speech, asking for a “fair-minded” debate on the heated topic. But, truly, there is no debate. Abortion makes too much sense.

Staunch pro-lifers point a mis-guided finger to the Bible for their (ir)rationale in not supporting abortion. Because the basis of their argument lies in religious context, it cannot be applicable to government decisions. Any argu-ment lending itself to religious ideology is doing a disservice to our country’s secularism. Never-theless, pro-lifers will maintain that religious bearings aside, purposefully aborting a fetus has motives akin to killing someone.

Wrong. Abortion saves lives. It saves lives from an environment void of opportunity, from parental neglect, and from a destitute life that all too often ends as sense-lessly as it began. My mom has worked at a West Philadelphia shelter for nearly five years, en-countering the same story time and time again. A recent high school drop out with a six-month old baby and another one on the way. A 22 year-old mother of four who has bounced around from shelter to shelter and ended up at this one. Babies brought up with no father, no direction. It’s from her accounts that I’ve gained a heightened sense of the consequences these women and children face when abortion is not seriously considered.

What’s more is that these single mothers survive off welfare, re-ceiving heftier checks for each additional child. Intuitively, this makes sense; you need more mon-ey to care for more children. But the realities of this system magnify its failures. Without any incentive to have abortions and without any consequences of not doing so, most of these mothers will sit

around collecting free money. The city tries to justify this by purport-ing that all welfare recipients are required to attend workshops to help them find jobs. They’ll at-tend, but my mom estimates 85% of her clients remain unemployed, leaving seminars early so they can use their food stamps on Chinese takeout and waste their welfare on Timberlands for their four year-old son.

This is what taxpayers’ money goes towards. It’s a mess. But abortion can be part of a solution to help this broken system. It can also make our streets safer. A whole chapter in Stephen J. Dub-ner’s Freakonomics is devoted to the impact legalized abortion has had on crime. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal, crime has been dramatically reduced in the United States.

But this has yet to resonate with everyone, especially the mothers most directly involved. My mom has gained the understanding that these women use their babies to vindicate themselves. Through their children, they yearn to inflate their sense of worth. Yet their ac-tions do not translate from this rosy aspiration. Instead, they terribly mistreat their children. I’ve seen it. There are exceptions, but they amount to just that: exceptions. A deviation from the majority of moms who don’t care for their children the way a mother should. Their sons and daughters grow up in a cold environment, knowing nothing but crime, and the city of Philadelphia gets rewarded with 300 murders a year.

The answer doesn’t lie in timid-ity or indifference. It will require boldness. The facts are clear: legalizing abortion reduces crime. If something works, and benefits the majority, then enforce it. That’s why there should be mandatory abortion for any mother living off of welfare, in a shelter or some combination of the two. Preventive steps like contraceptives and birth control should be top priority, but when those fail, there needs to be another answer. The system would need to ensure that checkups are consistent and often, so that any pregnancy could be detected as early as possible.

I understand I’m in the minor-ity here. Most would argue that you cannot force a mother into an abortion; it’s such a personal decision. Plus, that baby at least deserves a chance. Who knows? Maybe they’ll defy the odds. But what has that lofty optimism done so far? It’s only excused these mothers to have children they simply can’t raise.

Mandatory abortion would quell this immediate crisis, so other issues like welfare reform could be more easily addressed. Until then, this vicious cycle will continue, a cycle breeding much of our country’s crime. Isn’t that something we all want to abort?

Avi ChatterjeeClass of 2011

Mandatory abortion:Preventing, not committing, murder

Woe is WebAssign: Devil’s spawn of the 21st century?

It’s always something. In recent months, it seems as though every time you turn around something else is “wrong” in

L o w e r M e r i o n School District. The price of as-signment books drew complaints, as did standardized testing. The redis-tricting process was long and (for many people) pain-ful, and proposed

grading changes s t r o n g l y c o n -tested. Between hall pass troubles

and new laptop initiatives, we barely had time to breathe before the next wave of “problems” hit our hallowed halls. The “construction updates” in The Merionite kept us informed of the progress of our future school, but it was almost always overshadowed by the problems. The new school, granted, is easy to ignore- many of the windows in our building face the other way, and why would we even focus on the new school when, between WebAssigns, quizzes, homework, and extracurricular activities, we already have so much on our plates?

Helping to build a school in western Africa this April, though, I realized the vast amounts of work that go into even the simplest structure. The villagers there had never possessed such a school, even one that, with just three rooms and a basic latrine, will pale in comparison to the likes of the hulking behemoth arising right in Lower Merion’s backyard. The students won’t have laptops, a library, or a video

production lab. There won’t be a cafeteria with delectable cookies, much less guid-ance services like ours. Although simple, it will give the children, and adults, in the village access to an education. Education is something we so often take for granted, almost all of us having grown up in soci-eties where we are both encouraged and required to attend school.

Sadly, though, there are many places throughout the world where children have no, or limit-ed, access to education. Seventy-two million children around the world do not attend school, not for lack of want, in most cases, but for lack of access. One in five adults is illiterate. It seems easy to categorize these as problems that plague only the developing world, but statistics say otherwise. Ac-cording to ABC News, 92 million Americans have low or very low literacy skills. Many school dis-tricts in our country do not have the funds for new textbooks or ba-sic computers, let alone a brand-spankin’ new school building replete with not just classrooms and computers, but a swimming pool and black-box theater to boot. Too often, though, these facts – we’re about to receive an incredible new building, we have one of the best educational systems in the nation – are lost in the fray of complaints about the more minute details of student life (no student parking?!).

I do concede that there are things in our school and our com-munity that could be improved

(the curriculum quickly comes to mind), and I understand that people feel uprooted with all the changes taking place – how could we not? Everyone wants the best for themselves, their children, their com-munity – it’s human nature, and we can’t fault ourselves for that. But it’s important to keep these things in perspective. The

bottom line is, we’re finally getting a new school, with nearly unparalleled new fa-cilities. I won’t be around to enjoy them, as the school will be completed after my graduation, but I urge all who do not to take them for granted.

Oh, and take a jump in the new swim-ming pool for me.

June 2, 2009

OP-ED8

The Merionite

President Barack Obama is promoting his agenda to try to fix up the country. His job is not

easy, and h a s n ’ t b e e n m a d e easier by t he f ac t t ha t t he Republi-can Party is united a n d u p in a rms a g a i n s t

him. While the party’s unity is necessary for GOP victories in 2010 and 2012, I can’t help but feel like some of this resistance to the President is simply due to the fact that Obama is a Demo-crat. Unfortunately, this kind of partisanship delegitimizes any attack on Obama. This is especially because Republicans would do the things that they criticize Obama for doing if they were in power.

On tax day, April 15, many conservatives got together at “tea parties” and protested Obama’s budget, reckless spending, and economic agenda. While I don’t agree with Obama’s economic policies, these “tea part ies” should have happened during the George W. Bush administration.

Where were the tax protesters when Bush turned former Presi-dent Bill Clinton’s $230 billion surplus into a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit? Where were they when Bush became the largest govern-ment spender since President Lyndon B. Johnson? Where were they when Bush expanded the federal government through wiretaps, No Child Left Behind, expansion of presidential pow-ers, etc? Isn’t the Republican Party supposed to be the party of limited government and reduced spending? This is partisanship at its finest.

What real ly shocked me was that popular conservative personalities were in an up-roar about the fact that Obama ordered Dijon mustard on his burger when he went out to lunch with Joe Biden at Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Vir-ginia. Apparently that made him an “elitist out of touch with the American people.” Guess what? The Republicans aren’t exactly in touch with the American people either. Didn’t the GOP just run a Presidential candidate who couldn’t count how many houses he owned? Didn’t the GOP just spend $150,000 on Sarah Palin’s clothing? Wasn’t the last Republican President one of the wealthiest men in

the United States? Again, this is partisanship at its finest.

I have a friend who is a very conservative Republican. He idolized Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. When Specter defected to the Democratic Party, that friend immediately lost all respect for the senator, even though Specter had been voting like a Democrat. If my friend was really conservative, he should’ve opposed Specter a long time ago. But even if you don’t buy that, does Specter’s party really matter? Specter’s voting record has consistently been liberal, and that’s not go-ing to change. If you happen to side with the liberals, why should the party name matter? Support the politician you agree with, whether he is a Republican or Democrat. Yet again, this is partisanship at its finest.

Also, that same friend has said that he hopes Obama will do a bad job just so that he will be kicked out of office. This attitude is wrong. Barack Obama is our president, whether we like it or not. If you hope Obama does a bad job, you’re hoping that the country will fail too. There’s only one word for that mindset: unpatriotic. Didn’t the very conservative President Ronald Reagan say

that “Republicans believe ev-ery day is the Fourth of July?” We may all belong to different political parties, but the glue that binds all political parties together is American citizen-ship. No matter what party you belong to, there’s one thing you should always do: support the country.

As you may have figured, I’m conservative. I come from a conservative family. I did not support Obama in the 2008 election. However, this doesn’t change the fact that this partisan badgering is wrong. It’s hypo-critical, it’s immature, and it’s detrimental to national unity. Of course, the Democrats aren’t saints when it comes to partisan-ship either. They irrationally and wrongly compared to Bush to Adolph Hitler because of Bush’s involvement in the Iraq War. So does that mean that Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy should have been compared to Hitler because of their involvement in the Vietnam War? The Democrats criticized the Bush deficits and used that as fuel for their victo-ries in 2006 and 2008. So why aren’t Democrats complaining about Obama’s planned deficits (the budget deficit is predicted to go up to 1.84 trillion dol-

lars by the end of the fiscal year)? The Democrats rightly attacked Sarah Palin for being inexperienced. So shouldn’t they have criticized Obama for having only spent 143 days in the United States Senate before he ran for President?

Of course, political parties can and should criticize each other on wrongdoing. How-ever, these criticisms should be based on principle, not just on party name. Bickering be-tween the parties on account of partisanship simply shows that no change will happen. It also distracts the parties from mak-ing pragmatic decisions on the important issues. If that’s the way politics are going to be, you might as well base your vote on a coin toss, because no change will be made. In the end, both parties are often guilty of the same things they attack the other party of do-ing. Both parties need to base themselves on principle, not on names. Both parties need to take a good look at themselves before they attack each other. They also need to be able to take a step backward and bad-ger members of their own party when a politician steps out of line. If not, then neither party will be worth of any respect.

Pesky partisan political problems

Stop complaining, start appreciating

Han TranClass of 2011

Hannah Goldberg MorseClass of 2010

Teacher: Ms. Miller Baby’s Name: Shane Michael Miller Date of Birth: 1/27/09 Pregnancy Cravings: Pizza- anything with cheese “Life at our house is pretty hectic!”

As the weather continues to get hotter, you may find yourself craving a frozen treat to cool off. You may also find yourself perplexed by the plethora of choices. Which is better—ice cream or gelato, that foreign stuff more and more places are selling these days? And is frozen yogurt really yogurt? Well, here are your answers and the best places to get each.

Frozen yogurt ought to be se l f -explanato-ry, but only select places sell legiti-mate yogurt. Many ice cream stores sell low-fa t i ce c ream masquerading as yo-gurt, while other fro-zen yogurt only actu-ally contains a very small per-centage of yogurt and so much sugar is added that you can’t even tell. If made correctly, frozen yogurt is healthier than ice cream because it’s lower in fat, contains more protein, and has live active cultures of good bacteria that help with digestion. When it’s made like this, frozen yogurt has a distinctive sour tas te , much like regular yogurt (makes sense, right?). If it doesn’t taste like regular yogurt, chances are a lot of sugar has been

added.Gelato is the Italian

variety of ice cream and conta ins less fat. Ice cream has a legal minimum of ten percent fat, while gelato has around five to seven percent fat be-cause it’s made with more whole milk than cream. Gelato is also churned much more slowly, resulting in a denser, tastier product. Lower quality ice cream can contain

up to 50 percent air, but gelato has no added air—only what is included natu-

rally with churn-i n g ( a b o u t 3 5 p e r c e n t

less than ice c ream) . De-spite the fact tha t ‘ge la to’

means ‘frozen’ in Italian, it’s served at a slightly warmer temperature than ice cream, making it not completely frozen.

Similar to gelato, frozen custard has a small content of air, making it denser, and it is served at a warmer tempera-

ture than ice cream. A lot of butterfat and egg yolks lend to a thick, smooth

consistency.Water ice, or Ital-

ian ice, is simply ice combined with some

sort of flavoring, usu-ally fruit. It’s often fat-

free, but, like frozen yogurt, it

can be high in sugar if it’s made with artificial flavoring

rather than real f rui t (which is much bet-

ter tasting anyway). Make sure to find a place, like Rita’s, that

uses fresh fruit.S o r b e t i s a n o t h e r

fruit-flavored treat that doesn’t contain milk, cream,

or eggs and relies wholly on sugar, lemon juice, and fresh

fruit. Sorbetto is the Italian version, which, like gelato, is more intense because it has more fruit and less water.

Dippin’ Dots, or “The Ice Cream of the

F u t u r e , ” i s q u i t e u n i q u e . It consists o f s m a l l beads o f ice cream

m a d e b y f lash f reezing ice

cream mix in liquid nitrogen. The beads have less air than regular ice c ream and are stored at a much lower tem-perature.

Now that you are well versed in the subject of frozen treats, go out into the world, spread the knowledge and enjoy the complexity of these great cre-ations. On that scorching, hot day when it seems like there is nothing to do except sweat, get together with friends and treat yourself to some tasty goodness. Go out and taste the frozen rainbow!

Teacher: Ms. DiTullio Baby’s Name: Nicholas Joseph DiTullio Date of Birth: 2/6/2009 Pregnancy Cravings: Peanut butter, chocolate, English muffins and Ameri can cheese

“Nick is a precious baby, he is very low- key, and he smiles all the time. He loves bathtime and swimming!”

“I am really enjoying motherhood. My favorite time is when I go to get him from his crib in the morning and he is all swaddled up. As soon as I unswaddle him, his arms go flying over his head and he stretches out. It is adorable. One of my favorite things is when he falls asleep on my chest. It is awesome to watch him develop and grow everyday.”

June 2, 2009

FEATURES9

Melt in your mouth masterpiecesEmily Sorensen

Class of 2010Now that you’re probably drooling from reading about all these deli- cious delicacies, on to where to find them!

1. Ice cream has the distinction of being readily available in grocery stores, but

nothing beats going out for it. Mag-gie Moo’s is the local favorite, with a wide variety of flavors and mix-ins (or toppings, if you prefer). It’s also con-veniently located in the Wynnewood

shopping center.2. Carvel is less well-known, located

right beside the Asian Bistro Sang Kee. Its specialty is soft-serve ice cream dipped in

chocolate. Other places to check out: Dairy Queen, Baskin Rob-bins, Cold Stone Creamery and Ice Café.

3. The best place to get gelato is, well, Italy, or at least some place in Europe. For those of us who aren’t traveling this summer, Pallante’s in the Farmer’s Market sells gelato. Whether it’s real gelato is debatable. But either way, it tastes good. Genaurdi’s also claims to be selling gelato, though its authenticity is questionable. Occasionally Italian restaurants like Bertucci’s will offer it as a des-sert.

4.If you’re in the city, look for a Capogiro, a place that seems to be able to pull off legitimate gelato. Just avoid Rita’s attempt at ge-lato, which is “a disgusting mix of custard and water ice,” according to junior Sara Murray.

5. Saxby’s coffee and Pinkberry both serve non-fat frozen yogurt. Real yogurt, and you can taste it. Saxby’s is right down the street in the Farmer’s market (and at other locations too) and only has plain yogurt, but offers a wide variety of toppings to complement the natural taste. Pinkberry has a similar set up, just is farther away (in New York), and has three basic flavors, and again, the array of toppings to add.

6. Delancy Street and TCBY also sell frozen yogurt, but of a distinctly sweeter variety. Stick with the real stuff if you can get there.

7. As for Italian ice, there’s one easily accessible place: Rita’s. Go there. Frozen custard: same story.

8. Dippin’ Dots can be found at small but brightly decorated stands in most amusement parks. Occasionally you can also spot them in malls and vending machines.

Have fun hunting around!

Where to please your palate

All Images courtesy of Google Image Search

Hit me baby one more time: new LM parents

Teacher: Ms. Mellet Baby’s Name: Owen Daniel Mellet Date of Birth: 12/21/08 Pregnancy Cravings: Chocolate every day! “I received a great care package from LM staff with all kinds of books and cards and magazines and games to en-tertain myself. It was such a wonderful surprise and it helped me pass the time. I also got several stuffed envelopes with cards from my students wishing me well, it was so sweet.”

“I was so excited when I found out I was going to be a mom. I love every minute of it. I could spend hours just staring at Owen, and some days I do.”

Picture courtesy of Alison Mellet

Picture courtesy of Natalie DiTullio

Teacher: Ms. Knight Baby’s Name: Eli Vincent Knight Date of Birth: 4/7/09 Pregnancy Cravings: Sleep and Massages

“This was my third time being pregnant while teaching, so it felt quite normal by now.”

Teacher: Ms. Sand Baby’s Name: Jackson Stephen Sand Date of Birth: 12/17/08 Pregnancy Cravings: Ice cream and chicken nuggets

“He is rolling over, has a tooth and lots of other things that I get so excited about.”

Teacher: Mr. Nyce Baby’s Name: Nolan Jeffrey Nyce Date of Birth: 4/18/09

“My two-year-old daughter refers to Nolan as ‘Hi Handsome!’”

Picture courtesy of Jeff Nyce Picture courtesy of Jen Sand

Picture courtesy of Jeff NycePicture courtesy of Colleen Miller Picture courtesy of Natalie DiTullio

The Merionite

temperatures reach above 113 °F

FEBRUARY 20092: Japan’s Mount Asama erupts

5: USA Swimming sus-pends Michael Phelps from competition for three months following publication of a photo-graph of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe

22: Slumdog Millionaire wins eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture; Sean Penn wins Best Actor for Milk and Kate Winslet wins Best Actress for The Reader

23: The Dow Jones In-dustrial Average and S&P 500 fall to their lowest levels since 1997

MARCH 20096: LM Dunk Tank fund-raiser takes place, and cafeteria flooding ensues

18: Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson dies after a ski accident

21: Five thousand people are temporarily evacuated from Wind Gap, Pennsyl-vania, after a tank truck carrying hydrofluoric acid overturns

28: Millions of people worldwide recognize Earth Hour by deactivating

JUNE 20089: McDonald’s stops serv-ing sliced tomatoes in its hamburgers in the United States following a Salmo-nella outbreak linked to raw tomatoes

11: A tornado at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Little Sioux, Iowa kills four Boy Scouts and in-jures several others

19: The long-running comic strip Garfield cel-ebrates its 30th birthday

JULY 20081: Starbucks announces that it will close 600 underperforming coffee

shops in the United States

11: Chinese restaurants in Beijing are told not to serve dog meat during 2008 Summer Olympics, but can continue to serve Donkey meat

16: Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Fed-eral Reserve, asserts that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in “no danger of failing”

AUGUST 20083: A stampede at a Hindu temple in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh kills 162 people

8: The 2008 Summer Olympics starts with the Opening Ceremony at the

Beijing National Stadium

17: Michael Phelps wins his eighth Olympic gold medal, beating Mark Spitz’s previous record of seven set in 1972.

SEPTEMBER 20081: Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, announces she is five months preg-nant

2: LMHS begins its 08-09 school year

7: Rent closes on Broad-way, ending its 12 year run that began in 1996.

11: The Pentagon Memo-

rial in Washington DC, dedicated to 184 people who died in the attacks is open to the public

OCTOBER 20082: Sarah Palin and Joe Biden face off in the an-ticipated Vice Presidential televised debate

3: President Bush signs the $700,000,000,000 bailout bill after it is passed by the House

12: The LM hallpass is established

29: PHILLIES WIN WORLD SERIES: 4 to 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5

NOVEMBER 20084: Barack Obama wins the presidency and becomes the first black U.S. presi-dent

18: Mickey Mouse turns 80 years old

28: Black Friday: As the Christmas shopping sea-son begins in the United States, two are shot at a Toys R Us store in Palm Desert, California, and a Wal-Mart employee is crushed in a stampede after shoppers broke down a front door in Valley Stream, New York

29: In an interview, U.S.

President George W. Bush names No Child Left Behind as one of his most significant achievements and hopes to be remem-bered for the current situ-ation in Iraq

DECEMBER 20089: Almost 1,400 workers are laid off in the Repub-lic of Ireland as a result of the 2008 Irish pork crisis

15: Iraqi Journalist throws shoe at George Bush as a sign of disrespect

16: The Illinois House of Representatives votes unanimously to begin an impeachment inquiry against Governor Rod

Blagojevich for corrup-tion

19: President Bush an-nounces a $17.4 billion emergency bailout of the automobile industry to protect General Motors and Chrysler from bank-ruptcy during the current automotive crisis

JANUARY 20098: The United Nations suspends humanitarian aid operations in Gaza after receiving fire from the Israel Defense Forces

12: Six of eight LM School Board Direc-tors vote in favor of the

“Modified Plan 3” redis-tricting proposal, igniting fierce community reac-tion, especially in South Ardmore. A Civil Rights investigation follows

15: US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 carrying 155 people, ditches safely into New York City’s Hudson River

26: A set of human octuplets are born alive for the second time in the United States

27: Junior Class Taste of LM is cancelled

31: A heat wave affects southeastern Australia, killing 20 people as

unnecessary lighting

APRIL 200912: Swine influenza kills at least 68 people and infects at least 1,000 more in Mexico

27: A low-flying Boeing VC-25, Air Force One, causes momentary panic in New York City for an unannounced photo-op

28: The first transgenic, fluorescent dogs are cloned in South Korea

MAY 2009:3: Iraq will not extend the deadline for the United

States Armed Forces to withdraw from the Iraq War

6: The U.S. state of Maine legalizes same-sex mar-riage

9: Lower Merion A Cap-pella celebrates its fifth anniversary

10: H1N1 influenza kills a third United States citizen and spreads to Australia and Japan

19: A 47-million-year-old skeleton of a lemur species is discovered in Germany

20: Kris Allen dubbed American Idol over favor-ite Adam Lambert

Graphic courtesy of Noah Zuares/StaffPhotos courtesy of Google Image Search and lmsd.org

June 2, 2009

FEATURES12

The Merionite

Some Sensible Summer Suggestions

The sweatshirts start acquiring dust in the drawers. Your sunglasses come out of hibernation. The alleged Seasonal Affective Disorder begins to disappear. What is going on?

Fear not, overheated one. The increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere may indeed make us more susceptible to beads of sweat on our foreheads, but just think, all the more rea-son to join a membership to the township pool.

Now, it can be some-what daunting planning a summer itinerary. Choices tend to overwhelm us. But it’s time to take out your pencil and paper, your SPF, (or tanning oil if you’re into that) and start plan-ning the agenda. We’ve compiled a couple highlights to help you out.

SwimmingThis may seem trite, but the pool is the symbol of the

summer. Crash a neighbor’s pool, drive to a lake, buy a Slip-N-Slide, turn on a hose, do whatever it takes to cool off.

The Scott Arboretum The Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College is an

ideal place to visit this summer. Admission is free and the grounds are open every day dawn to dusk. Visit on July 13th and expereince a free guided tour with the curator,

open to the public. The tour provides an in-depth look at the collections, gardens and plant selections through the eyes of the man responsible for curating the collection.

Make a Book ListStudents often complain about the restrictive, forced

nature of assigned reading during the school year. This is the opportunity for all those kids to get the freedom to read what they want, at the pace they choose.

Spring Awakening Spring Awakening is playing at the Acad-

emy of Music this summer. This play was the winner of 8 Tony awards including Best Musical. It’s now coming off Broadway and right into the heart of Philadelphia. The show will playing from June 23rd until June 28th.

Learn a new HobbyDon’t buy into the idea that an

“old dog can’t learn new tricks”. Create some goals. Buy a new instrument. Pick up photography. Be creative.

Biking and PicnicsThese aren’t overrated, we promise.

(There’s a reason these have been popular for years) I recommend Valley Forge as a great picnic site and West River Drive for a great bike route.

The Sunoco Welcome America The Sunoco Welcome America is a week-long festival

in Philadelphia that includes more than 50 free events,

fireworks, historic reenactments and concerts centered around America’s independence. The festival will run from June 27 until July 5.

The Global Fusion Festival The Global Fusion Festival is the 3rd annual Global

Fusion Weekend produced by Philadelphia’s Multicultural Affairs Congress. Experience the cultural music and entertainment for free at Penn’s Landing. The festival will take place from July 16 until July 18. The local and national recording artists represent the diverse cultures throughout the world.

XPoNential Festival Rock on at the XPoNential Festival is at Wiggins Park

in New Jersey. Sponsored by 88.5 XPN radio station, this concert runs 4 days with 3 stages of performances, and

over 40 artists to be represented. Come see the concert between July 10 and July 13.

Phi ladelphia Bastille Day Philadelphia’s Bas-

tille Day, is celebrated on July 14, during Ba-tille Day, the French n a t i o n a l h o l i d a y. Come watch this event at the Eastern State Penitentiary, and hear the Philly cry of “Let them eat TastyKake!”

as the locally manufactured pastries are then thrown at the Parisian militia. An exciting re-enactment of the storming of the Bastille is also included in the program. If you’re lucky you may catch a glimpse of Mr. Kilpatrick.

Image courtesy of google.com

Image courtesy of google.com

June is bustin’ out all over Bina Peltz

Class of 2010Wake up and smell the flowers.

Yes, that’s right, June is finally here. As pinks and purples color the lawns, the sounds of chirping birds and rus-tling leaves fill the air. In 2004, former president George W. Bush designated June as the Great Outdoors Month in order to encourage physical activ-ity and preservation of the environ-ment. So shut off your computer, take a break from studying and help America celebrate nature and all it has to offer.

1. June is a great time to increase your connection with your commu-nity, as well as your connection with nature. Volunteer to help beautify your neighborhood and gain appreciation for your surroundings. National Trails Day, held on the first Saturday of the month, is a great opportunity to get involved. National Trails Day helps to increase awareness about the nature trails sprawled throughout the country and promotes community relations. On June 6th, Valley Forge National Park will host a clean up day for its trails. In addition to the clean up, hikes, ed-ucational workshops, fitness evalu-ations and exhibits will be available

. 2. Hiking is also a great opportunity

to experience the diversity of nature.

Take a family member or friend along and reap the benefits of exercise and the environment. Visit www.trails.com to find local hikes that fit your fitness level. For group hikes, you can join free organizations, such as the Phila-delphia Hiking and Adventure Group.

3. Swap those flipflops for sneakers and go for a run. You can find an appropriate running route

at www.usatf.org/routes. Looking for more of a challenge? Gath-er your motivation and participate in the Tuesday in the Park 5K series. Four monthly runs are held on the Schuylkill River Trail for all ages. Online registra-tion can be found at www.runreg.com.

4. Head down to the beach and soak up some sun. Bring a good book and bask under the sun while watching the

waves. Toss around a ball, ride some waves or build a sand castle. Include a bunch of friends in a water balloon fight. The possibilities are endless!

5. A great bonding experience for both family and friends is outdoor camp-

ing. Pennsylvania’s numer-ous state parks allow

for real, hands on experi-

ence with nature.

State

parks provide cheap accom-

modations and a slew of exciting ac-tivities. Go fishing during the day and roast marshmallows over the camp-fire at night. Many parks allow you to rent boats and kayaks, so hone your boating skills and go out on the water.

6. If you would rather stay in the comfort of your home, you can cre-

ate a backyard campground. Invite friends over, find some flashlights, set up a tent in your backyard and ex-perience the LM nightlife. Put out a blanket and have a picnic dinner or a barbeque. If the sky is clear, go star-gaze. Finish the night off with some good, old fashioned ghost stories and then snuggle into your sleeping bags.

7. Remember the biking obsessions in middle school? The next time you find yourself without a ride, dig up your old set of wheels in the shed, put on a helmet and you’re ready to go. Enjoy the wind in your hair while embarking on a fun, healthy and environmentally friendly activity. Want some more adventure? Try moun-tain biking and explore the various trails in the area. Contact the Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association to find

trails, then rent a bike and you’re off!

Now that you are armed with some suggestions, put down the newspaper and go outside. Better yet, read the Merionite out-side. Appreciate the beauty around you and try a new sport, plant a garden, go swim-ming, create a scavenger hunt or bird watch. Don’t stay indoors on the windy day, go fly a kite! Practically anything can be done out-doors, so go out and try! Take advantage of the gorgeous weather and create some good times with friends and family. Make the Great Outdoors Month even greater!

Image courtesy of google.com

Rachel CohenClass of 2010

June 2, 2009

The Merionite ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 13

Summer blockbusters to beholdAre you looking for places to

take your girlfriend or boyfriend this summer? Are you going to be bored out of your mind? Will you need somewhere to hang out with your friends? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you should consider going to your nearest movie theater. Here’s a sneak preview of some movies that are coming out this summer.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That is, unless your wedding is in two days. Faced with an impending wedding, Doug Billings (Justin Bartha) and his three best friends decide to go to Las Vegas and hold a fantastic bachelor party. After a wild night of drinking and debauchery, Doug’s three friends wake up with no memory of the night before. However, Doug is nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, there’s a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month old baby in the closet of their hotel suite. In order to get Doug home in time for the wedding, the three friends must figure out what happened that night so they can find Doug.Will they succeed? Find out on June 12.

In this documentary, f i lmmaker Robert Kenner takes a critical look at the food industry. Dirty secrets about the food industry that the FDA and USDA know about will be revealed. Kenner will expose how the food cor-porations have risked consumer health, the environment, and workers’ rights all in the name of money. The movie is loosely based on books The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (who also stars in the movie) and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. This film will also be released in theaters June 12.

When pushy book editor Maggie (Sandra Bullock) faces the risk of being deported from the United States to her home country of Canada, she devises a plan. She asks her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to pretend to marry her in exchange for keeping his job. In order to make this lie believable to the investigating government, Maggie and Andrew are forced to go to Alaska to spend the weekend with Andrew’s parents. Hilarity ensues. Despite all the problems facing the couple, Maggie and Andrew begin to fall in love. This film will be released June 19.

You think your life is terrible? Just

wait until you hear the stories of the char-acters in The Stoning of Soraya M, which is scheduled to come out on June 26. After his car breaks in a remote village in 1986 Iran, Sahebjam (James Caveziel) meets Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Zahra tells him the harrowing and haunting tale of her niece, Soraya (Mozhan Marnò). Soraya has been stoned to death only two weeks ago on charges of suspected adultery. Her hot tempered husband, Ghorban-Ali (Navid Negahban), simply wanted out of the marriage and decided to accuse her of adultery. This movie exposes the misogyny, lawlessness, and mob rule of a post-revolution Iran.

Based on the powerful novel by Jodi Picoult, this movie premieres on June 26 as well. Anna Fitzgerald (Abigail Breslin) has been conceived by her par-ents by in-vitro fertilization for the sole purpose of providing a genetic match for her sister Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who is afflicted with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Kate goes into renal failure and needs a new kidney. Naturally, Kate and Anna’s parents turn to Anna for her kidney. But the thirteen-year-old Anna decides she doesn’t want to donate her kidney and with the help of lawyer Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin), Anna sues her parents for medical emancipation. This film also features Cameron Diaz, starring as Sara, the mother of Anna and Kate; and Joan Cusack, starring as the judge.

Fox has finally come up with the third and final installment in the Ice Age Trilogy. In this computer animated film, Manny (Ray Romano), Sid (John Leguizamo), Diego (Denis Leary), El-lie (Queen Latifah), Eddie (Josh Peck), Crash (Seann William Scott) and Scrat come across a tropical island that ex-isted underneath the ice for many years. However, this tropical island happens to have dinosaurs on it. Take your little brother or sister with you to see this movie premiere on July 1.

It’s the 1930s. Poverty is rampant, as is crime. In this true story, Johnny Depp stars as John Dillinger, a high profile bank robber. Because of his successful bank robberies, Dillinger is seen by the

people as a legend. The boss of a very young FBI, J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), labels Dillinger America’s most wanted criminal. Hoover gets one of his agents, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), to lead a manhunt for Dillinger. Unfortunately for Purvis, Dillinger seems to outsmart the FBI at every turn. At the same time, Purvis is hunting down other robbers like Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham), and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum). This Michael Mann directed film also hits theaters July 1.

Sacha Baron Cohen is back with a third film based on a character from his hit TV show “Da Ali G Show.” It hits theaters July 10. In this comedy film, Cohen stars as a Brüno, a flamboyantly homosexual Austrian TV reporter who will purposely try to make straight peo-ple feel uncomfortable with his homo-sexuality. Like Cohen’s previous film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Ka-zakhstan, Brüno will place a lot of focus on deceiving, scaring, and embarrassing people unaware of Brüno’s fictionality.

Almost everything you see in Brüno will be in unscripted reality. Also like Borat, Brüno will be in a mock-documentary format. Viewers will decide for them-selves whether Brüno will be hilarious or distasteful.

The sixth installment of the success-ful “Harry Potter” film series is finally here. The movies are all based on the successful Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. In this film, it has become a fact that Lord Voldemort (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane) is alive again, and Albus Dumbledore (Sir Michael Gambon) is heavily preparing Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) for his final battle with Voldemort. Meanwhile, the main characters have found themselves dealing with a much more common prob-lem: puberty. Potter develops a crush on Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright), who is unfortunately dating someone else. Meanwhile, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) finds herself jealous of Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave), Ron Weasley’s (Rupert Grint) girlfriend. Fi-nally, somebody dies! But who? Either read the book or watch the movie on July 15 to find out.

The Steven Spie lberg-produced sequel to the popular 2007 film Trans-formers, is coming out on July 24. Both films are based off of the successful Transformers toy franchise that has spawned a cartoon movie, a cartoon TV series, and a comic book series. The plot centers around the war going on between the Transformers robots. The conflict is between the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Human Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), gleans a piece of tasty information involving the history of the Transformers. The Decepticons attempt to capture Witwicky for this informa-tion. Meanwhile, Witwicky allies with the Autobots led by general Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen).

All is right for Cliff (Steve Zahn) and Cydney (Milla Jokovich). They are a happy newlywed couple honeymoon-ing in the beautiful paradise of Hawaii. That is, until tales of murdered tourists reach the ears of Cliff and Cydney. Cliff and Cydney join forces with two other couples on vacation, but all hell breaks loose. Nobody can be trusted, and the murderer could potentially one of their friends. Cliff and Cydney’s vacation quickly evolves into an epic battle of survival. Come see this film on August 14 to find out what happens.

If you like 1960s music, this film, scheduled to come out August 28, is the film for you. In the late 1960s, American teenagers could listen to rock music on the radio all day. However, British teenagers did not have much choice of what to listen to on the radio. There was only one radio station that the British government allowed to be broadcast, and that station played very little recorded music. In response to this, a gang of disc jockeys decides to set up a pirate radio station named Radio Rock. Radio Rock plays rock music all day, and British teenagers love it. Unfortunately, the government attempts to take the station down. This film has a colorful cast, featuring such famous actors as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kenneth Branaugh, and Bill Nighy. Also, this film boasts director Richard Curtis, who directed films like Four Weddings and a Fu-neral and Bridget Jones’ Diary. While this film does bear some similarities to Britain in the late 1960s, this film is not attempting to accurately cover what actually happened. Johnny Depp will steal your heart as

John Dillinger in Public Enemies

Photo courtesy of www.johnnydeppfan.nl

Photo courtesy of www.examiner.comBrüno, a character from Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Da Ali G Show”

Our lovable friends from the Ice Age will grace theaters once more on July 1.

Photo courtesy of www.examiner.com

Han TranClass of 2011

Photo courtesy of blog.newsok.comTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen debuts on July 24

The Hangover

Food, Inc.

The Stoning of Soraya M

My Sister’s Keeper

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Public Enemies

Brüno

Hary Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The Proposal

A Perfect Getaway

The Boat that Rocked

cal 1960s feel, but it’s in French. Although the lyrics aren’t exactly empowering to women (the song is about a woman who is still in love with a man who cheated on her), it’s still a must listen.

“On Broadway” by George Benson: George Benson: not only is he possibly the best jazz guitar player alive, but his singing is incredible! Although this is one of his more commercial recordings, this shouldn’t detract you from listening to it. The groove will have you bobbing your head in no time. This song is just naturally uplift-ing. The best part of the song is when he plays a very complex solo on the guitar while simultaneously singing his solo. Oh, and did I mention that the solo is completely improvised from scratch? Yeah.

“Only The Lonely” by Roy Orbison: Elvis Presley called Roy Orbison “the greatest singer in the world. Yet, Orbison doesn’t get as much recognition as he deserves. It was Orbison who sang ‘Oh Pretty Woman,’ which was featured in the film “Pretty Woman” starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. ‘Only The Lonely’ actually in-spired John Lennon to write The Beatles’ first #1 hit: ‘Please Please Me.’ This heartbreaking song features Orbison’s soulful and smooth singing. You’ll also hear Orbison’s incredible vocal range.

“Will You Love Me Tomor-row?” by The Shirelles: Written by one of the great songwriting

June 2, 2009

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT14

The Merionite

Spoiler Alert: “Lost” Season 5’s explosive finale

Han TranClass of 2011

Photo courtesy of oneasianworld.com

Jake WellensClass of 2011

Six years ago, the flaming remnants of Oceanic Flight 815 deposited 48 survivors onto a very special island. Since then, we’ve witnessed miracles, trag-edies, friendships, love created and destroyed, the birth of desti-nies, and the death of innocence; all of which take place on a tiny plot of mountainous forest in the Pacific. On May 13, the intense fifth season came to a breathtak-ing close.

I will not attempt to summa-rize the show up to this point, for a few reasons. First, I could not do it even a hint of justice. Second, if you haven’t seen, or rather, experienced the first nine-ty-something episodes, whatever imagery and significance this ar-ticle does manage to capture will be entirely lost on you. At this point, the best possible choice of action for you “Lost-virgins” would be to stop reading this article, go to http://abc.go.com and start watching from Season 1. Every episode is available for free and in HD quality (you could have just found a way to spend the first three weeks of your summer).

Anyway, let’s delve into this fifth season finale, shall we? The finale begins with a scene from an ancient time when the foot statue possessed a body and a matching foot. We meet two

new characters sitting on the beach. They converse about finding some sort of loophole and killing each other in a way that makes the sub-ject seem quotidian. We don’t know either of their names until the last line of the conversation (in typical Lost fashion), when one of the men is revealed to be the elusive Jacob (sorry to everyone who put their money on Christian Sheppard). The name had been completely en-shrouded in mystery since the third season, and only 3 minutes into the finale, we already have a face with which to link it. (Fans of the “Dexter” TV series may recognize him as Rita’s abusive ex-husband.) Jacob appears as a sort of guardian angel in each of the main characters’ respective childhoods, periodically throughout the episode in flash-backs (remember those?). Then, each of the many sub-plots begin to develop. Jack, Sayid, Richard (1970s Richard, that is) and Eloise remove the plutonium core from the H-bomb, and set out to destroy the Swan Station in an effort to avoid the irreversible electromag-netic damage that created a need for Desmond’s hatch and button, and caused the crash of Flight 815.

Meanwhile, Sawyer, Kate and Juliet are handcuffed on the DHAR-MA sub, debating whether or not to stop Jack and the gang from detonat-ing the bomb and thusly executing the island’s many inhabitants. The decision rests on Juliet, and she makes her choice evident by knock-ing out a guard and forcing the pilot

to resurface. Back (or should I say forward?) in the present, Locke and his newly acquired following march to the residency of Jacob. Locke reveals that he is not going to kill Jacob; Ben is. Also occur-ring in the present, a group of sur-vivors from the second plane crash take Lapidus and a giant metal box to the site of the statue in search of Jacob.

F r o m that point, the episode gets expo-n e n t i a l l y more excit-ing. Jack and Sayid face gunfire when try-ing to sneak t h r o u g h D h a r m a -ville, which is particu-larly pre-carious due to the fact that Sayid is carrying the core of a Hydrogen bomb on his back. Sayid takes a bullet in the stomach, and Jack must defend the two of them with just a pistol. Thankfully, Hurley, Jin and Myles show up in a DHARMA van and speed them away towards the Swan. Sawyer and company are off the sub and are also heading towards the Swan, when they run into Bernard and Rose who have been living

out of sight and out of mind in a cabin in the jungle for three years. They make it to the Swan before Hurley’s van and attempt to talk Jack out of detonating the bomb. Sawyer and Jack end up having a classic Season 1-style fist fight, which is cut short by Juliet’s avow-ing of her change of heart. Now all of them are on the same team, and

headed toward the site of the giant drill. The “Dharmy” is not so keen on being blown up, so they pre-pare to defend the drill at all costs. Jack and Sawyer’s team plunge into a war of gun-fire with the Dharma guys. This scene is m a d e e v e n more awesome when coupled with the fact

that the drill has hit the pocket of energy, and everything metal is getting sucked down a giant well. In a moment of suspense unique to “Lost” season finales, Jack drops the bomb down the well, and everybody braces for explosion. Yet, the bomb does not detonate, and instead, Juliet gets entangled in some chain and sucked to the mouth of the well, where Sawyer grabs her arm to keep her from

Oldies but goldies from Han’s playlist

falling. The scene becomes a very emotional one, in which the power of their love manifests itself. How-ever, it is not enough to keep Juliet from falling into the abyss.

Locke and Ben enter the base of the statue, and Ben readies his knife and himself for the kill. Meanwhile, right outside the statue, Lapidus and the box-car-rying, Jacob-knowing survivors arrive and show present-Richard, and us, the contents of the box while simultaneously managing to raise a thousand questions. In the box lies John Locke’s carcass. This immediately gives us that trademarked “Lost” shudder upon which we all thrive. We then get taken back inside the statue with Ben, wannabe-Locke and Jacob. Ben expresses his frustrations and stabs Jacob repeatedly, and Jacob falls to the ground uttering, “they’re coming.”

The last few minutes raise even more questions. The last scene shows a very bloodied Juliet at the bottom of the trench, lying next to the live bomb. She grabs a rock and weakly strikes the bomb a few times, then gives it one final resonating whack. The screen goes white, and four black letters are all that’s left. L-O-S-T.

The door was left wide open for next season…how does the explo-sion affect the future? The past? Is Jacob really dead, and if so, what does that mean for the island? I have no idea, but I do have an in-tense yearning to find out.

LMers listen to a lot of music. Whether that music is good or bad is highly subjective and up to debate. But no matter what you think about popular music today, there is a lot of good music out there that most LMers don’t lis-ten to. If you have free time this summer, check out some of these wonderful yet overlooked songs:

“That Means A Lot” by The Beatles: Of course everybody knows and loves The Beatles. However, not many people know this song and for a good reason: The Beatles never released it. This song was recorded in 1965 for The Beatles’ album Help!. This was a time when The Beatles were really starting to step out of their pop music bubble and branch out. Paul McCartney’s vocals are haunting, the lyrics are wonderful, and the harmonies are just right. Why they never chose to release this song is beyond me. You can find this song on the second volume of The Beatles Anthology CD.

“Àguas De Março” by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina: A large portion, if not all of LM’s music is in English. Why not explore a little? Let’s start in Brazil. This song is written by their most internationally renowned compower: Antônio Carlos Jobim. He pretty much created the bossa nova music genre which became

a huge hit in the 1960s. Bossa nova is a blend between jazz and samba, which is a style of latin music. If you’ve ever heard the song “The Girl From Ipanema,”

also by Jobim, that’s the arche-typal example of a bossa nova. The duet between Jobim and Elis Regina is cute, and you can tell that they are having a lot of fun sing-ing together. Also, the melody is straight-up catchy and memorable.

“Je Veux Qu’il Revienne” by Françoise Hardy: OK, if you’re French, you’re probably laughing at me right now. Go ahead. For all of those who are not French, French people would laugh at the inclusion of this song because Hardy’s music is very old. Nev-ertheless, Hardy’s voice sends a chill to my spine while the chord progression and melody pull at the heartstrings. This song has a typi-

duos, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, this tune is upbeat. Yet, there’s a certain sadness behind this song. Shirley Owens does a great job in expressing bittersweetness through her voice. I love the backup vocals and how they make the song catchy and hummable without de-stroying the bittersweet message.

“Just My Imagination (Run-ning Away From Me)” by The Temptations: This was one of the last Temptations songs to feature Eddie Kendricks and Paul Wil-liams. They both left the band shortly after it was recorded. The bluesy guitar line that starts off this song is just perfect. Kendricks gives a stellar falsetto performance, which is complemented by Wil-liams’ rugged yet sensitive voice. A lush orchestration really highlights the lyrics (listen to the string line right after the line “Running Away With Me”). The phenomenal lyrics tell the tale of a man who is madly in love with his girlfriend, and he will marry her soon. However, we find out that the man is not actually dating the girl, and it’s “Just His Imagination.” The brutal truth is confirmed with the line: “But in reality/she doesn’t even know me.”

“The Love You Save” by The Jackson 5: I don’t care what Mi-chael Jackson ever did or didn’t do, he’s still the greatest pop singer and dancer to ever grace this earth. This song has an incredible groove, and you can tell that the Jackson brothers were under the influence

of the groove while they recorded this. Of course Michael Jackson’s vocals are nothing short of amaz-ing, and Jermaine Jackson’s vocals are great as well. The orchestral strings don’t come in until near the end of the song, giving the

song a sense of closure. This one is full of soul. Check it out.

“Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye: Most of you probably have heard this song before, but I couldn’t resist putting it on the list. The groove is hypnotiz-ing, Gaye’s voice is extremely passionate, and the instrumen-tation is tasty. This is a song that’s hard to listen to without moving to the music. I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t heard it before, but this is the ultimate dating tune. Play this when you bring your girl-friend or boyfriend home from

The Temptations Photo courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk

George Benson, one of the greatest jazz guitarists of lal time.

Photo courtesy of www.kalamu.com

Q: To whom do you look for culinary inspiration?

A: Working at Lacroix gives me much inspiration, but the majority of my culinary inspiration comes from everyday life. After seeing room for improvement in the Great Harvest Bread Co's S'mores Bread, I set out to create my own. After being subjected to ridiculous prices for Fage Greek Yogurt, I learned to make my own yogurt. After tast-ing Savi's cookies, I committed myself to

creating better ones.

Q: What is a typical night at Lacroix like?

A: A typical day at Lacroix is rarely typical. There is always something new going on, and customers are largely un-predictable. Most days however, I follow a general schedule, which changes depend-ing on whether I work Sunday or Saturday. Saturday: I get there around 11:30, and be-gin prep, which may mean anything from making grilled cheeses on brioche with prosciutto and Parmesan for the next day's brunch, to grilling octopus, or to polishing plates. Later in the day, when the dinner crew begins to arrive, I will do dinner prep, which may mean cutting fish, segmenting oranges, or washing salad greens. Then the fun part comes at around 5:30--customers begin to arrive. I usually work at the garde manger station, which means cold food like salads and raw fish and such for customers. I will leave around 8:30.

Q: What comestible delights does this summer hold in store for you?

A: I will be saving the majority of the money that I make from working at Rita's to eat at the fanciest and best restaurants in New York. I will also be cooking non-stop. Grillin’ and chillin’- that's what I do.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to anyone interested in the culinary arts?

A: Work in a restaurant kitchen before you decide whether you really want to cook.

Q: What do you eat for lunch on schooldays?

A: My lunch for tomorrow is quinoa with feta, red onion, walnuts, and pesto. Some-times I will eat chicken that I've cooked with broccoli that I've roasted. Other times I will have homemade peanut butter with lo-cal, raw honey on whole wheat bread that I've also made. Once in a while I will get the school's chicken fingers. Those things are good.

Nick frequently posts his newest reci-pes, edible excursions and philosophical revelations on his blog, entitled “Foodie at Fifteen (now 16)”. Check it out at http://foodieatfifteen.blogspot.com

June 2, 2009

The Merionite ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 15

Kid cuisine: introducing chef Nick Normile Jake Wellens

Class of 2011

It is uncommon for a teenager to be extremely passionate about anything. It is also uncommon for a teenager to be ex-tremely gifted at anything. It is even more atypical for a teenager to be extremely pas-sionate about and gifted at the same thing.

Most of you have undoubtedly heard of Nick, most likely labeled as “the kid chef” or “the guy who cooks at a legit res-taurant.” But who is the man behind this mask of professionalism and extraordinary talent? He is an intelligent and affable per-son with a unique passion and gift, and a surprisingly mature perspective on pretty much everything. His ability to articulate his fervency is contagious and refreshing. In an interview, he shared some personal insights, anecdotes and advice pertaining to his culinary infatuation.

Q: When did you realize your passion for cooking?

A: I realized my passion for cooking at a young age – I always cooked pies, cakes, jams and the like with Grandma when I was younger, but it really became prevalent a few years ago when I started asking my parents to take me to nice res-taurants. I began to appreciate the fine food, and my appreciation for eating that food led to my interest in cooking it.

Q: What is your favorite thing to cook?

A: It is in no way the most challeng-ing, most impressive, or most delicious thing that I can make, but apple pie is my favorite thing to cook, because for me, it is extremely nostalgic. My earliest and fondest memories are of baking apple pies with my grandmother. Making the crust, cutting the apples, smelling the cinnamon, and finally eating the pie are all part of a process that is very special to me. The process evokes every sense, and the fact that it takes me back to "the golden days" when I cooked with Nana makes it spe-cial.

Besides that, the cooking that I enjoy most is when I can take a few ingredients, and make a dish that is greater than the sum of its parts. Anyone can sauté a piece of salmon or grill a fillet mignon, but it is nowhere near as easy to transform pork belly into bacon; to make flour, water and yeast into bread; or to transform milk and bacteria into yogurt. The cooking that I love almost always involves a process. If you can go from start to finish in 30 min-utes, it's nowhere near as fun or reward-ing.

Q: How important is cooking to you?A: Cooking is one of the most important

things in my life. We exist in symbiosis--I need cooking. It (and writing) are my only true passions: two of the few things that genuinely excite me. Cooking is like a constant that keeps me in place. Without cooking, I would be largely unmotivated. I don't know what I would do with myself, though I probably would do a lot more homework.

Q: How often do you cook?A: I cook as often as possible, if not

more. That means that pretty much every day, I have at least one food related project or experiment going on.

Summer’s here- a time for relaxation, taking it easy, chilling by the beach… Most people want to throw on some cutoff shorts and whatever tank top they wore yesterday. But if you want to avoid the contagious urge to kick back and ignore fashion all summer, here are some summer 2009 trends to try:

Trim- Fringe has been making a comeback for a few seasons now, but it has mostly been warn in a hip-pie, bohemian way. Why not wear it in a flapper way? Try a metallic fringe dress, or, for the less daring, a party top trimmed subtly with fringe the same color as the top. You could even try a fringe-

trimmed bikini

top. This trend

can be taken

to the extreme

or tuned down; as your mood goes, so goes your fringe.

Colors- Go for a more mut-ed color palette this summer. Instead of the bright neons (so 2008), go for the pastels. They are light, playful, lovely- every-thing you want your summer to be. From flesh-tones to powdery blues, pastels can, contrary to popular belief, brighten your day. Try a variety of colors; any option with the word “baby” in the name will do.

Pants- Recently people have begun opting for loose-fitting, comfortable pants rather than tight, revealing ones. Don’t expect this to change as summer approaches. Loose pants made out of light, airy fab- ric will make any summer afternoon more pleasant. Look-ing for an update? Try a flowy pant with a raised waist. This will give your pants an extra boost of trendiness, while keeping you comfort-able.

Accessories- For trendy girls, fashion has always been about ac-

cessorizing, and this sum-mer is no dif-ferent. Start your outfit off with

Summer trends to try onHannah Weilbacher

Class of 2010

a great pair of sunglasses. Retro (70’s, 80’s, 90’s in-spired) glasses are always crowd favorites, but this sum-mer try glasses in romantic colors like pink and purple. Complement this look with a romantic, draped bag. Big bags with small floral prints are very trendy this season. Finish your outfit off with some ballet flats- there are some terrific ones made from recycled material everyone’s blogging about.

Dresses- If you like dress-es, you’ll love how many options

you have this season. From graphic tube to plaid t-shirt to spunky knit, you can’t go wrong picking out a dress this summer. Try a strappy, fitted dress for night, or a belted floral sundress for a picnic in the park. Any way you go, your dress is bound to please.

Guys- Don’t worry boys, we could never forget you. If you are looking to keep up with the trends, ditch the basketball shorts and pick up a pair of pleated slacks or vintage Bermuda shorts. Vintage tees are always in, but if you’re looking to be really fashion-forward, add some cool color-block shirts to your wardrobe. Why just have a Ramones concert tee when you could also have a graphic, brightly colored

one (reminiscent of Zack of “Saved by the Bell” circa 1990)? Re-

place baggy t-shirts with these, and you’ll look as hot as the Philly heat.

Photo courtesy of www.geekhandbags.com

Photo courtesy of shoes.about.com

Chocolate-drizzled caramel corn; the fruits of Nick’s late-night boredom.

Photo by Nick Normile

Photo courtesy of dressboston.com

Every outfit looks better with accessories. From headscarves down to shoes, a look

is never complete without some-thing a little extra.

June 2, 2009

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT16

The MerioniteSummer shows to seeHan Tran

Class of 2011

The two “piano men,” Elton John and Billy Joel playing together in concert.

Photo courtesy of wordpress.com

School ends in 11 days. Are you wondering what to do during the short three months of summer 2009? One word: concerts!

Alternative rock bands Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction are touring together and will be playing a concert at the Susque-hanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey on June 5. The leader of Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, has said this tour may be the last for Nine Inch Nails. Thus, you should come see this concert be-fore it’s too late to ever see them play live again. Also, Nine Inch Nails is known for doing visual stunts like breaking their instru-ments in front of the audience, so the show should provide an interesting spectacle.

The popular hip-hop band The Roots are holding a music festi-val called the Roots Picnic at the Festival Pier on June 6. The per-formers scheduled to play include The Roots (they will perform for two sets), TV On The Radio, The Black Keys, Santigold; Antibalas, The Pipes featuring Zoe Kravitz, Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Written-house, and Back2Basics with King Britt and Dozia. After each set, DJ Jazzy Jeff will play until the next band is ready to perform. Also, Public Enemy will be per-forming their entire 1988 hip-hop alubm It Takes a Nation of Mil-lions to Hold Us Back.

If you want to twirl on the lawn while listening to the reuniting jam band Phish, they will be play-ing the Susquehanna Bank Center on June 7. Phish’s music is highly improvisational, and no song is played the same way twice, so you know that seeing a Phish concert is

something special. Seeing as this is a reunion concert, you may want to see it, because it may be one of the last times they perform live.

Want to relive the 1960s and 1970s? Then come see classic rock legends Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at the Wachovia Center on June 12. This is also somewhat of a reunion concert, as Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood were in a band together named Blind Faith in the 1969. Unfortu-nately, Blind Faith broke up very quickly and only produced one album. Thus, it will be a real treat to see these two together.

For jazz fans, jazz vocalist Diana Krall is performing at the Mann Center of the Performing Arts. She just released her latest album Quiet Nights this March 31. Not only is Krall a gifted vocalist, but also a superb piano player. Hopefully she will take a

few solos to show off her piano prowess.

If you want to hear LM bands and performers, come to the Cof-fee House Tuesday June 16 at senior Olivia Ickes’ house. If you haven’t read the March article about them, the Coffee Houses are essentially monthly performing arts festivals held at an LMer’s house. Anybody can perform at them, and should you want to perform, email senior Katie Cochrane at kfcpeace19@gmail.com. There will be a motley crew of performances, including junior Peter Johnston’s band Turtleneck Giraffe; singer-songwriter senior Nina Bar-Giora; playwright senior Jeff Nelson performing an original scene featuring Cochrane, Nel-son, and senior JC Chou; a jazz/funk band Jahoney Mama and the Pootie-Pootie-Tang-Tang HUH!;

and more. For all you punk rockers out

there, Green Day will perform at the Wachovia Spectrum on July 19. They recently released their eighth and latest studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, this May 15. Like their penultimate album, American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown is a rock opera. That is, all the songs on the album are con-nected and tell some sort of story. 21st Century Breakdown tells the politically driven tale of a couple named Christian and Gloria. As Green Day put it, Christian and Gloria are “try-ing to deal with the mess our 43rd president left be-hind.”

The Disney band that girls love to love and guys love to hate, The Jonas Broth-ers, are perform-ing at the Wacho-via Center on July 23 and 24. Their TV series “JONAS” centers around the three brothers (Kevin, Joe, and Nick) and their attempt to live a normal life while being rockstars.

R&B singer Beyoncé is per-forming at the Wachovia Center on July 26. On Inauguration Day, she sang a cover of Etta James’ “At Last” at President Obama’s inaugural ball. Also, Beyoncé won the Outstanding Female Artist award at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards.

If you’ve been waiting for “The Longest Time” to see “Rocket Men” play together, piano sensa-

tions Billy Joel and Elton John are playing at the Citizens Bank Park on July 30 and August 1. The two pianists have been touring together in a series of “face to face tours.” These “face to face tours” were started in 1994 and will continue until 2011 at the earliest. During these concerts, the two begin playing and singing duets on two grand pianos. Then, each pianist plays a set by themselves and their own backing band. Fi-nally, both pianists play together with both backing bands.

Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is playing at the Festival Pier on August 9. Mraz released his lat-est album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things last year. One of

the songs on that album, “I’m Yours,” reached number six

on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached #1 on the US charts. It has also made the top ten on many international charts. Finally, this song received a Grammy Award nomination for Song Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards. The album also received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Engineer Album, Non-Classical in 2009.

For fans of country music, Keith Urban and Taylor Swift are performing together at the Susquehanna Bank Center on Au-gust 1. Although they are playing together for this concert, they are not really touring together. Both

artists are do-ing their own tours and are only meeting up to play to-gether every few concerts. This is Taylor Swift’s first h e a d l i n i n g tour. Her tour spans across f i f t y - t w o

cities in thirty-eight states and provinces in the United States and Canada for six months. On Keith Urban’s tour, many artists will join him for dif-ferent concerts.Some musicians joining him include Sugarland, Glen Cambell, Dierks Bentley, The Zac Brown Band, and Lady Antebellum. Urban has recently released his latest CD, Defying Gravity, this March 31. Also, Ur-ban is offering a few tickets that only cost $20 at every one of his concerts.

Considering all the awesome concerts that are coming to Phila-delphia, it looks like you shouldn’t be bored this summer.

Theatre fun in Philadelphia

The Roots will be holding a festival called the “Roots Picnic” at the Festival Pier on June 6.

Photo courtesy of www.52shows.com

Photo courtesy of www.concertlive.co.ukJason Mraz will be yours to see at the Festival Pier on August 9.

Green Day’s latest album, 21st Century Breakdown, debuted on May 15.

Photo courtesy of www.myspace.com

As the days get warmer and longer, performing arts theatres in Philadelphia are getting pumped for their sum-mer programs, consisting of an array of both famous and up-and-coming artists perform-ing live. If you have a yearning for exceptional acting, rockin’ music and the overall visual arts, these venues and their acts are sure to fill your melancholy summer days with something entertaining and substantial.

The Walnut Street Theater, founded in 1809 (making it America’s oldest theatre still in use), is still going strong after two hundred years. The theatre might be old but the shows sure aren’t--this summer will fea-ture Mel Brooks’ musical The Producers until July 19, which follows a scheming producer and his accountant set on creat-ing the worst Broadway musical of all time, simultaneous with the raucous comedy Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits, a tribute to the famous Broadway hits of the twentieth century and the crazy stars that played them. The main stage is located on 825 Walnut St, Philadelphia.

The Theatre of Living Arts (known to the LM populace as the “TLA”) has some amaz-ing shows racked up for the summer, including the Plain White T’s on Sunday, June 14; a perfect break in the middle of finals. The Veronicas will

take the stage Friday, July 17, and there is a medley of local Philadelphia bands playing on July 31. The TLA is home to all sorts of local and famous bands, and either way you’re sure to get quality. And, since the TLA is located on 334 South Street, there’s plenty to do before and after the concert.

The Arden Theatre Com-pany, located on 40 North 2nd street, Old City, offers an array of drama and acting classes over the summer as well as the smash hit comedy The Seafarer.

Also dubbed as a “chil l ing ghost story” that affects anyone running from their past as well as a comedy, this show follows a group of Ir ish misfi ts on Christmas Eve, intent on spend-ing Christmas boozing away and playing poker. Soon, how-ever, the stakes become higher and more sinister than anyone had ever imagined. Freshmen beware—the Arden Theatre Company has recommended this show for juniors and above.

For those lovers of the clas-sics, DeSales University’s Penn-sylvania Shakespeare Festival will satisfy you beyond your wildest dreams. This summer, the theatre offers Antony and Cleopatra, The Comedy of Er-rors, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and that’s just part of the July-August repertoire. But Shakespeare’s not all they do—the company will also present a musical based on Peter Stone’s book 1776, which has been de-clared by the New York Times as full of “style, humanity, wit and passion.” The company also features shows for kids, such as Brandon McLauren’s Cinder-ella, or Shakespeare for Kids, which, if you were feeling par-ticularly nice, you could take a younger sibling or cousin to see.

Although the Kimmel Center is usually known for its clas-sical music performances, the Kimmel Center at the Acad-emy of Music has some great Broadway shows. Obviously intent on starting the summer with a big bang, the company

wil l premier hot Broadway show Spring Awakening on June 23, followed by equally well-known and well-loved Grease, which starts on July 7. This is the perfect company for Philadelphia theatre lov-ers , especial ly because the group is planning to do Irving Berlin’s White Christmas later this year. For subscribers, the Academy even offers smash-hi ts l ike Wicked, The Lion King, Avenue Q, and Mamma Mia! right here in Philadelphia.

Photo courtesy of www.philadelphia-reflections.com

The Kimmel Center is located on 260 South Broad Street on the Avenue of the Arts. Check it out for a nice summer evening of music or theatre.

Leah RosenbloomClass of 2011

Boys’ lacrosse had a tough start to the season, losing four of its first eight games. However, after losing to both Radnor and Conestoga, the team has found its magic, winning 11 straight games, and again setting its sight on the state tournament.

During the offseason, the team lost a number of strong players but retained enough talent and experi-ence to succeed. Returning to the

team were leading scorer and first team All-Central League attack Matt Dilks, senior Jake Eisenhard, attack-man junior Jordan Wolf, and senior goalie Cody Hornung -- a strong core of players. As the season began with a 20-10 blowout win against Spring-Ford High School, the players sought to repeat last year’s success.

However, the players soon faced challenges. Plagued by injuries to Wolf and junior Ahmad Zachary, the team lost two of its next three games, being outscored by 11 goals overall.

After a disappointing start, the players put the losses behind them and looked towards the rest of the season.

“We realized we had a lot of games left in the season and we knew we could play better than we did in both of those games,” said Eisenhard. “We continued to work hard and it paid off.”

After winning the next two games, LM lacrosse faced consecutive games against Radnor and Conestoga, two of the better teams in the state. Against Radnor, the team suffered its worst loss of the season, losing 4-14.

“No one could catch or

throw; it was raining; we were on defense most of the game; we lost all but two or three face offs, and we made a lot of very stupid mistakes,” recalled Hornung.

The Aces’ became no easier, as their game was against perennial Central League foe Conestoga. In the first half, LM came out flat, digging itself into a 2-9 hole. After losing the first two points of the second half, the Bulldogs pulled it together, scoring eight straight goals against the then 13th ranked team in the state. While the Aces would eventually lose, 11-13, the players realized they had the potential to beat any team and regained their confidence.

“That game really proved to us the level that we were capable of playing,” commented Wolf.

The Conestoga game would prove to be the turning point of the season.

“In that second half we changed, both offensively and defensively,” said Hornung. “We found out that we could play with absolutely anyone.”

After that game, the team went on a blistering 11 game winning streak. During the streak, LM outscored opponents by an average of over six goals per game. The team adjusted

offensive strategy, focusing on face-offs. Overall, all the players have worked hard to improve and play up to their talent.

Eisenhard was the star in the one of the closest games of the season. During the Katie Samson tournament, the LM vs. Germantown Academy game stretched into triple overtime after a goal by Matt Dilks at the end of regulation. In the third overtime, defenseman Eisenhard’s goal sent the Aces to a thrilling victory, defeating a team LM has not beaten in a long time.

This season, Dilks became Lower Merion High School boys lacrosse’s all-time leading scorer. Dilks’s ability to create favorable matchups and posi-tions by himself has led to im-proved offensive production.

“I’ve worked on my shot a lot in the off season,” says Dilks. “I like being relied on. When the defense plans there schemes around you and still can’t stop you, it feels good.”

In the District 1 playoffs, the team’s 11 game streak was broken in a 4-11 defeat against Downington East. Yet the team’s confidence re-

mains strong. “We all believe in each other and watch each others backs on the field,” said Eisenhard. After a rough start to the season, the LM boys’ lacrosse team has grown into a strong, competitive team, bound to make noise in the upcoming state tournament.

The Merionite SPORTSJune 2, 2009 17

The crew team at LM is infa-mous for its vigorous practices and overwhelming schedule. While the majority of high school students at LM avoid crew, crewmembers love the sport and are fully committed to win.

Crewmembers row long, skinny boats that hold either four or eight rowers plus a coxswain. They compete in races called “regattas.” While the rowers are responsible for moving the boat, the coxswain is responsible for motivating rowers, assuming all communication responsibilities.

Strokes are quantified on two aspects: “stroke rating” and “power.” Stroke rating is the number of strokes that a rower completes in one minute, or the speed of the strokes. Power is the amount of force behind each stroke (the distance the boat is moved with each stroke). Both of these qualities come togeth-er to identify one’s stroke. In a long race, a rower will de-crease his or her stroke rating, but retain or increase his or her power. Shorter, faster races re-quire a higher stroke rating.

Many freshmen at LM quit because of the difficult transition onto the water. Novice boats be-gin tied to a dock so they don’t move anywhere while rowers practice stroking together. Ju-nior Leah Greenspan says, “The first month on water is complete chaos…it’s a very messy time.” Greenspan identifies the most challenging part of the transition as the sudden trust that you have to have in teammates. She says that,“Being a novice was very

eye opening because it was the first time in my life that I had to trust everybody so much.”

Any rower would agree that crew relies heavily on the relationship and comfort be-tween team members; a team is only as strong as their weak-est link. During a race, it is es-sential that the strokes of each rower in a boat are synchro-nized. Only the coxswain can talk, and a strong bond must be formed between team members.

It is an adage in the spot that what makes crew so special is the extreme teamwork required to do well. This teamwork helps moti-vate people to work harder than if crew was an individual sport. “There’s a lot more to do in crew than in running. You’re not just working by yourself; it matters that everyone is in the boat and you need to have focus all the time and when people are relying on you, you work that much hard-er,” said junior Morgan Gerwitz.

This year, five boats -- the

girls’ JV four, girls’ V four, boys’ JV four, boys’ lightweight four, and girls’ lightweight V four -- are attending nationals in Princ-eton, New Jersey. Last weekend in the Stotesbury Regatta, the largest high school regatta in the nation, the girls’ varsity light-weight four won fourth place in their division. This could fore-shadow success at nationals. The boys’ lightweight varsity four also plans on placing at nationals.

Senior Casey Klein, and in-tegral member of the boys’ lightweight varsity four, says, “Though the sport is difficult, it is well worth the hard work and practice… Rowing is the ultimate team sport. There is no other sport where every teammate relies on the rest of their team so much.” “You train so hard so all you want is to win…that’s why you trust everybody so much…you want it so bad,” said Greenspan. LM’s crew team will continue to work hard in the hopes of suc-ceeding at upcoming nationals.

A stroke of excellenceEmily Eisner

Class of 2010

Lacrosse team catches big break Xinran Wang

Class of 2010

Boys’ lacrosse continues an 11-game winning streak.

Photo by Esther Hoffman/ Staff

Date Opponent(Home/Away)

Score

3/213/233/273/314/024/044/144/164/184/224/234/254/284/305/045/055/075/125/145/165/195/21

Spring-FordW. C. East

Garnet ValleySpringfield

RidleyOJR

Radnor SeniorConestogaC. B. WestHaverford

Upper DarbyGA

Strath HavenPenncrest

Archbishop WdMarple NewtownHarriton SeniorBishop Shan.Upper Dublin

Downingtown E.Abington

W. Chester E.

W 20-10L 5-12W 9-8L 4-9W 7-6W 9-8L 4-14L 11-13W 9-3W 17-5W 11-4W 6-5W 7-6W 5-4W 8-3W 13-4W 15-6W 11-2W 13-3L 4-11

W 12-11W 15-6

The varsity lightweight boys compete in finals at nationals.Photo courtesy of David Greenspan

Lady Baba, the girls’ ultimate team at LM, captured the state title this weekend, finally establishing itself as an ultra- competitive, top-tier women’s ultimate team on the East coast. Lady Baba was created by senior Nina Bar-Giora and junior Emily Eisner in the spring of 2007 when faculty spon-sor, Christina Minecci, encouraged them to create a team to take to the state tournament. Eisner and Bar-Giora gathered friends to form a team and recruited world champion Kathy Rowe to coach. That year, Lady Baba placed fifth out of the six teams present at the champion-ships, losing to a team with only five players, one of whom was on crutches.

After two years of hard work and little success, Lady Baba has proven itself a dominant team in the region. This past fall, Lady Baba combined with a few members of the well-accomplished Cardinal O’Hara girls’ team to win the “Kit Kat and the Hat” tournament. In late April, Lady Baba continued its impressive streak, winning “Green Eggs and Span,” “Hip Hop on Pop” and the City Championships. After sufferingly only two losses during the spring season, Lady Baby en-tered the state championships as the first seed in the nine team field.

The first day of states illustrated just how dominant the LM girls

were. The day consisted of pool play within two pools to deter-mine the seeds for the next days championship bracket. In four games against teams from both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Lady Baba’s intense zone defense let up no points. The team’s extremely tight offense managed to score 44 points on the first day, securing their position as first seed in the championship bracket.

On the second day of compe-tition, Lady Baba tore through the championship bracket. Their first game, against the Haverford girls’ team, resulted in an 8-2 win, bringing LM into the semi-finals. The semi-finals match against Mt. Lebanon High School proved to be LM’s toughest match. The team displayed extreme poise in coming back from a 3-1 deficit. Lady Baba’s extraordinary offense picked up the slack and ended the game on a eight point streak. The ladies prevailed, 9-3. The final game, against Pittsburgh’s Fox Chapel High School, stretched Lady Baba’s athletic endurance. After playing six games earlier in the weekend, the LM ladies seemed weary entering the championship match. However, the team soon erased any notion of fatigue, carry-ing their dominating style of play into the final. Lady Baba prevailed victorious, 12-5, winning the state championship and undoubtedly putting Lower Merion girls ulti-mate on the map for good.

Conor FergusonClass of 2011

Lady Baba wins Ultimate State Championship

June 2, 2009

The Merionite SPORTS18

To mark the completion of the athletic year, The Merionite has once again compiled a list of the top ten sporting achievements for 2008-2009. These accomplish-ments are a testament to the ex-emplary athletics reputation LM has established, and we take pride in congratulating this year’s indi-viduals and teams for all of their successes. These feats have been solely ranked based upon merit and do not represent any partiality on the part of the Sports Editors of The Merionite.

10. JV Basketball Continues Undefeated Streak For Sopho-mores

The current sophomore play-ers that went undefeated last year as freshmen achieved the unthink-able yet again. The players truly embodied the team motto of hard work, dedication, and results. By finishing this season a remarkable 19-0, the sophomore players have compiled a gaudy 39-0 record over their first two years.

9. Boys’ Soccer Reaches States Quarter Finals

Boys’ soccer finished yet an-other dominating season. In regu-lar season, the team outscored its opponents 58-4, and held an impressive 14-1-1 record. With a stingy defense of junior Johnny Dolezal, senior Jason Kass, and senior goalie Justin Corrado, and an explosive offense of junior Jordan Wolf, seniors Greg Rob-bins, Eric Stahler, and Danny DiLullo, the Aces crushed their opponents on the way to the state tournament. After a first round 3-0 win over Parkland High School however, the team lost in a heart-breaker to Neshaminy on penalty kicks. Nonetheless, the boy’s soc-cer team still played a tough and remarkable season.

8. Boys’ Basketball Wins Cen-trals

After losing a number of key players and having to learn a new offense, the boys’ basketball team started the season off with a rather uninspiring 1-3 record.

Yet from that point forward the team began to play in true Aces fashion, winning 18 of their next 19 games, including some incred-ible buzzer beaters. After ending the regular season with a 20-4 record, LM captured the Central League Championship, handing ri-val Conestoga their second loss of the season, both at the hands of the Aces. In districts, the team eased past Quakertown, and pulled out a close win against Central Bucks West with some clutch overtime scoring. However, LM lost in the third round against a talented Penn Wood squad. Despite a first-round exit in the state tournament against Parkland, the team once again achieved remarkable success.

7. Boys’ Tennis Goes To StatesThey began this season deter-

mined to reach states for a fourth consecutive year. Midway through their season the boys were met with defeat when they lost all four of their doubles matches against Radnor and went on to lose three of their four matches against Har-riton. By the end of the season, the team had recovered and was prepared to enter districts. Much to the team’s surprise, in the Dis-trict 1 Final, LM lost to Council Rock North, thus reminding them of their vulnerability. Nonetheless, while Robby Kay was fighting off a bought of tendonitis the boys yet again made it to states. This time however, they were unable to make it to the championship and lost in the state quarterfinals against North Allegheny.

6. Boys’ XC Wins CentralsThe boys’ cross country team,

a tight-knit group that has shown marked improvement over the last few seasons, continued their ascent to dominance by winning the 2008 Central League Cham-pionships. The league title was only the second in the program’s 34-year history. Led by seniors Neal Berman and Ben Furcht, who finished first and second, respectively, Lower Merion cap-tured the league title in resound-ing fashion. The accomplishment had been a yearlong goal, a vision coach Megan Capewell laid out for the squad at the beginning of

the season. Running with an exacting pur-pose and with hunger in their eyes, the boys delivered, extinguish-ing the frustration from seasons past.

5. Girls’ Track Breaks School 4X4 Record

The girls’ 4X400 team of senior Hayley Hanafee, sophomores Laura Peterson and Patricia Neckowicz and junior Lauren Zakheim, with senior Sara Ritterband as an alternate defied expec-tations all season long. At this year’s Penn Relays they broke the existing school record with a time of 4:04.1. Once districts rolled

around the team managed to run a 4:03.1, breaking the school record yet again but losing to the opposi-tion by a mere half a second. This dynamic squad credits their suc-cess this season to the fact that they were such a tight knit bunch.

4. Berman and Furcht’s Trium-phant Year

Track stars Neal Berman and Ben Furcht ended their LM track careers with an incredible year. During cross-country season, both runners faired brilliantly at the Footlocker Northeast Regional tournament, finishing tenth and eleventh. Qualifying for the Na-tional Championships, Furcht went on to finish 31st with a time of 16:07 in the 3.1 mile course. Furcht became the first LM recipi-ent of the Pennsylvania Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year Award.

The duo continued to excel into the winter and outdoor track seasons. In the winter, both qualified for states in the mile and 3K events. In the New Balance Games, Furcht finished fourth and Berman fin-ished twelfth in the mile with times of 4:24 and 4:30, respectively. Re-cently, Furcht finished second and Berman finished fifth in the 3200 meter run at the PIAA State Track and Field Championships. With such impressive results, Berman and Furcht have definitely cement-ed their names as two of the best athletes in LM history.

3. Matt Savran and Coby Kram-er-Golinkoff Win In State’s Dou-bles

To cap off an amazing four years of LM tennis, seniors Matt Savran and Coby Kramer-Golinkoff

crushed their opponents en route to the PIAA Boys’ Doubles Tennis Championship. After winning the district title, the doubles team car-ried its momentum into the state tournament. In their four matches, Savran and Kramer-Golinkoff amazingly did not drop a single set, winning with scores of 6-1 6-2, 6-1 6-0, 6-1 6-4, and 6-1 6-3 in the finals. The dominating win stamped their place in LM tennis immortality.

2. Girls’ Ultimate Wins States The Lower Merion girls’ ulti-mate team, “Lady Baba,” took the state title Memorial Day weekend at the Allentown Lehigh County fields. The team, formed two years ago by senior Nina Bar-Giora and junior Emily Eisner, experienced two years of hard work and many lost games to finally arrive at the state championships this year as the first seed. Eight other girls’ teams gathered from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to compete in the two-day tour-nament. On Saturday, Lady Baba played four games, winning all and having no points scored against them. On Sunday, they barreled through the c h a m p i o n s

bracket, beating Fox Chapel 12-5 in the finals. They ended the tour-nament with a overall score of 73-10.

1. Crew Wins Silver At Nation-alsOn Memorial Day weekend, the boys’ varsity lightweight four, James Buckmann, Tom Mickler, Daniel Abrams, Casey Klein, and Michael Lowney, boat took second place at nationals. The National Championships were held in Princ-eton, New Jersey on the Mercer Lake. After qualifying for nation-als earlier in the season, the team traveled to New Jersey Thursday evening. On Friday, May 22, the rowers qualified for semi-finals, coming in second in their heat. On Saturday, they took first in their semis heat and prepared to com-pete in finals. In finals, the boys rowed next to the gold-medalist, Egg Harbor, and competed hard to finish two seconds behind them and win the silver medal.

LM’s Top 10 Sports Achievements of ’08-’09Sports Staff

Class of 2010-2011

Photo Courtesy of Hannah Garfield

Photo Courtesy of Noah Zuares

Photo Courtesy of David Greenspan

Photo Courtesy of www.lmsd.org

June 2, 2009

The Merionite SPORTS19

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Sports: Varsity Tennis JV Cross CountryHighlight: Playing in states

Hobbies: Play tennis, drums, video games, friends

Summer Plans: Play tennis and win tournaments

Quote: “Adversity causes some men to break; others to

break records.”

Sports: Varsity Baseball

Highlight: Bernie Pearlman’s Pedro Feliz-esque 3rd base play

Hobbies: The Stanky Leg

SummerPlans: Ritas, Camp Counselor,

Baseball Quote: “When the going gets tough,

the tough get Cohen.”

Sports: Varsity Lacrosse Varsity TennisHighlight: The Ridley game

Hobbies: Lacrosse, eating marshmallows, hanging

around with friendsSummerPlans: Working and RelaxingQuote: “When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you

meet him, he will win.”

Sports: Varsity Cross Country Varsity Indoor Track Varsity Outdoor TrackHighlight: The DMR qualifying for

indoor states and the 4X8 qualifying for outdoor districts

Hobbies: Running and BakingSummerPlans: Lifeguarding at the Belmont Hills pool

Quote: “Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity.”

Faces of the Aces The best athletes that LM has to offer

Over the past three seasons the Lower Merion boy’s tennis team has established themselves as a perennial juggernaut. Their accomplishments during this era have included: three Central League titles, three District 1 championships, three consecutive state appearances, and two PIAA Class AAA state championships. The Aces headed into this campaign hoping to build off the successes of years past.

The Aces showed marked dedica-tion in the offseason, putting in ex-tra work in hopes of making states yet again. The Aces got off to an impres-sive start, defeating Springfield Delco with a resounding 7-0 victory. How-ever, the next match against Radnor would prove less satisfying. The Aces fought hard but lost the match, 4-3.

The Aces responded to this surpris-ing setback by winning eight con-secutive games. By beating the likes of Conestoga and Penncrest, Central League powerhouses themselves, the Aces made an emphatic statement that they were a force to be reckoned with.

The team’s success was brought to a disappointing halt when they lost to Harriton. The Aces were defeated in three of their four doubles matches and one singles match, resulting in a heart-breaking 4-3 defeat. Lower Merion Ju-nior Ben Sataloff blamed the loss on lack of team chemistry saying, “whereas our tennis abilities and physical fitness seemed to be in line, our team chemistry certainly was not, seeing as we lost three of four doubles matches to Harriton.”

At the end of regular season, the Aces finished third in the Central League be-hind Radnor and Harriton. In District play, the Aces crushed their opponents en route to the District final. Yet the Aces were unable to close it out, los-ing to Council Rock North, 3-2. The second place finish guaranteed the team a number two seed heading into states.

The Aces first opponent in states was Central High. Sophomore Ben Levitt

knew to not take this team lightly, de-spite their relative inexperience. “We saw them play in the Greater Phila-delphia tennis challenge and knew we couldn’t underestimate them, but we came in and did what we had to do.” The Aces went on to crush Central, 5-0.

The Aces then went on to quarterfi-nals where they faced

Northern Allegheny,

a western Pennsylva-

nian power. The team started off winning two of its singles matches but then went on to lose both of their doubles matches. The team’s fate rested on the injured wrist of Senior Rob-by Kay, who at the time was battling tendonitis. Kay won the first match but went on to lose the final two. The Aces season was brought to an unexpected close.

Despite the early exit, this season con-tinued a golden age of boy’s tennis here at Lower Merion. There may be no state cham-pionship this year, but the team achieved remarkable success nonetheless.

The Aces are losing three of their top players in Coby Gramer-Golinkoff, Matt Savran and the aforementioned Kay. Next season may prove to be a tough one. Re-gardless, Junior Ben Sataloff has faith: “Success is achieved in the offseason.”

It all started four years ago in 2006 when the LM boys tennis team went undefeated,

finished first in centrals, won the District 1 title, went to Hershey and won the PIAA Class AAA state championship. It was the beginning of an era for Lower Merion boy’s ten-nis, and from that point on, there was no looking back.

Determined to repeat history in 2007, the Aces worked harder then they did in the pre-vious season. They

continued to win all of their matches, and by the end of the season they were unde-feated yet again. They finished the regular season as Central League champions for the second straight year. They went on to win the District 1 title for the second time in as many seasons and received the number one

seed going into states. The Aces continued to prove themselves as the juggernauts they truly were. Sure enough, they made it to the championship and achieved the unthink-able. They won the PIAA Class AAA state championship for the second year in a row, a feat that few other teams have ever ac-complished. A dynasty had been created.

The following season, the Aces started off very strong and were committed to go to Hershey for the third consecutive season. Mid way through the 2008 season, the Aces winning streak came to a crashing halt. Their 54-0 record, spanning over three seasons, came to an end when they took on The Hav-erford School and lost in a tight match. That didn’t stop the Aces, as they went on to finish first in the Central league for the third season in a row. They went on to win the District 1 title for the third consecutive season. On top of that, the Aces achieved yet another tri-umph and made it to the finals of the state championship for the third season in a row.

Though, the end of this season was un-like the prior two. Instead of stomp-ing the competition, the Aces lost against Upper St. Clair High School, the team that they had beat for the championship title both years prior.

The Aces began the 2009 season, returning full throttle, and ready to defeat any competition that came their way. However, this season would turn out to be the least suc-cessful out of all of their most re-cent. They lost their second game of the season against rival Radnor. They went on to win eight consecu-tive matches but later lost to Cen-tral League powerhouse, Penncrest.

For the first time in recent his-tory, the Aces didn’t finish first in

the Central League, or make it to the District 1 final. Nevertheless, they made it to states for the fourth consecutive season. They defeated their first opponent but lost in the quarterfinals against North Allegheny.

Though the team is losing three crucial play-ers this year, in due time, the Aces will return once again to high school tennis supremacy.

Conor FergusonClass of 2011

LM Tennis: a look at the past and present

Conor FergusonClass of 2011

An ace year for the Aces

Courtesy Of Dot Goldberger/Staff

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LM Tennis enjoys four years of dominance

Ben Furcht• 2008 Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year• Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships Finalist

Danny Greenburg • Squash Varsity captain• #5 Nationally Ranked in Boys Under 19• 4th place - US Junior Nationals• 1st team All-MASA (Middle Atlantic Squash Association) Josh Mallin

• Football captain• 3 year Varsity Baseball• 3 year Varsity Football• 2nd team all Central League• 2nd team all Main Line

Neal Berman • Crosscountry, Winter Track, Spring Track Varsity captain• All Northeast in Crosscountry• Indoor--All American in the 5K

Greg Robbins • 3 time all-state for basketball • 2 time all state for soccer • Regional all American for soccer • McDonald’s All-American nominee for basketball • 2006 state champions

Emily Labowitz • Field hockey and lacrosse Varsity captain• 1st team Field Hockey All Main Line• 2nd team Lacrosse All Main Line

Hana Chamoun• Soccer Varsity Captain• Team MVP• Central League Champion• All Main Line Times• All Central League

Hannah Newman• Offensive MVP• 1st Team All Main Line Times All Central League• Varsity soccer all four years

Molly Hanlon• Scored 1000 points • 2nd team All State• Winningest girls basketball team in LM history• Undefeated in Central League

Yuxin Liu• Tennis Varsity captain• Central League Champion• District Champion • State Champion• Honorable mention Main Line Times

Cara Piccoli• 1st team All Main Line• 1st team All Central League • Main Line Times Athlete of the Week

Graphic by Noah Zuares/Staff

SPORTSJune 2, 2009

The Merionite SPORTS20 Volume 80, Issue 9

Robby Kay• 2 time State Champions• 4 District I titles • 4 Central League titles • 1st team All Main Line