december 2009

Girls question equality in varsity locker rooms

page 2

How to protect yourself from the swine fl u

page 3

Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season?

page 7

Halloween at Calhoun this year was defi nitely a treat; students raised over $450 for the Chordoma Foundation by dressing up and donating $1 each. The worthy cause was not just selected at random. In fact, in hits close to home, as senior Tyler Sea-man suff ers from Chordoma, a cancer which aff ects the spine and/or the brain. Ms. Tanya DiMambro, Student Government adviser (the group that oversees Halloween practices)

said the Chordoma Foundation was chosen because, “It is a cause near and dear to our hearts, and it is most appropriate to contribute to,” citing Seaman as one of the bravest people she knows. Seaman described his condition as “a very hard cancer to treat.” His struggle began when he was diagnosed in 2006, then faced a re-growth in September 2008. Though he has gone through six rounds of chemoradiation and two rounds of proton beam radiation, Seaman considers himself “lucky to have only two regrowths.”

by Maria DiMatt eoStaff Writer

Come together

The boys’ varsity soccer team made it all the way to the county fi nals at Adelphi University, losing 2-1 to Hicks-ville. See page 16 for more on their season.

(photo by Emily Freeman)

Lady Colts Lady Colts fi ght cancerfi ght cancerCan you dig it?Can you dig it? On their way to the playoff s, the girls’ varsity volleyball team took on a new opponent this season: breast cancer. Joining forces with over a dozen other schools in Nassau County, the team participated in a tourna-ment and raised money during Breast Cancer Month. “Dig Pink,” a fundraiser held recently at Hofstra University, in-vited varsity volleyball teams from all around the county. The teams played 20 minute games with mul-tiple opponents. Raffl es and team participation money went to re-search for breast cancer.

by Philippa BoyesManaging Editor

Fundraiser a holiday treat for local cause

(continued on page 5)


(photo provided by Erin Green)The girls’ volleyball team helped raise awareness and funds for breast cancer.

2 Hoofbeats December 2009 NEWS

In an eff ort to educate their peers and promote good decision-mak-ing, the members of SADD held their annual Grim Reaper Day. Students were able to experi-

ence fi rst-hand what it’s like to function under the infl uence of alcohol or drugs during their gym classes. Special goggles were made available that distorts vision, and students would att empt to drive a pedal car on the basketball courts. “It shows the students how their

vision is impaired,” said Ms. Keri Cinelli, SADD ad-viser. “Controlling a vehicle while trying to text, talk on the phone, as well as being impaired is a de-structive decision that students can have aware-ness they might not have had,” she said. Grim Reaper Day tries to help stu-dents learn the importance of not drink-ing and driving. Items such as the goggles helped students see the dif-ference in many activities, such as shooting a bas-ket, walking in a straight line, catching a ball, and driving while texting. “If they can not operate a pedal car while sober and impaired by goggles, how can they possibly do

that for real while

drinking?” she said. The group

had movies set up in the hallways, an intro-duction to Grim Reaper Day in gym classes, and

much more. Another aspect to Grim Reaper Day included stu-dents spending their day dressed in black and in si-lence out of respect to those aff ected by drunk driving. “The kids are hardworking, and it is important to them to get the message of mak-ing good decisions to their peers,” Ms. Cinelli said. Though SADD began as a crusade for students against drinking and driving, the

focus of the group has changed through the years. “Unfortunately,

it’s not only about drink-ing and driving anymore,” Ms. Cinelli said. “Students are mak-ing many bad decisions - bullying, drugs, drinking, etc.”

(photo provided by Arooj Iqbal)

Freshmen Gabriella York, Cayla Axelrod, Julianne Ciccone, Jamie Garguilo, and Lizzie Fitzpatrick all dressed in black for Grim Reaper Day.

The girls’ locker rooms were renovated this summer, but many girls are questioning if enough im-provements have been made. “We have the room, we have the need. It’s just unfair,” said El-lie Rosenblum, junior, and three-season varsity athlete. Rosenblum, along with several other female athletes and coach-es of girls’ sports, are concerned about the disparity between the space allocated for boys’ and girls’ varsity sports. According to Ms. Jennifer Hahn, a teacher and coach, “The girls just don’t have equal access to the space that the boys have.” In addition to having a gen-eral locker room upstairs, the boys also have two varsity locker rooms, spanning two fl oors, to be used by football and soccer in the fall and lacrosse and baseball in the spring. The girls have one locker room of equivalent size to the boys’ gen-eral locker room. However, not having a varsity locker room may aff ect the girls’ teams in many ways - including hindering team unity.

Junior Jake Thomas, a varsity athlete, stated “You feel accom-plished that once you get the lock-er, you’ve achieved something great.” If the baseball team did not have its own locker room, Thomas said it would be detrimental to their ability to compete, adding that the shared locker room helps unite the team and without it there “would be less team chemistry.” The question remains: does the inadequate amount of space for female athletics directly violate Title IX? Title IX is a law passed in 1972 that requires gender equity for boys and girls in every education-al program that receives federal funding. This includes anything related to school athletics and pro-viding an equal ability to compete. Principal David Seinfeld stat-ed, “I’m familiar with equal ac-cess and schools working toward equal opportunities for girls and boys; I’m not familiar with how it relates to facilities.” Mr. Seinfeld stressed that “When we built the new locker room this summer, we tried to generate ad-ditional space and team locker rooms; it was an att empt at creat-ing a more equal situation.”

According to the website of the Offi ce for Civil Rights, the gov-ernment department in charge of enforcing Title IX, in determining whether equal opportunities in athletics are available, the Title IX regulation specifi es factors which must be considered. These factors include locker room and facility size. The Policy Interpretation of the

Offi ce for Civil Rights clarifi es that institutions must provide equiva-lent treatment, services, and ben-efi ts regarding these factors. To many female athletes, like varsity basketball athlete Meghan O’Sullivan, locker rooms are a ne-cessity. “Once at half time, we were down by a lot, and were having a

Reaping awareness

by Kara IskenderianStaff Writer


by Arooj IqbalStaff Writer

SADD hosts Grim Reaper day

(photo by Ashley Cohen)

Senior Amanda D’Archangelis opens her new locker in the renovated locker room.

Locker room for improvement?

(illustration by Jen Kotler)

News December 2009 Hoofbeats 3

Car accidents have become an increasingly dangerous trend for teenagers. Though many teens never think it will happen to them, statistics show otherwise. In 2007, more than 4,200 teens in the United States ages 15 to 19 were killed and almost 400,000

were treated in emergency rooms for injuries suff ered in motor ve-hicle accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As new drivers, teenagers are thought to be a higher risk due to their lack of driving experience and risk-taking behaviors. As with any age group, statistics show that drugs and alcohol can also come

into play. There are some ways teenag-ers can stay safe while on the street and reduce their risk of becoming a statistic. According to parentingteen.suite101.com, teenagers should avoid speeding, tailgating and driving carelessly. Swerving in and out of traffi c and driving too fast contributes to a majority of car ac-cidents caused by teenage drivers. Three out of four teens who are killed in driving accidents were not wearing their seatbelts, accord-ing to the CDC. Teen car safety in-cludes leaving at least 2 car lengths between vehicles to allow time to stop quickly when necessary. Teens drivers should avoid tex-ting, talking on the phone, or any other distractions while driving. Teen drivers should also avoid us-ing a handheld cell phone. Teenagers need to know how to drive safely and what to do in the event that they are in an accident. First, don’t drive away; accord-ing to lawforkids.org, leaving the scene of the crime is a class 3 fel-ony. Second, if you are not seriously injured and are able to get out of the car, do so and check on the other people involved in the crash. Kidshealth.org explains that if you are involved in a crash, you should make sure that there are no serious injuries and that no fl uid is leak-ing from the car, if it is, assist the people in the other car out and get

a good distance away, and call 911.According to the article “What to do Aft er a Car Accident” by In-sure.com, drivers should make sure that the police have your side of what happened, and to get the names of the police men/women who came to your call. Kidshealth.org also reported that if something is stopping you from gett ing out of your car or it’s not safe to, keep your seat belt fas-tened, turn on your hazard lights, and call 911 Also remember to call the police if needed. If no one if injures and the cars can be driven away, ex-change insurance information and set up a claim number. In the article, “10 Things to do Aft er a Car Accident When It’s Not Your Fault” by Eisla Sebasastian, she says to always keep a dispos-able camera in your car in the case of an accident. It’s important to document on fi lm any damage that happens to either car during the accident. This way there is no dispute later on about what actually occurred in the accident Also, even though air bags save lives, they have a powder in them that can make it slightly diffi cult to breathe and hard to see, so if you have breathing problems, such as asthma or even just a cold, try to open the car door; it will help you out in the long run.

Teen drivers and safety• Teenagers are about 10 percent of the U.S. population but account for 12 percent of all fatal car crashes.

• About 400,000 drivers age 16 to 20 will be seriously injured each year.

• Each year over 5,000 drivers ages 16 to 20 die due to fatal injuries caused by car accidents.

• In 2005, 10 percent of high school students reported they rarely or never wear seat belts when riding with someone else.

• Drivers under age 24 account for 30 percent - $26 bil-lion - of the total costs of car accidents in the U.S.

by Carly ParisAdvertising Editor

Driving home the point for teens

(Source: www.car-accidents.com)(photo courtesy of MCT)

With the H1N1 virus, also known as the “swine fl u,” still spreading, many people need to be more cau-tious and aware so they don’t get infected. Schools especially need to take preventative actions to keep the outbreak at a minimum in such highly populated buildings. Al-though it is sometimes unavoid-able, there are defi nitely some things that can be done to try to prevent it. “We are going to handle it as we would any other contagious illness,” said principal David Sein-feld. This includes good hygiene in the school and clean facilities and classrooms. According to the district website, the fl u can be spread from person to person and even from touching an infected surface, such as a door-knob or desk top. Symptoms to look for are fever, sore throat, body aches, runny or stuff y nose, chills, fatigue, headaches, and even vom-iting and diarrhea in some cases.

“You basically feel like garbage,” said school nurse Cindy Johnson. If you see any of these signs it is important to stay home to avoid preventing the spread and consult with a doctor. She has seen signs and symptoms of the fl u from kids that come to her offi ce (fever and cough, along with other symp-toms).

“I don’t doubt it will get a litt le crazy this school year, especially during the fl u season,” she said. She added that there was an irreg-ular outbreak in June where there were cases where students experi-enced fl u symptoms. Senior Seth Burrell was diag-nosed with the swine fl u. “I had a really high fever, really bad cough; I thought I had strep throat.”

Burrell said that when he went to the doctor thinking he had strep, “They took a giant q-tip and stuck it in my nose and got some mucus on it and then tested it,” and then were able to diagnose him with the H1N1 virus. Although his symptoms began to ease aft er two days on medica-tion, it took him seven days until he was able to return to school.Burrell said that the advice of the doctors was, “Take the medication and just rest up and when feeling bett er, don’t rush out to do any-thing because you are still going to be tired, although you may feel bett er.” Mrs. Johnson said that students are required to stay home until, “They are fever free for 24 hours, without medications.” They can’t return if they are only fever free due to Tylenol or the help of any other medication If you are diagnosed with the swine fl u, Johnson said, “Let us know.” The school needs to be in-formed if you are sick with the fl u because the sickness is very conta-

by Taylor ThomasStaff Writer

What to do about swine fl u?

“Take the medication and just rest up, and when feel-ing bett er, don’t rush out to do anything because you are still going to be tired.”

- Cindy JohnsonSchool nurse


iiinintotototoooo ppp plalalalalalayyyy. There are somommmee eee wwwaysysss t t t ttteenanag-g-ers can stayayayayayayay s s s s s s safafafafafafafe e e e eee whwhwhwhwwhwhile onon tthehe s strtreeeet t ananananand d ddd rereduduuuuucececececcc t tttttheheheheheheheiririririririr r risisssskk kk ofofof b bbecececoomomo ininng ga sttatatisisstic.c. AAAA A Acccccororordiddididididingngg t t t too o papapapapaaarerererrerentntntttntntinininininningtgtgtgtgtgtgteeeeeeeeeeeeeen.n.n.n.nn.n.suitte101.commm, tteteteteeenenenene agagagaga ererererererers shouldavoid speeeeedididinngngngngng, , , tatatailililgagagagatititititititing anddrivvining careelelelelesssssssslylylylyy. . SwSwSSwererererervivviviv ngngngngngngng i n andout of traffi cccc a a aa aandnndndn drivingng tttttttoooooo fast coc ntrir butes to aaaaaa mmmm m m ajajajjororrrrititititity yyyy ofofofofofoff c car ac-cccicidddedentntss cacaususededed bbbbbb by y y y y y tetetetetett enenenenennagagagagagagge e eeee drddddd ivers.Three out of four tetetetetetet enenenenenenensss who arekikikikikikikillllllllllllllededededededed iiiiii inn nnnnn drddd ivinng g g gg g acacacacacccciciciciciciidededededededentntnnn s s wewererenononononononottttt t wewwewww ariniiii g their seattbbbbbbebeltltltltltltltsssssss, aaaaaa accccccccccccccororororororord-d-d-d-d-d-d-ing toto t tttthehehh CC CDCDCDCDCDCCDC. . TeTeTeTeTeTeTeenenenenenenen c c c cc c cararararararar sss s ssafafafafafafety yyyyyy innnnnn-----cludes leaavving at leastt 222 caacarrr lelelengggggngngththththttt ssbebebetwtwtweee n vehicles to allow time to

aa gogoodod ddisisisisstatatatatancnnnnce e awawwayayy, , anandd d cacallllll 9 99 91111..AcAccocoordrdrdiniinining ggg totoo t tthehehhhh a artrticciclele “ “WhWhW atatt t tttoo dodododo A AAAft ft ft ft ft erererere a aa C CCCCaararar A AAcccccidididenent”t” bby yy InInnn--suree.c.cccomom, , drdrddriivivverers s shhououldl mmmakakkakeesusuurree tthahahh t t ththe e popoolillicee h havavee yoyoyourur s sidideeofoo wwwwwhhhhahatt hhappppenenneded, annd d toto geet thehehehennnananamemes ofof t thhehe p police mmen/woommemem nnnwwhwho o cacaamemme t too your ccalalalalll.l.l.l.l. KKididshealtth.h.h.h.h.h.h.orororororororg g g g g alalalalso repeporrrrtetetedddthaat iif f somememememememethththththththinininininining g ggggg isisi stoppppining yoyoyoyouuuufrfrfrfrfrfromm g getttttt iiiiingngngngngngng o o outut o of f yoyour carar orr r r itititititit’s’sssnoott sasafefe to, kkeeeep p yoyour seat t beb ltttt ffffasasasas---tenened,d turu n n onon yyouur hazaardd ligggggghthththtssss,s,s,sannd d calllll 9 9 11 A A A A A A Alslslslslslsoo oooo rrrrrememememembber to calll thehe poololololoo iciciiiccceeeififififif nnneeeee dedededed.dd If no one if innjujurres anaaanandddththe ee ccars can be driven awaw y, eexx-x-chchhhhange insurance information aandnd

4 Hoofbeats December 2009 NEWS

It may surprise many native Long Islanders to know that the beaches they frequent in the summer months can be so badly overrun by pollution. Did you know that the state can shut the polluted beach down until it can be properly cleaned up? Now there is a way to check your local beach’s pollution rates. And based on a fi ve-star rating, the Natural Resources Defense Council voted Jones Beaches’ Zach’s Bay the dirtiest beach in New York. Field 5 is visited mostly by families in July and August, and it serves as the dumping ground for the Jones Beach State park sewage treatment plant. It is a beach spot overrun by garbage and sewage, yet it still serves as one of the more popular fi elds at Jones Beach. Many beaches have been closed during the summer to pre-vent patrons from being exposed to harmful virus and bacteria that may cause diseases includ-ing ear, nose, and eye infections and hepatitis. As reported by the Natural Resources Defense Council, 7 million Americans per year are infected with some type of harmful disease as a direct re-sult of swimming in or drinking unclean water. For that reason, groups of ded-icated people are trying to clean up the beaches. The pollution commonly seen in our waters is a mix of harm-ful chemical fertilizers and hu-man and animal waste; these seemingly “gross” things are in fact much more sinister. When these waste products build up in marine water the excess phos-phorous fuels the reproduction of micro-organisms, and while this may sound good at fi rst, the problem arises when these organisms die. The bacteria that decompose the dead organisms need oxygen, depleting the over-all oxygen levels of the water, which can lead to the “drown-ing” of other marine wildlife. This vicious circle is a result of unchecked pollution and run-off rates, but when organiza-tions such as World of Diff erence come together to clean up beach-es, they’re saving more than just a place to tan.

Pollutionproblems

When you picture trips to the beach, your image probably in-cludes clean, white sand, a spar-kling ocean, and a bright blue sky. Unfortunately, many beaches on Long Island are not this way. Forty-fi ve students showed up at the beach on a November Sun-day morning to start cleaning up. Ms. Marissa Levinson, Special

Education teacher and World of Diff erence adviser, spent her sum-mer cleaning up Jones Beach on her own. Seeing the litt er spread across the beach and fl oating around in the ocean made Ms. Levinson see that a lot of pollution exists and is aff ecting our local beaches. When school started up again, Ms. Levinson brought her stories of the pollution to the students of World of Diff erence and they com-

pletely embraced the idea. The club felt it was a good way to raise awareness and get a fi rst hand ac-count of how our garbage is ruin-ing our beaches. At fi rst glance, the beach didn’t seem too dirty to the club mem-bers, but once they walked closer to the water, more debris and gar-bage was visible. Ms. Levinson listed sneakers, socks, bott les, old car parts, bott le caps, and plas-

by Alex TopperStaff Writer

Beach clean-up makes a diff erence

(photo by Lauren Hershbein)

World of Diff erence members spent a Sunday morning cleaning up garbage left on the beach on Long Island.

by Lauren HerschbeinStaff Writer

Faculty and students, remember this name. In the not-too-distant future, Robert Rosen could be among the best singers of our time. Rosen is a sophomore and is in-volved in various clubs and sports. Last year, Rosen won WOR Ra-dio’s Shining Star Tri-State singing competition. The win gave him confi dence moving forward in his young career. “It’s yet another reminder of just how lucky I am to be doing what I love and succeeding in it as well,” Rosen said. Rosen has faced many challeng-es throughout his career, but his biggest challenge has yet to come. In June of 2010, Rosen will be au-ditioning for a spot on American Idol. “To prepare for this audition, I’m going to have to establish my own style, and my own look, so that way I can bring something new to the table and to the music

scene,” says Rosen. Rosen has always had a pas-sion for singing, and it all began for him at a young age. Whether he was auditioning for a musical, or a singing competition, he has always been a part of the music industry. “I’ve been singing for my entire life. From the time before I could even say my fi rst word, I was hum-ming melodies, and then as I got a litt le older and could speak, I was able to harmonize with my mom on a couple of children’s songs,” said Rosen. At the age of 8, he began writ-ing his own music, and now he has writt en over 50 songs. His ideas come from personal experiences and diff erent people that have in-spired him over the years. “My whole life has been a bal-ancing act since I was very young so I’ve learned how to adjust over time,” says Rosen. One person in particular that has inspired him is his mom. “My mom has inspired me to

sing from very early on because she sang professionally and knew I had that voice within me as well,” said Rosen. Other artists that have inspired him, and even changed the way he sings are Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, and Usher.

A Merrick idol,Rosen has talent

by John EyermanStaff Writer

Sophomore Robert Rosen is a rising star.(photo provided by Robert Rosen)


News December 2009 Hoofbeats 5

The eff ort raised $374,650 in to-tal, with their goal being $700,000. Calhoun’s donations came in at $591. Besides the money, the tour-nament also raised awareness. Each team received a diff erent shade of pink jersey, and a “Dig Pink” drawstring backpack. The name of the tournament was perfect for the occasion. Pink is the color representing breast cancer awareness, and a “dig” in volleyball is a pass or bump off of a hit from the opposing team. Senior captains Annie Murphy, Gina Gallo, and Christina Streznec help lead the team on the court and were a big part of the team’s participation at the tournament. “I was so happy that I could raise money to fi ght a serious dis-ease while also having fun with my team at the same time,” Mur-phy said. “The girls and I got a lot of practice in, and we also got to play teams that we don’t normally play

during the regular season. I really enjoyed it.” Along with having a success-ful season, the team enjoyed the extra time together, as they are like a family and always have fun, win or lose. Gallo said, “It was great to have our team participating in such a worthy cause. The team really came together for the cause even more.” Team unity and camaraderie, as well as skill and teamwork helped them be 12-2 in their regular sea-son making it to playoff s, winning their fi rst game. Murphy added, “Dig pink was started on Long Island this year, and its goal is to raise money to fi ght breast cancer since it is a rap-idly growing cancer in this nation. Our coach Ms. Glick originally told us about it, and we as team defi nitely wanted to be a part of it. We got to raise money and have fun at the same time, which was awesome.”

(continued from page 1)

Lady Colts dig pink

tic as a few of the things the club removed from the beach. Most of the garbage they came across was caught between the rocks in the rockiest area of the shore. One piece of trash that struck them as interesting was a plastic bott le of bleach washed up from the ocean. Ms. Levinson said that their eff orts not only got rid of garbage from the beach, but it got people’s att ention. People walking, fi shing, and relaxing on the beach saw the kids cleaning up for hours and became more aware of the harmful impacts pollution is hav-ing on our community. The adviser feels the kids in the club learned the importance of tak-ing part in community projects in groups or on your own. The club’s fl yer for the event

stated that 14 million tons of the world’s waste is deposited into the ocean. This statistic should open peoples’ eyes that throwing gar-bage into waterways, whether it’s the ocean or a river, is bad for the environment. Many people prob-ably don’t even know that storm drains, the small metal openings in the side of streets, push garbage directly into the ocean, where it can harm and kill animal popu-lations as well as wash up on the beach. If a single piece of trash is even left on the street, the rain can carry it into a nearby river and eventu-ally feed the waste into the ocean. Next time you go to the beach, maybe you’ll think before you toss your candy wrapper on the ground or bury your water bott le in the sand.

Beach clean-up

(photo by Tara Bugden)

Seniors Katie Berghorn, Christina Strezenec, Gina Gallo, Gabriella Long, Erin Green, and Annie Murphy all took part in the fundraiser.


“A good friend of mine had six re-growths, and last time I saw her, she was wheelchair-bound due to exhaustion from the large number of rounds of chemo she has been through. This is why fund raising is so critical, we need to develop eff ective treatments in order to cure this disease long term, and make patients lives easier in the short term,” he said. Halloween was similar to the last few years, where each student wearing a costume had to be ex-amined and stamped at the doors to make sure their outfi ts were suitable for a high school envi-

ronment. The diff erence this year, however, was that the donation to charity was mandatory. As a result, fundraising was greatly successful, and Seaman, thrilled, said he “didn’t even ex-pect this much support.” When it comes to raising money, Student Government President Lauren Lucke, junior, said, “our school excels.” Both Ms. DiMambro and the members of Student Government hope to continue raising money for Chordoma next year, as well. “Whenever we can raise funds for a cause we should join together as a community. Really. Why not?”

she asked, smiling. As for the dress code contro-versy over the type of costumes allowed to be worn to school and the amount of skin they show, Ms. DiMambro expressed “We have a school dress code that needs to be enforced on a daily basis, regard-less of a holiday. We need to main-tain that tone of appropriateness.” Lucke chimed in, and said frankly that “Costumes can get more than out of hand,” and “dressing up is a privilege that not many schools allow, so obeying the dress code is what keeps Halloween costumes allowed every year [in Calhoun].” Calhoun truly joined together as

a whole to support such a wonder-ful cause and donate to the Chor-doma Foundation, whether they were dressed up and celebrating Halloween or not. A good por-tion of kids who did not wear a costume still continued to give a dollar, sometimes more, to such a worthy charity. It was, as Lucke put it, “a good deed.” Seaman also plans to carry on raising money for the Chordoma Foundation next year at his camp, when he att ends college, and “any-where else [he] gets the opportu-nity.” Over this past summer, he raised $2,500 - and that was just the beginning.

Halloween fundraiser a real treat(continued from page 1)

Kickline has a rally good time

The kickline squad gathers before performing at Stu-dent Government’s “Friday Night Lights” pep rally.

(photo by Emily Begin)

6 Hoofbeats December 2009 Colture

It’s a teenage couple’s anniversary: they’re stuck in school, unable to do anything fun on their special day. Then, while walking in the hallways, they fi nd it necessary to hold hands - blocking up the hallway, making everyone late to class. The worst part for the pub-lic: awkwardly walking around (or through) their “departing kiss.” It’s really fortunate for a girl or guy when their signifi cant other goes to their school. While I per-sonally wouldn’t want it for myself, I guess it’s a good way to see them a lot and make mutual friends that you can both relate to and have fun with. However, is there really a need to see PDA, or public display of aff ection, on your way to math? At Calhoun and many other schools, there are “to-ken couples” that everybody knows are a thing. Each grade has them, and everyone knows who they are; a lot of the time teachers know them too - some make it hard to miss. I think that there are two ways to look at it. There’s the “ewww my teacher just saw me kiss my boyfriend on the staircase” att i-tude, and the “I don’t care what they think - we’ll do whatever we want” att itude. When fi nding it necessary to make out with your boyfriend all over school, I would think a per-son must feel some paranoia, won-dering what teachers, or maybe cameras, may have caught them. That’s what seems so weird. Why do you feel the need to kiss them goodbye before they go into

class? There are married teachers in school and they don’t feel the need to seal every goodbye with a kiss in the middle of the doorway for the whole class to pretend not to see. “It’s extremely distracting to the school community and it makes people extremely uncomfortable,” said junior Missy Gluck. In October, 2007, a sur-veillance camera set up on a school bus in South

Carol ina caught a junior and

his girlfriend kissing on the way home from school. Aft er

watching the tape, school board offi cials expelled both kids for the remainder of the school year. To justify this punishment, the school board representative explained “a simple kiss does not constitute sex-ual misconduct. He knows he was doing more than kissing.” Clearly, I’m not for the whole “we’re going out...let’s be sure our student body and the faculty know it” thing. It must be incred-ibly awkward, both for the stu-dents and for the teachers, as well. The teachers have to be prett y courageous to interrupt the litt le

love session going on outside the classroom. If I were a teacher and I saw my students going at it in the hallway, I would turn the other way; I would want no part in the students’ relationships. Parents are a whole other issue. Some people are really open about their relationship with their par-ents, but other peoples’ parents? Seriously? Just the other day aft er picking me up from school, my mom asked if I knew a couple, describing both the boy and the girl. She went on to tell me how awkward she felt when her windshield was facing straight at two kids hooking up right in front of her car. I said

she should’ve honked because it would’ve been entertaining to watch them freak out and fi nd a new “romantic” location, but eventually the

two split apart and learned to live a

few minutes without each other. What’s also hard to understand is the carrying of girls’ books. I get that it’s a sweet thing to take the heavy books from your girlfriend, but it’s a litt le weird. If you see a guy literally stumbling through the halls with a stack of 43 books and the girl just texting on her phone and waving at her friends, something’s wrong. I have no problems with people dating other people from school, or even a tiny bit of hand holding in the halls in the 4 minutes be-tween classes. But when the cou-ple is matching their gym clothes, feeding each other cafeteria sand-wiches, and massaging each other in the middle of class, it gets awk-ward for everyone within a 30 foot radius.

by Alex TopperStaff Writer

Public Display of Annoyance

(photo by Leah Sobel)

We asked several students to share their anecdotes of encounters with PDA at Calhoun: “I see couples all the time right in the middle of the hallway or on the side and I bump into them sucking face and it’s like ‘ugh, sorry.’ It’s so awkward and unneces-sary.”

Julia Martinez, Junior

“I was a victim of false PDA today. It was actually dis-gusting. I was in the hall looking at my phone so I was looking down, and this kid came up and put his hand on my waist. Naturally, I turned around, and by the time I turned around he had already noticed I was the wrong girl so he ran away and found his actual girlfriend or whoever, and got right to their PDA-ing. The whole scenario was an awkward and unnecessary addition to my day.”

Gabrielle Gussin, Junior

“Is it really that hard for cou-ples to fi nd a place to be alone besides the sketchy hallways and staircases of our high school?”

Michaela Buckley, Junior

“Every morning, at like 7 a.m. there’s just this couple in front of everyone and they’re just like...tonsil hockey. It’s not even possible for me to function in the morning at that time!”

James Bucchio, Junior

How they see itPDA: When is it too much?

Colture December 2009 Hoofbeats 7

Have no idea what to buy your friends and family for the Holi-days? These few helpful hints will give you ideas, no matt er who you have to buy for. Holidays can be a terrible time to fi nd gift s for your signifi cant other. You want to make the gift thoughtful for the person you love and express your feelings, too. If you cannot aff ord an expensive gift , do something personal in-stead. For your girlfriend, decorating her room or home with candles and fl owers arrangements could go a long way. Or get tickets for her favorite Broadway show and or make a CD of its playlist. If you are creative, poetry is the number one thing to a girl. By writing her simple poetry in a card with a bouquet of fl owers can be enough for some girls. For girls who enjoy receiving the more expensive gift s, there are a few electronics this year that might be a good idea. The new iPod Nano with the built in video camera is a hit this holiday, available in ranges of all colors. Can-non cam-eras are also pop-ular. They are known to be a great brand of camera that stays in great condition. The Cannon-PowerShot 12.1 Megapix-el comes in varieties of colors like black, silver, gold, red and pink.

Jewelry is also a great solu-tion for girls. the brands of

Tiff any. They are trendy, yet aff ord-able. Your girlfriend

will enjoy a pair of

e a r r i n g s , a necklace

or a brace-let. Coach does

well during the holidays because

they sell great pock-etbooks, wallets, hand

bags, and scarves. Coach can be sold in any de-partment store such as JCPenny’s,

Macy’s, and Bloomingdales. Gift ideas can seem expensive but if you go on the website of the company there is usually a good sales oppor-tunity and if not then check online to see if the prod-uct can be sold in other stores marked with a cheaper price. When a girl needs to shop for her boyfriend, it can be easier if they are into video game systems. The popular items

selling now are Xbox 360, PSP 2 and 3, and the Wii. These game systems are a hit. They range from price ranges from $100 to $250. These can be a litt le costly but if you’re looking for the perfect gift this could be it. Boys are usually fans of cologne and clothing. A lot of men wear jewelry, so a hot item to buy is cuff links and tie bars for a guy who wears a suit. They are stylish and an easy gift because even the nicer ones are af-fordable. Something a litt le more on the expensive side are men’s watches. Brands like Bulova and Citizen can be expensive but a great gift idea. Sony announced that the PS3 was gett ing a new model called the PS3 Slim. Starting at $299 the PS3 Slim has the same features as the old PS3 but the new one is 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and now comes with 120 GB hard drive. Because it is smaller it is more energy effi cient and was cut down to reduce fan noise.

The way to be ready for holidays this year is to be prepared and get to the stores soon. Be pre-pared by call-ing ahead to stores near and see if the shipment is

in yet. To pre-vent crazy mall behavior

and chaos, shop online or early into the season. Check the Sunday advertisements for the best deals of the week. Good luck!

The Hoofbeats holiday gift guideby Gabriella Long

Staff Writer

YouTube has become one of the most popular websites in the world - even the White House has its own YouTube account. YouTube is overpopulated with talents ready to be discovered. These up and coming stars off er a wide range of talent, including singing and dancing. A new sensation who’s quickly stealing the heart of tween girls is 15-year-old Justin Bieber. The Ca-nadian singer was discovered on YouTube, and, aft er being the sub-

ject of a record deal bidding war between Usher and Justin Tim-berlake, is said to be the next big thing. A very popular YouTube star, Fred, started making videos a year ago. Fred has a unique talent, a pee-in-your-pants kind of funny. Thousands of viewers have been entertained by him, and he even has his own doll sold in F.Y.E. Fred has had silver screen success on iCarly and, like Justin Bieber, att ended the Teen Choice Awards. The most popular YouTube video of all-time is “Charlie bit my fi nger-again!” with 129,535,371

views. For those who havn’t seen the video, it is of two brothers sitt ing together and one of them bites the other. The most subscribed and most viewed singers on YouTube go by the names phatff fat, miaarose, danjt87, lisalavie1, megan and liz. These web celebrities were discov-ered by record companies and are on iTunes and have CD’s. Megan and Liz appeared on Oprah where they met their idol, Taylor Swift . These girls are the true defi nition of a YouTube discovery- a huge in-spiration. The #1 most subscribed female

of all time is “VenetianPrincess.” VenetianPrincess videos have been featured on CNN, FOX, G4TV, ABC, CBS, USA Today, and many international magazines. With over 600,000 subscribers, and 147 million views, her col-lection of one-woman music vid-eos and skits have become well-known to kids, teens, and offi ce workers around the world. She off ers creative parodies of popular music videos. Anyone can be a star for doing absolutely anything. All it takes is a video camera and a YouTube ac-count. Let your talent do the rest.

YouTube stars go mainstreamby Shannon Matzen

Staff Writer

(photo courtesy of MCT)

(pho

to co

urtes

y of M

CT)

(photo by Gabriella Long)

8 Hoofbeats December 2009 Colture

Emily Freeman spent part of her sum-mer in Poland and Israel. Here is the second part of her account: As we walked to the cremato-rium made of brick and death, ev-erything got very quiet. We entered and faced two rooms with cement tables, each with a lit-tle hole in them. The Nazis wanted everything and made sure one way or another they would take it from them. Our guide, Sherrill, explained in a hushed voice that when the bodies were brought to the crematorium they were placed on the table, and cut open to see if the nameless person had any valu-ables they swallowed. The litt le hole was for the blood. As we walked further we heard another group was there - a reli-gious group of women with a rab-bi singing the song of mourning. They were crying for their people and the things that had occurred. As I listened I found myself crying. Crying for those who had been lost, and the life that could have been. I will never forget that other group and the pit in my stomach as they sang the Israeli National Anthem, Hatikva. Soon aft er we got to step in-

side the crematorium. Two rows on both sides. Ovens built for the burning of people. I couldn’t con-trol my tears, they rolled down my face and hit the fl oor with what seemed like the biggest noise ever. Sherrill, crying herself, made us aware of a bathtub in the cremato-rium. The commander of that camp would take a bath in the crematori-um because he liked the steam the fi re would give off . I remember be-ing disgusted and nauseous. How could you just sit there? He was taking a bath, cleansing himself of the blood of those burning. It felt like I stood there for hours with a huge weight on my shoulders - like I was in their presence. I was ready to leave, turn around, go

home snuggle up in my pajamas with my boy watching a movie. But that dream slowly went away, and reality set back in. The next place we went was a

litt le monument. It was a monu-ment for all those unknown who had perished in mass killings. And then we were hit: we stood in front of two large ditches cov-ered with grass. Mass killings. The place where people were brought to and shot. People piled on top of one another. All these pictures in my head, I still can’t shake them. We stood where they died, we breathed where they took their last breath, we were in a fi eld of blood. We turned our backs on the graves to face a dome, a huge dome with some phrase of another language. And inside, ashes. Human ashes. The remains of those who had gone through that crematorium. We just stood. And so we stood there as the

wind whipped through and said our prayers of sadness in front of those who couldn’t speak up, but sat their listening, always listen-ing, stuck where they are. Frozen in time. I still had fi ve more days here, fi ve more days walking around these places that make you feel small, and un-important. I don’t know how to explain it, but as you walk around these places you feel the life is being sucked from you. The next day was to be the day we went to the camp I knew best. One word that would send shivers down your spine. Auschwitz. We would enter through the

gates that millions entered, under the gates that said “Arbeit Macht Frei”(Work Makes You Free.) What a lie. Our Polish guide told us the sto-ry of the backwards “b.” He told us that the Germans had the Jews at Auschwitz make the sign. They told them what to write, and the Jews listened. But they did some-thing the Germans did not intend: they put the “b” backwards so that the new people entering the camp would understand that it was a lie. So when we were done taking our pictures we went under the gate, and entered into the world called Auschwitz.

by Emily FreemanAsst. Colture Editor

(photo by Emily Freeman)A room in the crematorium where the Nazis would examine bodies.

Into the fireTrapped in the past, Part II

(photo by Emily Freeman)Many modern-day visitors were anxious waiting to enter the crematorium in Mae Donnick.

(photo by Emily Freeman)The sign that you go under to enter into the world called Auschwitz.

Colture December 2009 Hoofbeats 9

Have you ever looked in your parents’ old yearbooks and thought to yourself, “What were they thinking wearing that?” Well, you may not no-tice, but we actually wear a lot of the clothing that they did. Many of today’s teen fash-ions originated two decades ago. From shoes to jeans to accessories, the fashions came and went and are now back again. Girls in the ‘80s used to wear legging just like us. Over the years we have modifi ed the way we

wear them. In the ‘80s, legging col-ors were much more vibrant and bright; colors like neon green, pink and blue were normal choices. Today we choose more neutral colors like black, brown, and gray to match everyday outfi ts. Also popular both in the ‘80s and today are skinny, ripped jeans. However, they diff er slightly. In the ‘80s the wash of the jeans was primarily light, and now the wash could be either dark or light wash. In addition, the jeans in the ‘80s were much more plain as in they were hand-ripped and worn in. People would buy them and then rip the holes in themselves. Now

we have diff erent ways to detail them. For example, a new trend is acid washed jeans and jeans with details on the pock-ets like

designs, sequins, and stitching. Popular buys in the ‘80s also in-cluded legwarmers, and although the style may be the same, the way

they are worn is much diff erent. Today, we wear legwarmers with shoes like sneak-ers or boots and clothes like jeans or leggings. The colors we wear are more suitable to match everyday outfi ts for school or work. Back then they would wear bright neon colors anywhere (yel-low, orange, green, pink). They would most likely be seen wearing them with pumps or heels, tights, skirts, dance shoes, and other dance inspired outfi ts (even if the people weren’t dancers). Pumps var-ied in color but were the always the same style

(pointy at the top and open in the middle). Much like the 80s, we still see people walking around with those but we have expanded the style choices. Today we have styles like open toed, ankle boots, knee high boots, platforms, strappy heels, etc. Heels today are mostly worn with jeans, skirts, shorts etc. How in the 80s they were mostly only worn with legwarmers and leggings. Lastly, peace necklaces are also a very popular trend which began in the 70s. In the 70s the design of peace necklaces were much bigger and costume looking. Today they are much more modern. In 2009

we have smaller and more sophis-ticated necklaces, and instead of bright colors, we go more toward gold, silvers and diamonds.

Clothing choices are still the same but things like color, style, shape, and cut have changed to modify and make them more acceptable for today’s youth. We mostly see clothes in the past decades as odd, but we should re-ally thank our par-ents because a lot of trends originate back to this time period. And the reality is that some of the most popu-lar clothing styles we have today were developed in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

by Michelle Prussen & Jenee GaccioneStaff Writers

Legwarmers, a fad in the ‘80s, are now back in style.(photo by Michelle Prussen)

when old is new againClothing trends go back further than you think

Though bought diff erently, ripped jeans are still popular.(photo by Michelle Prussen)

this form of amusement. Everything will be expanded and improved with bett er con-courses, restrooms, suites, seats, concessions, and restaurants. The state of the art sporting facility in-cluded in this plan will be a place for local teams of Long Island to play games and have practices and

hold tournaments. The Lighthouse Project would give an advantage to everyone on Long Island and become a great profi t. The Town of Hempstead needs to pass this project so the future history of Long Island can be bet-ter and provide so many opportu-nities for everyone.

Lighthouse Project

The Nassau Coliseum would look a bit diff erent if the Lighthouse Project is passed.(photo by Nicole Simmons)


The shape has changed, but the look is the same.(photo by Michelle Prussen)

10 Hoofbeats December 2009 Editorial

Extinguish the stupidity A fi re was started in a trash can in the fi rst-fl oor girls’ bathroom on a cold Thursday morning in November. This stupid, irrespon-sible act was not only potentially dangerous to the lives of those in the school, but it also could have brought danger to the greater Bell-more-Merrick community. The school contacted the fi re de-partment, but by the time services arrived, the fi re had already been extinguished. While many may have felt the 15 minute break was refreshing, imagine what would have happened if there had actual-ly been a fi re. Imagine what would have happened if we were actually in danger. It’s hard to believe that a stu-dent would deliberately start a fi re, endangering all their friends and other students and adults in the building. Even if the culprit did not intend to set a fi re, why

would they light a match (let alone a cigarett e) in school? In a concise statement later that day, Principal David Seinfeld listed the consequences that the perpetrator would face once she was identifi ed, while also heeding a warning to all other students to never commit this dangerous act. An incident such as this brings up understand-able concerns about the safety of the students, as well as questions as to how something so risky and harmful could have been avoided. “No one in our school was in grave danger, but so much can happen to the volunteer fi refi ght-ers,” Mr. Seinfeld said. He added that what happened that Thursday was the fi rst time in his seven years here that he ever had to evacuate the building for reasons other than fi re drills.

This event brought back memo-ries of a fi re that Mr. Seinfeld re-called from his childhood. “I re-member growing up in Queens,” he said. “There was a false alarm in my school and although nobody was hurt at the school, the fi re fi ghters rushed to the school and

hit a car on the way, killing the passengers.”

There was no grave danger at Calhoun that day. But, there may have been, if the fi re had spread. The actions taken on this day - the prompt evacuation of students, the announcement aft erwards - say a lot about the functioning of our school and the character of our students and faculty. It’s reassuring to see that Cal-houn handled this issue in a swift , responsible manner, quickly ad-dressing the problem at hand. However, it’s disheartening to see

the thoughtlessness of the student body. Lighting up on school grounds not only aff ects other students in the obvious second-hand ways as-sociated with smoking. Accidents like this have the potential to harm everyone in the building, as well as the volunteer fi remen who arrive at the scene. “Even if it wasn’t on purpose, nobody should be lighting a match or smoking a cigarett e in school,” Mr. Seinfeld noted. Forget smoking, students should realize the consequences of their actions. Whether the individual who started the fi re intended for it to ig-nite, or they threw a match or ciga-rett e into the garbage, there was clearly a major error in judgment. “It’s not even close to being a prank. It’s a crime,” Mr. Seinfeld said.

Staff Editorial


Staff Members: Emily Begin, Jake Behrman, Amanda Breivogel, Kimberly Brower, Ashley Cohen, Maria DiMatt eo, John Eyerman, Michael Falbo, Jenee Gaccione, Lauren Herschbein, Arooj Iqbal, Kara Iskenderian, Shannon Matzen, Tessa Patt i, Michelle Prussen, Rebecca Rood-Goldman, Nicole Simmons, Kushhali Singh, Sarika Singh, Nina Thomas, Taylor Thomas, Alex Topper, Rachel Tyson, Jessica Velazquez, Meghan Walsh

Hoofb eats is the offi cial student newspaper of Calhoun High School. Hoofb eats serves to inform its readers of news and events, and as a forum for the students of Calhoun to express their ideas and opinions. Hoofb eats accepts lett ers to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or refuse the publication of submissions. Lett ers should be sent to the school or placed in the Hoofb eats mailbox. All lett ers must be signed and include a contact number for the writer. Some visual material courtesy of the Ameri-can Society of News Editors High School Newspaper Service. The paper also accepts advertisements for a fee, but reserves the right to refuse advertisements for any or no reason. The views expressed in Hoofb eats do not necessarily refl ect the opinion of the administrators, teachers, editors, or faculty adviser.

Editors-in-Chief Kelsey Lee Naomi Volk Managing Editors Philippa Boyes Emily Wrynn Editorial Editor Leah Sobel Colture Editor Tatianna Flores Asst. Colture Editor Emily Freeman Advertising Editor Carly Paris Faculty Adviser Jason Boland

Hoofb eatsSanford H. Calhoun High School

1786 State StreetMerrick, NY 11566

(516) 992-1300e-mail: hoofb [email protected]

Volume LII No. 2 December 2009

Recognized by Columbia University, ASPA, NYPA, LIPA, and Newsday for journalistic excellence

The Lighthouse Project is one of the best things that will ever hap-pen to Long Island - if the Town of Hempstead and Kate Murray decide to pass the proposed $3.74 billion project. The future of Long Island is in the hands of this project. The plan consists of a brand new, state-of- the-art arena for the New York Is-landers, a minor league ballpark, Long Island’s fi rst fi ve-star ho-tel, as well as many residential buildings, tons of offi ce, and retail space. One of the most important reasons to pass the Lighthouse Project is to keep the Islanders right here where they belong. The Islanders are the only professional sports team that we have here on the Island. Going to games is aff ordable and fam-ily friendly. If the Islanders move somewhere else, it would be like a piece of Long Island and its histo-ry is missing. Long Island without the Islanders? Long Islanders have been try-ing to get the Town of Hempstead to pass the Lighthouse project for months. Some are worried about the amount of money it will cost, along with the new community it intends to provide. During the 8 to 10 year build, there will be an expected 75,000

jobs for the construction of every-thing. Aft er the project is ultimate-ly fi nished, there will be 19,000 permanent jobs available with opportunities and career choices that Long Islanders both need and want. Also, with Long Island’s con-tinually increasing population, the Lighthouse plan includes many housing options, business areas, and entertainment venues. Future generations will have a life set up for them and many chances of job

and housing op-portunities right where they grew up and will hope-fully be able to stay here for a lifetime instead of moving as

they get older. Charles Wang, the owner of the Islanders and RXR, who is also the founder of the Lighthouse Project, Long Island’s largest owner, man-ager and developer of commercial real estate, is doing everything in his power to get the Lighthouse Project passed by the Town of Hempstead. Mr. Wang, along with all of the Lighthouse Project sup-porters, is trying to show Long Is-landers how important this devel-opment really is for the future and the upcoming generations. The new coliseum would not only be a new home for the Island-ers, it will also be an upgrade in a concert and entertainment venue that will include more seats for

by Nicole SimmonsStaff Writer

L.I. needs to see the Light

“If the Islanders move some-where else, it would be like a piece of Long Island and its history would be missing.

Editorial December 2009 Hoofbeats 11

Students will do anything to get that extra point, whether it’s extra credit “bucks” or buying a ticket for the school play. We all use it and we all love it, but when you get points for bringing in tissues and decorative posters, how accu-rate is your fi nal grade? As litt le as one point can sepa-rate the valedictorian from the salutatorian. If you were to evalu-ate your grades, how many points were added on as a favor? What is the true value in even having a valedictorian when the way in which they’re determined is not entirely accurate? If students were asked if they would rather take a 95 in a class without learning or an 80 while understanding the information, I

doubt anyone would dare to take the 80. Grades have become so important to students that learn-ing comes second. Sometimes stu-dents fi nd they spend more time learning the skills to answer a cer-tain type of question rather than actually learning the information. Student att itudes toward grades derive from the misconception that grades mean everything, espe-cially when applying to colleges. When you get a low grade you feel motivated to do bett er, and when you get a high grade you feel bett er about yourself. We seem to forget that the 92 we received on our last test would have been an 82 with-out the generous curve or the pens you brought in for your teacher. This is the fl aw in our school: we care so much about the points and the grades and the decimals that we forget to actually learn the in-

formation. Two years ago students were given the opportunity to get extra credit in their classes just for buying a ticket to the school dance. I have bought tickets to events I don’t care about, and tissues and pens for extra credit, but at a cer-tain point, the veracity of your grades is lost with all the fl uff that

extra credit provides. Some teach-ers try to help students by off ering them extra points for contributing to particular charities, but do you think that the majority of these kids care about giving? Hopefully next time we need bett er grades in our classes we’ll go to extra help rather than Staples.

by Nina ThomasStaff Writer

(photo illustration by Tatianna Flores)

Is your average accurate if you can pay for tissues and get extra points on your average?


So you say that you’d never smoke a cigarett e, but you have no qualms smoking hookah because it’s “healthier?” Guess again. Hookah is a water pipe; smok-ers inhale through a tube, heating the tobacco and lett ing off smoke. Teens have to know that hookah smoke may be as or even more dangerous than cigarett es. There are many misconceptions about hookah, such as the idea that the water cleans the tobacco. The World Health Organization reported that one smoking ses-sion of hookah can be equivalent to smoking 100 cigarett es. Would you really ever smoke 100 ciga-rett es in about an hour? Disgusted with the compounds you know are found in cigarett es? Hookah has the toxins too. In fact, according to a U.S. News and World report, “studies sug-gest that smoke from a single hookah session contains approxi-mately 36 times the tar, 1.7 times the nicotine, and 8.3 times the car-bon monoxide as the smoke pro-duced by one cigarett e.” The same report said that, “Hookah lounges appeal to youth in part because they off er those to bar-hop a hip meeting ground.” But why does the hip meeting ground have to include practices detrimental to teen health? What

sitt ing around having fun and be-ing safe at the same time? Between drinking, cigarett es, and hookah, it seems that every outlet teens fi nd has something to do with some sort of self-mu-tilation. Why can’t it be as fun to watch a movie or dance to music? Why do we need some form of drugs to do what we could do c o m p l e t e l y clean? Think this is only a momentary thing – a teen thing? Not so much. Livestrong.com goes on to say, “Smok-ers still absorb enough nicotine from smoking hookah to become addicted. Additionally, since hookah smokers inhale tobacco smoke for longer periods of time per smoking session than ciga-rett e smokers do, they may be gett ing as much nicotine, if not more, than a cigarett e smoker does in each smoking session.” Truth is, you’re lying to your-self. Hookah is just as bad as cigarett es, but the same fl avor that covers up the taste of tobacco covers up the truth from reaching your brain. Hookah is smoking. No matt er what anyone says.

Volk TalesMurky waters

by Naomi VolkEditor-in-Chief

Paying for points

Just go away, Sarah What in the world is going on in Sarah Palin’s mind? Aft er her recent publishing of Going Rouge, we’ve seen a re-emer-gence of Sarah Palin in the popu-lar news media. She has made her loud-mouthed return to the public - complete with drama, unneces-sary att ention, and a whole bunch of peculiar comments. The former Alaska governor and unsuccessful 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, has embarked on a campaign-like (as in, exactly identical to a campaign) media tour to promote the release of her new book (or herself). Stop-ping on shows such as Oprah, Palin has sparked a vicious avalanche of confusion surrounding politics as usual, and the 2012 presidential Republican nominee. The most curious aspect of this tour of hers is that she “decided to stop in cities that are not usually included in a typical book tour.” Of these places, most of them are key campaign or batt leground states, including a December 6 tour to Iowa, site of the fi rst and exceedingly important national presidential caucuses. To anyone with half a brain, it is conspicuously clear that Palin is running some deluded campaign that exists for more than the obvi-ous reasons of selling her book, but for what exactly is its purpose? The logical answer would be the up-coming presidential election, but amidst cutsie winks and smiles,

Palin has denied that she has any presidential aspirations. On Oprah she merrily stated it’s “not on my radar screen right now,” but with a gun in her nail polished hands, who knows where she might shoot next. Her actions say quite diff erently. She’s curiously hovering around campaign areas, so she must be contemplating running or she wouldn’t be taking time out of her life to do so. The developing question which is driving the news media, from MSNBC to Fox News, crazy re-mains: who would ever want this fame-seeking, problem-causing woman leading our country? She might be posing for maga-zines like modeling is her career, and selling books as if she wrote it herself (aft er all she’s promoting a book which she had a ghost writer put together. I guess that Journal-ism degree from the University

(photo courtesy of MCT)Is Palin on tour for her book or herself?

by Kara IskenderianStaff Writer


Sports that you commonly hear about are football, track, and soc-cer. Though cheerleaders work just as hard, they do not get the recog-nition that is deserved. Cheerleading is more than just waving pom poms and jumping around yelling “Go team!” Back when cheerleading was just a simple popularity contest, people commonly overlooked the team as just a girly club. Today, cheerlead-ing requires hard work, determi-nation, and strength. Cheerleaders perform stunts that require great gymnastic abili-

ty. More than 40 stunts can be used in just one routine during competi-tions. Squads spend more hours of practice than most other sports in order to master the routines. Normally, sports require some sort of ball or puck going into a type of goal to score a point. In cheerleading you get judged on co-ordination, posture, and stunts in order to “score a point.” Last year, varsity cheerleading took third place in the Nassau County cheer competition. You may not be aware that cheerleading is considered one of the most dangerous sports. Ac-cording to “Girls’ Most Danger-ous Sport,” by Live Science Staff ,

female high school cheerleaders have added about 65.1 percent of “catastrophic sports injuries” over the past 25 years. In order to prevent major in-juries cheerleading requires an ex-perienced coach and a safe work environment. Children from the age of 5 to 18 have increased the amount of reported cheer injuries by 2,000 from 1990 to 2002. In ad-dition, from 1982 to 2007 there have been 103 disabling or serious injuries infl icted on cheerleaders in their high school. Cheerleaders require a large area and specifi c mats that support the cheerleader’s falls. If cheer-leading is so dangerous and time consuming why must the Calhoun cheerleaders be treated as second-class citizens? As a cheerleader, I can say that we are forced to stand outside in a litt le area and practice while all the other teams get large open areas to fi t their needs. On rainy days our team must practice in the narrow hallway where we can’t practice our lift s or stunts. Gym space is hard to acquire because of the vol-leyball practices that are allowed to take up the entire gym when all cheerleading needs is a corner. Along with practice space, uni-forms for cheerleaders are also a major issue. Many sports have at least two uniforms, one is a practice jersey and the other is their game uniform. This year JV cheerleading uniforms could not be used because of the mold and dirt coating it. Varsity did not have enough uniforms for their team.

Together varsity and junior varsity had to improvise and use what we could fi nd for the time being. We are forced to wear t-shirts and stained skirts that do not match. “It’s so diffi cult to be a motivat-ed cheerleader when people don’t support our squad, although we work so hard,” said Meg Haff ord, a JV squad member. If cheerleaders work just as hard as other sports, shouldn’t we get the respect we deserve?

(photo provided by Emily Begin)

by Michelle GutsinStaff Writer

President Obama’s proposition of making a longer school day and an extended school year would be a horrible idea. Yes, the United States only goes to school for 180 days a year, but it’s fi ne that way. Obama believes American kids spend too litt le time in school, put-ting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe. “Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas,” the presi-dent said earlier this year. “Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new centu-ry demand more time in the class-room.” Aft er that last bell rings, teens scatt er to their aft er school activ-ity, whether it’s extra help, a school

club, or sports. Sports can go un-til late into the evening, and when kids fi nally get home they are ex-hausted. To top it off they have hours of endless homework and

studying, then going to bed at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. Most teens need about eight to nine hours of sleep each night, when the average teen gets about

six hours of sleep. If Obama ex-tends the hours of school, kids will be gett ing even fewer hours of rest. Teens will be overwhelmed with hours of work, and will be tired, which could result in gett ing sick. Instead of paying att ention and learning teens will be falling asleep in class, zoning out, and not paying att ention which would re-sult in poor school grades. What happens if the teach-ers aren’t good? Just because the school day is extended does not mean test scores will automatically go up. The whole point of a longer school year would be so kids can get bett er jobs and beat out the foreign countries. But if kids are not learning correctly that will not happen. Hopefully, Obama’s two daugh-ters will knock some sense into him.

by Michele CarrollContributing Writer

Senior Alli Greenfi eld

Overshadowed cheerleaders

(photo provided by Emily Begin)

Varsity cheerleaders do their best to pump up the Homecoming parade crowd.

Will President Obama sign a bill asking for a longer school day? (photo courtesy of MCT)

Longer school year not the answer

Editorial December 2009 Hoofbeats 13

Lett ers to the editor...Being fi ned for gett ing sickTo the editor, As a student who has survived an ambiguous case of swine fl u, I have had fi rst hand experience with the wrath of the fl u this year (and on my birthday, no less) [“The Swine Fine,” Editorial, Octo-ber 2009]. Thankfully I only ended up missing four days of school, which is still a lot, but much less than if I hadn’t gott en Tami fl u from my doctor before it was too late. While the nurse I saw at the doctor’s of-fi ce said I might have the H1N1, they would have had to take a doz-en more tests to be sure. Although I still wasn’t feeling 100 percent I knew that if I missed anymore school I would be lagging too far behind my classmates. The question is: what would have happened if I wasn’t feeling well enough to make the deci-sion to go to school that fi ft h day? Would I have to suff er the conse-quences of not only being behind but also have to lose 15 points off my average too? This seems so un-fair. It’s bad enough that gett ing sick means being at a disadvantage in

school work and more simply, feel-ing under the weather in the fi rst place. But there’s a punishment too and it isn’t right. It seems like we are being taxed or there’s a fee for gett ing sick. It makes me wonder if they blame me for gett ing sick. I mean I thought people were supposed to feel sympathetic for you when you don’t feel well. Clearly, the schools believe there is no room for error and we just have to be absolutely perfect all the time. Well I have something to say to that: I am not perfect and I never will be. We are humans - not ro-bots - and I think I have the right to get sick once and a while and not get punished for it. I agree that if students are sick we need to recuperate before we can catch up on everything we missed. We’re stressed out enough even before we’re given the work we missed. Whether a student was absent for a day or a week, there is going to be stress involved with coming back to school. Just give us time to catch up, that’s all I’m ask-ing.

Elise Gabriele, ‘11

To the editor, Calhoun might be the most ath-letic oriented of the high schools in our district, but buying turf for our school (and in turn for Me-pham and Kennedy) is not the way to spend $1 million dollars (or $3 million for the district) [“Time for turf?” News, October 2009].

I will admit that whenever I walk home, I can easily tell that our fi eld does not appear to be in great shape. But how many other high school fi elds are? Some schools are lucky to have some grass - much less a synthetic surface to play on - yet we still complain that our fi eld simply isn’t good enough. Even synthetic fi elds need to be redone every decade or so and the price will only go up, while the maintenance cost for what is es-sentially a massive lawn can’t go up as drastically in price. And how much will a turf fi eld actually improve the performance of our athletes? It can still be slip-pery, and while it is soft er than plain dirt, it won’t stop injuries from occurring. If everyone who desires a turf fi eld were to fundraise the million or so dollars needed to buy it, then there is no reason to oppose its cre-ation. But wouldn’t the money be bet-ter spent on the reason school was created: education? Maybe the bathrooms can be redone or new Smart Boards installed in class-rooms (things everyone can actu-ally use). If a location could be decided to build one fi eld for the use of Cal-houn, Mepham and Kennedy and the cost split amongst the schools, it would be a more worthwhile purchase, but then who would use it regularly for practices and such? It wouldn’t make much sense to have rotation between the teams and when other sports like soccer need a fi eld, practice is virtually impossible. Purchasing a turf fi eld would be a terrible fi nancial mistake.

Michael Lipari, ‘11

Now is the time for turf fi eldTo the editor, The subject of whether or not Calhoun should get an artifi cial turf fi eld does not seem that com-plicated [“Time for turf?” News, October 2009]. It would cost about $1 million for this turf fi eld, which would benefi t our athletic program immensely. As Mr. Moeller was quoted as say-ing in the article, our current fi eld is not “user-friendly.” At all. Aft er one of our football games against Port Washington, we overheard players on the other team calling it a “piece of [garbage].” When we were tested in the 40-yard dash, we couldn’t do it on the fi eld be-cause if you run across the width of the fi eld it goes on an incline. The only advantage of hav-ing the fi eld we have is that other

teams (who are used to playing on turf fi elds) get to our fi eld and have to play on a lopsided dirt patch fi lled with rocks. Talk about home fi eld advantage! Last year, the JV football team was scheduled to have four home games. Because they didn’t want us to “ruin the fi eld,” we had to play three of those games at Mer-rick Avenue. In addition, they don’t start re-sodding the fi eld un-til the end of the summer, so we can’t start playing on it in the be-ginning of training camp. If they have to pay to re-sod the fi eld every year, why can’t they just pay to have a turf fi eld that we can actually play on, and have it done with? Verdict: Tick, tock - time for turf.

Corey Barchat, ‘11

Bett er ways to spend money

To the editor, I found it diffi cult to suppress the skepticism I had while exam-ining the article, “Breaking up isn’t hard to do” [Colture, October 2009]. Given, I do have a male’s perspective, but I would have to disagree with several points the writers made. This article begins with having the reader envision the heart-bro-ken girl sitt ing in her room eating ice cream. Understandably, this is an article for the teenage girl. I confess myself surprised that the idea of the girl breaking up with the boy was not stated at all in the article. The hardships endured by both people of a break up are re-ciprocal. As for the rumors and statistics in this article, they hold no more value than the gallons of rocky road these girls are consuming. Rumor No.1 discusses the ru-mor about eating to feel bett er. Some of the leading and danger-ous problems among young girls are eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Both disorders involve the girl having a negative view of herself and her body. Not many girls are willing to admit if they consume large amounts of food whether

they had or hadn’t, for the fear of seeming “fat.” Rumor No. 2 is by far the most absurd. Just be-cause two people separate doesn’t mean they can’t be friends. From personal ex-perience, I can say that aft er my girlfriend and I broke up, we were able to talk and respect each other as friends. I can think of more people that separated and remained friends than lost touch altogether. Unlike rumors No. 1 and 2, rumor No. 3 actually poses a legitimate ques-tion as to what to do in a situation where you encounter an ex’s parents. I did not have any problem to the rumor in question rather only with the answers pro-vided. Seriously? About 41 per-cent of girls chose to run away or complain about their ex? A break up takes a toll on one’s emotions, but there is a point where you should maintain your dignity. I would’ve expected a higher level of maturity from high school girls but I guess I was wrong. Sadly rumor No. 4 is another pathetic showing of teenage girls’ maturity. With the majority choos-

ing to get with as many guys as they can when put in the same room as their ex is frankly dis-gusting. Another top answer was having a friend pose as their date. Having someone pose as your date to make your ex jealous is still a bit pathetic. I just don’t understand what makes breaking up a dignity-los-ing, immature-behaving, pathetic action justifi cation. There are sev-eral ways to cope with breaking that don’t involve anything stated in this article.

James Gliwa, ‘11

One guy’s view of break-ups

Hoofb eats - October 2009


Hail to the Queen

Homecoming Queen Kaitlin Gallo (l.) shows off her crown with Student Government President Lauren Lucke.


What’s going on with Sarah Palin?of Idaho didn’t come in handy), but Sarah Palin - no matt er how popu-lar - should not, under any circum-stance, be allowed anywhere close to the fate of this country. The American public has ac-cepted her with open arms, half because she’s great entertainment and half because of her undeniable charm. Very many adore her, but very few understand her politics. Lesson learned? The people you like don’t always make the best leaders. American history goes to show that people like war hero Zachary Taylor or the popu-lar Warren Harding, did not make great presidents. Both are com-monly found resting on the bott om of presidential ranking lists. Rich-ard Nixon’s fi rst Gallop numbers in 1969 were 59 percent approval, 5 percent disapprove. By late June of 1971, the approve/disapprove ratio was a much closer 48-39 percent.

Clearly, as history shows, popular-ity does not depict success. Though she might be popular, when it comes to what truly mat-ters (politics and policy), she falls ridiculously fl at. She seems to be under the false impression that being located in the proximity of Russia gives her foreign policy ex-perience. In that case, all Alaskan residents can be-come talented diplomats. Can anyone take her seriously when she con-tinually makes blunders such as this quote: “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful litt le pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-

America areas of this great nation.” Pro-America? In one response she both made up a new word and in-sulted more than half the Ameri-can poplation. She’s a real intelli-gent one, that Sarah Palin. On her media stops, she cease-

lessly plays with the old ghosts from her days spent on the Mc-Cain campaign. Why can’t she let those tired ghosts lie down and rest a litt le? If she’s trying to

help her image she should never, ever bring up the Katie Couric in-terview catastrophe, or her litt le shopping spree with McCain’s campaign funds. And yet it seems to be all she mentions (over and over again). During her time on Oprah she mentioned her failed campaign att empt and her dislike

of anything and everything liberal or related to McCain’s staff more than her new book. Aft er all of her blunders and mopped-up mistakes, the statis-tics are, well, scary. In last month’s Gallup poll, Palin’s approval rat-ing hovers around 40 percent. 63 percent of all voters said they wouldn’t seriously consider sup-porting her for the presidency. But what about those other 37 percent? Do they really believe a woman who incorrectly described the role of the vice president in the government to a third grader can successfully govern our country? You might adore her fl ashy smile, or the cute way of mispronouncing words without “g”s but please, for the safety of this country, look past her face and at her failed att empts at becoming a true politician. Forget about Palin. What in the world is the American public thinking?

What to do about the swine fl u?particularly intense meeting in the general locker room when people just walked in to change. It really ruined our focus and hurt our performance,” she said. Many female athletes, like O’Sullivan acknowledged the additional space as improve-ments but when the boys have so much more space and rooms, it has not been accepted as enough progress. The lack of rooms may be hindering the “pride factor” in being a varsity athlete. From ex-perience as a collage basketball player, Ms. Hahn stated that, “In college our locker room acted as our personal place; it greatly assisted in team cohesion and boosted the pride factor. It truly benefi ted the team immensely.” Though the idea of donat-ing one of the boy’s two locker rooms to the girls has not been proposed to Mr. Seinfeld, Junior Johnny Roth thought that “it’s only fair.” With a similar sentiment se-nior Danny Finnerty agreed “We might as well. It only makes sense.” So with teachers, coaches and students alike, pushing for a girl’s varsity locker room, what’s stopping the progress? Mr. Seinfeld commented “I’d love to have locker rooms that accommodate all students. There’s a lot I’d love to have. I have a wish list.”

gious and spreading rapidly, they can also get work sent home de-pending on how long you will be out. Burrell did exactly that. “I in-formed the school on my own free will. It was recommended by my doctor so the school could be aware of it and take the proper precautions.” Some actions to take to keep from spreading germs are to cover your nose and mouth with a tissue, wash your hands oft en with water

and soap, use of hand sanitizers, avoid contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth, and throw away your tissues immediately. The spread of germs is almost impossible to avoid, but preventa-tive steps can be taken to try and keep the outbreaks at a low. While those are actions everyone should take there are also actions that are being taken by the schools to prevent an outbreak of the ill-ness in such a high populated area where people are oft en in very close quarters with each other.

In the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, custodians are going to continue to fully clean and disinfect surfaces that are of-ten touched, such as desktops, door handles, and bathrooms, and many other surfaces that are regu-larly touched. The nurses in each school will also go to each Physical Education class to speak with the students about methods to prevent spread-ing swine fl u. Hopefully that will encour-age students and make them pay more att ention to hygiene and the spread of germs. The district is closely working with The Nassau County Depart-ment of Health and the New York State Department of Health to come up with more preventative measures. They will also track the illness and follow developments to come up with further ways to ap-propriately respond to each situa-tion that comes about. In New York, swine fl u start-ed spreading throughout the city and Brooklyn, then started mov-ing in toward Long Island. The fi rst confi rmed cases in New York were at the Saint Francis Prepara-tory School in Queens. At least 28 students from the school were in-fected. As of July 3, 2009, there have been 89,921 people infected world-wide and 382 deaths, the United States alone accounts for 33,902 of those cases and 170 of those deaths. In New York there have been 2,499 cases and 44 deaths.

(continued from page 3)Locker room(continued from page 2)


“She seems to be under the false impression that being located in the proximity of Russia gives her foreign pol-icy experience. In that case, all Alaskan residents can be-come talented diplomats.”

The boys’ cross country team put together another outstanding sea-son, fi nishing with a record of 13-0. Led by Coach David Hendler, the boys won the County champion-ship, and fi nished in third place in the State championship. Junior Timmy Campbell stated, “The team was just phenomenal at the county championship. Every-one did what they had to do, and we were able to win it.” The boys had to train hard, do-ing exhausting workouts, such as running 5 to 10 miles, doing push-ups, and doing core workouts. Aft er they won the County, they participated in the State champion-ship. Unfortunately, the meet did not go as well as the team would have liked. Health issues became a problem, and that took away the chance of winning the State meet. Senior Kevin Harvey said, “The team at the State championships was a litt le bruised up and was haunted by sicknesses. Nonethe-less, the team raced to a third place fi nish, including personal records by fi ve of the seven competing runners.” Over the past few seasons, the

seniors that graduated made an impact on the players, giving them advice and showing them how to succeed. “I think we owe some-thing to the seniors that graduated the last two years for teaching us how to work hard, how to win, and how to be a team,” Campbell said. Each runner improved, and now they are looking to the fu-ture. “The team started the season strong with many runners with great potential and ended even stronger with an undefeated sea-son and a County Championship.”

For the varsity football team, preparing for their playoff game was the hardest they worked all season. However, the boys came up short and suff ered a playoff loss to the No. 3 seeded Farming-dale Dalers, 38-18. Calhoun knew that in order to win the game they would have to play smarter, be faster, and perfect all the mistakes they made the fi rst time they lost to the Dalers. The defense would have to stop the running game and not make any mistakes on special teams. With

this in mind, the intensity of prac-tice went up in the week of prepa-ration. One day the coaches even brought in lights - that way when the sun went down, the boys could keep going. Though it may seem ridiculous to some to keep the boys playing aft er dark, it was just part of the dedication the players had shown since August. For the players and coaches, it was all a matt er of do or die. For the past two years, Calhoun has been in the same situation. Af-ter working hard all year to get to playoff s, they needed one more win to get to the semi-fi nals at Hof-

by Tessa Patt iStaff Writer


Boys are County champs

(photo by Amanda Breivogel)

Though they lost in the playoff s, the team proved they belong in Conference I.

Junior Chris Behnke


Sports December 2009 Hoofbeats 15

Light at end of the seasonFootball shines despite playoff loss stra. Hoping that this year would be diff erent the hard work seemed like nothing, just a will to win. Aft er the move up to Conference I, the Colts lost their fi rst regular season game against Farmingdale, 35-7, but in the long run the loss didn’t prove to be a problem. For the rest of the season the Colts got bett er and bett er, winning in close games, and proving that they were strong enough to withstand the Conference I competition, ending with a 5-3 regular season record. Farmingdale had an overall 7-2 record and clearly had a strong team, scoring a lot of touchdowns and giving up few points on de-fense. Though Calhoun came up short, their valiant eff ort shouldn’t be discarded. With one passing, and two rushing touchdowns, the Colts scored 18 points. Senior Connor Fogarty and juniors Corey Barchat,

and Coleman Meier scored for the Colts, hoping to get them a litt le bit closer to victory. At the end of the game, though, luck wasn’t on their side. As the sun sets on the football season, it shouldn’t be seen that the team just lost in playoff s. What should be noticed is that aft er playing against the toughest teams in the county the Colts ended up 5-4, above .500, and beat teams no one expected them to. That being said, Calhoun will go into next year believing in them-selves. Should they remain in Con-ference I, they will no longer be seen as the underdogs, but as true competition. “It’s been a really tough season,” said sophomore Brian Behnke. “But now we know that we can beat every team we played, and we will go into next year with confi -dence, and fi nally get to Hofstra.”

The girls’ cross country team pushed through tough competi-tion and fi nished the season with an impressive 8-5 record. Captain Ava Fitzgerald, a ju-nior and the fastest on the team, qualifi ed for the third time for States. She received All-Conference honors and according to fellow captain Megan Flood, “Ava is a great runner and has a lot of natu-ral talent.” Aft er playing last season in Conference II, Flood said, “We moved into a harder conference this year so the competition got tougher. The varsity team still made it into counties, though, which is great.” Standouts for the team this season were Fitzgerald, Flood, Taylor Cassidy, Kara Iskenderian, Jenny Frank, Michaela Buckley, Meghan O’Sullivan, and Alexis Panneta. The girls had their best meet against tough competition: East Meadow, Freeport, and Oceans-ide. At the meet, 16 out of the 20 team members received their per-

sonal record best time. Usually, team members will make their best time once, maybe twice a year. This was a huge and well-deserved accomplishment for the girls. They emerged as a more unifi ed, stronger, and confi -dent team. When the team faced Port Washington, they were the un-derdogs. Port Washington was favored to defeat Calhoun by a lot. The girls, however, came out fi ghting and only lost by six points. This was a huge morale boost for the girls and it signifi ed that they could run competitively with such tough competition. At the girl’s last league meet against Herricks, it was a critical match. Both Herricks and Calhoun had the same record and this would determine which rank the girls would be placed as. The girls beat Herricks by a landslide, securing sixth rank out of 14 teams in Conference I. This win was an important one and a confi dence booster heading into counties. Like Coach Levy said, “Accen-tuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on the affi rmative, don’t mess with Mr. inbetween.”

Girls run to Statesby Gina Gallo

Staff Writer

What started out as a slow, inju-ry-plauged season turned into one of the more memorable soccer sea-sons in school history. The varsity boys’ soccer com-piled a record of 6-4-1 in the regu-lar season, and ended the season with a record of 9-5-1 aft er a heart-breaking loss to Hicksville in the Nassau County fi nals. Nonetheless, Coach Jim Cantley is proud of what his team has ac-complished this year. “It was a pleasure coaching them, this is a special group of young men. I will never forget this season,” said Coach Cantley. Earlier this year, senior captain Corey Werbelow stated, “When we recover from injuries and have our team at full strength, we expect to advance far into the playoff s.” It turns out that he was right. In the fi rst few games of the sea-

son, the boys were playing under .500, and it was clear that adjust-ments had to be made. There were two things that the team needed in order to have a successful season. Chemistry and their overall health were contributing factors in the team’s success. Coach Cantley stated, “Aft er we improved health wise, we played more as a team.” The team cruised into the play-off s, and faced off against Syosset in the fi rst round. Last year, Calhoun took on Ken-nedy in the fi rst round, but could not come up with a win. Now the boys were eager to make it farther into the playoff s, and win the Nas-sau County Championship. “I think we have the ability to win the County Championship, but anything can happen,” ex-plains Coach Cantley. Calhoun managed to defeated Syosset in a one to nothing contest, and ad-vanced into the Quarter Finals.

The quarter fi nal game against Oceanside proved to be a chal-lenge. It was a stalemate until Dan D’Ott one scored with fi ft een min-utes left in the game. This goal led to more off ense, and Calhoun wound up defeating Oceanside 2-0. Outstanding defense was played by goalie James Rehab, who emerged as a key component to the team’s success. “James Rehab, and the defense as a whole, was a pleasant sur-prise. They exceeded my expecta-tions,” Coach Cantley said. Aft er another close match against the No. 2 seed Farmingda-le, the boys made their way to the championship game against their toughest opponent: Hicksville. Going into the fi nal game, Coach Cantley and his team knew that they were capable of a victory. “We knew that we could beat them because we defeated them during the regular season,” he said. It turned out that even aft er

putt ing up a good fi ght, the boys could not string together enough goals to win the game. Aft er a slow start, they came alive in the second half and dominated. “Both teams had their chances in overtime, and Hicksville capi-talized on the opportunity,” ex-plained Coach Cantley. Despite the loss, there were still aspects of the game that were posi-tive. Werbelow played multiple positions, and was able to guard the superstar of Hicksville, who has given them problems in the past. Junior Nick Cavalino stated, “We played great, and controlled the whole game. The other team caught a lucky break which made us lose the game.” Coach Cantley made it clear that chemistry was the primary reason the team had success this year. “The boys supported each other, and were very positive about ev-erything,” stated Coach Cantley.

The county fi nals, held at Adelphi University, ended in a loss for Calhoun, though Coach Cantley said he will never forget this season.


(photo by Emily Freeman)

A season to rememberA season to rememberBoys’ soccer batt les all the way to County fi nalsBoys’ soccer batt les all the way to County fi nals

december 2009

Documents

treat students

girls varsity volleyball

breast cancer month

hard cancer

team participation money

vited varsity volleyball

holiday season

holiday treat