Molly StantonStaff Writer

There were some issues this fall regarding the senior and junior class officer elections. Some senior English classes didn’t get a chance to vote, and some juniors voted be-

fore they heard all of the presiden-tial candidates’ speeches. The senior election ballots were supposed to be returned by Friday, September 17, the day after the candidates made their speeches.

Senior class adviser Ms. O’Neill sent an e-mail notifying English teachers of this deadline and left a box in the English department where teachers could leave their classes’ ballots. Ms. O’Neill collected the bal-lots at the end of the day on Mon-

day, October 20. She tallied the votes and the winners were an-nounced on Tuesday, October 21. Anika Advani was elected Presi-dent. Kelly Andrianos was elected Vice President of Fundraising, and

Jonathon Arons was elected Vice President of Activities. These three seniors won by a small margin of about five to 10 votes. On Wednesday, October 22, the advisers were made aware that ballots had not been passed out to all of the senior English classes. The advisers decided that the fair-est thing that to do would be to have each class vote again. Some students thought this was unfair to the original winners. Senior Tyler Landle said, “I don’t think it was the right decision. I think the first elec-tion was fine in the first place. It was representative of a population.” The re-vote brought in 40 or so more ballots than the original vote, and results were different from the first time around. This time, Felix Irizarry was elected President, Aar-on Gregory was elected Vice Presi-dent of Fundraising, and Jaelle Dorival was elected Vice President of Activities. Again, these candi-dates only won by a small margin

of five to 10 votes, according to Ms. O’Neill. To decide how to best handle the situation, all six winners and advisers Ms. O’Neill and Mr. Pereira met with Twelfth Grade Administrator Mr. Roberts. They came to the agreement that since the results of both elections were so close, the most reasonable solution would be to have Co-Presidents, Co-Vice Presidents of Fundraising, and Co-Vice Presidents of Activi-ties. The winners of both elections now equally share the responsibili-ties of the offices. “I think it will work out well. Anything else would have been unfair at some level,” Ms. O’Neill said. “Honestly I think that it’s a lot more efficient because we can split up graduation and prom, which are the two major events. It might be a helpful new tradition,” co-presi-dent Felix Irizarry said. The controversy over the ju-

nior class officer elections was less complicated. The candidates’ speeches ran for a longer amount of time than was alloted for the assembly, so there was another as-sembly the next day to finish the presidential candidates’ speeches. However, some classes voted before hearing all of the presiden-tial candidates’ speeches. To solve this problem, ballots that only had the presidentential candidates on them were given out after the sec-ond assembly. Some juniors voted again, and juniors who hadn’t vot-ed yet voted for the first time. The ballots with only the presidential candidates on them were the only ones counted for that position. Af-ter the confusion, Steven Lee was elected President. “It turned out well. I’m glad I have some returning [officers] as well as some new offciers and that Steven Lee is President. I’m ex-cited to plan junior prom,” Junior Class Adviser Ms. Tintle said.

News

Are co-officers a fair way to handle the controversy over senior class elections?

Peter DawsonReporter

The Marching Band’s season has been progressing very success-fully. The band has placed first in competitions on October 2, Octo-ber 9, October 16, and October 23.

On October 16, the band placed first in a competition at Ken-nedy Stadium in Bridgeport. With that win, the band brought its point total to 82.5 points, which qualified it for third place out of 24.

On October 23, the March-ing Band competed in the United States Scholastic Band Associa-tion’s New England State Champi-onship. Within its class (a division of bands of similar sizes), the band placed first, with caption awards for music and percussion. This competition, which it also won two years ago, was held in Bridgeport.

The Marching Band is look-ing forward to the Northern States Championship in Allentown, Penn-sylvania. The championshop will take place on November 7. Twenty bands from Massachusetts, Con-necticut, Rhode Island, and New York will compete. The Marching Band hopes to place within the top five.

There is one last competition

before the championship. On Octo-ber 30, the Marching Band will have the chance to improve to first place in the standings. This would give it the advantage of performing last at the Northern States Championship.

According to Band Director Mr. Miner, “It is best to go last because you close out the show and you are the last one the judges hear. If you have the best music, but are the first to go, you may be forgotten about or overshadowed by a later group.”

Scoring in a Marching Band competition is based on several key factors: musical performance, how well the band marches to-gether, combined music and drill effects, and a drum score that is based on technique. The skill of the color guard and its flag and weapons drills are also used to cal-culate the band’s total score.

According to Mr. Miner, the marching band’s season has been going extremely well, and the band is poised for a strong finish and a good showing at the Northern States Championship. This year’s band has 65 members. Mr. Miner described it as “one of [his] bet-ter groups.” The group hopes to continue its season and further im-prove its position in the standings.

“This group has something to prove right now because they are out front, and [they] just want to keep working on [their] music and drill until the end,” Mr. Miner said.

Drum Major and senior Ali-son Garvey is happy with the band’s performance so far. “We really stepped it up this year, especially the seniors. We are

working really well together as a group, and we are practicing a lot harder than ever before. We are a lot more focused, but we’re still having a lot of fun,” Garvey said.

Are two heads better than one?

YES NO51%49%

Junior and senior class officer elections confront mishaps

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT The band placed third at a competition at Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport on October 16. The band practices (above) for its next competition on October 30. If it does well, it will have the advantage of performing last at the Northern States Championship.

Courtesy of www.westhillband.anypalgardens.com

Marching Band places first in four consecutive competitions

Poll by Zoey Villalba. Out of 200 students polled.

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