Newtonite◆ Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 • Volume 88, Issue 14 Newton North High School, 360 Lowell Ave., Newtonville, Mass. 02460

Non-profit org.US postage paidNewton, Mass.Permit no. 55337

Buildingto betested forasbestos

Trash on Main Street increasing

BY MARENA COLE

This building will be tested for asbestos over the coming months, according to principal Jennifer Price.

“Plans are being made for next summer when the current build-ing will be safely demolished,” Price said in a letter to the com-munity.

The building will be tested on approximately 15 occasions from Saturday, Nov. 21 to Thursday, Jan. 31.

“The testing involves bor-ing into walls of the school to determine if asbestos is present with-in the walls,” P r i c e s a i d . “Only when workers are aware of what materials are present can the building be demolished

safely and on time.“During the testing period,

protecting safety will be our highest priority and throughout the testing process there will be in place multiple precautions to protect the safety of the building occupants and the surrounding neighborhood.”

Testing will be scheduled for days when the fewest people are present in the school, Price said.

“The interior testing locations will take place in areas that stu-dents do not frequently visit, such as storage rooms and closets,” Price said.

“Each location where the test-ing will occur will be cleaned, rigorously tested and restored to safe use at least 24 hours prior to the school being in session.

“Air quality samples will be taken and analyzed well in ad-vance of students being permitted to return to the portions of the building that will be tested.”

Price said any asbestos poten-tially in the walls has not been and is not currently harmful to anyone in the building.

“Shortly after the current school building was opened in 1972, the city undertook exten-sive removal and containment of asbestos materials,” she said. “We can be sure the school is safe since asbestos is only harmful if it becomes airborne.

“Any asbestos-containing ma-terials in the current facility have been covered and undisturbed and are being monitored by an outside consultant.”

ATC Associates, an engineer-ing firm, is supervising the test-ing.

“ATC Associates has prepared a testing plan that follows the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s more stringent asbestos abatement guidelines, even though this process is simply testing and not abatement,” she said.

The testing schedule is avail-able at www.newnnhs.com.

file photo

Jennifer Price

BY MARENA COLE

Trash on Main Street after the lunch block is an increasing problem, said Riley housemaster Mark Aronson.

“Students are just not taking care of their trash,” Aronson said.

“I understand the occasional chip that falls on the floor, but there’s no excuse for trays, bot-tles, bags, half-eaten sandwiches and things like that being left on the ground.”

According to Aronson, food is limited to the cafeteria and Main Street during lunch block.

Main Street was closed dur-ing lunch block Thursday, Nov. 12 and Friday, Nov. 13, due to the excessive trash, Aronson said. However, he said when Main Street was reopened the following Monday, administra-tors noticed little difference in the amount of trash left behind after lunch.

“We thought at least the first few days after Main Street was reopened, students would be more careful about their trash,” he said. “However, that wasn’t the case.

“There are no plans right now, but if things don’t change, we’ll have to consider longer term closing if not permanent closing,” he said.

“Students need to understand that it’s a right, not a privilege.”

The biggest issue, Aronson said, is the strain the trash puts on the custodial staff.

“They basically have to clean up two cafeterias,” he said. “It’s like an extra job, and it’s just not right.

“I would love to see kids on Main Street and still have it clean. It would be a positive for everyone.

“Students could do something they enjoy, but they have to show respect for the custodial staff and

Teachers estimate hours of unpaid work

the building in general.”Closing Main Street has been

one method of trying to decrease the trash left behind over the years, along with having student leaders and adult supervision to remind students not to forget their trash, he said.

Aronson said the trash is more likely due to a lack of conscious-ness, rather than a deliberate refusal to clean up after them-selves.

“People will say, ‘Oh, it’s just spoiled kids that make the mess,’” he said. “I don’t think that’s it—I think it’s just not thinking.

“If someone gets up to talk to one of their friends, they can forget that they left their trash behind and never pick it up.”

According to Aronson, his-torically, eating on Main Street has been part of the school’s culture.

“At one point, this school had over 3,000 students,” he said. “It

was physically impossible for all of the kids to be in the cafeteria during lunch.

“My hope is in the new school, people will eat in the cafeteria. The walls will be glass, and you can look out to what will be Main Street.

“I’ll be surprised if there is eat-ing outside of the cafeteria in the new building,” he said.

Senior custodian Tim Keefe said it typically takes the custo-dial staff an hour to an hour and a half to clean after lunch.

“This has been the worst year for trash,” he said. “It’s a lot worse than it has been in the past.”

When Main Street was shut down, Keefe said there was a dramatic difference in trash left behind.

“It was extremely clean,” he said. “They only collected about one bag of trash that day, as opposed to about six to seven daily.”

BY MATT KALISH

Newton teachers estimated their unpaid work at approxi-mately $37,284,361, according to Newton Teachers Association president Cheryl Turgel.

“We asked each educator to fill out a survey indicating how many hours a week they worked be-yond their contractually required week and beyond a reasonable expectation of what the job re-quires,” Turgel said.

“They also gave us their extra hours they spent and money they spent out of their own pocket for educational purposes,” she said.

Teachers from every Newton

school attended a School Com-mittee meeting last Monday, Nov. 23, and presented the committee with bags of fake money, repre-senting the extra time and money they have put into their jobs.

“The NTA would like to rec-ognize Thanksgiving and bring forth to you our bounty—that which we have freely given and shall for the foreseeable future continue to give to Newton,” Tur-gel said to the committee.

“We wish to present symboli-cally to the School Committee, and through them the commu-nity of Newton, a year’s worth of our labor—above and beyond

what we have been paid to do,” she said.

“However, I must add, in the spirit of openness, that our NTA members, generous to a fault though we have been, are grow-ing weary as we do this.

“We grow weary in negotia-tions when the city continues to insist on a contract with us with absolutely not one penny more in salary scale.

“In the mean time, please ac-cept this gift in the spirit in which it is given.”

School Committee chair Marc Laredo said it was unfortunate that the two sides could not make

an agreement for a contract this year.

“It is too bad we couldn’t reach a final decision, but I know the new School Committee, which is set to start in January, will be more than ready to resume nego-tiations,” Laredo said.

Newton teachers are currently working without a contract.

The NTA represents over 1,700 members who work as teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, psychologists, teaching assistants, permanent substitutes, technical staff, infor-mation technologists and other educators.

Teddy Wenneker

On Hull Street: Special education aide Tom Milano and Ben Majewski, a student in the Community Connections program, prepare for a walkathon to City Hall Wednesday, Nov. 17. The walkathon fundraised for Community Connections.

opinion Friday, Dec. 4, 20092 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Leaving trash shows disrespect

Students need to start showing respect for their school.

Announcements were made in homeroom Thursday, Nov. 5 that students would eat in the cafeteria only for the rest of the week due to the excessive trash left behind.

Thursday, Nov. 12 and Fri-day, Nov. 13, Main Street and the back halls were closed for all lunches. Housemas-ters monitored Main Street to ensure no food was eaten outside the cafeteria.

This may appear excessive, but there really is a problem when it comes to trash in this school.

Since the beginning of the year and even last year, there have been posters all around the school encouraging stu-dents to throw away their trash, saying things like “This is your school. Start acting like it. Pick up your trash!”

Warning signs stating that Main Street would be closed if the amount of trash did not decrease were posted this year and last, and students ignored them and continued to leave excessive amounts of garbage around.

Since warnings were not followed, it only makes sense

Faculty, students discuss Main Street eating policy

The Newtonite, founded in 1922, is the newspaper of Newton North High School, 360 Lowell Ave., Newtonville, Mass. 02460.

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Newtonite

Editors in chief — Eli Davidow, Matt Kalish, Ellen SarkisianManaging editor — Prateek AllapurNews editor — Marena ColeSports editors — Meredith Abrams, Josh BakanArts editor — Alicia ZhaoFeatures editors — Emily Amaro, Jay KriegerOn campus editor — Olivia StearnsNews analysis editor — Georgina TeasdalePhotography editors — Shira Bleicher, Gaby Perez-Dietz, Teddy WennekerProduction managers — Max Fathy, Ben HillsAdvertising managers — Chris Keefe, Jack McLaughlinBusiness manager — Chris WelchCirculation managers — Caleb Gannon, Dan SalvucciExchanges editor — PeterSimonianAdviser — Kate Shaughnessy

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LettersReaders are invited to submit guest articles and letters to the editor. Letters should be put in the Newtonite box in Beals House or emailed to thenewtonite@gmail.com. The Newtonite reserves the right to edit all letters, which must have the writer’s name, class and homeroom. The Newtonite serves as a forum for student opinion.

that the action was then car-ried out and Main Street was closed.

Main Street was then re-opened, but the amount of trash did not decrease.

Students may complain about eating elsewhere, but there is a simple solution to the problem: pick up after yourself.

It can’t be helped that there will be trash after you are done eating, but it is not dif-ficult to throw it away.

Trash cans are often not far from any given place you are sitting, so there is no excuse to leave garbage lying around. Seeing bottles and Styrofoam containers on the ground after lunch is unpleasant.

Leaving trash everywhere shows a lack of respect for the school and for the custodians whose job it is to clean up; it creates unnecessary work and an unsanitary environment that no one is happy to be in.

Eating on Main Street is im-portant for many students, but it is by no means necessary, so take responsibility and clean up after yourself to keep this privilege.

editorial

BY GEORGINA TEASDALE

Students are regularly allowed to eat on Main Street during lunch. However on Thursday, Nov. 12 and Friday, Nov. 13 the administration closed Main Street during lunch because of excessive trash.

Students and teachers said whether they think students should be allowed to eat on Main Street.Teachers

Betsey Scharlack, history: “Not if they leave a mess all over, but other than that they should because we don’t have very good spaces in this building.”

Shawn Wallace, math: “I be-lieve that they should be al-lowed as long as they’re re-sponsible for their own be-longings, in-cluding trash. If they show that r e s p o n s i b i l -ity, I think they should be al-lowed to eat on Main Street.”

Juanita O’Neill, Spanish: “No. If students picked up their stuff then yes. When people come

into the school and walk onto a street with litter, it’s not a good impression. To my way of think-ing, eating on Main Street is a privilege.”Seniors

Rachelle Jereza: “We won’t all fit in the cafeteria and I can’t stand the smell of the cafeteria.

“There’s definitely a trash problem, and you can make kids clean up Main Street as punish-ment if they’re caught and even-tually take away privileges for certain people, but I don’t believe everyone should have to suffer just because a bunch of people don’t clean up, because what about those people who do clean up? It’s not like we can go up to them and be like, ‘hey, clean up your trash.’ That’s awkward.”

Ben Miller: “It relieves con-gestion in the cafeteria. It’s a very important measure of so-cial freedom. It’s a gigantic space in the middle of the building that would not be used. We’re not five year olds anymore, and we don’t need to be babysat, but people really should clean up after themselves.”

Meghan Rogers: “Yes, students should be allowed because it’s too crowded otherwise. It’s huge and colorful.”

Nat Roth: “The cafeteria is not really big enough, and I don’t really see why it should be an is-sue if people can clean up after themselves.”

JuniorsJack Adams: “I do eat on Main

Street mainly because the cafete-ria can get way too crowded and it’s a nice place to sit. I think litter

can’t be prevented when so many kids sit on Main Street. I don’t know what the school could change to pre-vent that.”

Sarah Gold-man: “Eating on Main Street i s s o m u c h more comfort-able and less overwhelming than eating in the cafeteria because it’s just your friends instead of your grade.”

Sarah Nunberg: “It’s a tradi-tion. The cafeteria is overpopu-lated with not enough room for all third lunch students. It’s more fun to enjoy lunch sitting on the floor in an open space where all the fun action goes on. It’s a good place for socialization.”

Chris Yee: “Well, as long as the students clean up after them-selves, it should be fine, but I un-derstand that that’s the problem now—that they are not cleaning up after themselves. Maybe give them one more chance, but set guidelines.

“I personally don’t eat on Main Street, but sometimes af-ter lunch I do see a lot of trash on Main Street. There’s nothing the administration can really do except tell the kids to throw away their trash. I mean are they going to start giving detentions if they don’t throw it away? People are going to say ‘that’s not my trash’ and stuff, so there’s really noth-ing they can do except hope the students will do the right thing and just throw it away.”Sophomores

Mia Bracciale: “I think that people should be able to eat on Main Street, but it should be a privilege.

“It’s so annoying when I see trash all over the floor. It’s not

that hard picking it up and throw-ing it away. I think we deserve it only if we take care of it.”

Jason Le: “Definitely, because the cafeteria is overpopulated. I don’t sit on Main Street person-ally, but the trash doesn’t bother me.”

Boshan Mo: “Students have the right to, because if they have open campus they should be al-lowed to eat on Main Street.”

Marianna Sorensen: “The cafeteria gets really overcrowded and loud, so a lot of people enjoy eating on Main Street.

“I feel bad for them, but they need to make sure they clean up after themselves.”Freshmen

Michael Barrile: “Yes, because you can talk to more people, and we don’t get a lot of rights. I think there is a small trash problem.”

Matt Callahan: “Yes, it’s fun. There is a trash problem, maybe they could have more trash cans and maybe have someone go around with a trash can.”

Sophie Kaplan: “Yeah, but I think it’s reasonable to make them sit in the cafeteria if there’s too much of a mess.”

Jessie Whalen: “Yes, because it’s too crowded in the cafeteria. The administration could put more trash barrels.”

Edan Laniado

Trash on Main Street: Garbage is strewn on Main Street after lunchtime Monday, Nov. 16.

Newtonian

Shawn Wallace

Newtonian

Rachelle Jerezea

Newtonian

Jack Adams

newsFriday, Dec. 4, 2009 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 3

Classattendsretreat

Seniors recognizedfor human rights workBY PRATEEK ALLAPUR

Seniors Jackie Assar and Camilla Jackson won the City of Newton’s Human Rights Award.

The Newton Human Rights Commission sponsors this an-nual award and honors students from this school, South and Newton residents who have demonstrated dedication to the issue of human rights within the school and community.

The two were honored last night at the Newtonville Senior Center.

Assar is a founding member of Newton North Minga Group along with Rebecca Kantar.

She has helped organize two successful Minga Days and the Fair Fashion Show, which high-lighted brands that do not use slave labor in their clothing manufacturing.

Additionally, Assar was in-volved in organizing the Desti-nation Freedom Symposium in April 2009, in collaboration with students from Harvard, North-eastern, Tufts and Wellesley.

“This summer, I also orga-nized a Children’s Hospital Ben-efit which raised over $2,000 for the hospital,” she said.

Jackson said that winning this award was “a complete shock” for her.

She is a representative to the Student Faculty Administration

in brief

and worked on the Academic Standards Committee.

“I have advocated for the school to give as much help to students who are on the lower end of the achievement gap and to hold the bar higher for such students,” she said.

Last year, the SFA passed Jackson’s proposal to restrict junior open campus to those students who had a C- or higher in all classes.

Two publications win awardsBY MARENA COLE

Two publications from this school have received awards.

Thoughtprints, this school’s literary magazine, placed first in the magazine category for the Journalism Award for Editing and Publishing from the New England Scholastic Press Association.

According to senior Antonia DiMambro, the editor in chief, Thoughtprints annually pub-lishes a calendar and magazine, and produces a CD.

Students interested in sub-mitting artwork can put it in the black Thoughtprints fold-ers in the art room, DiMam-bro said. Literary and musical submissions can be e-mailed to thoughtprints10@yahoo.com.

Students interested in join-ing Thoughtprints can visit the

Thoughtprints homeroom in 347a, DiMambro said.

Additionally, students received Gold Circle awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press As-sociation for their work on the Newtonite.

Seniors Josh Bakan, Matt Ka-lish, Ellen Sarkisian and Alicia Zhao, and juniors Eli Davidow and Teddy Wenneker received certificates of merit. The New-tonite also placed third overall for news briefs.

The Quill and Scroll Society also awarded the Newtonite the George H. Gallup award for achievement.Faculty to sell goodsin craft saleBY MARENA COLE

At the ninth annual craft sale, current and former faculty mem-bers will sell homemade crafts, according to Arlene Fruchter, the EDCO Individualized Education Program Coordinator.

The fair will be Monday, Dec. 7 from 2-5 p.m. in the auditorium lobby.

Items for sale include bath soaps, cell phone bags, book-marks, bracelets, calendars, “green” shopping bags, greeting cards, herbal teas and products, I.D. chains, honey, key chains, laprobes, prints, trays, scarves, snowman earrings and water-proof cosmetic bags.

Those selling their wares will be Fruchter, Spanish teacher

Denise Cremin, retired Spanish teacher Jean Degnon, English teacher Sarah Donato, retired Work-Study co-ordinator Peg McGowan, librarian Kevin Mc-Grath, special ed. teacher Bess Ramger and English teacher Wendy Richardson.City to host drivefor used instrumentsBY MARENA COLE

To provide elementary school students with instruments, the City of Newton will have a Used Musical Instrument Drive, ac-cording Richard King, the New-ton Public School Fine Arts Coordinator.

The drive will be from Mon-day, Dec. 7 to Saturday, Dec. 12. The drive is being organized by the Newton Public Schools Fine Arts Department, the Rotary Club of Newton and the Office of the Mayor of Newton, King said in an e-mail.

Donated instruments will be loaned to elementary school stu-dents who cannot afford leasing or purchasing an instrument, he said.

The drive is accepting alto saxophones, baritone horns, cellos, clarinets, drum pads, flutes, French horns, oboes, snare drums, string basses, trombones, trumpets, violins, violas and xy-lophones.

Donations may be dropped off at the Newton Community Ser-vice Center, 492 Washington St.

BY STEVEN MICHAEL

Using physical challenges to work on problem solving and leadership abilities, Leadership in a Diverse Society attended a retreat at the Sargent Center in Hancock, New Hampshire, said English teacher Peter Goddard.

Forty-five students went on the trip Monday, Nov. 16 and Tuesday, Nov. 17. Goddard, coun-seling intern John Henry Davis, carpentry teacher Garrett Tingle and counselor Darby Verre chap-eroned the trip.

For Goddard, the most memo-rable part of the trip was how students worked together to navigate challenging situations, especially on the high ropes course.

“It always surprises me how certain people do things you don’t expect they can,” Goddard said. “Someone who is petrified of heights is successful on the high ropes course and overcomes their fear.

“Everyone has a full capacity to do what they are capable of.”

Junior Maddie MacWilliams said that the trip helped students bond as a class.

“Overall, it was really, re-ally fun,” she said. “One of the best parts was the ropes c o u r s e w e went on.

“We were all very en-couraging to each o ther. Lots of people were scared,

but they went anyway and we all supported them.”

Goddard team-teaches Lead-ership in a Diverse Society with English teacher Inez Dover.

“The purpose of the class is to involve kids from different areas of the school in interests, extracurricular involvement and curriculum levels in order to create a more positive school en-vironment, and to help students identified by the staff deal with is-sues cooperatively and, hopefully, successfully,” Goddard said.

“Right now, we’re talking about the concept of race,” he said. “We talk about race, class, gender, sexual orientation and educational issues. We talked earlier about different styles of leadership.”

Leadership in a Diverse So-ciety focuses on diversity and giving back to the school. As part of that commitment, the class runs orientation sessions for freshmen.

Goddard said that the class is currently discussing plans for its second freshmen orientation.

Every year, 125-150 students are nominated for the Leadership class. Of those students, 75 are accepted into the course and due to scheduling issues, around 50 students end up in the class.

“The class is chosen by a com-mittee after the staff and former Leadership students nominate students,” Dover said. “The class is aimed to represent a cross-sec-tion of the school.”

She said the Leadership class is under the auspices of the prin-cipal and the process includes housemasters of the incoming ju-nior and senior classes, guidance counselors, the two teachers and members of other departments.

Teddy Wenneker

On Main Street: Senior Adam Halwitz, the Gay-Straight Alliance president, explains a display to sophomore Shoshana Stanger and seniors Jackie Assar and Ali Abdallah. The GSA hosted the Transgender Day of Remembrance to memorialize individuals murdered in the past year because they were transgender or connected to transgender issues.

BY REBECCA HARRIS

Teachers may be encouraged to receive feedback through course assessments, according to a proposal to the Student Faculty Administration.

At a meeting Wednesday, Dec. 2, the SFA continued to discuss a proposal by senior Ezra Cohen, student co-chair, which would encourage teachers to give out course assessments mid-year, but it decided not to vote until it had drafted a sample course assess-ment to distribute to teachers.

Cohen said that “the goal isn’t to punish teachers, but to create something positive.”

Teachers would keep the

forms, rather than passing them on to the administration, Cohen said.

He obtained course assess-ments from other schools to see what other schools have done, but they looked like they needed some changes, he said.

Also at the meeting, the SFA voted down sophomore Gabe Dryer’s proposal, which would have permitted all students who received Ns in two-period study halls due to excused absences to have open campus.

“A student utilizing his or her directed study time to not be in school for excusable reasons should have every right to do

so, considering that they would not be missing a structured class period,” the proposal said.

Housemaster Mark Aronson said that these situations are al-ready handled on a case-by-case basis.

“If you receive an N in any course and you feel you should have open campus, I’ll sit down with you,” he said.

Aronson said he often gives open campus to students if he feels that there is no reason for restricting them.

At a meeting Wednesday, Nov. 18, Dreyer and sophomores Shel-ton Cochran, Jesse Tripathi and Allison Wu presented a proposal

that would allow sophomores in the second semester with cancelled classes to leave the cafeteria.

“If students are responsible enough to have open campus, they should be considered re-sponsible enough to leave the caf-eteria when they have a cancelled class,” the proposal says.

Going to the library will help students be more productive dur-ing this time, the proposal says.

“The cafeteria is often loud and does not have resources available,” it says.

This year the SFA will meet only biweekly, faculty co-chair Gregory Drake said.

Teacher assessments under discussion

Newtonian

Maddie MacWilliams

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BY ALICIA ZHAO

With refreshing music se-lections, Harvestfest I and II made for two warm, inspiring concerts.

Performing in Harvestfest I, which took place Wednesday, Nov. 18, were Concert Choir, Family Singers, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble.

Music teacher Richard Trav-ers conducted Concert Choir and Family Singers. Concert Choir began the show with “Down by the Sally Gardens,” an Irish hymn written by William Butler Yeats and arranged by David Lantz III.

With a lyrical flute accompani-ment by senior Sherrie Deng, the song set a melancholy tone. Next was “The Spark of Creation” by Stephen Schwartz, a hopeful tune with a pop-rock beat in which the singers held an impressively long note at the end.

Family Singers had three se-lections on their program. “The Laughing Song,” an a cappella piece by Lloyd Pfautsch, was first.

Soloists were senior Saman-tha Gluck, an alto, senior Hay-ley Travers, a soprano, and ju-niors Kelly McIntyre and Nuala O’Donovan, both sopranos. With Deng playing the flute, the solo-ists synchronized perfectly with each other, and at one point, their voices and the flute blended to-gether so well that it was hard to differentiate which was which.

A spiritual by Andre J. Thom-as, “My Good Lord’s Done Been Here” featured junior Edan Laniado at the piano, and “The Tortoise and the Hare” by Dar-mon Maeder was an amusing a cappella piece that mixed fast, intricate melodies with slower segments.

“Lux Arumque” by Eric Whit-acre was a highlight of the con-cert. Here, the singers split so that the girls were on one side,

artsFriday, Dec. 4, 2009 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 5

Music groups excel in Harvestfest concerts

‘Caligula’ to debutshows next week

Concertto featuresmallensembles

Gaby Perez-Dietz

Family Singers: Juniors Edan Laniado and Sam Melnick, senior Bohan Leng and sophomore Jesse Tripathi perform in Harvestfest I Wednesday, Nov. 18 in Lasker Auditorium.

BY ALICIA ZHAO

Featuring two ensembles, the Small Ensembles concert will take place Sunday, Dec. 6 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in New-

tonville, fine and perform-ing arts depart-ment head Todd Young said.

The concert will begin at noon, Young said. Perform-ing are Brass Ensemble, un-der the direc-tion of profes-

sional trumpet player Edward Harney, and Honors String En-semble, under the direction of music teacher Adam Grossman.

Selections will include “Three pieces” from Handel’s “Water Music,” and John Williams’ “Fan-fare for Ten Year Olds,” as well as other chamber masterworks, Young said.

“We invite the students and their parents to join us that after-noon for some wonderful music,” Young said.

Tickets are free.

Newtonian

Todd Young

previewBY KATE LEWIS AND ALICIA ZHAO

Documenting a man’s descent into madness, “Caligula” is a story of contradictions, love and understanding, said senior Seth Simons, a director with senior Chris Annas-Lee.

“‘Caligula’ says that happiness can be found in human relation-ships, but also that happiness is something one must eschew,” Simons said. “It asks how mean-ing can be found where meaning does not belong.”

With Annas-Lee and Simons directing, this play by Albert Ca-mus will go on stage next Thurs-day, Dec. 10 through Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the little theatre.

As the story goes, the Roman emperor Caligula is grief-stricken after the death of his incestuously beloved sister, Drusilla. At the beginning of the play, he returns from a three-day tour of his em-pire with a new philosophy—that one must pursue logic in order to obtain freedom from a senseless world.

“He decides that unhappiness is caused by the destruction of happiness,” Simons said. “Thus, to avoid unhappiness, one must shun happiness.

“Over three years, he sets about implementing this plan by

systematically perverting human values and destroying human life,” he said.

Caligula, whom senior Ryan Vona will play, is the perfect con-tradiction, according to Simons.

“He’s a young man, fragile, who both needs and scorns hu-man contact,” Simons said.

Opposing Caligula and his new thesis are the patricians, a group of Roman noblemen. A writer-philosopher named Cherea, whom senior Louis Lof-tus will portray, leads them. According to Simons, Cherea is unafraid of Caligula and his goal is to “live happily in a world that makes sense.”

Caught in the middle of this conflict is Caligula’s young friend and pupil, Scipio.

With sophomore Graham Techler playing this character, Scipio struggles to comprehend Caligula’s madness.

“He cannot understand how this man, to whom he was once so close, could change so much,” Simons said.

Caligula’s supporters include his wife, Caesonia, whom junior Mercer Gary will play, and his retainer, Helicon, whom senior Joella Tepper will portray.

“Caesonia loves Caligula unconditionally,” Simons said. “With the patricians she appears to be an extension of his cruelty, but beneath this she desperately wants Caligula to be healthy, sane and to let go of his game.”

Although “Caligula” is dark, “audiences will be surprised by how funny this is,” Simons said.

“It is beautifully written,” he said. “If you look at versions from even two decades ago, the language is not nearly as lyrical as it is here. The language here is elegant, natural and compel-ling.”

Technical aspects of the show will help the audience get a feel for Caligula’s psyche, according to Annas-Lee.

“Lights, set and sound are be-ing inextricably integrated into this production and used to give the audience a glimpse into Calig-ula’s mind,” Annas-Lee said.

Designed by junior Zack Gran-nan, the set consists of a pool that covers half the stage as well as an optical illusion that blankets the floor.

Costumes by junior Anna Gargas will be different shades of gray and period-ambiguous.

“Camus did not specify a time period for this play, even though Caligula was a real historical figure,” Annas-Lee said.

Tickets cost $7 and are avail-able at all lunches in front of the little theatre and at www.theatreink.net.

Gaby Perez-Dietz

Warm-up: Senior Louis Loftus, freshman Johnny Cohen, junior Justin Phillips and senior Ryan Vona practice for “Caligula.”

review

the boys on the other. The song began quietly, with a lot of tight harmonies, developing a mysti-cal feel and a rippling effect. The piece continued to build up and then quieted down again, with a soft yet powerful ending.

Then, Concert Choir returned to the stage and with Family Singers, performed “Introit and Kyrie” from Mozart’s “Requiem.” Starting the song with an eerie feel, senior Nathan Harris accom-panied at the piano. Senior Lucia Joseph, a soprano, delivered a tender solo.

After that, Symphonic Band took the stage under the direc-tion of fine and performing arts department head Todd Young.

First was “A Classic Overture” by James Swearingen, a piece that jumped back and forth be-tween all sections of the band, providing much contrast in tex-ture. “Chasing the Storm” by Billy

Madison had strong percussion with fast, accentuated beats, and the sudden breaks gave the song momentum.

In “Anthem for Winds and Percussion,” the melody begins with a quick, sparkling theme, deviates into a more tender seg-ment, and then returns to the main theme.

Still under Young’s direction, the Wind Ensemble then per-formed five pieces with distinct styles. While “Cenotaph” by Jack Stamp was a loud, forceful song with a clean finish, “Divinum Mysterium” by James Swearin-gen was more mellow and quiet in nature, featuring sophomore Young Guang with the horn.

Fun and lively, “Rakes of Mallow” by Leroy Anderson had a catchy and repetitive tune, and band members impressed the audience as they began play-ing the same melody faster and

faster towards the end, finishing smoothly.

Wind Ensemble surprised the audience by coming off stage to perform in the last piece, their version of “Lux Arumque.” They surrounded the audience on all sides with Young conducting in the middle aisle. It was interest-ing to see how the instruments replaced the voices heard earlier from the Family Singers.

Harvestfest II took place the next night, Thursday, Nov. 19, with Jubilee Singers, Orchestra and Tiger Bebop.

Under the direction of mu-sic teacher Adam Grossman, Orchestra started with “Allegro Assai” from “Symphony No. 2” by William Boyce. With the violins playing rapid notes, and the rest of the strings pinning with slow, even notes, the piece mingled between the sections. In the overture to Beethoven’s “The

Creatures of Prometheus,” the strings began with strong, power-ful strokes that contrasted with the lighter, more ethereal sound from the wind instruments later in the piece.

For their last selection, Or-chestra performed the overture to “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss. With great versatility and clarity, the musicians played a variety of waltz tunes, from a delicate, poignant piece to a faster one full of staccato notes.

Next up was Tiger BeBop, with Travers directing. Accom-panying the singers were seniors Paul Batchelor at the bass guitar, Dan Friedman on the drums and Nikolai Klebanov at the piano and junior Alex Petiti at the guitar.

“Cloudburst” by Jon Hen-dricks was lively and upbeat with an impressive solo by junior David Gore, and “For Heaven’s Sake” by Don Meyer was slow and melodious with senior Sehee Sim soloing.

“In the Morning” by Adam Levy was fun for the audience, with some people dancing to the beat in their seats, and it featured soloists junior Kelly McIntyre, a soprano, and sophomore Ellie Abbott, an alto.

Jubilee Singers, under music teacher Sheldon Reid’s direction, concluded the concert. Accom-panying were seniors Jordan Ascher and Nathan Harris on the keyboard, Paul Batchelor on the bass guitar and junior Isabel Do-ver on the drums. “Speak to My Heart” by Donnie McClurkin was a soft, romantic tune full of en-couragement and nourishment. The singers swayed as senior Ryan Vona, a tenor, performed a strong solo.

The singers finished off with a polished “Let Everything That Hath Breath” by the Florida A&M University Gospel Choir. Here, Ascher and Harris gave the piece a dark feel using the organ effect on the keyboard, making for an intense piece that built up throughout.

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EMBRACING LIFELONG LEARNING

HAPPY HOLIDAYS STUDENTS

Challenging students to always engage in their

academic pursuits.

TY VIGNONEHISTORY/SOCIAL SCIENCES - Newton North High School

ADAM BROWNFINE & PERFORMING ARTS - Newton North High School

Brown has worked at North since 2001, and since then Theatre Ink has put on 96 shows. He was awarded the Charles Dana Meserve Award for excellence in teaching in 2009. “I feel really good that we teach theatre as a truly collaborative process,” he said.

ADAM CARPENTERENGLISH - Newton North High School

INEZ DOVERENGLISH - Newton North High School

LISA McKINNEYCAREER & TECH ED. - Newton North High School

Last year, Carpenter accompanied a group of students to Washington, D.C. for President Obama’s inauguration. Next semester he will pilot a new course on the literature, culture and history of hip-hop music. He is also a track coach at Northeastern University. “Every student has a unique greatness,” he said.

Dover has been teaching for 37 years, 34 of them at North. She helped develop Leadership in a Diverse Society, a course for upperclassmen that focuses on leadership and dealing with issues and confl icts. She has directed almost 40 Theatre Ink productions. She also helped establish the Black Leadership Advisory Council, a club for students to discuss issues pertain-ing to students of color. Dover was formerly the director of the Offi ce of Human and Civil Rights.

McKinney works with Culinary Arts students in the Tiger’s Loft, a student-run restaurant that serves lunch daily to students and faculty. She co-founded the Newton North/Newton High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. She works to organize the event all year long by gathering and verifying information about nominees, as well as planning and organizing the annual induction ceremony attended by close to 300 people.

Vignone brought the Close Up: Seminar in Government program to North, which takes an annual trip to Washington, D.C. He also leads the Prague Summer trip annually and began the Grade Nine Humanities trip to New York City. “I like to get kids to have a hands-on experience with academic material,” Vignone said.

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featuresFriday, Dec. 4, 2009 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 7

Books MusicFor the Pop Listener:

Lady Gaga—The Fame MonsterYou probably thought Lady Gaga

could not get more ambitious than her first disc, but she aims to devour The Fame’s success with her new EP, The Fame Monster. Although the anti-pop star symbolizes the change to today’s music business, she sticks with the theatrical sounds that crowned her the Queen of Pop. The fi rst single, “Bad Romance,” for instance, infuses a darker sound into the synths and bass lines of “Just Dance,” the single that raised Gaga to the top. But, hey, for those gaga for Gaga, it will keep many sat-isfied until a full album comes out.For the Collector:

Pearl Jam—Ten (Legacy Edition)Forget anything Pearl Jam released in

the recent past, it’s all about the Seattle band’s tremendous debut, Ten. Hitting stores in the thick of the grunge movement in the 1990s, Pearl Jam, along with bands like Nirvana, paved the way for under-ground bands to make it mainstream. The clarity and sounds of Ten literally get ten times better, as all of the original tracks

Movies and TV Video GamesFor the Hardcore Gamer:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Xbox 360, PS3, PCCall of Duty 4 was hands down one of

the best-selling and critically acclaimed games of last year. Modern Warfare 2 continues developer Infi nity Ward’s track record of making amazing single-player experiences as well as addictive multi-player ones. In Modern Warfare 2, you take the role of several characters in different military factions trying to stop the Rus-sians from taking over America. While the single-player experience is en-joyable, it’s short and the story doesn’t make much sense, b u t p l a y e r s are left with a visually beau-tiful and action-packed game. The game’s multiplayer mode develops on the last entry in the series by adding maps and perks. The single-play-er mode is a solid experience that many newcomers to the series will play as a sort of tutorial for the fantastically ad-dictive multiplayer mode that people will likely be playing until the next installment of the series. For the Music Enthusiast:

DJ HeroXbox 360, PS3, PS2, WiiThe newest iteration of music game play

comes in the form of DJ Hero, where you can scratch and mix up to 102 songs. Mix-ing tracks from different types of music like hip-hop, pop, dance and rock music, DJ Hero has the same style of game play as Guitar Hero or Rock Band, where tracks roll down the screen. It’s your job to use

For the Action Fan:Terminator SalvationWe’ve all seen at least one of the Termi-

nator movies, and to be honest, they are all almost identical to one another. While Terminator Salvation isn’t drastically dif-ferent from its predecessors, it amps up the action scenes considerably by providing great set pieces and some of the best special effects of 2009. The plot consists of the leader of what is left of mankind, John Connor, trying to find the man who is supposed to fa-ther him before the Terminators fi nd him and kill him. While the plot and its char-acters aren’t all that interesting, for the action fan inside all of us, this makes for one great popcorn fl ick. For the Drama Lover:

The Shield: The Complete SeriesGritty and hard-hitting, The Shield was

one of the most entertaining dramas on television for years. The complete series edition comes with every episode from ev-ery season, hours of deleted scenes, a new documentary, cast and crew interviews, and it comes packaged in a coffee table style case. The characters themselves real-ly make the show what it is and ultimately you care about the choices they make. The Shield: The Complete Series is the ideal gift for anyone interested in dramas about con-fl icted characters whose choices ultimately bring about their downfall.

For the Light-Hearted Comedy Lover:

Julie and JuliaJulie and Julia combines three appeal-

ing features: delicious looking food, all-star acting and a poignant storyline. The plot concerns two true stories running parallel

to each other. Meryl Streep plays the well-known cookbook writer Julia

Child, which parallels the mod-ern day story of a secretary,

Julie Powell (Amy Adams). Julie takes on the year-long challenge of making every recipe from Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Then Julie posts her results on a blog, which

grows in popularity. Streep’s spot-on impression of Child’s bubbly and carefree person-

ality truly makes the movie. The movie shows how a medium

like cooking can free a per-son from the burdens of the real world. Like Julie says, Child’s cookbook actually

conserves her sanity.For the Sci-Fi Fan:

Star TrekWhether you’re an old fan or have never

seen an episode of any Star Trek series in your life, Star Trek, the 2009 prequel to the classic 1966 series is a must-see. The fi lm follows young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) in his early days of the Starfl eet Academy. Teaming up with Spock (Zachary Quinto), the two battle Nero (Eric Bana), an enemy from their future who has traveled in time to prevent the destruction of his home planet. The fi lm features fast-paced action and witty dialogue in a perfect blend of quality special effects and a solid script.

the new turntable hardware to scratch and swivel each song’s notes. While most fans could fi ll a room with hardware accesso-ries, the turntable is small and compact, making it ideal for travel or for storing on a shelf. DJ Hero is for any DJ enthusiast or fan of previous rhythm games.For the Adventure Lover:

Uncharted 2: Among ThievesPS3The first Uncharted was one of the

best-looking games on the PS3 in 2007. Among Thieves builds

upon the fi rst, providing an even better story and

great new multiplayer modes. It’s one of the best experienc-es for the PS3 this year. The game’s new multiplayer mode is well done and while it isn’t

very revolutionary, it is highly addictive and a gem for PS3 owners.

For the On-the-Go Gamer:Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown WarsDS (reviewed), PSPReturning to the bird’s eye perspective

could turn people away from Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. However, as you play the game, you see it translates almost fl awlessly from its 3D predecessors. Play-ers take on the role of Huang Lee, a spoiled rich kid who has been tasked with deliver-ing an ancient family sword to his uncle Kenny in Liberty City. Once Lee arrives, he is ambushed and left for dead. What follows are hours and hours of missions, mini-games and multiplayer game modes. Chinatown Wars is perfect for any one who has a DS or PSP but hasn’t had anything to play on it.

For the Fantasy Fan: Libba Bray—The Sweet Far Thing The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

is an excellent gift for those interested in fantasy. Set in the 1800s, The Sweet Far Thing is the third book in the Gemma Doyle series. In the first two books, Gemma discovered her mysterious ability to en-ter the magical world of the Realms and take magic from there into the real world. In this book, Gemma must continue to unravel her mysterious visions and figure out the true intentions of the Order and the Rakshana. The Sweet Far Thingis an engaging read.For the Sports Fanatic:

John Feinstein—A Season on the Brink

Washington Post reporter John Fein-stein spent a season with coach Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team. Knight has always been a controversial fi gure, but he was able to coach for so long because of his success. But after missing the NCAA tournament in the 1984-1985 season, Knight’s job is on the line, and if his winning doesn’t make up for his antics, he will be fi red. Feinstein meticulously reports the events following

were re-mastered. Tracks like “Even Flow” and “Jeremy” have never sounded better. Each part is no longer clumped together—they’re distinct and individual. For the Rap Afi cionado:

Jay-Z—The Blueprint 3There are always artists involved in

the music business who try to return with a bang after they are long departed

from their musical hey-days. Most of these veterans fi zzle

out rather quickly. But the 39-year-old rapper never aban-doned his raw talent. Jay-Z dishes an exceptional disc. He shouldn’t feel too insecure about ending his career just yet, as he has already come

out of retirement once. The third installment of

his Blueprint trilogy features fresh

beats in songs like “Run This Town” or “Empire State of Mind.”For the Rock Fan:

Them Crooked Vultures—Them Crooked Vultures

Them Crooked Vultures is one of the most stacked super groups to come about this year. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana returns to the drumset, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age plays guitar and sings lead and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin takes on the bass. On the group’s self-titled debut, it combines the best of three decades of music, blending the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

Get a Start on Holiday Shopping

the Hoosiers after their disastrous season, which could make or break Knight’s leg-endary career.

Michael Lewis—The Blind Side Now in theatres, The Blind Side fol-

lows Michael Oher’s journey from poverty to fi rst round NFL

pick. At fi rst, Oher struggled to fi nd a private school that would ac-cept him. Oher works his way t o b e i n g t h e top high school left tackle in the past decade and college football coaches line up for his services. Any fan who thinks all

professional athletes are selfish should take a look at Oher, a

disadvantaged athlete who worked his way to success.

For Laughs:George Carlin—Brain Droppings Carlin’s second book is a smash with hi-

larious assorted thoughts and essays. The variety of humor appeals to all, whether you like observational comedy, gross-out humor or just fl at-out randomness. This collection includes 50 years of Carlin’s material. New Carlin fans who don’t know these will learn to love them. Old Carlin fans will laugh at his recognizable routines and discover new Carlin material.

Puloma Ghosh

MEREDITH ABRAMS, JOSH BAKAN, MARENA COLE, ELI DAVIDOW AND JAY KRIEGER CONTRIBUTED TO THIS FEATURE.

advertisement Friday, Dec. 4, 20098 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 9

Talk of the TigerCritic’s Corner

Teachers’ Picks

An Inconvenient Walk to School

D’Jaidah Wynn

Clive Owen and Jennifer An-iston star as two business execu-tives who meet on the train ride to work one morning and soon become involved in an affair. During one of their “meetings” a man breaks into their hotel room and threatens to reveal their af-fair to each other’s spouse. What follows is a series of twists and turns, as Owen tries to deceive the blackmailers—who always seem to be one step ahead of him. Derailed’s somewhat plain plot is well-directed and the audience gets a real sense of Owen and Aniston’s distress. The cast also includes Vincent Cassel, RZA (of the Wu-Tang Clan) and Xzibit.

—Rent

Watchmen Based on one of the greatest

graphic novels of all time, Watch-men takes place in 1985 in an alternate 1985, where masked superheroes keep the people of the United States safe. When one of the original Watchmen is murdered, the vigilante Ror-schach (Jackie Earle Haley) tries to reunite the Watchmen to help

solve their old associate’s murder as well as to find a solution to the inevitable nuclear clash with Russia. The movie doesn’t do the graphic novel justice, as it adds unnecessary scenes and gives an alternate ending that is entirely different from the graphic novel. Yet, for people who haven’t read the graphic novel, its unique characters, settings and several action scenes make it well worth the rental.

—Rent

Crank: High VoltageThe first iteration of the Crank

series was ridiculous, over the top, violent and filled with lewd behavior, but it worked. What made the first film fun to watch was a ridiculous concept that was at least plausible, mixed with unique ways to keep Jason Statham’s character alive. In Crank: High Voltage, Statham seems to have survived falling from a helicopter, and an Asian street gang has harvested his heart for the black market. They give him an artificial heart and to keep it charged, he is forced to electrocute himself in as many

different ways as possible. Not only is the idea of this film ter-rible, the movie is filled with poor action sequences and unneces-sarily grotesque scenes. Making a sequel to Crank was unnecessary, but its ending is so random and idiotic that it leaves the audi-ence laughing at the movie, not with it.

—Pass

Inside ManDenzel Washington plays a

veteran detective assigned to a bank robbery in downtown New York. From the start of the movie, director Spike Lee gives Inside Man style and a unique take on traditional bank robbery mov-ies. The movie in its entirety is enjoyable, but the last 30 minutes of the movie really shine, where Lee has given the robbers motives and interests in things other than money. Without giving too much away, the ending to Inside Man is not only original, but also an intelligent way to end the movie It’s something everyone should see for themselves.

—Buy-Jay Krieger

Find your way out of North

Derailed

Across1. Sea of orange6. Where gymnastics competes7. Girls’ hockey coach10. Where hockey plays11. What the ski team loves12. Where Nordic ski team practicesDown2. Girls’ track coach3. Where basketball plays4. Boys’ track coach5. Boys’ hockey captain

6. Wrestling coach8. Boys’ basketball coach9. Girls’ basketball coach13. Every team’s goal

Winter sports at North

Mr. Greifinger

◆Grateful Dead◆Quicksilver Messenger

Service◆Alfred Brendel◆Bunny Wailer◆Talking Heads

◆None

Favorite Artists

Favorite Movie

Favorite Show◆Mad Men

Ms. Winston

◆Norah Jones◆Sarah McLachlan◆They Might Be Giants◆R.E.M.◆Toad the Wet Sprocket

◆Dead Poets Society

Favorite Artists

Favorite Movie

Favorite Show◆The Big Bang Theory

Ms. Kennedy

◆The Ting Tings◆Amy Winehouse◆Annie Lennox◆Kings of Leon◆The Beatles

◆City of Angels

Favorite Artists

Favorite Movie

Favorite Show◆Fringe

For answers, go to www.thenewtonite.com

Stupid global warming...

on campus Friday, Dec. 4, 200910 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Speakers discuss need for all to learn CPR

Lecturer tells why all schools should teach religionHuntington Lecture focuses on controversy between creation and evolution theories

Jay Wexler

“Whether you’re religious or not, you’ve got to concede, I think, that over the course of his-tory, religion has played an unbelievably important role in every aspect of human affairs.”

BY MARENA COLE

Public school students do not receive an adequate education on religion, said Jay Wexler, a professor of law at the Boston University School of Law.

“One of the effects of exclud-ing religion from the curriculum has been that it sends the mes-sage to religious believers that the state thinks that religion is completely unimportant,” Wexler said. “Whether you’re religious or not, you’ve got to concede, I think, that over the course of history, religion has played an unbelievably important role in every aspect of human affairs.”

As a part of the Huntington Lecture Series, Wexler spoke Thursday, Nov. 12 about the con-troversy between creation and evolution theories.

Wexler said that too often, those who believe in creation-ism are dismissed by those who believe in evolution.

“What I think we should do is to work as hard as we can to stop creationism from influenc-ing our public policy regarding science, but ultimately recognize

that those who reject evolution are citizens who are entitled to our respect, even if we disagree fundamentally with what they believe,” he said.

Wexler said a lot of schools avoid teaching about religion because they are afraid of the legal consequences.

“For a vari-ety of reasons, most schools teach very little about religion,” he said. “Part of the reason for this is that schools mis-u n d e r s t a n d the Supreme Court’s hold-ings on reli-gion.

“While schools cannot teach that religion is true, they can teach about it.

“Moreover, religion is prob-ably more important today than it’s ever been. From terrorism to bioethics to The DaVinci Code, religion plays a central role in our current world.

“So how can we say that we’re educating our kids if we’re not teaching them about religion?”

Wexler said there are two main misconceptions about the creation-evolution controversy.

“Opponents of creationism will say that schools must teach alternatives to remain neutral,” he said.

“However, teaching evolu-tion in schools is not neutral towards religious believers. It’s impossible for public schools to be completely neutral on this issue.

“Because the country is so religiously diverse, schools are bound to conflict with someone’s religious views. It might seem like a nice idea for the government to be neutral, but it’s impossible.”

Wexler said another miscon-ception that evolutionists of-ten have is that if they claim a religious power could guide

evolution, they can therefore say creation and evolution are compatible views.

“The fact is, a lot of people believe things that are simply not compatible with evolution,” he said.

Wexler said there will inevita-bly be issues with teaching about religion.

“Of course, I fully realize that teaching about religion will not be easy, uncomplicated, or a panacea,” he said. “The line between teaching objectively about religion on the one hand and goading for religion and proselytizing for it can get pretty fuzzy, particularly in the context of the school classroom.

“It’s also been the case that some groups will inevitably use the ‘teaching about religion’ label to smuggle in promotion about religion.

“Of course, many deeply reli-

gious people who dislike the pub-lic schools will not be satisfied by this relatively minor reform for a variety of reasons, including objecting to the very notion that religion can even be talked about objectively at all.”

However, Wexler said even if there are controversies, educat-ing students about religion is important.

“I also think that teaching more about religion will go a long way in making a lot of deeply re-ligious people more comfortable with public education,” he said.

“In my view, these are impor-tant justifications for making such significant changes in public education.

“I’m confident that teach-ing about religion more in the schools would do far more good than harm, and I’m sure that’s why people in recent years have started raising the idea.”

BY MARENA COLE

AND ELLEN SARKISIAN

According to Deborah Bader, a speaker, if she hadn’t learned Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR, her husband would not have survived his second heart attack.

“He was down and helpless for 20 minutes,” she said. “I said, ‘You’re not getting out of this marriage that easily!’

“I called 911 and began giv-ing him CPR. He was still as a corpse, and he would’ve been one if I hadn’t started.”

Speakers shared experiences with sudden cardiac arrest dur-ing a CPR awareness panel Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Bader said she learned CPR after her husband suffered his first heart attack four months before.

“I didn’t recognize what it was,” she said. “I could have killed him by not knowing what to do.”

Laura Geraghty, a panelist, spoke about her experience with sudden cardiac arrest last April, when she was moving wheel-chairs off a bus at South.

“Luckily I was with a teacher’s aide, and so I told her I was hav-ing a heart attack and to get the school nurse,” Geraghty said.

She said the nurse performed CPR on her until ambulances arrived.

“I had no heartbeat for 57 minutes, and I was shocked a to-tal of 21 times there, in the ambu-lance and at Newton-Wellesley,” she said.

“But here I am, seven months later. Effective CPR saved my brain.

“If one person here learns

CPR and saves a life, then it will all be worth it.”

Retired special education de-partment head Susan Rosenz-weig said her husband was ex-ercising at the gym and got up to go to the pool when he collapsed of a heart attack.

Gym employees, who were certified in CPR, performed CPR until the ambulance arrived and he was brought to Mass. General Hospital, she said.

Now, he has an internal de-fibrillator that will go off if his heart stops beating, Rosenzweig said.

“When I think about it, it scares me, because if he’d been at home or anywhere else where nobody knew what to do, he would have died,” she said.

Ken Rosenfield, the section head of Vascular Medicine and Intervention in the Cardiology Di-vision of Mass. General Hospital, gave facts about cardiac arrest.

According to Rosenfield, each day over 680 people in this coun-try die from sudden cardiac arrest.

If someone goes into cardiac arrest in this state, they have an eight percent chance of survival, he said.

If left alone, victims of cardiac arrest have three minutes before they will begin to suffer brain damage, he said. However, effec-tive CPR can greatly reduce the risk of any permanent damage, he said.

Rosenfield also showed visuals that explained that Geraghty’s heart attack was caused by a clogged artery, and how effective CPR saved her life.

Athletic trainer Bill McAn-drews said this school received

four defibrillators in June, 2002 from the American Heart As-sociation.

“The first football game of the season was September 14 at Wellesley,” he said. “In the second play of the second half, the referee went down on the field. I performed CPR and used the defibrillator, and his heart came back.

“That was the first time that ever happened in a game. You may not always have a defibrilla-tor there, so it’s really important to learn CPR.

“I’ve done CPR twice in my life, and I never thought I’d do it once.”

“The worst thing you can do is to not do anything,” he said.

The presentation ended with a demonstration of how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.

Sophomore Emma Rosenfield, Ken Rosenfield’s daughter, orga-nized the presentation to raise awareness about how necessary it is for high school students to learn CPR.

According to Emma Rosen-field, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in this country.

“In Massachusetts, the rate of heart attack survival is eight percent,” she said. “In Seattle, it’s 16 percent.”

She said all students in Seattle schools are required to learn CPR.

“The American Heart Associa-tion is currently trying to push a bill to make it mandatory for all high school students to learn CPR,” she said.

“There’s a push to raise awareness about CPR on a na-tional level.”

Teddy Wenneker

CPR Awareness Day: Sophomore Emma Rosenfield discusses the importance of knowing how to do CPR Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Want to work on the Newtonite?

Come to room 101

Monday X-Block!

family photo

Jay Wexler

sportsFriday, Dec. 4, 2009 Newton North, Newtonite ◆ 11

Athletic Hall of Fame inducts 12 membersBY IVAN MCGOVERN

To honor contributions to this school’s athletic program, the Newton North/Newton High School Athletic Hall of Fame wel-comed 12 new members Friday, Nov. 27 at the Sheraton Hotel in Needham.

Ten athletes, a coach and an equipment manager were hon-ored for their service and dedica-tion. Those inducted spoke about their experiences at this school at the sixth annual Induction Dinner.

Kenneth Billings ’73 was a starter in football, basketball and baseball and co-captained the 1972 football Super Bowl finalist team and the 1973 Sub-urban League champion baseball team.

He was awarded the Dickinson Cup for athletic and academic ex-cellence at his graduation.

Billings commented that the dinner was like coming home—seeing old friends and bringing back memories from the ’70s.

Steve Cononico ’76 is known for a moment in a football game against Boston Latin when he tackled the opposing running back so hard that the entire sta-dium let out a collective groan.

Moments later, Cononico, to the surprise of the crowd, helped the opponent back to his feet.

Cononico’s wife, Debbie Co-nonico, accepted the award on his behalf.

Mariana Creatini ’01 was a starter for the girls’ hockey team all four years in her high school career and was a first team All-Star. She scored the historic first goal of the girls’ hockey program.

Additionally, the Boston Her-ald recognized her as an All-Scholastic in field hockey and lacrosse.

Fred Dauten ’52 was a three-year starter in football, basketball and baseball during his career at Newton High School.

After high school, he attended the University of New Hamp-shire, then enlisted in the Air Force where he was a major. Dauten died while leading sup-port planes to aid ground troops during the Vietnam War.

Dauten’s daughter, Kristin Shippey, accepted the award on

BY EVAN CLEMENTS

Coaches presented athletes with athletic awards for the fall season.

“Newton North is known for its dedication and competitive nature,” said athletic director Tom Giusti.

“The fall sports teams dis-played this Newton North tradi-tion.”

At the awards ceremony Mon-day, Nov. 23 in Lasker Audito-rium, coaches and captains from each team spoke about their sea-sons, describing memorable mo-ments and thanking those who contributed to their seasons.

Junior Jeremy Gurvits was presented with the first annual Ucal McKenzie Memorial Award, presented to the boys’ soccer player who embodies the spirit of McKenzie, the late coach.

Boys’ soccer coach Brian Rooney said, “The award is given to the player who consistently showed the passion, energy and enthusiasm that epitomized

Don Fox ’53 was a starting member of the varsity ice hockey, football and baseball teams. He was selected to the Greater Bos-ton League and E. Mass all-stars in both his junior and senior years for hockey.

Fox continued his hockey career at Boston College where he was awarded the Frederick Martone Trophy as the outstand-ing freshman and he was later twice selected All-New England, Beanpot All-Tournament and All-East.

George Jessup coached gym-nastics and tennis for North and also worked as a physical education teacher. In tennis, his teams won 14 Suburban League championships in a 22 year span, as well as two E. Mass State and New England titles.

In 1981, he was the Massa-chusetts nominee for national Tennis Coach of the Year. The Tiger mascot is named “George” in honor of Jessup.

Jessup’s wife, Gail Jessup, ac-

cepted the award on his behalf. Steven Leonard ’89 was se-

lected as both a Suburban League All-Star and a News Tribune All-Star in his junior and senior years as a pitcher and outfielder in baseball.

He won 17 games while at North, the most career wins of any pitcher who played for coach Joe Siciliano.

He was a key player in leading the hockey team to qualify for States three years in a row and was a captain his senior year.

Gail McCarthy ’72 helped to put North girls’ gymnastics “on the map” with her incompa-rable leadership and gymnastic skills. As the lone senior in her final year, she left her mark on Newton North athletics with a 9-0 season.

Of her induction, McCarthy said she was honored to be rec-ognized by the school and the community, and she wanted to thank the community and the school for the opportunity to be

an athlete.Liz Natale ’82 dominated high

school track in her career, during which her dedication and work ethic were legendary among her teammates and peers.

In the national meet in New York against the best competition on the east coast, she placed first in the mile.

Mike Tobin ’96 was a four-year starter in hockey and a three-year starter in lacrosse. He was captain his senior year and was recognized for putting “team above self” with the Con-nors Award.

At Saint Anselm’s College, he was elected varsity hockey cap-tain in both his junior and senior seasons.

Seniors Scott Giusti, Hannah Jellinek, Monet Lowe, Leanne Luke, Faisal Mayanja and Ben Sauro were student athletic rep-resentatives at the event.

The Selection Committee co-chairs are Jack Heavey and Lisa McKinney ’81.

Ivan McGovern

Hall of Fame: Twelve new members were inducted into the Newton North/Newton High School Athletic Hall of Fame. In the back row are Chris Drakos, Kenneth Billings, Steven Leonard, Don Fox, Mike Tobin and Chuck Fogarty. In the front row are Gail Jessup, accepting for George Jessup, Debbie Cononico, accepting for Steve Cononico, Gail McCarthy, Liz Natale, Kristin Shippey, accepting for Fred Dauten and Mariana Creatini.

Athletes honoredfor fall season Junior receives McKenzie award

Teddy Wenneker

Captains’ speech: Seniors Susannah Gleason and Shoshana Kruskal listen as senior Adele Levine delivers a speech for girls’ cross country. Awards were presented Monday, Nov. 23 in Lasker Auditorium.

his behalf.Chris Drakos ’68, head equip-

ment manager for the athletic de-partment, said to him the induc-tion means, “That I’m being put in some pretty impressive company. It’s a humbling experience.”

Drakos was honored with the “Doc” Thompson Award for outstanding service to Newton North/Newton High School Ath-letics.

Chuck Fogarty ’55 was a three-sport athlete, playing quar-terback, point guard and second base for the Tigers.

Every Boston newspaper rec-ognized him as an All-Scholastic First Team Choice in baseball.

In the 1955 State Finals against Chicopee, he batted the game-winning hit to ensure a state championship for fellow Hall of Fame member coach Howard Ferguson.

Fogarty went on to attend Syracuse University, where he started for three years at quarter-back and defensive back.

coach McKenzie during his time at Newton North.

“It’s a new award that we created this year as a memory of Ucal.”

Teams that won league titles this season are boys’ cross coun-try, cheerleading and girls’ vol-leyball.

Athlete of the month awards were given to:

◆ Gurvits in boys’ soccer◆ senior Kate Bellerose in

girls’ volleyball◆ senior Caeden Brynie in

girls’ swimming◆ senior Shoshana Kruskal in

girls’ cross country◆ senior Kim Gillies in girls’

soccer◆ senior Jake Gleason in boys’

cross country◆ senior Tal Shamesh in field

hockey◆ junior Jake Barnett in foot-

ball◆ junior Corrine Beatrice in

cheerleading◆ junior T.J. Ryan in golf

sports Friday, Dec. 4, 200912 ◆ Newtonite, Newton North

Football endsseason in defeatBY JOSH BAKAN

A juxtaposition of joy and sorrow embedded Par-sons Field as Brookline

won the 115th annual Thanksgiv-ing game 18-6.

The Warriors stormed the field as the clock ran out, and the Ti-gers hung their heads, losing for the first time in five years against the Warriors.

Football, 5-6 this season and 56-53-6 against Brookline, had 11 penalties and three turnovers, but was only able to score once.

“Any game where penalties and turnovers are abundant is a minefield,” coach Peter Capodi-lupo said. “It was a devastating loss.”

Although Brookline came into the game 0-10, the Tigers were not overconfident, Capodilupo said.

“We understood that Brookline was a dangerous team,” he said. “That day, they blocked better, tackled better, played with more intensity and executed better.

“The beauty of the game is

JV wins with leadership, freshmen with teamwork

Teddy Wenneker

Thanksgiving game: Football huddles up right before facing Brookline at Parsons Field. Brookline won 18-6, making the Tigers’ record 56-53-6 in the Thanksgiving game.

whoever plays better for 48 min-utes wins, and Brookline played better that game,” Capodilupo said.

Senior Conor O’Neil, a captain with seniors Humberto Castillo, Faisal Mayanja and Eddie Pang, said, “The season was tough the way it ended, but we’re proud of the coaches and players.

“I don’t think Brookline’s re-cord indicates how good they are. They always play us tough.

“It’s tough to think about this game. But it was a good season. The players never gave up after a tough 1-5 start.”

The lone touchdown came from a quarterback sneak in the first quarter from O’Neil.

This possession came after an interception from senior Kourt-ney Wornum-Parker.

Peterson rushed for 81 yards in the game, and senior Maxx Lyman had two sacks.

Saturday, Nov. 14, the Tigers beat Norwood at Boston College 18-0 for their fourth consecutive win.

in brief

BY MEREDITH ABRAMS,PRATEEK ALLAPUR

AND JOSH BAKAN

Strong defense and an ex-plosive offense carried junior varsity football.

Meanwhile, freshman football won with team chemistry.JV football finishes 7-2

Junior varsity football finished its season 7-2.

Coach Nick Capodilupo said that there was “good team de-fense and team leadership.

“We also had the ability to make big plays on offense.

“We had a lot of inexperienced players playing important posi-tions, but they got better by work-ing hard, practicing and learning from older players.”

According to Capodilupo, the team’s goal for this season was to stay together, play well and win.

“We tried to get better each week and came prepared for ev-ery game,” Capodilupo said.

None of the losses were due to a lack of preparation, Capodi-lupo said.

“If we lost, we were simply outplayed,” he said.

Capodilupo said that the team defeated Natick and Walpole, “the powerhouses of our league.”

According to Capodilupo, ju-niors Kevin Barisano, Tom DeSte-fano and Jon Vo were “great team leaders.”’12 beats Brookline

Defeating Brookline was the high point of the season for fresh-man football, 4-7, assistant coach John McNamara said.

The Tigers won 12-6 in a come-back victory Friday, Nov. 13.

“We were down 6-0, but we came from behind,” he said.

“Brookline is always the big-gest game of the year for us, and winning it gives us a successful season in our eyes, regardless of our record.”

According to McNamara, the team accomplished its goals.

“We wanted to give kids an idea of what our system is and what we want them to do, and to give kids a taste of what upper level football is like,” he said.

In addition, McNamara said, “Some people might look at our record and say it wasn’t as good as it could have been. Ev-

ery day, every player got better, and it showed in practice and in games.”

Nick Raso, a linebacker and offensive lineman, also called the Brookline game a highlight of the season.

“Winning it showed us what we can do when we work to-gether and listen to the coaches,” Raso said.

“We didn’t get off to a good start at the beginning of the sea-son, but at the end, we had great teamwork,” he said. “We were like a brotherhood.”

South eliminatesvolleyball in tourneyBY JOSH BAKAN

Newton South beat volleyball 3-0 in the Central/East Sectional semifinals Thursday, Nov. 12, ending the Tigers’ season at 18-2.

The Lions beat the Tigers 25-21, 26-24 and 26-24 again.

Coach Richard Barton said, “South played strongly and steadily. Our performance was moderate.

“I don’t want to make excus-es. Even though some of our players were sick, we didn’t play sharply. We didn’t hit, pass or serve as sharply as usual.”

All of the Tigers’ goals were accom-plished this season, Barton said.

“We wanted to form a cohesive team and play power volleyball,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose. If you do all those things, you are successful.”

During the regular season, the Tigers visited South and won 3-2 October 3.

Senior Kate Bellerose, a cap-tain, said, “They really improved since the last time we played them. They were much more consistent. They passed all of the balls we hit, and they served well.

“South didn’t make any er-rors,” Bellerose said. “We made

a few hitting errors and serving errors.”

Although the Tigers held leads in the second and third games, the Lions “were better at finishing off games,” Bellerose said.

Despite the loss, the Tigers “played pretty well, but South just played better,” she said.

Bellerose said a notable player for South was senior Vanessa Gailius, a setter.

“She’s their star setter,” Bel-lerose said. “She played all three games and was very good at get-ting the ball up.”Cheerleading oustedin RegionalsBY ELI DAVIDOW

After a blemish in the squad’s routine, cheerleading did not place at Regionals, said senior Michelle Ng, a captain with se-niors Rian Murphy and Courtney Ross.

The event took place at Taunton High School Sunday, Nov. 15.

“Everything was going per-fectly, but then our pyramid collapsed,” she said. “It was that little mistake that didn’t let us place.”

Franklin finished first at Re-gionals, with Attleboro, Braintree and Whitman-Hanson follow-ing.

Freshman Marissa Buckwin-ster in particular stepped up dur-ing the competition, Ng said.

“Courtney was injured, and Marissa came in,” she said. “She had never competed in a competi-tion before, and she did great. It was really cool of her to do what she did.”

Ng said that the result at Re-

gionals will not ruin the season’s success.

“Even though our season ended shorter than we expected, we got close,” she said. “It was all worth it.”Coach emphasizes girls’ dedication BY MEREDITH ABRAMS

Despite a losing record, girls’ cross country, 5-6, had a suc-cessful season, assistant coach Brandon Mogayzel said.

“The season was absolutely a success, even though our record is not what we’ve come to expect at Newton North,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect the growth and dedication these players put into the season.

“ O v e r a l l , c o n s i d e r i n g our losing re-cord, we played with dedication and a competi-tive spirit we brought to ev-ery single one of our meets,” he said.

S a t u r d a y, Nov. 21 at the All-State Meet at Northfield Mountain, junior Margo Gillis placed eighth with 19:41.2.

The Tigers placed 11th overall at the Class A Meet Saturday, Nov. 14 at Franklin Park. Gillis placed second, qualifying for States.

“I think we ended up about

where we expected,” Mogayzel said. “We had hoped for a top 10 finish, but what we got was pretty appropriate.”Girls’ swimming 5-5-1BY MEREDITH ABRAMS

With great improvement of technique and precise skills, swim and dive, 5-5-1, had strong enthusiasm through the end of the season, said senior Zoe Talkin, a captain with seniors Caeden Bryne and Carissa Chan.

Talkin said that at the end of the season, though practices were winding down, the Tigers still kept focus.

“There was a big concentra-tion, as always, on technique,” Talkin said. “Specifically we worked on breakouts, flipturns and not breathing in and out of the wall.

“Practice is different for every individual,” she said.

“Every day we worked on skills, good swimming habits and body position, and everyone improved as they learned what was going to work for them with their strokes.”

Overall, she said, the season was a great success.

“It’s the strongest team I’ve seen in my four years here,” she said. “I’m proud of my girls and I’m glad we had such a great team this year.”

The Tigers placed 20th at States Saturday, Nov. 28 at Har-vard.

The 200 yard medley relay with Chan, senior Alyssa Wolyniek, sophomore Thao Bach and fresh-man Samantha Chan placed 15th with 2:06.64.

At Sectionals Saturday, Nov.

14, sophomore Steph Brown placed seventh in diving and sophomore Hunter Hedenberg placed eighth in diving, as the only Tigers to finish in the top 10, coach Kirsten Touhy said.Boys’ cross country ends season 10-1

After a suc-cessful 10-1 season, boys’ cross country qualified only o n e m e m -ber to go to States, coach Jim Blackburn said.

“We had a great season, we just would have liked to do a little better in the postsea-son,” Blackburn said. “But, we had to deal with injury and ill-ness, so what can you say?”

This season there was a strong team effort, he said. “It was a success because we only lost one meet, and we hope next year it will be a perfect season,” Black-burn said.

At the Class A Meet Saturday, Nov. 14 at Franklin Park, the Tigers placed 12th out of ap-proximately 35 teams, Blackburn said.

Junior Dan Ranti placed 18th with a time of 17:29, qualify-ing him for States. Senior Jake Gleason placed 33rd with 17:47 and junior Ezra Lichtman placed 46th with 17:49.

Though Ranti qualified for States, he did not compete at the November 21 meet at Northfield Mountain.

Newtonian

KateBellerose

Newtonian

Brandon Mogayzel

Newtonian

Dan Ranti