Volume 64 Issue 4

the

Journal

Since 1946

By and for the students of Guilderland Central High School

Volume 64 Issue 4

Guilderland Center, NY 12085 April 2013

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2013 Cultural Fair honors Mrs. Mackey Reza Sayeed

With all the challenges facing International Club this year, most notably the lack of advisory, the expectations for the most recent Cultural Fair were at a low level. In the end, March 25, 2013 will be a day which will live on forever in the hearts of many Guilderland students and staff. Prior to the District Board’s finalizing the decision to eradicate Advisory, grave rumors of the change already swirled through the high school.

When the rumors reached the International Club Advisory, a tight-knit family held together by Mrs. Mackey’s love and commanding voice, a harsh and solemn hush radiated through the room. One thing and one thing only went through each and every member’s mind: “This must mean the Cultural Fair’s dead.” But, as witnessed this year by students, staff and outside visitors alike, the Cultural Fair is far from dead.

What we witnessed resembled neither a funeral nor a sorry attempt at keeping a seemingly sacred tradition alive; what we witnessed was a phenomenon. The Cultural Fair, like a phoenix, rose from sunken ashes, flaunting itself through a fiery, blazing rebirth.

The magical culmination of the smooth dance moves showcasing steps from around the globe, as well as unexpectedly stunning vocal performances, powerful martial arts displays, and showcase of ethnic attire through the fashion shows all amounted to a picture perfect day. The aroma of the dishes from around the world prepared by the participating students made every soul in the area lust for a taste. Max Chao, Cultural Fair Food Chairman, commented, “It was

Photo courtesy of Pranav Nayak / The Journal

Above: Mrs. Mackey stands surrounded by teachers and students who helped make this year’s Cultural Fair possible.

tiring, there was a lot of food, and it was delicious.” Complementing that, the perimeter of the Gym was manned very successfully by students, faculty and guests alike who all knew tremendous amounts of information regarding the nations they were representing. New additions such as the mystifying Tarot booth as well as the Math and Science booth further bolstered the Fair’s eclectic repertoire.

This year’s Cultural Fair possessed a unique attribute in that it brilliantly sparked every sense to life. Every set of eyes was forced wide-open by the sparkling hues surrounding the Gym via flags, posters, even artifacts; every ear drum was both soothed and electrified from various sources such as the well-manned sound booth and the intimidating shouts coming from the Haka dancers; every

South Pacific makes a splash Luxi Peng

The harsh lights in the auditorium dim to a soft glow, and the red velvet curtain parts. A young boy and girl run across the stage against a backdrop of stone veranda, a thin-legged table with a pair of slender chairs at center stage. They skip and play hand games, and sing with voices that betray their inexperience.

South Pacific, a Roger and Hammerstein musical performed by the Guilderland Players, opens with a French tune sung by two children. They sing of the languid, romantic life lived by the nurses, sailors, and islanders stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. “Dites-moi, pourquoi, la vie est belle...”

The musical centers around two love stories afflicted by racial tensions and

Hallways 2

Math League, Gaby Peda, Snack Prices

the war. American nurse Nellie Forbush, played by senior Casie Girvin, falls for the Frenchman Emile de Becque, played by senior Michael Janower, but is taken aback when she learns of his two halfPolynesian children and deceased native wife. Meanwhile, U.S. Marine Lieutenant Joseph Cable, played by junior Joey Sipzner, develops a relationship with Liat, the daughter of a local Tonkinese woman, that is cut short when he cannot accept her mother’s offer of marriage.

For Girvin and Janower, landing their respective roles of Nellie and Emile has been years in the making. “In 6th grade we saw South Pacific together on Broadway,” reminisces Girvin. “It has been a crazy ride ever since, because Nellie and Emile were our dream roles, we have Around Town 4

Capital Region Chinese Food, Best Buddies Walk

taste bud was in fear that the next bite would be the last; every nostril constantly took in a whiff of the savory flavors permeating through the formerly hollow air; and finally, every corner of the room reverberated the essence of diversity and ethnicity back to one’s body.

SeeCulturalFairpage8

What’s inside: Hallways Around Town World&Cultures Centerspread Fine Arts Pop Arts Opinions Sports

always wanted to play them together.”

Moreover, they add an extra layer to the levels of romance for GP. “The experience is really unique,” says Girvin, “because Michael Janower, my love interest in the musical, well, we’re dating in real life.”

The chemistry was evident in Girvin’s solo “A Cockeyed Optimist”, Janower’s “Some Enchanted Evening”, and their rendition of the “Twin Soliloquies” duet.

Their acting conveyed the obvious affection they share, but the charming lilt in Girvin’s voice that perfectly complemented the tenderness and maturity of Janower’s showed their sentiment far more subtly than any kiss or embrace.

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theJournal April 2013

Hallways the

Journal The Plight of the Pop-Tart 2012 - 2013

The Journal is published by and for the students of Guilderland High School and is the school’s official student newspaper. We publish accounts of, and perspectives on, people, issues, and events that affect members of the school as well as the community.

Although initialed by the writer, editorials reflect the majority opinion of the editorial staff.

Reviews, columns, commentaries, and letters to the editor, however, represent the view of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the staff.

Although we try not to solicit advertisements from competing businesses in a given issue, we cannot guarantee that a conflict involving advertising will not arise. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their respective advertisements. We are not responsible for printing and/or typographical errors that may occur in a given advertisement. We reserve the right not to print a given advertisement. Also, we cannot assure that columns, editorials, news, reviews or feature stories will not cover issues or events relating to any advertiser in this newspaper.

We welcome signed letters from our readers.

To be printed, letters must be of a reasonable length and contain neither libelous, slanderous, nor profane material. We reserve the right to reject any letter received. Unless otherwise noted by the editor-in-chief or the managing editor, all accepted letters will be printed in the letters to the editor section. We reserve the right to edit for length, grammar and content.

How to contact The Journal Mail: The Journal c/o Guilderland High School 8 School Rd Guilderland Center, NY 12085 Phone: (518) 861-8591 Ask for The Journal Email: journal@guilderlandschools.org

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Editors-in-Chief Nina Obwald, Content Isaac Malsky, Design Managing Editor Haewon Hwang Asst. Managing Editor MaryGrace Graves Associate Editor Justina Liu Lead Copy Editor Mary Powathil

Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Sima Online Managing Editor Christine Bolognino Associate Editor Hannah Liu Webmaster Patrick Coonan

-ContentHallways Editor Sydney Campbell Around Town Editors Bryce Goyer, Taylor Tewskbury Pop Arts Editors Julia Davidoff, Elana DeSantis World & Cultures Editors Emily Benson, Michelle Xiong Fine Arts Editor Luxi Peng Opinions Editors Andrew Fedorov, Laura Tang Sports Editor Brien Miceli Copyeditors Lexi Adams, Sam DeSantis, Joy Jing, Verina Mansour, Abigail Schnoor, Benjamin Segal, Alex Siracusa -DesignPhotography Editor Sam Pitkin Graphics Editor Rachel Gingrich Layout & Design Editor Jack Watson -BusinessBusiness Staff Brent Katlan Matt Scatena Distribution Manager Zachary Cleary Faculty Advisor Christopher Mazura

Sam DeSantis

Snack food has always been a very important part of teenagers’ lives (probably because we eat so much of it), and the recent changes in the pricing of food has been a source of concern among many students. As of this year a bag of chips from the school store costs 50 cents, but the same chips sold in the cafeteria costs 60 cents and a dollar from the vending machine. A similar trend is seen with rice crispy treats and other snacks. “Stupid, it doesn’t make any sense,” says Alex Siracusa, a senior at GHS. “It’s such a hassle,” complains junior Michelle Breton. What could be the cause of this disparity in snack prices? Is it the school trying to get students to choose healthier options? Or does the administration just love giving out 40 cents in change? No and no. As it turns out this is less of a scandal and more of a case of miscommunication and simple logistics.

According to Linda Mossop, the school lunch director for over 20 years, the cafeteria and school store are “separate businesses” whose prices are not related. “We set our prices based on State Education recommendations” she said. “We have to price the food so that we break even after paying the employees”. Staff in the large cafeteria had “no idea” that the snacks were even priced differently throughout the school. Mossop denied claims that chips were more expensive in the cafeteria to promote healthy eating saying, “All our snacks are healthy choices.” The State Education Department has regulations on what

Above: The exterior of the school store.

kinds of foods can be served and the cafeteria is affected by these rules.

The vending machines, which boast a larger and unhealthier selection of snacks including Twizzlers and other candy, are much more expensive than both the school store and the cafeteria. When asked about this, Linda Mossop said that the vending machines are owned by the Athletic department and other clubs, who bid on the machines. The snacks in these machines tend to be much more expensive as the machines are rented and the clubs are trying to turn a profit from them. The snacks are also more varied be-

Photo courtesy of Luxi Peng / The Journal

cause they are not regulated by State Ed. The cheapest snacks in the school can be found in the school store, which is where most students go, even if it means going a little out of their way.

“The snacks are more expensive in the cafeteria because [Linda Mossop] has a higher overhead than I do,” says Loretta Bonafide, the friendly woman who runs the school store. Surprisingly, the school store is not for profit, so the food is priced just high enough for the store to break even. Combined with limited running costs, the school store has prices that cannot be beat.

“Hell Week” leads to South Pacific’s success Emily Honen When the Guilderland Players’ production of South Pacific premiered on March 14th, everything, barring one hilarious incident of an exploding soda can, went relatively smoothly. Could you imagine that a week before the production, everything was a total disaster? The sets weren’t nearly completed, people still couldn’t remember their lines, and practice ran for five hours each night. Sound like a nightmare? It was. The worst part?

That week happens every year, before every production.

“Hell Week” is the name given to that grueling, hectic week before the opening night of a play or musical. It isn’t always as horrid as described, but something always manages to go wrong: the lead gets a cold, the microphones won’t work, you name it.

During Hell Week, the actors, pit and stage crew stay at school until late at night, desperately memorizing songs, going through complete run-throughs of the musical, and fixing the peskiest of the set pieces that all seem to fall apart right around the show’s premiere.

That’s a handful on its own, but when it’s combined with homework and other responsibilities, Hell Week truly begins to live up to its name.

Krystal Cole, a Guilderland Player, hits

the nail on the head. “Staying up really late every night all week is hard because you’re tired all the time and can’t get much work done, which puts you behind in school,” she explains.

And possibly the scariest thing about Hell Week isn’t actually the week itself, but the stress, sadness and excitement that directly follows it: the actual production of the show and the looming end of GP. “But wait,” you ask, as I did as a freshman in the stage crew, “couldn’t Hell Week be avoided by spacing out rehearsals over the course of a few weeks, or just by going easier on the actors and crew?”

In theory, yes, but in practice, no. Nobody is prepared enough for full run-throughs until Hell Week, so they’re all squeezed in during that short time period.

One Player junior, Matt Steffens, explains, “Hell Week’s kind of annoying, but it definitely has to be there in order for the show to be ready on time. We need to have these runs before the show; otherwise we wouldn’t know how everything came together.”

While Hell Week can by taxing, tiring, and trying on one’s nerves, it’s not altogether a bad experience. Junior Alaynah Harlow laments the long, stressful hours, but also proclaims “Hell week is fun! The show really comes together and we all

come closer as a family.”

The show really comes together and we all come closer as a family.

Sophomore Katie O’Hehir agrees, saying “Everyone helps each other--with costumes, with props, learning lines, everything.”

As they say, misery loves company, so it makes sense that such a stressful time is when the Guilderland Players bond the most. Everybody helps each other out: fixing props, sharing clothes, helping with makeup, bringing in food, and whatever else needs to be done to get the show on the road.

So yes, the foreboding Hell Week does live up to its name. Actors are sleepdeprived, schoolwork is neglected, and the end is near. But at the same time, it’s the most exciting time of the Guilderland Players’ season as everyone bonds and the disjointed show finally begins to come together. So, hopefully, at the premiere of South Pacific on March 14th, no one ever knew that only a week prior, these kids had no idea what they were doing.

Hallways

April 2013

page 3 (theJournal)

Peda to the Metal Justina Liu “Peda to the Metal” was the name the girls on the tennis came up for Gaby Peda’s business during their season.

Gaby, their captain, told them she’d think about it.

To this day, the name is Gaby Peda’s Driving Services.

Gaby keeps it professional. She has a business card and has a set rate: five dollars for a ride anywhere in Guilderland, seven dollars to nearby towns like Latham. The price is less than that of most local taxi companies, most of which located in other towns.

Plus, Gaby drives a convertible. A silver Infiniti G37 2011 convertible. “Her car is nice and smells good,” says Hana Sheedy, junior.

She has never gotten in an accident or been pulled over on the job.

But she has run over her mailbox.

“It was foggy, I was late for school, I couldn’t see out the back. Very stupid.

Second week I got my license, but hasn’t happened again,” says Gaby.

Last April, Gaby was ticketed for speeding. She hasn’t been ticketed for anything since. Nicole Weijola, junior, says that Gaby doesn’t drive like most teenagers, who are “notoriously bad drivers.” Nicole says she always feels safe and the ride is smooth.

Before she thought of starting a driving business, Gaby had created a business plan for a website at an entrepreneurial program at UAlbany. She soon realized that a website required too many resources for her to maintain.

Then the idea occurred to her. “At some point, no matter what age they are, everybody needs a ride,” says Gaby.

She began by driving her closest friends in March 2012. Those friends told friends who told friends. Word got out and by that summer, she was driving almost every day of the week.

After school began, she has shortened

her workweek to Friday and Saturday nights. She usually picks her first customer at seven p.m. Nicole says that Gaby has never been late to picking her up.

Though Gaby drives well into the night, she averages between an hour and an hour and a half of driving each night.

To pass the time in between, she visits friends at their homes or studies for at test while she waits. She always has coffee on hand and takes a nap before driving if she needs it.

She drives 15- 20 people each night.

Customers who reserve during the day are more likely to get a time slot.

But her business isn’t just about the numbers and money. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it,” says Gaby. A car ride can be a new social situation, as Gaby does not always know the people she drives

very well. But somehow, things don’t get awkward.

“The car ride was like any car rides with friends,” says Nicole, who had only talked to Gaby a few times before. “We were all laughing the whole way to our destination.”

Hana also didn’t know Gaby before, but says that Gaby is very funny and makes everyone feel comfortable.

It may be the bounce in Gaby’s laugh.

Or how she pays attention to people when she talks to them. Those are qualities the best taxi drivers in New York City may not have.

But Gaby doesn’t want to be a chauffeur. She’s thinking about politics, maybe business. Currently, she interns at an advertising and design firm in Cohoes, leads her mentoring club called “Ready,

Set, Go!” and is finishing her last year as President of the 2013 class.

“Gaby not being here next year is a bummer,” says Nicole, “it will be hard to get used to.”

She has applied to the University of Georgia, University of San Francisco, and several other schools. At some schools there are rules against freshmen cars, at other schools, students have already created driving businesses.

But it’s enough for Gaby to know that, here, people appreciate what she created.

“It’s nice to know that people will jump out of their comfort zone and call me, that the idea is so crazy and unusual—that it works.”

Photo courtesy of Jack Watson / The Journal

Math League has impressive year Karthik Ramesh An exciting event is happening that has math loving students in New York State going nuts: the New York Math League (NYML) competition. Once a month, teams of students from across the state compete against each other for fame, glory and prestige as well as a chance to be recognized as the number one mathematicians in the state. The format for these monthly competitions is to present each team with six question tests. The top five scoring answers given are taken and combined to represent the team’s overall score, with the maximum possible score being thirty points. At the end of the

school year the leading teams as well as impressive achievements, vice president notable individuals, who achieve perfect and senior Rakeeb Kureshi believes that scores, are recognized for their outstand- there is still room for a greater claim to ing perseverance and fame. He believes that intelligence. “there is always room The math craze f o r i m p r o ve m e n t .

The math craze has has reached us here Once you familiarize reached us here at in Guilderland High yourself with the types Guilderland High School.

School and students of problems and prachave responded with tice, one can succeed at fantastic results. the contests. Practice “This year, we’ve had many strong team makes perfect.” members, and we’ve consistently scored The league may seem like a private and in the upper 20’s. As of the last con- elite club with no room for the common test, we’re ranked 7th in the state” said student. It might feel more intimidating junior Matt Gu. Despite Guilderland’s considering it is dedicated to math, the

Graphic courtesy of Mary Powathil / The Journal

arch nemesis of almost every high school student. However, let one of the club’s members put those delusions to rest.

“Everyone is welcome! It’s definitely a fun and pressure-free atmosphere. You’re not expected to get a certain score, so show up if you’d like!” says senior Joy Jing. With a team of friends and the s club president, Zubin Mukerjee leading the Guilderland team, there’s really only room for fun and improvement. If exciting mind twisters or the thrill of competition is your thing, go see Ms. Stein or just pop in for a meeting after school in room 105. In the words of Matt Gu, “The more people, the better!”

theJournal April 2013

Around Town

Capital Region Chinese Cuisine

Unknown to many, genuine Chinese food is able to be categorized by eight distinct regional flavors - Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shang-dong, Szechuan, and Zhejiang- that vary from one another due to local history, geographical location, and staple food.

The subtleties between the regions’ cuisines are difficult to translate into American tastes, and are often lost in the journey from China to the United States. Our critics compared Ala Shanghai and Buffalo Wagon to find the most authentic Chinese food in the area.

Buffalo Wagon

Ala Shanghai Michelle Xiong The Capital region offers a wide variety of Chinese restaurants, but one can find one of the most authentic eating experiences at Ala Shanghai, a restaurant dedicated to bringing the culture and cuisine of the coastal city of Shanghai, China, straight to upstate New York.

Ala Shanghai holds true to its name in preserving the distinct Shanghai cuisine, a subcategory of the Zhejiang region, which is characterized by its mild, light, and slightly spicy flavors in nearly all of its foods and numerous seafood dishes.

I went to Ala Shanghai on a Friday night to try out the experience, and found it very convincing.

Ala Shanghai is located at 468 Troy Schenectady Road, Latham, nestled in a small offshoot not too far from Loudon Road and the Latham Circle roundabout. The restaurant is relatively obscured from a passerby street view, but is easy to locate.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I found that Ala Shanghai was a relatively small restaurant- it only holds approximately 20 tables in the entire space- but it was clean, well lit, and prudently decorated with modern Asian décor to provide a pleasant atmosphere.

Reservations in advance are highly recommended due to the small amount of space and the popularity of the restaurant during dinner rush, which takes place from around 5:00pm-8:00pm; I was unfortunate enough to get caught up during this timeframe without a res-

ervation, and ended up waiting around 30 minutes for a table. Even after being seated, the waiters were somewhat slow to attend to my table.

The slow service, however, was easily forgotten when the food showed up at the table. I had selected a few entrees and an appetizer that tried to reflect the menu that offers a wide variety of dishes and features many types of Chinese cuisine, ranging from classic lo mein noodles to the uniquely-Shanghai seafood dishes; I was pleasantly surprised by what had arrived on my plate.

The appetizer, steamed pork soup dumplings, was served piping hot and was just enough for two people to enjoy.

The dumpling was unique from anything I’d eaten before; the soup was cooked inside the dumpling and so the flavor inside the dumpling was as fragrant and light as a spoonful of soup. I also ordered spicy tofu and the fish filet in spicy broth, and was pleasantly surprised at flavorful they tasted without being overpowering. Spicy Chinese foods are usually drowned in an inch of oil and bright-red spices, and taste as bold as they appear, but these dishes were lightly glazed with a hint of spice that complemented the “base” food as well as the sauce. All of the food at Ala Shanghai struck a perfect balance between substance and spice.

Ala Shanghai is a great place to eat if one seeks genuine Chinese cuisine experience.

Laura Tang

with walnut in sweet mayonnaise sauce.

Buffalo Wagon is a Pan-Asian res- The chicken was surrounded by a genertaurant located at 6 Metro Park Road, ous heaping of broccoli. It may sound like Albany. Alongside other restaurants that a strange mixture, but together it created are off of Wolf Road such as Red Lob- a delightfully fresh yet tangy taste. The ster, Macaroni Grill, and Olive Garden, Braise Beef Brisket arrived in a small pot Buffalo Wagon shines with its Pan-Asian with a fire underneath, ensuring it was style. The restaurant offers a wide variety piping hot upon first taste. It was savory of dishes including Mandarin, Cantonese, and delicious, although a little on the salty Japanese, Sushi, Thai, and Malaysian curry side for me personally (my dad thought dishes. Its individuality is most showcased the taste was perfect, though). Lastly, the perhaps in the name of the restaurant Calamari was crunchy and succulent. itself. Buffalo Wagon’s name is derived If the next time you’re driving along from the water buffalo, an animal of Wolf Road and are in the mood for Chimany purposes in ancient Chinese cul- nese, you should perhaps try looking for ture from farming and transporting to Buffalo Wagon if you seek a little more general labor. authentic Chinese food, or even want Buffalo Wagon is located next to to try some other Asian dishes such as a Jiu Jitsu studio, and has two lion stat- Malaysian or Cantonese cuisine. ues guarding the door.

The interior is decorated nicely, and the square paper lanterns that light up the purple ceiling provide a classic oriental feeling. Upon arriving, we ordered a chef special unique to Buffalo Wagon called Walnut Shrimp, Braise Beef Brisket in Clay Pot, and Sautéed Calamari with Pickled Mustard Green.

The staff was courteous and friendly, and the food arrived in a timely manner. The Walnut Shrimp was a curious Photo courtesy of Michelle Xiong / The Journal dish, composed of fried, Above: A sampling of Ala Shanghai’s cuisine. crispy shrimp drizzled

Walk takes strides towards friendship Taylor Tewksbury On Sunday, April 21st, Best Buddies New York will be hosting their annual Best

Graphic courtesy of Taylor Tewksbury/ The Journal

Buddies Walk For Friendship at Crossgates Mall. Since 2009, more than 24,000 participants have walked in 24 states in Best Buddies wa l k s a c r o s s the country. Through their effor ts, funds in excess of two million dollars have been raised for the org anization; an organization dedicated to leadership, opportunity, and friendship for people with and without disabilities.

“This walk raises funds for Best Buddies New York, a non-profit that looks after the New York chapters,” explained Fiona Hayden, the Guilderland Best Buddies chapter president. Hayden attended last years walk, and has been an active organizer. “It provides the resources needed to hold leadership programs such as Buddy ambassadors and events like the Best Buddies Prom.”

In addition to funds, the walk has another valuable purpose. It raises awareness. Each year, the walkers participate with the hope of spreading acceptance and inclusion. “Usually, people outside the school don’t understand the impact the organization has,” said Hayden, “The walk is a chance to get the word out so people in the community can learn about the importance of Best Buddies and the effect it has on its participants.”

The walk is filled with high energy and enthusiasm. Starting at eight o’clock, the morning is filled with games, scavenger hunts, music, walking, and an overall celebration of Best Buddies. In addition, there is the opportunity to listen to participants talk about what Best Buddies means to them.

Registration for this years event has already begun. By visiting www.bestbuddiesnewyork.org, you can join a team, start a team, or sponsor a friend. The goal of this year is to increase involvement. “Last year, the only Guilderland participants were from the school chapter itself, and a few other individuals,” remembered Hayden, “This year I am excited to get more people from Guilderland involved including sports teams. I am excited for more people to learn what we are about.”

Around Town

April 2013

page 5 (theJournal)

Behind the savory spectacle: Mr. Fuji Sushi Vivian Dai

enticing smells will captivate you with their sweetness and spiciness. But what will really draw you in is the unusual sight of square counters situated around a flat and rectangular open grill—tables unique to hibachi restaurants.

Hibachi is a style of Japanese cooking in which foods are prepared over a hot open grill, right in front of the customers.

At Mr. Fuji, wide selections of hibachi dinner combos are available (e.g. filet mignon and lobster, steak and shrimp), and though the food tastes delicious, hibachi is much more than just a treat for the taste buds.

“The presentation is the most important part of hibachi,” said Ramon Zheng, one of the three hibachi chefs at Mr. Fuji.

Ramon is actually Chinese, as is the owner of Mr. Fuji, but he has been in love with eating and making Japanese cuisine, especially hibachi, ever since he began chef school, and even before that.

“I thought [hibachi] was really cool, you know,” he said.

“And also the extra money was good, when I was cooking as a hobby.”

The hobby soon became an occupation, when Ramon was offered an opportunity to come to the U.S. to be a chef Photo courtesy of Vivian Dai / The Journal at hibachi restaurants. He has

For many, the childhood excitement of going to a new restaurant is never lost— after all, who doesn’t like to try something new and delicious? Going to Mr. Fuji Sushi in Clifton Park is no exception.

This Japanese restaurant has a modest appearance, with a barely navigable entrance, yet it will blow your mind away.

After you make the difficult decision of what to order and wait for a seemingly endless amount of time in anticipation, you will be rewarded: the sights and smells will envelope you in a cloud of blissful Japanese cuisine, with the sweet scent of Teriyaki and colorful sight of endless varieties of sushi, floating before your nose and sitting before your eyes.

Even as you enter the restaurant, the

not been in America for very long, and has only been working at Mr. Fuji for a little under a year, but he is very passionate about his job.

“The presentation is really about passion,” he emphasized, “and I think I have a lot of that.”

The presentation Ramon keeps talking about is the short, yet spectacular performance of artistry each hibachi chef performs before, and during, the cooking process, which takes place right in front of the audience. These people, who are both audience members and consumers, will witness the chef pick up a spatula and fork (a big one, mind you—not the kind you would use as a utensil) and twirl them around with agile hands and fingers, occasionally throwing and catching them behind his back, all with the ease of a basketball player doing tricks with a basketball.

Even when grilling the food, the chef puts on a good show: cutting up the vegetables, tossing them up into the air, and then catching them on the spatula; cutting onions into perfect spiral pieces of different sizes, and then stacking them into a pyramid. These performances bring dining to a whole new level as customers are entertained and fed at the same time; however, they also bring to the chef a whole new level of stress, as he now has more than one job.

To become a hibachi chef, one must

go through training to learn how to cook, obviously, but also to learn those cool tricks that make the audience go “Wow!” Ramon went through three years of this kind of training before going to work at Mr. Fuji.

“But it’s different for everyone,” he said. “It depends on if you already have experience in the kitchen. The tricks are the hard part and take the most time [to learn]. But it’s definitely worth it. I really like to see the customers smile and be satisfied. And I like the feeling, you know, that nobody else can do [the cooking].”

Ramon’s dedication and passion for his job shows that there is more to a good chef than just experience.

“I really enjoy my job. It’s not just cooking; there’s also juggling, which I really like, and I like to learn cool tricks too,” Ramon said. “I don’t have a lot of experience, but I think that’s good because I have a lot of passion and cooking is very fun for me. To judge a chef isn’t about how many years of experience [they have]. It’s about passion.”

This is especially true for hibachi chefs, because, in order to get the customers excited and put on a “wow-ing” and mouth-watering performance, they need to be passionate about their job. Hibachi chefs are not merely chefs—they are performers, putting on a savory spectacle for everyone to see and eat.

McGrievey’s Irish pub not just bar fare

Restaurant in Waterford surprises with delicious variety Bryce Goyer When my mother suggested that we make the 25 minute trip to Waterford for a restaurant based solely on a recommendation from a family friend I was a bit skeptical. My mom, my dad and I arrived at McGrievey’s to find what looks like a very typical Irish pub. I am not very fond of Irish cuisine, as soon as I saw the sign with a four-leaf clover happily displayed I was dangerously close to hopping back in the car. My mom led us inside a very spacious waiting room where we were greeted by a hostess. As we were led into the dining room, separated by a partial wall from the bar area, I noticed that there wasn’t one but two dining areas and only one was halfway full. For a Thursday night at 6 p.m, I expected the whole place to be packed but we were one of only 5 different groups there the whole night.

At our table we were quickly greeted by our waiter, who took our drink orders.

I usually anxiously wait for the warm bread basket to be delivered so it served as a bit of a disappointment to find out that there would be no complimentary bread. I quickly recovered from the lack of bread by the realization that I had two menus in front of me, a pub menu and a dining menu. I loved food so to see all these choices was the highlight of my whole week. It was a relief to see that the menu not only had Irish food but also Italian, American, and even a little bit of Mexican with choices such as quesadillas.

It was silent as the 3 of us at our table all tried to decide on what appetizer we should start with. I always like to try

calamari everywhere we go so I offered up the option of their C.C. Calamari off their Pub Menu and my mom decided on the Artichoke dip from the same menu.

We placed our order for the appetizers while we still mulled over our options for our main course. I had been torn between many different options since everything looked so good on the menu. I finally decided on a Chicken Caprese Sandwich with a side of fries while my mom chose an old stand-by, a Grilled Turkey Ranch Sandwich, and my dad went a little more adventurous with the Mushroom Risotto.

All of us ordered off the pub menu.

The appetizers came right as we placed our dinner order. I tried the calamari first; the rings were tiny enough to pop in your mouth and the breading was perfectly golden and not to oily. The whole table agreed that everything about the calamari was spectacular. By the time I was ready to try the Artichoke Dip, my dad had consumed most of it. I found it to be a little too heavy on the artichokes with not enough cheese. However, my dad seemed to love it. It was about a 15 minute wait after our appetizers had been cleared before our dinner came.

The atmosphere was cozy, even though the temperature in the restaurant was a tad cold, and the low volume was perfect for having comfortable conversations. Our dinners came and I could already see my Chicken Caprese Sandwich was perfect. The sandwich looked as good as it tasted with a savory pesto chicken topped with a ripe tomato and perfectly melted mozzarella cheese. The

Top: The C.C. calamari served with marinara sauce.

Photo courtesy of Bryce Goyer/ The Journal

fries and the pickles added to the amazing food experience. My parents both liked their meals and ended up sharing off each other’s plates, even if the Mushroom Risotto was a little cold when it came out of the kitchen.

All of us seemed to be in a food coma but when the waiter cleared our dinner plates and asked us if we wanted dessert, none of us had the willpower to say no. The dessert menu was just as diverse as the actual menu and I had a hard time picking just one. I went for the Banana Changa, a deep fried banana

cheesecake in a tortilla served with vanilla ice cream and caramel. My mom chose a chocolate brownie sundae after being pressured to do so by my dad who was “too full for dessert,” even though he ended up eating some of both of ours.

My Banana Changa was delicious, the tangy cheesecake went deliciously with the sweet ice cream and caramel sauce.

My mom and dad both seemed to enjoy the sundae as well.

The restaurant and the atmosphere made McGrievey’s a new favorite restaurant for me and the rest of my family.

Around Town

April 2013

page 7(

Search for the cheesiest

Journal)

Andrew Fedorov, Isaac Malsky, and Jack Watson

Every person has their favorite pizza joint. Sometimes it’s the closest by, or the place with the thinnest crust, or the lowest prices.

All but the lactose-intolerant can enjoy pizza, whether it be blotted, folded, or smothered to death in parmesan cheese and grease.

Pizza is one of the staples of the modern American teenager’s diet; it can be found in any town from New York to New Orleans. Pizza was originally created in Greece when ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils and herbs, but the pizza that we know and

I Love NY

I Love NY is located in Hamilton Square, formerly known as the Twenty Mall. Its large window contains an unimpressive sign that advertises two slices and a soda for four dollars, tax included. Inside there are a few tables and the usual counter pizza display. Despite its unimpressive situation and storefront its pizza was of the highest quality that our survey encountered.

The slices are large, thin and hot when they arrive. There are a few bubbles near the crust which vouch for its authenticity. The cheese, though particularly salty, is tasty. It does not slide off the pizza with one downward shake of the slice, though a few drops of grease certainly do. The sauce is very good and there is plenty of it. The crust is crisp and does not stand out. The price was the best that we encountered, as was the pizza. Although other stores have particularly impressive components, I Love NY’s pizza surpasses them in its marriage of superior components.

Milano’s

Milano’s is located on a small plaza near Crossgates. The inside is clean and the floor is a series of hypnotizing black and white diamonds. The display in the front has a variety of pizza toppings, most of them the same staples that can be found in dozens of other pizza places. Two slices of cheese pizza and a soda for $4.87, including tax. The cheese looks like a number of white veins running down tomato sauce and occasionally meeting. It’s stringy and looks almost like plastic.

Unlike the cheese at I Love NY Pizza or several other places, the cheese seems to be unable to hold the pizza together. It tastes like something that has been reheated a number of times and has started to turn into something that isn’t quite cheese, but still resembles it. The sauce on the other hand is plentiful, chunky and of good taste. It’s particularly filling pizza.

Apart from the uninspired cheese, Milano’s is a competent pizza shop with standard pizza and good sauce.

Inferno

As we walked toward Inferno the first thing we noticed was the sign advertising two slices of pizza and a soda for $4.17. Inside, the flip side of the same sign has a piece of paper taped over it that sells the same thing for $4.40, plus tax which comes out to be $4.75. The second thing we noticed was the mandatory posting of the health inspector’s rating of the shop. They were said to have “fair compliance”, the lowest of three passing ratings. The counter had an impressive display of pizza whose smell filled the room. We sat down below the TV which was playing loud sitcoms to wait for our pizza.

When it arrived it was warm, but not hot, moderately thin and extremely greasy. The taste following the visual spectacle of the counter was a disappointment. The cheese was layered on too thick and tasted bland. There was very little sauce underneath and the small amount that was there lacked a distinct taste. The only redeeming component was the crust, which unlike the other crusts we ate, was more similar to bread than to worthless bits of burnt toast. Inferno turned out to be the worst pizza we ate.

Fiorello

love comes from Italy from neapolitan flatbread. With the plethora of pizza available in the area, it seemed only natural to empirically determine the very best pizza pie in Guilderland. We set out with a goal of reviewing as many pizza places as possible without turning ourselves away from pizza forever.

Our survey was of five distinct local pizza venues: I Love NY, Bello Pranzo, Fiorello’s Deli, Milano, and Inferno. Venues were chosen by their position and availability to Guilderland residents.

Fiorello’s is near the UAlbany campus. It’s really more of a deli than a pizza shop. Inside it has two aisles of assorted foods but on the counter, above the cash register is an elevated plate with a single pizza pie on it. When we got there, they were down to one slice. Though it is not what they specialize in, the pizza is very good. A side effect of a deli also serving pizza is that they tend to be hit or miss. The pizza was obviosly made fresh by hand, but seemed to have been sitting on the counter all day. Of the two slices that we got, the plain cheese was not nearly as good as the slice with canadian bacon. It costs $1.75 per slice and is sold by a very friendly cashier in a hoody.

The pizaa was remarkably flavored with delicious spices scattered on the slice. It didn’t have a great deal of sauce but this deficiency was more than compensated for by the cheese which was by far the best we found. Fiorello’s was not the best pizza, not even the best on the street, but if you’re a cheese fanatic Fiorello’s should suit you well.

Bello Pranzo

The pizza from Bello Pranzo could easily be picked out in a line up. It was the only slice that had a sweet undertone to it. Just like cannoli or cheesecake, the taste doesn’t sound like it would work, but it does. As salt added to cake mix brings out the sweetness, the savory in Bello Pranzo’s sauce is accentuated by the addition of spices associated with sweet dishes. Bello Pranzo had the best cheese to sauce ratio, but it fell short in other categories. By making the pizza sweeter, the flavor of the cheese is overwhelmed.

A nice touch of Bello Pranzo is the open atmosphere. From the front, you can see all the way into the kitchens, only a couple feet away. In the back, there was a man spinning pizza dough by hand, throwing it up in the air and catching it. Overall, the atmosphere of Bello Pranzo was the most inviting of the lot. If you’re looking for a place to sit down while you eat, the tables work well, but anything more than that and you’d be better off going to a restaurant with more than three tables.

Pie Chart 5 Pizzas: Cheez Whiz 4 Pizzas: Cultured 3 Pizzas: Sharp 2 Pizzas: Cheesy 1 Pizza: Mediocre

theJournal April 2013

World and Cultures Raul Castro plans to step down in 2018 Bill Dong For more than fifty years, someone with the last name of Castro has ruled over Cuba. Soon, however, this will all change.

On February 24, Raul Castro announced that he will step down as Cuba’s President in 2018. This statement was in accordance with a statement made by Castro in 2012 that all Cuban officials should only have two five-year terms in office.

The younger Castro, whose brother Fidel ruled the island nation for nearly fifty years, was elected to office in 2008 and re-elected this year. Therefore, the two Castros will have ruled for nearly 60 years once Raul Castro steps down.

The end of the Castro brothers reign could lead to changes in US-Cuban relations. US government officials are sure to consider thawing relations between the

I think that there is unlikely to be much political change in Cuba two countries.

Since 1959, our relationship with Cuba has been unstable, confrontational, and marked by several disastrous events, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs invasion. During the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1962, John F. Kennedy ordered a military invasion of Cuba, in an attempt

to forcibly overthrow the communist rule of Fidel Castro. The invasion was quickly defeated, and it not only embarrassed the US government, but strengthened Castro’s control over the country. In October of 1962, the world came extremely close to nuclear war; the US nearly launched an air invasion on Cuba, which could very well have led to all-out war with the Soviet Union.

Despite the possibility of change, the US will most likely be cautious with handling the new president of Cuba, who will surely be in agreement with the plans of the Castros.

“I think that there is unlikely to be much political change in Cuba,” said Mrs. Mackey. “Castro will most likely choose a successor who agrees with the ideas of him and his brother Fidel, and although he has taken steps towards improving relations with the United States, as well as capitalism, I think that it is unlikely to be political change when the next president takes over. However, I think it is very likely that his successor will continue to implement economic changes.”

The US has no formal diplomatic relations with Cuban and there has long been a trade embargo there, meaning that US corporations cannot do business with Cuban ones. The United States has long complained of a lack of civil and human rights, hoping to see Cuba move towards capitalism and a democracy. After nearly sixty years of having a Castro in power, however, there is bound to be change

when the next president takes office. Raul Castro has tipped Miguel Diaz-Canel as the frontrunner in 2018. Although not much is known about him, Diaz-Canel is viewed as a plainspoken problem solver

by Cubans. In any case, his reign will certainly be interesting, as he could become the first Cuban president who did not fight in the Cuban Revolution. “It’s tough to predict what Cubans think about the next president,” said Mrs. Mackey, “however, I think they will have hope for change, but they have to be very careful; the new president might throw political dissidents in jail if they speak up too much.”

However, there is cause for optimism for Cubans seeking change. In the past few years, Raul Castro has taken steps towards change in Cuba, enacting some of the biggest economic reforms in several decades. The Cuban economy is now relying more heavily on the private sector, and many restrictions on the Cuban people have been lifted; indeed, they have recently been allowed to buy cell phones and laptops for the first time.

The whole world’s eyes will be on Cuba when Raul Castro steps down in 2018; they might pursue political and economic reform, or Castro’s successor may r ule the country with the same iron grip as Castro and his brother Fidel before him.

Graphic by Rachel Gingrich / The Journal

“Blade Runner” story takes violent turn Michael Zhu Prominent South African “blade runner” Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who became a renowned international icon in 2012 by running in the London Olympics, wept as he was charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend, law school graduate and successful model Reeva Steenkamp. The 26-year old Olympian and Paralympic celebrity was taken into police custody and formally charged with Steenkamp’s murder on February 15th, 2013.

Steenkamp, a 29-year old who was a successful South African model and Pistorius’s girlfriend since November 2012, was shot i n

Graphic by Michelle Xiong / The Journal

the elbow, hip, and head through the bathroom door in Pistorius’s Pretoria home.

Pistorius has been granted 1 million rand, or $113,000, bail, but has been charged with the premeditated murder charge. His next court appearance is set for June 4th.

The bail hearing began on February 19th under Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued for a “premeditated murder” charge, which could lead Pistorius to face a life in prison if guilty.

Though both prosecutors and defense lawyers agree that Pistorius shot Steenkamp, the track star heavily denied killing her intentionally.

Pistorius denies shooting Steenkamp purposely, saying that after he thought he heard an intruder, he pulled out his gun and shot through the bathroom door— Pistorius, who had thought Steenkamp had been beside him in bed after the evening, only realized something had happened after he screamed for her to call the police. “She died in my arms,” Pistorius wrote in his affidavit.

The incident has stunned the South African people, who greatly revered the “fastest man with no legs” that was able to compete on high levels of sports despite his disability.

Along with Lance Armstrong’s recovery from testicular cancer to win the Tour de France—an achievement now brought down by his admission of doping—Pistorius’s tale of triumph over adversity was one of the most powerful in the history of sport. He reached the pinnacle of his fame during the London Olympics, when Pistorius became the first doubleamputee to run in the Olympics, even making the 400-meter semifinals. “He was just so kind to everyone,” one South African gas station worker told Reuters.

“Some of us were in tears.”

Steenkamp was the tragic victim of a racially splintered society in which

violence—intentional or accidental—is prevalent and almost ordinary. South Africa, whose racial distribution consists of mostly blacks, is an area where race almost directly correspond with poverty levels. Of the 79% of blacks in the nation, 39.6% of them live in poverty, while of the 8.9% of whites in South Africa, less than one percent lives below the poverty line. Unable to rely on the government for aid, South Africans cope with crime largely on their own, which over time shapes South Africa’s culture and identity.

South Africa, a nation whose racial reunion is today still hailed as a model to the rest of the world continues to be, in reality, even more dangerously splintered by crime and violence. By Pistorius’s account, the fear of an intruder, the universal fear that keeps South Africans apart still, caused the great legend and unifying figure of modern day sports to kill his girlfriend. “How is it possible for one so high to fall so low so quickly?” talk show host John Robbie asked. The image of Pistorius dressed in a grey tracksuit is almost incomparable to the great image of the once-“Golden boy” of South Africa.

April 2013

World and Cultures

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Journal)

Cultural Fair passed on to new leaders Continued from Page 1 The highlight of this year’s Fair took place directly after the final Fashion Show. Every member of the core International Club Group, still nostalgically self-referred to as the “Advisory Group,” grabbed a flower and brought it out to Mrs. Mackey who was escorted to the center of the New Gym by myself, Vice President of International Club and Oindri Sen, President. As the flowers slowly formed an immaculate bouquet in Mrs. Mackey’s comforting arms, a jam-packed crowd vociferously applauded for the one-and-only. Although reduced to helpless tears of joy as well as being struck down by an overwhelming gust of humbleness, Mrs. Mackey was shown only a glimpse of the respect and gratitude she deserves.

Looking back on it, Sen said, “Everything really came together and worked out perfectly. I’m glad Mrs. Mackey was able to leave with such an impact.”

Mrs. Mackey is the Cultural Fair; she is the embodiment of the International Club itself. Not only did the Advisory have to compensate for the loss of time this year, so did Mrs. Mackey, a fact commonly overlooked by people.

Although many have tried their best to repress the fact that this is Mrs. Mackey’s last year with us at GHS, and transitively,

her last year as champion coordinator of the Fair, there is a massive cloud of denial hovering over much of the GHS population. Advisory member Ritwik Dan shares, “When the realization that after this year I

would no longer have her [Mrs. Mackey] as an adviser and guide, it hit me hard...I realized I’ll never have missed anyone in the same way I’ll miss Mrs. Mackey when she’s gone.” Putting our childish attitudes aside, after

seeing for more than six hours the grandeur we were able to put on with Mrs. Mackey’s assistance, against all odds, Mrs. Mackey was able to leave with a fittingly resonant bang!

While basking in the glowing ashes of this year’s Cultural Fair, questions of a Fair without Mrs. Mackey have already come up. Next year’s International Club will face an even tougher challenge than the one faced by the Advisory this year.

But, after seeing how high the phoenix rose this year, participants who will still be around this year have felt a nudging jolt. “We’re doing this again next year”, Advisory member and junior Karthik Ramesh repeated several times throughout this year’s Fair. Next year’s International Club is set up to be led as a coalition by various foreign language teachers who already take part in the Cultural Fair.

The inexperience of the incoming faculty leaders in the role of Mrs. Mackey can be compensated for by students who played a large part in the preparation work this year. The Cultural Fair fever is very much alive as the Advisory group is already moving forward with clear heads. Who’s to say that this phoenix, once again, won’t rise majestically to the heights of prominence next spring?

Graphic by Michelle Xiong / The Journal

Photos courtesy of Jack Watson / The Journal

30+ years of dedication: a farewell from Mrs. Mackey I sit here, amidst the mess that my room becomes the day after the Cultural Fair, and I gaze across the room to the blackboard that’s still filled with messages of what still needs to be completed before we can put on our event. Every year, between February break and the spring break, the first thing that International Club Advisory sees is the list, the list of the participating countries, the list of the missing maps, the list of chores still to be done; the agenda.

Anyone can take the chalk, and write the message, add to the list, erase what has been accomplished. The agenda assaults our collective psyche. Whoever will do the work and make the effort is always nebulous. The time in which it will all be accomplished is unclear, save for one fact: there is only one day, one precious,

memorable day of the year that makes the work all worth it, and it will be here before we know it.

We want people to walk away feeling like they learned something.

Those who attend the fair observe it, embrace it, smile through it and enjoy it. We, who create it, live it and breathe it, breathe life into it with our collective efforts. We train as a team in the fall, we brainstorm as we go, searching out new talents for the dancing, welcoming new experts on varied cultures, and discussing innovations and improvements and ways to get the outer circle

of participants in the display to take it as seriously as we do. We hold meetings, make rules to establish routines that are sustainable in whatever the new time frames are, amongst the new rules that have been established, and try to ensure that all will be orderly and informative and wonderful. We want people to walk away feeling like they learned something, like they feel comfortable in this world filled with so many people who wear different clothing, eat different food, and have different skin color. We want them to feel the glory of what it means to be human in a sea of undulating humanity.

We want them to be overwhelmed with the colors, sounds, and flavors of that which originates somewhere else in the world.

More than that, though, the Fair, to

me, has been all the people; the people who gave freely of their time and talents, who have offered constructive advice, who have made their hands and feet busy, who have expended their last ounce of energy, and who have opened the minds of those who live in this insular district to the inevitability of positive cross cultural experiences. Yes, WE still have Advisory, because Advisory was about family. Our family has branched into our community as we all went our separate ways, expanding into the world.

The Fair was our homecoming. I see my photos on the wall, and I give thanks for all the years of relationships with teachers, aides, monitors and most of all students, who gave the ultimate essence of the Fair, their hearts.

April 2013

World and Cultures

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The Cultural Fair In Pictures

Top Left: The Ethinic Items table had a variety of things to offer this year, from Russian dolls to elephant knicknacks.

Top Right: Dancers shows off their fancy footwork in the audienceinteractive African Dance.

Left: The Tai Kwon Do demonstration led by Mr. Rice displays strength.

Photos courtesy of Jack Watson & Pranav Nayak / The Journal Center: Members of Indian Dance show off their moves.

Bottom Left: Katie Lamar and Josh Kahn tell fortunes in the Tarot card tent.

Bottom Right: Hailey Matthews strikes a pose during Arabian Dance.

Photos courtesy of Jack Watson & Pranav Nayak / The Journal

Centerspread

April 2013

page 10(

Journal)

The reality of ranking The practice of ranking students survives at Guilderland, despite national movement away from the class rank

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Nina Obwald During the first quarter of the school year, seniors receive a letter from Guidance that all other students do not. It contains the same piece of paper that will be sent to each college to which they apply.

It is a copy of their official transcript, complete with a class rank in the upper right corner. Each student’s high school achievements and failures are compressed into a single number that ranks them amongst their classmates.

If you’re questioning the identity of the valedictorian and salutatorian, you won’t find them

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any time soon. Guilderland has not named a valedictorian and salutatorian since before 1984. However, you can still find out who is ranked one, two, and twohundred-thirty-two, because the practice of ranking students has survived.

Senior Joy Jing opened her letter and was filled with elation. After three years of hard work, Jing was ranked first out of the 391 members of the Class of 2013. “I felt really relieved after all the work I put in,” she said, “but even now, it’s pretty stressful because I feel like I have to keep it. I feel stress that I did not expect to have during my senior year.”

“We provide class rank for colleges,” Guidance Counselor Tom Dvorscak said, “but even they don’t put a specific weight on [its importance].”

Guilderland is in the minority; more than half of American high schools no longer report class

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rank according to the College Board. The College Board cites small private and competitive high schools who feel class rank “penalizes many excellent students who are squeezed out of the top 10 percent of the class and then overlooked by elite colleges.”

However, selective colleges are more likely to place a greater emphasis on class rank, as well as recommendations, SAT II scores, and extracurricular activities, to differentiate between highly qualified applicants. Of Brown University’s applicants to the class of 2016, 24% of all valedictorians that applied were admitted. Comparatively, 9% of applicants whose schools do not provide class ranks were admitted, and Brown’s overall admission rate for the class of 2016 was 9.6%.

Princeton and Columbia Universities report that of the members of their classes of 2016 who provided high school rank, 96% and 97%, respectively, were in the top 10% of their high school class.

However, fellow Ivy League schools, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, do not report class rank statistics for their incoming

Centerspread

April 2013

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classes on their websites.

These two universities represent a changing attitude towards class rank – one of declining importance.

Over the past two decades, the number of colleges who say that class rank is considerably important in admission decisions has dropped – from 42% in 1993, to just 18.8% in 2011, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

“Class rank is a guideline, but so weak of a guideline. Number 14 could be not nearly as good as number 42,” Dvorscak said. Depending on the difficulty of a student’s schedule, teachers, and other outside circumstances, a rank may not be an accurate portrayal of a student’s academic ability.

“The job of a college admissions office is to know the student in context of their school, so they know our school. They know we have high standards, they know what the challenge levels of the different courses are,” Dvorscak says. “That’s what leads them to make their decision – not that one number.”

Yet class rank still survives at Guilderland, and it also serves as a stressor. Students are sometimes separated by “as little as one hundredth of a point,” said Dvorscak. It is the small discrepancy between ranks that can often cause tension between seniors in different class levels. Students in Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors classes

may harbor resentment for those students in Regents level classes whose rank is higher than their own. This brings up the idea of weighting class ranks – placing a greater importance on Advanced Placement and Honors level classes. This would give students in higher level classes a rank that they feel better represents their effort and achievement.

But, Dvorscak says, weighting just isn’t that useful. “Colleges will actually go ahead and unweight students’ grades, and then recalculate their average using English, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Foreign Language grades. If we did it, it’d be all for nothing.”

However, proponents for weighting also claim that some students deliberately take easier classes to get better grades, and therefore a better rank.

Weighting ranks would make it more difficult for students to cheat their way to a higher number. As for those rumors?

“That doesn’t really happen,” Dvorscak said.

“No one takes easier, Regents level classes to sneak in [for a better rank] – it just doesn’t happen.”

However, students still harbor resentments. “If there is a class rank, it should be weighted,” says senior Oindri Sen. Plus, she says, “I work really hard in AP Public Policy and have a hard time getting high 90s grades – as opposed to some of my friends who don’t even have tests in their Public Policy class.”

While the valedictorian and salutatorian titles

are archaic by Guilderland’s terms, it is difficult to understand why class rank has not yet gone the way of the dinosaurs. In regard to the special titles, Dvorscak says, “We want students to do the best they can and not worry about spot one or two.” However, spots one and two still exist, even if the titles do not. And while ranks still exist, controversy over the fairness and necessity of the system will exist as well. “[Class rank] is a bit unnecessary,” says senior Mary Powathil. “Colleges have enough information about you with your GPA. I don’t know why they need an exact number comparing you to other students in your school.”

“I still feel the stress even now to maintain my rank,” says Jing. “I’d have less stress without it, but I worry how colleges would see me if I didn’t have a rank.”

Dvorscak sees Guilderland eventually catching on to the national trend. It may take a couple of years, he says, but he can see a time in the future when Guilderland will think ranking is pointless.

In the next five years? “It’s possible,” Dvorscak said. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before students are on truly equal footing.

Photo courtesy of Lucas Balzer/ The Journal

theJournal April 2013

Fine Arts

Photos courtesy of The Guilderland Players/ The Journal

Counterclockwise from top: nurses from the South Pacific ensemble cast, Casie Girvin and Michael Janower as Nellie and Emile, sailors from the South Pacific cast, Joseph Sipzner and Eliana Rowe as Lt. Cable and Liat

South Pacific makes a splash Continued from Page 1 “Every year of GP they did a different musical, and it was disappointing,” Girvin divulges. “Of course it was our senior year when they picked [South Pacific] and we cried together. Crazy moment.”

The remainder of the cast, was fantastic as well. In particular, the comic relief provided by junior Colum Cross as Luther Billis, a scheming but good-hearted sailor in love with Nellie, and senior Lexi Adams as Bloody Mary, a sassy, fiery Tonkinese merchant, was particularly lighthearted and amusing when juxtaposed with the heavier themes of the musical. “I play Stewpot who is a Seabee and is the sidekick to the comic lead, Billis,” says freshman Josh Kahn, a newcomer to GP. “It is probably one of the funniest roles I have ever played. The show is so much fun and audiences love it. It is so rewarding, it is truly something special.”

That success comes at a high price, however - the hours dedicated to the musical are endless. Rae Jean Teeter, musical director of South Pacific and conductor of the pit orchestra, affirms that “this

is a haul for the cast it takes up half the school year, it runs from November till March.” Despite the massive commitment, the vast majority of participants maintain that it was a privilege to be a part of South Pacific. Freshman Allegra Wu, a flute player in pit, says, “It was really fun to be with all my friends in pit and it was exceptional to have professionals there it really enhanced the show and it helped me out a lot.” Sophomore Becca Tucker, violist, adds, “The pit is amazing, and it’s become to feel like a family. We’ve all gotten really close, GP is full of amazing people that I’m glad I get to work with.”

Crew and cast unity is a message echoed by all of GP’s members. Says junior Krystal Cole, a member of the ensemble cast who has previously worked in stage crew, “I can’t say I would choose one over the other,. I recommend anyone try out for cast or crew because its a great experience.”

Teeter agrees. “We’re a family. Everybody care takes and looks out for each other.” The bond is so strong that many alumni play significant roles in productions after they graduate. “The new

director is an alumni in GP,” Teeter says, “she was the choreographer for the past two years. Our present choreographer is also alumni.”

And in addition to receiving alumni and returning veterans with open arms, many members of the South Pacific cast attest that GP is just as welcoming to new members. “Being in South Pacific has been really fun because GP is very inviting,” says Eliana Rowe, a freshman who played Liat. “Everyone is nice and very talented in every way possible. You act like a family and you feel like you can tell eachother everything.” Kahn affirms that, “as a freshman and being apart of a group like GP, I have met so many people from different grades who have just been so welcoming and supportive. “ Girvin asserts that the GP experience is unique, even within the musical theater community. “You see, I do community theater,” she says. “I have been singing as long as I can remember. I played Meg in Phantom of The Opera, Sandy in Grease, Lesel in The Sound of Music. Always fun.

But the GP experience beats out every form of theater, it’s a family. Pretty cool.”

April 2013

Fine Arts

Junior wins school concerto competition

Leonard Bopp Violinist Michelle Kang, a junior, is the winner of this year’s Guilderland High School Concerto Competition.

Kang won the school’s competition with a performance of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, known for its theatricality and emotion before the music department faculty. Now, she is preparing to perform the Sérénade Mélancolique

by Tchaikovsky with the Symphony Orchestra. “I think it’s achingly beautiful— pensive and sad, but not overly so,” says Kang of the Tchaikovsky Mélancolique.

“I like it because it’s one of those pieces that capture so many emotions within it.”

Her years of musical experience have prepared her well for the opportunity to perform as a soloist with an orchestra; she has studied privately for eleven years, plays in a string quartet, and played for seven years in the Empire State Youth Orchestras organization, spending three in the Youth Orchestra. “ESYO really bolstered my love for music,” states Kang. “I don’t think I would have been as inspired to work hard if I wasn’t surrounded by

that experience for so long.”

Michelle has also been inspired by her favorite perfor mers. She cites Itzhak Perlman and Jascha Heifetz as two of her favorite violinists.

“Perlman has such beautiful tone and raw emotion—you can practically taste it in the air when he plays, which is a quality that I often try to emulate. Heifetz Photo courtesy of Luxi Peng / The Journal is a technical genius, Above: Junior Michelle Kang poses with her violin. and I watch a lot of his performances in unbelievably fulfilling to achieve one of slightly horrified awe. He inspires me to my life dreams here, on stage, with all of practice hard.” However, her musical taste these fellow music lovers,” she says, “I’m is not just limited to classical works - she so grateful to the orchestra for helping me cites the band Muse as her favorite artist. make my dream come true.”

For Michelle, the chance to perform a The performance will be on Wednesconcerto with an orchestra is something day, May 29 at 7:30 in the GHS auditoshe has long looked forward to. “It’s rium.

ESYO per forms at Troy Music Hall Bill Dong On Saturday, March 10, the Empire State Youth Orchestra, conducted by Helen Cha-Pyo, performed with the Empire State Repertory Orchestra, conducted by David Beck, at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

The Repertory Orchestra played first, starting off with the 2nd movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 7th symphony. Originally composed for soldiers wounded in war, the symphony was an immediate success, especially the second movement. Next were four selections from Georges Bizet’s L’Arlésienne Suites, originally written for the play L’Arlésienne (The Girl from Arles). The

Repertory Orchestra culminated with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Dance of the Tumblers, written originally for his opera The Snow Maiden.

“The performance was very good,” said William Wang, a clarinetist in the Youth Orchestra, “I was extremely impressed with all of the pieces.”

The Empire State Youth Orchestra, known as one of the premier orchestras for young musicians in the United States, began their performance with two selections from the opera Maskarade, by Carl Nielsen. Composed between 1904 and 1906, the opera is comic and lighthearted and describes two rich families. This was followed by Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capric-

cio Espagnol, known for its fantastic orchestration and the special techniques it requires of the orchestra, such as the fourth movement, in which the violins, violas, and cellos have to imitate a guitar.

After a brief intermission, the Youth Orchestra finished with Camille SaintSaëns’ Symphony No. 3, known as the “Organ Symphony” with guest organist Alfred Fedak. “I thought it was very good,” said Kathleen Gao, a violin player in the Repertory Orchestra, when asked about the organ symphony. “It was extremely impressive and very interesting to hear an organ; it has such an interesting sound.”

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Journal)

Students honored for creative works Max Chao The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is a nation-wide competition in which hundreds of thousands of students submit their drawings, poems, essays, and other forms of art and writing in order to receive recognition for their achievements. It aims to award students in grades 7 through 12 for their creative achievements.

The Awards are highly prestigious and competitive, with only a small percentage of the submitted works receiving regional awards. According to the Awards website, the 2013 competition received over 230,000 submissions with less than 7% receiving Gold Keys and less than 1% receiving national medals. Past jurors of the Awards include Langston Hughes, Judy Blume and Robert Frost, while the Awards also count Andy Warhol, Zac Posen, and Sylvia Plath among its past winners.

On the regional level, submissions are eligible for three levels of awards: honorable mention, Silver Key, and Gold Key. Only works that receive Gold Keys are sent on to the national level, where they are considered for national medals.

Guilderland students have sent many works to be judged in hopes of winning awards. This year, Dayle Carhart, Justina Liu, Michelle Kang, Hannah Liu, Joy Jing, Luxi Peng, Gerard D’Albon, and Deanna Falvo submitted their creative works. All of them received awards, while Hannah Liu, Justina Liu, Joy Jing, and Luxi Peng all received Gold Keys. On March 15th, the recipients of the National Awards were announced. GHS junior Justina Liu received a silver medal for her short story “Marty’s Donuts”.

Congratulations to all of Guilderland’s talented Award winners!

GHS alum’s memoir tells story of life, death as twin Abigail Schnoor Have you ever wished you were a twin?

Wondered what it would it be like having someone who looked and felt, to an extent, exactly like you? Christa Parravani

, an alum ofGuilderexplores these questions, and many more in her new memoir, “Her”, which was released on March 5th.

On March 7th, Christa Parravani held a seminar at the University of Albany, and later that day read portions of “Her” and answered questions at the New York State Museum in Albany. I attended her reading, where she presented the portions of her book that best represented the memoir as a whole, and described how their lives (Christa’s and Cara’s) eventually became part of her memoir.

Christa and Cara Parravani were identical twins linked together by sisterhood, friendship, and struggle. After being

abandoned by two different fathers and dragged up and down the east coast, they were raised by their single mother, soon becoming extremely gifted students.

They graduated from Guilderland High School in 1995, going on to Bard College, where Cara pursued writing and Christa photography. Afterwards, they split paths, Cara living in Massachusetts and Christa in New York, with bright futures ahead of them. Tragedy struck in 2001 when Cara was brutally raped near her home in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Cara, unable to handle what had happened, turned to prescription drugs, and soon after that heroin, dying from an accidental overdose in 2006. Her twin Christa was left to deal with the terrifying fact that when an identical twin dies, 50% of the time the surviving twin dies within two years.

After Cara’s death, Christa decided to write a memoir about Left: The cover of “Her”, a new memoir by Christa Parravani about her experience. Her own account was enhanced by Cara’s her life with her twin Cara. Both extensive personal journals, Parravanis are graduates of GHS which Christa had found after and Bard College. Cara Parravani died of an accidental drug overdose her death in their Albany home.

The story skips back and forth in 2006.

from Cara’s version to Christa’s, giving you a view of both sides of the story.

Christa described this process at the New York State Museum. “I took Cara’s writing of our childhood, and I cut it up into pieces, and then I wrote my own account and cut those up into pieces. Then I scattered them across the living room floor, and I wove them together until I didn’t really know whose piece was whose, and you had a single voice telling the story, which I really hoped would be the way for me to articulate to the reader how close twins are.”

If you intend on reading “Her”, be warned that the story can become very intense. Christa and Cara’s accounts go in depth on Cara’s assault and rape, her later use of drugs, and physical abuse inside her family, though Christa attempted to make these parts of the story very light and humorous.. This memoir is recommended for mature audiences only, but don’t let this fact deter you from reading this heart wrenching and beautiful tale of two twins, Cara and Christa Parravani.

Journal April 2013

Pop Arts Justin Timberlake impresses on Saturday Night Live

Julia Davidoff

“There are so many exciting things about hosting five times. You get to see old friends. You get to try new things. You get to inevitably let everyone down thanks to overly high expectations — thanks, Internet!” These are the words that paramount pop star, Justin Timberlake, used to kick of March 9th’s episode of Saturday Night Live, which was truly one for the books.

The first skit, a Hugo Chavez impression by JT, was less than memorable.

However, the pace picked up with the “Five Timers Club”, a skit featuring famous cameos of SNL’s past that have all hosted SNL five plus times. Timberlake didn’t stun the crowd on his own. Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Alec Baldwin, Dan

Shlohmo’s EP breaks genre boundries Salil Chaudhry Trying to give a name to the genre of Shlohmo’s new EP, Laid Out, is nearly impossible. You could say it’s hip-hop or electronic, but that would almost be rude.

It’s different, unique, barrier-breaking.

Shlohmo, whose real name is Henry Laufer, is a young and fresh producer from the greater LA area. He is one of many artists signed onto the record label Friends of Friends. For the past couple of years, Friends of Friends has signed various artists who blend different genres of music together. Shlohmo’s EP is a perfect example of this genre blending.

It’s almost like he put hip-hop, electronic music, and R&B into a mixing bowl and stirred it around a couple hundred times.

The final product is a beautiful mesh of swelling synths and hip-hop-like percussion.

The first two tracks of this five track EP are the most impressive. The first track, “Don’t Say No”, which recently blew up on Soundcloud, features R&B singer Tom Krell, also known by his stage name How to Dress Well. As Krell belts his falsetto, Shlohmo backs him up with deep, moody synths and stuttery trap-style hi-hats. The second track, “Out of Hand” is my favorite track on the EP. The song includes a cloudy R&B vocal sample that Shlohmo skillfully cuts apart and sprinkles throughout the song. He accompanies the vocals with a trap-style snare, warm and glowing synths, and a plain yet infectious bass line, creating a dreamy and gorgeous atmosphere.

I must give a word of advice: listen to this EP with an open mind. Don’t go in expecting hip-hop, or electronic, or anything at all. If you follow this advice, you might be pleasantly surprised with what this unrecognized LA producer can bring to the table.

Aykroyd and Tom Hanks (who are all members of the five timers’ club themselves) are just a few of the cameos that made the sketch so extraordinarily funny, and most of all, legendary.

Timberlake also did a knock-yoursocks-off performance of his newest single, “Suit and Tie” featuring the one and only, Jay-Z. While putting on a stunning show, Timberlake also managed to throw a comeback at Kanye West, who had previously made negative remarks about “Suit and Tie” by changing the words from “sh– so sick, got a hit and picked up a habit” to “hit so big, got rappers acting dramatic.”.

What was the best performance of the night? Well, Timberlake dressed up in a tofu suit singing jingles and rap- danc-

ing about veganism takes the win. The combination of his ridiculous getup and the way he rewrote the lyrics to each tune, making them relate to veganism, made for a performance so absurd and entertaining that it was impossible not to laugh out loud. The cherry on top of the vegan cake had to be the “Harlem Shake” (another Youtube video sensation currently sweeping the nation) video that Timberlake put on with the SNL cast. And yes, he was still in the tofu suit.

Factor in the inappropriately comical “NuvaBling” commercial spoof, and the famous “Date Night” skit, reincarnating Andy Samberg and Timberlake’s duo- not to forget Martin and Aykroyd, and you have the record making hour of comedy that we call Saturday Night Live.

Prequel disappoints fans of 1939 classic Oz tells the story of the wizard before Dorothy Jeff Easley Who is that man behind the curtain?

That is the question we all wondered in Victor Fleming’s 1939 world classic, The Wizard of Oz. There, we followed Dorothy’s journey on her way to the Emerald City. Now in Sam Raimi’s new 3-D fairytale, Oz the Great and Powerful, there isn’t a Tin Man, or a Scarecrow, or a Cowardly Lion, or even a Dorothy, but we do get to discover just how the Wizard of Oz took his throne.

The film kicks off in black and white Kansas, where we meet Oscar Diggs, (James Franco) a low-level magician who dreams of becoming famous just like reallife wizards Harry Houdini and Thomas Edison. However, his slimy personality

leads him right into trouble, having to flee on a hot air balloon because he’s being chased out of town.

Oscar is sucked right into a wicked Kansas tornado and is spit out into the glorious Technicolor of Oz. With blooming flowers, rushing waterfalls and exotic animals, Oz is a visual masterpiece. After landing in Oz, Oscar meets the famous three witches, Theodora, (Mila Kunis) Evanora, (Rachel Weisz) and the darling Glinda (Michelle Williams). The people of Oz believe Oscar is the chosen one to become the next Wizard of Oz, but he still must prove himself, by finding and killing the Wicked Witch of the West, and that is the journey we take with him.

Oz the Great and Powerful is never quite

able to capture our hearts and bring us back over the rainbow. However, it is a box office hit, making just fewer than 80 million dollars in its opening weekend.

The target demographic for the PG-rated

Oz is never quite able to capture our hearts and bring us back over the rainbow. film is children, but even they were fidgeting through the last half hour of the film because of three too many endings. We should know better by now that the sequel is almost always worse than the original… even if it is a prequel.

2 Chainz takes it 2 far

Jake Hill

On Thursday, February 14th Tauheed Epps, who is more commonly known by his rapper name 2 Chainz, was taken into custody for the possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana in Maryland.

The van that 2 Chainz was traveling in was stopped by police because it was speeding.

The smell of marijuana was coming from the car, which provoked the search of the van and the eventual taking into custody of 2 Chainz. 2 Chainz was released from custody that same night. However, if he is brought up on the charges that he has against him he could face up to a year in prison and a $1,000 dollar fine.

2 Chainz joins the large group of today’s popular rappers who have also gotten in trouble with the law, a list that includes rappers such as Chief Keef and Lil Wayne. As if 2 Chainz taken into

custody wasn’t enough, the very next day photos surfaced of 2 Chainz posing with two of the police officers that had brought him into custody. This spurred a separate investigation on who had asked for the photo.

Junior Ritwik Dan, a 2 Chainz fan, had this to say about the whole incident: “It seems so hypocritical that these cops, who obviously admire the rapper in one way or another, asked for pictures with him, right after arresting him for doing the things that give him fame and that people, especially myself, love to hear his raps about.”

This whole debacle has cooled down in the weeks following the arrest and 2 Chainz’s fate has yet to be decided. We will all just have to wait and see what Above: Tauheed Epps, also known as Two Chainz. becomes of the situation.

April 2013

Pop Arts

page 15 (theJournal)

Google Glass makes the world wearable Elana DeSantis As a high school student born in an age where technology has grown at a seemingly exponential rate and where social media has made sharing, exploring and sending information across oceans a touch away, you’d think it would be hard to show today’s youths anything that they would find truly extraordinary. Yet, in a world where touch screens are as second nature to us as touch itself, Google has created a new product which appears to have the potential to revolutionize technology as we know it.

Google Glass (commercialized simply as Glass) is an augmented reality wearable computer in the form of glasses. The wearer uses a thin metallic headpiece which sits around the forehead and ears like a pair of glasses, with a securing nose piece on either side. The core of Google Glass is its tiny prism display, sitting a little above your eye line, which can let the wearer see what is being displayed on the glasses by glancing upward. The “screen,” as one might call it, is presented on a piece of glass, allowing you to see

Across 1) A distance covered 5) A type of fish also called black cod 10) Mobile artillery 14) Salary 15) Mistake 16) Soothing plant for burns 17) Eugene O’Neil play _____-th 19) A cube has six 20) Military awards 21) Progressive creationism (abbv) 22) Age 13-19 23) Also 24) Hand warmers 26) Repeaters 30) Government security Agency (abbv) 31) ______ the Impaler 32) College entrance exam 34) Edit again 39) Dog _____ 41) Boston math and science college 43Run away to be married 44) _____ army knife 45) Golf average 47) God of love 48) _____ mis 51) Article of clothing 53) Extend over 57) Knot 58) Easy bake 59) Type of audio adapter (abbv) 60) Taste organ 64) Wise 65) Page layout 67) Not fat 68) 1st generation Japanese immigrants 69) Currency exchange cost 70) On the ocean 71) Before birth 72) Muscle group Down 1) Propel through water 2) Rate 3) Got older 4) Parasitic roundworms 5) Detectors 6) Segment of a circle 7) Witch’s transport 8) Chinese noodles 9) Constructs 10) Function of 60 across

both where you are and a translucent display of what is on the screen. This allows Glass to interact with both the real world around you and its technological interface. Though lenses have yet to be made primarily for the glasses, Google is considering partnering with sunglass

see directions in real time as it interacts with the environment around you. Glass can also allow access to “hang-outs” (used through Google+, Google’s social networking platform), where users on a PC can see through your display on the glasses, allowing you to share your

Photo courtesy of Google

makers such as Ray-Ban to create lenses fit for the device and also allow Glass to be tried in retail stores.

Effectively, Google Glass is a wearable smart phone. It allows you take pictures, record high-definition video, send text messages and much more. One of the most useful aspects of the glasses is its built in GPS, which allows you to

11) Ridley Scott movie 12) Intersections 13) Perceptive 18) Plant used to heal burns 25) To even on a scale 26) Crawl space in attic 27) Chicken feet 28) _____ Krishna 29) Sam 33) Waiter’s pay 35) Basic (chemically) 36) At the center 37) Once _____ a time 38) Try out 40) High end camera

experiences with others seamlessly. In order for these handy tools to come to use, you either need to be in wi-fi zones or be in service through either Andriod or iOS technology. The device is used mostly through voice control; you say “okay Glass” and get a range of options to choose from, making this appear to be one of the first totally hands-free user

interfaces in smart technology. People are already creating some incredibly cool apps for Glass, including one which allows you to locate friends in a crowd.

Google Glass has yet to be released to the public, but a select few people (known as Glass Explorers) are currently beta testing the project now. Glass became available to the Explorers in February of 2013 at the steep price of $1,500. The reactions from these testers have so far been fairly positive, though many admit to feeling slightly self-conscious while having them on. Google Glass is expected to be fully released to the public at a strongly reduced price by the end of 2013, making these glasses sure to be a hot commodity for the upcoming holiday season.

With technology racing at a breakneck speed these days, Google may be leaping ahead of competition with Glass, streamlining smart-phone technology and wearable, sleek, eyewear. The concept of technology being with us at all time, hands-free, is enough to turn some heads and raise some eyes.

42) Geo _____ 46) Hit with a towel 49) Delicate features 50) Indian pastry 52) Crowd insurrection 53) One sided shapes 54) _____ burger (non meat) 55) Homeopathic cleansing 56) Database system for some android phones 58) Spanish motorcycle company 61) Billion in computer terms 62) Package 63) Counterpart of ids 66) ____ culpa

Journal April 2013

Opinions

Should privacy be protected?

Isaac Malsky

Yes

Out in the middle of nowhere, Utah, the NSA is building the largest data center in history. The two billion dollar facility has had thousands of construction workers building nonstop for only reason; to collect and store all the personal information that you generate. From phone calls to web searches, the NSA will soon have access to all the digital information you once thought was private. Watch what you say.

The data center in Utah is just one instance of the gradual erosion in privacy that has been occurring since the invention of the transistor. Fifty years ago, information on other people had to be organized by hand, painstakingly accumulated. The explosion of computers and cameras has not only made the whole process automatized, it has allowed for keeping tabs on an entire country at once. It is important now, more than ever, to realize why privacy is important. If we do not make sure to emphasize the importance of privacy, it will continue to be eroded away until it is considered a privilege, not a right.

Privacy is as basic as free speech or freedom of religion. Every person on earth should be granted a degree of privacy, from the most innocent to members of society who have committed serious infarctions against the public good. After all, it is the actions that you take that make up character, not what you think or feel. If society strips away the ability to make choices and decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong, all possibility of individuals reforming themselves disappears. Teenagers will always play with fire. Drug addicts will always relapse. Self-improvement will be gone without privacy because the course of your own life will no longer be solely up to you.

Of the arguments against privacy is that you have nothing to fear if you’re doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. This line of reasoning has lead things like the Patriot Act and the infiltration of cameras into school districts.

Just look up, nearly every school hallway dotted with little black spheres. The cameras aren’t being used for any nefarious purpose, some would argue that they even make the school safer, but I for one do not like the feeling of being watched.

After all, the cameras cannot do anything to prevent someone breaking the rules;

they can merely relay the information to whoever is watching the feed.

The ability to have near omniscience in a school, or in a town, or in the private emails of individuals, is far too much power for any person to have. In order for free speech to fully be free, people need the right to think on their own, without others knowing what they are doing every minute of the day. Without privacy, new ideas, controversial ones especially, cannot survive. If it were possible for governments to instantly know about any dissenting citizens, revolutionar y change

Andrew Fedorov

No

We live in a society that is increasingly under surveillance.The school bus you ride has a camera pointed at you. Across an ocean Britain has 4 million CCTV cameras. Yet none of this is illegal or even detrimental to society because privacy is not, and should not be a right. It is a vile craving, a dirty habit and an immoral allowance. It is not Justice Brandeis’s “right to be left alone”, it is a limiting of others’ knowledge of your deeds. It does not help a society prosper and progress. It does not aid its citizens. It is not a

would cease to comforter be a possibility.

Graphic by Gerard D’Albon / The Journal to the ailing. It is a While this might be benefiveil on our society’s public embarcial for combating terrorists, the danger rassments. It is a silencer on the gun of that a totalitarian government could put it injustice. reprehensibly far outweighs the benefits.

Accountability is the key to a No one wants to see a dictator with the society for a society to follow obligations power to monitor an entire hemisphere. and social contracts. We expect our leadThe invasion of privacy should be ers to be accountable for their actions and taken as seriously as the restriction of free expect transparency of them but why is it speech. Oliver Wendell Homes said that that we expect less from ourselves? Why free speech could be limited if it posed a must our society use privacy to protect clear and present danger, like yelling fire lying and cheating in individuals? Google in a crowded theater. There is no reason CEO Eric Schmidt said “If you have that privacy should be any less value. something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in

the first place.” People should know and expect the consequences of their actions and should not feel they have a right to do evil in the darkness of privacy. All people should be accountable for their actions.

We often hear the phrase knowledge is power. If this is so, in a society that considers privacy a right, honest people are put at a disadvantage. In a totally open society those virtuous people would have no need to change. It would only be those who have been hiding their crimes under cover of privacy who would have to alter their practices.

The widespread surveillance in our society is positive in that it obliterates this blight that is privacy. After all, surveillance does not ruin or destroy. It does not manipulate. It records. It preserves.

It opens. It takes away the ability to do evil under cover of privacy, but It leaves us with an overlying choice and forces us to be accountable. But the great issue with the current model of surveillance is that it allows the watcher privacy. It would be better if all people had access to what was recorded; if we crowdsourced the surveillance. In this model everybody would become both watcher and watched. We would solve Juvenal’s problem of “who watches the watchers.” We would form a truly open society.

The only law that would be required in this open society would be peer pressure. It is the most powerful law and the least harmful. Yet it is impossible in a private society.

Only when all actions are in the open can we be judged accurately by our peers. The Oneida community, a utopian community which functioned in 19th century New York functioned without trials or punishments. The only law in the community was a principle called mutual criticism which encouraged each member of the community to speak their mind on their fellow members The size of this community prohibited privacy and the institution of mutual criticism allowed for open and honest peer pressure which kept the peace. This community functioned like this until its peaceful dissolution in the late 1800s.

So we are left with a decision, will we see and be seen? Will we have lies or honesty? Will we emulate criminals or utopians? Will we have darkness or transparency? Will we accept hidden evils or will we institute an open society? Will we see privacy as right or blight?

Opinions

April 2013

page 13 (

Journal)

Save the Journal: Response to letter from an editor Michael Zhu In October or so, when I held the new Journal edition in my hands, I found myself staring at it in wonder. Was it possible, for high schoolers, teenagers at heart and soul, to create such a professional work? And yet, as I asked myself that question, I already knew the answer: yes, it was in front of me, it was so real and stately, with its rounded, almost intimidating red letters boldly filling the top of the page. So why did I feel like there was something wrong with The Journal?

Now, the current Journal staff ask themselves, can the Journal survive, despite the lack of time, the lack of passion, the lack of interest, the lack of support?

The answer is yes; it’s not time to let The Journal go. It’s time to save it from the abyss, from the nadir of its existence.

There needs to be drastic change and dramatic improvements. The Journal, despite setbacks, must survive. Our purpose must be found and it must be rekindled. It may not be easy, but it must happen. And it’ll be worth it in the end.

Nobody reads The Journal anymore, the editor said. Honestly, that statement is only a half-truth. It’s true in a sense that it’s not the celebrity source of entertainment; smartphones and music dominate that realm. But nevertheless, people still read The Journal. They flip through the pages, not necessarily reading every word, but looking for the perfect article, the perfect graphic, the perfect story captured in the most perfect sense. The Journal is not dead. Readership is still active and strong. The Journal’s just not as alive as it used to be, many years ago. So how do we enliven an inanimate object?

Wake it, and then give it something new.

Firstly, the staff need to be stricter about The Journal’s guidelines, policies, and deadlines—meanwhile, the staff themselves have to be evaluated differently. In one situation, the staff could give more time to the writers, and then take less time to edit. In another stricter example, the staff could, and must, reinforce deadline policies by refusing to publish the article if it is not submitted on time. It’s difficult, without Advisory, and I would never know the extent of the efficacy of the transition time. But it has to be done. Every staff member has to be absolutely determined to publishing the next issue, against all odds, impossible or improbable. If there is no time, make time. This mindset, however difficult it is to acquire, must be present in every staff member. Let’s discard this pessimistic view that nobody reads The Journal. However true some people may believe it is, that standpoint won’t bring us anywhere, only further down into the chasm.

No more slacking. No more indolence.

Secondly, the articles themselves must be interesting. Editors must ask themselves, how do the articles relate to us? Why would this article interest us, or make us compelled and intrigued? Why should we care about what’s in edition?

What, in general, is the purpose of an article? Asking themselves these questions, editors then can assign article topics, that are not only big news regionally or internationally, but that also make us wonder, laugh, smile, frown, even rant.

We’re not supposed to be a newspaper that covers worldwide news spectacularly, or present new local shop openings often.

We write for the students, as the motto dictates. Thus, our articles should be more

about the students, and their interests, their involvements, their passions. Even, encourage the writers, the students posing under the title of journalists, to choose what to write about. Let’s create titles that will stand out as interesting to the public, not only because it’s important to write about. Only then will we attract more readers.

The Journal is for us.

Thirdly, with new and younger members come new ideas and innovations.

Maybe it’s time for the current staff to think about passing the torch down. Many younger members are very interested in The Journal, and are willing to spend time, effort, and diligence on it. It’s not time to get rid of the newspaper; it’s time to change it. We can start by, next year, beginning to attract more and more younger high schoolers to The Journal, especially into office and staff positions.

New ideas will be able to flow into the system. Maybe we younger members will be able to find ways to innovate such an immobile group. In middle school, a club I was part of needed to split into two teams: by sheer foolishness, the eighth graders were put on one team and the rest on another. Eventually, during the competition, the team without the eighth graders did better than the team with the eighth graders. Why? It’s because younger people should have newer ideas. Perhaps the time has come for the older, wiser ones to hand down the responsibility to the newer, fresher novices.

Change is something that every we as human beings, or we as cooperating club members, need to develop. Change creates who we are, because it is who we must be and what we must do. Our job now is to change from serving ourselves, and serving our loyalties to rewrite important news, to serving the students. As the editor wisely stated, “The first step isn’t sacrifice, but investment.” Let’s change by investing in newer, unique, different and possibly even strange ideas. Let’s invest in new evaluations of staff, and while at it, let’s invest in a stricter, more straightforward Journal. Finally, let’s invest in our original purpose: to serve the students, our peers and teachers, the readers of The Journal.

And the Journal does have a purpose.

It’s to inform the students, entertain the students, make the students wonder and marvel and rant and stare in absolute discontent or confusion. The Journal is for us. The Journal’s not made to be made, at least not to many younger students. It’s meant to entertain us when we bored or busy. It’s meant to make us forget about our homework, our bad day or enveloping drama. To speak radically, The Journal is a distraction, from the troubles of our lives.

Fine, maybe the leadership over the past few years lost track of the unified goal, but it’s time we reestablished it. Yes, some students contribute to The Journal in order to put it proudly on their college resume, but nevertheless, the contributions each member makes based on his or her reasons still help us reach our goal, our purpose. It’s only from different people, with different motivations, that we can create one unified masterpiece.

Predictably uncertain Zubin Mukerjee When we think, talk, and move about, we intuitively feel some degree of freedom. We humans seem to have the power to make choices, in everything from moving our feet to shaping history. But, in truth, a human is exactly as restricted and predictable as any other object.

The question of whether humans possess free will is centuries old; even defining the concept is contentious ground. I’ll say that free will is the ability to make choices. Still, this is somewhat vague, so here is a thoughtful experiment, proposed by the popular science writer and logician, Martin Gardner: Omega is an alien from another galaxy who visits earth. He possesses very advanced technology for studying human brains, and is also very rich. He performs a test on millions of humans, as follows. He examines in detail the brain of the test human (call her Alice) and makes observations. He then presents Alice with two boxes labeled A and B. Box A always contains $1,000. Box B either contains nothing or $1,000,000.

Alice is given a choice: take both boxes and keep all the money in both, or take only Box B and keep what’s inside. The

interesting part is that Omega decides what to put in Box B based on his observations of Alice’s brain. If Omega thinks Alice will take only Box B, then he puts the million inside. If he thinks she’ll take both, he puts none.

Alice reasons as follows: “Omega has made the decision and left. He’s put a million in Box B or nothing in Box B. Either way, I’ll be $1,000 richer if I take both boxes. That’s what I’ll do.” Bob, another test human, reasons differently: “I’ve wa t ch e d O m e g a make thousands of predictions. Every time Graphic by Joy Jing he’s been right, and those who take both boxes only come away with $1,000. I’m just taking Box B.”

The Omega story is really a question of free will. Alice’s argument is based on the existence of free will, while Bob’s assumes that human choices are determinable. In fact, the very existence of Omega’s advanced technology contradicts the idea of free will.

Many philosophers turn to science. They point to the laws of physics and the predictable interaction of matter and energy as indicative of a deterministic world: a world in which the future is set. It’s difficult to reconcile this with our intuitive feeling that we make conscious choices. The answer, it seems, is that we only think we make choices. There is no mind outside of one’s brain, no consciousness not housed in the interactions of atoms,

no freedoms to be held.

There are, however, some holes in this scientific argument. The main problem is, ironically, one caused by modern ideas in physics. Ideas like Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle necessitate some randomness in nature. If some things act randomly, even if these things are the smallest subatomic particles, and even if this happens for very short instances, then the world cannot be exactly predetermined.

These technicalities are all very well, but how do they relate to whether or not we have free will? Unfortunately, a bit of randomness isn’t really the idea of freedom we’re looking for. Free will cannot exist in a deterministic universe, nor can it exist in a slightly randomized one.

In some ways, then, the human brain is only a very, very complex computer.

This is a rather pessimistic attitude, which is perhaps why philosophers label it “pessimistic incompatibilism.” In any case, though we should act as though we have free will, in order to preserve sanity and remain motivated, from a scientific, intellectual perspective, we really are just complicated robots.

theJournal April 2013

Sports

#1 seed provides Madness late in March

Louisville brings drama to Final Four, Championship in Atlanta Kyle Levy Ladies and gents, it’s that time of year again…Well, at least it was. But yes, I’m sure you already know: March Madness.

If these two words don’t get you excited or you don’t even know what they mean, well to be fair, you’re most likely living under a rock.

All right, in case you’re confused, here’s a lowdown. March Madness refers to the big college basketball tournament that occurs in the NCAA postseason. The tournament consists of the top 68 teams in Division I basketball. March Madness is broken down into a few things; it’s organized with a bracket that is then split between 4 different regions. The tournament is winner stays on, so if you lose, you’re out. Also, teams are ranked in each of their regions in or-

d e r f r o m 1-16, 1 being the best.

For many people, both fans and non-basketball fans, March Madness is one of the greatest times of the year.

Why? Well, it is one of the most popular sporting events that people bet on. Millions of brackets are filled out year round.

People simply looking to either have some fun or win some money. After filling out a bracket of whom they think is going to win or make it into their “Final Four,”

people then enter their bracket into a tournament with other people’s picks and hope for the best. Some people’s picks are based on who they actually think is going to win, while others who aren’t as knowledgeable in basketball will just go by teams names or mascots.

With each year of March Madness, comes the upsets. Almost every year, there is one “Cinderella Team.” Or, a team that is not expected to do well at all but then goes on to advance very far in the Big Dance.

This year, Georgetown, a 2 seed, lost their first game to Florida Gulf Coast University. Before the tournament you probably hadn’t even had heard of them before, but now I bet the name rings a bell. Not only did they beat Georgetown, but the next game they beat out San Diego State University, making them the only 15 seed to ever advance to the Sweet Sixteen in March Madness history. After winning that game, they fought a tough battle with the University of Florida, losing 62-50.

FGCU wasn’t the only upset in the tournament; a 3 seed, New Mexico also went out first round to Harvard. A 4 seed, Kansas State, lost in the first round as well. Only one 5 seed survived the first round, VCU. The other 5 seeds, Oklahoma State, UNLV, and Wisconsin however, did not.

In the round of 32 teams, a 1 seed went down. Wichita State knocked out Gonzaga, who the game before came close to being the only 1 seed out in the first round. Wichita State’s happiness didn’t end there. They ended up making it to the Final Four where they then lost to Louisville by 4 points.

By the end of the Sweet Sixteen, most people’s brackets were busted. Michigan, a 4 seed, took out the 1 seed Kansas.

And Syracuse, another 4 seed, who many thought would be a team that would get

out early, got past Indiana, another 1 seed.

Both Michigan and Syracuse went on to join the Final Four – leaving Louisville as the only 1 seed remaining.

Before the tournament began, I talked to a few people asking for their thoughts on the tournament. “I think Indiana will win the tournament,” said Connor Burg, a senior at GHS who has a love for college basketball. “They are just a dominant team.

They have the players, and the coaches to win it.” Burg picked out his favorite teams in the tournament. “Final Four I have Indiana, obviously, Georgetown, Michigan State, and I’m also thinking Wisconsin.” Was he close? Not really. None of his teams even made it to the Elite Eight. This just shows how unpredictable March Madness is.

Though Burg had picked those teams to make it to the Final Four, other people had totally different answers. “I’m going with Duke to win it all this year,” Mike Gallo, another senior at GHS for the love of the game and March Madness.

“They were 15-0 before they lost Ryan Kelly to injury and while he was injured they went 9-4. Now that he is back I have them as the team to beat in the tournament.” Gallo’s Final Four? Duke, Miami, New Mexico, and Michigan. His picks were different from Burg’s and only one of his Final Four picks was correct.

Going into the tournament, the Louisville Cardinals were the overall 1 seed, which means that they were the favorite in the tournament. Tons of people’s brackets included Louisville in the Final Four and among them were another bunch with them grabbing the national title.

Last year the Kentucky Wildcats were the overall 1 seed and also ended up winning. But just like last year, there were many unpredicted upsets.

As the Louisville Cardinals sealed their victory last Monday, this years March

Madness had officially come to an end.

It was once again a crazy year with many upsets occurring but also oddly enough,

another predicted champion came out.

Though Louisville won the tournament, they also had a tough time throughout it. In their Regional finals against Duke, tragedy struck their team. During the first half, one of their players suffered a severe injury. Kevin Ware, #5, jumped up to block a shot and as he came down his shin snapped in half. It’s grueling to write, read, hear about, and especially see the video. Only a few minutes after the injury, the players had to get back on the court and finish the game. Ware was rushed to the ER for surgery, which ended up being successful. He was able to watch both the Final Four game and the National Championship game on the sidelines. Fortunately for Ware, the doctor said he might be healed in time to play next season.

Just like with every year of March Madness, nobody had a perfect bracket.

Out of the 8 million+ brackets on ESPN. com, none of them were perfect. And the closest one still didn’t even have the final four correct! This just goes to show that March Madness is truly madness and it is unpredictable. Let’s see what will happen next year!

March Madness: Final Bracket (1) Louisville (12) Oregon (3) Michigan St. (2) Duke

(1) Louisville (1) Louisville

(13) La Salle (6) Arizona (2) Ohio State

(3) Florida

(1) Kansas (4) Michigan (3) Florida (15) FGCU

FINAL 4

(9) Wichita St.

(1) Louisville

FINAL 4

ELITE 8 (4) Syracuse

(4) Michigan (9) Wichita St.

(2) Ohio State

(4) Michigan (1) Louisville

(2) Duke

ELITE 8 (9) Wichita St.

(4) Michigan

(4) Syracuse (3) Marquette

(1) Indiana (4) Syracuse (3) Marquette (2) Miami (FL)

Sports

April 2013

page 19(

Guilderland v. Bethlehem

Journal)

New rivalry between Suburban Council schools motivates athletes Trevor Laicha

love it [playing in the rivalry],” he says ”It game.”.Du Moulin assured that a crowd Red Sox versus Yankees, Alabama makes you want to win so much more.” helps, “Of course you just get excited just versus Auburn, and Dodgers versus Gi- He acknowledges the possibility that all looking at them when they go crazy. We It makes you want to win ants, are some of the biggest rivalries in the hype could psych a player out but he just want to make [the crowd] louder.” so much more. all of professional and collegiate sports. doesn’t have that problem, “All the hype “It’s always a good game between However, new rivalry has emerged in the really pumps and focuses me on the our two schools,” said Bethlehem senior last couple years, Guilderland versus Howell Morris, “but things Bethlehem Central. Although it may over Twitter are stupid and not include as many people as a taken too seriously.” Morris professional or collegiate rivalry it also offers an explanation for is just as intense. the increased rivalry: “Our These neighboring schools have classes in general have a lot always had a rivalry but within the of school spirit and plus our past two years it has grown more teams have been successful intense. Trash talking spreads to this year.” Plus, he adds, “the Twitter and other social media sites. rivalry only serves to pump Some people were just messing up players. Besides beating around but others took it too far, Shen, there’s nothing sweeter receiving punishment from their than beating Guilderland. It school’s administration. This rivalry almost feels like a championbrought some of the largest crowds ship or playoff game.” It is to any sporting event has seen in a hard to argue with that when long time. The homecoming footboth teams play their best durball game played host to one of ing Guilderland-Bethlehem the biggest Red Seas ever seen. At matchups. the basketball game at Bethlehem; Whether you play or cheer the Hooligans nearly filled up one in the games they are fun to fourth of the bleachers. be a part of your team can’t Marc du Moulin was the starting always win. But that’s what center for the Guilderland Boys’ makes it interesting. So make Basketball team this year. He had sure to go out and support Photo courtesy of Sam Pitkin / The Journal a rim-rattling, thunderous twoour sports teams, especially Above: Guilderland and Bethlehem players line up at the homecoming game on October 5, 2012. handed dunk against Bethlehem. “I against Bethlehem!

Notable Rivalry Games: 2012-13 Fall and Winter Seasons 05 October 2012 Football - Homecoming GHS 25-21

06 November 2012 G. Soccer - Sectional Finals GHS 2-1

01 February 2013 B. Basketball BCHS 73-63

Upcoming Games: 2013 Spring Season 9 May 2013 Softball @ Bethlehem 4:15 PM

10 May 2013 Baseball @ Bethlehem 4:15 PM

10 May 2013 G. Lacrosse @ Bethlehem 4:15 PM

10 May 2013 B. Lacrosse v. Bethlehem 7:30 PM

Smuggler’s Notch melts skiers’ hearts Chrissy Bolognino From the moment that winter’s very first flakes begin to fall in late autumn, a palpable change can be noted in the moods of every student that roams the halls of GHS. While most students tend to consider this change more on the negative side, a relatively small group of students known as the Guilderland High School Ski Club consider each new snowfall a minor miracle—as it means nothing but better and better ski weather for its members as well as its chaperones. As the season for true winter skiing began to slow down in late February, all of that excitement from past Saturday day trips looked forward to and concentrated on the weekend of March 1st to the 3rd, when Ski Club took their annual threeday overnight trip to Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Jeffersonville, Vermont. The excitement was well deserved, as the trip was as sensational and successful as the Club’s members had avidly hoped it

would be.

With six inches of fresh snow awaiting the Club when it arrived Friday afternoon after a roughly four hour bus ride, the anticipation for Saturday morning and the chance to test out that prime Vermont powder was at an absolute breaking point. Fortunately, the resort offered plenty of other opportunities for us to blow off steam in our free time before getting to hit the slopes the next morning. When club members weren’t relaxing in spacious condominiums, they could go for a swim in their indoor pool/hot tub complex, take a turn on the many arcade games and bouncy bounce features in the Fun Zone, or, stop by the hot spot that quickly became GHS Ski Club’s favorite place to hang out; the Teen Room, which included billiard and ping pong tables, a loud stereo system and plenty of other fun to keep students occupied until the start of the big main event. Ski Club is built on foundations of

our common interest but also the deep bonds of friendship, a closeness that is felt by everyone involved in it. “There isn’t one single person I could say I don’t like [in the Club]”, says senior member Jen Gebhardt. “I’m thankful to be a part of such an awesome community.”

When Saturday morning rolled around, GHS Ski Club was out, dressed, and ready as always to meet its snowy embrace on the slopes of one of Vermont’s finest ski mountains, Smugglers’ Notch. Both Saturday and Sunday, the weather never dipped below 25 degrees, ranging from the high twenties to the mid-thirties.

Conditions were some of the best one could dream of in the northeast, with minimal ice covering and a powdery but firm, grippable kind of snow on the trails.

The many glades of Smugg’s especially were in top condition, something the GHS Ski Club took full advantage of both days there.

“This trip is a great way to wrap up

the season and enjoy time with friends,” senior Zack Cleary says fondly. “I’d say most, if not all members would have to agree.”

All those that attended the GHS Ski Club overnight trip to Smugglers’ Notch seemed to have all extremely positive things to say about the trip as a whole, and nothing but red-nosed, wind-burnedcheek smiles could be seen on the bus ride home—even among the chaperones.

“The chaperones were really awesome this year,” Ski Club officer and senior Matt Yankowski was eager to explain to me when asked. “They’re one of the main reasons why the trip was as successful as it was, why it always is. They give us a lot of freedom while also making sure we’re safe.”

There would be no better way for Ski Club to conclude its 2012-2013 year than with their truly memorable weekend trip to Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont.

Sports

April 2013

page 20 (theJournal)

Spring Sports: Early Season Preview Girls’ Lacrosse Record: 5-0 Ranked 9th in NYS as of April 14, 2013 Upcoming Games: Saturday 4/20 @ Long Meadow - 1:00 PM Monday 4/22 @ Colonie - 4:15 PM Wednesday 4/24 v.

Ballston Spa - 4:15 PM Friday 4/26 @ Averill Park - 4:15 PM Right: Sophomore Rebecca Golderman faces off against Columbia on April 2nd.

Photo courtesy of Nina Obwald / The Journal

Boys’ Tennis looks forward to successful season Karthik Ramesh and Reza Sayeed was a mere hour for three days indoors; Despite last year’s heart wrenching 4-5 loss to Bethlehem in the Sectional Finals match, this year’s Guilderland Varsity Boys’ Tennis team has dedicated itself to the pursuit of excellence. Coach Snyder and the boys are burning to win it all once again, as they did in the 2011 season.

The weather seemed adamant in stopping the boys from getting in form during preseason, forcing practices indoors and changing them into grueling and never ending circuits. For the first three weeks, the best on court practice the boys had

hardly any way to get in shape for the varying outdoor conditions.

Although the team is composed of only 15 players this year, the lack of quantity is surely compensated for with the quality of all the players. Everyone is hungry for for a starting spot, ready to give their all this season.

The lineup this year is jam-packed with energetic freshmen who, although lack age and, at times, height, have more than enough court experience as well as flare and skill. The rest of the team is comprised by some very competitive

Baseball

Record: 1-1

juniors and the lone senior, Erick Kopff, who is also the number one seeded player on the team.

The season was slated to be kicked off with a home match against Columbia but the 40 mph gusts felt otherwise. The Columbia match was postponed and a blockbuster first match was set up: Bethlehem, the sectional champions came to Guilderland, inaugurating the season.

Both teams were short-handed, due to the match taking place over Spring Break and the Dutchmen lost a very tight match, 4-5 , in their first rematch since last year’s sectional finals.

The taste of victory is hard to forget.

Despite the initial loss, Coach Snyder is confident. “As long as we can play well will, and we’re seeded at least two, we’re in good shape” he said. A fired up Snyder added, “Let’s win 10 in a row. #HeatStyle”, further inspiring the team.

Schedules & records as of 4/18/13

Softball Record: 1-1

Upcoming Games:

Upcoming Games:

Friday 4/19 v. Massapequa - 7:00 PM

Friday 4/19 @ Shaker - 4:15 PM

Monday 4/22 @ Shen - 4:15 PM

Saturday 4/20 - Tournament @ Keenholts Park

Thursday 4/25 @ Averill Park - 4:15 PM

Monday 4/22 @ Shen - 4:15 PM

Monday 4/29 v. Colonie - 4:15 PM

The taste of victory is hard to forget. Despite the initial loss, Coach Snyder is confident.

Tuesday 4/23 v. Ballston Spa - 4:15 PM

Boys’ Lacrosse Record: 2-3

New York State Sportswriters’ Association Honorable Mention as of April 14, 2013 Upcoming Games: Saturday 4/20 @ Ballston Spa - 11:00 AM Monday 4/22 v. Colonie - 4:15 PM Tues. 4/23 @ Schenectady - 5:15 PM

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