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A newfound respect for Lady Gaga
June 20th, 2011
by Renee Craig
Staff Writer
I have not always been the biggest fan of Lady Gaga. Her fashion choices and songs were not always to my taste. But lately, after the release of the song “Born This Way” and its video I admire her more and more. When Lady Gaga first burst onto the scene in 2009 with “Just Dance” I wasn’t her biggest fan. She seemed flashy and weird.She seemed fake too. I suspected that her elaborate costumes and spectacles were just for show. To me what she did didn’t seem like self expression it seemed more like she was just trying to get a reaction from people.
But my opinion of her has really changed. “Born This Way”for me is an anthem about being who you are and not caring what other people think. The video really drills this message in. For those of you who have not seen it, the “Born This Way” video is an absurd mashup of dancing, 80s science fiction, and pop culture references. Ironically one of the things I liked most about the video was the fact that for the most part Lady Gaga wasn’t wearing very many clothes.
Nobody get excited, this isn’t me championing scantily clad women or anything. But from Lady Gaga I appreciate it. She is almost always wearing some kind of disguise. Even when she is wearing little clothing she has some elaborate mask or body art. What I appreciated about this was that she was wearing a relatively simple black bikini like outfit. She wasn’t hiding behind a disguise or insane outfit. She was vulnerable. The video along with the lyrics of the song have definitely changed my view of Gaga. “Born This Way” is an anthem for people who have struggled having the world accept them.
This song is applies to high school students in particular, because so many of us struggle with being ourselves. “Born This Way” is a blessing from the Queen of Pop herself that you should always be who you are. Celebrities today have a huge power over people. The things they talk and sing about affect us and the way we think about ourselves. Gaga is telling us that we should be whoever we want to be and not be afraid of what others will think.
So, though I may not always agree with Lady Gaga’s fashion choices or some of her musical decisions, I still admire her as a person and an artist. And in the words of Gaga herself:
“You have to be unique, and different, and shine in your own way.”
— Lady Gaga
The Invisible Dress Code
June 16th, 2011by Renee Craig
Staff Writer
A couple months ago when it was still freezing cold and all of us could only dream of summer I decided to wear a hat to school. It wasn’t a baseball hat or anything, it was more of a beanie and it didn’t even cover my whole head. Oddly enough though, when I was walking in the hallways a teacher asked me to take it off. Meanwhile, later on in the school day, I saw a girl wearing a skirt that could have passed for a belt and a shirt which was see through in the back. This seems a little strange to me. We both broke the dress code. But only one of us was reprimanded.
I’m not saying that administration should start policing people for how decent their clothing is. I believe that people should be able to wear what they want because personal expression is extremely important. I love fashion and clothes and I think how I dress says a lot about me, and everyone should be able to express themselves through clothing.
My problem is not with the fashion choices of some of the girls in this school. My problem is that I can’t wear a hat in school, but I could wear heels and a skin tight dress. Enforce it all or don’t enforce anything.
We were taught by our teachers in elementary and middle school, that we could not wear hats because it was disrespectful. No offense but that rule is archaic and outdated. In our modern culture wearing a hat isn’t a sign of disrespect. Men no longer tip their hats for ladies and I am fine with that. I am all for our high school teaching us to be polite citizens but please keep the etiquette modern. Another reason that hats are banned may be that teachers think students will hide things in them or hide behind them during class. Students can hide plenty of things in their back packs and we are allowed to have those, and all teachers should feel free to call on anyone hiding behind their hat.
I feel that it is unfair to enforce outdated rules while ignoring current ones. I ask the teachers and administrators of this school to take a look at the dress code and look at it realistically. Our school has many rules but in this case only enforces some of them. Do they want us to go into society thinking that only some rules need to be followed? Our school should be a place of consistency in a world that lacks it.
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The Teachers of Tomorrow: The FEA
May 27th, 2011by Renee Craig
Staff Writer
Most of us are familiar with popular clubs like DECA and GSA but there are quite a few clubs here at WA that many people don’t know about. One of these such clubs is the FEA, the Future Educators Association, formerly know as the Future Educators of America.
This club was nationally founded in 1937 and has had a long and successful history. It provides experience and community service hours for people interested in one day being involved in education. Students who are a part of this club have a chance to visit other schools in the district, like Robinson, and spend time with the children and teachers.
The club members assist teachers by making copies, engaging with students, and even leading activities.
William Bobrowsky, a teacher at WA, is the current advisor of the club and was a member himself when he went to high school. This club is mostly student driven and Bobrowsky prefers to let the students run the show.
” They’re the heroes, really, of the program,” said Bobrowsky, when asked about the co-presidents of the club, Jenny Adelstein and Jaime Basiliere.
“I … wanted a way to get involved in the school, and receive community service hours. I also thought it sounded fun to go back to a school I went to as a kid and help out,” said Basiliere.
One of the main functions of the FEA is to assist teachers. The FEA puts cards into teachers mailboxes on their birthdays and hosts a teacher ice cream social at the end of the year. They also fundraise by selling goods at track and hosting a table at the Holiday Bazaar. At their meetings they discuss their experiences at the schools and the teachers and students they got to interact with.
The FEA provides a chance for students to be involved in their community, and get a taste of what a career in education might be like. Next time you are thinking about joining a club check out the FEA, because you never know, it could change your life. Bobrowsky, the club advisor, and a science teacher was a member when he went to school.
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Water For Elephants: Stranger Than You Dreamt It
May 5th, 2011
by Renee Anna Craig
Staff Writer
Have you ever dreamed of running away with the circus? Not having any responsibilities? Eating popcorn and cotton candy all the time? Well it might not be as simple as that.
Water for Elephants is a story about a young man who does just that, he runs away with the circus. The story begins in modern day at a circus where an old man begins to tell his life story to an employee there, Charlie, played by Paul Schneider, who some of you may recognize as Mark from the beginning seasons of Parks and Recreation. As this man tells his tale, we are transported back in time to the depression era America as he, Jacob Jankowski, is forced out of his home and joins the Benzini brothers circus as a veterinarian. In the circus Jacob learns about life, love, and people’s true characters.
Water for Elephants is based of the best selling book of the same name by author Sarah Gruen. Robert Pattinson stars as Jacob and Reese Witherspoon stars as Marlena the star of the circus and Jacob’s love interest. Unfortunately she is also the wife of the abusive circus owner August, played by Christoph Waltz.
Robert Pattinson, who some of you may recognize from the Twilight Saga movies, gives a genuine and loving performance as Jacob. He gives us a kind and innocent Jacob who is relatively blind to the ways of the world. We follow him as discovers the best and the worst parts of life. Reese Witherspoon gives us a solid performance and is patient as the star circus performer who has long ago given up on her dreams of a better life. The standout performance is by far Christopher Waltz’s as August. You may recognize him from his performance as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. His August is egual parts pitiful and cruel, so that even if sometimes you wish he would die you still feel bad for him.
Some of the others stars of this movie are the animals. Water for Elephants features lions, camels, giraffes, hyenas, and of course elephants. Rosie the elephant, whose name is Tai in real life, is absolutely gorgeous and steals the show. Animal lovers may walk into this movie expecting to be entertained and amazed but I would caution them. There is a considerable amount of violence against animals in this movie that I was surprised by.
At different points in the film, a horse in shot and an elephant beaten. In the case of the horse, the violence is not shown but only heard and implied, but in the case of the elephant you see it being jabbed with an iron rod. Some this may not be alarming but I would caution animal lovers that though this movie is excellent they might need to prepare themselves beforehand.Besides the violence against animals there is also violence against humans. For any fans of Robert Pattinson out there I would warn you he does get beaten up.
Though I was shocked and horrified at the violence, overall the movie was excellent. It told a beautiful story full of life lessons and human emotions. If you can get past the violence this is a movie I would recommend.
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Unrest in Libya
April 12th, 2011by Renee Anna Craig
Staff Writer
Imagine living in a world where the government and the people are opposite warring factions. In this world, soldiers kill and maim civilians. The government steals injured people and bodies from hospitals to hide death-tolls. Rebels armed with rocket propelled grenade launchers and government hired mercenaries walk the streets. People shoot at and out of ambulances and many neighborhoods had makeshift barricades surrounding them.
This is not the setting of a newly released post-apocaliptic movie; it is the state of affairs in Libya today, and the current rebellion is part of a long chain of events which started nearly fifty years ago.
In 1969, ironically, a revolution was led by a man we have all become familiar with in the past month, Muammar el-Qaddafi. He was the leader of the Revolutionary Council that overthrew King Idris I of Libya. Colonel Qaddafi then began his reign which at forty-two years is still ongoing.
These years have been filled with bizarre acts of terrorism and philanthropy, the starting of civil wars and the forging of peace treaties. Throughout these years, the U.S. and Libya have almost always been at odds. Qaddafi does something and we retaliate; we do something and Qaddafi retaliates.
However, in recent times, Qaddafi has been fighting with his own people. The successful, peaceful rebellion in Egypt has ignited a lust for freedom in the Libyan people. In February, they joined together across the country in a Day of Rage over Qaddafi’s 42 year long rule. This led to weeks of, for the most part, unarmed protesters clashing violently with soldiers. On Feb. 25th shots from Qaddafi’s forces were fired at thousands of protesters leaving a mosque after prayer.
Rebel forces began to emerge, armed and ready to die for their freedom. Over the following months the rebels and Qaddafi’s forces have been engaged in heated battles in cities, deserts, and towns. Recently after much debate the United Nations Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and American and European bombs have been dropped on Qaddafi’s forces.
On March 31st the Libyan foreign minister defected to London. He is just one of the many Libyan officials who have fled to other countries in protest of Colonel Qaddafi’s actions. Two of his sons even proposed recently that Qaddafi be put aside and a new constitutional democracy be erected with another son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi
The rebels, with help from European and American forces continue to battle Qaddafi.
Libyan Rebels
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Stripes and Plaid: Remembering Katie Enos
April 7th, 2011by Renee Craig
Staff Writer
On April 5th we celebrated the birthday of Katie Enos. Many of her friends and classmates wore stripes and plaid on that day( a fashion choice of Enos’s that often inspired comments from her friends).She would have turned fifteen. Her bright star was stolen from the sky of Westford Academy on June 30th 2010 when she died in the hospital from injuries sustained after being hit by a car. Enos would have entered WA that September.
Enos’s interests were astonishing in their depth and difference. Her career at Blanchard Middle School was the stuff of legend. She wrote hundreds of songs, some which were sung by the West Street Serenaders and the Blanchard Middle School Girls’ Chorus. She excelled as a goalie for the Blanchard Girls’ Soccer team.
She had a strong personality and almost always spoke her mind. She loved the written word and read most of the classics including many Shakespeare plays on her own. Although she claimed not to believe in true love, one love story Katie liked was that of Katherine and Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
She wrote hundreds of songs and many many books and poems. Her head was always filled with ideas. She played the guitar and piano. She could sing but she wouldn’t admit it. She was saving up for a new guitar. She loved the TV show Angel and often watched it with her friends. She also enjoyed history and English. She liked country music and one of her favorite singers was Miranda Lambert. She loved hanging out with her friends. listening to music, and reading.
Enos participated in track and cross country. She was one of the only people willing to run the mile event in track, and in the summer she ran at least a mile almost every day. Enos also participated in National History Day winning first place at a District level for her work with a partner on a documentary about the Salk polio vaccine.
She was never afraid to argue with a teacher or a friend if she believed she was right about something. She enjoyed discussing politics and religion with anyone who would listen, although few were worthy opponents. It would not be unusual to walk up to Enos and find her in a conversation about Christianity, the First Amendment, or Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
She lived. She lived more in her fourteen years than most of us do in a lifetime. She was always doing at least one sport, usually two. She read books. Enos listened to, wrote, and played music. She wrote songs, novels, and poems. Oh and she also managed to get her homework done. Enos excelled at most of the things she did, but not because of natural talent. Enos had talent of course but she also worked a hundred times harder than most people.
She was a goalie in soccer and that was an unusual position for her body type as she was short for a goalie. But she didn’t let this stop her. She worked, and worked, and worked so that this wouldn’t hold her back. Enos was like this with almost anything that she truly loved.
She fell in love with Washington, D.C. She went there on a class trip in eight grade. And wherever she went, whether it was the Jefferson Memorial, the Smithsonian, or the National Cathedral she soaked up the information and history of that city. She almost started drooling when she found out that the pulpit she stood a foot away from in the National Cathedral was where Martin Luther King Jr. and the Dalai Lama had spoken.
If you wish to do more, you can buy a WWKTD bracelet ( What Would KaTie Do) for five dollars. The money from the purchase is donated to the Katie Enos Scholarship Fund.
The Wit in WIT
April 4th, 2011by Renee Anna Craig
Staff Writer
March 30th some of us at were celebrating a different kind of holiday: St. WITrick’s day. This was a show put on by Westford Academy’s improv troupe. The audience was informed upon arrival that this would be more of a live practice than a show. They wished to try out some new material on a live audience.
The WIT members participating in this show were: Mark Fingerhut, Paul Perrone, Dylan McCusker, Jillian Frankel, Nick Nudler, Braley Degenhardt, John Bergin, Jennah Calisi, and Rachel Weinstock.
The show began with a game called Quirks. Mark Fingerhut went out of the room and Jenna Calisi, John Bergin, and Paul Perrone were given quirks. Calis was Lady Gaga. Bergin was a taxi driver with no sense of direction. And Perrone was Charlie Sheen.
The purpose of the game was for Mark Fingerhut to guess the quirks. He came back into the room and established the fact that he was a photographer and invited each person into his studio. The most easily guessed was Perrone as Charlie Sheen. He exhibited erratic behavior and mentioned something about the goddesses.
One of the funniest games played by the group was called Interview. Three volunteers from the audience were requested, and three answered: Mitchel Tewksbury, Chris Noran, and Brian Edson. Each person was then asked a series of questions.
The information they gathered was then used in skits about the interviewees. The show would have been funny without this but it adds an extra element of hilarity to see your friends and classmates mentioned.
The final game of the afternoon was a script game. This had never been tried before by the group but to the audience they seemed up for the challenge. We were asked to pick a play from three selected scripts and we chose “The Boys Next Door” by Tom Griffin.
The WIT members made up scenes and as they were acting Fingerhut called out random stage directions. Some of the highlights were Perrone and McCusker dancing, Bergin yelling ferociously about newspaper, and Nudler and McCusker fighting over Frankel.
It was a pleasant afternoon filled with improvisation, impressions, and humans embodying ice cream toppings. They promised musical improv for the WIT show and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good laugh.
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The Dancing Dilemma
March 22nd, 2011By Renee Craig
Staff Writer
The person we are at dances is very different than the person we are in our classes. What we don’t think about though is our teachers might see us at dances too.
Our teachers are at the dances also, in the form of chaperones. If you pay attention at the next dance you might see some of your teachers posted around the cafeteria and/or gym. Chaperoning can be an extremely awkward situation for both students and teachers.
“I think for me I try not to pick out any students that I know. You kind of just look at this massive mob and pretend like you don’t see any familiar faces,” said teacher Heather Carney, an advisor for National Honor Society who helped organize the Heat Wave Dance.
This can be just as awkward for students. Brianna Harris, a sophomore, talked about how uncomfortable it can be to see a teacher at a dance. She once saw her history teacher at a dance and (as most of us would) immediately went in the other direction.
“It can be really awkward, especially the next day,” said Harris.
For both teachers and students, chaperoning at dances makes for awkward conversations the next day at school.
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