7/31/2019 12 14 11 Mountaineer

1/1

THE EPHRATA REVIEW WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011 A23

733-3355401 N. Reading Road, Ephrata

Delivery or Carry Out

FREE Small Cheese PizzaMonday, December 19 Pickup Only

Additional Small Pizzas $3.00with coupon only

Quicker thanyou can say"Santa Claus!"

Irena Riley: Cosmo Girl

The Catcher in the Rye: a great read thats a great introduction intothe realm of classic books.

By Sophia Fast

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Whodunit at Ephrata

byDeb Martin

A&E Editor

Get Caught on Catcher

Students participating in the CSI: Ephrata investigation reviewevidence to catch the culprit.

by Aspen Brennen

Staff Writer

Photos by Rodney Myers

Channeling a bit of Marilyn Monroe, Irena lavishes the camera withher amiable condence.

If you really want to hear aboutit, the rst thing youll probably wantto know is where I was born, and whatmy lousy childhood was like, andhow my parents were occupied andall before they had mebut I dontfeel like going into it, if you want toknow the truth. You may or maynot recognize this as the very rstline of J.D. Salingers The Catcherin the Rye. From that line forward, Iwas hooked on the raw honesty andsimple-yet-captivating writing stylethat Catcheroffers.

You may also recognize TheCatcher in the Ryebecause of the con-troversy that goes hand-in-hand withthe title. Attacks on the book startedin the 1950s for the many profanities

that the protagonist uses on just aboutevery page. In the 1960s, a schoolteacher was red for assigning theclass Catcher. According to an onlinearticle, between 1961 and 1982,TheCatcher in the Ryewas the most cen-sored book in high schools and librar-ies in the United States. This did notstop people from reading it, however.It was immensely popular during thattime and continues to be revered as aclassic work of literature today.

Catcher is narrated by HoldenCauleld, an adolescent with a wholelot to say concerning just abouteverything. Holden is essentially astereotypical teenager, even thoughthe novel takes place in 1949. Accord-ing to Catcher, teenagers have notchanged all that much in the courseof sixty years. Holden makes baddecisions, complains, and certainlycurses often enough to be consid-ered just another stupid kid by older

people, yet Salinger never appears

as if he is trying too hard to makeHolden a real-life teen like manyadult authors do. Everything Holdensays feels as if a teen would reallysay it, and what he says reveals a lotabout him as a character, even if itsunintentional. That includes all ofthe profanity as well. Just as MarkTwain included offensive languagein his novels because thats howpeople actually spoke in the Southat that time, Salinger uses profanityto tell it like it is in the mind of ateenage boy.

The novel begins as Holden isleaving his dull preparatory schoolfrom which he has recently beenexpelled. He heads out to New YorkCity for some fun before he has togo home to his parents and admit tothem that he has been kicked out ofyet another school. While there hemakes decisions that are not neces-

sarily admirable just because hefeels like it, all the while sharing hisopinion on everything and anything.

Sometimes Holden lets thereader in on his softer side, and Iparticularly enjoyed getting underHoldens rough surface. The readernds that he truly loves his familyeven though he isnt the type toexpress affection often. When hedoes, he puts special emphasis onhis siblings. The love he has forhis deceased brother and his littlesister back home shows effortlesslythrough his fond words for them.

Although the plot is simple, Ifound myself immediately drawn inby Holdens adventures and wantedto read on after the conclusion ofevery chapter. If you have troublefinding a classic novel that youactually enjoy reading and want toread all about Holdens adventuresin New York, I would recommend

The Catcher in the Rye.

Irena Riley, through her outgo-ingness and cheer, has taken on herplace as vanguar d of the Ephrat aSpirit. Not only is she involved in amultitude of activities and receivingadmirable grades in her classes, butIrena also has an incredible passionand a realness about her that cannotbe duplicat ed.

I keep it 100, she boasted.Meaning that she tells things

how they are without sugarcoatinganything. This seniors big personal-ity lls the schools classrooms andhallways, and anyone who has hada class with her can attest to her in-fectious laugh and outspokenness.

However, anyone who has nothad the privilege of sharing a classwith Irena has probably seen herpart ici pat ing in scho ol act ivi tie sand at sporting events. This NewYork City native is not only a mem-ber of the c oncert choir, but al so amember of the selective Camerataand County Chorus groups. Irenais a leading member of Tri-M, themusical honor society, and was inthe marching band for one year.Riley also enjoys playing the pianoin her free time.

Along with her many musicalendeavors, Irena stands out as aschool leader through her role assenior class secretary, a position thatrequires time and energy as her posi-tion entails the planning of severalsenior activities, such as prom andgraduation.

Rileys talents are diverse, evi-denced by the fact that she is not

only musical and a school leader,but also a star in sports.

All four years of her high schoolcareer, Irena has played on the eldhockey team, this year winning theMost Determined Award and becom-ing an LL League All-AcademicAll-Star. For her junior and senioryears she has, and will again, par-ticipate in winter and spring track,lling her afternoons and eveningswith running in all kinds of weather.

Irena is incredibly accomplishedacademically. Her favorite classesthroughout high school have beenin the German and math programs.Irena has enrolled in AP German5 and the German National HonorSociety, as well as AP Calculus andAP Statistics.

As for her future plans, Irena isset on going to college to major in

Pre-Med, go on to medical school,and eventually become a cardiovas-cular surgeon.

One day, she hopes to work inimpoverished countries for peoplewho cannot afford medical atten-tion. Irena cites her mom as a majorinspiration.

Shes really strong, she speaksher mind, and she constantly encour-ages me to strive for excellence,she said.

There are countless things thatcould be mentioned about Irena,like the fact that she is tri-lingual(she speaks English, German, andFrench-Creole), or that she has apet chicke n named Coco Chanel .But there is one fact that cannot beoverlooked: Irenas dedication, de-termination, compassion, and jovial-ity have left a denite impression onEphrata High School, and she willundoubtedly continue to brighten

up the lives of everyone she meetsin the future.

Photo by Karly Soldner

Heres what we know: Mrs.Holst is dead, we have hair from her

body, f ootprint and white powdersamples from the crime scene, and acryptic note left in the ofce. Thereare 29 suspects.

What if your favorite TV crimeshow came to our humble highschool? Well guess what, it did-atleast for the students of HonorsChemistry 2.

"I liked the fact that we relatedthe lab work to real life. It was cool

being able to do these invest iga-tions in the lab with other students.It was also fun iterrogating theteachers. My favorite had to have

been Joel Bisc hoff," says seni orIrena Riley with a smile.

Just about three weeks ago,Mrs. Frybergers two HonorsChemistry 2 classes conductedexperiments, interrogated teachersuspects, and worked with theirinvestigative teams to discover thetrue identity of the murderer andhis/her accomplice.

The melt stations that the stu-dents used to determine the melting

points o f the po wder sam ples the yobtained from the suspects was

funded by Venture Grant. Mrs. Fry-berger recieve d th e gr ant from theEphrata Area Educa tion Foundation.

In addition to the white powdersamples, the student investigatorsneeded to measure the two footprintsfrom the crime scene to compare withthe foot sizes of the suspects.

It was cool that we could use ex-pensive brand-name equipment to usein our experiments said Kevin Trinh.

Although not as accurate as thepowder analysis, hair comparisonsalso helped to narrow down the suspectlist. Students used new microscopes tolook at the individual hairs to compareminute aspects of the hair.

Finally, students compared writingsamples from the suspected teacherswith the note left in the ofce.

After a week of intense investi-gative work, each team was able toidentify Mrs. Graybill as the murdererand Mr. Clair as her accomplice.

My favorite part of the CSI proj-ect was trying to identify the suspectssaid Andrew Putt.

CSI Ephrata has been a success,both for the students as investigatorsand for the students as Chemistrystudents.

For people looking for a changefrom the regular science classes atEphrata High, Honors Chemistry 2 isone that will.

Powderpuff 2011On November 9th, the 2011

Seniors against Juniors Powderpuffgame was played at t he War Memo-rial Field. The game started at 7:00pm and consi sted of two twen tyminute halves.

The Senior team was underneaththe coaching of Coach Sheppardand Coach Ulrich. The Junior teamwas coached by Coach Fillmore.The night opened with Senior StephBebko kicking off to the Juniors.

The Seniors started off strong rightaway with the rst touchdown scoredby Seni or Rach el Sta uffer. Thegame didnt stop there however; it

continued to be an exciting game dueto the determination on both sides ofeither team.

The Seniors second touchdownof the game was scored by t he SeniorOlivia Pfautz. The game wasnt overfor the Juniors just yet; they wantedto let the Seniors know that they werestill favor of Seniors 24-6. In the lastplay of the night there was a 10 yardpenalty against the Senior defense,and Junior Jordan Crills took the balldown the eld to score the Juniorssecond touchdown of the evening.

Both teams were in it to win itbut only one team could come out ontop, and the 2011 Powderpuff win-ners were the Seniors with a scoreof 24-12.

byIrena Riley

Staff Writer

Photos by Karly Soldner