NOV./DEC. 2014 EDITION III

PARALYZED MAN WALKS AFTER CELL TRANSPLANT INTO SPINAL CHORD WORLD NEWS | LINDSEY ROSAS TOGO…...2

HOW CAN WE RAISE SCHOOL SPIRIT? EDITORIAL | THE EDITING STAFF ……… 3

The AHA voice EM B O D Y I N G T H E V O I C E O F O U R C O M M U N I T Y

OPINION | By Jacqueline Schulkin ‘15

THE LUNCH STRIKE: A CLOSER LOOK

On October 24th, an overwhelming

majority of juniors and seniors who

typically buy their lunch at school,

unhappy with the high prices, boycott-

ed the lunch counter during first lunch

and did not purchase anything. How-

ever, lunch ladies stood confused and

school officials, later on, delivered

their criticisms on the boycott.

The following Monday, Ms. Mullooly,

the Dean of students, convened all

junior and senior students in the audi-

torium. The first thing she said was, “I

want to be absolutely clear. You are

not in trouble.” She said that her pur-

pose was to open up a dialogue about

the situation. Though she supported

the students voicing their opinions,

she

cited several aspects that she believed

were faulty.

First, she said that “timing couldn’t

have been worse,” referring to the fact

that October 24th was the anniversary

of the founding of the SSND congre-

gation. Second, she mentioned a very

large amount of the food that was pre-

pared for that day’s lunch went to

waste. She placed a significant em-

phasis on this fact in light of the An-

gels’ efforts that week for a food

drive. Third, she added that the lunch

ladies, who are part of our school

community, were hurt by the students’

actions. “They work here because they

like you,” she said. She also men-

tioned that AHA has some of the low-

est prices compared to other schools

that the lunch company serves.

In addition, the Dean was disturbed by what

she called some students’ “audacity” to ask

the lunch ladies for supplies such as nap-

kins, plastic cutlery, and salad dressing. She

ended by asking that someone please in-

form her on what would be happening the

rest of the week. Her tone was generally

one of great disappointment with the stu-

dents.

Read more at ahavoice.holyangels.org/

CATHOLIC BISHOPS UNABLE TO MAKE PEACE WITH SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RE FORMS WORLD NEWS | CAROLINE FERNANDEZ ‘17…...2

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Photo courtesy of The Huffington Post

A REVIEW OF TAYLOR SWIFT’S NEW AL-

BUM “1989” ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT | By Kelly Ann Wacker ‘16

Taylor Swift’s much anticipated album, 1989, was released on Monday, October 27. Almost 100 million copies were sold in the first week alone. Even though 1989 is her fourth album, it is the first one that is solely comprised of pop music. Read more at ahavoice.holyangels.org/ Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

CATHOLIC BISHOPS UNABLE TO MAKE PEACE WITH SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

WORLD NEWS| By Caroline Fernandez ‘17

On October 18, 2014,

Catholic bishops in Rome

ended the first part of a

two stage synod process

which incorporated discus-

sion on two topics: same

sex reforms and whether

divorced and remarried

Catholics should be per-

mitted to receive Holy

Communion. Synods do

not usually attract much

attention but because of

the controversy of these

particular topics, this

year’s was noteworthy.

Since his election in

March, Pope Francis has

indicated that he believes

the Catholic Church must

adopt a more welcoming

and inclusive tone in order

to flourish, stressing com-

passion and understanding

rather than condemnation.

Conservatives are con-

cerned that the Church will

compromise its doctrine.

Liberals, however, support

the progressive reforms.

Pope Francis encouraged

the synod’s participants to

be open to and not be afraid

of the controversial topics,

such as the Church’s treat-

ment of LGBT persons. An

early draft suggested that

the Church adopt a friendly

and more welcoming tone

towards same sex relations.

This constructive approach

aims to insinuate respect of

the relationships and appre-

ciate the positive values that

come from them.

Chris Pett, former president

of Dignity Chicago, a sup-

port group for gay Catho-

lics, stated, “We want to

become a more just and

inclusive church, which

Jesus intends. From a

ground level, it’s a stunning

change in position and atti-

tude – one of welcome and

acceptance.”

The pope urged participants

of the synod to be open and

honest with each other and

state their opinions without

restraint. The goal was to

encourage discussion about

PARALYZED MAN WALKS AFTER CELL TRANSPLANT INTO SPINAL CHORD WORLD NEWS | By Lindsey Rosas Togo ‘17

Researchers recently an-

nounced that a ground-

breaking cell transplant has

enabled a paralyzed man to

walk again.

In 2010, a Polish man

named Darek Fidyka was

paralyzed from the chest

down in a knife attack. He

underwent 13 months of

rehabilitation, but showed

no sign of improvement.

However, two years later in

2012, Fidyka underwent

surgery that has changed

his life forever.

Scientists at University

College London (UCL)

developed a treatment

which transplanted olfacto-

ry ensheathing cells

(OECs) from the nose,

which are responsible for

the sense of smell, into Fi-

dyka’s spinal cord. Dr.

Pawel Tabakow and other

surgeons inserted the OECs

above and below the spinal

cord gap. They then took

the nerve tissue from his

ankle to act as a bridge for

the spinal cords to grow

across. Due to the knife

attack, the nerve fibers on

the spine had been cut, and

as a result they could not

grow across on the spinal

cord. The underlying idea

was that the OECs were

used as a bridge so the

nerve fibers could get

across.

Amazingly, three months

after the 2012 surgery, Fi-

dyka’s thigh muscles began

to grow. Fidyka then start-

ed to use leg braces and

Zimmer walker in order to

walk. He was ecstatic with

his improvement, saying

“when you can’t feel al-

most half your body, you

are helpless, but when it

starts coming back it’s as if

you were born again.” He

also got his bladder sensation and

some sexual function back again.

On this amazing recovery, Nahee

Kim ’17 said, “The case clearly

demonstrates the benefits of modern

technology, and especially how it

can benefit humanity. It is truly

amazing what science can do for us.”

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ahavoice.holyangels.com

matters that affect the fam-

ily.

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Photo courtesy of Angelica

Pasquali ‘15

HOW CAN WE RAISE SCHOOL SPIRIT? OPINION | By The Editing Staff

Our recent survey calculated

just how much school spirit our

community has. While the ma-

jority of students did indicate

moderate levels of morale, cer-

tain questions generated some

concerning results.

A question directed towards the

seniors regarding whether or not

the class of 2015 would suc-

cessfully win the Spirit Point

day off was met with predomi-

nantly negative answers:

51.76% of the seniors who re-

sponded answered that they did

not think their grade would win

the day off.

Other questions produced simi-

larly unsettling results: more

than half of the student body

indicated that they had never

been to a sport or arts event at

the school without being part of

the production or team, suggest-

ing a community-wide lack of

enthusiasm for school events.

While a lack of school spirit may

seem to be a trivial topic, it can result

in many lost opportunities for other

students. Without enough willing par-

ticipants, clubs like Model UN or the

History Society cannot afford to at-

tend conferences or go on field trips,

which limits opportunities for students

interested in debate, foreign policy, or

history. Additionally, students’ appar-

ent disinterest in the Spirit Point com-

petition negates additional incentive

for students to support their class-

mates in school productions, concerts,

or sports matches.

Although we may often question our-

selves as to how to boost morale, one

great way would be to offer more op-

portunities for Spirit Points. The day

off in May is an incredible incentive

to the students so that they may partic-

ipate more readily in the spirit point

events. However, we must also give

the students more options. Although

we give students many opportunities

to gain spirit points, it seems to solely

consist of athletic events. In fact, the

only spirit point event related to com-

munity service is the turkey drive, alt-

hough we have many other drives.

Those other drives should count for

Spirit Points as well. The grade that

donates the most could be awarded

Spirit Points not only because of its

generosity, but also because of its

teamwork.

Read more at

ahavoice.holyangels.org

WA N T M OR E ? C H E C K U S

O U T ON L IN E !

HEAVY BACKPACKS ON LITTLE BACKS STEM | BY CAROLINE HYER ‘16 HOW OUR BACKPACKS MAY BE CAUSING HEALTH PROBLEMS, AND HOW WE CAN FIX THAT

10 REASONS WHY COLLEGE APPS WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME OPINION | BY VICTORIA CABALES ‘15 DEAR CLASS OF 2015: THIS IS FOR YOU

WHAT’S THE DIAGNOSIS? ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT | BY DANIELLE GAZDA ‘16 A REVIEW OF FOX’S NEW HIT SHOW, RED BAND SOCIETY

HOW TO SURVIVE THE END OF THE QUARTER AHA NEWS | BY ALYSSA ROMANOS ‘17 A USEFUL, HUMOROUS GUIDE FOR ALL ANGELS EVERYWHERE