RenaissanceThe LSMSANovember 2013

Volume XXXI, Issue 3The Louisiana School715 University Pkwy.

Natchitoches, LA 71457

Praecellemus

Trunk or Treat bewitches students in CPTKyle Welch

Assistant Editor Trunk or Treat met a frightful obstacle this year, as forecasts of rain caught Samhain in a sticky web. Fortunately, Ms. Em-ily Shumate and Jenny Schmitt, SAB sponsor, hatched the scary good idea of hosting Trunk or Treat in the CPT. The second floor of the CPT was decorated and adorned with webs and festive light fixtures. Participating teach-ers—like Dr. Robert Dalling, Mr. Brad Burk-man, and others—were assigned rooms on the second floor where they passed out candy to eager and dressed up students. LSMSA students face a unique conflict regard-ing Halloween. Because Natchitoches enforces specific times and age limits for official trick-or-treating, LSMSA

students are not allowed to participate in city-sponsored activities. Furthermore, students are prevented from trick-or-treating at private residences in order to protect the school’s im-age. Trunk or Treat has been hosted by the school since 2008, but, in the past, Trunk or Treat has been held in the parking lot of the HSB. Teachers have usually decorated the trunks of their vehicles for the occasion, and some have even brought along their pets. “Trunk or Treat is probably my favorite school event,” said Shu-mate. “I kind of get to merge two worlds with my kids and the stu-dents. I don’t really have to choose between stay-ing home or leaving my kids, because I know it’s something they’ll enjoy. I

can’t really do that with a play or a colloquium.” But because of the haunting forecasts, other plans had to be made. “I was looking out of my office,” said Shu-mate, “and I said ‘Here are a lot of rooms that don’t really belong to anyone in particular; why not have it here?” And so it was. Schmitt and the rest of SAB set up the decorations in the CPT and assigned rooms to teachers. “I really liked it in-side,” said Shumate. “It felt more like traditional trick-or-treating.”Shumate noted that she enjoyed decorating her car, but preferred the CPT because she could see students better. It also felt more ex-clusive to LSMSA and friends; in the past, people who didn’t even go to LSMSA would show up at the event.

In This Issue:3 Return of the

Ducote Wait, so Wesley Ducote

actually exists and isn’t some legendary myth?

Cinema at 6 Review: The Man Who Would Be

King Hmm, I guess Sean Connery’s bare butt is educational enough for me.

Coach Dale Clingerman: bal-lin’ for 20 years

Get to know LSMSA’s favorite bald (and bal-lin’) eagle.

Computer Sci-ence Dept. intro-duces new course

Programming is classy and you can be too.

4

6

5

8The Halls of LSMSA The halls of LSMSAwould

not be complete with-out the Halls of LSMSA

All hail Queen Isabel! There is only one queen,

and that is Isabel Mil-ton. Disagree? You try taking Biochemistry, then talk to me.

Ebarb captures the history of LSMSA I don’t

know about you, but I want a signed copy of Dr. Ebarb’s book.

Manhein gives students a peek at the

bare bones of forensic anthropology It’ll tickle your funny bone.

...and more!

9

10

11

Mr. Burkman dressed as the Big Bad Wolf dressed as Grand-ma from “Little Red Riding Hood” preparing to pass out candy in the same manner as he passes out tests.

Taken by Brandon K.

1. 2. 3.

1. Dr. Hynes happily hands out candy to Isabel Milton. 2. Dr. Wood and his wife bake cookies to hand out every year. 3. Dr. Dalling dishes out some sweets to Kyle Frederick.

All taken by Brandon K.

4 6 8

Dec. 5 Science Fair//6:30pm//Gym “Talking With”//7pm//Black Box Dec. 6 “Talking With”//7pm//Black Box Dec. 7 LAN Party//12am-8pm//CPT Dec. 8 Fall Concert//3pm//Recital Hall Dec. 9 Fall Concert//6pm//Recital Hall

For more information on any event, contact us at: newspaper@student.lsmsa.edu

Page 2 November 2013The Renaissance

Coming Soon:

You’re now read-ing an award-winning publication. The Renaissance staff attended the Louisiana Scholastic Press Asso-ciation’s conference for the first time at LSU on Thursday, November 14th. The conference consisted of journal-ism workshops, tours of LSU student media, and on-site competitions. Schools could also submit materials beforehand to be judged in catego-ries such as design. Schools from all over the state attended, such as Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport, and Baton Rouge Magnet High School in Baton Rouge. In total, The Renaissance hauled back six awards. Three were from individual on-site competitions, two were for the layout and design of the paper, and the last was for the entire paper itself. Allison Boudreaux received 3rd in the Headline and Cutline Writing Competition, Brooke Mendoza received 2nd in the Copy Editing Com-petition, and Carlie Procell received 1st in the Photo Editing Competi-tion. As for design, Procell was awarded an honorable mention in the In-side Spread Design category and 1st in the Front Page Design category. Lastly, The Renaissance was given an honorable mention for Best Over-all Newspaper, which resulted in a trophy.

wallsonline.org

The Renaissance reaps rewards

The staff with their awards after the conference.Taken by Ms. Lillian Gray

Carlie ProcellEditor in Chief

The Winter Formal King & Queen for 2013, Gabe Chappell & Isabel Milton.

Taken by Brandon K.

“2π radians. That’s the same as one French Revolution.” -Dr. Dalling

“German movies are like German cars--perfect.” -Dr. Olson

Matthew Fults: “What’s w?”Dr. Dalling: “You mean ω (omega)?”

“It’s how you know the surfers in California are mathematicians: they keep it real.” -Mr. Andersen

“Haha, instead of Foil you can use Foli...oh.” -Nickolas Walling

“Partial fractions are fun.” -Mr. McGrath

November 2013 Page 3The Renaissance

Honorary Hispanic Society hosts Induction Ceremony

Cosette ZacariasStaff Writer

The LSMSA Plus Ultra chapter of the Honorary Hispanic Society held its annual induction ceremony on November 4, 2013. Led by the society’s president, Cosette Zacarias, and spon-sor, Maria Sanchez, the ceremony welcomed 22 new members. HHS members are invited to join once they have maintained an 88% average throughout at least three semesters of Spanish at LSMSA or placement in level 4 or above in Spanish at LSMSA.

The new inductees to the Honorary Hispanic Society with Dr. Maria Sanchez.

Taken by Cosette Z. Members of the Hon-orary Hispanic Society work to promote His-panic culture through-out the school and local communities while refining their Spanish

language skills. Each year many mem-bers are selected to rep-resent LSMSA in foreign language competitions, Literary Rally, and as peer tutors in Spanish.

Return of the DucoteCarlie ProcellEditor-in-Chief

Wesley Ducote in his natural habitat.

Courtesy of Welsey Ducote

A 2012 graduate, Wesley Ducote was known throughout the school for being a gifted pianist. Seniors who knew him still reminisce on his musical ability to underclassmen. As if he was answer-ing their prayers, Du-cote returned to Natchi-toches to present a piano recital for Home-coming Weekend. On Saturday, Novem-ber 2 in the Recital Hall, Ducote performed five pieces ranging from dif-ferent genres to parents, students, faculty, and the public. Ducote played from

memory pieces written by Johannes Brahms, Frederic Chopin, Niko-lai Kapustin, Charles Ives, and Alexander Scriabin.

School honors veterans in annual ceremony

Carlie ProcellEditor-in-Chief

On Thursday, No-vember 7 at 4 p.m. in Treen Auditorium, all of LSMSA gathered to recognize local veterans in a ceremony. Keynote speaker Lt. Col. Dr. Bob Gillan, a veteran of the U.S. Army, spoke about the importance of remem-bering those who have served our country. Along with speaking about the significance of Veterans Day, Gillan introduced the Natchi-toches Parish Veterans and Memorial Park, which is currently un-der construction. This park, located by Lasyone’s on Second Street, is dedicated to memorializing the ser-vice of our veterans, and in particular, those who

were never welcomed home in the Vietnam War. Fourteen veterans from the community were recognized at this ceremony along with Gillan. Included were faculty members and residents of Natchitoches, those honored were: Allan Bedoya, David Zolzer, Frank Fuller, George Rhymes, James Findley, James Brunsgaard, Da-vid Andersen, Shanon Ledet, Macky Under-wood, Carey Hendrix, Arthur Williams, Jackie Jacoby, Jack Brittain, and Raymond Gilbert. Each was interviewed by a student before-hand, and that student gave an introduction of the veteran before he or she was announced.

Students perform concertCarlie ProcellEditor-in-Chief

From left to right, Soojin Lee, Marika Buchholz, Sammie McWilliams, and Ethan To play in the Chamber Concert.

Taken by Brandon K.

Four students, un-der direction of Dr. Al Benner, performed a Chamber Concert on Thursday, November 21 in the Recital Hall. With Soojin Lee on violin, Marika Buchholz and Sammie McWil-liams on clarinets, and Ethan To on alto saxophone, the four

performed two pieces by Claude Debussy and Joseph Haydn together. Lee started out with a solo piece by Dinos Constantinides, fol-lowed by a clarinet duet of Buchholz and McWil-liams who performed two pieces by Charles Koechlin and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Then, To played a solo piece by Barton

Cummings and Buch-holz played a solo piece composed by Benner himself. The pieces were each preluded with an introduction by Benner complete with his usual hilarious jokes. The concert was fan-tastic and I’m excited to see what else Dr. Benner will come up with this year.

Page 4 November 2013The Renaissance

Getting to know Stan NashAllison Smith

Staff Writer If you step inside the LSMSA cafeteria you will notice a few things: the line of students waiting for food, the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria, and most im-portantly, the staff. Stan Nash is a cur-rent employee at the LSMSA cafeteria and he does his best to make students’ days brighter. Nash has been working in the LSMSA cafeteria for eight months now although he used to work at the school in its early years. Nash recalls having to transport the food from the kitchen to the old

cafeteria underneath the dance studio. Now-a-days, Nash gets the opportunity to work in every aspect of the cafeteria everything from doing dishes to helping in the food line. Although most stu-dents know him for his work in the cafeteria, Nash has an interesting past. Between the years of 1983 and 1985 Nash was a soul train dancer. He also managed to be an extra in five films including the famous Steel Magnolia that was filmed in Natchitoches. When he was not par-ticipating in films, Nash managed to sing in a

gospel choir directed by Grammy Award winner Andrae Crouch. This choir gave him the opportunity to sing in songs by Madonna and Michael Jackson. Voted Most Talented in his class at Natchitoches Central, Nash has met famous stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Gladys Knight, and Quincy Jones, and he has the pictures to prove it. Aside from his star studded past, Nash loves volunteering to help the senior citizens of Natchitoches. When he is not work-ing in the cafeteria, Nash is a dedicated sports fanatic and al-

ways makes sure to keep up with the latest sports news. Although his past involved a lot of famous celebrities, Nash enjoys

Stan Nash serving food in the cafeteria.Taken by Brandon K.

working at a school that has a collaboration of children that are willing to learn and admire the curriculum.

Cinema at 6 Review: The Man Who Would Be KingKyle Welch

Assistant Editor Cinema at Six ex-plored themes of colo-nialism and imperialism this month, a subject of Dr. Pamela Francis’s expertise. One of the more representative stories of imperialism is Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King. The story was shown as a film adaptation directed by John Huston and starring Sean Con-nery and Saeed Jaffrey. Kipling is primarily

known in imperialistic history for his poem The White Man’s Burden, which was pivotal in encouraging American imperialists to colonize foreign countries. The poem did so by justifying colonization with a noble cause. That is, the poem fed the ap-petites of American and European imperialists by superficially calling upon them to civilize uncivilized lands. In doing so, it added to the ideas of Eurocen-tric racism and superior-ity, which can also be seen in The Man Who Would Be King. Kipling’s short story relates the adventures of two British soldiers stationed in India. They seek fame and glory by conquering and becom-ing kings of Kafiristan, an imaginary country. The journey to Kaf-iristan from India, how-ever, is arduous and fraught with mountain-

ous terrain and violent indigenous Afghans. But the soldiers survive the journey and ultimately make a grand impression on the people of Kafiristan with the help of their Western technology and practices, such as rifles and judicial processes. By uniting various tribes in decisive battles and by revealing his Mason membership, Daniel Dravot makes such a strong impres-sion on the people of Kafiristan that they hail him as Sikander II, a de-scendant of Alexander the Great. With this title, he exercises divine author-ity over Kafiristan until he is ultimately over-thrown after revealing his humanity. The film and story, however, are both much deeper than an enter-taining plot. Evidence of Eurocentric racism and notions of superiority

are most clear in the sol-diers’ desire to conquer an “uncivilized” land as well as the soldiers’ assumption that the people of Kafiristan would not recognize Dravot’s human char-acteristics because they were ignorant. The very first images of the film even depict very clichéd and gener-alized behaviors of the Indian people, such as playing didgeridoos and playing with snakes. In addition, there are several remarks con-cerning the inferiority of Kafirstan culture. When the people of Kafiristan play polo with the head of an executed member of the tribe, Peachy, one of the soldiers, calls them beasts. Shortly after, Dravot also calls them beasts when the tribe’s leader offers him his daugh-ters and sons for sexual pleasure. When it is implied

that a child is being sac-rificed at the marriage of Dravot and Roxanne, a woman of Kafiristan, the soldiers again make racist remarks. Such evidences of rac-ism and notions of supe-riority in The Man Who Would Be King could be read at face value as blatant Eurocentrism on Kipling’s part, or they could be read as illu-minations of detestable behavior on the part of British imperialists. Regardless, the film and Kipling’s story serve as important his-torical pieces that offer insight into the ideas of European imperialism and the people it af-fected. (The film also serves as important documen-tation of Sean Connery’s bare buttocks.)

imdb.com

November 2013 Page 5The Renaissance

Coach Dale Clingerman: ballin’ for 20 yearsSoojin LeeStaff Writer

The current and past athletes of the Louisiana School all know Coach Dale Clingerman from Odenton, MD. It seems that he has been here since the beginning of time, sitting in that same chair and joking around with everyone who comes his way. “I absolutely love my job!” Coach Dale exclaimed. His senti-ments have not changed throughout the 19 (now going into 20) years he has worked here as the Coordinator of Athletics and Recreation. He accepted this job and began to work im-mediately after graduate school, bringing a new recreational sports pro-gram for the students. “Due to the efforts and hard work of the students, we now have the recreational sports program as well as an interscholastic athletic program,” stated Coach Dale. “The interscholas-tic athletic program has grown, and we con-

tinue to add more every year.” The sports he has introduced are girls and boys basketball, girls and co-ed volley-ball, ultimate Frisbee, cheerleading, and flag football. Although not all of these sports are in-volved in the interscho-lastic athletic program, they continue to be available to the students for recreation and more. The current sports interns are Victoria Kwentua and Mike Sumner, who are both alumni of the Louisiana School. When asked about them, Coach Dale praised, “I am blessed to currently have sev-eral people... we could not survive without them, and would not have a program at all if it wasn’t for their hard work and dedication.” “I just hope they are able to stay involved with our program as long as they can and as much as they want,” he added. Seeing these two interns and Coach Dale

interact truly reminds one of the family-like at-mosphere of the school in general. “I try to stay in touch with our past athletes as much as pos-sible,” said Coach Dale. “I always look for-ward to homecoming so that I can see former athletes... some of them still stay in touch over the phone, and will pop in form surprise visits,” he said. “I enjoy hearing about their lives and all of the wonderful things that they are doing.” His message about sports in general was that “Success in sports, just as in life, should not be about talent or win-ning... The scoreboard is merely a tool that tells us when we ahve to stop playing. The game itself, and the experiences of being a part of a team or family is what it is really about.” When asked about possible retirement, Coach Dale smiled and assured, “I have no plans to leave this school anytime soon. It is my life.” He added

Coach Dale Clingerman talking to the boys basketball team.Taken by Khalilah Al-Amin

that he could not even think about leaving and would no know what to do afterwards. “Don’t want to even think about leaving this place. If I ever did, I think it would be very difficult to stay away for too long,” added Coach Dale. “I enjoy working with the students. I look at them as my family.” Coach Dale’s last statement was his thanking various people and groups. They in-cluded everyone in-

volved with the athletic program such as the coaches, athletes, and the administration of the school. His services to LSMSA have been great and significant to every-one, not just the student athletes. It is safe to say we can expect to enjoy many more years of his excitement, passion, and childish jokes on and off the court.

SAB presents Open Mic NiteSoojin LeeStaff Writer

The bi-annual LSMSA Open Mic Nite sponsored by the Stu-dent Activities Board took place at 8:00 pm on Friday, November 15 in the big lobby of Caddo Hall. Students were al-lowed to enter a few minutes early to grab the best seats in the house in exchange for a donation of a canned good. More than twen-ty cans were collected. The SAB Execu-tive Board, as always,

Dane Stracener. They kept the night lively with various comic remarks and perfor-mances such as a dance off. There was a myriad of foods such as cook-ies, brownies, popcorn, and pigs-in-a-blanket. Waitresses, as always, served the audience throughout the night, keeping the crowd’s appetite satisfied. Although not as many people came as in previous years due to the basketball game and other various

events, a large group of students came and stayed the whole night. The event also ended earlier than ever be-fore, but, in accordance with tradition, a third-year senior neverthe-less did not fail to read a physics text book as the closing act.

opened up the night with a dance. This year they danced to the hit song “Gas Pedal,” cre-ating excitement in the crowd. Various perfor-mances followed. They ranged from the tra-ditional acts such as the Senior Class sing-ing “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from the Disney movie “Mu-lan” to the Improv Girls showcasing their talents acquired from their Improv class. The hosts this year were DeJhane Lee and

Page 6 November 2013The Renaissance

Review of LSMSA’s “The Canal”Johnnette Johnson

Staff Writer “The Canal”, a comedic radio play written by Spike Mil-ligan, was presented by the LSMSA theatre department on October 31, November 1, and November 2. The play was direct-ed by Jeff Thomakos, the Director of The-atre at LSMSA. Actors included were Chase Bernard as Neddy Sea-goon; Jordan Chauncy as Lord Valentine Sea-goon; Glen Underwood as Eccles, Dr.Yakamoto, Miss Minnie Bannis-ter, and Miss Throat; and Collin Jenkins as Flowerdew, the Driver, Major Denis Bloodnok, Gravely Headstone, Dr. Justin Eidelburger, Mr. Henry Crun, and Bluebottle. This production dif-fered from other theater productions, because there was not any

“acting” as one would normally think. The actors used their voices, costumes, and facial expressions, without moving their bodies or adjusting props, to set the stage for a typical radio show. One of the other unique qualities of this produc-tion was the live sound effects, which were produced by John Gala-tas. Some of the effects ranged from sloshing water in a bucket to ringing the dial on a telephone. The plot of the show centers around a money-hungry man named Lord Valentine Seagoon who would do

anything to achieve a fortune. He makes vari-ous attempts to kill his son, Neddy Seagoon, by drowning him in the Canal so as to collect Neddy’s life insurance.

was when Glenn Un-derwood performed “The Dance of the Seven Veils.” Bernard, Chauncy, Jenkins, and Galatas produced the song and beat for the

dance on drums located at up-stage left. Dur-ing the dance, Under-wood got a member of the au-dience to hold one of the

ends of his scarf while tearing

at the other end of the scarf. Another hilarious moment during the show was when Miss Minnie Bannister and

Mr. Henry Crun heard a gentleman in the canal. As the gentle-man yelled for help and struggled to stay afloat, Miss Bannister and Mr. Crum merely intro-duced themselves and asked if he was drown-ing. The audience re-sponded favorably; there was consistent laughter and applause throughout the play. “It was funny, and I laughed a lot,” said De-Jhane Lee. “Shoutout to the sound guy, he was phenomenal.” “The Canal” was a terrific production that was greatly anticipated. All members of the cast and production deserve credit for their hard work. I, personally, can’t wait to see what else the theatre depart-ment has in store for the rest of the year.

There were several moments of the show when the audience applauded or laughed frantically. One of the key moments

From left to right, Collin Jenkins, Chase Bernard, John Gala-tas, Jordan Chauncy, and Glenn Underwood, all star in the LSMSA Theatre Production’s performance of “The Canal.”

Courtesy of Mr. Thomakos

Computer Science Dept. introduces new courseCarlie ProcellEditor-in-Chief

After reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch as required stu-dent summer reading, many students became interested in the soft-ware project Pausch helped create, known as Alice. Alice is a program-ming environment that Pausch envisioned would help ease young people into object-ori-ented programming. Users can create three-dimensional mov-ies and simple video games with the drag-and-drop tile interface, similar to Scratch and MIT’s App Inventor.

It is now taught in many schools and universities across the nation. LSMSA’s Computer Science Department, always eager to get students interested in CS, decided that offer-ing a course with Alice would attract students who would otherwise not take a CS course. Mr. David Zolzer and Ms. Sanjeetha Peters make up the CS Dept. at LSMSA. Between the two, they teach over ten different courses in CS ranging from novice to advanced. Along with the Alice course, C++, Python, Data Structures (has

alice.orgC++ pre-requisite), Web Design, Robotics, and Exploring Computer Science will be taught in the spring semester. With the increased

demand for CS jobs, having even minimal knowledge in CS is valuable. If you have any questions about any of

the CS courses being offered next semes-ter, please contact Mr. Zolzer or Ms. Peters. To find out more about Alice, visit Alice.org.

November 2013 Page 7The Renaissance

Homecoming Week 2013Soojin LeeStaff Writer

Homecoming Week at the Louisi-ana School took place from Monday, Oc-tober 28 to Sunday, November 3, 2013. Students were encouraged to show school spirit through-out the week by dress-ing up in certain ways each day. Monday’s theme was “Crazy Sock Day;” Tuesday was “Dress Like a Teach-er;” Wednesday was “Be a Team Player;” Thursday was “Class Pride;” and Friday was “School Spirit.” For “Class Pride,” the colors assigned were gold for Sopho-mores, blue for Ju-niors, and white for Seniors. Even teachers participated. For example, Mr. Brad Burkman of the Math department dressed up as Dr. Jason An-derson of the Biology

department. The weekend kicked off with a Homecoming Bas-ketball game against Central High School from Grand Cane, LA. The Eagles prevailed in the last quarter to win 35-30, keeping the students, teachers, alumni, and parents riled up until the very end. Then the fun really began. On Saturrday, the day started with multiple colloquiums open to anyone. The first by Dr. Bill Ebarb, former Direc-tor of Finance and Operations, was a pre-sentation of updated information on the LSMSA History Book project. (Turn to Page 10 for more informa-tion on Dr. Ebarb’s colloquium.) Then the student performances fol-lowed. Many current students showcased their talents in various

ways. Some talked about their Distinction projects, danced, sang, or played different instruments. Afterwards, the field by the CPT bustled with students, teachers, alumni, and parents eating BBQ supplied and cooked by the Alumni Associ-ation and the Parents’ Council of the LSMSA Foundation. Directly following this was the Theatre Repertoire produc-tion of “The Canal,” a comic radio play. (Turn to Page 6 for more information on “The Canal.”) Then the anticipat-ed Alumni vs. Stu-dents athletic games took place in the Gym. First was basketball where the boys and girls basketball teams joined forces to com-pete against the alum-ni who had returned. As always, the alumni overpowered the stu-dents by far.

Then the volley-ball game took place where the alumni defeated the students once again. The flag football game followed with the same results. During these games was another event. An alumnus of the Loui-siana School, Wesley Ducote, performed a piano recital in the CPT Recital Hall. As always, his perfor-mance wowed the crowd. (Turn to Page 3 for more information on Ducote’s perfor-mance.) Later that night was the Louisiana School Foundation dinner for alumni belonging to the society of 1983 at Merci Beaucoup. Old connections were renewed and new ones made as they are each year. As the alumni slowly returned to their

respective colleges and occupations and the students to their homework, the cam-pus quieted once more. The current Senior class may have been most affected by the exciting Homecoming Week activities, an-ticipating their return and visit next year as alumni.

Ross Jourdan makes a free throw at the homecoming game against Central High School.Taken by Khalilah Al-Amin

Cheerleaders Glenda Winfield (left) and Helena Palmisano (right) cheer during the homecoming game.

Taken by Khalilah Al-Amin

Page 8 November 2013The Renaissance

The Halls of LSMSAJohnnette Johnson

Staff Writer The halls of LSMSA wouldn’t be complete without the Halls of LSMSA. Dr. Link Hall and Dr. Elizabeth Hall, who is

and well-liked through-out the LSMSA com-munity for their unique personalities and hu-morous anecdotes. Both Halls received their doctoral statuses at the University of North

They both agree that their stay at LSMSA has been a great adven-ture. “It is a teacher’s paradise,” said Mrs. Dr. Hall. “Most of the students work hard and are inter-ested in learning,” said Dr. Hall, “I also have great colleagues.” They also stated what they wanted to see of LSMSA’s future. “I’d like to continue to see strong student bodies enrolled each year,” said Dr. Hall. Mrs. Dr. Hall then went on to talk about how students of LSMSA tolerate the dorms. “I would like to see the new dorms,” said Mrs. Dr. Hall. “I would also like to see higher salaries to continue to attract high-er leveled professors,” said Mrs. Dr. Hall.

Allen and Mosley tap into talentKyle Welch

Assistant Editor This month marked the debut performance of LSMSA’s Dance Department under the new mentorship of Ms. Audra Allen. The Fall Dance Con-cert of 2013 featured various choreographies by Allen herself, Eboni Mosley, NSU Theatre & Dance, and others. Many of the performers were enrolled in Allen’s dance courses, though there were three guest performers from NSU Theatre & Dance. Performances were vast in style, offering tastes of hip hop, jazz, ballet, and modern dance. Mosley, guest cho-reographer and SLA

at Caddo Hall, choreo-graphed an exciting hip hop dance to the Black Eyed Peas’ song Boom Boom Pow. It was performed by Emma Barham, Elizabeth Cas-sibry, Kristen Dhaliwal, Ethan Guerra, Caroline Henry, Cheyenne Ortiz, Ashley Reddicks, Al-lison Smith, and Ryan Wills. A playful dance cho-reographed by Allen, Les Trois Soeurs, was performed by Emma Barham, Elizabeth Cassibry, and Brianna LeBoeuf to the tune of France Gail’s Laisse Tomber Les Filles. The dance was a comi-cal narration of three clumsy and discordant French women. Performances were

given by Emma Barham, Waania Beg, Darby Breaux, Kristen Dhaliw-al, Abigail Dowd, Kate-lyn Fitzpatrick, Ethan Guerra, Caroline Henry, Madeline Inzenga, Bri-anna LeBoeuf, Ashley Reddicks, Allison Smith, Ryan Wills, Elizabeth Cassibry, Cheyenne Ortiz, Lee Hoyle, Lillian Poe, Jeffrey Sykes, Julia Landon, Isabela Walkin, Waverly Huang, Saman-tha Bush, and Charlot Amadi. Guest performers from NSU Theatre & Dance were Polanco Jones Jr. Addie Wilson, and Ebony Johnson.

Third year senior Darby Breaux dancing.Taken by Brandon K.

Mrs. Dr. Hall and Dr. Hall, LSMSA’s cutest couple.Taken by Brandon K.

Interact Club helps local schools

Carlie ProcellEditor-in-Chief

Interact Club along with the Natchitoches Rotary Club helped lo-cal schools in the area by providing personal-ized student dictionar-ies to hundreds of 4th graders. On the night of Thursday, November 14, members of Interact Club gathered in the CPT to label the diction-aries. Each dictionary included the child’s name and will be hand

referred to as Mrs. Dr. Hall as to distinguish herself from her hus-band, have been a part of the Louisiana School since its humble begin-nings in 1983. Both are professors at LSMSA in English and Latin respectively. They are both well-known

Carolina at Chapel Hill and came to Louisi-ana to help establish LSMSA. They planned on stay-ing here for a few years to finish their PhD’s, but they fell in love with the school and stayed here a few more years (31, to be exact.)

delivered to the schools in the future by the Ro-tary Club. Interact Club is a community service club sponsored by Mr. Zolzer, a member of the Natchitoches Rotary Club.

Shiva Velingker & Ashlyn Anderson help label dicitonaries.Taken by Mr. Zolzer

November 2013 Page 9The Renaissance

Myers’ last push for The Last Lecture

Allison BoudreauxStaff Writer

Rolanda Myers, the Coordinator of Advising and Student Support at LSMSA, is planning to incorporate this year’s common reading into programs for students in the spring. This summer students were asked to read Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. During the first required weekend, stu-dents took a quiz and discussed the book with a faculty member. Fortunately, there will not be another quiz for students, but there are talks of creating a lec-ture series. The lecture series would feature current teachers and other members of the community. Students absolutely seem interested in the idea of hearing their favorite faculty and staff members give life les-sons and tell stories in a sort of “last lecture.” While it is not clear if these lectures will be required, there will likely be a great turn out regardless of whether or not the program will be mandatory. Though the dates are not set in stone, Myers suggested that the lec-

tures may be a part of a required weekend in the spring so that all stu-dents will be on campus in order to maximize the turnout for each lecture. “I think it would be good for students to see their teachers in a per-sonal way outside of the classroom,” said Myers. “It is a nice way to get to know them.” Getting to know teachers is one of the best parts of going to a school such as LSMSA. A last lecture series would absolutely allow students to bond with their instructors on a very personal level. While this may not be for everyone, for many teachers it may be a great way to express some ideas that are not necessarily academic.

Mrs. Rolanda Myers, more commonly known as “Ro.”

Taken by Allison B.

Those fire alarms#BoardingSchoolProblemsAllison Smith

Staff Writer You know that feeling when you have finally started to focus, you have your music up, you’re flying through those Calculus problems and right when you are about to start studying for that looming Feske test the most obnox-

ious sound known to man blasts through the dorms. That’s right, the fire alarm. For Caddo residents, it’s a familiar sound, as the fire alarm goes off at least once a month. However, the Prudhomme residents don’t have the same problem. Some people

blame it on the old fire alarm, while most guys claim their ability to cook is superior. Even though some of these reasons have a ring of truth to them, everyone agrees that the amount of fire alarms is increasing too quickly. Caddo Hall wins with an impressive six alarms (one being a drill), while Prudhomme checks in with the more reason-

able two (again, one being a drill). Every time an alarm goes off, students gather their things and make the trek outside. There is always a shower girl/guy (someone who has not finished their shower upon this un-timely event), and you will be hard pressed to find someone not doing homework, even if the alarm does go off at one

in the morning. People who pass by Caddo Hall during a fire alarm will most likely see girls with laptops and papers strewn about, because every-one knows that time is precious and fire alarms take up too much of it. It’s one of the several inconveniences you get when you live at school as opposed to home.

All hail Queen Isabel!

Winter Formal Queen and third year senior Isabel Milton has a reputation for having a shining personality, but many don’t really know her. Here’s your chance to get to know the Queen. With a love for educa-tion, senior Milton has taken some the most challenging classes of-fered at LSMSA. This ranges from Biochemis-try to AP Calculus BC. In fact, during her junior year, she was the only student to remain in Biochemistry. Many of the students in Bio-chemistry dropped the class because of how challenging it was. Now looking at her schedule this semester, it doesn’t seem very challenging (at least to her) but she explained that she wanted to relax for a semester. She hopes that when the next semester be-gins, she will be able to get right back up. She plans on taking Analyti-cal Chemistry and Dif-ferential Equations. With a student like Milton, one would expect that education comes before all, but that is anything but true. Her main passion

Brandon KongphongmanyStaff Writer

lies in helping people. In the previous sum-mer, Isabel traveled to Haiti to help in some local hospitals. This left her no time for her to do any research, but she says that she does not regret her decision. She explains that she helped many people and was able to experience some-thing very unique.

theories about compos-ing your own music. Recently she was able to have students perform her pieces in a concert and is hoping to do that again for a senior recital. So Milton is pretty much a well rounded student. She can play music, derive equations, operate on Haitians--she

Isabel Milton preparing to sing beautifully in Chorale.Taken by Brandon K.

When she’s not doing work or helping others, Milton enjoys playing music. Many of her close friends recognize her as a great pianist as well as a singer. In fact, this semester makes her fifth semester taking Chorale. She also takes a class called Music Com-position which teaches you the techniques and

has it all. But because she has so many inter-ests, she is lost as to what profession she wants to go into. She says that she is leaning towards the medical field but she isn’t sure. “Who knows, maybe I’ll write movie scores one day,” said Milton.

Page 10 November 2013The Renaissance

Ebarb captures the history of LSMSAAllison Smith

Staff Writer On November 2, 2013 the Recital Hall was packed with people who cared deeply about LSMSA, its alumni, and sup-porting faculty. They were all pres-ent to hear Dr. Bill Ebarb speak about his project of chronicling the history of LSMSA. Ebarb came to the Louisiana School at its start in 1983, and even from the very beginning, he voiced the need to record the history of the school. After retiring from the school in 2009, he

more material as he continues to interview current and past stu-dents of the Louisiana School. Ebarb started off his colloquium my men-tioning the people of the Louisiana School. “Without Governor David Treen, there is no Louisiana School,” stated Ebarb. Treen created the legislation to start the Louisiana School and even helped with fund-ing the institution. Another influential person of LSMSA is state representative Jimmy Long. Long visited a school much

Patrick Widhalm holds today. “He did the research and leg work that actu-ally made the school go. Jimmy had the idea to make it happen and Bobby went out there and found out what it would take to make it happen,” said Ebarb. Treen controlled the purse strings that would allow it to hap-pen, Alost borrowed various concepts from the few elite schools in Louisiana and com-bined them to create the idea of LSMSA. Because of this, the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the

Dr. Bill Ebarb speaks about his book at a colloquium in the Recital Hall.

lsmsa.edu

Former NSU Director Dr. Robert Alost (left), former Governor David Treen (center), and former Representative Jimmy Long (right) were all influential people in LSMSA’s history.

nsula.edu, nbc33tv.com, beta.lp.orgquickly returned to help keep track of the history of the school. Ebarb states, “For about the last 20 years I hounded every direc-tor of the school about the need to start col-lecting the history of the Louisiana School or it will be lost and you will never get it back.” This history project that Ebarb is work-ing on is expected to be published in May, and consists mostly of stories from LSMSA alumni. Ebarb has written seven chapters so far, and expects to have

like LSMSA in North Carolina in the early eighties and it sparked the idea causing him to question why Loui-siana could not have something like that. As the chairman of the Education Com-mittee in the House of Representatives, Long pushed for the creation of the Louisiana School and eventually his wishes were granted. Robert “Bobby” Alost was another in-fluential member in the starting of the school. Alost was the school’s first Executive Director, the position that Dr.

classes as a form of entertainment. Only a few pictures remain of these paintings. Ebarb flips to a pic-ture of the High School Building on a week-night. The old Louisiana School sign glows and every window in the building is lit up. In the beginning years of the school, every student had guided study vary-ing over the years from 6:30-9:00pm. During this time, teachers skilled in every subject were at the high school building providing help for their students. Along with pieces of lost history like the one mentioned above, Ebarb also touches on payphones in the dorms, and renova-tions such as replacing the windows in Prud-homme. Overall, this book is designed to capture the

Arts is one of the only schools created to el-evate the importance of arts to that of math and science. After giving the his-tory of the ‘founding fathers of the school’, Ebarb went on to talk about the history of LSMSA that has been lost. For example, stu-dents will never know of the murals painted in the old cafeteria (some are not even aware that there was an old cafeteria). Alumni reflect back on these murals that they painted in between

history of LSMSA for years to come. “I need help,” Ebarb said. “I know the old history; I was there. I remember a lot of it, I spoke with a lot of people about it and recorded what I could, but I get to a point where I just don’t have any more material. That is from the last several years. I need current students to step up.” If you have any stories you would like to share with Dr. Ebarb feel free to contact him at bebarb@lsmsa.edu.

November 2013 Page 11The Renaissance

Students DJ at local radio stationBrooke Mendoza

Staff Writer “KNWD the Demon 91.7 FM Natchitoches” is a phrase widely rec-ognized by much of the LSMSA student body. Students know it as one of the better radio sta-tions around town. Whether students are jamming to the beats while finishing up an art assignment in the MAB or just laz-ing around enjoying some quality music in between classes, they know the sweet sound of KNWD’s music is

waiting for them. LSMSA offers a unique opportunity for its own students to try their hand at disc jockeying as volunteers at the non-profit radio station. At the beginning of the year, an LSMSA teacher, Dr. Robert Dalling, approached a select few students he believed would be in-terested in joining in on this unique experience. Some of these stu-dents include Victoria Wilson, Madeline Read, Brandy Ledet, Terra

Allen, Zachary Quiros, Jordan “JoJo” Williams, and Haley Robinson, as well as many others. Each student disc jockey plays his or her own variety of music collected on a flash drive. A few students do their shows in pairs, such as Williams and Robinson, co-presidents of the Music Appre-ciation Club here at LSMSA. They have their own show called “Diverse” that features a variety of different music from many genres. “We’re trying to play music of some local artists that aren’t dis-covered yet,” says Wil-liams. “Whenever we play popular people, we tend to play their more unpopular songs.” Although they try to get many different types of music on their show, they primarily focus on indie rock, electronica, and other various forms

collegeradioday.com

of rock. “One time, in the middle of one of our shows, the manager called and was like ‘I really like your music.’ So some of the music we play is now going to be on the master list,” said Williams. “It was the first time someone called, and we thought someone was calling to complain,” said Robinson. “JoJo finally worked up the courage to pick up the phone after the sixth or seventh ring.” Some students enjoy doing talk shows, but

Robinson and Williams mainly focus on playing music during their ses-sion with the occasional introduction of a song or public service an-nouncement. “I eventually want to start talking about how the bands got started,” said Williams. Tune in to KNWD the Demon 97.1 FM Natchi-toches every Wednesday between 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. to hear Robinson’s and William’s assorted playlist.

Jordan “JoJo” Williams and Haley Robinson.Taken by Brooke M.

Manhein gives students a peek at the bare bones of forensic anthropology

Allison BoudreauxStaff Writer

Helping students bone up on anatomy while speaking about her career, Mary Man-hein, the Director of the LSU Forensic Anthro-pology and Computer Enhancement Services Laboratory in Baton Rouge, gave a lecture to students and the com-munity followed by a book signing on Thurs-day, November 7, 2013 as a part of the Fleming Thomas Lecture Series at Northwestern State University. Manhein is also the

head of she is director of the Louisiana Reposi-tory for Unidentified and Missing Persons Information Program and has written several

books on the topic. Manhein focused on specific examples in her life that illustrated cer-tain aspects of forensic anthropology as a sci-ence and a career field. She stressed that crime scene investigation was a serious and not like CSI at all. She has had expe-rience working on cases from Civil War battleship recovery to analyzing mummies for museum purposes. “We don’t go out dressed up in heels into a well-lit parking lot all of the time,” said Man-

hein. “We go out in the woods and get muddy and are stung by bees.”She clarified many of the misconceptions that are associated with crime scene investiga-tion. Additionally she pro-vided students with a bit of background about the science of the profes-sion. Between explaining the differentiations of skull structure and skel-etal shape of females and males and the role of forensic entomology, Manhein gave a very broad and informative

overview of forensic anthropology. “I always wanted to be a comedian,” said Manhein. “I just wasn’t quite that funny.” Her comedic take on certain situations really lightened up what could be a potentially bleak topic. Manhein provided a very informative and entertaining discussion about her life and the overall discipline of anthropology.

Mary Manhein, a forensic anthropologist and author.

nsula.edu

The Fun PagePage 12 November 2013The Renaissance

This month’s puzzle topic is “Thanksgiving.” By Allison Boudreaux

ACROSS:1. First president to proclaim Thanksgiv-ing as an official holiday.4. Month in which the pilgrims arrived in America.8. Company that puts on the Thanksgiv-ing Day Parade.9. Sport watched by many Americans on Thanksgiving.10. Pilgrim settlement.11. Number of days that the first celebra-tion lasted.

DOWN: 2. Horn of plenty.3. Native American known for helping the pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving.5. Fruit used to make a red jellied side dish.6. Name of the ship that the pilgrims sailed on.7. Fowl of choice during the holidays.9. Thursday on which Thanksgiving is celebrated each year.

Comic by Soojin Lee