soundings october 2011
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Fairfield Prep student newspaperTRANSCRIPT
F A I R F I E L D C O L L E G E P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O L
“Men for Others, Delivering News to Others”
Appalachia Immersion: A Must-Go
By Timmy Attolino ‘13
On June 17th, 15 students (including myself), 3 student leaders and 3 adult leaders began our trek to Fries, Virginia. We crammed all of our stuff into two 12 passengers vans, and departed the Fairfield Prep parking lot around 6 am. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I found
myself struggling to find answer this question: what am I really going to get out of my experiences and how will I use this to improve my life back home? I kept that question in the back of my head as we drove down, as well during every task we did.
Driving down, there was one thing that I distinctly noticed, and that was the nature. In the northeast and more specifically Fairfield County, we don’t really take into account how beautiful the land we live on is. Living in such close proximity to New York City, we have become used to giant skyscrapers and buildings
taking over. On the way down from Fairfield, I began to notice how the landscape began to change. In came the local gas stations and hometown businesses every 20 miles instead of McDonald’s at every corner. Now there were miles of fields and farms, with the highway just cutting through. As our journey progressed, I began to see the natural beauty of everything, and the key role in which God played in nature.
There are two experiences from our Appalachia trip that have been stuck in my mind very vividly over the past month or two. The first of these experiences took place on our fifth day in Fries. I was sent with a few other kids to a closed down elementary school. Our job was to clear out all the useable flowers, so that they could be transplanted at the new county school. They really didn’t have the money to purchase new flowers, and… See ‘Appalachia’ on pg. 3
FP October
2011
An Urban Plunge Reflection! Pg. 8
Letter from the Editor
October
2011
Soundings Ethan Doerger ‘13
Editor in Chief
Matt Craighead ‘12
Nick Martinez ‘13
Matt Contino ‘13
Arts Editors
Timmy Attolino ‘13
Liam Mason ‘14
Sports Editors
Will Coupe ‘13
Campus Life Editor
Brandon Yep ‘13
Science Editor
Matt and Ray Kingsbury ‘13
IPinion Editors
Mr. Frank Bramble
Faculty Advisor
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading our first issue last month! It was a great start to the year, but we at Soundings ready to keep marching forward.
We have a lot to be thinking about this time of year, whether you’re a Prep student, faculty member, or alumni. Perhaps you’re a student and your grades aren’t as high-caliber as you expected them to be as the first quarter draws to a close. Maybe you’re also busy with a sport, whether its football, soccer, or cross country and you can’t find time to get work done. Or maybe you’re a teacher here and you’re starting to scramble to get more tests and quizzes into your 1st quarter progress reports. Or as an alumnus, you could be dealing with a more difficult commute with the rainy weather and slippery road conditions going to work.
That’s why it’s important to take some time, maybe only a few minutes every day and do a little Examen as the great St. Ignatius taught us. Sitting back and just being present in the world will open your eyes to what God has in store for you today. Maybe pray for all those in the Prep family who are suffering from sickness or those who mourn their losses. Our Jesuit education has taught us this important technique, one that students such as myself regularly practice in our theology classes.
I hope everyone stays safe on Halloween night and enjoys the rest of the October issue!
Stay stress-free,
Ethan Doerger ‘13
Stories Ctd Appalachia…that made me realize that what seem like small expenses to us are very large expenses down here. We also cleared out dirt around the playground equipment so they could be moved to the Grayson County School as well. The second part of that 5th day was spent at the new school, moving lumber from the back of an adjacent field closer to the school. The job would’ve taken hours if it hadn’t been for some help. Mr. Alexander, the supervisor, offered us his own personal truck to transport the lumber to the school. He put his trust in total strangers, at first nature, to use his own personal truck, to make our job that much easier. Mr. Alexander even opened up to us and told us about one of his sons. His son’s goal was to attend Virginia Tech. At first, he went to the local community college for one year and applied, and didn’t get in. He then decided to join the Marines, and fight for his country for two tours. He returned to the US and again applied to Virginia Tech, and this time, he got in. A story like this shows how determined and dedicated people can be to reach their goals. I think back about this story all the time, and it keeps me motivated to reach my goals, no matter how strenuous they may be.
Both of these experiences taught me many things. They showed me how to be a better person, with God’s guidance. Mr. Alexander taught be how a little kindness goes a long way in life. He also taught me, with the story of his son, how dedication and hard work will always help to reach your goals.
There is one picture I can’t get out of my mind, and that is scene from behind the new Grayson County School. Directly behind the school is one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen in my entire life, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. The natural beauty in the Appalachian region is truly jaw dropping. The people take great efforts to preserve and maintain the beauty of the region, and their work is what makes the natural beauty stay as natural as it is.
Plunge… in the 1960’s. He told us a lot of stories and jokes and it was uplifting to be around him. He challenged whoever was willing to take him on to a game of scrabble. I played him along with a couple other kids. He was one of the best scrabble players I’ve ever seen.
Overall the Urban-Plunge experience was very simple yet rewarding. At first it seemed like the community didn’t want to accept us, but as we stayed and became involved in different things the community embraced us. I would definitely say this experience is a “must do” during your time at Prep.
October
2011
Sports
Prep Football Starts Off the
Season Tremendously Strong
By Timmy Attolino ‘13
After a disappointing season opening
loss to Daniel Hand, some people
questioned the legitimacy of the 2011
Fairfield Prep Jesuits football team. Prep
trekked up to Griswold, where Prep picked
up their first victory of the year, 21-14, in a
messy and muddy affair. Junior halfback Joe
McBride put the team on his back, rushing
for 115 yards and one touchdown. Senior
quarterback Tom Brewster held his own in
the tough conditions, rushing for a
touchdown and throwing a touchdown to
senior wide receiver Charlie Keady. With
confidence stemming from this victory, Prep
returned faced off against Wilbur Cross in
their home opener at Alumni Field. The
Bomb Squad was packed and out in full
force. Prep surely did not disappoint,
running all over Wilbur Cross 35-18. Tom
Brewster and Charlie Keady connected
again, on an acrobatic one handed catch by
Keady in the corner of the end zone. Morale
was very high as Prep faced Jonathan Law at
home. This game was over before it started.
Prep was in control virtually the entire game
and won handily, 34-0. Hopes are high for
this year’s Prep football team!
October
2011
Sports Prep Cross Country Staying Ahead of the Competition
By Liam Mason ‘14
The 2011 Fairfield Prep
cross-country team is certainly
one team that you should keep
an eye on. The #1 team in the
state has a completely stacked
team from the Freshman to
Varsity levels. The Varsity team
has the returning Gatorade
Runner of the year from
Connecticut, in Connor Rog
(pictured right). But, it’s not just
Rog who is winning the
meets, but it is a true team
performance. Perhaps the most impressive performance from the team came this past weekend,
in the Woods Trail Run, in Thetford, Vermont. The meet had the tops teams from all of New
England. The Prep team came in a close second place, which is certainly a great performance.
Connor Rog came in first place out of over 700 racers, which is also a great accomplishment. Do
not be surprised if you see some more top finishes for Prep this season and certainly keep an eye
on the Prep runners!
October
2011
Picture Taken from www.courant.com
Arts Jazzuits are Prep’s Pep Band
Nick Martinez ‘13 You’re a student a Fairfield
Prep, yes? Of course you are. So,
it goes without saying that you are
simply bursting at the seams with
pride for your school and pounce
upon every opportunity you get to
display this pride in public, does it
not? You wear your Bomb Squad
shirt everywhere you go. You
wouldn’t be caught dead without
your red and white Prep socks, and
you even wear your Prep
sweatpants under your dress pants
on form occasions. And your favorite place to express your Prep pride? In the Bomb Squad at
Prep’s home games, of course! Well, then you’ll be delighted to hear that the Jazzuits, Prep’s
very own extra-curricular Jazz band, is now helping the Bomb Squad bring the Prep pride to our
home football and basketball games as Prep’s Pep band. That’s right! With the Jazz band at all
our home games, you can look forward to Prep pride being at an all-time high. And, as if this
wasn’t already the most exciting development of this school year, the band is asking for song
suggestions to the student body. Yes, you get to pick the songs you will hear at the games. All
you have to do is give your suggestions to your friendly neighborhood Jazzuit. So, next time
you’re cheering in the Bomb Squad, you won’t be alone—the Jazzuits will be right there beside
you, helping you cheer Prep’s sports teams right on to victory to the tune of your favorite songs.
October
2011
Arts Album Review: J Cole-Cole
World: The Sideline Story
By Matt Craighead ‘12 Basically, the whole album is amazing from
the intro all the way to the bonus track
Daddy’s Little Girl. J Cole’s real name is
Jermaine Cole. A few of
the songs had been
released on mix tapes that
Cole released for free.
These songs include In
the Morning (feat.
Drake), Lights Please,
and an older version of
Lost Ones.
The intro starts off the album in an
interesting way in that the listener hears
commentary from Mr. Cole talking about
how he spent one night in jail after getting
stopped by the cops just after he had been
signed to a record deal and they were
“celebrating”. It is a very raw moment and
great way to start not only the album but
also his career with a record deal. Can’t Get
Enough (feat. Trey Songz) is a great song
that has really grown on me in the past few
weeks. He did his part and succeeded and
got his thoughts across clearly. In the
Morning (feat. Drake) is a classic song that
was off his most recent full-length mix tape
called Friday Night Lights. Lost Ones is a
very heartfelt song where Cole raps back
and forth with the mother of his
unborn child (he plays both
parts)-debating whether or not
to keep the baby.
Rise and Shine is
probably my favorite of the
songs I hadn’t heard before
listening to the album. The
rhythm is upbeat and it sounds
like a perfect song to get a football team
pumped up before running out onto the field
and while running out there. God’s gift is
another great song, and Jermaine’s Flow and
Style is top-notch. Last, but not least, is
Breakdown where Cole talks about seeing
his father for the first time, and he breaks
down hence the song title. Overall the album
shows great versatility and maturity and just
pure talent. Album rating: 9.5/10 stars.
October
2011
Campus Life
Urban Plunge Reflection By Will Coupe ‘13
Urban Plunge, to those who haven’t experienced it, sounds like taking a dip in dirty city
water. Those who have experienced it know it is a very eye-opening experience. A group of
students spends a few days living in one of the poorest communities in Bridgeport. It all started
with a walk to the Fairfield Bus Station as we navigated our way to Bridgeport using public
transportation. What would normally be a ten-minute car ride took us about an hour and forty-
five minutes. As we walked from the bus stop to our destination, still in our prep attire, people
were telling us to get the hell out of their neighborhood. Most of us were scared, nervous and felt
vulnerable. We just kept walking. We arrived at the parish center at St. Charles Church, the place
where we were staying and it was very basic.
Over the three days we lived very simply. Food was at a premium and many of us were
complaining about hunger, which is not something were used to since we can usually just grab a
snack out of our pantry at home. This gave us a better understanding of the community in our
own backyard and that some of the people there go to bed hungry every night.
We also spent time volunteering at two different schools during our stay in Bridgeport.
The teacher at Beardsley School asked me to help this one child who was struggling. This
experience was rewarding I really think I helped this kid, I had really bonded with some kids and
by the time it was ready to go a lot of them did not want me to leave. I played with kids at the St.
Ambrose after school program. I started talking to a boy who was sitting quietly by himself. I
helped him with a puzzle; we played tic-tac toe and other games. By the end of the day he really
came out of his shell and was even singing the Katy Perry song “Hot and Cold”. Even though
these kids don’t have a lot they enjoy the simple things like playing a game and singing a song,
just like us. By the end of our stay at St. Ambrose, the kids asked if we were coming back on
Monday and told us they really wanted us to come back.
On our last day at the center, we had dinner with some of the local people. There was one
man named Porter who had moved to Bridgeport from Alabama… see ‘Plunge’ on pg. 3
October
2011
Campus Life R.E.A.C.H
By: Brandon Yep’13
R.E.A.C.H is an acronym that stands for Realize, Excel, Achieve, Courage and Hope.
Words that everyone in life needs to remember. REACH was founded by junior Brandon Yep
during the second semester of 2010. Brandon who is
the oldest sibling of three children has a brother who
was born with a very rare brain disorder called
Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (ACC). The Corpus
Callosum connects the left and right parts of the brain
together. It is the largest white matter area in the brain,
consisting of 200–250 million connections. Timothy
was born without any of his Corpus Callosum. It’s
similar to having a city separated by water with a lot of
traffic that has to cross. However, there is no bridge to
connect both sides. His brother’s focus, hard work and
determination to be better have inspired him to create REACH. REACH is a club focused on
supporting kids with special needs.
REACH was started with the help of Mrs. O’Reilly, a Biology teacher at Prep. Mrs.
O’Reilly serves as the club’s moderator and oversees the operations and planning of events and
club meetings. REACH started initially with only a few members and has grown to about 20
consistent members today. Brandon says that he wants to expand REACH to about 40 people by
the end of this year. What a better way to be “men for others,” than serving those with special
needs. REACH meets a few times a month. There are a few events every month that are
announced a couple weeks in advance. Everyone is welcome!
Please contact President Brandon Yep for more info at [email protected]
October
2011
National News
A Spotlight on the Innocence Project By Joseph A SanFilippo ‘13
A very important organization that most people may not have heard of is the Innocence
project. The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal clinic created by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J.
Neufeld in 1992. The project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to
exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal
justice system to prevent future injustice. Most of their clients are poor, forgotten, and have used
up all legal avenues for relief. The hope they all have is that biological evidence from their cases
still exists and can be subjected to DNA testing. All Innocence Project clients go through an
extensive screening process to determine whether or not DNA testing of evidence could prove
their claims of innocence. Thousands currently await their evaluation of their cases. To date the
Innocence project has helped exonerate 273 people in the United States by DNA testing,
including 17 who served time on death row. These people have served an average of 13 years in
prison before exoneration and release and most have been compensated for their time in prison.
Of the 273 people exonerated 3 have been from Connecticut. There are names are
Kenneth Ireland, Roman Miguel, and James Tillman. Kenneth was convicted of felony murder
and sexual assault in 1989. He unfortunately was a victim of mis-identification by the part of
witnesses. No actual evidence was ever found to convict him. The innocence Project used DNA
evidence to rule out Ireland as the perpetrator and he was exonerated in 2009. Miguel was
convicted in 1990 of murder and was exonerated in 2009. He was a victim of being interrogated
in English when he was fluent in Spanish. Again thanks to DNA evidence all charges were
dropped. And lastly Tillman was convicted of sexual assault in 1989. He was the victim of bad
work by the forensic analyst which wrongly convicted Tillman. Again like all the other cases the
Innocence project used DNA analysis to prove that Tillman was innocent.
October 2011
World News Amanda Knox: 4 Years of Hell
By Joseph A SanFilippo ‘13 On the night of November 1, 2007, Amanda Knox’s life was changed forever. It was on
that night that the murder of 21 year old Meredith Kercher took place at her flat. Knox at that
time was a 20-year-old University of Washington language student who shared a flat with
Kercher and Rudy Guede and Raffale Sollecito. She was in Perugia attending the University for
Foreigners for one year, studying Italian, German and creative writing.
4 years later Amanda Knox’s story has polarized the world. After the murder Knox was
reportedly interrogated by Italian police for over 14 hours straight and was denied her basic civil
rights. In the end the interrogators got her to sign papers which helped prosecutors in 2009 get
Knox convicted of murder where the prosecutor described the death of Meredith Kercher as a
“Sex game gone wrong.” After being convicted of murder she and her former boyfriend
Sollectico decided to appeal their convictions. This announcement started almost a year and a
half of constant tabloid headlines, media scrutiny, and predictions for the trial. Tabloid
journalists had depicted Knox as a sex-crazed party girl whose quest for thrills drove her to
commit murder. One of the more positive aspects for the appeal was that the DNA was declared
illegitimate and false by an independent review which deemed the prosecution’s DNA evidence
sample too small or too contaminated to be used to convict Ms. Knox. Furthermore, Italian
officials had made claims that were proven false. These include “The cottage was cleaned with a
bleach solution following the murder. In fact, police video shows that traces of blood were
found in many places in the cottage, and there is no evidence that cleaning took place in the
hours between the murder and the discovery of the body. The receipts that showed the purchase
of bleach by Knox the morning after the murder simply did not exist. Because of these facts and
after a somewhat lengthy appeal Knox was acquitted of the murder charge on October 3, 2011.
Many people in America were sympathetic to Knox and thought she was a victim of an
international legal system. Some sympathize with the family of Meredith Kercher who believe
that Amanda was let go as someone who used the media to her advantage. But all Amanda cares
about now is that she is free and has awoken from a 4 year nightmare.
October 2011
iPinion App of the Month – Real Racing 2
By Matt Kingsbury ‘13
This iPod app is just stunning; the realistic looking
graphics gives it a great look that pulls it over the edge. The
racing in the game is also very good and the computer drivers
race you very hard, and with a field of 16 that is twice as many
cars as in Forza. The app also allows you to hook up to your TV
and play it off your TV while the iPhone shows your car’s
telemetry items. You can also upgrade your race car so that you
can be more competitive in a race while you go up against
Mustangs, Camaros, BMWs, and even the 2012 McLaren MP4-
12C which is a stunning car all in its own. Overall this app will keep you entertained for hours on
end and if you enjoy a good racing app it is worth the $4.99.
Battlefield 3 Beta Review
By Matt Kingsbury ‘13
After playing the Battlefield 3 beta that was
released to the public to try I am greatly astounded by this
game. Battlefield 3 unleashes new strategies and playing
styles, the map Caspian Border is a traditional Battlefield
map which uses a large area and includes vehicles such as
tanks, jets, and attack helicopters. Unlike Caspian Border,
Operation Metro is a map that is more “Call of Duty”
inspired, with teams fighting in close quarters in an
outdoors park environment, then into a subway system,
and eventually reaching a small city block. Overall this game will provide endless fun for both
the casual player and diehard gamer.
October
2011
iPinion
In Memory of Steve Jobs By Matt Kingsbury ‘13
1955-2011
On the day of October 5th, 2011 the world lost
one the greatest minds, Steve Jobs, to cancer.
Steve was the co-founder of Apple and had a
driving passion to bring us many new things.
Some of his products included the iPhone, the
Mac and the iPod. These electronics would give
great joy to the customers who purchased them.
Steve also was in the movie industry; he had
purchased Pixar from Lucasfilms and made it
into a reputable company. Pixar would
eventually team up with Disney and produce
movies such as the Toy Story movies and Cars.
Steve will always be remembered for his
visionary accomplishments. In both the animated
movie business and in the electronic computing and devices business with his iPods, iTouches,
iPhones, and the iPad and Mac products which millions of people worldwide cherish and enjoy.
We can see that Steve Jobs will be truly missed from the multiple demonstrations and articles
which were done in memory of him.
October
2011
Picture Taken from www.Apple.com