Volume XIII; Issue 3
cavchronline.com
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
It’s a FOB story FOBs allow seniors to embrace the freedom of first-period Options Martin Bradshaw ‘15, Humans of HB Editor
N
o more delays --- the long-awaited FOBs have finally arrived. For most seniors who have first-period Senior Options, this is fantastic news. Many students may not know what a FOB is, begging the question: ‘What are these things?’ A FOB is a small, coin-sized, blackand-grey plastic disc. It will fit on just about any keychain. The purpose of these all-important FOBs is to unlock the school doors. This may seem to be irrelevant to many students, but for those who have first-period Options, the need for the FOBs is very real. The perk that makes first period Options so appealing to seniors is being allowed to come to school late. They can come in any time before second period begins without needing to worry about facing any repercussions. Most of the seniors lucky enough to get the opportunity eagerly take advantage of it..
Ashley Skey, ‘15, said she makes use of her first period Options and comes in late every day, typically in order to finish her homework or sleep in. Many other students use their Options period the same way. Seniors with first period Options may be allowed to come in late, but the school doors still lock at 7:30. This means that if any senior who parks behind the school was to come in more than 15 minutes late, he or she would not be able to enter through the rear entrance on the third floor.
They would be forced to embark on a long journey from the back lot all the way down to the front of the school. Then, as if that wasn’t enough hardship, they would need to buzz themselves in just to gain entrance to the school. Maybe this isn’t such an ordeal, but it certainly is one that few students would choose to endure so early in the morning. Here’s where the FOBs come in handy: Once seniors obtain a FOB, they need not worry about the locked doors. There is a small box positioned outside, on the wall beside the rear entrance, that will unlock the doors if a FOB is held directly in front of it. The light on the box will flash quickly
Chess club broadens its horizons Evan Moloney ‘15, News Editor
from red to green and the doors will unlock, allowing seniors to utilize their free period and do as they please while maintaining a safe environment for students. In Skey’s words, “It makes it easier to get into the school instead of walking to the front.” Seniors with either first or second period Options can obtain a FOB by getting an application sheet in the main office, filling it out, and returning it to the school at no cost. However, if the FOB is lost, stolen, or damaged, it will cost students $20--an “outstanding obligation” which must be paid before graduation. All the rules and information regard-
For the past two years, Hollis-Brookline High School has had a chess club, meeting on and off throughout the
Read more at: http://bit.ly/1t5bm6x
According to Devin Orr ‘15, events are about to pick up.
Before this year, the club’s primary source of attention came in the form of chess tournaments held in the library on an intermittent basis, which often attracted up to a dozen competitors.
Orr is the President of the club, and has been a member since it was created in 2012.
“Meetings have been exclusively chess,” said Orr, “which I think has deterred a lot of people from the club.”
school year. It was one of the school’s more modest clubs, advised by Christine Heaton, with meetings for an hour after school, hosting a tourna-
When asked about whether there was anything else students needed to know about this device, Debbie Champigny, who is in charge of the FOBs, said, “Other than that, no, there’s nothing else they need to know.”
expand it even more.”
Now, Orr and her veteran club members are aiming for a goal of thirty consistent members.
The Chess Club just got a little bigger.
ing the FOBs can be found on application forms in the main office (with the exception of what it is that FOB stands for; that’s an answer that not even Champigny could give). All of these rules must be followed or students will be asked to surrender their FOBs.
ment only here and there.
While she had been happy with the club’s attendance and structure before, she is no longer completely satisfied. Turnout for the club averaged only about four people during the weekly meetings.
The Gaming Club will include tabletop games such as checkers, chess, Risk and Diplomacty. Photo Credit: Julie Christie ‘15
Ashley Skey ‘15, uses a FOB to enter the school through the back door. Photo Credit: Martin Bradshaw ‘15
This year, the scope of the club has been broadened to include games like Risk and Diplomacy as well as Heaton’s collection of additional games in the library’s Fiction section. Orr hopes that a wider range of options will attract more patrons. “It’s gotten a lot of integration between different games. It’s already gotten more people coming, and I want to
However, according to Orr, “They were informed there were chess tournaments, but not additional weekly meetings.” She still intends to host the tournaments, now branching out into other games as well, and will make advertising a priority. She’s not worried about members’ consistent attendance. “It can be people who come for a few days--who just want to play chess and have fun.” Numbers are already picking up, and like all clubs, this one will grow and find its own niche at the school. For those interested, meetings are on Tuesdays, from immediately after school until 3:30. The Chess Club, in its old form, is gone -- and the Gaming Club is here.
Females in frats Teresa Randlett ‘16, Contributor
Females in Frats? Greek letter societies have been around as early as 1776, when Phi Beta Kappa was created at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Ever since, hundreds of sororities and fraternities have come about each with several chapters. These fraternities and sororities are simply just a group of people with common ideas, thoughts, and morals. They are also made up of the same gender for each group. But recently, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut broke the usual Greek practices. Fraternity members, staff at the school, and alumni all made an executive decision to allow female members, who would regularly have to join a sorority if they wanted to be in a Greek group, to have the choice of joining a fraternity. Fraternities at Wesleyan University have three years to be accepting of both genders and be co-ed friendly. Only Trinity College, another Connecticut college, has been the other school to have initiated these changes, which happened back in 2012. Fraternities, unfortunately, have the reputation of hosting out of control parties, allowing excessive drinking, drug usage, and are supposedly the reason behind high sexual assault rates on campuses. Wesleyan’s Mu Epsilon chapter is better known as the “Rape Factory”, according to Tyler Kingkade of The Huffington Post, because of an accusation alleging a rape at a pledge party the previous spring by a nonmember of the fraternity. It continues to have a poor reputation due to a terrible incident just last month. A female sophomore attending school at the University fell from a third-story window at the fraternity’s house and was extremely injured. Out of control parties like this and run ins with lawsuits over attempted rape complaints led to Beta Theta Pi chapter being suspended from the University for a year. The University lost confidence in the Greek group being able to handle their gatherings and themselves, therefore resulting in an extreme penalization. Then came a mindset change toward Wesleyan University’s Greek life as a whole. After analyzing these inappropriate happenings that occurred too frequently with fraternities, one of many opinions believe that the cause of these sexual assaults is due to the gathering of just men in an environment. When putting males in a group together, their masculinity is enhanced and stroked by each other, causing them to feel superior to all. Read more at: http://bit.ly/1t2KOls The Cavalier Chronicle is produced by Hollis Brookline High School students. The articles published represent the views of the staff and do not represent Hollis Brookline High School, HBHS faculty, or administration. As this publication is intended to be a tool for learning, please bring any concerns related to the newspaper to the attention Adviser Lin Illingworth. She can be reached at lin.illingworth@sau41.org
Farm-to-school month is here Sarah MacEachen ‘16, Copyeditor
October is always associated with Halloween candy, but in addition, this month can offer locally grown food, ripe for the picking. Apples, pumpkins, squash, and more are all in season, and this year, fresh produce is coming closer to students than ever before. This month, Hollis Brookline High School is participating in National Farm to School Month with “Farm to School Fridays”. At the end of each week, the cafeteria will be serving butternut squash, corn, roasted potatoes, or apples, all of which are fresh and locally grown. Produce donations are from Lull Farm and Hannaford’s Grocery Store; both companies will be making deliveries to the school every Friday.
dice Hancock, the Foods and Nutrition teacher at HB. She hopes that students will be happy with the new additions to Friday lunches, and realize that they’re much fresher and healthier than the cafeteria food usually provided at HB.
“The rice is clumpy oatmeal.”
School lunch on any other day isn’t widely enjoyed by students, with opinions varying from tolerance to disgust. “I don’t dislike it,” said Luke Maynard ‘16, who was keeping a positive outlook. He says they have their good days and their “not-sogood” days.
Questionable rice textures aside, everyone can experience the taste and 25 percent more nutrients of farm fresh roduce this friday.
The front of the school has posters set up to inform students about Farm to School month, and the cafeteria has been decorated in fall colors. Hancock hopes that after the initiative’s success, fresh food will become a yearly event.
On such days, as Logan Collins ‘16 said,
“Nutrients are lost by at least 25% when Students will learn that comthe food is sitting mon foods can have uncommon appearances. Photo around,” says Can- Credit: Sarah MacEachen ‘16
A falling TV lineup: quality plummets Emily Raymond ‘15, Contributor
As the school year begins and the leaves start turning, so too marks the beginning of new television seasons. No longer are students confined to watching old seasons on Netflix or turning to channels mostly containing reruns. New series have been added to help contribute to procrastinating students, and old ones have returned (for better or for worse). There are exciting new shows such as “A to Z on ABC” and “Manhattan Love Story” both on ABC for the romantic comedy lover, and “Constantine” on NBC for those who enjoy hero-type television shows. “The Flash” on CW can be added to the list of super-hero based television shows that will be carefully watched
8% 25%
Never
Past lives of teachers
67% Not Yet
and judged, as well as “Gotham” on Fox.
George Taliadouros, a science teacher at Hollis Brookline High School, is most excited about the new show “Scorpion” on CBS, but says he watches sports more than television shows. Of course, there are always the supernatural television shows that keep the science fiction fans intrigued. “Z Nation” on Syfy is for all of those who love “The Walking Dead” (and zombies in general). “Forever” on ABC has gained attention as a new show that will likely end soon. Called an ‘ABC Dud’ by “The Wrap”, “Forever” has cliché themes and adds nothing special to fall television. For originality, “Happyland” on MTV gains a point. This show shows
all the inner workings of a popular theme park, with some romance and a scandal thrown in to keep audiences interested. “Selfie” on ABC has “potential” according to “Flavorwire”, and there is no doubt that many high school kids will connect with the main character. Why watch on TV what you could watch in real life? For unoriginality, “Madam Secretary” on CBS and “State of Affairs” on NBC lose a point (Sound like “Scandal” to anyone?). Further, “NCIS” has decided to travel to New Orleans since being in Washington DC and Los Angeles isn’t enough. The popular show, “Stalker”, on CBS promises similar creativity. The plots can all be predicted right now: someone is being stalked by someone. Read more at: http://bit.ly/1tFg0cf
Are we too old to trick-ortreat?
Next week’s Question: What’s the worst thing to get for Halloween, instead of candy? Answer at cavchronline.com Accreditation: Our school in flux
Humans of HB