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J u n e 5 , 2 0 1 2 W i t h a l l t h y g e t t i n g , g e t t h e n e w s !

T h e B r u i n • 1 2 5 2 K i n g S t r e e t • G r e e n w i c h , C T 0 6 9 0 2

THE BRUINThe Middle School Newspaper

Today during Social Studies we had a debate. The question of the debate was, “Would Andrew Jackson be considered a qualified Presidential candidate by today’s voters?” There were two sides: one in favor, and one against. The members of the side in favor were Braxton Reynolds, Ben Powers, and Harry Fett, while the other side had Ian Murray, Jack Withstandley, and Colin Lee. Each member of both sides presented different individual topics that helped to prove their side of the argument. Each presenter had 2 minutes to complete their presentation, and the side in favor started first. Braxton presented facts about Andrew Jackson’s life. He stated that he was the 7th President, won the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, and was a man of the people. Also, he kept the Union together when South Carolina threatened to secede. Following Braxton’s presentation came Ben. Ben presented Jackson’s decisions that kept the Union together, and spoke of how Jackson delayed the Civil War from happening at the time. Ben also mentioned the fact that the federal government proved it had

power over the state government. The last presenter for the side in favor was Harry, and he talked about the National Bank, and how Jackson cut the bank’s charter and forced it to close so every citizen had the same status. Then, Harry stated that the ordinary citizen could not use the National Bank because the bank basically only helped the wealthy.

Ian presented first for the side against, and generally talked about Jackson’s poor decisions which resulted in the Tariff of Abomination and the Trail of Tears. The tariff caused disruption in the Union and the Trail of Tears forced Native Americans to leave their land. Next came Jack, who presented further details regarding the Trail of Tears. Basically, after the Cherokee went to the Supreme Court to get a ruling from Chief Justice John Marshall, Andrew Jackson just ignored it and forced them to leave. The Cherokee were forced to move to present-day Oklahoma at gunpoint and the “Indian Territory” consisted of bad terrain for farming, and had adverse weather conditions. The last presenter was Colin, who talked about the Tariff of Abomination.

Colin stated that the Tariff only favored the North and the West, was one of the causes of the Civil War, and that worsened the South’s economy.

After each member presented, the leaders of both teams (Braxton and Ian) presented conclusions for their side’s presentation and then stepped out of the room so that the jury (the rest of the class) could decide the winning team. Each member of the jury cast their secret ballot, and then the teams came back in the classroom and Mr. Callahan read the votes aloud. It was very close, and after reading out all of the 9 votes, the side against came out victorious, winning by a single vote. Although this debate was fun and suspenseful, it was also educational in that it helped us to review all of Andrew Jackson’s Presidential decisions, effective or not.

“The Debate”by Henry Jonokuchi

Thanks everyone for an amazing year at the Bruin! We’d like to specially commend Dan Forester for submitting

an amazing amount of articles this year, though sadly as they became out of date, he requested that we not

publish them. Overall this year we published 4 editions, one in the fall, one in the winter, one in the spring, and

this one. Thanks for reading this edition of the Bruin, the last this school year. Have a happy summer!



THE TRAIL OF TEARS, A DIARYFor a homework assignment, we had to write 3 diary entries from a Cherokee Native that experienced the Trail of Tears. The first diary entry was when we were sent to court, the second was when we were on the trail, and the third diary entry was when we arrived at the reserved Native Territory, and what life was like.

November 26, 1835

Dear diary, Today most of our tribe, the majority being the educated ones, was sent to court against Georgia for taking the land away that we are living on. When we arrive at the Supreme Court, a huge mass of people is there, most likely Georgia representatives. As soon as we take our seats, the trial begins. Words are shooting back and forth like bullets, and I sit and watch. After a while, the trial closes, and the Supreme Court rules Georgia’s actions illegal, and we can stay on the land.

December 14, 1835

Dear diary, When we get back home, we cheer for the sake of our land, but the only odd thing is, that everyone is packing up and it looks like they are getting ready to leave. In the mix of my people, I spot a few American soldiers, which can only mean trouble. I ask my friend what is going on, and he says that we are forced to leave to a place called Oklahoma. I tell him that we won the trial and we can stay, but he says

that the American soldiers will use force to make us leave. I too pack up my stuff, and lead my horse onto the trail. Things are bad as soon as we start. No one talks, children are crying, and even horses are whining. I too cry. After a few days on the trail, I get hungry and dig into my limited provisions. I see a few large pieces of dried buffalo meat, and my canister of water, half filled. People start to catch disease and die off and the numbers slowly dwindle. A few weeks later, we have Oklahoma in sight. These American soldiers have been keeping us at gunpoint the whole trail, so if I get off my horse for it and me to have a break, I’ll be full of hot lead in a second. The saddle is itchy and very uncomfortable, but I’ll have to endure it and keep going.

January 2, 1837

Dear diary, When we finally arrive in our new “home” it looks like a wasteland: flat ground as far as my eye can see. No food it seems anywhere, besides the few bugs that the Americans think we can survive and thrive on. As I looked around me, I gasped. It looked like there was no one left from our tribe. At first glance it looked like no one was there, but I soon realized that they were just farther behind. Yet it still looked like many people died along the trail. I couldn’t stand all of this pain. I broke down and wept. The next day, I started the new lifestyle we were forced to live in. The American soldiers left at night, and left us nothing, which gave me no

surprise at all. All day I looked for food. I found none. By late afternoon, I ripped some meat and shared it with other people. By sundown, I was fast asleep, with nightmares instead of dreams.

- Anonymous



SPORTS UPDATEMasters Recap 2012

As I stared at the TV, I wondered how the heck Bubba Watson was going to get the ball, which was nestled nicely in the woods, onto the green. I knew Watson had some pretty cool shots up his sleeve, but I never expected what he did next. Bubba needed to hook the shot about 40 yards to get to go even near the green, so I was pretty doubtful that he would hit a decent shot. But I was wrong, as he effectively knocked the ball 150 yards to within feet of the hole. This “historic” shot was hit on the 10th hole at Augusta National during a playoff against Louis Oosthuizen. Bubba got something every golfer dreams of: his own green jacket. The Masters started on Thursday and ended Sunday, just as any normal professional golf tournament would. Some weird things happened, though. Tiger Woods, after all the commotion about his renewal after his recent victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shot even par the first day, while watching others hit much better. So long for his chances. Phil Mickelson shot a triple bogey on the 10th on Thursday, a terrible score for someone of his skill. This awful score was a result of his bad tee shot. But not all performances were bad. Lee Westwood finished day One with the lead, which is good because he had wanted to finally win a major. Therefore, I conclude that the first day was a great beginning what would turn out to be a legendary tourney.

The second day was a fun day. Players were rushing to make the cut. My favorite memory from Friday at Augusta was when Tom Watson made a birdie to stay at 5 under, the projected cut line. But Watson wasn’t the only senior having a good time. Fred Couples was tied for the lead! Fred was showing those young fellas how to play the game. Fred finished Friday tied with Jason Dufner while Tiger had another sub par day at 3 over.

The final day was memorable and was started by a double eagle at hole 2. Louis Oosthuizen’s shot marked the fourth double eagle ever shot at Augusta. Remember him? You should, because Oosthuizen was the 2010 Open Championship winner. He took a strong lead after that stroke of the club. For much of the day it looked as though Louis had the masters in the bag. That is, until Bubba Watson, who had been doing well the whole weekend and on Sunday as Oosthuizen’s playing partner, went on a birdie surge. He finished at -10, which was good enough to get him into a playoff against Louis Oosthuizen.

I had no idea what that Sunday night would turn out to be. The couple started out on the 18th hole for their playoff. They both parred the hole. It was still not clear who the 2012 Masters Champion would be. Then, on the 10th, something magical happened. Bubba Watson hit a shot into the trees. That’s when it happened. Like I was talking about previously, Bubba hit the amazing shot to hit the masters. His trick shot out of the trees was a shot to be remembered. This tournament was a Masters to be remembered for the ages.

Bubba Watson hits a shot with his famous pink driver. Bubba’s pink apparel is actually support for the fight against Breast Cancer. He ended Sunday at - 10.



BOOK REVIEWSThe Alchemyst

by Ridgley Knapp The Alchemyst is the first book in “the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” series. It starts off as any regular day for Josh and Sophie Newman, fifteen-year-old twins working summer jobs in the city by the bay, San Francisco. Sophie is working at a coffee shop, and Josh is working across the street from her, at the small bookshop of Nick Fleming and his wife Perry. Josh was taking inventory, and he heard noises in the front of the shop. He rushes forward to find his boss, Mr. Fleming, in what seems like a battle with a stranger, flanked by black-suited goons. The man flees, stealing a single book from the shop, a small one that Mr. Fleming wears on a chain around his neck, and kidnapping his wife. The shop is left in ruin after the battle, and Sophie rushes over, armed with a broom. Mr. Fleming reveals to the children that he is actually the famous alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, born in 1330, and supposedly died in the early 1400s. He and his also immortal wife had remained alive through the Elixir of Life, a potion that changes monthly, and prevents death by old age. The recipe of the elixir is contained inside the Codex, the miniscule book that had been stolen. Flamel also reveals the identity of his enemy: Dr. John Dee, another alchemist from Flamel’s time, granted immortality from the gods (excuse me, the Elder Race, humanity’s deities) for the specific purpose of hunting Nicholas Flamel. Nicholas takes the children next to find reinforcements to help find his wife. These consist of only one being: Scathach, the Warrior Maid of Irish mythology (she is a vampire, but if you don’t like vampires, she doesn’t suck people’s blood or anything…). To avoid spoiling the rest of the (very good) book, I won’t say any more. But I will say throughout the series, you will learn much about the Newman families, and their ties to the Elders; the truth about Atlantis; and, oh yeah, the secret to eternal life. Read on…

The Hunger Gamesby Jack Kulesh

The Hunger Games, how was it? Was it as good as the book? In this short editorial, I will answer all of our

questions. First off, and this might sound a little cliche, I thought that the book was way better than the movie. There was

just some mystery about what everything looked like in the book that wasn’t there in the movie. Also, the glory part of the

book was the part that got your emotions going. That element was there. However, I do think that the film company did the

best job they could with the book they were given. There were a few things I liked in the movie. They kept it very close to

the format of the book, which is always good for hardcore book fans. It did huge numbers at the box office, but that was

mostly due to the books success. It got 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is very good and in my opinion way higher than it

deserved. I thought the movie it was okay, and did not meet my expectations. That said, I am still interested in seeing the

movie to see how they depict the second movie. In conclusion, the movie only did well because of the books power, and

nothing else.



TECHNOLOGYiPhone 5 Rumors

by Keshav Raghavan

It is estimated by SlashGear that the iPhone 5 will be 0.44 mm thinner, at 7. 9 mm. Cnet also managed to deduce that the next iphone will not be out until october of 2012. this is due to supply shortages affecting qualcomm, the company due to supply the 4G LTe chips on the iphone. this also means that all indications point that the next iphone will, in an attempt to catch up with the android market, which is proudly marketing itself as “4g lte enabled’. This just makes business sense. again, the same rumor that has recurred every time a new iDevice comes out, people speculate about the aluminosilicate glass that covers apple devices to be replaced. this time is no exception: Cnet reports that liquidmetal, a company apple purchased last year but failed to implement its technology on a larger scale (they only

appeared in the SIM Card). Though this is less of a certainty than that the iphone will feature a larger screen of 4.6 inches. Cnet also reported that there’ll be a new dock plug that will be compatible with the iphone, citing iMore, a digital rumors website. The Commercial times, a chinese newspaper, reported findings of analysts at daiwa securities which suggest that Apple is aiming for a june deadline, despite conflicting evidence stated above about qualcomm’s ability to produce the proper 4g chips. however, as was the case in the ipad, apple may decide to substitute the intended Qualcomm chips for ones that are able to be produced by june. However a major amount of this data is reliant on cnet’s accuracy, which, as is basically a collection of facts from other sources, seems to be true. THIS IS AN OFFICIAL BRUIN PRESS RELEASE Reporting done by Keshav Raghavan

The Iphone series from Apple has been highly successful, and is currently the most popular

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