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Watchdogthe March 8, 2013

Vol. 13, Issue 6

Westfield High School, Chantilly Va. 20151 >> www.westfieldstudentmedia.com/watchdog

Inside the Issue

News

A&E

Sports

Online

OpinionEditors bid their

farewell>> Page 6

Spanish Honor Society’s Annual Spanish Coffee House draws

audience>> Page 2

Justin Timberlake makes his musical

comeback>> Page 13

Mother’s passing inspires athlete’s

performance>> Page 14

Board debates soda removal

Ryan McElveen, At-Large member of the Fair-fax County School Board, proposed a movement to remove all soda from the vending machines in schools and replace them with healthier alternatives for students to purchase.

“The soda issue has been part of a broader discussion the School Board has been engaged in regarding im-proving the healthy options in our vending program and in our cafeteria. As one of the largest counties in the country, Fairfax should also be substituting sodas for something healthier,” McElveen said.

The idea continues to re-ceive support from faculty within schools.

“Soda machines shouldn’t be in here. 25 percent of all kids in the country consume four so-das a day, which is empty calories. They add to the childhood obesity epidem-ic in the country and in my opinion it’s just poison, and that includes the diet so-das,” Bill Blank, Health and

Pushing buttons>> Selecting a Diet Coke, Julia Coleman, 9, orders a drink from the machine. Ryan McElveen, a member of the school board, came up with the idea to remove sodas from schools and caused debate over eliminating unhealthy op-tions for students at school. Photo by Madie Mason

Physical Education teacher, said.

Removing the soda machines may not actu-ally prevent students from drinking soda throughout the school day.

“If there’s no soda ma-chine in the school, people will just bring their own so it serves no purpose to re-move them from the vend-ing machines,” Shannon Walker, 11, said.

Although it may not be the healthiest option, soda often gets students through the day.

“I think it’s a bad idea, because I like soda and it would be better if they didn’t take them out be-cause I like to drink it dur-ing the school day,” David Johnson, 9, said.

The School Board is still unsure of when this idea could go into effect and members are still in the process of deciding wheth-er or not it would be benefi-cial when students can still buy soda at a number of places other than the vend-ing machines.

“If they’re going to take soda out of vending ma-chines then they need to take it out of the concession

stand, the football stadium and not allow it anywhere on school grounds either,” Amy Hubal, FCPS Opera-tions Coordinator in Food and Nutrition Services, said.

There are varying opin-

Hall shaves head to help cure childhood cancerEmily Dzubak>>Staff Writer

Annie Hall, 12, shaved off all of her hair for St. Bal-drick’s, a childhood cancer charity funding research to help find cures for chil-dren with cancer. Partici-pants that are sponsored by family, friends and anyone else willing to donate, like Hall, shave their heads for children who typically lose their hair during cancer

treatments. Hall, too, decided

to shave her head be-cause she wanted to raise money to find a cure for cancer.

“Shaving my head is something that I thought about for a while. I was going to do it last year ,but I hadn’t convinced myself enough to do it. Then this year a good family friend of mine found out that he had cancer, so I decided that it was time to go ahead and do it,” Hall said.

Hall could not do-nate her hair because it has been dyed too many times and wasn’t long enough. However, she

Proud to be bald>> Smiling, Annie Hall, 12, spends time with her friends in the band room, with her newly shaven head. Hall shaved her head to raise money for St. Baldrick’s. Photo by Kiki Laux

still raised as much money as possible to donate to the foundation.

“My first goal was $500, which I just passed the weekend before my shave. After that goal I wanted to get up to at least $600. I ended up raising a total of $700,” Hall said.

All of the money goes towards the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. In 2012, the organization raised a total of $33,529,599.

“I think that raising money is important be-cause the research for a cure and better treatments is ex-

pensive and so any amount of money going toward that is going to help,” Hall said.

Hall had to work up the courage to shave her head, even though it was going toward a cause she believed in.

“When I first started planning it about two months ago, I was really excited to just shave my head. Then in the three weeks leading up to it, I started getting really ner-vous that I wouldn’t raise enough money and shaving my head in general. That’s when I started thinking

that I couldn’t go back and I had to do it,” Hall said.

Hall shaved her head on March 2 in the comfort of her own home along with a few close friends and fam-ily members instead of at an event.

“It takes a lot of plan-ning to get a whole event together, and this is the first time I’ve done it. I plan to do it again in the future so maybe next time I can put something together,” Hall said.

A close friend of Hall, Marika Smith, 12, helped her shave her head and was there for emotional sup-port.

“It’s always really cool to see your friends do stuff like that, especially for such a good cause,” Smith said.

Before shaving her head, Smith had to cut Hall’s hair as short as possible so the razor could shave it.

“I was a little bit nervous beforehand but mainly ex-cited. As it was happen-ing I wasn’t nervous until she made the first cut and I knew there wasn’t any stop-ping and we had to keep go-ing,” Hall said.

Even though she was

nervous about what the outcome was going to be, Hall is glad she decided to do it and enjoyed the out-come.

“When she started shav-ing my head, I wasn’t wor-ried at all. When it was done I was happy with the way I looked and I’m so glad I went through with it,” Hall said.

The majority of the do-nators that participate in St. Baldrick’s are males who just raise money and don’t donate their hair because it is not long enough.

“There are guys that have really short hair al-ready so shaving their head isn’t as big of a deal. Most girls don’t have buzz cuts or shaved heads so it’s a little more unusual for girls to participate,” Hall said.

Though many girls may have felt more attached to their hair, Hall felt it was not going to be too hard to be without it.

“Other people thought that it was a big deal that I wouldn’t have hair but I wasn’t that attached to my hair and I have always thought that the cause is more important,” Hall said.

ions on whether or not the idea should be implement-ed in the schools and FCPS continues to work on get-ting input from the public to make the decision final.

“We will definitely seek student and faculty opinion

before we take any action. I will continue to work on the issue individually, reach out to the community and get answers to many of the logistical questions before proceeding,” McElveen said.

Natalie Sharpe & Brigid Hamilton

>>Copy Editors

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Third time’s a charm for Spanish Coffee House event

or history. The last perfor-mance was by two mem-bers of the Latino Dance Club who ended the event with a mixtape dance of a combination of Bachata, Reggaeton, Salsa and Pop. The dancers brought up members from the audi-

Fatima Rivera>>Staff Writer

Spanish Honor Society hosted their third annual Spanish Coffeehouse. The society raised about $300 dollars in the end, which will provide for a scholar-ship that can help cover the cost of a member’s book or supplies in college.

“The money earned will be scholarships for the Spanish Honor Society members, they have to be used for college and we will send the money directly to the colleges,” Angela Thomas, Spanish honor society sponsor said.

The society took the cof-feehouse idea from the Cal-liope Magazine, but decid-ed to make it into a Spanish version.

“The point of it is to pay tribute to the Hispanic cul-ture by playing music and songs in Spanish and get respect from students to appreciate Spanish” Katie Manning, 12, said.

The event had food do-nations from places like

Papa Murphy’s, Panera and Chipotle. Students also brought in homemade ap-petizers and desserts.

“We posted sign up sheets around school and anyone could sign up as long as their performance was in Spanish. Members of

Spanish Honor Society got points for performing and bringing food,” Manning said.

Students recited piec-es of poetry, sang songs, rapped and performed skits and dances all involving the Spanish language, music

Moving to the beat>> (Left) Jamilia Vizcaino,12, ends the event with a choreographed dance. Tasty snacking>> (Right) Students and family members stand in line to get a taste of the food students prepared for the event as well as food catered by several restau-rants. Photos by Sandy Sparace

ence at the end of their performance and had them follow their lead during a Latin style dance.

“People had a lot of fun watching and it was cool to see students in another light by playing their guitars and acting and showcasing their

talents, cause you don’t see them like that during the school day. It was fun cel-ebrating and promoting the Spanish culture and making people more aware of it,” Chelsea Granados, 12, Spanish Honor Society President, said.

Society requirements affect membership

“I think some requirements scare

people away.”

Connor McNulty, 11

Bark it up

How do you think Honor

Society requirements affect people

applying?

“It makes people feel dumb because they

don’t get in.”

Randy Lewis, 12

Vol. 13, Issue 6

Students in honor soci-eties were surprised to find changes in their member-ship requirements, becom-ing more rigorous. As a result, membership has de-clined.

“As an officer I am not even allowed to be in the decision process. But I know that the sponsors have tightened up the re-quirements,” Alexis Lam-bert, 12, President of Na-tional Honor Society, NHS, said.

These changes have forced sponsors to deny more people acceptance.

“The sponsors are defi-nitely denying more peo-ple, but I know that they are telling them why they got denied,” Lambert said.

Spanish Honor Society has also raised their re-quired amount of service points from 15 to 20.

“These changes have af-fected the members. Now

people are participating more because they under-stand it is harder to stay and be in it,” Chelsea Grana-dos, 12, President of Span-ish Honor Society, said.

Although requirements have been made stricter, there are many benefits of being in any particular honor society.

“Having an honor soci-ety on a college application always looks nice. I have learned a lot about delegat-ing my responsibilities and have improved my orga-nization skills,” Granados said.

This year, however, English Honor Society has made their requirements easier.

A drastic change has been made to the GPA re-quirement.

“In past years, you had to have at least one AP class and an unweighted 3.5 GPA. This year we made it a lot easier and changed it to a 3.5 weighted GPA,” Katelyn Reimer, 12, Presi-

dent of English Honor Society, said.

The revisions in the re-quirements to be in Na-tional Honor Society have caused speculation and changed the opinions of previous NHS applicants.

“I didn’t even bother re-applying this year. I think that the requirements should be the same for all high school because it is National Honor Society. I have friends at Chantilly who have gotten into NHS under easier circumstanc-es,” Reimer said.

All of the changes, how-ever, have left the members who are willing to sacrifice their time to tutor and help out the community out.

“We like to see com-mitment to service. It is a difficult position when the information does not meet National Honor Society standards. We can vouch for the student’s good char-acter,” Jennifer Campbell, Cosponsor of National Honor Society, said.

Mia Newkirk>> Staff Writer

Phone: 703-830-4953 alwaysfuncasinos.com

Always Fun Casinos is the premiere casino theme party company in the

Mid-Atlantic region. Great for graduation parties!

*20% discount for all Westfield High School Graduation Parties (code: whs2013)

3 Vol.13, Issue 6 News The Watchdog

As a school located in the middle of commercial and industrial zones, all stu-dents have the opportunity to ride the bus. For juniors and seniors who drive to school, navigating the school parking lot provides a challenge sometimes leading to accidents, especially in inclement weather.

Chelsea Granados, 12, was involved in a fender-bender in the parking lot last year and knows how hazardous it can be.

“In the morning everyone is rushing to get to school, God only knows why and af-ter school everyone is rushing to beat the buses. People pass Officer Muñoz so fast, I always think they’re going to run him over when he comes out to stop the traffic at the end of the day,” Granados said.

Lou Muñoz, Student Resource Officer, records new accidents every day and notes the most common accidents seen in the school parking lot involving student driv-ers.

“We usually deal with kids who get into fender-benders when they’re pulling into a parking space or backing out. Kids will follow other cars too closely and hit each other. That happens a lot when the weather is bad because students drive as if condi-tions are perfect and they don’t account for the extra time you need to stop when the roads are slippery,” Muñoz said.

A whiteboard in Muñoz’s office has a tally of the number of different kinds of ac-cidents involving student drivers that have occurred over the month.

“We try to keep track of the accidents. This year has been pretty good, probably because more people are taking the bus. Eight years ago when I first started at West-field, the parking lot was so crowded that we had to rent spaces in Cub Run for stu-dents to park in,” Muñoz said.

Rushing to get to class on time, many students accidentally park in the wrong spaces.

“Sometimes we have teachers come in and say that a student parked in their space. We tell kids to park in the crossover when someone parks in their spot, but a lot of the time they just park in someone else’s spot. It’s an almost daily occurrence,” Muñoz said.

Jim Bour, Safety and Security Officer, has noticed another problem with student drivers.

“It changes over the years, but currently our main problem is speeding. Sometimes I take a survey when I’m reissuing parking permits and not a lot of people know that the speed limit in the parking lot is 10 miles per hour,” Bour said.

The security staff is working hard to combat these problems by being present and visible in the parking lots, especially during high-volume times like the begin-ning and end of the day.

“We try to be visible, so people aren’t as inclined to speed. We want to make sure that people stop where they should be stop-ping because there’s always more speeding if people just slow down for stop signs,” Bour said.

More accidents occur when inclement

weather occurs. While FCPS is in charge of plowing roads and parking lots, the student parking lot was neglected and became haz-ardous, resulting in more accidents than are normally seen.

“When it snows people don’t really know how to drive in it and they freak out,” Patrick Anderson, 12, said.

Mitch McDonald, 11, drives to school, but prefers to take the bus in inclement weather.

“On the day we had the two-hour de-lay, my parents had me take the bus, but I wanted to because I don’t trust other stu-dent drivers in the snow,” McDonald said.

There have been times when the lines for parking spots remained covered with snow or ice in the morning, causing even more morning difficulties.

“I saw people get out their car scrapers to help draw lines in the parking lot for other people,” Granados said.

Maddie Gehle, 11, crashed in the school parking lot on the January two-hour delay.

“My brakes didn’t work because of the ice that was in the parking lot and I crashed into another car. Casualties included my pride and my dignity,” Gehle said.

In regards of what student drivers can do to help ensure safety and reduce acci-dents, Bour strongly urges students to use caution.

“Don’t be in a rush. You don’t want to hurt someone for the extra minute you gain by speeding. It’s a lot easier to explain to a teacher why you were a few minutes late than to explain why you hurt someone because you were running late,” Bour said.

“Leaving the parking lot after school when everyone is trying

to get out.”

“When you pull up to the intersection and you aren’t

sure if the light is going to turn yellow so you don’t know if you

should go.”

Bark it upWhat is your least favorite

part about driving to school?

Jenna Welch, 12

Rushing student drivers make parking lot dangerous

Photos by Kiki Laux

Anna McCluskey, 11

Laurel Spiegelthal >> Staff Writer

4 Vol. 13, Issue 6 News The Watchdog

Westfield Student Media

BULLDOG PATRONSThe Class of 2011Benjamin & Mary Ann CoxChantilly, Va.John & Wanda HeimCentreville, Va. Mary Kay & Bill LauxChantilly, Va.Larry O’Roark Chantilly, Va.Andrew J. Shedlock IIIHerndon, Va.Bob & Karen StantonCentreville, Va.

GOLD PATRONS Sue & Leon BlondinChantilly, Va. Onalee J. DalabaFranklin, Pa.Valentin GarciaChantilly, Va.Jodi H. KingHerndon, Va.Chuck & Mary MasonOak Hill, Va.David & Mary SchultzCreston, OhioMichelle SmithgallCentreville, Va. Beth Ann TelfordCamp Hill, Pa.

SILVER PATRONSJoAnne CreedonGainesville, Va.Jeanne GarantArlington, Va.Sherron and Donald GreulichAnnapolis, Md. George & Karen NewkirkMedina, Ohio Tony & Micheline RiggioWatersound, Fla.

Peggy SanderRehoboth Beach, Del.Penny Sander & Rufus SederArlington, Mass. Thomas & Barbara SeaseSurprise, Ariz.

BRONZE PATRONSAlmaz BakitChula Vista, Calif.Helen L. BradyLedgewood, N.J. Don M. ChristensenSalt Lake City, UtahBrian CunninghamFairfax, Va.Mike & Renay GalatiCentreville, Va.Janet HoneckerThe Village, Fla.Cathy Kelly Vero Beach, Fla.The Neun FamilyCentreville, Va.Brad O’BrienAsburn, Va.Leo & Peggy O’BrienCentreville, Va. Abby & Chase Orme Vero Beach, Fla.Rock & Cindy RobertsCentreville, Va. Graham & Ann SharpeChantilly, Va.Chip SmithBurke, Va.

BLACK PATRONSJacqueline BloxamAlexandria, Va. Margaret Blondin Central Square, N.Y.Monica CaseyNokesville, Va.Patsy CoxAliquippa, Pa.

Mell CunninghamClifton, Va.Celia DeBiaseHolly Springs, N.C.The Farrington FamilyCollegeville, Pa.Carl FriedmanFairfax, Va.Craig GarantSouth Riding, Va.Ted GhebremichaelWake Forest, N.C. Frank J. GiancolaCentreville, Va.Mikki GibsonLakeland, Tenn.John and Lisa HartCentreville, Va. Michaelene & Steven HitafferChantilly, Va.Bob & Kate JohnsonBurke, Va. Melva B. JonesLake Wylie, S.C.Richard T. KaplarHerndon, Va.Madeline KellyVero Beach, Fla. Betty KlingelCentreville, Va.Mr. & Mrs. Robert LauxForestport, N.Y.Chris and Miss LynLakewood, OhioJim & Linda McGrawCentreville, Va.Ed & Anne MorrisSpringfield, Va. Cathy NelsonHerndon, Va.Taeho NohChantilly, Va. Susan NyeCentreville, Va.Tammy PerkinsAuburn, N.Y.

Kellan PetersonOak Hill, Va.Marcia PryorFlat Rock, N.C.Darielle RudermanDurham, N.C.Judith RudermanDurham, N.C.Cynthia ScanlonCentreville, Va.Daniel TaggertyRochester, N.Y.

FRIENDS OF WSMMary BaumannLeornardtown, Md.Amelia BradshawCentreville, Va.Linda BradshawCentreville, Va.Mindy Conway Centreville, Va.Bernadette Cornell Auburn, N.Y. Richard CornellAuburn, N.Y.Lesley Dawson Centreville, Va.Norma DzubakFullerton, Calif.James Farrington Auburn, N.Y.Margaret FarringtonAuburn, N.Y.The Hartley FamilyCentreville, Va.Amy KempfLouisville, Ky.Diane Kosteknik Medford, N.J.Paul & Sue Moskowitz Oak Hill, Va.Jim and Pat TalbotAuburn, N.Y.Vince & Liz Trombetta Monaca, Pa.Ken & Sue Utterback Centreville, Va.

After being chosen to perform in the 2014 Rose Bowl Parade, the band has looked for creative ways to fund the trip all the way to Pasadena, Calif.

“We’ve been accepted to the Rose Bowl, and so we need to raise a minimum of $200,000,” Steve Panoff, band director, said.

The Band Bingo Night was a fundraiser that was held to help with financing the band’s trip to the Rose Bowl. Many families gath-ered together to raise mon-ey for the band and have a good time while playing bingo and winning raffle prizes.

“I think it was a good opportunity for students of all ages and adults to come together on a Friday night to spend time together,” Sa-vannah Tamariz, 9, said.

Many people came to enjoy activities including raffles with prizes donated by local organizations, fam-ilies and businesses.

“It felt like a good idea to come. It seemed like a four in one: I could support the band, hang out with friends, win prizes and play bingo,” Tamariz said.

The parents of the band students, the Band Booster Club, dedicated their time to set up and host Band Bingo Night.

“ A committee of par-ents have been working ever since we got accepted

to generate ideas,” Panoff said.

Because of the effort of parents, students and in-structors, the Band Bingo Night ended successfully with a packed house.

“Bingo Night was a lot of fun and we also suc-ceeded to raise just un-der $5,000,” Panoff said. This wasn’t the bands first fundraiser for the expensive trip to the Rose Bowl and it won’t be the last.

“I participated in many past fundraisers, too. Some were the Runathon and Tag Day which were really fun,” Whitmore Young, 9, said.

The band plans to con-tinue on to hold booster meetings and fundraisers in order to reach their goal.

“We are going to hold many sales like a pasta sale, and hold many car washes in the summer,” Panoff said.

The band needs to raise

enough money to send its current and returning members to California, along with their instru-ments.

“I’m happy to contribute and with every opportunity I get to help with the Rose Bowl, I will use my time and try my best,” Whit-more Young, 9, said.

The band is asking for support from their peers to accomplish their goal of the playing in the 2014 Rose Parade, since being chosen to perform in the parade is a very coveted and rare of-fer.

“The band has gotten so big that we need a lot of money to send equipment and instruments over to California and get new uni-forms. It would help a lot if anyone in the community that wants to help or donate should just contact me,” Panoff said.

Crystal Park >> Staff Writer

Band plays bingo for the Rose Bowl

Newsbriefs

Mulch DayStudents, parents and faculty all join in for a full day of delivering mulch on Saturday, March 16. The mulch sale is a fundraiser for the Class of 2013’s All Night Grad Party, as well as other PTSA functions. More volunteers are always needed. Visit the PTSA website for more information at http://ptsa.westfieldhs.org/

Senior vs. Faculty Basketball GameAfter a disappointing loss during the Winter Pep Rally, the senior class plans to take on the faculty again on March 21.

Speech, Debate move forward after Districts winsMadeleine Bloxam

>> Staff Writer

Speech and Debate teams are busily preparing for their final months of post-season competitions. Captain, Pritika Tiwari, 12, commends the strength of her team and coaches this year.

“The debate team is

this month at Speech States for extemporaneous speak-ing.

“As assistant captain, I’m excited to be able to rep-resent us at States. Since I didn’t qualify last year, I’m happy I can get to go now. We have competitions for the next three weekends, so I am going to use them as practice for States,” Starkey

doing extremely well. As always, we’ve had a very strong congress team with Mrs. Linda Rapp as our coach, and this year, with Mr. Kyle Green as our new assistant coach, we also have a very great Public Fo-rum, Lincoln Douglass and Policy team,” Tiwari said.

Jessica Starkey, 12, will represent the Speech team

Addressing his peers >> With the upcoming Metro Finals and Debate Districts, An-drew Zhang, 9, practices his speech for the team. Zhang is a member of student Congress and his resolution is on immigration. Photo by Kelsey Stanton.

said.The debate team is still

vying for a spot at the State competition this April.

“We have already com-peted for speech at the dis-trict and regional levels. We have Metro-finals for Con-gress and Public Forum and Speech Metro-finals, as well as Regionals and States,” Ti-wari said.

Abigail Martin, 10 and Lucas Miller, 10, placed first at Districts for Policy Debate. The duo hopes to be equally as successful at regionals later next month.

“Since my partner and I placed at districts we will be moving up and competing at regionals. If we manage to place at regionals, then States will be the final com-petition for us this year,” Martin said.

While Martin focuses mainly on policy, she is confident in the rest of her team’s abilities.

“We have a lot of excep-tional speakers and debat-ers. We have many teams and individuals who have

either won rounds, come very close to winning, or placed at the competitions,” Martin said.

According to Tiwari, the team is the current cham-pion in multiple categories.

“We are doing awesome. In Speech, we have four dis-trict champions in individ-ual categories; for Speech and Debate Metro-finals we’re taking five people; For policy debate, we hold the district championship,” Ti-wari said.

Competitors have had to manage their time very well in order to prepare for all of the events.

“The students are also practicing on their own. We’re focusing on one event at a time,” Rapp, Speech and Debate Coach, said.

The Debate team has high hopes for its next com-petition and plans to use it as practice for regionals.

“Our congress team is extremely solid and we hope to bring home the re-gional debate title this year as well,” Tiwari said.

Coming together for the band >> To raise money for the band’s trip to the Rose Bowl next year in Pasa-dena, California, Patrick Kearney, 9, enjoys a game of bingo with visiting friends from the Ormond Stone Middle School band. Photo courtesy of Band Boosters

Advertisement 5March 8, 2013The Watchdog

Top 5 reasons to take a journalism class at

Westfield5.

College admissions people say they like to see students who have a journalism/publication

background because it’s a strong indication that they can write. They say the biggest problem with incoming

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opportunities to travel to workshops and conferences where they meet journalism students from other

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3. Learning occurs in a fun, exciting and innovative environment; it’s unlike any other class you’ve ever had. Ask the people who are in journalism now.

While the work is hard, it doesn’t seem like it because journalism is fun and self-fulfilling.

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1. BEST OF ALL, when you take a journalism course,

you are involved in a learning process that affects the entire school. Whether it be writing articles, taking pictures, designing the print or website publication, contacting businesses and selling advertisements,

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For more information about Yearbook, Broadcast and Newspaper contact Mr. Whitten, adwhitten@fcps.edu

6 Vol. 13, Issue 6 Editorial The Watchdog

Watchdog

Journalism Business Office:(703) 488-6476

School Main Office: (703) 488-6300 Fax Number:

(703) 488-6428watchdog@fcps.edu

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The Watchdog is published monthly and is an open forum for student and faculty expression at Westfield High School. It is established to disseminate news, ideas, and opinions on matters of interest, importance, and concern to the community.

The Watchdog will publish no material that is libelous, obscene, or has a clear potential for disruption of the school routine, as has generally been determined by law.

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The content of the Watchdog is determined by the editorial board. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the faculty adviser, administration of Westfield High School, or Fairfax County Public Schools.

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the

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Final Goodbyes begin; time to reminisceStaff Editorial

College visits skewed by untrue stereotypes

Ashleigh Bielen>> Staff Writer

Print happens. In the past four years, so many monumental

events have shaped our out-look on life.

Time moves so quickly we often don’t spend the time to remember the events that were once so important to us.

Freshman year. Jan. 12, 2010: 7.0-magnitude earth-quake hits Haiti. April 20, 2010: BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sophomore year. April 29, 2011: Kate Middleton marries Prince William. May 2, 2011: U.S. troops kill Osama bin Laden.

Junior year. Sept. 11, 2011: 10 years pass since 9/11. Oct. 5, 2011: Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, passes away.

Senior year. Dec. 31, 2012: Kim Kardashian an-nounces her pregnancy. Jan. 21, 2013: President Obama celebrates his sec-ond inauguration.

Maybe it’s just us, but these events have escaped our memory far too quickly.

As EIC, I have acquired a list of pet peeves specifi-cally related to typography and newspaper.

1. Comic Sans: this font should never ever ever be used. There is no excuse.

2. Effect v. Affect: If you take one thing away from reading this editorial, I hope it is this; effect is a noun and affect is a verb.

3. Publication Lab: I ab-solutely cannot stand when someone forgets to log off their computer.

- Melinda Heim

Giving in-class tests for our staff became my responsibility this year as managing editor. Now it’s time for another informa-tive mini-lesson, only this time it’s for you!

There are 24 hours in a day. They’re going to the mall. It was their idea.

Score less than a 90 per-cent and you’ll have to re-take the test. Score poorly again, you’ll have to go through remediation with M Dubbs.

- @jaystar

The first time I walked through the door of C109 I was an awkward, unam-bitious 16 year old with no direction. Now, it be-ing my last deadline on the managing board, I’ve real-ized how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown as a person. I still have a lot to learn about writing and be-ing a journalist, but I would never trade these last three years for anything differ-ent. Colin Gibson, if you’re reading this, thank you.

-Luke O’Roark

I’ll admit I thought about walking away, but there was something al-ways pulling me back.

Along the way I have made plenty of mistakes as well as a few triumphs.

I would like to believe I have become a better journalist over the years. But in reality, I’ve become a stronger, more indepen-dent person because of the numerous hours I’ve spent with these inde-scribable people.

- Emily Sharpe

It’s that exciting, yet stressful time of year again where juniors are

starting to tour prospective colleges. With friends and classmates touring in close proximity with one anoth-er, thoughts on colleges are bound to be a topic of con-versation. However, talking about colleges can become a sensitive topic due to the different opinions each in-dividual will form. How these opinions may form, that’s where problems lie.

A person’s mouth-ful of insults or compli-ments about a school usu-ally comes from the piecing together of all the things they’ve been told. Rather than researching a college or visiting it themselves, they have created these ideas of how things are, and nothing can change their minds. Personally I’m tired of hearing all these negative judgments about colleges. People categorize what kind of person should belong at each school based on what they think it’s like, and that’s not the way it

should be.Whether a school is ti-

tled as super prestigious for academics, for partying, or one field of career, nobody should rid it off for its repu-tation. Too often I hear people say it’s a party school or they have way too high of a GPA average. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply there or even just consider looking into these colleges as an option. Why rule them out because of these factors? For all you know this could be the school for you, and you were just too opinionated to even give it a chance.

One time I was talking to a group of friends about a college I had recently visit-ed. I was saying how I liked it, and when I mentioned the name of the college, one of my friends gave me a dis-gusted look and said, “you can do better than that.” This comment really stuck with me. What is that even supposed to mean? I can do better? That person them-selves had never visited this college nor had any knowl-edge of it.

My friend completely based it off of two things: its party school reputation, and average GPA to get in. This bugged me more than anything, and I felt so in-sulted for the school itself. What really struck me as ignorant was the fact this

friend had nothing to back themselves up with because they knew virtually nothing about what the school was really like.

My mom told me before I ever started looking at colleges to be open minded and look into colleges be-fore creating my own pre-conceived notions. I think hearing all the comments I’ve heard about colleges is how I came to form my own opinion that judging them without the appropri-ate knowledge is so wrong. There is a college for every-one out there and with so many stereotypes that exist today, people may be lim-iting themselves to finding the right one for them.

Finding a college should be about what’s really im-portant, such as what the environment of the school is like for them, if they have majors and/or minors they are interested in and how they genuinely like it. Find-ing a college for you should be about feeling like you belong there and finding a place with all the right tools for you to succeed in whatever career you want to pursue. It shouldn’t be about where you would look good going to school or the school that everyone else likes. Form your own opinions about colleges before you let society form them for you.

A note from the Watchdog: From the Feb. 8 double truck, DreamHome Remodeling would like to reiterate that William Gazo, 10, generated seven appointments while working for them, however, only one was validated. In his first 10 days of working, he made $384.

Opinion 7March 8, 2013The Watchdog

Illustration by Romeo Sarmiento

Meghan Garant>> Opinion Editor

Becca Pryor>> Columnist

Luisa Lacsamana, 12, submitted her artwork, Balance in Nature, to the Watchdog editorial staff.

Art of the Issue

“I really wanted this project to be unique, so I used saran wrap and some flowers I had around the house to give it that rippled effect.”

PryoritiesMeaning forgotten as hurtful word overused

Bigger picture comprised of complex individualities

Many people be-lieve that the word love should

be used sparingly and only in meaningful circumstanc-es.    It shouldn’t be tossed around in every sentence and should only be direct-ed toward that someone special.    The antonym of love, which is hate, should also be used sparingly.    It’s surprising how many people claim to hate a per-son, group of people, team, or activity so passionately without any substantial rea-son to feel such a way.  

The Webster Dictionary defines hate as “intense hos-tility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.”    Now I know that as teenagers, we are encouraged to find our passions and explore our feelings; but I highly doubt that hating something or someone is an appropri-ate or even necessary way to direct those emotions.   Hate is used very often and usually without much

thought.  I for one am guilty of using the word hate with-out thought and I’ll admit it.     I can’t stand certain types of music and probably wouldn’t be able to count on both my hands all the times I have used the word “hate” to describe genres that I dis-like.  One reason I stopped using the word hate so fre-quently is the effect that using it had on others who disagreed with me.  

Just as I have strong feelings toward a subject-matter, my friends and family have strong feel-ings towards that topic as well.  Most of the time our viewpoints do not coincide with each other and throw-ing the h-word out there to describe what they like makes me come across ex-tremely disrespectful and narrow-minded.  

Dismissing other peo-ple’s viewpoints as illogical or unacceptable because of a differing personal opinion has become a frequent way of expressing likes and dis-likes in society today.    

Just because you have different taste than some-one else does not mean that his or her taste is incor-rect or irrelevant.   People all around our school, the community and even the county like and dislike dif-

ferent things and that is per-fectly fine.  

It’s important to real-ize the strong impacts our words can have on oth-ers.   Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can be just as hurtful.   I know that I would be hurt if someone, especially a friend or close acquain-tance, started to bash on ev-erything that I enjoy.  Even though expressing so-called “hate” toward a topic may not be directly insulting its supporters, the indirect in-sults can be just as painful.  

Love and hate are pow-erful words that are on opposite ends of the spec-trum, but they are not the only two words that can be used to describe your feel-ings toward something.     Thinking before speaking is a simple lesson with a large effect.   If hating becomes an even more acceptable emotion in our society than it is today, people will be uncomfortable expressing their opinions and view-points in fear of being dis-missed by those who simply disagree.  There’s a proverb that says “the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indif-ference.” So next time you open your mouth to say you hate something, think about it. Is it hate or just apathy?

I discovered a word the other day. The most fantastically awe inspir-

ingly brilliant word.Sonder. The realization

that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.

And I didn’t even dis-cover it per say. It was more like a stumble, a terribly un-dignified trip into height-ened awareness. But when I saw it, my mind exploded a little bit. okay, more than a little bit, my metaphori-cal gray matter was all over the place. But it had every right to, because this one word has single-handedly undermined my entire view of the cosmos. My eyes are now open to a whole realm of thought that I didn’t even know existed before.

Sure, people claim that they knew this. Ever heard of a word called empathy? Yes. Yes, I have. But let me tell you, dear reader, this is

something bigger than em-pathy. Because empathy is feeling what you imag-ine another to be feeling. Sonder is the knowledge that everybody feels, all the time. And not just feel, they also act. They sing out of tune and write bad poetry and crave BLTs and watch the new episode of Teen Wolf and all the while you are existing. Doing those very same things and more without ever realizing that your actions could be in tandem with those of an-other.

Another word that I hear tossed around a lot is solip-sism. For those of you who are a little confused, solip-sism is the idea that you are the only person who exists, and every one and every-thing exists only inside your own head. The universe is a device created by yourself for your own enjoyment. And most people assume it’s as far away from sonder as you can get.

Most people are wrong. Because solipsism means you acknowledge the rest of the universe, albeit be-lieving it to be a figment of your imagination. That’s what sonder is. Realizing

the complexity of every-thing and reveling in it until your head hurts. The only difference is that those who are solipsistic believe that they created the object of their wonderment, whereas others are willing to let the universe have some credit.

When I initially reached sonder, I’m pretty sure a bit of my brain came dribbling

out of my ear. Because that means that every single an-tagonist in my life, is at the same time a protagonist. And I, who tries so hard be the dashing heroine of a bestselling saga called my life, I am the Voldemort to another’s Harry Potter.

It’s like when you look at tapestry. You know, one of those wall sized pictures

formed entirely of woven strands. Everybody gets that analogy that we are all a piece of string and when you compile our lives and experiences you finally get the bigger picture, which is the whole tapestry.

But we are not just bits of string. The way string is compiled is by weaving tiny fibers, and each fiber is

a personality trait. The fact that we like pizza, that time we gave a homeless man 86 cents. Every single string in that grand tapestry called life is made of fibers like that, made of real people.

But that doesn’t mean we have to unravel all of them, that would be impos-sible. All we can hope for is recognition and sonder.

8 Vol. 13, Issue 6 The Watchdog

IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME : I SURVIVEDThe Watchdog continues its monthly, in depth, feature with Nick Lenker, 12, an average high school athlete who overcomes life-threatening injuries.

I just remember I went to go hit a guy and his stick went into my ribs [while playing ice hockey], and apparently my ribs just cut up my organs.

AT FIRST IT FELT LIKE THE WIND GOT KNOCKED OUT OF ME; BUT WHEN I SKATED TO THE BENCH I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG.

There was this pain like I kept getting punched in the ribs. After I got off the ice and went to the locker room I almost passed out. I couldn’t even move I was in so much pain.

THE DOCTORS SAID THE PAIN WAS EQUIVALENT TO OR WORSE THAN CHILDBIRTH.

After several tests and a CT scan they were able to find what was wrong.

I FOUND OUT THAT I HAD A GRADE FOUR KIDNEY LACERATION AND I PUNCTURED MY SPLEEN IN THREE PLACES.

It was just a lot of pain, they gave me two blood transfusions. It was just a lot of pain basically.

I SPENT EIGHT DAYS IN THE ICU.

I had to have surgery.

THEY PUT A TUBE INTO MY BACK, IT WAS A TUBE GOING INTO MY KIDNEY AND IT WAS THERE TO HELP IT HEAL.

They were giving me Morphine and Percocet, but it wasn’t really that much help.

I COULD NOT HAVE ANYONE VISIT ME IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE THE FLU WAS GOING AROUND.

The only people who could visit me were my parents. My brother couldn’t even visit me which was kind of sad.

MY MOM STAYED THE ENTIRE DAY AND SINCE SHE IS A NURSE SHE WAS ALWAYS ACTING LIKE ONE.

My teammates were really helpful. My teams, travel and high school, were really supportive.They helped me and made a poster with pictures of me playing ice hockey through out the year.

DESPITE MY INJURIES, I PLAN ON PLAYING HOCKEY NEXT YEAR IN

COLLEGE.

I’m not scared to play; my parents are getting me a kidney protector.

Now, I feel a lot better, just weak.

I LOST 20 POUNDS IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE I COULD NOT EAT FOR A WEEK.

I’ve been playing since I was three, so I really can’t see myself not playing hockey. I love it so much.

I BASICALLY ALMOST DIED IN THERE SO LIFE IS PRETTY SHORT. YOU GOT TO DO WHAT YOU WANT.

Photo by Cortney Mecimore

Bark it up: Ice DogsHow did you react when you heard of Nick’s injuries?

“I was scared for him because he is a good friend

and a great player.”

Hunter Trefny, 9“I was pretty

shocked, no one expected it to be that traumatic. I

thought it was going to be an every day

type of injury.”

Tucker Winfrey, 12

High School Sports Injuries

1

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, injuries are the leading cause of death among adolescents ages 0-19. Each year, an estimated 9.2 million children are seen in emer-gency departments for their injuries. Also, 12,175 youths die as a result of being injured.

The program Stop Sports Injuries, was created to inform chyildren, parents and coaches about safety procedures for the most common sports. Stop Sports Injuries reports 62 percent of organized sports-related injuries occur during practice, one-third of parents do not have their children take the same safety precautions at practice that they would during a game.

There has been an 88 percent increase in high school students playing ice hockey from 1990 to 2006. National Federation of State High School Association has altered the rule book for ice hockey in order to prevent a further increase in such serious injuries.

9March 8, 2013The Watchdog

IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME : I SURVIVEDEmily Sharpe

>> Design EditorBrigid Hamilton

>> Copy EditorNatalie Sharpe>> Copy Editor

Bark it up: Ice DogsHow did you react when you heard of Nick’s injuries?

“ I was shocked that it was that bad.

That’s the worst injury I’ve ever

heard of anyone getting.”

Patrick Anderson, 12

Photos by Kiki Laux

facebook: news feed

Feb 2About to have best Super Bowl party in my hospital room tomorrow night. I got mouth swabs for water and morphine. Hopefully I can eat food and drink tomorrow. - Nick Lenker

Critical moments >> (1) Spotting the injuries, doctors perform surgery to repair internal wounds Lenker recieved during an ice hockey game. Warm wishes >> (2) Wearing a brave face, Lenker poses with his girlfriend, Somya Alice. Ice, ice, baby >> (3) Taking a shot, Lenker plays in a previous hockey game. Photos courtsey of Nick Lenker

Feb 7 & 8Nick was moved from ICU at 4:00 a.m. this morning. He is very tired but otherwise stable and getting discharged to home later today. They were talking tomorrow and then Nick negotiated an earlier release Nick still has a ways to go on his climb for recovery. Thanks again for all the prayers, support, encouragement, blood, etc… (Although surgery is still a possibility, it grows less likely as time moves on and everyone is encouraged by his progress and hopeful that the kidney will continue to heal, no infection develops, etc...) - Shelley Lenker

High School Sports Injuries

Feb 2Nick suffered a serious injury while playing high school hockey on Friday night. He was taken by ambulance to Loudoun Hospital and then transferred to Fairfax Hospital where he is still in the Trauma ICU. He is ap-proaching the 48 hour critical mark this evening but still won’t be out of the woods for another week or so. He will be in the ICU for another 1-2 days and hospital for another week or so depending on progress. He is making slow but steady progress. He is on morphine for pain which is still considerable but his blood count is now stable and he is starting sips of water today. Words cannot express our appreciation for the many thoughts, prayers & outpouring of love for our family during this extremely stressful time. - Shelley Lenker

Feb 4 Start of day 4 in ICU: Nick is having a bumpy journey with a lot of ups and downs. He had a setback yesterday when they discovered a large pocket of fluid around his injured kidney. His injured kidney suffered 50 percent damage and we are unsure what the outcome will be. Basically, we’ve come to appreciate that a kidney that functions at 50 percent is better than none so please continue your prayers. In between the drama and scary stuff, Nick still smiles and brings humor and laughter to the situation. I never would have believed that we’d be in this situation. It is breathtakingly scary and very hard to handle day in and day out. -Shelley Lenker

Feb 5 He had to have a blood transfusion yesterday and may need more prior to discharge as he lost a lot of blood upon the original injury. He is battling hard but still has pain and is very weak. His primary doctor (so, so many doctors) assured Ed and I yesterday that while Nick had an extremely serious injury, it is far from the worst case he has seen and although no guarantees, he feels reasonably sure that Nick will keep his kidney. His recovery will take weeks until he regains his former level of health. We continue to appreciate your emails, texts and support and look forward to the day when Nick can get home and start receiving some visitors. FYI- contact sports is one of the most common causes of this type of kidney injury- ice hockey, lacrosse and football…….. (auto accidents right up there as well)Blood Donation- anyone willing to donate blood for Nick’s use, please let me know & use info below to set up an appt, etc… (I need to know before you go to donor center so I can have the proper paper work completed at the hospital & your blood gets to Nick.) Due to Nick being in ICU, they will rush the process & blood will be ready in 24 hours for his use. If Nick doesn’t use it, someone will- they told me yesterday that their supplies are too low. Nick can use 0+ or 0-, so if you have either of those types, please consider donating. - Shelley Lenker

Feb 6 We have really great news. Nick is BACK! He is ex-tremely weak, but his blood count is stable and his body is slowly recovering. Physical therapy started working with him this morning and actually walked him around the unit. As he was making a lap, the residents/nursing staff broke into applause! Nick really appears to have turned the corner in the last 24 hours and we are hope-ful that he will be moved out of the ICU today. I want to say though that the nursing and medical staff here was AMAZING! And with my critical care background and overprotective mom instincts, I know what I’m talk-ing about. (A special shout out to Missy McLaughlin, critical care RN and fellow Reston Raider parent- she works a lot…….and served as Nick’s surrogate mother last night so I could go home for a few hours sleep- you are a wonderful person!)Blood Donation Request- Needs have been met- Ed, Nick and I are humbled by the generosity and compas-sion of our friends. The response to our request has been overwhelming and we feel any of Nick’s potential needs have been met. - Shelley Lenker

Feb 4Hospital is so lonely since I cant have visitors. Hope-fully I am out of ICU in next few days. - Nick Lenker

Feb 6Thank you to all the people who donated blood for me. It really does mean a lot. -Nick Lenker

Feb 8Best news of my life after 7 1/2 days in the ICU the doctors say I can come home. -Nick Lenker

Feb. 5First meal since friday. - Nick Lenker

Nick Lenker and his mother, Shelley Lenker, documented N. Lenker’s time spent in the hospital.

2

3

N. Lenker’s injuries took place at an Ice-dogs ice hockey game on Feb. 1, 2013. He was sent to Inova Fair Oaks Hospital to be treated for his severe injuries.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, injuries are the leading cause of death among adolescents ages 0-19. Each year, an estimated 9.2 million children are seen in emer-gency departments for their injuries. Also, 12,175 youths die as a result of being injured.

The program Stop Sports Injuries, was created to inform chyildren, parents and coaches about safety procedures for the most common sports. Stop Sports Injuries reports 62 percent of organized sports-related injuries occur during practice, one-third of parents do not have their children take the same safety precautions at practice that they would during a game.

There has been an 88 percent increase in high school students playing ice hockey from 1990 to 2006. National Federation of State High School Association has altered the rule book for ice hockey in order to prevent a further increase in such serious injuries.

10 Vol. 13, Issue 6 Opinion The Watchdog

Jordan Latham>> Staff Writer

Illustration by Romeo Sarmiento

Social awkwardness becomes socially acceptable

Anti-feminism remains present day problem

Ghazal Azizzada>> Staff Writer

Profanity treated as more than white noise

Kayla Cunningham>> Staff WriterA few years ago, I

read a quote that said, “Feminism

is the radical notion that women are equal.” Yet it has stuck with me all this time. Feminism, by defini-tion, does not signify hot-headed, aggressive, tem-peramental young women who have an overwhelming vengeance against all men who have wronged them. So why does society nowa-days feel the need to por-tray feminists this way?

This point of view is de-grading to a group whose main priority is to bring real gender equality is-sues to the surface. For women, unstable emotions are deemed socially unac-ceptable. To be angry is completely unjustified; we women must be zen at all times, no matter what how righteous our rage. To be sad is completely selfish; “cheer up,” they say, “don’t be such a girl.”

When I am in a conver-sation with people, and I get passionate and become bold and assertive about a certain topic, my passion is dismissed as “PMS.” My whole argument is dis-regarded because of my strong opinions and beliefs. Why is that? Because peo-ple in this day and age are afraid. They are afraid of

Well, this is awk-ward. Here I am, typing

away at a computer, trying to think of ways to tell you something. But now that I’ve spoken up, I regret it.

Is this acceptable con-versation? A one-sided degradation of the self where the individual re-gresses into a shell of social awkwardness is now ac-ceptable, believe it or not. Through recent events, a generation with every means of contacting some-one have become hermits.

I blame Tumblr.Not to say I scorn Tum-

blr’s existence, I myself have an account and could

probably spend the major-ity of a sunny day online. With the introduction of Tumblr, it suddenly became cool (or at least passable) to be someone who pinned away hours blogging and reblogging whatever en-tertained you for point five seconds. It’s such a big part of life it must be a religion by now. This has become the standard for Friday nights. When offered to go out with friends, we are all guilty of declining for the pure reason of wishing to be antisocial.

I present to you an-other question, since when has it become acceptable to drop any and all social graces? I would hope your parents taught you to say “please” and “thank you.” I would hope your parents also taught you to be po-lite and make conversation. Regardless, I find it almost offensive when I attempt to make conversation, and the other person flat out refuses

to respond.  It’s one thing to leave your phone during a texting conversation, but out here in the real world, people expect an end to the conversation.

One time, after prac-tice, I was left with a group of my teammates as we all waited for our rides. As the minutes ticked past, the number of people left dwindled to myself and one other student. To avoid the dreaded awkward silence, I rooted around in my bag

for my water bottle, using it as an excuse to pause and think of what I could say. They hadn’t been particu-larly responsive to me so, I decided to rack my brain for a topic of interest.

When I looked back up, water bottle in hand and a conversation starter on the tip of my tongue, my team-mate had silently made their way to the end of the hall. It wasn’t as though I was forcing them to stay and talk to me, but then

again, couldn’t they have said goodbye?

I point another finger at addicting smart phone apps. In the pre-iPhone era, you had no choice but to talk with the person you had been left alone with. Now, should you be left alone with someone you don’t particularly want to talk to, what are you doing? Temple Run.

We have texting, Angry Birds, Twitter and really more apps than we could

ever need. All in the name of entertainment, but all for the use of avoiding an awk-ward situation.

I’m not saying it’s your sole purpose to make conversation with ev-ery individual you meet. We don’t need to take it that far.  All I ask is be the bigger person and attempt to take the ‘awkward’ out of the awkward situation. You might be surprised as to how much of an effect it may have.

Illustration by Romeo Sarmientowomen raising their voices and standing on their own two feet without the help of a man by their side.

This negative percep-tion of feminists has made its way into the political realm as well. Hillary Clin-ton made headlines when testifying during the con-gressional hearing on Jan. 23 over the embassy attack in Benghazi. Clinton’s emo-tional reaction to a sena-tor’s question during the hearing prompted the news outlets, including the New Yorker, to twist her words to be spewed from a fiery, unhinged woman.

Never mind the fact that Clinton has an honorable reputation in the politi-cal world, graduating from Yale Law School, becom-

ing a prestigious lawyer, a First Lady, a U.S. Senator and almost becoming the first female president of the United States.

The media’s portrayal of Clinton during the hearing presents her as a raging, irrational woman with no substance to her. If a man had shown as much com-passion and response as Clinton, he undoubtedly would have been perceived as a powerful man.

In my English class, we are currently reading Char-lotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Eyre, and Bronte for that matter, don’t seem to fit the stereotypical 19th century mind set of oppression of women’s rights. Through-out the novel, she voices her wonderfully progressive

thoughts and insists that “it is thoughtless to condemn [women], or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”

It is imperative that we stop with the complaints of overbearing feminists and start encouraging the “I need feminism because” movement. Women every-where are condemned for expressing their fundamen-tal rights not just as a citi-zen, or a woman, but as a human being.

Any woman who wants to define herself, by herself and for herself should have every right to do so. And if, God forbid, she is proud of that too, she has every right to be.

Foul language; it’s vul-gar, rude and just not allowed. Public

profanity will often elicit stern looks and even a rep-rimanding from passer-by. Older generations are ste-reotypically less tolerant and hail from an age where it was acceptable to shove soap into the mouths of peevish children. Of course, nowadays it’s on cable TV and popular music, but that doesn’t mean it’s become completely okay.

There’s a whole spec-trum of animosity towards profanity, ranging from completely accepting, to totally intolerant. I person-ally, have never been both-ered by it.

For as long as I can re-member I’ve understood that words only mean what we let them. When we talk to people, we’re just making noise. The sounds that we make don’t have meaning in of themselves. So in that sense, I find it a bit silly that there are certain sounds that are impolite to make, and words that are consid-ered ‘bad’.

Compare the worst swear you know to the word elbow, and they’re both just noise. Why should we let

ourselves be bothered by something as little as that?

That being said, I can’t ignore the fact that there are a great deal of people that have attached meaning and emotion towards these words. Explicatives uttered in times of extreme emo-tional stress, are of course going to convey emotional stress. I’ll also admit that because of this, some words are downright cringe wor-thy. I think that’s why when kids say ‘bad’ words, it sounds so wrong.

Kids shouldn’t need to use them, it sounds wonky or out of place, and is on par with underage sexual innu-endos. Of course though, children are attracted to the allure of “forbidden fruit”.

Then of course, there are my peers, whom I suppose could use them for an array of reasons. It could be our burning desire to grow up and be mature, or to simply stress a point. The latter of which being less lame, and something I can personally be found guilty of.

All of this being taken into account, I think that we should all try to be a lit-tle less offended by words, since that’s all they are. We should also not carelessly sling them around, and ac-cept the fact they are emo-tionally charged and chock full of negative implica-tions. Ideally, we’d live in a world where there were no ‘bad’ or forbidden words, just words to be taken more or less seriously.

A&EMovieJack the Giant Slayer acting falls short of expectations >> See Below

Television Netflix breaks boundaries with original TV series>> Page 12

Music Justin Timberlake makes a much anticipated comeback>> Page 13 11

Artist of the issue: Mitchell Buckley

Jack the Giant Slayer disappoints critics, sales prevail

Emily Dzubak>>Staff Writer

Julian Sanchez>>Staff Writer

After four years of being a part of theatre, Mitchell Buckley,12, is taking the next step of his life to con-tinue his future in acting.

“I love acting and found it is a good way to express myself and reach out to people,” Buckley said.

In theatre’s most recent production, Flowers for Al-gernon, Buckley played the role of Charlie, a man with an IQ of 68 who is selected to take part in an experi-mental surgery to increase his intelligence.

“Flowers for Algernon was a really significant ex-perience for me. It was such a powerful show and Charlie was such a chal-lenging character to play,” Buckley said.

Buckley has been in a to-tal of 10 Westfield Theatre productions, playing a lead role in several of them.

“I have gained a lot of experience with Westfield Theatre. I had a lot of op-portunities to play a variety of different roles and I’ve been lucky to have the priv-ilege to act with so many talented students,” Buckley said.

Buckley auditioned for several theater programs at different universities and plans on majoring in the-ater.

“I’ve auditioned at New York University, Pace, Bos-

ton University, Emerson, Fordham, SUNY (State University of NY) at Pur-chase and Ithaca. I should probably start hearing back in mid-March,” Buckley said.

As he was a member of the theater program for all four years of high school, Buckley had the opportu-nity to work with a lot of different people.

“The upperclassmen were such a huge influence on me when it came to car-rying on Westfield Theatre’s tradition of excellence,” Buckley said.

Buckley also attended the 64th Annual South East-ern Theater Conference, SETC, to perform their award winning, including the state title, production of Hothouse and compete against schools from the southeastern region.

“I think it’s a huge hon-or that we went so far and I know we were all really ex-cited for the opportunity to perform,” Buckley said.

Buckley has gained a lot of experience in the theatre program and is ready to learn more and further pur-sue his career in the theatre industry.

“Of course I’m excited for the future. I think I’ve made the most of my four years here, but I’m ready to move on to the next thing. I still have so much to learn and college is definitely the next step,” Buckley said.

(Top) Looking for support >> Brandon Sanchez, 11, Mitchell Buckley, 12 and Alex Mann, 12, pose for promo-tional pictures for the winter mainstage, Flowers for Algernon. Photo by Madeleine Bloxam (Bottom Left) Practice makes perfect >> Buckley rehearses a solo scene the week before opening night to prepare for the first per-formance of the fall mainstage, Laughing Stock. Photo by Kelsey Stanton (Bottom Right) Teamwork makes the dream work >> Julian Sanchez, 11 and Buckley present a scene from Westfield Theatre’s annual Back To School Caba-ret. Photo courtesy of Westfield Theatre Boosters

We’ve all heard the fa-mous tale of Jack and the Beanstalk; a legend of child-hood whimsy, harrowing monsters, and supernatural flora of epic proportions.

But the movie that came out last weekend isn’t your average Mother Goose sto-ry. Jack the Giant Slayer is a violent, one dimensional take on the classic story we’ve all learned to enjoy.

This high-budget fanta-sy film chronicles the mis-adventures of Jack, a young farmhand who’s eager for adventure.

One day, while Jack is selling his calf, he is given magical beans by a mysteri-ous priest. After a series of ill-fated events, these beans end up sprouting and be-coming a portal to the land of the Giants.

Meanwhile, the princess

of the city is captured by the angry giants, who are tak-ing revenge on the humans because of an unsettled an-cient war.

Jack must kill all of the giants, take back the prin-cess, and save the kingdom before it’s too late.

Directed by renowned action filmmaker Bryan Singer, this disappointing film adaptation fails to en-thrall.

The juxtaposition of ac-tion-packed scenes of ten-sion with the more slow-paced romantic scenes makes for a jarring combi-nation.

Despite the efforts of Singer and his screen-writing crew, the film is extremely formulaic and largely unimpressive.

Nicholas Hoult has an admirable performance as Jack, the curious farmhand who gets into all sorts of trouble.

Hoult is able to capture the excitement and youth-ful spirit of his famous role, but his mediocre acting chops only gets him so far in this film.

During more dramatic scenes where he shows his serious side, he tends to lack chemistry with his scene partners.

Opposite Hoult was newbie Eleanor Tomlinson, as the royal Princess Isa-belle.

Although Tomlinson strives to make her role substantial, by the film’s end she fails to break out of her lifeless role.

Some of the only sur-prisingly good acting in this movie came Stanley Tucci as the evil Lord Rod-erick.

Tucci plays the slimy, usurping advisor with great vigor, and he commend-ably walks the line between seeming benevolence and

inner malice. Another standout per-

formance came from Ewan McGregor, who played the Elmont, the noble guard of the city.

McGregor’s invari-able talent and believabil-ity stood out in against the

largely transparent acting of this film.

Altogether, this film lacks substance in its pur-suit of excitement.

Rather than fully de-velop the characters and work on their relationships, Jack the Giant Slayer’s re-

dundant and long action sequences take precedence.

This basic, contrived film struggles due to the weak story and average acting but found box office success through its thrill-ing moments of high drama and impressive CGI.

jackthegiantslayer.warnerbrothers.com

12 Vol. 13, Issue 6 A&E The Watchdog

Netflix breaks barriers releases original TV shows

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From the PTSA

Christina Beiene and Maddie Gray>>A &E Editors

With the recent success of premium channel televi-sion shows such as Home-land and Game of Thrones, Netflix has emerged as a top television outlet.

Netflix started as a mod-ern way for renting and

streaming movies and tele-vision shows but has now evolved into a source for premiering its own shows.

Netflix released a 13 epi-sode political drama series all at once on Feb. 1, called House of Cards. House of Cards is the first ever TV series to accomplish this.

The show is a witty, dark and twisted drama that ex-poses the inner workings of

legislation in Congress. House of Cards focuses

on Frank Underwood, House majority whip, and his interactions with the media, his colleagues, and the President.

The characters are thor-oughly developed with ex-treme twists and a hidden motive hinted at through-out the series but only re-vealed at the end.

The show features a star studded cast and produc-tion staff with Frank Un-derwood as Kevin Spacey and David Fincher as the show’s director.

In addition to House of Cards, Netflix will release Arrested Development’s fourth season in the same way House of Cards pre-miered.

The comedy Arrested Development is centered around the wealthy but dysfunctional Bluth family and their family business.

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series

56% disagree

44% agree

Students watch television for

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49% disagree

51% agree

Where students watch the majority of their television shows

47% on television

16% other websites

27% on Netflix

4% on Hulu

6% on network television web-

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Arrested Development has received much praise and was even listed in Time Magazine’s “Best 100 TV Shows of All-TIME” in 2007.

Though Arrested De-velopment received critical acclaim the show had poor ratings and was cancelled after three seasons. The fourth season will consist of 14 episodes with the same cast members such as Jason Bateman and Michael Cera, to reprise their previ-ous roles.

With the new technol-ogy of smart TV’s , Netf-lix is now capable of being streamed directly on to the television, breaking the confinement of DVD discs and computer screens.

Netflix’s breakout into mainstream television with these original series and more to come have proved that the future of television is going digital. Frank Underwood lobbies for the teacher’s unions support for

his education bill in the series House of Cards.

Featuring Arrested Development, House of Cards

Watchdog poll of 300 Westfield students

A&E 13March 8, 2013The Watchdog

Maddie Gray & Christina Beiene

>>A&E Editors

After spending five years fo-cusing on his acting career, Justin Timberlake made a splash back into the music industry with his two new singles “Suit and Tie” and “Mirrors.”

Additionally Timberlake’s new album, The 20/20 Experience is set to release March 19.

Produced by good friend and long time collaborator Timbaland, critics and fans highly anticipate the release of The 20/20 Experience.

“Suit and Tie” is one of the al-ready released tracks off his up-coming album.

With its suave beats and groovy lyrics, “Suit and Tie” is a catchy tune that offers something different from Timberlake.

His classic falsetto and Jay Z’s smooth rap verse are complemen-tary, adding an innovative dimen-sion to the song.

The music video for “Suit and Tie” was directed by critically ac-claimed filmmaker David Fincher.

The video epitomizes old-Hol-lywood swagger from its smooth style to its black and white cinema-tography.

In addition to “Suit and Tie”, “Mirrors” was released after Tim-

berlake’s jaw-dropping Grammy performance.

The song’s long length and jazzy fresh style resembles “What Goes Around Comes Around” off of his prior album, FutureSex/Love-Sounds, arguably the most popular song from the album.

Rumored to be written about his now wife Jessica Biel, “Mirrors” is a soulful ballad that takes a 180 half-way through the song and changes to a slowed down falsetto oriented tune. It makes anyone jealous of Biel.

“Mirrors” overall is a stronger song and more pleasing to fans over “Suit and Tie.”

Timberlake’s first solo perfor-mance in four years was at the DirectTV Super Saturday char-ity event the day before the Super Bowl.

He performed “Suit and Tie” and “Mirrors” as well as two unre-leased songs from The 20/20 Expe-rience.

The promotional events Tim-berlake has been doing builds up the anticipation for the upcoming release.

He will embark on his highly anticipated 12 city stadium tour titled, Legends of the Summer, this July with his “Suit and Tie” partner, Jay Z.

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SportsBoys LacrosseTeam looks to bounce back after district tournament defeat>> Page 15

FootballShields makes switch from offensive to defensive coordinator>> Page 15 14

Lacrosse: more than just a sport for O’Sullivan

Rugby shows rapid growth among student athletes

Suiting up for her first lacrosse season without her mother, Molly O’Sullivan 11, will look to continue from last season’s success.

Last year, O’Sullivan set a career high with seven goals scored in a 13-12 loss to Langley. The team’s leading scorer obtained more than half the team’s points just days after her mother passed away from her battle with pancreatic cancer.

“I mean she was sick for a while and it wasn’t the first game she’s missed. But not having her there to cheer me on and not having her support really sucks. She was always the balance between my parents and my dad knows not to be as hard on me now. She always noticed the good in everything and I know she’s watching over me, but its hard to know that she won’t be there to experience my season and future,” O’Sullivan said.

As a tribute to her mother, the team wore purple colored wrist bands and shoe strings during the last half of their season.

“I feel like we had something to play for and more of a reason to play for Molly. We did the same thing during field hockey season for her and it brought us all together,” Katelyn Rennyson, 11, said.

Molly, the youngest of five children, will be the last to play varsity lacrosse.

“[Lacrosse] runs in my family. My dad was an All-American. My sister Amanda plays at Colgate and Katie played club at JMU. My brothers, Sean and Ryan, play at Loyola together, so I started playing a long time ago and I’ve grown to really love the game. My dad is always the one pushing us to get better and my mom always was the one giving us support no matter what,” O’Sullivan said.

The O’Sullivan family has been playing lacrosse before and since the high school program started in

2001. Lacrosse, one of the fastest growing sports for the past several years, is much more than a sport to the family. It is a symbol of tradition.

“My dad always says the only thing he ever grew up with was a $15 lacrosse stick his mom got him when they moved here. He thought he would never be where he is today without the sport of lacrosse,” O’Sullivan said.

Although O’Sullivan lost her mother, she maintained a positive attitude over the past two years and will look to lead the team as a team captain.

“I’m usually a goofy person, but now I need to be someone that everyone

Luke O’Roark>>Online Editor-in-Chief

Austin Hollen>>Staff Writer

A group of students have recently become a part of one of the fastest growing sports in America: rugby. Joon Yeo, 12, is one of these students that enjoys playing this relatively uncommon sport.

“It’s good to be a part of something that I can look back on in five years and say that I played a sport that no one really played 10 years ago. It’s really big everywhere else,” Yeo said.

The small but passionate following includes Yeo, Brian Deely, 12, Sam Clark, 12, Tyler Morson, 12, and Phillip Grant, 12. The enthusiasm shown by the members of the team helps improve the experience for all involved.

“Rugby is awesome. It’s not the biggest sport, so

people are really connected more to it. It’s more about the people and less about the image,” Grant said.

Yeo played offensive lineman in football, and did not get the ball very much. In rugby he is able to show his athleticism by running through defenders and being a big part of his team.

“It’s fun to get better and to show what you can do. It’s a great way to build endurance, too,” Yeo said.

One of the draws of rugby is its simplicity, as little equipment is required and it is easy to pick up.

“Surprisingly rugby is a lot better than people would expect. There really isn’t any preparation. You just need to grab some shorts and a mouth guard. It’s a lot of running, but otherwise you can get off the couch and play,” Grant said.

Can’t be touched>> Phillip Grant, 12, busts through a line of defenders in order to get closer to the goal line. Grant came to be one of the leaders on the NOVA rugby team this year. Photo courtesy of Phillip Grant

Finishing a legacy>>(Left) Molly O’Sullivan, 11, warms up with a passing drill at the beginning of practice. Molly will be the last of five O’Sullivan children to play varsity lacrosse. Photo by Madie Mason Memories>> (Right) O’Sullivan poses with her mother during the winter holidays. Photo courtesy of Molly O’Sullivan

looks up to and try harder to focus more. It feels good to be in a leadership role,” O’Sullivan said.

The midfielder has been playing lacrosse since the second grade, with Molly adjusting her skills from watching her siblings play.

“She has excellent stick skills. Especially from the long line of family that has played here. She being the youngest has really helped her, as she has watched her siblings develop and taken in their play internally to make her better,” Kathleen Ruch, Head Coach, said.

O’Sullivan, who helped the Lady Bulldogs garnish a regional playoff berth last season, has learned much

from her siblings, father and SYA head coach over the years.

“My dad taught me everything I know about the game. He always asks me if I want to go to the gym with him or go on a run, but what is different is that he never coached me during my SYA days. I played with Brian Newell and the same team basically every year growing up, so my dad worked a lot with my older sister and my brothers. They would always be in the backyard shooting for hours and he was sometimes hard on my brothers,” O’Sullivan said.

In terms of skill set, O’Sullivan causes confusion

for opposing defenses, as she utilizes strong cuts to the goal and movement around the crease.

“Molly is a really sneaky player with the ball. She is really good at seeing the whole field and moving without the ball,” teammate and friend Kelly Duncan, 12, said.

With the team’s first game on March 12, Molly will look to help the team get back into the playoffs and remind herself of how far she has come from her adversity last season.

“I’m trying to move on by not looking back over my shoulder and moving forward with my career,” O’Sullivan said.

Rules of RugbyRugby is similar to

football, as both are played on fields that are 100 yards and both require stopping the offense by tackling the opponent. However, unlike football, a rugby ‘match’ does not stop after a player is tackled. Play stops when the ball goes out of bounds, a foul is committed, or points are awarded. Points are awarded after a player scores a goal by kicking the ball between the uprights, or a try is scored. A try is scored after a player ‘grounds’ the ball past the goal line, or has their hands on the ball while it is on the ground.

Sports 15March 8, 2013The Watchdog

Boys’ lacrosse looks to revamp, seeks first banner

Shields takes new position as offensive coordinator

Caroline Cook>>Staff Writer

Matt Glowacki>>Staff Writer

Access denied>> (Top) Standing in goal, Tucker Winfrey, 12, practices in the pre-season. Winfrey completed last season with a 68 percent saving average. Photo by Madie Mason Looking to attack>> (Right) Carrying the ball, Drew Magnusson, 11, heads downfield in a game against Chantilly last season. The Bulldogs fell by a score of 9-8 in the district finals to Oakton. Archive photo by Molly Burns

Leading with intensity>> Making a call, Coach Jon Shields shouts to the field during a game against Fairfax this past season. Shields switched positions from defensive to offensive coordinator during the offseason. Photo courtesy of Kevin Delaney

As the clock hit 1:10, boys’ lacrosse watched Oak-ton make their final goal to clinch their lead, and their chance at a district champi-onship slip away. This year the team will look to avenge their 9-8 loss.

“It was a really tough loss, but we didn’t hold through the entire game. Playing all the way through is something we have to work on this season,” Tuck-er Winfrey, 12, said.

The boys’ lacrosse team has never won a district championship, and the team hopes 2013 will be the year they earn their first banner.

“When we lost in dis-tricts it was really emotion-al for the whole team, but we learned from the experi-ence,” Jake Katchmark, 12, said.

Right after the end of the 2012 season the team made plans for the 2013 season. School condition-ing and stick skills began in October in order for play-

After three years of coaching and two seasons as defensive coordinator for the varsity football team, Jon Shields, Drivers Edu-cation and Physical Educa-tion teacher, switched to the other side of the ball as the team’s new offensive co-ordinator.

“There was an oppor-tunity for me to do some-thing that I have not done in a long time and there was an opening on offense and I asked Coach Simmons for the opportunity to switch,” Shields said.

A former defensive play-er for Shields, Tyler Mor-son, 12, praised Shields as a coach.

“He was a great defen-sive coordinator. He was very fiery. And one of the things I liked about him is that he tried to connect with the players. I think that will be really good for coaching offense. He’s a good coach and he’s a really good guy. I liked that he got very emotional at games and in practice he expects perfection from you at all times,” Morson said.

In addition to his perfec-tionism, Shields worked his defense very hard in prac-tice, something that the of-fense will have to adjust to.

“He definitely dedicates a lot of time to it which

ers to prepare for a week of tryouts and the start of the new season.

“This year we run a lot more and we want to be more conditioned than the opponent,” Connor Rog-ers, 11, said.

The boys struggled in-

side the Concorde District with the team going 5-6 in its past two seasons. The team knows what they must do in order to defeat their opponents this season.

“We want to get bet-ter every day, while giving maximum effort and ener-

gy,” Head coach, Phil Poliz-zotti, said.

Even though the team lost a majority of their start-ers, it still has a lot of expe-rienced players returning, such as Kyle Petrillo, 10, as well as new talent from the sophomore and freshmen

class. “I feel like I can help

out the new players. The seniors are really invested and they will push us to go really far” Petrillo, said.

This year’s team has a common goal; to win dis-tricts and advance to the

regional and state tourna-ment. The players this sea-son realize they need to work to make the team bet-ter, not themselves.

The boys started the season with a scrimmage against Woodson on March 8.

is good. He does a lot of game planning so we’re al-ways prepared. I think the offense is going to have a much harder season next year with him because there is no goofing off and not a minute is wasted in prac-tice. Every minute is used on getting ready,” Matt Wi-nesett, 12, said.

Changes to game prepa-rations may only be the start as Shields takes control of the offense.

“I don’t plan on chang-ing much schematically, just some of our formations. I

will bring my work ethic and enthusiasm,” Shields said.

Shields’ former players eagerly anticipate the re-sults of this change.

“He’ll probably be a good offensive coordinator and it will be interesting to see if he can make the tran-sition,” Tommy Weston, 12, said.

On the defensive side of the ball, Rob Everett, math teacher and former defen-sive line coach, will be tak-ing over for Shields as de-fensive coordinator.

16 Vol. 13, Issue 6 Advertisement The Watchdog