Williston Observer

Nov. 18, 2010

Approximately 30 skiers and snowboarders brought ice shavings from a hockey rink and spent the evening of Nov. 12 riding rails at Champlain Valley Union High School.

‘Due Date’ has not so great expectations

2 popcorns

“Sacrilege … plagiarism … they did everything but pay the original writer royalties.” Thus I incredulously uttered as the plot of director Todd Phillips’s “Due Date” unspooled. Indignantly, I analogized my initial distaste. It was like once having a dear friend, now passed, and here shows up this less gifted usurper, this pretender to the hallowed throne.

The fact is, beloved films are indeed old companions, and we don’t care for anyone stomping on their memory. Granted, although this oil and water, couldn’t-possibly-ever-be-buddies road trip isn’t a word for word copy of John Hughes’s “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (1987), it stops just short of earning a place in some lawyer’s legal brief.

But while there is no outright violation of copyright, “Due Date” is guilty of a far worse offense. I hereby accuse the filmmaker of the artistic crime of committing a variation on a theme without veiling it in a novel twist. Psst. Don’t tell anyone. If we dig deep enough, we could probably even find the inspirational precedent for the classic it disses.

In any event, after duly noting this filmic felony, it behooves the critic to make a full disclosure. Call it temporary insanity or a movie reviewer’s version of the Stockholm Syndrome. But after the disbelief wore off, I found myself tittering, spiritedly laughing and, yes, even guffawing at Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis’ antics.

OK. So it’s not a real Rolex. Yet despite the obvious rip-off, the rapid-fire succession of adolescently inspired buffoonery enticed me to adopt an any-port-in-a-storm attitude, to take the laughs where I may … especially after the midterm elections. Am I bad? Maybe not. Perhaps it says I’m open-minded, and not that I can be bought for a cheap laugh.

You probably know the plot. But here’s a little refresher. Robert Downey Jr. does the Steve Martin part. He is Peter Highman, a buttoned-down, conservative architect who not only didn’t inhale, but looks down his nose at anything he considers déclassé. In Atlanta on business, he’s off to Los Angeles to be at his wife’s side when their firstborn arrives.

But thanks to the un-friend who will soon be foisted on him, this will not be easy. Enter his direct antithesis, bumbling, stumbling and switching his pot-containing luggage with Peter’s at the airport. Assuming the John Candy role, his French bulldog in tow, Zach Galifianakis is Ethan Tremblay, a would-be actor hoping to make it big in Hollywood.

Through what seems like a series of coincidences, their fortunes are soon as inextricably tied as the proverbial wet shoelace. Of course, lonely, multi-issue Ethan, whose dad just recently died, sees it as an opportunity to make a pal. Just as predictably, haughty Peter wants no part of what appears to be an unsavory loser. He will have no choice.

The airline has put them both on the no-fly list, and amidst this mess Peter has lost his wallet and credit cards, and thus his independence. Ethan, who has by now rented a car, suggests that the two set out for the Left Coast together. The picture of reluctant pragmatism, Peter accepts. The “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” redux is on the road.

Although the script isn’t an exact stencil of its iconic model, the ebb and flow of Ethan and Peter’s cross-country travail contains an analogous, farcical speed bump for every incident that befell arrogant Neal Page (Steve Martin) and sad sack Del Griffith (John Candy). No need to itemize each one here; you’ll point them out along the way.

Plainly, Messrs. Downey and Galifianakis’s representations are neither an homage to, nor a creative reinvention of, their spiritual predecessors. Instead, they occupy a no man’s land between the two. But more importantly, by failing to establish personae beyond hollow stereotypes, it invites the original film to haunt the work at every turn.

Consequently, the underachieving movie doesn’t strive beyond the adolescent cachet director Phillips seizes on in most of his efforts. Admittedly, it often entertains on this low-brow level. But without full-bodied characterizations there can be no successful establishment of the bittersweet component necessary to a tale of conflicted relationship.

Downey’s Peter Highman is uptight and intolerant, with only smidgens of potential humanity peeking through the cliché. Mr. Galifianakis’ Ethan, on the other hand, is a rationalizing mass of emotive flotsam and jetsam. While we’re not quite sure who or what he is, our better instincts suggest empathy for whatever the actor is trying to portray.

The result is diversion by default. So see it if there’s nothing new at the Rivoli, your mail carrier gave your latest Netflix to someone cross-town, or because it’s being shown on a plane and just has to be less boring than the guy sitting next to you. Otherwise, no bundle of joy, “Due Date” delivers pretty much what you were expecting.

“Due Date,” rated R, is a Warner Bros. Pictures release directed by Todd Phillips and stars Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Michelle Monaghan. Running time: 100 minutes.

Nov. 18, 2010

Former CVU soccer mates lead college teams

Four seasons ago, Micah Rose and Tyler Macnee led Champlain Valley Union High’s soccer team to a state Division 1 title.

Now, as college juniors, they are leading their teams into NCAA tournament action.

Rose, a midfielder and team captain at Swarthmore College in Lancaster, Pa., was named to the All-Centennial Conference team for a second straight year after pacing the Garnets to a 15-1-3 record and a spot in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament.

With Rose scoring six goals and eight assists, Swarthmore was ninth in the nation in a recent poll. Rose was also named to the 2010 Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Macnee, along with former Redhawk teammate Carson Cornbrooks, have Middlebury College headed to the Division 3 sectionals this coming weekend after a 2-1 victory over William Paterson College on Sunday. Macnee potted the game-winning goal with just under a minute remaining in regulation time.

Cornbrooks, a senior, has played in 77 games since joining the Panthers in his 2007 freshman year.

The 15-3-1 Panthers will take on Babson on Saturday at Bowdoin College in Maine.

Wrestling sign-ups on Thursday

Registration for seventh and eighth grade wrestlers in Chittenden South Supervisory Union, which includes Williston, began this week. The final day of sign-ups is Thursday.

The kindergarten through eighth grade wrestling club serves as a feeder program for Champlain Valley Union High School’s wrestling team. The club is entering its 12th season.

Coach Wayne Ring said athletes will learn the skills of folk style wrestling, balance, strength and teamwork. Practices are held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Hinesburg Community School on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with tournaments on Saturdays.

Registration takes place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 18 in the Hinesburg Community School cafeteria. The cost of $65 includes a uniform. For more information, call Ring at 482-3747.

Cross country team best in New England

Nov. 18, 2010

Champlain Valley Union High’s girls cross country team, pictured above, captured its second New England title in seven years on Saturday. Runners are (from left) Aleksey Jordick, Claire Trotter, Adrienne Devita, Sophie Hess, Taylor Spillane, Summer Spillane and Julienne Devita. (Observer photo by Greg Duggan)

Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork!

That is the key word for the Champlain Valley Union High girls cross country team, which won its second New England title in seven years Saturday at the hilly Thetford course on which it had prevailed in the Vermont State Meet two weeks before.

“We ran almost the same race we did in the states,” coach Scott Bliss said this week, noting that the individual times for the top five CVU runners were within two seconds ahead of or behind their state times.

Bliss had a coach’s usual pre-race dread of the unanticipated event (i.e. injury, illness, fall, etc.), but said everything went well including no surprises.

As per usual, it was the closeness of the finishers that earned CVU its biggest win in an undefeated season. Senior Summer Spillane was the top Redhawk in 24th place with a time of 20 minutes and 31.9 seconds.

Cousin Taylor Spillane, a sophomore, was 25th in 20:33.6, less than two seconds off Summer’s pace. Sophomore Aleksey Jordick (20:39.8) took 28th, junior Adrienne Devita came in 32nd (20:54.3) and sister Julienne Devita, a sophomore, was 62nd.

The team scores had CVU with 88 points to 121 for runner-up and highly regarded LaSalle of Rhode Island and 154 for third place Glastonbury, Conn.

The next highest Vermont team was Essex High, which took 14th place with top runner Markie Palermo finishing 17th.

The leading Vermonter was Richford High’s Elle Purrier, who, running as an individual, finished fourth in 19:44.1.

CVU’s boys team finished 25th overall and fourth among Vermont schools. Dan Hebert led CVU by finishing in 95th, eighth among Vermont runners.

Next up for the girls will be a post Thanksgiving regional event in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. in which they will compete as a club, rather than a school, in the non-High School Federation competition.

Going into the New Englands, the CVU girls were ranked 24th in the nation by Harrier Magazine.

Runners talk diet, teamwork

A chat session with the team last week at CVU had the five top runners joined by juniors Claire Trotter and Sophie Hess, the sixth and seventh competitors though not necessarily in that order.

“They are very important,” Bliss said. “A team has to have solid sixth and seventh runners if something happens to anyone up front. Also, a team’s sixth runner breaks any team scoring ties involving the first five.”

The coach added that Hess has finished fifth in some races this season.

Teamwork was a constant during the wide-ranging discussion.

“We set team goals,” Summer Spillane said. “Yes, we have individual times but it is the team that comes first.”

“Once you start a race, there is no backing down,” Taylor Spillane added. “You have to think of the team.”

All agreed the sport requires hard work and, as Julienne Devita noted, the mindset has to be right.

“Pain is the seventh power,” Adrienne Devita said.

As for diet, the runners said they eat a lot of carbohydrates on Thursday through race day Saturday, with a pasta dinner every Friday night.

On the morning of the competitions, breakfast would be oatmeal, bananas and perhaps toast.

How did they feel about the New England meet two days before the event?

“We are confident,” Summer Spillane said. “We have run so many races there.”

“But we are not overconfident,” Adrienne Devita emphasized, with Summer Spillane nodding in agreement.

Nov. 18, 2010

One thing parents, teachers and staff of the Williston School District can agree on is that low student science scores are intolerable. At a School Board meeting on Nov. 10, the administration set forth a series of planned changes — from the way science is taught to laboratory upgrades — to ensure scores for the NECAP science exams no longer sink below the state average.

“The downward trend is not acceptable, period,” District Principal Walter Nardelli said at the meeting.

Since the state first administered the New England Common Assessment Program science tests in 2008, eighth grade scores have dropped 20 percentage points in Williston. In 2008, 46 percent of Williston eighth graders tested proficient or higher; in 2010, 26 percent of eighth grade students scored at that level. Across the state in 2010, 29 percent of eighth graders scored proficient or higher.

When the science scores became public in late September, several parents reacted by writing critical letters to the editor in the Observer. Two parents also attended an October School Board meeting to air their complaints. Last week’s meeting drew approximately 30 parents and teachers, some of whom stressed the importance of more time for science instruction, as well as making sure each house teaches an equal amount of science.

For their part, administrators admitted that science had fallen through the cracks, but that planned improvements would hopefully reverse the trend of declining test scores.

“With our attention to literacy and math, this is an area where we have slipped,” said Molly McClaskey, the director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Chittenden South Supervisory Union.

“We need to bring (science) back to the forefront,” she added.

Using a PowerPoint presentation, Nardelli and Williston Central School Principal Jackie Parks spent approximately 30 minutes explaining to the School Board and meeting attendees what changes the district has made and what it plans to make in terms of science instruction. The PowerPoint presentation can be found on the district’s website, www.wsdvt.org, under the curriculum header and in the science link.

Part of the administration’s plan is to understand why there is such a decline between fourth grade scores and eighth grade scores. Williston fourth graders tested much higher in their NECAP exams; 64 percent of students tested proficient or higher compared to the state average of 54 percent.

Nardelli said students need to become more engaged in the sciences, adding that more hands-on instruction could help increase scores and interest in the subject. Students will receive science notebooks to log experiments and classes will focus more on laboratory instruction.

In terms of Williston Central School’s science labs, the district and the board will have to consider serious upgrades to some classrooms. Several spaces used for labs don’t have adequate electrical outlets to power equipment, and others may need more sinks, Nardelli said. Also, lab equipment needs better cataloguing, as much of it has not been properly disseminated since the configuration changes over the summer. These upgrades will have an impact on next year’s budget, Nardelli told the board.

“We’re putting together decision packets right now,” he said.

The proposed laboratory improvements seemed to sit well with parents. Mary Whitcomb said students learn science better when taking part in lab experiments.

“We really need to get kids engaged,” she said.

In discussing the science curriculum, Nardelli reiterated that students in all houses throughout the district are receiving a minimum of 120 hours per year of direct instruction as required by state education standards. But some parents disputed this, stating there is no equity in science instruction across the houses, which remains an ongoing problem.

Abby Klein and Jeff Smith said hours of instruction vary widely depending on the house. Klein said the school hasn’t done its work on determining that all houses are meeting state requirements.

“I know for a fact some houses aren’t getting close to the 120 hours (of instruction),” she said.

Echoing Klein’s call for consistency, Smith offered a solution to the administration and the School Board on how to better create an equitable science curriculum.

“My opinion is (science) is best taught in single grades, and that way you can really hit it hard,” Smith said.

While there is much work to be done, the administration is confident the changes will turn science scores around. McClaskey said the updates offer an “exciting time for Williston.” School Board members also expressed hope of improvement.

“It looks like a real blitz and we need it,” board member Darlene Worth said.