March 2008 Issue
By Roxy Glazier
In response to growing public criticism of rising construction costs at Newton North, the School Committee and Design Review Committee met Wednesday, February 27 to discuss cutting the project by $7 million.
The committee's reduced the landscaping costs, simplified the theater, and substituted glass walls with regular walls. They plan to wait until the winter is over to pour concrete, helping to save up to $200,000.
Shelves and bike racks from the old school will be recycled into the new school to save additional money.
The cost of the school could have been reduced by $5.5 million more by not providing outdoor lighting the tennis courts, building a smaller stadium that seats half the people, and getting rid of air conditioning but members from both committees rejected the proposal.
By Jeremiah Davis
The Newton South Environmental Club has placed receptacles for bottles around the school in order to prevent recyclable bottles from ending up in the trash or paper recycling due to a lack of an effective means for emptying.
Even with the aid of the Environmental Club, the custodial staff was unable to individually empty the bins in every classroom in the building.
“Consequently, many of these recyclables are being thrown into the trash, South Senate chair and committee member Ben Chelmow said.
Because of this issue, the South Senate proposed the “Student Recycling Initiative Act of 2008. It states that during advisory long block, several students will be responsible for bringing the bins to the main receptacles located at the loading dock.
By News Staff
Speakers and debaters invaded Newton South on Friday and Saturday, March 8 and 9 as the school hosted a regional qualifier for the National Forensic League's national tournament.
Hundreds of students dressed in suits performed pieces and debated topics in rooms all over the school. They arrived almost as soon as school ended on Friday and left Friday night. Those who made it to the next rounds retuned on Saturday.
Newton South's Speech Team qualified four students for Nationals. Juniors Rebecca Goldstein and Alex Tolkin qualified in Extemporaneous speaking. Seniors Justine and Antonia Lassar respectively qualified in Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation.
By Nathan Yeo
South seniors Anjali Jacob and Laura Ware received the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendent's Award for Academic Excellence for the 2007-2008 school year.
Every year, principals, counselors, and teachers select two students from each high school to receive the award. Seniors Isaac Bleicher and Emma Kohse were selected from North.
Jacob and Ware's guidance counselors wrote statements praising the their personalities as well as their academic achievements.
By Nicole Repina
The Newton South Programming Club won first place in the annual Providence College Programming Contest, the largest computer-programming contest in New England, over the Westborough team, winners of the past seven competitions.
During the two day event on February 26, a total of 34 teams participated. Teams came from different locations, including New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
The four members chosen to go to the competition were senior captains Josh Larson and Maxim Starobinets, sophomore Michael Keselman, and senior Matthew Weaver.
The victory came as a surprise to the team members as they had not spend much time preparing for the competition. This year was the first time the club participated in any sort of competition.
The competition involved working in pairs and solving ten computer science problems within the set time limit of three hours.
“If you gave a rat with a spinal cord injury a drug that blocked the action of the NOGO-A protein¦.
Most students would be lost responding to this question, but Senior Anna Nathanson correctly answered it, winning her the Boston Regional Brain Bee contest on February 2 and qualifying to compete in the National Brain Bee.
“I was happy. It's always great to win, Nathanson said. Nathanson described the contest as “not as intense as one would think, but she still had a great time. Her first place win also earned her $350.
Anna Nathanson first heard about the Boston Regional Brain Bee from her neuroscience teacher, Dr. Jordan Kraus.
Another South student, Senior Anjali Jacob placed fourth in the competition.
By Alice Lee
What would motivate someone to eat a radish? There are two possibilities.
One is an extrinsic motivation – encouragement from external factors, such as a potential reward or a threat of punishment. Imagine the Average Joe in the cafeteria. If he knows that the National Radish Association of America will send him twenty dollars for every radish he eats, he will gladly partake of one.
The other possibility is an intrinsic motivation, or an internal intent uninfluenced by outside factors. Think now of Scarlett O'Hara, heroine of novel-turned-movie Gone With the Wind. Embittered and left destitute by the Civil War, she vows never to go hungry again. Fueled by this thought as well as her empty stomach, she willingly chokes down a radish.
But what do (nonexistent) Radish Associations and Scarlett O'Hara have to do with us?
By Garth Brody
After reading the local school papers, as is my habit on slow, sultry Tuesday mornings, I found, through some really crackerjack reporting (great job “Music gets lost in the mix), that music these days is done on the computer machine!
Gosh, call me nostalgic, but it ain't music until five men in identical suits play it in a studio owned by either Columbia or Brunswick Records; then I'll pay my sixpence and take it home for a whirl on my Victrola. From what I hear, any old Richard Roe from Duluth to Toledo can hop on his wirebox and clickety-clack – out zaps a record, pressed for sale. They don't even need suits for pete's sake.
By Rebecca Penzias
“Not being able to go on You Tube is stupid. Some people actually need to watch legit stuff there. Handwritten notes line the front desk on the library walls.
Though the library suggestion box has existed for many years, it has only recently become popular. The box was originally placed next to the copy machine, but most students did not take notice of it. Recently, though, the box was moved to a more noticable location, increasing its use and helping improve the library.
Many of the comments are valuable and have helped to make the library a better working environment. Others, however, have been inappropriate. Head Librarian Dorothy McQuillan makes an effort to respond kindly to the students, even though this can sometimes be a difficult task.
By Ben Seifer
It's a routine Wednesday. You're sitting in math class and the teacher begins drawing abstract and mystifying figures on the board, explaining as she goes along. After some time, the teacher stands aside and begins the lesson as students furiously take notes.
Before moving on to the next objective, the teacher asks, “Are there any questions? Students instinctively nod their heads; a couple may even say “no, but one student responds with a question: “Why do we need to know this?
I've heard this line since middle school and could never quite understand why those particular students continued to ask that same question, knowing that the teacher would never have an answer for them and that they would have to learn the material anyway. Almost three long years after graduating middle school, I have come to understand why they ask this question.