January 16, 2009Volume 53, Issue 6 McLean High School; 1633 Davidson Road, McLean, VA 22101Highlander

David BerkSports Editor

Despite the fact that McLean is ranked 55th in U.S News and World Reports latest ranking of public high schools nationally, a comparison of Mclean Student Ser-vices data to College Board data indicates that the per-formance of McLeans Class of 2009 merely mirrored na-tional averages on SAT subject exams in French, Physics and Spanish.

For the three exams, on the 200-800 scale the average scores of McLean students were 610, 647 and 640, respec-tively. The average scores of students in the Class of 2008 nationally were 620, 650 and 640, respectively, according to the College Board.

In contrast, on all other SAT subject tests that members of the McLean Class of 2009 took, they scored substan-tially higher than did students nationally. On the Chem-istry, World History, and Literature subject tests, for in-stance, McLean students on average scored 728, 677 and 660, respectively, versus national averages of 635, 584 and 580, respectively.

French teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair Ghislaine Tulou and Spanish teacher Adam Stryker both attributed the scores on the tests in their areas of ex-

pertise in part to what they believe the SAT exams actu-ally measure.

The SAT II Spanish Test without listening is an achievement test that seeks to evaluate the knowledge about the language, not [the] functional aspect--what students can do with the language, what some call pro-ficiency or fluency in a language, Stryker said.

In addition, both teachers inquired as to the creden-tials of the 11 students who took the French exam and the seven who took the Spanish exam, including grade and course level (1, 2, 3, 4, AP, or 5).

In separate interviews, Tulou and Stryker both indi-cated that they had not been aware of McLean students performance on the exams in their respective languages, relative to that of students nationally. Neither saw the performance of McLean students as a cause for alarm.

Our students are learning how to communicate in the language above all, Tulou said. Our performance assessments (PALS) drive the instructional program in our classes. College alumni who come back to visit us always comment on how well they are able to commu-nicate with the

continued on page 6

French, Physics, Spanish SAT scores at national averages

Members make final decision concerning higher weights for APs ThursdaySchool board debates changes to grading scaleNikki KaulReporter

At a Fairfax County Public School Board work session last Monday, the board leaned towards the decision to increase weights on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes from 0.5 to 1.0.

If this decision passes through at the next meeting on Thursday, it will go into effect at the end of the first semester for the 2008-2009 school year. The hope for this plan is that seniors will have greater chances of re-ceiving merit scholarships.

If it is passed, the 1.0 credit will be ap-plied to previous years transcripts for AP and IB classes. This retroactive weighting would affect students current GPAs.

At the next meeting, a decision about any changes to the actual ten-point grading scale will also be made.

However, the possibility of weighting for honors courses will be researched for a little longer by the school board to make a more informed decision. A decision will most like-ly be made next year.

Before the Monday session, FAIR-GRADE, an organization that has been protesting Fairfax County Public Schools grading scale for over a year now, presented their arguments at a widely publicized school board meeting Jan. 8 at Luther Jackson Mid-dle School.

Principal Dr. Deborah Jackson is an ad-vocate for the new honors weighting system to help McLean students get more attention that she feels they deserve.

Honors courses were never really viewed as rigorous as AP courses, but seeing how hard students were working in those classes, we saw how much responsibility honors stu-dents were shouldering, Jackson said.

FAIRGRADE advocates for a plan known as Option D, which consists of a 10-point grading scale with pluses and minuses for each letter grade, and increased weights for honors, AP and IB classes.

Students, like sophomore Ellen Loftis, find the current grading scale more demand-

ing than encouraging. Getting recognized for our efforts in courses would be a nice change, Loftis said.

Josephine Cervantes, a member of FAIR-GRADE, said at the school board meeting, 46 percent of students will benefit from the grading scale change, and will gain more ac-cess and admission to institutions of higher standards.

At the school board meeting, several par-ent speakers presented their arguments to the grading situation, including McLean parent

George Longwell. Our grading scale is like asking our stu-

dents to run a ten-yard dash and start ten yards behind, Longwell said.

According to Marcy Newberger, a Co-founder and Vice President of FAIRGRADE, the school boards attitude towards FAIR-GRADEs cause at the work session was a pleasant surprise. I think the school board understands a grading scale change to our outdated grading system is much needed.

The current situation with the grading

policies for Fairfax County is at a standstill until Thursday, when the school board will hold another meeting at Luther Jackson Middle School to make the decision .

According to Fairfax County Public School Board Executive Assistant Kathy Partlow, a final decision on the grading scale and the 1.0 credit being added to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes is expected to be finalized on Thurs-day.

Parents in support of FAIRGRADE and changes to the grading scale watch the Jan. 12 school board meeting held to discuss the issue. The meeting was so highly attended that they had to watch the meeting via television in nearby classrooms. Though no official decision has been made, the board has indicated that increased weights will be added to AP and IB courses starting this year.

photo by Talia Roth

The Super-bowl is just a few weeks away. See our predictions for the big game on page 19

Learn how lo-cal businesses are suffering

because of the bad economy, on

page 5

French Spanish PhysicsWorld History ChemistryLiterature

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A comparison of the SAT Subject test scores of McLean class of 2009 students* and the national class of 2008** showed that McLean students were well behind national averages in French, Spanish, and Physics.

All scores are scaled (200-800) allowing for comparison among scores from different test dates.*Source: McLean High School Profile 2008-2009

**Source: Understanding Your SAT Scores, College Board

Preparations for One Acts are underway. Get a sneak peek

at the featured shows on page 12

How does McLean stack up to private schools? Find out on pages 10 and 11

Cammie MeadeReporter

Imagine trying to organize a concert for thousands of people with some of Hollywoods hottest names performing and attending. This is the dream that junior Sara Levi is trying to make a reality in the form of the Songs for a Smile concert.

Levi and Katie OBrien, a se-nior at Centreville, are organizing the Songs for a Smile concert to raise money for charities that fund research and support Crohns dis-ease and other diseases.

OBrien acquired the disease during middle school. Crohns is an irritable bowel disease that at-tacks the intestines and causes ex-treme discomfort. Often, it can led to inflammation and skin rashes. Extreme weight loss is also a side effect of the disease, in addition to diabetes and arthritis.

I was in the awkward middle school years when I first developed the disease, so trying to be like ev-eryone else was extremely difficult, OBrien said. However, I like hav-ing Crohns now, which sounds bad, but it makes me who I am.

Levi and OBrien first connect-ed through their love of the Jonas Brothers, and became closer.

Katie was having a hard time dealing with her Crohns and had always talked to me about wanting to help people who are in the same situation, Levi said. Eventually, since she and I both love music, we came up with the idea for a benefit concert that could fund Crohns

charities.When first trying to get started,

the girls ran into many dead ends. It took a while to start and a lot of persistence, but we finally got in touch with people that

could help us make it happen and who graciously gave us their sup-port, Levi said.

While trying to contact the Jonas Brothers, Levi and OBrien were put in contact with Joyce Be-litsky, a good friend of theirs.

She has been a key factor in helping things move along and go in the direction its going, Levi

said. Due to the current popularity

of the Jonas Brothers, it has been a struggle to try to schedule a date that works for all of the perform-

ers. As of press time, the date was still unclear.

The organizers have high hopes and intend to book many high profile stars to attend and perform. Possible performers include the Jo-nas Brothers, Push Play, Raised by Radio, Demi Lovato, and Miley Cyrus.

Wed really really like Miley

to help and be involved with the process, since shes very proactive about causes and does whatever she can for charity, Levi said.

In addition, Levi would like to have stars such as

H i l a r y

Duff, the Twilight cast, and people from the Disney Channel attend.

One critical part of the organiz-ing process was booking a location. Levi contacted the Patriot Center first by writing them a letter.

However, the costs of the event are adding up and the organizers are brainstorming ways to raise money.

As far as the money goes, weve thought up some crazy fundrais-ing ideas that could get us money for the acts and the event, Levi said. All of the funds from ticket sales will go directly to charities, al-though the charities have not been named at this time.

An important step the organizers have been researching is the public-ity and press needed to make the event successful. There are a lot of magazines out there, like Seventeen and Teen Vogue that really promote activism and youth service, Levi said. So we think this could be an interesting story for them.

The concert is not going to be the only attraction of the Songs for a Smile event.

Wed like it to be an all-day sort of bamboozlefest with a lot of other acts during the day, as an opening thing and a way to auction things and raise money, Levi said.

In order to make this event re-ally special, children from around the area who are living with Crohns disease are going to attend the con-cert and interact with the perform-ers. Ideas such as having the kids come up and sing a song with a performer have been planned to make the day memorable for the children.

If you would like to help out with funding the concert or give your support, Levi and OBrien have created a Facebook group and a website. For more information, check out the facebook group or log on to songsforasmile.com.

Highlander January 16, 20092 NEWS

McLean student shoots for the st rs

Tutoring programs underwayBitter cold, but no snow in sight

Ned BurchfielManaging Editor

Some of the worst cold in recent years should hit the Washington Metropolitan Area today, with highs well below freezinga rare eventand lows nearing the single digits. Unfortu-nately, theres no snow to accompanying it.

January has been a depressing month for snow lovers region-wide. When heavy rain over-took McLean near the beginning of the month, temperatures kept roads wet and kids in school. But now, on one of the coldest days this decade, the skies remain snow-free.

Cold air and upper-level moisture--the two ingredients that produce snow--are hard to find in conjunction. High-pressure systems can supply plenty of cold, but the air they bring in tends to be dry and cloudless. Moisture is abundant in low-pressure systems, but they can also drag in above freezing temperatures from the south. The right combination of cold and moist air hasnt arrived yet this season.

This news is not all depressing, especially for Inauguration attendees. The Global Forecast-ing System, a weather model that makes predictions two weeks into the future, shows flurries overspreading the area from noon to 6 p.m. next Tuesday. Although much of this precipitation could evaporate in the atmosphere, students shouldnt lose hope.

Those planning to ski or snowboard over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday have reason to be optimistic. Two Clipper systems could bring powder to resorts like Wisp and Snowshoe, yet it will be hard to enjoy the snow in subfreezing temperatures.

This blast of arctic temperatures, notable even for January, should abate by the months end. As for snow? Well, theres always February.

Devan KerleyNews Editor

The school community is proud of its 55, to say the least. It didnt get there without hard work, however. Many programs have been introduced recently to elevate the schools standard of excellence.

Among these are after-school teacher-led tutoring programs MHS Prep Plus and Area 255, which have been available for the first time this year to help fresh-men and honors students with schoolwork. Despite the twice-a-week availability, relatively few students have been taking advantage of them.

MHS Prep Plus, tutoring specifically for students taking or planning to take their first AP or Honors class, sees about ten students a week in its location in G279, tutor and Spanish teacher Nicole Whitmill said.

We would definitely like to see more students, Whitmill said. Despite our efforts to widely advertise, it is an issue getting people aware of whats available for them.

Area 255, providing tutoring for freshman, is only slightly busier. Still, its an improvement from last year, Whitmill and Area 255 tutor Ginnie Quarry said.

Area 255 and Prep Plus began as part of the same program three years ago. They were part of a grant from the county called Teacher Leadership Develop-ment. Last year tutoring started for the first time, but only on Saturdays.

The turnout was not great on Saturdays, Quarry said. It was moved to weekdays this year to ensure additional support was in place

for students, principal Dr. Deborah Jackson said. Were putting the tools out there to help students.

With tutoring offered on Mondays and Thursdays now, more students are at-tending. Five or six teachers are available each day to help students.

Over three years, its evolved, Quarry said. This year has been the most suc-cessful.

Freshman David Sacks often goes to G255 on Mondays and Thursdays. Its helpful if you have poor grades or if you want a place to study, Sacks said. The low attendance for Area 255, Sacks said, is not because freshmen dont know about it, but because theyre not motivated to come.

The tutoring is a win-win situation for students who do attend. Youre get-ting the services of someone who could be charging 50 or 100 dollars for free, Whitmill said.

The fledgling program is not well established yet, but its possible effects are promising.

Its hard to say what the results are going to be, but I cannot see how it cant help to improve students averages, Whitmill said. I dont see any negative to it.

An estimated 500,000 people in the US have Crohns disease

Most people are diagnosed with Crohns disease

between the age of 15 and 35

Men and women are at equal risk

to develop Crohns disease

20 percent of people diagnosed with the

disease have a blood relative with some form

of inammatory bowel disease

Crohn's Disease is a chronic

inammation of the digestive

track

info courtesy of http://www.humira.com/ and http://www.justcrohns.com

photo by Devan Kerley

HighlanderJanuary 16, 2009 3NEWS

Moises Cazal News Editor

Students from theatre and film stud-ies classes have been invited to partici-pate in the Illinois State Society Inau-gural Gala held on Monday, Jan. 19. Similar to Project Enlightenment, the 23 students chosen by Theatre teacher Mrs. Denise Perrino will be portraying famous people from Illinois during the six hour long gala.

The excitement began when Prin-cipal Dr. Deborah Jackson received an e-mail from a former colleague inviting McLean to participate and asked me if we would like to do it, Perrino said. It was really exciting when we were asked, it was like Wow! The students were picked to portray these characters be-cause of the Illinois heroes theme de-

signed by the Illinois State Society. The Gala is comprised of a recep-

tion, dinner, and the ball which will finish at 1:30 a.m. Students will re-search assigned individuals from Il-linois and will have to be in character throughout the Gala. The assigned personages range from Superman and Pop-Eye to Ulysses S. Grant. Dressed up in costumes, the students will rotate around rooms and mingle with the guests. They will also have a break room where they rest and re-fresh.

The event will take place at the Marriot Renaissance Hotel in Wash-ington, D.C. and will be attended by political, corporate, and Hollywood honorary guests. Students also look forward to the possibility of meet-

ing President-Elect Barack Obama who will be attending the event. Im looking forward to seeing him and being in the same room as him, junior Olivia Applewhite, who will be por-traying Jackie Joyner Kersee, said.

Junior Elaina Kaiser agrees and also looks forward to meeting Obamas chil-dren.

I will be portraying Raggedy Ann so I hope his kids will be interested in talking to me, Kaiser said.

Tickets to the Gala are sold out and students feel grateful at their ability to attend.

Its really cool that McLean got an opportunity to be a part of it, Apple-white said. Ill remember it for the rest of my life.

Student Participation in the Inauguration

This is a great experience because its the first time we have had a black president and it is a great change.- Jordan Saffer, sophomore

My moms friends daughter from college is coming to spend the night in our base-ment for the inauguration.

-Abby Neuberger, freshman

I am a strong supporter of Barack Obama and Im happy to be seeing him sworn in as

president.-Nader Sobhani, sophomore

Im going to a Verizon party in

honor of the inauguration.- George Wilkes, sophomore

I think Ill just stay at home and keep off the busy streets. Id much rather watch it on t.v.

-Megan Sanders-Smith, junior

Im going to the Inauguration-al Ball hosted by Obama. This is such a historical moment and not many people get to have this experience.- Emily Dozier, senior

photo by Mohammad Tavakoli

Film studies, theatre students to attend inaugural ballTheatre and film studies students have been chosen to participate in the Illinois state Society Inaugural Gala. The 23 students attending will portray famous people from Illinois and will stay in character throughout the six hour-long Gala.

info and photos by Torin Liberthson- Brown

Student participationin the inauguration

Sarah AlbaniOnline Editor

Spring Hill Elementary School students might recog-nize a familiar face sitting behind the beige desk in the clinic; previous Spring Hill nurse of fourteen years, Anne Labbe, will be will be manning the clinic due to the recent retirement of longtime nurse, Anne George.

Beginning Jan. 5, Labbe assumed the position of sub-stitute clinic aid, which she will hold until the end of Feb-ruary. The Fairfax County Health Department, in charge of hiring school clinicians, has decided not to rehire a full-time replacement nurse for the rest of the 2008-09 school year, as a result of the current economic downturn.

All clinic room duties are over seen by the Health Department, Elizabeth Donaldson, FCPS Health and Home Instruction specialist said. The school system has a relationship with the Health Department. They hire the substitutes and volunteers, and develop schedules.

Next year, the Health Department will retract one of its traditional responsibilities of supplying and funding clinic aids to Fairfax County schools, which it has been doing for many years now. Due to the widespread necessity of this full-time position at all three school levels, county su-perintendent Jack Dale anticipates that the school district will have to compensate for this loss, covering the cost of providing each school with a nurse for the coming school year, according to Principal Dr. Deborah Jackson.

The budget crisis has struck severe enough to induce a proposal within the county to eliminate the clinic room aid position entirely. Thats pretty sad, said Jackson of this possibility. We have students as well as staff mem-bers, who often have medical needs, and to have someone thats not trained having to address some of those needs, is not always the best solution.

Next month, the Board of Supervisors will meet to dis-cuss this modification in more detail, with consideration to the coming years budget.

Highlander January 16, 20094 NEWS

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Bryan KressReporter

Kimberly Carneys departure left a vacant spot for an assistant principal position. While a permanent assistant principal has not been chosen, a former administrator has temporarily taken the role. Paul Jones has returned from retirement to fill in while the administrators look for a permanent replacement. Jones has the advantage of com-ing to a school he used to serve.

I was the Assistant Principal for 12 years, so Im not a stranger to the school, just the students, Jones said.

Jones has taken up the duties left by Carney. He helps with leadership class and testing services. Jones says that his powers are designated and wont go past his duty.

I hope to help guide the student body and respond to any concerns from the school community, Jones said.

Jones eased into his duties during December in which he was getting a feel about the school.

I got re-acclimated with the school and greeted peo-ple I used to know. It was the testing of the water week, he said.

There are several faculty members that were around during Jones 12 years at McLean. Jones made it a priority to visit these teachers and administrators.

It was like coming back home after youve been away and seeing your brothers and sisters, Jones said.

While Jones has settled into McLean once again, he insists that his time at the school is not permanent. I am temporary, but it could be a long temporary. I have said that Im available until the end of the year, Jones said.

Jones joined the staff in 1986. He came to from Hern-don High School where he was a sub-school administra-tor. He also served at Falls Church High School as an administrative assistant and Hughes Middle School. At Hughes Middle School, Jones worked alongside Dr. Deb-orah Jackson, who was the principal.

Familiar faces step in to fill vacant positions

Newsby the

umbersN

Rubina SarkisianReporter

Not everyone recognizes every teacher or administrator like John Hollowell. He is recognized by students quite often but many of them dont know his true position.

Hollowell is the current Acting Director of Student Ser-vices. Which in student talk means the guidance director, Hollowell said. His role doesnt just include the guidance counselors. He essentially oversees the entire guidance de-partment, Activities Director Tom Herman said.

The feeling of respect and hard work makes the working environment an enjoyable place for Hollowell.

I like the school, the people in it, the way things are done, and the way students treat the teachers, Hollowell said. I also enjoy working with Dr. Jackson; shes a great principal and a wonderful person.

Students thought that Hollowell was only here for a cou-ple of months but according to Hollowell, he doesnt know how long he will be here.

I told Dr. Jackson that I would do this as long as she wanted or needed me to, Hollowell said.

Hollowells job is temporary but he is qualified to do it. This is the second time he has been the Director of Student Services. He did it 3 or 4 years ago while we were in the transition of switching directors. He was also a principle, so he has experience.

Prior to being Guidance Director, Hollowell also acted as the principle of Madison High School. Before Dr. Jack-son offered Hollowell the job in August, Hollowell was seen around as a substitute teacher. I only sub at McLean. I love it, I dont care what the subject is, Hollowell said.

He has been here all year so far and he will probably be here for the rest of this school year, and once thats over he will probably go back to subbing here, Herman said.

According to Herman he works well. Hes very friendly and he is always very willing to help, Herman said. If he doesnt know the answer he will always find it some way.

photo by Mohammad Tavakoli photo by Mohammad Tavakoli photo by Sarah Albani

8thousand police officers assigned for crowd con-trol during the inauguration

10million dollars proposed in bud-get cuts for FCPS next year

4,700injured since the beginning of the Gaza strip conflict

Acting Director of Student Services John Hollowell. Temporary nurse Anne Labbe replaced nurse Anne George.Paul Jones fills in for the vacant administration position.

days until President-Elect Barack Obama is sworn into office.

43NFL games left in the season

HighlanderJanuary 16,2009 5NEWS

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Ryan FlammReporter

Metro construction around Pike 7 Plaza is significantly reducing busi-ness in the shopping center. The plaza contains stores like GameStop, Starbucks, and Golds Gym.

The construction has blocked off many of the centers main parking lot entrances, including most of the Leesburg Pike entrances. This has created much confusion and frustra-tion surrounding the Plaza.

The construction gives the center the appearance of being closed be-cause the stores are a distance from Leesburg Pike making it hard to see the individual store signs. Shoppers are discouraged from entering the shopping center at all, hurting the stores business.

It is extremely troublesome, local shopper Jared Mack said. I

didnt know how to get around the construction.

Store mangers agree and blame construction for loss of clientele.

Lines used to be much longer than they are now, TJ Maxx store manager said. It takes 15 minutes to get in, so people give up and say theyll come back later.

The amount of time required for people to get into the Pike 7 Plaza prevents many who dont have time to drop in during their lunch breaks anymore, reducing the stores lunch time rush.

All the stores can do is hope that the Metro will bring business back to the shopping center. The increased traffic will bring more consumers to the shopping center and may bring the stores back to their previous sta-tus or better.

Metro construction disrupts business at Pike 7 Plaza

Downtown cornerstones face questionable futuresphoto by Ryan Flamm

Talia RothEditor-in-Chief

Moorenkos owner Susan Soorenko imagines this scene: after eating dinner in McLean, you want to go to down the street for some ice cream, but the ice cream store isnt there. After seven years, this is what pains Soorenko about Mooren-kos reduced hours and having to close her business in July and possibly forever.

I know that people will be disappointed, she said. We are the town ice cream store, its always a heartbreaker when [that] store isnt there.

Moorenkos isnt the only business feeling the effects of the bad economy. Some of the most beloved stores in McLean, are struggling to stay in the red.

We definitely saw our sales go down this year, co-owner of Artisans of McLean Judy Harkins said. People were do-ing more scouting out stores than impulse buying than weve seen in the past.

Artisans made changes in their purchasing to accommo-date a thriftier customer. We are going to order a little less than we did last year, Harkins said.

Artisans have not had it as hard as other businesses be-cause theyve been around for 19 years, Harkins said. They made no staff reductions or extreme changes and are confi-dent about their ability to overcome the economic slump.

In times of stress there are definitely businesses that are going to suffer, but were here for the long run, Harkins said. Weve seen ups and downs before.

Junior Trina Ross, an employee of Greenberrys Coffee and Tea Co., said the coffee shop also experienced revenue loss.

Our owner was talking about how we havent suffered too badly, in comparison to other businesses, but we did do the worst we have done in five years, Ross said.

Greenberrys began serving frozen yogurt and gourmet soups to attract customers. They also started closing an hour earlier and raised prices slightly with employees clocking-in in an attempt to combat money loss and promote efficiency.

While Greenberrys and the Artisans are not considering closure, Moorenkos faces a lease ending in July and few op-tions. Im not quite sure what the next move is going to be, Soorenko said.

continued on page 6

Construction in preparation for the Metro rail extension through Tysons Corner is underway on Route 7. The utilities preparation is expected to be completed within two years.

cont. from page 5In the past year counter sales dropped thirty per-

cent. This winter is worse than other winters, she said concerning normal winter slump, but with the recession, the two together are just crippling.

When it would get to this time of year I would always say Dont forget, if you want us here in the summer, you have to be here in the winter,

Soorenko said. People always thought I was being funny, but I wasnt.

To stay open in the winter in previous years Soorenko has brought in hot chocolate, soups, hot dogs and other products in the past, but she hasnt been able to add anything this year. Any-thing you do to that end has a cost attached to it, she said.

According to Soorenko, the future of Moorenkos is now in question. To open a new store, she would need financing from somewhere else and, no fi-nancial institutions are lending money right now for business-es.

She has come to the realiza-tion that nothing is keeping her business going. I cant pay any of my bills, she said. Any mon-ey that I get goes to ingredients and my staff. I have nothing to fuel my business, Im out of per-sonal money.

Soorenko thinks that the McLean community business in her store has greatly reduced over her seven years.

Rightfully or not, she said, I really do believe as a busi-nessperson, that its as much the

responsibility of the community as it is the busi-nessperson to sustain local businesses. Soorenko feels that the community has been supportive of her business, but not to the extent they needed to be for it to survive.

Its not like people dont love us, she said. But, after a period of time, people expect that youre al-ways going to be there.

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Area businesses sufferingcont. from page 1professors compared to their classmates from other school districts. Also, when they travel abroad with a group, they are frequently the only students capable and willing to communicate in the foreign language with native speakers.

Tulou is not in favor of multiple choice testing in foreign languages because of its tendency to assess students knowledge of a topic rather than their skill in speaking the language. Instead, Tulou supports a form of test-ing that assesses students use of language and risk taking.

I am a fervent believer in PALS (Performance Assessment for Language Students), Tulou said. I want to encourage students to take risks, to elabo-rate, to stretch even if they make mistakes. I believe in teaching to the test only if the test is a good test of the goals of the instruction. The AP foreign language tests are rigorous and test many of the competencies required by the national standards. Since the classes at McLean focus on developing communicative proficiency in languages, our curriculum prepares students well for the AP Exam.

In his remarks, Stryker postulated that changes to the Spanish subject test may have accounted for the scores. The Virginia Standards of Learning and the FCPS Program of Studies are aligned with the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century, Stryker said. In my experience, I am seeing fewer and fewer students being required to take these SAT II Spanish subject tests as more and more colleges and universities align their programs with the National Standards. It is my understanding that the College Board is revising all of its exams in languages. Most nota-bly, the new AP Spanish Language examination is in the process of revision to become more aligned with the National Standards. It will be in its final revision by 2012. It is much more aligned it seems, and seems to be getting better every year. The SAT II, in my opinion, is just not aligned with the Standards.

Tom Pratuch, the science Department Chair, believes that the SAT sub-ject tests, particularly the science ones, are power tests, meaning that they test only specific knowledge of the course. The problem, Pratuch says, is that the AP sciences at McLean are taught with the AP tests in mind and not the Subject Exams. This leaves information out of the curriculum, informa-tion that is potentially on the Subject Exams. Another factor that could affect how students perform, he said, was how much of their science course they have taken. For instance, students generally take Subject Exams after they have completed the respective AP course, and many students take AP science courses as seniors. Thus, those students end up taking the Subject Exams with only part of a years knowledge from an AP course and so they may go into the test without all the knowledge they may need.

SAT Subject scores mixed

Greenberrys Coffee and Tea Co. employee Vilma Beteta pre-pares a frozen yogurt for a customer. Greenberrys introduced the frozen yogurt machine, as well as soup, to attract more customers.

photo by Mohammad Tavakoli

HighlanderJanuary 16, 2009 7EDITORIALS

Prianka DasAdvertising Manager

Its about time someone stood up for us! Who wants a big pile of homework and projects waiting for them un-der the Christmas tree? How much homework did you really have this winter break? For most of McLean High School, including myself, students werent too bothered about the homework load.

I actually had hard-ly any homework over the break. There was only one assignment due the day we come back, junior Michael Ohr said.

Dr. Jacksons new policy is geared to al-leviate the stress and ensure an enjoyable break. Its a great relief to students (and teach-ers, too) when they can open their stockings in peace.

Dr. Jackson actu-ally sent an e-mail out to every teacher before break encouraging them not to assign any holiday busywork. She believes, like the rest of us, that homework stress just im-poses on family time during the holidays.

Thats the purpose of the break. Minds can go back into gear. Theres time to rejuvenate. We want to main-tain that status at #55 and we all need to be fresh to do that, Dr. Jackson said.

Dr. Jackson admitted that she needed a break as well and wanted time to spend with her family. I didnt real-

ize how much I needed a break. I didnt even check my e-mails! Dr. Jackson said.

Although I am awed by the little amount of school work I had to do, I still had plenty to worry about with-out school assignments and homework. Students still had to schedule community service hours, study for SATs, stay ahead for projects due a little after the winter break, and finish up college applications.

Winter break can still become a stressful world through students eyes, school or not. They have to worry about a whole other sphere of work outside of school. Senior Zachary Charles said, I didnt re-ceive much in the way of homework, which I am thankful for, since I need to focus on college applications.

Respective seniors may have enjoyed the break a bit more than the underclassmen. Charles said, I think that nobody really feels overwhelmed over the break. Most people slack off anyway. And thats how it should be. Winter break is for relaxation. But being a senior definitely has something to do with it. College applications are done, so seniorities begins to set in.

The homework load may not be disastrously swamping, but applica-

tionsthat part of the winter break can never be altered. Although having a longer break would be helpful for se-nior applicants, the smart thing to do would just be to live with what youve got.

And, of course, having more assigned work to do over the break would be horrid. Dr. Jackson and all the teach-ers deserve a special Thank you for their efforts to com-bat holiday stress.

Thanks for the homework break

art by Swarna Chawdhuri

Shefali HedgeReporter

The most eagerly awaited retirement of the century is days away. And with size 10 shoe attacks and last-minute opinion polls that are overwhelmingly unfavorable, George W. Bush seems to have hit his expiration date long before his end-term date.

However, as the eternal presidency finally draws to a close, there is a sudden outburst of sympathy for the soon-to-be-ex-president. In a Wall Street Journal editorial, Karl Rove at-

tempts to paint his boss as a voracious readerdespite his inability to appear even literate in public. The White House also constructed their own spurious idea of the Bush legacy in Highlights of Accomplishments and Results, a 51-page, 14-fonted, highly embellished pamphlet. Too bad the only accomplishment of Bushs White House was providing fod-der for late-night comedy shows.

By the general populace, the president is generally dis-missed, seemingly reprieved of all his fatal mistakes. In these past few weeks, his popularity ratings surged four percentage points, up to 28 percent. The electorate gives a wimpy shrug, saying things like: Well, maybe it wasnt all that bad, or

my personal favoriteHe could have been worse.Lets give credit where credit is deserved. It couldnt really

have been all that worse, unless your standard of comparison is that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under Sta-lin. I suppose that is a silver lining: at least our government did not allow spying and torture. Wait, rephrase: it did not blatantly admit to spying and torture.

Bushs past two terms seem like a nightmarish parody in themselves. (Except none of this had even a modicum of hu-mor.) A grotesque alternate-universe where the leader of the

free world, along with his Rovian propaganda-machine, can sedate his citizens and Con-gress into two seven-year wars with the Middle East based on flawed evidence.

An Orwellian dys-topia where system-atic torturein the Abu Ghraib prison, in Guantanamo Bay and other clandestine detention centersis fully endorsed by the President, according to thousands of intel-ligence reports.

A cruel kind of democracy where the government eviscer-ates civil rights and the sanctity of free-

dom of religion, using the Bible to justify rigidly narrow stands against gay marriage, abortion, and stem-cell research.

Internationally, Bush represents a jingoist, self-obsessed mentality that has alienated Americas allies all over Asia, Europe, even Canada. At home, he has delayed action on global warming, vetoing every bill that sought to cap greenhouse gas emis-sions and lifting a 27-year ban on new offshore drilling.

From the beginning of his presidency to the end, the fed-eral budget has dropped from a surplus of $128 billion to a

record deficit of $482 billion. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for every three jobs created under Clinton, only one was created under George W.

Still some claim that, At the very least, Bush kept us safe. But according to a bi-partisan Congressional report released last month, that is far from the truth: Americas margin of safety is shrinking, not growing [] the risk that radical Islamistsal Qaeda or Talibanmay gain access to nuclear material is real.

On the bright side, Bush will soon be reduced to a num-ber, a blip on the historical map. A pitiful joke of a presiden-

cy that perpetuated something much larger: an electorates disillusionment with politics, a tarnished overseas image and irreversible deaths. And in just four days, at approximately 12:01 p.m., George W. Bush will be constitutionally ineli-gible from ever running for President again.

Hold off on that victory lap, President Bush

Letter to the Editor:VOTE FEB 3! BULOVA vs. HERRITY

Linda Burchfiel (McLean alumnus and parent)

Another election? For Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors? OK, so its not the President, but the Chairman directly affects your life in McLean. If youre content with the good schools, the park system and the well-managed County gov-ernment and want to keep up the momentum, vote for Sharon Bulova. As Chair of the Budget Commit-tee for the past 17 years, Bulova has kept the County strong through tough times before, yet still managed to pass tax cuts to reduce property taxes. As Vice Chair for the past 5 years, she has shown that she can work with Supervisors of all philosophies. Her oppo-

nent, Pat Herrity, has been in office about 18 months has already voted against the Countys interests. Just 2 examples - his vote against the school budget and his law suit against Rail to Dulles. His claim to fame is that his father had been Chairman of the Board in a previous generation. This is a special election (we are replacing our previous Chairman, who was elected to the US House of Representatives last Nov) which tra-ditionally has low turnout. County residents who are content with life in the County dont bother to vote, whereas frustrated and angry ideologues see this as an opportunity to elect people who would never survive the scrutiny of a regular election. Protect our good life in Fairfax County and vote for Sharon Bulova! You can vote at your regular polling place from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

printed with permission from Bernard PollackSome Americans displayed their thoughts on the back of their cars with bumper stickers expressing feelings towards President Bush.

printed with permission from Anirudh KoulThroughout the world, anti-Bush sentiments are appearing more often, despite the fact that he is almost out of office.

Highlander January 16, 20098 EDITORIALS

Bryan KressTorin Liberthson-Brown

Zenobia MorrillCammie MeadeReza MasgharaDaniel Jabbour

Daniel MarxRubina Sarkisian

Asli UyanikShefali HegdeRyan Flamm

AdviserAmy Poe

Editors in ChiefCat DavisTalia Roth

Managing EditorsNed BurchfielMolly Welch

Photo Editor Mohammad Tavakoli

Online Editor Sarah Albani

Advertising ManagerPrianka DasSection Editors

NewsDevan KerleyMoises CazalCopy EditorCharlie Park

Circulation ManagersBridget Berry

Paige KinghornEditorialsAli ShapiroFeatures

Jasmine Mohandesi Sports

David BerkLizzie MasgharaAssistant Sports

Andrew DavisIn-Depth

Holly Betancourt Reporters

Chris Herron-VenancioIbrahim Jacobs

Henry KuhlNikki Kaul

The Highlander is a public forum in which members of the school community can express themselves, discuss issues and exchange ideas. Printed at Silver Communications.

Volume 53, Issue 6Published 12 times yearly

McLean High School1633 Davidson RoadMcLean, VA 22101

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Asli UyanikReporter

The Smart Car was developed by Mercedes-Benz and was introduced to the United States in January 2008. It has been hailed as eco-friendly and eco-nomical, but in most aspects it hardly compares with the hybrid models.Smart Cars have become the new rage in the USA because of their so-called cute style and fuel efficiency, but the truth is that the cute size of the smart car can only fit two people, which isnt ideal for the regular teenager who has to drive his three siblings everywhere. Also, it doesnt seem ideal for the avid athlete because of the lack of trunk space. However, the sales representative for Smart Center at Tysons Corner did say, the smart car can fit many types of athletic equipment, even hockey sticks which would be okay unless, of course, you go biking or skiing.

As far as fuel efficiency, the company that makes smart cars, smart USA, claims that the smart car can go 33 mpg under city conditions. It is better than a Mini Cooper (which is about the same size) but not by much: on the website of fueleconomy.gov, they state that the Mini Cooper can go 26 mpg under city conditions.

he fuel efficiency of the Smart Car is also an appealing point to many that want to save money on gas, but the manufacturers of the Smart Car recommends it to use premium gas

which is the most expensive, compared to regular and mid-grade gasoline. Plus, the car has to be shipped to the USA all the way from France and the shipping is not included in the price of the car.

Jenny Gaver, a sophomore at McLean, says that she does not like the body style of the Smart and feels unsafe in the vehicle.

I hate the boxy look of the Smart Car and how small it is. Im pretty sure that an SUV can crush it like a bug in an accident, I would feel a lot safer driving a Honda Civic hy-brid.

Hybrids dont even use gasoline, but instead combine gas and electricity for fuel, caus-ing their miles per gallon to be much higher than Smart Cars. Honda makers are creating a new model of hybrid sedan called the Insight LX that has 40 mpg in city conditions and a 5-door 5-passenger design. Owners of hybrids shouldnt worry about the constantly fluctuating gas prices nearly as much as Smart Car drivers, whose car manages a measly 33 mpg. Also, many of the hybrids are the same size as mid-size cars without comprising trunk space.

For those who are environmentally conscious and have a low budget, Id recommend buying the hybrid versus the smart car. In the long run, the higher fuel efficiency, cheaper cost, and larger size makes hybrids the better choice.

Smart Cars may not be so smart

This is our school, so why do we tear it down?Alison ShapiroEditorials Editor

Walking down the hallways this year, Ive noticed that theres a lot more color on the walls. There are huge posters encouraging McLean to beat Langley and banners pro-moting charities including Toys for Tots and Cram the Can. Clubs are posting fliers and announcements that required hard work and a lot of time. Unfortunately, I also see them being torn down, written on and de-preciated every day.

Students constantly trash the school thinking that its not a big deal. They deface the banners and throw cafeteria food against the walls, making it splatter all over, then walk away without a problem. Who do they think is going to pick up their mess?

The SGA and Leadership have been working very hard this year to beautify the school. They have made large banners that spread across the halls and into the cafeteria, which makes the school look ten times bet-ter. Some of the banners, such as the Beat Langley signs, have been raising school spir-it; while others (like the Toys for Tots post-ers) have been promoting charitable causes for the holiday season.

The worst thing somebody could do is tear a Toys for Tots poster down, and students at McLean did. Sitting in the hallway one day, I witnessed a student tear down the poster, left it on the floor and then walked away while his friends followed behind him, laughing along thinking that it was so funny.

His friends really thought he was cool be-cause he ripped down a banner. Maybe he was trying to make a statement, but I think its pathetic that here, at McLean, where many of us are very privileged, we have stu-dents that still act the way they do.

Someone ripped the poster down and left it on the floor and students walked all over it on their way to class. Why would you tear down a poster promoting a happier holiday season for children? That is discourteous and rude. And it took a lot of time and effort for Leadership students to paint not just a couple banners, but many of them.

[The vandalized banners] had an effect, but kids are always going to deface things,

Leadership member Jackson Langevoort said.

But all of this vandalism may not just be students at McLean, and I understand that. Supposedly, Langley students came over and spray painted the walls in front of the rock.

The building is open 18 hours, so visi-tors do it [vandalize] as well, Stephen Wojciechowski said.

Wojciechowski added that painting on

the school is not really an issue for McLean students considering we have the rock to ex-press ourselves. The rock takes away from painting on the pavement.

However, students still feel the need to write all over posters on the wall.

That may be true, but then how is it that our school still looks like trash half the time? And its not the custodians fault or the fac-ultys fault. Its yours.

Another act of disrespect occurred on the genocide posters that STAND put up around the school. Passing by one of the posters, I realized that someone had writ-ten offensive statements over the clubs efforts to promote awareness of the geno-cide in Darfur and other places.

But whats the point? What are stu-dents getting out of ripping apart pieces of paper? Does it make them feel cool that they are defacing property and al-most insulting a good cause? That seems stupid.

It is okay if you dont approve of the posters. You may not like them and think that they are pointless and unnecessary, but that does not mean that you should rip them apart and write all over them.

Students here have worked hard just to get the word out about certain events or causes going on. The posters are just trying to get you involved and if you dont want to get involved, then just leave it alone.

How would you like it if someone ripped apart your poster that you had spent all night working on and had barely gotten any sleep? It wouldnt feel good.

art by Kyana Afshar

HighlanderJanuary 16, 2009 9ADVERTISEMENT

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Highlander January 16, 200910 IN-DEPTH 11

Holly BetancourtIn-Depth Editor

Transferring to a new school is always difficult, but making the transition from private school to public school can be even tougher. Alicia Johnson, the Student Information As-sistant in the guidance department estimates that this year McLean has acquired about 20 students from private schools, similar to years past. Johnson says that the most students transfer from St. Johns, St. James and Bishop OConnell.

For senior Lizzie Healy, the decision to leave Bishop OConnell before the start of her junior year was a fairly easy decision, after seeing her sched-ule for her junior year which seemed to be very similar to the classes she had taken the two years before.

She then brought up the idea of switching schools to her parents, I had gone to Catholic school my whole life and I wanted something differ-ent. I looked into Bishop Ireton because I have friends there, but it was still Catholic school, Healy said.

After seeing McLean High School, she knew it would be a good fit for her. Since being at McLean for a year and a half, Healy has noticed mi-nor differences between public and private schools. The people are more unique at public school, Healy said.

While attending Bishop OConnell and Saint Annes, Healy had to wear a uniform to school. Wearing her own clothes during the school day was the biggest adjustment that she had to make. I had to plan out my

wardrobe for the first two months of school, Healy said. For juniors Colleen Warren and Veronica Neuberger the decision to

transfer to McLean was based on their activities outside of school. Neu-berger came to McLean in September from The Connelly School of the Holy Child in Maryland, she switched to public school to have a more flexible schedule to fit in her dance. I do an early release program at McLean for my dancing, but at Holy Child that wasnt possible because they have a block schedule so everyday there is a different period at the end of the day.

Warren rowed with the McLean crew team during her years at the Po-tomac School since her school did not have a team. When McLeans sports district told the McLean crew coach last year that Warren could no longer row with the team I transferred fourth quarter to row. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I already had a team with seven girls. Crews my passion, and I didnt want to give it up, Warren said.

For Neuberger, the biggest change since coming to McLean has been adjusting to the size of the school and her classes. Her Holy Child class of 2010 only included 85 students total so it was an adjustment to go from knowing everybodys business and all the latest gossip at Holy Child, to only knowing a fraction of my class here at McLean, Neuberger said.

Her private classes could have a maximum of 15 students, but one of her classes only included nine others. Even though Neuberger had one or two free blocks a day at Holy Child, she loves Highlander Time, saying, Its so nice to have a designated time set aside for meeting with teachers, or having an extra hour of sleep.

One of the biggest differences Warren has noticed between her private school and McLean is the lack of free time here because at Potomac she had an hour of free time to visit teachers and a 45-minute study hall. The amount of work [between Potomac School and McLean] is about the same, but at Potomac I was able to get at least half of it done in school, Warren said.

Coming to a school with a six point grading scale has also been an adjustment. Its definitely so much harder to get good grades here. Most people think Oh, youre in private school you must get good grades but thats not true at all. Someone is always holding your hand in private school, Warren said.

Healy, Neuberger, and Warren agree that a major difference between their private schools and McLean is the teachers. The teachers are a lot more casual at McLean, Healy said. Neuberger believes that with the smaller classes in private school students are able to form a more personal relationship with teachers.

I guess you could say that there is a lot more trust between the students and their teachers [at private school]. If you had an event and you couldnt turn your homework in the teachers would understand most of the time and let you turn it in the next day, Neuberger said. At the Potomac School teachers were good friends with their students as well as always accessible to students, Warren said. If I didnt get my math homework I could just walk into my math room and get help.

D I V I D E

the great

photo by Mohammad Tavakoli

Its definitely so much harder to get good grades here. Someone is always holding your hand in private school.

Guidance discrepancies separate public, private school systems

From private to public, students adjust to the differences

Molly WelchManaging Editor

Its a fact of life: while you might go to your counselor for everything from boyfriend advice to college counseling in private school; in the public school system, you may meet your coun-selor for the first time your senior year.

Besides differences of class size, curriculum and testing separating private and public schools are the guidance systems, which present contrasting approaches to student advisory.

Ive had a personal relationship with my counselor since my freshman year of high school, private Georgetown Day School senior Courtney Prillaman said. Not only are we friendswe go out to coffee and lunchbut she recommended a lot of [universities] that I ended up applying to and really liking. She was a great advocate in the [college] admissions process.

Prillaman, who was accepted early decision to Wake Forest University, feels that her coun-selor was instrumental in her acceptance. She was the one who initially put me onto [Wake Forest], and I feel like her letter of recommendation really added to my application since she knows me so well.

At McLean, howeverconsidered by many as a flagship public school, and ranked 55th public high school in the nation by U.S. News and World Reportstudents have had mixed ex-periences with the guidance system, which caters to wider student bodies than private schools and is also subject to state and county restrictions.

Still, some students say that their counselors are readily available and helpful in accom-

modating their needs. Senior Lea Williams has had what she calls a great experience with her counselor. I love my counselor, she said. She has made my college admissions process so much less stressful.

Others, however, feel that the amount of students assigned per counselor has affected the amount of individual guidance they receive. My guidance counselor doesnt have timeif you try to meet with him, he just wont do it, one senior said. Whenever I try to meet with him, hes not there, and when he is, he acts like its a huge inconvenience.

Other students feel that they have a very limited relationship with their counselors. [My counselor] probably doesnt know who I am, freshman Anna Stevens said. Ive never had a one-on-one meeting with her. I forgot her name last week.

One senior says that she has been frustrated by her counselors inability to answer questions on the college admissions process and lack of time to provide personal input. I honestly feel like my counselor has given me faulty information about what schools are realistic for me and what schools are safeties, the senior said.

Except for sending my transcripts, my counselor has played no part whatsoever in my college admissions process. I tried to involve her at first, but she just wasnt available and didnt have answers to the questions I had.

According to College Career Center specialist Isobel Rahn, the College Career center is one alternative available for students to get advice on the college admissions process. But in her experience at McLean, Rahn says she has seen that private schools can provide more personal

guidance attention because of smaller student bodies and freedom from state and county re-strictions.

Because of [counselors] smaller student load, they can advocate personally for their stu-dents. Private schools, because theyre not constrained by state requirementscourses for graduation, etcetera.they are more flexible in terms of how students can spend their time throughout the course of the school day.

Junior Colleen Warren, who transferred from the Potomac School to McLean last year, agrees, saying that she had a free block every morning, two lunch periods, and advising pe-riods, or embedded periods during which counselors were available. I had two hours of free time every day, Warren said. Then we had advising periods, which are two periods twice a week to meet with your counselor and the kids in your advisory. According to Warren, there were typically about 10 students per advisory.

Private schools are able to create individualized programs for students, while public schools have general, state-or-county-wide requirements. In public schools, learning is often measured by standardized testing, while private institutions can create their own assessment systems.

Rahn feels that this greater time availability and curricular flexibility in the private school system increases student opportunities in the college admissions process.

Its very competitive, she said. Many students who apply to the most selective schools look alike. [] There are time opportunities within private schools that we dont have.

Bishop OConnell1,370 students in grades

9-12

$9,020 tuition per year

23 AP courses offered

Minimum of 26 credits to

graduate

$75 for a parking permit

98 percent retention rate

1133 average SAT score

14/1 student teacher

ratio

1,763 students in grades 9-12$0 tuition per year23 AP courses offeredMinimum of 22 credits required to graduate$150 for a parking permit95 percent retention rate1180 average SAT score

McLean The Potomac School950 students in grades K-12$27,445 tuitionMinimum of 19 credits to graduate1:9 teacher/student ratioActivities include a robotics team ranked 2nd in the world in the 2007-2008 season

-Colleen Warrenjunior

Information from potomacschool.org, bishopoconnell.org, fcps.edu/McLeanHS/

Highlander January 16, 200912 FEATURES

Jasmine MohandesiFeatures Editor

JERRY: Its been too long, Alice! ALICE: Has it? Because it was only last December when we, uh, finalized the restraining order, Jerry. JERRY: Ah, right. Well, I guess even the best couples have their ups and downs. ALICE (prying herself away): Fifteen feet, Jerry.

The above is an excerpt from the One Act Spaghetti written by senior Emma Lord. Spaghetti is centered around a 27-year old women who attend her 10-year high school re-union and must deal with a string of mishaps and again is overshadowed by her classmates.

Lords script is just one example of the originality that will surround the One Act per-formances.

There will be 10 student-directed plays which will be performed on Jan. 29, 30, and 31 in the auditorium from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets will be sold for five dollars.

One Acts is the time of year when everyone in the school has a chance to be on stage and also see their friends on stage. The majority are student-written and all are student-directed, and star fellow students, senior and director of Whistles in the Wind, Charlie Cook said. It is the most creative activity McLean has to offer and everyone should come see them to offer their support.

The plots vary from Parent Trap thrown in with space aliens to a man who sells his soul to the Devil. The writers include seniors Nina Scholl, Rachel Zucker, Emma Lord, Charlie Cook, juniors Sara Lavenhar, Thomas Hauffe, Rakesh Guha, and Elaina Kaiser.

The winning One Act will be chosen by a panel of judges.

Scholl, director of the One Act, Palin-drome, believes that this years performance will be an improvement from last years.

We have a lot of rehearsal time compared to last years One Acts, so its less stressful. Last year I spent a lot of time worrying if we would be able to get ourselves together in time and we eventually did, but Im very confident it will this year, Scholl said.

Guha, director of Mini Acts, also believes that the One Acts are going to be a blast.

Were trying tons of new things, Guha said. Its going to be a completely different experience from any other year.

According to Guha Mini Acts, is one of these new things to the show.

For my One Act I didnt write one in the traditional sense. I mean my One Act isnt re-ally like the whole show is dedicated to one story, instead my One Act is broken into three self-contained parts, or skits. So depending on which skit is being shown the focus changes, Guha said. My One Act is really an experi-ment.

Guha does not believe he has a chance at winning the competition because his script is not the traditional One Act.

Ive proposed an idea which will hopefully be good and depending on how well it goes this year I might try it again next year, said Guha. And I wasnt interested in the compe-tition; I was more interested in trying some-thing new.

As for who will win the competition, most directors believe it will be a romantic comedy.

If it follows tradition at MHS, itll be a romantic comedy. We have some very differ-ent genres this year though, so who knows? Scholl said.

Parandeh agrees with Scholl.For the last three years that I have done

One Acts, the romantic comedies always steal the judges votes, Parandeh said.

However, according to Lord, there are a really great bunch of One Acts this year, and anyone could win.

I have no idea which One Act will win, but I guess every directors hoping for a shot at it. Its a really great bunch of One Acts this year, and Im sure both nights will be very en-tertaining, Lord said. Im really looking for-ward to Sherwin Parandehs version of Troy, which will be a hoot.

Parandehs One Act is the only skit not student-written.

I wanted to direct a comedy, but I am not very good at writing so I decided to look for a play online, Parandeh said. I am a comedic actor so I felt that directing a comedy would play to my strengths.

Whether student-written or not, Perino be-lieves that the winner of the competition all depends on how well the show is put together and not whether it is student-written or not.

It is really only the final product that mat-ters, Perino said.

Coming soon to theatres: One Acts

Theatre students Michael Robinson, Vanessa Bretas and Leila Goldstein, prepare for the One Acts. The students rehearse lines from the One Act, Sold, directed by Matt Parent.

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photo by Mohammed Tavakoli

Ibrahim JacobsReporter

The picture below is blurred out, but on Facebook, any-one could have viewed it in clear detail.

Suppose a student has a 4.0 GPA and is on the All-District team for football, basketball and lacrosse. However, he likes to have fun and party on the weekends. Is it possible that no school in the country will give him a scholarship? In our technologi-cally advanced age, it can actually be harder for students to get scholarships because of information that can be viewed on their Fa-cebook and MySpace profiles.

Before being offered a scholarship or ac-ceptance letter, students can be passed over because of information found on Facebook, MySpace or even an Internet blog.

Before you get into college or a job, it is important to know that specialists who have no idea who you are, as a person, may surf the web looking for anything that re-sembles any sort of illegal activity.

Recently, a student who went to Rob-inson High School was kicked off off his colleges football team and eventually out of the college entirely because of derogatory comments posted on Facebook. Sometimes [students] think that only their friends are looking at things, Assistant Principal Ste-phen Wojciechowski said. We advise stu-dents about that all the time.

It has even become such a problem that many students are very cautious about what they put on their Facebooks or MyS-paces or choose not to have them at all.

For universities, it may be more of an issue of protecting the reputation of the school, as opposed to being against all students with shaky pasts.

College athletics is a business now, Health and Physical Education teacher Joseph Muskett said. They dont want to

waste time doing all the recruiting, only to bring someone in and giving the college a black eye by embarrassing the uni-versity.

Although with all the investigating going on, there has to be an ethics issue. Is it really right that colleges can go through a persons personal life?

I think colleges shouldnt be allowed to look at our Fa-cebooks, sophomore Tim Buser said. We should have a level of privacy that colleges shouldnt be allowed to interfere with.

If college professors and deans can check up on the person-al lives of students, shouldnt students be allowed access their

professors personal lives? Instead of a college determining if a student is fit for their university, could a student decide if they wanted to go to a university based on information they find out about their teachers? If colleges can review informa-tion on Facebook or MySpace, could high school teachers do the same?

Wojciechowski claimed that he didnt have access to students Facebook or MyS-pace profiles, nor did he know anyone at the school who did. However, if Wojciechowski did have access, he knows what he would do with it.

If it was part of my job I would [inves-tigate], but not all the students [profiles], Wojciechowski said. If someone presented me with information then I would investi-gate but only for the betterment of the stu-dents.

Muskett, however, would rather spend time teaching, coaching and with his family than tracking all of his students online.

If I had time it would be the last thing I would do, Muskett said.

One would think that the easy solution would be to just go by common sense, but for some students, it might be more difficult than that. If you are at a party where some sort of illegal activity is going on and some-one has a camera and happens to be taking pictures, the student can get rejected from a college just for being at the party.

Obviously the easy solution would be just to not have a Facebook or MySpace, but that can be near-impossible for most

students. The choice is up to the students. They can either not have

a Facebook or MySpace accounts, or they can run the risk of four years worth of hard work going to waste because of something found on their personal profile.

HighlanderJanuary 16, 2009 13FEATURES

Facebook and MySpace profiles not so private

photo courtesy of an anonymous student

Two anonymous juniors post a picture of themselves on Facebook, knowing the consequences.

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HighlanderJanuary 16, 2009 15FEATURES

Bridget BerryCirculation Manager

Drunk driving and speeding are not the only illegal driv-ing stunts that teenagers pull. Many teens are guilty of driv-ing on the road without a valid drivers license.

Many of these law-breakers hide under the radar eas-ily. They just get their hands on a car, hop in, and drive to without a problem. Due to the fact that many McLean students have their own vehicles, many of these drivers have a wide variety of opportunities to take cars, such as one anonymous student who has driven without a drivers license countless times.

My dad got me a car a few weeks after I got my permit, the student said. I drove around with my friends all over the place. I could drive well, so there really wasnt anything to worry about.

Considering that a majority of high school students drive, it is not suspicious to see another student behind the wheel.

Its not like I looked ten years old, the student said. I could get away with it.

Some other students who have driven license-free do not always have the immediate advantage of having their own

car. So instead, they rely on their friends. Senior Lana Puljic explained that she has let two of her

friends drive her car, neither of them holding a license.

Its my car, Puljic said. Theyre my close friends, and I trust them. I obviously wouldnt let them get behind the wheel if I knew they couldnt drive.

One of the fears that these illegal drivers have is getting pulled over by the police.

[My friends] drive super carefully all the time no matter what, Puljic said. The worst and scariest thing would be for us to get pulled over; wed all be in trouble.

The traffic laws of Virginia have strict laws about holding

a license. No person shall drive any motor vehicle on any highway

in the Commonwealth until such person has applied for a drivers license, and obtained a drivers license.

Breaking this law classifies as a misdemeanor and the persons driving privileges may be suspended for a period of time.

Another anonymous student has been driving without a license since sophomore year, and now as a senior, still does.

Ive driven with my friends more than enough times for them to see that Im a decent driver, the second stu-dent said. I usually only borrow a friends car when I need

to.These students dont care whether they have a drivers li-

cense or not, they will continue to drive until there are con-sequences.

Until a policeman can look at me in the drivers seat and know for a fact I dont have my license, a student who wishes to remain anonymous said, Im going to continue doing it. Sorry.

Unlicensed teens take over the road

Theyre my close friends, and I trust them. I obviously wouldnt let them get behind the wheel if I knew they couldnt drive. -Lana Puljic

Senior

OUT X

Out with the old,in with the new

IN

Dissing McLean Bragging about being #55

Turnitin.com FAIRGRADE

Seniors ruling the school

Freshmen taking over the school

Buying a $65 year-book

Getting a free newspaper every three weeks

Losing to Langley in sports

Still losing, but beating them in canned food drives

Side bangs Blunt bangs

The Hills Gossip Girl

Vampires

Winning football games (once in a while)

Going 0 -10 in style

Running to your computer to check Facebook every five minutes

Sitting in class and checking your Newsfeed on your iTouch

Danny MarxReporter

Sophomore Becky Teague has a passion for fashion. She studies to become a fashion major. She already designs and wears her own clothing. Sometimes she will even sew it her-self. Fashion helps her vent the oodles of creativity gushing inside her mind for the whole school to see; but you will never see her wearing a fur coat.

Teague is an animal lover and fosters cats through the non-profit ani-mal adoption agency Home-ward Trails. Teague wel-comes homeless cats into her house, feeds them, nurtures them, and takes them to the vet-erinarian, just like her own.

Genera l l y, Teagues hand-ful of former foster cats have taken three or four months to adopt. Their adoption appeal varies depending on their breed, age, size, and gender. Teague said older cats take lon-ger to adopt.

Youd be surprised how picky some people are, Teague said. Ive had Rose for four months now, and right now I have an application for her pending. Its been hard with her, because she has black coloring. Statistically it takes us longer to get black cats adopted, because believe it or not, people are still superstitious.

Teague is one of the youngest members of the Homeward Trails organization, yet she has already been through her share of heartbreak and happiness.

My most memorable cat was undoubtedly my first, Teague said. Callie was so undernourished and afraid of people, mostly men. When I first got her, she had intestinal worms and ear mites. It was just so rewarding to watch her become healthy, and overcome her fears.

Teague loves all animals and is a vegetarian. She would love to foster dogs, but her backyard is too large and does not have ad-equate fencing.

H o m e w a r d Trails is located off of Route 50 near Arlington Cemetery.

Most of the animals that are approved for adoption by Homeward Trails were on the eu-thanasia list in places like rural West Virginia and North Caro-lina. This means they would have been lethally injected within the week, un-less somebody

claimed them, prior to their appointments with the needle. At this point, most of these animals are newborn puppies

and kittens with no fur, whose existence would exceed their demand from pet buyers.

Many animals on the list are sickly or abandoned strays. Others were cats and dogs that had been abused and neglect-ed.

One thing I can say I have no sympathy for, is animal cruelty, Teague said. From personal experience, Ive seen that its really easy for people to not care, and to not pay attention. If theyd experienced cruelty first-hand though, I dont think so many people would be so apathetic.

Becky Teague: A foster to felines

Sophomore Becky Teague plays with her foster cat Rose. Rose has been living with Teague for four months, but soon Rose will be living for a new owner.

photo by Mohammed Tavakoli

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Highlander January 16, 200916 FEATURES

Electrify your stringsMcLean High School Orchestra presents a classic rock concert:

On Friday, February 13th at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium, all three McLean Orchestras will perform something out of charactera rock concert. Its not going to be your typical orchestra concert, organizer and parent Anne Oudemans said.

Featuring electric instruments, synthesized sounds and shredding solos, the set list will include: Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles, Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, and Sunshine of Your Love by Cream.

Tickets will be sold during all lunches: $10 for students, $15 for adults. They will be on sale the week before the concert and also at the door if there are any left.

Its going to be the best concert in McLeans history, senior Bobby Oudemans said. Were going to melt faces.

Senior Anna Kobylski is excited about the effect of the concert on the community. We want to show our friends and family that classical musicians arent afraid to rock out, Kobylski said.

photo by Mohammad Tavakoli

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Danny JabbourReporter

BOOM senior Sina Mostaghimi tackles misbehaving se-nior Tyler Quinn and throws him into a locker. But this isnt just any high school fight, this is the Hallway Linebackers duty.

The five-year McLean High tradition, The Hallway Linebacker, continues with senior Sina Mostaghimi, who took up the job of protecting the schools hallways. The Hallway Linebacker is a series of videos that was created to show students that an average student can rise up to help enforce school rules.

The first time I saw the videos I thought they were hilar-ious, and they increased school spirit, 2007 graduate Ryan Cox said. The videos probably didnt have a big impact on the students, but they were still funny.

The Linebacker first emerged in 2005 due to the efforts

of four students: Alex Krall, Brendan McCook, Matt Sul-livan, and Vipul Tripathi.

It was just for fun, just to get everyone excited about something, and mainly to help the morning show, Tripathi said.

Each of the four students had a role in the videos. Trip-athi became the Linebacker, McCook was the principal/administrator, Sullivan broke the rules, and Krall filmed and edited the videos.

There have been three Hallway Linebackers so far: Vipul Tripathi, Marlon Lucas, and, currently, senior Sina Mostaghimi.

I am bruised from the pain I have to endure daily, but I think the Hallway Linebacker pushes school spirit to the limit, Mostaghimi said.

Senior Scott Richardson is the editor of the videos, as well as the narrator.

I think that the Hallway Linebacker takes the rules and guidelines of the school and presents them in a creative and painful manner, but in still a fun way, Richardson said.

Administrators approve videos of the Hallway Line-backer because it is publicity through SGA to show good behavior, all in good fun, Assistant Principal Stephen Wojciechowski said.

Many of the students at McLean seem to like the videos and the message they produce.

I love the videos, I think theyre great, Sophomore Aloke Prabhu. I like how its an enjoyable way to learn the rules and regulations of the school.

Krall believes the Hallway Linebacker has become a staple of McLean.

Its almost like the Hallway Linebacker became a sec-ond mascot, he said.

The HallwayThe Hallway inebacker

still frame graphics by Scott Richardson

Senior Sina Mostaghimi took up the role of the Hallway Linebacker in a series of videos produced by the SGA. In the video, he patrols the halls and punishes students who break school rules. The Hallway Line-backer series was created in 2005 by four McLean students. It was designed to emphasise school spirit and good behavior in a fun and humurous way.

Highlander January 16, 200918 SPORTS

Bio A

Art B+

History A

English B

Reza MasgarhaReporter

The hockey team that went on an 8-0 streak to begin the season last year now stands at four wins and four losses. Despite a slower start, players and coaches remain optimistic.

If we all show up to practice, work hard, and do the things were supposed to, we should easily be able to make the playoffs with a very high seed and probably advance farther than last year, sophomore Matt Stewart said.

Last years team made it to the playoffs but was sent home early, losing in the first round.

The hockey team this year has fewer seniors than last years squad. Last years team was a lot different, says Coach John Sherlock. Last year we had eight

seniors, most of who had been playing together since they were freshmen. This year we have eight freshmen to replace them. But not surprisingly the cohesion that we had last year is not

there yet, hockey coach John Sherlock said.Last year we were more of a team, and we played a lot more physical, Stewart said.Despite lacking experience the teams freshmen have been drawing praise.We did lose a lot of great senior players, but the freshmen that have come in have got a

lot of skill and will do well, sophomore Tommy Borman said.The teams freshmen have to step up and play large roles on the team. Freshmen Stephen

Ward is replacing long time starter Nick Williams at goalie. I feel a lot of pressure to replace [Williams]. I feel like I have to work a lot harder, freshmen Stephen Ward said.

In the next two weeks the team will play five games. This stretch will be very important to the final outcome of the season and Coach Sherlock is confident in the team.

This team competes, there is no quit in them. It has been hard at times when things havent gone well but they care, and they compete, Sherlock said.

Cat DavisEditor in Chief

Its the day of the Langley game, and you prepare with food and relaxation. But, there is a twist: you have a math test tomorrow morning that could determine your quarter grade. St