The Walrus

Page 6 The Walrus: School News
December 2009
POINT - COUNTERPOINT:
Which Christmas Tree?
REAL TREE
FAKE TREE
Madden Tournament
(gasp) CANCELLED!
DILLON ECCLESINE ‘11
The school was introduced to quite
a shock one Monday morning, when
Mr. Chambers announced that this
year’s MPA madden tournament was
cancelled. People sat in their pews
dejected, wondering what possible
madness had brought this about.
David Leith ’11 was seen crying on
his neighbors shoulder in sadness.
When addressed later on about this
experience, David had a few words: “I
was terrified. I have spent the entire
year preparing for this tournament,
and now it’s been taken from me…
this was my entire life. I was planning
on investing the prize money to
make my fortune in life. Now I have
nothing except my ability to actually
play football…But I guess I can still go
professional in that.” Poor David.
But on the other side of
the coin, this madness was partially
brought about by the student body.
Not enough people actually signed
up for the tournament, and not
enough consoles were brought in for
use. Big shout out to Ned Kingsley
’10, who promised he would bring
in a system, only to let down the
entire MPA. And the entire student
body. And David Leith. Sweet work,
Johnson. But seriously, in order to
have the tournament take place with
64 people, we need an ample supply
of consoles, which just was not there
this year. So for all you people out
there with an X-Box 360 at home,
thanks a bunch.
The Madden Tournament
is a time of great joy for the school,
to get everyone excited for the
Thanksgiving Season. The winners
of the tournament have gone down
in history, most notably Adebayo
Owolewa, a former teacher who, with
the Philadelphia Eagles, took it home
a few years ago. David Leith, however,
was not a part of the tournament that
year because he lost his money on
the way to school. Had he entered,
The New and
Improved 2009
Yearbook Arrives
BY TOM NUNAN ‘11
A major event at St. Sebastian’s on
the day preceding Thanksgiving is the
distribution of the yearbook (known
as The Arrow) commemorating the
previous school year. Each student
in grades eight through twelve races
to the bookstore to retrieve his copy
when the earliest opportunity to do
so arises. The previous year’s seniors
return to school to pick up their copies
as well, and enjoy a reception in
the McCulloch Room, during which
they are able to reconnect with their
former classmates and teachers.
Before delving into the
actual contents of the latest edition
of The Arrow, it is important to note
the School’s tradition of dedicating
each new edition to a member of the
community. The senior class votes
to determine the person to whom
their “swan song” yearbook will be
dedicated. The dedicatee is revealed
following Thanksgiving Mass, and is
big #79 David Leith would have
easily taken home another trophy
to his room. The winners of Madden
Tournaments are immortalized in
history, and this year many young
amateur Madden Players were hoping
to leave a lasting impression at
St. Sebs.
So many people dedicate
their entire lives to the Madden
Tournament, as you have seen with
David Leith. However, there are
others out there who have been preparing
for quite some time. Conor
Dillon ’10 gave a chapel speech on
the Madden Tournament one year,
and he was recently seen studying
film in the library with a headset on.
Even Father Paris got into the right
spirit when he was seen drawing
up his own playbook. The Madden
Tournament is something that affects
everyone, and it gets everyone
into a great mood for the upcoming
Thanksgiving.
However, even with the
recent cancellation, there are some
hopes. Now people seemed to have
learned a lesson, and I highly doubt
that it will be cancelled next year.
The student body has seen the problems
that have resulted because of
the lack of the Madden Tournament,
and we will not be so quick to make
the same mistake twice. Although
terribly distraught at first, David
Leith is beginning to look on the
bright side, as we all should. David
shared these positive comments
during his interview: “I know at first
I was terrified, but I’ve begin to look
at the glass half full. I know I still
have next year, and I’ve already been
preparing.” Good attitude David,
and I know that everyone will be all
the more excited for the Madden
Tournament next year, as long as
everyone does their part. (Let it be
known that David Leith has begun to
receive looks from several colleges
for his Madden abilities, including,
but not limited to, Vanderbilt and
Mass Maritime Academy).
presented with the first distributed
copy of the yearbook.
This year’s recipient was Mr.
Denis Cleary, faculty member and
history department chair. He is obviously
very surprised and grateful to
have received the honor, telling me
in a recent interview, “I was stunned.
I can think of ten or fifteen deserving
people to whom the yearbook could
have been dedicated.” The Class of
2009 displayed their gratitude for
Mr. Cleary on the dedication page of
the yearbook, but Mr. Cleary further
expounded on his relationship with
last year’s seniors: “I had two AP
Government sections last year and
two sections of a brand new course
that I had introduced, called Advanced
Topics in US History. I taught
nineteen of the students when they
were in Honors US History as juniors,
and it was great to see seventeen
of them continue on to take history
as seniors, even though they
weren’t required to. I think I wrote
twenty-four or twenty-five college
SEAN FRAZZETTE ‘12
Christmas time is here and everyone
and his mother are starting to look
for a Christmas tree to decorate their
house. And, of course, with this frantic
search comes the annual debate:
which type of tree is better, a real
authentic evergreen, or an ugly, fake,
plastic or metal knock-off? Those who
buy the cheap counterfeits always
have the same excuses for their
ridiculous purchase: “It’s requires no
clean-up,” “It looks just like a real tree,”
“It’s the idea that counts.” False.
Christmas is a time of tradition, and
one of the oldest traditions is the
family event where everyone piles
into the car and heads on over to
wherever they sell Christmas trees.
The little kids run around in the
magnificent forest of giant pine trees,
while the parents search for the perfect
tree, just the right height, just the
right width. After the family settles on
their choice, they bring it home and
set it up in the house. For years this
has been the tradition, but, especially
in recent years, people have begun
to replace these actions with the
heading down to Wal-Mart, throwing
a cheaply built, fake tree into their
trunk and setting it up in the house.
Boring. Where’s the excitement? The
tradition? Out the window, apparently.
Not only is this practice
boring and lacking the Christmas
spirit, it can also be detrimental to the
environment. A common stabilizer
in artificial trees is the highly toxic
element lead, meaning that your
environmentally sound tree is pure
poison. As the little children sit and
open their presents under the metal
heap, they are exposed to deadly
materials. Therefore, those who buy a
fake Christmas tree are replacing the
burden of having to clean up loose
pines after Christmas with slowly
killing their children. Good choice.
Also, the killers who buy these knockoffs
try to defend themselves with
the claim that at least they are not
killing trees in the environment. Only
an artificial tree buyer could come
up with as ignorant an argument as
that. Every tree that is cut down for
Christmas is replaced by a new tree,
so there is no true environmental
damage. However, there is serious
environmental damage involved
with the creation of plastic and metal
trees. These trees, the majority of
which are made in China, are created
in large factories that use cheep labor
and emit poisonous gases into the
atmosphere, destroying our ozone
layer and speeding up the process
recommendations for members of
that class, which creates a special
bond between the teacher and the
students.”
Following the dedication
to Mr. Cleary is the section in which
photographs of faculty and staff
are displayed. Quite a copious,
well-done collage of faculty and
staff “candids” precedes their more
formal photographs. Teachers and
staff members are shown in action
at an array of events and presentations—some
of the moments serious
and others more amusing—like the
Christmas Program, Talent Show,
New Orleans Service Trip, and Curriculum
Night.
Next come the well-known
“senior pages”. While the abundance
of inside jokes and seemingly
of the ice caps melting. As a result,
these fake tree purchasers not only
kill their children, but also the polar
bears. What did the polar bears ever
do to you? Overall, the use of artificial
trees is and awful practice for
both tradition and the environment.
The use of real trees, unlike
their plastic counterparts, have
plenty of upside. Already mentioned
were the rich tradition of tree shopping
and the lack of environmental
damage, but what about the other
facets of real trees? The smell of
pine needles spreads through house
creating the natural aroma of the
Christmas season. Also, every year,
one can vary the size, color, and type
of tree (from a seven-foot green
Douglas to a ten-foot Blue Spruce)
the variations are endless. Once a
family buys an artificial tree, they
usually do not purchase a new one
for years, resulting in zero change.
Another common misconception is
that artificial trees are cheaper than
authentic evergreens. This belief is
completely false, for a real tree costs
from twenty to one hundred dollars,
while the metal trees range from
two hundred to four hundred dollars
usually. An authentic tree can even
be obtained for free at most stores
if one waits until Christmas Eve. The
possibility of obtaining a real tree
for free means that those who are
less privileged can celebrate the
Christmas tradition without having
to spend any of their hard earned
money. So while fake trees are busy
killing kids and polar bears, real trees
are benefiting the poor. Why is there
an argument again?
The change to artificial evergreens
is one that even President
Barrack Obama does not approve
of, as the White House just put up
their new, authentic Christmas tree.
In fact, it has been tradition for years
to light a real tree right outside the
White House, as well as Rockefeller
Center, our own city of Boston, and
many other cities. The beauty and
sweet smell of authentic, evergreens
and Christmas trees are a tradition
throughout the country, celebrated
by people of all genders and ethnicities,
and the poisonous, environment-destroying
fakes are ruining
the Christmas season. In as season
about giving, why give toxic fumes
to the environment and lead poisoning
to children? Instead, give the
smell of pine and spirit of Christmas
to the household, and carry on the
rich tradition of the greatest holiday
of all.
misplaced sentence fragments that
traditionally populate this section
can be hard to digest, sincere gratitude
and many nostalgic memories
abound here nonetheless. In their
paragraphs, as well as in their selected
quotations and photographs,
the seniors express a palpable
degree of joy for having attended
St. Sebastian’s, and their words help
those of us not yet graduated from
St. Seb’s to see anew the virtues
of our School. The Class of 2009 is
well represented pictorially by more
“candids” pages, as well as by photographs
from their at-school celebration
of Halloween (very funny) and
their prom.
Many photographs of
underclassmen (both formal and
in-) follow. As is always the case,
BY MARK CUNNINGHAM ‘12
When pondering the decision to get
a real or a fake Christmas tree, one
usually strays toward a real Christmas
tree, making the wrong decision.
More than 33 million people make
the decision to get a real Christmas
tree according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
Each of those 33 million
must lug the Christmas tree from the
location which they got it from into
their house. The average Christmas
tree is 6-7 feet tall and from personal
experience it is very hard to carry
inside my house. The process of finding
a tree is always agonizing as my
father and I can never agree on a tree.
I always end up wasting a Saturday
because I had to pick out the “perfect
tree”, carry it into the house and then
put it in the stand. My father and I
go through a lot of trouble each year
to put the tree in the stand, trim the
bottom of the tree in order to fit the
proper height of our ceiling, and
then we have to make sure the tree
is straight so it won’t fall over. With
a fake Christmas tree, there is no
problem with having to get a perfect
tree, or make it look straight, because
it is already straight. Every year I ask
my parents to buy a fake Christmas
tree because they weigh less and
we can just store it in the basement
and not have to carry a heavy,
natural Christmas tree. St. Sebastian’s
own Danny Beam made the switch
from a real Christmas tree to a fake
Christmas tree a few years ago and
he has no regrets. He said about his
fake Christmas tree, “It doesn’t shed
needles, and it doesn’t get brown, it
is always green. I can assemble it all
by myself and I don’t have to put it on
top of my car.” Danny also added that,
“Those little needles always got stuck
in my rug and I had to vacuum them
up.” Danny also stated that he just disassembles
the tree, which is a quick
and easy process, sticks it in a box and
stores it in the basement. This saves
a lot of time, time that could be used
to shop for gifts over this agonizing
holiday season. Even though the fake
Christmas tree may not be as authentic
but you can still put on your everyday
ornaments, but the tree does not
shed needles and you do not have to
consistently water it. People have to
water the Christmas trees in order to
keep the tree from “turning brown”
as opposed to fake Christmas trees
which are “always green.”
There are also fire hazards that come
about with real Christmas trees.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration,
Christmas trees account for 200
The age old question--which Christmas tree will most people choose to put in their living room for this year?
fires annually, 6 deaths, 25 injuries,
and over 6 Million dollars in property
damages. In an experiment
with a real tree fire by the U.S. Fire
Administration, it took just over forty
seconds for an entire room to be engulfed
with deadly toxic smoke and
oxygen is depleted. Christmas tree
fires are usually caused by electrical
shorts or open flames, but well-watered
trees are not a problem. Due to
the fact that well-watered trees are
not a problem, more people try to
consistently add water to their trees
not only to make the tree stay fresh,
but to keep it from being a fire hazard,
just adding to the work of a real
Christmas tree. With a fake Christmas
tree, you only have to assemble the
tree and then put ornaments on it
and nothing else has to be done,
no watering or trimming. Most
fake trees are created from flame
resistant materials to increase safety
according to www.artificialtrees.
com. Overall, fake Christmas trees
are much safer than real Christmas
trees.
As we are in this economic decline,
every penny matters, and buying a
fake Christmas tree rather than a real
one is guaranteed to save you some
pennies. Although the initial cost of
a fake tree is more than a real one, it
adds up year after year, not having
to pay for a Christmas tree. I know
my parents pay…. for our Christmas
tree year after and the cost adds
up. Also we pay a lot of money for
ornaments to put on these trees.
Real Christmas trees do not have
the strongest branches because
the wood can get weak over time.
Because of this, many ornaments
periodically fall off of trees, leading
to the breaking of these ornaments.
From personal experience there are
some valuable ornaments on trees
that mean a lot to families such
as religious ones passed down or
delicate ones their children made in
elementary school. With a fake tree,
the limbs are much stronger and
made out of more durable material,
so the ornaments do not fall off very
easily. The clear decision here is to
pick the fake tree over the real tree,
because of the fire hazards and the
hit to the wallet one takes year after
year, buying a real Christmas tree.
Don’t buy a fake Christmas tree because
of the credible reasons I have
presented, but because Danny Beam
told you to and you probably do not
want your living room to be lit on
fire and covered with toxic smoke in
forty seconds.
everyone looks much younger than
we remembered. Homecoming,
Grandparents’ Day, the Seventies
Dance, and various athletic contests
are all displayed well.
The next section is devoted
to the various teams and clubs
available at the School, and virtually
every sport and activity receives a
space in the yearbook. Here the incredible
depth of extracurricular offerings
which St. Sebastian’s affords
its students is on display, lest anyone
was in doubt. The members of each
of the many clubs, from Drama Club
to MPA to Robotics, receive recognition
of membership. Likewise for
the athletes of each sport, who are
shown competing in fine fashion.
The Arrow closes with congratulatory
messages and personal
photographs put together by the
seniors’ families in appreciation for
their sons, which provide even more
opportunities for laughter and reminiscence.
The latest yearbook is
indeed a worthy assortment of
memories and stories concerning
the 2008-2009 school year. Also, its
unusual color and texture compared
with years past further distinguishes
it. Our School owes its thanks to
faculty advisor Ms. Payne, editorin-chief
Mike Sanderson ’10, as well
as staff members Jack Crowley ’09,
Tom Gregg ’10, Tom Harrington ’10,
Brian Horne ’09, Ryan Kilcullen ’10,
and Andrew Spencer ’10 for laboring
to create an excellent edition of The
Arrow.