Northampton Area Senior High School
1619 Laubach Ave. Northampton, PA 18067
FEBRUARY 2009
New Teacher Contracts Approved
Morgan Keschl
Editor-in-Chief
After more than a year of delib-
eration between the Northampton Area
Educators’ Association (NAEA) and
the Northampton Area School District
(NASD) board of directors, a contract
agreement was reached on Dec. 8, 2008.
This new contract includes an approxi-
mate four percent increase in salaries,
contribution towards health care, where
the payments with increase each year, and
work days extended by an extra 10 min-
utes beginning in the 2009-2010 school
year. The new contract will govern the
teachers for five years. The NAEA’s pre-
vious contract expired on Aug. 31, 2008,
but the school board and teachers union
began compromising in early 2008.
The school board and the teachers’
union reached a tentative agreement be-
fore Thanksgiving, and followed through
on the agreement with its approval on
Dec. 8. The fact-finder reviewer, Jane
Rigler, working for the Labor Rela-
tions Board, was designated to handle
Northampton’s case in October, where
the report was due in early December.
The main disputes in the new contract
involved health coverage and salary. It is
a rare occurrence that a school contract
dispute would end before a fact-finder
was reported, but in Northampton’s case,
the school successfully and amicably
found a solution.
Mr. Gene Thrash became the vice-
president of the NAEA, on top of his
normal classes, after being elected by
A Rock And A Hard Place
Mike Engelhardt
Technology Editor
There are many changes happening
in the world today. A new president has
taken office and many things are set to
change. These things can range from the
prices of goods to the price of gas and the
sale of oil, as well as a lot of other things
here in the US.
If we take a look back to the beginning
of 2008, we can see a lot of changes. Who
remembers paying $4.00 and higher a gal-
lon for gas? Many drivers needed to find
different means of transportation, which
ranged from car-pooling to buses and
subways. This decreased the number of
drivers on the road and made it a lot easier
to move from place to place.
Now if you look at the prices of gas it
can range anywhere from $1.80-$1.90 and
even lower if you know the right places.
If you take a look now compared to when
the gas prices were higher, you see a lot
of drivers back on the roads. Since people
have started driving again there has been
a decrease in the need for mass transit.
However, many people still feel that
taking the bus is the way to go until the
prices drop a little lower.
You may have trouble getting from one
place to the next unlike before. My sug-
gestion: leave ahead of time so you can
either make it to your destination early or
on time.
Right now many companies are asking
for the government for a bailout. These
would include the three major automak-
nasdcourier@northampton.k12.pa.us
“This is life, you deal with this, . . . . I always tell our stu-
dents that this isn’t something exceptional only to teachers.
It’s something that a lot of people deal with.”
- Mr. Gene Thrash, NAEA Vice-President -
his fellow NASD teachers. This is his
first year as vice-president under Thomas
Laputka, the NAEA president. As a union
representative for years prior to his elec-
tion as vice-president, Thrash had some
experience with the responsibilities that
come with a higher position.
The role of a vice-president of a union
is very involved. The vice-president is
in charge of coordinating the strike if
one ensues. This situation can become
complicated by a large number of union
members, where mass communication
is necessary to keep wondering minds at
bay. One has to provide information to
the members as soon as possible to ensure
that they are constantly on the same track
as everyone else involved, since everyone
has their own role in the process. With a
lack of communication comes rumors, but
Thrash believes the NAEA did an ad-
equate job of preventing gossip with their
communication.
“We did have communication. Every
time we had a meeting, we were able to
get the information out to people so that
everyone knew what was going on. You
always have rumors flying around and
rumors don’t help either side. We tried to
avoid it as much as possible, and I think
we did a very good job doing that,” said
Thrash.
Negotiations are seldom simple to sort
ers Ford, GM, and Chrysler. All three
automakers asked for a combined $35 bil-
lion in aid. The house granted them a $14
billion bailout with mandatory changes to
their businesses. The senate rejected this
plan later that same week. As of now the
auto industry hasn’t gotten a bailout, but
they seem to be doing fine.
Instead of giving financial aid to big
companies who really have no need for
Photo Courtesy of:
www.2012predictions.net
the money, the middle and lower class
citizens should receive financial aid be-
fore any of the high class and rich people.
President Obama has said in press confer-
ences that he will try to help the middle
and lower class people of this country.
He is going to provide more jobs for the
unemployed, as well as giving another
stimulus check to families and people over
the age of 18.
2008 has been a rough year, as many
people can see. There are a lot of prob-
lems both domestic and foreign. Time will
tell if 2009 will have the same problem
or if the new president of the country can
save us from going into another depres-
sion.
VOLUME 78 - ISSUE 2
part, the negotiations went pretty well,”
said Thrash.
The NAEA vice-president is well
prepared from this harrowing experience
for the next run of negotiating when the
NAEA’s current contract expires in five
through, as there are meetings with the years.
union, union officers, and most notably, “I’ve certainly grown. I’m much stron-
the board of directors. Stress ensues in ger in terms of experience, my knowledge
these situations when there is a struggle to of how [the negotiating process] works,
balance control on both sides. and my expectations of what collective
“It provides the stress that you don’t bargaining really is. It was a very chal-
necessarily have control of the situation; lenging experience and I learned a lot
you can only control what you have the from it,” said Thrash.
ability to control in a very small area. Thrash does his best to remind students
You’re not sure what other people are that the negotiation process is not exclu-
thinking,” said Thrash. sive to just teachers, but all jobs in the
Both parties in the negotiation process world.
were under stress, but managed nonethe- “This is life, you deal with this. This
less to find an agreement after nearly four isn’t about teachers versus school board
months of negotiating. Thrash understands members, or anything like that. There are
that both sides have their own opinions a lot of jobs where unions are in place,
and responsibilities. where this type of thing might happen,”
“[The school board] did what they said Thrash. “I always tell our students
needed to do, what their responsibilities that this isn’t something exceptional only
are. They met with us and we negotiated. to teachers. It’s something that a lot of
It’s never easy. You have two sides that people deal with, and there are a lot of stu-
sometimes disagree in any case where dents here who may have to deal with it in
they sit down and have to work out their their lives.”
differences,” said Thrash. With a new contract residing over the
Thrash is satisfied with the outcome of NASD teachers, the Northampton com-
the negotiations as a wave of relief passes munity can once again be at ease with the
throughout the school district as a whole. education of our students’ future.
“If you ask anyone in the faculty, I
think we are all relieved that it is over. Strike information courtesy of: www.
Overall, I think it is a fair contract, some- mcall.com.
thing that we’re happy with and we’re just
glad that it’s done. We didn’t want to have
any animosity and I think, for the most
Angel 34mal Is On Its Way
Organized by Janel Paukovits and Alexandra MacLean, the
second annual Angel 34mal dance will be held at The Northampton
Community Center on Feb. 13th from 7 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tickets
will be sold until Feb. 12th for $10. Hope to see you there in your
formal wear!
Courier Staff
Advisor: Sport & Photography Editor:
Mr. John Blick Andrea Hetrick
Editors-in-Chief Photography Editor:
& Lisa Toolan
Co-News Editors:
Morgan Keschl Staff Writers:
Cory Stevens Jake Adams
Manny Aguero
Opinion & Advertising Editor: Kristen Danek
Abby Gestl Michael Engelhardt
Shelby Fabian
Feature & Copy Editor: Becca Haran
Melissa Jacobson Kaitlyn Leblanc
Nicole Leo
Entertainment Editor: Sarah Palitta
Katlyn Carl Sarah Skvoretz
Erin Stevens
John Veiszlemlein
Send all comments, concerns, or rants to:
nasdcourier@northampton.k12.pa.us
 2 News
Plagiarism: A Crime Just Like Any Other
Manny Aguero
Staff Writer
Plagiarism occurs in high schools,
colleges, and even in professional settings.
Whether one changes the words around
slightly or copies a sentence, it is wrong
on every account. Look at it this way; you
would not steal from a store because it is
against the law. This applies with plagia-
rism as well. It goes along with any other
despicable crime one commits.
The quick firing of Boston Globe col-
umnist Patricia Smith and New Republic
reporter Stephen Glass a couple of years
ago only lends credence to why plagiarism
is wrong. They made up stories and fic-
tional quotes as well as people to promote
their stories. Such actions in a business
like the Boston Globe are not acceptable.
At many universities, students are
expelled for plagiarism. The very thing
students find alluring is the very thing that
gets them caught: the internet. Teachers
and professors can often find the source
a student used in their plagiarism within
a matter of minutes. The website turnitin.
com, which our school uses, is exceptional
at catching plagiarism. In the world we
live in today, as well as with the many ad-
vancements in technology, the act is not
only dishonest, but foolish as well.
A much more recent case in the profes-
Northampton Grad Aids a ‘True Champion’ With Wrestling Career
Morgan Keschl
Editor-in-Chief
Kekoa Wong, an aspiring professional
wrestler and Northampton graduate, is
anticipating his latest wrestling event,
which will benefit Tomorrow’s Children’s
Institute in Hackensack, Nj.
Wong grew up in Danielsville, Pa, but
lived in Hawaii for a summer when he
was seven years old. He returned from
Hawaii and graduated from Northampton
Area High School during the 2005-2006
school year. Wong’s nickname has been
“The Flyin’ Hawaiian” since he played
basketball in high school, which carried
over to his wrestling career.
Wong became interested in wrestling
during his senior year of high school after
sitting out for five straight games at the
beginning of the basketball season.
“It was really weird, because the year
before that, I was a starter for most of the
season. Then coming back and not starting
for the first five games was a real eye-
opener that I was in the wrong place. I
always knew I loved basketball, I played it
my entire life, but I got a taste of wrestling
my senior year before basketball started,”
said Wong.
Since graduating high school, Wong
has had quite a lucrative wrestling career
thus far, as he has been a Tag Team Cham-
pion, a United States Champion, and won
a Liberty Cup match, which is an eight-
man tournament where wrestlers face
each other until there is one winner left.
Wong is also being scouted out by World
Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and is
involved with three companies spanning
from Japan and the UK to get his name
across internationally. He believes that he
is blessed since he has accomplished more
in his two professional years than some
accomplish in a lifetime.
“There are guys that wrestle their
entire lives and never hold a title, or they
sional world involved well-known British
author J. K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter
series captured the imaginations of chil-
dren and adults alike. The case was held in
New York and stayed open for six weeks.
Rowling said that the planned Harry Pot-
ter Lexicon authored by Stephen Vander
Ark was a clear case of plagiarism, be-
cause all of the information in the Lexicon
could have been gleaned by simply read-
ing the Harry Potter books themselves.
Rowling was quoted as saying “that the
Lexicon only ripped-off 20 long years of
her hard work and dedication.” She also
said, while crying that Stephen Vander
Ark, being a Harry Potter fan and having
his own website devoted to Harry, caused
her more heartache than discovering the
Lexicon. Rowling eventually won the case
and Vander Ark is on probation for an
indefinite amount of time from publishing
any works he might have planned.
There are always consequences when
you plagiarize, as I learned first hand. It is
important that we all understand plagia-
rism and the reasons not to do something
like this. I hope that my actions can be
a lesson for all students that plagiarism
only hurts you. You are left with an
overwhelming sense of guilt, shame, and
regret, but most of all you feel no satisfac-
tion for your work, or lack thereof. I’m
speaking from experience , so take my
advice to heart.
never get to do what I’ve done so far. I’m
pretty fortunate,” said Wong.
Wong owes his three titles to the
intense training he went through after high things called chair squats and it’s when
school. Practices were two to three times a you take a chair and you sit down, and we
week for four hours in the evening, where
nonstop activity prevailed over rest. Wong
even suffered from heat exhaustion from
lack of water breaks and temperatures that
Photo By: Morgan Keschl.
Kekoa Wong holds his Bodyslam Wrestling Organization considering moving down
(BWO) United States Heavyweight Wrestling Champion to Florida to their training
belt.
reached 120 degrees in summer inside the
facility. Since the training sessions ran on
cooperation, one mistake affected every-
one, as Wong soon realized.
“I think two guys got in a fight and
at the end of the day, [the trainers] were
Renovations Coming to an End
Becca Haran
Staff Writer
The renovations have been going on for quite some time ad the question on the
community’s mind is when will it all be done? While the process seems to be taking
a long time, it is ahead of schedule as planned, which is pretty good despite the snow
days we have had and the many other delays. Assistant principal Mr. Curt Dimmick
says there are not any real problems, just some small nuisances.
The estimated completion time for the second floor was before Christmas break,
which has been completed and is now in use. The estimated completion time for the
first floor was during break, which took a little longer than expected, but is now open
for use. Most teachers are still moving in their belongings for the second semester.
The students have been very patient in waiting for the new completed school, as
well as the teachers.
“The teachers are just anxious to get into their new rooms,” says Dimmick.
The library and nurse’s office will not be open right away for the second semes-
ter. In the library, the permanent tables, shelves, and bookcases need to be installed
and they still need to move in the books and computers.
“I am extremely happy with the process. I can not wait to see the people in the
rooms and walking in the hallways,” says Dimmick.
Dimmick also wants to add a few things about keeping the school clean so it can
stay nice when everything is completed.
“I and administrators want everybody to treat the building with respect, meaning
by not ruining the building with graffiti, trash and other things and we should take
pride in what has become the “flagship” of the Northampton Area School District,”
says Dimmick.
like ‘We’re a team here, we train together, at 6:30 p.m. and the show begins at 7:00
and if one guy makes a mistake, we all p.m. Front row tickets, which are selling
make the mistake.’ So, we had to do these quickly, cost $15 and regular seating is
$10. Fellow Northampton graduates, Eric
Hiller and J.C. Wesler, will also be wres-
had to do that 400 times. I’m getting to tling at the event with Wong. The event
350, and I can barely keep my eyes open, is anticipated to end before 11 o’clock,
I can barely feel anything. I’m just numb. so fans with a junior license will make it
Then I get to 400 and when I’m about to home in time.
hit 400, he goes ‘Ok, do 100 Wong also put together an event in Apr.
more.’ I hit 400 and I passed 2008 in honor of a fan, Harold Wright-
out and laid on the ground,” ington, who suffered with cancer and an
said Wong. aggressive brain tumor. Wrightington’s
As Wong grew up, his family was friends of the owner, as well
influence would be Shawn as a fan of the Bodyslam Wrestling
Michaels, for his skill, and Organization (BWO), which is one of the
Ric Flair. companies Wong wrestles for in New Jer-
“I always looked up to sey. Since Wrightington’s strength helped
Shawn Michaels and Ric Wong realize his fortune, he decided to
Flair. Shawn Michaels I create a fundraiser event in his honor.
used to look up to grow- “We did the show and they brought
ing up and the only reason him out and it really hit to be able to look
I started looking up to him at this kid, who was only 12-years-old. I
was because I found out was lucky enough to be blessed with the
we had the same birthday. ability to wrestle and entertain people
I found out when I was, and be able to accomplish my dreams,”
like, seven,” said Wong. “I said Wong. “This kid is 12-years-old and
started watching him and he didn’t even have the opportunity to do
was always a great inspira- that..”
tion with how good he was Though Wrightington passed away
and what kind of matches on Jul. 4, 2008, no one can deny the joy
he had. He was always Wong gave him from putting together the
exciting to watch.” event.
Wong’s aspirations for “We did a replica heavyweight title
the future include break- and we gave it to him. Instead of saying
ing into the WWE by the ‘Heavyweight Champion.’ it said ‘True
time he is 26. If he does Champion’ on it. We gave that to him and
not make it into the orga- I was like ‘Hey man, are you going to put
nization by that age, he is that in the case you got?’ and he was like
‘No, I’m sleeping with the belt.’ So that
was cool, he was really cool to meet,” said
facility so he can be recog- Wong.
nized for his drive. In honor of the kids who are currently
The fundraising event will be held on going through treatment and Wong’s com-
Fri. Feb. 27, 2009 at the East Side Youth passion, come out and support the event!
Center in Allentown, Pa, and ticket pro- To find out more about Kekoa Wong,
ceeds will benefit Tomorrow’s Children’s you may visit www.myspace.com/lvwflyin-
Institute in Hackensack, Nj. Doors open hawaiian.
 New Teachers 3
Welcome To Northampton
Mr. Ryan Brobst
Mr. Ryan Brobst is a new Guidance
counselor. Brobst originally wanted to
pursue a career in physical therapy, but
ended up changing his mind and becom-
ing a guidance counselor.
“I enjoy working with kids and help-
ing them with problems they have,” says
Brobst.
Brobst had gone to high school here
at Northampton and graduated in 1998.
He attended Northampton Community
college, then went to East Stroudsburg
University. He finished his post secondary
education at Kutztown University for his
Master’s Degree, for a total of seven years
of college.
Brobst is available to help students.
If you need assistance choosing a career,
he will help you by using the Coin Three
program. If you have an idea, he will help
with the steps to get to your desired goal.
Brobst will also help with classes you are
struggling in by showing you what you
need to work on, or finding you a tutor.
“I love seeing kids succeed from small
things like passing a course to graduating
and moving on to bigger careers,” said
Brobst.
Outside of school, Brobst enjoys
spending time with his family and his
twenty-one month old son. He also enjoys
a lot of different sports, such as football.
Mrs. Christine Fischer
Mrs. Christine Fischer is teaching
Geometry, Alg/Geo 1 and Alg/Geo 3. Dur-
ing her high school years, she always had
a knack for math; math homework was
always the first thing she had done.
Fischer decided to become a math
teacher because she liked working with
kids and most of her family are teachers.
“Math seems to be the thing to do,”
says Fischer.
Fischer went to Kutztown University
for three and a half years. This is her third
year teaching, after also teaching at Indian
Hills High School in New Jersey.
“For my first year teaching here, every-
one is friendly and willing to help out
when I have a question or any problems,”
says Fischer.
Fischer likes sports as an extracurricu-
lar activity and is currently looking for a
sport to play or coach.
Ms. Laura McHugh
Kaitlyn Leblanc
Staff Writer
Happy to be at Northampton!
Photo Courtesy of: http://eslpod.com
Mrs. Megan Mielczarek
Mrs. Megan Mielczarek is teaching
10th and 11th grade English. Mielczarek
thinks writing is an important skill so she
wanted to teach students to enjoy writing.
“I like helping kids succeed in their
own goals,” says Mielczarek.
Mielczarek went to college for 4 years
at Wilkes University, and 2 years at Le-
high University for her Master’s degree.
“For my first year teaching here, the
staff is very nice; they all want to see their
students succeed,” says Mielczarek.
Mielczarek enjoys spending time with
her family, skiing, and shopping.
Mr. Terry Miller
Mr. Terry Miller is teaching Social
Studies, History, and runs the AVOPP
program.
“I enjoy history a lot and I wanted to
show students that history is fun,” says
Miller.
Miller went to East Stroudsburg Uni-
versity for four years. Before teaching at
Northampton, Miller taught for twenty six
years at CLiu-21 in Corrections Ed.
“For my first year teaching here, every-
one has made it easy for me,” says Miller
Even though this is Miller’s first
year, he believes that the renovations at
Northampton are even better, now that
they are finished.
Miss Nicole Stopay
Miss Nicole Stopay is teaching Health
Emergencies and Physical Education.
“I have always enjoyed physical activ-
ity, and I like to show people how exercise
can be fun,” says Stopay.
Stopay attended East Stroudsburg
University for four years, and was a long
term substitute teacher for over a year
at Trexler Middle School. She has been
teaching for a total of three years.
Stopay spends her free time attending
sporting events, spending time with her
family and friends, and being a cheerlead-
er for her two stepsons that are involved
in sports.
Mrs. Christina Thrash
Mrs. Christina Thrash is a new guid-
ance counselor in the High School. Thrash
attended Georgetown University for two
years for her graduate degree and also
went to Pennsylvania University for four
years for her Master’s degree.
“I enjoy working in school with kids
and any family problems they may have,”
says Thrash.
Thrash is available to help any student.
If you need help choosing a career, there is
the Coin Three program. The Coin Three
program helps you find your strengths in
a career you might like. Thrash also helps
with family problems in the home. She
can aid you in a class that you may not be
passing or have trouble in by getting you a
tutor or changing your class.
“I love seeing growth in students from
9th to 12th, from high school to college,
and seeing them succeed,” says Thrash.
Thrash loves spending time with her
family, and also enjoys camping and out-
door activities.
Miss Danielle Voth
Miss Danielle Voth is teaching Physical
Science. She has always had an interest in
science and had great teachers in school
to influence her decision in becoming a
teacher.
Voth went to Bloomsburg University
for four years, and was a long term substi-
tute teacher before coming to Northamp-
ton.
“I like working with kids and helping
people,” Voth says.
“For my first year teaching here,
besides as a long term sub, everyone is
friendly and helps out a lot,” said Voth.
Voth also likes reading, shopping, and
playing sports outside of school.
Mrs. Theresa Wenck
Mrs. Theresa Wenck is teaching Ger-
man. Wenck became interested in the
German language when she heard stories
about her father who was a Prisoner of
War during WWII. Another influence was
Kurt Vonnegunt, a writer that spoke a lot
of German.
“I like working with teenagers who
want to learn German,” said Wenck.
Wenck went to college for four years
at Millersville University and attended
Moravian university for two years to get
her Masters degree. She also lived in
Germany for three years before coming to
Northampton. She had also taught at Al-
lentown Central Catholic High School.
She thinks the renovations are going to
be beautiful when done.
“For my first year teaching here, every-
one works together and shares ideas to
help the kids learn more,” said Wenck.
Wenck likes to go walking, read Ger-
man novels and playing with her kids and
pets.

Ms. Laura McHugh is teaching Fam-

ily Consumer Science, Real World, and
Culinary Arts.
“I enjoy baking and working with
kids,” says McHugh.
McHugh went to Kutztown Univer-
sity for four years. This is her first year
teaching as a full time teacher, after she
had substituted for two years here at
Northampton.
McHugh is enjoying a brand new
room as a result of the renovations and is
excited that the construction is finished.
“For my first year teaching here, every-
one is very friendly and very helpful, and
I am looking forward to meeting new
students,” says McHugh.
McHugh enjoys hiking, along with
walking her dogs. She likes writing and
listening to music in her free time.
Obama Gets Sworn In
Barack Obama became our nation’s 44th president at 12:00 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2009. Obama’s inauguration speech re-
kindled the nation’s pride as well as addressing the current issues at hand, which ranged from loss of homes and jobs to
relationships with other nations. Despite our current hardships, Obama established his drive to carefully heal our prob-
lems. He asserted that the government needs to gain trust back from its people and should spend money wisely. In his
speech, Obama revived the history of our nation, explaining that our power has come from “the risk-takers, the doers,
the makers of things.” Because of the tireless work earlier generations put into our nation, Obama stood up for America
when he said “We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to ad-
vance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot
be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.” At the same time, Obama expressed that “America is a friend
of each nation” and will work with other countries to establish peace and structure. After verifying America’s intentions
in the world, he humbly acknowledged that anything is possible when he stated “why a man whose father less than sixty
years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” After
being sworn in on Abraham Lincoln’s own Bible, we can expect many great things from President Obama.
 4 Opinion
Thoughts From The
Quiet Kid
Cory Stevens
Editor-in-Chief
“One makes mistakes; that is life. But
it is never a mistake to have loved.”—Ro-
main Rolland
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of
couples crooning over one another; the
sound of flowers being cut for Valentine’s
Day; the sound of pecking kisses in the
halls when teachers aren’t looking. It’s
that time of year again—good old Cupid’s
day, even though I haven’t seen much of
him myself. It’s always fun to sit back
and listen to the banter of over-excited
girls; not exactly sure what they should be
excited about.
“Ohhhhh! Look what he got me!”
Yet over the sound of frivolous cawing
of the packs of girls proclaiming to the
world how ‘totally AWESOME’ their boy-
friends are, how can one hear the sound
of my—and allow me time to dodge
your swing at me for saying this—‘achy,
breaky’ heart?
“Oh gosh,” you think, “here he goes
again, talking about himself.” And to that
I answer: “Yes, I am.” Lots of people can
talk about themselves for hours on end
around the lunch table, so why not let
me have my spot in the paper to do so?
Getting back on
track, however,
I feel it’s fair
to say that my
idea of love
is far more
warped than
yours may be.
What is love to
me?
Love, I feel,
is the partner-
ship of two
people who
would die for
each other, go
to the ends of
the earth for
each other, and
care about each
other for who
they are. I think
that love is not
something you
say after saying
“yes” to the initial proposal to going out,
but rather something that is brought up af-
ter the third date (not to be confused with
the other assumption of the third date,
which unless instant chemistry is shared
by both, I do not totally agree with). My
idea of love is something that was crafted
in my mind after years of study with
such things as the movies Hitch, Defi-
nitely Maybe, and Serendipity; along with
stories such as the sub-plot of Buck of
Chloe in the Left Behind books, and the
romantic twists and turns of Harry Potter.
The rest comes from my own opinions on
the subject. I may not seem like it, but I’m
a rather mushy, wish-washy guy (almost
cried at Wall-E, I admit it) and it shows
in my views on the subject of love. Call
me an inexperienced ‘puppy love’ seeking
idiot, but that’s how I feel.
And if you don’t agree with me, what
are your views then? You think that love
is a make-out session at the boyfriend’s
house? Or maybe it’s the time when you
cheated on your girlfriend? When I look
at the way love is treated in today’s world,
Going Green With
Envy
Andrea Hetrick als and manufacturing them into new
Sports Editor products. Recycling generates four jobs
for every job created in the disposal and
I think that an inexperienced idiot such as waste management industries. Millions
me is just what is needed. There’s a lot of hype about “going of dollars have been saved by thousands
I’m not a tough, strong fellow; I am not green” these days. However, in the past of United States companies through their
the most attractive hunk of flesh on the few years, our school has been taking voluntary recycling programs. These com-
eastern seaboard (just look at my picture steps that have actually been hurtful to our panies would not recycle if it didn’t make
in the last issue! Ghastly…); I’m also not environment. economic sense for them to do so.
the sharpest tool in the shed, nor am I the Our high school is perhaps one of the There is a girl at my lunch table who
wittiest conversationalist among crowds. most wasteful places in our area. Think collects everyone else’s bottles and takes
So, as is the natural order of high school, about how much garbage our school cre- them home so they can be recycled. I
Cupid’s not exactly aiming his arrow for ates on any given day. This is not a small admire her for this, and I wish that there
me. figure. was a bin that we could easily place our
But don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying Then think about how much of it could bottles in at lunch.
to turn this into a classified ad for love. (If be recycled. There is a family I know that There may be a problem with the fact
you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught actually generates no trash- everything that there would be extra work involved,
in the rain…) I’m just trying to breech they need to discard of is placed in their such as separating the bottles and mak-
the subject of why this is so frustrating in compost pile or is recycled. ing sure they are empty. However, Alyce
today’s world. I should be able to express The Allentown School District recycles Daubenspeck, president of the Green
feelings for a girl without having to worry
about repercussions. I mean, just look at
half the guys in this place that have girls
crawling all over them. Do they really
deserve it? And yet, I express the fact that
“Hey, I might actually like this girl,” and
then all of a sudden I’m Quasimodo up in
the Notre Dame bell tower.
“Sanctuary!”
I have to stop quoting pop culture. But
in all seriousness, I feel that it is ridiculous
that love is in the state that is in. Granted,
I realize that
we are in high
school, and all of their paper, aluminum cans, card- Team group at our school, says that there
that we’re only board, yard waste, steel cans, #1 and #2 are many students who would volunteer
teenagers. I’m plastic bottles, and glass bottles and jars. their time to separate the bottles.
not saying you Why can’t our school take the simple It seems to me that, to get the recy-
should go out steps needed to reduce our output of trash, cling program started at our school, all we
and get married just as the Allentown School District has need are bins to be placed in the cafeteria.
with the first done? What is the administration at our school
person you fall Perhaps the leaders in our school don’t waiting for?
in love with. understand how incredibly valuable recy- I remember when there used to be a bin
I’m not even cling can be. for plastic bottles in our cafeteria, before
saying that you Recycling costs less than what waste the renovations occurred. I almost feel
should go out management and landfills cost, and, the like, over time, our school should become
and fall in love more individuals who recycle, the cheaper smarter and more environmentally friend-
at all. I’m just it becomes. Recycling generates 1.1 mil- ly, but, with our progress in the construc-
saying that we lion U.S. jobs, $236 billion in gross sales tion, it has become just the opposite.
need to give a year and $37 billion in yearly payrolls. We should have more options and more
love a fighting Publicly, investing in local recycling ways to be able to recycle after renova-
chance. If I’m programs creates great surpluses by form- tions, not less.
rejected every ing private jobs. For every job in the recy- Facts and picture obtained from http://
time I make an cling industry, there are 26 jobs created in www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-
attempt, what the field of processing recycled materi- benefits.html.
does that say
about the world? How should I think of
myself at that point?
A wise person once told me I was only
in high school, and that I should just try
to have fun. But what fun is it if I haven’t
even experienced everything high school
has to offer, such as a meaningful relation-
ship with a nice girl?
I suppose I’m just moaning and groan-
ing. I just hate that I have no one to love.
The world is a lonely place these days,
and I don’t know about you, but I don’t
exactly want to wait until college to
become a boyfriend. I don’t think it’s fair
that I, and other people in the same situa-
tion as me (which there are plenty), should
have to endure such a constant state of
loneliness.
So, please, enjoy your Valentine’s Day.
Enjoy it for all of the people who can’t
enjoy it, and let the sound of your croon-
ing waft through the halls as always. Now
if you’ll excuse me, I have to go exercise
my bell-ringing arm…
Picture courtesy of http://imgs.xkcd.
com/comics/valentines_day.jpg
 Opinion
Become a Donor, Save a Life
As the daughter of a renal-failure
patient, I couldn’t stress enough that I
believe every person should choose to be
an organ donor.
It scares me how many people take
precious tools of life to rot in burial or
burn in cremation because of senseless
myths. You can save a life. Do you know
how much that means? Right now people
are waiting in line, a line that takes years
to move through. In this line 6,500 people
died waiting for their gift of life. That
translates to 19 people dying each day. We
can change it.
Someone will show me their new
driver’s license picture and if I don’t see
“Organ Donor” underneath their picture,
I question them why. “My doctor will let
me die! He’ll know I’m an organ donor
and want get my organs as soon as pos-
sible!” “Are you serious?” I say. And
they are. Not only would your doctor be
breaking the law (yeah, um…homicide)
but the doctor in charge of saving your
life at the moment has nothing to do with
organ transplantation. The people who are
in charge of organ transplantation don’t
begin considering donation until death has
been declared.
“Yeah, but what if I’m not really dead
when they declare death? I could have
otherwise recovered had I not donated my
organs!” In reality people don’t magically
spring to life in the morgue. In fact, for
organ donors there are more procedures
to ensure you are truly dead than there are
for non-donors. Trust me; you won’t be
alive when they use your organs to save
a life.
Very few religions are against organ
donation. Catholicism, Christianity, Prot-
estantism, most branches of Judaism, Hin-
duism, Baptist, and the African Methodist
Church all approve of organ donation. Go
to http://www.organtransplants.org/under-
standing/religion/ for a complete state-
ment from many religious groups.
“Well, I’m under 18! I’m too young
to make this decision by law.” Nope. You
can still decide to be an organ donor, with
a parent’s consent. At the DMV there is
a single, simple form for your parent or
guardian to sign and you will then be able
to give the gift of life.
Fantasy Football:
Fan Favorite or Team Betrayal
Jake Adams
Staff Writer
We all know who they are, those kids
in school who spend maybe an hour a
week looking at football stats and setting
their fantasy rosters for victory on Sunday,
and hopefully a league championship at
the end of the season. They spend their
Sunday’s watching all the games they can
to see how their guys are doing on the
field. But while they watch all these play-
ers, all these games, are they becoming
less of a football fan or more?
The question has been posed often
during the football season. Rather than
cheer solely and wholeheartedly for their
Patriots, Eagles or Giants, fantasy football
gamers cheer for individual athletes, as
well as their team. But when does this
passion for a player overstep the passion a
fan has for their team?
Before you get too lost in this fantasy
“I want an open casket Katlyn Carl
funeral! If I donate organs, Entertainment Editor mainly in his stomach and
they have to destroy my
body to get them!” Donat-
ing does not interfere with open-casket
funeral plans. You are clothed for burial,
so there are no visible signs of organ or
tissue donation. Same goes for eye dona-
tion, your eyes are closed during a funeral. drown itself and die. Your diet is heavily
(I hope. Because nobody wants to see
scary dead people’s eyes…).
Other myths to shoot down before even like phosphorus and potassium. Many
being mentioned:
•Your family will not be charged
because you are an organ donor.
•Just because you are unhealthy
doesn’t mean you can’t donate, medical
professionals will determine that at the
time.
•You can do living donation (Donat- sick. My dad goes on dialysis for at least
ing a kidney while still alive).
•Rich and famous people do not
move to the front of the wait list.
•Someone will not buy your organ,
and it is illegal to pay someone to donate
an organ to you.
So, why do I choose to be an organ
donor? Well, not only am I aware of the
fact that by simply choosing to be an or-
gan donor I can save up to 50 lives, but I
also know how it feels to have a loved one getting your arm jabbed
waiting for their chance at life because of
an organ donation shortage. My dad has
many medical problems. Because he’s
diabetic he’s suffered from foot infections. it’s been butchered. It
Because of these infections, he’s had to
take numerous anti-biotics so his kidneys
had to work extra hard to clean his blood.
Now, he has no kidney function at all. A
machine has to do what his kidneys would within days. It keeps him
do for him. “Well, I thought he’s dying,”
you say, “If there’s a machine to do it,
why does he need someone’s kidney?” A
kidney does its job much more efficient
than a dialyzer (the machine) does. Be-
cause of this, my dad’s health is steadily
deteriorating. Plus, the quality of life a
patient has while on dialysis is very low.
You see, one thing that a kidney does is
remove fluid from your body. Intake of
fluid has to be very controlled. My dad
can only intake a few ounces of fluid a
day. This includes food. If your body has
too much fluid in it, it becomes swollen
“world”, let’s go over the basics of fantasy
football. In the game, the goal is to win
matches during the NFL season. Some-
time during the summer, the league that
you are in, whether online or not, holds a
draft. In the draft, broken up into rounds
like all sports drafts, your goal is to cre-
ate a team from
all current NFL
players consisting
of a certain number
of quarterbacks,
running backs,
wide receivers, etc.
depending on the
league’s rules. From
there your team will
compete against
other teams, run by
other owners just
like you, and the
goal is to win the
championship at the
end of the season.
I am one of those football “geeks.” I
and bloated (for my dad
legs) and nauseous. Some-
times he can even feel fluid
in his lungs, and his breathing becomes
difficult, especially when it comes to
sleeping. If my dad would drink or eat
too much fluid his body would in a sense
restricted. Kidneys clean excess amounts
of things that food puts into your blood,
things that my dad enjoys like tomatoes,
soda, soup, and bananas he can only have
on very few occasions.
Dialysis takes a really long time. A
lot of people can’t be on the machine for
extended periods of time, their muscles
begin to cramp up and they feel very
8 hours every other day. Because of how
long his treatment is’ he goes on what they
call the nocturnal shift. He has to go to the
treatment at about 8:00 p.m. and usually
gets home at about 5:30 in the morning.
Can you sleep sitting up? He has to every
other night. Hate needles? My dad’s arm
is all bumpy, because he gets an 15 gauge
¾ inch long needle stuck in it every other
night. And when you’re
that many times with
something that size, your
arm begins to look like
feels butchered too. But
my dad has to go through
this pain, because without
this machine he would die
alive.
Because people have a
fear of donating organs af-
ter they die, my dad waits
with thousands of others.
The low number of organs
available makes it difficult
to even get on the trans-
plant list. My dad was on dialysis for three
years before he was even added to the
transplant wait list. They want you to be
in good health, have nothing else wrong
with you, because with something so rare
and precious, they can’t take a chance
almost religiously follow the Eagles, and
have three teams in three fantasy leagues.
But does that make me less of an Eagles
fan?
My answer is no.
Do not get me wrong, though, fan-
tasy football is not hated by the football
population; in fact it
could be considered
the biggest sub-culture
in the sport. NFL stars
accept it, the NFL
itself is fully aware of
it, and the Internet is
teeming with leagues
from yahoo.com, to
espn.com.
But some football
fans believe that if a
person plays fantasy
football, and is a Steel-
ers fan, well then he
cannot be that great of
a Steelers fan because
he cheers on other players on other teams.
5
giving a kidney to someone that has the
slightest possibility of it not working out.
I know it’s harsh to think about. No one
wants to think about dying, let alone giv-
ing organs for someone else to use. But
think about the difference you can make.
The power you have. By choosing to be
an organ donor you could possibly be the
one to give someone like my dad a life
that isn’t full of pain. Keep mothers with
their children, children with their moth-
ers, grandpas, dads, sisters, brothers, keep
families together. Don’t let your death
just be the end of your presence on earth.
Live on, by saving a life.
Still decided against it? You think
being an organ donor is weird or danger-
ous? If one of your organs goes, you’ll
be expecting a donation or death. You’ll
be counting on other people to know the
myths versus truths, to not find it weird
and choose to be an organ donor. Tell
me how you’d feel about it if you were
dying, and waiting. I’m pretty sure you’ll
be hoping someone else out there had
decided differently than you.
Picture courtesy of: http://www.uchsc.
edu/news/bridge/2005/April/images/or-
gan_donor_logo.gif
That is totally false.
Fantasy football did not make me less
of an Eagles fan. It just made me a better
NFL fan.
Think of it this way. If I were to only
follow the Eagles, I would be extremely
biased towards Donovan McNabb, Brian
Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, etc. I would
be bias towards one team, despite the stats
and records of other players and teams.
The scope of the NFL is completely
altered with fantasy football gamers.
As much as Eagles fans love McNabb
(maybe, maybe not), Eagles fans playing
fantasy football also realize that he is not
the greatest quarterback in the league.
The awareness a fantasy football gamer
gets from playing the game is all the more
reason why they are not less of a fan. It is
what sets us apart from the casual Eagles
fans, Giants fans, and Steelers fans out
there, our love for the whole game, not
just our team.
Picture courtsey of: www.espn.com
 FEBRUARY 2009 PAGE 6

Politicians Show
Signs of Stress
John Veiszlemlein
Staff Writer
What is the weirdest thing you
have in your locker?

The campaign trail of the past two
years has been long and hard, and most
candidates have been worn out by the
stress. Obama may need some hair dye,
Biden will have to get another hair trans-
plant, and hopefully McCain won’t need a
defibrillator.
The most dramatic change in any of
the candidates has been that of Barack
Obama. He started out as a youthful
black-haired senator from Illinois. Now
the president of the United States, his face
is starting to show signs of aging, and
his black hair is beginning to turn gray.
He has even developed a slight tic under
his right eye, a problem caused by lack
of sleep and stress. And the campaign
was the easy part. Now he actually has
to go about solving the problems that our
country faces—certainly no easy task.
Obama says he will try to stay as healthy
as possible by eating right and exercising,
but it’s needless to say he will come out of
the White House significantly older than
when he announced his campaign.
Joe Biden has been showing signs of
aging and stress for the past several years,
understandable for a sixty-six year-old
while the presidential race must have been
stressful and tiring for the 72 year-old
Republican, it’s nothing compared to what
he has already gone through.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign was proba-
bly one of the most stressful. Even though
she never made it to the general election,
the primary in itself was exhausting. In the
What’s the wildest thing
democratic primary, Clinton was the clear you’ve done as a dare?
front-runner in the first several months
of her campaign, but fell into the posi-
tion of the underdog during the primaries. “Probably a picture of my
The stress of the primaries culminated brother...three water bottles and
after Clinton’s third place finish in Iowa, scotch tape.” -Katie Nickles
and she began to tear up. Whether it was
genuine or merely a political move is
difficult to say, but there is no question
that Clinton was put under a lot of stress
during the primary.
Sarah Palin probably had the least to
do with the presidential race out of all
of these people, and likewise the stress
factor was pretty low. That’s not to say “I ran through town naked!”
she didn’t have a lot that would cause -John Saeger
her to be stressed out, as the media dove
much more into her personal life than Lisa Toolan, Katlyn Carl
she wanted or expected, not to mention
she was pretty much tossed out into the

The Power of the Press

senator. In a medical report released in
October, there is information about Biden
having an irregular heartbeat, a common
sign of aging and stress. It is also thought
that Biden has had a hair transplant, where
hair is taken from the back of the head
and surgically moved to the front. This is
the outcome of being a senator for over a
decade.
Let’s face it, John McCain didn’t look
especially youthful even before the cam-
paign. That being the case, it’s difficult to
say how much he has been affected by the
campaign. In fact, this race may be one of
the least stressful parts of his life. McCain
spent five years in a Vietnamese POW
camp where, he says, he was tortured to
the point of attempted suicide. There is
a question as to whether this resulted in
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),
symptoms of which are a violent temper,
impulsiveness, paranoia, and insecurity.
McCain has been tested for the disorder
but refuses to release the results. All in all,
Photo courtesy of: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
national public world unprepared. She
did seem to remain fairly composed, her
most noticeable stress sign being after the
election, when a reporter asked for her
thoughts about being the main cause for Kristen Danek
John McCain’s defeat. Needless to say, Staff Writer
she had some strong words, but that was
really the apex of her campaign stress.
While past generations relied on their
For McCain and Palin, now is a time of
morning paper to collect information,
relative relaxation. The campaign is over,
new technology is adding to the decline in
and they can get back to their everyday
newspapers being read.
lives of being a senator, and running
If you ask your parents or grandparents
the country’s largest state. For Obama,
what an important part of their daily life
Clinton, and Biden, however, the work
is, most would say reading the paper. If
and the stress has only just begun. Obama,
you ask your friends the same question,
of course, has to deal with running, well,
many wouldn’t give the same answer.
everything. Biden will be the second in
Our generation has grown up on technol-
command, which, while not as stressful as
ogy, mainly computers, and as the new
being president, is definitely not an easy
generations continue to use the computer
job. Clinton will be the secretary of state,
more and more, the power of the printed
and will have to represent the US to the
newspaper shrinks.
rest of the world. For all three of them, the
The percentage of people that read the
largest problem will be that the rest of the
newspaper on a regular basis has gone
world isn’t too happy with us right now.
down tremendously in the last decade. In
1999, 67 percent of Americans read the
newspaper every Sunday, according to
Scarborough Research Center. In addi-
tion, 57 percent of Americans read the
newspaper every day. In 2005, the same
survey showed that only 60 percent read
the paper on Sundays, and barely half of
the nearly 306,000,000 people living in
the United States read the newspaper on
a daily basis. Why has readership gone
down so dramatically in the last few
years?
Years ago, the newspaper was the only
way to release information to the gen-
eral public. When you watch those old
comedies on TV Land, many times you
see the parents of the family sitting down
while reading the newspaper. Back when
TV was just coming onto the market, not
many families could afford a television
set, but they could usually afford to spend
a few cents on the local newspaper. This
gave them local as well as national news.
As soon as more people could afford
televisions, the newspaper readership
wavered a bit. Although the news on
television was now able to be watched by
many, it was at a specific time of day, and
many families were not able to watch it at
the exact time it was on. Because of this,
hard copies of the newspaper were still in
high demand.
The Internet is a different story. It
started out in the early 1990’s just like
the television, very expensive and not
very common. However, as people began
to afford computers more easily around
1995, readership of the newspaper greatly
dropped. The Internet offered up-to-date
news throughout the entire day and the
newspaper had finally met its match. The
major reason that many people no longer
read the newspaper is because the Internet
has become much more reasonable, easier
to use, and it is able to be used in many
places.
However, there are still reasons to read
the paper. Copies of the paper are still
relatively cheap compared to many other
things in today’s society. If you do not
have a computer, Internet service is not
right at your fingertips and you may have
to travel to find a place to use it. News-
papers solve this problem with delivery.
When you are on the computer, you
normally search only for the articles you
are interested in. In the paper, sometimes
you might stumble across something you
wouldn’t normally see and find it quite in-
teresting. And the biggest reason? Some-
times it’s just nice to not use technology
for once in today’s world.
 FEBRUARY 2009
Finding the Perfect
Perfume for You
Erin Stevens
Staff Writer
Perfume has been around since Egyp-
tian times. Some people can’t go out of
their house without it, while some don’t
even have a bottle of the good-smelling
liquid. However, when you do wear it,
are you wearing the right kind? There
are perfumes that could easily fit your
personality.
To find one’s personality fragrance,
one must discover their personality. Per-
sonality is a very wide scope of who you
are. So how do you find something that
could fit you? Figure out your favorite
things: color, music, food, drink, weather, out.
anything. For those
who have trouble
finding the right
perfume for you, I
would suggest go-
ing on Google and
looking it up. Take
a quiz and find out
your results. But
for me, I went to
Sephora, one of
the latest stores at
the Lehigh Valley
Mall, to get a bet-
ter knowledge of
scents.
One of the
Photo courtesy of: http://www.featurepics.com
most popular
scents today is
vanilla. Lavanila recreates the smell with
a variety of perfumes mainly smelling like so clean and light that all the girls will
vanilla, with some extra scents. Vanilla
Spice, for example, was vanilla with a
hint of mint. Vanilla Blossom was vanilla
with lavender, one of my favorite candle
scents. Good for people with a bubbly and smell that everyone will like. These three
cheery personality or those who just like
the smell of vanilla.
Another good set of perfumes was
Marc Jacobs Rain and Fig, for those with
an easygoing and laid back personal-
ity. They’re natural scents that are for
everyday use. They are both subtle, for
those who don’t like perfumes that smell
too flowery, but for those of you who
enjoy that frou-frou smell, I would sug-
gest Ralph Lauren’s Romance, which is
appealing and pleasant, as well as Jean
Paul Gaultier’s Madame. These would
fit into more of a girly personality. The
Beat Box
National Honors Society- Planning a car wash and electronic recycling day
DECA- Selling Joe Corbi’s to raise money for state competition in February
Outdoor Club- Going rock climbing in February, trip to Pocono Plateau in April
Debate- Semifinals in February against Parkland
Kids for Christ- Swim party in middle school pool in February
PEACE- Getting ready for Earth Day
Yearbook- Students can buy their yearbooks at Jostensyearbook.com
PAGE 7
Teacher Fun Facts
The teachers at Northampton don’t just know how to educate their students:
many of them have hidden talents, as well!
fragrances would make great gifts for your Mrs. Neali Miller used to play soccer and volleyball, winning titles for both.
girlfriends.
For those who like the smell of fruit, Mrs. Natalie Kroope can decorate cakes, and even put herself through college
DKNY has some good tangy scents called decorating cakes for Wegmans.
Be Delicious, and Red Delicious. The
crisp, modern scent would also make Mrs. Maureen Sproul once won a foul-shooting competition.
a good perfume for a natural girl. Be
Delicious and Red Delicious celebrate Mrs. Debra Ward was the hopscotch champion of East Allentown when she was
individuality with refreshing spirit. For in fourth grade.
the evening, DKNY also had Delicious
Nights: that is the fragrance of the night, Mrs. LeeAnn Hildebrand loves singing...just not in public.
which has more feel to the smell than day-
time, more hinting at the fun and secrets Both Mr. Ryan Brobst and Mr. William Gillespie can touch their tongue to their
of the night. DKNY targets more of the nose.
rebellious type of person, someone who
stands out in the crowd and the Delicious Mrs. Andrea Wasilko was once top ten in Miss Teen USA, and used to cheer for
perfumes will definitely make you stand the Eagles.
Though perfume targets mostly More fun facts to come next issue...
women, there are
fragrances for men,
of course. Just like
Madame, Jean Paul
Gaultier has a scent
for males, La Male. The Newest Northampton Club:
Gay-Straight Alliance
This is a scent that
every girl should
buy for her boy-
friend or husband.
The subtle, minty Melissa Jacobson message of tolerance.
smell reminded me
of a barbershop.
Feature Editor The road to the club’s creation has
been a smooth one, thankfully, and ac-
Gucci is cologne
cording to Baker, “The biggest hurdle has
for all male
To promote acceptance of everyone, been…trying to find the club’s direction.”
ages. This
regardless of race, gender, or sexual To all involved with the club, though,
cologne isn’t for
orientation. This is the mission of the the fact that this club was created is a
the guys who
newly formed Gay-Straight Alliance good sign for the school. Even though not
like their cologne to be overpowering. It’s
(GSA), which was recently created here all students are part of it, it still shows that
at Northampton High School. Its three our school is accepting and progressive.
love it! Another cologne is Prada Amber
advisors—Mrs. Steidinger, Mrs. Snyder, An ideal result for this club would
Pour Homme from Prada. The scent isn’t
and Mrs. Stoudt— all help students to feel be to see a school with more respect for
musky and woody, like most cologne.
welcome and comfortable when at the fellow students, and for there to be no
It has a unique, clean and sophisticated
club, and make sure that it is a place for bullying regarding personal preference.
students to feel secure about all aspects of The idea may seem very far away, but the
colognes are for the easygoing guys. It
themselves. meeting room is a place where students
says that you’re grown up and mature,
All three of the advisors became can go to feel like it has already happened.
while smelling really good.
involved at different times when it came “It’s a group of diverse people coming
There is such a wide variety of per-
to the planning for the club, its creation, together in a supportive atmosphere,” ex-
fumes; it would be hard to choose just one
and its start in October. Aubrey Baker, plains Snyder, who wants students to view
for yourself. In my opinion, there isn’t just
the club secretary, has been involved since the club as a place where all students can
one perfume that will match your person-
the very beginning, when the club was feel accepted and respected by their peers.
ality. So look around until you find your
just an idea and a plan to raise awareness As the year continues, the club will
absolute favorite or favorites. Sephora
of tolerance through the positive actions continue to be a caring environment, help
supplies more than enough perfumes for
of its members. The club has already people and spread positive messages, such
you to try. There are all kinds of perfumes
done a food and clothing drive for needy as Baker’s final words to remember: “Our
and cologne that could fit any personality.
students, and the members are planning on GSA is small, but mighty, and as we grow,
Your personality does have a scent, you
fundraising and finding ways to spread the so will acceptance.”
just have to go out and find it.
Photo courtesy of http://herokids.files.wordpress.com
 8 Entertainment
Rock Band 2 Rules
Gaming OR
World?
Mike Engelhardt
Staff Writer
In the world today there are many
video games to choose from. Some range
from shooters and role-playing games.
To puzzle games and sports games. But
my favorite game would have to be Rock
Band 2. In my experience with the game,
Rock Band 2 developed by Harmonix
Music Systems, is the second game in
the Rock Band series. While many things
have not changed with the release of the
second game. There have been a lot of
songs added to the new game. Besides
the songs that are included, players may
buy extra songs from system downloads
as well as purchase the license from the
first Rock Band to import the songs to the
second.
The reason I like Rock Band is because
it’s a very entertaining game; there are a
lot of things to do, whether you start your
own band with friends, or even play in a
band by yourself. You can also play on
quick play, which is when you choose a
song and then go straight into the game in-
stead of waiting around in the menus. It’s
also entertaining to play with friends. You
can have up to 4 friends play aloud with
you on a variety of instruments including,
Drums, Bass, Guitar and Vocals.
While this game maybe fun to a lot of
people, there are some downfalls to the
game. One of these would be the drum
controller. The new drums that were
originally released with Rock Band 2 are
low quality. They have a tendency to stop
Internet Games Grab Attention
Shelby Fabian
Staff Writer
Attention all gamers! What sites take
you to an arena filled with action and ad-
venture? Come surf the ‘net and find out!
All across the Internet there’s tons of
sites that can fill your craving to play a
great game. From classics such as Tetris to
new releases like Parking Lot 2 and CSI,
the internet is filled with opportunities to
“get your game on”. Online games
could be anything from television
show based, to cartoons and strat-
egy. Whether you play five minutes
or five hours, your gaming experi-
ence will be nothing but action.
I’m sure you’ve heard of sites such
as addictinggames.com, maxgames.com,
and bored.com. Not only does bored.com
offer games, but also quizzes, videos,
and pure entertainment. Bored.com gives
working and shut off completely while
in the middle of songs. The drum pedal
can snap if you tap it too hard during
certain songs. I’m currently on my sec-
ond pedal since I’ve gotten the game.
I have not seen any glitches or bugs
while playing. The only thing that I can
say was a bad experience would be the
online play. Depending on your inter-
net connection while playing this game
online, you can experience a great deal
of lag in the game. This is common to a
Picture courtesy of:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engad-
get.com/media/2008/07/7-16-08-rock-
band.jpg
lot of online multiplayer games and not
just Rock Band.
In my opinion, Rock Band 2 is
the better game all around. From its
extended library of songs, to its enter-
taining game play the game attracts a
variety of people of different ages and
beats Guitar Hero any day.
you gaming range, including games in
sports and racing, as well as the arcade
and the casino. A site such as addicting-
games.com provides selections in
humorous variations such as “The Big
Green Thumbbuddy” and “Pencil Racer
XL”. As the site title implies, you will
become addicted! The more you play, the
more you’ll love being connected to the
computer.
There are loads of sites out there to
“burn” your boredom and gain some
hand-eye coordination. While you may be
interested in classic arcade games such as
Asteroids, Centipede, and Brick, you can
look at the opposite end of the spectrum,
with games such as Parking Lot, Replay
Racer, or the N Game. Your ability to
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Crowned
Jake Adams
Staff Writer
Arguably two of the most popular
video games ever played came out this
past fall, Guitar Hero: World Tour and
Rock Band 2. Since there has been time
to play, enjoy, and digest the gam-
ing experience of one or both of
these games, it is time to compare.
Guitar Hero: World Tour is the
fourth installment of the Guitar
Hero franchise. For the first time in
the series, Activision and Neversoft
introduced drums and vocals, mak-
ing it a true band experience.
World Tour features a more compre-
hensive career, including individual and
full band play, upgraded instruments, and
more diverse online game play. The big
feature to hit this game was the “Create a
Song” mode. But, more on that later.
World Tour introduces 80 songs, all of
which are master tracks. Master tracks are
the original recordings of the song that
allow full access to each instrument and
note. Unlike the previous Guitar Hero’s,
this one allows the gamer to create their
own gigs, or complete the preset gigs in
career mode. Career mode can be played
as each individual instrument, or as a
band with up to all four instruments, on
or offline. The game does not focus as
much on defeating legends as in previous
games. There are still guitar battles, but
the emphasis lies in the overall band play
and unlocking new legends.
choose which game interests you most
makes Internet gaming the best way to go.
As you blast the asteroids and concentrate
on managing a perfect park, you will be
engulfed into the world of the mainframe.
So apart from the popular websites,
I have discovered some of my own sites
that some
of you
may have
heard of.
One of
my per-
sonal favorites is coffeebreakarcade .com.
Equipped with a full description of each
game and how to play, Coffeebreakarcade.
com provides the gamer with everything
from puzzle games, to card and word
games. This site basically gathers various
Best?
The online game play is much more
complex, even though most of that is from
different variations of band play. You can
play the band career online, just play a
few songs, or compete against other bands
from around the world. The only prob-
lem- it is tough
to find band vs.
band matches
online since
it takes four
people already
in a band to
compete against
another four.
The problem
tends to be a
lack of vocalists.
The quality of the instruments has
improved since the third game. The guitar
is bigger and more robust compared to
previous models, and the touch pad adds
another dimension to the game play. The
pad has the same five colors as the upper
frets, but it does not require strumming,
and can be used as an alternative to strum-
ming. The bass now features an open “E”
note, which requires no frets to press as
you strum. The grand newcomer, the drum
set, is almost comparable to the real thing.
Unlike Rock Band, the set features two
cymbals above the rest of the set, just like
a real one. The set is also very quiet and
durable. You can keep the volume down
a bit while wailing away on the pads and
still hear the game, although it is much
more fun to crank up the volume.
The other new feature is the ability to
create custom songs and upload them to
Xbox Live. You can just jam as one, a
group, or use preset mixes to create songs.
The only instrument excluded is the mi-
crophone due to copyright. Once you are
done creating your new hit single, you can
upload it to GHTunes, the only library of
Guitar Hero’s custom songs, and you can
even download songs from other bands.
All in all, Guitar Hero World Tour is
the next step in the music video game
industry. Along with the fun created by
the band experience, the audio and visual
upgrades provide a surreal experience
unmatched in the previous games. The
added song creator feature is a big bonus
and makes this game a must have over
Rock Band 2.
games from other websites and puts them
in a huge collection for your convenience.
Another site, ninjakiwi.com, is compiled
with assorted games such as Bloons and
Meeblings. Bloons is a game in which you
take over a monkey and, with the help of
some darts, pop the balloons throughout
all 50 levels. Once you start, it’s near
impossible to stop! Challenge yourself to
the levels, where you encounter different
arrangements of the balloons as well as
barricades and special objects.
To bring this journey to a near end, I
leave the door wide open to all gaming
possibilities. Explore and travel to sites
unknown, and get your game on!
 Entertainment
Sheik’s “Whisper” Gets Lost in the Translation
Cory Stevens
Editor-in-Chief
Anybody remember Duncan Sheik?
He’s the guy that sang the pop hit “Barely
Breathing” back in the 90s. It was a
catchy little ditty that I still have in my
own playlists from time to time. Sheik’s
most recent album, “Whisper House”, was
released on January 27th, and in reality
isn’t much of an album at all. It’s more
of a soundtrack for the upcoming stage
production of the same name that Sheik
is working on. “Whisper House” is a CD
that holds ten quiet, somber songs that are
almost boring to listen to.
Awhile back in the early 2000s,
Duncan Sheik, already a Grammy-win-
ning songwriter, collaborated with Steven
Sater, a well-known playwright. The two
of them sat down to discuss working on
a musical that would be called “Spring
Awakening”, based off of the controver-
sial play of the same name. Their racy
musical went on to win eight Tony awards
in 2007, including Best Musical. The
New York Times stated in their review
of “Spring Awakening”: “Broadway may
never be the same.”
Sheik enjoyed the process; possibly
even more than what he had been doing
back in the 90s.
“The truth is, I really like narra-
tive,” Sheik told Henry Freedland of
Paste Magazine in an interview this past
New Movies of Old Comics
Gaining Popularity
Abby Gestl
Opinion Editor
Fanboys and girls rejoice-your time has
come. Lately movie writers have decided
that instead of writing their own material,
they will bring the comic books most have
grown up with to the big screen. X-Men,
Spiderman, Fantastic Four, and other
big name comic books have made or are
making, their big debuts to reintroduce
themselves to a new audience.
Everyone knows that there have been
enough Superman and Batman remakes,
so now other comics are getting a chance
to shine. Ironman for example, was a box
office smash but before it came out, who
could say that they actually read the comic
or saw the cartoon series? If someone
were to ask around, it would be a safe bet
that person would find many more people
familiar with the movie Constantine then
the comic Hellblazer on which it was
based.
The X-Men were battling in both car-
toons and comics for years before finally
making it to the big screen. Due to the
money the movies have been raking in, it
seems more comics brought to life are on
the horizon. Now, instead of the group,
a movie revolving around the character
Wolverine is coming to theaters soon.
Of course, once a movie becomes
popular, everyone starts to try to make
money off of it. This has led to the car-
toons of these movies coming back to the
small screen. Whether this is a good or
bad thing is yet to be seen. The X-Men
cartoon I know from my childhood is nice
to see again for comparing it to the recent
movies. Ironman cartoons have also begun
appearing on television. This trend of mer-
chandising movies has also been followed
by Ironman Halloween costumes, and
November, “and I like the relationship of
music to narrative. Whether it’s in a theat-
rical context, or a filmic context. It could
be a CD with a book for all I care. It’s just
I like the idea of songs helping to tell a
story, and having the story really helping
the songs to become more emotionally
resonant.”
So Sheik’s enjoyment of the musical
enterprise caused him to pursue another
project. The result: “Whisper House”.
Apparently, Sheik had only recorded
the ten songs as demos for the musical,
but Sony Music Entertainment sat him
down and said that these songs would be
his next record. That’s all well and good,
of course, except for the fact that someone
who didn’t know about the musical would
be completely in the dark about what he
was singing. If it weren’t for the sticker
on the plastic covering of the case that
stated: “Music from the forthcoming stage
production,” I would have been writing a
much more negative review.
It doesn’t make sense to me how Sony
thought making these songs Sheik’s new
album was a good idea. Musical songs, by
definition, are musical scores used to tell
or help to tell a story. This album featured
ten songs from the musical “Whisper
House”, but we have no story to accom-
pany the music. Therefore, these songs
are like empty shells that have all these
details, but no origin. Only after doing a
little bit of digging on the internet did I
find the necessary information that helped
other such items relating to the character.
The comic book industry has actually
had the most to monetarily gain from the
recent movies, especially after Marvel
Entertainment, the publishers of such
comics as The Fantastic Four, Spiderman,
and The X-Men, had to file for bankruptcy
twice in the 1990s. As of October 2008
the industry is doing much better by mak-
ing a 40 percent profit. This profit gain
and the survival of comic book stores,
such as Dreamscape Comics located in
Bethlehem, PA, remind us that comic
books are still much a part of our culture.
(http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/10/news/
companies/siklos_marvel.fortune/)
When comics hit the big screen as well
as other fictional adaptations, the storyline
changes a bit, perhaps to shorten the mov-
ie or keep the viewer interested. These
alterations can be seen when comparing
all auperheros out there from numer-
ous movies. A common theme in comics
books is also the ability of the comics to
have crossovers between them, such as
Spiderman teaming up with the X-Men,
which may be hard to recreate in mov-
ies with the challenge of having all the
actors and directors working together on
a film. This may be proven wrong due to
rumors of an Avengers movie in the works
that would combine the Ironman and The
Incredible Hulk movies in June.
So, comic fans out there can continue
to enjoy their ongoing stories in the comic
and then be able to see them turned into
movies on the big screen.
Pictures courtesy of:
http://blog.wired.com/photos
me to at least grasp the idea of what Sheik
was getting at.
Some songs, such as “Play Your Part”
and “Take a Bow” could work by them-
selves, but still feel empty because of how
closely related they are to the story of
“Whisper House”. For years, musicians
have used songs to tell stories, but the sto-
Photo courtesy of:
http://www.duncansheik.com
ries were told within the songs—whereas
Sheik’s songs are only pieces of the
“Whisper” puzzle.
Many of the songs are also, unfortu-
nately, forgettable. It’s a shame, because
Sheik knows how to make a catchy song,
and the story is also very good, but these
songs were just too slow and too quiet
for me to even be able to pay attention to
them. The quality of the songs is great—
the music will be very powerful in the mu-
sical. However, some of these songs don’t
seem to have a place on an album. Most
“Unborn” Should have
Remained in the Womb
Sarah Pallitta
Staff Writer
Watching “The Unborn” is like see-
ing double. Double the twins, double the
creepy children, and double the disap-
pointment.
The Unborn is a dreary flick, filled
with demonic children and tons of dis-
gusting bugs. It was a predictable horror
movie that produced unplanned laughter
at moments. There were numerous scenes
where heads were being turned upside
down, kids were being stuffed into medi-
cine cabinets, and long periods of jogging
that were taking place in this not so thrill-
ing movie. The movie shows sporadic
nightmares that Casey is having, which
includes a pasty white kid and a phrase,
“Jumby wants to be born.” Although
the movie seemed to be filled with only
disturbing images and little else, it had its
fair share of “jumpy scares” also.
The movie opens with our main
character Casey Beldon, played by Odette
Yustman, babysitting the neighbor’s kids.
While babysitting she was hit in the eye
by one of the kids, after going to the
doctor, she found that it began to change
color. The doctor concluded that this can
occur in twins, and Casey, thinking she
was an only child, needed to unearth the
truth. Her father, played by James Remar,
admitted that Casey would’ve had a twin
brother, but he died in the womb. As
Casey connected the dots, she discovered
that her father had nicknamed her twin
brother “Jumby,” and he is now haunting
her dreams.
Casey tracks down her lost grandmoth-
er Sofi Kozma, played by Jane Alexander,
who fills in the missing information. The
movie also intertwines with background
from the Holocaust. We experienced it
9
of the songs were acoustic and, therefore,
were rather slow.
The songs that stuck out for me were
“The Tale of Solomon Snell,” which uses
a hypnotizing guitar and brass instru-
ment laden melody to tell the story of a
man who was too trusting and was buried
alive. Then there was “Play Your Part,” as
previously mentioned. I wasn’t sure how
this song fit into the story, but it’s one of
the more upbeat songs that you won’t find
yourself bored with. The last song on the
album, “Take a Bow” was also more up-
beat, and provided a nice end after sitting
through two sluggish ballads.
After all is said and done, Whisper
House provides an excellent preview for
those who are waiting for the musical to
come out. Although, everything surround-
ing this music and the musical itself was
indeed ‘whispers,’ because I never even
heard any of this until I saw Sheik’s name
on a list of upcoming album releases. And
after you give this album a listen, you
may have second thoughts. Nonetheless,
Sheik provides us with some interest-
ing sounds with the help of fellow singer
Holly Brook, and this a good album only
if you need some music to sit and relax to.
Whisper House is an album filled the brim
with ambient sounds and a deep story, but
it doesn’t have much else.
Information Courtesy of:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/, http://
www.playbill.com/, and http://www.sprin-
gawakening.com/
vicariously through Sofi, as she shared
with us her time in Auschwitz. Ultimately,
her grandmother was the backbone of
the movie. Without Sofi explaining the
plot and leading Casey to more clues, the
movie wouldn’t have made any sense, let
alone ended.
The co-stars in this movie included
Cam Gigandet playing Mark Hardigan
as Casey’s hunky boyfriend. He is also
known for his role in the vampire love
story, Twilight. In my opinion, his charac-
ter was a little too understanding about his
girlfriend being possessed. Since he didn’t
have much of a reaction, it made me think
this was an everyday thing for him. Now
her best friend Romy, played by Meagan
Good, provides no assistance during the
movie whatsoever, with the exception of
some negative remarks here and there.
If her character hadn’t been included, it
wouldn’t have made a difference in the
movie. Casey’s father is barely present
at all. He steps in for about two scenes to
link parts of the plot in order to get the
ball rolling, then disappears from the rest
of the movie.
David S. Goyer was the director of
this flop, which is disappointing after
his having worked on hit projects such
as, Batman Begins, and The Dark Night.
Produced by Michael Bay (Transformers),
this movie had all the right people behind
it, but the story line never stood a chance.
The movie ends with an ultrasound
of Casey’s stomach which shows, you
guessed it, twins. Could this be leading
to a possible “The Unborn 2: Jumby’s
Return?” I cannot imagine a sequel to a
movie that was so dry to begin with. The
Unborn is one of those movies where you
wait for it to come out on DVD, and rent
it at 48 Hours for three bucks.
Photo Courtesy of: www.filmofilia.com
 10
Girls Basketball Shoots For
Solid Season
Cara Bonenberger shoots for three points as
Megan Bowen anticipates a rebound.
Photo By: Jake Adams
Jake Adams
Staff Writer
After another successful season on the
court, the girls’ basketball team is headed
straight for a long postseason run, though
getting into the playoffs is not enough for
the team.
“[We will] hopefully win at least
Swimming Prepares for Districts when he went to school here and was an
Kristen Danek
Staff Writer
As the regular season comes to a
close, districts for swimming are not too any of their eleven meets.
far ahead in the future.
The swimming team has a new coach
this year, Matt Rumfield. He graduated
from Kutztown, swam for Northampton
Members of the girls swim team prepare to start in their
race versus Dieruff.
Photo By: Kristen Danek
Sports
These Seniors
leagues or districts, or both,” said a new point guard…but we obviously did
Will Dominate
in Division I
senior Megan Bowen. adjust.”
The K-Kids have a strong core
consisting of a solid mix of seniors
The defense has held opponents to an
average of 33 points a game, including a
Athletics
and underclassmen. Alyssa and Kara few teams that they held under 25 points. These fourteen senior athletes will be at-
Bonenberger, along with seniors Em- If the team can continue to play at a tending Division I colleges to pursue their
ily Schultz and Bowen, are key con- consistently high level, Northampton may athletic and academic careers.
tributors on a team that has averaged be bringing home another trophy or two.
around 45 points a game, including Football
a blowout win against Stroudsburg, William Boyko
52-17. Galen Clemons
Bowen is the leading scorer, aver-
aging 11 points per game, including a Field Hockey
dominating 26 points against Univer- Janel Paukovits
sity City, and is one of the team’s best Ashley Yanek
free throw shooters.
The Bonenberger sisters have Wrestling
provided a solid 20 points a game Shane Fenningham
combined, and each have two games Phillip Marano
with at least 17 points. Josh Yurasits
Schultz provided 12 points against Joseph Piro
Emmaus earlier in the year, and James Sheptock
remains one of the team’s leaders in
assists per game. Girls Basketball
Offense is not the only driving Megan Bowen
force behind the K-Kids. Team chem-
istry and defense have kept opponents Softball
at bay. Alex MacLean
“On and off the court we became Shannon Kramer
very close,” said Bowen. Kayla Trinkle
The Kids also have a new point
guard this season, senior Abby Silfies. Track and Field
“We lost our starting point guard Emily Shultz searches for an open player, trying Ashley Hunter
last year. She graduated,” said to get the ball into play.
Bowen, “So it was just hard for the Photo By: Jake Adams
girls who played last year to adjust to
Congratulations!
assistant coach for the team last year.
The boys team, which consists of seven
swimmers, two being seniors, did not win
“This was a rebuilding year for the
guys,” said senior Bryan Greto. “The lack
of swimmers made it a difficult season.”
Both the boys and girls team worked
very hard on days they did not have
meets. There were usu-
ally two meets a week,
which meant there were
four practices a week.
After-school practices
ran until 5:30 p.m., and
on Saturdays they ran
from 9-11 a.m. These
practices consisted
of many drills, turns,
Daniel Talian cheers on his teammate during the boys relay event against Dieruff.
sprints, and distance
swims. Photo By: Kristen Danek
The girls team won the 200 yard individual
two of their meets. medley and the 100 yard
These meets consisted breast stroke, since each
of four relays, two 200 swimmer is allowed to
yard swims, four 100 only swim in two events at
yard swims, a 50 yard districts. Last year he placed
swim, and one 500 yard tenth in the 100 yard breast
swim. Each of these stroke, and his goal this year
events happened twice, is to make the top eight.
once each for the boys “Overall I enjoyed
and girls. After swim- swimming. It was a good
ming came diving. year and a lot of fun,” said
Senior Todd Lerch is Greto.
highly ranked for diving
in and will be compet-
ing in the districts.
For swimming,
senior Matt Fiorvanti
qualified for eight
events this year. However,
Senior Todd Lerch is ranked high in the district for diving.
he will only be swimming Photo By: Kristen Danek
 Sports
Ice Hockey Freezes the Competition
Andrea Hetrick
Sports Editor
With an 13-0 season, things couldn’t
get much better for the Kids. Although
the team lost a lot of talented seniors who
graduated last year, the Kids were able to
keep it together and stay strong.
“Coming into the season I think every-
one knew we were an extremely talented
team, but we were all a little skeptical
because of losing a lot of experienced
players to graduation and didn’t exactly
know what the team chemistry would be
like,” said senior Steve McGeary.
“We tried to stay as positive as pos-
sible. We lost a lot of good role models,
but we had a handful of skilled younger
players coming back this season,” said
senior Mike Kokolus.
Photo By: Andrea Hetrick
Senior Mike Kokolus chases the puck up the ice in a game against Bechai that the team
won on a goal in the last :40 seconds. The players felt the game was a turning point in
the season.
The loss of seniors has opened up posi-
tions for fresh underclassmen who have
been key parts of the team.
“Underclassmen are the core of the
team. We rely heavily on sophomores
Nate Salukas, Joey Molfetta and freshman
Zach Michaels as underclassmen to get
the job done,” said Kokolus.
The focus of this year’s team is clear.
“Since week one, the team has been
focused on the ultimate goal: winning the
LVSHL [Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey
Leauge] title that we didn’t get last year.
We know we have the tools to do it, and,
as long as we keep taking things one game
at a time and play every game from start
to finish, we should have no problem win-
ning the title,” said McGeary.
The team has the benefit of having the
league’s top goal scorer, Molfetta, who
has scored 50 points in 11 games for the
Kids. The Kids also have, with Salukas,
The undefeated K-Kids have a pep talk before their game against Becahi.
the league’s third-highest goal scorer as
well as one of the best goaltenders in
the league, junior Austin Misko, who
has a near-perfect save percentage of 90
percent.
These individual players all contribute
to the success of the team, but ultimately
the Kids’ outstanding ability to work to-
gether as a team is where their wins come
from.
“This year we have a team that’s full of
guys that really aren’t selfish. We aren’t
worried about scoring as much as we are
about the overall team aspect of winning. I
really think that that’s the best support any
teammate could give to his team,” said
McGeary.
“We encourage each other to play
to our fullest potential and give it 100
percent in practices and in games. We
compete with each other in practice to
push our teammates so that we can get
better,” said Kokolus.
What has also made the team so suc-
cessful is the fact that the Kids started
practicing in August.
“The practices make us all better and
keep us in shape. Putting in the effort
and playing as a team allows us to work
better together in games and is one of the
reasons why we are currently 13-0,” said
Kokolus.
In their interviews, McGeary, Kokolus
11
Photo By: Andrea Hetrick
and Misko all mentioned that the Kids’
match-up against Becahi as a game that
is truly memorable, as the team was able
to score in the last 40 seconds to defeat
Becahi.
“Although we didn’t have our best
game and things constantly didn’t go our
way, we played hard until the last whistle
and just squeaked by with a 4-3 win. That
game really brought the team together
and has been a defining moment in the
season,” said McGeary.
The ice hockey team’s win over Naza-
reth is also a game that stands out in the
mind of Kokolus.
“Our victory over Nazareth this season
was a notable game. Both of us were
undefeated going into the game, but we
emerged as the victor, proving that we
are the team to beat in the league,” said
Kokolus.
If the Kids keep it up, the possibilities
are endless.
“We’re just looking to take one game
at a time. We know that we have the talent
to beat anyone if we play our best, but
there’s no sense in looking too far ahead,”
said McGeary.
Only time will tell if the team will
clench the LVSHL title, but, with the way
things are looking now, the Kids’ dream
could become a reality very soon.

Boys Basketball Shoots and Scores Solid Season

Photo By: Jake Adams
Andre McDermott takes a foul shot during
the team’s game versus Dieruff.
Jake Adams
Staff Writer
As the season came to a close, the
K-Kids can look back at a solid season,
despite the record. The season has seen
it all from lopsided games to nail-biting
finales.
Led by seniors Andre McDermott and
Alek Farkas, the Kids have played strong
throughout the season, including
the tough times.
McDermott has been a force
in the paint through most of the
season, including a season high
of 20 points against Dieruff in
mid-January.
Farkas has been a huge threat
from beyond the arc, including
a 19-point performance against
Nazareth where he made three
shots from three-point land.
The team also boasts a strong
core of underclassmen led by
junior Brian Stevko. Stevko is
the team’s leading scorer with 15
points per game, and is a threat
from anywhere on the court. He
was the team leader for points in
a game this season with his two
best games being a 24-point out-
ing against Freedom in January
and 20 points against Emmaus,
two days before Christmas.
Despite a challenging four-
game losing streak in December,
the K-Kids rallied to close out the
month with wins in three of the
final four games. Hopefully the Photo By: Jake Adams
team will be able to carry some of
that success into next season. The K-Kids play defense in the first few minutes in their game against Dieruff.
 FEBRUARY 2009
Wrestling Earns Another Perfect Season
Nicole Leo
Staff Writer
The 2008-2009 Northampton wrestling
team currently has a flawless season after
winning their first 16 matches.
With Mr. Daubert as head coach and
eight seniors leading the team, the chances
of victory at states are looking better each
day. In an in-depth interview with senior
Seth Csaszar, he explained the team’s
preparations for the season.
“We practiced for about two and a half
hours each day, including running, lifting,
and wrestling,” says Csaszar.
The majority of the wins that the boys
acquired came pretty easy. When it came
time to face Easton on January 14th at
home, the gym was filled top to bottom
Senior Jimmy Sheptock shows no mercy against Easton.
Move Over Commercials,
The Steelers are Super Bowl Champions
Senior Nick Richetta and junior Zach Szoke display
their Steelers Spirit on Monday after the game.
Photo By: Andrea Hetrick
PAGE 12
with dedicated fans anticipating a
close and exciting match. Despite the
pressure, Northampton came out on
top with the score of 32-21.
“Easton is our rival, so beating
them felt great,” said Csaszar.
The boys’ senior festivities took
place on Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m.. As
tradition follows, the seniors were
praised and the win they claimed that
night against Emmaus was the icing
on the cake.
The Kids recently participated
in team districts, where they once
again proved to be unstoppable. The
K-Kids defeated every team and
finished off with a win against Blue
Mountain in the district finals, bring-
ing home the District X1 title.
States will once again be held this
year in Hershey for both the team and
individual competitions. The state Senior Joe Piro is just able to stay in bounds to gain a two point take down. Photo By: Mr. Blick
competition for the team
is Feb. 6-7. The individual
competition is from Mar. 5-
7, and with plenty of time Last Year’s
Individual Results
to continue practicing until
then, the team has high
hopes.
“Our goal is to take first Districts: Regionals:
in states. It always has 1st: Shane Fenningham 1st: Shane Fenningham
been our goal,” Csaszar Joe Piro 2nd: Josh Yurasits
states. Jimmy Sheptock Jimmy Sheptock
Though the majority 2nd: Phil Marano 3rd: Greg Rinker
of the season is over, the Greg Rinker Phil Marano
hard work is not. The most 3rd: Josh Yurasits Joe Piro
anticipated part of their Austin Sommer Austin Sommer
season is just ahead and, Jordan Glykas States:
hopefully, their dedication 4th: Chamberlain 3rd: Jimmy Sheptock
in practices and matches 5th: Seth Csaszar 5th: Shane Fenningham
will prove to pay off once Eric Shaffer 7th: Joe Piro
Photo By: Mr. Blick again.
Jake Adams
Staff Writer
The game started out as the Cinderella-Not-Supposed-To-Be-Here
Cardinals against the Obama-Nation Steelers, and ended with argu-
ably the greatest finish in Super Bowl history.
The first half saw clutch defense, sporadic offensive performanc-
es, and culminated with the biggest defensive play the Super Bowl
has ever seen- a 100 yard interception by Defensive MVP James
Harrison.
Then something clicked in the fourth quarter. The Steelers’ lead
slippped away as the Cardinals lit them up for two touchdowns cour-
tesy of Larry Fitzgerald, who two-handedly owned this postseason.
What followed was a testament to Steelers Nation. What followed
was the finale that the Steelers are built for, performing in the clutch,
backs against the wall, with a collective confidence that was built
when the franchise was born.
The Steelers offense marched on the field with barely enough time
to blink, with all of America on the edge of their seats, and stuck a
dagger in the heart of the Cardinals with four clutch completions to
Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes. The Cardinals’ final heartbeat
was crushed with Holmes’s toe-tapping sideline grab; better than
the “Catch,” the “Immaculate Reception,” or David Tyree’s “Helmet
Catch.” That play woke up America, as screams of “Incomplete!” and
“No Way!” reverberated around the world. Santonio Holmes just gets his toes in bounds for
When the shockwave passed, though, the Steelers became the game-winning catch.
Destiny’s child, becoming the winningest franchise in NFL history, Photo Courtesy of: Sportsil-
clinching a ring…for the toe. lustrated.com