Keeping Pope Informed and On Track The Greyhound Tracks Volume 24, Issue 1 September 2011 Atlanta: the New Hollywood? pg. 23 Teaching to Test, the New Standard pg. 6 Essential Albums pg. 14 Delaney Strunk Delaney photo by by photo iEducation: Helpful or Hurtful? pg. 11 The Greyhound Tracks Editor in Chief Jenny Goldberger Managing Editor Megan Burns What is your life’s motto? News Editor Wyatt Bazrod : Opinions Editor Q Darby Kunnemann Features Editor Meg Taylor Entertainment Editor Katie Lipsiner Atlanta Life Editor Anna Morrell Sports Editor Sophie Goodman Associate Opinions Editor Morgan Puckett Associate Sports Editor Max Yarus Photo Editor Delaney Strunk Megan Burns, Managing Editor Wyatt Bazrod, News Editor Business Manager Christina Honey “Don’t die yet...you have a lot more “Just be true to yourself, and if you Staff Writers livin’ to do.” end up friendless, then good for you.” Kelsey Asher Cristina Bixby Savannah Cole Zachary Fram Jordan Hale Nellie Pavluscenco Lindsay Walsh Natalie Williams Senior Staff Writers Jon Butler Michaella Jelin Katelyn Hohn Lauren Hohn Haley Spencer Max Yarus, Associate Sports Editor Christina Honey, Business Manager Classroom Adviser Krista Bowen “Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse “There is nothing deep down Editorial policy to try new things. The saddest summary The Greyhound Tracks is printed throughout the of a life contains three descriptions: could inside us that we have not put academic year except during school holidays have, might have, and should have.” or unless circumstances beyond the control of down there ourselves.” the Greyhound Tracks staff prevent publication. The Tracks is located in room 319 of Pope High School. The Greyhound Tracks is produced by the students of Pope High School, Marietta, Ga. The statements and opinions expressed here in are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff, or of Pope High School, its faculty, staff, or administration. Letter Policy The Greyhound Tracks welcomes all members of the Pope community to submit letters to the editor. Please place all letters in Ms. Bowen’s faculty mailbox, or send an e-mail to krista. [email protected] or send to room 317 The Greyhound Tracks Lindsay Walsh, Staff Writer Jordan Hale, Staff Writer 3001 Hembree Road Marietta, GA 30062 “Whatever you are, attn. Editorial Staff “Life is too short to eat be a good one.” The Tracks reserves the right to decide which boring rice.” letters to publish. All letters are subject to edit- ing for grammar, punctuation, libelous content and length. Please limit letters to 500 words maximum. Want to know what our staff thinks? Send your question to [email protected] NEWS Frustrations of Education | Sophie Goodman.....................................................................................................06 The Buzz with Bazrod | Wyatt Bazrod......................................................................................................................08 Reconstruction and Robbery | Emily Sermons....................................................................................................13 OPINIONS Seniors: From Awkward Braces to College Suitcases | Meg Taylor...........................................................10 Caught Up In the Wires | Jon Butler..........................................................................................................................11 M2W: Should Women Play with Men? | Max Yarus and Morgan Puckett.................................................18 FEATURES Around the World in 55 Minutes | Kelsey Asher.................................................................................................05 Parking Lot Puzzlement | Wyatt Bazrod.................................................................................................................12 The Wonder of Words | Darby Kunnemann...........................................................................................................22 SPORTS Sports Season Preview | Max Yarus..........................................................................................................................27 Aquatic Mayhem | Cristina Bixby................................................................................................................................28 New Stars Light Up the Volleyball Court | Zach Fram ....................................................................................29 ATL LIFE Splashing Into October | Bonnie Pirlot...................................................................................................................20 Trivial Pursuits | Emily Sermons and Wyatt Bazrod..............................................................................................21 Hometown Hero | Anna Morrell..................................................................................................................................23 Mamma Mia, Pastaria! | Nellie Pavluscenco..........................................................................................................30 ENTERTAINMENT Album Review | Katie Lipsiner...................................................................................................................................14 Pope on Piracy | Savannah Cole................................................................................................................................15 Concert Review: My Morning Jacket | Michaella Jelin....................................................................................16 PAWPRINTS Photo Contest Winner | Grace Ferzely.....................................................................................................................24 TRACKS Hugs from Drugs | Claudia Cheung..........................................................................................................................25 G Lead Between the Lines | Ben Lutz..........................................................................................................................26 6 18 11 30 04 Letter from the Editors After a summer made two weeks longer from last year’s school board dispute over the balanced calendar, we all headed to Pope with some sun-induced grogginess and a touch of reluctance to give up lazy mornings, but with more than a bit of curiosity to see the state of our school. Warned by Facebook rumors that the school survived a war zone and that a beige plague overtook the walls, ceiling and floor, we warily came back to find teachers frazzled, administrators tense, and everything covered in a layer of dust. But, even though the school looked like it needed another month of incubation, the halls seemed brighter (our photographers are happy about that), the cafeteria no longer felt like a demolition zone, and the beige seemed not quite as beige as we feared. Pope sur- vived... barely, maybe. Piercing fire drills and pounding jackhammers still reminded us of the chaos in Libya. The new parking lot plan brought gridlock that looked like I-75 on Friday afternoons. But life seemed to be settling into normalcy as August became September. The ten year anniversary of 9/11 gave us a moment to reflect on how the world changed at 8:46 on September 11, 2001, when we were too young to understand. We barely remember the elementary school teachers who tried to shield us from the terrible images of planes turned missiles sailing across an impossibly blue sky that morning. Under that same blue sky, we gathered ten years later to commemorate the families affected by the attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, we also thought about the families affected by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed. In this civic spirit, Pope’s new service organization, Hounds for Heroes, recognizes and serves the families of servicemen and women; its mission is proof that we need to pause in the midst of our daily dilem- mas to see the world beyond Pope’s four walls. This year of transformations also gave our Greyhound Tracks staff a chance to deliberate our mission to be the voice of Pope. To better engage you, our audience, we’ve changed our beloved newspaper to a newsmagazine. While we’ve dealt with and overcome many obstacles, such as a complete redesign of our layout and a crazy learn- ing curve for our newbies, we are happy with our decision. We believe our new format will allow us to expand our creative wings, and we hope our efforts are received with as much enthusiasm as we have put into it. Additionally, we are proud to introduce our new student involvement section, PawPrints, which includes a cal- endar of events, a monthly contest, and contributions from the student body. This month Claudia Chung wrote about her experiences in the teen court system, and Ben Lutz shared his experiences at HOBY, a leadership confer- ence. We encourage students to share their voices on what we hope you come to see as your newspaper. Please share your voice and send your contributions to [email protected]! – The Greyhound Tracks Staff photo by Krista Bowen Students and faculty gathered to commemorate 9/11. NJROTC students flew the flag at half mast and science teacher Carl Pfaff recalled how it felt to watch the events unfold as well as how the events of 9/11 have changed the face of American society in the ten years since. FEATURES 05 the W Pope hosts foreign exchange students for the 2011- d or 2012 school year and the students talk about how un ld o they adjust to life in the United States and at school. r in A 55 photos by Kelsey Asher