The WarriorNiskayuna High School October 2, 2009 Volume 36, Issue 3

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

Inside this issue...DETHKLOK reviews,page 6

Girls Tennis,page 8

High School drama,page 4

by Tim Rice

FeaTuRe

With the start of the 2009-10 school year, returning students were ready to settle back into their familiar routine: wake up early, work, work, work, go to sleep late and repeat for 180 days. Often, in the middle of a work-filled day, students get hungry and thirsty. This becomes a problem when lunch is many mods away, or, for some, nonexistent. Enter vending machines.

They are as integral to the high school as teachers, homework and Starbuck’s Coffee. With a simple push of a button, they offer stu-dents everything from chips and ice cold beverages to coffee and hamburgers.

Imagine the excitement many students felt when they realized some of the vending machines had added new favorites such as Vitamin Water, Snapple and Arizona Iced Tea. Did they also real-ize that with these additions came new and higher prices?

These price increases appear to be part of a pattern that is emerging in our school. For in-stance, the price of lunch went up 50 cents, while other items available in the cafeteria also saw subtle price increases. Whereas the increased prices in the vend-ing machines may have impacted

some students’ decision to buy, others do not mind the change.

Sophomore Troy Manchester said he “didn’t even notice that

the prices went up on some of the vending machine selec-tions.” Sophmore Jason Kas-man stated that he thinks “the increase in the lunch price is a bigger deal than the increase in the vending machine prices.”

A few students had a stron-ger reaction to the new prices.

Sophomore Ken Omiya said “the vending machines are awesome, but way over-priced.” Omiya buys Fuze, one of this year’s new

choices; even though he finds the price offensive. “I get 6oz. of Fuze for $1.25 - that’s like 25 cents per sip- what a rip-off!”

Kasman disagreed. “An in-crease in cost is always expected when there is a greater selection to choose from.” Ken is not alone in finding the vending machine

prices ridiculous. Many students feel the prices are just a bit too high. Sophomore Alexis Rattner said that he “doesn’t even think

the changes were needed,” and that most students, herself included, “always get the same things from the vending machines anyway.”

Why the change? Typically, changes made to food distribu-tion in public schools involve items being removed, not added. The new choices are no health-ier and no less caloric than what was previously offered.

Last year, there was one soda machine offering only diet soda. This year, the soda machine has been expanded to include both Pepsi and Mountain Dew. The argument about whether soda should be available in schools is an ongoing one. Nu-tritionists and school admin-istrators all over the country are engaged in this debate.

Concerned parents often argue that soda is unhealthy while others believe it is no more or less nutritional than a Vitamin Water. Some

believe students will consume more soda if it is made available to them via vending machines, yet others say students are re-sponsible decision makers and will follow the “everything in moderation” rule when choosing.

continued on page 2[neW]

Vending machines inflate prices

Warrior Photo/ Kelly JenningsVENDING MACHINES: This scenic view is available in the old cafeteria and is often overlooked by students.

2 October 2, 2009 The WarriorNews

New foods, new prices for machinescontinued from page 1

[Vending]Most agree that kids accustomed to

drinking soda outside of school are likely to purchase it in school, but those who don’t drink it regularly won’t start just because it is in front of them. Sophomore Mike Bruns believes students are “smart enough to make the right decision” about how much and often they should drink soda.

It appears as if the Niskayuna School Dis-trict is in agreement with Bruns about soda being sold in schools. In a report released on September 15th, 2009 by the New York State Comptroller’s Office, titled “Nutrition in School Districts Across New York State” it is shown that, although Niskayuna met the nutritional standards required by the State of New York, they have not done the best job of providing healthy alternatives. In regard to “competitive” foods (foods not prepared by cafeteria workers, i.e. those found in

vending machines), the report states, “The District offers food and beverage choices that provide minimal nutritional value.”

Furthermore, the report “found that District officials do not limit access to prohibited food and beverages in the High School until the end of the last lunch period as required by Education Law and SED (State Education Department) guidelines.”

Regardless of the prices, the nutritional value of the products or the State require-ments which the District may or may not be violating, vending machines remain a vital part of the “culture” of Niskayuna High School.

Sophomore Emily Neaton said she “loves the vending machine selections.” In the same way students will continue to buy lunch even though the prices have been raised, so too will they continue to use vending machines until they are permanently removed from the school. Neaton is one of those students, de-claring that she “will only stop using vending

machines when the prices hit two dollars.” Incoming freshmen are much more ap-

preciative of what the high school has to offer, in comparison to the limited options in middle school. “There are a lot more choices of things in vending mahines than there were in middle school,” said freshman Chris Downing.

To combat the higher prices, many seniors choose to take advantage of their priveleges and get lunch off-grounds. Brueggers, I Love NY Pizza and Subway are all popular lunchtime destination for upperclassmen.

Assistant Principal Shelley Baldwin-Nye said that vending machine prices are not under the control of the administrators. “The machines are all from outside contractors, so we do not get a say on the prices. We are at their mercy.”

Although vending machines may not always offer the healthiest options, there is no doubt they provide quick, tasty, easy to eat and even with the raised prices, affordable snacks that are enormously convenient to students.

Art department introduces new classby emily O’bRien

news

In the 2009-10 school year, the high school has opened up several new classes. One of these additions is the newest member of the wide array of art classes avail-able to students after they take the basic prerequisite, Studio in Art. Studio in Graphic Design is a class created for students who are interested in visual communication such as typog-raphy, logo design, page layout,

product design and advertising.One of the classes’ main focuses

is taking traditional art concepts and traditions and marrying them to technology and various design programs and tools like Adobe Il-lustrator, Adobe Flash, and Adobe Photoshop, digital cameras, scanners and Wacom tablets.

In the one semester course, the class gives students a glance into the real graphic design world with projects ranging from basic logo design to magazine covers and en-

tertainment media marketing. While working, sometimes individually and sometimes in small design teams, stu-dents will apply the design basics to the world of visual c ommun ica t i on through various as-signments meant to imitate a real graphic design job or to become more familiar with the wide array of avail-able design tools.Along with learn-

ing about the graphic

design world and where it is headed, students taking the course will discover the history of graphic design and will experi-ment with both traditional and non-traditional uses of various aspects of visual communication.

Two years ago, students that were taking various art classes were given a questionnaire ask-ing what kind of art classes they would take if they were offered at the high school. A large number of students expressed their interest in tak-ing a class focusing on purely Graphic Design, as there was a computer arts class that touched briefly on the subject.

According to teacher Melissa Leach, graphic design was created be-cause of a “student need for that specific course.” Already the class has made a posi-tive image for itself with students who are taking it this year. Two sections are being of-fered- one class in both the fall and the spring semesters. Present-

ly, both classes are full .The work of graphic designers

is everywhere, reaching people from commercials to advertise-ments to the most basic logo designs. Leach stated, “Media Arts are a large part of our society, specifically advertising and marketing. The software program, Adobe Illustrator will give students the technical back-ground they need to help them fulfill their technical visions.”

Photo Credit/ Brendan HaganGRAPHICALLY AWESOME: Already, student work has been wowing teachers.

Photo Credit/ Jay ReichmanORANGE DELIGHT: Digital technology allows students to express themselves in new media.

3October 2, 2009The Warrior News

ACTIONS gathers for day of prayerby beThany sedziOl

news

On the morning of Wednesday, September 23, eight students gathered beneath the flag in the Little Theater. The occasion bring-ing them together: See You At The Pole. This is an event where Christian students around the country gather at their school’s flag pole to pray.

This event started in the year 1990, after two groups of students in Texas prayed around the flagpoles of three schools. This action inspired Texan youth leaders to bring prayer into their schools. At a conference for youth leaders in the follow-ing year, these young students shared the idea and decided to turn the idea into a national event.

In 1991, students gathered at flagpoles around the coun-

try to pray for their schools, states, the country and the world. Now, the date is offi-cially set as the third Wednes-day in September every year.

Upon finishing the prayer, ev-eryone agreed that the experience was calming amidst the stress of school. As senior Betty Anderson stated, “It was a really amazing

opportunity. It allowed people across the country to get together and pray for important things”.

All those who attended were affiliated with ACTIONS, or As-

sociation of Christian Teens in our Nisk-ayuna Schools. See You At The Pole is one of many events ACTIONS organizes for the high school throughout the school year. Others include service projects, bi-ble studies, worship, and the well-known Band*Aid. If you wish to get infor-mation about any of these activities, simply e-mail action-snisky@gmail.com.

As sophomore Cathy Kenny said, “It’s nice that not only us and our friends can get together but that Christian teens from throughout the nation doing the same thing.”

Warrior Photo/Kelly JenningsGIRL POWER: (From left to right) Senior Emily Miller, junior Sheena Cheung, sophomore Cathy Kenny, seniors Betty Anderson, Amy Hudson and Bethany Sedziol, sophomore Lizzy Simmerman, juniors Emma Bowman and Abby Marsan enjoy a laugh together.

Student wins concerto competitionby TeRRy spinelli

news

Violinist senior Zachary Evans came in first in the 2009 Lois Lyman concerto competition, joining several other Niskayuna alumni and students who have placed in the competition. In the annual competition, members of the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) audi-tion for the chance to play a concerto or other piece with orchestral accompaniment with the youth orchestra. As a result of his success, Evans will perform Symphonie Espagnole with ESYO at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on November 8 at 3:00. Tickets are avail-able through ESYO and Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and cost ten dollars for students.

Evans, who began studying violin in the sec-ond grade, currently studies with Betty-Jean Hagen. “When I was young, I wanted to play the tuba or the bass drum. I thought the violin was lame,” he said. “But, after my parents asked me two years in a row, I finally started play-ing the violin…I have no regrets to this day.”

Three years ago, Evans began playing the viola, joining the viola section of ESYO for two of his five years in the youth or-chestra. The viola has allowed Evans “to play a whole new range of music,” and he plans on auditioning for colleges and music schools on viola this winter. In addition to playing in ESYO, Evans plays violin in the Niskayuna High School Chamber Strings and Symphony Orchestra, of which he has been co-concertmaster for three years.

Symphonie Espagnole, a piece for solo violin and orchestra, was composed in 1874 by Edouard Lalo. According to Evans, it is “one of those pieces that knocks you dead after hearing it. It’s full of Spanish drama and flare, and, since it was written by a French composer, there’s some French lyri-cism thrown in.” Contemplating this complex effect, Evans says is, “like going to a Span-ish restaurant for dinner, then going home and having chocolate truffles for dessert.”

Although Evans has had many varied

musical experiences including attending the summer chamber music camp at Greenwood and participating in the 2008 Conference All State Symphony Orchestra, he has never had the opportunity to perform a solo piece with orchestra. Hence, he is “ridiculously excited” and a bit nervous about the upcoming concert.

“Every time I stand up to play for an audi-ence, my heart rate shoots up to twice its nor-mal speed, which is a problem since in doing so I run the risk of death,” said Evans. When asked for expert tips on how to counteract nerves while performing, Evans had no sug-gestions. Performing “is kind of like skydiving, except that when you’re skydiving you usually come out of the experience alive,” noted Evans.

Niskayuna students have done well in the competition in the past, placing first or second in 1998, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. Past first place winners include trumpeter Anthony Bellino, violinist Leo Brown, violinist Eric Zhou, marimba player Jim Benoit and violinist Ben Chan.

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 The WarriorOpinion

Editor-in-Chief:Anagha TolpadiJulie Slotnick

News:Marcelle Tuttle, EditorMaggie Jordan, EditorEmily O’Brien, EditorNaji Simmons, Asst.

Opinion:Archith Murali, EditorKaela Bamberger, EditorNick Farina, Editor

Entertainment:Chris Murphy, EditorLucas Lobe, Editor

Sports:Jason Xu, EditorTalia Salenger, Editor

Magazine:Caroline Brown, EditorAnnie Schwendler, EditorJackson Montrym, Asst.

Additional Staff:Kelvin Lin, Copy EditorSohaib Syed, Copy EditorBrian Vedder, Business ManagerDan Zhao, Advertising ManagerNina Santiago, Distribution ManagerKelly Jennings, Graphics Editor

Advisers: James Edgar Russell McDowell

October 2, 2009

C u t t h e d r a m a , N i s k y !by saRa cOle

OpiniOn

“She didn’t really call you fat...she just called you...plumper than last year.” “Yeah, I heard he’s secretly going out with the girl in Biology.” “Yup. She’s a definite smoker. I’ve seen her before outside of school.” These are the constant lies(or fictions) you hear from your every day gossip-monger. What’s a gossip-monger you ask? Simple. Someone w ho thrives on someone else’s controversies. You see, gossip-mongers are popular because everyone loves to hear the latest juicy details about someone else. It makes them feel supe-rior to other people, or it makes them glad if someone has the same issues that they do. They may participate in the gossip, or initiate them-selves, just to throw their burdens onto some-one else’s shoulders.

G o s s i p - m o n g e r s aren’t only gossipers. They’re Drama Instiga-tors. Now, wait a second here. I know what’s going through your mind: Who the heck is this woman talking about? And why is she using all these big words I can’t understand? Who exactly? I don’t know. Could be her, or him,....but my guess? You. And big words? Really? This is why you’re in school. Now, don’t stop read-ing, because I think your going to want to hear what I’ve got to say.

You get drama every day. There’s no doubting that. Someone al-ways comes to you, asking,”Hows the boyfriend/girlfriend doing?, Whose the new kid?, Why did you stop talking to your best friend over the summer?, Whose your love interest this year?”, or something along those lines. And though drama can be thrilling and entertaining, it may not be for the

innocent by-standers involved. Gossipers feed off of that, and you being innocent, feel obliged to ask the same questions, and get the same luscious details, that you “by accident” tell all your other friends. It happens,right? But do you even know what you’re

causing? People interpret things in so many ways. Like simply stating: That girl over there is obnoxious, could be interpreted to: Yeah, he/she thinks that girl is obnoxious. I guess they were fighting in class or something, and now they have this huge feud going on. Then before you know it, half of the school knows, and everyone is coming up to you

asking you about it. Annoying, right? My point exactly. Sud-denly you find yourself involved in the middle of a huge mess!

So, why not stop it, right here and now? Stop talking behind people’s backs, stop spreading rumors you’re not sure are true,

and stop starting controversy. I’m not saying to stop talking with people. I’m not saying to stop meeting new people, and I’m most certainly not saying to keep your social status to a minimum. All I’m saying is, QUIT THE DRAMA. Why can’t high school be a care-free, safe environment where kids can go and not feel inferior about what gossip is going around about

them? Let me guess what’s going through your head: Great, this chick wants us to be a cheerful, peppy school, filled with school spirit! Yeah, right! But, that’s not what I mean at all. Here’s what I’m saying:

1. Don’t spread things you aren’t certain are true. In the end, the finger will be pointed at you, and you’ll be the one paying for it.

2. If someone tells you something that’s of valuable information, don’t tell other people. This won’t only make people realize they can’t trust you, but you’ll be blamed for it. Be discrete.

3. Don’t make up ru-mors to get people off of your case. Sooner or later, people will assume ev-erything you say is false.

So, now its up to you. Ev-eryday, you decide what to do with the latest gossip, the latest drama, and the latest secrets spilled. So what will it be? Be kind and be wise about what your’e told and what you do with it. Leave drama in drama club!

Warrior Photo / Kelly Jennings

5October 2, 2009The Warrior Opinion

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

Change must take place in the UNby aRchiTh muRali

OpiniOn

This past week was a momentous one for the United Nations. For only the fifth time in roughly a fifty year history, the United Nations Security Council met on a summit level, and for the first time, an American resident headed the UN Security Council. Leadership of the Security Council rotates between the member nations, but usually, the head delegate for the nation, i.e. the Ambassador to the UN, will act as President of the Security Council. Last week, Obama headed the Security Council, thus initiating a new era of diplomacy where the executive branch takes a much more direct role in the UN.

While the discussions in the Security Council proved productive (the council passed a resolution to limit nuclear weapons in a unanimous vote), the same cannot be said for the rest of the meeting. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran gave a speech to the UN General Assembly, but not once did he mention Iran’s nuclear program. The UN is supposed

to be an arena where international conflicts can be resolved and international issues can be discussed, and leaders, especially those of countries who are making controversial decisions, can address those issues. If Ah-madinejad thinks that Iran’s nuclear program is totally legitimate and he has repeatedly stated this, then he should have talked more in detail about the program and why it was legitimate, as opposed to completely ignoring it.

Muammar al-Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, also delivered an extraordinarily long speech that touched upon many issues. Some were bizarre. For instance, he argued that the swine flu may have been a virus created by the military, but other viruses were legitimate. For instance, Gaddafi criticized the structure of the UN Security Council. While we might feel hurt by this, the fact of the matter is that the Security Council can no longer function properly if there are only five permanent members, and ,more problematically, if those five countries can veto any measure that

they don’t like. In an era of globalization, it doesn’t make sense for five countries to have such exclusive power, and the veto power merely hampers productive dialogue at the UN.

There need to be some changes in the power structure of the Security Council. First of all, more nations need to become permanent members. The permanent mem-bers of the Security Council are the victors of World War II, but the times have changed and countries such as Germany, as well as many developing nations, deserve a larger voice in the international community.

Another aspect of the UN that troubles me is the fact that decisions made by the General Assembly are not binding. The General As-sembly consists of every single member nation, and is thus the largest organ of the UN. It is the only arena where each country is equal, and even though it may be imperfect, it is the best representation of the world’s opinion. We have come a long way since 1945, and the UN needs to recognize this and adapt accordingly.

Conflicts prevail in the White House by maTT habib

OpiniOn

The relationship between Presi-dent Obama and Governor Pater-son is clearly strained based on their interaction on September 21, when the President came to New York to give a speech at Hudson Valley Community Col-lege. A few days early, a mem-ber of Obama’s staff met with Paterson to tell him that the P resident does not think it is a good idea for him to run, and that he should step down next year and not run for governor.

As Obama got off Air Force 1, the tension between the two was evident when they greeted each other with an awkward “man-hug” that was hard to watch. The strained relationship between Obama and Paterson was once again shown as Obama was giv-ing his speech. The president threw Paterson a bone, introduc-ing him as “a wonderful man, the governor of the great state of New York.” Obama’s body language was pretty stiff, as he did not even look over at Paterson as he introduced him. Right after that, the president introduced Andrew Cuomo, the Attorney General

of New York and the man that Obama was running for governor next year. The love show was on. The president cracks a joke, referring to Cuomo as “shy and retiring,” a clear oxymoron who the Attorney General really is. Obama then continues by say-ing that Cuomo is “doing great

work enforcing the laws that need to be enforced.” President Obama was smiling and having a grand old time as he talked about the Attorney General.

What is the reason for all this commotion? Who really cares whether Paterson runs next year? It has a lot to do with the census that is going to occur next year. Whenever there is a census, the majority party in each state changes the district

lines to the party’s advantage. It is not a big deal, normally, because both parties do it. In New York, however, the Demo-crats may not have their way if the governor is a Republican, who would most likely be Rudy Giuliani. If Paterson runs, both he and Cuomo are going to spend

lots of money on the primaries on advertisements that bash each other. Giuliani will just watch until the primaries are over. Then, when they are, the Democratic representative will not only have a lot less money to run their campaign, but there will be a lot of negative things from the advertisements from the previous rounds that can be used against the winner of the primary. Governor Paterson’s

“Who knows what the p r e s i d e n t

m i g h t d o t o e n s u r e t h i s

does not happen?”

ratings are extremely low in New York and they do not look good for his future if he runs next year. Thus he can only hurt the Democrats if he runs.

The implications of this is that if the districts lines are redrawn to favor Democrats slightly or even to favor Republicans, one of the Senators from New York has the potential of being Re-publican. What does that mean? This means that the Democrats would no longer hold a 60-40 majority, but a 59-41 one. The Republicans would then be al-lowed to filibuster any legisla-tion that they wanted, without fearing that the Democrats pass legislation without them, because they would not be able to. Thus far, Paterson says he will be running next year. Who knows what the president might do to ensure this does not happen?

6 October 2, 2009 The WarriorEntertainment

TIER1: SUNSHINE AND PUPPIESCyborg Slayers – A poppy cyborg-slaying

odyssey. The catchiest song on the album. Explosions and laser sounds throughout.

Murmaider II: The Water God – A sequel to the song ‘Murmaider,’ this epic track tells the story of a mermaid murdering his way to ‘Water God’ status.

Black Fire Upon Us – A slow but kind of beautiful song. It’s still brutal though! It’s brutiful? Dethklok supposedly first played this song hundreds of miles above Earth.

TIER 2: METAL FLOWERSComet Song – A headbanging tale of a

comet hitting Earth, hilariously told from the point of view of a religious radical wait-ing for death.

Bloodlines – Tribal jungle beats and harp-sichords combine to create this brutal and enjoyable, though incohesive, piece. Watch the music video here:http://tiny.cc/SUXCC

Symmetry – A rough and in-your-face de-scription of the fashion industry. Dethklok’s response to “America’s Next Top Model.”

Dethklok will blow your socks off!

TIER 3: RAINBOWS... OF BLOOD I Tamper With the Evidence at the Murder

Site of Odin – An unusual Dethklok song, featuring a guitar solo sounds like it was from a free-form jazz odyssey.

Burn the Earth – Fast but spacey, this song states Dethklok’s position on environmental-ism: BURN THE EARTH

The Gears – Dethklok’s fast and unrelenting anthem for their heavily abused and easily (and often violently) dispensed employees.

TIER 4: A DANCING, ROTTED CORPSELaser Cannon Deth Sentence – The repeti-

tive but entertaining song Dethklok performed during the biggest single act of capital punish-ment in recorded history.

Volcano – The result of Dethkok’s endorse-ment dealt with coffee, Volcano manages to drag on despite being the fastest song of the album. The album’s only real slip-up.

Dethsupport – Dethklok’s insanely heavy stance on, presumably, how socialized health care should be instituted. Heart attacks? Arthritis? Near-sighted? “PULL THE PLUG”!

A RUNDOWN OF DETHSOUND

by chRis muRphy

enTeRTainmenT

You, sir or madam, do not listen to death metal. This is understandable. It’s probably the most universally despised music form. When Mr. and Mrs. Bland get home from a hard day of work at Bland Corp., the last thing they want to hear is Junior Blandy listening to some sort of devil, scream-ing that he should murder his parents, preferably with a shiv fashioned from pages of a Bible. They’d much rather have him listen to a more value-friendly type of music, like… Rap?

Well never mind what your parents or your conscience are telling you and listen to me, be-cause I was once like you. I once thought of death metal as made by demons, for demons. But De-thklok made me see the bloody light. Death metal is not just noise; it’s a musical genre like any other. There is good death metal and bad death metal. And if you’re willing to go out

on a limb and lose some limbs with me, I’ll explain to you why Dethklok is a good death metal band that you should give a shot.

1 ) D E T H K L O K I S A C A R T O O N B A N D

You will never have to worry about Dethklok taking the stage from Taylor Swift at the VMA’s, because unlike Kanye West, who believes himself to be a god, De-thklok isn’t even human. They’re the main characters of the [Adult Swim] show Metalocalypse and they are stupid people with names like “Pickles” and “Mur-derface.” It’s goofy. This doesn’t really change the quality of the album, but it’s easier to take the tone knowing that the musicians of the album don’t actually want to do anything they sing about on their albums. The stabbings are accompanied by a wink and a nudge. The real-life man behind the music is the show creator Brendon Small, and he’s nothing like a scary death metal demon. He’d probably fit right in with Mr. and Mrs. Bland from above.

Knowing this alone makes De-thklok much easier to swallow than other, scarier death metal.

2) DETHKLOK IS AN EX-CELLENT CARTOON BAND

I kind of shot myself in the foot with argument number 1, because I am always having to convince metal fans that De-thklok is real metal. They’re a cartoon band, but their albums are not cartoon music. It’s real death metal, and it’s excellent death metal at that. What sepa-rates it? Show creator Brendon Small is a real musician, not just a band member. He studied at the prestigious Berklee Col-lege of Music, and in addition to composing death metal, he can compose jazz, classical, rock, blues and whatever other musical genre you can think of. What’s impressive is that the influences of all these genres show in every Dethklok song. While most metal bands go for the noisy, scary atmosphere, Dethklok is smart and inter-esting music with a scary at-

mosphere. It’s just good music. 3) DETHKLOK’S HILARIOUSThanks to being, as argument

1 showed, a cartoon band, Deth-klok’s lyrics are hilarious. Since you don’t have to be scared that you’re listening to a band that actually hates the earth, you can listen and laugh along as Dethk-lok tells it’s employees to ‘BURN THE EARTH – FOR MINIMUM WAGE.” This band satirizes the death obsessions of real death metal bands to create a sound that you can listen and laugh to.

4) DETHKLOK’S CHEAPThe DETHALBUM II, Deth-

klok’s latest release, is only $7.99 at Target. For less than the price of a movie ticket, you play an hour’s worth of brutal metal over and over again until your brains slide out your ears! If you’re more hesitant, I’ve created a chart below for your convenience. Either way, start listening today! Or, to quote the “Comet Song,” “you’ll be killed at the speed of light.” That’s not a threat, it’s a promise.

Here We HaVe a list of eVery detHalBum ii track. tHis list includes a detHcription of eacH track, and is orga-nized By HeaViness. if you’Ve neVer Heard detHklok, start in tHe first, ligHtest section, and Work your Way doWn.

www.vox.comThe fictional members of Dethklok, pictured from left to right: Guitarist Skwisgaar Skwigelf, bass-ist William Murderface, vocalist Nathan Explosion, (background) guitarist Toki Wartooth, and drummer Pickles. Dethklok released The Dethalbum II last Tuesday.

7October 2, 2009The Warrior Sports

Girls’ tennis slam opponents by cheTna pRasad

spORTs

The 2009 season for Niskayu-na Girls Varsity Tennis was set up to be a hard one. Surrounded by various newspaper articles on rival teams – Niskayuna had some tough competition. Last year’s scores were no help either, as Niskayuna lost many of their matches, only winning four overall. However, the 2009 season has already proven itself, and Niskayuna Girls Tennis is shining their way through.

Practices began during the first day of preseason. Girls wishing to make the varsity team came in at 6 AM every day that week, playing challenge matches and showing the best of their ability to Coach Jim Neal – Niskayuna’s legendary tennis coach. At the end of the week, cuts were made, and the varsity and Junior Varsity teams were created. While Niskayuna tennis is overall operated by Coach Neal, the junior varsity is coached by retired guidance counselor Mr. Motta, formerly the boys junior varsity coach in lieu of Coach Neely who is on maternity leave right now.

As for the Varsity team, which continues to excel this season, it is comprised of members

from the high school and both middle schools. Each girl on the team adds different abilities and strengths that eventually create a close knit and dynamic team. This year’s Varsity mem-bers include: seniors Rachel Lindenberg, Alyssa Lefebvre, Alex Phillips, Brooke Schnell, Maddy Tiberio, juniors Megan Barry, Kiran Correa, Jacky Do-bies, Alayna Kalogridis, Jennie Lee, Laura Liebers, Fran Mills, Shalini Nagaraj, Chetna Prasad, Janet Tenenboym, sophomore Emily Laurilliard, eighth grader Alyssa Frost from VA, seventh grader Annie Phillips from Iroquois, and freshman Sa-mara Finkle as team manager.

These twenty girls have proved themselves against last year’s record of 4-7, and currently their record is 6-1. There have been many close wins against tough teams such as Saratoga, Burnt Hills and Bethlehem – where Nisky came away winning 5-4 during each match. The girls also won against Mohonsen, Colonie and Averill Park 9-0, 9-0, and 8-1, respectively. The team’s latest match was against Shenen-dehowa, and even though Ni-skayuna lost, the girls played their best were not let down. The

Nisky girls have four matches left and will then be moving onto sectionals later in October.

The girls on the team are close and very supportive of each other. You might catch them during their spirit days, where they most recently dressed up as the Niskayuna warriors in

preparation for their match against Shen last Friday. “The team is very supportive of each other, and we always cheer each other on during our matches.

Playing tennis is a lot of fun, and playing with the team is even better. I couldn’t be more proud of how we are doing right now – and hope for the best for the rest of the season!” comments sophomore doubles player Me-gan Barry. As a team, the girls work together and practice hard

every day to represent Niskayu-na well in all of their matches. This season is looking better than ever – keep it up girls!

Girl swimmers off to a great startThe Niskayuna Girls Varsity

Swimming and Diving team is roaring through their season. Niskayuna is currently unde-feated, and it’s winning in all sorts of ways. In its first meet of the season against Saratoga, Niskayuna was victorious by a score of 101 to 80. During the meet, freshman Kina Zhou broke the 3 year old school record in the 50 freestyle by .23 seconds, in a time of 24.58. She also quali-fied for state championships in the same race. Senior Laura Manor won the 100 butterfly in a state qualifying time of 1:01.85.

Niskayuna’s second meet was the Hudson Valley Invitational at Newburgh Free Academy. Ni-skayuna won this meet against several of the best teams from across the state, including the 15th best team in the state last year, Monroe Woodbury. Junior Emily Whitaker placed second in the 200 freestyle, in a state qualifying time of 1:58.02. Whi-taker also won the 100 freestyle, swimming the event in 55.1 seconds, beating second place by .01 second. Laura Manor finished second in the 200 In-dividual Medley and qualified for state championships in a time of 2:14.4. Sophomore Le-

anne Archer won the 500 yard freestyle by 11 seconds. Nisk-ayuna’s 400 freestyle relay team of Sophomore Emma Terwilliger, Whitaker, Manor and Archer came in first place in the meet.

Niskayuna’s 3rd meet was by far their most exciting meet of the season. They beat Beth-lehem, the team that came in second in Section II last year, in thrilling fashion. Niskayuna was down 10 points after the first relay, but never gave up. After progressively gaining on them, Niskayuna trailed by a mere five points after diving. This came after Bethlehem broke the old pool record in the 200

medley relay. Niskayuna tied up the meet in the 100 yard freestyle after Emily Whitaker and Emma Terwilliger went 1-2 in the race. Niskayuna did some record breaking of its own, as the 200 freestyle relay of Whitaker, Freshman Grace Matuszyk, Terwilliger and Kina Zhou broke the old pool record. They gave Niskayuna a slim lead. Niskayuna would lose this lead over the next two events, leading up to the final event of the night; the 400 freestyle relay. Niskayuna would have

to go 1-3 in this relay to win

c o n t i n u e d p a g e 8[sWim]

by mike held

spORTs

Photo Credit / Chetna PrasadSUPER SERVERS: Members of the girls tennis team pose for a picture be-fore an important away match.

October 2, 2009 The WarriorSports

Nis

ky

Sc

or

eb

oa

rd

Girls’ Soccer

9/22 vs. BethlehemLost 0-4

9/24 vs. MohonasenWon 7-0

9/25 vs. ShenLost 0-3

Boys’ Soccer

9/22 vs. BethlehemWon 2-1

9/24 vs. MohonasenLost 0-1

9/26 vs. ShenLost 1-2

9/29 vs. Ballston SpaLost 1-5

Football

9/25 vs. Averill ParkWon 34-16

8

Don’t forget to recycle this issue when you finish reading it!

The boys varsity volleyball team coached by Mr. Darryl Bray started off their season strong, winning three of their first four games. The team defeated Shaker, Sara-toga Springs, and Columbia. Their only loss came at the hands of Burnt Hills. However, the Junior Varsity boys volleyball team defeated Burnt Hills 2-1 under Coach Chris Bianchi. The Warriors will have their chance of redemption on October 16th when they travel to Burnt Hills high school.

On Monday, September 21st the War-riors took on a tough Bethlehem team that would put up a fight. They fought hard but lost the first two games. However nobody gave in, especially not Brandon Lamar and Peyton Houghtaling who lead the team back to win the 3rd and 4th games. In the 5th and final game the warriors kept the crowd entertained and on their feet. According to Alex Espina “Peyton Houghtaling is a force to be reckoned with in the middle and so is his hand when it’s over the net, and Ryan Okonski is a wizard at the net.” The Warriors played a thriller until the end but lost the final game and match by two points. After the game John Verra commented on the team saying ”The team looks strong in all areas and they have good team chemistry. They

Volleyball going strongby chRis heRman

spORTswill do good this season.” Although it was a losing effort the team showed a great deal of promise. First year varsity player Aidan McGonigle set the ball well and had some nice defensive saves, junior Peyton Houghtaling spiked the ball hard right over the Bethlehem defense and Devin Wittemore served very hard with a lot of topspin. “We have plenty of athletic ability, if we can develop our fundamentals and are consistent. Then we will have a successful year,” said the senior Brandon Lamar.

I managed to catch up to a few players in the halls during school and had a chance to ask them a few questions. Who would you say is your biggest competition this year? Lucas Carlson, Brandon Lamar, Peyton Houghtaling and Aidan McgoniGle all said that Burnt hills was always a threat and would be in their way of the section cham-pionship this year. What do you have to say about your team in general? McGonigle also said “We are hungry for a section championship and we communicate well on the court, we will do well this season.” Lucas Carlson added, “We have so much potential but if there is any area we need to work on, it’s setting and our passing.”

This Friday October 2nd the team will host Guilderland in the East gym at 4pm. The day after on the 3rd the team will travel to Burnt hills for the mid-season tournament.

Swim team strokes aheadcontinued from page 7

the meet. It did. Niskayuna won this meet in thrilling fashion, 95-91.Nisk-ayuna’s third meet was not as close, as they blew out Mohonason 101-75.

This weekend, Niskayuna will host its third annual invitational. It features teams from around the state, includ-ing perennial powerhouses Monroe Woodbury of Section IX. "It should be a competitive meet and give a preview of sectionals," said Coach Michael Stone. The meet will be “very exciting,” accord-

ing to team co-captain Atosa Ghasripoor.With Sectionals approaching, Nisk-

ayuna has several key meets left. On October 20, Niskayuna will go against defending Section II champion Shenenda-howa. Shen is also undefeated this year.

“Quite a few girls have qualified for Sec-tionals as well as states” said Ghasripoor. Coach Mike Stone said that the team is “moving in a positive direction.” Nisk-ayuna looks to finish its season strong, and make a good showing at Sectionals.