Only A Size Zero

         With the pressures added to teenagers with school, sports, and friends, eating disorders are increasing. More and more teens are falling to anorexia and bulimia to make themselves look right. But what is right? Is the healthy size for someone a zero? Who decides this?

         Television shows, and reality TV shows are adding to this situation. Shows like America’s Next Top Model are showing girls make themselves as skinny as they can be in order for someone to take their picture or for designers to put clothes on them and send them down a runway. Not helping the fact is the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show that aired on CBS on November 30. Because obesity is on the rise and some kids aren’t getting as much exercise as they need to stay healthy, they have been falling into the trap of these two diseases. So if television isn’t portraying a healthy body image, than who should?

       According to the South Carolina department of Mental Health one out of 200 women suffer from anorexia, two to three our of 100 women suffer from bulimia and an estimated 10-15% of the people suffering from the diseases are males. Gaining awareness about eating disorders in general and what they can do to you will help the overall situation. Making sure that kids and teens are healthy and doing the right thing could eventually prevent the diseases from even starting. Schools should also be helping to by suggesting healthy food choices at lunch and during the day.

         Kids could be eating fatty foods but never gain weight because they will throw it up later. Friends and family should watch out for the signs of the diseases and intervene early. That would be the number one thing. Also helping someone get through the disease is also important. Someone trying to stop would always need a support system.

         Knowing all this people have to keep in mind that they are what they eat, or don’t eat, in this situation.

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

            On November 30, 2010 The Annual Christmas Tree Ceremony took place in Rockefeller Center yet again, just in time to kick in all of the holiday spirit. This Christmas tradition has been taking place in the Big Apple since 1933. To start the tradition and set the precedent a 20 foot tree was decorated by the Rockefeller Center workers. Every year the tree gains more lights and shines brighter. In 1933 there was 700 lights on the tree, last night 30,000 lights twinkled across NYC.  Thousands gathered around to watch Major Bloomberg light the 74 foot tree, which was donated by Peter and Stephanie Action of Mahopac, New York. The lighting of the most famous tree in the country brings people of all different characteristics together in the celebration of Christmas and other holidays throughout the winter season.

            The tree lighting in NYC is recorded and played live on WNBC so people don’t even have to leave their homes to be a part of this holiday event. Many celebrities joined in with holiday spirit to sing and perform in Rockefeller Center on Tuesday. Stars such as Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Jessica Simpson, Susan Boyle, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue as well as Boyz II Men. The Radio City Rockettes also put in a little kick into the 78^th Annual Rockefeller Tree Lighting Ceremony.

            In the past years of the Tree Lighting Ceremony the trees have been donated from other states such as Connecticut, and New Jersey as well as New York. The tree stands tall shining up until the week after New Years Day. After the tree is removed from the Rockefeller Center it is taken and recycled in many varieties of ways. In 2007 the tree was taken and used to furnish lumber for a Habitat of Humanity house construction. The tree is an amazing sight to be seen by everyone.

JV Whisperettes in the Wintertime

It’s that time of year again! It is the time where children and adults of all ages are engaged in the holiday season and the cheerful atmosphere that comes with it.  The West JV Whisperettes are taking part in various events this weekend that pertain to the holiday season. This weekend will be a kickline weekend for sure as they participate in many community service events such as the Tender Years Treasury, then they will perform at a foundation known as “Angela’s House,” and they will conclude the day by performing at the Tree Lighting Ceremony courtesy of the Smithtown Rotary Club.

“Angela’s House” is a new edition to their community service this year.  IT is a foundation that houses terminally ill children. During this time of year, they try to create as many activities as possible so the JV Kickline will perform their holiday routine for them. Overall, it will be a heartwarming experience that is all holiday themed.

The Tree Lighting Ceremony consists of a walk from the Smithtown Library to the historical Brush Barn. At the Brush Barn, many residents of Smithtown and people from other Long Island towns will gather together for a time of festivities.  Everyone is accompanied with holiday music, candy canes being handed out, and a visit from Santa Claus. 

The kickline girls will help by handing out candy to the children and organizing the lines to help meet Santa.  After this year’s festivities, they will perform the Glee version of “We Need a Little Christmas.”  Song choice is something that needed to be taken into consideration because we would rather kick to a song that will be familiar to the audience rather than a song that only targets a single age group, therefore, holiday classics are always the best way to go.

Their routine consists of formations that try to mimic holiday shapes such as the snowflake formation and one that looks like a Christmas tree to create the entire holiday atmosphere and experience.  “The routine is cute, and we look amazing in our holiday outfits. It will be so fun!” says JV member Megan Courtney.

The Smithtown West JV Whisperettes also have another community service project this weekend as well.  This is known as the Tender Years Treasury, where we would visit the senior citizens home in which we go to take the children around and help them purchase gifts for their parents, teachers, and friends.  After they get to make cookies and create cards that they would present along with their gifts.   

The JV Kickline will also be performing their holiday routine at the upcoming girl’s basketball game before the winter break.

It is true, we all “need a little Christmas,” and after this weekend the JV Kickline will help to really kick off our holiday season and get us into the holiday spirit.

Kim Kardashian is Dead?

             Did the cast of “The Buried Life” actually ‘kick the bucket?’ Is Kim Kardashian deceased? Well not to worry, she is only dead in the World Wide Web. She and other stars, such as Lady Gaga, are refraining from their Twitter accounts, as well as Facebook pages until the charity, Keep a Child Alive, raises $1 million.

Alicia Keys, the global ambassador and co-founder of the charity, is also participating in this event along with as Serena Williams, Elijah Wood, Justin Timberlake, Jay Sean, The Cast of The Buried Life, Khloe Kardasian, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, and Keys’ husband Swizz Beatz.

            Beginning in 2002, Keep a Child Alive has been providing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to the children they support all because of an experience that the president and founder of the charity, Leigh Blake, had. Anti-retroviral therapy is a combination of 3 or more medications that are combined to try to stop the HIV virus from progressing. While working in Mombasa with her previous charitable organization, Red Hot & Blue, a woman came into the clinic with her 3-year old child who needed the ART drugs to survive. This created an inspiration to help other children who needed these medications throughout the world.

After spreading the news about her newfound charity to her acquaintances and friends, Blake developed many people who were interested in helping out, such as Alicia Keys and Peter Edge, the charity’s first donor. Presently, Keep a Child Alive has sites in South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and India where they are helping children fight their disease one day at a time. She states, about the new campaign, “We’re trying to sort of make the remark: ‘Why do we care so much about the death of one celebrity as opposed to millions and millions of people dying in the place that we’re all from?’”  

            This project began on December 1^st, International AIDS Day, and will keep going until the charity has raised $1 million; I guess that is the price of the most popular twitter accounts. The plus 29 million followers of these stars on Twitter have to sacrifice this daily pastime of reading their favorite celebrities’ daily tweets for the campaign, which is known as ‘Digital Death’ and the celebs will ‘rise from the dead’ after the money is raised.  

            ‘You buy a digital life to save a real one’, says the campaign slogan. How far will people go to get back the life of their celebrity idol in the palm of their hand? We will soon see. For more information on Keep a Child Alive and the ‘Digital Death’ campaign, please visit www.keepachildalive.org or www.buylife.org to actually buy your favorite celebrity’s ‘life’ back.

Smithtown West Varsity Field Hockey Opens Up 2010 Season with a Home Game Against Comsewogue:

On September 17, 2010 Smithtown West Varsity girls field hockey won their first game of the season 3-0 over Comsewogue on the home turf. Half of the first half of the game Smithtown West battled out with Comsewogue 0-0. In the last 15 minutes of the first half Smithtown West put in the first goal by Alexa Riportella assisted by Allison Brodmerkle. Minutes later another goal was put in the back of the cage by Allison Smalley off of a corner shot. Goalie Kelsey Sweeney fouled stepping on the ball in the cage, causing much controversy between teams as the referee called for a stroke for Comsewogue. Sweeney watched the ball carefully and attacked at the right time making sure the ball would not hit the back of the cage.  Ending the first half of the Smtithtown West vs. Comsewogue game at 2-0. “Communication on the field is the key, and will help us with realization of the field and help along with passing to other players on the field.” Sweeney.

Starting off second half Smithtown West still came out strong, not worrying about the score. Brodmerkle passed the ball to Briana D’Amico leaving her to a one on one battle with the goalie of Comsewogue, Caitlin Moran. D’Amico scored the third and final goal of the game. Smithtown West stayed strong throughout the whole game and Sweeney, had nine saves throughout the game. Rebecca Martella says that “Passing the ball, spreading out and crossing the field will be our next few biggest challenges on the field and hopefully us as a team can successfully accomplish them.” Captain and Goalie Sweeney state, “For next weeks game there will be much more improvement, practicing hard and trying the best we can only to show more improvement out on the field.” Next weeks game is played on Tuesday September 21, 2010 against Centereach.

An Inside Look at Our Town

Imagine standing behind a curtain, the adrenaline rushing through your veins, and as it rises its first inch above the stage, you see many faces staring back at you with high expectations.  On November 10^th, this will be the case for many performers at Smithtown West, as we are anxiously awaiting the premiere of Our Town directed by Mr. Brannigan.             Surely this play will be another success because Mr. Brannigan is again directing it and he has been directing here for two years, but has been in the theater business since 1995.  When asked how prepared the cast is for the performance, he replied “everyone is at where they should be, but most are beyond”.  When Jamie Saunders, the lead actress in the play, was asked the same question, she replied “I am very excited, not nervous though because we are so well prepared.”

However, having the lead role in a play could also be very challenging.  “For one thing, there are so many lines to memorize, which takes a lot of time” says Jamie. Jamie also spent time doing character research so she knows how to act out the character relationships.

Other performers were faced with challenges as well; “many were challenged with a stylized language, because it was written in a New England dialect, so sayings and Phrases were worded different” admits Mr. Brannigan.

Our Town is said to be a very emotional play, for it contains words that are meant to be taken to heart. From the main character’s perspective, Jamie feels that the central message of the play is that “people should really pay attention to the little things in life because before you know it, it will all go away”.  This message is really one that can affect the audience and can speak to people individually, which is why this play is great for a high school to perform.

On November 10^th, Our Town actors and actresses will be waiting behind the curtain, with adrenaline rushing through their body to put on a great love story, and when the curtain rises its first inch and the piano strikes its first note, they will all be ready for “the best feeling in the world”- Jamie. 

To view the trailer click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xdupyxOcjI

Controversy Over the Commons

With the new experiences of high school, every freshman wants some new freedoms, but the newer rule of freshmen not being allowed to eat lunch in the commons is violating some of these newfound freedoms. The freshmen, soon to be class of 2014, are only allowed to eat lunch in G Café and aren’t permitted to leave this Café, unless they are going to the restroom or have a pass. This means that, yes; freshmen aren’t even allowed to do homework in the library during lunch! All of the various questions that people are asking such as why is this happening and will it ever be changed will all soon be answered.    

Mrs. Cindy Nocero, vice principal in charge of the freshmen and sophomore classes, describes her job with two words, “energy” and “good listener”. Being the woman in charge of all these high school students, Mrs. Nocero must always be ready to listen and have energy while doing so. Around this time of year, Principal Nocero has a lot of listening to do about the fact of no freshmen allowed to eat in the commons. She states, “It’s not my decision fully, I just input and discuss with Mr. Coady, Mr. Solomon, and Mr. McCabe.” Principal Nocero understands the fact that freshmen want more freedom, but she also agrees that as students get older, they should receive more freedoms. “Yes, G café is for freshmen, E café is for seniors and F Café is for juniors and sophomores,” says Mrs. Nocero to the question of where freshmen can eat lunch. This seems unfair considering this class of freshmen has been the first to have this privilege taken away from the beginning of the year, but sometimes that’s the way things are.

Mrs. Majuk, supervisor of 6^th period lunch, says her job at lunch is “challenging”. Mrs. Majuk states, “I love my freshmen,” while talking about her experiences with monitoring the freshmen café. “This is a privilege that freshmen have not yet earned,” says Mrs. Majuk about the controversy. Mrs. Majuk does not have a huge say in whether or not freshmen are allowed to eat lunch in the commons, but she does care about this problem.  

Hopefully, these two authorities will have a say in the allowance of freshmen eating in the commons by the second semester.