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R
ank
& F ile
Monday, May 2, 2005
George C. Marshall High School
7731 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043 Volume 42, Issue 10
What’s Inside?
– R&F guide to prom:
– Spring concert guide:
Choir program sings
its way to excellence
in Myrtle Beach
Dress code
reinforced by
administration
by emilie raymer
by erin paguio
T
4
6-7
9
– Students graduating early:
he three Marshall choirs enjoyed an overall successful trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, with the Chamber Singers placing ﬁrst with an Excellent rating, the Concert Choir
placing second with a Good rating and with Women’s Chorus in third place with an Excellent rating.
“The trip was very successful,” choir teacher Mary Ann
East said. “The students represented Marshall really well.”
Marshall went without several members of the ChamJessica Chambers
ber Singers on the trip.
Members of the choir rehearse for their next concert.
“We were just trying to do the best that we could,” juformance and the choir members were able to enjoy a lot of
nior Eddie Seixas, who performs with the Chamber Singers,
said. “We did well, [but] I believe we could’ve done better. I free time during the four-day trip.
“It was a lot of fun because this year we had a lot more
believe if we had everyone there, we could’ve ranked higher.”
“There’s always room for improvement,” chamber singer free time than we usually do,” senior Katie Bynaker, who is a
junior Ashley Coatsworth said. “It was nice to have that time to member of the Women’s Chorus, said. “Ms. East usually plans
be able to perform and learn what we needed to work on some a lot of stuff for us to do as a group, but this year it was kind of
more. Our number one goal was to get a one, a Superior. But an laid back, like a vacation. You kind of got to do whatever you
wanted.”
Excellent is still excellent.”
Concert Choir member junior Lamont Womack added that
Like the Chamber Singers, the Concert Choir had to perhe enjoyed meeting “a lot of new people” from other schools.
form with several people missing.
Aside from the free time, the choirs went through a clinic
“We had only two altos,” junior Emma Wise said, “[but]
I guess I was happy that we did that well considering most during which one of the judges worked with them, post-perforof the people singing the music didn’t even know it until that mance.
“All the judges said we needed to put more effort into the
week. ‘Good’ is only two away from the highest, so there’s a
downside. I thought we’d get higher than we did, [but] overall songs,” Wise said. “We have to focus on changing how we sing
depending on the song. I think we’ll do better next year.”
I’m proud of us.”
With the aid of clinic in addition to the overall perforWomen’s Chorus member senior Amanda Tygrett put the
mance, regular class and hard work, the choirs hope to outperplacements and ratings into perspective.
“It’s more about the rating than first or second place,” form themselves next year.
“I hope that we improve,” Coatsworth said. “Nobody wants
Tygrett said, “because when it comes to the placement, you
can get beat out by a point. We got third which is kind of to take a step back. If we just work hard next year, I think we’ll
disappointing but, for the Excellent rating, I was pleased with be able to get Superiors.”
“I think that there’s a lot of underclassmen who are strong
it. An Excellent rating is good to get, as long as we get a
singers and performers and Ms. East is a really good teacher,”
medal.”
The trip to Myrtle Beach involved a lot more than the per- Bynaker said. “I think we can only get better.”
A
s the weather becomes warmer, administrators and faculty are increasingly
cracking down on dress code violations.
At the last faculty meeting, teachers
were asked to review the dress code and enforce it in their classrooms and in the hallways.
“What we’re trying to get is a shared
understanding of this thing the school board
makes us do,” assistant principal Denny Berry said. “We’re trying not to disrupt the learning process through distracting clothing.”
According to the Students Rights and
Responsibilities handbook, students are not
allowed to wear shirts displaying inappropriate images or words. Bandanas and hats
are banned, and clothing that shows cleavage, underwear, or midriff is not allowed.
Some students feel that the administration is purposely focusing on some students
but not on others.
Sophomore Rachel Brummett is frustrated that teachers comment on her clothes
because, as a tall person, it is harder for her
to ﬁnd clothes that conform to the dress
code.
“Just because I have long legs doesn’t
mean my shorts are any shorter,” Brummett
said.
Berry, however, says that the administrators try to be fair to all students when
enforcing the dress code regulations.
“It’s on a case-by-case basis,” Berry
said. “We try very hard not to embarrass a
student. “For example, if I see a girl wearing
an inappropriate shirt, I’ll tell her ﬁrst that
I think it’s inappropriate, and then say, ‘Do
you have shirt or sweater you can put on?’.
That happens 95 percent of the time.”
Healthier snacks promoted on campus School recognizes volunteers’ efforts
by erin paguio and emilie raymer
I
n an effort to combat the increasing juvenile obesity rate, Marshall is participating in a county-wide effort to promote
healthier diets.
Stickers have been added to certain vending machine foods to point out
healthier options, such as baked and low
fat chips.
“Vending machines contribute to increasing obesity in the United States,”
health and physical education teacher Noel
Klippenstein said. “High-fat and high-sugar foods tend to sell better.”
Machines with product labels on the
front, like Coca-Cola or Gatorade, give the
school 50 percent of the money made from
the machines. Last year, Marshall made
$16,000 from vending machines, which “is
minimal compared to what a lot of schools
get,” Cher Grimes, the central kitchen
manager said. “Westﬁeld made a reported
$40,000. The school uses the money to
sponsor a lot of things. The money goes toward the athletic department and things like
uniforms. It’s a good way for the school to
make money without any real effort.”
Klippenstein believes that having
healthy students is more important than
making proﬁts from the machines.
“Healthy kids anywhere, especially at
Marshall, is more important than [teens]
being unhappy with themselves,” Klippenstein said.
Langley and Woodson High Schools
are doing pilot studies with healthy vending machines to see how students react to
them. They are offering foods such as yogurt, tuna ﬁsh, milk shakes with soy milk,
fruit snacks and cereal bars.
“The kids are responding very well to
it; they really like it,” Langley food service
manager Dicky James said. “The kids, when
they come up, they’re very receptive to it.”
At Woodson, however, the new vending
machines haven’t been as well received.
“The [healthy vending machines]
aren’t selling quite as well as our other
ones,” Woodson food service manager Susan Owens said.
Grimes, however, believes that in high
school, students should be able to make
their own decisions about food.
“I think that high school students can
make their own decisions, but there should
still be healthier options available,” Grimes
said. “The stuff I’m putting in there vending
machines, I don’t give to my kids at home.”
Some students say that if there were
healthier options in the vending machines
at Marshall, they would buy them; however, other students feel that the current vending machines are sufﬁcient.
Junior Robin Escobar is frustrated with
the lack of snack choices in the school.
“In between classes you want to get
something to eat, but all there is is chips,”
Escobar said. “I’d rather have the healthy
ones.”
Jessica Chambers
Principal Leslie Butz, standing, addresses school volunteers at an appreciation breakfast on Wednesday. Seated to Butz’s right are Samar Jouejati and Edward Mickolus.
2
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
?”
?
PHOTO POLL
“
What is the cheesiest way to
ask someone to prom?
“If you write on your
chest: ‘Will you go
to prom with me?’
while wearing a pink
speedo.”
– Chris Dawson,
freshman
“Running around the
school in your underwear and yelling ‘Will
you go to prom with
me?’”
– Craig Murphy,
freshman
“Have your mom call her mom.”
– Deborah Bufﬁngton, geosystems teacher
“Wassup girl, you wanna boogey
with the pimp?”
– Hasan Al-Shingieti, senior
“Get on the announcements and
sing a song asking someone to
prom.”
– Sravya Yeleswarapu, junior
“Do you have a map because I got
lost in your eyes.”
– Shannon McVey, sophomore
Compiled by Ramy Abdel-Nabi and Jessica Chambers
Rank & File
Op/Ed
Sports on Op/Ed: NFL draft rundown
by alexander aivazis
L
et’s take a look back at the 2005 NFL
Draft, a draft that, although it didn’t include too many superstars, was deep. Here
area couple of notable selections I’d like to
comment on:
QB Alex Smith, San Francisco 49er’s
(ﬁrst overall): After Matt Leinhart decided
not to come out for the draft this year, it was
clear that Smith and Cal QB Aaron Rodgers would battle it out to win the top spot
in the draft. Smith won the 49er’s hearts
in the end with his poise
and overall demeanor. You
can’t complain about this
pick and obviously next year
Leinhart will occupy this spot
after he graduates from Southern
Cal.
RB Ronnie Brown, Miami Dolphins (second overall): Brown split
carries with RB Carnell “Cadillac”
Williams at Auburn last year. NFL
scouts determined that because of
his size Brown was the back better
suited for the NFL. This pick provides Miami with an outstanding runner after their
previous back, Ricky Williams, decided to
retire from the NFL and give up millions of
dollars to smoke ganja (which he’s admitted to) in a tent in the Australian Outback.
WR Braylon Edwards, Cleveland
Browns (third overall): This team is no
good, so they needed anything they could
get. Edwards was the player with the greatest overall skills and playmaking ability in
the draft and he will greatly help a depleted
receiving corps. Prediction: The Browns
will trade Edwards in a few years not because he’s causes problems or is playing
bad, just because he’ll want out because
they suck.
These next few picks are boring, so
let’s skip them. Moving on to the seventh overall pick we have my main man:
WR Troy Williamson, Minnesota Vikings
(seventh overall): The South Carolina
Gamecocks leading receiver last year, Williamson is a very fast man, to put it mildly.
Some people will forever criticize the Vikings for taking Williamson ahead of WR
Mike Williams, but I agree with the choice
partly because I think Williamson has great
upside – and also partly because South
Carolina rocks.
Moving on to the ninth overall pick, we
have the Washington Redskins, a franchise
that is so lost its not even funny anymore.
Highest payroll in the NFL, they resurrect
the supposed legendary Joe Gibbs from
NASCAR and yet they having nothing to
show for it. They’re a laughing stock. The
laughing continued with Washington’s 9th
overall pick on Saturday.
CB Carlos Rogers, Washington Redskins (ninth overall): You’ve got to
be kidding me: Gibbs, in a moment
of brilliance, decides that drafting
a corner is more important
than taking an WR whose
insane playmaking abilities are desperately needed
for that pathetic offense.
So hang on, Redskins fans,
because the story’s going to
be the same in Washington
this year. We’ve got a great
defense but we don’t know how to put the
ball in the endzone! Joe continued his ﬂash
of brilliance by drafting Auburn QB Jason
Campbell with the 25th overall pick. Nice
pick, Joe, but I thought you guys already
had a QB, Patty Ramsey. He was a ﬁrst
round pick, too, but I guess you guys have
ﬁnally ﬁgured out he’s no good, so you took
Campbell. That’s cute that the Redskins
drafted two guys from Auburn in the hopes
that two guys from the same team would
“bond” well together. Good idea, Joe, except they play on different sides of the ball
so it doesn’t mean anything. Joe, here’s an
idea: if you’ve ﬁnally realized that Patty is
horrible, maybe you should have drafted
Rodgers ninth overall, who only fell to the
24th overall pick because none of the other teams needed quarterback’s, instead of
Carlos and then drafted CB Marlin Jackson
with your 25th overall pick. Or you could
have drafted Virginia TE Heath Miller to
replace the tight end you don’t have.
Anyway, now that we’ve conﬁrmed
how absolutely horrible the Redskins are,
I’m out.
7731 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043
Lauren Knight
Sports Editor
Alexander Aivazis
Managing Editors
Chris Brimsek
Lauren Knight
Features Editor
Photo Editor
Jessica Chambers
Business Manager
Stephanie Sanata
Centerspread Editor
Front Page Editor
Chris Brimsek
Entertainment Editors
Editor-in-Chief
Kevin Gold
Op/Ed Editor
Ramy Abdel-Nabi
T
he purpose of Rank &
File is to serve as a public
forum for students of George
C. Marshall High School. The
unsigned staff editorials reﬂect
the opinions of the Editorial
Board, which consists of two
Managing Editors and the
Editor-in-Chief. Columns are
the opinions of the writers and
do not necessarily reﬂect the
newspaper as a whole. Letters
to the editor are welcome and
should be sent to room 228.
Letters should be signed for
author veriﬁcation and names
will only be withheld under
News Editor
Emilie Raymer
Caitlin Baker
Carianne King
Drew Taylor
special circumstances, pending
the approval of the editors. Letters
from individuals that do not attend
the school will be published at the
discretion of the Editorial Board.
Rank & File does not accept
letters that are libelous, obscene or
disruptive to the learning process.
Rank & File reserves the right to
edit any letter for length or style,
or to eliminate any inappropriate
statements. Organizations that
wish to advertise in Rank & File
can call our ofﬁce at (703) 7145657 or e-mail advertising@rankn-ﬁle.com.
Rank & File is designed
Staff Writers
Samantha Houtz
Ean Nelson
Erin Paguio
Sarah Proctor
Kelly Ream
Advisor
Eston Melton
R&
F
on Dell computers running
Adobe InDesign CS and Adobe
Photoshop CS. It is printed by
Silver Communications. Rank &
File has a circulation of 1,700.
CORRECTIONS:
In the 4/11 issue of Rank & File, Angela Asta and Angela Wu were misidentiﬁed as
juniors. They are both sophomores.
News
NEWS
STATESMAN BRIEFS
Junior focus day
held for college prep
J
unior focus day was held April 20 to
prepare juniors for the college admission and selection process. Juniors selected three of the eight available information
sessions to attend, with topics including
essay writing, ﬁnancial aid, military options, two-year college admissions, careers with the federal government and
Fairfax County Public Schools apprenticeships. Additionally, juniors had the
opportunity for discussion with a panel of
current Marshall seniors and admission
ofﬁcers from Christopher Newport University, George Washington University,
the University of Virginia, Radford University and Virginia Tech.
– caitlin baker
HOA classes take
trip to Gettysburg
O
ver 70 of Marshall’s International
Baccalaureate History of the Americas (HOA) students traveled to Gettysburg,
PA, on April 19, to tour the battleﬁeld and
visit the park’s memorials.
Encompassing nearly 6,000 acres, the
Gettysburg National Military Park includes
over 1,400 memorials and monuments
documenting the Civil War battle.
“Gettysburg is a key turning point in
the war,” history teacher James Robinson
said. “It’s hard for kids to visualize [the
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
battle] in class. The trip let [our students]
walk where the soldiers walked; it’s as visual as you can get.”
“While we got to see the big picture in
class, visiting Gettysburg really helped us
put everything together,” junior Sravya Yeleswarapu said. “The tour of the battleﬁeld
was informative; it’s a different experience
learning history from the place where it
happened.”
The Gettysburg ﬁeld trip has become a
yearly tradition for Robinson and his HOA
students.
“The ﬁeld trip in the spring is a nice
reward for HOA kids,” Robinson said.
“Every tour guide is different and they all
have different stories to tell. You don’t get
the same tour each time [you go].”
– ramy abdel-nabi
GSA Day of Silence
raises awareness
T
hrough the efforts of the Gay-Straight
Alliance Club (GSA), over 160 Marshall students participated in this year’s
Day of Silence held on Thursday, April
13.
According to its ofﬁcial website, the
Day of Silence was created by the Gay,
Lesbian and Straight Education network
and the United States Student Association
as a “student-led day of action where those
who support making anti-LGBT [Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow
of silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment – in effect, the
silencing – experienced by LGBT students
and their allies.”
This year, over 450,000 students in approximently 4,000 middle and high schools
nationwide and in Puerto Rico participated
in the event.
The Marshall GSA club acknowledged
the Day by handing out rainbow stickers
and ribbons and by providing those taking the vow of silence with small cards
explaining their vow. Though it was only
Marshall’s second year participating in the
Day, club members feel that the student
turnout have been better.
“It was really unorganized,” club treasurer Audrey Ford said. “Communication
was a problem. Things weren’t being put
on the announcements early enough.”
Despite this, club sponsor Debra Crerie remains optimistic.
“I’m very happy with the [student]
participation and the response by teachers
and the administration,” Crerie said. “It
does my heart good. Often students at this
school live in an isolated world; any time
you can put yourself in someone else’s position you’re making a civic statement.”
– ramy abdel-nabi
Projects place at
Regional Science Fair
O
f the 13 Marshall student projects sent
to the Regional Science Fair at Robinson High School April 1-3, three were
place winners. Over 450 projects from 28
Fairfax County high schools entered the
fair.
Juniors Valerie Menke and Catherine
Nguyen placed second in the ﬁeld of botany with their project titled “Vitamin C in
3
citrus fruits.” Also in the ﬁeld of botany,
juniors Emilie Raymer and Varin Zimmerman placed second for their project
titled, “Hydroponics Present: Magnesium
Mystery.” (Emilie Raymer is a Rank &
File features editor.) In addition, juniors
Tenzin Choden and Howard O placed
third in the medicine and health ﬁeld for
their project, “The effect of second hand
smoke on Tenebrio Moltar.”
“I’m very proud of those projects,”
science department chair Mark Fredenburg said. “We had a good showing this
year.”
– chris brimsek
Sadie Hawkins dance
held by class of ’07
T
he sophomore class will sponsor a
Sadie Hawkins dance the evening
of Friday, May 13, to raise money for
their class. Girls invite boys to a Sadie
Hawkins dance, rather than the traditional
other way around. The dance will be held
from 8 to 11 p.m.
“This dance [is] to raise money for
next year’s prom, which will be amazing,” sophomore class ofﬁcer Dema AlKakhan said.
The dance previously had been scheduled for last Friday but, due to low ticket
sales, was moved to next weekend.
“I saw that a lot of high schools
were having Sadie Hawkins dances and
I thought it would be fun if Marshall
did one,” sophomore president Josh Lee
said.
– sarah proctor
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4
Features
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
RANK
Students to graduate
from high school early
PROFILE F
AND
Jessica Chambers
NOEL KLIPPENSTEIN
by stephanie sanata
N
oel Klippenstein has been an athlete
throughout her life. As an adult, she
advocates both the importance of physical
education through her teaching and teamwork through her coaching.
Growing up on a small farm in
Maysville, MO, Klippenstein quickly realized the importance of successful athletes.
“It made me realize how small schools
and small towns revolve around sports and
how the community can feel effected by a
successful sports team,” Klippenstein, who
is also the physical education department
chair, said.
By her senior year, Klippenstein had
lettered in ﬁve varsity sports: golf, basketball, track, volleyball and ﬁeld hockey.
She was the only tri-athlete in her school
to pull off district championships in golf,
basketball and track.
“My sophomore year, we played in the
state tournament [for basketball] and that
experience gave me a really good view of
how team chemistry can overcome obstacles because our team was talented, but we
were defeating teams more talented than us
due to team chemistry.”
Playing in a state tournament herself
gave Klippenstein an experience that she
will not soon forget and hopes to bring to
her basketball team at Marshall.
“It gave me a love for the game that I
still have today,” Klippenstein said.
The girls basketball team’s 18-7 overall record this year underscores Klippenstein’s abilities as a coach.
“She’s really dedicated to the program
and cares a lot about the players,” senior
Kristina Allbee said.
Klippenstein also feels that being a
teacher assists her in becoming a better
coach. “Teaching helps coaching because
teaching involved students of different
personalities and with coaching I have a
chance to weave each personality into a
collective team,” she said.
This is Klippenstein’s third year at
Marshall.
“When I used to teach at other schools,
all the kids were the same and it wasn’t
very diverse,” Klippenstein said. “When I
came to Fairfax County, I was glad to see
the diversity represented at Marshall.”
Klippenstein attributes her success as
a teacher and coach to a great faculty and
energetic student body.
“The PE department has been an
amazing staff to work with and has moved
PE forward to make it more modern and
exciting for the students,” Klippenstein
said. “Also, the student body at Marshall
this year has a good sense of humor, takes
risks and has made my job fun.”
by kelly ream
or most students, ﬁtting a high school experience into
four years is difﬁcult enough. However, juniors Aniruddha Krishna and Lauren Fischer are ﬁnding ways to squeeze
it into just three years.
Krishna decided as a freshman last year that he wanted
to graduate a year early from high school. He met with
guidance counselor Tanya Shuford and International Baccalaureate coordinator Connie Wineland to make the arrangements necessary to meet the requirements for the
standard and IB diplomas.
“I wanted to get a head start on college,” Krishna
said.
In order to meet diploma requirements, Krishna takes
both English 10 and government online.
“[Krishna] seems to be handling it fine,” Shuford said.
“He is taking it in stride and very humble.”
Even with extra courses added to his regular class
schedule, Krishna still has time for extracurricular activities. Outside of school, he is involved in clubs, plays lacrosse and is in a jazz band.
Despite these activities and his heavy workload, Krishna is managing well.
“I have a lot of free time,” Krishna said.
Junior Lauren Fischer plans to take class at George Mason University next year as part of a high school guest matriculate program. She will take only the classes she needs to
graduate and will receive high school and college credit. After hearing about this program from a friend, Fischer talked
to her counselor and applied online.
“I was bored with high school and ready to move on and
meet knew people,” Fischer said. “I think I will have a better
time in college.”
After receiving the credits she needs next year, Fischer
will apply to a college of her choice.
Students choose to graduate in three years for a variety
of reasons. Some are only in the United States for a limited
time and want to complete their high school education prior
to returning home. Others simply feel prepared for the load
of college and are eager to get there.
“Some students are emotionally ready to move on from
the structure of high school,” Shuford said.
Krishna does not believe graduating in three years affects his high school experience.
Jessica Chambers
Junior Aniruddha Krishna works on an IB Physics I project. He
skipped a grade, and was a freshman last year, but is now a junior.
“I still hang out with the same people I did last year,
but I met some new friends this year, too. I don’t notice that
much.”
Fischer also is not concerned about missing out on the
normal senior year.
“People make senior year out to be a bigger deal than it
is,” Fischer said. “I consider now, really, my senior year.”
The minimum requirements for an advanced diploma
are 24 credits. Most students take seven credits each year
over four years. Those students who intend to graduate early
must decide to do so early in their high school experience
and plan ahead.
“Don’t decide to do it on a whim,” Shuford said. “Have
a plan and really good reasons for graduating early.”
Graduating high school in three years is clearly not for
everyone.
“[Graduating early] is not something I encourage,” said
Shuford. “It is possible only if you have the maturity level
necessary and are focused on a goal.”
“If you’re interested academically, it’s good,” Krishna said.
“It only helps if you’re really trying to get ahead.”
Students gain buisness experience at co-op
by stephanie sanata
F
or senior Raj Kumar, Monday through
Friday includes more than just schoolwork. Kumar is one of many students who
participate in co-op, a schedule that allows
him to receive school credit for a job.
Students in co-op have decided to
work for various reasons.
“I knew I wanted to work throughout the year and I didn’t need many more
credits, so my schedule was more ﬂexible
to allow me to work,” Kumar said.
“It’s useful for school and getting into
college,” senior Eric Goodnight said.
In order to get school credit for co-op,
students must be enrolled in a business or
marketing class.
“How I handle each situation has a lot
to do with the business world, so it’s important to have a business background,”
junior Brian Cheng said.
About once a quarter, students in coop are assessed on their work ethic.
“[My evaluator] looks for how well I
handle certain situations and my knowledge, understanding and ﬂuency when
dealing with customers,” Cheng, who
works at his family’s Thai food restaurant,
said. “She also asks my employer how
well I am doing.”
The number of hours a student works
determines the amount of school credit he
or she receives. Students who work for
200 total hours receive one credit; students who work 400 total hours receive
two credits.
“It has helped me know how to work
hard,” senior Ben Fletcher said.
Some students who are involved in co-
op get to leave school early to go work.
“I decided to do co-op so that I would
get to go home before sports and have
time to myself before work,” said Fletcher, who has worked at Neilson’s Frozen
Custard for two years.
Most students feel they are able to
manage their time between work and
school efﬁciently; however, extra curricular activities can get in the way.
“Having work and school isn’t very
challenging but, when you throw in a
sport, it gets tough,” Goodnight said.
Participating in co-op has made some
students feel more prepared for life after high school by allowing them to save
money for college.
“It helps me prepare for college because it makes you manage your time,”
Goodnight said.
“It’s taught me a lot about time management,” Kumar said. “Having a job,
schoolwork and making time for friends
has allowed me to set limits on what I can
and cannot do and still give myself time to
sleep at night.”
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Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
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Rank & File
May 2, 2005
Capital Grille offers affordability,
variety, comfortable atmosphere
by alexander aivazis
W
hen it comes to an experience that will truly
make your prom night memorable, there is no
substitute for The Capital Grille. Located in the heart
of Tysons Corner, The Capital Grille provides patrons
with outstanding food and service, and an atmosphere
well-suited for prom night.
The English boardroom atmosphere hits patrons as
they enter the door. As you are led to your table, you
are greeted by cases filled with steaks being aged to
perfection – it’s just a hint of what is to come. The
dining area walls are covered with wonderful paintings
depicting famous naval battles and historic figures
from Western nations, providing a nice contrast that
brightens the rather dark dining room.
There is no need to worry about service at this restaurant, as the servers here naturally carry themselves
in the professional manner deserving of such a highcaliber dining experience.
The cuisine is obviously the main draw to this
steakhouse, and the steaks are exquisite. Start off your
meal with a cup or bowl of split pea soup. Don’t worry
– this isn’t some horrible thing your grandmother used
to shove down your throat. This is what soup is supposed to taste like: thick and rich with flavor.
For those not wanting to get too filled up before
the big night, “the wedge” is the order of the day.
Iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, chunks of blue cheese and
smoked bacon adorn this appetizer or meal for those
who like the soup and salad deal. Nonetheless, I would
seriously encourage patrons to eat up.
For someone looking for the best cut of meat, I
recommend the filet mignon, which is the restaurant’s
flagship cut. I would also suggest that patrons ask for
their steak to be cooked medium, as aged steaks are
naturally somewhat dry.
The seafood here is no slouch, either, and I recommend the grilled swordfish jardiniere. It’s a swordfish
steak cooked to such a degree of perfection, it actually
melts in your mouth. The highlight of this entrée is
that the swordfish is covered in a wonderful lemon butter sauce that eliminates any “fishiness” patrons might
be worried about.
Sides are of course a necessity and are ordered separately. A baked potato or an order of mashed potatoes
would be wonderfully suited for a steak. The creamed
spinach is also a nice choice for someone looking to
get their greens in into this meal. Beware though: these
sides are not truly designed for one person. I would go
with one side for two or three people, depending on
how much you feel you can consume.
Wait – where are you running off to? You’re missing the best part of the whole meal: dessert! Remember
to save room for dessert because this is the best part. If
you’re a cheesecake man like me, you’ve come to the
right place because I have never had a finer cheesecake than this. “Garnished” with fresh strawberries
and an outstanding strawberry sauce, this is the signature dessert on a menu that lists winner after winner.
For someone looking for something lighter, an order
of fresh berries in vanilla cream is a good choice. A
more filling desert would be the classic crème brulee,
a wonderful custard desert covered with a caramelized
sugar crust.
The whole meal is a great value, as well. Entrees
can usually be found in the $25 to $30 range and sides
and desserts are about $5 to $10 apiece.
Although I eat here a few times a year, I’ve never
attempted dancing afterward, so I can’t give you any
advice on dealing with that. I will, however, tell you
that if you’re looking for the complete dining experience, The Capital Grille is the place to dine.
Selection of prom night limousines,
party buses a priority for students
F
&
R
P
PROMGuide
rom is next month, and while ﬁnding a date is what’s on everyone’s mind, most
girls know the truth: it’s not who you’re with, it’s what you wear.
Tysons I and II, Fair Oaks, Georgetown and other popular shopping spots in the
area will soon be more crowded than Christmas, with all the teenage girls looking for
the perfect dress (and guys looking for the perfect tux, of course).
So if you need a head-start on this year’s trends, as well as where to ﬁnd them
(and for what price), you’ve come to the right place.
Girls
Metallic- for
the truly
trendy, this
satin style
can be found
almost anywhere right
now. pair with
metallic jewelery and shoes.
neimanmarcus.com
$- Rampage (rampage.com), Hechts
(hechts.com)
$$- Nordstrom (nordstrom.com), Lord &
Taylor (lordandtaylor.com), Jessica
McClintock (jessicamcclinktock.
com)
$$$- Neiman Marcus (neimanmarcus.
com), Betsey Johnson (betseyjohnson.com), Cache (cache.com)
kind of dress
is made for
the girly-girl,
and is also
readily available. Wear
it with your
pearls.
A
om
lie.c
lora
Looking to
stand out from
the crowd?
Prints are perfect for a wild
child. If you
opt for a print,
it’s best to keep
your shoes and
accessories neutral.
nordstrom.com
www.lasvegas.travelnice.com
The interior of a party bus can hold between 20 and 40 people,
and features include sound systems, TVs and refrigerators.
While limos remain popular, party buses and
hummerzines are booking up fast, despite their steep
costs. Rates for both vehicles range from about $85
per person for a simple hummerzine or party bus, to
about $185 per person for the large 40-person party
bus model. Many companies, however, offer special
prom packages which give a discount to large student groups during the spring prom season.
W
ith prom just around the corner, there are a few things
you guys need to keep in mind while out with your
date. First, you want to make sure you don’t smell like you
just came back from milking a bunch of goats. Second, you
want to make sure you look nice, which is a simple task to
complete as long as you don’t show up wearing your favorite
jockstrap. Third, don’t bring your mother. But what could be
most important is that you take your date to a nice restaurant,
and the Palm, located in Tysons Corner next to the Ritz Carlton, is as nice as you can get.
The Palm is known for being an old fashioned steak
house, fully equipped with the ﬁnest cuts and all the ﬁxings.
The Tysons area was once dominated in the steak house industry by another popular chain, Morton’s, but since the Palm
opened in the area in November 1999, it has quickly grown
to be the place to be among Northern Virginia’s ﬁnest.
The prices are a bit steep for the average high school
senior because, while at the Palm, you aren’t just paying for
the food: you’re paying for the whole experience. One of the
Palm’s most notable attractions is the hundreds of caricatures
of celebrities, both local faces and people you’ve never even
heard of, drawn all over the walls. Next to caricatures could
be an old newspaper or magazine article about the original
Palm in New York City or a cartoon that dates as far back as
the 1920s.
The Palm has the usual steaks and chops that you’d ﬁnd
at most steakhouses such as ﬁlet mignons, New York strips,
rib-eyes and prime ribs, but something that you can’t ﬁnd
anywhere else is their very own “Steak A La Stone.” This
signature dish is a piece of steak that was cut up and cooked
to your liking laying over a bed of red and yellow peppers.
If meat doesn’t tickle your fancy, you could always order
another signature dish, a three-pound lobster straight from
Nova Scotia. If you are pressed between meat and lobster, get
both, as the surf and turf can be shared between two people.
Dinner at the Palm is the perfect addition to the perfect
prom experience.
BELOW: The caricatures that adorn the walls of The Palm Restaurant depict both local and national celebrities, as well as
restaurant regulars. The tradition of drawing caricatures on the walls began at the ﬁrst Palm restaurant in New York City
in the 1920s, where cartoonists from the nearby newspaper would draw a caricature in exchange for a free meal.
kind of dress will make you
feel like Cinderella. Jessica
McClintock has
many modern
variations of
this style. Tiara
optional.
Prints- Are you
After Hours Formalwear (afterhoursprom.
com, Tysons I),
Savvi Formalwear
(Tysons II), and
Masters Tuxedo
(masterstuxedo.
com) have tuxedos available to
rent or purchase.
Prices to rent start
at $50.
by kevin gold
Princess- A classic style, this
neimanmarcus.com
Where to Shop
Unique decor, original entrees make
The Palm worth the expensive prices
Price Guide:
$ = under $100
$$ = $100-250
$$$ = $250 and up
Ombre- This
by sammi houtz
s most upperclassmen can tell you, half the fun
of prom lies in the details. From fancy dinners to expensive dresses, big money is being spent
to make every minute of the night count. So, with
shows such as MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” on the rise,
it’s no surprise that lavish vehicles for the evening
are in high demand.
Escort limo and luxury vehicle rental businesses
throughout the area are in gear to offer even more
models for this season’s prom. New versions of the
classic stretch limo, such as the “hummerzine” and
“party bus,” are now available for rent.
“Sophomore year, our ride to prom was definitely a highlight,” senior Miranda Jones said. “We
rode around in a hummerzine for a while, and then
came kind of late to the dance so everyone saw us
get out of this really cool looking limo. It cost a lot
of money for my date but was definitely worth it
since everyone around town thought we were celebrities or something.”
Party buses tend to run even bigger than hummerzines, holding anywhere between 20 to 40 people. These private coaches combine entertainment
and transportation to provide a memorable experience before the actual dance even begins.
The interior of these decked out charter buses
usually include leather couches, tables and even a
bar loaded with soft drinks. Depending on the specific model, other amenities include flat-screen TVs,
DVD and surround sound systems, mirrored ceilings
and fiber optic lighting. Some of the most unique
party buses also have disco balls, strobe lights, fish
tanks, karaoke systems and smoke machines.
“The party bus we went on was awesome because it had a better dance atmosphere than our actual prom did with the cool light effects and music,” said James Madison High School senior Missy
Bell.
Where to Shop
Centerspread 7
Guys
Ruffles- A
nordstrom.com
very feminine style,
ruffles are
available in
a variety of
long and
short
dresses.
Classic- The tradi-
tional black tux
is for guys who
want to look put
together on prom
night.
Non-Traditional-
afterhoursprom.com
a white Tux is
perfect for you if
your a guy who
likes to stand out
in a crowd .
masterstuxedo.com
www.lernerenterprises.com
Despite slow service, McCormick &
Schmick provides pleasant experience
by sammi houtz
H
idden in the bottom of an ofﬁce building right in Tysons
Corner, McCormick and Schmick’s seafood restaurant
is a great escape for ﬁne dining – if you’re willing to spend
big bucks.
McCormick & Schmick’s offers a sophisticated, cozy
ambiance that is unique to the hectic, corporate environment
it exists in. From the moment you step out of your car, the
welcoming atmosphere is apparent, with complimentary valet parking and a polite hostess greeting you immediately.
Visitors then have the option of dining outside on the restaurants patio or indoors at one of the many tables or private
booths. The private booths are especially popular as a small
curtain closes these small rooms, allowing a party to dine in
comfort and privacy.
While the atmosphere of the building is close to perfection, the service is quite a different story. It takes approximately two hours to dine there, considering the long wait for
drinks and meals. The waiters and waitresses always seem
to be in a rush, leading to mistakes in delivering orders and
checks. Fortunately, though, the restaurant wasn’t hesitant
in clearing certain items from the check in order to please
customers.
McCormick & Schmick’s menu boasts a wide range of
seafood, steak, pasta and other specialties with prices for
practically any budget. Known best for its delicious seafood,
each platter’s description contains the geographic location
it was obtained from, such as the Halibut from Achorage,
Alaska, or the White Snapper from Ka Lae, Hawaii. The
restaurant is proud to guarantee that all the ﬁsh arrive fresh
daily, and offers a variety of different cooking styles to ﬁt
each customer.
While most meals at McCormick & Schmick’s are excellent, the price of each meal seems to reﬂect its level of satisfaction. The seafood cobb salad, priced at $14.95, is a rather
disappointing meal, as it contains a huge pile of greens, with
a tiny helping of shellﬁsh piled on it. Another inexpensive
meal, the homestyle meatloaf, at $7.95, is nothing to brag
about, as it tastes just about the same as an entrée from the
frozen food section of the supermarket.
The more expensive items on the menu seem to be the
most delicious and are worth the extra bucks. The Mako
Shark with King Crab costs about $18.95 and provides a
generous grilled helping of this exotic ﬁsh and sauce that is
unique to McCormick & Schmick’s. The lobster is the highest-priced item on the menu at $29.90. The sweet lobster is
accompanied by mashed potatoes and corn-on-the-cob, creating a huge meal that provides enough for leftovers.
The huge dessert tray at the entrance of the restaurant
is deﬁnitely hard to ignore. Anyone with a sweet tooth will
particularly love their berry cobbler and rich chocolate cake,
which are both big enough to share.
Ultimately, McCormick & Schmick’s is an excellent
place to dine, especially for prom or other special event,
if you are willing to spend a lot of time and money for a
scrumptious meal.
8
Entertainment
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
What’s Spinning? Garbage’s Bleed Like Me not enough
bly avoiding the Beautiful Garbage material. The concert,
from start to ﬁnish, was highly enjoyable and I left the
his is a review about two things: an amazing concert club feeling excited for having been there.
and a mediocre album. After the shame of 2001’s
And there is surely something to say about that exciteBeautiful Garbage sent Garbage to the drawing board, ment, that sense of energy which infected everyone who
Shirley Manson and her trio of brilliant producers are back was there. Much of it had to do with the fact that Garbage
on the scene – both literally and ﬁguratively. With a sold- is a great live band, but I think that the hype around their
out crowd at The 930 Club hanging on every moment of “comeback” was a greater factor. Manson, in her cheery
their astounding performance, it seemed like Garbage is dialogue with the audience between songs, reminded us of
on the upswing, ready to recover after the ﬂop in 2001. her love of The 930 Club, telling us that it was because of
But, after hearing the newest release, Bleed Like Me, I sold-out shows like ours that allowed her to think positivethink it’s pretty much safe to say that Garbage, no matter ly about the release of Bleed Like Me. Surely this would
how excited they were to be performing a sold-out show, mean new success.
has not made much progress with the new album.
There’s a problem with that, though, because the honThe concert at 930 was mostly amazing because it est truth is that Bleed Like Me, the correction to the miswas theatrical. It began with a dark stage as Johnny Cash’s take made on the overly-electronic and canned Beautiful
eerie version of “Hurt” played, allowing the silhouetted Garbage, is . . . not that good. While Garbage seems to
band members to sneak onstage. As Manson strutted on have forgotten the metallic beatbox effects that populated
in her red high heels and stretchy black dress the concert the last album and returned to their grungier sound, it still
began, launching into “Queer,” the sly hit from the ﬁrst doesn’t seem as if they’ve reclaimed the distinctive edge
album. During the concert they used
that made them so great on Garbage and
four television screens to display imVersion 2.0.
ages to go with each song and also
Bleed Like Me just makes me think
made use of great lighting, which ofthat they’ve run out of ideas. They do this
ten lit up the audience, a bright ball
to themselves with the songs that sound
of energy all its own.
like all the other songs on the album, or
The concert ended with the
are so repetitive and unchanging that the
staging of an arrest, a scene that was
option of depth, musically or lyrically, is
acted so superbly that it evoked connearly impossible. On Bleed Like Me it
fusion in the crowd, who wasn’t sure
is as if they have chosen one sound, that
if it was real. After coming back for
grungy synth-guitar, and have let it permean encore, Garbage ended with the
ate each song, making a nearly homogeGarbage’s comeback paired their
politicized “Sex is Not the Enemy,”
neous album.
new release, Bleed Like Me, with a
allowing Manson to pull down the
Garbage has never been known for
national tour.
neck of her dress to expose a skinManson’s lyrics, but on this album, they
colored bra as the song concluded.
seem especially bad. This may be because
This is when the “police” came on, arresting Manson and a weak musical support makes them stand out more, but
escorting her offstage, followed by the other enraged band I think they’ve just hit another low. Each song has one
members. While deﬁnitely a farce, this act even inspired key line repeated over and over, from “Why do you love
audience members to chant “Bullshit! Bullshit!” at the me?” to “Why don’t you come over?” which contribute to
lone policeman who remained on stage.
that sameness but mostly have the sorry job of making the
But, the best actress award surely goes to Manson, songs a little nerve-grating. The songs on this album are
whose performance was conﬁdent, sexual, and elaborate. practically weightless, and it’s just utterly disappointing.
So capable of hooking an audience and magnetizing their
But, perhaps there are a few okay songs, my favorites
eyes to her, seeing her onstage is sheer proof of why she being “Bleed Like Me” and “It’s All Over but the Crying,”
has become a cultural (sex) icon. She took the songs and which are slower, melodic and more varied than the oththe lyrics at full strength, acting them out as she pranced ers. My favorites aside, however, it seems that if this alaround the open stage, kicking the air or splaying herself bum does have anything going for it, it’s a shiny pop qualon the ﬂoor. She also charmed the audience by chatting ity that might earn it some radio play and dollars, if not
between songs with the ﬂares of her Scottish accent, even critical success. It’s true that many of the songs, though
calling a stagehand to bring her “whiskey to get frisky.”
nerve-grating for some, are probably pretty catchy and
The sound of the concert was great, if a bit overdone upbeat. But, for fans of Garbage from the good ol’ days,
with effects. Manson’s mic made her voice sound entirely when they still had that badass edge and a knack for brilunnatural, but for the most part Garbage’s fancy studio liantly produced grunge-techno hybrids, Bleed Like Me
production transferred well to live instruments. They might keep us waiting for a real comeback – one which is
played music from a good range of albums, though nota- seeming a lot less likely to arrive. Rating: 5.1
by carianne king
T
“Lifehouse’s new album and Akon.”
– Dana Whitman and Catherine Morgner,
freshmen
www.mattimus.com
“‘Wait’ by the Ying
Yang Twins.”
– Maya Al-Shingieti,
sophomore
“Tupac’s Better Days.”
– Viggo Gunio,
senior
“Kate Bush’s
Whole Story.”
– Judy Greenblum,
faculty
Compiled by The Crew
What We’re Spinning
Melinda and Melinda doubles quality
by carianne king
M
Carianne’s Picks:
The Dresden Dolls – The Dresden Dolls
Garbage – Garbage
Drew’s Picks:
Talking Heads – 77
Glenn Braca – The Ascension
Ratings Key
10.0 – Essential
9.5-9.9 – Brilliant
9.0-9.4 – Exceptional
8.9-8.0 – Excellent
7.5-7.9 – Good; Above average
7.0-7.4 – Decent
6.0-6.9 – Fair
5.0-5.9 – Mediocre
4.0-4.9 – Poor
3.0-3.9 – Awful
0.1-2.9 – Terrible
0.0 – Completely horrendous
elinda and Melinda, Woody Allen’s latest ﬁlm, revolves around an interesting idea: the tight bond
that both contrasts and connects drama and comedy. The
movie begins with a heated discussion between two ﬁlm
directors about whether the nature of life
is comedic or tragic. Given a test scenario – a strange woman interrupting
an intimate dinner party – one director
chooses to develop the story as a tragedy,
the other as a comedy. By allowing us to
observe the in-between of it all, Allen has
created a smart, insightful and engaging
ﬁlm. It becomes our task to weigh the
differences or, perhaps more poignantly,
to notice the underlying similarities in
the two versions of life.
Radha Mitchell plays Melinda, the
woman who walks into the dinner party,
in both versions and is the only actor to
play a role in each story. Both Melindas
have essentially the same background: they’ve both escaped a tumultuous relationship and have come to rely
on their friends to help get back on track. In the comedy
version, this allows Melinda to enter the lives of Susan
(Amanda Peet) and Hobie (Will Ferrell), a couple whose
passionless relationship is forced apart by Melinda. The
tragic Melinda is a little more complex and her storyline
focuses more on her downfall as a hopeless romantic as she
becomes involved in her friends’ entangled love lives.
Both stories feature a similar conﬂict between betrayal and starry-eyed romance, as the characters seem to
switch lovers as if they were musical chairs – somebody
gets left out, and so somebody gets hurt. But whether the
heartbreak becomes an attribute or a downfall is left to
our frame directors, who arrive at very different endings for similar plotlines. This
is what is most fascinating about Melinda
and Melinda: the skillful way in which Allen weaves the two stories together and the
fun of placing the duality into a larger picture.
The movie’s shortfall, however, may
be in the inability of the drama to keep up
with the comedy, whose script and loveable characters seem to surge ahead of
the torn, broken messes depicted in the
tragedy. With Will Ferrell doing a terriﬁc
job as the neurotic Woody Allen prototype
(he’s the best character in the ﬁlm) and
maintaining that jovial, charming attitude
of the comedy, it seems that the more dramatic elements
pale in comparison, as they are left to appear as overkill.
But, resolving to like one over the other is not doing the
ﬁlm justice, for the ﬁlm is largely enjoyable because of the
connected, fraternal duality of the storylines that allows us
to analyze and appreciate each as two fully-developed and
fully-entertaining interpretations.
Rating: 7.9
www.movies.yahoo.com
“112’s Pleasure and Pain.”
– Nadia Ahmed and Naﬁsa Hagi Abukar,
juniors
Entertainment
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
www.images-jp.amazon.com
Why Yo La Tengo get a ten-point-O
by drew taylor
sesses the true
gift of never, ever
he O.C. is doing everything in its power to ruin in- sounding derivadie rock forever. I’m not sure how they’ve managed tive or hackneyed.
to place gems from Sufjan Stevens and Spoon alongside The married duo
bland crapfests from the likes of Matt Pond PA, Jet and of Ira Kaplan and
The Dandy Warhols. The show’s producers are stopping Georgia Hubley
at nothing to commercialize the most historically anti- (with the addition of bassist/occommercial pop genre in history.
Nothing is sacred anymore. Indie rock has now be- casional singer
come a melodramatic parody of its former glorious self, James McNew in
with people (both real and ﬁctional) such as Zach “Gar- 1992) assimilate
den State” Braff and Seth (the Death Cab kid) from The their numerous
O.C. aiding in this unfortunate bastardization and sellout inﬂuences into a
surprisingly cohesive, artistic, creative and original enof some of the best music of the past 15 years.
Thankfully, neither Zach nor Seth can contain or har- tity.
Even though the style and tone of Prisoners of Love
ness the pure unadulterated genius of the American indie
bands of the early ’90s such as Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. can change on less than a dime, there is a common thread
that runs through every single song on this compilation:
and, of course, Yo La Tengo.
genius. There isn’t a single song on
It’s thankfully unlikely that
Prisoners of Love that I wouldn’t lisyou’ll never hear the noise-drone
ten to a hundred times in a row. Evof tracks like “From a Motel 6”
ery single song on this 26-track comor the down-tempo sorrow of
pilation is excellent. I don’t mean
“Little Eyes” underscoring a kiss
that some of the songs are “okay”
between two emaciated, spoiled
and others are “brilliant;” I mean that
same-sex
20-something-yearthey’re all brilliant. And that’s a rare,
olds who still curiously seem to
almost unheard-of batting average
be in their teens.
for any band, even for a greatest hits
In many ways, Yo La Tengo
compilation.
are the ultimate, consummate inAnd, now, to prove my point,
die rock band. While Pavement
I’m going to set my CD player on
and Dinosaur Jr. were undoubtshufﬂe and tell you about the track it
edly nothing short of brilliant,
randomly selects:
Stephen Malkmus and Co. most“Sugarcube” could rightly be
ly stuck to writing impossibly
called one of the best songs Yo La
catchy and unbelievably witty
Tengo ever recorded: (but as I said
pop songs, while J Mascis, Lou
above, so could any of these songs)
and Murph spent most of their ca- Yo La Tengo enjoying sun and clamdiggers
it incorporates a wall of impossibly
reer perfecting their wrenching,
visceral pop-noise freakouts. Yo La Tengo, however, have distorted (yet, miraculously, still tuneful) guitars atop of
demonstrated such a stunning breadth of styles that when chugging, energetic drums and Ira Kaplan’s relaxed, pitchlistening to Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintil- perfect vocals cement this song as an indie rock classic.
If I had more space and more time, I would talk about
lating Senescent Songs: 1985-2003, their recent two-disc
“greatest hits” compilation, I found myself shocked that all 26 songs of Prisoners of Love. Unfortunately, I can’t.
We have to save room for the possible Mariah Carey
all these songs could be by the same two people.
The sequencing of this compilation is clearly meant review. But, take it from me that this compilation is a
to draw attention to the vast difference of styles that Yo “must-own” for anyone who has the tiniest bit of interest
La Tengo have pursued over their nearly 20-year career. in music at all. In fact, it should be required listening of
As the noisy, Teenage-Fanclub-esque power-pop of “Tom anyone with a soul.
All the miserable, rich white kids from The O.C. can
Courtenay” fades out with distorted guitar squalls, the
clean, folky chords of the Byrds-esque folk-rock number keep The Killers, The Bravery and Death Cab for Cutie.
“Lewis” cut through the memory of the previous track I don’t need them at all. I have Yo La Tengo. And Seth,
Marissa, Ryan, Sandy, and Summer will never be able to
like a cup of coffee to a nasty hangover.
While their styles may be varied and their inﬂuences take that from me.
Rating: 10.0
broader than any other band recording, Yo La Tengo poswww.highroadtouring.com
www.matadorrecords.com
T
Local concerts promise fun, Kenny G
by ean nelson
T
his summer’s festivals are sure to suit everyone’s
tastes in music. There are plenty of shows to attend
this spring and summer that will keep your thirst for live
music quenched.
All the regular concerts are back, including Van’s
Warped tour, which always has a large turnout due to the
lineup of popular “punk”-rock bands. The bands that are
scheduled for this year’s tour are signiﬁcantly different
from last year’s, due to the rule that bands cannot play
two years in a row. However, the genre is still the same
and a few of the more popular bands include My Chemical Romance, Atreyu (popular but
talentless), Matchbook Romance
(who were there last year and played
a good show) and Senses Fail.
DC101’s annual chili cookoff held will be held on May 17 on
Pennsylvania Avenue in the District.
The disappointing lineup of bands
for this year is Three Doors Down,
Third Eye Blind and Saliva. This concert is always ﬁlled
with has-been mainstream bands that take anything they
can get. But, hey, if you’re into that kind of music, you
know where they’re playing.
HFStival is surprisingly back, even though the radio station has been replaced with “El Zol.” Last year’s
concert had a good turnout, even with the genre-clashing
decision to put Jay-Z as headliner. Well, you know what
they say: music brings people together. This year’s lineup
includes bands such as Interpol, The Bravery, Coldplay
and Unwritten Law. Unfortunately, there are some not-sogreat bands playing too, such as Jimmy’s Chicken Shack.
If you don’t have a problem heading over to Tennessee, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival will be on June
10-12. This concert is more for the indie music fans, although some more mainstream popular bands are playing
too. Modest Mouse, The Mars Volta and Jack Johnson are
going to be there, too, if you want to hear something more
familiar. Bonnaroo serves as a great way for small bands
to get ahead. If you’re bored and have the time this summer, go check it out.
For those of you who have your parents’ taste in music, the annual Capital Jazz Fest is playing June 3-5 in Columbia, MD. I’m sure three or four
or maybe even 10 of Marshall’s students or faculty enjoy jazz music,
and if you’re one of those people
then you won’t want to miss this
year’s concert because the king of
soft jazz is going to be there. Yes,
Kenny G. I can just taste your excitement. Mmm . . . Kenny G. Besides the king, a few others will perform in the three-day
concert as well, including Chaka Kahn, Boney James and
George Bunsen.
WMZQ country music fest is going to be at the Nissan Pavilion. The tickets are pricey , ranging from $40 to
$250. But, if you want to see your favorite country stars
jig-up, hoe-down and roll-out, then I’m sure you can buy
the ticket no problem. Phil Vassar, Lonestar and The Charlie Daniels Band are just a few of the bands playing at this
year’s festival. The concert will be on May 7.
9
The Smiths
The Queen is Dead
by drew taylor
I
(Sire; 1985)
don’t understand how teenagers can go through the
most painful stage of their lives without The Smiths
providing the soundtrack for every awkward kiss, painful breakup or existential ﬁt of angst. There’s no way
any of today’s emo bands who (supposedly) worship The
Smiths could ever measure up to the pure adolescent pathos and catharsis of those four blokes from Manchester.
Morrissey (the singer) is the teenager we all wish we
could be. He always knows exactly what to say to those
infuriating kids who seem to be more popular than we
are (“If you’re so funny / then why are you on your own
tonight? . . . And if you’re so very good looking / then
why do you sleep alone tonight?”) and when you listen
to him deliver these painfully, brilliantly biting lines, it’s
all too easy to see yourself as Morrissey, standing up to
the popular kid with the popped collar through the sheer
force of your intellect and wit.
Unfortunately, as most of us have ﬁgured out during the joyous years of high school, things don’t usually
work out that way.
But that’s exactly why there are few experiences
quite so delightful and emotionally fulﬁlling as immersing yourself in The Smiths’ ultimate masterpiece, The
Queen is Dead. For 35 stunning minutes, you can be as
indulgently dramatic and depressed as you choose to be.
Morrissey is so ridiculously good at encapsulating the
entire adolescent experience into four-minute pop songs,
it boggles the mind. Everyone has moments where they
listen to a song and think, “This must have been written
just for me,” but when you listen to The Queen is Dead,
the feeling is more like “This entire album must have
been written just for me!”
Morrissey has an undeniable gift for communicating
abstract emotional ideas through intensely personal and
emotional lyrics. He’s one-half Oscar Wilde, one-half
Ray Davies, and one-half Noel Coward; and, yes, that
adds up to three halves. His absurdly large personality is
just too big to be contained in two.
This is a man who has said, “If George Michael had
to live my life for ﬁve minutes, he’d strangle himself
with the nearest piece of cord,” and “If I were knocked
down tomorrow by a passing train, I would be considered
the most important artist ever in the history of English
pop music . . . that’s just a rough guess.” While some of
these unbelievably quotably quotations are completely
correct, at least from my point of view (“I think I must
be, absolutely, a total sex object. In every sense of the
word. A lot of men and a lot of women ﬁnd me unmistakably attractive.”), most of them are delivered with a
heaping dose of irony. Either that, or he’s the world’s
biggest jerk.
But there’s more to The Smiths’ genius than Morrissey’s gloriously sardonic, silver-tongued, hyper-literate overacting.
There’s also Johnny Marr, guitarist extraordinaie
While Marr’s name might not be as instantly recognizable as Steven Patrick’s, his musical contribution to The
Smiths and The Queen is Dead was just as great; a little
less noticeable, perhaps, but equally as stirring and dramatic.
There’s no guitarist in the world that sounds like
Johnny Marr. Many have tried and, to my knowledge,
all have failed. He managed to conjure up an entire pop
symphony with a few guitar tracks. He never uses distortion as a means to lend power to his compositions; he
doesn’t have to. He layers on a little delay and reverb
and he lets his inimitable guitar tracks speak for themselves. Marr is untouchable.
Add Andy Rourke’s funk-trained bass and Mike
Joyce’s furious drumming to Marr’s jaw-dropping guitars, and you’ve got the most impressive pop band of
the ’80s.
Add Morrissey’s damaged croon to the mix, and you
have something eternal and inﬁnite. The Smiths are a
light that never goes out.
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Sports
11
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
Baseball in slump
Girls lax defeat rivals,
team plays strong
by kevin gold
T
he Lady Statesmen lacrosse team, in the midst
of what could be considered an up-and-down
season, pulled out an impressive, had a come-frombehind win against the Madison Warhawks at last
Monday night’s “senior night” game.
In game, the Lady Statesmen were down by one
goal late in the second half, when a rally led by senior Caryl Spoden sparked the Marshall offense to
tie the game up. In the final two minutes, the Lady
Statesmen ran the clock down while holding for the
last shot. With seconds left, the Lady Statesmen took
a hard shot attempt, but the shot was saved. However, the Lady Statesmen controlled the rebound and
it was senior Kim Wheeler who plowed through a
wall of defenders to score the game-winning goal
against the Warhawks.
The Lady Statesmen also had strong offensive
play from senior Colleen Gallagher, junior Shaney
Jessica Chambers
Soderquist and sophomore Lauren Byrne.
Junior midﬁelder Shaney Soderquist chases down a Madison attacker. The
“I’ve never scored a game-winning goal before,” Lady Statesmen beat the Warhawks, 11-10, this past monday.
Wheeler said. “It was an absolute amazing way to
“I would say they fit the descriptions of a perfect coach.
end the rest of the games at home.”
They’re really understanding. They’re really fun and we
“It was definitely exciting for us: it was senior night, all have respect for them. They get us pumped.”
they’re our cross-town rivals, we all have a lot of friends
“We’ve definitely been more successful than in the
on the team,” senior Maddy Thom said.
past,” Thom explained. “We really responded to the new
“It was the second year we beat them and that was coaching staff, therefore we’re more willing to win than
huge,” senior Kelly Stroud said. “It was our senior night before.
and it was especially good because they wanted to beat us
With two more district games left before the disafter [we] beat them on their senior night last year.”
trict tournament starts, the team has to face Fairfax and
Tina Plaugher, in her first year as head coach, has led McLean, both of which Stroud calls “huge games that are
the team to a 5-3 record (3-2 in the district) this season. completely winnable.”
Plaugher and the rest of the coaching staff have received
With the district tournament starting May 11, look for
great praise from their players.
the Lady Statesmen to work their way to getting as close to
“I absolutely love our new coaches,” Wheeler said. the championship as possible.
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Jessica Chambers
The Marshall boys baseball team has continued to struggle, losing six games in a row
in district play, falling to 1-8 in the district.
Losses to Woodson, 6-0, Langley, 4-3,
Madison, 11-4, McLean,11-0, Lee, 6-3 and
South Lakes, 5-2, have plunged the Statesmen into last place in the district.
12
Rank & File
Monday, May 2, 2005
Around
the
Grounds
Demirbas places number
one at regional lifting meet
by alexander aivazis
J
unior Murat Demirbas went to the Northern Region weight lifting competition with low expectations. He came out with two
titles and, more importantly, is now ranked number one in the region. In his ﬁrst year of competition, Demirbas captured ﬁrst place
in bench press (250 pounds) and dead lifting (425 pounds).
“I was out of shape and didn’t think I would win anything,”
Demirbas said.
Demirbas had never been to a Northern Region power meet
before because last year he had wrestled during the winter and had
been unable to compete. As a result, heading into this year’s contest, Demirbas had no idea of what the competition would be like.
In the end, it didn’t matter, as Demirbas achieved a total combine
of 980 pounds, although he didn’t win the squat competition (305
pounds).
Demirbas’ accomplishment resulted in him moving into the
number one spot in the region, which came as a big surprise to him.
“I couldn’t believe that I ranked number one in the region after
the meet. I checked the board and I was shocked,” Demirbas said.
Demirbas now has high expectations for next year’s meet.
“I’m going to work as hard as I can this summer and during the
fall,” Demirbas said. “My goal is to win the region and then move
on again and compete in states.”
Coach J.T. Biddison’s only comment on Demirbas’ accomplishment was the following quote from Hall of Fame NFL Head
Coach Vince Lombardi: “The quality of a person’s life is in direct
proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their
chosen ﬁeld of endeavor.”
Boys Soccer
T
he Statesmen boys soccer
team has been unable to pull
of a victory this year, falling to
0-6 on the year after losing to
Woodson 5-1 on April 21 and to
Washington-Lee on Wednesday,
2-0. The loss has set the Statesmen up for a season that could
potentially end without a win as
the team will now have to do battle against three ﬁerce district opponents The team has matchups
against Langley Friday, at Madison on May 3 and home against
McLean on May 10.
Boys Lacrosse
Jessica Chambers
Demirbas exempliﬁes proper
technique with a set of dumbells.
Demirbas placed ﬁrst at the Northern Region in the bench press and
dead lift competiontion levels.
A
fter winning two district
games in a row, the Marshall Statesmen boys lacrosse
team looked to be on a roll, but
back-to-back poundings from
Sports
Woodson on April 18, 14-1,
and Langley on April 27, 183, have plunged the Statesmen
below .500 with a 4-5 record.
Victories against Lee, 5-4,
and South Lakes, 9-3, seemed
to have put the Statesmen on
the right track after a terrible
12-3 loss to Fairfax on April
6. But, a lack of defense or
offense in the team’s last two
games have left the Statesmen
limping into their final two
games of the year against Madison on May 1 and McLean
on May 6. The only bright
spot for the team during the
last few weeks has been the
outstanding play of freshman
midfielder Aaron Hemon. The
score of the Madison game on
April 1 was unavailable at the
time of press deadlines.
The team’s game on May
6 will be the team’s senior
night and a game where the
Statesmen hope to gain some
momentum heading into the
district tournament. The game
will also have a significant
impact on the team’s seeding
for the tournament.
Madden, apple picking, oat
bags: words from the wise
by kevin gold
V
olume XV: The other day while
I was scurrying about, a jolly ole
chap asked me if I do any extra activities
for school. I told him that I work for the
school newspaper, Rank & File. He asked
me if I write stories, and I told him I did.
He asked me what I write about, and I told
him I write “The Gold Standard.” The
man had a confused look on his mug, the
same look when you ﬁnd gum on the bottom of your shoe. Actually, that’s more of
a disgusted look, but nonetheless, he was
confused.
As I explained to the fellow that the
Standard is a sports column, I thought
to myself, “Is ‘The Gold Standard’ just
a sports column?” What is a
sports column, anyways?
“Nothing more than
one’s opinion on a
certain subject relating to the world of
sports,” I would assume, is the easiest
and most clear way
of explaining what
it is.
But, since its
creation, the Standard has been almost
a way of life. In fact,
it has been a religion
in some aspects. I think that in the International Religion League, if you look at last
month’s standings, the religion known as
Standardism ranks in at 45, just in front
of the Raelians but just behind the Scientologists. I’d say being ranked number
45 isn’t bad at all, seeing that we’ve only
been established for the last year or so.
I have many followers as well, or as
I like to call them: my “Goldamaniacs.”
There are many distinguished professional athletes that are “Goldamaniacs,” but
why should I sit here and waste your time
and mine with useless names that will
truly not add any substance to this weeks
sermon, I mean volume, at all?
As I continue to explain the extreme
depth that “The Gold Standard” holds, I
begin to think of the one question that
every religion is based on: “Why?”
Well, actually it may be two if you include “How?”, but let’s just focus on the
“why.” In sports, so many events occur,
but we often are left to wonder, Why do
they occur? If you want to know, just
take this pill – I mean, just read “The
Gold Standard.” Test me. Go ahead, ask
me anything.
Why did former NFL kicker Al Del
Greco stay in the league so long?
This is an easy one. It’s because he
wanted to always be the worst possible
kicker to have in Madden. Have you ever
tried to kick a 35-yarder with this goof
in Madden ’02? There are four possible
outcomes: he kicks it wide left, he kicks it
wide right, he kicks it just short, or it gets
blocked. It doesn’t go in. It never
has, and it never will. Ever. At
all. Next question!
Why does Shawn Bradley
even play in the NBA?
This one I’m not sure
I can answer. His worth to
the game of basketball is
equivalent to a cardboard
cutout’s. He should be on
a farm somewhere picking
the apples out of trees that
nobody else could reach. He
should be a part of the XMen. Isn’t there something
out there in this world that
we could stick this guy in and he can excel at? Next!
Why has everyone and their mother
been accused of using steroids?
Last time I checked, my mom was
not accused of using steroids, but I’ve
came up with this new game. What you
do is you guess the next athlete to be accused of using steroids. My guess: that
son of a mare Seattle Slew. Yeah, I saw
him shooting up right before he got his
oat bag.
Man, when you drop the names of
Al Del Greco, Shawn Bradley and Seattle
Slew in a volume, you know it’s going to
be a classic.
Come back next time when I’ll explain the process of being “standardized.”
It’s kind of like a bah mitzvah.
Contact a Rank & File staff member if you
would like to perform at Rank & Festival.