High School Confidential

By Jeff Zalesin

	Jeff Zalesin is a junior at Briarcliff High School, where he serves as the arts editor for his school newspaper, The Briarcliff Bulletin. When he isn’t writing, Jeff runs track and field and listens to all types of music, except Christmas music.

In America, the frenzied holiday season is perennial fodder for B-list Hollywood studios, a much-needed shot of espresso for the comatose retail sector, and an annual excuse to indulge one’s fondness for red velvet hats. But for some discerning music listeners, the season to be jolly amounts to little more than a Holy Headache. As some of us wish Jesus a Happy 2008th and others celebrate the miracle of long-lasting oil, we are all once again victim to a relentless onslaught of holiday-themed music.

If you wanted to survive the month of December without ever hearing a holiday tune, you would need to make some severe lifestyle changes. You couldn’t walk into a grocery store or a coffee shop, or even along the sidewalk of a commercial street. You’d have to plug your ears and run at the sight of pedestrians in groups, for these might be carolers.  Television, of course, would be strictly off limits. And you wouldn’t dare touch your FM radio dial.

And for all that effort, you’d earn yourself a reputation as a social pariah. To most Americans, it would seem bizarre that anyone would want to avoid holiday music. Aversion to Christmastime fervor – Scroogism, if you will – is considered about as foreign to American culture as ritual foot binding. A real American, we are taught, has the warmth of heart to partake in the wholesome Christmas Spirit, and accordingly -themed music is part of the package.

Of all the types of conformity American society expects, this may be the one I find toughest to abide. It surely doesn’t help that I identify as a Jew, but what really stands between me and the Christmas Spirit is my distaste for the sonic trash that pollutes my musical environment this time of year. And though I do my best to judge all songs with a fair and open mind, I have grown convinced that holiday music is uncommonly derivative and predictable. Over the years, I have formulated the following categories for the easy classification of all holiday songs:

1. Winter Weather – Paradoxically, many holiday songs have little to do with an actual holiday. Instead, they espouse the defining meteorological feature of winter – namely, snow – and all the fun it entails. This category happens to include several of the most popular holiday songs of all time: “Jingle Bells,” “Winter Wonderland,” and Bing Crosby’’s enduring smash, “White Christmas.”
2. Santa Claus – Old Saint Nick may not be real, but you wouldn’t know it from the volume of pop music written in his honor. For the sake of convenience, we will classify all songs about reindeer in this category by association. Familiar examples: “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Little Saint Nick,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
3. Christmas Wishes – These most generic of songs have so little thematic substance that they can do nothing more than simply wish us a Merry Christmas.  Think I’m exaggerating?  Consider the following: “Feliz Navidad,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
4. Jesus – He may be the birthday boy, but the actual airtime devoted to Christmas songs about Jesus is comparatively slim. The best-known ones tend to be old seasonal hymns that predate the advent of recorded music, such as “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Silent Night.”
5. Christmas as Proxy for Something Else – Record executives know that for two months a year, they can shove anything down America’s collective throat, so long as it contains the word “Christmas.” So we get listless, formulaic pop that uses Christmas as a front for something even more mundane, like a run-of-the-mill love affair or a child’s dental woes. Instructive in the phenomenon: “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” and Jimmy Buffet’’s wretched “Christmas In The Caribbean.”
6. Christmas as Comedy: Snobs like me enjoy making a mockery of Christmas music, but a few recording artists have beaten us to the punch. Weird Al Yankovic won laughs as usual with “The Night Santa Went Crazy,”” but it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for Dr. Elmo, whose sole claim to fame is the omnipresent “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.”     
7. Hanukah Songs – So far, Kwanza has been spared the trivializing effect of pop songs in the Christmas mold.  Hanukah, sadly, has not been so lucky. Since most Jews can’t remember what Hanukah is about and most non-Jews never learned, popular Hanukah songs don’t get more specific than a vague allusion to “days long ago.” Three examples, all of roughly equal religious merit: “O, Hanukah,” “The Dreydel Song,” and Adam Sandler’s “Hanukah Song.”

I once believed that anyone who records Christmas songs is an incorrigible sellout, but I abandoned that theory because the list was so overwhelming: Springsteen, the Beach Boys, Sinatra, B.B. King, U2, The Supremes, The Beatles – heck, most of the great artists in the history of popular music have at sometimes turned to Christmas music. To me, these recordings represent the low points in the otherwise stellar careers of highly talented performers. Sure, there are those who claim that the intrinsic joy of holiday season forgives its trite soundtrack. Bah, I say. Humbug.

By Alex Bleiweis

	Alex Bleiweis is a senior at Hendrick Hudson High School. He is the public relations officer of the student government. He enjoys studying French and watching sports.

Every successful musician will make the same assertion that Kevin Bacon did, saying that, “Music is the stuff that keeps us alive. It has the power to heal us, move us and stimulate our minds and our bodies. Kids need music as much as they need the education fundamentals.”

An unfortunate truth about local high schools is that music education is often overlooked if not forgotten. Although music education is becoming more prominent at Hendrick Hudson, the location of the band and orchestra rooms is particularly appropriate for the situation we’re in. Located down myriad flights of stairs, in what’s referred to as “the dungeon,” Hen Hud musicians, who are tirelessly rehearsing in order to achieve honors such as “Gold Ratings” at the annual NYSSMA festival, are flying under the radar. Music has proven to be an extremely vital component of education and needs further attention.

Much of my high school life has been dedicated to music. As a member of the Hendrick Hudson Wind Ensemble for four years, it’s been an exciting privilege to improve as a musician under the acclaimed band director, Joe Stamboni. As much as I’ve progressed personally, I’ve been disappointed by the lack of support for the music program as a whole. The band, for example, is still the same ignored group as it was four years ago. Every year, we play at least two major concerts, march in the Memorial Day Parade, play at three elementary schools, and do various other performances for community service, but it seems that these actions have gone unnoticed by everyone but our parents. In fact, even playing at fortissimo at every home football game has brought us more negative complaints from sports-absorbed coaches rather than compliments from community members. It drives me crazy.

Initially, you may not think there’s a lot to be said for music education, but the benefits of are so monumental that is a pity that it goes ignored by so many. Students who participate in music programs are proven to achieve higher standardized test scores than non-music students. Additionally, it’s been proven that music students are superior in basic math, thanks to being exposed to counting rhythms and beats at a young age. This is only what statistics have proven, but as a music student, I know that the benefits go beyond grades. Being part of the ensemble teaches me how to cooperate with a group of people in order to reach a common goal and it teaches the value of hard work and determination. These are important qualities that can’t be taught in textbooks.

Looking at all the hard work that’s put in by each student, I feel like we deserve to look out into the audience during a concert and see an auditorium packed with people intensely listening to our selections. Instead, I peer beyond the bell of my tuba and see a small scattering of people, mostly parents. Every single empty seat is a poor reflection on our student body and our community.

Maybe it’s not their fault, maybe it’s just that our society isn’t interested in music. Still, I can’t understand why the community packs the stands for a football game, but can’t come support the musicians. There are many improvements that need to be made to the music program, including new classes, new rehearsal spaces, and an acoustically sound auditorium. However, none of this can be done without support, which means more people have to start coming out to see us. We can raise all the money in the world, but we’ll never reach our full potential by playing to an empty hall.

You should ask anyone who heard last year’s epic Carmina Burana performance, a combined effort between the band and the chorus or any of the musical groups past selections including Respighi’s “Pines of the Appien Way.” They can vouch for us. Sacrificing two nights a year to come hear the group play for free is something that community members should be excited about.

So please, regardless of where you live in the county, find out when there are high school concerts in the area and attend them. You’ll be impressed with what you hear, and you’ll understand the importance of supporting this great cause.

By Ben Brenner

	Ben Brenner, a senior at Somers High, last wrote for this column on Feb. 20, 2008.

It was my first year in Somers, my first day at Primrose Elementary School, my first 30 minutes of recess in the first grade. My only friend was my neighbor, Robby, and as I searched frantically for my missing friend, my curious eyes drifted towards the middle of the Primrose field.

Two sets of bright orange traffic cones rested 10 feet apart from each other on opposite sides of the field as a mob of first graders chased after the black and white ball rolling between them. That was my first experience with the game that would dominate the next decade of my life, the game that would introduce me to new people and places, and the game that would teach me how to win – and how to lose.

Since my first grade year, my life has been dedicated to soccer as I played on several club teams—among them, two teams ranked in the Top 50 nationwide – junior varsity and varsity. Countless camps, countless practices and countless games have left me with memories of fun, memories of torture, memories of victory, and memories of defeat.

I remember the highs and the lows, the goals scored and goals allowed, the games when I played every minute and the games when I never left the bench. I remember the cleats, from the $30 size four, synthetic Adidas, to the $200 kangaroo leather, futuristic size 10 Nikes.Yet, every new pair of cleats were accompanied by a new blister, every turf field accompanied by a dirt field, and every win accompanied by a loss.

As the end of my career looms closer, what am I left with – which memories are destined for permanence? I will never forget that soccer has escorted me around the country, from the most remote areas in Virginia to Disney World in Florida, and has gifted me with mentors and teammates. It has taught me not to take success for granted and has shown me that winning is not the only type of success.With three varsity coaches in four years, it has enabled me to deal with change, to transition, and to accept what is out of my control.

More than anything, I know the influence that soccer has had on my life extends far beyond the field, and the most important skills it has left me with have nothing to do with a ball. My soccer game has not lasted a mere 90 minutes, it has been stretched to 10 years, and it has coached me into the best condition of my life.

So have I left everything on the field? I am confident that when I finally untie my cleats and take off my shin-guards, I will have the satisfaction of knowing that my endurance lasted 10 years and that everything I have gained far ourweighs everything I have left behind.

By Heather Clausen

	Heather Clausen is a senior at Hendrick Hudson High School.

We are in high school, which means we are invincible to everything. There is no such thing as death, injury, or disease. That is not until we are older – much older. Right?

This is my fourth and final year of walking the halls at Hendrick Hudson High School. We have been very lucky to not have suffered any tragedies like many other schools do, which may be the reason that so many of us think we are Superman.

I play for the varsity softball team. One of our teammates, Shannon, is the happiest person we know. We have never experienced a game or practice without her laughing hysterically or grinning from ear to ear. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with cancer this year. We realized we were not so invincible after all and knew we had to step up to the plate and help her any way we can.

When I heard about the Stay Awake-A-Thon, I immediately thought of getting our team together to participate in this event in honor of Shannon. The Stay-Awake -A-Thon, which is on May 3 at Hen Hud High School, is a community event designed to celebrate with cancer survivors, remember those who lost their battle, and provide support and encouragement to those currently battling this horrible disease. You can stay for an hour, or all night!

We are hoping that Shannon will be able to join us at the event and participate in the survivor parade and other fun activities that will be going on all night including a live band playing music from the ’50s on up, family wacky relay races, karaoke, and much much more!

In order to raise money before the event, teams can do individual fundraising or team fundraising. We are doing several team fundraisers. Next week will be our main fundraising week. During the four lunch periods we will be holding a bake sale as well as selling lollipops. Also, we will be asking for donations and spare change. If we raise $1,000 or more, two of our teachers, Dr. Barcomb and Mr. Hallock, have agreed to shave their head in honor of all cancer victims!

We will also be hosting IPod Day where students will pay $1 in order to have the privilege of using their IPod for one day during study hall and lunch periods. In addition, we will have onsite fundraising which will include a pie-throwing booth!

No person should have to fight this terrible disease, especially someone so happy and so young. We need to find a cure for this. If you would like to make donations to Team Shannon please visit www.active.com/donate/cancerneversleeps/hhvs2007 or e-mail HClausen10@yahoo.com for information on how to send cash or check donations.

For more information about the event and how you can join us, visit www.henhudleos.org and follow the link to the Stay Awake-A-Thon.

Cancer never sleeps, and neither will we!

By Hannah Berkman

	Hannah Berkman is co-Editor-in-Chief of the Briarcliff Bulletin at Briarcliff High School.

Anyone growing up in today’s world has been exposed to enough prom references in pop culture to know basically how planning the event should go.

We’ve seen the trials and tribulations of Cameron and Joey as they plot to get Bianca to go to prom with them in the movie “10 Things I Hate About You.” We watched countless suntanned boys execute over-the-top gestures, most of them involving candles and limos, to ask their manicured counterparts to the prom on “Laguna Beach.” Ren won our hearts over in “Footloose” when he fought the authorities to protect the senior prom in all its holiness. We breathed a sigh of relief when Spicoli finally made it to the prom, despite his teacher’s attempts to keep him away, in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

One common theme rings throughout all these pop culture staples. Prom is a huge deal, and planning it should be no less of an affair. At Briarcliff High School, this seems to be true as well.

There are undoubtedly elements of prom that must be planned months in advance. Finding a limo cannot be put off till June. Rates are ever-increasing, and availability is decreasing. Briarcliff students have not lost any time in organizing and booking their limos. However, they’ve also begun the processes of finding dates and dresses even earlier than last year – for an event that isn’t until June.

Whispers of “so-and-so’s already asked so-and-so to prom, and his ex-girlfriend doesn’t even know yet” started around February break. Back in March, such exchanges had become full-blown, out-loud conversations about those who have yet to find dates.

It’s easy to shrug and say that prom is silly and doesn’t mean anything.

It’s easy to be one of those people who act like they are above the anticipation of that one night at the end of their years in Briarcliff schools. It’s easy to say that prom is overrated. Prom is an event that sets itself up to be ridiculed as the most mainstream, corny American tradition that high school students regularly experience.

And yet, in renouncing prom, we are engaging in a practice that is possibly even more typical of teenagers than the fanfare itself. Without making the effort to make prom enjoyable, without trying to work it out in a way that fits our personal styles, those among us who renounce prom are participating in the single most conventional attitude that we as high school students are practically born with: feigned apathy.

When things don’t end up exactly how they were planned, the automatic reaction of people our age is to spit out something along the lines of “whatever, I don’t care.” (Although this phrase usually includes more harsh language that this newspaper can’t print.) Do we really not care or are we just copping out because we feel defeated by circumstances we think we can’t control?

Luckily, many of the trivial concerns we occupy ourselves with, such as prom dates and limos, are merely tests of personal attitude. So the person you wanted to go to prom with is taking someone else. So a junior has the same dress as you. So your group of friends is going in two different limos. The typical response of people in these situations is to turn against prom, to say that it is an overrated night that doesn’t have any bearing on our years in high school. And though prom may be built up to be more than it should be, we effectively rule out any possibility of having fun by assuming such a conventional attitude.

When it comes down to it, prom is just as much fun as we make it. If we feign apathy, pretend it doesn’t matter to us, and secretly sulk about everything that went wrong, we are doomed to go through the same motions of our miserable predecessors who renounced prom. But if we choose to enjoy it, to make the most of prom, we can not only surprise ourselves at how easy it is to make an attitude adjustment, but also we can have an incredible time. In the case of prom, but also so many life experiences, we really will get out what we put in.

Americans have long enjoyed watching people our age sweat over prom and whatever else comes our way because in the years of SATs, college admission, and innumerable physical and emotional changes, it’s easy to get “dazed and confused.” So perhaps the wisest advice we can listen to would be from someone who has not yet hit such an erratic stage. ‘Tween pop star Hannah Montana sings to thousands of 12-year-old girls at her concerts that “life’s what you make it.” Prom is revered as the ultimate celebration — a sendoff from our primary school education and to a certain extent, our childhoods.

We can choose to diminish its importance, or we can celebrate it.

By Rina Joshi

	Rina Joshi is a sophomore at Yorktown High School. She is co-editor of the Arts and Ideas section of The Voice. In addition to writing, she enjoys dance and competitive swimming.

Have you ever noticed a garden? When one weed emerges, it causes several others to sprout around it. The same theory can be applied to religion.

The creation of the Bible sparked three different interpretations of the messiah, messenger of God. The Bhagavad-Gita created new ways and ideas to perceive Hinduism all across India. The list can continue on forever, since there are millions of ways to decipher god(s). To some people, religion means the world. But to others, such as those who are atheists, don’t care for God. Why is it so hard to accept others for their religious differences? What makes religion so dominating?

Religion is important to many people. It is evident that their passion for religion is so powerful that nations continue to be torn apart. For example, during the mid-1900s Muslims felt inferior to Hindus. Muslims wanted to be free of Hindu rule. They fought for a separation of India into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. As the war between Hindus and Muslims raged on, the clearer it became that they both fought for one apparent reason: religion.

Even the Arab/Israeli conflict was fought over Jews and Muslims. They fought to decide who the “sacred land,” Israel, truly belonged to. Arab Muslims believed Mohammad was the messiah, who made his mark on Israel; where as, the Jews believed otherwise. For years, Jews were tormented by the Arabs and left homeless. The conflict ended, as the Jews slowly began to prevail in gaining Israel. However, gaining Israel was all the Jews received. No one in the Middle East respected them, or attempted to acknowledge them. Today, Jews are still fighting a century-long battle against Anti-Semitism.

Religious discrimination doesn’t just occur in the world. If you look hard enough, you can see it in our schools. There are some religious groups who are not accepting of others and who cause a lot of tension throughout the student body.

Through the eyes of a Hindu girl, I perceive school and academics differently than a Christian girl. That is not to say I’m less dedicated to my work, nor is the other girl. I’m just saying our religious backgrounds have a huge say in the way we understand and accept certain aspects placed in our lives.

Our school seems like a diverse learning center; even with a very small minority population .We still seem to see a good variety of religions walking the halls. However, some students are more accepting of religions than others. There have been numerous instances where a fight has broke out over a difference in religion. We are one family, one student body, and no matter how different we seem to be, we really are not.

I agree that religion is a huge part of life, if you choose to believe in God. But is that the only thing that separates Hindus and Muslims or Jews and Muslims? What it all comes down to is knowing that there is always someone to believe in, whether it is after death or during a tough situation. Religion is a reason to have faith, and to be spiritually connected, not only with the environment but with others.

Why is it so hard for the world to come to an agreement that religion is based on peace and having pride in who you are? What is the big deal about another man or woman sitting next to you on the train believing in a different religion? As long as you know that your messiah, bhagwan, prophet, or however you would like to word it, exists, then all is well.

Religion is a complex and nail-biting concept. It exists not only in the real world, but in our small community in school. Accept those who are different and learn from them, because that is the only way our hearts learn to love, and our minds begin to understand life.

By Grace Bleiweis

	The author is a sophmore at Briarcliff High School, where he is arts editor and writer for student newspaper The Briarcliff Bulletin.

You know how some people find little tidbits about other people to be extremely fascinating and interesting? Well, there’s one fact about me that really seems to excite people when they find out about it.

I am a triplet.

Now, I know of at least two other people who find it as equally uninteresting as I do, however, I also know of a ton more people that find it completely spellbinding. All my life there has been excitement over the fact that I am a triplet and, to me, that’s nuts.

People tend to ask really ridiculous questions. For instance, after finding out that two of my siblings and I, two girls and a boy, make up a set of triplets, we still get the coveted, “Are you guys, like… identical!?” Just to clear that up…no. No, we are not. My sister has brown hair, I have blonde hair, and… my brother is a boy.

Then there’s the ever so popular telepathy question. Once, my brother and I made up a series of questions and answers for the question, “Can you read each others’ minds?” For example, I would say to the inquisitor, “OK, tell me to pick a number and I’ll bet Alex can tell you what number I’m thinking of.”

Of course, we’d already have it planned out in our secret code what number we would pick and we would proceed to boggle people’s minds with our little trick. But truthfully, Alex, Rachel, and I do not have telepathy and I’ll bet if you ask them if we have telepathy, they’ll say no too.

But the one question that we get most often is: “What’s it like being a triplet?”

Now don’t get me wrong. I understand that it is rare and that it is a little interesting, but what kind of question is that? I’ll bet nobody asks you what it’s like to be a singleton. Well, that might not be true. When people ask me what it’s like to be a triplet, I almost always respond, “I don’t know. What’s it like being not a triplet?”

It’s a tough question to answer because I’ve been a triplet ever since I was born. I’d like to think that it’s just like having other siblings close to your age. We’re all different, have different interests, and stuff like that. Believe it or not, recently, after discovering I was a triplet someone replied, “So, there are three of you!” No; there is one of me, there is one of Rachel, and one of Alex. That reaction, in all fairness, made my day. I mean, it was really funny.

I hope to enlighten past and future triplet inquisitors all over the county; all over the world, for that matter! Sure we are statistically special, but in reality we’re no different than any other singleton or any other multiple you will ever meet.

Although my siblings and I get little kicks and giggles out of the silly questions we get asked, I am formally asking you, reader, to think before speaking. Realize that a boy will not be identical to a girl. Realize that telepathy is a gift that only Jedis have. And most of all, realize that triplets are just three singletons born at once who can excite people with one sentence: “Did you know I’m a triplet?”

By Laya Rajan

They’re smart, they’re overachievers, and they’re bound to take over your school’s orchestra. That’s the general consensus of Asians. There is a wealth of stereotypes out there; everything from how strict the parents are, to how unathletic the children can be. From an Asian perspective, here’s the truth behind the veil.

Asians are smart. This is one of the most overused phrases when our generation thinks of Asia. This is the most irksome thing a person can hear. There’s no gene for intelligence. There are over two billion people on the Asian continent itself, not including the millions of people of Asian descent elsewhere. Every single one cannot be, and certainly is not, brilliant. We’re not any more intelligent than any other ethnic group.

The secret lies in our upbringing. In Asian countries, during our parents’ time, everything was radically different from the way it is here in America. No one lived in a commodious environment. My grandparents were in their 20s at the time of India’s independence. They worked hard, harder than anyone could imagine, supporting their families. My parents understood that to make a better life for themselves, they would have to search out every opportunity and exploit it to its fullest. The only way to do that was through education. The learning system in Asian countries is very different from here in America. While we are playing with blocks and taking naps, over in Asia, children are memorizing their multiplication tables up to 12. Education is a very strong priority in Asian households. Thus, the children work hard to attain academic excellence.

Asians are un-athletic nerds. This makes me laugh. While this may have been true several years ago, in today’s world, Asia is a strong contender in global sports. It’s not evident, because Americans don’t generally hear about the sports in which Asians excel. China especially is producing athletes that are the class of the field. At the last World Gymnastics Championships, China won both the men’s and women’s team competitions. The reigning men’s all-around champion is Chinese, and four out of the top six finishers in the all-around competition were Asian. While people don’t take pingpong seriously as an Olympic sport, Asian pingpong players train as hard as anyone else, and should in no way be considered a lesser achievement. They are considered some of the greatest players of all time, with incredibly impressive resumes. Contrary to what one might believe, athletes from China and India excel in weight lifting. In addition, in figure skating today, Chinese pairs and Japanese singles skaters are the athletes to beat in a sport traditionally ruled by Russia, Europe, and America.

“I got a 97. I am so dead.” Ah, yes: The myth of pushy parents. If someone were to ask me if my parents were pushy, my answer would have to be most emphatically no. Asian parents are not pushy; they’re just incredibly involved in what their kids do. While it is true that anything below an A is considered an abysmal grade by Asian standards, the ideology is not, “either get a 100 or we disown you,” or “until every subject is perfect, you will sit in your room and do nothing but study.” It’s more like, “Get a good grade in everything, or else you’ll have to work harder.”

When I hear people saying that they get MySpace and post pictures on the Web without their parents’ knowledge, or throw parties and go out with their friends behind their parents’ backs, I am truly astounded. It’s unimaginable for me not to tell my parents what I’m doing and what grades I get on every single test, not because my parents would kill me if I didn’t, but because that’s the way I’ve been raised.

I have a laundry list of activities that I’ve been pursuing since a very young age. I’ve also tried just about everything under the sun. Dance, check. Singing, check. Instruments of all descriptions, yup. Gymnastics, swimming, ice skating, horseback riding. You name it, I’ve done it. And why did my parents put a slightly ungainly 5-year old into so many activities? Don’t be fooled. My parents didn’t have any visions of me being the next Yo-yo Ma or Nadia Comaneci. They just wanted me to have every possible opportunity. Every parent wants to ensure their child succeeds, with whatever their definition of success is.

This mentality is exemplified in all immigrant groups, not just Asians. My parents’ generation came to this country with very little, and worked their way up to be able to live the way they dreamed of. They wanted us to start off on a better plane of life than they did, reaching higher. For Asians, the only surefire way they know is education. To this end, every piece of homework has to be done with a sharpened pencil, every line measured, and penmanship exquisite. But there is no “you failed” mentality when something goes wrong, rather a “what did we do wrong together” question. Our parents just want the very best for us. They want to see what we can accomplish that they weren’t able to.

I love my iPod. I love to dance. I can’t wait for the next episode of “The Amazing Race.” I’m just another teenager, but I come with a tag that reads: Asian-American Overachiever. A-plus or bust. The tag is acquired so easily, and it sticks even more easily.

Living up to that label, however, is a different story. But the way I’ve grown up has taught me valuable life lessons. I’ve been taught to dream deep and reach high, because nothing is impossible. You can achieve anything if you want it badly enough, because if it wasn’t possible, you wouldn’t want it so badly.

With a book in hand and violin strapped to my back, I am making my journey towards success. And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Laya Rajan is a senior at Yorktown High School and the opinion editor of its student newspaper, The Voice.

By Jordan Teicher

	Jordan Teicher

In 1992, a slew of popular celebrities, including Madonna, Donny Osmond, and members of the Ramones, encouraged eligible youths to “Rock the Vote.” In 2004, the voting-advocacy effort continued under the pretense of dumbfounding logic – the threat of imminent death – in rapper P. Diddy’s “Vote or Die” campaign.

Now, in 2008, most graduating high school seniors are members of that key 18- to 24-year-old voting demographic and they, too, have come under the radar of today’s celebrity activists. The question this time, however, is not “should we vote?” but rather, “for whom should we vote?”

As early as May 2007, talk show host and super-celebrity, Oprah Winfrey, set a precedent for the upcoming election by making her political convictions known, throwing her support behind Senator Barack Obama in an interview on “Larry King Live.” From there, the trend of celebrity endorsements of political candidates exploded, and we soon witnessed the emergence of Chuck Norris, Robert DeNiro, the Black Eyed Peas, George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, and the like in campaign headlines.

As part of a 10-question interview with Natalie Portman in Time magazine’s March 10 issue, a subscriber-submitted letter inquired if the actress would ever consider running for office. For sensible readers who may remember Portman best as an alien queen sporting a gigantic hairdo in the “Star Wars” films, this question should give pause for thought. Granted, Portman is a smart girl – a graduate from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and a talented actress who has landed some important roles. Nonetheless, we should still be asking ourselves, “Do these career attributes qualify her to pursue a career in politics?” Just because Portman is a public figure, should she be in a position to influence public affairs? Frankly, asking a movie star about politics seems about as logical as asking a mechanic for a medical consultation.

The fact that Time magazine even considered publishing that reader’s question illustrates the utter confusion of today’s news audience – the extent to which the conflicting interests of want and need have blended such that the media now needs to satisfy the public’s every whim and its desire to hear reports on both Britney Spears and the war in Iraq in the same two-hour time block.

In a political environment in which an endorsement from Oprah can carry as much weight as one from a powerful senator, in which Al Gore can appear on MTV without much to-do, and Barack Obama can take home a Grammy, it is no wonder that the political arena is so befuddled. Today, politicians are celebrities, and celebrities are politicians. The juices on the proverbial dinner plate are mixing together, and it is because we haven’t been able to create proper barriers.

The consequences of this situation vary, from the good – celebrity-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, who shocked critics nationwide with his commendable performance as California’s leading executive – to the bad – celebrity-political activist Rosie O’Donnell, boisterous former-host of “The View,” whose views, arguably should never have left her mouth, no less been broadcast to the general public.

A truth that seems to have escaped our star-struck proponents of celebrity endorsements is that some of these political activists who are treated with such reverence – Paris Hilton and 50 Cent for instance – are not nearly as active as they are political. Both “Vote or Die” figureheads, whose public support of the organization may have been responsible for sending thousands of young voters to voting booths, were notably absent when the time came to cast their own votes. Mr. 50 Cent could not vote because he is a former convict, while the infamous Hilton heiress did not because, well, she’s Paris Hilton.

It turns out that hypocrisy is another thing that celebrities and politicians have in common.

And that’s just the point. Our stars may have strong political convictions, and they may, sometimes, be intelligent individuals in their own right, but in the end, they are merely performers. Their reasons for supporting a particular candidate can be just as shallow as anyone else’s. Just because they have a platform for their opinions does not necessarily mean they are better informed.

Ultimately, pride for one’s country, the desire to exercise one’s constitutional right to vote, or concern for one’s future in the United States of America should be enough motivation for citizens to cast their ballots. But, if the sole factor in deciding to participate in the election process is that P. Diddy, Justin Timberlake, Scarlett Johansson, or Oprah said to, then so be it.

For the sake of politics, and the sovereignty of the American voter, however, their power should stop at that. Celebrities have all the show business credibility to help “rock the vote,” but they have no business governing it.

By Leigh Garcia

	Leigh Garcia is a junior at Hendrick Hudson High School.

Many people view teenagers as ignorant and close-minded towards the rest of the world. With the 2008 presidential election approaching and politics invading our lives from all angles, I can’t help but agree.

I am shocked and appalled at the amount of high school students who are in the dark when it comes to politics and world issues. They can tell you who was voted off “American Idol” and what happened on “Lost”or in the sports world, but they can’t tell you who won the Wyoming primary or what happened this week in the White House. I don’t think that all teenagers should know everything about politics, but when they don’t know the difference between Democrat and Republican or liberal and conservative, I worry about the future of this country.

We are the ones who are going to run the country in a few decades. We are the future senators, governors, cabinet members, presidents. We are the future of this nation, and I really fret at that thought when I find more and more people my age who don’t have a clue about the world.

Granted, things do change and one day my generation will wake up and realize that politics – even though anyone born after today’s date in 1990 can’t vote – affect everyone. I also recognize that there are high school students who love politics and are even more informed than I am, but that’s a small minority (or just the debate team). I am not the ignorant teenager who finds politics boring. I think it’s absolutely fascinating! It disappoints me that I am unable to speak about it with my peers.

It is so frustrating that not enough teenagers care about or are aware of politics. With so much technology in our lives, I feel like it’s inevitable that we become aware of what’s happening in our nation and world. Political information blares at me from my home page every time I sign on the Internet (and just reading headlines gives information!). It’s all over my Facebook news feed via polls and debate coverage, and is all over the radio and TV. Unless you live under a rock (which I guess the majority of my classmates do), there is no excuse for not being politically aware.

Another issue I am frustrated about with teenagers and politics is that so many teens “support” a politician and don’t know why. They do so based on race, gender, age, or how expensive their haircut is, not the major issues of each candidate. That frightens me. If young people are going to vote, will they really make the best choice for our nation? Or will they pick the candidate who looks best on the cover of a magazine?

What are worse than that are the remarks I hear and the looks I receive when I say that I am a Republican. I am met with a glare and, “So you like Bush?” How ignorant can they be!?One man does not serve as the basis of an entire party. Oh, wait, that’s right. They actually don’t know the difference between the parties.

What has this country come to?

I am fed up with the “It doesn’t affect me” attitude. I am tired of hearing, “I can’t vote yet – why does it matter?” I loath to hear, “Politics is only for adults.” Politics affects everyone, no matter the age. We teenagers are going to be running the country soon. At what point will politics go from “boring” and “useless” to “fascinating” and “essential?”

I myself do not know, but I hope it’s soon. The fate of the country rests on our shoulders.