The Liberty Ledger OCTOBER 2018 I S S U E 1 2

Sexual Harassment in Sports By: Camille Bugayong Rainn.org, and many other sources state “treatment” in his that every 98 seconds, an American is sexually hotel room in To- assaulted. Many of these women are athletes who kyo. have faced sexual harassment or rape by coaches In court, or doctors. Rape is when a man or a woman forces more than 150 fe- him or herself on others to have sex without con- males came for- sent. Sexual harassment is when a man or woman ward to say that is harassed sexually, and when a man or a woman Nassar had sexually experiences unwanted sexual advances. Sexual abused them over assault is any type of sexual activity that occurs the past two dec- without the person's consent. McKayla Maroney ades. Nassar admit- was one of many female athletes who was sexual- ted in court that he ly assaulted or raped. abused his patients under the guise of McKayla medical treatment. Maroney is an American gym- Larry Nassar nast who joined was sentenced the American to 40 to 175 women’s gym- years in prison. nastic team in As a result, 2011 and retired many athletes in 2016. She who were was first sexual- abused by him ly assaulted by Larry Nassar who was the USA received justice Gymnastics national team doctor, when she was by his prison sentence. This topic was so horri- just 13 years old. Maroney says former team doc- fying due to Nassar being someone who many tor Larry Nassar molested her on her very first others trusted to help the gymnasts, but instead visit to the famed Karolyi ranch. She was then did the exact opposite and changed them in a abused hundreds of times over the next five years. way that many people couldn’t imagine. Nassar saw Maroney every time she was at the ranch and at competitions around the world. She Some sports teams issued measures in was molested by him every time. Maroney wrote order to help prevent that. National sports asso- that the scariest night of her life was in 2011, ciations (NSAs) and clubs in Singapore have when she was 15 years. She was on a trip to To- adopted ways to prevent the sexual abuse of kyo. She wrote that Nassar gave her a sleeping athletes. The Singapore Gymnastics (SG) gen- pill and she awoke to find him giving her a eral manager, Karen Norden, said that they The Liberty Ledger

Sexual Harassment in Sports...Continued By: Camille Bugayong have a key standard operating procedure at the as- stein, who is a former film producer, currently sociation. It states that coaches are not allowed to charged with one count of rape and two counts be in the gym on a one-on-one basis with athletes. of sexual assault. Coaches control playing time, Sadly, these precautions weren’t taken for the scholarships, skills training, access to more- USA Gymnastics team. elite coaches, even a berth on the Olympic

Athletes as well as coaches should be edu- team. This power is easily abused and develops cated about sexual harassment. According to in- a sickness that can turn victims into outcasts. siderhighered.com, a former athlete, DeWitt Scott, Educating coaches and athletes about sexual stated that a number of male athletes wholeheart- harassment, sexual abuse, and about the dan- edly believe they are not rapists even though they gers of being accused could result in less fe- male athletes raped. commit acts of rape regularly. They believe that because they did not physically overpower anoth- Many athletes are affected by rape year- er person, snatch off their clothes and force them- ly. More measures are being placed in order to selves on them, they are not rapists. Coaches have help prevent sexual harassment and abuse for unfortunately been granted Weinstein-level power athletes. over their athletes, a reference to Harvey Wein-

By: Daphne Kam

During this time where everything is on the internet, According to the Business social media can make a huge impact on our lives. Insider, American Academy This includes cyber bullying, learning information that of Facial Plastic and Recon- isn’t for your age, and how you view and see yourself. structive Surgery stated 55% People compare themselves to celebrities, peers, and of surgeons took note of see- recently, how they look on filters (especially on Snap- ing plastic surgery patients chat). who wanted procedures to The name “Snapchat dysmorphia” was given by Tijion improve their visual appear- Esho, a cosmetic doctor. Snapchat dysmorphia is a ance in their selfies in 2017, newfound phenomenon in which people have been which in 2018 was 42%. A lot of them do what we wanting plastic surgery and altering themselves to look don’t have, or wish to have. Two main things they like their Snapchat filter. There is an increasing con- change is either high cheekbones, big eyes, and a thin cern about it. This causes low self-esteem (like many jaw or a child-like face. The feature of high cheek- other dysmorphias) and could elicit a body dysmor- bones, big eyes, and a thin jaw can relate to a 24-year phia, too. Body dysmorphia is a mental disorder in -old woman, which is the distinguished age of opti- which a person is obsessed with a made-up flaw or a mal fertility, conceding to Medium. When a person small flaw, like a mole, no one can casually see. looks younger, it can make people want to care and We spend a lot of time on our phones now. We use protect. That is why they can be seen as more attrac- social media daily and see other people on it daily. tive. But those aren’t all of the filters. Some filters Since social media can display someone’s version of a can do humorous things including when they make a perfect life (especially Instagram), it can make you rainbow spurt out of your mouth, which I personally question how you look. People take tons of selfies and like better. looking at themselves, giving them time to look at All of this can show what our society has succumbed themselves too much. You can start to notice your mi- to. According to the Washingropost.com social media nor flaws, or imagine flaws. People start getting ob- can cause many terrible things in society, as mental sessed with editing their photos to make them seem health and suicide rates have increased by a lot. The “perfect”. That’s when filters come in. question is, do we really need social media? The Liberty Ledger

Abolishing the Death Penalty By: Lauren Bulanhagui

What is the death penalty? The death penalty is the punishment of being ex- ecuted because of a crime that a person committed. According to pro- con.org, crimes that are worthy of re- ceiving this punishment include assas- sinating or kidnapping of a president that results in their death, treason, and murder during a kidnapping. Countries fo.org, “Cases without the death that allow the death penalty include penalty cost $740,000, while cases, Japan, India, Iran, Taiwan, Thailand, where the death penalty is sought, and Cuba. There are many states in cost $1.26 million. Maintaining each the US that have the Death Penalty, death row prisoner costs taxpayers which include Alabama, Arizona, Ar- $90,000 more per year than a prison- kansas, California, Colorado, Florida, er in general population.” Also ac- Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, cording to ballotpedia.org, “A 2012 Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New study concluded that maintaining Hampshire, North Carolina. Why does separate facilities meant California the death penalty exist in the first spent an average of $85,000 each place? The death penalty exists be- year to incarcerate a condemned cause some people believe that the prisoner.” This shows that cases that death penalty is an effective way to have the penalty cost more than it deal with certain criminal cases. would cost cases that have life with- out parole. According to deathpen- alty.org, the death penalty is an irre- versible punishment. The Constitution requires death sentence cases to go through a long and complex judicial process which includes going through several levels of mandatory review.

Deathpenalty.org states that “The murder rate has fallen in New In the U.S., the death penalty is more York, New Mexico, Illinois, and Con- expensive than a life sentence without necticut in the years after they re- parole. According to deathpenaltyin- pealed the death penalty.” The The Liberty Ledger

Abolishing the Death Penalty...Continued By: Lauren Bulanhagui chart below (from deathpenal- states, “Texas man Cameron Todd ty.org) shows the percentage dif- Willingham was executed in Texas in ference between the murder rate 2004 for allegedly setting a fire that of states with the death penalty killed his three daughters. Following his and states that don’t have the execution, further evidence revealed death penalty. It shows that having that Willingham did not set the fire that the death penalty doesn't actually caused their deaths.” In this case, it is deter crimes. Even though most clear that the death penalty could people believe that the death put innocent people’s lives at risk. penalty does make us safer, it is clear that this is not the case. If one Also, according to a video called of the purposes of having the Meet Youngest US Woman on Death death penalty is to deter crime, Row A Hidden America with Diane then the murder rates of states with Sawyer PART 4/6, 1 in 25 people sen- the death penalty should be less tenced to death row are innocent than states without the death pen- and 75% of those innocent people alty. don’t have the money to afford pri- vate lawyers. This shows that people With the death penalty, there is a who are falsely incarcerated need chance that an innocent person proper and affordable lawyers to ap- can be wrongly executed. If some- peal their case. This will help them get one is falsely imprisoned, if they go a chance to fight for the life that to jail for life without parole, the shouldn’t be taken away from them. state can correct it and let that All in all, it is my opinion that the death person out of jail. If someone is penalty definitely needs to be abol- falsely imprisoned and they get ished. With it in place, the states will sentenced to the death penalty, need more money, paid by the tax you cannot correct the situation if payers, to provide the death penalty. they have been executed. Abolishing the death penalty will also avoid people who are wrongfully in- According to www.amnesty.org, it carcerated to be executed. The Liberty Ledger

By: Vanisha Janaki Helping Hands Helping Hands is a great club for altruistic and kind people who like volunteering and helping others! They work towards better environments, better lives, and a better world. They’ve done many things in these past months and will continue to do so much more with the help of the lovely and kind, helping hands advisor Ms. Cardinali. She works hard to get supplies, for the projects, and the inspiration to make them possible.

Here’s what this amazing club has done so far:

Made tender loving totes posters to collect items for those in need. Making/Selling bracelets to raise money for the Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser. Crafted toys for dogs at the local animal shelter.

On October 30th, fifteen members of the Helping Hands club for LMS took a trip to the Toby Katz Senior Center to vol- unteer at the Halloween party that was being hosted in the building. They set up the tables, welcoming the nice senior citizens inside. As the event continued, they served the food and drinks. There was plenty of dancing and music to go around, satisfying the hearts of the guests. Though the par- ty was simple, it definitely brightened up everyone’s day- both for the sen- iors and student volunteers. It was sweet and an all-around easygoing time for everyone.

The Helping Hands club continues to make huge impacts on Liberty Middle School and by the end of the year plans to help the student body to become more com- passionate group of citizens.

“The best way to measure how much you've grown isn't by inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track, or even your grade point average-- though those things are important, to be sure. It's what you've done with your time, how you've chosen to spend your days, and whom you've touched this year. That, to me, is the greatest measure of success.” - R.J. Palacio - author of Wonder The Liberty Ledger Student Council Corner

By: Trynity Matos James By: Maura Baker “Do your homework, work hard, ask for help when you need it, take responsibil- Hello everyone and welcome to ity for your actions, and you will be suc- the Student Council Corner. In cessful here!” -Mrs. Mazzola this column, we’ll discuss upcom- ing events, spirit days and more.

October was a very busy month “Do your homework!” - Nehissa jam packed with spirit days and events, including character day, “Don’t be in the 8th grade drama. Don’t red ribbon week and school vio- start drama. You can ask us anything lence awareness week. The Stu- about 7th grade; we’ll be here for you.” -Luz Gelin dent Council officers also present- ed Liberty’s school theme for this “With hard work and giving your best effort, you can make year which is ROARS (Respect, the honor roll.” -Mr. Nolan Originality, Acceptance, Respon- sibility, Service). We would like to “Work hard, show all the other interests and positive attrib- thank every- utes you have, and get involved in the Liberty activities/ one for their clubs.” -Mr. Klemt participation and support in “You will be most remembered for your kindness and char- this busy month. acter!” -Mrs Brennan

The month of November isn’t as “Welcome to West Orange Liberty Middle School. You busy as October, but we still quite should be successful, be respectful, follow directions and a few events this month. We have have fun!” -Mrs. Touzeau a Thanksgiving food drive where we will be collecting non- “Welcome to LMS, great to have you here! Do your best, perishable food items for West be respectful and focus on your academic career.” - Orange families in need. The Mrs. DeMeo drive will start on Nov. 1st and end on Nov. 15th. We also have “Stay sanitized, stay respectful and stay safe!” -Anonymous our winter door decorating com- petition from Nov. 19th to Dec. “Don’t just follow your dreams, chase them!” -Anonymous 14th. Pancreatic cancer aware- ness day is on Wednesday, Nov. “Just know we have all been there 14th, so remember to wear pur- ple. and none of us enjoyed it (just saying)

Have fun.” - Anonymous Student Council is always looking for new members, so if you are “Don’t roast Mr. Carr.” - Anonymous interested in joining check the Student Council classroom for “You had it good in 6th grade. You’ll meeting dates and other details. soon find out why.” - Anonymous The classroom code is ih9xh9. The Liberty Ledger National and International Poverty By: Ogechi Udechukwu According to www.dosomething.org, Nearly half of documented 30 children shot by Israeli Security the world’s population — more than 3 billion peo- Forces when working in or near the “buffer ple — live on less than $2.50 a day. Moreover, zone.” However, the number of children injured more than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less has sharply decreased over the past five months. than $1.25 a day. To add, from https:// Ayman believes he has no choice but to poverty.umich.edu, despite the billions that gov- ernment and charitable organizations spend on poverty, too little is known to efficiently prevent and alleviate poverty. Poverty overall is a big issue. It is a good thing that charitable organizations, such as UNICEF, are doing their best to help.

From an article on www.unicef.org, in the Gaza Strip, Isra- el, poverty forces children to make a difficult choice be- work in the “buffer zone” in order to help keep tween survival and his family alive. He explained he cannot allow school. Ayman, a himself to think about the risks. Ayman has 12 15-year-old boy, family members and says he needs to help feed lives in Khuza’a, an them. The risks are all too real, as Ayman spoke impoverished vil- of an incident in March, when his friend was lage in southern Ga- grazed by a bullet. At first, Israeli soldiers would za, where cases like extreme poverty has dramati- shoot in the air, he said. He also stated if they cally increased. He works in an area called the don’t leave immediately, they would start “buffer zone”. Every morning, the first thing he shooting. does is go to the kitchen. If there is food, he goes to In an attempt to escape bullets fired in his direc- school; if there is none, he goes to work. Unfortu- tion, Ayman broke his foot when a block of con- nately, Ayman’s case is not the only one in Israel. crete fell from a donkey cart he had been using As of 2010, 50 children, ages 13-16, living in Khu- to transport his collected rubble. za’a dropped out of school just to provide for their

families. The majority of the children work in an When they start shooting he tries to leave the area called the “buffer zone”, which is a no-go mili- area as soon as he can, he said. But he couldn’t tary area that runs along the barrier separating the afford to leave behind the rubble he had collect- Gaza Strip from Israel. Working in this area is ex- ed. tremely dangerous, especially for children, as Israeli Security Forces systematically shoot towards any- Aymen’s friend, Mazen, 16 years old, has been one entering the zone for security reasons. In the collecting rubble since his father left home, leav- past 18 months as of 2010, UNICEF and its partners ing him to provide for his sickly mother and five The Liberty Ledger

National and International Poverty...Continued By: Ogechi Udechukwu other siblings. She has lost her only means of livelihood, she centers in Gaza, with funding cannot afford to buy milk or juice for her children, Ma- from the Canadian International zen’s mother reports. All she could do is tell Mazen to Development Agency (CIDA), be careful and run away the minute he hears shooting. The European Commission’s Hu- As devastating as Gaza’s condition is, UNICEF has been manitarian Aid Department working hard to help its residents. To help children (ECHO) and Bank of Palestine. The centers provide overcome poverty and reduce school drop-out rates, safe play areas, remedial classes, sport classes and UNICEF supports 38 adolescent-friendly and family psycho-social support in a safe environment.

Getting to Know Ms. Zhang

By: Angelyn Cancel

This year, we have a new teacher in the school, Ms. Zhang. She is the new STEM teacher for the 7th and 8th grade, replacing Ms. Chung who is now a 7th-grade sci- ence teacher. This is the first year that STEM is an option for 8th graders, and it also happens to be Ms. Zhang’s first year of teaching.

Ms. Zhang graduated from TCNJ majoring in STEM elementary education. She chose to be a teacher be- cause she was inspired by some friends, and always likes to challenge herself. While Ms. Zhang could have chosen to teach science or math, she chose STEM because it’s something in which she always had an interest. She also loves chemistry and has always been tech savvy. When I asked her what she would teach if she couldn’t teach STEM, she answered that she would teach ele- mentary English, because there is a lot of diversity. Hence the choice of teaching English if she had to teach something else, Ms. Zhang loves to read. She said that she has read over 700 books in her lifetime! While she does not have a favorite book, she does have some fa- vorite authors. These are Neil Gaiman and Victoria Schwab.

Out of school, Ms. Zhang has hobbies just like the rest of us. She likes to read (a lot), go to concerts, and draw. Another one of her hobbies, which I thought was more like a fun fact, is that she is really good at eating spicy food, or just food in general. Another fun fact is that she speaks two other languages besides English. These are Mandarin and Sudanese. Ms. Zhang does not have any pets but would want a pit bull or corgi.

Since Ms. Zhang is a STEM teacher, I asked her if there was anything that she has ever in- vented. She said that the only thing she has thought about inventing was instant food but never got around to doing it. I also asked if she had ever helped design anything, and she said she helped to paint murals in her high school. Not exactly what I meant, but it’s still an answer! Lastly, I asked if there was another STEM-related job that she could have, what would it be? She replied that she would want to be a designer or a coder. The Liberty Ledger RESTAURANT REVIEW October Dining Recommendation By: Maura Baker & Mfoafo MCarthy Dining Guide: Prices (most dishes) Star Rating System L- Lunch & D- Dinner $$ $15-$20 1 star: Horrible 2 stars: Bad 3 stars: Not Bad 4 stars: Really Good 5 stars: THE BEST Village Trattoria Village Trattoria- L & D Address: 2 Inwood Pl, Maplewood, NJ 07040 Hours: Monday ⇾ Thursday: 11am-10pm Friday ⇾ Saturday: 11am-11pm & Sunday: 12pm-9pm Cuisine: Italian Pricing: $$

Review: I first came here when I was seven and Village Trattoria has definitely become my favorite pizzeria! When I first visited, They have a plethora of toppings and menu items to choose from.

Item Recommendation: The “Baked Ziti” pizza for $8.95. It is a pizza with cooked ziti pasta and extra cheese on top. It’s like you’re eating pasta but you’re holding it!

Most Unusual Item On the Menu: The Red Bean and Spinach soup.

Rating: 5stars! Pure Pita

Address: 446 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042 HOURS: Monday-Sunday 11AM-10PM Meals: L & D Cuisine: Mediterranean Pricing: $$

Review- I love Pure Pita! I first went there 2 years ago, and to be honest, I was a little skepti- cal at first, but let me tell you, the food is delicious! It’s a beautiful blend of Mediterranean of flavors and spices, and I’ve never tried a dish there that I didn’t like! It’s a very kid friendly environment, so it’s a great place to come with younger siblings and family. You should definitely try it out, you won’t regret it!

Item Recommendation: Grilled Chicken Pita: Grilled chicken, mixed greens, Israeli salad, and Garlic Aioli served on warm flatbread pita. Served with Housemade Pickles, Moroccan Slaw Add Fries, Sweet Potato Fries

Most Unusual Item on Menu: Cali Hummus: Original recipe fused with cilantro, jalapeno and fresh lime juice. Served with warm pita.

Rating: 5stars! The Liberty Ledger

Getting to Know Mrs. Martino By: Samantha Brooks What college did you graduate from and what was your major? I graduated from Seton Hall University and I was a math major and an education major.

What do you like most about your job? The students.

What do you like least about your job? The paperwork.

If you had to pick another profession, other than teaching, what would it be? A florist. What is your favorite book? The Help What do you like to do outside of and To Kill a Mockingbird. school? Go to the beach and hang out with my children. What is your favorite tv/movie? This is Us and World of Dance. Do you have a hobby? Gardening. What is your favorite food? Do you speak another language? No. Chocolate.

DRAWING

By: Alina George By: Ezra Simon The Liberty Ledger Trench By: Tamyca Tunis

What Is It? Trench is the fifth, and newest Twenty One Pilots album. This al- bum was released on October 5, 2018. This album is made up of 14 songs with names such as “Pet Cheetah”, “Chlorine”, and “Bandito”.

Who Are They? In short, Twenty One Pilots is an alternative band. (Twenty One Pilots is often initialized as TOP.) However, TOP is more than just an alternative band, the create such a variety of music that it’s pretty difficult to put this band in one category. The aforementioned musical group is made up of Josh Dun, who is the drummer, and Tyler Joseph, who is the vocalist and pianist. Twenty One Pilots was formed in 2009, but at that time, the band had three members. So far, TOP has released five albums titled, Twenty One Pilots (2009), Regional at Best (2011), Vessel (2013), Blurryface (2015), and now Trench (2018).

Background Information Trench is a concept album, which is basically an album that has songs that all relate to a theme. It is told from the perspective of the main character, Clan- cy, as he tells his journey through the city he’s trapped in, called Dema. This city is run by 9 bishops who want to keep Dema’s citizens from escaping. Eventually, Clancy joins a group formed to combat the bishops who are called the “Banditos”.

Metaphorically, Dema represents mental illness, while the bishops represent the causes of that mental illness. Clancy is the mentally ill person and lastly, the banditos represent the thoughts and people that help save the mentally ill person from their mental illness.

My Opinion I will admit, I am a bit biased when it comes to Twenty One Pilots. However, Trench is an amazing album, eve- rything from the album’s cover art, lyrics, color scheme, music, and so much more makes me love the album even more. It has a very different, but marvelous sound compared to its previous album, Blurryface and reminds me of TOP’s third album, Vessel. I think the band has grown so much from Blurryface up to now. I think that they really like experi- menting with different sounds as none of their al- bums really sound alike, but I really like that about the band. They’ve never been afraid to try out a new sound. One thing that I love about them is how you can go to listening to a pop-like song, then go to a rap song, then to a slow, emotional song and how with them, you never know what to expect, aside from excellence. I really liked Trench, but The Liberty Ledger

Trench ...Continued By: Tamyca Tunis that’s not really a surprise since I do love twenty one pilots.

Highlights Here are some of the highlights from the album:  Tyler Joseph raps the whole time in the song, “Levitate”. Bring 1 non-perishable food  Tyler has a pet cheetah that lives in his basement named Ja- item and 50¢ per student to son Statham. help provide a bountiful  The second verse of “Pet Cheetah”.  The song “Neon Gravestones” discusses how our society glo- Thanksgiving holiday for fami- rifies those who have committed suicide. This song also explains lies in need in our community. how society also romanticizes suicide and mental illnesses. I have seen so many people romanticize mental illnesses and suicide In addition, the Student Coun- whether it was in real life or on TV, and I think that it’s so amaz- cil is sponsoring 2 contests ing how TOP uses their platform to discuss important topics and associated with the Food their fame to spread awareness. Drive.  Tyler’s falsettos in“Morph” and “My Blood”.  The background voices in “Legend”.  The drumming in “Jumpsuit”. Box Decorating Contest:  The reversed words and distorted voices found in many of Up to 1,000 Pride Points per the songs. team for participation

Summary 500 bonus Pride Points for the I think you should give Trench a chance. I believe that anyone would 1 winning advisory in each be able to find at least one thing that they like about this album be- grade. cause it does have a lot to offer. However, I understand that not eve- ryone will like it. Overall, I think Trench has exceeded my expecta- CONTEST ENDS tions for Twenty One Pilots. I really enjoyed the variety of sounds Thursday, November 15th the band has provided on this album and how they continue to pro- duce songs with important messages. I can’t wait to see TOP has for us next! DRAWING By: Damien Dolisca

November 14th Wear Purple to show the world that we are united to make progress in the fight against pancreatic cancer. The Liberty Ledger

Breast Cancer Awareness By: Tamyca Tunis October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, where we try to raise awareness for one of the world’s most common cancers. Accord- ing to nationalbreastcancer.org, cancer is a disease caused by abnormal cells that grow and invade healthy cells in the body. Breast cancer starts in the cells of the breast as a group of cancer cells that can then invade surrounding tissues or spread to other areas of the body. Here are some facts about Breast Cancer: Both women and men can get breast cancer though it is more com- mon in women 1 in 8 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime (nationalbreastcancer.org) Every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and every 13 minutes one woman dies from breast cancer in America alone (nationalbreastcancer.org) About 2,470 men are diagnosed with breast cancer and another 460 will die from it each year in the US (nationalbreastcancer.org) Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and 2nd most common cancer that causes death in females (World Cancer Research Fund International) It is estimated that there will be 255,180 new cases of breast cancer and 41,070 will die of it this year (WCRFI) It is the 2nd leading cause of death among women (nationalbreastcancer.org) We need to spread awareness about breast cancer not just in October but every day of the year. This disease kills so many people every year so why wouldn’t you want to help fight it? You can help by donating to the organizations such as Susan G. Komen, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the American Cancer Socie- ty. It doesn’t matter how much you give because every dollar counts. You can even help just by spreading the word about breast cancer. Or you can try getting your mom, aunt, or any woman you love to get regularly screened. If you know someone with breast cancer or who has had it, please show your support and love for them because it’s a really difficult experience to go through and it’s physically, mentally, and emotionally draining among other things.

The Outsiders Preview Review By: Camille Bugayong, Tamyca Tunis, and Maura Baker

On October 30th, the 8th-grade class went to see a sneak peek of West Orange High School’s production of ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E Hinton. The show was scripted directly from the book, and the cast did a magnificent job of bringing the characters to life! Something interesting that we noticed was that many of the characters were portrayed by women, including Ponyboy, Dally and Two-Bit. We thought that this was a great twist, especially since a vast majority of the characters in the book are men. Overall, this was a fantastic performance and we can’t wait to see the whole show!

The Liberty Ledger Origin of Jack-o’-lantern

By: Dayana Matamoros It’s Halloween time which means most people will dress up on Halloween going house to house trick or treating. In the spirit of Hallow- een people decorate their homes to make it more festive. In October, one of the most popular decorations you will see are jack-o-lanterns. These can be spooky or funny and are really fun to make. They are really fun to make with family and can become a tradition. There are plenty of different ways of decorating and plenty of different designs that you can use on your jack-o-lanterns, but There will be an interest where did the tradition of jack-o-lanterns come from? meeting on Jack-o-lanterns have a pretty interest- ing history. According to History.com, “The practice of decorating “jack-o’-lanterns”—the NOVEMBER 14th name comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack—originated in Ire- right after school in the land, where large turnips and potatoes served auditorium. Please bring as an early canvas.” As the Irish immigrated to the United State's, they brought along the tradition. The Irish start- your Chromebooks. ed this tradition do to an Irish myth about a man whose nickname is “Stingy Jack”. According to the folktale Stingy Jack had invited the Students interested in devil to have a drink with him. He didn’t want to pay for the drinks so participating in the 2018 he convinced the devil to turn into a coin that Jack could use to pay for the drinks. Once the devil turned into a coin, instead of paying for musical production the drinks Jack grabbed the coin and put it in his pocket where he had should plan on attend- a silver cross. The silver cross prevented the devil from turning back ing to learn more about into his original form. The devil was later released by Jack under the this exciting opportunity. conditions that he would not bother Jack for a year, and if he were to die, the devil would not take his soul. The devil was foolish enough to fall for the trick again the next year. Jack convinced the devil to climb Drama Club is a crea- up a tree to pick a fruit. As the devil was picking the fruit, Jack carved tive, fun, team oriented a cross into the tree preventing the devil from turning back. The devil after school activity that was released again under the conditions of leaving Jack alone for 10 more years. Jack died during those 10 years, and God refused to take requires a big time com- him into heaven and the devil kept his promise of not taking his soul. mitment and provides a So instead the devil sent Jack into the dark night with only a burning great personal reward coal to be able to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out- turnip and has been roaming the Earth ever since. when completed.

Jack-o-lanterns originate from Ireland. We are looking for ac- The Irish used large turnips and potatoes as tors, actresses, an assis- canvases and this tradition turned into using pumpkins as a canvas. As Irish immigrants tant director, stage came into the United State's, Americans crew manager, assistant adopted these traditions. Over the years jack-o stage crew -lanterns have become more and more popu- manager lar and are used as a decoration during Hal- loween time. and stage crew. The Liberty Ledger Character Day Pictures By: Carmina Rojas, Dayana Matamoros, Dorinda Destine, Camille Bugayong & Nia Caesar The Liberty Ledger

Character Day Pictures By: Carmina Rojas, Dayana Matamoros, Dorinda Destine, Camille Bugayong & Nia Caesar The Liberty Ledger

Character Day Pictures By: Carmina Rojas, Dayana Matamoros, Dorinda Destine, Camille Bugayong & Nia Caesar The Liberty Ledger MOVIE REVIEW 7 Disney Movies

By: Carmina Rojas and Aidan Medina

These are seven Disney movie reviews on these movies:

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

This movie revolutionized Disney and animated movies as a whole. It was the first full-length feature film animation in 1937. By today’s standards, this movie isn’t great. The loopholes are a little hard to overpass. Snow White literally eats an apple from a stranger. I don’t particularly enjoy the classic Disney movies as much the ones from the second and third generations.

Despite the unexplainable actions and several shaded areas in the plot (*don’t kiss some- one without consent, especially if you don’t know them cough cough*), this movie changed animation. Classics such as this may be trash in the eyes of modern watchers, but it’s still a good watch as it’s considered a classic.

2. The Little Mermaid (1989)

The Little Mermaid has one of the best soundtracks (behind Mulan, Hercu- les and maybe Aladdin or Pocahontas). This movie was sweet as it showed a love story between a mermaid and a prince. Although it still has loop- holes, the amount of loopholes is lower than from its predecessors. The ani- mation was also amazing for that time, especially since a lot of the move- ments were in the ocean. Sometimes people can forget that this movie came out in 1989.

3. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast, like the previous entry, had an especially good animation for its time. In one scene, the viewer goes through a high window into the scene of Belle and the prince dancing (it’s kind of hard to visualize but that’s just a better reason to watch this movie). People like to point out that Belle literally falls in love with a beast who is also her kidnapper. Could this be a case of Stockholm syndrome? Besides that, there are so many good things about the story. There a few lessons to learn from this movie like you should not judge a person by the way they look, see people for who they really are and love has the power to change things.

The live-action version was released in 2017. Many will remem- ber this movie with its lively storyline. Animated or not, Beauty and the Beast is certainly a film to watch.

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7 Disney Movies...Continued By: Carmina Rojas and Aidan Medina

4. Aladdin (1992)

Aladdin is likely one of the first Disney princess movies to have the prince be the one who isn’t royalty (or even get close to acting like it, to be quite honest). Previous to this, the princess was the one to become enchanted by the man (including Beauty and the Beast as they fell in love at around the same time). It’s different from the rest. Aladdin is the one that tries to get Princess Jasmine to fall in love with him, who doesn’t seem to like him at first.

The story includes a woman who is clever enough to trick both the villain and hero, a street rat who turns to a prince, a magic carpet and an amusing ge- nie voiced by Robin Williams. With those three characters, along with the amazingly animat- ed setting, it makes a perfect Disney movie. This is especially true with songs like A Whole New World and Prince Ali. Overall, it does seem to be a favorite for many audience mem- bers.

5. Mulan (1998)

Mulan is a favorite for many, likely due to the story of the independent female protagonist heroic throughout her many challenges, and the incredible soundtrack. The 1998 classic had been part of a golden generation of Disney. As stated before, it had spectacular songs. These include: Make A Man Out Of You and Reflection. One may also want to note how the story differenti- ates the film from other Disney movies that solely rely on the prince, similar to the princess story made before this, Pocahontas. It establishes a good female role and creates an independent women protagonist, following her journey throughout the film. It is because of this that Mulan is adored in the Disney franchise.

Mulan is definitely my favorite Disney movie out of this bunch and will likely remain so for many years. The setting, music and art style is really fascinating, and to be honest, this is likely the reasons that this movie is seen as perfect among fans.

6. Tangled (2010)

Tangled is Disney ’s 50th animated feature film and the studio’s first fairy tale musical to be created using 3D CG animation. As one of my personal favorites, this film is a story of Rapunzel, a girl who has been trapped in a tower for almost all her life. She was a royal at birth but stolen from her parents for her magical hair. This is the first movie to that has a princess with magical powers, the second being Elsa from the movie Frozen but Elsa is technically a queen not a prin- cess. The movie has strong characters and a light comedic side. The Liberty Ledger

7 Disney Movies...Continued By: Carmina Rojas and Aidan Medina

The “prince, Flynn Rider, sort of similar to Aladdin, is a thief who is clever and witty. Rapunzel is a slightly oblivious girl who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, fight or be adventurous. The songs go from upbeat to solemn and flowing. The animation is contrasting from all the previ- ous entries as well, but in the end, it works out. The film allows the audience to end up with a piece of dazzling art through all the wonders it provides.

7. Moana (2016)

The last, but most recent entry to the list is the 2016 big-time hit, Moana. It has astounding voice performances from Dwayne Johnson as Maui and Auli’I Cravalho as Moana. The incredible soundtrack in the movie was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i. The soundtrack was so good that some of the songs, such as “You’re Welcome” got stuck in everybody’s heads. The story of Moana is a tale of a chief’s daughter who is an adventurous teenager that sets sail on a dangerous mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demigod Maui, who guides her in her quest. In my opinion, Moana has one of better plotlines and overall characters, since it is more modern.

Despite its appearance and similarities to other Disney movies that have already been presented, this specific movie showed something very different from the generic Disney movie structure. It showed that women could be independent, and didn’t need a prince or another male figure to help them or to save them. Even with Maui, it showed that women are just as strong and heroic as the male protagonists in other movies, such as Tangled, Snow White, Aladdin, etc. Sure, you can say that it has some flaws, but that comes with every movie, because no movie is perfect. To sum it all up, I think that Moana is one of the greater movies of the list, due to its fascinating storyline, plot, and theme. ARTWORK

By: Dorinda Destine By: Alina George By: Justice CilloSmith