Archbishop hobAn high school ◆ one holy cross blvd. ◆ Akron, ohio 44306 ◆ issue no. 9 ◆ MArch 4, 2010

Photo Illustration by Ben Edwards

Electives [The Fun Classes]

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010�

Copyright © 2008

• CSPA Gold Medalist • NSPA All-American

• Quill & Scroll Int’l First Place • OSMA First Place

Online: www.hobanvisor.com E-mail: hobanvisor@yahoo.com Voice: 330-773-6658 ext. 249

Fax: 330-773-9100

School site: www.hoban.org

The Visor subscribes to the ASNE/MCT Campus news service and to APStylebook.com.

Signed letters for publication are welcome. Mailbox is in the main office. Unsigned editori-als represent the consensus of the editorial board. Signed opinion represents the views of the writer only.

Editor-in-chief Joseph C. Easton

Managing Editor Jessica Contrera

Features Editor Nikki Bowser

Media Editor Victoria Grieshammer

Sports Editor Evan Luse

Exchange Editor Danielle Hale

Copy Editor Marie Hofer

Photo Editor Julian Smith

Staff Reporters Jules Libertin, Ryland Parnell,

Alex Salamon, Evan Shaub, Amy Yakubowski, Johanna Breiding, Peter DelMedico, Ben Edwards, Jay X Hil-lery, Lindsay Huth, Allison Jackson,

Nick Pelini, Carmine Sberna

Adviser T. K. Griffith

◆ Staff Editorials

On the cover

Time flies and stands still on Hoban clocks

Rhode Island school to fire all 100 teachers

Attention to all Hoban faculty and staff: please do not take a lesson from the teachers at Central Falls High School in the small town

of Central Falls, Rhode Island. In a radical decision by the high school’s superintendant last week, the entire faculty at the high school was fired as of June 1, 2010.

Central Falls High went from having almost 100 employees to exactly zero employees after a drawn out and passionate school board meeting on Tues-day, Feb. 23. The superintendant was directed by the state of Rhode Island commissioner of education to choose one of four possible “turnaround” plans for the school. Unfortunately for the faculty there, the superintendant chose to fire every single employee and attempt to start fresh for next year.

On the surface, this drastic measure may seem too extreme. Although it is possible that not every teacher at Central Falls was satisfactory, the school must now fill nearly 100 positions in less than six months. Even the Cleveland Indians never resorted to trading away everyone on the team.

Central Falls is a typical high school in many ways. The school offers grades 10 through 12 but still has an enrollment of 800 students, which is nearly as many as Hoban. Central Falls has a football team, basketball and baseball teams and several clubs. So, why strip the entire faculty of a job in one swoop?

The superintendant did not act out of ignorance. Central Falls had been classified as a “chronically underperforming” high school in the state of Rhode Island since 2003. The high school’s track record was dismal – only 48% of the graduates went on to attend a four-year college or university. In compari-son, Hoban’s statistics in that category range from around 97% to 98%. On the other hand, the faculty at Central Falls had been picketing and marching for their jobs for weeks before the fatal board meeting. It just seems as if their performance in the classroom spoke louder than the slogans on their signs.

Of course, the superintendant can’t simply expect that firing all of the teachers will solve the problem. The school is also required to submit to a few other conditions. For one, 25 minutes will be added to each school day. Also, it is mandatory that teachers eat lunch with the students once a week to develop better communication skills with them. The teachers must then attend a weekly after school in-service to evaluate their curriculum.

At the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, the superintendant of the high school sent the com-munity a message reading: “We need you if we are going to reach our potential: all children and adults achieving at high levels.” After Central Falls failed to reach that potential for a seemingly seventh straight year, it is justified that no measure of correction is too extreme. u

Arriving on time to class is a largely accepted rule at Hoban. Students are aware that arriving late to class more

than three times equals 40 minutes of detention after school, and five minutes is a reasonable amount of time to switch classes. What does seem unreasonable, however, is distributing detentions to students who are unable to check the time.

Clocks would seem to be a luxury taken for granted at a school where tuition is nearly $8,000. Although clocks can be found intermit-tently throughout the Hoban hallways, the time is rarely correct.

Teachers frequently remind students that tardiness warrants detentions, yet knowing the time is vital to being on time. If a student has no way of checking how much time they have between classes, punctuality is a toss up.

Some clocks, such as the ones in the central hallway, are off by only an hour and a few min-utes, but others are off by several hours or even completely stopped.

The clock situation has left students guess-

ing about what time it is or how much time is left in a class. Getting to class on time has become something of an Olympic sport involving counting to 60 several times and lots of mental gymnastics.

Faulty clocks also affect students during class. Being unsure of the time when completing a test only adds to an already stressful classroom setting. While making wristwatches a mandato-ry part of the dress code or allowing cell phones to be used in the hallways between classes are unlikely solutions, a solution is on its way.

Plans are in the works to replace the broken system this summer with a wireless system, which would ensure that even if one clock goes down, the rest should function. With the devel-opment of new clock technology, it has become less expensive to replace the entire system rather than try to fix the current, broken one.

Due to the inevitable mess that will come, the system cannot be replaced until the sum-mer or, ideally, spring break. This means that students will have to stick it out for at least three more months without clocks. u

u Senior Emily Hudak and friends prove that Cermaics class is just one of many entertaining electives offered at Hoban.

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010 �

◆ Opinion & Commentary

Mexico immersion proves abundance does not equal happiness

Student council president grateful for Banglabash participation

As a skinny white guy growing up in Wadsworth, I have very rarely been a minority in society. However, I spent

the long Valentine’s Day weekend with 13 other students and a couple of teachers doing just that in a poor town in northern Mexico.

In February of 2009, I visited the small suburb of La Luz, in the city of Monterrey, Mexico for the first time with group of 12 students. Most of my trip included wondering what the elderly Mexicans were saying to me and wishing I could take longer than three minutes in the shower, but I still enjoyed the experience. Luckily enough, I had the chance to return in 2010 with a whole new group of students – some that I had known since my freshman year and some that I had admittedly never talked to before.

On the plane to Monterrey, I tried to re-member everything about my previous trip. Unfortunately, my bits and pieces of memories did not do justice to the raw experience of the immersion trip. I remembered poor neighbor-hoods, but I didn’t remember shower curtains being used for doors. I remembered going to Mass, but I wasn’t aware that we were going

to spend a combined three and a half hours of worship on the Sunday of Valentine’s Day. I remembered trying to speak Spanish, but I still got tongue-tied by seemingly simple words and phrases.

Don’t get the impression that a “Mexico trip” means that we went to Cancun for a week. I slept in a room smaller than my bed-room at home, and I shared that room with two other guys. Several of the houses that I visited had only two or three rooms at all. I met children who were delighted with gifts of stickers and Dum Dum suckers. No students were allowed to bring suitcases to Monterrey, so we had limited space to pack our clothes in our carry-on backpacks.

The trip was a lot like a grade-level retreat or a Search/Kairos weekend. Most every night ended in a group reflection and discussion about the events of the day and any lessons learned through the Mexican culture. The Mexico trip also reminded me of a retreat in the ways that I connected with everyone else involved. When I went to Search in November of my junior year, I made friends with students at Hoban that were complete

strangers to me beforehand. Likewise in Mexico, I befriended both guys and girls, my age and younger, although we had little or no previous encounters.

On the other hand, I certainly had some experiences that Search couldn’t offer. I had heart-to-hearts with a bilingual priest and a couple of lax bros, witnessed a man join the religious family of Holy Cross by taking his perpetual vows and still had enough time to hear a mariachi band play for almost an hour.

Being a minority everywhere I went in Monterrey and not being able to speak the same language as everyone else took me way out of my comfort zone. However, to have the full experience of immersion in another culture, it can’t be any other way. u

Hoban, you are Banglamazing.With Banglabash ending yester-

day, I could not help but to use this space to say thank you to everyone who participated in one of the most successful Banglabashes Hoban has ever seen.

This year, student participation in Bangla-bash skyrocketed. You may have noticed this from the way the available shirt sizes quickly disappeared and were reordered on numerous occasions. As of Tuesday afternoon, a major-ity of students had donated in some form.

During the two week campaign, it’s easy to let Banglabash just blend in with every-thing else going on at Hoban. But now that all is said and done, it’s impossible to not recognize the significance of our actions.

While we share the similarity of being a Holy Cross school with the Bangladeshi school we are helping, Biroiakuni Highschool, it is the economic differences that set us apart. While we sit in a school with advanced tech-nology and nearly unlimited resources and opportunities at our disposal, Biroidakuni HS only recently received stable electricity. The

poverty extends beyond the school to the whole country of Bangladesh, where over 80% of the population lives on less than $2 day. Furthermore, nearly 55% of Bangladeshi citizens over the age of seven are illiterate.

Biroidakuni High School is trying to rectify these horrific statistics through education. By providing the school with a computer lab, we are assisting them greatly. The students who benefit from our efforts will receive more than just a piece of equipment.

Studies show that access to technology allows students to learn how to organize com-plex information, recognize patterns, draw inferences and communicate findings. It also improves student motivation and attitudes about themselves and learning.

In addition, access to computers connects Biroidakuni with the world. I hope that one day students at Hoban will be able to di-rectly communicate with Biroidakuni students through these computers, and when that time comes, everyone who helped out by donating this year will have had a hand in this.

I also want to extend a special thank you

to Makenzie Bell, David Sutter, Mrs. Frye, Mr. Fahey, Mr. Hillery and all of Student Council for all of their help and hard work to make Banglabash possible. Their months of plan-ning have undoubtedly paid off.

I hope that everyone enjoyed the Ban-glabash festivities as much as I did. I feel extremely blessed to lead a student body so willing to come together and help others in the midst of the busyness of your own lives.

So for the next few months, every time you throw on your Banglabash t-shirt, scratch your facial hair or admire your flip flops, please remember the true impact of your donation and how proud you should be to know that you are part of a student body that cares. u

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010�

◆ School NewsPhoto courtesy of Bro. Ken H

aders

Phot

o by

Lin

dsay

Hut

h

Blood drive brings in pints to help out patients

Academic challenge wins their leagueby lindsAy huTh

Whi le athletes tone their bodies for competitions, the academic chal lenge

team trains their minds to test their knowledge against the most intelligent students from around Ohio.

Coming off of a successful season as the $10,000 champions of the WEWS Channel 5 face-off, the team has made an impressive run so far this year as well.

“The win last year inspired us,” se-nior Janelle Stalter said. “We still have a strong team despite players we lost.”

The fall season consisted of competi-tions on Oct. 12 and Nov. 2. With four matches at each contest, they finished with a record of 7-1 to become the season runners-up. For the winter season’s com-petitions on Nov. 16 and Dec. 7, the team was 5-3.

This year the team also managed a perfect alphabet round, which consists of 20 questions whose answers all begin with the same letter.

“I’ve been coaching for six years and a perfect round has only happened once in practice,” co-advisor Cheryl Erdman said. “It is very rare and they were very excited.”

At the Summit County tournament at Kent State University on Feb. 2, the team dominated the competition by winning all

of its seven matches, beating out Revere and Manchester in the last round to win the League II Championship.

Vincent Burns and Stalter received honorable mentions as Summit County All-Stars, and Burns was Hoban’s “Top Gun” in the final round during which one competitor from each of the 24 schools must answer as many questions as possible before missing three.

Now, the team will advance to regionals in April when it will test its skills against the champions of the other leagues and pos-sibly continue to the state competition.

“We will have to face the tough Copley and Hudson teams, but Hoban has defeated them in the past,” Burns said. “We are con-fident in a top five finish, but we definitely need to practice.”

The team holds three, hour-long prac-tices a week and each member is required

to attend two. Team members are now pre-paring extensively for more formidable com-petitors.

“We are doing every-thing we can to prepare with study sessions and buzzer competitions,” co-advisor Judy Mohan said.

The team is doing all it can to follow up last year’s victories.

“The season starts in August and went until May last year,” Erdman said. “We will have to wait and see how far we go this year.” u

u Senior Janelle Stalter and freshman Tony Burns have their trigger fingers ready on the buzzer to practice for their upcoming regional academic challenge competition in April.

by Allison JAckson

They want to suck your blood– for a good cause, of course. On Feb. 24, 150 Hoban students signed up to

donate their time and their blood to the Red Cross throughout the school day. The drive, sponsored by the National Honors Society, collected 113 pints of blood, setting a new record for the school.

All of the blood donated is used in hos-pitals in northeast Ohio.

“It’s used [the blood] in northeast Ohio because we have the largest concentration of hospitals in the country,” veteran English teacher Helen Trares said.

With so many patients in one area, a dire need for blood exists in our area.

Founded in 1881 by Clara Barton, the American Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood in the world with over 4 million people donating blood every year.

The blood will be used to help accident victims and cancer patients and others need-ing blood transfusions. With 14 million people needing blood transfusions every year, every pint helps.

For many juniors, it was their first time donating.

“It’s my first time [giving blood],” junior Mary Skiffey said. “I’m excited… it’s a good thing to do.”

This year, however, new weight regula-tions were put into place to prevent smaller and more petite students from passing out after having blood drawn. Despite these new guidelines, students were lined up to donate.

“It was a good experience,” senior John Walker said. “It changed my perspective on it [donating blood].”

No good deed goes unpunished how-ever.

“The worst part was the finger prick,” Walker said.

Afterward, the blood donors recovered with cookies and juice before returning to class.

“It helped to save lives,” Walker said. “It was worth it.” u

u The varsity team poses with its tournament-winning trophies after winning the district competition.

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010 �

◆ School News

Photo courtesy of the Davey fam

ily

Com

piled by Nikki Bow

ser

Bulletin Board Barry Gym goes Greek for Sweethearts dance

Mock trial team argues their way back to the state competition

THREE DAY RETREAT KAIROS 14 is Friday, Mar. 5, through Sunday, Mar. 7. u

THE HOBAN CHEERLEADERS WILL COMPETE in the OASSA State Cheerleading and Dance Competition at Pickerington Central High School in Columbus on Sunday, Mar. 7. u

SEVENTH GRADE VISITATION is Monday, Mar. 8. There will be no regular classes. u

THE SENIOR PARENTS MEETING is Thursday, Mar. 11, at 6:30 PM in the Foley Commons. Prom-enade, Prom and After-Prom will be discussed. u

THE SWEETHEARTS ASSEMBLY is Friday, Mar. 12, at 8:00 AM in the Barry Gym. u

THE SWEETHEARTS DANCE is Saturday, Mar. 13, at 8:00 PM in the Barry Gym.

THE ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME Induction Dinner is Sunday, Mar. 14, at Firestone Country Club. u

SOPHOMORES WILL TAKE THE OGT Monday, Mar. 15, through Friday, Mar. 19. Juniors and se-niors will be tested as needed. The class schedule will be adjusted. u

THERE WILL BE A COLLEGE PLANNING MEETING on Thursday, Mar. 18, at 7:00 PM in the Foley Commons u

THE THIRD QUARTER ENDS Friday, Mar. 19. u

MASS WILL BE CELEBRATED on Friday, Mar. 19, in the Barry Gym at 10 AM for the Feast of St. Joseph. u

THE TALENT SHOW is Monday, Mar. 22.

THE WINTER SPORTS BANQUET is Tuesday, Mar. 23, and Thursday, Mar. 25.

u

JUNIOR RETREAT is Tuesday, Mar. 23, and Wednesday, Mar. 24, at St. Eugene.

u

THE SPRING SPORTS ASSEMBLY is Friday, Mar. 26, at 2:25 PM in the Barry Gym. Classes will be on schedule 3.

u

SERVICE PROJECTS ARE DUE Friday, Mar. 12.

u

SENIOR AJ PERO AND JUNIOR EVAN PAN-NELL were named NCL first-team basketball players this weekend.

u

SENIOR KRISSY SOKOL was named MVP of the NCL in girls basketball.

sTAff reporT

Associate Principal Kevin Hillery is an unimaginative jerk and a [expletive deleted].

If a Hoban student wrote these words in a blog at home, could he be suspended? Even though he has freedom of speech? This is the question similar to the one that Hoban’s six mock trial teams have been arguing over for months...and it’s finally paying off.

In reality, Kevin Hillery is the moderator for Hoban’s top team, Team Sotomayor, who placed first at both the district competition and last week’s regional competition, earning them a $500 stipend from the Akron Bar Association and qualifying them for the state competition. Hoban’s Team Scalia also qualified for states.

Mock trial is one of the most unique and successful clubs at Hoban. Each year, the Ohio Center for Law Related Education (OCLRE) comes up with a complicated case for the teams to argue. Each team has a plaintiff and defense side, and each side has two lawyers and two witnesses who learn the case inside and out.

“This year, the case is about a girl, Alex Leslie, who writes a blog bashing her AP European His-tory teacher. Her school finds out about it and suspends her, but she sues for her First Amend-ment right to freedom of speech,” said senior attorney Shannon Davey. “Half of our team

argues Alex’s side and the other half argues the school’s side.”

While much of Mock Trial requires learning about the law and studying case materials, for the students who act as witnesses, acting ability is also a crucial component. Witnesses like senior Brian Gibbons, who acts as the Professor the blog is about, are extremely dedicated to their roles.

“Since I found out I was a witness in Mock Trial I haven’t broken character once,” Gibbons said. “Teachers get annoyed with my character Professor G. Lee because every day I come into class and claim I have 18 years of teaching experience and am more qualified to teach the class than them.”

Gibbons, along with seniors Monica Gutbrod and Cara Leach and junior Jenna Decker are all members of Team Sotomayor who received individual awards for their performances at the regional competition. Members of Team Scalia who won awards at Regionals are Samantha Brown, Connor Morrissey, Sarah Masica and Brian Woods.

Both the district and regional competi-tions were held in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. To advance, each side of the team must win their trial. Judges also award points to the teams, which is how Team Sotomayor won first place.

Moderator Hillery is looking forward to competing again at the state competition on March 11-13. Hoban has had 18 teams advance to state in the past 19 years, and placed second out of over 350 teams last year.

"I think we have an excellent chance of success at the state competition. We have last year's experience in the state final and a good balance of strong attorneys and witnesses,"

said Hillery.Junior attorney Decker feels confident in the

team for other reasons.“As long as I’m wearing my lucky underwear,

we’ll definitely go to nationals,” the superstitious Decker said. u

u Team Sotomayor poses for a photo after winning 1st place at the Regional Mock Trial Competition last week.

�

◆ Cover Story

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010

All photos by Ben Edwards

Com

pile

d by

Nik

ki B

owse

r

Voices in the Crowd

A: "Is Beginning Art an elective?"

-Tejas Venkat-Romani '12

A: "Printmaking with Krausy."

-Brooke Chervenic '10

A: "Gym."

-Nick Kunce '13

A: "TV Production with Christopher Fahey."-Ben Peak '11

Q: What is the best class offered at Hoban?

Entertaining ElectivesPrinciples of Sports Management This is a survey course that will focus on

the fundamentals of business management. Students will review types of business owner-ship, organizational structures, employee/em-ployer relationship, leadership techniques, and project management. These concepts will be rein-forced by case study review in the area of Sports Management. These studies include reviews of the leagues, clubs, athletes, agents and college sports, in the business of sports.

Credit: ½ (Grades 11 and 12)Teacher: Mr. Kim Kovesci “This is a good course for kids who are

looking in majoring in business or sports. Mr. Kovesci has good insight in that.”

-junior Gabby Corwin

Television ProductionStudents are challenged to

operate a television camera, work with audio, and learn how computers play a role in the pro-duction of a television broadcast. In class, students learn to film, direct, edit, and act in a news media studio and on location for news events. Can be followed by Advanced Television Production.

Prerequisite: Digital Imag-ing.

Fee: $30.00 per semesterCredit: ½Teacher: Mr. Chris Fahey “You should take TV Produc-

tion because Mr. Fahey knows his stuff.”

-junior Kolin McMillan

Pre-EngineeringThe course will provide students with

an exposure to four primary disciplines of engineering: chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical. Students will learn about each discipline through a combination of projects, research and presentations that complement their mathematical and scientific coursework. A primary focus of the Pre-Engineering course will be to further develop problem solving skills with an attention to detail and analysis of the practicality of the results achieved. Profes-sional aspects of engineering and educational requirements of engineers will be explored.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of Ge-ometry, or recommendation of Geometry teacher. Can be followed by Pre-Engineering II.

Credit: ½ (Grades 10, 11, 12)“This class is for anyone interested in know-

ing what engineering is about. Anyone interest-ed in playing with ideas, math and science.” -Pre-Engineering teacher Susan Veverka

Electronic MusicThis course enables students to operate

and understand the functions of a tape deck, a mixer, a sequencer, an electronic keyboard, and drum synthesizers. Students learn how

to create sound using MIDI (Musical Instru-ment Digital Interface) equipment, learn about the technical vocabulary of electronic music, and become familiar with the works of professional musicians and performers. Students are able to apply knowledge of fundamentals of music theory along with basic knowledge of electronic musical in-struments to create music. No knowledge of a musical instrument is necessary for this

course.Credit: ½ UnitTeacher: Mr. Kyle Kelvington"I just love electronic music because

learning to use garage band is fun. You can make pretty decent music with no musical talent." -senior Eric Antonucci

Class choices you never knew you had

u Junior Paul Mahon uses a camera in Television Production class.

�The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010

Entertaining Electives

CeramicsThis course is an introduction into 3-D

work focused in the ceramic (clay) medium. Students use clay to construct functional and sculptural objects, with the predominant focus on hand building and with some work on the pottery wheel. Along with building techniques, students learn about firing and surface treat-ments, including textures and glazes. Students also learn about the historical and the current use of the ceramic medium through the course of ceramic works throughout history.Prerequisite: Studio Art.Fee: $35.00 per semester.Credit: ½ UnitTeacher: Mrs. Eggleston-Kraus

Foods and Nutrition IStudents study nutrition,

its function in the body, food sources and classification. Basic food preparation, tech-niques and terminology are stressed in order to achieve basic culinary skills. Ad-ditional focus includes meal planning that incorporates the food pyramid, variety and available resources, grocery shopping, resource manage-ment, proper use and care of

equipment, kitchen cleanliness and safety, career options and current food and nutritional issues. Follow up course Foods and Nutrition II is offered after completing Foods I.

Fee: $50.00 per semester.Credit:½ (Grades 10, 11 and

12)Teacher: Ms. Allison Theken “You make a variety of foods

from pasta salad and corn bread to chocolate chip cookies and smooth-ies. Yes you do get to eat them too.” –junior Deanna Klettlinger

Child DevelopmentChild Development is a course

designed to bring child development and parenting concepts into focus for the student. Students will learn that child development includes the physi-cal, social, intellectual and emotional maturation of the child from birth through middle childhood. This course is based on several assumptions: that learning about child development increases self-understanding; that parenting skills depend on knowledge of child growth and development along with appropriate attitudes and skills; and that these attitudes, skills and knowledge are needed by both parents and child care works. The student will learn about prenatal developmental, the changes

that occur with the mother’s body, what is done to prepare for this new baby and the role of the father through this exciting period of the parent’s life.

Credit: ½ (Grades 11 and 12)

Teacher: Ms. Allison Theken

“This is a good class for anybody wanting to become parents or have any contact with chil-dren.”

-senior Sarah Belair

Mandarin Chinese IListening, speaking, reading and writing

fundamentals of the Chinese language will be the focus of this first course. The cultural and social customs of China will also be studied.Credit: 1 (Grades 9, 10, 11, 12)Teacher: Not yet decided"Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. I love learning Chinese words when I eat fortune cookies, so I would definitely be interested in learning how to speak it." -senior Jen Kalbus

Newspaper The purpose of this course is to publish The

Visor approximately twice each month. Students learn to discern topics of current interest, research them, and present them in a journalistic style. Emphasis is on the application of the rules of written English. Students are also responsible for artwork, photography, and producing headlines. Class size is limited. Credit: 1 (Grades 10,11, 12)Teacher: Timothy Kirk Griffith"Water that is too pure has no fish"-Ts'ai Ken T'an, ancient Chinese philosopher

String and Wind OrchestraThis ensemble is for students who have a

minimum of one year’s experience playing violin, viola, cello, string bass, bass guitar, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, or general percussion and wish to become more proficient. Student musicians will learn the fundamentals of musical theory, develop advanced playing techniques, and be introduced to orchestral music played in secondary schools.

Credit: 1Teacher: Br. Philip Smith

Class choices you never knew you hadby JohAnnA breiding, JessicA conTrerA,

Allison JAckson And nick pelini

u Senior Cassie Balawender chops garlic in Foods and Nutrition class.

u Junior aspiring editor Johanna Breiding uses her supreme journalism skills on The Visor.

u Sophomore Jacob Michney creates a masterpiece in Ceramics class.

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010�

◆ School NewsPhoto courtesy of Lauren M

iller

ww

w.al

icei

nwon

derla

nd.c

om (F

air U

se)

Alice in Wonderland widely anticipated to awe audiences everywhere

Mexico immersion trip changes students' spirits and hearts

by vicToriA grieshAMMer

Regarded by some as one of the most charming children’s’ stories of all time and by others as one of the most

descriptive drug trips of all time, Alice in Won-derland has proven itself to be a truly versatile tale. Written by English author, photographer and Anglican Deacon Lewis Carrol in 1865, the story, originally titled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has inspired countless renditions. The most recent, produced by the innovative Tim Burton, with its March 5th release date is awaited with great anticipation.

Featuring intense visual effects, a star studded cast and a new, seemingly adventur-ous and fast paced, plot, viewers can expect an entirely different Alice adventure than that was presented in the 1951 Disney movie rendition. The cast includes Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, a character invented by Burton himself, and, Mia Wasikowska, of HBO’s In Treatment, will star as Alice. Burton’s on and off lover and Fight Club star Helena Bonham-Carter will be the Red Queen and, of course, Burton’s

infamous partner-in-crime, the one and only, Johnny Depp will star as the Mad Hatter.

The seemingly dark plot takes on an origi-nal twist as Alice falls down the rabbit hole for

a second time and finds Wonderland under the tyrannical reign of The Red Queen and her notorious desire to decapitate nearly every character she comes into contact with. There has been some criticism on Burton’s decision to stray from the original storyline despite the overall high expectations towards the movie. With special effects and an additional 3D ver-sion to hit I-MAX theaters, the new, high-tech Alice once again will be providing quite the contrast with tradition Wonderland tales.

Yet another unique aspect is the soundtrack Burton chose for the movie. With an eclectic mix of somewhat unknown and underground bands such as Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Tokio Hotel and Top 40-esque stars such as Avril Lavigne and Owl City, the music selec-tion will surely attract and possibly disgust a wide array of music fans.

Whether one is an Alice fanatic or simply looking for a new and expectably good movie, it cannot be mistaken that on the night of March 5th, ‘you’ve got a very important date.’ u

by lindsAy huTh

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it inspired 28 students to discover a new culture and step out of their

comfort zone – and the country – to Monter-rey, Mexico. Two immersion groups made the week-long expedition to La Luz Parish in January and February.

It’s always a great experience to get out-side of your own culture,” campus minister Jason Horinger said. “You see the differences but in a lot of ways see common aspects between people everywhere.”

For six years, the trip has shown students the poverty in countries like Mexico.

“Entire families were living in one room shacks built from tin and cardboard,” junior Emily Bulgrin said. “It’s really hard to see children running around barefoot in trash and manure. It’s like the pictures you see on TV, except you couldn’t change the program.”

Students experienced the culture of Mexico through participating in many minis-tries of the parish. They visited and assisted seniors, prepared a party for the children, toured downtown Monterrey and bonded with the youth group.

“I enjoyed the time with the youth group

because our kids were able to meet with kids their own age who, besides the difference in language, are still teenagers just like them,” chaperone and religion teacher Ben Rossi said.

The group was also able to visit catechism centers, attend daily liturgy and bring the Eucharist to the homebound.

“One thing that really affected me was a man we went to give com-munion to,” Bulgrin said. “He was really sick and had to stay in bed. When I read the Gospel to him, he started crying. The woman with me had to keep reminding him that it was okay and that Jesus could take all our pain away.”

Although the trip is over, its impact is still in the partici-pants’ minds.

“I was amazed at how nor-mal it was for the people to be open about their faith, and it taught me to not be shy about going to church or even singing out loud rather than lip-sync-ing like the rest of my friends,”

sophomore Alex Wills said.Growing in faith was a common experi-

ence among the participants.“The message we foster is not to change

the people of Monterrey but to become changed ourselves,” Rossi said. “When we go to Mass, the consecrated bread is changed just as the essence of the trip is to allow the spirit to change us.” u

u Junior Mario Caprez poses with a child from Monterrey, Mexico. Caprez attended the February Mexico immersion trip.

u Alice in Wonderland promotional poster.

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010 �

◆ EntertainmentPhoto courtesy of Paul Tople

Seven aspects of handshaking are crucial to any formal interaction

Milo and Donatelli participate in chilly Food Bank fundraiser

by ben edwArds

The Handshake – the simple grasp between two people’s hands comple-mented with an up and down move-

ment. Often used when first meeting, saying hello or goodbye, a sign of congratulations, a demonstration of sportsmanship, completing an agreement and a staple of the business world, this simple action did not pop up overnight.

Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that handshaking was practiced as far back as the 2nd century BC and a depiction exists of two soldiers shaking hands on a segment of a 5th century BC tomb on display in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. The handshake is believed to have originated as a motion of peace by showing that the hand holds no weapon. In most recent history, the handshake is believed to have been brought to the western world by Sir Walter Raleigh, the founder of Roanoke Island in early American history. While the time and location has changed, the handshake has proven the test of time and is still vastly used today.

Today, the handshake permeates Ameri-can life and achieving the perfect handshake is required to survive in today’s world, or at least America. The perfect handshake entails many parts such as the perfect timing of initiation, the suave reach for the other’s hand, superior eye contact, a firm but not compressing grip, good finger placement around the other hand,

a non-sweaty but well moisturized palm and perhaps the most difficult aspect, an appropri-ate motion of shake.

What would happen, though, if someone would purposely mess up the aspects of the perfect shake for the sake of social experimen-tation? The seven aspects of the handshake are unwritten guidelines of being a functioning member of society. While no one may have the perfect handshake no one would purposely give a bad handshake, until now.

I took on the mission of uncovering

people’s reactions when they are offered the bad shake, with each one focused on one of the seven aspects and here are the results:

It was once said, timing is everything and this is true when giving a good hand shake. Once the initial timing is messed up the whole handshake falls apart… too soon and you will end up having your hand extended and ex-posed for several seconds while the handshake receiver stares at you with an awkward gawk and then finally comes in for a weak shake.

It is essential to have a James Bond reach

after obtaining the perfect timing. A swift and suave movement is needed, with your elbow cocked at a 90 degree angle until the forearm explodes up into the other person’s hand. These are the movements that scream swag-ger but other movements will weaken your shake: a sloppy fling from a hand stuck in a tight pocket will only end up in failure, even if the fling is timed well. Doing this incorrectly results with the other person compensating your failure of swagger by giving a crushing grip on the hand indicating they have the upper hand.

A firm grip is the hardest to master in handshaking. Too little and it's weak and too much, you’re a jerk. Too much pressure and one will look like a roid-raging business man who gets big on lunch breaks, and too less a wet blanket, either way the result of this failure is a quick hand withdraw from the other person.

Nobody likes to engage in a shake to find their hand just took a bath. A good way to avoid this is a pre-shake hand-on-pants wipe. On the other hand, literally, if your hand is dryer then a desert it is also not a good shake. Both result in the person touching a unwanted hand texture and a face gag, followed by a resulting hand withdraw.

The perfect handshake is something to strive for as it can never be achieved but keeping these guidelines in mind will keep you from an awkward situation. u

by Jules liberTin

The frigid temperatures and blistering wind did not stop hundreds of people on Feb. 20 from jumping into the ice

cold Portage Lakes. Yes, people jumped into a lake voluntarily in the middle of winter. They were participating in the Polar Bear Club’s an-nual dip and fundraiser.

“Oh my gosh it was cold,” world cultures teacher Greg Milo said. “Even though it was cold, I enjoy jumping into the unknown and it was for a good cause so I did it.”

This is the sixth year the jump has taken place. It raises money to support the Ak-ron-Canton Regional Food Bank, which is a non-profit organization that provides food and other basic needs to more than 370 agencies around the area.

“The Food bank has seen an unprecedent-

ed increase in demand for emergency food,” Dan Flowers, president and chief executive officer of the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank, told reporters. “This event will help us provide over 140,000 meals to help feed hun-gry people in the communities we serve.”

The participants raised funds by collecting pledges from family and friends who watched them jump into the chilly water. Each jumper raised at least $25.

“I think it is a great fundraiser,” math teacher Paul Donatelli said. "You get to do something idiotic with like-minded people for a good cause. I have been involved with it for four years but was unable to jump this year because I was sick.”

This unorthodox fundraiser started be-hind event organizer Heather Parsos’s lake-side home. After two years the event drew

such a large crowd that it was moved to the state park. When the event started to grow Parsos made t-shirts and beach towels with the Portage Lakes Polar Bear Club’s logo, as well as 50/50 raffle tickets to help raise more money.

This year the 400 jumpers raised around $40,000 dollars. u

u People voluntarily jumped into a near-freezing pool of water at the sixth annual Polar Bear Club jump.

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 201010

◆ Sports

Gerity orbits around his love for basketball

Schindel victorious at districts, returns to states

by evAn shAub

There is something to be said about the kid who is the first person at practice and the last one to leave. There is also

something to be said when that kid is the basketball team manager.

Wake up, have breakfast, go to school, set up the scoreboard, get out the equipment, run the clock, put away the equipment, fold uniforms, go home. Repeat.

Glamorous, right?To some that may seem wrong, but for

Ryan Gerity, it’s not about the glamour; it’s about much more than that. It is about his love for the game, his love for his school, and the love he has for his teammates. This is his motivation.

“I love being on the team,” Gerity said. “Everyone on the team is fun to be around, everyone is really funny, and I just enjoy being around them. A lot of my best memories at Hoban were with them.”

Gerity, who has managed the team since

his freshmen year, has been around basketball even longer.

“I’ve played CYO since 4th grade, and I have been around basketball since I was about three,” Gerity said. “When I got to Hoban, T.K. asked me to be a manager and I said ‘Yes.’ Now I’m here.”

“Here,” is exactly where head coach T.K. Griffith, and the rest of the basketball team, want him to be.

“I love the dedication and devotion that Ryan shows,” Griffith said. “We like having him here, and I hope his experience here is something he cherishes and remembers for the rest of his life.”

As for the rest of his life, Ryan doesn’t know yet where he wants to go to college. Although he doesn’t know where life is going to take him, he does know what he wants to do: be around basketball.

If he can keep up his consistent dedica-tion, nothing can stop him from achieving this goal. u

by Allison JAckson

I t was cold outside on the weekend of Feb. 19 but for the boys and girls swim team, the competition was just starting

to heat up. With the girls team debuting in Division

I, senior Katherine O’Donnell and fresh-man Megan Kudlac overcame the odds and represented Hoban at the district meet at Cleveland State University in the 50 and 500 free respectively.

“I was so shocked when I made it to districts. It was really unbelievable,” O’Donnell said.

The girls finished with solid times resulting in O’Donnell placing 45th and Kudlac finishing 49th.

“Overall it was a good meet and an awesome experience,” O’Donnell said.

The next day the boys stepped up to the block and broke four more school records. Sophomore Logan Rogers broke his own records in the 50 and 100 free, sophomore Mike Pelini broke his own record in the 100 fly and the 200 freestyle relay of junior Nick Pelini, sophomore Danny Renner, junior Carmine Sberna and Logan Rogers broke their record and went on to swim the 400 freestyle relay.

Also swimming for the Knights were ju-nior Michael Kudlac in the 500 free, senior Jake Craine in the 100 breaststroke, Danny Renner in the 200 and 500 freestyle, junior Paul Davies in the 200 individual medley and the 200 medley relay of sophomore Ryan Will, Jake Craine, Mike Pelini and Nick Pelini.

“I was surprised by the level of compe-tition at districts,” Davies said. “It was like going from the kiddy pool to the deep end. All of the teams were swimming machines and the fact that we got to swim against them was awesome.”

After four months the season has fi-nally come to an end, but for some swim-mers next season is now.

“I was happy with my performance at districts and dropping time in my fly but next year I want to make it to states,” Pelini said. “I’ve already started lifting and I start swimming again in March." u

Stealthy swimmers surprise at districtmeet

by rylAnd pArnell

Heart is a word head coach Rich Lann uses often to describe his wrestling team.

“You don’t have to have a ton of natural ability or muscle, but if you push yourself and have heart, you can be a good wrestler,” Lann said.

The wrestling team had one of the toughest schedules they have ever had with powerhouse teams like Perry, St. Ignatius and Walsh Jesuit. Regardless, the Knights had a ton of positives over the course of the season, including taking 3rd in the Chippewa tournament and beating North Coast League rival Holy Name 57-10.

“The record for the year doesn’t matter to me. I know that I have great kids and they faced some of the best competition this year,” Lann said.

The Knights were able to bring four wrestlers out of sectionals, senior captain Joe Schindel (145 lb. weight class), senior Sammi Geith (119), junior Max Straus (140), and freshman Michael Belknap (130).

“It was great to see Straus beat a num-ber two seed; Geith and Belknap also really worked hard to get this far,” Lann said.

Schindel battled through adversity Fri-day night, Feb. 27, at the district meet. He

wrestled an opponent from Aurora, and he was down by one point with ten seconds to go. Giving everything he had, Schindel was able to hit a takedown to get two points to win the match and advance to the next day. The whole gym roared with excitement; everyone in his family was jumping around, still trying to believe the event that they just witnessed. Schindel wasn’t done yet - that only helped him advance to the next day.

“I knew I had a short time, so I had to try to do something,” Schindel said of the win. “That really boosted my confidence... I have never won in the final seconds like that.”

The next day was the final rounds and Schindel knew he was going to have to wrestle even better than he did the day before to make it to states. Schindel won his match in the morning to guarantee his spot at the state tournament and he was wrestling in the finals to place first. Schindel took control of his opponent from Crestwood for the whole match and placed first at districts.

"It was one of the greatest moments of my life,” Schindel said.

The journey is far from over for one Knight as he travels to Columbus this week-end to compete in Ohio’s 2010 state wrestling tournament for the second time of his high school career. u

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 2010 11

Sport: BoysBasketballYear: JuniorData: FirstteamNCL2010;leadingscorerfor2010Quote:"Wewereagoodteamwhoshowedpotentialwith

bigwinsthroughouttheseason.Ourseniorsledthewayandweregreatleaders."

Sport: WrestlingYear: SeniorData: 4-yearletterwinner,22-13recordoverallQuote:"Wehaveworkedveryhardthisyeartogetwherewe

standnow.Iamproudofwhatwehavedone."

◆ Sports

Sports Spotlight

Sammi Geith

Olympians put lives on the line to compete with world's best

Photos by Julian Smith

Evan Pannell

by Jules liberTin

The fear of losing is trumping the fear of death in the Winter Olympic Games as athletes are pushing the limits in every

aspect. But you can only become so fast and strong before you start to flirt with death.

Athletes want to win so badly that they will risk everything to stand on the podium, even their lives. There has been a death accompa-nied by numerous injuries due to the desire to jump higher, be swifter and go faster.

“I like the Winter Olympics a lot more than the Summer Olympics simply because the athletes are more extreme,” senior Anna Zedar said. “It is entertaining to watch them push the limits with new stunts and tricks.”

While it is entertaining for us to watch, it can be deadly for the athletes. Snowboarder Kevin Pearce struck his forehead on the wall of the half-pipe while flipping and twisting through a double cork trick which resulted in traumatic brain injury. Skier John Kucera

cart wheeled down a mountain and snapped his left shin in two. Bobsledder Todd Hays crashed and had bleeding in the brain which ended his career. These are just three out of the many accidents that have ended athletes’ careers in the Olympics so far because they were pushing the limits.

“My favorite athlete, Lindsey Vonn, is skiing with a shin problem,” said junior Katie Christowski said. “Even with the injury she still won gold and silver medals. That’s crazy; I don’t think I have the will power to do that.”

Like Vonn, the athletes will let nothing stop them. Another example is speed skater J.R. Celski, who slashed his right blade against his left thigh to the bone during a spill, but still managed to win the 1500 meter short track event the next night.

“I understand that the athletes are willing to risk everything,” senior David Bott said. “They have trained their whole life for that one moment and they are not going to let an

injury get in the way of a chance of winning the gold.”

While some athletes have surpassed death, others have not in the Olympics. Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a practice run. Kumaritashvili raced down what was known to be the fastest luge course ever cre-ated. Along with others, Kumaritashvili knew the risks of competing on such a fast hill but thought it would be worth it for the gold. On his way down he took a sharp turn and fell of the course; he died soon after. However, other lugers still had the guts to compete after the death.

“I understand the athletes' determination, but I was very upset about the death,” year-book moderator Tina Braman said. “I thought they crossed the line.”

NBC’s Brian Williams noted on the subject, “It’s in their DNA.” Talent and determination are basic traits in these athletes but apparently so is recklessness. u

The visor ◆ MArch 4, 20101�

◆ Sports

Wacky Olympic sports add dash of excitement to games

When you think about major sports you think about baseball, basket-ball and football—maybe hockey.

But without a doubt the thought of “skel-eton” does not cross your cranium.

Skeleton is a sport known purely as an Olympic event. After a 50 meter head start, competitors race down an icy hill face first on a metal and fiberglass sled that resembles the shape of a human skeleton. No, it’s not child’s play, it’s for an Olympic gold medal—the same gold medal that legends Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps have on their mantelpiece at home. And yes, it is just as entertaining as watching any other sport, Olympic or not.

The winter Olympics are often regarded as the “off” Olympics, with the summer games typically receiving a greater amount of hype with gymnastics, swimming and basketball leading the charge. But through the 2010 Vancouver Olympics I have been reminded of one thing: these quirky, peculiar and dangerous games are wildly entertain-ing. Think about it, on any given Monday you can plop on the couch and flick your way to ESPN and find a basketball, football or baseball game. However, watching a man cross-county ski for four kilometers and then whip out a rifle in boss-like fashion and

knock down five golf-ball-sized targets from 50 meters away is truly a rare Monday.

Then on Tuesday you tune in to a man spinning a woman in the air and tossing her for three flips before she sticks the landing—on ice. That Wednesday you watch four men cram into what seems like an enlarged hot-dog bun and race down a menacing mile-long track traveling at speeds topping 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph). Suddenly your weeknights are entertaining. By Thursday your glued to your TV, wonder-ing if Apollo Anton Ohno will win another medal in a graceful yet powerful short track speed skating contest. Then to cap it off, on Friday your stuck wondering how in the world the 5’8’’, 154 lb. Shaun “The Flying Red Tomato” White landed that last Double McTwist 1260 to seal another gold medal.

Saturday rolls around and your shoulders ache from watching (and half laughing) at curling. On Sunday, figure skating drama rules the sports world and whether or not you want to admit it, you love to watch it. There is something intangibly thrilling about the Winter Olympic games that makes them something that should be looked forward to, not passed by like some mundane new reality show.

Sadly, another four years will have to

come and go before the winter games ap-pear again in Sochi, Russia—the first time that the Russian Federation will host the Olympics since the 1980 Olympics in Mos-cow, just four years before the memorable “Miracle on Ice” took place on Lake Placid in New York. So you may have been someone who just loved watching the fast-paced and snowy winter games, or you may prefer the summer games (taking place in London in 2012), but regardless of which games tickle your fancy one undeniable truth lingers—the Olympics are consistently captivating and are a constant source of amusement each and every two years they temporarily grace our televisions.

In the coming years, I hope that specta-tors will retain their craze for the historic games and build on a storied tradition of athletic competitions that unite countries and all of humanity for however brief a period of time. u

Boys basketball flashes on senior night, fades at sectionalsby peTe delMedico

The boys got their springboard into the playoffs that head coach T.K Griffith spoke of in a 68-66, overtime win

against North Coast League rivals Villa An-gela-St Joseph at Barry Gymnasium. The win made Hoban NCL co-champions and ended its regular season with a winning record of 11-8. Junior Evan Pannell led both sides in scoring with 19, but the real hero was senior co-captain Adam Zsely. In overtime, on senior night, in a full gym, Zsely made a three pointer with ten seconds left to win the game.

Unfortunately, the momentum would not be enough to carry the Knights past the sectional semifinal. Monday night Hoban fell 63-47 to Marlington, 2009 district runners-up. Marlington’s 2-3 match-up zone defense and Hoban’s poor shooting was a thorn in the team’s side all night. The squad trailed Marling-ton 20-11 after one quarter and simply could not close the gap for the rest of the contest.

Leading scorer, junior guard Evan Pannell, was taken out of the game in the first few minutes due to injury and never returned.

“Losing Evan, our offensive catalyst, cer-tainly didn’t help matters,” Griffith said.

At halftime the Knights trailed 30-17. Ju-nior Lucas Sokol led the team with 17 points and Zsely ended his high school career with 13.

“I’m proud of the seniors and their leader-ship.” Sokol said.

The three seniors: AJ Pero, Zsely and Norm Jesser had a lot on their plate being responsible for the young team. They survived their brutal schedule staying on the winning side with an 11-9 overall record, including four overtime victories and a league championship.

“We battled adversity and still found a way to win the league against one of the toughest schedules we have played,” Griffith said.

Putting the loss behind them, the youthful team is looking ahead to next season.

“The seniors did a good job preparing us for next year.” Sokol said. “We have a team full of experienced, skilled players looking to play some great basketball next year.” u

u Sophomore Greg McMullen skies in an attempted shot in a losing effort to Marlington on Monday night.

Photo by Julien R. Sm

ith