The Blue and Gold http://www.maldenblueandgold.
com/
Malden High School Our 95th Year
Volume 95 Edition 7 April 2010
MHS Artists Show Talent
Sharon Lee
Reporter
Alexandra Mathieu
Online Editor
F rom monochromatic self-por-
traits to pastel egg still-lifes,
artwork completed by Malden High
School students is laid on easels,
hung up on walls, and displayed to
the public in MHS’s 11th
Seniors are Stylin’
Seniors Rachel Kirchner, Heba Khurram, and Casey Willcox. Photo by Haley
DeFilippis.
Haley DeFilippis Brittany McFeeley
Head of Business Copy Editor
O n the night of April 8, 2010, the
Malden High School Class of
2010 produced an exceptional fash-
ion show that incorporated all types
of high-end dresses and summer-
wear, with a blast from the past all
the way to the future.
To start off the night, Master
and Mistress Samuel Warton and
Kellie Leonce introduced themselves
and carried out a short skit on the
history of “Maldonia.” They spoke
of the dilemma of students failing to
Paintings hung at the Blue and Gold Gallery. Photo by Sharon Lee.
Annual Blue and Gold Gallery. At the time, she was only one of
Eleven years ago, the Blue two art teachers at MHS, but she
and Gold Gallery was founded by wanted to showcase the work of
MHS art teacher, Maryann Seager. all of the art students. Alicia Fine,
continued on page 8
In This Issue:
Catholic Church
Sex Scandal
page 8
The Blue & Gold
Gallery
Page 9+10
The Senior Fash-
ion Show
Page 11
Junior Varieties
Page 12 + 13
Casual Night of
Theater
Page 14
complete homework assignments.
In an attempt to resolve the issue,
Principal Dana Brown organized a Bullying Laws
Senior Fashion Show, but it still did Page 17
not solve the problem. However, the
seniors highly enjoyed the night.
Boys Track
To begin the show, participants
modeled formal wear, which con- Page 22
sisted of elegant dresses and classy
tuxedos. Malik Blue and Lucinda Lacrosse
Urias walked the stage first, model- Page 24
Continued on page 11
MHS rowers/coxswains gather as one.
Photo by Youth Rowing Coach Richard
Whelan.
Monthly
Profile: Brad
Gelling
Math teacher Brad Gelling/ Photo by
Lynn Tran.
Nidale Zouhir
Head of Local News
M alden High School math
teacher Brad Gelling has pho-
tographs of his seventh-month-old
son, Jacoby, all over the wall behind
his desk in his fourth floor D-house
classroom. And though Gelling says
that having a son “hasn’t really af-
fected [his] teaching,” Jacoby’s birth
has caused a “much more visceral
reaction to news of violence against
children.” That said, Gelling has en-
joyed the experience tremendously.
“It’s great to experience the world
through the eyes of a child,” Gelling
stated. “Everything is fun.”
This desire to have fun, even at
school, is prevalent in much of what
Gelling does; in the classroom, he is
lighthearted and jokes around with
his students. “He’s hilarious,” junior
Jensine Ironuma stated. “He just
continued on page 14
Opinion p.3
World p. 8
Local p. 11
Entertainment p. 19
Sports p. 21
2 Editorials
Malden High School
The Blue and Gold
77 Salem St.
Malden, MA 02148
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
David Riemer
Ayoub Kourikchi
MANAGING AND DESIGN EDITOR
Lynn Tran
COPY EDITING DIRECTOR
An Holmqvist
ONLINE EDITOR
Alexandra Mathieu
HEAD LOCAL NEWS WRITER
Nidale Zouhir
HEAD WORLD NEWS WRITER
João Nascimento
HEAD ENTERTAINMENT/ OPINION
Brittany Foley
HEAD SPORTS WRITER
Alfonse Femino
HEAD OF BUSINESS
Haley DeFilippis
COPY EDITORS
Dan Holmqvist
Omar Khoshafa
Xavier Leo
Brittany McFeeley
REPORTERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
Amanda Adams
Lauren Benoit
Kayla Bramante
Christopher Brown
Freddie DiPhillipo
Natalie Fallano
Alexander Gennigiorgis
Megan Kelly
Joshua Kummins
Johanna Lai
Sharon Lee
Cristina Peters
Catherine Poirier
Brendan Provitola
Reginah Sanyu
Joel Stevenson
Alicia Young
Paige Yurek
ADVISOR
Ryan Gallagher
Established in 1915
Check out our online edition:
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
Glee: cultural Phenomenon
H ad there been any chance that the word “glee”
was on the list of words in danger of extinc-
tion, Fox has single-handedly reversed its fate with
their soaring new show about a high school show
choir. When the show debuted in Sept. 2009, it cre-
ated some hype, but remained capped at around 7.5
million viewers each week. By the time the second
season rolled around in April 2010, however, that
number rocketed to over 21 million viewers. What
happened? The word got out; new fans caught up
and became engrossed in the craze.
One might also ask how another borderline-
musical program about stereotypical high school
life could possibly have become popular in an age
when the 14-22 year old demographic exhibits a
rapidly dissipating attention span. The answer—
phenomenal execution.
While many currently popular shows try to
dramatize the “realism” of their characters’ experi-
ences, Glee marks a new breed of show fusing musi-
cality with a sagacious satire on the typical modern
high school experience. Times have changed, and
there are new issues which face America’s school
children aside from the omnipresent threat of be-
ing shoved into a locker or where to sit at lunch.
Glee modernizes and reprioritizes these problems,
incorporating more of a focus on teen pregnancy,
sexuality, peer pressure, discrimination, and high
personal expectations.
What sets the show apart from its contem-
Editorial Policy
The Blue and Gold is an open forum for
student expression. It is produced by students
for the school and the community. The views
presented in this paper are not necessarily those
of the advisor or the school administration. The
views presented in the editorials are those of the
editors-in-chief or guests. The goal of The Blue
and Gold is to inform and entertain students as
well as the community regarding issues that we
feel are important.
We strongly encourage readers to respond
to material printed in the form of signed letters to
the editors. No libelous, malicious, defamatory,
obscene, or unsigned material will be printed.
The Blue and Gold reserves the right to edit the let-
ters. Names may be withheld upon request. Not
all letters will be printed.
Although The Blue and Gold appreciates the
support of advertisers, we may refuse any ad-
vertisement that violates the above policy or that
promotes products questionable to student use.
Any correspondence concerning this publi-
cation should be directed to Mr. Ryan Gallagher’s
room in A103 or to his mailbox in the main office.
The Blue and Gold
c/o Malden High School
77 Salem Street
Malden, MA 02148
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
poraries is that its drama is more cognizant and
absurdist, pointing out stereotypes and gener-
alizations by highlighting them and immersing
them in humor—Glee is a comedy; its goal is not to
make you grieve over Ben breaking up with Amy.
Though there are touching moments, such as when
Quinn’s parents kick her out of the house for being
pregnant, the circumstances aim to touch, not rip
the audience’s hearts out, stomp on them, and flood
the living room in a deluge of tears. The subtlety is
appreciated.
Did I mention the music? From week to week
Glee produces stunning renditions and mash-ups of
hit songs, revitalizing and reinventing them with
their own unique flavor. After all, the show is about
a rising new glee club, and since practice makes
perfect, Fox ensures that there is plenty of music
to go around. Despite the program’s witty storyline
and whimsical characters, the show’s main attrac-
tion remains its music, and in under a year since its
first episode, Glee has managed to accomplish some
hefty feats.
In Oct. of 2009, Glee surprised the musical
world with its 1.1 million sales on iTunes, and the
show’s most recent episode “The Power of Madon-
na” looks as though it will continue to improve the
trend, sending Glee to the top of Billboard’s Top 200
Albums list. In just under a week the episode gener-
ated enormous sales, soaring up to number one in
the United States, Canada, and Ireland for the cast’s
cover of “Like a Prayer.” The show’s consistency is
incredible, but with the vocal power of its cast, it is
hard to believe anyone is really surprised.
Comparable to the legendary Idina Menzel,
Lea Michelle (formerly on Broadway herself) re-
peatedly sings her heart out each week as the up-
tight and high-maintenance Rachel Berry, star vo-
calist of the McKinley High School New Directions
Glee Club. Not far off is Amber Riley (Mercedes),
another vocal powerhouse, who sang her version of
“And I Am Telling You” arguably as well as Jennifer
Hudson herself. From Kurt (Chris Colfer) to Finn
(Cory Montieth), from to Artie (Kevin McHale) to
Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz), “Glee” has staggering tal-
ent and is sure to prosper in the seasons to come.
David Riemer
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Corrections:
on page 1 The Olympics Article is
on page 19
on page 8 photo credit goes to Sha-
ron Lee
on page 13 photo credit goes to
Lynn Tran and Sharon Lee
on page 12 Bridget Furlong’s is a
freshman and on page 20 her name
is spelled incorrectly
Corrections to the editor can be submitted to
theblueandgold@gmail.com
Email corrections to
theblueandgold@gmail.com
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
MMSI: What is right and what is wrong?
An Holmqvist The AP Grant is meant to promote AP enrollment for all students. It is
Copy Editing Director
there so we can expand the program. However, it does not dictate that
teachers should get paid more for better student performance. Where
did this come from?
W hen I was first delving into this
article, I was dawdling under
the assumption that the National
Math and Science Initiative (NMSI)
was basically giving out free money.
All of this money, only to be sent to
teachers who work exclusively with
the highest-achieving students in
the school? This sounds and feels
really strange. What about all of the
teachers who are left to work with
the kids who are struggling to get a
passing grade? Should they not also
get a chip of the money? Or is this
whole thing about the AP Program
really about money? No wonder
why the Massachusetts Teachers
Association was and still is incensed
about it and clearly opposed. No
wonder why people are so divided
on the AP Grant, and on the "merit
pay" to which it is often linked.
The more I would question the
real purpose of the Grant, the more
incensed I would get. Why encour-
age more exclusivity for AP students,
all of whom were once considered
the real "cream of the crop" as MHS
Transitions Coordinator Patricia
Laidley called it? Undeniably, there
are other hard-working students at
the school. Why can they not get the
same recognition for their efforts?
How is it that teachers working tire-
lessly with non-AP students cannot
get the same pay?
That was where I stood just a
couple of weeks ago. But as soon
as I hit my reporter's notepad and
research, I hit a completely differ-
ent scenario. Every single one of the
teachers at Malden High spoke in
ardent support of the AP Program.
Regardless of whether there were
some issues with merit pay, every-
one seemed to accept the flaw for
According to the College Board and the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), just about all schools involved
in the Grant have benefited from the extra support. The several dozen schools involved in the NMSI APTIP saw a 52%
increase in students passing AP exams as compared to the national average of just 5.7%.
Source: www.nationalmathandscience.org
Opinion
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
what it was. Even the teachers who
primarily teach freshmen and soph-
omores generally supported the AP
Program and noted clearly that they
either consciously chose not to teach
AP or that they accepted the terms
and conditions under the Massa-
chusetts Math and Science Initiative
(MMSI).
The AP Program's goals are
legitimate. They work with the stu-
dents from the bottom up. As AP
classes are being more and more
frequently offered to all upperclass-
men and even tenth graders, the
program has not, in fact, increased
a culture of exclusivity, but has fo-
cused more on raising expectations
for everyone, even while a student
is in a CP class or an Honors class.
According to MHS AP Litera-
ture teacher Jen Clapp, this multi-
faceted issue started up in the deep
south (in Texas), where a school
district wanted to improve their
standards to welcome a new sci-
ence cooperative that was coming to
their community. The program was
developed into what finally became
the NMSI; a nationally recognized
organization funded by many big
names such as Exxon Mobile, the
Gates Foundation, and Dell. The
Grant across the country involves
a lot of money - millions upon mil-
lions of dollars are set into motion
for the benefit of students and teach-
ers.
You would think that this was
a blessing for education. However,
the NMSI hit a huge road block
when they came to the Northeast.
The program’s rapid expansion was
halted by incensed opposition from
the Massachusetts Teachers Associa-
tion (MTA), the state’s largest Teach-
3
ers Union. Due only to the financial Congratulations
incentive, the MTA urged its affili-
ated high schools to withdraw from to MHS Head
the program and successfulluy kept of Mathematics
at least 5 schools from joining the
program. However, Malden High Christine Nagle
was in the process of expanding its who won the
AP curriculum, and, collectively,
wanted the Grant. As many will say, NMSI’s
it also served us well. National
Many questions still stand, but
few want to address them. Does the All American Teacher
AP Program encourage the culmi-
nation of a meritocracy in the high
Award for 2009
school environment? Yes, and no.
AP is not a higher standard that ex-
emplifies the crest of high schoolers'
intelligencies. Advanced Placement
is an offering at many high schools
across the United States in an ef-
fort to prepare the majority of high
schoolers early on for college. AP
does not imply that you are always
smart and talented. And does this
mean that merit pay for the teach-
ers is okay? Many teachers in Mas-
sachusetts especially feel chills run
down their spines when they hear
just the words "merit" and "pay" in
one sentence. However, as I have
already explained, the financial in-
centive is not necessarily associated
with the idea of "pay per perfor-
mance." And even if the extra money
still might seem like an inequality, it
is a pill that the schools using the
grant have to swallow hard. The AP
Program could have been designed
differently, but in the end, the gains
made by our school as a result of the
AP Grant far outweigh any losses.
We should not have to turn it away
just because of one small, but highly Christine Nagle with Junior Chang Li.
controversial issue. In its second Photo by Dan Holmqvist.
year at MHS, the Grant has helped.
It probably will stay its course.
Math teacher Christine Nagle
was recently nominated for the first
annual National Teacher of the Year
competition. The awards recognize
“outstanding math, science, and
English teachers for remarkable
contributions to their students and
the teaching profession.”
The award, sponsored by
the Math and Science Initiative, is
given to teachers that participate in
NMSI’s Advanced Placement Train-
ing and Incentive Program.
Nagle was one of eighteen
teachers selected across the coun-
try to attend an awards luncheon
in Washington DC on May 18, in
addition to receiving a cash prize.
During their visit, teachers have a
chance to tour the capital and will
meet with their local representa-
tives in Congress.
4 Opinion The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Community Bulletin

Letter To The Editor

Hello Editors of The Blue and Gold,
It has come to my attention that cyber
bullying has peaked with the emergence
of a new and popular website. called
“Formspring.me.” The application lets
online users basically admit questions in
anonymity, therefore leaving room for a
few select individuals to exploit that func-
tion and harass, humiliate, and patronize
Formspring users. Although users are
allowed to customize their settings as to
limit these bullying texts, there are still
a majority who don't out of concern that
they'd be labeled as cowardly if they do
not answer demeaning questions. The
worst part is, these online bullies really
cross major ethical borders with vulagar-
ity, derogatory and racial remarks, and
straight up hurtful things to Formspring
users. Even if the users themselves decide
Comic with Jeri Scibelli in jest with Co-Editor-in-Chief David Riemer not to answer the questions, the ques-
tions are still being read and received by
human beings. Perhaps this could be a
topic of exploration that the newspaper
might find interesting to investigate since cyber bullying seems to be a
hot topic these days.
This issue is of big concern to me since bullying, even of the verbal
kind, proves traumatic. I fear situations that occur online could really
push a person to their brink and they might inflict harm upon themselves
or peers. Formspring is a breeding ground for the emergence of a new
type of bullying that allows for harrasment in anonoymity. Simply ignor-
ing these spiteful messages is counterproductive. Formspring should at
least recognize this issue and make it part of their agenda to address.
Bullying in some states is a criminal offense to its users.

by Junior Hong Chung

Send Letters to the Editor to

theblueandgold@gmail.com
The Blue and Gold
April 2010 Opinion 5
Xavier Leo
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
Copy Editor

I n today’s world, the “iGen-

eration,” commonly known
as the young adults and teen-
agers of society, have found
themselves living at a cross- Technology Takeover
roads; we are witnessing the
decline of print and the rise of
technology around the globe.
But is this sudden rise of
The iGeneration: Amusing
technology positive?
Some people may argue itself to death or arguing
that it is not. In fact, media
theorist Neil Postman put with something Postman
it quite bluntly in the title of
his social commentary, Amus-
ing Ourselves to Death. His
said?
argument stated that the
general public has become too
engrossed with new technol-
ogy and is being consumed
by what it has created. He
believes that as a society, we
need to actively engage our
minds by perhaps reading
a book or writing a paper,
rather than passively engag-
ing it and letting information
be fed to us through television
or the Internet.
Postman also believes
America has become a society
symbolized by entertainment
and television. He states
that it is generally believed
by many that public figures,
including news anchors and
even our very own president,
must have some degree of
“handsomeness” to supple-
ment their success in their particular not of particular importance to one personal choice. Some find it to be a annoyance, and would rather stick
field and optimize their rate of suc- person, it may be someone else’s job tremendous advancement; they en- to old traditions. Whichever stance
cess. to look for exactly that information. joy the capability to eliminate hours one takes, it is becoming increas-
Postman also notes three par- All of these forms of technology of research at a library or handwrit- ingly clear that advancements will
ticular time periods and three cities cannot be geared towards one kind ing an essay by simply using the in- continue to be made, and technol-
that were successful in becoming of audience; they must be fitting ternet and typing their assignments. ogy will not be going anywhere
living representations of America for everyone, and that is where the Others find technology more of an anytime soon.
during that respective period. The industries who focus their work on
first city he recognizes is Boston dur- these forms of media can flourish.
ing the times of the rise of industry, Any information made available to
then New York City as it rapidly be- the public on these mediums must
came an epicenter for the flow and
exchange of cultural ideas, and the
be relevant to somebody, because
just about everybody is looking for
Get Your Prom Tuxedos Here!
last city he noted, which he believes something different. Therefore, it is
to correctly represent America to- difficult to make the argument that
day, is Las Vegas. Nicknamed “Sin technology is playing too great a
City,” it is a place devoted entirely role in daily life, as whether or not a
to amusement; it is a city of flashing person believes that it is too influen-
lights, fast lifestyles, and negligent tial is based primarily on their own
spending. In Postman’s eyes, and in experience, not on that of others.
the eyes of his fellow supporters, it You may have noticed the
represents a decline in the intellec- increasing presence of technol-
tual state of America. The general ogy in your own school or even
public no longer wishes to challenge across the world of education in
itself and think critically; instead he general. Classrooms are being fit-
believes that the public has become ted with more and more modern
disinterested in active mind engage- technology, including interactive
ment, choosing to be entertained SmartBoards, updated computers,
while they lay back and soak it in. ceiling-mounted screen projectors,
Others might state that with and even handicap buttons to open
such a huge influx of technology in the classroom doors. Education has
this modern era, it has become dif- come a long way from dipping a
ficult to distinguish between what pen into ink and writing a ten page
is a distraction and what is useful history paper. When coupled with
information. But who is the judge the personal touch that a teacher can
when it comes to making the dis- bring to the classroom, all of these
tinction? Yes, there is indeed plenty forms of technology become innova-
of surplus information made avail- tive tools to supplement their style
able in several forms of multime- of teaching and optimize the learn-
dia, including podcasts, radio, and ing experience.
television, but even if that informa- Ultimately, the presence of
tion—let’s say it is the most recent technology in our daily lives and
update on a Red Sox pitcher—is the degree to which we use it is a
6 WORLD NEWS
West Virginia
Mining
Accident
Freddie DiPhillipo
Reporter
M
onday, April 5, 2010, a seri-
ous coal mining explosion
killed several miners in West
Virginia. Rescue officials claim
that this has been the worst min-
ing accident in American in 25
years, since Dec. 19, 1984 when
27 miners died in Utah. Four min-
ers are still missing as of April 6,
2010 in West Virginia, and they
are expected to have been killed
in the explosion. There was a high
level of methane, so serious, that
rescue crews can not even get to
other miners.
This explosion in the West
Virginia mine happened around
three in the after noon, Monday,
April 5, 2010. Several miners have
already been pronounced dead;
the death toll stands at 25 as of
April 6, 2010. The company name
of the mine is Masey Energy
Company, which employs 200
miners. There were three groups
of miners that were affected by
the explosion. All communication
lines were down, however about
20 ambulances were dispatched
to the scene.
Rescue crews have not been
able to enter the mine due to the
unsafe conditions, although they
are drilling holes in the ground
above to ventilate the mine
from the methane in for the four
missing miners if they are still
alive. Families of the workers
were along side with the rescue
units. Nearby churches have
been opened their doors for the
families of the missing miners. 25
miners have been killed in the ac-
cident, and only 11 of them have
been pulled out of the mine and
identified. As of April 8, gas levels
are still too high for rescue crews
to enter the mine.
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
HEALTHCARE PASSED
Chris Brown
Reporter
O n March 23, 2010 President
Barack Obama finally ended
months of heated debate in Congress
by signing the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (better known
as “the healthcare bill” or “health-
care reform”) into law. By signing
the bill, Obama finally achieved a
major milestone towards healthcare
reform that was attempted back in
the 1990s when former President
Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary
Clinton unsuccessfully lobbied to
pass universal healthcare.
The new law will disallow in-
surance companies to deny anyone
coverage based on pre-existing con-
ditions. It will also allow children
to stay on their parents’ health plan
until they are 26 years old. Tens of
millions of people will be eligible
for tax credits to help pay for care
based on their income. Citizens will
be able to keep existing coverage
that they are pleased with if they
should choose to, they will not be
forced by government to get a new
plan and insurance companies can-
not raise prices if they become sick.
People will also be able to buy insur-
Chechnya shocks moscow Again
Megan Kelly
Reporter
W
hen one hears the term “sui-
cide bombers,” images of the
Middle East appear in one’s mind
due to the stereotypes that have been
formed since 9/11. On March 29,
2010, two suicide bombers attacked
Moscow’s subway system, killing
38 civilians and injuring 60 others.
The culprits are believed to be two
female suicide bombers working for
a terror organization in the Russian
republic of Chechnya.
A yearly overview of terrorist attacks
in Russia
ance from other states, if the state is
part of an interstate compact and
government will not force a certain
plan on anyone. Small businesses
will benefit from the bill because
contracts will be required to be writ-
ten in simple language and busi-
nesses can pool with others to buy
insurance. People on Medicare will
not lose benefits, actually, they will
gain more and everyone will likely
pay less for health insurance overall.
Congressional Republicans
who were in opposition to the bill
are still fighting, this time to repeal
the bill. According to polls, Ameri-
cans are split almost directly in the
middle when it comes to the new
law. Some supporters may claim the
opponents of the bill are overreact-
ing and resorting to “child-like” be-
havior, such as South Carolina Rep-
resentative Joe Wilson who shouted
“You lie” to the President while
trying to clear misconceptions about
the bill, as well as Texas Representa-
tive Randy Neugebauer who yelled
“Baby killer” at a fellow Congress-
man at a healthcare speech. Oppo-
nents claim that the bill will add to
the deficit and make Americans pay
more taxes.
In fact, some opposed to the
bill associate themselves with an
At 7:56 AM, as workers where
making their daily commutes at the
Lubyanka subway station, the first
bomb was detonated. Forty minutes
after the first bombing, Park Kultury
subway station was also attacked by
a similar method. The female bomb-
ers are now known in Russia after
their earlier attacks in 2003 as the
“black widows.” They are usually
women from Chechnya who have
been victimized during the wars
that have taken place there in the
past two decades.
Chechen rebels have been us-
ing acts of terror to push their politi-
cal views since 2002 when they
took 800 hostages in a Moscow
theater and then killed six of
them. Suicide bombings also
became another technique
they use when they bombed
Chechnya’s Government
headquarters in the capital
city of Groznyy the same year
with a death toll of 72.
Much of Chechnya’s his-
tory with Russia is mainly dis-
agreements on who controls
the people and land. During
the Russian Civil War when
the power of the Russian Tsars
fell and Communism con-
trolled the country’s politics
the Caucasus region changed
hands between several of the
armies that fought in the revo-
lution. The new government
abused its power during World
War II (WWII) when they deported
the Republic of Checheno-Ingush-
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
ongoing organization to protest the
bill called the Tea Party movement.
The name is based on the Boston
Tea Party in which revolutionaries
protested British taxes. This move-
ment, however, protests the bill that
they believe will greatly increase
taxes. The majority of the movement
consists of wealthy, well-educated
white men, studies have found, and
they are mostly, if not all in some
way Republican or conservative.
Key Republicans have appeared at
rallies including former governor of
Alaska Sarah Palin and former Colo-
rado congressman Tom Tancredo.
Some in opposition to the bill
even went as far as to threaten con-
gressmen who voted in favor of it by
vandalizing homes and even send-
ing a coffin to one representative. A
California man was even arrested by
the Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI) and officially charged with
sending death threats to Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi, he was
denied bail by a judge in fear that
he would actually attempt to assas-
sinate Pelosi. Whether it is liked or
hated, the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act is arguably one
of Obama’s principal achievements
in office.
etia’s entire population, which was
sent to Kazakhstan for their alleged
cooperation with invading Nazi
Troops and replaced with Russian
citizens. Mainly the deportees were
children and sent away in freight
cars. When many Chechens resisted
the Russian Army used violence to
control them, one time locking over
500 people into a barn and burn-
ing them to death. For forty years
Chechnya had remained calm be-
sides for some disagreements with
Russian Officials. The attacks during
WWII were acknowledged in 2004
by the European Government as an
act of genocide of the Chechen and
Ingush people by the former Union
of Soviet of Socialist Republics.
The reason behind the Chechen
rebel’s fighting is not based on re-
ligion like many other terrorists.
Chechnya, since 1994, has fought
two wars for their independence
from the Russian Federation, leav-
ing the land a wasteland along with
a whole generation of Chechen
children with Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) from the wars.
With 100,000 deaths from the
first war alone Chechnya has lost
many lives and the battles being
fought continuously on their soil al-
lows them no time recover, allowing
them to slip into poverty. The body
count of the Second Chechnya War
is continuing to rise and so is the
anger of the Chechen terrorists, who
are revealing the depth of their an-
ger with attacks on Russian citizens.
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
Iceland’s Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes Chaos
Omar Khoshafa
Copy Editor
E yjafjallajokull (translated to
the Island Mountain Glacier)
erupted on April 14, 2010 in Iceland,
spewing tons of volcanic ash into
the atmosphere. This was not the
first time the volcano erupted this
year, as it did give a warning in late
March with strong eruptions that
gushed out lava for hundreds of
tourists to see. Unfortunately, the
volcanic ash that was discharged by
the volcano has hindered European
air flight for nearly two weeks after
its eruption.
The volcanic ash from Eyjafjal-
lajokull was ejected 30,000 feet in
the atmosphere, where strong atmo-
spheric northeast winds have car-
ried the ash away into Europe. The
reason for the halted flights is the
fact that the ash from this particular
volcano is unique from that of oth-
ers. Water from the volcano’s surface
(previously ice) has combined with
the explosions inside of the volcano
to expel the volcanic ash even fur-
ther. The material released from this
volcano is composed of a mixture
of minute particles of volcanic glass
and volcanic ash, which, when in
New Osama Bin Laden Tapes Surface
Paige Yurek
Reporter
I nfamous Al Qaeda chief and most
wanted man on Earth, Osama bin
Laden has stirred controversy and
terror once again with recent audio
tapes discussing the United States'
economic problems, challenging
President Barrack Obama's capa-
bilities, and strangely, pinning the
global warming crisis on the United
States.
Delivering his skepticism about
the future of the U.S., bin Laden
stated, “President Barrack Obama
has received a heavy inheritance
from George W. Bush: two wars
and the collapse of the economy. If
he withdraws from the war, it is a
military defeat. If he continues, he
drowns in economic crisis." Clearly,
this is the issue for Americans do-
mestically, but bin Laden seems to
think he has a brilliant solution for
both improving the economy and
ceasing global warming: stop con-
suming American goods.
Bin Laden encouraged the
world to stop imports and exports
with America, and by doing so,
claimed America's economy can
"improve" and global warming can
come to a stop. “This is possible if
the peoples of the world stop con-
suming American goods and we
must stop dealings in the dollar and
get rid of it as soon as possible,” bin
WORLD NEWS 7
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
Across the Atlantic
contact with an airplane engine at
2000˚ Celsius, causes particles to re-
melt into lava and cause any aircraft
severe engine failure.
With the global infrastructure
more reliant on air travel than ever
before, these disruptions to air travel
will definitely create more economic
woes for both airline companies and
passengers alike. Although this crisis
lasted for relatively one week, airline
companies alone have lost over $1.7
billion worth in tickets. This mon-
etary loss is not the whole picture,
as millions of stranded passengers
were trapped in European countries,
causing delays to a myriad of private
and business plans of many poten-
tial passengers.
Some environmentalists expose
the bright side to this “dark” crisis,
as CO2 emissions have declined by
over 60 percent in the European Map locating erupting Iceland volcano, ash cloud and European countries
atmosphere, according to data from affected. MCT 2010
the independent British research
group RDC Aviation. Currently, is still increasing by nearly 5 percent community will need to pay atten-
commercial air flight has accounted every year. This suggests the CO2 tion to the massive impact modern
for 2 percent of all global CO2 emis- emissions will continue to increase transportation is having on our en-
sions, and even if airplanes are be- over the years, and if the world is vironment.
coming more fuel efficient, air traffic to stop global warming, the global
Laden stated, dismissing the fact
that global warming is defined as an
increase in the temperature of the
entire earth’s atmosphere because of
widespread pollution, not just spe-
cifically confined to the US.
According to some Malden
High School students, it seems like
bin Laden is searching for excuses
so he can gain support from peo-
ples of the world to turn on the US.
Sophomore Skye MacDonald says,
"Osama bin Laden really does not
like the United States, and I think
he feels like since we're so industrial
that it's all our [Americans'] fault
for global warming. Also, I think
bin Laden is looking for reasons to
convince other countries to exile
and stop trading with us, so that we
can crash and burn, and become less
powerful."
MHS Sophomore Jessica San- Caricature Portrait done by Reporter Sharon Lee.
ford also has her doubts about bin
Laden's statements, "Personally, i
think his theory is rather arbitrary the topic as well, stating, "It almost ing the spotlight. He needs to realize
considering that there is no current seems like Osama is just looking for that the United States could care less
successfull society that doesnt trade attention. I mean sure, we're still about his 'political advice.'
internationally. His prejudice to the looking for him but, we're trying
US and alleged involvement in the to get the American troops out of
9/11 hi-jackings discredits his opin- there as soon as possible and now
ion severely. Why would he want to he wants to throw himself back in.
help the US?" We're trying to form a plan to get
Fellow MHS Sophomore Su- our troops back starting in 2011. So
zanna Powers voiced her opinion on now, it's almost as if he's just crav-
8 WORLD NEWS The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Catholic Church Sex Scandal

Natalie Fallano
Reporter Milwaukee for 24 years. Over 150 Both Pope Benedict and his numbers of victims of sexual abuse
men have made allegations that older brother Georg Ratzinger were from priests have skyrocketed over

W hen the Catholic Church has

been mentioned on the news
over the last few years, stories of
priests across the world molesting
and abusing children have continu-
ally coming to the forefront. Recent-
ly, more cases have arisen as more
and more people have been com-
ing forward with accusations, and
people all over the world have been
asking themselves what the Church
is going to do about the situation.
Christians are now point-
ing fingers at Pope Benedict XVI,
who has the most authority in the
Church, to take action by making
sure priests who are charged with
abuse and molestation are banished
from the Church. Catholics and
most others believe it is the Pope’s
duty to put an end to this mess and
take more preventative measures.
One of these cases involves the
late Father Lawrence C. Murphy, a
Roman Catholic priest that worked
at St. John’s School for the Deaf in
they were sexually abused by Mur-
phy during their stays at the school.
Many complaints about Murphy
were made by the St. John students
between the years of 1955 to 1958.
He was then removed by Father
David Walsh, who was stationed in
Chicago as chaplain of the deaf, who
wrote to the then-Archbishop of
Milwaukee, Albert Meyer. Murphy
was then removed from the school
after admitting to the charges, but
was allowed to return to the school
in later years. His second stint did
not prove to be a welcome one, as
he endured years of accusations and
torment from students at the school.
The controversy that is increas-
ing the exposure of this case is re-
cently released information by The
New York Times that Pope Benedict
XVI might have known about Mur-
phy’s misconduct at least a few years
before Murphy died, but never took
any action to remove him from the
priesthood. Over the past decade, the
caught up in the scandal in Germa-
ny, which is the Pope’s homeland.
The current archdiocese of Munich
said that a priest accused of molest-
ing boys was given therapy in 1980
and later allowed to resume his du-
ties before committing more abuses
and being prosecuted. Pope Bene-
dict XVI, who at the time headed the
Archdiocese of Munich and Freis-
ing, approved the priest’s transfer
for therapy.
Two major allegations of child
molestation among the Irish clergy
last year revealed the shocking
extent of abuse and cover-ups in-
volving thousands of victims that
stretches back for decades. The bish-
ops in these cases looked away and
ignored these cases of abuse. On
March 20, 2010 the pope apologized
to all the victims of child sex abuse
in Ireland, but did not apologize to
any other countries or former vic-
tims of abuse.
the last few years as the victims
themselves have finally begun to
step forward. The Catholic Church
has been losing faithful members
and has been embarrassed by the
entire ordeal. This controversy has
brought the resignation of many
embarrassed priests and bishops
who have been accused of cover-
ing up abuse. Now that Holy Week
and Easter have passed, the most in
important time of the Catholic Year,
the Vatican and Pope Benedict are
ready to address this issue further.
Vatican sources say that in June, at
the climax of the International Year
for Priests where the pope will be
meeting thousands of clergymen
from around the world, he is plan-
ning to make a worldwide apology
for the victims of abuse by Roman
Catholic priests. The Vatican and
the pope hope the apology and pen-
ance will defuse the anger of abuse
claims worldwide.

A Financially-Crippled Greece
Jihad jane Seeks Aid From Neighbors
Surprises Alex Gennigiorgis
Reporter
America Y ears of useless spending, cheap
lending, and failure of enabling
financial reforms has ended up with
Greece being exposed to global eco-
nomic decline. This revealed dramatic
Alicia Young debt levels and deficits that exceeded
Reporter limits set by the eurozone.
The debts total up to about 300
packages involving important bodies
such as the International Monetary
Fund, then the euro currency's repu-
tation would risk further damage and
could lead to a substantial fall against
other key currencies.
Greece has taken huge steps to
improve the economy, such as pro-
liferating taxes on fuel, tobacco, and
alcohol, also, raise the retirement age
by two years, enforcing public sector

T errorist attack upon terrorist
attack; the media displays
videos, letters, pictures each with
a new motive against America
and its citizens. Stereotypes have
developed of terrorists being
dark skinned bearded men, but
recently a new attempt at terror-
ism shows a “call for expanding
the profiling process” stated blog.
dawn.com. A blonde-haired blue
eyed female, Colleen LaRose, 46,
has been accused of attempted
murder and aiding of terrorists.
Internet-produced tapes includ-
ing other evidence prove that
she allegedly helped to recruit
terrorists all over the globe. She
seemed like a normal woman
from Pennsburg Pennsylvania,
though some neighbors called
her “weird” and “crazy” because
she would occasionally talk with
her cats. Kurt Gorman, her boy-
friend of five years, who is also
from Pennsburg said he did not
know of any Muslim relations
and neither did the FBI until
they began investigating in July
2009, because of an appearance
of a YouTube video. In 2009 a
YouTube video surfaced showing
LaRose talking about being “des-
perate" to help Muslims.
"I will make this my goal till
I achieve it or die trying," LaRose
wrote to the man she agreed to
marry when he told her through
an e-mail about Lars Vilks and
how he should be punished.
Vilks is a Sweden cartoonist who
drew the Prophet Muhammad
with the body of a dog, some-
thing extremely offensive to
Muslims such as LaRosa. There
is no apparent evidence that she
ever made it to Sweden, but she
did write to recieve residency
there. Vilks is under constant
body guarding because LaRosa
is not the only one after him and
there is also a reward offered by
many members of Al Qaeda for
his capture and even death.
LaRosa is the first Ameri-
can woman to be charged with
working with terrorists, dem-
onstrating how increasingly
verstatile terrorist threats and
attacks have become. She was
asking other females to help
with her cause. She asked wom-
en who had passports to bring
male Muslims here as husbands
and work with them to commit
acts of terror. Now the United
States has ordinary, unsuspect-
ing citizens (even women) to
worry about; some who do not
even practice Islam regularly.
billion euros ($413.6 billion), which
is sadly larger than the country's
economy. An accurate description
for the economic crisis would be, for
example, a man earns 10,000 dollars
a month and spends 12,000 dollars
a month. This would mean that the
man is spending 120 percent of what
he makes, leaving him with a huge
deficit and sooner or later the debts
will be to high to pay, which is what
has occurred in Greece.
Greece's assessment of its ability
to repay its debts has been denigrated
to the lowest in the eurozone, mean-
ing it will most likely be viewed as a
financial abyss by foreign investors.
The effects of this leave Greece striv-
ing to resist debts and interest rates
from rising. Prime Minister George
Papandreou and the Greek govern-
ment have already demolished all
pre-election promises and must
implement harsh and unpopular
spending cuts.
Greece has broken many euro-
zone rules on deficit management
and financial markets are expect-
ing Greece will default on its debts,
which reflects the credibility of the
euro in a negative way. There are also
possibilities that financial doubts will
affect other nations that are also not
economically stable, such as Portugal
and the Republic of Ireland. If Europe
needs to repair the economy to rescue
pay cuts, and applying resilient tax
evasion regulations.
Greek citizens, as well as citi-
zens all over Europe, are very much
unhappy with the way the economy
is. In fact, there have been warnings
of resistance from various sectors of
society. Workers all over Greece have
staged strikes closing airports, gov-
ernment offices, courts and schools,
and there is seems to be no end of
these oppositions until the economy
in Greece has been re-stabilized.
All 16 countries that make up
the eurozone have created a rescue
plan for Greece. The so called "last
resort" will involve loans from coun-
tries within the eurozone, as well as
funds and technical assistance from
the International Monetary Fund.
According to a statement on the
European Union website, a majority
of the eurozone countries will most
likely contribute an amount based on
the country's Gross Domestic Prod-
uct and population, in the event that
Greece needs support after failing an
attempt to access funds in financial
markets.
Germany will be the main con-
tributor along with France. However,
any European-based loan package
requires a 100 percent approval of
European Union members, meaning
any eurozone country would have
the power to veto.
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
Sharon Lee
Reporter
Alexandra Mathieu
Online Editor
Some of the featured artwork
at the Blue and Gold Gallery
were created by many AP studio
students. The pieces on the left
(from top to bottom) were created
by Seniors Jillian Ceplinskas and
Diana Joseph. The pieces directly
above (from top to bottom) were
created by Seniors Olivia Kahn,
Meredith Murray, and Lauren
Montgomery. Phots by Sharon
Lee.
LOCAL news
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
continued from page 1
this year’s Advanced Placement
studio teacher, proudly stated, “It is
Ms. Seager’s vision that has the Blue
and Gold Gallery show one of the
foremost student exhibitions. Very
few schools hang [artwork] in actual
frames in a professional working
space.” Located in the plaza of Com-
merce Place at 350 Main Street of
Malden, the artwork will continue
to be on display for another month
thanks to the support and generos-
ity of their host, John Preotle.
Preotle, who owns the build-
ing, has taken such a strong liking
to the work of the MHS students
that he installed a new, gallery-style,
hanging system to enhance the gal-
lery and make it easier to display
all of the work. In beneficiary style,
Preotle has also decided to supply
all of the refreshments for the event,
which used to financially cripple the
Fine Arts Club in the past.
The entire art department at
MHS shows their gratitude and
excitement towards the event by
putting in their time and effort to
making these masterpieces and then
setting them up for public viewing.
The artists range from all levels of
visual arts courses such as Studio I,
Studio II, Studio III, Studio IV, AP
Portfolio, and Calligraphy, however
they are not the only ones that par-
ticipate in the event. The members
of the Fine Arts Club have been a
great deal of help with sponsoring
the event and providing money to
frame the pieces and other supplies
to firmly keep them on display.
Their whole preparation began at
the beginning of the year when they
first arrived in the studio classes
keeping in mind that on April 14th
their work would be displayed to
hundreds of admirers.
The arrangement of the gal-
lery has changed this year in order
to showcase more of the art. In past
9
years, the art used to be organized
with the AP Studio work out front
and work from the other studio
classes, in descending order, would
be placed deeper in the building.
Now, the gallery still displays the
AP work in the front, however, the
other pieces are categorized by me-
dium: all sketches are together, all
photography pieces together, etc.
This year, about 300 pieces of
artwork are on display and some,
with the artists’ permission, will be
given a price and sold on the night
of the Gallery. The majority of the
money that is earned from each
painting goes to the artist but there
is a minor $5 donation to Adopt a
Gallery. The Adopt a Gallery pro-
gram is basically an effort to help
recover from the expenses the Fine
Arts Club took care of in order to get
the show up and running.
Unlike previous years book-
marks and magnets will not be sold;
for publicity, the Fine Arts Depart-
ment has created promotional tools
like posters, postcards, and buttons.
It is the first year that they have sold
buttons, but it has the public excited
to see the amazing artwork.
Another new addition to the
gallery is items that will be raffled
off. Nancy Wilson, a famous painter
and watercolorist, has generously
donated one of her pieces as one of
the raffled items. The money that
is raised will be going to the first
K-12 art show called “Many Faces of
Malden.” This art show will present
work done by elementary, middle
school, and high school students
together. Seager indicates how she ful artwork the kids make,” Seager
would like to raise $500 for that gal- states contentedly. This year is no
lery. different; the spectacular work cre-
Despite worries of a different ated by all of the students is truly
gallery, all of the small changes and remarkable and deserves the gallery
nuances only make the gallery more it is given.
special. “I’m always so happily
surprised to see all of the beauti-
10 The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

The Blue and Gold Gallery

Painting By Jimmy Vo

Painting By Linda Tran

Painting by Ka Lai Yuen

Painting by Ngoc Doan

Painting by Landy Joseph

Painting by Thayota Yogendran
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
Haley DeFillipis
Head of Business
Brittany McFeeley
Copy Editor continued from page 1
ing a fashionable light blue dress.
The next couple to go was Aaron
Gladden and Jillann Ceplinskas.
Martin Doan danced down the
runway with his partner Jenny Woo
and gave her an adorable high five
on the stage. After Doan and Woo,
former The Blue and Gold member,
Paul Collins strutted down the
runway in his pink tux with Ma-
rissa Gould. Next, his twin brother,
Robert Collins, strolled down the
runway with Nicolette Tallent –
Maldonado, followed by David
Console and softball captain Jenn
Tamindzija, with Warton and Nicole
DiPlacido right behind.
Following these energetic
LOCAL news
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
couples was Eddie Dorisca and
president of the senior class, Stepha-
nie Apollon. Despite the height
difference, these two had a blast as
the cameras were flashing as they
paraded down the runway.
The next to model were Elaine
Tam and The Blue and Gold Editor-
in-Chief David Riemer. As they
were passing each other, Riemer got
down on one knee and proposed a
flower to Tam, which received many
cheers and claps. Afterward came
Herbens Antenor and Jillian Der-
vishian. The final couple to go was
Blue and Heba Khurram. As they
walked the stage, Blue presented a
flower which Khurram pondered as
to whether she should take it or not,
leaving Blue on his knees and the
crowd in laughter.
After the formal wear presen-
tation, Brown announced the raffle
winners. During this time, Francy
DeMontigny from Dracut and aunt
of MHS Senior and Fashion Show
participant Ceplinskas, won mul-
tiple prizes and baskets that left the
crowd in awe. Another multi-raffle
winner was Nurse Maureen Vona
who went home with two MHS se-
nior yearbooks.
Next, fashionable casual
dresses and laid-back outfits were
presented in “Summer Wear.” Lu-
cinda Urias came out first to model
11
a white sundress with Ketsia Fevrin
who wore a brown dress with yel-
low flowers. When Riemer walked
the runway with Rachel Kirchner
and Victoria Preston, he received a
kiss on the cheek from both of them.
After, Warton reappeared wear-
ing a blue unbuttoned shirt that
revealed his chest and the shortest
of shorts that would have gotten the Collin twins. Next were Gould
him suspended from school, accord- and Ceplinskas, who were model-
ing to Brown. Alongside him was ing a look from the 1950s. Following
Ceplinskas wearing an endearing Gould and Ceplinskas were Kirch-
green and white striped dress for ner, Khurram, and Willcox, model-
the beach. Gladden came back fully ing 1970s wear with classic tie dye
and neon clothes. With hairspray in
dressed as a lifeguard in a red bath-
ing suit, a red t-shirt, and a whistle hand, Preston and DiPlacido mod-
hanging around his neck. Casey eled the classic 1980s look with pink
Willcox joined him down the run- and lime green leggings. After the
1980s style, Jean and Leonce mod-
way, wearing a grey summer dress.
eled 1990s style clothing. Modeling
Once at the end of the stage, Willcox
off present wear were Console and
acted as if she was drowning, and
Doan, who modeled the preppy
Gladden blew his whistle, threw her
look, and Dorisca, and Apollon, who
over his shoulders, and ran off the
were dressed in purple. Right off the
stage. Stephany Jean followed with
time machine, were Tamindzija and
Console, Elaine Tam and Tallent-
Maldonado, the last participants to
Maldonado, Gould and Dervishian,
model.
Tamindzija and Blue, Woo, Apollon,
When the fashion show came
and Toledo were the final models in
to an end, the show was awarded
summer wear.
with a standing ovation. Doan
After the summer wear pre-
stated that his favorite part was
view, the next type of fashion started
“walking the runway because that
from the age of “Maldonia” all the
is what I do. I like to please people,
way to the future. Modeling togas
that is my thing.” Shakurus Semex-
were Warton and Tam, followed by
ant concluded, “It was great, a lot of
a 1930s gangster look from both of
people missed out.”
12 LOCAL news
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Junior Varieties Brings

Out the Paparazzi
Nidale Zouhir Joao Nascimento
Head of Local News Head of World News

T he 70th annual Junior Varieties at Malden High School was simulta-

neously the most creative and provocative in recent years.
Months in the making, with some groups’ practices beginning
as early as September, this year’s JVs was one of the most tumultuous
ever, as the auditorium was undergoing the 3 million dollar renovations
during most of the weeks leading up to it. “Sometimes we would have
practices but we wouldn’t know where they were being held,” explained
junior Andy Lam. “It was really unorganized,” agreed junior Huy Le.
“But we pulled it together and it was one of the best nights of my life.”
“The days leading up to the show were a little stressful as the show
was not entirely put together yet,” junior Andrew Chen stated, with
fellow junior Kyra Savlidis adding that “Practices were long and time
consuming, but we had a lot of laughs throughout the whole thing.”
Essentially, “JVs this year was one of the hardest to manage because
we didn’t have an auditorium and we ran late. This means that the sports
tryouts and JV practice (the week of) ran simultaneously. Many perform-
ers were late or missing and Mr. Fam and Mr. Brown was so mad. Yet,
everyone still stuck together and tried to make our show the most orga-
nized Junior Varieties,” stated junior Patricia Aguinaldo. “And I think we
succeeded.”
Despite the nerve-wracking disorganization of the making of the
show, the show, entitled “Starstruck,” was nearly flawless, including
celebrities and Hollywood life as a central theme. MHS students, such as
junior class president Kerri Shuman, dressed up as famous pop culture
icons to introduce each act, which was set up as an awards show.
The first act set the tone for the night. With hosts Andy Lam, Jessica
Vo, and Savlidis, the first act was packed with energy that came from
beautiful singing performances and extremely entertaining dance rou-
tines.

Left to Right: Heather Thompson as Justin Bieber, Brandon Knight as Adam Sandler,
Jessica Lopez as Ryan Seacrest, Brithney Joseph as Tyra Banks, Kisla Rami as Jordin
Sparks, Francesca Richardson as Taylor Swift, and Cera Nolan as Hannah Montana (All
Juniors)
The Blue and Gold
April 2010 local news 13
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Acts included the highly-applaused Wolf Pack, which included

Shuman, who explained, “I found myself always wanting to do
something really funny and crazy with my friends while making a
lot of money for the junior class.” Cera Nolan, a one-time member of
The Blue and Gold staff another member of the Wolf Pack said that,
“Leading up to JVs...everyone had fun practicing and hanging out to-
gether everyday, It’s sad that it ended but we made good memories.”
The highlight of the night, however, was Sheila Rachels, a junior
who stunned the audience with her spectacular Broadway style voice
and drew standing ovations on both nights of her performance.
The talk in the MHS halls on the following days was about
Anthony Munro, Jeffrey Chabre, and Jeffrey Blanc, a trio of friends
who created a provocative dancing routine titled “Single Fellas.”
Throughout the end of their performance, the boys ripped out their
clothing, revealing an ensemble of tight underarmour that left very
little to the imagination.
At the end of the night, the ensemble cast of the show paid a
homage to Class of 2011 adviser Arlene Ceppeteli, who held back
tears when receiving a large bouquet of flowers. The audience that
filled the packed Jenkins Audotirum left satisfied, with a girl from a
different high school even vowing that she would “return next year,
because no one puts on a show like Malden High School.” Jefferson
Puerta, a Malden Catholic High School junior exclaimed that the
Class of 2011 JV’s was among “one the most beautiful things I have
seen with my own eyes.”
For pictures and more coverage of the event, go to The Blue and
Gold’s website, www.maldenblueandgold.com.
14
MONTHLY PROFILE:
Nidale Zouhir
Head of Local News
Math Teacher Brad Gelling
continued from page 1
says funny things.”
Gelling, an alumnus of the
ever-popular (among MHS students
at least) University of Massachusetts
Amherst, described his experience
there as “fantastic.” Oftentimes,
he encourages his own students to
apply or attend UMASS Amherst:
“What I loved about UMASS was
the sheer amount of opportunity [I
had there] – outdoors, trips abroad,
diversity.”
Interestingly, Gelling never
originally planned to be a math
teacher. “Initially, I had a degree in
geology,” he explained. “But I was
hired right out of school to teach
math,” adding that he likes the
A Casual Night of Theater Impresses
Dan Holmqvist
Copy Editor
A newly renovated auditorium,
an excited crowd, and a group
of talented Green Room Dramatic
Society students made for a great
night of acting in the Jenkins Au-
ditorium on April 9. “A Casual
Night of Theater” both captivated
the audience and exceeded English
teacher and Play Production advisor
Sean Walsh's "wildest expectations."
The first half of the night was
dedicated to a series of ten-minute
plays, four of which were original
works by Malden High School stu-
dents and two of which were pro-
fessional plays. Walsh selected the
student-written plays on two crite-
rias: how well they were written and
how well they could be performed.
Of the four plays that were per-
formed, two were also selected for
use at the Young Playwrights Con-
test. The ten-minute plays were fol-
lowed by Play Production's 'zombie'
rendition of Romeo and Juliet, which
was performed earlier at Drama Fest
this year.
A Casual Night of Theater
began with senior Martin Doan's
Local News
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
“logic” behind math.
Gelling, who taught for several
years in New Hampshire and, for
a year he described as “bizarre,”
the Colorado Timberline Academy,
grew up in Lexington. “I had a blast,
it was a wonderful childhood,” he
expressed.
However, his high school ex-
perience was less than perfect. “I
wasn’t a very serious student in high
school,” Gelling admitted. “Teach-
ers would cause me stress, teachers
would cause me anxiety.” This only
increased his desire to be a teacher,
specifically one who “downplays
the importance of grades.”
This method seems to be work-
recitation of Sonnet XXIX by Wil-
liam Shakespeare. Next was Doan's
original ten-minute play, "Some-
thing Unexpected,” starring seniors
Keith Newman (Hubert) and Ge-
neva DeCobert (Woman). The short
was about Hubert, who was at first
startled by a hopeless romantic at
a bus stop; gradually, however, the
eccentricities of this mysterious
woman won over his heart, convinc-
ing him to stick around even after
his bus had passed.
"Full House," the next original
short, written by Newman, told the
story of two married emergency
medical technicians (EMTs) that acci-
dentally ran over a pedestrian while
on their way to the hospital with an-
other patient. Starring seniors Sam
Warton and Chloe Cheung as well
as sophomores Christopher Brown,
member of The Blue and Gold, and
Sam Zeiberg, the play utilized the
introduction from the popular tele-
vision series "Full House." The plot
became increasingly intricate as the
two EMTs discussed their own mari-
tal problems while the two patients
argued about who recieved more
attention from the EMTs.
"Broom Closet," written by
ing; Gelling stays after school with
students for hours, guiding them
through the math problems that
they cannot figure out themselves.
During the last week of MHS’s third
quarter, Gelling stayed with his
students until nearly four o’ clock
almost every day. “He’s a good
teacher, he’s thorough in his lessons
and he is very helpful: if a student
needs help, he’ll come and help that
student – he won’t neglect him or
her like some other teachers – but
there is still some sense of indepen-
dence in his class,” Ironuma stated,
adding, laughingly, that “the board
is his best friend.”
In his free time – that is to
senior Samantha Power, was per-
formed by Doan (Anthony) and
freshman member of The Blue and
Gold Lauren Benoit (Rebecca). The
play was about a couple, acciden-
tally locked in a broom closet, talk-
ing about the state of their own rela-
tionship. But when Rebecca tried to
reveal to Anthony that she needed
to "get out of the closet," Anthony
responded by saying, "Well, we both
do." Only after an awkward pause
and a chuckle from the audience did
Anthony realize the implication of
what Rebecca had just said.
The last of the student written
plays was Jenna Delaney's short - "I
do. Do You?" This play told the story
of a woman (Kerry La Paz) who was
dumped at the altar. Consoled by
her childhood friend (Danny Calla-
han), she soon realized that he was
the "one," with the play culminating
with a ‘PG-13’ kiss.
The professionally-written
plays were “Phillip Glass Buys a
Loaf of Bread,” which was per-
formed entirely in a rap/musical
form and "Two Socks Discuss Loss,"
a story about two socks who both
lose their respective 'partners.'
After a brief intermission, the
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
say, the time he has when he is not
teaching, grading, or taking care of
his recently-born son, which Gelling
says takes up most of his time –
Gelling enjoys the outdoors. “I was
an outdoor guide for 10 years,” Gell-
ing explained. “Rock-climbing, raft-
ing, hiking...What I really like about
the outdoors is extended trips in the
wilderness – you have to depend
on yourself and the people you’re
with.”
Gelling, whom junior Sa-
matha Saggese described as “chill,”
“love[s] everything about MHS,” he
stated. “The diversity, the kindness,
the respect, the culture – it’s a good
place to be.”
audience was treated to Play Pro-
duction's 'zombie' version of Romeo
and Juliet, which pitted the "Zom-
bigues" against the Capulets. Junior
Phillip Tang enjoyed the interest-
ing take on the classic play, saying,
"Normally, I don't appreciate the
works of Shakespeare, but zombies,
chainsaws, and the matrix increased
its appeal."
Sophomore Tommy Tran’s fa-
vorite play of the night was “Phillip
Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread.” Tran
thought that the difficulty level of
the play was “high but it made the
play even more impressive.”
Walsh was also impressed with
how the play turned out, consider-
ing its level of difficulty and the
amount of time that was put in by
students to practice the play. He
summed up the night by praising
his students for their “tight perfor-
mance” and their impressive levels
of commitment and dedication.
Equally satisfied with the
night's performance was sophomore
Stanley Chan. "I went to [A Casual
Night of Theater] last year and I
thought it was hilarious. This year
was even better.”
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
Forensics Team sends seven to states
MHS forensics team at the state tournament. Photo by Arjun Grama.
MICCA band
Joel Stevenson
Reporter
I t was a highly anticipated day for
the Malden High School Concert
Band. From the beginning, the band
had nothing but the utmost confi-
dence in them as stated by the band
director Matthew Tavares “Today is
going to be a very good day, it is all
about having fun, but I want to win
a spot in the running for the second
time.”
April 10th had an early start
as practice had begun around one
o’clock. With the start of hands-on
breathing exercises, the team was
ready to take on the day. Tavares re-
assured the members with a comical
humor, while correcting the minute
mistakes that the band had made.
After two hours at practice the band
filled on two buses with anxiety
building up. The bus ride to Bell-
ingham was one no one would want
to forget. With the radio blaring hit
songs like “Bla Bla Bla”, by Kesha
and “What’cha”.
Says Jason Derulo, “they sang
along the whole bus ride.” As the
bus arrived the band members went
dead silent as reality was restored,
they were about to make history.
As the members filed in, they
ventured to the gym where they
tuned their instruments and then
local news
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
took a group photo. Once pictures
were done the band went to the li-
brary where they went over the mu-
sic. At that moment, they knew that
they could do it. With the final ad-
justments of their instruments, the
band moved out onto the stage. Af-
ter the director announced the three
pieces that they would be playing
“Amazing Grace” by Frank Ticheli,
“National Emblem” by Edwin
Eugene Bagley and “Chorale and
Shaker Dance” by John Zdechlik.
As they played, the music filled the
whole room in such a way that left
the audience pondering, pondering
onhow much practice had to go into
a piece that was so synchronized.
After their third song, the director
of music came out to tell them what
they could have improved on. After
that awards were handed out.
With anticipation burning in
all of their eyes, the band and band
director waited to hear the verdict
of their performance. School after
school, silver, bronze silver, they
waited. Finally the announcer called
out “Malden High School.”
The concert band had won the
Medal of Merit. Although this per-
formance was a bit of a disappoint-
ment, the band ultimately looks
forward to next year.
Dan Holmqvist
Copy Editor
O n Apr. 10, 2010, the Malden
High School Forensics Team
participated in the State Speech and
Congress tournament at Westford
Academy. The competitors from
Malden participated in two events:
Daniel Rendon, Omar Khoshafa,
Dan Holmqvist, Xavier Leo, Samuel
Zeiberg and Anthony Pulisciano
competed in Group Discussion
while Mary Nguyen competed in
Radio Broadcasting.
Forensics Team advisor and
Malden High School English teacher
Matthew Evans recapped the season
by saying, "I think the team did ex-
traordinarily well. Six people quali-
fied for the state tournament on their
own merit and of those six, five were
MICCA Chorus
Cristina Peters
Reporter
O n Apr. 10, 2010 and April 11,
2010 Malden High School’s
Madrigals and Concert Choir
participated in the Massachusetts
Instrumental and Choral Conduc-
tor's Association for the first time.
The MICCA competition consisted
of several different choirs that were
scored based off of their tone quality,
balance and blend of their ensemble,
intonation, stylistic expression,
dynamics, rhythm, and repertoire.
The overall purpose of the MICCA
organization was to encourage the
improvement of a group's musical
standards by providing musical
critique by highly qualified judges
and to experience the production of
a wide variety of musical composi-
tions. The competition took place
with singing program three selec-
tions within the allowed perfor-
mance time of 20 minutes.
At Algonquin Regional High
School on Saturday, Madrigals
performed “April is in My Mistress
Face” by Thomas Morley, “O Ochi
Manza Mia” by Russell L. Robinson,
and “Mon Coeur Se Recommande a
Vous” by Douglas Frank, and were
15
sophomores that had to consistently
compete against juniors and seniors
from the higest-ranked schools in
Massachusetts." Optimistic about
the future of the club, Evans predicts
that, "[the team is] definitely going
to have trophy winners at the state
tournament next year."
Samuel Zeiberg, the newly-
nominated president of the Foren-
sics Team, speaking the future of
the club as well, said, "My goal for
next year is to gain five new mem-
bers and send the name number of
participants to the state tournament
that we did this year, in addition to
diversifying the team in terms of the
events we do."
awarded with a Silver Medal. Senior
Tyler Elderd stated, “Even though
we didn’t win a Gold Medal, we are
still happy for what we did because
our performance and our energy
was great and they still loved us and
it all wouldn’t have been so great if
it wasn't for Mr.Cole for helping us.”
On Sunday, Concert Choir
sang at Norwood Coakley Middle
School, "Cantique de Jean Racine"
by Faure, "Paru Parong Bukid" Hen-
ry Leck and Martin Ellis, and "Lead
me Home" Jamey Johnson and took
home a Bronze Medal. All chorus
members expressed that their med-
als would not have been possible
without the help from their instruc-
tor, Mr. Cole, who spent countless
hours working with the choirs and
making sure that they would be
able to perform to the best of their
ability, and feel confident that they
will greatly improve for next year’s
competition. After taking home two
medals their first year of participat-
ing in the MICCA competition, the
MHS Choral Arts Society hopes to
prevail in years to come, and hope-
fully be awarded with a Gold Medal.
16 LOCAL The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Carnival Catastrophe
Kayla Bramante
Reporter

F or more than 75 years the Fiesta Show carnival has been traveling all over New England.
It is New England’s largest carnival and always bring tons of excitement to the people.
But is this carnival as safe as it should be?
Have you ever been on the ride called “The Remix” at the carnival? According to rideaccidents.
com, at the same carnival that comes to Revere, on Sept. 24, 2009 “The Remix” decided to eject
a 15-year-old girl while on the ride. The girl slipped from under the restraint of the overhead bar.
When the ride was remodeled, new bars that covered the gap where she slipped from were added.
Wmur.com says that the incident had nothing to do with the machines capability but was, in
fact, because the girl was not in her seat the proper way. The female was rushed to the hospital and
did not have any serious injuries and the ride was in good shape. Whatever the reason, it still hap-
pened and could happen to anyone at any time.
Although nothing happened at the carnival this year, no one can predict the future, people never
know what could happen the next year or the year after. When enjoying these rides from traveling
carnivals it is important to take precautions and be aware of what you or your friends are getting
yourselves into.
Many MHS students found enjoyment in going to the carnival, especially on bracelet night.
Sophomore Autumn Deheulle says that “even though accidents happen I am willing to have some
fun doing [what] I enjoy with the people I love”. Even after knowing what happened in NH she does
not seem to change her opinion about the carnival.
However, there are two sides to the story. Some of MHS students’ parents will not even allow
them to go to the carnival. Here is the big question: Are the carnival rides safe enough to take a risk
or not nearly safe enough to step foot into?

Photos of the Revere Carnival; the french fry stand, ferris wheel, cliff hanger, merry-go-rounf,
and friend dough concession stand. All photos by Sharon lee. Layout by Lynn Tran.
The Blue and Gold
April 2010 LOCAL 17
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Catherine Poirier
How safe are we?
Reporter

M alden has been classified numerous times as “ghetto” and unsafe. Despite these notions, Mal-
den is comparatively safer than surrounding communities. Below, a graph compare the cities
of Malden, Everett, and Boston with the national average over seven different categories. The seven
categories were murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, and vehicle theft
crime rates. Malden scored lower than Everett, Boston, and the national average in murder, rape,
burglary, larceny theft, and vehicle theft rates, according to the 2006 FBI reports of crime rates per
100,000 people. Malden had higher rates than Everett did in robbery, and aggravated assault. Even
then, the averages were not much higher.
These facts show that Malden is clearly one of the safer cities in Massachusetts. Many people
continue to classify it as one of the most dangerous cities in this area. It does not take much to see
where these people are coming from, though. Recent events in Malden have led many to question
the safety of this city, and the safety of its schools.
On March 24, 2010, bullets were found at the Salemwood School. One student found a bullet
shell in the school bathroom at the beginning of the day. After finding a live round of bullets later
on, the teachers and school officials at Salemwood were notified. They immediately called the Mal-
den police station. Once
the police arrived at the
scene, Salemwood went
into lockdown for the rest
of the afternoon, while
police officers searched
and patrolled the area and
conducted interviews.
This incident is still under
investigation, so there is
not much information
available because no one
involved is allowed to
comment on it. However,
this situation has sparked
reactions from students at
Malden High School.
“I think that we need to do something about the kids
in Malden. For example, [we should] organize more
groups in our society that keeps kids off the streets,
because if we only found bullets this time, we need to
do something before someone actually pulls a trigger.”
- Freshman Amalia Quesada Nylen
“It’s surprising, but not unexpected. Malden has been
becoming more violent throughout the years.”
- Freshman Devon Moran
“This is honestly the first time I’ve heard about that.
But I live in the Maplewood area and I think a lot of
the safety stuff is sensationalism. People get all riled
up about Malden being “ghetto,” so they joke and talk
about everything being dangerous. But I haven’t really
experienced anything in my 18 years here. Yeah, it’s not
the suburbs, and there are occasional issues, but this is
far from the most dangerous city in the world. There
are places in Detroit and New York and all around the
world where gang violence is a serious issue. Even in
Boston, things are a lot more intense than ‘M-Dubs.’ ”
-Senior Keith Newman
“Well it’s very scary that someone is carrying weaponry
around in a school area. Even if somebody did it as
a joke or prank, it’s really not funny, and I’m sure it
scares all the parents of the children at the school. Can
they really feel their children are safe in an area con-
taining guns?”
-Sophomore Matteo Pocobene

State Passes Anti-bullying Law

rape, violation of civil rights with
an injury resulting, criminal harass-
Lauren Benoit
ment, disturbance of school assem-
Reporter bly, stalking, and assault by means
of a dangerous weapon.
girl’s page. One girl posted ‘accom-
plished’ on Prince’s Facebook the
day she was pronounced dead.
One school parent suggests that
the teens should view the autopsy
attempt or threat to inflict injury on
another person…or any intentional
display of force such as would give
the victim reason to fear or expect
immediate bodily harm” according

P hoebe Prince, a fifteen year old
freshman who attended South
Hadley High School in western
Massachusetts was physically and
verbally abused to the point where
her 12 year old sister found her in
her closet dead. Following her sui-
cide nationwide, concern regarding
the effects of bullying prompted the
Massachusetts legislature to unani-
mously enact an Anti-Bullying law
adding MA to a growing list of 41
states.
The vote was unanimous: there
is now an Anti-Bullying Law in Mas-
sachusetts. Although the Bill will not
take affect until the 2011-2012 school
year, the Department of Education is
training teachers through a 150,000
dollar grant to identify and halt
any forms of bullying whether mild
or drastic. According to a recent
survey, 72 students think that the
anti-bullying law will be successful,
while 99 think that it will not phase
the matter. The bill also outlines a
stricter sexual harassment policy in
order to prevent further transgres-
sions such as the ones committed
against Prince.
The six high school students
found guilty of the crimes against
Prince were charged with numerous
offenses that consisted of statutory
The plethora of charges re-
sulted through extreme forms of
bullying during school hours as well
as harrassment after school over
Facebook, Twitter, Formspring, and
Craigs List, wherein she was placed
under an ethnic and sexist insult.
The girls that called and sent her
threatening messages, known as the
‘Mean Girls’ taunted and physically
abused Prince. The most horrify-
ing part is that teachers and fellow
students witnessed these forms of
abuse occurring for days before her
death, but did not speak up. Arlene
Ceppetelli a Malden High School
health teacher commented on the
accusation of teachers not speaking
up, “If that’s true then I’m appalled.
It’s so hard to believe. I can’t imagine
[that] a teacher wouldn’t speak up…
its inexcusable.”
This is an eye-opener to Mal-
den students to know that these
types of incidents occur so close to
home. In a recent survey at MHS,
113 students would report bullying,
and 53 would not. While one wrote
“depends”.
The bullies did not slow their
urge to end the torment. After her
death, a Facebook page was created
in her memory. The bullies added
the page and continued to post
harassing remarks on the deceased
photos of Phoebe’s found body, to
see what they caused.
These types of incidents have
happened before: eleven year old
Carl Joseph Walker Hoover com-
mitted suicide after being bullied
at school in 2009. These drastic oc-
currences are unlikely; a bystander
is bound to have enough courage to
confront a teacher about the incident
of someone being bullied.
Bullying is common in any
environment. “Comments on our
physical appearance, name-calling,
cyber-bullying, teasing, intimida-
tion, or anything that makes you
feel uncomfortable is considered
bullying”, states Tom DeVito princi-
pal of the Ferryway Middle School.
DeVito is trying to keep a bully-free
environment within the school dis-
tricts. “Malden is like a melting pot.
There is a great amount of diversity
here.” He also stresses that bully-
ing cases cannot only be controlled
by only the school, the teachers try
to prevent bullying or stop it in the
act, but they just cant be responsible
for everything that happens outside
of the classroom. The definition of
bullying is just as vague as trying to
prevent it.
The state of Georgia which has
established an anti-bullying law
explains bullying as “any willful
to www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov.
Students are advised to consult
with an adult or friend when they
witness an incident that makes a
student feel uncomfortable.
Bullying, a growing epidemic,
has only recently begun to include
cyber-bullying which is making it
easier for bullies to torment victims
at their leisure over the Internet. The
popular new page to have is Form-
spring, which allows users to sub-
mit any question, or comment about
the admin, as anonymous or public.
Most choose anonymous to express
their true feelings about the admin,
sometimes they are not so pleasant.
Previous to this law many calls were
coming through to a bully hot line,
which is accessible at all hours of the
day.
Throughout the decades bully-
ing has evolved from shoving stu-
dents into lockers, to name-calling,
to teasing, and now it is resulting in
physical abuse, and more recently
cyber-bullying. More social-net-
working sites are being created; false
pages are being created also which
is adding to the fury. The only hope
is the Anti-Bullying Law’s 150,000
dollar fund: Will it be as effective as
the government seems to believe?
18
Chick Flicks Are All the Same
Nidale Zouhir
Head of Local News
Brittany Foley
Head of Entertainment
B oy meets girl. At least one of
them has insane issues – an
abusive father, cancer, neurosis,
overbearing mother, poverty, et ce-
tera; the other is perfect. Somehow,
the perfect one falls for the afflicted
wallflower – but not before an initial
expression of hatred followed by an
hour of conflict and around twenty
minutes of crying.
Thus is the formula for the
quintessential twentieth-century
Chick Flick, the sappiest and most
stereotypical of its species. Females
of all ages flock to movie theaters
everywhere to see the latest Patrick
Dempsey, Ryan Reynolds, Robert
Pattinson, or Matthew McCo-
naughey mockery of a film, mainly
to quench their thirst in the never-
ending and hopeless quest
to find the perfect man, fall
in love, and live happily
ever after, the end (usu-
ally resulting from a tragic
car accident or AIDS).
Most of these films are
ripe with clichés: stereo-
t y p i c a l storylines,
Entertainment
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
derivative dialogues, and the same
characters with different hairstyles.
Of course, women also love to
see female actresses that they can
relate to getting kissed in the rain,
actresses who are pretty, but not too
pretty, like Katherine Heigl, Meg
Ryan, Jennifer Garner. To see these
women fawned over by attractive,
kind, generous, and honest men
even though the women themselves
are the Hollywood-version of aver-
age, gives viewers a tiny shred of
hope that they might also find love
– because, after all, everybody wants
somebody to love them.
Still, there exist love stories that
do not fit the chick flick frame. 2007’s
Juno managed to be simultaneously
funny, clever, and inspiring without
losing the love story at its core. Most
of Woody Allen’s films tend to stay
safely away from the chick flick line
while also integrating sometimes
heartbreaking love stories (most
recently seen in Vicky Cristina Barce-
lona). 2009’s Os- car-hyped
An Educa- tion also
m a n - aged
to de-
tail a with con-
love sto-
ry without ever losing its integrity
as a film. 2005’s independent film
(which still somehow managed to
feature two A-list actors) Conversa-
tions with Other Women was, at its
core, a story of forgotten love.
Yet none of these films fell vic-
tim to the trap of chick flick cliche. It
appears that the most obvious dif-
ference between these movies and
typical chick flicks is the plot-and-
character-driven nature of more
serious films; unlike most chick
flicks, serious filmmakers rely on
more than only a cliche love story
to mold a movie. An Education is
really a coming-of-age story; Vicky
Cristina Barcelona is more about cul-
tural clashes than it is about love;
Juno is about feminism; Conversa-
tions with Other Women is about
the difficulty of happiness. Not to
mention the female leads of all of
these films? They are not pathetic
or stupid; they are strong, confi-
dent women whose lives revolve
around more than just the men
in them. Characters such as these
inspire and empower
women to discover
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
themselves, take risks, stay true to
what they believe in; meanwhile
the redundant roles of the leading
ladies in the films designed for the
love-crazed and romantically des-
perate merely empathize with their
audience. Although both appeal
to their audiences almost equally,
there is a great gap between what
audiences gains from either viewing
experience. While one film encour-
ages progress and growth, with help
from a subtle display of benefits—
this idea of a true love—the other
simply feeds the frenzy, provides
a ray of false hope that is accepted
without hesitation or question be-
cause, if it happened to her, surely it
could happen to me.
Essentially, the gap between
films that are truly serious, films
whose stories revolve, not around
love, but around life, and films that
are aimed at mindless, simpering
women, is only growing with time;
should this pattern continue, the
film industry will eventu-
ally enter an ice
age of Spark-
sian trash,
formity
winning
over soci-
ety once
more.
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
Want to be a God for a Day?
Joao Nascimento
Head of World News
God of War III, the new sequel
to the powerhouse Sony exclusive
saga of a vengeance-bound Kra-
tos was rated M for a reason. The
amount of blood and guts that fill the
screen after you finish an enemy is
overwhelming, but exploding heads
and intestines never looked so great.
The game offers the best graphics
available, but unfortunately, the rest
of the game does not explore the full
capabilities of the Play Station 3.
The game picks up right where
God of War II ended, with Kratos
partnering with Gaia to climb Mount
Olympus with the other titans to
fight the gods. After killing Posei-
don, Kratos reaches the all-powerful
Zeus only to be knocked off mount
Olympus by him and have his pow-
ers stripped. With a new sense of
vengeance, Kratos vows to kill all
the Gods and destroy Mount Olym-
pus. Although the revenge-bent
storyline appears repetitive, God of
How to Train Your Dragon Soars to
the Top of the Box Office
Brittany Foley
Head of Entertainment
B ased off the 2003 children’s
novel of the same name by Cres-
sida Coewll, Dreamworks’ How to
Train Your Dragon is one of the first
3D animated films to truly embrace
the power of the third dimension
without losing the heartwarming
story at its core.
Written by the creative forces
behind 2002’s Lilo & Stich and 1998’s
Mulan, How to Train Your Dragon
tells the story of a viking named
Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who – unlike
all of those around him, especially
his father, Chief Stoick (Gerard
Butler) – is not big or strong or even
very brave. In a society whose pri-
mary occupation is dragon-slaying,
a small and weak young man is not
exactly the ideal; in fact, Hiccup is
often mocked by other vikings, most
of whom are strong (if not particu-
larly courageous or intelligent).
Fed up with the constant taunt-
ing – and wanting to prove himself
to his father – Hiccup develops a
weapon that can be fired at a dragon
from a distance. He uses this weap-
on to attack a legendary Night Fury,
whose tail wing is damaged beyond
repair. Taking pity on the dragon,
Hiccup decides not to kill it. Instead
he befriends it, eventually naming it
Toothless.
Though the plot is somewhat
typical of children’s movies, How
to Train Your Dragon’s all-star co-
medic cast is unsurprisingly bril-
liant. Baruchel gives Hiccup a voice
Entertainment
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
War III succeeds in making Kratos
a more three-dimensional character
and even explores his emotional
psyche.
God of War III is essentially
the same game we have been play-
ing since 2005. Featuring almost
identical game play as the previ-
ous installments, it offers the usual
platform obstacles, puzzle solving,
and bloody combat. The button
sequences used to defeat bosses
are uncomfortable, but very easy to
master. With the irrefutably breath-
taking graphics, the state of the art
game should have offered more in-
novations in the battle system. Un-
fortunately, players were left with
the mindless and repetitive combo
action and the automatic finishing
off sequences, which greatly hinders
the momentum of the game. New
and exciting factors introduced to
the game are the ability to rapidly
change weapons mid-battle, and
more interaction with the environ-
ment. The game also offers several
Main character Hiccup and Astrid riding the Night Fury, Toothless.
that is simultaneously unique and
endearing, turning an otherwise
pitiful character into a very relat-
able one – one whose relationship
with his father is one of the most
well-done relationships in the film.
Butler’s portrayal of Stoick the Vast
is similarly well-done and realistic
(at least as far as the film’s version
of vikings goes). However, come-
dian Craig Ferguson’s Gobber – the
viking village’s resident blacksmith
and Stoick’s right-hand-man – steals
every scene that he is in, managing
to be heartwarming and lovable
19
different trophies, which are surprisingly
fun to find.
By far, the greatest flaw in the game
was the outdated fixed camera style.
The PS3’s power promises freedom of
game play, the possibility of roaming
free and exploring a platform. The
locked camera debilitates the sense of
freedom PS3 gamers covet and is the
main reason why the “new” game feels
less like an innovation and more like one of
its predecessors.
Granted, with high sales, the de-
veloper Santa Monica Studio was skeptical
about making drastic changes to the game.
God of War III is in its own right a fan-
tastic game, but it was expected and not
innovative enough to satiate past players.
Hardcore gamers will be disappointed at
the unexplored potencies of the power-
ful PS3 platform, but fans of the game
will not mind guiding Kratos through
the heinous environment with unre-
strained brutality, with the ultimate Kratos from God
goal of wiping out the Gods that refused to of War. Photo found on
wipe his memory and clear his conscience GodofWar.com
from his family’s death.
legs. Mintz-Plasse again plays
the geeky outsider typical of him,
yet somehow manages to avoid
seeming as typecast as Superbad
co-star Michael Cera. Fishlegs is
the role-playing geek inside every
viking and, though not particu-
larly important to the plot, is one
of the few vikings that does not
mock Hiccup.
With How to Train Your Dragon
under its belt, Dreamworks might
rightfully beat out Pixar during
awards season – an extremely rare
occurrence, as Dreamworks has
won only two Academy Awards
for Best Animated Feature, as op-
posed to Pixar’s six out of the nine
years that the award has existed
(though of course, Pixar’s Toy Sto-
ry 3 might beat How to Train Your
Dragon come awards season).
With some of the most lov-
able characters in recent film his-
without losing Ferguson’s typical tory – and certainly Dreamworks’
comedic value. best since the original Shrek in 2001
Also notable is America Ferre- – How to Train Your Dragon also man-
ra’s Astrid, who makes a great pow- ages to be a compelling 3D film, one
erful female as well as an adorable that realizes that its audience has
love interest for Hiccup; her rough seen enough of the typical “3D”
exterior is very typical of writers that is really just shinier 2D. With
Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, stunning dragon-powered fight
who between them have created scenes and even more beautiful
such powerful females in animated dragon-powered flight scenes, the
film as Mulan and The Lion King’s film recreates its somewhat cliche
Nala. story line and gives its audience one
Less important as far as of the best 3D experiences of recent
characters go, but still notable, is animated films.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Fish-
20
Crew Faces Tennis Teams Anticipate GBLs
Watershed Reporter
Alexander Gennigiorgis
Amanda Adams
Boys
Reporter
T he spring season for crew
has had a bumpy start. The
weather had been the main cause
of the problems. Since it has been
raining and windy, the crew team
has not been able to practice on the
Mystic River due to the weather.
The weather had caused sewage
dumping into the river, which
created a dangerous place for
practice. Considering the team has
quite a few competitions coming
in the near future, this will be very
problematic. The first competition
which was supposed to occur on
April 10, 2010 had been canceled
due to the lack of practice time.
A new season calls for new
goals and expectations. The Head
Coach of the Crew Team, Sarah
Jones stated, “[Our goal is to] De-
velop a strong, novice team. We
had good freshman turn-out, so we
have a great opportunity to build
and develop from our skills over
the next four years to have a very
strong team.”
Student coach Harout Kho-
daverdian added, “It’s going to be
a great season maybe not our best
one but with all of these new row-
ers we have much to look forward
to for the next few years.” Student
coach, Jeremy Bowser affirmed, “I
think even though we have lost a
lot of people we will do great this
season with everyone new and I ex-
pect that we will have a few bumps
on the way there, but in the end I
believe we will be a strong and suc-
cessful team.” Although the team
has been unable to practice, they
are determined to beat the odds
and succeed in their goals along
with their current expectations for
this season of crew.
Signature oars with painted school colors
stand tall in the boathouse. Photo by An
Holmqvist
Sports
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
Girls
Alexander Gennigiorgis
Reporter
T he Malden High School Girls
Tennis team will be demonstrat-
ing the true meaning of “team” this
season. According to head coach
and MHS English teacher Maggie
Pettit, the team will attempt to “cul-
tivate a sense of team” and once that
is achieved, “winning happens.”
This year the team is made up
mostly of newcomers and under-
classmen to the sport of tennis. Al-
though the players may be inexpe-
rienced, they are playing hard and
The Blue and Gold
April 2010
T he MHS boys tennis team
is seeking Greater Bos-
ton League Championship
qualification over the course
of the season. Team member
Daniel Rendon felt that “the
team not only have the po-
tential but the talent and the
determination” and these key
factors may lead them to their
goal and possibly GBL gold.
Preparing for the season was
mostly focused on the funda-
mentals of tennis, as they are
“a big part of the game and
the progress” the team makes,
stated Rendon. Right now, the
team has a 500 percent record,
as they are 2-2, with wins
against North Reading and
Medford High Schools, and a
loss coming to Shawsheen Technical High School
and Boston O’Bryant.
The Tennis experience to players such as
Rendon is “90 percent skill and 10 percent luck”.
Tennis athletes are faced with overpowering their
emotions in order to perform at their best. “If you
do singles, you let yourself down and if you do
doubles, you let your partner down” if emotions
take over. On the court, the pressures the athletes
face is almost unbearable even though it may not
seem so from a person watching from the stands.
“When a ball is hit at you... to the spectator it may
seem like seconds, to the tennis player it feels like
an hour. We have to make decisions not only un-
der a time constraint but under pressure from the
fear of failure.”
Being a tennis player may seem stressful, but in the end, it is the expe-
rience of a lifetime for those who participate. The team is made up of people
that are different than their peers in many ways. Rendon stated, “We are a
family and day after day the bonds only grow stronger. Every season we
start off as friends and acquaintances. Every season we end as brothers.”
Top to bottom: Senior Junju Zheng versus sophomore Chris Lee. Junior
Andrew Chen serving the ball. Senior Ngoc Doan races towards the ten-
nis ball. Junior Alison Nguyen returns the ball. Photos by Lynn Tran.
keeping up with learning all of the
different techniques that are being
taught to them during practices. The
Boston League Championship gold
was a possibility, Pettit stated that it
is “not our goal” but “anything is a
team has even been able to grind out possibility.” The team may be able to
a record of 1-1, with tough fought at least qualify if the players work to-
matches against Shawsheen and gether and not pressure themselves.
North Reading High School. The Pettit stated that the game of tennis
players are all “talented” and “will- is just a “game”, and she wants the
ing to learn” and some, if not all, team “to have fun” and not have to
“stay at the courts after practice”, worry about winning because if the
stated Pettit, showing the team’s team works together, everything
dedication. will work out in the team’s favor.
When asked if winning Greater
The Blue and Gold
April 2010 21
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

ruins Regain Confidence SPRING SPORTS

And Advance to Eastern
Conference Semi-Finals
Johanna Lai
Reporter

O n April 26, 2010, the Bruins played Game 6 against the Sabres
in the TD Garden and they won the game 4-3 to conclude the
first round of the NHL Playoffs. After losing Game 5 to the Buf-
falo Sabres 4-1 on Friday, April 23, 2010, the Bruins knew that they
needed Game 6 in order to continue their hopes for a Stanley Cup.
They are now advanced toward the Eastern Conference semi-
finals. The Sabres ended up with a very disappointing conclusion
to the season.
The Bruins had not won a playoff series at home since May
2, 1999. And this is also their second playoff series win. This is the
first time that they have a playoff game two years in a row since
the 1991 season.
Tuukka Rask, the goalie of the Boston Bruins made 27 saves
on the game that night. While Ryan Miller, the Buffalo Sabres
goalie made 28 saves, just a save better than Rask. Rask states
to the Yahoo News “We wanted to close it out because we didn’t
want to go back to Buffalo; we knew it would be tough.” Rask
currently has an average of allowing two goals per game.
The game that gave the Bruins their confidence was Game
2 on Friday April 16, 2010. This was the game when the Bruins
avoided their questions and focus on the win for that game on
that night. That game was a 5-3 win and occurred in the NSBC
Stadium in Buffalo, New York, This was where the Sabres perfect
record for the season 31-0 when to a collapse to 31-1.
That night was the night when the Sabres had to deal the
game without the Sabres leading scorer, Thomas Vanek injured
his lower left leg during the first period of the game.
And Miller has expressed his disappointment of that game
that night to the Sports Illustrated “It’s disappointing we went
into the third with a lead and didn’t make it hold up.” He also
stated “Everything is not going to go our way.’’
The Bruins coach, Claude Juilen has complimented about
Rask’s saves this year. He states to the Yahoo News, “As good as
he was, he was arguably facing the best goaltender in the league,
if not more. Juilen also states, “He obviously made a reputation
for himself. For him to go head-to-head and come out the winner,
I think it speaks volumes for how Tuukka’s played.”
Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs will begin soon after the Wash-
ington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens have their game 7 on
Wednesday Apr 28th at the Verizon Center. There is a possibil-
ity that the Bruins will play against the Philadelphia Flyers if the
Canadiens beat the Capitals. There is also a possibility that the
Bruins will play against the Pittsburgh Penguins if the Capitals
beat the Canadiens. Currently the team that the Bruins will face
off against in the Eastern Conference Semifinals is unknown.

From top to bottom, from left to right: sophomore Malorie MacDon-

ald, Juniors Alfonse Femino, Huy Le, and Senior David Console
22 SPORTS The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
BOYS’ TRACK Looks to Repeat Championship

Xavier Leo
Copy Editor

F resh off of their first Greater

Simon Chu, 100 meter
hurdler, sprints during
practice. Photo by Lynn
Tran.
Boston League championship
during the indoor track season in 33
years, the boy’s track team is already
well on their climb back to the top
this outdoor season. When asked
how the team was looking so far at
practice, distance coach David Lon-
dino said, “The team looks good.
We lost a couple of athletes, but
gained some in return, so we broke
even.” Leadership is everywhere to
be found on the team, and five dedi-
cated athletes have been chosen to
lead the team; senior captains Malik
Blue, Simon Chu, David Console,
Edwin Chu, and Herbens Antenor.
Although it is still early in the
season, the team is already think-
ing ahead in as far as the state
meet. Only the elite athletes earn
the privilege to compete there, and
each athlete must meet a certain
standard, specific to each event, set
forth by the MIAA at the beginning
of each season. Several members of
the team are already nearing their
respective times or have already
surpassed that threshold. Captain
Malik Blue has qualified in past
seasons in the discus, and seniors
Henry Wong and Herbens Antenor
are approaching their goals in the
high jump and 400 meter hurdles,
respectively. Juniors Kelvin Tsang
and Andrew Terenzi are also past
qualifiers, with Tsang in the 400
meter sprint and high jump, and
Terenzi in the one mile run.
The talent on this year’s team
also goes beyond just the upper-
classmen. During this season’s
Freshman-Sophomore meet, the
underclassmen demonstrated that
they were just as capable of scoring
points as anyone else. Sophomore
William Wong and freshman Frank-
lin Nguyen were among the top
underclassmen in the league, scor-
ing highly in the two mile and 100
meters, respectively. However, the
talent extends further than just the
individual events. The 4x200, 4x400,
and the 4x800 meter run are also
expected to qualify; “I’ve noticed a
particular strength in the 800 meter
this season,” noted Londino, “I have
four or five guys that are capable
of running around or under 2:10.”
Senior hurdler Simon Chu is less
than a second from qualifying for
the state meet, coming fresh off of a
qualifying indoor season. He is one
fourth of a very noteworthy senior
hurdling tandem, accompanied by
Marcos Batista, Michael Meneses,
and Henry Wong.
For the athletes themselves,
outdoor track is the season where
the entire year’s work finally comes
to fruition. After two grueling sea-
sons of work, they are finally able to
compete in what is highly regarded
as the pinnacle of the track athlete’s
year; “This is where you should
peak. It’s during outdoor track
where we see the best times and dis-
tances. There are more workouts,
less rest, and the competition is at
its highest” expressed captain Blue.
Malden opened up the season
with a victory on April 7th against
North Reading High School and
followed that up with decisive vic-
tories against Cambridge Rindge &
Latin High School and Everett High
School to bring their record to 3-0.
If the indoor track season and their
opening meet serves as any indica-
tor, rest assured that another GBL
title may very well be on its way
back to MHS.

Girls Tracking GBL Championship

Reginah Sanyu
Reporter

I t is no secret that the girls have

come back this season strong and
determined to be the next Greater
Boston League (GBL ) champions.
Practicing everyday despite of the
weather is what the girls have been
doing from the start.
Mitch Abbatessa the girls track
team coach wishes to have a good
number of girls to qualify for states
athletes.overall he says “I would
love the girls to be the next GBL
championship this season.”
The team posses more than
talented players, they are commit-
ted and are working hard. Malden
high school Junior Hong Chung
said.” regardless of the fact that
we don’t have the best record in
the league, when it comes to team
work,dedication,perseverance and
heart, we have it all.” senior and
captin Thanh Nguyen has recently
qualified for states in discus.
Although the girls did not get
any wins at their first meet with Cam-
bridge but it was clear that the Mal-
den girls have gotten faster,stronger
and better as a team. The GBL cham-
pionship is not the only thing that
the girls are determined to get.They
are more than ready to gain the boy’ Junior Bayden Mu-
better team respect. In other words hamed Photo by Lynn
to become better than the boys.MHS Tran.
junior Portia Johnson is is ready too.
“Even though we might not win as
the boys, we have bigger heart and
soul. We strive for excellence.” The
boys don’t need to be scared since
the warning was given earlier. Al-
though their first meet didnt go as
they expected, the girls are ready to
compete since they are getting bet-
ter, stronger and more focused. The
Malden high school girl’s track team
has a surprise up their sleeves as the
girls keep improving as the season
progresses.
The Blue and Gold
April 2010 SPORTS
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/
BASEBALL Team Looks
to Redeem
Brendan Provitola
Reporter
W ith the season slowly getting started, The Mal-
den High School Varsity baseball team has the
intent of redemption, as they look to build off of their
mistakes from a disappointing (7-13) record last year.
At the moment, the team is suffering an 0-3 record,
with tough losses against some very strong out of
league teams including Dracut High School, Law-
rence Veterans Memorial High School, and Danvers
High School.
Although the team is lacking in underclassmen,
with only two seniors on the team (Jonathan Tiongson
and Nathan Freni) they more than make up for it with
a large number of talented underclassmen, many of
which have experience at the varsity level. The team
also has good depth in the pitching position, which
features sophomore Bradley Applin, senior Tiongson,
and Knuckle-baler Dakota Peligrini.
The team has the main goal of building and de-
veloping its players, but still looks to capture a playoff
spot, and return to a familiar place in the State Tour-
nament. “We’re doing well so far in our scrimmages
and feel like we can do damage. Even though we are
a young team and we may be underestimated, we still Junior Kevin Valley at first base.
have experience,” showing the teams optimism. Photo by Lynn Tran.
Softball Team: “Scoring Machine”
Omar Khoshafa
Copy Editor
T he Malden High School girl’s softball team “is now a very well-oiled scoring machine…”
exclaimed junior Renee Santo of the upcoming season. Santo has been on the softball
team for three years now, and almost the whole squad she is currently playing with have
also played with her in the youth ranks of the local softball team. The team’s effort speaks
for itself in past seasons, as the team held a 15-1 record last year and captured the Greater
Boston League championship for the past two years. Coach Richard Cullen should be at-
tributed with the team’s overall success, as he has been coaching for more than two decades
now and can provide tremendous experience and insight for the young squad.
Sophomore Emily Hoffman believes that the team has amazing chemistry, as the team
is split perfectly along class lines, with exactly three players from each graduating class.
She knows the team will improve its game tremendously because most of the players on
the team have played against other teams in the league during “summer softball,” which
has also dramatically improved the communication and cooperation within the team itself.
Also, members of the team have high expectations for the season. “With the squad we cur-
rently hold, we will definitely be able to produce an excellent record,” stated senior captain
Kristine Dyer. Jennifer T has similar expectations, which are represented in the quote “We
can make it [pretty] deep into the state tournament.” In general, varsity sports teams are
dominated by upperclassmen, but with this new current of talented underclassmen, the
team is building an extremely experienced squad for future seasons while at the same time
working to succeed the current season.
As for the current season, senior Casey Willcox also has “great expectations for the
team” as they hope to make it past the first round in the state tournament. Willcox also
praised sophomore Kiara Amos for “her outstanding pitching that is now looking better
than ever…” Amos has shown consistent result this season and the previous one both at
practices and at games. Amos herself reported to be able to pitch balls “in the low 60s
[mph],” which is very impressive for a high school student-athlete such as herself.
With freshmen Bridget Furlong, Melissa Light, and Jessalyn Brown becoming more
familiar with the high school varsity experience, they also continue to develop and hone
their skills everyday at practice at Callahan Field. Varsity coach Richard Cullen praises the
incoming underclassman, stating that they will definitely “help the team a great deal. Most
of the[m] have played on summer teams together and are close friends. This really helps
with our team unity.” Cullen also attributes the team’s success to the local youth softball
teams, expressing the extremely “positive effect” they have had on the incoming talent. He
believes that these youth teams have provided the squad with “good coaching and valuable
experience that has prepared them well for the varsity level.”
The team’s overall record as of Apr. 28 is 4-3 and the team is currently attempting to
get back to winning despite being placed in a much more difficult league this season .Coach
Cullen sets his priorities by saying “we are aiming to win the GBL championship. Second is
the [Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association] tourney.”
23
Alfonse’s Monthly
Column
The Dilemma of the
Average High School
Athlete
Alfonse Femino
Head Of Sports
I t is a common things to see members of your gradu-
ating class being praised at games, in the hallways,
in local papers etc… These same people are usually in
the small percentage of high school athletes that get the
chance to compete at the college level, and very rarely
at the professional level. But what happens to the more
common, average sized, mediocre athletes that go unno-
ticed by many through their years of athletics, when they
step off their field or court for the last time, and have no
competition to look forward to after graduation?
In many instances, students that have played differ-
ent sports their entire lives do not have the stature nor
the skill to play be a college athlete. These people go from
playing 1, 2 and 3 sports each year until their senior year
in high school, and then it just stops, never being part
of a real competitive event again. This depressing reality
can take painful tolls on these athletes who have gone
through life constantly looking forwards to the start of
a season or a big game. “Much of the early research into
withdrawal from sport concentrated on the problems
faced by younger athletes (all disciplines) retiring from
full-time sport at high school or college (university) lev-
els in America,” stated a sports analyzer from Zimbio.
com, a sports therapy website.
Once in college, it is a common occurrence to attend
the school’s athletic events, sometimes with extreme pas-
sion, wearing the school’s colors, or on occasion, painting
yourself with the school colors, and crowding together
with room-mates, classmates, or even friends. However,
even going to the most exciting games cannot compete
with the feeling of playing in front of your friends, fam-
ily, and entire school. All the average high school athlete
can do is reminisce with his old buddies about how he
caught a touchdown or scored a goal back in their high
school days. “It is clear from the research that the typical
athlete faces a unique set of pressures that may require
counselling help, especially during withdrawal, which
can occur at any stage of his sports career,” quoted the
analyzer from istadia.com, showing how some people
can not face life after sports on their own. This bitter fact
often leaves these former athletes with a sort of resent-
ment that they could not be one of the behemoth sized
or athletically gifted kids that get all of the division one
letters and invitations to skill camps, and get to call them-
selves an athlete well after graduation.
After graduation, the most a common athlete can do
is play pickup games with their friends, or play in some
moderately intense, no-contact beer league, which only
applies to the more well-known sports such as football,
softball, hockey, and basketball. And even these pickup
games and leagues are mostly just for fun, not giving the
same thrill of competing to give your school a good name.
But what happens to the boys and girls lacrosse players,
the field hockey players, and the shot-putters, who spend
years sharpening their skills, which were rendered use-
less after their senior year? I mean, come on when was
the last time you went to the local park and saw a group
of 30 year olds playing field hockey?
It is a sad but evident truth among high schoolers
that in most cases their time to shine, athletic wise, is up
after senior year. Years of work and training skills are no
longer needed, playing alongside your friends to defeat
the rival school in your league is over forever, and all
of the high light moments in each sport become noth-
ing more than things to brag about years later. Though
in college going to cheer your team on is always a way
to show that your school is better than your opponents,
the feeling of being a high school athlete can never be
reached again once the equipment is handed in and you
shake hands with your opponent for the last time.
24 SPORTS The Blue and Gold
April 2010
http://www.maldenblueandgold.com/

Boys’ Lacrosse
From Left to right: Armir Bashllari on
LOOKS TO
defense, and the boy’s varsity lacrosse team
in a team huddle. Photos by Cristina Peters REBOUND IN
and Lynn Tran.
Joshua Kummins
Reporter
SECOND SEASON
D espite losing their first game against North Reading High School, 6-1, on March 30, the Malden High School boys’ lacrosse team is starting to come
together in just their second season as a varsity team with a record of 0-7.
With close games against North Reading, Bedford, Lynn Classical/English, and Salem and Medford High Schools, all of which saw more effort in
each game showing the team’s progression.
Last year, the team had a very disappointing season, as they won just one game, having the last game cancelled due to fighting. This season, the team
is starting fresh with a new coach and many players that are playing the sport for the first time. The team wiped the slate clean and is beginning the new
season with new coach and MHS English teacher, Brendan Maney.
The team is starting to come together, although the team is very inexperienced. The first game is said to be an improvement over anything the team
managed to accomplish last season. The games against North Reading, Lynn Classical/English, and Salem saw Malden lose close leads giving the team
plenty to work on.
Since the players are new and having their first experience playing the sport, the team is improving with each day. “The underclassmen are learning
and growing each day,” said Maney. “The captains Jose Tec, Tim Riordan, and Nicky Hoyt have done an excellent job of providing leadership through
their examples.”
Like Maney, Tec, one of the team’s senior captains, said that the team is “trying their best and progressing each day.” He added that they are taking
it slow by “going with the flow.”
The season began with little expectation, so the team just went onto the field and learned the basics. Before the season, the plan was to have a junior
varsity team but since there was a lack of players that wanted to play the decision was made to form just one single varsity team.

Girls “LaCross” Out Competition

Joel Stevenson
Reporter

T he girl’s varsity lacrosse team has not seen much success this season, losing
all but one of their games and having a record of 1-10. However, this is just
the only part of the picture; despite having a tough beginning to the season, they
still have confidence in themselves. “It is still anyone’s game,” stated sophomore
Malorie MacDonald.
Julie Briggs, the coach of the team, reiterated, “I’m so proud of the girls this
year. They’re working so hard, their really making memories, but we need to
work harder. We’ve been giving it 100 percent, but the girls need to go the extra
mile for victory.”
“The team’s main focus is still hard work and determination,” stated sopho-
more Amanda Tan. Even though the team is not able to win every game, the
teammates are still happy and content with one another. MacDonald, who has
made strong bonds with her teammates this year, said, “It’s my team and I love
them. We leave everything behind when we step on to the field. We work hard
Sophomore Commie Ayuk chasing the lacrosse ball. Photo by Lynn Tran.
for not only ourselves but for each other, and that is how a team should be.
Though we still have our rough patches I feel they will work themselves out
and we will grow and win more as a team.”
At this point in the season, team has only one way to go – up. According to sophomore Commie Ayuk, lacrosse is all about “staying positive and
playing to the best we can, while we have a little fun.”
On Apr. 23rd the lacrosse team won their first game of their season against their Greater Boston League rivals Cambridge. It was a happy day for the
whole team, who had been somewhat discouraged because of their recent loses.
For these girls, this win is the beginning of the end. It has given team the motivation they need to finish the season on a high point. They are now
planning on having a winning record going down the stretch as they face off against rival town Medford.