highUFE
Volume 84 No. 8
mghLIFE
Women
should
continue to
experiment|
with the
rest of the
rainbow but not walk out
of the house looking like
a bag of Skittles. No one
wants a highlighter for
a girlfriend.
Page 6
Confused about
what days AP/IB
exams are scheduled?
See the May 2009
exam schedule.
Page 3
Opinion
Debates continue
whether or not
cloning household
animals is an ethical
practice.
Page 5
Features
Underclassmen can
find advice to help
prepare for a smooth
transition into the next
academic year.
Page 10
No. one seed UNC
impresses fans with
defeat over Michigan
State in the NCAA
tournament.
Page 15
News
2-3
Opinion
4-7
Spread
8-9
Features
10-14
Sports
15-16
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Global Music
International artists and
music groups enjoy
contributing to their
nations’ pop cultures.
Page 8-9
April 30, 2009
Shakespeare performance awes
audience with unique perspectives
■BYMILASMITIi
Staff Writer
Students enjoyed the oppor
tunity to view excerpts of
Shakespearean works performed
by GlobeWorks, an arts-in-edu-
cation program sponsored by the
North Carolina Shakespeare Fes
tival. Scenes from "Hamlet" and
"Midsummer Night's Dream"
were two such works comprising
the 50-minute performance.
Providing a glimpse into
Shakespeare's works, the actors'
intention was to demonstrate
how the Bard of Avon's literature
does not have to be intimidating
for young readers. By encourag
ing student participation on
stage and demonstrating
improvisation and humorous
twists to the plays, the audience
of teachers and students re
mained engaged.
Senior Anthony Chapman
was one of the students invited
to participate on stage. His role
was to chase a female character
across the stage.
"It was fun being on stage be
cause I used to be in Drama I and
II at Southeast Cuilford, so I was
very comfortable with the actors.
It was good to have prior knowl
edge about improv since the ac-
Members of the cast mesmerize their audience with a strong
passion for Shakespeare’s works. Back row (L-R) Ambien
IVfitchell, Jay Hernandez, Ben Chang, and Catori Swann. Front
row (l-r)Natasha Soloman and Dorothy PawlowskiRanode Photo
tors used it a lot when they got
the students involved with the
skits," said Chapman.
Also participating was se
nior Lorenzo River-Sams, who
appeared somewhat stunned
when asked to remove an
actor's boots from his feet with
no prior warning.
"I thought I was going to
have to get up and do some
thing or hold a prop, but when
the guy asked me to take his
boots off, well, it was awkward
but funny!" said River-Sams.
Media specialist Kate
Cummings, who had never
attended a ClobeWorks
production before, was pleased
to join the audience for this
year's performance.
"The actors worked to make
Shakespeare relevant to today's
students, taking time out to ex
plain the nature of drama in
Shakespeare's world as well as
what audiences of his day ex
pected," said Cummings.
Teachers from academic
areas other than English at
tended the show as well. EC
instructor Michael Mason
brought his students to experi
ence a live production.
"The ClobeWorks
Shakespeare production was
the perfect blend of comedy
and theater. The physical hu
mor of the play was woven to
gether wonderfully with
intelligent humorous prose. I
really identify with the kind of
dry and wry humor that was
blended into the entire presen
tation. Just the right amount of
20th century humor was
thrown in. Most importantly, I
came away with a renewed in
terest in Shakespeare's work,"
said Mason.
The ClobeWorks' touring
production has been perform
ing across the state of North
Carolina and the southeast
region for more than 25 years.
Crant support from the North
Carolina General Assembly
allows the organization to con
tinue entertaining audiences.
"I thought the cast did a nice
job of sharing information
about Shakespeare and his
work while maintaining a strict
focus on the most important
element of that work," said
English teacher Evan Post.
Campus drinking water put to test,
leaving unanswered questions
■BYnANIFI.TORFIH
News Editor
Observation: Every morning
before school, I fill my water
bottle at home and drink this
home-filtered product through
out the day. By around fifth
period, I generally finish the
bottle and refill it from a school
water fountain. Such is how I
came up with my idea for a sci
entific observation.
Water from the school foun
tain often carried a much more
potent and unpleasant taste. It
was even possible to see tiny
specks floating around in it,
which made me wonder why
school water tastes so different
from my water at home.
They both come from the
same water treatment plant,
should they not be comparable?
Are those specks appearing from
my water bottle itself or from the
water in the fountain? Could
there be possible health concerns
because of the chemicals causing
this difference in taste?
Hypothesis: My hypothesis
states that the water filtered at
home will perform statistically
better than the school water on
both pH and chlorine levels.
Procedure: The two main tests
I conducted involved pH and
chlorine levels. I also tested for
nitrates, copper, iron, and to
tal suspended solids; however,
the results were not conclusive
enough to draw any conclu
sion, therefore I did not focus
on these tests.
I randomly selected five
samples from the 35 water
fountains located throughout
the campus. Although there
were only five samples, they
still served as an adequate rep
resentation of the entire popu
lation because a stratified ran
dom sample was taken. All of
the samples were collected and
tested within 15 minutes in
order to insure an accurate
reading for the pH. This step
is necessary because the water
will react with the carbon
dioxide in the air, making it
more acidic.
I then used a pH probe and
found the acidity of each
sample. To test for chlorine, I
used a chlorine testing strip
that changes colors based upon
the levels of chlorine present.
Calculations: The Environ
mental Protection Agency rec
ommends that the pH of drink
ing water should range from
6.5-8.5 with an upper limit of
9.5. There is no specificied
lower limit because acidic
water does not pose any real
direct health risks. Water with
a pH lower than 6.5 is said to
be more corrosive than water
that is neutral. The more cor
rosive the water is, the more
likely it is to pick up metals
from the pipes.
With five samples from
school fountains, the mean
pH was found to be 5.48. The
home water was tested two
different times and the mean
pH was found to be 7.48. This
is strong evidence that there
is a statistically significant dif
ference between the pH levels
at my house and here at school.
The chlorine levels were also
statistically different, but they
both fell within the EPA rec
ommended range for chlorine
of 0.2- 4.0 mg/L.
Conclusion: Overall, my tests
showed no immediate reason
to worry about the water from
the school fountains. There
were no suspended solids in
the water and the chlorine lev
els were normal. My only real
concern is the low pH and
the possible implications
this level of acidity could have
on the water.
While it is too difficult for
me to test for metals that
may be in the water because
of the low pH, I would encour
age a further investigation into
the source of the low pH and
the possible effects it is having
on water quality.