William Clark and rest
Girls and Boys
Soccer on pgs 14-15
The Blue and Gold http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/
Malden High School Our 94th Year
Volume 94 Edition 2 November 2008
Barack Obama Becomes 44th President Malden High
Undergoes
Renovations
A smiling Barack Obama gives speech at Nashua South High school in Nashua, N.H. Jan. 8, 2008.
Ayoub Kourikchi
Head Copy Editor
A
FTER 14 GRUELING months of
campaigning, attack ads, and
debates, Barrack Hussein Obama
won the presidential election with a
landslide victory against republican
malden high football near top of gbl
Haley DeFilippis
Reporter
W ITH A 4-4 RECORD so far,
the season has been a success,
despite room for improvement. The
team has statistically beaten their
opponents by a number of yards.
Teams like Everett, Cambridge, and
Bedford with high profiles are dif-
ficult opponents that the Tornadoes
face.
“All are challenging, some just
more than others,” said head coach
John Lopresti. Lopresti has been
head football coach for three years
now, and a coach for seventeen con-
secutive years prior to his current
position.
“We’re very competitive,” Lo-
presti explained. Practices consist of
stretches, warm-ups, and condition-
ing. The team then breaks up to indi-
Continued on pg 16
Mock election
results on pg 8
senator John McCain after obtaining
states such as Indiana, Virginia, and
Florida, voted Democrat.
As the 44th president of the
United States of America, Obama,
has earned his place in the Oval
office after attaining a heavily lop-
sided victory in the Electoral Col-
lege with 349 delegates to McCain’s
Football team huddles up before game against Melrose.
Photo by E. Chiavelli
147, however, the popular vote was
very much alike-52.3% to 46.4% in
Obama’s favor.
As the first African American
president, Obama’s historic cam-
paign has broken numerous records.
According to Michael McDonald
of George Mason University the
Continued on pg 11
Photo by E. Chiavelli
of the band on pg 5
Ayoub Kourikchi
Head Copy Editor
Ashley Ngo
Head Copy Editor
David Riemer
Head Copy Editor
R ECENTLY, MAYOR Richard
Howard in conjunction with
the City Council, proposed an
additional $22 million to the $55
million plan in renovating Malden
High School. The plan aims to
improve the overall conditions of
MHS over the short course of two
and half years.
The City Council introduced
their initial idea in 2000 to Flans-
burg Architect Inc. and began
construction during the 2007-2008
school year when they replaced
windows and renovated the
main staircase outside the Jenkins
building.
With a fairly large design
team, MHS renovations’ architect
Bill Beatrice thinks the construc-
tion is making good progress;
with the finalizing of drawings
and keeping the team in commu-
nications, the project is underway.
MHS renovations’ structural
engineer Mehul Dhruv also adds
that “50% of the plans are com-
pleted and will be finished by
next year.”
Extensive remodeling will
Continued on pg 6
LOCAL NEWS Page 5
WORLD NEWS Page 9
ENTERTAINMENT Page 12
SPORTS Page 14
Parker’sWorld Page 4
2 Editorials The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

Malden High School

T ODAY IS THE DAY, November 4, 2008. Today,
polls close for Election Day and results will soon
cas fall in this 35% of non-voters, it is evident that
most of them are occupied with life engaging
The Blue and Gold be available for this so-called “historic presidential
contest” between Democrat Barack Obama and Re-
situations—school, work, travel, experiencing new
experiences, etc. so maybe registering to vote isn’t
77 Salem St. publican John McCain. Today on this historical day, exactly their number one priority.
Malden, MA 02148 one friend asked me, “Should I vote? I don’t think I Then, for others it might be because of igno-
will. It’s not like my vote will even matter.” To me, a rance; they have not yet been educated on knowl-
17-year-old girl who missed the voting age require- edge relating to elections or voting and their lack
ment by a few months would kill to be in the position of knowledge on elections and voting imply lack
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
to vote. Along with being on jury, I find voting, may knowledge on the issues involved in these things.
Nicole Dhruv
it be choosing people to run courts, schools, towns, For many new “ignorant” voters, this is a common
Malisa Saksua
states, nations, or countries, to be a vital power for feeling, so most pass up the opportunity of vot-
all people to exercise at some point in their lives. It is ing. On the contrary, for those who are involved
MANAGING EDITOR
our civic duty, a privilege given to us. Take it away, in education or activities centered in a learning en-
Cynthia Rodriguez
and we would be in a dictatorship. I, however, ques- vironment are constantly in an environment filled
tion subsequent to hearing comments such as the one with political information, thus they gain a clear
HEAD NEWS WRITER
made by my friend, why is it that at least a third of all understanding of such issues, enabling them to de-
David Riemer
Americans feel contrary to my opinion on voting? velop their own personal political thoughts—these
That night when I got home I headed to the can be called the more habitual voters.
HEAD ENTERTAINMENT/ OPINION
computer to check on election updates, and I found It could also depend on family—it is evident,
Ashley Ngo
myself beginning to think more about the third of that if parents happened to be habitual voters, the
America who are non-voters; I found myself typing in chances for their child to vote are much higher at a
HEAD SPORTS WRITER
the Google search bar, “non-voters in America” and younger age as opposed to a child of a non-habitual
Paul Collins
came across some interesting facts. I read up on Penn voter.
State political scientist Eric Plutzer, who says there When I took a second to gather my thoughts
ASSISTANT SPORTS WRITER
are “different types” of voters: “habitual voters” who and reflect, I obtained a better sense of “voter
Alfonse Femino
vote for elections which are not expected to be close, types,” but I never really answered my initial
such as presidential elections, midterm elections, and question about people who are apathetic towards
HEAD COPY EDITORS
school board elections. Then, there are the “periodic voting. Now, with my newly obtained knowledge,
Tzivia Halperin
voters,” who generally vote in presidential elections I can answer this question; I start to answer by
Ayoub Kourikchi
but fail to vote for any other elections. The rest are beginning with another question, if I were a non-
not even registered to vote. That’s a whopping 35% voter, what would be my reason for not voting?
COPY EDITORS
of all eligible people in America. Honestly, once I put the question into that
An Holmqvist
I find periodic voters just as ridiculous as non- perspective, I saw its answer clearly; I never re-
Brittany Foley
voters. As I continued reading this research, I grew ally got involved with voting and elections—or
Nidale Zouhir
more and more frustrated, I began asking more anything political until I learned about it in a more
questions; one in particular that stuck out—who are “hands on” way rather than the usual, reading the
HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY
these people who don’t take their voting privileges facts and retaining the information way. I attended
Emily Chiavelli
seriously? a workshop in which we participated in group
I found out, within this 35% of non-voters, the activities which, indirectly, represented elections
PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM
age group that ranges in this percentage is 18 to 30. and voting. It was very visual and a very differ-
Joao Nascimento
Obtaining that knowledge, I found myself asking ent learning experience. Also, for me, participating
Lynn Tran
even more questions—why is this? How do voters in similar activities such as mock elections and
or non-voters turn into habitual voters, periodic vot- other school organization and club elections, give
HEAD OF BUSINESS
ers, or stay non-voters? I wanted all the knowledge I a realistic feel of what voting would be like—it’s
Kimberly Lombard
could get, enabling me to strengthen my opinion on preparation, so, when it comes time for actual
this matter. voting, ignorance will be the last thing to worry
BUSINESS TEAM
As I asked myself these questions, I began for- about. It all depends on the how a person obtains
Brandon Knight
mulating my own personal opinions and possible knowledge on voting—they have to find the right
Cera Nolan
answers. And as I kept reading on Plutzer’s research, learning fit for them. Now obvious, non-voters are
I found that I share many similar views, one strongly following a learning fit wrong for them.
ONLINE EDITORS
centered on the assumption that most young Ameri-
Kimberly Lombard
Brandon Knight
Editorial Policy Nicole Dhruv
REPORTERS The Blue and Gold is an open forum for Co-Editor-in-Chief
Haley DeFilippis student expression. It is produced by students
for the school and the community. The views
Michael DiGregorio
presented in this paper are not necessarily those
Jacquelyn Dillon of the advisor or the school administration. The
Alexander Gennigiorgis views presented in the editorials are those of the
Dan Holmqvist editors-in-chief or guests. The goal of The Blue
Shannon Howe and Gold is to inform and entertain students as
Barbara Jerome-Athis well as the community regarding issues that we
Omar Khoshafa feel are important.
Erica Marangos We strongly encourage readers to respond
Alexandra Mathieu to material printed in the form of signed letters to
Patti McClenthen the editors. No libelous, malicious, defamatory,
obscene, or unsigned material will be printed.
Brittany McFeeley
The Blue and Gold reserves the right to edit the let-
Paul McWhinnie ters. Names may be withheld upon request. Not
Joan Morabito all letters will be printed.
Linda Nguyen Although The Blue and Gold appreciates the
Paula Suarez-Salmanca support of advertisers, we may refuse any ad-
vertisement that violates the above policy or that
ADVISOR promotes products questionable to student use.
Ryan Gallagher Any correspondence concerning this publi-
cation should be directed to Mr. Ryan Gallagher’s
Established in 1915 room in C333 or to his mailbox in the main of-
fice.
Check out our online edition: The Blue and Gold
c/o Malden High School
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/ 77 Salem Street
Malden, MA 02148
The Blue and Gold
November 2008 Opinion 3
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

state letter to the editors

income My name is Kamisha Heri-
veaux and I am a student in the

tax PACE and Access program. Being

a teenager in a wheelchair can
have some challenges. I have a

rejected positive attitude. In my life I want

to explore, create, educate, write
and help others. I know I can reach
Emily Chiavelli any goal and any dream. I know
I can even when I am faced with
Head of Photography
overwhelming challenges.

M ASSachusetts residents made the I think almost everyone that

responsible decision on Tuesday I've met, if they really get to know
when they darkened the little oval next me, they stick to me like magnets!
to the word “no” on the back of their Making friends is really easy for
ballots under initiative question 1 and me. I really think my attitude
slipped their votes into the ballot box. helps me with that. I think I have
The first Massachusetts ballot ini- a really good attitude towards my Heriveaux poses for the camera. Photo by D. Frim
tiative was a plan to eliminate the state disability. I feel lucky that I have cure. Occasionally you can have surgeries,
income tax, which currently takes away really great teachers. They all inspire me and but there's no permanent cure or anything.
5.3 percent of residents’ yearly income. teach me new things. After dealing with it for so long, you can get
The idea was that in January 2009, the In my life, I just try to do the best I can. frustrated, like with any other thing in life. I
income tax would be reduced by half- My mom helps me with that. I have a brother have to really push myself a lot harder than
to 2.65 percent of yearly income- and named Gerry and I have two sisters. One of any able-bodied people. Stop in the PACE
be eliminated completely in January them is my twin her name is Tanisha and my Program and meet me and my friends. Maybe
2010. A similar question was placed on other sister’s name is Sabine. My mom is a I will inspire you to have a positive attitude
the Massachusetts ballot in 2002, and single mother and is the best. like me. Life will bring along challenges but
gained 45% of the popular vote at the Let's face it, for cerebral palsy there's no nothing we can’t overcome.
time. A group called the Committee Send your letter to the editors to theblueandgold@gmail.com
for Small Government, lead by Carla
Howell, raised well over the required
11,099 signatures necessary to place
a question on the ballot in Massachu-
setts.
And while eliminating the state in-
come tax would put, on average, 3,700
dollars a year back into the pockets of
workers, it would have devastating
affects on the state’s budget; approxi-
mately 40 percent of Massachusetts’
fiscal budget comes from this revenue.
For example, next year’s budget, which
is currently prospected to be about 28
billion dollars, would be cut by 12 bil-
lion dollars.
What would be one of the hardest-
hit areas if this initiative had passed?
Public schools. The state sends about
four billion dollars a year to cities and
towns for their public schooling sys-
tems; taking away 12 billion dollars of
that budget would mean massive lay-
offs of teachers and staff. In Malden,
16 percent of the school budget comes
from the revenue generated by the state
income tax, but there are some cities
that are even worse off-Somerville, for
example, gets 89 percent of its school
budget from the state income tax.
The state would have to find even
more ways to cut back on spending,
which means, more than anything,
a lot of people would lose their jobs.
Twenty-nine percent of Malden’s city
budget would be lost, meaning layoffs
in government jobs. However, even if
the state laid off every single govern-
ment employee-which is, of course,
unrealistic- it would only save 5 billion
dollars a year. Every service run by the
state government would be cut back
beyond belief.
Although tax payers were prob-
ably tempted by the prospect of more
money on hand, especially in this
rough economy, but luckily 70 percent
of Massachusetts residents realized
that the negatives would outweigh the
positives if they had chosen to elimi-
nate the state income tax.
Designed and compiled by L. Tran
4 Opinion The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

MHS Mock Election results marijuana decriminalized

compare to state results Tzivia Halperin
Opinion on the results of ballot initiative # 2
Head Copy Editor

T O THE GREAT CHAGRIN of such

Question 1: Should the state income tax be repealed?
Question 2: Should marijuana be decriminalized?
Question 3: Should Greyhound racing be terminated?
public officials including Governor
Deval Patrick and Attorney General Martha
Coakley, marijuana was decriminalized in
Massachusetts following the elections on
Nov. 4, 2008. This vote very much reflects
the beliefs of Malden High school students
who overwhelmingly voted yes to decrimi-
nalization- 628 to 331 no at their own mock
election. As Whitney Taylor, chairwoman
of the Committee for Sensible Marijuana
Policy, so succinctly put it, “The people
were ahead of the politicians on this issue;
they recognize and want a more sensible
approach to our marijuana policy.”
The decision affecting marijuana seems
overwhelming logical given the fair amount
of evidence attesting to decriminalization’s
positives. According to a 2007 study by Har-
vard economist, Jeffrey Miron, Massachu-
setts police departments spend upwards of
$29.5 million yearly for arrests and prosecu-
tion for the possession of less than an ounce
of marijuana. Those are startling statistics
of monetary waste, especially striking in
a deteriorating economy. Fortunately, this
significant amount of money can now be
used in a more relevant context- for the
more violent crimes that should actually
necessitate arrests and prosecution. Fol-
lowing the vote, those caught with an
ounce or less of marijuana will face only
a $100 civil fine.
It is also vital to note that no con-
clusive evidence has been offered that
suggests that greater usage or a spike in
harder drugs results from decriminal-
ization. Until such occurs, reducing the
severity of punishments on marijuana
can only aid Massachusetts. The deci-
sion therefore appears overwhelmingly
reasonable because at the core of the issue
“there is little evidence that decriminal-
ization of marijuana use necessarily leads
to substantial increase in marijuana use,”
according to the National Academy of Sci-
ences, Institute of Medicine.

parker’s world

Parker Stallworth

greyhound racing eliminated

racing. The results of Malden High
Tzivia Halperin
School’s own mock election agreed
Head Copy Editor with the statewide consensus as the
majority of students opted to elimi-
innumerable injuries such as broken
legs, paralysis, cardiac arrest, and
diseases, many or all of which re-
main untreated. The dogs have also
same opinion as me.”
Greyhound racing as an in-
dustry has been further declining,
where Wonderland Greyhound

T HE DECISION of the Nov. 4, 2008
election eliminating greyhound
racing in Massachusetts effectively
protected the humanitarian inter-
ests of the dogs at the expense of lo-
cal parks: Wonderland Greyhound
Park in Revere and Raynham Park in
Raynham. While always an issue of
great debate within Massachusetts,
civilians’ compassion overwhelmed
their economic rationality, voting
57% over 43% to eliminate the dog
nate dog racing 550 students to 394
and the results appear conclusive.
Dog racing has found a unique
niche within Massachusetts soci-
ety, fueling the economy by offer-
ing and providing a number of
jobs- the development of an entire
industry, even. Whether or not the
greyhound racing augments our
economy is immaterial however, as
this industry has proved to be dis-
solute at best. The dogs suffer from
tested positive for cocaine use and
steroids. In a worst case scenario,
these dogs may be “dispatched” or
killed merely because they no longer
provide profit. Katie Lopes-Raftery,
a senior at MHS, concedes that she
is “glad that it was ruled out.” She
states, “If I could have voted, that
would have been my choice. I didn’t
think it was fair to have the animals
race under such harsh conditions, so
I’m glad that Massachusetts held the
Park alone owes Revere “$755,000 in
overdue property taxes,” according
to the Oct. 29 edition of the Lynn’s
Daily Item. If the single positive of
the greyhound racing, aiding the
economy, is no longer relevant, its
necessity in society dwindles to
mere nothingness. The decision to
dispose of greyhound racing in Mas-
sachusetts was one of great foresight
that ultimately proved that man is
dog’s best friend too.
The Blue and Gold
November 2008 Local news 5
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

fear fest frightens the public

Cera Nolan
Reporter

O N OCT. 25, 2008, the fourth annual Fear Fest

had a great turnout. This year’s Dracula’s
Crypt-themed fund-raiser, created by the Na-
tional Honor Society and Fine Arts Club, could
not keep the crowds away. The halls of Malden
High School came alive when tour guides led
groups through the haunted trail.
While attendees waited for their turn to go
through the horrific tour, in the packed audito-
rium the Grudge was shown. Although some
did not find the event scary, it received great
feedback and many thought it was worth the
five dollar admission fee. “It was insane, like
nothing I’ve ever seen before,” explained MHS
freshman Emily Hoffman. “I got nailed in the leg,
but other than that it was good,” she continued.
The crowd was pleased and many returning at-
tendees found it the scariest it has ever been. “It
was so nutty; I just loved it so much,” claimed
Shafrieka Williams excitedly.
After a warning from a construction work-
er, the group was led deeper into the school,
they eventually reached Frankenstein’s lab
where a ghastly operation occurred. In a maze
through the halls, monsters waited behind tarps
draped from the ceiling and jumped out to give
a scare. Going down the stairs into the basement,
three witches stood on the staircase warning
the group about the reawakened Dracula. The
group then entered the Auto Shop of Horror.
Auto shop students set up the Auto shop of Horrors. Photo by L. Tran
continued on pg 7 A gargoyle watches over the visitors.

MHS Marching Band Going for a Crescendo

MHS An Holmqvist
Copy Editor
The Golden Tornado Marching Band kicks up
their sound as the season comes to a close.
Bulletin
Faculty Fall Follies
November 14th
A S THE SEASON CAME to a close, the Malden
High School Marching Band received a gold
medal earlier this month at the New England Scholas-
have changed for the band this season compared to the
previous one. Armed with new uniforms, new music,
and at least 20 new members, the band has experienced
tic Band Association (NESBA) finals. Excited judges quite a shift this year for better or worse. The quality
Midsummer Nights’ praised them, ultimately giving the band the score of their music has skyrocketed according to drum major
Dream of 89.9 with scores of 90 in almost every area. Also Keith Newman who says that the guidance
November 21st and that same weekend, the band scored a solid 84.6 at of Band Director Matthew Tavares has
22nd another NESBA competition in East Bridgewater. helped them immensely.
The marching band is currently in Division With trust in their director and the
III competing on the same level as bands from all whole-hearted help of the band parents,
Crafts Fair around Massachusetts, including King Phillips the students believe that they are head-
November 22nd from Wrentham, and Shepherd Hill Regional ing in the right direction. According to
from Dudley. The band has around 60 members sophomore and tenor saxophone player
Pajama Day with a wide variety of instrumentation. Maya Rogers, “Marching band has been
November 24th The last few competitions have a lot work, and I think I speak for
been a little rough for them despite the entire band on this, but
Wacky Tacky Day a solid start in early October when it’s been a rewarding
November 25th they scored an 89 in music in their experience. I think
first show. On Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008, we’ve all grown as
the band performed in Lowell at musicians and as
Blue and Gold Day the Massachusetts Instrumental individuals.”
November 26th
and Choral Conductors Associa-
tion (MICCA) Finals. The band
Powder Puff Game scored four stars in percussion
November 26th (the drum line), three stars for
Music and General Effect (mu-
Thanksgiving Day sical performance), and two
Football Game for Visual (marching). The
scores at the NESBA com- Kevin Chan prepares for the
Home vs. Medford tournament.
November 27th petition were a shock to the
band members considering
the scores from the Lowell
competition a week before.
Indeed, many things Photo by An Holmqvist
6 Local news The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

renovations take
school election results
place at malden high
Continued from pg 1
start in the spring of 2009; the construction is currently focused
on the Jenkins and Brunelli Building where they will install new Paul McWhinnie
heating, lighting and air conditioning systems as well as ceil-
Reporter
ings.
According to Beatrice the vast project focuses more on me-
chanical and electrical improvements rather than big time con-
Presidents Kerri
struction. “We are going to try and make things more handicap
Shuman, Stepha-
accessible by installing lifts on the auditorium stage and build-
nie Apollon, and
ing ramps around the school,” Dhruv added. Additionally, the
Jennifer Delacy
project will be transforming a stairwell to an elevator for further
handicap accessibility.
Ward 1 City Councilor Gary Christenson stated that the city
Class of 2009
is currently paying for the project itself until it can be approved
by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The MSBA’s
funds come from one penny of the Massachusetts sales tax. If the President- Jennifer Delacey
plan is accepted, Malden will be reimbursed for the 90% of the Vice President- Annie Abber and Kevin Vasquez
cost incurred. Malden is fortunate enough to be able to afford Secretary- Caitlin Abber
the remaining 10% of the total project cost since they retired the Historian- Paul Yao
previous debt. Treasurer- Stephanie Tran
“If we had to take new debt on as a new cost, there might
have been much more discussion about the ramifications to the
School Committee Representative- Caitlin Abber
city’s overall fiscal situation,” Christenson stated. Advisors- Paul Famegletti and Maureen Vona
During extensive renovations, teachers and students from C
and D house have to make adjustments by mov- “The Class of 2009 has worked very hard fund-raising the past three
ing into the A and B houses. Although years and they deserve a fun filled senior year that Ms.Vona and I are
several teachers agree that the renova- hoping to provide.We’re looking ahead to our annual fashion show, Mr.
tion is an improvement, the timing is MHS, Prom, Award’s Night, Barbeque, and Graduation.We would like to
still a concern. include a few other events that are in the works.”
English and Play Produc- -Paul Famegletti
tion teacher Sean Walsh, who
will obviously be affected by Class of 2010
the move because of class-
room’s location, expressed President- Stephanie Apollon
a common theme among Vice President- Elaine Tam
staff, “I am all for the Secretary- David Riemer
renovating, it’s a great
idea; I just wish it
Historian- Adil El Karmach
was more conve- Treasurer- Jack Tat
niently scheduled Advisors- Robin Doherty and Jennifer Eby
for the teachers.”
Even with “We are excited about the upcoming year and working with the class of-
the untimely con- ficers.This year will be our biggest year thus far as we take on [JuniorVa-
struction, overall rieties].The class officers and fellow junior classmates have been working
it is agreed that diligently on the script.You will have to wait and see what it is though.”
the renovation is a
much needed ben- -Robin Doherty
efit to the school.
“I’m really glad the Class of 2011
Jenkins building is
being fixed up. It’s President- Kerri Shuman
filled with history, Vice President- Jeff Duong
but I don’t want it to
be history,” junior
Co- Secretaries- Monika Bashllari and Kristina Katz
Robert MacMillan Co- Historians – Portia Johnson and Deanna Smith
proclaimed. Treasurer- Phedorah Rosclair
B House prin- Advisor- Arlene Ceppetelli
cipal Fred Feldman
complies with it be- “I am proud to be the advisor of the wonderful Class of 2011.They are
ing beneficial when a great bunch of kids.We will be making items to sell at the Crafts Fair.
stating “it will be I also expect many of them to help set up, work that day, and sell items
a better working at the table.We are also planning lots of involvement for SpiritWeek.The
environment with freshman and sophomore classes together will be selling Christmas trees
new and fresh tech- this year.We have a Sophomore Leadership Council that will be working
nologies.” hard to plan events and involve as many classmates as possible at each
Although the event. I am very excited about working with ‘my kids.’”
aim for renovating
is evidently neces- -Arlene Ceppetelli
sary and beneficial,
Principal Dana Class of 2012
Brown admits that
during its process, The Class of 2012 has not yet held their elections. Not all fresh-
“it will be exciting men will be able to run for class office positions. Advisors Paul
and challenging at Marques and Mary Ann Seager are looking for active freshman
once.” who are consistent volunteers. The freshmen have a slightly new
system this year, where they have been divided up into eight
Detail of floor plans construction. teams. Every month, a different designated team organizes a dif-
ferent event, helping to fund raise for their class.
The Blue and Gold
November 2008 Local news 7
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

fear fest continues

to scare students
new club
at mhs
makes
history
Kim Lombard
Head of Business

Robotic legs fling back and forth in the

Dracula’s Detention Hall, otherwise known as
Senior Danny Pimentel gets his face painted Photo by L. Tran
T HE NATIONAL HISTORY Day
Club is diving into a new year
of personal goals and creation.
the wood shop room.
Photo by L. Tran Founded by juniors Malik
Blue and David Riemer, the goal
Continued from pg 5 of the club is to teach students how
to create the best possible presen-
Entering Dracula’s Detention Crypt, the tation for the annual competition.
attendees witnessed a realistic scene of a Although it is not currently an ac-
girl experiencing a dreadful decapitation. tual club, the two are striving for
After going through the mini graveyard, the group to reach club status as
the tour ended with a hidden member in its membership grows. The “club”
the group being captured by Dracula. meets every Tuesday for about
Not only was Fear Fest frightening, it half an hour after school to check
was also very beneficial. For every fresh- the progress of each project.
man that attended the event, one dollar The club is currently advised
went to the class of 2012. The rest of the by Greg Hurley and Coreyne
money was split between NHS and FAC Legere, and according to Blue, they
for them to go on field trips and for the “help us better organize our time
clubs in general. Although Fear Fest only and ensure [that] we are headed
occurs once a year, the two clubs discuss in the right direction to complete
how to improve the next one all year quality projects on time.” The ad-
round. “This years Fear Fest was the scari- visors focus on different groups
est it’s ever been, but nothing compared to individually to become more fa-
next years.” Claimed the advisor of NHS, miliar with the projects and help
Paul Marques. the groups on a more personal
Junior Ngoc Doan paints faces. Photo by L. Tran level.
The annual NHD competi-

False fire alarms have tempers

tion itself is a national competition
in which middle school and high
school students alike prepare in

rising depth presentations on the topic

of their choice. They are allowed to
choose from a variety of mediums,
such as a documentary, research
Jacquelyn Dillon paper, exhibit, or website. All of
Reporter the freedom in this competition
gives the students the opportunity

B ETWEEN OCT. 6TH 2008 and to really learn about issues they
Oct. 13th 2008, Malden High are passionate about. The students
School experienced numerous false give their presentations in front
fire alarms. In an attempt to find the of a panel of judges, who decide
perpetrators behind these drills, MHS which projects are worthy of
resorted to a lock down situation. qualifying for the next round. For
When on lock down, both students Malden High School, the competi-
and teachers must stay in their class- tion starts at a regional level, then
rooms and are not allowed to leave progresses onto a state level and
unless notified by the principal or eventually a national level. The
house principals. Once in lock down, top two projects from each round
no one is given the opportunity to are selected to move on.
pull another alarm. Fire Department Deputy Chief Jack Colangeli Photo by E. Chiavelli Riemer and Blue have com-
Principals, staff and students peted in the competition for the
alike are outraged with the sudden in- time is wasted. “We take it seriously.” The firefighters past 3 years and have earned a 3rd
crease of false alarms in such a short amount of time, are always thinking and planning for the worst and place berth for the past two com-
eight to be exact. Freshman Amber Ferguson’s take think that safety is extremely important. “Firefighters petitions at the regional level. This
on what has been going on has been mutual. “Point- lose [their] lives yearly due to these false pretenses.” year they are working with juniors
less. I mean, why would someone do that?” Ferguson “We risk our lives.” Colangeli continued. From Mathew Maggio and Herman Tse
stated. At first, she thought they were scheduled fire the time the Fire Department arrives to the time they and hope to move onto the state
drills, to help new students understand the evacu- leave, another house, place of business or building level competition. Above all, the
ation procedure. “When I learned that there was a somewhere nearby could by burning. members seem to be excited for
reward, I knew someone was pulling the alarm,” she Additionally, each false drill takes a large toll on the opportunity to be involved in
added. MHS’ financial budget. According to Colangeli, it costs this competition. Blue explained,
Not only have the drills infuriated MHS’ staff MHS about $1000 per false alarm. “There is a cost in “I would just like others to know
they have also been angering the Malden Fire Depart- time, gas, and equipment use to the City of Malden that NHD is an ‘extra’ project and
ment. Deputy Chief of the Malden Fire Department every time the fire alarm sounds.” Principal of MHS is a lot of work, but when working
Jack Colangeli has worked with MHS with fire drills Dana Brown stated. with friends on a project that you
for 29 years and believes “whoever is pulling this is Although pulling an alarm may seem like an easy are passionate and interested in,
performing a malicious act.” Their location may be way to get out of class, the consequences can lead to it becomes a lot of fun and when
very close to the high school, but when the fire teams suspension, expulsion, and the assailant might receive completed allows a great feeling
search the school and find nothing, a large amount of criminal charges. of accomplishment.”
8 Local news The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

Obama wins mock election

Dan Holmqvist School elections predict winner of the election
Reporter by a large margin.
T HE RESULTS OF THE MOCK election are finally
in; Barack Obama won the mock election with
an astounding 87% of the total vote. The 2008 mock
each student by hand.
Students reported to the auditorium or the library
on Oct. 28 during history block to cast their votes. Mr.
election was held on Oct. 28 at Malden High while Tivian stated that his aim was to make the voting ex-
the real presidential election was held a week later perience “as real as possible” and to “give every kid a
on Nov. 4. feel for what it is actually like to vote.” The students’
The mock election, organized by members of names were crossed off a list at a sign-in table decorated
Project 540 and the Justice and Government Class, in red, white, and blue. Then they were allowed to cast
was led under the direction of Richard Tivian and their vote in small white booths and had their names
Gregory Hurley, both of whom teach history at MHS. crossed off on a separate sheet at the check-out station.
They held the elections to educate and inform the Their votes were subsequently placed in a vintage vot-
students of the high school and also to find out what ing machine and counted later the next day. Students
the students really thought about this election. Stu- that did not have a history class or that had a history
dents voted for one of seven presidential candidates class during period 3 (the period that was missed on
and three initiatives that the day of the mock election) were also allowed
appeared on the real to vote at the end of the day.
City trash bags Photo by E. Chiavelli
election ballots on Sophomore Mandy Liao voted for the
Update on earlier this month.
However, several
Green Party Candidate, Cynthia McKin-
ney. She thought
the trash smaller issues,
like the sen-
that the elections
were very informa-

tax ate race, were

excluded from
tive and stated that,
“before the mock
the mock elec- elections, I didn’t
Brandon Knight tion ballot. even know who was
Reporter On the day running.”
of the school elec- Sophomore
T HE CITY OF MALDEN is cur-
rently in its third week of the Pay
as You Throw (PAYT) program. The
tions, pamphlets
put together by Proj-
Jonathan Sit cast
his vote for Barack Obama, believing that
ect 540 were distributed Obama “accurately represented his views.” He,
plan, which city council members
during homeroom. This pam- along with other students, thought the election ran
took on to save tax payers’ money
phlet included information about policies and stances very smoothly and gave him a “taste of how politics
and recycle more, has been viewed
of the seven presidential candidates on major issues work” but also stated that, “the three initiative ques-
in many different ways.
and the pros and cons of the three initiative questions. tions could have been explained a bit better.”
15 year old Deanna Mann, a
The pamphlet, along with class discussions in history The mock elections presented results that were
resident of Malden, stated that she is
class, helped the students make informed decisions predictable considering the Massachusetts demo-
not a fan of the program, and neither
when they were in the booth to vote. Moses Wasswa, graphic. Barack Obama won the election convincingly
is her mother. “She thinks it’s ridicu-
a member of Project 540, said it was important for the with 791 votes, with McCain placing in second with
lous. She thinks it is to get people to
students to “get to know what’s going on.” 96 votes and Ralph Nader placing last with 21 votes.
recycle more, and she also thinks the
The organizers originally planned to have real Question #1, which proposed eliminating the state in-
trash bags cost too much money for
electronic voting machines, but a memory chip only come tax, was rejected. Question #2, which proposed
only ten bags. Although she is not
allowed the machines to work on the real Election decriminalizing marijuana, was passed and question
fond of the program, Mann states
Day. For this reason, the Justice and Government #3, which proposed banning dog races, was also
that her mother now “recycles like
class was forced to count every ballot submitted by passed.
crazy” and that everything recycla-
ble goes in the blue bins rather than

mass workers take huge hit

the bags. Another Malden resident,
Lee Cordeiro, expressed that he
does not like the trash tax at all. “Its
ridiculous and the city of Malden
needs to realize that and make a Michael DiGregorio Workers struggle to remain afloat during
change,” he stated.
Malden Ward 1 city counselor Reporter economic crisis.
Gary Christenson believes that the
by 2023, by extending this deadline during the winters because it was

I
new PAYT program has been effec-
N ORDER TO CLOSE the $1.4 bil- two years the state can save up to not originally covered in the exist-
tive so far. He feels, although people
lion gap in Massachusetts’ wallet, $100 million. Also, by forcing the ing budget. The second was the $1.1
are not entirely happy about the
Governor Deval Patrick pitched his state agencies to stay within their billion drop in tax revenues because
new program, they are responsively
plan to eliminate 1,000 state jobs, existing budgets the state can save of the rapidly dropping capital tax
cooperating. The administration has
along with a request to tap into up to $146 million. returns.
stated that 70% are complying and
the states “rainy day” fund for up During the conference, Patrick The $200 million withdrawal
that recycling significantly risen.
to $200 million on Wednesday Oct. warned residents that there will be from the state’s “rainy day” fund
Christenson also stated that an
15, 2008. This plan will also include less police patrols, slower permit- will be taken out in addition to the
estimated $2.5 million was gener-
having state agencies make an ad- ting processes for motor vehicles, $400 million that was already taken
ated from the program, but if resi-
ditional $755 million cut to help de- and less maintenance done to parks and put into the existing budget.
dents continue to put out less trash,
crease the budget gap. Additionally, and other open spaces. This makes a total of $600 million
or skirt the program, Christenson
$52 million worth of voluntary cuts Other departments will also be that is taken out of the state’s sav-
presumes that the projected revenue
were made by the courts, district affected in months to come. Include ings account, leaving only $1.6 bil-
number will come in lower meaning,
attorneys, attorney general, state areas of education and health care. lion remaining in the account. This
and that either cuts will need to be
auditor and other constitutional “Sacrifice must be shared,” stated and about $341 million of Patrick’s
made or the shortfall will prove to
offices. Patrick according to The Boston plan must first be approved by the
be made up in some other fashion.
That Wednesday evening, dur- Globe. state legislators.
On the bright side, aside from the
ing the Statehouse news conference There are two reasons for this Although this plan affects the
$2.5 million, between $400,000 and
Patrick explained how by slowing $1.4 billion deficit. Initially, the state in many departments, there are
$500,000 was projected in savings in
the rate of the pension fund pay- increase in snow and ice removal still parts of the state budget that are
result of less trash being picked up.
ments which would be fully funded left $300 in unavoidable expenses off-limits for the time being.
The Blue and Gold
November 2008 World news 9
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

economy eats up
family income
An Holmqvist
Copy Editor

T HE DIRE SITUATION of the US economy has dominat-

ed headlines and has been a popular topic on the news
lately. But as Senators John McCain and Barack Obama
have been emphasizing since the breakdown earlier this
October, how is this affecting the average American fam-
ily? How is “Joe the Plumber” going to handle this one
or rather, how will Main Street take this burn from Wall
Street? Not well, it seems.
No, this is not the 21st century rendition of the dev-
astating 1920s and 30s Great Depression. However, tens of
thousands of jobs have been lost this month, and hundreds
of thousands of jobs have been lost over the past year. And
no, they are not coming back - not for a while. So how is
the Average Joe (not Joe the Plumber) handling this?
According to CNN, millions of people currently
cannot afford health care, and now close to half a mil-
lion people are unemployed. According to Malden High
School Business and Advanced Placement Economics
teacher Charles Bowers, the economy’s crash will affect the
well-being of companies and businesses around Malden,
causing their revenues to shrink and forcing mass layoffs
and lower wages. For the average American family this
could be disastrous. “Despite what people may think, the
problems on Wall Street translate very quickly to Main
Street This crisis we are going through has turned into a
financial ‘perfect storm’,” stated Bowers.
This calamity is affecting everyone. “It’s the little
things that cause the pain,” explained Mario Portillo. “For
example, taking the T costs $1.50. People don’t realize that
$1.50 is actually a lot of money.” Senior Mario Portillo thinks positive despite economic hardship. Photo by N. Dhruv
There is more than one elderly couple who may not
be able to find the funds to heat their home for the winter,
or a single mother and her family who probably will not change to pay for books and daily expenses. problems are not going away any
have dinner out for a long time to come. There is more Many middle-aged men and women watch time soon. For these families, change
than one student who will not be able to pay off his school with worry as their 401ks go up in smoke; is essential.
loans in the future, and who can barely find the pocket retirement is no longer a safe option. These

Riding Out the Storm

David Riemer
Head News Writer
Stock market in turmoil as Dow Jones rises and falls

N O ONE EVER SAID that invest-
ing in stocks was the fool-proof
way to strike it rich. “The stock
market is a lot like the ocean,” local
accountant Gail Mayer stated, “to
catch the best fish, you need to be a
smart fisherman.” Over the decades,
hundreds of thousands of hopeful
entrepreneurs set off on a risky voy-
age, hoping to reel in a big one, their
vessels made from their desperate
last dollars, Christmas bonuses,
and inheritances. Some have found
the stock environment harsh and
unforgiving and have withdrawn
from the market, retreating to safety,
while those with high ambitions and
complete faith in gut instincts have
become stock-legends.
Recently, however, the market
has been much stormier than in
years past. Tragic, all-time-highest
drops in the Dow Jones Wilshire
5000 (Dow), such as the 778 point
slump on Sept. 29, 2008, have forced
many to abandon their stocks, cut
their losses, and try to recover and
move on. Even some of the most
stock-savvy quake with fear that
these 700+ point pitfalls are usher-
ing in a massive national recession
on the scale of the devastating Great
Depression of the 1930s.
To the public’s great surprise,
these deficits proved to be fatal for
many traditionally powerful com-
panies. Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, two well-seasoned mortgage
companies found themselves in a
bind when too much money was
lost in unpaid loans, and shocked
their investors and the rest of the
financial world when they fell. Fed-
eral bailouts helped to lessen the fall
of the two corporations, but even
then they continued to slip –a testi-
mony to the terrible power that the
economy holds over everyone.
Historic tumbles and hopeful
upward bounds have characterized
the stock market climate for the past
three months and there are many
people who are uncertain as to what
they should do. “The best advice I
can give to anyone is to just stick it
out. The professionals aren’t lying
when they say that pulling out of
the market is only making the situ-
ation worse,” Mayer said. “The real
problem lies in the spiraling effect
these things have.” This “spiral”
Mayer mentions is the reason why
even an isolated drop in revenue in
one business type can wind up af-
fecting a series of other businesses
as well.
When businesses begin to re-
port profit losses for any reason (be
it the stock market or otherwise) it
tries to cut back on its expenditure
generally by abolishing jobs or
shaving wages. The employees af-
fected by these decisions then need
to tighten their budget, disrupting
their personal contribution to the
economy’s flow. When people spend
less money, businesses lose profit,
and the whole situation continues to
worsen. The cycle sends the econo-
my into a downward spiral and the
consumers into a state of panic.
With the nation in the state
of economy-induced alarm that it
is currently in, it is not going to be
ominously exorbitant bailout plans
which are going to calm the fright-
ened and hiding people. “If the
government thinks they have any
chance of calming this hysteria,”
Mayer says, “they had better start
with the people.”
10 World news The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

The 2008
BAILOUT
Nidale Zouhir
Copy Editor
T HE EMERGENCY Economic
Stabilization Act of 2008, infa-
mously known as “the bailout,”
went into effect Oct. 3, 2008 in re-
sponse to the prior financial crisis
in September. It authorized the
United States Secretary of Treasury
to spend up to $700 billion to help
the nation’s banks by purchasing
mortgage-backed securities.
The US government bought
$250 billion worth of shares of na-
tional banks’ stocks and now has
a significant stake in the country’s
banks. In theory, this should in-
crease bank lending and minimize
the chance of worsening the reces-
sion. However, many economic
analysts believe that the recession
is so inescapable that it will only
get worse.
The act comes after three other
bailouts in 2008: Bear Stearns ($30
billion), Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac ($200 billion), and American
International Group ($85 billion),
all of which were helped by the
government, and brought the total
government bailouts to over one
trillion dollars this year.
The Bush administration,
presidential candidates Senators
Barack Obama and John McCain,
72 other members of the Senate,
and 263 members of the House of
Representatives believe that the act
will be a sufficient solution to the
economic crisis.
However, Malden High
School students disagree. “It won’t
help anybody in the long run,”
sophomore Rachael Solano stated,
mentioning that with the coun-
try so deep in deficit, the bailout
would likely be more harmful than
helpful. “It’s just putting the na-
tion further in debt than it already
is,” sophomore Michael Solimini
agreed.
Other MHS students view the
act as a bad idea because of the way
it has treated the economy; a few
more attribute the way the DOW
Jones seems to be on an eternal
roller coaster to the government’s
bailout.
Bad Economy Has Home Foreclosures
Through the Roof
Patti McClenthen Families find themselves struggling
Copy Editor to keep their homes.
T ODAY, FIVE hun-
dred thousand
Americans are on the
streets, looking for new
homes and being forced
to leave their old ones
behind. These people
are victims of home
foreclosures, which
have quickly grown
in numbers since the
economy went downhill
in March of 2008.
A foreclosure is a
legal process in which an
owner’s property rights
are terminated due to a
default, or inability to
make payments. When
a home is foreclosed,
there is usually a public
auction held to sell it
again. Homes in Malden. Photo by C. Rodriguez
Craig Spadafora of the Malden
City Council does not think that been foreclosed. “We are heading always voted for its pocket book,”
home foreclosures have affected into a recession if we are not already he explains. When times are eco-
Malden yet. He thinks that it will there,” he states, “and recessions nomically good, the people will vote
hit, however, in the beginning of are associated with higher rates of for the status quo. When they are
the new year. His predictions for unemployment, which we are see- bad, they vote for change. Bowers
the future of the country are that ing now.” He quickly searched the remembers the Clinton election in
we will hit rock bottom, and then unemployment rate, and there is 1992 when Clinton used the slogan,
work our way back up. He says, good news for Malden. Compared “It’s the economy, stupid,” to cam-
however, that home buyers are to the country’s disastrous 6.1% paign for change.
lucky. “It is a great time to be buy- unemployment rate, Malden’s 4.7% Bowers knows that the future
ing a home right now, just make unemployment rate is considered of MHS students depends on their
sure you can afford the home you quite healthy. Bowers explains that, decisions, and making good choices
are buying.” If you already own “we are not getting hit as bad as the about their home and finances are
a home, then Spadafora says that rest of the country, which is good, no exception. He says, “High school
the only way to avoid getting your but if the recession continues into kids should learn to be responsible
home foreclosed is to stay on top of 2009, I would expect Malden’s un- for the debt that they incur, and to
things money-wise. He says to pay employment rate to go up.” be realistic about their budgets.
the mortgage on time, and to lower A recession is when a country’s They have to know what they can
the amount of reckless spending. Gross-Domestic-Product rate (GDP) and can not afford, and then they
Similar opinions come from goes down two quarters in a row. will be able to avoid foreclosures.”
Charles Bowers, an economics If it continues to go down for a few Whether the economy gets better or
teacher at Malden High. Bowers more months, we are considered to worse, future home buyers will have
explained how the economy has be in a depression. Bowers thinks to watch their bank accounts and
affected home foreclosures. Ac- that there is a very strong connec- spend wisely.
cording to him, the economy has tion between the economy and the
risen the count of homes that have presidential election. “America has

Zombie Tag is coming to MHS

“Humans vs. Zombies” is a game of tag. A group of
human players attempts to survive a “zombie outbreak”
by not being tagged by a growing group of zombies.
The MHS game is being played this year, with rolled up
socks as the weapon of choice for human survival. The
Freshman Class of 2012 is organizing this event to help
kick off the High Schools’ “Spirit Week”. Any one who
would like to donate new socks to help the “humans”
defend the school against zombies can bring them to the
Main office anytime before November 22, 2008. Later,
all socks will be washed and donated to the Pine Street
Inn, a shelter for the homeless.
The Blue and Gold
November 2008 World news 11
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/
Continued from pg 1
2008 turnout rate is an implausible
64.1 percent, the highest since 1908.
Moreover, this is the first time since
1994, during the Clinton years, that
the democrats have had control of
the White House, House of Repre-
sentatives and Congress. Addition-
ally, his campaign implemented the
widespread use of the Internet in
order to raise millions of dollars in
funds and enlist host of volunteers.
Now that Obama has secured
his place in our nation’s history,
what attempts will he make in order
to restore America to its seemingly
distant past?
According to MCNBC.com,
Obama promises a tax cut to 95%
of Americans, and plans to offer
better access to health care for the
45 million people currently without
insurance. Furthermore he aims to
improve teachers’ salaries and aid
struggling school systems. How- Obama fans in Nashua, N.H. Jan. 8, 2008. Photo by E. Chiavelli
ever, lying in front of him is a bud-
get deficit running into hundreds of
billions of dollars a year; a national
debt that has exceeded $10 trillion,
left countless homes foreclosed, ini-
tiated 500-point plunges in the stock
market, and caused food and gas
prices to sky-rocket.
In addition to the financial
crisis his foreign policy challenges
pose an arduous obstacle. Wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, the prospect
of Iran and several other leading
world powers supporting nuclear
proliferation, the resurgence of the Barack Obama and his wife Michelle kiss before his speech in Nashua, N.H. Jan. 8, 2008. Photo by E. Chiavelli
Taliban and an abundance of prob-
lems that demand urgent attention. that Obama is not experienced in ever, as a graduate of Harvard Law be satisfied,” added McDonald.
According to BBC news, Afghani- handling these lofty tasks. Accord- School and a former community or- Despite countless challenges
stan President Hamid Karzai has ing to BBC news, Daniel Korski, ganizer, Obama’s dazzling speeches, that lie ahead, Obama has already
issued a statement about the over- European Council of Foreign Rela- and nearly flawless campaigning inspired legions of people and has
seas treatment of his people, stating, tions specialist who has held senior strategies, have “emphasized hope changed the status quo. He has
“This is my first demand of the new advisory post in the British and and change, and he has attracted, become a symbol of change and
president of the United States-to put Us government, suggested Obama obviously, millions of supporters will hopefully restore America’s tar-
an end to civilian causalities.” should tone down his rhetoric to whom agree on what change they nished world standing.
Several political pundits feel avoid unrealistic expectations. How- want and hopes they are hoping to

Tainted Chinese Products Infiltrate the Nation’s Food Supply

Omar Khoshafa
Reporter

A UTHOR SARA BONGIORNI

tried to accomplish the impos-
sible. She decided to find out if it was
really possible to go for a whole year
without purchasing any products
manufactured in China. After a few
months of executing this “boycott,”
she finally came to realize that living
on products made in places other
than China is nearly impossible.
Almost 75% of the world’s toys
are made in China, and 80% of toys
sold in the United States are Chi-
nese-made. This was a major crisis
last year, when toys imported from
China contained lead paint, a highly
poisonous substance. In Aug., 2007,
Mattel Inc., the nation’s largest toy
maker, had to recall more than nine
million Chinese-made products
because of the lead incident. Presi-
dential candidate Barack Obama
said, “I would stop the import of
all toys from China. I have to say,
that’s about 80 percent of the toys
that are being imported right now.”
In today’s economic world, the US
is extremely dependent on Chinese
exports. Products range from apple
juice to shoes to cell phones. The na-
tion’s reliance on Chinese products
has already proved harmful for the
US as it did during the tainted toys
crisis.
About one year after the tainted
toys incident, another Chinese-made
baby milk powder was found to
be contaminated. More than 50,000
infants became ill and at least three
died from this tainted powder. As of
now, nearly a quarter of all Chinese
infants have been fed tainted milk.
Melamine, a substance banned in
foods, has been found in 33 different
Chinese products, with the milk for-
mula being just one of them. Traces
of exported Chinese biscuits, candy,
and tainted milk powder have been
found in the U.S.
Federal health authorities say
tainted products cause about 76 mil-
lion people to become sick annually.
They are also the cause of death for
more than 5,000 people each year,
more than the number of people who
die from fires or drowning. How do
these tainted products infiltrate our
food supply? These products find
their way into our supermarkets be-
cause the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration claims they can only inspect
about 1% of all imported foods.
This is not proportional to the 15%
of imported products found in the
average American’s diet.
“Recent and repeated reports
of tainted food and product imports
are causing fear and uncertainty in
American consumers and harm-
ing the ‘Made in China’ brand here
in the United States,” stated U.S.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
This is true because consumers now
have to think twice before buying
Chinese products. Just recently a
tainted product has snuck into this
year’s Halloween candy list. The
Pirate’s Gold Chocolate coins have
been recalled after testing positive
for melamine. Describing the ef-
fects of melamine on the body, Mrs.
Votaw, a biology teacher, stated
“when melamine combines with
cyanic acid in the bloodstream it
crystallizes and can block kidneys
like a kidney stone would. This will
cause toxic build up in the body, and
if not treated, it may be fatal.”
The average American con-
sumer can make several choices
in order to prevent buying tainted
products. They may buy all organic
foods (from stores such as Whole
Foods Market, Trader Joe’s, etc.) An-
other option the consumer has is to
rinse foods thoroughly before eating
them. This will ensure the removal
of bacteria hidden in the food. The
case of tainted products is a matter
of national security, and if it involves
protecting citizens from foreign im-
ports, then keeping people safe from
toxic consumer goods produced
in other countries must be a prior-
ity. Lois Klarevas, a political science
professor at New York University
explained, “In an era when inter-
national trade is a given, there is no
excuse for failing to integrate quality
control into national security.”
12 Entertainment The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

So you think you can dance rocks boston

Kimberly Lombard
Shean and Boss use their
Head of Business Team dancing to tell an enter-
taining story about a crazy

T HE SO YOU THINK You

Can Dance tour danced
through the Agganis Arena
ex-girlfriend and her rela-
tionship with her boyfriend.
The couple spent the entire
on Oct. 29 and 30, 2008. The number dancing through,
popular top 11 dancers from around, and under a door
the show along with two spe- placed in the center of the
cial guests packed the arena stage.
so quickly that Boston was the In between all of the
only stop on the tour that had dances, the show played on
added an extra night. a relationship that Gevorg
Sponsored by Snuggles, Manoukian (Gev) desired
the show highlighted all of all season long with Court-
the fan-favorite dances from ney Galliano. When he was
throughout the season that not dancing, he was on stage
were choreographed by Mia attempting to impress Gal-
Michaels, Mandy Moore, liano, and at the end of the
“Tabitha and Napoleon,” Tyce show, she finally kissed him.
Diorio, Jean Marc Genereux, Those who do not follow the
Sonya Tayeh, and Dioriana show may not see this as a
Sanchez and that incorporated Two of the Top 10 finalists perform a routine during the tour. big deal, however, fans have
all eleven dancers. Each dancer waited the entire season to
also performed a solo accom- Payne and Stephen Boss (more and has completely lost her mobile see this.
panied by a clip reminiscing their commonly known as “Twitch”). The ability. He expressed on the show After the show, fans were rav-
experience on the show. show lasted for about three hours that “her eyes light up when she ing about the dancing throughout
The show was a raging suc- and incorporated everything from sees people dance.” Payne and Boss the arena, and some even spoke
cess. The dances that the top 11 per- quirky moves to choreography that performed the dance beautifully and about auditioning for next season. It
formed were some of the season’s tugged at your heart strings. One soon after the performance, caused is possible, after all, that someone in
highlights, especially Tabitha and particularly emotional dance was the audience to erupt in a mixture of the audience this year could be up on
Napoleon’s hip hop number to “No Genereux’s Viennese Waltz, danced tears and applause. the stage next year, and that makes
Air” and Michael’s contemporary Payne and Boss. The dance was in- In contrast, another extremely the tour all the more worthwhile.
routine to “Dreaming With a Bro- spired to touch Genereux’s daughter popular dance was Michael’s chore-
ken Heart,” danced by Kherington who suffers from Rett Syndrome ography to Duffy’s “Mercy.” Katee

The haunting of molly hartley disappoints

Nidale Zouhir The way Hartley sells her soul and ends
Copy Editor up valedictorian with the rich, popular Jo-
seph Young as a boyfriend makes the direc-

D ESPITE AN attractive
young cast and tolerable
acting, The Haunting of Molly
tor come off as
a Jesus-hating
demon wor-
Hartley was not nearly as excit- shipper. This
ing as its trailers made it out to is enhanced
be. by the way re-
The film (directed by ligious-freak
Mickey Liddell, of Everwood) Alexis seems
is about a high school senior crazy at the
named Molly Hartley (Haley best of times.
Bennett) whose parents sell T h e
her soul to the devil in order to characters in
save her life. If she is not killed the film are
before her 18th birthday, the forgettable
“darkness” will supposedly and mainly
take over. This leads to multiple consist of high
murderous attempts on her school movie
life by her mother (played by clichés, like
Marin Hinkle) and even, at one the popular
point, her first friend at her new jock’s (Craw-
school (played by Shanna Col- ford) jealous
lins). Throughout the movie, girlfriend
Hartley manages to entrance a (AnnaLynne
rich, popular boy named Joseph McCord), who
Young (Chace Crawford), who, terrorizes the
coincidentally, has a girlfriend. She also be- intriguing and odd new girl. These only add
friends the school’s resident troublemaker subplots that the film could do without, es-
Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward). pecially since most are left unresolved. The
The movie starts off with an interesting script does very little justice to the decently
plot involving the deal made between the talented actors, giving Crawford and Mc-
devil and another girl’s parents, but thereon Cord’s characters very few lines; McCord
after, the movie is a boring letdown. Clichéd simply gives Hartley dirty looks throughout
themes like the scholarship student outcast the movie, while Crawford basically stands
and the druggie that the protagonist some- around and looks pretty.
how reforms, along with overused lines (“I In the end, the audience is left confused
know what you are!”) lead to what seems and annoyed at the vagueness of the end of
more like two hours of back story with a ten the film. This, in addition to the lack of any
minute climax and barely any resolution real plot or action, led to what is overall a bad
than a real movie. movie with very few redeeming qualities.
The Blue and Gold
November 2008
Senior year starts with a bang
Alexandra Mathieu
Reporter
D EBUTING IN THEATERS on
Oct. 24, 2008, with an opening
day gross of $16.9 million, High
School Musical 3 grossed a total of
$42 million in the box office. With
such an accomplishment under-
neath its belt, HSM 3 proved to be
the biggest movie musical to ever hit
the big screen, taking this spot from
the previous title owner, Mamma
Mia.
The third installment of the
High School Musical trilogy follows
the drama of a group of friends at-
tending a fictional high school in
Albuquerque, New Mexico encoun-
ter as they prepare for their spring
musical, prom, and college. The
primary plot focuses on Troy Bolton
(Zac Efron), the main protagonist,
who questions if the future his fa-
ther has planned for him is the one
that he would like to take. Bolton
also deals with the decision his girl-
friend Gabriella Montez (Vanessa
Hudgens) makes for college and
the distance that would be between
them. Accompanying this is a side
plot that circles around Sharpay and
Ryan Evans' (Ashley Tisdale and
Lucas Grabeel) plan to get the leads
in the spring musical and the single
full scholarship to Julliard School of
the Arts. This plot provides comedic
relief through the antics of the Evans
twins.
Instead of harming director
and choreographer Kenny Ortega’s
vision from the previous films, the
change from the television screen to
the movie screen helped. The corny
but irresistible lines that made view-
ers either hate or love the films were
still present in the third, but with
a $13.3 million budget, there were
a few changes for HSM 3. One of
the main changes is that where the
previous two films had dance-along
versions that taught viewers the
dance moves in the films, the third
will probably not. Instead of the easy
and basic choreography, HSM 3 has
FRINGE Captivates audience with Sci-Fi Theme
Brittany Foley
Copy Editor
R ADIOACTIVE PEOPLE, con-
versations with the dead, and
infants born as adults are only a few
of the bizarre factors in the new hit
TV show Fringe that gives it a dra-
matic science fiction edge. The show
was created by J.J. Abrams, the writ-
er of the outstandingly popular ABC
show Lost. Fringe's rapidly grow-
ing popularity has more and more
people glued to the TV on Tuesday
nights, yearning to see what hap-
pens next in the suspenseful sci-fi
drama.
Fringe was not an entertain-
ment miracle; there is no mystery to
its creation. There was no spark or
sudden idea that started the Fringe
phenomenon. The show's creation
Entertainment 13
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/
complicated dance routines from cially. At
Midsummer
the waltz featur-
ing Efron and
the begin-
ning of Nights’
Hudgens
called “Can
I Have this
HSM, he
was a little
k n o w n
Dream
Dance,” to actor play-
an exten- ing roles
sive and in Lifetime November
intricate original
movies.
21st and 22nd
hip-hop However,
routine once the
in “The first HSM
Boys Are film aired,
Back,” he blew up
sung by into one
Efron and of the big- Principal Actors:
Corbin gest young
Bleu's adult stars of David Barrows is
character this generation. Bottom
C h a d Efron is no longer
Danforth. The high the young, wide-eyed
budget also allowed the teen actor he once was,
Bahar Baharloo is
props and scenery depart- but a full-fledged celebrity. Hud- Helena
ment to be upgraded, which is best gens, Efron’s counterpart in the HSM
noted in the flashy and Broadway- movies, has also seemed to come Keith Newman is
esque performance of Tisdale and into her own throughout the films. Demetrius
Grabeel in the song “I Want it All,” After the mini-scandal on her more
where there are numerous costume than revealing photo, Hudgens has
changes and even the appearance of seemed to grow up, even featuring Jenna Delaney is
the Radio City Hall Rockettes. in a new film called Bandslam set to Hermia
Two new faces were also added release in theatres in 2009. The HSM
to the HSM cast: Matt Prokop as cast is slowly leaving the sheltered Patrick Keough is
Jimmie "The Rocket/ Rocketman" world of Disney and stepping into Lysander
Zara and Jemma McKenzie-Brown the competitive world of Hollywood
as Tiara Gold. Prokop's character acting.
is a new player on the Wildcats HSM 3 lives up to its predeces- Sam Warton is
basketball team who looks up to sors’ greatness as it soars to the top Oberon
Troy and even hopes to surpass of the box offices. The final scene in
him. McKenzie-Brown’s character the movie shows a drawn curtain Rita Cote is
is a British exchange student who and in front of it, the main characters
Puck
befriends Sharpay with her own in the trilogy. With tears in their eyes
hidden agenda. Fortunately the two they smile and take one last curtain
additions to the cast do not detract call, holding hands and realizing
from the movie, but add more (albeit that their time has come to an end.
clichéd) drama. Yet HSM fans that have been there
HSM 3 shows just how much from the beginning and even those
the cast, especially leading man who have just hopped on the HSM
Efron, has matured during the film- train will not be disappointed by an
ing process for the High School Mu-
sical trilogy. Every person in the film
ending that fit such an extraordinary
trilogy. Place Your
seems to be more self-assured and
confident in their parts now that it is Ad Here
their third time around, Efron espe-
was as mysterious as the scientific Pattern" by Head of Home-
enigmas embedded in its plot. The land Security, agent Phillip
show's creators, Abrams, Alex Broyles, whose character
Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, simply
sat down and decided to create a TV
show that was something entirely
is brought to life by actor
Lance Reddick. While try-
ing to solve the mysteries
new. From that, Fringe was born. of "The Pattern," the three
Anna Torv stars as federal come across countless
agent Olivia Dunham in the show, strange happenings and
who is haunted by her deceased corrupt villains who have
partner John Scott, played by Mark taken over the minds and
A scene from Fringe.
Valley. Dunham, with the help of bodies of helpless victims.
her partner-in-crime Peter Bishop, a Filled with enthralling Although the two shows have many
down-to-earth character played by mystery, suspenseful story lines, and similarities, they are significantly
Joshua Jackson, and his psychotic acclaimed characters while defining different. Fringe, complete with
science genius father Dr. Walter gripping science fiction, Fringe has science-fiction, crime-fighting, and
Bishop, portrayed by the hilarious been compared to countless other mystery-solving is an overall com-
John Noble, works endlessly to TV-shows including The X-Files. pletely unique story. Additionally,
solve the chain of mysteries that Everett High School senior Shauna the show hits close to home and has
have occupied in the city of Boston, Schovanec thinks that "in a way, a comedic tone to it that is simple
Massachusetts. They are given the [Fringe] is a lot like [The X-Files], but genius.
investigation, referred to as "The but at the same time, it is really not."
14
goal after goal they Boys X-Country runs
made it to the top through injuries
Paula Suarez-Salmanca MHS Girls Soccer team
makes it to states
Reporter
T HE MALDEN HIGH School
girls’ varsity soccer team’s
hard work finally paid off when
they qualified for the state meets.
The team held a record of 8-7-4
at the end of their season. Senior
captains Annie Abber, Tayla
Plunkett, junior Thamara Eler
and coach Laura Bryson are very
proud of the team.
After their win against Med-
ford in the semi-finals and their
tough game against Somerville
in the finals, they actually had a
chance to be “the champions”.
“In the past years, things
didn’t fall where they should
have, but the girls really deserve
it. Throughout the whole season
the girls never stopped trying,
but kept on working harder,”
Bryson sated. She was optimistic
that the girls would win.
Sophomore Jess Lopez also
felt amazing to know that they
got that far because they did it
together as a team, with advice
from “the best” coach and “the
best” captains. “Although we all
might have mistakes, I believed
in my team, and what it can
do. The team has been doing
extremely well and we are all
working together as a team and
Volleyball is set for success
Barbara Jerome-Athis
Reporter
T HE MALDEN HIGH School
girls’ volleyball team ended the
season with a phenomenal record of
10-4. “I’m very proud of the girls on
the team because they gave me an
amazing, successful season and I will
miss them all next year,” expressed
senior captain Kethia Mathieu.
The team made progress hit-
ting and spiking the ball across
the net victoriously. Their amazing
defense was demonstrated in their
games through blocking and dig-
ging techniques. After being asked
about how helpful senior captains
Tina Phan and Mathieu have been
to the team, head coach and science
teacher Kristen Kirby exclaimed that
“Tina and Kethia have been great
captains. They have the respect of
the team and were great leaders.
They also brought a lot of humor
to the team, making our games and
practices fun.”
Sports The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/
Senior Danny Pi-
Alfonse Femino
mentel runs towards
Assistant Sports Writer the finish line.
family,” Lopez stated.
During the season Lopez re- T HE MALDEN High
School boy’s cross-
country team currently
Photo by L. Tran
ally enjoyed singing songs on the
bus ride to their away games and holds a respectable two events
back. Lopez mentioned that even record of 2-2 de- will be the
when they lost it was fun just to spite the numerous most im-
connect with the team by sharing injuries that have portant
their favorite songs. plagued the team. for the
Eler enjoyed getting the Head coach cross-
opportunity to grow and play David Londino country-
with so many dedicated players. thinks the team is t e a m ,
“Something that I liked about doing well in spite Londino,
the season was that the whole of the injuries. “We however,
team respected each other and had a lot of injuries feels as
got along. We also had very good but we’ve not doing though
communication both on the field bad,” quoted Lon- the team
and outside of the field,” Eler dino on his reaction is ready
said. to the record so far. to take
Eler was very excited be- Due to the them on.
cause this was her very first year number of injuries, “Our Pre-
qualifying for the tournament the remaining run- vious meets
and felt very happy. This is Eler’s ners have to work have pre-
third year playing for the school rigorously more to pared us for
and mentioned that, “never be- make up for the losses. the upcoming
fore have I seen a group of people In practice, the team uses GBL and state
that committed themselves so a new method of training meets,” Londino
much to the team.” called repeat miles, where stated.
Eler was very confident in they run a mile, rest for five Along with
the team and mentioned that not minutes, and then run another. strong performances at the impor-
only were they focused but they Also, the team does speed work to tant meets that lie ahead, Londino
also accepted their mistakes and increase agility. In addition to run- has other long-term goals. With a
made room for improvement.” ning, the team spends many hours number of talented freshman and
On Sunday, November 9 the in the weight room working on up- underclassmen on the team, as well
varsity team had their tourna- per and lower body strength which as experienced upperclassmen,
ment game against Andover, who also helps increase agility. Londino thinks the team is destined
is highly ranked in the league. All the practicing that the team to have success in both the indoor
Despite a good effort, the MHS does contributes to strong perfor- and outdoor track seasons and next
Girls were eliminated from the mances at the Greater Boston League years cross country season.
state tournament with their loss Championship meet, and the Divi-
to this powerhouse. sion 1. Ma. Interscholastic Athletic
Association state meet. These next
Volleyball continues to improve, looks ahead to next season
Kirby stated that the team’s
biggest obstacle was her inexperi-
ence with volleyball, but with each
season, she learns more. The team’s
greatest weakness was their offense,
and collectively, they want to set up
more spikes and bring more pow-
erful hits. Junior Catherine Asare
happily said that “throughout this
competitive season, we have learned
to integrate our specific talents to be
equally successful as a team.”
The team ended the remarkable
season on a good note. Kirby proud-
ly concluded with, “I am very proud
of how well our team did this year.
Even though we didn’t win matches
from each of the teams we played;
we were able to take some of the
games. I have seen great improve-
ment in individual players, and I am
looking forward to next year.”
Volleyball team poses before a game. Photo by K. Kirby
The Blue and Gold
November 2008
girls XC takes
a victory lap
Alexander Gennigiorgis
Reporter
W ITH ONLY ONE meet left,
the girls cross country team is
having "one of the greatest seasons
ever in girls cross country history,"
according to coach Mitch Abbatessa.
Led by junior captain Katherine
Zheng, the girls have been heading
to the MIAA Division I state tour-
nament on Nov. 8, 2008. Abbatessa
feels that the girls cross country's 4-1
record is "awesome." He also thinks
that it is great that there are not any
seniors on the team.
Abbatessa also stated that
even though injuries have affected
the team a lot, these are just things
one has to overcome in cross coun-
try. These kids chose to take the
challenge by joining the team. "But
this is what cross country is, it all
depends on injuries. If you get in-
jured, it is most likely that you are
going to be injured for a while and
that you won't be able to perform on
the field so we have to take injuries
seriously on both the girls and boys
cross country teams," explained Ab-
batessa.
The team’s motto "Practice
makes perfect," is what keeps the
team going because they are almost
at the peak of their careers as cross
country athletes due to their prac-
tice. To witness how much these ath-
letes run and how much heart they
put into their running is incredible.
The team weight trains in the gym
and runs around the city of Malden.
They also do tempo running, where
they run consistent mile time in or-
der to improve stamina.
Zheng is astonished that the
team is doing better than last year,
despite the lack of seniors. Zheng
thinks of herself not as a leader, but
as a helper. She wants people to lis-
ten and agree with her.
The Golden Tornado
Hall of Fame Inductees
Marion Schulze Rush (Class of 1936)
Wilford Bill Blais (Class of 1964)
Brian Rutledge (Class of 1980)
Carlos Villatoro (Class of 1997)
1969 Hockey Team - Rick Menard,Bill
Boland, Steve Pini, Jim Coleman, Bernard
Mayne, John Arbo, Mike Giannattassio,
Peter Mullaney, Bill Brady, Phil Shea, Peter
Hanifan, Rev. John Knox, Ruffy Mugica,
Sean Rusil, Ron DiSano, Tom Reid,
Perry Verge, Paul Murphy Joseph Brennan
(Coach) Tony Tiro (Coach)
The Golden Tornado Club Distinguished
Service Award - Mayor Howard
Peter Donoghue Memorial Scholarship -
M.H.S. senior, Collen Joyce
Golden Eagle Award - Paul Joyce
Sports
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/
boys soccer kicks their
way through adversity
Mandelli runs down the field in pursuit for the ball. Photo by L. Tran
Alfonse Femino
Assistant Sports Writer
T
HE MALDEN HIGH School
Boys’ varsity soccer team, led
by Coach Jeremiah Smith, currently
holds a record of 5-7-3 and has over-
come any adversities they had in the
beginning of the year.
Starting off the season prepared
and “in good condition,” Smith says,
“it allowed them to spend more time
crew competes for the
“head of the charles”
Shannon Howe
MHS students compete in two day regatta
Reporter
T HE MALDEN HIGH School
crew team is reaching the end
of a very successful season thanks
to the couches Shauna Campbell,
Sarah Jones and Natalia Santiago.
“This season was really good; we ac-
complished a lot and it proved suc-
cessful for all of our teammates and
coaches” junior rower Samantha
Power cheerfully stated. Practices
held at the Mystic River in Malden,
where the team is a part of the Gen-
tle Giants rowing club and consist
of land and water training; and of
rate work and technique rowing are
major focuses.
This year, the girls’ Varsity
A team was lucky enough to be a
part of the “Head of the Charles”
which is a massive two day regatta.
Senior captains Ericka Ribeiro and
Kristen Tran were part of the head
of the Charles; which Tran called,
“an amazing experience.” Tran and
Ribeiro were picked out of a lottery
and raced against 65 other boats
from around the country. Although
they finished in 60th out of 65, it was
a life changing experience and the
MHS team hopes to be a part of this
regatta next year.
“The races are really long and
hard. You have to keep up your
in game situations.” They worked
hard in practices, and played hard
in games, but the only thing that is
holding them back is not being able
to work as a whole unit.
An example of their lack of
team work occurred during their
game against Everett. Malden was
ahead in the first half, with a lead of
3-0, but during their second half, Ev-
erett scored a goal and Malden pan-
icked and stopped playing together.
Crew team warms up before race.
spirit and be motivated for your
team members,” stated junior rower
Trang Trong. She explained that
many do not realize the hopeless-
ness a team feels in the middle of a
race but that in spite of it, they must
be optimistic and persevere. This is
the key reason the team is doing so
well.
The co-ed practices enable both
the boys and the girls to have quite
a successful season. “The teams did
great and I’m very pleased with
their improvements” said Jones. The
boys’ Varsity crew team also had a
great season and keeps improving
15
Senior and team captain, Everton
Mandelli states “we were scared of
playing, if we were not we would
have won.” Throughout the season,
the team lost to tough competitors
that include Medford and Everett
because they stopped playing cohe-
sively.
Subsequent to their loss to Ev-
erett, the team slowly progressed.
Sophomore Ryan Macedo says that
“every team has struggles but every
team overcomes them.”
Although the team is full of
young players this year including
“three freshman and five sopho-
mores” according to Smith, their
youth is not a detriment to the team.
The younger players have stepped
up and have taken on big roles.
Freshman Soufiane Faris claims that
his experience has been “fun and
enjoyable,” and although he is a
freshman he always felt as if he was
a part of the team.
The team has significantly im-
proved since the beginning of year,
making it close to the state tourna-
ment.
Photo by D. Barrows
each race. David Barrow’s senior
caption encourages the team thus,
they exceed expectations.
Overall the season exceeded
expectations. “I can’t speak for the
whole team but I know that most of
us worked our hardest to show up
to practice everyday and fought to
bring down our time during races,”
Power explained. She concluded
during the season we’ve all been
doing nothing but improving our
times and our form. Individually we
try our hardest to improve and as a
team we help each other improve.”
16 Sports The Blue and Gold
November 2008
http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ma/malden/mhs/

MHS Football
continued
continued from pg 1

vidual offense and defense work on

different days of the week. Towards
the end of the week, the team prac-
tices as a whole. One of the most
important parts of the team, and the
strongest, are the lineman. The line-
men block and drive the defense.
Senior captains David Freni,
Mike Gilardi, and Colin Power are
always relied on by the team. They
exhibit leadership qualities by not
only working hard in practices,
games, and in the weight room but
also in their academics as well.
Players invest trust in captains just
as much as Lopresti if there is a
problem. “They take care of every-
thing on and off the field,” Lopresti
stated.
Injuries have taken a toll this
year’s team. Players have had to
contribute more, step up, and fill in MHS team defending against the opposing team. Photo by E. Chiavelli
the spots. This year’s team consists
of many new players and Freni had
high hopes. Although full effort
was put into each game, Freni was Power, and Frankie Dun are other On Nov. 7, the team played against for the GBL championship. Freni ad-
still disappointed key players that have helped bring Melrose and when asked how he felt mitted that in order tie in the team
“We definitely have more fun the team to where they are now. Freni commented, “We’ll be com- must, “play a perfect game.”
this year,” Freni says. As one of these For the remaining part of the petitive; they are undefeated, so it’s
seasons’ captains, it is Freni’s job to season, the Tornadoes plan on show- going to be a tough game.”
be a leader and a good role model ing off their training principles and The next game is against the
for the team. Shak Sexemant, Colin trying to play their absolute best. number one ranked team, Everett

Celtics preview red sox disappoint

Erica Marangos doc rivers hopes to lead the Brittany McFeeley
Reporter celtics to win finals again Reporter

O N OCT. 28, 2008 the Boston Celtics held opening night where they
unfurled the banner of their win in the Finals from last season and
T HE BOSTON RED SOX made
a valiant attempt to come back
from three games to one against
made it into playoff contention
since they have never had more
than seventy wins in their previous
had the ring ceremony. The rings were finally given to each player on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Their seasons. Tampa Bay played hard
the team as well as others involved with the team’s success. hard work and effort brought especially in the last two innings
After the rings were given out, the Celtics 17th championship ban- them back to three wins, tying when relief pitcher, David Price,
ner was raised to the rafter of TD Banknorth Garden. The whole team them with the Rays. According to an all-star left-handed pitcher,
helped put the banner up all together with excitement and joy. baseball experts, the Red Sox had pitched the final outs of game
Before the game, in an interview with Rivers, he expressed a strong the second best comeback in Ma- seven in the series. Price, who was
feeling that the team might not play to their fullest because of all the jor League Baseball (MLB) history. last year’s first pick of the 2007
excitement before the game. The Celtics are hoping to make it to the Sadly, in game seven their effort MLB draft, played an awesome
finals and win again with a great season record. was not enough, and the Rays won game and earned a place in the
The Cavaliers came out strong for the first two periods of the game. the series four games to three. championship. The Red Sox may
Pierce took a jump shot and hit it, making the ending score of the first “At first I thought we had the have been unable to win them all
period 28-22. The Celtics still continued to fight and struggle, ending game in the bag and I automati- but they had a prodigious season.
the second period with a score of 50-43, the Cavaliers still leading. Dur- cally thought we would make it to “It’s a disappointment but
ing the third and forth periods, the Celtics stepped up their defensive the series until Tampa Bay started they did well and that’s good
and offensive playing. By the end of the third period, the score was to score and we did not,” replied enough,” stated Watson. The Rays
67-63. With the Celtics still in the lead game, the last five minutes was Juan Watson, a freshman attend- put in excellent effort and made
full of foul shots and time outs, but even with those distractions they ing Malden High School. their way to the World Series.
won 90-85 at the close of the game. “I kept expecting the Red Sox “The Rays clearly deserve a
In second game on the season Saturday Nov. 1, 2008, Kevin Garnett to win because that seems to be spot in the World Series; they won
had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 15 points, but shot what they always do in the biggest the games it takes to get there. They
3-for-15 from the field. Ray Allen finished with 10 points on 4-for-10 games, but they weren't able to get had the second best record in the
shooting. The Celtics had 24 turnovers and shot 21-for-35 from the free- the big hits this time. It was unfor- American League throughout the
throw line. The Celtics suffered their first loss of the season, dropping a tunate for them that David Ortiz year and beat the defending World
95-79 road decision to the Pacers. was not his usual self throughout Series champions in the ALCS.
After having their first lost on the road the Celtics made a great the series and the playoffs,” stated They have a very impressive team
improvement with their win against the Rockets Tuesday Nov. 4, 2008. Ben Max, a history teacher and a and should be right there with
Ray Allen fired off 29 point thin the game, with 11 points in the forth New York Mets fan. the Phillies in the World Series,”
period. Kendrick Perkins scored 15, while Kevin Garnett had 14 points The Rays had a similar goal replied Max. For all those Red Sox
and 11 rebounds. With the final score of 103-99. They currently have to win the playoffs. The Rays have fans out there, there is always next
with a record of 3-1. With two home game wins, I away game win, and never won a championship or even year.
a away game loss.