15th Feb2012

Lane drafting teacher whistles while he works

By Diana Barragan

& Julia Kulon

 

Before conversation, laughter and screams overtake the hallways of Lane, there is another type of sound that fills the air. It is softer and more musical. It is a whistle and it comes from the man who is known as the The Whistler, a name-sake that he has earned at other schools.

At Lane, he is first mostly Gary Rybicki of the Drafting Department.

While most teachers prepare for their classes in the mornings, Rybicki is typically heard whistling through the hallways.

“[Lane’s hallways] like a giant auditorium, the sound just resonates off the walls,” said Rybicki.

For Rybicki whistling is innate. Growing up, he remembers his father whistling in his free time.

“Now when I whistle, my father takes off his hearing aid because the amplification of the sound of my whistling has a higher pitch,” said Rybicki.

A band director once suggested to Rybicki that he whistle competitively and enter a contest, but Rybicki declined the notion.

“I can’t whistle in front of people because I would start laughing and smiling,” said Rybicki, “To a certain extent, I whistle subconsciously.”

Whistling, however, is considered to be a competitive sport. Every year since 1970 in April in Louisburg, North Carolina, talented whistlers from all over the world whistle against each other in a three day competition. These whistlers range from beginning amateurs to real champions. The contestants have the chance to compete in three different categories.

The Classical category is generally music from the considered masters of instrumental music. The Popular category, on the other hand, allows the competitors to choose from any popular music, such as jazz, spiritual, country or folk. The last category, Allied Arts, is not so much musical as it theatrical, allowing the individual to whistle a reenactment of a character or story.

Although Rybicki does not have a musical background, he does likes to whistle certain favorite tunes such as the Canadian Anthem, Stars and Stripes Forever, the Gary Owen, or a Star Wars medley.

“If I watch a movie a number of times, and I like it, the theme song starts to stick with me,” said Rybicki.

As easily as he can remember a tune, that is how easily the whistle leaves his lips.

“Sometimes, I worry in-between periods because I think ‘Woah, I might be disturbing a class’,” said Rybicki.

However, it seems like Rybicki does not have to worry about that.

“A lot of people have commented [on my whistling],” said Rybicki. “They’ve all been good comments.”

For Rybicki, it’s not about a competition. It’s simply a part of him.

“I just like hearing the sound, in a way it relaxes me,” Rybicki said.

The next time you arrive at Lane a little too early, and you hear a whistle and see a man that looks a little bit like Santa Claus, have no fear it’s The Whistler.

Category : Features
Tags : , ,
15th Feb2012

Santa Claus…err, mommy and daddy are coming to town

By Dirce Toca

 

He’s a jolly good fellow, with a red suit and long white beard. If you were naughty this past year, he might have brought you a lump of coal. If you listened to your parents, nice. Your stocking was filled with presents. Ho-ho-ho. Merry Christmas.

But did you receive presents from Santa Claus or St. Nicholas? Who is the man in red? Here’s how the story goes.

According to Yahoo! News, Saint Nicholas was the early Christian Saint who is the historical ancestor of Santa Claus. He was a bishop and was known for his generosity and love for children. Due to the Dutch’s pronunciation, he came to be known as “Sinter Klaas.” The term was carried by immigrants coming to America The name “Santa Claus” became his alter ego.

In 1823, Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas” which portrayed the Saint as a “jolly old elf”. Forty years later, cartoonist Thomas Nast defined Santa Claus’s image by drawing him as a jolly old man with a white beard and red suit.

Santa Claus became associated with the Christmas holiday, giving children the idea that he only left presents under the tree if they went to bed early. But at one point or another, all these children stopped believing.

David Ulloa, Div. 459 was only six years old when he found out that the man behind that red suit was none other than his dad. That year, Ulloa had received a fish that sang Don’t worry, be happy. It was only a few hours after that Ulloa set his toy down and Santa, a.k.a. Dad, accidentally stepped on it and broke it.

“I was so angry I started to cry and began hitting Santa. Then I pulled his beard and saw it was my dad. I cried even more,” Ulloa said.

Another mishap with dad dressing up as Santa happened to Kassey Trahanas, Div. 265. Each year, Santa would visit and let the kids sit on his lap. However, Trahanas began to notice that every time Santa came, her dad would not be around. Her curiosity led her to follow Santa to the basement door from which he exited, but when she tried opening it, the door was locked.

“I waited when suddenly my dad come out of the door and asked if Santa was just here. But at the same time I’m thinking, ‘he just came in the house, how did you not see him,’ so I started crying,” Trahanas said. “My mom tried to calm me down but finally said that this was part of growing up and to not tell my brother.”

But what if your brother tells you instead?

Natalie Herrera, Div. 469, was eight years old when her older brother burst her Santa bubble. Every year, the Herrera family spends Christmas together and wait until midnight to open presents. To kill time, Herrera’s brother who was 13 at the time, asked her to play monopoly with him.

“I told him I’d rather play with my Bratz Dolls. But he kept begging and begging and I kept telling him no,” Herrera said. “He got really mad and yelled saying ‘Well you want to know something? Santa is not even real. It’s mom who wraps your gifts for you!’”

With a lump in her throat and holding back tears, Herrera went to ask her mom if what her brother had told her was true. Without hesitation, Herrera’s mom confirmed the sad news.

Even though some older siblings might have ruined innocent childhood beliefs, others actually play an important role in helping parents play Santa.

For example, Mikey Heath, Div. 253, found out Santa was not real when he accidentally overheard his mom and his sister discussing the Christmas presents they had yet to buy.

Heath’s older sister already knew that Santa was not real, so she played spy, making it easier for the parents to find out what presents from “Santa” were to be put under the tree.

“Since I had heard them talking, I walked in the room and asked ‘Wait, so you and dad are Santa?’” Heath said. “My mom didn’t know how to react, so she started crying.”

Till this day, Heath’s mom refuses to admit that Santa Claus is not real.

“She will never say those words,” Heath said.

Category : Features
Tags : ,
15th Feb2012

Students celebrate untraditional holiday traditions

 

By Alexandria Martinez

 

Kasey Chronis, Div. 251, is usually anxiously awaiting her family’s holiday traditions as soon as Thanksgiving is over. Chronis, like many other Lane students, does not just look forward to the gifts and goodies that come along with the holiday season; she also anticipates celebrating the fun, strange, and often quirky holiday traditions she shares with friends and family.

“Every year we [my family] go to my aunt’s house on Christmas Eve and she hides a pickle ornament somewhere on her Christmas tree. Whoever finds the pickle first gets a small present,” Chronis said.

Chronis makes sure she is the one to earn the prize.

“I normally win because when I get to her house, I go straight to her tree and start looking for the pickle while everyone is saying their hellos,” Chronis said.

Chronis also shares holiday traditions with her family on New Years Day.

“On New Years, my grandma bakes a coin into a loaf of bread called a Vasilopita, and when it’s done, we break the bread according to age. The oldest member of the family takes a piece first, and it goes in order until we get to the youngest. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of bread is supposed to have good luck for the rest of the year,” said Chronis.

The Vasilopita coin is a common Greek Orthodox tradition, and is rumored to have begun at the end of the fourth century in Greece. The tradition still flourishes on New Year’s Day in many Greek Orthodox homes.

Alexandra Pizarro, Div. 273, does not know how or why her quirky holiday tradition came about.

“My family throws pies at each other on New Year’s Eve to bring luck for the New Year,” Pizarro said. “We used to throw actual leftover pie, but now we just use whipped cream pies.”

Ariel Castro, Div. 260, participates in an ugly Christmas sweater contest that her family holds every Christmas.

“My dad started the tradition a couple of years ago, and it stuck. We get really into it, and try to out-do each other,” Castro said. “Whoever wins gets a cash prize.”

Mercedes Lee, Div. 262, and her family participate in a White Elephant, a spin-off on Secret Santa every Christmas. Everyone participating brings a wrapped gift, and the gifts are placed in the middle of a room. Then, everyone who brought a gift picks a number and when that number is called, they can either steal a gift from someone who has already picked a gift, or pick one up from the center. The process continues until there are no gifts left in the center of the room. The twist: The gifts have to be funny.

“One year, someone got a giant tooth,” said Lee. “Another year someone got a bedpan…it was thrown away as soon as it was opened, but it was pretty funny!”

Edyta Borek, Div. 257, celebrates the holidays the “Polish way,” as she puts it.

“We basically celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas. We make traditional meals and we don’t eat meat for some reason, so there’s a lot of fish,” Borek said. “But, before eating we read a passage from the Bible and pray, then break bread and go around the table wishing everyone good health.”

At the Vo family household, holiday tradition doesn’t start until Christmas morning.

“My family wears Christmas onesie-pajamas when we open presents. It’s pretty funny,” said Alex Vo, Div. 259.

So whether it’s breaking the Vasilopita, or wearing an ugly sweater, holiday traditions prove to be fun for Lane students…no matter how wacky they may be.

 

Category : Features
Tags : , ,
15th Feb2012

Hearing loss could threaten music-loving generation

 

By Aisha Ali

 

Turn that down yo!

HUH? WHAT? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!

Hearing loss is more common than ever before. According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly one in five American teenagers now suffers from some type of hearing loss, an increase of 31% since the mid-’90s. But, why is this happening? There is a wide range of causes that can be linked to hearing loss. Prolonged exposure to blasting music via earphones is one of these causes.

The world is getting increasingly noisy. It’s getting harder and harder to listen clearly. And so many people take refuge from the cacophony by using earphones. Many Lane students can be seen with flashy headphones walking in the halls during passing periods. But what many people do not realize is that they are straining their ears when blasting music.

“I like to hear the bass of the music so I have big headphones that I carry when I travel,” said Kristina Guccione, Div. 385.” I like how you can hear the pounding and the bass, that’s my favorite thing about them.”

Media outlets promote the use of earphones by showing catchy advertisements with pop stars that show how to look “cool”, in turn attracting the attention of teenagers. Suddenly everybody wants the new earphones, everybody has them. Now big headphones are looked upon in a positive light, but are they really safer than ear buds?

“When you have ear buds it’s like the music is really going right into your ear. With bigger headphones it’s more around your ear and its blocking out the other noise so you don’t necessarily have to listen to it that loud,” said Benjamin Vega, Div. 380.

Ms. Malinowski, a deaf and hard of hearing teacher at Lane, also believes that headphones are the better option.

“When you have those ear buds in, its shooting directly to your eardrum. The louder it is the more the vibration of the bones in the ear. With headphones, there’s a way for some of the sound to escape or its muffled it’s not a straight shot to your ear drum.”

She believes that technology has improved the sound quality which results in louder levels in music leading to potential hearing loss.

“What happens when there’s over exposure to loud music these little tiny bones in the ear will start to callous. when they callous they don’t pick up the vibration that they normally would,” she said.

The high frequency sounds are generally the first sounds that people start to lose. “Slight,” hearing loss is defined as inability to hear at 16 to 24 decibels — or sounds such as a whisper or rustling leaves.

Continuous exposure to loud music is, “almost like continuously using a muscle,” Ms. Malinowski said. “The muscle is going to be sore if you don’t rest it. You’re probably going to damage it. If you pull a muscle you ice it and it’ll mend itself. If you don’t take care of it that muscle’s going to rip and tear and you’re going to create more damage. Likewise, when you consistently expose your ears to loud sounds or vibrations over extended periods of time the bones aren’t going to pick up the vibrations as easily as they did.”

A male junior that wishes to remain anonymous because he thinks others look down on individuals with hearing aids, says people are not appreciating what they have.

“I think people are taking everything for granted. I mean I would too. You don’t realize what you have until you lose it, because I was five when I lost it. I just remember being able to hear everything perfectly and now its different. I didn’t feel the change.”

Although he did not lose hearing due to the extensive use of earphones, he knows how it feels to lose an important sense. He has experienced using hearing aids and having to read lips and reading subtitles. He knows how it feels.

“Its like losing an arm, sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. A fake arm will only help you so far. That’s how I feel, hearing aids will help you so much but it wont make it better. They aren’t like glasses, once you put them on you see perfect.”

“You have to be thankful for everything you have, like I’m thankful for my hair, there are people losing hair. You gotta realize what you have even if you haven’t lost it yet,” he said.

Another student who has lost their hearing is Hannah Fropolly Div 265. She lost her hearing genetically at the age of 1 and currently wears a cochlear implant.

“My advice to others is: be happy you can hear. Embrace that gift,” Fropolly said.

So the next time you can hear someone’s music playing, tell them to turn it down. Although they may hate you, you’re actually doing them a big favor.

Category : Features, News
Tags : , ,
Pages:1234567...27»
Next Page »