The Northerner

Book Your Senior Portraits with Cady Studios!

Jessie Rubini — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:06:36 +0000

Calling all rising Seniors! Do you want a fun way to remember your senior year? Do you want to be treated like a celebrity? Do you want your senior pictures to stand out? Then sign up for a senior picture session with Cady Studios!

Senior pictures are a great way to celebrate the end of your high school career. This year, Cady Studios has partnered with North Atlanta High School for senior year pictures–if you want your senior year picture to be featured in next year’s yearbook, then you have to sign up with Cady Studios!

Cady Studios is located in Alpheretta, Georgia, and is the perfect location for taking a unique portrait. When you sign up with Cady Studios, you book a “session” or an appointment where you are photographed in a number of scenes, including an outdoor scene, a waterfall scene, an urban city scene and a magazine quality “vogue” scene, among many others!

All sessions include Yearbook and Cap & Gown images (If you order before August 30^th, you can choose which picture is put in the yearbook!). At minimum, you can book an appointment with one additional scene, or you can order a session which includes all of the scenes. A yearbook cap and gown scene, as well as retouching editing and viewing are included in all sessions.

Wondering what to bring to your session? Don’t worry! Cady Studios allows you to bring virtually anything with you to your session. Bring outfits, accessories, even your pets!

It is important that you make an appointment before August 30^th, or your picture may not make it into the yearbook. Book your session today!

1. Go to www.cadystudios.com

2. Click the “Book” button at the top of the page

3. Choose your favorite scenes, session type, and finally, your desired date and time

Patenting People; The Problem with Owning the Human Genome

Jessie Rubini — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:39:02 +0000

A trampoline, a tricycle, and an elephant harness. At first glance, these objects appear to have nothing in common except their appearance in a low-budget circus. However, these three items do share one common element – they all have patents. According to thefreedictionary.com, a patent is a “…grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time”. Almost every new invention has a patent- if you can create it, you most likely can patent it. It’s only fair that someone who creates something new should be able to claim ownership over it.

Although it seems that simple, the age old kindergarten adage “finders keepers, losers weepers” may not necessarily apply in every situation. With patents comes copyrights, law suits, and money issues. Controversy over patenting has been present for years. In the 1870′s, Alaxender Graham Bell faced a patent challenge regarding his rightful claim to fame the telephone. More recently, Yahoo! sued Facebook for infringing on patents over social networking formats. And this month, attention has been focused on the newest, and possibly most important, patenting controversy in recent history. On Monday, the Supreme court will decide whether companies can patent a human gene.

This controversial issue was brought to court in 2009, when the American Civil Liberties Union sued the US research firm Myriad Genetics over their patent of two genes linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad Genetis argued that the genes were “isolated” (or discovered) by them, and are therefore, rightfully owned by them. The Myriad Company has trend on their side – the US government has been awarding patents for isolating genes for about thirty years. According to Weill Cornell Medical College, patents now cover some 40% of the human genome. However, the American Civil Liberties Union has rallied against the licensing of genes. They argue that abstract ideas, natural phenomenon, and laws of nature cannot be patented. The American Civil Liberties Unions argues that the genes are found in nature, are owned by nature, and can not be patented under US, or any other, government.

At first glance, patenting human genomes seems innocent enough. Why does it matter if a company owns the genes to a widows peaks or chronic body odor? These traits are relatively insignificant. But patenting human genomes has much larger implications than a weird hairline or a sweat stained shirts. By allowing companies to own genes, such as the breast and ovarian cancer genes owned by Myriad Genetics, other scientific institutions are confronted with road blocks when attempting to study the gene in their research. To observe the patented gene , other researchers will be required to pay Myriad large sums of money. Such obstacles can stump revolutionary scientific breakthroughs.

Myriad is under the impression that if they isolate the gene, then they have found, and therefor created it. Gregory Castanias, Myriad’s attorney, uses an analogy to explain Myriad’s reasoning. He claims that “A baseball bat doesn’t exist until it’s isolated from a tree; But that’s still the product of human invention to decide where to begin the bat and where to end the bat.” However, this ideology is misleading. Just because he cut branch from a tree does not mean that he has created a bat- it means that he’s found a branch. It is not until he carves , sands , and polishes the branch that you have a bat. The fact that Myriad has cut the gene from the DNA strand does not mean that it has cut it, sanded it, and polished it. Like the branch, the gene is just a gene until it is manipulated. Myriad has not created anything new; rather, they have just cut another limb off the tree of life.

The Supreme Court has a heavy issue on their hands. In the coming weeks, the fate of the scientific community will be determined. Will the court decide to give the scientific community freedom and flexibility in their endeavors? Or will they revert back to kindergarden, and support Myriad’s argument of “finders keepers”.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june13/scotus_04-15.html

Northview Defeats North Atlanta in the Elite Eight

JacksonC — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:30:16 +0000

The historic North Atlanta boys tennis season came to a close on a particularly windy Wednesday, May 1, with a tight 2-3 loss against Northview High School. The Warriors traveled up to Johns Creek to face the Titans on their home courts. The team was expecting to travel back down to Buckhead with the win, however the results were different.

All matches began simultaneously Northview’s five tennis courts.

Sophomore Hayes Musser and freshman John Lieng, first doubles, went down first after losing in straight sets. North Atlanta fought back when Ladd Harrison and Chris Tyler won their first singles and second singles matches, respectively. With the score being 2-1, it came down to either second doubles or third singles.

All the Warriors needed to do was to win one more match and they were headed to the Final Four. Third singles player, David Kirkey, lost the first set of his match but fought back to win the second. Unfortunately, David couldn’t keep the fight up as he lost 6-3 in the third.

It came down to second doubles players, junior Neil Jackson and sophomore Jackson Couch. Jackson and Couch lost the first set in a tight 6-4 score line. They then went on to win the second set, with momentum behind them. The duo entered the third set shortly after David finished his match. The Warriors second doubles lost the third set 6-2. With this loss, the Warriors are out and the Titans move on to the Final Four.

“I knew it would be a tough match. Northview is the more experienced team in this match up. They consistently make it to the Elite Eight or better year after year. This is the first time our team has made it to the State Tournament in its history. This match truly could have gone either way-it was so, so close,” said sophomore Jackson Couch after his match.

The Warriors cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament in the first seed with wins against Kell High School and Winder-Barrow.

“We knew we would make it to at least the Elite Eight and Northview would be waiting for us. For the duration of the whole tournament, we were preparing to face Northview,” said sophomore Hayes Musser.
Literature teacher and North Atlanta tennis coach, Fielding Martin, said, “It was a heartbreaking loss that could have gone either way.”

And that it truly was.

Baseball and Tennis Teams Make State Playoffs

JacksonC — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:24:59 +0000

With last week’s 6-3 win over Miller Grove High School, the North Atlanta Baseball team clinched a 2-seed from region 6-AAAAA in the AAAAA State Playoffs. This is the first time in school history that the North Atlanta Baseball team has ever received a birth to the State Playoffs.

The Warriors have had a great regular season going 17-5, the best winning percentage ever. “We have a realistic pathway to make a run in the State Playoffs. It’s so exciting since this is the first year North Atlanta or an APS school has made it to the State Tournament. I’m going to love every minute of it,” says senior baseball player Harrison McClure. But the Warriors are not done yet, as they are poised to make a run deep in the State Playoffs.

The baseball team is not the only team with school firsts this year. The North Atlanta Boys Tennis team won the region 6-AAAAA Championship game on Tuesday, 4/16, for the first time in school history. With this win, they clinched the 1 seed in the State Playoffs for region 6.

This means that they will have home-court advantage throughout the entire tournament. “It’s amazing that we are in the State Playoffs for the first time in years. I really hope we go far this year; I have a strong feeling we have a good chance for a deep run,” says Junior Neil Jackson.

Last year, the girl’s tennis team made it all the way to the Elite Eight in the State Playoffs as a 4 seed. On their route to the Elite Eight, the girl’s team defeated two number one seeds. This year is different: The girl’s tennis team won their region, defeating Dunwoody last Tuesday, 4/16. With this win they are in the first seed in region six. This means that they will have home-court advantage along with the boys.

The boys team will face Kell High School on Tuesday, 4/23 (today), at Bitsy Grant Tennis Center at 4pm. The girls team will face Pope High School today as well.

Hot Prom Trends For Girls

Dyanne Horgan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:39:01 +0000

Are you looking for prom attire that follows the trends on 2013? It’s important to look your best for prom; one day, you’ll look back at pictures and be proud of how great you looked! During the past few years many new styles have been popping up in stores and magazines. If you want to look like you’ve just come off the runway, then here are some tip you could follow.

Floor-length dresses with slits up the side are hot right now, and traditional for formal events.
Bold colors are in right now. The most popular colors are bright white, brilliant red, metallic gold.
Sweetheart necklines are in which is a strapless heart shaped lining to the top of the dress.
Although you might associate sequins with the eighties, sequined dresses are making a come back.
The peplum style became popular this year. According to Dictionay.com a peplum is “A short flared, gathered, or pleated strip of fabric attached at the waist of a woman’s jacket, dress, or blouse.” Peplum dresses look flattering on any body type.
Statement necklaces to make your outfit pop are in style.
Every girl needs a great pair of shoes: peep-toe booties, metallic heals, lace heals, and color-block heals are currently the hottest shoes.

Another thing to keep in mind when purchasing a prom dress is being cost efficient. Make sure to thoroughly search the internet and stores to find the best prices. Another thing to take into account is if the dress you are purchasing will ever be worn again. Hope to see everyone looking their very best at prom April 20th!

Lady Lax’s Loss

Dyanne Horgan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:37:46 +0000

This past Tuesday, April 16th, the girls lacrosse teams suffered a disappointing loss. The Lady Warriors played against the Brookwood Brancos. The final score of the game was 1 to 18. They played a great game and put forth all they could but just could not pull the score up.

Ginger Grey, senior, scored the only goal scored with a back scope shot into net. Kali Jeffery, junior, whose began playing since her freshman year played a great game narrowly missing the goal in an attempt to go to goal on a tough defense break.

Many crucial players were forces to sit this game out. Captain Lucy Saltmarsh and sophomore Miriam Hayes were unable to play due to leg and foot injuries. Brooke Gentry, a junior, was out because of two yellow cards that were issued in the previous game.

Alanna Kapoor, Caroline Percy, and Ginger Grey, all seniors, played the draw position. This is a position where when after a goal is made one players from each team comes to the center of the field, and duels for possession of the ball.

Dre Whitmore, a freshman, played a fantastic game of defense and succeeded at hustling the ball down the field to the offenders. Unfortunately the Brancos defenders were extremely skilled at picking girls up in center field and winning back possession. This made it very tough for the Lady Warrior’s offenders to even get the ball down on their side.

A few players who do not see a lot of playing time stepped up to the plate and really got to shine. Karly Collins and Rikayla Kapoor, both freshmen, played offense and looked like they had been playing for years. Camilla Sims, a freshmen, played goalie which is a position new to her. She was showing off her impressive skills of saving the ball, something that is not expected from someone who is so new to the position.

Nice try ladies, Better luck next time. Their next game is home against the North Springs Spartans Wednesday April 24, make sure you come and show your support.

NAHS Varsity Baseball Team Interview

Alanna Kapoor — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:21:20 +0000

The North Atlanta baseball team has had a pretty successful season so far, but it’s not over yet! As a fan I love going to the games, cheering on the team, and buying yummy snacks from the amazing concession stand, but I thought it would be interesting to see what it’s like to be a part of the team and get some of the guys’ point of views. I interviewed senior players: Wells King, Harrison McClure and Jackson Echols, and junior player, Will Johnson.

Q: What is North Atlanta’s current standing in the region?
Wells: We’re third in the region. 12-3-1.

Q: Are you on track to make it to the playoffs?
Wells: We have a really good chance of making it to the playoffs. We have a great squad.
Harrison: Unless we completely blow it somehow… then we’ll probably make playoffs.
Will: Yes, I think we have a really good shot at making it to the playoffs. Definitely region playoffs and we’re going to make a run in state I think.

Q: What do you have to do to make it to the playoffs?
Wells: Well our goal is to win out the rest of our games which we definitely could do. This would set us in a good spot in the playoffs.
Harrison: Our team motto is “Be perfect and do it right.”

Q: What do you think has been the best part of this season? What have you done well as a team?
Wells: I’d have to say pitching, because we have a good group of senior pitchers: Wells King, Harrison McClure, Austin Hedrick, and Campbell Toye. We have a great pitching staff and if we just step up our hitting we’ll be good.
Harrison: I think our team chemistry has been pretty good.
Will: I think the best thing we’ve done as a team is not buckle under pressure. We’ve definitely had a lot of walk offs this year where we won it in the last innings and some pressure situations and we stayed poised, so we did a good job with that.

Q: What do you think you’d like to improve on as a team by the end of the season?
Wells: I’d have to say team chemistry, because we have a great group of guys and we work well together but I think we could improve on that aspect.
Harrison: I’ say that we need to improve on our fielding a little bit…making a few too many errors, but nothing that can’t be fixed.
Jackson: Winning more games and making simple plays
Will: We could probably fix some off-field issues, and then after that we can definitely do a few more things to get runs across. We’ve got to get our offense a little bit better because our pitching is good.

Q: What is the best part about being a Warrior on the diamond?
Wells: Just the pride of the warriors. Showing out at the field is just a great experience, in front of all the fans we have… it’s just a great atmosphere.
Harrison: I’d like to say a quote by Mr. Whitman, “We are Warriors”. If you think about it, it’s just a great saying. We as a whole have one goal and that is to win. We are Warriors.
Will: It would have to be the family of guys I play with because they’re all so cool.

So, come out and support your Warriors and experience the awesome school spirit-filled atmosphere the guys have described! The baseball schedule and any other information about the team can be found at
www.nawarriorsbaseball.com .

North Atlanta’s Harlem Shake Attempt

Elizabeth Ray — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:55:37 +0000

A few weeks ago, in the midst of the rain and drowsy February attitude, North Atlanta students decided to bring the internet’s latest craze to Northside Drive: the Harlem Shake. The Harlem Shake is a 30-second dance which features the song Harlem Shake by Baauer. As of now, the song is number three on iTunes.

The Harlem Shake has gone viral on Youtube, with some Harlem Shake videos getting around 24 million views each. A standard video involves a one person wildly dancing for about 17-20 seconds, usually in costume. For the first 20 seconds or so, the people around the lone dancer act normally. Then, with the song’s cue, everyone, now in costume, begins to dance with the formerly single dancer.

The dance has swept the globe. Notable videos range from the Harlem Shake in Egypt, to the University of Georgia’s swim team, or to University of Maryland’s flashmob. In a way, it’s very uniting. There was a video of the Harlem Shake in Saudi Arabia, then one in Australia. It makes the world seem connected, and that despite cultural and political differences–we are all human beings.

Student, Quintin Wojcik, planner of the North Atlanta’s Harlem Shake says, “Well, a friend of mine planned it. I was just like, let’s do it. I got speakers, a camera, a tripod, and the day of we just talked to everyone and asked people to participate. It was just kind of spontaneous. I saw Mr. Douglass coming so I hid the camera under my shirt. True story.”

Wojcik says, “I thought it was funny. I didn’t think we’d get in trouble. There were rumors that the administration approved it.”

Quintin says that Douglass never said not to post it, and he doesn’t know when or how Douglass viewed it. “I don’t know. I mean, 4,000 people saw it. He never said to take it off, he just said that there would be “other consequences,” if I didn’t…”

“I understand his point,” Quintin says, “but everyone did sign the media release form. Everyone said they wanted to be on camera. No student ever said anything. I feel that the video just gave enjoyment to people.”

Mr. Douglass, North Atlanta’s vice principal, declined our request for an interview.

Joseph Morone, a student who witnessed the Harlem Shake at North Atlanta said, “I thought it was really cool. I thought taking the video down was just unnecessary.

An Insider’s Take: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

HelenF — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:32:24 +0000

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is North Atlanta High School’s spring musical. Affectionately known as “Putnam County,” the musical highlights a hilarious tale of overachievers’ angst, chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime.

The musical features some incredibly talented students from our very own high school. Sophomores Olivia Salberg and Parker Whitlow are two actresses in the upcoming show. Both Olivia and Parker are cast as Olive Ostrovsky, with Parker as Olivia’s understudy.

Olivia and Parker each have a different perspectives on the experience. Putnam County is Olivia’s debut at North Atlanta, and she says it has been a positive experience for her. “I like the funny people in the play,” Olivia comments, “and I’ve become great friends with everyone involved.”

Parker was actively involved in North Atlanta’s performances of “West Side Story” and “Fame” last year and even had her own solo as a freshman. While she is positive about Putnam County, she feels that no experience could beat West Side Story. “The audience will LOVE this play! I’m excited. I think we’ll have a much better turnout this year, once the word spreads,” Parker notes.

Parker and Olivia both agree that the show is hilarious. “I think that teens would really enjoy it. But I think that all ages will love it. Adults will get the humor,” says Olivia.

Laughing Parker agrees,”It’s definitely PG-13 though.”

The show is also very interactive, with four volunteer audience members being chosen to participate throughout the musical.

At first the idea of a spelling bee for a play could seem dull to some, but director Dureyea Collier has eloquently depicted a coming of age growth through the six quirky spellers in Putnam County.

Come see some of your classmates:

Character Name-Actor/Actress (US equates role of understudy)

Douglas Panch – Kwame Fontaine

Rona Lisa Peretti – Caroline Geckler/US Ashley Wright

Olive Ostrovsky – Olivia Salberg/US Parker Whitlow

William Barfee – Sam Boatwright/US Jose Rodriguez

Loganne Schwartzandgrubenierre – Maggie Neel/US Alex Smith

Marcy Park – Jianna Justice/US Rachael Floyd

Leaf Coneybear – Anthony Williams/US Palmer Brown

Chip Tolentino – Rickey Waddell/US Jose Rodriguez

Mitch Mahoney – Airen Williams

Carl Grubenierre – Palmer Brown

Dan Schwartz – Jose Rodriguez

The musical premieres Thursday, March 21st, at 7 pm in the Robert Shaw Theater at North Atlanta. Other performances include: March 22, March 28, and March 29 at 7!

Come See “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”

Elizabeth Ray — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:00:36 +0000

North Atlanta High School’s Center for the Arts presents “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a spring musical that highlights a hilarious tale of overachievers’ angst, chronicling the experience of six adolescent outsiders vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime.

The quirky yet charming cast of outsiders for whom a spelling bee is the one place where they can stand out and fit in at the same time, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, and they learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.

Directed by Dureyea Collier, the musical features a 16 member cast, and the North Atlanta High School band. The musical will be performed in North Atlanta’s Robert Shaw theater on March 21, 22, 28, 29 and 30 at seven pm. Tickets will be sold at the door for $7 for students and $10 dollars for adults.

Check out NAHS TV’s backstage interviews!