PATRIOT PRESS
T h e Secaucus High School, Secaucus, NJ
The Voice of the Students J une 2010
Innis and Waters are on the ball
By Montana Stabile
It was the bottom of the grade. This past season, she reached hits, seven home runs,
the1,000 point mark in her high school three triples, and 10
seventh inning and the Secaucus
career in an away game at Woodridge. doubles.
Softball team was down a few runs
Innis, who has been playing basketball Innis, who
in a home game against Lyndhurst.
since kindergarten, said, “It’s special wants to go on to
Praying her team would make a
because you never really see two college and pursue a
huge comeback was junior Andrea players get it in the same season.”
Innis, who was waiting for her career in marketing and
Shannon Waters, a junior, also
chance at bat. advertising, says she
scored 1,000 career points in the same
Freshman Ariana Simon and her teammates
basketball season, this time in a home
helped the cause by hitting a home physically train the
game against Woodbridge. Waters is
run with two players on base. A few same way for any team
also captain of the varsity softball team
batters later, Innis took the plate and they are facing. That
and she has been playing since
swung with all she could, hoping to mostly consists of
freshman year. About her pitcher,
get those last few runs to win. Her warming up by agility
Coach Cheryl Bott said, “Shannon is a
wish came true when she hit a workouts, such as high
warrior and a competitor and will do
double, driving in the runs needed to knees, running,
whatever it takes to win.”
bring her team to victory. Innis, a stretching, basically just
centerfielder recalls that moment as The school’s varsity softball
“limbering their bodies.”
her best this season. team has had a successful season,
finishing with a record of 20-8, with Although, when
Apart from being a skilled she was asked what the
softball player since freshman year, varsity Coach Bott preparing them for
each game. Innis’s personal stats preparation for the
Innis also excels at basketball, which
she has been playing since the third include: 30 runs scored, 57 RBIs, 53
Continued on page 2 Andrea Innis steps up to the plate in
a game against Woodridge.
Celebrating diversity: Foreign Language
Club hosts annual cultural festival
By Chrystle Schaffer
On Wednesday, May 5th, dance steps from today’s musicals, dedication put in to make
Secaucus High School’s Foreign many cultures were represented that this night happen.
Language Club held their Second night. Weeks of practice, hard
Annual Cultural Festival in the Teachers helped choreograph work, and commitment
Arthur F. Couch Performing Arts different dances. Secaucus High took place in order to
Center. School mathematics teacher Pavlina make this show pos-
The night was filled with Zavorotnyaya brought her Russian sible, she said.
songs and ethnic dances from culture to the table by teaching Many SHS stu-
around the world. From tradi- students a classic Russian ballet, dents, as well as many
tional Italian dances to modern while Michele Rodrigues, SHS world other volunteers, partici-
language teacher pated in this show. The
and also one of the event also featured
producers of the ethnic desserts donated
show, coordinated by students and parents
numerous tradi- of the Foreign Language
tional Italian num- Club for the guests to
bers. enjoy.
SHS world Mrs. Rodrigues
language teachers hoped that everyone
Martha Rodriguez “took home a greater
and Yanet Beltran appreciation for the
organized a perfor- diversity of languages
mance of young and cultures making up
children from the our world from this
community, who experience,” she said. From left: Christina Rodriguez and Brianna
enterained guests Charles perform the Russian dance
with the “Kalinka.”
“Macarena” and the
“Mexican Hat
Dance.”
Mrs.
Rodrigues thanked Check us out on
the world language
students for all the the web @
time, effort, and shsms.org
Mr. Michael Kelly, English teacher, accompanies Anthony Rojas in his
renditon of the Spanish song “Porque” at the cultural festival.
Page 2 The Patriot Press June 2010
Behind the scenes Mosh pit or death pit?
crew play key role in By Odalys Jimenez-Castano
The music is live, you
By Chrystle Schaffer
success of musical are enjoying your favorite
band rock out onstage and
The people who are behind the crew believe that without the set just when you feel like you
curtain are rarely recognized for their that they build, the play would be are having the time of your
contributions to a musical or play. much less extravagant, they don’t life, a heavy crowd surfer
However, their work plays a critical take all the credit. Jackie lands on your face, leaving
part in the success of a production. McCaffery and Jennifer Lienhard you with a bloody nose.
Members of the stage crew say it “plays a big and important Recently, many
build the set, make the props, paint, role” in the coming together of the teenagers and young adults
and are in charge of every trifling entire play. attended the musical
detail so that, when the curtain opens, The time and effort it takes to festival, Bamboozle, in the
the stage is set for a top-rate produc- finish creating the set is what Meadowlands. Being a
tion. Crew members from Secaucus should be most recognized. While part of Bamboozle might
High School’s annual production, some things are easy, like painting be a lot more dangerous than many people may
South Pacific, held recently in the a slab of wood, some things are expect-especially when you do not consider the risk of getting kicked in the face
Performing Arts Center, are no more intricate. Painting a smaller by a crowd surfer or being a victim of a vicious mosh pit.
exception. detailed decoration can take hours According to ABC NEWS, as many as 50 concertgoers at New Jersey’s
This year, the stage crew and to finish - and that’s just one piece! Bamboozle Festival needed medical attention after a mosh pit got out of hand.
builders went green and recycled McCaffery stated that her Witnesses reported seeing several of the 70,000 attendants treating bloody noses
wood used from the show “Mercy.” favorite part of the stage crew is and worse, getting carried out on stretchers.
This also helped them save money to the painting, and she and Lienhard The dangers of mosh pits are alarming and according to ABC NEWS,
use elsewhere in the play. agreed that the best part “is when concert safety experts and emergency medical professionals, most injuries
The stage crew consists of the whole thing comes together” in incurred from mosh pits are not actually by moshers, but by innocent bystanders.
students, parents, and others in the the final performance. Several internet sources informed us that mosh pit injuries can be extensive and,
community who pitch in by building, Behind the scenes on the day in some cases, fatal.
painting, or taking care of any of the of performance is “chaotic and In fact, there have been nine mosh-related deaths recorded between 1994
small details necessary to pull the insane,” said Jackie McCaffery. It and 2006, according to ABC NEWS, who also informed us that there are most
show together. Secaucus High is expected, considering that if likely many that have not been reported. In several news casts, they notify us
School’s art teacher, Mr. Doug there is one mistake with the set, that the number of injuries is far greater: Crowd Management Strategies esti-
Depice, is one of many who helped the entire show could be affected. mates that 10,000 people have been injured in and around mosh pits in the last
with artwork. The stage crew plays an important decade.
The stage crew works two-hour role in high school plays; without Dr. Michael Gerardi, the director of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine for
sessions about two or three times a them, there wouldn’t be much of the Atlantic Health System, let ABC NEWS know that the types of injuries that
week in order to get all their work anything appealing to plays other music fans can suffer are serious and can be paralyzing or even fatal. “You can
done for months before opening night. than the talented students and fall from six or seven feet and that’s enough to break or hurt your neck,” he said.
While the members of the stage actors. “You can sustain facial injuries and break your nose or injure your eye from
hitting a belt buckle or a piece of jewelry on your way down.”
SHS students help turn local From a firsthand account, many teens have seen crowd surfers hit the
ground and hurt themselves. They inform us that the floors are concrete and do
seniors into web surfers not provide padded landing spots for moshers. One victim of a ‘wall of death’
injury lets us know that regardless of all the risks in attending Bamboozle, he still
By Nick Mimikos feels the music and the atmosphere is worth it. He tells us that he himself, was
Service. What does that The seminar was met with punched in the nose during a wall of death; breaking his nose; he quickly got
word truly mean to the students praise from the senior citizens who medical attention, but he says he has seen far worse cases.
of Secaucus High School? attended. Many were keen in their However, despite all the dangers in mosh pits and walls of death, artists
Well, there is a new club this desire to learn how to use the love seeing their crowds go wild over their music. One mosher (Paul Giordano)
year called S.A.I.L. (Service various communication tools of the said, “They call for it and ask people to mosh.” Banning mosh pits from concerts
Activities Involvement and internet to keep in touch with their would in fact be devastating and take away the fun of the event itself, according
Leadership), in which students families. Unaccustomed to the to concertgoers. Many students at Secaucus High School attended Bamboozle
help to serve their own technology that younger this year and for the most part it is an exciting environment, and if mosh pits are
community. This club actively generations use with ease, the monitored carefully, injuries are less likely, but regardless, bystanders should
emphasizes the importance of seniors who participated in the always be careful.
service to the community and program expressed that they were
leadership skills. once overwhelmed by the Innis, Waters have hit season
Recently, S.A.I.L. capabilities of computers but now Continued from page 1
members participated in an feel better prepared to join the
cyber-age. One benefit is that they tougher adversaries involved, she said that they do something special.Coach
event in which they taught
now do not need to leave their Bott reads them quotes to get them “pumped up.” Innis said it really motivates
senior citizens the essential
homes in order to perform their the team, and herself, to do the best they can in the upcoming challenge.
skills to enable them to use
technology with more efficiency. numerous daily tasks. As captain of the team, Innis is really proud of the younger teammates.
Students from She said, “The freshmen have really stepped up in varsity. They’re playing their
the club worked hearts out, and they inspire the older girls to do better.” The achievement of
one-on-one with the younger girls encourages the older girls to work even harder for the sake of
12 seniors, maintaining their responsibility as role-models.
teaching them Coach Bott is also proud of the influence that Innis has had on the
important younger teammates. “Andrea is a very hard worker, a very dedicated athlete,
computer skills and is a role model and a leader to the younger players,” the coach said.
such as
shopping online,
using word
processors
such as
Microsoft Word,
and searching
Hats off to the SHS
the web via the
search engine
Class of 2010!
Google. Freshman Rachel Perez of S.A.I.L. shares
her computer savvy with Ana Mollel.
June 2010 The Patriot Press Page 3
What we think...
SHS students
speak their minds
Safety measures needed to prevent College tuition costs on the rise; gov’t
financial aid reform in deliberation
school transportation fatalities
By Ryan Moreno-Vasquez
By Montana Stabile
There is a commonly held conditions.
An issue that is not recognized enough in the United States is the notion that, in general, a college Meanwhile, intense bank
danger of students traveling. This could relate to walking to and from education is the key to a successful lobbying has deterred the U.S. Senate
school, bicycling, taking a school bus, and riding in the passenger seat with future. However, the steadily rising from passing a bill that will cut private
and adult or teenage driver. These dangers occur the most during school cost of tuition, coupled with ineffi- financial institutions from the federal
transportation hours. These situations should be improved to lessen the ciency in the government financial loan process—a move that could save,
death rate among young students, America’s future world. aid process, may preclude students as the Congressional Budget Office
Each year 800 young-school children are killed in motor vehicle from obtaining the post-secondary projects, $67 billion in the next 10
crashes during normal school travel hours. Not to mention the 5,600 child education they deserve—or at least, years. Supposedly, this sum of money,
deaths that occurs annually on U.S. roadways. Two percent of the motor may make this endeavor harder to which actually does not amount to
vehicle deaths involve either school bus passengers or pedestrians hit by undertake than it should be. much, by federal budget standards,
school buses. The other 98 percent occur in passenger vehicles or to According to statistics could be used to issue more forms of
pedestrians, bicyclists, or compiled by the College Board, financial aid, such as Pell grants and
motorcyclists. tuition and fees for public- and Perkins loans, rather than accumulated
Approximatley 450 of private- four-year colleges have as subsidies for the banks that manage
the 800, or 55 percent, occurs each increased by an average of the federal financial aid process.
when a teen driver is behind 8.8% and 6.6% in the 2009-10 However, while getting into
the wheel. school year, respectively, after college is no easy feat, it is not impos-
As for non-fatal injuries, adjusting for inflation. sible. A hefty chunk of college stu-
about 152,000 young students However, despite various dents pay annual college tuitions under
are non-fatally injured during budget cuts, colleges are still, $6,000. Furthermore, despite the
normal school day hours each understandably, forced to hike up aforementioned complications in
year. More than 80 percent of tuition costs due to the stressed financial aid legislation, many forms of
these injuries occur in economy. And for that reason, for financial aid remain available for post-
passenger vehicles; four college-bound students and families secondary education.
percent of these accidents of college-bound students, these Indeed, all is not lost—
involve school bus (about tuition hikes make adverse financial provided one’s grades are de-
5,500 school bus passengers and 500 school bus pedestrians). cent.
There are stories of death even involving buses with parking breaks
that were “accidentally released”. In the Bronx in 1997, a bus driver said
that a nine-year-old and two 11-year-old boys somehow got into his bus and
School budget passes
disengaged the emergency brake. This horseplay led to the loss of a 9- By Ryan Moreno-Vasquez
year-old Bronx boy who was crushed to death by this rolling bus. The bus
rolled nearly 300 feet down a hill, striking a boy as he waited to take a pony On April 20, Secaucus Garden State?
ride. Also, three other little boys were hit but only suffered minor injuries. residents gathered at their The Secaucus District can,
All vehicles can be dangerous, yet aren’t towns supposed to trust regular polling stations to vote on perhaps.
their school’s transportation? That must be a frightening thought having to our 2010-2011 education budget. A 100% cut in state aid, our
trust a bus driver to get your child to and from school. No mother or father Apprehension permeated district suffered. That is
should have to worry so much about that, and precautions should be taken. through the halls of schools and approximately $1.7 million our
Changes should be made. Buses should have better security so electronic mediums. Soon after, district will not see next year—a
children cannot access them unsupervised. Overall, drivers of these large cell phones and Facebook walls hefty sum, by any measure. But
vehicles should be even more careful than they would have ever thought, alike came to life with exultant while the consequences
for the sake of our children. cheers as the budget passed, engendered by this elimination of
and our schools were saved. state aid still weigh us down—that
Statistics from: The Transportation Research Board of the National But what precipitated the is, us as students, teachers, and
Academies plight that gripped our education all Secaucus residents—we will
facilities and threatened our still make do.
coffers? For indeed, it was a As a high school student,
New driving laws are too restrictive pickle we faced. According to the with one more year in the district, it
By Chrystle Schaffer April 14th budget presentation, a seems proper to express my
defeated budget would have gratitude to the administrators who
The new laws that are all drivers to stop for pedestrians waiting rendered a multitude of effectively collated the budget, and
restricting drivers even more are a bit to cross at the crosswalks. For years, consequences upon our high everyone who took a hit for the
pushy. While they have their good people have yielded to pedestrians. And school, such as the elimination good of our education system.
points, better safety for others around that has worked out fine, so this law, I of athletic programs and co-
the young drivers, do they really find is yet another unnecessary one. curricular activities, the forfeit of
Provisional vs. probationary, field trips, and an increase in
protect the drivers? I argue that.
class sizes.
One of the laws calls for the driver vs. criminal? The new laws also
To answer, New Jersey
require that drivers have their licenses
is currently in a state of fiscal
changed to say “Probationary Driver” emergency. With a lobbing $11
instead of the old “Provisional Driver.” billion debt, and a projected $2.2
Probation is usually something like a billion deficit for 2010, who can
break or relief after punishment for condemn the quick actions of
doing something bad, but does that even our new governor, Chris
apply to new drivers? I argue not. Christie, and his “hard ball”
game plan to save the ailing
Continued on page 4
Page 4 The Patriot Press June 2010
Roving Young drivers restricted by new laws
Continued from page 3
Decals are also required to driver to obtain a learner’s permit.
Reporter be put on all cars driven by a
probationary driver. While this does
allow other drivers to be aware that
They have made it harder to obtain a
license or permit; the tests and hours
of driving will be changed. Another
By Briana Parrella they have a new driver nearby so bill that recently passed limits young
they can be more careful, it can be drivers with probationary licenses to
Question: What are your summer vacation plans? dangerous too. The decal will notify only having one passenger in the car
others on the roadway that the driver unless there is an adult with them. It
is young and new, which some also prohibits the use of any wireless
people will use as an advantage to communications and changes the
do harm. Young adults are more curfew from midnight to 11pm.
susceptible to accidents, Another bill waiting to be passed is
kidnappings, or even sexual one that requires new drivers to have
harassment, and if a person sees that completed a minimum of 50 hours of
the driver in that car is a young adult, practice driving.
he or she could use that to For years, upon years, our
intentionally harm that driver. Is that system of 16-year-old permit, and
really a good thing? Not in my eyes. 17-year-old license has worked, so
Last on the list is the why the change now? Sometimes,
expansion in requirements for a young change isn’t always for the better.
Vandita Tejwani, Sophomore Nicole Kane, Senior
“This summer I’m going to attend
the summer program at Rutgers University “During this summer I’m going to be
and I’m really excited for that. Then after getting ready for college since I’ll be
the summer program I’m going on vacation starting in the fall. There’s a lot I have to
with my family to a beach house in Miami, do to prepare myself. I’m also going to be
Florida and then we’re taking a cruise to working a lot this summer.”
the West Caribbean. I’m doing a lot this
summer.”
Cast of “South Pacific.” From Left to right:Top Row- Brianna Charles,
Matt Moyet, Larissa Giambona, Jordan Lienhard, Harekrishna Tripathi,
Julia Giambona, Bisera Vergieva,Mike Keane, Brandon Sinisi, Marissa
Eck, Christina Rodriguez, Jessie Koerner. Middle Row- Nicole Meli,
Mikeil Iyer, Junior Amanda Lusskin, Katelyn Cutola, Nicole Scamporino, Dana Galella, Alex
Krystal Aguilar, Freshman
“This summer I’m basically going to Farinola, Kelsey Snedeker. Bottom Row- Cynthia Costello, Cassandra
“I’m mainly going to dance and do a lot of physical activities. I’ll bowl,
hang out with my friends this summer. I’m
Penna, Anthony Rojas, Francis Vanoni.
play golf, lift, drum, party, and travel to
also celebrating my Sweet 15, and I’m various places. I’ll be hanging out with
having a party for that. Swimming is my girlfriend a lot.”
another thing I’m definitely going to do!”
Josh Halpern, Sophomore
AJ Gamboa, Junior
“I’ll be playing tennis for most of
“To start my summer, I’m going on a the summer, trying to improve my skills.
family trip to South Carolina. After I get I’ll also be hanging out with my friends,
home from my vacation, I’m probably just swimming and playing basketball with
going to Six Flags a lot with my friends. them, just stuff we can do in town. I’ll From left: Brandon Sinisi, Marissa Eck, and Carlos Zarzuela performing
I’m also going to have to start training and drive more, since I got my permit. Then in the SHS musical South Pacific, held in the Performing Arts Center April
preparing my body to run cross country I’m also going on vacations to Atlantic
and track.” 16-18.
City and Florida.”