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On September 12, Harvard University an-nounced that, starting next year, it will no longer consider applicants for early admis-

sions, convinced that such a process puts low-income students at a disadvantage. With early admissions, students have the opportunity to indicate to a school that it is a first choice and submit their application months before the regular due date. In re- Continued on Page 4

ing longer than two hours. In some cases, the longer students work past this point, the more likely they are to do worse. For middle school students, Cooper says that the same phenomenon occurs after about one and a half hours. Cooper’s results have been disputed, but some other educators endorse them. Linda Darling-Hammond, who researches education at Stanford University, says that Cooper’s studies were not tightly con-trolled, although his results make sense. The recent findings are sparking re-forms of existing homework policies across the country. They also supply the anti-homework movement with new ar-guments. Alfie Kohn, a harsh critic of modern educational practices, recently wrote a book titled The Homework Myth. He cites that mental health issues result-ing from the stress of homework as sig-nificant reason to abolish homework. Cooper personally believes that, al-though too much homework is harmful, getting rid of homework completely is not a good idea and will harm student’s grades. He says that there is a middle ground which allows teachers to give rea-sonable assignments but does not have students working for more then two hours. At St. Andrew’s, the typical course load is five academic classes with home-work, plus an art, religion, or health class that either involves some homework or some other out of school commitment. If Cooper’s two hours were broken down to allow each of these classes an equal amount of the student’s time, the student would work on each subject for around

At St. Andrew’s, it does not take much roaming of the halls to hear some-one say, “I’ve got too much home-work tonight!” According to tenth grader Zach Atchinson, he says this about three times a day, “give or take.” The Student Handbook states that an Upper School student should “expect to spend 30 – 40 minutes per class, for a total of 2 – 4 hours per night” of homework. For an AP course, up to an hour is expected. Many students do find that they can usu-ally complete their homework within the four hour period the school expects. Oth-ers say that homework takes them some-where between four and five hours a night.

New research, however, suggests that too much homework maybe be harmful. Duke University professor Harris Cooper, relying on several recent stud-ies, concludes that high school students who study into the late hours of the night are not gaining much, if anything, from working so much. In fact, he says that there is no academic benefit from work-

theMANE NEWS

October 20, 2006ST. ANDREW’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOLVolume 13, Issue 1

In this Issue:

Major Universities Revoke Early Admissions

turn, they get a decision by mid-Decem-ber. Harvard’s justification of its action stemmed from the belief that wealthier students have the capacity to pour thou-sands of dollars into college counselors who can recommend applying early and ensure adequate organization in so doing. Some of America’s other prestigious universities, including Princeton and the University of Virginia, have followed suit in disposing of early admissions. Other schools have indubitably put early admissions on the table for discussion. What do these changes mean for St. Andrew’s seniors-to-be of 2008 and beyond as they delve into the daunting realm of unending stress known as the college process? Harvard’s interim presi-dent Derek Bok told The New York Times that eliminating early admissions “will improve the climate in high schools… so that students don’t start getting preoc-cupied in their junior year about which college to go to.” However, St. Andrew’s experts have a different opinion. As-sociate Director of College Counseling Délice Williams said, “All it will do is push back the pressure until later in the year... That’s not what less privileged

How Much Is Too Much?

Elimination of Early Decision Leaves 2008 and Beyond in a Dazed State

Ask most students what they think of the school’s drug and alcohol education pro-gram, and you might get a blank look. In re-sponse to this lack of impact, the adminis-tration has been working hard to implement a new drug and alcohol education policy. Partly due to the recent departures of students to drug and alcohol related vio-lations, as well as a number of incidents resulting in suspensions and disciplinary probations, the administration has been looking for new ways to keep their stu-dents clean. Although the speakers that have come to the school over the past few years have certainly shocked many students, they did not appear to have a dramatic effect on students’ drug and al-cohol related habits. According to senior Molly Widrick, “the people [the adminis-trators] have brought in just gave us facts trying to scare kids into not doing drugs or drinking, which was very ineffective.” Keeping this general response to pre-vious speakers in mind, the adminis-tration searched for a new approach to helping students understand the conse-quences of using drugs and alchohol. Upper School Dean of Students Ginger Cobb, along with other members of the ad-ministration and other local private school a d m i n -i s t r a to r s , a t t e n d e d drug and a l c o h o l prevention conference s yearly. D u r i n g the most recent of these con-ferences, a non-profit organiza-tion Community of Concern presented a new way of looking at drug and alco-hol education. There the administra-tors began to explore a relatively new way to help students understand bet-ter the effects of drugs and alcohol. The new technique involves begin-ning an “open dialogue” between chil-dren and parents about drugs and alco-hol in a way that has been previously unheard of. A leading expert in this new field of drug and alcohol prevention, Ron Gaetano, came on the night of Sep-tember 13 to help facilitate this dialogue between freshmen and their parents. He explains this process as a way to place children and parents on the same level, in order to encourage open discussion. In order to accomplish this, children sit separately from their parents, in or-der to create a “round table discussion” between children and adults who do not know each other. Gaetano believes that children will talk honestly when given the chance, and he admits to learning much

Peer Leader Jasmine Ni-ernberger leads a discus-sion on drugs and alcohol.

Classic Rock is “Back In Black”

See Page 7

Bob JefferyMane News Staff Writer

New Drug and Alcohol Program

Generates InterestKate GoldbaumMane News Co-Editor-in-Chief

Continued on Page 4

See Page 7

Ruth Faison

Fall Play Opens Oct. 27

New Teachers Join School

See Page 3

Will it soon be harder to get into Harvard?

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Some students are swamped with work.

Teachers Question Value of Homework Overload

Continued on Page 4

Jacob HornMane News Staff Writer

Homecoming ScheduleSee Page 12

Schedule of Homecoming Festivies on page 12

statistics and confusing and complicated discussions on the matter. It is said that at least 450,000 civilians have been killed by the Sudanese government and Janja-weed tribe, and at least 2 million have fled from their homes and live in constantly at-tacked refugee camps. Although it has been difficult due to past Sudanese-Chadian conflicts and tribal disputes, many civil-ians have crossed into Sudan’s neighboring country Chad. Aid and refugee workers are in con-stant demand for food, first aid and other necessary supplies, yet they are hard to reach because of the violence in the regions. Similar to the circumstances during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Western countries can only intervene and act if they all agree that the situation can be called “genocide.” The Western coun-tries disagree over the Darfurian conflict. Previous U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell used the word “genocide” when

NEWS the Mane News2 October 20, 2006 the Mane News

The Service Learning Program was implemented last year, replacing Church History as the ninth grade religion course. The program is broken up into several stages. For the first weeks of the class, students discuss the school philosophy and the meaning of Episcopal identity (including the importance of commu-nity service and inclusion) with Head-master Robert Kosasky. Then, they talk about identity and differences concern-ing views and beliefs about the school’s values. According to Ginger Cobb, Dean of Students and teacher of the course, the students are generally open and hon-est during these discussions because they are all well aware that they take place in a “closed classroom;” the things that people say are not to be discussed outside of the classroom. When the students are done with these discussions, they begin the third stage of the class and they go out into the community to perform service. The freshmen do their service at or-ganizations such as D.C. Central Kitchen, Covenant House, and Street Sense, while working closely with Samaritan Min-istry. In fact, Mr. Chuck James, Direc-tor of Volunteers and Communication at Samaritan Ministry, talks to the Service Learning classes once a week. In these talks he tries to portray a realistic portrait of homelessness in order to make students really understand how it feels to live on the streets. For example, during one of his visits, he assigned each student a job with a particular income and had them try to figure out how they would live on that income if they were homeless. On days that they do not perform ser-vice, students talk about their volunteering experiences at the various organizations at which they work, paying particular at-tention to the themes of stereotypes and differences in people they work with. In fact, according to Cobb, one of the main goals of the Service Learning Program is not only to dispel stereotypes about the homeless, but to raise student aware-ness about the often untruthful and dan-gerous nature of preconceived notions. At the end of the trimester, students re-flect back on all of their discussions and write articles about a particular issue fac-ing the homeless population. Some of these articles are selected to appear in Samaritan Ministry’s newsletter, InStep.

This year, there will be several changes to St. Andrew’s annual Fall Fest, the most significant of which will be the addition of a charitable walkathon to the October 21 festivities. When discussing this year’s events, the St. Andrew’s Parents Associa-tion decided that it wanted to incorporate some kind of community service-based activity that would bring the entire St. Andrew’s population to-gether into the festival. The idea of a walkathon was proposed and it was eventually decided that the money raised would go to Samaritan Ministry, an or-ganization that the school already has close ties with because of its involve-ment in the Service Learning Program. The walkathon is part of the school’s ongoing push to cement its relation-ship with Samaritan Ministry. The con-

nection with Samaritan Ministry be-gan many years ago (when the school first decided to hold its Thanksgiving food drive), but has grown over the past several years because the school is partnering with Samaritan Minis-try for its Service Learning Program. Although Samaritan Ministry already plays a key role in the Service Learning

P r o g r a m , the admin-i s t r a t i o n wants its presence to be felt by all members of the St. An-drew’s com-munity, not just ninth g r a d e r s . Cobb hopes

that the idea of “service learning” can be extended to all St. Andrew’s students, leading to an ongoing “commitment to a local place that makes a local impact,”

not just an off-and-on relationship with many different organizations. The walk-athon is a good opportunity for the entire community to become involved in com-munity service and strengthen the school’s commitment to Samaritan Ministry. Stu-dents (especially Middle Schoolers who, says Cobb, “are often left out of these types of events”), alumni, staff, faculty, and parents can all participate in the walk. After completing the two mile loop that is to be the trail for the walkathon, stu-dents, parents, staff, faculty, and alumni will be able to see a special art exhibit in Kreeger Gallery. This exhibit will show-case the winning artwork of Samari-tan Ministry’s art contest, which called for art on the theme of homelessness. Cobb and the rest of the St. Andrew’s administration hope and believe that the walkathon will be a positive addi-tion to Fall Fest. Ideally, Cobb believes, the walkathon will help cement the “al-ready powerful” relationship that St. Andrew’s has with Samaritan Ministry.

Community Walks for the Homeless

Molly GottMane News Staff Writer

Ninth Grade Service Learning Program Update

Molly GottMane News Staff Writer

Students, Teachers, Parents, Alumni Prepare to Partake in First Walkathon

The conflict in Darfur, Sudan began in early 2003, when rebel groups from impoverished regions began to attack government targets, claiming that the government is oppressing black Africans in favor of Arabs. The government re-sponded with full force, launching a mas-sacre against black Africans and rebels. The two main rebel groups participating in the protests are the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). On the other side is the members of the Janjaweed militia, who are drawn from Darfurian and Chadian-Arab tribes, and have been charged with serious war crimes from onlookers in the world. There has been evidence that the Sudanese government has been associated with the Janjaweed militia to ethnically “cleanse” certain regions even though spokesmen for the government have de-nied any association with the group. Western powers have differing opinions as to how serious the situation in Darfur really is. Many sources have inconsistent

describing Darfur’s state in 2004; the U.N. still believes that the situation in Darfur is not genocidal, but can be called a “humanitarian crisis” with leaders of the area facing serious war crime charg-es. The U.N. and other African coun-

tries, including Rwanda, have sent peace keeping troops in small numbers that have barely effected the crisis in Darfur.

Zeenat NabiMane News Staff Writer

The Crisis in DarfurHow Much Do Students Really Know?

www.who.int/features/darfur/en/darfur.jpg

Foley Scandal Mark Foley, a Floridian repub-lican has been recently accused of sending inap-propriate mes-sages to teenage

boys. With the mid-term

elections in full swing, this blow against the Republican Party could have some serious consequences. As of last week, both republican representative Thomas M. Reynolds, and speaker J. Dennis Hast-ert have been greatly sidelined from the public campaign for fear that with their

presence might switch people’s atten-tion away from matters such as the Iraq war where the republican party expects to have an advantage. Because of this, the possibilities of keeping republicans in power within the House is dwindling.

Nuclear Testing in North Korea This week’s apparent underground nu-clear testing in North Korea has thrown the most important nations into a state of alarm, or at the very least precaution. President Bush has recently expressed a reluctance to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang, the capital of North Ko-rea. The world’s most influential nations are willing to impose sanctions. How-

ever, these are “light” sanctions and af-fect North Korea’s trade of luxury goods as well as travel restrictions to all those involved in the nuclear tests. This shows again that there is no coherent approach or deter-mined policies to address the danger of nuclear proliferation.

Nobel Prize in Literature This year’s Nobel Prize in Lit-erature was awarded to Orhan Pamuk, “who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his na-tive city [Istanbul] has discov-ered new symbols for the clash and

interlacing of cultures.” In some declara-tions as well as writings, he has recognized the massacre of almost one million Arme-nians (who used to live in north-eastern Turkey) by the Ottoman Empire army’s during WWI, as well as 200,000 Kurds (from south-eastern Turkey) recently.

Because of these declara-cions, Turkish authorities charged him with treason for attacks on the official Turk-ish history (which states that the Armenian genocide did not take place). However, the charges were dropped thanks to the pressure put on by the European Nations, which has a great Armenian influence.

World ReportMarta MarinoMane News Assistant News Editor

www.tomlatham.house.gov

bildungsklick.de

www.samaritanministry.org

NEWS the Mane News October 20, 2006 3NEWS

Mane Newsthe

The Mane News is a forum for news, opinions, and features by and for the students at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. It is a school-supported publication produced six times a year through the extracurricular work of its student staff and faculty advisor, as well as contributions from the Journalism class. The staff makes every effort to report the news free from bias and editorial slant; additionally, not all editorials reflect the opinions held by the newspaper staff and its writers. The Mane News reserves the right to restrict or deny publication of any stories it does not deem fit to print. Letters to the editor may be submitted via email to manenews@saes.org. The newspaper staff welcomes all letters, but reserves the right to edit or deny publication to any received. All letters must be signed, though writers may request that their names withheld. The Mane News is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and a proud recipient of the CSPA Bronze Medal.

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The Mane NewsSt. Andrew’s Episcopal School8804 Postoak Road, Potomac,

MD 20854(301) 983-5200

Staff WritersCo-Editors-in-Chief..................Chas Duvall .............Kate GoldbaumManaging Editor................Hilary EisenbergCo-Exec. Production Editors...Chase Felker Maneesha SakhujaFaculty Advisor..................Mr. Chuck JonesTech Support....................Mr. Nathan Kreps

Copy Editors.....................Lacey Gutierrez .....................William MoodieNews Editor........................William WhiteAsst. News Editor.................Marta MarinoOpinion Editor.....................Katie NesmithAsst. Opinion Editor..............Ted DunmireCo-Style Editors.................Callen Brenner ...........Mattie GreenwoodSports Editor.............................Amir Kahn

Imagine that you are in the middle of the biggest soccer game of the season. Two players collide and get hurt. While certified athletic trainer, Sean Hurney, tends to one player, a student trainer takes care of the other using the skills that she learned in sports medicine class. This could be a reality as soon as next year. “My long term goal is to have a nice sized class and a bigger training room, so that we can be more ‘hands on’ and to have student trainers that can travel with teams for away games.” said Hurney. If there is enough inter-est, there could be an academic class and after-school work experience. As a student trainer you learn “ba-sic first aid, injury prevention and treat-ment, human anatomy, administration techniques, along with the clinical expe-rience of working in the training room” said Hurney. Jewish Day School, an-

other private school in the area, has a big sports medicine program. Their full-year program is divided into two levels. “Their course seems like one that I took in college,” said Hurney. They even have a couple of student trainers that go with teams to away games. Currently, students can work after school with Hurney. Student trainers are only able to learn after school once all the athletes have gone to practice. If there are games, then there re-ally is not a lot of time to teach, beause, as Hurney explained, “It is hard to teach and treat injured athletes at the same time.” If there was an academic class during the day, then students would be able to learn in class and then they would be able to put it

Sports Medicine Class Coming SoonStudent Trainer Program Will Build Expertise, Expand Services

Maggie RobertsMane News Staff Writer

Last year, Mr. Dut Brown, the Recy-cling Club Sponsor, and I made great progress in recycling cans and bottles. We recycled 6,090 bottles and 1,040 cans. We also worked with the admin-istration and the Maintenance Depart-ment to order recycling bins for sports fields. Already 300 bottles were recycled from the Francisco Hope Tournament alone. These numbers are proof that we can make great progress in recycling. You do not have to join the recycling club to help (although I recommend it). You can help conserve our natural re-sources by recycling anything that is recyclable. This year we will work on putting recycling bins for paper, cans, and bottles around the school to make it easier for everyone. If you are interested in helping, it is never too late to join the Recycling Club. If you need more infor-mation, talk to Mr. Brown or Recycling Club members: Bryn Whiteley, Tahirah Green, Tina Hwang, Jessica Jones, or me.

Recyling ClubMatthew VaverisMane News Staff Writer

It seems as annual as Mr. John Hold-en’s “Fresh Start” speech: every year the administration hires a number of new teachers. This year, we are lucky enough to have eleven new minds help-ing the school to grow. They were all briefly introduced to everyone during that initial meeting held on the first day of school, but some Mane News writ-ers took it upon themselves to get to know these new members of the com-munity a little better. Come and meet the newest additions to our school! Mrs. Karen Kaufman has joined the math department this year and is teach-ing Math 7 and Algebra 1. She became a teacher when she took a few years off from her corporate job, and realized that she loved teaching. So she decided to be-come a math teacher. Her favorite part of teaching is when her students have the “ah-ha!” moments and have just figured out something that they did not previous-ly understand. One of her fellow math teachers, Mr. Sowers said, “I love her. She is a great addition to our math team and I know that she is going to do a great job!” Dr. Amy Wooley, the new music teacher, teaches Middle School Band and Band I, II, and III. She is also the new advisor to the outstanding Jazz Band. Though she is new to St. Andrew’s, she is by no means new to the music world or to education. In fact, her favorite part of teaching is “sharing the joy of music with young people.” Wooley, who for-merly taught at Sheridan School, is also a musician herself who has had a hit song in Nashville, Tennessee. Her favorite mu-sic involves Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Diana Krall, and Djengo Riechart. She also enjoys classical Puccini Opera and Beethoven string quartets, and says that there is “nothing better than John Col-trane.” Wendy Eisenberg, a guitarist in the jazz band, says “She has knowledge of ensembles, and she can make the band sound tighter. I like how she ad-vises and doesn’t try to change people.” Ms. Ria Hoefdraad is a new Spanish teacher. She graduated from la Universi-dad de Oriente in Cuba and la Universi-dad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. She is interested in teaching Spanish because of her “passion of knowing more about

other cultures and traveling.” Hoefdraad was first exposed to St. Andrew’s when she, along with her family, visited the campus as a potential high school for her son. She found the community warm and welcoming and chose to work here. Sev-enth grader Phil Werner says about his new

Spanish teacher, “She is nice and a good teacher. I’ve learned a lot from her.” Ms. Hoefdraad loves to try different interna-tional foods, and enjoys every kind of mu-sic or movie “whenever it is not an insult.” Mr. Scott Corkran is new to the His-tory Department this year, but not com-

pletely new to the school. He coached Boy’s Varsity Basketball last year. This year he will continue coaching, both for basketball and Boy’s Tennis. In his first full-time school position, Corkran teaches the eighth grade World Leaders course. Also new to St. Andrew’s is English

teacher Mr. Michael Reddy. Joe Pe-terson, a senior, already enjoys Reddy’s Dramatic Literature class, saying “I think Mr. Reddy is the coolest teacher. He is laid back, and for me, who hates English, he keeps me interested in it. He is awe-some!” Reddy is a graduate of the Air

to use in the training room that afternoon. Hurney would also be able to have more than one student trainer at a time. Hurney

would also be able to cover more material and better study each topic. Adam Stringham, the current student trainer, said, “I feel like I am getting knowledge that I can use later on. It is a great opportunity for people to become ac-tive in the community.” Boys Athletic Director Al Hightower said, “The program will be a good

career opportunity for the students and could help lead them into a medical field.” He also believes that “it will be good for the school because the student trainers will help out fellow athletes, and we don’t help each other out enough at St. Andrew’s.”

Force Academy and Roanoke College. Ms. Debi Hayes is the new Director of Human Resources in the Business Office. While she is new to St. Andrew’s, she has definitely had a great deal of experience in many different professions. Hayes re-ceived a degree in sociology from the Uni-

versity of Maryland, and also received her Masters in Education from George Washington University. After being a physical trainer for twelve years, Hayes taught high school students at Bladens-burg High School for three years. Now Hayes is responsible for many tasks at St. Andrew’s, including teacher bene-fits. Ms. Hayes says that “even thought I don’t directly work with the stu-

dents, I hope that be keeping their teach-ers happy, they are affected by that, too.” Ms. Jennifer Hansen of the Admission Office says that “[Ms. Hayes] is always wearing a big smile and she is a great ad-dition to the St. Andrew’s community.” Ms. Hevia Paxson, a visual arts teacher, is not only new to the school, but is also new

New Teachers Bring Enthusiasim To EducationA Journalism Class Exclusive

Continued on Pg. 11

New Teachers Reddy, Paxson, and Corkran spark great interest in the classroom.

CLUB REPORT:

Jacob Baron Gabe Ellsworth Lucas GarrisonCharlie GillSam GoldenbergMolly GottJoey GottlibEmily HattonIan HendrieLexi Heywood

Jacob HornBob JefferyDaniel KhanBobby LewisLisa NashMaggie RobertsErich RomeroEmily SuttleMatthew Vaveris

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the Mane News4 October 20, 2006 NEWS the Mane News

twenty five minutes (slightly less if there is homework in art, religion, or health). Upper School Dean of Students Ginger Cobb said that this time would be enough, “in terms of practicing what you had learned [in class]. If you had a paper—un-less you were working on it a little bit each day—I think it would be hard to get it done in twenty minutes, but I think that’s just the nature [of a long range assignment] and kids know that they might have to put in more time for certain assignments and tests, depending on what kind of a learner they are.” She emphasized that the amount of time needed for an assignment depends on what the type of assignment given.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Cooper says that it is important for teachers to give assignments that will ac-tually enhance the learning process, as opposed to busywork that doesn’t help the student learn or gain adequate ex-perience in a certain skill or topic. He is concerned that most schools don’t have guidelines on what kinds of home-work assignments are better for students. Irene Walsh, chair of the science de-partment, says that she makes sure that she never assigns busywork in any of her chemistry classes. Her goal is to give assignments that reinforce information taught in class. She also makes a point of giving readings in textbooks. “Some-

times what I do is I have them read it before and after [the class discussion]. I tell them to plow through the reading even though they may not understand what’s going on. Then I teach it, then I ask them to read it again, and I think rereading it clarifies things for them.” Will things change at St. Andrew’s, now that this new light has been shed on home-work? Ms. Cobb says that it is possible. “It was brought up in a department head meeting that we probably should look at our homework policy and our philosophy on homework again. We’ve done it in the past, and it certainly is a good exercise.” Until then, it is homework as usual for Atchin-son and all other St. Andrew’s students.

of giving readings in textbooks. “Some-times what I do is I have them read it before and after [the class discussion]. I tell them to plow through the reading even though they may not understand what’s going on. Then I teach it, then I ask them to read it again, and I think rereading it clarifies things for them.” Will things change at St. Andrew’s, now that this new light has been shed on home-work? Ms. Cobb says that it is possible. “It was brought up in a department head meeting that we probably should look at our homework policy and our philosophy on homework again. We’ve done it in the past, and it certainly is a good exercise.” Until then, it is homework as usual for Atchin-son and all other St. Andrew’s students.

discussions, a safe and honest environ-ment is created for children and parents to talk openly about drugs and alcohol. Cobb and Mrs. Holly Funger, the school counselor, admit this is an experi-ment. Consequently, the school decided to first try this ap-proach to drugs and alcohol education on the freshman class. Their transition into high-school, as well as the fact that at least half of the grade is new, pro-vided the perfect opportunity to try this new theory; if it works, it will continue it throughout high-school. The school held the first round table discussion in the gym one school night, and made attendance by all students and at least one parent mandatory. Headmas-ter, Robert Kosasky made the opening remarks, addressing stu-dents and parents and thanking them for their attendance. The co-founder of Community of Concern, Ms. Mimi Fleury, next spoke to the crowd, mentioning that these are the “new days” and that drugs and alcohol are more prevalent than ever in the lives of children. She also talked about the neurological effects of drugs and al-cohol on adolescent brains, showing the catastrophic effects that they have on the minds of underage us-ers. Finally, Gaetano spoke briefly, captur-ing the attention of the audience by reflecting upon a memory of kids he had worked with, showing to the crowd that dialogue is the key to com-munication between children and parents. After the remarks, the discussions be-gan. Widrick and senior Joe Peterson posed questions for each table to discuss, such as “What are your expectations for a high school party scene?” and “How do you envision a Saturday night?” Each table, consisting of about five parents, five children, and one peer leader, dis-

cussed these questions. The night came to a close as each table discussed ways to help continue the dialogue and ways for parents and students to make sure that they were communicating effectively. Although some students felt that the

parents were able to voice their opinions more than the chil-dren, the major-ity of feedback after the discus-sions was posi-tive. Freshman

C h a z Griffen said that, “I learned how many of the parents felt on drinking and stuff and in the end had a better idea of why my parents restrict me from going to certain parties.” Similarly, Katherine Young stated that, “everybody was in a comfortable environment to share their thoughts.” Commenting on the

way that the round ta-bles were set up, Joey Gottlieb said, “I re-ally thought the par-ents and students had a great connection, because we barely knew each other.” The same positive reaction was shared by most parents, as well as teachers and

administrators who were present. Rever-end John Thomas, the school chaplain, re-

marked that it went “really, really well” and that setting up this type of forum for discussion be-tween parents and students is a “mod-el we like.” Cobb also says the night was a success, and that the school is looking for ways to incorporate this type of “open dis-

cussion” in other aspects of its students’ lives, and possibly the seniors’ upcoming transition to colleges. The school wants to continue this dialogue between freshman parents and students by possibly hold-ing another “round table discussion” in the course of the next few months, and hopefully it will continue to impact stu-dents and parents in a significant way.

schools do something more substantial.” Amy Gutman, president of the Univer-sity of Pennsylva-nia, substantiates the opinion of our college counselors in her October 1 piece in The Wash-ington Post entitled “Early Admissions aren’t the problem.” Moreover, Yale’s president Richard C. Levin announced that there is not suf-ficient evidence to indicate that, in his opinion, end-ing early admis-sions would result in the admission of more kids from diverse socioeco-nomic backgrounds. Early application at most institutions comes in the form of a binding process referred to as early deci-sion. If a student who applies early deci-sion is accepted, that student must enroll the following year. However, it has been observed that this process does not al-low for students from low-income back-

grounds to compare financial packages with other schools before enrolling. There-

fore, schools like Yale, Stanford, and Harvard had switched to an alternate process of single-choice early action, an opportunity to apply early to a first-choice school with the option of ap-plying to other schools and comparing fi-nancial offers before enrolling. Above all however, getting into a college early relieves a lot of stress for

a handful of seniors each year. Should the trend toward eradication of early ad-missions spread through more colleges, then all seniors will be forced to en-dure the pressure until spring. So, to the classes of 2008 and beyond: good luck. But remember, St. Andrew’s has sent 100 percent of its graduates to college,

A New Approach to Drug and Alcohol Education continued from Page 1

How Much Homework is Too Much, Teachers Askcontinued from Page 1

Major Schools Axe Early Admissionscontinued from Page 1

you give in and stop, some other pa-thetic guy will move in on your territory. LovinSpirit

Priorities, umm you are weird. Is there something so wrong with the girls in your grade that you have to go after young in-nocent girls who are probably too afraid of you to say “back off”? The only rea-son why they hang out with you is be-cause you are older and have a car. While your pursuit may have been funny at first, I am sure people have gotten tired of your antics. I think your friendships are a little more important than a bunch of failed attempts with freshman girls. RealityChk

Dear LovinSpirit and RealityChk I’m in love with my teacher. Not the puppy love of a cute celebrity, but the “I can’t live with out you” type of love. I know its wrong, but I can’t help it. Con-centrating in his class has become so dif-ficult because I can never stop staring at him. What should I do?! – Illegal-Lover

Illegal, these feelings are totally normal. I know it is really hard now, but depend-ing on what grade you are in, the age of 18 might be right around the corner. Until you’re of age though, try to focus on other guys in high school. Make conscious ef-forts to go out with friends on the week-ends and meet boys. In school just do your best to concentrate in class (a good grade will impress him!) and work on your friendship so on the day of graduation you will be prepared to make your move. LovinSpirit

Illegal, are you actually insane? If your not then your in way over your head. I have no doubt that this teacher knows about your little crush and is doing his best to stay the heck away from you. He probably thinks you’re a little perverted, and finds it odd that you aren’t capable of lik-ing guys your own age. My best ad-vice is to forget it, and lay low in class from now till the end of the year. RealityChk

Advice Column continued from Page 8

Ruth Faison

Ruth Faison

Ruth Faison

www.princeton.edu

TCID:BW

I remember sitting in the gym on the sixth day of school last year, experiencing my first honors assembly and thinking, “there has to be a more efficient way of doing this.” It is understood that the honors as-sembly is a time to recognize the students who have excelled in academes or greatly contributed to the class. However, the time spent in this ceremony takes time away from the classroom. Additionally, the same thing that the assembly accomplishes

negative psychological effects on students who did not make honor roll. While talk-ing with some students who did not make honor roll in the past, they said that the ex-perience can be embarrassing, and makes them feel as if they are not valued as much as those who made it. A student who wished to remain anonymous felt that, “It gives honor roll students an opportunity to look down upon everyone else and it can be humiliating for the people seated to watch those standing get praised for their good work, even though some who

The Red OnionThe New Freshman VoiceOpinion

October 20, 2006 5the Mane News

A freshman must come fully packaged, equipped with all the material necessary to survive the all-out war that is high school. There are four major items within this package: social hopping, fashion, hu-mor, and talent at a sport or activity. Start with social hopping: what is it? A simple definition of social hopping is…being a popular kid. More extensively, so-cial hopping is the innate ability to make five friends per minute, and to be able to manage all these friends with grace. In es-sence: a social butterfly. Chances are if someone is “popular”, they are almost cer-tainly a social hopper. If one looks at a “popular kid” one will notice that the person in question will be jumping from group to group, putting on dif-ferent sorts of behaviors that please each and every one of the crowds. Unfortunately, a high school student must perform perfectly in every social situation. It is a great demand to remember all those juicy snippets of infor-mation that the student picks up in each cluster. As one can imagine, the stress of it all takes a toll. Peo-ple think the pressure of work is what is causing kids stress these days; they could not be any more incorrect. So, if a person can master social hop-ping, they have a better chance of success in high school. Coach shoes, iPod Nanos, and vintage handbags are items demonstrative of current fash-ions. Fashion is a major part of surviving high school as a person tends to judge others on their outward appearance, and then reserve judgment on their personal-ity. Such has been the system since the Renaissance. It is especially useful to have a label on your clothing or accessories: the clas-sic LV (Louis Vuitton) or DG (Dolce and Gabbana). Technology is also a very im-portant part of making a “fashion impres-sion.” Portable CD players, no way! iP-ods, iPods, and more iPods. Minis, Nanos,

videos, and regulars! Apple has never failed to produce a sleeker and updated iPod as soon as the latest version has caught on. Cell phones are another major component of techno-fashion. Don’t have a RAZR? Sucks to be you! Overall, dressing well and staying cur-rent in your appearance is a big part of high school. However, personality is also judged. The greatest asset to a personality is humor. The trick with humor is timing and

originality. Car-dinal rule: never rip a joke off somewhere else, someone will know about it. It could be guessed that many students have been shot down by their peers because of their inability to time a joke correctly. Say a joke when people want to hear one. Tell a joke when people are starting to get warmed up in conversations. The primary reason for learning to time jokes

properly is to avoid the much dreaded awkward silence. Being funny, but being correctly funny, is a good trait to have in high school. Still, there is one more item on the list. Be talented at sports, be talented at dra-ma, be talented at anything . . . just be tal-ented. Students need to establish a talent that can be identified by anyone. But you have to be more than talented; you have to be talented at something students think is “awesome.” Picture this, a scared look-ing freshman. Somebody comes up to him

and asks, “Hey kid, you want to join cross country?” Then imagine the kid’s response be-ing, “No, I can’t. I’m too busy building piñatas.” It would be interesting to find someone in school who found piñata mak-ing . . . cool. An ideal situation would be when a talent is widely known, and then the talented person does not even have to tell his/her friends that soccer is going well. Envision this conversa-tion. “Oh yeah, Jack, he’s really good at soccer,” or “Man, that Jill, she sure can sing!” Talent makes an impression on people, which re-affirms social status within a high school. So these are the four main things one needs to survive high school. You may come to the conclusion that these equalities are shallow and artificial. These are what my observations tell me, but there’s always room to be wrong. As I write this article, I cer-tainly hope I’m wrong. I’d rip my hair out if this is what high school is all about. Sure it’s a part of it. But it shouldn’t be all of it. High school is a time to

get to know yourself better, and figure out what direction you’re heading to in life. It’s more than popularity, fashion, so on; it’s about growing up. Sure, the first few months might be filled with these falsities, but it will change. I’m guessing the freshman package is not what’s going to lead you through life, but what you learn from it that will.

MacDonald Hall, Yesterday –Yester-day, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School saw an unprecedented functional chaos as stu-dents desperately sought to weather the vicissitudes of the school day having only received one announcement from Ninth Grade Dean, Administration Department Chair, Upper School Dean of Students, As-sistant Lacrosse Coach, and Mother of two. Virginia Cobb, having a B.A. from Deni-son University and an M.A. from Co-lumbia University. Cobb furtively at-tempted to conceal her brevity in her single announcement. “Today’s schedule is B.” The hundreds of students with af-ter-school study hall were catapulted into states of simultaneous joy and uncertainty. Moments after she yielded the micro-phone, murmurs of incredulity and horror ran through the crowd of baffled students. Former Senior Class President Chris Shel-ton, who had seen footage of the event, recounted in an ex-clusive interview, “I began to sense something was wrong when she failed to launch her announcements with the typical, ‘As al-ways, I have lots of announcements.’” He went on to assuage the student’s fears by saying, “In this time of great uncertainty and hardship, it is ever more imperative that we remain unified—fresh-men and seniors, Democrats and Re-publicans, French and physics teachers. The guiding hand of faith must and shall escort us through this crisis.” Neverthe-less, classes proceeded in varying states of confusion and disarray. An inves-tigation of this irregularity is pending by the Students First Committee. Mrs. Cobb’s motive is at this point unclear.

For those of you who do not know, The Red Onion is a satiric writen by two seniors, Gabe Ellsworth and Lexi Heywood. Each issue you will find The Red Onion right here in the opinion sec-tion. This article is not meant to offend anyone, nor is it meant to make fun of anyone. This article is a take off of the hit website, www.theonion.com. So for your personal enjoyment, here it is...

could be done by posting a list in the hall-way, outside the headmaster’s office, or on the Upper and Middle School message boards. It could also be posted online for parents to see. Many local schools display their honor rolls in the local gazettes, and while this would be difficult because St. Andrew’s has students from many differ-ent communities, we do have two school newspapers that could easily include the Upper School and Middle School lists. Apart from taking time away from the normal school day, the assembly can have

did not make it worked their hardest.” Many other students voiced the same opinion, saying that the assemblies, as one student said, “make kids like me feel dumb and doesn’t motivate me in any way.” The assembly may be a way to honor those who have excelled during the grading period, but it also brings down students who did not make it. By using one of the alternate ways to alert the St. Andrew’s community stated previously, this could be eliminated, while still observing the accomplishments of those who did not make honor roll.

Honors Assembly: Good or Bad?

Gabe Elsworth and Lexi HaywoodMane News Staff Writer

Joey GottliebMane News Staff Writer

Emily HattonMane News Staff Writer

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

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the Mane News6 October 20, 2006 OPINION the Mane News

The purpose of this article is not to be negative or critical. Instead, I would like to bring to attention the many changes that have been brought to St. Andrew’s recent-ly. The most current changes are the new dancing regulations that went into effect at the BackTo School

Dance. These regulations prevented students from “grinding” with each other, a style many high-schoolers are used to. Although the administration’s motivations were seemingly reason-able, they wanted to make students feel like they could turn down a dancing partner, the students felt like the administration was trying to impose their “culture” and ideas on the students by re-

stricting them. Other changes include: the denim re-strictions in the dress code, harsher regu-lations about the library, and the restric-

“Why did you switch schools as a se-nior?” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that, I could feed a small vil-lage. Transferring into St. Andrew’s from Churchill is one of the most drastic actions I’ve ever taken, however, it might just turn out to be the best decision I’ve ever made. I was born in England, however my family moved to the United States when I was 3, to a small waspy town in New Jer-sey called Mountain Lakes. Because we lived outside Manhattan my Dad, as well as most of my friend’s fathers, worked in the city. On September 11, 2001, our town lost several parents, including my friend Emma’s Dad. Needless to explain why, my father took a job at the World Bank, and we moved to Potomac in April 2001. In late April, I entered 7th grade at Hoover Middle School. With just two months left in the school year, I did not fi nd a solid friend group. When 8th grade rolled around, my new student nov-elty had worn off, yet I still felt new. By the time I entered freshman year at Churchill my 4 years did not look hopeful. I survived the fi rst two, in classes ranging in size from 25-40 students. Each week-end was spent with a different person, and each lunchtime was spent in a different part of the hallway. As a junior, my work load grew more intense, and the more time I spent on homework, the less time I could spend on building relationships. Then the worst of all: I got sick. I wasn’t sick once or twice or for one or two weeks, instead I spent large amounts

of time in the hospital enduring so many tests that I felt like I was on House. I missed almost all of the third marking period, and into the fourth. When I re-turned to school in late April, I had to focus on my AP exams. After taking these in May, it was time to condense four months of school into two weeks. I tried, I really did try, but I got sick again. At this point my doctor gave me what

is known as a “medical leave of absence” for the remainder of the school year, and I decided it was time for a change. By the way I’m sure you presume that I was vis-ited by friends in the hospital, or at least they called right? I’m afraid not. Not that I blame them, the school is so huge you wouldn’t notice if 40 girls were missing. My neighbors attend St. Andrew’s, so it seemed like a wise decision. About a month after I chose the Lions, they chose me. I knew a few students at the school, and spent some of the summer getting to know some of my classmates. Despite this advantage, I was still shaking on the fi rst day. Enter the St. Andrew’s commu-nity, including students and faculty. Nev-

er have I felt more welcomed, nor have I enjoyed school to this extent before. The female population, instead of the “Mean Girls” of a large public school, are kind and down to earth. It also doesn’t hurt that most of them seem to share my taste in fashion, music, and other aspects of teenage popular culture. The guys have been great too, at least as much as can be expected. The faculty makes school more than worthwhile, and are a group of in-dividuals who truly care about their stu-dents, and the subject which they teach. What is perhaps my favorite thing about St. Andrew’s is the fact that there are no cliques. After the fi rst week of school we ate lunch with our advisors, I expected groups to assemble in the same order everyday. This is not the case. I can honestly say I would feel comfort-able sitting with anyone at lunch. Ok, so the senior class thinks that they are “di-vided,” but trust me, compared to the 600+ kids in my senior class at Churchill, I can think of many more appropriate adjectives to describe my new friends. It’s only the fourth week into the school year, and maybe by Christmas I’ll be cursing myself for writing this article, but somehow I doubt it. Ok so, the other day I did serve myself in the lunch line, only to get the “evil eye” from the lunch lady, and yes I still don’t know the dif-ference between A, B, C, and D days but I’m getting there. I love my classes, and all of my new classmates. It will take a while but I think soon I’ll start to feel less like a new kid, and more like one of you.

When students arrived at school from summer vacation, they were shocked to fi nd that the administration had changed the advisor policy. In the past , advisor period has been a time to relax, to seek extra help from a teacher or tof inish a test. It is no longer. Now, all stu-dents are forced to go to advisor and stay there. They cannot complete extra work or get help from a tu-tor or a teacher without special permission from an administrator. “This stinks, I can’t go get the help I need at one of the only times of the day I could meet with a teacher,” said one sophomore.

Teachers stated that this was in reaction to the large number of students last year who would wander the halls after telling their advisor they were meeting with a teacher. Is it true to say that a small number of students would misbehave. But should this fact cause the rest of the student body

to be forced to sit in one location? Certainly not. “Something needs to be done to change this” junior Matthew Vaveris expressed. And yet, despite the overwhelming dislike, the SGA has been told that the policy cannot be reevaluated un-til the end of the school year. It is

not right that we are required to stay in one place when it would be far more benefi -cial to be allowed to work to by ourselves.

tions about leaving your advisory during advisor period. The change about leaving your advisory, I would say, is one of the most frustrating ones because there are no

exceptions, not even rea-sonable ones like going to meet with a teacher or talk to a friend about an assign-

ment. A few from the end of last year would be the elimina-tion of the senior prank and the stronger regulations about seniors’ speeches during the Senior Cry Cha-pel. It seems that all these new changes and rules are making St. Andrew’s a stricter and possibly more uptight school in regard to

the students’ freedoms. I understand the pur-poses of important rules

and stern regulations, but I, like many other St. Andrew’s students, feel as though the sudden imposition of such drastic changes, which may seem in-appropriate and unreasonable to students, can make a school environment seem un-pleasant. Students and faculty alike should consider whether or not they think that these changes are improving our school and its atmosphere—and how it is affect-

Emily SuttleMane News Staff Writer

Ted DunmireMane News Assistant Opinion Editor

Advisor AngerLisa NashMane News Staff Writer

Change Is Not Always For The Better

Life At A New School

EXIT

DO NOT

The New Advisor Policy is Wrong

Mane News Graphic

“Never have I felt more welcomed, nor have I enjoyed school to this extent before.”

Dancing regulations leave students stunned

Kids in the Hall

“ Homecoming this year has been great and very exciting…I am most looking forward to decorating and presenting our tent…it should be a blast.”- Kevin Wyatt

“I have had a blast the past few years with homecoming, I am looking forward to the tents this year, I am really thinking the sophomores are going to pull off a major upset.” - Brenton Duvall

“Spirit week is a really fun time to bond with your class, and I am really looking forward to the dance.”- Megan Nash

“My favorite spirit day is opposite day, this year I am dressing like a fat person. I also can not wait to attend fall fest on Saturday.” - Lisa Nash

What Are Your Thoughts About Home-

coming?

Kids in the Hall

“ Homecoming this year has been great and very exciting…I am most looking forward to decorating and presenting our tent…it should be a blast.”- Kevin Wyatt

“I have had a blast the past few years with homecoming, I am looking forward to the tents this year, I am really thinking the sophomores are going to pull off a major upset.” - Brenton Duvall

“Spirit week is a really fun time to bond with your class, and I am really looking forward to the dance.”- Megan Nash

“My favorite spirit day is opposite day, this year I am dressing like a fat person. I also can not wait to attend fall fest on Saturday.” - Lisa Nash

What Are Your Thoughts About Home-

coming?

ballroom.uct.ac.za

Style/Entertainment October 20, 2006 7the Mane News

Change Is Not Always For The Better

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan, ACDC, Credence Clearwater Re-vival, Pat Benatar…These are all names that go through your parent’s minds ev-eryday, bringing back memories both good, and a little foggy. Not only will you find these old dusty CD’s in your parents car, but more and more are ap-pearing among teenag-ers both guys and girls. You heard right, classic rock is back and here to stay. Today, these bands are selling out concerts like it was their very last, and kids are grab-bing CD’s such as Tom Petty’s Greatest Hits, and The Best of The Doobie Brothers, like it was 1980 and this mu-sic was just emerging. It’s not like these bands fell of the face of the earth, such as rap idol Tu-pac Shakur, they were put in glove com-partments and stereo cabinets, awaiting their second life. When various teenagers were asked why they think classic rock has reemerged, a majority of them stated that there is no good music for them to listen to today. Senior Lucas Garrison, classic rock fanatic stated, “Classic rock is just about they only music I listen to, and I lis-ten to it today because I can not stand the music of my generation.” It’s unfortunate that kids of today’s era were not as blessed as kids of the 70’s and 80’s. Not only are we not blessed, we are almost punished, being forced to listen to bands and artists such as Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls, on DC area radio stations like 99.5 and the

Classic Rock Revival

There is an age old question in fashion; does it reflect the present or project the future?As far as this fall’s runway shows are concerned, it might just do both. Pro-vocative stilettos, showing less skin, and musical influence are all themes in this season’s emerging trends. All of these

trends reflect the pres-ent while previewing the style of the future.

The trend of covering more skin showcases this paradoxical statement best. For example, in Marc Jacob’s 2006 fall runway show, the mod-

els were dressed from head to toe in bulky knits and lots of layers, including baggy pants under dresses and skirts. Marc Jacob’s new line not only reflects the Boho (a mixture between bohemian and hobo) style of the Olsen twins, but also sends the message that modern women do not need to show lots of skin to be sexy. Also prevalent throughout fall and spring lines is musical influence. Dior showed models in all black with big belts, big black sunglasses, and black bandan-as. To set the mood at John Galliano, Pat Benatar’s Love is a Battlefield” played while the designer’s Goth girls walked the runway. De-signers for Dior mixed 80’s gothic style with Axl Rose’s rock and roll. In contrast to Dior, the Gucci girls clothing was inspired by Studio 54 disco and the Da-vid Bowie era, includ-ing many gold and purple slinky dresses. Marc Jacob’s cover girls were a reflec-

Fashion Your Future

ever popular DC 101. Luckily, we can thank arguably the greatest radio station to hit the streets of DC, 100.3, for bring-ing this lost music back to the streets. Yes that’s right, in case you didn’t know, Oldies 100.3 is no longer oldies, it’s comprised of some of possibly the great-est jams ever such as, Baba O’Reiley,

“Don’t Come Around Here No More”, and “Asia’s Heat of the Moment”, from re-cent Blockbuster hit, The 40 year Old Virgin. Aside from area radio stations this great music is reemerging as a result of various bands getting back together, and creating new albums. Some of these bands include Mot-ley Crue and Tom Petty. Leading up to the release of Petty’s new album, “High-way Companion”, he re-ceived much flack from fans all of whom saying he and

his music were dead, but boy were they wrong. Music’s greatest reviewer, Roll-ing Stone Magazine, gave the new album 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, something truly as-tonishing. In a recent review of the album by Rolling Stone stated, “Highway Com-panion not only keeps his winning streak intact, it even rates above average by these standards.”, when speaking of the fact that Petty has never made a bad al-bum, and the fact that this is no exception. With Petty’s album reaching such a success, there shows to be much promise for him and the rest of the classic rock genre…Rock on!

tion of the early 90’s grunge era, while Alexander McQueen emphasized punk’s rebellion with his red tartan skinny pants and school girl kilts. The reason for this is that all designers’ biggest clients are chart-topping musicians, and it is the cou-ture designer’s job to cater to his clientele. Lastly, designers experimented with con-trasting sizes and styles. Zack Posen used shoulder pads in his jackets and structured draping to express his image of strong women. Alexander McQueen had ruffled collars, bulging sleeves and skirts, as well as ruffled layers of feather drenched fabric. Other designers showed short blouse dresses, hulking jackets and sweaters paired with skinny jeans or leggings, another big fall trend. So don’t be surprised to see bubble dresses and big blouses at a store near you this sea-son! These artistic choices may ultimately change the way women dress. At local stores you can purchase these new clothing styles, such as skinny jeans, leggings and large knit sweaters. H&M can always be count-ed on to carry the best of the season’s trends. Although slightly more expen-sive, Anthropology and Urban Outfit-ters have skinny jeans and voluminous mini dresses. It is easy to find design-er look-alike threads at these stores. Are the designers trying to reflect the style of their customers, or are they try-ing to create new trends? The jury stands undecided. However, it is evi-dent from this fall’s runway shows that this season is all about combining pres-ent style with new, innovative looks.

Save Stargate SG-1Matthew VaverisMane News Staff Writer

Chas DuvallMane News Co-Editor in Chief

Callen BrennerMane News Co-Style Editor

My friends, my fellow students, the time has come for us to unite. The fate of science fiction is at stake. It was an-nounced on August 19th that the long-run-ning science fiction television show Star-gate SG-1 will be can-celed. We must rally to stop this injustice. For those who do not know, Stargate SG-1 is a TV show where teams of scientists and soldiers explore the galaxy through de-vices called Stargates. The team must battle a va-riety of enemies that want to enslave, blow up, eliminate, and/or otherwise cause the human race to take a hike. This is a top-quality show that I grew up with since I was seven years old. Imagine hearing tomorrow that 24 or Lost is canceled and you will clearly un-derstand my pain. Yes, I know there are reruns, but it just isn’t the same thing.

There is more at stake than just my favor-ite television show. The Sci Fi channel has shown that it is corrupt, and that it has betrayed the genre of science fiction (ok,

perhaps that is a little strong) by putting on reality shows such as Who Wants to be a Superhero. This is a full-scale invasion of the science fic-tion genre. If we do not take a stand now, then the Sci Fi chan-nel will be running Survivor in Space.

Save the science fic-tion genre by watching

Stargate SG-1 as it nears its final epi-sodes. Write your congressman, sena-tor, and Sci Fi channel VP Mark Stern (KHAAAAAN!!!!). Together, we the people can stop this egregious action.

~HOLLOWED IS STARGATE SG-1!

This year’s upper school fall play will consist of four short one-act plays. The first play, and longest of the four, is a comedy called “The Real Inspector Hound,” by Tom Stoppard. The play follows two self-obsessed theater critics as they watch a “country murder mystery” play in the form of a whodunit, and in a series of bi-zarre circumstances, the critics become involved in the play they are watch-ing. The play, staring William Moodie and Jacob Baron as the two theater critics, has a small cast of 8 peo-ple. The female roles, played by Neha Shas-try, Kimi Hugli, and Wendy Eisenberg, in-clude a flirtatious young actress, a more mature actress, and an old housecleaner. The second play is a 15-minute ver-sion of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet,

rightly dubbed Hamlet in Fifteen Minutes. The third play, “Words Words Words,” written by David Ives, is a comedy about three caged monkeys, Milton, Kafka, and Swift, attempting to write Hamlet while caged in a room by scientists. Though only monkeys, the three are extremely intelligent and speak English, with the

occasional Shake-spearian line thrown in for comedic effect. Extremely funny, the play stars Drew Singer, Kimi Hugli, and Jacob Horn as the monkeys. The final play, also written by David Ives, is a comedy called “The Philadelphia.” With only three cast mem-bers, the play follows one man trapped in a “Philadelphia,” a twi-light-zone state where he cannot get any-thing he wishes, and

another man trapped in a “Los Angeles” a state where he is utterly happy even in the worst situations. Set in a restraunt, the play stars Vishal Narang and Ben Desanti.

Fall Play PreviewWilliam MoodieMane News Staff Writer

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William Moodie and Ted Dunmire re-hearse scene from fall play.

Maneesha Sakhuja

TCID:BW

the Mane News8 October 20, 2006 the Mane News

Some of you may be asking yourselves what a music promoter do? I book shows and tours for bands, create promotional artwork such as band logos, do band pho-tography, and yes, assume the role of “that kid” at “that show” who hands out flyers ad nau-seam. On an average day I am awoken by the loud ring of my cell phone at three o’clock in the morning. I answer it grog-gily, only to hear the too-perky response: “Hey Katie, I forgot to ask you earlier, but did you get that show booked for us at KC’s?” Ah, the life of a music promoter. Running my music promotion business, Phonograph Promotions, is challenging at times, obnoxious at others, but is by far the most fun I have ever had while making money. I lose a lot of sleep, but I enjoy it. I established Phonograph back in June, right after school let out for the sum-mer. Up until that point, I promoted and managed bands on a freelance ba-sis; promoting smaller bands and book-ing some bigger, more well-known bands at local venues like the Black Cat in DC and KC’s in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Phonograph is really a joy to run. The

bands I have worked with both on and off Phonograph have been amazing to deal with, and I have met some incredible people. Though Phonograph eats up a large

amount of my free time, it has not yet interfered with school. The only conflicts I have dealt with recently are week-night shows that I cannot attend. Other than that, I am fully able to run the company and keep up with my course load. In the past, I have got-

ten a chance to work with non-local, more national bands like My American Heart, Boys Night Out, and OK Go. Even working with much smaller local bands like Fallen Martyr, Hotspur and Copperpot (from New Jersey) have been wonderful experiences. Right now, I am working mainly on find-ing a venue to call Phonograph’s home. I plan to create and effectively run the said venue by the time I leave for college next fall, and things are looking very positive for that. Promotion is a fun and exciting job and if this sounds interesting to you come talk to me about getting involved.

Cinema CentralThe Really Good, The Good, And The Not-so Good

As the year ends, great movies begin to emerge. The Oscar buzz is intense as there are some high profile releases and of course there are always those movies that are a waste of time and money. So here is what to see and what not to see.

First the really good stuff:

The Departed (October 6th)Could Scorsese finally earn an Oscar here?A remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime film, “Internal Affairs.” Overall, looks solid, but one can only wonder where is DeNiro or Pesci?Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Da-mon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg

Babel (October 27th)An ensemble piece about three sto-ries set in the countries of Mo-rocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan. Could this be Brad Pitt’s chance at an Oscar? The an-swer is yes, a definite Oscar contender.Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal and Kôji YakushoFrom the Director of 21 Grams and Amores Perros

The Fountain (November 22nd)Darren Aronofsky’s at-tempt at being Stanley Kubrick. A unique time travel movie than spans over

a period of 1,000 years, overall looks in-teresting, but most likely not for everyone. Starring: Hugh Jackman, Ra-chel Weisz and Ellen BurstynFrom the Director of Re-quiem for a Dream and Pi

Flag of Our Fathers (October 20th)Clint Eastwood’s highly anticipated adaptation of the acclaimed novel.Perhaps the next greatest war film after Saving Private Ryan.Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jes-se Bradford and Adam Beach

The Prestige (October 20th)A unique story about two rival magi-cians and how their intense battle turns them into murderers. Overall, sounds like an exciting fallow up from director Christopher Nolan, crafting yet another film dealing with illusion, following Me-mento, Batman Begins and Insomnia. This guy has not made a bad film yet, let’s hope this one doesn’t disappoint. Starring: Hugh Jackman, Chris-tian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, Mi-chael Caine and David Bowie

Now, the good stuff:

Borat (November 3rd) A new comedy about a Kazakh-stani TV man coming to America. Need I say more, it looks hilarious. Expect many offensive jokes; don’t say I didn’t warn you.Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen

Stranger Than Fiction (November 10th)A comedy about a man who finds himself as the main character in a writer’s story. Looks like a fine film that could possibly promise a more dramat-ic turn from its star, Will Ferrell. Starring: Will Ferrell, Emma Thomp-son, Queen Latifah and Dustin HoffmanFrom the Director of Mon-ster’s Ball and Finding Neverland

Casino Royale (November 17th)The much hyped James Bond film is a reboot to the series. Daniel Craig replaces Pierce Brosnan in the much desired role of James Bond. Looks like a great action film to end the year filled with disappointments such as X3: The Last Stand and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green and

Judi Dench

Déjà Vu (No-vember 22nd)A n o t h e r t i m e - t r a v -

el thriller starring Denzel Washing-ton where he is reunited with direc-tor Tony Scott (Man on Fire) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock). After the dreadful film, Domino, hope-fully Scott will be back on track with this flick, which overall, looks like a solid and silly action film.

And finally, the not so good stuff:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The

Beginning (October 6th)Yet, another film to add to the series. This time it’s a prequel, oooh, brace yourselves. Expect a lot of carnage and a lot of bad acting, but it will definite-ly be entertaining none the less. Starring: Jordana Brewster

The Grudge 2 (October 13th)The sequel to the surprise 2004 hit. Overall, looks dull, but will probably be a hit anyways.Starring: Amber Tamb-lyn and Sarah Michelle Gellar

Saw III (October 27th)One can only ask why? So, here we have

yet another sequel to last year’s hit. Boy, is Hollywood really running out of ideas. Expect creative, yet very over the top gore and a less than creative story-line. Starring: Tobin Bell and Dina Meyer

There you have it, movies that you should see and shouldn’t, after all with ticket prices going up, you might want to be wiser in your movie viewing deci-sions. As you see movies this fall, fal-low movie critic, John Riley’s advice of, “Friends don’t let friends see bad movies.”

Daniel KhanMane News Staff Writer

Account of a Music PromoterKatie NesmithMane News Opinion Editor

Dear LovinSpirit and RealityChk, The past two weekends at parties I’ve been making out with a guy in my grade. He’s in my group of guy friends, but since we’ve had random kisses he never talks to me in school. Even though we never were great friends to begin with, it just seems odd that we don’t even say “hi” in the hallways now. It’s really awk-ward, HELP! - Hopeless-Encountersl

Hopeless, it is alright, don’t fret. Boys can be odd like that. Sometimes they close girls out because they really like them and are afraid to act the wrong way. He also might be feeling just as awkward as you, and can’t bring himself to talk to you. I mean, have you tried talking to him yet? It’s quite possible you two are in the same boat and both just too afraid to bring it up. My best bet is that he definitely wants to keep making out with you, but is afraid of the social change that will occur at school. Keep your chin up. After things settle down between you two over the next cou-ple of weekends, it should become more natural for you to interact during school. -LovinSpirit

Hopeless, I hate to break it to you, but this boy will most likely never come up and talk to you in school. He could be em-

barrassed by what he has done and doesn’t want his friends to see him talking to you. I’m not trying to be negative, just realistic. Despite the fact that he is awkward around you in school, you two will probably make out again, but this will not change anything. My advice to you is to forget about him before you get too attached. - RealityChk

Dear LovinSpirit and RealityChk All my friends make fun of me, because I hang out with younger girls on a regular basis. Its not that I really like the girls, but I just think they are intriguing…. I hate it when the guys bug me, but c’mon I have my priorities. Is there anyway I can keep doing what I’m doing but get them to lay off? – I’ve Got My Priorities

Priorities, I don’t understand why people give you a hard time. They are probably jealous, because you get to chill with the young, hot girls. They tease you, because you do what they are too nervous to. It takes guts to pursue younger women without car-ing about the probable weird looks you will get in the halls. Keep do-ing what you are doing, because if

Advice ColumnQuality advice from LovinSpirit and RealityChk

continued on 4

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www.musicstack.com

www.alarm-alarm.com

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Jet Li’s FearlessRated PG-13 Fearless is supposed to be Jet Li’s fi nal martial arts epic. I wouldn’t say that he is go-ing out with a bang. Don’t get me wrong, Fearless isn’t bad, but it could be better. The movie starts out in the post-World War I era with Jet Li’s character, Huo Yuanjia, fi ghting the fi rst of four fi ghts he is supposed to win to bring back honor to his country, China. Poli-ticians in China have arranged this fi ght against the best fi ghters from four coun-tries: a British boxer, a Prussian soldier,

October 20, 2006 9the Mane News

The local music scene is fl ourishing! There are several amazing bands in the DC area, which play at venues such as Jaxx in Springfi eld, KC’s Music Ally in

Fredericksburg, the 9:30 Club in DC, and WJ Rocks at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. The DC area music scene appeals to many music tastes—metal, rock, ska, punk, and yes, even rap. Hotspur, Unless Your Willing, and So Damn Thirsty are some of the area’s best bands. Unless Your Willing: Attention all Eng-lish teachers and grammar freaks! Every-body is aware of the misuse of the possessive “your” in their name—even the band. This Silver Spring band got its name from a painting, which is made up of several random words from newspapers. The three words that stuck out were “Unless”, “Your”, and “Willing”. In any event, this three piece acoustic band is de-lightful to see perform. Their songs are catchy and the members have an amazing stage presence, as well as a loyal fan base. If you’re a fan of bands like Mae, Iron and Wine, and Bright eyes, you will enjoy Unless Your Willing. www.myspace.com/unlessyourwill-ing So Damn Thirsty: So Damn Thirsty is an energetic punk band from Fred-erick. Lead singer Timmy Pain can truly perform—I have never seen a bored crowd at one of their shows. So Damn Thirsty’s songs are fast paced, and aim to exude a true “rock n’ roll” sprit. They have already performed with big-name punk bands such as the Misfi ts and the Briggs. So Damn Thirsty is defi -

Local Bands Galore

nitely going places. www.myspace.com/sodamnthirsty Hotspur: Hotspur, a lively pop rock band, has what it takes to become as pop-

ular as they want to be. Their lyrics are excellent, and each member is extremely talented, energetic, and driven. Their self-titled EP is avail-able on iTunes music store, and they recently released their full-length album entitled Beta. If there is one band to watch in the local scene, it’s Hotspur! www.myspace.com/hotspur These three bands are merely a fraction of the talent that is found in the DC area. The scene will grow and prosper as time goes on and more people get acquainted with

the bands and venues. As senior Caroline Downing said “Not only is supporting the local music scene something I feel proud of, but you also meet amazing people,” So, fellow students, get out there and sup-port local music: it will make you feel a part of something fun and important. You can fi nd listings of local shows on each band’s Myspace, and at the follow-ing websites:

www.myspace.com/wjrockswww.jaxxroxx.com www.eebooking.comwww.myspace.com/301crewwww.six50.org

So you want to learn about jazz. Well, maybe you don’t. Maybe you’ve heard the Jazz Band play at chapel and thought something like, Oh that’s nice. Now what? You don’t really understand what’s going on and would much rather listen to [Insert name of popular music]. Let’s face it: jazz is not easy. Here are some of the diffi cul-ties in becoming a jazz fan and ways to overcome those diffi culties. You probably don’t like jazz because you don’t understand it. That is a perfectly reasonable complaint. You have to under-stand what is going on in a piece of mu-sic in order to enjoy any kind of music. With popular music, the shape is very clear and is able to evoke a certain emo-tion. That’s why we listen to music – to bring forth emo-tions. When you don’t understand what’s going on in a piece of music, you won’t feel anything. Thus your question becomes, ‘How do I learn to understand jazz?’ You must realize that each musician is telling a story with his or her instrument. The realization that improvisation is the key to jazz will help everyone understand it a little better. In any one jazz piece, be-tween 50%-100% of everything that you hear is made up on the spot. Maybe you won’t be able to understand what they’re saying, but for me it has always helped for me to try to fi gure out their message. Probably the most emotional jazz album (or otherwise) that I have ever heard is the great saxophone player John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme.’ If you listen closely to this album you can hear how much emo-tion Coltrane puts into his work and why he called it his gift to God. Jazz is an acquired taste. Most people don’t fall in love with it the fi rst time they hear it. It usually takes a long time for someone to develop a full appreciation for jazz. That is not to say that we should not try to get into jazz, for there is a lot of music out there that we would really

miss out on. Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ is defi nitely one great example of jazz, but if you want to start at the beginning, ‘A Love Supreme’ is not the way to go. There are several places you could start in listening to jazz. My personal recom-mendation to those dedicated to learn-ing about jazz is Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue,’ which is widely known among the jazz community as one of, if not the best jazz album in its history. I can say that the fi rst two jazz albums I ever listened to were ‘Kind of Blue’ and Coltrane’s ‘Blue

Train.’ ‘Kind of Blue’ is very laid back and calm and not great for those wanting a lot of excitement. ‘Blue Train’ is somewhat more exciting, but for those who are look-ing for a more simple, funky way to get into jazz, I would recom-mend Herbie Han-cock’s ‘Headhunters.’ This album is much more modern than ‘Kind of Blue’ and ‘Blue Train,’ and al-though it sounds like most of the instru-

ments are played by computers, most of them are, in fact, real people. Once you have ‘taken in’ some of this music, there are many different ways to go. You could turn to Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, or Count Basie for a more traditional style of Jazz, or you could look at the bop pe-riod, with Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gil-lespie. You could also check out more Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, or John Coltrane. You may not be satisfi ed right away. If, for example, you listen to John Coltrane’s ‘Blue Train’ album and can’t seem to get into it, you shouldn’t give up. There is such a wide selection of jazz, including different styles that you are bound to fi nd something you like. It is some of the most rewarding mu-sic there is, simply because of the diverse ways that musicians express themselves. If you can, try jazz. You might just like it.

Jazz is Hard?

lish teachers and grammar freaks! Every-

possessive “your” in their name—

a loyal fan base. If you’re a fan of bands like Mae, Iron and Wine, and

Katie NesmithMane News Opinion Editor

The DC Music Scene Booms

Jacob BaronMane News Staff Writer

An Unoffi cial Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Jazz

a Spanish sword fi ghter, and a Japanese fi ghter who is the most powerful of all. Just as Huo Yuanjia is about to fi ght the

Japanese fi ghter, he has a fl ashback about his entire life. It is this fl ashback that creates the bulk of the movie, explaining how he found himself competing against some of the best fi ghters in the world to de-fend his country’s honor. Fearless has some very good – not great – fi ght scenes. The martial arts are very stylized and bru-tal at the same time. As

much as I enjoyed the movie, I have to say that the action is not as good as re-

cent epic martial arts fi lms such as Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The fi ght scenes in Fear-less are more realistic so don’t expect to see fi ght-ers jumping 30 feet into the air. Another thing that made the movie less interesting than previ-ous fi lms is the minimal use of color. The back-grounds are very gray and sad looking. Hero actually uses vibrant color to highlight parts of the story. These two elements combined – the more realistic fi ght scenes and the lack of color – make the movie a little boring.

The movie has some good morals at the end, but I won’t spoil them. I will

tell you that Fearless is worth seeing for the important mes-sage it has about how to live your life. If you are a Jet Li fan and liked Hero and Crouching Tiger, Fearless is a must see because one of the world’s greatest martial arts masters isn’t coming back on fi lm. For everyone else, go see it for the interesting story about a man who learns some important lessons about life. Jet Li’s Fearless gets a 3.5/5

Fearless: Jet Li’s Last Stand

Style/Entertainment

www.photos12-vintage.com

www.friendster.comwww.hkmania.com

www.myspace.com/hotspur

www.myspace.com/sodamnthirsty

Charlie GillMane News Staff Writer

TCID:BW

Sportsthe Mane News10 October 20, 2006 the Mane News

After a miserable preseason, in which the Skins went 0-4, Redskins nation was wor-ried, especially after the shoulder injury to star running back, Clinton Portis, and the groin injury to shut-down cornerback, Shaun Springs, in the first pre-season game. Those worries were solidified by the first two games of the season. On the Mon-day night season opener, the Redskins lost to the Minnesota Vikings 19 to 16. Although the Red-skins fans took out their frustration on the kicker John Hall, who missed a game tying field goal with 17 seconds left, the dreadful offense was clearly at fault, failing to score a touch-down on three possessions in the red zone. In week two, the Redskins took on their hated rivals the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins looked as bad as ever, scoring only one touchdown off of a 100 yard kick return by Rock Cartwright. After two bad weeks by quarterback, Mark Brunell, many figured that Jason Campbell would get his shot in the pros, but coach Joe Gibbs stuck by Brunell. In week 3 the Redskins beat on the weak Houston Texas by a score of 31 to 15. Brunell silenced critics by throw-ing for 261 yards and one touchdown. Brunell also set a record for the most con-secutive completions with 22, although a majority of them were dink and dunk passes, but an improvement nonetheless. In week 4 the Redskins took on the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had the third

ranked defense in the NFL. The Redskins offense exploded in this game, which helped propel the Skins to a thrilling 36-30 overtime win. Clinton Portis, back from his injury, rushed for 112 yards and had one touchdown. However, the player

of the game was speedy Redskins wide receiver, Santana Moss, who had 4 receptions for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 68 yard pass for a touchdown which ended the game. After week 4, the of-fensive coordinator, Al Saunders, complicated yet effective offense looks to be clicking with fully loaded Red-skins offense. The de-fense, who gave up a couple big plays against

the Jaguars will improve when corner Shaun Springs and defensive tackle Joe Slave’ a return fro injury. This was a huge victory for the Redskins, because, had they lost, they would have been in a deep 1 and 3 hole, which would have crippled any shot at the playoffs, in a tough NFC East division. Now, with what seems to be a dangerous offense, the Redskins seem to be back on track. The Skins have a tough road ahead of them, playing divisional rival the New York Giants, and then the 4- 0 Indianapolis Colts. Despite their tough schedule, some fans still have playoff hopes. Junior Will Simmons says,” I will bet one hundred bucks that we will make the play-offs”. With a tough road ahead, the Redskins, now with the 3rd ranked offense, will be tested, but no matter what the outcome, they are sure to provide some excitement in D.C.

How ‘Bout Dem Redskins?

Last year the girl’s varsity soccer team went 14-3 and won both the ISL AA league and tournament. Last year, they have said goodbye to two College Divi-sion I players, but the biggest loss from last season is undoubtedly their coach. After three years at St. Andrew’s, for-mer coach Mr. Sheldon Phillips made the deci-sion to move on. His replacement, Coach Justin Reid, is no stranger to soccer. Reid graduated from Sandy Spring Friends School in 2001, ironically playing his last high school soccer game on our very own Hope Field. He then went on to go to Delaware University play-ing soccer all four years. Now, Reid has returned to the area to start his own soc-cer training business which is located in Greenbelt, Maryland. He has coached several NCSL soccer teams; however coaching a high school soccer team is something that is completely new to him.

Prior to the start of the season, when asked about how he plans on making sure the team remains successful Reid was quoted on his website as saying “We have to go into the season telling ourselves that we are not the defending champi-ons. Why? Because each season is dif-ferent, everyone starts at 0-0, and it is up to us to train hard and well to see that our game day performances are up to the

standards that we have set for ourselves. As long as everyone is focused, and can continue learn-ing the game and getting better, than, we should be just fine this season.” The girls still miss Coach Phillips, but are adjusting to Reid’s coaching style. Vesna Harasic a junior on the team, said that Reid values work ethic over

winning,:“Coach doesn’t care whether we win or lose, as long as we try hard. Some-times we lose and he tells us we played re-ally good, and sometimes we win, and he tells us we played really bad.” If something is clear about Coach Reid, it is his dedica-tion to the soccer team, and his desire to win and defend the girls’ title this year.

Out With The Old, In With The New

Lucas GarrisonMane News Staff Writer

Washington Looks To Rebound From Tough Pre-Season Reid Undertakes His First Season as

Girls Varsity Soccer Coach

Fall is always a crazy time in the world of college sports. College football brings out the best and the worst in the fans of various teams. The 2006 NCAA football season has been no different. The year started with Ohio State and Notre Dame ranked number 1 and 2 re-spectively in the country. Ohio State has proved them-selves as the team to beat this year, while Notre Dame suffered its first loss in a week 3 upset to Michigan. Ohio State and Notre Dame also possess the two top quarterbacks in the NCAA, Ohio State’s Troy Smith and Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn. St Andrew’s senior Joe Pe-

terson thinks that Brady Quinn is “by far the best player in college football.” Number two Auburn will likely secure a spot in the BCS (Bowl Championship Se-ries) National Championship Bowl with Ohio State, unless they blow it when they play fifth ranked Florida on October14th.

Third ranked University of Southern California has a very important game against ND on November 25th. Should Au-burn lose and USC remain un-defeated, USC would advance to the BCS championship bowl against top-ranked Ohio State. Senior Lucas Garrison has a different view. He thinks the University of Michigan, undefeated thus far, will go “undefeated and make it to the championship game,” al-though many analysts and fans

disagree with him. The first five weeks of the season have been very entertaining, and the weeks to come should only bring more excitement.

College Football OutlookSam GoldenbergMane News Staff Writer

Heisman Trophy Watch

Name Position School

Troy Smith QB Ohio State Adrian Peterson RB Oklahoma

Garrett Wolfe RB Northern Il-linois Brady Quinn QB Notre Dame Steve Slaton RB West Virginia Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech Chris Leak QB Florida Ted Ginn Jr. WR Ohio State Marshawn Lynch RB Cal Kenny Irons RB Auburn Mike Hart RB Michigan

Come On Guys, You All Watch Sports Center, Come Write For The

Sports Section...Talk To Amir Khan

Ian HendrieMane News Staff Writer

www.washingtonredskins.com

www.saes.org

www.abc.com

www.espn.com

www.espn.com

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October 20, 2006 11the Mane News

Over the last 10 years, there has been an increasing talk about the usage of ste-roids in baseball. It started back in 1998, when Mark McGwire was chasing Roger Maris’ single sea-son home run record. During the middle of his run, rumors started that what he was do-ing was violating the league rules of MLB.. The steroid talk qui-eted down until Jose Canseco, one of Mc-Gwire’s former team-mates on the Oakland A’s, released a book in which he revealed the names of many play-ers that he said that he had seen take steroids. Then in 2001, Barry Bonds was the center of steroid talk when his home run

numbers exploded from the year before and people were questioning the sud-den jump in his numbers. Not to mention the fact that during his historic season in 2001, Bonds was 37 years old. He was

a player whose best days were behind him. All one had to do was look at Bonds and one could see that he had gained tons of muscle from when he joined the San Francisco Giants back in 1993. That is where he met up with trainer Victor Conte, head of BALCO, a San Fran-cisco drug laboratory. In 2001, Conte’s house was searched by the po-lice and documents were found with the names of numerous athletes that he had given steroids to, in-

cluding steroids undetectable in drug tests,

known as “the clear.” The documents said he had supplied steroids to many big name athletes, including Barry Bonds. A grand jury was then put in place to investigate this. This led in Major League Baseball tak-ing action, and in January 2005, they im-plemented random drug testing. The pen-alty for a first time violator was a 10 day suspension. During the start of this pro-gram, there were no big names revealed. However in spring training of 2005, a grand jury document was leaked in which Jason Giambi, first baseman of the New York Yankees had admitted to the grand jury that he had used steroids in 2003, before the drug tests were put in place. Later that year, Barry Bonds’ grand jury testimony was leaked in which he admitted that he used a cream version of steroids, but said that he didn’t know it was steroids. The first big name dropped in August of 2005, when it was revealed that Rafael Palmero had failed the drug test. Palmero was one of the names in Canseco’s book. Palmero believed that he failed the drug

Baseball Players Strike Out with SteroidsBobby LewisMane News Staff Writer

Steroid Use Noticeably Increases in Major League Baseballtest due to a tainted B 12 shot that he said he got from teammate Miguel Tejada. This, however, was just the beginning. In spring training of 2006, the book, Game of Shadows, came out in which it said Barry Bonds had been using steroids from 1998 through 2003. Bonds denied the allegation and said that the book’s sources were wrong. This led to Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball to take action. Selig hired an investigator to find out if the book was right about Bonds using steroids. Then this past summer, Arizona Dia-mondback pitcher Jason Grimsley ad-mitted to not only using steroids, but to also supplying them to his teammates. Under the new rules, he was suspended for 50 games. Later David Segui said he also received drugs from Grims-ley, when they were teammates on the Baltimore Orioles in 2004 and 2005. There are many more players that are ru-mored to have used steroids, but at this time, no one has revealed their names.

to teaching photography. “Photography’s always been a hobby for me,” says Paxson. Paxson is a bit anxious, but turned the ner-vous energy into positive energy, making the daunting task of teaching high school photography much more approachable. History teacher Ms. Katherine Lou-derback graduated from Franklin and Marshall with a government major, and a minor in public policies. “I have al-ways loved kids, and my jobs have al-ways included working with them,” she comments on why she picked teaching. Louderback found St. Andrew’s through

Carnie Sando and Associates, an agency that takes a teacher’s resume and sends it out to a number of different schools. It was through them that Louderback met Mr. Segal and became interested. She teaches seventh grade history, which she is very happy about because it is a Civ-ics class, specializing in government. She also coaches tennis. Kelsey Freeman said, “Ms. Louderback is very warm and friend-ly and a great addition to our school!” While attending Duke University, history teacher Mr. Andrew Griffith traveled to many different places because of college grants. He lived in Ireland; Turkey, which “was the coolest experience”; and spent a

summer in Russia. After graduating from college, he taught in the Dominican Re-public. Although he’s traveled all over the world, Griffith grew up in DC and went to Sidwell Friends, and he knew he want-ed to return after so much time abroad. When looking for schools in the area to teach at, Griffith chose St. Andrew’s be-cause of its reputation. “I heard there was a bigger variety of different people and learning styles than at other schools in the area.” He had heard that it was much less competitive and “not as crazy” as some of the other schools in the area. Griffith is teaching tenth grade history as well as sixth grade geography. He became in-

terested in this subject because of a Civil Rights class that he took in college. They attended many demonstrations as part of their class. St. Andrew’s is very excited to welcome him into our community! “Who would have ever thought that I would be teaching again?” asked new Latin teacher Mr. David Hendricks. Hendricks has lived an interesting life that included teaching, owning his own busi-ness, and coaching basketball. A student of his said, “Mr. Hendricks is an awesome teacher, we all enjoy the energy he brings to class. He is fairly laid back which al-lows us to enjoy his class even more.”

New Teachers Bring New Enthusiasm to Communitycontinued from Page 3

After a rough 2005 season, it is clear that the determination and the dedication of the boys varsity soccer team has truly paid off for them; making them a huge improvement from last year’s team. Dur-ing the preseason trip to Pennsylvania, the team united as a group and worked very hard on their fitness as well as on the fundamental aspects of soccer to try to set the tone for the upcoming season. The hard work paid off and the team jumped out to a 4-3 record as well as a win in the Francisco Hope Tournament for the first time since the 2003 season. One aspect of this team that has made the biggest difference is the influence that the returning seniors have had on the rest of the team. Tom McMackin a junior co-captain for the second consecutive year comments on this by saying, “One of the main differences this year is that the team’s play has been an example of toughness and dedication set forth by the seniors. The team has really been charac-terized by these attributes.” In addition to the determination and dedication the se-niors have shown, the acquisition of a very strong freshman class has made a huge difference as well. This is most evident in the play of Darian Conklin, who with

the combination of speed and skill has become a serious offensive threat to op-ponents. The play of Darian Conklin and the rest of the freshman class has many student optimistic about the future for St. Andrew’s soccer in the years to come.

Without a doubt, the highest point of the boys’ varsity soccer team this year has been their victory in the Francisco Hope Tournament. In the first game of the tournament, St. Andrew’s defeated the Field School in dominating fashion, 2-0. Sophomore Alexander Zurn and Fresh-man Darian Conklin scored the two goals, as the defense shut down the offensive attack by Field. Sophomore Matt Sparks dominated in goal, stopping every shot

that came his way. The following day, the St. Andrew’s boys matched up against Sandy Spring for the championship game. Sandy Springs proved to be a very tough team, as they have dominated the Francis-co Hope tournament in the past, by win-

ning it 5 times out of the last ten years, and in the past two consecutive years. In addition, they had won their last 24 consecutive games, making them un-defeated in approximately one and one-half seasons. However, these statis-tics did not intimidate St. Andrew’s, as their moti-vation to win was evident from the very beginning of the game. In the first half

freshman sensation Conklin scored on a cross from junior Ian Hendrie. Later in the first half, senior co-captain Matt Dev-aney scored to give the lions a 2-0 lead. In the second half, Sandy Springs scored, and gained a little momentum but the strong St. Andrew’s defense led by Matt Sparks, Oscar Harasic, Matt Devaney, Mark Small and Tom McMackin, shut down the attack of Sandy Springs. Mc-Mackin said, “This defense nearly shut

down the Sandy Spring offense because of the fact that we denied almost every opportunity they had.” In the end, the final score was 2-1, with Matt Devaney earning the Most Valuable Player award and Darian Conklin, Matt Sparks, Oscar Harasic, Tom McMackin, and Ian Hendrie earning all-tournament team honors. This was the first tournament win since 2003, and the team did it in a dominating style. The strong play by St. Andrew’s con-tinued after the tournament win, which was especially evident during the two games against St. James. St. Andrew’s pulled off a very impressive over-time win, ending on a penalty kick by Ian Hendrie after a St. James defender caught a ball that was curving into the goal off of a corner kick. In the second game, St. Andrew’s won 5-2, with 1 goal and two assists from Ian Hendrie, and a goal each from Darian Conklin, Steve Webster, Brian Luzier, and Dan House. Overall, the change in attitude and the example of dedication of the seniors has truly paid off for this team. The de-sire to win on the field and the fighting instinct has made them a much more improved team from last year. With the strong leadership and a strong fresh-man class, the future for St. Andrew’s soccer is becoming brighter than ever.

Leading by Example: Building Toughness and Pride for the FutureErich RomeroMane News Staff Wrier

Sports

www.mlb.com

the Mane NewsSPORTS12 October 20, 2006

How The Teams Are DoingGirls Varsity Soccer: 4-6-0

Girls JV Soccer: 0-5-0Boys Varsity Soccer: 4-7-1

Boys JV Soccer: 1-7-1Girls Varsity Tennis: 3-5-0

Girls JV Tennis: 1-2-0Girls Varsity Volleyball: 0-9-0

Girls JV Volleyball: 4-4-0Boys Varsity Golf: 3-4-1

Homecoming ScheduleFriday October 20

9:55am – Tent Viewing2:00pm – Pep Rally

3:30pm – Varsity Golf v. Heights4:00pm – Girls Cross Country @ Bullis4:00pm – Boys Cross Country @ Bullis

4:15pm – Girls JV Soccer v. Maret4:15pm – Girls Varsity Volley Ball v. Seton School

5:30pm – Girls Volley Ball Senior Recognition

Saturday October 2110:00am – Walk-a-Thon

11:00am – Boys JV Soccer v. Maret11:00am – Girls V Soccer v. Maret

11:15am- Girls Cross Country Senior Recognition11:45am – Girls Varsity Tennis Senior Recognition

12:00pm – Girls Varsity Tennis v. Maret12:30pm – SAES Soccer v. SAES alumni2:30pm – Boys Varsity Soccer v. Maret

Ruth Faison

Ruth Faison

Ruth Faison

Ruth Faison

Steve Sparks

Steve Sparks

Gary Wyatt