Serving up a fundraiser with a smile - Manheim Township School ...

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Page 2 NEWS March 3, 2003 Blizzard: too much snow brings boredom continued from page 1 when asked how they occupied their time snowed in. Most students reported that they had already obtained cabin fever by late Sunday afternoon. “I’m getting cabin fever, I’ve stayed in too long. I need air!” said Sophomore Traci Trupe. Other students explained that “the snow was just too much to look at,” and this desire became so extreme that they actually closed the blinds or shut the curtains of the windows in their home. Students became so sick of the snow that they simply couldn’t face the reality that two glorious feet of it was currently sitting on the ground. “I couldn’t stare at the white anymore,” said Sophomore Kaitlin Wedge. So what did Township students do to occupy their time? While some, such as Carnes, were forced to head into work to relieve the “blizzard drama,” others simply found refuge vegetating at home.Most indolently sat in front of their computers taking advantage of instant messenger programs for a source of contact with oth- by Mandi Lehnherr Staff Writer The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a volunteer as “one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while having no legal concern or interest.” While that may be, there is a lot more to someone who volu n t e e r s . Volunteering takes time, energy and dedication. A person must make time in their busy schedule in order to do things they will not get paid for. So why, may you ask, would one want to volunteer? “Volunteering is a good way to give back to the community,” said Mrs. Tate, who works in the Career Center. “It also gives a student the opportunity to see what they are interested in and may even lead to a job.” There are many students at Manheim Township who volunteer. The most popular places are Hands-On-House and Lancashire Hall, though many are volunteer firefighters and EMT’s. A Township student shovels out after the storm. Photo by Sammy Davis. ers. This was probably the safest method of communication since even airports such as BWI and JFK were closed.. Still, friends within walking distance of one another got together to watch movies and eat junk food, while others just slept and ate all day. Boredom tends to compel people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t, such as devour a bag of chips or in this case, the remaining Sophomore Brooke Mastromatteo volunteers at Lancashire Hall, Hands-On- House, and the Envisions Program at Neff. “I volunteer because it allows me to work with many people I normally wouldn’t encounter,” said Mastromatteo. Senior Sarah Way volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club and Students Against Starv a t i o n . “Boys and Girls Club is a place for kids to go after school when their parents are working or they just want to come and hang out. And mostly everyone knows what Students Against Starvation is; we do food drives and have the 30 hour fast coming up soon,” said Way. Many students get their start volunteering in their free time over the summer, but others choose to volunteer year-round. “Most students will choose to volunteer in the summer, mostly because of lack of things to do. Also, some of the younger students who are not old enough to have a job, will volunteer,” said Tate. “I volunteer about two or three weeks in supply of Valentine’s Day candy. “It’s not like you’re even hungry, you just eat to eat,” said Junior Brandi Clawson. With Valentine’s Day only occurring two days before the snow hit, couples of Township became desperate to see one another and decided to venture out into the blistering cold and blowing snow, regardless of driving conditions and warnings from their parents or the media. They may have made it to their significant other’s home before it “got too bad,” as some commented, but they were then forced to spend the night due to the increasing severity of the weather. On account of unsafe driving conditions for the Township area, students of the MT school district were granted with another day off on Tuesday, Feb. 18. With the addition of yet another snow day, the last day of school for MTSD students is now June 11. Due to a fixed graduation date, Seniors will still graduate on June 5. Volunteer work provides students with opportunity, insight the summer at Hands-On-House. I volunteer at Envisions and Lancashire both about two or three days a week,” said M a s t r o m a t t e o . Most students volunteer to give back to the community, because their parents are making them or because they know it looks good on college applications. But sometimes, volunteering somewhere long enough will lead to a job. ”My daughter volunteered at a place long enough and soon she obtained a job at that place. They also wrote her an excellent recommendation for her college application,” said T a t e . Many times, volunteering can show a person what they are interested in or if there are any setbacks in the area of interest. For example, if a student volunteered at a local veterinary clinic because he was planning to go into the profession, but then found out he was allergic to a certain animal, the student would be well aware of the allergy before he would go all the way through veterinary school. Whatever the reason for volunteering-college applications, parents, not old enough to have a job, or for the simple of enjoyment of it—it is almost certain that most everyone will be able to obtain interesting experiences from volunteering. Sophomores, Seniors, and Student Council combine dances into March Madness What do you get when you combine a Senior Class dance, a Sophomore Class dance, and a Student Council dance all into one? A new tradition. When three school dances were scheduled in a very close time frame in February and March, the Student Council, as well as the Senior and Sophomore class officers, put their heads together and came up with the idea of sponsoring one big dance at the end of Winter Spirit Week. The resulting event, the March Madness dance, will be held on March 8 from 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM. If this dance goes as well as planned, students can expect to see similar events in the future. “They’re going to try to make it a tradition for the next couple of years,” said Sophomore Class President, Jared Itkowitz. “At the end of spirit week, we’re going to have a big dance.” The DJ, the apparent star of the show, is going to be comparable to the one at Homecoming. Big screens, spectacular lights and good music are to be expected. The Student Council is generously helping to pay for the DJ even though they are not sharing in the profits. The profits will be split between the Senior and Sophomore classes for their proms. HI-LITE Manheim Township High School P.O. Box 5134, School Road Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17606 (717) 560-3097 Editor-in-Chief Carrie Roush Managing Editor Jenn Troupe News Editor Editorial Editor Jessica Piero Emily Files Feature Editors Sports Editors Sammy Davis Sam Flynn Sara Shangraw Jessica Miller Photography Editor Cartoonist Katelyn Burgess Rob Kelser Business Circulation Jared Schenkel Aaron Sherman Rob Ramsay Advisers Martin Pflieger by Jenn Troupe Managing Editor Staff Writers Laura Donofry Maggie Downey Meghan Hemphill Rachel Horn Mandi Lehnherr Melanie Ranalli Meredith Rosenberg Tech Support Mark Linn
Page 3 FEATURE March 3, 2003 Sam & Sam At The Movies Sam Flynn Sam Davis MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING Wedding: nothing more than mediocre romantic comedy by Sam Flynn Sports Editor Due to the fact that there were a limited amount of movies in theaters that I was willing to see at the time of this article, Sammy and I decided to review the critically acclaimed independent film My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The story is about Toula Portokalos, (played by Nia Vardalos), a frumpy middle child in a traditional Greek family who is thirty and still single much to her family’s dismay. She decides to leave the family restaurant and after a makeover and a few college courses, works in her aunts’ travel agency. While working at the travel agency, she starts a ‘window’ romance with Ian Miller (John Corbett) who finally enters and asks her out on a date, to which she says yes. They continue to see each other until they get engaged which poses a large problem because Ian is not Greek. This sends the family in uproar. I found this direct route to engagement unrealistic and trite. It might be the bitterness in me, but I had higher expectations for the so-called ‘independent film of the decade’. This movie has so much potential, and would have been a million times better if they didn’t take the cookie cutter romantic comedy route. After the family finds out of the engagement, Ian is basically forced to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, making him by Sammy Davis Feature Editor With the myriad of movies debuting in the theatres each week, it becomes practically impossible to distinguish between the worthy and the worthless films. Hollywood has the tendency to simply take the plot of past lucrative movies and add a few twists; a blonde leading character as opposed to brunette, an action scene containing exploding cars instead of buildings, a few more love scenes to spice things up, and voila! You have effortlessly created the next box office sensation. But are the so-called “hits” in the movie industry truly worth your time? Are we brainwashed into thinking that just because the Greek so that he has the family’s blessing to marry Toula. After that, the movie really starts to pick up with Toula having to deal with a proud Greek father (Michael Constantine), who believes that Windex is the cure for any illness, A crazy, nagging Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), Nikki, a less than prude cousin (Gia Carides) and Nick, a practical joke playing brother (Louis Mandylor). The movie produces some very next fresh face of celebrities holds the starring role that we should motionlessly sit in a dark theatre and simply absorb the images that dance across a screen? I suppose that most of us have these preconceived notions, the false ideas that good actors make good movies, fame creates entertainment, or that popularity equals quality. Although one should not completely eliminate mainstream movies from potential sources of delight, one should not shelter themselves from film creations in the world outside of Hollywood. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, an independently created film, offered its audience a humorous experience that is rarely felt in traditional comedies, regardless of their critical acclaim. My Big Fat Greek Wedding contains a different perspective on movie making that I personally be- humorous parts, most of them taking place during the planning of the wedding, but I felt that the movie was a little flat. Maybe it was because of the PG rated story line and the overabundance of the statement “If someone isn’t Greek, you should educate A Big Fat Greek Washout? Photo courtesy of Playtone Pictures. them about being Greek.” I’m not saying that it’s not good to be proud of ones heritage, but this movie carries it a little too far. Maybe it was the fact that while Toula lieve is most frequently found in independent films. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, although created in part with the famed Tom Hanks and his movie production group, the Playtone Company, was essentially formed away from the conforming eye of the movie industry. Inspired by her experiences growing up within the American Greek culture, Nia Vardalos, or “Toula,” the main character of the film, used her experiences from her Greek heritage and designed a play primarily based on her life, or rather, a Greek’s life times ten. Admitted Vardalos in an interview, “I basically took every Greek wedding I’ve ever been to, including mine, and one a scale of 1 to 10, I turned it up to an 11,” she said. Before attracting the interest of Tom Hank’s wife, Rita Wilson, Vardalos performed was a frumpy, unattractive girl, Ian did not glance her way twice, but as soon as she turned into a beautiful Greek goddess, he was all over her and willing to jump through hoops for her. It would have been better if Toula didn’t need to change her looks to get a husband, I bet that a bunch of frumpy girls have no problem finding true love. Or maybe it was the fact that Joey Fatone from *Nsync was in the movie. Considering his acting credits consist of ‘On the line’ which starred fellow *Nsyncer and pseudo astronaut Lance Bass, I’d have to say that whenever he was on screen I found the scene annoying and lame. Probably because everyone had an authentic Greek accent while Mr. Fatone seemed to sound like someone from Brooklyn trying to sound Greek. A hint for the future, if you’re going to make an independent box office smash, you might want to forget all members of boy bands for potential roles. All in all, this movie is ok. The funny areas are overshadowed by either annoying or unrealistic parts. I was disappointed in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I would cast this off into the slew of nameless romantic comedy’s that have failed before it. If you don’t see it, no big deal, you won’t miss much. The guy is going to marry the girl at the end of the movie…no big surprise. I’d suggest saving your money and going to see an intelligent movie, or at least one that doesn’t appear be the reincarnate of twenty million films that came before it. Vardalos redefines independent films in one word: success the play in Los Angeles, gaining successful ground in an area of entertainment that normally receives little or no recognition. Once preparation of the movie began, Vardalos was given complete control over every aspect of the film, from the choices of actors, sets, and music to even contributing to the wardrobe decisions. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is truly an independent film. Shot on a mere $3 million dollar budget, the film has grossed ten, twelve, even fourteen times of the costs it took to make the film. With a budget that most top of the line actors receive in a tripled form for their salaries, the film still gained instant success among America’s people, whether they be Greek or not. Utilizing very limited advertising (a couple of afternoon more “Wedding” on page 6
Page 1: Volume 67, Issue 6 Manheim Township
Page 5 and 6: Page 5 EDITORIAL March 3, 2003 LOVE
Page 7 and 8: Buy the second ever Cream Tangerine

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