The Purple Quill - December 2021

Always There

They’re Everywhere

New Bites

Ben Hambleton profiles Elder’s unsung heroes - the trainers see Faculty Features - pg. 7

The Quill staff loves to review Christmas movies see pgs. 10, 12 and 14

Staff Writers share tidbits about the New Year see Panther Bites- Back Page

Published by the Students of Elder High School

December 20, 2021

Volume 90 Number 4

Food & Toy Drive aids local community Jack Sheridan ‘22 Co-Editor-in-Chief

As families across the world prepare to

celebrate Christmas, the stress that often comes with buying presents for one’s family and friends is piling up for many.

While this stress could come from various causes, such as not knowing what gift to buy for someone, for a great deal of families, including ones in the Cincinnati community, it can stem from financial worries.

Each year, many families around the Cincinnati area undergo financial struggles during the holiday season and struggle to provide gifts for their families.

Keeping this in mind, Elder hosts the annual Food & Toy Drive during Christmastime, serving the local community by providing families with food and toys to ensure that they are able to enjoy the holiday season.

Members of the Elder community, including students, faculty, parents, etc., help out with the event this year, and a great deal of work goes into making the Food & Toy Drive successful each year.

To get some more information about the plans for the event this year, I talked to Elder High School’s Community Service Coordinator, Mr. Warren.

I first wanted to get a bit of backstory on the event and some general history about the Food & Toy Drive, so I asked Mr. Warren how long Elder has been doing the event. He told me that despite his efforts to figure out when the first Food & Toy Drive was, he was unable to come up with the exact year that it was established; however, Mr. Warren told me that when

he started his career at Elder back in 2007, the event had already been well established as an annual tradition at the school.

When asked what the goal of doing the Food & Toy Drive each year is, Mr. Warren responded, “Christmas can be an especially stressful and disappointing time for families who are struggling financially.

Many of the parents are already stretching their money to meet the basic needs of their families. Their kids know that Christmas is supposed to be a time when they get some fun toys. We strive to help these families have a little more food and have presents to put under the tree.”

Nevertheless, Elder has undoubtedly served countless families in the local community through the event over the years.

With this fact in mind, I asked Mr. Warren how many families Elder will be serving this year, as well as what some of the items that Elder will be providing will be.

He told me that Elder will be serving 215 families this year, and based on his response, many different items will be provided through the event this year.

“Peanut butter, jelly, tuna, soup, cereal, stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and cookies. Families also get either a turkey or ham. Most of the families include kids who get some presents.

Some of the parishes and organizations we partner with participate so families can get the food but have other programs for Christmas presents,” said Mr. Warren.

Clearly, Elder has gathered many items to give to the recipients. It is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Warren and Mr. Kovacic will not be the only people participating in the Food & Toy Drive and

Mr. Warren oversees the staging of all the fod and toy pakages for the needy families of the area. Boxes and bags are numbered to keep them organized.

Student volunteers carry boxes from the fieldhouse staging area.

that they need the help of Elder’s student body in order to make the event successful.

I asked Mr. Warren if he knew how many Elder students would be helping out with the event (this includes setting up the night before, packaging the boxes, wrapping the gifts, delivering the packages, etc.).

“It takes a lot of different groups of people to make this event possible.

Families have been donating turkeys since before Thanksgiving. Families that donate toys have been dropping them off throughout the year. The number of toys coming in increases after Thanksgiving.

Students in the community service classes will help on Thursday by getting boxes and toys out of storage. Student Council will help pack the boxes the night before the distribution. It will take them a few hours. Thirty parents of Elder students will come to wrap presents the day of the distribution. We are asking for 24 students to help load and unload the trucks we use to deliver to our partner agencies and parishes. Our partners will get the food and toys to the families. We started doing this because of the pandemic and found it actually works better. Mr. Kovacic and I collaborate on this for a few months leading up to the event,” said Mr. Warren.

Speaking of the pandemic, many of Elder traditions were forced to be reworked in order to follow COVID-19 regulations. As for the Food & Toy Drive, last school year’s looked very different from previous years, as most of the tasks of the event were given to classes like community service, and the event was not really open to Elder’s student body.

Obviously, this is not the case this year, and Elder will rely on many more people in the Elder community to help, like Mr. Warren said.

Having said that, not every change that was made to the event last year will go away. Similar to how the Admissions

Department kept the scheduled tours at this year’s Open House, the Community Service Department will keep some of the same protocols as last year for this year’s Food & Toy Drive.

Discussing this, Mr. Warren told me, “Our plan is similar to last year. We are asking for a few more students to help with loading and unloading. Students have generously volunteered to help in so many ways. It’s wonderful to see the generosity of the Elder High School family.”

The Food & Toy Drive is an excellent way to give back to the local community, and by making sure that families can celebrate and enjoy Christmas, Elder can be an example of how to truly live out the phrase, “Altiora.”

Dr. Tucker packs the band truck before delivery to local agencies.

Inside The Quill Opinion...........................................2,3 Faculty Features..........................4,5,6 Student Features..........................7,12 Sports.........................................8,9,10 From the Archives.....................11,13 Arts & Entertainment....................15 Back Page.........................................16

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Monday December 20, 2021

Opinion

Why the Schaeper lot needs changes Seth Trischler ‘22 Co-Editor in Chief

Every semester students enter a lottery in hopes of getting a parking spot that is ran-

domly assigned to every winner. This year I hit the jackpot, or so I thought. My spot was three spots away from the doors of the Schaeper Center.

Unfortunately, I ended up giving that spot away. One may ask why I gave it up and the reason is because this past semester I took Community Service. I was chosen as one of the drivers, so with that I got a free parking spot, so I had the chance to either not take the spot from Community Service and keep my spot from the lottery or get my money back and just take the Community Service spot. I decided to take the Community Service spot because it was the very first spot alongside the wall. I did not know this at the time, but that spot is not what it appears to be.

To start things off there is a telephone pole located directly to the right of the spot and a giant pothole right where your front tires would sit when parked. The steps also that connect the lot to Seton’s campus are right next to my spot. All together this over time has shown me that I have to be the very first person out or I will not get out of the lot till 2:45 due to the fact that the line of cars forms right behind my spot, making me unable to back out.

My parking spot this semester has allowed me to realize how terrible the Schaeper lot really is. My spot is just one of many of the reasons why the Schaeper lot is extremely flawed. It is about time someone stands up and speaks for change. In the paragraphs following, I will go over the changes that need to happen in order to make the lot a valid parking area.

Since I have gotten my parking spot, I have also gotten into a wreck too. You might ask how this is related to the Schaeper lot at all. Well, the wreck happened two inches from the entrance to the lot. One brisk morning I was about to pull into the lot from Glenway like I always do but this time I had to wait to turn because some “smart” person decided to take up the entire entrance while they were pulling out. This then caused the car behind me to rear end me. This great experience leads me to the first reason on how the Schaeper lot could improve. This is that the entrance from Glenway into the Schaeper lot should be split into two halves: one for entering the lot and one for exiting the lot. The gate itself is already big enough to fit two cars and I think it would allow quicker access and no “smart” person ever again to block the entire entrance.

Another change that needs to happen is for the grass filled area next to the spots facing Panther court be destroyed and paved. This would create up to around fifteen to twenty new spots. It would also shift all the spots around that area too so there is more space for cars to drive through. The west parking lot got expanded and it looks great so why can’t the Schaeper lot be improved too.

There are also way too many blind spots while trying to navigate your way through the parking lot. There is one every time you are about to turn a corner and there are so

Omicron concerns officials Kellen Sandhas ‘22 Staff Writer

On November 11, 2021, a Covid variant called Omicron was

detected in Botswana, and three days later it was again detected in South Africa.

On November 30, the United States of America declared it as a variant of concern or a VOC. This matter has been quite a big deal for the CDC. They are teaming up with other World Health professionals to find a way to stop this. Some may question though, why are there new variants? Or how do they start?

A variant is a form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing or from a standard. So, the Omicron variant is basically the same thing as every other covid variant, just different in a few of its own respects. It seems like there is always going to be a new variant. The vaccine will help with stopping the original covid, but there may be a need for a new vaccine according to the maker of Pfizer.

Back to the omicron topic, we know how easily it spreads, the severity of the illness, or how well vaccines and medication work against it. The Omicron variant likely will spread more easily than the original virus and how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown.

Seth Trischler’s wretched first semester parking spot (B1) located along the wall facing Seton.

many people in a hurry that I am honestly surprised that there has yet to be a head-on collision. This is another thing that could be improved when the grass area gets fixed. Fellow classmate, Will Singler ’22, agreed with this and stated, “There needs to be more exits whether that is connecting the lot to Seton somehow or making another exit elsewhere.” I agree with Will here and believe another exit would create easier flow when entering and leaving the lot.

Now a law per say that must be implemented is that any person that gets their spot taken should be able to block the car that took their spot in by parking behind them until Mr. Flaherty finds the culprit. Now if you have ever gotten your spot taken from you then you know the process of you being late to school and having to take a picture of the car’s license plate and give it to Mr. Flaherty. While this sounds like an effective route to go you are probably better off just taking a visitor parking spot and calling it a day.

Mr. Flaherty has a busy schedule and the last thing on his mind is to find out who took another’s parking spot when the odds of it happening again are low. There have been up to six times this year when my spot has been taken though and I have reported it, but nothing has happened. I believe implementing this rule could help drastically to make the Schaeper lot a better parking lot.

Now in summary, is participating in the lottery worth it? Yes and No. Yes, because it allows you to leave later and not having to worry about finding a spot on all the streets surrounding Elder. It also helps ensure that no one breaks into your car. But I would also argue no, because there are a lot of spots in the lot that are just plain out terrible.

Ultimately, I do not think the Schaeper lot is good at all and until there are changes made, I do not recommend anyone spending twenty-five dollars on a spot that you could get for free on the roads around Elder. Like I stated before, that comes with the risk of your car being broken into but if you’re a cheap skate like me then that risk is worth it.

CDC expects that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or don’t have symptoms. More data are needed to know if Omicron infections, and especially reinfections and breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated, cause more severe illness or death than infection with other variants.

Current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infection with the Omicron variant. However, infections in people who are fully vaccinated are likely to occur. With other variants, like Delta, vaccines have remained effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death.

The recent emergence of Omicron further emphasizes the importance of vaccination and boosters. Scientists are working to determine how well existing treatments for COVID-19 work. Based on the changed genetic make-up of Omicron, some treatments are likely to remain effective while others may be less effective.

At this point, it seems like this covid stuff may never end. Omicron has been detected in just under half of the states in America. Many of them are popular states such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida. With this being true, hopefully we do not have to enter another shutdown due to variants of covid, which started about two years ago.

CDC scientists are working with partners to gather data and virus samples that can be studied to answer important questions about the Omicron variant. Scientific experiments have already started. Let’s hope that these variants die down or even come to a complete end here soon.

The Purple Quill

The Purple Quill is published nine times per academic year by the students enrolled in the Journalism class at Elder High School. Content is determined by the staff and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Elder High School’s faculty, administration or student body. Signed editorials and columns reflect the views of the writer. Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged and must be signed, although anonymity can be granted on a case by case basis. The staff reviews letters to the editor, advertising and guest commentaries and reserves the right to edit and refuse material. Reasons can include length, clarity, libel, obscenity, material disruption of the educational process at Elder High School or violation of copyright laws.

“Give students the freedom of expression and soon everyone will want it.”

Co-Editors in Chief: Jack Sheridan ‘22, Seth Trischler ‘22 Faculty Adviser Mr. Gary Rogers

Features Editor Shawn Wyatt ‘22

Video Editor Phillip Hoffman ‘22

Sports Editor Robby Mathews ‘23

Webmaster/ Social Media Editor Joshua Huff ‘22

Graphics Editor Jacob Stamper ‘22

Staff Writers Ben Hambleton ‘22 Devyn Mullins ‘24 Kellen Sandhas ‘22 Josh Steinhaus ‘24 Bartley Thomas ‘22 Grady Wall ‘23

Monday December 20, 2021

Opinion 3

Sauce confuses customers Grady Wall ‘23 Staff Writer

My family used to order LaRosa’s maybe two times per week, and we were huge fans

of the pizza franchise. The pizza is not anything special, but when you combine it with their treasured Diablo Sauce, it became elite.

However, several months back LaRosa’s stopped selling it. They made an official statement saying that there is a shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was not being produced at the time. They did not even have their traditional LaRosa’s branded pizza boxes during that period. Something similar happened at Skyline Chili at the same time. Their popular Chili Ranch, which personally I am not a huge fan of, also stopped being sold. These were probably due to the work shortage way back then, but that’s beside the point.

In the diablo sauce-less period, we rarely got LaRosa’s anymore. I would check their website every once in a while to see if they brought it back. About a month ago, I was thrilled to see that it was available. I could tell the so-called “diablo sauce” looked different at first sight. When I tried it for the first time in what seemed like forever, the once rich and spicy diablo sauce that I once knew became thin, sweet, and unbearable. It was a sad day. Did the suits over at LaRosa’s think that they could slap a diablo sauce label on rust run-off and expect their customers to not notice?

I am sure there are people in the greater Cincinnati area who disagree wholeheartedly with me (although I have not met one person who enjoys the new diablo sauce). But I

spoke with some friends and relatives that I know were once big fans of the sauce. Most, if not all, are just as unhappy as I am about the counterfeit diablo sauce. I am not hating on the people who like the phony diablo sauce, I am just extremely bitter that it stole the name of the greatest dipping sauce to ever hit the open market.

If it ever does come back, then it must either replace the current diablo sauce or the current imitation of it must get a name change. That is the optimistic side of me. But the more pessimistic and realistic side of me is preparing for the rest of my life without diablo sauce.

The more time that goes by and more thinking that I do, the more I come to accept that reality.

Although I am still a bit disgruntled over this fiasco, I am learning to forgive LaRosa’s.

In reality, they do not produce the sauce themselves. It comes from New jar of LaRosa’s Diablo Sauce a private company (that I being sold in retail stores. cannot find the name of) that produces all kinds of different sauces. But it is still unknown what exactly went wrong in this scenario. I would like nothing more than to sit in a room with Buddy LaRosa himself and ask him about everything Cincinnatians need to know regarding the lost sauce.

Aggrieved diablo-less customers, like myself, deserve to know the answers.

Jungle Jim’s features wild and wacky products Jacob Stamper ‘22 Head of Graphics

Jungle Jim’s is well-known for having the wildest, most random, and most unique products. You can find almost anything you are searching for when you step through those doors. Indeed, while the outside of the store is creative enough, featuring a monorail, old Riverfront Stadium seats, and a fake zoo, the inside of the store features even more of the extraordinary.

1) Hot peppers: really hot peppers

Jungle Jim’s has an entire section dedicated to hot sauce and hot peppers, and these are not your ordinary jalapeños and Tabasco hot sauce. No, this is the exotic, dangerous stuff. It features peppers such as the ghost pepper and the feared Carolina reaper; you can purchase these by the pack in dried up condition. Additionally, there is a plethora of hot sauces: all different shapes, sizes, heats, and prices. Some hot sauces are melt-yourmouth, heart attack incoming hot, while others taste incredible; some are even hundreds of dollars.

2) Toys

The Jungle Jim’s toy section is not too big, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. They have gifts you can get for anyone. “Toys” does not necessarily mean Barbies and race cars; this word is just the best way to describe them. There are countless Funko Pops, unique board games, bobble heads, license plates, etc.

3) Drinks

They have countless beverages. For coffee and tea, they have more flavors than most stores have shelves.

Their wine section is the size of a football field. Perhaps the most fun section is where the weird sodas are sold. If you want to challenge yourself, because let me warn you, these do not taste good, try some of these many flavors: pickle juice, buffalo wings, ranch dressing, bacon, sweet corn, peanut butter and jelly, pumpkin pie and countless more. Also, they have some tasty drinks that you cannot find in other places. My personal favorite is Dad’s Root Beer.

4) Bugs

You can buy tons of insects to eat: salted crickets, ant-popsicles, ant-chips, etc. Most people do this as a challenge, but some people actually like the taste. Fair warning, they do not smell too great. However, if for

whatever reason you want to enjoy some tasty insects, Jungle Jim’s has the widest variety.

5) Limburger cheese.

This is not all too uncommon, but I just had to include it. Most of us have heard of this famous type of cheese, but few have actually tasted or smelled it. Every time, without fail, you go to Jungle Jim’s, you can always find a package of Limburger cheese that has been slightly opened by someone hoping to get a whiff. So, fair warning, always grab a package from the back of the case if you buy some, because chances are the front package has been opened and had tons of people put their nose near it. If you do choose to smell it, I can attest that its odor does live up to the reputation. Nevertheless, it tastes great if you can get past the smell.

Indeed, if you want to find something unique and interesting, go to Jungle Jim’s. You can find perfect holiday gifts for someone you love, enjoy the fun shopping experience, or pick out a few things to play your own version of Fear Factor with; I have personally done this. Jungle Jim’s is more than just a store: it is an experience. If you have not gone, it is a must. If you have already been, I highly recommend you check it out this Christmas season.

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Monday December 20, 2021

Alumni/Faculty Features

Board member Kohler shares vision for Elder’s legacy Jack Sheridan ‘22 Co-Editor-in-Chief

When one hears the phrase “school

leadership,” what names most often come to mind?

For many, the first names that may pop into their heads are Mr. Ruffing, Mr. Flaherty, and Dr. Tucker. This is only natural, considering the fact they are the familiar faces that students see around school each day, but, as many students may already know, there is an entire team working behind the scenes in order to maximize the potential of Elder High School in every aspect possible.

The Elder High School Board of Limited Jurisdiction is a group that oversees basically all of the decision-making processes that go into the school. The Board is granted authority by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and it has numerous tasks and duties that it is expected to fulfill each year.

There are currently 15 trustees on the Board, and each of them have different roles surrounding their influences on the school.

One member, Rick Kohler ‘63, has played a major role in integrating faith and Catholic Tradition into the lives of Elder students. Although Mr. Kohler is one of the newer members of the Board, his influence on Elder has been strong over the past few years.

With the goal of learning more about Mr. Kohler’s goals as a member of the Board, I decided to sit down and speak with him about some of his plans and

what his time at Elder has been like over the years.

First wanting to get a bit of a look at Mr. Kohler’s first years at Elder, I asked him what his time was like as a student and what some of the things he was involved in were. He explained to me that his uncles were graduates of Elder, and although his father did not attend Elder, he still wanted him to go there.

However, his transition from grade school to high school was not as smooth as one may expect. Due to his family being a part of the St. Aloysius Bridgetown Parish, Mr. Kohler was to attend the brand-new LaSalle High School after graduating from grade school, which would make him a member of the school’s first freshman class.

Mr. Kohler was heartbroken. Though, because of an error in the building project, the entire plan was delayed, and Mr. Kohler’s grade school class from St. Al’s was the last class to come to Elder from the school. “Yep, God’s got a plan, and I just enjoyed every moment of it,” Mr. Kohler said.

He said that when he was a freshman in 1959, the new wing was just added to the school, so the members of his class were some of the first to experience an entirely new part of the school, including: a library, a gym, new classrooms, and new science facilities, all of which he said was pretty exciting.

Mr. Kohler told me many of the traditions that were part of Elder when he was a student still remain as part of the school

New leadership for Frosh BB Phillip Hoffman ‘22 Video Editor

The Elder community will be happy to

Kohler’s senior portrait from the 1963 class photo that still hangs in the halls of Elder.

today, but some things have inevitably changed too. For example, he explained to me that when he was a student, each Thanksgiving Day, Elder would play West High in football, and it was a major event on the West Side every year.

He explained to me that because of the football playoffs, the timing of the event became problematic, ultimately prompting the schools to scrap the tradition.

Mr. Kohler then described Elder as “quite the place,” mentioning the brotherhood of the school and his class’, the Class of 1963, closeness that still remains to this day. “No matter where around the world we live, what status people have attained, we remain very, very close,” Mr. Kohler said.

Continued on page 6

hear that a new coach has joined the Elder Basketball family. He is our very own Dr. Tucker. I know that may surprise you at first hearing, but he has the experience to back up this position.

“Yes. I coached while I was in college and the first four years I taught. For eight seasons of basketball, I was a freshman assistant, JV coach, and varsity assistant at different points.” I truly speak out saying that you never fully know a person. After that experience, Dr. Tucker is back for some more and to take on the challenge that is the Elder Freshman Basketball team.

For the last number of years, the team has been coached by Mr. Bengel.

He has since moved up to J.V. and now assistant coach of the Varsity team. I asked Dr. Tucker, or now coach Tucker what encouraged him to be a part of the team again and here’s what he said: “I heard Mr. Espelage talk to Coach Schoenfeld about some coaches who moved on from Elder and Coach Bengel moving to a varsity assistant. It sounded like they needed a freshman assistant. After trying all the other possible options, I was the last resort.”

The freshman team is currently 3-0 with their new leadership and has a bright season ahead. It’s safe to say that Dr. Tucker has filled in the spot well.

“It’s very early in the season, but it

Monday December 20, 2021

has been good. The guys listen well and play hard.” says Coach Tucker. His goal is to coach and teach the players fundamentals and what it means to play as an Elder Panther on the court. To wrap up my talk with Coach Tucker and his adventure as the new coach, I asked if he had any plans of possibly being a varsity coach one day, “Varsity? Why stop there? I’m plotting a course to be a D-1 head coach. I could even be a professor at the university I work for, that would be unique…In all seriousness, no, absolutely not.”

We should all thank Dr. Tucker for the job he has taken on and look forward as always to see the freshman grow into varsity Panthers.

Action from last year’s freshman team from the Hudl camera mounted on the sky box of the fieldhouse.

Faculty Features 5

Podcast projects becoming more common Ben Hambleton ‘22 Staff Writer

In today’s generation many people have

turned to technology. Furthermore, newspapers are becoming online, phone calls are turning into texting and much more.

Another example of this is the new use of podcasts. Podcasts are becoming a huge hit in 2021. Many people listen to them while in the car, working out, or doing household chores.

As of late, Elder has been using podcasts in a variety of ways. The journalism class is using the studio to do podcasts and it has turned out great. Mainly, only the members of the journalism class have used the podcast rooms. However, as of late there is a new group of students using the room.

Mr. Schaerer’s religion classes have now started using podcasts to make their semester projects. I was very interested in how this turned out, so I decided to interview Mr. Schaerer about his experience and his students’ experiences while using it.

I first asked him what exactly his students were doing for their projects.

Mr. Schaerer told me that they are doing a “witness to faith” project. They get to pick a certain person of their choice and talk about how they live out their faith and witness their faith. Many of these students use people from the “tid bits” (a specific motivating video of a certain person Mr. Schaerer shows in class) they watch in class. While picking these people, they are also allowed to work with a partner. Then they go into the podcast room and talk about their person with their partner.

Mr. Schaerer said, “We had the kids use it because I wanted to get away from

Students in Mr. Schaerer’s sophomore religion classes are using Elder’s new recording area to produce podcasts for their “Witness to faith” semester projects.

just doing presentations. These kids have really loved it and it makes it a lot better for them to do their projects. They seemed to actually want to do it.”

I agree with Mr. Schaerer. I think podcasts make it much more enjoyable to do the project. Especially when you have one of your buddies to talk about the topic with you. I then asked Mr. Schaerer what influenced him to do podcasts and he said, “Well I saw a post on Twitter that they were using the new podcast equipment.

It really interested me, so I talked to Mr. Rogers about it. I wanted the project to be fun and so far everyone has had a ton of fun using it.”

Clearly, Mr. Schaerer’s students are loving every second of using the podcast equipment. I myself have used the equipment, so I know just how cool it is and fun to use. Therefore, I asked Mr.

Schaerer what the overall experience has been and he said, “Well I have graded three so far and it has been great. It is fun and extremely easy to use. All my students enjoyed using it.

While grading, I have noticed it starts off a little awkward, but once they start to get into the topic it takes off. These kids were loving it.” ENN and the Journalism class have influenced Mr. Schaerer to use these podcasts. I asked Mr. Schaerer if he would recommend the use of podcasts at Elder, and he told me he would recommend all Elder students to try out podcasting. Obviously, whatever they post would have to be looked at by a teacher first, but he definitely recommends it. He is an avid podcast listener himself, so he always wanted to give it a try. It is safe to say he’s enjoyed every minute of his students using podcasts for their semester projects.

6

Alumni Features

Kohler

Continued from page 4 Telling me about some of the extracurriculars that he was involved in while a student at Elder, Mr. Kohler said that he never spent a moment at Elder that he did not enjoy. He told me that he was involved in numerous extracurriculars as a student, including student council, intramural sports, and the football team.

“I just enjoyed every minute of it, and the fellas that I met here, I remain very close with, even today. It was special,” Mr. Kohler said.

One major difference between Mr. Kohler’s time as a student and the time of the current students of Elder is the faculty.

“When I was at Elder, I’d say 80% of the faculty was priests. You’d walk down the hall, and you were always walking past black cassocks,” said Mr. Kohler.

He compared that to how Elder looks today, and he said that it changed the school, which he said was good in some ways and not so good in other ways.

“We were always with our faith because they were right there staring you in the face, and priests in those days were kind of radical in a way. I mean, we’re coming into the ‘60s, and it was an interesting mix of them,” Mr. Kohler said.

He then explained to me that today at Elder, students are given more of the mentorship aspect of teaching from the men and women of Elder, who live the lives that students will live in the future.

He added that despite these changes, Elder still maintains its brotherhood.

Then, getting into his life post-graduation, Mr. Kohler told me that he spent a year in the seminary after graduating Elder, later attending Xavier University, where he received his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree.

He got married to “a lovely lady from Seton” and started a family, but because of his job, Kohler and his wife and kids moved away from Cincinnati for 40 years.

After earning his doctorate degree from the University of Cincinnati, Kohler became very involved in education administration, and his career path ultimately moved both him and his family away from The Queen City, which they moved back to only six or seven years ago.

Mr. Kohler still followed Elder closely in his time away from Cincinnati, and when he returned, a fellow classmate and Board member, Nick Hahn ’63, told him that they were looking to expand the Board.

Due to Mr. Kohler’s extensive résumé as a middle school teacher, high school teacher, and a university professor, Mr. Hahn asked him if would be interested

The Elder High School Board of Limited Jurisdiction (2019) Mr. Kohler is in the back row, center.

in joining the Board of Trustees because they were looking to hire someone with great experience in education.

Mr. Kohler, who had already retired at this point, accepted the offer, and he explained that he made it clear to the Board that he was very interested in the Catholic education aspect of the job.

“As a political science major in college, I really began to see that there was a need for Catholic education, education with some philosophical, theological basis,” Mr. Kohler said.

Speaking of his time on the Board, I asked Mr. Kohler what some of his duties as a Board Member are.

He explained that as a Board Member, he was immediately named Chairman of the Mission and Vision Committee. Mr. Kohler told me that as the decades have gone on, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has placed more and more responsibilities on the schools themselves, making the role of Elder’s Board more significant.

“It benefited the high schools because then we had more control about sustaining ourselves, of making sure that our mission went on and on as well,” Mr. Kohler said.

After being made Chairman of the Mission and Vision Committee, Mr. Kohler began working on different tasks, one of which being diversifying Elder’s student population.

“My vision was that Elder started as a school of immigrants…in my way of thinking, it was really not returning to our roots but making sure our roots were never forgotten,” Mr. Kohler explained.

Then getting into the religious duties surrounding his job, Mr. Kohler began by acknowledging Campus Minister Mr. Kovacic, saying “I just think the world of Al. When he came on board, we wanted to see the retreat program strengthen and have some continuity with it, and we wanted to see that students continued to

provide a view towards the general community.”

He also mentioned the impacts of both Mr. Joe Acito ’63 and Mr. Mark Klusman ’64, saying that both men demonstrated real service to the school and that they wanted to see that continue.

“By being chairman of that Committee, I had a hand at being able to do that,” said Mr. Kohler.

Mr. Kohler explained that the Committee is still striving to broaden the influence of Elder, and he made a reference to the Catholic response on the West Side of both the end of World War I and the beginning of The Great Depression: opening a high school to prepare young people to take on leadership roles.

Discussing more about the Board, Mr. Kohler told me that they are beginning to get a better understanding of how technology is influencing other career areas.

He told me that the Board is expanding its view of the gifts that Elder students have, which he noted as being seen very clearly in the dual enrollment courses offered by local universities.

Additionally, he explained that Elder is recently becoming more involved with local unions and trade apprenticeships as well. This can be seen in Elder’s programs with the IBEW, with the Cincinnati State Welding Program.

With these points, Mr. Kohler and I then began talking about other ways the Board is involved in the lives of Elder students, and the conversation then shifted over to why the spiritual needs of Elder students are so important to both the Board and Mr. Kohler.

He brought me back to his career in education and said that he took the development of his faith on the West Side for granted. Mr. Kohler explained that after earning his doctorate degree, he taught at The Ohio State University. Teaching

Monday December 20, 2021 mostly on branch campuses, he recalled a time when he was sitting in a faculty break room on one of the campuses and overheard a conversation between some of his colleagues that troubled him.

He explained to me that the conversation made him realize that he had been teaching from a very faith-based point of view and that although one must go through the process in education, the core of it must be one’s own personal values, which he believes is what Elder did for him.

He described this as part of Catholic education, which he explained to be education based on an understanding that there are higher things.

Later leaving Ohio State, Kohler would go on to work with special needs students and ultimately decided to focus on Catholic education.

At the end of his teaching career, Mr. Kohler was a member of the faculty at Lourdes University outside of Toledo, Ohio. During this time, Kohler was a professor who taught graduate students seeking their master’s degree in education.

He told me that the experience changed his viewpoint of what education needed to be and that he maintains that same view today.

Staying on the topic of the Board’s plan to meet the spiritual needs of Elder students, I then asked Mr. Kohler about his involvement in Panther Pauses.

He began by telling me that he is one of the members of the committee that takes charge of planning all of the 100th Anniversary events. Mr. Kohler said that the committee had come up with numerous different events that would celebrate Elder’s 100th year, but there was still the lingering question about how to commemorate the spiritual aspect of Elder.

He told me that he had first become aware of Panther Pauses as a time to reflect. He equated this to the 100th Anniversary celebrations, describing them as a time to celebrate but also as a time to rekindle some memories among Elder’s alumni, no matter where they may be living around the world.

Adding to that point, Mr. Kohler listed another one of the goals of the 100th Anniversary as acquainting current students and the local community with some of the traditions that started here.

Mr. Kohler said that the second major goal of the event is to focus on the faith and spirituality of the school. Hearing about Panther Pauses, Mr. Kohler described them as good vehicles to accomplish their objectives surrounding the

Continued on page 10

Monday December 20, 2021

Faculty Featuress 7

Trainers make a difference Ben Hambleton ‘22 Staff Writer

Many people at Elder play a variety of

sports. Elder is known for having some of the best sports all around the country. It is no surprise that this is the case because of the coaches, athletic directors, fans, and students that help create this case.

However, many people don’t realize how important the trainers are for these sports.

We at Elder are extremely lucky to have two of the best trainers across the country that help the athletes. Whether it be rehabbing, icing, stretching, getting evaluated, or even just stopping by the trainer’s office to have a laugh. Nathan Herdeman and Jeff Fitz are always getting the job done.

Just recently, I was injured in our football game against St. Xavier, so I have been spending a lot of time around the two of them. Therefore, I was eager to do an interview with them out of appreciation for all they do for the athletes around Elder.

I wanted to do a deep dive into how they ended up at Elder so I asked Fitz and Nathan just how they ended up here.

Fitz attended Waynesboro High School and then went to Penn State where he got his B.A. From there he got his first job at

Well hopefully we can get a new training room.

Sometimes it’s a little hard with the space we have because a lot of kids are left waiting in the doorway.

Wesley College in Delaware. He then left and went to Delaware State from 1991 to 2002. There was an opening at Mount St Joe where Fitz spent three years and then has been at Elder ever since.

As for Nathan, his time as a trainer has been much shorter. Nathan actually attended Elder where he was a state champ on the volleyball team. After graduating, he decided to take his talents to Mount St. Joe. After graduating there, he started working at Elder as a trainer alongside Fitz.

After learning their background, I wanted to find out what caused them to become a trainer. Fitzy told me, “Well I actually started off as an electrical engineering student, but I quickly learned it wasn’t for me. I did a work study job at a branch campus where there was a physical therapy room. One day a basketball player came in and I helped him with rehab. He went on to return to play and was very healthy. I enjoyed seeing people heal and ultimately reach their goals.”

It is clear Fitz truly cares about people getting healthy again as it started at a young age leading to his reasoning for becoming a trainer.

As for Nathan it is very similar, he told me, “While at Elder, I hit it off with the old trainer here named Amy. Seeing what she did made it inspirational. She was a main reason I wanted to get into health care, and I thought it would be a good avenue.” Similar to Fitz, Nathan wanted to do all he could for athletes to help them return to play. Since Fitz has been around so many different schools at so many different levels, I wanted to see what separated Elder from every other place he has been.

Trainer Nathan Herdeman from his days as a state champion volleyballer at Elder.

He told me that Elder has some of the nicest facilities. Even nicer than some colleges. There are dedicated athletes here that take their rehab extremely seriously.

Fitz actually never had an assistant at any other place before Elder which has helped him a lot. Two hands on the job is always easier than one.

As for Nathan, being back at Elder is a dream come true. He told me how much he loves seeing the athletes here at Elder recover and getting back into action in their sport. It brings him joy especially because it is his old school.

It is clear these two guys love what they do here which led me to ask what their hopes and plans are for the future.

Fitz told me, “Well hopefully we can get a new training room. Sometimes it’s a little hard with the space we have because a lot of kids are left waiting in the doorway.

However, I plan on continuing to work with kids. I love it here. My wife tells me that she has never seen anyone like their job as much as I do. And it’s true. I truly

Head Trainer Jeff Fitz really loves workng at Elder but would love an expanded trainer’s room.

love my job and love Elder. The kids here make it extremely easy to come to work.”

As for Nathan he says, “I plan to stay at Elder in the near future. I love what I do here. However, once I have kids it is going to be a bit more difficult with scheduling and all the stuff that they have in their life. When that time comes I’ll have to rethink my life plan and see what is to come.”

Nathan and Fitz both have been here long enough to get to know so many different kids. It always excites them when athletes leave their room even better than they showed up. Obviously, they don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but they know just exactly what to do whenever that time comes. We all are extremely lucky to have these people working in our corner. Without them we would not be nearly as successful as we are.

8

Monday December 20, 2021

Sports

Swim season looks promising Josh Huff ‘22 Staff Writer

This past fall, I was convinced to swim. Now, to put

Around the 513 Grady Wall ‘23 Staff Writer

College Basketball is huge in Cincinnati. We have

two formidable basketball programs in UC and Xavier. Not to mention the Dayton Flyers about an hour up north. However, both schools have been on short NCAA tournament droughts. Xavier has been left out of the big dance since 2017-18 and Cincinnati since 2018-19.

Head coach Travis Steele of Xavier and firstyear head coach Wes Miller of Cincinnati are both looking to end those streaks this season. They faced off in the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout which took place in Xavier’s Cintas Center this year, but first we will delve into what has led to this point.

We will start with Wes Miller’s squad. They got off to a hot start by beating Tom Crean’s Georgia Bulldogs and followed it by dismantling a former 1 seed in the 2021 NCAA tournament, Illinois, who is led by phenom Kofi Cockburn. They lost their next game to #12 Arkansas who is led by the importer, Eric Musselman. Cincinnati fought in this game though and they only lost by six. The Bearcats now sit at 7-2 after suffering what Jon Rothstein would call, “the epitome of brutality”, when they lost a game on their home court to Monmouth. This is a loss that could come back to hurt this team, but I believe if they take care of business when they should, their spot should still be solidified in the 2022 NCAA tournament.

Travis Steele may have opened up this season on the hot seat. Many Xavier fans were calling for his job after missing the NCAA tournament for three straight years. You can pretty much put that to rest unless something dramatic happens. In their first big time game of the year, Xavier zipped up Ohio State at Cintas in the Gavitt Games. This was a statement victory that is going to age well because the Buckeyes are a very good squad.

Xavier then lost a close one to a very talented Iowa State team, in which Paul Scruggs went 1-14 from the field. But after that they picked up two more solid wins against Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State. Up to this point in the season Xavier has one of the better resumes in the nation, but it’s only December and crazier things have happened than a team falling off before March.

The shootout on December 11th ended with Xavier routing Cincinnati by a score of 83-63. Simply put, Xavier just has a better team this year and it was clear.

Xavier center, Jack Nunge, who transferred from Iowa this season led the way with a career-high 31 points. The guy was unstoppable. Xavier has dominated this series in recent years. They have won three straight and 11 of the last 15.

I do believe Wes Miller will have a successful career at Cincinnati, and he will get Xavier numerous times in this series. He just does not have a very deep team right now, and he needs a few years to implement his system. He is also no stranger to rivalry games.

A four-year player at North Carolina, he experienced several UNC-Duke games. For Travis Steele, he has dominated this rivalry ever since he took over the reins at Xavier. But still he has never made the NCAA tournament. This team is without question the most talented and deep roster he has had yet, so he can make a statement this season. But the Big East is arguably the toughest conference in America for the 2021-22 season, and they will be challenged.

Cincinnati fans are more focused on the upcoming Cotton Bowl against Alabama, and for good reason. But the Musketeers have owned basketball in this city for about two decades. The Bearcats have some work to do if they want to change that narrative for years to come.

things into context, I have never swam competitively in my entire life. Going into the season, I essentially had enough swimming ability to keep myself above water, and that was it. However, I’m always up for a challenge, so the thought of trying something new sounded very enticing.

I have run cross country and track for four years here at Elder, and I consider myself to be in solid shape. Although I may be in good shape for running, swimming is a whole different experience. Honestly, there are days that I really question why I decided to do it in the first place.

However, joining the swim team has been an amazing experience, so with that said, let’s take a look at how the Aqua Panthers have fared so far this season.

Firstly, let’s start off with the individuals. There are a wealth of standout swimmers this year. Namely Max Brunner, John Good, and Nathan Clark.

Brunner won Cincinnati Enquirer Swimmer of the Week last week after two impressive performances against St. X and Walnut Hills. Senior John Good is up for

swimmer of the week this week, after taking first in the 100 backstroke, and second in the 200IM. I asked John what his goals for the season were and he said, “definitely to just get to state, and see what happens from there.”

Clark and Brunner have the same goals in mind. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the other standout swimmers that the team has this year. Seniors Logan Rieder and Andrew Zimmer are standout breaststrokers, and have been battling each other for the upper hand so far this season. Junior Peter Braun is the teams standout distance swimmer, taking a first place finish in every 500 that he has swum thus far. From a GCL perspective, we are looking pretty good, but there is of course swimming powerhouse St. X. St. X has won 22 of the last 23 state appearances that the team has had, and that doesn’t appear to be changing this year. As far as Moeller and LaSalle, the aqua Panthers definitely have the upper hand.

The Panthers took home a win in the best of the west meet this past Wednesday, edging out Fairfield and Oak Hills, leading to a nomination for best boys winter team of the week from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Not only is the team doing well results wise, but numbers wise as well. In fact, Coach Ohmer mentioned that the team has an all-time high of participants, with 38 members, as opposed to just 16 members when he took the head coach job seven years ago.

The team looks to be in very good shape for the rest of the season, and the postseason which is even more important. So, don’t be afraid to get out and support the aqua Panthers if you have a chance!

UC makes it into the CFP Devyn Mullins ‘24 Staff Writer

As the season ended, the Bearcats beat Houston 35-20 in the AAC Championship and that victory earned them the number four spot in the CFP the next afternoon.

On December 31st UC plays the biggest game in program history against Alabama. With UC making the final four they made a statement for non power five teams. It showed that any team can make it and you don’t have to be in the power five. And this is ironic since they will be in a power five conference in a few years when they join the Big 12..

When Oklahoma State lost to Baylor and Notre Dame not having the chance to play a championship game, it opened the door for UC. All they had to do was win

at four o’clock that Saturday and they were automatically in. Their win against Notre Dame at South Bend really helped them because ND finished in the top five and if it came down to it UC had that win so they really would geet the nod head to head against the Irish.

The Cats have a legitimate chance at beating Bama.

One reason is the defense steps up when it needs to. They performed well, holding ND to just 13 points. They also held a top 7 team on offense in SMU to just 14 points and held them to a mere 66 passing yards.

And when Desmond Ridder is on top of his game, the offense is unstoppable. This is especially true when Jerome Ford has his line blocking really well for him. When he hits the hole hard he’s liable to take it to the endzone everytime.

This game should be good for another reason. It features the Bearcats cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and Cobe Bryant who are arguably two of the best in college football. Sauce has given up just two touchdown passes his whole career at Cincinnati and Coby who has only

Monday December 20, 2021

Sports 9

Moderator’s Note: For each issue of The Quill, staff members meet during class time to

discuss and pitch ideas for the stories to appear in the upcoming issue. We call this our “Budget Meeting.” At the meeting for December, two students both pitched the idea to write on the MLB lockout; Shawn Wyatt and Robby Mathews. Rather than deciding the one who would be able to move forward arbitrarily or by arm wrestling, Mr. Rogers decided in the spirt of the holiday season to let each staffer write and place them here in the Sports section side-by-side for your inspection. If anyone wants to chime in and let Mr. Rogers know who should get the better grade, feel free to stop by room S-133 and let him know your opinion.

MLB halts operations Robby Mathews ‘23 Sports Editor

For the first time in over a decade, a

professional sports league has gone into a major lockout. This time, it’s major league baseball, as the MLBPA (player’s association) failed to extend the current CBA (collective bargaining agreement), prompting a league-wide lockout.

What does this mean for players?

Free agents are not able to be signed or even talked to by teams. These players who are not on a team are stuck in limbo, and there’s no telling for how long. Current players are not in good shape either, as players of any team are not able to visit the team’s facilities, such as the gym or batting cages. It’s as if the league or any of the teams do not exist, as there is no contact allowed between team management and their players.

Most predicted the lockout to happen, and it’s why so many free agents rushed to sign to teams. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, Max Scherzer, and Robbie Ray all signed or agreed to new deals before the lockout, making sure that they got their payday in before the lockout.

As for the changes that the owners want in the new CBA, they’ve proposed an expanded playoff system, a universal designated hitter, and a “lottery draft” system like the NBA has established. A main point for the new CBA is the pay raise for younger players, whose time is being manipulated by owners to avoid paying out bigger contracts.

Elder baseball player Nickey Gutzwiller is an avid MLB fan, and thoroughly enjoys watching and playing baseball in the spring. When asked about the current MLB lockout, he said that if the

lockout goes until the season starts that he will “personally strangle Rob Manfred”.

While Gutzwiller is joking and would never do this, his thoughts represent the beliefs of most MLB fans, as Manfred’s approval rating has been dropping ever since he took over for Bud Selig in 2015.

Known collectively by the baseball community as one of the worst commissioners in all of professional sports, Manfred has neglected fans and players requests, underpaying the young players in the minor leagues. “Hopefully the younger players start getting paid more considering that’s the whole point of the lockout.” says Gutzwiller, an avid minor league player supporter. While most fans may worry that this lockout will extend into the season and delay the regular season or possibly even more, Gutzwiller doubts that it will get to that point. “I think if we lose any games, it’ll just be spring training.” Spring training is crucial for player development, but most fans turn a blind eye during spring training games, as they have no effect on the regular season and merely serve to watch young players who may be the next superstars.

As for the progression since the beginning of the lockout, there has been nearly none. There has been little to no discussion, and it most likely will continue to be this way until the end of the holiday season. Tensions are as high as ever between the MLB and MLBPA, and it will be extremely difficult for the two to hash out all of their differences and rule changes. In the meantime, fans must wait for the senseless bickering to even begin.

Then and only then will fans be closer to watching major league baseball when spring arrives.

Right now the spring baseball season feels like its a long way from happening.

Key National Semifinal matchup: Features Alabama’s Heisman trophy winner freshman Bryce Young vs. UC’s fifth-year starter Desmond Ridder.

What MLB’s lockout means for players Shawn Wyatt ‘22 Features Editor

The MLB lockout is finally upon us. For

the past few years, fans and MLB insiders have been questioning if the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the players and league would expire without a new one in place, and that is exactly what is happening.

This is the ninth major work stoppage for the league, and the first since the strike of 1994-95. This strike lasted for over 200 days, with nearly 1,000 games being cancelled. This included the entire 1994 postseason, and part of the 1995 season.

This strike all started because teams proposed a salary cap, which was opposed by the players.

The previous CBA was in place for four years and expired after this season.

Without a new one agreed upon by the league and players, the lockout began on December 2nd. During this stoppage, teams cannot communicate with players and all transactions have come to a complete stop, right when it was starting to get interesting. In the days before the lockout began, we were starting to see some interesting moves in the early offseason.

For example, Javier Baez was signed to a six-year contract by the Detroit Tigers worth $140 million.

It is a miracle that Rob Manfred still has a job, he is no stranger to being an idiot in front of millions. He is single handedly killing Major League Baseball, and sadly, there is no sign of him leaving anytime soon. Throughout his time as the commissioner, he has implemented some terrible rules and ideas into the game. For example, he implemented the three-batter minimum rule in which pitchers must face at least three batters. And of course, there is one of the dumbest rules the league has ever seen, that teams get a runner on second base in extra innings.

These rules were adopted to “speed up” the game. The only thing that needs to be sped up is the process of getting this clown fired. Manfred’s original goal was to come to an agreement before the first of December. Of course, this was not the case. He knows this will only hurt both the league, and ultimately, himself.

He says, “We understand it’s bad for the business.” Through this whole process, Manfred has just proven he does not care about the players, he only wants to protect the owners.

Several players have gone to Twitter to share what they think about the current state of baseball and make light of the situation. When it first began, players began posting memes and pictures and memes online basically making fun of the league.

Some players have also changed their profile pictures on Twitter to a blank face with a hat, which is what is displayed on MLB’s website since they cannot currently use players’ names for promotions.

Nothing about the lockout has been said on MLB’s Instagram or Twitter since Manfred’s “Letter to baseball fans.” Normally, even in the offseason, MLB would be posting something about Fernando Tatis Jr, but they have to resist posting their favorite player until this conflict is resolved.

Moving forward, an agreement should be met within the next few months, but nothing is certain as of now. There is, of course, the possibility that an agreement will not be met, which would likely result in cancellations. I think by the time spring training rolls around, especially if nothing is resolved, more fans around the country will start to notice. Currently in the sports world, we are in the season for the NFL, NBA, and NCAA football and basketball, so people who aren’t die-hard baseball fans probably won’t pay too much attention.

For more than a few years, baseball players and fans have calling for MLB commisioner Rob Manfred to be fired.

given up one. Coby recently won the Jim Thorpe award.

This game has every part of becoming the game of the year. The Bearcats rank top seven on defense and Alabama’s offense ranks sixth. Alabama has shown that they can torch good defenses because they played Georgia in the SEC championship game and Georgia’s defense was ranked second and the Tide lit them up for 4. Other than that game the most Georgia gave up was 17 points to Tennessee.

Alabama has the Heisaman winner Bryce Young and other than Ohio State maybe the best wide receivers in the nation. But the Cats have Desmond Ridder who finished top 10 in Heisman voting.

UC also has Alec Pierce and Jerome Ford.

Ford is a transfer from Bama and this year he finished in sixth in the nation in rushing touchdowns with 19 and finished in 16th in rushing yards with 1242.

I personally believe that the Cats deserved this game and it will help other non power five teams in the future. Even if this game turns out to be the worst game and they lose by like 30 then it is what it is.

The committee had to test this out and not have the same rotation of teams every year. I believe that the Bearcats will win this game courtesy of the corners and Ridder and Ford. I believe it will be very similar to the way they won against Notre Dame.

10

Kohler

Continued from page 6 100th Anniversary.

Elder’s previous Campus Minister, Mr. Roger Auer, started the tradition, and Mr. Kovacic continues the Panther Pauses to this day.

Thinking of the whole idea of Panther Pauses as a cool concept, Mr. Kohler began formulating ideas surrounding how to expand the tradition.

“I met people like Jeff (Fuell) and Gary Rogers, and it hit me, ‘We can do this all around the world now!’” said Mr. Kohler.

He explained to me that one of the projects that the Board is working on is bringing Panther Pauses into the technological sphere entirely. Telling me about the Board’s goal, Mr. Kohler said, “Our hope, and what we’re working on right now, is to have a weekly time when

Alumni News the students and the faculty, the whole community, and all the alumni around the world can come together, for 10 or 15 minutes, and remember and think about what Elder is, what Elder was, and how Elder is so needed in today’s world.”

Mr. Kohler told me that the Board wants to focus once a week next school year, when they will have a time during which they will present something on which to reflect.

During the presentations, they intend to include visuals, interview alumni (one of plans is to interview the two oldest alumni in the next couple of weeks), and then pose a question to the students that revolves around the contributions made to the school by alumni over the years.

One of the examples that Mr. Kohler gave surrounding this is the contributions made by Elder alums who went on to fight in wars. Discussing the Elder 11 and the impacts of the Vietnam War on Elder’s

We need you to write for The Quill!

We need writers to help fill up column inches in this paper.

You do not have to be enrolled in Journalism to be published.

Just stop by room S-133 in the Schaeper Center and pitch your idea to Mr. Rogers or let him assign you one.

Come join in the fun!

alumni, Mr. Kohler added that 144 Elder alums were also killed in World War II; therefore, one of the goals of this project is to allow students to reflect on facts like these and think about how Elder’s alumni base has impacted the school over the years.

He added that they plan to get the faculty involved in this as well by generating conversation in the classrooms about what the students saw in the video.

For alums who live in different parts of the country or the world, one of the goals of the project is to allow them to watch the video at the same time the students in the classrooms watch it and to allow them to participate in it as well. The video will also be available for them to watch at a later time if they are unable to join at the designated time set for the students.

With the topic of the 100th Anniversary still leading the conversation, my final question for Mr. Kohler was what it meant to him to see Elder reach its 100th year.

“I’m very proud of Elder,” Mr. Kohler said, later adding, “Tremendous amount of pride. Just a tremendous amount of pride.”

Telling me how he still wears purple on Fridays, Mr. Kohler recalled a time when he was filling up his car’s gas tank at a Toledo, Ohio gas station.

Wearing a purple bow tie, Mr. Kohler was asked the question, “Did you go to Elder?”

Getting into a conversation with the man who asked him the question, Mr. Kohler asked him if he too went to Elder.

The man said that he did not, but he told

Monday December 20, 2021 Mr. Kohler that his sons played football at St. John’s Jesuit in Toledo and that they traveled down to The Pit to play Elder one time.

Mr. Kohler said that the man had nothing but good things to say about Elder, so when he thinks about Elder, he has a tremendous amount of pride.

“To think that they started with just a few people in 1922, and now we have what, 20,000-25,000 graduates, who are really, literally, all around the world, so it’s a lot of pride,” Mr. Kohler said.

Another point Mr. Kohler stressed is that he never wants to see Elder lose its tradition nor ever lose its excellence. “To me, it doesn’t matter whether it’s sports or academics or new technology classes or whatever; whatever you do, do your best,” Mr. Kohler said.

Summing up his thoughts about Elder and its legacy, Mr. Kohler expressed how much of an impact the school has had over the years and how important the school remains to the countless alumni who once walked the halls of Elder High School.

“We are one line of purple, if you will. That’s the men who are here today, the men who were here in the ‘40s…I mean, it really strikes a chord with everyone, so I’m very proud to be a Panther,” said Mr. Kohler.

Mr. Kohler is an example of how connected Elder stays to its alumni, and as Elder reaches its 100th year in operation, the impact that it has had truly is immeasurable, and it is poised only to grow in the years to come.

Monday December 20, 2021

1960s Seth Trischler ‘22 Co-Editor in Chief

This month The Quill is featuring an

article from the early 60’s. And this month our loyal readers will be geting a bonus; we will not be featuring one but two stories. Looking through all the old articles is always nice because it gives me a feel on how it was to live in those previous decades. These two articles took quite some time to choose since believe it or not, there were a lot of great stories in The Quill back then. Two that caught my eye though were stories that both related to big sports figures that came from the Cincinnati area. One is an interview with Oscar Robertson by Dick Asimus ‘62 and the other is an interview from an unknown quill member on Roger Staubach coming to Elder to talk to the seniors.

The first article featuring Oscar Robertson comes from the January edition of the 1962 Purple Quill. It highlights a night of interviewing Asimus got the chance to do. He got to interview most of the Royals players including Oscar Robertson. Robertson attended Cincinnati and was drafted by the Royals in 1960. He won rookie of the year in the following year and played for the Royals until he was traded to the Bucks in 1970 where he finished off his outstanding career. Oscar averaged a triple-double most of his career and owned the record for most triple-doubles until Russell Westbrook broke it in 2021.

The second article about Roger Staubach visiting Elder comes from the December edition of the 1964 Purple Quill. The article highlights Staubach telling the seniors about the Naval Academy.

The students got a treat that many will never get. They got to meet one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game of football. Staubach grew up in Cincinnati playing football for Purcell Marian. Staubach was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1964 from the Naval Academy but did not join the team until 1969 due to his Navy commitment. He played for eleven seasons and is considered one of the best to ever play in the NFL. Both of these articles are great reads so enjoy!

“Quill” Staffer Interviews Cincinnati Royals, Talks to Oscar Robertson

By Dick Asimus ‘62 Cincinnati Royal’s Jack Twyman “cherry-picked” for an easy lay-up, the buzzer soon sounded, and the Royal’s had revengefully defeated their one-time nemesis, the St. Louis Hawks,128-123, before

From the Archives of The Quill 11 a satisfied, Friday -night-in-December crowd at the Cincinnati Gardens.

I watched particularly closely as the tired but obviously cheerful Royals trotted to the dressing room.

The reason for my over attention was generated by the fact that I was to interview and meet this same professional team in less than fifteen minutes. The interview had been arranged by Mr. Joe Quinn, editor of the Post and Times-Star’s high school sport’s section, for his high school staff.

Because the Royals wished to go home as soon as possible, they invited us into the locker room for the interview. We spoke to the players as they showered and dressed. This was an informal interview in the most literal sense of the word.

The first person I sought was the Big O, Oscar Robertson, the man who made Cincinnati the hub of the basketball world.

Our whole group pressed around him.

My first impression of Oscar was that he was a humble, mild-mannered man. He spoke quietly but frankly. He spoke as he was dressing and, as he walked from room to room for things, he would say, “Just a minute boys, I’ll be right back. “That is what surprised me how a man so famous and busy would be so considerate to a group of awkward, un-important teen-age reporters.

After my initial interest of meeting Robertson was satisfied, I decided to browse around the room and talk to the other Royals.

Joe Buckhalter didn’t appear overly jubilant. He answered my questions with blunt answers: “NBA pays more than the Globetrotters it’s hard to compare the two...haven’t played much...” Joe hadn’t played that night.

Bucky Bockhorn was very friendly and interested--shaking hands warmly with all the boys and inquiring names and schools. The word Elder brought an immediate response from Bucky concerning Ray Dieringer, his ex-teammate at the University of Dayton.

I noticed one of the correspondents removing clothing from one of the player’s lockers. Investigating, I discovered that it was actually Davey Zeller, rookie guard for the Royals. (He does look young and is comparatively small.) Dave’s opin-

ion was that besides Oscar, Richie Guerin and Jerry West were the toughest backcourt men in the NBA to guard.

Coach Charley Wolf was particularly hospitable, answering questions long after the players had left. According to Coach Wolf, the Big O is the best all-around player in professional basketball. “Take Chamberlain and Baylor for scoring and Russell for defense, but no one in basketball can match Oscar’s versatility.”

Bob Wiesenhahn praised the current U.C. Bearcats. Jack Twyman was very busy.(I noticed him bring in a small boy, who had been waiting at the door for some time to get Oscar’s autograph)Captain Wayne Embry arraigned a plane schedule with Coach Wolf. Bevo Nordmann discussed the tactics of some of the big men in the league. Bob Boozer was interviewed quietly by a “pro” reporter.

You couldn’t meet a nicer bunch of “nice guys!”

Navy All-American Roger Staubach Tells Upperclassmen “Religion Is All You Have”

By unknown Quill writer “Your life is short and religion is all that you really have,” said Roger Staubach, All-American Navy quarterback and Purcell graduate of 1959.

“Jolly Roger” came to Elder Dee.15 to address the seniors and promote the Naval Academy.

Naval Academy football records fell to Roger this year, including most total yards gained,4200, 36 touchdowns, and 63.5%passing completion average. Roger has garnered many awards, including the 1963 Heisman Trophy, for the most outstanding college football player.

He cited these reasons for a boy going to Annapolis: the fact that the academy provides for spiritual well-being; the fine

education received; the total participation in sports; and the spirit shown by the students.

Roger stated that the Academy spirit never wained in spite of a poor season and the loss to army. “Before the Army game, there was a week and a half of pep rallys.

The spirit was even high after the crushing loss to Notre Dame.”

Commenting on the academy life, Roger said that you have to learn to get used to it, because here is a certain loss of freedom.

Entrance into the Naval Academy comes through congressional appointment. Rather than taking an entrance test, you are scored on your college board exams.

Roger returned to Elder after leading Purcell to football triumph over the Panthers in 1959.He launched his running career here by scurrying 60 yards around end to win the game and force the GCL championship into a three-way tie.

Both of these articles have one thing in common and it’s that they both feature figures who are connected to Cincinnati in some way. Robertson played basketball at UC and Staubach played football at Purcell High School. The interviews both took place when both players were not at the peak of careers (when they were not considered one of the best to ever play their respective sport). This is what I like about going through the old Quills, I get to see how history was back then and see articles like these where who they were writing about were not necessarily popular at the time but now if you say their names everyone will know who you are talking about.

Make sure to tune in next month where we will be featuring another old Purple Quill article but this time from the 1970’s.

12

Student Features

Spotify recaps year

“My most listened to artists were Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, and Juice Wrld. No surprises there...

Robby Mathews ‘23 Sports Editor

Every December, Spotify users across

the country receive their personalized recap for the year, listing off the account’s top artists, songs, and genres. This year was no different, as listeners across the globe received their “wrapped” and proceeded to post them wherever they could, revealing how much better their music is than yours. The information comes as a surprise to some, as they did not expect a certain artist or song to be so high on their list. I talked to two Elder students to figure out how accurate they thought their “wrapped” was and how music plays a role in their lives.

First, I spoke to junior William Lee about his top artists. “My most listened to artists were Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, and Juice Wrld. No surprises there for the artists, I have many different songs on each playlist from these artists.” As a big country guy, it was obvious for two country artists to be at the top for Will. Juice Wrld makes the list as well, with his melodic style creeping into the minds of millions around the world.

“My top songs were Sand in My Boots and Wasted on You by Morgan Wallen, Wishing Well by Juice Wrld, and Meant to

“I was surprised that Frank Ocean didn’t overtake Ice Cube, though. I’ve been listening to Frank nonstop since around April.”

Spotify listeners are greeted with a year end recap of the music they listened to via an algorithm that has tracked thier listening habits and suggestions across several music genres.

be by Florida Georgia Line.” This makes a ton of sense according to Will, as he said the top two by Morgan Wallen were his favorite songs and he fully expected the two to be on the top. After a discussion on what his music taste means to him, he said, “We find ourselves having selective hearing sometimes in music taste, we like what we like and aren’t exactly open to changing our taste in music. When someone dislikes our music it can often feel personal because I think the songs we like have a personal connection to us.”

Next time you get the AUX in the car and someone dislikes the music, play it out.

Tell them to give it a chance.

Then, I spoke to junior Joey Vinel, a student known by his peers for having

Monday December 20, 2021

excellent taste in his music. “My top artists were Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, The Creator, Mac Miller, and Ice Cube. None of them were too surprising because I listen to music often and know what artists are in my top songs each month.” While there was no shock in his top five, there was shock on who was left out of the top five. “I was surprised that Frank Ocean didn’t overtake Ice Cube, though. I’ve been listening to Frank nonstop since around April.” I too am a fan of Ocean’s tunes, but I guess the power of 90s hip-hop was too strong for Ocean to take over. “My top songs were Going Up the Country – Canned Heat, 90210 – Travis Scott, Good Life – Kanye West, If You Know You Know – Pusha T,

and Rhymes Like Dimes – MF Doom.”

One song stands out from the rest, and it was his #1 song of the year. “The only one that surprised me here was my most listened to song since 1960s country is a genre I don’t listen to on a daily basis.

It does appear in some of my playlists though.” I’m sure Joey is not ashamed of his #1 song, as it is a certified banger and has slapped for over four decades. “The rest of the songs aren’t surprising and are in almost all of my playlists, so it’s natural that I’m more likely to listen to them more often.” Some people were upset with their “wrapped”, but Joey is not. He is happy and content about his list, seeing as all of the songs on his top five are incredible.

Joey is a firm believer in the 90s and early 2000s hip-hop, and would like to say that “music is a big part of my life, and Ye is still the GOAT.” The Purple Quill has yet to receive any other words from Joey, as he abruptly stopped the interview there.

I look forward to seeing my Spotify “wrapped” every year, although my list sometimes comes out far from what I expect due to my account being shared by my entire family. For example, my most listened to artist in 2020 was the Zac Brown Band, and yet none of their songs made my top 100. Overall, the Spotify “wrapped” gives all users the experience to look back on their year as a whole and watch how their music taste has evolved.

Monday December 20, 2021

Arts & Entertainment 13

What Spiderman Movies are the Best?

Phillip Hoffman ‘22 Video Editor

Have you seen the all the Spiderman movies?

With the release of the new Spiderman movie, No Way Home, I thought it would be a great time to have a friendly neighborhood Spiderman contest.

When someone brings up the Spiderman today, it could mean a variety of different movies. There are the originals played by Tobey Maguire, The Amazing Spiderman played by Andrew Garfield, and lastly The Marvel Spiderman movies with Tom Holland.

The true question is, which movies are the best? To answer this, I broke each movie into two different categories: Box Office; how much money did each movie bring in? And Rating; which movies had the best reviews?

Starting with the box office revenue, Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman movies have a clear-cut advantage with a total of three movies where the others have only two. With this, the three original Spiderman movies bring in a total of 2.5 billion. Next are the Amazing Spiderman movies had a total of 1.4 billion. Even if you added a third back to the total box office in compensation for a third movie, the total would be far shy from reaching the greatness of Tobey Maguire. Finally, we have the Marvel spinoff of Peter Parker. These two movies alone brought in a total of 2.2 billion. For having only two movies, that is awfully close to the original’s 2.5 box office. If we did a compensation factor for Tom Holland, his third movie would bring him to a total of 2.9 billion. Wow! I would give this round off to the Marvel Spiderman movies but with the third movie not having been released yet, It would seem unfair to take the point away from Tobey.

Besides, The original Spiderman movies are called that for a reason, “original”.

These films had to bring the fans in based on sole proprietorship alone. The Parker name was already built up very high by the time Holland came along, and he had all of the Marvel supporting characters/films to help out the audience.

For the second round we will take a look at the reviews of each movie, specifically the famous Rotten Tomato reviews. Starting over again with the OG Spidey films, The highest review came from the most popular Spiderman 2. This movie was a huge hit all around but especially with the notorious villain Doctor Octavius. It brought in an outstanding 93 percent. The average of all three films was an 82 percent. The disappointing Spiderman 3 tanked the average with a low rating 63 percent.

Next, The Amazing Spiderman. These two movies did not do as hot. The average tomatometer came out at a 62 percent, 1 percent lower than the lowest original Spiderman. Andrew Garfield is out of contention for the best Spiderman. What chance did he really have? Lastly, the Tom Holland Spiderman films. These two movies, nearly topping the three OG in box office, had an average of 95 percent! That’s a higher average than Maguire’s peak performance. The peak for Holland came in his second film, Far from Home. It is tough to beat that. Tom takes the second round.

It seems we have a situation on our hands. One point Tobey, One point Tom. To break the tie, we’ll take a look at what is in my opinion the greatest quote from any Spiderman film, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Tobey had the ongoing battle from his high school days all the way through college. He had multiple villains find out who his secret identity was and attack his loved ones in spite of this. In many cases, Tobey’s Peter Parker couldn’t do much. He didn’t have anyone to rely on. He couldn’t talk to his best friend and unload his troubles to him because Spiderman killed his father, and Harry despised him for that.

Holland’s Spiderman didn’t have this trouble as much. In his first movie his nemesis was the girl’s, whom he liked, father. He wasn’t going to do anything to her like the Green Goblin or Doc Ock did to Mary Jane. Holland truthfully, had the entire Avengers crew behind him if things got too out of hand. It seems obvious who the winner is.

I believe Tobey Maguire is the best Spiderman from a personal and statistical point of view. Who do you think owns the Spiderman films? Will No Way Home break a box office record? We will find out soon enough.

The great Christmas movie debate Shawn Wyatt ‘22 Features Editor

My two all-time favorite Christmas films are Home Alone and National Lampoon’s

Christmas Vacation, and I recently heard different people saying that one is better than the other. Of course, comparing two iconic films like these is going to be tough because there will always be disagreements. But I have done my best to compare and contrast the two and come to a decision on which one is truly better.

First, the two stories are pretty different. In Home Alone, 9-year-old Kevin McAllister is supposed to go to France with his family. Of course, as the title suggests, Kevin is left home alone while his family is trying to get back home. Kevin is happy to be alone at first because he says he wishes he could have a new family. Two con men named Harry and Marv, who pretended to be the police earlier in the film, end up trying to get into the McAllister house and steal whatever they can while the family is away. Because of this, Kevin must devise a plan to protect the house. This is where a lot of the charm of Home Alone lies. Kevin makes traps that work and he out-smarts the robbers.

Christmas Vacation is a movie I always enjoy watching with my family in December. Clark Griswold is just trying to have a “Good old fashioned family Christmas” with his wife and kids and make it the best he can. In his mind, nothing can go wrong with the

way he planned it. This all changes when his family, including his cousin Eddie, shows up unexpectedly. This completely changes Clark’s plans, and he becomes very annoyed.

This movie is more about the family full of strange characters, compared to Home Alone, which mostly only surrounds Kevin.

The characters in these two movies are what make them so great. They both have some weird and interesting people that make the films fun to watch. Home Alone, of course, has Harry and Marv, whose weird antics and interesting friendship, as well as them being idiots, adds so much humor as they try to rob Kevin’s house. Cousin Eddie is one of the most interesting characters in Christmas Vacation. He adds lots of weird quotes and stupid jokes to the story. He is one of those characters that is funny simply because of his stupidity. Clark’s whole family brings their own dynamic that makes the movie great.

In my opinion, Christmas Vacation captures the family Christmas experience perfectly. Being in a big family, Christmas is always exciting, and usually pretty crazy, so in a way, I can almost relate to this movie’s plot involving a lot of interesting characters.

But Home Alone also has a great family dynamic. Although Kevin and his siblings do not always appreciate each other, by the end of the movie when they are reunited, it is clear that Kevin loves his family.

In terms of story, this is where Home Alone shines. In my opinion, the story is better than Christmas Vacation because it seems like there is so much more going on. Kevin constantly getting himself into trouble and dealing with Harry and Marv, all while he is home alone, is hilarious.

In my opinion, Home Alone’s story gives it a slight edge over Christmas Vacation.

I like it better because of this. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the Griswold family having Christmas is great, but there’s something about watching Kevin running around his house, going to the store, and protecting his house that is always hilarious. While I do prefer Home Alone, these two are very close for me. If you haven’t seen either of these movies (I don’t know who hasn’t) I would definitely recommend checking them both out.

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Arts & Entertainment

My top 10 Christmas movies Kellen Sandhas ‘22 Staff Writer

health is put to the test because people think he is going crazy.

At five, It’s a Wonderful Life. A man s the Christmas season approaches, named George has many problems he it is appropriate to start to get into the is thinking about ending his life. As the swing of winter. Cold weather, snow, and angels discuss George, we see his life in Christmas lights all start to appear around flashback. As George is about to jump this time of December. from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his Another thing that starts to appear guardian angel, Clarence. He is the Christmas then shows George what his spirit. Now, there town would have looked like if are many different it hadn’t been for all his good ways to celebrate deeds over the years.

Christmas. You will At four we have Love Acsee lights, trees, tually. This is about nine intersnowmen, and twined stories where a common many other things theme is love. Everyone in the around the commumovie is trying to help someone nity. But, the most who is going through struggles. slept on part of This is a great theme of love Christmas is especially around the movies.

Christmas time.

There is nothAt three I put The Grinch. ing like chilling This is a story about a grumpy out and watching a grinch who has never really been classic Christmas accepted. He is a loner and absomovie on a cold lutely hates Christmas because December day. I Section of the famous poster he once gave a gift to a girl and am going to give everyone laughed at him. He tries to ruin a breakdown of the top 10 Christmas Christmas for Whoville by acting as Santa movies of all time and a little summary of and stealing all the Christmas presents and each of them. decorations.

At 10 is The Santa Clause is about At two we have the classic Elf. This a dad who accidentally kills a man in a is about Buddy the Elf who was transSanta suit. The dad is transported to the ported to the North Pole as a child. He is North Pole where he sees all of the elves raised in the north pole and then one day and such. The dad is tasked with begoes to New York dressed in an Elf suit. coming Santa and preparing for the next He has no idea what goes on down on Christmas. He believes he is dreaming but earth but he is looking for his father. Once over the next several months he realizes he finds him, he tries to form a relationthat he is actually Santa and will have to ship with Buddy the Elf but there are save christmas. many problems due to his immaturity.

At nine is White Christmas. This is Lastly, number one, Home Alone. about people who are doing a musical in This is by far the greatest Christmas movVermont where they meet a man whose ie of all time. Kevin Mccallister is put on business is failing. They have to somehow the very top floor of his house because he turn the business back into normal for the was being bad on christmas eve. They are holiday season. set to go on vacation with the family the At eight was have The Muppets next day. Everyone over sleeps and it is Christmas Carol. This is a 1992 film total chaos in the morning. They wind up about the muppets around Christmas time. forgetting Kevin on the very top floor and They are visited by three christmas spirits. do not realize until very much later. The Scrooge is told about his selfishness but Sticky bandits (two robbers) are fresh out the old man thinks it’s too late to change. of jail going around looking to rob those At seven is The Snowman. This is around christmas time. It is up to young about a boy whose dog dies. He builds Kevin to stop them from doing this in a snowman and a snowdog and in the order to save christmas. Home Alone One morning they turn into real people. Over and Two are two of the best Christmas the course of the movie the three go movies ever in my opinion. on adventures.

These are my top 10 Christmas movAt six, Miracle on 34th Street. This ies of all time and have generated billions is about a man who plays Santa at the of dollars combined.

Macy Thanksgiving Parade. After this, he starts appearing in more and more. He even claims he is the real Santa which leads him to a court case where his mental

A

Monday December 20, 2021

The underrated Christmas Carol Jacob Stamper ‘22 Head of Graphics

There are many adaptations of Charles

Dickens’s legendary story from 1843, A Christmas Carol: Patrick Stewart’s A Christmas Carol (1999), Scrooge (1951), theatrical productions, and countless other films. However, one that is not as recognized as it should be is the animated version, A Christmas Carol (2009), starring Jim Carrey as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge.

This film is not some big twist on the traditional story, but the animators and actors do a great job of enhancing the story.

You know those movies that are better one way than the other? Lion King is better as an animation. Avengers is better as a live action. Well, A Christmas Carol has had many different types of production, and I can confidently say that the animated version from 2009 is one of, if not the, best versions of the story.

Perhaps the greatest of the animated parts are the three ghosts of Christmas: past, present, and future.

The animations do a fantastic job of enhancing what each ghost is supposed to be; it evokes a certain emotion from the viewer.

Each ghost has an eerie or downright terrifying section to it. Without spoiling too much, this movie can be creepier than your average horror film at points.

Nonetheless, it also has its traditional positive message.

This movie is definitely a feel-good movie. It features the message of living for others: celebrating Christmas by giving back. However, that message is in every remake of the story. What makes this movie stand out is the ways that animation contributes to that happy feeling. The joyful scenes are filled with Christmas colors and overlays: bright and yellow lights surround the characters. It makes the magic feel magical.

The animation allows the movie to have more exciting and intense scenes.

Scenes such as flying over the city, the ghosts with chains around them, or running from the ghost of Christmas future, the film’s message and emotions are enhanced by the abilities of animation. For example, when Scrooge is being chased by the ghost of Christmas future, the ghost resembles the Grim Reaper, riding on his ghostly, black horses in a floating carriage that defies physics. The design of having the horses and the carriage fade into the shadows, being part of the world while still attached to the underworld, is something only animation could achieve. It greatly intensifies the scene as the carriage turns tight corners and bounces off buildings, again taking advantage of animation.

Additionally, Jim Carrey has an excellent performance. The voice of Scrooge is exactly what you would imagine.

Accompanied with that, the over-the-top mouth movements of the animated character make him just as unlikeable as Charles Dickens wrote him to be.

It also uses animation to create humor. There is a scene of Scrooge, near the end of the film after he changes, ice skating down the street. Having an elderly man skate down an icy road would be nearly impossible with a live action film, and it would not look as good.

These types of scenes really make the film a great piece because of the creators’ taking advantage of animation.

Indeed, this film is a great experience; it should be a Christmas classic. I highly recommend you watch it. If you have not, you will enjoy it. If you have, a rewatch is just as good as the first viewing. Christmas movies have the most rewatch value out of all the countless types of films. It gives you the feeling that you want when watching a Christmas film: happy with a meaningful message.

Monday December 20, 2021

Arts & Entertainment 15

Without Remorse has plenty of action Devyn Mullins ‘24 Staff Writer

At the end of last April, a movie was

released by the name of Tom Clancy: Without Remorse. It starred Micheal B. Jordan as the protagonist of the story.

The movie is about an elite Navy SEAL seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife. When a squad of Russian soldiers kills his family in retaliation for his role in a top-secret op, Sr. Chief John Kelly ( Jordan) pursues the assassins at all costs.

Joining forces with a fellow SEAL (Jodie Turner-Smith) and a shadowy CIA agent (Jamie Bell), Kelly’s mission unwittingly exposes a covert plot that threatens to engulf Russia in an all-out war. Torn between personal honor and loyalty to his country, Kelly must fight his enemies without remorse if he hopes to avert disaster and reveal the powerful figures behind the conspiracy.

The movie has great action scenes in it, if you’re a big action/sci-fi fan this movie is great for you. While in the movie there are multiple times when John Kelly almost dies.

If it wasn’t for his grit and want for payback for his family he wouldn’t have made it. There’s a scene in the middle of the movie where he tracks down a guy who knows the name of one of the people who killed his wife.and if he gets that name it helps him and his team. He goes to Russia and he takes a truck, runs into the guy’s car and pours gasoline all over the car and lights it on fire and gets in the car and starts interrogating the guy so he talks. I personally think it was one of the best scenes in the movie and one of the toughest parts.

But then there are parts where he is being stupid. He and his group are flying

to Russia and some Russian found out they were flying and they got a jet and shot down their plane and it landed in the ocean. Instead of getting out and getting back to land somehow.

He decides to go into the split in half plane and go into that sinking and he tries to go down and get equipment and continue the mission.

He ends up making it out after unreal-

Michael B Jordan stars in Without Remorse

istically holding his breath for three minutes then getting air for like ten seconds then going back down for another five, he comes back up for an inflatable boat so his team can still go to the destination.

That in the moment was very stupid but also smart at the same time. It shows how dedicated he is for his revenge.

Like I said earlier, if you’re a fan of action, sci-fi, and some mystery, in my opinion, you won’t be disapointed in this amazing movie.

The future of Squid Game Josh Steinhaus ‘24 Staff Writer

Most of us have probably seen or heard

of one of the recent hit shows on Netflix, Squid Game. With the conclusion of season one they leave us with room to believe they are working on a new season. Overall, I thought, while gruesome in parts, the show was pretty good.

Spoilers Ahead!

The show was a good look at a gruesome contest run by a group of billionaires who developed a game for their own entertainment. These so-called “VIPs” are so rich they host games that focus on getting poor and in debt people to compete to the death for money to absolve their debt and set them up for life.

They are asked to join the game when a man in the subway approaches people whom he had researched previously about their debt and current financial situation.

He then offers them to play Ddakji for one thousand won. The gamblers jumped immediately at the opportunity but after losing they all didn’t have money to pay up. After they are done playing, the man gives them a business card with three

shapes and a number to call. That’s where we get introduced to the Squid Game.

The games consist of very gruesome versions of children’s games. The penalty instead of just sitting out or leaving is DEATH. We start to progress and learn more about the characters, but I’ll let you watch the series to get the finer details.

The end of the first season culminates with the main character Seong Gi-Hun is about to get on a plane when he sees another person falling for the guy recruiting for another Squid Game. They leave it off with him calling them back and trying to get in again.

These are my hopes for the future of Squid Game. I hope in season two they show Gi-Hun somehow getting into the games like the detective from earlier in the season. They have great potential for another season. Gi-hun was so upset at the entirety of the games he tried to figure out who started them and how to stop it.

They can show the entirety of the workings of the Squid Games. We might be able to figure out more of how the games started, we could possibly be shown more of the “VIPs” and why they are so satisfied with watching people compete in children’s games to win money while killing other competitors.

Overall, the creators really left the door open for a good progression to the series. I hope they take a good route to make the next season as good as the first. It is a good watch despite some of the gruesomeness. On the other hand, it is kind of cool to see what a possible outcome can be of greed and addictions.

It shows how people can be so twisted or desperate to either create a weird sadistic thing or be so bad off to agree to participate in such activity. How real is the gore? Not so much, but I think the definite correlation to society is the greed aspect. People will do some horrendous things for enjoyment or money.

Season One poster for Squid Game which takes place in Korea.

16

Monday December 20, 2021

Back Page

Surprising Jewish heritage in Price Hill

Americans drink around 360 million glasses of sparkling wine on New Year’s.

Josh Huff ‘22 Staff Writer

AAA offers free rides home on New Year’s Eve.

Price Hill is rich in history. Nobody doubts that, but recently I was given a glimpse into

just how rich this history is. Upon not having a thorough idea for this month’s print cycle, I took an idea off of Mr. Rogers’ board. The slip read, “Jewish Cemeteries.” Perplexed, I asked Mr. Rogers what exactly he wanted me to write about. He encouraged me to go down to the Price Hill Historical Society and do some research on these Jewish cemeteries that he had heard about. So, last Tuesday I headed down there, and dug into yellow folder after yellow folder, all focused around the Jewish population, and the lasting impact that their presence has had in the Price Hill community.

The story of Irish and German immigrants coming to Cincinnati, specifically Price Hill is pretty well documented. Take one glance at the last names here at Elder, and most of them are German or Irish in origin. The original German and Irish immigrants first began to populate the city on the hill in the early 19th century.

The period of growth for Price Hill lasted quite some time.

From the early 19th century until the early 20th century, the city experienced a wealth of growth. While a bustling city, Price Hill became an escape of sorts for many that Beth Jacob Synagogue is still standing on St. Lawrence Aveneu less could afford it. It was than a mile from Elder a serene area, removed far enough from the meatpacking metropolis that the rest of the city had become at this time.

The German and Irish immigration was most prominent during the beginning and middle of the 19th century. However, the city experienced another boom of immigration during the early 1900s and into the 1920s. This time though, it was the Jewish population who were flocking to Price Hill, and for good reason. The Tuberculosis epidemic was at its height during the early 20th century, and Cincinnati became a hub for potential treatment. One of the nation’s most comprehensive Tuberculosis hospitals was located just a mere mile from Elder in what is now considered the Dunham recreation complex.

Though condemned and rundown these days, the building was filled with tuberculosis patients in the early 1900s.

Tuberculosis affects everyone, however, as we’ve seen recently, disease tends to affect minorities more disproportionately than others. The Jewish population was largely affected by tuberculosis. At this time, there was no cure for tuberculosis. It was a vicious killer, killing 12.4 percent of people that contracted it. It was this disease that became a driving factor for the influx of Jewish people that came to Price Hill during the 1900s.

Many people searched for treatment at the Tuberculosis hospital located in Cincinnati.

However, there was no cure for the disease. Many loved ones and relatives of the Jewish people afflicted by TB came to Price Hill to be there for their loved ones.

Obviously, the toll that TB had on the population was immense. Forcing many local cemeteries to reach full capacity, or in some cases, to even expand. When the Jewish population came to Price Hill, there were a few main Synagogues established, most of which had adjacent cemeteries for the members of their communities. Price Hill was home to two major synagogues. The first one was the Beth Jacob Synagogue. It was founded in 1925, and cost 25,000 dollars to build. The Synagogue served over 600 Jewish families that had flocked to Price Hill from Eastern Europe. Sadly, the building was sold in the 1970s. The building is still standing but has been through many different hands of ownership.

The second Synagogue was built after the initial boom of Jewish immigrants. The Beth Shalom Sephardic Synagogue served Jewish immigrants from Greece and Spain.

This Synagogue served far less families than it’s earlier counterpart, with only serving 80-90 families at the peak of its existence. Only the first building is still standing, and can be found less than a mile away from Elder sitting on St. Lawrence Avenue. Though not all are still functional, the remains of 27 Jewish Beth Shalom Sephardic Synagogue is no cemeteries can be longer standing but served 80-90 families. found throughout the Price Hill and Covedale area.

Ancient Persians gave eggs as a new years gift as a sign of productiveness.

Over a ton of confetti is dropped in New York for the New Year.

Tradition says that the more leafy greens a person eats, the more prosperity he or she will experience.

Hershey, Pennsylvania drops a giant Hershey Kiss at the start of the new year.

In 1942 and 1943, during World War II, instead of a celebration at Times Square, a moment of reverent silence was observed.

According to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more cars are stolen on New Year’s Eve than any other night of the year. Moral of the story? Take a cab!

New Year’s resolutions usually revolve around breaking bad habits or starting good ones.

Roughly 45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, and 25% of them break them by mid-January.

In Ancient Rome, New Year’s was on March 1. The Roman calendar consisted of 10 months and 304 days, and the new year began at the vernal equinox. The calendar, however, became out of sync, and in 46 BC, Julius Caesar created the Julian calendar, which closely resembles our modern Gregorian calendar.

In Japan, Buddhist temples all over the country ring their bells 108 times at midnight to symbolize and get rid of the 108 types of human weakness.

Enjoying a glass of champagne is a common New Year’s tradition. Originally popularized in the court of Louis XIV, the associations with wealth and royalty trickled down to the middle classes as a form of “aspirational drinking.” Over time, bubbly became associated with celebration, and in the 19th century, newspapers began to associate champagne with holiday family gatherings. By the 20th century, champagne became a must for New Year’s Eve, and it’s now a staple of New Year’s celebrations.

The first countries to celebrate New Year’s are those located immediately west of the International Date Line. The island nations of Samoa, Tonga, and Kiribati ring in the new year a full 14 hours before the UK. In Spain, eating grapes at midnight is both a tradition and a superstition. At the stroke of midnight, Spaniards eat 12 grapes symbolizing 12 lucky months ahead. In some areas, the grapes are also believed to ward away witches and general evil.

New Year’s Eve is often celebrated with fireworks and noisemakers. In ancient times, fire and noise were said to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck. Fireworks were invented by the Chinese, and they are credited with linking them to New Year’s celebrations.

The ball drop in Times Square is a long-standing New Year’s ritual, and the tradition began over 100 years ago. In 1907, fireworks were banned in New York City, so the city decided to try something different. Instead of fireworks, they lowered a 700-lb ball made of wood and iron.

The song “Auld Lang Syne” is synonymous with New Year’s Eve. The version of the song that’s most widely sung today is based on a poem

by Scottish poet Robert Burns. The title translates literally to “old long since,” but is really more like “old times” or “olden days”.

Every New Year’s Eve, Mobile Alabama drops a 350-pound electronic MoonPie. In Mexico, New Year’s Eve is considered to be the best time to convey a message to a lost loved one. At the Taos Inn in New Mexico, people can pay $15 for a 15-minute session of spiritualism and meditation.

Ousouji is the Japanese tradition of cleaning your whole house on New Year’s Eve. The ritual is followed by the feast of Osechi, which is a traditional Japanese dish made with fish, beans, eggs, and Toshikoshi Soba, which is a New Year’s Eve noodle. The extra-long noodle symbolizes the wish for an extra-long life.

The tradition of kissing someone at midnight is likely rooted in German and English folklore. The belief was that the first person you encountered at the start of the new year determined your fortunes in the year ahead. Over time, people decided to be proactive about it, making sure they kissed someone they knew and liked at the start of the year.