The WarriorNiskayuna High School November 14, 2008 Volume 35, Issue 9

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

Inside this issue...

Pancake breakfast proves profitable

ACDC disappointspage 6

UGGlypage 4

By Terry Spinelli

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This past Saturday, Nov. 8, the Niskayuna Friends of Music sponsored a Flapjack Fundraiser Breakfast at Applebee’s. About 45 students woke up early on a Saturday morning to volunteer their time from 8-10 AM and helped greet and seat the cus-tomers, serve pancakes, clear the tables and provide musical entertainment throughout the event. In return for doing all of the restaurant’s work (besides making the pancakes), Friends of Music could use Applebee’s facilities for the morning. They also got to keep 80% of the profit. As an added perk, the student volunteers were entitled to a free breakfast.

Friends of Music sold more than 250 tickets to the event for five dollars each, and 225 attended. “You can’t go wrong with this fundraiser even though it was a very hectic morning,” said Diane Smith, president of Friends of Music. This was the second year that Friends of Music used this fundraiser as a way to augment their budget. “We sup-port many of the music activities throughout the year from (the) elementary (schools) through the high school,” said Smith. “The more money we receive, the more we can give back in enrichment and mini grant requests.”

Friends of Music is an active part of the Niskayuna musical

community, supporting the stu-dents in many ways including paying the stipend of guest art-ists, helping to cover the cost of NYSSMA festivals, and present-ing scholarships and awards.

The restaurant was packed for much of the morning, leading to long waits for the customers. “The pancakes were a little slow to come out, but the music was good so the customers didn’t mind waiting,” said Junior Kelsey Wood, who bussed tables.

The musical entertainment, provided by middle and high school music students, was con-sidered by many to be a highlight of the event. The music included guitar, a horn trio, piano, a saxophone quartet and wind and string duets.

Performers were middle school students Dane Jennings (on pia-no) and Shawn Shafran (on jazz guitar), Freshman Inga Bagepalli (on violin), Sophomores Abigail Zimmerman (on horn), Juniors Veronica Laos (on oboe), Shane Porter (on saxophone), Joel Sha-piro (on saxophone), Catherine Ziac (on flute) and Julia Ziac (on horn) and Seniors Lina Bagepalli (on violin/piano), Jordan Campo (on saxophone), Stefan Dosch (on guitar), Eli Grant (on saxophone), Dominic Izzo (on piano) and Julia Wither (on horn).

As though this impressive ar-ray of talent was not enough to keep the hungry audience happy, impromptu performances oc-

curred as well. Many members of Studio Singers were present at the event, and sang an un-planned rendition of “Java Jive” from their last concert. Then, singers who had traveled to Eu-rope last summer with American Music Abroad (AMA) performed “Esto les Digo.” Junior Bethany Sedziol, who participated in AMA, had shown up at the breakfast only to eat good food and support a good cause but ended up per-forming before she got her meal. It was well worth the wait and the work though. “The pancakes were fantastic!” she exclaimed. “I was full for the rest of the day.”

Although the pancake break-fast was considered a success, Junior Anne Sombor had a lower

Juniors stun Seniors,page 8

opinion of the quality of the pan-cakes. As she said, “People were so hungry by the time they got the pancakes that everything tasted delicious.”

Friends of Music was very pleased with the event. “The breakfast was such a huge suc-cess that, at times, the Applebee’s Chef could not keep up with the number of people coming in for those delicious pancakes!” said Felicia Campo, vice president of Friends of Music. Smith put one last note out to the volunteers, “Thank you to all the students and their parents for their assis-tance in our 2nd annual pancake breakfast,” added Smith. “It was definitely a huge success and truly a team effort.”

Photo Credit / Diane Smith

FLAPJACK BREAKFAST: Student volunteers work hard to bring pancakes to waiting customers.

2 November 14, 2008 The WarriorNews

Students challenge the status quo!By Andy ChAn

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Redundancy is a student’s worst enemy. A majority of the high school students go through the same exact routine every-day: wake up at the same time, to the same school, and hang out with the same people. It’s not that the high school itself or the students and faculty here are boring, but wouldn’t a change of pace be nice? Wouldn’t it be new and fresh to break those dull, cyclic tendencies? Famous author, Ralph Waldo Emmer-son, is known to have said that “foolish consistencies are the hobgoblin of little minds.” The students were fortunate yes-terday to have the opportunity to banish these consistencies change everything with a “Mix

It Up Lunch.”So what’s ‘“Mix it Up Lunch”?

It’s a nationwide event devised by Tolerance.org to promote a more inclusive and welcoming learning environment. The campaign aims to support adventurous students who are tired of the old routine and who want to cross social boundar-ies and build camaraderie. The event allows students to move beyond social stereotypes such as “preppy” and “emo” and get to “mix it up” and meet some new people and make new friends.

To accomplish this social-boundry destruction, the “Mix it Up” organization creates ways for students to cross social barriers and address issues which tackle divisiveness. This

and middle school,” said senior Hina Tai. It’s just like in ‘High School Musical.’ ‘We’re all in this together!’ We have to ban-ish the status quos, and come together, everyone!”

In addition to participating in this unique and enriching experience, the adventurous student attendees also received a free pizza lunch for mixing it up, and perhaps even earned some extra-credit, depending on their teacher. It really was a worth-while, unique experience for all of the different students involved.

Students got to change up their everyday routines, and instead of just talking to the same people about the same things while eating the same lunch, they got to sit with new people, discuss new interests, and eat free pizza.

The Niskayuna Study Circles Club allowed students to become a part of a sweeping movement to break cliques and social divisions and try something new once and a while. It was a great opportunity for many of the students, and it was great that the high school participated in such a noble and beneficial movement.

nationwide event was hosted by the high school Study Circles group on Nov. 13 during all lunch mods. So far, over 43,000 schools all over the coun-try have participated in “Mix it Up Day” some way or another. This year, Niskayuna jumped on the band wagon.

During the lunch mods attendees were grouped together with people they didn’t normally hang out with, to learn more about their fellow peers and embrace a stronger sense of class unity. The group-ings were determined with the use of surveys, in which students indicated their ethnicity, age and interests. Using these surveys, the students were broken up to create new groupings. People that didn’t usually hang out together sat and ate lunch, breaking down stereotypes and social divisions.

“I think it’s great that students worked together to break down cliques, a terror in both high school

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Photo Credit: www.tolerance.orgMIXING IT UP: High school students in another school participated in a nationwide movement by gathering during all lunch mods to mix it up. Dur-ing this activity, students had a chance to meet new people that they would not normally interact with. It is a great experience for students to meet new people and to learn about the interests and backgrounds of others.

3November 14, 2008The Warrior News

By hinA TAi

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Last Friday and Saturday No-vember 7 and 8, middle school students from both Iroquois and Van Antwerp gathered in the crowded Iroquois cafeteria for the annual Niska-game event. While Niska-game is in session, the school is even busier than it is during the day. Students’ screaming and chanting echoed from one end of the school to the other. They stood in the hallways huddling with their groups trying to think of the next amazing cheer that would earn them the most money from the referee.

Niska-game is played on a human-size monopoly board. The students act as the pieces on the monopoly board and they try to collect as much money as they can to beat the other teams. If a team makes up a cheer or a skit, they can earn bonus money from the referees. The middle school students get to pick their teams and then choose a color to represent

them. There are t-shirts of ev-ery color, black, gray, red, teal, blue, green and burgundy. The t-shirts are usually sponsored by different companies. Before the game even starts, the middle school teams collect money that is donated to a good cause. The amount of money they collect is then converted into monopoly money. The more money they collect, the more they have at hand at the beginning of the game.

Every year, high school students volunteer to become coaches for the middle school students. This year NICS club from the high school (or Ni-skayuna Inter -Community Service club) provided many of the volunteer coaches at Niska-game. NICS, is a club devoted to volunteering and helping out within the community in various events such as Hogwarts Night at Rosendale and the Craft Fair earlier this year. The high school coaches keep watch over the middle school students and handle the money.

Along with the high school coaches, many parents vol-unteered to chaperone. many parents brought in snacks and helped to serve pizza and stand on the sidelines to help look after the students. Many parents came to cheer their children on.

Junior Samar Khan said, “I look forward to Niska-game every year. It is so much fun. It was always exciting to watch the middle school students be-ing as loud as they possibly can and watching all the interesting cheers they come up with. It’s a great experience for the middle school students since they have a chance to loosen up and have fun with their friends for a good cause. It reminds me of all the good times I had with friends at Niska-game, especially the times that our team won!”

On the days of Niska-game, students run around the halls and the cafeteria in funny hats, pajama bottoms, rainbow-col-ored scarves and fuzzy slippers. Students always seem to leave

the game laughing and jump-ing around even if they lost. The night is not about winning, it’s about having fun with your friends and having great team spirit. Even so, that is not to say that the competition wasn’t fierce. Many students lost their voice as they try to catch the at-tention of the referees who gave out money for “team spirit.” The students’ enthusiasm bounced off the walls.

A first time Niska-game at-tendee senior Sara Baig shock-ingly said, “Wow, the kids are so crazy! Everyone was screaming and laughing! The monopoly board was amazing! It was so interesting the way they made the Niskayuna-version of the monopoly board! I really wish I had gone to middle school here to play at Niska-game.”

Niska-game really brings all sorts of people together. Adults and high school students that volunteer for the event work together with the spirited middle schoolers in a show of camara-derie to raise money!

Niska-game delights middle schoolers

Bake sales go internat ionalBy CrAig dudek

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Halloween, with all of its candies and sweets, has just ended, and the Thanksgiv-ing Feast coming closer. Students at the high school just can’t seem to get enough treats! To satisfy this sweet tooth, two language clubs, the French and Spanish Clubs, held two bake sales back-to-back on November 3 and 4. Although the bake sales were held in close proximity to one another, they both offered different foods for the students and faculty of the high school.

On Nov. 3, the Spanish Club staked out in the New Cafe in all lunch mods and held a Día de los Muertos bake sale. The strategy for this fundraiser was traditional; the usual cookies and cupcakes were on the menu, with some Halloween themed sweets here and there to tie in with the theme. The club did very well and left little food unsold. The money was counted, and much money was raised for the club to use on field trips and such.

While Election Day may have been a day filled with political activism and debates for the members of French Club and its hungry patrons, it was the day of bake sale. This was no ordinary bake sale, however. Though ordinary chocolate chip-cookies and other normal goods were for sale, French Club wanted to offer the high school authentic French cuisine.

The hot items on the bake sale menu included croissants, baguettes with French cheeses such as Brie and Camembert, and delicious homemade crepes. The American’s Election Day was invaded by the French!

When the day began, French club members gathered around the table in front of the Old Cafe eager to sell. Instead of opting for the sale of candy and other sugary treats, as Spanish Club did, French Club decided this year that the cultural bake sale would benefit the club more. They were right about that. It seemed that from the moment sales begun, they were already ahead of where they were in last year’s bake sale extravaganza. The hot, flaky croissants sold out by homeroom, and

a second tray of crepes had to be brought in to satisfy the hungry students.

“J’ai besoin du gâteau dans le matin. (I need to have sweets in the morning),” said Senior Alexis Kim, who was caught numerous times at the bake sale. Since many of the items sold were breakfast foods, they were a nice supplement to the normal breakfasts.

“I was trés trés trés fatigued so the sugar from the bake sale really boosted my energy for the day. I love the French Club so much!” exclaimed senior Laura Diebold, just one of the many students who loved the French Club bake sale and enjoyed tasting a bit of France during their lunches.

Both Clubs bought something differ-ent to the lunch table, and successfully raised money to help support all of the fun activities they do throughout the year. Bake sales are definitely a suc-cessful, and tasty, fundraiser for all, especially when they mix in culture and great food together!

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

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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 November 14, 2008 The WarriorOpinion

Editor-in-Chief:Daniel ClaridgeJulie Slotnick

News:Lauren Niedbalec, EditorAnagha Tolpadi, EditorHina Tai, Editor

Opinion:Kaela Bamberger, EditorSam Dharia, EditorLucas Lobe, Editor

Entertainment:Craig Dudek, EditorChris Murphy, EditorMarcelle Tuttle, Editor

Sports:Kevin Kurtzner, EditorRachele Marra, EditorCorey Guilmette, Editor

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 dAn ClAridge

OpiniOn

As thermometers drop and sickness spreads, our student body embraces the warm grasp and cozy feel of winter clothing. Northface jackets abound, long sleeve shirts disappear from musty closets, and winter hats obscure our hair. For those who brave the frosts of frozen fields and parking lots, a pair of boots may serve necessary. Among female students, a popular (and impractical) boot has already branded our homogenous halls; Uggs boots, which wrinkle at the ankles and puff with clumps of sheep shavings, have won control over females’ feet.

In a school plagued by a new dose of prod-uct advertisements, we are in short need of more consumer conformity. Our halls are full of Nike swooshes, Lacoste alligators and Polo horses. Our students, lacking in cloth-ing creativity, imitate each other in a boring fashion orgy. Sometimes, these choices are more practical than popular. Polo hats, slapped lazily across the head, attract a wide

range of girls, Nike shoes fuel an ominous Chinese economy, and Lacoste shirts assert a student’s European aesthetic tastes. Uggs boots, however, cross this line of calculated pragmatism.

Here’s a typical sight at 7:40 in the morn-ing: a girl arrives at the pool entrance and steps out of her father’s Mercedes Benz. Her Uggs, preventing frostbite, strike the sidewalk twice before she’s immersed in the warmth of the pool lobby. Her friends, Uggs-wearers themselves, don colorful tights and convene at T-roads to obstruct the flow of traffic.

Besides their obvious lack of need and alarming ignorance of money (most pairs cost upwards of 150 dollars), these students manifest some troubling implications. While construction may add diversity to our halls in the form of colorful wiring, it does little to combat the imitative attitudes of our students. Why do we, as students and faculty, excitedly anticipate Halloween? For one day a year, we see some clothing creativity! Diversity is entertaining, to say the least.

I remember elementary school, where one could identify you by the soles of your shoes. Mine were Velcroed twice across the top, painted with sesame street characters and adorned with flashing lights. The ladies — moms, teachers, and 8 year-olds alike — loved my improvised appearance. As a saliva spewing snot-nosed kid, I had little say in my choice of shoe. I wore what my mom could afford and what came my way, molding it to fit my personality (and foot). Today, instead of adapting our footwear, we mold ourselves to match its branded image.

This may seem a hackneyed plea for more diversity. Instead, it’s a simple call to ques-tion our consumer impulses. Why are we seduced by branded foot wrappings, which bundle brand name socks and match our hair color? Since when did saggy boots become attractive, comfortable and useful?

Let’s do ourselves a favor and ditch those puffy, expensive, ugly boots. If you’re feeling cold, and want to swipe some plastic, buy a pair of Timberlands... just kidding.

Uggs : ug ly and unor ig ina l

McCain concession speech gracefulBy ArChiTCh MurAli

OpiniOn

Last week, on Nov. 4, history was made as Barack Obama be-came the first African American president of the U.S. While Obama’s victory was amazing and historic, what surprised me most on Nov. 4 was McCain’s conces-sion speech.

Throughout the campaign, Mc-Cain tried to portray himself as a hard core conservative, while trying to convince voters that he wasn’t George W. Bush. Mc-Cain, before he ran for the party’s nomination, wasn’t really all that conservative. However, in an effort to woo the conservative base of the Republican Party, he tried to

paint himself as their candidate, even though he wasn’t. Perhaps the biggest example of this is Mc-Cain’s pick of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate. Now, I know that many people support Palin; she is the epitome of conser-vatism and the conservative base of the Republican Party loved her. However, this wasn’t really con-sistent with McCain the person. Throughout his career, McCain tried to be a maverick and he was. After the 2000 election, when Democrats needed to work across the aisle, they used to approach McCain. However, in trying to win the election, McCain underwent a huge transformation. He became the “traditional” Republican,

arguing for many things that he didn’t truly believe in. The candidate that once promised an honorable civil argument between himself and Obama started to run negative ads and tried to tarnish his opponent’s reputation.

Before McCain became a Re-publican warhorse, I actually respected him. I admired him as a candidate and thought that either him or Obama would be fine for the country. However, McCain’s transformation made me change my mind. I think that this represents a problem with the Republican Party. In order to win the nomination, candidates have to become “Republican”. They need to win the votes of the

ultra -conservative base. In gen-eral, Republican candidates win because of their party organization and support of the entire party. In order for McCain to win the nomination, he had to comply with this long established norm.

On Tuesday, when I saw his concession speech, I was happy that McCain the person had finally returned. The speech was one of the most gracious and accom-modating concession speeches. If McCain had run as himself and not as a Republican warhorse, he might have lost conservative votes, but he would have garnered more votes from independents and he would still be respected as person.

5November 14, 2008The Warrior Opinion

Abbrev i a t i ons r t o t e s sw tBy SAM dhAriA

OpiniOn

In today’s fast paced world, time equals money, and this idea has trickled down to the youth. When communicating informally we rarely take the time to spell out the word “you” or even capitalize the word “I”. This movement away from the restraints of our language is something we should all embrace.

When texting or instant messaging, most people prefer brevity to precision, and for good reason. Not only does this new, largely unspoken language allow us to communicate faster, but it also places more emphasis on meaning than presenta-tion, emphasizing our message and not our grammatical ability. This allows for faster conversation, very similar to the speed of normal talking. Given the high rate of speed at which most teenagers can type, speak-ing over the phone has become a hassle. We can whip out a text or IM faster than it takes to begin dialing.

Pragmatism aside, abbreviations have come to define our generation, giving us

a common language. No longer are the youth the ‘hip daddy-oh’s’; we are now ‘totes swt’. For years to come, people will associate our generation as the one which

first experienced the Internet, but we’ve done more than that, we’ve made the inter-net our own. You, by dropping the ‘a’ and

‘e’ in the word ‘are’, are letting everyone know that you are part of the movement that shed the unnecessary letters of the alphabet and defined how people spoke on the internet.

Some may say that Internet slang is a way for kids to hide their conversations from their parents, but given its widespread usage, this is not the case. Some parents, though antiquated, still know the basics of abbreviations. The proliferation of family plan texting has made it almost impossible for parents not to have received at least one text, which probably had at least one ab-breviation. Also, websites like www.noslang.com provide translators that help parents see if their children are up to no good.

Today, we have come to a defining mo-ment in our history. Do we stand back and remain enslaved to the formalities of the English language, or do we redefine English to fit our needs? I know that I, for one, don’t have the time to write out everything in full sentences when conversing casually over the internet. You, too, must take control over your writing. k?

By Ben COhen And keenAn rOBerTS

OpiniOn

If you have wandered through the Old Cafe in years past, you may have noticed a variety of cooking appliances available. Just last year, there were two microwaves, a coffee pot, a toaster oven and, of course, a toaster. There was butter, whether from the community block or the individual packets. There were condiments, a constant supply of utensils and the most beautiful and helpful women exchanging our large bills for more manageable ones.

Walking into school this year, we were quickly exposed to the new, futuristic vend-ing abominations populating the “new” Old Cafe. What are these confounded contrap-tions with their dollar coins? An ice cream machine where you cannot even watch your delicious bar of ice cold goodness get vacu-sucked? A machine that makes coffee? This must be the year 2100! But wait, what is this? A Reese’s Ice Cream bar costs $60.00? Inflation hit hard, but that’s ridiculous! Milk and cereal is $1.75, when last year it was 90 cents for the whole shebang. I like these Vitamin Waters, but seriously, $1.75? Do I look like Bill Gates?

What else is wrong with this picture? I see

about a thousand bagels, but where is the butter? I can’t believe there’s no butter (jokes)? Do you expect me to put mayonnaise and ketchup on my bagel? In the name of the good Ford (eat that, Aldous Huxley), why am I no longer granted access to my beloved toaster? I mean, come on! Come on! COME ON! Last year, for the affordable price of a dollar, I was able to purchase a delicious, all-natural bagel (Come on!), toast it in mere minutes, smother it in lipid-filled butter from the community butter block, and sit back and enjoy my lunch mod with a fulfilling meal. But those days are long past my friends.

Now I am required to eat my bagel cold. I do not know if you have ever been sentenced to such a fate, but it not only tastes bad, it slowly, but surely, eats away at one’s will to live. Some might say, “Why don’t you use one of the four microwaves to warm it up?” To that I say, COME ON! Does one perform brain surgery with a chain saw? Microwav-ing a bagel makes it soggy, burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. That’s a lot of heat. I prefer my bagels at a reasonable temperature, crisp like, well, a toasted bagel. There is nothing that compares to the buttery goodness of a perfectly prepared bagel. And to make that bagel, one requires a toaster,

much like the one that, until this year, was located on the counter in the Old Cafe, under the sign stating that it was donated by the class of 2007.

What has happened to that class’s con-tribution to our school? Where did it go? Seriously, it is not like the school would throw away such a valuable asset. It has to be somewhere. Could the teachers, in one of their selfish, egotistical power trips, have stolen our toaster booty for their own use? I am not accusing anyone, but come on! Maybe there was a terrible accident, resulting in the sad demise of our beloved friend. But why would they hide the truth? Something is missing here. We demand truth and justice! We want our toaster, and we want it now. Too long have we gone with inferior bagel-warming capabilities.

The winds of change are a-blowing, Nisk-ayuna High School. No longer will we suffer in the supposedly “improved” Old Cafe. Reveal the true location of our toaster, and let us consume our lunch in happiness and pros-perity. Bagel lovers of America, unite!

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.

Let my cafeteria toaster go!

LOL: Abbrevs have taken the internet by storm.icanhascheezburger.com

6 November 14, 2008 The WarriorOpinion

AC/DC does not e lec t r i f y

‘Gears of War 2’will not boreBy ChriS Murphy

enTerTAinMenT

Gears of War is Microsoft’s biggest sci-fi shooter franchise that you are still allowed to admit is fun (last year Halo got too popular, and so now the cool thing to do is to say it’s lame). In a break from the recent trend of colorful, fun fantasy shooters the gaming industry has seen in the last couple of years (mainly through Halo), Gears of War chainsawed the shoot-em-up mold by introducing a cover system and taking the visuals in a grittier and more realistic direction. The result was a resounding success: Gears won multiple awards and sold over five million copies. Think of it this way: Gears of War has sold more than 60 times the amount, in copies, than people who voted in the 2008 Presidential Election. No wait, it was the other way around. Nevertheless, Gears of War was a rousing success and a vital addition to Microsofts fledgling Xbox 360 console. In order to ensure the sequel’s success, Epic Games (Gears of War’s publisher), took every measure

By dAniel ZhAO

enTerTAinMenT When most people think of rock, they think

of legendary bands. From Chuck Berry back in the 50’s to bands like Nirvana in the 90’s, they think of bands that have defined what rock exactly is. AC/DC was one of them, a band that was known for making dirty hard rock music. They were the band that cre-ated the rock anthems of the 70’s, making great hits like ‘Highway to Hell’, ‘Hell’s Bells’, and probably the most famous of them all, ‘Back in Black’. They weren’t particularly revolutionary or special, but their uncanny knack for great rock songs more than made up for it.

Now, decades later, they’re still making music. The question is: Does it sound as good as their older albums? Well, it certainly sounds like their older albums, but perhaps a bit too much. AC/DC was never known for originality, and people even in the 70’s and

80’s criticized them for songs that sounded the same. Black Ice, their latest album, takes this to a whole new level. Each song essen-tially sounds like the same exact generic rock song as the other, to the point where it just seems like one whole big mess.

Of course, there are a few stand-out tracks, such as the opener, ‘Rock ‘n Roll Train’, ‘Stormy May Day’, and the title track ‘Black Ice’. Maybe if Black Ice wasn’t so full of filler tracks, the album would have been good. But with an album that spans about an hour, made of 15 mediocre songs, it doesn’t really get anywhere close to what Back In Black or Highway To Hell sounded like. Of course, hardcore AC/DC fans will ignore the fact that half of the songs on the album sound like a rework of ‘Highway To Hell’, but really that’s what it is.

Now, someone out there is probably ask-ing ‘Then why is Black Ice the best selling album in many countries? You’re just a fat

Asian kid that sits around doing reviews, you shouldn’t be talking.’ Now, despite the fact that both of those statements are true, the main reason is really because how dumbed down this decade of music is. AC/DC even gave up trying to be slightly original in their albums. ‘Originality’ doesn’t really exist in music anymore. Just look at the Jonas Broth-ers or Fall Out Boy. They make the same crap every year and they earn millions of dollars. Why not just record yourself farting and put it on your iPod?

Well, putting that issue aside, Black Ice, as I mentioned before, really does have its good moments aside from all the filler. ‘Rock n’ Roll Train’, the clear single on the album, is a terrific opener, and songs like ‘Anything Goes ’, ‘Storm May Day’, and ‘Black Ice’ are similarly great. However, as I mentioned before, 4 good songs out of 15 doesn’t really quite cut it. The other 11 aren’t horrible, just tedious.

they could to change almost nothing in the sequel. That’s not a bad thing, really. After all, Gears’ formula worked. It’s just

a little predictable, especially concerning the story.

The Gears of War story follows Delta Squad, a rag-tag group of soldiers fighting against the Lo-cust Horde, an army of unsightly and just plain drab monsters who rose from the underground. In Gears 1 Delta Squad was forced to take the fight to the Lo-cust Headquarters and planted a bomb there, wiping them out once and for all. But in Gears of War 2 you find out that (gasps galore), it didn’t work! So in Gears 2, Delta Squad is forced to take the fight to the Locust

Headquarters and plant a bomb there to wipe them out once and for all. Many will predict the twist the upcoming Gears of War 3

will likely introduce. But Gears of War isn’t about the story (as hard as it tries to be); it’s about the gameplay!

Gameplay, again, is much of the same in Gears 2. Once again, he emphasis is on cover. The players jump from cover to cover, aiming around the corner of the life-saving slabs of granite conveniently located just about everywhere. It’s a little ironic the player is a huge mass of ‘roided-up muscle but spends most of the game cowering be-hind a rock. Still, it works, and does seem more realistic than

your average everyday shooter (again, Halo). The small changes to the gameplay are welcome and actually change the game much more than expected. Though the much-anticipated chainsaw duels are sparse (but exciting), the ability to crawl away once you’ve been shot to your knees makes being near-dead much less disappointing than it was in the first game. The party system is also much improved in Gears 2, making the former hassle of playing online easier and, inherently, more fun.

Gears of War 2 is an easy recommendation for any Xbox 360 owner with a strong stomach for gore, even those who haven’t played the original. (Though the main story is predictable, there are some throwbacks to the original in Gears 2’s story that double its interest to those who have played it.) The graphics are jaw-dropping and the gameplay is fast and fun. It’s more than worth a rental, at the very least. And while you’re at it, why not pick up the $130 Gears of War brand Chainsaw Gun, now avail-able at Amazon.com?

thenerdyword.wordpress.com

THE CHAINSAW GUN: A Perfect gift to give to a loved one and use on a hated one.

7November 14, 2008The Warrior Sports

Girls’soccer falls just short By rAChelle MArrA

SpOrTS

Last Saturday was an exciting event for the varsity girls’ soccer team. The game took place at Glens Falls high school against Shaker, with a trip to the Sectional finals on the line. Going into the game, everyone knew that it was an even match and the game proved to be a tough one to win. During regular time, the game was neck and neck. Neither team was able to score a goal. Nerves were running high as it had become very clear that any mistake made could be the other team’s chance to take the lead, and the game. The Niskayuna varsity athletes were forced to fight hard to hold the game’s score at a tie. Because of the evenly matched skill levels between the two teams, the competition was extremely physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. Seniors Erica Ottaviano, Leah Rubino, and Junior Amelia Esposito pulled through and lived up to their roles as team captains, keeping the girls motivated and composed throughout the entire game. Many of the girls now remember Senior Whitney Frary repeating the phrase, “Let’s finish this! We score, we win, we’re done,” over and

over. It was her plan to get the girls pumped for the daunting task that lay before them, and she did just that. Sectionals rules dictate that games cannot be finished with a tie, so as the regular game time came to an end, the game was forced into a nail biting ten minute overtime. Frary and senior Emily Bartell helped Niskayuna hold on strong, each scoring a goal. Caitlin Calahan also scored two goals for Shaker, so the score remained tied at 2-2. As the time on the clock slowly ticked by, the crowd held its breath. Still at a tie, the game went into a second ten minute overtime, but the 2-2 score still held. So, the teams went into a sudden death round. As the sudden-death round took place, the girls worked together with efficiency and determination. They were extremely supportive of

each other and not a word of criticism could be heard on the field. With little time left in the five minutes of sudden death, it was Frary who scored the game winning goal, assisted by Freshman Casey Barsh. “Having only beaten Shaker 1-0 in our previous meeting we knew that they would want to seek revenge in our sectional semifinal match up. It started out as a very even match with both teams playing with heart as we finished regulation with the score 0-0. Not wanting it to come down to penalty kicks, we knew we would want to get the job done,” remarked Bartell. After the winning goal, the entire team, feeling thrilled, rushed at the goalkeeper, Esposito, and all of the Niskayuna athletes were overcome with an enormous sense of pride and unity. The

girls really pulled through and worked together as a team, and it truly was a remarkable Sectional game! Unfortunately, the girls would not be able to continue their winning ways

against Bethlehem. After having their previous two Sectional runs ended by Niskayuna, Bethlehem was hungry for revenge. In the 2006 Sectional finals and the 2007 Sectional semifinals, the Warriors defeated the Eagles in penalty kicks. With 19:55 left in the first half, Bethlehem Senior Taylor Teal headed in a cross from her fellow senior midfielder, Megan Olsen. Both teams battled for the rest of the game, but Niskayuna was unable to even up the score. Having allowed only four goals all season, the Bethlehem defense certainly provided a significant challenge. In a last ditch effort to tie the game, Niskayuna pushed up its defense, allowing Bethlehem to score a goal with nine seconds remaining, “Bethlehem every year is obviously our biggest competition. As a team, we played a very strong game having previously lost to them 3-0 earlier in the season,” said Bartell. Bethlehem entered the sectional final with an impressive undefeated record. In fact, the Eagles were ranked number two in the nation by the ESPN Rise Fab 50 national rankings. After a deep run into sectionals and a solid showing against an extremely impressive Bethlehem team, the Niskayuna girls certainly have nothing to be disappointed about.

Photo Credit/ Times UnionSHIELDING THE OPPONENT: Senior Whitney Frary fends off a Bethlehem defender in the girls’ sectional final.

Photo Credit/ Times Union

TIGHT DEFENSE: Somphmore Schuyler Archambault nuetralizes Bethle-hem’s most dangerous weapon.

8 November 14, 2008 The WarriorSports

Juniors break Powder-Puff curse

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

By MiChelle MilTner

SpOrTS

Powder-Puff football is a tradition at many high schools that pits girls from the junior class against girls from the senior class in an epic flag football game. In the first ever girls-only battle, a typical female’s behavior would be to take out a powder puff and small mir-ror to powder themselves in public. Thus, they declared that an appro-priate name for the game would b e P o w d e r -Puff.

N o n e t h e -less, in Nisk-ayuna Powder-Puff signifies much more . Winning this annual game proves your class’ superi-ority. It seems that every year, seniors have found a way to come out on top. How-ever, this year’s scoreboard told a different sto-ry.

Prior to the big match, both teams prac-ticed two to three times a week. Once the key fundamentals of the game were learned, both senior and junior coaches put the girls to work. Junior Alex Phillips said, “once our girls were assigned positions, we ran over plays and got a feel for the game. In the final practices we scrimmaged a ton! This prepared us mentally and physically for the match against the senior girls.”

On Nov. 6, a wet Thursday evening, the class of 2009 marched on to the field in two lines with their game faces on. The

“mighty mighty” juniors were already there, jogging across the grass chanting in unity. Seniors stretched in rows of six, mirroring the juniors, and began to prepare for what lay ahead.

Within the first twenty minute half, Lind-say Mayo, a member of the class of 2010,

picked off a Laura Pratico pass, running the ball back to the endzone to give the juniors their only advantage of the game, leaving the scoreboard: Juniors – 6, Seniors – 0. Junior Ellen Kolman said, “going into the game we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Mayo’s touchdown really filled us with the confidence we needed to remain focused and play competitively against the seniors.”

During halftime, the juniors celebrated their lead over the class of ’09. Across the field, a different tune was being sung. The seniors huddled together reviewing plays that could get them back in the game.

Senior Coach Mike Lecce attributed the score to extenuating circumstances, stat-ing, “our team was missing some key players due to injuries. If we were all healthy, it would have been a whole different game.”

Regardless, with the start of the second half, the two teams continued to battle. A

touchdown re-ception by Molly O’Donnell filled the seniors with a sense of re-demption and hope for a pos-sible comeback. As the c lock wound down, the teams remained at a stalemate. With only ten minutes left, the game got much more aggressive. However, neither team could pull i t together in order to gain the advantage they would need for victory, and the game ended in a tie.

“Tying the se-niors was a huge victory for us. We are so proud to be the class to break the se-

niors’ streak,” commented junior Julia Kosineski.

Plans are in the works for scheduling a rematch between the two teams in the spring, which would be a first at Nisk-ayuna. With this game, the seniors hope to have another shot at establishing their dominance.

Senior Katie Krohl said, “the juniors got lucky on Thursday. I think I can speak for all of us seniors when I say that we can’t wait to face them again in the spring. The seniors will show them who the better team really is!”

GETTING PUMPED: Senior girls gather at Crossroads on game day to show their team camaradie. Seniors could be easily identified by their fluorescent pink shirts, while the juniors sported lime green.

Warrior Photo / Alexis Kim

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

Volume 11, Issue 5 November 14, 2008SilverThe Warrior Magazine

Decision ‘08 Has Been MadeMaybe Next Time, Sarah

The Warrior Magazine November 14, 2008Silver

M c C a i n ’ s l a s t s t a n d

Dear Readers,

It’s hard to believe that another four years have already come and gone, but come Janu-ary, we’ll have our new President-Elect, Barack Obama, sworn in. Love him or hate him, agree with his policies or not, it is nonetheless inspiring to see the first black man in history assume the role of President.

In spirit of the political fever that has permeated the country these past few weeks, we here at Silver have prepared an issue all about the elec-tion. From the crazed rav-ings of a Neoconservative to actual data from the mock elections held here last week, we hope you’ll enjoy reading about the political arena one last time (or at least until the next election, when oth-erwise mildly-mannered citizens will once again run around like chickens with their heads cut off). Enjoy!

Sincerely,The Editors

Well, it’s over. We’ve bit the big one; the campaign has kicked the bucket. John McCain has lost. I know, I know, it’s sad but we few conservatives here at Niskayuna High School have to be gracious, even in defeat. The Silent Minority must come forward though, and try to persevere. It’s just four years, really. Or maybe eight. And if there’s some odd Constitutional amendment, maybe twenty years. Who knows? Overall, it’s the end for McCain. Senator McCain has run be-fore, losing in the primary to current President George W. Bush in 2000, but at his age, this is the end to his Executive Branch dreams. Really America? You couldn’t give an old man his dying dream? Obama is 47 years old. He can run again.

Don’t you feel bad for McCain? You did this. Even when he says, “It is not your failure, it is mine,” you know it is your fault. And maybe Sarah Palin’s as well. But nonetheless, it is your fault. Yes, you. Now, a black President is great. I mean amazing! But we all knew we could do it. I want to know why, in 2008, we can’t elect an elderly white male? What do you say about that America? How progressive is this nation if we can’t elect a septuagenarian Caucasian male? I am outraged and so are the other two Republicans in this school. We are angry and we will cling to our guns and religion until Jesus comes down and starts the rapture. Obama is a nice man, but will make a bad President. Just wait, in five years you will be forced to gay marry at least

once a week, and the Universal Healthcare will have you feeling healthy and happy, until it drains Social Security dry because the elderly will live forever. Actu-ally, if this happens, McCain could run again. Hmm, I might have to play double agent for a while. The mandatory abortions might suck too, because I’m a guy. It’s going to be Brave New World all over again, but with fewer words and Model-T’s, and more soma. So, America, you’ve made your choice. You chose the lib-eral. Congratulations, because starting January 20, Barack Obama, the Left-Wing Media and the Socialist agenda will rule every aspect of your life, from your mid-morning bagel with no butter (transfat will kill you, fatty), to your afternoon tax increase. The choice was yours, and you blew it.

by Evan SzakatsMagazine

C l a s s c o m m e n t a r y“Michael Phelps 2020.”-Ben Cohen

“This was the best election in four years.”-Cyril Brunner

“Regardless of your political leanings, I think everyone can be

proud to be a part of a historical moment.”- Miranda Fox

“I think it’s completeley awe-some that our parents can live through the Civil Rights Movement and see a black man elected president. I hope to see

the same for gay rights”- Leigh Reinke

“I think it will be the closest thing we will have to Communism”- Alex DeJohn

“What a shame.”- Evan Szakats

The Warrior Magazine November 14, 2008Silver

Student elect ion results 2008

All polls courtesy John Sharkey and Robyn Salvin

The Warrior Magazine November 14, 2008Silver

Student election results continuedPolls taken by Mrs. Salvin and Mr. Sharkey (continued from pg. 3)