Vol. 46 No. 7 Cherry Hill High School East: 1750 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 May 2012

www.eastside-online.org

Students create legacy through robotics

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo Editor(Left to right) Aaron Sirken (‘12) and Brendon Rush (‘12) carefully check over their robot, which has already picked up and is holdingobjects. The robot is stopped in its testing pen, which East helped the Robotics Club to purchase to prepare for competitions.

Creating a club thattakes its members to theRobotics World Champion-ships three consecutiveyears is not, by most stan-dards, easy. However, thisis exactly what AaronSirken (‘12) was able toaccomplish when he dis-covered his passion forcompetitive mechanicalengineering.

After participating in arobotics competition at theUniversity of Pennsyl-vania, Sirken researchedpossible ways a low-budgetrobotics club could be initi-ated at East. Typically, itcosts around ten thousanddollars to start a robotics

club, but Sirken found acompany that offeredstarter robotics kits ataround eight hundred dol-lars, allowing each robot tobe created for fifteen hun-dred dollars.

Sirken and his mechani-cally adroit friend, Bren-don Rush (‘12), teamed upand took the class Re-search in Science, wherethey competed in roboticscompetitions that eventu-ally landed them at theworld competition theirfreshman year.

After seeing the duo’ssuccess, East offered agrant to Sirken and Rushto start a robotics team atEast. The team used thefunding to buy anotherrobot to compete with.With the aid of biology

teacher Mrs. Bethany Lauand math teacher Mr.Joseph Dilks, the two offi-cially started the club inMarch of 2011, when theyhosted a members meetingwith twelve students. Fromthere, Rush and Sirkenheld tutorials to teach thenew members how to buildthe robots.

“You would have Aaronon one side of the roomteaching programming andBrendon on the other sideof the room teaching howto actually build the robot,and we were reallyimpressed with their robot.It got us excited to be apart of the club,” saidWinnie Cheng (‘12), aRobotics Club member.

Each year the roboticscompetitions have a theme

around which the robot isconstructed. For instance,this year’s theme is onrobots that are able toplace different itemsthrough baskets and goals.At a typical competition,the judges pick the winnerbased on the interviewsthey have with each teamand the actual tasks therobots can perform.

With such importanceplaced on the actual taskperformance of the robot, itwas quite fortunate whenthe school offered a moresubstantial amount ofmoney that allowed theclub to buy a practice fieldto accurately test theirrobots.

This year’s RoboticsClub will be moving on tothe world competition this

coming summer. However,another big part of theclub, for some students, isthe life lessons.

“It’s not specificallywhat we learn [about] themechanical engineering[that is important]. What Ispecifically took from itwas the fundraising andteamwork aspects andeven the endurance towake up every Saturday atsix and just staying withthe club, because it takespatience and endurance tokeep building these robotsand to keep fixing them.During times of pressure,when a robot breaks downat a competition, you onlyhave two minutes to fix it,and you would never real-

See ROBOTICS, Pg. 2

■ By Sherin Nassar (‘13)Eastside Humor Editor

Inside This Issue East students participate in

Disney’s Idol ExperienceEntertainment Pg. 6

East volleyball playersstart off season well

Sports Pg. 15

East students perform withperfect pitch

News/Features Pg. 3

NEWS/FEATURESPage 2 EASTSIDE May 2012

O nM a r c h15, theCharterS c h o o lL o c a lA p -p r o v a lB i l lp a s s e din As-

sembly. This March, theNew Jersey Assemblypassed A1877, a bill thatwould require localapproval prior to the open-ing of a charter school.Thebill, which passed by avote of 45 to 27, wouldapply to charter schoolsthat have been approvedbut have not yet opened.This relates directly to theRegis Charter Schoolscheduled to open nextSeptember in Cherry Hill.The charter school, whichwould pull 1.6 million dol-lars from the Cherry HillSchool District’s budget,will greatly affect theCherry Hill School Districtif it opens next year.

The bill also requireslocal approval before acharter school can expandthe number of grade levelsor enlarge the region ofresidence. Finally, the billwould prohibit a charterschool from enrolling astudent who does notreside in the district of res-idence or region of resi-dence specified in thecharter. In summary, ifthis bill is passed, it willallow for Cherry Hill resi-dents to potentiallyremove the Regis CharterSchool before it evenopens. This bill gives thepeople of any given districta say in the process ofopening a charter school.

A Senate version of thebill (S458), co-sponsoredby Senator Jim Beach,was introduced in Januaryand referred to the SenateEducation Committee.

On February 14, theBoard of Education unani-mously passed a resolu-tion to move the annualschool election from Aprilto the November generalelection date. This actioneliminates the public voteon proposed school budg-ets that are at or below thelevy cap, which is current-ly at two percent.

At the February 28action meeting, the Boardof Education adopted thepreliminary 2012-2013budget for submission tothe Camden CountyDepartment of Education.The proposed levy of$149,694,439 represents atwo percent increase overthe current levy. Becausethe proposed levy does notexceed the two percentcap, the budget does notrequire voter approval inNovember. The Board willcontinue discussions of theproposed budget.

Please contact us withcomments and concerns ateastboe@yahoo.com.

JackieSusuni (‘12)

Board ofEducation

Representative

Continued from Pg. 1

-ize how easily people canget upset, but you need towork with that. Every-thing is about workingtogether. You really can’taccomplish anything byworking by yourself. It’sjust too much alone,”Cheng said.

In the end, the RoboticsClub has seen some exten-sive success, and even

though the club’s foundersare seniors, Sirken leavesthe club in capable handsthat are sure to launch theteam further on the path ofsuccess in the years thatfollow.

Sirken said, “I feel like[the new members] willkeep passing on the knowl-edge and showing the kidsthe new stuff. And hopeful-ly it will just keep expand-ing.”

Robotics Club competes internationally

East’s seniors are slated to experiencea night of statue-esque beauty at theConstitution Center in Philadelphia.The building, which is located just blocksfrom the Liberty Bell and Independ-ence Hall, has an entire room devoted tostatues of the Constitution’s signers.East seniors and their guests will be ableto take pictures with these statues allthroughout the 6 to 10 p.m. prom onMay 31.

Senior Class President Max Cohen(‘12) said, “We thought it was a greatvenue because it’s very spacious and it isvery aesthetically appealing. It’s alsovery unique in its layout.”

The venue has only been used oncebefore for an East event, for the Class of2008’s senior prom.

2012 Class Advisor Mr. Greg Gagli-ardi, who was also an advisor for theClass of 2008, said, “This is the mostspacious and most elegant place we couldpossibly pick.”

This year, students will have theopportunity to sell messages from rela-tives and friends, which will be displayedon three screens that will also show hun-dreds of class photos throughout thenight. For every message that a givensenior sells, he or she will receive 80% ofthe money he or she raised back.

The senior class student governmentchose a theme of “(It’s Not) the End of theWorld,” in reference to the “end of theworld,” which was predicted to occur in2012.

Cohen said, “We think the Constitu-tion Center… will put us in a positionto have a great night as the Class of2012.”

Seniors will lookstatue-esque atthe Senior Prom■ By Juliet Brooks (‘13)

Eastside News/Features Editor

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorThis Robotics Club robot was designed to lift objects. Theinternational competition theme this year was “Gateway,” soall competing robots needed to be able to lift.

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorRobotics Club founders Aaron Sirken (‘12)and Brendon Rush (‘12) work with a robot,which Sirken controls.

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorEast students test the robots in the testing pen.

NEWS/FEATURESMay 2012 EASTSIDE Page 3

Recently-elected schoolSGA officers answer ques-tions about East and SGA:

1. What made youdecide to get involved inschool-wide SGA?

Mason Stevens (‘13): Iwanted to have a bigimpact on the school. I feltthat by being in schoolSGA, my ideas could playa bigger role.

Ravin Patel (‘13): I gotinvolved in SGA because Ilove organizing, planningand running big events.

2. What do you want tochange about East?

Greg Weinstock (‘13):I would like to make the2,100 student populationseem much smaller. Wecan achieve this by gettingmore students to attendevents so that studentsare always meeting peoplefrom across the school.

Ross Peterzell (‘14): Ican’t think of anythingother than getting morekids involved with ourschool. Not enough kidstake advantage of whatEast offers.

3. Who is your favoriteperson in SGA?

Ross Peterzell (‘14):He left last year, but noquestion about it, JordanWohl (‘11). (He’s stillaround.)

Mason Stevens (‘13):Although they areattached at the hip, myfavorite two people in SGAare the Weinstock/Adlerduo...they always find away to make me laugh.

4. What is your favoritething about East?

David Linsky (‘14):My favorite thing aboutEast is that there are somany activities thateveryone can be involved.

Greg Weinstock (‘13):My favorite thing aboutEast is the amount ofamazingly talented stu-dents. All the differentclubs and teams at Eastare constantly shining.

5. What is your biggestgoal for next year?

Greg Weinstock (‘13):I want to make East’sschool spirit even greater.I want more students to goto school events than everbefore.

Greg Weinstock (‘13)President

Ravin Patel(‘13)

Vice President

RossPeterzell (‘14)Vice President

MasonStevens (‘13)Vice President

Only about onein ten thousandpeople have per-fect pitch.

Someone whohas perfect pitch,also known asabsolute pitch, isable to recognizeany note simply byhearing it. Peoplewith perfect pitchcan also sing or playvirtually any noteafter being toldwhich particularnote to sing.

Cherry Hill Easthas four studentswith perfect pitch inthe music and chorusdepartments alone:Kelly Sadwin (‘12),who sings; Ricky Zhao(‘12), who plays thepiano; Ben Schwartz(‘14), who plays theclarinet; and Steve Hsu(‘15), who also plays thepiano.

Sadwin is one stu-dent who finds perfect

pitch to be helpful atEast. As an active memberof many vocal and instru-

mental groups at East—Madrigals, East Singers,Chansons and the orchestra—Sadwin is able toput her perfect pitch to practical use.

“In Kelly’s singing groups, I can look to her andshe gives the starting pitch,” said Mrs. LaurieLausi, one of East’s vocal teachers. “We don’t haveto use a pitch pipe.”

Sadwin discovered that she had perfect pitch infifth grade.

“I was playing viola for my teacher… and Inoticed my strings were out of tune,” Sadwin said.“[My teacher said], ‘How did you know they wereout of tune?’ She started playing notes on thepiano and I told her what they were.”

There are a lot of myths surrounding perfectpitch, but, contrary to popular belief, one does nothave to be born with perfect pitch.

“It’s a skill you develop when you’re younger,”Sadwin said.

It is true, however, that perfect pitch is veryrare.

“The past fifteen years I’ve taught here, therewere only around two students who knew theyhad perfect pitch [in the Choir Department],”Lausi said. “[Perfect pitch] is really special.”

At East, the Music Department as a whole hasquite a few students with perfect pitch. Mr. TimKeleher, director of East’s jazz band and a MusicTheory teacher, said that he knows of three cur-rent students who have perfect pitch: Schwartz,Zhao and Hsu.

Schwartz, who plays the clarinet in East’s WindEnsemble, Lab Band, Clarinet Choir andSymphonic Winds group, said, “[Perfect pitch] iskind of hard to describe. Often it’s different withpiano than with everything else. Piano pitch is agenre inside of perfect pitch... With clarinet, I canremember what a note sounds like and go fromthat.”

Zhou, an accompanying pianist for theSymphony Orchestra, said, “[Perfect pitch] is con-venient because when I listen to songs I knowwhat notes they’re playing.”

Zhou said that he can associate notes as hehears them with where they would fall on a key-board.

While this is a rare phenomenon, students whodo have perfect pitch can put the ability to practi-cal use. Instead of relying on visual notes andsight reading, people with perfect pitch can hearmusic and then play it back. Students with perfectpitch can also tell when instruments are out oftune.

Perfect pitch sounds complicated, but accordingto Schwartz, note recognition comes naturally tothose with the ability.

Schwartz said, “Often [note recognition] is afast process. It doesn’t feel as complicated as [itsounds].”

New smoothies are cafeteria staple

■ By Rachel Brill (‘15)Eastside Staff

Students display rareability of perfect pitch

We asked...

Ethan O’Neill(‘15)

Mr. Regan TommyChung (‘14)

Morgan Lund(‘14)

What was yourcraziest C-Wing

intersectionexperience?

Before thebasketball

game

I always avoidC-Wing inter-

section...

When theCountrymensang beforethe game

“Hey Baby”before the basketball

game

What is theperfect hidingspot at East?

The auditorium In my office

Trash cansThe stairs

during classes

Many teach-ers/students

think I...

am awonderfulstudent.

am adinosaur.

work hard. am a goodstudent.

I can’tbelieve...

it’s May. how smart mystudents are.

YOLO. I have somany tests.

Thirty-eight Cherry Hill East students headed to Salt LakeCity, Utah, with over 14,000 other students from across NorthAmerica to compete in the DECA International CareerDevelopment Conference (ICDC) from April 28 until May 1.These students advanced from the regional and state level com-petitions based on role playing, test-taking and writing papersabout a variety of topics in business.

“It’s a very unique experience to be able to use the classroomknowledge you know, real world application and to be treatedlike adults as real business men and women and future busi-ness leaders,” said Mr. Greg deWolf, a business teacher at East.

Last year the conference was hosted in Orlando, Florida.“National DECA selects the conference locations years in

advance because they have to book convention rooms, space[and] they have to have enough hotels so that they can coordi-nate with all the states [and] Canada coming into one locationcity,” deWolf said.

DECA nationals heldin Salt Lake City, Utah ■ By Rachel Cohen (‘15)

Eastside Staff

A new addition to thesnack carts in East’s cafe-terias has not escaped thenotice of East students.The new addition, a fresh-fruit smoothie cart ineach cafeteria, has madeclear plastic recyclablecups half-full of colorfulfluids a staple around theentire school.

Eric Colebaugh, gener-al manager of the CherryHill School DistrictAramark branch, came upwith the idea to have asmoothie cart at theCherry Hill high schoolsduring a trip to Ohio.

According to Cole-baugh, the smoothies arehere to stay.

“Other Aramark

schools in Ohio hadsmoothies on the line andI remarketed it to have[students] order smooth-ies a la carte,” Colebaughsaid.

Colebaugh said that hethought students wouldfind the smoothies moreenticing if they couldmake their own.

The smoothies, whichare made with a mix offresh fruit, low or nonfatyogurt, ice and a dash offruit juice, have been verypopular at East sincetheir arrival.

“We were very excited.Eric came up with theidea and just took off withit, and the studentsresponded immediately,”said Anne King, AssistantFood Service Director forCherry Hill.

At two dollars for a 12-ounce smoothie andaround 125 calories for astrawberry-pineapplesmoothie, the new optionis an affordable andhealthy choice for stu-dents.

Colebaugh said that, asof now, he thinks that thesmoothies will be a per-manent addition to theoffered Aramark fare atCherry Hill high schools.

“We would assess howwinter months go, but it’svery popular… there’s notreally a downside to [thesmoothies],” Colebaughsaid.

To learn about thenutritional content ofother cafeteria foods, visithttp://www.cherryhill.k12.nj.us/departments/food/.

Aramark added smoothie carts to the cafeteria fare this past spring, and thecompany intends to keep these delicious drinks around for a while.

Logo by Joel Greenspan (‘13)/ Eastside Art Director

Hannah Luk (‘12)/ Eastside Staff

David Linsky(‘14)

Vice President

■ By Juliet Brooks (‘13)Eastside News/Features Editor

COMMUNITYPage 4 EASTSIDE May 2012

Let’s Yo! is the newest additionto the ever-growing trend of frozenyogurt franchises in the area.

The Emrich family owns thisfranchise, which currently consistsof six locations. Joe Spinella, son ofthe family, is the manager of themost recent location in Marlton.

Although itmay sound likejust another self-serve yogurtplace, Spinellaclaims that Let’sYo! is differentand much betterthan the otherfranchises.

“We have ninedifferent iPads throughout thestore and fourflat-screen televisions showing

everything from sports toNickelodeon. We are goingto have Facebook stream-ing on the televisions soyou can Facebook chat andlike us on Facebook [fromthe store],” Spinella said.

Let’s Yo!, which offersmany options of frozenyogurt from low fat toreduced fat to fat free, con-

tains real dairy,fresh milk, realfruit purees andhigh counts of ben-eficial live yogurtcultures includingprobiotic. There arealso five non-dairyoptions includingwatermelon sorbet,Valencia orange

sorbet, tropical sorbet, pinklemonade sorbet andmango sorbet, for those

who arevegan orl a c t o s e -intolerant.

There are 52rotating flavors,including Tahi-tian Vanilla,P o m e g r a n a t eEnergy, Snick-erdoodle CookieDough, SpicedApple Pie andRocky Road.

There are 26rotating cerealtoppings, includ-ing Special K,Mini- Wheatsand HoneyGraham Squares,in order to ensurethe happiness ofany cereal lover.

There is also aself-serve coffeearea, whereadults can choosefrom variousoptions, such asCappuccino, CaféLatte and Moch-

accino, while their kids enjoy somefrozen yogurt.

“We have six cereal options [at atime]…we make Belgian waffles,smoothies, protein shakes, which a

lot of otherplaces don’thave,” Spinellasaid.

Like at otherself-serve frozenyogurt places,customers take acup and fill itwith their yogurtc h o i c e s .However, at Let’sYo!, they decidedto change it up abit.

“Besides thet r a d i t i o n a lyogurt cup, wealso have wafflecones. Oldschoolers likethat,” Spinellasaid.

With a varietyof frozen yogurtflavors, toppings,smoothies, aswell as high-tech

electronics, Let’s Yo! certainlyshould not be overlooked as a com-petitor in the expanding frozenyogurt franchises in the area.

Let’s Yo!: a yogurt experience not worth missing

Alana Kopelson (‘12)/ Eastside Community EditorLet’s Yo! provides customers with self-serve frozen yogurt.

Alana Kopelson (‘12)/ Eastside Community EditorThe high-tech equipment and casual atmospheremake customers feel at home.

■ By Rebecca Ohnona (‘12)Eastside Community Editor

Alana Kopelson (‘12)/ Eastside Community EditorLet’s Yo! offers several items other than frozen yogurt, such assmoothies and waffles so that all customers can enjoy.

“Besides the traditional yogurtcup, we also have

waffle cones.Old schoolers like

that.”

Courtesy of ritzseafood.comThe famous Triple Coconut Cream Pie dessert.

Courtesy of ritzseafood.comRitz Seafood Stew, one of the popular entrees.

Courtesy of ritzseafood.comA slice of the famous pie.

Ritz Seafood brings acultural culinary experi-ence like no other restau-rant can. Chef de Cuisine,Daniel Hover, has trav-elled the world in order toblend the cuisines of Asia,America and Europe. Hestrategically combines thefinest seafood with match-ing ingredients, usingtechniques that he learned

in Asian and Europeankitchens.

With so many options, itis hard to decipher be-tween entrees, but thereare certainly a few favor-ites, including Baked CrabMeat Stuffed Tilapia andPad Thai. Hover’s favoriteis not on the menu, but theThai-Style Devilfish is aconstant special.

Although the seafood,other entrees (includingpenne pasta and beef

dishes) and starters(steamed portabella andshitake mushrooms) aretruly superb, Ritz Seafoodhas become famous for oneof its desserts, TripleCoconut Cream Pie.

The pie was recentlyfeatured on Food Net-work’s “The Best Thing IEver Ate,” where famouschefs and foodies share oneof their favorite foods in aspecific category. DelilahWinder, chef and restau-

rant owner, shared theTriple Coconut Cream Piewith the world on the“Obsessions” episode.

She describes the pie asthe “nirvana of dessert...better than any pie [she]has ever had in [her]entire life.”

The pie has a famouscrust, which is made withcoconut water instead ofice water. There is alsococonut in the custard,which is placed in the

amazing crust. The pie istopped with fresh whippedcream and then shavingsof white chocolate andtoasted coconut.

The restaurant hasbeen awarded “Best ofPhilly” Seafood Spots byPhiladelphia Magazinenumerous times.

Extremely fresh andcreatively prepared, anydish served at Ritz Seafoodis sure to be a culinarydelight.

Tasty dessert brings fame to local seafood restaurant■ By Rebecca Ohnona (‘12)

Eastside Community Editor

COMMUNITYMay 2012 EASTSIDE Page 5

The second annual PhiladelphiaScience Festival ran from April 20through April 29. Since last year,Philadelphia’s schools, universi-ties, cultural institutions andresearch centers have come togeth-er to create a ten-day festival tocelebrate science. It is a communi-ty-wide festival that featuresdebates, hands-on activities, lec-tures, speciale x h i b i t i o n sand severalother informalscience educa-tion experi-ences. Open toall ages, thePhiladelphiaScience Festi-val came backdue to populardemand, aslast year morethan 120,000people cameout to put sci-ence in the

spotlight.The goal of the Philadelphia

Science Festival is to provideopportunities for community mem-bers to interact with and build astronger education in science, engi-neering and technology. This festi-val will help provide a betterunderstanding of science and theimportant role that it plays in soci-ety. Fueled by the best scientificresources in the region, thePhiladelphia Science Festival has

over 75e v e n t sthat areg e a r e dt o w a r dm a k i n gs c i e n c einterest-ing andfun.

T h ef e s t i v a lbegan onApril 20,w h e np a r t i c i -p a n t sc o u l d

enjoy music, cocktails, games andtechnology at Frankford Hall forthe festival’s opening night party.Some festival event highlightsincluded over 100 exhibits offeringfamily-friendly experiments, inter-active activities and opportunitiesto meet the scientists and watchlive, science-themed entertain-ment. New to the festival this yearwas the integration of a ScienceFilm Festival with a dozen scienceand technology themed movies.

T h ePhiladelphiaS c i e n c eFestival haso f f e r r e dunique expe-riences to allparticipants,such as theopportunityto explorethe forensicsbehind theassass ina-tion ofA b r a h a mL i n c o l n .Astronomy

is also a main feature of the festi-val. Astronomy Night took place onApril 27, when participants took atour of the cosmos with localastronomers. To finish up the festi-val, there was a science scavengerhunt, in which people could findclues and learn about some of theincredible scientific discoveriesthat have been made inPhiladelphia.

Scientist or not, the Philadel-phia Science Festival is an in-

teractive wayto educatepeople aboutthe impor-tance of sci-ence andt e c h n o l -ogy in today’sworld. Notonly do par-t i c i p a n t shave fun eachyear, but they d e f i n i t e l yalso leavewith a greatamount ofknowledge.

Courtesy of www.philasciencefestival.orgCommunity members can participate inunusual science experiments.

Courtesy of www.philasciencefestival.orgPeople of all ages can find ways to inter-act with science and engineering.

■ By Alana Kopelson (‘12)Eastside Community Editor

Courtesy of www.philasciencefestival.orgThe Philadelphia Science Festival kicks offwith a party at Frankford Hall.Zoe Greenhall (‘13)/ Eastside Staff

ENTERTAINMENTPage 6 EASTSIDE May 2012

Since 2009, The Amer-ican Idol Experience atDisney has given the oldDisney cliché “your dreamswill come true” a newmeaning. By winningthe rigorous all-daycompetition at Disney’sHollywood Studiospark, the winner re-ceives a “Dream Ticket,”allowing the lucky starto skip past the queueat the regional “Amer-ican Idol” auditions forthe official show.

During East’s mostrecent annual seniorventure to DisneyWorld, Samantha Pleat(‘12) and Melanie Men-del (‘12) took second andthird place, respectively.

The competitionbegins with about 200hopefuls looking toscore their golden ticketand then slowly nar-rows down the crowduntil there is a top five.Before the finale, the com-petitors need to listen toparticular songs and thenemulate the vocals for agroup of producers. Oncethey have a top 15, thesingers perform for crowdsin groups of three, thistime having to impress the

audience who would, inturn, pick the favorite ofthe bunch.

Mendel and Pleatdefeated David Turner(‘12) and Mike Buono (‘12)in a tough competitionamongst D-Wing friends

to advance to the Amer-ican Idol Experiencefinale.

Enlightened by thecrowd’s roar after her per-formance of Miley Cyrus’s“The Climb,” Pleat washumbled by her achieve-ment.

Pleat said, “It showedme that I could do a lot.People were coming up tome saying, ‘Can I haveyour autograph? Can Itake a picture with you?’People have never lookedat me like that or said any-

thing like that to mebefore. For that type ofexperience, the youngerkids really look up to youand it was really nice hav-ing that happen.”

Hoping to one day per-form on “American Idol”—or another type of perform-

ing arts program—Pleatgot her first taste of whatmay be in store for herfuture.

Dream Ticket winnerand “American Idol” starAaron Kelly is the perfectsymbol of how far Disney’s

mock competition canreally take you.

“It was good for mebecause I ended upbeing one of the first toaudition in Orlandothat morning. It’s afantastic thing, and it’sa good way to get agood feel for the com-petition and whatyou’re going for,” hesaid to antimusic.com.

In 2010, Kelly fin-ished in the top five inthe finals of “AmericanIdol” season nine.Another winner, NolanSotillo, has gainedrecognition for his leadin Disney’s filmPROM.

Disney’s AmericanIdol Experience seems

to add that extra bit ofpixie dust to any aspiringsinger’s dreams. Eventhough Pleat and Mendeljust missed the chance toaudition for the official“American Idol,” it is clearthat the experience wastruly magical.

East students experience Idol dream at Disney■ By Danielle Fox (‘13)

Eastside Entertainment Editor

Not everyone makes it into the

big leagues post-Idol.

Here are a fewwho have:

Kelly Clarkson (Season 1):Clarkson is dubbed “the most suc-cessful winner” after having soldover 21 million albums worldwide.She has won two Grammy Awardsand her single “Stronger” is still atthe top of the charts.

Carrie Underwood (Season 4):Her debut album Some Hearts,released in 2005, was certifiedtriple platinum and is the fastestselling female country album. Shehas won multiple Grammy Awardsand Country Music Awards.

Chris Daughtry (Season 5):Daughtry’s debut album, Daugh-try, sold over 4.8 million copies andwas certified quadruple platinumand reached number one on theBillboard 200.

Jordin Sparks (Season 6):Sparks’ single “No Air” is the highestselling single by an American Idolcontestant, selling over 3 million digi-tal copies in the United States andCanada. In 2012, VHI named her the92nd out of 100 greatest women inmusic.

Photo courtesy of Samantha Pleat (‘12) Melanie Mendel (‘12) and Samantha Pleat (‘12) join the top fivefinalists on the American Idol Experience stage at Disney World.

All photos courtesy of Samantha Pleat (‘12)

From top to bottom:Pleat talks to host; fivefinalists; Pleat signsautographs for fansfrom the audience.

Since his wife died in theSeptember 11 attacks on the WorldTrade Center, Martin Bohm (KeiferSutherland) has juggled job after job,trying to support his seeminglyautistic son, Jake (David Mazouz).He tries to connect with his son, butJake has never spoken a word andwill not be touched by anyone. WhenJake begins to act out, social workersinvestigate and decide that Jakemay have to be institutionalized.

Social worker Clea Hopkins ques-tions, “Have you ever truly communi-cated with him? Does he even knowwho you are?” This strikes a chord

with Martin—he fears he never willbe able to understand Jake. Butsomething strange happens. Jakebegins to communicate with num-bers—numbers that connect peoplefrom all around the world.

In this gripping new Fox series,“Touch,” the audience is taken on ajourney around the world with sever-al people who seem to have no con-nection: a couple that has lost itsdaughter, a man who wins the lot-tery, a boy whose family needs anoven, a Japanese hooker and a singerwith unrecognized talent.

Although the show is only into itsfirst season, it already has an 8.5 onthe Internet Movie Database, which,to put things in perspective, puts

“Touch” in league with movies likeCitizen Kane, which the AmericanFilm Institute voted as the top movieof all time on their “100 Years 100Movies” list.

Perhaps the reason the show isgetting so much hype is because itcomes from the same man who wasbehind the show “Heroes.”

The Chicago Sun-Times said,“The bar has been set high.”

Still, other critics call the story-line far-fetched. The Los AngelesTimes said, “Apart from Martin,[there is] hardly a single characterwho incorporates more than the hintof an actual person. They are num-bers themselves, algebraic values ina complicated equation that seems

no more convincing for the prettyway it resolves.”

Despite the peppering of negativereviews, the average watcher hastaken to the show, including studentsat East. Sagar Desai (‘14) said thathe likes the connection establishedbetween all people.

“The show is really inspiring andit makes me feel like everyone has apurpose in the world, no matterwhere they are,” Desai said.

The vote seems to be tipping infavor of the show, but students willhave to see for themselves—does“Touch” fail to sell the blend of sci-ence and spiritual connection, ordoes it succeed as an inspiring tear-jerker?

The title itself is intrigu-ing enough. AbrahamLincoln: Vampire Hunter, afilm produced by TimBurton, is about none otherthan Abraham Lincoln, thesixteenth president of theUnited States, during hisyears as a young manand–as the movie pur-ports–a vampire hunter.

A short trailer for themovie depicts an axe-wielding, stovepipe hat-sporting Lincoln who chopsthrough trees and vam-pires with superhumanforce. An ominous voicedeclares that Lincoln’s

presidency was only a frac-tion of who he was.Lincoln, after learning thata vampire murdered hismother, vows his revengeand begins to save thecountry, not from the sepa-ration of the Confederacy,but from vampires whohope to take over.

The movie is an adapta-tion of Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel of the samename. Grahame-Smithalso wrote Pride andPrejudice and Zombies,which is also being adapt-ed into a movie. AbrahamLincoln: Vampire Hunteris his second major novel.It premiered at numberfour on the New York Times

Bestseller List under“Hardcover Fiction.” Somecritics praised Grahame-Smith’s ability to trans-form Lincoln from thenoble president to thevengeful vampire hunter,while others criticizedthe material for being fool-ish.

Tim Yoon (‘12) said,“This gives a new perspec-tive to vampire killing.”

Playing Abraham Lin-coln is Benjamin Walker,known for his role as theseventh president, AndrewJackson, in the form of anemo-rock god on Broadwayin Bloody Bloody AndrewJackson. The host of com-edy show “Find the Funny”

combines the inten-sity of Lincoln withthe comedy of avampire-slayingpresident.

Walker said, “Ithink [Lincoln] hada sense of humorand certainlywould get a kickout of our movie.”

If anything ofthe year’s com-ing attractions isunexpected, it isthat the manwho made a fadout of the top hatwill reign as thenew, most thrill-ing sanguinarybeast.

Fox’s new show “Touches” audiences like never before■ By Rachel Tinkleman (‘13)

Eastside Staff

■ By Dana Silver (‘12)For Eastside

Photo Illustration by Mia Holley (‘12)/Eastside Photo Editor

Abraham Lincoln is back to fight fangs with a top hat

ENTERTAINMENT May 2012 EASTSIDE Page 7

If movie-goers are anything inrecent years, it’s cynical. Everybodyhas his or her own gripe about thestate of the movie industry. Eitherthe days of Hollywood’s elite arelong gone and the creativity hasdried up, or the studios have optedto squander the talent around themfor making tons of money. Anyonewith any optimism need only payattention to the previews, where, inaddition to the already dreadedsequels and remakes, lurk re-releases of the studios’ greatesthits.

“It’s easy to be cynical about itand simply place it down to an easybit of extra currency for exhibitorsand distributors alike,” said NashSibanda of Squarise.com.

On the surface, it sounds like theeasy way to profit. By puttingalready successful movies back intotheaters, studios just about guaran-tee revenue without the expense ofa dampening multi-million dollarbudget. Legendary moneymakerslike Titanic and Finding Nemo arestrapping on a quick 3D retrofit andwaltzing back to the silver screen tonet a few more dollars. The LionKing, originally produced on a 45-million-dollar budget, grossed168,542,001 dollars with its 3D re-

release in 2011.“If you have a guaranteed audi-

ence,” said Sibanda, “then you havea guaranteed income, and guaran-teed positive reception.”

So why not try to wow movie-goers more with something flashier,like 2009’s multi-billion dollarAvatar? Money, as it turns out, is aprecious thing in the movie indus-try. When Disney released JohnCarter in 2012, it projected afterdisappointing box-office resultsthat the movie would cost themaround 200 million dollars in lostprofits. Even with a marketabledirector like Finding Nemo’sAndrew Stanton and a special-effects-heavy sci-fi premise, Disneycould not have guaranteed success.In today’s movie industry, whereInternet or a mailbox grants con-sumers entertainment, studios willnot easily film an Avatar for fear ofreleasing a “John Carter.”

That said, it doesn’t quite boildown to greed. Studios want toimpress their consumers and inreturn, earn their money.

“We want more than just a goodfilm,” Sibanda concluded. “We alsowant a good experience.”

Moviegoers, despite all of theirwhining, only want to be enter-tained. If studios know what deliv-ers, there’s no problem if they offera second helping.

The knuckleheads are back with a new feature film

Seen it twice, see it thrice in 3D■ By Joe Incollingo (‘13)

Eastside Staff

During the mid-twentieth cen-tury, parents and kids alike wouldwait in front of their televisions inanticipation for an extremelyhumorous show. This show, called“The Three Stooges,” tickled thefunny bone of anyone who watchedwith displays of slapstick comedy.The three squabbling and dim-wit-ted brothers would mistakenlyhurt one another during theirarguments. This new style of com-edy proved to be popular amongaudiences and “The Three Stooges”became one of the most belovedshows of the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Even though there wasn’t a firmplot to the show, it was able to

withstand throughmany years.

Catchphrases such as, “Why Ioughta,” “Oh, a wise guy, eh?” and“What’s the big idea?!” becameextremely well-known in Americanculture. The show’s legacy has beenso influential that a major motionpicture has been made that offers anew twist to the original Stooges.

The film is directed and co-writ-ten by the Farrelly brothers, whohave also made movies such asDumb and Dumber, Fever Pitchand, most recently, Hall Pass.

Canadian actor Chris Diaman-topoulos stars as Moe. Diamanto-poulos, although not well-knownin the movie world, has guest-starred in many television series.Sean Hayes, who is best known forhis character on “Will and Grace,”

portrays Larry, and WillSasso, who is most known

for his membership inthe comedy show,“MADtv” plays Curly.Many other actors and

a c t r e s s e ssuch as

Jane Lynch, Larry David, SofiaVergara and Jennifer Hudson haveroles in the film. Even members of“The Jersey Shore” crew makecameo appearances in the film.

The plot for The Three Stoogesrevolves around an attempt to savean orphanage where the threestooges grew up as children. Whileon this mission, they becomeentangled in a murder mysteryand even a reality TV show. Also,instead of a feature-length film,The Three Stooges was shot in athree-episode format.

“We have three episodes.Technically, each episode picks upwhere the last one left off. Eachone begins with its own theme,so it's about an hour and twenty-five minutes. Threeepisodes, fun,o l d - f a s h -ioned, butit takesplace pres-ent-day, andthey look,dress andsound likethe Three

Stooges," said Peter Farrelly, co-writer and director.

Even though “The ThreeStooges” was a popular TV showyears ago, critics and bloggerstoday show pessimism towards thefilm.

“This looks about as unfunny,uninspired and unexciting as onecould imagine. Risk watching itonly if you wish,” wrote AlexBillington, a blogger from the siteFirstshowing.net.

To find out whether the twenty-first century was able to success-fully bring back the three silly guyswho made over-dramatic comedyfunny, check your local theater forlistings.

Joel Greenspan (‘13)/ Eastside Art Director

Courtesy of etonline.com Courtesy of fanpop.com

■ By Nick Mitchell (‘13)Eastside Staff

UNDERGROUNDPage 8 EASTSIDE May 2012

Dream sequencesare the perfectopportunity for afilmmaker to exer-cise full creativelicense. There aremany famous dreamsequences through-

out the history of film—rememberin Spellbound (1945) when AlfredHitchcock has Salvador Dali painta multitude of eyes to surround acharacter on the brink of insanity?That’s all very well for one several-minute sequence, but what hap-pens when the majority of themovie takes place in dreams? It canbe a very tricky situation to dealwith, but director Henry Levinframes The Guilt of Janet Ames(1947) beautifully.

Janet Ames was widowed whenher soldier husband jumped on topof a bomb to save five comrades.With only a war hero’s medal toremember him by, Janet sets out todiscover the worth of the five othersoldiers using the principles of aman called Peter Ibsen. She andreporter Smithfield Cobb escapethe boundaries of time and space inwhat he calls “word pictures.” Thisallows the director to leave theboundaries of a more realistapproach to film and enter into arealm of limited restrictions. Theatmosphere of the dreams is con-trolled by lighting and cameraeffects. In the first sequence, Cobbsends Janet to a bar to meet Joe,the first man on the list. The entire

bar is filled with shadows and darkoutlines of people set againstbright lights. The only people visi-ble are Joe, his girlfriend and aman who thinks he can fly if hejumps high enough off a chair.

This scene is so cool not onlybecause of its execution, but alsobecause of the way it revealsJanet’s character. Janet feels guiltybecause she hadn’t given her hus-band a reason to live, reasons thatall the other men had. For example,one lucky couple in the room livedfor the idea of owning a house.When Janet sees them fawningover a house of cards in the dream,she says you can’t build a house outof dreams, then she huffs and puffsand blows their house of cardsdown. Oh, the allegory!

Another dream takes place in adesert at night, and the back-ground is black and empty. A thirdtakes place in a walled-off gardenwith a child, and edges are blurred.The last scene takes place at aparty and there is a kind of brightcurtain surrounding Janet, likechampagne bubbles. None of thescenes lookedrealistic, orsounded nat-ural, but thefree reignthat dreamsgive madethis actuallya good thing.

Sure, thedreams do notget as compli-cated as theydo in Incep-tion, butanyone look-ing to seesome coolformalisticd r e a msequencess h o u l dcheck thismovie out.

■ By Rachel Tinkelman (‘13)Eastside Staff

Everybody’s seen a Butterfinger–itmay be your favorite Halloween candy, itmay be your least favorite. Maybe you areallergic to peanuts, in which case youhave never had the privilege of eatingone. However, what many people do notknow about, or simply have forgotten, isthe Butterfinger’s spin-off product,Butterfinger BBs.

Butterfinger BBs did not receive near-ly enough recognition upon their releasein the 1990s.The only place I can remem-ber finding them was at a store where mymom bought arts and crafts supplies.That’s just how under-the-radar thisproduct was.

If you haven’t heard of this candy,which, honestly, would not be that sur-prising, just picture this: a Whopper-esque candy except instead of malt in themiddle of the chocolate ball, it’s thepeanut butter that fills a Butterfinger

bar.If that description

inspired you to run out toyour nearest arts andcrafts store–seriously, theonly place I ever foundthem–sorry, but don’tbother. Butterfinger BB’s,unfortunately, were discon-tinued back in 2006.

Why exactly the product was taken offthe shelves of, well, arts and crafts stores–I’m telling you, that’s where they weresold–is up for speculation. The productcertainly had its fair share of marketing–it was endorsed by four Simpsons TVcommercials throughout the ‘90s—and itsurely had sugar-popping youngsters andpeople who are fans of eating things thatlook like marbles going nuts at the turn ofthe century.

Although the Nestlé franchise of candydid not suffer from the cancellation ofBB’s, it could be doing better; Butterfin-ger BB’s have now become equivalent

to a cult-classic movie;many people have spokenout about wantingtheir beloved candyback since its 2006 scrap-ping.

The candy racks at localarts and crafts stores–and maybe even a Wawa, 7-11or a supermarket–should still holdButterfinger BB’s. Sadly, that is notthe case. If Nestlé could do things overagain, maybe the result would not BB the same.

■ By Zach Becker (‘13)Eastside Staff

PhotoIllustrationby MiaHolley (‘12)/EastsidePhoto Editor

Courtesy of imdb.com

Out of the Vault: Butterfinger BB’s

Email your answer to alan@tutoringclubch.com by 5/30/2012Please include your name, mailing address and phone number. Entry information will only be usedfor prize fulfillment contact. This month’s winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Starbucks andother assorted Tutoring Club goodies. Winner will be selected randomly from entries with the correctanswer and contacted via email by June 11, 2012. Winner must come to Tutoring Club by June 18,2012 to receive prize.

Eastside: Why the two monikers?Are you investigating differentsides of your musical identity withTumblewoof and Tours?

Dylan Sieh (‘10): Tumblewoofand Tours were created as sepa-rate projects to express my musicalinterest in two different genres.After I got done with the Phoenix& Lil’ Wayne EP as Tumblewoof, Idecided I wanted a fresh start as anew artist that would pursue a dif-ferent sound. In a way, I felt likeTumblewoof ’s mash-up project had

tainted my name as an electronicmusician purely because it got sounexpectedly popular! No onewanted to hear anything else butmash-ups.

E: If we may be so bold to charac-terize your music as chill-wave,what’s your take on the genre’semphasis—or rather, overempha-sis—on aesthetic?

DS: Chill-wave is a word I try touse scarcely. I understand thereare a lot of people who characterizethe genre as being a poor excusefor bedroom artists to make them-selves sound more distinct, butwith that said, there’s definitely anaesthetic value that comes withthe creativity of creating musicthat’s so experimental. That’ssomething I really like about it.

E: Do you feel connected to anyscene in particular, like withSpencer Diehl (‘10) or any group inPhilly or at Rutgers? Do sceneseven matter any more, in this day

of Internet hyper-connection?

DS: The Internet has changed theoverall music scene so much.Without it, my music wouldn’tnearly be as popular as it is now.Sometimes I think back to the daysbefore the era of music blogs wereborn and try to imagine how Icould have possibly distributed mymusic, let alone make it.

E: The style of music inwhich you dabble oftstraddles the linebetween dance music andsomething much morecerebral. Where do youfeel most comfortable onthis spectrum?

DS: More or less, it dependson what moniker I’m using tomake the music. Tumblewoofgenerally aspires frommash-ups and dance musicwhereas Tours tends toexperiment in a more aes-thetic sound.

E: How has the Internetpropelled/changed yourmusical career/ambitions?

DS: I feel very fortunateto be a part of the musicblog scene. There’s nobetter feeling than hav-ing multiple blogswrite-up on yourmusic. I think theInternet is a great toolfor musicians. Withoutit, there would bea lot of bands

t h a t

we would have never heard of.

E: As an East alum looking back, isthere anything from your time atthe school that really helped youinto your current artistic situa-tion?

DS: I would say so. For such astrong academically focusedschool, there surprisingly tends tobe a lot of talent within the stu-

dents and faculty. Getting toknow those people hasplayed a big role in what Ido musically.

Musician and song-writer Andrew Bird comesoff with flying colors on hisnew album, Break ItYourself. True to his name,he practically whistlesthrough this group ofdelightful tunes.

Bird’s Break It Yourselfwas released on March 6,2012, on the record labelMom + Pop. Bird’s varieduse of instruments perfect-ly blends on this dreamyalbum, which transportsthe listener to a world ofimagination. His uniquevoice and use of whistlingbeautifully complementshis arsenal of strings,including violin and guitar.

Bird translates his dis-tinctive personality intohis music through raretouches, like a glockenspieland his onstage speakerchoice and uses LittleHorn Speakers and a rareSpinning Double HornSpeaker, which connect toa foot pedal that allowshim to manipulate thespeed or sound of instru-ments, such as his violin,

while playing. Bird’s musicand lyrics sound soulfuland ingenious on theirown, but together theyespecially enhance alreadyprofound compositions.

“Lazy Projector” startsoff slow and withdrawn,yet soon drums into acatchy poem, causinginvoluntary humming ortapping on the listener’s

part. Once again, Bird’swhistling adds a light-hearted mood.

Of the whole album,“Near Death ExperienceExperience” is the most

pleasantly surprising andmemorable song. Oddsounds and tones move thelistener with the momen-tum of the song. The glock-enspiel contributes to thevibrant mood that “NearDeath Experience Expe-rience” unexpectedly proj-ects. The backgroundvocals magically harmo-nize with Bird’s lower reg-ister voice, enhancing thesong’s quality.

Short and sweet,“Behind the Barn” exem-plifies the outstanding useof strings on the album.Clocking at only about aminute, lyric-less andentirely composed ofstrings, the song prevailswith several levels of tem-pos and tones, which com-bine into a sweet, transientcomposition.

Though Break ItYourself falls short of thecharm of some of Bird’sprevious work—namelyplayful highlights fromhis past couple of albums,like “Anonanimal” and“Imitosis”—it is memo-rable for its contrastingvibrancy and tranquility.

Album Rating: 7/10

UNDERGROUNDMay 2012 EASTSIDE Page 9

Andrew’s album shows why the caged Bird sings

Eastside sits down with East alumnus Dylan Sieh(‘10) to discuss his electronic outfits, Tumblewoof andTours, the Internet and why chill-wave is a dirty word.

Photo courtesy of ERImaging

■ By Jack Braunstein (‘13)Eastside Underground Editor

■ By Maya Mintz (‘14)Eastside Staff

Joel Greenspan (‘13)/ Eastside Art DirectorAndrew Bird’s new album, Break It Yourself, incorporates a full variety of instruments.

COMICSPage 10 EASTSIDE May 2012

Sneaky Iceberg by Diana Li (‘12)/ Eastside Art Director

Certified Pre-Owned Batmobile by Joel Greenspan (‘13)/ Eastside Art Director

Breaking Down by ChristineHwang (‘12)/ Eastside Staff

Since Sliced Bread by Sherin Nassar (‘13) and DanielleFox (‘13)/ Eastside Humor Editor and Entertainment Editor

Chess by Diana Li (‘12)/ Eastside Art Director

EDITORIALMay 2012 EASTSIDE Page 11

Editorials represent the views and opinions of the Eastside Editorial Board.

Managing Editor: Gabrielle Kains Editors-in-Chief: Max Cohen, Hailey Edelstein, Sarah Minion

News/Features EditorsPrashasti AwadhiyaJuliet BrooksKayla Schorr

Sports EditorsJake FischerEmmy Silverman

Community EditorsAlana KopelsonRebecca Ohnona

Underground EditorsJack BraunsteinHannah Feinberg

Opinions EditorsEric KesslerMatt LichtenstadterAmy Myers

Entertainment EditorsLindsey DuBoffDanielle Fox

Humor EditorsSherin NassarBryan Sheehan

Art DirectorsJoel GreenspanDiana Li

Photo EditorsMia HolleyKevin Yoo

Video EditorRebecca Mulberg

Radio ManagerKobi Malamud

AdviserMr. Greg Gagliardi

Technology DirectorThomas Hudson

Editorial AssistantsGilana LevaviKaylin Magosin

Online News andSports EditorDarby Festa

Contact theBoard:

To contact a memberof the Eastside

Editorial Board viae-mail, type the per-son’s first name fol-

lowed by a period fol-lowed by his or herlast name followed

by “@eastside-online.org,” ie:

thomas.hudson@eastside-online.org.

(Note: There is adash between “eastside” and

“online”)

Business ManagersHarrison KimMichael Yashaya

Friends of Eastside

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AdvocatesDiana Li

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Eastside Onlinehttp://www.eastside-online.org

PublisherFort Nassau Graphics

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Letters to the EditorSubmit signed letters to F087

AwardsThe International Quill and ScrollSociety, The American Scholastic

Press Association, The Garden StateScholastic Press Association, The

Temple Press Tournament, and TheNational Scholastic Press

Association.

Students need more info before votingHave you heard? No, you prob-

ably have not.On Friday, April 20, the next

school-wide Student Governmentwas inducted into office. The cere-mony was low-key, attendance lim-ited to members of each class SGA,nearly half of whom were absent.Those present at the inductionwere among a select group thatactually knew that a transfer ofpower was being initiated. For the2012-2013 year, there were noschool-wide Student GovernmentAssociation elections.

Only five people ran to fill thefive positions, so there was no realneed for elections; this, however,sheds light on an even more gapinghole in East’s democracy. Many stu-dents did not know there were elec-tions and, therefore, could not evenexpress interest in running forschool-wide SGA.

The system of class and schoolSGA elections is flawed, and Eastneeds to revise the system toachieve the best government onboth the school and class levels.

The first problem with the sys-tem is the limited amount of hypethat goes into it. One of the previ-ous SGA’s responsibilities shouldbe to set up announcements andflyers when it is time for possiblecandidates to run. This way, anyonewho wants to run for SGA hasample warning.

The current campaigningprocess is decidedly minimal: can-didates are limited to posters andspeeches for president and vicepresident. While this minimal levelof campaigning is in place to try toavoid an imbalance in candidatefunds, posters often serve as nomore than a venue for cute slogans,

and speeches come off as little morethan a charm-off made of quips anda reference or two to prom or SpiritWeek.

Currently, SGA campaignsdevote no time to school politicalplatforms—even worse, the majorlynonchalant, popularity-contestattitude of the whole system hardlyasks for address of the issues thatreally have an effect on the school.

Worse still are class representa-tive elections—students fill out anot-at-all-demanding applicationand get their names listed on aScantron that gets bubbled in byvoters. And that is it.

A one-year position to representCherry Hill East or a specific classhas a less arduous applicationprocess than those of other organi-zations with shorter terms. FOPand Blood Drive, which bothinvolve representative chair-posi-tions, require interviews andteacher approval before a candi-date is selected. In an effectivedemocracy, voters should be awareof candidates’ ideas and plans ofaction so that they can then castwell-informed and well-thought-out votes. SGA needs to reform itscampaign process in order to makestudents more excited about choos-ing those who will represent theirclass and their school.

First, the elections need to covera wider base of the student body.Right now, the SGA is zeroed in ona small focus group, and to changethis, the association as a wholeneeds to make every student feelinterested and comfortable in run-ning for office. Students who runshould run with a plan to accom-plish as much as possible duringtheir tenure in office.

More importantly, the candi-dates must run on a base of policy.Instead of relying simply onposters, a short speech and word-of-mouth to get their name out,candidates should create detailedplatforms and publicize thosethrough social media to make itvery clear to the voting public whatthey plan on accomplishing duringtheir one-year term.

Candidates should be requiredto post a vision statement outliningtheir goals for the upcoming yearon both social media platforms andschool-run websites. This wouldforce candidates to come up withsolid goals and ideas before theytake office. Because every candi-date would need to come up with aplatform, the candidates would alsohave to come up with ideas that areoriginal and go beyond simplyplanning Spirit Week and the year-ly dances to make their platformsstand out. This would not onlyensure that the positions are filledby ambitious students with solidideas, but would also level the play-ing field, encouraging any poten-tially great candidates scared awayby the idea of entering into a popu-larity contest.

The current system of SGA elec-tions has been in place for manyyears, but it is undeniable that thesystem needs to be revitalized insome way.

Failing to attempt any kind ofreform would be to fail the schoolas a whole. Diverse, platform-basedcampaigning is the first action nec-essary to rebuilding a legitimate,accountable organization that trulyreflects the ideals of Americanpolitics in the halls of Cherry HillEast.

Letters to theeditor

are always welcomed!

Drop off letters toF087

or e-mail letters@eastside-

online.org

OPINIONS Page 12 EASTSIDE May 2012

U.S. needs to “bridge” infrastructure gapHow many American

civilians need to die frominfrastructure failuresbefore the media starts tocare? Dam failures, bridgefailures. If there is any‘failure’ in theUnited States, it isthe failure toaddress the crum-bling structuresacross the country.

There is an ever-lasting central fo-cus on health care,yet one of the mostdangerous assets inthe United States isthe highway sys-tem. This systemcame alive withthe use of theautomobile underPresident DwightEisenhower. AfterPresident Eisen-hower’s Federal AidHighway Act of1956, when themajority of thestructures beganconstruction, thesestructures werebuilt to fit theneeds of the 1950sand 1960s, not thenew millennium.

According to theScientific Ameri-can, the age of thedams and bridgesin this countryaverage out to befifty years old,roughly the age ofan East student’sparent.

Aside from the fear ofstructural failure, the NewYork Times refers to theUnited States’ bridges as“structurally deficient” or“functionally obsolete,”and the leaking pipes thatreside undergroundthroughout the nationhave been noted to havereleased “untreated waste-water” into the waterways

throughout the UnitedStates each year. Not tomention the amount ofdeaths that have beencaused to deterioratingstructures.

The American Society ofCivil Engineers gave theoverall infrastructure in

the United States a ‘D’.Yes, a ‘D’. If the averageAmerican is perfectly com-fortable with driving onbuildings potentially olderthan their parents thatcan give way at any time,then a ‘D’ is perfectlyacceptable.

Many of these struc-tures can collapse at anymoment, as some dam fail-

ures have swept awayentire towns. In RapidCity, South Dakota, thedam failure was estimatedto have killed over twohundred people, as it alsodevoured the city withuncontrollable force.

In 2007, on the Min-

nesota Interstate, the I-3WMississippi River Bridgeshifted and killed thirteenpeople and had injurednearly 150 others, as well.This was the fifth busiestbridge in the state of Min-nesota, and it failed. Ayear later, the bridge wasreplaced with a more effi-cient and structurallysound bridge.

The other issue withthese failing and outdatedbridges is their efficiency.Many bridges, like the onein Oklahoma that col-lapsed in 2002, killingfourteen people, haveendured shipping acci-dents in which boats trav-

eling underneath of thesebridges damaged thebridges and caused fail-ures. With cars, boats andbuildings growing in size,why is the infrastructureremaining the same, whileeverything that coin-cides with these develop-ments virtually cannothandle the new expecta-tions?

These buildings need tobe restored immediatelyand increased in theirsizes in order to accommo-date the future.

Within the past twodecades, these structureshave been causing lethalhavoc across the nation.

What about NewJersey? Does a dis-aster need to occurin this area beforepublic safety is con-sidered? The budgetto restore thesestructures holds atabout one hundredbillion dollars, butclearly the struc-tures are too old tohandle the stressthat is placed onthem.

This project wouldeliminate catastro-phes that destroyinnocent civilianlives, and will placethousands ofAmericans, nation-ally, back to work.This project wouldbe similar to onethat PresidentEisenhower had cre-ated, and PresidentFranklin Rooseveltyears prior. Nation-wide projects havebeen proven to boostthe economy andreduce the unem-ployment rate.

So how can some-one vote down a billthat will increaseoverall safety intransit and in resi-dential areas, while

also putting thousands ofAmericans into the work-force again?

To deny this country ofan asset like a newlyrefurbished highway sys-tem would truly show theinability of Americans toprogressively move ontonewer tasks, until the nextdisaster sweeps and devas-tates the nation.

■ By Amy Myers (‘13)Eastside Opinions Editor

On November 16, 2011,President Barack Obamaannounced a plan to de-ploy 2,500 United StatesMarines to Australiabeginning in 2012 and end-ing in 2016.

As soon as early April,an initial force of 250marines will be deployed toa northern Australian basein Darwin, Australia,where a permanent joint-training hub will be based.

By 2016, Obama esti-mates that the UnitedStates will rotate 2,500troops into Australia.Along with troops, theUnited States is expandingair and sea presence inAustralia with B52bombers, long-range spydrones and nuclear sub-marines.

This move demon-strates a shift in focus tothe pacific. As troops arebeing pulled out of Middle-

Eastern countries such asIraq and Afghanistan,others are being deployedto Australia. Defensebudget cuts influence thewithdrawal of troops fromthe Middle East; however,Obama pledges thatbudget cuts will not comefrom the Pacific.

“This is a region of hugestrategic importance tous,” said Obama in hisannouncement.

The plan is a responseto China’s growing eco-nomic and military powersin the Pacific region.

China has a confronta-tional stance in South-eastern Asian waters: ashipping channel thatcontains valuable oil andminerals.

Unsurprisingly, themove has upset China,which believes that themove to Australia is inresponse to the economicgrowth. China argues thatthe United States is tryingto encircle them both mili-

tarily and economicallyand attempting to controltheir stature as an inde-pendent nation. JeffreyBleich, United StatesAmbassador to Australia,dismissed this theory.

“The Asia-Pacific areajust continues to grow andbecome more dynamic…it’s going to be importantthat we have our chesspieces in the right places,”said Bleich.

Supporters of the shiftin focus to the Asia-Pacific,like Bleich, argue that theUnited States needs toinvolve itself in the areabecause of the powerfulcountries, such as China,Japan, India, Indonesiaand the Koreas, locatedthere.

Whether the move is adirect response to China ora United States attempt tomix in with key globalpowers, the establishmentof troops in Australia isunnecessary. Even if theAsia-Pacific region is

important for trading,there should not beAmerican military bases inthe region.

The only thing a mili-tary presence in the regionwould do is further in-crease tensions betweenthe United States andChina, as was seenthrough the Korean War.As the American troopssurpassed the dividing linebetween North Korea andSouth Korea, America con-tinued pushing upwards,which led to military con-flict and an intervention onthe part of China.

Not only would a mili-tary presence cause ten-sion in the area, but it iswasteful spending. TheUnited States needs to cutmilitary spending insteadof training 2,500 troops onanother continent. Thegovernment is savingmoney by withdrawingtroops from the MiddleEast, and it would be use-less to spend that money

by deploying troops toAustralia.

The United States hasthe right idea by shiftingfocus to the Asia-Pacificregion. The shift in focuscan create good foreignrelations and advanta-geous opportunities for theUnited States. However,establishing a militarypresence there is not theway to go.

The troops will onlyincrease tensions betweenthe United States andChina, and the UnitedStates can have Asia-Pacific relations without amilitary presence.

Until matters can thenbe addressed, this base willcontinue to serve as areserve for the UnitedStates military. However,ultimately, it would be thebest option for the UnitedStates to get involved inthe Asia-Pacific regionwithout the use of the mil-itary to avoid unnecessaryconflict and entanglement.

Looking to the East: US military shifts focus ■ By Dave Riches (‘12)

Eastside Staff

Diana Li (‘12)/ Eastside Art DirectorMany of the recent bridge and dam failures caused fatalities due to failing support systems.

It is legal for teenagers inthe state of New Jersey toconsume alcohol on privateproperty in the company oftheir parents or other adultrelatives. Kids can drinkwine on Shabbat, or takecommunion on Sundays.

Of course, that is notusually how teenagersdrink.

Usually, it happens likethis: a party in someone’sbasement, everyone stand-ing awkwardly with redcups and blaring music.People falling over eachother and various house-hold objects, drunk or pre-tending to be. There is abuzz in the air, tension andexcitement, because thereis always the chance thatthe police will show up.That they will all get introuble.

Underage drinking isnot classy in the UnitedStates.

In Spain, teen drinkinggoes something like this:there is a bottellon to-night, and so everyonewalks to the cathedral inthe center of town. Nobodyshows up until at least11:30, and nobody isexpecting to get home until5:30 the next morning. Allof the discotecas will beopen, filled with manu-factured fog and swaying

bodies, and all of the kidsin town will be out. Ofcourse, the party starts infront of the cathedral.There are kids on the stepsand on the railings; stand-ing in bunches with bottlesand cups. They pass thedrinks around, laugh, eggeach other on.

At all corners of thetiered courtyard in front ofthe cathedral, police carswait, officers ready: notready to arrest the kidsand send them home.Ready to help kids whoneed help, intervene whereintervention is necessaryand make sure nobody goesoverboard.

And that is the differ-ence between drinking inSpain and drinking in theUnited States.

There is an idea called“integrated drinking,”which is the idea that cul-tures which include alcoholas a part of everyday lifemake much less of a fussabout alcohol—teenagerand adult alike—when itcomes to recreationaldrinking.

Kate Fox, social anthro-pologist and director ofSocial Issues ResearchCentre, wrote an article forthe BBC on October 11,2011 entitled “Viewpoint:Is the Alcohol Message AllWrong?” Fox argued in herarticle that while alcoholdoes indeed affect the

brain, alcohol “does notcause us selectively tobreak specific social rules.”

While in societies likethe United King-dom, the United

States and Au-stralia, which

are known as“ambivalent”

d r i n k i n gc u l t u r e s ,alcohol isexpected

to pro-

d u c etenden-cies to-w a r d sv i o l e n c eand ag-g r e s s i o n ,but in othersocieties thatc o n s i d e rdrinking a“morally neutral,normal, integralpart of ordinary,everyday life,” alco-hol does not have thesame effects.

As Fox puts it, “Theeffects of alcohol on behav-iour are determined by cul-tural rules and norms, not

by the chem-ical actionsof ethanol.”

Basically,inexcusablyd r u n k e n

behavior is a form of wishfulfillment typical to coun-tries where drinking is per-ceived controversially: peo-ple who drink want to actlike immoral louts, and sothey do. But in countrieswhere drinking is a part ofeveryday life, drinkingalcohol does not causethese outbursts in aggres-siveness or aggressive stu-pidity.

Fox wrote, “This varia-tion [in behavior] cannot beattributed to different lev-els of consumption—mostintegrated drinking cul-tures have significantlyhigher per-capita alcoholconsumption than theambivalent drinking cul-tures. Instead the varia-

tion is clearly related todifferent cultural beliefsabout alcohol, differentexpectations aboutthe effects of alcohol,and different socialrules about drunk-en comportment.”

Matt Bellace,a motivationalspeaker whotours the coun-

try speakingout againstt e e n a g edrinking,

agrees.“I think it’s real-

ly cultural. Does the cul-ture support abusivedrinking… [and] actingdrunk?” Bellace said.

Note: acting drunk. Yes,alcohol affects perceptionsand actions, but not to thedegree that staged partieson television affect teen-agers’ perceptions of what

being drunk should looklike.

In 2008, a group of col-lege professors from acrossthe country created theAmethyst Initiative, amovement to try to lowerthe drinking age. TheInitiative argues fourpoints on its website: “stu-dents drink dangerouslyand clandestinely; stu-dents’ behavior does notchange significantly due toalcohol education; eventhough 18-year-olds arelegal adults, they are notdeemed responsibleenough to have a beer;”and “by choosing to usefake IDs, students makeethical compromises thaterode respect for the law.”

Bellace said that theAmethyst Initiative did notget to the heart of the prob-lem. He thinks that drink-ing is a problem becauseAmericans do not moder-ate anything: 25 to 30percent of American highschool students bingedrink.

Alcohol is the “forbiddenfruit” for teenagers andcollege students nation-wide and worldwide. TheUnited States shouldrevise its alcohol purchaseand consumption laws sothat alcohol becomes some-thing that is not fearedor covered up, but an-other mundane part ofpeoples’ daily lives.When alcohol loses its rep-utation as some kind ofmagic personality changer,then it will lose its ap-peal to American teen-agers.

OPINIONSMay 2012 EASTSIDE Page 13

Students take two long years tostudy U.S. history at East, and yet,because of AP testing, junior yearAmerican History finishes with thepresidency of Richard Nixon. Mostschools only study American historyfor one year. Even with the extratime to study different time periodsmore in depth, there is still notenough time to get past Nixon by thetime the AP tests roll around. Thatmay be fine for some students,because that is all that is needed forthe test, but there are many studentsat East who would like to learn aboutthe events that lead up to the pres-ent. An elective such as this isoffered at West, one that deals withthis portion of American history—why not have that here at East?

Students can keep updated withcurrent events through variousmediums in this high-tech age:through watching the news, read-ing the paper or getting informa-tion from an online site. However,knowing what goes on today is notthe same as understanding it. It isimportant to comprehend whythings go on today and the previousevents that influenced the present.

Students could always try tolearn for themselves, but the fact is,it is just not the same as getting itstraight from teachers who knowwhat they are talking about, whohave reliable information unlike certain Internet sources, and who

can interact with students andanswer questions. Also, many stu-dents interested in a class thatteaches the most recent part ofAmerican history would not wantto learn it on their own.

Justin Landay (‘13) said, “I wouldnot want to self-teach, but I wouldtake [the class] if it was here.”

Some students know enoughabout the years after Nixon, butothers do not. Sami Saraczewski(‘13) said that she does not know asmuch about that period of Americanhistory as she would like to.

“We’re never really taught any-thing about the time period… per-sonally I think it’s more interestingto learn about recent thingsbecause we have more of a connec-tion to it,” Saraczewski said.

Aside from interesting, this partof history is also important. KyleBigley (‘13) said, “The last 50 yearsof American history are the mostrelevant. Many of the issues thatwe face today come from the his-tory of the last 50 years.”

This elective would be an impor-tant addition to the electives pro-vided at East. Students have theability to reach all of this informa-tion through the Internet, but theonly way to truly understand thetime period is to learn about it in aclass. The past fifty years haveinfluenced the present more thanwhat is learned in U.S. History I,and therefore should be taught tostudents at East.

■ By Juliet Brooks (‘13)News/Features Editor

Under the influence of society or alcohol?

Teaching recent historyshould be “history” no more

Zoe Greenhall (‘13)/

Eastside Staff

■ By Rachel Tinkelman (‘13)Eastside Staff

HUMOURPage 14 EASTSIDE May 1812

It is a time of changehere at Cherry Hill School-

house East. The school isswitching over from itsblock schedule it has hadfor years to one thatinvolves an eight-periodday. Students and facultyalike have mixed feelingsabout the new structure.

“Eight periods a day?That will never work out,”said Mr. Joe Fermer, anagriculture teacher atSchoolhouse East. “I sim-ply cannot see this experi-

ment lasting beyond nextyear.”

The new schedulewould give students anopportunity to opt out of a

lunch period, giving themmore time to furtheradvance their studies.

“If I want to earn anallowance, I have to bringhome food for my familyevery day anyway. Whywaste time eating inschool?” asked HunterSmith (1814). “School-house East really put thecart before the horse onthis one.”

Many students agree

with Smith, and the par-ents of these students havean axe to grind with thoseresponsible for creat-ing the new, eight-periodday. Parents are arguingthat with the shortenedperiods, students will nothave enough time to learnadequate material likehow to skin a boar, railroadphysics and naval skills.

“These parents arethrowing the schedule’sname in the mud beforethey even know what itentails. First of all, the newschedule actually providesthe students with moreinstructional time. It’srather genius if you askme,” said Mr. Lou Sked,head administrator andchair of the New ScheduleCommittee.

Some teachers are ex-cited to begin the newschedule as soon as possi-ble.

“I’m completely behindMr. Sked and the newschedule. It is the rightthing to do for our stu-dents and our faculty. Withmore teaching time, moreworking hours, we teach-ers will be able to featherour nests,” said Mr.Howard Succop, a mathteacher.

One can only speculatehow long the new schedulewill last–it could be afailed experiment thatjust lasts one year,while, on the other hand,it could end up lastingtwo hundred. Althoughsome people are alreadyeagle-eyed to the factthat this schedule will fail,as always, only time willtell.

Skirts &Ankles:Neigh

We all know it is aschool rule to wear dressesthat cover our ankles. Ithas been the rule foryears, decades, even cen-turies. Why would wewant to abandon our orig-inal ways? See, this allstarted last week whenMary Olsen (1814) wore adress that revealed herankles. The slight show-ing of her skin made mewant to shout. It isagainst a woman’s code ofdress to show her ankles!What happened to mod-esty? What happened todignity? She claims shegrew three inches tallerand she couldn’t afford anew dress. What a lie!Everybody knows herfather owns the shopdown Main Street and shecould buy anything her lit-tle heart desires. Shemust have a crush on thenew boy in school; thatmust be the reason behindher risqué dressing.

You would think myteacher would give a hoot,but Mary, ever so sweetly,explained that her mother,a very stylish dresser her-self, is ill and cannot sew anew dress. What a liar!But, my gullible teacherbelieved Mary’s explana-tion, and let it go withouta problem.

Well, this didn’t turnout so well. The next day,my whole class woredresses that exposed theirankles. I should haveguessed! As the most pop-ular girl in school, Mary,the trendsetter, enticed allthe girls, except me ofcourse, to follow her lead.My teacher, appalled atthe sight of the twentyfemale students of herclass in ankle-revealingdresses, scolded them all.But, once again, ever sosweetly, Mary stepped for-ward, declaring that hermother had just receivedword that all the ladies inNew York have begun towear dresses that revealtheir ankles. Well, notbeing very fashion savvyherself, my teacher be-lieved this explanation tobe true.

There is no way to pre-vent this new fashionstatement, unless ofcourse, modest women likeme try to turn this fashiondisaster around. Instead,the trend has encom-passed almost all thewomen in town and acrossthe country.

Women, what hap-pened to self-worth? Whathappened to honor? Whathappened to modesty?What’s next: women show-ing their calves? No, ofcourse not. People are notthat insane.

Three horses—ridden byJeremiah Jones (1814), his-tory teacher Miss Henri-etta Hill andone pulling awagon drivenby Silas Smith(1812) and car-rying four oth-er students—collided inEast’s hitchingyard last Tues-day at approxi-mately 7:58a.m.

Jones wasleft uncon-scious for sev-eral minutesafter hittinghis heada g a i n s tSmith’s wagon.Hill wasthrown fromher horse andbroke herankle. The oth-ers emergedscratched andbruised.

All three were rushingat a gallop for the lastavailable hitching post inthe yard.

“I just could not be lateagain,” said Jones. “I’vealready had my knuckles

rapped five times this termfor tardiness.”

He said that by the timehe saw the others rushingtowards him and yelled forhis horse to stop, it was too

late.Hill said she was run-

ning late because shestopped at the telegraphoffice to pick up a wirefrom her husband, who isaway fighting in the war.

She said she was draftingher response as she rode,and had not seen the oth-ers, despite knowing aboutthe new “no telegraphingand riding” law.

“I’ve learned my lesson,”said Hill. “I’ll never tele-graph while riding again.”

Smith said he was dis-tracted by the conversationhe was having with hisfriends in the wagon, and

took his hands off the reinsfor a moment. By the timehe saw the others ap-proaching, he said, he co-uld not gain control of hishorse.

“This incidenthas really shakenus,” said Headmas-ter O’Shmeeza.

In response tothe incident, Wal-lace said, the schoolis considering im-plementing severalmeasures to ensurethe safety of East’shitching yard, in-cluding assignedhitching posts, redbadges that lessexperienced ridersand drivers wouldwear to warn theirfellow horsemen,a restriction on thenumber of pas-sengers youngriders can carryand a ban on tele-graphing whiledriving.

Smith said hethought these ideassounded outlandish.

He said, “Maybe in 200years when everyonedrives super-fast steam-powered machines this willbe necessary, but right nowit’s a complete overreac-tion.”

Photo Illustration by Mia Holley (1812)/ Eastside Photo EditorHorse buggy crash outside creates an anti-typegraph and driving law.

■ By Gilana Levavi (1814)Eastside Editorial Assisant■ By Kaylin Magosin (1814)

Eastside Editorial Assisant

Recent crash spurs new carriage laws

Maintaining the building blocks■ By Zack Becker (1813)

Eastside Staff

Joel Greenspan (1813)/ Eastside Art Director

In this issue, our famedPsychic Kobi Malamud(1812)/ Eastside RadioManager predicts whatwill happen by the year2012.

• In the year 1840, theCivultionary War will occurbetween the civilized southand barbaric north.

• After the war, America willbe renamed “The CivilizedStates of Dixie.”

• A great meat famine willsweep the nation, making Con-gress pass the Conservation ofHorses Act, which makes itillegal for horse to be used asanything other than food.

• Shrenry Ford will invent thehoverboard, eliminating horsetravel.

• In 2012, the world will end.In the meantime, people willprepare for ultimate destruc-tion in December.

• The only surviving nations ofthe 12th World War, Canadaand Switzerland, will move thelast remaining people on Earthinto the three-year-old interna-tional space terminal.

• The space terminal will becalled Apollo 13 and will starta new life on a different planetand all records of it will becompletely destroyed.

Logo by Diana Li (1812)/ Eastside Art Director

SPORTSMay 2012 EASTSIDE Page 15

The month of April canbe a very stressful time forhigh school seniors. Mostseniors are in the midst offinally deciding which col-lege to attend after goingthrough months of re-search and campus toursalong with years of hardwork and studying.

However, as the springsports begin, a senior ath-lete can lose him or herselfin the pure beauty of asport. And, with inter-scholastic sports playing amajor role in many stu-dents’ senior years,rumors and rumblings ofsenior athletes’ potentialcollege recruitments seemto never end. And, espe-cially for East this year,almost every single girls’and boys’ varsity sportboasts at least one studentwho will continue his orher athletic career at thecollege level.

Let the often-heateddiscussion of athleticscholarships begin.

Many people believethat athletes should nothave the opportunity toreceive full scholarshipsfor athletic purposes.Meanwhile, others believethat collegiate student-athletes should be paid ontop of receiving thousandsof dollars’ worth of schol-arship money. Instead,why don’t we just focus onthe fact that some kids arejust so talented and haveworked hard enough toearn said scholarship?

If a regular studentstudied for as many hoursas a college-bound athletepracticed his or herrespective sport everyweek, then that studentwould most likely be ableto earn the grades thatwould warrant an aca-demic scholarship of asimilar magnitude. It isalso pretty incredible thata college or university is soconfident in an athlete’sfuture success that theAdmissions Department isalmost throwing money atstudent-athletes.

College-bound athletesshould be commended forthe tireless hours spentsweating up and down thecourt, field or pool to get towhere they are today.Some students may bejealous or cynical, but theywould just be missing thetrue significance. In life,hard work does pay off inthe end. College-boundstudent athletes deserveevery penny of the schol-arships they earned andtheir determination andwork ethics will most like-ly translate into theirfuture careers as well.

Logo by Diana Li (‘12)/Eastside Art Director

For a lot of teams,the loss of a star playercan damage a winningprogram. It can evencripple a team.

This same fate wasanticipated for theEast boys’ volleyballvarsity team. Headinginto the 2012 season,many feared that theteam, after the gradua-tion of former captainand record-breakingplayer, Eric Zaun (‘11),would suffer a seasonof disappointing lossesand scarce victories.

But the team re-fuses to lie down andaccept this write-off.

The boys begantheir season by domi-nating their first twoscrimmages. On March20, they beat Penn-sauken Tech with a25-20 win in the firstgame. They extendedtheir winning streakby defeating Cinna-minson in a majorupset.

Their recent successcannot be attributed toZaun, who now plays forLimestone College’s Divi-sion II volleyball program,ranked 23rd in the nationout of all Division I and II

teams.Captain Nick DiVito

(‘13) said, “We have a verygood team this year, but

the expectations aren’t ashigh as last year withZaun, so we could surprisea few teams.”

And even for the mosttalented high school play-er, the college game is a

whole new level.Zaun said, “It was a

tough transition from highschool to college volleyball.

The college game is reallydifferent. Everything is somuch quicker and fasterpace[d]. It took me a whilebut I adapted well and I’mdefinitely used to the col-lege game now.”

Zaun’s hardwork is nowpaying off.Coach KarlM o e h l m a n nsaid that inhis last gameagainst NewJ e r s e yInstitute ofTe ch n o l o g y,Zaun playedvery well withan impressive6 out of 8 kills.M o e h l m a n nsaid, “He wasour guy here.But now he’s af r e s h m a nbehind a cou-ple of talentedjuniors.”

Despite hishectic sched-ule, Zaun hasnot aban-doned hisalma mater.He attendedclub practicesover winterbreak andthinks thatEast has thepotential tohave a verygood season.

Zaun said,“They have ac o m p l e t e l ydifferent teamfrom last year,but I thinkthat they havesome playersthat will stepup. I saw NickDiVito at aclub practiceover winter

break and he improved alot since last season. Hewill have a huge role on theteam.”

According toM o e h l m a n n ,DiVito has almostrisen to “Zaun-likelevels.” In thescrimmage againstPennsauken Tech,DiVito had 15 killsin only 3 games.

Newcomer andvarsity player,Gary Hettinger(‘13) said, “DiVito’staken over the starrole. But in termsof a leader, wedon’t actually haveone.”

This could beattributed to theteam’s deep benchwith a wide rangeof talent. AssistingDiVito as a cap-tain is AndrewQian (‘12), a re-turning varsityplayer. Jake Mag-gioncalda (‘12)gives the team astrong middle andHettinger andJosh Grinsberg

(‘12) provide a big block,which Moehlmann refersto as the “Twin TowerBlock.”

Yes, sometimes a loss ofa player can damage a win-ning program. But in somecases, it can allow the restof the team to grow.

For the East boys’ vol-leyball team, this seems tobe the case.

After all, as CoachMoehlmann said, “Whoneeds Eric Zaun? We haveNick DiVito.”

Boys’ volleyball team maintainsa strong drive after losing Zaun■ By Darby Festa (‘13)

Eastside Online Sports Editor

Angie Pacitti (‘13)/ For EastsideNick DiVito (‘13) soars fora powerful kill duringpractice.

Jake Fischer (‘12)/ Eastside Sports Editor These key players will attempt to replace Eric Zaun (‘11) as hitters.From left to right: Nick DiVito (‘13), Jake Maggioncalda (‘12), GaryHettinger (‘13), Andrew Qian (‘12) and Josh Grinsberg (‘12).

■ By Jake Fischer (‘12)Eastside Sports Editor

For mostpeople, theidea of asword fight isa gruesome,drawn-out bat-

tle that usu-ally ends with one

person dismem-bered, scream-ing “it’s just aflesh wound!”However, forsome, swordfighting is a

sport called fenc-ing, one that requires

much more than justswinging a heavy blade in

somebody else’s direction.“A lot of people think it’s

like Pirates of the Carib-bean… but it’s really not,” said

Shriya Joshi (‘13), who has beenfencing for five years. “It requiresa lot of finesse and a lot of mentalability.”

The sport of fencing, thoughwidely unknown, has been inthe Olympics since 1896, and whileit seems simple, there is muchmore to fencing than meets theeye.

“[Fencing is] like playing chessin your head,” said Ni Zheng (‘12),who has been fencing for two years.“It’s more like a mind-game thanjust a physical [activity].”

The sport is divided into threedifferent categories, each depend-ing on which type of weaponthe competitors are using. In allthree, there is a varying specificarea of the body that each fencer

aims for, and the first oneto hit this target area withhis or her weapon wins.

However, that is where most of thesimilarities end, as each competi-tion is very different from the oth-ers.

The first category is called “foil,”in which each fencer uses a lightblade to try to hit the torso ofthe opponent in order to winthe match. Only hits with thetip of the foil are counted andblows from the side of the

sword do not help. Thenext category is “sabre,”

a n o t h e rlight blade which is usedto hit either the torso or thearms of the opponent. In thiscompetition, any part of theblade may be used to strike anopponent. The final categoryis épée, which uses a heav-ier sword in a moretechnical compe-tition. If onef e n c e rstrikes theother any-where on hisor her body,the competi-tion is over,but it must bewith the tipof theblade,o f t e n

stretching out the matches.All three require different abil-

ities, foil needing more accu-racy, sabre using more explo-siveness and quick thinking and

épée requiring more technicalmovements. All three alsorequire strength and speed.

“There is a lot of empha-sis on being able to moveyour legs properly,working on speed andthings like that,” Joshisaid.

Although it is anunusual and oftenmisunderstood sport,people must take thetime to acknowledgethe incredible skilland athleticism ittakes to be success-ful in the sport of fenc-

ing. So, the next timesword fighting is broughtup, do not think of

pirates fighting to thedeath; think of ath-

letes trying to strikeeach other in

order to win amatch.

SPORTS

Deep down in the coral reefs,there is a world where massive seaturtles glide alongside vast quanti-ties of fish and hungry sharks.This is a world most people do nothave the opportunity to experi-ence, except, of course, those whoare certified to scuba dive likeAlexa Chudzinski (‘13).

Chudzinski was practically bornto dive. Her parents both scubadive, which is how they originallymet. They quickly introducedChudzinski and her brother, KyleChudzinski (‘11), to the familypractice.

“I began taking the plunge whenI was about 12 years old. My par-ents decided to get my brother andI certified so that we could go onfamily scuba trips together,”Chudzinski said.

Chudzinski received the OceanWater 1 certification from theNAUI (National Association forUnderwater Instructors), which isknown to provide the basic certifi-cation in the diving community.This certification teaches theimportant safety lessons and earlyskills of scuba diving. Chudzinskiis currently working toward heradvanced certification, whichteaches skills such as deep divingand underwater navigation.

“To become a diver, it takes aheck of a lot of time and dedica-tion,” Chudzinski said.

To receive her basic certifica-tion, Chudzinski had to practicediving and memorize the basicrules and procedures of scuba div-ing before taking a written examand showing the instructors hermastery of dives.

“In the end, it’s these fundamen-tal lessons which separate intelli-gent divers from dangerous

divers,” said Chudzinski.Despite the peaceful-

ness of the under-water world inplaces such asthe New Jersey

Coast, the Florida Keys and theDominican Republic, whereChudzinski has practiced scubadiving, many dangers require thedivers to challenge themselvesboth physically and mentally.

“Once you go down the line,there’s nothing standing betweenyou and potential injury or evendeath besides your equipment,your dive buddy and your owninstinct,” Chudzinski said.

From Chudzinski’s first-handexperience of the underwaterworld, she learned how importantunderwater life truly is. Shebelieves there is nothing like it inthe world so she encourages peopleto protect the oceans.

“Nothing so beautiful shouldever be tainted or ignored for thesake of wealthy oil companies thatcouldn’t care less about theenvironment,” said

Chudzinski.Chudzinski’s experiences have

encouraged her to want to traveland work toward environ-mental conservation in thefuture so people can contin-ue to see the beautythat the under-water world hasto offer, hope-fully foryears tocome.

Page 16 EASTSIDE May 2012

■ By Emmy Silverman (‘13)Eastside Sports Editor

Chudzinski explores schools different from our own

MadisonStern (‘13)/Eastside Staff

■ By Mike Reisman (‘13)Eastside Staff

Common sword fighting misconception doesnot deter all students from pursuing fencing

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorShriya Joshi (‘13) is clothed in standardfencing garb for protection and comfort.

Mia Holley (‘12)/ Eastside Photo EditorJoshi stands in the en garde (on guard) stance prepared to fencewith bent knees and feet at right angles.