December 2011

Malden blows out Medford 36-0 in the Thanksgiving Day game.

Article on page 20

The Blue and Gold http://maldenblueandgold.com/

Malden High School Volume 97 Edition 3

Our 97th Year December 2011

Look at the sky Opinion pages 3-5 World Pages 6-9 Local Pages 10-17 Entertainment Pages 18-19 Sports Pages 20-24

Malden High School Play Productions performs the musical Urinetown. Article on page 14 and 15. Visit maldenblueandgold.com to hear audio interviews and view a photo gallery. Photo by Catherine Poirier.

Boys basketball article on page 22.

Seniors Trail Juniors in Powder Puff

Left: Senior class president, Kiara Amos, modeling scarves at the craft’s fair. Article on page 11.

Right: The senior girls, coached by Jamie MacInerney, Witchie Valence-Exilhomme, Shaun Carlson, Alishaun Moughal, Austin Teal, and Garvin Cius, huddle together prior to the game for a group photo. Photo by Paul Famiglietti.

Article on page 16.

Girls track hopes to win GBL Runners look to follow up cross country success

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n a sport where every second counts, the pressure is definitely on. As the second sports season of the school year begins, coach David Londino has high hopes. The girls cross country team won the title of GBL champions and Londino hopes

that he will be able to say the same for the girls track team. Sprinting events coach Jamie Green says that in his opinion, everything is “sim‑ ple.” To him, the ultimate goal of the season is to win the ‑GBL champion‑ ship. He would also like to see to Article continued on page 21

Spirit Week article on pages 12 and 13.

Emotionally distanced and witty Breaking Dawn movie review on page 19.

Check out our website: www.maldenblueandgold.com

2

Editorials

The Blue and Gold December 2011

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Lets Face It: College Costs Money Malden High School

The Blue and Gold 77 Salem St. Malden, MA 02148

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Print: Cristina Peters Print: Dan Holmqvist Online: Omar Khoshafa MANAGING EDITORS Paige Yurek Brittany McFeeley HEAD COPY EDITOR Joel Stevenson HEAD LOCAL NEWS WRITER Print: Lauren Benoit Online: Catherine Poirier HEAD WORLD NEWS WRITER Megan Kelly HEAD ENTERTAINMENT WRITER Rebecca Broomstein HEAD SPORTS WRITER Print: Sharon Lee Online: Joshua Kummins HEAD OF BUSINESS Lesley Ta HEADS OF PHOTOGRAPHY Kayla Bramante Natalie Fallano

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his year’s college application “season” is coming to an end. For the majority of high school seniors, it will prove to be a time of great anxiety leading to yet another four months of uncertainty. Juniors and underclassmen will look on during this period of time, question‑ ing the crazy antics of their senior classmates, trying to survive school until a much needed winter break.

However, many students fail to realize the implications of the rising cost of college educa‑ tion, what that actually means, and what you, as a student or parent, can do about it. This issue affects both seniors and juniors, parents and children, rich and poor.

Although news of our stagnant economy has been quite common in the past several years, what does that actually mean for us as students? Well for beginners, it means that the price tag on a college degree will steadily increase over the next decade. According to The College Board, the average tuition and fees for public universities rose 8.3 percent for instate students in 2011 alone. Private universi‑ ties faced a similar hike of 4.5 percent despite greater financial resources. Tuition inflation, coupled with waning government assistance results in even more financial burden on stu‑ dent and their families.

In fact, according to USA Today, this year Americans will collectively owe more than 1 trillion dollars in student loan debt. This figure is even greater than American’s collective credit card debt.

Rather than throw at you more daunting statistics regarding college cost, I will say that in this new decade, more consideration must go into choosing where you wish to complete your undergraduate education. Financial disci‑

pline is a must is tough times like these, espe‑ cially when an undergraduate degree is worth much less that it was before.

Today, the high school cultural sphere tends to sensationalize the college experience beyond reality. We tend to set our sights on one particular dream school, a school we feel a personal connection with. We psychologically limit ourselves to that one and only school and we forget to keep in mind the most important aspect of admission: financial aid letters.

This sensationalism needs to end. It is perfectly acceptable to set your goals high, to clearly envision them in in your mind. But in the end our blind love will hurt more that it helps. It will cause us to disregard the ris‑ ing cost of attending such a school. Do you really want to graduate college owing more than $100,000 in debt while also entering an unstable job market? Not to mention that col‑ lege loans, especially private loans, have high interest rates and can further suffocate a gradu‑ ate struggling to pay off a mountain of debt.

The best option high school students have today is attending the college that offers the most generous amount of financial aid.

Regardless of whether or not your parents can afford it, it is simply not a wise investment to thrust an entire family’s savings into an under‑ graduate education. Loans are also a path to be avoided as much as possible.

In an competitive world, many entry-level jobs now require a masters degree as a require‑ ment. This changing job environment requires us to adapt and adjust accordingly. We need to be able to make sound decisions on what ben‑ efits us in the long run and what route will give us the best possible education with the least amount of loans and debt.

HEAD OF SURVEYS Johanna Lai

Omar Khoshafa

VIDEO EDITOR Timothee Pierre COPY EDITORS Amalia Quesada Nylen Jacob Martino Amanda Rosatone Kristen Leonard Vicki Ngan REPORTERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS Haley Dowdie Jason Drapinski Amanda Moraes Sumya Mohiuddin Casey Lyons Grace Stathos Jessica Lynn DePaula P.J. Montezuma Alan Shooteech Kerry Ngan Jake Robinson ADVISOR Ryan Gallagher Established in 1915 Check out our online edition: http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Online Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Policy The Blue and Gold is an open forum for student expression. It is produced by students for the school and the community. The views presented in this paper are not necessarily those of the advisor or the school administration. The views presented in the editorials are those of the editors-in-chief or guests. The goal of The Blue and Gold is to inform and entertain students as well as the community regarding issues that we feel are important.

We strongly encourage readers to respond to material printed in the form of signed letters to the editors. No libelous, malicious, defamatory, obscene, or unsigned material will be printed.

The Blue and Gold reserves the right to edit the let‑ ters. Names may be withheld upon request. Not all letters will be printed.

Although The Blue and Gold appreciates the support of advertisers, we may refuse any ad‑ vertisement that violates the above policy or that promotes products questionable to student use.

Any correspondence concerning this publi‑ cation should be directed to Mr. Ryan Gallagher’s room in J387 or to his mailbox in the main office.

The Blue and Gold c/o Malden High School 77 Salem Street Malden, MA 02148

Corrections: Page 1 - Dimas Bardales’s last name is spelled incorrectly.

Page 15 - Right is spelled incorrectly in photo caption.

Page 15 & 20 - Witchie Exilhomme’s name is spelled incorrectly.

Page 15 - Witchie Exilhomme is not recognized as a senior.

Page 21 - Carli Bellmer’s name is spelled incorrectly.

Page 22 - David Kibazo name is spelled incorrectly in boys cross country article.

Page 24 - Dan Holmqvist was not mentioned as a Blue and Gold member.

The Blue and Gold December 2011

3

Opinion http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Muckraking or Yellow Journalism?

A FOX News report about a local teacher presents questions About ethical journalism.

Kevin Hogan, a teacher at Mys‑ tic Valley Charter School, was found out.

In theory, everybody has some‑ thing to hide, some covering up more than others. However, what we hide so that no one is able to see does not make us bad people - it is often what defines us as people. But to what extent should journalists be counted on to keep people ac‑ countable, especially when it comes to sensitive personal matters? And if private information should be shared with the public, how should that information be presented?

On Nov. 29, 2011, Fox News aired a story lacking journalist in‑ tegrity on Kevin Hogan, who was an English teacher as well as a crew coach for Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden, MA. Fox reported that Hogan had acted in several pornographic films without regard for the sensitivity of the mat‑ ter.

From the video of his inter‑ view, the audience is able to see how Hogan was attacked by Fox reporter, Mike Beaudet, as he walks to his car. Hogan shows clear evi‑ dence of not wanting to speak as he keeps repeating “I don’t know what

you [are] talking about”, but Beau‑ det was unwilling to take no for an answer. He kept following Hogan while asking him questions about his previous occupation as well as flashing him pictures. Hogan even held his composure, when he casually wished Beaudet a Happy Thanksgiving. Beaudet continued to insist on a response from Hogan pressing, “Come on, this is you, you know what we’re talk‑ ing about.”

To make matters worse, Fox 25 went to Mystic Va l l e y Regional Charter school to talk to the parents about Hogan as if he was a threat to the school and more importantly the students.

A mother to one of the children on the crew team remarked on the Fox report that she was, “...sur‑ prised. The kids really love him, he’s been a great addition to the team, he’s a new [crew] coach this year, new head of the English depart‑ ment...”

Surprised is right. The students as well as the staff and the school

board seemed to enjoy working with him. He was hired during the summer of 2011 and was the leader of the English department. On top of that, he took on the role of the head crew coach.

Mystic Valley senior Stephanie Hansen stated, “This year the school brought two new coaches, with Hogan as the head coach. He taught the team so much, and we finally felt comfortable to settle down into focus‑ ing on our compet‑ ing.”

Ac‑ cording to Fox N e w s , the school stated that, “the records [Mystic Valley] received were flaw‑ less.” But the question that remains is whether the students are really the ones at risk?

With reporters jumping the gun and exposing people’s past mis‑ takes maybe we are are all at risk of what we have to hide. Chances are that a good number of people have done things that they are not proud of so what is stopping news stations like Fox to do an article on you, and expose your life?

Some in the community is furi‑ ous with the outcome of this event.

A Facebook group named “We Want Mr. Hogan Back”, Change.org, huffingtonpost.com are just a few websites that have walls to protest against Beaudet and Fox 25 News.

As stated by an anonymous blog poster, “I am astounded at how low you’ve sunk here. Some ‘journal‑ ist.’”

So the question remains with so many petitions, what will be the fate of future stories, and above that, what will happen to Kevin Hogan?

Fox 25 News was wrong.

Pornography has always been a ex‑ tremely controversial topic and es‑ pecially when a high school teacher is involved, that much is true. But as students and records show, Hogan has not harmed anyone. Fox had the right to report on this topic, but they should have been more patient with the story. They should have handled a personal matter like this more sensitively, as now Hogan’s teach‑ ing career has forever been tainted.

Fox should have left out many of the blurred images of Hogan’s film cov‑ ers and his “industry nickname” in the report.

And above all, Fox should have given Hogan a chance to respond to these allegations in a dignified man‑ ner, rather than aiming to intention‑ ally humiliate him.

Should Teachers Have Higher Moral Standards?

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eachers are held to a high stan‑ dard. They educate, inform, and mentor our nation’s youth, and are expected to nurture a generation of students to adulthood. They argu‑ ably hold the most important pro‑ fession in society.

So the question is: to what standard should we hold teachers in their private lives?

Kevin Hogan, a Mystic Valley Regional Charter School English teacher, participated in porno‑ graphic films in the year prior to his employment at the school. Hogan broke no laws by acting in any of these films, and by many accounts he was a well-liked and respect teacher among his students and coworkers. However, pornography is considered a taboo in today’s soci‑ ety and it is not consistent with the values that schools are supposed to promote.

Now that everyone within the Mystic Valley school community

from teachers, administrators, and students has heard of Hogan’s un‑ savory past, this makes his teaching position at the school untenable.

Students will never view Hogan in the same light, and his presence in the classroom would amount to nothing more than a distraction.

Administrators and parents will be uneasy about the situation as well.

Think about it: if you were his stu‑ dent, a parent of his student, or even a colleague, would you feel com‑ fortable having him as a teacher, teaching your kids, or working at your school? Now, there is only one option for Hogan - to resign.

Perhaps the situation would be different if no one had known that Hogan had acted in these films.

Many would argue that Hogan’s private actions in the past have no bearing on his ability to teach high school students.

But now that everyone knows of Hogan’s past exploits, his teach‑

ing career has come to an abrupt halt. And, in our view, this is the way it should be. If a teacher par‑ ticipates in any public activity with explicitly sexual content, whether it be acting in risque film or simply posing “nude” on a magazine cover, he should not be allowed to be as‑ sociated with teaching children.

Where do we draw the line? For example, athletes who pose shirtless on the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazines are posing for different reasons that what Hogan had. We need to realize that the motives be‑ hind something of this nature are not sexual drives, but rather ones on showing off fitness and physi‑ cal strength; these are people who children should look up too (except when they take steroids).

Therefore, The Blue and Gold staff recommends that Hogan re‑ sign from Mystic Valley Regional Charter School. It would do him, the community, and the school no

good if he remained a teacher and department head of English. He would inevitably face further scru‑ tiny, harassment, and ridicule from students, scorn from parents, and unnecessary oversight from admin‑ istrators.

What do you think about this story?

Visit maldenblueandgold.com to find the link to the original FOX news report and vote in our online poll.

4

Opinion

The Blue and Gold December 2011

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

enn State Sex Scandal A child sexual abuse tragedy that could have and should have been avoided, and what it says about the role of instituions in sexual abuse and bullying

Far left: Wes Bausmith illustration of blue “P” with Penn State football whistle.

Los Angeles Times MCT 2011 Left: Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State assistant football coach, is escorted to a police car after being charged with additional counts of sexual abuse involving two more boys, Wednesday, December 7, 2011, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. (Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times/MCT). Below: Attorney Joe Amendola, right, speaks to the media as Karl Rominger, left, listens outside the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, after the preliminary hearing of Jerry Sandusky, Tuesday, December 13, 2011. (Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times/ MCT)

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ver the past few weeks the Penn State Sex Abuse lawsuit has escalated; Gerald A. Sandusky is now accused of sexually abusing eight victims over about a 15 year period.

Sandusky was a football coach for the Pennsylvania State Univer‑ sity (Penn State) football team for 32 years before retiring at the end of the 1999 season. He was also the founder of The Second Mile, a char‑ ity that started out as a group foster home for troubled young boys but then grew to also help children with dysfunctional or absent families.

Sandusky was a father of ten adopted children with his wife, Dottie Sandusky. Sandusky would allegedly invite young boys, all of which he had met through the Sec‑ ond Mile, to attend football games, stay at his house the night prior to a game, to exercise at Penn State ath‑ letic facilities, and sometimes even to attend family outings. During all the time that Sandusky spent with these young boys, there were nu‑ merous places that Sandusky would commit sexual abuse.

In his defense, Sandusky claims that he was just “roughhous‑ ing” with the boys and wrestling or having fun. Representing Victim 1, Attorney Michael Boni says “These were, quote, ‘precious’ moments for [Sandusky],” in an interview with ABC reporter Colleen Curry. “In fact they were the most vile, horren‑ dous, unspeakable moments for his

victims.”

Both of these cases should have been taken in a more serious man‑ ner. After the first time Sandusky was reported for sexually abusing a young boy, the second case should have received more attention espe‑ cially since they had prior knowl‑ edge of Sandusky’s past with young children. The second case of sexual abuse by Sandusky should have been reported to the University Police and even to higher officials.

There is no excuse for why this case was taken lightly especially since there was a witness of the sexual abuse between Sandusky and Vic‑ tim 2.

The effect of the scandal lies not only on Sandusky but also his peers. Spanier and Paterno have now departed from the university staff, Schultz has stepped down, and Curley has been put on administra‑ tive leave. Schultz and Curley are charged with lying to the grand jury and the failure to report to police regarding the 2002 incident.

The loss of some members to the Penn State staff such as long time coach Paterno has erupted contro‑ versy. Many would think, including Victim 1’s psychologist, that Victim 1 was courageous for speaking up about his experiences to protect other boys from this abuse. How‑ ever, that is not the case. Some are more concerned about the removal of Paterno from the staff more than they are concerned about the well being of the victims and other boys.

It is horrifying to hear of such abuse but it is worse to know that Victim 1 was harassed for his brav‑

ery. Ultimately Victim 1 had been bullied for being the reason that Pa‑ terno had lost his coaching job to the point where he had to leave his own high school. It is repulsive to know that some in our society could judge and harass someone simply because they are upset over a change in coaching staff of a college team.

It was easy for Sandusky to commit these crimes of sexual abuse and to continue doing so for such a long time period, facing no conse‑ quences at all. Finally, after 15 years of sexually abusing young boys, Sandusky will face all eight of the victims in his presentment as they take the stand against Sandusky at his hearing on Dec. 13, 2011.

Many people play roles in this case and in fact many could have prevented this from continuing and escalating to the level that it had reached. In the very beginning Sandusky had been wrong for sexu‑

ally abusing 8 young boys. All the people that had witnessed or knew of the abuse should have taken ef‑ fective action to prevent Sandusky from harming anymore people. Af‑ ter the release of the case, the people criticizing Victim 1 should not have exerted their anger on Victim 1.

These staff members, in positions of authority, could have taken the step to prevent the escalation of the situation but had taken it upon themselves to ignore the severity of the case.

Now that more and more cas‑ es of abuse and bullying have been exposed, it seems as institutions have not put forth more of an effort to control it. Considering the power that large institutions hold, they are capable of taking a large role in pro‑ tecting the safety of young children and putting an end to the behavior such as sexual abuse and bullying.

The Blue and Gold December 2011

5

OPINION http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

The Stop Online Piracy Act is making its way through the American legislative system; its main target is the freedom of the Internet.

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id you know that pizza is now a veg‑ etable, the Internet is on the brim of censorship and that these are all acts of the United States Legislative system? It is no doubt that these issues are on completely different ends of the political and legisla‑ tive spectrum; one allows a food that typi‑ cally, a couch potato would include in the healthy food pyramid, while the other, as many citizens claim will ban the nation’s constitutional right to free speech.

It seems that while one of the issues is petty, the other is of real concern. For stu‑ dents in the 21st century, no assignment is complete without some resources from the internet, but now it seems that while our government strives for a more advanced education, they are also on the road of lim‑ iting student’s abilities to gain the desired knowledge.

The notorious policies that are making their way through the Senate and House of Representatives are called Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (or in shorthand PRO-IP Act) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Knowledge of this PRO-IP Act spread across the country on May 12, 2011 and reemerged with SOPA’s entrance to the House on Oct. 26, 2011, when the bill was first introduced into the house. Earlier in 2010 a similar bill that inspired the writing and lobbying of the PRO-IP Act, Combat‑ ing the Online Infringement and Counter‑ feit Act, failed to pass through the Senate.

Specifics in the bill, according to fight‑ forthefuture.org, a website working to have the American public tell their representa‑ tives and senators, are to ban “American’s access [to] websites that corporations don’t

like. The bill would criminalize posting… music playing in the background of videos, footage of people dancing, kids playing video games, and posting video[s] of people playing cover songs.” In simple terms, the upcoming generation of voters’ bread and butter of entertainment would be banned.

For many bloggers and general Inter‑ net users, not much knowledge had been shared on the PRO-IP Act as it had only drawn so much attention when first de‑ buted. Though CEOs and creators of web‑ sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Mozilla and Twitter did not let the threat to their voices and businesses go.

On Nov. 16, 2011, a month after SOPA’s entrance into the House of Representatives, content that would be banned under the PRO-IP and SOPA Acts was blocked with a gray bar that varied in size due to how large the image or information was.

For bloggers on several sites this meant that most of the content normally viewed was banned. Though it was not anything harmful that was banned, quotes from Dis‑ ney movies, GIFs made from scenes in TV shows and other “contraband” that showed people’s appreciation for certain entertain‑ ment and content.

This preview of the possible future for US Internet users got a reaction. Fightforth‑ efuture.org, Americancensorship.org, Pub‑ licknowledge.org were the websites that had initially set up the campaigns to protest the passing of the bills; on their websites there are links that connect users to pages that allow US citizens to insert their name, address and phone number so that their lo‑ cal Representatives and Senators would be called to be informed that these individuals were against the bills.

Layout, page design, and graphics altered by Megan Kelly. Images courtesy of FightfortheFuture.org, Google, and Tumblr

6

WORLD NEWS

The Blue and Gold December 2011

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Norway Killer is Declared Insane “All his thoughts and acts are guided by his delusions.”

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nders Behring Breivik, the selfconfessed murderer of 77 teen‑ agers and young adults, and injurer of 151 this summer in an open fire and bombing rampage. Since being declared insane earlier this Decem‑ ber, he may now be sent to a mental institute rather than a prison. In a report filed by two psychiatrists, it

Passport photo of Anders Behring Breivik from 2009 released by the Norwegian police for use by media in related articles/stories. Courtesy of Wikimedia.

stated he was psychotic at the time of the shootings.

Breivik, 32, confessed he set off a bomb that perished Oslo’s govern‑ ment district, killing eight people, and then shooting at the summer camp of the governing youth. There were 69 people who died in the mayhem island’s camp, located off of the Norwegian capital Oslo, and Breivik later surrendered to the Spe‑ cial Weapon and Tactics team.

The following day, after his attacks, Breivik visited Facebook for the final time, posting a 1,516 page document and a link to a video on YouTube, encouraging his 7,000 friends to use his manifesto as a “blueprint” for their future ac‑ tions. In a later interview for Time Magazine, Breivik told his followers to “build [their networks] on Face‑ book. Follow the guidelines in this book and [they] will succeed!”

Breivik admitted to the mur‑ ders but pleaded insanity, arguing that that the attacks were “atrocious but necessary for [his] campaign to defend Europe against a Muslim invasion,” as shared by the British Broadcasting Company.

According to the two psychia‑ trists that worked with Breivik on

View of Oslo city after July 2011 bombing. Courtesy of Wikimedia multiple occasions, he was always in his “own delusional universe where all his thoughts and acts are guided by his delusions.”

According to prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh in an interview for BBC, the trial will be unaffected by the diagnosis of paranoid schizophre‑ nia, and the only difference is that Breivik will not receive jail time;

rather, he will be sent to a mental institute.

Per Sandberg, deputy leader of the opposition Progress Party believes that Breivik is not insane; he planned these murders for a very long time.

This leads to the debate of whether he really is insane, or if he is trying to avoid time in prison.

Afghanistan Security Forces Take Over From Where the US Left Off D

ating back to July where the transition of security in Af‑ ghanistan began, North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Afghan officials have announced that they will be entering their second phase of transition. As all foreign troops and NATO-led International Secu‑ rity Assistance Force are expected to leave the country by the end of 2014, the transfer of security from NATOled ISAF and U.S troops to the Afghan army and police has been gradual. By the end of 2011, the goal is to have Afghan National Security Forces be responsible for the entire security of all of the country.

The Afghanistan executive forces will be taking on more re‑ sponsibilities as they will be cover‑ ing security for about half their population from this second phase.

They will be fully managing six provinces, which are Balkh, Takhar, Daikundi, Samangan, Kabul, and Nimroz, and seven Afghan pro‑ vincial capitals and more than 40 districts in different provinces will also be handed over, as recom‑ mended by the joint Afghan-NATO Transition Commission and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. From the Karzai office, the provincial capitals

Mohammad Akram, 38, says that business at his car and property dealership in western Kabul has suffered since the announcement of the U.S. military drawdown and a spate of insurgent attacks this year.

(Shashank Bengali/MCT) to be handed over will be Jalabad city, Ghazni city, Maydan city, Faiz‑ abad, Chaghcharan, Shibirghan, and Qalay-I-Naw. From the gradual transition of security, Afghan will be taking the step forward to be suc‑ cessful and independent as well as being responsible for their country’s well being. According to the com‑ mander of the NATO-led ISAF and U.S troops in Afghanistan General John Allen, “We have been monitor‑ ing areas in the first tranche (of tran‑ sition) and note that violence has decreased, and in some areas has

decreased significantly.” The power wielded currently by the Afghan po‑ lice and army have been benefiting and proven to be capable of handing more responsibilities.

There are concerns for this second phase of transition however.

Many are still worried about the Afghan police’s and army’s abilities to protect the country. During the decade of war, Afghan forces have been dependent on the US troops to aid them, but U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell confirmed that “Today we see (a national

force) being trained and equipped, which is developing the leaders and the people with the right voca‑ tional skills, and the institutions and systems to make this an enduring force.” Implemented into the forces are also literacy programs and a raise in pay, which have plagued the Afghan forces before, and there are more forces and recruitment.

According to Caldwell, there were 306,000 Afghan security personnel in October, which has exceeded the amount expected.

Equipments, weapons, and more military equip‑ ment have been shipped to Afghani‑ stan as well, starting from August 2011 to March 2012.

In addition, unlike the first phase where the ANSF was given complete control of only Bamian and Panjir in central and north Af‑ ghanistan which were mainly peace‑ ful and control areas, they will be taking in more areas with ongoing insurgent activities. Not stopped by the ceding NATO-led Coalition, Taliban insurgents are still active, attacking the highway and presid‑ ing in remote villages, according to Sarobi District Governor Moham‑ mad Haqbeen. With aid from the ANSF however, local government are prepared to take on this gradual transfer that will still allow foreign assistance as well.

The Blue and Gold December 2011

World News http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

7

Egyptian Elections

After escaping from Mubarak’s regime, Egyptians are finally making their voices heard.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party set up booths, Monday, November 28, 2011, to assist voters in Cairo, Egypt, to find their designated polling station, such assistance was interpreted by monitors and rival parties as Graphic explains the Egyptian parliment elections with breakdowns for how the upper and lower houses will be propaganda and a violation of elections law. (Mohannad Saelected. MCT 2011 bry/MCT)

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second revolution has washed over the people of Egypt. Thou‑ sands of impatient voters took to the streets prior to and during the election of the government set to re‑ place Mubarak’s regime, calling for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to hand over power to the National Salvation Govern‑ ment.

Instead of the start of a new chapter in Egypt, history seems to be repeating itself. Protests started by supporters of the civilian led National Salvation Government were similar to those in Feb. and Mar. 2011 when Hosni Mubarak was ousted from his position as president. Central Security Forces were called to control Tahrir Square, and responded with force and large amounts of tear gas, killing almost 40 people. More backers for the removal of the interim government joined the mob in the square, caus‑ ing the SCAF to make compromises.

The promise was the cede of power to the newly elected government by July 2012.

Voting for the new lower house of Parliament started the week of Nov. 28, 2011, with the results set to be released on Dec. 1, 2011. How‑ ever, the numbers were postponed until further notice for unknown reasons. Lower house of Parliament voting will take place in three steps, based on location. The last one will take place in Jan. 2012. Upper house

of Parliament elections will run from On Dec. 8, 2011 a problem replied saying the comments were Jan. to Mar. 2012. Perhaps the most arose between SCAF and the major‑ “almost humorous and leaning important, presidential elections ity vote, the Muslim Brotherhood. towards calling for a new dictator‑ will take place by June 2012.

Tensions are high and strenuous as ship.” SCAF officials are horrified For many, this will be the first the Muslim Brotherhood made the by this remark, due to the lower time in over 30 years that their voice claim that they may call for a new house of Parliament having say in can be heard by vote. Even with the dictatorship. Military officials re‑ the new constitution of Egypt, and turn of a new leaf, the majority of ported that not all Egyptian views plan to take more responsibility for Egyptians are skeptical about the were fairly represented in this elec‑ the drafting of the new constitution. honesty and morals of this election. tion, especially Christian sects. A Reports of illegal campaigning took Muslim Brotherhood spokesman place, claiming vote-buying. Some fear the military is going to remain attached to the power they posses, and will taint votes. Addition‑ ally, suspicion has surrounded the postponed elections results. How‑ ever, others are hoping they took the extra time in order to recount and make sure the numbers are correct.

Results for the lower house of Parliament were announced on Dec. 2, 2011. Christian Egyptians are worrying about the majority win of parties related to Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood, a moderate organization represented through the Freedom and Justice Party, won over 40 percent of the vote. This group has been active in Egypt since the early 1900s, helping com‑ munities and have gained substan‑ tial support. The question on the minds of many non Islamists is the agenda of the Muslim Brother‑ A woman casts her vote before dipping her finger in ink, Monday, November hood. Some fear they will use this 28, 2011, the first day of parliamentary elections in Cairo, Egypt. (Mohannad as a platform in order to gain ben‑ Sabry/MCT) efits for only Muslims, and not the entire country.

World News

8

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Russia-US Ties Are Tested A

fter World War II the world thought it was done with gory fights and economic crisis’s, but shortly after this war ended, another one broke out. The Cold War, which lasted for 15 years and lived up to its name, was a grudge match against two former allies. In one corner, supporting capitalism and democ‑ racy, America. In the other corner, the communist predecessor to Rus‑ sia, the Soviet Union.

In a democratic economy every citizen’s voice can be heard, while in a communist economy, people do not have as many rights and their voices are limited. The United States has believed up to this day that every nation should have a democracy be‑ cause it gives everyone equal power.

Since the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was on the list of countries that support communism, the US wanted to convert them to democracy. This was the main cause of the Cold War. Another cause of this war was competition for power.

After WWII the USSR and the US were the most powerful nations, which was bound to heat up ten‑ sions. America wanted to spread democracy through Europe, while Russia had different plans. The dictator at the time, Joseph Stalin, aspired to not only spread commu‑ nism throughout Europe, but also to control it.

Even after the Cold War melted away strained relations between the US and Russia continued. The rela‑ tionship between these two coun‑ tries was tested recently after the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO) announced a defense program in Europe.

NATO is an organization whose main goal is to promote world peace and democratic values.

This new defense program would use missiles to protect America from possible nuclear attacks from Iran.

If Iran decides to attack, a missile from the defense program would be shot at the Iranian missile aimed for America and stop it in its tracks.

This will make a huge difference for reaction time as opposed to having to shoot a missile from the United States itself. Land and sea based interceptors and radar will be used to detect potential nuclear attacks.

Sites planned to hold these weapons and radar will be in Romania, Po‑ land and possibly Bulgaria.

The only problem with this program is that Russia sees these missiles that are pointed in their di‑ rection as a threat. After all the com‑ motion with the Cold War, Russia does not want to risk the US striking them. NATO put forward the offer for Russia to join the defense shield, but the nation wants no part of it.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wants to negotiate with the US to terminate the defense missiles system. If the US refuses

The Blue and Gold December 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discusses U.S.-Russian relations and “Russia’s Vision for International Affairs,” in a speech to the Brookings Institution, in Washington D.C., Tuesday, April 13, 2010. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT

Chart shows U.S., Russian deployed strategic nuclear warhead stockpiles compared to the reductions specified in the new START treaty; Russian president signed treaty ratification Jan. 28. MCT 2011 to negotiate, Russia will take action and aim their missiles at the US sites in Europe. In a Russian news report Medvedev stated, “I expect that this step will be seen by our partners as the first signal of the readiness of our country to make an adequate response to the threats which the missile shield poses for our strategic nuclear forces.” This may sound a little scary and threatening, how‑ ever, the US government is not wor‑ rying about the threat. Medvedev

is not only threatening to attack America, but also warns that Russia will withdraw from the New START treaty with the US. NATO expects the US defense system to be in place by 2018, so Russia and the US have a good six years to work out their differences. Maybe Russia will see that the US does not intend to harm their nation. If not, hopefully Russia will not take the drastic measure of blowing up the defense sites.

730 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA. 02139. 617-868-8800

Iranians Storm UK Embassy During Protest O

n Dec. 1, 2011, the diplomatic relationship between Britain and Iran has drastically deteriorat‑ ed. Britain ordered immediate clo‑ sure of all Iranian embassies in the United Kingdom as well as shutting down their ransacked embassy in Tehran.

Outraged by the protesting Iranians attacking the UK Embassy, the UK had cut off diplomacy ties with the Iran and decided to expel to diplomatic staff out of the coun‑ try within the next 48 hours of the decision. Their diplomatic contact was downgraded to the lowest level.

Iran currently has 18 diplomats in Britain. About 24 British Embassy staff and dependents were based in the city of Tehran.

Tension between these two countries has already reached its peak over this conflict of Iran’s nuclear program. Both UK and the United States of America have been suspicious of the program of creat‑ ing nuclear weapons. Iran strongly stated that the nuclear program was purely for peaceful purposes. Last week, the UK has decided to halt all transactions with Iran’s financial system including its central bank in response to report by the Inter‑ national Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into the possible military di‑ mensions of Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran protestors gathered to exhibit violence to the UK Embassy.

This was not an unfamiliar sight as the embassy has been a common place for Iranians to denounce it.

However the Protestant seem to have crossed the line this time. They burned and stamped of the British flag, torched vehicles, threw diplo‑ matic documents out of the window, and even made an attempt to occupy the Embassy. The Flag was replaced by the name of a 7th-century Shiite saint, Imam Hussein The violent protest has left Britain skeptical that the protesters acted alone and without govern‑ ment involvement. The private quarters of staff, such as the Britain’s ambassador, were totaled in the at‑ tack; personal items were also sto‑ len. “This is a breach of international responsibilities of which any nation should be ashamed,” said Foreign Secretary William Hague.

The Blue and Gold December 2011

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Presidential Race Heats Up A

s US President Barack Obama’s first presidential term is com‑ ing to an end, Obama and his demo‑ cratic party has some planning to do for his re-election campaign in 2012.

This re-election campaign will be the first campaign to use Twitter and Facebook for their promotion.

For now, Obama has not made any moves yet. However, Obama has to make his move if he wants to earn enough money for his campaign.

As of now, for the Republican Party nomination, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich is in the lead by 23.8 percent. Behind Gingrich is former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, who has 21.3 percent of the votes. Next, was former frontrunner Herman Cain who had 15.5 percent of the votes. However, Cain suspended his campaign on Dec.3, 2011 due to the controversies of sexual harassment in the 1990s. Cain denied the charges.

Behind Cain was the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry and U.S Representative from the State of

Texas, Ron Paul who are both tied in the Republican nomination votes by eight percent. The last two in the republican nomination votes was U.S. Representative from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann and former Governor of Utah and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman , which Bachmann has approximately five percent of the votes and Huntsman having approximately two percent of the votes.

As Cain stated to the guardian, “I am at peace with my God. I am at peace with my wife and she is at peace with me.” Cain’s wife, Gloria was by his side on the day he announced that he will end his presidency campaign.

Even though Cain had made mistakes with his conduct during the Atlanta speech as he quoted to the guardian, “I have made many mistakes in life. Everybody has. I have made mistakes professionally, personally, as a candidate … and I take responsibility for the mistakes that I have made.”

Before Cain suspended his campaign, The Des Moines Register

survey was taken, in which Gingrich had 25 percent of the votes. Behind him was Romney, at 16 percent, who was pushed into third place, and was two points behind Paul.

Even though Gingrich is in second place in New Hampshire, he has risen from four percent to 23 percent of the support since October. Romney is still in the lead by 39 percent, however his support is sliding down dramatically. Cain was commanding in fewer than 10 percent of the support before he suspended his campaign.

With Cain suspending his presidential campaign, this gives Gingrich an advantage, because Cain’s supporters will now vote for Gingrich. Gingrich stated to the guardian, “It’s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high I’m going to be the nominee.” Gingrich was confident even without Cain suspending his campaign.

According to an NBC poll released on Dec. 4, 2011, Gingrich’s support has been picked up dramatically in New Hampshire

New Candidate in Russian Presidential Elections

World News Blurbs R D

Local Syrian Polls

espite fighting in several re‑ gions of Syria, Idlib in the north and Homs in the south, the Syrian government is holding local elections. Unlike elections in Egypt, the turnout of the population to the polls has been enforced by govern‑ ment authorities; many civilians have tried avoiding leaving for the polls as much of the violence over the past several months has been centered around them.

Since Arab Spring’s start, Syria has had the least amount of progress as over 4,000 civilians (an estimated number by the United Nations) have died in the fighting.

A national strike has risen in opposition to the forced elections, though many have not left thier homes as several cities in Syria, as

reported by a British Broadcasting Company Correspondent, “resem‑ ble a war zone” with gun skirmishes taking place daily.

40,000 local candidates from across Syria are competing for 17,000 seats in local councils; re‑ forms in Syrian law as said by Khalaf al-Ezzawi, head of elections commitee, to state media now allow for “democratic, transparent and honest election”.

A surprising fact about these “democratic” elections also is that many of the general population have not heard that they are taking place, as in the city of Homs, there are no election banners or posters for regional candidates let alone any of the president of Syria Bashar alAssad.

Keep up with current events around the globe by visiting maldenblueandgold. com and using our new interactive map.

which is the first state to have to have the full primary vote by midJanuary.

However, according to the guardian, most of the opinion polls show consistently that Romney has a better chance of beating Obama than Gingrich. Most of the surveys showed that Obama is ahead of Romney by less than two percent.

For Gingrich, Obama is ahead of him by 12 percent.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated to the Bang Style Hair and Culture website that by a given week, Obama spends only “five percent of his time” campaigning.

If Obama does not begin his campaign right away, then it signifies that the Republicans can only give Obama one message: he has failed as president. There is only one question for the voters who will be voting on the day of Nov. 6, 2012: will Obama win the fight or will he underestimate his republican opponent once the race for the Repubican nomination is over?

ussian politics has only seen the face of three presidents in the last twenty years, the face taking the spotlight being Vladmir Putin, who since 1999 has held the highest point of political power in the Russian Federation.

Now as successor and long time ally Dmitry Medvedev, who assumed office in 2008, is readying the country for his leave from office a new candidate, Mikhail Prokho‑ rova a billionaire has risen from the protests held December 10.

The protests, the largest of their kind in years, were held in reaction to alleged voting fraud in Russia’s parliamentary elections.

Prokhorova, one the richest men in Russia, unlike many politi‑ cians in Western politics, has vowed to not build his campaign on the faults of Putin, who over the last several years has been accused of fraud, money laundering, and hu‑ man rights violations. The new can‑ didates past credits show him as the owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA basketball team as well as launching the private investment fund the ON‑ EXIM Group.

A member of the Russian political party, the Right Cause, a party formed with the immersion of the Democratic Party of Russia, Civilian Power party and the Union of Right Forces, which works in the

favor of the middle class of Russia.

While Putin who is also a member of a newly merged group, United Russia, a combination of the Unity and Fatherland-All Russia par‑ ties; which has a reputation that is similar to Putin’s, where many party members are those suspected of cor‑ ruption.

Prokhorova told British Broad‑ casting Company the ideals of his campaign, “Criticism must make up no more than 10%… I would like to focus on the things I would do.

Mikhail Prokhorov Congress Party Right Cause. Courtesy of Wikimedia.

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What’s happening?

-Just Dance: Cafe A Dec. 16, 4 p.m.-8 p.m.

-Progress Reports Sent Home Dec.19 -Choir and Band Holiday Concert Dec. 22, 7 p.m., Jenkins Auditorium -Winter Vacation: 12/26/11-1/1/12 -Poetry Out Loud “Period” Semi-FinalsJan.4- periods 7, 1, 2, 4, 5 Jan.5- periods 6 & 3

Monthly Teacher Profile:Benjamin Max

Photo of Benjamin Max in his classroom. Photo by Lesley Ta.

I

f Benjamin Max was not a teacher at Malden High School, he would be working in politics or for the gov‑ ernment. Jokingly, he adds “some day I will be asking for the students’ votes.”

Max spent his childhood grow‑ ing up in Queens, New York and moved to Connecticut at age 13. Ju‑ nior year in high school, Max signed up to take the SAT on the last day

offered before senior year. To his luck, he lost his driver’s license the night before the exam, and without identification he would not be able to take the test. “I just [did not] show up,” Max adds, “it was stress‑ ful, but it worked out.” Despite only taking the test once in the fall of his senior year, Max went on to study political science at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

In his spare time, Max enjoys basketball – which he played in both high school and college - reading and television. “The Great Gatsby”

by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of his favorites, as well as “The Kite Run‑ ner” by Khaled Hosseini. Max is not sure most high school students would agree with him on his view of “The Great Gatsby” now, but once they reread it, they will appre‑ ciate it more, like he did. NBC and ABC comedy shows, “30 Rock” and “Modern Family” sit at the top of his list of favorite television shows.

For two years after graduation, Max worked at a home and school for troubled kids. As a councilor, “it was extremely challenging but rewarding,” he states. It helped him learn patience and other skills.

Soon after, Max went on to further his education at Tufts University for graduate school. He came to the Boston area because he knew it would be a great place to receive a job in education.

After six years of working at MHS, Max says his favorite part is “interacting with students, and trying to push students to do more thinking, especially about the world around them.” One goal he wants to accomplish is for his students “to get a better appreciation for the fact that what they do everyday at MHS will effect the rest of their lives.”

One large focus he concentrates on has been to push his college prep students to “raise their level of focus on learning, and to get students in honors and advanced placement classes to focus on learning instead of just getting work done.” While he understands this is difficult, he also feels bad for students. According to Max, there is a lot of pressure to be competitive for schools; he did not have to take as many AP classes as most students do currently.

While he strives to push his stu‑ dents, it has benefited many. Former student, junior Johnny Willcox stat‑ ed “After knowing Mr. Max for two and a half years, I have nothing but great things to say about him. Not only is [he] a great teacher, but he truly cares about the development of his pupils.” Willcox concluded, “I can only wish to be half the man Mr. Max is when I grow up.” Sopho‑ more Jiovanhi Cherenfant said Max’s class is “[his] favorite class to go to...because he is really outgoing and really relatable.”

Visit our website, maldenblueandgold.com, to read more local news articles and see all our great photos from around the city in our Picasa galleries!

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The 29th annual crafts fair Malden High School hosts yet another successful Crafts Fair to raise money for Malden’s future graduating classes.

O

n Nov. 19 2011, club members and craft‑ ers near and far, gathered in the Malden High School cafeterias to raise money selling the finest of their crafts and hand-made goods.

The crafts fair truly marks the beginning of the holiday season, with the appearance of Santa and his elves, gift baskets, festive treats, lighted trees, as well as snuggly scarves, blankets, and winter attire on almost all of the crafter’s tables.

The crafts fair has been hosted at MHS for the past 29 years. The crafts fair is a school fundraiser that collects money from outside participant’s tables, raffles, and the provided lunch to be evenly distributed throughout all four of the classes. Without the organization, advisement, and assistance of secretaries Judi Sullivan, Karen Cody, Barbara Scibelli, and other cordinators, the crafts fair would not be possible. Crafters rent tables for 35 dollars and sell their hand made products for their own profit, the 35 dollars is donated the classes.

Each crafter must also donate one item from their table to the raffle. Around noon, lunch is served and all profits also go to the classes. The Malden Food Service staff members as well as a few MHS students “volunteered their time during this event and it is greatly appreciated”, said Sullivan.

Crafters from Malden and other neigh‑ boring cities rolled in, jewelry, greeting cards, artwork, and knick- knacks of all sorts on carts and carriages, with the assistance of Captains Council members. For years, bustling crafters have come and sold their work in the cafeterias.

Left to Right: Sophomore Jensen Ayuk, junior Willentz Mettulus, senior Shaun Carlson, juniors Rodney Morton, Norma Bourque Pimentel, athletic department secretary Barbara Scibelli, juniors Jessalynne Brown, and Bridget Furlong working for the Captains Council selling Malden athletic attire.

Photo by Haley Dowdie

For many crafters, this crafts fair had been their first; others had participated in the fundraiser for 21 years.

MHS club members also worked tables in the cafeteria that day. Senior and Freshman Classes, Interact, Breast Cancer Awareness, Environmen‑ tal, Forensics, Red Cross, Fine Arts and many other clubs sold multiple items at this crafts fair to raise money. For many clubs, classes, and sports team the crafts fair is a great opportunity to raise money for their cause. The Interact Club gained a large profit in which “all proceeds went to a dia‑ per drive hosted by the Bread of Life and Rotary

Club” says club advisor Shannon Alexis. Fine Arts Club advisor Mary Ann Seager says “it was a very successful crafts fair.”

And of course, no MHS event would be completed without the school mascot, Nedlam, dancing about and spreading school spirit just days before spirit week. As with any fair, cookies, fudge, lollipops, and cupcakes dressed tables all across the hall. The crafts fair was a roaring success and wonderful time to raise money, purchase various items, eat, and spend time with friends.

“Don’t Be Alone on Thanksgiving Day” T

hanksgiving is an active but relaxing holi‑ day when family and friends can spend time together.Thanks and prayers are given by people in appreciation to life and all they gratefully possess. However, there are people during this holiday who do not have the abil‑ ity to be part of a successful Thanksgiving the same way others could. It is either due to the fact that they do not have family companions to be with, or simply because they do not have a sufficient supply of money to celebrate the wondrous American holiday.

The Bread of Life in Malden made sure not to leave those people out, and hosted their annual Thanksgiving feast at the Malden High School. This non-profit organization was founded 30 years ago conjoined by many volunteers and assists in serving the hungry, homeless, and needy population around Mal‑ den as well as other neighboring cities. This Thanksgiving feast was just one of many ways to tend to those who are less fortunate.

The groups of people that attended the event ranged from immigrants to elderly, and to those in need, according to Carl Dias, a volunteer that associates with the Board of Di‑ rectors in the organization. Dias has been part of the organization for three years and overall enjoys helping people. He feels that for the most part the event was a way, “for most of the guests [to have] a place to go on the holiday.”

Dias has volunteered for all three years at this event in his time of work and estimates a rough count of around 300 people that had attended the banquet at MHS this year, and 200 meal

deliveries were made out to disabled citizens and poor distant families. As‑ tounded by the significance and concept of the event and organization itself, Dias expressed that, “It’s just incredible.” Dias deeply connects to his work at the orga‑ nization and feels that, “... [He] likes it,” and, “that’s why [he does] it.”

As well as Dias, there were another 75 to 100 optimistic volunteers at the event. Most of the volunteers had will‑ ingly prepared well-roasted turkeys the day before, only to then generously dis‑ tribute them to the event the following day.

People entered, gave formal greet‑ ings, and bonded with others they had not known for the sake of Thanksgiv‑ ing. Later on in the feast the guests got together and said a prayer to God and the volunteers for serving them well this year. The Mayor-elect, Gary Christenson and also City Councillor John Mathe‑ son made an arrival to MHS’ event as volunteers. Christenson had attended the event previous years as well. Chris‑ tenson interest in the Bread of Life origi‑ nally sparked when he realized that it is Volunteers preparing the turkeys on Thanksgiving mornvery important to help serve those less ing. Photo by Catherine Poirier fortunate than others in the community.

MHS has always served as the target a school that not only focuses on strengthening area to serve the event. The strongest reason for the beneficial factors of the school community, the reason to occur at MHS is that it has the best but that it also associates itself with helping the suitable kitchen and cafeteria for the event to take rest of the Malden community in need. place. The Bread of Life has always hosted the Thanksgiving feast at MHS and plans to continue the tradition in years to come.

By serving this event, MHS shows that it is

12

LOCAL news

The Blue and Gold December 2011

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Rebecca Broomstein Head of Entertainment Sumya Mohiuddin Reporter Natalie Fallano Photo Editor

T

he 36-0 victory football game against Medford was the cherry on top at the end of another suc‑ cessful Spirit Week. Football fans all over the school prepared them‑ selves for the annual Malden v.

Medford Thanksgiving game by participating in a three-day week dedicated to showing Malden High School spirit.

The week kicked off with pajama day, the only Monday of the year that students are glad the weekend ends and flock to school.

Students of MHS entered school fully equipped with slippers, teddybears, and even pillows, dressed in their comfiest bedtime attire.

On Tuesday, students dressed up in mismatching clothes and looking professionally ridiculous, in celebration of wacky tacky day.

Some students take this day to the extreme, by dressing up in their own creative costumes. Take, for instance, junior Jonathan Drapin‑

ski who dressed as a “scene kid”-which is a person who, according to him, is “a person who dresses with outrageous style and obnoxious hair color.”

Students wondered if Principal Dana Brown would be able to outdo his wacky tacky day get-up from last year, when he wore a frightfully convincing costume of Jersey Shore’s own Snooki. He proved successful, walking into Cafeteria B dressed as singer Nicki Minaj- pink wig and all. The final day of spirit week is the shortest school day of they year, but according to the majority of the student body, the most fun. The pep rally is a day of both competition and unification at MHS. For pajama day, wacky tacky day, and blue and gold day, each class receives points for the number of people who dress up and participate. Further points are won at the pep rally by the spirit team and the can drive collection contest.

Surprisingly this year was split, with the seniors winning pajama day, the sophomores winning wacky tack day, and the juniors winning blue and gold day. With scores so tight, students walked into the Finn Gym with excitement and determi‑ nation to walk out victorious.

Surrounding the gym were four banners crafted by each of the classes. This was the first of a new tradition intended to replace hall way decorating. With an idea simi‑ lar to the hallways, each banner had to choose a theme and illustrate the Malden v. Medford rivalry. Most students were not happy about the change in tradition including junior Lisa DeLacey who considers hall‑ way decorating to be “more interac‑ tive because of the hands on feel.

Who doesn’t want to hang around the high school until nine at night?”

The seniors’ banner displayed a chessboard with Malden and Med‑ ford chess pieces facing off. Nedlam

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was shown next the chessboard eat‑ ing the Medford pawns.

Juniors used their banner to an‑ nounce their junior varieties theme: The Malden Network. Their banner showed the social networking of MHS football players and cheerlead‑ ers on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Tumblr.

The sophomore banner depict‑ ed an Angry Birds game, resembling a football game. All four classes used blue and gold balloon arches which students later brought into the gym and let float to the ceiling.

Air horns, blue and yellow fac‑ es, and banners occupied the gym at this erratic time in the school. The band was on one side of the room, next to the choir, ready to begin. Not to mention the other 1,800 students in the stands.

Shouts, cheers, and laughter ricocheted off the walls of the gym; 122 years after the beginning of it all, the tradition still continues. Four

spirit teams, chosen by the National Honor Society, represented their respected class in a series of games and events. The national anthem was performed by the MHS chorus, which is led by choral arts teacher Todd Cole, and it would not be a party without the band, pumping up the crowd with their usual Lady Gaga. The cheerleaders performed as well as the MHS Project BBoy dance team.

Then, senior cheerleaders and football players proudly raced through the arch made by their teammates for all to see; they were high in energy and of course, tor‑ nado spirit. Both senior captains, Chardeza Coleman and Jamie Mc‑ Inerney, were cheered for by the school as a whole. If one team wins, the whole school wins.

After many basketball shots, pull-ups, and tag team races, the victorious class was announced.

The seniors dominated, with a to‑

tal score of 42 points. Juniors came in close with 38 points, leaving the sophomores with 26 points and the freshmen, with 21 points.

The outcome was not a sur‑ prise, seniors win every year but un‑ der classmen do not seem to mind.

Winning spirit week is an experience everyone has before leaving MHS. After three years of being the under‑ dogs, the senior class deserves it. To senior Matteo Pocobene spirit week symbolizes more than just football and fun: “as a class spirit week is about showing how we’ve grown as a class, and all the camaraderie that we’ve formed through the past four years.”

Photos by Catherine Poirier, Rebecca Broomstein, and Natalie Fallano.

Layout and design by Catherine Poirier.

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The Blue and Gold December 2011

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Malden High School’s

UR I N E A

All photos by Catherine Poirier. Design and layout by Lauren Benoit.

For more about Urinetown, go to our website, maldenblueandgold.com

for more photos, video, and audio interviews.

lthough the Malden High School Play Production has high stan‑ dards to live up to, judging by the response received from the audience of over 800 people on both Nov. 18, and 19, 2011, this does not seem to be a problem. The drama program, run by English teacher Sean Walsh since 2006, made it to the finals in the Massachu‑ setts Educational Theater Guild Fes‑ tival with their student written play, American Land, last spring. Several members of Play Production received awards at the Semi-Finals.

This year’s fall play was Uri‑ netown: The Musical and while the name of the play is humorous, there is a serious meaning behind all the antics of the cast. The play, written by playwright Greg Kotis, tells the story of residents of a poor city which suf‑ fered a water shortage several years before. To regulate the water supply, Urine Good Company controls water usage and therefore forces people to pay to pee. Bobby Strong, played by senior Daniel Rendon, one of the two facility janitors for Amenity #9, begins a revolution where he questions the intentions of Urine Good Company as well as the people’s personal rights.

Throughout the entire play, all of the residents struggle to keep the revolu‑ tion going, while still staying away from officers who can send them to the most dreaded place of all; Urinetown.

But continuing the revolution is quite difficult for Bobby when he meets Mr. Caldwell B. Cladwell’s daughter, Hope Cladwell, played by senior Clarissa Henebury. Hope is new in town and

Bobby instantly falls for her. But here’s the catch; he doesn’t know that she’s a Cladwell. As their rela‑ tionship continues to develop and Bobby discovers who Hope is, he feels conflicted, but sticks by Hope until tragedy strikes and he is sent to “Urinetown”. According to senior Daniel Rendon who plays Bobby Strong, his character shows that “even the best intentions can have devastating results.” Walsh says that the play also, coincidentally “relates to Occupy Wall Street” although the movement had not yet begun when the play was decided upon.

The play captivated the au‑ dience with several entertaining characters including Officer Barrel, played by junior Jonathan Drapin‑ ski and Officer Lockstock, played by senior Edmund Fisher who made the audience fall to pieces with his over used jazz hands. Another as‑ pect that the audience found to be enjoyable were the teachers. Out of the 12 teachers who joined the cast, 11 of them played cops and one of them, history teacher Dave Holland , played Old Man Strong, Bobby’s father who is sent to “Urinetown” and inspires Bobby’s revolution.

One number featured mug shots of several members of the faculty, in‑ cluding Principal Dana Brown.

Though it is unclear to some‑ one who is not directly involved in Play Production, it is a big com‑ mitment which requires a lot of hard work. Henebury says that she is very pleased with how the play turned out and that “[they] put a lot of hard work into it.” She believes

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Play Production Presents:

N W TO that it definitely “payed off in the end.” According to Walsh the cast had a little over two months to pre‑ pare for opening night. This proved to be a challenge due to the amount of preparation that was needed to make Urinetown: The Musical a great production. Drapinski says that everything seemed “like a deadline” because of how rushed they were.

Although Henebury says that the process was very demanding, her favorite part was seeing it all come together. Henebury says that she does her best to interpret the character she is playing exactly as she sees them. She jokes that maybe she even goes a “little too far” by creating personality traits for them.

To help her get a better sense of who Hope was, Henebury channeled Elle Woods from Legally Blonde and Ella from Ella Enchanted. She says she saw Hope as someone “very sheltered and ignorant who only saw the good things in life.”

When asked what the hardest part of putting the play together was, surprisingly Henebury did not say going to rehearsal on Saturdays or rehearsing scenes over and over again after school. To her, the most challenging part was “preparing [herself] in the right way.” Hene‑ bury believes that to truly master the art of being someone else, not only do you have to be made for the role, you also have to “know your part by heart” which according to Henebury is a lot more than simply memorizing lines. Drapinski agreed by saying that while it took most people a while to discover their char‑ acters, once they did there were “no more limits.” He says with a laugh that several days after rehearsal, he

would go home and still want to be “evil and kill everyone.”

Rendon, Henebury, and Drapin‑ ski agree that there is pressure to do as well as they did last year, but it all comes from themselves. Rendon stated that “[they] know what [they] are ca‑ pable of and [they] don’t want to fall short of [their] own expectations.” Play Production will be writing an original piece for Drama Festival, as they did last year with American Land. Hene‑ bury states that this is because, Walsh believes that “an original play is more captivating to the audience.”

This year, several classes have been added to MHS, one them being Tech Theater, a class which allows stu‑ dents to learn the basics of technology when it comes to the stage. Drapinski says that everyone from Tech Theater did an “amazing job” making the sets and changing them during the perfor‑ mances. He feels that Urinetown: The Musical would “not have been as good without them” and that they do not get enough credit for all of their hard work. Walsh thinks that the addition of Tech Theater has added immensely to the performances and that within the next few years he hopes to offer more classes and “expand the audience”.

He would also like to offer more plays throughout the year although he is un‑ sure if that will be possible because the time Play Production has to perform is very limited.

If one was lucky enough to attend one of the two shows of Urinetown: The Musical, it would have been easy to see that the entire cast had an enormous passion for what they were doing on‑ stage and everyone who contributed had talent.

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The Blue and Gold December 2011

Local NEws http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Powder Puff Game The juniors broke tradition and beat the senior team after losing streak for many years.

Red Cross Takes Part in Helping Our Troops B

The junior and senior girls playing in the Powderpuff game and senior Rebecca Krigman running with the ball.

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nergy levels were high on the day of the annual powder-puff game on Nov. 24 2011. Despite the chilling wind, the heat between the junior and senior girls at Malden High School was reach‑ ing extreme levels. As junior captain Elyse Valente stated, “There was definitely a lot of tension between the junior and se‑ nior girls. It came to the point where this game became extremely competitive not only for the girls but for the coaches as well.” The tension arose between the two teams mainly because the seniors wanted to uphold the tradi‑ tion of them winning the game as the senior team has done very year.

Unfortunately this goal was not ac‑ complished as the junior team broke the tradition with their first win over the senior team.

The annual powder-puff game happens every year at MHS and is not something that is taken lightly.

Both the junior and senior girl teams started making preparations and training in advance so they can be well prepared for the game on game day. All the preparation and beforehand work comes with a lot of planning from the coaches and the many people who will be run‑ ning the game. For the senior team as captain Kiara Amos stated, “No one really knew what was going on with the powder-puff game or who was in charge of it until Juleena Huguley, Chardeza Coleman, and myself volunteered to be captains of the team at one of our Captains Council meetings.” The junior team also started preparing themselves by, “practicing almost a week in ad‑ vance,” stated Valente. All the early practices helped out both teams as captains Amos and Valente revealed that no girl on either team had any

real experience with the game be‑ fore, with the exception of girls who played on the junior team last year for the new senior team.

Although the juniors ended up winning the game, both teams found areas in which to im‑ prove on. Valente stated that, “during the first couple of practices we didn’t take them seriously so they weren’t to produc‑ tive but towards Sunday and on we definitely got very seri‑ ous and competitive.” As for the senior team, if there was more co‑ ordination done in their planning they would of gotten the same amount of practices as the junior team which Amos had wanted being the captain.

Although there were many ar‑ eas in which the girls could have im‑ proved, there were also many high and low points during the game for both teams. The senior team had

some moments of glory but Amos revealed, “That the mud had really distracted [the team] as [the team] was falling all over the place.” As for the junior team, Valente stated that, “We played extremely well but we definitely should’ve paid attention to the names of the plays because during the game some of us blanked out and we would have to go over the whole thing again.”

From the start of the game on, there was a lot of team spirit on each team. As Valente stated, “We cheered each other on, laughed at the good and bad plays and helped each other if we forgot a play.”

Amos stated that, “at the beginning of the game we struggled a lot. It was our first game together and we weren’t really communicating much but as the game went on we started playing more as a team and knew what we were doing.”

Although the junior team won, both teams played well during and the junior girls as well as many spec‑ tators cannot wait for next year’s powder-puff game.

From left to right: Juniors Lisa DeLacey, Frycia Silva, Blue and Gold staff member Lauren Benoit, Amanda Ramsey, and Amalia Quesada Nylen posing for a group photo at MacDonald stadium at the annual Powder Puff game.. All photos by Amanda Rosatone

eginning in the school year of 2010-2011, Malden High Schools’ Red Cross Club started a new project entitled Helping Our Troops in which they were helping the based in Stoneham.

This year the club plans on continuing with the projects. Troops stationed across seas send a wish list of basic necessities. The Red Cross Club then collects different items such as dry foods and old cell phones.

At the very end of the collection drive, MHS sends all the items to the Helping Our Troops in Stoneham.

Helping Our Troops then plans a packing party to put together all the The Helping Our troops pro‑ gram began with Vietnam war veter‑ ans, Frank Geary and Walter Kopek.

They knew what life was like in the army and they knew what would be helpful to all the newer soldiers and in November 2006 the program was introduced and the program has been going strong for three years, this year being the third.

The first year families in Stone‑ ham, Massachusetts gathered to‑ gether to show love and support for the troops families. The word spread fast about what they were doing and the support grew. Soon enough the entire community was participat‑ ing in the program and the troops over seas where getting the love and recognition they deserve for serving for our country. Local businesses, schools and supermarkets were giv‑ ing donations.

It is evident that even the smallest amount of money donated helped to ship over the goods and everyone that donated made a huge difference. For that the Helping Our Troops association is eternally grateful and continue to be as the program continues.

The Red Cross Club also took part in the “Adopt-a-Box” program associated with Helping Our Troops where students could sponsor a box being shipped over and help pay for the sending costs.

All together the club sponsored three full boxes to be sent to the troops which in return will be help‑ ing the troops enormously.

The Blue and Gold December 2011

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Trailing To The Sea 18 Years of hard grit and determination has awarded the Bike to the Sea (B2C) organization with their most anticipated moment of seeing the construction of The Northern Strand Trail begin. cost the city of Malden any money, and the profit of the steel from these tracks will benefit B2C’s fund‑ ing as well.

Years of dedication to the project have suc‑ ceeded with the latest grant of 84,022.14 dollars of Recreational Trail Grant funds from the Massachu‑ setts Department of Conservation and Recreation on Aug. 10, 2011. Everett signed land leases on March 2007, and Malden followed with similar lease plans on Sept. 5th, 2007. Construction of the trail in Mal‑ den began on Nov. 1, 2011.

However, B2C has already been recognized for their efforts when the Freedom Foundation at Val‑ ley Forge, PA awarded the B2C organization with a George Washington Honor Medal on Nov. 4, 2006.

In partnership with East Coast Greenway, MassBike, and Rails to Trails, B2C not only pro‑ motes the construction of The Northern Strand Trail, but also bicycle safety, higher Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) bicycle parking standards and commuting to Boston on bike safely.

B2C also hosts annual Bike to the Sea day in which members of the club, alongside the large numbers of families and friends ride to Nahant Beach to raise awareness of the trail and of what benefits it will hold once done. These trips are usu‑ ally held in the summer and will take place rain or shine. Although this may have been a costly project in terms of money and time, the persistence and per‑ severance of B2C has turned them into a continuing story of success.

“Malden Reads; One City One Book”

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alden Reads, a program that began last year, is continuing the tradition due to enormous success with last years books. The program, started when one question was asked; “What if all of Malden read the same book?” Malden Reads gives residents the opportunity to answer that question and grow as a community.

Last year, the book chosen was The Soloist by Steve Lopez. The nonfiction book had some elements that were too powerful for younger children and so a selection of more appropriate books were selected for the Malden Elementary Schools. The Soloist tells the story of Los Angeles Times columnist, Steve Lopez, who meets Nathaniel Ayers on the streets while he is playing a beat up twostring violin. Lopez is unable to forget Ayers and discovers that more than 30 years prior, Ayers was a classical bass student at Julliard, and a very promising one as well. However, because of his schizophrenia, Ayers dropped out and is homeless and “deeply troubled.” Over time the two become closer and Lopez begins to help Ayers piece his life together.

This year the book that will be read is Outcasts United by Warren St. John.

The book deals with the themes for Malden Reads 2012, which include “diversity, acceptance, tolerance, cross cultural sharing, sportsmanship, and teamwork.”

Outcasts United is set in the 1990’s in Clarkston, Georgia, a “typical Southern town” until it is identified as a “perfect place” for refugees to begin new lives.

It was then designated a refugee settlement center, and from then on, Clarkston becomes home to families from war zones such as Liberia, Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanastan. An American educated Jordanian woman by the name of Luma Mufleh starts a soccer team to keep the children of Clarkston off the streets, and the children name themselves the “Fugees.” The book was chosen because it “offers the opportunity to explore themes that are very relevant to the Malden community” as well as the benefits and challenges of living in a diverse commu‑ nity. The book also “demonstrates the power of one person to make a difference in the lives of many.”

Details about the first meeting, to be held in early 2012,will be coming soon.

Special Advertisement Section Maria’s Pizzeria Open Since 1990 We Deliver! Call 781. 324. 9646 932 Salem Street Malden, MA

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iking has been a popular sport for decades among both the young and the old, domesti‑ cally and internationally. Bike to the Sea (B2C) is a nonprofit organization based in Malden, Massachusetts determined to complete their project of building a safe bike trail from the areas of Malden, Revere and Lynn to Revere Beach.

It is known as the Northern Strand Trail which stretches about nine miles in total across the Mas‑ sachusetts area. When completed, the trail will connect to the East Coast Greenway a 3,000 mile trail that goes from Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida. The city of Malden has granted at least a total of half a million dollars to the construction, not including the additional Massachusetts state grant of $135,000 dollars. Other local sponsors of this plot include New England Coffee and Mal‑ den Animal Hospital.

Established in 1993, B2C was inspired by the original Malden Bicycle Club in the 1890’s, who often took biking trips to Revere Beach for recreational purposes. For the past 18 years, the organization has been rallying for donations, grants, and licenses from the Massachusetts Bay State Transportation and the Massachusetts State government to continue in their quest to finish the path. On Beach Street in Malden, the path that is being constructed will be replacing old railroad tracks. The removal of the tracks will not

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LOcal News

The Key to Knowledge T

here is always that one subject that you just do not understand. You can ask as many questions in class and have something explained to you in five different ways. But in the end it makes as much sense as the ending scene in the Titanic, where Rose just does not reach out her hand to save Jack from drowning. Now, Malden High Students have another resource to keep themselves from sinking under with the frustration of one subject’s homework woes; the MHS Key Club has restarted a peer tutoring program where Key club members can give help to other classmates. The program started on Dec. 5, 2011, in MHS’s cafeteria A, or known to students as the “small cafe”. The program is open to any student at MHS, whether they attend as a tutor or as the student; the group meets on Mondays and Wednesdays starting at 2:30 pm, this being a convenient time for students to meet on Mondays as teachers are not available usually to offer assistance as they are at staff meetings. The program will be much appreciated by MHS students who are looking for assistance in their studies. Ms. Escovitz, advisor to MHS’s Key Club, predicts that a majority of tutor‑ ing will be done by upper classmen to lower classmen, though “It would not be strange to see juniors helping juniors.”

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http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

25 days of christmas

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The Blue and Gold December 2011

Style

ou know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen but do you recall ever seeing them?

ABC Family is famous for their annual movie marathon of holiday movies from Dec. 1 through Dec. 25., but the movies they choose to show has changed over the years. As a child, I loved these Christmas filled nights, on which my parents let me stay up late to watch my favorite movies. I remem‑ ber Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, and of course Frosty the Snowman.

But over the past few years I have noticed a change. As much as I love the Harry Potter mov‑ ies, how do they relate to Christmas? Yes, in every movie there is a Christmas scene, but not scenes.

ABC family uses the 25 Days of Christmas to show every single movie they have the rights to broadcast, whether it relates to the holidays or not.

This includes Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, Happy Feet, and every other Disney movie in existence. Having at least a Christmas scene or winter theme could pass as acceptable but not a movie about ants. People enjoy these which is why viewers let it pass but still question why they are watching.

At least half of the movies shown are Christmas themed, but why not all? Children today become ex‑ cited to see Finding Nemo on prime time while old classics like Nestor the Long Eared Donkey and the Little Drummer Boy are shown in the early hours of the morning, when children are at school.

ABC Family uses the prime time hours to pre‑ miere their own Christmas movies. ABC Family’s originals include Holiday in Handcuffs, Santa Baby, and 12 Dates of Christmas. These movies are not about the holiday spirit, but rather focus on the ste‑ reotypical romance story. The usual couple meet and fall in love, and it just so happens around Christmas.

These classics tell family stories and express chriastan morals, but will die out at the rate ABC family is going. I for one, will be tuning into TBS for their 24 hour marathon of a Christmas Story and will not take the chance of watching Aladdin or Toy Story on Christmas Day. It is not just ABC family who has lost their holi‑ day touch. Looking back, I can not even remember seeing a good Christmas movie in the theater, over the last few years. The last one I can recall is the Polar Express and that premiered in 2004. Over the years animation has made leaps in what people see on the movie screen, but it is not always visuals that win us over. The classic and most touching Christ‑ mas movies were made in the 60s and 70s including Frosty the Snowman, A Year with out a Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Christmas movies today are all remakes like Disney’s 2009 adaptation of A Christmas Carol..

Others take on ridiculous scenarios, take for instance the latest holiday film: Arthur Christmas, The main character Arthur, is the typical misfit son who takes Santa’s ultra-high-tech sleigh to deliver the one pres‑ ent Santa forgot, before Christmas morning. This is another story about the typical teenage boy who feels like an outcast and wants to prove himself.

But if we are going to add in this modern theme, why not be realistic; would Santa really for‑ get to deliver a present to one child? Especially when he has a ultra high tech sleigh and the NORAD Santa tracker watching his only move. The magic and per‑ fection of Santa has been replaced with technology and human error.

Most Wanted Gifts for 2011 Buyers are bringing in the new year with trending gifts of the 2011 holiday season iPod Nano: 6th Generation

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iPad 2

ack in November, Apple came out with the sixth generation iPod nano model, which features a touch-screen body that stands at only two inches tall. Consumers may find this new size an annoyance, but the price drop makes up for the inches lost.

This nano runs for $20.00 to $30.00 less than last year’s model, priced at $129.00-$149.00, depending on the number of giga‑ bytes held. Also, the icons on the screen are larger than one would expect, so navigation is made easy. The resolution is lower, but the sixth generation has a higher pixel den‑ sity of 220 pixels per square inch, so images and icons appear more clear.

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Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet

box 360 and Playstation 3 have come out with two new interactive varia‑ tions of a controller within the past two years. The Xbox 360 released the Kinect in 2010; a motion-sensored camera that sits atop the television set whilst the gamer games on. Instead of holding any sort of controller, the player’s body does all of the controlling. The system picks up on mo‑ tion caught in the camera and voice com‑ mands, so the player is litterally acting out every movement their character makes on screen. Much like the Nintendo Wii, the Move is controlled by a handheld wand.

The wand has a glowing sphere at one end of it (then end pointed to the console) that is sensored to pick up on the motions made by the player and wirelessly send them to the Eye camera. Both gaming systems are equally effective, depending on the con‑ sumer’s taste in controlling devices. Also, two new, much-anticipated games recently launched, Activision’s Call Of Duty: Mod‑ ern Warfare 3 and Bethesda Softworks Skyrim.

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-readers made a major break out within the past year, especially for Amazon and Barnes and Noble markets. The two prominent e-readers everyone has been raving over are Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet. Both are evolved forms of their original e-reader models. Amazon began with the Kindle-which lacked the touch-screen feature-and continued with the Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, and finally, the Kindle Fire. Similarly, Barnes and Noble began with their first make, the Nook Simple Touch, and released the Nook Color soon after. November held the release of it’s final model, the Nook Tablet. Competi‑ tion continues between the two e-reader brands, for their pros and cons weigh on different scales. The Kindle Fire is fifty dollars cheaper, yet the Nook Tablet holds two times the storage and has a longer bat‑ tery life by about three hours.

Toms

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urprisingly enough, Toms footwear has made it to the top of many people’s wish lists this holiday season.

Despite the cold December weather, consumers still want to open their dain‑ ty canvas Toms on Christmas morning.

The cause provided by Toms surely makes up for the lack of foot-coverage and support on these shoes. The charitydriven shoe company donates one pair of shoes to a child in need per every pair purchased. It all began in 2008 when creator, Blake Mycoskie, visited underprivelidged children in Argentina, who lacked proper footwear. He started his One for One campaign, where every pair of Toms purchased, another was made for a child in need. He returned to Argentina later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made in courtesy of the customers. Although consumers might have to wait a few months to get any use out of them, Toms are selling quick this season.

Junior Alyson Culpepper unwraps an anticipated gift. Photo

by Rebecca Broomstein

nother product released this year by Apple is the iPad 2. It was released back in March, and is still in high demand.

The new model has the same resolution, screen size and storage options as the first, but the new model has a bit more to offer.

It has two cameras, as opposed to none.

Also, the iPad 2 features the application, Face Time, that many consumers fell in love with when the iPhone 4S came out.

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Xbox 360 Kinect vs.

Playstation 3 Move

The Blue and Gold December 2011

Entertainment http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Movie Review

Pho Hoa Restaurant Review

Vietnamese decor is displayed in Pho Hoa restaurant on Pleasant Street in Malden Square.

Photo by Lesley Ta

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ho is a beef noodle soup infused with onions, scallions and other little fla‑ vorful greens and the occasional boiled meatballs. It is famous in Vietnam, where it originated, and has been a part of my life since I was a little kid. There were not many restaurants in Malden that served Pho back then, and the ones that existed I was not very fond of.

I tried out the new Pho restaurant in Malden Square, Pho Hoa with my little sister. Its quaint little appearance from the outside gives Malden Square the air of an urban downtown Cambridge. It is a nice place to sit down and relax while enjoying a cheap, but delicious meal. Inside, there is a small keyboard set alongside an elec‑ tric guitar, in which I assume is played on certain nights. The upbeat music bounces from speakers in the corners, and the wait‑ ers provided a reasonably friendly service.

I chose my own table that day, as busi‑ ness was slow. I ordered a large number 46- a beef noodle soup with all of the vari‑ ous cuts of meat shown in my menu. The tea I sipped was quite refreshing, not sweet nor crisp, but light and delicate. It did not take long for my bowl to arrive, and when

it did, I could see the steam rising from it. The noodles were fantastic, flavored just right, not too overbearing or too light. My meal had come with a little too much meat as well, and as meat lover, I was delighted with the amount in my bowl and the sweet taste of the meat.

The soy sauce I asked for, however, was too sweet combined with the meat and though it gave the meal an interesting twist, I know I would not be using that again.

When I asked for an extra bowl for my sister, I was surprised and very pleased with the fact that they gave her a set of a plastic fork and spoon. Usually, I would have to request that separately in other restaurants. Overall, I would give this place 3 and a half stars. The meal was delicious, but I could go to China‑ town for a more authentic version of the dish. The bowl of noodles in total cost me eight dollars, which is very conve‑ nient for its size. The service was alright and acceptable. In the coming winter months I would like to go to this place again to warm up with a nice bowl of noodles. It is a nice place to go for a date, or a place just to sit and catch up. I left full, satisfied that Pho is not greasy junk food and actually something healthy.

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creaming girls, jealous boyfriends, shirtless werewolves and vampires. Yes, we are talking about Breaking Dawn.

After numerous successful weeks, Breaking Dawn is still at the top of the international box of‑ fice, accumulating over 500 million dollars. Success‑ ful right? Some agree, others can not be bothered.

Faithful Twi-hards anticipated the release of this movie for just over a year: 366 days to be exact... but who was counting? Definitely not us...

Not 10 seconds into the movie, Jacob Black, played by the guy with the six-pack, more com‑ monly known as Taylor Lautner, already ripped his shirt off, wasting no time. A beautiful wedding scene for Bella Swan and Edward Cullen soon fol‑ lowed, set in the backyard of the Cullen mansion.

The $35,000 wedding dress, made of silk, lace, and 152 buttons (also available to the public for all those Twi-hard brides-to-be), took six months to create.

In addition to the dress, the shoes she wore, after four long months of planning and designing, were finally ready (not only can you get the dress - you can get these bad boys in stores next year).

After the wedding, the honeymoon took place on a remote island off the shore of Brazil, where the “demon baby” was conceived in a controversial love scene; a scene that was almost on the verge of pushing the rating from PG -13 to rated R, but with some minor edits, the director was able to keep the film appropriate for the young teenage audience.

After a nine month pregnancy turned into a three week pregnancy, Bella was ready to give birth, after much opposition from her new family. The graphic birth scene was intolerable for some view‑ ers, making some of them sick by the gory mess or worse, sending them into epileptic seizures. Break‑ ing Dawn: bad for your health? Apparently.

The cliff-hanger ending upset and thrilled its audience. However, some were not pleased with the execution of the plot, arguing that it could have been done in 30 minutes op‑ posed to two hours. Others fully enjoyed the portrayal of the actors and the direc‑ tor, Bill Condon, and anticipate Breaking Dawn Part 2.

If you are planning on watching the movie, or have already seen it, did you miss something? Maybe you should stick around after the credits for a sneak peek at Breaking Dawn Part 2.

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The Blue and Gold December 2011

sports http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Thanksgiving Victory Seals Winning Season

Malden High School junior Franklin Huynh scored against Medford at Hormel Stadium. All photos by Natalie Fallano

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alden’s football season ended with Thanksgiving day game Nov. 24, 2011. The Medford Mustangs hosted the game against Malden at their home field, Hormel Stadium. Malden has walked away with the win, the score being 36-0.

The score was almost similar to Ev‑ erett’s score against Malden during the first half of that game on Nov. 12, 2011. Malden High School junior quarterback and current Blue and Gold Member Jacob Martino threw three touchdown passes throughout that game. Sophomore Raymond Sainristil scored during the first quarter off a fumble return. Senior Witchie Exilhomme also scored during the first quarter on a 5-yard pass by Martino. During the second quarter senior Garvin Cius scored by catching a 23-yard pass. Follow‑ ing that, junior Franklin Huynh scored from a 15-yard pass by Martino. In the third quarter junior Tyler Williams scored off a 55-yard interception. Senior running back, O’Shane McCreath broke a record and ran over 1,000 yards this season.

Martino also ended the season be‑ ing 5th in the state for touchdown passes.

With the first game between these rivals dating back to 1887, this is the second-oldest continuous rivalry in the country. The game marked the 124th Thanksgiving match-up between rivals Medford High and Malden High on Thanks‑ giving morning. The current record between these two teams is 59-5510, and Malden leads the series.

Medford’s last Thanksgiving win against Malden was back in 2006, when Coach Pappagallo was a “dis‑ sapointed fan in the seats”.

Malden ended the season above .500 with a 6-4 record which was an improvement from the 2010 season’s 5-5 record. The Golden

Tornadoes started the season off 0-2.

They did not stop working hard and did not get used to losing, winning six of their last eight games. With Medford’s loss on Thanksgiving, their season ended with a record of 1-9, slightly better than last year’s 0-10 record.

The morning before every Thanksgiving game, the football team has breakfast at Dockside.

Even though Malden walked away with the win, it was a somber moment because it was the last foot‑ ball game seniors will play as Mal‑ den High players. Pappagallo stat‑ ed, “It is always bitter sweet as we enjoyed another victory but played a game with the seniors for the last time.” The senior players are Jamie McInerney, Witchie Exilhomme, Austin Teal, Garvin Cius, Tyrone Franck, Alishaan Moughal, Dimas Bardelas, Shaun Carlson, Stanley Chan, Yvanolf Damice, O’Shane McCreath, Kevin Fernandez, Patrick DeCicco, Nick Fox, Luis Guzman, Adam Lucey, and Darnell Taylor.

Knowing it will be their last time in a Malden High jersey, playing against Medford, last time scoring a touch‑ down playing for Malden High, and the last tackle they will make as a Malden High School student.

On the day before Thanksgiv‑ ing, Malden High had a pep rally to get students and football play‑ ers pumped up for the next day’s game. There was even a part during the pep rally where Malden High School Principal Dana Brown asked every grade individually what the football team was going to do on Thanksgiving, and the crowd re‑ plied, “BEAT MEDFORD.” After the pep rally on Nov. 23, 2011, there was the annual event known as the Powderpuff Game. That is where senior and junior girls from Malden High face each other in a intense flag

Senior captain Garvin Cius breaking a tackle by a Medford Mustang.

Malden celebrates in the endzone after scoring.

football game. A few of the junior and senior football players coached the Powderpuff teams. The junior coaches are Jacob Martino, Paul Ki‑ ernan, Devin Naylor, Jean Sylvain, and Franklin Huynh. The senior

coaches are Witche Exilhomme, Jamie McInerney, Austin Teal, and Shaun Carlson. Despite the cold weather conditions, the girls played and the Juniors came out victorious.

The Blue and Gold December 2011

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

BOYS TRACK: STILL ON A ROLL

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he boys indoor track team once again hopes to bring their suc‑ cess from the cross country season to their indoor season.

The boys were the Greater Boston League champions this year for their cross country season, and they have high expectations as a new season begins. “In order to win the GBL this year we need to have

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sports

everyone win or place i n their events every meet and find a way to replace

UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS SWIMMING 12/15 v. MC (home) 12/19 v. Cambridge (away) 12/21 v. Somerville (home)

the seniors from last year who scored a lot of points for us. We plan on doing that by hav‑ ing everyone go to practice everyday to improve their skills and work hard with Coach Londino and Coach Green so that when they are needed they can step up and either win or place in their event,” junior Franklin Huynh states.

The team lost a great amount of seniors last year, including Andrew Terenzi, David Germain,

WRESTLING Kelvin Tsang, and Patrick Keough, which could mean that the incom‑ ing team will face some adversity during the season. Sophomore Da‑ vid Kibazo, has a more optimistic outlook, stating that he believes that although there was a great loss of talent, it will “probably make [them] work harder to accomplish team goals.”

Whatever the record may be, the boys indoor team are sure to have a promising season ahead of them to look forward to.

12/17 v. Wakefield Tourney (away) 12/21 v. North Quincy (home) 12/22 v. Brookline (away)

GYMNASTSICS 1/3 v. Tewksbury (home) 1/5 v. Medford (away) 1/10 v. Fenwick (away)

Boys track team practices running. Photos by Jessica Lynn DePaula

GIRLS & BOYS TRACK

girls track: high expectations Continued from the front page. qualify for states, qualify and do well.

Green sees it as his job as a coach to take athletes to the “highest level possible” and plans to accomplish this by practicing hard and pushing ath‑ letes to do better. Londino has similar feelings. He agreed with Green, by saying that he wants to “win again”.

The girls track team now has 42 girls in total, counting both junior varsity and varsity.

Because cross country and tboth involve running, one would expect for the two sports to be quite similar, but Londino says they are “completely and totally different.” He says that cross country is strictly long distance which requires a lot of resistance and stam‑ ina. Track on the other hand, is more about “fast running.” Londino adjusts his practices when the seasons change.

The “long runs are not as long, the fast runs are faster.”

Anyone that runs track, can tell you how big of a commitment it is.

Sophomore Julia Ly, has found out for herself. She says that track is “a weird experience.” Having learned that every second can determine if you place first or last she is always motivated to do her best.

The girls track team has high goals to meet, and they can be sure that everyone at Malden High will be there to cheer them on all along the way.

12/28 GBL Qualifier

(@ Somerville) 1/18 v. CRLHS (home) 1/25 v. Somerville (home)

GIRLS BASKETBALL 12/27 - 12/28 Malden Xmas Tourney (home) 12/30 v. Salem (away) 1/3 v. East Boston (away)

BOYS BASKETBALL 12/16 v. Westfield (home)

12/23 v. Dracut (home) 12/27 - 12/28 Malden Xmas Tourney (home)

Check out maldenblueandgold.com for sports galleries and videos!

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The Blue and Gold December 2011

SPORTS

New Season, New Goals

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Young Players, High Aspirations “Before every practice we talk about what the plan is, and after we make sure everyone knows what we need to work on” - Rodney Morton

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t is a fresh start for the Malden High School girls basketball team, a time to make new goals and try their best to accomplish them. The team’s main goal is to win the Greater Boston League Championship title. The team also looks forward to move on to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament.

The team expects the season to be a great one. The coaches decided to take a new approach to practices. Junior Lisa DeLacey states that “both the junior varsity and varsity teams practice to‑ gether this year which is highly beneficial to both teams.” With this new method of practice the team hopes to bond more and unite as one.

This season’s captains include seniors Com‑ mie Ayuk, Kiara Amos, Rebecca Krigman, and junior Bridget Furlong. The captains try very hard to motivate the team in order to pursue their goals. Furlong states that “to help the team, [she stays] positive and cheer everyone on. It’s good to keep everyone upbeat and working all together because it will show on the court how great of a team [they] really are.” Also this season, many new players have joined the team. As captains, they believe that a good leader is somebody who helps others. Captain Amos states that ”[she helps] out any teammates that might not under‑ stand what plays we are running or some of the basic fundamentals.” The captains feel that help‑ ing their teammates is better than discouraging them.

Also a new addition to the team is fresh‑ man Michaela Ilebode. As an underclassmen, one may assume she would be feel intimidated to play alongside juniors and seniors, however, for Ilebode, that is not a problem. She uses that pressure to become a better player. This season ”[She] looks forward to showing people that just because [she is] a freshmen does not mean [she] can not play.”

With the season now ready to take off, the girls basketball team has many goals that they would like to achieve this year. They will con‑ tinue to strive for the GBL championship title, and on an even greater level, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association state tourna‑ ment championship title.

he Malden High School boys basket‑ ball team is looking forward to the start of this upcoming season on Dec. 17, 2011. Coach Don Nally is back again pre‑ paring his team for the competition this season withholds.

The captains of the team are senior Witchie-Valence Exilhomme and junior Rodney Morton. “The coaches have zero tolerance for anything [this] year, they make sure that they have control over the team,” Morton then commented “they want to win just as much as we do, some‑ times even more.” Last year the team did not make the state tournament which makes this year the main goal of the sea‑ son, to get back on track and have a record above the .500 mark.

Morton is still trying to get use to be‑ ing called a captain and having the senior players look at him for leadership. “It is different,” Morton commented “[but] I still do not get to sit in the front of the bus.” Exilhomme, being a Greater Boston League all star in football is only in his second year on the basketball team and is ready to carry over his leadership role from the football field to the court.

The relationship with both captains is only getting better. “We communicate more than I thought we would,” Morton commented. “Before every practice we talk about what the plan is, and after we make sure everyone knows what we need to work on,” Morton added.

The team this year is young only carrying four seniors on the roster. With the majority of the team being juniors and sophomores, the younger players need to be willing to step up. Morton is confident that they will do just that. He is confident that, “all of the young players will be see‑ ing a lot of time and most if not all of them will be a significant piece to the teams suc‑ cess throughout the season.”

Top to bottom, left to right: Senior Rebecca Krigman taking a shot. Photo by Jason Drapinski. Junior Tommy Steele showing off his talents with a slam dunk. Photo by Cristina Peters. Junior captain Rodney Morton and senior Captain Witchie Valence-Exilhomme at practice. Photo by Jason Drapinski. The MHS basketball team conversing during a timeout at their scrimmage against Austin Prepatory School. Photo by Jason Drapinski

The Blue and Gold December 2011

SPORTS http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

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Wrestling: Not Just a Male Sport Anymore Not everyone has the level of discipline to train their mind and body six days a week. Each winter season the wrestling team makes an enormous commitment to the sport and their fellow team members.

The team has already begun skill building and conditioning practices to ready themselves for upcoming matches.

Though many of the wrestlers graduated or moved away, the team still has great potential and strong members, both new and return‑ ing. Last year the wrestling team struggled with low numbers, which

is the case this year also. However, it is anticipated that with gradual improvements and dedication the team can meet their goals.

Coach Jeremiah Smith says the team develops and “improves each day”. This season, the wrestling team has quite a few matches to look forward to including the matches versus Billerica, Shawsheen, and the Lexington Minuteman which happened on Dec. 10, 2011. These matches were an all day event in which the team competed in three matches total.

Individuals on the team also have the state tour‑ nament in Febru‑ ary. Coach Smith anticipates that the team will be at “peak performance” by this time. Last year, the team had two state qualifi‑ ers. With hope, the team will have state qualifiers this year as well. Until then, the wrestlers will con‑ stantly be preparing themselves for the

upcoming matches.

As the generations change, more girls have be‑ come in‑ terested in what was formally a male sport.

Last season, the only female on the team was Mandy Liao. The Sophomore PJ West practicing with junior Daniel Vo and Coach Smith. w r e s t l i n g Photos by Cristina Peters team now has two new female additions, junior Jessica tling team in Malden”. Favoreto, a Favoreto and senior Tiffany Rodri‑ new member, looks forward to the guez. On the wrestling team, the exciting season. “I wanted to try boys and girls are treated equally. something new”, Favoreto shares, Coach Smith feels there is “no dif‑ “and gain new skills”. The wres‑ ference between the guys and the tling team “has more of a family girls” on his team and has “never vibe” which Favoreto really enjoys. had a season without girls” on the Although it requires adjusting, Fa‑ team. In the future, Coach Smith be‑ voreto already feels “welcomed by lieves “there may be a female wres‑ the team.”

Is it already Valentine’s Day for the Red Sox?

T

he newest face of the Boston Red Sox organization was an‑ nounced during a press conference on Dec. 1, 2011 at Fenway Park and baseball fans can expect a very col‑ orful face in the dugout when Bob‑

by Valentine begins his tenure with Boston to begin the 2012 season.

Valentine will turn 62 years old during the early stages of next sea‑ son and returns to manage a Major League Baseball team for the first time since 2002 with the New York Mets. He joins the organization after a stint as an analyst on ESPN’s Base‑ ball Tonight and will at least begin his tenure with a two-year contract.

The native of Stamford, Conn. spent seven seasons with the Mets and led the team to a National League pennant in 2000. He also managed eight seasons with the Texas Rangers from 1985-92.

“I am honored, I’m humbled and I’m pretty damn excited,” Val‑ entine said in the news conference.

“The talent level and the players that we have in this organization, I think, is a gift to anyone. And I’m the receiver of that gift.”

As a New England native who is active in his community, Boston’s new manager understands that Boston is an extremely passionate

sports city and what the Red Sox mean to the Nation’s fans.

“I understand the rich tradition of baseball in the city, of sports in this community,” he said. “I understand the great rivalries that this team has, and I understand the great talent that has been assembled here.”

Earlier in the offseason, Ben Cherington became the team’s new General Manager and the process to hire a new manager started even before his official promotion on Oct. 25, 2011. Hiring Valentine as the team’s new skipper was obviously a priority on his to-do list and Cher‑ ington feels that he is the right man for the position.

“In the end, I’m very confident that we did find the right person in Bobby Valentine,” Cherington told the Boston Globe. “When I started this process, I said that we were looking for someone who cared about players…someone who was open-minded, and someone who wants to win.”

“Based on those criteria, I feel very strongly that we found the right person in Bobby Valentine…

He has enormous baseball intellect, he is creative, he is open-minded, and he badly wants to win.”

Although he has had his crit‑

ics throughout a long managerial career, Valentine seemed very com‑ fortable in his introductory press conference in front of hundreds of media members and many people do feel he will make a great fit for Boston.

One of those supporters is cur‑ rent New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who were both coach‑ ing in New York at the same time.

While Valentine was with the Mets,

Belichick was a defensive coordina‑ tor for the New York Jets. “[I] love Bobby,” he said in an interview with WEEI, “great guy, great baseball guy. Love to talk to him, he’s got a lot of energy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Terry [Fran‑ cona – Boston’s former manager], but…I had a great relationship with Bobby in New York…I look forward to catching up with him and seeing him here.”

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The Blue and Gold December 2011

http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

The Legacy Continues Sumya Mohiuddin Reporter

T

he sense of victory continues to linger in the air for the competi‑ tive swimmers at Malden High School.

Thanks to coach Paul DeVincentis his tough practices and effective work‑ outs, the team has become triumphant.

DeVincentis has been involved with swimming since he was 10 years old. The life lessons that he has learned originated from his years of swimming more than anything else. It has been a “wonderful attribute,” DeVincentis smiles.

For 12 years, this team proved to be successful, winning two Greater Boston League championships along the way. The team stands 113 wins to 13 losses. For the team, it is “important to keep the legacy going,” according to DeVincentis.

It is very early in the season, and it can easily be seen how the team is young. However, the coach can al‑ ready tell that as a whole, the swim‑ mers are “phenomenally talented [and have a] strong work ethic.”

Blue and Gold members Amalia Quesada Nylen and Catherine Poirier team with Caitlin Cala as they are all junior captains; Eddie Lee is making his last impression as he is a senior captain. Freshmen and new swimmers at MHS can feel more connected to the team because of the captains and the effort and care they put in.

DeVincentis gives his highest re‑ gards to his captains; they have “great leadership [and are] doing a fantastic job.” Junior Caitlin Cala has been swimming since she was about six years old at the Melrose YMCA. Now a captain, it is obvious that all her efforts have paid off. She is ready to “[prove] to the other teams in the league that [their team] is as strong as ever.” They have already proved to the “big guys” that the girls can make it to states and swim at Harvard. Cala advises the people who believe swimming is not for them to “just try because it may surprise [them].”

Freshman Tristar To starts off the season in good shape. For four years To has been swimming, proving to the team that he can be on top. Lucky for freshmen like To, the team behaves more like a family than anything else.

Everyone who is apart of the team behaves “very friendly and its easy to make friends,” states To. He believes in DeVincentis’s strategies. To explains how he “motivates [them] to try [their] best and work [their] hardest.”

It can be agreed that everyone on the team is looking forward to the season in high spirits. DeVincentis believes that his team has a “great chance” to win another Greater Boston League title.

With many more months to come, one important lesson that Cala, and all of her team members can carry with them is that “if you give it your all, then that’s good enough.”

Above photo from left to right: freshmen Michelle Meneses, Devon Laudadio, and sophomore Catalina Arredondo waiting for the other swimmers. Photo by Jessica DePaula

balancing Through The Season

Senior Anna Maguire walks carefully on the balance beam. Photo by Jessica Lynn DePaula For more about Gymnastics, visit our website maldenblueandgold.com