Opinions

Do you know what happened at Temple University recently? The Temple Athletics Program is eliminating seven sports: baseball, softball, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s gymnastics and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field. I go to Temple for gymnastics and my coach, Alex Tighe, just finished his final year there. Alex said at my last gymnastics meet, “On Friday, the gymnasts got the news that their program had been cut, and to see them go into the gym with this news is the most heartbreaking thing ever.” Misha, one of Temple’s gymnasts, is in his first year at the school. Imagine how he feels about his program being cut. Many students are too far into their programs to switch to another school, so their lives are gravely affected. My brother was a potential recruit for the gymnastics program and, if it is cut, there will only be fifteen schools in…

At Friends’ Central Middle School, there has been some question as to whether Newspaper should be a club, a specials class or an after-school activity instead of a Service group.  A look at our mission statement offers readers a clear idea of why we are here: to serve the community. The Phoenix Inquirer, a source of information and entertainment available to all students, faculty and community members, is a service to the school. While many Service groups strive to improve the community by spending time with disabled or older people, cleaning up the nearby stream, or organizing in the Admissions Department, The Phoenix Inquirer is published to report on recent events and relevant issues in the Middle School and beyond.  Like students in Service-Thru-Art and Students of Culture, we are working hard to make FCS an interesting and educated community.  The Phoenix Inquirer staff spends every minute of our meetings…

This is the inaugural post in The Turn of the Page, a regular column in which eighth grader Anjali Gupta reviews books for the Middle School community. Markus Zusak astonishes readers with this brilliantly plotted story set in Nazi Germany. The Book Thief is narrated by Death, a sympathetic, overworked being that tirelessly collects souls from bodies. Liesel Meminger, a simple orphan adopted by loving foster parents, is growing up in the dilapidated town of Molching. She is surrounded by signs of struggle, war, and–at times–hope. When her family hides a Jewish fugitive named Max, Liesel forms an unbreakable bond with the damaged young man and she and Max become close friends. After transforming the horrible Mein Kampf into a blank book, Max writes the story of his life in it,  forging a magnificent connection with Liesel in the process. Liesel also becomes friends with her next door neighbor, Rudy Steiner, a…