It's a Three-Peat! Golf Wins Again Ohio's Oldest ... - University School

Volume CXIII Issue III
Stephen Kelly, ‘11
Reporter
US NEWS
University School News • EST. 1898
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Ohio’s Oldest School Newspaper
It’s a Three-Peat! Golf Wins Again
Golf Team Nabs Third Consecutive State Championship Title
The US golf team recently
competed in the OHSAA Division
II state golf
championship
at The Ohio
State University
Scarlet Course.
Their total score
was 427, 20
shots better than
that of runner-
up Chaminade-
Julienne from
Dayton. After
the first day, the
team was lead
by senior Mac
M c L a u g h l i n
and sophomore Scott Smith who both
shot a 78. Junior Jake Heinen shot an 85
on Friday, but had a disappointing back
Joey Glynias, ‘10
Assistant Editor
Golf Team grabs third straight trophy.
Inside this Edition
Politics • 2
Palin Pro & Con
Book Review
Weather
nine. Senior Ben Bold fired a solid 80
and junior Mike Fazio had an 83. The
four lowest rounds gave the team a total
of 319, which was leading the tournament
by 9 shots. On Saturday, the team was
last to tee off along with Chaminade-
Julienne and then third place Chagrin
Features • 3
Cavs Preview
Bailout Bill
Spain Trip
Falls. Coach Dr. William O’Neil had the
team approach the second day as if it were
the second half of a football game. The
pressure of the last day of the tournament
did not affect the
team for the most
part as they held
onto their lead
and four of the
five scores were
in the 70s. The
team improved
their score from
the first day by
shooting a 308
on Saturday.
M c L a u g h l i n
shot 74 and
placed second
behind medalist
Sam Jandel from Chaminade-Julienne.
Scott shot 76 on Saturday and he and
McLaughlin won All-Ohio honors.
Founders’ Sham? How the House Cup is Really Won
Every year University School awards
the House Cup to one of ten houses. This
house did not necessarily win Founders Day
or any of the various other house activities,
such as 3-on-3 basketball and the costume
contest. No one really knows how or why the
house was the victor. In fact, most people do
not even know the large number of factors that
determine the House Cup. Some have heard
that least demerits and the collective GPA of a
house have some effect, but there is a huge list
of other important point producers including
activities like debate, mock trial, the play,
and contests like the Sherman Prize Speaking
Contest and the Political Essay Contest.
Even being a Davey Fellow, having pieces
accepted by the record, winning art prizes,
qualifying for the OHSML, or becoming a
member of Cum Laude earns a house points.
Iinterestingly enough, contribution to the
U.S. News is not a factor. But the single
largest point producer, a part of the House
System that most probably did not know
existed, gathering nearly 44% of the total
house points, is the number
of varsity letters. Pickands
was the winner of the House
Cup almost entirely because
of this skewed category.
There is a problem
in the house system: although
many academic factors are
counted into the system, they
are worth substantially less
than the one all-encompassing
athletic category of varsity
letters. In fact, the points from
all houses’ participation in
Stephen Kelly, ‘11
plays, speech and debate, and mock trial
added together are still substantially less
than just the points Pickands House won
for varsity letters. And because of all these
other factors, actual house competitions
have reduced value, although most consider
them the determining factor in the House
Cup. This system of totaling up points
How much should Founders’ Day count?
Arts & Entertainment • 4
Movie Review
The Future of USN
Champions on the green.
needs revision as it does not give points
correctly where they are due, giving too
much emphasis on the accomplishment of
gaining a varsity letter without taking into
Staff
Editor-in-ChiEf
Vinay Prasad, ‘09
AssistAnt Editor
Joey Glynias, ‘10
nEws
daVid HrVatin, ‘10
sports
CHarlie anderson, ‘09
Heinen and Fazio both shot 79 and Bold
shot an 83. Congratulations to the golf team
as they won their third state championship
in a row and to Dr. O’Neil and Coach
Chris Osolin as they successfully coached
their team to its fourth title in six years.
Andrew Tomich, ‘10
account how hard or easy it is to earn a
letter in specific sports, and placing too
little emphasis on house competitions and
academic activities. Also there needs to be
greater transparency, so the people
who are continuously competing
in this House competition know
what they can earn points for, and
there should be standings published
at least monthly so students know
throughout the year what the
scores actually are. This could be
the responsibility of the prefects
or a different committee specially
appointed for this job, but without
the creation of a more fair system,
the house competition will go on
to be nearly meaningless as no
one even knows how or when they are
gaining points for their house, and there
is no way of knowing how their house is
doing at any given time until it is too late.
EntErtAinmEnt
drew FaCtor, ‘10
stAff writErs
Mike Gaudiani, ‘11
toMMy Goetz, ‘09
alex sPeCtorsky, ‘11
fACulty Advisors
Mr. kleinHeider
Mr. rabel
Stephen Kelly, ‘11

University School News Thursday, October 16, 2008
Decision 2008
Prasan Srinivasan, ‘12
Reporter
In only three weeks the media
circus that is the 2008 presidential
election took a little known first term
governor from Alaska and placed her
on center stage alongside Senator
John McCain as the vice-presidential
candidate for the Republican party.
Governor Sarah Heath Palin of Alaska is
by no means short of accomplishments to
advertise on the campaign trail. She has,
aside from
her term as
governor,
s e r v e d
on the
Wa s i l l a
C i t y
C o u n c i l
( 1 9 9 2 -
1996) and
acted as
the mayor
of Wasilla
( 1 9 9 6 -
2 0 0 3 ) ,
very often
t a k i n g
unpopular
positions
on certain issues in order to do what
she thought was right for the people.
But perhaps most impressively
she has achieved all this as a self
described “hockey mom,” delivering
her last child while still in public office.
For those who are just catching
up on Palin’s story, not only is she the first
female vice-presidential running mate
in the GOP, but she also indisputably
Palin Knows The People 2
Proud mother, Sarah Palin, and her family.
stands in accordance with McCain’s
much publicized “maverick” campaign.
Palin once stated,
“Comprehensive ethics reform is a
priority of mine,” in reference to her
efforts to reduce the effects of lobbying
in Alaska. And true to her statement,
all throughout her career, she has
attached the highest importance to
moral reformation in the government.
Certainly not every public
official is willing to sacrifice personal
beliefs for the sake of constitutionality, but
State of Alaska
Palin does it every day. On one occasion,
although she had experienced great
personal conflict over the issue of samesex
marriage, Palin vetoed bills denying
gay or lesbian couples benefits, deciding
with finality that it was unconstitutional.
That is the kind of person we need in
power, someone in the White House
who is willing to make decisions with
their head rather than their heart, always
Break Me Off a Piece of
James Mersol, ‘10
Reporter
that Candyfreak
I wasn’t quite sure what to think
of Candyfreak
when I began
to read it. This
is probably
because few
authors decide
to write books
on candy, and
when they do,
the books are
h a r d b o u n d
r e f e r e n c e
books dedicated to the evolution of old
candies. Candyfreak is nothing like this.
Candyfreak is the
autobiographical journey of Steve
Almond, a man obsessed with candy.
Most importantly, he is not obsessed with
the traditional candies that we see every
day, but with the obscure candies that are
only sold in one part of America before
inexplicably disappearing. Almond
decides that the best way to investigate this
phenomenon is to travel around the country
and visit some of these candy companies.
Candyfreak may appear
strange in the beginning, but it ends
with undeniable charm and wit. Almond
does not so much narrate his journey as
he does invite the reader to come along
with him and experience the journey for
herself. He reveals his thoughts without
concealing any emotion, and can describe
candy with intimate detail. This is truly
a man who knows
what he loves.
It is difficult
to find anything
wrong with this
book. You could
deduct a star if
you were looking
for something
a little less
offbeat, but other
than that, there
are no obvious flaws.
Final Rating: 5 out of 5
abiding with the basic principles set
down by the people who founded our
country. That person is Sarah Palin.
Palin, moreover, is able to
relate to those she represents. Mother of
five children, one of which has DOWN
syndrome, she is no doubt aware of
the day to day challenges the average
American faces. She brings to the table
not only the views of a Republican
governor of Alaska, but also the views
of a mother, and that of a head of
household in a typical family. Often, as
the mayor of Wasilla, Palin would make
random calls to the residents of her city,
When asked in an early-
August interview with Larry Kudlow
of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” about her
possibility of becoming John McCain’s
running mate, Alaskan Governor Sarah
Palin responded, “As for that VP talk
all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t
answer that question until somebody
answers for me: what is it exactly that
the VP does every day?” Despite her
evident boost to McCain’s popularity
and campaign, Governor Palin’s lack
of political experience, especially with
foreign policy, coupled with her ethical
issues, makes her simply unfit as a vice
presidential candidate. At a time in
history that demands a leader qualified
to battle great domestic and international
Tina Fey (right) and Sarah Palin (left): Separated at birth?
crises, America cannot afford to allow
Sarah Palin to rise to a position of
power that she is incapable of handling.
Sarah Palin’s inexperience
in the domestic arena as well as her
ethical issues are a good reason why
she is incapable of becoming the vice
president. Her domestic inexperience is
best exemplified by her being in office
as governor of Alaska for less than two
years, following two terms as mayor
and simply ask them how the city was
doing, openly taking suggestions and
letting the citizens of Wasilla voice
their complaints in person. Whether she
will place calls to American citizens at
random as the vice-president of the
United States is still unknown. But
it is evident that as a major player
in the political terrain of America,
Palin would continue to support the
people as she did in Wasilla, and not
attempt to advance her own agenda.
That is the kind of
leadership America needs.
Palin Poorly
Prepared for VP
Aakash Mehandru, ‘09
Reporter
of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 6,500
where, according to Ron Fournier of the
Associated Press, “the biggest issue is
controlling growth and the biggest civic
worry is whether there will be enough
snow for the Iditarod dog-mushing race.”
In a time of rising oil prices and a falling
economy, America needs a leader who
has had enough domestic experience
to deal with and solve these issues. In
addition to her inexperience, though,
Governor Palin’s ethical issues during
her years in politics put her in a negative
light. There is an ongoing investigation
of whether or not Palin abused her power
when she allegedly fired a public safety
commissioner just because he refused to
fire an Alaska state trooper who divorced
Palin’s sister. Palin’s combined lack of
domestic experience as well as her past
abuses of power make Palin an unwise
AP, NBC
choice for the vice presidential seat.
Sarah Palin’s inexperience on
the international front is perhaps the
foremost cause for much concern. It is
often jokingly remarked that Palin has
foreign policy experience because her
location in Alaska is geographically
close to Russia. However, even on
a more serious note, it can easily
be seen that Palin’s experience on
international issues is virtually zero.
Weather
Almanac Hunting Valley Five-Day Forecast (10/16 - 10/20)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Averages 60° 39°
Today Tonight Friday Saturday Sunday Monday
Record High
Record Low
Sunrise
Sunset
82° (1947)
31° (1991)
7:40 AM
6:42 PM
Morning Showers. Partly Cloudy. Mostly Cloudy.
Cooler.
Mostly Sunny.
Cold Overnight.
Mostly Sunny.
Slightly Warmer.
Provided By
Chance of Daytime
Showers.
High 57° Low 43° 54° 39° 57° 35° 60° 43° 57° 38°

Thursday, October 16, 2008
University School News
3
Features
Cavs Poised for Mo’ Success
Adam Daroff, ‘10
Reporter
Much of the Cleveland Cavaliers
off-season has been filled with talk by the
media regarding the potential departure of
Cavs star forward LeBron James, who can
opt out of his contract after the 2009-2010
season. Journalists claim he will leave to
gain an even
larger financial
booster from
his largest
endorser, Nike.
However, this
would be two
years away.
Cavs General
M a n a g e r
Danny Ferry
has been in the
team’s front
office since
2005, and since
then, has been
criticized for
the results of
hiseffortstoput
together a strong supporting cast for James.
Many of the team’s supporters have called
for his firing. However, this off-season,
Ferry responded with a few big boosts.
The team’s main goals were to
re-sign two of its most important guards,
Delonte West and Daniel Gibson. This
was successful as both were signed to multiyear
deals. This was essential because both
are good shooters and are under the age of
twenty-six. Ferry’s has been attempting to
successfully reach the team’s second goal
since his hiring. This has been to acquire
a second significant player to accompany
James. His first attempt, Larry Hughes,
went completely wrong, as Hughes was
only with the
Cavs for two
and a half
seasons. Ferry’s
second attempt
occurred on
August 13 of
this year as
he traded two
veteran expiring
contracts in
a three-team
trade to acquire
M i l w a u k e e
Bucks guard
Maurice “Mo”
NBA.com
Mo Williams will be key to Cavs success in 2009.
W i l l i a m s .
Williams is
coming off of
his fifth NBA season, which was also his
best. He averaged over seventeen points
per game along with six assists while
shooting forty-eight percent from the field
and eighty-six percent from the free throw
line. He will be the team’s starting point
guard and will allow James to defer the
¡Vacaciones Españolas!
Greg Jantzen, ‘10
Reporter
This past summer, Señora
Crough and Señor Boka led three
students, juniors Tommy Gordon, Greg
Jantzen, and Chris Heaney, on a trip to
Spain. They left for Madrid on June 12 th ,
and returned on July 5th, a trip of a little
longer than three weeks. The travels
included visits to the Spanish cities of
Madrid, Sevilla, Cádiz, and Ceuta, as
well as Tangier and Tetuan, in Morocco.
The students learned a lot about the local
culture, history, and people, and greatly
improved their Spanish skills. Mr. Obel-
Omia commented on how well the trip
went, calling it, “an unqualified success.”
The trip began at Cleveland
Hopkins International Airport, where
the students and teachers boarded their
flight bound for Madrid. After the long
flight, the group arrived. The next few
days were spent in the capital, seeing
cultural hotspots, including the old
Royal Palace, the Parque del Retiro
(Madrid’s equivalent of Central Park),
the famous Puerta del Sol and Plaza
Mayor, museums including the Reina
Sofia and the Museo del Prado, and
the Metro, Madrid’s subway system.
The students were able to eat authentic
Spanish food, including world-renowned
jamón ibérico (Spanish ham), at several
Spanish restaurants. These few days
went by quickly, but were well spent. By
the end of the stay in Madrid, everyone
had more or less adjusted to the change
in time zones, having traveled almost
a quarter of the way around the world.
From Madrid, the travelers
took a short plane and bus ride to
Cádiz, where they would be spending
most of the next three weeks with
their host families. Everyone agreed
that the stay was incredible. Cádiz, one
of the first settlements in Europe, has a
vibrant history and has been influenced
by several cultures. While there, the
students attended school for a few hours
a day during the week, and afterwards
were able to explore the city, go to the
beaches, hang out with people they met,
and go to school-planned activities. Some
of these activities included soccer, making
paella, a traditional Spanish dish, surfing,
flamenco dancing, going to a museum, and
visiting some great historical spots in the
old part of the city. At the school, they
met students from all over the U.S. and
the world, including California, Florida,
Canada, Ireland, Germany, Australia
and Switzerland, as well as Spain.
On weekends, the group went
on trips to Sevilla, a city in the inland of
Spain, and Morocco. Sevilla, like Cádiz,
has a rich history. Through the sweltering
105 degree heat, they visited the royal
gardens, the Torre de Oro, the Plaza de
España, and the ancient Cathedral, one of
the largest in the world, and also home to
the tomb of Columbus. The travelers also
spent a day in Morocco, and went to the
cities of Tangier and Tetuan after taking a
boat across the Straits of Gibraltar. They
ate Moroccan food, went to an open-air
market, experienced the smells of a tannery,
and bartered for souvenirs with merchants.
After the three weeks were
over, everyone was disappointed to
leave Cádiz along with the people they
met, the weather they enjoyed, and the
delicious Spanish food. The trip was a
great success and anyone who went would
encourage anybody who is interested to
consider going this upcoming summer.
ball to someone else and work without it
to get himself in better position to score.
Ferry was also criticized for
his selection of North Carolina State
forward J.J. Hickson with the team’s first
round pick in the 2008 draft. However,
Hickson played superbly in the NBA’s
summer league and has impressed the
team’s coaches and players in training
camp. He will add youth and athleticism
to the team’s relatively veteran frontcourt.
Ferry also added depth to his guard
and center positions by signing free
agents Tarence Kinsey, a twenty-four
year old guard from the Memphis
Grizzlies and Lorenzen Wright a thirtytwo
year old veteran who played some
with the Sacramento Kings last season.
The key to this season will be the
Jack Grover, ‘10
Reporter
The question of whether or
not to pump $700 billion dollars into
the economy is no small one, and
provokes only more questions. The
matter is vast and complex. In fact, the
only thing everyone agrees on is that
this is a serious enough of a crisis to
require a bailout from the government.
The current crisis can be
blamed on three main factors: severe
increases in the prices of commodities,
generous and foolhardy lending, and
spiraling credit and mortgage crises.
Over the last year, commodity
prices have gone through the roof.
Wheat prices were up over 75% in July
over their previous August prices. The
drastic increase in food staple prices
can be linked not only to bad crops in
the U.S., India, and South America, but
also to luxury capital spent in India,
China, and other developing nations on
meat. An increase in demand for meat
can greatly inflate grain prices due to
the average requirement of roughly 7
pounds of grain to produce one pound
of meat. Also, corn prices, greatly
inflated in the US due to demand for
ethanol, was at its all time high, even
when adjusted for inflation. Farmers
in the United States were replacing
their grain and soybean fields in order
to grow corn, since it offered greater
profit. Also, due to all time high
oil prices, which prompt inflation,
production of the team’s supporting cast.
Everyone knows what LeBron James will
give, as he is arguably the league’s best
player, even at the age of twenty-three. The
addition of Williams should be enough to
get them deep into the playoffs. The team
now has the ability to play smaller, more
athletic lineups and still be effective. If
team continues to buy into the defensefirst
mindset of head coach Mike Brown,
it’s hard to see the Cavs being anything
less than an enormous threat in the East.
Regular Season Predictions:
Record: 54-28
Central Division: First Place
Eastern Conference: Second Place
Bailout Not Enough
investors flocked to gold bullion funds
and trusts due to the relative “inflation
protection” that the metal offers.
Historically, gold has been looked to
as a stable support beam in times of
economic and political uncertainty.
Overzealous lending in the past
six years and recent realizations that a
borrower making $100,000 dollars a
year will not be able to sustain a ten year
one million dollar loan have popped
the lending bubble. Loans of any type
are now hard to get. Massive banks are
now failing due to the lack of capital
liquidity and defaulting mortgages. Bear
Stearns, the investment bank, failed in
several days due to lack of capital flow.
National City bank has been teetering
on the edge of bankruptcy for months.
Last year at this time, the company was
trading for $25.00 a share. It closed on
September 30 th at just $1.36 a share.
The mortgage crisis was filled
President Bush signs the $700 billion bailout bill into law on October 3rd.
AP
with failing banks, millions of vacant
homes, and over a million unpayable
loans and mortgages. But what is it
about this crisis that would make a bank
fail? The banks, such as National City
Corporation, have to evict and process
the borrowers, sell the borrowers’
goods, pay the house’s unpaid taxes,
and deal with a host of other costs. The
carrying costs of a home are enormous.
Then, when a bank is forced to pay these
carrying costs for a vacant home, and
it is unable to sell the home, the bank
fails due to high costs and no profit.

University School News Thursday, October 16, 2008
Arts & Entertainment 4
Drew Factor, ‘10
Arts Editor
The new movie Flash of Genius
starringGregKinnearisoneofthoserun-ofthe-mill,
based-on-a-true-story plodders.
It starts out uplifting and promising, then
delves into a boring, clichéd second act,
and concludes with a great triumph at
the end. The conclusion comes complete
with soaring
music as people
smile and hug.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y,
this formula is
tried and true,
and Flash does
absolutely nothing
to reinvent or
subvert the format.
However, it does
have something
that catches the
eye: a fantastic
performance by
Greg Kinnear. He
has a tough and
expansive role,
spanning over
a p p r o x i m a t e l y
Kinnear gets his due.
eighteen years. It can often be difficult
to play a real person over a long span of
time, but when it’s done well (witness
last year’s Best Actress Oscar winner,
Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose) it can
also be brilliant. Although Kinnear isn’t
quite as good as many other biopic stars,
he is certainly successful in this film,
convincingly playing a wide spectrum
University School News
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Hunting Valley, Ohio 44022
Genius: Not So Flashy
of emotions from elation to extreme
depression,. He propels the film, which
is nothing special, into something better.
The plot centers around Robert
Kearns (Kinnear), who invents what he
calls “The Blinking-Eye Wipers” (or what
we know today as intermittent windshield
Universal Studios
wipers). He markets the invention to Ford,
they say yes, take the invention for tests,
and then tell him that the deal won’t work
out. Then, inexplicably, Kearns’ wipers
end up on Ford’s cars anyway, without
any recognition of his part in creating
them. This is where the movie sort of
takes a dive, devoting the next hour to
his downward spiral and legal woes. It
gets repetitive, and a section about half
the length would have kept viewers more
interested. After going along at snail’s
pace for a while, it suddenly picks up
when Kearns’s case finally goes to trial.
The film does have a few genuine
moments, many of which are supplied
by the dependable Lauren Graham as
Kearns’ wife, Phyllis. There is also a
good message about truth and justice.
The film tends to push the message
too hard, however, and it often comes
off hokey. Despite the serious pacing
issues, when it gets to the predictably
feel-good ending, you can’t help but feel
exhilarated when the good guy comes out
on top. All in all, Kinear does a great job
of anchoring an otherwise mediocre film.
Our Digital Transition
David Hrvatin, ‘10
News Editor
The new University School website
is a tremendous resource that is
revolutionizingthewaytheUScommunity
communicates. We are currently working
on a page for the US News, which will
become our new online “home.” For
now you can find issues of the US News
on the school portal under HV links.
Two US publications, the Valley Voice
and the Shaker Campus Newsletter, are
becoming Internet-only publications
and will no longer be delivered to the
mailboxes of US families. Do I think this
will be the fate of the US News? Not in
the next few years, our current plan is to
increase our online presence while still
publishing a newspaper. One of the great
things about our product is that it is made
entirely by students. As long as there is
interest from the student body to take the
time to create a newspaper versus instantly
publishing something to the Internet, then
you can expect to receive a copy of the
University School News in your mailbox.
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Cleveland, Ohio
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