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PageThe Delbarton CourierDelbarton LifeSmells like Teen Spirit (Week)By: Paul Shuler ‘15Spirit Week 2013 has come andgone and it was a resounding success. Highlights include an awkward faculty flash mob, numerousDelbarton-style Harlem Shakes, anda thrilling 40-38 upset in the teacherstudent basketball game.Mr. Szelingowski and studentbody President J.P. Campbell ’13each did an amazing job planningand orchestrating the events. Yet,at the end of every spirit week, onequestion always arises. What couldwe have done to make it better?If Delbarton can have 100%community service participation, is100% Spirit Week participation really so unattainable?Spirit Week offers so many different events that it is nearly impossible to find one that does not interest you. From handball, to poetryslams, to hot bites, to chess, theretruly is something for everyone.Slade Lutz ’15 said, “I was disappointed when I stepped onto thecourt for the handball tournamentonly to find out that the other teamdid not have enough kids to play.”Ryan McLaughlin ’15 comment-ed, “I wish the week served as moreof a break from the average routine.I feel like the reason kids are avoiding Spirit Week activities after 2:34 isbecause they are too worried aboutmissing a homework assignment orstudying for a test.”Michael Castagna ’15 pointedout that some events from last yearseemed to be missing. He said,“Spirit Week was amazing, but Imissed the hilarity that was thewheelbarrow-watermelon push fromlast year.”There’s no such thing as being too excited for Spirit Week3Spirit Week is the one time everyyear when the dress code is forgotten and everyone is encouraged toshow his inner funny side (just askMike Dal Lago ‘13). Although itwasn’t perfect, Spirit Week 2013 wasterrific; now let’s make Spirit Week2014 even more unforgettable.Courtesy of Jessica FiddesBuzz Aldrin Visits DelbartonBy: Will Agathis ‘14Buzz stressed the importanceof the United States continuing totake initiative by sending men to themoon. He expects Americans toOn February 28th, Buzz Aldrinshared his true feelings about spacetravel in front of an electric crowdof 550 Delbarton students and faculty, and his message was met with astanding ovation.While people recognize Aldrin asthe Lunar Module Pilot, and morecommonly as the second man on themoon, not many people know of hislife before he joined NASA.Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin was bornin Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Buzz,who attended Montclair HighSchool, turned down a full scholarship from MIT and instead chose toattend West Point, where trained tofly fighter jets. After making a namefor himself during the Korean War,Aldrin attended MIT’s aeronauticsprogram.After that, Aldrin set his sightson NASA where he went on twoimportant voyages, Gemini 12 andApollo 11. Apollo 11 was the mission where Aldrin stepped foot onthe moon. He reached the moon onJuly 20, 1969, and returned to Earthjust four days later.Forty-four years later, Buzzvisited Delbarton to share some ofhis expert advice with the DelbartonBuzz talks about going to Marscommunity.continue travelling to the moon andwants the USA to remain an interplanetary superpower.He hopes that eventually humansCourtesy of Jessica Fiddeswill form a civilization on Mars, butdoes not expect to make that mission himself. He also mentioned thepossibility of an expanded astronomy program.He shared his thoughts onprivate industry investing in spaceexploration, and hopes that theUnited States continues to rise tothe occasion of space travel.Aldrin, at eighty-three, has a lotof plans for the future. He is writinganother book, this one titled Missionto Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration. In addition, he created his ownvideo game called “Buzz Aldrin’sSpace Program Manager”, whichwill be available Summer 2013.Aldrin also had a lot of funtalking to Delbarton students. Hisadvice was invaluable and his humorwas unforgettable.When brief chants of “USA!USA!” quieted down, Aldrin restarted the chant on his way out.One junior had this to say aboutBuzz’s appearance, “At first I wasskeptical that he was coming, butnow I don’t think I’ll ever forget thatpresentation.” The presentation wastruly a once-in-a-lifetime experienceand Buzz Aldrin provides anotherreason why we should all be proudto be American.

Page4Acting ClubBy: Shan Rizwan ‘17There are enough clubs at Delbarton that surely every student willfind one that he enjoys. New clubsare constantly created to furtherimprove the Delbarton experience.During the 2011-2012 school year,the Acting Club was born.Delbarton teachers Ms. Almozara and Mr. Pillette founded theActing Club. I sat down with themfor an interview about the club. Ifirst asked, “Why did you start theActing Club?” They told me thatthe Acting Club was started duringthe Fall term in 2011. Unfortunately,Mr. Corica, director of the Falldrama, was not able to cast everyone into the play. Ms. Almozara andMr. Pillette stated that they saw theopportunity to help the actors whodid not receive a role in the dramato improve their acting skills whilethey were not on stage. Ms. Almozara originally planned for this clubto be a small event that would lastonly the fall term. She said, “It neverstopped once it started.”They explained that the originalgoal of the club was to preparestudents to audition properly anddynamically. Also, it was a placewhere kids had the opportunity todevelop their own ideas. The clubhas evolved into a place wherestudents have creative liberty overwriting scripts and performing them.Scripts are very broad in order toallow students to interpret them asthey wish. Ms. Almozara said thatacting workshop was a place where“students can be creative withoutfear or being made fun of.”Ms. Almozara and Mr. Pillettesaid that the best part of the Acting Club is watching students whodon’t know anything about actingevolve as actors and begin to teachother students what they need todo. It is a collaborative environmentwhere more experienced actors setan example for how young actorsshould act.The greatest accomplishment ofActing Club is getting new actorsonto the stage and into Delbartonproductions. Many Acting Clubmembers participated in the 2012One Acts Festival and were praisedfor their performances. Ms. Almozara and Mr. Pillette said that it wasa great feeling knowing that ActingClub made this possible. They hopeto keep the club alive for years tocome.I am a member of the ActingClub, and in my opinion, it is one ofthe best clubs at Delbarton. It maynot be the most popular club, but itis an essential for anyone who wantsto learn about acting hands-on whilealso having a good time.The Delbarton CourierARTSThe Generationals: Actor-CastorBy: Johnny Tamburro ‘14Who the heck are The Generationals? Ted Joyner and GrantWidmer from Baton-Rouge, Louisiana. You may think that you’venever heard them before, but there’sactually a decent chance that youhave. Their songs have made it ontoGrey’s Anatomy, Chuck, commercialsfor Bloomingdales and Reese’s,and a number of films. Let me tellyou, they didn’t get these spots bychance.The Generationals’ secondalbum, Actor-Castor, was actually released back in 2011, but no one hasever heard of it, so I figured I couldstill talk about it. It is one of thosespecial albums that you can pointto and confidently say, “this is whatindie rock should sound like”.The style of the album is notunique, nor is it revolutionary, noreven particularly new. However, ittakes existing elements of music andputs them all together in a way thatmakes their music high quality whilemaintaining that “indie garage band”feel.In a word, their music can be described as “upbeat”. In a few words,it would be “upbeat and simplistic”.An easy comparison to draw wouldbe between The Generationals andMatt & Kim. Both focus on upbeatindie pop with catchy hooks andsimple structures. However, theGenerationals have a much moreorganic sound, which leaves theirmusic with both peppy pop hooksand an intimate atmosphere.Just two dudes in button downsWith this combination of popand indie, The Generationals havesignificantly more staying powerthan other indie bands. They caterto much broader tastes than otherindie bands with much more popand rock influence. In regards togenre, The Generationals fall intothe indie-rock category, yet remainstrong contenders in a world dominated by Mumford and Sons andFun.So just what makes this albumnoteworthy anyway? If anything inparticular were to stand out, it wouldhave to be how unprocessed themusic sounds. I should clarify. Lookat a band like Fun. The song “SomeNights” sounds like it has been fedthrough an autotuner five or six toomany times, then mastered at somehuge corporate recording studio.The end result is spectacular, butthis mentality would subscribe to theidea that the best music requires theCourtesy of www.theowlmag.commost money to make.The Generationals break this mentality with their simple four-pieceband setup. In a world where dubstep has taught us to love the drop,bass is in short supply here, optinginstead for cheerful pianos and guitars. Actor-Caster serves as a pleasantrespite from the overproduced popof today; the most prevalent effectyou will find on this album is somelight reverb.Songs such as “10-20-10” and“Goose & Gander” best representThe Generationals’ sound, and Iwould strongly recommend giving them a listen. The only majorpitfalls of the album involve thelack of variety in the songs. “YoursForever” is one of the only songsthat really stands out, and it’s noteven that good. Overall, Actor-Castoris a diamond in the rough and mostcertainly worth at least checking out.Bergoglio is a native of Argentina, and was previously the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Bergoglio– now Pope Francis I – is the firstJesuit pope, and the first non-European pope in 1,282 years.Most Catholics reacted positivelyto Bergoglio’s election, and hopethat he can build off of Pope Benedict’s success. By stepping down,Pope Benedict XVI allowed for arevolutionized Papacy that will better cater to the needs of the Catholic Church.The newly elected Pope Francis ICourtesy of www.pbs.orgPope Benedict XVIContinued from page 1the Catholic Church. After the issuewas explained in more detail, mostCatholics believed that the Pope’sreasons for stepping down werelegitimate.Furthermore, some speculatedthat Pope Benedict intended to seta precedent for future popes anddemonstrate that they do not haveto die in office, but can give up theirpowerful role when they believe theycan no longer uphold it.Though controversy erupted atfirst, it is in the Catholic Church’sbest interest that Pope Benedictdecided to resign. His love for theCatholic Church and Jesus Christ isclearly strong, and he simply wantedwhat was best for the community.Pope Benedict XVI officiallyretired on February 28, 2013. OnMarch 13, the conclave elected JorgeMario Bergoglio to takeover the roleof leading the Catholic Church.

The Delbarton CourierNEWSNo More Mail on SaturdaysBy: Nicholas Serratelli ‘14On Wednesday, February 6, 2012,the United States Postal Servicefinally decided to stop Saturdaymail delivery. President Obama firstbrought up the topic in Septemberof 2011, but ended those talks ashort time later. He considered halting delivery for the whole weekendas a part of his deficit reductionplan. Halting first class mail on Saturdays will end up saving about twobillion dollars a year, but that is onlya fraction of the sixteen billion thePostal Service lost last year.The post office has been trying to cut its costs and deficit fora while. The USPS cut hours incertain locations and, as Fox Newshas reported, “eliminated 35% ofits workforce.” They’ve only mademinimal progress on cutting theirdeficit, but this is a huge move tospending less every year.However, the post office willcontinue to deliver packages onSaturdays, the area where the USPShas received the most competition,with Fed Ex and UPS as its mainrivals. To continue competing withthese two companies, the PostalService will stay open. Even thoughthey won’t deliver mail on Saturdays,the post offices themselves will notclose.Despite the USPS’s public deci-sion, Congress’s approval is stillnecessary to actually put it into action. It has been the law since 1984that the agency delivers mail Monday through Saturday. But, expertanalysts expect Congress to pass thelaw mandating a five-day workweek,thereby cutting the post office’sdeficit.Still, some people are skepticalabout whether this will actually saveAlso, according to the Presidentof the National Association of Letter Carriers Fredric Rolando, thismove to eliminate mail delivery onSaturday will be “disastrous.” Rolando claims ending Saturday maildelivery will be harmful to businesses, the elderly, and the disabledbecause these three groups dependheavily on weekend mail delivery forcommunication. Additionally, seniorYou won’t be seeing this guy on SaturdayCourtesy of www.foxnews.commoney. The USPS realizes that they citizens receive medication throughwill make money delivering packages the mail, and they would have towait until Monday to get their medion Saturdays, especially because ofcation.the amount of retail purchases thatAlthough there are some downare commonplace on the weekends.sidesto this transition, the amountAs the mail industry loses business,of money being saved far outweighsthe number of online purchasesthem. Though this will help, thecontinues to rise, which furtherPostal Service will still need to findsupports the strategic decision toother ways to cut costs and lower itsremain open on Saturday.deficit.Keep Wrestling in the OlympicsContinued from page 1passively stated he was “greatlyastonished” at the decision, whichsuggests his ignorance regardingthe situation. Despite these majorfactors, nearly all observers agreethat the core rationale behind thevote was the bottom-line. Simplyput, wrestling does not bring in themoney that apparently motivates theOlympic Committee.As an admirer of the Olympicsand a wrestler, I could not be moredisturbed by the decision to removea sport so synonymous with thegames. Critics of the vote referencenumerous arguments for wrestling’smerit. First, wrestling is internationally popular. In the US, wrestling isthe sixth most popular high schoolsport, and experts propose that it’sgrowing. Through a global lens,wrestling is the largest sport in muchof Eastern Europe and the MiddleEast.Second, wrestling is universallyinclusive. Due to its rudimentarynature, wrestling is inexpensive andaccessible to anyone. Its accessibilityis also due to the sport’s impartiality to the athlete’s size because ofweight classes. Olympic championHenry Cejudo is a testament to bothfeatures as he noted, “You don’thave to be tall as LeBron James toachieve your goals. Wrestling gotme out of poverty and out of theghetto.”Furthermore, wrestling allowsmany nations to effectively competein the Olympics. Countries such asPuerto Rico and Indonesia receivedsome of their only medals in wrestling. In the last games, 29 countriesclaimed medals in wrestling - elevenmore countries than in swimming.Finally, wrestling is globally unifying. Upon their arrival in Tehran,Iran, for the recent FILA championships, American wrestlers werewelcomed, whereas internationalsoccer and cricket events are knownfor violence. Additionally, the worldwide response to the IOC’s decisionhas brought many nations togetherin protest.Although the IOC may havepinned the wrestlers’ backs againstthe mat, the grapplers will surelyfight until the final whistle blows.Leaders in the sport have createdthe Committee for the Preservationof Olympic Wrestling to lobby forits inclusion.Joining the fight are politiciansincluding Vladimir Putin and several US senators who have verballypledged to protect the sport. Othersexpressing their disappointment include the likes of President Ahmadinejad of Iran, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and novelistJohn Irving. Due to widespreadcriticism, the negligent presidentof FILA has resigned, opening thedoor for more proactive leaders.The Olympic creed states, “Themost important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to takepart, just as the most importantthing in life is not the triumph butthe struggle.” Wrestling is a sportthat involves some of the mostgrueling struggles, yet the IOC hasturned its back on the sport.Discomfortingly, one of the fewinstitutions that stood for the purityand the sanctity of athletics hasfallen into the allure of greed, proving to be no better than any othercapital-driven corporation. The fateof wrestling and the purity of theOlympics will ultimately be decidedin St. Petersburg next month.Page5Minimum WageThe Federal Government’s Most RecentDilemmaBy: Nick Russoniello ‘14The Obama administrationrecently proposed an increase inminimum wage. At face value, raising minimum wage seems like agood way to put more money in thehands of people working to makeends meet. However, raising minimum wage is the wrong decisionfor one simple reason: it hurts thepeople that it tries to help. Insteadof creating more jobs, the Obamaadministration will destroy jobs byraising minimum wage.A proposed benefit of increasingminimum wage is that it will stimulate the economy by putting moremoney into the hands of consumers.Yet, of the “officially” poor peoplein the United States, 60% are unemployed. Yes, you read that right, 60%of the country’s poor don’t earnany income, but do collect moneythrough welfare and unemployment.Thus, if 60% of these people don’twork, making the minimum wagehigher would just make them relatively poorer than they already are.Also, raising minimum wage willonly affect 15% of the populationbelow the poverty line since mostpeople who work for minimumwage come from above medianincome households. This shows howmuch people who don’t work at allbring down the country’s medianincome.In addition, the slight increasein minimum wage will crush smallbusiness owners; for instance, a pizza place whose profits are not verysignificant to begin with. This slightincrease in minimum wage, which isoften earned by teens, will take awayfrom the already dissipating profitsof small businesses.Finally, raising minimum wagemakes it more difficult for studentslike us to get low-skilled jobs andgain experience in the workingworld. Why would a small businessowner pay over ten dollars an hourto somebody who might only makethe business six dollars an hour?So, while the minimum wageincrease hurts small businesses, italso hurts motivated young peoplelooking to gain experience and earnan honest living. Small businesseswill have to fire employees to counteract the raise in minimum wage.Although the Obama administrationhas good intentions by proposingan increase in minimum wage, it willcause many low-income workers tolose their jobs.

PageThe Delbarton CourierOpinionS6Excitement Builds for Star Wars Episode VIIBy: Joseph Lee ‘15Don’t lie, you are excited for StarWars Episode VII – and you shouldbe. People have very high expectations for the latest addition to theStar Wars franchise, and I believe itwill live up to the hype.The three most recent movies(Episodes I, II, and III) were somewhat disappointing in some people’seyes because of casting, but EpisodeVII is shaping up to be awesome.J.J. Abrams was selected as thenew director, which George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, called“ideal”. Abrams was involved inmany great productions includingCloverfield, Star Trek, and the verypopular show, Lost.Disney is now in charge of thisnew production instead of Universal. Episode VII should live upto the hype because old stars fromthe first episodes are returning. Forexample, Harrison Ford is making acomeback as Han Solo. Mark Hamill(Luke) and Carrie Fisher (Leia) havebeen approached about returning totheir roles as well.All of the biggest Star Wars fansa nine episode series, so Episode VIIwas written with the originals. Disney is thinking of making separatemovies about individual characters,which could be great because eachcharacter has a unique background.This could be an important development because every fan has hisor her favorite character and wouldbe interested in getting to knowthat character better. One characterthat has been proposed for his ownmovie is Boba Fett.To summarize, Episode VII willbe awesome for several reasons: J.J.Abrams is the director; Disney, oneof the film industry’s biggest production companies, now controlsthe movies; and finally, because ofthe possibility of future moviesabout specific characters.In conclusion, the Star Warsfranchise is in good hands. EpisodeVII will be amazing and choosingto expand the world of Star Warswill turn out to be the right call. Itwill be hard to beat Episodes IV, V,and VI, but Episode VII has a verygood chance. One last thing – Jar JarBinks will not appear in Episode VII,so that’s a plus because no one likedCourtesy of www.design-laorosa.com him. Be honest, you didn’t.to have a better script and production than the previous movies.Star Wars was originally written asare excited and looking forward toEpis

5. St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals are always contenders, but last year had a slightly subpar postseason and finished 9 games back in the NL Central. Now ready to see what a full season of centerfielder Jon Jay can do for them, I expect St. Louis to find a way to make the playoffs. TOP 5: Perennial Contenders 1. San Francisco Giants: The Gi-