ANNANDALE HIGH SCHOOL700 Medford Dr. Annandale, VA 22003Athe

Representative addresses topics ranging from gay rights to immigration

BY EMILY SAMPLE

News Editor

Congressman Tom Davis visited AHS on Monday during both flexes. Teachers signed up to attend the visit brought students to the auditorium at 9 a.m. The entire stay, which lasted approximately an hour, was more of a question and answer session than a lecture. Davis repeatedly told students to “ask any question, every thing is on the table.” He is running for his 11th term in the House of Representatives from the 11th district against democrat Andrew Hurst.

Davis began with a 15-minute summary of who he

was. He mentioned his 27-year tenure as a Northern Virginia Congressman, his family ties to the area and his numerous chairmanships. He opened up about his underprivileged youth, working his way to a full scholarship to Amherst University, and finishing his schooling at the Law School of University of Virginia after a brief stint in the military. He mentioned his daughter who graduated from J.E.B Stuart, as well as his two other children. His wife, Virginia Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, was also mentioned when their different policies were questioned.

“My wife is very religious. She is a Roman Catholic. She is strongly pro-life and anti-capital punishment,” said Davis. But his views where stronger pro-choice, stating that while he doesn’t believe in abortion, “it’s up to the individual to make the choice. It’s not up to the government to institutionalize it.”

Another popular topic of questions was Davis’

“Davis” continued on page 5

VOLUME #52 ISSUE 3 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2006

FOLEY FACES CHARGESFormer Congressman Mark Foley is suspected of sending inappropriate messages to pages.

3UNHAPPY FEETStudents sacrifi ce comfort for fashionable shoes and toenails.

8DOWN ON THE FARMA day at Coxʼs Farm provides seasonal family fun.

13SPEND TIME AROUND TOWNThe D.C. area offers new and interesting places for students to spend their weekend.

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Spirit week continuesStudents look towards the Homecoming parade, dance and game at the end of the week

BY EBONY CHAMBERS

Staff Writer

Prepare for a fun filled, yet busy week. Homecoming is in a few days, and many students do not know what to do. There are many different things students are doing to prepare for the upcoming Homecoming events. The preparation for homecoming varies from dress shopping to suit shopping to date shopping.

“Some of the students are worried about finding dates to take with them to the dance,” said Jennifer Eman, SGA Treasurer “I’ve heard that a lot of the girls are dress shopping and making appoint-ments to get their hair and nails done.”

“My birthday is the day of the homecoming dance,” said junior Eric Loch. “I preparing for the dance by going to the store and buying my tux.”

Some students are more excited than others. “I’m going but I don’t really care about Homecoming that much.” senior Iyoab Medmim said “It’s not that important to me.”

There are mixed emotions about the homecoming events but none the less, students are preparing in various ways.

“I don’t need to prepare, its not that big of a deal. I can throw anything on and look fly,” said senior Frogh Fafa.

“Homecoming” continued on page 5

Senior Victoria Clark runs with the football and avoids defenders during power-puff practice. Both the seniors and the juniors held practice everyday in the week before homecoming. The powder-puff game was held yesterday night, however results were announced too late for publication.

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Community loses storesBradlick Total Crafts and Heritage Shopping Center Giant close doors to public

BY KRISTA SILANO

Managing Editor

Over the past few weeks, Annandale crafters and grocery shoppers have experienced quite the let down. The Heritage Shopping Center Giant as well as all Total Craft Stores will be closing in the next couple of months.

Total Crafts will officially close at the end of De-cember. Some smaller shipments are still being sent

to the stores, but for the most part it is only the left over supplies. “We have the month of December to clear everything out of the store. Most of the stuff will be gone by the beginning of December,” store employee Kelly Jewell explained.

On Aug. 18, Giant stores announced a mulit-year remodeling plan to begin in 2006. The plan includes opening eight new and replacement stores and six re-modeled stores. Unfortunately, it also includes closing seven current stores. The Heritage Giant, a popular grocery store, especially for those living in Patriot Vil-lage on Heritage Drive or on surrounding streets, is one of the seven to be closed. Executive Vice President and General Manager of Giant, Bill Holmes explained that the smaller locations were not practical for new investment.

“Stores close” continued on page 5

Underclassmen given practice SAT to help adjust to the fomat and style of the exam

BY LEA NICKERSON

Staff Writer

Today, eighteen hundred PSAT’s were distributed to the underclassman of AHS. The annual practice SAT test is being held once again to help prepare students, especially juniors, to take the SATs in the years to come. Since they do not count and colleges are not able to see student’s scores, it is a good op-portunity to practice for the real thing.

This test will be the juniors’ third time taking the PSAT, but does it really help?

“It’s not very useful because you don’t take it seriously and it’s just something that you have to do,” said junior Joseph Ingber.

“I think it’s not that important since a lot of people are gong to take a SAT prep course before they take the real thing so it won’t really reflect how well we would do on the real SAT,” said junior Jeremy Hsu.

However some students have a different opinion. Sopho-more Emily Ruhs believes that the PSAT is a positive and productive way to prepare for the SAT.

“It really made me think and it will give you a good idea of what the SAT will be like. It also helps because once I take the practice test three times I won’t be nervous to take the real SAT plus it helps me to try and improve off my previous score,” said Ruhs.

The freshmen are unsure of what to think about the test since they have never taken it before; however they seem to be optimistic.

“PSAT” continued on page 5

PSAT tests administered

Artspeak! attracts star of Arena Stageʼs Cabaret

On October 16, Artspeak! was held in the lecture hall at Poe Middle School. This Artspeak! event featured Meg Gillentine, the star of many Arena Stage productions such as Damn Yankees and Cabaret.

In addition to her work at Arena Stage, Gillentine has been seen on Broadway in productions which include Cats, The Pro-ducers, Fosse and The Frogs.

Gillentine was the winner of the 2006 Helen Hayes Award as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical. Her performance was well recieved and well attended.

During the program, Gillentine spoke about her career, answered questions from student interviewers and audience mem-bers, perfomed and signed autographs for the people that attended the performance.

This is the tenth year which Artspeak! performances have been held. The perfor-mances are free and open to the public

Created by Annandale community member Mark Shugoll, these events were created to benefit students and serve as a great opportunity for students to be exposed to the arts.

Spanish and Korean Parent Liaisons join staff

Two Parent Liaisons have joined the AHS staff. Guila Assanova, a Spanish Liaison who also speaks Russian, will be working on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Korean Liaison, Jin Kim, will be working on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Thanh Nguyen, extension 4312, will continue to serve as the AHS Vietnamese Liaison on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Javaid Khokhar, extension 4289, will continue working on Wednesdays and Fridays as the Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi Liaison.

Vida Sanchez, the Department Chair for the Parent Liaisons, can be reached via extension 4270.

NEWS BRIEFS

Today’s WeatherMostly Sunny

Today’s LunchSoft Beef Taco w/Shredded Cheese Veggie Taco Hot Pocket Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Yogurt w/Pretzel

This Day in History1767— The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania , the Mason-Dixon line was agreed upon. 1867 —The United States took possession of Alaska from Russia . 1931 —Inventor Thomas Alva Edison

died in West Orange, N.J., at age 84.

High: 69 Low: 47

Elections Survey

This survey was distributed on Oct. 11 and Oct. 13 during all lunches. Of 500 sur-veys distributed, 445 were completed and returned for inclusion in this graph.

The A-Blast conducted a survey to de-termine which candidate students would vote for if they were eligible to vote in the upcoming Nov. 7 elections.

Tom Davis visits AHS

Senior Kelly Pilkerton looks over notes as Representative Tom Davis prepares to answer questions from the audience.

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Students take to the pollsBY ALYSSA NAVARRETE

Co-Editor in Chief

In just a few weeks, the polls will open and once again Virginians will be given the chance to choose their leaders. For some seniors, this is the first election in which they are eligible to vote. Though many seniors took advantage of the opportunity to register to vote, many did not.

“Politics have gone too far away from the issues,” said senior Rory O’Connor. “The candidates only talk about the stupid stuff that the other candidate did, which has nothing to do with the issues.”

This reason ultimately led O’Connor to decide that he should abstain from voting in the upcoming Nov 7.elections. However, O’Connor is not alone, there are many other AHS seniors who have also decided to refrain from voting.

Despite the numerous seniors who made the decision not to vote, there are also a large number of

students who took the initia-tive and registered. Senior Lisa Ottenheimer registered to vote with the help of her father.

“I just turned 18 and I want to have a say in the government,” said Otten-heimer. “Every vote counts and when you are a part of the election you can make a big difference.”

Senior John Derrickson also relied on his parents to help him register to vote.

“My parents helped me a lot,” said Derrickson. “They told me about it and they took me to register and they gave me the knowledge that I need to vote.”

“Voting” continued on page 5

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2 Oct. 18, 2006EDITORIALS AtAA

BY SHRIYA ADHIKARY

Editorials Editor

There are certain things that evoke fear in people. Things that make a person’s skin crawl, their limbs tremble, and cause their eyes to roll madly. Superstitions, society calls them, and they have been deeply rooted in our history. If you break a mirror, you receive seven years of bad luck, if you step on a crack, your mother will break her back. We all know these superstitions and some of us even follow them constantly, taking care not to overstep any boundaries for fear of bad luck.

But how true are these myths? Are they based on any actual facts, or did they just arise

from a lack of knowledge and a set of coincidences? Perhaps the superstition most strictly followed and

believed in is Friday the13th.Americans have always considered the number thirteen

to be unlucky. This unreasonable fear of the number 13 even has a name, triskaidekaphobia, and a specific fear of Friday the 13th has been termed paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. It sounds bizarre and is almost impossible to pronounce, but you would not believe the length to which this superstition has been taken.

The number has been considered to be unlucky for many reasons. One interpretation argues that the number is un-lucky because 13 is the number of full moons in one year, and the full moon is associated with mental disorders, thus bringing bad luck.

A biblical meaning to the number 13 relates to the dis-ciple who betrayed Jesus, Judas, who was the 13 th person to sit at the table during the Last Supper.

The number has been twisted and turned many times to produce unfavorable results and relations to the worst events.

It has been taken so far that many public buildings

have taken to skipping the 13th floor entirely or omitting rooms numbered 13.

Friday the 13th is especially exceptional because of the events in history known as “Black Fridays.” Historically, all of these events have been devastating. Thus the coupling of the number 13 and the day Friday creates the quintes-sence of bad luck.

On Friday the 13th, people are much more cautious about what they do, where they go and whom they con-verse with. They try to keep their loved ones close and strangers out.

The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute located in North Carolina has even estimated that in the United States alone businesses lose $800- $900 million on Friday the 13th because people are too afraid to fly or conduct normal business.

All of this from a single superstition? In our own school, Friday the 13th last week caused

much worry. Threats and rumors of people being harmed on Friday the 13th circulated throughout the school. Luck-ily, our principal took care of the rumors and threats, but the superstitions were still there.

I repeat, all this drama from a single superstition? Although Friday the 13th can be unlucky for some

people and in some circumstances, it cannot be more lucky or unlucky than any other day. Why would the 13th day occurring on any Friday be any different than say, the 15th on a Thursday or the 5th on a Sunday?

Friday the 13th plays such a big role in our society because we let it. We hand that day so much power that it is harming us. All of these threats and crimes occur in a larger scale on Friday the 13 th because we give it so much more importance. Our preoccupation with the date gives it the strength it has to create such an impact on our lives. If we weren’t so concerned with it, the day would start to be of no significance and the dangers that it produces would

not exist. If we could learn to stop extolling this supposedly inauspicious day, then we would not be so caught up in the threats that it generates.

author’s email: shriya.adhikary@thea-blast.org

CSPASilver Crown 2004-2005

Pacemaker National Scholastic Press Association

2004-2005

Trophy Class Virginia High

School2004-2005

MAking the GrAde

Former captive returns to claim house

Fried Coke, anyone?

Lack of new foods to fry for the annual N.C. Sate Fair, has left culinary inventors with only one option. Fried Coca Cola. Sugary Coke isn’t bad enough, go ahead and dump a load of oil on it. This year, if you’re hungering for a fried snack at the state fair, go grab a cup of deep fried funnel-cake dough immersed in Coke syrup and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Bon appetite.

Sweden to build little red cottage on moon

Sweden is planning and constructing a project to place a little red cottage on the moon. That’s right folks, if everything goes according to plan, we may have a house on the moon by 2011. For the past few years, Sweden has been trying to join the space race, and it seems they’ll do so by spending $70 million for a house on the moon. This idea was first proposed by artist Mikael Genberg.

BRemember the poor teenage girl who had been

imprisoned for 8 years in a windowless cell in a house in Austria? She had recently fled and her captor had committed suicide to escape persecu-tion. Well apparently, she now wants ownership of the house she was held captive in and wishes to live in it with her dead captor’s mother. The motivation behind her actions? She doesn’t want the house to become a tourist attraction.

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It seems sexual innuendos will never leave the governments in the U.S. In Ottawa County, Michigan, 170,000 ballots will have to be re-printed in order to fix a mistake. The correction? The word “public” was spelled without the “l” in a PUBLIC ballot for the November 7th elections. A

Faux pas in Ottawa County

AtAAA

The A-Blast is an award winning newspaper that strives to inform, educate and entertain the student body and community. Published every three weeks, The A-Blast will not print any material that is obscene or libelous; or that which substantially disrupts the school day, or invades an individual’s right to privacy. The A-Blast is an independent, open forum for discussion that is printed at the Springfield Plant of The Washington Post. Signed letters to the editor of 250 words or less may be submitted to room 229 or mailed ot the school. The A-Blast reserves the right to refuse advertisements. All submissions become property of The A-Blast, Copyright, 2006.

Annandale High School Vol. 53 No. 3 (703)642-4229 4700 Medford Dr. Sept. 27, 2006 email: thea-blast@thea-blast.org Annandale, Virginia 22003 fax: (703)642-4299

Editors in Chief, Photography Print: Alyssa Navarrete Editor: Margaret Crowley David Sherman Julianne Simpson Editor in Chief, Sports Editors: Avery Adcock Online: Erick Vu Greg Rosenstein Taylor Hobson Emily Vincent Managing Editor: Krista Silano Sports Xtra Copy Editor: Tim Yuskavage Editors: Jeff Dean Online Editor: Bryan KrzywickiA Matt Johnson Design Editor: Matt Camilli In-Depth Editors: Paul Mathis Kevin Leach Chrissy Osipchak Graphics Editor: Adam Kasdorf Circulation Manager: Kyle Knoche Weekend Editors: Kate McCormack Tim Shadyac Online Staff: Amy Steinbuechler Ad Manager: Amy Stevens Marisa Tordella Academics Editors: Michael Craig Matt Camilli Cason Kynes CJ Sidener Videographers/Editors: Gus Nielson Drew Wildes Spanish Consultant: Antonio Rivadinera Ben Hendrickson Staff Writers/Photographers: Arts Editors: Lyndsay Jacobs Rachael Burnett, Ebony Chambers, Charlie Laura Simpson Winters, Lucas Higgins, Lea Nicherson, Cultures Editors: Vanessa Cerro Meredith Rutherford, Julie Tumasz, Waliha Gani Brandon Williams, Greg Young, Nathalie Editorials Editors: Shriya Adhikary Cladera Carrera, Claire Bui, Nicole Swiger, Mohamad Elbarasse Aya Saed, Caroline Merz, Cristian Roldan, Laith Abu-Taleb, Daniel Fishman Entertainment: Layluma Hotaki Adviser: Alan Weintraut Jenny Jacobs Health Editors: Becca Grimsley Sarah Waiter News Editors: Michelle Risse Emily Sample People Editors: Julie Baker Lindsey Downen

Dreary times in DarfurThe time has come to decide what to do for the people of Darfur

BY LUCAS HIGGINS

Staff Writer

In 1999, President Bill Clinton used mili-tary force in Europe to save innocent citizens in Kosovo. This was done without the United Nations permission or blessing.

A little over 10,000 innocent people were killed before we acted against the wishes of the U.N. That was of course in a pre-9/11, pre-Iraq War world, when most nations around the world still trusted us to make the correct decisions when dealing in foreign policy.

Now we live in a world where any force against a predominantly Muslim nation by a non-Muslim coalition is immediately seen as suspect, and rightfully so. The mostly Muslim region in Sudan, Darfur is home to the biggest on-going genocide since the Holocaust.

Over 450,000 innocent men, women and children have been killed in the past three years, mostly at the hands of “janjaweed” militias that exist throughout Africa. While these militias usually sport names with “liberation” or “justice” in their titles, none

of either exist in the acts of the groups. Not only do these people commit sense-

less murder, but the rape of women and children alike is rampant as well. Many times children are picked away from their families and given guns, knives or other tools of death, and forced to kill others when they are as young as four or five years old.

As tragic as this may seem, it is noth-ing new. The oppression and murder of the people of Darfur has been happening since 2003, and has been in the international spotlight since the same time.

The U.N. has peacefully attempted to come to an agreement with the Sudanese government. There have been negotiations about U.N. troops being deployed into Su-dan for the exchange of debt relief and other amenities every government can use, but the leaders of Sudan have been steadfast in their refusal to cooperate. With another round of genocide as bad as the first looming in the future, the time for talking has ended.

Both George Bush and Condoleezza Rice have called for some type of immediate ac-tion, but have offered no suggestion as to what exactly needs to be done.

An ultimatum needs to be put forth to the Sudanese: allow U.N. occupation imme-diately or force will be used. Every day, we as a planet delay, it’s more lives that are lost and more futures that are destroyed.

In a world where “morals” are always of utmost importance during political cam-

paigns, it is amazing that nothing has been done to save these people. There are plenty of websites begging for help, plenty of celebri-ties attending rallies and attempting to raise awareness in the U.S. Despite the efforts of the U.N. and of a George Clooney-produced documentary, very little progress has been made over the last few years.

Worse is that time may be running out to save even a small amount of people. Ac-cording to a recent report released by a panel of experts calling for sanctions against top officials in the Sudanese government for “im-peding the peace process,” the “janjaweed” militias have upgraded their weaponry. They have gone from “horses, camels, and AK-47’s” to “land-cruisers, pickup trucks and RPG’s”.

What this means is that it will not take another three years for 450,000 more people to die. The number of deaths will continue to grow exponentially until we decide to actu-ally help. Right now there are a few ways to send money.

But that is not making enough of a dif-ference. It can help a little in the day-to-day struggle, but in the overall picture, more people are dying, more people are being raped and more people’s land is being taken away every day.

We have a president and a senate that is controlled by a party that constantly refers to morals during political campaigns. It is time for the U.S. government to show us some of

those famous morals. Save Darfur.

author’s email: lucas.higgins@thea-blast.org

Money for Prom?I would like to write in regards of the past

A-Blast article about the class meeting’s topic of Prom. It seems as if everyone is getting the misconception that each class needs to raise a certain amount of money in order to have a good prom. I would like to clarify that this notion is wrong. In fact, the only factor that “makes or breaks” a dance (which is what Prom is) is the DJ.

Location, decorations, party favors, and food are all just little perks, but the life of the Prom party lies in the music being played. So Class of 2008, 2009, and 2010 there is no need to worry on reaching a specific amount of money. For all I know, a great Prom can still be held in a high school gym with the right DJ. Also if your class wants to have Prom at the elegant Waterford (which is where AHS has had it for the past years) but has a small amount of money, that is still okay.

The main reason classes fundraise is to lower the prices of Prom tickets. For the past years, the senior class has usually fundraised enough to have tickets sold at $40 per person. So for those who are still clueless in regards of Prom, instead of asking “Do we have enough money for Prom?” the better question to ask is: “How much will the Prom tickets cost for me?

—Trang Pham-NguyenSenior

Muslim Holidays Omitted

In the September 27th issue, Emily Sample wrote an article entitled “Muslim holidays omitted in agenda.” She said that it was very insensitive and an insult for AHS to omit the Islamic holidays of Ramadan and Eid ul-fitr from the school agenda.

Sample interviewed me, but she did not include any of my comments in her article. I told her that, during the seven years I have sponsored the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), no Muslim students ever indicated that they were upset with Islamic holidays not being in the school agenda. I suggested that Sample attend a MSA meeting and interview some MSA officers, but she never did.

The current MSA president said that it would not be appropriate to publish the dates of Ramadan and Eid ul-fitr in the school agenda because the dates of those holidays are subject to change.

Another insult perpetrated on Muslims by the school, according to Sample, is not real-izing that the homecoming dance is “smack in the last weekend of Ramadan… Muslims who had planned to attend the only big dance of the year, now must choose between their main religious holiday and a school tradition. Students who are in relationships with… a…Muslim student are forced to either choose a new date, or forgo the dance.”

Once again, I have never had members of the MSA indicate to me that they have ever had a problem with the date of dances coinciding with Islamic religious holidays. Those Muslim students who strictly follow their faith do not have “relationships” or go to dances.

There are Muslim students at AHS who do not share Sample’s indignation on the above issues. In today’s atmosphere of emo-tionally charged headlines involving religion, it would have been enlightening to have seen some of their comments in her article.

— John Nemeth Social Studies Teacher

Sponsor – Muslim Students’ As-sociation

If you would like to publish a letter to the editor, email it to:

shriya.adhikary@thea-blast.orgor

mohamad.elbarasse@thea-blast.org

All letters must be signed with first and last name and phone number to verify

authorship.

Letter to the Editor

A thing to fear: Friday the 13th?

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Thousands of children have been maimed in this continuing battle and many lives have been lost.

Issue 2 Sept. 27th Corrections

Sam Tubb’s picture was mislabeled on the rail picture on page 16.

On page 16, the picture with the ar-ticle “Golf not up to par” was mislabeled. Freshman Jeremy Gilcash was photo-graphed as he was attempting to putt.

Friday the 13th is so well known in our society that there have been multiple horror movies made about the day.

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3EDITORIALSAtAAOct. 18, 2006

“No, I think the training required to make teachers qualified to carry guns is more than FCPS is willing to spend, There is also too much risk of the guns falling into the wrong hands.”

—Richard Kearsley french teacher

“No, because it would be a threat for the students”

—Hanna Lopezfreshman

“No, there should be no weapons on school grounds. It could be danger-ous for students and teachers.”

—Carly Eikesophomore

“Yes, because you never know if a student is going to do something bad to a teacher. Then, the teacher can use the gun.”

—Siptain Razasophomore

Teachers packing heatBill proposed to allow teachers to carry concealed firearms in schools

The events of the past few weeks have opened many people’s eyes to what is going on in our nation’s schools. The shootings in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Colorado echo the events of Columbine High School in 1999 where two students killed 12 of their peers and teachers.

Some people have taken the initiative to try and make our schools safer. One of these people is Rep. Frank Lasee of Wisconsin (R) who has proposed a bill that would give teachers the option to carry a concealed firearm in schools.

Although his heart was in the right place to try and make schools safer for our children, his proposal seems a bit drastic. We go through so many measures to try to keep guns and weapons out of schools, why would lawmakers pass a bill that would allow guns back into school systems?

The nation has grown paranoid and more protective of their children because of the shootings, and rightfully so. The shootings in the Amish schoolhouse would have

shaken anyone, but it is no reason to jump to giving teach-ers guns. Are we forgetting about the police we have pres-ent in our school, who do in fact, carry a firearm?

We allow these policemen to carry guns and protect us because they have had the proper training and carry with them good judgment. Teacers are paid to teach, not to play vigilante.

If we did allow teachers to carry guns in school, it would contradict our original intentions of keeping our children safe. Since when were teachers holier than thou? How do we know that a teacher would not pull out a gun in rage and have a student in his sights? We all know how much teachers have to put up with.

Of course, there is also the risk of a student getting a hold of the teacher’s gun. Then whom would we blame? It is not the children’s fault that they had access guns at school of all places. Also, how would the students feel? If I knew one of my teachers was carrying a gun I would be terrified. Imagine Coach Adams on the field with something more than a starters pistol.

How would the presence of guns in schools affect the student’s ability to learn? Isn’t bad enough for students to have deal with all the pressures of being a teenager? Adding an ingredient violence won’t ease the tensions now will it?

Just recently Lasee modified his proposal so that the guns would be only available to some teachers and administrators and the guns would be placed in “locked boxes” around the school. This idea works for airplane pilots, but not for a place as big as a school.

Lasee wants us to believe that if a threat is present in the school a teacher would run, get their keys, go to the “locked box,” open it, retrieve the gun, and neutralize the threat with little or no collateral damage. Unless that teacher is Superman or equipped with a rocket-propelled skateboard, I don’t believe it is possible for this to hap-pen.

The bill is a repulsive idea. I would rather send my hypothetical kids to a firing range than to a school with

gun wielding teachers. School is a place for learning and enlightenment, not a place for high level security and metal detectors.

Maybe the government should spend more time and money on outreach programs and after school activities to reduce the number of “troubled” teens in our nation’s schools.

author’s e-mail: mohamad.elbarasse@thea-blast.org

The problem with North Korea’s nukesWhat will be the world’s response to North Korea’s detonation of nukes?

After the recent claim by North Korea that they have carried out a test of the nuclear weapons in their possession, Bush is calling North Korea a “threat to in-ternational peace” China is also sending representatives to discuss the best way to punish the country, and Japan has announced sanctions to be imposed.

But identify the real threat in this situation here.North Korea has been suspected of building and being

in possession of nuclear weapons since 1989, when the

United States intelligence analysts suggested that North Korea might be constructing an Atomic Bomb.

The fact that North Korea has nuclear weapons, or even that they tested them, is not the issue. If that were the case, the U.S. would have no room to condemn North Korea for their weapons, as the U.S. holds the second most amounts of nuclear warheads within the world. The U.S. is in possession of 5,735 nuclear warheads; only Russia has more with 5,830. In comparison, North Korea holds maybe about 10 of these warheads. Just denouncing North Korea for developing nuclear weapons would be hypocritical.

The real problem here is what North Korea is capable of doing with these weapons. Or rather, what Kim Jong-il of North Korea has the power to do.

Even though the U.S. and various other countries have so many more nuclear weapons, they will never use them. I say “never” because of the morbid threat of a nuclear war that will wipe out the whole world.

Imagine for a moment, what would happen if a country like Russia fired a nuclear weapon. The country that is targeted will not stand back and allow millions of innocent people to be killed. They will retaliate, and most likely in the form of another nuclear weapon. There will be mass murder and chaos and much of our world will be destroyed. It is this threat that both pushes countries into developing their weapons but also keeps them from utilizing their weapons.

In the case of North Korea, however, because of the leader of the country, the key concern is that they will exploit their nuclear power. It is this perpetual threat that has the international community uniting as a whole to construct a plan of intervention.

North Korea has said that they are willing to negoti-ate if the U.S. will lower the sanction imposed on them. However, the U.S. is not backing down. This creates a

standstill and a problem of there really being nothing else to do, short of invading North Korea. North Korea will not retrogress from their nuclear program unless the U.S. takes measures itself.

It was under situations like is that the U.S. went to war in Iraq. Due to the blunders and difficulties in Iraq, the Bush Administration should not hasten into another war over the same issues.

The only response from any country can be to nego-tiate a deal with North Korea to lessen the threat of a widespread disaster in the world. The threat from North Korea is just too great to take lightly or not respond to. Staunch actions need to be taken. The dicey regulation agreements that North Korea has had with the U.N. and the Security Council in the past cannot be acceptable any longer. Firm decisions need to be taken to create guide-lines for possession of nuclear weapons. Also, punitive measures need to be taken only after they have been thought through to the best of the world’s ability. Each side needs to come to a compromise or risk destroying the world in which we all live.

author’s e-mail: shriya.adhikary@thea-blast.org

Oh, the trouble our politicians get into

Foley, Allen and Webb provide field day for media

Our poor politicians. Seems like none of them can stay out of trouble anymore. It was bad enough with Jim Webb’s chauvinistic remarks and George Allen’s veiled racism, but now pedophilia from our friend Mark Foley down in Florida?

What’s next? An attempted cover-up from the Speaker of the House? With our politicians living more and more in a media fishbowl, sooner or later, everyone will find out all these dirty little secrets about our leaders. Is that good, you ask? Absolutely.

Like it or not, mass media and instant communication are here to stay. Anything that anyone of remote importance says or does will be recorded, blogged and re-broadcast on the evening news across six different continents. It should almost be

taken as an assumption by the average citizen that they know more about their politician’s personal lives than they prob-ably need to.

So what do we do with all this infor-mation, sound clips, and videos seen on YouTube of a candidate saying something stupid? How does it help us?

What it does is it shatters the myth that politicians are somehow superhu-man. They make mistakes. Some of them get drunk with the paparazzi nearby; some of them solicit teen boys over the Internet. But all of them are human and make mistakes.

A common argument made against all this exposure is that it makes the candidate’s private lives and their char-acter as big a topic in an election as the actual issues. The truth is, it is just the opposite. For the longest time, we have heard the Republican Party touting themselves as the “Party of Virtue,” the anti-Clintons; the ones you would want to baby-sit your kids.

However, we know this to be silly. At best, that is nothing more than a shallow talking point. Neither side can claim themselves to be moral standard-bearers for the nations; that job can be left just as well to the Boy Scouts.

Now, this is not to excuse stupidity and, in this case, Foley’s criminal acts. [Child exploitation is a serious matter, and many other times, our politicians of both parties have engaged in acts worthy of jail time.]

A man who commits criminal acts or

who has a criminal record is in no way fit for public service. However, this does not mean every politician is a felon, rather just capable of error on any level.

With more and more information about our politicians becoming available to the average citizen, the more one learns that they are just like us. Thus, the argument that a candidate is quali-fied because he is from the “Party of Morals” is just no good anymore. “Values Voting,” a euphemism meaning that a voter likes the can-didate’s personality over the candidate’s stance on issues is simply a naive and uninformed deci-sion. Now that we know our politicians are not infallible, we can end this habit of “voting the morals,” and look at the issues.

So Foley had steamy instant mes-sages with a 16-year-old boy. So Allen called blacks the N-word and Indians “macacas.” And yes, Webb thinks that a woman would only be turned on by the midshipmen at the Naval Academy. So what does this all mean?

It means that next time a speech is

given promising to “bring back family values,” or a politician says he will “live by a moral compass,” while it may be true, it just as well may not be. Foley, after all, was a leader in Congress [in the area of Co-Chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus.]

The more media covers, the more the truth breaks out, the more we simply do not know whether or not the promises of our political parties can be kept. The sooner we start voting on our leaders based on the facts and policies, not personality and a pretty face,

the sooner we will have competent public officials, which we all stand to benefit from.

author’s e-mail: tim.yuskavage@thea-

Do you think teachers should be

allowed to carry guns in school?

Mo’s Mo’s MindsetMindset

By Mohamad ElbarasseBy Mohamad Elbarasse

Opinion

ShriyaShriya Says Says

By Shriya AdhikaryBy Shriya Adhikary

Opinion

By Tim YuskavageBy Tim Yuskavage

Opinion

Tim’s Tim’s TakeTake

“No, mainly because if there is something going on in the halls they are going to be trigger happy.”

—Kyle Soblejunior

“No, because it wouldn’t be safe for the students.”

—Badou Hadidarefreshman

“No. The job of security is to pro-tect us and the teachers.”

—Rob Silersenior

“What is the point of having teachers bring guns to school when they are try-ing to advocae that guns shouldn’t be in school in the first place?”

—Theresa Phamsenior

Frank G. Lasee, a state representative from Bellevue, Wisconsin, believes that children would be safer in school if teacher carried guns.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has recently claimed that North Korea has acheived nuclear power.

Former Florida Senator Mark Foley is the Co-Chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus. Foley is currently under the suspicion of engaging in inappropriate acts with his pages.

4 Oct. 18, 2006NEWS AtAA

BY DAVID SHERMAN Co-editor in chief

Students arrived at school last Fri., Oct. 13, just like they normally would on any other day. But something was different. A large portion of the student body had an unsettling thought in the back of their mind, one that made them look a little closer at their peers as they passed by in the halls.

On Oct. 4, a note was found in the Photography Lab that, as rumor had it, spoke of slashing students with a sword, which would be brought to school, and continuing to do so until this student doing the slashing was killed. There were also posters put up near the Cafeteria and Jock Lobby supposedly supporting the message.

However, just like a game of “Telephone,” what the note actually said became completely distorted by the time it reached the student body.

“This was all part of a game,” said Principal John Ponton. “The intent was never to harm anyone, or make anyone feel threatened at all. But that’s how rumors go.”

The note said nothing of an attack on any students whatsoever. The note and posters, in actuality, were basically an advertisement for an Internet game.

“The reason these notes were passed out and that the posters were put up were to appeal to the people playing the game,” said Ponton. “How that rumor got going though, is a perfect example of how rumors can spiral out of control.”

A staff meeting was held on Oct. 10 to discuss the circumstances and the effect that the letter was having on AHS as a whole. It was decided that, as a precaution, given the circumstances of how concerned people were getting, two additional Student Resource Officers would be posted outside the school on Friday.

“I was scared when I first heard about it,” said senior Kelsey Grant, who considered not coming to school on Friday because of the supposed content of the note. “I thought it was someone trying to copy what the guys did in the others schools recently.”

Some students, however, did not pay much attention to the rumors.“I really didn’t think it was anything serious,” said senior Nick Twomey. “I kind of

thought it was a joke. Either way, I never though of not coming to school.”The timing of these rumors could not have come at a worse time. Since Aug. 24, there

have been seven incidents of school violence throughout the country. In each of these

incidents, there was either a threat or an attack that was carried out. More often than not, these attacks resulted in student or faculty deaths.

The surge of violence started in Essex, V.T. On Aug. 24, Christopher Williams walked into Essex Elementary School looking for his girlfriend. Williams, 27, ended up shooting two teachers; wounding one and killing the other. Police later discovered that Williams had shot and killed his girlfriend’s mother before entering the school.

More recently, a man held six students hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, C.O., on Sept. 27. The man killed one girl, Emily Keyes, 16, before committing suicide. Four days later in Cazenovia, W.I., a 15-year-old student shot and killed Weston School principal John Klang. Less than two weeks later in Joplin, M.O., on Oct. 10, a 13-year-old boy fired a single shot into the air from an assault rifle in Joplin Memorial Middle School.

The incident that has received the most publicity happened just over two weeks ago on Oct. 3, in Nickel Mines, PA. Thirty-two-year-old Carl Charles Roberts IV entered the one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School and shot 10 schoolgirls, ranging in age from six to 13, before he shot himself. Five of the 10 girls died.

Locally, the threat of school violence has come up more than anyone would like. Culpeper County schools shut down on Oct. 5 when the county’s communication center received an anonymous bomb threat at 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 4. State police brought in explo-sive-detecting dogs and bomb technicians, but no bomb was ever found.

On Oct. 11, Montgomery County schools were under heightened alert after a student reported that a man with a gun made a threat at a school bus stop in Germantown. The County was placed on

“Code Blue,” meaning students were not allowed to leave the facilities. The student later said that the report he made was false.

AHS, and Fairfax Country Public Schools as a whole, are taking precautions in light of the recent violence across the nation.

“I’m telling teachers in trailers to lock their trailer doors,” said Ponton. “There will also be certain entrances that will be locked after 7:30 each morning. I want out faculty to start being more visible in the halls and wearing their ID badges so we know who our employees are and who strangers might be.”

I want our faculty to start being more visible in the halls and weare ID badges

“—John Ponton

Principal”

BY RACHAEL BURNETTE

Staff Writer

Over the past few weeks, the Marching Atoms have traveled to three different com-petitions. On Oct. 14, the band traveled to Oakton High School for a competition and performed exceptionally well.

The competition was held in honor of Annandale Alumn Jen Bernhard. Even though the band was the only one competing in the AAAA division, they still played with a lot of hard effort. They won best general effect, drum major, percussion, and best woodwind section, and first place overall. This was a very good practice run for the band in prepara-tion for next week’s state competition.

This week, the band is preparing for the VBODA state competition held in Winchester, VA. This is the most important competition of the year because it is the first step of be-ing awarded Honor Band. AHS has ranked ‘superior’ at the state competition for the past nine years in a row and eleven years total. The band hopes to keep the winning streak alive.

On Sept. 30, the band had back-to-back competitions, and performed well at both of them. The first competition was held in Stafford, VA. The band placed fourth overall and won second best general effect, best drum major and best color guard. Then they traveled another hour to Hermitage High School in Richmond,VA, where the band performed even better. However, they came up short of first place and was awarded second overall in the division only losing by one-tenth of a point.

“The award ceremonies are a lot of fun because the whole band comes together and the outcome determines how much all of your hard work has paid off. The award cer-emony at Hermitage was one of the most nerve wrecking ceremonies in a while because of how close the scores were and it came down to less than a point,” said sophomore Jaclyn Mohlmann.

The Marching Atoms have been improving over the weeks, but the biggest improve-ment has come from the color guard. From day one they were not performing very well as a unite, but with a lot of practice time and some new team leaders, they have now pulled it all together to have some good performances.

A big advantage in helping the band this year has been the addition of the rookie member who came prepared to work hard. The rookies this year arrived with a better

outlook for competitions than last year’s rookies. The band is built around tradition and rituals. Before every halftime show and band

competition, the whole band holds hands in a large cluster while director Jack Elgin gives them words of advice and encouragement. Then, senior Greg Rosenstein gets in the middle and chants a Jewish good luck cheer in Hebrew. This gets the band into spirited and lively mood to go out on the field and have a good show. The band has been preparign hard and is ready to perform at the state level and come back with a ‘superior’ rating.

Band prepares for state competition

BY NATHALIE CLADERA-CARRERA

Staff Writer

Hispanic Heritage Month, which started on Sept. 15 and ended on Oct. 15, is a Celebration that is unknown to many AHS students. The month was an opportunity for the Hispanic Leadership Club to demonstrate how significant it is and the unawareness behind AHS’s diverse Hispanic backgrounds. The HLC began the month by educating students about famous Latinos and how they have left their imprint on Hispanic heritage. The HLC followed this by putting posters all over the walls of the hallways, promoting Hispanic Heritage Month. “They made it very clear that this month from September to October is, or at least it should be, very important to every Hispanic student,” said sophomore Eddy Hernandez.

During this month, the Hispanic community also plans events and Festivals all over Northern Virginia. Some as close as the streets of Mount Pleasant in D.C. and one in the Herndon community last week.

“There were about 10,000 people enjoying the folkloric dances, cultural foods and the assorted flavors of Hispanic communities,” according to El Tiempo Latino in the Oct. 6 issue. Many AHS had to do much preparation for the month’s events, includ-ing coordinating different schedules, times and locations when taking the busy metro methods of transportation.

“This was well- worth it,” said senior Christian Roldan. “I could not imagine why any one [Hispanic] would not want to proudly represent their own culture and showoff their pride, seeing such a large amount of people made me pay more attention to the variety of people AHS has and how we, as Hispanic students, can make a big impres-sion in our school.”

Roldan not only was part of this fantastic event, but in addition, began to organize a Hispanic Heritage Month Banquet. The Banquet, held on Oct. 5 in Clausen Hall, turned out to be a success for all who contributed and attended. Despite a few students thinking the price was a bit too costly, the attendance for the Banquet still turned out well.

With the Hispanic music playing from the back, people ate the tasty cultural types of foods. It turned out to be just too tempting for some students to not get out of their seats and begin to dance to their favorite song. Abigail Chavez danced caporals while Roldan moved to a salsa tune. Countless .applauds followed with smiles from not only parents, friends, sisters and brothers, but also teachers and IB CoordinatorErin Albright.

But the night did not end there. Another speaker talked about how vital is it to have self-esteem, especially when you’re a Latino. “Don’t let people tell you that because you’re different and always remember that everything you learn in high school helps you become the best you can be. I used my skills from high school to organize events for The National Council of La Raza,” said Michelle, a member of staff from D.C.

The night ended with a wonderful salsa dance performance that entertained everyone with their amazing spins, twists and bold moves. “The salsa dance was

the perfect ending; it was my favorite part. I was some what surprised that our sponsor [Ms. Carey] was in it, they were really awesome” said an HLC member while enjoying the entertainment.

There is no doubt that a new tradition has emerged from the Hispanic Leadership Club. Hopefully Hispanic Heritage Month will become an annual tradition at AHS. This cultural event has shown AHS how much pride the Hispanic population has on a school that is full of diversity.

In addition to the banquet , the HLC held a Hispanic culture assembly for the student body on Oct. 12. The assembly focused on the ethnic foods, sports, and traditions of the latino countries many AHS students come from. The students also performed different cultural dances including the salsa and the bamba.

Violent rumors are spread through AHS

Hispanic students celebrate heritageStudents participated in a new AHS cultural celebration of Hispanic heritage month

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Culinary Fundraising Dinner

The Second Annual Fundrais-ing dinner is being held on Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. The funds will go toward the purchase of culinary equipment. A five courae meal will be served, prepared by the culinary students and local chefs. Chef Gloninger is taking reservations now. $40.00 per person. Make your reservation soon because space is limited.

Biology teacher Claudia Lemus enjoys the Hispanic Heritage Month banquet. Ethnic foods from different latin countries were provided at the banquet.

Choral Department to per-form fall concert

The AHS school choirs will perform Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The con-cert will be held on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Cornerstone Church. The concert will feature 180 singers, including The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gymnasium Choir will be featured in the concert was well as guest instrumentalits and soloists. A suggested donation of $5 is welcome. Please come and support the AHS choral program.

PTSA Open House Re-scheduled

The AHS PTSA “Empowering the Family” presentation is now scheduled for Nov. 9 from 7p.m. to

8:30 p.m. in Clausen Hall. The meeting will deal with Turbulent Teens . Adults will view a presentation on normal teenage behavior and what teenagers are really going through in high school.

Two students honored for their services

When most kids make plans for the weekend, it usually consists of the movies, golfing, the gym, mall, etc. But when senior Shannon Scott makes her plans, they most likely involve working with organizations that do community service.

She’s a student that puts in about 4-8 hours a week to either work with young kids, elders, or city officials. From babysitting to reading to disabled kids as a camp counselor to painting fingernails at a nursing home, this girl does it all.

“She is an incredibly earnest, hardworking, principled young woman,” said counselor Linda Wheeler. “She displays character-istics such as honesty and intense work ethic. A class act.”

With that said, Scott recieved some well-deserved recognition for her leadership activities. After working with many organizations including NULITES (National Ur-ban League Incentives to Excel and Succeed) as well as the Alexandria Youth Council and putting those hours in, she was recently awarded as a Youth Advocate Honoree.

Scott has been volunteering since the age of nine and has served as a leader representing the coive of youth on more than 14 community service and school organizations in Alexandria.

“It’s nice to be recognized for something that’s not required. Other students do it for government class, but I just think, ‘this is fun’ and it’s great,” she said.

Another student that is also con-sidered exceptional is senior Iyoab Medmin. As a junior, he took the PSATs and was then chosen as one of fifteen students in Fairfax County as a semifinalist for the 2007 National Achievement Scholarship Program. This is an academic competition for Black American high school seniors conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Medmin hopes to attend the University of Virginia and this scholarship will help him achieve that goal.

“I wasn’t expecting this because it’s automatic entry, so before it wasn’t as important, but now it’s very important,” said Medmin.

Counselor Marcelo Valencia has helped him through this process. He discussed with Medmin what he needed to do such as sending out the application among other things.

“Iyoab has a very good standing with his academic courses. He has worked hard even when things have gotten tough,” said Valencia. “He worked through them and realized the importance to continue.”

Medmin takes IB courses, includ-ing the rigorous IB Topics course. “It’s said to be hard, but it’s not. It’s just a lot of work,” said Medmin.

“It makes me feel good. It’s a compliment. All the hard work I do is worth it.”

—Layluma Hotaki Entertainment Editor

NEWS BRIEFS

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Director Jack Elgin reviews drill formations with the saxophone section during practice. This week the Marching Atoms will travel to Winchester to compete in the VBODA state marching competition.

5NEWSAtAAOct. 18, 2006

AHS revs up spirit for Homecoming

Stores close throughout area

“Stores close” from page 1Walking into Total Crafts in Bradlick Shopping Cen-

ter, it does not seem like the well-known and crowded craft store would be closing in only two months. It looks more like it is simply out of stock of the more popular items. However, if you look closer, its quite obvious that the store is going out of business. There are ten and fifty percent off signs hanging before almost every aisle, and bargain shoppers searching for some good deals.

Jewell explained why the long lasting craft store is going under. “We live under a market system, so there’s going to be competition,” Jewell said. “With this compe-tition, smaller stores can often be pushed out because they can’t be competitive.” Jewell also explained how the store’s current business plan was not compatible with customer demand.

While many people think that just the Bradlick Total Crafts will be shutting down, it is actually all Total Craft locations. Employees found out about a month ago and “almost everyone has job plans” for after the store closes, said Jewell.

Some are effected more than others. Those who live in walking distance to the Heritage Shopping Center will be sure to experience

an inconvienience. They will now have to drive or take the bus to the nearest grocery store, most likely Safeway in the Little River Shopping Center.

For any student in the Annandale community, the Bradlick Total Crafts will surely be missed. “I shop at Safeway, so I’m not too effected by Giant being closed. But I get my supplies for projects at Total Crafts. Now I’m going to have to go all the way to Fairfax for supplies,” said junior Chris Santamaria. “I guess I could just go to Rite Aide, but they usually lack in the good supplies.”

Senior art-lover Megan Price is also upset about Total Crafts closing down. “I always go to Total Crafts to get cool supplies whenever I feel like doing a new craft,” she said. “It’s really convenient because it’s so close to my house and they usually have everything I need.”

Senior Daniel Kim disagrees with Santamaria and Price. He says that Total Crafts must be closing for a reason and if it was needed in the community then it wouldn’t be closing down. “Total Crafts has nothing on AC Moore,” said Kim. He also is not upset about Giant closing. “I don’t really care. There are about six different supermakrets within a mile of my house. I think I can survive without Giant,” he said.

“Homecoming” from page 1Spirit week is a Homecoming tra-

dition, which includes many different daily themes.

“The point is to increase school spirit” said leadership sponsor and sci-ence teacher Abbie Kahn. “It’s a time to dress down and not be so uptight.” Some are classics that are known and loved, and some have a new twist. The week, planned by leadership students began on Monday with a popular day, “Pajama Day.” This allowed students which to wear pajamas and slippers to school. Yesterday was one of the new days, “Polo Day” also known as “Pop your Collar Day,” students wore shirts or jackets with a “popped” collar. Today is a new twist as well, “Crazy Head Day” is a mix of hat day and crazy hair day. Then tomorrow is “Wacky Tacky,” another well-known

event that involves you “dressing like a bama” according to senior leadership student Maedeh Pourrabi. Friday is the classic and favorite of everyone, “Class Spirit Day,” this is the day where you will have to show your school spirit by Freshman are wear-ing white, sophomores are wearing red, juniors are wearing face paints, and seniors are wearing togas.

The Homecoming game is this Friday against South County High School. At the game the homecoming queen will be crowned during half time. Also, on Friday during the pep rally in the morning, the homecoming king will be crowned. The

Homecoming king nominees are Hassan Bah, Antwaun Broxton, Antwan Buggs, Andrew Lewis, Nate Stone and Corey Williams. The home-coming queen nominees are Jennifer

Acevedo, Shakia Branch, Terry Byrd, Jennifer Eman, Rakeisha Hart, and Ashley Jones.

The Homecoming Dance, held this Saturday, is an important event as well. The theme for the dance is Deep Blue Destiny.

“It’s going to be way different than last year,” senior Class Presi-dent, Pape Diop, said “We spent a lot of money on Homecoming this year and were going to have a better DJ too.” He also said that there are going to be a lot more decorations this year than there were last year. Senior lead-ership student Maedeh Pourrabi said that there will also be more activities to participate in at the dance.

“Be prepared to have a great week full of fun and excitement,” said Jen-nifer Eman. “Homecoming is going to be a night to remember.”

Tom Davis comes to AHS“Davis” from page 1

views of immigration and the borders, the first question posed by senior John Derrickson. While he widely avoided the direct question, he repeatedly mentioned the need for “a wall” to protect the border.

“The borders need to lined with a high, high wall with a very wide gate,” said Davis. “We welcome everyone, but you have to go through the gate, not over the wall.” He discussed the affected states’—including Virginia—choice of using state troopers to secure the borders. This, though, would only be a temporary fix. He did not encourage military presence on the border.

When asked about illegal immigrants that were already in America by senior Crystal Cregge, Davis repeated his idea about a wall, “not necessarily a literal wall, but at least a figurative wall. But in some cases, yes, a literal wall.” He also stated that he was not in favor of “blanket amnesty” for all illegal immigrants, but wanted to make am effort to move the “cash, underground economy” into the main economy to help assuage other costs.

Many questions from attendees attacked Davis’ stance on gay marriage. Senior David Sherman posed a question about his views on the subject, to which Davis answered that he passed legislation against the discrimination against gay and lesbian people. Davis said he would vote “yes” on a bill that would ban same-sex marriages through an amendment to the constitution because the institution of marriage should remain between a man and a woman. As a follow-up question, senior Lucas Higgins asked whether or not banning gay marriage was in fact discrimination. To which Davis answered that “there has never been a law for or against it. The law is merely institu-tionalizing what has been there for 200 years. We are allowing the individuals to decided instead of a few judges.”

Other topics raised by students included D.C.’s possible vote in Congress and the war in Iraq. Davis’ plan for the D.C. vote is to raise the number in the House of Representatives from 435 to 437. The state to suffer most from this new idea is Utah, a mostly Republic state. Utah would lose its states’ vote in the beginning, but eventually would earn it back if the population grew. As to the war in Iraq, Davis honestly admits

that he suported the war in the beginning. But, he said, “Sev-eral things were done that now prove to have been a bad idea. Three main things. The first was disbanding the army, police, and government. There was no organization left. The second was not seal the border. The borders are open and jihadists are coming in. The third is that we’re doing too much for them. We need to let the Iraqis do more for themselves. But we can’t just set a date and get out. You never tell your enemies what you’re going to do.”

The near-debate continued through to the end of second flex. As students filled out of the auditorium Davis leaned out and shook the hands of several students, smiling and answering last minute questions posed by the front row.

Tom Davis ponders a difficult question posed by students. His visit, most a question and answer session, lasted almost an hour.

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“Voting” from page 1Many seniors who have registered to vote are now fac-

ing the task of determining where they stand on political issues.

After researching the policies of the candidates, O’Connor determined that he felt that the candidates did not have enough convincing opinions on any of the issues that he feels are important.

“The candidates were not strongly for their opinions,” said O’Connor. “They change their opinions to try and get the most votes, not because of how they really feel.”

Ultimately, this led O’Connor to refrain from voting in the elections. Ottenheimer, however, has taken a different approach to determining which candidate she will choose

on Election Day. “We took a conservative/liberal view test in government

and I found out that I am more conservative,” Ottenheimer said. “But I’ll probably be pretty influenced by my parents and their opinions on the candidates.”

Senior Erika Rodden has also been doing research on each of the candidates, and is currently trying to decide where she stands on political issues.

“I’ve been reading different things on where the candidates stand,” said Rodden. “It’s given me some good information to help me make my decision.”

For many seniors, the decision to vote was cause primar-ily by their desire to have a say in the government.

“As a citizen of the United States I feel it is important

to register for each election,” said Derrickson. “The future of our country depends on each individual’s vote.”

“We have a democracy and you should always vote be-cause each vote counts,” said Ottenheimer. “It can really make a difference to the outcome of an election.”

Whether or not eligible seniors decided to vote in the upcoming election is a personal choice. However, seniors who have registered are excited for the opportunity to vote for the first time.

“People complain so much about the government and its policies,” said Rodden. “They should take advantage of the chance to change it.”

Eligible seniors plan to vote in Nov. 7 election

“PSAT” from page 1 “I am looking forward to taking the PSAT so

I can see where I am at. But don’t think that we should have to take it every year. We should only have to take it once as freshman,” said freshman Nirina Andriani.

Steve Sengstack, the administrator in charge of handling and distributing the PSATs this year, says that the PSAT is simply to help underclass-man prepare for the SAT. Since most freshman have not taken the necessary classes such as, Algebra 2, geometry, and sufficient years of English, required to perform well on the SAT, the administrators are not encouraging them to pay for their scores. They would not want the freshman to be discouraged by scores that might not accurately project what they would really get on the SAT.

The sophomores’ scores are paid for by Fairfax County so that they are all able to see how they would score on the SAT and are able to better prepare themselves. Juniors are able to gain from the test as well. If they receive suf-ficient scores they might be eligible for national merit scholarships.

“The PSAT is structured and administered exactly the same as the SAT so that the under-classman are able to get the actually experience,” said Sengstack. The test scores are confidential and are not submitted for ranking compared with other high schools. Sengstack believes that the average scores will be around the same as last year since they only fluctuate a few points every year. There are no goals for the test; it is just for practice and there isn’t supposed to be any pres-sure on the students who are taking it.

I guess I could go to Rite Aide, but they usually lack in the good supplies.

“—Chris Santamaria

junior”

Senior girls Elizabeth Arias and Allie Bagot face off on the line during a scrimmage during practice. The senior team faced the junior team on Tuesday during their first and only fm.

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By Layluma HotakiBy Layluma Hotaki

Ethics Advice

EthicallyEthicallySpeakingSpeaking

Dear SEC, Last week, there was a scare at

school because someone had threatened to do harmful things. I don’t believe this person was right in what they did, scar-ing the school and all. It also caused a lot of tension because of what else has been happening around the country. Do you agree?

Sincerely, Worried at AHS

Dear Worried,I agree that this scare was quite

unnecessary and very disruptive to the school day. Some students did not attend school because of this event. It was ethically wrong to start such drama in a school. In my opinion, it is very unethical to scare many people, either as a joke or just for fun. So to answer your question, I do agree with your opinion.

Sincerely,The Student Ethics Council

Dear Student Ethics Council,Some students aren’t very spirited

at this school. On Pajama Day, some kids didn’t wear any pajamas. This is disappointing because I think it’s fun to be involved in school and have school spirit. Especially because it’s Homecom-ing week, this is to get people excited for Homecoming and the game.

Sincerely,School Spirited

Dear School Spirited,I completely agree with you. This

week is our week to show how spirited we are and how involved we can be. I think everyone should get involved and wear school colors and get excited for the game as well as the dance. This is the purpose of Spirit Week, but you must keep in mind, it’s only the first day. Students may have forgotten. I know there are some kids who don’t believe in school spirit, but just show your own and be proud. That’s the only way to look at it.

Sincerely,The SEC

If you have an ethical dilemma and would like advice on how to handle the situation, submit your questions to layluma.hotaki@thea-blast.org. All submissions will be confidential.

Anti-Drug Lecture to be heldGeorge Mason University is holding

a lecture titled “The Ultimate Learning Experince” hosted by Chris Skinner. The lecture will be held Tuesday, October 24, at 7 pm in the Harris Theater. For more infor-mation, contact Clarence Jones, 571-423-4270, or Susan Stahley, 703-993-3687.

Book ClubThe Librarians are trying to bring

together a book club. The first meeting was Oct. 11. If interested contact Janet Pfeiffer in the library.

After school thefts on the riseThe amounts of thefts have recently

risen, especially right after school. Miss-ing items include cell phones, calculators, iPods, playstation games, and other items discourged from school property, usually stolen from backpacks in the halls. Stu-dents are encouraged to not leave their backpacks unattended. Teachers are reminded to keep thier doors locked and to report all suspicious behavior to the administration.

Fairfax County Youth Leader-ship Program

Fairfax County is offering juniors op-portunities to work as a summer intern in a Fairfax County Government agency or office. A $1,000 stipend is offered. For more information or a paper application, see the social studies department or the guidance department. To apply online see http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dmb/fcylp.htm. All applications are due by Oct. 31.

NEWS BRIEFS

College Transcript deadlinesTranscript request forms for colleges

are due to Student Services by Fri., Dec. 1 to allow at least three weeks for pro-cessing.

FLE information nightThe family life education (FLE) in-

formation night for parents is planned for Thurs., Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Library. For more information contact Angelo Hilios at angelo.hilios@fcps.edu.

7ACADEMICSAtAAOct. 18, 2006

Teachers and students disagree on the amount correct of homework assigned each night

MERIDETH RUTHERFORD

Staff Writer

The average student is in school for almost seven hours with few breaks and a short lunch. After a taxing day at school, students rush home to hours of homework. Duke Uni-versity professor Harris Cooper found new evidence that homework is not as beneficial as people seem to think. Research shows that staying up late working on homework does not benefit a student. On average, middle school students should only spend one and a half hours on homework while high school students should do no more than two hours.

A large part of the controversy over homework is its purpose. Students and teachers wonder whether homework should strengthen concepts learned in class or used to teach new skills. English honors 10 and regular English 11 teacher, Augustine Twyman shares her views on the issue.

“I think the purpose of homework is to practice concepts taught in class and to reinforce things discussed,” said Twyman. Twyman says she believes in repetition and that it helps students fully understand what the teacher covered.

Teachers have never agreed on the purpose of homework, proved by psychology

and government teacher, Scott Hambrick. Unlike Twyman, Hambrick believes home-work can be used to review and introduce new concepts.

“I think homework is just as beneficial as class work when designed appropriately,” said Hambrick.

Both Twyman and Hambrick believe that the amount of homework varies based on dif-ferent subjects and the goal of the work. For example, a language class requires review and study of vocabulary and new words almost every day. Most foreign language teachers

agree that in order to pass a language class, a student needs to work daily on vocabulary and review new topics. Languages are cumulative, meaning the concepts build on each other. When a student falls behind, it is very hard to catch up and get back on track.

Joel Cooley, who teaches four different math courses, thinks homework is beneficial and also boosts student’s grades.

“Homework is good to help pull up grades if a kid does not do well on tests,” said Cooley said. Some kids do horribly on tests but are always doing their homework well. Homework and class work help balance out the grades and show a teacher what students need to work on,” said Cooley. Cooley equated homework with a football team. He said that in order for a team to learn new plays they have to practice them over and over. Players master skills only through repetition. Homework is the same way, repetition is the only way to completely master a skill.

Although, several people like Professor Cooper are finding homework is not as beneficial as believed, teachers are tentative to agree. Several students have so much homework that they do not spend enough time on one assignment. They rush through in order to finish and therefore, the end product is not as well done. It is not beneficial when a student is just trying to finish because they are not learning. With less homework, a student might be more obliged to do each assignment well. Athletes and students involved in extracur-ricular activities are presented with the most problems when it comes to time management.

They have to juggle homework, practice and game schedules, and also getting an adequate amount of sleep. With a large amount of homework, students do not have as much time for clubs or extra activities. AHS offers an abundance of clubs but many kids do not get a chance to take part in them because of the large homework load.

A smaller amount of homework would benefit many students but most people believe it should not be eliminated completely. It is useful for review and furthering student’s knowledge. Many researchers and professors do believe the homework load should be reconsidered.

I think the purpose of homework is to practice concepts taught in class and to reinforce things discussed

“—Scott Hambrick

Psychology and Government teacher” “One assignment from every class per week because having homework from every class makes it hard to concentrate on one subject.”

—StephanieBurnsfreshman

“Only the amout of homework should be given that can be finished in study hall before practice... about 20 to 30 minutes.”

—Ricky Adamsfreshman

“Forty-five min-utes of ‘thinking’ homework and 15 minutes of ‘prac-tice’ homework because nobody needs to spend three hours doing homework that doesnt require any thinking.”

—Katie Whitleyjunior

“Forty-five min-utes to an hour because I need more free-time so I don’t get stressed out.”

—Brad Grabojunior

“Ten to fifteen minutes because then I can finish my homework and still have time to play football.”

—Lemuel Chinsenior

What amount of homework, in your opinion, would be the most beneficial ?

Too much homework?

A Teacherʼs Perspective A Studentʼs Perspective

BY MICHAEL CRAIG

Academics editor

Do you think that the aver-age teacher gives too much homework to athletes?

“No, I’d say they are giving homework to students and not to athletes. It’s a students deci-sion to participate in sports. They should be given the same amount as any other student.”

What amount of home-work in your opinion would help a student athlete learn the material taught in class most effectively?

“For English, it depends on howmuch knowledge they already have. Anywhere from 30 to 60 pages of reading every other night should not be too much to ask.”

What do you believe to be the purpose of homework?

“Homework should be more activities to prepare for the next class’s discussion. Grammar and vocab may require more practice of concepts that have already been taught. Hoever, a math teacher might say something different.”

Photos by Michael Craig & Cason Kynes

BY MICHAEL CRAIG

Academics editor

Do you think that the av-

erage school teacher gives too much homework?

“You have to look at it in two different angles: IB and regular. I think homework in one of my IB classes equals the homework total of all my regular classes combined.”

Honestly, what amount of homework in your opinion would help a normal student learn the material taught in class most effectively?

“I think that 15 minutes of drills and about 45 to an hour of actual thinking homework would be most beneficial.”

Should the amount of homework for a class vary for different subjects or courses?

“I think that math homework should be less than all other courses because its based on one type of skill. Subjects like English and History should have the most because they include reading. Science homework should be the same amount as Math.

Do you think that it is important to have homework that requires thinking compared to reading?

“Yes, I think thinking homework is more helpful because it prepares you for quizzes.

BY MICHAEL CRAIG

Academics Editor

Do you think that the average school teacher gives too much homework?

“Last year I thought the school I taught at gave too much homework and this year I don’t think there’s enough.”

Honestly, what amount of homework would help a normal student learn the ma-terial taught in class most effectively?

“Forty-five minutes, because after that students begin to loose focus on the assignment and they have to work on assignments from other classes.”

Do you think that it is important to have homework that requires thinking compared to drills?

“ I think that the lower level classes require more drill exercises and the higher level courses require more drills.”

A Coachʼs Perspective

“It depends on on the class, other teachers give different amounts, some give more and some give less.”

---Derrek Amouful sophomore

“I think two hours or less is benefi cial anything else is distracting.”

----Mitchell Hardbower sophomore

“One hour every day, because after am hour I begin to loose focus on the work.”

--Trevor Briggs freshman

Mr. Gill

Junior Elise MIles is one of many students at AHS who loses sleep due to homework.

Bill Maglisceau

Junior Eric Jurenas

CASO

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8 Oct. 18, 2006HEALTH AtAA

A person takes over two million steps a year, and on average will live to be over 80; that equals over one 160 million steps in a lifetime. If a foot problem was to slow you down at age 30, that will be a long one hundred million steps for the rest of your life. This is the effect of high heels.

Women adore high-heeled shoes all across the globe. They love tight, toned calves and the added height cause countless heads to turn and give the wearer a feeling of “sexiness.” Sophomore Martin Miller said he likes high heels on girls.

“They emphasize the woman,” Miller said, “They bring out the more sophisticated side.” The feet are the foundation of our bodies; they are the foundation of our support system. Should health be sacrificed for fashion? Women in this generation cram their feet into shoes that are too small or too high at any cost.

The popular television show Sex and the City has shoes as one of its main themes.

As quoted by Sarah Jessica Parker, the main character, “What’s in a shoe? Perhaps it was originally intended to protect one’s feet from the elements but today the shoe has evolved from its practical origins to grandiose heights, and at the highest level is of course, the high heel…women choose to wear high heels for many reasons; the key is that they indeed are the ones who pro-actively choose to endorse the high heel, often at the expense of their own physi-cal comfort.” The begin-

ning of the high-heeled shoe dates back to the 15th century. They were originally created to help horsemen distribute the pressure from the stir-rups over more of the bottom of the rider’s feet. This caused the rider’s foot to slide too far forward and lead to tragic results, all in all leading to failure. Eventually, the elegant look they brought to women became a sign of wealth.

Unaware of the potential harm, women have been sporting the fashionable heels for cen-turies. Podia-trists (a person devoted to the study and medi-cal treatment of disorders of the foot and ankle) have done studies showing that if a woman chooses to wear heels she is doing damage to her foot and/or ankle. Problems do not occur overnight, but rather over time. Those who start early tend to get in the habit of wear-ing them to school as teenagers and to work as adults. Children should avoid heels, as recommended by the Arthritis Research Campaign. They can claw the toes, leading for abnormalities and growth problems. In a survey done by 100 girls at Montgomery Blair High School in Maryland on Jan. 29, it was revealed that 44 percent wear high heels regularly and 57 percent of those experience foot and lower back pain. “If women do wear higher than one inch heels, I tell my patients to do achilles tendon stretches,” said Dr. Stewart Kramer, Podiatrist

“High heels with tapered fronts throws the pressure to the front of the foot and can cause bunions, hammertoes and even some-times neuromas,” Kramer said. Other problems caused by heels that are too high or to tight are hammertoe, when your toes are forced against the front of your shoe unnaturally bending your toes, bun-ions, bony bumps formed on the joint at the base of your big toe, “Pump bump,” a bony enlargement on the back of your heel from straps, and stress fractures, tiny cracks in the

bones of your foot that result from the pressure of heels on the forefoot. So what makes them so popular? Designers and fashion industries have exceeded the classic patent leather heel. Styles now come in leather, fur, plastic, fabric, and even glass. Celebri-ties have outlandishly covered them in crystals, diamonds, and gold and commonly a pair with beads or fancy

embroidery may be worn around town. It is pos-sible to have a pair to go with every outfit, anytime of day. Many other students prefer more comfort-able styles. “I will never wear high heels. They’re overrat-ed, uncomfort-

able, and just not my style. I prefer my soccer shoes,” said junior Kat Reach. Teenage girls who insist on wearing them are recommended to wear flats during the days to reduce possible injuries.

The recommended height for high heels or “stilettos”(a high thin heel on women’s shoes that is narrower than a spike heel), are five to two inches but many women see no limits, towering in six to eight inch heels.

I recommend one inch heels or lower,” Dr. Kramer said.

For the love of shoes

Not so happy nailsNail salons go to great lengths to keep customers safe

BY JULIE TUMASZ

Staff Writer

Your Homecoming to do list includes go-ing to the florist for the corsage, traveling to the hair stylists for a new hair do and a trip to the nail salon. Did you know that the trip for your nails could cause infections, allergic reactions or worse? You’ve heard the horror stories about people who used the wrong polish and ended up with welts all over their hands, boils down their arms and nails falling off.

Nails Love on Little River Turnpike in Annandale is just one of the many places that high school students will be flocking to in a few days. These “professionals” buff, file, snip, clip, smooth and paint with ease. But they also have to be careful not to cause infections with their customers. Homecoming-expectant students are not the only ones coming to nail salons. The nail salon business has taken off in the last few years and the salons have to practice safe nail precautions to stay in business.

Senior Myra Perez is almost always having her nails done, “I trust the profes-

sionals and they seem to do a good job.” Many people like Perez think that a pro-fessional manicure or pedicure has fewer hazards than using the products yourself. Unfortunately, the salons do present a greater risk for disease transmission. That’s why salons have to work hard to keep their salon safe, clean and licensed. Government laws are also trying to help these dangers from nail infections.

The states government laws regulate the salons and their technicians. Almost every state has some type of licensing requirements for nail salons, nail techni-cians, or both. Some of these regulations include employing only workers that have the minimum number of hours of classroom and practical training and sterilizing tools properly.

Salons also have to maintain sufficient equipment. They must have at least one manicure table and one sink that runs hot and cold water and make sure that em-ployees wash their hands before beginning work on a customer. All these regulations have to be in working order when there is an inspection. Governments do care for your nails.

Although some people think differently, Jolleen Tran has gotten her nails done in the past for special occasions and plans to get them done for this homecoming, but she believes that the government isn’t and shouldn’t do anything about these prob-lems, “I don’t see the government doing anything serious about this problem, but I also feel they have so many more important issues to deal with.”

There are many infections that the salons are trying to prevent. Salons try to put special attention into making sure artifical nails are put on securely. Rose Bingham complains, “When I got my arti-ficial tips, one of them came off in a week!” She added, “When it came off, it felt like my real nail came off too.” Bingham is actually right. The fake nail will lift your real nail off enough to make an opening, increasing the chance of mud, dirt and grim to infect the skin underneath.

Additionally, unclean tools can cause infections such as bacterial, fungal and vi-ral viruses. English teacher Niki Holmes has been getting her nails done regularly done during most of her adult life. She continues to go to the local nail salon in

Heritage shopping center where they take special precautions for their customers. Holmes said, “My salon has a special box, shaped like a pen case for each of their

regular customers. My box, labeled with my first name and date of birth, includes my own file and buffer. I have total trust in my professional manicurists!” Many salons are now using these extra boxes with extra tools to confirm the customers that their tools are sanitary.

Rumors are flying that customers should bring their own tools to remove risk. This is untrue. Any medical person-nel could tell you that your own tools could transmit infection as easily as salon tools. The difference is that your own tools can transmit infection from your own environ-ment, rather than from another client.

Further, most professional manicur-ists will not use tools brought by the client because in doing so they can be held legally responsible though they have no control over the cleanliness or condition of the tools. Holmes remembers the first day she went to her nail salon, “The professionals opened my tools right in front of me.”

How do you know if you have one of these numerous infections? Your symp-

toms would include pain, redness, itching and pus around the nail. Your nail could turn yellow-green, green, or green-black. Is the polish worth it, now?

There are, of course, substitutions for nail salons. Adam Wirdzek suggests an-other way, “I always bite my nails to keep them short. It’s a bad habit but then again, I don’t ever have to trim.”

Whitney Clark has never gotten a pedicure but not because she thinks it is infectious. “I’m scared of getting a pedicure at a nail salon! I think it would tickle and it would be so weird for people to be touching my feet.”

Obviously, getting your nails done can be a dangerous risk before Homecoming. How would your date feel if you turned up with yellow fingernails? But don’t worry too much, most nail salons are making sure to follow regulations to make your nails safe.Nail salons, such as the local Tiffanies Nail

Salon in Heritage shopping center, provide personal nail care kits for frequent custom-ers. The kits are stored on this shelve for the customers next visit.

Stilettos prove to have damaging effects if worn too frequently

BY CAROLINE MERZ

Staff Writer

Stilettos can cause painful bunions like the one above if worn too frequently and for long periods of time.

Junior Beth Hertel waits for her manicure to begin. Hertel frequently goes to Tiffanies Nail Salon because of its personal nail care kits and excellent service.

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“Every other week I get pedicures.”

—Natalia Schwien

sophomore

“Once a week I go to get a pedicure.”

—Aimee Jennings freshman

“I change my socks everyday and keep my feet fresh.”

—Joseph Ingborg

junior

“I wash my feet in the shower, and I get pedicures every so often.”

—Samantha Smithsenior

What do you do to take

care of your feet?

Fast Facts about the body

The average person, engaging in non-strenuous activity, walks approxi-amatly 4 miles every day, or about 115,000 miles in a lifetime.

Your mouth produces 1 liter of saliva a day.

If all your DNA is stretched out, it would reach to the moon 6,000 times.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth.

Every person has a unique tounge print.

You’ll drink about 75,000 liters (20,000 gallons) of water in your lifetime.

Unless food is mixed with saliva you cannot taste it.

A person remains conscious for 8 sec-onds after being decapitated.

The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.

After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.

Information taken from: http://www.didyouknow.cd/fastfacts/body.htm and http://www.berro.com/entertainment/humans_interest-ing_facts.htm

Tips for buying shoes

•Choose low heels. The best heels for comfort are ones with a .5-2in. heel and a wide base; stilettos provide very little support.

•Check your shoe size and do not rely on shoe size alone. Your shoe size fluctuates in length and even more in width. Only buy the shoe size if it is comfortable.

•Try on both shoes before purchasing. Naturally one foot is usually larger then the other. In this case, select shoes that fit the larger foot.

•Shop for shoes in the late evening or at night. Feet swell during the day. A shoe bought in the morning may not fit the same at night.

•‘Break in’ periods do not exist. If shoes do not feel comfortable right away, they should not be purchased.

•Pay attention to materials and styles. Leather and nylon mesh are the best because they allow the foot to breathe and allow flexibility. Some materials may cause rubbing and blistering.

-Martin Ellman, D.P.M.

I will never wear high heels. They’re overrated, uncomfortable, and just not my style.

“—Kat Reach

junior”

12 Oct. 18, 2006PEOPLE AtAA

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill: You are a novelist and have just begun to write your next book. Please complete the fi rst paragraph (or page) of your novel

Bullets howled overhead and cannon shots tore into the earth, resulting in trails of mud, dirt, body parts, and other indistinguishable debris being silhouetted against a sky so red it was as if the sun were bleeding.

Two odious cruisers that bore ugly resemblance to infernal creatures exchanged laser fire so intense the heat could be felt from it and so concentrated it left streaks in your vision. The resounding hiss of combat noise was suddenly broken by the dying roar of one of the cruisers as its side was ripped open. Blue flames from its ruptured reactor poked their tendrils out of the side in a great arc and then peeled back the hull.

The cruiser, like some crazed beast, began losing altitude erratically steadily heading downwards in a great horizontal arc and finally crashing nose first into the blackened earth. The scream of metal grinding, scratching, and breaking was the creature’s final scream as its neck snapped, and its engines collided with the bridge. A slow explosion reached out after the other cruiser in vain, before slowly receding and abating to a hellish fire searching for food among the charred wreckage of that fallen leviathan.

“Mikonen! Wake up! If you wanted to watch fireworks, you should have joined

the girl scouts,” came a voice as if from a dream.I didn’t respond immediately, I just stood, enthralled by the wild vista before

me. Ripping my arid eyes from that colossal image, I responded mechanically and began charging across the field behind my comrades. The terrain was like some titanic cracked and blackened chess board on which we were mere pawns, just blood and iron here for the amusement of some sadistic force beyond our awareness.

Overhead three planes soared past to demolish the artillery in front of us. They flew with an almost divine coordination as if some heavenly artist had taken his brush and created three eagles amidst the surrounding chaos. They delivered their payload to the target, and in that instant of anticipatory silence as you wait for the resounding thunder, a missile shot up. Like some spiteful creature intent on destroying those birds which had just defiled its nest, it bit into one of the planes and exploded, sending the plane reeling. In the next instant the plane veered into another and like mad wasps they circled, spiraled and fell, each struggling to defeat the other and climb again into the sky, but both doomed to collide into the earth.

That sibilant dream voice rang in my ears again, giving instructions which only barely registered consciously—“Mikonen, Douglas, Dickinson, flank right, follow the cavalry!” We acknowledged robotically and ran to the right where a tank chewed its way to the top of a hill like some baleful mechanized sphinx. It eclipsed the sun at the crest, pausing only long enough to aim at some distant target before flames sprouted from its turret forming a grotesque smile of pleasure, and then it plowed onwards again with us in pursuit.

Grover Mewborn In a college essay, the beginnings of a prize-winner

We stress, we sweat, we worry day and night: how do we tell a college, in 500 words or less, what we’re all about? A few AHS seniors have figured it out.

University of Michigan: Describe a setback that you have faced. How did you resolve it? How did the outcome affect you? If something similar happened in the future, how would you react?

I just sat there. I sat at my desk. I sat and could not say a word. My head

rested in my hands as the tears began to roll down my cheeks. I wanted to be back home in my twin bed all curled up in a place where the surroundings were recognizable and I comprehended everything around me. How could this hap-pen to me? What did I do wrong? Nowhere in my mindset could I grasp what lay directly in front of me.

It was the second week of school my junior year. Classes had constantly been a breeze for me. There was no need to over stress myself on homework and particularly no requirement to hit the textbooks to study. I never paid attention to the words, “Test next class, STUDY” in my assignment book. So when it came to beginning Higher Level IB Math, I figured that I would only have to do a little more homework, nothing else. But that second week of school, when my teacher returned the opening test, I recognized the oversight I had made.

Never before had I butchered any assignment in math. I understood the les-sons, and the fresh material was by no means tough. When that exam plummeted from my teacher’s hands onto my desk I thought that my heart had stopped. The crimson pen pointed out all my mistakes I had made and stared right back at me. An enormous fiend, gazing all the way through my forehead, was the colossal scarlet “F” at the very top edge of the piece of paper.

After I left class, emotions of dissatisfaction and re-sentment resided within me for the entire day. I believed my world had deteriorated away, and I would fail to ever recuperate.

When I reached home, I scurried to my bedroom and did what I had sought to do the whole day. I curled up on my bed and lay there probing for a response. How long I remained in my room pondering, I do not remember; however, later that evening when I emerged, I exited as a new person. All that thinking I did did me well.

I came to the realization that I would just have to suck it up, ask my teacher for a retake, put extra effort into this class, and learn from this experience. I would no longer idle away my time, doodle during class, and put off completing my home-work. No, now I had to study, work hard, and do my best to prove myself.

The next math unit, I meticulously worked. I studied every evening. I did everything that was possible to retain the information and make sure I knew it well. As time passed I found myself in an identical position. Waiting for the test to float down to my desk, I knew how I did and was ready for the results. “An A!!!” I believed in myself again! All of my hard work had paid off as shown by a huge grin worn the rest of the day.

Elizabeth Sass Learning from mistakesCornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences:Describe how your interests and related experiences have influ-enced your selection of major and how CALS will prepare you to be a leader in your chosen field

Success is driven by passion. My passion is ice hockey. By combining my main interests: entrepreneur-ship, design and sports with my passion, I will be setting myself up for success.

Since I was five years old my main passion has been ice hockey. To be more specific it has been goaltending. I would walk around the house pretending I was the next Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy.

As I grew older, I realized this dream was shared by thousands of other kids around the world. Living in the “hotbed” of hockey that the state of Virginia is, I decided a much more realistic goal would be to play college hockey, whether it is NCAA or ACHA, and use my academic skills to make a living combining hockey with other interests and talents.

Academics, hockey, and music have been my main focuses throughout high school. I have consistently challenged myself academically (I take four International Baccalaureate and one Advanced Placement course). These classes get me excited about new and different topics. One class I have the opportunity to take this year is IB Design and Technology. This class combines architec-ture and engineering to create not only things that are functional, but look good as well. We go through the whole design and invention process. From identifying the problem, all the way to physically building and testing the product that solves this problem. This class is where I got my second of three interests: design. I also am heavily involved in the music program at school. I have been the first chair trombone in symphonic band and jazz band since the beginning of 11th grade. I have participated in All-District band each year I have been in high school, and finished 17th in the state of Virginia for all-state band auditions this past year. While I don’t see myself playing the trombone for a living, I could see myself receiving a minor in trombone performance while playing in ensembles in college, and possibly playing gigs every now and then in college and also after college.

The way for me to combine design and sports is through entrepreneurship. I have always wanted to start and lead some sort of business related with hockey. By using my skill in design I feel I can start and design my own line of hockey equipment. By doing this I would still be closely involved with hockey, while leading a business and designing a product.

I feel Cornell will be the best environment to become a leader and combine my passion, ice hockey, with design and entrepreneurship. A business degree in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will make me the leader that I aspire to be.

Eric Sobel Driven by Passion

Washington College: Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

“Okay, remember no matter what just jump! No matter how cold the water is just JUMP! One....two....three..”” Eeee! Kaley, wait!” I jumped back from the edge of the pool before I could fall in. Kaley, the seven and a half year old I have babysat for the past four years, stands there looking at me with her hands on her hips. I look at her laughing, she is seven and a half going on thirty. Through all our tough times “just jump” became our motto. Kaley uses the phrase “just jump” when I am getting into the pool too slowly, but what she does not realize is “just jump” also became the motto for my life.

The first time I met Kaley was in a sweaty gym at another one of our parents fourth of July company parties. Her dad, Donny, and my mom work together. Donny told my mom he needed a babysitter, and my mom told Donny I needed a job. I was not particularly ecstatic about it and from the way Kaley cried the whole first afternoon I watched her, I could tell she wasn’t either. I remember thinking I just don’t think this is going to work out. However, on the second day of babysitting Kaley, we went to the pool. Kaley, who was only three was scared of the water. I remember coaxing her into the water. “Come on Kaley, it is so fun, just jump in to me.” The moment she jumped into the water, everything changed for me. Kaley became like another one of my little sisters. She was at my house at least four days a week. Unlike some of my other friends, I looked forward to my job every day. Flashing through the years, a number of events occurred and I know if I had not met Kaley I would not have been ready for them. Kaley taught me how to become a more responsible person. She taught me that first, before I can take care of others, I needed to learn how to take care of myself.

It’s true what they say, that having a child changes everything. Even though Kaley is not my child, many aspects of my life changed because of her. I have struggled with ADD my whole life. Throughout my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I let it control my life. I just assumed that I was not smart

enough to do well in school. If I got a bad grade on a test, it was not because I did not study, it was because of my ADD. I blamed everything on that. One day during Christmas break I was babysitting Kaley and she told me about an award she was given in school. The principal of the school awarded her with the CHEER award, which stands for: Compassion, Honesty, Empathy, Excitement to learn, and Re-spect. I was so proud of her for getting that award and she was so proud of herself.

That is when it struck me, it was time for me to grow up and respect myself. I was fighting so hard against a problem that had a simple solution right in front of me the whole time. I finally allowed my parents to take me to a doctor to talk about getting medicine.

That one little step made an enormous difference in my life. I stopped dreading going to school. I was excited to learn. If I had never met Kaley it may have been years until I had that epiphany.

I had just gotten back from vacation, when Kaley came flying through the door with a card she made for me. The cover said, “ Welcome home Megan!” The inside said “Megan! I missed you so so so so much! Are you leaving that long again next summer? I hope not! Love, Kaley.” I started thinking about how I would explain to Kaley that next summer not only would I be leaving earlier, but I would be leaving longer as well. “Am I really going to college next year?” I remember thinking to myself.

A couple of years back just the thought of more school after high school would have seemed unbearable. It is such a relief, after so many years of strug-gling, to know that I am ready for this step. I looked back at Kaley and I know that she will be able to handle the last month of summer without me. In these past summers together each of us have grown and matured in our own way. I stare back at Kaley, blonde hair, blue eyes, still standing on the pool deck with her hands on her hips. “Megan, remember what I said” she said bossily. “Oh, I heard you the first time Kaley,” I said as I grabbed her hand, “Just....JUMP!” As I felt the rush of freezing cold water all over my body, instead of fighting it like I used to, I accepted it. I know that I never would have been able to do that if I had never met Kaley.

Learning to move forward and jump right inMegan Price

Insight into seniors through...

The College Essay

Atoms who matterBest Hair

Compiled by Lea Nickerson and Julie Tumasz. Winners were determined by sur-veys distributed during flex and by editor selection

Drew Chadwick

Senior Drew Chadwick’s naturally blonde hair drew many nominees from the students. “It’s not hair, it’s fur,” said Chadwick.

Jay Jones

Senior Jay Jones puts little work into his hair. “I just get out of bed and go. I don’t really do anything special to it, it’s just the kind of hair that I have. I do need to get it done though,” said Jones.

“His hair is crazy,” said classmate Freddy Santos.

Carson Wahl

Sophomore Carson Wahl is apathetic about his hair. He had to actually think about his hair, which he never does. He finally said simply, “I wash and comb it and I guess it’s natu-rally just good.”

Chris Fuller

Freshman Chris Fuller has long, shiny blonde hair. He knew his sister would be jeal-ous of his nomination. “I’ll show my sister! She’s always insult-ing my long hair but now she’ll have to realize that the whole school likes it,” said Fuller

Madeline Irwin

Freshman Madeline Irwine has light brown hair with blond highlights that many people ad-mire. “If they had seen my hair at a sweaty field hockey practice, I wouldn’t have been nominated at all,” said Irwin.

Tiffanie Le

Junior Tiffanie Le is known for having the epitome of natural hair. “I like my hair because I do not have to do anything to it. It is naturally straight. I have had the luxury of never having to use a flat iron and I never blowdry my hair,” said Le.

13PHOTOAtAAOct. 18, 2006

A Day At Cox Farms

Other Pumpkin Farms in the North-ern VA Area

LEESBURG ANIMAL PARK19270 James Monroe Highway, Lees-

burg, Virginia (703) 433-0002Pumpkinville is open everyday from

Sep. 30 thru Nov. 7, 9 a. m. until 6 p. m. The farm play area includes an Indian teepee, giant slides, a hay maze, unlim-ited hayrides, straw mountains, tot maze, rope swings, tractors to climb on, a large inflated fire truck slide, moon bounces, and much more.

BURKE NURSERY AND GRADEN CENTER

9401 Burke Road, Burke, Virginia (703) 323-1188

The 10th Annual Fall Festival and Pumpkin Playground runs daily from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. September 29 thru October 31. Highlights include pirate and western-themed activities, Native American story-tellers, slides, tumbling tubes, rope swings, a Monster Truck, mechanical rides, farm animals, clowns, magicians, musicians, Wobble Wagon rides and much more.

JUMBO’S PUMPKIN PATCH6521 Holter Rd., Middletown, Mary-

land (301) 371-6874Open daily September 23 thru Octo-

ber 31, 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Pick your own pumpkin, explore the Crazy Corn maze, haywagons, petting zoo, pony rides, face painting and much much more

Information from http://dc.about.com/od/childrensactivities/

A fun way to spend your autumn day is at Cox Farms. Admission includes: Unlimited hayrides, Slide-O-Saurus Mountain, Volcano Rumble Slide, 5 more giant slides, rope swings, farm animals and their babies, Billy Goat Village, hay tunnels, the Penny Pit, and face painting.

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Top: piglets born on Sept. 24 are

shown resting in their pen. Right:

a sign shows all the different

choices available at Cox Farms. The many dif-

ferent activities available allows

kids to remain busy for many hours without getting bored.

Top left:a girl gets her face painted by her mother. Stands were set up with paint and volunteers available to paint kids faces. Top right, kids wait their chance to slide down the candy farm slide. Cox Farms includes a Kiddie Land where younger kids can play on the Fairyland Castle Slides, Poohʼs House, Panda Pagoda Slides, Candy Hill and Rope Swings.

Left: a young boy gets assistance in milking a cow. Kids are given the opportunity to milk a cow through-out the day for free. The cow is kept behind bars during this time. Above, a billy goat gets up close and personal with the camera. The billy goat farm is a main attraction at Cox Farms and provide visitors to get up close to the cute animals.

A kid comes down the Slide-O-Saurus Mountain Slide. New to Cox Farms this year are many new slides ranging in size. Troll Moutain was also added this year. Lines are backed up with kids waiting for their chance to slide down.

A young boy plays with a billy goat in the billy goat farm. The farm was caged in with all around 30 goats ranging in size. There friendly enough for you to go up and pet.

Unlimited apples were available for free to all who came to Cox Farms. Deliveries were made often to restock the bins.

A female cow takes a rest in-between the cow milking shows. Shows were every hour on the hour. Kids were given the oppurtunity of milking the cows themselves,

Admission to the farm include free freshly picked apples and cold cider located in the center of the farm. Apples and cider can be purchased in large quantities in the market.

These jams were just a little part of the eclectic

foods featured in

the market at Cox Farms. Other items

included pies, candy,

fudge and pumpkins.

A field of pumpkins were available for purchase upon exiting Cox Farms.

A young boy takes his turn on the rope swing and prepares to fall in a foam pit as other kids patiently wait their turn in line.

At the end of each visit to Cox Farms, free patch pumpkins were available for pick up. Bigger pumpkins were available for purchase in the market.

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14 Oct 18 2006INTERNATIONAL AtAA

More than just fastingMuslim students enrich their lives by not only fasting, but also abstaining desires

BY AYA SAED

Staff Writer

While Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calender, is winding down, many stu-dents around AHS are challenging themselves to fast. Just as Christians fast during Lent and Jews during Yom Kippur, Muslims undergo a month of fasting during Ramadan.

Fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, requires a Muslim to forgo eating from sunrise to sunset. This challenging process allows Muslims to rejuvenate themselves from any sins and recover from any addictions. Fasting does not simply mean abstaining from eating, but also abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. The reason why Ramadan is so sacred lies within the origin of Islam. Ramadan coincides with the time that the angel Gabriel revealed the first verses of the Koran to Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. Although many non-Muslims find it unusual to fast, Muslims believe that this month heals the soul and brings you closer to god.

“Sometimes I hear people say, ‘what’s the point of not eating the whole day,’ but they never know the meaning behind it because even though it’s hard, it feels great,” said senior Fatima Ali.

In order to get used to this change, many Muslims start fasting at an early age. Sopho-more Hina Spall has been fasting since she was nine.

“When you fast during Ramadan, you feel very proud of yourself not only because you have not eaten the whole day, but because you’ve proven yourself to god,” said Spall.

“During Ramadan, I am more mindful of my prayers and try my best to control my desires,” said freshman Salma Mohammad. Family life plays a large role in many. Muslim families because gathering is very important when breaking your fast.

“Ramadan is very unique for each family; they all celebrate in their own ways and traditions. With my family we have a gathering when we break our fast. Later, every one sits in a circle when we read from the Qur’an, and we stay up really late and just eat

all night,” said Mohammad. The Qur’an, the holy book for Muslims, is very important to Muslims, and many take

the time to read the entire holy book during Ramadan. The Koran tells believers: “Fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you.” Muslims are required to pray five times a day, including before dawn, sunset, and evening. During ramadan, many people are more mindful of their prayers.

Many Muslims also gather at night during Ramadan, usually at a mosque, to recite

portions of the Quran and to perform the Taraweeh prayer, which is an additional prayer during Ramadan.

“During Ramadan, I feel like I’m a whole new person, like I cleaned my soul, like I’m a new born baby,” said sophomore Sahar Atayee.

“Sometimes I feel like Ramadan is hard. It is a challenge, but it is great because in the end, the Eid celebration is huge! During Eid, I get every thing from money to clothes,” said Ali.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the fasting period. It is a three-day celebration where children typically get new clothes, pocket change, and plenty of sweets.

On the morning of the Eid, Muslims get up very early to go to the prayers. These prayers are especially held on Eid. They start about 80 minutes after sunrise. Later, people go out to visit family and friends to enjoy and celebrate themselves together with everyone.

Ramadan is a very holy time for Muslims and is celebrated around the world.

Hijab: to wear or not to wear?Muslim girls express their views on wearing the hijab

BY VANESSA CERRO

International Editor

“And to the believing women/ That they should lower/Their gaze and guard/ Their modesty; that they/ Should not display their/ Beauty and ornaments except/ What (ordi-narily) appear /Thereof; that they should/Draw their veils over/ Their bosoms and not display/ Their beauty except/ To their husbands, their fathers,/ Their husbands’ fathers, their sons,/Their brothers or their brothers’ sons,”

This is a verse from the Quran stating that Muslim women must cover themselves outside of immediate family.

One of the fastest growing and most influential religions in the world holds its own identity for their women: a scarf. Women all over the world represent themselves with a veil wrapped around their hair and covering their bosoms as a symbol of being a Muslim. Across our nation and in our schools, we see that many Muslim women are making a choice not to wear a scarf, even though they continue their practice of Islam. To many, in Western society, it is a battle of being more Americanized than religious. But to others, it is about religion coming first in their lives.

“I’m Muslim because that’s my religion and that comes

first, even though I have an American citizenship,” said junior Taghrid Najdi, who wears a hijab. “ My culture and religion come to me first in my life.”

On the other hand, Many Muslims feel differently about wearing a scarf.

Susan Al-Suqr does not wear a scarf . “[I am] Muslim, and I still follow my religion even though I don’t wear a scarf. I don’t wear it because I follow my mom, and I feel more comfortable without it. I still pray and stuff,” said Al-Suqr.

“I think that if they want to wear them that it’s cool and all, but for the ones that don’t want to they should have the right not to wear them. They should have the right to choose basically because otherwise it would be tarnishing the whole point of wearing it,” said senior Kwaku Osei.

To many, the right to choose to wear a scarf or not is their own choice. But to Sheikh Shaker Elsayed, an Imam at Dar Al- Hijrah a mosque in Falls Church, has his own opinion on wearing a scarf.

“The Islamic, Christian, and Jewish traditions have a common dress code that is entrenched in modesty and humility for the sake of protecting their privacy,” said El-sayed. “It shouldn’t be grief that brings modesty, it should be modesty for the sake of modesty because modesty is a good value. And when a woman dresses modestly, they are more valuable than when they dress in a flagrant display. It’s a privacy issue,” said El-Sayed.

Elsayed even made a connection to Mary, mother of Jesus, and the way she is dressed in statues. “God has

chosen, above all, women, and purified you, and chosen above all women, above all ages.”

In the end, some are forced to wear the scarf by their familes. For other Muslim women, the choice for wearing a scarf is left to them to decide.

Common Myths of IslamBY WALIHA GANI

International Editor

Ever since the 9/11 attacks five years ago, Islam has become the most misunderstood religion in the world today. Even though 1.5 billion people follow Islam, and it is the 2nd fastest growing religion in the world, many people who are unfamiliar with the religion tend to have tremendous misunderstanding about its teachings and practices. For example, all Muslims are Arabs, barbaric and backward people, Muhammad was the founder of Islam, are all very common myths. However, the most common myths are that Islam is a religion of terror, Islam tolerates the killing of innocents, Muslims worship Muhammad, and Islam op-presses women.

Myth: Islam: A religion of terror?

Fact: The exact meaning of “jihad” is to strive in the way of Allah. The word “jihad” does not only refer to a holy war. Jihad is any struggle or obstacle one faces in life. It is a struggle within one self and desires. The Quran states, “The best jihad is (by) the one who strives against his own self for Allah, The Mighty and Majestic.” Muslims can exert themselves in the path of Allah by fighting of disires. A verse from the Quran states, ‘Our Lord, rescue us from this town whose people are op-pressors and raise for us from you one who will protect and raise for us from you one who will help”. Thus, the jihad that refers to combat aims only at rescuing and liberating the oppressed from tyranny.

Myth: Islam is intolerent of other religions

Fact: The Qur’an states (translation),[3:85] “And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers.” Even though, according to the Quran, it is specified that no other way of life is acceptable to Allah except Islam, Allah has also, nonetheless, commanded the Muslims to be tolerant of people who advocate other faiths. From the Sunnah called Al-Awsat by Al-Tabarani, states that non-Muslims living in an Islamic state, should not be hated upon. Thus, Islam is intolerant of false ideas; however it is tolerant of other religions.

Myth: Islam tolerates the killing of innocents

Fact: Today, one of the most widely held misconcep-tions about Islam is that Islam permits the killing of innocent people. And yet in the Qur’an, Allah explicitly states. Translation: [17:33] “Nor take life - which Allah has made sacred - except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority (to demand retaliation or to forgive): but let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life, for he is helped (by the Law).”

If a Muslim is to kill any innocent people, he/she is committing a huge sin.

Myth: Islam oppresses women

Fact: From the Qur’an, many verses make it clear that men and women are equal in the God’s view. Accord-ing to the teachings of Islam, the level of consciousness is the only thing that distinguishes people in the site of God. Islam clearly teaches that a woman is a full-person under the law and is the spiritual equal of a male. Simi-larly, according to Islamic Law, women have the right to own property, operate a business, and receive equal pay for equal work. They cannot be forced to marry against their will and it is permitted for them to keep their own name when married.

The three largest mosques in

the world

Masjid al Haram This “Sacred Mosque” is a large mosque

in the holy city of Mecca. It surrounds the Kaaba, the direction where all Muslims turn towards each day in prayer. This mosque is neatly decorated with black silk with gold lettering.

Hassan II MosqueLocated in Casablanca, Morocco, this is the second largest mosque in the world. The enormous glass floor of the mosque has space for 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 outside. The 210-meter minaret is the tallest in the world and is visible day and night.

Five Pillars of Islam

Faith The first and foremost pillar of Islam is faith. Muslims must believe that no one is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His last messenger.

Prayer Prayer is a requirement upon Muslims

five times a day. These five prayers are called Fard or obligatory prayers. The time for these prayers are set times in the day.

The paying of alms Each year, Muslims are to give a fixed

proportion of their savings for endeavors, such as helping the poor. In this way, they believe that their wealth is “made pure.” Alms-giving is considered a form of wor-ship to God.

Fasting Ramadan comes around every year.

During Ramadan, all Muslims fast from sunset until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are pregnant or nursing, are excused from the fast and must make up an equal number of days later in the year.

PilgrimageThe last pillar of Islam is the pilgrim-

mage to Makkah. This occurs annually and is an obligation for a Muslim to perform once in his/her lifetime, if one is physically and financially able to perform it.

AHS Muslim young women wear the hijab to practice their religion. Sophomore Hina Spall chose to wear the hijab at the age of 13 on her own will. Here she is fixing her hijab.

Many Muslims pray five times a day regularly, following the second pillar of Islam. Senior Sahar Chaudary prays not only during the month of Ramadan, but also prays the five required prayers throught-out the entire year. Chaudary believes that through prayer, she is having direct contact with Allah. She believes prayer to be one of the most importantcornerstones of Islam. Chaudary does not believe the five prayers to be a burden, but always manages to make time for her prayers everyday.

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Prophetʼs Mosque The Prophet’s Mosque is located in the

second sacred city of Islam, Madinah in Saudi Arabia. In additioin, the Prophet’s Mosque contains the tomb of Prophet Muhammad.

Islam

Myth: Muslims worship Muhammad

Fact: Even though Prophet Muhammad is a very important figure in Islam, Muslims, by no means, worship him. Prophet Muhammad is considered to be the last messenger of Allah. According to the Islamic belief, Muhammad, like all prophets before him, such as Jesus and Moses, was only a human being. He never claimed divine status. Prophet Muhammad always said to refer to him as “the Messenger of God and His slave.” Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and exemplary behavior and person-ality is a precedent to all Muslims, but they do not worship him.

The Muslim Student Association

The Mus-lim Student Asosiation is a group to aims to bring unity and fellowship among Muslim and non-Muslim students at AHS. One of the impor-

tant goals of MSA is to spread awareness of Islam. MSA consists of

an average of 30 students. The meetings are held on the third wednesday of every month in room 285. MSA is open to everyone.

Senior Wahab Saeed is the current president of theMSA.

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15ARTSAtAAOctober 18, 2006

BY LAURA SIMPSON

Arts Editor

David Norton, a professional potter, started pottery in college in order to impress a girl. When the girl bailed, he kept at pottery. He took one class, and then continued to teach himself. “It took hard work and practice, like learning the piano,” said Norton. His major in college was marketing, but after getting fired from his first job, he knew he wanted to work for himself as a potter. After over 20 years of working at The Torpedo Factory, his slogan “Pottery for the kitchen and the cosmos” has sold many coffee mugs and vegetable steamers. “The one use I got out of marketing, was knowing how to advertise my work, so I could sell it and make a good amount of money,” said Norton.

The Torpedo Factory, a 3-floor buliding lo-cated in Alexandris, is a very interesting place to go to over 82 studios to view the works of local artists. It provides many art classes that are led by The Art League School.

Elke Seefeldt of Berlin, Germany and David Norton of Round Hill, VA are respected potters that have studios in the Torpedo Fac-tory. Seefeldt has been doing pottery for over 28 years. She took one class in Berlin and then continued to teach herself.

“I only took one 12-week course and then I learned by going to museums and viewing other artworks, I knew that I would rather teach myself than be told what to do and how to do it,” said Seefeldt.

Her favorite thing to do with pottery is experiment with different ways of making it. Once the clay object is dried, Seefeldt burnishes it to make it smooth and glossy. Af-terwards, she loves to put her pottery in the sagger with various objects to see what the color of the pottery will become. The process of making pottery ranges from three days to a couple of weeks depending on how the work is made.

After finishing her piece of work, Seefeldt keeps it for a while to critique it and once she is satisfied, she sells it. “I love the outcome of all my hard work,” said Seefeldt.

Both Seefeldt and Norton are a part of the Ceramic Guild that is made up of 30 pot-ters who share two studios at the Torpedo Factory. The Torpedo Factory is just one of many galleries that show pottery. All of Norton’s and Elke’s pottery are on display and up for sale in studio 22. The Torpedo Factory Art Center is located at 105 N. Union Street Alexandria, VA 22314 and the phone number is (703) 836-2585.

There are many other places in the Northern Virginia area that offer pottery classes and a fun place to go on a Saturday to paint pottery. A popular place to go for painting pottery is People’s Pottery located at Fair Oaks Mall. “I enjoy painting pottery during the weekends with my friends, it is really exciting to show my creativity,” said junior Kat Reach.

However, People’s Pottery doesn’t let the customer make his or her own pottery, it offers only painting. Wakefield Recreation Center is in a closer proximity to Annandale and is another location that offers pottery classes.

Pottery is a very common form of entertainment and many people enjoy painting and making pottery in classes and shops. There are many techniques used to form pot-tery. People use handwork, a potter’s wheel, turning, and slip casting. Handwork is the basic form used by the artists hands and tools, it is the most primitive way to produce pottery and every piece of artwork is especially unique. The potter’s wheel is used for mass production. Each type of technique provides different ways of producing certain types of objects.

Students interested in pottery, should check out the Wakefield Recreation Center. The classes last about 3 hours and meet once a week. The classes range from 10-12 week sessions. It costs $227.00 in order to become a member. Wakefield Recreation Center is located at 8100 Braddock Road Annandale VA, 22003. More information on the pottery classes can be obtained by calling (703) 321-7080. It took hard work and

practice, like learning the piano,

“—David Norton

Potter”

“I enojyed molding the clay and mak-ing different pinch pots.”

—Brittany Irvinfreshman

“I like making pottery because it makes my hands gooey and it re-lieves stress.”

—Angie Kimsophomore

“I like pottery because I felt like I made an emo-tional connection with my clay.”

—Kat Reachjunior

“I enjoyed it because it was a new, exciting experience.”

—John Chusenior

“I took it as a class in high school and I won an award of which my parents were very proud.”

—Bill Maglisceau

English teacher

Potters...not Harry!

5 Steps in making your own pottery

Before you begin to work on your pottery you must first find clay. Usu-ally you begin with raw clay. The raw clay is taken and washed in pots to remove all the pebbles and sand to make sure it is the right texture. After the clay is cleaned it is then moistened to make it more flexable and easier to handle. This is a key step to making your pottery because if it is done the wrong way then you will have lumps and hard to work with clay.

Burnishing pottery will give it a smoother and more even texture. It makes the the pot look very glossy. To burnish a piece of pottery you use a hard rib that is made of either rubber, metal, or wood. You rub the rib against the pottery to acheive this. Other ways to achieve the results of burnishing are using cloths, stones, spoons, or rods.

Shaping is the part of pot-tery making when you get to show your creative side. It is when the object begins to take form. This is called “throwing” which is actually shaping the clay. Shapes can be made by pulling the clay vertically and from the inside and out.

Baking, or firing, the pottery is a key step to making your peice of pottery. The pottery is placed in a kiln to be baked. How long the pottery is baked is de-termined by the size and shape it. Baking the pottery gives it a hard and solid structure which makes is last. Baking the pot-tery occurs numerous times depending on how many times you paint or glaze it.

This is the step where you get to make your pottery your own. The pottery can be glazed in different colors to give it a simple look. To give the piece of pot-tery a more original look you can paint designs or anything imaganitive on it. The design is called the underglaze which is done before the second firing and the last glaze.

Step 1

Step 4 Step 5

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An insight on a potter’s life

Pottery Places Near you

What do you enjoy about making

pottery?

TORPEDO FACTORY105 North Union Street, AlexandriaVA, 22314(703) 683-2323www.theartleague.org

CATERED CLAYFalls Church, VA(703) 534-7600www.claywire.com

CREATIVE CLAY STUDIOS5704-E General Washington Drive,Alexandria VA, 22312(703) 750-9480http://www.CreativeClayPottery.com

PAINT YOUR HEART OUT125 Mill St. Occoquan, VA 22125(703) 492-7223http://www.paintyourhearout.com

BEV’S CERAMICS INC. 3503 James Madison Highway, Haymarket VA, 20169(703) 754-9339http://www.bevscermaics.com

FAIRFAX’S-PAINT YOUR OWN POTTERY10417 Main Street Fairfax, VA 22030(703)218-2881http://www.ciao-susanna.com

CLAY CAFE STUDIOS 13894 Metrotech DriveChantilly, VA 20151(703) 817-1051http://www.claywire.com

Prepare

Shape

Bake Decorate

Burnish

Pottery Terms: Sagger: Fired Pottery. After forming and burnishing, pieces are placed

in a special container (sagger) together with sawdust, seaweed, salts, and other combustibles. The firing takes place in a reducing atmosphere, which promotes dramatic and unique color variations.

Burnishing: Smoothing the outer surface of the pottery. Burnishing

is accomplished by rubbing the pottery with a hard surface; the outcome should give the pottery a smooth and glossy surface.

Hand building: Involves the building and forming of 3-D clay objects

primarily with the hands. Techniques used include coil, slab, paddle, pinch, and combinations of any two or more.

Throwing: Forming clay objects on the potter’s wheel. Slip-casting: A liquid form of clay that is poured into plaster moulds,

dried and trimmed. It is used to make decorative pieces or figurines. Kiln- A brick-lined oven used to bake or fire ceramics.

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David Norton comes to The Torpedo Factory every Saturday and sixth Sunday to work on his pottery.

16 Oct. 18, 2006SPORTS AtAA

BY CAROLINE MERTZ

Staff Writer

The 2006 Annandale golf season was that of rebuilding. With seven new fresh-men and only one senior, the team was young.

Although the team’s record was 0-9, the learning experi-ence that was there was very vital.

“The expecta-tions were to be a little more competi-tive than we were, not necessarily in record,” Head Coach Carl Durkin said, “It was a building season mainly because we just lacked experi-ence.”

High scorers for the 2006 varsity team were Senior Nick Twomey, Juniors Zach Flynn and Drew Flowers, and freshmen Jeremy Gillcash and Sam Tubb.

Nick Twomey and Drew flowers kicked off the season at the Patriot Preview with scores of 88 and 92. Lake Braddock won the event with 310 points and the atoms overall score was 390. At the Quanico Invitational Twomey and Zach Flynn lead the atoms with a score of 530.

Other major games for the atoms were the tri-match with Lake Braddock and Hayfield, and games with TC Williams, and West Springfield. Twomey, Flynn, Gillcash, and Tubb lead the atoms.

Nick Twomey was the only Atom this year to qualify and move on to the regional tournament. This is his second year in a row qualifying for this tournament.

Seeing as the 2006 season was not one of the atoms greatest, Junior Stephen

Kim has higher expectations for next year.

“This was more of a rebuilding year, next year we’re going to be more com-petitive,” Kim said, “Sam Tubb and Jermey Gillcash are looking strong for next year.” Each of which had qualifying scores for the regional tournament.

Last year the team graduated six seniors, each of which were replaced with seven new freshmen.

“The freshmen know what to expect next year in order to play at the varsity level,” Coach Durkin said, “All players will be expected to work on their skills throughout the year, not just the

two months in season.”

The Rundown:AHS vs. South County FBDefense: Leaders at AHS Quarterback:Matchup Offense:Leaders at AHS

Nate Cartegena: seniorPass att: 61Pass comp:35Pass yds:578Pass TDs: 6Pass Int:1Rush Yds:935Rush TD:8

South County Offense: With a balance of a good passing and running game

their offense is tough. Quarterback, Jay Rowley averages 114.2 yds per game and is consistent. Kicker, Garrett Watson has combined 164 kicking yds and is good under pressure.

FB moving towards title

Volleyball recovers Golf’s season ends

South County Defense: Although the stallions are 1-2 in the disrict both of

their losses were close. Their defense doesn’t match up to that of AHS but they are strong enough to give the Atoms some problems. With all the publicity around Nate they will surely try to stop him.

Coach Adams Outlook: “ I think our season is going

very well. We have won three district games. We take it one game at a time. All opponents are different and present dif-fernt problems for us” .

Antwaun Broxton: seniorRush Att:5Rush Yds:15Rush TD:0RCV Yds:190RCV TD:3

Andrew Lewis: seniorRush Att:43Rush Yds:298Rush TD:5RCV Yds:18RCV TD:0

Will Morris: senior“ Everyone is really working to-

gether and getting good hits. Our linebackers are really stepping it up with their tackles. We are getting better every day on defense.”

R.J. Pearson: seniorRush Att:48Rush Yds:159Rush TD:6RCV Yds:397RCV TD:6

Trevor Daggle: senior“We have done a lot to work on

our movement. If the defense holds well it helps our defense’s momen-tum. Shane Doty really helps us on tackle.”

J.P. Zambrana: senior“ We are all understanding the

defense better and are mentally preparing each game. The defense has bonded and came together each week as we get better.”

District Standings:Football

District Standings:Volleyball

How we scored: Annandale vs. West Potomac

Next Game: vs. South County 7:30 Homecoming

1. Annandale 4-02.Lee 3-03. West Potomac 2-14. Lake Braddock 2-25. South County 1-26. T.C. Williams 1-27. West Springfield 0-28. Hayfield 0-4

Varsity football comes one step closer to another Patriot District title

BY AVERY ADCOCK

Sports Editor

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of weeks you know that AHS football is roaring towards another consecutive patriot district championship. There’s football fever all over AHS in the hopes of going even farther into the playoffs than last year.

After the 35-14 win over West Potomac on Friday the atoms are now looking towards their next game against South County in an effort to remain undefeated. Not only did the win continue their undefeated streak in the district this year but it also brought the atoms to their 13th consecu- tive patriot district win. South County is 1-2 in districts with close losses to Lake Brad- dock and Lee. Although the atoms hold a bet- ter record than South County they will be a tough opponent.

The key to the atoms success this year has been senior quarterback, Nathan Cartagena. Cartagena is the third top rusher in the area with 949 yards and eight touchdowns. Not only will the atoms rely on Cartagena, but on a host of other senior leaders who have stepped it up this season. Antwaun Broxton also ended the game with two touchdowns.

Both the atoms offense and defense has caused a lot of trouble for teams around the area. The strong line on defense full of regional team members has caused the atoms to be undefeated. “ I think that our offense is outstanding this year led by Natan Cartagena. Our linebackers on defense our also making a huge difference. I think that we are getting better every day and we have the potential to go deep into the playoffs,” said senior James Godbout.

One thing is sure, Coach Dick Adams is ready to lead his team to a patriot district championship once again. “ Our season is really going well. We are getting a lot of good publicity for AHS. This year we are continuing to maintain the AHS football tradition. We approach each game one at a time, every game is different. You can’t take the same approach to the same game because every one is different.Everyone has the same chance to win,” said Adams. Many think that since AHS is such a small team their chances for a State Championship are slim. Others however are optimistic. “People underestimate us because of our small size but just because were small doesn’t mean we can’t win,” said junior center Jesse Krusse. One thing is sure, if the atoms continue on this track, nothing

and no one can stop them. The only other undefeated team in the district is Robert E. Lee. It looks like

the district title game this year will be an echo of last year’s championship with these two teams pitted against each other.

Win after win the atoms are looking better and better. Not only is their offense becoming more versatille and unpredictable, the defense is getting stronger and stronger. One thing is sure the Atoms are a tough team, no matter who you are.

A- Lewis 23 run ( kick)A- Cartagena 3 run ( kick)A- Broxton 29 passs from Cartagena 9 kick)A- Lewis 21 run (kick)A- Broxton 25 pass from Cartagena (kick)WP- Wells 13 run ( Markson kick)WP- Hardie 14 pass from Farquhar 9 Markson kick)

Rushing Leaders: Cartagena 24-114. Lew-is 13-127, Copemhaver 2-8, Pearson 4-23Passing Leaders: Cartagena 6-10-0 140Receiving Leaders: Broxton 2-54, Pearson 2-49

VS

1. Lee 3-02.West Springfield 3-03. South County 2-14. Annandale 1-25. Lake Braddock 1-26. T.C. Williams 1-27. Hayfield 0-38.West Potomac 0-3

Captain’s views about the season

“ Friday is a big game because its Homecoming. We have to win. It’s also a big district game that we re-ally need to win to go to the champi-onship game. Its a big game .”

—Andrew Lewissenior

“Our next volley-ball game is a key game. We need to win to have a good seed in the district tournament. We think that we can go far this year into the playoffs and regionals. “

— Madeline Mejeansenior

“Even though golf didn’t have a great year this year it was a rebuilidng year. We will be much better next year. We had a lot of younger kids this year. ”

—Nick Twomeysenior

BY AVERY ADCOCK

Sports Editor

Loosing one of your senior leaders half-way through the season would usually set many teams back especially when the person you lost is vital for your offense and defense, but not for varsity volleyball this year. When Madeleine Mejean broke her ankle many were worried how the team would rebound from the lose of their setter. The Atoms have rebounded and in a big way. They are 6-5 overall and are looking for another big district win. This year they are looking to better their run in the tournament and show everyone what they can do.

“We are getting back into the flow after our setter broke her ankle because we had to change a lot of things. We are working things our and we have seven seniors that are showing great leadership,” said junior Jenna McRae.

As the season goes on the team is bonding better than ever and is continuing to work harder and harder on the court to make a long run in the playoffs. Last year was a rebuilding year because of a new coach and a younger team. This year they are more focused on doing well in districts and regionals.

“I think they are coming together as a team and are learning to work well with each other. They are doing well as a team without me there. Our offense is hard and they are learning to run it fast,” said injured Mejean.

Their latest game ended in a loss against Westfield 0-3. Despite the score matches were close. Undefeated Robert E. Lee will be a tough matchup this season along with West Springfield.

Jenna McRae, Katie Janssen, and Lucia Schaefer have all stepped up to lead this sea-son.

Coach Tooke thinks that they will con-tinue to improve with more games. “ Lucia is our outside hitter and our primary passer. She comes through for us. We are learning to run out team’s offense which is a multoption offense,” said Tooke.

Freshman Sam Tubb putts towards the hole. The atoms lost against Lee 196-184.

This year was more of a rebuilding year, next year it will be more competetive

“—Stephen Kim

junior”

Junior Katie Janssen jumps up to spike against a Westfield player. The atoms lost 0-3.

Senior Andrew Lewis scores a touch-down. The Atoms won against West Po-tomac 35-14. Lewis had two touchdowns.

This year we are continuing to maintain the AHS football tradition

“—Coach Adams

Coach”Senior Nathan Cartagena runs past a West Potomac player on Friday the 13th in a game that ended with a score of 35-14.

ALL RUNDOWN PICTURES TAKEN BY AVERY ADCOCK

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ALL MUGS TAKEN BY MARISA TORDELLA

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17SPORTSAtAAOct. 18, 2006

Q: What are your thoughts on the regu-lar season?

A: I feel that the team performed good consid-ering the invitational we attended. Hanna Tubb continues to show her dedication and leadership to the younger runners, and the competitiveness between Matt Ashford and Scott Plukett.

What is the biggest surprise of the season?

Charles Simpson is improving; Crystal Creg-ge’s times are dropping every meet. Also, Matt Ashford and Scott Plukett continue to battle for the number 1 spot.

Who do you feel are the teams to beat in the District?

T.C Williams, Lee and Hayfield are schools we need to beat.

Are you doing anything differently (in terms of training) from the regular season to the post-season?

We are performing more tempo runs, interval workouts, and time distance runs.

What are your expectations for dis-tricts?

I expect to finish in the Top 4 Teams. So, that we qualify for the regional.

Q: How do you feel the team performed during the regular season? What helped you gain this success?

A: This team has played extremely well all season because of their determination to work each day to improve their individual skills and our team game. The more successful we are at “our game” the better our chance of winning.

Are there any areas you feel the team needs to work on? How do you plan on im-proving these areas?

We will continue to work daily on our stick work, passing, defense, and set plays. After each game we are able to watch our game DVD and always find areas that we can improve.

What does the team need to do to be successful in District post-season play?Continue our philosophy of the regular season--It

is most important to see each game as another great opportunity to play our next, best hockey and not get caught up in the stress of needing to win. We love to play great team hockey!

What are your expectations for the District Tournament?

I expect that all of the games will be extremely fun and competitive--we will focus on one game at a time, work to play our best as a team, and truly enjoy the experience of playing together--the team that is best able to these things will take the District title.

Interview by Sports Editor Greg Rosenstein

In the 1930s, Detroit was given the nickname “City of Champions” for its success in multiple sports. That name has held up pretty well all these years. The Red Wings have ten Stanley Cup wins, the Lions four NFL Championships (prior to the creation of the Super Bowl), the Pistons three NBA Titles and the Tigers four World Series triumphs. But in the 19 years since the Tigers last made the playoffs, the city’s baseball team has been labeled only one thing: losers.

From 1994 to 2005, the Tigers didn’t have a winning record. In 1996, they set an all-time team low of 109 losses. But in 2003, the Tigers really outdid themselves. They set the American League all-time mark for losses with 119. They were only the second team ever to lose 100 games before September!

But a year ago, after realizing former Manager Alan Trammell couldn’t coach a tee-ball team, the Tigers brought in 61-year old, cigarette-addicted, outspoken Jim Leyland. Unlike Trammell, the new manager was experienced in winning, including a 1997 World Series victory with the Florida Marlins. The only scary part about his hiring was

the fact that he retired from managing the Colorado Rock-ies in 1999 and was out of baseball for seven years.

Questions arose whether he could still coach a major-league ball club after being away from the game so long. Did he know all of the current players? Will he be able to keep up with any new rule changes? Regardless, the one thing Detroiters did know was that he brought a special mentality to the clubhouse not seen since they last went to the playoffs in 1987. A hard-nosed, winning mentality.

The team itself was made up of a mixture of good qual-ity veterans such as catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, right fielder Magglio Ordonez, and pitcher Kenny Rogers, and up and coming young players including rookie pitchers Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya. The Tigers did not have one true star in the lineup.

But to everyone’s surprise, the laughing-stock of the Major Leagues came back to prove the doubters wrong. Pitching woes that originally haunted the Tigers in previous seasons were forgotten with Verlander (17-9, 3.63 ERA), Zumaya (6-3, 1.93 ERA), Jeremy Bonderman (14-8, 4.08 ERA), Kenny Rogers (17-8, 3.84) and closer Todd Jones (37 saves) taking the mound each week. Unsung heroes such as Curtis Granderson (19 home runs, 68 RBIs), and Craig Monroe (28 home runs, 92 RBIs) stepped up and veteran consistency was shown with Ordonez (.298 BA, 24 home runs, 194 RBI’s) and Carlos Guillen (.320 BA, 85 RBIs).

By the end of the 2006 regular season the Tigers fin-ished with a 95-67 record, a 24 game-win increase, and the American League Wild Card.

Their American League Division Series was with the infamous New York Yankees, a team recognized by some as having the best batting lineup in history. Each player that batted was either a current or former all-star, including Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Jorge Pasada

and Johnny Damon. Even their 9th batter, Robinson Cano, was batting .342 for the season.

Earlier in the season, Leyland was asked to comment on the Yankees nearly $200 million payroll compared to the Tigers $82 million payroll. The manager responded “You go to the clothing store with $500 and I go with $100, you should come out with better stuff. You get a cashmere -- and I get one of those itchy tweed things.”

Prior to the match-up the Tigers were major underdogs, but thrived under the bright lights. After a Game 1 loss to pitcher Chien-Ming Wang and the Yanks 8-4, the Tigers stormed back on the arms of Verlander, Rogers, Bonderman and Nate Robertson to win the next four games and send the heavy favorites home.

Next up were the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship series. The A’s came into the match-up with a good rotation and lineup, but Detroit was not fazed. Without much trouble, the Tigers mauled Oakland in every major facet of the game, sweeping the series.

THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT! THE TIGERS WIN THE PENNANT!

One of the worst franchises in the Major Leagues a year ago was going to meet either the Mets or Cardinals in the World Series.

The Detroit Tigers of 2006 went from being the kid who bullies picked on for their lunch money to the kid nobody even thought of messing with.

And now, a team recently looked upon as a joke and worthless, will take the “itchy tweed” jacket and shed it for something bigger and better.

But this time, the back will read: “2006 World Series Champion.”

Tigers maul competition towards WS

BY CLAIRE BUI

Staff Writer

The varsity field hockey team had a disappointing 0-1 loss to T.C. Williams this past Friday, marking the end of their regular season games. The At-oms played with great defense, midfield, and attack, but at the end of the second half, still came up short when the Titans scored a goal.

“It was a tough loss. We had some really good plays but we just couldn’t seem to get the ball in the goal,” said junior Tiffanie Le.

The loss brings team’s overall record this season to 8-5, 5-2 in the district, where the Atoms are ranked at second place.

Throughout the season, the field hockey team has had a keen ability to adapt to other teams’ playing styles and the power to “stay in the game” regard-less of the score. With such optimism the girls will compete at home tonight, in round one of the district tournament.

AHS will also host the semifinals on Monday, 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm, and the finals on Tuesday, at 7:00 pm. It is single elimination.

“While we need to continue to work on the consistent execution of our skills, our team continues to get better every practice and game. This team has per-formed extremely well all season because of their determination to work each day to improve their individual skills and our team game. The more successful we are at playing ‘our game’ the better our chances of winning,” said Head Coach Cindy Hook.

The lady Atoms are looking forward to more opportunities to play their game against tough, skilled opponents at dis-tricts. These include Lake Braddock and T.C. Williams, teams they lost to earlier

in the season. According to Hook, the field hockey

team refuses to accept any pressure to win. “We don’t have to win, we want to win. We want to play great hockey, and the team that plays the best hockey to-gether usually wins. The key is to focus on the play of the game and to let the outcome take care of itself,” she said.

Recapping on the season so far,

senior Krista Silano is extremely pleased with how the varsity team has performed.

“We’ve been very successful and have had a lot of fun. I look forward to going to the final round at districts and making a comeback against the Bruins. I want to make it a good end of the season for the seniors,” she said.

Atoms set for districts

BY GREG YOUNG

Staff Writer

As the season has gotten more difficult, the cross country team has steadly improved and is primed to make a statement at the teams next meet, at the District Competition in Burke Lake Park.

Furthur along into the season, the cross country team’s practices have got-ten continuously more focused. “They have gotten a lot more difficult,” said senior runner Scott Plunkett, “The in-tensity has gone up and overall pratices have become harder.”

“The practices have increased to help the team develop endurance and build a sense of team unity,” said varsity cross country coach Zach Sykes.

Another challenge the team has faced, besides the difficult practices, has been to deal with a much more difficult meet schedule. “They have been very challenging this year,” said Sykes ,” the meets have been working harder then any team in my experience as coach in Annandale.”

At the team’s last competition, at the Oat-lands Invitational, the team ran in a course that was both difficult and longer then expected. “It was a 5k run” said Wirdzek,” everyone initially thought that their times were slower, but since we usually run a 3 mile race, the times were going to be longer.”

The team’s next competition is at the Dis-trict meet at Burke Lake Park. The coaches have been changing the pace of pratices, mak-

ing them less intense and more relaxed. “We are pushing the team because their summer mileage needs to be increased so they can perform interval workouts and tempo earlier in the season, said Coach Phil Harris.

As a whole, the team has been improving throughout the year, despite the expectations being higher then last year, “The entire team has been working throughout the year to improve”, said Wirdzek.

“We have gotten significantly better as a team,” said senior runner Teddy Langler.

Sykes is very optimistic about upcoming team for 2007 as well, men-

tioning that his team will “turn some heads next year.” “We have also devel-oped a lot of depth, mainly because the team has gotten signficantly younger,” said Sykes.

With the year rapidly coming to a close, the cross country team has not only showed improvement, but is building for a solid future in 2007.

Cross Country makes strides

Atomic Athletics The records of JV Sports around AHS

Year:Freshman Sport: Cross CountryStatistic: Has moved into the fourth spot on the team. Received first for the team, first freshman finisher, and 12th overall at the Stallion Stampede invitational at South County on with a time of 18:45 for a 5k.Coach’s Quote: “He has a bright future ahead and will be a valuable member as the team builds toward greatness,” said coach Zach Sykes.

3-4-4

JV Football

2-3

JV Volleyball

8-2

All sports records taken from www.annandaleatoms.com

Compiled By Greg RosensteinCompiled By Greg Rosenstein

Sports Column

SportsSports SpotlightSpotlight

Year: Sopho-more Sport: Cross Country Note: Has worked hard to improve five mile time, and recenly ran it in 18 minutes and 11 seconds. Has sustained his third runner position all season. Player Quote: “I have trained harder in practice and have done more strength workouts to improve my overal time,” said Hepburn.

Sophomore Tanya Bellingham works on passing in a drill last week. The Atoms ended their season with a 0-1 loss to district foe T.C. Williams. The team is ranked second in the Patriot District and will host the first round playoff match, tonight, at 7:00 p.m.

Cross Country members (from left) senior Peter Flint, junior David Waiter, and junior Lane Craggs compete in the South Run Invitational on Oct. 10.

Cross Country Coach Phil Harris

Field Hockey Coach Cindy Hook

JV Field Hockey

CHARLES SIMPSON

Year:SeniorSport: GolfStatistic: Shot a two-day score of 162 at the Regional Qualifi-ers. This is the second year in a row that Twomey has a chance to compete for the State tournament.Player Quote: “This season I have worked hard and performed everyday to get better,” said Twomey.

NICK TWOMEY

Year:Senior Sport: Var-sity FootballStatistic: New kicker connected on five extra points during the Atoms 35-14 victory over Patriot District rival West Potomac Wolverines. Chin has helped fill one of the most needed problems facing the team this season. Player Quote: “Earlier in the year play-ers came up to me and asked me to be the kicker,” said Chin. “I’m improving each week through practice and listening to the coaches.”

LEMUEL CHIN

TIM HEPBURN

Additional reporting by Ebony Chambers

Q&Awith

Coach Hook

Q&Awith

Coach Harris

By Greg RosensteinBy Greg Rosenstein

Sports Column

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18 Oct. 18, 2006ENTERTAINMENT AtAA

The complete results of Top High

School Movies1. Remember the Titans

Napoleon Dynamite3. Mean Girls4. Coach Carter5. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off6. American Pie7. 10 Things I Hate About

You8. She’s the Man9. Bring it On

Grease11. Friday Night Lights12. Not Another Teen Movie13. The Girl Next Door14. The Breakfast Club15. John Tucker Must Die16. The Hot Chick17. High School Musical18. The New Guy19. Dazed and Confused20. A Cinderella Story21. October Sky22. Donnie Darko

Clueless24. Sixteen Candles

The Karate Kid26. Perfect Score27. Never Been Kissed28. Pretty in Pink29. She’s All That30. Fast Times at Ridgemont

High The Faculty

32. Swimfan Risky Business

34. Footloose

Results were collected through a survey distributed to 411 students during

English classes on Oct. 11.

Remember the Titans (2000)A black man is hired to coach the football team of T.C

Williams, a newly integrated school in Virginia during the early ‘70s. Racism is high, and many white players threaten to sit out until he is replaced.

During training camp, the white and black players learn how to get along and even become friends.

Based on the actual events of 1971, the team becomes the unifying symbol for the community as the boys and the adults learn to depend on and trust each other.

“I really liked Remember the Titans because it’s about guys trying to make it through rascism. It’s harder to play when you have people against you,” said sophomore Hassan Thuloah.

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)Napoleon Dynamite lives with his grandma and

his 32-year-old brother in Preston, Idaho. He works to help his best friend, Pedro, win student body president against Summer Wheatley. Napoleon’s campaign consists of “Vote for Pedro” t-shirts and

help from his crush, side-pony-tail wearing, glamour shot creating Deb.

His brother Kip spends his days cruising the internet for ladies until he finally meets the love of his life through his Internet escapades. Napoleon is followed throughout his everyday high school life.

Mean Girls (2004)After a sheltered childhood in Africa,

Cady Heron must learn to survive the jungle of “Girl World” at a public high school.

She meets Janis and Damian, her new friends who warn her to stay away from the Plastics, the A-list, popular, crude, and beautiful clique headed by Regina George.

When Cady sees Aaron Samuels, she immediately wants him. When Regina finds out, she seeks revenge by taking and dangling Aaron in front of Cady.

Now Cady, Janis, and Damian plot to bring Regina’s status down. However, as Cady continues to spend more time with the Plastics, she begins to become one of them.

“I really like this movie because it relates to me and I am just like them and it made me laugh hysterically,” said senior Whitney Clark.

Coach Carter (2005)Coach Carter is about a new basketball

coach at Richmond High School who devotes his time to motivating his team for success.

The team soon begins to win games under Carter’s strict coaching strategy and techniques. The season starts to look up, but Carter makes a drastic decision to close the gym because the boys are not meeting his classroom expectations of them.

As the boys start to learn the lesson of the importance of education, Carter reopens the gym and allows the boys to play the state championship game.

“It’s about basketball and what it takes to become a team and I like it because I play basketball,” said senior Tori Clark.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)Ferris Bueller is an angel in the eyes of his parents, but dean of

students, Ed Rooney, knows better. When Ferris decides to play hookie it becomes a big ordeal that

wouldn’t be complete without including his best friend and girlfriend.

Ferris knows all of the tricks in the book, and the three spend the day out on the town enjoying the day off, during which they spend the day dodging his sister and Rooney, who are both trying to prove that he is faking his illness.

“It’s about a kid who’s popular in school and he takes one day off of school and everyone knows about. The principal wants to get him trouble and even goes to his house, but that is one smart kid,” said sophomore Mohamed Ali.

American Pie (1999)Jim, Kevin, Finch and Oz are high

school seniors who decide at a party that they need to lose their virginity before entering college.

The four realize that it is not as easy as it seems to get the deed done and they decide to make a pact to motivate themselves to be the first to score.

They decide that senior prom is their last chance in high school to get lucky and the boys start to wonder if they even want to anymore.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)Popular, pretty Bianca Stratford is in a dilemma because of her

father’s fear of teenage pregnancy and he creates house rules. She can only date if her unpopular, rebellious, boy hating sister, Kat, does.

New guy, Cameron, sees Bianca and immediately decides that he has fallen in love with her. He devises a plan to get Bianca to date him, but he takes advantage of Joey, the school “hot rod” as his financial backer.

Joey pays off Patrick, whose mysterious background is the cause of much school gossip, to take Kat out on a date. The plan to get Kat to date creates madness and chaos among the Stratford sisters and all of those involved.

“I like the humor and the characters are really funny. It has dry humor, like the fact that she’s reading the Bell Jar and that her dad says things like I’m down, I got the 411,” said junior Beth Hertel.

She’s The Man (2006)When the girl’s soccer team gets cut

from her high school Viola decides that she’s going to do what it takes to be able

to play soccer, even if it means dressing up as her twin brother and attending his private school while he’s in London for two weeks.

While Viola makes the transformation into her brother Sebastian, everyone starts to develop secrets.

Sebastian’s roommate Duke likes classmate Olivia, who likes Sebastian, who is really Viola, whose brother is dating Monique, so she hates Olivia, who’s with Duke to make Sebastian jealous, who is really Viola who’s crushing on Duke, who thinks she’s a guy.

“That guy is so hot and it is so funny because Amanda Bynes can act really well and change her voices,” said sophomore Brooke Barlowe.

Bring It On (2000)The Rancho Carne cheerleading squad, the Toros’, has

got spirit, spunk, sass and a killer routine that is sure to land them the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row.

But for newly-elected team captain Torrance, the team’s road to total cheer glory takes a shady turn when she discovers that their perfectly choreographed routines were in fact stolen from the Clovers, a hip-hop squad from East Compton, by the Toro’s former captain.

The Toros’ scramble in an attempt to develop a new routine that will be able to defend their national championship title.

Grease (1978)Australian good girl Sandy Olsson falls in love with

Danny Zuko while vacationing at the beach over the summer. When she discovers that Danny goes to the same school that she transfers to, it seems like fate is lending a hand.

But the Danny at school is different than the Danny at the beach. Danny has a reputation to keep up and Sandy feels alone in her new school and

understands that she needs to make some changes in order to get the guy.

“Grease has hot people who sing and do that electric dance movement that is so hot,” said freshman Julie Jurenas.

TIE

TIE

“Jackass because I can relate to the movie.”

—Danny Devera

freshman

“Madagascar be-cause the animals are really funny.”

—Leslie Burnssophomore

“Forrest Gump because I like the story lines and Tom Hanks.”

—Stephen Kimjunior

“Lucky Number Slevin because I liked all of the un-expected twists.”

—Drew Chadwick

senior

“Patton and It’s a Wonderful Life because it shows a lot of leadership, courage and re-lates to athletics.”

—Dick Adams

physical education

What is your favorite movie of all

time and why?

Reporting by Rachel Burnett, Marisa Tordella and Amy Stevens

Reporting by Jenny Jacobs

Here’s what the AHS survey results say:

ADVENTURES OF BREW BEN HENDRICKSON & DREW WILDES

19ENTERTAINMENTAtAAOct. 18, 2006

Horoscopes

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.18)You realize that things that you thought

were important have lost their value to you. Take the time to figure out what you really want and how to get it.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)Your happy disposition and fun-lov-

ing carelessness catches the eye of someone that you never would have expected. Don’t read into it, just enjoy yourself!

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)You have gotten in over your head as

you prepare for new challenges. Take a step back to re-evaluate what is really important to you.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)You’ve been pushing the people away

from you lately and they can’t seem to understand why. Take control of your actions and accept the help that others are offering.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)The stars are in your favor even

though you encounter numerous obstacles this week. Be optimis-tic and don’t worry, a surprise comes your way when you least expect it.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)It’s no wonder that you can’t get any-

thing done. Get your head out of the clouds and start living in the here and now. There’s no use thinking about what if’s.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)Tend carefully to your relationships

this week, as the people around you are feeling the wrath of your unhappiness. Make an extra effort to appreciate those around you.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)Make sure you let that special someone

in your life know how you feel. It’s time for you to take the initiative and open up to your true feelings for your partner or crush.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)You run into a friend from your past

and can’t remember why you went your separate ways. It’s time for you to make amends and rekindle your friendship.

Aries (March 21-April19)Things have been going your way

lately, and don’t be sur-prised. You’ve earned it. Take pride in your hard work and accept others’ compliments.

Taurus (April 20-May18) You trust easily, and it may come as

a flaw at times. Follow your instinct when it comes to matters of the heart and use your observation skills to figure out the people around you.

Virgo (Aug. 23- Sept. 22)You feel slighted by someone you felt

was close to you. Don’t take it personally but learn from the experi-ence. A pisces offers you useful advice.

Let’s get one thing straight: Amy Lee is a very talented singer. She has an amazing voice and an impressive range. What she doesn’t have is a good band or the song choices that showcase her gift. Lee belts beyond her mediocre garage band in several of the songs on the newest album, The Open Door. But even her voice can’t save the album that is beyond repetitive.

With the loss of Ben Moody in 2003, Lee became the main songwriter of Evanescence. With Moody being the creator of the Fallen hit “My Immortal,” the band was at a loss. The lyrics of the entire album, more often than not, center around three topics: Doom, gloom, and death. Not to mention anger.

But Evanescence can’t be classified as just rock or just metal, but more like a twisted combination of the two. Add this to the sound of Lee accompany-ing herself on the piano throughout half of the album.

The album opens with “Sweet Sacrifice,” which sounds more like a tribal chant, as it starts with a head-banging-on-the-wall bass line that only increases in volume. The lyrics wander all over, beginning with insanity, mov-ing to fear, then an assumed ex-lover, catching back up with fear, then a quick depressing aside, a two-liner about hate, and ending back on the ex-lover. Who is the sacrifice, Lee or the ex? Honestly, it’s probably only the listener.

The only song that departs from the norm is their last one, “Good Enough.” The ballad is sung completely by Lee,

accompanied by Lee, with no band in-terference. Though it begins like every other song, the first encouraging words of the entire album are sung, “I can’t breathe but I feel/ Good enough/ I feel good enough for you.” This is the first lyrical content beyond that of anger and sadness. It almost seems to the listener that this album was a grieving experi-

ence, but as the end draws near Lee makes a discovery, “I feel good enough/ it’s been such a long time coming, but I feel good.” What has been a long time coming is a song that finally shows Lee’s voice off for what it is.

The released single “Call Me When Your Sober” is the only other empowering song

on the album. Lee uses her painfully plaintive voice to sing over the overbear-ing bass line. Instead of singing about pity and not knowing what to do, she informs the listener that she has made up her mind and she is done with you.

If this album were only 4 songs long, it would have the same impact. One song with Amy leading, another with the band leading, one about anger, and one about leaving but never letting go. That is basically what these 13 tracks can be whittled down to. The Open Door leaves a lot of Amy to be desired, and a lot of her band to loathe.

Download this: Call Me When Your Sober, Good Enough, and Lithium.

BY LUCAS HIGGINS

Staff Writer

For a band with such a cliché name, Escape The Fate sure knows how to put out some original and very anti-cliché music.

When their first release hit stores in May, an EP entitled “There’s No Sympathy for the Dead,” fans around the country took immedi-ate notice. This widespread attention received from the “hardcore scene” across the nation considerably added to their already large fan base, which was previously solely made up of many teens and early twenties from ETF’s hometown of Las Vegas. After signing with established record label Epitaph and releasing said EP, expectations were very lofty for a full-length album.

After six months and some continuous light touring around the Vegas metro area, out came the first album, Dying is Your Latest Fashion.

The first song starts off in regular ETF fashion, with a speaker-jarring drumbeat followed by a guitar riff worthy of most

established hardcore bands. It’s evident from the technical soundness of each and every song that Epitaph has invested a lot of money in this young band. Anyone can do a simple scream-your-lungs-out-headbanger, but thanks to veteran production, ETF pulls off songs with complex sound signatures and intense breakdowns that remind fans of New York’s emo heroes From Autumn to Ashes.

Lead singer Ronnie Radke switches

seamlessly between heart-felt singing and screaming, with some contributing yells and guttural roars from the other band members, who all chip in with vocals in some way or another.

“The Webs We Weave,” “The Guillotine,” and “There’s No Sympathy For The Dead” all provide what hardcore fans could be looking for, but the shining gem of the album is the closing track, “The Day I Left The Womb.”

In it, Radke is speaking to his drug-ad-dicted mother and mockingly telling her not to worry because the family has survived

without her. In what amounts to a fabulous lyrical masterpiece, “The Day I Left The Womb” pleases the more thoughtful of ETF’s fans with lines like “take this to your grave, the boys you left are men you didn’t raise.”

With such an impressive debut al-bum, ETF’s future should be nothing but bright and optimistic. However, tragedy struck the band in a big way.

Radke had his own heroine addiction he was dealing with and apparently hit rock bottom, being checked into a long-term rehab center and permanently dropping out of the band two weeks before the release date.

It will be extremely difficult to find a re-placement that can compare to Radke and his singing ability. Not only that, but finding someone with the same songwriting ability will be nearly impossible. But hey, Saosin did it after Anthony Green left, and now they are thriving.

Hopefully ETF can accomplish the same feat, because it would be an absolute shame if they never got the opportunity to put out another fabulous record. While you wait for that new lead singer to come along, go purchase “Dying is Your Latest Fashion.” If nothing else, it shatters the monotony that is beginning to destroy hardcore rock.

If you have any questions, comments or responses to this CD review, feel free to e-mail the author at lucas.higgins@thea-blast.org.

Close the open doorNo sympathy needed

This featured band, Escape the Fate released their first album.

Editor’s Pick

This two-disc album by The Red Hot Chili Peppers is their 9th CD. Being their first double album, they’ve done an impressing job selling over 5 million copies worldwide.

The editor’s song of choice for this album is “Especially in Michigan.”

Tom Wolfe’s latest epic novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons, is much different that his last few major exploits. Simmons, taking six years to write (the first edition was pub-lished in 2004, the paperback last year), does not deal with many of the reoccurring focuses of his last novels: middle-aged New York high society, middle-aged class focus, or middle-aged society at all.

In fact, Wolfe takes on a whole new focus, that of the American college system, and what it is really like at America’s best colleges. However, though Wolfe is famed for being one of the best critics of American society, and does his research in great detail, I Am Charlotte Simmons falls apart because of its lack of know-how.

To middle-aged parents and above, I Am Charlotte Simmons was a shocker. The novel is about a college fresh-man, Charlotte Simmons, who gets accepted to Dupont

University, a college along the ranks of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. In high school she was what you would call a nerd: she was an AP Presidential Scholar, Cross-Country team star, stay-at-home-studying-on the weekends kind of girl. That is why when she goes to Dupont, where she thinks she will flourish in the land of academia, she is surprised to find that everyone is drinking, partying, having sex, and sim-ply acting out against all the morals she had learned in her home town.

Such is why the novel, to many critics and reviewers, was considered a breakthrough in exposing the life of America’s college students. Wolfe finally came out saying what everyone knew but were unwilling to say themselves. However, the novel hardly “exposes” anything. Anyone who has ever been to a party with alco-hol, lived in a dorm, or lived through the American college system (or high school system, for that mat-ter), will already have known or at least heard of

everything Wolfe is considered to be exposing. On top of this, many times Wolfe does an embarrass-

ingly poor job of trying to capture college life and the styles of the youth. For instance, he is constantly mixing in hack-

neyed or archaic terms when trying to describe something through the eyes of a “real” collegian (an example: when he describes the cheerleaders at a Dupont basketball game, he explains that the cheerleaders were moving their hot breasts to the beat, all the while shaking their “fannies”). To make matters worse, the main character, Charlotte Sim-mons, always views college life through her once moral eyes, and thus Wolfe overemphasizes her surprise when she is introduced to new things.

I Am Charlotte Simmons is classic Wolfe in an area that he is not comfortable with, and noticeably so. The novel does have its good sides: the plot, as many of Wolfe’s other novels have in the past, includes numerous point of views and characters, which he intertwines with skill. And when Wolfe does get it right, he does it well (for instance, when Wolfe explains the troubled 20-page history of his nerd character, Adam Gellin). But in its entirety, the novel is a sad follow-up to his late masterpiece, A Man in Full (1998), which at times flawlessly portrayed America’s systems of wealth, or the murder-based Bonfire of the Vanities (1988), which established him as America’s greatest critic of society. For Wolfe, now well into his ’70s it might have been better to stick with what he knew best.

Quesions? Comments? E-mail the author of this review at paul.mathis@thea-blast.org.

Fill in the blank spaces in the grid so that every vertical column, every horizontal row and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9, without repeating any. There is re-ally only one solution to each puzzle. This puzzle is based upon reasoning and logic. It does not require any arithmetic.

Sudoku

Charlotte Simmons falls short of exposé

WW

W.C

OUNT

ON.O

RG

WW

W.C

OUNT

ON.O

RG

Escape the Fate

There’s No Sympathy for

the Dead

B+Evanes-cence

The Open Door

C

Tom WolfeI Am

Charlotte Simmons

B-

Six Degrees With its premiere a month ago, the new hit series, Six

Degrees, is slowly attracting viewers. On the streets of New York, six characters lead very unexpected entwined lives.

The sextet includes Jay Hernandez (Carlos) who plays the role of a defense attorney takes a liking to Erika Christensen (Mae), a girl who seems to be hiding a secret past. Hope Davis (Laura) is a grieving widow struggling to find out about her husband. She becomes best friends with Bridget Moynahan (Whitney) a newly engaged business-woman. Moynahan gives a recovering alcoholic, Campbell Scott (Steven), a job as a photographer. The final of the six is Dorian Missick (Damien) who’s a gambling addict trying to lead a normal life.

Airs Thursdays on ABC at 10 p.m.

Heroes Heroes is a show about a group of ordinary humans

who have awaken with powers such as flying, being able to teleport and regenerate. These “heroes” are to save the

world and “change it forever.” It can be considered a mix between X-Men and Lost

because it involves mutants who have superpowers and you wonder who these people are and what their destiny is.

It debuted on NBC and was produced by Tim Kring

(producer of Crossing Jordan). A Japanese man discovers he can influence space and time, an artist can paint the future, a high school cheerleader can mend herself from any injury, and a police officer is able to read minds.

Airs Mondays on NBC at 9 p.m.

The Simpsons The 18th season of The Simpsons is and will be very

exciting for 2006-2007. The season pre-miered over a month ago on FOX and has continued its parodies of recent movies and TV series among others.

This season many guests will be featured including Metallica, Tom Wolfe, Fran Drescher, Kiefer Sutherland, Dr. Phil, Natalie Portman, etc.

Producer Matt Groening will be celebrating the 400th episode this season as well which will be a parody of the show 24.

Airs Sundays on FOX at 8 p.m.

Compiled by Layluma Hotaki

The face of Evanescence, Amy Lee poses for a photo shoot for her album.

What’s new on the screen

20 Oct. 18, 2006WEEKEND AtAA

BY CLAIRE BUI

Staff Writer

When the National Air and Space Museum opened in 1976, the staff of the Smithsonian knew that they still needed more room to display all the important artifacts that the aviation and space world had to offer.

For years, a great amount of the Air and Space’s pieces sat in stor-age in Maryland because even the Mall was unable to accommodate the collection. In 2003, an extension to the museum was finally released.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, located on the property of Dulles Interna-tional Airport, is named for its most generous individual donor, who pledged a total of $65 mil-lion towards the project.

Among the aviation and space treasures housed at the new facility are the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, bet-ter known as the “Enola Gay,” the plane that dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet in the world; and the Boeing Dash 80, America’s first commercially successful jet airliner.

Visitors to the center are able to observe artifacts and walk among them, as they are displayed on three levels. Many of the pieces are exhibited on the floor or in showcases, but unlike traditional museum galleries, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center also displays artifacts in an open, hangar-like setting from its arched ceilings.

The James S. McDonnell Space Hangar features spacecrafts, satellites, rockets and other space related pieces; a total of 113 large artifacts, and more than 500 smaller ones.

The main attraction of the space hanger is the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the first space shuttle built for NASA. Other hold-ings include a 69-foot Redstone Rocket and the Mobile Quarantine Unit, which was used by the Apollo 11 crew to return to earth.

Along the entryway of the Dulles loca-tion is the National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall of Honor. This is a list of

inscribed names and a perma-nent memorial to the thousands of people who have contributed avia-tion and space exploration in our history.

Further ame-nities at the Steven F. Ud-

var-Hazy Center consist of experimental

flight simulators, a 479-seat Imax theater, and a 164-foot ob-

servation tower, which provides a remarkable loca-tion from which visitors can

watch air traffic leaving from and arriv-ing to Dulles

Airport.The museum

is open from 10:00 a.m. to

5:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday, year

round, except for December 25. Ad-mission is free and parking is $12.00 which makes this museum a fun and affordable trip.

Upcoming Concerts

Patriot CenterBarenaked LadiesNov. 4

Cramton AuditoriumJohn Legend Nov. 6

9:30 ClubBen KwellerOct. 18

Carbon LeafOct. 20

Good CharlotteOct. 21

Jedi Mind TricksOct. 28

Mute MathNov. 2 Broken Social SceneNov. 7

Warner Theatre Alice CooperOct. 23

Constitution HallDeath Cab for Cutie Nov. 6

Upcoming Plays and Shows

Patriot CenterDisney on Ice: Princess WishesOct. 21Oct. 22

Warner Theatre Real Men of ComedyOct. 26

Kennedy CenterTwelve Angry MenOct. 21Oct. 22

Shakespeare Theatre Co.An Enemy of the PeopleOct. 22

Alden TheatreThe Legend of Sleepy HollowOct. 28

Clarice Smith CenterThe Piano LessonOct. 21

Theatre on the RunShort Order StoriesOct. 21

Luna may mean moon in Spanish, but that doesn’t mean Luna Grill and Deli only serves food at night. It serves American cuisine for all times of the day.

Not only is the food cheap but there is also a very large variety and selection available for each customer.

Customers can choose from a wide array of food options. Luna Grill and Deli serves breakfast, brunch (Sat-urdays, Sundays and most holidays), lunch and dinner and has meal deals for almost every day of the week. Brunch includes classics such as omelets and Belgian waffles, along with the normal oatmeal, bacon and eggs breakfast.

For lunch and dinner the menu never seems to end. Customers can build their own pastas, meaning what-ever kind of noodle they want, the sauce and all the toppings.(On Mondays and Tuesdays after 5:00 p.m. build your own pastas are half off, not including the toppings). There are sandwiches and burgers cooked with fresh ingredients. They also come with fries, which are delicious! Not too crunchy and not too squishy.

Servers were friendly and helpful; after ordering, the food came within 10 minutes and delicious fresh-out-the-oven bread was served with butter while the food was prepared. Also, when ordering pasta, waiters will come and grind as much fresh parmesan cheese as you want onto it.

The restaurant is themed after day and night. With this theme in mind the front of the restaurant is painted to represent the day, with yellow walls and suns, while the back of the restaurant towards the bar is painted with stars and planets to represent the night. It’s fun to switch seats with someone you’re with through the meal to see a different time of day.

The seats are comfortable and some come with little cushions to sit on. Patrons also have the option of eating inside or outside on a patio.

Luna Grill and Deli has two locations, one in Dupont Circle and one in Shirlington, but the one located in Shirlington is much more convenient.

Downtown Shirlington consists of a block of restaurants with the Shirlington movie theater at the end. The movie theater shows independent films that aren’t always shown in com-mercial theaters.Luna Grill has delicious food

at great prices so pop on over to try it for yourself.

For directions or more information on Luna Grill and Deli visit:

www.lunagrillanddiner.com

Appetizers range from $2.50-7.00Sandwiches and burgers range from $6.00-9.00Entrees ranger from $10.00-16.00Desserts range from $1.50-4.00

4024 28th Street South Arlington, VA 22206703.379.7173

By Kate McCormack and Tim ShadyacBy Kate McCormack and Tim Shadyac

ChowChow DownDown

Restaurant Guide

—Go biking along either the C & O canal or on the Mount Vernon Trail. Both have great bike paths, shaded by trees along the water.

— Ride the carousel on the Mall in D.C. One ride costs $1.75.

—Take a walking tour of Old Town, Alexandria. Located on the

Potomac River, it has colonial houses, the Torpedo

Factory, and various nice restaurants with enough options to make an eventful evening.

— Visit Union Station, D.C.ʼs train station, to see

the neat architecture, eat in the food court shop in the mall, and observe the chaos of a train station.

— Walk from museum to museum on the mall; each has something for everyone, whether it is the Hope Diamond, a new art exhibit, or unique sculpures.

— Go visit the steps featured in the original Exorcist movie, located near Georgetown

University.

— Go hiking in Great Falls Park. It is a perfect place for a picnic and has great views of rolling rapids,

only 14 miles from D.C.

— Go watch planes land at Reagan National Airport from a car or from the grass at Gravelly Point, a park located near the airport.

— Visit U-Street in D.C. for its unique stores and

restaurant selection unlike anywhere in the country.

— Take a paddle boat ride

on the Tidal Basin in D.C.

Diners have the choice of eating indoors or outdoors on the patio. Luna Grill and Deli is located in Shirlington on a strip of street full of other eateries, and in Dupont Circle.

Above is Jumbalaya Pasta, after getting pasta your waiter or waitress grinds as much fresh parmesan over it as you want.

Food:

Service:

Decor:

BY KATE MCCORMACK

Weekend Editor

As the days get shorter and leaves fall off the trees, it feels like it will be for-ever until flowers will bloom again. But if you need to get your tropical fix, visit Washington D.C.’s Botanic Gardens.

The Botanic Gardens are a giant greenhouse with every type of plant species you can think of. There are many

endangered species rep-resented with foun-tains inside. The main greenhouse is filled with palm trees and there are walkways above that give views of the whole room. Since the Botanic Gardens are located right next to the Capitol, the top floor walkway has great views of the Mall and the capital building. This year the Botanic Garden added a new outdoor garden with walkways, benches and fountains. Gardens in D.C.

Address: 245 First Street, Washing-

ton, DC .

Botanic Gardens

One of the many fountains at the Botanic Gardens.

Museum of Modern ArtBY TIMOTHY SHADYAC

Weekend Editor

Modern art created by well-known artists can be found minutes away from home. The East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is dedicated to contemporary art and traveling exhibitions. Sculptures, paintings and even jewelry can be found in the gallery. Works from artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein are shown at the National Gallery.

One of Andy Warhol’s most famous pieces, “Campbell’s Soup,” can be found at the National Gallery. The largest attraction to the National Gallery in Washington D.C. the past month has been the Henri Rousseau exhibition, “Jungles in Paris,” Rousseau commonly

painted landscapes of Paris during his lifetime in the 1800s.

Corner of 7th Street and Constitu-tion Avenue.

visit online at www.nga.gov

Air and Space Museum

The Space shuttle Enterprise is the first space shuttle built for NASA. Iʼt slocated in the James S. McDonnell Space Hanger.

Visitors to the Air and Space Museum in Dulles have a chance to walk among many famous air and space pieces.

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10 things to do outdoors in the D.C. area before winter: KA

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“Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece” by Henry Moore has been outside of the East Gallery since it opened in 1978.

The second floor walkway has views of the Capitol.

KATE

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Places to see around D.C.

out of 4 stars

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