2012 February

New Laws Rule the Road for Teen Drivers

As of Dec. 27, a new set of

rules for teen drivers has taken

affect. Act 81, as the new restric-

tions are called, cracks down on

the number of passengers allowed

in the car and increases the num-

ber of training hours logged with

a learner‘s permit.

According to PennDOT‘s web-

site, the new rules state that junior

license holders who have had

their license for less than six

months cannot have more than

one passenger under the age of 18

who is not an immediate family

member. The only exception to

the rule is if the driver is also ac-

companied by a parent or guard-

ian.

(Continued on page 2-

LAWS)

By Courtney Barrow,

Entertainment Editor

Experience DeXperience

Freedom High School stu-

dents experienced an unforget-

table night on Jan. 19 provided

by none other than various tal-

ented musicians from its own

school.

The student-run Freedom

program Students Against De-

structive Decisions (SADD)

hosted a benefit concert featur-

ing a recently signed reggae-rap

group DeXperience and In

Aviation and Revelation, two

student bands at Freedom The

three groups performed in the


CONCERT)

Volume 45 Issue 5

February 2012

Freedom High School - 3149 Chester Avenue - Bethlehem, PA 18020 - www.fhsforum.com

45 Years

Penn State Cries Blue and White

Some say he died of a broken

heart.

However when in reality, it

was lung cancer that took away

Joe Paterno‘s final breaths. At

age 85, Paterno accomplished

more than most men at his age

could ever achieve.

As the head coach of Penn

State Univesrity for 46 years

(and on the coaching staff for

more than 60 years), Paterno

revolutionized Penn State‘s

football team with two unde-

feated regular seasons (1968

and 1969), two national cham-

pionships (1982 and 1986), and

appearances in at least 37 bowl

games. He also taught his play-

ers the importance of balancing

academics and athletics.

This past season, Paterno also

broke the record for the most

number of wins in the division.

He led the NCAA Division I

Football Bowl Subdivision

with 409 wins after his final

game as head coach against

Illinois.


PATERNO)

By Ashley Eichlin,

Features Editor

Important Information for Seniors (p. 2)

Dues Debts

Create

Concern for

Seniors

Frankly, asking for 40 dollars

over the course of four years is

not a large sum.

Well then, why are there so

many people who have not yet

paid their class dues?

Senior class adviser Miss Am-

ber Zehner is genuinely worried.

Miss Zehner says, ―There has

been a significant difference

between our class and past

classes.‖

Class dues are very important

for funding school events such

as prom, the class trip, and the

senior breakfast. The dues also

pay for caps and gowns.

Senior class treasurer, Tyler

Alicea, makes it clear that stu-

dents need to pay their dues.

(Continued on page 3-DUES)

By Thomas Nguyen

By Courtney Barrow,

Entertainment Editor and

Amanda Molinaro,

Pates’ Post Editor

For now, the Happy

Valley will not be so

happy.

Karanda Erdman / Penn State University

For more about Joe Paterno, turn to page 12.

Online Bonus Content:

For more bonus articles

scan this barcode with

your smart phone or

visit

www.fhsforum.com/

feb2012.html/.

Inside this Issue

Organizations in FHS

with Commitment Phobia

(p. 4)

The Fascination with

Hipsters (p. 4)

Freedom visits Emmaus

High School (p. 5)

Top Reasons Why

Freedom‘s Student

Section is the Best

(p. 6-7)

Rifle Team Profile (p. 9)

“If students don’t pay

their dues,

student government

will be unable to put

on activities,” says Ty-

ler Alicea, senior class

treasurer. [Above] Student bands In Aviation and Revelation pose together. [Right] DeXperience performing at the SADD benefit concert.

Amanda Molinaro / Pates’ Post Editor

Anna Thomas / Asst. News Editor

2 News The Forum February 2012

school auditorium and spent the

night bringing a fresh flavor of

music ringing across the stage.

The newly formed band In

Aviation is composed of seniors

Joey Volpe and Mike Ro-

manelli, who both feature guitar

and vocals, sophomore Brandon

Gubich on drums, and Moravian

Academy senior Ryan Manoff

on bass.

Volpe and Romanelli have

been good friends for a while

and have grown up enjoying

music together.

―Mike has been my friend for

ten years, and Ryan and I would

just play loud music in my base-

ment,‖ said Volpe. ―We went

through about five bassists be-

fo r e we fo u nd R ya n . ‖

In Aviation, who identifies its

style as alternative rock, per-

formed mostly their own compo-

sitions. They began the show

with ―Heart Me Too‖ and Sum

41‘s ―In Too Deep.‖ Other songs

were written by Volpe himself,

including ―Reaction to an Ex-

ception‖ and a guitar solo

―Beauty.‖ The band closed out

the set with Adele‘s ―Rolling in

the Deep.‖

After coming off the stage, the

boys could not wait to get back

on; the event was their first per-

formance in front of a live audi-

ence.

―I can‘t believe we put it to-

g e t h e r , ‖ G u b i c h s a i d .

―It felt amazing,‖ Volpe said.

Following In Aviation, another

student band, Revelation took

the stage.

The band is composed of junior

Greg Adams on lead vocals, his

freshman brother Ben Adams on

bass and back-up vocals, junior

Andy Kurtz on guitar, and junior

Brett Broskowski on drums.

The band has been together for

about three years and has per-

formed at numerous local

events. The classic rock band

has a new album being released

in about a month along with a

new band name not yet deter-

mined.

In regards to their perform-

ance, Kurtz said, ―Expect an

electrifying performance.‖

The final and long awaited act

for the night was the reggae-rap

group DeXperience. The lead

singer, Mario ―Qbah‖ Fernan-

dez , is a graduate of the Free-

dom class of 2002. He was a

member the theater com-

pany and says Ms. Jen-

nifer Wescoe was one of

his most inspiring teach-

ers.

Although the group has

recently reached a high

level of success, they

wanted to bring their

talents back home. To

accomplish this, Qbah

approached Ms. Wescoe

and arranged the con-

cert.

They were very excited

to be back in their home

town and to share their

talents with the Bethle-

hem community.

The band says their

name came from their

fans. People always told

them their shows were

―such an experience,‖ so

they decided to include

that in their title.

The students of Free-

dom High School would

definitely vouch for the

idea of this name. The

night was quite an ex-

perience for students and

brought a new twist of music to

the Freedom scene.

Proceeds from the concert as

well as band merchandise sold

afterwards went to SADD.

(Continued from page 1—

CONECERT)

The Freedom Forum A Publication of

Freedom High School

Bethlehem Area School District

3149 Chester Avenue

Bethlehem PA, 18020

(610) 867-5843

www.fhsforum.com

Editor-in-Chief

Tyler Alicea

News Editor

Luisa Marin

Editorial Editor

Julie Boylan

Features Editor

Ashley Eichlin

Entertainment Editor Courtney Barrow

Sports Editor Mike McGinty


Amanda Molinaro

Centerspread Editor Zach Ward

Layout Editor Haroon Ahmad

Web Editor

Krystal Domin

Assistant Editors Anna Thomas

Faarah Ameerally Ryan Shaikh

Adam Duser

Adviser

Mrs. Karla Erdman

Principal Mr. Michael LaPorta

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy

For our editorial statement and

corrections policy, please go to

www.fhsforum.com/about.html

Follow us on Twitter and like us on

Facebook!

http://fb.fhsforum.com

@fhsforum, #fhsforum

[email protected]

Sponsors

Ron and Patty Williams Gold Level

Laila Sanai Steel Level

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Baljit Kaur Steel Level

Kim and Rick Giamportone

Steel Level

Interested in sponsoring The

Freedom Forum? Stop by

room 210 for a form or email

our adviser at

[email protected].

Today, sadness fills the hearts

of the worldwide Penn State

family.

Amelia Batcha, freshmen at

Penn State and Freedom gradu-

ate, agrees that there is a somber

tone at University Park.

―His death was very tragic as

far as timing goes,‖ said Batcha

regarding Paterno‘s passing.

―[The] whole atmosphere at

Penn State has totally shifted,‖

said Batcha. ―What is known to

be Happy Valley is the furthest

thing from it.‖

Although the mood is unhappy,

Batcha is relieved and surprised

to see ―so many students join as

one‖ in honor of Paterno.

As for science teacher and

Penn State graduate, Mr. Robert

Pearson, the passing of Paterno

has also hit him hard.

―I feel disappointed that his life

had to end now,‖ said Pearson.

―He was Penn State, so it feels

like a big part of the University

is no longer there.‖

Senior Nektaria Papadopoulos,

said she was ―sad to see him

go.‖

In remembrance of Paterno,

students, faculty, and admini-

stration gathered for a candle-

light vigil at University Park.

Some students even placed the

candles in the shape of Paterno‘s

most memorable thick rimmed

glasses and the word ―Joe‖ dur-

ing the ceremony.

Batcha said, ―I felt an over-

whelming peace.‖

For now, the Happy Valley will

not be so happy as many people

will be mourn the loss of their

coach.

―It‘s going to take awhile for

this to pass,‖ said Pearson.

(Continued from page 1—

PATERNO)

In addition, learner‘s permit

holders must have 65 hours of

behind-the-wheel training

logged in at least six months, an

increase from the former 50 hour

requirement. Ten of the extra

hours are to consist of night time

driving, and the other five are to

be done in inclement weather.

This is a significant change

from the relatively relaxed re-

strictions held on young drivers.

Prior to Act 81, the only major

limits set on a junior license

were the curfew (no driving be-

tween the hours of 11 pm and 5

am) and one passenger per seat

belt.

Pennsylvania‘s laws have been

comparatively less stringent than

New Jersey‘s laws, which al-

ready had the ―one minor pas-

senger‖ rule and requires junior

license holders to be 17 years of

age, not 16.5.

Freedom students with fresh

licenses are not too happy with

the rules.

―Its inconvenient,‖ said junior

Olivia Kolis. ―If you‘re hanging

out with a group of friends and

you need to go somewhere, you

can only take one other person.

You either leave your friends or

break the law.‖

Others, on the other hand, do

nor play the law any mind.

―Honestly, I break that law eve-

ryday,‖ said junior Chris

Maurer.

―Cops can‘t determine how old

you are as you drive by, so as

long as you don‘t mess up,

you‘re fine,‖ said John Silver,

junior.

So depending on one‘s integ-

rity, the new Act 81 laws will

have a significant impact on

student driving or not.

(Continued from page 1—LAWS)

The Bell Count

8-7

Liberty High School

Rifle Team, Loss Wrestling, Win

Important Information for Seniors

“I can’t believe we

put it together,”

Gubich said.

Amanda Molinaro / Pates’ Post Editor

Pay your class dues! Class dues are a one time

payment of 40 dollars that all high school students

are required to pay. Dues help pay for student

council-run activities, including graduation. If a

senior does not pay his or her class dues, he or she

will not be able to participate in the following

events:

Prom

Senior Class Trip

Senior Breakfast

Seniors may pay their class dues before school in

room 145.

News 3 The Forum February 2012

As of late, the candidates

vying for the Republican

nomination are Newt Gin-

grich, Ron Paul, Mitt Rom-

ney, and Rick Santorum.

Beginning with the Jan. 3

Iowa caucuses, the first con-

test of the primary season,

former Senator Rick Santo-

rum of Pennsylvania nar-

rowly prevailed over Mitt

Romney with a margin of 34

votes.

Then, in the Jan. 10 New

Hampshire primary, Rom-

ney came in first place with

39% of the popular vote.

This victory won him seven

of the state delegates while

three delegates went to Ron

Paul and the two remaining

delegates went to former

Utah Governor Jon Hunts-

man, Jr.

Having failed to garner the

significant support necessary

in the New Hampshire pri-

mary, Huntsman dropped out

of the race on Jan. 16, endors-

ing Romney in the process.

Perry, after finishing fifth in

Iowa and with 1% in New

Hampshire, dropped out two

days before the South Caro-

lina primary and lent his sup-

port to Gingrich.

Romney was expected by

many to carry on this momen-

tum going into South Carolina

to win, with some speculating

that he would lock up the

nomination. However, after

Gingrich‘s strong perform-

ances in the two debates in

South Carolina on the week of

the primary, Newt Gingrich

won the South Carolina pri-

mary, taking with him a pro-

jected 23 delegates while

Romney took two.

Even though it is still

early in the primary sea-

son, some Freedom stu-

dents have followed the

debates either to gain an

understanding of what to

expect in the November

elections, or for the pur-

pose of seeing the candi-

dates argue with each

other.

―All the candidates are a

little quirky,‖ says junior

Nick Maurer. ―Although

they all attack each other

publicly, it‘s an ironic

situation because they‘re

all essentially the same

person.‖

Senior Abhinav Ranga-

rajan says, ―It‘s fun to

watch the Republican

debates to see how they

bash each other. Political

maneuvers are always inter-

esting to observe.‖

Sex-Ed Hotline Gives “Sexting” a Positive Meaning

The sexual health education

group Planned Parenthood is

giving ―sexting‖ a new mean-

ing with a surge of sex-ed

texting hotlines around the

nation.

The first of the sex-ed text

hotlines was released of the

Orange and San Bernardino

Counties chapter of Planned

Parenthood. Since 1999, the

organization has

run a telephone

hotline, and in

2 0 0 6 , t h e y

added an online

hotline for the

purpose of ex-

panding the ac-

cess to sexual

health informa-

tion. Together,

those two hot-

lines have ser-

v i c e d o v e r

60,000 callers

and chatters.

In 2009, the

chapter added

the text hotline

program ―Tech

Support for

Your Body,‖

where users can

text their ques-

tions to a spe-

cific number to

receive personalized re-

sponses to their questions

from a certified health educa-

tor.

More recently, the Planned

Parenthood of the Rocky

Mountains started ―In Case

You‘re Curious‖ (ICYC), a

hotline similar to ―Tech Sup-

port for Your Body,‖ where

texters can send in their ques-

tions to a hotline number and

within 24 hours, receive a

response. In addition, the

website assures that all texts

are completely anonymous.

However, the ICYC program

makes it clear that the re-

sponders cannot diagnose

conditions or give personal

health advice though a text

message, and that the re-

sponses are not an alternate to

seeing a doctor.

―I think [the sex-ed text hot-

lines are] good because the

way that teenagers get infor-

mation is moving towards

that,‖ says Freedom High

School physical education

teacher Ms. Lisa Pfizenmayer.

―Any time you can get infor-

mation to people in their own

medium is awesome.‖

Junior Caterina Atiyeh is

not so sure about the program.

―I think it‘s a little weird,‖

says Atiyeh. ―It‘s a good idea

for some people but I don‘t

think I would ever use it. If

you have to use [the program],

I think you should think more

about what you‘re doing.‖

Brad McGarry, senior,

agrees with Atiyeh that the

hotline is ―weird.‖

―Anyone who really needs

answers from Planned Parent-

hood should just look them up

online or go into a center

themselves‖ says McGarry. ―I

guess it‘s alright if it‘s a certi-

fied health instructor. Some

people may want to do that for

convenience, but I‘d person-

ally stick with going into a

center.‖

By Julie Boylan,

Editorial Editor

Republican Primaries: And Then There Were Four By Anna Thomas,

Asst. News Editor

Jan 9 Statistically speaking, this was the

day that most people broke, forgot,

or disregarded their New Year's reso-

lution. This means that it only takes

nine days to break a promise. Of the

resolutions made this year, six out of

ten people made the same promise

they did the year before.

Jan 20 The United States Senate decides

to call off the vote on PIPA and the

House decides to slow down their

initiative with SOPA. SOPA and

PIPA are the drafts for anti-piracy

laws in the House and Senate repsec-

tively. On Jan. 18, Wikipedia and

many other websites had a 24-hour

shutdown to show their protest for

both bills. Back in December the

heads of companies such as Twitter,

Google, and Youtube wrote a letter

saying the legislation would make

the U.S. like Iran and China with

their censorship.

Jan 23 The Bethlehem Area School Dis-

trict school board voted to rename

Freedom‘s gymnasium to the

―Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium‖ in

honor of Joseph J. McIntyre, the first

principal of Freedom High School.

Jan 25 A demonstration of 100,000 peo-

ple took place in the Tahrir Square in

Cairo, Egypt. The general crowd

was there to commemorate the first

anniversary of the Egyptian revolu-

tion and to celebrate the removal of

President Hosni Mubarak. The dem-

onstration, which consisted of

Islamists activists, was also thought

to be a rally against the current gen-

erals which have taken control of

Egypt.

Jan 29 About two dozen, if not more,

Chinese road workers were captured

by Sudan rebels. The workers were

at a camp frequently used by road

builders, when rebel groups attacked.

The camp was located in South Kor-

dofan which has become a battlefield

between Sudan and the rebel groups.

The diplomats are having emergency

sessions as they figure out what to

do, since there is no contact on be-

half of the rebel groups.

Jan 29 Syria begins to attack rebels who

live in the suburbs. Tanks and sol-

diers lined the streets as the govern-

ment hoped to squash rebel pockets

in the suburbs of Damascus. Al-

though the Arab League is not sup-

porting the fight, there is little they

can do to stop the violence. Syria

refuses to accept foreign interfer-

ence, and Russia has been resisting

any plans brought up by the Arab

League.

Throughout January Greece has been at odds with the

European Union. The battle contin-

ues as Greece's economy continues

to cause chaos. The country has re-

sorted to austerity measures which

limit the country's spending. How-

ever the measures might cause more

of a recession and can cause more of

a drop in the economy. Greece

hopes to receive a second bailout

from the European Union in hopes of

jump-starting the economy.

In Case You

Missed It

―If students don‘t pay their

dues, student government will

be unable to put on activities,‖

says Alicea. ―Even if we can

hold these activities, students

who don‘t pay their dues will

not be able to participate.‖

The senior class held an

assembly on Jan. 20, where

principal Mr. Michael La-

Porta, senior class president

John Buchner, and even Mr.

Joe Stellato urged seniors to

pay their class dues.

Perhaps the problem is that

not many people actually real-

ize this or, quite frankly, care.

―The use and importance of

class dues has not been

stressed to me, which makes

low on my list of priorities,‖

senior Mervyn Lopez says.

―Not being able to go on the

class trip or to the senior

breakfast does not really

bother me because I can do

those things on my own time.‖

Zehner also attributes the

lack of payments to forgetful-

ness. Since students have four

years to pay their class dues, it

is easy to procrastinate until

the last minute. There is never

a sense of urgency to pay

class dues until graduation

time when it is too late.

The repercussions for not

paying class dues are rather

significant.

In addition to not being able

to go on the class trip or to the

senior breakfast, students who

have not paid their class dues

are prohibited from going to

prom. Seniors will also have

to pay for their own caps and

gowns if they wish to attend

graduation.

Most importantly, the senior

class will not be able to give

the school a class gift or do-

nate their extra money to any

charities.

In past years, classes have

given Freedom High School

gifts such as the banner from

the class of 2011, located in

the lobby, and the Freedom

High School flags lining the

bus channel.

For whatever reason, stu-

dents have not been paying

their class dues. It does not

matter if they are forgetful or

just do not care; the senior

class does not have enough

money to fund all the events

that are planned.

It would be a shame if the

events had to be cancelled, but

that decision is not up to the

advisers. That decision is up

to the student body and

whether or not they will pay

their class dues.

(Continued from page 1—DUES)

Screenshot courtesy of Luisa Marin / News Editor

“Any time you can get

information to people in

their own medium is

awesome,” says Ms. Lisa

Pfizenmayer.

Gage Skidmore / flickr.com

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul at a rally. Ron Paul is currently

in last place, yet he remains hopeful about his campaign as he garners the

support of young people.

4 Editorials The Forum February 2012

Student Council

with

Commitment

Phobia

By Luisa Marin,

News Editor

Any senior will have you

believe that they exclusively

have an excuse to slack off: it

is a syndrome called senior-

itis, they say.

My two cents: You are a

senior. You have worked hard

for three years, taking tests,

completing projects, joining

clubs, and preparing for col-

lege. It is tempting to just get

through the piles of college

applications and relax before

you head off to college, but

you are forgetting that al-

though your goals are finally

in sight, school is not over

yet, and colleges are still pay-

ing close attention to your

performance. Senior year—

the entire senior year—is ac-

tually of particular interest to

colleges.

Often, college acceptance

letters include warnings to

students such as "Your admis-

sion is contingent on your

continued successful perform-

ance." High schools send col-

leges the final transcripts of

the students they have ac-

cepted, and a senior slump

will be obvious in either a

weak schedule or weak

grades.

Imagine this scenario: you

take hard classes senior year,

apply Early Decision some-

where, stupidly expect accep-

tance, let your grades drop,

get deferred, and then proceed

to panic, and try to bring up

your grades, but it was too

much work because your

classes are too hard. You get

bad grades first semester sen-

ior year and screw up your-

chances at most of your dream

schools. If you have the moti-

vation then you are good, but

people burn out – and it hap-

pens to the best of students.

Okay, preach: senior year is

your opportunity to strengthen

your skills and broaden your

experience, in school and out,

to prepare for all the chal-

lenges ahead. A successful

senior year can help launch

you on the path to a success-

ful future. Just as you would

want to be in top condition for

the start of an athletic season,

so, too, do you want to be in

top condition for the academic

season. The habits you form

now—your academic strength

conditioning—will either help

or hurt you in your transition

from high school to college.

So the bottom line is if you

do not want to screw up your

chances for college, continue

taking the challenging classes

you had been

taking the

last three

years and

keep working

hard.

I mean,

let‘s face it: I

do not get

much home-

work any-

way. Having

s i x A P

classes this

year, I have

had on aver-

age half an

h o u r o f

h o m e w o r k

every night.

Even if you

are already

into college,

do you not

want to make

the most of

your senior

year?

The Hipster Fascination For decades, popularity has

come to not necessarily the

kids who are athletic, but to

the kids who have the latest

and greatest clothing, technol-

ogy, and tastes. That seems to

be changing.

Being labeled as a ―hipster‖

is now something people

strive to be and slowly liking

what is not popular is popular.

In case one does not know,

a hipster is usually someone

who likes indie music, old

fashioned clothing, eco-

friendly technology, and is

different without trying to be.

Many people strive to be hip-

sters, be it for bragging rights

or even self-confidence, and

some people listen to indie

artists so they can say they

discovered them before they

were big. It seems as if being

a hipster is somehow better

than just being yourself.

It is not bad to like pop

music, iPhones, Uggs and

similar things if that is one‘s

style. Nowhere is it stated that

those things are pointless or

that being modern and high-

tech is lame. Being yourself is

better than being something

that is just regarded as cool

for the time being.

The hipster culture is tak-

ing over wherever one looks.

Tumblr, an internet blogging

site, is defined by some as a

hipster website, but with the

hundreds of thousands of peo-

ple on it, it has become too

mainstream to truthfully be

called that. Still, the site al-

lows one to express them-

selves however they want. In

other words, it is a public,

online diary.

Naturally, some people have

always been hipsters, and now

many aspire to be like that.

Yet, a true hipster does not

long for popularity; they just

are who they are. Basically,

that would make all the peo-

ple trying to be hipsters just

wannabes.

This is not to say that people

should not try to be hipsters

necessarily, but peo-

ple should just be

who they are. High

school is a time to

try and figure that

out. One may come

in to high school

loving rap music

and dressing like a

skater and then

leave high school

listening to The

Kinks and The Roll-

ing Stones, dressing

in plaid shirts and

wearing Wayfarers.

So why is it so

cool to be un-

cool? It could just

be a trend that is in

style for a year or

two, or it could be a

reformation of cur-

rent day culture,

which seems a little

extreme. The hip-

ster culture is a neat

one to explore, so give it a

shot, but do not feel obliged.

Senior Year: A Time for Relaxation? By Grace Mao

Deja vu would be the best way to

describe elections for student council

year after year.

It seems like everyone is willing to

be a part. However that enthusiasm

is short-lived and one by one, mem-

bers fall off the face of the planet.

The list of 20 representatives per

class drops to 10 in a matter of

weeks, and drops even lower as the

year progresses. It seems that com-

mitment is a taboo subject within our

membership. Complaints are quickly

made but the fact remains that stu-

dents have to step up and do their

job.

It seems to be easier to leave it to

someone else. Someone is always

there to pick up the slack. In any

instance, what requires the work of

15 has to be done by five because

people do not show up. My experi-

ence with the class of 2012 has not

necessarily been delightful. In fact

hallway decorating was perhaps one

of my biggest nightmares for four

years. Our class size is around 500

and of those 500 if we had 15 people

show up we were ecstatic.

I am not saying that everything

about student council is terrible, and

not everyone is lazy, but I do think

that people have to realize that stu-

dent council is important. What hap-

pens to our school when no one is

there to clean up a mess? Students

cannot rely on others; they have to

take responsibility. Besides, if a stu-

dent willingly signs up to be a part of

student council, then that student

should feel obliged to help.

Working with peers may be a

challenge, but it is necessary to en-

sure that the activities flow

smoothly. Things do not just appear

done; they have to be completed.

When elections start at the end of

e a c h s c h o o l y e a r ( e x c e p t

for incoming freshmen), I ask that

people consider whether they really

do want to help. There is no point in

placing false hopes in the minds of

class advisers and then disappearing.

The bigger our student council, the

more opportunities we have to help

our community.

The Class of 2012 has a lot of

work to do in order to finish its year

in a good way. I hope that the other

classes can see that it is important to

start early and to plan efficiently.

After all, graduation arrives before

you know it.

By Flannery Johnson

Tyler Alicea / Editor-in-Chief


Senior Adam Seltzer received a full-ride scholar-

ship from the University of Alabama back in Au-

gust. Since then, he has been the epitome of sen-

ioritis.

Features 5 The Forum February 2012

Suffering Through the Novels

Summers are meant to be

filled with carefree adventures,

long walks, and vacations on the

beach. However, for many

Freedom High School students,

summer is consumed by rushing

through AP and honors assign-

ments and cramming to finish

lengthy required reading.

Although many students en-

rolled in AP and honors courses

are willing to accept a challenge

and complete academic assign-

ments over the summer, it is

safe to say that the majority of

students do not begin these as-

signments until mid-July or

early August. Around this time,

one could log onto Facebook or

Twitter and see various statuses,

tweets, and comments express-

ing student frustration and com-

plaints with the dreaded summer

work.

Aside from the glorious pro-

crastination skills exhibited by

Freedom High School students,

many feel that if required read-

ing was more enjoyable, than

the assignments would be com-

pleted sooner than the last week

of summer.

Although many required nov-

els are not exactly what students

prefer to read, not all of them

are torturous. In fact, some stu-

dents claim they really enjoyed

some stories.

Freedom junior Doo Park said,

―My favorite story [from the

suggested reading list] was a A

Thousand Splendid Suns by

Khaled Hosseini.‖

Junior Erin Ogazaly said her

(Continued on page 9-BOOKS)

By Amanda Molinaro,


Entering the Fort Knox of Emmaus

I was warned that entering Em-

maus High School to shadow a

student would be the equivalent

of breaking into Fort Knox or

breaking out of Alcatraz.

The amount of paperwork that

had to be filled out in order to

be a guest at Emmaus rivaled

the amount of paperwork a law-

yer‘s temps fill out in a year.

Even once I arrived at the

school, I was not permitted to

enter immediately due to a pa-

perwork mishap on Emmaus‘

part.

Nonetheless, when everything

was sorted out and junior

Terrance Cawley, the person

who I was shadowing for the

day, picked me up, I soon

learned that Emmaus is not as

scary as it sounds.

Emmaus and Freedom would

be fairly similar if Emmaus had

block scheduling. Instead, they

have a homeroom and nine peri-

ods. Each class lasts for 41 min-

utes, and there is no wasting any

time. Teachers begin their les-

sons as soon as the bell rings

and are often cut off mid-

sentence at the end of class.

Emmaus‘ cellphone policy is

also considered much stricter.

Out of all of the students I

asked, there was only one per-

son who said who would even

dare having his cellphone out

during class. Most people even

said having their phones on vi-

brate could be problematic.

In addition, Emmaus‘ class-

rooms each have a projector

hanging from the ceiling that

many teachers utilized, meaning

that the use of overhead notes

and slide shows were not un-

common during my visit.

The layout of Emmaus High is

close to a labyrinth, and I was

told that over time, one learns

the shortcuts of the school. Of-

ten, I saw myself walking

through the various courtyards

of Emmaus to get from one end

of the building to the other.

The highlight of my visit, of

course, was getting some time to

know the editor‘s of Emmaus‘

school paper, The Stinger, and

seeing Ms. Denise Reaman, who

was formerly the adviser of The

Forum before she left for Em-

maus.

Although Emmaus is intimi-

dating on the outside (mostly

because of the paperwork. Seri-

ously, who enjoys paperwork?),

it goes to show that you can not

judge a book by its cover.

By Tyler Alicea,

Editor-in-Chief

Mardi Gras: A Day of Celebration

Festive colors. Green. Purple.

Yellow. Costumes. Masks.

Beaded necklaces. New Or-

leans, Louisiana. Mardi Gras.

New Orleans is the heart of

America‘s modern day celebra-

tions and the most well-known

happens to be the Mardi Gras

celebration. Mardi Gras is

known as a day of celebration;

however, many people do not

know the reason why it is cele-

brated and/or the origins of this

holiday.

According to neworlean-

sonline.com, historians can con-

firm that it once was a Roman

festival honoring one of their

many gods, Lupercalia, god of

fertility, agriculture, and pas-

toral shepherds. This Roman

mid-February festival consists

of continuous days of feasting

and drinking.

Like most of the ancient Ro-

man and Greek festivals, Luper-

calia was adopted and adapted

by the Church as a way of sub-

tly converting the local pagans

to Christianity.

This carnival-like celebration

was somewhat of a last ―fling‖

for Christians to indulge right

before the Lenten period which

is when the religiously faithful

refrain from indulgences for 40

days. They do not indulge in

things such as meat and give up

something important to them,

such as cells phones or sweets,

for that time period.

On the other hand others, such

as those from mardigrasnewor-

leans.com, argue that the cele-

bration was not derived from the

Roman culture, but the holiday

actually originated in Louisiana

by early French settlers.

Each year, the French club at

Freedom has kept the French

culture alive through their own

Mardi Gras celebrations with

East Hills Middle School. The

students at East Hills make fun

colorful hats and venture over to

Freedom to continue celebrating

the French culture

through Mardi

Gras.

Senior and treas-

urer of French

Club Cindy Zheng

said, ―[Last year,]

F r e n c h C l u b

helped host...where

we planned many

events such as

crazy hat competi-

tions and French

bingo.‖

The East Hills

students even get

the chance to taste crepes (a

very thin pancake that is popular

in France).

Zheng said, ―It was a lot of

fun to spread around French

culture.‖

By Kristen Dalton

The Day in the Life of An Emmaus Student

At 6:30 in the morning when

Tyler and I left my house, I was

not on very good terms with

Emmaus High School. I mean, what school makes

their students start school an

ungodly 20 minutes earlier than

the 7:45 Freedom students start?

That‘s valuable sleeping time! By the time we made it to the

school, however, the day was

looking up. We only got lost in

the Emmaus parking lot, and all

of my paperwork (including

parent permission, immuniza-

tion forms, and a principal‘s

note) went through successfully. Walking through the school,

my first impression of Emmaus

was that the place was big. At

first I thought that perhaps it just

seemed big since I had no idea

where I was going the entire

day. But I‘m pretty sure that

any school that has four

gyms, a two-story cafeteria, a

driving simulation lab, and its

own branch of First Niagara

Bank could be considered

large by any reasonable stan-

dards. Not only was the school

bigger, but it was also a lot

more colorful. All along

many of the hallways of Em-

maus are murals similar to

the sunset and robot mural

Freedom has in the upstairs

main lobby. According to my

Emmaus student host, the

school has a mural club that

undertakes such projects. Besides the obvious physi-

cal differences, the most no-

ticeable difference between

Freedom and Emmaus is the

schedule. While Freedom oper-

ates on the block schedule with

four 85 minute classes, Emmaus

has nine 45 minute periods, in-

cluding lunch. Predictably, the

classes flew by quickly (except

for Trigonometry which would

need nothing short of a Time

Turner for it to pass by more

quickly). I will say in defense of the

nine-period system that I was

mildly impressed how readily

the class settled down and the

teacher jumped into the lesson.

Even so, at the end of the day at

2:30, I was surprisingly ex-

hausted. It felt like the day

lasted much longer than a day at

Freedom – and not just because

it actually did last half an hour

more. I suppose that the sched-

ule is just something you get

used to at whichever school. Despite the differences in

schedule and building, the envi-

ronments in Emmaus and Free-

dom are similar. Same uncom-

fortable chairs, same obnoxious

PDA, same ignoring of an-

nouncements. A high school, is

after all, still a high school.

By Julie Boylan,

Editorials Editor


The Freedom Forum Photo Archive

February Produces New Enticing Films

This February has an amazing

line-up of films on the way for

viewers. The most anticipated

of them all seems to be The

Vow, starring Channing Tatum

and Rachel McAdams. This is a

classic love story about a mar-

ried couple that gets into a car

accident, leaving the wife with a

loss of all memories of her hus-

band. Throughout the movie,

her husband (Channing Tatum)

works to get his wife to fall in

love with him again.

Aleah Costello, a sophomore

at Freedom High School, said

that she was most excited to see

The Vow. She says, "It reminds

me of The Notebook, which is

my favorite movie, and who

doesn't like a cute love story?"

For those who aren't looking

for a love story, there's a horror

arriving at the box office called

The Woman In Black. When

asked about what movie she was

most excited to see, sophomore

Kasey Gallagher said, "The

Woman In Black, because it

stars David Radcliffe. Also, I

love scary movies and I get

scared by just watching the

coming attractions!" The movie

tells the story of a man that

moves into an apartment and is

haunted by a ghost of a small

girl always dressed in all black.

This movie is expected to be

extremely popular among fans

of the Harry Potter series, since

it is Radcliffe's first starring

movie after the series con-

cluded.

Another popular movie com-

ing out is The Chronicle. This

movie will satisfy those movie-

goers that are looking for some

action. It is a science fiction

release about a group of boys

that discover they have magical

powers. They are able to move,

destroy, and rebuild objects by

using only their minds. As they

learn how to use their powers,

they make up rules as to when

and how they are allowed to use

them, but one of the boys isn‘t

willing these rules. He torments

average citizens and causes

mass destruction. This movie

stars Michael B. Jordan, Mi-

chael Kelly, Alex Russel and

Dane Dehaan.

This February is jam-packed

with new releases that will thrill,

scare, and make audiences fall

in love. It will surely be an ex-

citing time for movie fanatics.

By Logan Handwerk

Goodbye Holidays, Hello Red Carpet

Award season is back and the

red carpet is full of stunning

stars. The People's Choice

Awards and the Golden Globes

kicked off the 2012 season with

many movies and shows win-

ning various awards.

The People's Choice Awards

allowed the audience to choose

winners for different categories.

Johnny Depp, Emma Stone, and

Harry Potter all won many

awards. However, Katy Perry

took home the top prizes, win-

ning five awards including Fa-

vorite Female Artist and Favor-

ite Song of the Year for ―E.T.,‖

which features Kanye West.

Senior Valeria Merced said

her favorite award show was

probably People's Choice. Her

favorite actress to look for on

the red carpet is Nina Dobrev,

who won Favorite TV

Drama Actress.

―[I watch the show

because] I like seeing

all the nice dresses

and my favorite ce-

lebrities together in

one place,‖ she said.

It is no surprise that

Emma Stone won so

many awards as she

has become one of

comedy's leading

ladies. Junior Brooke

Munion says she likes

Stone because ―she is

so funny.‖

The Golden Globes

were also a success

with host Ricky Ger-

vais, whose humor

was a little toned

down compared to

last year. Movies like

―The Descendants‖

and ―The Artist‖ took

the most awards

home. ―The Art-

ist‖ star, a lovely

dog, delighted the

audience with a

few tricks on

stage, and made

the crew back-

stage uneasy by

urinating. ―The

Adventures of

Tint in‖ took

home the award

for Best Feature

Film. Hollywood

heavyweights like

George Clooney,

Martin Scorsese,

Meryl Streep, and

Kate Winslet

were also among

the nights‘ win-

ners. In addition,

the Best TV Se-

ries-Comedy or

Musical went to

―Modern Family.‖

Award season is filled with

many shows, and winners are

elected by different people. Peo-

ple's Choice allows the audience

to choose, and the Screen Actors

Guild (which was held January

29) allows fellow actors to

choose. Furthermore, the

Golden Globes are handed out

by the Hollywood Foreign Press

Association and the Academy

Awards (the Oscars) are chosen

by the Academy members.

All in all, the red carpet is

filled with many stars and a lot

of excitement. The dresses and

the suits mold the latest fashion,

and they are worth seeing for

any movie-goer or TV aficio-

nado.

By Luisa Marin,

News Editor

8 Entertainment The Forum February 2012

Band Profile: Music Needs Sinclarity

Alternative-rock and central

Pennsylvania-based band, Sin-

clarity, is on its way to the top

of the music charts.

Former The Underwater gui-

tarist and drummer, Matt

Holmes and Pat Besecker, cre-

ated Sinclarity not long after the

lead singer of The Underwater

quit their band. Soon after, Vir-

ginia native, Will Nealy stole

the lead guitarist spot, and local

teacher at The Lesson Center,

Geoff Black, took on the bassist

position.

―We all have known each

other for a long time,‖ said

Black.

During the formation of Sin-

clarity, Black admits that he

―stalked Matt on MySpace‖ in

order to get recognized and be

given the opportunity to join the

band. Fortunately for Black, the

stalking paid off. Unfortunately,

the cost of the band was not in

Black's price range; however,

after he was given a job as a

guitar/bass teacher at The Les-

son Center, located in down-

town Bethlehem, he was asked

to rejoin Sinclarity.

Recently, Sinclarity began and

ended their tour with the band

Everclear.

Black said that working with

EverClear has been an ―amazing

privilege‖ and that the ―feelings

are mutual.‖

To kick off their tour, Black

and Holmes performed Sinclar-

ity's new single ―Forgive

Dreams‖ on the WFMZ morn-

ing news earlier last month.

According to reverbna-

tion.com/sinclarity, the band

believes that ―being in a band is

like being in a marriage.‖ There

is more work involved than

playing an instrument in

order to have a successful

band.

Black said, ―[The tour]

feels like a test to see if

we can take it seriously.‖

He stresses the impor-

tance of being a well-

rounded and humble per-

former.

Black tends to live by

Sons of Anarchy's Kurt

Sutter's famous quote,

―Work hard and be nice

to people.‖

―Do it yourself if you

really want it [and] wear a

lot of hats,‖ Black added.

Sinclarity performed

along the east coast trav-

elling to cities such as

Philadelphia, Albany,

Lancaster, Charlottesville,

and Bethlehem. They are

―aiming international‖ in the

near future.

Check out Sinclarity‘s Face-

book page to listen to their new

song, ―Forgive Dreams‖ and to

stay posted for upcoming tour

dates.

By Ashley Eichlin,

Features Editor

The Freedom Forum Photo Archive

Karla Erdman / Adviser

Photo courtesy of Sinclarity

Sports 9 The Forum February 2012

Pinning and Winning

Few people have the ability to

say they can juggle a sport and

have straight A‘s. Even fewer

people can juggle many sports

and straight A‘s in all Honors

classes. Junior Josh Young is

one of the lucky few to be able

to say that he can.

After an extremely triumphant

football season, Young is con-

tinuing to represent Freedom

High School in wrestling and in

track. While he expects to do

well in track, right now Young

is focusing on wrestling. While

dominating at the school level is

an impressive feat, Young went

on to participate in last year‘s

Christmas Holiday wrestling

to urn a men t a t L ib e r t y .

―[Pennsylvania] is the most dif-

ficult state in terms of wres-

tlers,‖ Young said. ―And I went

against all of them and got

fourth place‖.

For any normal athlete, ruling

at one sport takes up much of

one‘s time, but Young thinks he

may be able to find time to join

two baseball teams over the

summer. He‘s been a member of

both these teams for years, but

this year he may put them aside

for other reasons. ―I want to

work on wrestling and football

for college,‖ he said

Even when football, wrestling,

and baseball sapped all of

Young‘s time, he still found a

way to maintain straight As in

all his classes. But Young is not

taking your run-of-the-mill Ce-

ramic‘s class, no; he‘s taking the

hardest classes he can bare.

Especially with Honors Phys-

ics, Young is finding it hard to

find much sleep at night.

―Sometimes I go to sleep and

wake up four hours later only to

find that I have to go to school,‖

Josh said. ―But I still find a rea-

son to get up every morning.‖

But the amount of sleep did

not repel Young from any extra

activities; he has still found time

to be the alter server at his

church. The weekly activity

saps another few hours from his

tightly packed schedule and eats

away at his waning sleep sched-

ule.

When compared to most of the

students at Freedom who com-

plain about their

classes taking too

much time away from

other act ivi t ies,

Young has had a

pretty impressive

track record in deal-

ing with his work-

load. ―I don‘t regret

taking on this much

work; I like it,‖ says

Young. If Young

keeps putting the

amount of work he

does now into his

work in the future,

who knows what he

may be able to ac-

complish?

By Haroon Ahmad,

Layout Editor

Throwing Opponents to the Mat

Most kindergarteners do not

give much thought to their fu-

ture in high school. However

junior Evan Kauffman started

wrestling at that age, and the

early steps he has taken molded

him into the premier wrestler

that he is today. ―I got into

wrestling because my dad was a

coach,‖ he said. For the last

decade, Kauffman has honed

his craft as a wrestler and is now

considered one of the top wres-

tlers at Freedom High School.

Even though Kauffman started

the season injured this year, he

trained hard and currently has a

7-0 record. According to

strength coach Jeff Longacre,

Kauffman spent a lot of time in

the weight room completing his

rehabilitation. ―The harder you

work in the weight room, the

more prepared you are. It gives

you a mental factor,‖ said Lon-

gacre. Although Kauffman spent

some time on rehabilitation, his

workouts were pretty similar to

normal. Longacre said, ―For a

big guy he is pretty agile and

coordinated.‖

When asked what Kauffman‘s

greatest achievement as a wres-

tler was, he replied that it was

his performance in states. He

made it to the semi-finals in the

PIAA Northeast regionals in

March 2011. According to

Kauffman, one of the hardest

parts of wrestling for him, is to

get mentally prepared. Kauff-

man enjoys solving problems

with math, his favorite subject.

Not that wrestling is like Calcu-

lus, but figuring out the best

approach on how to pin another

wrestler comes easy to Kauff-

man. ―Wrestling tends to take

up so much time that it‘s usually

all I do,‖ said Kauffman.

Kauffman‘s training, prepara-

tion, and dedication will hope-

fully help him have another

strong showing on the road to

states.

By Justin Alicea

Rifle Team Aims to Win For many years now, the rifle

team has been an exciting var-

sity sport at Freedom High

School.

―We practice as a team, but

practicing individually is what

really matters,‖ said junior

shooter Andrew Mattei.

The team consists of around

15 members and is coached by

East Hills Middle School art

teacher Mr. Court, who volun-

teers his time to help the team

improve.

The rifle team‘s season started

in late December, and the teams

that Freedom competes against

include Southern Lehigh, Lib-

erty, East Stroudsburg North,

and Berwick, just to name a

few. Matches consist of five

rounds, with two shooters com-

peting per round.

Although the team has been

hindered by equipment disad-

vantages, they still put in the

same if not more time into prac-

tice as the other schools in their

league do. Every day, the rifle

team travels by van to practice

their skills in an improvised

shooting range in the Liberty

High School basement. The

practices often begin late and

run long, which is a testament to

the team‘s dedication.

Although the league‘s matches

are judged on points scored for

accuracy, the format of the

event is much different than

other forms of competitive

shooting.

―This kind of shooting is more

recreational.‖ said Tyler Ku-

lanko, a junior who plans on

joining the military after gradua-

tion.

Tyler, one of the top shooters

on the team, said that the rifle

team is fun and interests him as

he gets closer to fulfilling his

goal in having a military career.

Freedom‘s rifle team is still

winless this season, but their

next match is against Berwick

on Jan. 26 and they hope they

can get their first win of the

season through hard work and

accurate shooting.

Skills as a marksman can

prove especially practical in Pa.,

the state that has the most li-

censed resident deer hunters in

the country (1,299,372) many of

them under the age of 18.

Schools all over Pa. even allow

students off of school for the

first day of deer hunting season

on Nov. 28. Whether you know

it or not, shooting and hunting

are integral parts of Pa.‘s unique

culture.

Win or lose, Freedom‘s rifle

team has proven this season that

they are serious about their

shooting.

By Greg Adams

favorite was Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Picoult. A third favorite

for AP English 11 students was

Frank McCourt‘s Angela‘s

Ashes.

Despite McCourt‘s enjoyment

for Angela‘s Ashes, junior Cole

Donatelli felt otherwise.

―[Angela‘s Ashes] made me

never want to use the word

‗excitement‘ again,‖ said Do-

natelli.

Overshadowing the gems pre-

viously mentioned are a variety

of rather unenjoyable stories

that are required to be read;

these are the stories generally

not read until August.

Regarding these books, stu-

dents and teachers alike feel

there should be more flexibility

within the required reading

list. When asked what his opin-

ion on the overall required read-

ing list, English teacher ―We

should have a wider range of

choices in order to interest more

students,‖ Mr. David Kleist

said.

Mr. Kleist also said in order to

create more student interest in

reading, ―We should create a

collaboration of student prefer-

ence books and teacher prefer-

ence [books].‖

Aside from these negative

opinions about required reading,

students need to be sure to rec-

ognize the importance of learn-

ing from classic plays, novels,

and autobiographies. Many

readers and writers learn from

literature that they do not neces-

sarily prefer. However, a combi-

nation of modern-aged and clas-

sic literature would most likely

inspire students to get off of

Facebook and get their faces in

books.

(Continued from page 5—BOOKS)

Justin Alicea / The Freedom Forum


Freedom says “Au Revoir” to Madame Stanley

It‘s been a long and fulfill-

ing road of teaching for

Stanley who began her teach-

ing career in France forty

years ago.

She achieved her BA in

Education in France and com-

pleted her Masters at

Lehigh.

―I really wanted,

always, to be in teach-

ing,‖ says Stanley who

especially likes lan-

guages. Her other op-

tion, besides teaching,

was doing interpreta-

tion.

After eleven years of

teaching both English

and French in French

middle school and

high schools, Stanley

made the jump across

the Atlantic Ocean to

the United States.

Before entering the

B e th lehe m Area

School District about

twenty-four years ago,

Stanley taught French

at Dartmouth College,

Lehigh University,

and Moravian Acad-

emy. After spending

about twelve years teaching

French at Liberty, Stanley has

spent the last twelve year at

Freedom.

According to Stanley, the

best part of teaching is ―the

interaction with students.‖

―Even though I‘ve had ups

and downs, I love teaching‖

says Stanley. ―I enjoy the

challenges of interacting [with

students]‖.

Stanley says that she likes

―showing kids that there is

more to French than just what

we learn in class.‖

―I have great memories, not

just of a particular year but

students who I‘ve taught and

who I‘ve kept in touch with.‖

Freedom senior Abigail

Stives definitely felt the pas-

sion that Stanley had for

teaching.

―Honestly, I really did like

her as a teacher,‖ says Stives.

―She really cared about her

students. Everyone‘s going to

miss her because she was an

awesome French teacher.‖

Meredith Marchese, Free-

dom sophomore, agrees with

Stives, saying that she liked

Stanley‘s teaching style and it

really felt like she was learn-

ing.

Freedom senior Derek Det-

weiler says that Stanley

―overall was one of the best

[teachers] I ever had. She

really got to know me and…

she understood that it was

hard but she tried to make it

easier for us.‖

―She as a teacher had a

really big impact‖ says Det-

weiler. ―She helped me

realize I could do things I

thought I couldn‘t. I hon-

estly didn‘t think I would

go this far in French.‖

In regards to her retire-

ment, Stanley says that it

feels ―strange‖ to be re-

tired and ―bittersweet‖.

Though, as of her last few

days in the halls of Free-

dom, she claims that the

retirement had not sunk in

yet and she had not really

been thinking about it.

Although Stanley is

quite sure she will never

play golf, like most retired

people, she is looking for-

ward to reading, sleeping

in the morning and travel-

ing in her retirement.

After a good twelve

years at Freedom, the

school is losing a great

language teacher. Merci

Madame Stanley for all

you have done for your stu-

dents.

We‘ve all been in this situation.

You‘re in the middle of a casual

chat when the person you‘re talking

to decides to be distracted by a text

message and types out a reply to a

friend.

While today‘s high exposure to

technology may at first seem to

make this scenario appropriate to

your conversational partner, the fact

of the matter is that the inappropriate

use of your cell phone in a social

setting makes you come across as

socially inept.

Nothing says ‗I‘m completely

oblivious to those around me‘ louder

than a person who fails to follow the

rules of basic human etiquette and

demonstrate respect for other people

over technology.

―I hate it when people text while

you‘re talking,‖ says junior Ricky

Castro. ―It upsets me and I feel like

they‘re not listening to me. Please

stop doing it.‖

Considering the fact that there is

already a large group of people who

commit cell phone related social

blunders, there is a definite possibil-

ity that the situation can only go

from bad to worse.

Take, for example, a text message

with the intention of asking someone

out. Should you ever be the recipient

of this type of text, treat it like the

deal breaker it is.

―It‘s completely inappropriate for

someone to ask someone out with a

text message,‖ says senior, Marissa

Langley. ―If you want to have a per-

sonal relationship with someone, ask

them out in person.‖

Eventually, interpersonal skills

may even decay to a point where

people can no longer communicate

effectively in face-to-face conversa-

tions.

―People don‘t know how to social-

ize anymore at all,‖ says Langley.

―They don‘t know how to interact

with others. Pretty soon everything

will have to be done via email or text

message.‖

Practice discretion when you de-

cide when to use your cellphone.

Have a real conversation, and stop

texting all the time.

10 Pates’ Post The Forum February 2012

Ask Fabio! Advice Column

“Bienvenue,” Madame Pizzaglia

As any good élève de fran-

çais may know, Freedom

High School‘s much loved

French teacher, Madame

Stanley, retired at the end of

the first semester.

Though she will be

missed, French students

will now have the great

opportunity to work with a

new French teacher, Ma-

dame Pizzaglia, who has

already stepped up to the

plate and is helping the

French club organize their

annual Mardi Gras celebra-

tion for the French students

of East Hills.

It was at this French club

meeting where many for-

mer French students were

able meet our new Freedom

Family member for the first

time - by the way, French

students may be interested

in knowing that the new

French room is 206, rather

than finding out by first

walking all the way to the

other end of the building.

Madame Pizzaglia stud-

ied French at Pennsylvania

State University and also

studied abroad in Nice,

France at L‘Institut de

Polytechnique de Nice.

She has been teaching

French for twelve years at

schools as nearby as Broughal

Middle School, a multi-

lingual school in Tyrone,

Pennsylvania, and as far away

as a school in Albuquerque,

New Mexico.

When asked what she was

looking forward to here at

Freedom, Madame Pizzaaglia

said, ―I‘m looking forward to

working with a wide variety

of levels, for the past four

years I‘ve just been teaching

French 1, and I‘m looking

forward to meeting new teach-

ers and students, and to work-

ing with the French club,

which I‘ve never had the op-

portunity to experience.‖

Not only has Madame Piz-

zaglia taught French, but also

English while she lived in

Italy for a year. Both she and

her family speak Italian, and

she says that all three of her

children study French, if not a

third language as well!

To all students studying

French, or any other language

for that matter, Madame Piz-

zaglia offers this advice: ―I

think it‘s really important that

you study a second language,

if not a third also, statistics

show that those who do per-

form better on their SAT

scores. It‘s definitely a global

economy with the internet

making the world so much

smaller now, so it‘s really an

asset to any student going to

college or beyond to be able

speak another language

whether it be French or

something different. I cer-

tainly would encourage

French because that‘s my

passion! But any language

they choose to study is im-

portant to continue.‖

So when you get a chance,

say ―hello,‖ or ―bonjour,‖ to

Madame Pizzaglia! Oh, and

the ―g‖ is silent.

By Kate Dawson

By Julie Boylan,

Features Editor

Julie Boylan / Editorial Editor

Photo courtesy of Mrs. Maryse Stanley

Patriot Pride: Going Back in Time

The Final(s) Countdown—A Reflection on Finals

The vision of Scantron sheets,

the sound of number two pencils

being meticulously sharpened,

the smell of grief, anxiety, and

annoyance in the air: ah, finals.

That special time that comes

around twice a school year

where a number of students self-

reflect, stating that ―frack, I

never actually learned this

stuff.‖ Finals have gone through

a complete overhaul this year,

with senior exemptions being

thrown out of the window while

making way for members of the

student body who take Ad-

vanced Placement courses to be

withheld from the final exam

experience. While the two-day

bump between first and second

semester may seem like a small

bump in a high-school student‘s

academic road, there are many

differing opinions throughout

the Freedom Family centered on

the hot topic of finals.

Taking final exams is much

like being stuck in a puddle of

quicksand, and as junior Dustin

Baughman says, ―The harder

you worry about [final exams],

the worse you do.‖ The worry

and anguish that is associated

with finals is the primary issue

that many students have with

them, and most students link the

worry to the study period that

does—or at times doesn‘t—

come with finals.

―My teachers made [my fel-

low classmates and me] pre-

pared for finals with packets,‖

says ninth grader Patrick Davis.

Materials like study packets and

guides seem to be a big aid for

soothing the worry of final ex-

ams, as many students state the

guides are the root to their suc-

cess. However, some students

state that they maintain stuck in

finals quicksand due to lack of

study time. An eleventh grader

who asked from anonymity told

a personal account of how

―teachers teach [final exam ma-

terial] a day before finals.‖

Along with the study period

associated with final exams,

many students find issue with

the current deletion of senior

exemption from finals. In the

past, seniors that maintained an

A average throughout a semes-

ter‘s course—along with other

criterion including having under

a set amount of absences—was

awarded the opportunity to be

exempt from the course‘s final

exam. The elimination of what

many viewed as a senior tradi-

tion has left many students from

the Class of 2012, and even

some from classes beneath, dis-

appointed.

―Seniors have no privileges

anymore,‖ twelfth grader Dmitri

Mitchell says.

Dedrea Becker, also a senior,

adds that seniors are less moti-

vated now that senior exemption

is no more.

―None of the seniors care to

study for finals anymore be-

cause they worked throughout

their freshmen, sophomore, and

junior years of school to be ex-

empt,‖ Becker says. Tenth

grader Daniel Youngelman

agrees with Becker.

―I won‘t be happy when I am

a senior,‖ Youngelman states.

With first semester‘s final

exams done and over, students

have a handful of months before

their have to face another batch

of final exams splendor.

Whether students remain stuck

in the final exam quicksand or

escape unharmed is completely

up to them.

By Navea Frazier

Pates’ Post 11 The Forum February 2012

By Mrs. Pat Whirl,

Special to The Freedom Forum

To commemorate the 45th year of The Freedom Forum, I asked former faculty members for their most

memorable moments. Below are a few excerpts.

Maceo Connor: The Fan Favorite

If you asked most people

around Freedom High School

about Maceo Connor, they

would say how nice of a person

he is. Or go to a Freedom boys‘

basketball game and see how

the riot squad reacts when he

comes in the game.

Throughout the season, the

boys‘ basketball team has been

consistent. Junior player, Maceo

Connor, has been one of the

team‘s key players, playing de-

fense at an extremely high level.

Team expectations were high

going into the season, but Con-

nor expected to play in the game

and contribute. He certainly has

done more to contribute and has

become a fan favori te.

―I‘ve really had to try not to

[smile], as soon as I hear the

Maceo chant start,‖ said Con-

nor. ―But on the inside, I have

the biggest smile.‖

Connor saw the most playing

time he had all year against arch

-rival Liberty. He also played

excellent on the defensive side

of the court, causing a few turn-

overs and changing the momen-

tum in Freedom‘s favor.

―It was a great feeling,‖ Ma-

ceo said of his performance

against Liberty. ―Especially

since it was against Liberty and

one of my best friends since

elementary school. I was happy

to take advantage of the playing

time, however nothing in bas-

ketball can be done single hand-

ily. I have to show credit to the

rest of the team because they

played just as hard as I did.‖

The Patriots were ranked 9th

in the state at one point after

surging to a 13-0 start. Maceo

Connor noted that as a team

they simply hate to lose, which

is why the Parkland game (the

team‘s first loss) was so disap-

pointing to Connor and the rest

of the team.

―They just hit a lot of shots.

We knew we had to lose some-

time, and we couldn‘t stay un-

defeated forever. That being

said we can use that game as

motivation to not let it hap-

pen again,‖ Connor said.

Connor may not be a starter

this year on a senior-heavy

roster, but many forget that

he is only a Junior and has

not only the rest of this year,

but this offseason and next

year to improve his game.

―I get to see what parts of

my game need improvement

and have the drive to work

even harder in the offseason,

so that next year can be just

as successful,‖ said Connor.

The Boys‘ basketball team

has had a successful season thus

far, and Maceo Connor has been

a part of something truly special

that will continue its year of

greatness as the year progresses.

By Mike McGinty,

Sports Editor


Riot Squad Spirit Week

Monday, Feb. 6

Sports

Jersey Day

Tuesday, Feb. 7

Celebrity

Day

Wednesday, Feb. 8

Retro Basketball

Day

Thursday, Feb. 9

1990’s

Day

Friday, Feb. 10

Freedom

Family Friday

FRED SHUNK - SOCIAL STUDIES - 24 YEARS

Seeing the accomplishments of each extra curricular activity as the Patriot Band, the Chorus, the Scholastic Scrimmage Team and the teams of each sport. At graduation feeling very satisfied knowing that with the rest of the teachers I had something significant to do with the success of the graduates and hoping each of them would achieve his/her goals in the years to come.

THOMAS JORDAN - DRIVER’S EDUCATION - 33 YEARS

Taught and met many wonderful students but the most famous was “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson. My grandchildren think this is awesome.

ROSEMARY MURDY-HABER - VOCAL MUSIC DIRECTOR - 12 YEARS

Traveling to Europe with the FHS Concert Choir in 2002 and singing for His Holiness Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. It was a truly a blessed and educational experience for all who participated.

SHIRLEY COSNER - FINANCIAL/LIBRARY SECRETARY

Spirit Week when all the halls were decorated and the theme days for the week before the FHS-LHS game.

HELEN FARRELL - LIBRARIAN - 13 YEARS

Wondering how to get the library ready with utter chaos in the beginning stages of the construction.. After much help, and 2 ½ months later, we were able to open for the students and faculty. It really was a modern facility and a hub for all academic activity in that pre-computer age.

FHS v. LHS Basketball

Girls: 6:00pm Boys: 7:30pm

@ Liberty High School

12 Pates’ Post The Forum February 2012

Celebrating Black History Month

The month of February: to

many it is the time frame where

roses are sold and winter is cold;

but for me it is symbolized by

the national observance of Black

History Month. I could go on

differentiating the two sides of

the debate over whether Black

History Month is necessary or

important, but you can Google

search ―black history month‖ if

you want to know that. I could

go on into my personal views on

Black History Month, but you

can ask me in person. Instead, I

will tell you about what Black

History Month—as its founder

Carter G. Woodson intended—

has taught me.

Black History Month taught

me that Fredrick Douglass and

Abraham Lincoln‘s birthdays

are in February. It taught me

what an abolitionist was, and it

helped me understand why a

book on Lincoln was advertised

in every single issue of my

mom‘s Ebony magazines. Black

History Month taught me to

understand the Underground

Railroad in a figurative sense,

and that once upon a time rope

was not for jumping, stones not

for skipping.


me that to many the primary

colors were not red, yellow, and

blue. It showed me that history

class was right, and that states

could make exceptions around

the Amendments the national

government set forth. Black

History Month taught me that if

someone wanted division to be

equal, there was a strong prob-

ability that rising action would

occur.


me that marching is not exclu-

sive to bands. Black History

Month taught me that sitting in

does not mean being in front of

your television at home; I

learned that even fire hoses

could not put out the flames of

injustice. Black History Month

taught me that sometimes you

have to learn of the worst to

understand the turmoil your

country is in. Sometimes the

worst has to happen to have

change. My 83 year-old tears

from when a certain President

was elected, Black History

Month told me why.

Black History Month told me

that you could dream with your

eyes wide awake.

By Navea Frazier

The afternoon of Joe Paterno‘s procession should have been a normal day, but

this particular was anything but ordinary.

That afternoon during work, a man came up to me and asked, "How can a univer-

sity love a football coach so much?"

My reply was both prompt and heartfelt.

Joe Paterno wasn't just a football coach. He strove to bring athletics and academ-

ics together.

That library I study in? He built it, so I would have the ability to get the best

marks possible.

That church I worship in? He built it so all religions had a place to worship on

campus.

He loved Penn State almost as much as he loved his wife, Sue. I can only hope to

be half the person he was.

The man and I walked outside together where we encountered the overwhelming

silence that surrounded downtown State College as Joe made his final ride through

his beloved hometown and university.

Thank you, Joe Pa for shaping Penn State into the wonderful university it is to-

day.

Giving Thanks to an Icon By Karanda Erdman,

Penn State University Photos by Karanda Erdman / Penn State University

2012 February

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Transcript of 2012 February