The WarriorNiskayuna High School September 12, 2008 Volume 35, Issue 1

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

Inside this issue...

Spr ing mus i ca l announced

Summer movie overview,page 6

Don’t stand chatting in congested areas,page 4

by Julia Ziac

News

The secret’s out early this year! “Follies” has been chosen as this year’s spring musical. Revealed last Wednesday to expectant musicians, the music department has been in a buzz about this highly successful musical.

“Follies” was written by S. Sonheim, considered by many to be as Music Director Christopher Neubert put it, “the quintessential Broadway writer,” First produced for Broadway in 1971, “Follies” is the nostalgic tale of two couples that revisit their past as perform-ers in a Broadway theater, which is scheduled to be torn down. The couples, Buddy and Sally Plum-mer and Ben and Phyllis Stone,

have been invited to a reunion party before the demolition. While at the reunion, the couples have to deal with their relationship problems and the strong emotions that come with them.

“Follies” has a total of 22 songs, which include “Broadway Baby,” “Live, Love, Laugh,” and “Losing My Mind.” It has been nominated for numerous awards, and has won just as many, such as the New York Drama Critics’ Award for Best Musical in 1971 and an impressive seven Tony Awards.

This year, Eric Hughes will once again be the director and producer of the spring musical with Neubert as the pit orchestra conductor and Christina Pizzino, a new addition to the Music Department, as the

vocal instructor and rehearsal accom-panist.

“Follies,” though many may have not heard of it, is sure to be an event to remember. Hughes r emarked , “We chose ‘Follies’ be-cause it is a dra-ma, and we haven’t done one since ‘Les Miserables.’ The show will be a chal-lenge for students, since the story focuses on two gen-erations of people s imu l t aneous l y

(adults and their younger selves); the

songs are a string of difficult show-stoppers, and ‘Fol-lies’ is considered by many to be the greatest musical ever.” “Follies” was chosen not only because it is a great musical, but also because NHS stu-dents are capable of performing it. As Neubert said, “It’s a difficult show, no question, (but we are) inspired by the talent and quality of the performers in this school. We can do just about any Broadway show.”

Auditions for this year’s musical will be held on Satur-day, Nov. 8, from 12 to 3 for dancing, and Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 17 to 19, from 3 to 5 for acting and singing. Call-backs will be held on November 20. There will be 46 roles, a 40 piece orchestra, and an extremely dif-ficult dance part.

Though performed 522 times for the original 1971 Broadway production, the high school will have just four performances during the last week of Febru-ary. The cast and crew will once again hold a special pre-matinee tour for younger kids before the Saturday performance.

NFL, Week 1,page 7

footlightsgallery.com

cinemastyles.blogspot.com

“BROADWAY BABY!” Auditions for “Follies” will be held Saturday, Nov. 8 for dancing and Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 17 to 19 for acting and singing.

“FOLLIES” It is a show with big dance numbers, amazingly colorful costumes and classic 1920s showgirls.

There’s much excitement sur-rounding the musical already, so take out those leotards and start singing your arpeggios! “Follies” is sure to be another hit, and there’s no better way to explain the growing enthusiasm than what Hughes said when asked which part he was most looking forward to - “I’m excited for everything!” It is a show with big dance numbers, amazingly colorful costumes and classic 1920s show girls. Mr. Neubert predicted enthusiastically, “I know people will be dazzled!”

2 September 12, 2008 The WarriorNews

New teache r s wa lk the ha l l scompiled by News staff, terri spiNelli aNd cat Ziac

News

Niskayuna High School is proud to welcome 14 new teach-ers into its halls this year. Get the inside information here on the new staff first!

Jennifer TambascoJennifer Tambasco teaches

Academic Inter-vention Services II, and Forms of Writing. She went to SUNY Geneseo for col-lege. Tambasco was inspired to begin a career in teaching when she worked at kid’s camp. She enjoyed interacting with the kids there and decided that she wanted to keep interacting with students in the future. As for an extra inside exclusive, Tambasco revealed that for all of school, everyone relentlessly called her “Tabasco.”

Jackie CarreseJackie Carrese is the new

director of sci-ence for grades K-12 in the school district, and also is cur-rently overseeing the Science Research Seminar. She attended the College of Saint Rose and Union. She was inspired to begin teaching by her role model, her grandfather. He saw how impor-tant education was in opening doors of opportunity and worked hard to receive his high school diploma, which was a big deal at the time. Carrese’s grandfather encouraged her to take harder science courses in a time where there was not a lot of emphasis on science. Carrese’s favorite book is the “Biography of Isadora Duncan,” in which the heroine got up every morning, no mat-ter how many challenges faced her in a time with little support for women. Isadora Duncan, “reinvented herself to survive,” said Carresse.

Robert MassieRobert Mass-

ie is currently teaching Global History 9, AIS 9, and AIS 10. Massie is a true blue Union Alumni; he attended both Union College and Union Graduate. He was extremely interested by social studies in high school, and his old teach-ers inspired him to teach the subject himself one day. As a big skier, Massie may be spot-ted on the slopes this winter. A word of advice to Pittsburg Steelers followers: watch out for Massie, as he is a big Cleveland Browns fan.

Lainie ChristouLainie Chris-

t o u t e a c h e s Spanish IV and V at the high school. She is certainly not new to teaching altogether, and since she taught at Van Antwerp Middle School for the past eight years, and at Iroquois for one year, some students in the high school may recognize her. Christou attended the College of Saint Rose, Univer-sity of Miami and SUNY Albany. Christou retired from a decade-long professional model career, married, and had two children, when she realized that teaching was for her. She believed that teaching her children Greek as a first language fulfilled her im-mensely, and “therefore decided to bring [her] love for teaching out of the home and into the class-room.” She is a teacher of both Spanish and Greek at the College of Saint Rose and loves to travel to her native Greece every summer. Christou is an avid movie watcher and especially loves thrillers and comedies.

Lynne RutnikLynne Rutnik is the new Ad-

ministrator for School Support Services at the high school and

oversees the K-12 special educa-tion staff. She attended SUNY Albany for her School Adminis-trator’s Certificate, the College of Saint Rose for her master’s in special education and SUNY Plattsburg for her Bachelor’s degree in psychology. Right from an early age, Rutnik knew she wanted to teach. She feels it is her calling to teach students with special needs and experiences a “high degree of personal satisfac-tion teaching struggling learners and making positive connections with students struggling socially as well.” Rutnik loves the excited looks on students’ faces when they make true connections in learning. She believes in teaching students of all areas and abili-ties while providing support. Her favorite saying is, “Education is the gift that keeps on giving.”

Cindy YettoCindy Yetto has just started

teaching Spanish IIR and Span-ish IIIR at Niskayuna High School. She attended SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Albany for college. Yetto found that teach-ing was her calling because she enjoys working with others and the thrill of learning different languages. Along with being an excellent Spanish teacher, Yetto is known for hanging around the pool because she loves both swimming and diving. She also plays golf and has an 8-month-old son, Brian.

William WalesWilliam Wales

currently teach-es Math 4R, oth-erwise known as precalculus. For him, mathematics is “like a puzzle waiting to be solved.” A driven student, he attended the College of Saint Rose for his Certificate of Advanced Study: School District Administrator, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for his masters of science in Natural Sciences, Russell Sage College for his education certi-fication program, and the State

University of New York at Albany for his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. As for what made him decide to put all of that hard work into becoming a teacher, Wales replied that he has always enjoyed math and that “teaching offered the opportunity of shar-ing this with others.” He enjoys reading, exercising, playing chess, and rocking out to Rush while wearing his favorite color, black. Wales also enjoys watch-ing football with his faithful dog on Sundays.

Christina PizzinoChristina Pizzino is the new

choir director at NHS. She directs Choir, Ladies First, Concert Chorale, Bel l Canto Voices and Studio Sing-ers. Pizzino attended Crane School of Music and University of Cincinnati. She wanted to direct because she felt really inspired by helping people through music. Her hobbies are cooking and shoe shopping. Her favourite books are “Crazy Lady” and “Pride and Prejudice.” Her favorite color is red, and her favorite movie is “The Wedding Singer.” She enjoys watching VH1. “I like all those reality TV Shows,” said Pizzino.

Carl DecasareCarl DeCasare teaches Prin-

ciples of Engineering, Design & Drawing for Production/Engi-neering Computer Aided Design, Introduction to Applied Systems and Mass Media Communica-tions & Production. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineer-ing at Clarkson University and his Masters in Industrial Engi-neering at RPI. He also attended a teaching certification program at St. Rose. “I enjoy teaching be-cause I like to work with people, I like to learn and I like to see others learn.” DeCasare enjoys walking his dog, spending time with his friends and family, go-ing out to dinner, going to the summer cultural festivals and daydreaming.

3September 12, 2008The Warrior News

T e a c h e r s c o n t i n u e d . . .Diana Weldon

Diana Weldon teaches Regents Chemistry. She attended MIT in the early 1980s and received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. After graduation, she worked at Global Research Center in Niskayuna, then transferred to GE Silicones, now Momentive Performance Products. “I had always wanted to be a teacher since I was in high school, so after many years with GE, I decided to resign and pursue my master’s degree in education, which I have earned at the College of St. Rose.” She wanted to teach because she loves learning new things and she really enjoys working with people. “I love sharing this with others, especially young people who have so much potential and

creativity and can do so much with whatever they learn and experience. High school students are old enough to work with more complex ideas and concepts.” She enjoys classic rock and classical music. She loves “Harry Potter,” the “Outlander” series by Diana Gabaldon, “To Kill a Mockingbird” in addition to mysteries.

Darrel WerkheiserDarrel Werkheiser teaches

Regents Earth Science. He at-tended Bloomsburg University (Pa) where he received a Bach-elor of Science in Environmental Biology/Science in 2003. Later, he attended Mansfield Uni-versity (Pa) where he received his Master of Science in Cur-riculum Research for Science. “I caught the teaching bug while

working my first job out of col-lege. I spent a large portion of my time, at that job, designing materials and planning effec-tive methods for instructional delivery. When it came time for a change, teaching seemed liked a great match. I decided on high school because I wanted a deeper focus within a specific content area.” He loves sports, especially soccer, hockey, fenc-ing, baseball and track. “I love being outside and interacting with nature and people by camp-ing and hiking.” He also enjoys reading, writing, and art.

His favorite colors are orange and black. “Halloween is the best day of all time!” His favorite band is Gravity Kills, and his favorite movie is “V for Vendetta.” “My favorite scientist without ques-tion is Albert Einstein. During all

Karen Stefanic

by atosa Ghasripoor

New

This past Summer, 22 Nisk-ayuna students were invited to take part in the American Mu-sic Abroad Red Tour program. Offered annually to talented Niskayuna students, the trip al-lows young musicians to explore European countries and share their musical talents with their newfound friends.

Class of 2008 graduates Beth Halayko and Michael Reilly; seniors Andrew Burger, Rachel Cox, Rebecca Fenton, Dominic Izzo, Sara Koste, Marissa Mat-teo, John Qiao, Aisling Sive, Michael Whitney; and juniors Luke Anapolis, Betty Anderson, Brian Barnes, Alex Colborn, Atosa Ghasripoor, Alyssa Pyle, John Scala, Joel Shapiro, An-nemarie Schwendler, Bethany Sedziol, and Macie VanNorden enjoyed two weeks touring Austria, Germany and Italy. Barnes traveled with the group as a percussionist in the AMA Red tour’s band, while the remaining students were all participants of the tour’s choir. Students traveled from country

to country through breathtak-ing scenery, visiting the famous cities of Vienna, Austria and Venice, Italy as well as smaller towns. They took part in unique experiences such as visiting the top of an Austrian glacier, seeing the Mirabelle gardens of Salzburg where the most famous scenes of ‘The Sound of Music’ were filmed, and performing at Vienna’s Schonbrunn Palace as well as at various well-known cathedrals. Humbling experi-ences included the tour’s visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany, which left a fairly lasting impression on most of the students, as did the the sheer beauty of the view from the Hintertux Glacier in Tirol, Austria.

The group was made up of 144 students in all, hailing from the central and western areas of New York, as well as parts of New Jersey. Students had the chance to meet one another for the first time at Pennsylvania’s East Stroudsburg University, where the choir and band en-dured a rigorous three days of rehearsal. The musician’s rep-

ertoire included a few selections from Musicals, namely “Ease on Down the Road” from “The Wiz”, and “All That Jazz” from “Chicago”, as well as a choral arrangement of The Beatles’ “In My Life”. Several Hymnals and Spirituals were also se-lected to be sung in the various cathedrals visited throughout the tour. The band entertained the crowds with classics such as John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and the Viennese “Radetzky March” The rehearsals paid off when Nisky students finally boarded their Swiss Air International Airlines connecting flight to Zurich and then to Vienna.

During their free time, stu-dents explored the cobblestoned streets of the quaint, pictur-esque towns and sampled the local cuisine for lunch. The locals were welcoming, and the language was not an issue at all. Junior Luke Anapolis comment-ed, “Since most of the people we came in contact with spoke pretty decent English, we could have conversations with them about their every day activities.”

Many of the students joined the tour to visit Europe for the first time, and were delighted by the majestic alps, wonderful towns and friendly people. Students found that they mingled easily with one another and made what will surely be lasting friendships. “It was really a great way to combine music and work with worldly knowledge, and the best part about it was that you could see places you’ve always wanted to see with your friends,” stated junior Annie Schwendler. Anap-olis added, “Going to Europe with AMA was easily the best three weeks of my life, and if you ever have a chance to do something like this, you should really seize the opportunity.” As corny as the expression may seem, junior Alyssa Pyle agreed that the trip was simply “AMAzing.”

This summer’s tour was Paula Brinkman’s last as head choral director. Brinkman has since retired from her post at the high school and will certainly be missed. Not to worry though, as Christina Pizzino is ready to take up the job as the new choir director at Niskayuna High.

AMA proves an amazing experience

of your hard times in life, if you keep your head up and still make an effort to be a good person, then I’ll add your name to my list of role models.” He is also a huge science fiction movie and TV show geek. “I put hot sauce on everything. I want to build a time machine. If I had to choose between being a ninja or a pirate, I would be a ninja!”

Niskayuna High also welcomes Brandi Weidman in the English Depar tmen t , Amy Dufort as the assistant pr inciple for grades 10 and 11 and Karen Stefanic in the Special Education depart-ment.

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the school community, and can be delivered toWarrior staff or sent via

email to: thewarrioropinion@gmail.com. The Warrior reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and content.

Signed opinion articles express the opinions of their creators. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the paper’s edito-rial board, consisting of the Opinion section and the Editor-in-

Chief.

The op-ed pages are a forum for students’ opinions and ideas.

The WarriorNiskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY, 12309

http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/nhs/warrior

For a one-year subscription to The Warrior, please send a check for $25.00 to: The Warrior, c/o Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309.

4 September 12, 2008 The WarriorOpinion

Editor-in-Chief:Daniel ClaridgeJulie Slotnick

News:Lauren Niedbalec, EditorAnagha Tolpadi, EditorHina Tai, Asst.

Opinion:Kaela Bamberger, EditorSam Dharia, EditorLucas Lobe, Asst.

Entertainment:Craig Dudek, EditorChris Murphy, EditorMarcelle Tuttle, Asst.

Sports:Kevin Kurtzner, EditorRachele Marra, EditorCorey Guilmette, Asst.

Magazine:Sarah Barry, EditorDinesh Kommareddy, EditorDan Stone, EditorRoshal Patel, Asst.

Additional Staff:Archith Murali, Copy EditorBrian Vedder, Business ManagerChris Rivadeneira, Advertising ManagerAmy Yao, Web ManagerNina Santiago, Distribution ManagerEmily Bartell, Graphics EditorAdvisors: James Edgar Russell McDowell

by sara Koste

opiNioN

A truly, deeply awful traffic spot is the spot before the stairs and near the new cafeteria. Now that is a really big problem, because it has made myself and many other students late multiple times. I know many of the kids in there are just unfortunate souls caught in the bottleneck that is the stairs. And from the bottom of my heart, I feel for those students that have a locker in that awful spot. But as for the people that stand in groups in the middle of a hallway while lunch mods are switching to other classes, stop it. If you see someone you need to talk to going the other way, say something super fast or talk to them later. I know I sound like a teacher, but you know what, they can be right some!! As in have some consid-eration for the time constraints of others.

Every morning I go into the school through the front doors. From there I have to get to my first class, which is at the other side of the school. Usually when I have just woken up and have a million things on my mind already I don’t want to have to deal with a gigantic crowd of people smack in the middle of the fastest route to my class. Look, I understand that if you get to school at 7:10, you prob-ably don’t want to go straight

to your first class, and you want to socialize with your friends. But when you’re thinking to yourself, “Gee, I need to find a place to stand around and talk with my friends,” don’t choose the old cross-roads. I think that I am at my angriest every day when I am waiting for at least three minutes to cross about four yards of hallway, and there are kids around me, right next to me even, laughing and talking to their friends, in no rush to get to their class that starts in five minutes. It is by far the most unnecessary crunch spot in the school. If you are one of the groups that stands in the old crossroads in the morning, please, consider this a request or a demand: find an-other place to chat in the morning when busy upperclassmen are at their grumpiest!!!

I know some of you think that there’s no other way to get to class than through the crunch spots, but news flash there are alternative ways. I know the tunnel is uncomfortable to walk on, especially if you got some beautiful new stilettos, but fresh

air will not make your lungs shrivel up and burn. Also, a good suggestion if you’re coming from the old cafeteria to upper D-Hall is to go around outside. Don’t try going through both the Old Crossroads and the Bottleneck. Go around outside,

or even cut through E-Hall. All I’m saying is, there are other places to go besides the main drag. At least during the next month or two, when the weather is so beautiful.

Dear f resh-men, move!!

Political cartoon by Kelly Jennings

5September 12, 2008The Warrior Opinion

ALL OPINIONS expressed on the op-ed pages represent the individual viewpoints of their authors. The content does not necessarily represent the views of The Warrior, the high school, the school district, or the Board of Education.

by Kaela bamberGer

opiNioN

The American ideal I hold above all others is freedom of expres-sion. I believe that freedom of expression is the most important because of several of my personal experiences and many examples from history.

There are several outlets of expression present in our school. The Warrior, The Flare and certain clubs like A.C.T.I.O.N.S., (Asso-ciation of Christian Teens In Our Niskayuna School) and Amnesty all give students and teachers a way to let other people know about their personal views. I am an opinion editor for the Warrior, and with reason. I’m a strong be-liever in letting the public absorb the opinions of a particular per-son, which could lead to discus-sion and, possibly, change. Last year, I wrote about a dangerous

and potentially offensive subject and the article caught the atten-tion of the whole school. It lead to countless debates, some of which took place in class, and eventually the piece made its way to the Board of Education. Aside from arguing the point of the article, there was the question of punishment. Can this student be put in detention or even suspended? The answer is “no” according to the free speech rights of students. Starting with Tinker v. Des Moines in 1969, the Supreme Court has ruled that students do not “shed their constitutional rights when they enter the schoolhouse door.” These rights are the most important to me as I am wholeheartedly behind the public presentation of contro-versial ideas.

The First Amendment has come into play constantly since it was ratified in 1789, making

it a priority among Americans and a reason people from other countries look at our government with amazement. During World War I, a group of people in Swit-zerland create to a form of art (sometimes referred to as anti-art) called dada. The rebellious genre of expression caused people to be thrown in jail and even kicked out of the country. When it spread to New York it became very popular, the First Amendment ensured the safety of the French rebels who started it. Countries like China and Egypt face serious censor-ship today, but in the United States, free reign is given to those who want to shout their views to the public.

I hold freedom of expression as the highest of all American ide-als because of situations in my life and suppression of opinions in other countries and in recent

Freedom of expression essentialhistory. It’s immensely important to have the right to express one-self, for that is the right to be an individual. And if it’s illegal to be an individual, then what good is it to abide by the law?

We want you to express your-self in The Warrior’s Opinion section. You can write about pretty much anything you would like (politics, school, society). We’ve had people argue in favor of marijuana legalization, the death penalty, Barack Obama and a nuclear holocaust- so pretty much everything is within the boundaries of what you can say, as long as its your opinion and any facts given are true. We may edit for publication, but not content.

If you have any questions or would like to submit an article contact us at: TheWarriorOpin-ion@gmail.com

An undebatably valuable activityby sam dharia

opiNioN

On May 29, 2007 I received a group email saying that our Debate advisors, Mike Welch and Loralynne Krobetzky will be “taking po-sitions working for a presidential campaign in Washington DC.” So began my concern over what we would do until they returned in December.

The email noted that the coaches and Friends of Niskayuna Speech and Debate, our school sponsored program, would be working to find an interim advisor, quelling most of my fears- but deep within I had a feeling that things were not going to end well. On July 12th, after much unofficial inter-team discussion we received an email from a prominent Friends of Speech and Debate member saying that Assistant Principal, Mark Treanor, had emailed her proclaiming that the team may have to take a hiatus for a year if we are unable to get new coaches and a new team manager. This was unacceptable as our team had already begun preparing for the upcoming season, and we would not be able to compete.

Immediately I protested the decision. As co-President, I thought I should start to co-do something. So I emailed all of the former debaters who attend school in the region that

I knew asking if they could fill in for a few months, or knew anyone who could. I emailed to no avail; no one wanted the shoulder the immense time commitment that came with organizing the intricacy that is Niskayuna Debate.

Then I emailed Friends of Speech and De-bate asking to do whatever I can do to help. About three weeks after asking to post free ads around various debate sites, I received a response. So I frantically posted to the Victory Briefs Exchange and Cross-X, but just a few weeks before school started and during the transition to college, I worried that no one would respond. Sadly, few in the area replied. We just needed to organize the team before the Yale tournament on September 28th. Our school’s policy necessitating an interview is indeed beneficent, but it already has so many issues on the plate that it is time for other adults to step up.

With two state champions, one state finalist, the champion of Columbia and Princeton’s Debate tournament, with the most debaters on a single team receiving awards at Colum-bia in 2008, 3 of the top 40 debaters in the nation (March 2008) and 2 of the top 10 in the Northeast (April 2008), throughout the years, our Debate Team has done little but

characterize our school as an intellectual powerhouse in tournaments as far away as California. But even with all of this success, the school cannot debate team on its list of issues. Sadly, as I write this, we have elimi-nated the Yale Invitational from our schedule and we have missed out on having a booth in the activities fair, a key recruitment oppor-tunity, all because we don’t have an advisor, even though Friends of Speech and Debate, a school sponsored organization, could have helped organize the events. But no, our debate club will have to recruit on a grassroots level and miss out on great competition.

More people need to see the value of this activity and fight to keep it going. We have the talent and the ability to train other stu-dents ourselves and produce amazing results; we just need an adult supervisor to fill out paper work.

For students, if you like arguing with people and want to join (or help) a program that is very successful and educational (which also is an amazing boost for college applica-tions), send an email to NiskayunaDebate@gmail.com.

6 September 12, 2008 The WarriorEntertainment

Summer movie extravaganza!by craiG dudeK

eNtertaiNmeNt

Along with summer are many pleasures including ice cream cones, long walks on the notorious bike path and a collection of hit mov-ies in theatres. One hit movie this year was the Broadway musical “Mamma Mia” which hit theatres in mid-July.

The movie is the story of a young girl a few days before she gets married. With her single mom caught up in the midst of the wed-ding preparations she realizes that she wants her unknown father to walk her down the aisle. Behind her mothers back, she invites her three possible fathers to the secluded island in Greece. Though it was a bit corny and unrealistic, the storyline is clever, and the actors and actresses nailed their respective roles.

This movie is quite different from the typical cinema movie in two ways. It was originally a Broadway musical. Therefore, to many, the storyline was familiar. In fact, many moviegoers paid their $10 for a ticket simply because they loved it so much on Broadway, and wanted to see it again. The other aspect which made it so unique was the music from the band Abba. In particular, it was impossible to not notice the masses of people whispering or humming the words to “Dancing Queen” as they watched that particular part.

So if you missed this flick in the theaters, try renting it when it comes out on DVD. It will keep you laughing, and is the perfect post-homework movie.

Da r k Kn i g h tby chris murphy

eNtertaiNmeNt

Undeniably one movie trumped all others this summer, and its not the new Disney channel movie, “Cheetah Girls: One World.” This movie is somehow much better. Filled with action, suspense and drama, “The Dark Knight” is easily the best movie of the summer.

Those who have already seen the Dark Knight don’t need to be reminded of how spectacular it is. The actors are all at the top of their game , the direction continues Christopher Nolan’s standard of brilliance, the score will be playing in your head for days and the plot will keep you guessing even the second time you watch it.

‘The Dark Knight’ elevates superhero movie to a new level, by be-ing the first movie in the genre to be more than just a product. ‘The Dark Knight’ manages to have everything that you’ve come to expect from a superhero film and yet still manages to be art, something very few movies are able to do. It also is the second film to ever gross over $500 million.

Those who have seen ‘The Dark Knight’ don’t need to read on; you’ve done your part. But for those who haven’t; Why? What is stopping you? Is it the lack of transportation? The Route 70 bus leaves from Saint James Square at three o’ clock today and will cost one dollar to ride to the Bow Tie Theater. The entire trip should cost your around $11. Is it the money? It will take around five minutes to find $10 worth of meaningless items you have around the house to sell to friends and family.

There are really no excuses for not seeing ‘The Dark Knight’. With your help a man in a bat suit can soon make a bigger splash than the Titanic. So the question isn’t whether on not ‘The Dark Knight’ is worth seeing, it’s why on earth haven’t you not it yet?

Mamma Mia ! Pineapple Expressby craiG dudeK

eNtertaiNmeNt

Summer is filled with unique experiences, unique people and ap-parently quite unique movies. On behalf of this school I think we should all applaud the writers of “Pineapple Express” for their creativ-ity, because this movie was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

From the moment the movie started the audience was already laughing. The movie is about Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) who has a large obsession with marijuana. One day, his drug dealer sells him a new kind, “Pineapple Express”, which is so rare and valuable that he is one of the very few to have it. That same night, when smoking it, he witnesses a murder and is caught. He then gets nervous, throws the joint out the window, and drives away. However, because the drug is so rare, they can track him down, and he goes on the run. The rest of the movie is the hilarious story of his escapades involving the police and the people who want him dead.

Some movies puzzle me when I see that they are rated R. This movie is not one of them. Though it was very funny and exciting, there is clear use of profanity, some graphic violence and more drug references than I could have imagined. If you’re uncomfortable with any of these things, stay very far away from this movie. However, if you can move beyond the profanity, it’s wildly funny. If you enjoyed movies such as “Superbad,” “Eurotrip” or any of the “American Pie” movies, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Tropic Thunderby shaNe porter

eNtertaiNmeNt

‘Tropic Thunder’, released this past August, was one the most successful movies of the summer, and certainly the season’s biggest comedy. Ending the Dark Knight’s four-week streak at the No. 1 spot at the box office, Ben Stiller’s war parody is reveling in success.

The film starts out with its finest part, the faux movie trailers to introduce ‘Tropic Thunder’. Their obvious illegitimacy and ridiculous plots make them hilarious. They serve a purpose, however; they introduce the actors that are performing in ‘Tropic Thunder. The cast of the movie includes Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), a hugely popular action actor who is making a dismal transition into more serious movies; Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) a five-time acad-emy award winning actor who goes perhaps too deep into his roles; and Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a comedy actor who feels like he’s not appreciated for who he is.

These three blockbuster actors are torn apart during the shooting of the film when Speedman, feeling constantly antagonized by the narcissistic Lazarus, leaves the troupe. Now the team must rescue him from a gang of drug smugglers, with Speedman all the while thinking that the cameras are still rolling.

Some of the parts of Tropic Thunder try to be funny without suc-ceeding, including the infamous “Simple Jack” scenes that just weren’t funny. One succes was Tom Cruise as Les Grossman, the executive behind Tropic Thunder, who happens to have a serious potty mouth. The role is so unlike Tom Cruise, it’s like casting John Goodman as Yoda. Tropic Thunder has all of the exciting action, fake gore, absurd comedy and boneheaded characters of a decent war comedy, with the added perk of Robert Downey Jr. playing a black man.

7September 12, 2008The Warrior Sports

NFL Week One: In Reviewby corey Guilmette

sports

The NFL Season kicked off on September 8th with the Wash-ington Redskins paying a visit to the New York Giants. Despite a mediocre performance by Eli Manning, the Giants picked up where they left off last season and earned a 16-7 victory.

Although the season began Thursday, the bulk of the week’s games would be played on Sun-day. In Atlanta, the Falcons got off to a quick 21-0 first quarter lead. Michael Turner led the Fal-cons with a franchise record 220 yards rushing in a surprising 34-21 victory over the Lions.

In Buffalo the Bills also deliv-ered a convincing 34-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. If this performance is any indi-cation of the future, the Bills can hope to contend in the now open AFC. On the other hand, Seattle, who hoped to contend in the NFC, was disappointing to say the least.

In Miami, Brett Farve made his long awaited debut as a Jet against Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins. Farve did not disappoint New York fans with a solid performance as New York edged out Miami 20-14.

At Gillette Stadium the New England Patriots defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10, but that is little comfort to Patri-ots’ fans who will be missing Tom Brady for the rest of the season.

In Philadelphia, the Eagles obliterated the St. Louis Rams in a 38-3 victory. Donovan Mc-Nabb answered all the doubters by throwing for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns. While the Eagles look to build upon this win, the Rams just hope to avoid another awful season.

At the New Orleans Super-dome the Saints appeared to re-turn to their impressive offensive form of two years ago. Led by 353 passing yards from Drew Brees, the Saints topped the Tampa Bay

Buccaneers 24-20.The Pittsburgh Steelers were

a well oiled machine against the Houston Texans earning a 38-17 victory. Pittsburgh’s Ben Rothlisberger only threw one incompletion and Willie Parker ran for three touchdowns. Al-though Niskayuna High School Graduate Andre Davis did not catch any passes for the Tex-ans, he did return six kicks for 112 yards.

In Nashville, the Titans deliv-ered a somewhat surprising 17-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Titans quarterback Vince Young sprained his left knee and will probably miss 2-4 weeks.

There were no surprises in Cleveland with the Dallas Cow-boys defeating the Cleveland Browns 28-10. Tony Romo threw for 320 yards helping the Cowboys earn 487 yards of total offense.

At M&T Bank Stadium, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the

Cincinnati Bengals by a touch-down with a 17-10 victory. The Ravens dominated the Bengals on the ground running for 229 yards.

Despite being the seven point favorites over the Carolina Pan-thers, the San Diego Chargers suffered a 26-24 defeat. The Panthers earned a dramatic victory with a decisive 14-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game.

Over on the west coast the Arizona Cardinals emerged vic-torious with a 23-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco lost four fumbles and threw one interception, effec-tively costing them the game.

Sunday’s festivities came to a close with a rematch of Super bowl XLI pitting the Indianapolis Colts against the Chicago Bears. The Bear’s defense showed what they can do when they are healthy by helping Chicago defeat Indianapolis 29-13.

Patriots lose Brady to injuryby thomas raleiGh

sports

On Sunday afternoon Patriots quarterback Tom Brady sus-tained a knee injury in the first quarter of his team’s season opener against Kansas City. On Monday, news came that this knee injury (a reported tear of his left anterior cruciate ligament) will cost the reigning NFL MVP the remainder of his season.

From those who jumped for joy, to those who openly wept and everyone in between, this story had an impact on any-one who even casually follows the NFL. For Patriots fans, the sound of Brady’s screams sounded like the door to another run at the Super Bowl slamming in their faces. It would be hard to argue that this is not indeed the case. Though it was a de-fensive force when a younger, less polished Brady guided the team to three championships in four years, the Patriots have been declining in that area ever

since. The team hasn’t lost many key pieces on defense, except for Asante Samuel this summer, but many of their most integral players have aged well past their respective primes. Combined with the offensive line’s inept play versus the Giants in last year’s Super Bowl and a mul-titude of other reasons, many football analysts had questioned the Patriots aspirations of playoff success even before the hit on Brady. And unless one believes that backup QB Matt Cassel can be the second com-ing of you -know -who, another playoff appearance would be the optimistic forecast for New England. Any football fan who doesn’t root for the NFL’s version of the Yankees was probably giddy upon hearing of the injury, as an AFC postseason spot that was previously locked-down is now up for grabs.

Those with the most to cheer about are the fans of New York’s other team, the Jets. Couple

Brady’s knee with the Favre acquisi-tion, and the Jets are looking like the favorites in the AFC East. And if the Buffalo Bills exceed expectations, it’s inside the realm of possibility that the once unbeatable Patriots could finish third in their own di-vision. But beyond the implications in the standings, this is a sad day for football. Tom Brady is arguably the biggest star in the game today, and any fan -- regardless of their team of choice -- could admit that when Brady gets on the same page with Randy Moss, beautiful things happen. We’re talking 55 yard Hail Marys, into double cover-age, caught one-handed. Plays like this are why so many people tune into Patriots games every

week, even if it is just to root against them. We know that we might see Tom Brady do some-thing no other quarterback on earth is capable of doing. NFL fans around the country must now deal with life without Brady, and I’m sure a great majority of them will do just fine. But for me, the NFL just became a lot less interesting.

Catastrophe: Tom Brady is helped off the field fol-lowing a season ending injury

photo credit / Boston.com

8 September 12, 2008 The WarriorSports

N i s k y s t a r t s s t r o n g

Nis

ky

Sc

or

eb

oa

rd

Football

9/5 @ Columbia W 24-21

Girls’ Soccer

9/3 @ ShakerW 5-4

9/5 vs. Burnt HillsT 0-0

Girls’ Tennis

9/4 @ GuilderlandL 0-9

5/22 @ Shenende- howa

W 8-6

Boys’ Volleyball

9/3 vs. ColonieW 3-2

9/5 @ ColumbiaW 3-1

9/8 vs. GuilderlandW 3-1

Girls’ Field Hockey

9/3 @ SaratogaL 0-2

9/5 vs. Burnt HillsW 1-0

by sarah miNer

sports

Niskayuna’s fall sports season has started off tremendously. There have been impressive wins for many teams including volleyball, football and field hockey. These starts leave high hopes for all Niskayuna sports teams and fans.

This success can be seen in the varsity girl’s volleyball team alone. In just their first game on the September 4, they played competitively, and won the match. Although the matches for varsity are normally played best three out of five, the varsity girls were able to smash through and win all three of their first games. This gave them an impres-sive start.

The girls continued to succeed, showing excellent teamwork when they won their games this weekend at their tournament in Queensbury.

Boys’ volleyball has had a winning start to the season as well. The boys J.V. team has begun with a record of 2 and 0, and it looks as if more wins are to come. Both Girls and Boys volleyball have good outlooks on their awaiting seasons.

Another fantastic win for Niskayuna, was in Niskayuna’s Friday night football game against Columbia. They worked hard and in the end beat Columbia 24-21

Field hockey is another fall sport con-tinuing to achieve, great goals at the start of their season. Both varsity and J.V. have begun their seasons well.

J.V. starts its season with a record of 2 and 0. In their first game against Saratoga, it won 2-0. It once again succeeded to its second game against Burnt Hills. In this game they beat Burnt Hills 5-0. The Varsity team has also started its season with a win against Burnt Hills. Both teams look as if they will have great seasons ahead of them.

Lastly, although no games have been played, the girls’ soccer teams are looking to be in great shape for the upcoming season. From the looks of it all the teams will have successful seasons ahead of them.

This could be the kick-off to an excellent season and year. With so many teams doing so well, there’s no doubt about the athlete’s abilities. Although it is still early in the sea-son, all these teams can expect a lot of wins, fun times and fans cheering them on.

by JohN marra

sports

The Niskayuna-Schenectady hockey team, also known as the Mohawks, just finished a summer conditioning program at the Schenectady County Recreational Facility. The team was joined by Burnt Hills-Scotia Glenville and Shenendehowa. It ran practices each Wednesday night. Practices consisted of shooting, skating and conditional drills in preparation for the upcoming season this winter. Over the summer, the combined team traveled to three different tournaments, including one in Marlboro, Massachusetts. A home game was played against Glens Falls, which they unfortunately lost. Weekly scrimmages helped to prepare what will be the varsity teams for each of the schools. The team prepared to compete against their toughest opponents, including each other.

This past weekend, the fall program started with a tough practice, leaving many of the members sore. Next weekend, the Mohawks, along with Burnt Hills/Scotia Glenville and Guilderland, will face Bethle-hem in a pre-season game. Other pre-season opponents include Glens Falls, La Salle, Queensbury,and Saratoga. The upcoming games and practices will help the team and

the coaches to understand their strengths, as well as their weaknesses. Hopefully, with the extra conditioning and cross-training, the team will go into the winter season well prepared.

The players on the team are excited to get back on the ice and expect to exceed once again. “I think that we’re going to do well this year. Our defense is already looking pretty strong, and most of our offense is returning players,” said sophomore Brendan Mon-trello when asked about the outlook for this year’s season. Seniors Ryan Grant, Chris Farah, and Greg DuCharme are expected to lead the team with their exceptional skills, but all around talent will be essential for true success. The team expects to find its toughest opponents in Shenendehowa and Queensbury. This year’s captains have not yet been chosen and try-outs for the Mohawks will take place in late fall. Todd Templeton will be the head coach assisted by Mike McConkey.

Mohawks t r a i n h a r d

The editors of the Warrior wish every Niskayuna ath-lete and team a succesful 2008 - 2009 sports season!

Editors:Sarah Barry Dinesh KommareddyDan StoneAsst. Editor:Roshal Patel

Volume 11, Issue 1 September 12, 2008SilverThe Warrior Magazine

Goodbye Summer, Hello SchoolAin’t she a beaut?

The Warrior Magazine June 6, 2008Silver

Meet the attractive staff of Silver

Dear Readers,

Welcome back! It may not feel like summer’s quite over as you spend your first few days of school sweating it out in this sweltering heat, but worry not. The cool, blustery days of Autumn will soon be upon us. And we here at the Magazine will be there every step of the way.

To give you newcomers ( f reshmen, t ransfers , immigrants and extra-terrestrials alike) a feel for how things go here at Magazine, we’ve pre-pared for you a special issue in which we not only say goodbye to Summer, but also say “Hello!” to some of the bright, cheery faces that work so hard every week to assure you get the facts.

I know it may seem hard to believe that the writ-ers and editors of such a fantastic publication as this could lead normal, every day lives like the rest of you lugs. But rest assured, we too are mere mortals. So as always, read and enjoy. We look forward to sharing yet another adventurous year with you.

Sincerely, The Editors

Dan Stone: The Man, the Myth, the Legendby the Man himself

As any biologist worth his weight in salt (or NaCl, as any Chemist worth his weight in…well, you get the idea) will tell you, a Daniel Stone is born when you put a chicken egg under a frog. This particular Dan Stone was born about 64 Mercurian years ago (or seventeen of your Earth years). Raised by wolves and taught by

magicians, Daniel grew up knowing that he was destined for something more.

But until he finds exactly what, he’s happy enough to bum around in the small town of Niskayuna. There he enjoys many extracurricular activities, including (but not limited to): acting in the Drama Club plays, managing the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team, skiing on the Ski Team, swimming with the fishes and of course, editing and contributing to the Warrior. In his free time he enjoys jammin’ out, jam on toast, and hanging with his friends. Nominated “Niskayuna’s Most Eligible Bachelor” by Metroland readers, many a young lady has described him as “a handsome specimen with beautiful, curly hair and a chiseled jaw line.”

Some of his noted accomplishments include the discovery of fire and that one time when he held his eyes open for thirty minutes straight.

Roshal Patel was born on August 17, 1991, remember this as it will be a historic date in history some day. Anyway, during his childhood, he learned how to be the suavest of the suave from the great Austin Powers. He used this power to try to achieve world peace. Of course he succeeded—he was taught by the great Austin Powers. But thanks to his overt aggressiveness (which he now regrets), there is no world peace.

by Each of UsMagazine

C l a s s c o m m e n t a r y“I wish I could remember it.” - Molly Sosnow

“Epic.” - Lauren Bomeisl

“It was the best summer of my life ‘cause the Jonas Broth-ers are life. And I met them. Twice. I loved it.” - Sopho-more Megan McCambley

“My summer was like warm apple pie.” - Senior Keenan Roberts

“It was a pretty chill time. I saw some cool places, tried some good food, and had a good ol’ fashioned time.” - Senior Katie Hoole

“It was slammin’! Better than school!” - Senior Sara Koste

“It was stupendous.” - Senior Steve Cuccolo

“My summer was sort of like that one scene in The Phan-tom where the guy looks in that microscope and then those two needles pierce him through the eyes. Totally. Freakin’. Sweet.” - Senior Erik Letandres

“It was excellent and home-work free. Um, I don’t know... This summer I got to...um...I don’t know. It’s a hard ques-tion. Um... I got to spend a

lot of time with my friends. Um... I learned to play cro-quet. That was good too.” - Senior Ben Cohen

“I guess my summer was pretty random and I went to a lot of random places.” - Junior Melissa McGill

“My summer was good. I ate, I slept, I rowed, I cut down trees. That was my summer, and it was exciting.” - Senior Sam Fisher

“Summer’s the perfect time to get over the long school year.” -Michael Shanahan

Warrior photo / Daniel Stone

Warrior photo / Daniel Stone

Roshal Patel: Destroyer of Worldsby el Tigro Numero Uno

Story continued on page 3...

The Warrior Magazine September 12, 2008Silver

The wizards behind the cur tain. . .D-D-D-D-D-D-DEE UNIT!

The Hypeman

Hello Readers, My name is Dinesh Kommareddy (aka “Dindy”) and I’m one of the editors for the Magazine section of The Warrior. Don’t let my youthful looks fool you; I am in fact, a senior. I like to think of myself as a creative guy and I try my best to reflect my personality into my writing. Though I am sometimes referred to as being quiet and shy, if you were to ever get to know me, you would find that I can be very outgoing and somewhat of a goof. I have pretty broad range of interests, but to name a few: I enjoy watching sports (particularly the New York Yankees and the New York Giants), listening to music, hanging out with friends, and of course, Facebook. If there is one thing I enjoy more than writing, it’s reading other people’s writing. In all seriousness, it’s a true pleasure reading different styles of writing and I highly encourage all of you to take an active role in presenting your work to the magazine; you’ll be surprised how receptive of an audience Niskayuna High school can be. As an editor of the Magazine sec-tion, I have the luxury of working with an amazing group of people (Sarah, Dan, and Roshal) and together, we look forward to delivering another fine year of periodical entertainment. And with that, I wish you all the best of luck and hope you see this school year as an enjoyable and meaningful experience—especially to Seniors!All the Best,

Dinesh Kommareddy

Continued from Page 2

He originally intended to calculate the attention span of freshmen and how easily distracted they are. From then on, he enrolled at the Nis-kayuna Central School district because private schools are so over rated, and because he wished to be educated by the great professor, Michael Jones. After reading professor Jones’ book of sentences he learned some amaz-ing life lessons and skills. Like, “If you want it, then buy it. Then, if you buy it, then you will have it!” …wow, what sagaciousness (or is it sagacity)—and yes, I did learn that word from Mr. McDowell’s wonderful AP English 11 class. Furthermore this wisdom gained from professor Jones’ book of sentences helped Roshal become the first man to touch the sun and live. In school he does many things, but in specific, he is president of the debate team, a member of drama club and plays on the varsity tennis team. In addition to that he plays the trumpet and sing. He is also a member of START, the school recycling club, not because anyone forced him to, but because he loves the environment. Throughout his life he had 19 home movies made after his accomplishments using the character “James Bond”. In his free time he likes to swim, help-ing to serve the nation which he loves and adores and admires and cherishes. Now, he is currently trying to learn the mysteries of Calculus.

The One, The Only, Sarah Barry

What up, Niskayuna High? I’m Sarah Barry, one of your diligent Silver Maga-zine editors. And this year, I’m (finally!) a senior. Just a word of advice, all those people that tell you senior year is a breeze are liars. A mere three days at school and I’m already swamped in homework. Most of that work is due in large part to the fact that I’m taking New Visions: Law and Government this year. So, you won’t be seeing much of me around the high school this year, unless it’s after 12:15! Anyway, when I’m not doing home-work, I’m either at field hockey practice (all of you readers should come to our games!), eating, listening to music, eat-ing, hanging out with my best friends, eating, or playing the keyboard and piano. And of course, doing wonderful things like writing, reading, and laying out for this fine publication. (To which you guys should submit all of your writ-ing and photographs!) Here at Silver, we’ve got some great issues planned for the construction-filled year ahead. I hope all you freshmen enjoy the beginning of your high school careers; sophomores enjoy your time before your test-crazed junior year; juniors keep plugging along because I swear it will go by faster than you think; and seniors, we’re almost done! Have a good one, Niskayuna.

Warrior Photo / Dinesh KommareddyWarrior Photo / Julie Slotnick

Warrior Photo / Sarah Barry

The Warrior Magazine June 6, 2008Silver

Meet the attractive staff of Silver

Dear Readers,

Welcome back! It may not feel like summer’s quite over as you spend your first few days of school sweating it out in this sweltering heat, but worry not. The cool, blustery days of Autumn will soon be upon us. And we here at the Magazine will be there every step of the way.

To give you newcomers ( f reshmen, t ransfers , immigrants and extra-terrestrials alike) a feel for how things go here at Magazine, we’ve pre-pared for you a special issue in which we not only say goodbye to Summer, but also say “Hello!” to some of the bright, cheery faces that work so hard every week to assure you get the facts.

I know it may seem hard to believe that the writ-ers and editors of such a fantastic publication as this could lead normal, every day lives like the rest of you lugs. But rest assured, we too are mere mortals. So as always, read and enjoy. We look forward to sharing yet another adventurous year with you.

Sincerely, The Editors

Dan Stone: The Man, the Myth, the Legendby the Man himself

As any biologist worth his weight in salt (or NaCl, as any Chemist worth his weight in…well, you get the idea) will tell you, a Daniel Stone is born when you put a chicken egg under a frog. This particular Dan Stone was born about 64 Mercurian years ago (or seventeen of your Earth years). Raised by wolves and taught by

magicians, Daniel grew up knowing that he was destined for something more.

But until he finds exactly what, he’s happy enough to bum around in the small town of Niskayuna. There he enjoys many extracurricular activities, including (but not limited to): acting in the Drama Club plays, managing the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team, skiing on the Ski Team, swimming with the fishes and of course, editing and contributing to the Warrior. In his free time he enjoys jammin’ out, jam on toast, and hanging with his friends. Nominated “Niskayuna’s Most Eligible Bachelor” by Metroland readers, many a young lady has described him as “a handsome specimen with beautiful, curly hair and a chiseled jaw line.”

Some of his noted accomplishments include the discovery of fire and that one time when he held his eyes open for thirty minutes straight.

Roshal Patel was born on August 17, 1991, remember this as it will be a historic date in history some day. Anyway, during his childhood, he learned how to be the suavest of the suave from the great Austin Powers. He used this power to try to achieve world peace. Of course he succeeded—he was taught by the great Austin Powers. But thanks to his overt aggressiveness (which he now regrets), there is no world peace.

by Each of UsMagazine

C l a s s c o m m e n t a r y“I wish I could remember it.” - Molly Sosnow

“Epic.” - Lauren Bomeisl

“It was the best summer of my life ‘cause the Jonas Broth-ers are life. And I met them. Twice. I loved it.” - Sopho-more Megan McCambley

“My summer was like warm apple pie.” - Senior Keenan Roberts

“It was a pretty chill time. I saw some cool places, tried some good food, and had a good ol’ fashioned time.” - Senior Katie Hoole

“It was slammin’! Better than school!” - Senior Sara Koste

“It was stupendous.” - Senior Steve Cuccolo

“My summer was sort of like that one scene in The Phan-tom where the guy looks in that microscope and then those two needles pierce him through the eyes. Totally. Freakin’. Sweet.” - Senior Erik Letandres

“It was excellent and home-work free. Um, I don’t know... This summer I got to...um...I don’t know. It’s a hard ques-tion. Um... I got to spend a

lot of time with my friends. Um... I learned to play cro-quet. That was good too.” - Senior Ben Cohen

“I guess my summer was pretty random and I went to a lot of random places.” - Junior Melissa McGill

“My summer was good. I ate, I slept, I rowed, I cut down trees. That was my summer, and it was exciting.” - Senior Sam Fisher

“Summer’s the perfect time to get over the long school year.” -Michael Shanahan

Warrior photo / Daniel Stone

Warrior photo / Daniel Stone

Roshal Patel: Destroyer of Worldsby el Tigro Numero Uno

Story continued on page 3...

The Warrior Magazine September 12, 2008Silver

Beijing Olympics: a true stunnerDinesh Kommareddy

Magazine

My friends, as I’m sure you’re all well aware, this was not a typical summer. In fact, this was a summer of record-breaking achievements and lots of rain. What better way to kick-start the summer than with the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics? With a lip-syncing nine year-old aside, the Opening Ceremony was truly spectacular. The

synchronization of 2000 male Chinese performers dazzled the crowd, while the fireworks lit up the screen of every television. It was a truly remarkable sight, but nothing compared to the mind-boggling achievements of Michael Phelps. Day-after-day, record-after-record, Phelps consistently displayed physical and mental dominance in practically every aspect of the swimming sport. His

record breaking 8-gold medals[!] conveyed a statement to the world and brought his country pride.Beach Volleyball opened up with some flare for both the women’s and the men’s teams. Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor proved to be a volleyball powerhouse, winning their matches in straight sets until

the finals, which they

went on to win, racking up their second consecutive gold medal title. On the men’s side, Phil Dalhauuser and Todd Rogers stormed through the competition, also claiming another gold medal for the US volleyball team.Aside from volleyball, there was tons of excitement (and a little bit of controversy) to go around, especially in the world of women’s gymnastics. There was a fierce battle between the Chinese and American teams and the competition certainly lived up to the hype. With age controversy aside, the Chinese convincingly stole the show winning the overall competition and taking the gold. However, two particular members of the women’s US gymnastics team showed that they

still had some spark left in them. Following the team competition, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson stole the show winning gold in the all-around competition and the balance beam respectively.Overall the Olympics were truly a spectacular event to watch, with its record-breaking achievements, spectacular finishes and media engulfing controversy. The Beijing Olympics truly set the bar to a new level of high and it will be immensely difficult for London to top it.

http://assets.espn.go.com/

http://assets.espn.go.com/

S u m m e r : A R e t r o s p e c t i v eDaniel Stone

Magazine

Ah, the bright, youthful optimism of summer! As June dawns in a flourish of color and energy, we prepare ourselves for yet another season of open activity. We shed the bleak darkness of winter and the gray mist of spring for the yellows, greens, and bright sky blues of summer. And we blaze! We run, we jump, we hide, we row, we swim, we skip and we hop! We sing and shout and run through the sprinklers on our neighbors’ lawns. We chase

and tumble and dash and leap and bound. We stay up looking at stars far into the night. We talk and whisper and learn and grow. We sleep far past any respectable hour in the morning. We eat and drink and laugh and read. We sit on long car rides, staring at endless miles of barren road. We push and shove and bike and fight and then we make up and do it all again. We live as we’ve never lived before. We meet new people, make new friends, and grow closer with old ones. We watch fireworks, we eat sugary foods and

lumps of unrecognizable, charcoal tinged meat. We sit around campfires, listening to old ghost stories. We flirt, we kiss, we love and promise to love forever. We forget what it is to doubt and fear. We forget the limits of mere mortals, and leave the shackles of possibility behind. We’re larger than life, with nothing to hold us back. Under the bright sun of July, we are immortal. Then comes August, the great hangover of summer. Under the blaring heat of the Augustan sun, we lounge. We lie, we linger. Gone are the days of endless

summer, as the days grow shorter and the impending doom of school approaches. The heat grows. So does the boredom. Our skin isn’t the only thing that’s burnt, so are our nerves. And as the days of September approach, the joy we once felt turns into little-contained frustration. Our summer romance, once so new and so fresh, turns sour, withers, and dies. Friends return from camp, and siblings head off to college. And then, before we know it, we’re heading off to our first day of school. Oh god, not again.