The StannerVol. 57, No. 2 Archbishop Molloy High School October 2013

By Maria Aliberti '16 andMikayla Roberts '16 Led by their four officers, 90seniors were inducted into theNational Honor Society (NHS)on Oct. 15 in a ceremony in theJack Curran Gym. Daniel O’Reilly was electedpresident, Felicia Mendoza vicepresident, Dhanesh Binda sec-retary and John Paul Puccitreasurer in a vote by their fel-low NHS members. “I felt so honored that my peersthought so highly of me and hadsuch great faith in me,” saidO’Reilly. “I was nominated bymy peers, and I am very thank-ful for the opportunity to servethem.” After approximately 105 se-niors applied for membershiplast month, NHS ModeratorsMs. Lauren Kemmerer and Ms.Kelly Early made the final cutsbased on the four criteria formembership: leadership, ser-vice, scholarship, and character. “It’s always very hard to tellstudents that what they had sub-mitted to us wasn’t good enough

to make the cut,” said Ms.Kemmerer. Shannon Pizzella, a newly in-ducted NHS member, said, “Itwas tough on some of my peerswho didn’t make it; the NHSmeant a lot to them.”

Another NHS member, seniorJessica Kraker, said some didn’tmake the cut because they didnot have the required three-yearacademic average of 94. “Those that didn’t make it werefrustrated, and I am positive

that even more seniors will feelthis way next year when the re-quired GPA moves up to a 95instead of a 94,” Kraker said. The induction ceremony fea-tured a candle lighting cer-emony where each elected of-ficer lit a candle. “Each candle is meant to sym-bolize a quality that the NHSmembers have,” Ms. Kemmerersaid. O’Reilly lit a purple candlerepresenting leadership,Mendoza lit a blue candle rep-resenting character, Binda lit agold candle representing schol-arship and Pucci lit a greencandle symbolizing service. O’Reilly gave a speech aboutthose four qualities and howNHS members will continue tostrive toward success with thosetraits in mind. O’Reilly said he hopes that bythe end of the year NHS mem-bers will have a devotion to ser-vice that they will take withthem beyond the world ofMolloy.

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Frosh find it very easy to fit in at Molloy (Photo by Shoma Nath ‘16)

90 seniors inducted into NHS

Frosh give Molloy a thumbs upBy Alyssa Motilal ‘17,Amanda Liu ‘17, LilibethDelasSalas '17, and MichaelOuari-Navarro ‘17 It’s been nearly two monthssince freshmen started theirfour-year careers at Molloy andthat’s been enough time forthem to have formed a few opin-ions of the school. Most students already feel likeStanners and have joined a va-riety of clubs, sports, and extra-curricular activities rangingfrom volleyball to the ScienceFiction and Fantasy Club. Conversely, there are still afew underclassmen who are try-ing to adjust to their new highschool routine. Amber Mohsin, who came to

Molloy from Russell Sage JHS190, said, “I decided to attendMolloy because after going tothe Open House, I loved thisschool. I thought the students,the teachers, and the classeswere amazing. The Chemistryand Physics Labs looked cooland there are so many clubs andactivities to join.” Laura Annink, from WoltersSchool, said, "Lots of people inmy church recommended theschool. They said it was a goodschool with a great sports pro-gram." Kristen Lazzinnaro, from PS/MS 146 in Queens, decided tocome to Molloy because “of whatit had to offer and because mostof my friends would be attend-

ing here.” Edward Luthartio, fromGuardian Angel School, was at-tracted to Molloy because of themany clubs and extra-curricular

activities that the school offers. Andrew Arceo, from St. An-drew Avellino School, said, "Iheard that Molloy was a

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Homeroom 1EWins FroshField Day

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Stanners willwalk rain orshine

Page 5

NHS President Dan O’Reilly, Vice President Felicia Mendoza, and SecretaryDhanesh Binda pose together at ceremony. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

Dear Editors: Our school administration hasbecome too concerned with ourappearance. [“Bow tie ban en-forced this year,” Sept. 2013]. Irecently got detention just forhaving the top button of my shirtundone while coming out of gymclass. I fully support wearing uni-forms because they look nice andprofessional but Molloy is toostrict by enforcing its dress codeto the max. There should be awarning for a dress code violationbefore there is detention.

Michael LaBella ’17

Letter to the Editor

The StannerVolume 57, Number 2

Editors: Joana Capistrano; PamelaDecolongon; Daniela Salazar; andJohn Fenner

Production Staff: Caroline Bikles; Tristan Colon;Reynerio Rubio; Phillip Barsamian;Sophia Savvides; Stephaney Umana

Moderator: Mr. Charley McKennaPublisher: Bro. Thomas Schady

Photographer Jordi Sevilla'scredit was omitted from the pho-tos of the St. MarcellinChampagnat Society in the Sep-tember issue. Senior Wesley Chu is a three-time MVP of the boys varsity ten-nis team. Junior Raymond Maurer wasthe MVP of the JV baseball teamlast year.

Corrections

Fooducation: by Alexandra Caruso ‘14

When it comes to restaurants,have you ever thought ofexploring beyond Alba’s andDunkin’ Donuts or not traversingAustin St. for the 71st time? My goal, as a food-ucater, is totry in this column to help otherfoodies expand their horizons.Anywhere in Queens, Manhattan,or Brooklyn that is worthy of avisit, I’ll report on it here. Our first stop, however, is closeby in Forest Hills, just to get youstarted. If homemade ice cream andwhipped cream mushed togetherwith candy is your idea of heaven,head over to Eddie’s Sweet Shop!Get the huge ice cream sundaethat oozes out of its old-schoolglass cup, dip in that silver spoon,and forget about all the caloriescoming your way. (Trust me; it’sbetter that way). Eddie’s, at 105-29 MetropolitanAve. , is reachable by bus or train.Give it a try. My friends and family knowthat pie is basic sustenance in mylife. Luckily for you, I managedto wrestle this pumpkin pie recipefrom my mom’s sacred file. Happy Halloween! For the crust:1 1/2 cups flour3/4 tsp. salt

5/8 cups vegetable shortening,preferably Crisco, cut into smallpieces1/4 cup cold milk For the filling:All-purpose flour for crust surface1 15 oz. can solid-pack pumpkin3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar1 tablespoon cornstarch1/2 tsp. coarse salt3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon3/4 tsp. ground ginger1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg1 tsp. pure vanilla extract3 large eggs1 12 oz. can evaporated milkGround cloves

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.For the pie dough: Mix flour and salttogether in a large bowl. Using apastry cutter or 2 table knives, workshortening into flour mixture until itresembles coarse meal. Sprinkle coldmilk over dough and mix with yourhands until it holds together. Shapeinto a ball, and flatten into a disk. Wrapin waxed paper and refrigerate for atleast 1 hour. 2. Roll the dough disk out on a lightlyfloured surface into a 12" round, thenfit dough into a 9" pie dish and crimpthe edges. Prick dough all over with afork and transfer pie shell to the

refrigerator to let chill for 30 minutes. 3. Whisk pumpkin, sugar, cornstarch,salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg,vanilla, eggs, milk, and a pinch ofcloves in a large bowl. 4. Reduce oven temperature to 325degrees. Transfer pie dish to a rimmedbaking sheet, and pour pumpkinmixture into cooled crust. Bake untilcenter is set but still a bit wobbly, 50to 55 minutes. (If crust browns tooquickly, tent edges with a strip of foilfolded in half lengthwise.) Let cool inpie dish on a wire rack. Refrigerateuntil well chilled, at least 6 hours.Serve chilled with whipped cream.

No pay would spur compromise Congressional Republicans shutdown much of the United Statesgovernment by refusing to passa budget bill unless it involvedmaking changes to the AffordableCare Act, otherwise known asObamacare. This resulted in about 800,000Federal workers being placed onfurlough (unpaid leave) for morethan two weeks. Some Republicans claimed thatAmericans don’t fully understand

that the health care law will costmore than the government canhandle; therefore, they had nochoice but to shut down thegovernment to make that point. Senate Democrats and theWhite House claimed Republicanswere holding governmentworkers hostage in order to blocka law they don’t like; soDemocrats vowed to block anybudget resolution that is tied tochanging the health care law. However, on Oct. 16, theDemocrat controlled Senatepassed and the Republicancontrolled House agreed to a billthat would end the partialshutdown and provide the

government with fundingthrough the middle of January2014, when it’s very possible wewill have to go through all of thisagain if the two side can’tnegotiate a compromise by then. Since this battle began, bothpolitical parties have waged warat the expense of the publicbecause shutting down thegovernment closed NationalParks and monuments. For example, WWII veteransrecently were barred fromviewing an outdoor memorial intheir honor on the Mall inWashington, D.C., due to theshutdown.

Economists estimate that thetwo-week shutdown cost the U.S.economy between $12-$24 billionworth of growth in the fourth-quarter of 2013. Maybe if members of the Houseof Representatives also had towork without pay during thegovernment shutdown, as manyFederal workers were forced todo, we would not have had thiscrisis in the first place. Maybe if a law is passed nextmonth that states Congress won’tget paid during any futuregovernment shutdowns, we won’thave another.

— Matthew Spataro ’14

Candy (in ice cream) and pumpkin pie for Halloween

By Frederic Jean-Joseph ‘15 “Rate My Teachers” is awebsite where students can postanonymous comments abouttheir teachers from preschool tocollege. Students from schools all overthe country have been postingon “Rate My Teachers” foryears, adding over 15,000,000ratings since its release. Not surprisingly, there areover a hundred ratings ofMolloy faculty on the website. The website has set guidelinesfor posts, such as asking stu-dents to be honest and to thepoint and to comment only onprofessionalism and not stateopinions as facts. Each rating isreviewed by a site moderator andis usually posted within twodays of submission. "The website is very popular,”

said junior David Van Aken. “Alot of students go on it. I checkedlast year to see what people saidabout my English teacher. Theratings in general are biasedand unfair. The comments aremostly negative and usually theratings are about a bad test orgrading." Junior Kevin Lenczewski, whohasn't posted a comment him-self, has checked once or twiceto see what people said about histeachers. “The ratings are pretty accu-rate but a lot of them are polar-izing," he said. Junior Jan Kumelowski said,"Most students just make fun oftheir teachers. I've posted abouta teacher, just for the laughs." Molloy science teacher Ms.Mary Mallia, who has visitedthe website, said a teacher can

get some food for thought bylooking at the comments but notvery much. "I haven't looked in a long timebut I did once,” she said. “It gaveme the thought that maybe mytests were too difficult. What’smore valuable to me, however,is a student coming up to meand talking to me personally. Ithelps me and it helps the stu-dent." When asked if she would holda grudge toward a student criti-cizing her to her face, she re-plied. "Never. We'd simply workthrough it." Math teacher Ms. LaurenKemmerer agreed with Ms.Mallia, saying that getting feed-back from students is a neces-sary part of the job. Science teacher Mrs. AnneLonergan said she would not

hold it against a student whocomplained about her class. "Alot of the complaints are fueledby the parents," she said. Mrs. Lonergan has not visitedthe website because she said she"knows crazy stuff is written"and she does not want to see it.Most teachers said they wouldprefer face to face criticismrather than reading someanonymous review online. Ms. Kemmerer said, "If thecomments given are ‘Thisteacher was great" or “Thisteacher wasn't great,’ then Idon't think there is any valuebecause you don't know the rea-soning behind it. More impor-tantly, opinions vary greatly.All students have differentlearning styles and thereforeappreciate different teachers indifferent ways."

Stanners rate teachers on web

By DaeQuan Morrison '16 Molloy will distribute iPads tothe incoming frosh next year toreplace certain textbooks and tokeep Stanners one step ahead intechnology as they prepare tosomeday enter the work force,said the Assistant Principal Mr.Ed Cameron. Next year’s frosh will have topay a technology fee to cover thecost and maintenance of about400 iPads. If a student accidentally dam-ages an iPad, a $25 first timebreakage fee will be charged tofix it. Every two years, studentswill get new iPads and upongraduation the iPad will betheirs to keep. While in school, frosh will onlybe able to access material thatthe Molloy administration al-lows; however, at home on stu-dents’ own wifi networks, theiPads can be used normally. Many at Molloy are apprehen-sive about how next year's froshwill handle the new devices. “They’ll be freshmen," saidfrosh Carolina Jamie. "Every-thing is new to them in theschool. Add an iPad and it’s awreck.” In case a student loses his orher iPad, the built-in GPS willhelp to retrieve it. If a lost iPad is found by an-other student, Molloy trusts stu-dents will turn it in but if theydon’t they’ll face severe conse-quences, Mr.Cameron said. “We’ve actually heard fromhigh schools that already haveiPads, such as St. Mary's andXaverian, that students aremuch more careful with iPads

than any other book," Mr.Cameron said. "I’m not overlyconcerned. I think the responsi-bility will be there.” Many students feel it is unfairto give iPads only to next year’sfrosh. “If Molloy gives something toone class, they should give it toevery class,” said junior AlinaObruchnikova. Mr. Cameron said Molloymade the decision to take thingsslowly by not handing out 1,600devices but instead using nextyear as the "guinea pig" year. Teachers have begun usingiPads this year to take atten-dance and post grades. Mr. Cameron said studentswill benefit from this new tech-nology as teachers will have theability to modify their lessons totake advantage of the iPads.

While some students are eagerto see this happen at Molloy, oth-ers are not. “Technology and schoolworkdon’t really mix for me," saidsophomore Jada Fletcher. "I’d

Only Class of ‘18 will get iPads

Ms. Kelly Early uses her new schooliPad. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

just rather we stuck to text-books.” Mr. Cameron said, “Studentshave to be comfortable workingwith technology and beingready to use new things.”

By Sylvie Williams '16 Commuting to and fromschool is part of life and even ifa Stanner lives just one subwaystop away from school, having afree, green MetroCard can be alife saver when it rains or snows. Almost every Stanner on thefirst day of school gets a studentMetroCard, which can be usedthree times a day between 5a.m. and 8 p.m. This saves stu-dents $5 to $7.50 per day. The few Stanners who don'tget free MetroCards often won-der why they don't. Mrs. Colleen Rooney, whodeals with MetroCard eligibil-ity, inputs "all the students' ad-dresses into the Office of Trans-portation website, and it notifiesus who is eligible for a card. "According to the Dept. of Edu-cation, if you live farther than1.5 miles away from the school,you're entitled to a MetroCard.If you live closer than 1.5 miles,then you're only entitled to ahalf-fare card," she said. Students who aren't eligiblefor a full fare MetroCard can geta half-fare card which reducestheir cost to $1.25 per trip. Ms. Rooney said 91 students

received half-fare cards, morethan any previous year. "I tried to accommodate every-one," Mrs. Rooney said. "TheDept. of Education sends us ex-tra free cards and if I determinethat it is unreasonable for a stu-dent to not get a full-fare card, Iprovide them with one. "I have gotten parents andstudents in touch with Dept. ofEducation, but, as far as I know,they have never granted an ap-peal by anyone," she said. Sophomore Garima Vohra,who doesn't have a MetroCard,said, "I live three blocks from theschool and in freshman year, Iwas the only one [in myhomeroom] who didn't receive aMetroCard. My walk is only fiveminutes and it doesn't botherme that I don't have a card. Myfriend Ana lives farther than meand also didn't receive a card." Garima doesn't need a freeMetrocard. "I wouldn't want the Dept. ofEducation to waste money pay-ing for a card I didn't need," shesaid. "Even if I had a card, Iwould still walk to school. Iwould only use it in an emer-gency."

Who gets a free MetroCard isa matter of distance from AM

SAC, SC out, Spirit Leaders inBy Miranda Steinberg ‘14and Viviana Villalva ‘14 The Student Activities Com-mittee and Student Councilhave been consolidated into anew group called the Spirit Com-mittee this year in the hope ofgetting more Stanners involvedin the planning and carryingout of student activities. Two students from eachhomeroom have been chosen asSpirit Leaders, whose job will beto enhance school spirit and gettheir homerooms more involvedin school activities.

“My goal is to create a cohe-sive, unified group of leaderswho will develop their leader-ship, organizational and com-munication skills, while at thesame time helping their teach-ers and peers,” said Director ofStudent Activites Ms. LizMurdocca. Ms. Murdocca said that whenSAC and Student Council wereseparate entities, there were re-dundancies and confusion re-garding what their jobs were. “After speaking to some Stu-dent Council members, I wasnot convinced that there was anecessity for that club in theschool,” said Ms. Murdocca. “Ac-cording to these members, therewas a small minority of studentswho attended the meetings.When I asked what StudentCouncil had actually accom-plished in the past year, the stu-dents were hard-pressed to an-swer.” Now Spirit Leaders will takeover and do things such as dis-tribute handouts in homeroom,sell event tickets, and lead SpiritWeek events. Former SAC members, seniors

Diamond Small and DarienDey, who were both selected asSpirit Leaders, feel that the cre-ation of the Spirit Committeewas a very good idea. "I think merging SAC and SCwill be very beneficial sincethere's now only one club thathandles student activities,” saidSmall. “It makes more sense tohave one larger club." Dey said, "The other twogroups weren't really known.Those groups weren’t abolished;they were combined. They arejust together now." Both girls are excited abouttheir new positions as SpiritLeaders. "Ms.Murdocca is gettingthings done, geting us involved,and saying 'Look this is what wehave to do,' " Dey said. Small, who found out about theadministration's decision to endSAC during her Lit and Pyschclass with Ms. Murdocca, was"extremely happy" to be chosenas a Spirit Leader. "I like to be active in events atMolloy," Small said. Senior Lauren Nazarieh be-came a Spirit Leader because “I

like working with other studentsand enjoy being involved withschool activities.” However, Dey felt that the pro-cess of choosing Spirit Leaderscould have been different. "I don't understand why it wasso selective," she said. Spirit Leaders will serve as theconnection between Ms.Murdocca and the student body. So far, Spirit Leaders havehelped to organize theWalkathon t-shirts for distribu-tion at the Oct. 25 event and cre-ated the Halloween Dance/Walkathon bulletin board out-side the General Office. Spirit Leaders will take on thejob of organizing the Junior andSenior Proms, previously doneby SAC, and Dey hopes to planan "exquisite prom." Ms. Murdocca is happy withthe performance of the SpiritLeaders so far. “I am overwhelmed, in a goodway, at the response I’ve got-ten,” she said. “I think there areso many students who want tobe a part of something like thiswhere they can take charge andhave ownership of their school.”

Band members impress at state auditionsBy Shibangi Saha '16 Thirteen members of Molloy’sBand impressed the judge at theNew York State School MusicAssociation's New York Cityzone auditions on June 2 at TheMary Louis Academy. It was the first time Molloy hadparticipated in this state-wideevent, which attracts over100,000 high school musicians. The band members, who per-formed on the fourth of theorganization’s six levels of abil-ity, received a rating of “out-standing,” the highest rank, af-ter achieving a 26/28 score. Band Director Ms. Ya-Ting

Yang congratulated her stu-dents for doing a “superb job.” She said a NYSSMA judgeemailed her to comment on herstudents’ amazing performance,which usually does not happen. The 13 Molloy musicians wereselected to participate based ontheir performance in the bandin their previous years. “Auditioning at the event wasan amazing experience!” saidsophomore clarinetist LaksumiSivanandan. “While I was ex-tremely worried, I was able toovercome my nerves. I feel weperformed quite well. All of thetime we spent together rehears-

ing really paid off.” Sophomore alto saxophonistHarry Singh said, “While walk-ing into the doors, I was defi-nitely nervous. It was very awk-ward to sit in front of the musi-cal judge and get a score, but theevaluator was jovial and gave usa few cool techniques.” Ms. Yang gave special con-gratulations to senior BrandonLau of the String Ensemble,whose violin solo scored a 94/100on the sixth and highest level ofperformance. “The purpose of the program,”said Ms. Yang, “was to give thestudents a goal to work towards

to show them their strengthsand areas of potential improve-ments.” Ms. Yang looks forward to par-ticipating in the festival againthis spring and get more stu-dents involved by inviting stu-dents who play instruments orsing independently of Molloy’sBand or String Ensemble. “The students will be able totake an opportunity to grow intheir musical endeavors,” saidMs. Yang. The band members who par-ticipated were: Sophomores John Ambert, timpani;Justin Cole, baritone sax; Harry Singh,alto sax; Laksumi Sivanandan, clari-net; Juniors Ansh Mehra, clarinet;Jessica Netto, tenor sax; StephanieNonaillada, flute; Connie Zhao, flute;Seniors Gabriel Caamal, bass clarinet;Candice Forrester, flute; AnthonyGenna, alto sax; Matthew Maneri, elec-tric bass; and Natalie Picon, clarinet.

Among the Molloy Band members who performed at the NYSSMA Festival were sophomore Harry Singh, thirdfrom left in second row, and senior Matthew Maneri, fourth from left in top row. (Photos by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

Senior Brandon Lau

Senior Madelein Glaeser is a newSpirit Leader. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla)

Stanners will walk rain or shineBy Harry Singh '16 Molloy's 21st annual Walk-a-thon will step off on Oct. 25 rainor shine after last's year eventwas twice postponed due to badweather. Assistant Principal Mr. KenAuer said Molloy bought 2,000ponchos last year after the sec-ond postponement due to Hur-ricane Sandy and will use themif necessary. “We hope for a nice day,” saidMr. Auer. The Walk-a-thon will followthe same route as last year butStanners walk it twice. “I liked last year's route a lotsince it was pretty short," saidsophomore Lauren Boldeau."But you have to walk up somehills, which can be pretty tiring.” Senior Amelia Singh said, “Iprefer last year’s new route sinceI love changing things up fromyear to year.” Junior Katlin Stath said, “Myfavorite memory of last year’sWalk-a-thon was getting lost. Iwas part of the group of peoplethat cut through in the middleof the route and didn’t get tocomplete the whole course.” Mr. Auer hopes that the prob-lems with the new route last yearwon't carry over to this year. Stanners will walk in a blue t-shirt with a sneaker-type logo

printed on the front designed bysenior Albert Hasan. Improvements the Walk-a-thon will pay for include newenergy saving lights and a de-humidifier in the Cafeteria andair conditioning in the Chapel. Each Stanner who raises $80or more will enjoy a Walk-a-thon holiday on Friday March14 but all who fail to do so will

report for a full day of schoolthat day supervised by Mr. Auerand Mr. Ed Shannon. “We try to do educationalthings [that day]," said Mr.Auer. "In the past years we havewatched the movie ‘Gandhi,’ butwe are undecided on what we’lldo this year.” Students who raise $100 ormore will participate in a raffle

featuring prizes such as an iPod,tickets to a Broadway show orsporting events, $50 in moviepasses, gift cards, and Land’sEnd accessories. The student who raises themost money will receive free tu-ition for the year and the secondplace student will receive a freeiPad. The top homeroom will re-ceive its own casual day. Students have very fondmemories of past Walk-a-thons. Stath said last year's doublerain delay “was very weird, butI’m sure Molloy will have betterluck with the weather this year!” Singh said she loves the Walk-a-thon because she gets to spendtime with her friends, "however,one thing I really dislike is thecold weather! The Walk-a-thonwould be a lot more enjoyable ifthe weather was warmer.” In the past, Singh simplyasked her parents for the mini-mum $80 required of every stu-dent. “But this year, I’m goingto be a true Stanner and actu-ally raise the money myself,” shesaid. Boldeau raises money differ-ently each year. “If I wait until the last minute,I usually just ask my parents forthe $80 but if I can get a headstart on things, I raise the moneymyself,” she said.

By Charlie Maisano '16 andPerry Chresomales '16 Eighteen seniors were in-stalled as Extraordinary Minis-ters of Holy Communion in asimple ceremony during the Se-nior Liturgy in the Jack CurranGymnasium on Sept. 26, saidCampus Ministry Director Mr.Mike Germano. Sarah Stiglianese, who hadbeen a lector at liturgies sinceher sophomore year, wanted totake the next step in her involve-ment by becoming an Eucharis-tic Minister. “I hope to serve my school andcommunity in a new way andallow this to bring me closer toGod,” she said. Mr. Germano said becomingan Eucharistic Minister is asimple process that begins inJanuary when juniors may be-gin to apply and requires onlythat they attend a workshop. Stiglianese said she and theother 17 EM’s “attended a groupclass along with [students from]St. Francis Prep. We separatedinto groups and discussed whatwe would have to do at mass.”

Mr. Germano said the otherrequirement is that applicantsshow a devotion to their faith. Stiglianese, for example, hasbeen very involved at her par-ish, St. Helen’s, by being a lec-tor, an altar server, and an EM.She also has joined the St.Vincent DePaul Society andthe Rosarian Society.

18 EM’s installed at massStanners enjoy nice weather on their third try at Walkathon 2012 afterbeing rained out twice. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

In addition to distributingcommunion at Molloy liturgies,the Eucharistic Ministers workat local parishes, hospitals andnursing homes. While this year’s group of 18is smaller than in recent years,Mr. Germano called it “the mostloyal and most faith-filled groupin a while; their lives are a model

of Christ.” Here are the Eurcharistic Min-isters from the Class of 2014:Julia Antignani; Francesca Bello; Mat-thew Dolan; Daniela Fazio; KatherineGarcia; Samantha Grech; EmilyHernandez-Avila; John Mancini; Chris-topher McGee; Felicia Mendoza; AndrewMuscarella; Daniel O’Reilly; CassandraRodriguez; Samantha Sattler; SarahStiglianese; Patrycja Sulich; AshleyVascellaro; Melissa Yurisak.

Molloy’s 18 new Eucharistic Ministers are inducted at the Senior Liturgy. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

Seniors stress over college picks

Starting new AM club’s not easy

By Emily Hernandez-Avila The college application pro-cess creates a type of work loadthat most Molloy seniors havenever really experienced before. After filling out the CommonApplication, writing essays, lin-ing up recommendations, andtaking the SAT's, most seniorsagree: the college applicationprocess is stressful. Ambitious seniors also dealwith the anxiety of not knowingwhether or not their dreamschool will want them. “It’s stressful because the workof getting into college is so much

By Robert Dittus ‘15 Molloy prides itself on havinga wide variety of clubs and ac-tivities for its students. However, some students feelthat their interests or skillsaren’t represented by Molloy’smore than 50 clubs. So far this year, Director ofStudent Activities Ms. LizMurdocca has received propos-als for a Harry Potter Club,Yoga Club, Break Dance Club,Ultimate Frisbee Club, and anAmerican Sign Language Club,among others. When evaluating each re-quest, Ms. Murdocca said sheasks herself, “Does the club of-fer something new or different,or is it something similar to whatwe already have? For example,we already have a Dance Club,a Dance Team, and a StepTeam. Do we need a separatebreak dancing club?” Ms. Murdocca spoke with thesenior who proposed that ideaand “arranged for her to join

Dance Club and share her ex-pertise with us by teaching sev-eral breakdancing classes.” For the highly specific HarryPotter Club, Ms. Murdocca sug-gested those students join theSci-Fi and Fantasy Club andtalk to the moderators and stu-dent leaders about having ameeting to discuss Harry Potter. “Students have to be realisticin what they want in a club andwhy they want it,” Ms. Murdoccasaid. “Many of our clubs offerskills such as knitting, baking,dance or step. We have fine artsclubs such as the Art Club,Band, and Theater Arts andImprov Club that teach the artsto interested students.” To create a new club, a studentmust submit a proposal to Ms.Murdocca that includes itsname, function, educationalvalue, the name of a qualifiedteacher who has agreed to be themoderator, and the names of atleast 10 other interested stu-dents.

“One of the reasons that theYoga Club wasn’t approved wasbecause there were no teachersavailable who could teach yogaand we can’t hire a new facultymember just to come in andmoderate the club,” Ms.Murdocca said. Junior John Stewart, who isone of the students trying tostart the Ultimate Frisbee Club,said the club would “teach theMolloy community the sport andprovide competitions for stu-dents throughout the year. It’sa very fun sport that deserves alarger audience. We were ableto collect over 110 signaturesfrom students across all years.” However, Ms. Murdocca ex-plained that finding the timeand a space large enough forStewart’s club to play the gamewould be very difficult due to thefact that Molloy’s sports teamsuse the baseball field, track, andthe two gyms every day afterschool. Junior Maria Kasper believes

started filling out the CommonApp last week but she hasn’tgotten very far due to her prac-tice schedule and the extra workshe has done to improve herSAT scores. The college essay is prevent-ing a lot of seniors from complet-ing their Common App quickly. The challenge of explainingyourself in 650 words in a waythat separates you from thethousands of other kids whowant a spot in that university isintimidating. One of the major reasonsmany seniors are so stressed outis that they are applying to toomany schools. Molloy's College GuidanceCounselors advise seniors toapply to no more than sevenschools yet some will far exceedthat number. “I have 10-11 that I can’t seemto take off my list,” Mancusisaid. “The College Fair made meso much more stressed out andconfused on where I wanted togo that I probably added moreto my list that night.” Some seniors say that theywill apply to at least 10 schoolsso they can have the more op-tions. Then there is the parental fac-tor. “Some schools I’m applyingto only because they are close tohome and my parents want meto [apply to them],” Byrne said. College Guidance CounselorMrs. Christine Loo astonished

some seniors when she said theapplication process was harderback when she was in highschool. “When I applied to college, wehad to apply to every single col-lege separately," she said. "Myparents were immigrants anddidn't know about colleges in theU.S. or about the applicationprocess, so my siblings and I dida lot on our own.” Mrs. Loo said the college ap-plication process is most stress-ful for a senior who is “un-orga-nized and has difficulty meetingdeadlines. “A perfect example of this is westill have students who are ap-plying Early Action or EarlyDecision who have not matchedon Naviance yet," she said. "Wehave sent out emails and re-minders. We have asked themto come and see us. But they stillleave everything until the lastminute.” Mrs. Loo's advice for makingthe process as stress-free as pos-sible is to stay organized andmeet deadlines. She said seniors should feelfree to visit either her or Mr. TedMcGuinness if they feel con-fused. Meanwhile, Cepeda said, “I’mlooking forward to it being overand the stress being lifted off myshoulders. I will be able to reallystart enjoying senior year, knowwhere I’m going, and have myscholarships.”

that Germany isn’t representedamong Molloy’s cultural clubsand would like to see thatchanged. “I really love German culture:the food, language, music, danc-ing, and holiday traditions,” shesaid. “Obviously, I’m not theonly one. Just look at the popu-larity of the Steuben Day Pa-rade. I would say Germany isnot represented.” Ms. Murdocca said studentswho are considering starting aclub at Molloy should ask them-selves if the club they want tocreate is really worthy of beinga club, or if it’s something theycan easily just do at home or withfriends in the park.

more than the work that we hadto do to get into high school,"said senior Steven Cepeda. "Wereally have to push ourselves toget what we want.” Seniors are starting to realizethat they will not return toMolloy next September but in-stead have to find a new placeto call home for the next fouryears. “It’s all around us all day, ev-ery day," said senior TheresaMancusi. "It’s hard to escape thereality of college.” Senior Erica Byrne, captain ofthe girls’ varsity volleyball team,

Sattler semifinalist Senior Samantha Sattler wasthe only member of the Class of2014 to be named a semifinalistin the National Merit Scholar-ship Test based on her score onthe 2012 PSAT.

Stressed out seniors line up outside the College Guidance Office hoping tolessen the uncertainties inherent in the process of applying to colleges.(Photo by Joana Capistrano ‘14)

Continued from page 1 “Keep your eyes open becausethere are plenty of opportunitiesto make a difference.” he said.“You don’t have to be an NHSmember to help others.” Kraker said becoming a NHSmember allows “students allover the country to be a part ofsomething bigger than them-selves and their school. All NHSmembers are required to do ourfair share of service work.” Pizzella said of working withNHS this year, “It will be greatto see the positive impact thatour activities will have on otherpeople.” The NHS will do volunteerwork at Molloy throughout theschool year, starting with OpenHouse on Oct. 20. Here is the List of 2013-2014NHS Members:Chan Hee Anh; Julia Antignani; IrinaArias; Theresa Arcidiacono; FrancescaBello; Dhanesh Binda; ThomasBrinskelle; Amelia Byrne; GabrielCaamal; Joshua Cajas; MatthewCazilas; Steven Cepeda; Francisco Cid;Shemaia Cumberbatch; Christopher

Continued from page 1prestigious Catholic school witha strong educational program.” Raya Moshiri-Yazdi, fromOur Lady of Hope School, is car-rying on the family legacy by at-tending Molloy but she did notexpect to enjoy it so much. Herfirst months at Molloy havebeen “very exciting” and “like adream come true.” Molloy’s teachers and upperclass students have made a goodimpression on the Class of 2017. “Molloy reminds me of my el-ementary school,” said Annink.“It seems to have the same close-knit, family oriented atmo-sphere." Mohsin said, “I really like myteachers. They aren’t too nice ortoo strict. They really help ussucceed.” Arceo said, “The teachers aregreat. They aren't confusing andget the message of the lessonthrough very well." Luthartio was surprised thatthe teachers “are so friendly andwilling to help” and that theother frosh are “ accepting ofeach other” which allowed himto make friends with ease. Kalis Espinal, of MS 172 IrwinAltman Middle School, said"The upperclassmen are nice.Some of them are even friendswith me now. There's no froshhazing at all." Lauren O’Donohue said, "I

Frosh also complained aboutthe school uniforms, 30-minutelunch periods, having only fourminutes between classes, andthe layout of the school. And not all frosh feel truly

Davis Jr.; Darien Dey; Tiffany Dial;Matthew Dolan; Monica Duchnowski;Anthony Famighetti; Daniela Fazio;Emily Gabrielsen; Katherine Garcia;Sebastian Geraci; Samantha Grech;Georgios Gulino; Emily Hanna; CamillaHerbin; Emily Hernandez-Avila; Rob-ert Jankowski; Virgilio Jimenez;Edrean-Neil Kabigting; Almeet Kaur;Pardeep Kaur; Maryanna Kelly;Katherine Kilkenny; NicoleKorzeniecki; Jessica Kraker; John-Luigi Lagula; Michael Lamarca; EmilyLewis; Mariyanthie Linaris; JohnMancini; Albert Marin; Deanna Mayo;Christopher McGee; Felicia Mendoza;Louiza Molohides; Kristian Mosquito;Taylor Moss; Cyrus Mowdawalla; An-drew Muscarella; Emily Noblesala;Chinyere Okogeri; Daniel O’Reilly;Cristina Otano; Amanda Pape; LucyPeng; Shannon Pizzella; AnnaPoulakas; Elizabeth Prado; John PaulPucci; Emily Rabot; Jonelle Reyes;Juliana Rima; Bernadette Rooney;Michael Rossi; Reynerio Rubio; SeanRyan; Daniela Salazar; Andy Salim;Austin Samaroo; RoseAnn Sapia;Samantha Sattler; Abigail Singson;Matthew Spataro; Sarah Stiglianese;Patrycja Sulich; Evangeline Szpylka;Stephanie Tang; Allison Terranova;Jobin Thottam; Aerin Toskas; CarlutoToussaint; Danielle Vendome; VivianaVillalva; Katarina Vucetic; RebeccaWagner; Branden Warders; SarahYunus.

think my teachers are nice andchallenging." Moshiri-Yazdi said, “Theteachers are nice and committedand the majority of the upper-classmen are very helpful.” Zach Parial said, "I like thegreat environment." The frosh like Molloy’s extra-curricular activities, sports andthe Freshman Retreat. “What I like most is the trackteam,” said Mohsin. “When Ijoined, not only did I make somany friends, I learned that Iwas able to do so many thingsthat, at first, I thought I couldn’tdo. It made me stronger bothphysically and mentally.” But Molloy is not without itssurprises. “The things that surprised methe most were how many classeswe had per day and the six-daycycle,” said Donna Kim, from St.Kevin’s School. “I’m getting usedto it now.” Arceo said Molloy, “was a lotsmaller than expected, and itwas a lot easier to fit in than Ithought it would be.” However, all not is perfect. Mohsin doesn’t like the re-mote location of her locker. Lazzinnaro was surprised at“how difficult it is to get around.You have to push your waythrough everyone and then youcan end up on the completelywrong side of the building.”

settled in. "I'm still trying to ad-just, " Espinal said. Asked if he felt like a Stanner,Luthartio replied, “No, not yet.I am still trying to adjust, butI’m sure I’ll get there soon.”

Frosh lovin’ it despite AM’s crowded halls

Get costumes ready for danceBy Sargam Mehra '16 Get your costumes ready!Molloy's annual HalloweenDance, which is open only tofrosh and sophomores this year,will be held Wednesday Oct. 30

in the Cafeteria from 7 p.m. to10:30 p.m. Adding to the fun is the factthat there will be no classes heldfor students the following daydue to a faculty meeting.

Tickets are $5 and will be soldduring homeroom periods by theschool's new Spirit Leaders. Notickets will be sold at the door. “Costumes are not mandatory,but I’m hoping they will get inthe spirit and wear costumes,”said Student Activities DirectorMs. Liz Murdocca, who will bethere in costume herself. A costume contest judged bythe Spirit Leaders at the dancewill choose the funniest, thescariest and the most originalcostume worn by a frosh and asophomore. The fact that the dance will belimited to frosh and sophomoreswill prevent junior JaredLovelace, the Best Costume win-ner at the last two contests, fromdefending his title. This dance is the first spon-sored by the school's new SpiritCommittee but Ms.Murdocca isconfident it will do a good job. "Many of them have alreadyshown their determination andwork-ethic in helping me withthe Walk-a-thon and OpenHouse,” she said.

For the past several years, theHalloween Dance has been theonly school dance of the year butMs. Murdocca said the SpiritCommittee might sponsor an-other dance during Spirit Week. Sophomores who attended lastyear's dance are looking forwardto returning this year. "I loved last year’s dance; Iloved dancing will all my friendsand meeting new people,” sopho-more Mirtelle Mendoza said. “Iwore devil horns as my costume.Other students were so creativewith their costumes - I loved it!” Mendoza plans dress in match-ing costumes with her bestfriend at this year's dance. Elizabeth Mantilla, whodressed up as Louis Tomlinsonlast year, said what she likedmost about the dance was the DJmusic and the costumes. Ralphy Scarpitti, who did notcome in costume, liked the mu-sic, dancing, and hanging outwith his friends. "I thought the other costumeswere creative and some of themwere funny as well,” he said.

Sophomores Chris Autera and Niamh Girdusky show off their costumes atlast year’s Halloween Dance in the Cafeteria. The dance and costumecontest returns on Oct. 30. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla, ‘14)

90 Stanners in NHS

By Caroline Jaipaul '17 andJessica Khargi '17 Led by five first place finish-ers, Homeroom 1E was the teamchampion at Molloy’s annualFreshman Field Day on Sept.27, giving its homeroom teacher,Ms. Shannon Winters, her firstfield day victory. Kyle Hoffman won the boyssoccer shootout, Brandon Jacobswon the boys basketball knock-out, Elvir Hot won the footballthrow, Daniel Hoff won the boyslong jump, and Taylor Ilishaev-Kurs won the girls 300 metersto lead 1E to a nine point vic-tory over runner-up 1B. “I always tell my homeroomon the first day of school thatwe’re going to win FreshmanField Day but you can’t reallybe sure!” said Ms. Winters,whose homeroom finished sec-ond last year. “I think myhomeroom knew what theirstrengths were and we used thatto our advantage.” Ms. Winters, who said she was

“hopeful” that 1E would win,said, “I just wanted everyone totry hard and have fun.” Ms. Winters remarked that “itwas funny” that 1E won because,despite the inexhaustible effortsof Ms. Amanda Cardone to fireup the students, 1E was the qui-etest homeroom in the JackCurran Gym. Carolina Jaime of 1E said shethought her homeroom won be-cause, “Everyone tried their bestand that was all that mattered.Because we tried our best andgave it all we had, I think wehad a good shot at winning.” 1E’s victory was announced atthe frosh Walk-a-thon assemblyon Oct. 1. “We were all very excited andhappy, because we really didn’tthink we were going to have alot of points,” Jaime said. Margarita Kilpatrick, of 1F,who won the girls basketballknockout, said she had fun atField Day. Her favorite event towatch was the boys high jump

because “it was funny.” Francesca LaPinta, also of 1F,competed in two events, winningthe girls 800 meters and finish-ing third in the girls soccershootout. She said she had a lot of funbecause “you got to competeagainst and get to know kids inthe same grade.” Her favorite event to watchwas “the basketball knockout be-cause it was fast paced and keptyou on the edge of your seat.” Marisol Martin, of 1G, said shemost enjoyed watching the highjump, an event that had almostall the frosh in the gym on theirfeet when 1F’s ChristianLanzetta tried to jump higherthan five feet. Sebastian Baksh, of 1A, saidhis only complaint was havingto run between two events so hewouldn't miss one. Here are the results from the2013 Freshman Field Day: Team scores: 1. 1E, 49 points; 2.1B, 40; 3. (tie) 1J and 1C, 37; 5. 1L, 36;6. (tie) 1A and 1F, 35; 8. 1K, 34; 9. 1H,30; 10. 1G,25; 11. 1D, 20. Chess: 1. Kevin Marry, 1G; 2. Mat-thew Sirju, 1K; 3. Jesse Liu, 1F; 4. TylerMendoza, 1G; 5. Mike Avaricio, 1A. History: 1. Anne-Marie Romain,Enzo Persic, Jonathan Roemer, 1J; 2.Paul Arango, Kristen Allen, KimberleyAlvarez, 1A; 3. Christopher Triana,Joshua Suknanan, Michael Spedalle,1K; 4. Jenelle DeCosta, Aaron Day,Michael Civita, 1C; 5. Amber Mohsin,Rohit Minhas, Alyssa Motilal, 1G. Spoon Relay: 1. Taylor Fernandez,Clarissa Gosine, 1D; 2. Kalis Espinal,Camille Estefani, 1D; 3. Vivian Chen,Nicole Chresomales, 1C; 4. SarikaDasraj, Kealsey Duran, 1C; 5. DianaMieles, Kiah Moe, 1G. Potato sack relay: 1. Katherine VanRiper, Amanda Verderber, 1L; 2. Tho-mas Schmuck, Daniel Smith, 1K; 3.Jacqueline Orgera, Gabriell Peperone,, 1H; 4. Mary Brady, Ava Brandt, 1B;5. Juliana Fazio, Sarah Gallagher, 1D. Boys soccer shootout: 1. KyleHoffman, 1E; 2. Alfred Amadio, 1A; 3.Jacob Musovic, 1H; 4. Tim Deliyannis,1C; 5. Nick Koowan, 1F. Girls soccer shootout: 1. KellySantiago, 1K; 2. Sinead Brady, 1B; 3.Francesa Lapinta, 1F; 4. Patricia Ryan1J; 5. Ashley Villanueva, 1L.

Boys basketball knockout: 1.Brandon Jacobs, 1E; 2. MatthewAsenjo, 1A; 3. Daniel Modzelewski, 1G;4. Zachary MacDonnell, 1F; 5. MarcusRetegues, 1J. Girls basketball knockout: 1.Margarita Kilpatrick, 1F; 2. GabriellaDeVito, 1C; 3. Nora Zdonowski, 1L; 4.Nicole Russo, 1J; 5. Regina Kasper, 1E. Football throw: 1. Elvir Hot, 1E;2. Jack O'Connor, 1H; 3. JustinCrawford, 1C; 4. Robert Ayroso, 1A; 5.Robert Matos, 1G. Softball throw: 1. Cierra Word, 1L;2. Stephanie Lechki, 1F; 3. GiannaPetraglio, 1J; 4. Victoria Bruno, 1B; 5.Elena Rossi, 1J. Boys shot: 1. Andrew Meshaj, 1G;2. Anthony Cutrone, 1C; 3. DanielAquino, 1A; 4. Colin Williams, 1L;Daniel Vascones, 1L. Girls shot: 1. Shauna D'Arcy, 1C;2. Jessica Hickey, 1E; 3. Bailey Weiss,1L; 4. Atiyya Ally, 1A; 5. SamanthaPersaud, 1J. Boys high jump: 1. ChristianLanzetta, 1F; 2. Matthew Murawski,1H; 3. Marcos Alvarez, 1A; 4. DanielHoff, 1E; 5. Brendan Barberides, 1A. Boys long jump: 1. Daniel Hoff, 1E;2. Nicholas Saladino, 1J; 3. JackTurner, 1K; 4. Brendan Barberides, 1A;5. Justin McWilliams, 1G. Girls long jump: 1. Victoria Nizzo,1H; 2. Karla Matibag, 1G; 3. MariaDePalma, 1C; 4. Anna Wilson, 1L; 5.Carolina Jaime, 1E. Boys 100: 1. Steven Bongiovanni,1B; 2. Steven Palacios, 1H; 3. GabrielTineo, 1K; 4. Liam Coen, 1C; 5.Alexander Eastwood, 1D. Girls 100: 1. Jenna Piller, 1J; 2.Patricia Cerri-Droz, 1B; 3. RebeccaRubinos, 1J; 4. Soleil Forero, 1D; 5.Rose Cerniglia, 1B. Boys 200: Joseph Cardinale, 1B; 2.John Herring, 1E; 3. Marcus Retegues,1J; 4. Marcin Swierbutowski, 1K; 5.Vincent Ciulla, 1C. Girls 200: 1. Anjalie Baijoo, 1A; 2.Melanie Coleman, 1C; 3. CarmenKujawska, 1F; 4. Jenna Ventura, 1L;5. Gabrielle Santos, 1K. Boys 300: 1.Arthur Ceniza, 1B; 2.Andre Echeandia, 1D; 3. RubenJimenez, 1E; 4. Emmett Galligan, 1D;5. Kevin Kelly, 1F. Girls 330: 1. Taylor Ilishaev-Kurs,1E; 2. Cassandra Renart, 1J; 3. AshlingWhelan, 1L; 4. Katelyn O'Hara, 1H; 5.Elaina Nicolich, 1H. Boys 800: 1. Thomas Bartnikowski,1B; 2. Kyle Hoffman, 1E; 3. MarkNovello, 1H; 4. Angelo Tsoulos, 1K. Girls 800: 1. Francesca Lapinta, 1F;2. Amanda Verderber, 1L.

1E wins at Freshman Field Day

John Herring of 1E leads the pack around the turn in the boys 200-meterrun during Freshman Field Day on Sept. 25. Herring finished second in hisrace but 1E took the team title. (Photo by Shoma Nath ‘16)

By Michael LaBella ‘17 The fact that Molloy doesn’tfield a frosh team makes it achallenge for any incomingbaseball player to make the Jun-ior Varsity team because he hasto compete with both sopho-mores and his fellow ninth grad-ers for a place on the roster. Over half the players whotried out were cut at the end ofthe JV team’s fall tryouts. “It was disappointing.” saidfrosh Tristan Espada, who got

cut. “But there’s a full year toimprove and work on my gamebefore next year’s tryouts.” Coach Mr. Chris DeSarno saidthat each year, “usually, I try totake 12 -15 freshmen.” Robert Berrios was one of thefrosh who made the team on hisfirst attempt. “Compared to all the travelteams I’ve played on, this wasthe hardest team to try out for,”he said. Mr. DeSarno said the fall base-

ball season, which lasts sixweeks and consists of seven toeight scrimmages, is used to seehow the players perform underpressure in game situations. “Molloy baseball players arevery committed and sacrifice alot of time to play here,” said Mr.DeSarno. The JV team was 3-1 in theirfirst four fall scrimmages withvictories coming over McClancy,Xavieran and Salesian. The spring season begins in

March and continues throughlate May and, as usual, Molloyis looking to have another cham-pionship season. “The goal every year is to de-velop our players so they areready to play varsity and to com-pete for a city championship,”Mr. DeSarno said. “Winning acity championship is difficultdue to the many successful pro-grams throughout the city. Wehave had some success recently,winning in 2009 and 2012.”

Frosh: making JV squad is hard