Great news for Star Wars fans

page 5

Top 10 albums of the year

page 6

Wrestling teamgoing to the mats page 16

Super-storm Sandy: the most destructive and devastating natu-ral disaster to hit the Northeast in years. As Merrick recovers slowly, but surely, the District has short-ened the February vacation to make up for missed school days. School will be in session Janu-ary 22 and January 23, 2013, along with February 20 through Febru-ary 22. The two instruction days in January have been in the past test-ing days, during which students not taking Regents or midterms would have the two days off . Since the super-storm led to the cancellation of seven school days, the District decided that reinstat-ing these days would be a great stride toward learning all that was missed. Students who are scheduled to take Regents in January are now in a bit of a predicament, as they will be missing more class time

(see ROAD on page 4)Neighbors in South Merrick woke up to a boat on their lawn the morning aft er Sandy. Inset, the marina in South Merrick fl ooded to levels never seen before, aft er Sandy left destruction in its path.

(photos by Maddy Gott lieb)

Road to recoveryRoad to recovery

Building strength aft er SandyBuilding strength aft er Sandy

by Maddy Gott liebEditor-in-Chief

Calhoun’s collection eff orts fol-lowing the eff ects of Sandy are well underway. As many people in the Bellmore-Merrick District remained without homes, power, and basic necessities for days, it was made a priority to help these people as soon as possible. Once school resumed, the ad-ministration announced the collec-tion of supplies for people in need. Items included blankets, shoes, baby supplies, cleaning supplies,

and toys, as well as many other needed items. Once donations were made, distribution took place the following Saturday at the dis-trict offi ce on at Brookside School. Social media became an even more valuable tool for communi-cation as Assistant Principal Ni-cole Hollings tweeted information using the school account, @Cal-hounHS. Ms. Hollings continued to tweet throughout the week, as well as on the day of collection to keep people informed. She also tweeted about other drops-off s, such as at the Merrick Library and

Stop and Shop. English teacher Julie Rosslee, one of the coordinators of the event, said the collection eff orts were successful. “We had an all-day distribu-

tion on [that] Saturday and many att ended to pick up items,” Ms. Rosslee said. She and students helped packed many boxes aft er school before the

(see EFFORTS on page 2)

A home one mile south of Merrick Road in Merrick fl ooded above the stoop.(photo by Maddy Gott lieb)

by Jenna RudolfskyColture Editor

Relief eff orts start quickly

2 Hoofbeats December 2012 NEWS

Relief eff orts

If Sandy aff ected you as much or even more than it aff ected me, you can relate to the trauma I felt from this experience. Though I know that I am fortunate, my personal experience will stay with me for a long time. On the night the storm began, my family and I were trying to en-joy the evening, doing our best to ignore the wind’s howls and the tide’s persistence as it crept in on us. I was keeping my spirits up when the water surged up to the back doors of our house. The pow-er went out, and we were left alone in the dark, staring at our fl oors, praying to be spared. “Is that… is that water?” I heard my mom murmur as she stared at the carpet. Then it hit us: water was coming in through the doors and covering the room quickly. My mind rushed to the basement, and I discovered murky water seeping through the fl oors. Water was pouring in the walls through cracks in the foundation. It sounded like a waterfall in my basement. We grabbed as much as we could, not even realizing what was worth saving. The water was still persisting. It just wouldn’t give up. With only fl ashlights, we carried boxes and books up the stairs, passing them to each other like we were on an assembly line. Our feet trudged along the base-ment fl oor, with water creeping up to knee level. I ran to my Nana’s room only to save a few pictures.

“Jenna, don’t worry about that stuff ,” my mom said. What was even worth saving? At times, I had no clue what was in my hands. We just tried to grab as much as we could, but we weren’t really able to pick and choose what we wanted. That night was a disaster, and the water eventually reached waist height. There was literally a swimming pool in our basement.

The following morning, we had to get all of the water pumped out,

remove three huge trees that had fallen in our yard, and take down all the walls in the basement. What the storm did shocked us. We lost old memory boxes, holi-day decorations, and our beloved Christmas tree. We lost a televi-sion, cabinets, carpets, couches, beds, and so many other things that could never be replaced. We had two weeks without pow-er, and even longer without heat. I was unable to live in my house for weeks. The smell was atrocious. I have to admit, it’s been emo-tional. Pictures and memory boxes were submerged in water, and they’re unsalvageable. The dam-age is costly, and it’s going to be hard to get things fi xed. My par-ents think that we may be living in an incomplete house for many months to come. The worst thing, though, is step-ping out of my house, and seeing dumpsters in front of all my neigh-bors’ homes. Plenty of people are suff ering in our area, and through-out Long Island, as well. It isn’t fun to be part of that category.

Sandy’s destructive power

The left over remains of the Rudolfsky basement are litt ered on the front lawn. (photo by Jenna Rudolfsky)

News Analysis

by Jenna RudolfskyColture Editor

In the family’s basement, walls had to be taken down aft er water fl ooded through the cracks in the foundation.

(photo by Jenna Rudolfsky)

One writer’s nightmare of a week

(continued from page 1)

big distribution. Many students were eager to help out; however, students were not encouraged to help at the distribution. This way privacy could be kept between the faculty and the families in need. Ms. Hollings, who was present at the distribution, said that the day was both successful and re-warding. “Many families were supported and helped in a time when they needed it. Judging from the smiles on the faces, the day was prett y amazing,” Ms. Hollings said. The distribution is not the only way Calhoun is helping out the victims of Sandy. The On Tour Company held its third night of “As You Like It,” making it a place to go for Sandy victims. Anyone

who was still without power had free admission to the performance, and they could enjoy a warm, cozy night around the stage. On Tour also collected money for Sandy re-lief, encouraging people to donate even if they could not att end the show that night. The Company lat-er paired up with Express Yourself for the Thanksgiving dinner. There they continued to raise money for those who are in need inside the community, and they ended up collecting close to $4000. The Calhoun football team has also been helping those in need, especially in Long Beach. Ms. Hollings said, “The football team has been organizing fund-raisers to be a foster family to the Long Beach athletic teams.” As many know, Long Beach was

hit hard, and much of the town was destroyed. The athletic teams have been fundraising to adopt and reach out to the athletic teams of Long Beach. While it may seem like the Sandy craziness has winded down, there is still plenty to do. Homes are still in a wreck, with some kids just re-cently returning home, yet eff orts to help have seemed to come to a small halt. “As time progresses more help-ing eff orts will be established,” Ms. Rosslee added. “Items are still going to be needed.” Bins have continued to be lo-cated outside the main offi ce. This

way, students can drop off items, especially winter coats, for those that are in need of them. Members of faculty and administration are also preparing for the holidays and their giving tree. It will allow staff to choose individuals in need and give them gift s that a person requested. Ms. Hollings added that if stu-dents were holiday shopping, they could possibly pick up gift cards, bring them in to her, and donate them to the families in need. “If students come up with an idea of what we can do, then we will do all that we can to make that possible,” she said.

News December 2012 Hoofbeats 3

Annual dinner helps needy Students and teachers once again celebrated the start of the holiday season with the sixth an-nual “Calhoun Cares” event. Organizers said it was especial-ly important to come together as a community in the wake of Super Storm Sandy. “The purpose took on a diff erent mind-set,” said Principal David Seinfeld. “Some of the money that we raised did go to help out those families.” This year the dinner was moved back to its original location in the cafeteria, as opposed to its spot in the gym last year. Last year’s din-ner included a performance from alumnus and American Idol fi nal-ist, Robbie Rosen. “We were fearful of a large crowd because of Robbie, so we moved it to the gym last year. It worked out well in the cafeteria this year because it was the right amount of people” Mr. Seinfeld said. “And because of the storm, many teams lost gym time, and I didn’t want to take more away because we set up during the day into the aft ernoon.” Being on its sixth year, the din-ner is always successful due to the

overwhelming support from the school community and the friend-ly Merrick community. There was some concern for members of the faculty, who ran the event every year since it has begun. But with many faculty members aff ected by the storm, organizers feared that it would become hard for those who said they would donate to actually

come through with their dona-tions. “That was really my only con-cern” stated Mr. Seinfeld when asked about the dinner and wheth-er or not it was ever discussed to be cancelled. There was also less food cooked this year, “possibly due to the storm” as stated by Mr. Seinfeld. Normally, left overs from the dinner are brought to a shel-ter in Hempstead but none were brought this year. “Prett y much just dessert was left ; there wasn’t a lot to bring, which is sad because I kind of like to do that,” Mr. Seinfeld said. The money raised this year was used diff erently. In years past, money has been raised at the event for the families in need this time of year, but because of Sandy, more focus was put on the wreckage caused to some Calhoun families. “People really enjoy this type of event,” Mr. Seinfeld said. The atmosphere at the dinner

was a cheerful one. This year, it was especially important to spend time with teachers, students, adminis-trators, and community members. “It is always funny to see as-sistant principals carving a turkey, or students where the lunch ladies would normally be. Then you add the performers, and it all makes for a warm, family occasion,” Mr. Seinfeld said. Nine turkeys were donated, and there was an assortment of side dishes to be given out to those who came down. The performers this year were amazing. The audience enjoyed the stylings of the On Tour Com-pany and their songs from their previous play. All of their mu-sic was arranged by Sal Saler-no. Michael Korins was also an incredible addition the en-tertainment part of the dinner. “The performers are always there and always make for a great night,” Mr. Seinfeld said.

by Dana ReillyNews Editor

Student leaders gave their time to help serve food at the annual Calhoun Cares Thanksgiving Dinner.(photo by Dana Reilly)

Sophomores Amanda Reilly and Britney Selvaggi represent the varsity cheerleaders.

(photo by Dana Reilly)

The On Tour Company joined Express Yourself for the event’s entertainment.(photo by Dana Reilly)

4 Hoofbeats December 2012 NEWS

to take exams. The three days in February are coming from the formerly week-long February va-cation. Naturally, these decisions have caused quite a stir among the student body and teachers. The decision to cut away a vaca-tion was not easy to make, accord-ing to Principal David Seinfeld. The fate of each New York school is determined by the State Educa-tion Department (SED), which is located in Al-bany. Though many students, and even some faculty members, were rooting for a diff erent out-come, SED decided that it was necessary to make up the days lost due to Sandy. Aft er Albany made its choice, it was made clear that waivers were not granted to school districts. That is where the school board comes into play. Members of the school board look through the calendar and profusely scour the days to see when it would be best to have

days of instruction. In our case, the school board has made the choice to take away days from February break. Several students, especially those aff ected by the devastating eff ects of Sandy, fi nd the decision made to be unfair, since their days off were anything but relaxing. “It’s defi nitely not how we planned it. We’re trading a vaca-

tion for a hor-rible week that certainly was anything but a vacation. Vaca-tions are meant to energize stu-dents and staff , and our days off from Sandy did just the oppo-

site,” Mr. Seinfeld said. A downfall of eliminating a por-tion of February break is that it forces students to att end school for an elongated period of time. Nor-mally, February vacation breaks up the long time of school between Winter and Spring breaks. Without that gap of time off , some students said they may grow tired and will not perform as well.

“Some students will lose stamina without a full break and have a lot of trouble, but some students will do bett er because they don’t have a break to throw them off track,” said senior Sam Flax. Another concern about eradicat-ing part of February break is con-cerning all the students and facul-ty who have already made plans. Everyone with predetermined va-cation plans will now either have to miss school, or have to cancel their vacations. This includes teachers, too. Teachers are be-ing asked to can-cel their previ-ously made plans to be sure to at-tend work. The school board does not want to have classes for stu-dents without being sure that stu-dents will be doing actual learning with their assigned teachers. Students in upper grades tak-ing rigorous classes or AP courses understand why it is so important to have a full year of school. Unlike Regents and fi nals, AP classes and tests are nation-wide. A student in an AP class that does not have a full year of the subject will simply not learn the information that is on the test that students in other unaf-fected states will learn. Mr. Sal Montoya, who taught AP Spanish when it was off ered at Calhoun, agreed that it is com-pletely necessary to make up class time for students, especially those in AP classes.

“If my class time was cut short, I would not be able to teach the entire curriculum. Not only would I have to speed up class time and possibly rush through certain top-ics, but I’d also off er extra-help ses-sions on Saturday mornings closer to the AP test.” Even for students not taking AP courses, it is just as important to cover as much of the year’s cur-

riculum as pos-sible, in order to assure the best understanding to students. “Here at Cal-houn, people re-ally pick each other up,” Mr. Seinfeld said. “The teachers here really care

about the students, and work hard toward securing students’ suc-cess.” In terms of physical eff ects of the storm, the building and its grounds were fortunate. The school did lose power for three days, which also aff ected the Internet connection. There was also some fencing by the baseball fi eld that was ruined, but Mr. Seinfeld said that’s scheduled to be fi xed before baseball season. As horrible as the damage was, and is, for neighboring areas like Long Beach, Breezy Point, and South Merrick, recovery is moving along. The February break may be shortened, but the student body’s education will not be altered by Sandy’s wrath, since students will get the lessons they missed when classes were cancelled.

Road to recovery

(photo by Jenna Rudolfsky)

LIPA workers att end to a leaning poll at the corner of Shore Drive and George Ct.

(continued from page 1)

“It’s defi nitely not how we planned it. We’re trading a vacation for a horrible week that certainly was anything but a vacation. ”

- David SeinfeldPrincipal

“Some students will lose stamina without a full break, and have a lot of trouble, but others will do bett er because they don’t have the break to throw them off track.”

- Sam FlaxSenior

Pancake breakfast

Key Club and the Kiwanis Club held the annual Pancake Breakfast, opening the doors to community members.

(photo by Tracy Goldman)

COLTURE December 2012 Hoofbeats 5

Seven years aft er the fi nal in-stallment of the popular Star Wars franchise, Disney offi cially an-nounced its purchase of Lucas Arts, making way for the develop-ment of three more fi lms. “Star Wars Episode VII” is cur-rently targeted for a 2015 release. Episodes VIII and IX are to be re-leased two or three years later, re-turning Star Wars to the big screen as another motion picture trilogy. George Lucas, founder of Lucas Arts and creator of Star Wars, has stated many times that he would not be making any more Star Wars fi lms. Lucas also stated that many a time he has been asked about what happens aft er “Return of the Jedi,” and consistently answers: “The movies were the story of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Sky-walker and when Luke saves the galaxy and redeems his father, that’s where the story ends.” How-ever, aft er Disney bought Lucas Arts, George Lucas began to have a change in heart and decided it was right for Star Wars to live on and have a longer life. Lucas him-self will not direct the fi lms, but in-stead will serve as a creative con-sultant. Many of the cast and crew in-cluding the director have yet to be decided. Acclaimed science fi ction directors Steven Spielberg, Zack Snyder, Quentin Tarantino and J.J. Abrams turned down the idea of being the Star Wars director, each citing diff erent reasons. Howev-er, there are still many names in consideration, like Brad Bird and Matt hew Vaughn. Producer Frank Marshall stated that the search for a director was down to a couple of candidates. The critically acclaimed Oscar winning screen writer Michael Arndt (“Litt le Miss Sunshine,” “Toy Story 3”) will be one of the screen writers for Episode VII. Lawrence Kasdan, writer of Epi-sode V and VI, stated that he would return as a writer and producer for

episodes VIII and IX, along with Simon Kinberg. As for the cast, the stars of the original trilogy (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harri-son Ford) are in a speculation as to if they will return as their charac-ters, playing them as much older versions. Carrie Fisher stated that she would be open for a return to her character Leia, and Harrison

Ford also mentioned he would be open to return as Han Solo. Though nothing has been an-nounced as defi nite, many are beginning to speculate as to what the plot will be. There are many fandom (books by fans) books and magazines that take place aft er the events of “Return of the Jedi“ known as the Star Wars expanded

universe. Lucas and Disney both stated that Star Wars Episode VII would be an original story not based off of any novels or other material from the expanded uni-verse. The new trilogy is expected to involve Luke Skywalker’s chil-dren, so each fi lm trilogy would center on a diff erent generation of Skywalkers. Arndt has writ-ten a draft for episode VII. It has also been rumored that R2-D2 and C-3PO will be the only two char-acters to continue throughout all nine fi lms. But even with the fi lm series being remade, there are still many fans that are not looking forward to the new trilogy. Many believe that because of the unfortunate turnout of the pre-quel trilogy, the new fi lms will be no bett er. Despite this, when the movie is released the whole world will be watching. Only time will tell us how the highly anticipated movie will turn out.

by Jeremy FrankStaff Writer

Return of the franchise

Fans of the Star Wars fi lms will be happy to learn there will be more installments of the popular sci-fi series.(with permission from lucasfi lm.com)

Aft er Disney purchased Lucas Arts, an announcement of more fi lms was made.(with permission from lucasfi lm.com)

6 Hoofbeats December 2012 Colture

Here’s my take on the best in music for 2012. 5. Van Halen – “A Diff erent Kind of Truth.”– This was one of the most notable and anticipated reunion albums of the year. Van Halen reunited with vocalist Da-vid Lee Roth for their fi rst album together in 27 years. With the ex-ception of the opening track, “Tat-too,” this album is their heaviest record yet. Plus, Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing is the best it’s been in years. A defi nite must-have for hard rock fans everywhere. Key tracks: “Bullethead,” “As Is.” 4. Green Day – “Uno!” “Dos!,” and “Tre!” trilogy. Aft er two rock operas (2004’s “American Idiot and 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown”), Green Day returned to the simple pop-punk of their early albums. While each album returns to their roots, each has a diff erent vibe to it. “Uno!” is loud and proud, pow-er pop with big choruses galore, “Dos!” is raw, pure garage rock, and “Tre!” is grandiose stadium rock, complete with keyboards and string sections. Key tracks: “Oh Love,” “Kill the DJ” (“Uno!”) “See You Tonight,” “Stop When The Red Lights Flash,” (“Dos!”), “Brutal Love,” “X-Kid” (“Tre!”). 3. Cherri Bomb – “This is the End of Control.” This is the debut album by Cherri Bomb, an all-girl rock band whose members are be-tween the ages of 14 and 16. Don’t let their ages fool you; they are

amazing musicians. Julia Pierce is an amazing guitarist and singer, Rena Lovelis is a fantastic bassist and vocalist, Nia Lovelis is an in-sane drummer, and Miranda Mill-er is an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist, handling rhythm guitar, keyboards, and vocals. The album is diverse, from full-speed ahead hard rock to beauti-ful ballads. Key tracks: “Shake the Ground,” “Too Many Faces.” 2. Ben Folds Five – “The Sound of the Life of the Mind.” Follow-ing their breakup in 2000, Ben Folds Five would reunite for one-off shows, but the band has fi nally reunited for an album and tour. This album is classic Ben Folds Five, from humorous song writing and insane piano playing to Rob-ert Sledge’s fuzz-laden bass solos to Darren Jessee’s drumming to their harmonies. “Michael Pray-tor, “Five Years Later” is pure pop with a chorus that jumps out of the speakers. Key tracks: “Erase Me,” “Do It Anyway.” 1. Jack White – “Blunderbuss.” Aft er the breakup of the White Stripes, Jack White focused on his other bands, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, but went solo with “Blunderbuss.” This album contains multiple genres – punk, alternative, blues, garage rock, country, and folk rock – that make for a varied and great record. Plus, White shows his skills as a multi-instrumentalist, handling vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, piano, bass, and drums. Key tracks: “Six-teen Saltines,” “Freedom At 21.”

In the realm of music, 2012 was a typical year fi lled with good, bad, and just bizarre. But I’m not here to discuss that; I’m here to talk about the top fi ve albums of 2012. 5. Guided by Voices – “Let’s Go Eat The Factory.” Combining the primitive, lo-fi sound that won over fans on classic LPs like “Bee Thousand” with the clearer pro-duction of the last albums, this album has enough catchy melo-dies, clever song writing, and sheer quality and quantity to make any GBV fan happy. Key tracks: “Doughnut for a Snowman,” “The Unsinkable Fats Domino.” 4. Japandroids – “Celebration Rock.” Japandroids seem like a lost band from a universe where the Indie underground is as suc-cessful as the 90s Grunge boom. With just a guitar and drums, this Canadian duo cranks out garage

rock-inspired anthems dedicated to partying and debauchery. Key tracks: “The Nights of Wine and Roses,” “The House that Heaven Built.” 3. Frank Ocean – “Channel Or-ange.” What makes Ocean diff er-ent from other contemporary R&B artists of this era is his honesty. While other R&B singers brag and obsess over their romantic accom-plishments, Ocean croons about lost loves, loves that never were, and handles partying as some-thing that feels empty. He inad-vertently made the year’s best con-cept album about the lonely life of a hopeless romantic. The album struck a chord with people because of honest lyricism, unconventional production, and well-picked guest musicians. Key tracks: “Thinking Bout You,” “Bad Religion.” 2. Grizzly Bear – “Shields.” With their fourth LP, Grizzly Bear has evolved into a sort of American anecdote to Arcade Fire, Queen-

esque bombast, while retaining In-die sensibilities. There were big ex-pectations for the band following 2009’s phenomenal “Veckatimest.” The band succeeds those expecta-tions and more, with its ambitious, imaginative lyrics, and a precise

sound that can be best described as music for looking outside a pas-senger window on a drive in the suburbs, and the future you hope will involve a place miles and miles away from there. Key tracks: “Sleeping Ute,” “Yet Again.” 1. Grimes – “Visions.” Claire Boucher, a.k.a, Grimes, is quoted as dubbing her music “post-In-ternet,” a satirical comment on electronic buzzwords like “witch house” and “dark wave.” But un-like the largely fl ash-in-the-pan artists associated with those labels, “Visions” feels somewhat infl uen-tial on electronic music despite be-ing less than a year old. Recorded in a mind-boggling three weeks in Boucher’s apartment, “Visions” is alternately danceable and has a sense of all-around discomfort. Not since The Knife’s landmark 2006 LP “Silent Shout” has synth-pop been so danceworthy, yet be so unsett ling. Key tracks: “Gen-esis,” “Oblivion.”

Two takes on music’s bestby Carter Simonson

Staff Writerby Michael Trageser

Staff Writer

(with permission from John Londono)

Claire Boucher, also known as Grimes, is not your typical fl ash-in-the-pan singer.

(with permission from jackwhiteiii.com)Jack White’s “Blunderbuss” contains music from multiple genres.

(with permission from jackwhiteiii.com)Aft er the breakup of the White Stripes, White focused on his other bands.

Colture December 2012 Hoofbeats 7

Old is new in the fashion world. It seems the latest style has most people vying for a vintage look, reviving styles of the previous de-cades through their clothing. This is quite clear in shoe fash-ion, especially when it comes to boots. Every fall, the temperature reaches a point where it becomes too cold to wear open toe shoes, and people begin to dig through their closets and shoe racks for their favorite pair of boots. A great pair of boots that are aff ordable, popular, and adorable this season are Urban Outfi tt er’s

Urban Renewal studded leather ankle boot. These boots are brown leather with silver studs running up the top of the shoe. They are functional with almost any outfi t, and mirror the styles of the 40s and 50s. Though they may not be shoes you’d like to wear in the snow, these will defi nitely keep you warm all winter long. Even non-vintage, new styles of boots emerge each year, mak-ing people grow bored of their old shoes. Once a hot, new shoe hits the market, it can be expected that it will soon become a shoe found in most closets. Steve Madden, one of the most famous shoe brands, is always de-veloping new styles of boots for each season. This year they came out with Tarney studded leather boots. These boots resemble the ul-timate biker style because of their leather-vintage look. The studs make them even bolder and give a new touch to an old style. Because of their vintage-look, these boots have become extremely popu-lar and can be found on numer-ous Tumblr and Instagram feeds. Many people, including myself, have made it a part of their holi-day gift -lists. Boots, whether vintage or cur-rent, are great to have and wear. Don’t get cold feet about buying boots this winter.

Old is new again

An aff ordable, popular pair of boots are the Steve Madden studded Tarney boots.

(photo by Ashley Gladkowski)

by Ashley GladkowskiStaff Writer

Bond, James Bond “Skyfall” marks 50 years of Bond movies. There were high expectations and anticipation for such an anniversary, and the hype around the movie couldn’t be beat. If you are familiar with James Bond movies, you know there is a certain fl ow throughout each movie. The be-ginning usu-ally has a sec-tion of action that speeds up the movie right from the open-ing. Then, there is a break from the action and the movie slows down, allowing the plot to thick-en. Here the story line develops and the interest of the audience grows. These two speeds oft en switch on and off with each other. When it comes to action, I got exactly what I expected: top-notch action that comes with any good James Bond movie. But what re-ally surprised me was the story line and plot, which was phenom-enal. Sometimes you watch Bond movies with no fl air or fl amboy-ance, nothing that truly captures our att ention. In “Skyfall” I felt truly encumbered with the story, so much so that I felt a connection with it. Bond always has a good sense of humor throughout the movie, making the audience laugh and giggle. But what struck me was for the fi rst time in 50 years, they have shown some information on Bond’s past, which was once con-sidered taboo. This fi lm specifi -cally references his childhood and the term “Skyfall” plays more of a role than you might think. The only complaint I have is a personal one; I like a Bond agent

with a lot of gadgets, but in this fi lm he uses two. The gadgets are an iconic and integral part of any Bond fi lm, and it is enjoyable to see the audience, and sometimes Bond himself, drool over each new and exciting weapon. Overall, the movie lived up to the hype. It surpassed my expec-tations across the board. It doesn’t matt er if you are new to the James Bond movies; this is a must see movie for anyone. However, if

you know the movie “Gold-fi nger,” you will appreciate the references made toward the As-ton Martin. And on a fi nal note, those who have

watched older James Bond mov-ies will appreciate this; Money Penny has never aged a day.

The Hobbit With the anticipation to the movie, faithful fans are left with many questions. Coming out this month, “The Hobbit” is the pre-quel to the famous “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Here’s one weird thing: Fro-do Baggins is in the movie. Why might you ask? According to the book, Frodo was never men-tioned, so I guess that old Bilbo will tell Frodo his unexpected journey and the movie will be a fl ashback. Second, why is Legolas there? His father belongs there but not him. That I have no explanation for that other than they switched Legolas and his father around in the movie. If there is anything I can guarantee it is this: a good story line, great action, and amaz-ing batt le scenes. The same director, Peter Jack-son, will also be doing the fi lm. Hopefully, the movie lives up to the hype and we can enjoy it.

Movie cornerby James Pateres

Staff Writer

“When it comes to action, I got exactly what I expected: top-notch action that comes with any good James Bond movie. ”

Skyfall & The Hobbit

The seven books in the Harry Pott er series allowed a reader to be-come so absorbed in them that you wanted to live inside the books. However, J.K. Rowling’s new book The Casual Vacancy ceased to in-trigue me. A book should explode in the beginning and seize the reader’s

att ention aft er the fi rst page. I will give Rowling’s latest book credit by saying the fi rst chapter was in-teresting, as it immediately estab-lished the plot line for the novel. But following the opening scenes, for the next 100, the novel states the reactions of everyone else in the town to the death of Barry Fairbrother. Although it is important to set up the characters early in the book, it should at least

be somewhat interesting to be in-troduced to these characters. Aft er a while I stopped caring about the characters. Although the novel is 500-plus pages, the plot should start devel-oping somewhere before the middle of the book; in lack-ing this, The Casual Vacancy repelled me. I found myself with a lack of mo-tivation to keep on reading, Although Rowl-ing writes eloquent-ly and descriptive-ly throughout the novel, the plot and the characters are just so boring. One can vividly picture the scenes and the portrayal of each character, but there is nothing go-ing on except for the characters learning of Barry’s death. Even though it is not the entire book

and more does develop, the large amount of pages without action may slay the chance of a good re-view.

The Harry Pot-ter series are my fa-vorite novels, and I absolutely adored J.K. Rowling’s writ-ing style. How-ever, The Casual Va-cancy was really not good. The plot de-velopment and in-teresting moments throughout the course of the Harry Pott er books were more signifi cantly advanced than this book. Since her new novel is di-

rected toward adults, perhaps the novel is slower than books I am ac-customed to reading. Unfortunately, The Casual Va-cancy was a disappointment com-pared to J.K. Rowling’s other works of literature.

Not-so Casual change for authorby Tracy Goldman

Staff Writer

8 Hoofbeats December 2012 Special

Hurricane Sandy fi rst formed in the Caribbean Sea, just south of Ja-maica, and as she moved her way along the Atlantic, her status changed from tropical storm, to Category 1 hurricane. As suggested, people pre-pared in advance for by stocking up on food and water, shops boarded their windows, and those who lived in fl ood zones evacuated; however, no one was fully prepared for Sandy’s impact. With winds reaching up to 94 mph spanning 940 miles, Sandy was a large storm. On Long Island alone 900,000 homes were without power for days aft er the storm, but in total, 17 states were aff ected with out-ages. It took more than a week for many to have their power returned to their homes, but for some, that was the least of their problems. Over 2,000 homes on Long Island were destroyed. Among them, the homes of students and teachers at Calhoun. Flooding was a common occurrence for many during this storm; the average amount of water found in basements across Long Island ranged from three to fi ve feet. This, of course, resulted in the damage of hom-eowners’ personal belongings and the streets became litt ered with vari-ous items that could not be salvaged. While this sounds heartbreaking, it got worse, as the fallen trees not only knocked over power lines but occasionally the homes of Long Islanders. Some areas became synonymous with “major damage,” especially areas along the beach. On Long Island the most talked about town was

Witnessing

A front door is torn from a South Merrick home on Hewlett Ave. during Sandy’s wrath. (photo by Maddy Gott lieb)

The morning aft er the storm, the fi re department is called aft er a boat fl oats two blocks from the w

Alexander Ave. saw trees and wires fall on cars and lawns.(photo by Heather Bey)

Fallen trees block the path on Alexander Ave. in North Merrick.(photo by Heather Bey)

Several trees fell in the front yard of a South Merrick home on Shore Drive.(photo by Jenna Rudolfsky)

by Gabby SimonsonEditor-in-Chief

Long Beach; a once beautiful, seaside area is now under reconstruction, as it was hit with the brunt of Sandy’s 12.5 foot storm surge of fl ooding. In total, Sandy caused about $2.6 billion in damage all across the board, making it one of the most expensive storms the United States has seen. Locally, anyone south of Merrick Road certainly understands the phrase, “major damage.” Another unfortunate eff ect of Sandy was the gasoline shortage. Gaso-line availability became another issue Long Islanders had to struggle with aft er Sandy’s wrath. Many waited on line for hours at a time in hopes to fi ll a gas can for their generators or their cars, but most of the time the result proved to be fruitless. Gas stations tended to run out of gas quickly, and trucks to refi ll the station were few and far between. Rationing gasoline shortened lines and proved to be eff ective in areas other than New York that also had trouble with their gas quantities. Sandy’s destruction left behind a costly recovery; between tree re-moval, reconstruction, and electricity repairs, it will take many people on Long Island months to return to their normal lives. And for some, returning to normal may not be an option; there are some things that were lost that can never be restored. Many benefi t concerts have been held and will continue to be held by small bands and iconic artists to raise money for those who have been greatly aff ected. The Red Cross has given about 78,000 packages to those who have lost their homes. These contributions and any other small do-nations all go toward rebuilding the life washed away by Sandy.

Special December 2012 Hoofbeats 9

destruction

A boat docks itself at the corner of an intersection in South Merrick.(photo by Maddy Gott lieb)

water and blocks traffi c on Bayberry Ave.(photos by Maddy Gott lieb)

Fallen trees block the path on Alexander Ave. in North Merrick.(photo by Heather Bey)

Wires and trees cover the ground on Michael William Rd.(photo by Heather Bey)

Scenes such as this one on Shore Drive were the norm in the days following Sandy.(photo by Jenna Rudolfsky)

10 Hoofbeats December 2012 COLTURE

Perks of the book

Some types of books follow convinced narrative conventions so obsequiously, that may lead readers to think they know what is going to happen on every corner. Some books impact us in diff erent ways, and if a book is well-writt en, it will leave an open wound. The Perks of Being a Wallfl ower is the kind of book that leaves a sig-nifi cant mark on its reader through the book’s sense of remoteness, sadness, and anxiety over messing up as a freshman in high school. All these realistic situations change our perspective about our own lives. Teen readers are so used to love triangles (like banal vampire love to humans), that when a real-istic book with actual problems is writt en, it should be well acknowl-edged. This is certainly not a new novel, but the recent fi lm adaptation has sent many teenagers to the book store to read the original story. The story begins with lett ers writt en to an anonymous friend, in the early 1990s. The lett ers explain protagonist Charlie’s feelings, and his days through high school. Charlie is smart and quiet. He

wants to make friends. He keeps in mind the words of his favor-ite professor, Bill, who once said: “You know they say if you make one friend on your fi rst day, you’ll do good.” That’s when Charlie meets Pat-rick and Sam at a football game. His journey to not be the outcast begins. This is the pivotal transi-tion in which the book changes from a typical, usual script into a rich and joyfully rugged text em-bedded with the realities of crush-es, addictions, and relationships. As the story goes on, we learn more about Charlie’s fam-ily, friends, and the rocky pasts of many characters. There is an edge of darkness permeated throughout the book that introduced colos-sal mysteries that aff ect the whole plot. Charlie’s friends, too, have struggles and must face the real-ity of dealing with their pasts and moving forward. Even though Charlie’s adven-ture seems sad and obscure, the book has a severe impact on read-ers’ reactions. The book is riddled and human fallibility, love, and chances to make life bett er. The Perks of Being a Wallfl ower is an incredible story, and it highly recommended.

Paper Towns, by John Green, contains equal parts hilarity, intel-lect, and mystery, all totaling up to a smart and meaningful book that sheds light on our perception of the people around us. Quentin Jacobsen, a senior in high school, has had a crush on Margo Roth Spiegelman, his

neighbor and childhood friend, ever since he can remember. They are eventually separated by high school woes, as Margo cultivates her image into that of a perfectly popular high school queen. Quentin lives inside his com-fort zone, never taking risks until one night Margo appears at his bedroom window dressed all in black asking Quentin to join her on a mission of revenge against her phony friends. Everything is fun and pranks un-til the next day when Quentin dis-covers Margo has run away. On his quest to fi nd her, he soon realizes the diff erence between the Margo he knows, the Margo everyone else knows, and the Margo that resur-faces when no one is watching. The book is brilliantly moving because it is layers upon layers of observations that will ring true in the reader’s mind. The plot seems very simple but Green weaves Pa-per Towns into a complex coming-of-age story that compares illusion to reality. It takes Quentin much of the book to fi gure out that we can never really know people, which

is why the book is able to carry so much depth. Everyone can connect to the idea of perception and misunderstand-ing, two themes that are consis-tently mentioned in the book. Aside from the heavy topics and complex truths, the book is abso-lutely hilarious. Green’s secondary characters complete the story with wit and signifi cance. Quentin’s friends, Ben and Ra-dar, each share a comical quirki-ness that helps to lighten the book and digress from Quentin’s self-absorbed antics. The contrast be-tween Ben and Radar’s comedy and Margo’s puzzling disappear-ance off ers another example of the duality of life and people in gen-eral. The face of duality herself, Mar-go is both heartbreaking and frus-trating. She’s rash, moody, sarcas-tic, and extremely secretive. She’s not very likable as a character, but that’s kind of the point. As it is, one of the book covers shows bright and cheery Margo on one side and a dark and dreary Margo on the other. Quentin fi nds out how danger-

ous it is to only see the bright and cheery side of Margo all the time. It’s diffi cult to like Margo because all sides of her are revealed to us in the book. A down side to this book is that it tends to lag between Margo dis-appearing and Quentin putt ing clues together in order to fi nd her. The beginning is full of excitement and the end is beautiful and bitt er-sweet, but the middle can be very tedious. Also, there are many similarities between Paper Towns and Look-ing for Alaska. Paper Towns is de-signed to make its readers think. As Quentin and Margo come to their own conclusions about their lives, we are also forced to think about the decisions we make in re-gards to our perceptions of others. Misjudgment and the inability to understand each other as peo-ple are two problems that Paper Towns addresses head-on. Quentin said it best himself: “I’m starting to realize that people lack good mirrors. It’s so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and so hard for us to show anyone how we feel.”

by Brianna PaoliStaff Writer

Plenty of praise for Paper Towns

by Paula PecegoStaff Writer

Taking a shot

Members of the boys’ winter track team practice the shot put while preparing for their next meet.

(photos by Katie Hecker)

Editorial December 2012 Hoofbeats 11

Students’ empathy embarrassesAs things are starting to

fall back into place aft er the devastating eff ects of

Sandy, an examination of how the situation was handled must be re-viewed. We’re not talking about LIPA or the gas lines, but rather the role we played as students and young adults in the aft ermath of the super storm. As many students were signifi -cantly aff ected by Sandy, we take this topic close to heart since it’s so hard to see members of the student body hurting in any way. On our return to school, one of the most heart-warming things to see was the generosity and sup-port bestowed upon everyone by the teachers and administrators. Every teacher expressed their la-ment, and tried their best to return to a normal, cheerful classroom at-mosphere. Charging stations were avail-able in the school’s library and

computer labs, making it possible for students without power to charge their cell phones, laptops, and other electronic devices. Teachers understood that many students were not emotionally or physically able to complete home-work assignments or tests, and gave the students a re-prieve of such work. It was truly touching to see how much the staff cared, and how much they want-ed to help. It would make anyone proud to be a part of Calhoun. However, a large population of people was less than appropriate during this horrifi c time: the stu-dents. Walking into fi rst period on that day back was less than reas-suring for many aff ected students. Instead of feeling comforted and supported by peers, it was appall-ing to hear what many students were saying. Not: “I was so wor-ried for my friend,” or “I feel re-

ally awful for everyone.” Not even a “Hurricane Sandy was really bad.” But rather, the conversation seemed to be, “I was so bored ev-ery day,” “I couldn’t watch TV all week,” or, “We had to let people stay at our house.”

If students take away any-thing from their

teachers’ classes, it should be em-pathy. Every single adult in the building expressed nothing less, even for students they didn’t have in class. It’s time for students to learn how to respect and support their classmates and fellow com-munity members. When people’s homes and lives were changed forever, those for-tunate enough to have been unaf-fected continue the stereotypical norm for teenagers: a selfi sh and disconnected att itude concerning the world around them. It is quite immature and inap-

propriate of many members of the student body to have reacted in such a nonchalant, non-caring way. We are bett er than that. We’ve all seen images of homes that were completely destroyed and have witnessed surrounding lives changed forever. However, New York spirit showed resilience, compassion, and strength once again. You may be knocked down, but your family, friends, and com-munity will be there to pick you up. This is the kind of mind-set that the student body should’ve kept in place when we returned. The next time there is a full-blown emergency, a school-related problem, or even a person hav-ing a rough time, students should learn from the past, and reach out to help in that situation. Students need to help each oth-er, because that is what will make Calhoun the best school it can pos-sibly be.

Staff Editorial

Staff Members: Vanessa Betancur, David Braunstein, Julianna Ca-sella, Julie Ciccone, Paulina Fein, Jeremy Frank, Katie Hecker, Arooj Iqbal, Sarah Johnson, Xander Lent, Mary Mazzie, Robby Mutarelli, Brianna Paoli, Paula Pecego, Chris Reyes, Cristina Quinn, Carter Simonson, Michael Trageser, Nicole Witt e, Jocelyn Yu

Hoofb eats is the offi cial student newspaper of Calhoun High School. Hoofb eats serves to inform its readers of news and events, and as a forum for the students of Calhoun to express their ideas and opinions. Hoofb eats accepts lett ers to the editor, but reserves the right to edit or refuse the publication of submissions. Lett ers should be sent to the school or placed in the Hoofb eats mailbox. All lett ers must be signed and include a contact number for the writer. Some visual material courtesy of the Ameri-can Society of News Editors High School Newspaper Service. The paper also accepts advertisements for a fee, but reserves the right to refuse advertisements for any or no reason. The views expressed in Hoofb eats do not necessarily refl ect the opinion of the administrators, teachers, editors, or faculty adviser.

Editors-in-Chief Maddy Gott lieb Gabby Simonson Managing Editor Sarah Steil News Editor Dana Reilly Colture Editor Jenna Rudolfsky Photography Editor Rebecca Spina Faculty Adviser Jason Boland

Hoofb eatsSanford H. Calhoun High School

1786 State StreetMerrick, NY 11566

(516) 992-1300E-mail: hoofb eatseditor@yahoo.com

Twitt er: @hoofb eatspaper

Volume 55 No. 2 December 2012

Recognized by Columbia University, ASPA, NYPA, LIPA, and Newsday for journalistic excellence

Ready to add a star? The US fl ag could be looking forward to a makeover, as we may soon become the United 51 States of America. For the fi rst time, Puerto Ricans voted on a referendum and favored statehood, as opposed to maintain-ing their home’s status as a US ter-ritory. Puerto Ricans voted on pre-serving their current status (which 56 percent opposed), and then were confronted with the alterna-tives: statehood or independence? As 61 percent favored statehood, this proposition would drastically change the archipelago’s 114-year position as a US territory. Why the change in opinion of a country that had previously re-fused statehood? Puerto Rico has been struggling with both its own economy, and its own populace. Perhaps the biggest red fl ag for the commonwealth was that most of its residents live in the US, either pulled in by the lure of the US, or pushed out by Puerto Rico’s own economic faltering. By becoming a state, Puerto Rico would fi nd aid in the government and fi nancial aid from taxes. The world’s “melting pot,” the US, would welcome a greater level of diversity with the inclusion of the 51st state. The new state could also help the US, as Puerto Ricans would begin paying federal taxes, and would be allowed to vote in US elections.

While declared US citizens in 1917, Puerto Ricans do not cur-rently have the right to vote in US political elections. The inclusion of the 51st state presents an exciting aspect of ex-pansionism to the US, a country that has always prided itself on its open and inviting atmosphere. Realistically, however, there also comes dangers with Puerto Rico’s statehood, as many may reject it in the haze of prejudiced ignorance. There exists two contradictory vi-sions of American. On one side stands the history of the United States of America, the great melt-ing pot for people of all diff erent backgrounds. The other side is not as sunny as the fi rst. America is also seen by many as the racist and bigoted country that runs in fear of immigrants. Which side of the American public will we see? Those who wish to preserve the “traditional” US forget that the US runs on a tradition of immigration, and that the rise in diff erent races is nothing new. Of course, the proposed expan-sion of our country may not be so readily agreed upon in Congress. While President Obama stated he would respect the wishes of the majority of Puerto Ricans, a ma-jority is needed in congress, and it could be long time before congress is even voting. Hopefully, however, we may be looking at a bigger country, a more diverse populace, and, of course, a new fl ag.

by Sarah SteilManaging Editor

12 Hoofbeats December 2012 Editorial

Ah, Thanksgiving. A friendly reminder of driving off the Native Americans from their land, killing many along the way. While some people choose to celebrate this wonderful holiday with a feast, others opt for a whole diff erent approach: to show up for school in face paint, feather head-dresses and headbands, dream catchers, and oth-er “Native Amer-ican” gear. It’s bad enough when this hap-pens on Hal-loween, but to see such a sight the day before Thanksgiving is appalling. By treating a culture as a costume, you are perpetuating harmful ste-reotypes and encouraging cultural appropriation. Imagine you are a Native Amer-ican male (of Native descent). As a member of your tribe, you un-dergo vigorous labor and study-ing to receive the honorable privi-lege of wearing your ancestors’ headdress. But at the same time,

it seems every teenage girl in an Urban Outfi tt ers’ crop top thinks it’s appropriate to treat that sacred headdress like a costume and wear a cheap knock-off made from craft store feathers just to look trendy in their Instagram photos. It’s safe to say anyone would be a litt le out-raged. And consider this: many profes-sional sports teams choose to elect controversial mascots to represent their teams. Some well known ex-

amples would be: the Cleveland Indians, Kan-sas City Chiefs, Washington Red-skins, Florida State University’s Seminoles. In fact, at FSU

home games, kickoff is prefaced with their mascot, which happens to be a man dressed in faux Native American garb, galloping in on a horse and shooting at a fl aming ar-row into the football fi eld. While some may consider this to be a gesture of admiration for Native rituals, others may inter-pret it to be an att ack on Natives, implying a stereotype that, though not believed in today’s times, holds

deep hatred in history: the title of “savages.” There has been much discussion concerning the FSU mascot, specifi cally from social activist David Nar-comey. Narcomey is one of the tribal authorities representing the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Speaking on his own behalf, he stated, “I am deep-ly appalled, incredu-lously disappointed…I am nauseated that the NCAA is allow-ing this ‘minstrel show’ to carry on in this form of racism in the 21st century.” Another example is at London’s fashion week, Lady Gaga made the executive decision to wear a tacky pink burqa despite the fact that she is not Muslim, nor is she from the Middle East. To wear something with cultural or religious signifi -cance in the name of fashion while millions of people who are actually part of that culture are oppressed and shunned by Western society is despicable. It is disrespectful and insensitive, especially when done

in a sexualized manner. Here’s some food for thought: statistics from the Save Wiyabi

Project show that one out of every three Native

American women will be raped in their lifetime. Three out of ev-ery four will be physically as-saulted. Eighty-

eight percent of this violence is

perpetrated by non-Native men.

By dressing up in an off ensive “sexy Native Ameri-

can woman” costume, you are encouraging the objectifi cation of Native American women as sex objects, thus contributing to the violent culture against them. This concept of inappropriate appropriation can be applied to all cultures, especially during times that call for dress-up. So the next time you feel a need to celebrate through dress, remem-ber that there are plenty of fun, non-oppressive, off ensive, insensi-tive, degrading, stereotypical cos-tumes out there.

by Mary MazzieStaff Writer

Celebrating insensitivity

As the weather begins to turn to winter, people of all diff erent races and religions prepare for the “most wonderful time of the year.” However, despite the urge to deck the halls with decorations galore, many public schools are prohibit-ing holiday decorations. It seems these days that fewer people celebrate the holidays for their meaning, and place their focus more on the commercial aspect of Christ-mas, Channukah, and others. The commercial facets of the holidays are responsible for the decorations we’ve come to know and appreci-ate. The question is: do they have a place in a public school building? Across the country, more peo-ple are becoming frustrated with the decorations found in pubic schools, government buildings, and town streets.. Some school boards around the country are be-

ginning to prevent decorations in school buildings for fear of making students feel their holidays are be-ing neglected, and afraid of mixing religion into schools. That’s not a problem for us here, as our principal sees no harm in the decorations. Principal David Seinfeld said that he believes that students work bett er when there are decorations around the school.

“Decorations that are student-created lead to an active hallway. They’re nice to look at, and they boost morale.” Mr. Seinfeld also expressed the

idea that the decorations at Cal-houn are only commercial, and are non-religious. You won’t see a diorama of the nativity scene in the lobby, but rather a festive tree with lights strung around it. The reasoning behind putt ing decorations up is not to enforce the ideas of certain religions. To put it simply, they’re just supposed to be fun.

Though it may seem that certain beliefs reign as more prominent, students with diff ering beliefs should not feel ostracized. Senior Jacob Derwin said, “I don’t believe that holiday deco-rations in our school, or public schools in general, are off ending anybody. I don’t cringe at the sight of Santa Claus, and I would hope that others don’t cry when they see a Menorah sticker on a window. “I believe the decorations are to get people in the spirit of the holi-day season. The holiday season is supposed to be a happy time, and

the school is trying to create that atmosphere, and that is appreci-ated,” he said. Remember, if you do feel your holiday is neglected, feel free to mention it to an administrator or student government. The holiday season is meant to bring joy to all, and the teachers and student leaders here are usu-ally available to meet with or talk to. As students, we all have the right to feel safe, comfortable, and welcomed in our own school. Happy holidays, and happy decorating!

‘Tis the season(logo with permission from seminoles.com/mediaguide)

“It seems every teenage girl in an Urban Outfi tt ers’ crop top thinks it’s appropriate to treat that sacred headdress like a costume...”

“Some school boards around the country are beginning to prevent decorations in school buildings for fear of making students feel their holiday is being neglected.”

by Maddy Gott liebEditor-in-Chief

The main lobby is decorated to refl ect the joys of the holiday season, but some school districts do not allow any festive decorations at all.

(photo by Maddy Gott lieb)

Editorial December 2012 Hoofbeats 13

Lett ers to the editor...To the editor, I completely agree with the viewpoint in your article titled, “Challenge accepted” [Editorial, October 2012]. Students these days are judg-mental on one’s race, interests, looks, weight, and really any-thing else that sticks out as being so called, “diff erent.” This leads

to the separation of students into their own cliques and groups, which ultimately leads to bullying and the appearance of diff erent statuses in popularity. Although at Calhoun it’s not as severe as it is in other places, it still is something that is apparent. Ev-eryone should be accepted and no one should ever have to deal with any form of bullying. Even though one might say that name-calling

and the display of cliques are just a part of high school and will never fully end, I believe bullying and cliques can lessen and therefore Challenge Day is worth it. Furthermore, it is an eye-opener for stu-dents to realize that everyone has problems going on in his or her life, and no one is alone. I am incredibly happy that the seniors this year got to experi-ence Challenge Day before they graduate. Personally, I participated in Challenge Day as a sophomore last year and am a large advocate of it. I think everyone in Calhoun should be fortunate enough to partake in the life changing experi-ence Challenge Day brings. I also agree with you when you say that, “…Challenge Day is not something you forget about a week or a month later.” Although many students in Calhoun say

that Challenge Day didn’t work or reach its potential because stu-dents aren’t acting the same way they did for the few days that came aft er the event, I believe it still opened up students to everyone’s struggles, and connected students

with teachers and faculty. Personally, I learned life

lessons that day that I know will never leave me. Being able to realize that every single person goes through struggles, has inse-curities and problems that others might not know about is such an important thing to know. Even if someone looks tough on the out-side, you never know what is go-ing on outside of what you see in school. Aft er all, everyone is just human. I agree with you: we all need to be the change, and I hope the sophomores and future students will all be able to participate in Challenge Day sometime in their years here.

- Rachel Gott , Class of ‘14

Readers Respond

Challenge Day

To the editor, I agree with many of the ideas brought up in the article, “Stu-dents talk baselines” [News, Octo-ber 2012]. The baseline tests given at the beginning of the year were a waste of time in every class I had to take one in, and I’m sure many students agree. It is absurd to think a stu-dent coming into a new curricu-lum would be able to know any-thing and be able to take a test. These tests were aimed at help-ing teachers see what their stu-dents need to work on and how they can improve over the year. This seems like a great idea until you see many children got every-thing wrong. But then again, how could they not? I know when taking the chemis-try baseline I was completely lost. I tried reading all of the questions, but it was like a diff erent language. Speaking of diff erent languages, most students in my Spanish class ending up making a design with their answer key. Now who is that helping? It is a waste of a class period in which students could have been

learning new material and teach-ers could have been teaching. Now you must look at the base-lines from the teachers’ perspec-tive, as well. They are asked (I mean told) to administer a test to their students knowing their stu-dents won’t do well. They must change their lesson plans to ac-commodate these tests, and they will be judged by the school and the state following these tests. Teachers will be expected to use these tests as a guide to help teach children throughout the year, but that will be impossible. A teacher must follow the curriculum and cannot alter their plans to accom-modate each and every child ac-cording to the baseline. These tests created chaos dur-ing the fi rst few weeks of school, and then they were forgott en. The baseline tests have ceased to be brought up again, and they prob-ably never will be. No students have received any grades, so how will students benefi t from that? They won’t. The answer is simple: the base-line tests were a waste of time, pa-per, and money.

- Taylor Sipos, Class of ‘14

Baseline exams

To the editor, I was reading through Hoofb eats and came across Sarah Steil’s arti-cle “Grading the Graders” [News, October 2012]. Like all other Cal-houn students, I agree that base-line exams are an unnecessary burden. How can one possibly judge a teacher? Just like all human be-ings, teachers have their pluses and minuses. Each has a diff erent strategy that works best for him or her. Therefore, we cannot dis-tinguish “the best” teachers from a simple exam. In fact, we cannot tell the best teachers at all. Every student is diff erent and has his or her own way of learning concepts just as every teacher has a unique style of teaching. In order to achieve complete success, both of these components must perfect-ly correspond to one another. Un-fortunately, this does not happen all the time. This is why we have some stu-dents achieve excellent grades and some students struggling in the same classroom. Is the teacher to blame for the students’ failures? Is the teacher a success because of a few students? These are questions that are greatly debatable. Aside from being inadequate,

baseline exams prove to an un-necessary waste of time. Teachers were required to give students a full period to complete a task they had no concern for. As a result, none of the students tried. The majority simply bubbled in random answers. How is that supposed to assess a teacher’s per-formance? In addition, the period could have been utilized to teach a new topic—which the students would care about. Even if the stu-dents performed well on one spe-cifi c topic, it would mean noth-ing. The teacher would still have taught the topic. Baselines prove to be a greater burden than benefi t to the district. With such great resentment regarding baselines, they clearly prove to be useless. What is the use of something that fails to achieve its purpose? The school district should stop focusing on useless baselines and focus on the impor-tant stuff —each students overall performance. If students are happy coming to class every day, there is no need for teacher evaluation. Each individu-al is unique, then how can we com-pare one individual to another?

- Erum Ahmed, Class of ‘14

Giving grades to teachers

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Running men

The boys’ winter track team enjoys a warm December day on the school track to go for a run.

(photo by Katie Hecker)

14 Hoofbeats December 2012 Editorial

Before I started my Calhoun ca-reer, high school was introduced as the place where everything counts and there’s no turning back — from the grades to the decisions you make. From an outsider looking in, it also seemed like a batt leground for bullies and creeps of all walks of life. On September 4, my percep-

tion of high school changed. For bett er or for worse? I don’t know yet, but it most certainly changed. Let’s start with the positives. First off , Calhoun off ers so many amazing clubs that in September I didn’t know where to start. They off er clubs for all diff erent people: art club for artists, Crescendo for the happy-go-lucky singers, and C.A.V.E. for the fan boys and girls of this school. There are so many new clubs being created that the school website can’t even keep up. I also love how the teachers and the staff treat you. Since you are in high school they treat you like true adults. They are serious, fo-cused, crack jokes once in a while, which is great. They also off er ev-ery possible amount of extra help you need. Almost all my teachers have websites, which is awesome because I get notes from home, so if I forget to take them one day it’s on the website. Only my Eng-lish teacher hasn’t caught onto the website idea yet (hint, hint). I don’t really have many nega-tive thoughts about high school, but I still want to state my case. One thing I fi nd odd is how lunch monitors don’t take your lunch passes. I don’t know if this hap-pened to anyone else, but some-times if I need to go fi nish labs or fi nish a test, they just wouldn’t take the pass I showed them. Is that annoying or what? I also would wish sometimes that the li-brary would be open later. At Mer-rick Avenue Middle School, the

library would be open until 5:00 p.m. I oft en would need that extra time at school because my house is full of distractions. I would want to come from extra help and fi nish the rest of my homework in peace. I know the public library isn’t far, but the school library is a shorter commute from extra help than the other library is. The last thing I fi nd annoying is how you can never hear the an-nouncements. I know it’s not the school’s fault, but it happens every morning. Just to hear if clubs are going on or if clubs are beginning would be nice. On average it takes me about two days to process one announcement. Coming to Calhoun, I expected many ideas, traditions, and activi-ties to happen. Obviously, the so-

cial pyramid doesn’t die just be-cause you move up in the world. The pyramid has been woven in human nature since ancient times, unfortunately. I also didn’t expect how many chances the trouble-makers in my classed get. My next door neigh-bor told me that Calhoun has “a one strike and you’re out policy.” Instead it’s aft er 17 chances. I per-sonally love that because it shows that my teachers have souls. High school is high school. Ev-eryone defi nes it diff erently. Espe-cially those who are more experi-enced in the subject. From my few months of being in Calhoun, I have learned that you need to speak up when you need help, to always use your resources, and to take it one day at a time.

Ask me anything. These three words are destroying the self-esteem of teenagers all around the world. The destruction started when Formspring and Ask.fm were created: social websites where kids create accounts and peo-ple can ask them questions and leave comments on their page. The problem is that these com-ments can be left anonymously, and a majority of the remarks are nasty. These sites are supposed to be fun, but they have become a new form of bullying. Instead of the bully saying something to your face or writing it online, they are anonymously posting things about you, and the worst part is, you gave them the power to do it. Sure, you might get a nice comment once in a while, but these kids will trash you. Here’s a simple solution: don’t make one of these accounts. Half of the things these kids write on your page, they would never write if they weren’t anonymous. For all you kids who decided you have nothing bett er to do except pick on other kids while hiding behind your computer, what is wrong with you? Why would you purposely try to hurt anyone? I feel bad for those of you who stoop so low as to trash your classmates. And to all the kids who stand up to the bullies, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for having the courage to stand up for those who get bullied, or who are too scared to do it themselves. You guys are true heroes. If every-body was able to stand up to bullies like the rest of you, then most likely there would be no bullies left .

Only cowards att ack blindly

First take on freshman year

The hallways of the school can be a blur to many freshmen, as the transition to high school is diffi cult for teenagers.(photo by Emily Begin)

by Andrea BeganskasStaff Writer

Like a locker combination, everyone’s high school experience is diff erent. (photo by Emily Begin)

by Cailyn WrightStaff Writer

Sports December 2012 Hoofbeats 15

The varsity basketball team opened up its season with a 1-1 re-cord in non-conference games. Aft er a 53-43 non-conference loss to Freeport High School, the Colts

bounced back with a 54-24 thrash-ing of Oceanside High School. The boys will be facing tough competition this season in Confer-ence AA-III, playing against teams such as Great Neck South, Elmont, and Carey. District rivals Mepham and Bellmore JFK are also each on the schedule twice. Under the tutelage of experi-enced head coach Jay Kreutzberg-er, the boys moved down from Conference AA-II aft er a 4-7 sea-son last year. The team graduated several key players last year, as former senior captains Ian Stone and Danny Tre-pel are no long around. But key players, Tom Joannou and Tommy Murphy, who both served as junior captains last sea-son, return again for the fi nal year at Calhoun. It was Murphy who led the way with 17 points in the Oceanside win, with 8 of those points coming in the fi rst quarter alone. Joannou scored 9 points in the win, aft er putt ing up 8 points

against Freeport. Brian Downey led the team in points against Free-port with 12 and scored 8 against Oceanside. Also scoring in the regular sea-

son warm-up against Oceanside were Kyle McGinley with 8 points, Mike Sternberg with 5 points, Eric Ohlendorf with 4, Lucas Kevin with 2, and Ryan Cangemi with 1.

Boys hope for a reboundBoys hope for a reboundby Gabby Simonson

Editor-in-Chief

Senior Tom Joannou

(photo by David Braunstein)

(photo by David Braunstein)

The boys will take on district rivals, Mepham and Kennedy, twice each.

The girls’ basketball team is looking forward to a great 2012-2013 season, determined to give its best and work hard toward mak-ing a run at the playoff s. The Lady Colts are beginning their season by improving fl aws and polishing their skills, a dif-fi cult but eff ective plan for a suc-cessful season. Kimberly White, a senior on the team, is proud of the fact that the team is working on their strengths and weaknesses.

“Our goal this season is to start making more outside shots and working on our off ensive plays,” she said. “Our strengths right now are defi nitely speed, defense, and pressuring the ball every chance we get. We are ready to start the season and rack in some wins.” Junior Caitlin O’Hara is im-pressed with the dedication she sees on the team. “I have never been with a harder working group of girls, and I be-lieve that if we continue to work hard, we will be able to have a great season,” O’Hara said. The girls are happy to get back

to practices and playing games, such as team captains Maggie Ka-vanah and Anne Marie White, who have been on the team since their freshman and sophomore year, re-spectively. Marie Chin, a junior, is espe-cially happy with the friendships she has formed while being on the team. “The girls on this team are so funny, and we get along great. At practice we always have fun, but at the same time we focus and play at a varsity level,” Chin said. Chin also admires the team’s coach, Coach Dave Radtke, for all of his support and enthusiasm. “Our coach is so positive and has already helped me improve so much. He gives us inspirational quotes and always wants to see us succeed,” she said. Last year, the team was success-ful, but lost many players when the seniors graduated. This doesn’t dishearten the current group of girls though; it serves as motiva-tion for progress and achievement, as well as potential for success. The team opened up their non-conference schedule with a 1-2 record. Its non-league win came against Oceanside, with a fi nal score of 55-34. The team is using its game against Oceanside as mo-tivation to remain focused.

“We played a non-league against Oceanside and played really well. They were tough components, but really got us ready for the real season. Non-league games get us ready for the hard games to come,” said Nora Charidah, a junior on the team. O’Hara added, “I believe we will only improve with each game. This season we will be playing some tough teams but I am confi -dent that we will give those who underestimate us a run for their money.”

Lady Colts set sights on playoff sLady Colts set sights on playoff sby Brianna Paoli

Staff Writer

Junior Nora Charidah said non-league games help the team get ready for the season.(photo by Robby Mutarelli)

Junior Jessica Benitez inbounds the ball.

(photo by Robby Mutarelli)

The wrestling team is in the mid-dle of another season of batt les on the mat. “We are a lot bett er than last year,” said sophomore Matt Krause. “Everyone is placing in the tournaments, whereas last year it was only a few wrestlers.” Led by senior captains Aus-tin Hecker and Jenard Roseman, the boys compete in matches and tournaments, both as a team and as individuals in their own weight classes. “Austin is one of the best leaders on the team,” Krause said. Roseman was an All-County wrestler last year in the 220 weight class. He is currently ranked No. 1 in Nassau County. “He’s a very good technical wrestler,” Krause said. The team is coached by Steve Romano, in his second year as head coach, along with assistant coaches Bennet and Ari Bisk. At the recent Hank Paris Tour-nament, Roseman fi nished fi rst in his weight class. Krause fi nished second in the 106 weight class, se-nior Julian Arroyo fi nished 3rd in his class, and sophomore Thomas Fitzsimmons fi nished 2nd in the 170 weight class.

Senior Julian Arroyo (in blue) takes down his opponent in a recent match against Valley Stream North.(photo by Katie Hecker)

by Maddy Gott liebEditor-in-Chief

Dylan Goldstein, junior, performs a bar arm against his opponent.(photo by Katie Hecker)

Hitt ing the matsHitt ing the mats

Senior captain Jenard Roseman goes for the pin against Valley Stream North.(photo by Katie Hecker)