Vol. 45 No. 1 Cherry Hill High School East: 1750 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 October 2010

www.eastside-online.org

Live From Cherry Hill East....

FNL

Vol. 45 No. 1 Cherry Hill High School East: 1750 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 October 2010

www.eastside-online.org

Art and photos by Avra Bossov (‘11)/Eastside Editor-in-Chief

It’sFriday Night!

NEWS/FEATURES Page 2 EASTSIDE October 2010

At Cherry Hill East,there is a plethora of clubsthat students can join,many of which are philan-thropic in nature. Thatholds true with one ofEast’s newest clubs, GoGreen for the GreaterGood.

Go Green for theGreater Good was foundedby Austin Billig (‘13) andMelissa Pliskin (‘13) withthe help of advisor Mrs.Susanne Casey. The pointof the club is to recycleelectronics for the benefitof not only the environ-ment, but the school aswell. The club collects allkinds of electronics andsends them to cer-tain companies tobe recycled. Onecompany, Gazelle—which receives theelectronics—sendsmoney back tothe group andrecycles theelectronics.C o m p a n -ies likeG a z e l l ekeep theseelectron-ics out ofl a n d f i l l s ,w h i c hhelps pro-tect thee n v i r o n -ment fromfurther infra-structure damage, pol-lution and the release ofmethane gas into the aircaused by landfills. Theelectronics donated do nothave to be in perfect condi-tion or even working; if thepiece is damaged, it is stillrecycled and made intoenergy for cities through-out the country.

The money sent back toGo Green for the Greater

Good is important to whythe club is different fromother environmentallybased clubs in theEast community.Due to therecent budgetcuts thata f f e c t e dstudentp r o -grams,t h ec l u b

intends to provide fundingwith the money receivedfrom Gazelle to sports andactivities throughout theschool. This unique qualitywas what the club wasfounded upon.

Billig said, “This clubwas started on the fact

that the budget cut most ofthe sports for students

that relied on thesports for a lot of

things such asa scholar-

ship.”T h ep l a nfor the2010-

2 0 1 1school year is

an ambitious one thatBillig and Pliskin hope willmake quite a difference inthe lives of East students.The group plans to get GoGreen for the GreaterGood involved in SpiritWeek, making it a competi-

tion to donate as manyelectronics as possible.This will benefit the schoolfinancially. Aside frommaking the goals of theclub a part of Spirit Week,the group also has a spotwhere students can dropoff the electronic items atany point during the day.For those students who areinterested in joining, thereis a group on Facebookwhere information is post-ed about the club and club

meetings. In the past, theclub has met in roomsB232 and B233.

The founders are not theonly ones with such a pas-sionate view of what thisclub can do. One club mem-

ber, Lauren Klein (‘11)said, “Go Green for

the Greater Goodis a great club toteach studentswhat we can alldo to help our

environment.”A s i d e

from being acreative aidto the envi-

ronmenta n d

assist -i n gt h e

s c h o o lin fund-ing forstudentp r o -grams,

G oGreen for

the GreaterGood is a unique club

at East.Casey said, “The ‘Go

Green for the GreaterGood’ club members arecommitted to recycling andhope to get the entire Eastcommunity involved.”

■ By Alexis Baker (‘11)Eastside Staff

New green club collects money for EastA great

deal hashappenedthroughoutthe districtsince May,all of whichwill havea direct im-pact onevery Easts t u d e n t .

After the budget failed inlast year’s April election,the Cherry Hill TownshipCouncil held a joint meet-ing with members of theBoard of Education anddistrict administration toannounce an additional$2.5 million of cuts for thisyear. These cutbacks camefrom salary increases, ad-ministrative costs, Blue-print program expendi-tures and breakage(replacing longer tenuredteachers with employeeswith lower salaries).

The severity of loweredstate aid to Cherry HillPublic Schools has left alarge gap in the budget forschool activities retainedafter the long and ad-mirable grassroots supportfrom the participants andtheir parents this spring.To close this gap and main-tain funding for these pro-grams, the Board passed apolicy and procedure toassess a student fee. Thefee is $80 for high schoolstudents and $70 for mid-dle school students, with a$150 family cap. A formwas distributed to all stu-dents with billing informa-tion. No participation inschool activities by a stu-dent will be allowed untilthe student pays the fee.The deadlines for collec-tion were the end ofSeptember for athleticsand thirty days after thestart date of all non-athlet-ic extracurricular activity.

Finally, at the Board ofEducation’s August ActionMeeting, the Board rati-fied a three-year contractwith the Cherry Hill Edu-cation Association. Thisagreement takes effectretroactively to July 2009and will be valid throughJune 2012, concludingroughly a year and a halfof negotiating.

Much of the success inagreeing upon this newcontract is attributed tothe $6 million saved inrenegotiating the districtemployees’ health careprovider. Many of the pub-lic comments at that meet-ing sought to champion areferendum on the con-tract. However, membersof the Board and othermembers of the publicemphasized that Boardmembers are elected towork on such matters onbehalf of the entire com-munity.

If any members of theEast community havequestions, concerns or sug-gestions pertaining to anyspecific issues, feel free tocontact me anytimethroughout the year: sil-verbass93@yahoo.com.

JonathanSilverstone

(‘11)Board of

EducationRepresentative

Austin Billig (‘13) and MelissaPliskin (‘13), club founders.

Recycling art by Diana Li (‘12)/Eastside Staff

Photo by Juliet Brooks (‘13)/Eastside News/Features Editor

We asked...LaurenStrauss

(‘12)

BrettVinkoff(‘14)

Mr.Semus

Mrs.Morris

What was your bestchildhood costume?

pop-singerBarney the

purpledinosaur

SupermanWonder Woman

The soundtrack to mylife is...

“Pursuit ofHappiness” by

Kid Cudi

“I Made it” byDrake

“Dizzy Up the Girl”by the Goo Goo

Dolls

Mr. Holland’sOpus

I wouldn’t be caught dead...

naked in public in a dress

skydiving orbungee jumping

without mythings

organizedWhat was the

greatest invention? electricity baseballthe

computerthehanger

I secretly wish...If I told you, itwouldn’t be a

secret anymore.I could fly.

I knew how toplay a musical

instrument.

If I revealed it,it wouldn’t be a

secret now,would it...

Logo by Danielle Hu (‘11)/Eastside Art Director

During homeroom, youwill hear various groupspracticing down D-wing.There have always beenthe Madrigals, CasualHarmony and the Belles ofEast, but this year you willhear a new, higher setof voices ringing out inthe halls: the newfemale a cappellagroup.

Last spring, the EastMusic Department de-cided to create a femalea cappella group tocomplement the al-ready existing male acappella group, CasualHarmony. The purposebehind this additionwas that there was noother after-schoolsinging-only group forgirls.

“Everyone hadalways wanted a femalea cappella group,” saidHeather Hyon (‘11), asenior member of thegroup, “so finally theycreated one.”

The concept was sup-ported by faculty.

“ M r s .[ L a u r i e ]Lausi and Idecided itwould be agood thing

to give thatopportunity totry a cappellasinging,” said

Mrs. Heather

Frampton, the supervisorof the group.

Frampton held rigoroustryouts towards the end oflast school year. Aroundeighty girls auditioned foronly 13 available spots.

“I was looking for strongsolo qualities, the ability toblend, [the ability to] hold

their own part againstother voices, strong sightreading and general musicskills, maturity and dedi-cation,” said Frampton.

First, all the aspiring acappellas had a group try-out where Frampton

taught them the “NationalAnthem (Dixie ChickVersion)” as well as thesong “Hide and Seek” byImogen Heap.

Casual Harmony sang“Hide and Seek” last yearat the spring concert, andFrampton used it andchanged it to a girls’ key

for the audition.After singing the songs

as a big group, they brokeinto smaller groups basedon key. When the first try-out was done, they had to

sign up for a solo ses-sion. The solo ses-

sion required thateach girl memo-rize a song of herchoice and per-form it in front of

Frampton; thepast, outgoing

Casual Harmonypresident JustinSingson (‘10);and the newCasual Harmony

presidents, IanParker (‘11) andEthan Saviet (‘11).

When all the hope-fuls tried out, there weretwo sets of callbacks inwhich 20 to 25 girls had tosing together as a group.Girls with all differentkeys had to adjust to one

another andcombine theirstyles; thisrequired bothpractice andg r o u pchemistry.

“I thinkour soundis very powerful, we’re not

the ordinary girl’sgroup,” said SelimaAhmed (‘12).

Finally, the firstEast female a cap-pella group waschosen, includingsophomore, juniorand senior members.The first task thenew group had wasdeciding on a groupname.

Many names werebrought to the table,but The Key of Shewas chosen by mostmembers of the group.

The girls quicklybegan performing.This summer sevenof the girls per-formed the “NationalAnthem”—the sameone they had prac-ticed during audi-tions—at Cherry HillWest’s fireworksshow.

The group’s nextperformance was onOctober 18 at the CherryHill Public Library.

“We are excited for theopportunities out there fora cappella groups,” saidFrampton.

One opportunity in-cludes competing in theInternational Chapter ofHigh School A CappellaSinging Competition,which the group plans toattend later this year.

“It is a great opportuni-ty for the girls to experi-ence the excitement of thea cappella that CasualHarmony enjoys so much,”said Saviet.

Ahmed agrees. “I’m real-ly excited to be the firstand set the standard forfuture generations of Keyof She,” she said.

Listen for the Key ofShe: a new key that willresonate through D-Wing.

NEWS/FEATURESOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 3

■ By Dan Desrochers (‘11)Eastside Staff

What does your positionentail? How do you person-ally plan on making thisyear better than any otherwith involving studentsand planning events?

T h i syear, SGAis looking tocontinue toi m p r o v eupon pastevents thathave beensuccessfulas well asattempt to

start a few new ones. Thebiggest key to the successof these events, though, isthe participation by thestudent body, which isalways my, and the rest ofSGA’s, main focus. We willdo everything we can toget as many students toparticipate within theEast community. The waywe can best do that is tomake sure all of the eventswe hold are enjoyable.

Many people may notknow exactly what theschool’s SGA does, whichpresents a rift within theschool. As President, I ammore or less a medium tothe administrators of theschool. If anything needsto be brought up withinthe building and a studentdoes not know how to goabout the situation, thevice presidents – MattBogdonoff, Kenny Soll,Dan Desrochers and AdamRosenthal – and I are hereto help. We are also thecoordinators of all school-wide events.

Spirit Week is alwaysthe best time of the year atEast and we will attemptto make it bigger and bet-ter than ever. Our hopesare to have more studentsparticipate in the eventsheld for Spirit Week and toliven up the pep rally.Hopefully, this will in-crease school spirit andensure fun for everyoneinvolved.

The big event we al-ready started up this yearis called Friday Night Live(FNL). We have a cast thatwrote sketch comedyroutines similar to thoseperformed on “SaturdayNight Live.” We feel thatwe have many funny stu-dents at our school thatwill be able to entertain acrowd. The fact that it issomething people have notseen before at East shouldhelp to promote this event.The first FNL is October22.

The key to this year iscommunication. If any-body, SGA involved or not,has any ideas or events inmind, we are open to anysuggestions. The studentsdo have a say at East, andwe are just a way to com-municate for the studentbody. Anything we can doto bridge the gap betweenadministration and thestudents will be done. Weare looking forward to agreat year and hope thatyou are as well.

Jason Warren(‘11)

SGA President

After 17 months ofnegotiations, the Board ofEducation and the CherryHill Education Associationsigned a three-year con-tract for the teachers ofCherry Hill. The teachersoperated all of last yearwithout a contract.

Mrs. Abbey Greenblatt,East librarian who waspart of the negotiations onbehalf of the Cherry HillEducation Association,said “the big problem wasthat we lost a lot of fund-ing from the state.”

Greenblatt and Mr.Terry Regan, a scienceteacher at East, worked

with the Cherry HillEducation Association torepresent the teachers ofCherry Hill.

The official statementon the Board of Edu-cation’s website said,“While this was a longprocess, both partiesworked very hard to dowhat was right, and welook forward to workingtogether on a host ofimportant issues affectingour schools over the com-ing year.”

Dr. John O’Breza, prin-cipal of Cherry Hil East,said, “The first priority ofeveryone is the students.”

All parties expressedrelief at the ratification ofthe contract.

Dispute over teachers’contract comes to an end

Ben Taylor (‘11)/Eastside Photo EditorMembers of The Key of She: Top row (from left): Selima Ahmed (‘12),Namarah McCall (‘11), Clare Gillooly (‘13) and Cat Cargen (‘11).Middle row: Riley MacDonald (‘12), Seanna McCall (‘13), SammyPleat (‘12), Melanie Mendel (‘12) and Gaby Chapman (‘13). Bottomrow: Stephanie Berman (‘13), Tiara DeGuzman (‘12), Katrina Hauck(‘11) and Heather Hyon (‘11).

■ By Juliet Brooks (‘13)Eastside News/Features Editor

Music notes by Kevin Cook(‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

East girls sing in The Key of She

With a new year begin-ning at Cherry Hill HighSchool East, observant stu-dents will probably noticea little change of sceneryaround the school—solarpaneling. The solar panelsmounted on utility poles inthe East parking lot arepart of a statewide plan to“go greener” by collectingsolar energy.

Cherry Hill Townshipreceived approximately$1.3 million in grants tosupply the town withgreener alternatives to tra-ditional coal and gas ener-gy, which includes solarpanels. The majority of thefunding came from theOffice of Clean Energy’sCORE Rebate Program,but the Federal Depart-ment of Energy also lent ahand.

All of this work is insupport of Mayor BerniePlatt’s ten-point GreenAction Plan, which ensures

that Cherry Hill becomes amore earth-conscious andoverall environmentallyfriendly community. Thewhole state of New Jerseyis in on this plan in someway—the solar panels arein fact part of a larger planimplemented by the utilitycompanies to help NewJersey go greener.

In Cherry Hill, becauseof the Green Action Plan,the Cherry Hill Council isnow working on mountingsolar paneling on the roofof the Department ofPublic Works, despite theoriginal intention ofinstalling the solar powersystem on Town Hall’s roofinstead.

“Mounting a 100kWsolar array on the roof ofTown Hall has longappealed to me,” said Plattin the Cherry Hill Sunnewspaper.

The solar panels, whichone may think would beaffixed to the roof, are actu-ally attached to the utilitypoles outside the high

school. Lori Braunstein,founder of SustainableCherry Hill, a group dedi-cated to working towards agreener community, callsthem “beautiful.”

“It’s what they symbol-ize,” Braunstein said. “Ithelps me to think we’re onthe right track.”

Transforming CherryHill into a greener commu-nity will not only have a

positive impact on theenvironment, but it willalso save the township aconsiderable amount ofmoney.

The solar paneling atCherry Hill East is only astepping stone towardshelping Cherry Hill andNew Jersey become moreaware of both the economicand the environmentalimpact of their energy

usage. This will help thecommunity realize theimpact it has on the envi-ronment and what every-one can do to help.

So when driving intoCherry Hill East’s studentparking lot, notice the newsolar paneling that isproviding the commu-nity—and the entire plan-et—with a whole world ofgood.

The long-buriedsecrets of Egypt’s

most famous ruler andone of history’s most pow-

erful women come to lightat the Franklin Institute’s

Cleopatra: the Search for theLast Queen of Egypt exhibit.The exhibition, which runsuntil January, highlightsmore than 250 artifacts dis-covered off the coast ofAlexandria that offerdetails of the elusivequeen’s life and death.

Relics of Cleopatra’shistory, because of nat-ural disasters andRoman destruction ofenemy records, haveuntil recentlyremained buried onthe ocean floor.Leaders in moderninvestigations ofCleopatra, archaeolo-gists Dr. Zahi Hawassand Franck Goddio,uncovered hundreds ofvaluable artifacts thatoffer insight into the life ofthe woman who courted twoof history’s most powerfulmen. Their work is the cen-terpiece of the exhibit,which tells a chronologicaltale of Cleopatra and herPtolemaic ancestors along-side the story of the archae-ologists’ discoveries.

Starting with a short doc-umentary, the exhibit windsthrough several rooms ofartifacts and is accompaniedby an audio tour narratedby Cleopatra herself. Eachroom is dedicated to a differ-ent aspect of Cleopatra’slife, from her famous affairswith Julius Caesar andMarc Antony to theEgyptian celebrations of the

goddess Isis. A family treeshows the lineage of the

Greek Ptolemaists, estab-lished by Alexander theGreat, and Cleopatra’s placein the conqueror’s dynasty.Unlike ancient Egyptianswho worshipped animal-headed gods, thePtolemaists integratedGreek mythology intoEgyptian culture to form anew religion more fitting to

the rulers’ political needs.The pieces on display de-fend Cleopatra as a success-ful ruler and strategist,rather than as the wantonseductress she is often por-trayed in art and Holly-wood.

Recovered relics likecoins, ceremonial figurinesand an advanced astrologi-cal calendar give light toEgyptian culture, whichemphasized celebration andlavish displays of wealth.Next to Cleopatra’s glass-encased gems, her commen-tary tells of a quarrel withMarc Antony, in which she

famously swallowed a price-less pearl to proveshe was the moreliberal spender.The exhibit also high-lights conflicts, bothpersonal and political,between the Egyptian andRoman Empires, showcas-ing the Romans viewingEgyptian culture as hedo-nistic. Most impressive inthe exhibit are the giantstatues which once flankedthe Egyptian Temple of

Amon and the two well-preserved Sphinxes,sculpted to look likeCleopatra’s father.

For this exhibit,the FranklinInstitute integratedsocial networkingwith a correspon-ding online portion.P e r i o d i c a l l ythroughout theexhibit, placardsindicate a safe haven

for Twitter discus-sions, Facebook posts

and flash-free cellphone photography,

making the archaic infor-mation more accessible tothe computer-savvy. A shortanimated film of theEgyptian custom explain-ing the ritual of mummifi-cation also brings life to theexhibit.

Despite great progresstowards solving the secretsof Cleopatra’s life andapparent suicide, archaeol-ogists are still hard at workto completely unravel theremains. Like last year’sKing Tut exhibit, the Cleo-patra exhibit successfullyshowcases the unearthedmysteries of one of his-tory’s most fascinating fig-ures.

COMMUNITYPage 4 EASTSIDE October 2010

■ By Hannah Feinberg (‘12)Eastside Community Editor

Township turns to sun to go green■ By Meagan Riley (‘12)

Eastside Staff

Ben Taylor (‘11)/ Eastside Photo EditorSolar panels overlook the Department of Public Works.

All art by HannahFeinberg (‘12)/ Eastside

Community Editor

Secrets of Cleopatra uncovered

Though Le Bec-Fin owesits high acclaim to better-than-superb food, therestaurant is about theexperience as much as it isabout the cuisine. As wait-ers lift the covers off of sil-ver trays to serve a spec-tacular five or even six-course meal, it feels likenineteenth century Franceitself. Yet this experience isnot nearly as popular as itwas ten or twenty yearsago. As a result, ownerGeorge Perrier has decidedto close Philadelphia’smost famous restaurant inthe spring of 2011.

Born in Lyon, France,founder and chef of Le Bec-Fin, George Perrier, wasalready a known chef bythe age of 14. After movingto America in 1967, Perrierestablished Le Bec-Fin in1970. As popularityincreased, Le Bec-Finmoved to Walnut Street in1983 to expand the restau-rant. Receiving the presti-gious five-star rating fromMobil Travel Guide in the1980’s, Le Bec-Fin pros-pered for twenty years.With his success, Perrieropened similar Frenchrestaurants throughoutPhiladelphia. However, in2000, Le Bec-Fin lost itsfifth star with Mobil TravelGuide’s new review. As a

reaction to his disappoint-ment, Perrier decided torevamp Le Bec-Fin’simage. His efforts were notwasted, and in 2002, MobilTravel Guide returned thefive-star rating.

For several years now,Le Bec-Fin has worked totrade its once stuffy atmos-phere for a new, morerelaxed one. In 2008,

Perrier sacrificed Le Bec-Fin’s five stars for four inexchange for a more casualatmosphere. With arelaxed dress code andupdated menu, Le Bec-Fin’s customers now caneat a 15-dollar hamburgerinstead of a five-coursemeal without dirtying theirSunday best. In the sum-mer of 2009, Perrier exper-

imented with a “pay whatyou wish” menu, which,though not a financial suc-cess, brought traffic to therestaurant.

Despite his best effortsto dress down Le Bec-Fin’soutdated formality, Perriercould not shake the restau-rant’s conservative image,a virtual death sentence ina time when such fanciness

has gone out of vogue. Chicand modern, more thantried and true good foodtakes precedence in to-day’s fast-paced, trend-based society. Chefs likePerrier, even with im-peccable cooking and ten-dencies toward the lavish,may not be able to standthe heat of the modernkitchen.

COMMUNITYOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 5

With the latestEuropean workout equip-ment at Versa Fit Studiosin Voorhees, NJ, the days oflong, tiring workouts areover. Versa Fit Studiooffers many different class-es and workshops as wellas personal training ses-sions for the benefit of itscustomers.

The gym’s schedule con-sists of several popularworkout classes includingPilates, Spin and Yoga.Also included are originalVersa Fit classes such as“Versa Shape,” “Hip HopFit” and “Cardio Comb.”

“Versa Fit is one of theonly gyms in the east coastthat has two of the newestEuropean workout equip-

ment,” said TomCollins, one of theVersa Fit StudioManagers.

These ma-chines specializein weight man-agement and ton-ing in the leastamount of time.The “Power Plate”is a vibrationdevice that acti-vates muscle con-tractions, enhanc-ing overall per-formance in short15-minute ses-sions three timesa week. The othermachine is the“Vacu Fit,” whichis an ellipticaltrainer enclosedinside of a vacu-um chamber.

Benefitsof bothmachinesi n c l u d eincreasedm u s c l estrengthand flexi-bility, improvedblood circulationand decrease ofcellulite.

Since Septem-ber, Versa Fit hasbeen expandingits studio to alocation in Phila-delphia with itsspecialized work-

out equipment, uniqueclasses and training ses-sions.

Now, with two studiosopen, Versa Fit is certainlya sure way for customers toburn calories, increasemuscle strength and work-out in less time than a tripto any other gym in thearea.

■ By Claire Hoffman (‘12)Eastside Staff

Versa Fit Studio raises the

■ By Alana Kopelson (‘12)Eastside Community Editor

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorAt its famous Walnut Street location, Le Bec-Fin has symbolized fine dining since its establishment in 1970.

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorVersa Fit Studio now has a loca-tion in Voorhees.

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorVersa Fit features unique Euro-pean workout equipment.

bar on gym technology

Perrier to close Le Bec-Fin

“Well, you’re a teacher’spet, so obviously you aregoing to get A’s on every-thing.” Too many times hasa line like this been said inthe halls and classrooms ofCherry Hill East. Ofcourse, all students shouldbe respectful to teachersand behave like matureadults during school hours.However, sometimes teach-ers tend to grade studentson their behavior or theirpersonality rather thantheir work.

At East, just like mostother high schools, therehave been times when stu-dents slack off and get thepoor grades they deserve.Conversely, there havebeen times when those stu-dents who slacked off forthe first half of the yearstart trying in school butstill receive the same gradeas if they hadn’t even triedat all.

Cherry Hill East shouldimplement a new gradingsystem. Rather than stu-dents putting their nameson assignments, such asessays, projects, tests andquizzes, they should usecode names. By using codenames, teachers would be

forced to grade the assign-ment solely on the work’scontent rather than basingthe grade off of the studentwho did the work.

“I think some teachers

judge papers based onhow the kids act in class,like if the teacher likesyou, they’re more likelyto cut you some slack,”Marlee Ehrlich (‘12) said.

“I don’t think this isfair.”

Although the gradingsystem East currently usescan benefit a hardworkingstudent, as a teacher will

give a hard worker a goodgrade, it does not benefit astudent who starts outpoorly and works to im-prove.

Also unfair is when awell-liked student receivesgood grades on assign-ments when his or herwork is unworthy.

“I think that it couldonly be beneficial to trythis system,” said EmilyMcCready (‘11). “It’s unfairthat sometimes, even sub-consciously, teachers gradebased on their feelingstoward the student ratherthan the work they sub-mit.”

Some students like toform relationships withteachers so that if theyneed extra time on anassignment or test, theteacher will feel compelledto give it to them. With thecode name grading system,students can still formrelationships with teach-ers, but grades will remainunbiased.

Implementing a codename grading system atEast would not onlyimprove the school, butalso eliminate partialityfrom grading. A code namegrading system would befair to all teachers and stu-dents concerned.

OPINIONSPage 6 EASTSIDE October 2010

In 2007, the Director ofInformation Technology atCornell University, TracyMitrano, had a studentpresent her Facebook pagefor class. The student’s pro-file picture was of her andanother girl, smil-ing as they toasted.Her relationshipstatus stated thatshe was “engaged”to the girl in thepicture. Mitranothen proceeded tocongratulate her onthe engagement.The studentappeared shockedand asked Mitranowhy she thoughtshe was engaged.After Mitranoexplained why shethought this, thestudent said shewas straight, andthe girl she was“engaged” to washer best friend.

Situations simi-lar to Mitrano’shappen often, con-sidering manyadults do notunderstand whatteenagers are doingthese days, espe-cially with newtechnology. Thus,this becomes a problemwhen college admissionsoffices use Facebook pagesto analyze an applicant.

According to theChicago Tribune, about tenpercent of admissions offi-cers admitted to looking atstudents’ Facebooks.Thirty-eight percent of

those admissions officerssaid the Facebook pageshad a “negative impact” onapplicants. Although tenpercent is not high, oneshould keep in mind thatthis study was conductedin 2008. Since then,Facebook has grown exten-sively.

Many adults do notunderstand Facebook.Facebook was originally setup as a social networkingwebsite for college stu-dents to connect with oneanother. Therefore, stu-dents tend to presentthemselves as they wanttheir friends to see them.

Because students some-times unintentionally mis-represent themselves, col-leges should not base theirevaluations off of the stu-dents’ Facebook pages, as itis unfair. Before Facebook,admission officers deter-mined if a student shouldbe accepted by their appli-

cations or interviews,which is the way it shouldstay.

When many studentsset up their Facebookaccounts, they make it “pri-vate.” These privacy set-tings restrict access toone’s profile if a searcher isnot a Facebook friend of his

or hers. However, collegeshave sneaky ways aroundthis privacy and have fullaccess to any student’sFacebook.

Most students do notknow this. Therefore, theyrun the chance of beingdenied because of some-thing that the admission

officers did not like ontheir Facebook page. Somethings, like the “engage-ment” of Mitrano’s student,are innocent, but are mis-interpreted and can causea student to be rejected.Other things, like picturesof students underagedrinking or using drugs,

can also cause a student tobe denied.

Although unfair, lookingup an applicant on Face-book is currently legal.Because of this, studentsshould be cautious of whatthey post online. Studentsalso should not talk aboutapplications on Facebook.

For instance, if onecollege sees a stu-dent posting com-ments about hopingto get into anotherschool, the collegemight assume thatthe student is notinterested in them.Thus, admissionsofficers may feel theyshould accept a moreeager student.

Colleges also donot realize that stu-dents take drasticmeasures to securepathways into theirtop college choice. Forexample, some stu-dents change theirlast names for priva-cy from colleges.Some choose to takeadvantage of admis-sions officers by post-ing misleading infor-mation on Facebookto make themselveslook better.

Facebook is asocial networkingsite that allows peo-

ple to portray themselveshow they want to be seenby others without anyone’sjudgement. Thus, Facebookshould not be used by col-lege admissions officersduring the college applica-tion process.

Computer by Danielle Hu(‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

■ By Rebecca Schuck (‘13)Eastside Staff

Kevin Cook (‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

■ By Lindsey DuBoff (‘12)Eastside Opinions Editor

Students should use code names on essays

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorStudent turns in an assignment to Mrs. Sharp with a code name on it.

Colleges use Facebook for the wrong reasons

OPINIONSOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 7

During a certain time ofthe year, as students walkdown the hallways or sit inthe cafeterias of CherryHill East, they will seenothing but posters withcool pictures and sloganssplashed all over the walls,which means one thing:election time.

The election of newStudent GovernmentAssociation (SGA) officersand representatives is along process. SGA mem-bers make crucial decisionsthat may determine if astudent’s school year is ablast or something to beleft in the past. Someresponsibilities SGA hasare deciding the location ofschool dances, running theSpirit Week dance anddesigning class apparel.Students look forward tothese unforgettable experi-ences, which is why SGAofficers and representa-tives need to be qualifiedfor the job.

School elections aremeant to ensure that stu-dents vote for whom theyfeel can make the best deci-sions for their grade.However, the current elec-

tions are held in the schoolcafeteria, allowing onlythose who take a lunch thetime to vote.

According to Mr. JimRiordan, East’s Director ofGuidance, approximatelyone out of six students atEast do not take a lunch,which leaves about 300-450 students without adesignated time to vote inthe election. Although stu-dents can vote after school,it is extremely inconven-ient. If SGA does not givethese students a desig-nated time to vote, theyleave a gap in the elections,making the process unfair.

One also may argue thatstudents can vote duringclass, but this is not alwaystrue. Many students takerigorous classes at East,which leaves no time forthem to miss a class tovote. Many strict teachersalso prohibit students fromleaving class a minuteearly to vote.

“When [students] doubleup in a department, suchas science or language,that takes up all of theirschedule,” Riordan said.

Yasmen Rasegtar (‘11)did not take a lunchfor the secondhalf of the

2009-2010 school year,leaving her with no time tovote for senior class presi-dent.

“I could not vote [for apresident] because I didn’twant to have to get out ofclass and leave my work tovote, which I don’t thinkwas fair,” Rasegtar said.

The current voting sys-tem is in an inconvenientlocation. However, if theelections were movedto a more accessi-ble location,such as home-room, everyonewould be able tovote, making theprocess more efficient.

In the cafeteria, SGAmembers must cite a listof at least 500 names tomake sure that a stu-dent does not votetwice. Similar tothe homecom-ing repre-sentativesv o t i n gsystem,voting

would be more effi-cient in home-rooms. This wouldensure that everystudent can votewhile saving time.

The current sys-tem, although areplicate of a realelection system,

d i s c o u r a g e ss t u d e n t s

from vot-i n g

becauseof the long

w a i tto vote

in thebooth. If the

voting sys-tem was

moved to home-r o o m ,students

c o u l dvote quickly.

This system is instituted atLenape High School inMedford and has been suc-cessful.

“I like Lenape’s systemcompared to East’s,because everyone gets theright to [vote]. I know abunch of people who do nottake a lunch at East andit’s not fair to them,”said RachelGordon

( ‘ 1 2 ) ,who recently trans-

ferred from Lenape toEast.

Overall, creating anelection system that givesevery student an op-portunity to vote wouldmake the results ofelections more fair. Everystudent deserves to beheard loud and clear,even if it is only through avote.

■ By Danielle Fox (‘13)Eastside Entertainment Editor

Do you know what is in your lunch?

■ By Sherin Nassar (‘13)Eastside Opinions Editor

Photo by Mia Holley (‘12)/Eastside Photo Editor

Art by Kirk An (‘13)/ EastsideStaff

SGA election system needs to be re-evaluated

Photos by Mia Holley (‘12)/Eastside Photo Editor

Many people are fam-iliar with the saying, “youare what you eat,” but,in actuality, many teensare not familiar with thenutrition informationregarding the productsthey consume. Unfortu-nately, East’s food pro-vider, Aramark, does notinclude a pamphlet thateducates students aboutwhat they munch on eachday.

According to thedaily-plate.com, many of Ara-mark’s most populardishes do not only containa lot of flavor, but a lotof calories and fat as well.For instance, one slice ofpepperoni pizza contains396 calories and 16.79grams of fat; four chick-en tenders contain 408calories and 22 grams offat; while a small yogurtparfait contains 277calories and 8.28 grams

of fat. To maintain ahealthy lifestyle, an aver-age teenage girl shouldintake about 2,000 to2,200 calories a day andan average teenage boyshould intake about 2,500to 2,900 calories a day. AsEast students continue togorge on these unhealthydishes, they will consumeabout half of their day’scalories in one meal.

Melissa Pliskin (‘13)said, “I think most peoplewould buy fries ratherthan a salad, because thefries look more appetiz-ing. But, a lot of peopledon’t know what [ingredi-ents] are in the fries andhow bad they really arefor you.”

Former U.S. ArmyMajor General PaulMonroe insisted thatCongress should passnew child nutrition legis-lations to help reduce thechild obesity outbreak.His research shows thatforty percent of teens’

daily calorie intakeoccurs at school. Thus, itis vital that Aramark pro-vides East students withthe nutritional informa-tion so that students canmake healthy choices.

In addition, if Aramarkwere to provide East stu-dents with nutritionalinformation, they wouldtake a step towards help-ing to prevent medicalproblems, such as obesity.According to the 2009New Jersey Youth RiskBehavior Survey, ten per-cent of high school stu-dents were obese.Providing students withthe nutritional facts maycause the state percent-age to decrease.

However, one couldargue that although pro-viding nutritional infor-mation is extremely im-portant, creating ahealthier food programmay seem more promis-ing. Robert Casey, aPennsylvania senator,

continues to advocate thepassage of The HealthyHunger-Free Kids Act.

If the state of NewJersey would take inter-est in the act, East stu-dents could benefit fromthe healthy diet it pro-vides. Unfortunately, thestate is currently facingfinancial issues due tobudget cuts and a pooreconomy, and Aramark isnoted as the cheapestfood provider.

The company couldeasily provide East withtheir products’ ingredi-ents for free but does not.Aramark claims to offerthe highest level ofexpertise and execution.The company websitereads, “We focus on help-ing you nurture your stu-dents’ overall well beingand growth with nutri-tious menus.”

One would assumethat with the superbpraise for which theyreward themselves, the

representatives of Ara-mark nationwide wouldbe more than thrilled toprovide nutrition infor-mation, but this is not so.

According to SamanthaWeinstein, writer for theSouthern Methodist Uni-versity Daily Mustang,Aramark has declinedcustomers’ requests toknow what is in the com-pany’s products on sever-al accounts.

Back home, it is imper-ative that Aramark pro-vides East students withthe nutritional informa-tion about the company’sproducts. By doing this,the company will givestudents the knowledgeto understand what theyput into their bodies andmay improve students’un-healthy diets, allow-ing them to grow into fit,healthy and strongadults.

In New Jersey, mostpeople are not legallyallowed to drive down theblock alone until theyreach their seventeenthbirthday. Laura Dekker,14, most likely does notmind, because on August21, she set sail on anattempt to circumnavigatethe entire globe alone. TheDutch girl set out fromGibraltar on her solo voy-age as the youngest personto sail around the world.

If she succeeds, heraccomplishment will notbe recorded as an officialworld record, for GuinnessWorld Records and theWorld Sailing SpeedRecord Council no longerrecognize “youngest”sailors as a category forrecords. They have saidthis is to discourage dan-gerous attempts byminors. The record-keep-ers haven’t banned youthcircumnavigation, but byrefusing to recognize theyoungest sailors, they cer-tainly decrease incentive.

Although it may seemunfair to those who havealready completed thisrisky journey, the lack of

recognition is a good idea.The decision by Guinnessmost likely will ensurethat the kids who are try-ing to sail around theworld are not only doing itfor the fame of a worldrecord. This eliminates therisk of juveniles beingpushed out to the sevenseas by glory-hungry par-ents, or setting out tooearly in their youth,unprepared for theunimaginably expansiveand treacherous waters. Ifa girl is not even oldenough to get a job at LongJohn Silver’s, it may not behigh time to prepare hersails and circle the globe.

But the incredibleaccomplishment of ayoung person sailingaround the world wouldnot go completely unrecog-nized if fulfilled. It wouldbe nearly impossible tocomplete the journey with-out a significant amount ofglory, as book deals andreality shows are in theworks for some past navi-gators.

Similar attempts inrecent history have hadmixed results. JessicaWatson, 16, completed thevoyage from her home-town of Sydney, Australia

in 210 days earlier thisyear. Abby Sunderland, 16,was not so lucky. In Juneshe was found stranded inthe Indian Ocean after aviolent storm had dam-aged her boat’s communi-cation lines and snappedthe mast. She wasunharmed, but ended herjourney and headed home.

Both of the girls madetheir journeys non-stop.Dekker, on the other hand,plans to stop multipletimes, spending a fewweeks in the Canary

Islands, and taking sometime out of the trip to con-tinue her schooling.

The teenager’s voyagefaced confrontation beforeher boat, Guppy, even hitthe water. The Dutch gov-ernment prohibits thatanyone of Dekker’s agecaptain a boat longer thanseven meters, so she wasforced to change herdeparture point to Lisbon,Portugal. In Lisbon, how-ever, she learned that theport authority deemed herunqualified for a solo voy-

age, so she had to set offfrom Gibraltar.

Dekker grew up on aboat with her father and ispassionate and responsi-ble in equal parts. Not allyoung risk-takers possessher experience and dedica-tion. Guinness’s abolish-ment of the record will notdiscourage someone likeher. However, it will pre-vent foolhardy glory seek-ers from putting them-selves in danger.

No Guinness recognition for young sailors

The New OxfordAmerican Dictionarydefines marriage as “theformal union of a man anda woman, typically recog-nized by law, by which theybecome husband and wife.”Just under that, “a similarlong-term relationshipbetween partners of thesame sex” is listed. Sowhich is it?

It is an issue highlydebated in America, just asgovernments all over theworld struggle to form

their legal stances on theissue in balancing theiragendas with the desires ofthe people.

In early August,Mexico’s Supreme Courtruled in support of gaymarriage in Mexico City.Furthermore, the Courthas ruled that same-sexcouples can adopt children,since “there is nothing thatindicates that homosexualcouples are less apt par-ents than heterosexualones,” according to JusticeArturo Zaldivar. The deci-sion has prompted bothcelebration by activists

and anger by PresidentFelipe Calderon as well asthe church. For a nationwhose capital was built bythe Aztecs, such reform hasshattered Mexico’s tradi-tional values. Or at least,the reform has made itimpossible to go back tobeing strictly againstsame-sex marriages, nomatter how upset Calderonand the conservativeregime are.

While Argentina becamethe first country in LatinAmerica to permit same-sex marriage, Mexico City’snew policy is still momen-

tous in the mind of the gaycommunity. An importantthing to note is that whilethe ruling only applies toMexico City, not the entirenation, marriages per-formed in Mexico City arestill required to be recog-nized throughout the coun-try. Even with the passingof this legislation, that isnot to say Mexico City hasdealt with the repercus-sions easily.

Guadalajara’s leaders,especially Mayor MarceloEbrard, have faced animmense amount ofridicule from the church. InRoman Catholicism, gaymarriage is considered“immoral.” In his distastefor the Supreme Court’sdecision, Cardinal JuanSandoval Iniguez, Guada-lajara’s Archbishop, hasgone so far as to accuseEbrard of bribing the courtfor ruling in favor of gaymarriage. Calderon him-self told his attorney gen-eral to try to take the lawto court because Calderonthought that law was haz-ardous for traditional fam-ilies—but Calderon’s planbackfired because “evenjustices appointed by [hisown] PAN party voted tooverrule the president,”according to The LA Times.

Due to its vast history,Mexico’s church andMexico’s state have alwaysbeen culturally entwined,which is why the Court’sopinion explicitly clarifiedthe separation between thetwo for this legal matter. Insuch a topic that concernsboth church and state, it isdifficult to avoid societalconflict. Catholic protest-

ers and gay rights activistshave hurled insult afterinsult back and forth ateach other, each sidebelieving it is right.

America is a meltingpot. People generally enjoya clear separation betweenchurch and state, exceptwhen it comes to this issue.Similar to Mexico,America’s capital also hasissued marriage licensesfor same-sex couples. Yet,while it is legal in the cap-ital and in three otherstates, Proposition 8passed in California, thusputting into writing in thatstate’s constitution thatmarriage is exclusively aunion between a male anda female. Therefore, it isstill a state issue ratherthan a national undertak-ing. Until same-sex mar-riage reaches the nationallevel, there is no hope for aresolution. If there truly isa separation betweenchurch and state, the gov-ernment should not legallycare who gets married. It’ssimilar to saying interfaithmarriages cannot takeplace, or interracial mar-riages cannot either; itshouldn’t be up to the gov-ernment’s discretion.

Homosexuals are notlimited to one country—they exist everywhere,whether they are inAmerica, across the bor-der or across the ocean.Mexico City’s court rulingis significant because itshows that gay mar-riage is not an issue thatwill just go away or beresolved quickly; it is openfor a global moral discus-sion.

GLOBAL COMMENTARYPage 8 EASTSIDE October 2010

■ By Avra Bossov (‘11)Eastside Editor-in-Chief

Courtesy of FoxSports.com

Jason Derulo is not the first person to attempt to be ridin’ solo; Dekker, 14, is too.

Courtesy of CSMonitor.comGay rights activists in Mexico City rally in front of the Supreme Court building

■ By Jack Braunstein (‘13)Eastside Underground Editor

Sailboats by Danielle Hu (‘11)/Eastside Art Director

Gay marriage causes conflict in Mexico

GLOBAL COMMENTARYOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 9

More than nine months after theearthquake ravaged Haiti, govern-ment-based and internationalorganizations are still slowly pick-ing up the pieces. But it is not justthe rubble that needs clearing. Theentire education system, which wasin shambles even before the earth-quake, has to be rebuilt andrestructured. It is no small fixeither. Even before the earthquake,Haiti had a literacy rate of 53 per-cent. Many students did not reachhigh school. The Interim HaitiRecovery Commission, or theIHRC, led by Haitian PrimeMinister Jean-Max Bellerive andformer President Bill Clinton, hasbegun to fully address these long-term issues.

The IHRC has outlined threeand five-year proposals which hopeto ensure a permanent recovery ofHaiti’s education. Its objectives gofar beyond restoring the educationsystem back to its original state.But, however impressive its goalsare, the IHRC seems to be havingtrouble proportioning the very lit-tle funding it has.

The IHRC’s 18-month targetsfor education alone require over475 million dollars. The 18-monthtime frame certainly seems unlike-ly considering that it has onlyreceived 50 million dollars. Thisproblem raises the question ofwhether it is really beneficial tohave such ambitious goals in sucha limited amount of time. Is gov-ernmental support for universalaccess to education really thaturgent when Haiti’s children havevery few intact schools to access? Isit 254 million dollars urgent?Universal access is clearly animportant issue in a country whereonly 20 percent of children attendhigh school, but it is an issue thatneeds to wait. Trying to address itnow would be fruitless as there arenot enough children in school to

implement any plans. Doing sowould only divert money awayfrom other goals. Far more pressingproblems still await funding, likerebuilding schools and recruitingteachers.

Though the IHRC needs to adoptlong-term goals, it should recognizethat these goals are exactly that:long-term. In the immediatefuture, it should concentrate ongetting kids into schools now, evenif it means using temporary schoolsin tents while permanent construc-tion is going on. That way, it has afar more streamlined agenda with-out so many projects competing for

funds. When Haiti finally has thefoundation for a real education sys-tem, then it can build on it byworking towards benchmarks inuniversal access and literacy.

Throughout Haiti’s recovery, theIHRC has to keep in mind thatmany plans that play out well onpaper often do not go smoothly inreal life. The fact that it has such acomprehensive and impressiveplan for education (and for manyother areas affected by the earth-quake) brings hope to such a bleakcountry. However, attacking all theproblems haphazardly is onlygoing to result in inefficiency and

confusion.The money is slow, but the

future is bright. The IHRC hasshown commitment to its goals bygetting donations and pledges. It isonly a matter of organizing theeffort. Haiti’s recovery can not behastily thrown together like someEnglish midterm. It may exceedthe five years that the IHRC hasallotted. It may even exceed 50years. But once all these reliefgroups and non-profit organiza-tions finally leave Haiti, they willbe leaving a Haiti unrecognizablefrom the destruction of the presentand the disorder of the past.

Courtesy of PBS.orgHaitian children learn in temporary classrooms made of tents while the country rebuilds its schools.

■ By Diana Yu (‘11)Eastside Global Commentary Editor

“All is well, Paolo.”Soccer is a sport in which

teamwork heavily reliesupon communication, yetthe Italian Mafia is takingit to another level.

Quelli che il Calcio(“That which is Football”)is an Italian television pro-gram which tried to enticesoccer fans to become moreinvolved in the show byallowing viewers to sendtext messages that wouldrun along the bottom of thescreen.

“Ciao Franco, the jour-ney went well.”

In late August, however,anti-mafia prosecutors dis-covered the nifty plan ofthe mafia men. These menwould send messages totheir jailed bosses throughthe text messages featuredin the show.

By September, the tex-ting feature of the showwas disabled after a prisonwarden intercepted a mes-sage instructing a jailedboss to watch the show.

Despite the significantnumber of the Italian

mafia bosses already incar-cerated, the gangs havefound many ways to keepthe business running. Be-fore such technology, mes-sages would be written onextremely thin paper, or“pizzini,” and stuck be-tween a messenger’s toes.Young family memberswould also be involved, asmessages would be tradedduring big bear hugs at the

jail.One gang was desperate

enough to buy an entireradio station that playedmusic with significance forany jailed members.

A mafia member’s taskhas been carried out. “All iswell, Paolo.”

In a crime-ridden world,it is hard to stop such com-munications. But Italiansenator Carlo Vizzini made

a valid point when he said,“I do not understand whypeople held under suchconditions can watch pro-grams in which the TVaudience can participate.”

In order to regulatecrime—in any country—national police should takeit upon themselves tounderstand the minds ofthe criminals and preventthem from communicating

messages to one other.Criminals who go as far asbuying an entire radio sta-tion in order to communi-cate should be watched byhawks in order to preventfurther crimes from beingorganized by bosses whoare in jail. It is disappoint-ing to know that even crim-inals under “close” govern-ment surveillance are ableto conduct business asusual.

With the many brains ingovernment organizations,any country should poten-tially be able to outsmartcriminals and prevent fur-ther crimes. It is similar tomany companies and theirsecurity. Multi-Lock Ltd.,for instance, an interna-tional high security devel-oper and manufacturer,has a special unit that triesto outsmart any thievesthat would try to break thelocks. The best way to knowa criminal’s next move is tofit comfortably in his shoes.For Italy, it seems asthough the shoe is twosizes too big.

A drug trade was com-pleted. “Ciao Franco, thejourney went well.”

■ By Moriah Schervone (‘11)Eastside Global Commentary Editor

Haiti’s education reform will be no quick fix

Kirk An (‘13)/ Eastside Staff A mafia boss gets news from his cronies while watching a soccer program in jail

Mafia communicates through TV

In the End by Frank Zhang (‘11)/ For Eastside

COMICSPage 10 EASTSIDE October 2010

Page 10 EASTSIDE October 2010The Toughguys: Crime and Punishment by Kevin Cook (‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

Email your answer to alan@tutoringclubch.com by 11/14/2010.Please include your name, mailing address and phone number. Entry information will onlybe used for prize fulfillment contact. This month’s winner will receive a $50 gift certificateto Starbucks and other assorted Tutoring Club goodies. Winner will be selected random-ly from entries with the correct answer and contacted via email by November 14, 2010.Winner must come to Tutoring Club by November 21, 2010 to receive prize.

Butter Up by Iris Dan (‘11) and Danielle Hu (‘11)/ For Eastside and Eastside Art Director

COMICSOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 11

The Trick by Ari Brill(‘11)/ Eastside Staff

Halloween! The time ofyear has come for us vam-pires to stalk comfortablyunder the moon’s dim

glow without the fear ofgetting caught. The oneday of the year when chil-dren and parents find mydark, creepy housetremendously fitting withthe Halloween spirit.

Apparently, mytendency toleave my houseonly at night in along black cloakis seen as “eerie”and is consid-ered “criminal-like” behavior,and thereforemust be men-tioned to thepolice. This timearound, when Ifind a policemanat my door, I willhave a box ofdonuts ready asthe perfect dis-traction. Thistime of year myvampire “cos-tume” is the per-fect attire, espe-cially since thisTwilight obses-sion started.For months Ihave been wait-ing for this one

holiday, whenpeople play freely

and are not afraid of mytendency to get very closeto their necks, when theirveins are perfect andplump with blood…it’s awalking buffet for me!

Anyway, back to thisridiculous obsession withTwilight. Thousands ofgirls are dressing up likethe little groupies they arefor Edward Cullen, wear-ing his face and shirtlessbody on T-shirts. Themovie companies must bemaking thousands of dol-lars! Seriously, though, asif we vampires really looklike that. I mean, what adisgrace to the vampirecommunity. Sure, we maybe incredibly strong, butmy muscles don’t rippleagainst my pale body likethose of Edward Cullen.Hollywood can really spina tale that people will justtake a big bite out of.

Hollywood has made usvampires seem like suchinnocent animal lovers,it’s sickening. How darethey label me like that! I’dget into it, but the sun isrising and I need mysleep. I can’t wait to hearthe first knock at mydoor…this is going to beone fangtastic night!

(Roughly translatedfrom a series of gruntsand moans...)

Well, it’s Halloweenagain. Mostpeople aree x c i t e dabout dress-ing up tolook like myfriends andme and run-ning aroundscaring peo-ple and see-ing wholooks thebest. Notme.

I won’t beout scaringlittle chil-dren andc a u s i n gmass de-struction.

I’ll becuddled upby the firewith myYorkie, Lei-la, and anice bottle ofChardonnaywatching theH a l l o w e e nspecial of “Ace of Cakes”on The Food Network.Possibly even “Cake Boss.”Yes, I do like baking.There are many thingsyou don’t know about methat my documentary“Frankenstein” fails torecognize. For instance, Ilove taking long walks onthe beach and cookinghome meals for Leila andmyself. Last night it wasa nice lemon-grazed chick-en with sautéed aspara-gus and parsnips. My, wasit delightful! See? Unlikesome big Halloween fig-ures, I do have a heart...and a natural talent forcooking. Don’t get mewrong, I love the famewhen I walk down thestreet with my littleLeila. However, I wish the

reactions of my fellowfriends and neighborswere happy to see merather than afraid andpanicked. I really am anice guy, and wheneverHalloween comes around,

everybody always runsfrom me. For some reasonthey think that I enjoydrinking human brainsthrough a straw whenreally I prefer sitting inthe grass with the bunniesevery Sunday after myreligious services. I justwant everyone to knowthe guy that I really am,the sensitive, loving guy.Sure, maybe my skin isgreen and I have two boltsin my neck that chargedmy heart when I wasborn, but I just want to belike everyone else andhave fun trick-or-treatingthis year without peoplethinking my casual wearis my costume. It wouldmake me the happiestmonst… I mean, manalive.

HUMORPage 12 EASTSIDE October 2010

AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGH!Ah, good day! Thousands of

years in that musty old tomband you start to cramp up afterawhile. I’m not really sure whatyear it is, but I can certainlysmell the Halloween in the air!This year I’m going to host thebiggest Monster Mash of thecentury, whatever century thatis, of course. All the hottestmonsters are going to be there:Darth Vader, Count Dracula,Bigfoot, Medusa, FreddyKrueger, Jason Voorhees,Plankton, Wolfman, Voldemort,and even Lady Gaga.

I am so excited I’m even get-ting a new clean wrap just forthe party! These old rags aregetting too tattered anyway.Once Medusa sees me allcleaned up, maybe I’ll finally

get that dance with her… if herhair lets me.

Anyway, I’m still deciding onthe perfect snacks. I’m current-ly debating between stewedeyeballs and spider popcorn. Ihave to make sure the food isokay with Godzilla before Imake it. He gets a little crankyand starts to eat buildings andcars when you don’t make himwhat he wants (such a dramaqueen). But I digress.

So, I hired a party planner tomake sure that my party is per-fect. She told me I should deco-rate my tomb with orange andblack streamers and hang somecobwebs from the ceilings, etc,etc. That’s so lame, though. Imean, there’s obviously alreadycobwebs in there and streamersare so “human-party.” It’s likeshe’s never been in a tombbefore.

Jane (that’s my party plan-

ner) inspired me to hire a groupof dancing skeletons and asinging jack-o’-lantern quartetas the entertainment and buybubbling cauldrons of slimy,green goop for special effects. Idon’t want my party to come offas if I’m trying too hard tomake it Halloween-related, buton the flip-side, you knowstrobe lights and a fog machinewould make the place looktotally rad!

I’m so excited I don’t thinkI’ll be able to sleep for the restof the month! I mean, not that Ireally need to anyway. Nowthat I have everything elseplanned out, the only thing Ihave to worry about is where Ican safely hide the treasures inmy tomb. I sure don’t want any-thing to get broken or stolen.Some monsters these days justcan’t seem to keep their handsto themselves…

■ By Prince ImhotepFor Eastside

■ By FrankensteinFor Eastside

Frank Zhang (‘11)/ For EastsidePrince Imhotep of Egypt repre-sents. (Courtesy of CHPD)

Frank Zhang (11)/ For EastsideThe dynamic duo following the party (courtesy CHPD).

“Imhotep” and “Frankenstein” by Gina Villecco (‘11)/ EastsideHumor Editor

“Dracula” by Sherin Nassar (‘13)/ Eastside Opinions Editor

■ By DraculaFor Eastside

Frank Zhang (‘11)/ For EastsideThe dynamic duo, Frankenstein and Dracula. (Courtesy of CHPD)

HUMOROctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 13

MMMRREEEEEHHHHHHGGGGGG

Hello, ladies and gentle-men, I have a most terriblepredicament of which Ibelieve you should be aware.I received a telegram yester-day containing an invitationto a Halloween party hostedby the long-deceased PrinceImhotep of Egypt.Considering it the height ofrudeness to decline an invi-tation from such an augustmember of another species, Iresponded with my compli-ments and acceptance.

Unfortunately, it seemsthat there is a problem withthe guest list that I over-looked. The Predator hasbeen invited to this festivalas well.

Now, I know my specieshas a reputation for beinguncultured mindless killing

machines, but that’s merely aby-product of our method ofreproduction. Do we considerhumans to be savages forhow they sustain them-selves? I think not! To beinvited to the same party asa being who considers mypeople mere insects (liter-ally!) to be hunted for sportwith no regard as to our feel-ings, no matter what drivelthey may spew about a pro-fessional relationship, is id-iocy. You know those eggsthey use for target practiceevery now and again? Thoseare our youth, darn it! Youcall baby-killing a profes-sion? I truly hope thatImhotep realizes the lunacyof this situation and revokesthe Predator’s invitation. Orelse my hunter adversarywill be learning how tobreathe with a face-huggeraffixed to his head.

Okay, so I’m chilling in myship, checking out my skullcollection, when I got a trans-mission from Imhotep. Hewanted me to come to hisHalloween party. Me! ThePredator, the baddest hunterof humans in the galaxy, theannihilator of Aliens, the all-around most hardcorehumanoid in a suit of armoris going to the best Hal-loween party in the galaxy.

There’s just one little prob-lem. He also invited theAlien. Of all the stupid,moronic, just flat-out insensi-tive things he could’ve done,this one takes the severed

head. My people have hatedhis kind for so long even theirqueens don’t remember thefirst time Predator shankedAlien, or Alien infectedPredator. It’s apurely professional thing, too:our hunters have to keep ourskills sharp, and they have toinfest every single life form inthe universe. Nothing person-al. But there is such a thingas keeping business andpleasure separate, and seeingthe Alien at this party wouldscrew it all up.

I hope Imhotep realizesthat or things could get awk-ward. Really awkward.

■ By the PredatorFor Eastside

Frank Zhang (‘11)/ For EastsideThe head of the most hardcore hunter ofhorror-filled humanoids in the Milky Way.

Mischief Night, thenight before Halloween,is the number-two prank-holiday in Americabehind April Fool’s Day.However, it has reachedthe top of the charts formost distressing after-math of any prank-holi-day. Researchers allagree that “MassPranking” is the cause ofall the pandemonium.The target suspects are,once again, teenagers.

For years, adults andcranky senior citizenshave been keeping an eyeon children of every ageon Mischief Night.

“I know that all thosedang-flabbit kids con-spire with each otherevery year with all theirinternets and talkingrobot-phones,” saidMarty Longfellow, 68, aten-year victim of teenpranking,.“They decideon one big prank forMischief Night togetherand then send it overthat one internet sitecalled Facepage… orBookhead… or whateverit is.”

The ongoing prank forthe past three years hasbeen pumpkin smashing.

Reese Matticalli, 45, aMischief Night specialistat the Laboratory ofPsychological Research

and Study (LPRS)believes that “mostteenagers are displayingthis sort of behavior torelieve some stress whiletaking out their anger onthe people that causethem the most anguish:adults.”

According toMatticalli, the teenagerspicked jack-o’-lanternsbecause they know peo-ple will be the most upsetafter they see their ownartwork “smashed tosmithereens,” she said.

“I worked so hard onmy jack-o’-lanternsbefore those wretchedscoundrels came aroundand smashed Jeffery intomy porch-step,” said

Hannah Ledgwick, 48.“The situation only gotworse when I found outthat one of the smasherswas my own son, Johnny.I could not have beenmore ashamed.”

According to JohnnyLedgwick, the “stupidvegetable thing” was get-ting more attention fromhis mother than he wasthe week before the inci-dent. She did not evenreward him for getting aB-plus on his last biologyexam.

“Besides, it was fun,”Ledgwick said.

Because last year’ssmashing was so horrific,many residents are tak-ing extreme caution in

where they put jack-o-lanterns this year. Manyjack-o-lanterns havebeen seen residing inwindows and on top ofobjects too high for theaverage teenager toreach without trying toohard.

Many families havebeen badly affected bythe teenage tradition ofsimultaneous pranking.Until the smashingpumpkins fad wears out,local government officialshave been warning allresidents to keep theirjack-o-lanterns lockedaway or secured in asmash-free zone toensure the safety of everypumpkin this Halloween.

■ By Gina Villecco (‘11)Eastside Humor Editor

Frank Zhang (‘11)/ For EastsideThe last thing you saw before a horrificallypainful claw-involving, tail-whipped demise.

Background byJean Harrell (‘11)/

Eastside StaffPumpkins by

Kevin Cook (‘11)/Eastside Art Director

Predator and Alien stories byJake Trommer (‘11)/ Eastside

Humor Editor

■ By the AlienFor Eastside

The hope behind everycompetition is that an indi-vidual will win, fair andsquare. However, the onlything “square” aboutHollywood’s hottest compe-tition shows and gameshows is the television thatone watchesthem on. Thegenius behind theprograms’ onlyinitiative is any-thing but fair.

Although mostviewers wouldargue that if peo-ple were to winprizes via gameor competitionshows, theyshould also beentitled to keeptheir winnings, ifone wins a prizeon television, it iscounted as a tax-able income. Ifthe show produc-ers offered to paythe taxes on one’searned prize, it would bean appropriate gesture, butin most cases, people willmost likely lose nearly halfof their prize money to thetaxman.

In 2007, via Reality-Blurred.com (a televisionnews site), fans declaredthat NBC’s “America’s GotTalent” reward of one mil-lion dollars seemed morelike a puppet than a prizewith all the strings thatcame attached to it. Ac-cording to Jason Cochranfrom walletpop.com, thecontestant could choose toreceive the prize in the

form of a financial annuity,which would be paid outover 40 years; or, one couldchoose to receive the pres-ent cash value of thatannuity. After an account-ant conducted the calcula-tions, the actual cash offeris about one-third of thepromised one.

Most game shows like

“Wheel of Fortune,” “ThePrice is Right” and “Jeop-ardy” are shot inCalifornia. California lawstates that state taxeshave to be deducted from anon-resident’s winningsbefore the check getsmailed. Contestants be-come very excited whenthey see a brand new caron the “The Price is Right”stage, yet many of themare just wasting theirbreath, especially in to-day’s economy, becauseaffording the taxes thatcome with their prizemight not be as realistic as

touching the 35,000-dollarcar in front of them.

Though the taxes areunfortunate, they are notthe only fishy aspect ofcompetition on gameshows. In 2009, The NewYork Daily News publisheda story that accused the“American Idol” judges ofdictating who the final four

contestants would be, thusinsinuating that the view-ers’ votes meant nothing.

Similarly, Keith Lynch,a “Price is Right” contest-ant, explained that gettingonto the game show hadnothing to do with beingone of the first five-hun-dred people in line, like theproducers argue, but fit-ting the show’s nationalappeal. According toLynch, as people wait inline at the show’s studio inLos Angeles, they pass atable where they are askedquestions about wherethey are from or what they

do for a living.“In truth I think they

were looking for out oftown people...I thought[my cousin] would beselected because she isreally loud and enthusias-tic. I am quieter, but I wasliving in Maryland and Ithink they chose mebecause it’s a national

show,” Lynch said.Unfortunately, the sce-

nario of contestants beingpre-selected to aid a pro-gram’s ratings is not a raresituation but a rather com-mon one. On season five of“America’s Got Talent,” twocontestants, Sally Cohn, a“professional handwhistler,” and Mary Ellen,a “professional musicianand singer,” proved the the-ory. Cohn performed aswell as any good whistler,but she surpassed the oth-ers due to the precisionand focus it took her totwiddle her fingers in front

of her mouth. There wasnothing extraordinaryabout her act, but Cohn’sage of 75 and her animatedpersona landed her a spacein the competition. On thecontrary, there was nothinglovely or amusing aboutEllen’s attempt to playpiano and carry a tune.Though she was placed in

the category offemale singers,Ellen was ane n t e r t a i n i n gcharacter, whichis why thejudges selectedher as a contest-ant. Many tal-ented musicianswere sent pack-ing and lost anopportunity of alifetime becausea television pro-gram wanted toup its ratings.And sadly, thisis the viciouscycle that willcontinue to turnwell into thefuture.

Ray Richmond, televi-sion critic for the HollwoodReporter, said, “It’s impor-tant to keep in mind thatalmost nobody involvedwith these shows will everacknowledge the wizardbehind the curtain. Thereis almost an element of col-lusion on everyone’s part,or a code of silence, tonever let on, lest the pot ofgold disappear.”

The producers’ ideaswill continue to entertainAmerica and may continueto draw in more viewers aswell, but their intentionswill never be justified.

ENTERTAINMENTPage 14 EASTSIDE October 2010

Deal OR

While the recent iPhone4 may be enough to wetthe appetites of the easilyimpressed common folk,news from behind thedoors of Google may well

be enough to satisfy themost stubborn of tech fan-atics.

Off-the-record state-ments that Google Inc.chairman and CEO EricSchmidt have made sug-gest that the company’sSilicon Valley-based labo-

ratory is concocting itsown tablet computer. Inother words, Google islooking to challenge theiPad.

Electronics juggernautApple Inc., whose innova-tive products have madethe company into a house-

hold name over thepast decade, releasedthe iPad earlier thisyear, putting tabletcomputers on the mapfor most internationalconsumers.

Now, according toThe New York Post,Google’s rival tablet isexpected, with helpfrom developer HTCand wireless providerVerizon, to hit storeson Black Friday.

Of course, thetablet will make themost of Google’simpressive tool belt,from Google Books toGoogle Voice, the com-pany’s Skype-rivaling

tele-communications serv-ice. According to electron-ics weblog Gizmodo, thetablet will run on Google’spresently unreleasedChrome operating system,in addition to the popularAndroid mobile-orientedoperating system. Thetablet will also includeGPS capabilities with acamera and 2GB of RAMwith at least 32GB of stor-age. Google has even madea deal with software devel-oper Adobe, which ensuresthat the tablet will runFlash, the standard videoformat for YouTube andmost of the Internet, some-thing the iPad does notallow.

“A Google tablet couldbe the only tablet capableof actually challenging theiPad, avoiding the iPodwhitewash in which Applethrashed everyone,” saidWired’s Gadget Lab blog.“Add in the fact thatGoogle is committed to an

open platform for whichanyone can develop soft-ware [unlike Apple’s closedecosystem], and you have atablet that could be theperfect opposite ofApple’s.”

Pricewise, heavy third-party subsidizing will defi-nitely allow an entry pointof less than the iPad’s 499dollars.

This is not the first timeGoogle has taken on Apple.HTC’s Nexus One, amongother smartphones bydevelopers like LG andMotorola, utilize the An-droid OS, and are theiPhone’s chief competitionin the consumer electron-ics market.

So, while Apple andGoogle will duke it outalone this season, expect tohear a lot more about tab-lets in the coming months;Microsoft, HP and Nokiaare also rumored to havesomething in the works toadd to the competition.

Google poses challenge for iPad

Kevin Cook (‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

■ By Joe Incollingo (‘13)Eastside Staff

■ By Danielle Fox (‘13)Eastside Entertainment Editor

Courtesy of sassyqarla.comGoogle introduces its own tablet to challenge Apple’s iPad.

NO DEAL

ENTERTAINMENTOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 15

Forget designer hand-bags, leather jackets andbig sunglasses, becausethe latest celebrity crazeis one that anyone canindulge in: cupcakes.They have not only takenover as the leader in thedessert world, but haverecently stolen the sweettooth of many celebrities.

The craze startedroughly five years ago,when Sarah JessicaParker and other cast-mates were seen bitinginto the frosted dessertsat the Magnolia Bakeryon the set of Sex and theCity. The cupcakes, aswell as the bakery, be-came an instant hit.However, Magnolia Ba-kery is not the only cup-cake shop that has sky-rocketed sales because ofHollywood’s finest.

Sprinkles Bakery,founded by the executivepastry chef, CandaceNelson, in 2004, is thefirst cupcake-only shop inthe world. It has become anecessary stop for eventhe healthiest celebrities,such as Jake Gyllenhaal,who was seen treating hismother to a sweet treat atthe counter. CourtneyLove claims that thesepastries caused her togain ten pounds. Just twoblocks away from RodeoDrive, these $3.25 cup-cakes are among the mostexpensive cupcakesaround yet the cheapestluxury in all of BeverlyHills.

Barbara Streisand, oneof the first celebrities tojoin the cupcake craze,sent Sprinkles cupcakesto Oprah Winfrey, wholoved them and proceededto share them with hershow’s studio. Sprinkles’cupcakes have been fea-tured on many shows, like“Good Morning America”and “The Tyra BanksShow.” They have alsobeen featured in Peopleand The New York Times.

As a result of the cup-cake craze, the Food Net-work produced the show,Cupcake Wars, which fol-lows four partneredteams that compete towin ten thousand dollarsand the chance to servetheir cupcake display at amajor event.

Satisfying the sweettooth of even the mosthealth-conscious celebri-

ties, cupcake enthusi-asts will continue to

form long lines toget a taste of

the pint-sizeconfection foryears tocome.

Looking to be “yournumber one” again,Blondie is back after sevenyears with Panic of Girls,which is set to release in2011.

The American rockband, founded by leadsinger, Debbie Harry, andguitarist, Chris Stein, isbest known for its hits“One Way or Another,”“Heart of Glass” and “TheTide is High.”

When the American newwave music era started in1974, Blondie was ridingthe wave with its new hit,“Heart of Glass.” Soonafter, Billboard magazinenamed Blondie’s single“Call Me” the number-onemusical sensation of 1980.

The band’s fifth album,Autoamerican, followed thepattern of success, reach-ing platinum status withits number-one smash “TheTide is High.” Unfortu-nately, its last album, TheCurse of Blondie, broke thepattern. It became Blond-ie’s least popular albumsince its first release in1974. But Blondie is mak-ing a comeback with itsnewest album, Panic ofGirls (2011). The band’sdrummer, Clem Burke, is

sure that Panic will be asensation. He said, “TheCurse of Blondie had a lotof programming on it, [sothe band] tried to make therecording process as organ-ic as possible.”

Accordingly, the bandstayed away “from pro-gramming as much [as pos-sible],” according to Burke.The lyrics, too, have im-

proved. In that way, Blond-ie is going to explore newgrounds that rock hasrarely touched upon. Butold fans should not be ap-prehensive about purchas-ing the new album. Panicis still going to remindthem of the youngerBlondie, just in a moremature way.

Blondie has tour dates

scheduled already withlocales ranging from Texasto Australia.

New wave music loversof all ages should look for-ward to the release ofPanic in 2011. But untilthen, read the albumreviews when they comeout in Australia (late2010), and look out for clipsof Blondie on tour.

Courtesy of famemagazine.co.ukAfter seven years, Blondie is finally back with a new album.

It all started on a four-hour train ride fromManchester to London,England. Joanna Rowlinghad an idea. Theidea involved ayoung boy who dis-covered he was aw i z a r d .Little didshe know, theidea would bloominto a household nameand a multi-million dollarfranchise including sevenbooks, movie deals, aplethora of dolls, lunchboxes, video games, atheme park, an officialsong and even a magicalsport, quidditch.

Needless to say, withinthe last decade, the HarryPotter phenomenon hastaken the world by stormever since the release ofthe first novel in the series,Harry Potter and theSorcerer’s Stone in 1997.Now, the phenomenon isfinally coming to an endwith the release of the finalfilm: Harry Potter and theDeathly Hallows.

The film hasbeen dividedinto two parts.The firstinstallment willhit theaters onNovember 19,2010 and thesecond partwill bereleased on July 15, 2011.

The first will focus onthe famous trio of wizards,Harry (Daniel Raddcliffe)and his two best friends,

Ron Weasley (RupertGrint) and HermioneGranger (Emma Watson),as they leave HogwartsSchool of Witchcraft andWizardry to locate anddestroy horcruxes, whichcontain pieces of theirenemy’s soul. Their enemy,Voldemort (RalphFiennes), also known asYou-Know-Who or He-

Who-Must -Not -Be-Named, chases them

down with his band offollowers, theDeath Eaters.

The secondhalf includes a battle atHogwarts, resulting in thedeath of many major char-acters, as well as a finalshowdown between Harryand the evil villain himself.

The upcoming film willnot only develop rela-tionships between char-acters like Harry andGinny Weasley(Bonnie Wright),Ron’s younger sister, but itwill also introduce newcharacters.

Some new citizens of themagical communityinclude Luna Lovegood’speculiar father,Xenophilius (Rhys Ifans),and Rufus Scrimgeour (BillNighy), the newly appoint-

ed Minister forMagic.

Many HarryPotter fans are ques-

tioning Warner Bros.’decision to split the storyinto two movies. Some fansargue that the motivationbehind the split was com-mercial. But Warner Bros.Entertainment PresidentAlan Horn rebuts this

rumor.“There’s no question

that Warner Bros. willmake more money withtwo films than they wouldhave with one. But we alsonever, ever would havedone this if [Rowling] hadnot endorsed it,” said Horn.

He claims that thismethod would provide abetter finale without cut-ting out a large portion ofthe book. Part of the rea-son Harry Potter filmshave been such a huge suc-cess is because they follow

the books to the let-ter.

Manohla Dargis,writer for the NY

T i m e s ,wrote that

“[The screen-writer, Steve

Kloves] has donean admirable job

tailoring Ms.Rowling’s progressive-

ly longer and baggierbooks.”

Little did Rowling knowthat her idea on thatfateful train ride wouldbecome the highest-grossing globalfranchise in filmhistory.

P o t t e rfans: holdy o u rbreathf o rNovember 19b e c a u s eyou’re infor a magi-cal ride.

■ By Rebecca Schuck (‘13)Eastside Staff

Potter whizzes into action

■ By Rebecca Ohnona (‘12)Eastside Entertainment Editor

Logo by AvraBossov (‘11)/

Eastside Editor-in-Chief

Cupcake byYan Ling (‘13)/

For Eastside

■ By Darby Festa (‘13)Eastside Online News Editor

Blondie makes comeback with Panic

XenophiliusLovegood:Father ofLunaLovegood;Harry andthe trio meethim alongthe way andfind outabout hor-cruxes.

BathildaBagshot:

Author of AHistory of

Magic; Harryfinds out shehad ties withboth his own

family andthat of

Dumbledore.

Gregorovitch:The other

wandmakerbesides

Ollivander.Voldemort

seeks his helpabout the Elder

Wand.

RufusScrimgeour:Minister forMagic untilVoldemortreplacesScrimgeourwith a puppetleader.Scrimgeourdispenses thecontents ofDumbledore’swill to Harryand the trio.

All characters by Danielle Hu(‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

A MAGICAL PREVIEW:

INTRODUCING NEWPOTTER

CHARACTERS

All Hallow’s Eve is atime to get creative.Whether it’s with carvinga jack-o’-lantern or deco-rating the front lawn withspooky cobwebs, everyonecan get involved. Asidefrom all of the candy-con-suming good times, cos-tumes are the cherry ontop of the Halloween sun-dae. Every costume shouldbe recognized, but it’sabout time we gave a spe-cial appreciation to thosewho put a little extra effortinto their outfits for the bignight.

There is nothing wrongwith typical Halloweencostumes, except that theyare so… typical. A witch isa universal costume,equipped with a pointyhat, striped stockings anda broom. Unless one isdressing up as him or her-self, a ghost is the easiestcostume to pull off. Pokesome holes in that whitesheet, throw it on top of

simple clothes and one isready to roll. For a pop cul-ture-related costume, thepsychopath from Screamis usually seen on thestreets trick-or-treating.

For Halloween at East,dressing up as a nerd canbe seen at any intersec-tion, cafeteria or main hall.There’s just somethingabout those suspendersand chunky framed glass-es that appeal to theteenage eye.

At any second anobscure costume couldbecome the next bestthing. If it’s enough of ahit, wouldn’t someonewant to dress up different-ly next year? The inflat-able bull rider, the kissingbooth and favorite HarryPotter characters wereonce clever costumes, butnow they have fallen into acategory more commonlyknown as “popular,” mean-ing “it is sold in humon-gous Halloween outletstores.”

David Shull (‘12) couldpotentially be the King of

Halloween. Not once haveany of his costumes beenrepeated, let aloneattempted by another stu-dent. During his freshmanyear, he won “FunniestCostume” at East’s Mas-querade Ball and duringall three years at RosaInternational MiddleSchool, he won “BestCostume.” In the past,Shull has dressed up asthe Stay Puft Marshmal-low Man, an alien and theabductee, David andGoliath, the tooth fairyand the Jolly Green Giant.All of his Halloween cos-tumes are home-madewith some of the most cre-ative materials.

Do not be afraid toflaunt any brilliant cos-tume ideas this Hallo-ween. Pull together aunique costume that mostdon’t dare to wear. Takethe typical witch hat to acompletely different levelby dressing it up ordown. Originality willonly lighten up the hall-ways.

UNDERGROUNDPage 16 EASTSIDE October 2010

Beyond the old pumpkinpie: mouthwateringseasonal concoctions

Why leave pumpkinsto only be carved andmade into pies? As aningredient, pumpkin hasmuch more potentialand versatility thanone might think. Manyparts of the pumpkin areedible, from pumpkinseeds, which are eatenjust like sunflower seeds,to pumpkin puree, whichby itselftastes simi-lar to acorns q u a s h .P u m p k i ncan beadded toany meal atany time ofday, likep u m p k i npancakes for breakfast, asalad with pumpkinvinaigrette for lunch andpumpkin chili for dinner.

Pumpkin pancakescan easily be made byadding two-thirds of acup of pumpkin puree forevery two cups of instantpancake mix and cookingthe pancakes accordingto the instructions thatcome with the mix. Add apinch of cinnamon to thepumpkin mix for a littleextra kick.

Pumpkin vinaigretteis made by first mixing ahalf-cup of olive oil with aquarter of a cup of bal-samic or cider-basedvinegar into a mason jarwith a screw-on lid. Addin a clove of garlic andfour tablespoons ofpumpkin puree alongwith a heaping teaspoonof sugar. Screw the lidonto the mason jar and

shake until it’s well-com-bined. Then add salt andpepper for some extrataste.

For an afternoonsnack, try pumpkin blos-soms, the flowers thatgrow off the pumpkin’sstems. Lightly coat theblossoms in crepe batter,then panfry until goldenbrown. They can be foundat a local farmer’s mar-ket.

To make pumpkinchili, cookabout apound anda half ofl e a ng r o u n dbeef in aD u t c hoven orother deepheavy pot.

Pour off the excess fatand remove the beef, thenadd a medium choppedwhite onion into the potand sauté until soft. Thentake the cooked beef aswell as two teaspoons ofchili powder and a tea-spoon of cumin; sauté theingredients for a minute.Then add a cup of cannedpumpkin, about 25oz ofcanned cut tomatoes anda bay leaf. Let it simmerfor an hour and then adda can of pinto beans.Simmer for an additional15 to 30 minutes, thenremove the bay leaf andserve.

The pumpkin is a sym-bol of the fall season, andyet it often isn’t used upto its full potential. Trysome of these recipes and

give pumpkin thespotlight itdeserves this

time of the year.

■ By Bryan Sheehan (‘13)Eastside Editorial Assistant

Get into the spirit... of Halloween 2010

Jack-o’-lanterns are justas, if not more, importantto Halloween as dressingup and begging for candy.Carved pumpkins havebeen a part of theholiday for cen-turies, datingback to an Irishmyth called“Stingy Jack.”According tothe legend,after trickingthe devil,Stingy Jackwas forced toroam the earthforever after hisdeath with only alantern carved outof a turnip with a coalput in it for light. People inIreland and Scotlandmade their own versions ofJack’s lantern out ofturnips and potatoes withscary faces carved intothem. They placed themon their windows ordoorsteps to ward awayStingy Jack and other evilspirits. When the Irish andScottish immigrated toAmerica, they found the

pumpkin made a suitablejack-o’-lantern.

To carve aj a c k - o ’ -lantern, one

needsa

pumpkin, a butcher’sknife, a smaller knife, alarge area to work coveredwith newspapers or plas-tic bags, a large spoon, apermanent marker or pre-made design on a pieceof paper and a candle.First, cut a hexagonal holearound the top of the

pumpkin and remove it.Then, take the spoon andscoop out the insides ofthe pumpkin. Now tape ordraw the design onto thefront of the pump-kin while using the smallknife to slowly cut alongthe outline of the pattern.Make sure to cut all theway into the hollow part.Put a candle into thehollowed center andenjoy.

But aren’t tradition-al jack-o’-lanterns bor-ing? Use a skull designinstead, and carveblood trails from theskull as well. Beforeplacing the candle into

the pumpkin, place thinred paper against theparts of the design thatare supposed to be bloodon the inside of the pump-kin. Now it can be aunique multi-coloredspooky pumpkin. Or, carvea pumpkin with theface of a favorite teacheron it, take a picture andtry to get extra creditfor it. Almost any designis possible, so be uniquethis year and give thepumpkin a voice of itsown.

■ By Bryan Sheehan (‘13)Eastside Editorial Assistant

Lanterns: a jack of all trades

Friday night dress code■ By Alyssa Guckin (‘12)

Eastside Staff

Tumbling into the limelight: blogging site on the rise

Kevin Cook(‘11)/Eastside ArtDirector

Jean Harrell (‘11)/ Eastside Staff

Bryan’sPicks

•fried pumpkin blossoms•pumpkin risotto

What is Tumblr? It’s afunny name for a bloggingsite with millions of visitsper day. With users fromall over the world, Tumblrserves as a self-expressiveonline community for peo-ple to share opinions andthoughts and to just be

themselves.Tumblr can be used by

average teens looking forsomething to say or evenpersonal businesses hopingto increase popularity.People have been known tojoin Tumblr for its manymediums of expressionthrough audio, video, photoand writing. For businessowners, their publicity can

branch out; the ability toshare information easilywith other people aroundthe world makes Tumblr avery accessible website.

In some ways, Tumblrresembles Facebook be-cause it allows one to com-municate easily withfriends and people from faraway. It also enables peopleto connect on all levels

with others that they mayshare similarities and hob-bies with. However, mostpeople find Tumblr moreconvenient than Facebookbecause it provides an out-let for people, especiallyteens, to rant, vent and nothold back any emotionsthrough their posts, hencewhy Tumblr is rapidlybecoming more popular

each day.Vicky Pirenoglu (‘12), an

avid Tumblr user, said, “Ilove reading everyone’sTumblr because I feel likeit tells me a lot about thatperson. I love how myTumblr can describe meand it gives people an ideaof what I’m about.”

See TUMBLR, pg. 17

■ By Mia Holley (‘12)Eastside Photo Editor

Something has got theindie rock major leaguesdown. It’s probably theeconomy, or the oil spill,but something is making awhole bunch of 2010 bandssound like their wives justleft them. But that is not tosay that every album tocome out this year hasbeen Automatic for thePeople. In fact, there havebeen tons of feel-goodrecords by artists rangingfrom bedroom pop ama-teurs to dance kings.

This fall, quite a fewbands have been followingthe lead of The National,who released the melan-choly, tightly producedHigh Violet in May of thisyear. With the changingleaves comes a wave ofmodern indie rock steadiesreleasing some downtrod-den records. Even No Ageis putting out a bit of adowner. Two of the mostanticipated names thisseason are Interpol’s self-titled album and TheWalkmen’s Lisbon.

Interpol is responsiblefor a fantastic album in2002, the critically laudedand Joy-Division-reminis-

cent Turn On the BrightLights. For their fourthfull-length album, theseNYC gloom rockers pulledaway from Capitol, themajor label that hostedtheir last effort, 2007’s dis-appointing Our Love ToAdmire, and returned toindependent record labelMatador. Is it safe to saythat Paul Banks and theboys have ditched the stu-dio sheen and lyrical dudsthat infested their lastalbum? In a way theyhave. Interpol shows areturn to the grittier lyricsof the band’s early days,and this record strikes ahigh point with its brutaldesperation. “Teach me togrieve and conspire,”pleads Banks in his usualdeep-throated jowl on“Lights.”

This album, unlike theirprevious efforts, relies noton traditional rock songstructures, but on buildingclimaxes by adding in ten-sion and grandeurthroughout the song. To dothis, the band experimentswith new elements such ashorns, vocal samples andstrings. The problem hereis that they come off asamateurish; the albumseems to sacrifice some

quality for experimenta-tion. Frankly, the biggestproblem with Interpol isthat it is really boring.Despite all the new tricks,most of the songs meanderin the same territory fortoo long to keep the listen-ers’ attention, and the cli-maxes are often toorepetitive to have realemotional impact.

The album is notawful, however. In par-ticular, the final track“The Undoing” takesenough left turns tokeep the listeners’attention, withoutsounding gimmicky.

The Walkmen’sLisbon, on the otherhand, is their mostcohesive record yet.Each one of the songs isorganic and grab-bing. The band hassaid that this albumwas inspired by earlyElvis Presley and SunRecords: their influence ispretty apparent in theanachronistic produc-tion, especially onthe surprisinglyjittery “Woe IsMe” and doo-wop jam“Torch Song.” TheWalkmen maynot be break-

ing any drastically newground on this album(although they do spruceup standout track“Stranded” with some rich,

lazy horns), but every trackis catchy and memorable.

The Walkmen havetoned down the aggressionsince Bows and Arrows,but the emotion is stillthere, especially in Ham-ilton Leithuaser’s powerfulbattle cry. “I’m stranded/

and I’m starry eyed,”Leithauser wails on themodern jukebox classic“Stranded.” MattBarrick’s drummingnever gets quite aswild here as it was on2004’s “The Rat,” butit shines with perfec-tion even from thebackseat.

Lisbon does nottear at the heartstrings as much asTurn On the BrightLights or HighViolet, yet the

record is sunny enoughto produce a smileevery once in a while.

So if the indie rockheavyweights have a

little case ofthe weepiesfor cur-rent events,

maybe they should all takea page out of theWalkmen’s book and spendsome time basking in the‘50s sunshine.

UNDERGROUNDOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 17

■ By Jack Braunstein (‘13)Eastside Underground Editor

Danielle Hu (‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

High school can some-times be a dramatic place.However, the 1988 filmHeathers takes highschool drama to a whole

new level.

Westerburg High, likeall other typical highschools, has a popularcrowd. In this case, thedivas are all namedHeather. Each one ismeaner than the next andthe three best friends findentertainment in terroriz-ing the student body.

Wynona Ryder stars asVeronica, the odd one outin the Heather clan. Shel e t s

the Heathers use her andeven bully her, whileinside she burns with apassion to destroy them.An outlet for her passionis answered when a newand mysterious boy, JD,moves to their school.

JD, played by ChristianSlater, is creepy from thestart. However, his goodlooks and his enigmaticcharm result in his andVeronica’s initialromance. He understands

her feelings toward herso-called friends and

utilizes her deephatred to perform

the extreme. A badhangover, a little taunt-ing and a cup of liquiddrainer later, HeatherNumber One is dead. In

shock, JD and Veronicaframe a suicide and thewhole school is distraughtover Heather’s death. This

stimulates a string of ‘sui-cides,’ all by the most pop-ular kids in school.Veronica’s and JD’s lovebecomes a violent andmurderous escapade andsoon the entire school willhave to pay for theirsadistic teen angst.

Ryder gives a rivetingperformance and herspunk and beauty are ter-rific for the part, whileSlater plays a dark boywith a hidden past, andwith each scene he growsmore disturbing and per-verse.

Similar to the 2004 hitmovie Mean Girls, whichis recognized as one of themost quoted movies of alltime, Heathers exploreshow cruel high school canreally be. Unlike MeanGirls, a 97-minute comedypacked entirely with sexjokes and stupid com-

ments, Heathers is asevere, hardly comicaldrama completely underrecognized for its great-ness. The film is a crossbetween phenomenal act-ing and an intense plotthat doesn’t lose any of itsemotion with each timethe movie is watched.

Although the film isover 22 years old,Heathers is still enjoyablein 2010. The clothes andhairstyles may havechanged, but the underly-ing themes are still rele-vant. There will always bea basic achetype for thehighschool experience: theCheerleaders, the Jocks,the Class Clowns, theNerds, the Goths and ofcourse, the SerialMurderers. Heathers pro-vides for an hour and 43minutes of quality enter-tainment.

■ By Sarah Minion (‘12)Eastside Underground Editor

Tumblr, personal blogging site on the riseContinued from pg.16

Not only is Tumblr avery useful tool, but it alsolets people from all overthe world express them-selves without judgment.Letting emotions, thoughtsand opinions run wild aswell as exercising the rightof freedom of speech,Tumblr users get the mostout of their blogging expe-rience.

However, like all othersocial media sites, Tumblrhas its flaws. One thingthat is becoming more com-mon each day is theamount of hatred and rudecomments lashed out fromanonymous teens. Cyberbullying is seen on socialmedia sites more and more

as the technology eragrows. The more peoplewho join Tumblr, the moreopinions, thoughts andideas that are bound toclash — causing instantdrama among users.

Another recurring prob-lem with the site today isall of the so-called “fame-seekers.” “Fame-seekers”are those who will stop atnothing to achieve their 15minutes of stardom, nomatter what the cost. Thishas become an issuebecause most of the time,those who are obsessedwith the spotlight will gainit through inappropriatemeans or self-destructiveways. Eleven-year-old girlJessi Slaughter gained herclaim to fame by posting

semi-nude photos of her-self as well as spreadingsexual rumors regard-ing herself and the leadsinger of the band BloodOn The Dance FloorDahvie Vanity.

Disregarding the slightdownfalls of the popularsite, Tumblr has become a

useful tool for businesses,teens and even adults tobecome a part of the onlinecommunity. Whether it is aplace to get word from peo-ple in different countries orjust a blog that they cancall their own, Tumblr is asite for everyone and isworth joining.

Courtesy of Tumblr.comA preview of a Tumblr archive page.

Out of the vault, under the radar: Heathers

Danielle Hu (‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

Out of the Vault, Underthe Radar is a newmonthly Undergroundfeature in which some-thing (a movie, a TVshow, an out-of-circula-tion food) from the pastthat went underappreci-ated at the time, finallygets some recognition.The feature will high-light everything from“Arrested Development”to fruit-filled EggoWaffles.

Interpol, The Walkmen confront expectations

Page 18 EASTSIDE October 2010

2010-2011 EASTSIDE EDITORIAL BOARDManaging Editor: Sally Yang Editors-in-Chief: Avra Bossov, Julie Coben, Laura Kane

News/Features EditorsJuliet Brooks Hailey EdelsteinGabrielle Kains

Sports EditorsMax CohenDillon Rosenblatt

Community EditorsHannah FeinbergAlana Kopelson

Opinions EditorsLindsey DuBoffSherin Nassar

Entertainment EditorsDanielle FoxRebecca Ohnona

Global Commentary EditorsMoriah SchervoneDiana Yu

Humor EditorsJake TrommerGina Villecco

Underground EditorsJack BraunsteinSarah Minion

Art DirectorsKevin Cook Danielle Hu

Photo EditorsMia HolleyBen Taylor

Video EditorRebecca Mulberg

Radio ManagerPrashasti Awadhiya

AdviserMr. Greg Gagliardi

Governor Chris Christie’s budget cuts wereshocking, causing many school districts finan-cial strain. Even more shocking, however, is thenumber of budget cuts across New Jersey thattargeted special education. Of the $1.06 billioneliminated from public schools’ state aid, $300million, or 42 percent, was cut from special edu-cation, according to the Education Law Centerin New Jersey. This cut is especially extensiveconsidering that 18 percent of New Jersey stu-dents in public school require individualizededucation plans (IEP) to help with learning dis-abilities.

Cherry Hill alone lost 83 percent – or$4,687,500 – of its state aid toward special edu-cation, calculated from the budget posted on thedistrict website. The trend continues in sur-rounding districts. Haddonfield lost all$1,193,610 in categorical (or general) specialeducation aid. Eastern High School’s share of

state aid was reduced to 14.5 percent of theamount previously granted. These numbers donot encompass the aid lost in security, trans-portation to out-of-district schools or adjustmentservices. If these amounts were included, thenthe difference would be even more staggering.

Herein lies the problem: how are Cherry Hilland other districts supposed to compensate forthe loss without allowing other education pro-grams to suffer?

The Cherry Hill School District has anextremely comprehensive special education pro-gram. The quality of this program is the reasonwhy many families with special education stu-dents choose to live here. Both high schools offeran in-class resource program and pulloutreplacement program so that the needs of stu-dents with learning disabilities can be met.Cherry Hill West also offers a vocational pro-gram to help with preparing for the workforce

and a functional aca-demics program.

To pay for the widevariety of resourcesavailable to studentswith learning disabili-ties, the district appro-priated $15 million forthe 2010-2011 schoolyear. Formerly, thestate government fund-ed approximately onethird of this cost. Butafter the cuts, CherryHill has to foot most ofthe bill on its own. Yet,this issue does not onlyaffect special educa-tion; this additionalburden affects all areasof the district’s budget.School districts likeCherry Hill cannot digup money for specialeducation without tak-ing away from fundsspecifically set aside forgeneral education.

In accordance withthe Individuals withDisabilities EducationAct (IDEA), Cherry Hillis obligated to “providea free, appropriate pub-lic education” suited toeach child’s disabilities.School districts cannotprovide less than thetotal money needed foreach child, which inCherry Hill can add upto $100,000 for a singlestudent who requiresextensive aid. There-fore, every dollar thatCherry Hill did notreceive from GovernorChristie’s budget has tocome from a non-spe-

cial education program. The additional$4,687,500 that Cherry Hill now needs to payfor on its own is equivalent to approximately 74teachers’ salaries (the average teacher’s salaryin NJ is $63,145, according to NJ.com). Thus,Governor Christie’s administration is placinganother burden on the general education budg-ets for public schools without even taking intoaccount the money cut from general education.

The current predicament offers no easy solu-tion. Education for all of the state’s public school students—whether special or general—isa high priority. The blame does not lie with thestate government, or with Governor Christiehimself. It is a matter of differing opinions as tohow to effectively distribute education funds.The responsibility for special education is toogreat for the district to bear on its own. Thestate of New Jersey and the school districts needto work together to ensure that no student’seducation comes at the expense of another stu-dent. There needs to be a greater dialoguebetween schools and the state governmentabout this issue.

The answer is not readily apparent now.But by acknowledging the blatant existence ofthis issue, our state can finally begin to addressit.

Christie’s cuts unreasonable

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Please drop them off toF087 or e-mail

letters@eastside-online.org

Technology DirectorPeter Shivery

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Sally Yang (‘11)/ Eastside Managing Editor

EDITORIALEditorials represent the views and opinions of the Eastside Editorial Board.

SPORTSOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 19

DavidDavid FriedmanFriedman isis aareturningreturning varsityvarsity footballfootballstartingstarting linebacker. linebacker. AtAt the thestartstart of of the the season, he season, he came cameupup withwith fivefive reasonsreasons forforbelievingbelieving in in his his team team even evenafterafter theythey hadhad aa disap-disap-pointingpointing 1-9 1-9 record record in in the the20092009 season. season.

1.1. LinebackingLinebacking Corps CorpsOurOur defense defense is is designed designed

toto have have most most of of the the tackles tacklesdumpeddumped into into the the lineback- lineback-ers.ers. Luckily,Luckily, wewe havehave nonoshortageshortage ofof linebackers.linebackers.WithWith MatthewMatthew SatchellSatchell(‘12)(‘12) at at middle middle linebacker, linebacker,BrianBrian ReganRegan (‘12)(‘12) andandmyselfmyself atat outsideoutside line-line-backer, allbacker, all returning returning letter- letter-men,men, notnot muchmuch getsgets intointothethe secondary.secondary. WeWe havehavebeenbeen playing playing together together since sincefreshmanfreshman year. year. LookLook for for us ustoto have have a a big big year. year.2.2. Cougars’Cougars’ Secondary Secondary

WithWith safetiessafeties RobRobTaylorTaylor (‘12)(‘12) andand SageSageKerrinKerrin (‘12),(‘12), cornerbackscornerbacksIsaiahIsaiah Campbell Campbell (‘11) (‘11) and andKurtKurt Taylor Taylor (‘12), attacking (‘12), attackingthroughthrough the the air air is is a a dead deadendend forfor anyany offense.offense. TheTheTaylorTaylor cousinscousins areare bothbothreturningreturning lettermen, which lettermen, whichgivesgives themthem aa yearyear un-un-

derder theirtheir beltbelt already.already.Campbell,Campbell, thethe team’s team’s cap- cap-tain, istain, is also also a a returning returning let- let-termanterman and and looks looks to to have havethethe biggestbiggest yearyear ofof hishishighhigh school school football football career. career.Kerrin,Kerrin, aa transfertransfer fromfrom

EasternEastern High High School, School, isis a ahugehuge addition addition to to the the squad squadasas well.well. HeHe startedstarted lastlastyearyear at at Eastern Eastern and and looks looksonlyonly to to improve improve this this year yearwithwith the the Fighting Fighting Cougars. Cougars.

3.3. DefensiveDefensive Line LineInIn order order to to be be successful successful

onon the the defensive defensive line, there line, therehashas to to be be a a “kill “kill em’ em’ all” all”attitudeattitude towards towards all all oppo- oppo-nents. That’snents. That’s what what we we have havethisthis year.year. AlthoughAlthough last

year’s seniors Obi Onejeme(‘10) and Nick Giunta (‘10)areare two two big big losses, we losses, we have haveNickNick OliverOliver (‘11)(‘11) andandCarmenCarmen DiTore DiTore (‘12) (‘12) to to off- off-setset the the key key losses. Jamie losses. Jamie Le Le

(‘12)(‘12) and and Frantz Frantz Felix Felix (‘12) (‘12)areare two two kids kids that that want want to tohithit somebody.somebody. NoNo mattermatterwherewhere theythey are,are, theythey arearegoinggoing toto putput aa licklick ononsomeone.someone. WithWith fourfour guysguyswithwith that that type type of of attitude, attitude,thethe defensivedefensive lineline shouldshouldhavehave aa veryvery successfulsuccessfulyear.year.

4. Wide4. Wide Receivers ReceiversThisThis year year we we are are lucky lucky

toto havehave greatgreat depthdepth ininthethe receiverreceiver category.category.SeveralSeveral tracktrack starsstars in-in-cludingcluding AlexAlex ReberReber (‘12),(‘12),MarcusMarcus PhillipsPhillips (‘12)(‘12)andand Taj Taj Frazier Frazier (‘12) (‘12) will willbebe catchingcatching thethe ballball thisthisyearyear for for East. East. OtherOther spe- spe-cialtycialty receiversreceivers includeincludeRobRob Taylor,Taylor, KurtKurt TaylorTaylorandand ColinColin RoualetRoualet (‘12).(‘12).AllAll ofof thisthis year’syear’s receiv-receiv-ersers havehave experienceexperience fromfromlastlast year.year. ThisThis yearyear ititcancan onlyonly getget betterbetter forforthem.them.

5.5. OffensiveOffensive Line LineMostMost ofof thethe offensiveoffensive

linemenlinemen havehave greatlygreatlyincreasedincreased in in size size this this year. year.WithWith CoachCoach DerekDerek T.T.Satchell, thisSatchell, this line line could could not nothavehave any any better better technique. technique.LookLook for for returning returning letter- letter-menmen Joe Joe Narducci Narducci (‘12) (‘12) and andTylerTyler Feldman Feldman (‘12) (‘12) to to have havebigbig years. years.

■ By David Friedman (‘12)For Eastside

Courtesy of Harold FriedmanDavid Friedman (‘12) goes for the tackle in an early sea-son upset of Washington Township.

Girls’ volleyball aces rebuildingOver the past five years,

the Cherry Hill East GirlsVolleyball team has been aperennial pow-erhouse andchampionshipcontender with-in the OlympicConference aswell as all ofSouth Jersey.However, be-cause everystarter fromlast seasong r a d u a t e d ,many critics arestarting todoubt whetherEast has theplayers, talentand experiencein order to com-pete at its usualtop level. Butthe team’sdoubters areforgetting onething: CoachScott Mooneyisn’t a quitterand he definite-ly will not lethis girls give upand fall short oftheir expecta-tions.

“I want to winthe conference every year,”Mooney, a former Eastboys’ volleyball player said.“I think we have the abilityand I’m confident asalways.”

Although confidence cannever be undervalued, theCougars do lack experi-ence. The team boasts onereturning starter in seniorsetter Fangel Tung (‘11),

who will need to rely onhitters Shaylin O’Connell(‘11), Nicole Escobar (‘11),Sara Mechanic (’11) andJanine Pietrangelo (‘11).Leadership will definitely

never be questioned, asHeather Hyon (‘11),Sydney Gore (‘11), as wellas the other aforemen-tioned seniors, all haveearned team captain hon-ors.

Tung said of her leader-ship, “I didn’t come in [tothe season] feeling ready,but after [Coach] Scotttalked to me, I knew it was

important to step up.”This senior group does-

n’t have the size and SouthJersey-wide respected abil-ity of last year’s graduatingclass, but they do feel

ready to compete for a con-ference championship.

“Last year [this group]played against the bestteam in South Jerseyduring practice everyday,” said O’Connell.“We’re definitely pre-pared.”

Besides its large seniorpresence, this squad will becounting on Jamie DiVito

(‘12) to step up as well.DiVito, a tall presence inthe middle of the offense,has learned a lot from lastyear’s seniors and from hersenior teammates this year

too. She willneed to fill herrole with confi-dence and near-perfect plays.

Said DiVito,“I’m excited, butit’s a lot of pres-sure.”

Even if thegirls are con-fident abouttheir cham-pionship abil-ities this season,the team defi-nitely needs topay close at-tention to theirdivision rivals.Heated battlesbetween East,Eastern andCherokee will bevital towardsthe end of theseason stand-ings and play-off position-ing.

The Cougarshave collectivelybuilt a very

warm and com-passionate team

atmosphere at their dailypractices. If the playersstay together, continue toallow themselves to becoached and keep havingfun, they have the makeupto be extremely successfulthis season.

In the words of Tung,“We’re going to make it tothe playoffs and then gofrom there.”

■ By Jake Fischer (‘12)Eastside Online Sports Editor

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorJanine Pietrangelo (‘11) goes for a serve during practice in the DiBart Gym.

This is the first of a seriesof columns in which DillonRosenblatt (‘11) and MaxCohen (‘12), Eastside’ssports editors, will discussEast sports.

Question: What team orplayer are you mostlooking forward to see-ing this season?

Max: First off, I'm going tobe cliché here and go withthe basketball team. See-ing Chris Santo (‘11) finishoff his East career shouldbe spectacular. On theless obvious side of things,I can't wait to watch andhear about the East boys'swim team. Eastside MaleAthlete of the Year JoePetrone (‘13) should im-prove upon his amazing2009-2010 campaign.

Dillon: Well, I too amlooking forward to howwell the basketball teamcan do after losing startingguards Seth Friedman(‘10) and Ben Gerstein(‘10), but I think they canmake a playoff push thisyear. I am even more look-ing forward to seeing howEric Zaun (‘11) can leadthe volleyball team toanother stellar year aftergoing undefeated last sea-son and losing a heart-breaker to Southern Re-gional.

Max: In the fall sportsseason, Jamie Silverberg(‘12) has been a star andshould continue to be onher quest to win a SouthJersey championship. Shehas continued to meet thehigh expectations set forher the second she steppedonto the courts at East.Even though Haddonfieldcontinues to stand in theway of the girls tennisteam, Silverberg has areal shot at helping propelthe team to victory.

Dillon: First team All-Olympic Conference, MVPof Eastern VolleyballTournament and leader of24-3 volleyball team lastseason, Eric Zaun (‘11) isthe most exciting player towatch this year. He hasthe talent and leadershipskills to bring East back toStates, but he is going toface a big challenge withthe losses of East's num-ber-one setter, Rishi Sar-kar (‘10) and captain An-drew Pursell (‘10). Zaunhas to meet some highexpectations after becom-ing one of New Jersey'stop volleyball players lastyear. If East faces South-ern Regional in next year’splayoffs, he will take Eastto victory on his quest forthe championship.

East Talk withDillon and Max

East football: five reasons to believe

Logo by Diana Li (‘12) /Eastside Staff

Girls’ TennisHead Coach: Mrs. Mary JewettLeast Seaon’s Record: 25-2Captains: Jamie Silverberg (‘12), AmandaSilpe (‘11), Mehak Basu (‘11)Key Players: Silverberg, Elizabeth Conn(‘11), Amanda Elfman (‘13)Coach’s Quote: “My goal is to win theOlympic Conference and the sectional titleand have Jamie Silverberg recognized asPlayer of the Year,” said Jewett.

SPORTSOctober 2010 EASTSIDE Page 20

Fall Sports Preview

Girls’ Cross CountryHead Coach: Mr. Anthony ManiscalcoLast Season’s Record: 3-3Captains: Leah Mele (‘11), Allie Hettinger(‘11), Taylor Festa (‘11)Key Runners: Mele, Hettinger, Festa, ColleenThompson (‘11)Coach’s Quote: We expect to work on runningbecause we don’t have front runners. Our goalis to get five girls to run in under 21 minutesso we can beat teams,” said Maniscalco.

FootballHead Coach: Mr. Tom CoenLast Season’s Record: 1-9Captains: Dan Melleby (‘11), IsaiahCampbell (‘11)Key Players: Campbell, Rob Taylor(‘12), Kurt Taylor (‘12), Taj Frazier(‘12), Alex Reber (‘12), MarcusPhillips (‘12), Sage Kerrin (‘12)Coach’s Quote: “We are going tocome in, work and prepare. Myexpectations remain high,” said Coen.

Girls’ SoccerHead Coach: Mr. Alex FalatLast Season’s Record: 5-12-2Captains: Taylor Beatty (‘11), RachelSindoni (‘11)Key Players: Beatty, Sindoni, RebeccaWood (‘11)Coaches Quote: “We expect to make thestate playoffs this year,” said Falat.

Boys’ SoccerHead Coach: Mr. Karl MoehlmannLast Season’s Record: 11-4-2Captains: Steve Grazioli (‘11), SethLevy (‘11), Jeff Bowen (‘11)Key Players: Grazioli, Levy, Bowen,Gary Reiff (‘11), Eric Choe (‘12), GaryLindgren (‘12)Coach’s Quote: “We are in the rebuild-ing stage this year with players whodon’t have much experience, but we canstill go for at least a .500 record and apossible playoff run,” said Moehlmann.

Field Hockey PlayerDailyn Brook (‘12)

Field HockeyHead Coach: Mrs. ElizabethScharffLast Season’s Record: 4-12-3Captains: Katie DeMalo (‘11),Nina Orwitz (‘11), Lee Ockrymiek(‘11)Key Players: DeMalo, Orwitz,Ockrymiek, Dailyn Brook (‘12)Coach’s Quote: “Our expecta-tions for this season are to endwith a winning record and makeit to States. We play in a very dif-ficult conference, facing Easternand Washington Township twice,”said Scharff.

Boys’ Cross CountryHead Coach: Mr. Matt CieslikLast Season’s Record: 4-2Captains: Andrew Berger (‘11), Tony Chen(‘11), Naveen Yarlagadda (‘11), Josh Elkan(‘11), Damon Glatz (‘11), Steve Omari (‘11),Scott Zhao (‘11), Frank Zhang (‘11)Other Key Runners: DJ Rodriguez (‘12),Zach Ianarrelli (‘12)Coach’s Quote: “We’re hoping to qualify forthe state championship and possibly theMeet of Champions,” said Cieslik.

CheerleadingHead Coach: Ms. Marie KingCaptains: Lauren Barger (‘13),Kate Hood (‘11)Key Players: Charity Baker (‘11),Taylor Kareem (‘11), Kelsey LaPorta(‘11)Coach’s Quote: “My expectation isto have a fun season expanding ourstunts and cheer lists and to get thecrowd involved,” said King.

Information compiled by Dillon Rosenblatt (‘11) and Max Cohen (‘12)/Eastside Sports Editors

All photos by Ben Taylor (‘11) and Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo Editors Centerpiece art by Kevin Cook (‘11)/ Eastside Art Director

(See page 19 forgirls’ volleyball

preview)

CrossCountryRunnerTaylorFesta(‘11)

Soccer Players Gary Reiff (‘11)

and Becca Wood (‘11)

Tennis Player Jamie Silverberg (‘12)