Mia Manavalan, Editor-In-Chiefhttp://my.hsj.org/chatterbox The Chatterbox

Walnut Hills High SchoolJanuary 31, 2012 Volume CVI, Issue 5

Ayana Rowe, ‘12Copy Editor

On January 18, many ma-jor websites went on strike and blacked out their pages, such as Google, Wikipedia, Reddit, and Tumblr. This legislation, proposed by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), is designed to protect intellectual property from theft and fraud. If it passes, the government will have the ability to filter U.S. sites

that infringe on copyrights, as well as links to said sites from search engines, such as Google. SOPA has the ability to change many teenagers’ daily rituals; any website to which a user uploads copyrighted content could be shut down, including Facebook, Twit-ter, Youtube and Wikipedia. It can also cancel websites’ accounts with payment and ad services, such as Paypal and Adwords. The entertainment industry may also block websites from U.S. visitors

SOPA sweeps cyberspaceif they see something as copyright infringement. Furthermore, other countries may see it as a good idea and follow suit, leading to a worldwide Internet censor-ship; they may even view it as an offensive act and ban U.S. based websites. Every side has its own argu-ment. SOPA supporters, including some members of the major politi-cal parties, claim that it will pro-tect intellectual property and aid all jobs involved in the creation of

this intellectual property. Oppo-nents, on the other hand, believe that this legislation infringes on First Amendment rights and will cripple the Internet and lead to other hindrances of free speech. Drafts for the bill, which some have declared “dead,” has been postponed by Rep. Smith “until there is a wider agreement on the solution.”

INSIDENews & Features 2

Viewpoints 3

Sports 4

Fine Arts 5

Style & Culture 6

Arcade 7

Just Nuts 8

Josh Medrano, ‘13News & Features Print Editor

By the end of 1942, thou-sands of European Jews had been deported to one of over 300 concentration camps. Hundreds of corpses and naked bodies lay in trenches and some had already been buried. Many died of hunger but most were murdered and shot by the Nazi soldiers. Some escaped the terror, but most lost a whole generation of families. With “A Reason to Re-member,” Deborah Roth-Howe presents the story of five Jewish families in the small village of Roth, Germany from 1933-1942. The exhibit looks at documents, artifacts, photographs, immigra-tion cards and other materials preserved from the former village. There are no Jews in Roth today. In the Hochster family, two survived and four were murdered;

all three members of the Nathan family were murdered, as well as all six members of the Bergenstein family. Five survived and four were murdered from the Roth family, while four survived and three rela-tives perished in the Stern family. The Jewish population of Roth was first recorded in 1611, and its peak of 55 was in 1737. Some of those with families surviving migrated to the United States before the Kristallnacht, which preceded the further perse-cution of Jews. Otto Stern, who turns 90 this year, came to Chica-go with his family in 1937. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, he and a friend volunteered in the army, but German citizens were not accepted then because they were “enemy aliens.” However, he was finally drafted nine months later, and served 91 days in infan-try, from which he received the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a

Exhibit remembers families affected by the Holocaust

“A Reason to Remember” exhibit will be in the conference room in the first two weeks of February.Combat Infantry Badge. Stern was one of the first in-volved in the preservation of Roth. Traveling to his homeland after

the war as a soldier, he ordered the village mayor to clean up the Nazi-desecrated cemetery where his father and grandfather were buried. In 1996, a group of Roth residents formed the “Arbeitskreis” (working group) to preserve the things that had been a very impor-tant to the families’ lives, includ-ing a synagogue that the Nazis destroyed. Later, a group of local high school teachers collaborated with the Arbeitkreis to create this exhibit. Over the years, descen-dants of the families have returned to Roth to reminisce with their families’ former lives, as well as build connections with current residents. Roth-Howe is bringing the exhibit to Walnut Hills next week, February 3, in the conference room for two weeks. The exhibit, which is permanently in place at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, is designed to inspire

visitors “to better understand the lessons of the Holocaust and their personal obligations to oppose acts of hatred and civil injustice.” “Throughout the evolution of this project, I have been acutely aware that the story of Jewish community of Roth is my story by legacy only,” Roth-Howe writes in the dedication of the permanent exhibit. “It really belongs to each individual [who were blessed with the opportunity to flee and those who were unable to escape].” The exhibit brings a powerful reminder to everyone of the Ho-locaust and its victims: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

most idiotic things someone could do in their high school career,” junior Dan Steinberg says. “What you do outside of school is your business, but when you go to school … it’s not worth it, and all fiends out there bringing in any type of substance should just wait until the weekend or quit all together.” When asked what percentage of students use marijuana, 32 percent believe that 30-50 percent of the student body uses it and 33 percent believe that 50-75 percent uses it. In reality, about 70 percent of the students surveyed have admitted to experimenting with marijuana at least once, and five percent of those say that it has be-come part of their lives every day. SENIOR Andrew Hill, ’12, does not find this data surprising at all. “Marijuana use has become much more prevalent, not only amongst teenagers, but nation-wide as well,” Hill claims. “A lot of people have started using marijua-na since not only its medical uses became uncovered, but especially

since the false information given to the population by the govern-ment has been debunked.” Some students seem to have the wrong impression about how many actually use marijuana on a regular basis. One freshman states, “The administration needs to calm down. Walnut kids smoke weed. We all do.” 43 percent of those students surveyed say they come into interaction with it often because their friends use it. However, only three percent of the students sur-veyed admit they tried marijuana out of peer pressure, and forty two percent attribute the reason to curiosity. “The problem with marijuana is not so much the health effects, but the social ones,” one SENIOR says. “It’s disappointing to see that there are literally situations at Walnut where social barriers are placed against people who don’t smoke marijuana. It has become a crutch, a necessity for people to have fun, and I believe that it’s actually hurting people’s social life

more than helping it in that way.” While this may be so, others think quite the opposite. One sophomore says, “It has helped me socially in some unexplainable way. I think that marijuana should not only be legalized for medicinal reasons but for other purposes in the economy and recreation.” Junior Noah Fetters says, “All a stupid teenager wants is to belong to a certain group of people or to be able to relate to other teens. Smoking ‘cigaweeds’ can give a teen that sense of belonging, if smoking is something that floats his/her boat.” Here, education also comes into play. While the 10th grade health class focuses a portion of the course on the harmful effects of drugs, some believe it’s not enough. One SENIOR says the prob-lem is the lack of a proper educa-tion in regards to drug usage. “A better drug education should be provided that actually informs kids of the benefits and conse-quences of every drug, rather than

Mia Manavalan, ‘12Editor-In-Chief

One hundred and thirty Walnut students, of which more than half were SENIORS, were surveyed about their usage and beliefs about marijuana. While 70 percent of the students surveyed are not against the usage of marijuana, 72 percent believe that students should be punished for being in possession of the illegal substance while at school. “That’s possibly one of the

Students debate marijuana usage

Should students be punished for us-ing marijuana at school?

Yes

No

Survey shows school divide

trying to polarize people’s opin-ions. Drug use is a part of every high school… nothing is going to change that. However, if kids were better educated, they would make more informed decisions.” While only a portion of the Walnut Hills student body was surveyed, there is no question that marijuana has become a part of Walnut Hills High School. Some say there are no harmful effects, which is proven by “Walnut Hills plac[ing] among the top 100 schools in the nation” and another disagrees saying, “they call it a ‘pleasure drug’ but there’s nothing pleasurable about it.”

Are you against the usage of mari-juana?

Yes

No

I don't know/ I don'tcareNo

Don’t know/Dont care

Yes

Don’t know/Dont care

News & FeaturesPage 2 The Chatterbox

Josh Medrano, Print EditorWalnut Hills High School Volume CVI.5

CalendarJanuary—February 2012

January 30—February 3Optioning

February 10Sophomore Dance

February 16Science Fair

February 20President’s Day

SCHOOL CLOSED

February 24JCL Convention

Walnut Fest

February 29National Latin Exam

March 9Third Quarter Ends

The Chatterbox Editorial StaffMia Manavalan, Editor-In-Chief

Tanner Walters, Senior Managing Editor Emily Friedman, Junior Managing EditorAyana Rowe, Copy Editor Jonah Roth, Design EditorKemarca Wade, Web Designer John Butler, Assistant Web DesignerLuke Kloth, Print Photo Editor Signe Schloss, Online Photo EditorGarret Oester, Business Manager Akilah Phillips, Subscription Manager

Page Editors:Josh Medrano, News & Features Print Editor Sean Wood, News & Features Online EditorJessie Heines, Viewpoints Print Editor Sierra Kingston, Viewpoints Online EditorJenna Weber, Fine Arts Print Editor Amanda Dias, Fine Arts Online EditorCharlie Hatch, Sports Editor Joe Neidhard, Style & Culture EditorJaylen Hill, Just Nuts Print Editor Jessica Fan, Just Nuts Online EditorJP Schmitz, Arcade Editor Cody Stayden, Chatterbox Archivist

Advisors: Samantha Gerwe-Perkins and Dawn WolfeFront page masthead by Jessica Fan and Signe Schloss

Illustration by Sarah Davidoff

Garret Oester, ‘14Business Manager

Colonial Fair may be the lon-gest running academic tradition at Walnut Hills High School. It has been in existence for nearly forty years, since 1972, accord-ing to Barbra Stewart, the current 8-Honors English teacher. When she began teaching in 1997, Stewart was told by Ken Williams, the previous 8-Honors history teacher, that the event had been around for 25 years. How-ever, this cannot be confirmed. What is known is that it was founded as the major 8-Honors cross-curricular project. The event, then known as Colonial Day, originally occurred during the first three bells of the day (when Honors meets) for students to present their work to family and their peers. However, there were downsides. By the time the event was set up, there were only twenty to thirty minutes to eat the food—arranged like a clas-sic Thanksgiving Day dinner—as

well as looking over the presenta-tions of all ninety students. Colonial Day became what is now Colonial Fair during the 1999-2000 school year. “This eliminated the two main issues with the event,” said Stewart, “the lack of time, and the sheer num-ber of presentations.” What was a three bell affair expanded into an all day event, with preparation in the morning, set up during the afternoon, and the actual occasion at night. “Colonial Williamsburg inspired the change,” said Stewart referring to a trip to Williamsburg Virginia, a town preserved in the colonial era. Williams, former Honors science teacher Liv Rams-tad, and Stewart went there with money donated by the Society of Colonial Wars, a historical orga-nization. The teachers decided after the trip to add a more interactive and creative component, including a greater emphasis on historical ac-curacy. Students were also freed in their ability to present their infor-

mation. When Elizabeth Ormsby, the current history teacher, arrived in the 2002-2003 school year, the fair morphed even further. One of these changes was having students portray real characters. Colonial Fair now takes three and a half months of preparation. In October, the Honors students are assigned to a committee (Cooking, Medicine, Dance, Fash-ion, Native Americans, Maritime, Debate, Toys and Games, Print-ing, Trade or Music), focusing on

one aspect of colonial life. They then choose a historical person to portray at the event, and a specific subtopic to research. Students also prepare for the three-hour event that falls on the second Thursday in January. Each committee must set up a 10x10 foot booth with informational posters and interactive activities for visitors. For example, this year, at “Mrs. Catherine’s Dress Shop,” cloth was being hand dyed in beet juice.

During the event, visitors tour around the transformed lunch-room, with the booths ringing the perimeter, a stage in the center, and the food on one side. All of the students dress up in costumes, which vary based on which char-acter they are depicting. “After months and months of getting ready for it, and after the students worrying,” says Ormsby, “it all comes together in the end.”

GARRETTSON OESTER/ CHATTERBOX

Left: Christopher Warren, ‘14, makes cookies at the cooking booth. Right: English teacher Barbara Stewart; Sweed Marman III, ‘16; Isabella Geis, ‘16; and Sarah Stradling, ‘16 in their colonial regalia.

Colonial Fair: Where history is brought to life

John Butler, ‘13Assistant Web Designer

Have you ever been awarded first place in a competition? Was it a game, or something a bit big-ger, perhaps a large tournament? What about a competition with an unlimited amount of people who can try out, and compete? Have you ever been acknowledged as the best of the rest of your age group? Jake Lovins ‘14 recently won

Sophomore’s designs win first placefirst place in an annual competi-tion of car design at the Stude-baker Museum in South Bend, Indiana. Studebaker is a legendary car manufacture which produced some of the world’s most visu-ally striking automobiles until the company’s decline in 1966. The basis of the competition is to experiment with the possibilities of what modern, and futuristic Studebaker’s would have looked like if they were still being built today.

It’s easier said than done. Designing cars takes a level of creativity, originality and artistic talent that many could only dream of possessing. As Lovins put it, to design a car you must be able to “bring back elements of the past while bringing something that hasn’t been seen yet.” Jake has been drawing since he was a small toddler, but only started focusing his designs toward cars in the past two years. However, it takes more than drawing to design a success-ful car, it takes ingenuity and a lot of it. Jake also attended the compe-tition last year, and received an Honorable Mention. This year, he wanted even more. Jake took the lines and curves of the Studebak-ers designed fifty years ago, and added a modern twist to every part of the car to mimic what such

a car would look like in today’s world. That year, he was chosen along with around twenty other people of his age to go to South Bend once more to participate. Jake’s designs were done with just paper and pen, and imitate those of professional designers with twenty years more expe-rience. Upon his visit to the museum, with the Studebakers of the past displayed pristinely beside him, Jake was awarded first place in his age group for his design: the Silent Hawk. But Jake isn’t quit finished yet. Next year he will be able to join the age group that includes college students. In next year’s competition he will be competing not only with other individuals, but the technology of those individuals. Jake will have to learn to design his cars on a com-puter rather than a piece of paper,

which provides a challenge but can potentially allow much more specific and impressive designs. Jake plans on taking 2D design and AP courses to tune his capa-bilities in his upcoming years at Walnut. He has already attended a full week course at UC’s widely-known DAAP program, one of the country’s highest ranked design programs. With the level of design he’s at now, he hopes to improve and produce even more impressive work. Jake plans on entering the design competition next year, and hopes for the best.

Online Features and

SurveysWhat’s your opinion on sex?

Make your voice heard at <http://is.gd/cboxsex>.

Online ExclusivesChanges are being made to

some AP exams. We speak to Dr. Harsh, Mr. Pogoni, and Ms.

Wilke about the new Biology, Latin, and Spanish courses.

Our thoughts on shaving: methods, razors, and more.

Brand new Photos of the Week and weekly articles!

Links to all this and more are available online at

<http://my.hsj.org/chatterbox>

JAKE LOVINS

The “Silent Hawk,” one of Lovins’ designs.

ViewpointsThe Chatterbox Page 3

Jessie Heines, Print EditorVolume CVI.5 Walnut Hills High SchoolThe ideas expressed on this page are the views of individual authors and do not reflect the opinions of the Chatterbox pubilcation as a whole. Letters to the editors may be sent to Rm. 8003 or to cboxwalnut@gmail.com.

Char Daston, ‘13Chatterbox Contributor You are probably pondering the process of optioning: creating your schedule for next year. I some-times find it ironic that so many students can complain so much about homework, tests, projects, etc. from classes they chose them-selves the previous January. This is why I think it’s important to pick classes for the right reasons. One dangerous reason students may choose classes is to raise their GPAs. The powers that be have decided that beginning this year, AA classes carry a lower weight on grade point averages than APs. While this was, in many ways, a necessary change (I can by no means argue that Physics AA is as intense as AP Physics C), I think it had the negative effect of en-couraging A-students to be more competitive.

Having fewer 6.0-weight classes makes it less likely to have a seven-way tie for valedictorian (as was the case for the Class of 2011). You can bet that at Walnut Hills, at least seven students in each class have their eyes on the prize. So many students are taking (or are planning to take) five, six or seven AP classes, working for their grades at the expense of their sleep, health and, in some cases, temporary sanity. You can almost pity them in their quest to seek out the seven easiest (and in many cases less interesting) APs. There are many good reasons for choosing classes: to fulfill graduation requirements, build up a transcript that looks good to colleges, mesh with a specific bell schedule; all of these reasons are important. But I’d like to add another criterion for all of us optioners out there: pick classes

that are fun. Don’t get me wrong; you should also pick classes that are challenging, but the AP classes you take should be ones that pique your curiosity. Sophomores and juniors not interested in economics (now a re-quirement) should feel no pressure to take the AP. You could even balance a semester of econom-ics (which, by the way, does not count toward your weighted GPA) with something that sounds right up your alley—maybe Film Stud-ies or Creative Writing. Even sev-enth and eighth graders can take advantage of the few choices they have: maybe trade out a semes-ter of study hall to learn a string instrument or have a go at acting. You can never have a perfect year, but if you option with fun in mind, you’re more likely to enjoy your classes, and thus be more motivated to work for them. The fact that Walnut doesn’t have AA Philosophy or AP Ancient World History is Wal-nut’s problem, not yours. If you are seriously unmotivated or see school as a competition to be won rather than a place to learn, do what you have to do. I think there are enough budding philosophers, musicians, physicists, “calculists” and authors at Walnut who are willing to forgo competition to build for themselves the most ex-citing, enlightening year possible.

Thoughts on anonymitySarah Davidoff, ‘13Chatterbox Contributor We are obsessed with our names. We put our names on our clothes, our jewelry and our other belongings. We’re flattered when we’re called the right name and insulted when we aren’t. Our names are everything, except when it comes to our opinions. This page of the Chatterbox has seen its fair share of opinions, but not many names. So my ques-tion to the anonymous contribu-tors is: Why are you afraid to take credit for your work? In the future, our names and our opinions are synonymous—we could not quote Dr. King if we hadn’t known it was he. Of course, there are consequences; Dr. King saw the worst of them. But what is an opinion without consequences or without controversy? If you used anonymity to appear objective or maybe sym-bolic—the voice of a group rather than of a single person—I can’t blame you for that. Who would read an article about homosexual-ity by a twelve-year-old the same way they would read something by a SENIOR?

Wally Hill, ‘12Staff Writer

Walnut is in every sense of the phrase a “liberal education institu-tion.” However, by liberal I do not mean that we all listen to NPR, ignore shaving and frolic in the flowers, nor am I implying that our school is overtly democratic. When I say liberal, I am referring to the openness of our educational environment and our implied freedoms. Yet, unlike many “liberal insti-tutions,” I have seen a shockingly minute amount of political expres-sion. In my 6 years of attendance, I have never exactly felt like our school was ever brimming with future citizens waiting to debate their beliefs. Some may reference the campaign project in tenth grade, but do only sophomores have defendable opinions? And should these opinions last only as long as it takes to pass a project? Cer-tainly not. It is an important part of growing up to develop and embrace your own unique ideas, and based on current world condi-tions, 2012 is the perfect year. As the 2012 presidential primaries draw nearer and both of the leading parties prime their candidates, the lack of enthusi-asm appalls me. It’s your country! Buried deep behind the stagnant cobwebs of your mind is an opinion, and you should express

it! Candidates don’t (usually) campaign to hear themselves talk, and whether you can vote or not, they still gear their campaigns towards a broad audience, with you included. Impending legisla-tion and decisions will affect you in some way. You SHOULD feel something. Yet, many do not. Many stu-dents (and adults) seem to treat politics like the Dark Lord Volde-mort or your creepy neighbor with all those cats—everyone knows something about it but not many people care to discuss it. It should not be so. As a school where many of our freedoms are openly promoted, we should take advantage them. I don’t want to sound preachy (al-though I undoubtedly am) but the last thing I want to see is a bunch of opinion-less zombies dragging their heels, hoping for Friday. Where’s the fun in that? I wouldn’t say this is some sort of battle cry—it’s far from that. Instead, I hope it is more of an invitation, a casual reminder to get out of your politically apathetic rut and get your head in the game. Someday (maybe even soon) you will have to vote, and if you don’t have a strong opinion, Glenn Beck could be our next president. Think about it.

Option for funConsider stress while planning your class schedule

Wally Hill talks politics The Chatterbox Policy Statement

The Chatterbox has been guaranteed the right of freedom of the press through the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The administration of Walnut Hills High School is thus bound to support and protect the Chat-terbox’s inalienable rights as a free press. As an integral part of the Walnut Hills High School community, the Chatterbox has the responsibility to report in the most comprehensive and objective manner possible. Students, parents, faculty and administrators are encouraged to use this publication as a forum to express any ideas or concerns, whether they be personal or of local, national or international scope. Journalists are required to work under established guidelines. Invasion of privacy as a means of news gather-ing is prohibited. Articles found to be discriminatory, libelous or unnecessarily obscene (as determined by the editors or the advisor) will not be published. Finally, journalists are granted the right to keep private the name of a source from whom they received informa-tion with the understanding that the source was to remain anonymous. The role of the newspaper advisor will be to provide counsel and criticism pertain-ing to the newspaper’s content and production. Although both the advisor and the administration hold certain powers regarding the Chatterbox, both must respect the paper’s autonomy. No student shall be prevented from joining the staff on the basis of sex, race, creed or national origin.

Senioritis is air-borne?

Jessie Heines, ‘12Viewpoints Editor Now that second semester has dawned on the SENIOR class, I am faced with a dilemma: coast until May or finish strong? The obvious inclination would be to disregard all things academic and play Temple Run ad nauseam in classes. Yet, colleges and teach-ers alike frown upon this strat-egy. In fact, this glorified second semester brings with it a new set of expectations. While some teach-ers uphold their same academic standards, do others find ways to compensate for the senioritis epidemic? Ms. Wilkinson, art history extraordinaire, is familiar with the tendencies of SENIORS this time of the school year. She expects her SENIORS to continue to preform at the same academic level during the course of the second semester. “My class is an elective,” she says,

which creates a unique dynamic throughout the year. No student is required to take AP Art History, so it is assumed that if they optioned for it, they are “in it for the long haul.” But beyond just maintaining the same grades, are some students committed to simply meeting the expectations outlined by their teachers? What about those students who applied early decision to schools (a binding contract) and are already admitted and commit-ted to their top choice? Theoreti-cally they just have to finish out their year with solid, perhaps above average, grades. But realisti-cally, any student who applied ear-ly decision to an Ivy League school or high level academic institution is not going to completely slack off their second semester; it’s not in their nature. As the highly anticipated fourth quarter of senior year ap-proaches I am interested to see which teachers accept senioritis and who continues to fight it until the bitter end.

So reconsider your motives when you write anonymously. Think of the power of names and how you could bring to light something significant by contrib-uting some of yourself with your opinion. I think you will find that anonymity pales in comparison to expressing total conviction in your beliefs, of being proud to put your name on them.

Response from the editor: Mia Manavalan, ‘12Editor-In-Chief

The Chatterbox staff has been discussing this issue and has de-cided to make an alteration to the Viewpoints page. If any student (besides Wally Hill) would like to submit an article to the Chat-terbox anonymously, he or she must include an explanation as to why he or she would like to stay anonymous. The purpose of this is to avoid the Viewpoints page from becoming a forum for anonymous rants.

BRITTANY BARRERA/CHATTERBOX

SportsPage 4 The Chatterbox

Charlie Hatch, EditorWalnut Hills High School Volume CVI.5

As we flip the pages in our calendars and move forward into a new year, we can reflect on the 365 day sports roller coaster called 2011. Both the National Football League and the National Basket-ball Association have had lockouts, which totaled 279 days of sports drama. Ultimately, the NFL came back roaring and remained just as, if not more, popular than before. The NBA resumed play on Christmas day, and although not as highly anticipated, the league remnains popular thoughout the sports word. The year also brought along a new media sensation, who dominated reruns of “SportsCen-ter” daily for weeks on end: Tim Tebow. The uber-Christian Den-ver Bronco quarterback went from back-up to “The Chosen One” and helped his team enter the playoffs and take down the Pitts-burgh Steelers in the first round. After “The Decision” in 2010, LeBron James took his talents to South Beach, and came up empty handed. Despite having All-Star

teammates Chris Bosh and Dwy-ane Wade, the Miami Heat lost to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. And what made the Heat’s failure to win special, was that self-titled ‘King James’ promised “not five, not six...” when it came to championships. You’re right LeBron, you don’t have any. When it came to baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals managed to win the Fall Classic, regardless of the fact that they were 10.5 games out of the playoff picture with 31 games left in the season. The Cards rallied into the playoffs, and had a tour de force playoff run into the World Series, where they beat the Texas Rangers. In the following days, Cardi-nals manager Tony LaRussa retired on top, and future hall-of-famer Albert Pujols left for the West Coast to play for Anaheim. Ohio State head football coach Jim Tresell and his band of Buck-eye misfits brought shame to The Ohio State University, when the NCAA discovered that Tressell hid knowledge of illegal actions by his players. The OSU president E. Gordon Gee also tarnished his schools’

reputation when he told the media “Let me be very clear. I’m just hoping the coach doesn’t dismiss me,” making it sound like the football team’s head coach ran the institution. Sounds like someone “Feared the Vest.” The biggest story of the year that rocked the sports world was the sexual molestation charges on former Penn State coaching staff member Jerry Sandusky. The entire school was shocked and at one point went on a riot when college football’s most respected coach, Joe Paterno, was let go from his duties as head coach of the Nittany Lions football team. Soon after his dismissal, it became known that Joe Pa had lung cancer. He passed away on Jan. 22 with a broken heart. In the college hoops realm, the Connecticut Huskies’ Kemba Walker led a group of freshman on a run that will go down in history as one of the most impressive ends to a college career ever. UConn won five games in five days at the Big East tournament, and entered the NCAA tournament as a #3 seed. The Huskies ran through March Madness and proved to be the “top-dogs” by defeating the Butler Bulldogs, in the champion-ship game. The Cincinnati Bearcats also made their way into the headlines. In December, a brawl broke out with 7 seconds left in the Cross-town Shootout (UC vs. Xavier). While players were suspended, the biggest blunder in the whole mess came from Xavier’s star player, Tu Halloway. After the game, Halloway told the media, “That’s what you’re go-ing to see from Xavier and Cincin-nati...we’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We got a whole bunch of gangstas in the locker room, not thugs but tough guys on the court. We went out there and zipped ‘em up at the end of the game.” Very classy, Tu. Hopefully, if 2012 happens to be the end of the world, the city of Cincinnati can stay out of the headlines for negative reasons.

2011: The year in sports

“Powered by chlorine, empow-ered by Coach!” We’ve heard of the popular teams in our school like football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and volleyball. But the one everyone seems to miss is the swimming team. Led by Coach Gregory Lynch, the team is divided into J.V. and varsity. They practice together and help each other improve endur-ance and technique. Swim team participates in races and relays that vary in yardage and stroke, and so far, they’ve done stunningly well. “Our team really works to-gether,” raves team manager Kayla Moore, “like a really big, awesome family that is dysfunctional but functional.” Although the team performs well, it is difficult to get a meet-like experience while training at Walnut. One of the biggest problems at the moment is the size of the current swimming pools. “The two twenty meter pools that are currently in Walnut are too short for regular swim meets,” says swimmer Cody Blatt. “Our home pool is at St. Bernard because of this.” To make things easier for the team and the school, Walnut has decided to build a new competi-tion sized swimming pool with the new gymnasium. When asked

about the new pool, Blatt replies, “Sounds like it will be a nice pool. I hear it’s supposed to actually be 25m, instead of two 20m pools that we are using currently.” “Swimming isn’t about beating your opponents; it’s about beating yourself and your own times.” Blatt continued, going on to give a great message to tell his fellow swimmers and athletes. “We kick more than soccer players, we yell louder than cheerleaders, we dive farther than baseball players, we move more than dancers, we do more flips than gymnasts and we do more laps than runners. That’s why we’re swimmers!”

Who said that Eagles can’t swim?Kibret Alem, ‘14Staff Writer

Charlie Hatch, ‘13Sports Editor

The Walnut Hills bowling teams are fighting to make their presence known, both in their league and through the school. And with coach, team and school support, they can do just that. Bowling coaches Butch Taylor and James Ficklin are hopeful for the rest of the season and seasons to come, although the boy’s and girl’s varsity bowling teams aren’t having a season as successful as they would’ve liked. At one of the teams’ most re-cent tournaments on January 7th, both teams placed fourth overall. They should be commended due to the large amount of competi-tion that they were up against at the tournament. Coach Taylor has been coach-ing bowling at Walnut for six years and Coach Ficklin has been coaching for five. Because they have been coaching at Walnut for that long, they have seen their fair share of winning and losing seasons. Both coaches agree that their teams have the potential to be fantastic but that the players just aren’t playing to their full poten-tial. “I want them to know that I believe in them and that they can turn this season around,” said Coach Ficklin. The girl’s varsity team lost four seniors and the boy’s varsity team lost three last year, two of which

had a 190+ bowling average and that has had a significant impact on the Eagles this season. The loss of seniors coupled with the inability to practice at their home bowling alley, Madison Bowl, seem like big enough road blocks but it doesn’t stop there. The division in which they are in used to be one of three, but one of the divisions was split and now there are just two divisions, therefore placing the top four teams in the city to their schedule. Despite the setbacks the team is facing, both coaches want every-one to know that it really is a fun sport and that you shouldn’t be afraid to come and tryout. “Coach Taylor is a really cool guy and a great coach,” says sophomore Karl Schottlekotte. “Everybody on the team respects him.” Coach Taylor has also been able to add bowling to the gym curriculums through gym teacher, Ms. Farenholtz. Through this addition, the hope is that more students will develop a likeness to the game and will try out for the team next season. Also students will be able to experience a sport that is outside of the “norm” of gym class. Not only is bowling a fun sport, but they also have one of the best family fundraisers in the entire athletic association. It includes a fun evening of bowling, food, raffles, games and drawings, and also a chance to mingle with the families of Walnut’s bowling com-munity. Anybody who is slightly interested in joining the bowling program should try out.

Bowling team rolls outAlina Tashjian, ‘14Staff Writer

On January ninth, the Cincin-nati Reds’ former All-Star short-stop Barry Larkin was elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his third year of eligibility. He was elected by 86.4% of the voters, which are members of the BWAA for ten years or more. He was the only player who received the necessary 75% for election. To be eligible for the hall of fame, a player must have spent ten seasons in Major League Baseball and been retired for at least five. In a nineteen-season career spent entirely with the Reds, Larkin was a 12-time All Star, won nine Silver Sluggers (given to each league’s top hitter at their position) and three Gold Gloves (the same, but for defense) and was named the 1995 National League Most Valuable Player. He hit 198 home runs and

had a .295 career batting average. Larkin’s election in his third year of eligibility might have been considered a surprise when he retired in 2004. What has changed since then is a how writers evaluate a player.

For the vast majority of the hall of fame’s existence, writers tended to focus on the big statistics (home runs, hits, batting average…) and, to an extent, the fame of a player to assess his candidacy. This made a quiet player in a small market city with less gaudy numbers, like Larkin, disadvantaged in Hall voting. Now the BWAA has began to look at smaller statistics, which has greatly benefited players, like Lar-kin’s, chances at being inducted, such as hitting, base running, and fielding. One of the most encompassing statistics for Larkin was the Wins Above Replacement, which is a formula that estimates the number of wins a player gave his team as apposed to an average player. A player with a solid hall of fame argument has a career WAR of about 60. Barry Larkin’s WAR is 68.9, according to baseball-refer-ence.com. This change allowed Larkin to exceed expectations to where he now stands as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Red’s Larkin to enter Hall of FameJoe Neidhard, ‘12Style & Culture Editor

LUKE KLOTH/ CHATTERBOX

The Eagles swim team has had an impressive season.

COURTESY OF RICK DIKEMAN

Larkin was the face of the Reds franchise for nearly two decades.

JEFFREY BEALL. USED WITH PERMISSION.Tim Tebow was the sports sensation of the year, despite claims that he wasn’t the typical NFL QB.

Fine ArtsThe Chatterbox Page 5

Jenna Weber, Print EditorVolume CVI.5 Walnut Hills High School

Amanda Dias, ‘12Jenna Weber, ‘13Fine Arts Editors

The Overture Awards competition was held on Saturday, Jan. 7 throughout Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Among the students who participated was junior David Donnelly, whose father is a part of the local leadership group that founded the competition. As a dancer training with the Cincinnati Ballet Company, Donnelly is no stranger to performing. However, a competition like the Overture Awards is much different than a performance. “Being judged adds a whole new level of nerves that are present whenever I perform,” reflected Donnelly. “I’ve participated in a competition before so I have experienced the ‘amplified nerves’ aspect of that kind of a performance.” Donnelly performed the contemporary piece, Without Bounds despite his preference for classical ballet. He chose a contempo-rary piece over a classical one after consult-ing teachers who believed a contemporary piece would be more relatable for the judges. Donnelly learned the routine last March for a different competition, but only began rehearsing it for the Overture Awards over his winter break.

Congratulations!

FinalistsTheater

Jo Ellen Pellman, ‘14

Vocal MusicChristian Betts, ‘12

Semi-FinalistsInstrumental MusicLucy Hattemer, ‘13

Thomas Heidenreich, ‘13

TheaterSam Terry, ‘12

Visual ArtJessica Fan, ‘12

Vocal MusicCassandra Sherwood, ‘12

Jo-Ellen Pellman, ‘14Ariel Schmid, ‘12

DanceDavid Donnelly, ‘13

Emily Friedman, ‘13Junior Managing Editor

You’re looking up movie showtimes at Newport and can’t seem to find anything good. There’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Captain America—all the usual movies you’ve heard your little brother raving about or have seen trailers for on TV. However, they all seem to be lacking something, after the fact. Yet you still buy the ticket and watch an okay movie to see your favorite celebrities; you will leave the theater enter-tained, but slightly disappointed. Sure, action is always exciting, and it is not like action movies are always over-rated. There are amazing ones out there. But sometimes Hollywood seems to sacrifice good acting and creative story lines for half-rate actors (who will bring more teen fan-girls to the box office), and scene after scene of meaningless action that looks good in a trailer, but does not satisfy the story as well as could a few scenes of “boring” dialogue. But I like action. I want to see a car explode and a Victoria’s Secret model-turned-actress shoot down the bad guy. Why would I go to a movie to see a bunch of okay looking actors drone on in old fashioned costumes? That’s so boring. The average “indie” movie may not have the glitzy glamour of a Hollywood action film with a million dollar marketing campaign, but there are so many things that they do have, and they deserve some atten-tion over the mass-marketed, million dollar mainstream film. The nickname “indie” is short for inde-pendent film, which you’ve probably labeled as those weird, artsy movies they play at the Esquire that snooty old women see in the

mid-afternoon. But they are so much more, and you’d be surprised to hear the names of some of the actors that are part of them (recent ones including Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branaugh, George Cloo-ney, Emma Watson...). Indies are by definition not associated with the major film studios (Universal, Paramount, Disney, Columbia TriStar, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox), usu-ally have a lower budget, and are created by directors with a more artistic approach and message they’d like to convey to an audience. They are works of art, and aren’t purely for entertainment; they consist of (for the most part) stylized cinematography, high-rate acting, and intricate story lines or ideas. They normally do not attract great at-tention because they do not have the budget or the large-scale marketing campaigns to bring enough viewers to the box office. Be-cause of this, they are played in only select theaters (local ones including the Esquires in Mariemont and Clifton, and now select ones at Newport) and run for very short playing times. Recent “indies” include The Way, Waiting for Forever, My Week With Marilyn, The Descendants, and Tree of Life. These movies were not necessarily over-looked, especially My Week with Marilyn or Tree of Life, because of the star studded casts of both. But these movies were unable to compete with the highly promoted, larger-budget Hollywood flicks like Sherlock Holmes or Mission Impossible.

Walnut students excel at Overture Awards Indie FilmsBreaking the Status Quo

I. SIGGUL/ VISUAL ARTS MASTERS

Junior David Donnelly performs his contemporary piece at the Overture Awards.

Even though he thought his perfor-mance wasn’t perfect, Donnelly continued on in the competition as a Semi-Finalist. The Semi-Finals were held on Saturday, January 21.

The CrucibleJenna Weber, ‘13Fine Arts Print Editor

JENNA WEBER/ CHATTERBOX The thespian production for Walnut Hills this year is Arthur Miller’s historical play, The Crucible. The play is centered around the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the small Puritan town in 1692. A group of teenage girls caught conjur-ing a love potion to capture the hearts of young men are forced to tell lies of Satan’s suspected invasion of the town. Rumors fly as the trials and convictions proceed.

Support Walnut’s theater program along with the strong cast of the play! The Crucible runs February 16, 17 and 18 in the Small Theater. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets will be sold for $8.

Cast (in order of appearance):Rev. Parris: Tanner Walters

Tituba: Jahkila BrunnerAbigail Williams: Clare SuffernSusanna Walcott: Annie Carroll

Ann Putnam: Abby GilsterThomas Putnam: Nick Witzeman

Mercy Lewis: Jo Ellen PellmanMary Warren: Katie PetersJohn Proctor: Paul Linser

Rebecca Nurse: Breanna Jeffery Giles Corey: Isaac Shapiro Rev. John Hale: Sam Terry

Elizabeth Proctor: Claire BeauchampFrancis Nurse: Caleb Neely

Ezekial Cheever: AJ Schwartz Marshal Herrick: Luke CoffeyJudge Hathorne: Simon Dallas

Deputy Governor Danforth: Eli Davis Sarah Good: Eleanor Demaree

Martha Corey: Liliana Luna-NelsonHopkins: Sixten Heekin

Posessed girl at trial: Taylor EdwardsPossessed girl at trial: Olivia Orso

Possessed girl at trial: Sarah Wagner

Style & CulturePage 6 The Chatterbox

Joe Neidhard, EditorWalnut Hills High School Volume CVI.5

Tanner Walters, ‘12Senior Managing Editor

“We talk about what it means to be black.” That’s one thing that draws junior Nina Price to the Black Culture Club. The club, headed by juniors Kaia Amoah and Precious Adeleye (advised by science teach-er Jaron Gray), is united by this question of identity. As it turns out, this answer seems to vary. “Some people think if you’re black, you’re black,” says junior Aaliyah Bronston, as she debates what to write on her What it Means to Be Black poster the club is currently making. “Others think you have to act a certain way.” “There’s a history behind it...the conversations we have during the club influence us to see how people come together,” adds junior Jayla Anderson. The club’s presence is not surprising given Walnut’s environ-ment. According to the school website, the Eagles boast a minor-ity population of 44%, with an African-American population at 36% (1,853 students). On top of that, the school is also one of the most economically diverse in the city. Diversity is no unfamiliar concept to students here–but does diversity necessarily mean unity? Most students would agree that racism is not an issue at the school–but many perceive a sense

of separation between different cultures among the student body. “It is true that people tend to go to their own sides...but as Walnut students, it doesn’t go far,” says SENIOR member of the club, Abimbola Oyadiran. This tendency for people to go their own ways, as it were, has become apparent for many SENIORS as they vote for the REM Senior Superlatives. With almost fifty categories, with three male and three female nominees in each category, it seems to capture a fairly heterogeneous microcosm of the senior population. And yet some have found the voting to be difficult, when many names were unrecognizable. “When I was looking through the superlatives, every now and then I came across someone I had never heard of before. I was confused how I could be around a group of people for four years and still not know some of them,” says SENIOR Ben Kovarsky. Is this a racial issue? While checking off candidates on my list with classmates, I’ve heard it jok-ingly asserted that “the white kids know the white kids and the black kids know the black kids.” While the generalization is certainly not over-arching, it’s interesting to consider. The Black Culture Club seeks to unite the multiple ethnicities represented under the dome. De-

spite a popular misconception, the club is open to all students, with non-African-American students highly encouraged to join. Megan Davidson, ‘13, attests to this: “It’s interesting to hear different perspectives.” The club is currently planning its involvement with February’s Black History Month at Walnut, with tentative plans to team up with the National Society of Black Engineers. Also ahead for the club is a talent show and a trip to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center downtown. Inter-ested students should attend the club’s monthly meetings in Mr. Gray’s room.

<http://www.walnuthillseagles.com/Clubs.asp>

FOR HER:

#356 Ditch the regu lar sweater for an edgy open-knit layering look.

#743 Give your scarf some company and wear a hat!

FOR HIM:

#751: One of the best places to add color to your wardrobe is your socks.

#214: Some guys try dressing up by wearing a vest without a jacket. Don’t be that guy.

#215: That guy also wears a fedora and keeps it on indoors.

Style Tips

Kemarca Wade, ‘13 Web Designer

MoCA, the coffee shop locat-ed on DeSales Corner, closed its doors on December 30th, 2011. Instead, a new coffee shop, Cafe DeSales, has opened and many of the employees from MoCA are now working there. MoCA isn’t planning to reopen again and the thought on Walnut students’ minds is, “Why?” According to a letter sent out to many of MoCA’s customers, owner Joe Balbo says MoCA had to close “due to irresolv-able differences with my friend and landlord.” He stated that he bought MoCA in 2007 to help his friend and it has become a “lighthouse of stability at DeSales Corner and the driver for many great changes.” Balbo said that he left his successful consulting busi-ness for the first two and a half

years to dedicate his full time to helping MoCA and the surround-ing area. MoCA will leave a hole in the neighborhood as it has to Balbo’s heart. Cafe DeSales’ owner Sandy Vierling, a former employee of MoCA, has decided to take up this endeavor to save the coffee business on the DeSales Corner. For those who are seeking other coffee alternatives, one that’s no more than 10 minutes from here is the Bonbonerie Café in O’Bryonville. Even though there’s no outside sitting area, the inside is classy and chic. They serve breakfast and lunch and open at 7:30am. The prices for a good cup of coffee vary from $1.50-3.00. If coffee or coffee-like drinks aren’t your thing then don’t fret. They have tea as well for $2.00.

No mo’ MoCa

Black Culture Club explores identity

Scarves: not just for keeping warm

From left to right: Top: Johannah Web, ‘14; Thomas Brodersen, ‘13; Chloe LaCoe, ‘14.Bottom: Erica Hughes, ‘16; Lillith Wiest, ‘12; Dominic Ventura, ‘16.For more photos of students and their scarves, visit our website at <my.hsj.org/chatterbox>.

LUKE KLOTH/ CHATTERBOX

HANNAH SHAW/ CHATTERBOX

A sign for a new cafe was hastily placed over what used to be MoCa.

Pushing the limits of our deadline for Issue 5, we tried to come up with a list of trending Twitter topics to fill space. what we came up with were these:

#hipsterproblems#firstworldproblems#cincyproblems#whitegirlproblems

What is with people and prob-lems?! Everyone has problems. Just because I don’t have enough content to properly fill a page doesn’t mean I’m going to go and tell the world about it, and end with, “OMG #pageeditor-problems.”

-Joe Neidhard Style & Culture Editor

Some Thoughts on Twitter...

The ArcadeThe Chatterbox Page 7

Editor: JP SchmitzVolume CVI.5 Walnut Hills High School

you are my comforter-my comfort-soft, filled with downwarmth in the face of foggy breathtucked in at my feetand wrapped, wrapped around and aroundyou surround me with quietsafety against monsters in the nightyou are my escape from the worldpulled over my head and--nothing else existsyou become my worlddark, peaceful, and warmthe only sounds:my/your breath...slowsmy/your heartbeat... togethertogether we can throw off the coversface the worldfight off the monstersquiet the loudbattle the coldtogetherwe can do anythingand when there is no time leftfor you and me...you become my pillowsone cradling my head, holding meone nestled in my arms, held tighttelling me that it’s alrightI can sleep now

Student CartoonBrandon Wagner, ‘13Chatterbox Cartoonist

SENIOR Poetry SubmissionAnna Goose ‘12Chatterbox Contributor

Aquarius: Try to avoid major waterways, because no matter how real they seem, you are imagining the crab people you see in the water.

Pisces: Look deeply into the eyes of that kid next to you on the bus. Not only will it weird him or her out, but it will give you immense satisfaction. Try it!

Ares: Go to the paint store and pick out colors like “Crimson Tide,” “Sanguine Red,” and “Midnight Black.” Paint your room these colors. They suit you well, and I never lie.

Taurus: Has it ever occurred to you that pancakes and waffles are made from the same bat-ter, yet they taste so differently? It makes no difference if you herd alpacas, but as for the rest of us? These are the questions that keep us up at night.

Gemini: They will reprogram your ATM access code, mess up the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch any CD’s you attempt to play. Beware.

Cancer: Na krado bo cortulado. Là’aden, lai crèmunòk por kòmo. Bàladok, qè’segòth, sar kabrolado, vo qè’vegar pròdoka. Sornades kastu!

Leo: I imagine that right now, you’re feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole? I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that’s not far from the truth.

Virgo: You think of yourself as the tastiest of the 178 sesame seeds on that Big Mac bun, and you’re probably right. Go get ‘em tiger!

Libra: If you think you are a porcupine, then you should seek help immediately. However, if you think you’re stuck in English class, get over it. That book you’re reading is more interesting than you think.

Scorpio: Go to the zoo and sit in front of the koi pond. It’s awfully relaxing.

Sagittarius: Did you know: Kansas state law requires pedestrians crossing the highways at night to wear taillights? Me neither. I’m not quite sure what that says about you though…

Capricorn: I asked a squirrel about my future once, and he told me to avoid writing about goat-mermaids. Then I realized I was talking to a monkey. You will wake up tomorrow feeling slightly older than you were yesterday.

HoroscopesJP Schmitz, ‘12Arcade Editor

Spook of the MonthJarod Estes, ‘17Chatterbox Cartoonist

JP is not LazyJP Schmitz, ‘12Arcade Editor

CALL TO ALL BUDDING

HOROSCOPISTS

For the past semester our team of professional as-

trological visionaries have slaved over star charts and planetary observa-

tions to craft horoscopes of the highest quality. But now it’s your turn. If you think that your clairvoyent skills are up to snuff, then drop your twelve month spread (no Ophiuchus please) in the Chatterbox mailbox, or

send them to cboxscope@gmail.com.

“Is it hot in here or is it just me?”

Just NutsPage 8 The Chatterbox

Jaylen Hill, Print EditorWalnut Hills High School Volume CVI.5

Jaylen Hill ‘13Just Nuts Print Editor

It turns out the Mayans were wrong; the world actually ends on...your birthday.

Your favorite foods are raining from the sky. ¡¡¡This class is BORING!!!JAYLEN HILL/CHATTERBOX JAYLEN HILL/CHATTERBOX JAYLEN HILL/CHATTERBOX

Chloe Coleman is a seventh grader who finds joy in being funny, being around funny people, doing hair, and playing the clarinet. She likes a lot of things, actually. The only things she really doesn’t like are boredom and ducks. She hates ducks. According to Chloe, they are pointless and irritating.

Signe Schloss ‘12Online Photo Editor

Last week, back when I still ate solid foods, I sat down to catch up on my backlog of DVR’d episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with a cup of yellow rice. Halfway through “The Storm of a Cen-tury,” I decided that the rice just wasn’t cutting it. In an animalistic hunt for a savory snack, I strapped on my boots and headed out to the local Kroger. Nestled under a shelf between the “can fruit” and the International selections, I found a small ziplock bag with the word “Pecans” hastily scrawled on it in purple sharpie. This looked to be the perfect meal, so I bought

it, even though the sales associate tried to tell me that it wasn’t an item they stocked. Then why was it next to the craisins? Riddle me that. According to the National Pecan Shellers Association, pecans are cracked by a machine that applies force to both ends of each nut. This is probably true of most types of nut. But pecans are special because they are one of the most versatile kinds of nuts. When my power went out in the middle of my It’s Always Sunny marathon due to an unfortunate opossum incident, I hacked away at a pile of pecans in a lather of rage. This fine pecan powder, as I later discovered, is a wonderful

garnish for many delectable dishes, such as Southern Red Velvet Cake, Pecan Pie or sprinkled atop a fresh salad. Ma says, “pecans really aren’t like anything else.” They are won-derfully textured, slightly sweet, and have a marvelously soothing mouthfeel. They also made me de-lightfully itchy. If you decide, like I did, to buy industrial regulation-sized vats of pecans in case of a flood, then the National Pecan Shellers Association recommends freezing them, after passing them over a rapidly vibrating machine, at -170 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid seepage.

JP Schmitz ‘12 Sean Wood ‘15Arcade Editor Staff Writer

Our Rating: 10 Dragon Shouts out of 10

On November 11th, Bethesda Game Studio released the newest addition to the Elder Scrolls Saga: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Like the previous entries in the Elder Scrolls series, the game is very non-linear, and allows the player to heavily customize their character. The game is built upon the idea of letting you, the player, choose how the game and story-line will progress. Unlike most games, where you are forced to move along with a pre-scripted chain of events, Skyrim lets you choose which main story arc you would like to follow. Or you could forget about the main storylines altogether and play the hundreds of hours of sidequests. It’s also possible to walk through the giant, beautiful land of Skyrim for hours on end doing nothing. While Skyrim is groundbreak-ing in terms of player control over what happens, the game has all of the qualities of a great fantasy-epic RPG. In what other game can

you become a vampire, feed on a sleeping hobo’s blood, contract Lycanthropy, become a werewolf, steal a golden artifact from a clan’s meeting hall for the theives’ guild, get married, lay waste to a rebel stronghold, find a retired soldier’s missing helmet in a Troll-infested ice-cave, sneak into a Thalmor em-bassy, defeat a randomly-spawned dragon, kill it with an axe, absorb its soul, then use that soul to enchant the axe and learn a word in the language of the dragons, in under an hour? None. With that out of the way, how does Skyrim improve from its pre-decessor, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? In almost every way. You can no longer get weaker by leveling up; instead, you get to choose whether to upgrade one of three main stats, Magika, Health and Stamina, and you get a perk point. You can use this perk to upgrade one of the 18 minor stats, and get one upgrade, such as being able to zoom in while using a bow or a 20% increase to the damage done by one-handed attacks. Another aspect that has been improved is the combat. No lon-ger is the combat stiff and blocky, but responsive and dynamic.

Instead of just being able to use one or two weapons in a fight, Skyrim incorporates five aspects into combat. First of all, depending upon which race you chose at the begin-ning, you will get a certain ability; For example, Nords have a resis-tance to the cold, and can make their enemies flee from battle for 30 seconds. Secondly, Dragon Shouts can be used every 20-40 seconds, and provide the player with myriad boosts and powers, such as forcing

everything back 20 feet, or knock-ing a dragon out of the sky. Third, the player can use both hands for fighting, allowing for customization of battle equip-ment, alllowing the player to choose from any weapon they wish, such as a battlemace, axe, sword, healing spell, fire rune, etc... Fourthly, diseases such as Lycanthropy, Vampirsim and Rockjoint can either hinder or help your combat abilities. Finally, you may bring along

an Non-Player Character by hiring them, and go through dungeons and quests with a helper. In addition, specialized, Mor-tal Kombat-esque critical death scenes keep the combat fresh. However, they are also part of the reason Skyrim is rated M....

To read the rest of this review, visit the Chatterbox online at <my.hsj.org/Chatterbox>.

Pecans, A Savory Snack

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In Character: Chloe Coleman

BETHESDA GAME STUDIO

The main menu screen of Skyrim