Charity Starts at Home(room) - Malden Catholic - A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School - 99 Crystal St., Malden, MA 02148

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Charity Starts at Home(room) - Malden Catholic - A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School - 99 Crystal St., Malden, MA 02148
C ry s t a l  9 9
             Malden Catholic – A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School – 99 Crystal St., Malden, MA 02148

           Charity Starts at Home(room)
By: Emerson Tully                                        Office Staff thanked Malden Catholic for the gen-            that don’t necessarily have the resources to have
Editor                                                   erous donations during the Advent prayer ser-                even one gift to open, and we provide that gift.”
                                                         vice, saying: “We are blessed in many ways, in                       Like most drives at Malden Catholic, it
         Malden Catholic’s Campus Ministry has           our office, to have long standing donors such as             was because of the generosity of the students
been hard at work this past winter striving to ex-       Malden Catholic whom we rely on annually to                  that the children in need got the toys that could
ceed expectations for their charity events. Starting     help us support some of the neediest families in             transform their Christmas morning. The success
off strong from November 3rd through the 22nd,           our surrounding communities!” When MC put                    of the toy drive was not so much about the rec-
Campus Ministry collected close to 1,000 non-            together their first Lancer Santa Toy Drive in the           ognition as it was about helping those in need.
perishable food items for the Bread of Life Food         late 1980s, they reached out to DCF because they                     From December 6th through January 7th,
Drive to help support Bread of Life’s faith-based        serviced ten local communities around the city               Campus Ministry also held a coat drive, which
mission to, “feed the body and nur-                                                                                                 Dr. Baccari says, “Was primarily the
ture the soul.” Bread of Life was                                                                                                   work of the students, with the ex-
founded in 1980 and brings togeth-                                                                                                  ception of a group of adults.” The
er over five-hundred volunteers                                                                                                     success of this charity event ended
from forty partner organizations                                                                                                    up bringing exactly 150 coats to An-
to offer free food to less-fortunate,                                                                                               ton Cleaners, located on 780 Main
hungry people. MC is very fond of                                                                                                   Street in Malden. Ms. Callahan,
Bread of Life’s core values, which                                                                                                  Girls Campus Minister, says that,
include providing nutritious fresh                                                                                                  “In my eyes, the coat drive was ex-
food to consumers, grounding their                                                                                                  tremely successful. I helped bag
work in their faith-based mission,                                                                                                  up all of the coats and can confirm
and treating others with respect.                                                                                                   that we were able to give a lot of
Because of this, MC has been work-                                                                                                  coats to families in need. Especially
ing with and supporting the orga-                                                                                                   with how cold it has been lately,
nization for over twenty-five years.                                                                                                I think that’s super necessary.”
         Members of the Brother Gil-                                                                                                          After being cleaned, the
bert Chapter of the National Hon-                                                                                                   coats were donated with the open-
ors Society are particularly proud of                                                                                               handed help of nearly 90 social ser-
their collaboration with the Bread                                                                                                  vice agencies that made sure that not
of Life. They have proudly worked                                                                                                   only the coats that MC donated, but
alongside Kathleen McKenna, a                                                                                                       also the coats from over two-hun-
past MC volunteer nurse and mom                                                                                                     dred and fifty schools as well as over
of three MC graduates. She is a                                                                                                     three-hundred companies, clubs,
volunteer with Bread of Life and                                                                                                    and organizations, were brought
with her help, over the years MC                                                                                                    to those in need, free of charge.
students have provided Hallow-                                                                                                                Being so involved with
een bags, Thanksgiving baskets,                                                                                                     these charity events, Dr. Baccari
Christmas gifts and Easter baskets                                                                                                  was asked why he puts so much
to families in need. They were even                                                                                                 work into these drives. “The reason
honored at a volunteer recogni-                                                                                                     why I do it is because faith with-
tion dinner reception at Anthony’s                                                                                                  out works is no faith at all. I feel
Malden for their acts of kindness.                                                                                                  as though this is what I am called
         This year’s food dona-                                                                                                     to do and in this case called to lead
tions from the Malden Catho-                                                                                                        at Malden Catholic,” said Dr. Bac-
lic community were left in boxes                                                                                                    cari proudly. “To be a role model
near the reception desk. Dr. Bac-                                                                                                   so that the students can see that you
cari and Ms. Callahan, with the                                                                                                     have to put your faith into practice.”
help of others, brought them                                                                                                                  Even with the huge suc-
                                      Photo Courtesy of Malden Catholic
to the Bread of Life food pan-                                                                                                      cess of the charity events over the
try and warehouse in Malden. Students and staff pose in front of toy donations to the Department of Children and Families.          past few months, Malden Catholic’s
         Following the food drive                                                                                                   Campus Ministry is already eagerly
was the Lancers Santa Toy Drive, which ran from of Malden, including Malden itself, each year. planning more charity events. Coming up is the
November 23rd through December 17th. Work- MC wants to make certain that each year the Buy a Bed campaign, led by the Mission of Deeds.
ing with the Department of Children and Fami- community as a whole provides toys to a good This mission was founded in 1993 to provide beds,
lies (DCF), a tradition that has been ongoing for number of children and families in the area, es- furniture, and household necessities to those in
over 30 years, MC helped contribute what Dr. pecially during the holiday season. Mr. Bucchino, need, free of charge. With every dollar donated
Baccari says is a “conservative guess” of three Boys Division Leader, is a big supporter of DCF to the Mission of Deeds, one step closer to buy-
hundred unwrapped new gifts. Catherine Mi- and said: “I think about the children on Christ- ing a bed for a child in need of one is in reach.
chaud, along with the entire Metro North DCF mas morning opening their toys. There are kids
Charity Starts at Home(room) - Malden Catholic - A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School - 99 Crystal St., Malden, MA 02148
Opinions
Opinions 2                                                                                                                                     March 2022

                                                  The Best of Both Burgers
Crystal 99                                By: Jared DeSimone
                                          Staff Writer
                                                                                                          do, the writer who reviewed the fries of the restaurant,
                                                                                                          gave the crown to. Five Guys’ burgers get a 3.5 in time
     Student Newspaper                                                                                    to prepare. The burgers do not take a long time to cook,
                                                   The idea of a burger often delights people, but        but there is a wait. With patience, you will find that it is
   Malden Catholic High School
                                          in some cases, restaurants will let you down. There are         worth the wait. The size of the burger scores a 4.5. These
        99 Crystal Street
   Malden, Massachusetts 02148            many restaurants that will proudly say they have a qual-        burgers are daunting when trying to take the first bite,
          (781) 322-3098                  ity product, but among these, which is the best? The quest      but you will find that you love every bit of it. The quality
                                          to determine this is a follow up to “One Guy’s Thoughts         of the burger scores a 4. All of the ingredients are kept
      Editors-in-Chief                    On Five Guys Fries” written by Orlando Putnam-Bagley.           on standby in coolers, and there are no freezers what-
       Brooke Langis                               The first burger place to be considered is McDon-      soever. The burgers are grilled in the restaurant, and in
     Courtney Casaletto                   ald’s. Many love the place for its fast service and good        most locations, for the customer to see. The taste of the
                                          food, but being that fast comes with a sacrifice; most of       burger scores a solid 5. When you eat a Five Guys burg-
       Managing Editor                    the food is pre-prepared. What would you rather eat:            er, if you are like me, you will find nothing whatsoever
         Lilah Paige                      store bought cookies or homemade cookies? Most people           to dislike. Most will love the taste of the grilled burg-
         Editors                          would agree that homemade is the way to go, or in the           er patties to the delectable taste of the fresh tomatoes.
     Katelyn Cirame                       restaurant business, food that is made fresh. McDonald’s        I have mulled over the burger for a while and cannot
       Aaron Hulse                        still made the list, because although their burgers cannot      come up with one reason to give the taste anything less
  Orlando Putnam-Bagley                   be held against freshly made burgers, they are good for         than a perfect score. Finally, the healthiness of the Five
      Jonathan Tran                       being pre-prepared. I determined this with a grading sys-       Guys burger scores a 3. Although the Five Guys burger
      Emerson Tully                       tem I made based on the one designed by Orlando: look-          tastes great, they have a large average calorie intake of
                                          ing at the time to prepare the burger, size of the burger,      around 840. This is way above the average calories for
         Staff Writers
         Michael Casey                    the quality of the burger, the taste of the burger, and the     a burger of 520. This alone would get them a score of
       Jordan Bartlett                    healthiness of the burger. This will all be graded on a         2, but one also should consider that their food is fresh
        Jared DeSimone                    scale of 0 to 5, with 0 being the worst and 5 being the best.   and their burger patties are completely preservative
      Myles Goodreau                               McDonald’s scores a 5 in time to prepare. This is      free. These factors convinced me to be lenient towards
      Lily McDonough                      because it is done within minutes of an order. Having all       the high calories and give them a 3 instead. This would
          Hoang Ngo                       food pre-prepared has its advantages, the main one be-          give Five Guys an overall score of 20 out of 25, or an 80%
          Jorge Ortiz                     ing that they can complete orders in a time that is noth-       on my grading system. For a fast food chain, this is an
         Kenny Ramirez
 Jacqueline Smiles Rodriguez              ing short of astounding. The size of the burger is a 3. This    excellent rating. I could only see a higher score in small
         Tomaz Silveira                   is because most would agree that although they are al-          family owned businesses where the process is even more
         Andrew Webb                      ways satisfied with the size of the burger, it isn’t very big   personal and not large scale. Considering Five Guys
         Brandon Wong                     which is why it scores a modest 3. The quality is a 2, be-      is a large restaurant chain, this score is phenomenal.
                                          cause although all the ingredients aren’t bad, they aren’t               It is no surprise that a restaurant that has quality
 Staff Artists and Photogra-              overly good either. When a restaurant sacrifices quality        fries and a side to a meal would have a quality burger too.
               phers
                                          for speed, it is noticeable how the flavor goes down. Most      Although the fries may often steal the spotlight, these
        Alexa Alcindor
        Isabelle Brady                    people can tell when something has been freshly made            burgers deserve their praise. Many people consider this
        Rachael Burke                     or just reheated. The taste of the McDonald’s burger is         their go to burger place. There are many reasons for this
        Eddie D’Angelo                    a 3. McDonald’s has been making it an art to make the           too, they have a great toppings selection for burgers, they
       Evelyn Maradiaga                   most delicious food possible in the least amount of time.       encourage employees to compete to see who can provide
          Anne Meza                                Although the burgers aren’t fresh, they do have        the best service, and they make sure to keep high quality
         Helen Nguyen                     a satisfying taste to them. If you are looking for a quick      ingredients. McDonald’s, being only 12% percent behind,
       Kimberly Nguyen                    good meal, then McDonald’s is definitely your place.            also deserves to be mentioned. Although their ingredi-
       Faculty Adviser                    Finally, in healthiness, the McDonald’s burger scores a         ents are not as fresh, these burgers have been satisfying
   Mr. Christopher Cleary                 4. You read that right. Although McDonald’s is known            people’s hunger for around 70 years, and many love the
                                          as one of those unhealthy fast food restaurants, the            fast service and quick meals, rightfully so too. Although,
                                          plain burger there has a calorie count of 250, contain-         to me Five Guys will always be the superior burger place.
  These opinions do not rep-              ing 12 grams of protein. The average burger contains            Some honorable mentions from my best burger survey
 resent the views of Malden               around 520 calories, and a regular burger at McDon-             are Wahlburgers in Lynnfield, MA, Christopher’s in
  Catholic as an institution              ald’s is well below that, earning a well deserved 4 in
Reporting on current events and                                                                           Cambridge, MA, and Carol’s in Medford, MA. I hope this
publishing student opinion, we at the     healthiness. Be aware that this 4 in no way means that          article has convinced you to see for yourself which burg-
Crystal 99 hope to inform, challenge,     McDonald’s burgers are healthy, just that in the realm          er is truly better. If you disagree with my grades, please
and entertain our readers, and allow      of burgers, they are one of the lower calorie choices.          make your case for why you think it is graded wrong; or
students an outlet to communicate         This gives McDonald’s a score of 17 out of 25, or a 68%         if you have a restaurant I have not mentioned which you
           with their peers.
                                          on my grading system. A 68% is not bad; although                think should have been considered, please let me know.
If you would like to contribute to the    there are many restaurants with better tasting burg-            Also, I give inspiration for this article to my friend Or-
paper, submit an article, or offer your   ers, McDonald’s has a household name, fast food, and            lando, who first put the idea for writing this in my head.
suggestions, contact any editor or        a good tasting burger, which is why it scored this high.
            Mr. Cleary.                   This is why McDonald’s is a very popular restaurant.             In This Issue...
                                          I chose this as my first restaurant to review because it         - What’s New In School
To place an advertisement in the          is the most well-known one, and most have had it and
       Crystal 99, contact:
                                          enjoyed the food, so it creates a reference for the next.
                                                                                                           - Winter Sports Summaries
 Christopher Cleary clearyc@mal-                                                                           - Potentially Controversial Opinions
          dencatholic.org                          I surveyed my peers at MC, and the most vot-
The Crystal 99 is published by School     ed upon restaurant for having the best burger was Five           - Arts Updates & Reviews
      Publications Company.               Guys. This is no surprise because it is the one that Orlan-
Charity Starts at Home(room) - Malden Catholic - A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School - 99 Crystal St., Malden, MA 02148
March 2022                                                           C ry s ta l 9 9                                                                Opinions 3

                      Slow Down the Fashion Industry
By: Jacqueline Smiles Rodriguez                           have gained attention and become a trend be-
Staff Writer                                              cause of the amount of clothing you could buy
                                                          cheaply, in contrast to more luxurious items.
         The popularity of fast fashion has expo-         Various pieces of clothing also become pop-
nentially expanded within recent decades, offer-          ular and form micro-trends. Micro-trends
ing widespread and unbelievably cheap access to           start and end quickly. Fast fashion makes
trendy clothing and accessories. Although it is det-      following these trends more accessible due
rimental to our environment and society, it allows        to the cheapness of their clothing that can
lower income individuals to attain a variety of           be produced quickly due to the unethical
fashion normally out of their reach. Moreover, be-        labor used to create it. This contrasts with
ing able to criticize fast fashion is a privileged po-    past years, in which trends only caught on
sition, simply due to the fact that being able to af-     with a minority of people. These trends were
ford ethically-sourced clothing is a privilege itself.    spread through magazines and celebrities,
         So, how do you slow down fast fashion?           and they were kept for years. The short life
There is almost no way to effectively discard             of trends that drive the production of fast
this clothing once you buy it. When a customer            fashion clothing only enhances the subse-
returns fast fashion items, they are often just           quent wastefulness and overconsumption.
thrown away. Donating very cheap clothing isn’t                    Fashion is expressive, and how you
recommended either, because itplaces the bur-             dress can alter people’s perception of you
den on the buyer. Thrift stores are now receiving         and grant you certain opportunities. Lower
plenty of cheap clothes that won’t last. Most only        income people don’t have many options                                                           Art by Anne Meza
keep items for a few months until they are sold.          when it comes to clothing. Buying ethical
                                                                                                                   definitely afford to think ethically. In this re-
         Purchasing fast fashion isn’t the main           clothing requires research and financial means,
                                                                                                                   spect, we are all victims of wasteful capitalism.
problem; overconsumption is. This is when people          and it’s often just not achievable. It’s almost im-
                                                                                                                   Fast fashion will never be sustainable for our envi-
buy more than they need or will even use. Many            possible to completely avoid fast fashion when
                                                                                                                   ronment. However, because lower income people
buy fast fashion because they can’t afford ethical        people publicly judge and degrade what others
                                                                                                                   have to resort to fast fashion, it seems to be here to
or sustainable clothing. However, when someone            are wearing on social media. This can include out-
                                                                                                                   stay. There is almost no way to avoid unethical con-
reaches triple digits at checkout, they definitely can.   dated trends and knock-offs. Although it is diffi-
                                                                                                                   sumption, even if you try, but overconsumption
Many people on social media post large hauls from         cult to shop more ethically for many, when people
                                                                                                                   trend is a trend that can and should slow down.
well-known, unethically-sourced brands. Hauls             spend lavishly on cheap sites like Shein, they can

                          What’s Going on in Ukraine?
By: Orlando Putnam-Bagley                                 Ukrainians have already fled the country by the          verely impacted the Russian stock market and value
Editor                                                    thousands to neighboring Poland and Moldova to           of the ruble. Select Russian banks have now been
                                                          seek refuge, but Ukraine has since banned all men of     removed from the global banking system, SWIFT,
         Recently, we have heard quite a bit about        fighting age (18-60) from leaving the country, as they   and Germany has revoked the permit for construc-
the war in Ukraine between invading Russian Forces        now must stay and fight against the invading forces.     tion of the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline which has
and the defending Ukrainian army. The President of                 Putin has seen the expansion of western         dealt a major blow to Gazprom and the rest of Rus-
the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, decided to        forces and interests deeper into Eastern-Europe in       sia’s natural gas industry, which makes up nearly
send troops into the country for a full-scale invasion    the form of NATO as an existential threat to the         60% of its total exports. These actions, combined
on February 24, 2022 after posturing and accumu-          Russian Federation, and the invasion of Ukraine          with the economic sanctions, are meant to target
lating troops on the border of the eastern-european       is a last- ditch effort to stop Ukraine from joining     the wealthy and powerful Russian oligarchs and
country since March 2021. This was directly after the     NATO and the European Union and instead to               elites, which will hopefully dissuade Putin from
Russia’s parliament declared the regions of Donetsk       have them stay neutral or pro-Russian. Putin has         continuing to wage war in Ukraine or cripple Rus-
and Luhansk in Ukraine as sovereign republics. It is      used propaganda and misinformation to try and            sia to the point where it is no longer able to do so.
important to note that these regions of Ukraine con-      control the narrative around the invasion, accusing                We admire the bravery of the Ukrainian peo-
tain a high percentage of Russian speakers and Rus-       the west of being similar to Nazi Germany in its ex-     ple right now who currently fight for their country
sian seperatist movements that have been fighting         pansion eastward and touting a “genocide” being          against a much larger invading force, and we pray
the Ukrainian government for eight years since the        conducted in eastern Ukraine that Russian forces         for their safety and continued sovereignty. Ukrai-
invasion of Crimiea. As of the writing of this article    are trying to stop. These claims are all verifiably      nian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stayed in
and according to the Ukraine’s health ministry, the       false and the United States has released and contin-     the capital of Kyiv, and he has refused to be evacu-
civilian death toll stands at 352 people and rough-       ues to release information publicly about Russia’s       ated to a safer location. In response to evacuation of-
ly ~1,700 civilians injured although these num-           plans which has helped keep the narrative clear          fers, he is quoted as saying “I need ammunition, not
bers may have increased at the time of publishing.        and based in truth, undoubtedly throwing Putin           a ride” which has undoubtedly given the Ukrainian
         The war so far is being fought violently and     off his strategy from the beginning of the conflict.     people much-needed hope. Kyiv is currently under
quickly, and United States intelligence sources have               An unexpected and overwhelming amount           siege by Russian forces and the future of the capital
released information predicting that the war will be      of support has come out in favor of Ukraine from         is uncertain, but with the continued support from
short. Casualties are projected to reach above 50,000     not only western countries aligned with the Unit-        European allies and the United States donating arms
people with over 1.5 million Ukrainians expected to       ed States but also globally. Even the Taliban have       and weapons, Ukraine may be able to continue to
be displaced. Already, many of us have seen videos        condemned Russia’s recent actions and the mysteri-       defend themselves from the Russian invaders. With
of large explosions, T-72 tanks and armored vehicles      ous hacker group, Anonymous, has cyber attacked          Ukraine applying for a fast-tracked membership
making their way through the countryside, Mig-            the Kremlin and released thousands of documents          with the European Union, the future may not be as
29s airstriking apartment buildings, and Mi-8 heli-       from the Russian military to the public. Because of      grim as some are predicting for the country but much
copters flying in formation over Ukrainian towns.         the invasion, Russia has now been hit with crippling     still remains to be seen. Until then, slava Ukrayini!
These videos taken by brave civilians are shocking        economic sanctions from both the United States and       *This article was finished on March 2, 2022 and
but have also helped the Ukrainian army keep bet-         the European Union, the most intense sanctions           may not reflect any developments that occurred
ter tabs on Russia’s advance into the country. Many       ever issued against Russia in history, and it has se-    after this date.*
Charity Starts at Home(room) - Malden Catholic - A Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School - 99 Crystal St., Malden, MA 02148
Opinions 4                                                       CRYSTAL 99                                                                 March 2022

                     Scrolling Your Way to Insecurities
By: Jordan Bartlett                                                                                               is something rarely shown on social media.
Staff Writer                                                                                                              Social media not only affects the nega-
                                                                                                                  tive internal thoughts of teenagers, it also af-
         Have you ever mindlessly scrolled for so                                                                 fects their productivity. This can include school
long on social media that you suddenly saw a sud-                                                                 work, sleeping habits, and social interaction.
den change in content? A change from cat memes                                                                    When teens constantly scroll through social
to passive aggressive posts by an influencer? On                                                                  media, they get sucked in and end up procras-
the outside, social media seems harmless, but on                                                                  tinating, rushing through, or just not doing
the inside, it’s a smorgasbord of negative ideas.                                                                 their schoolwork. When students are in school,
         These negative ideas aren’t only based                                                                   teachers and administrators might have a “no
on what is being posted, but they are also based                                                                  phone rule,” but computers and tablets have just
on what the posts are making people think. Re-                                                                    as many distractions as phones. You can access
gardless of intent, there is always a way to in-                                                                  almost anything just through a quick Google
terpret a post in a way that does not align with                                                                  search. This causes students to get distracted by
the original message. Teenagers scroll through                                                                    what’s on the screen, rather than paying atten-
Instagram and TikTok and see people that are Art by Kimberly Nguyen                                               tion to what is being taught in the classroom. As
petite, and skinny. As they scroll through these     parison to others and disappointment in one’s               teachers are lecturing in class, the students are
images, they compare posts to their own body own appearance and life result. With these ideas in               sending text messages to one another about what
image. They start to pull at their skin in the mir- mind, these apps are trying to convince the world          is going on in their life, rather than taking notes.
ror and wonder what they would look like if they that the best version of yourself is rich, has a good         Not only are students texting during school, they
just lost a few pounds. Social media influencers body, and has lots of followers. MC sophomore                 are also texting and using facetime in their free
often are not trying to make people feel this way Bella Maser says: “Social media shows you what               time rather than actually hanging out in person.
about themselves; they are just confident in who other people want you to see. Celebrities are not             Teenagers tend to believe that texting and snap-
they are and want to share it. Many influencers going to post a picture that they look bad in; they’re         chatting build better relationships and friendships
try to spread positive messages to their follow- going to post what makes them look good. It’s                 than having real conversations face-to-face. This
ers and encourage self love, but, as their follow- hard to not compare yourself to them, even know-            creates isolation for these students and causes
ers have been scrolling through these pages for ing that not all is real. I think that once we see what        them to text instead of speak to their friends
so long, they are already fixated on the fact that other people are, we immediately assume that we             that are just an arm’s length away. This isolation
their body doesn’t live up to society’s standards. have to be the exact same in order to be beautiful.”        causes people to build a relationship with their
With this mindset, insecurity spreads rapidly.                Teens are not only seeing these unreal-          cell phone rather than with one another. As a
         Not only does social media result in poor istic expectations, but also literal unreality. Ce-         member of society, try your best to look for the
body image in teens but it also sets unrealistic ex- lebrities post pictures that they look good in,           brighter side of social media. Try to find the light
pectations for the people using the apps. Whether and influencers are editing the photos to morph              at the end of the tunnel so that you, as a person,
these apps are showing you workout videos with their bodies into looking “perfect.” The truth is               can attain a good mindset and experience the ben-
unattainable goals or videos of people with mas- there is no perfect; there is no specific way you             efits of social media, rather than the afflictions.
sive houses and an abundance of followers, com- have to look in order to be pretty, but this idea

By: Tomaz Silveira
                                      How Essential is Work?
                                                        parts of the world such as Africa and South Asia.      “The Abolition of Work” (1985) as follows: “No
Staff Writer                                                     Employees are mostly in a transactional       one should ever work. Work is the source of all
                                                        relationship with consumers; they produce goods        the misery in the world.” Importantly though,
        Work is a subject with a long philosophi-       that consumers buy. But this need not be the case.     Black defines work as “compulsory production.”
cal pedigree. For example, in The Republic, Plato       Physicians at a free clinic are not paid by their      His abolition of work is thus compatible with
proposed a system of labor specialization based         patients. Nevertheless, such employees expect          voluntarily engaging in economically productive
on inborn abilities. He argued that this will en-       to earn income. Alternatively, some instances of       activities. Alternately, Danaher (2019:54) sug-
sure essential tasks will be performed by those         work go uncompensated altogether, such as pris-        gests that the world of work is “structurally bad.”
capable of performing them. Thus, Plato acknowl-        on labor. So too for those who volunteer or pro-       The labor market in most developed countries
edged the centrality of work to our lives. It is the    vide unpaid care work for children, the aged, or       makes work bad for many and is getting worse
primary source of income and a central feature of       the ill. Thus, work need not involve working for       because of technical and institutional changes.
day-to-day adult life. Thus, no phenomenon ex-          others, nor need it be materially compensated.                  Additionally, many workers receive little
erts a greater influence on human life than work.                Work generally involves altering the          social recognition or sense of community through
        By work, I mean the familiar things we          world in worthwhile ways. Raymond Geuss                their work. Much socially valuable work is in-
do in fields, factories, offices, homes, etc. to make   (2021:5) calls this “objective” value. By work-        visible to its beneficiaries. Many jobs are dull or
a living. Examples include driving a taxi, run-         ing, we generate goods that others can enjoy.          unchallenging, contributing little to the develop-
ning a cash register, working on an assembly            In most cases, a person is compensated not for         ment or exercise of our more sophisticated hu-
line, or teaching. Some have observed that life         their labor, but because their labor contributes to    man capacities. As Marx suggested, workers
is understood in work-like terms: parenthood is         goods with this ‘objective’ value. Therefore, some     have little if any say over what is produced and
described as a job, those with romantic difficul-       activities are arguably not work, because they gen-    how. Work is compelled by economic neces-
ties ‘work on’ their relationships, and what was        erate value for the actor instead of for others. For   sity and not an intrinsic satisfaction in working.
once exercise is now ‘working out’ (Malesic 2017).      instance, in leisure, we engage in activities that     This system also isolates them from other work-
        Not all work takes the form of employ-          produce goods for our own enjoyment. We can-           ers, inasmuch as capitalism treats workers as in-
ment. Workers can produce goods without be-             not hire others to sunbathe for us or enjoy a mu-      terchangeable and pits worker against worker.
ing mediated by employers. In some cases, a             sical performance. Leisure thus produces subjec-       Anti-work theorists typically call for work to be
worker also owns the enterprise (for example,           tive value that cannot be exchanged with others.       re-valued to minimize the influence of work on
a restaurant owner who is also its head chef),                   Crucially, much of the skepticism sur-        our quality of life. That work is unavoidable, nec-
which has actually been the predominant form            rounding the value of work really skepticism           essary, and also frustrating might suggest the wis-
of work throughout human history. For exam-             about the veneration of the “Protestant work           dom of a reevaluation of the necessity of work.
ple, over half of all workers are self-employed in      ethic.” The anarchist Bob Black opens his essay
March 2022                                                          C ry s ta l 9 9                                                                 Opinions 5

 The MC Schedule: Turning Back the Clock
By: Brandon Wong
Staff Writer

         Modified annually for the past
half-decade, the Malden Catholic school
schedule has brought about a perpetual
cycle of change, a constant that neces-
sitates a prompt end. The numerous it-
erations to best adapt learning objectives
and school functions have instead fos-
tered avertible disorientation. Through
discussion with individuals in the com-
munity regarding this matter, I have as-
certained the need for a better structure.
Therefore, the school schedule requires
amendment to satisfy the student body
and faculty alike, with its flaws being
minimized as much as possible. In craft-
ing the variations of schedules depicted,
I centered on the following four criteria
to address all fundamental concerns: pro-
ductivity, efficiency, clarity, and security.
         First, the most notable alteration
is that both the boys’ and girls’ divisions
have alignment in scheduling. In recent
years, there was confusion over the dif-                 engage in their studies, which provides a signifi-       instruction would not be grouped with those that
fering class times in the respective schools, which      cant opportunity to complete schoolwork without          require the extra time to carry out their agenda.
often left instructors who taught on both sides in       strenuous efforts later in the day. To compensate                 Another reason the hour-long block was
unfavorable situations. Such troubles consisted of       for the elimination of homeroom, roll call would be      in place was to accommodate the four lunch pe-
extremely short lunch breaks and not being able          taken during study hall, with the exception being        riods. Following the current construction of sep-
to attend homeroom due to overlapping classes,           club days; this notion signifies that seniors’ ability   arating lunches by gender and grade level, each
among other inconveniences. Instituting the same         to leave early on most days would be restricted un-      group still maintains a certain time in which they
schedule eliminates these apparent problems.             til after attendance at around 2:10. For faculty, de-    have lunch; in these models, first-year and sopho-
Moreover, these models retain the seven-day ro-          partment chairs, and instructors with special roles      more girls always eat in the fourth period of the
tation that has been in place since the 2018-2019        such as Br. Puccio who would not have classes to         day, the junior and senior girls in the fifth period
school year, disregarding the one last year due          oversee, the remaining eligible teachers would ob-       of the day, and so on, and so forth. The distinct
to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.           serve around the forty homerooms in the school.          change is that to retain the notion of a drop pe-
Every class spans the same amount of time, forty-                  Many students have had conflicts this          riod while having adequate time to enjoy lunch, a
eight minutes, with each one being reduced to for-       year surrounding club participation, particular-         specific grade pairing would drop a class once in
ty-three minutes in the activity and delayed-start       ly due to athletics. The daily practices promptly        the rotation for their lunch period. For example,
schedules; additionally,   the latter schedule re-       after school inhibit one’s prospect of attend-           first-year and sophomore boys’ lunch in the sixth
quires the first period of that particular day in the    ing meetings regularly. As a result, the current         period would substitute as their drop period of
rotation to be the last block to accommodate lunch       layout of the schedule requires an individual            the day, which in these depictions, is shown to be
scheduling, which in this model would be Period          to dedicate more effort and time into one or the         Period F on Day 1. Although the proposed amount
A on Day 1. Subsequently, the break between each         other, which is counterproductive for both the           of lunchtime presents the issue of maintaining
period is reduced to four minutes and the concept        student and the school higher-ups, especially            oversight due to the considerable length of time
of the homeroom block would be dismissed from            with the latter promoting participation in such          for authority figures, the myriad of advantages
all the schedules. Announcements would be sent           extracurricular pursuits. Therefore, the activity        these models offer outweigh this one slight flaw.
daily via student email and reiterated in what is        block incentivizes participation for all students,                In all, the total time of instruction on a typ-
called the “activity block” to offset the removal        especially those with commitments after school.          ical day, excluding breaks, lunch, and the activity
of homeroom. By implementing these revisions,                      Furthermore, the hour-long block is done       block, amounts to 288 minutes, which is slightly
this additional time is allocated toward more            away with to promote a more balanced schedule.           shorter than the average from the last five sched-
academic and extracurricular-related activities.         One might contend that the hour-long block was           ules; however, this redesigned normal schedule of-
         In the respective normal and activity           beneficial due to its ability to conduct assessments     fers more coherence and organization that steadies
schedules, the activity block from the 2018-2019         and labs in STEM-based classes more easily. How-         the imbalances with recent school schedules. The
and 2019-2020 school year makes its return; the          ever, aside from this point, I contend that classes      activity schedule and delayed-start schedule
lack of time in the delayed-start schedule does not      become unproductive and tedious for students in          would also have 258 total minutes of instruction, a
allow for existance of the activity block, but the       this stretch of the day because of the drawn-out time    substantial increase over the 223 minutes from the
schedule’s rare occurrence holds little impact re-       relative to other periods. To counteract the absence     aforementioned schedules this year. Combining
gardless. The activity block is not related to the the   of an hour-long period, classes that require addi-       the best aspects from a collection of schedules that
activity schedule, as the period takes place daily at    tional time occasionally could converse internally       span over a decade, I believe these models demon-
the end of each day, whereas the activity schedule       about beginning at an earlier time, around 7:45 or       strate an ideal mix of simplicity and convenience
occurs sporadically for school functions such as         7:50, when they happen to be the first period of         that bestows faculty transparency and encourages
Mass. The activity block would consist of some-          the day; this idea holds resemblance to the “shad-       better academic performance and extracurricular
thing like five days of study hall and two days of       ow period” that occurred during the 2019-2020            participation for the students of Malden Catholic.
clubs in the seven-day rotation. The period would        school year. In doing so, courses that do not bear
grant a set time for students during the day to          the requisite of requiring these extended stretches
Opinions 6                           CRYSTAL 99                  March 2022
                  January Sixth: A Strategy Centuries in the Making
By: Myles Goodreau                                           everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of         do you mean to say “patriot” and say “terrorist”? Here
Staff Writter                                                people....As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections      are bunch of politicians supporting people who wanted
                                                             quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”         to harm their colleagues. While liberals sing Hamilton
         Remember that day where all those radi-             This is a major Conservative telling us that in order to win,     and fail to pursue those who incited the rioters, people
calized right-wingers stormed the Capitol build-             you have to suppress votes. Of course, this strategy isn’t new.   like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are throw-
ing, back when Joe Biden wasn’t in office yet and            Conservatives have done this for years. I can already hear        ing parties to remember all of our “silenced patriots” who
Donald Trump was? How about when the Repub-                  the complaints, “Conservatives didn’t suppress people of          are in prison for committing an actual crime. These poli-
lican party was like, “Not me though. I’m a ‘good’           color…That was the Democrats.” However, if we’re being            ticians are walking a dangerous wire aligning with these
Republican”? How about when the party switched               practical, the party switch and the Southern Strategy are         people. As Lin-Manuel Miranda once said, “If you stand
back after they saw that people were still support-          real, verifiable history. The progressive party certainly used    for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?” Well, Republicans?
ing Trump? This quick flip-flopping shows how                to call itself Republican a century ago, but which party’s                  I know this was an article about January 6th.
much the radicalization goes beyond Trump. Not               supporters are more likely to wave a confederate flag now?        Sorry if I’ve digressed, it’s just that we watched a poten-
satisfied with simply attempting to overturn an                         Whether in the form of Jim Crow literacy tests         tial systemic collapse, and elected officials mostly seem
election on January 6th, the Republicans are intent          and grandfather clauses or Georgia’s new restrictive vot-         interested in politically profiting from it, which is kind of
on disrupting the right to vote around the country.          ing laws, voter suppression has always been a conserva-           not cool. It would just be super awesome if, the next time
         Did you know that in 2020, 39.66% of par-           tive cornerstone. To say this tactic is an artifact of Trump      Republicans try to mount a coup, we can have some ac-
ty registration was Democratic, while a 29.09% of            is ahistorical. January 6th has been in the works for de-         tual punishment for those that led it. Until then I guess,
party registration was Republican? How have Re-              cades. Even “sensible” Republicans like Liz Cheney,               happy anniversary January 6th. Sorry your Party’s so lame.
publicans managed to win since then? By using                Mitt Romney, and Rand Paul have all cried about
the same strategy they always have: whatever tech-           voter fraud, so I don’t think they deserve our applause
nicality they can. Trump and Bush lost the popu-             for saying an election wasn’t rigged; it’s the absolute
lar vote and still won. How do the Republicans               bare minimum of being a good human being, which
do it? By suppressing as many votes as possible              I think Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene,
to game the electoral college. Why are conserva-             Matt Gaetz, and other grifters need to learn about.
tives so opposed to making Election Day a national                      Grifting is when a politician stands for some-
holiday? Easy, because it means more votes, which            thing they don’t actually believe in their own benefit. In
means less of a chance for Republicans to win.               this case, the support of all the deranged QAnon sup-
         Maybe you’re inclined to think this is just the     porters is at stake. So yeah, great benefit. One of my
opinion of a radical, antifa leftist. Fair point. Don’t      favorite moments of 2022 was watching Carlson call out
take my word for it; trust the founding father of mod-       Ted Cruz for correctly calling those great American pa-
ern conservatism, Paul Weyrich, who created The Heritage     triots “terrorists.” Cruz clearly didn’t get the memo that
Foundation. Weyrich gave a speech in 1980 to a crowd         it was cool to support the insurrectionists, and seeing
which contained Ronald Reagan where he said, “Now many       him try to say it was a “mistake” never gets old. How
of our Christians ....want everybody to vote. I don’t want                                                                                                            Art by Alexa Alcindor

           Plastic Surgery and the Ever-Evolving Beauty Standard
By: Lily McDonough                                           botox was now being used for wrinkles. From the ‘40s              gery a way to “enhance” your physical features. Nia
Staff Writer                                                 to the ‘70s, massive cosmetic surgery discoveries be-             Banks, owner of Art of Balance Wellness Spa, says
                                                             gan to emerge, and as the public response was most-               that “Not only are we reconstructing function of the
         There is no absolute standard of beauty.            ly negative, procedures were usually carried out in               face and body, but now we’re also helping to bol-
It redefines itself constantly. Politics and societal        secret. This had a harmful influence on the public be-            ster confidence by doing cosmetic procedures.” No
standards are often the main contributors to main-           cause features like ski–slope noses and full lips were            offense to Banks, but that is literally insane. Plastic
stream beauty standards. In 17th Century Europe,                                                                               surgery may help you feel better about your looks,
new trade routes supplied nobles with an abun-                                                                                 but we need to stop equating beauty with self-worth.
dance of new goods such as grains, meats, and                                                                                  You are so much more than what you look like.
spices. The plethora of new foods eventually led to                                                                                      The intense focus on physical beauty has
larger bodies among high society. Therefore, plump-                                                                            been engraved in our minds since we were very
ness was associated with nobility and, thus, beauty.                                                                           young. Plastic surgery itself is not the problem – it’s
         It was also around this time that the Enlight-                                                                        our subconscious. If we all had high self-esteem, it
enment introduced the concepts of race and white                                                                               wouldn’t matter if someone lied about getting lip fill-
supremacy, as stated by Leah Donnella of NPR: “The                                                                             ers or not. In The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison writes,
work of some early racial theorists …defined the cat-                                                                          “[She] was introduced to another [power] – physi-
egory of ‘white,’ or ‘Caucasian,’ as being the most                                                                            cal beauty. Probably the most destructive idea in the
beautiful of the races…It was important for [those ra-                                                                         history of human thought… [it] originated in envy,
cial theorists] to be superior in all areas…they wanted                                                                        thrived in insecurity, and ended in disillusion.” It’s
the people they called ‘their women’ to be the most                                                                            mostly girls who are influenced by the fixation on
beautiful, and ‘their men’ to be the most virile.” The                                                                         beauty, even when it comes to female empowerment.
importance of wealth, and of course, whiteness, was                                                                            Choosing to “enhance” your appearance is supposed
and is the main force which establishes the beauty                                                                             to make you feel empowered because you chose to
standard. Nowadays, it just takes a different form.                                                                            do it. Not only is that illogical opinion to have, but
         These socially-driven beauty standards              Art by Helen Nguyen                                               it isn’t feminist. Why do we have to use feminism as
were not the main purpose of plastic surgery in the                                                                            a justification to do things? Men don’t have to use
early 20th century, when it rose in popularity in            believed to be “natural” and “just genetic” when in               their manliness as an excuse to, say, get a toupee.
the United States. After WWI, many returning sol-            reality, the models idealized in magazines and on                           Nothing is solved when we shame others for
diers were disfigured and found it difficult to find         runways didn’t actually possess these features. To-               getting plastic surgery; they aren’t responsible for
work. Soldiers started having cosmetic work done             day, secret procedures still have this effect on people.          your insecurities. The best thing to know is that it
in order to improve their chances of employment                       In 2020, when the pandemic had first hit,                takes time to unlearn limiting beliefs, especially when
and acceptance from modern American society.                 over 24 million procedures were performed globally.               it comes to physical appearance. We can’t expect our-
In the following decades, people started getting plas-       Why would the pandemic double the amount of pro-                  selves or others to stop feeling like we have to change
tic surgery purely to enhance their appearance. Even         cedures? On social media, a new trend emerged: the                our looks to live a good life, but we can start equat-
if you didn’t have third degree burns, some natural          wellness movement. Self-worth and self-confidence                 ing things like knowledge, discovery, and experience
facial features were being deemed “ugly” and “in-            have always been associated with “loving the skin                 with a good life, too. That is the true form of self-worth.
appropriate.” Instead of being used for crossed eyes,        you’re in.” This industry instead started calling sur-
March 2022                                                         C ry s ta l 9 9                                                                Opinions 7

      Settlers of Catan: The Best Board Game?
By: Orlando Putnam-Bagley                               played on a hexagonal board with hexagonal               gameplay meant to represent the unfairness of un-
Editor                                                  tiles, each tile corresponding to one of 5 resourc-      fettered capitalism, but let’s be honest, it’s not fun
                                                        es - wood, bricks, sheep, rocks, or wheat - and is       unless you’re the one winning (which in that case
         Have you ever played a board game for          randomly assigned a number from 1 to 12 (ex-             the game probably inflates your ego by orders
the first time and really thought to yourself “I        cluding 7). Each number on each tile corresponds         of magnitude). Catan on the other hand is more
just want to play that again”? I would assume           to a dice roll and when the number on the tile is        egalitarian, and nobody is truly above the powers
many reading this article do not remember their         rolled by a player, each player with a settlement        of the dice gods; even when you are ahead, you
first game of Monopoly or Candyland, and for            (usually portrayed as a tiny house on the board)         don’t usually get exponentially disaffected by dice
good reason. Many of us were introduced to these        next to said tile receives the resource type on the      rolls, and you must always be on your toes. When
games as children so young that it is hard to recall    tile. When a 7 is rolled, a “robber” is moved from       you roll (unless you roll a 7), you can usually ex-
when we even learned about their existence, but         the one desert tile on the board (which creates no       pect your situation to improve or not change and
now, they have become so ingrained in American          resources) and can be placed on a different tile         you have options to trade cards with other play-
culture that they are almost intrinsically linked to    to prevent that tile from producing resources to         ers or build things and whatnot, but other play-
the word “board game.” But, let me ask you an-          hinder other players. Players can also purchase          ers also get a boost each round as players can col-
other question: do you like these games? Do you         “development cards” which each have different-           lect resources even when it’s not their turn. This
think that these games deserve to be the pinnacle of    properties ranging from being able to build two          makes the game dynamic and moves it along at
board game supremacy? My personal answer is no.         roads automatically (road-building card), to ask         an incredibly consistent pace every game. While
         I have never had fond memories of Mo-          all players to give you all of a certain resource they   Monopoly is sporadic in playtime, you can almost
nopoly in particular, and I associate it with getting   have (monopoly card), or to move the robber on           always expect a game of Catan to last 1-2 hours
insults and chairs hurled at me by family members       demand (knight card) among others. The goal of           every time depending on the number of people
because the dice decided to roll a certain way. It is   the game is to reach 10 points which can be accu-        you’re playing with. Catan plays consistently for
a game meant to pin people against each other in a      mulated from settlements/cities, certain develop-        practically every game; the gameplay is dynamic
cutthroat miniature Gilded Age capitalism simula-       ment cards, and 2 achievement cards that reward          and every player’s turn always involves everyone
tor that drags on for literal hours. I can count the    the player with the most knight cards (has to be         else. Each player has a multitude of different op-
amount of times I have finished                                                                                                     tions and ways to play each turn
a game of normal Monopoly                                                                                                           instead of being more binary
on one hand because the game                                                                                                        like games such as Monopoly.
can last upwards of 6 hours or                                                                                                            I will also mention again
more! How is that fun?! Because                                                                                                     that the Catan board is hex-
of this, I have become a staunch                                                                                                    agonal in nature and I will ex-
opponent of Monopoly, and I                                                                                                         plain why this is much better
have instead adopted a new fa-                                                                                                      than turn-based games that are
vorite board game, which I be-                                                                                                      played on a grid and not just
lieve to be the best board game                                                                                                     simply because hexagons are
ever created: Settlers of Catan.                                                                                                    the best shape (although they
         Instead of playing as an                                                                                                   most definitely are). When you
1890s entrepreneur in the shape                                                                                                     move in any direction from the
of a tiny metal race car (or thim-                                                                                                  vertex of one hexagon to an-
ble -- I don’t judge) hellbent on                                                                                                   other, you move exactly one
acquiring real-estate and devel-                                                                                                    unit of length no matter what.
oping it, Catan sets a different                                                                                                    When playing on a grid, you
scene. You pick the color of hous-                                                                                                  can only do this by moving in
es and road pieces ranging from                                                                                                     cardinal directions and when
white, red, blue, or orange, and Photo by Lilah Paige                                                                               you move diagonally you move
you build a civilization, so-to-                                                                                                 a distance of 2 units. That is sim-
speak. You build your empire on a majestic island       at least 3) or the player with the longest continual     ply just a disgusting, irrational distance to move
full of forests, mountain ranges, wheat fields, and     road (must be more than 5 road segments long).           and there is no excuse that we shouldn’t be play-
green pastures teeming with white fluffy sheep. It               Obviously these are not all the mechan-         ing chess on hexagonal boards, but I digress.
is a peaceful setting to say the least, and whether     ics of the game as although it is fairly intuitive, it            Catan has many features and mechanics
or not you like the game, you can probably agree        also has many rules and is complex in some re-           that put it a cut above the rest in terms of over-
that the artwork is very pleasant. In contrast to       spects. The best players can manage all of the fac-      all board game experience. From the beautiful
artwork on games like Monopoly, which at first          tors and mechanics in the game and strategize,           artwork and pleasant rustic aesthetic of the game
may seem “modern,” they ultimately come off as          and if done correctly, playing smart can minimize        art to the hexagonal board that allows players to
uninspired or soulless like that corporate artstyle     uncontrollable factors of luck from giving your          traverse the board in whole number intervals, the
you see Facebook use. Catan brings the notion that      fellow players an advantage over you. Monopo-            physical appearance of the game is top-notch. With
board games can have good, well-balanced game-          ly doesn’t give much to the player in regards to         its intuitive mechanics such as resource collection,
play while also being visually pleasing. Monopoly       agency in the game; you basically get two options        trading, and development cards, Catan is able to
and Life do have a lot of bright colors, but unless     every turn. You land on a property and you either        combine many simple mechanics into emergent
you are younger than 7, I wouldn’t believe that         buy it or you don’t, and if you have the misfor-         gameplay that is greater than the sum of its parts.
the colors and artwork are what draw you to the         tune of landing on someone else’s property by            Although I may be personally biased, as I am pro-
game. Going further into depth about why Catan          pure chance, then you’re gonna have a bad time.          ficient in absolutely destroying every single per-
is supremely better than Monopoly and other             I find this to be an unbalanced and unfair system.       son I can convince to play with me, I still believe
games will involve me going into detail about the       You must roll every time, but that roll can have         that this game is perfection incarnate in regards
respective mechanics of the games, so buckle up.        a high chance of putting you out of the game, or         to board games. So, dear reader, if you have ac-
         Settlers of Catan is not a well-known game     even worse, letting you toil away for multiple           cess to this game that I hold so dearly to my heart,
to many people, which is understandable, so al-         rounds with not enough cash to do anything,              please consider giving it a try with your friends
low me to explain how it basically plays as simply      but not enough to be out of the game completely.         instead of any inferior linear roll-and-move game
as I can (you may skip this portion if you already               Some people may see this as simply a quirk      and experience Settlers of Catan for yourself.
know how the game functions). Catan is a game           of the game’s design or intentionally frustrating
News 8                                                          CRYSTAL 99                                                                  March 2022

 Buying a Ticket to the MC Community
By: Jordan Bartlett                                    our athletic coaches, so the prospective students      more comfortable and welcome throughout the
Staff Writer                                           could come and talk to a coach they are interested     day. Additionally, the teachers try their best to
                                                       in playing for.” Along with the athletic coaches,      make the shadows feel at home and make them
         Whether they are from down the street         there were members of the arts programs avail-         comfortable in the high school environment.
or across the world, Malden Catholic students          able for the interested families and students.                  Seeing the new students entering the
have all experienced the uncertainty of choos-                 The MC Experience is not the only way that     building is not only strengthening the Malden
ing a high school. Clarity and certainty are pro-      incoming students can get involved with Malden         Catholic family but is also a very rewarding expe-
vided in Malden Catholic’s admissions process,         Catholic; there is also the option of shadowing.       rience for administrators. The administrators get a
including multiple opportunities for incoming          Shadowing allows an incoming student to attend         sense of pride because they have the opportunity
freshman or transfer students to get a glimpse         a school day with a current Malden Catholic stu-       to meet those who have chosen Malden Catho-
of what the codivisional school is all about,          dent. This especially gives a more comprehensive       lic for their future. This idea proves to them that
such as Shadow Days and The MC Experience.             idea of the day-to-day life at MC. The hosts of the    people are drawn to what goes on at the school,
         The admissions process can be challeng-       shadows are chosen by Mr. O’Neill, and he works        and they want to be a part of the community.
ing, but Malden Catholic works to make it an           to carefully select just the right people to show      Many of the administrators and teachers at MC
enjoyable and helpful experience. The admin-           the interested students around the school: “When       are alumni, and to them, seeing the incoming stu-
istrators and students at MC are very welcom-          looking for shadow hosts, we want someone who          dents brings them joy as well because they are see-
ing, which allows incoming Lancers to get a true       is outgoing and friendly, has a positive attitude      ing new students emerged in the MC experience.
feel for the school as well as what it will be like    about Malden Catholic, and is willing to share                  Administrators work hard to make admis-
when they attend - whether that is in the fall or      their MC experience with an 8th grader.” The           sions a personalized process. They get to know
mid-year. The admissions director Mr. Mat-             shadows also have to have a working schedule.          each prospective student to find out what their
thew O’Neill provided some detail regarding                    Due to COVID-19 protocols, there can           interests are, and they build off of those ideas to
the MC Experience Night: “This year was a lit-         only be a certain number of students in a single       motivate them to join the Malden Catholic com-
tle different because of COVID-19. We had two          classroom, which limits the amount of pos-             munity. Based on these interests, the new students
rooms opened in the cafeteria and in the gym.”         sible hosts. The hosts of the incoming students        can locate clubs or sports teams that attract them,
         In the cafeteria, there were tables show-     are mostly freshmen, but there are also current        which helps to better their high school experience,
casing the variety of STEM programs that the           sophomores who have had shadows as well.               and make them feel at home when they enter 99
school offers. This provides the incoming students     When asked about her time spent as a shadow            Crystal Street. The admissions process at Mal-
with the opportunity to do hands-on work with          host, sophomore Mia Fronduto said, “It’s fun           den Catholic is an enjoyable and exciting experi-
involved students and staff. The gym was yet           to have a shadow, but you can tell that they are       ence for not only the incoming students, but also
another amazing experience for the students, as        nervous.” Shadowing can be challenging in this         for the rest of the Malden Catholic community.
Mr. O’Neill described: “In the gym we had all of       way, but hosts are able to make shadows feel

By: Katelyn Cirame
                       And the Crowd Goes Wild...                                                                          lowed students to return to the stands.
Editor                                                                                                                     Now that winter sports are in full
                                                                                                                           swing, every basketball game fills the
         Merely making a sports                                                                                            stands with not just students, but also
team can be an accomplishment in                                                                                           parents, teachers, and the cheerlead-
itself, but playing in front of a cheer-                                                                                   ing squad keeping the crowd excited.
ing crowd makes the whole experi-                                                                                          The student council has taken the re-
ence way more exciting. At Malden                                                                                          sponsibility of creating themes for
Catholic, students never disappoint                                                                                        these games. Having themes at these
when it comes to going plus ultra                                                                                          games can bring the crowd closer to-
and filling the bleachers to the brim.                                                                                     gether and create a more exciting and
         During MC’s fall sports sea-                                                                                      vibrant scene. Some themes for the
son, the stands were consistently                                                                                          season included the blackout theme
packed, despite sometimes chilling                                                                                         for their first home game of the season,
temperatures. At the football team’s                                                                                       a neon theme, a Christmas theme, and
many home games this year, an excited                                                                                      many more. A sophomore student that
crowd of students and families were                                                                                        attended one of the games said, “The
always ready to cheer. The crowds at                                                                                       crowd was very active and vibrant and
the football games also followed spe- Photo by Eddie D’Angelo                                                              stuck to the theme. The game was also
cific themes, including a neon theme Malden Catholic boys support the Boys Varsity Basketball team from the stands.       very fun to watch and the crowd made
for their first home game against Wey-                                                                                    it an even more exciting experience.”
                                                      home games. The team had many themes but
mouth Highschool, a black out theme for the                                                                   These fan attire theme nights certainly seem like-
                                                      their most important one was their “pink-out”
homecoming game against Gloucester, a white-                                                                  ly to continue in future seasons as well.
                                                      theme for breast cancer awareness. Not only
out theme against Saint John’s Prep, and finally a                                                                     The girls varsity basketball team at MC
                                                      was the crowd covered in pink, but the players
USA theme for their senior night against Xaverian.                                                            has also had an amazing season. Even though
                                                      also got new pink jerseys to wear at this game.
The team also hosted a Mayor’s Cup against Mal-                                                               the stands at the boys games are often more
                                                               As the month of January came around and
den High which utilized a flannel theme. MC’s                                                                 full, the energy at the girls’ games never disap-
                                                      Covid rates began to rise, Malden Catholic had
students embraced these themes enthusiastically.                                                              point, especially playing at the TD Garden. The
                                                      to enforce a spectator ban. This ban made it so
         Another team that students showed up                                                                 student council also helped by creating themes
                                                      anyone desiring to attend boys or girls basketball
excitedly for was the girls volleyball team, which                                                            for the girls games too, including a white-out
                                                      games had to have a pass from MC and each player
had an amazing season, making the playoffs for                                                                and pajama theme. Even without a cheerlead-
                                                      was only allowed two passes. After a month or so
the first time. The volleyball team followed foot-                                                            ing team to keep the crowd excited, students
                                                      of this ban, as infection rates declined in the com-
ball’s example, taking part in themes at their                                                                never stop cheering on the girls on the court.
                                                      munity, Malden Catholic lifted the rule and al-
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