Vol. 93, No.3 • December 2013 • Lakewood High School • 14100 Franklin Blvd. • Lakewood, OH 44107 www.lakewoodtimes.net

The Winter issue

2 The Lakewood Timescontents

ContentsAs preservers of democracy, our schools shall

protect, encourage, and enhance free speech and the exchange of ideas as a means of protecting our American way of life. The Times and its staff are pro-tected by, and bound to, the principles of the First Amendment and other protections and limitations afforded by the Constitution and the various court decisions implementing those principles.

It is the mission of The Lakewood Times, the of-ficial newsmagazine of Lakewood High School, to serve as a public forum that promotes the gathering and exchange of ideas, and uphold high journalistic standards for the purpose of enriching the lives of our readers.

The Times is established as an open forum for student expression and as a voice in the uninhibited, free and open discussion of issues. The Times will not be reviewed or restrained prior to publication. Content of the Times, therefore, reflections only the views of the student staff or individual students and not school officials. Students may use online media to educate, inform, and entertain their readers. Both the school and the cyber community are entitled to the same protections and subject to the same free-doms and responsibilities, as all other student media outlined in this policy. Online media are forums for self-expression and are similar to traditional me-dia, in their freedoms, responsibilities, and profes-sional obligations. As such they will not be subject to prior review or restraint. Student journalists may use online media to report news and information, to communicate with other students and individuals, to question and consult with experts, and to locate material, to meet their news gathering and research needs.

The Times, and staff, will strive to avoid publish-ing any material determined by student editors or the student editorial board to be unprotected, that is, material that is libelous, obscene, materially dis-ruptive of the school process, an unwarranted inva-sion of privacy, a violation of copyright laws or elec-tronic manipulations changing the essential truth of the photo or illustrations. Other obligations can be found in the handbook available to each student. The Times adviser will not act as a censor.

If questions arise over specific copy as defined within this policy, student journalists will seek the advice of the communications attorney from the Student Press Law Center. The Times editorial board as a whole will be responsible for determining edi-torial opinions, which represent the opinions of a majority of the editorial board. No single member of the Times can be held responsible for editorial content decisions. The Times is a tool in the learn-ing process of journalism and operates as a learn-ing laboratory. Any student may be a member of the staff, with or without prior journalism experience or enrollment on the staff for credit. As a forum for student expression, the Times will publish all letters to the editor, provided they are 300 words or less and contain the author’s name, house, and address. On occasion, we will publish letters using the “name withheld” providing the Times editor, or a team edi-tor, knows the author’s identity.

We reserve the right to withhold a letter or col-umn and return it for more information if we de-termine it contains items of unprotected speech as defined by this policy. Letters will be edited for spelling and grammar. Should a letter contain errors in fact, excessive grammatical errors or be too long, it will be returned to the author for re submission. Deadlines for letters and columns will be no later than ten days before the next publication date. The Times may choose to report student, staff, faculty, and alumnus deaths as he editorial board is made aware of them. We reserve the right to decide not to cover a death based on relevance, timeliness and circumstances. In cases where the editorial board decided not to cover death, letters to the editor in regard to that death could be printed.

Times Editorial Policy The Lakewood TimesEditor Matt Morgenstern Assistant EditorRobert Searles

Sports EditorAaron MoritPhotography Editor Veronica GordonAdviserDennis Ebner

Staff Olivia RinehartJacklyn VollKelton GreenwoodAshley HirschEmily SkeansMackenzie Rivera

Submit your ideas for stories

for The Lakewood Times “You Issue.”

Send your ideas to room B207 or give them to a Times staff member.

ContributorsBrett BrownEmily SuleimanMaggie JawhariEmma BradySarah Neff

Snow day fun........................................Winter activities.....................................Evolution of Christmas..................Holiday foods........................................LHS traditions.................................Unknown Christmas films......................Popular holiday gifts..............................Drunk driving month..............................Winter time charities......................Bond issue results.................................Winter fashion.................................Sweater mothballs............................Pup-pup-pu-puppies...........................The Phoenix...........................................Orchestra...............................................Peet’s coffee.........................................Cashew............................................Gordi Myer...........................................Cleveland comes back?........................Winter sports previews..................

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Cover crafted by Sarah Neff

Nabelh Manaa

3September/October 2012

Letter from the editorA neighborhood shop.... A world of treasures!

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On behalf of the Lakewood Times, I’d like to thank you for the warm response garnered by our last publication, “The Mu-sic Issue.” Additionally, any mistakes put forth are regretted and we issue our sin-cerest apologies to any persons offended. Wintertime is a convoluted thing in this age of climate change, for we don’t know whether to expect a freezing Fahrenheit or a typical Salinas, California day. But normally we still cherish the symbols of the season—the cold nights of fireplace huddling and sipping of caffeinated sub-stances, perhaps watching a clay-made Rudolph or reading a Dickensian tale. They all still live on, as do the materialis-tic advertisements for Christmas savings broadcast in October and the adornments already showering in on Target, Walmart, and whatever other store’s shelves. Additionally, this season marks the last time of the year when 2013 is still

Dear Readers,

an applicable date on the calendar. It’s hard to believe it was just a year ago we feared the eminent demise of our planet based on Mayan prophecy. Yet, here we stand, a year’s schlock of ac-tivities having passed, with new evolu-tions (or devolutions) in politics, cultural idiocy, honor, and economic advance-ment (so says my father) -- so many spheres of life have changed over the past 365 days that Facebook seems a thing of the past (sorry, Zuckerberg). So the year 2014 stretches out be-fore us a dynamic painting canvas on which to wet our brushes as Christ-mas time comes and goes, as it always does. I wouldn’t say that’s all, but it is. Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s, or what-ever it is you choose to partake in!

Best regards, Matt Morgenstern

Photo courtesy of Veronica Gordon

4 The Lakewood Timesfocus

The winter may be cold and snowy, but there are still many winter activities to keep us occupied. Although staying inside snuggling with blankets is nice enough, we should go outside and enjoy the snow while it lasts. Skiing, sledding, and having snowball fights are what we usually think when we hear winter ac-tivities, but there are many other options and traditions that are a bit less common. Many people enjoy skiing in the winter, but if you don’t, that’s fine. You could go tobogganing, snowboarding, or just sledding.“My favorite winter activity is sledding,” said sophomore Leslie Kopan. Many teenagers love to go ice skating with their friends. Other people like having snowball fights with their friends, build-ing forts, and making snow angels. They may not always turn out perfect but building a snowman is certainly a traditional winter activity. Snow can be fun once you get over how cold it is. There are many activities that you could do as a family or with friends. People like going to winter/holiday festi-vals like Light Up Lakewood and enjoy-ing the decorations and activities there. Hockey is a popular sport to watch with friends and family during the win-ter months. There are many houses that are decorated with Christmas lights and some people enjoy riding around and looking at all the beautiful houses. If you like to travel during the winter season, going to a cabin is a popular va-cation. You could stay in the cabin and have fun with your family or you could go hiking and explore your surroundings. With the winter season comes the holidays. Christmas is a major topic talked about in the winter. Most families go and pick out Christmas trees, and put their ornaments on the tree together. A lot of people enjoy the deals and

craziness at stores when they are doing their holiday shopping. For those who don’t, there’s always online shopping. The winter season also brings in the New Year and many families have parties to celebrate the occasion. Staying in the house isn’t the worst thing, especially when it’s really cold outside. Snuggling up with a blanket with some hot chocolate or coffee is a good thing to do when you want to have a lazy day. Sitting by a fire, or heater with a nice book and a blanket is a relaxing way to spend a snow day. Listening to Christmas music at home or out and about is a great way

to spend an afternoon on a cold winter day. Also staying inside and watching a Christmas movie with your family and friends is a fun way to spend an afternoon in the winter. The winter season is a great sea-son to spend time with your family and friends. There are many different ac-tivities to do in the winter whether it’s staying home, going out, or going on vacation. The winter season brings a lot of holiday traditions. The snow can be fun once you get over the fact that it is wet and cold, so enjoy it while the snow is still here. It will be Spring be-fore you know it!

By Jacklyn Voll

“Tenth Avenue Freezeout” ...some wintertime activities

Art by Maggie Jawhari

5December 2013 focus

Snow day roundabouts As the days grow colder, we find it get-ting harder and harder to wake up in the morning to get ready for school. We all look forward to the cold snowy morning after an overnight storm, when we get that wonder-ful phone call saying school is closed for the day. But on our days off, what can we do to keep ourselves entertained? On snow days, the number one thing kids love is to be lazy. Sitting around the house relaxing or sleeping in late is what we tend to do on a typical day off from school. But later on, we find ourselves bored with nothing to do but stare at the walls. Though catching up on sleep is nice, espe-cially when it’s well-needed, why not try an

By Ashley Hirsch

Photo courtesy of eofdreams.com

Photo courtesy of Keats’s official website

Photo courtesy of mysouthborough.com

activity? Find something that you can do as a family or even with a friend or two. Snow days are a perfect excuse to play outdoors. One of the favorites things to do when it snows is to go sledding. You can sled just about anywhere, like your lo-cal park and sometimes even in your own backyard. Another great outdoors activity is to to-boggan or ice skate. We even have skating rinks indoors now, in case you don’t feel like being out in the chilly air. “On snow days, a group of friends and I get together for a snowball fight,” said sophomore Shelby Hurd. “We build snow forts to protect ourselves from each other and spend the day out in the yard until we get cold and then we head inside.”

But on chilly days, not everyone likes to go outside. Instead why not curl up on the couch with a good book, and a warm cup of hot cocoa or hot tea. After a holiday movie, activities such as puzzles or games can keep the fun lasting for hours. Try making wreathes out of an old coat hanger cov-ered with old newspaper, or make colorful paper chains with construction paper. Painting or drawing pictures and bak-ing Christmas cookies, cakes, or brownies can also be fun for all ages. Whatever you decide to do, one thing’sfor sure -- make sure you enjoy that snow day. You never know when you’ll get an-other one.

Don’t waste a minute

6

By Kelton Greenwood

500 BCE: Celtic Druids used mistletoe in their winter solstice celebrations due to its being viewed as magical, mysterious, and sacred.

150 BCE: Romans began celebrating Saturnalia (where many Christmas traditions find their origin)

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

0 : Jesus born

218 - 222: Roman Emperor Elaga-balus introduced the holiday of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, “birthday of the unconquered sun” to be celebrated on Dec. 25 (where many Christmas traditions find their origin).

270 – 275: Emperor Aurelian promot-ed the holiday empire-wide when it reached its height in popularity.

601: Pope Gregory I wrote to Mellitus, his missionary in England, telling him “not to stop such ancient pagan festivities, but to adapt them to the rites of the Church, only changing the reason for them from a heathen to a Christian basis.”

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and com-mercial phenomenon, celebrated every year on Dec. 25. For most cultures, the end of December was a time of celebra-tion. Early Romans, before the birth of Je-sus, would celebrate the darkest days of winter because in the daylight hours, the sun appeared less than it usually would when the worst of winter struck. Once that was over, the population would rejoice. In Scandinavia, the holidays were ful-filling for the people, but a nightmare for

perish. Because of his “presence,” many people stayed inside. A holiday called Saturnalia in Rome was celebrated to honor Saturn, the god of agriculture. During this holiday, slaves would become masters and masters would become slaves, reversing the Roman social order. This holiday ran from the first week of December to the very end. As the Ro-man Empire continued to grow, their holi-days continued to expand also. Romans began to celebrate with a feast honoring the children of Rome, marking a similarity

The evolution of Christmas:

cattle. Many cattle would be slaughtered for holiday food so Romans in Scandinavia could feast on them. Father and son would gather as many logs as they could and light a fire and feast as much as they wanted until all the logs were ashes -- this could last almost 12 days. In Germany, people honored the pa-gan god during the mid-winter holiday. The Germans were afraid of the pagan god Oden and believed he observed Germany through the skies to keep watch over his people to decide who was to prosper or

focus The Lakewood Times

7December 2013

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

313: All religions, including Christianity were legal-ized in Roman territories.325: At the 1st Council of Nicaea, Roman Emperor Constantine standardized Christian beliefs.According to the Catholic Church, Catholics began adopting pagan customs into Christianity.By the end of the century, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Somewhere between 386 - 430: Catholic Saint Augustine encouraged fellow believers not to celebrate Dec. 25 as the pagans did in honor of the sun. His advice was mostly ignored.

10th Century: Christmas, along with Chris-tianity, spread to Russia, where it became fused with the winter celebration of the ancient Slavs, honoring the spirits of the ancestors.

16th Century: Christmas traditions spread to branches of Protestants during the Protestant Reformation

1644: In England, Parliament discour-aged Christmas feasting due to its hea-then origin1652: Parliament banned Christmas by law

21st Century: Christmas came under attack again due to political- correctness and its heavy commercialism

1927: Jehovah’s Witnesses aban-doned Christmas celebrations after learning of their pagan origin

The evolution of Christmas:

between contemporary family activities. In the early years of Christianity, it was uncertain when Jesus was born. The church officials rejected Christmas as a holiday because of faulty information or lack of evidence. So in the fourth century,Christmas was not celebrated. Pope Julius II chose Dec. 25 as the day on which to celebrate Christmas. By the end of the eighth cen-tury, the celebration of Christmas spread throughout the Roman Empire and its popularity increased. The church hoped that by holding Christmas during the winter solstice, it would be popularly embraced. How-ever, it still lacked the meaning of ‘’Christmas’’ so some

focus

Photos courtesy of romaniva.com, and rockefellercenter.com

may wonder why during the holidays we buy gifts for our loved ones. That traditions has its roots in the fact that, in early Rome, the poor would go to the houses of high-class Romans and demand their best food and drink during the holiday. During that time, the rich would give the poor their best because, if they didn’t, the poor would stir up a ruckus. The ideal meaning of the holiday during that time was the rich had a sense of ‘’debt’’ to society, ensuring that presents were given to those less fortunate. Thus, many Roman traditions of the Christmas time cel-ebration came to compose the modern holiday.

a holiday timeline

8 The Lakewood Timesfocus

Ingredients

- 2(12 ounce) packages frozen French cut green beans

- 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, quartered

- 3 tablespoons butter - 1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced - 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley - 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour- ½ teaspoon lemon zest - ½ teaspoon of salt - 1 pinch ground black pepper - ½ cup of milk- 1 cup of sour cream- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese - 1 (2.8 ounce) can canned French fried onions

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).2. Place green beans into a saucepan and fill with about ½ inch of water. Bring to a boil and steam until beans are tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes. Drain and put in with the mushrooms. Set aside. 3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and parsley; cook and stir until onion is tender. Whisk in flour until blended, then mix in the lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring constantly, so that no lumps form and then stir in the sour cream.4. Warm over medium heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Dump the green beans and mushrooms, stirring to coat.5. Remove from the heat and toss briefly with some of the cheddar cheese and French fried onions, saving some of each to sprinkle on top. Spoon into 1 ½ quart casserole dish and top with the reserved onions and cheese.6. Bake in the preheated oven into the cheese melts, about 15 minutes.

Ingredients

Frosting:- 1 cup of sugar - ½ cup of water - ½ vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped - 1 ½ sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened- 2 teaspoons heavy cream - 1 pound of cream cheese, cut into 2- inch cubes

Cake: - 2 cups of all- purpose flour- 2 ¼ teaspoons of baking powder - 1 teaspoon salt- 1 teaspoon cinnamon - 1 teaspoon of ground ginger- ¾ teaspoon of baking soda - ½ teaspoon nutmeg- ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves - 1 ¼ cups of light brown sugar - 4 large eggs- ¾ cup of vegetable oil- one 15- ounce can pumpkin puree- ½ cup of whole milk

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, vanilla bean and seeds. Cook over high heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals from the saucepan. Cook over moderate heat without stirring until medium-dark amber caramel forms, about 9 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the butter and heavy cream. (The butter will separate.) Dis-card the vanilla bean. 2. Transfer the caramel to the large bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk and beat it at a low speed until the caramel cools slightly and comes together, about 5 min-utes. With the machine on, beat in the cream cheese, 1 cube at a time, beating well between additions, until silky. Transfer the frosting to a bowl and refrigerate until very firm, at least 6 hours. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8- inch round cake pans. 4. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, nutmeg, and cloves. 5. In a bowl using an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar and eggs at medium- high speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Beat in the oil, then beat in the pumpkin puree. 6. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk in 3 batches, beating well between additions. 7. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick is inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cakes, and then invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely.8. Place one layer on a plate and spread with 2 cup of the caramel- cream cheese frosting. Top with the second layer and frost the top and side. Refrigerate the cake for 2 hours before serving.

Pumpkin cake with caramel-cream cheese frosting

Green bean casserole from scratch Holiday foods

Photo courtesy of allrecipes.com

By Mackenzie Rivera

9December 2013 focus

Green bean casserole from scratch Holiday foods

Ingredients

- 1 (16 ounce) loaf of frozen white bread dough -2 tablespoons of butter, melted-½ cup finely chopped dried cranberries -2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger-2 tablespoons of snipped fresh sage-1 egg-1 tablespoon of water -12 small fresh sage leaves (optional)

Directions1. Thaw dough according to package directions, grease a large baking sheet; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12x10 inch rectangle. Brush with the melted butter; sprinkle the cranberries, crystallized ginger, and snipped sage. Starting from the long side, tightly roll up the rectangle into a spiral. Cut into twelve 1-inch slices. Place rolls on prepared baking sheet, standing rolls upright with seam sides down. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double the size. (About 30 minutes.) 2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl whisk together egg and the water. Brush rolls with egg mixture. If desired, gently press a small sage leaf into the top of each roll; brush leaves with remaining egg mixture. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cran-sage rolls

Photo courtesy of recipehearth.com

Carrot- mushroom stuffing

Ingredients- ¼ cup of butter or margarine - 6 cups of button mushrooms- ¼ cup of green onions (2)- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce - 1 ½ teaspoons of snipped fresh rosemary- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper - 6 cups of herb-seasoned stuffing croutons- 3 cups of coarsely shredded carrots - 1 ¼ / 1 ½ cups of water.

Directions1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook about 5 minutes or just until tender, stirring occasionally. Add green onions for the last 1 minute of cooking. Remove from heat. Stir in soy sauce, rosemary, and pepper. 2. In a large bowl, combine mushrooms mixture, herb seasoned stuffing croutons, add car-rots. Drizzle with enough of the 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups to moisten; toss lightly to combine. Spoon into a 2½ quart casserole.3. Cover with plastic wrap; chill for up to 24 hours.4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. If chilled, remove plastic wrap. If desired, drizzle with addi-tional ¼ cup of water to moisten. Bake, covered for 60-70 minutes or until hot in the center.

Photo courtesy of allrecipes.com

10 The Lakewood Timesfocus

LHS holiday traditions

“Santa Claus (aka my parents) used to hide one present somewhere in the house. It usually ended up being the one thing that I wanted more than anything else. One year my mother asked me to grab her a blanket from the closet and I discovered a Care Bear that Santa left. Another year I went down to the basement to play with my toys and Santa had left me a fully assembled Castle Grey Skull and Snake Mountain from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. I’ve never screamed so much in my life!” - Chris Overholt, English teacher

“Both of my parents and I are super busy during the holiday sea-son and we don’t see each other too much in the evenings, es-pecially around dinner time. So Chinese takeout has become a staple in our house during the holiday season as opposed to big fam-ily meals. I’m not necessarily complaining. I do love fortune cookies.” - Carleigh Spence, ‘15

By Matt Morgenstern

“My parents are divorced, so the holidays are always a time of back and forth. I almost never spend the holidays at just one family party —instead, we visit many friends and family. On Christmas Eve, we make as many as four or five stops to dif-ferent places. To us, family isn’t just about the people you’re blood-related to—it’s the people in your life that make you happy!” - Nora Varcho , ‘14

“The most unusual thing I could think of is that my brother and I have a tradition since early childhood of whoever wakes up first on Christmas morning drinks eggnog (which we both find fairly gross) and wakes the other by blowing slobbery eggnog breath in his face.” - Tim Rinehart, Social Studies teacher

keeping the season merry Just as festive as the rest

All photos courtesy of Woodard Photographic and Lifetouch Studios

Unknown Christmas films:

11December 2013 focusAll photos courtesy of imdb.com

Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas DonkeyNestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a 24 minute long 1977 Christmas TV special, which was

produced in stop-motion animation, is a surprisingly heartwarming and a fantastic family classic. The story is set in the days of the Roman Empire, and loosely follows the plot and ideas of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Nestor, a donkey born with abnormally large ears, is separated from his mother and taken away from the rest of his donkey family. Relying on his spirit and determination, he must find a way to travel to Bethlehem to find his true destiny. On his way, he meets new friends and be-comes a part of the greatest Christmas miracle of all.

Christmas in Connecticut Christmas in Connecticut is a 1945 romantic Christmas comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck, Den-

nis Morgan, and Sydney Greenstreet. The plot is centered around a recipe column writer who has exaggerated her life in the press, claiming to be a hard working farm girl, when in fact she lives in New York City and can hardly crack open an egg. She must frantically try to prepare a traditional Christmas dinner for her boss, who is incredibly impressed by her articles and wishes to taste her amazing cooking himself. An overall uplifting Christmas movie, Rotten Tomatoes rates it 8.8 out of 10.

The Bishop’s Wife The Bishop’s Wife is a 1947 Christmas romantic comedy, starring Cary Grant and Loretta Young. The

story is centered around a bishop who is spending no energy on Christmas spirit, and is instead put-ting all of his efforts towards fundraising for a new cathedral. An angel descends from above to aid him with his problems, but his troubles go far deeper than his fundraising. Known as a heartwarming classic to many, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 8 out of 10.

By Veronica Gordon We all know those classic Christmas films that everyone and his or her mother enjoys, ranging from A Christmas Story to Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The Muppet Christmas Carol. But not all great Christmas films are so well-known. Here are three cinematic selections that, although not commonly known, pack a lot of holiday spirit.

keeping the season merry Just as festive as the rest

12 The Lakewood Timesnews

The most popular time of the year is approaching fast, and may leave one wondering about what gifts to buy for someone. That’s right--the holidays are just around the corner. That means most stores, if not all, are going to do anything they can do to get someone to buy their latest and most pop-ular products. This may leave the buyer con-fused on what product is the most popular and affordable. One prod-uct that is sure to be a popu-lar gift this year is the new Galaxy 4S. Best Buy has this new Samsung phone on their website under the “Holiday Gift Center” tab. The buyer can find this on sale for $199.99 (with a new two year con-tract with AT&T), which is actually a fairly decent price for this brand new phone. On the not-so-cheap side of gifts, the Play Station Four (PS4) just came out on Nov. 15 and costs $400 for just the system and controller, but is a great gift for any gamer or non-gamer. So great in fact, the PS4 sold over one million systems in just 24 hours. Its main competitor, the Xbox One, was re-leased on Nov. 22 and is priced at $500. It doesn’t matter if one buys the Xbox or the PS4, they are both sure to be popular gifts this year. On the more affordable side, the iPhone 5C is only $100 (with a two- year contract) and is a really good price, considering this phone is a 16GB phone. The iPhone also includes the newest IOS update -- IOS 7. This year is a good year for tab-lets as well, especially with the holi-days just around the corner. Best Buy has said that they have been getting a lot of calls about the new-

est Microsoft tablet called the Micro-soft Surface Two. Although the Sur-face Two is about $550, it still comes with Windows 8 and Microsoft Office already pre-installed. Not to mention it has a 10.6 inch, full HD display. This holiday season is filled with special gifts to give someone, but

one must first know where to look and what the price range is for the product. Most of the products mentioned can be found in the aisleways of Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart. But you better hurry. They’re going fast.

The season’smost popular giftsby Robert Searles

All photos from products’ official websites

13December 2013 news

Drugged and drunk driving isn’t talked about nearly enough when you’re in high school. But may-be it should be. Whether teens or their parents want to believe it or not, it is still very likely to happen. According to the Center for Dis-ease Control (CDC), 1 in 10 teens in high school drink and drive, and they are 17 times more likely to die in a car accident when they have a blood alcohol concentration over .08%. Even if you aren’t among those teens, alcohol-impaired drivers put you at risk 112 million times a year, according to a 2010 report by the CDC. Even though driving while under the influence is not as com-mon, approximately one in eight high school seniors who responded to the 2010 Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) reported driving af-ter smoking marijuana within two weeks prior to the survey interview. December is about preventing such catastrophes, so what can we do to prevent impaired driving? Everyone can choose to not drink and drive and help others make the right decision as well. It may sound easy but it’s really not. If you know someone who is of legal age to drink, talk to them before they go out and make sure they have a safe way home. This could either be getting a taxi to drive them or have a designat-ed driver who doesn’t drink the whole night. If you have your license, offer to give them a ride home. Another thing that you should always do, no matter how short your trip, is buckle up. En-courage others in the car to buckle up as well, even those in the back seat. Most students here at Lakewood High School already took the pledge to not text and drive, but now it’s time to take another driving pledge. Make a commitment to yourself that you’re not going to let yourself, or others, drive while under the influ-ence of alcohol or drugs. Be safe, Lakewood.

By Emily Skeans

Drugged and drunk driving prevention monthmost popular gifts

Photo courtesy of healthyandroscoggin.com

Photo courtesy of healthyandrosscoggin.com

Alcohol induced motor

vehicle crashes cost more than an estimated

$37 billion yearly.-National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration

Photo courtesy of safetylane.org

14 The Lakewood Timesnews

Bond Issue passesLending a helping handShow what you can do for your community

By Emily Skeans

Photo courtesy of www.123rf.com

Many people really don’t know what holidays are all about. They just think that it’s time to get to-gether with family, get presents, and then eat a bunch of food. But what about those who don’t have a fam-ily to spend these holidays with? Or what about the families that don’t have the money to buy a festive dinner or presents? Fortunately, there are many people and groups that hold fundraisers to help those less fortunate. At the beginning of November, Lakewood High held its own fun-draiser. The junior class hosted “Hope for the Holidays” to raise money for the families who are unprivileged. All of the money raised went to the Lakewood Charitable Association Corpora-tion (LCAC), where volunteers

make holiday baskets for families on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, a little over 600 meals were provided to those families. Another fundraiser that Lake-wood High holds is the an-nual Toys for Tots campaign. The week of Dec. 9 to 13, se-niors who volunteered dressed up like elves to collect money. When classmates donated mon-ey, even if it is only two quar-ters, you could get a little treat. The goal of the drive was to collect as much money as pos-sible to make as many children’s dreams come true this year. All of the money will go to buying new, unwrapped toys for kids who are less fortunate than others. There are many other selfless things that you can do this holiday to make someone happy. You can donate to a charity or fundraiser,

or even run your own fundraiser. You can adopt a family, which means that you give them food certificates, buy toys for the kids, clothes, and other hygiene prod-ucts for older kids and adults. Another great thing to do is find someone who is usually alone for the holidays and invite him or her over for dinner. Or you could go to a nursing home and bring them a card or other gift, or even sing some Christmas carols. There’s nothing worse than be-ing alone on the holidays. If you know someone who has younger kids, volunteer to babysit for free. It can be really hard to do holi-day shopping without a babysitter. There are so many other things you can do for someone this holi-day season, so get out and spread the proverbial cheer. You won’tregret it.

15December 2013 news

By now, most people know about the bond issue for the Lakewood City School District. For those who do not know about it, it is a $3.25 million bond that grants the Lakewood City School District the funds to rebuild three schools and to improve Lakewood High School. The state of Ohio contributes part of the money, while Lake-wood taxpayers pitch in their share. Re-cently, voters passed this bond issue in hopes of improvement for the Lakewood City School District. Not only did the bond pass, but it won by over 3,000 votes, with 6,702 “yes” votes beating 2,842 “no”votes. So now that the bond has passed, Lake-wood’s old schools will be rebuilt. Grant, Lincoln, and Roosevelt elementary schools will be demolished and completely rebuilt. For LHS, it means that the modular units across from the building will be completely eliminated, and the whole East Wing of the LHS building will be demolished and rebuilt. “I feel very fortunate to be in Lake-wood High School -- a community where we all come together,” sophomore Cathren Kona explained. “Winning issue 84 will not only bring change to our school, but

LHS, Grant, Lincoln, and Roosevelt elementary schools. All photos courtesy of Lakewood City School District

Bond Issue passesBy Robert Searles

also to our community. As a student at Lakewood High, seeing a new change to our school would be a great deal.” When asked how he felt about the outcome of the bond, junior Andrew Summers said, “I feel great about it. It’s nice to know that the school will be better than how it is now.” Not only does this affect the Lakewood City School District, but it also affects homeowners too. The bond issue will cost an owner of a 100,000 dollar home about $131 each year. According to the Lakewood City School District, the passing of the bond will lower operating

costs, ensure up-to-date classroom space, and modernize safety systems. The demolition of the buildings is said to begin next summer and the construction of the buildings is going to be started in 2015. Lakewood City Schools superintendent Jeff Patterson told cleveland.com that the earliest that all these projects will be finished is in 2016.

“Bye-Bye” Mods. We’ll miss you...NOT

16 The Lakewood Timeslkwd life

Winter is here...and so is fashion!

Winter fashion means colorful pea coats, big crazy sweaters, and many other wintertime staples. Just because it’s too chilly to a don a short-sleeve shirt, it doesn’t mean you can’t improve your look with a fluffy cardigan. Most of the time fur is found on shoes or boots, but you can also add fur to your tops. Clothing can be tricky, for it’s all about balance and moderation. Find styles that flatter your body. For example, layers can be uncomfortable, but try keeping it limited. Choose colors that enhance your features. When layering, the possibility of making the most out of wearing a sweater has a host of options.

Suede is the new fashion statement. Match flannel with the suede pants and any footwear you prefer. Include a necklace or a bracelet that you see fits best.

The beanie attitude agrees with a full variety for winter, emboldening creativity. Make your look cool and carefree by adding a beanie to your head.The beanie is for everyone.

Classic knitwear seems to always be in style, meaning there is absolutely nothing wrong with a great sweater or scarf. Wool, cashmere, and cotton are always great. Just remember the fit is the most important thing when it comes to all things fashion related.

By Emily Suleiman

(From right to left) senior Mo Amawi, junior Jacob Corder, and sophomore Shannon Wood. Photos courtesy of Emily Suleiman

17December 2013 lkwd life

Lakewood High School’sUgly Sweater Contest!

By Emma Brady

As the leaves change color and the air grows colder, style must adapt to the season. With the chillier weather, and the in between season of autumn and winter, we must find ways to stay warm, with-out neglecting the annual trends. It may seem difficult to keep up with the trends, but some things will never go out of style. Boots and jackets are constantly chang-ing, but one look you can always incorpo-rate is the famous sweater. The concept of a sweater seems sim-ple, but it serves as a staple for just about anyone’s wardrobe. The different styles are what create such a fascination. There are so many different designs and various ways to wear them that they will always be in style. There are cardigans, cable knits, argyles, cashmeres, crewnecks, and vests. There are also those festive,

SENIOR DORIYAN COLEMAN!

HERE ARE SOME OFOUR OTHER FAVORITES!

(Top to bottom.) Senior Maddie Burns and sophomore Owen Smith “ugly it up.” All photos courtesy of Instagram

COME COLLECT YOURPRIZE INROOM B207!

holiday sweaters that are often worn more as a joke than as a fashion statement. Sweaters can complete that “go-to” outfit for rushed mornings or can even be worn for dressy events. You can dress them up with cable knit and a cute skirt or down with a crewneck and a knit scarf. They are the warmest of all tops, and the most comfortable of all looks. This sea-son, cardigans and oversized sweaters seem to be the biggest craze. As many are aware, Lakewood High School students are constantly “thrift-ing.” Unlike many surrounding areas, Lakewood students are transfixed by how cheap and entertaining an adventure to the thrift store can be. They never know what they might come across. At stores like Value World and Unique Thrift Store, a keen eye will guide your eye to the cutest

or the ugliest of sweaters. However, ugly sweaters are becoming not so ugly. They are becoming more and more popular with not only students at Lakewood, but in the fashion world as well. Thrift stores sell donated clothes from all over the area that are collected from a span of decades. Guys and girls can find fun, festive holi-day or everyday sweaters, and the more dated, the more fun it becomes. Now, it is your turn. You know you have an ugly sweater you have been dying to wear. It could be covered in cats or light up and sing. Even if it is part of your ev-eryday style, or not, you know you have one. This is Lakewood High School’s first ever Ugly Sweater Challenge, and follow-ing a bountiful number of both Instagram and Twitter entries, The Lakewood Times staff has chosen...(fabricated drum roll please)....

18

Three to four million animals are killed every year because there aren’t enough adoptive homes.*

Photos by Veronica GordonThe hopeful faces of the homeless

The Lakewood Timeslkwd life

19

There are an estimated 70 million stray dogs and cats in the United States.*

The hopeful faces of the homeless

*According to dosomething.org

December 2013 lkwd life

20 lkwd life

The Phoenix's Ashtray Our section “The Phoenix’s Ashtray” is a compatriot to LHS’s literary publication, The Phoenix. In every issue, we aim to showcase unseen poetic and short-story authors of the high school who don’t always own their own soapboxes. If you’d like to be a contributor in a future issue, send an email of composed works to M.Morgenstern8866@lakewoodcityschools.org or visit Mr. Ebner in B207 for more details. This issue’s featured writer is junior Nabelh Manaa, a participant in LHS’s Poetry Slam.

“Confidence”I wrote to you a letter ofWhat I think they said was loveConfidence held in my hand;Then I thought, and thought again;But when I thought back, I lost my trackOf where I am and where I stand.Confidence held in my hand,Confidence held in my hand;But when I thought back,I lost my trackOf where I am and where I stand.Confidence reached out her hand,Confidence let me down again.Confidence crawled in her den,Confidence let me down again.‘Cause when I thought back,I lost my trackOf where I am and where I stand.

“The Justification”Can you give me a reason?For treason?And if you find one, let me know.And I’ll give you a rabbitWith fur as white as snow.And you wonderAnd you ponderThe question left unsaid,But if I told you the answer,Why, it’s an answer you’d dread.That rabbit I gave you,Take a look—it’s dead;And the color of its fur,Not white--but red.And the gleam in its eyes That once sparkled with gleeIs out like a lightFor eternity.You slaughtered your countryYour people, Your kind…So I’ll ask you the question:

Have you lost your mind?

The Lakewood Times

21December 2013 21lkwd lifelkwd life

The Phoenix's Ashtray“Something Wicked this Way Comes”Behold the light the shinesthe evil in our eyesthe swift and passing mistdisregarded as the windas we walk a solemn marchto the darkness of our archand words die at our lips--a total self eclipse.Yet we thrash in our bindstry to mask the truth that hidesall a sudden desperationspeaking forth from our minds--reading but between the lines. everlasting, evermoreis the silence I deplore:a strangled voice mangled into silencein proportion to the violenceescalating in the mistserpentine, gathered great:the golden apple of our hate and the arbiter of our fate-- unless we retaliate. Peer--pierce into the misttear it open with your fist.Let it rumble, let it joglet it disperse into the fogonly shred between your claws. You are human; you are sane.Jump back into life’s refrainOne has choices, one has gameone decides their cause of fame. One has virtue, one has fear.One has insecurities creeping nearYet One has Faith, one has Love, Who claimed that wasn’t enough?

December 2013

“Untitled”I saw a town so small and fairbut for its unknowns, please bewarea single step, the sun will burninside your head, your mind will turnand even thought there’s much to learn--to home, my heart, will always yearn.For this project, unfortunately,I had someplace I’d rather beAnd even though I’d said it thrice, and said it so it sounded nice,They failed to seethat I could beFed to a dog that had rabies.I saw its ears, flailing wildlyJumping up the fence, slobbering blindlyHad a tail--a tale to tell!Of Lakewood, and she made me yell:What good could be in this town?I know they told me ‘look around’But I failed to seeThat I could beStuck in a town of simplicity...So children...Lakewood, Lakewood, is no fun,Lakewood, Lakewood hurts someoneAnd out this town, BOY! I’ll run!Well, as soon as these studies are done...

22 The Lakewood Timeslkwd life

One of the great things that Lakewood High School has to offer is that students have such a wide variety of art and music programs to choose from. There are pro-grams ranging from ceramics and the cre-ative arts to any of the music programs. Currently our orchestra has a lot planned for this winter season. On Dec. 7, Lake-wood celebrated its annual Light Up Lake-wood event and the orchestra played at Lakewood Hospital. Devon Sherepita, a senior in the orches-tra who plays violin, explained, “At Light Up Lakewood, we play inside of the atrium at the hospital. We’re also working and pre-paring for our upcoming winter concert.” Something unique will be occurring at this year’s winter concert. This year, they will be combining the orchestra, band, and the choir into one concert. “It’s going to be the first time that this has happened so

it’s a big deal,” said Sherepita. “Also it’s re-ally cool because we sound pretty powerful when we all play together.” Having played for the orchestra for her entire high school career, Sherepita really enjoys being with the group. Sherepita has played the violin throughout high school and began in the second grade. “Orchestra in general is a pretty cool time because we all work together to make one great piece of music,” said Sherepita. “It’s such an awesome feeling the moment we play a piece all the way through.” Sherepita also mentioned how much the hard work pays off after completing a piece of music. Playing in the orchestra, like the band and choir groups, takes a certain level of skill. Because of this, there are different skill levels. “There are five different orchestras at the high school,” said Sherepita. “In or-der of difficulty there’s string, philharmonic,

LHS’s Orchestra program... ...something for everyone

By Aaron Morit cameratta, symphonic, and chamber. The Lakewood Project is then above those.” With each new year, the orchestra plays different songs for the Pop concert, Light Up Lakewood, the winter, and spring con-certs and then finally the contests. “My favorite songs are ‘When Love Came Down’ and ‘Carol of the Bells’,” said Sherepita. With the upcoming events, the Lake-wood Orchestra will be busy and its prob-able that the citizens of Lakewood will be anxiously waiting to hear the orchestras perform.

LHS’s Symphony Orchestra practices with director Beth Hankins presiding. Photo courtesy of Veronica Gordon

23opinion

Peet’s Coffee and Tea opened on Sept. 19 in Lakewood at 15105 Detroit Ave., as part of a series of Northeast Ohio Caribou Coffee replacements.

Now, we all might have differences on our favorite coffee shop, but both Peet’s and Caribou both offer their own fine drinks. However, these two coffee shops are very different in both style and taste.

The Detroit Ave. location is not the only one that changed from Caribou into Peet’s Coffee and Tea. Now we just have to acquaint ourselves with a new menu of concoctions. Some seasonal favorites at Peet’s include the Cinnamon Gingerbread Frappuccino, Peppermint Mocha Frappuc-cino, Eggnog Frappuccino, and the Sea Salt Carmel Mocha Frappuccino. All of these sound very delicious and very sea-sonal. Everyone has his or her own taste and favorites in coffee so these offer quite a range from which to choose.

“I had the Carmel Frappuccino and it was very tasteful and the setup inside was very different from usual,” said sophomore Leah Robertson. Peet’s Coffee was started by its name-sake Alfred Peet, when he opened his first location in California on April 1, 1996. Peet grew up in the coffee trade business. He and his family came to America after World War II. Peet’s Coffee and Tea has provided new competition to Starbucks and many other coffee shops. This new coffee shop may take a little getting used to with a different style inside and a different background, but it seems that it’s off to a good start. A little change never hurt anyone.

: a new way to keep Lakewood caffeinated

By Olivia Rinehart

December 2013

Photos courtesy of Veronica Gordon and Peet’s Coffee website

24 The Lakewood Timesopinion

A little while ago I was asked by a fel-low classmate why Chanukah (also called Hanukkah and the Menorah Holiday), oc-curred on Thanksgiving of this year. Now I was as befuddled as she, but she had good reason to question me—I am Jewish on my father’s side, and audibly so, as my classmates would attest. I was often bullied in middle school for my Judaism by a few peers who would drop various coins at my feet and then chortle about through Oscar-winning per-formances of fake-indifference. But they only saw me for my Jewish side, which had been through the whole Bar Mitzvah gig, the “Matiyahoo” consecration, and the neurotic Jewish grandmother who has a panic attack on the day of the reception and couldn’t attend the actual event she encouraged my beleaguered father to or-ganize. But hear this readers—my mother is of a different faith which nearly a billion others count themselves as a part of…Catholicism. Therefore, I am of both faiths—I’m a halfie, or as labeled by an LHS student teacher with a similar lineage, a “Cashew.” Now when people learn of these truths, an automatic response is shot like an Ala-mo gunshot, usually running as, “So you get double presents? Luuuuccckkky!” In fact, I had a friend say this just the other day. But through all the digressions, yes I am privy to both the luxuries of Christmas and Hanukkah, the latter with one day of presents and the other with eight times as much (days of gifting, for those of you un-aware of Maccabees lore). Why this is so remarkable to some es-capes me. Gifts are simply gifts, things we give each other and say thank you or re-turn some half-hearted smile/grimace. But some people think I receive so much of them—this is not so. Often for Hanukkah, my younger brother and I are only given certain items only half of the allotted eight days—the displeasure reeking throughout my house practically extinguishes the fire of the Shamash (one of the candles on the Menorah)!

The joys of being a “Cashew*” (*half Catholic/half Jewish)

Stay connected at www.lakewoodtimes.net!

Christmas ain’t some grand stand either. You see, my parents are already cognitive of our receiving quite a mother lode of ob-jects of the gift card, clothing, video, and internet varieties, and therefore are less in-clined to go about fiendishly a week before to get out desired Christmas items. Thus, the presents are less, the turkey often poorly prepared, and the mellow damp-ened by my brother’s moral obligation to play his one new Xbox thingama-jig for five hours, and our Christ-mas is effectively ruined just like the Griswold’s. But you may say, “There’s still hope for the Cashew clan Matt! Help the poor, sing some carols, go to service, and spread the love!” Nope. We are lazy, hungry peo-ples. Also Cashews can’t sing (ask my showers), and we often yell in our houses as means of domestic strife. It’s an irreparable Cashew catastrophe, Charlie Brown! And like the holidays, I shall make this short and sweet. Being a Cashew isn’t all it’s cracked up to be -- we often quar-rel, have neurotic relatives, get uneven amounts of presents, and sometimes have to learn and store information about both histories of our theologies. So stay away from the Cashew plant my friends—it’s poisonous, frugal, and con-stantly chattering in your ear about boots being left outside or not letting a friend of theirs, who you’ve never met and they haven’t seen in half a century, come to your Bar Mitzvah reception.

By Matt Morgenstern

Art by Maggie Jawhari

25December 2013 sports

Beginning when he was just three years old, Gordi Myer has been on a pair of skates playing hockey before he could spell. Since he began, Myer has played for a variety of teams, but none of which in-cludes our own high school team. “Play-ing for the high school wouldn’t get me as much scouting opportunities as compared with playing for a travel team,” said Myer. Like AAU in basketball and volleyball, there are hockey travel leagues which are frequently scouted and serve as opportu-nities for aspiring players to play in front of college scouts. Currently Myer plays for the Cleveland Barons, who play in the Tier One Elite Hockey League. Besides the Cleveland Barons, Myer has played for the Sylvania Maple Leafs and Dearborn which play in Detroit. Hockey is considered one of, if not the, toughest game in the world of sports. “I enjoy the physicality of the game as well the quick pace,” said Myer. “I also like the fact that hockey is a team sport.” Myer plays as a defenseman for the Barons, which is a position that requires a great level of physicality. This should be no problem for Myer, who enjoys the tough play that hockey brings. Currently, division-one colleges Ohio State, Michigan State, and Air Force are recruiting Myer.

Stay connected at www.lakewoodtimes.net!

Gordi Myer, another “Great One”By Aaron Morit

Photo courtesy of Gordi Myer

Art by Maggie Jawhari

26 The Lakewood Timesopinion

The city by the lake, the city of “Rock n’ Roll”, and the city of champions… wait I take that last one back. As you all know, Cleveland sports has been an example of futility in the world of sports. The last time any of the three pro-fessional teams in Cleveland won a cham-pionship was in 1964 when the Cleveland Browns won their last NFL title. Cleveland, once upon a time, was tops in sports. For those who don’t know, the Browns actually have more NFL cham-pionships than the Pittsburgh Steelers, with four in the All-American Football Conference and four more in the National Football League. The Indians were once a force to be reckoned with, winning two World Series (1920 and 1948) in the first half of the 20th century. And don’t forget their dominance in the 90’s where the Tribe reached the World Series twice (1995 and 1997). Even though their history is shorter, the Cavaliers even made it to the NBA Finals in 2007 to only lose to the clearly superior San Antonio Spurs. But that was the past and, since then, there have only been short flashes of success but nothing continually sustained through each different regime. And obvi-ously there are no titles to even show for those brief moments in the sun. To summarize, Cleveland sports has been labeled by a long series of mistakes and shortcomings. There’s the “Fumble,” the “Drive,” the “Sweep,” the “Catch,” the “Shot,” the “Decision,” and the list just goes on and on. It also seems to be a widely held opinion that Cleveland sports in general are some of the worst in the nation or of all-time. In an October online-article for GQ, a list of the 20 worst sports franchises of all-time was printed. At number one -not one, not two-but all three major Cleveland sports franchises were put at number one. But it seems that, in Cleveland, there

is never an event going on that could be dismissed due to its lack of support. We support our teams, no matter what. This, for Cleveland sports, is the sea-son of unbridled optimism. First, we have the Cleveland Indians, a baseball team that hasn’t won a World Se-ries in 65 years. This is second only to the Chicago Cubs who haven’t won a World Series in 105 years. But under new manager Terry Franco-na, the Indians had a leader who had once attained success capturing two World Se-ries titles (2004 and 2007) with the Boston Red Sox. The Tribe also acquired some new blood with off-season acquisitions Michael Bourne and Nick Swisher. It was then thought that with his expe-rience, Francona would be able to lead the Indians to the playoffs, which he did. With a flurry of wins in the month of September, the Indians were able to capture the top wild card spot. But unfortunately that was as good as it got. The Tribe lost in a one game playoff to the Tampa Bay Rays. Looking back on their season, it seems the Tribe needed that big bat in the middle of the order. At times, the Cleveland lineup would go stagnant, barely producing runs. So a consistent hitter or a slugger might jump start the offense. As for pitching, Cleveland had good, but not great, starting pitching with Ub-aldo Jimenez and Justin Masterson being our one and two aces. Our bullpen is another story. On many occasions the Indians couldn’t hold a lead late and lost due to bad relief and the closing pitching. The former All-Star closer Chris Perez was widely seen as the root of this, a living symbol of the Indians’ inability to close games. Fortunately he’s been released from the team. But with an entire offseason to work with the team, maybe Francona (the win-ner of the AL Manger of the Year for this past season) will be able to work some

of his previous magic on the Tribe. And maybe he’ll make them into a serious title contender. This, although, is merely a hopeful wish. When it comes to football, Cleveland has a rich history of success. They’ve had football greats such as Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Ozzie Newsome, and Lou Groza. And with these great players, the Browns have won the third most champi-onships in NFL history. They only trail the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. For those who think that only Super Bowls count, I only reply with the fact that football was created in 1879 and played professionally since 1892. The first Super Bowl was in played in 1967. This year, the Browns got off to their first 3-2 start since 2001 when they last made the playoffs. However, as of Dec. 1, they are 4-7 and in last place in a tight AFC Central division. Going into week 13, they sit only a couple games behind in-state adversary Cincinnati. If they went on this season to actually win a playoff game, it would be the first since 1994 when they beat the New Eng-land Patriots in a Wild Card matchup. So far the Browns have been led by their defense, which is in the top ten for total yards, running yards and passing yards allowed. The offense, on the other hand, has been for the most part -- lifeless If the Browns end up falling out (if or whenever it may be…) Cleveland fans will most likely blame the lack of an of-fense. This could mostly be due to the fact that the Browns have had twenty different starting quarterbacks since drafting Tim Couch back in 1999. Fortunately for them, they have two upcoming first-round draft picks af-ter trading away the ineffective Trent Richardson. It’s could be assumed that

A season of unbridled optimism

By Aaron Morit

Is Cleveland on to something, or is this all a fantasy?

27December 2013 sports

a quarterback is at the top of their wish-list. Finally, we have the Cleveland Cavaliers who, of the three teams, was the most recent to reach their respective title game. Recovering from the effects of “The Decision” made by “he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned,” the Cavs seem to be getting back on track. The Cavs of the 90’s were a playoff team each year, but they always seemed to run into Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls. The Bulls, for those who don’t know, won six NBA titles during the nineties, and if it weren’t for a brief career change by Jordan, the Bulls could’ve won eight straight, completely domi-nating the decade. But that’s the Bulls. The Cavs in the past few years have been building up key pieces, with their centerpiece being point guard Kyrie Irving. Irving has come to be viewed as the second coming of the savior who’s going to lead the Cavs to their first long-sought title. Other acquisitions have been draft picks Tristan Thompson, An-thony Bennett, and Dion Waiters. In free agency, the Cavs made a big splash by signing Andrew Bynum, who a couple years ago was an All-Star (and world-cham-pion) with the Los Angeles Lakers. Other notable free agent signings include former Laker Earl Clark and everyman Jarrett Jack. Coaching for the Cavs also has seen changes as Byron Scott was given the boot and now already former Cavs coach Mike Brown has taken the reigns. Brown led the Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals back in 2007, and with the King of South Beach, groomed the Cavaliers into being one of the better teams of the last decade. If the Cavaliers are able to avoid injuries and can keep their young nucleus together, they can become a playoff team this year and be a contender for years to come. Now that’s depending on if the Bynum signing doesn’t fail and Cleveland doesn’t have another “Decision.” If you tend to see the glass as half-full, then Cleveland has

Percent of Votes # of VotesIndians 52.8% 56Cavaliers 28.3% 30Browns 28.3 30Total Voters: 106

Which Cleveland team will be the first to win a championship?

Percent of Votes # of VotesIndians 44% 93Browns 27% 56Monsters 15% 31Cavaliers 14% 30Total Voters: 210

Which Cleveland team is your favorite?

Polls courtesy of lakewoodtimes.net

How soon will a Cleveland pro sports team win a championship?

Percent of Voters # of Votes1-5 years 27.6% 216-10 years 31.6% 2411-15 years 10.5% 8

16-20 years 30.3% 23

Total Voters: 76

a bright future ahead of itself and its professional teams. But if you tend to be a little more pessimistic then you’ll probably believe that this is all too good to be true and that Cleveland will forever be the “Fac-tory of Sadness.”

28 The Lakewood Timessports

By Aaron Morit and Kelton Greenwood

Winter Sports:Return of the chalk, balls, mats, pucks, balance beams, and speedos

All photos courtesy of Woodard Photographic

29December 2013 sports

The Girls’ Rugby team will compete against high school and college teams once again this season. The team will have many returning key players, including senior captain Shailah Anderson, seniors Danielle McCombs, Jianna McCullough and juniors Cynthia Fuentes and Sara Odetallah. The girls qualified for States last year and hope to do the same this year. McCullough said, “Every game we have, we need to find a way to win.”

The hockey team has eight returning seniors this year, led by senior captains Matt Johnson, Tommy Kettle, and Zach Moran. Other seniors are Hunter Nugent, Nate Hinchley, Nick Hinchley, Victor Dobos and Cooper Strachan. Johnson described their goals as a team this year as realistic and attainable. “Our goals this year is to make it to the Baron Cup and placed first,” said Johnson. The team has a long season ahead of them, with losses to Parma ( 3-5 ) and Midview (2-3) and a win against Elyria Catholic (5-2.) The team so far is 1-2 (as of Dec. 9) and will continue to try to achieve their team goal of winning the Baron Cup.

The Lady Rangers will have six returning seniors this year and won their first game against St. Joe’s Acade-my 68-48, but lost their following game to highly-ranked to Berea-Midpark 57-44. Next, the Lady Rang-ers easily won their three games against Amherst, Bay, and Avon. Senior captains are Megan Barrett, Mag-gie Rowell, and Victoria Milicevic. Other senior standouts include Erin Hoffert, Allison Mazzeo, and Daleen Zakaib. So far the team is 4-1 (as of Dec. 9) and have three consecutive wins and hope to continue their winning streak to go for conference championship and advance as far as possible in tournament play.

The Boys’ Basketball team this year will have six returning seniors in Paul Geballa, Shawn McDonald, Jake Schmidt, Dan Mathews, Mike Angers and Tyshawn Goolsby. The team lost their first match to Lorain (59-67) and won their next game against Avon (62-51) , thus far being 1-1, as of Dec. 9. The team hopes to use McDonald and Schmidt, who is re-covering from a major injury, as a key factor in their games.

Hockey:

Girls’ Rugby:

Girls’ Basketball:

Boys’ Basketball:

Gymnastics: Coming in to this season, the Lakewood gymnastics team will have a wide range of talent. And at top of the list will be senior Grace Hinslea-Burke. Hinslea-Burke qualified for districts last year before a sprained ankle derailed her season. “We have strong team spirit no matter what the outcome of the season is,” said Hinslea-Burke. The Rangers gymnastics team saw a couple changes this season. “We’ve changed it up this year,” said Hinslea-Burke. “Practices are now before school so it’s going to be something we all have to get used to.” Besides Hinslea-Burke, the talent on the team ranges from those who’ve performed gymnastics for four years to those who are just starting. “Emily Pearlman, a freshman, has great potential I believe,” said Hinslea-Burke. Other seniors team members include Rachel Bucey-Leopold, Marissa Ellis, Audrey Bauman, Roberta Baccanti, and Katie Meehan.

Wrestling: The Ranger wrestling squad will have to deal with a lack of seniors after having a winning season last year. Leading the way will be senior captains Clarence Norris, Roberto Sclimenti, and Kelton Greenwood. “Our team is very young this year. We only have five seniors, but our team is stable and has good technique overall,” said Norris. With almost no upperclass-men, younger wrestlers will get valuable experience. “A lot of our guys improved from last year and should get more and more mat time,” said Sclimenti. Other bright spots on the team include seniors Yassir Abdelsalam and James Shawley, and junior Airren Robinson. Both Norris and Sclimenti hope to have winning seasons this year. As of Dec. 5, the wrestling squad is 4-1.

Swimming - Boys and Girls: This season, boys and girls swimmers will have a new coach to grow accustomed to. Senior Sara Neff said, “That is something that the team will need to get used to.” Neff swims the 500-meter and 100 meter breaststroke for the girls’ swim team. Other seniors for the girls include Olivia Lawrence, Analise Beltran, Alyssa Hasman, Amy Garlesky, Maggie Bour, Grace Bulchick, Maeve Christie, Anna Riddle, Annie Murray, Ella Blackman, Claire Corridoni, and Grace Latham. Another bright spot for the girls is freshman Kelley Reis, who swims the 100 backstroke and the 50 free. For the boys, numbers are down this season. Seniors David Kemp, John Liber, Hayden Bish, Matt Suire and Luke DeBaltzo will have to provide solid leadership for the boys. For both, the swim teams hope to send people to districts, especially the relay teams.

30 The Lakewood Timesthe end

The final wordBy Veronica Gordon

The holiday season seems like a rush for all of us. With people getting into the holiday spirit even before Thanksgiving, there is more than enough time for planning and anticipation. The whirl of holiday advertisements, whether they are of Christmas or Chanukah in origin, certainly increase excitement of passing shoppers. It’s a certain fact that the winter months are a gor-geous time, and sometimes there is no gift more gratifying or enchanting than just watching the snow softly fall.

The appeal of nippy weather is associated with many things that prove that it is the small actions that make the holiday season so special. Sure, shopping and gifts are all good fun, but what can beat curling up in front of a blazing fireplace with a good movie and a warm cup of hot cocoa while a blizzard whips outside? Moments like this are what make the months to come some of the best of the year.

Although we all hopefully have realized by now that gifts are not really the main reason of the holiday season, they are still a priority in our brains. Buying gifts for a friend or family member is both one of the most rewarding, and one of the most frustrating, tasks of Christmas.

When you buy a gift for someone, there is always a sliver of doubt that maybe you chose wrong, or used bad judgment, or that you should have gotten that gift receipt when the cashier asked you. The gift could range from one to 100 dollars, but either way it will certainly be enjoyed if you put true thought into it. It takes some of us more than half of our lives to realize the fact that a gift is not of physical importance, but that it truly is the thought that counts.

This holiday season, while cuddling up with your favorite movie or while frantically doing last-minute shopping, put thought into something you do for someone you care about, and you might just make their day just a little more jolly.

Art by Maggie Jawhari