Picture - The Atherton Aerial

John Yarmuth Holds
Press Conference:
Addresses
High School
Journalists
FALL SPORTS
Fall sports have come to
an end, and what a great
season it has been for
Atherton High School.
Atherton High School
Volume 83, Issue 3
INDEX
Pages
2-4 5-7 8-11 12-13 14-15 16-19 20 PAGES
Category
Editorials
Arts
Features
Reviews
School News
Sports
Wednesday ,December 19, 2007
Cover Art: Alex Harper and Anthony Heiskell
Left: John Yarmuth
Right: Hunter S. Thompson
Editorials
The Aerial
Page 2
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
News Channel WHAS 11 Clearly Chooses Clear Channel Over Louisville:
Joe Elliott Gets Lesson
in Corporate Loyalty
RUTHIE
REDMOND
T
he holidays got off to a rough
start this year, at least where local media
is concerned: WHAS Radio talk show host
Joe Elliott, whose show has been broadcast on weeknights since 1993, was fired
in late November. His show was replaced
by Michael Savage’s nationally syndicated
program, The Savage Nation. A number of
layoffs at WHAS due to corporate budget
cuts were made by Clear Channel Communications (which also included longtime
production director Scott Gentleman and
Jill Lawrence), and they really served
to remind us of just how backwards the
media is. Joe Elliott, though decidedly
conservative, tried to let his listeners hear
both sides of the issues he discussed, and
didn’t cut off callers who disagreed with
him. The same thing could not be said
for Michael Savage, and I have no idea
how Clear Channel could make the fatal
mistake of thinking that more local listeners would willingly subject themselves to
Savage’s rants than tuned in to hear Joe
Elliott.
Some have argued that Clear
Channel’s problem is that it’s run by conservatives – some go as far as to say that
the problem with radio in general is that
it’s a largely conservative-dominated medium. Well, when it comes to WHAS Radio,
there’s no denying their conservative affiliations – WHAS is currently broadcasting Fox News (fair and balanced?) on the
hour every hour, Rush Limbaugh for three
hours, and now The Savage Nation for
three more hours. More noteworthy than
Savage’s conservative viewpoints, however, is his downright offensive attitude towards anyone with beliefs that don’t match
his own. Isn’t he the same guy who was
fired from MSNBC in 2003 for making
anti-gay comments? Hasn’t the Council
on American-Islamic Relations convinced
companies like Wal-Mart and AT&T to
pull advertising from Savage’s show
because of disparaging remarks he’s made
about Islam? I mean, no matter how many
of us dislike Rush Limbaugh and his brand
of conservatism, (polls have illustrated
that as many as 60% of Americans have
an unfavorable opinion of Limbaugh), he
The Aerial Flight Plan:
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Advisor: Matthew Rhinehart
Contact: (502)485-8202 or
matthew.rhinehart@jefferson.kyschools.us
Section Editors
News Editor
Bobby Fiske
Editor-in-Chief: Jeremy Clark
Contact: aerial.editor.in.chief@gmail.com
Design Editor: Zach Leamy
Contact: aerialdesign@gmail.com
Letters to the editor:
Please submit to Ruth Redmond via e-mail (listed above).
Please include your name and contact information. All
letters must be signed in order to be published (digital signatures are acceptable). The Aerial reserves the right to edit
for grammatical errors, length, and good taste. Letters may
attack the Aerial’s policy, but not any person or persons on
the staff. In no way will viewpoints be altered. The editorin-chief reserves the right to reject any letter.
Editorial Notice:
Features Editor
Keishaundria Wright
maintains the highest rated radio show in
the U.S.., and on top of that, he has yet to
make a comment offensive enough to get
him pulled off the air. What scares me is
that even though Michael Savage’s inappropriate remarks have earned him the
criticism of many of his fellow conservatives, his ratings continue to climb, and he
is currently ranked third
in number of stations
syndicated nationwide
and in nationwide audience (behind Limbaugh
and Sean Hannity).
Sadly, it’s likely that ratings like these will more
than make up for future
controversies Savage might cause.
Obviously it’s easier for Clear
Channel Communications to pay a small
syndication fee to broadcast The Savage
Nation than it would be to continue to pay
Joe Elliott’s salary. Unfortunately, the easiest thing to do, as I’m sure we’ve all heard
hundreds of times, is rarely the right thing.
Kelly Carls, Clear Channel’s Regional vice
president of programming, has made sure
to clarify that this particular layoff was
strictly a business decision, not a personal
one. Some media critics have disputed
these claims, especially due to his popularity locally, saying that Joe’s tireless efforts
“...WHAS is
currently broadcasting
Fox News (fair and
balanced?) on the hour
every hour...”
Staff Writers
Lauren Bunch
Gibson Culbreth
Ethan Foster
Corey Grant
Quentin Guin
Alex Harper
Anthony Heiskell
Tara Montgomery
Hannah Rapp
Ruthie Redmond
Martha Worland
Art Director
Reveiws Editor
Miles Smith
to shoot down the library tax were the real
cause for his dismissal. Carls also said that
firing Elliott was “a very difficult decision”
that had to be made due to the current business climate which is “not very advantageous” for media outlets. This statement
may have some truth to it, but I think much
of the problem lies within Clear Channel
– and not even necessarily with their conservative affiliations. I
think the problem is that
Clear Channel is run by
poor businessmen. The
layoffs at WHAS Radio
are like Chrysler buying
Jeep and then changing the product line to the cars in order to
make production cheaper; it may cost less
to make, but nobody’s buying. My hope
is that Clear Channel will soon learn its
lesson, whether it comes down to the huge
FCC fines that are sure to follow their
choice to broadcast The Savage Nation, or
the hundreds of local listeners that will no
doubt grow tired of being yelled at by an
anti-Islamic, homophobic talk show host.
Alex Harper
Photography
Evan Taylor
If you would like to contact Ruthie Redmond about this article or any other article
you may contact her at:
ruthie.redmond@gmail.com
Advertising
The Aerial Pledge
Executive/Contact
Martha Worland
Contact:
aerialdesign@gmail.com
*For rates please contact our
advertising editor
Aerial Webmaster
Alex Harper
THE AERIAL
WEB SITE
COMING SOON
The Aerial is a student publication
catering to the interests and concerns of the student body. The Aerial
pledges itself to relay important and
interesting information to the community, administration, and students
of Atherton High School. The Aerial
Strongly supports the first amendment
and opposes censorship. The newspaper staff determines the content held
within the publication. When questions
concerning word choice, legal problems, or ethics arise, the editorial board
and adviser will discuss and resolve
them. The editor-in-cheif will have the
final say.
The Aerial staff is dedicating this year’s paper to the student body of Atherton High School and all members of its faculty. In order for The Aerial to be a successful school newspaper, it is important for the paper to be an open forum in which issues facing our community are debated openly and honestly in a productive manner. Therefore, it is our policy to encourage all view points to be represented on our editorial page. We encourage all to present their point-of-view on these pages.
Send Op-ed letters to ruthie.redmond@gmail.com, or drop off responses in Mr. Rhinehart’s room, 122.
ALL LETTERS MUST BE SIGNED IN ORDER TO BE PUBLISHED.
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Needed! Arts in
Education
By: Lusie Cuskey
Contributing writer.
For many years, public education in
the United States was gruffly characterized by
“reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic,” all taught
by rote recitation and memorization. In 1983,
Harvard Professor Dr.. Howard Gardener
dared to suggest that these methods were antiquated, and failed to meet students’ needs.
As an alternative to the drudgery,
Gardener presented his theory of multiple
intelligences (different learning styles), which
are now supposedly integrated into the curriculum of every class. However, when one
cares to examine our education system, they
find that reading, writing, and math are still
the order of the day, and our teaching styles
aren’t nearly as diversified as we would like to
believe.
In the majority of classroom settings,
the students with the highest scores are those
who boast verbal linguistic or logical-mathematical learning styles – students who can
solve problems with hard logic, and students
who are able to learn effectively by listening
to lectures or reading a text independently.
The ideal students share other characteristics,
as well – they are intelligent, confident, good
problem-solvers, clear oral and written communicators, and provide valuable contributions to society during and after their school
career.
Those students that were not fortunate enough to be born with a propensity
for individualized, seated work are often left
to fall between the cracks in order to allow
their classmates to shine. The damage this has
caused has been well documented throughout
the years in juvenile delinquency rates and
the discovery that issues such as depression
and learning disabilities are not fairy tales,
but problems that affect students who could
otherwise be learning.
It seems only logical that, with the
discovery of various learning styles and problems associated with the education system, the
methodology of education would evolve to
meet the needs of students and foster the values our society treats with such high esteem.
Editorials
Even the most causal of observers would draw
the conclusion that the thing that is needed
most is some technique, some way of teaching that allows the students that have been
differently gifted to reap the benefits their
more conventional peers enjoy. Many people
believe that such an answer lies in the realm
of arts education.
In May of 2002, the National Governor’s Association published a study entitled,
“The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce
Preparation,” which states: “The arts can
provide effective learning opportunities to the
general student population, yielding increased
academic performance, reduced absenteeism,
and better skill-building…increased self-esteem; the acquisition of job skills; and the development of much needed creative thinking,
problem solving and communications skills.”
This means that students receiving an education in the arts – especially those who learn
best by doing - find themselves displaying the
qualities of an ideal student with increased
frequency and intensity.
With such prestigious organizations as the National Governor’s Association
applauding the effects of an education in the
arts, one would be inclined to believe that
public schools everywhere were scrambling to
begin arts programs in order to reap the stated
benefits.
However, this is very nearly the opposite of the truth. With the introduction of
the No Child Left Behind act, already sparse
funding for the arts in elementary and secondary schools was reduced even further to funnel
money towards math and reading initiatives.
(Never mind that a 2006 study conducted in
Page 3
New York by the R. David Guggenheim museum reveals notable literary improvements in
students who had an opportunity to experience
the arts in their classrooms on a regular basis.)
Following this trend, arts education in our schools decreases exponentially
as the years pass. The early Primary grades
are colored by learning through visual art,
movement, and music. As the elementary
school years come to an end, the arts are
removed from the curriculum and funneled
into separate classes, poorly funded programs
that allow a very limited number of students
to explore one artistic discipline. Is it any
wonder that middle school, the time that
shows the sharpest decrease in exposure to the
arts, is the time when many students lose their
interest in education, an interest that never
returns? The previously mentioned study by
the National Governor’s Association suggests
that at-risk or incarcerated youth become more
valuable members of society when provided
with a more solid foundation in the arts. It
would seem, then, that the logical thing to do
would be to attempt to prevent the initial slide
by continuing in-class art into the middle- and
high-school years.
In his article, “School Reform
Strategy,” R. Craig Sautter presents the idea
of an arts-integrated school. In such a school,
Sautter explains, the arts should not be set
apart for blocks of time in separate rooms, but
should be prominently displayed throughout
the entirety of the curriculum. In his ideal
school, students would spend the majorities
of their days working together to supplement
their core content with music, dance, drama,
and visual art. Contrary to popular fears, the
arts are no taught in spite of, but in conjunction with traditional languages, maths, and
sciences in such a way that every program
benefits and the students find themselves able
to creatively and effectively apply their new
skills to real-world situations. The director of the National Arts Education Research
Center in New York, Jerrold Ross, explained
the idea of arts integration in the math room:
“I don’t see how you can teach mathematics,
for example, without visual representation of
what mathematical concepts are all about. It
inevitably leads you to figures, shapes, forms,
which are best illustrated through real art.”
Many things are best done through
real art – but, as many people are quick to
point out, this also requires real money. Many
schools have decided to use what little funding they have on programs directly involved
with math or science in order to comply with
the No Child Left Behind Act and get desired
results on standardized tests. A 1999 study by
the Arts Education Partnership and President’s
Committee On The Arts And Humanities
entitled “Champions in Change: The Impact
Of The Arts On Learning” concludes that
students with a rich arts education do, in fact,
do better than their less educated peers on
tests – not only in the areas of the arts, but
every area. People in Fairfax County realized
this, and founded the Fairfax Arts Coalition
for Education, a group dedicated to advocating for arts in schools. Through their concern,
they have succeeded in persuading their board
of education to adjust the budget, allowing
for more arts in the curriculum. After all, the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, cites that one student dropping
out and becoming involved with drug abuse
or crime can cost taxpayers $1,700,000 to
$2,300,000 annually. Such money could be far
better spent teaching the arts to the students
at risk of this fate, keeping their interest in
education alive, and helping them to become
valuable members of society.
Through the years, man has been set
apart from animals partially by their ability
to create and appreciate art. But even animals
know enough to teach their young in a way
that will get their point across and encourage
them to lead fulfilling lives. Perhaps humans
should take a page from them, and consider
going to their school boards and demanding
an education for their children that truly helps
them learn.
The River City Players of Atherton High School
presents a workshop prodution of
December 19,20,
and 21 7:pm
Atherton High
School
300 Dundee Road
A
Midsummer
Night’s
Dream
by William Shakespeare
Fairies,
Lovers
and Bottom
OH MY!
Editorials
The Aerial
Page 4
No Child Left Behind Act:
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Few Students Left Appropriately Prepared for Secondary Education
By Taylor Fiske
W
e all know what it’s like to be
young. We know what it’s like to be told you
can do anything and that you have the world
at your disposal. You don’t have to worry
about making a decision anytime soon. It
seems, though, that many of us high school
students still haven’t made up our mind,
even with college and the “real world” on the
horizon.
According to the University of
Missouri in St. Louis, approximately 30-40
percent of incoming freshmen enter college undecided on what their major will be.
Seventy to eighty percent of college freshmen will eventually change their majors. If
so many students are unsure of what they’d
like to do, why aren’t we helping them?
High schools should make a strong effort
to put students on their career paths early in
high school, so that in college these students
have a clear idea of what they like to do and
would like to be involved in for the rest of
their lives.
The No Child Left Behind Act of
2001 is, in theory, an excellent program designed to boost the performance of America’s public schools. However, what it tends
to do is hold back students who may be exceptionally gifted while they wait for everyone else to catch up. No Child Left Behind
assumes that all students are geared towards
academic learning, and lowers the standards
of achievement so that more people have the
opportunity to achieve. It’s like shortening a
marathon to one mile so that everyone gets
to finish; those who could do more never get
the chance to achieve more, and it waters
down the word “success” for everyone.
Students should be allowed to take
classes that coincide with the skills and interests they have developed or are interested
in developing. Instead of forcing everyone to
take the same classes and meet the same requirements, it would be far more sensible to
make classes available that may not be your
standard math or science-related class but
still retain the sense of purpose that America
holds so dearly. Students interested in pursu-
ing a career in journalism shouldn’t have to
sit in a physics class they will be destined
to struggle in. For schools to assume that all
students can, or even want to, learn the skills
they deem important is ignoring individuality and attempting to mold students into what
they “should” be. It funnels kids into one
narrow stream, drying up the ocean of possibility we tell them they have as children.
This is coming from the same country that
has prescribed Adderall and Ritalin to over
two million kids for Attention Deficit Disorder because they can’t focus and do what is
asked of them in our schools.
I am sixteen years old and the only
time my school has talked to me about my
future in college was when a counselor came
by and distributed a flyer to the students in
one of my classes. The lines of communication between counselors and students about
college are inadequate, and just raise more
questions that never seem to get answered.
Students need to be made aware of what opportunities they have and how they can take
advantage of them.
If students don’t have any idea what
they want to do, it makes choosing a college that much more difficult. Distance and
tuition costs are important when picking a
school, but it might also help to have a little
idea of what you’d like to get out of college.
In America, it seems we want students to
do countless five-year plans and personality tests to plan for the future, but they seem
to confuse students even more. There are
so many options out there; telling students
they need to have these certain requirements
met and a definite plan for college will only
make them anxious and afraid. We need to
do a better job allowing students to explore
their own interests before college so that
they can have some idea of what they’ll
do in college. It seems this would appease
America’s desperate plea for productivity
as well as the need to recognize our diverse
student population. Instead, we are still letting standardized tests determine what we
teach in schools. Students are all individual
people and deserved to be treated as such by
America’s education system.
Join The Aerial and Contribute to Your School and Community
By:Gibson Culbreth
A
t one point in its history, The
Aerial was one of Atherton’s more important
extracurricular programs. For three decades,
the early fifties to seventies, it was one of
the best student written and run papers in
Kentucky, and until only a couple years ago
it had been an Atherton tradition laid to rest.
This year the staff of the Aerial is made up
of a group of fantastic people. They are
talented, dedicated and excited about the
products they have turned out so far. There
is one problem though… most of them are
seniors.
While this has been the best year for
the paper in a long time, the year is halfway
over. It’s time to start thinking about what’s
going to happen next year. With only three
underclassmen in Mr. Rhinehart’s 7th period
Journalism class right now, the prospect of
losing all of the ground the seniors have
struggled to gain seems all too possible. If
you love writing, reporting, or just exploring
interesting topics you might want to consider
joining the staff of the Aerial next year. The
paper also needs photographers and anyone
interested in graphic design. A paper that
isn’t attractive to the eye is usually one that
doesn’t get a lot of attention.
Why join the staff? Well, first of
all, to support your school. As cheesy as
it sounds, I’m sure you want to make your
mark in high school. This is a great way
to do it. The Aerial is an important part of
Atherton’s history, and hopefully it’s future
as well. One thing that the staff puts a lot
of emphasis on is that our school newspaper is both written and run by students. A
vast majority of the articles are written by
students, in the class we have a hierarchy
to keep people focused and because of all
of this work the Aerial is almost completely
independent. Mr. Rhinehart is officially
the Journalism teacher, but he’s more of an
advisor. The staff is completely made up
of students who write, read and edit each
others work. Since the Aerial has such an
open forum the paper enjoys more freedoms.
Atherton trusts the newspaper staff to know
what to print, and that’s a big deal. You
may not get a lot of say in what goes on in
other places of the school, but if you are on
the staff of the Aerial, you will be able to
provide and participate in a free forum where
you can be heard by all.
It’ll also look great on a college
application. As of next year all of the editor
positions will be open and that is a great way
to show responsibility and leadership skills.
Both traits are things colleges look for in stu-
dents applying to their schools. It’s a little
extra work, but it’s definitely worth it.
Another perk to joining the newspaper is
improvement in writing skills, which you
are going to need for the rest of your life.
You know those transactive pieces for your
portfolio? If you are on the Aerial’s staff
then you are going to be writing them every
six weeks, and you’re going to want to write
something good. Since you are writing them
for the paper though you probably won’t take
the typical portfolio approach to it, and that
will make it a lot better. Then your English
grade may improve.
The Aerial has finally gotten back to
an excellent standard. Other high schools,
some of which have Communications
as a magnet, are astoundingly jealous of
Atherton’s Aerial. We are beginning to gain
the notoriety we once wore proudly on our
sleeve. Please keep this tradition going.
If you want to join the staff of the Aerial,
sign up for Journalism as a class when
you schedule for next year. If you want to
submit a piece for publication this year see
Mr.Rhinehart, talk to a member of the staff
or send it to:
aerial.editor.in.chief@gmail.com.
This is a your forum and The Aerial strongly
appreciates your opinions, input, and support.
Arts
Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
An Interview With Mellwood
Artist Mike Fulkerson
By : Martha Worland
Mellwood Arts and Entertainment
Center is a community of working artists, run by
artists, full of artists and for everyone.
In recent years Louisville has bloomed
with artists. Studios, galleries, art schools and
museums, all have become more common in
Louisville as time has gone on. There was a time
when the places we know as the hip and the
trendy, as the art hot spots, were office buildings,
factories, stores, homes, fields and so many other
things.
One such place is Mellwood Arts and
Entertainment Center. Right now it is being
transformed from the meat packing company
it once was into a community for the arts. With
studios, galleries, unique shops and even an art
supply store and gym, Mellwood is certainly one
of the most unique places in Louisville. And if
you enjoy art in any way- you will probably find
something you will enjoy there.
Mellwood is certainly different then what the
people who worked there when it was a factory
used to see every day. There are, however, some
things that have remained the same. In fact one
of the main reasons that Mellwood has gotten
so much attention is because in transforming the
factory, they were also able to preserve a building that has stood for over 100 years. When you
around you can see that the building itself hasn’t
changed too much.
Mellwood is still certainly different from what
the workers in the 1900’s saw every day, but at
the same time some things have remained the
same or similar. The brick and plaster walls and
the twent- foot ceilings have not changed much
from the original construction of the building in
1904, or even from the additions that latter came
in the mid 1900’s. The old slaughterhouse is still
under construction, and there are few studios in
that part of the center. It is probably one of the
places that look most like the original.
John Clark purchased the property in
2003, after the old owners closed it in 2002,
and began working on transforming it quickly.
Though at first the center might have been
something very different, like an antique mall or
apartments, most of the ideas lent themselves to
an art theme more then anything else.
There were many inquires before the use of the
old factory was decided. When the Mellwood
team started to make contracts and allow artists
and entrepreneurs to reserve space there were
many people who were interested. There were already at least 130 people signed on to be tenants
by October of 2004.
Mellwood is now one of the most
unique establishments in Louisville. When it
is completely finished, it is expected to be the
largest center of its type in the US. It is based
primarily on the similar Pendleton Arts Center in
Cincinnati and the Torpedo Factory Arts Center
in Alexandria, VA. There are over 200 artists and
entrepreneurs at Mellwood currently, and the
center continues to grow. In just three and a half
years the number of artist studios has gone up
from 30 to 190 art studios.
A lot more then art happens at Mellwood. There have been many events and festivals
held there. A couple are the KinoLouisville’s fall
Page 5
Kabaret, and the Good Folk Fest. KinoLouisville
is a branch of the Kino group, and one of only
three branches in the US. Kino itself is an international group of film makers and the Kabaret is a
festival unique to Kino. The Good Folk Fest is an
art festival that consists of artists and musicians
whose work is Folk in nature.
These aren’t the only events at Mellwood
though. Both of the Event Rooms are also very
popular. They are rented for weddings, receptions,
parties and the like. Over 200 brides have had
their weddings and/or receptions there since 2006.
Because of the low rental prices at Mellwood, it is a chance for artists and entrepreneurs
alike to try something with out getting in over
their heads. One such case is found in Patti Fadel
and her cake shop on “retail ally”. When she first
started her business she took a plunge, a risk that
may or may not have worked out. She is also
about to take another. In January she will be opening a café to go along with her other business, Elegance in Kentucky, at Mellwood. When I talked
to her in her cake and gift wrapping shop she
told me, “I look at the café as my baking heaven,
and any extra it brings in will just be icing on the
cake.” She also told me about the trouble she has
during the holidays, “I get so many orders that I
have to turn people away, and I hate to do it, but
there is only so much I can do.”
Not all of the tenants at Mellwood were
new to the art world before coming to Mellwood,
though. Mike Fulkerson, an artist whose drawings explore social interactions or the lack of
them, was already successful before he came to
Mellwood. His artwork for the band My Morning Jacket’s album Z has helped him gain more
attention in the art world. As he said, “Everyone
who bought it now has a piece of my artwork in
their home and I have been told for a fact that
that includes Conan O’Brian, David Letterman,
and Jack Black!” In my interview with him he
also mentioned that just being at Mellwood with
its history, high concentration of other artists and
unfinished corners, ensures that he always has
ideas… Even if sometimes the work going on in
other halls can make it difficult to concentrate in
the middle of the day.
Another artist who was successful
before their arrival at Mellwood and is also on
the center’s staff is Scooter Davidson. She is the
leasing and marketing director for Mellwood
Arts and Entertainment Center. When John Clark
came to her and asked her to be one of three
people in charge of Mellwood she was intrigued.
“He wanted artists to run the leasing, marketing,
and outreach of Mellwood and not the real estate
agents or outside public relations firms…” She
also has a studio at Mellwood, but has little time
to “do her own thing”. She also told me that the
only thing she would change about Mellwood is
the lack of artists’ residents on the property.
Mellwood with its unique atmosphere
and abundance of original art is also probably one
of the best places in Louisville to get Christmas
presents this year. One thing is for sure not only
is it more interesting then places like the mall or
other chain stores, you can be sure that anything
you get there is going to be one of a kind.
As Scooter says, “Skip the mall. Do the
Mell.”
The Visitation
Mike Fulkerson
Fulkerson: Sometimes its hard to work when
someone is cutting concrete or wood in the
next hall. They are still converting lots of areas
from slaughterhouse to artist studios. Most of
that work goes on during the daytime hours
however, and I usually work in the early mornings and evenings, so its usually pretty easy for
me to avoid that headache.
Q: What is your favorite part about working
and renting studio space at Mellwood Art and
Entertainment Center?
Q: How do you feel about your success on the
cover art of My Morning Jacket’s newer album
Z?
Fulkerson: The greatest thing about having a
studio at the Mellwood is the close proximity
it puts me to other creative individuals. It’s a
really great place to network with other artists
and to tap into some creativity. The Mellwood
also does a pretty good job of putting together
events that draw people in from the community
to see what’s going on in the local art scene,
Fulkerson: I’ve got to admit that it’s pretty
cool to have my artwork be part of a record that
made Rolling Stone’s Top 10 albums of 2005.
That album got huge press and lots of people
bought it. Everyone who bought it now has a
piece of my artwork in their home and I have
been told for a fact that that includes Conan
O’Brian, David Letterman, and Jack Black!
There are six of us artists that were asked to
make artwork for the album and I believe that
we are all equally amazed
with the success that it has
brought us.
Q: Has there been more
attention to your artwork
since the album was
released?
which I think is one of the
finest in the Southeast. I
also manage the Artist &
Craftsman Supply at the
Mellwood, which makes it
extremely easy to work in
my studio before and after
work, and even during
lunch-breaks if I choose
to.
Fulkerson: Yes there has,
which is pretty amazing
because I’m hard to get in
touch with. I don’t have a
Fulkerson’s artwork can be seen in My
website yet which makes
Morning Jacket’s Z album booklet .
networking a little tough.
Fulkerson: If I choose
But as soon as I get the site up and going
to take advantage of the many perks of being
(slated for this winter), the guys in MMJ have
a tenant there, such as showing at the Melltold me that they would link their page to mine.
wood’s Pigment Gallery, and participating in
I’m sure that this will bring me more attention.
the Final Friday gallery hop, I’m sure it would
give me more exposure. However I use my stuQ: How did you get the job of creating the
dio there simply for what it is... a studio. I love
new cover art?
having a place away from home where I can
focus on my work and make a mess of things
Fulkerson: I have been friends with the guys
if I choose to. Its hard to get really creative at
in My Morning Jacket for quite a long time...
home when I have to keep relatively tidy in
since they were playing coffee shops and other
order to not destroy my house with ink and
tiny shows. Johnny Quaid, the founding guitarpaint and such.
ist, is actually one of my oldest friends in the
world. We met way back in high school and
Q: Do you feel that working at Mellwood imwere in art class together. We used to always
proved your artwork in any way or helped you
hang out and draw and record goofy songs in
grow as an artist?
his basement. Anyway, over the years John
ended up owning a few of my drawings. Later
Fulkerson: I do believe that the Mellwood has
on, after MMJ was formed, Jim James, the
had a positive impact on my art for the reasons
singer and songwriter, saw some of my drawalready given, but another perk of working
ings at John’s place and really liked them. As
there is that if I ever hit a road-block of some
soon as they began working on Z, Jim called
sort while working on a drawing, I can leave
me up and asked me to contribute artwork for
my studio and walk the halls for a while. I’ve
the booklet. The rest is history.
always been able to find some inspiration
walking the halls there, be it through conversaQ: Have there been any other artists who have
tion with other artists, or finding some hidden
contacted you about creating the cover art for
part of the building that hasn’t been developed
their albums?
yet. The old slaughterhouse parts of that place
are really bizarre and creepy, which naturally
Fulkerson: Yes there have, and I am currently
stimulates creativity of some sort.
working on album art for someone that I’m not
able to talk about just yet. It is someone I am
Q: Is it at any time difficult working there?
extremely proud to be working with.
Have there been problems, complications or
drawbacks?
Q: Do you believe that
working there has made
you better known as an
artist?
Arts
The Aerial
Page 6
Hunter S. Thompson: The American Dream
JEREMY
CLARK
Artwork by Anthony Heiskell
The American Dream dropped ten hits of
acid, took a few snorts of cocaine, and developed a sense of humor, all in 1971. The long
road that led to this new perspective started
in 1937 when Hunter S. Thompson was born
in Louisville, Kentucky. Essentially from a
blue-collar background, he strived to achieve
his goals, which were to become the Great
American Writer and to document “the death
of the American Dream.” His scathing humor,
unconventional journalism, and penchant for
chemical intake of all sorts paint a very negative picture in the eyes of many. However, it
was precisely the way he worked, his being
Hunter S. Thompson, which no one else can
do, that blew apart the Old World journalism that had started to crack. In declaring
“the death of the American Dream”, Hunter
S. Thompson embodied an American Dream
that rose from the ashes. It was an American
Dream for the twentieth century.
Hunter Thompson’s childhood was quite
tumultuous, at least as much as the rest of
his life. He attended Atherton High School
until the death of his father in 1952, which
may have prompted him to transfer to Male
High School. Spending lots of time in the
Highlands, Thompson’s group of friends were
considerably wealthier than he. A big fan of
pranks, he was always causing trouble whenever he could. Their mischievous behavior
escalated to the point where he and his friends
were arrested for robbing a liquor store. His
friends had rich fathers, Louisville’s elite
patriarchs, who bought their way out of jail
time. Thompson had neither a father nor
money; he sat in his cell the night he should
have been graduating high school.
not to have a civilian job. Eventually, he was
uncovered as the man behind the pseudonym
and was also censored from The Command
Courier for being too controversial. He was
able to talk his way out of the Air Force without getting a dishonorable discharge and soon
left to become a journalist.
Hunter S. Thompson traversed all sorts of
roads and highways, going from small towns
to New York City and everywhere in between.
Rarely did any of his jobs last long; his
idiosyncratic behaviors were often too much
for any newsroom to handle. Always down,
Hunter never seemed to be completely out.
Despite less-than-meager living situations he
was convinced that something would come
along.
Hunter S. Thompson moved to San Francisco
in 1964, which had been gaining notoriety
for its hippie-drug-underground-hoopla. He
published Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in
1966 after spending a year traveling with the
Hell’s angels, a notoriously rowdy bunch of
motorcycle-riding, free-spirited outlaws who
later ruined the Altamont Music Festival in
1969. Thompson’s run with the Angels ended
with his being “stomped” by Hell’s Angels
when they realized he was being paid for the
book. Hunter Thompson became critical of
the hippie movement. Unlike the Beats or the
New Left, the hippies lacked any motivation
or conviction and instead, just wanted to get
drugs. In later novels, most infamously Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter Thompson would continue to express criticism for
the sixties’ counterculture and its decadent
persona.
Hunter S. Thompson went on to run for
sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in 1970, which
prompted him to write an article about his
candidacy for Rolling Stone magazine. He
only narrowly lost the election, surprisingly,
and he began his job as a writer for Rolling Stone. It was Rolling Stone that went on
to publish his most famous work, Fear and
Loathing In Las Vegas, A Savage Journey To
The Heart of The American Dream, 1971.
Fear and Loathing was an unplanned birth.
What was supposed to be a two hundred and
fifty word summary turned into a twenty-five
hundred word feature story published for
Rolling Stone magazine in 1971. Thompson’s
exploration of the death of the sixties’, the
shambles that is the American Dream and
excess consumerism has made Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas a hugely successful
book. Documenting the journey of Raoul
Duke and Dr. Gonzo to Las Vegas for a narcotics’ convention and the Mint 400 motorcycle race, all while under the influence of an
encyclopedic list of illegal substances, Fear
and Loathing is considered the best example
of Gonzo journalism ever written; it has been
regarded by some as the best book on the
sixties’ counterculture. Hunter S. Thompson
continued to write many novels until his death
in 2005. Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail, 1972, Kingdom of Fear and The
Great Shark Hunt are among the novels he
wrote after what he always referred to as” the
Vegas book.”
The Great American Author appealed to
Hunter Thompson. He admired F. Scott
Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. One of his
favorite things to do was to rewrite the novels
The Great Gatsby and A Farewell to Arms
repeatedly; this made him feel like he knew
what it felt like to write this great novels. He
was convinced that he was “the next F. Scott
Fitzgerald.”
Hunter S. Thompson spent a few years in the
Air Force after high school. He was an unruly
recruit; one might even say an oft-inebriated recruit. He did find the Air Force useful,
though. While stationed at the Eglin Air Force
Base in Florida he was the sports editor of
the on-site newspaper The Command Courier. Hunter also wrote for an off-base paper
under a pseudonym, since as a recruit he was
Hunter S. Thompson relaxing on beach in Puerto Rico as seen on cover of The Rum Diary.
“Politics is the art of controlling your
environment.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Hunter S. Thompson’s declaration of the
death of the American Dream culminated in
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In Vegas,
Hunter S. Thompson criticizes the hippies,
who lack the purpose of the Beat generation
from which it morphed. At the end of the
sixties, the hippie movement had become
nothing more than jaded cynicism, and all the
optimism of their youth was now empty and
meaningless.
Those people who wanted change, and wanted it NOW, had given up; much of their gusto
had died with Jim Morrison in a Paris bathtub
and had choked on barbiturate-induced
vomit. Their optimism had been ambushed
in Vietnam, and assassinated in Dallas, Texas
and Memphis, Tennessee. The hippie movement wanted to change, but instead it chose to
go after escapism, and their acid-fried brains
could only continue to pick flowers from the
ground and like tie-dye shirts. The hippie
movement and all its brilliant shimmering would fade away without ever meaning
anything.
Those whose brains survived Acid Tests and
the Tet Offensive now gave up the beliefs of
their youth, donned suits, and pursued the
ultra-consumer materialistic progress they
previously rebelled against. To Hunter S.
Thompson, this was the death of the American Dream. Innocence was dead, and now
American mainstream capitalism had full
control. The hippies lost, and it was their
fault.
Hunter S. Thompson grew out of a blue-collar situation, then sleazed and burned his
way to the top. His methods were ruthless;
“never apologize, never explain” was one of
his “Rules of Gonzo.” Living hand-to-mouth
and mooching off people around him, he
remained optimistic that his determination
would pay off. A bright yet troubled student,
he didn’t let his own social deficiencies keep
him from achieving his goals. He merely
broke the rules as he saw fit and rewrote the
rule book completely. A driving force of New
Journalism, Hunter S. Thompson set new
standards - both high and low - for everyone.
He was always in control. He took his own
life knowing his body was deteriorating. He
knew the drugs and the alcohol years had
aged him incredibly and it was his time to go.
Hunter S. Thompson said the American
Dream was dead. This was the old one; he
had redesigned a new American Dream
whether he meant to or not. This one was for
those who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, succumb
to the rules set before us. Those who work
hard and still can’t get ahead because of the
standards set before us must reinvent those
standards and let nothing hold us back. We
create our own success out of own hard work.
We are always in control of our destinies,
whatever they may be. And if you buy the
ticket, you take the ride.
Arts
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Atherton Lays Claim to Best-Selling Mystery Series Author:
Sue Grafton
GIBSON
CULBRETH
Contributing Writer: Matthew Rhinehart
O
ften is the case when the average
high school student looks around at his or her
school and thinks that his or her school is,
well… average. In some of these cases, the
surrounding neighborhood of the student’s
school is average – the scenery, the people,
the action are all run-of-the mill stuff; nothing special seems to have germinated where
they now stand. The student may even wonder, wouldn’t it be cool if someone talented
and famous stood where I now stand?
An Atherton student has little to go
on when attempting to confirm suspicions
that his or her school is of the ho-hum variety
– one almost senses the special-ness that
permeates the air each time he or she enters
the building. Still, many Atherton students
may be unaware of the number of now
talented and famous individuals also called
themselves Rebels for a time, and that maybe
some of these people once physically stood
where they do now.
Yes, some of these former students
went on to become sport stars of their era,
Charlie Tyra, University of Louisville’s first
basketball All-American being a good example. But a much larger number of Atherton’s
luminaries are of the literary kind, which is
not surprising when one considers that for
several decades Atherton was the school,
academically speaking.
When reflecting on this fact, it is not
shocking to see two famous writers – Sue
Grafton and Hunter S. Thompson – among
the list of Atherton students who attended
the school during the 1950’s, the decade best
known for McCarthyism and hula-hoops.
“Having reached the halfway mark in
the alphabet, my prime focus is on
writing each new book as well as I can.”
-Sue Grafton
yearbook. In addition, Grafton’s attendance
at Atherton is noted on several standard
websites like Wikipedia. It would be intriguing to report details of Grafton’s school days
from her point-of-view, which The Aerial
is hoping to report in a near future issue.
Request for a personal interview, submitted through snail-mail due to lack of e-mail
contact on Grafton’s part, are undoubtedly
backlogged in a stack of autograph request at
the time of this report.
Born in April 24th, 1940 in Louisville, Ky., Sue Grafton grew-up in the Highlands in a household in which writing was
common. Grafton’s father, C.W. Grafton,
primarily supported his family as a lawyer,
but he also wrote mystery novels on the side.
The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope (1943) and
The Rope Began to Hang the Butcher (1944)
were C.W. Grafton’s firsts of four published
novels.
Grafton did not truly begin working
on her craft until the year after graduating
Atherton, at the age of eighteen. Four years
later, Grafton finally completed her first of
seven novels – two of which were eventually published. Unable to find early success with her fiction writing, Grafton screen
wrote made-for-television movies during the
1970’s. Two of these television movies – A
Caribbean Mystery and Sparkling Cyanide
– were based on Agatha Christie novels. It
seems that structuring screen adaptations
for a mystery-writing heavyweight such as
Christie inspired Grafton to try her hand at
writing in the mystery genre once again.
Before graduating the University of
Louisville with a degree in English in 1961,
Grafton attended Atherton from 1953 to
1957. Even though there is little trace of her
pre-celebrity roots on the internet, her picture
can be spotted in any yellowed 1955 Torch
This time around, New York Times
best-selling paperback status did not elude
Grafton. All of her book writing success
rest solely on her “Alphabet Series” novels.
Each mystery title is based on a letter of the
alphabet, and is released in corresponding
order. For example, Grafton’s first novel in
the series, published in 1982, was titled “A”
Is for Alibi, followed by “B” Is for Burglar
(1985), “C” Is for Corpse (1986), and so
on. Grafton’s twentieth novel of the series,
“T” Is for Trespass, was recently released
earlier this month. Each novel in the “Alphabet Series” is told from the point-of-view of
Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator who
lives in Santa Teresa, California. Like Angela Lansbury from the 1980’s Murder, She
Wrote television series, Millhone seems to be
involved, somehow, wherever and whenever
a creatively gruesome murder takes place, but
she has yet to be the focus of serious police
inquiry into the crime even though this peculiar pattern has repeated itself twenty times
now.
And it is this formulaic approach
to fiction, among other things such as prose
writing skills and social importance, which
makes Grafton a source of controversy with
some serious readers here at Atherton. Some
wonder if a best-selling, “dime-store” genre
writer such as Grafton is really such a source
of literary pride for a school when it can also
claim the likes of Dr.. Thompson, an Atherton
attendee whose brilliant, ground-breaking,
and highly controversial (morally, socially,
and politically) journalism pioneered Gonzo,
a style of “new” journalism/fiction that may
never be replicated.
Page 7
Fortunately for both sides of the
debate, this controversy is all a matter of
perspective for some, and is the equivalent
of comparing apples to oranges for others
– Thompson and Grafton are about as different as two people could be that has ever existed. In either case, the fact that both these
writers achieved high levels of success as
writers, however it may be defined, is inarguable. Both writers have also achieved a high
degree of celebrity within their own circles.
The points of commonality do
not end there. Sure, both writers attended
Atherton High School, but the fact that only
three years – Thompson being the eldest
of the two – separated the two in school
makes this piece of trivia a bit more intriguing. Then, there was a brief correspondence
between Grafton and Thompson years after
high school in which Grafton sought publishing advice from the Good Doctor, which has
been famously chronicled in Thompson’s
collection of letter correspondence known
collectively as The Gonzo Papers.
The correspondence between these
two writers illustrates the work and pressure involved in the early stages of their
careers. Talent is not always enough – in
a few instances even talent, at least in the
conventional sense of the term, is not a
requisite ingredient to reach the pinnacle of
an individual’s chosen career path. What is
needed is the willingness to sacrifice, and
Grafton and Thompson arguably sacrificed
much to reach the levels of success they both
achieved in the types of writing in which
each one engaged. Another ingredient for
success is perseverance, and Grafton can
certainly be commended for the perseverance
she invested into her dream when she was on
her way to making a name for herself in the
mystery-writing genre.
If an Atherton student ever wonders
if someone talented and famous stood where
he or she now stands, remember there is a
good chance it has happened. Moreover,
if this Atherton student aspires one day to
become a writer of some kind, he or she is
attending a school with a literary pedigree
most other schools could only wish they
could boast. True, one of the two writers to
walk the halls bearing Atherton’s name may
be studied in an academic context in the years
to come, but also being able to lay claim to a
best-selling genre writer is definitely something a school can take pride in as well. In
any case, regardless of a school’s tradition
in producing fame and talent, it takes the
willingness, perseverance, and sacrifice of the
individual student to make a name for him or
herself one day.
Article Sources:
Thompson, Hunter S.
Fear and Loathing in America:
The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist. Simon &
Shuster, 2007.
Wikipedia.org - Sue Grafton Profile (source verified).
Features
The Aerial
Page 8
The Internet You Love, but Know Nothing About:
Web 2.0:
operating systems to bring internet conISABEL KROME
The Internet is changing. Social networking sites, web-based applications on our
desktops, user-controlled content, wikis
and widgets—these changes in the way
developers are using the World Wide Web
have led to a new term- Web 2.0. This is
a very confusing word for a very important paradigm shift, and so I, pretty much
a computer newbie, set out to understand
what, exactly, it means.
When I first came across the term, I
was puzzled by it. Many of the technologies characteristic of Web 2.0 have been
around since the early days of the internet.
Tim Berners-Lee, one of the two men who
launched the World Wide Web in 1991,
says that “Web 2.0 is… a piece of jargon,
nobody even knows what it means. If Web
2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then… that
was what the Web was supposed to be all
along.” Web 2.0 sites have certain things
in common, however, even though they are
all very different.
Rich Internet Applications
One of the main ideas behind the
design of “Web 2.0” websites is using the
network as a platform. That means that
applications are completely based off the
internet and run entirely in a browser,
eliminating the need to install them on the
computer. Rich Internet applications, or
RIAs, emulate the functionality of traditional desktop applications, but are based
out of a browser. For example, applications like GoogleDocuments run out of
a browser but have the same function as
word processing or spreadsheet software.
There have many advantages and disadvantages. They are much more complex
than traditional desktop applications, and
this makes development harder. They
require more up-to-date browsers, and this
leads to accessibility concerns. However,
they require no installation, and updates/
upgrades are automatic and hassle-free.
They are generally less prone to viruses,
and they can be run from any computer
with an internet connection, regardless
of the operating system of the computer.
Also, let’s face it, who wants to download
and install software when an alternative is
available online?
tent to the desktop. This means that when
Folksonomy
a user wants to, for example, check their
Folksonomy is also known as “tagging” email, they don’t need to start their browser, go to their email, and log in to their
or “social classification.” It is important
account just to do that one thing—there’s
to websites like facebook.com, a social
a widget that’ll tell you when you have
networking site where users can “tag”
new mail. There are also widgets that show
other users in pictures, and del.icio.us, a
weather forecasts, connect to social netsocial bookmarking site where users colworking sites to give you updates, and just
lectively store, share, and tag web bookmarks. This means that a user can tag a site about anything else developers can think
as “bookstore,” for example, and that site of. There are even widgets that automatiis put into a category of other sites tagged cally remind you of upcoming events, and
“bookstore” by other users, and users can widgets made to look like post-it notes you
then search the tags to find what sites are can move around your desktop.
associated with them. 3
Even though most Web 2.0 sites do
share these common features, they often
Wikis
use them to totally different ends. Here are
Many Web 2.0 sites use wiki software some examples of widely used Web 2.0
at least partially.The (in?)famous Wikipe- sites:
dia.com is the perfect example of this type
of website. A wiki, (according to, fittingly,
Wikipedia.com) is a collaborative website
that can be directly edited by any person
with access to it. Pages on a wiki website
iGoogle
are usually highly cross-referenced with
hyperlinks, essentially creating a database
Google’s personalized homepage has
of interconnected information. It would seem
that if anyone can add or alter information, the
amount of false input from users would quickly
render the site useless as a source of information. However, an important characteristic of a
wiki is that the community self-corrects. Each
change to a page is recorded and can be debated. If a community is self-scrutinizing enough,
the information will tend to be accurate, or at
least represent a consensus by that community.
opened itself up to the widgets of third
party developers, and now users can personalize their homepage to tell them if they
have new emails on their gmail account,
to give them a horoscope, to play their
favorite internet arcade game, to show area
gas prices, or even display their favorite
comic, updated daily. 6 While it is certainly not the most innovative of the sites
I’ve discussed, or even the most widely
used, it is the most useful and accessible,
with drag-able widgets and as much, or as
little, customization as the user would like.
A homepage can be simple, or it can be the
user’s internet dashboard, where they can
monitor all of their other frequent internet
activities.
Digg.com
Widgets
A widget is technically just a portable
chunk of code stuck into any HTML-based
website. They are usually third-party based
and have been around since the origin of
the Web. Widgets are used in many sites
to personalize the content, enabling a user
can choose what widgets they want. Now,
widgets are used in the desktops of many
Digg is a community-based popularity site. News stories, pictures, and videos
are submitted by users and then voted
onto the front page by a user based ranking system, called “digging.” When a user
reads a submission they feel is interesting
or important or funny, they “digg” it, and
stories with the most diggs are displayed
on the front page. Users can only digg a
story once, and then it is marked as “dugg”
from their account. This keeps people
from digging a story multiple times to
fraudulently get it more exposure. Digg
combines social bookmarking, blogging,
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
and syndication in a unique way, making it
an indispensable way to waste time on the
internet. In fact, trying to look up things
on the Internet while writing this always
took me back to this site, because searching through it for semantic articles on the
concept of Web 2.0 was a perfect excuse to
get sidetracked on a news story about why
Subway places their cheese in such a geometrically displeasing way, or to discover a
new flash game to play with.
Facebook.com
Facebook.com is a social networking site. Users create accounts in a specific network, whether that be a school,
company, geographical region, or, since
September 11, 2006, no network at all
except your email address. Once users are
registered, they can join groups, which can
be anything from everyone in the same
dorm as you to a group dedicated to the
children’s game “The Floor Is Lava!” Users can upload pictures, tag their friends
in pictures, be tagged in pictures, and all
of the pictures in which a person is tagged
are grouped together and linked to that
person’s profile. Recently, Facebook has
opened itself up to outside applications,
which users can add to their page and
use to do anything from tell their horoscope, have an online food fight, edit their
pictures, and give each other online gifts4.
This has set an example for rival social
networking site Myspace.com, where a
popular application on Facebook is now
showing up on people’s Myspace pages. 5
Web 2.0 or just the plain ol’ internet, it is,
and will ever remain, the perfect way to
goof off.
Article Sources:
1. DeveloperWorks Interviews: Tim Berners-Lee (7-282006). (http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/podcast/dwi/
cm-int082206txt.html)
2. Top Ten Reasons to Embrace RIA’s: The Universal
Desktop (7-10-2006) (http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/
?p=52)
3. About del.icio.us (9-10-2007)
(http://del.icio.us/about/)
4. “MySpace to Get Popular Facebook Travel App” Tech
News Blog (9-6-2007) (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_
3-9773271-7.html)
5. About Facebook (9-10-2007)
(http://www.facebook.com/about.php)
6. Homepage Content Directory (8-29-2007) (http://www.
google.com/ig/directory?root=/ig&dpos=top)
Features
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
FOR A GOOD TIME CALL ME i GIVE FREE BJS
Page 9
Press Conference with John Yarmuth - An Atherton Alumnus
A Gonzo Journalist’s
Take on the 3rd District
Representative
BOBBY
FISKE
He-Man
O
n November 27th, 2007, I loaded up with a triple shot of espresso from
Heine Brothers, grabbed a dingy legal pad
and pencil, and put the key into the ignition of my car. Speeding down Broadway
in the late afternoon, I passed block upon
block of discolored Dairy Marts and Indi’s
chicken joints.
I parked my car in the lot at The Courier-Journal and took a quick jog over to the
Romano Mazzoli Federal building, whose 3rd
Congressional District seat John Yarmuth now
holds. Entering the building, I passed through
the wand waving security ritual, removing my
Boy Scout belt in the process. I didn’t take it
personally; even the Boy Scouts of America
could be considered slightly militant by Homeland Security’s standards. Saying adios to the
security officers, I descended the stairwell of
the sterile building, straightening my messy
hair and bomber jacket.
Entering the press conference, I
glanced at the front row of early arrivals. They
straightened their ties, adjusted their crimson sweaters and cleaned their thick rimmed
glasses. I couldn’t help but feel under dressed.
I strategically placed myself in the middle row
of chairs where I could observe yet still be
heard. Among the crowd of my fellow colleagues, I happened to see a few familiar faces
from my middle school days. It seems ludicrous that they could go from being hellraisers
to high school journalists in just four years, but
that’s exactly what happened.
A slightly tan man in his late twenties
approached the podium with an air of confidence in his voice and profusely thanked us for
attending the press conference. After the usual
five minutes of kudos and vapid chit-chat, he
finally introduced who we all had been waiting
to see: Congressman John Yarmuth.
Before I dive into the press conference, it is important that you get a bit of background information about Yarmuth. John Yarmuth was born in 1947 right here in Louisville,
Kentucky. Graduating from the one and only J.
M Atherton High School in 1965, Yarmuth was
president of the student government and quite
possibly a contributor to the Atherton Aerial.
So, when it became apparent the staff of the
current Aerial was dedicating an issue focusing
on literary heavyweights that attended and/or
graduated Atherton High School, my staff and I
knew that the Yarmuth press conference was a
coincidence that I needed to exploit. It was essential; the story must be done for good or ill.
Along the way on Yarmuth’s climb to
the top, he began to make a large impression
on his hometown when he co-founded The
Louisville Eccentric Observer and began to
write very opinionated political editorials, all
of which makes him relevant to any discussion
of influential writers from this city in any context. The Louisville Eccentric Observer, LEO
for short, is an alternative newspaper founded
by Yarmuth in 1990 with the help of former U
of L basketball coach Denny Crum and three
capture anything but murmurs on their highdefinition audio recorders.
Make no mistake, John Yarmuth is a
polished politician. His many years on Marlow
Cook’s staff prepared him for events such as
this. He responded to the questions in that
skillful way that politicians have; they make
you think they have answered your question
when really all they have done is skirt around
possibilities. Giving you what you want to hear
and never really giving you a clear response
but perhaps one that will satisfy for now. This
is some realpolitik if you ask me. Most of them
candidate that he agreed with on most issues.
Eventually he summed it all up by declaring
that he would “back whoever the Democratic
Party chooses to nominate.”
As Yarmuth gave his closing statements, I stood up and stretched my tired legs.
Giving one last look at that sterile cafeteria
with its florescent lighting and stuffy inhabitants, I ascended the stairs into the crisp night
air. Twirling my keys and breathing in real air,
devoid of politics, I drove off down Broadway
towards Crescent Hill under miles of green
lights. By the time I passed Phoenix Hill Tavern, a persistent thought kept running through
my mind; it was very nice to have firsthand access to Congressman John Yarmuth – I couldn’t
help but wonder if one day Mr. Yarmuth and I
will trade places, and if one day a student from
my Alma Mater will be writing an article about
me.
Questions I didn’t get
to ask Mr. Yarmuth but
would have liked to:
1.
As a Congressman, do you
find it difficult to put aside your
own opinions about things when
voting for the people you represent?
John Yarmuth
3rd District Representative; D-Ky
Illustration by: Anthony Heiskell
other investors.
do it, so can I hold
“He answered like a politician.
Yarmuth assumed
it against a man
He never stated which candidate like John Yarmuth?
the role of editor
and contributed a
was the most qualified; instead
weekly political
In fact,
he gave some reasons why each
article.
when asked how
When
his background in
candidate would be good.”
asked how his
journalism aids
experience as a journalist aids in his career in
his career in politics, Yarmuth responded, “It
congress Yarmuth responded, “It’s a phenomhelps for me to find the most important points
enal background for politics. Interestingly
in any issue. There are certain things being
enough I’m first member of the society of
interpreted by different audiences in differprofessional journalists to be elected to Conent ways.” These two statements show that
gress.”
Yarmuth is watching his tongue now that he
But I digress. Back to the program
at hand.
Yarmuth can be described as a sharp
man of average height with brown, intelligent
eyes. Starting off the press conference with
a continuation of the normal expressing of
gratitude to the attendees, Yarmuth quickly
changed gears, giving us the opportunity to
ask him questions.
Despite his WAVE 3 television debate
series, Yarmuth & Ziegler, Yarmuth surprised
me with his performance at the press conference. Avoiding eye contact with the people
who were asking the difficult questions, he
spoke with a soft voice and I’d be surprised if
the other high school journalists were able to
is in office, rather than openly expressing the
opinions he once gave in his weekly address
to the readers of LEO.
When party lines are drawn, Yarmuth
plays his part perfectly. When I asked him
who he thought was the best candidate for the
Democratic presidential nomination, Yarmuth
responded exactly how I expected he would.
He answered like a politician.
He never stated which candidate
was the most qualified; instead he gave some
reasons why each candidate would be good.
He said that electing Obama would change
how the rest of the world perceives the United
States and that Hillary Clinton had plenty
of experience, which I would have loved to
discuss. Then he decided that Edwards was the
2.
As a worker for a Senator,
did you get a draft deferment during the Vietnam war?
3.
Do you find yourself
changing your opinions in favor
of the opinions of Kentuckians as
a whole?
4.
What connections have you
built in your time in Washington
that replace Anne Northup’s former connections?
5.
As a graduate of Atherton,
what would you say to present
day students of your Alma Mater?
These questions are simply but
“Eccentric Observances” that
I am sure any member of The
Aerial staff would have asked a
congressman if given the
opportunity.
Features
The Aerial
Page 10
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Aerial’s Holiday Anti-Shopping Guide
The meaning of the holidays
re-evaluated.
TARA
MONTGOMERY
T
his time of the year, it isn’t easy to avoid
sales pitches being crammed down your throat
at every turn. The repetitious commercials,
happy jingles, and the plethora of ads stuffed
into the Sunday paper try to wrap you up into
Christmas spirit, the so-called “spirit of giving”. In efforts to promote selflessness people
are constantly talking about how great it is to
give, but who is it we are really giving to? As
usual, it’s the big businesses and corporations
who rake in the profit, often at the expense of
others. This holiday season, trying to shop for
those who have everything, make the effort to
improve the lives of those who have nothing.
Following are some suggestions for gifts that
give, in more ways than
one.
Charities and
Organizations
the package usually includes at the least an
article of clothing, along with a toy. An idea for
those choosing to participate in this particular
charity would be to split it with a friend, due to
the higher cost. By giving to this organization
you will provide for a child who may otherwise
have nothing but disappointment on Christmas
morning.
Noteworthy national charities are Toys
for Tots, Family Giving Tree, and Operation
Christmas Child. Further information about
these charities can be easily found online.
Gifts and Donations
Combined
Everyone has certain causes and
charities that are close to their heart. Whether
you support funding for the environment, AIDS
research, or breast cancer, there are multitudes
of gifts available that benefit these foundations. So, if you do choose to buy presents,
but still want your money to go to something
worthwhile, these gifts are
the way to go. Below are
some gift options that also
include donations.
•
TheDailyGreen.
com offers a ton of environmentally conscious
gifts, for everyone from
babies to pets. Also on the
websites are lists, helpful
to holiday shopping, such
as toys made in the US, and
organic shopping suggestions.
The first thing to come to
mind at the thought of gift
giving isn’t usually giving
350 Christmas trees were burned in a bonfire
to someone you’ve never
on the south shore of Utah Lake.
even me. Friends, family, and significant others
are always at the top of
our lists. For that hard-to-buy-for person, we
•
PRODUCT(RED) are popular, highalways end up finding one thing or another,
scale items which benefit the Global Fund, and
regardless of how impractical a gift it may
African AIDS programs. The official website
be. The amount of stress that goes along with
is JoinRed.com, and they have an extensive
holiday shopping seems unavoidable, though
amount of items available for purchase, from
in fact there is a possible alternative. Tell
brands such as Apple, Converse, and The Gap.
those on your list that this year you’re going to
Many of the items featured on the website can
give solely to charities. They may look at you
also be found in stores in the mall.
strange for a second, but to almost anyone this
is an awfully admirable gesture.
•
UNICEF, a charity aimed at child
Outside any major retailer during this time of
protection and development worldwide, uses
year, you start to see the familiar red buckets,
fund raising as a way to carry out it’s goals.
and hear repetitious ringing of bells, an obvious
Their online catalogue offers plenty of prodattempt to get attention from shoppers. Most
ucts, allowing you to easily support this wellrecognize these as the efforts of the Salvation
established and successful organization.
Army, a famous organization hoping to give
to those with serious financial struggles this
holiday season. With monetary woes sweeping
Finally, if you’re completely opposed
the city for many, every bit of the money raised
to the notion of your money falling into the
is guaranteed to be used, and appreciated. The
wrong hands, there’s always the option availdonations are coming slower this year than
able to make your own holiday presents. So,
usual, though, due to rising gas prices and other
if you don’t want to support the overgrown
factors increasing the cost of living, so every
businesses that are running rampant this time
penny received will surely make a difference to
of the year, put in a little added time and efa local family.
fort, and be your own means of production.
The Angel Tree is another very
If nothing else, it will be worth it to avoid the
popular holiday charity. Through this charity,
crowded shopping centers and angry customyou’ll provide gifts for a local impoverished
ers, allowing you to create and revel in your
child. The average amount spent on each of
own Christmas cheer.
these “angels” is around 50 to 75 dollars, and
1551 Bardstown Rd.
Louisville KY 40405
502-456-6911
homeskateshop.com
Features
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Page 11
Atherton High School is Jam-Packed with Musical Talent
HANNAH
RAPP
KICK
, CRASH, BOOM,
BAM! On paper, these onomatopoeia may
sound like they are coming from the pots and
pans in our kitchen, but they are actually the
sounds of creativity, passion, and talent.
They are the sounds of music, in the
air here at Atherton.
Atherton is a place where it isn’t
considered ‘nerdy’ to play an instrument, and
although each music class is different, the
majority of musicians around school say that
it’s a great feeling. So here’s a view of each
class, at a glance….
BAND
Learning about music doesn’t only
take drive, eagerness, and practice, it also
takes a great teacher to keep you interested,
fresh, and motivated. Atherton has this type
of teachers, not only in its core classes, but
also in its music rooms. Each teacher has
talent and passion for music as well as a
background of multiple music positions, and
they work hard at using all of it in order to
be the best.
“I chose to teach band because I
like working with young people and I have a
passion for music,” confesses Sarah McClave. Ruled by Ms. McClave, band at
Atherton has shown tremendous success
because of her dedication and talent. But
even she says that the student musicians at
Atherton have made all the difference. “The
readers should know that the band at this
school works really hard and we have a topnotch ensemble!” she points out. “They’ve
improved immensely. We’ve gone from 30
to 70 players and received distinguished
[ratings] every year since I’ve been teaching.
Also, our jazz band is one of the best in the
state and we’ve added a percussion ensemble
class.”
Band also gets professionals from
each instrument to teach them every week,
but the class can improve by getting even
Number three in the county, chorus
has been continuously amazing with the
voices of our classmates and of course the
‘energizer bunny’ Mr. Lin, Atherton’s chorus
teacher. Chorus may come across as confusing and difficult, yet beautiful and mysterious, and that’s because it is.
There is a mixture of Bel Canto,
Chorus, Chamber Singers, and Mixed
Chorus all rolled into one, but for Amanda
Boden, a senior and singer for Bel Canto,
it is all a matter of how you look at it. “I
love that I get the chance to sing,” she says.
“Mr. Lin is top-notch. Whoever comes
next year should have it pretty easy, just as
long as they go by his rules and guidelines.
“Every music class has worked just as much as
any kind of sports team, and we are just as good.
How come we don’t get a pep rally?”
more students involved. “What I like most
about band is that I am challenged every day,
and at Atherton I feel accepted. I don’t have
to hide my talent,” preaches Dion Henry,
a junior drummer in Atherton’s band. Mr.
Robinson, the current band student teacher
also notes that Atherton’s band is very fortunate to be one of the school’s most valuable
assets.
“Once a close relationship between
teachers and their students is established, the
sky is the limit in terms of success,” he notes
CHORUS
Left: Atherton High
School Band performs
at The Kentucky
Center for the Arts.
Photo by Evan Taylor,
digitally enhanced by
Zach Leamy
Right: Atherton
high School’s Mixed
Chorus performing
at the Annual Winter
Concert under the
direction of Steve Lin.
Photo by Evan Taylor,
digitally enhanced by
Zach Leamy
He’s been following them for many years at
Atherton, and they haven’t steered us wrong
yet.” There will be many events this year
that shouldn’t be missed, and they will be the
final showings before their teacher, Mr. Lin
retires. Be there.
ORCHESTRA
Orchestra at Atherton has come a
very long way. Students are making a bigger, richer sound than before, because they
are getting to play more of the advanced
level music, according to Mr. Dougherty,
Atherton’s orchestra teacher. Each class
period is filled with auditions, coaching,
sectionals, and rehearsals in order to keep
them up to date. “Our students know more
about the history and philosophy behind the
creation of high school students,” says Mr.
Dougherty.
When asked how Atherton’s orchestra compares to others schools, Tiara Phoenix
responded, “If you gave us a piece of music
that we have never seen before and told us
to play it, we would play it with all we’ve
got. We have determination, while other
schools would get tired of it and don’t seem
to take it as seriously.” She adds, “Our only
problem is that we don’t have enough money
to satisfy our needs. We barely have enough
instruments for everyone.”
Just like a sports team, each music class has
made its way to the top, and all that Atherton
needs to do is recognize it. “Every music
class has worked just as much as any kind of
sports team, and we are just as good. How
come we don’t get a pep rally?” asks Dion.
Chorus classes with Mr. Lin, band classes
with Ms. McClave, and orchestra classes
with Mr. Dougherty have all received a
distinguished in KMEA since they’ve been
teaching. KMEA is one of the most important festivals that any high school musician
can play each year. “ It’s like the CATS
test for music,” notes Ms. McClave. As a
community, we sometimes forget about our
fellow musicians as we get lost in our own
music, but teachers like Mr. Lin, Ms. McClave, and Mr. Dougherty have driven and
are driving our musicians to higher heights,
and right now they have reached that note.
They deserve a round of applause and a
standing ovation. Job well done!
Reviews
The Aerial
Page 12
No Country for Old Men
By: Miles Smith
3.5/4
It was
Thanksgiving
weekend when my
mother decided
we needed to see
the new Coen
brothers’ film,
No Country for
Old Men, which
is based on the
Cormac McCarthy novel by the same name.
Personally, I thought only a more experienced person would be able to interpret this
film. When I say experienced, I’m referring
to the old, decrepit man loitering at a nearby
liquor store who gave up life long ago. Of
course, I was far from the truth. When the
credits started to roll, I felt a burst of puzzlement and confusion emanate from the audience. I muttered the only word I could fish
out of my vast abyss of knowledge.
“Awesome.”
The film begins with Sheriff Ed
Tombell, played by Tommy Lee Jones,
speaking to the audience with his indistinguishable flat tone. He tells the audience
about how crime and law enforcement
changes drastically with different generations. “Some of the old-time sheriffs never
even wore a gun . . . Can’t help but wonder
how they would’ve operated these times.
There was this boy I sent to Huntsville here a
while back. My arrest and my testimony. He
killed a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it
was a crime of passion but he told me there
wasn’t any passion to it.” While Tommy Lee
Jones is stating differences with the new and
old, the visuals show the same contrasts with
different barren landscapes. Little things like
these can make films great.
The film is purely Coen brothers’
material; characters with different motives,
developments, personalities, and dialogue,
which is impossible not to laugh at though
it perfectly develops each character in the
oddest of ways. One of the most interesting characters in the film is Anton Chigurh,
brilliantly played by Javier Barden. I should
note that all actors were phenomenal from
the direction of Joel and Ethan Coen. Anton
Chigurh is the young whippersnapper of the
sheriff’s monologue. Anton is a killer, he
has no emotions whatsoever with the living.
He carries a cow stunner connected to an
oxygen tank. When the tank is exerting pressure on the stunner, Anton pushes a button
and the stunner whips out a rod inflicting
precise, swift and fatal damage.
Anton is only one thread in No
Country for Old Men. After introducing
Anton, the film travels not too far off into the
desert where Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin)
hunts for Antelope. He stalks an animal he
shot to find two intersecting trails of blood:
one drier than the other. He looks both ways
to find a shot dog limping aimlessly into the
desert. What would Jesus do? Would he
investigate the dog or back track to the place
where the dog was shot? Llewelyn Moss
does the latter. It seems more logical than
what Jesus would do. Llewelyn finds a drug
deal gone wrong. They shot the dealers,
pushers, and “even the dog”. What Llewelyn
doesn’t find is the money. He finds a briefcase, similar to the briefcase in Fargo, with
$2 million off a mile under a tree.
So the plot of No Country for Old
Men involves Llewelyn attempting to take
the $2 million for his own intentions, Anton
trying to take the money from Llewelyn, and
Sheriff Ed Tombell trying to stop a merciless
killer.
The film, like Fargo, which is also
directed by the Coen brothers, is a perfectly
constructed thriller, both climactic and anticlimactic. Many movies fail from having too
many coincidences that seem tacky and unrealistic. In No Country for Old Men, each
character connects with another in a smooth
and more realistic flow. Also, the characters
are always interesting because how surreal
the dialogue and dialect is written. The
dialect is always an important feature in a
Coen brothers film. Tommy Lee Jones and
Josh Brolin pull off the southern dialect flawlessly.
There is nothing but praise for this
film. No Country for Old Men is as great as
a film Fargo ever was.
American Gangster
By: Zach Leamy
3/4
Ridley
Scott’s not-soAmerican American
Gangster brings a
new meaning to
irony, blurring the
gray area between
the black and white.
From its title to its
characters, this film
creates very little
separation between
right and wrong.
However, it is the direction and cinematography that makes this film what it is.
The film primarily focuses on the
interaction of two characters; Harlem drug
kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington)
and Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), a
street-hardened cop. After the unexpected
death of a major drug distributor, Lucas, us-
ing an international connection with Vietnam, seizes the opportunity and creates one
of the largest drug operations New York has
ever seen. Despite Lucas’ drug smuggling
exploits and murderously violent behavior,
he is a dedicated, honest, family man.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Roberts is a divorced man in a custody
battle with his wife. His friends are addicts
and crooked cops, yet he is one of the few
honest detectives in a ridiculously corrupt
law enforcement agency. His reputation
amongst his peers and co-workers is largely
based upon his actions after discovering a
great sum of money and turning it in to corrupt authorities, who are nearly guaranteed
to keep it for their personal use.
The camera angles, lighting, and
directing are the aspects of the movie that
truly tell the story. The combination of great
blocking and cinematography allow the audience to see the emotions of all the characters
involved in a particular event. Lighting is
used very appropriately, although it sometimes comes across as slightly too melodramatic. Whether or not one likes it is a matter
of personal taste, especially in regards to the
lighting part of the film.
If it weren’t for the lengthiness of
this film and its slow beginning it may have
been a classic. Tragically it falls just short.
Beowulf
By:Anthony Heiskell
2.5/4
Beowulf
has been one of the
most hyped movies of this winter
season with other
movies such as I
Am Legend and
National Treasure:
Book of Secrets.
I was hesitant to
watch the bane of
all high school literature be transformed into
a cartoon. However, after falling into the
adrenaline pumping rhythm, it’s hard not to
appreciate the fast-paced action of Beowulf.
The plot is about as basic as Norse
mythology can get. It starts out inside of a
mead hall of a town that’s cursed by a troll.
In turn the king decides to send a reward for
a hero to come and slay it. Thus Beowulf arrives. He slays the troll and peace is restored.
Then it turns out the monster has a mom, and
when mama isn’t happy, no one’s happy.
Think of all the stock characters
in old English and you have the cast of
Beowulf. The strong but flawed hero (Ray
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Winstone) and the heroes sidekick (Brendan
Gleeson), the town drunk who is also the
king (Anthony Hopkins), the whiny queen
(Robin Wright Penn), the king’s sleazy
assistant (John Malkovich), and the misunderstood monster (Crispin Glover). But what
makes these characters so vivid and strong
are the voices that bring them to life.
The script takes itself so seriously
that when it does crack a joke it’s just not
funny. Between co-writers Neil Gaiman and
Roger Avary, I don’t know who to credit for
some of the most confusing lines of dialogue. I however would more or less like to
know whose idea it was for Beowulf to fight
naked in half the movie. Did he just not like
clothing? The most annoying things about
the movie either had to be the nude fight
scenes, the placement of the candle, or how
the smoke only rises waist high.
As bad as the script may be, the
faces of the digitally animated characters
are even worse. Wonderful actors such as
Anthony Hopkins and John Malkovich voice
them, but the animation just can’t capture
the intense emotion that these actors could
provide. Even Shrek could get more emotion
out of their characters then Beowulf.
What makes this movie worth seeing is the unbelievable shots that director
Robert Zemeckis (director of Forrest Gump
and The Polar Express) chooses for Beowulf.
He’s finally found some solid ground to
stand on with this and the similar Polar Express. The shots are crazy and smooth. They
echo a style very reminiscent of Sam Raimi.
Despite epic storytelling, corny
dialogue and extreme cartoon violence,
Beowulf will at least stand the test of time
for fans of Conan the Barbarian. They’re
the only who could possibly appreciate this
cartoon version of Norse mythology.
The Aerial gladly
accepts submissions
for the review section. If you have
written a review and
you would like it to
be published please
send it to:
aerial.editor.in.chief@
gmail.com
Reviews
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Page 13
I Am Legend: Most Certainly Not a Cinematic Rip-off of 28 Days Later
By: Jeremy Clark
3.5/4
Will Smith’s
gray hair completely
threw me off. As a
young, fresh prince
his West Philadelphia
flat-top and demeanor
seemed everlasting.
Seventeen years later,
Will Smith has become
an elder statesman of
Hollywood, although I feel like he is much
younger than his gray hairs show. His new
movie I Am Legend shows him making more
strides as an actor. No longer relying on the
machismo of his characters like he’s done
in the past with Bad Boys and Men in Black,
Will Smith shows us he can play the vulnerable male as well.
I Am Legend is based on the book of
the same name, written by Richard Mathe-
virus that mutated from being the cure for
cancer to being a pandemic-causing virus.
While immune, he must still protect himself
from the dark-seekers; they were the people
left behind who contracted the disease and
now roam the city at night like vampires
hunting for anything they can eat.
My initial response when hearing
about this movie was that it would end up
being a cinematic rip-off of 28 Days Later.
However I Am Legend surpassed 28 Days
Later in making me feel the dispiritedness of
isolation and the struggle to save humanity
while looking out for one’s self. For most
of the movie, a dog is Will Smith’s only
supporting cast member. Director Francis
Lawrence does a great job of letting the silence of the movie speak for itself. It makes
I Am Legend the tense and tragic movie it
is; adding any sort of narration to the movie
would have made this seem like a special
doomsday episode of The Wonder Years.
to the gargantuan urban jungle it is today
is jarring. Juxtaposing familiar landmarks
such as Times Square against the tall grasses
that have grown through the pavement is a
beautiful yet terrifying image. Herds of deer
run through the streets leaping over rusting
taxis abandoned at a moment’s notice. Lions
prowl through the streets, turning New York
into an African savannah.
Silence makes suspense. Without
people to talk to, Robert Neville rarely has
anything to say. Eerie doesn’t accurately
describe the feeling I get from this movie.
This entire movie is built on suspense. Will
he find anyone else? A cure? Will he be
attacked? There’s so much suspense that it
is literally exhausting. But who would go
to sleep watching this movie? Following
Robert Neville throughout his daily life as
the potential savior of the entire human race
can get repetitive. His watch alarm is set to
the sunrise and sunset of each day, and he
I Am Legend begins to lose steam
about two-thirds of the way through. Robert
Neville meets Anna, played by Alice Braga
and her son Ethan, who’s played by Charlie
Tahan. At this point the movie just takes a
turn for the utterly predictable, going as far
as to explain the religious themes that were
already mildly apparent. By this point, I was
already emotionally exhausted from the first
two-thirds and now I felt insulted having to
put up with such a tacked-on conclusion. It
is so feel-good that it makes me feel sick,
and I left the theater not sure how I felt
about the movie.
The most terrifying aspect of this
movie is that this horrific pandemic is entirely man-made. People are dying because
what was hailed as a medical breakthrough
mutated into an unstoppable virus. It reduces
people to basic primitive behaviors; as
“darkseekers” they hunt anything that is still
alive whether it is human or animal. The
plot of the movie sounds all-too-familiar in
the context of today’s world. It is the worst
case scenario, the 2012 doomsday ending
for the world. Medical virus is the cause of
the catastrophe in the movie. In real life,
they tell us it could be anything. It’ll either
be bird flu or nuclear war or bioterrorism
or global warming or the next big disaster.
Every accident around the world is accredited to the downfall of the world as we know
it. At the center of it all is this immeasurable amount of guilt placed on the shoulders
of the human race. It is our faults, and we
must change it before we kill ourselves off.
We’re chewing each others’ heads off trying
to decide what to do; everyone’s paranoid,
stockpiling protection against an unseen
killer.
(Screenshot courtuesly provided by media.kino-govno.com. Additional worrk performed by Zach Leamy.)
son. The movie opens with one doctor’s declaration that she has found a cure for cancer.
The next scene is New York City, three years
later, and there is no sign of human life other
than Robert Neville. He is presumably the
only man left in the city, if not the entire
world. His mission is to find a cure for the
The stadium seating at Tinseltown
Theaters meant that I didn’t have to peek
between the ridiculously large hair of the
ladies in front of me. I had full view of the
screen, which meant I was immersed in the
movie the whole time. Seeing New York
City turned into an actual jungle, as opposed
goes through the same procedures almost
every day. This strict regiment is keeping
his sanity intact. There is so much repetition
that you can easily get lulled by it; eventually you stop waiting for something scary to
happen. And then something scary happens.
It’s simple yet effective.
Written in 1954, the cinematic debut
of I Am Legend comes at an interesting point
in world history. A radical shift may be upon
us and who knows whether it will be on as
large a scale as is predicted. I Am Legend is
terrifying, funny, tragic and uplifting all at
the same time. Leaving the theater I was instantly aware of the background noise of humanity in our lives. It is eerie to think about
what life would be like without people.
The Aerial
School News
Page 14
Is your plate full enough yet?
ILP’s - Are the graduation
requirements for education really requiring us to
be more educated?
KEISHAUNDRIA
WRIGHT
For a senior this year, and for those
in the future, the above question would seem
absurd enough to elicit reactions ranging from
nervous laughter to a full-blown rant directed
at whoever would ask a question that already
an obvious answer. But there it is, and no answer is required. However, the new entrée now
being served on students’ platters may not be
as awful as we make it out to be, and it may be
even beneficial for some.
The new item being added to the list
of graduation requirements for the 2007-08
school year is the Individual Learning Plan, or
the ILP. Students are now required to complete
an ILP all four years of high school in order to
graduate.
An ILP is a basic plan created for
students to keep track of courses, colleges,
scholarship opportunities, and career planning
tools. The ILP can take an average of two to
three hours to complete, depending on how
much effort a student wishes to put into it. On
the basic level, students are required to fill out
a list of all of the classes they have completed
thus far, the grade they received for the class,
community service hours completed, awards
and recognition received, and any extra curricular activities they were involved in during
high school.
There is also a section available for
students to compile a list of their long and
short-term life goals. This section was designed
in order to get students thinking about where
they want to go after high school, and what
they must do in order to get there. A list of
colleges, scholarships, and career choices are
there for students to explore as well, giving
them a view of all of the options available after
graduating.
Then, there is a section for education
planning where students must select schools
that interest them and offer what they are looking for in the next phase of their education.
Students take a career matching survey that
matches them to a possible career based on
the answers given, and are then given a list of
colleges that offer that major or field of study.
A description of the career is given, along with
other information about that possible career
choice.
“It helped me a lot with the colleges”,
said Grant Durham, a senior who has completed his ILP this year. “It helped me get a
good look at them, and narrowed my search. It
definitely made the process easier.”
While most students around Kentucky
completed their first ILP last year, Jefferson
County students are just starting to become
familiar with the plan this year. JCPS received
extended time because of its size and student
population, and most seniors around the county
are just finishing their first ILP.
Located in the student section of the
JCPS website, the ILP has become a way for
students, as well as administrators, to have a
visual representation of preparation and planning methods being taken at the final stages of
secondary education. Counselors are able to
look at any student’s ILP and offer assistance
with any questions, help make career planning
decisions, and keep track of all graduation
requirements completed.
“The freshmen class this year will
definitely benefit from completing an ILP”,
said Ms. Stogner, the senior guidance counselor. “They have four years to go back and
review and revise their plan and see how their
choices have changed over the years. An ILP
just gives us an organized way of exploring
the educational journey, and something to refer
back to when needed.”
Although the ILP has proven to be
effective for some, it has become just another
routine chore for others.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
“Most seniors just want to get it
over with,” said Ms. Cassidy, the freshman
and sophomore guidance counselor. “The ILP
definitely won’t have as much value for seniors
as it will for others who have a few years to go
back and review and revise every year.”
“I don’t think its achieving its
designed purpose with the seniors this year,”
said Tiara Phoenix, another senior who has
completed her ILP for the year. “People are just
writing down anything to get it finished. We
won’t even have a chance to go back and look
at it in a few months.”
Another problem found with the
ILP is the fact that its an on-line project that
requires the use of a computer.
“When you have 450 students to make
sure complete an ILP, the computer availability
issue makes it hard for them to work on their
own. Not everyone has computer access,” Ms.
Cassidy said.
Most of Atherton’s seniors have a
fully completed ILP for the year, and those
who don’t must have them completed as soon
as possible. The underclassmen are now being
introduced to the ILP, and will have it completed before the end of the school year.
Along with an ILP every year,
students are still required to obtain 22 credits
and score apprentice or higher on the math,
reading, and on-demand sections of the CATS
test., as well as an apprentice or higher on the
writing portfolio.
Book and Music Exchange
1616 Bardstown Rd.
Louisville, KY, 40205
502-454-3328
BUY SELL TRADE
Cd’s*Dvd’s* Video Games*Books
www.booksandmusicexchange.com
www.myspace.com/bookandmusic
The Aerial
School News
Volume 83, Issue 3
Jefferson County Public Schools Distributed Free
Student Power Plus Cards:
seemingly crushed. Something had to be
DVDs, and CDs along with access to the
done. I was the one who had to do it.
online research tools. Audio book
Does it really work? library’s
lovers can download audio books to their
LAUREN
BUNCH
The folks at the library, the heads
of JCPS and TARC officials have teamed
up to make Jefferson County students’ lives
better. They aim to help Jefferson County
students read, all while helping them get
around town cheaply.
Many Jefferson County students
were introduced to Student Power Plus
Card very late into the 2006/2007 school
year – only a few days prior to the conclusion of school last spring, in fact. Many
students were handed new cards with only
scant information about the purpose of the
new cards. That it was a new library card
was obvious, and information
regarding new TARC rates for
students using the card proved
intriguing for some, but specific details seemed elusive
for students wishing for more
information about their Student Power Plus Cards.
So, what is the Students Power Plus Card, what
benefits do these cards offer,
and do they really work as advertised? The Aerial looked
into the benefits of the card
while investigating whether
or not the TARC policy in
regards to the Student Power
Plus Card was consistent
throughout the city.
According to Louisville Free Public
Library’s website, the Student Power Plus
Card Program is a partnership between the
Louisville Free Public Library and the major
school districts within Jefferson County
– both JCPS schools and Archdiocese of
Louisville Schools . The program allows for
students to own a library card plus card that
also functions for several other purposes:
(1) student identification card,
(2) a TARC discount card,
(3) and a KidTrax identification card for JCPS students.
As with all library membership
cards, students who use them are entitled to
access to books, audio books, magazines,
personal MP3 players. Very important for
many students, the Student Power Plus Card
can enable those interested in entering higher
education to take advantage of practice
probes for the SAT, ACT, GED, ASVAB and
some AP exams.
The Louisville Free Public Library
reports success from their side of the partnership. According to a recent LFPL newsletter from this past November, students were
using their cards to check out approximately
a thousand items on a daily basis. Furthermore, the LFPL claims a record number of
30,254 students benefited from library sponsored reading programs over the summer this
year, all because of the Student Power Plus
Card Program.
From the library’s perspective,
things couldn’t get any better for JCPS students armed with the new Power Plus card.
The sun seemed to shine brighter. Students’
steps seemed lighter. Life was good. Or was
it?
The other important component of
the Student Power Plus Card, the TARC discount, was to allow students TARC rides for
$.60 anytime students flashed their Student
Power Plus Card during evenings and over
the summer months. The sixty cent rate was
also supposedly applicable towards pre-paid
tickets.
However, on the seedy underbelly
of this new opportunity was a harsh, ugly
reality; it seemed some buses weren’t honoring the card. Several alleged incidents were
reported in which bus drivers refused to give
discounts.
Students’ idyllic existence were
Armed with my power-plus card, a
pocket full of change and a whole lot of righteous indignation, I set out. Boarding one
bus, I flashed my card at the bus driver. He
gave me a slight nod that said, ‘Yeah, you’re
in the club.’ I looked across the aisle at
my fellow passengers and saw another plus
member. I could tell by the excellent posture
and complete refusal to meet my eyes or
look at me whatsoever that she was part of
the club also.
A second bus offered a different story. The driver demanded the standard dollar,
twenty-five cent fare. “But,” I said, waving
my card around as if it were a delicate paper
fan. The driver just raised her eyebrows.
Foiled.
Ever hopeful, I caught a ride another
TARC. This time, I pulled out my card and
said sweetly, “Sixty cents, right?” This time
the Student Plus Card was a success. A forth
TARC bus proved to be a
success as well. Unfortunately, a fifth TARC ride
cost $1.25 despite the
Plus Card in this rider’s
possession.
Three out of
five buses honored the
Student Plus Card. This
proved to be more successful than the claims
that the card was worthless in regards to its
TARC policy. However,
a sixty percent success
rate does not quite
qualify as the upholding
the full promise of the
Student Power Plus Card.
LOOK! IT REALLY DOES
WORK. ADVERTISE WITH
THE AERIAL TODAY
AND PROMOTE YOUR
BUSSNIESS, EVENT, OR
OTHER MESSAGE YOU
WANT PEOPLE TO SEE.
CONTACT US AT
aerialdesign@gmail.com.
Page 15
LIBRARY LOCATIONS,
SCHEDUES, AND
CONTACT INFORMATION
Bon Air Regional
2816 Del Rio Place
(502) 574-1795
Mon-Thurs 9-9
Fri, Sat 9-5
Sunday 1-5
Crescent Hill
2762 Frankfort Avenue
(502) 574-1793
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Fairdale
10616 W. Manslick Rd
(502) 375-2051
Mon, Wed, Thurs 12-8
Tues 10-8
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Fern Creek
6768 Bardstown Road
(502) 231-4605
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Highlands-Shelby Park
1250 Bardstown Rd.
(502) 574-1672
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Young Adult Outpost
1250 Bardstown Road
(502) 574-1640
Mon-Thurs 1-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Sunday closed
Okolona
7709 Preston Highway
(502) 964-3515
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday 1-5
Portland
3305 Northwestern
Pkwy
(502) 574-1744
Mon, Tues, Thurs 12-8
Wed 10-8
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
St. Matthews/Eline
3940 Grandview
Avenue
(502) 574-1771
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday 1-5
Shawnee
3912 West Broadway
(502) 574-1722
Mon-Thurs10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday 1-5
Shively-Newman
3920 Dixie Highway
(502) 574-1730
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Southwest Regional
10375 Dixie Highway
(502) 933-0029
Iroquois
Mon-Thurs 9-9
601 W. Woodlawn Ave.
Fri, Sat 9-5
(502) 574-1720
Sunday 1-5
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Western
Sunday 1-5
604 South Tenth Street
(502) 574-1779
Jeffersontown
Mon, Tues, Thurs 12-8
10635 Watterson Trail
Wed 10-8
(502) 267-5713
Fri, Sat 10-5
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Sunday closed
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sunday closed
Westport
8100 Westport Road
Main Library
(502) 394-0379
301 York Street
School Year Hours
(502) 574-1611
Mon-Thurs 3-9
Mon-Thurs 9-9
Saturday 10-5
Fri, Sat 9-5
Friday 10-5
Sunday 1-5
Sunday closed
Middletown
200 North Juneau Drive
(502) 245-7332
Mon-Thurs 10-9
Fri, Sat 10-5
Sports
The Aerial
Page 16
The Great “08”
Senior Class Breaks Curse and Makes History
COREY GRANT
For many years, Atherton football
has left through the same doors whenever
there was a home game to be played. Most of
those games were lost, and were lost by a great
margin. Before this year, Atherton football
had been virtually non-existent and played the
role of the cellar-dweller of Jefferson County
football. Those doors that the players exited,
were marked by the number 13, or also called
“exit 13.” Some people may think that it is
silly to think that a number could be the cause
of decades of defeat, but of all the numbers,
that number stands still at the upper left corner
of the exiting doors as a sign of a curse that
has plagued this football program ever since it
began. The record is proof. Atherton football
had a record of 4-7 this year. The last time
Atherton won 4 or more football games in a
single season came almost 30 years ago when
the Rebels went 5-5 in 1979. But after this year,
it seems that Atherton could have broken any
jinx that may have been cast onto them, as this
group of players have done what no others who
have ever played football here have done; go to
the playoffs.
It wasn’t the greatest way to end the
season, but Atherton’s playoff lost to Valley
was a huge step for the future of this program.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Rebels
were manhandled as they flopped to the Valley
Viking 53-7. It was a tough loss to swallow as
it would be the last time that many of the seniors would ever get a chance to play the game
of football. In the game, Senior quarterbacks
Justin Cloud and Stuart Madison sustained
injuries. Justin Cloud suffered from a mild
concussion as two defenders crashed into him
headfirst. He would return, but Stuart Madison,
who left the game with a leg injury, would not.
“The hardest thing I
have ever done was sitting on
the sideline helpless, watching
my teammates play for the last
time,” Stuart said.
Justin Cloud tried not
to let the result of the game get
to him. “I try not to look at the
negatives, so after the game,
all I was thinking was hopefully getting a chance to play
at the next level,” he said. It’s
easy to say that this loss impacted everyone dramatically.
Tears were being shed by the
start of the 4th quarter because everyone
knew they would eventually have to say
goodbye.
When asked what it felt like
walking off the field for the last time, Senior
Jason Withrow was all heart. “That’s like
asking how it feels when a close relative dies.
Unless you were apart of it, unless you went
through what we went through, then you can
never grasp how it felt. The feeling that I had
when I looked in everyone’s eyes, and saw the
pain… it was just terrible.”
Senior Cedrick Dolby also commented
on that same moment. “It had to be one of the
hardest things I ever had to do in my life. You
work so hard through the summer and you lay
it all on the line, just to get to the playoffs.
I mean, you practically sweat blood for 10
weeks, and to see it end is heart breaking.”
This year’s 4-7 record came with
home wins over KCD, and Owen County, and
away victories against Breckenridge County
and a blowout victory against Iroquois on their
senior night, 34-16. Their losses included Western, Valley twice, Spencer County, Fairdale,
and close losses to North Oldham and Shawnee. When asked what the biggest disappointment about this season was, Coach Mason responded, “losing to Shawnee, Spencer County,
and Valley the first time. Those are games that
we should have won.”
One of the major reasons for this
team’s success came from individual performances. Justin Cloud, who was named to
All-District as a DB and WR, led the team
with 103 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 2 forced
fumbles. He was also a big weapon on offense
totaling 10 touchdowns on the year. Those of
which came on his 3 TD passes, 3 TD catches,
2 rushing TD’s, and two kick returns for scores.
Other players that made All-District were Defensive linemen Dijon Coleman, Kicker Francis
Ladege, Center Nathan Johnson and Alfredo
Gonzalez at Tight End. Honorable mentions
include lineman Corey Grant and Reggie
Brown. Despite missing the list, Junior Starting
Running Back Curtis Toole was a force in the
running game as he ended the season with 750
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
total yards and 5 touchdowns. When asked
what he needed to work on for the upcoming
season, he said, “Get stronger, faster, and score
more touchdowns. I also need to work on my
attitude.” Stuart Madison also missed the list
but was a force on defense acquiring 77 tackles,
2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions and 11 pass break ups.
Matt Brown, many of the seniors spoke out.
“He gives respect to the people that give respect,” said Justin Cloud. “He tells what I need
to do, and how I need to do it to be successful.”
Despite losing many star players to
graduation, there is still optimism for next
year. However, the coaches and players alike
know there is work to be done. “We took a big
step forward becoming a team last season, but
there is plenty of room for improvement,” said
Coach Stallard. “We just have to continue to
stay focused in the weight room and classroom
on our goals, and we will succeed.”
When asked how Coach Brown
impacted him, Alfredo Gonzalez replied, “He
helped me realize that life is all about making
good decisions and not just about being the
toughest guy.”
When asked about his expectations
for the upcoming year, Coach Brown said, “I
expect us to extend our win total and improve
our chances in the playoffs.” Some of the key
returnees for next season’s team include Offensive and Defensive lineman Dijon Coleman,
Reggie Brown and Marcus Woods. Charles
Ladege, Curtis Toole, Alex Taleot, and Wide
Receiver Chris Ellis also return.
All year this team had been told to
believe. It became a motto, a trademark, but
more importantly, it became a way of life.
Coach Matt Brown who had instilled the belief
that anything is possible, is responsible for the
turnaround of Atherton football. “Hopefully, I
have helped them understand that hard work
pays off and that great things can happen despite the odds,” he said. “The seniors dedicated
themselves to get better ever since I took over
(when they were juniors). Their determination
impressed me the most.” When asked what
he learned from this year about himself, he
responded, “We fought through adversity all
year long. We never gave up. I have learned
how to motivate a little more than normal.” For
the most part, Coach Brown has impacted his
seniors and has become a father figure to some
of them.
When asked about their Head Coach
“He basically showed me what it is
like to face adversity and deal with things like a
man,” added Jason Withrow.
This season was a huge surprise,
especially considering that the closest game
Atherton had last year was against Iroquois,
45-6, a 39 point loss! That shows leaps and
bounds how much better Atherton football was
this year. All of the seniors can take pride in the
fact that they are what started the turnaround
in Atherton football. They know that they will
forever be remembered as champions in history. “I have been apart of Atherton football for
3 years and I take pride in saying that I helped
turn the program around, but it hurts to know
that this year was my last go around and I’m no
longer a part of it,” said Cedrick Dolby.
When asking Justin Cloud how it felt
to make history at Atherton, he said, “Better
than good! Atherton has changed me just as
much as this past season has changed the way
people think of Atherton football.”
There is no doubt that any curse that
has haunted Atherton football is finally over.
The seniors leave the team with big shoes to
fill, as Atherton football looks to build off of
this season’s success. These seniors will always
be remembered for fighting through adversity
these last couple of years where winning was
not an option, and they will forever be remembered for the courage and the fight that they
showed on the field, and the character they
showed for sticking with the game that they
keep close to their hearts. A season that began
so magically, defeating KCD 14-9, ultimately
ended as a year that will not soon be forgotten.
These seniors are now legends
of Atherton High School, and
their legacy, along with their
memory will forever live on.
“All of the success
that Atherton football will
achieve in the future is because
of them,” said Coach Stallard.
“They laid the foundation, not
only for next year, but all the
years after that as well. They
will always be remembered as
a champion in Atherton Football history.”
“My experience playing football at Atherton High School has been one
I’ll never forget. We did something great this year and it is my hope that
this is the beginning of a new Rebel’s football program”
-Zach Leamy, Class of 2008
Coach Mason’s lasts words to this
senior class, before their departure, comes
deep from the heart. “I love you! Thank
you! And Good luck! History will remember you as a champion!”
Sports
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Zach Leamy Zach Leamy Zach Leamy Zach Leamy
Page 17
One-on-One with New Volleyball Coach Kissel
Q: What did you learn about your coaching
ability this season?
Kissel: I learned that I have a lot more to
learn as a coach. Not only can I learn more
about drills and strategies in volleyball, but
I have so much to learn about motivating
people, and game-winning strategies.
By: Corey Grant
since the top two teams go to Region, The
Rebels advanced and fell to eventual state
champion Assumption High School, 10-25
in both contests. The Rebels were lead by
Senior Anna Hodapp, who was the leading
setter with 11
assists per match. Senior Alex Marquardt
was the best hitter with a 36% kill percentage, and was tied with Junior Meghan Chung
with 2 aces a match. Amanda Kissel, the
Assistant Coach for the volleyball team this
year, sat down with me to discuss her feelings on the season.
“I was surprised at
how hard the girls
worked and hoe quickly
they all improved.”
T
his year, the Atherton Rebel
Volleyball team had a record of 17-13, and
managed to beat Brown in the 1st round of
the district tournament playoffs. They then
went on to lose to the Manual High School
Crimsons in the Championship game, but
Q: What was it like getting to coach volleyball this year?
Kissel: I loved coaching volleyball this
season. It was really nice coming into this
school year already knowing some of the
students. I couldn’t have asked for a more
hardworking group of kids to work with.
Q: What was your favorite moment this
year?
Kissel: The Spencer County Tournament
– we lost the first round of the tournament,
putting us in the losers bracket. The girls
then fought back all day long and eventually
came in second to a much-fresher Meade
County team.
Q: What was your worst moment this year?
Kissel: Losing to Brown at home. We were
by far the better team, but were without Anna
Hodapp, our setter.
Q: How was it like helping this team get into
the tournament?
Kissel: All year long your goal is to win
as many games as possible and improve as
individuals and as a team, but you are always
pushing to do well at individuals and at the
state tournament. We always kept Brown in
mind, because we know that was who we
would face at Districts. It paid off too – we
beat them in three games allowing us to
move on to the Regional Tourney.
Q: What surprised you most about this
season?
Kissel: At first I was surprised about how
inexperienced we were. Out of 19 players on
both JV and Varsity, we only had 5 girls that
had played high school volleyball. Some had
no volleyball experience, period. Then I was
surprised at how hard the girls worked and
hoe quickly they all improved.
Q: What are some ways that you practiced
and prepared for games this season?
Kissel: Defense is a big part of the game to
me. You may have the best setter and amazing hitters, but if you cannot serve and pass
(bump), the other things do not matter. So,
especially at the JV level, we did a lot of
serving and serve reception.
Q: What can you say about the hard work
and dedication that this team ahs been able
to show all year?
Kissel: When you have such an inexperienced team, you cannot rely on experience
as much as pure effort and hard work. Even
with the few experienced players we did
have, it was hard work and dedication that
brought us our success.
Q: Elaborate on the success of your players?
Kissel: On an individual basis, Anna Hodapp, our setter, and Alex Marquardt, received a few all-tournament team honors. We
also had quite a few JV players, such as Alex
Pizzaro, Emily Weigel, Fahira Mehmedovic,
and Ada Sanchez step in and give great effort
on the varsity court.
Q: If you could give the departing seniors
one last message, what would it be?
Kissel: Anna and Alex: It was great to coach
you guys this year – I learned a lot from you
guys. If you work as hard in whatever you
choose to do as you did in volleyball this
year, I know you are capable of great things.
2007-08 Boys’ Varsity Basketball Schedule:
Date
The Fistic Arts
By: Quentin Guin
When you hear the word boxing, the first
thing you think of is two very large men going at it punch for punch until one of the men
falls down for the count.
But let’s face it; we’re way past the age of
Rocky. Now days, boxing is all about determination, timing, perseverance, and mental
endurance, not to mention athleticism and
patience. Today boxing is more than just a
sport; it’s become an art form, especially with
the help of rising stars like Floyd May-weather, Antonio Tarver and Vladimir Klitschko.
It’s not very hard to see why.
This art form has traveled with us for ages.
Today there are many different elements,
classes and leagues of boxing. There are the
professionals, the amateurs, women’s and
youth league. These different classes give
many competitors, young and old, the chance
to compete in the sport that they love so
much.
The youth league boxing club is a community
center dedicated to teaching young athletes
the road to glory. The league not only teaches
them the basic skills and techniques but also
the discipline and respect needed to succeed
in between the ropes and the real world.
Youth coach Tim Price says, “This center
is about more than just fighting; it’s giving
these kids the opportunity and a push to do
complete their goals in life. I’m proud to be
a coach here.” The staff consists of fitness
trainers who have worked with professional
boxers. Everything that you need to stay in
tip-top shape can be found in the training
center. The youth leagues are quite similar to
professional boxing leagues; the youth league
does not pay its boxers. The league makes a
schedule for your specific community center.
This schedule places each community center
against another. Then they chose one boxer
from each weight class and have them compete in three five-minute rounds. Each fight
is scored just like a professional fight and
after the three rounds the judges determine
a winner. These wins determine your com-
munity center’s league ranking. At the end of
the season the league announces the seasonal
champions and their top fighters and like any
other sport, they present them with medals
and a championship trophy. Victoria Walker,
the number one boxer from the girls league
says “I’m glad to have the youth boxing
league in my community, it gives kids and
teenagers like me from bad neighborhoods
the chance to prove that their worth something. It’s like stepping from the streets into a
home. I feel like I have a family here”.
You can sign up to become part of the youth
boxing league at any community center in
your area. There’s not many requirements to
join and if you love to box or would like to
compete in something new, then this would
be the best opportunity.
12/27-28
1/8
1/11
1/14
1/22
1/25
1/28
1/20
2/5
2/8
2/12
2/15
2/19
2/22
Opponent
Franklin Simpson Tour
Doss
Whitefield
Bullitt Central
Iroquios
Spencer Co.
Butler
Eastern
St. X
Valley
CAL
Western
Ballard
Southern
Site
Home
Away
Home
Away
Home
Away
Home
Home
Away
Home
Away
Away
Home
Time
TBA
7:30
6:00
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
6:00
7:30
6:00
6:00
2007-08 Girls’ Varsity Basketball Schedule:
Date
12/21-22
12/26-29
1/8
1/11
1/15
1/18
1/22
1/25
2/4
2/8
2/12
2/15
2/19
2/22
Opponent
PRP Christmas Tour
Greenwood Tourny
Doss
Whitefield
Bullitt Central
Eastern
Iroquios
Spencer Co
Assumption
Valley
CAL
Western
Ballard
Southern
Site
Time
TBA
TBA
Home 7:30
Away
6:00
Home 7:30
Home 7:30
Away
6:00
Home 6:00
Away
7:30
Away
6:00
Home 7:30
Away
6:00
Away
7:30
Home 7:30
Sports
The Aerial
Page 18
2007-2008 Bowl Predictions
Bowl/Location/Time
ROSE BOWL
Pasadena, Calif.
Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m.
(ABC)
Participants/Predictions
USC (10-2) vs. Illinois (9-3)
Ethan: Illinois: 31
USC: 23
I honestly thought that SC was at least 8-4
with the talk of how bad they are, but Illinois resembles the Kentucky of last year
and “believes!”
Corey: USC wins 38-21.
Illinois took the seat that
Mizzouri should have had. USC will run
away with this one.
SUGAR BOWL
New Orleans
Jan. 1,
8:30 p.m.
(FOX)
Hawaii (12-0) vs. Georgia (10-2)
Ethan: Georgia: 41
Hawaii: 24
While riding high on emotion the real ride
will kill the Warriors, and their war chant
will do little to intimidate an SEC school,
and( mark my words), future Heisman winner Knowshon Moreno.
Corey: Georgia wins 38-35 in OT
Georgia will win Hawaii and Colt Brennan
will give the Bulldogs all they can handle.
FIESTA BOWL
Glendale, Ariz.
Jan. 2, 8:00 p.m.
(FOX)
West Virginia (10-2) vs. Oklahoma (11-2)
Ethan:Oklahoma: 34 West Virginia: 21
Oklahoma makes good of its second
chance in Glendale, and puts the Big
(L)East back in its place.
Corey: Oklahoma wins 28-21
WVU threw away the ball too many times
against PITT. Sooners “D” will be the factor that results in a win.
ORANGE BOWL
Miami
Jan. 3, 8 p.m.
(FOX)
Kansas (11-1) vs. Virginia Tech (11-2)
Ethan:Virginia Tech: 24
Kansas: 17
Tech reemphasizes’ everybody’s point
of why Kansas is a basketball school
(who is second only to The University of
Kentucky).
Corey:Kansas wins 35-27
The Hokie “D” will be exposed, as Kansas ends its dream with a BIG BANG.
BCS TITLE GAME
New Orleans
Jan. 7, 8 p.m.
(FOX)
Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2)
Ethan: LSU: 35
Ohio State: 28
In its first test of the season and the
first game in over 50 days, Ohio State
doesn’t pull a repeat, but is reminded
why the SEC is the best.
Corey: LSU wins 42-28
LSU’s speed and athleticism is too
much for even Ohio State’s Defence to
handle. Louisiana will run away with a
victory and the National Championship
title.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
NCAA’s Bowl
Championship Series:
Should it be eliminated?
GRANT: There is no doubt the BCS is not
the answer. Missouri was shafted after being
number one in the nation last week, and now
they aren’t even in a BCS bowl game. It I don’t
understand how this is possible!
What we don’t need is another points system.
The BCS has continuously created mismatches
in the bowl games. It is not at all an effective
system. Remember the National Championship game last year? It was a blowout. This
shouldn’t happen. A playoff system is the
answer.
“The BCS was implemented beginning
with the 1998 season
to determine the national champion for
college football while
maintaining and enhancing the bowl
system that’s nearly
100 years old.”
FOSTER: Starting with mumbles since its inception in 1998 the Bowl Championship Series
(BCS), which was originally comprised of only
the Orange, Rose, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowls, and
then the addition of the BCS National Championship Game in 2006, has grown into death
threats. And believe it or not, the BCS has
always had controversy - even in its first year.
But I believe that it’s time to shift all of our energy that is used to diss the BCS that even Rev.
Al Sharpton would speak out on and change.
Keep in mind, I don’t care what you think of
my opinion because I don’t care about yours.
Otherwise, I would have asked for your input.
Also, considering that money controls everything, there is no way the BCS will ever die-especially since people still go to the games and
the money flow only increase every year for all
5 games. That said…
Keep half of the bowls. 32 is too many because
it means half of Div-1 schools get to play in a
bowl, so in a way all you have to do is be mediocre all year and you’re in the MPC Motor
City Car Care Credit Union Bowl. However, if
you do away with all of the bowls, everybody
loses money, and then somebody who truly
deserves gets left out.
However, until a way is found to determine the
best team in America we will just be stuck with
what we have now. What is wrong with that?
Every week is more entertaining than the next,
and college football popularity is at an all-time
high because every game is a can’t miss game.
People will complain, no matter what, no question about it.
Screw all “Domers”. Yes, I said screw Notre
Dame. They get an automatic bid to a BCS
game if they finish the season in the top 8 of
the BCS standings. No specialties make them
join a conference - and any other team who
thinks they are special. Take all conference
champions, a total of 11, teams and a single
at large birth, 12 teams in all. Give the four
best (overall record, strength of schedule, and
head-to-head match ups) teams a bye. Then,
the following round will be just like the NCAA
basketball tourney in March. Game sites will
be at the current home of the Orange, Rose,
Sugar and Fiesta Bowls. The title game will
then be concluded at one of the formers, cycling to a different location each year.
Everyone is a risk of losing and the competition now is getting so much tougher and it’s
only adding to the craziness.
Yes, money will be lost. Yes, somebody will
get left out. Yes, wait, what somebody’s still
unhappy, oh well, welcome to life!
-bcsfootball.org
The Aerial wants your opinion. Write us. Tell
us what you think about this issue or anything
else that you feel strongly about. Make your
voice heard.
Sports
The Aerial
Volume 83, Issue 3
Q&A with Cross
Country Coach Withers
By: Ethan Foster
Recently, I was granted the privilege to
spend a few moments with first-year Cross
Country coach, Dave Withers, gain an insiders view on the up and coming Cross Country
Team, and reflect on the 2007 season and their
plans to run into the 2008 season.
Q: When did you find out you were going to be
named the new head coach in place of Coach
Elliott?
Withers: On July 15th, I was informed of
becoming the new head coach. On the second day of school, I was informed of Coach
Elliot’s departure; that I would be both the
Girls’ and Boys’ coach.
Q: What was your first outlook of the season
upon learning that you would become the new
head coach?
Withers: Since I was already an assistant, I
knew the players and the capabilities that they
possessed. But at the same time, the stress and
pressure of being a head coach was now put
into the equation.
Q: How good was your first year?
Withers: Having a very mature and veteran
group, led by my seniors Amanda Boden and
Nancy Mok, made the transition to being a
new head coach much easier. I was disappointed that we couldn’t send more to state.
My goal was five, but we did send two runners
to state: Bernadette Catron, and Chris Lewis.
Q: What challenges did you face in your first
year?
Withers: Since I was an assistant last year,
there were true no team issues to worry about,
but I did have to perform a serious balancing
act between my family (wife, and 2 daughters),
teaching, and coaching.
Q: What about next year?
Withers: Well, obviously, having two runners
who went to state returning helps tremendously, as well as getting the core of my team
back, several of whom are capable of going
to state makes the outlook for next year look
very appealing. However I do lose my senior
leadership in Amanda, and Nancy.
Q: How would you describe your team?
Withers: Blue collar, grind it out. They don’t
mind doing hard work, and have a great “just
run” attitude.
Page 19
Raising the Bar-And Racing Past It:
Atherton Cross Country
By: Ethan Foster
other Atherton teams this year in undergoing the growing pains of a coaching change.
Coach Bill Elliott, who had coached both the
Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country the previous three years, resigned right as the season
began. The coaching change, coupled with
a major drop off in running experience on a
Boys’ team that had only a hand full of runners to begin with, conspired to make the road
to glory look more like the road to perdition
at the beginning of the Fall schedule.
However, upon further examination as the season progressed, the road that
appeared to be headed south was actually
headed north for the team. “The coaching
change wasn’t that big of a deal because everybody already knew Coach Withers,” said
junior Summer Rines in reference to Coach
Dave Withers, who was already a member of
The
sports term “raising the bar” refers to
improving upon previous team or individual
athletic success. And in most cases, teams
who have had experience in the past, “raising
the bar” means winning championships, be
they Super Bowls, NBA Finals, or in the case
of a high school cross-country team, State
Finals.
While the idea of Atherton winning
State may seem a bit far stretched for some, it
has happened before. In fact, Atherton’s Girls’
Cross-Country team has won two Individual
State titles since the team’s inception in 1960;
Leslie Voit won the title in 1977 and Camille
Forrster won the title in 1978. The Girls’ team
won a State Team title in 1978 as well.
The Boys’
Cross Country team
has had their share
of success, too. After being formed in
1960, the boys won
at the Individual
State level thanks to
Pat Ehrler in 1963,
and became the only
school to sweep the
state titles in both
girls’ and boys’.
To win
a state title, cross
country teams compete much the same
golf teams compete
with each other.
Each cross-country
team is comprised
of five members
each, and the cumuAtherton’s Girls’ and Boys’ 2007 Cross Country Team.
lative times of all
the coaching staff as an assistant during the
runners on the team are averaged at the end of
same three years Elliott was at the helm.
the meet. The team with the lowest time wins
Coach Steve Shartzer, another fasince the team that finished the race quickest
miliar
face
within the Atherton sports family,
would have the lowest average time. Teams
decided to also help the team as an assistant
do not necessarily win meets due to the fact
coach. The smooth transition in coaching
that the team’s top runner may finish in first
change, coupled with the help of 1978 state
place in the overall individual standings. If
winner Camille Estes – formerly known as
the rest of your team places near the back of
Camille Forrster – donating team uniforms
the pack in the race despite one good indifrom his local running store, the Fleet Feet,
vidual performance, the team will not place
made what seemed like a long road for the
highly. This type of scoring leads to a system
Cross Country team into a jog in the park for
of competition that allows placing – the
much of the season.
racing terminology for when each runner
One other factor that need not go
completes the race relative to other runners
unnoticed
was the actual performance of
– for both the team and the individual at the
the runners, specifically the leadership of
state level of competition.
the Girls’ captains, seniors Nancy Mok and
However, when trying to reach state
Amanda Boden. Mok and Boden not only
in any sport, a team or individual must posencouraged and urged their teammates on, but
sess a strong element of stability in terms of
led by example as well. “They were everyboth the coaching staff and the team itself.
thing I needed them to be,” Coach Withers
Unfortunately for Atherton’s Cross Country
said, “[they were] dependable, friendly, and
team this past season, stability seemed to
helpful to both me and the rest of the team,
be a missing factor. Not only were there not
and always willing to sacrifice.”
enough boys to compete as a team, both the
Mok attributed her team’s success to
Boys’ and Girls’ teams were much like some
something greater than just her contribution
as a leader. “As far as the Girls’ team goes, I
think we have grown stronger in our ability to
compete [because of] our bond as a team has
helped to push the team to new levels of competition,” she explained. Everybody played a
part from making sure that the attitude of hard
work and dedication never wore off to laying it all on the line despite of the obstacles.
This was never exemplified more than when
Rines ran the latter part of the season with
a stress fracture in her lower back despite
being advised not to run and to let her back
heal. Rines made it to Regionals, but the pain
became too severe and she was unable to run
at the State competition.
Even though Girls’ Cross Country
is losing two important runners in Boden,
and Mok for next season due to graduation,
Withers said that “next year looks even more
promising. ” Withers
can count of the return
of Rines who, despite
her claims of having a
sub par performance this
season, ran the “Downtown Doubler 15K”
meet in 1:20:05. Withers
also returns Bernadette
Catron, who placed 13th
in regionals and placed
fifty-ninth overall out of
205 runners. Catron was
also the fifth selection to
the “Superteam,” which
consists of the ten best
sophomores from the state
of Kentucky, and includes
all three classes – A, AA,
and AAA.
The future of the
Boys’ teams seems equally
secure. Junior captain
Nick Hosono returns for
his 5th year on the team. Hosono’s dedication
to his team is not only exemplified by joining the Atherton Cross Country team during
his 8th grade year, but also by his perfect
practice attendance record in the four years
he has competed for the team already. Chris
Lewis also returns for the Boys’ team. Not
only will he look to improve upon his 122nd
finish out of 208 at state, he will also continue
what Withers called a year long competition
between Lewis and Hosono.
Even with a returning cast that
screams success, one issue still remains for
Atherton’s Cross-Country team: Numbers.
Not statistical numbers, but the number of
people on the team, which remains low.
“Numbers have always been an issue because
so many people see running as a punishment,” says Withers, “but for the people who
run cross country, and even track, it’s for the
love of running… it’s a way of life.”
So the next time you run and get tired think
of your “Runnin’ Rebels” after all they do run
for you.
“Buy the ticket,
take the ride”
-Hunter S. Thompson.
Cover Art: Alex Harper and Anthony Heiskell
Left: John Yarmuth
Right: Hunter S. Thompson