1.) Alyssa Goeckel
2.) Ave Maria (the Beyoncé version)
3.) Mr. English, Ms. Kowalski, Mr. Shaheen
4.) Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. You want to be able to say you gave it your best effort. In the end, it will be worth it. If you’re on the fence about joining one of the music programs, DO IT, they are all amazing.
5.) My older sister, Amy.
6.) Majoring in Education at MSU.

1.) Dana Berg
2.) Meditation From Thais- Massenet
3.) I would like to thank Mr. Rosin, my parents, my friends, Anne Kearney-Looman, and Deb Gauthier.
4.) Doing anything in the arts in high school is an awesome way to meet people and also an amazing creative outlet that allows you to escape from the rest of school. I have never regretted taking orchestra throughout high school.
5.) My parents forced me to take violin lessons starting at the age of 6. Since then I truly have come to love it.
6.) I plan on majoring in Environmental Science at University of Toronto

1.) Zuwaib Razzaq
2.) Salut D’Amour by Elgar
3.) I would like to thank family, friends and especially Mr. Rosin for guiding me throughout my music career thus far and Ms. Kieme for all her help on my solo along.
4.) GO FOR IT! Honestly the biggest regret in my high school career was not taking a chance and pursuing activities I was interested in.
5.) My teachers and other musicians inspired me to pursue music. Music has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life and I honestly don’t know who I would be today had I not taken orchestra for the past 8 or so years.
6.)I plan to go to MSU to study business and film.

1.) Alexis Clark
2.) Someone Else’s Story from the musical Chess
3.) Mr. English, Mr. Shaheen and Ms. Kowalski
4.) Don’t be afraid to go out there and do what you love, because if you love what you’re doing, nothing else matters.
5.) Combination of Carmen Cuzack, Katie Rose Clark who performed in the first musical I ever saw,Wicked, and Paul Canaan and Laura Bell Bundy.
6.) I’m going to Oakland University to double major in musical theatre and pre-law.

1.) Clara Lepard
2.) They Can’t Take That Away From Me by Gershwin
3.) I’d like to thank everyone who helped me grow up to be the person I am today. There are too many to name.
4.) Enjoy yourself. Practicing can be an extremely tiresome task if you think of it as “ugh, jeez, I have to keep doing this song over and over again for hours and it’s gonna sound terrible, ugh”. Instead, try to embrace every chance you get to make music (and mistakes), and remember why you do it in the first place. It’ll make everything that much more enjoyable, and the music will benefit too.
5.) I pursue music as a kind of escape. I’ve never had formal lessons or teachers to guide me, but throughout my life music has been my way of venting emotions in a constructive and personal way, and I love it. Singing comes as naturally as speaking to me now. And oftentimes, it’s the easier option. Do what you love. Happiness is the most profitable career on the planet.
6.) I’m probably going to pursue a career in the sciences, preferably in the Zoological area. I’m also interested in Psychology, but if the science stuff doesn’t work out, I’ll be studying non-musical Theatre as a fallback. Singing will remain a steady habit of mine, though, that I am sure of.

1.) Kathryn McLravy
2.) Elegie by Faure
3.) I would have to thank Mr. Rosin, Paul Rebeck, my parents, and friends.
4.) Perform, perform, perform! It’s so crucial to being a musician.
5.) If anything, I think listening to music, especially classical, made me want to pursue music. I think it’s fantastic how different instruments and notes can be woven together to create something so brilliant. The emotions created from listening to music also inspired me to try and emulate that in my own playing.
6.) Next year I will be attending College of Wooster and minoring in music.

1.) Bria Kelley
2.) Make You Feel My Love – Adele’s Cover
3.) Mrs. Topp, Mrs. Forman, Mrs. Sayers.
4.) Music is not a competition; it’s a way to express emotion. You can give it your all, and someone may just outdo you, but that’s okay because you gave it your best and that’s what matters. Just enjoy music and have fun with whatever you do. Be yourself and be true to who you are.
5.) My mother and father.
6.) Majoring in X-ray Technology

1.) Katrina Lothamer
2.) As if We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard
3.) My family, friends, Mr. English, Mrs. Kowalski, Mr. Shaheen, my voice teacher Mrs. Hayden and my piano teacher Mr Ben Diaz.
4.) If you love music and it makes you happy, never give it up… ever. Yeah it’ll get hard, you won’t get the parts you wanted but never stop trying. You deserve to show the world what you’ve got.
5.) My family!
6.) I’m going to Michigan State next year as a Business major and I hope to transfer, within the next two years, to an out of state school with a music-business program so I can pursue a degree in Music-business and management with a minor in music.

1.) Meredith Fitschen-Brown
2.) Concerto no. 1 in G. Minor by Max Bruch
3.) Mr. Rosin, Sue Garber
4.) Push through the rough patches because you will always come out on top.
5.) Pat Smith, my private lesson teacher when I was younger.
6.) Going to Hiram College to double major in Musical Performance and Biology

1.) Rachel DeShambo
2.) Concerto No.9 in A Minor by Charles de Beriot
3.) Mr. Rosin, my family, my friends, and my violin teacher Lauren Hansen.
4.) Sometimes learning/playing music can be difficult, but just work through it and don’t give up because it will be worth it in the end.
5.) When I was four years old, I saw a woman playing violin at a concert. Ever since that day, I was convinced learning violin was something that I wanted to do.
6.) I plan to attend MSU and major in something in the science field. However, I am also planning on being a member of one of the orchestras available to non-music major students.

1.) Rowena Ng
2.) Romanze Op. 85 by Max Bruch
3.) Everyone. Most notably my viola teacher Anne Kearney-Looman, Mr. Rosin, Ms. Ceballos, teachers, family, and friends.
4.) Do it. For better or for worse, take advantage of all the musical opportunities you have available to you before it becomes just a wish hanging around in the box of things “I-should-have-done” in the attic of your mind.
5.) Growing up listening to classical music, it didn’t really occur to me that I had the potential to perform it. Now whenever I listen to classical music radio, I’m always taken aback by how much I recognize/have played before. There’s a whole wealth of music out there, and I have only just scratched the surface.
6.) I will be studying Materials Science Engineering at the University of Michigan, hopefully doing lab research and playing in a campus orchestra.

1.) Olivia Lindberg
2.) Concerto for two violins
3.) Mr. Rosin, my lessons teacher Mrs. Palmeri, and all the teachers along the way. Also my friends: Michaela Thomas, Zuwaib Razzaq and Gill levental.
4.) If you really love it, don’t miss out. There are a ton of musical opportunities, and don’t be afraid to find them.
5.) A love of violin, and great music teachers.
6.) I will be going to school to major in music education.

1.) Libby Hoffman
2.) Heart’s Content by Brandi Carlile
3.) Mr. English, and Marie Fata for the song choice.
4.) Don’t waste time being jealous of the talent of another musician. Celebrate their gift, and enjoy your own. Music is beautiful for its variety.
5.) My parents and my six older siblings all of whom sing, play piano guitar, or all of the above.
6.) My plans have been what they’ve always been: love life, love others, live fully… and sing and laugh daily. College is included somewhere in all that.

1.) Chris McClendon
2.) You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
3.) My parents for supporting me in every area and aspect of life.
4- Follow your heart, pursue whatever it is that you are passionate about. Find your own sound and never conform.
5.) Being in church and around the music ministry at church.
6.) To continue pursuing music, more as a hobby than profession.

1.) Jordan Phillips
2.) Rapsodie pour Orchestre et Saxophone
3.) Mr. Larzelere, Mr. Burkett, Mr. Rosin, my family, and all those committed to the ELHS Fine Arts program.
4.) It’s never too late to learn anything. Whether you become a great instrumentalist, singer, dancer, or even composer comes down to when you’re ready to commit to what you love.
5.) Being exposed to all types of different music throughout all these years, from early classical pieces to modern-day jazz, truly made me respect the musical arts so much.
6.) Hoping to major in Medicine/Dentistry, out-of-state.

 The Cases: Beginning with an HIV positive mother and her infected newborn, doctors at Jackson Mississippi Medical Center are hopeful that they have stumbled upon a treatment for the retrovirus.  After being delivered, the child was given three different medications to combat the virus and was released with the mother.  Over a year passed and several missed appointments later, the doctors insisted on finding the child. Once establishing contact, the doctors found that the mother had stopped giving her child the medications 5 months prior and a test was run to see how much of the virus could still be detected in the blood work. Astonishingly, there was no trace of the virus, and after extensively checking lab work to ensure that it had been there in the first place, doctors are shocked to find that they may have functionally cured the infant of the virus. “Functionally cured” means that the infant still harbors the virus but it is regarded as undetectable. Doctors are hopeful that they have made a breakthrough. Concerning the case, director of the National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anothony Fauci is wary to praise the results so early on, “First of all, you always need to replicate something multiple times. With a single case, you always have to take it with a grain of salt.” In addition, at 2 ½ years of age the child no longer needs any medication, but there is a greater desire to observe the patient for a longer amount of time before imposing the treatment on others infected with the virus. Other questions raised by the medical community include concerns with the amount of toxicity that comes with taking those three medications, especially for infants.

 Similarly, researchers in France have now observed 14 adult patients who have been able stop taking their antiviral drugs and control their HIV infection for a number of years. Just as the infant from Mississippi, these patients are deemed to be “functionally cured”, and the correlation seems to be initiating a drug treatment shortly after the infection occurs. All patients were treated within the first two months of infection and spent a year to approximately 8 years on medication. Criticism comes from those who say it is too much of a risk to remove a patient from their antivirals in hopes of yielding what may be a few isolated cases. Others argue the time constraint of catching the virus close to when the infection occurred is impractical and the range of years the patients stopped taking medication is too large to draw any conclusions from.

 Despite the concerns, these cases still prove to be medically significant and bring new ideas to play in the fight to prevent and treat HIV. For the time being, doctors agree that the best way to combat the virus is by getting tested and catching it in its early stages. Combined with medical treatment and healthy lifestyle, infected persons are able to stay well and delay the onset of AIDS and in light of recent events, possibly achieve a functional cure.

10. Air Bud (1997)

If a dog can do it, so can anyone.

9. The Karate Kid (1984)

If this film does not make one want to learn karate, I don’t know what will. The movie is one that makes the viewer root for not only the underdog main character, but for Mr. Miyagi and his words of wisdom as well.

8. The Sandlot (1993)

Meddling kids, a dog nicknamed “the Beast,” baseball, and plenty of misadventures don’t make The Sandlot particularly inspiring, but think of it as The Little Rascals of sports movies; one is always open to watching it.

7. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

This movie centers on Jess, an Indian girl living in West London who absolutely adores playing soccer, despite her parents prohibiting her from playing. It has a bit of romance in it, making it more of a chick flick, but it’s good to have at least one sports movie aimed at females.

6. Space Jam (1996)

This is the true story of what happened during Michael Jordan’s first retirement from basketball. An inspirational tearjerker for sure.

5. Caddyshack (1980)

For those looking for a laugh, Caddyshack is definitely the way to go. There’s honestly not much to say about Caddyshack other than that it is a must-watch.

4. Miracle (2004)

Miracle tells the story of the 1980 men’s ice hockey team, centering on their semifinal match versus the untouchable Soviet Union. For the history buff and athlete, this story is one that continues to inspire viewers to this day.

3. Chariots of Fire (1981)

This is the film famous for the main theme and a scene in which a bunch of men in white t-shirts and shorts run barefoot alongside a beach. Regardless, Chariots of Fire is about two athletes participating in the 1924 Olympics: one a devout Scottish Christian and the other an English Jew. It’s intriguing to see how their faith intertwines with their training, especially in regards to the prejudice the Englishman faces.

2. Remember the Titans (2000)

One can do no wrong with Denzel Washington, and Remember the Titans proves just that. Set in Virginia in 1971, a new football coach faces the task of uniting his racially divided team. Portions of the film are quite predictable, but its overall message and final scene are ones to never forget.

1. Rocky (1976)

This film is not only one of the greatest pictures of all time, but the greatest sports film produced yet. The ultimate underdog story, Rocky is a must see for everyone, even those who are not participating in the flockey season.

            Nationality is in many ways an arbitrary distinction.  While people of the same nationality do live together and the country you live in has drastic implications on the course of your life, apart from immigrants, no one earns their nationality.  You do not have to do anything to have a nationality; you simply have to be born there.  There is no reason that people who happen to be born in the United States are more deserving of jobs than people who happened not to.  When jobs leave the US for other countries, Americans see first-hand that for one country to receive jobs it often means taking away jobs from another country.  For the most part, a job is a job, and the coincidence of one’s birth should not influence their access to jobs.

            The argument of preferring American jobs has numerous parallels with the historical opposition to the progress of job opportunities for African-Americans.  First, they were enslaved.  Then, African-Americans were barred from many jobs and had little economic progress for years after slavery.  Indeed, they still are disadvantaged.  Like with the idea of keeping jobs for Americans, the restriction of jobs for African-Americans is based on a distinction coming from the coincidence of one’s birth, in this case skin color rather than nationality.  Many working-class whites opposed the abolition of slavery as they feared the competition of jobs from African-Americans.  This is much like the common fear of traditional American jobs going to other countries.  While some people would argue that is natural for Americans to want jobs for other Americans as they live together, this argument could easily be applied to whites only giving jobs to other whites.  Communities were generally segregated; whites lived with other whites, so by the same logic whites would have wanted to give jobs to people they lived with and knew.  Finally, with those who want jobs for Americans and those who wanted jobs for whites, the idea is rooted in the past.  As Americans have traditionally held many of these jobs, they want them to stay in the United States.  It is assumed that people in other countries can keep doing the jobs they have been doing.  Yet whites probably wanted to keep doing the jobs whites had traditionally done, and thought African-Americans could continue the jobs they had been doing.  Whites expected African-Americans to continue sharecropping and other menial jobs.  Similarly, most Americans expect people in third-world countries to continue to perform low-paying jobs in agriculture or factories, rather than the jobs Americans used to perform.

            There is legitimate concern that the outsourcing of jobs leads to lower wages and poorer working conditions.  If a job leaves the United States for India, for example, it is almost certain that the worker in India will have worse wages and conditions than the American worker.  However, while the job in India is worse than the job in the United States, it is very likely better than the job the Indian worker used to have.  Also, if wages and workers’ rights were the real concern, then there would be efforts that jobs leave the United States for countries that treat workers better.  For example, the minimum wage in the United States is $15,000 a year, while the minimum wage in the United Kingdom gives $18,000 of purchasing power, and the minimum wage of Taiwan is $12,000 of purchasing power.  There would be outrage if jobs left the United States for Taiwan.  Yet the difference in the purchasing power of the minimum wage between the United States and United Kingdom is the same as that of the United States and Taiwan, and no one would dare suggest that jobs should leave the United States for the United Kingdom.  Clearly the lives of workers are not the main grievance.

            It is natural that Americans are dismayed when their position weakens, and obviously it is difficult for Americans to lose their job.  Yet people in less developed countries have felt the absence of these jobs for years, and the transfer of jobs to these countries is in many ways mending historical inequality.  There is no reason that Americans should monopolize certain jobs and have a better economic position.  Arguments against that are often veiled in common slogans and patriotism, but at the core lies ignorance and prejudice.

 One thing to keep in mind, however, is that this team name isn’t chosen with quite the same nature as your fourth-grade basketball team. It holds a substantial amount of power by bringing either a sense of fun or fear to the game. This name can be remembered as one of victory or one of failure. It defines your teammates as a whole, and the very game you are playing.

 Along with the team name, players must choose their own individualized name. This name defines you alone, and can be taken very seriously. Names range from ordinary nicknames, to responses from urban dictionary searches. Anything that expresses you and can make another team take a double take is perfect. Be sure to take into account that both of these significant titles will appear on your teams’ customized jerseys, so it is crucial that you make them count.

Palestine now consists of two territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, both occupied by Israel, and their disadvantage it clear.  Palestine has a GDP per capita 23 times less than that of Israel and 96% of people are dependent on humanitarian aid.  Also, Israel is currently two and a half times as large as it was when it became a country.  Meanwhile, Palestine has a population density of 654 people/square km.  For the US to have this density it would have to have its population packed into Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.  Despite this Israel continues to take Palestinian land and violate international law and agreements through their settlement policy, in which they construct settlements exclusively for Jewish Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel has a number of convenient yet hypocritical justifications for its policies.  These are demonstrated through their relationship with Hamas.  The Palestinian people were tired of the ineffective and corrupt Fatah party, and in 2006 they overwhelmingly and fairly elected Hamas instead.  Hamas offered a 10-year truce with Israel if it agreed to completely withdraw from the Palestinian territories.  However, the United States and Israel were unhappy with the result.  They said they would revoke assistance to the Palestinian government unless Hamas recognized Israel, renounced violence, and agreed to accept past Israeli-Palestinian agreements.  The hypocrisy of this was extreme.  First, after the election did not go the way the US and Israel would have liked, they threatened to eliminate international aid to the Palestinian Authority, therefore clearly restricting free elections.  All three terms of the demand were unfair as well.  The previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements clearly favored Israel, so of course Hamas would not accept them.  The requirement that Hamas renounces violence is ridiculous.  No government in the world, and certainly not Israel, is completely pacifistic.  Finally, the stipulation that Hamas recognizes Israel is outrageous; Israel does not recognize Palestine.  After Hamas rejected this agreement, all international aid was frozen to the impoverished territories, Israel implemented a blockade on the Gaza Strip, and Israel and the US continue to view Fatah as the true government.  Furthermore, Hamas, a democratically elected government, is on the United States’ list of terrorist organizations.

November’s Operation Pillar of Defense also highlighted Israel’s inconsistencies.  Israel often cites a need to defend itself to justify its attacks on Palestine.  Yet once again it initiated the conflict, this time through the assassination of the leader of Hamas’s military wing.  Palestine responded by sending rockets into Israel, and Israel sent further rockets into Palestine until a ceasefire was called a week after the conflict began.  The casualties of the conflict demonstrate which side was in greater need of defense: 158 Palestinians, including 102 civilians and 30 children, were killed while 4 Israeli civilians and 2 soldiers were killed.  Yet had Israel accepted Hamas’s 10-year truce in 2006, perhaps all of this would have been avoided.

While undoubtedly both sides are in the wrong to some extent and initiate conflict, Israel claims standards far different from its actions.  Its inconsistencies and aggression continue.  One reason for this is the overwhelming backing from the United States.  The United Nations vote in November demonstrated how clearly US policy toward Israel is opposed, as it was one of only 9 countries to vote against upgrading Palestine’s status while 131 voted for it.  Yet the power of the United States and the weakness of international law allow Israel to continue its illegal policies.  Another reason is Israel’s refusal to accept criticism.  Critics as distinguished as Desmond Tutu have been branded anti-Semites (a label I hope I can avoid as my grandfather was in Buchenwald.)  But Israel’s unjust policies continue, and as long as they do the conflict and oppression of the Palestinian people will continue.

In the last decade, Lance Armstrong has been bombarded with accusations, all revolving around the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. The United States Anti-Doping Agency released a report in October of 2012 that stripped Lance of all seven of his Tour de France titles and banned him from participating in any Olympic sport. At first, Lance was furious for having ever been accused. He even sued the USADA, but dropped all charges soon after. On January 18^th, 2013, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lance admitted to having used these drugs, including testosterone, cortisone, human growth hormone, and the blood booster EPO, throughout his cycling career.

Lance Armstrong was once thought of as heroic. An ordinary man that perfected the sport of cycling while fighting stage three testicular cancer. Yet now we are changing our minds, deciding that he resembles a villain more than a hero. We feel hurt, having our trust broken so harshly. And it makes all of us wonder about the athletes we know from our own life. If such cheating passed under an Olympic sport’s radar, who’s to say it can’t happen at a high school? Should drug testing be made a mandatory procedure for high school athletes? No one can say for sure who can be trusted and who can’t, which makes the world we live in appear downright miserable sometimes.

Black History Month is merely a celebration of events and figures within the recent collective memory of our country, yet history is much more than facts from barely even a few hundred years ago; black history extends into the earliest phases of human history, to the dawn of man in the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa.

Many thousands of years ago, some adventurous Homo sapiens developed a desire to explore, and migrated in vast numbers many from their continent of origin. They and their descendants went on to explore the rest of our planet, exploring seas and landmasses, ultimately sprawling from Australia to Alaska, Poland to Patagonia. Over many years, this eventually culminated with where we currently find ourselves, in modern Western civilization.

However not all early Homo sapiens chose to flee Sub-Saharan Africa. Quite a few remained, and established civilizations like Abyssinia, Nubia, Mali, and the Songhai Empire. Despite this, many still persist in the belief that the Africa of yore was filled with savage tribes without any order.

This writer admittedly knows very little about the histories and achievements of these African nations and societies, compared to common knowledge (and widespread academic knowledge) of civilizations nearer to us, like the Romans. Keeping most of Africa in the shadows has by and large left our Western historical narrative unhindered, at least up until the Age of Discovery.

Our society obviously has knowledge about the history of Sub-Saharan Africa. There are many who do know the ins and outs of the aforementioned African civilizations and probably many more that most of us have never even heard of. One can easily research facts about the history of Africa.

Yet why does Black History Month not consider this? The month solely focuses on historical figures in the community of those descended from the African diaspora during the Age of Imperialism while totally ignoring the achievements of ancient Africa.

Black History Month should break free from following Western society’s historical timeline, and delve into Africa’s rich history that has been too often ignored. Seeking new sources for the identity of the African American community by the study of ancient African history and putting more emphasis on the”African” in African American would have a stimulating effect on artistic, musical, and literary expression in Black culture. It would also build stronger ties between African American communities and communities in Africa, finding a common identity through a shared history.

The largest criticism against the newly passed legislature is the physical restrictions women may face trying to perform the same tasks as men. There is concern the natural strength differences between men and women could put women at greater risk and become a factor between life and death. To accommodate women in combat positions, the requirements to qualify will likely be lowered, as the standards women need to meet to join other branches of the army are lesser than men’s. Many people feel this ‘proportioning’ of ability could harm the effectiveness of the U.S. combat forces. Other objections concern women’s mentality. The idea that women have less mental stability than men raises the issue of an increase in the cases of PTSD, a disorder the army has been trying to minimalize. Outside of toughness, critics fear that women could disturb the cohesion between historically all male forces. They believe their introduction could make them susceptible to become targets by enemy forces and fear their possible subjection to sexual harassment – an issue that has recently plagued the U.S. Army.

On the other side of the spectrum are those who celebrate the expanding opportunities this change will give women in the military. This is an action some consider much delayed, because they believe eligibility should be based on ability, not gender, and that women have long deserved a chance at equal opportunity. Senior Julia Le feels similarly about the decision: “There will always be controversy surround the idea that women are not strong or capable enough to fight in combat, but if they are willing to put the time and effort to serve out country, why restrict them from doing so?” she says. Women have been put into front line positions during conflicts before and proven their capability of holding their own under stressful situations, upholding the argument that women will serve the military well in front line combat positions. Furthermore, this change will also enable career advancements for women. It will allow commanders to pick the most skilled person for the job and allow women to advance into senior officer positions. Many people believe women have just as much right as men to protect their country and that limiting their attempt to achieve this is not fair. Simply, they believe the military must create equal advantages for all of its members disregarding gender.

Regardless of criticism, the ban has officially been lifted, offering women in the military equality with their male counterparts. The U.S. Army has created many programs over the years such as the Combat Stress group and Ready and Resilient to help better overall mental health and fitness, which they hope will help ensure the prosperity of their recent decision and enable troops to continue protecting the U.S. with the same quality of security as always.