October 2008

FeatureSchoolNEWS FLASH!NEWS FLASH!There are things to doin Naples!

Check out out the funwe had during spiritweek!

p. 6p. 4

Volume 14 : Issue 2

www.TheTalonTribune.com

History of HalloweenLaura Naas

Staff writer

Ever wonder why every yearon October 31, people dress up inridiculous costumes and travel inhordes to strangers’ houses, wherethey then try to impress them inorder to receive cheapcandy, all the while chant-ing a bizarre mantra of“Trick or treat, smell myfeet”?

Halloween dates back2,000 years ago to the an-cient Celts in Ireland, whenthey celebrated their newyear in a spine-chillingdeath festival. According toancient doctrine, the CelticNew Year began on No-vember 1, marking the be-ginning of the dreary wintermonths. The day before it,October 31, was widely be-lieved to be the night when themost mischief and mayhemabounded; the night when the linebetween the living and the deadwas blurred, and the ghosts ofthose who passed roamed theearth. Celtic priests thought thatwith the otherworldly spirits float-ing around, they would be able topredict the future most accuratelyon that night.

During this “New Years Eve”celebration, the Celts adornedthemselves with animal heads andanimal furs, often still bloody andsmelling from the kill, and at-tempted to tell each other’s for-tunes. The final activity was a

huge bonfire in honor of Samhain,the god of darkness and death,meant to protect them from theupcoming winter months.The ritual of collecting candy

door to door started from the be-lief that the roguish dead spiritswould leave the people alone if

they gave them food. Costumeswere worn so the aboundingwicked spirits wouldn’t recognizethem on that night. Jack-O-Lanterns originated from theCeltic villain Jack, who was soevil that neither heaven nor hellwanted him, so he wandered theworld looking for a place to rest,his only comfort being a candle ina rotting pumpkin.As history progressed, the Celts

were taken over by the ancientRomans, who incorporated two oftheir own festivals into the Celts’festival of Samhain.The first was the festival of Fer-

alia, a day in late October when

the Romans celebrated the dead.The second was the celebration ofPomona, the goddess of fruit andtrees. Combining Pomona withthe ancient Celtic festival mostlikely is the explanation of whywe “bob for apples” at Halloweenparties.

The integration of Christianityinto the Roman Empire causedPope Boniface IV to try and abol-ish the festival of Samhain infavor of a more wholesome,Church-sanctioned holiday, AllSaints’ Day, honoring dead saintsand martyrs. Devout Christiansstill celebrate All Saints Day in-stead of Halloween.So when you go out to a Hal-

loween shindig at the end of themonth, don’t forget that Samhain,the lord of darkness, is watchingyou, and he wants to eat yourcandy.

Ancient bonfires were meant to honor Samhain, the godof darkness and death.

Halie GuelfiStaff writer

The United States is known as“the melting pot,” and NaplesHigh exemplifies just this. Here atNaples High there are 1,720 stu-dents and of these 63.7% are Cau-casian, 23.93% are Hispanic,4.65% are Haitian, 4.41% areAfrican-American, 1.28% areAsian, 1.8% are Multiracial, and.23% are Indian. Naples High ishome to students from all over theworld, from Germany to Colum-bia and many other countries. Thediversity at Naples High is every-where, and the students have a lotto tell about their native country.

“In Germany, the school dayonly lasted from seven-thirty inthe morning until one o’clock in

the afternoon,” said freshmanRichard Rheker of Bonn, Ger-many. “I moved to Naples fiveyears ago when my family visitedhere and thought it was nice, sowe decided to move here.”Naples as a city is growing in

population each year, as does thediversity. Just between the yearsof 1990 and 2000, the populationincreased by 20.48% and the per-centage of Caucasians went from82% to 73.8%. This change intro-duced more diverse students intoschools, as well.“I think that we’re the most di-

verse school in the county,” saidDr. Graham. “The kids seem totake care of each other and getalong with each other. It pleasesme to see how the kids interacthere. School is about the only in-

stitution left where you find thediversity we have, so I think we’rereally fortunate and I’m proudhow the kids handle it.”

Sophomore Marina Casolibalived in Costa Rica for sevenyears. She remembers her life inCosta Rica as peaceful and easy-going.“The school in Costa Rica was

more free-spirited and everymorning the whole school wouldget together and we would singfor 15 minutes to get in a goodmood for class,” said Casoliba. “Imiss the friendliness of the peopleand the nature. Everywhere youturned there was green.”

The cultural mix of Naples High

NNaattiioonnaall MMeerriitt

Christina CarlsonStaff writer

The National Merit ScholarshipProgram, founded in 1955, is anacademic competition for therecognition of hard-working stu-dents. Approximately 1.5 millionhigh school students take thePSAT/NMSQT every year. Ofthose, around 50,000 participantswith the highest scores qualify forrecognition. Furthermore, roughlyone-third of the 50,000 are noti-fied that they have qualified assemifinalists. Naples High Schoolis fortunate to have a semifinalistthis year.

Amelia Krauss, a senior atNaples High School, was sur-prised about her recognition as asemifinalist.“I actually was very surprised

I did so well, considering the factthat back in tenth grade when Itook the test, I had no idea howimportant my scores wouldbe later,” said Krauss.

The semifinalists of theNational Merit competition arethe highest scoring contestantsof each state. It is in-evitable that receivingthis award wouldinclude majorbenefits.“A lot of col-

leges and uni-versities willgrant you schol-arship money sim-ply for beings asemifinalist, so thatwill be really nice,”exclaimed Krauss.

Each year, around 1,500 Na-tional Merit Scholarship partici-pants, who are exceptional but notfinalists, are awarded specialscholarships from businesses andcorporations. Amelia may not yetbe a finalist, but she is tremen-dously pleased about her recogni-tion.“It feels very good to be recog-

nized for an accomplishment likethis,” stated Krauss.Krauss is anxiously waiting to

hear if she is a National MeritScholarship finalist. Some 15,000semifinalists are notified that theyhave advanced to finalist status.Krauss had to do imperative tasksin order to become a finalist.“I had to fill out an application,

write an essay about myself andmy goals, and send in a teacherletter of recommendation,” saidKrauss.Last year, Naples High School

had three National Merit Scholar-ship finalists: Jaclyn Arcy,David Axline, and AlexFernandez. Consideringhow intelligent the seniorclass is this year, it is a won-der why there aren’t more

finalists.“Honestly, I

have no idea whyI’m the only onethis year. Thereare so many in-telligent kids inthe class of ’09and many of them

deserve this recogni-tion more than I do, soI’m very grateful,”stated Krauss.

SScchhoollaarrAmelia Krauss

Racial percentages at NHSCaucasian

63.70%

Hispanic23.93%

Indian0.23%

Multiracial1.80%

Asian1.28%African American 4.41%

Haitian4.65%

NewsFreaking out aboutfinding the mula toget into college?

p. 9

LIST O

F

EVENTS

Continued on page 4

O p i n i o n2 October 2008

Cassie GibbsStaff writer

Turn on the television, log onto the in-ternet, or open a major newspaper; mostlikely you’ll be bombarded with stories ofpoverty, murder, and general tragedy. Themedia is drowning the Americanpublic with depressing and downrightscary news. Is our world really such aterrifying place? What many peopledon’t consider is that for everyheartrending story, there are truly in-spiring ones that go untold. This isbecause when reporters want atten-tion, they usually go for somethingshocking.

Unfortunately, this can result inthe general population harboring feartoward things that will likely neverhappen to them. Take, for instance, parents. Many

parents will hear or read these nega-tive news stories and immediatelydread the rare tragedies they’ve beeninformed of happening to their chil-dren. Have you noticed that there areeight-year-olds walking around with

their own cell phones? Is this just the resultof technological advances or has it, at leastin part, stemmed from parents becomingparanoid and ultimately more and moreprotective?Beyond being scared by negative news,

some people are affected so much that they

Our media’s negative spin

Allie SofosStaff writer

“Oh my god! You killed Kenny!” Whenyou hear this phrase you associate it with“South Park.” This crude, brass, and ab-solutely hilarious show is well-known

throughout most of Naples High andthroughout America. “South Park” has been on the air for 12

years now, which is an amazing accom-plishment if you have ever watched theshow. It’s a wonder that it hasn’t been can-celled. The things broadcast nationally oncable TV boggle my mind.

“South Park” has been called the bestshow on television, fresh, new and politi-cally incorrect. What makes “South Park” so famous is

the unique and clever way the creators andwriters put their views on politics and con-troversial issues in the show, what makes it

even more amusing is the fact that usuallythe fate of the world is put in the hands offour eight-year-old boys. For example, inone episode the writers portray how largecompanies (i.e.; Wal Mart) take jobs awayfrom smaller family-owned businesses. Inthe episode, they portrayed Wal Mart as if it

were an evil person, takingscenes from movies like theMatrix and twisting themaround. It’s all up to Kyle tostop Wal Mart and help outhis town. It is messages likethis that make people thinkabout things while also beingentertained. Now, I will admit that the

show can go a little too far onsome things, but as the cre-ators stated once “eithereverything’s okay to writeabout, or nothing is.”I’ve never met the “South

Park” creators, but if you’vebeen watching their show aslong as I have it becomesclear that they are strong be-lievers in the right to freespeech, causing them to often

push the limits to see how far they can go.Some are offended by this, while others areamused, it all depends on your sense ofhumor. What is also unique about the show is the

fact that they come up with an idea, writethe script, and animate it all in a time pe-riod in six days. Most shows like “TheSimpsons,” or “Family Guy” send out theiranimations to Japan to get them done.“South Park” gets everything done withinthe studio. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, whocreated the show, also voice most of char-acters and do most of the writing. Theyhave said that they would never let anyonebuy them out of “South Park.”In its tenth season, “South Park” made a

two-part episode ripping on “Family Guy,”where Cartman exclaimed, “‘Family Guy’isn’t funny, it’s just one random inter-changeable joke after another, they don’teven relate to the plot.”

In a press conference shortly after theepisode was aired, the creators were askedif they really do hate “Family Guy.” Stoneand Parker said, “Yes, we just don’t respectit from a writer’s point of view; they don’twork hard enough.”

Some say it’s pure jealousy because“Family Guy” beats “South Park” in rat-ings. When asked about this Matt Stonesaid, “Yeah it is a little bit of jealousy, that’slike if you’re an artist and you have alot oftalent and someone like Justin Timberlakebecomes famous and you don’t, he’s nogood so he doesn’t deserve it. It’s like a slapin the face.”Not only does “Family Guy” get better

ratings than “South Park,” but it also rakesin more fans. That’s not to say that “SouthPark” isn’t a better show, though. As sen-ior Dan Evans put it, “I prefer ‘South Park’because it has a plot, a message, and it’s rel-evant to the things that are going on in theworld, ‘Family Guy’ just doesn’t have apoint, it’s one gag after another, it gets old.”

joke genre of humor is very hit-or-misswith viewers.

“People either loved ‘Family Guy’ orhated it and wanted it dead,” creator SethMacFarlane said at a Fox news conference.

I think nay-sayers just don’t get thejokes. The humor is sometimes lost on animmature audience,who often flock tothe bodily functionshumor and sexualpreference gagsrampant on SouthPark. It can also behard to find thefunny if you’re notup to date with thelatest pop culture.“[W]e like holdingup a mirror to soci-ety and telling it it’sugly and we don’tlike what it’sdoing,” MacFar-lene has said in ref-erence to the popculture bombard-ment.

SophomoreDaniel Acosta nailed it on the head, saying,“I prefer ‘Family Guy’ because it’s random;that’s just my sense of humor.”Acosta is right: the show is very random.

The hilarious flashbacks, witty puns, andplay on words seen in every episode allmake a more high-brow humor; but can attimes be too much of a transition in such ashort amount of time for people to handle.Also, some people just like to watch car-toons for an easy, no-brainer laugh. Whether you love it or hate it, “Family

Guy” is contracted to be around until atleast 2012, so read up on some pop cultureand anticipate more complex comedy.

VVEERRSSUUss

develop anxiety disorders and clinical de-pression. While of course dishearteningnews stories are not the root of these psy-chological problems, it’s pretty safe to saythat reading a story about a double homi-cide under investigation would not calm ananxious person, nor would watching a news

special about starving children orwar casualties cheer up a depressedperson.

My main question is this: whyall the negativity? It sometimesseems to be that the media enjoysportraying the world as a placewhere things are just worseningwith no hope for improvement.Why not aim for a little less shockand a little more optimism? Therecertainly are things going on in theworld that do not include death,rape, pain, suffering, or injustice. Infact, I would go as far as to say thata few million of us walk around inour day-to-day lives and remainperfectly fine. So where are thegood stories? Personally, I think it’stime for a change.

This is an example of the type of negative stories that are highlighted by the media

instead of focusing on more positive news.

Hannah CardenasEditor-in-Chief

A baby genius bent on world dominationthat talks with a British accent. A homelygirl with glasses who is often confused fora man by her own family. A fat kid wholacks common sense with an evil monkeyin his closet. His fat father who consistentlyscrews up everything he’s a part of. A logi-cal, motherly redhead. A talking, sarcasticdog. If you’ve ever seen “Family Guy,” youknow who I’m talking about: the Griffins.

The show has been running for sevenyears, with their seventh season having juststarted in October. The show has been can-celed twice, once in 1999 following the sec-ond season, and the second time betweenthe third and fourth seasons from 2002 to2005. After Fox publicly announced theshow’s second cancellation, disappointedfans started a media campaign to bring theshow back including websites, petitions,and letters; some fans even sent diapers andbaby food to the network to “save Stewie.”It was brought back an unprecedented sec-ond time after it made the record books bybeing the best selling TV show on DVD,and because of its popularity on CartoonNetwork’s Adult Swim.The show is called “sick, twisted, polit-

ically incorrect and freakin’ sweet” byTV.com; an accurate description. This adultcartoon is based on a somewhat dysfunc-tional family living in Quahog, Rhode Is-land. The show contains many references topop culture and has been bashed for con-sisting largely of flashback scenes. Many ofthese flashbacks start with the phrase,“That’s almost as bad as…” or “That’smore disturbing than…”

“Family Guy” pokes fun at manycelebrities and contains tons of lewd, polit-ically incorrect humor. It’s banned in In-donesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iran, SouthKorea, South Africa, and Malaysia. Theblink-and-you’ll-miss-them gags and inside

None

Other

South Park

Family Guy

What NHS is watching..

85 Naples High students were asked, “Which show do you prefer, ‘Family Guy’ or ‘South Park’?”

5

14

39

27

http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Images/CartoonsMoviesTV/SouthParkWallpaper800.gif

www.gumkiersi.webpark.pl/family_guy.gif

www.channel6.ie/tv/family_guy/1197037401familyguylogo.jpg

www.mrhide.pinnesota.org/gallery/ albums/bg/SouthPark.jpg

O p i n i o n 3October 2008

Millie SzilagyiStaff writer

Soft love ballads and sappy music fillNHS students’ ears during busy breaks be-tween classes. But is this music inspiringtoo much romance?Couples are every-where. Some stu-dents are modestwith their publicdisplays of af-fection, casu-ally holdinghands andhugging.More than Isee cute,modest cou-ples, I see somerather raunchypairs. These “dirtyduos” are doing things likesitting on laps, way past casualmake-out sessions, and groping inareas that are required to be coveredby the school dress code. People are eat-ing food at lunch, no one wants to regurgi-tate the meal they just bought after seeingyou and your significant other eating eachother’s faces instead of the PB&J yourmother made for you (and with love inevery dollop of jelly!). Surprisingly, theschool planner says nothing about PDA

and draws no lines. Sophomore, Katie Kramer agrees that

student couples have taken PDA way toofar. “One couple in several of my classes

grosses me and my peers out daily,” saidKramer. Mr. Thomas alsoagrees that atschool, sexualdisplaysshould stay inour sciencetext books. “For public

displays of af-fection, holdinghands is fine,”said Mr. Thomas. It’s not that stu-

dents shouldn’t showtheir “Snuggly Boo

Bear” that they like them;it’s that some things desper-

ately need to stay private. Imean seriously, when you see peo-

ple groping and kissing do you think itlooks cute or trashy? Our pituitaryglands are obviously working harder nowthan ever. A plead to NHS students: it’sgetting disgusting. Save your affectionuntil after the 2:05 bell, you’ll also be sav-ing the rest of us from the newest schoolwide threat, “affectionist attacks!”

Ewwwwww!- Making out

- Sitting on laps

- Groping 

- Anythinglearnedfrom anMTVmusicvideo

Awwww!- Holdinghands

- A hug betweenclasses 

- A shortkiss

Public displays of atrocityatrocityLaura Naas

Staff writer

Unless you’ve ingeniously discoveredhow to tune a radio back a couple decades,the lack of imaginative and substantial con-temporary music on the radio waves ispainfully obvious. Don’t stress it, though;the key to musical euphoria lies beneath theradar. There are oodles of talented and orig-inal musicians out there just waiting for youto discover them. Conor Oberst doesn’t get even a sliver of

the recognition he deserves. He has beenwriting music since he was 14. Most fansrecognize him as the brains behind the folkrock group Bright Eyes, in which he re-leases most of his music with his close in-strumental collaborators. However, he hasalso been an integral part of other musicprojects, like The Desaparecidos and Com-mander Venus. In his newest project, ConorOberst and The Mystic Valley Band, Oberstbreaks away from his longtime musicalpartners and goes solo.

Despite which of Oberst’s musical en-deavors you decide to listen to, his lyricaland instrumental styles are apparent.

First and foremost, Oberst is a song-writer. Comparisons to the legendary lyri-cist Bob Dylan have been passed around,but Oberst most definitely has a style of hisown. Upon hearing his songs, the listener isburied in a landslide of metaphors and con-tinuous verse having to do with varyingthemes, such as lost love, hope, spirituality,and politics. One of my favorite lyrics isfrom the song “Bowl of Oranges.”“If theworld could remain within a frame like apainting on the wall, I think we’d see thebeauty then and stand staring in awe.”Secondly, Oberst is a remarkable musi-

cian. A wide range of instrumentation is ev-

ident in every album. Guitars, organs,horns, even a 40-piece orchestra havebacked his vocals, and Oberst is the keywriter. To which other so-called artiststoday can you attribute a feat as incredibleas this?

Here is a guide to my favorite BrightEyes albums, which I recommend for any-one who would like to get familiar with thisinfluential songwriter.

The “Fevers and Mirrors” album, re-leased in 2000, had a darker tone and wassurely one of, if not the most, emotionallyraw albums he has released in his career.The lyrics were written at, in my opinion,his peak of emotionality and expressive-ness.Any novice Bright Eyes fan should besure to listen to the staples “The CalendarHung Itself,” and “Haligh, Haligh, A Lie,Haligh.”

“I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning,” re-leased jointly with “Digital Ash In a DigitalUrn” in 2005, is possibly Oberst’s biggestcommercial success. Although a majorityof the album is spent lamenting a disinte-grating relationship, the lyrics are beautifuland honest, and have an underlying tone ofhope, not just for him, but for people andthe world in general. “Landlocked Blues,”“Poison Oak,” and “At the Bottom ofEverything” are mandatory tracks, alongwith “First Day of My Life,” and “Lua.”The whole album is amazing, just listen tothem all. I’m listening to it as I write this.

On “Lifted, or the Story is in the Soil,Keep your Ear to the Ground,” 2002,Oberst is bitter and cynical towards life.This is also one of his most controversialalbums along with 2007’s “Cassadega,” asOberst ridicules certain politicians andquestions spirituality. On “Lifted,” Oberstgets political with the powerful track “ToLove and to Be Loved.” Other notable

The absolute genius of Conor Oberst

songs include “Bowl of Oranges,” “MakeWar,” and “Lover I Don’t Have to Love.”Lyrically, this album stands out impres-sively, and effectively illustrates the preva-lent themes of confusion, heartbreak, andself-reliance. This record is very unsettling,and many questions and observationsOberst pits at us hit a little close too home.Just be sure not to listen to this if you’re

having a bad day; it will seem so muchworse. Extraordinary album, though.If you just can’t get enough Bright Eyes,

Oberst also is one of the founders of inde-pendent record label Saddle Creek Records,which is home to many other bands with thesame level of artistic value. I recommendRilo Kiley, Cursive, The Good Life, andSorry about Dresden.

S c h o o l N e w s4 October 2008Now is the time, with the holidays near, when people take a little time to slow down.

The weather cools and people take a chill pill of sorts. Now, it truly starts to feel likefall is here, and it feels good. This is the time Collier County abounds and, unbeknownstto some, there is stuff to do.

IMPORTANT EVENTSOct. 24 - Distribution of Report Cards

Bump in the Night at the ConservancyOct. 25 - ACT Test

Swamp Buggy Festival Parade (9am)Collier County Marching Band Show at NHS(6:30pm) BOO at the Zoo (3-7pm) Movie in the Park (Cambier Park, 7pm)

Oct. 31 - Halloween on 5thNov. 1 - SAT Test,

ChampBoat Grand Prix of Naples (LakeAvalon)Nov. 5 - Underclassmen picture retakes (8am-2pm)Nov. 8 - JROTC Elephant Fest Nov. 10 - Interim DistributionNov. 12 - Talent Show at NHS auditorium (7pm)Nov. 22 - Car wash sponsored by the NHS marchingbandNov. 24 - Festival of LightsNov. 25 - Distribution of report cardsNov. 26 - Nov. 30 - Thanksgiving BreakNov. 28 - Nights After Dark (a night walk with night

vision scopes in the Naples Zoo) Black Friday

Dec. 4 - Naples 5th Avenue of Lights Christmas tree lighting at Sugden Plaza(6:30pm)

Dec. 5 - End of Interim period, Nights After Dark at the Naples Zoo

Dec. 6 - SAT Test Dec. 8 - “That’s Entertainment 8”

(NHS auditorium, 7pm)Dec. 10 - Tuba Christmas at Sugden Plaza

(6-7:30pm)Dec. 11- Interim Distribution,

Christmas Boat Parade (The Village on Venetian Bay, 6-9pm) Evening on Fifth

Dec. 13 - ACT TestDec. 17 - Night Eyes After DarkDec. 19 - End of 1st Semester

Night Eyes After Dark at Naples ZooDec. 20 - Car wash by the NHS marching bandDec. 22 - Dec. 29 - HanukkahDec. 22 - Jan. 6 - Winter BreakDec. 26 - Jan. 1 - KwanzaaDec. 31 - New Year’s Eve Fireworks

Caroline KaltenbornAssistant Editor

The Collier County school district hasprivatized its custodians. The School Boardvoted in favor of outsourcing its custodialduties by hiring a private firm by a 3-1 vote. Friday, October 17, was the last day the

custodians will be currently employed bythe district. On Monday, October 20, thenew custodian company, GCA ServicesGroup, took over the custodial responsibil-ities. The Collier County school district has to

save money. Due to recent budget cuts,brought on by declining real estate values,the school district has been in need of a newplan for their custodian staff in order to savemoney. By hiring a private company, theschool district will save a total of 3.3 mil-lion dollars in the first year.

Fortunately for the former custodians,the new company was very willing to re-hire the former school district employees.

“If we recommend that the custodiansbe re-hired, they will be re-hired,” stated as-sistant principal Mr. Stockman. Even though the majority of the Naples

High custodians were re-hired, they had toundergo the same the background checkthat they had to complete to first enroll inthe job and they had to re-apply for the job.This included drug testing, finger printing,and other types of background checks. In addition to having to undergo a back-

ground check, the custodians will no longerhave free medical insurance which was pre-viously provided by the school district, andthey will have a slight reduction in pay. “Thankfully, most of our workers are

going to stay for now at least but I will losedirect interaction with the custodians whowill now go through the company ratherthan myself,” said plant operator MiguelRoil. The school district provided a custodian

job fair that was held at five schools in thearea and the GCA Services.

Custodian changeover

Elizabeth MolinaStaff writer

“It feels like a day dream, only a littlebit better.”

Comedy hypnotist Jon Simon ex-plained what being hypnotized feels like tothe curious Naples High students beforeasking for volunteers to come to the stage.The hypnosis show held on October 7wasaudience participation at its very best. Stu-dents not only saw the show, they alsowere the show. The auditorium was filledwith non-stop laughter the whole night.

“Contrary to popular misconceptionsabout hypnosis, everyone is able to be hyp-notized,” said Simon. “Some just takelonger to completely relax than others.” At first, 30 volunteers were seated on the

stage anxious to be hypnotized. Mr. Simonnow controlled their every move and everythought. “They can now see and smell things that

aren’t there,” Simon said. At one point in the show, Simon told the

participants that they were driving on asummer day in the sweltering heat withbroken air conditioning and the kid’s onstage began fanning themselves like crazy.Later on the hypnotized students thoughtthey were contestants in a muscle show onthe beach and finalists on Dancing “Withthe Stars,” busting out with their bestdance moves, students held up their shoesto their ears when they were hypnotizedinto believing it was their cell phone andpetted and snuggled with it when theythought it was a cute cuddly puppy sittingon their lap. One of the crowd favoriteswas when there was a beauty contest onstage between three guys. Later, two ofthose three participants slow danced whenthey thought the other was Jessica Alba. “When you exit the stage you will not

remember this, for the next five minutesyou will not remember being hypnotized,even if your friends tell you what you didyou won’t recall,” said Simon to the stillseated volunteers before they were allowedto leave the stage. At the end of the show senior Virginia

Marshall said, “I remember going on stageand coming off but nothing else.”

“Everything is limp, I feel weighteddown, almost like I’m daydreaming,” saidjunior Jordan Merricks.Jon Simon has been a hypnotist for over

eleven years and was inspired to becomeone when he saw his first hypnotist showwhen he was in college. Now, Mr. Simontravels around the state performing hisown show for high school and college stu-dents. Tickets were $5 at the door and theshow raised $600, which was split 50/50between Jon Simon and the American Can-cer Society. The team hopes to raise$12,000 for cancer research.

Simon says...

Another student, junior Andres Wadman,is from Cali, Columbia where he lived untilhis freshman year when he moved toNaples.

“In Columbia there are more privateschools than public schools, and it is coolerto go to a public school. And in mostschools you don’t go to your classes, theteachers come to your class,” said Wadman.“What I miss most about Columbia is myfamily.”These students are only just a few of the

many diverse students that are attendingNaples High. At NHS, there are studentsfrom all around the world, and they can en-lighten everyone about the happenings inthe rest of the world.

Continued from page 1The cultural mix of Naples High

�

* Naples High School and its staff does not in any way endorse thenon-NHS events listed.

S c h o o l N e w s 5October 2008

Halie GuelfiStaff writer

During Homecoming week, studentsparticipated in spirit activities as well as inthe Homecoming Olympics to show theirschool spirit. On Wednesday, October 8 theHomecoming Olympics took place atNaples High’s Staver Field where seniorsdominated the competition winning first

overall, juniors followed placing second,freshman came in third, and sophomorescame in last. The Olympic Games this year included

events such as the bat spin relay, the sackrace, leapfrog relay, three-legged race,apache relay, clothing change relay, and thefinal event, tug-of-war.“It was awesome. It felt great to win the

three-legged race, especially because I beatmy sister, Katie,” said freshman CourtneyKramer. “I thought my partner, GeorgeFrank, and I did really well and we reallyrepresented for the freshmen.”

Many of the students at the Olympicswere excited to watch the final event, tug-of-war, where the seniors came in first, then

Going for gold in the Homecoming Olympics

juniors, sophomores in third, and freshmanin last.

“I’m really disappointed, I thought thesophomores were going to pull through; wehad really strong kids on our tug-of-warteam,” says sophomore Amanda Walker.

After the Olympics and the studentscleaned up their designated stands, manystudents had a lot of comments about theoutcome.

“I thought the juniors should have won,but its okay,” says junior Sam High. “I re-ally liked the class cheers, they were reallygood.”“I thought it was a great Olympics, even

though there weren’t a lot of students,” saidMs. Demarest, who was a judge at theOlympics. “I thought it went really well, Ithought all the kids were all really spiritedand they had a lot of fun and I thought thepace was great.”

Ms. Demarest also said she thought itwas one of the best Olympics in a long timeand it was very hard to decide a winner be-cause all the classes were spirited and ex-cited about what they were doing.

Emily LentzStaff writer

Hidden in the back of Building 10 andalso one of the largest classrooms on theNHS campus, 31 students gather everyother day to create symphonic sounds andgenerate the masterpieces of famous com-posers from around the world.

This is the orchestra. Even though theorchestra here at Naples High has a mere 31members, compared to band at a whopping170 members, it definitely makes a ruckus. Orchestra includes vio-

lin, viola, cello, bass, andthe only harpist in a CollierCounty public high schoolalong with the standardfour sections. DamaraChaudhuri is the principalharpist and a new additionto this ensemble.

With all of the cuttingback and elimination ofelectives, the CollierCounty school board’sbudget cuts almost cut theorchestra program fromNaples High entirely. Witha required 35 students re-questing orchestra to even have a class, theNHS orchestra of 31 barely made it onto theclass offerings this year. Throughout all ofthe Collier County Public Schools, manyorchestra classes were cut this year (one atNHS, one at Palmetto Ridge High School,one at Gulf Coast High School and the en-tire Lely High School orchestra program ).NHS orchestra director, Mr. Michlin, is

ecstatic the school still has an orchestra pro-gram.“In these trying economic times, we are

pleased that the Naples High School or-chestra program is not only alive, but thriv-ing,” said Michlin. “As just oneexample,we are the only public high schoolin Southwest Florida which includes a harp

in the curriculum.”The band raises money through conces-

sions at sporting events and cookie doughsales, while JROTC sells candy bars andsweets. Due to the limited budget, the or-chestra has several events planned this yearthat will not only raise money for instru-ment repairs, room decorations, and futurefield trips but will also be quite enjoyable.Later this year, the NHS orchestra will holdits inaugural NHS vs. Barron Collier HighSchool Guitar Hero tournament as well as“Movie Nights.” You might want to be-

friend an orchestra member toattend these events.This year, the NHS orches-

tra will be putting on two per-formances on campus-one onDecember 2 (in collaborationwith the art department) andanother toward the end of thisschool year. One of those per-formances will feature “popu-lar music.” Some of the piecesperformed at last year’s PopsConcert were “Stairway toHeaven” by Led Zeppelin,“Eleanor Rigby” by The Bea-tles, and the commonly known“Colors of the Wind,” from

the Disney movie “Pocahontas.”Senior Jordan Lamb (principal violist)

said he enjoys orchestra because he is ableto express himself freely through his music.

“It’s great just being able to make themusic your own,” said Lamb.Sophomore violinist Liz Black said she

likes the fact the class can be intellectuallystimulating.“One of my favorite aspects of orches-

tra is that it is unlike regular classes; thiscourse lets both sides of your brain work,which means not only do we think logicallybut creatively, as well,” said Black. “I thinkit is one of the best courses NHS has tooffer.”

Good vibrations

Elizabeth MolinaStaff writer

The most fabulous of all fundraisers tohit Naples High School, the PerformingArts Club here at NHS joined the nation-wide modeling craze and presented its thirdannual fashion show, “Picture Perfect,” inthe auditorium on, October 15. This was anentirely student-run production from the be-hind the scenes work including hair andmake-up, to hosting and even modeling –your fellow NHS classmates called theshots. Auditions and callbacks were held after

school in late September and out of 120 stu-dents that auditioned 22 girls and 12 guyswere chosen to strut their stuff on the run-way while wearing the latest trends in fash-ions from formal to casual wear from many

different stores around town including:Casall, Banana Republic, Simply Natural,Olde Naples Surf Shop, Cache, The Gap,Island Pursuit, and others.The stage that night contained a large pic-

ture frame that was constructed upstage forthe models to pose in tableau before makingtheir way down the stage which had beentransformed into a long catwalk which al-lowed the models to stride with pride whileadvertising local and national fashion bou-tiques. “I am extremely proud of the show and

all the hard work the models put into it andwe are all very thankful for a great turn outof supporters,” said Performing Arts Clubco-president, Emily Gorman. “It was defi-nitely the most fun of the three shows.” The 2008 Fashion Show director, Car-

olyn Flewelling, was ecstatic at the end of

the night. “The models did a fantastic job and I

think everyone had fun which was mygoal,” Flewelling said excitedly. Tickets were $5 at the door and all pro-

ceeds from the event benefited the Napleshigh Drama club, the funds will help pro-vide new props, costumes, and allow theperforming arts students to put on and fa-cilitate future events and productions. “Picture Perfect” model, senior Cathey

Price, had nothing but good things to sayabout the outcome of the show.“It was so much fun seeing all my peers

out there watching and cheering us on andeveryone got really goofy and funny withthe poses; the stores were also extremely responsive. I think it was a very well-orga-nized and put together show.”

Seniors work hard but play harder. They dominated in the homecoming olypmics and won the entire spirit week competition.

Fashion show frenzy at Naples High

Congratulations seniors!

F e a t u r e6 October 2008

October 2008 F e a t u r e 7LLIILL’’ EEAAGGLLEESS SSPPEEAAKK OOUUTTWhat do you want to be for HHaalllloowweeeennHHaalllloowweeeenn?

Toby, age 4 1/2 Stanley, age 4Emilee, age 4

Cinderella

Tatiana, age 3 1/2

Snow�white�BatmanSpiderman

N e w s8 October 2008

Leah HarariStaff writer

It’s 2:05 and the screech of the schoolbell has rung, signaling the conclusion ofyet another school day. Chances are that arestful power nap, quick Starbucks run, ortrip to the mall are higher on your prioritylist than getting your AP Chem homeworkcompleted before you hit the sack. Students

around the world pretty much follow simi-lar patterns in terms of schoolwork, right?Well, not exactly. Studies are now showingthat the U.S. education rates, particularlymath and science, are progressively plum-meting in comparison to other countries,partially due to American students’ attitudesregarding education. In a country whereoverindulgence is practically a birth right,a bit of a superior attitude and less motiva-tion to succeed seems to naturally comewith the territory. Studies have also shownmany U.S. students place recreational ac-tivity importance above their coursework,preferring to finish their assignments afterthey’ve had their fun. “Sometimes I watchTV with my friends before I do my home-work because I just want to relax after along day of school. I know my homeworkshould be my top priority, but sometimes Ijust don’t feel up to it,” admits junior Lind-sey Magiera.

In the 2003 “Trends in InternationalMathematics and Science” study, it was re-

vealed that American students in gradesfour through 12 are showing a steady de-cline in scholastic performance when com-pared to their foreign counterparts. Thatsame study showed that nations like Fin-land, Australia, Belgium, Hungary, theNetherlands and the United Kingdom beatthe United States in mathematical and sci-ence proficiency. The Asian nations ofSouth Korea, Japan and Singapore ranked

first through third, re-spectively.

Recently, “2 Mil-lion Minutes”, a docu-mentary named for theamount of time the av-erage U.S. student willspend in their highschool career, was re-leased in order to shedlight on worldwide ed-ucation. It comparedand contrasted the ed-ucation systems ofwhat we know as thirdworld countries,namely India andChina, to a far moredeveloped country,the United States.Surprisingly, the doc-

umentary revealed that both India andChina place more emphasis on education,particularly math and science, and rankhigher in global education polls. While itshowed Chinese and Indian students rush-ing home to study, play violin, or attendspecialized test preparation classes, it doc-umented two American students passing thetime with video games and attending houseparties; not beginning their homework untilthe wee hours of the night. At one point inthe film, an Indian student expresses hisjealousy that he feels toward U.S. students,explaining that school must be “like adream” with a much lighter syllabus andless hours in the school day.

The creator and executive producer ofthe documentary, Bob Compton, explainedhis take on the social and cultural reason forIndia and China’s economic success. “TheUnited States as a whole places far less em-phasis on education at the K-12 level thando countries like India and China. Cultur-ally, we revere and reward athletic and en-

tertainment accomplishments, while the In-dian and Chinese cultures make it more re-warding, popular, and ‘cool’ to reach highacademic levels of achievement.” He goeson to say, “There’s a global standard of ed-ucation out there, and American studentsare falling further behind that standardevery year. That’s dangerous for both thestudent and for America because the newindustries and the best jobs of the twentyfirst century are going to go to the best ed-ucated.”

Sophomore Nahita Rochumella, who,along with her parents, descends from theIndian state of Andrah Pradesh, has bothnegative and positive views on the U.S. ed-ucation system. “In the United States, I feellike you’re held back, like you’re forced tolag behind at a slower pace. I don’t feel likeI can really progress and excel in the way Iwant to.” “However”, she continues, “in theU.S. you’re encouraged to be a wellrounded person, proficient and knowledge-able all the way around. You’re not workedto death on one area of study, like in India,where it’s pretty much just math and sci-ence.”

Though that may be true, the United

States’ declining math and science ratesprove to be a cause of concern. The TIMMSInternational study showed that Americanstudents’ eighth grade proficiency in mathand science ranked 28th in the world, with

Singapore and Japan once again leading thepack with the highest ranking.The question on many people’s mind is

how the wealthy, developed “land of thestars and stripes” manages to fall so far be-hind many other countries that we considerto be “third world” and inferior. Manyblame it on the attitude of our students,class size, amount of studying, (most stu-dents in Singapore study math for 2-3 hoursper day at home) or even the pace at whichwe learn. In India, many students are en-rolled in calculus by the eighth grade, as op-posed to U.S. students, who generally havenot yet begun high school mathematics. Ms. Guyselman, a biology teacher here

at NHS, spoke about her experiences with aBrazilian student who had recently movedback to Naples. “The kids who have beenin my class all year have been learningabout cells and this particular student camein and knew everything. He explained thatin Brazil they spend months on one topicand fully learn it versus here in America, wecover a lot of material in a very shortamount of time.” She went on to say “Asfar as science goes, and I can probablyspeak for math in this too, they’re very de-

tail-orientated, analytical subjects, and theyare also subjects where you must under-stand this part to understand the next. If youhaven’t learned a concept in the beginning,then you probably won’t understand theconcept further down the road, either. So Ithink the fact that we try to cover so manysubjects in such a short amount of time re-ally affects a lot of students. “ Despite our decline in math and science,

the U.S. still houses some of the finest pri-vate schools and universities in the worldand maintains an extremely high literacyrate as well as a growing number of highschool and college graduates. Certain steps,such as the “No Child Left Behind Act” en-acted by Congress, have been implementedto improve our stance in global education.Many feel that this act, which increasestesting standards for both public primaryand secondary schools in order for them toobtain federal funding, has little to no effectbecause it drives teachers to teach only topass the test, as opposed to teaching tolearn. Whether or not the true problem restsin the hands of the students, the govern-ment, or our cultural and social tendenciesis still a factor unknown. However, the bestway to begin improving our chances forleading the global education empire beginswith the individual and the will to learn,succeed and prosper.

America - dumber than we think?

“Trends in International Mathematics and Science”study revealing the United States’ low math and scienceliterary scores compared to their foreign counterparts.

Graph showing international math and science literary scores among sev-eral different countries, revealing the United States’ below average score.

F e a t u r e s 9October 2008

Ally YansonStaff writer

As high school students whose onlyproblems are passing English and workingup the nerve to ask out the cute girl fromthird period, world problems undoubtedlyhave always seemed inconsequential andvery far away. However, the current eco-nomic problems are affecting high schoolstudents more than ever. The economy isaffecting one of the biggest parts of a highschool student’s life- college.

The economic problems first beganwhen the “housing bubble” burst and peo-ple began to not be able to pay for theirmortgages. It quickly escalated when Fan-nie Mae and Freddie Mac, mortgage fi-nance lenders, went under and thegovernment had to step in and take themover. This, along with the failing ofLehman Brothers, AIG, and other financialinstitutions caused the stock market to dropsignificantly and millions of people to loseconsiderable amounts of money.

These economic problems are causingheadaches among many high school seniorsand juniors, who are now not only con-cerned with whether they will get into theschool of their dreams, but also have toworry about if they will be able to afford it.

“I’ve always dreamed about going to aschool out of state,” said senior Anna Vil-lani. “But now if I am not able to get finan-cial aid, I don’t know if that will bepossible. I’ve had to apply to UF in case Ican’t get financial aid, and if I have to gothere it will be a huge bummer.” These sentiments are shared by many of

Villani’s fellow students, who are now get-ting a taste of the types of things they willhave to worry about when they aren’t ableto depend on their parents. Many, like Vil-

lani, may have to give up on their dream togo to a certain school because of financialreasons. Some of those dreams may in-clude going out of state. Since studentswho qualify for the Bright Future’s schol-

arship will be able to get their entire collegetuition paid for if they go to school in-state,many will have to sacrifice their dreams ofsnow and red and orange leaves in ex-change for not being swamped with studentloans.

“My parents have said that unless I’mable to get a sizable scholarship to a school,I have to stay in-state,” said junior RaganBall. “And while that wouldn’t be the endof the world, it will definitely give mefewer options.”Another trend in how the economy is af-

fecting college admissions is the fact thatmany Florida schools are moving up theiradmission deadlines. According to privatecollege counselor Iris Kipnis, this is be-

the remainder by 2011, they have cut backon staff and delayed construction on newcampus buildings. Many smaller collegesthat had their liquid assets in these funds areconsequently becoming dependent on theFederal government.”So how can high school seniors and jun-

ior combat these problems and get into thecollege of their dreams? Ms. Kipnis hassome suggestions. Since it has been said that 80% of the pop-ulation continue to apply to 20% of the na-tion’s top colleges and universities, one wayto combat the credit crunch is to researchschools that are often overlooked and thathave large endowments. Consider privateschools as well as public schools becausethere are instances where endowment fundscould negate the differential in cost.Students can sign up for work-study pro-

grams to help offset college expenses witha paycheck every two weeks for campusemployment while they are engaged in theirstudies or can apply to schools that havelong been respected for their alternating se-mesters of work and study.Research schools that have put in place

proactive financial programs to help fami-lies limit the need for student loans by re-placing them with grants (Princeton,Amherst, Davidson) or schools that havelimited the amount of loans for studentswhose family incomes do not exceed$100,000 (Emory caps at $15,000 in loansfor four years).Even when money is tight, some fami-

lies may choose to prepay in order to takeadvantage of tax benefits. There are oftendiscounts when prepaying and you can gettoday’s rates rather than future rates, sincehistorically colleges and universities haveincreased their costs from three percent tonine percent annually.

cause of tighter budgets and a historic num-ber of applicants. Kipnis is the president ofKipnis College Connection LLC, formerDirector of Guidance and Counseling at St.John Neumann High School, and has

worked as a Director of Educationat two professional associations inWashington D.C., where she man-aged educational programs nation-wide.“The combination of limited en-

rollments for budgetary reasonscombined this year with the high-est demand to date imposes gradu-ating seniors to apply as early aspossible to secure one of the lim-ited spaces for next year’s collegeclass,” Kipnis said. “We havewitnessed the deadline for the firstapplication period for Florida StateUniversity as early as October 15.We have observed the Universityof Florida a year ago collapse itsdual application deadlines into asingle priority deadline of Novem-ber 1, and thereafter on a space

availability basis only. This year we are wit-nessing the culmination of educationalbudget deficits combined with capped en-rollments. The trend is clear and synony-mous with the adage “the early bird gets theworm.”Not only are students feeling the crunch,

but colleges are also struggling, and pass-ing these struggles on to prospective stu-dents.

“Since the recent effects of the stockmarket, a number of colleges nationwide(over 1,200) have had their short-term ($93billion) and intermediate-term ($1 billion)funds frozen,” said Kipnis. Because theseinstitutions will only receive roughly halfof their funds by the close of this year and

HHooww iiss tthhee eeccoonnoommyy aaffffeeccttiinngg yyoouurr ffuuttuurree??

S p o r t s10 October 2008

Megan SchultzStaff writer

The Naples High girls’ cross countryteam is off to a great start so far, placing 1stin all of their meets, excluding two.The girls kicked off their season with a

visit to Venice in the Venice Invitational onSeptember 20. As seen from their 1stplace victory, the team immediately showedits talent and excitement about the com-mencing season. Seniors Hannah Lewisand Julia Szilagyi led the pack of runners,placing 8th and 10th, respectively.

The girls’ second race of the season washeld at home, where they were once againsuccessful with a 1st place finish against theGulf Coast Sharks.A 5000-meter run was next on the sched-

ule for the undefeated girls’ cross countryteam. In Boca Raton, at the Spanish RiverInvitational, Lewis once again led her teamplacing 6th overall with a time of 22:23.Szilagyi followed close behind with a timeof 22:44, which led her to an 11th place fin-ish. Sophomores Oona Watkins and AshleyPorter also ran well, both finishing withinthe top 20 runners. “Oona Watkins and Ashley Porter have

both risen up this year, and are continuingto work hard,” said coach Haralson.

On October 4, the girls traveled to Ti-tusville, where they ran the biggest meet oftheir season up to that point. The teamplaced 18th overall. Lewis made her per-sonal record, finishing in 20:42.21and plac-ing 27th overall. “It was nice to be rewarded with a great

time after practicing so hard with the team,”Lewis expressed. “It always feels great torun a personal record.” The girls missed the homecoming game

in order to run at the Walt Disney WorldClassic atthe WideWorld ofS p o r t s .Lewis andWakins ledthe team, asS z i l a g y irepresentedthe seniorclass in thehomecom-ing parade.

The biggest accomplishment thisyear for the girls’ cross country team is thestrong pack of runners they have formed.This is key to their success, especially withthe absence of their top runner, KinsleyMcEachern, who graduated last year. “We don’t have that top runner, but our

pack of runners is closer together than pre-vious years,” expressed coach Haralson. Porter also had the same opinion.“We are all staying as a pack, which is a

huge accomplishment,” Porter said. “Theseason is going great.”

Megan SchultzStaff writer

The Naples High boys’ cross countryteam has commenced its season slowly;however, the boys are beginning to get backon track.

The NaplesHigh boys’cross countryteam traveled toWalt DisneyWorld on Octo-ber 10 andshowed its tal-ent finishing 7thout of the 47teams in theDisney Invita-tional. SeniorJeff Marvel led his team of runners, finish-ing in 10th place overall with a time justabove 17 minutes. Junior Max Shumakealso ran well, finishing in 14th place overallwith a time of 17:13.60 minutes. JovannieMartinez, a junior, set his personal recordwhile running the 5000- meter race at theDisney Sports Complex. He finished in18:40.10 minutes and placed 71st in thechallenging race.“Martinez has been the biggest surprise

this season,” said coach Watkins. “He is afirst year runner and consistently running inthe top five to six runners.”Rhys Watkins also ran well at the Disney

Invitational coming extremely close tomaking his personal record, 18:30 minutes,which was coincidently made at last year’sDisney Classic. This year, he ran the 3-milecourse in 18:43 minutes.

“Almost breaking my personal recordfelt like a squirrel finding the mother loadof acorns,” Watkins exclaimed.

Before traveling to Disney, the boys fin-ished 2nd at the Venice Invitational inVenice. Marvel and Shumake once againled the pack of runners, finishing 2nd and12th, respectively. Also taking place before the Disney In-

vitational was the Spanish River Invita-

tional in Boca Ration. Running a5000-meter run, Marvel and Shumake ledthe boys’ team, with Rodney Swingley fol-lowing behind.

The biggest challenge to the team thisseason has been the loss of five top runnerswho graduated last year. In efforts to over-come this obstacle, the team has been con-tinuing to work hard in order to achievetheir goal of running as well as they did lastyear, placing # 2 at states.“Goals have not changed, but reaching

them will be tough,” coach Watkins ex-pressed. Overall, the boys’ cross country team has

started slowly, but the boys have recentlybegun to fulfill their expectations.“The season is off to a good start. Every-

one is training hard and we have a lot ofdepth on the team,” said Shumake. “We arelooking forward to the big races in these up-coming weeks.”

Girls’ cross country team races to victory Boys’ cross country getting on track

S p o r t s 11October 2008

Hope GoftonStaff writer

The Naples Golden Eagles swimmerswon their first win of the season againstLely at the Golden Gate Aquatic Center onSeptember 29. The girls’ team beat Lely bya significant difference; 101 to 75, while theboys had a close win of 94 to 93. The girlswere led by senior team captain StephanieJones, freshman Katherine Coons, andsophomore Katie Kramer. The boys’ teamwas led by sophomore Billy Larned, fresh-man George Frank, and seniors JEHumphreville and boys’ captain Craig Fox-hoven. “Our first win was an encouraging fac-

tor for the team. It was really exciting tobeat Lely because they’re one of our morecompetitive rivals,” captain StephanieJones commented. “And it makes it seemmore possible of beating other schools inthe future.”On October 11, 10 members of the team

got the opportunity to participate in FloridaSwimming Pool Association’s 31st annualswim meet invitational in Orlando, withNaples High School finishing 22nd in thestate. Participants included Mikie Axline,Jeff Rodriguez, Rowdy Evans, AndrewNelson, Kellye Smith, Frank, Kramer,Coons, Foxhoven, and Jones. The meet against Community School on

October 14 was a close event. The Golden

The Naples High swim teamA force to be reckoned with

Eagle boys lost 95 to 97. Naples was ledby senior Axline, and Frank. The GoldenEagle girls tied 96 to 96 and were led byCoons and Smith.

Even though the team has more lossesthan wins, junior Caroline Kaltenborn saidthe team stays positive.

“All in all our team is very upbeat andoptimistic. We’re always encouraging eachother and cheering each other on,” saidKaltenborn.Jones added by saying, “We have good

team spirit and we just know how to havefun. We don’t have any sore losers andthat’s what keeps us from getting discour-aged.”

Senior Wes Foreman glides through the water at a meet swimming the butterfly.

2007 state champs Ready to repeat

NHS�Golf�teamfinishing�on�par

Alex RooneyStaff writer

The Naples High football team has beenplaying well this year, completing just overhalf of the season with a record of 6-1.After a surprising one-point loss against

Monsignor Pace High School in the seasonopener, Naples came back with a victoryagainst Palmetto Ridge and an ironic one-point win againstCape Coral. Theteam kept its momen-tum going, crushingImmokalee 43-6 onSeptember 26.Not all of the wins

came with ease, how-ever. On October 3,Naples foiled GulfCoast’s 3-0 record bywinning 23-20 indouble overtime.

Junior Tony Lorenzo, defensive end,stated, “Our defense is constantly being

pushed to the limit. The coaches, at times,seem to expect perfection from us, but Iguess it’s the team’s drive to meet that ex-pectation that makes us great.”

In contrast to the strife against GulfCoast, the homecoming game was anythingbut a struggle. Naples beat Estero by 91points while not allowing a single point.The Golden Eagles set a school record formost points scored in a game. The team also

won 42-28 against Barron Collier on Octo-ber 17.

The hard work at practice seems to be

paying off during the games, as runningback Chris Krieg, junior, declared, “Ourteam gets better every week.”“The fact is, we’re like six inches from

being undefeated,” stated head coach BillKramer. “It’s been a fun and exciting sea-son.”The season certainly has been an excit-

ing one, keeping fans on the edge of theirseats with close calls and hold-your-breath

moments. NaplesHigh football fanshope the team keepsmoving forwardthroughout the sea-son as they proceedthrough their jour-ney to “repeat.”

Sam ColeStaff writer

It’s been an exciting season for both theboys and girls golf teams. The boys’ teamfinished the year withseven wins and four loses, not counting ex-cluding the number of matches that wereended by a rain shower. Placing fourth inthe district finals, the boys’ golfers have putaway their clubs until the next season. “We started off really well, and we were

progressing really well, and we did betteras the year went on, but we didn’t quitereach our ‘peak point,” said Mr. Wilson,head boys’ coach. “We thought we’d go alittle further in districts.”Tanner Hoben, a senior and leader of the

team, had the best average score this yearat 39.7. Junior Alex Giguere shot a 78 atthe Collier County Conference champi-onship, which was a great score for him andhis team.

Girls’ golf head coach Kathy Padgettsaid that out of the three years she’s beencoaching the girls, this was the best seasonthey’ve had. The girls took second in thedistrict and fourth in regionals. “Our record score was 84, and that’s the

best score we had all the way to regionals.”Key players this season for the girls were

Elizabeth Leiter, Ryan Iamurri, and JennahTracy.

Quarterback Juno Prudhomm (#2) drops back topass in a game earlier in the season.

Did youknow?TThhee TTaalloonn TTrriibbuunnee

iiss nnooww aavvaaiillaabblleeoonnlliinnee aatt::

www.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.comwww.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.com

www.TheTalonTribune.comwww.TheTalonTribune.com

E n t e r t a i n m e n t12 October 2008

BBiirrtthhddaayy:: December 19 1991WWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr ffaavvoorriittee lloovvee ssoonngg??Let’s Get it On by Marvin GayWWhhaatt ddoo yyoouu llooookk ffoorr iinn tthhee ooppppoossiittee

sseexx??Eyes and personality DDrreeaamm ddaattee??A basketball game WWhhaatt ssppoorrttss ddoo yyoouu ppllaayy??BasketballCCeelleebbrriittyy ccrruusshh?? Jennifer Aniston IIff yyoouurr ccoouulldd hhaavvee aannyy ssuuppeerrppoowweerr wwhhaatt wwoouulldd yyoouu ppiicckk??To talk to animals to find out what my dog is thinking FFaavvoorriittee hhoolliiddaayy?? ChristmasDDrreeaamm vvaaccaattiioonn??Madagascar HHoorroossccooppee ssiiggnn??Sagittarius FFaavvoorriittee ppllaaccee ttoo hhaanngg oouutt

iinn NNaapplleess??BeachWWhhaatt aarree yyoouu ggooiinngg ttoo bbee ffoorr HHaalllloowweeeenn??Michael PhelpsWWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr ffaavvoorriittee ccaannddyy??AirheadsWWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr wwoorrsstt ffeeaarr?? Pigeons WWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr ddrreeaamm jjoobb?? FBI Agent

WWhhaatt aarree yyoouurr ppeett ppeeeevveess?? StutteringDDeessccrriibbee yyoouurrsseellff iinn tthhrreeee wwoorrddss:: Funny, awesome, and sweetTThhrreeee tthhiinnggss yyoouu ccoouullddnn’’tt lliivvee wwiitthhoouutt??Basketball, puppies, and the ocean

BBiirrtthhddaayy:: July 24, 1992WWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr ffaavvoorriittee lloovvee ssoonngg?? Mad by Ne-Yo

WWhhaatt ddoo yyoouu llooookk ffoorr iinn tthhee ooppppoossiittee sseexx??Personality and legs

DDrreeaamm ddaattee?? Sunset dinner at the beachWWhhaatt ssppoorrttss ddoo yyoouu ppllaayy?? Golf

CCeelleebbrriittyy ccrruusshh?? Channing Tatum IIff yyoouu ccoouulldd hhaavvee aannyy ssuuppeerrppoowweerr wwhhaatt wwoouulldd yyoouu

ppiicckk ?? Invisibility, so that people couldn’t see me.FFaavvoorriittee hhoolliiddaayy?? ChristmasDDrreeaamm vvaaccaattiioonn?? Thailand

HHoorroossccooppee ssiiggnn??:: Leo FFaavvoorriittee ppllaaccee ttoo hhaanngg oouutt iinn NNaapplleess?? Beach

WWhhaatt aarree yyoouu ggooiinngg ttoo bbee ffoorr HHaalllloowweeeenn?? A mouseWWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr ffaavvoorriittee ccaannddyy?? Snickers

WWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr wwoorrsstt ffeeaarr?? Sharks WWhhaatt iiss yyoouurr ddrreeaamm jjoobb?? Interior designer

WWhhaatt aarree yyoouurr ppeett ppeeeevveess??When people don’t look me in the eyes.

DDeessccrriibbee yyoouurrsseellff iinn tthhrreeee wwoorrddss::Fun, caring, and friendly

WWhhaatt aarree tthhrreeee tthhiinnggss tthhaatt yyoouu ccoouullddnn’’tt lliivvee wwiitthhoouutt?? Food, beach, and music

LLIZIZ BBROWNROWN

JJUUNNIIOORR EEDDIITTIIOONN

Bachelor & Bachelorette

WWILLEMILLEM HHERNANDEZERNANDEZ

Jackie BickfordStaff writer

Every generation is scared of the musicthat comes with the next. Yet I am scared ofmy own generation’s music.Lil’Wayne, Jessica Simpson, and Han-

nah Montana , how long do you think theytake writing lyrics? They probably spend 10minutes to an hour at most. They think thatrepeating a line over and over is music.

“The music on the radio is poppin,dawg,” said sophomore Roque Alvarez. Most of the “artists”, as they say, don’t

put heart into their music. It’s always aboutthe “bling” and the fame. But don’t fear,there are real artists out there that actuallyput work into their music.“I hate the little emo bands,” said junior

Rob Centrella.Damien Rice, Modest Mouse, Streetlight

Manifesto, The Decemberists, have you

even heard of these bands? Most likely notbecause the radio doesn’t play them. Theseartists actually make music. Their lyrics ac-tually mean something. Rap and hip hop isa joke to the music society. Half of our gen-eration’s artists don’t even write their ownmusic.

“The music of our generation has nomorals,” said junior Marta Cari.Saying your name five million times is

not music. Girls listen to rap without actu-ally listening to the lyrics. The lyrics are de-grading. Here is a perfect example, “I wantto buy you a drink.” Why do you think hewants to keep the drinks coming all nightlong? Wait, he tells you in the song, “Iwanna take you home with me.” Seriously,it’s embarrassing to watch girls sing this.

“I wish there was more variety on theradio; it’s like listening to a broken record,”said junior Jackson Hail.

I feel like our age group just listens to

what’s playing on the radio. Listening towhat plays on the radio is listening to thesame five songs time and time again. Theradio consists of rap, hip hop, country andthat’s all. Variety is a good thing. Thenagain our generation is attracted to badthings including music. “I’m indiffer-

ent about themusic of ourgeneration,” saidLaura Goby.“Some songs Ilike, others I’mlike, why wouldthey play that?”

“Rock bandsare so depress-ing, I can’t listento certain sta-tions because ofthem,” said jun-

ior Lexis Jordan.Just because you wear clothes that are

too big for you doesn’t mean you have tojust listen to rap. Just because you wear acowboy hat doesn’t mean you have to listento just country. Explore the world’s musicselection.

Editorial: Expand your musical horizons