Congratulations to theNational Merit ScholarshipFinal ists:Melanie AbeygunawardanaRaghu VaddempudiAlexis WachéKevin ZhangRaymond Zhao

Feb. 16: Biology OlympiadOpen Exam

Feb. 17: Staff InserviceNo school for students

Feb 20: Presidents DayNo school for students

Feb 25: Regional ScienceBowl

March 10: Jarrett NatureCenter Green Up

March 12 23: PSSAs

March 16 18: Key ClubConvention at Penn State

March 25: Children s Show,2pm and 6pm, Honk Junior

RED & BLARED & BLACK EVENTCK EVENTSS

March 5:Chess TournamentMario Kart WiiSkateboarding Competit ion

March 6:Ping Pong

March 7:Cul inary Competit ionPool Night (6:30 PM)

March 8:Bouldering WallVert ical WallHacky SackField Events

March 9:Academic BowlGlee Competit ionGym Night (6:30 PM)

Several art students were hon-

ored this past month by the

Pennsylvania State Education

Association as part of the 25th

Annual “Touch the Future” High

School Student Art Show. The

“Touch the Future” show began

as a memorial to commemorate

NASA’s “teacher in space,”

Christa McAuliffe, who died

aboard the Challenger space shut-

tle in 1986.

“The exhibit allows art stu-

dents to shine, and allows for

future artists to be celebrated,”

said Lynne Pribis, one of the

show’s chairpersons and an art

teacher from Upper Dublin High

School. “Kids are being honored

for what they are doing, who are

not necessarily the most athletic.”

“Touch the Future” has grown

to be one of the most prestigious

juried art shows in the region.

Just eight years ago, the show had

roughly 12 high schools partici-

pate and the exhibition was held

in a small gallery in nearby

Spring House. That number has

more than doubled today and is

growing each year. This year’s

show was judged by Barbara

Suplee, Ph.D., an art education

and art therapy professor at the

University of the Arts. Students

displayed immense creativity and

were judged in the following 14

categories: Printmaking;

Jewelry/Metals; Fiber

Crafts; 2-D Mixed

Media; Digital

Imaging and

Computer Graphics;

Traditional Silver

Print; Acrylic, Oil,

and Watercolor

Painting; Color and

Black & White

Drawing; Sculpture;

2-D Design;and

Digital Photography.

A winner from

each of these cate-

gories was chosen,

along with “Best of

Show” honors and a

second and third run-

ner-up. Awards and

monetary prizes,

donated by

MER/PSEA and

totaling $1,500, were

presented to the win-

ners at an awards

reception on

February 12. The

organization will also provide

compensation to a student who

agrees to sell his or her artwork to

MER/PSEA for permanent dis-

play in the regional office.

According to art teacher Lori

Gallagher, “We are thrilled to see

others outside of our school

acknowledging the high quality

work our students create here at

H-H. Our students work

extremely hard and are deserving

of the honors they receive.”

This year, 12 students from

our school who completed their

artwork between January 2011

and January 2012 were selected

to display their artwork in the

show, representing nearly each

category mentioned above. Three

students, Class of 2011 graduate

Alexis Chun, current senior

Allison Shaftel, and current jun-

ior Kate Miller, received first

place honors in their respective

categories.

Senior Meghan Reilly, who

qualified as a finalist for her col-

ored pencil drawing

“Sunflowers,” noted that it was

an “absolute honor to be selected

out of all of the extremely talent-

ed applicants.” Reilly also added

that she was extremely grateful

for Ms. Gallagher’s assistance,

with both the creation of her art-

work and the submission process.

Fellow finalist senior Silvia Chon

echoed Reilly’s sentiment, stating

that she was also extremely hon-

ored for the opportunity to dis-

play her artwork in the show, and

looks forward to participating in

the Montgomery County

Community College Art Show

and the High School Art Show,

both later this year.

The “Touch the Future”

exhibit will be on display at

Montgomery County Guild of

Professional Artists (MCGOPA)

at SPP Galleries in

Conshohocken. The exhibit will

be open to the public, free of

charge, February 4 to 26. Guests

are welcome to view the exhibit

during the gallery hours, which

are Monday through Friday 10

a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and

Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. More

information can be found by call-

ing 800-492-2727, or by visiting

www.mcgopa.org.

The Fault in ourStars Book Review

Read about JohnGreen s latest novel

Entertainment, p.5

Internet Censorship

Questioning the futurefreedom of the Internet

In Depth, p. 6 7

Senioritis

Seniors lose motivationas June approaches

Features, p.12

News2-3

Entertainment4-5

In-Depth6-7

Sports10

Activities11

Features12

Spotlights8

Editorials9

HATH CHHaattbboorroo--HHoorrsshhaamm SSeenniioorr HHiigghh SScchhooooll’’ss

THE

AT

Volume 81, Issue 5February 2012 Member of the National Scholastic Press Association

News Briefs

Sean RaymondBusiness Manager, ’13

The following students were selected to dis-play their artwork at the 2012 “Touch theFuture” Art Exhibit:

• Allison Shaftel (1st place) - “Sleepless State”

• Alexis Chun (1st place) - “Variegated Leaves”

• Kate Miller (1st place) - “Line Mosaic”

• Silvia Chon - “Angelina”

• Katie Leary - “Pencil Portrait”

• Meghan Reilly - “Sunflowers”

• Haley Manchon - “Blueprint of Pizza”

• Danielle Pearl - “Jewelry/Metals”

• Savannah Schultz - Untitled

• Zoie Davis - Untitled sculpture

• Jennifer Fuguet - Untitled sculpture

• Carolyn McHugh - “Self Portrait”

Art students shine at PSEA art show

Silvia Chon (right) hard at work in the art gallery, where she spends most of her

time. Her piece “Angelina” is being honored in the “Touch the Future” Exhibit.

Meghan Reilly’s “Sunflowers,”

done in colored pencil, will be hon-

ored in the “Touch the Future”

Exhibit.

PHOTO BY LORI GALLAGHER

PHOTO BY LORI GALLAGHER

THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012 NEWS2

For as long as anyone can

remember, Kodak has been

around to help capture memories.

One might fondly remember

being at an amusement park and

seeing the signs advertising the

perfect “Kodak Moment” spot to

take a photo of the fun. Whether

it was the disposable cameras in

the red and yellow cardboard

boxes or developing photos, the

company was as common as

Pizza Hut.

Unfortunately, many Kodak

products are being replaced in the

market. Fewer and fewer people

are using film to develop their

photos, instead turning to digital

products. Furthermore, Kodak is

also facing strain from other pho-

tography companies such as

FujiFilm. As a result, the compa-

ny is in a poor financial situation,

and filed for bankruptcy on

January 19, 2012.

Since 2003, Kodak has laid-

off about 47 thousand employees

and closed 130 factories and 130

photo laboratories. Today, the

company employs only about

17,000 people, 8,000 of which

are located outside the United

States. Six of the past seven years

have ended up in a loss financial-

ly for the company. The current

Kodak revenue of $7.2 billion is

only half of that in 2005; worse

still, further declines are antici-

pated this year. In 2008 alone, its

losses were close to $2 billion.

Kodak is resorting to litiga-

tion in an attempt to increase rev-

enues. Recently, the company has

sued Samsung Electronics on the

claim that their Galaxy tablet ille-

gally uses their technology for

capturing and sending digital

images. Kodak also filed cases

against HTC, Apple, FujiFilm,

and Research In Motion.

Naturally, people responded

with emotion upon hearing this

news. However, there is no rea-

son to start mourning the loss yet.

Rather than disappearing com-

pletely, the Eastman Kodak

Company will continue business

the same as always for now.

By filing for Chapter 11 bank-

ruptcy, Kodak has the opportuni-

ty to reshape the company by a

February 2013 deadline.

According to the press release on

their website, the company will

“continue customer programs,

provide employees with usual

wages and benefits, and honor all

port-petition obligations to sup-

pliers in the ordinary course”

until next year.

In plain terms, Kodak may be

in trouble, but for the public,

Kodak will continue to be a part

of everyday life. At the end of

their allotted time, Kodak hopes

to emerge once again as a prof-

itable and sus-

tainable enter-

prise.

In the busi-

ness world,

Eastman Kodak

Company is tak-

ing an offensive

approach in

order to try and

survive through

these less-than-

favorable eco-

nomic times.

They have

alleged that

Apple, HTC,

FujiFilm, and

Samsung have

all committed

patent infringe-

ment against

their company.

A person

may wonder

what Kodak has

to do with digital

t e c h n o l o g y

giants such as

Apple, but one must realize that

Kodak dealt with more than film

for the past 133 years. They are

“a company that knows more

about imaging than anyone else

in the world,” said Robert Burley,

a photography professor at

Ryerson University in Toronto.

Unfortunately for Kodak, the

company has a lot of work to do

if they hope to turn their fate

around and have a successful

reorganization to preserve their

business.

Photography giant Kodak files for bankruptcy and reorganizationDiana Buck

Staff Writer ’12

Since the disaster of the

Titanic, shipwrecks have been a

nightmare to anyone who decides

to embark on the wide open seas.

Some were assured, however, by

the comforting thought that such

a thing would not happen again.

Well, it has.

On January 15, in the

Mediterranean Sea, an Italian

cruise ship, the Costa Concordiastruck rocks and sank to the shal-

low bottom, shifting violently to

one side. Damages include 17

confirmed death, with 16 people

still missing.

The Costa Concordia had

planned to set sail from

Civitavecchia to Savona and

other ports for duration of seven

days. On the evening of January

13, Costa Concordia sailed off

from the port of Civitavecchia,

and struck rocks near the Isola de

Giglio as the ship came too close

to the island. The collision creat-

ed a large seventy meter gash on

the hull of the ship, causing water

to flood in and submerge the

engines and generators to a point

where they were unrepairable.

Also, the intake of water made

the ship teeter on its side, making

the use of lifeboats virtually

impossible.

Francesco Schettino, captain

of the Costa Concordia, was

heavily criticized for approaching

too closely in on the Isola de

Giglio, the action that caused the

whole disaster. Schettino and

some of the ship crews were also

criticized as they left the ship

with approximately 100 passen-

gers still trapped in the flooded

Costa Concordia and did not

return to help them.

Consequently, Schettino was

arrested on January 15 on the

charges of manslaughter, ship-

wreck, and abandoning ship.

Members of the crew were

also reprimanded as some of the

survivors remembered them

being no help and confusing

them with contradictory orders

during the rescue.

There were other crew mem-

bers who fulfilled their duty in

rescuing many people, such as

Losso, an electrician of the Costa

Concordia, who claims, “I could

have saved myself and not done

my duty, but I didn’t. I waited and

helped get at least 300 people on

lifeboats.”

The Costa Concordia disaster

put the lives of more than 4,000

people in colossal danger. The

disaster is not over yet, with 16

people missing and about 2400

tons of fuel to dispatch.

With many controversies over

who is to really blame for this

tragedy, no one will doubt that

the disaster of Costa Concordiahas been one of the most danger-

ous cruise ship disasters of the

21st century. It appears that the

lesson that the Titanic gave us

was not enough to stop it.

The Costa Concordia - an Italian Titanic

The Italian cruise ship “Costa Concordia” partially sank after striking a reef off the coast of Italy on January

13, 2012. The captain, Francesco Schettino, was criticized for his handling of the situation.

Kodak, long a symbol of photography as a whole, has recently suffered because of com-

petition from other photography corporations. Furthermore, customer demand for Kodak

products has decreased with the advent of digital photography and other services.

Gernwoo PakStaff Writer ’15

Photo Courtesy of AP Wire

Photo Courtesy of AP Wire

Write in to

the Hat Chat

The Hat Chat welcomes

comments, suggestions,

questions,

guest columns &

letters to the editor

Also: Know of an event or person

you feel is newsworthy?

Submit your ideas to hat-chat-editors@googlegroups.com

NEWS THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012

3

The current election season is

proving to be unpalatable to most

Republicans, who are struggling

to decide which candidate they

will support. The GOP wants

Obama out, but who do they want

in?

Michelle Bachmann suspend-

ed her campaign on January 4,

2012, due to disappointing poll

results. She has not provided sup-

port for any of the candidates yet,

but may consider endorsing one

once a nominee is selected, as a

means of getting a spot in their

cabinet.

Though he suspended his

campaign in early December of

last year due to allegations of sex-

ual assault, Herman Cain will

inadvertently throw his weight

around with the support of

Stephen Colbert.

Since Colbert announced his

campaign so late in the primary

voting season, he was unable to

be added to the ballot and could

not receive votes as a write-in

candidate. In a satirical manner,

Colbert will run as Herman Cain,

who is still on the ballot, to gen-

erate votes for him despite being

unable to run on the actual ballot.

Unfortunately, Colbert

dropped out of his South Carolina

presidential bid after receiving

only a few thousand votes.

Rick Perry, despite disap-

pointing results in previous polls,

was determined to win a portion

of the evangelical votes that form

the core of South Carolina’s vot-

ing base. He received a large

amount of negative criticism for

his “Strong” campaign ad, which

stated that it was wrong for

homosexuals to serve openly in

the military and inaccurately

claimed that children could not

pray openly in schools. Perry

decided to leave the race on

January 19 and put his support

behind Newt Gingrich.

After Jon Huntsman

announced an end to his presi-

dential bid and gave his support

to Mitt Romney, the race contin-

ued to consolidate into two clear-

cut front runners. If Mitt Romney

wins in the upcoming Missouri

primary on February 7 he will

likely be chosen to be the

Republican presidential nominee

in the upcoming November elec-

tion.

Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich

has enjoyed a resounding success

among all demographics in his

South Carolina primary win,

defeating Romney by almost

13%. However, his recent loss by

14% in Florida does not bode

well for his campaign.

Romney’s potential election

will occur much to the chagrin of

the conservative base of the

Republican Party. Romney is

known for his somewhat incon-

sistent political views and his

idea of health care reform, which

provided the cloth from which

Obama’s Patient Protection and

Affordable Care Act was cut.

He originally won Iowa; but

his victory was overturned after

the discovery of inaccuracy in

certain voting precincts, which

neglected to account for the votes

that would eventually put

Santorum over Romney.

Despite that loss, he is com-

ing off a significant victory in

Florida that should propel him

into the next primary. He faces a

tough campaign against President

Barack Obama, who can point

out these issues while maintain-

ing his foreign policy aims to fix

the goals that Obama laid out in

his candidacy.

However, Obama faces dis-

taste within his own party on

issues such as the current failing

world economy, and his support

of legislation such as the National

Defense Authorization Act

(NDAA), which contains provi-

sions that permit the government

to detain American citizens with-

out the writ of habeas corpus and

hold them indefinitely if they are

seen as a threat to national securi-

ty.

Sitting at a 42% approval rat-

ing on Gallup.com, Obama can

sit comfortably and wait while

the GOP determines its candidate

in the primary elections. He has

already received full backing by

the Democratic National

Committee as its next candidate.

Tyler MartinActivities Editor, ’12

Would the GOP candidate please stand up

Recent congressional legisla-

tion and executive orders handed

down by President Barack

Obama have further tightened

sanctions on Iran, in hopes of per-

suading the nation to enter nego-

tiations regarding its nuclear pro-

gram. Released on February 6,

Executive Order 12957 entitled

“Blocking Property of the

Government of Iran and Iranian

Financial Institutions” effectively

froze all Iranian assets within the

United States and is the latest in a

series of legislative advances that

aim to hinder the Iranian govern-

ment’s ability to conduct interna-

tional trade. In his letter to

Congress, President Obama

described the additional sanctions

as “...warranted, particularly in

light of the deceptive practices of

the Central Bank of Iran and

other Iranian banks to conceal

transactions of sanctioned parties,

the deficiencies in Iran’s anti-

money laundering regime and the

weaknesses in its implementa-

tion, and the continuing and

unacceptable risk posed to the

international financial system by

Iran’s activities.”

The ongoing oil embargo that

the United States has enforced

against Iran is, by some reports,

beginning to have an effect. A

slumping rial, the nation’s curren-

cy, is already making it harder for

the government to purchase

imports, and its inability to export

oil is forcing the government to

accept payment in illiquid curren-

cies. Tellingly, perhaps, rice

importers said that Iranian buyers

had defaulted on payment for

200,000 tons of rice. Bread prices

have tripled since December, and

the current price of rice in the

nation is approximately $5.00/kg.

Iranian officials have largely

dismissed the sanctions as inef-

fective and characteristic of the

United States. “It is an antagonis-

tic move; psychological warfare

which has no impact... There is

nothing new, it has been going on

for over 30 years,” Iranian

Foreign Ministry spokesman

Ramin Mehmanparast said.

While official sources may be

denying that the sanctions are

working, many traders have cited

difficulties receiving payment for

Iranian imports. “Iranian cargoes

I can get, that’s not a problem.

But how to pay is a problem,”

said an iron ore trader in New

Delhi.

The Iranian government has

moved to pass a bill banning oil

exports to the European Union,

which agreed to the conditions

set forth by the American sanc-

tions, in what some have viewed

as a victory. Saudi Arabia has

already pledged to make up for

any deficiency in world oil mar-

kets by increasing supply.

U.S. toughens sanctions on IranAlexis Waché

Staff Writer, ’12

The U.S. government cracks down on Iran and its controversial

nuclear program through a damaging oil embargo.

Over the past few months, each GOP candidate has enjoyed a spot

in the limelight.

When Hurricane Irene hit the

east coast in August of last year,

many homes and businesses

were destroyed by strong gusts

of wind and horrible flooding.

The local Hatboro restaurant and

pizzeria, Quig’s, was no excep-

tion.

Located next to the

Pennypack Creek on York Road,

Quig’s was susceptible to flood-

ing with only a night’s worth of

rain. Hurricane Irene damaged

Quig’s beyond repair with a vast

amount of flooding.

“We tried to salvage as many

things as we possibly could,

including tables, chairs, and

stools,” said owner, Amy

Quigley. Along with trying to

salvage furniture, Quigley had to

clean up the mess, which took

weeks.

Unfortunately, this attempt to

save Quig’s was not enough and

Quigley was limited on what to

do. She had to make the decision

to move up the road to occupy

the space which had previously

been a Dunkin Donuts. If she

had not made that decision, her

business would have ended.

“I wouldn’t have been able to

do this without the help of Steve

Barth,” said Quigley. Barth was

one of the many people who

helped her rebuild the pizzeria in

the new building. He went to

many township meetings and

donated his time and money to

help the pizzeria get back on its

feet. “I owe him everything for

this,” Quigley said. Barth was

also the one who gave Quigley

the idea to move.

Even though Quig’s had tem-

porarily found a new home,

there was a lot of work that

needed to be done with little

resources.

With the help of loyal cus-

tomers, family, and friends lay-

ing down flooring, painting the

walls, and putting a lot of effort

into this restaurant, Quig’s was

back up and running in four

months.

A new start also comes with

new changes. “We’ll be adding

new things to the menu and tak-

ing away other items,” said

Quigley. Quig’s will also be

adding even more seating.

In light of all the up’s and

down’s Quigley went through,

she is “grateful” for all of the

help she has received and the

state her restaurant is in. “I’m

looking forward to what the

future holds.”

After a disasterous encounter with the floods of Hurricane Irene, the

new and improved Quig’s pizzeria reopens in Hatboro.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PATCH

Q u ig ’s co meb ackStephanie BerganStaff Writer, ’14

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

In John Green’s latest novel,

The Fault in Our Stars, his young

protagonists suffer from cancer,

but it is not, as he said, “one of

those cancer books.” While a

book about teenagers suffering

from cancer sounds like a trite,

depressing and overly sentimen-

tal story, The Fault in Our Stars is

anything but. It is funny, uplift-

ing, intellectual, and yes, at times

heartbreaking, but every moment

is well-earned and worth it.

The Fault in Our Stars is nar-

rated by sixteen-year old Hazel

Grace Lancaster. Diagnosed with

cancer at age thirteen, the cancer

spread from her thyroid to form,

as Hazel puts it, “a satellite

colony in my lungs.” She soon

meets the gorgeous and exciting

Augustus Waters, recently recov-

ered from a battle with osteosar-

coma. They bond at a teen cancer

support group, a place they both

find tiresome yet strangely com-

forting. They forge a close rela-

tionship, and find comfort in one

another as they battle their

respective diseases, and try to

make sense of their place in the

world.

Yet what is so remarkable

about The Fault in our Stars is

the way that it manages to defy

cliché. Green deftly avoids the

tropes of that well-worn “cancer

genre,” as well as generic teen

love stories. There is no cheesy

Nicholas Sparks-esque dialogue

or eleventh-hour miracle cures.

Green takes no shortcuts, and

presents the pain inherent with

disease in a frank and honest way.

Hazel and Augustus are neither

stoic heroes nor pitiful victims;

they are treated as complex peo-

ple, and their having cancer is not

their defining trait. While reading

the book, I laughed and I cried,

but both the laughs and the tears

were well-earned due to Green’s

creative writing.

Although the tears were abun-

dant, (if this book taught me one

thing, it is that I am an ugly crier)

there is a laugh for every tear.

This is one of the funniest novels

I have read in a while, and the

characters speak with an impossi-

bly witty dialogue that is fun to

read, but never occurs in real life.

Holding the story together are

great themes that are immediately

relevant to every reader. Hazel

and Augustus are forced to deal

with the same struggles we all

deal with, through questions of

what makes a life meaningful

albeit at an accelerated pace due

to their declining medical condi-

tions.

The book will make you

laugh, cry, and fall in love with its

characters. It is also one of those

books that stay with you a long

time after finishing it. As the

novel drew to its close I was not

ready to leave the world Green

created yet, and I frantically read

the acknowledgments, the back

cover, and even the copyright

page. The Fault in our Stars may

not change yourself, but it will

cause you to reevaluate yourself.

THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012 ENTERTAINMENT4

Best Picture Best Director Best Actor Best Actress

The Artist, while incredibly

overrated, gimmicky and even

nonsensical at points, is Oscar

gold. It’s black and white, silent,

and foreign. This is really the

kind of material that the

Academy fawns over. Most

years, they don’t even seem to

care about the content of the

film. It seems like they only base

their votes on the emotional

response the movie provokes.

While there are certainly bet-

ter films nominated this year,

such as Terrence Malick’s mas-

terpiece, The Tree of Life, or

Woody Allen’s time-splitting

romantic-comedy, Midnight InParis, it seems most likely that

The Artist is going to take top

prize this year and become the

first silent Best Picture winner

since Wings in 1927.

This may be the first year

since 2005 that the person award-

ed Best Director is not also given

Best Picture. While The Artistwill most likely take home Best

Picture, there is nothing particu-

larly special about its direction.

Martin Scorsese, on the other

hand, really accomplished some-

thing special with Hugo. The plot

of the film is nothing to write

home about, but technically, it’s a

perfect film. Scorsese uses 3D in

such a way that it has never been

seen before. Usually it is only

used for humor, but in this case, it

actually adds meaning to the film

through its use of perceived

depth. Starting out right away

with a swooping, single-shot

tracking scene, Hugo is one of

those movies that viewers can

have fun simply looking at.

2011 was a strange year in

that it was devoid of any extraor-

dinary male acting. There were

good performances, but nothing

truly eye-catching. That said, of

the nominees, Gary Oldman

should be the winner for his per-

formance in Tinker Tailor SoldierSpy. His reserved acting fit per-

fectly with Soldier Spy’s fast-

paced, intelligent, British tone.

Though in the end, the award will

probably end up going to George

Clooney for his work in TheDescendants. What Clooney

delivers here is pretty much a

standard dramatic performance.

He tells a joke when expected, he

cries when expected, and he will

most likely take home the award,

as expected. And let’s face it, who

can resist that handsome, crooked

smile of his?

This is the category that will

probably be most disappointing

this year. To start, the best per-

formance of the year wasn’t

even nominated; Tilda Swinton’s

performance as the mother of a

psychopath in We Need To TalkAbout Kevin was reserved, quiet,

and overall, remarkable. Of the

nominees though, Rooney Mara

should win for her role in GirlWith The Dragon Tattoo. Previ-

ously known for her work in TheSocial Network as Mark Zucker-

berg’s ex-girlfriend (yeah, that’s

the same girl), Mara completely

transformed to play Lisbeth

Salander in Dragon Tattoo.

However, in typical Oscar fash-

ion, the award will probably go

to Meryl Streep for her perform-

ance in The Iron Lady because,

well, she’s Meryl Streep.

Jenna GouldStaff Writer, ’12

America’sGolden

Girl turnsninety

PHOTO BY: AP WIRE PHOTO BY: AP WIREPHOTO BY: AP WIREPHOTO BY: AP WIRE

Author John Green agreed to sign all 150,000 preordered copies of

his new book, The Fault in Our Stars.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

Predictions for the upcoming OscarsYes, it’s that time of year

again. During the next week, over

6,000 members of the Academy

of Motion Picture Arts and

Sciences will cast their ballots,

deciding the “best” movies of the

year. While the Academy has

gained their fair share of critics

over the years for their choices,

one thing remains true every

year: the winners are fairly easy

to predict. Here are the movies

that deserve to win, and the

movies that will win when the

awards are aired on February 26.

Conor McAteerEditor In-Chief, ’12

Megan RaymondDesign Editor, ‘13

Green’s star of a novel shows no faults

According to the CIA World

Fact Book, the average life

expectancy for the average

American woman is 80.93 years.

One certain woman defied that

notion altogether. Long-known

TV legend, comedian, and movie

star Betty White celebrated her

90th birthday on January 17.

From her early career with

Life with Elizabeth to her current

show Hot in Cleveland, Betty

White has charmed and earned

the love of millions of viewers

with her youthful vigor and witty

sense of humor.

What better way to celebrate

the superstar’s birthday than with

a TV special spectacular. NBC

generously threw her the ninety

minute “Betty White’s 90th

Birthday: A Tribute to America’s

Golden Girl” special, in which

many celebrities appeared to pay

special tribute to Betty. One of

them, Amy Poehler, started off

with, “Betty, you’re going to hear

a lot of jokes tonight about your

age. But take comfort in the fact

that come tomorrow, you won’t

remember any of them.”

Indeed, Betty has fascinated

many with her youthful, feisty

nature at such an age. Even

President Barack Obama doubted

her age and appeared in a video

he taped as a birthday wish,

which prompted Betty to show

her birth certificate for proof that

she truly is ninety.

All of her costars from her lat-

est show Hot in Cleveland guest

starred as well, along with Ellen

DeGeneres, Tina Fey, Tracy

Morgan, Morgan Freeman, Hugh

Jackman, Jay Leno, Ray

Romano, and Brad Garrett.

Chuck’s Zachary Levi was so

inspired by White that he got

down on one knee and proposed

to the star right on the spot,

humorously adding, “I would like

to be the mother of your chil-

dren.”

Several of White’s old costars

also made appearances on stage

as well, the most touching of

which was Mary Tyler Moore,

who starred with White on TheMary Tyler Moore Show. The

seventy-five year old actress is

said to be recovering from brain

surgery, which was evident in the

frailness she showed onstage.

The special itself reflects on

how despite her age, White does

not let her limitations bring her

down. If anything, she inspires

others to celebrate their years.

She shows them how to not let

age define who they are as a per-

son.

Looking back on that night,

Betty White appreciatively com-

ments, “I’ve been the luckiest old

broad on two feet to have all the

jobs that I’ve had.”

With that being said, Happy

90th Birthday Betty!

“When I was a child, I used to

speak like a child, think like a

child, reason like a child; when I

became a man, I did away with

childish things.” This quote

applies especially to actors,

specifically ones that have

become synonymous with their

past characters. There comes a

time when the Elijah Woods and

the Harrison Fords must show

that they are more than just Frodo

Baggins or Han Solo.

That time has come for actor

Daniel Radcliffe, forever immor-

talized for his portrayal of Harry

Potter. He has done an entire

turnaround, a move that resulted

in him starring in the horror-

thriller The Woman in Black.

Despite his efforts, there is still

speculation over whether

Radcliffe’s acting skills are

strong enough for the public to

accept him as anything other than

the boy wizard they know him as.

As a whole, The Woman inBlack, about a Victorian-era

English town that is haunted by a

vengeful spirit clad in black, is an

excellent example of the thriller

genre. The aspect that separates it

from its peers is the finesse and

care taken in the writing of the

script. The plot is exposed subtly

and strategically, with just

enough information kept secret to

retain our interest. With the

exception of its cliché introduc-

tion, the movie steers clear of

many conventional plot devices

used in horror features. The

movie also is able to engage audi-

ences on a higher level then most

thrillers, with the theme of ration-

ality vs. spirituality explored to

great effect; one can practically

feel their disbelief being eroded

by a sea of shifting shadows.

The scares presented within

the movie, however, are some-

what less than cerebral, mainly

consisting of eerie illusions, sus-

penseful ambiences, and startling

specters. The movie does work

excellently with the foreground

and background, strategically

placing its frights in unconven-

tional areas in order to create a

uniquely frightening experience.

The thrills are also heightened by

the intriguing use of silence and

unconventional camera angles.

While these scares may have

been intellectually dissatisfying,

they were genuinely terrifying, as

the theater was alive with wails of

shock and fright from the audi-

ence.

While the movie itself may

have been very successful, the

future of Radcliffe’s acting career

seems as bleak as the woman’s

black veil. He is stoical through-

out the entire movie: it is possible

to count on one hand, or rather

one finger, the amount of times

Radcliffe changes his facial

expression. In addition to tarnish-

ing his own reputation, this lack

of inspiration deprives the film of

one of its most essential aspects.

Rather than showing the gradual

degradation of rationality in the

face of supernatural phenomena,

Radcliffe chooses to dismiss this

aspect of the role, a decision that

that makes the protagonist far

less sympathetic and leaves the

movie far less engaging.

It is also impossible to con-

nect with Radcliffe on a personal

level, as he displays no other

emotion other than an oddly

detached look of bemused fright.

Even while swearing to protect

his adorable family, the audience

doesn’t perceive him as a charac-

ter as much as they do a plot

device.

Despite his best attempts, it

seems doubtful that Radcliffe will

progress far beyond his previous

roles. Although he has already

gained considerable fame, his

impersonal acting style prevents

him from portraying convincing

characters the audience can sym-

pathize with. Unfortunately for

Radcliffe, it appears he is

doomed to become an actor

defined by his childhood roles.

ENTERTAINMENTTHE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012

5

The classic Victor Hugo

novel, Les Miserables, was first

adapted as a musical in Paris in

1980. The musical dethroned

Cats and became the longest-run-

ning show in Broadway history

as of its 21st anniversary. Its

Broadway run ended in 2008, and

the show has been on an interna-

tional tour since 2009. It is now

time for a film adaptation set to

release in December 2012.

Working Title Films and

Universal Pictures teamed up for

this endeavor. The cast includes

stars such as Anne Hathaway as

Fantine and Hugh Jackman as

Jean Valjean. However, the key

character Eponine, one of the

most sought-after roles in

Hollywood, was missing. The

role was offered to Lea Michele

and Scarlett Johansson, as well as

Taylor Swift. Many have ques-

tioned this choice in casting

because of Swift’s lack of acting

experience, since the character of

Eponine is one of the most tragic

and sympathetic characters in LesMiserables. Prior to deadline, the

role was given to Samantha

Barks, who portrayed Eponine on

the West End as well as the 25th

Anniversary concert. However,

Swift was offered the part by

director Tom Hooper.

The response to this offer has

been both positive and negative.

One irritated Les Miserables fan

commented, “I am so disappoint-

ed with this casting. I’m not say-

ing I don’t have respect for

Taylor Swift, I just don’t think

she has the vocal ability and act-

ing chops to perform this iconic

vocally and emotionally chal-

lenging role. I do love Taylor

Swift though, just not as

Eponine.”

However, others were sup-

portive of Swift’s casting. One

fan in particular said, “Swift pro-

duced, directed, casted, wrote the

music/lyrics and was feature star

of a Broadway style production.

This was not a country music

concert, it was a full-blown

Broadway style production…

Capable? More like ‘over-quali-

fied.’” Swift’s shows also includ-

ed real rain pouring from the ceil-

ing, a moving balcony, and even

brought out Justin Bieber to sing

a duet at one point.

Other aspects of Taylor

Swift’s offer have also been

fought over. By placing Swift on

the marquee, Universal Pictures

planned to make a great amount

of revenue from the mixture of

older theater-goers to the young

Swift fans. Her Speak Now tour

grossed about a hundred million

dollars, placing Swift at the num-

ber five spot on Billboard’s “Top

25 Tours.” Some people believed

that director Tom Hooper made

his celebrity-oriented, teen-

adjusted, casting decisions based

on the art of making money rather

than art itself.

Although many people have

differing opinions about the cast-

ing of Les Miserables, the final

decision was in Hooper’s hands.

It is now up to Swift to prove her

acting and singing skills in the

upcoming film adaptation of Les

Lisa PatrickStaff Writer, ’15

After hosting multiple radio

and TV shows, Howard Stern,

otherwise known as “Shock

Jock,” is about to enter the most

“shocking” stage of his career.

NBC’s hit show America’sGot Talent (AGT) will begin its

seventh season with Howard

Stern as a brand new judge.

Stern will be replacing Piers

Morgan, who decided to leave

the show after six years in order

to work on his CNN program,

Piers Morgan Tonight. Stern will

enter a stadium full of ecstatic

fans as different talented

Americans vie for the grand

prize of one million dollars.

Howard Stern will be judg-

ing these Americans alongside

Howie Mandel and Sharon

Osbourne, with Nick Cannon as

host. Their outgoing personali-

ties should be a great combina-

tion. However, Piers Morgan’s

departure means the end of the

comedic relationship he had with

Howie Mandel.

Many fans will remember

Morgan as the grumpy, critical

judge who was rarely pleased

with a comedy act. Many acts of

the seventh season might assume

that advancing in the competi-

tion will be easier since that the

toughest judge is no longer

determining their fate. However,

Howard Stern believes other-

wise.

“This nonsense of Howie and

Sharon putting through less than

talented people has got to stop,”

Stern said on his radio show.

“I’m going to go there as a seri-

ous judge.” Season seven per-

formers must not take this

change for granted and will have

to put their maximum effort to

please Stern.

In addition to the new judge,

AGT is making a variety of

changes in preparation for the

new season. Creator Simon

Cowell plans to change the

graphics, the lighting styles, the

size of the live audience, and the

theme music.

Cowell also plans on adding

a fourth judge, in hopes of gain-

ing more variety and depth at the

judging desk. He has not yet

officially named anyone, but he

described his ideal fourth judge

to be “…somebody younger. A

girl. Someone who will not be

afraid of Sharon and Howard

and fight for a different type of

act than they would.”

There is no doubt that the

premiere of America’s GotTalent is highly anticipated;

these new changes mean that this

year could feature the best sea-

son yet.

Sam SchwartzStaff Writer, ’14

The infamous radio personality

will soon take the judge's seat on

America’s Got Talent.

The decision to cast Swift as Eponine in Les Miserables caused

controversy amongst those who doubt her singing and acting abilities.

Brendan KarrasCo-Entertainment Editor, ’13

PHOTO COURTESY OF: AP WIRE

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

Best known for his portrayal of Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe

attempted to expand his repertoire by starring in the acclaimed thriller,

The Woman in Black.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIRE

Fans divided over Swift and Les Mis

FFuuttuurree llooookkss ssppooookkyy ffoorrDDaanniieell RRaaddcclliiffffee’’ss ccaarreeeerr

Stern goes from radiobooth to judge’s chair

http://internet censorship:right or wrong?

Twitter is abuzz with the news

of Indian censorship of Google,

Facebook and 19 other companies.

Google and Facebook were both

asked to remove any content

deemed objectionable and to

devise and implement plans to pre-

filter anything considered “reli-

giously offensive”by February

21st.

Google chose to remove pages

that were deemed offensive by the

court order they received. The

company has additionally pledged

to remove anything that violates

local laws or their own standards.

Facebook has also complied,

but at the same time joined Yahoo!

and Microsoft in questioning this

case. The offensive content the

companies are being asked to take

down include videos and images

that may cause friction between

Christians, Hindus, and Muslims.

This is entirely possible, given the

fact that roughly 80% of the popu-

lation is Hindu and about 13% is

Muslim.

However, as early as a month

before, these same companies

informed the New Delhi court that

it was impossible to pre-screen and

monitor everything posted. They

said that users should be held

responsible rather than the hosting

site. The court replied that the

companies’ sites might be blocked

if they did not comply.

The original case that brought

these companies into question was

a civil suit filed by journalist Vinay

Rai. He asked that offensive

images be taken off of the 21 sites

with questionable content. These

sites include ten foreign-based

companies. The order can also can

affect any of Facebook, Google,

Microsoft, or Yahoo!’s sister sites.

Rai asserts that the question-

able media was posted “to create

enmity, hatred, and communal vio-

lence,” and that it “will corrupt

minds.” These images included

representations of the Prophet

Mohammed, Jesus, various Hindu

gods and goddesses, and political

leaders.

This situation has roots in a law

made last year that held companies

responsible for user content. The

law requires these companies to

take down disputed content within

36 hours of a complaint. Civil

rights groups oppose these laws,

but politicians take a different

stance. They claim that this kind of

media in their socially conserva-

tive country is a public danger,

especially when considering

India’s history of religious turmoil.

Despite all the excitement,

India’s internet remains mostly

uncensored. In fact, this densely

populated country has had an

impressive record of free media.

The main concern around the

world is what these new decisions

could mean for the future of media.

It is still unknown whether India

will censor itself as countries like

China have, or whether it will

maintain its free press.

In countries similar to India,

where brave journalists are

applauded nationwide, the ques-

tions raised over the proposed cen-

sorship are deeply provoking and

may prove to be extremely impor-

tant for in future to their currently

vibrant democracy.

IN-DEPTHTHE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2016

Over the past decade the rate of

online piracy has risen through the

roof. With Apple iPods costing

upwards of $300 one can see why

people feel the urge to illegally

download music. Some people

simply cannot afford to buy music,

however, online piracy is not limit-

ed to just music. Movies, televi-

sion shows and even books for

products such as Kindles and

Nooks are also being pirated.

Since the dawn of the internet,

online piracy has been a problem.

However, when piracy turned to

music and artists were not getting

paid for their work, some heavy

repercussions followed. The first

(and some say most iconic) case of

a music artist speaking out against

online piracy happened in April of

2000. Metallica drummer Lars

Ulrich caught wind of his music

being illegally downloaded from

the website Napster. Ulrich filed a

lawsuit against Napster for copy-

right infringement and eventually

settled out of court in July of 2000.

In doing so, nearly 300,000 users

were banned from the website and

Napster’s reputation was forever

tarnished.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)

has headed the latest fight against

online piracy. In short, SOPA

makes monitoring and censoring

sites that have pirated content eas-

ier for the government. That means

that the content on beloved web-

sites such as YouTube, Facebook

and Twitter could be heavily mon-

itored and censored, and potential-

ly the sites could even be shut

down. This includes any other

website that has any copyrighted

material on it, whether it be a song

or simply a picture.

The goal that SOPA is trying to

achieve does sound necessary. If

an artist copyrights something,

they should be the one to receive

credit for it. It is not just media that

SOPA is trying to protect. They are

also cracking down on websites

that sell or are suspected of selling

illegal drugs.

On January 24th, 2011, the

decision to pass SOPA into effect

was held. To the delight of many,

the bill was not passed. Some say it

was because of the millions of peo-

ple who petitioned for it not to be

passed and others say it was just

because President Barack Obama

did not like the idea. Even though

the bill was not passed, more bills

could potentially come in the

future trying to ban internet piracy.

As illegal

downloading

b e c o m e s

more preva-

lent, one

should not be

surprised to

see websites

being moni-

tored or shut

down. The

FBI recently

have taken

control of is

the file shar-

ing website

Megaupload.

Started in

2005, the

website was

intended to be

used for legal

sharing of

pictures and

videos. The

popular site

accounted for

about four percent of the internet’s

total traffic. The website received

hundreds of thousands of visits

every day. However, illegal piracy

of copyrighted music and pictures

eventually invaded the site. While

most of the website was used legal-

ly, there was a small portion that

had pirated content. On January

20th, 2012, Megaupload founder

Kim Dotcom and four other asso-

ciates were arrested and charged

with copyright infringement.

Ultimately the popular website

was shut down to the dismay of

many. Dotcom says that he was not

aware of the illegal downloading.

Many think that Dotcom’s arrest

was unjust. The comparison has

been made to arresting a gun man-

ufacturer for a crime that was com-

mitted with their gun. Needless to

say, many are upset.

Whether SOPA or any other

bill eventually invades the internet

or not, one thing is sure: the

American government is now tak-

ing online piracy seriously.

Pat McAteerStaff Writer, ’14

Emilia YuFront Page Editor, ’13

Megaupload walks the plank for internet piracy

Indian censorship rocks the nation

The image, shown above, appears when users attempt to access the Megaupload.com web-

site. Megaupload, along with its services, is no longer available due to its seizure.

Rai believes that any questionable depiction of sacred, religious figures would cause conflict between Christians, Hindus, and Muslims in India. But

how reasonable are the proposed parameters?

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

How Students Spend Time Online

IN-DEPTH THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012 7

Many governments have seri-

ously considered internet censor-

ship. With all of the vulgar content

online nowadays, it would seem

logical to censor some material for

the sake of minors. Internet censor-

ship is also used to solve the issue

of online piracy. Governments are

now targeting torrent sites that

allow anyone to steal copyrighted

material. However, internet cen-

sorship is not the answer to our

problems. Censorship can limit

informational resources for people

nationwide and can also negatively

affect international relations.

In today’s day and age, the

world is dominated by technology.

It serves as our main form of com-

munication, while providing a way

for people to access information

and news about the world. If news

is being controlled by the govern-

ment, the people have no way of

knowing what is really going on.

Without access to knowledge

of the outside world, any country

can become easily manipulated by

their government. If people do not

know what is happening in the

world, they become vulnerable to

government propaganda. For

example, in North Korea, one of

the most strictly censored countries

in the world, only positive feed-

back about the country is available

to the public. Any material that

expresses a negative or disapprov-

ing view of the government is cen-

sored.

Censorship also inhibits free-

dom of expression, especially on

an international level. In the

United States, freedom of expres-

sion, as written in our constitution,

is accepted as a right, while in

other countries it is viewed as a

privilege that is not always provid-

ed. In China, numerous media

companies have been shut down

and many employees have been

punished for expressing them-

selves in a way the government did

not approve of. In Cuba, internet

access is closely monitored by the

government, and only people who

support the government are

allowed to post material on the

Web. In Syria, if a person were to

express his or her opinion about

the government online, he or she

would be arrested. Also, everyone

that uses public inter-

net is required to use

identification; failure

to do so could result in

arrest. The real prob-

lem is that freedom of

expression could be

taken away by these

extremes of internet

censorship.

The dangers or the

effects of censorship

on the World Wide

Web in the United

States or elsewhere

should be acknowl-

edged. The main pur-

pose behind censorship

would be to block any

inappropriate material

and to prevent online

piracy. Ostensibly, however, cen-

sorship has taken on a whole new

meaning. Although censorship

might block vulgar material or pre-

vent illegal downloading, it also

deprives citizens of knowledge

concerning the world around them.

This makes them vulnerable to

exploitation and also put

their freedom of expres-

sion, a tenant of American

values, at risk.

Laura NewmayerStaff Writer, ’14

Internet blackouts beyond borders

How much time do we spend online?

Internet censorship also affects students. Students especially need access

to the knowledge the internet provides access to, but even schools censor

their internet according to CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act).

PHOTO BY GENEVIEVE PILCH

H H Student Opinion on SOPA/PIPA

Question

Do you want to know more?

YES NO

http://internet censorship:right or wrong?

SPOTLIGHTSTHE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 20128

For many, moving to a differ-

ent state may seem like a very

intimidating experience, espe-

cially before the start of senior

year. However for senior Raven

Brown, it is anything but. While

most people in her position are

forced to make new friends and

get used to a brand new school

would be rather sullen, Brown’s

upbeat and quirky personality has

made her experience at our

school quite enjoyable.

After moving to Horsham

from Tennessee last spring,

Brown had time to adjust to her

new surroundings before begin-

ning her senior year. Although

she misses the southern hospitali-

ty, consistently warm weather,

and her old friends, there is one

thing about Pennsylvania that she

particularly likes. “I really like

the snow,” said Brown. “We did-

n’t get to see much in Tennessee.”

Despite only being at our

school for a short amount of time,

she has made an impression on

much of the school population.

Whether through her hysterical

one-liners, her color-coordinated

outfits, or her one-of-a-kind

southern accent, Brown certainly

does not go unnoticed. Brown

has a tendency to blurt out hilari-

ous witticism completely out of

the blue, one of her most notable

being, “If you don’t shave your

armpits during No Shave

November, you will die from

Hairy Armpit’s Disease.” When

asked why people find her so

funny, she said, “I think it’s

because I have a humorous per-

sonality. But I think it might be

because I have the moves like

Jagger.”

Brown also uses her clothing

style as yet another way to make

herself stand out. She takes color

coordination to a whole new

level, making sure everything

from her shoes to her earrings are

in perfect harmony. “You have to

coordinate,” said Brown,

“emphasis on the ‘coor.’ You

have to make sure that your

accessories, clothing, and shoes

match at all times. If they don’t

match, the fashion police will

come for you.” To simplify the

process, there is a rule of thumb

that Brown lives by to make sure

her outfits are always fresh:

“Keep it cute or put it on mute.”

Once her tenure at our school

ends in June, Brown wishes to

attend Howard University in

Washington, D.C. to study law.

She later hopes to become an

entertainment lawyer, specializ-

ing in representing celebrities.

Until then, Brown plans to con-

tinue living her life in

Pennsylvania to the fullest and

making herself stand out among

her peers. With her hilarious and

bubbly personality, unique out-

fits, and her unmistakable

Tennessee accent, Raven Brown

is undoubtedly the only ten I see.

That’s so Raven

Although the weather is not to her liking, Senior Raven Brown

enjoys her time in our school after having moved from Tennessee last

spring by making a name for herself through her humor and fashion.

Luke GragliaStaff Writer, ’14

By integrating himself into

tight-knit organizations, includ-

ing the swim team and the theatre

department, freshman Alan

Sonntag has quickly found a

place for himself at our school.

He has been involved with these

activities since middle school.

Sonntag began swimming in

sixth grade, and now, as a mem-

ber of the swim team, he com-

petes in the freestyle and breast-

stroke. Along with the competi-

tive aspect of swimming,

Sonntag recently took part in a

well-known swim team tradition:

each member of the boys’ team

bleaching his hair. He said, “I

don’t mind the color, but I liked

my brown hair better.”

Sonntag owes his involve-

ment in theatre to fellow fresh-

man, Ali Pollock. “She con-

vinced me try out in eighth

grade,” he said. Despite having

only participated in theatre for

about a year, he has secured a

spot for himself in the theatre

program. Sonntag played a secu-

rity guard in the fall comedy,

Noises Off, and will be taking

part in the spring musical,

Legally Blonde.

“I’m happy to have a part as a

freshman,” Sonntag said of his

role in the spring production. He

will be portraying Nikos, the

pool boy who testifies against

Brooke Windham.

Sonntag said of his perform-

ing abilities, “I’m a triple threat,

except without the dancing.”

Even so, it is extremely impres-

sive for a freshman to be given a

named role in a production, and

he looks forward to performing

in the show. “It’s my favorite

musical,” he said. Also among

Sonntag’s favorite musicals are

RENT and The Lion King.

Like many others, Sonntag

admires the work of actor

Morgan Freeman; however, he

does not wish to pursue a career

like Freeman’s. Instead, he

would like to be an elementary

school teacher, because he enjoys

working with young children.

“I like arguing and proving

people wrong,” Sonntag said. In

addition to being involved with

sports and the arts, he briefly

belonged to the debate team. His

love for debating was spurred by

his favorite movie, The GreatDebaters.

Sonntag believes he possess-

es an innate “awesomeness,” and

he also describes his personality

as very “charming.”

Be charmed by Alan Sonntag

in our school’s production of

Legally Blonde: The Musicalfrom April 12 to April 14.

Kelsey DoolStaff Writer, ’14

Swimmin’ and singin’Sonntag Style

Freshman Alan Sonntag charms his peers with his bleached blonde

hair and his lively performances on the stage.

It seems that people are

always expecting expensive

things to just fall into their laps;

for sophomore Ryan Ellis, this

became a reality.

On January 8th, Ellis received

quite a shock when a large televi-

sion tore from its wall mount and

fell onto him during a robotics

club meeting.

“It sort of hit me in the back

of the head and my shoulder,”

said Ellis. “I didn’t know what

was falling; I was busy working

on something, so I just put my

arms out. I thought it was the

DVD player or something – not

the television. I didn’t know what

to do, I was just sitting

there...holding it.”

Since the nurse was not avail-

able over the weekend, members

of the robotics team found Ellis

an ice pack to hold over his head,

neck, and shoulders. He escaped

the incident with minor bruises

and scrapes on his forearms.

Ellis has yet to be contacted

by any administration officials

regarding the incident.

The reason for the falling tel-

evision is unknown, though Ellis

believes that it must have come

loose from the wall.

“No one touched it or any-

thing,” Ellis said. “It just sort of

happened.”

Although he does not know

the real reason why the television

fell, Ellis said “I don’t think that

it was human error – I mean, no

one expects [a television] to fall.

I’m not putting blame on anyone,

it was just a weird thing. It might

have been put in better, but I still

don’t blame anyone.”

Though Ellis wrote a

Facebook status regarding the

incident later that same evening,

the news really disseminated

after teachers were sent an email

telling them to move any objects

out from under their televisions

for the time being. Some teachers

then informed their students,

many of whom came to Ellis ask-

ing him how he was doing.

After the incident, many stu-

dents noticed adjustments being

made in classrooms.

Junior Eric Loper noticed

straps being placed on a televi-

sion in one classroom, though he

does not know whether or not

they were being readjusted or

added to the equipment.

“They had to go and check,

obviously they don’t want one to

fall on anyone else,” Loper said.

Though it is an unexpected

incident, senior Sandy Kim can

understand how such an incident

could have occurred.

“I always thought that the

straps on the TV were nothing

compared to the heaviness of the

TV itself…they’re all so old, and

heavy.”

When asked, the Amigo staff

said, they are not sure how exact-

ly it occurred.

“For our part, we secured

them all for the future,” said head

Amigo Ray Onderko.

The technology department

declined to comment.

TVs are falling

Ryan Ellis is wary around televi-

sions after a television fell on him

during a robotics meeting.

Bridget Reed MorawskiCo-In-Depth Editor, ’12

PHOTO BY LINDSAY GUIM

“HERE’S TO THE NIGHT”

PROM FASHION SHOWSunday, March 4, 2012

HHHS Auditorium & Cafeteria

Dresses, tuxes, limos, accessories, flowers, hair andmake-up! See all the latest fashions, styles, and colors,

featuring samples and demonstrations by dozens of localvendors!

Get coupons for discounts on your prom gear! Enter for achance to win awesome raffle

baskets. Student tickets $5 in

advance/$7 at the doorAdult tickets $10

1pm Vendors and demonstra-tions

3pm Fashion ShowAll proceeds benefit the HHHS

Post Prom Party FundPHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

Work it gurl

PHOTO BY LINDSAY GUIM

PHOTO BY BRIDGET MORAWSKI

Wikipedia is central to the

Internet. Like Google and

Facebook, Wikipedia is hallowed

and sacred. It is commonly read

by various users for different pur-

poses. Some users are just bored

and feel like reading something

interesting, and others use it to

copy from for English papers

due the next day.

However, the sixth most visit-

ed website in the world has its

own problems. This website is

user-friendly and accessible. It is

probably the easiest website to

freely alter information, which is

what makes it well-known and to

many people, particularly teach-

ers, unreliable.

As of January 2012,

Wikipedia is home to 3.8 million

English language articles, written

by 100,000 consistent and anony-

mous contributors. No account is

needed to write or edit Wikipedia

articles. Sometimes you can find

contributors’ biographies at the

top of the page; perhaps to pro-

vide validity.

Article vandalism is

Wikipedia’s main problem.

While the most controversial and

most-viewed articles are moni-

tored constantly, lesser-known

areas can be edited without

notice.

It took all of five minutes for

my ‘corrections’ to the Cats page

to be noticed. However, some

creative editing on the List of

Kings of Cimmerian Bosporus

page lasted almost a day.

Hopefully a high school student

writing an essay on the Bosporan

Kingdom found my insights on

Emperor Jarvan the Third useful.

The next day, I tried again,

only to reach a ban page. My

reign of terror was over.

Wikipedia goes through great

lengths to protect its reputation.

Its volunteer staff is relentless.

Questionable pieces of content

are marked with the characteris-

tic [citation needed] tag. Trying

to pull a fast one over the website

is next to impossible.The science

journal Nature stated,

“Wikipedia comes close to

Britannica in terms of the accura-

cy of its science entries.”

Needless to say, EncyclopediaBritannica was not pleased, and

the editors issued a swift rebuttal.

Nature released a point by point

counter.

We are afraid of Wikipedia. It

is a public library on a massive

scale. It is almost too easy to use;

something that frightens older

generations, who cannot keep up

with technology’s advancement

and speed. Wikipedia did not

even exist in their days; primary

sources were the initial way to

go, whereas today, Wikipedia is

just a click away.

However, as teenagers, who

say we cannot live without it, it

seems surprising that

Wikipedia’s one-day SOPA-

protesting blackout went by near-

ly unnoticed. Perhaps regular

Wikipedia users did not need the

website that day by chance, or

maybe users do not actually need

the website as much as they

claim.

It is impossible to deny the

impact Wikipedia has had on the

Internet and society today, but it

might soon come to an end.

EDITORIALS

Tony MeiStaff Writer, ’13

9

Only time will tell

Teens waste a considerably

large amount of their time every

day using devices such as cell

phones, computers, TV’s, and

iPods. This generation’s obses-

sion with these objects is increas-

ingly apparent as many teens

sneak in text messages between

and in classes. Technology has

become an integral element of

their lives, and increasingly so.

The degree to which most

people rely on technology has

become extreme. Even for the

most basic needs, people, espe-

cially teens, will turn to their

devices, such as the dependable

calculator, for help. They have

become overbearing distractions

in and outside the classroom.

Most teens, when asked,

would not warm up to the idea of

becoming technology-free, even

for a little while. This is under-

standable considering that they

do most of their communication

through their electronic devices;

without them, they would actual-

ly have to meet with someone

face-to-face, or perhaps even

write to them using a pencil.

These high-tech devices are con-

sidered prized possessions and

are not likely to be let go for

years to come. Upgrades and new

applications are constantly made,

which add onto teens’ insistence

to keep their technology as

opposed to giving them up even

for a few days.

So when ninth grade English

teacher Dave Thomas, first spoke

about going nine days without

technology for 100 bonus points,

it is not surprising that his stu-

dents were not initially enthusias-

tic about the idea. It would be dif-

ficult to separate themselves

from their beloved devices, but

those who went through with it

would be rewarded.

Conveniently, the week that

the challenge occurred was finals

week, so in addition to receiving

100 bonus points upon comple-

tion of nine days, the students

would also be more focused on

their studies. The challenge

would provide a good excuse for

students to depart from their elec-

tronic devices.

Though the act of relinquish-

ing technology is not widely

done, it does have some obvious

benefits. For example, students

would have more time to get

work done for school. They

would be able to fill the time that

would otherwise be used for pro-

crastinating on Facebook with

actually enjoyable activities.

With all of these benefits of being

technology-free, why not try it?

Technology has been over-

used by teens in the last few

years. If teens did not rely on

technology as much, they would

be much better off. Even if they

are not getting extra credit in a

class for being technology-free, it

is still worth it to take a break

every once in awhile. When stu-

dents are without electronic

devices, the only mediums of

communication available to them

are speaking or written letters.

Whether students do or do not

like writing letters, going without

devices will give them a reason

to start writing them. Emailing is

another practical means of com-

munication as well. Abandoning

technology for a few days is

clearly a beneficial idea, as

exemplified by the freshmen of

Thomas’ English class.

Rachel LightstoneStaff Writer, ’15

Protesters try to put an end to SOPA’s attempts against Wikipedia.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

A nine-day detachment from cell phones can result in many rewards with or without 100 bonus points.

PHOTO COURTESY OF AP WIRE

A technological experiment gone right

EDITOR

EDITOR

COPY EDITOR

DESIGN EDITOR

BUSINESS MANAGER

FRONT PAGE

NEWS

MEGAN RAYMOND

BRIDGET MORAWSKI

HAYOUNG YOO

JULIE CARLIN

BRENDAN KARRAS

CAREY JOHNSON

TYLER MARTIN

SILVIA CHON

LINDSEY MULLER

MOLLY G. MULLIGAN

PAT MCATEER

SEAN RAYMOND

DANIELLE MOORE

BRIANA STELZER

TONY MEI

CARLY LYON

LUKE GRAGLIA

LISA PATRICK

BEN LEBOFSKY

ALEXIS WACHE

STEPHANIE BERGAN

RACHEL LIGHTSTONE

KELSEY DOOL

SAM SCHWARTZ

LAURA NEUMAYER

ROCKI SCHY

RAGHU VADDEMPUDI

JENNA GOULD

GERNWOO PAK

ERIKA EXTON

MEREDITH LIGHTSTONE

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Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of themajority of the Editorial Board, not necessarilythose of the administration, faculty, or studentbody. Signed articles represent the opinion ofthe writer and do not reflect The Hat Chat as apaper.

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IN-DEPTH

EDITORIALS

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

ACTIVITIES

FEATURES

SPOTLIGHTS

BOARD EDITOR

CONOR MCATEER

STEVE GROSS

MELANIE ABEY

MEGAN RAYMOND

SEAN RAYMOND

EMILIA YU

ALLIE LAWLOR

KEVIN ZHANG

ADVISER TERRY MORISSETTE

PHOTO/TECH EDITOR

LINDSAY GUIM

STAFF

GENEVIEVE PILCH

THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012

Four senior athletes have

signed their letters of intent to

play a sport at a collegiate level.

This group of girls join eight

other Division I signees from our

school.

Carly Black will be attending

the University of West Virginia in

the fall. Black is arguably the

most gifted athlete in the school.

She will be playing soccer for the

Mountaineers.

Kellie McGoldrick will be

playing soccer for the University

of New Hampshire Wildcats.

McGoldrick was a dominating

force in the midfield for the Lady

Hatters.

Rachel Riemenschneider will

be swimming for St.

Bonaventure. She has been the

team MVP of the Hatters for the

past two seasons.

Madeline Wagenfeld will be

attending St. Joseph’s University

to play field hockey. Wagenfeld

was a second team all-state selec-

tion in the past season.

Congratulations, ladies!

SPORTSTHE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012

February Top Hat

Tevin KirbyYear: Senior

Sport: Shot Put

Tevin Kirby lives by the

words of his good friend Matt

Kane “chase perfection, but be

conscious of your inevitable

failure.” As Kirby enters his

final spring track and field sea-

son at our school, Kane’s words

strike Kirby even harder, who

is pursuing perfection in his

favorite field event: the shot

put.

Kirby has been dominant

throughout the winter track sea-

son, where he has accumulated

huge wins at the Shot Put Night

in the Valley and the Glen Mills

Invitational. He qualified for

the Meet of Champions and,

more importantly, the State

Championships meet held at

Penn State University at the

end of February. His best throw

of the season was 52 feet, 4

inches, about a foot and a half

shy of his spring track seed for

the PIAA Championships.

While Kirby’s performanc-

es thus far may seem “perfect,”

he admits that the winter track

season does present some limi-

tations. For throwers, it is hard

to practice their throws since

they are confined to small hall-

ways. They are forced to prac-

tice technique as opposed to

actually throwing, although he

concedes that it is good practice

for the spring season.

Kirby is more than an ath-

lete, though. He is personable

and friendly and combined with

his athletic prowess, he is the

total package. In 2011, Kirby

qualified for the PIAA Track

and Field State Championships

but missed the medal podium.

“I was disappointed to come

home without a medal, but just

the experience and the effort

put into making it [to the meet]

in such a short amount of time

was incredible,” Kirby said. He

also added “If I have a bad

throw, I brush it off, try and fix

the mistakes, and keep it mov-

ing.” He is a living representa-

tion of Kane’s words and

proves to be a powerful role

model for younger athletes.

Kirby, who is also a mem-

ber of Partnership and the

Black Student Union, believes

he is “coachable.” “Just listen

to your coach and use their

guidance. You might be sur-

prised,” said Kirby.

Kirby is optimistic about

the spring season. “We have a

handful of amazing athletes and

we are in great shape for the

spring season,” he said. He is

hoping to return to the state

championship meet and take a

place on the medal podium.

Good luck and congratula-

tions on being awarded the

February Top Hat, Tevin!

Sports Updates

The boys’ basketball team

lost a tough game 44-40 against

CB West on February 3. This

game was of utmost importance

to the Hatters, who recognized

Seniors Bobby Bruno, Chad

Gill, Paul Haggerty, Dillan

Schindewolf, Amrit Singh, and

Mike Vogel. Mike Brown and

Zach Quattro scored 13 and 10

points respectively, in their

effort against West. With the

win, CB West secured a first

place finish in the Continental

Conference. The Hatters fin-

ished their regular season with

a win over North Penn on

February 9. Senior Chad Gill

said the best game of the year

was against CB East because of

the team’s “domination of

defense.”

The boys’ bowling team

finished the season by handing

Norristown their only loss of

the season with a 3-1 victory.

Tyler Crews won the Boy’s

Overall Individual

Championship this season for

the American Division of the

Suburban One League. Crews,

who was not expected to bowl

this season, came back to the

Hatters and was a dominant

member of the team. He

bowled a 736 against

Pennridge, the top score in the

league to date.

The girls’ bowling team had

their best game of the season

against Norristown. Katie

McLendon recorded a high

series. The team improved

throughout the season, which

was a goal set from the begin-

ning. Congratulations to sen-

iors Tara Krauth, Katie

McLendon, and Riley Renn for

a great season!

The last Hatters ice hockey

game is Thursday, February 16.

Manny Billones and Pat Durkin

have led the team on offense. In

14 games, Billones scored 27

goals for the Hatters. He is

ranked eighth in the Suburban

One League SHSHL scoring

leaders list.

At a recent meet, the girls’

winter track team took third

place in the 4x200 at Lehigh

qualifying for the Meet of

Champions. The team consist-

ing of Lauren Brophy, Taylor

Hays, Emmy Magnant, and

Quinn O'Donnell will try to

qualify for States at the Meet of

Champions. Quinn O'Donnell

also qualified for the Meet of

Champions in the long jump.

Wrestlers Connor Bodnar,

Zach Tuerke, and Jason

McLaughlin contributed to the

team against Quakertown with

falls along with Luke Kwon,

Lex Ludlow and Daniel

Adelsberger with wins. Thanks

to our seniors Daniel

Adelsberger, Cahar Kose, Lex

Ludlow, and Mike Marnoch for

a great season!

The boys’ and girls’ swim

teams will compete at the

Continental Conference meet

February 17-18. Stay tuned for

details regarding the district

competition.

In the Continental

Conference, Hatboro-Horsham is

forced to compete against local

powerhouses such as North Penn

and Souderton regularly.

Unfortunately, our school is over-

shadowed by these teams in most

sports. While there have been

some beacons of light for the

Hatters, this winter season has

been much of the same story.

One such team is the Lady

Hatters basketball team who,

despite their best efforts, cannot

knock off some of the top teams

in the area.

“It’s been rough,” senior

Christina James said. The

Hatters, known throughout the

league for their tough play, fin-

ished 6-16 overall and 3-9 in the

league. There was some serious

talent opposing the Hatters and

they were not able to hold off

teams who post up to 60 points

per game, like Upper Dublin and

Central Bucks South. According

to Carly Bixler, the Hatters “just

haven’t been able to make shots

this year.” However, the Lady

Hatters were able to improve

their team’s play throughout the

season and notch some key victo-

ries.

Pennridge is one school in the

Continental Conference who con-

tinually matches up to our school

and athletes. In recent years,

Pennridge has been dominant in

girls soccer and was our only for-

midable competition in the

league (that team went on to

place second in the state tourna-

ment). The same can be said

about our girls’ basketball team

compared to theirs. On January

31, the Hatters took on the

Pennridge Rams on their senior

recognition night. In one of the

best games of the year, Hatboro-

Horsham won 58-51, with 26 of

their points coming in the fourth

quarter. Bixler scored eleven

points in the fourth quarter to pro-

pel the Hatters to a win. This par-

ticular game “was one of the

highlights of our season. We

played very well,” Christina

James said. The Hatters fell to the

Rams 56-41 in early January,

showing their improvement in a

few short weeks.

The Lady Hatters will be los-

ing key senior leadership going

into next season. Captains Carly

Bixler, Lindsey Day, Christina

James, and Emily Marvin

accounted for most of the

Hatters’ points. Bixler averaged

about twelve points per game,

making her the most dominant

force on offense. These senior

captains have maintained their

composure throughout the sea-

son, which is a valuable asset to

the team. “We are just trying to

set good examples for the

younger players, win or lose,”

Carly Bixler said after a late sea-

son game against William

Tennent.

While this number of girls

lost to graduation may be star-

tling, there is hope for the Hatters

next year. Tori Waddington has

had a few breakout moments

throughout the season. Her

aggressive style of play was best

seen in a late season win over the

Upper Moreland Golden Bears.

Waddington scored seventeen

points and had fifteen rebounds

in a 58-53 victory. Against

Tennent, Waddington came off

the bench and scored ten points.

The Hatters can also count on

junior Heather Lutz (who contin-

ually scored for the Hatters) and

sophomore Lauren Jester for

some varsity experience next

year. Christina James has confi-

dence in the team next year.

“They will progress a little each

year; it takes time and practice,”

she said.

Throughout the entire season,

the Lady Hatters have formed

close bonds. After games, they

enjoy getting something to eat

and hanging out together. They

have made sure that this season

was fun, no matter the outcome

of individual games.

Carey JohnsonSports Editor, ‘12

Carly Bixler, a dominating force of the Hatters’ offense, drives to the

basket in a non-league game against William Tennent in early

February.

10

PHOTO BY GENEVIEVE PILCH

COURTESY OF MONTGOMERY MEDIA

Carey JohnsonSports Editor, ‘12

PHOTO BY

GENEVIEVE PILCH

Hatters athletes commit to Division I schools

Girls basketball has strong performance at senior night

Four senior athletes will take their talents to Division I schools throughout the country. Athletes (from left

to right) Madeline Wagenfeld, Kellie McGoldrick, Rachel Riemenschneider, and Carly Black have been

representing our school in their respective sports for at least three varsity seasons.

PHOTO BY GENEVIEVE PILCH

Throughout most of the year,

we love our school and our

classmates, but for one week out

of the year, the student body is

split into two halves and pitted

against each other in a battle for

supremacy. The teams are repre-

sented by the school colors. The

Black Nightmare consists of all

students with last names begin-

ning with A to K and the Red

Avengers encompass the rest of

the names, beginning with L to

Z. This year the Black

Nightmare and the Red Avengers

will be led by four generals

along with several captains. The

Black Team’s generals are Jackie

DiPietro and Dom DeFazio,

while the Red Team will be led

by seniors Julie McKay and

Casey Saverio.

These generals will lead their

teams through several games and

challenges through the week

beginning with chess, “Mario

Kart Wii”, and skate boarding

on March 5. The festivities con-

tinue with the ever-popular ping

pong event on March 6. March 7

marks the culinary event and

pool night at Simmons. Pool

events include the obstacle

course, gladiator, the inner-tube

relay and King Fisher.

The annual Red and Black

pep rally is the next day which

includes the rope climb, knock-

out, arm wrestling and bad-

minton.

Finally, Red and Black cul-

minates with Gym Night which

is filled with extremely popular

events like the obstacle course,

Simon Says, the dance competi-

tion, speed pyramid, and tug-o-

war. At the end of the competi-

tion the team that has been

awarded the most points will be

the victors of the Red and Black

competition for 2012 and will

have complete bragging rights

until next year.

This fantastic, hilarity-filled,

pleasantly aggressive battle is

one of the highlights of our

school’s calendar and students

are already excited to represent

their team. DiPietro Black team

general, said, “We’re looking for

the three-peat!” Red Team gen-

eral, Julie McKay, responded

with equal enthusiasm.

“Hopefully this year will be dif-

ferent. We’re looking for a win

but either way it’s always fun.”

The events are set, the gener-

als are ready, and soon the play-

ers will be in motion with the

Black Nightmare seeking their

title from last year and the Red

Avengers hoping to win the

glory and bragging rights they

narrowly lost. Let the games

begin!

The end of the first semester

in January marked, for most stu-

dents, a welcome break from the

fervent studying and stress of

final exams. However, the mem-

bers of the Model United Nations

club spent their four day- week-

end representing our school, as

well as distant nations, at the Ivy

League Model United Nations

Conference (ILMUNC) in

Philadelphia. Model United

Nations, known as Model UN, is

an academic simulation of the

United Nations an organization

founded after World War II to

advance efforts of international

peace, security, and cooperation.

Each year, club advisor Saul

Flieder brings our school’s Model

UN to ILMUNC at the Sheraton

Hotel in Center City. ILMUNC is

one of the largest conferences for

high school students worldwide,

hosting over 3,000 students in its

most recent 28th annual session.

Students spend weeks research-

ing their assigned nation before

attending the conference as

ambassadors to work with other

nations in a general assembly, an

economic and social council

committee, a specialized agency

and regional body, or a crisis sim-

ulation. 15 delegates from our

school represented Uruguay,

located in South America, and the

Central African Republic on nine

different committees, including

the Disarmament and

International Security (DISEC)

committee, the United Children’s

Fund (UNICEF), and the

Assembly of African Union

(AAU).

Senior Jason Malamut took

part in a special crisis committee

as a member of the Spartan cabi-

net during the Peloponnesian War

against Athens. His committee

faced crises such as a slave revolt

and an attack from Persia that

occurred numerous times during

the conference, including after

midnight. Malamut said, “You

never knew what would happen

next, so you had to work very

quickly and be prepared for any-

thing”.

Junior Meredith Lightstone

represented Uruguay in the

Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization. Her three-

year involvement in Model UN

has made an impact on her global

paradigm. She said, “I’ve gained

a broader perspective of the

world. Living in the suburbs does

not directly expose our student

body to global issues, so it is very

easy for us to become uncon-

cerned with what happens outside

our country's borders.

11THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012ACTIVITIES

Competing Across The Nation Red and Black: coming back

On February 7 about thirty

students from our school took

the American Mathematics

Competition, or AMC, during

third and fourth period. Seven of

these students are eighth graders

who are currently taking

Accelerated Geometry at our

school. These thirty students are

among the 200,000 who partici-

pated in the the AMC throughout

America.

The AMC is a test designed to

determine the best and brightest

math students in the country.

Although it has three versions-

the AMC 8, 10, and 12, our

school only offers the AMC 10

and 12. The AMC 10 can only be

taken by students in grades 10

and below, while anyone can

take the AMC 12. The basic dif-

ference between these two tests is

that the AMC 12 features more

advanced questions. However, a

higher score is required on the

AMC 10 in order to move onto

the next exam.

The test following the AMC

is the American Invitational Math

Exam, also known as the AIME.

Only the top 5% of students who

take the AMC 12 and the top

2.5% of students who take the

AMC 10 make it to the AIME.

The AIME is the farthest that

any student from our school has

managed to get. Many kids have

made it their goal to go farther

and some, though, have gotten

close, no one has succeeded.

From the AIME, the top 500

students move onto the United

States of America Math

Olympiad, also known as the

USAMO. The top 12 students

from the USAMO are invited to

go to the International Math

Olympiad, which is held in a dif-

ferent country every year. This

year, those 12 students will be

headed to Argentina.

Our school’s math club advi-

sor, Robert Lochel, has a differ-

ent approach to preparing stu-

dents for the AMC than teachers

at most other schools. First of all,

Lochel does not believe in simply

giving old AMC tests to kids and

having them work through the

tests. Instead, he searches for

problems that he believes will

interest students and talks

through how to solve them. “I

think that kids are more likely to

really get into solving the prob-

lems if they’re really interesting

and we can have a conversation

about how to solve them, ” said

Lochel.

For this reason, Lochel wants

students who are truly interested

in math to take the AMC, so that

they find personal value in doing

the work. “If a student improves,

and that is their goal, then good. I

don’t really care what the scores

are, as long as everyone feels

improvement,” said Lochel.

However, Lochel encourages

any students remotely interested

in math to join him early so that

they can get a feel for the types of

questions used in the AMC.

Many students are intimidated

and do not take their first AMC

until junior year, and are then dis-

appointed by their score because

they were not prepared properly

for the AMC.

Sophomore Sam Schwartz

took the AMC last year and took

it again this year. A week and a

half before the test he still had not

decided whether to take the AMC

10 or 12. He said that his goal for

this year was, “to do better than I

did last year.” Schwartz’s goal is

consistent with most students

who chose to take the AMC.

It may be late to join for this

year, but if you are interested in

math problems, especially if you

are currently a freshman, consid-

er taking the AMC next year.

We are still looking for the

first Hatboro-Horsham student to

make it to the USAMO.

The Red Team hard at work preparing a poster for Red and Black.

PHOTO BY SILVIA CHON

H-H represents at ILMUNC

Erika ExtonStaff Writer, ’14

Carly LyonStaff Writer, ’12

Rocki SchyStaff Writer, ’13

Through Model UN, however, I

have been encouraged to become

more aware of what is hap-

pening around the globe, whether

that be violence in Syria or cor-

ruption in Russia.” Co-head dele-

gate and senior Michelle

Andronov added that her experi-

ence is more than a simple col-

lege resume builder. “I discov-

ered early on that Model UN was

one of my passions, and was a

club I wanted to stick with in high

school, “ she said. “I’ve grown

since my freshman year and am

able to debate without caving into

anyone else in my committee.”

As attendees of ILMUNC

since the 1980s, our school has

consistently performed well.

Andronov said, “All of our dele-

gates did a great job, especially

our new members. They have all

come very far and I am so proud

of the hard work that they put into

our club.”

This year, co-head delegate

and senior Alexis Waché

received an honorable mention

for his representation of Uruguay

in the World Health Organization

committee.

The small but passionate

group of students involved with

this club are able to take part in a

worthwhile organization promot-

ing greater awareness and interest

in issues affecting our future.

Students study diligently for this prestigious mathematics examina-

tion

Our school’s Model UN club recently attended the 28th annual

ILMUNC conference in Philadelphia.

PHOTO BY MEGAN RAYMOND

Photo Courtesy of AP Wire

THE HAT CHAT - FEBRUARY 2012 FEATURES12

Every September, a new class

of students takes their place as the

school’s leaders. Every year,

however, there is a change in atti-

tude for many of these seniors.

They neglect their homework,

studying, and projects. They take

more “mental health” days.

The cause of all this?

“Senioritis,” claimed senior Eun

Shim, who describes it as “an

inevitable disease; a part of the

circle of life.” And unlike the flu,

the illness is the same year after

year. According to senior Mariah

Duff, it annually “infects almost

the entire senior class and brings

even the most motivated students

to wish school was over with

already.”

The disease is sometimes

detrimental; it can certainly cause

consequences much more long-

lasting than those of the flu.

Senior year is hugely important

for most students, who must

make major decisions that will no

doubt affect them for years to

come. A lower GPA. is a com-

mon symptom of the disease,

which, in the view of senior Mary

Kate Holman, does not “just

affect people who have been

accepted into college,” like

Holman herself. “The senior

class,” she said, “has been in the

high school for four years and

every year we are closer to adult-

hood and knowing that…we are

all itching to get out and explore

what is out there.”

With all of this in mind,

schoolwork is naturally not the

first priority of a typical senior.

senior Eoghan Brennan was frank

in stating his opinion on the mat-

ter. “The average student is in a

plethora of classes that they don’t

care about,” he said. “It’s become

so hard to care with graduation

right around the corner.”

Duff shares this attitude,

though her class choices may not

reflect it. “My top choice college

only requires two years of a lan-

guage and two years of math, yet

I am currently in Spanish IV and

BC Calculus. Knowing this, I’m

not as motivated as I usually

would be to overachieve in those

classes,” she said.

Despite the obvious changes

in the habits of usually “academ-

ically driven” students, many,

like senior Allison Shaftel, still

doubt the actuality of senioritis.

“It’s really just an invented phe-

nomenon that allows people to

excuse themselves from neglect-

ing their their school work and

responsibilities,” she said, citing

psychology teacher Mr. Kunz.

“Everyone is tired and burnt out

by the end of the year, but there’s

really no excuse to stop caring.”

Fellow AP Psychology stu-

dent Brennan, on the other hand,

“has a pending patent that would

define senioritis as a legitimate

psychological epidemic.”

Perhaps this would raise aware-

ness of the disease, which does

not have any known cure.

Shim maintained that

“senioritis is only curable by an

unnatural phenomenon known as

‘The Graduation,’” which “can

only be provided by D.Wills per-

sonally, in the form of a piece of

paper with the patient’s name

inscribed in it.”

Though the future after this

day is uncertain, it is indeed

bright for the seniors, most of

whom will attend university. In

the Bennan’s view, however, a

hopeful future is not completely

dependent on grades. “The fact of

the matter is that if I don’t do my

homework, I’m not suddenly

going to be out of options,” he

said, listing community college

as just one of many alternatives.

If Brennan, who claims that

he has had senioritis since junior

year, is truly the most severely

afflicted, seniors still should be

optimistic about what lies ahead;

even Brennan, who “cannot do

homework for more than five

minutes,” is definitely going to

college. His story demonstrates

that students do not have to be

overachievers to do well after

high school. Life after graduation

is incredibly promising for the

majority of seniors, even if they

have taken Ferris Bueller up as a

role model.

Meredith LightstoneStaff Writer, ’13

The yearly epidemic rears its ugly head once more

Senior Eun Shim exhibits the effects of the “inevitable disease” called senioritis; his pose mirrors that of Ferris Bueller’s. He carelessly awaits

the “unnatural phenomenon” which he defines as “The Graduation.”

PHOTO BY MEREDITH LIGHTSTONE

OOPENINGPENING TTHISHIS FFRIDARIDAYY2.17.122.17.12