Issue II - East Meadow School District

The Jet gAZETTE
“we’re all jets here”
East Meadow High School
Volume I, No. 2
January 2011
Something Wonderful
Theater Guild’s Musical Production
by Amanda Chambers
senior Emily Illson. Her standout performance was stunning, and her voice
was exceptional. It is safe to say we
have a Broadway star in the making
stubborn King were charming, funny,
and touching when appropriate. Also
offering strong performances were
Shayna Zweiback (the historian of
at East Meadow High School. She had
the audience believing that the stage is
where she is meant to be. Starring as
the King, sophomore Max Ferguson
also gave an impressive performance.
Their interpretations of Anna and the
Theater Guild), Kristina Shafranski,
Jason Toledano, Jackie Shikora (the
president of Theater Guild), Travis
Carter (the treasurer of Theater Guild),
and Billy Walsh.
Under the direction of Mr. En-
Photo courtesy of Facebook
After months of preparation, Theater Guild’s hard work finally paid off
when they put on their production of
the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical,
The King
and I. The
play
first
opened on
Broadway
in 1951 but
was brought
to life once
again
on
December
9th,
10th
and
11th
of 2010 by
the
Theater Guild.
The King
and I is set
around the
1860s and
takes place
in Bangkok, Siam, when an English
widow named Anna Leonowens moves
there to educate the King’s royal children.
The lead role of Anna was
played by East Meadow High School
gle, the Pit Orchestra musicians contributed their talent to accompany the
cast. They were, to put it simply, superb.
Their hard work was evident. They
made
the
show all the
more enjoyable. Also deserving of applause is the
Tech Crew
who supplied
beautiful sets,
lighting, and
sound.
I was very
impressed
with Theater
Guild’s 2010
fall
show.
The acting,
singing, music and sets
were really
wonderful. I can’t wait to see what else
is in store for Theater Guild. Congratulations to director Mrs. Priole and all
the cast and crew for putting on an outstanding production!
Speaking With The Stars
by Diana Barsky and Samantha Weiss
We sit in empty room F22 with
Max Ferguson and Emily Ilson, surrounded by paper butterflies and mannequin body parts, days after The King
and I’s final performance. Emily starred
as Anna, the British schoolteacher sent
to Siam to educate the King, Max’s
character, and his family about western
ways. In an exclusive interview with
the Jet Gazette, the costars open up
about what went on behind the scenes:
E- As a guild, we do traditions before
every performance, which are very topsecret, and we’re not really allowed to
discuss them more than just mentioning them, unless you’re doing them.
They’re weird. Everyone remembers
when they were a freshman, doing
their first traditions. I always thought it
was kind of cool, that we do traditions,
because it’s a little thing that only TG
does that the rest of the school has no
idea about.
M- And if they happen to look upon us
while we’re doing it, they’re just like,
oh…
JG- What are some of your pre-show
rituals? We already heard about you
talking to yourself in the mirror,
Max, but are there any others?
JG- What were your favorite and
least favorite scenes?
Together- Act Two, Scene Four!
M- That’s the, uh, flogging scene.
E- Yeah, it’s just that the scene changes
course so many times.
M- It’s not that it’s a bad scene—
E- It’s a great scene! It’s just complicated.
M- We couldn’t get it. In fact, the night
of the senior citizen show, we royally
messed up that scene—
E- Yeah, we messed up so bad.
M- Everything that could go wrong
did.
E- The lines were out of sequence, we
forgot key parts of the plot that were in
the script—
M- That was also the scene where
I forgot my microphone. It was just...
Continued on Page 3
January 2011
JG- What was your most embarrassing moment during rehearsal?
E- (to Max) Remember when the dais
wobbled? That was a little scary. … It
was on the last show. It was the scene
where I had to stand on the dais, the
wooden structure on the stage, and it
started to wobble a little bit by the last
show… So I was on the dais, and then
when I started to get off the dais, I kept
with the accent, like, “Oh my goodness!” So that was a little embarrassing, but luckily I kept in character.
M- Well, it was the senior citizen show,
and I got on stage for one scene, and I
forgot to put my mike on! So, for two
minutes, I had to speak very loudly, because not only did I have to have the
entire auditorium hear, it was an entire
auditorium filled with people. And then
I had about 30 seconds to run backstage
and put on the mike before I had to go
back onstage.
2
NEWS
Staff
Letter From
The Editor
Dear Reader,
Editors-in-Chief
Mohamed Nathani
Lauren Thomas
News Editors
Diana Barsky
Sam Weiss
Features Editors
Sarah Hwang
Editorials Editor
Jaclyn Gangi
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Amanda Chambers
Sports Editors
Ryan Sacks
Dan Savarino
Advisor
Mary Fernandes
Copy Editors
Amanda Iorizzo
Alexandra Lopez
Lauren Nissenbaum
Sunil Reddy
Jesse Sherman
Anson Wang
Graphic Designers
Andrew Rabinowitz
Angel Reyes
I hope you enjoy this second
edition of the refurbished Jet Gazette.
Many hours of hard work was put into it,
and although the amount of time I spent
on it is borderline child labor (kidding,
do NOT arrest Ms. Fernandes), I am
proud of the weeks of dedication and effort from fellow writers and editors over
the past two issues. We have
witnessed
steroid-like
growth from
one paper to
the next in
terms of the
overall quality
of our work,
and we hope
to continue to
improve and
make it better
as the issues
keep coming.
One
of the exciting upcoming
events for The
Jet Gazette is
the addition
of our own
personal office to help us
improve our
productions. The office will be located
upstairs, next to the library, and will be
a valuable asset in our work. We would
like to thank both the school administration and the library for giving us this
space, and it is our first step to total domination of school grounds.
The upgrades in The Jet Gazette
were made possible by the contributions
from our generous advertisers. As the
quality of the paper improved and we upgraded to full color printing, the price to
produce The Jet Gazette went up as well.
We would like to thank our advertisers
for helping us make this possible, and
we hope our readers support these companies, most of which are located in our
community.
A great improvement in The
Jet Gazette is the
increased concentration on school
issues. In the past,
the number of
school-related articles was low, particularly in sports
(I’m no exemption, writing about
the Yankees in almost every issue).
In this issue, and
in the future, we
look to expand our
coverage of school
sports and news.
This could include
coverage of the
band, school plays,
athletics, or future
guest appearances
from squirrels. If
there is a story you would like for us to
cover, drop by our office, which should
be ready anytime now, or contact one of
the editors listed on the left.
Sincerely,
Mohamed Nathani
Editor in Chief
Table of Contents
News
pages 1-4
Arts & Entertainment
pages 5-7
Senior Superlatives
pages 8-9
Features
pages 10-11
Editorials
January 2011
pages 12-14
The Jet Gazette is a student run paper for the students’ information
and entertainment. All editorials are the opinion of the editorial staff
unless signed. The Jet Gazette accepts signed letters to the editor,
but reserves the right to edit them. The Jet Gazette accepts advertisements, but reserves the right not to print them.
Sports
pages 15-16
Continued from front page
everything that could possibly go wrong in
that scene did. Except for the songs. The
songs were good.
E- Yeah, the songs were good.
JG- What about the best scene?
M- 1.4
E- 1.4 is the best for Max—
M- It’s the classroom scene.
E- I love 1.4, but even more is 1.5, which
is the Shall I Tell You What I Think of You
song, where I get to have a complete temper tantrum on stage.
M- You completely tear my character
apart.
E- Yeah.
JG- Was there any rage at Max hidden
in that?
E- *laughs* No, never Max.
M- Not even for that one time I missed re-
NEWS
hearsal? When we were going to choreograph Shall We Dance?
…
M- When people call my name, I always
respond with, “Yo.” And I noticed that now
I say, “Yo, yo, yo.” (quickly)
E- *laughs*I definitely started saying
things in three’s also, as a result of this
production. I’ll be like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I’m coming.”
M- What, what, what? And I’ve been saying “et cetera” a lot.
E- So have I! I have one teacher who uses
“et cetera” a lot, and I’m always thinking, “Oh, God! The show!” Also, there’s
a girl in my math class named Anna, and
I’ve started responding to her name… I’ve
played an Anna for two years now…
JG- What was the most challenging
scene?
E- It’s the final scene, the death scene. Actually I wasn’t able to cry until maybe one
of the last Hell Week rehearsals, when we
were running that scene and I finally made
myself cry.
JG- What did you think about to get
yourself to cry?
M- Me being shirtless, all the time.
E- *laughs* Yes, Max being shirtless.
That’s what I thought of. And then I cried.
No. Basically, to start crying, I had to think
of something personal, and then once I was
already crying, then I could just go back
to being in-character and remember that I
do have feelings for the king, and that he’s
dying and that’s why I’m crying—
M- Dead king.
E- Yes, dead king, that’s what made me
cry. … But to start crying—this is kind of
embarrassing—I would psyche myself out
3
and make myself think that I ruined the
show. I would make myself think that everything went wrong, because that’s something that would make me the most sad in
that moment, imagining that the show was
ruined because I messed up so many times.
Even though I didn’t, I would make myself
believe that I did a horrible job, and then I
cried on stage.
M- I got to chill in the back.
E- Yeah, you just got to lay there and die.
M- I got to relax the entire scene.
JG- If you could tell the character you
played one thing, what would it be?
M- …I love you.
E- I don’t know, she’s so strong, and I wish
I was that strong. She’s such a wonderful
person, and…it was an honor to play her,
I’ll say that.
EMHS Jazz Ensemble Goes To Rochester!
by Anson Wang
Photo courtesy of East Meadow High School Music Department.
Every year, a lucky and talented sembled at JFK International Airport Ter- set up with different activities to try as well The time was about 9:00 p.m. before the
select number of Junior and Senior students minal 5 ready to board the Jet Blue flight as items to purchase. One could even try band traveled together to the Lilac Ballare accepted into the annual New York All- to Rochester. Bags, suits and instruments the shiny, sparkling new instruments that room.
The EMHS Jazz Ensemble was
State Music Festival, an event honoring the in hand, they arrived at the airport an hour were on display, provided that the player
very best band, orchestra, jazz, and chorus early and spent the remaining time run- brought his or her own mouthpiece. Free set to perform second that night. After a
members around. To get into this coveted ning around the airport terminal. At about samples, and even free boxes of reeds, last warm-up and practice session, months
and prestigious event, one must go through 9:00, the band boarded the small Jet Blue were provided in this hall. However, some of preparation and hard work were about
a rigorous audition process, followed by plane bound for upstate New York. After a of the stands were already closed (The urge to be tested. The Jazz Ensemble took their
months of preparation, not to mention years rather short flight and a service of drinks to swipe an unattended fancy box of reeds place on stage before an audience of about
twice the number of a full auditorium in our
of experience. However, this year marked a and blue chips, the plane touched down in off the table was very tempting).
truly momentous event. For the first time in snow-blanketed Rochester. The band was
Finally, it was time to get serious own High School. The excitement, energy,
five years, the East Meadow High School transferred via shuttle to the Hyatt Regen- and prepare for the concert in the evening. and anticipation were high, and the adrenaJazz Ensemble was one of only eight mu- cy Hotel located in the downtown area.
The band was to perform in the biggest line could be felt throughout the room.
It was only about noon, but the room in the hotel, the Lilac Ballroom, Tune after tune, the band played through
sical groups selected throughout the entire
state to perform at this year’s NYSSMA day was packed with activities. After stow- where they held their sound-check. Soon, the program with confidence and with their
Winter Conference, held along side the ing their instruments and bag into a closet, our hotel rooms were finally ready, and highest musicality, and contained almost
no audible mistakes.
All-State festival.
It was truly a magi
Only last
cal night, one that was
year, the band conhighly praised and one
ductor Mr. Engle
that would go down
submitted a recordin history. After playing of one of the
ing through each song,
band’s concerts to
the ensemble exited
a panel of experts.
the stage and headed
This year, their hard
backstage, where exwork paid off. Howpressions of congratuever, this could only
lations, thanks, and
mean high stress
praise were thrown
and anxiety, along
around. Following an
with a rush to preonslaught of pictures
pare for the upcomand celebrations, it was
ing
performance.
time to head back to the
Just weeks after the
hotel rooms. Promises
beginning of the
of “all-nighters” soon
school year, audibegan to fade fast, as
tions were held and
fatigue set in and took
rehearsals
began.
its toll.
The band carefully
The next day,
selected a program
the band had breakfast
of four songs includin the hotel before heading “The Nutcracker
ing upstairs to pack.
Suite,” “Afro Blue,”
They were then shipped
“Jamie,” and “Strike
off to the Rochester AirUp The Band.”
port in order to catch a
As rehearsals pro1:00 flight back to JFK.
gressed, they even
Upon arrival back in
began to multiply.
the southern part of
With All-State apThe Jazz Ensemble and its members:
New York, it was time
proaching, rehears
Director: Stephen Engle
to reflect upon the past
als were held in the
day. Wait a second, the
mornings and even
Saxophones: Justin Herman, Daniel Gross, Chris Garzia, Charlie Gionvenniello, Harry Zucker
past day? What really
on several evenings.
Trombones: Jordan Fried, Jonathan Tilles, Julian Paykert, Alex Gross
was a twenty-four hour
After all, “Practice
Trumpets: Andrew Hocher, Max Hoffman, Nicholas Maltese,
trip upstate seemed
makes permanent,”
like a weeklong jouras the Music DepartSam Pollenz, Louis Pollenz
ney. However, it was a
ment says. After a
Drums: Stephan Stanzione
trip full of memories to
final rehearsal and
Bass: Jacob Umansky
carry on. It was a true
a final pep talk, the
honor to play at the Allband was sent home
Guitar: Jason Toledano
State convention this
to pack and to rest,
Piano: Anson Wang
year, and as Mr. Engle
anticipating the next
said, carrying the stanFriday when they
would depart to Rochester (Yes, that same the band first set out to have lunch at a local with three to a room, members stepped into dard of excellence that our school is so
fateful Friday where the brave squirrel grill, and then to view the rehearsals of the their own suites to unload and to unwind. well known for providing. This trip will
All-State symphonic groups. Where they After dinner in the hotel café, it was time definitely remain as a highlight of our High
chewed through the power line).
Early the next morning, the band, ventured to next was one of the highlights to prepare for the main event. Showers, a School lives for a long time. After claiming
along with chaperone Mr. Marshall, the 8th of the day. Held in the main building was an change of clothes, and a few pillow brawls our baggage and meeting with parents, it
grade band director from Woodland, as- exhibition hall, where various stands were later, the band met in the lobby of the hotel. was time to return home.
January 2011
NEWS
4
Angry Birds and Bejeweled Said to
Relieve Stress?
iSchool iLearn iLove
iTouch
by Sami Chowdhury
waiting for something, try playing Angry
Birds or Bejeweled. I know that the next
time I read a really hard book or when
a bunch of tests are approaching, I will
play Angry Birds to reduce my stress.
Who knows? You might just feel less
stressful and even more focused, too.
One screaming bird smashing into a pig
could lighten your whole day.
Squirrel Obituary
by Melissa Gross
January 2011
December 3, 2010: tragedy strikes at
East Meadow High School. On this chilly
winter day, a young squirrel is seeking
nothing
but
warmth along
the grounds of
EMHS; what
he found was
perhaps a little
more than the
heat he was
looking for.
As
students
stared longingly at the
clock in their
fourth period
classroom, the
curious squirrel
thought he’d have a peek inside an important-looking box on Carman Avenue, and
that’s where he went wrong. As his family mourns the loss of their beloved father,
son, and friend, that little squirrel saved the
lives of hundreds of
students that day in
many ways, whether
it was the postponement of a dreaded
math test that afternoon or simply fulfilling the desire to
go home early and
catch up on those
missed episodes of
Glee. Filing onto
the buses around
seventh period, the
entire student body
was thinking the
same thing: Thank you, Mr. Squirrel. You
will be missed.
As the technology world thrives, the
majority of people in America can be found
with a form of Apple’s iPod, the most common MP3 player. The latest version of the
iPod is the iPod Touch 4. With thousands
of applications available for this device,
the possibilities are endless. Though the
most common and most obvious use for
the iPod Touch is to listen to music, there
are also many other ways it can be used.
Most schools around the country discourage or ban the use of the iPod in classes because of the
distraction it
causes, but
most people
are forgetting the positive uses of
the iPod at
school.
Many
classes,
whether it’s
for language
or just definitions, use
flash cards. Though it is true that flash
cards can help with memorization, these
cards can also be bothersome when they
begin to multiply as the school year goes
on. Apple has various applications available which allow you to make and save all
of your flash cards on your iPod. Rather
than having to continue buying and carrying hundreds of flash cards, you can have
an endless amount for a small price. These
applications also have extra features where
you can add pictures, change the language
settings, and take tests frequently.
The Associate Dean of the Journalism
School, Brian Brooks, suggested the idea
of turning the music player into a learning
device. “Lectures are the worst possible
learning format,” Brooks said. “There’s
been some research done that shows if students can hear that lecture a second time,
they retain three times as much of that lecture.”
English is a major subject in which
students have to read and also learn new
vocabulary. Most distinguished books can
Photo courtesy of Google Images
charming characters, amusing sound effects, simple but appealing graphics, and
easy rules. Positive reinforcement also
adds to the fun, addiction, and the relaxing feeling of the game. Game designers
say that this
reward system is a significant part
of a game’s
appeal.
In
addition, Bejeweled allows a player’s scores to
be displayed
to other players for competition purposes. The need to compete and be the
best improves stress and distracts people
from their problems, bringing more appeal to the game. I’d rather be the best on
Bejeweled than read Great Expectations.
Overall, these games provide a distraction from the issues of daily life.
So, the next time something stressful
is approaching, like exams and midterms,
or if you are just bored because you are
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Have you ever felt really stressed
about taking a test? Perhaps you are even
bored waiting for something. How about
all those extreme classes, sports, and extracurricular activities you’re trying to
m a n a g e ?
Most of
these
scenarios do
involve
stress.
Want to
know
one surprising
way to
get rid
of it? Flinging angry birds at pigs or even
playing Bejeweled. Surprised? Me too. I
never knew that while I was playing Angry Birds, I was actually relieving stress
and improving my mood.
While I was reading an article in the
Wall Street Journal, I found out that Angry Birds, Bejeweled, and many other
well-renowned casual games are said
to reduce stress for many hard-working
people.
T h a t ’s
right.
A
2008 study
by
PopCap had
134 players with
two even
groups of
people on
the casual
games like
Bejeweled, and
another group just researching articles. It
turned out that the people playing games
like Bejeweled and Angry Birds had
lower stress levels and improved overall
mood levels than those researching. Casual games are defined as games that are
easy to reach with intricate story lines
and controls, such as Tetris. But just how
do these fun games soothe smart people’s
minds? Games such as Angry Birds have
by Alexandra Lopez
be found at the Apple App Store. As an alternative, you can download the Amazon
Kindle Application for free. With this application you are able to search for a book,
purchase it, and then adjust the setting to
your preference. You also have the ability
to modify the color contrast, font, and font
size. As for vocabulary, you can download
the dictionary.com application for free.
Any word you choose can be defined at
your fingertips. This application also includes a full thesaurus.
There are many applications to help you
with math as well. Not
only does the iTouch already come with a free
calculator, but for Algebra you can purchase
the Math Solver App for
only 99 cents. This application is very easy to use
for people of all ages. All
you have to do is type
in the equation. The app
will not only solve the
problem, but will explain in words and numbers for every step
taken.
For most classes, it is necessary to take
notes. There are many simple applications
to use for this particular task. You can decide to use the pre-installed Note App. This
application is extremely helpful and is a
must-have. Here you are able to choose the
type of note you would like to use, from a
picture already on your camera, a snapshot
you can take easily, a voice which can be
recorded in any volume, or even a simple
text which can be written in a landscape
format. Other ways to use this application
include taking a picture of your homework
off the board, recording the lecture your
teacher is giving, or typing up important
notes for a future test.
The iPod Touch 4 is a very remarkable
device, but what is even more impressive
are the amazing applications that you can
purchase or download for free. Applications can help improve how students do in
school. Schools should encourage all students to own one of these devices.
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
byAlexa Spieler
Photo courtesy of Alexa Spieler
As of recent times, the AP Tour has been
known to bring about the rising stars in more
of the ‘pop-rock’ genre, but not this time
around. This year’s lineup however, was destined to bring out the biggest of mosh pits,
the heaviest of breakdowns, and an overall
fun night (if you’re into waking up the next
Photo courtesy of Alexa Spieler
by Ilana Friedman
Jet Gazette: What is the origin of the band's
name, "Giants At Large"?
main themes or topics you write about? Do
you think these topics will change over time?
Matt Lagattuta: The name Giants At Large
is a reference to a really old Mickey Mouse
cartoon. The moral of the story is that he needs
to overcome his fears and believe in himself
to slay the giant. At the beginning of the cartoon, there's a sign that says "Giant At Large"
so that's where the name came from.
ML: All of the lyrics were written at the same
time so all the songs reference each other, and
there's a handful of lyrics that are mentioned in
a couple of songs. I guess a main theme would
be to stay positive even when everything that
can go wrong, has gone wrong. The topics
will definitely change. I like to write about
personal experiences, so whatever happens to
me is what I'll be
writing about.
JG: Is it hard to
balance school
and band practice?
ML: Not so much
when it's just
those two. Right
now I'm attending college, in
this band, working a pizza job,
recording local
bands between all
this, and recording and mixing
my own band’s
stuff. This is
definitely getting
hard to balance.
[Laughs]
JG: Do any other
bands
inspire
you?
ML: Definitely,
my favorite band
of all time is a
small punk rock band called The Lawrence
Arms. Some of my other favorites are The
Ataris, Brand New, and Blink-182.
JG: What is the experience in transitioning
from one band (Valet Parking) to another?
ML: It's strange, with the other band I always
shared vocal duties with at least one other person, with this band I sing almost all the time,
so that was scary at first. With this band we
started out knowing what we wanted to sound
like and what direction we wanted to go in, although not so much toward the end; there was
always a struggle for that with the other band.
JG: When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
ML: We formed this band the second we
knew the other band was done. Basically Travis, CJ, and I played in Valet Parking together.
We were on tour, and our van died in Florida.
It was completely unfixable, so we and all of
our equipment were stuck there. We were all
trying to figure out what to do next and our
bass player/singer quit. We all felt so defeated,
but we knew it wasn't time to give up. We did
decide that it was time to start fresh and start
over though, and not too long after we got
home we met Brian, and everything has been
great so far.
JG: As the songwriter, what are some of the
JG: How has
your
music
changed
over
time?
ML: I wouldn't
say we are in any
way reinventing
the wheel, but
we're definitely
trying to push
the boundaries
of a "pop-punk"
band, and try to
think outside of
the box for our
genre. To compare it to my old
band, I'd say it's
less polished and
a tad more aggressive.
JG: What has
been the most difficult time for the band?
ML: Auditioning bass players while only having one song done. That was so frustrating because we would do the one song and then be
like, "Okay cool, so what do we do now?"
JG: Do the band mates always agree or is
there tension?
ML: We don't always agree, but we don't do
the "majority rules" thing and leave one person unhappy. If one person wants one thing
and another wants something else, we'll compromise until everyone is happy. I feel like the
best stuff comes out when two musicians have
to argue it out to please the two of them.
JG: What do you wish to gain from this band
experience?
ML: I just want to make honest music that
people can enjoy. I want to travel and make
new friends, and do what makes me happy,
and that's this.
JG: Anything else you want to add?
ML: Support local bands and Long Island
Music Scene Radio (LIMS). Every band had
to start small at some point, so if you like a
band, go to a show, make new friends, and
hang out!
January 2011
day with bruises and not knowing the origin
of them). Hosted at New York City’s own
Best Buy Theater, the heart of Times Square
was rocked by This Is Hell, Polar Bear Club,
Emarosa, and co-headliners August Burns
Red and Bring Me the Horizon. I could focus on the first two acts for
you, but to be honest there wasn’t much that
‘stood out’ in This Is Hell and Polar Bear
Club’s set. This Is Hell definitely had energy,
seeing as though it was their hometown show
(or should I say home-state), but I think everyone in that venue agrees with me on the
fact that they could have lived without their
set. Polar Bear Club was decent, and I’m
sure they had fans there for them, but nothing truly captured me.
Now that we’ve gotten
to the point on their
sets, let’s head over to
Emarosa.
Emarosa, where
to begin, where to begin? My first encounter of the night with
Emarosa started when
I was downstairs in
the venue, and Jonny
Craig (lead vocalist)
asked me where the
green room was, and
I directed him to it,
and he followed with
a “Thank you, ladies!”
To be honest, prior
to the AP Tour, I had
vaguely heard of Emarosa and had listened
to them a small number of times, but boy was
I blown away. Never have I ever heard such
a beautiful, soothing voice as Jonny Craig’s.
Hearing Emarosa’s set was a nice calm before the storm, just because the two heaviest
bands, August Burns Red and Bring Me The
Horizon, were on after. Jonny Craig sings
with such passion and soulfulness that you’re
immediately drawn in and want to know what
angel possesses this voice. Emarosa was the
stand out band of the night, by far. Next up
was August Burns Red - whom I had caught
up with prior to the show for an interview. Although they were fun guys to speak with, this
was my second time seeing them, and their
set didn’t truly impress me all that much.
Their music is a little too heavy for me, but
their lyrics are incredible. If you don’t know
their lyrics beforehand, you won’t be able to
appreciate their musicianship, but then again,
if heavy music isn’t your ‘thing’, I wouldn’t
recommend them. The crowd, however, was
livelier for them than ever with the breaking
out of several mosh pits, and overall just an
energized crowd. All
of this energy, however, would carry on
full force for Bring
Me The Horizon’s
set.
Bring Me The
Horizon. Everyone
was awaiting for the
British
metalcore
band to step foot on
that stage ever since
they entered the venue that night. It was
long awaited and fans
were screaming every time a band even
merely mentioned the
name ‘Bring Me The
Horizon’. Coming
out to the single off
their latest album, “There Is A Hell, Believe
Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s
Keep It A Secret,” their hyped up energy
powered the opening song, “It Never Ends.”
Lead vocalist, Oli Sykes, continued his habitual action of going into the crowd during
the first song, which always makes the crowd
go even crazier. The energy supplied by these
guys on stage is truly remarkable, and that’s
why they’re personally one of my favorite
acts to see live. They performed a good balance between tracks off their latest album
along with tracks off their sophomore album,
“Suicide Silence.” They only performed fan
favorite, “Pray For Plagues,” off their first
album ‘Count Your Blessings’, but that is understandable due
to the fact that on
such a huge tour
like the AP Tour,
you really want to
go out and show
everything, your
latest stuff. You
want your set to
start out with a
bang and finish
off with a bang.
That is what Bring
Me The Horizon
ultimately
did.
Besides the fact
their stage presence was out of
this world, their
talking on stage
always made the
fans laugh. Vocalist Oli Sykes cued in with laughable remarks
such as; “I hope everyone is having a jolly
good time out there,” accompanied by other
more obscene and entertaining comments. It
was truly a combination of stage presence,
anticipation, and pure talent that made their
set as great as it was. The only disappointment was that it was a rather short set. I look
forward to seeing another Bring Me The Horizon show in the future, with a rather longer
set. Overall, I’d say the people over at Alternative Press did a solid job putting together
a line-up for this year’s fall AP Tour. The
lineup was greatly diverse, and not one band
sounded slightly the same, offering a great
variation and something for everyone.
Giants At Large
Photo courtesy of purevolume.com
AP Tour
5
6
A&E
Top Teen Movies
Fan Mail
by Amanda Chambers
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Sixteen Candles is the
perfect example of a comingof-age story. It is the movie
that made a star of Molly
Ringwald, and rightfully
so. She won a Young Artist
Award for Best Young Actress
in a Motion Picture-Musical,
Comedy, Adventure or Drama
for her representation of Samantha Baker, an average high
school girl making her transition to adulthood. With all the
excitement in Sam’s house
due to her sister’s wedding,
her family fails to remember
her sixteenth birthday. In addition, she is forced to deal with
embarrassing grandparents, a geek who likes her,
an annoying little brother, a foreign exchange
student living in her home, and her crush on the
most popular boy in school, Jake Ryan. Anthony
Michael Hall also received a Young Artist Award
for Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture-Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama for his portrayal as The Nerd, or Farmer Ted. Writer/director
John Hughes manages to show flaws in teens and
depict them accurately without degrading them in
all his films. Sixteen Candles is a hilarious teen
comedy, one that is well worth watching.
linois high school. The cast performances are impeccable and John Hughes’ script deals with the
characters in a mature manner, making them wise
beyond their years without letting us forget they
are still just kids. Also starring Molly Ringwald,
Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez and
John Kapelos, The Breakfast Club is the definition of a teen movie at its finest.
January 2011
The Breakfast Club (1985)
When writing about the best teen movies
it is impossible for me not include The Breakfast Club. Possibly one of the best depictions of
teens, this film is about blurring the lines between
cliques, and how difficult that can be. Although
this is a movie mainly about teenagers, it is by
no means for teens only. The Breakfast Club is
a movie written and directed by the late John
Hughes about five teens in Saturday detention
who seemingly have nothing in common, but
soon learn their initial assumptions about each
other were completely wrong. The film begins
with the famous voice-over monologue in which
Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) explains to the
principal, Mr. Vernon (Paul Gleason), how all
the kids had judged each other at the beginning
of the day solely because of their label in their Il-
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Pretty in Pink is the sweet love story of
Andie (Molly Ringwald), the unpopular poor girl,
and Blane (Andrew McCarthy), the rich boy who
is different from all the others. In their school,
a “richie” should never be seen with someone
without money. Despite this and his clever, unsupportive friend, Steff (James Spader), Blane
decides to ask out Andie. Duckie (Jon Cryer),
Andie’s long-time friend who is secretly in love
with her, is heartbroken and angry when she accepts, to which she points out if she doesn’t like
him for having money, it’s the same thing as them
not liking her for being poor. Andie and Blane’s
relationship starts off shaky, but turns for the better when he asks her to the prom. Things seem to
be good, until he starts ignoring her. This leads
to one of my favorite scenes where she confronts
him and accuses him of being ashamed to be with
her. In addition to her problems with Blane, she’s
dealing with her father (Harry Dean Stanton) who
is still devastated that his wife left him years ago.
Once again, John Hughes produces an exceptional script and helps make Pretty in Pink a classic.
Heathers (1989)
Heathers is a dark comedy that portrays a
sinister side of high school and the dangers of
cliques. Winona Ryder stars as Veronica, the
fourth member of the most powerful clique in her
school, in which the other three members are all
named Heather. The Heathers are mean girls who
mercilessly bully anyone they want. Veronica
reluctantly follows Heather number one’s (Kim
Walker) lead until one night when she gets tired
of her malicious ways. Veronica and her new
boyfriend, the dark and mysterious J.D. (Christian Slater), decide to hand Heather number one
a glass of liquid drainer to kill her and rid themselves of her oppression. After fully
realizing what they had done, they
concoct a plan to make it seem like
a suicide. This is just the beginning
of a series of fake suicides they
plan against anyone they feel has
wronged them or, as J.D. says in
one case, “had nothing left to offer the school.” The charming J.D.
drags Veronica into each situation,
but his reasoning for his actions
seems to be deeper than one would
initially think. He says things such
as, “Seven schools in seven states
and the only thing different is my
locker combination,” and “The
only place different social types can
genuinely get along with each other
is in Heaven.” Toward the end of
the movie, he almost starts to make
sense, despite his obvious mental
instability. This movie is a strange one and did
horribly at the box office, but it has grown to be
a cult classic. The Los Angeles Times even stated,
“Without Heathers, there would be no Jawbreaker, no Mean Girls, and certainly no Juno.”
Clueless (1995)
Even though Clueless parodies the Beverly
Hills lifestyle, it is actually a very smart film.
Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is rich, pretty, popular,
and becomes well aware that she comes off as
superficial. Determined to prove to people she is
not as stuck-up as she seems, she decides to help
other people in her California high school. First,
she helps two geeky teachers find love with each
other. Then a new girl, Tai (Brittany Murphy),
transfers to her school. Cher figures she is “clueless,” so she and her best friend Dionne (Stacey
Dash) decide to take her under their wing and
give her a Beverly Hills makeover. Cher undergoes a change in mentality and realizes that life
is more than shopping and clothes. Silverstone
delivers some hilarious lines like, “He does dress
better than I do; what would I bring to the relationship?” and “This is where Dionne lives. She’s
my friend because we both know what it’s like for
people to be jealous of us.” While helping others,
she goes through her own transformation, managing to find love for herself with her dad’s sort-of
stepson, Josh (Paul Rudd), and shows she’s much
smarter than she pretends.
Photo Courtesy of Google Images
Movies are some of the best representations
of life. They are pieces of art that should not simply be watched and forgotten, but experienced.
Film is something I personally value and cherish. While I profusely admire and glorify classics
such as Gone With the Wind, Duck Soup, Dances
With Wolves, and Kramer vs. Kramer, a lot of my
favorite movies are ones with teenagers as the
protagonists.
by Christine Kasparov
Have you ever considered developing a secret code on a fan instead of on a piece of paper?
And just to clarify, I’m talking about that device
you move back and forth to cool yourself down.
Well, in the novel, Snow Flower and the Secret
Fan, written by Lisa See, you can witness a type
of life-long friendship that all starts with the arrival of a silk fan on which a delicate message
is painted.
The story takes place in nineteenth-century China and recounts the life of Lily, a seemingly average and unimpressive soul who at the
same time, miraculously qualifies for a loatong,
or “old same,” with whom she will be paired
with from another village. They have so much
in common before they even meet face to face,
such as being born on the same day, in the same
hour, being of equal height and beautiful, and
having the same number of brothers and sisters.
Lily and the girl called Snow Flower meet at
the tender age of seven and become inseparable. They send each other messages in the secret
code of nu shu, which, at the time, are usually
composed on fans or handkerchiefs.
It’s pretty amazing that two strangers, both
of varying social positions and educations, can
become so compatible in just a short amount
of time. It’s interesting to read about how these
girls bloom into maturity and adulthood while
facing both happiness and sadness. I enjoyed
reading about all of the customs and events
incorporated into this novel. I would definitely
recommend this book. Its poetic language is
so captivating and deep that it feels as if not a
single word is wasted.
Mischeif Managed
by Soha Salmon
that Harry and his friends face, the movie
also had humorous scenes. A laugh or two
here and there were what the younger audience needed because this movie was far
more gloomy than previous films. While the
trio did not return to Hogwarts this year, all
romance was not lost from the film. Ron and
Hermione’s feelings for one another continued to grow more pronounced, as they have
for the past six movies. Ron’s underlying
Photo courtesty of clothesonfilm.com
The first part of the final installment of
the beloved Harry Potter movies hit theaters
November 19, 2010 at midnight. Fans eagerly waited to see what Warner Bros. would
bring to the screen this time as Harry Potter
and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and
Hermione Granger, began their search for the
Horcruxes. The three had hopes of destroying the evil Lord Voldemort forever yet did
not estimate the magnitude of danger that ac-
companied their journey.
Fans of the book series always have the
same concern for the movies; will it coincide with the books? Director David Yates
relieved many fans by dividing the movie
into two parts, therefore not being forced to
condense a 759 page book into two and a half
hours. This action faced some criticism from
fans of just the movies, because the first part
ended on a cliff hanger for them.
Yates captured and conveyed Harry,
Ron, and Hermione’s journey wonderfully.
He did not hesitate in fully portraying the loss
of comforts the trio had to endure as they set
out alone, living in a tent and moving from
campsite to campsite. The emotions that
author J.K. Rowling’s characters possessed
throughout this novel were not lost either.
Harry’s confusion, Ron’s frustrations, and
Hermione’s gloom were developed throughout the movie, giving audiences a look into
how their new lives were affecting the trio
emotionally.
While capturing the horror and danger
7
The Best of 2010
by Akash Shetye
For film fanatics, this past year was one to
forget. 2010 was filled with sequels and 3D films
that were looking for money rather than recognition. However, one film this year did break the
trend. That movie is Christopher Nolan’s Sci-Fi
thriller Inception. In his masterpiece, Nolan carefully blends story, acting, action, effects, and
directing. The result is that a person is mentally
captivated and emotionally heartbroken while
watching the film unfold.
Inception follows Dom Cobb, played by
Leonardo DiCaprio. Cobb is on the run from the
law, and cannot return home to his children. He
also is a skilled extractor, meaning that he can
enter people’s dreams and steal their ideas. Now,
Cobb is given one last job. If he is successful, he
will be permitted to go back home. Instead of
stealing an idea, Cobb has to plant an idea into
someone’s mind.
On the surface, the plot of Inception seems
simple. However, Christopher Nolan takes his audience into a script that twists and turns at every
scene. The result is that Nolan creates a layered
storyline that leaves the audience at the edge of its
seat for a full two and a half hours.
The script of Inception is amazing; however,
it is the ensemble cast that turns this good movie
into a great one. Ellen Page is stunning as Ariadne, and Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hardy
add an amazing amount of humor in their roles as
Arthur and Eames. Ken Watanabe is surprisingly
good as the mysterious Saito. However, the best
performance is Leonardo DiCaprio’s. An actor
who has built his reputation over the years with
projects such as Titanic and The Departed, Di-
GR AN D
C O M E IN A N D T A S TE W
Caprio delivers the best performance of his career
as Dom Cobb. The performance should merit him
an Oscar, though it will be difficult to top Jesse
Eisenberg’s performance in The Social Network.
Other standouts include Marion Cotillard who is
chilling as Cobb’s wife, Mal, and Cillian Murphy,
who provides the emotional touch in the middle
of the film.
At its core, Inception is meant to be a philosophical drama. However, Christopher Nolan has
turned what would be a movie that was isolated to
one particular audience into a mainstream movie.
He has done this by adding some of the best action scenes in cinematic history. The car chase in
Los Angeles is breathtaking, and is followed by a
scene that defies the laws of gravity. Joseph Gordon-Levitt jumps from wall to wall and ceiling to
floor in a scene that made acclaimed critic Peter
Travers describe Inception as “James Bond meets
The Matrix.” That scene is then overshadowed
by a brilliant snow fort sequence in which Tom
Hardy steals the show.
The visual effects for Inception were just
as pleasing as the action in the movie. Double
Negative (the effects company on the film) did a
brilliant job meeting Nolan’s vision. Most surprisingly was the fact that Inception had less visual
effects than The Dark Knight, which was Nolan’s
last movie. That is Christopher Nolan’s philosophy: never do something on the computer that you
can do with a handheld camera. In a day and age
where filmmakers are rushing to convert films to
3D and create amazing CGI-infested worlds, that
is a true testament to the hard work of Christo-
pher Nolan.
O P E N IN G
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January 2011
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jealousy of Harry and Hermione’s relationship also came to the surface, resulting in
a heart breaking turn of events which left a
scar on Harry’s friendship with Ron.
While I was interested throughout the
entire movie, some fans lost interest in the
middle, which focused on Harry and his
friends traveling around in search of the
Horcruxes. They did not find much throughout the middle, and these scenes seemed to
bore some, especially those who aren’t familiar with the books. While it may have
been a bit boring, it was exactly what it was
supposed to be. During that interval, Harry,
Hermione, and especially Ron grew desperate and lost much of their hope because of
the lack of success their journey was having. However, the action packed scenes
were fast paced keeping movie goers on
the edge of their seats, waiting to see what
would happen next. These scenes included
the Malfoy Manor scene, in which the brilliant Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Bellatrix Lestrange, returned and gave the audience chills with her twisted
mind. Tom Felton, another
favorite of the movies was
also there playing the much
less proud Draco Malfoy.
The animation of Deathly
Hallows also received
great praise from reviews
all around. It portrayed the
house-elves Kreacher and
Dobby realistically, causing the audience to form a
bond with them. Animation
was also used to tell the
story of the Three Brothers, a classic folktale of the
Wizarding world.
Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows
Part 1 is a movie that continues to receive the praise
that the previous six have
received. Audiences left
the theatre enchanted, excited for the release of Part
2 and the final installment
of the series. It’s planned to
be released in July 2011.
A&E
8
Senior Superlatives
Class Laugh
Tim Kearon - Erin Zizza
Joe Angelino - Nikki Giocastro
Best Dressed
Teddy Banker - Jordan Ford
Daniela Ramirez– Jeffery Angelino
Class Couple
Class Klutz
Pedestrian’s
Worst Nightmare
Class Hair
Dan Zamora & Kelly Owens
Jersey Shore Wannabe
Anthony DiTomasso - Toni Turrisi
Class Flirt
MaryJo Formoso– Brett Lapidus
January 2011
Class Smile
Class Cutie
Shelby Caban – Rob Franzese
Steve Cukro - Colleen Wilkowski
Lindsey Rubinstein – Sam Lee
Class Attitude Class Clown
Everybody’s Buddy
Mya Revell– Napoleon Mejia
Kareem Roberts - Kim Asdahl
Justine Cirola – Jimmy Egan
Class Eyes
All Around
Most Athletic
Chris Somma - Dani Digenova
Elisa Torres – Brandon Noblet
Jessica Widmann – Sean Hinchy
Senior Superlatives
Take Over World
Teacher’s Pet
Nickname
9
Terribly Talkative
Antonio Alvez - Jennifer Simberland
Chris Sidor - Vanessa De Pasquale
Beanie/Chrisine Baker –
Ginger/ Eric Hanson
Most Memorable
Life of Party
Most Inseparable
Diana Healy – Matt Flanagan
Rida Naser – Alexandra Kaimis
Brittany Zajack – Andrew Danziger
Broadway Bound
Most Musical
Most School Spirit
Most Likely to Succeed
Linda Liu – Jared Biunno
Neha Sahni – Jesse Sherman
Maliha Ali – Ryan Sacks
Most Artistic
Nicole Settimo – Andrew Lee
Emily Illson – Sam Pollenz
Wait, They’re
Not Dating?
Best Teacher
Chris Swenson - Emily Brummer
Michael D’Amico - Ariana Ovadia
Best Car
Mrs. Altman – Mr. Helming
January 2011
10
One Nation
Under Sneakers
ESL
by Rutul Upadhyay
by Shamoon Rizvi
of the year, and has been compared to the
top shoes of the decade by many sneaker
fanatics. These shoes first appeared in the
market in the 1991, and were later pulled
January 2011
ESL stands for English as a Second Language. ESL is a great program
which provides help and support. ESL does
not just teach us English, but also how to
communicate and write better. It also helps
us with academic work and issues in and
out of school. ESL gives us an opportunity to get a good
education, starting
with understanding
English, which not
a lot of immigrants
or their children
got in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. Not knowing English, immigrants struggled
academically and were made fun of by
other students. Not handling the pressure
well, a good number of immigrant children
dropped out of school. Due to most immigrants dropping out of schools, the school
boards in the 1970’s and 1980’s recognized
the need for programs that teach English to
foreign students. After hearing these facts,
I consider myself privileged to be learning English from someone in the ESL program.
Photo Courtesy of Google Images
Photo Courtesy of http://sneakermaniac.com
In today’s world, sneakers have rightfully taken their place in the fashion world,
among all things considered “cool’ in modern times. Michael Jordan has revolutionized
h o w
society
views
both
sneakers and
what
fashi o n
means
f o r
many
teens.
A pers o n
can be homeless, scruffy, and dressed in
the worst clothes imaginable and still be
considered ‘fly’ in society with a fresh
pair of sneakers. Sneakers have progressed
from sporting equipment into a high-fashion statement.
Jordan has released a limited-edition
Air Jordan 7, nicknamed the BIN 23’s.
These sneakers came out exclusively in
New York City at 11:59 p.m. and were
swept off of the shelves by 12:30 a.m. This
was considered the most anticipated shoe
off due to the desire for Jordan to keep this
pair of sneakers rare. The inspiration behind these shoes has been a combination
of African tribal decals, and Olympic colors. This shoe features tumbled leather all
around the front and rear of the shoe, with
very high quality new buck material. The
sole of these shoes have once again been
inspired by tribal-smear painting.
These shoes will run around $250 and
are currently an exclusive to the people
who bought them in New York City.
ESL is similar to a regular English
class, but it does have a few differences.
A regular English class focuses mainly
on literature, while ESL focuses mainly
on grammar. EMHS offers three different levels of ESL. ESL Basic is a program
which introduces the English language to
a student. ESL 2
emphasizes reading and writing.
Lastly, ESL 3 covers English grammar, vocabulary,
and literature.
A student could get out
of ESL by doing
well academically
and by passing a state test. Based upon
your level from the state test, your teacher
might determine you do not need ESL or
you need it for another year. One of the
ESL teachers, Mr. Maddaloni, likes teaching ESL because he loves the way the language works and how people could use it
to express themselves. I really appreciate
everything they do to teach us English. I
think that without them we would have had
a terrible time learning English. Thanks!
by Lauren Thomas
that being you is good enough is uplifting, and could possibly save someone’s
life. The person responsible for this inspirational project is still a mystery, making this all the more intriguing that they
Photo courtesy of Lauren Thomas
Photo courtesy of Lauren Thomas
A student does not experience random acts of kindness on a day-to-day basis, especially in the ‘me first’ world of
today; it is just a simple fact. So when the
stalls and mirrors of the school bathroom
are plastered with
simple,
beautiful mantras about
loving yourself,
surprise is only a
natural reaction.
Accompanying the Post-it’s
scribbled with a
bright
Sharpie
were typed letters
spreading a message
everyone
should embrace. Love who you are; be
the person you are meant to be without
catering to what society believes to be
correct. Your flaws make you beautiful;
we are all only human, after all. With
teenagers striving for perfection every
day because of outside influences, it is
easy to lose sight of the simple things in
life. You are alive; what could be better?
Every person in school is fighting his
or her own battle, whether it is physically
or mentally. To have a complete stranger
go out of his or her way to reassure you
would look for no publicity.
Selfless acts like this should happen more often in order to slowly revive faith in humanity. Imagine a world
where people spend more time pointing
out the positive than the negative. Isn’t
it a wonderful vision? It was a beautiful day knowing that there are people in
our world, and in an
even smaller case,
our own school,
who care about others more than themselves.
Platonic lives
do not exist; spend
your life sharing
these messages of
hope, instead of
looking in the mirror examining every
‘flaw’ and freckle on
your face. You can make a difference:
this singular person has. Now follow suit
and keep your head held high.
Smile, because you’re worth it!
East Meadow School District
Board of Education
Brian O’Flaherty, President
Joseph Parisi, Vice President
Joseph Danenza
Corey Fanelli
Jeffrey Rosenking
Marcee Rubinstein
Walter Skinner
by Anson Wang
That very special time of year again
has arrived. No, I’m not talking about the
holidays, although we all wish that time
were back. We must look towards the future. In the following weeks, you will
be called/hunted down to your respective guidance counselor to schedule your
classes for next year. To some, this is an
overwhelming point of the year. So many
classes to choose from! I can’t make a decision! Should I really take that class? What
do you mean it won’t fit into my schedule?!
These are some of the things I hear while
going throughout my school day from people who are carefully planning out their futures. However, to
most, this concept
is beyond them.
That little booklet
that we received
before the holiday
break with the blue
cover is usually
forgotten.
Let’s
all rewind and
actually consider
taking a look in
that handy dandy
Curriculum Guide
before it winds up
becoming food for
the dumpster.
My first question to all of you
is, do you know
how many credits are required to
graduate? I mean,
before a guidance
counselor informs you about that fact. If
you don’t, you might want to pull out that
guide and flip to page iv and take a closer
look. As in most high schools, one must
have a necessary number of credits in order
to receive the appropriate diploma. Before
you move up to the next grade, you might
want to reconsider if your class choices
satisfy your credit requirements. You don’t
want to wind up being the senior who ends
up realizing, “Oh I’m missing one year of
art! I should’ve taken Studio Art during
my sophomore year!” And if you are, then
stinketh to be youeth.
“What classes are you taking next
year?” “Oh I don’t know, I’m just gonna
take the same courses as Ralph.” Really?
It is true that teenagers don’t have the habit
of planning for the future, but in an age
where we emphasize individualism, this
is surprising. People should learn to pilot
their own lives, and not just take classes to
be with their friends. Even if you sign up
for the same class, there’s no guarantee that
you both will be in the same section. The
Guide is point blank, sprawled out, plain
as day, a roadmap of your high school, describing each class in detail for your consideration. It cannot be easier to plan ahead
and select the classes that are right for you.
To not utilize this to its full advantage is
simply just foolish. A little bit of effort to
plan will make a huge difference in the
days to come. After all, you are going to
be in these classes for an entire year. Intense, right? Also, think of all the trees that
sacrificed their lives for this cause. Should
their efforts have been in vain? So instead
of peeking over at Ralph’s schedule, try
coming up with your own.
I also hear many other comments that
don’t make sense to me. For example: “My
schedule stinks” or “All my classes are
boring, I hate them.” Then what on Earth
possessed you to pick them? There are well
over fifty different classes to choose from,
so there is bound to be one that catches your
interest. This usually results as a symptom
of
I-Do-Not-Look-In-My-CurriculumGuide syndrome. It is called a “guide” for a
reason. To avoid this disease, a prescription
of careful analysis of the course descriptions is recommended, followed by plenty
of liquids. EMHS is doing everyone a huge
favor by providing these guides. In college,
they will not be so kind. It is better to get
used to the process now than
suffer.
Also,
why wouldn’t
you want to try
to find a class
that you enjoy,
have fun, AND
get good grades
in? All of the
above are just a
few page turns
away.
F i n a l l y,
the final golden
quote:
“This
school isn’t interesting.” If
you think this,
you just haven’t
been looking in
the right places.
Maybe it’s time
to start something new. Your day can be brightened up
with just the attendance of one interesting
class in this schedule. How will this ever
be discovered if that Curriculum Guide is
left sitting in a corner collecting dust and
serving as a home to spiders? Flip through
it, and you may find some very interesting
choices. For example, EMHS offers many
different programs in technology, business, and art. Combining these together,
did you know that there are classes that
offer Animation and even Introduction to
Video Game Design? Or are you musically
inclined? Think about taking courses such
as Music Theory or Music Production, or
even play in a small group everyday with
the Chamber Music class. You will never
know what you might find until you try.
Even main subjects such as Math, Science,
Social Studies, and English don’t have to
be boring. Some courses that are offered
are computer programming, culture studies, food studies, interesting book genres,
journalism, public speaking. There are
different fields of science such as marine
biology, or even classes where you watch
and analyze films all year. Those who feel
uninterested are just too lazy to search for
something extraordinary. There is something in that Guide for everyone, and filling
up your schedule with off-periods offers no
benefits.
There are tons of new classes being
added each year, and the school is open
to suggestions for new ones. Learn to live
your life the way you want. In the school
environment, start with a smart decision in
a class of your choosing. The Curriculum
Guides are given to everyone for a reason… and not for scrap paper.
January 2011
Administration
Louis R. DeAngelo, Superintendent of Schools
Lynne Manouvrier, Asst. Supt. for Curriculum and Instruction
Robert Gorman, Asst. Supt. for Business and Finance
Anthony Russo, Administrative Assistant for Human Resources
Patrick Pizzo, Director of School Facilities and Operations
Mary Ann O’Brien, Assistant Business Administrator
11
The Handy-Dandy
CURRICULUM GUIDE
Photo Courtesy of Google Images
Smile You’re
Alive
FEATURES
EDITORIALS
12
Watch
Your Tone
Agree
to
Disagree
by Jaclyn Gangi
by Lauren Nissenbaum
Think back to the 1990’s. What do
ated a broad imagination for children of
you remember most about that decade?
the ‘90s. I remember watching Nickel-
Do cartoons ring a bell? Whether it
odeon cartoons for at least an hour, and
was mornings, afternoons, or nights, on
I was never bored. And who could forget
weekdays or weekends, a majority of us
Kenan & Kel, All That, and Legends of
kids were watching cartoons of all differ-
the Hidden Temple? Those sitcoms and
ent sorts. Now think about your teenage
game shows were absolutely hilarious as
years.
well as entertaining. Now we have shows
How often do you watch cartoons?
like iCarly, and The Penguins of Mada-
More importantly, are any of those old
gascar. In my opinion, no modern show
cartoons still on television? I’m sure
could ever top these old ones.
you’ve
no-
ticed
that
about Cartoon
most
1990’s
Networks for-
been
cancelled
or
simply
show
reruns.
Car-
toons
nowa-
days
just
aren’t
the
same.
For
I
o
w
shows?
remember
constantly
watching cartoons
like
Dexter’s Laboratory,
Ed,
the
some teenag-
Cowardly
ers, born in
Dog,
and
the 1990’s, this could be considered ex-
Dragon Ball Z. Again, shows that never
tremely unfortunate due to the excellent
failed to entertain. Nowadays, Cartoon
quality of those cartoons. However, some
Network provides kids with shows like
teenagers enjoy the new shows broad-
Adventure Time and Chowder, which
casted on channels like Nickelodeon,
I’ve heard are funny. However, I will
Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel.
forever remain a 1990’s Cartoon Net-
This is something I constantly question,
work fan. Also shows on Disney Chan-
whether or not cartoons were better in
nel like Boy Meets World and Bear in the
the 1990’s or presently.
Big Blue House have been replaced with
Some of my favorite Nickelodeon
Hannah Montana and Phineas and Ferb.
cartoons used to be The Angry Beavers,
Although some of these new shows are
As Told By Ginger, CatDog, Hey Arnold!,
interesting to watch, I don’t believe they
and Rocko’s Modern Life. Of those five
will ever equal to shows from the 1990’s.
shows, I’m sure you watched at least one
What do you think?
of them when you were younger. They
all had different storylines which cre-
by Sarah Jacksi
Edd, n Eddy,
Courage
doesn’t pan out well without the help of the
trusty three-letter-word that I mentioned
before: lol. Adding ‘lol’ to any sentence
instantly makes whatever you happened
to have said into a joke. The harsh connotations of ‘you’re stupid’ or ‘shut up’ are
given the lightness of a laugh when you
simply add ‘lol’. Certainly those may not
be the kindest things to say, but most of
us say them in a light-hearted tone while
speaking on a day-to-day basis.
All in all, watch your tone. While you
may be laughing on your side of the conversation, your friend could possibly be
confused OR even worse, hurt on the flipside.
Intersection in the
Hallways
Did you ever leave your class a bit late
and have to rush to your next class? You’re
trying to walk as fast as possible, but then,
there is a person who is walking very, very
slowly. Hey, we’ve all been in this position. You try
to slide into
the opening
next to wall
in order to
pass them, but
that doesn’t
work. A slight
cough or an
“excuse me”
doesn’t work,
either, and the
bell is usually seconds
from ringing.
Typically, this
situation leads
me to wonder
where they are all going. Don’t they realize
that the bell is about to ring? Maybe they
have an off period, or perhaps they like
walking into class a minute or two late.
Photo courtesy of Google Images
either
mer
Photo courtesy of Google Images
cartoons have
H
More often than not, messages carried
out through devices such as cell phones or
the internet are lost in technological translation. Written text cannot convey emotions
quite the same way as speaking directly to
a person can. I’m sure most of us can relate to the awkward moment when you do
not understand the tone of someone’s text
message or IM. You stare at it for a few
minutes, wondering what to reply. Sometimes saying ‘lol’ (laugh out loud) is your
safest bet.
For example, a short message like,
‘I hate you’ can be read in various different ways. It could be a joking response,
or it could be legitimate. Joking through
technology-driven communication usually
Whatever their individual reasons, you are
being late to class! The worst situation of
all is definitely around the H Wing and the
end of the E Wing. The end of the E Wing
has lockers on both sides of the hall, which
makes it hard for
students to make
it to their lockers.
It also makes it
hard for the traffic of people to
keep moving. The
intersection
of
the H Wing to the
hallway perpendicular to it is a
problem place as
well. The traffic
is basically going
four ways, which
leads to a horrible
situation for everyone. Perhaps,
if the two-way traffic sticks to different
sides of the hallway, the situation could get
cleared up, if not solved.
“Ask The Jet”
2011
that you want answers to? Well the “Jet”
january
Do you have any questions or concerns
concerns to “Ask the Jet” at mfernand@
has your back! Submit your questions or
eastmeadow.k12.ny.us and the answers
will appear anonomously in the next issue.
The 10 Most Awkward
High School Moments!
EDITORIALS
13
by Jaclyn Gangi
While most of the high-school population would like to stay on the nonawkward side, we all have our moments.
From the nerds to the jocks, we are all a
little awkward sometimes. I hope some
people can relate.
10. Seeing someone waving at you,
you wave back. You then realize she is
waving at the person behind you.
C’mon, this happens to EVERYBODY. All I can say is: That’s awkward.
9. Texting the wrong person. I
mean the person you totally DID NOT
want to text. You send the text: “OMG
BOB IS SO ANNOYING.” Then, you realize you sent it…to Bob. Oh, great.
8. Tripping on your own feet.
I’m just walking in the hallway, and
ALWAYS tend to trip on my feet. Haven’t
fallen on my face yet, but it’s bound to
happen sometime.
7. The person behind you in the
hallway steps on the back of your shoe,
leaving you limping to class.
This happens a lot, and it’s really
annoying. A word to the wise: WATCH
WHERE YOU STEP!
6. Calling your teacher “mom.”
Okay, this has yet to happen to me,
but it’s happened to many of my friends.
I don’t know what triggers it, but it’s
REALLY embarrassing. Hopefully, you
have a normal teacher who won’t call
you on it. However, if you have one of
those sarcastic teachers, they’ll DEFINITELY call you on it, and never let you
live it down.
Somebody in a store walks up to you
and asks where something is. If you don’t
work there, it’s an awkward situation for
both of you.
4. Mistaking somebody for someone else.
Okay, this actually happened to me
recently. I was at Model Congress, and
I asked the boy next to me if his sister
came too. Turns out, it wasn’t my friend’s
brother. Awkward, but hilarious.
Or once, I walked up to this man,
mistaking him for my dad, and hugged
him. Whoops.
Proudly serving EMHS
students, staff and
faculty! 10% off with
a valid ID.
3. Talking about someone, not
knowing he or she is RIGHT BEHIND
YOU.
Call it being oblivious if you will,
but I always happen to be talking about
someone or telling a story about someone right close to me, probably in hearing distance.
2. Talking with a friend in the hallway, not realizing they’re about 15 feet
away from you, not even hearing what
you just said.
This makes you look like you’re
talking to yourself. Just follow this up
with a laugh and tell your friend it’s your
mistake. Then, it’s not as embarrassing.
1. The attempted three-pointer.
When you get up to throw something out, just spare the embarrassment
and walk the few more steps in order to
throw it out correctly. The garbage can
is not a basketball hoop, it’s a garbage
can. Even worse is if you miss: this leads
to the inevitable laughter from the entire
classroom.
5. The “I Don’t Work Here…”
january
2011
EDITORIALS
14
Common Sense in Teenagers
Artist Spotlight
by Sunil Reddy
Alyssa Lagattuta
dyslexia, and a minor amount of hearing problems. Another example that
provides further evidence to my theory
is the trend to wear pants way below
the waist, practically to the South Pole!
The fact that they use a belt and put the
pants that low is just fantastic. I’m telling you, this is genius. Why on Earth
does someone need a belt when he puts
his pants on the ground? Don’t look at
me for an answer, I am just proud to say
that I wear my pants with a belt around
my waist at an appropriate height.
I always thought that teens
January 2011
Photo courtesy of Google Images
“Yeah, I just walked into a wall.”
“Really, did I just break that?!?!?”
These are the kind of statements flooding my ears day after day. My entire life
is made up of friends who are incapable
of everyday activities, such as walking
up and down the stairs. I mean, it is really not that difficult, but this statement
pretty much makes me a hypocrite. So
I thought to myself, “Why do teens lack
the basic ability to multitask?” Then
came along my sister who does practically everything right, and never gets
in trouble. She is a clear contradiction
of my teen
stereotyping. So that
narrowed
my
question down
to, “Why do
most teenagers lack
the ability
to multitask
or have any
sort of connection to
common
sense?” The
lack of common sense
is like an
epidemic.
Can it be
explained
as
teens
need to do absurd things for attention, fun, or to entertain others? Did he
or she really not see that step or that
wall? That is like saying, “Oh yeah, I
didn’t see Godzilla over there... right in
front of me.” I mean, like, where were
you, Lala Land? Or even worse, Gaga
Land. Imagine a complete world filled
with Lady Gagas? Pretty creepy, if
you ask me… plus, there would be too
many telephones ringing that Beyonce
wouldn’t be able to pick up.
Consider for example, the ever
popular, “I DID SOO BADDDD ON
THAT TESTTTT,” or random statements such as talking about Shakespeare when someone bursts out, “What
is your favorite color?” It doesn’t make
sense to me. Why would someone want
to inform everyone about their negative
aspects?
The bursting out of random things
leads me to the say, “Think before you
speak.” It’s a little bit of A.D.D, minor
were just simply mentally deprived, but
I did my research, seeing that I have no
life, and found out the truth behind the
mentality of the average teenage brain.
We have two eyes, two hands, and two
legs, so why not two brains? The brain
is divided in half, a right and left hemisphere. The right hemisphere does a different job than the left. The right hemisphere deals more with visual activities,
and plays a role in putting things together. The left hemisphere tends to be the
more analytical part; it analyzes the information collected by the right. It takes
information from the right hemisphere
and applies language to it. If you injure
the left side of the brain, you’re aware
that things aren’t working (the right
hemisphere is doing its job) but you are
unable to solve complex problems or
activities. People with left hemisphere
injuries are generally more depressed,
have more organizational troubles, and
have issues using language. So the left
sector of the brain is where one’s “common sense” is, in a sense, located. Your
entire brain, specifically the left hemisphere, contains billions of neurons. A
neuron is an on and off switch, like on
a remote control. It is either in a resting
condition or, when active, it is shooting
an electrical impulse down a wire. It has
a cell body, a long, little wire which is
referred to as the axon, and at the very
end it has a little part that shoots out a
chemical. This chemical goes across a
gap where it triggers another neuron to
send a message. One’s common sense
fails when the neuron is not used or if
it is overused, causing the left sector of
the brain to not completely read off the
message sent to the brain from the right
side. This results in the lack of common
sense of teenagers. The only hope left to
save the next generation is probably a
genetic mutation which would result in
a generation with a super-smart brain,
as well as common sense, as long as we
all make it through 2012.
SPORTS
Award Winning Jets
All eleven East Meadow varsity
teams were recognized as NYSPHSSA scholar athlete teams.
Team members must maintain a
GPA of 90% or better.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
COUNTY SEMI-FINALISTS
Becky Syers All County
Nicole Laneri All County
Christine Backer All Conference
Deanna Groth All Conference
Emily Hoffman All Conference
GIRLS SOCCER
Jessica Widmann All County—
ALL STATE (1ST team)
Luisa Echeverry All County—
ALL STATE (2ND team)
Gabriella Fuduli All Class
Brittany Zajack All Class
Amanda Ashe All Conference
Danielle Widmann All Conference
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Stephan Matos All County
Matt Viola All Confrence
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Rachel Levy All Conference
Karissa Stankes All Conference
Brittany Cutler All Division
Caitlin Langan All Division
Stephanie Fertitta All Division
Nilam Patel All Division
FOOTBALL
Brandon Noblett All County
Rob Healy All County
Dom Morales All County
Will Kaywood All Conference
Shin Kang All Conference
Hector Guerrero Unsung Hero
National Football
Foundation ScholarAthlete
Jared Biunno
Brandon Noblett—Golden 11
Team
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Sean Grady All County
Brad Kaufmann All Conference/
Division
Nick Torres All Division
BOYS GOLF
Tim Kearon All County
Tom Camastro All County
Frank Borrelli All County Honorable Mention
FIELD HOCKEY COUNTY
SEMI-FINALIST
Maria Minutoli All County Honorable Mention
Ryan Meyer All County Honorable Mention
Vanessa DePasquale All Conference
Catherine Masterson All Conference
Ariana Ovadia All Conference
Kim Asdahl All Conference
GIRLS TENNIS
Brittany Piket All Division
Jackie Tortora All Division
Kelly Corona All Conference
Alizeh Yasin All Conference
BOYS SOCCER
Hector Guerrero All County
Anthony Posillico All County
Honorable Mention
Alex Melnyczuk All Conference
Chris Melnyczuk All Conference
Dom Fragiorgi All Conference
David Shmuel All Conference
GIRLS SWIMMING
Katrina Bamba All Division/Conference
Christina Zoll All Conference
15
NFL Playoff Wrap-up
by Jobin Johnson
“It’s Tracy Porter taking it all the
way, touchdown New Orleans!” That
was Super Bowl XLIV’s play, but what
will be this year’s?
The AFC started out with six teams:
(1) New England Patriots, (2) Pittsburgh Steelers, (3) Indianapolis Colts,
(4) Kansas City Chiefs, (5) Baltimore
Ravens, and (6) New York Jets. New
England and Pittsburgh had the first
week of the playoffs off, the excitement remained. Ravens at Kansas was
a blowout, with a Baltimore route of
30-7. The other match up featured the
New York at Indianapolis, in a rematch
of last year’s AFC Championship game.
New York and Indianapolis kept it tight
until the closing seconds of the game,
when the Colts got an apparent gamewinning field goal, but the Jets got the
last score on a 52-second drive to win it
17-16. New York and Baltimore moved
along, but they would have to face much
tougher opponents. New York at New
England and Baltimore at Pittsburgh
were two exciting rivalry games on one
of the biggest stages possible. New York
at New England was a rematch of Week
14, as New York looked to avenge the
45-3 beat down. New York’s pass pressure was effective all game, and got
into Brady’s head. In addition, the Jets’
offense was highly effective against the
young Patriots’ defense. Final score
28-21, New York. Baltimore at Pittsburgh was predicted to be a defensive
battle, but turned into an offensive one.
Ben Roethlisberger drove his Steelers
down field on the game winning drive.
Final score 31-24, Pittsburgh. With the
Super Bowl one win away, Pittsburgh
was locked in and determined to take
down New York. Pittsburgh looked to
avenge their Week 15 loss to New York.
Big Ben, Mendenhall, and the Steelers
defense showed why they deserved to
go to the Super Bowl, as they defeated
the Jets 24-19.
The NFC’s playoff representatives
were the (1) Atlanta Falcons, (2) Chicago Bears, (3) Philadelphia Eagles,
(4) Seattle Seahawks, (5) New Orleans
Saints, and (6) Green Bay Packers. Atlanta and Chicago had the first week of
the playoffs off, but there were still a
lot of exciting plays. Packers at Eagles
was a battle between two strong offenses. The Packers did a great job of
controlling Vick, while they found a
running game which was key to their
victory. Final score 21-16, Green Bay.
Surprisingly, New Orleans at Seattle
did not end up to be the game that everyone expected. Explosive offenses
for both teams, but the Seahawk’s offensive abilities were capped off with
one of the greatest NFL playoff runs in
history. Marshawn Lynch’s 67 yard run
in which he broke through eight New
Orleans defenders, sealed the victory
for the Seahawks, and sent the crowd
roaring. Final score 41-36, Seattle.
Now, with the four teams remaining in
the NFC, things started to get exciting.
Packers at Falcons featured a battle between two teams with good offenses.
However, the Packers had a tough assignment because of Matt Ryan’s exceptional record at the Georgia Dome.
Nonetheless, Rodgers and his offense
was able to sail through the Falcons to
a 48-21 victory. Seattle at Chicago was
an easy matchup for the Bears. The Seahawk’s offense failed to score till late
in the 3rd quarter, but it was far too late
to overcome the Bear’s tremendous defense. Final score 35-24. Chicago. With
Super Bowl XLV one win away, the
Packers headed to the Bears to settle the
AFC Championship game. The historic
rivalry between the Packers and Bears
started with a new chapter, written by
the Packers. The Packers knocked out
Jay Cutler by halftime, and the Bear’s
season was over with that. Final score
21-14, Green Bay.
Finally, Super Bowl XLV is set and
we can find the best teams of the season.
Packers versus Pittsburgh is a battle between two balanced teams. Rodgers is
looking to write his name into the great
Packers’ history, while Roethlisberger
is looking to further establish his great
career and redeem himself after his
four games suspension. The Steelers’
defense will be a difficult obstacle to
overcome, but Rodgers has proven his
ability to overcome great challenges
all season long. Rodgers will lead his
team to the promised land, and take
home Super Bowl XLV. Final score
21-17 Green Bay. With the conclusion
of yet another great NFL season, some
teams have gained confidence moving
forward, while others look for revenge
next year.
The boys bowling team continues
its strong season and presently has an
8-2 record with hopes of winning an-
other conference championship. The
team is receiving contributions from
many. In the victory over Clarke just
after the holidays Matt Viola (242) and
Andrew Gold (232) led the squad. Jeff
Juarez (276) and Vinny Napolitano
(264) had strong performances in the
win over Westbury. Matt and Andrew
again took the lead with 3 series scores
of 628 and 618 against Uniondale.
In girls bowling, Senior Erica
Tuthill has had a strong season on the
alley and our girls bowling team has
battled to a 5-3 record. With a 201
in the victory over Clarke and a 234
against Uniondale Erica has kept the
team in contention for the conference
crown.
Tuesday 2/1
BV BB vs. Herricks
BJV BB vs. Herricks
5:00
7:00
Friday 2/4
GJV BB vs. Port Washington5:00
GV BB vs. Port Washington 7:00
5:00
7:00
Monday 2/14
GJV BB vs. Mac Arthur
GV BB vs. Mac Arthur
5:00
7:00
Let’s Go Jets!
Janurary 2011
Friday 2/11
BJV BB vs. Hicksville
BV BB vs. Hicksville
Congratulations to Chris Garzia,
Tom Ford, Tom Millian, and Kyle Bettex who won the Shuttle Hurdle Relay
at the Stanner Games. Their times of
30.52 is currently the fastest time in the
United States.
Our wrestling team is having a
strong season on the mats. The team
is unbeaten in conference competition
with wins over Hempstead, Hicksville,
and Oceanside.
Andrew Danziger
(215) and Evan Pantofel (152) were
crowned individual champions at the
East Meadow Holiday tournament as
the team took 2nd place. Recent nonleague wins over East Hampton (58-18)
and Lindenhurst (42-36) have given
the team some momentum heading into
tough matches in the next few weeks.
Senior Chris Dolan (125) has provided
solid performances along with Andrew
and Evan.
Courtesy of Yearbook Staff
Upcoming News from the Coach’s Desk
Games
16
Sharp Shooting
Seniors
Lady Jets Basketball
Update
again led the scoring with help from Megan
Cleary (8 pts) and Danielle Widmann (6).
Megan leads the
team in rebounds
per game and gets
help from Jen Gundrum and Christina
Gogh. Freshman
Kristina Sanicola
had a career high
of 4 points against
Herricks—Coach
LeSueur is looking
forward to many
more in the next
few seasons from
Kristina.
Catching up with Coach LeSeur
Courtesy of Michael Ganci
by Ryan Sacks
by Jesse Sherman
The East Meadow High School Boys the opportunity. Seniors Chris Melnyczuk
Varsity Basketball team is aiming to im- and Rob Bocchetti provide the Jets with
prove upon their 8-8 record from the substantial depth, as both have the ability to be effective
2009-2010 season.
starters or bench
Fortunately, Coach
players. They are
Barry Dickson has
also
three-point
a core group of exshooting threats;
perienced Seniors
Melnyczuk scored
who are confident
a remarkable 12
in taking the team
points from threeto the next level.
pointers in a game
Senior Rob Franagainst
Valley
zese, who averStream South.
aged just below 10
The Jets’ curpoints per game
rent success can
last season, has led
be attributed to a
the charge thus far
combination
of
as the team’s top
strong play from
scorer. He has comtheir Seniors and
piled an average
their
talented
of over 16 points
underclas s men.
per game by using
Sophomore
Joe
an array of threeCampay has made
point shots as well
his 6’4’’ presence
as his 6’4’’ frame
Rob Franzese hits a jumper
felt, averaging 6.5
to convert high
points per game in
percentage
layups. Fellow 6’4’’ senior Jeff Angelino has the games that he has scored in. Cody Zafcomplemented Franzese very well, utiliz- ran, a Freshman, has also had an impressive
ing his strength in the point to average over and promising start to his Varsity career.
12 points per game. Assists are primarily The Jets finished 2010 with a 4-2 record
delivered by Seniors Nick Slevin and Kyle and will certainly try to continue to build
Berger, who have had Varsity experience upon their strong start. They will need as
since tenth grade. They supply the Jets with much fan support as possible, so make sure
leadership, impeccable passing, and the you don’t miss any home games as the Jets
ability to knock down any shot when given make their playoff push in 2011.
Courtesy of Yearbook Staff
Courtesy of East Meadow Patch
With a record of 5-4 the girls varsity
hoops team is right in the thick of the pack
as they battle for
a playoff spot.
A 35-29 nonleague win at
Long Beach included 16 points
from senior Melissa Cohen. After a tough loss
to conference
foe Herricks the
ladies defeated
Port Washington on Monday
42-34. Melissa
Athlete Spotlight
Andrew Danziger
Wrestler- Senior
Bethany LeSueur is a business teacher
here at East Meadow High School. She
played basketball for Garden City High
School, where she was a two time Gatorade Player of the Year in New York, and
set the LI scoring record. She played for
the University of Virginia before she transferred to Georgetown. She is currently the
coach of the Girls Varsity team here. I had
a chance to sit down with her and ask her
some questions.
JANURARY 2011
kid?
JG:What got you into basketball as a
BL: Kids on my block played. Also,
my mom was a swimmer, and while she
swam I played with the water b-ball hoop.
JG: How did you end up at Georgetown?
BL: It’s a very good school, and the
Big East is a great conference, so I thought
I should play in it. Also a former teammate
of mine decided to go there so I joined
her.
JG: Favorite moment at Georgetown?
BL: When we beat Notre Dame, and I
had the winning basket.
JG: Did you enjoy playing basketball
more in high school or college?
BL: They’re different, high school be-
cause I learned to be a leader, college because I got to play with better kids, and to
travel often.
JG: Favorite teammate?
BL: Mary Lisicky- a PG from Allentown, PA
JG: How does this year’s team (EMHS
girl’s varsity) stack up to last years team?
BL: Were more experienced then last
year, since the girls have had another year
in my system.
JG: Teams to watch this year?
BL: Baldwin, Herricks, Macarthur.
JG: Most anticipated game of the
year?
BL: Herricks- Early January
JG: Things you need to improve on
this year?
BL: Strong post play, eliminating turnovers.
JG: Biggest Strength?
BL: Melissa Cohen running things at
the point.
JG: Favorite NBA player?
BL: Kirk Hinrich.
JG: Favorite NBA team to watch?
BL: The Chicago Bulls.
JG: Thanks for the time
BL: No Problem
Courtesy of East Meadow Patch
Coach LeSeur coaching at practice
Andrew Danziger is 23-0 in his matches this season as of January 7th. He made
the County Tournament in both his sophomore and junior years, where he placed
4th in a division stacked with two all-state
wrestlers. This year, he is a contender to
win the County Championship and move
on to compete in the State Tournament in
his 215 lbs weight class. Next year he will
be wrestling on a scholarship at Binghamton University.
“I’m excited about it [attending Binghamton], but right now my goal is to win
Counties. I need to work hard and will
hopefully reach my goal.”