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St. Andrew’S School, Middletown, delAwAre Wednesday, december 15, 2010 VoluMe lXXViii, nuMber 2
Photo by Serena Woodward ’12
The campus has been thoroughly decorated, as always, this year. Over Thanksgiving break, Facilities Services used cranes and manpower to light the evergreen on
the front lawn, put wreaths up around the school. In addition, the admissions committee and the library (pictured above) decorated trees and stock them with candy
canes for the students.
Gingerbread House Competition
dAniel MAguire ’14
On your marks, get set, GO! Ginger- 2. Watch out for your candy be-
bread, icing and gumdrops go flying ing stolen. Candy capers are notorious
through the air as kids try to create the throughout gingerbread competition his-
best gingerbread house they can. Some tory. Keep your gumdrops close.
kids decided to go for a standard ginger-
bread house to win (how boring), whilst 3. Do it with someone you are close
other creative minds were able to think to. I do not know how this helps, but I do
up new structures. As the competition not think I need to explain…
continued, some found it far too intense
and were forced to drop out whilst oth- 4. Finally, suck up to the judges.
ers were able to persevere through the Make your structure appealing to the eye
sticky icing and finger licking good gin- of a 7 year old girl.
gerbread. In the end, some of the struc-
tures crashed, while others were able Anyways, until next year keep on training
to stand strong and prevail as winners. and perhaps you will find your gingerbread
Here is some advice as to how to build a house on the mantel place in a few years.
successful gingerbread house:
Daniel wants the whole world to know that
1. Follow the instructions that he won the competition. In actuality, his
were given to you. No matter how fun gingerbread house did not even make the
it is to be creative, the instructions were mantel. Will Plautz and Celeste Lancaster
put in there because they work. won (see photo at left).
Photo by Neelima Reddy
Will Plautz ’11 and Celeste Lancaster ’13 won the 2010 Gingerbread House Com-
petition. The Gingerbread House Competition is a Christmas-time tradition at St.
Andrew’s.
What’s inside the december issue of The Cardinal
reViewS oF:
FireFly winter SportS
interView with MS. kelly tAylor SwiFt nFl week 15 pickS
chriStMAS teAch For AMericA P. 4 P. 6
wikileAkS P.3
P. 2
clubS At St. Andrew’S
P. 5
p. 2 The Cardinal Wednesday, December 15, 2010
mation, and have a problem of conscience
Do you know The
Cardinal with certain actions taken. The “assets”
use their privileged positions to extract
what really
data from their system, and then with the
help of Assange, they siphon off the data
chafes Bruno?
where only fourteen percent of the popula- to the WikiLeaks server in encrypted files.
not necessarily the music that is so detest-
tion is Christian, but everybody, Buddhist, The overriding problem with this situ-
able, but more the continuous IV drip
Muslim, or anything else, celebrates ation is twofold: both Assange and his
that dribbles in late November, streams
Christmas. Everyone would say, “Happy “assets” are unfortunately products of a
by mid-December and flows torrentially
Christmas,” to each other, regardless of certain generation of Americans whose
by Christmas Eve. They are so pervasive
their religious beliefs, and no one was beliefs in entitlement burrow to the root
that they meld and conform together; by
ever insulted by it. Christmas was a time of our culture. No one appointed Assange
late December I honestly can’t tell the
of year when people celebrated joy and on his crusade to free government se-
difference between “Twelve Days”, “Hark
family. Most people didn’t go to Church, crets, no flock of angels descended upon
the Herald”, and “We Wish You a Merry
but everybody celebrated Christmas as him to grant him such a holy quest. His
Christmas”. That’s not just annoying, but
one of the most joyful times of the year. single-minded obsession with transpar-
sad; uplifting songs should not be crowd-
Today in the United States, we are ency mirrors Islamist fanaticism, yet only
ed out in a world with as many problems
taught that we must be politically correct now is the United States treating him like
as ours. The message of hope and rejoic-
always; if it’s December, you say, “Happy a terrorist. His actions have been argu-
ing that the Christmas season is supposed
bruno bArettA ‘11 Holidays,” not, “Merry Christmas.” ably more damaging than any since 9/11,
to be about is drowned in a cacophony
Maybe you’ve experienced, like I have, disrupting American relations with the
of commercial white noise. The rush and
the numbness of “Happy Holidays,” as a rest of the world for no reason outside
bustle of the “holiday season” has become
holiday greeting. Like it or not, Christmas his childish anger that the world will not
Some said it was impossible, but nothing more important for people’s jobs than it
is a part of our culture, not just part of a bend his way. His resources within the
is chafing Bruno right now. Maybe next has for their peace of mind. I personally
religion. It’s important that we respect United States government are worse; not
time… have been driven to such fits of rage at
other religion’s celebrations, too (I am in only do they share the egotism that they
the umpteenth rendering of “Deck the
charge of the Voorhees Menorah, making know what is right for the public better
Halls” while watching a football game.
sure the right candles are always lit), but than elected officials but they act in co-
I inwardly rage and curse as I outwardly
we should also take the religious lessons ordination with Assange after committing
The Ineffable
grimace. Finally, I remember that if retail
from the holidays and spread them for all. themselves to the very government they
sails don’t rise precipitously in the days
Christmas is a season in our culture, so go leak information from. This astonishing
between November 28th and December
Joy of Christmas out and say “Merry Christmas” over the narcissism has caused enough casualties.
24th, somewhere around 100,000 jobs
break and spread Christmas joy. Assange, WikiLeaks, and all spin-offs of
could be lost. In a time like the current
his organization must be stopped before
economic imbroglio, those unfortunate
Merry Christmas! they continue their destructive path, which
souls could be greeted early January with
chriS reiSine ’11 the twin blows of unemployment and the
will only add to the miseries of the Ameri-
A Singularly
can people.
challenge of finding a job.
In closing, I hope everyone finds hap-
To the Cardinal readers,
Offensive Or-
piness this winter break. I think it’ll help
I remember watching Mean Girls for many people to have a while away from
Julian Assange was arrested in London
the first time, and being surprised about St. Andrews to gain some perspective on
last week. He has threatened to release
the “Jingle Bell Rock” scene. At that
time, I hadn’t been quite inoculated with
events here, and it will definitely ease the
minds of juniors and seniors strapped for
ganization: more classified documents if he was arrest-
ed, and at the time of press, it is unclear if
WikiLeaks
the Christmas music pantheon, from “We time in overfilled schedules. Plus, most
he still intends to do so.
Three Kings” to more modern “Carol of people get presents and quality time with
Correction
the Bells” arrangements. I couldn’t under- their family, which isn’t common during
stand for the life of me why everyone was the rest of the year. Enjoy Christmas, Ha- chriS reiSine ’11
supposed to know the tune. As a ten year- nukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever Yuletide
old without much experience of malls or tradition you observe. Enjoy New Years. In the previous issue of The Cardinal, the
modern culture, the sin was (possibly) Do something special in the time you When St. Andreans returned from caption of the photo accompanying Eliza
forgivable. Flash forward seven years, and have. Thanksgiving break, one of the issues that Bell’s article on climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
of course, I comprehend fully why pitch dominated national headlines like none incorrectly described it as a picture of Eli-
and lyric-perfect memory of “Jingle Bell With hugs and love, other was the daring actions of WikiLeaks. za at the summit. It was Liza Tarbell ’13,
Rock” would be expected by our society. Chris In the past year, WikiLeaks has disseminat- at the summit, not Eliza Bell ’13. This was
From the beginning of November until ed three “megaleaks”: three large dumps of due to a misfiling of the picture and edito-
Spread Christ-
three days after New Years, the same classified information about the war in Af- rial confusion since we did not realize that
group of thirty-ish songs blare from malls, ghanistan, the war in Iraq, and diplomatic two girls (with such similar names) both
radio stations, and television. The constant
mas joy
cables outlining frank assessments and climbed the mountain last summer.
beat of Christmas spirit is hammered into comments between diplomats and about
our brains with the drumbeat of techno foreign figures. Each time, hundreds of
and the unfortunate catchiness of Lady MArcuS S. bAiley ‘11 thousands of documents have been given
Gaga. I think I can speak for many when to news sources around the world, includ-
I say that these terrible tunes have trotted I admit, Christmas is my favorite time ing The New York Times, Al-Jazeera, Der
too far. of the year, and I wish that everyone cele- Spiegel, and The Guardian. WikiLeaks re-
Now, I understand that these songs are brated it. It’s not the religion. I don’t wish frains from combing the documents to re-
delightful in small doses. The perfectly that everyone was Christian and would move sources or potentially damaging ma-
timed “We Three Kings” can occasionally devoutly follow the faith, but Christmas is terial, for which it receives much ire from
rouse an attempt at the baritone part from about more than just the Birth of Christ. the US government. Its most recent dump
me (though I’m not surprised when my Christmas is about peace, joy, and family of data, where they displayed diplomatic
“Christmas spirit” is taken for terrible cat- more than anything else. cables from the State Department, crossed
erwauling, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket My sophomore year, I went to Singa- the line from admirable vigilante transpar-
pore for Christmas, a country far away Liza Tarbell ’13 at the summit of Mt.
or the container it was shipped in on). It’s ency work into taking petty, shortsighted
Kilimanjaro
potshots at the American government.
WikiLeaks’ founder, Julian Assange,
has been profiled extensively in the me-
dia following his extensive exposés of the
Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Their collated becoMe A FAn oF the
collective wisdom describes him as para- School on FAcebook:
noid, possibly megalomaniacal ideologue
whose passion for the rights of individuals
above all exceeds that of even the most fer-
MArcuS S. bAiley ’11 vent libertarian. Whereas Ron Paul merely
wants to eliminate half the federal govern-
chriS reiSine ’11 ment, Assange would rather have the entire
Editors-in-ChiEf governmental process be open to the peo-
ple for all eyes to examine. With this driv-
ing ideal behind him, Assange militantly
bruno bArettA ’11 and systematically attacks traditional pow-
ForreSt brown ’11 er structures. He, like the spies James Bond
dramatically attempts to portray, collects
Editors and develops “assets” within major corpo- FAcebook.coM/SASdelAwAre
rations or the government. These “assets”
are people with access to sensitive infor-
p. 3 The Cardinal Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The
Cardinal
where they disappear and reappear somewhere else. I’ve always just felt like when you’re
having a busy day you don’t want to spend your time running around. It would also be a
funny way of startling students when they’re up to no good. If I could just snap my fingers
and be somewhere 300 miles away, that would be cool.
MW: If you could see black and white except for one color, what would it be?
MK: Blue, I was going to say green, because that’s my favorite color, but not being able to
see a blue sky on a sunny day, I think that’s important. And then the water; sky and water.
Blue would be my choice.
MW: When in your life have you had to adapt the most?
MK: Probably at camp; I initially was working at a day camp and when I started work-
ing as the waterfront director, it was the first time I had a real leadership position, and it
was terrifying. I had to keep all of these kids safe while they were swimming, and I was
managing a large staff of lifeguards. I’d never done that before. I learned a lot; what it
takes to be an effective leader: it has a lot to do with showing people respect and making
expectation clear, but also being able to let go of your pride and ask for help when you
need it and realize there is a learning curve built into any new experience. That required
me to adapt because it taught me to develop a lot more patience with myself and other
people. It taught me to take myself a lot less seriously because you make mistakes you get
made fun of; you make fun of yourself. I was faced with a level of responsibility I’d never
been faced with before, and I had to rise to that challenge.
Faculty member Mary Kelly during a vacation in Sicily.
Interview with Ms. Kelly
MAry wilSon ’12
Mary Wilson: If you could have anyone to lunch: dead, alive, fiction, or someone like
Jesus, who would it be?
Ms. Kelly: I would like to meet Hannibal, and ask him how he managed to convince so
many men (and elephants) to march over the Alps into Italy with him. The whole idea
seems crazy to me, but he must have been one very effective leader to take on that march
and then defeat the Romans in several battles afterwards. I’d like to know his secret.
MW If you could have a room full of anything, what would it be?
MK Post-its and mechanical pencils. They are my two favorite office supplies (mechani-
cal pencils for translating Latin and Greek, because everyone makes mistakes, and post
its for reminding me of pretty much everything), and I never seem to have enough of
them. Kind of a lame answer, but at least they would all get used and they never expire!
MW: What was your favorite part of high school?
MK: I did musical theater all though high school. I was in a play every year. I enjoyed
that because I was with the same group of people who did it year after year. It was fun,
and never competitive or overly intense; just an opportunity to get together as a group and
do something we loved. It was a great contrast to the academics I did. I love singing and
dancing and wearing crazy costumes and putting my time, energy and passion into this Faculty member Will Robinson during his time with Teach for America.
one thing after school every day.
MW: Do you have a favorite play that you did?
MK: My favorite play was sophomore year; we did Oklahoma. It was just fun to be in,
Teach for America
the dancing in it was a lot of fun and I loved the songs. MAry wilSon ’12
MW: What was your least favorite part of high school? The following is an excerpt from an interview with Mr. Robinson on his experience with
MK: The college process. I applied early and got deferred and in retrospect I wish I had Teach for America. The full interview will appear in the next issue of The Cardinal.
taken the whole thing a bit more in stride because it all worked out really well; I was re-
ally happy in college. I think I stressed myself out a lot more than was ever necessary, After the Mr. Roach’s thanksgiving chapel talk on education in America, we thought it
and I would encourage seniors to maintain perspective, which is easier said than done. would be helpful to share some of Will Robinson’s reflections on his work with Teach
For America. This was part of his interview, but it was important and lengthy enough to
MW: How did you get into the classic languages? give it separate ink.
MK: My dad told me to take Latin in high school; I wanted to take Spanish. He speaks a
lot of languages and told me to take Latin because it would help me learn romance lan- Mary: What inspired you to Teach for America?
guages. I started in high school and had the same teacher for four years, and I was very
Mr. Robinson: I’d done a lot of volunteering and mentoring in college. I loved doing it;
close with her. She was great; everyone loved her. I think she really encouraged me to
continue with Latin. I think it was having that teacher for four years that made an impact coming from St. Andrew’s it was instilled in me. The idea of helping others and being
on me. with others in real and authentic ways to understand how much you have and appreciate
it. That kind of theme was constant here during my four years through people like John
MW: How do you feel about living and doing duty on guy’s dorm? O’Brian, Tad Roach, Will Speers, Peter McLean. And when I went to college it was a
MK: I love it. For a few years I worked at an all boys residential camp during the summer very natural thing to be involved in volunteering. I worked at a group home, which is a
as the waterfront director. I like working with boys because they’re funny and energetic home for kids from New York who were sent upstate for different reason and came from
and a little bit crazy but they’re all really polite and well behaved and kind to each other pretty relatively terrible situations. I’d help them with their homework three or four times
for the most part. I think its good as a girl to do that; it gives you a different perspective a week. It was off campus, pretty far away. I loved it because it got me out of that bubble
and I enjoy it. that you can get into when you’re in college. I just really, really loved it. They were kids
who had little opportunity and born into situations that I could have easily been born into.
MW: What was your favorite part about working at a summer camp?
I saw that they had all the desire and all the ability that I had sometimes more, but no one
MK: The community there. Small environment, probably the same size as St. Andrew’s.
But when you’re working in a high pressure environment: long hours, little time off, but to really tap it or “mine” it. So it became really crystal clear that we’re incredibly lucky
you’re having so much fun in the process you don’t really notice. What kept me com- because we had those people. Our parents who helped us who sent us to great schools
ing back were the community and the friendships I made when I was there. Also, I think where there were awesome teachers, so on and so forth. So Teach for America, in my
having a job when you’re a teenager, where you’re given responsibility, is great. Because head, was an organization that put people that would be willing to put in the time, effort
during the school year you’re doing the work and being a teenager, but taking care of and energy into “mining” these kids and pushing them; having someone to say “you
kids, looking after them and being responsible for them, is a great learning experience. know, that’s not good enough, you can try harder,” “you can do better” and then work
It’s defiantly been helpful as I’ve transitioned to teaching. your butt of trying to help them meet those expectations. So that’s why I wanted to do it.
It really fulfilled my expectations in that a really sad way – I was 22 – a kid myself - and
MW: Why teaching? I had a room full of middle school kids assigned to special-ed. Every one of my kids
MK: I think camp had a lot to do with it. I loved working with kids and there’s something were at one point in a general education classroom but were booted out. Most of them
very satisfying about showing them how to do something and seeing them take that skill
were in my classroom because of behavior issues. A lot of it wasn’t mental or physical,
and build on it. During college I worked as a tutor for a while and I enjoyed that too. I
really liked school and it was because of my teachers; I really appreciated all that they did it was just they were bored in whatever in the general-ed class they were in because they
for me. When I got the opportunity to teach, even if it was just swimming lessons at camp, were actually really smart and they would act out. In some cases no one was there to tell
I took a lot of pride in that. As is started to think about what I wanted to do after college, them that they could do better and challenge them to discover new ideas or try harder;
it made the most sense to me. whatever it might be, so they just acted out. So I had a lot of smart kids who didn’t know
Continued on page 5
MW: If you could have any super power what would it be?
MK: I think I’d like to be able to do that thing they do in Harry Potter— apparation—
p. 4 The Cardinal Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The
Cardinal
Reviews
The Mixed Bag of Ms. Taylor Swift
MAggie rogerS ’12
When I first sat down to write this article, my feelings on Taylor Swift were very
clear and included nothing, but the highest levels of loathing and disdain. How could
a seventeen-year-old girl from Pennsylvania, and later Tennessee, become a Grammy
Firefly: a TV show long gone, but award-winning artist with only four chords and sappy, meaningless lyrics about her
trivial interactions with boys?
still loved However, despite my best and most concentrated efforts, I found with regret that it
was almost impossible for me to get her music out of my head and this required me to
MegAn hASSe ’14 have a T-Swift Intervention with myself.
When I try to get people to watch my favorite TV show, Firefly, the response is typi- Let’s start with my problems with her, the first being her music. Put aside all sex ap-
cally skepticism. For some reason, the description of “a totally awesome show about peal and charm and you’re left with nothing but the same repetitive pattern that you’ve
space cowboys” doesn’t sound appealing. That’s when I met Forrest Brown ’11. been force fed throughout pop culture. The only difference is that Taylor Swift makes
“No, no. It’s a character drama. I’ve found that ‘Space cowboys’ does not work in get- no original effort to hide it.
ting people to watch it,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a character drama in an interesting You can trace the similarities throughout her entire career completely through her
setting, with interesting perspectives on human culture.” chord progressions. Let’s start with her past hit “Teardrops On My Guitar” (G, E minor,
Thank you, Forrest. Indeed, Forrest is famous for his rendition of Firefly’s theme C, D) and two songs off her new album: “Last Kiss” (G, E minor, C, D) and “Mine” (C,
song, delivered proudly from the back of a bus during Choral Scholars tour. Finally, I’d G, D, E minor). You could also throw “Fifteen” (G, E minor, D, C) and “Long Live” (G,
found someone just as dedicated as I was. C, E minor, D) into the mix as well.
Firefly, a TV series that ran for only fourteen episodes in 2002 before being cancelled, The list of similarities goes on including “Our Song” and “You Belong With Me” and
has a cult following—albeit a small one. As a Firefly fan, it’s a lonely world: other fans the triad of “Better Than Revenge”, “Innocent”, and her mega-hit “Love Story”. On her
are few and far between. Thankfully, I found Forrest, and we of course bonded over new album, there seemed instances where she made absolutely no effort to write any-
Firefly. The discovery that the cult was alive and well within our small community was thing original. The chorus for “Enchanted” follows the pattern C, G, D and this matches
what spurred my desire to spread Firefly to the rest of St. Andrew’s. up perfectly with the verse of “Mine”. The list goes on and on, but as I confronted my
The basic plot of Firefly is as follows: set in the year 2517, nine characters live on a peers about these similarities, even her greatest fans would acknowledge them without
“Firefly-class” spaceship, making their living doing assorted illegal jobs on the outskirts prompting. Are we asking too little of today’s pop stars?
of a new star system. The superpowers of China and the United States have formed to My frustrations do not bode only for Swift’s music. I know there has got to be some-
create the “Alliance”, a large bureaucracy around which the crew must navigate. No- one else out there that’s sick of Swift’s lyrical princess wonderland. Not only is she
tably, the spaceship (called Serenity) is harboring two fugitives: River, a telepath who releasing the same melodies over and over again, but it might as well be the same lyrics
escaped testing by the Alliance, and her brother Simon. Although it is based in space, too.
the costume and set reflect aspects of the American Old West as well as Chinese culture. Crushes, heartbreak, and her own teenage “love” are Swift’s bread and butter. How-
But if that doesn’t appeal to you, we can just call it a character drama. ever magical this world of fairytales is not, and cannot be real. A small glimmer of hope
A few of the characters in Firefly are recognizable: Nathan Fillon, who played the shone when Swift admitted her own faults in her song “White Horse” singing, “I’m not
character of Malcolm Reynolds, is now famous for his role as Richard Castle in the TV a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale”. Lack of grammar aside, you’ve got to be kidding me?!
series Castle. Adam Baldwin, who played the character of Jayne Cobb, has appeared She alludes to this small grip of reality, yet as a small preview in between albums, Swift
on the X-Files and is currently a regular in the TV series Chuck. Summer Glau, who releases “Today Was a Fairytale” (One guess for it’s theme).
played the character of River Tam, was Cameron in The Sarah Connor Chronicles. List of frustrations aside, Taylor Swift’s new album “Speak Now” sold over 1.5 mil-
Firefly received mixed reviews, partially because the episodes were aired out of order. lion copies in its first week. On her new album, Swift presents a more “mature” version
The show did, however, receive an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Special Effects. of herself. However, I was left confused as to where exactly she was going with the
The show’s extremely loyal fans raised enough money to cause the production of a fea- idea.
ture film in 2005 based on the show, called Serenity. Forrest and I each saw the movie, Approaching her 21st birthday this December, there are 4 songs on this 14-track
loved it, and went on to watch the show. Others may know about it from other shows by album that somehow relate to children and marriage, and the rest of which are all filled
creator Joss Whedon, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Dollhouse. with regret and heartbreak. In her music video for “Mine” she even borrowed somebody
One cannot understand the sheer love we fans have for this show. In the words of fel- else’s children to play with for a while as she staged some early morning fun with “her
low fan Mollie Gillespie ’14: kids” and her child’s 4th birthday party. There’s even a song written to her newborn
“For the record, when it was cancelled, I locked myself in my room and cried for child that then goes on to describe their life together (“Never Grow Up”)!
days.” Forrest also told me he was “very upset.” The agony of unresolved plot lines! Perhaps more terrifying that parenthood is the song “Better Than Revenge” where
Even eight years later, we fans still cling to the hope that the show will make a come- Swift sings, “…She’s an actress. She’s better known for the things that she does on the
back. mattress. Soon she’s gonna find stealing other people’s toys on the playground won’t
There is no better way to recruit fellow “Browncoats” (fans of Firefly named after make you many friends. She should keep in mind, there is nothing I do better than
the show’s rebels) than to get them to watch the show. The library has it on DVD, so revenge.” Now just TAKE A STEP BACK. These boys she’s been complaining about
go check it out. I fully support Forrest’s continuing efforts to start a Firefly Fan Club, are suddenly her “toys” and Taylor Swift, in the past most known for her innocence (and
or at least to get Serenity shown in Engelhard. If nothing else, this underground Firefly apparently a soon to be Mom), is making blatant threats.
fandom is a testament to St. Andrew’s: we are blessed with all sorts of people that have Just a couple tracks later, in her song “Mean”, she deems this kind of behavior as
all sorts of quirky passions—passions they feel obliged to share with others. Just ask incomprehensible, preaching about how it will lead to absolutely nothing. This is not the
Forrest to sing you the theme song. It is truly a thing of beauty: kind of thing I assume she would be teaching those “children” of hers.
“Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand—I don’t care, I’m still free, The bigger question here is should we, as a consumer, be demanding more? Sure,
you can’t take the sky from me.” her music is catchy, but by no means did it deserve the 2010 Grammy for Best Album,
a title she now shares with past winners such as John Lennon & Yoko Ono (’82), Bob
Dylan (’98), OutKast (’04), Ray Charles (’05), U2 (’06), and Robert Plant & Alison
Krauss (’09).
What most people don’t know is that wasn’t the only award she won that night. She
was also voted as having the Worst Performance of the Year in a duet with Stevie Nicks
singing the Fleetwood Mac classic, “Rhiannon”. Pitchy and Off-key, she presented
herself as talentless and fake.
I respect Taylor Swift for her ambition. I respect the fact that she writes her own
music. With her height and blond hair, she is undoubtedly the whole package and as an
object on the market, she has undoubtedly sold. However, it is due to our support that
she is on top. Shouldn’t we be expecting a little bit more?
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and joyous
p. 5 The Cardinal Wednesday, December 15, 2010
the newspaper. But I hope the kids go on
The
Cardinal the service trips if you can, volunteer, talk
to people who don’t fit nicely into your
world, even if just in town. Go out of
Annoying at Best, Ingenuine at Teach for America, continued from
your comfort zone. It’s like when you go
abroad, ideally your not sticking with all
page 3.
Worst
the kids who speak English. Let them go
they were smart. Or rather, no one seemed to McDonalds. You should get out of your
to identify them as being really smart. So, comfort zone as quickly as possible. That
The Concerning Rise of Clubs at SAS in a really sad way, it was pretty easy to
make a tremendous difference because all
was a huge benefit of me doing Teach for
America. I was a minority at my school
Alec hill ’12 you had to do was to expect more from and town. There were 1200 people in the
them which isn’t wasn’t that hard. I made school and only two other white males
It’s a cliché, but, like many here, one of out this year at our school meetings. Obvi- mistakes. The first time I started teaching over the age of 15. I’d been to South Africa
the things about St. Andrew’s I love the ously, the people who have done the form- it was all about being friends with the kids and experienced being a minority there as a
most is the community. Everyone is so dif- ing of many clubs this year are interested and being nice and having the kids like you visitor, but I really appreciated what it was
ferent, yet constantly supportive of each in whatever they choose to promote. But and being the cool teacher in hopes that like to walk into a room and be the only
other, yet always doing something new, yet often, the announcements come off as les- they would listen. That didn’t work. What white person day after day. It teaches you
always ready to be impressed by what oth- sons in how not to give an announcement- I learned is that there are 2 things. They’ll exactly what was discussed at convoca-
ers are doing. This is certainly the School rambling, and unentertaining, clearly not walk all over you and they might love you tion: being uncomfortable and how impor-
the website and Communications Depart- well thought out. but they don’t respect you. I had a teacher/ tant that is to one day being comfortable
ment loves to advertise, and for the most Though I love to criticize, it’s not as if mentor who taught me that you just have to and growing from the experience. I’m still
part it’s the school that actually exists. It’s there are no good student run clubs here. expect the best at all times. I stopped let- working at it.
also certainly an admirable goal to become There are plenty, and they set a great ex- ting things slide and kids rose to the chal-
this school in the ways that we are not. ample of what it is to be a good club. Op- lenge and actually embraced it. They knew
However, in one area, our attempts to live eration Smile, which seems to have gone I was doing it because I cared, not because
up to this billing have been misguided, and dormant this year, is the best one I can I took pleasure out of being mean or some-
that is in the ridiculous amount of clubs think of. thing. It was awesome. I loved it and I’m
that have sprung up this year. Operation Smile managed to have fun really sad I left. I think about it often. It
Clubs have obviously been a part of St. through goofy announcements and dodge was just a great experience.
Andrew’s since its very founding. Over the ball tournaments and raves, while also rais- Mary: What was the most challenging Editors-in-Chief
years their purposes have changed, some ing a great deal of money for a great cause. parts of Teach for America? Marcus S. Bailey ’11
have flourished, and many have fallen More importantly, they knew their goal, Mr. Robinson: One of the most challeng- Chris Reisine ’11
by the wayside. The few that last and be- had made sure it was a plausible one, and ing parts is realizing that you had the kids
come established organizations, such as thus spared the school body the experience for a day, a month, year so on and so forth
the Andrean, the Smoking Shack, the Grif- of oodles of announcements simply asking and knowing in the back of your head that
Editors
fin, Woodshop, and the Cardinal without for money or musing vaguely on the sub- you work and work and work when you’re Bruno Baretta ’11
a doubt contribute to the culture of the ject of possible future events. with them and they respond to it but that Forrest Brown ’11
school, by giving students productive out- The organization has been absent this there’s such a complex societal structure in
lets for their passions. year, and in all honesty that’s completely place that makes it so difficult for some-
However, many clubs that have sprung fine. The point of a good club is to func- Faculty Advisor
one from a background that has no social
up in recent years simply don’t measure tion within itself to accomplish its goals, capital to get to where you or I are. Its just
Will Robinson ’97
up to this standard, and thus undermine whether they are raising money or discuss- so, so hard. And that’s one thing I love at
the real clubs. Take a look, for example, ing the relative strengths of different Poké- St. Andrew’s: It’s one of those places that Layout Assistant
at the school website’s page on “Clubs and mon, without harassing those non-mem- looks at a kid and says: if you have the de- Serena Woodward ’12
Activities”. Zen Garden Club, Science Fic- bers to join because not enough people sire and heart it doesn’t matter if you don’t
tion Club, Investment Club, Fishing Club, have. have the social capital or the money to pay
Chess Club, Astronomy Club-do any of For this to occur, the Club’s central for it, we want you here. That was the hard-
Contributers:
these clubs still exist? theme has to be popular enough. And this est part: knowing that the kids I was teach- Lisa Jacques ’12
Or, why not examine the 2010 Yearbook’s is where we run into problems. In a com- ing would probably have to work twice as Liza Tarbell ’13
Clubs/Organizations section. The WLK munity of less than 300, there simply are hard to get half as much and still not make Eliza Bell ’13
(We Love Kelvin) Club? Coffee Islam? that many people who are passionate about it. The perceived success in the town I
R.E.B.E.L.? SSS? Now, one can argue that Fly-Fishing, or Asian Culinary traditions, Robert Rasmussen IV ’12
taught in, a rural town in Louisiana, was to
these little pictures and blurbs were never or a million other interests that people may have a job at the Wal-Mart. The good kids,
Sky Jones ’12
intended to be real clubs, just the manifes- genuinely have that don’t merit a place the ones who won awards at graduation, Meagan Green ’11
tations of various inside jokes of seniors in the yearbook or the school’s daily an- things like that, were the ones who had the Chaitanya Singhania ’12
that decided to respond to the call for Clubs nouncements. ability and poise to fill out a job application Charlie Martin ’11
to have their picture taken, and one would Ultimately, it’s probably best to finish by and do well enough in the interview to get
be right. It’s harmless and amusing. asking for a little maturity from my fellow Grace Benjamin ’12
the job at Wal-Mart. That was a kind of
The problem arises when people take this students. No, I can’t stop you from start- like [a big deal] because they’d have a job.
Grace Mott ’11
opportunity for fun and self-humiliation, ing as many clubs as you like, and No, I Or they’d work in a refinery or a chemi- Mary Wilson ’12
and mix it in with the people trying to certainly don’t even have the right to. But cal plant. Just doing hard, manual labor Maggie Rogers’12
make genuine clubs work every week here. wouldn’t we like to think that all of us and not knowing that there is so much out Martin French ’13
This blurs the line between real organiza- students are mature enough to accept that there. One of my best kids had just gradu-
tion and joke, and then, when people want not everyone shares our passions, and that, Daniel Maguire ’14
ated from high school last year had a baby
to start a club today, as well intentioned while some may, this doesn’t necessitate an girl and works really long, hard shifts as a
Megan Hasse ’14
as they may be, they have a rather skewed announcement or a plea to buy overpriced laborer at a chemical refinery to support his Mason Dufresne ’13
idea of what that means. t-shirts every week? girlfriend and daughter. I’m proud of him. Alec Hill ’12
While just about everything in the world And even if we are convinced our idea is I had the benefit of seeing the world as a Matt Grippo ’12
is better when it’s funny, that doesn’t mean worthy of a whole organization, wouldn’t kid, so I wanted kids to see what else is out
that a club can function with funny skits we at least hope we’re focused and intel- Jack Hain ’11
there. I took some kids one time up to New
alone. The club needs to actually function ligent enough to have a better outline of York. We drove all the way up the East
Georgina Rupp ’11
above all. The humor is secondary. There what our club should do than meet and Coast just to show them. Some of them Mackenzie Peet ’11
are many clubs here that keep a low pro- discuss [insert Musicals, Scuba Diving, the lived 45 minutes from New Orleans who Katie Toothman ’12
file, with no videos acting out question- benefits of making Sandwiches and eating had never been to New Orleans. So they Jake Myers ’12
able double-entendres based on the word them while climbing trees]? That’s really just didn’t know that: “hey if I work really
“partners”, and are great clubs anyways. all I’m asking. Will Maas ’12
hard its not about maybe I could do this in
No one ever accused the members of Cor- I don’t hate clubs; I think there are a lot this small world” but “there are schools out
Thomas Cahill ’12
nerstone of being masters of the themed of great ones here. But I also think there are there like St. Andrew’s or universities out Alec Hill ’12
School Meeting music video, and that’s plenty that are the results of vague interests there that I could get a scholarship to.” It’s
fine. They get along perfectly well accord- and the belief that it’s somehow good for impossible to describe unless you live it. It For contact, please e-mail:
ing to their goal without any of that, which college or the community or something or was a totally different world.
would probably undermine the seriousness other to be in a lot of extracurricular ac- mbailey@standrews-de.org
Mary: You earlier talked about the bubble,
of their organization anyways. tivities. Let’s rid ourselves of these imma- you just get so consumed with what’s hap-
creisine@standrews-de.org
The all-time high (or low) in spurious ture notions, and thus, a lot of superfluous pening here and now [at St. Andrew’s] and
club-forming has been on display through- clubs. how and your world shrinks. You just have
to keep that perspective.
Mr. Robinson: It’s hard and you can read
holiday season! Love, the editors and staff of The Cardinal
p. 6 The Cardinal Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The
Cardinal
Photo by Will Robinson
Assistant Coach Nate Crimmins congratulates Buie Fox ’12 during a swim meet against the Tower Hill School. The Men’s Swim Team celebrated their first victory
decisively.
NFL Week 15 Picks
Forrest Brown Mr. Fritz Will Maas Jake Myers Grace Saliba Katie Toothman Senorita Smith
San Francisco at San Diego SD SD SD SD SD SF SF
Buffalo at Miami MIA MIA MIA BUF MIA MIA MIA
Houston at Tennessee HOU HOU HOU HOU HOU HOU HOU
Arizona at Carolina ARI CAR ARI ARI ARI CAR ARI
New Orleans at Baltimore NO BAL NO NO BAL BAL NO
Jacksonville at Indianapolis JAC JAC JAC IND IND JAC IND
Detroit at Tampa Bay TB TB TB TB TB DET DET
Philadelphia at NY Giants PHI NYG NYG PHI PHI PHI NYG
Kansas City at St. Louis STL STL KC KC STL STL STL
Washington at Dallas DAL DAL WAS DAL WAS WAS DAL
Cleveland at Cincinnati CLE CIN CIN CLE CLE CIN CIN
Atlanta at Seattle ATL ATL ATL ATL ATL SEA ATL
NY Jets at Pittsburgh PIT PIT PIT NYJ NYJ PIT PIT
Denver at Oakland OAK OAK OAK OAK OAK DEN DEN
Green Bay at New England NE NE NE NE NE NE NE
Chicago at Minnesota CHI MIN CHI CHI CHI CHI MIN
the AVenging
nArwhAl
the cooleSt toy
thiS chriStMAS.
Photo by Greg Doyle
Omololu Babatunde, Dee Simons Elizabeth Dalrymple, Ella Cahill, Will Rehrig, Claudia Heath, Forrest Brown, and Liza Bay-
less chant carols with other members of the Class of 2011 during the 2009 Carol Shout, a longtime St. Andrew’s tradition.
