June 2008

MR. MASSAPEQUA ‘08!

NEWS THE “R-WORD”, PAGE 3 EDITORIAL POTTYMOUTH, PAGE 4 FEATURES RETIRING TEACHERS ‘08, PAGE 8

Turn to pages 6 & 7 for the scoop (and lots of pictures)!

Massapequa High School

JUNE 2008

mhsthechief@yahoo.com

Vol. LVI - ISSUE 6

Beauty and the Beast Cast Brings Magic to the Stage MHS invites us to be their guest!

BY CHRIS RYAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

An overgrown forest; a small provincial town; a magical castle— all within the walls of the Baldwin Auditorium. On April 11, 12, and 13, some of Massapequa’s most talented students took to the stage in front of sold-out audiences to present their interpretation of Beauty and the Beast under the direction of Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Dempsey. For several months, more than one hundred Massapequa High School students rehearsed their lines, practiced their pit music, recreated mysterious lighting and painted spectacular sets to help recreate the magic of the Disney classic. But to those involved, the experience was a fairytale of its own.

“I only wish that everyone could see what we saw, could feel what we felt, and hear what we heard on closing night, with those bright lights shining at all of us and all of those roses lighting up in the audience,” said Kristen Dacunto, whose performance as Belle was what many called flawless. “I would do it all over again and again in a second.”

As anyone could see, the show’s casting was phenomenal.

Mike Pitocchi’s combination of acting and vocal talent helped portray Beast in sympathetic light true to the classic. Also, Matt Imperio (Gaston) and sidekick Corey Cross-Hanson

(Lafou) never failed to make the audience laugh with their physical comedy and hilarious antics.

Similarly, John Oliveri and Dennis Oehl both mastered their roles as the uptight Cogsworth and the showy Lumiere, accents and mannerisms included. And, as always, Katie Hoffmann moved the audience to tears with her beautiful voice, singing the song after which the musical is titled. This year in particular, the cast members really seemed to shine; many attribute it to the fact that over the four months of rehearsal, they truly grew into a family.

“Honestly, I’ve done the show all four years of my high school career, and we’ve never had directors put as much into a show as Greene and Demps did,” said Megan Hartman, who gave a touching tribute to the directing duo after the Saturday performance. “They took every little detail into account to make our show colorful and magical, and they helped us completely bond as a cast.”

As with any family, however, there comes a time to say goodbye. After the Saturday performance, a long-existent tradition continued as Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Dempsey gave roses to all the graduating cast members, some of whom have been gracing the MHS stage since freshman year.

“I’ve gone through four

years of roses, but I never realized that the hardest to accept would be my own,” said John Oliveri, whose journey to the stage began four years ago as a freshman in Anything Goes. “This is where I’ve made all of my memories.”

For some, the ‘journey to the stage’ takes on a more literal meaning. This year, a new generation of students joined the cast, making the daily trek from Ames to the main campus to be a part of the show— freshman Zach Urban’s portrayal of Chip was nothing short of endearing. Also, occupying a lead role was freshman Kristin Magaldi, who mastered the character of Babette, along

Photo Provided by Matt Imperio

with the hilarious mannerisms of the French-maid-turned-featherduster.

“Being from Ames, I wasn’t sure how it would be working with all of the seniors,” said Kristin. “But they were all so nice and inviting!

I felt welcomed from day one.”

Although the spring production has always been a collaborative effort, this year, the show truly was a high school musical; it could not have existed if not for the tremendous efforts of students in many creative fields. For the first time in years, the pit orchestra, conducted

by Ames band director Mark Stempel, was predominantly made up of continued on page 10

Massapequa: Haven For Heroin?

BY ANGELA ROAMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Heroin—it’s one of the “hardest” drugs out there, not to mention illegal. However, it was recently reported by Newsday that the use of heroin within upper class, Nassau County teens is on the rise.

Among the communities mentioned in Newsday’s article was Massapequa Park.

A report by the National Drug Intelligence Center as reported in Newsday explained that in recent years, heroin has been entering the United States in its purest form ever.

This not only makes it easier for users to inject it intravenously, but to smoke and snort it as well – therefore making heroin more appealing to a larger group of people who would have never before thought of “shooting up.” Heroin, reportedly, can also be acquired for a cheap $7 a bag.

According to Newsday, Nas-

sau County Police report that teens are initially using prescription drugs, and then getting involved in heroin once their supply dries up. The authorities also believe that teens that snort or smoke heroin acquire a false sense of security; however, the effects can be just as deadly.

Local school officials were urged by Nassau County Police Commissioner Laurence Mulvey at a meeting on May 8 to keep a close eye on their student bodies and to look for warning signs of heroin abuse.

“I was dismayed by the resurfacing of heroin in Nassau County,” said Dr. Grossane, who was present at this meeting. He reported that this increase in heroin use is not specific only to Nassau County, but to the entire Northeastern region of the United States. Even so, Newsday reports that the Nassau County Police Department is considering forming a

special task force geared specifically to combat heroin abuse.

Grossane continued that Newsday did not accurately portray what happened at the meeting. The data given to attendees was the number of people aged 18 to 30 who were hospitalized due to heroin abuse from January to April this year. The purpose of the meeting, which included many Nassau County school administrators, was to try to make school officials aware of the situation as a precaution.

News 12 Long Island aired a report on Friday, May 9 on their news program about heroin use in Nassau County. The backdrop for this segment included a shot of Massapequa High School. Many people were upset by what some called an act of “yellow journalism” – saying it was inappropriate to suggest to many that MHS was being

singled out for its heroin usage. In reality, there have been no reported cases of heroin use at MHS, according to Dr. Grossane.

“It was incredibly unfair,” Dr. Grossane said. This put Massapequa High School in an unnecessary bad light.

“It is wrong to assume that all students in Massapequa are doing heroin and News 12 made it seem that way,” Katie, a junior at MHS, believes. “The majority of students at the school work hard and should not have the reputation of doing drugs because some of their peers are.”

Dominique Graci agrees; “I think that News 12 made Massapequa look worse than it really is.

They made it look like our whole school does heroin when it doesn’t at all. It wasn’t just about us, it was about all of Nassau County. It offended some residents here.”

NEWS

JUNE 2008

Tragedy Strikes Again

THE CHIEF

The police searched the Massapequa Preserve feverishly after finding his EDITORIAL ASSISTANT For the second time in many jacket and other personal items nearmonths Massapequa High School by. Soon after, it was confirmed that flew its flag at half-staff, mourn- the body of the young man found in a Massapequa ing the loss of yet canal was inanother senior. deed Kieran.

Seventeen-yearStuold Kieran McCafdents and staff frey, a student at were shocked Massapequa High to learn of School, passed this untimely away in March. death. A stateKieran had ment released been missing since by the district February 2, and read, “The was reportedly last Massapequa seen hanging out Board of Eduwith his friends cation, adminthat evening. After istration and that, his wherestaff wish to abouts were unacPhoto provided by Lors Photography extend their counted for, prompting his father to file a missing persons report. deepest sympathies and condolences Fliers were posted throughout the to Kieran McCaffrey’s family and community asking for information. friends. At a time such as this, there

are no words to adequately express our sorrow.”

“He was a private kid and we are amazed about all the positive things that have been said about him,” said his father in an April 2 article printed in the Massapequa Post which also reported that Kieran had plans to attend college in the fall and pursue a career customizing automobiles.

A funeral mass was held at St Rose of Lima Catholic Church.

Many friends posted messages of sympathy for the family and to Kieran himself on a guestbook posted on Newsday.com. It will remain open until March 13, 2009.

Max Koons, a friend, described Kieran as “a good kid who loved surfing.” He was a loving son to his parents, John and Tara and a good brother to his two sisters Rhiannon and Siobhan. He will be dearly missed by friends and family.

voters, his personality undeniably has something to do with it.

Obama has made numerous visits to college campuses along the campaign trail, directly connecting to the youth vote. The democratic candidate naturally interacts with the young voters, a quality Senator Clinton is said to lack. This factor is often attributed to the larger generation gap between Clinton and the youth vote, with Obama at forty-six years old and Clinton at sixty.

Heather Smith, director of Young Voters Strategies, was quoted in “The Caucus,” The New York Times Politics Blog, saying, “Often times, just because young people are new to the [election] process, they’re talked to like they’re stupid.”

Obama is different in the sense that

he approaches young people without appearing condescending, but is “genuine” and “conversational.”

The Illinois Senator has also taken advantage of the Internet to reach out to young voters. His “Yes We Can” speech was produced into a song with appearances by celebrities, including Will.I.Am, John Legend, and Kate Walsh, singing and speaking over the actual speech. The music video, which happens to be very popular on YouTube, has created more buzz for Barack Obama because of the unique concept, making his message more easily accessible to the young voters than ever before.

Another issue rising out of the generation gap is race. Race appears to be less of an issue for the younger generation, with more

BY KYLE FEE

Barack-ing the Vote

BY MARISSA CETIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

One glance of the crowd at a rally for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, and it becomes evident who many young people will be entrusting their votes to come November. College t-shirt bearing supporters are seen in large numbers at rallies for the Illinois Senator, contrary to the crowds of former Democratic nomination hopeful New York Senator Hillary Clinton, which had a strong base in the older demographic.

The question on many people’s lips seems to be why so many of the under thirty voters are drawn to Senator Obama. While it is impossible to pinpoint what exactly it is about him that attracts younger

Around the World in Three Minutes

BY ANGELA ROAMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BAGHDAD, Iraq— According to CNN, the trial against Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein’s former regime members, has been delayed due to the illness of another defendant; the Iraqi Prodcedural codes require that every defendant must be in court for the first session.

Aziz and five others are being charged with the execution of forty-two merchants over profiteering, the act of profiting from war by selling weapons or other goods to parties in war. This is the fourth major trial of ex-Hussein officials since the US invasion.

TEHRAN, Iran— According to the Assoicated Press, Judiciary officials in Iran are worried about the cultural and social con-

sequences of Barbie dolls and other Western toys being smuggled into the country.

Officials believe that the increase of these toys being smuggled eastward is a threat to the development of future generations.

Iran has attepted to introduce dolls with modest clothing, but have been unable to compete with the toy smuggling industry.

In an official letter to Vice President Parviz Davoudi, General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi said that the increasing amount of Barbie dolls and other Western toys such as Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter are considered a “danger” and need to be stopped.

Since 1996, Iran has compared Barbie to the Trojan Horse, sneaking Western influences into Eastern culture.

Old Sneakers Make New Tracks

BY CASEY BACH CONTRIBUTOR

A sneaker drive conducted in March amassed almost one hundred pairs of previously owned footwear.

The used shoes collected were brought to Nike to be shredded and recycled into material for outdoor basketball courts and tracks.

Thanks to all the students and faculty at Massapequa High School who participated and helped make this a success!

Source: Nicekicks.com

members of the older generation than the young feeling that America is not ready for a black president.

Yet what grabs the attention of the young voters the most is Barack Obama’s inspiring words of hope and change. While the older generation may feel that Obama is speaking merely words that are most likely empty promises, his words instill optimism in young voters about what the future holds.

Between the war, the economy, and the current condition of the America, there is little for the youth to remain optimistic about, and the charismatic and compelling speeches that the presidential hopeful delivers restore faith in the country and opens up debate for what could become of the United States.

U. S. Economy: The ‘R’ Word

BY ANGELA ROAMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

According to USA TODAY’s leading team of economists, the United States economy is either in a recession, or headed towards one.

A recession is defined as two threemonth financial periods where the Gross Domestic Product, or the GDP decreases. The GDP is defined by how well goods and services are provided within a certain country.

Even the Federal Reserve stated, “Economic conditions have weakened,” as reported by CNN. In fact, Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said it is possible that the U.S. economy may go into a recession—and the word

“recession” is not used lightly by Federal Reserve unless necessary.

It is important to know that a recession is a part of the business cycle present in the United States economy. Economists surveyed by USA TODAY said they expect this recession to be short and shallow.

The Federal Reserve is doing its best to steer the country in the right direction, however they have no control of the prices of food and oil, which are on the rise.

To help the economy, consumers must continue buying goods and investing. This will stimulate the GDP and allow the economy to recover from this economic slump as soon as possible with the least amount of damage. photo source: wikipedia.org

NEWS

JUNE 2008

THE CHIEF

Community Professionals Present at Career Cafe

BY KYLE FEE

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

On April 3 in the Upper Gymnasium, the second annual MHS Career Cafe took place. The cafe was touted as a success, with many professionals who came to share a wealth of information with the MHS students.

Each participating student

took a preliminary test in order to narrow down the specific job areas in which they were interested. The fields possible were diverse, and ranged from Business and Law to Communication. Some even sought employment in the Armed Services.

Each student, equipped with a work packet to take notes and questions to ask, attended seminars about their two chosen fields of work. From there, the speaker shed light on the different aspects of their job. Students learned of different aspects of his or her speKYLE FEE//THE CHIEF

Green Fest a Success

Photo provided by Surfrider Club

On May 2 in the MHS upper gym, the Surfrider Club held their second annual Green Festival in order to raise environmental awareness at MHS. Throughout the night, the Surfrider club educated students about how their day-to-day actions can benefit the environment. Companies such as Trader Joes, Billabong, Quicksilver, Toyota, Sierra Club, Chico Bags, and the Surfrider Foundation were in attendance to show what they do for the environment, and even gave out freebies like posters and bumper stickers.

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cific line of work, such as what the education requirements are, and what the pay and benefits are.

From there, students entered an Alumni Forum, where former Massapequa and Berner alumni came to speak about their careers. While these were not specified for each student, a smattering of different jobs was accounted for, such as a TV personality or a fireman.

Business teacher and event organizer Ms. DeLury said, “It is such a great opportunity for students to be able to sit down with someone who actually works in the career field

KYLE FEE//THE CHIEF

they are interested in. It gives them a perspective about that career that they can’t learn by researching it on the Internet or seeing it played by an actor on a television show.”

It was another successful measure by MHS to not only care about the students when they are here, but to also prepare them for the future.

Foreign Language Food Festival heard more than once as people came closer to the cafeteria. There What do sombreros, were tables and stands from the difsign language, berets, German ferent language clubs everywhere, chocolate, pasta, French chocolate, each one with even more amazingly and guacamole all have to do with delicious food than the last. Walking MHS? along the tables, you could hear the clubs members competing for the best food. By the Spanish table, the one heard above all others was Dave Pevsner, raving about his favorite guacamole.

He boasted, “This is the greatest guacamole ever; it’s my aunt’s special recipe.” The chocoIAN GOODMAN // THE CHIEF late at the German table was also, The Foreign Language Food “amazingly perfect,” according to Festival, that’s what!

Kenny Korenstein, who also said, It was a great success, and “If I could, I would eat this chocolate tons of students attended from the every day!!” high school, Ames, Berner, As the night went and even the elementary on, more and more stuschools. dents and parents filled MHS foreign lanthe school for the festive guage students began predecorations, crafts, and paring hours before the delicious food. Students festival, putting up streamfrom each club dressed up ers, posters, and banners, for the occasion by wearmaking the hallways ex- IAN GOODMAN// THE CHIEF ing their club t-shirts or plode with color. There country’s colors. There were also tons of activities supplied was even a live mariachi band roamby the language departments for kids ing the halls, adding to the already to participate in. You couldn’t walk festive foreign language theme. down the hall without hearing kids At the end of the night, when yelling about the cool things they all the club members were cleaning made while showing them off to each up, everyone could agree that the other. The sounds of kids yelling, festival was a huge success. Almost “Where’s the German room with the all of the food brought by club memgummy bears” and “I wanna make bers had been eaten, and little kids one of those cool Spanish masks could be seen leaving the school with too!” could be heard everywhere. smiles on their faces (not to mention The ASL activities were also a great some pasta sauce, paint, chocolate, hit with their underwater theme. In and guacamole) while carrying cool this activity, kids learned how to and colorful crafts in their hands. sign colors and their names, and then “After all the work that had received a cool prize from a treasure been done,” said Meg Graham from box at the end of the activity.

ASL, “it was worth it to see all “What is that amazing the happy smiles on the little kids smell?” was something definitely faces.”

BY IAN GOODMAN PHOTO EDITOR

OP/ED

JUNE 2008

THE CHIEF

EDITORIAL

Hey Pottymouth... Has America’s language gone down the drain?

Cursing—it’s something we all do (most of us, anyway). Say you just stubbed your toe, and the first word that instantly blurts out of your mouth just so happens to fit into the category of what one would call an “obscenity.” We understand: you’re frustrated, and seemingly in terrible pain. Letting a little cuss slip here or there isn’t a sin—despite what your grandparents may say—it’s human.

However, there’s a big difference between letting a little cuss slip, and stringing together a sentence of the dirtiest words you can think of to the point where even George Carlin would be appalled. There’s a difference between mumbling some profanity under your breath within the privacy of your own home, and referring to a part of the male anatomy on TV for worldwide watchers to hear. Which brings us

to this question: we have these great free speech rights in the U.S., but are we abusing them?

“Cool thing to do” or not, the amount of times a day one can hear a passer-by in the hallway spouting out insults and slurs like it’s their profession is getting a tad ridiculous. The worst part is that most students seem to be shouting it out, uncaring of who may be in the vicinity, including the times when a teacher is near.

These outbursts of expletives and gross language can also be seen abundantly in the media and on shows like “Two and a Half Men,” “Family Guy,” and many other programs. It’s not rare that things of the vulgar sort are mentioned on TV these days, and even expressions written in the respected Newsday can sometimes be seemingly offensive.

On May 6, an article titled “‘Idol’

Psychics” was printed mentioning Syesha Mercado, and how she apparently left a “permanent butt print” on one of the bottom three stools.

To make matters worse, Sue Simmons, lead female anchor on WNBC-TV recently blurted out the “F” word for all viewers to hear.

While doing a live story on the high cost of groceries, a mishap occurred when the onscreen image shifted to something unrelated. This apparently puzzled Simmons triggering her to hastily blurt out “What the #*% are you doing?”

So where does the public draw the line? How much crude language and profanity is too much?

This, of course, is something for everyone to decide on his or her own, but with the new generation coming in and the old going out, it would seem as though we’re swiftly

switching our morals and restrictions on free speech, and letting our pesky tongue get the best of us.

Contrary to popular belief, many still agree that cursing like a sailor does not make anyone cool, nor does it make young people seem more grown-up or sophisticated.

Cursing does not make points any more clear or valid than words that are significantly less filthy would.

Something must be wrong when the same four-letter word is used as a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb all in the same sentence.

That being said, we ask students (and even adults) everywhere to reconsider their vocabulary, and maybe take a trip to the nearest bookstore to purchase a nice thesaurus.

Better yet, stop by The Chief office; we have several.

SPECIAL TECH REPORT

Technology Terrorism

BY MOHIT CHHATPAR

a certain program or application, causing the computer to crash and

Today people use technology losing all the data. Another AIM all the time. Whether it is using virus is an instant message that their cell phones, their PDAs, or is sent to everyone on a person’s their computers; they just can’t get buddy list, which contains a link enough of it. But have you ever heard to that same virus. The people who of the term “technology terrorism?” receive this IM think that their friend

Recently, Long Islanders sent the link and unknowingly click received text messages on their the link and end up with the virus.

Another big issue cell phones is phishing. This is warning of a when sites that seem gang initiation. part of Facebook and People were Myspace ask the user informed not to to enter their password, get out of their but the password is cars if they were used by computer hit from behind, bots and people to and that it would change, harm, or most likely d e l e t e s o m e o n e ’s happen at night. account. It also sends “I don’t know spam messages to if those text their Facebook and messages were MySpace friends. This true or not,” happened to MHS junior Nicole Senior Nick Beek, Koenigsmann who said, “It was more said, “but if I were driving Source: howstuffworks.com of an inconvenience than anything else.” alone and got hit, I’d be really A prank that has been widely scared. I don’t know what I’d do!”

The computer isn’t the only used is “rickrolling.” Rickrolling is place to send viruses nowadays when a person sends another person either—viruses are capable of a link to the music video of the being sent from cell phone to cell popular Rick Astley song “Never phone though text, photo, and video Gonna Give You Up.” The receiving messages. The viruses can be uploaded person is supposed to think this onto the phone though the computer link is really of something funny or and sent digitally through the phones. interesting, but it is not. Senior Frank

T h r o u g h A O L I n s t a n t Myles said, “I clicked on a link from Messenger, people can chat with a dear friend, thinking it was a link to each other, and send pictures and a Beatles video, only to discover that files. Someone could open a file and my dear friend had, in fact, rickrolled receive a virus in that file which the me. I was confused, to say the least. I person knows nothing about. The felt betrayed.” “Rickrolling” gets its virus can spread after the user opens name from “Duckrolling,” another MANAGING EDITOR

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, After reading the latest issue of The Chief I want to bring you up to date on what we have been doing in the technology department for some time now. That is recycling.

Mr. DeSantis, the students and I have been recycling paper and non-deposit plastic bottles and aluminum cans for almost four years.

We encourage the students to return the deposits to the store or beverage center. We often take time to explain to students why we voluntarily do this. This is the first year we are weighing the paper. Next year we will weigh the paper, the bottles and the cans separately to give the students a better understanding of the waste we generate. Mr. Kwas has also been doing similar projects in his environmental studies class.

I think The Chief and the Surfrider club is doing a great thing by bringing the issue of the environment to the students and staff. I would like to read more on this topic in future issues of The Chief.

Stop down to the technology wing for more information on this topic and many other environmentally friendly projects.

We can all work together to keep Massapequa High School and all of Long Island clean.

Thank you, Mr. V. Salamone

What They’re Doing To Help With the help of the students, Mr. Salamone, Mr. DeSantis and the Power and Energy Applications Course has been conducting a Paper Recycling Drive. Their goal is to recycle 2000 pounds, or one ton, of paper.

Recycling one ton of paper saves 463 gallons of oil, 6953 gal-

cyber prank, where the deceptive link lead to a picture of a duck on wheels.

People have received emails with viruses and spam in the past but recently, it has gotten much worse. Viruses can infect computers after people merely open e-mails from unknown senders. Anti-virus protection programs unfortunately cannot always detect these viruses, which is how computers can crash.

lons of water, 587 pounds of air pollution, and 4077 kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity.

From October 2007 through April 2008, The Paper Recycling Drive has recycled 520 pounds of paper in room 91 as of April 16, 2008. Remember, “Act locally—think globally.”

Junk e-mail caused by the innumerable viruses is also unbearable for many.

Senior Chris Petrik said, “It is really annoying. Probably about 90% of the messages I get are spam. And every now and then I wind up accidentally marking something important as spam because there is so much junk surrounding it.”

Last week I watched the movie Live Free or Die Hard again, continued on page 10

OP/ED

JUNE 2008

THE CHIEF

POINT/COUNTERPOINT

To Meat or Not to Meat: That is the Question!

Pro-Veg

Pro-Meat

BY CHARLOTTE BURGER

“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most It might sound strange, but serious environmental problems. Urdropping that burger from your diet gent action is required to remedy the will actually benefit the environ- situation.” The report adds that when ment. livestock are bred for consumption, it Most of us may feel we can- causes land and water degradation. not bring about large-scale change The report, “Livestock’s as individuals, Long Shadow-Enbut we can make vironmental Issues smart choices as and Options,” claims to what we can do that meat production to help the enviworldwide is projected ronment thrive— to more than double one choice being from the 229 million becoming a vegtons it was in 2001 Source: vincentchow.net etarian. to 465 million tons in According to a report pub- 2050. This increase is due to a rise lished by the United Nations Food in global prosperity, which leads to and Agriculture Organization (FAO), people consuming more meat and the livestock sector generates more dairy products. It is an ironic and greenhouse gas emissions than the sad fact that as the standard of living transportation sector. The reason worldwide improves, the world in for this would be funny if its en- which we live degrades. vironmental implications were not As one smart “veg” theoso serious—it is the gas they pass. rized, “Nothing will benefit human When livestock pass gas, they give health or increase the chances for off methane, a greenhouse gas. survival of life on earth as the evo Henning Steinfeld, senior lution to a vegetarian diet.” That author of the FAO report, writes, “veg,” was Albert Einstein.

OPINION EDITOR

AP Kids Can Party Hard Too!

BY MARISSA CETIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

If you didn’t think AP kids could party hard—think again.

On the crisp, clear night of May 10, the night after the wretched AP US History exam, some APUSH students celebrated the end of the AP by throwing a pseudo-bonfire—really just a fire pit in the parentally supervised backyard of one of the celebrants. Tossed into the flames were essays, packets, study guides and tests that caused innumerable headaches and late nights over the year. It may not have been the most environmentally conservative way to get rid of these pesky papers, but it was certainly therapuetic.

By 11:20 pm, the fire had almost burnt itself out, and the now APUSH burden-free students settled around the fire pit and reminisced about the past year. The students were just about ready to pack it in for the night, when junior Alex Novet casually suggested, “Maybe we should pay attention to the cops over there.” The comment went unnoticed by many and slowly filtered into recognition by the others, and in disbelief the group turned their heads to the opposite side of the back yard to see eight policemen (two more were later discovered to be in the front yard) waltz through the open side gate, and carefully examine

the hot tub which was not used that night (everyone was dry and fully clothed).

The students were flabbergasted; why would the cops bust this quiet party? “I mean, there we were sitting, watching our entire year’s worth of notes, homework, and grades of 47’s burn when ten cops in five cars came to break it up,” junior Jenna Amatulli said. “It didn’t seem right.”

Incredibly amused by this odd situation, jokes like “Who ordered the strippers?” and “I hope this makes it into the Massapequa Post Police Blotter!” were passed, followed by strained laughter, as this most definitely was not a laughing matter.

Before the herd of men in uniform were able to cross the backyard, the hostess’s parents stepped outside to find out why on Earth five cop cars were at this particular party. Apparently, the music playing in the background was too loud for the neighbors, but even that does not seem to warrant ten police officers to respond to a noise violation. This begs the question: was there really nothing else happening in Massapequa to keep ten officers occupied? (Which isn’t such a bad thing, if you think about it.) Perhaps, were they expecting to find a much different party going on?

BY KYLE FEE

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Say some good-hearted Samaritan offers you a tasty AllAmerican burger. Most of us would eat with remarkable relish, or an enjoyment usually reserved for TRexes. But others would simply balk at the chance. Instead, they opt for the steamed broccoli, the steamed carrots, or the steamed string beans.

Who are these people? Well let me tell you. They are replacing your turkeys with Tofurkey, your sausage with soysages, and so on. They are VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS! All kidding aside, they are growing steadily in number. According to a 2006 poll taken by the Vegetarian Journal, approximately 6.7% of the American population, aged 18 and older, do not eat meat.

As the years pass on, this number will grow exponentially. However, the definition of vegetarianism can be misconstrued with the definition of veganism. Vegetarians do not consume meat. Vegans do not consume either meat or animal byproducts. Of course for both groups, a large vitamin and mineral gap is left in their bodies. Many of them take supplements to give their body these necessary items, yet claim that it is in the food they consume. There are bodily needs that can only be fulfilled with protein consumption, and meat is an excellent source of protein.

A popular argument from vegetarians is that the animals suffer when they are killed. Although I cannot speak on behalf of the meat

industries, I can safely assume that due to regulations, many steps are being taken to find a respectful and painless way to harvest these animals. Whether these methods are to cover their tracks, or for the dignity of the animals, can be decided in the court of public opinion.

A known fact is that, whether we like it or not, humans are a part of an everlasting food chain. While we may be on the upper-levels of this chain, we are not at the top. If we were, beef jerky might as well be made out of bear. But needless to say, in order to continue the natural cycle we, as consumers, must partake in eating lower-echelon animals.

Finally, the radicals of these groups wish to significantly reduce meat eating in dramatic numbers.

If telling people what to eat is not outrageous enough, good luck trying to convince them that a good number of their Moms and Pops were wrong trying to force those eggs and bacon on them as a kid.

Now, nobody is here to say a vegetarian lifestyle is completely and utterly wrong. In fact, I condone the lifestyle, for the less meat consumed by vegetarians, the more chicken fajitas I can have.

And it is unfortunate that some of the animals suffer according to these people. But do notsome of our citizens suffer in “correctional facilities” or on the street? So I ask that you think about these things next time you dine on that salad. It is your choice. But I ask that you let me enjoy my medium-well cheeseburger in peace.

The Chief Editorial Staff OUTGOING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chris Ryan

INCOMING HEAD COPY EDITOR Charlotte Burger

OUTGOING MANAGING EDITOR Mohit Chhatpar

BUSINESS MANAGER Megan Cohen

INCOMING EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Angela Roamer Marissa Cetin

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Jamie DeFilippis

INCOMING MANAGING EDITORS Caitlin Waldron T.J. Kelly SPORTS EDITOR Matt Frank PHOTO EDITOR Ian Goodman OUTGOING HEAD COPY EDITOR Courtney Sullivan

COPY EDITORS Stephanie Post Lisa Totino EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Kyle Fee Katie Fuccillo Kevin McCarthy Sara Pickles ADVISER Elyn Coyle

FEATURE

Frank tickles the ivories

Klinger and Kelly have “the time of their lives”

Toby’s triathlon triumph

John Guerrini takes the crowd under the sea

There must be jumping genes in the Doria family

Rico ... Suave

Matt Bennett rocks out on the guitar

THE CHIEF

MR.MASSAPEQUA‘08

JUNE 2008

Mr. Massapequa pumps up the crowd

MHS Kickline shows off thier moves

BY CAITLIN WALDRON MANAGING EDITOR

“There he is, Mr. Ma apequa; there he is your ideal! took the town by storm, with his American face and form…”

Well, not quite.

But the senior class sp sored, third annual Mr. Massape pageant for the talented, no talented and sometimes downr courageous guys that walk be us everyday in our hallways wa event to remember. Who knew these unassuming men were so fu talents and, er, surprises? Who k that Massapequa’s male popula was so full of astounding abil And who would have guessed the periodic table of elements co be sung to such a beautiful tune There was blood spil bananas eaten, and startlingly l gongs endured all in the nam everlasting glory—the title of Massapequa 2008. The boys m every effort to impress this year, w many remarkable and interes performances that ranged from s ing, dancing, playing an instrum (or four) to reciting original po and even partaking in spirited ea contests.

The night started off w the traditional kickline routine, introduction of the judges (includ last year’s winners, Chris Ryan and Mr. Schwartz) and the casual wear competition. The guys walked the catwalk like pros, modeling their everyday dress and hamming it up for the judges.

After the casual wear, it was time for the main event of the competition, the part that could make or break a contestant: the talent portion. This year, a strict time limit was enforced with a giant gong after the contestant’s five minutes were up. It worked effectively, not only clearly indicating to the competitor that his time was up, but sca the crowd thoroughly as well.

ass! He s All-

ponequa ot so right eside as an that ull of knew ation lity? that ould e? lled, loud me of Mr. made with sting singment oems ating

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aring

FEATURE

JUNE 2008

THE CHIEF

And the winners are...

Fred Bastien & Mr. O’Reilly This year’s winners were Fred Bastien, a senior, and Mr. O’Reilly, a government and economics teacher. Fred Bastien won for his performance of an original choreographed dance to several mixed songs, including a slow-motion “Soulja Boy.” Need a one word description of his routine? Epic. The crowd roared as Fred did crazy footwork and impressive moves all over the gym.

Junior Katie Carpenter remarked, “Fred’s choreography was creative and exciting to watch.” Many who had seen him perform this year and last year believe he has a real talent for choreography, and would not be surprised if that ends up being his career path.

One senior said, “Fred is incredible.

We’re all going to be seeing his

MC//THE CHIEF

videos on MTV one day.”

Fred even said he would love

to be a choreographer one day but great—it was so funny. The kids in keeps it realistic: “I want to study his classes got a kick out of it.” pre-med in college.” Staying true to Mr. O’Reilly said he was “simply honored to be Mr. Massapequa.

It is a title I am truly proud to have,” when he was named the champion.

Though F r e d a n d M r.

O’Reilly were the winners, this year’s contestants made it difficult for the judges to decide the champion. Talent abounded as act after act impressed the audience and the panel. Ryan Coyle, Mike Fursa, Justin Lieberman, and Casual Sweater Tuesday rocked the stage.

Frankie Dioguardi played a piece on the piano, gaining the approval of last his style, Fred moonwalked down year’s winner, Chris Ryan. Adam the runway after being crowned.

When asked how it felt to be the winner of Mr. Massapequa, 2008, Fred said, I was “shocked and in disbelief for the fact that I was awarded for something I love to do.”

Mr. O’Reilly showed off his creativity by writing a poem inspired by MHS that reflected the social issues of the moment—apparently, teachers can see you texting behind your bag.

When asked how it felt to be up in front of the crowds, O’Reilly stated, “Truthfully, once I got on with the poem I felt very comfortable and was just having a good time out there.”

Mr. Kennedy, who took third Birke played Jack Johnson’s “Betplace for his amazing performance ter Together” on acoustic guitar and on the drums, said “The poem was simultaneously made all the girls

Terrific job to the senior class for organizing this great event

Judging looks like hard work

in the gym swoon. Diego Penafiel rapped an original composition that was in both Spanish and English.

“The Greatest Common Factor,” the three-piece rapping group of John Pesce, Mike Vigilante, and Alex Harris, rapped their innovative song about their Massapequa pride, stating that they were “representin’ ‘516’ to the core.”

Then there were the more … interesting acts. A plethora of random and exciting performances made the crowd laugh, and, in the case of Toby Ring, fear for the contestant’s health (Toby did a micro-triathlon and slipped in a pool, hard. His bloody nose left a trail following his bike around the gym).

Andrew Maloney attempted to maneuver his way out of a wet wetsuit in under five minutes and succeeded.

Nick DiVerde tried to solve a Rubik’s cube in under five minutes and failed spectacularly (he came back later, before Mr. O’Reilly’s act to present the solved Rubik’s cube to the judges). Juniors Matt Imperio and Rob Seckler staffed a mini hot dog-eating contest; Matt walked away the victor.

And sophomore Rob Goeren peeled a banana with his toes and ate it, making some audience members squirm and leaving the rest wondering how he discovered this “unique” talent in the first place.

All in all, this year’s competition proved to be the best one since its inception. We can only look forward to MC//THE CHIEF next year and anticipate another great show. Next year’s contestents have a lot to live up to if they hope to inherit the crown.

Photos by Danielle Zappa

JUNE 2008

FEATURES

Retiring Teachers ‘08 Mrs. Friese

BY ANGELA ROAMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Closing the book on her twenty-eight year teaching career this year is English teacher Mrs. Lorianne Friese.

Over those years, she spent one year at Adelphi University, along with dedicating EMPIRE STUDIOS herself to the Massapequa School District for the remainder of her career. Mrs. Friese has split her teaching years between McKenna Middle School, Berner Jr. High School, the Ames Campus, and Massapequa High School, where she has taught for 18 years.

Throughout those years, she has had the opportunity to teach seventh through twelfth grade English along with AP Literature and SAT Prep.

Mr. McDaniels

BY MAX SPARR STAFF WRITER

“Hello students and welcome to your first day of Applied Physics,” or that’s at least what students got on their first day from Mr. McDaniels.

He taught Physics and Astronomy as well.

Approaching the end of his eighth year at MHS, Mr. McDaniels has had many great experiences both in and out of the classroom. When asked why he came to MHS after working in Amityville for twentyseven years and about one year at Valley Stream, he simply replied “The drive was just killing me!”

Some of his favorite parts include the great staff of teachers and the students: “This year I have had the nicest kids that I have had in my 40 years of teaching.” Out of the classroom, Mr. McDaniels has participated in many school sponsored blood drives, the National Honor So-

Her favorite part of teaching is having the ability to work with so many great teachers and special students who made an impact on who she is today. There have been talented students over the years that have inspired and impressed her both in the classroom and outside the classroom.

Her future plans include NOT reading the Harry Potter series, however she will still continue reading what she wants. Additionally, she plans to sleep, see her grown children, and travel. Although she has seen most of Europe, Mrs. Friese would like to see more of the United States during retirement.

Mrs. Friese would like to leave us with this advice: “I would hope students would appreciate the education that is being offered to them. And I’d like to tell all my fellow teachers to keep up the good work and have fun.”

ciety, The Chief, and even the school yearbook, Sachem. Although there are many other activities that he could h a v e participated in, he chose not to because “I think it is IAN GOODMAN//THE CHIEF m o r e important for the younger teachers to get involved.”

As a final thought to his career as a teacher (whether at MHS or not), “I think that it is very important for you to have passions and enthusiasm that keep you going no matter how overwhelming things seem. For me it was teaching – I never wanted to do anything else because I enjoy it.

You need something to do and enjoy so you don’t just drift on by.”

We are all going to miss you Mr. McDaniels.

for just about one year at Berner).

After he retires this year, he plans to just take it easy, and he eventually,

BY STEPHANIE POST COPY EDITOR wants to move to Tampa, Florida.

“It’s a pleasure to work Mr. Ocasio is the man behind for him,” commented the scenes, the one who Tommy Tagliavia, keeps our high school nighttime custodian. spotless. He put a lot of “He’s fair and the best hard work into mainboss I’ve ever had.” taining our school and Not only will keeping things running he be missed when he smoothly, and will defileaves, but Mr. Ocasio nitely leave a void when IAN GOODMAN//THE CHIEF will miss the people he retires from MHS. here too. He explained Mr. Ocasio has worked at Massapequa for twenty- in a recent interview that he has no seven years, for a total of twenty- complaints or regrets about the years eight years in the district (he worked spent at the high school.

Mr. Ocasio

Ms. Monzingo

BY KEVIN McCARTHY EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

For thirty-three years, Ms. Robin Monzingo has been a speech/ language teacher in the Massapequa community. Her skills as a teacher have touched schools throughout the district, including Lockhart, Birch Lane, McKenna, Ames, Berner, and Massapequa High School.

As she enters retirement this year, she looks forward to a future of sleeping later than five o’clock in the morning, and because she loves to travel, she looks forward to traveling without crowds of vacationing teachers and students.

But Monzingo’s plans for the future go beyond vacations. She has set personal goals as well.

She described her life as a “triad,” composed of three different stages of her life. The first, most difficult part included adolescence and working hard to begin her teaching career. In the second part, her life improved, as life got easier as she established her teaching career and felt acceptance. The third part, she hopes, will be more “spiritual,” as she studies yoga and reiki.

Monzingo grew up in Massapequa, and she has been working in the community ever since. No matter what she did in her life and career, she has always ended up back here in Massapequa. This has inspired her

Mrs. Coutu

BY MARISSA CETIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

After twenty years of teaching in the Massapequa School District, and ten years of teaching here at MHS, Mrs. Coutu, more familiarly known to students as Madame or Signora Coutu, is retiring.

Throughout her career, Mrs. Coutu has taught French, Italian and Spanish (“All three!”), but she especially enjoys the French classes, adding, “I love teaching the AP and accelerated classes.”

Academics aside, Mrs. Coutu’s favorite part of being a teacher is working with the students—“I love reaching out; when it sparks an interest, and the students want to explore more into the country and travel there. It’s a good feeling when I see that a student expresses an interest in the culture,” because French is “not just words.”

“I’m going to miss the kids and my friends,” explained Mme Coutu when asked what she will miss most in her retirement.

Mme. Coutu also finds it, “very rewarding,” when older students visit and share that their French classes in college are so easy in comparison to high school thanks

THE CHIEF

belief that she was destined to improve the community, from teaching students to helping other teachers.

She has established a written mission for herself: to “enrich the Massapequa IAN GOODMAN//THE CHIEF community through education and leadership to fully achieve it’s potential, to raise it’s students and level of consciousness by producing active, educated, productive, well raised citizens whose collective goal is to eliminate bigotry, hatred, racism and injustice.”

As Ms. Monzingo leaves the school, she encourages students to have an open mind about other people, to not judge others and to “try to imagine yourself in other people’s shoes,” when trying to understand another person’s reasoning, and to overall “accept other people for their differences.” She also encourages students to learn from their mistakes.

“Look at every experience you have in life as a learning experience.”

Even as she ends her teaching career, Ms. Monzingo will continue living her life as a helper.

to her challenging classes. “I still stay in touch with a lot of my older students,” she said.

As for her plans for the future, Mrs. Coutu exclaimed, “Of course I’m going to travel!” and her career will certainly make the language barriers much less of a problem. “I’m not the type to sit around and do nothing,” s a i d Mrs. Coutu, so she plans to tutor and maybe teach a college level IAN GOODMAN//THE CHIEF course.

But most importantly, she definitely plans on “not getting up at 5:30 in the morning!”

Appropriately, Mme. Coutu looks to the famous French book

by Antoine Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince—The Little Prince for the non-French students—(“It’s my favorite!”) for her profound and inspiring quote: “You only see well with your heart. The essential is invisible to the eye.”

JUNE 2008

ENTERTAINMENT

Summer Blockbusters

BY KEVIN MCCARTHY

movies like Evan Almighty), Anne Hathaway, The Rock, and recent For the film industry, sum- Oscar-winner Alan Arkin (grandpa mer is the most important season, from Little Miss Sunshine), when studios strategically and Tropic Thunder, release their big-budget with Jack Black, Ben films when kids are off Stiller and Robert from school and makDowney Jr. ing money to frivoAnother one lously spend. of the blockbusters this So far this sumyear is The Dark Night, a sequel mer we have Iron Man (awesome to Batman Begins. The film has movie, see review), had plenty of probChronicles of Narlems: accidents, nia: Prince Casfires, and of course pian (I haven’t the tragic death seen it yet), of Heath Speed Racer Ledger, (didn’t see it, who plays but it was a The Joker. huge box ofIt’s good to fice bomb) Indiana know that his last Jones and the Kingrole is said to be dom of the Crystal an excellent perSkull (great movie; I formance. could’ve done withAdding to Source: firstshowing.net out the aliens though) the list of remakes and Sex and the City (again, the this summer is The Incredible Hulk, aliens kind of ruined the movie for out June 13, another attempt at makme—no, not really, I didn’t see it.) ing a Hulk movie after the one from The release of these movies leads 2003—which was really, really bad. us nicely into June.

But this time it’s with critically acPixar is releasing their next claimed actor Edward Norton (Fight animated feature WALL-E, about a Club, American History X), which lonely robot cleaning up the Earth. gives moviegoers some hope for the And if that doesn’t seem very not-so-jolly green giant. interesting, remember in the past fourteen years, Pixar hasn’t made a bad movie, so this probably won’t be the first. Plus, it looks adorable.

And basically the only other kids movie this year is Kung Fu Panda, about a kung-fu panda, which I think looks hilarious.

Other comedies include Get Smart, a movie version of the old classic Mel Brooks TV show from the ‘60s, with Steve Carell (who’s always funny even in bad EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Source: media.movieweb.com

THE CHIEF

Movie Review: Iron Man

problem Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring and the first Iron Man was released this Spider-Man had. The movie really month, continuing the trend of mak- needs a sequel, where we can skip ing big-budget movies out of comic the background story and dive right books that no one really reads any- into the action.

And then there’s the acting. more. This idea has also produced six Batmans, five Supermans, three Robert Downey Jr. plays the title role, Spidermans, three X-Mens, a Hulk, a and does so very well, rising above Ghost Rider; the list goes on and on, the average for an action movie. I’m and only a handful of these movies not a fan of comic books, so I don’t know exactly how accurate that castare really good.

And I’d say Iron Man gets ing was, but from seeing the movie, into that handful. It has a few flaws, Downey suited the part. Maybe that’s but it tries for style and original- because the press and media surity, and it deserves credit for that. The movie also has a good balance to it—it has a dark tone but still incorporates a lot of humor (audiences find the fire-extinguishing robot to be hilarious.)

It’s fantastical but it’s still grounded in reality, and it still has some fine special efSource: Imageshack.us fects without forgetting to develop round Iron Man the same way they surthe story and characters.

Like most superhero movies, rounded the lead actor when he had the film explains the hero’s origin struggled with drug abuse proband inspiration for getting into the lems.

The worst aspect of the movcrime-fighting business. Iron Man has a surprisingly unique and inter- ie has to be Gwyneth Paltrow. She esting story: Tony Stark (Iron man’s follows Kirsten Dunst and Katie real name) was a rich weapons man- Holmes in the tradition of playufacturer who was attacked with his ing the kind-of-annoying superhero own weapons by a terrorist group, girlfriend. And she’s not that bad, and the group forced Stark to build but as is the case with many action the weapons into a missile. Instead, movies, a romantic subplot tends he built a robotic suit and escapes, to slow the movie down unless it’s and as a result, Stark’s moral views actually interesting which Iron Man on weapons changed. All of this is seems to fall short of.

Other than that, it’s hard to shown in a very Batman Beginscomplain about a movie like Iron style way.

It’s very good stuff, but while Man, which is the perfect way to explaining the facts and introducing kick off the season of big-budget all the characters, it kind of takes popcorn movies. away from the action—the same

BY KEVIN MCCARTHY EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Love at First Season?

BY KATIE FUCCILLO EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Rarely. The first season of a reality dating show almost always pales in comparison to the second season. It seems as if the first season is just preparation for the second season in which the contestant intends to truly find love. The first season is merely the warm-up round, and the relationship is ended in less time than the show’s running.

And you can bet that one reject of the first season will shine amongst the others, making the contestant bring him or her back for another shot, rock, flavor, ect. of love. This contestant will exchange the remnants of his or her dignity for another fifteen minutes of fame. No

one displays this better than Tiffany Pollard, more popularly known as “New York.”

Source: blogcritics.org

After failing to capture the forty-nine year old rapper’s heart on seasons one and two of “Flavor of Love”, New York decided it was time for her to move on from Flav and start her own reality show. The first season’s failure was short-lived as New York was soon to return to grace, or haunt as some would argue, us with another season. She decided that a still married George Weisgerber III, who won her love with lavish presents, was the clear winner.

Ironically, it seems as if one has better luck finding love when he or she does not intend to do so.

Only one season of the Bachelor was successful in creating a lasting relationship. However, MTV’s the Real World, which chooses housemates at random, has led to three marriages, an engagement, and several longterm relationships.

It’s not surprising that the reality shows’ names are never profound or even creative. Of course the name of the show would be “A Shot at Love” for someone whose ‘last name’ is Tequila and “Rock of Love” for a washed up rock-star.

It must have taken some degree of ingenuity to come up with the title, “That’s Amore!” for the Italian bach-

elor Domenico’s spin-off show.

Despite the fact that everything about the reality shows—from the desperate and trashy contestants to the seemingly scripted drama shows screams “unwatchable,” one cannot help but watch. We love to engage in drama more exciting than our own and watch the demise of a hated cast member. We are aware that the shows fail in their true purpose but could not care less, as we watch the desperate fame-seekers fight in drunken battles. Somehow, the quality of television programs decrease as the ratings increase. Even now, I cannot help but tune into Flavor of Love to see which under-aged contestant is one step closer to receiving one of Flavor Flav’s clocks.

JUNE 2008

ENTERTAINMENT

THE CHIEF 10

MHS Unplugged Showcases Talent

BY TJ KELLY

MANAGING EDITOR

MHS Unplugged finally returned after a one year hiatus for the staging of Massapequa’s tuneful talents.

Unplugged, an event run by the G.O. officers under the supervision of Ms. Bonavoglia, is an evening full of performances by adept Massapequa High School musicians who sing and play original compositions or cover popular songs for a crowd of family members, classmates, and alumni. And this year, the crowd was treated to amazing performances.

On the night of the event, the G.O. officers arrived to a beautifully prepared room with tables, chairs, and a stage set for the performers (just one of the reasons

why the custodians are awesome).

Remarkable performances were given throughout the night, like the song “Anyone Else but You,” from the movie Juno, performed by harpist Kaitlyn Albert and singer/gutarist Jamie Blum. Contrast preformed their rendition of “Lime in the Coconut,” and Steve Dale, Mike Damiani, and Frank Myles preformed a Beatles Melody, a clever opus of The Beatles most famous songs. Andrew Barbarello performed an original guitar composition, and

Mike Pitocchi performed his original composition entitled “Sin nombre.”

Meghan Hartman’s reaction to the night was that she “honestly had no idea we had so any talented musicians at the school. It was a great night and a great showcase of Massapequa talent.” This special night really gave some insight to what the Massapequa student body has to offer musically.

Great job to everyone from this year’s MHS Unplugged.

Behind the scenes...

IAN GOODMAN//THE CHIEF

Auditions were held for 3 days. Left: Ryan Coyle, Above: Jamie DeFilippis and Jeanine Talento, Right: Bryan DeStefano and Matt Bennett.

Techno Terrorism

continued from pg. 1 and it dealt with technology terrorism, except it was referred to as, “virtual terrorism.” The movie was inspired from the 1997 article, “A Farewell to Arms” in Wired magazine. The term used for the “virtual terrorism” to happen was a “fire sale,” which has three steps. The first step is shutting down all transportation, highways, trains, boats, and street signals, which would prevent any emergency services to help any citizens. The second step is shutting down all the financial systems in the country, causing the stock market to crash.

The third step is shutting down all utilities and telecommunications in the country, such as water, electricity, and satellites and phones. All three steps would leave the country in panic and chaos, and each step can be accomplished digitally and through technology, since almost everything these days are run on technology.

Of course, it was just a movie and this is just an article, but it seems that these days anything is possible.

Beauty and the Beast, continued from pg. 1 students. However, despite the lack of professionals, the student majority seemed to have only positive effects on the success of the group.

With hundreds of pages of music to be learned, the pit musicians grew extremely close to each other over their two months of after-school rehearsals, enabling the group to truly perform as a polished ensemble.

“The pit was a really great way to get involved in something so big and spectacular as the play, and honestly, I’ve never had so much fun being productive,” said senior Mike Damiani, who played trumpet alongside sophomore Jason Kammerer. “I wish great opportunities like this came more often.”

And all those elaborate sets?

They too were the work of students.

Without the help of Mr.Disantis’s tech classes, the production would have been quite two-dimensional; his students spent many hours building the elaborate foundation of Beast’s castle. Then, seniors Christa Brunks and Ashley Veltre stepped up to the plate serving as set designers for the production. Under their direction, many art students and several devoted members of the cast worked feverishly to recreate everything from the castle library to the flowers outside Belle’s home.

“This was definitely a great learning experience,” said Christa Brunks, whose artistic eye helped bring the magic to life. “This experience made me think about continuing with projects like this in the future.”

Although the production emulated the best of Broadway in many respects, the cast certainly

had its share of pranks and inside jokes. But really, what do you expect when you get a bunch of actors and musicians together for an extended period of time? At the end of the finale, Belle is supposed to descend from an upper balcony to meet the Prince. However, during the final dress rehearsal, members of the production were shocked to see senior Lenny Stromstedt descend the stairs alongside Kristen Dacunto…in Belle’s signature yellow dress!

Overall, the Sunday family matinee seemed to foster some of the most memorable moments. Early on in the play, Babette and Lumiere share some diologue in which they criticize each other’s past love affairs. After a little conspiring in the lobby the night before the matinee, Dennis Oehl and Kristin Magaldi incorporated pit conductor Mr. Stempel into this dialogue without ever breaking into a smile, causing stifled laughter among both the audience and those involved in the prank.

The pit also had some laughs of its own. Not to be outdone by their acting counterparts, the males of the pit (and sophomore Kelly Burke) requested they be given ridiculous French mustaches by the skilled makeup department—Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Dempsey, of course. As anyone in the audience could have seen, their request was granted. Another gag occurred after Sunday’s intermission, when several musicians broke into the theme from “Rocky” as Mr. Stempel reentered the auditorium.

“Seeing all the little kids watching you and thinking that it is so real, you start to believe it your-

self. You look at all the kids sitting in awe, and you see yourself ten years ago and just get this immense feeling that you did something worthwhile,” sums up “Silly Girl” Lauren Morlock. “That, or they were just so horrified to see people in masks running at them down the aisles that they wet themselves and were too embarrassed to move. Ei-

ther way, it was good fun all around.”

Overall, the musical was as spectacular as the people who were involved in it. Another job well done by the cast, the crew, the pit, the artists, and last but certainly not least, Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Dempsey, who never cease to give back to their students in every way possible.

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JUNE 2008

THE CHIEF 11

Boys Tennis Falls One Short

BY MATT FRANK SPORTS EDITOR

Coming off a disappointing loss to Mempham in an one-game playoff match last year, the Massapequa Tennis team held high aspirations for the 2008 season. With a lineup consisting of eight seniors out of eleven starting spots, the team appeared to have a vast amount of experience and leadership.

The Chiefs got off to a strong start, going 5-0, tying with Calhoun for first place, but unfortunately, the Chiefs lost 4-3 in the two-day match due to a rain out.

Senior captains Andrew

Fund, Chris Purcell, Craig Knittle and Alec Slatky contributed to a strong start of 5-1. After the Chiefs stumbled a bit, finishing the last six games with a record of 3-3, tallying up to a season total record of 8-4.

The team did their best, but disappointingly were one game short of reaching the playoffs for the second straight year. Through a team effort, four individuals received the honor to participate in the All-County tournament: seniors Craig Knittle, Matt Frank, Andrew Fund and freshman T.J. Bilski.

Best of luck to next year’s team!

Boys Lacrosse: They Are Family

BY MAXWELL SPARR STAFF WRITER

The 2008 Massapequa Chiefs Varsity Lacrosse started out very promising, but has now come to an end. The team started hot with a record of eight wins and three losses, (8-1 in conference A play).

Two of the three losses came at the hands of nationally ranked Chaminade and West Islip, and the other came in a tight battle with a 13-12 loss to Long Beach. On a positive note, the Chiefs knocked off their arch rival Farmingdale in a 13-12 overtime win on a clutch goal

by Mike Vigilante.

Leading the way for the Chiefs this season at the attack position were seniors Mike Vigilante games in a row to end the season and with thirty-nine goals and Owen earn a playoff spot. Unfortunately, Campbell with twenty-four. At the team lost to seed 6, Syosset 1-0 in midfield the Chiefs have senior Carl the playoffs; however, with a record Iacona who raised the Chiefs over of 8-4 in the conference the team has nothing to be ashamed of.

With a season full of great memories, a handful of individuals walked away with awards to commend their hard work and dedication to the Chiefs. Sophomore pitcher Mary Seiber was awarded with AllDivision honors; senior centerfielder Savka Browneski was awarded All-Conference along with senior first baseman Tara Annunziata; and finally two individuals were awarded with All-County honors: senior pitcher Amanda Forsythe and senior catcher Alyssa Seiber.

The team had a great season and will carry over their experience from this season to the next in hopes of competing deep into the playoffs.

Girls Softball Looks to the Future

BY MATT FRANK SPORTS EDITOR

In remembrance of assistant coach Bob Robbins, who passed away last year, Chief’s Softball came into this season dedicating their journey to their past coach under guidance of head coach Mr. Donovan and new assistant coach Mr. Malone. With a team balanced around experience and youth, containing nine seniors, six juniors and two sophomores, the Chiefs were eager to get underway on a hopeful campaign with the unveiling of their new softball field at Berner.

The team got off to a shaky start, but they kept in mind that the playoffs were not out of reach since the team had the capabilities to rally off a string of impressive wins. The team did just that, and under the leadership of senior captains Tara Annunziata, Alyssa Seiber, and Amanda Forsythe, the team won five straight

Hicksville after scoring the gamewinning goal with two seconds left in a game earlier in the season. Also at midfield for the Chiefs are Lucas Sadoff, Matt Hurst, and expert faceoff man Greg Teatom.

The Chiefs finished their regular season with a win over the Oceanside Sailors, which earned them the number one seed for the 2008 Nassau County Lacrosse Playoffs held at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium. In the first match-up, the seed one Chiefs beat the seed eight Baldwin Bruins by the score of 15-8, advancing them to the County semifinals to face the Syosset Braves.

Sadly, the Chiefs ended up losing the game 11-5 at the hands of Syosset goalie Evan Cohen who had 14 saves.

Good luck to all the seniors who are moving on to play competitive lacrosse in college!

Profile: Travis Burke

Photo Provided by Travis Burke

Senior Travis Burke, a member of the MHS Swimming and Diving team, placed fifth in the diving event and thirteenth in the fifty-meter freestyle event at this year’s Nassau County Championships. Travis will be attending SUNY Cortland where he will dive for their team and major in physical education. Swimming since he was five and diving for the past two years, he said his inspiration is “the feeling of winning.”

“There’s Gonna Be a Shindig in the” Gym! MHS Students participate in a night of dancing in squares.

BY CAITLIN WALDRON MANAGING EDITOR

This past quarter, MHS students had completed their annual scintillating course in geometric rhythm—that’s right, squaredancing—when the arrival of Lou was announced. “Lou is coming!” was plastered on posters around the halls, on the electronic sign outside, and on seniors’ shirts.

People heralded the traveling caller’s arrival like it was the second coming (a caller, by the way, is the person who shouts out the moves to all the dancers on a beat). A religious experience, if you will—most people thought the prospect was mildly interesting, but you always get the fanatical devouts. And on the night of March 6, those fanatics, the disciples of Lou, showed up at the gymnasium. In droves.

While most were dressed in

their cowboy finest, I felt out of place in my regular shoes as western boots abounded. My unadorned head was similarly ostracized as the accepted headgear of the night consisted of stylish ten-gallon hats. Some people completely transformed themselves—overalls, checked shirts, maybe a lone wheat stalk to chew on.

The CARE club-sponsored event started out with Lou telling his audience that we at the high school were “probably the most enthusiastic” audience he has encountered in any of the events he’s done up and down the east coast. As if to further his conviction of our intensity, the entire gym erupted in a roar of excitement as the opening notes of the music were heard.

Throughout the course of the night, Lou introduced to us many new, intriguingly named moves such

as “catch the ocean wave.” The mood was frenetic, chaotic; bodies were bumping into each other because space was limited, and the energy of the dancing reached alarming heights. People were being propelled across squares. Dancers were running, skipping, and in one strange case “genie-ing” around the ring.

The atmosphere was charged as we danced set after set, mostly botching the moves but not caring all that much—until the competition of course.

The moment everyone was waiting for, practicing for all night had arrived. All the different squares psyched each other up differently, but the end prize was the same—a chance to win immortality and fame as the best square in the school. The rules were simple: each group only had to dance for as long as possible without making a mistake. If your

group ended up dazed and confused and in the wrong spots, you were out.

The competition was fierce, and Lou expected perfection from his intense sets that he called out to the gym. In the end, it came down to two squares that were matched evenly from the very beginning—but someone eventually had to win. With the breakdown of the last group— corners screaming at other corners, the grand right-and-left a mess–there was only one square standing. Tom Warns, Tricia King, Liz Callahan, Renee Remi, Meghan Figalora, Matt Zaringhalem, Timmy Callahan, James Ondreis, and Stephanie Post ended the night as champions of the school square-dancing competition. As senior Tom Warns put it, “We were simply superior.” They received bracelets commemorating their victory.

THE CHIEF 12

JUNE 2008

TRACK

Girls Finish Another Successful Season Lauren Bishof. The girls running the

BY STEPHANIE POST AND KATIE 4 X 400, Liz Henry, Paige McAtee, FUCILLO Kelly Kramer, and Amanda Schmidt, COPY EDITOR AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANT took third in their heat and accomThe girls spring track team plished a time that the school has not made Massapequa High School history, breaking a record in place since the 1980s in their recent win against Uniondale.

The team currently has ten wins and zero defeats, already qualifying them for counties, leading to state qualifiers.

Expectations for the rest of the season are high— RYAN COYLE//THE CHIEF captain Liz Henry believes that “we have some girls seen since the 1990s.

The girls also defeated Freewho the potential to make states.”

Eight of the most qualified runners port, who they have not beaten in the went down to the Penn Relays for the past two years, their cross-country 4 X 100 and 4 X 400 meets. The 4 X rival Syosset, and Levittown. The 100 runners included Kerri Marks, team is very close to becoming conNicole Lipari, Emily Masiello, and ference champs, and will find out

with the outcome of the last dual meet on Monday, May 5.

The team also made an outstanding showing at County Championships held the week of May 28.

Paige McAtee finished sixth in the 800, Emily Machini finished fifth in the 1500 and 3000 and Alyssa Sagona finished fourth in the pole vault. All County honors were given to Kerri Dutton who finished third in the pole vault, Kelly Kramer who finished third in the steeplechase, and Liz Henry who finished second in the steeplechase.

Volunteer coach Tobie Langsam attributes the girls’ success to an all-new workout, established to recreate itself. “All the hard work is definitely paying off,” said Langsam.

“Coach Mike Lisa and Assistant Coach Rich Langsam have done a fabulous job motivating and coaching their athletes. I feel privileged to be working with them.”

Good job girls and good luck the state qualifiers!

Boys Make States

BY CAITLIN WALDRON MANAGING EDITOR

The boy’s track team had a great post season this year. Junior Rob Brower cleared twelve feet in pole vault and made states. This was the first time in about forty years that a vaulter from MHS cleared twelve feet. Senior Frankie Dioguardi won the 1600-meter run in four minutes and twenty-three seconds at Farmingdale High School. They will both be heading to the State Track and Field Championships in Buffalo.

At the County Championships, Dioguradi won the 1600-meter run with a time of four minutes and twenty seconds, and the 800-meter run. Mike Garland and Rob Brower won second and third, respectively, in the pole-vaulting event.

Head boy’s track and field coach Mr. Jim Ryan was confident in the boys’ ability. “There was no doubt in my mind that they would perform well. Those are the kids that do the extra things to make themselves better.”

BASEBALL

The Chiefs Seek Long Island Championship

BY BEN SKLAR STAFF WRITER

The 2008 Chiefs Season has been nothing short of a success! In the regular season, the Chiefs had a 13-3-1 record and earned the honor of first place in their conference.

The regular season success for the Chiefs has carried over to the playoffs, steamrolling through the playoffs with the pitching and offense that has carried them all the way to a County Championship.

The first game of the playoffs for the postseason seemed to be an omen for good things to come for this talented team. Mike Mandarino blasted through Port Washington and threw a no-hitter in an easy victory for Massapequa. The Chiefs won game two and swept their opponent to move on to Mepham.

The second series against Mepham was one that proved to be a little tougher for the Chiefs.

This series stretched out to three games— the Chiefs stole game one in easy fashion, winning 10-0.

The Chiefs almost squeezed out a win in game two, pulling in one run before Mepham handed

double plays, and although the lead- it only took one lone error to cost off man reached for six of the seven them game two. innings, they found a way to not let In the final inning of game the leadoff man score. Mandarino two, a walk to Anthony Abburizino, which seemed harmless at the time, proved to be a fatal mistake for MacArthur. Drew Bergman came in and pinch ran for the catcher, who played one of his best defensive games of the year.

Chris Theo was the next batter, and it was a small tap back to the pitcher that gave the Chiefs the first HOWARD SCHNAPP//NEWSDAY run of the game. worked like Houdini, bailing himself An overthrow by the pitcher in and out of trouble for the to first base scored Drew Bergman first six innings and end- and sent Chris Theo to third base. ing up with a final stat line Greg Muller gave the Chiefs an of seven innings, ten hits, insurance run on a line drive sac and two strikeouts in a 9-2 fly, which gave the Chiefs a much Chiefs victory. needed sense of safety in the final Game two was a innings. championship game that The bottom of the seventh will not be forgotten; Brian was truly an exciting way to end Edwards and the opposing the County Championship. After pitcher were in the heat of Anthony Rosato walked the first two a pitching duel. With both batters, Ryan Scarsbrick came in to pitchers knowing that any close the game. A sacrifice bunt to mistake could be a game move the runners over to the second decider, both showed to be and third bases, a ground ball scored true competitors and kept the man on third to make the game HOWARD SCHNAPP//NEWSDAY their emotions intact.

2-1. With the tying run sixty feet In the sixth inning, the first away, Ryan Scarsbrick struck the winning each game. He may have run of the game was finally scored. batter out and gave the Chiefs the given up two runs in the first inning, but that was the only inning MacAr- Six errors in game one caused Ma- county title. thur scored. The Chiefs turned two cArthur to be buried into a loss, but the Chiefs their first loss of the playoffs. Drew Bergman gave the Chiefs a solid start to game three, and the Chiefs’ relentless offense did anything but cool off. They scored thirteen runs and cruised their way to a 13-3 victory leading them to the County Championship.

The Nassau County Championship has been the Chiefs’ goal all year. They have worked hard all season and were two wins away from clinching the title.

Mike Mandarino, 2-0 in the playoffs, set out for a game one victory against the MacArthur Generals. But game one was not a typical dominant Mike Mandarino start. He showed in game one that even when his best skills weren’t there, he still gives the Chiefs a great chance at