The Paw Print

Owen Brackett has always loved basketball. But he hasn’t always maintained the grades necessary to stay on his school teams.  Each year in middle school, as well as during his freshman year in high school, his struggles to pass all his classes kept him bouncing on and off his school’s basketball team.

But in recent years, Brackett, who lives in East New York, has turned his academic performance around. Now in his senior year, he hasn’t failed a class since freshman year, and he has decent grades, as opposed to barely passing. “Both of my parents dropped out of high school, and I’ve never been a good student,” he said. â€œBut I stepped it up with school so that I could stay on the team.  It definitely hasn’t been easy, though.” 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has tightened up in recent years on its grade requirements for student athletes and has begun enforcing those requirements strictly.  These rules have at times taken away the shot of a lifetime from kids who live for the sport they love. But at the same time, they have occasionally given students like Brackett the motivation to work as hard off the court as they do on the court.

According to the NCAA’s rules, student athletes must maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.0, along with minimum SAT or ACT scores.  If these requirements, along with the minimum number of courses that must be completed, are not fulfilled, a student athlete will not be eligible to play for his or her team.  Also, if a student had gotten into college with a scholarship, that financial aid will be revoked immediately if grades aren’t up to par.

High schools are responsible for preparing their student athletes for college level play, and part of that means making sure they keep up with their grades.  In some schools there has not been much of an issue with balancing grades and sports.  “Student-athletes are held to a high standard both in school and in our community,” said Gerry Foley, principle at North Kings Town High School in Rhode Island. “I find that most of them, about 95 percent, remain eligible.  They learn the important lesson of budgeting their time. They seem to do this better when they are engaged in sports than when they have a season off from athletics.”  

Displaying confidence in his schools handling of academics and sports, Foley added, “Eight of the top-ten ranked students in our graduating class of 2009 played sports in high school.”

The academic requirements of some schools can be particularly hard for students coming from impoverished or under-educated backgrounds.  Owen lives in East New York, a neighborhood once known as the “Dead Zone” because of its high crime rate, but he spends very little time socializing there.  “I never hang out outside where I live, especially at night,” said Brackett. “I come home to study and sleep.” His new priorities and social choices have paid off.  Brackett was named team captain by his coach last year, a spot that he would not have gotten if his grades continued to lag.

When student athletes don’t take school seriously, it can hurt them in the long run.  Often athletes can slide with bad grades in high school, but once college time comes, student cannot work their way around poor grades.  “I failed most of my classes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to play,” said Omar Williams, the leading scorer on John Jay High School’s basketball team.  “I told Coach I would do better next quarter, and he let me back on the team after like a week.”

Omar could have the potential to be a good player in college, but if he doesn’t make progress academically, he may end up in same hole many student athletes have dug themselves into.

Centenary College’s men’s basketball team and Tennessee-Chattanooga’s football team were banned from post-season play next year by the NCAA for having poor Academic Progress Rate scores.  The Bowling Green State University Football team also took a hard fall for consistently poor grades, losing eight scholarships they had originally given students.  These schools have faced harsh realities for not emphasizing the importance of academic performance.

Owen had a teammate who was kicked off his team when he was a freshman, who he thought could have made it to Division I in college.  “He was the best player on our team by far,” Brackett said.  “But he couldn’t keep his grades up, and I heard he had a lot of problems off the court, a lot worse than my problems.  Then he was gone out of nowhere.”

No matter what problems student athletes have off the court, the NCAA feels strongly about holding its students to a standard, and keeping to that standard under all circumstances.

Paul Philips, Basketball Men’s Coach of Clark University, expressed his concern for the larger population, and the small loss that may come along as well.  “Like I say all the time, no matter how good you are, you’re not gonna make it anywhere with the wrong attitude.  Coaches in college, including myself, will get rid of a player quickly if they think they’re going to run the show.  Everyone has to deal with the same requirements, and people who have it harder than others need to adjust.  Some kids might not make it, but so many more kids have changed and grades in schools have gone up because the kids know they cannot play without the proper credentials.” 

Philips is not alone in believing the requirements help more students than they hurt.  According to an ESPN story published this year, there has been a 23 percent drop in students leaving school because of poor academic standings since the 2003-2004 season.  The report emphasized the positive change by saying that in the last decade, the NCAA has been reluctant to punish schools whose athletes do not perform well academically, but now that they have tightened up the requ
irements, schools are improving every year.  This is a system without sympathy, but it can have the effect of changing students’ priorities in a positive manner.

Owen is one of the student athletes who has benefited greatly from schools’ grade standards. Soon he will face the next step of college basketball, where there will be tougher competition and no breaks given if requirements are not met.  But he is ready and excited for that next step.  Brackett has dramatically gotten his act together, but admitted, “It’s kind of sad, but I improved my grades for basketball, not because I cared that much.”

 

     When Barack Obama was elected as the president of the United States, many would view healthcare reform as one of his mandates. He campaigned on the promise of fixing the obviously broken American healthcare system.

     Now that we have reached that pivotal point of turning an ideal into actual legislation, there have been those who wish to stop the bill from passing at all costs. Conservative democrats, who are part of the Blue Dog Coalition, are delaying the 1,000+ page healthcare bill that has been introduced to Congress.

     The Blue Dogs, who identify themselves as fiscal conservatives, claim that they require more time to oversee the bill. This has delayed the bill, preventing it from reaching the president’s desk before the August recess.

      But where does the loyalty of these Blue Dogs lie? The Democratic Party currently dominates Capitol Hill; they even possess a vital filibuster-proof majority. Yet debates about cost and coverage continue to stymie reform.

      Nancy Pelosi recently spoke about the role of healthcare lobbyists in this entire fiasco. “Of course, they’ve been immoral all along,” she said. “They are the villains in this… They have had a good thing going for a long time at the expense of the American people and the health of our country.”

      What she fails to mention is just how these villains have captured her own party. She has left out just how they have become such major players in this calamity. Pelosi herself has received over $200,000 from the insurance industry, according to Opensecrets.org, a research group that tracks money in U.S. politics.

      The finances of the Blue Dogs are highly suspect. In 2008, the healthcare sector contributed over half a million dollars to the Blue Dog PAC. In just the first six months of 2009, the Blue Dogs received $297,500 from the industry. And, according to the Washington Post, the Blue Dogs have received around 25 percent more money from the healthcare sector then other Democrats.

      The history of the Blue Dogs is also fairly questionable. Billy Tauzin was a representative from Louisiana and one of the founding members of the Blue Bog Coalition back in 1994. He left Congress in 2005 and became president and chief executive officer of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a prominent lobbying force within Washington. According to the Wall Street Journal, PhRMA presented Tauzin a modest offering of $2.5 million dollars.

      This is the time for the Democratic party—if it really wants this bill passed—to pull strings and haul people into offices to have serious discussions about their alliances. You know, like they did in the good old days of politics when they wanted to get things done. After all, it is pretty obvious that these senators are not behaving in a manner that is beneficial to the American people or in a way that is reflective of what their constituents are asking for.

      In short, the actions of the Blue Dogs are indicative of the hypocrisy that seems to plague Capitol Hill. They preach fiscal responsibility yet they accept massive donations from special interest groups.

           On July 25, 2009, at 7:00 a.m., the McHaire family packed their bags and hopped in their car heading towards Beacon, New York, along the Hudson River. Like many families exposed to the summer sun, the McHaires hoped to avoid the heat by swimming. But unlike many of the families who planned to make sand castles and playfully splash in the water, the McHaires were off to a location that was once considered too polluted for swimming.

 

           Thirty years ago, nobody expected the 315-mile Hudson River, which flows through eastern New York, to be clean enough for swimming. But on this July day three decades later, after the removal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other harmful chemicals, an estimated 220 swimmers ranging from 12 years old to 70 years old jumped into the 75-degree water, awaiting their cue to begin swimming the one mile to the opposite side.

 

            The event, which attracted swimmers from various states along the East Coast, focused on raising money for an Olympic-sized swimming pool that will be partially submerged in the Hudson (a cage-like structure will allow users to swim in river water, but without the dangers of swimming in an open current). This was the sixth annual swim and attracted the most swimmers and spectators. According to a local volunteer, the 2008 event attracted around 180 participants, while this year approximately 220 people showed up to participate.

           For many participants and spectators, the swim signified a change. “Yes, we are raising money to build another pool, but it’s more than that. Just having swimmers in the water reflects the transformation of the water,” said spectator Carla Polizer, a 57-year-old mother who grew up in Beacon alongside the once-polluted river.

          From approximately 1947 to 1977, the General Electric Company (GE) leaked up to 1.3 million pounds of PCBs from its facilities in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward. In 1977, the federal government banned companies from using PCBs in industrial processes when PCBs were discovered to cause developmental disorders and cancer. Although GE stopped dumping its toxic chemicals, residents remained unhappy about the quality of the water. One advocate against the water pollution was legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, who lived two miles from the Hudson River. But it was not until 2002 that the Environmental Protection Agency was able to pass a landmark decision, requiring GE to create a plan to remove the toxins that it had spilled.

              Although the river still contains traces of harmful chemicals, the Hudson is now clean enough to drink and swim in.

             Across the river from Beacon, in Newburgh, NewYork, the triumphant swimmers were welcomed with free t-shirts, food, and anappearance by Pete Seeger himself. Dripping wet, the swimmers received applauseand their one minute of fame as they walked down the dock to join fellow participantsand family. “It really was fun. Everyone was so proud and happy to be helping acause,” said Joel Vargas, a 43-year-old fireman in Beacon, who completed theswim in under one hour.

Those who swam enjoyed almost-perfect conditions.Besides the slight current, the cool water was a perfect getaway from the85-degree weather that spectators endured. “The swim was really refreshing,”said Angus Riley, 21, who decided that the swim would be a great goal for thesummer.

            Alongwith the satisfaction of completing the race, participants experienced joystemming from the Hudson’s clean-up. “Nowadays we are having so much troublewith pollution,” said Ashleigh Turner, 71, who grew up in Beacon. “This justshows that humans can change the environment.”

            “Do you mind watching my laundry?” a man asked me. “I have to pick up my son from school.” With those words it struck me: how has the world gone from young girls reading, “How to be a Good House Wife” in school text books, to the husband taking on the classic “wife’s” role?

 

I was sitting in the Laundromat twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my comforters to dry, ankles crossed and head tilted. I rarely find myself in a Laundromat since I have my own washer and dryer at home. I was only there on this particular day because my mother was afraid that our machines wouldn’t handle the quilts. But it was here that the subject of a major role-change in less than half a century dawned on me.

 

According to a US Census press release in 2006, there was an estimated 143,000 Mr. Moms with children under the age of 15. Up to 32 percent of fathers in the U.S. stay home or work late hours to look after their children, whereas a stay-at-home dad was nowhere to be found in the 1950s.

 

Back in the 1950s, high schools would require teenage girls to take a Home Economics class while the boys would take Workshop.  The girls would read and study the requirements of becoming a good housewife. 

    According to an excerpt of a home-economics text book from 1954, the female duties would include a list of family essentials like preparing dinner, picking up the children and tidying up. In addition were some bizarre demands: “Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking,” just to please the husband, and “listen to him; you may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time; let him talk first.” Yes, it’d be nice to look attractive for your husband and not stress him out, but these requests are flat-out degrading.

 

It’s funny to see how the tables have turned. Mothers are now working to put food on the table while the fathers are obliged to accomplish all tasks of a “good housewife.”

 

So exactly who is wearing the pants in the modern relationship?

 

Good question. It really depends how the father takes on this “motherly” role. If he’s a stay-at-home daddybecause mommy can manage a steady job but daddy can’t, then shame on you, daddy! Well, unless there’s a case of having been laid-off. Being laid-off is a legitimate excuse to stay home—but only to a certain extent. 

    If daddy’s bending over backwards, like all those strenuous yoga positions, just to find a way to somehow provide for the family, I am proud of you, dad! However, if he’s wasting his life drinking and smoking away his problems and blaming everything around him for being jobless, he’s not going to get anywhere.

 

Some say to have some sympathy; I say I’ll give him sympathy if he deserves it. There is no such thing as trying, only doing. Now this is where people get confused. Trying is moping around,complaining about your past, or something along those lines, whereas doing is putting effort into supporting the family.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mr.Mommy! There’s nothing bad about daddy having to lug the stroller around or carpool or get dinner on the table. But only under one condition: do not try. Trying is nice, but it’s not enough for the family.

           In 1962, Thomas McGloin, a Catholic priest, was visiting a convent when something – no, someone – caught his eye.“That’s a very fine looking nun,” he remembers thinking.

Now, 47 years later,when Tom peers under the dust of decades of memories, he sees years filled with the laughter of little children, the gurgling of the brook on the property of his country home, and the penetrating love of one woman. If it were not for that one moment at the convent, very little of the life Tom McGloin has known for nearly half a century would be.

Tom and Patty McGloin’s meet-cute story seems fit for a quirky romantic comedy.  Tom chuckles as he remembers the second moment that day, which opened the doors to some conflicted thought for him. “After the mass, we had breakfast and there was a very large bowl of oatmeal which I thought was mine, so I started to eat it and Patty told me, ‘that’s for everyone.’”

So began a relationship that led both Father Tom and Sister Patty to leave the Catholic Church. Their story illustrates some of the challenges the Catholic Church faces in remaining relevant to those who would like to answer its calls to service. According to Reuters, in the past 30 years, up to 30,000 Priests in the U.S. and over 150,000worldwide have left the clergy to marry.

At the time that his friendship with Patty was deepening back in 1962, McGloin took comfort in the thought that he might not need to choose between his two loves. The 1960s were a time of change, and there was a shared feeling among young Catholics that the Church was going in a new direction.

However the Vatican remained as unwavering on its marriage stance as it did when it maintained that the world was flat. When Pope John Paul II was chosen in the seventies, he made it clear there would be no option of non-celibacy under his reign.

Tom loved being a priest, and was at first willing to make the necessary sacrifices. â€œThere were many priests, including myself, who had no inclination towards celibacy, but were willing accept a life without marriage in order to serve the lord as priests, it was sort of a package deal.”

However, he is certain that if the Church were to make celibacy optional tomorrow, he would immediately rejoin. In fact, falling habit over heels under God’s roof and rejecting celibacy for love was never an uncommon practice.

Many men like Tom went into the clergy with pure intentions and a desire to serve the Lord and help his people, but later realized some sacrifices were just too difficult to stay true to. They found that becoming a priest does not make these sexual impulses or interest go away. It just forbids them. Half of the class Tom was ordained with left their professions at the church to marry.

Many men and women in the Church have found that to be true for themselves. After the possibility of marriage had entered Tom McGloin’s head in the 1960s, it was difficult for him to dismiss it. Soon after Patty left the Church, he followed. “Some of the men I know that left, they felt that they were doing God’s will byleaving.”

Other priests found a much less healthy outlet for their sexual impulses, by abusing children. The sex abuse scandal that followed tarnished the reputation of the Roman Catholic clergy. It also cost the Church a great deal of money to settle cases with victims. According to Reuters, the Catholic diocese (an extension of the Vatican) of Los Angeles “settled with 508 victims of priest abuse in 2007, paying out $660 million.”

The harsh guidelines of the Vatican have garnered criticism as a contributing factor of the sex scandal. Psychologist Dr.Robyn Flaton offers a tempered analysis of  this accusation. “Some people are predisposed to have psychological issues,” she said, but “I don’t think being celibate is healthy.”

            Last year,the Vatican refined its guidelines and psychological screening for those interested in entering the clergy. The process now evaluates whether the candidate is aware of his or her own sexuality. Dr. Flaton believes that this could be very effective if the information is used properly. The sexual preference of the man will not indicate anything by itself, but it may flag any sexual confusion that could cause trouble later.

There remains some concern about how the church is using this information; some people suspect they are using it to weed out homosexuals. Dr. Flaton believes that the fact that a man is heterosexual will not make him much less likely to molest a little boy. If a person molests any child, he or she is psychologically unstable, regardless of sexual orientation, says Flaton. Mentally unhinged men with unresolved sexual turmoil may be tempted to manifest their misguided desire on any person available. Priests have young vulnerable altar boys at their disposal.

Tom McGloin, the former Father and current dad, reflected on how the Church could have avoided some of its current problems. “There was a great opportunity in the sixties, and had the Church made celibacy optional rather than compulsory, there would be a different situation than today.”

           

“We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values.” This statement appears in the 2008 Republican Party Platform. But just what are those values, and does the party actually practice what they preach?

            The phrase “family values” was popularized by President Ronald Reagan to fight the American values war with those Godless liberals and has been used ever since. The vague term is often used to promote what republicans consider conservative, traditional ideals.

           The Elephants of America present themselves as the pious and family oriented party—and remember, a family has one mommy and one daddy. Yet in the last year and a half there have been many embarrassing, adulterous incidents in the Grand Old Party.

           One name that has been added to the recent-sinners-list from the Republican Party is Representative Vito Fossella of Staten Island. This dalliance is especially close to my heart because Fossella has been representing my borough since 1997.

           On May 1, 2008, Rep. Fossella was arrested with a friend in Alexandria, Va. for driving while intoxicated. Although he has apologized to his constituents, I have yet to grant forgiveness.

           But the DUI was not the end of the scandal for the Staten Island native. It was then discovered that Fossella was dating Laura Fay, a retired Air Force lieutenant who resides in Virginia. Fay and Fossella have a 4-year-old daughter.

           Happy southern family aside, or rather on the side, Fossella already has a wife and three children in Staten Island.

           The classic Island family portrays itself as tight-knit, conservative and deeply catholic. Unless Fossella became a fringe Mormon, he doesn’t qualify for even the first two elements of the ideal Staten Island family.

           Another traditionalist is Senator John Ensign (R) of Nevada—that is traditional in an “Indecent Proposal” way.

           Ensign—who called for Clinton’s resignation in the 90s after the Monica Lewinsky scandal—recen
tly admitted to having an affair with a married woman. His mistress, Cynthia Hampton,  worked for Ensign’s re-election campaign.

           After Ensign’s adulterous scandal was made public, Hampton’s husband, Doug, announced that his wife had been paid $25,000 in “severance” when she left the campaign.

When Senator Ensign’s parents discovered their son’s infidelity, they contributed $96,000 to Mrs. Hampton’s bank account.

           Ensign’s office also admits to helping Mr. Hampton, the senator’s former chief-of-staff, find two jobs after he left Ensign’s senate office. Mr. Hampton first went to work for November Inc., a consulting company headed by Mike Slanker, who was on the National Republican Senatorial Committee during Ensign’s chairmanship. Mr. Hampton now lobbies at Allegiant Airlines, which contributed to Ensign’s campaign.

           It seems highly unlikely that the massive cash flow between Ensign intermediaries was simple charity. It seems more like hush money for the affair.

         But the most recent Republican debacle is the one that, according to comedian John Stewart, “God killed Michael Jackson for.” The Appalachian trail blazer himself, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, holds that mantle.

Sanford is now infamous for having a secret Argentine lover, who he has called his “soul mate,” and holding multiple press conferences to talk about his transgressions. He’s also known for his erotic e-mail writing skills.

I do not write this believing that the Democrats are a sinless bunch. They have had countless scandals and mishaps that have been well-documented through the years. But I believe the Republican Party is more egregious because they have built themselves up on the platform of Christian values and Conservatism. Republicans hold their label as tightly as they should be holding their Holy Bible.

           Through all of their scandalous behavior they still attempt to prove themselves as the “family values” party. Adultery is not family values. It is not Christian. It breaks a commandment that is sacred in the Christian faith they so vehemently support.

           The Republican Party should stop their crusade against lesbians and abortion rights and instead try to fix their own marriages and find a less hypocritical social message. 

 

All aboard! The RMS Titanic has finally reached New York City.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, at the new Discovery Times Square museum, brings the ultimate Titanic experience. So even if you forgot to buy your ticket for the main voyage, now is your chance. The exhibit takes visitors through a series of room recreations from the Titanic, and displays real artifacts that were recovered from the ship’s original site in the ocean.

The RMS Titanic was a British ship making its first voyage to America. It first sailed on April 10, 1912, departing from Southampton, England. But something came in between that kept the nearly 883-foot ship from arriving at its New York City destination. On April 14, at 11:40 p.m., the ship hit an iceberg. It sank 3 hours later, dropping 3,925 meters into the Atlantic Ocean,where is still lies today. The Titanic was carrying 2,228 people on board, including the crew members. Only 705 passengers survived. They were picked up by a ship called Carpathia the next morning. Many of the passengers who died lost their lives from hypothermia rather than drowning.

It takes researchers two hours to get to and from the Titanic site on the ocean floor. Archaeologists predict that 90 years from now, the Titanic will completely vanish because of all the microbes that have been eating away at it since it sunk.

  The Titanic exhibition features such items as a  stack of plates that were retrieved from the ocean floor, just as they were dropped from the Titanic, along with stamps used on letters, a rubber boot, jewels, a leather artist portfolio, currency from different countries, and a 14 karat gold coin purse. The museum also features an iceberg recreation that is cold to the touch; it gives visitors a sense of how cold the water was on the night of the accident. Other elements that draw attention are the recreation of the first-class hallway and even the ship’s amazing grand staircase.

           A ticket to the Titanic would have cost $69,600 in today’s dollars for a first-class ticket, but now it costs only $25 to get the ultimate experience. The ticket that visitors receive allows them to role-play being a passenger boarding the Titanic on April 10, 1912. On the back is a brief history about “yourself” explaining why that passenger was going to the United States, what part of the United States they were going to, and who that person was traveling with. It also indicates that passenger’s class, and what port he or she sailed from.

       Although the Titanic took 97 years to finally reach New York, it has arrived. But hurry – she will be leaving port on February 20, 2010.      
   

TheTitanic Artifact exhibition is at Discovery! Times Square, 226 W. 44^thStreet between 7^th and 8^th Avenue. Adults $24.50, seniors 65+ $22.50, Children 4-12 years old $17.50, Children under 4 years old are free.

 

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Darcy Frey tells a story that needs to be told in his book, “The Last Shot,”which recounts the lives of young basketball players in Coney Island, Brooklyn and the dangers they confront on and off the court.

           

    Many great talents from Coney Island never had the chance to reach their full potential and play college ball, and those who get far enough to face college recruitment are extremely vulnerable to coaches and companies who use the players for their own benefit. 

    

    These high school athletes must deal with the pressures of the game along with trying to resist the temptations that come with basketball fame.  Frey followed players who have put everything on the line for their basketball careers and often fear they will not make it into a good college. 

    For over two years, Frey followed players at Lincoln High School who have the potential to play Division I college ball. But these students have many more adversities to face than the average student athlete.  

    The main players Frey focuses on are Stephon Marbury, Corey Johnson, Russell Thomas, and TchakaShipp, all seniors at Lincoln who share the same dream: to play college ball and move away from their current homes. 

    Filled with quotes throughout the book, Frey’s journalism skills present the reader with a vivid depiction of where the players are coming from and their individual personalities.         

    The media attention, pressure from coaches and the college recruitment process can be brutal. Russell, who sometimes breaks down from all the pressure, attempted to take his own life at one point. 

            The players want desperately to escape their Coney Island neighborhood. The drugs and crime in Coney Island have presented a large gateway that many young Coney Island residents get involved with at an early age.  The book describes the daily precautions that people must take in these neighborhoods to avoid danger, and that sometimes people join the danger instead of actually escaping it. 

Schipp desperately wants to escape his life in Coney Island, and once literally had to escape from a gang who shot at him for the pair of sneakers he was wearing.  Frey explains how in Coney Island, sports are often the only way the kids can progress towards higher education and a career.

           The in depth reporting in this book reveals to the reader the complex circumstances that these athletes face routinely.  With the lives of these young, aspiring players being described over a long period of time, Frey sends a message to readers that society embraces young black men trying to escape their past life; because they want to get to the next step so badly the college recruitment process can manipulate them without thinking twice about it. 

The harsh reality displayed in this book is that society lets black men from neighborhoods like Coney Island almost be forced to turn to athletics in order to escape, and colleges, companies, and corporations can all use their talent to make loads of cash.

Frightened Rabbit, an indie rock/indie folk band, played at the Siren Festival in Coney Island on Saturday, July 18, 2009. The band consists of Scott Hutchison, Grant Hutchison, Billy Kennedy and Andy Monaghan. Frightened Rabbit started underground but worked their way up.

On the song “Modern Leper,” the acoustic guitarist first played simple strokes along the guitar strings at a fast speed, which sounded like three piano keys being pressed at once. The vocalist Scott Hutchinson started with a slow pace as he sang “A cripple walks amongst you” with his hoarse, somewhat accented voice. Then the drums came in, sounding as if thunder was hitting. The bass joined in with quick light strokes, speeding up the song’s pace.

”Old Old Fashion” started off with an acoustic guitar that sounded like a stuttering person. The bass soon came in afterward, with a roaring sound. This song was played with more of an indie folk style, while the others in the set sounded more like indie rock. The lyrics referenced technology: “I’ll turn off the T.V, it’s killing us, we never speak, there’s a radio in the corner, it’s dying to make a scene.” Let’s forget today’s technology, the band seemed to say, and go to old-fashioned technology because that’s when voices told the story.

”The Twist” didn’t really have an enthusiastic feeling to it when it started. The lyrics at first also did not sound right as vocalist Scott Hutchison sang “Do the twist in the twisting outfit, the loose tie with loose limp wrists.” Later on he sang, “You twist and whisper the wrong name I don’t care nor do my ears Twist yourself around me I need company I need human heat.” It seems in the lyrics the twist is a dance, and by doing it with the girl in the song he has company. The beat was good, as it began quickly with fast guitar strokes. The song flow got better when the chorus came in around mid song. The song could have been better like Poke and Floating in the Forth from the album The midnight Organ Fight.

    There is a dark blemish in Iran’s recent history—a time when women were pushed into the past, progress regressed and the veils went back on. Citizens are now fighting against the past, pushing forward to ensure that they are given the rights they feel they deserve.     

    People saw hope in Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was defeated by the conservative President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in the June 12th presidential election.  Under Ahmedinejad, people, especially women, saw the rights they fought so desperately for during the Islamic Revolution disappearing. He was the President, but his term was hardly an exercise in democratic rights, for women in particular.     

    In Iran today, while women do have some rights, there are also many restrictions. They must ask permission from their husbands to go to public places, which are often segregated so men and women are not together. And, since the first election of Ahmedinejad women can still receive 74 lashes for not wearing a hijab, or veil, in public, according to the news Web site Independent.ie. Many women have gotten plastic surgery so the only visible part of them, the face, is as “beautiful as possible,” the site reported.     

    After going through the Islamic revolution in the early ’80s, people could not stand to be oppressed again. The hope inspired by Mousavi was similar to the hope and change many Americans saw in President Obama.     

    Mousavi reached out as a liberal candidate, campaigning with his wife Zahra Rahnavard, a painter and college professor. They even held hands in public, which is a shocking thing to witness in an Islamic country. Zahra even made speeches beckoning women to stand up. 

    According to “The Sunday Independent,” she once said “getting rid of discrimination and demanding civil rights is the number one priority for women in Iran.” There was a feeling that Iran was steadily veering towards a sexual revolution. But when it was announced that Moussavi had not won the election, women especially were in a state of dismay. 

    Although some pre-election polling gave Ahmedinejad a 20 percent lead, people were still shocked. Citizens, including scores of women, poured into the  streets of Tehran to voice their opposition. The government responded by using “tear gas and wooden batons” to control the crowds, according to The New York Times. Reuters placed the final death toll for the clashes at 69. 

    The iconic image of the clash which angered, united, and inspired many was the bloodied body of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose death in the opposition movement was caught on a video which went viral on the Internet. It was recently made clear that Ahmedinejad would remain President of Iran. 

    Iran like the U.S. has a two 4 year term limit for their Presidents. After learning of the violent nature of the people employed by Ahmedinejad, and his ruthlessness in seeking control, it would be wise for the people to oppose peacefully, in the way of Ghandi, and bide their time, preparing for their chance of freedom in four years.