Volume 65 Issue 3

the

Journal

Since 1946

By and for the students of Guilderland Central High School

Volume 65 Issue 3

Guilderland Center, NY 12085 March 2014

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Education Revolution

Vivian Dai and Emily Honen

Production Line:

Photo courtesy of Pranav Nayak

Where the school food you eat everyday for lunch comes from

Sochi Leonard Bopp

Bryce Goyer

When the greatest athletes in the world competed in Sochi this winter, more was at stake than gold medals and Olympic records.

The games are, on the surface, simply an athletic competition. However, they often acquire deeper significance, a significant connection to political and social issues.

Consider, for example, the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Hitler intended to use the games, which had been awarded to Germany before the rise of the Nazi regime, to promote the Nazi cause around the world. The games became especially controversial when Jewish athletes were banned from competing for Germany. Deciding to attend or boycott the Olympics became a matter of foreign relations; saluting or ignoring Nazi officials in the opening ceremonies was a symbolic political action. The 1936 Olympics was defining moment in a time when tensions were rising between world powers. Sure enough, the next two Summer Olympics would be cancelled due to World War II.

The community of the capital region is filled with people who are eager to help facilitate the growth of this area to become diverse and successful. Making education an important, integral part of Albany and Schenectady counties is popular among citizens who enjoy giving back. Proctors Theatre, located in downtown Schenectady, has created a way to help promote education with a twist; combining education with the arts. Proctors has an education program that aims to integrate the arts and entertainment into the classroom.

Christine Sheehan is the Educational Director for Proctors and Capital Repertory Theatre. She is in charge of program development and oversight of all of the educational and outreach programs for both facilities. “I’m in charge of our impact for all our programs, the evaluation we do, making sure we’re reaching our goals, that we have relevance to the community.” said Sheehan.

The education branch of Proctors has 16 different programs for all different age groups, ranging from young children to

A Proctors education

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What’s inside: Hallways Pop Arts Around Town Centerspread

2 4 6 8

Fine Arts 10 Opinions 12 World&Cultures 14 Sports 15

college interns, all with different goals.

“One of the most popular programs or the one most people know about is the School Day Live Performances Program where we book performances and bring people here to see them.” A common goal for all of these programs is to help the arts earn a more prominent place in education. Proctors also inherited new media programs along with its expansion a couple years ago, including Open Stage Media Public Access Television.

“We wanted to build programs that were relevant to teens and adults.” said Sheehan about the media expansion.

Media also plays a big role in the in-school programs Proctors offers.

Everyday in Albany and Schenectady High School there is a MediaWorks program, “The MediaWorks program fully integrates English, Language Arts, and Global History with film making. It’s a project-based learning program starting in 9th grade, it was created to combat failure rates in 9th grade in urban school districts and its an alternative learning program.”

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Hallways 3

New course selection procedures

Around Town

Capital district burger reviews

By now, everyone pretty much knows what to expect on the first day and subsequent week of school: get-to-know-yous, syllabus readings, and finding out your lunch schedule. However, as of last year, there’s been a new tradition added to the first day of school -- pre-tests and their sister exams, post-tests (given at the end of the year). Never once has a student stood up at the announcement of a test on the first day of school and said, “Oh boy! Another test!” The lack of enthusiasm is not an uncommon reaction to this new testing system; pre-tests are designed so that the students know next to nothing about the material in order to use the post-test to gauge the students’ acquired knowledge throughout the year.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of students don’t have anything positive to say about the pretests and posttests, for a variety of reasons.

Some, like junior Elena Musteata, believe the tests undermine the student’s very existence. “It is yet another futile attempt to dehumanize the student population by defining the entire worthiness of their existence with a number.”

Most people, though, think they are simply unnecessary. “They’re really stupid because they waste class time, nobody tries on them--because it’s to our benefit not to--and it makes us feel stupid. For example, with chemistry, you can’t guess how to do the problem; it’s just not possible,” junior Jennifer Hoffmann said.

The teachers and administration at GHS seem to share a common view that the pretests and posttests have good intentions, but fall short in how they’re executed. Thomas Lutsic and Andrew Ryan, the school principal and a math teacher, respectively, like the concept of a test that gives teachers an idea of their students’ strengths and weaknesses and enjoy being able to see a student’s prerequisite skills.

However, both also have negative things to say about the tests. Mr. Ryan agrees with Jennifer. “The pre-test material is so foreign to most kids,” he said.

“They get too frustrated and don’t take it seriously.” Mr. Lutsic thinks the general incomplete and unfinished nature of the pretests is unfortunate. He dislikes “the way that it was rolled out, and the lack of preparation and time the teachers and school personnel were given.

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Sports 16

GHS student founds volunteer organization

The Journal March 2014

Hall ways the

Journal 2013 - 2014

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: theguilderlandjournal@gmail.com Submit stories to: theguilderlandjournal@gmail.com

Editors-in-Chief Isaac Malsky Luxi Peng Managing Editor Leonard Bopp -ContentHallways Editors Karthik Ramesh, Hayley Chang Around Town Editors Jack Watson Pop Arts Editors Julia Davidoff, Elana DeSantis World & Cultures Editors Michelle Xiong, Mike Zhu Fine Arts Editor Katie Lamar Opinions Editors Andrew Fedorov Sports Editors Tevor Laicha, Kyle Levy Photography Editor Pranav Nayak Graphics Editor Ioana Sima Staff Photographers MaryGrace Graves, Sam Pitkin Staff Writers Jake Hill, Max Chao, Salil Chaudhry, Reza Sayeed, Katie Gonick, Shannon Gerety -BusinessBusiness Staff Brent Katlan Matt Scatena Distribution Manager MaryGrace Graves Faculty Advisor Erin McNamara

Minimum wage rises

Rebekah Wolanski

For many Guilderland High School students, the burden of balancing school with a part-time, minimum-wage job is a necessary part of life. This burden may be eased a bit as New York State implements its decision to raise the minimum wage to $8.00 this year.

The decision of Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders to raise New York State’s minimum wage went into effect December 31st of this past year. The minimum wage has been raised to $8.00 for 2014, then to $8.75 in 2015, and finally to $9.00 in 2016. This minimum wage raise has been a top priority of Albany democrats, especially Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Jeffrey D. Klein, a leader of the Senate. The decision to raise the minimum wage is a victory for the Democratic Party in this state as well as many places across the nation. New York will join 14 states that have made their minimum wage raise official.

The decision to raise the minimum wage is a controversial topic that is being discussed from the local to the federal level. President Obama has been giving serious consideration to raising the

minimum wage for employees of federal contractors, a decision that could raise the wage rate to $10.10 over the next three years for as many as two million employees.

There are multiple benefits of raising the minimum wage. Employees will earn enough to live off of by receiving more money each week, and proponents for the wage raise argue that not only will workers gain financial security, they will also stimulate the economy by spending the extra money they accrue. Raising the minimum wage will give people just entering into the workforce a higher starting rate, which lessens the burden of those working to get out of poverty or newly graduated college students.

While raising the minimum wage may seem ideal in our economic situation, there are conceivable complications and consequences to consider. Those who oppose the minimum wage increase argue that a higher minimum wage would be too heavy a burden on employers, especially small business owners, and they would be unable to hire as many people.Some high school students aren’t necessarily happy with every aspect of the minimum wage.

Angela Boschetti, a junior who works as a waitress at Beverwyck Assisted Living Facility says, “I’m not happy with the minimum wage raise because I made eight dollars before, and now I still make the same amount while the people who used to make less than me now make the same as I do. If New York is going to raise the minimum wage, than all wages should be raised to stay consistent with that.” Tim Barr, a senior employed at McDonalds says, “The wage raise is great for workers but from a business perspective, it’s taxing to have to pay workers more.” Many believe that raising the minimum wage will not solve the problem of poverty in our society and will rather have no effect because as minimum wage increases, the businesses will raise prices to compensate, thus bringing the economy back to where it was in the first place.

Whether or not this minimum wage raise will help or hinder the economy, the decision has passed and will be put into action this year. For those of us working at minimum wage jobs, this is probably music to our ears and the promise of more money in our pockets.

Editorial: Drugs and eductation come in conflict Sumit Vohra

Guilderland High School officials are devising several ways to address safety in the event of a school shooting. In 2000, there were 13 school shootings, which increased to 15 in 2007, 18 in 2008, and 37 in 2009. These incidents can be very frightening. So many people do senseless things without knowing how this affects other individuals.

Recently, Assistant Principal Mrs. Patierne and our District Resource Officer, Officer Ingle developed and presented a school safety plan to the Board of Education. The board approved it knowing our district needs to be more aware and conscious of possible threats that could undermine our school’s safe environment.

According to Mrs. Patierne, when a dog search occurs, all students and staff will be locked down in classrooms, and only a designated area of the building will be searched. Lockers will not be opened unless Rocky detects something and district administrators choose to open that locker.

Mrs. Patierne also said that these searches would be conducted frequently at random times throughout the school year.

These measures should be implemented because our school’s safety is very important and will teach students how serious this situation is and how such dangerous things should never occur at our school. Students will feel more confident and safer because we are aware that the Guilderland Police Department and “Rocky,” the drug and weapon search dog, have it all under control.

In the past, Mrs. Patierne had

discussed a few incidents that had occurred in the past. She said, “ What has happened in the past should not occur in the future.” She explained how targeted school shootings are increasing. “In the 1970s there were four incidents of targeted school shootings, with the number increasing to five the following decade. In the 1990s, there were 28 targeted schools.

These terrible shooters don’t even realize how these awful scenes can affect others and the community. As these shootings occur the students are affected, there education is affected, as well as the fear in students’ minds.

In 2001, a Guilderland High School senior named Andrew Hernandez planned to commit a school shooting. According to Officer Ingle, Andrew Hernandez murdered his mother prior to his plan. Afterward he planned on bringing guns into school wrapped in an American flag. After

entering the school, Andrew would plan what people he would kill and use as hostages. He would then go to the resource office and would kill the officer because the officer had a gun. After that, his next step was to go to the roof and shoot the first people to enter the building. The event was fully planned but, fortunately, did not occur. According to Officer Ingle, prior to the shooting Andrew went to see a movie at Crossgates Mall. Later he surrendered and was arrested. Our school was hours away from a terrible incident, says Officer Ingle.

It is the district’s hope that students will feel happy, confident, and safe knowing that we have outstanding services that will help our school to be a safe place.

By finding weapons and drugs before incidents start to occur, Guilderland High School will be a safer place.

Photo courtesy Sumit Vohra/The Journal

March 2014

Hallways

page 3 (theJournal)

Students and teachers adjust to new rules

Continued from page 1 Vivian Dai and Emily Honen

He dislikes “the way that it was rolled out, and the lack of preparation and time the teachers and school personnel were given. They’re not as useful now as they could be. If you’re testing what students don’t know, you’re going to find out that students don’t know.”

That doesn’t mean that students shouldn’t try, though, because, as he said, “there are some things that students may know, and it’s important for that teacher to know what their students know...that can help their instruction.” And what many students don’t know is, contrary to what many teachers have been telling them, the pretest and post-test system isn’t just to evaluate the teachers.

“The concept of it is, to really measure student growth,” Mr. Lutsic said.

The system does affect teachers, however. “Based upon the student growth the teacher receives a score,” Mr. Lutsic said, and these scores “are accurate for what they’re reflecting and measuring. The students are going to show a lot of growth which is good, which is what should happen.

But...was that really an effective measurement?”

A more effective system, Mr. Lutsic believes, would be one in which the student’s scores are compared to those

from the last school year. It would be similar to the New York State ELA and Mathematics exams students take in elementary school. Mr. Lutsic realizes, though, that this would be difficult to do in high school, with so many different subjects and classes. “But,” he said, “that would be the idea, if we could have some exams that were given in previous years and give us an indication so we could examine past data.”

With all of these controversial opinions about the pretest, it’s easy to forget its evil twin: the post-test. Based on student opinion, it seems that the latter

is just as unpopular, though for different reasons.

“Post tests are ridiculous because they add so much stress to the students,” Jennifer says. “Some people say they prepare you for the Regents, but they don’t--it’s just another test that stresses you out.

And if you do badly on the post test, you’ll most likely not be the kind of person to study for the Regents anyways.”

On the contrary, Mr. Lutsic thinks the post-tests do have the potential to prepare students for the Regents. “It depends upon the type of test, it could certainly be one that does that.” He

Graphic courtesy of Ioana Sima

New course selection policies Emily Honen

Budget cuts, budget cuts, budget cuts.

Two simple words, tossed around so casually by GHS’s teachers and administration, that immediately leave a rotten taste in any student’s mouth. From downsizing classes and reducing the content of our lunches to letting beloved teachers go, these dreaded budget cuts are usually the underlying reason behind many grumbles and complaints from the student body.

Budget cuts also happen to be one of the prime causes behind the removal of

What is actually changing is that students will no longer be able to add or drop a class farther along in the year.

our school’s add/drop policy for classes.

This year students were told to choose carefully because we would not be allowed to drop them or add new ones.

However, what our counselors had told us about our schedules being completely set in stone from the moment we chose them this year to the end of the next school year was not completely true. The current official add/drop policy,

added, “[the teachers] also have the option of using the regents for the post test too…if it’s a class that offers a regents exam. Now of course there’s classes that don’t have a regents exam, so they have to make up their own post exam. But that is an option available to them.”

In general, post-tests have never really had the same venom-inducing effect on the students that pre-tests have, perhaps because taking them amongst all your other finals when you already know the material isn’t quite as irritating as being slammed with an unfamiliar test on the first day of school.

In recent years, with all of these changes in curriculum and testing systems, the education scene here in New York has been tumultuous and uncertain. Thankfully, we can look forward to less fundamental changes in the years to come. “There’s nothing that has come out that is an indication of anything that’s going to be any different,” Mr. Lutsic said. “Some of the exams are changing and things like that, but the actual process and procedures by all indications are going to remain the same.”

For students and teachers alike, it seems, this will be a huge relief.

which states that a student can switch out of a class before it meets four times, will still be in place. What is actually changing is that students will no longer be able to add or drop a class farther along in the year say, November or December.

What exactly prompted this change?

Well, of course, the main reason comes back to the ever-shrinking education budget, which means that not as many classes can be run as before. Amy Arena, a counselor, explains the basic reasoning behind the decision: “Counselors know how many sections of each class they need depending on how many kids sign up. What happens is kids get into the class and start dropping, and it all happens after the fact when budget’s already in and the classes have already been made.

This year, they’re gonna hold the line--if you get in an Honors class, you have to stay.”

When you look at it from a technical standpoint like this, the change to the policy does seem to make sense. Too many kids dropping out could mean sinking below the lowest possible number of students required to run the course (ten students is the minimum for a class to run)--while too many kids dropping in to a lower-level class is another problem.

Alonna Rudolph, our school’s AP U. S. History teacher, highlights this all-too-

familiar issue. “You could have a full AP course with 30 kids and only two honors sections. What happens is people drop AP and the honors sections are not available, so kids have to drop down to Regents,” she says. This change does come with its obvious faults, however-namely, kids not realizing the actual ease or difficulty of the class after it meets four times and subsequently getting stuck in a non-appropriate level. “Sometimes classes take longer to get into the swing of things and need more than a month to reach the speed they maintain for the year. If students are unable to choose then they may very well wind up in the wrong class,” says Amelia Schramm, a junior. Ms. Rudolph, though she does like to see kids challenging themselves, agrees.

“If students get into an AP class when they’re not prepared, they’ll be trapped in a level that isn’t right for them.”

Nevertheless, a bit of research shows that something had to be done. Many former AP students know all too well the annoyance of being forced to drop down to a Regents-level course after realizing too late that the AP curriculum was just too difficult to handle. Junior Gwyn Sofka is glad that the new policy crunches down on dawdling too long before deciding to add or drop a class. “If you stay past five classes then you have a lot to make up,”

she says. “With the amount of people in classes now it's not fair to take a spot in a class and then drop out.” Some are also glad that the new ultimatum forces students to think more carefully about their course selection. “All you need to worry about is picking the correct classes from the start, hopefully in line with teacher reccommendations, to make sure you’re in the right placement,” Principal Lutsic explains. “For example, we don’t want someone to try Physics Honors or AP Physics and then seven weeks in say “I don’t like my grade, I want to go down.

Our point is to try to get everyone in the right place from the beginning.”

What’s the verdict? Is this new policy truly for our own good, or is it just another tool to make our lives even more difficult? It appears as though while this new policy seems pretty rotten at first glance, that may be due to exaggerations on the behalf of well-meaning teachers and counselors who want to encourage their students to pick classes that are right for them. Will we still regret those choices and wish we could drop out by October or November? Only time can tell.

The Journal March 2014

Pop Arts

Five things worth wasting your time on: A guide to the best shows on Netflix Elana DeSantis

As the dreary winter drags on and the enthusiasm to leave your house grows smaller with every gray-skied day, it becomes time to give up on socializing and give into spending your Saturday nights in sweatpants, binge–eating trans fats and binge-watching Netflix. Here are some staff suggestions on what you should spend those glorious times watching:

1.

Story:”

“American Horror

I’ve never been a huge fan of horror (I’m a huge wimp when it comes to the supernatural), but this show had me totally hooked. There’s currently two 12-13 episode seasons on Netflix, and season three just finished being aired. The show is an anthology series, meaning that each season brings a new plot and same actors play completely different characters. Esteemed TV producers and AHS creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk deliver brilliant writing and cinematography along with insanely addictive storylines and absurd plot-twists at every corner. Absolutely NOT to be missed.

2.

“The Art of Flight:”

For many GHS students, winter means finally getting to hit the slopes as a skier or a rider. Whether or not this is you, anyone can enjoy “The Art of Flight”: a 90-minute long documentary starring Travis Rice, pro-snowboarder, and his friends backcountry riding all around the world. The movie itself is stunningly shot and some of the insane descents

will make your stomach drop. Anyone who loves documentaries, adrenaline, or travel should be sure to give this film a try.

3.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia:” I missed the first

week school this year because of illness and spent that whole week wallowing in self-pity and watching this show. The premise is simple; four friends in Philadelphia own a bar and hang out together.

Each of the characters is a certifiable horrible person and the crazy things they get themselves into makes for one of the single funniest shows on television. There are currently eight seasons available for streaming, so this one will keep you occupied for a while. Fair warning: Not to be watched with parents.

the show is hysterical, heartfelt, and incredibly relatable. In 2000, to shock and dismay of fans everywhere, the show was canceled after one season. Fortunately, the single 18-episode series is available for free streaming on Netflix.

5.

ation:”

“Parks and Recre-

Many of you probably know Amy Poehler’s NBC masterpiece, and this is more of a friendly reminder that you can stream five full seasons of it on Netflix than a suggestion to watch it.

For those of you have never seen the

show, Amy Poehler plays Leslie Knope, a woman in charge of the town of Pawnee, Indiana’s Park and Recreations department. Knope is a fierce as Amy Poehler herself and equally as hysterical.

Comedian Aziz Ansari and professional hard-ass Ron Swanson add to an amazing ensemble of a cast. Again, just a friendly reminder that you can watch all of this at any point.

4.

“Freaks and Geeks:” In 1999, comedy

legend Judd Apatow created the cult-comedy TV show “Freaks and Geeks”, starring young names to the likes of James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segal. The show follows the sibling duo of the Weir family; Lindsay, the older sister trying to get rid of her nerd reputation, and Sam, a freshman in high school and a certifiable ‘geek’. As corny as it sounds, Graphic ourtesy of Julia Unser / The Journal

Kidz Bop turns twenty-five Reza Sayeed October 9, 2001 is a date that has left a blurred line on the face of American pop culture forever.

On that historical date, record label Razor & Tie released the first ever Kidz Bop album, a whole one hour, four minutes and twenty-one seconds of “hit records sung by kidz for kids.” Tantalizing charttoppers sung by the likes of NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin and Britney Spears were covered by a group of superstars seemingly on the threshold of middle school.

From that one dreary October day, there has been, on average, a Kidz Bop CD released about every 16 weeks. In addition to the chronologically numbered records, there are the more exciting and exclusive compilation albums such as the romantic, A Kidz Bop Valentine (2007), the considerate Kidz Bop Car Songs (2009), which will accompany you wherever your travels may lead you, and the titillating, yet to be released, Kidz Bop Hanukkah (2014).

After ignorantly criticizing the franchise for years on end, watching a commercial for Kidz Bop 25 spurred me to give the music a try. The new album, as promised, was composed of hit tracks, some of which I am both familiar with and enjoy listening to. Surprisingly, some of the covers were not awful, as I even caught myself

playing Katy Perry’s “Roar” more than once. The cover of Bruno Mars’ “Treasure” had me bopping my head and echoing the lyrics along with the barely competent singers. However, some of the renditions just did not click with the voices of innocent middle schoolers, such as the covers of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” and Calvin Harris’ “I Need Your Love.” Something about ten year olds screeching and shouting about lost loves and passionate escapades didn’t settle well with me.

As trivial as the Kidz Bop series may seem, not all of its music is atrocious nor is it made in vain. Only two of the twenty-five original releases have failed to top the Billboard Kid Albums chart (which apparently, is a thing). “Listening to the original Kidz Bop was actually not cringe-worthy as I remember it. It was actually loads of fun for me because their articulate singing made popular songs easier for me to understand,” reminisces Michelle Xiong, owner of not only the original Kidz Bop album, but also the dance-along DVD, Kidz Bop: Everyone’s A Star!

The Kidz Bop franchise is one that’s quality and role are often overlooked and downplayed; it serves as a formidable gateway to pop music for the masses of eight and nine year olds of America.

Pop Arts

March 2014

page 5 (theJournal)

Awards Season Oscar Awards

The Golden Globes

Katie Gonick

Judy Min and Ania Alberski

As the holiday season concludes and 2014 emerges, all shiny and new, so do the brightest stars and celebrities that Hollywood has accumulated over the course of the preceding year. There was no shortage in talent in this year’s lineup of spectacular performances. Ranging from a moving historical documentary, to a nail-biting space survival, the nominees for best picture included films that intrigued even the pickiest of movie-goers.

Beginning with the nominees for best picture, some standouts were the wildly popular 80’s crime, “American Hustle”, with well known starlets such as Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Christian Bale nominated for other individual awards as well. Even with the scandalous themes and R-rating, people still considered the film a great hit and a worthwhile 2 hours.

On the other side of a comedy lies the dramatic, true story of Solomon Northup, as depicted in the movie “12 Years a Slave.” The film was based on a memoir, and participating actors and actresses such as Chiwetel Eljiofor, Michael Fassbender, and Lupita Nyong’o were nominated for their individual performances.

Prior to the awards, many people thought that Leonardo DiCaprio might finally win an Oscar for his witty performance in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The mature and crazy themes in that movie were not the traditional qualities of an Oscar worthy picture, but it’s definitely a new and refreshing twist. In addition, “Gravity”, a riveting space themed drama, was brought to life by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Not only did the film receive multiple performance awards, it was praised for its technological splendour as well.

As for animation, who can forget about Disney’s “Frozen” and “Despicable Me 2?” The new princess movie that had a fantastic sisterly love theme vs. the adorable minions? I don’t know how anyone would be able to choose!

Ultimately, the academy chose “12 Years a Slave” as Best Picture. Still, the Oscar nominations for 2014 brought a delightful mix of new themes and old history to the common movie junkie’s plate, and many of the films did win awards.

And with the fabulous Ellen DeGeneres hosting, any award ceremony would have to strive to top it!

Every year starts with some award shows with controversial jokes, amazing hosts, and some shocking moments.

The Golden Globes and the Grammy’s provided all of these things in just a few hours of being broadcast on TV. The Golden Globes, held on January 12th, were hosted by comedians, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler this year. The two ladies brewed up some inappropriate jokes every now and then, making the whole crowd laugh. However, one of the funniest moments, as it seems to be by social media critics, was Jennifer Lawrence photobombing Taylor Swift on the red carpet. The country singer later brought it up during the Grammy’s and claimed “Jennifer was making these hilarious faces and I was just doing an interview, trying not to mess up!”

Even with all of these funny moments, there were a few awkward ones too. When Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie were presenting the winner, the teleprompter messed up their lines, causing an awkward pause. Another eye catching moment occurred when P. Diddy went in to hug Bono, almost stealing a kiss. (Don’t pretend you don’t understand that reference.)

It was a very successful year for a lot of stars, who took home multiple awards.

Even the host, Amy Poehler, went home with an award for ‘Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy’ for “Parks and Recreation.” Alongside Poehler, Jennifer Lawrence took home an award for ‘Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture’ in the movie “American Hustle.” The movie itself also stole the title for ‘Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical.’

Frozen, the Disney animated musical, won ‘Best Animated Feature Film.’

Another big award show was the Grammy’s, which took place on the night of January 26th. The show began with Beyonce and Jay Z, the power couple, singing “Drunk In Love” on a rotating

stage. The two were very happy on stage, and that excitement continued when Jay Z won ‘Best Rap/Sung Collaboration’ for “Holy Grail” feat. Justin Timberlake, and “Suit & Tie” with Justin Timberlake for ‘Best Music Video.’

Every award show has performances, and the Grammy’s had a few worthy to speak about. The new artist from New Zealand, Lorde, 17 years old, not only took home ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Pop Solo Performance,’ for “Royals” but she also performed that winning song at the show. Somemay describe her dancing as ‘quirky’ or ‘unique,’ but others comment as ‘zombie-like and creepy.’

Other than Lorde, there were a lot of great performances, one in particular that stole the entire show. Kendrick Lamar performed “m.A.A.D City” in a mashup with Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” which won ‘Best Rock Performance.’

During the stellar performance, Taylor Swift seemed to be enjoying waving her arms around like a ‘flappy bird.’

Speaking of Taylor, the 24 year old has won many Grammy’s and is the youngest artist ever to win Album of the Year.

However, this year was a bit of a shocker for the singer/songwriter! Swift, and her entire crew, hopped up out of their seats at the announcement of ‘Album of the Year,’ expecting to hear her name, but they didn’t. Instead Daft Punk took home the gold, and Swift was left with an embarrassing gif that will come back to haunt her self confidence.

With the beginning of 2014, the award season begins as well. The Golden Globes and the Grammy’s set a precedent for some amazing shows this year. Hopefully this year will bring more collaboration performances, big wins from our favorite stars, and hilarious moments on stage within the course of the award season.

Music festivals: a major epidemic Salil Chaudhry A major epidemic is spreading and there’s no stopping it. It infects hundreds and thousands of innocent people every year. Symptoms include euphoria, increased heart rate, and ringing ears.

This year, music festivals are pushing the limits of the word “fun.” Headlining artists, crowds, and locations are bigger than ever.

The concept of a music festival is crazy. Locate a field, put up a stage, gather some artists, grab some large-scale speakers and you’re good. Music festivals are all about fun and self-expression. People dress how they want, dance how they want and have fun how they want. Nobody questions you at these events and that’s what has made them such incredible events over the years. Music festivals have existed for over 60 years. Festivals were made famous by events such as Wood-

stock and the Monterrey Pop Festival in the 1960’s, with headliners such as Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, and The Who. Over the years music festivals have evolved, incorporating elements such as laser light shows, and silent discos (an event where people dance and listen to music using wireless headphones).

This year, festivals across the nation are covering every genre you can think of. Each festival has its own unique attitude and aura, specific to its genre of music. In the mood for electronic dance music? Check out the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. This is some hardcore dance music including artists such as Avicii, Tiesto, Afrojack and Zedd. More of a country fan? The Taste of Country Music Festival would be perfect for you. This festival takes place in Hunter Mountain, New York with headliners including Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. Personally, I

think festivals that blend genres are my favorite. Coachella, a festival in Indio, California includes artists such as A$AP Ferg, Chance the Rapper, and Pharrell to Foster the People and Bastille. Governor’s Ball music festival on Randall’s Island, NYC has a phenomenal lineup including Outkast, Vampire Weekend, and J. Cole.

Music festivals are good all around.

They help expose new indie artists to the public. Also, they never fail to create speculation in the music world about band reunions, new songs and new albums.

This year, the biggest buzz is around the reunion of the Atlanta-based group Outkast. Outkast, one of the most successful hip-hop groups of all time, was believed to have been finished making music.

However, this year they have reunited and are planning to play at over 40 music festivals in 2014. Famous for their song “Hey Ya” and “Ms. Jackson,” Outkast is

the cause of much speculation. Are they going to make new music? Nobody really knows. Nevertheless, fans of Outkast are buying tickets as fast possible.

Music festivals this year are going to be great. With a combination of fantastic music, great vibes and (hopefully) nice weather, 2014 is sure going to be a year to remember.

The Journal March 2014

Around Town Capital region nanotech gets bigger Luxi Peng and Max Chao The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany is renowned across the world as one of the biggest and best centers for nanotechnology.

It was started by one man, Alain Kaloyeros but as John Warlaumont, a former SEMATECH employee, who worked at the College for 5 years before retiring in 2012 says, “the field was already fertile.”

Kaloyeros came to Albany with a plan. Starting in 2004, he managed to get funding from both the New York government (a FERPA grant) and private sector company support to start the nanotech institute, a private-public facility used to benefit both parties.

“There was motivation for the government to start this facility,” says Clint Baltimore, CEO of Evident Technologies a private nanotech company in Troy, New York. “The capital region was facing the loss of high tech companies like GE, with local facilities, that were planning to move.” The grant to Kaloyeros and his idea was a way of keeping these companies, and their jobs, in the area.

The companies would get a brand new facility with state of the art technology, and the state would keep valuable jobs and employees in the area.

Companies now use the facility as a place to make technology smaller - small-

er than most of us can imagine. Starting in the early 1990s, micro-technology has evolved on a smaller and smaller scale. In particular, there has been an emphasis on making computer chips and other commercial technology smaller.

However, nanotech has endless possibilities that extend well beyond the sphere

Photo courtesy of

of commercial use. Nanotechnology is used in science like biology, for purposes such as helping the reconstruction of bones and search and destroys of cancer cells.

Evident Technologies illustrates the diversity of nanotech’s possibilities.

They are a project by project company, and have tackled everything from LEDs to biotechnology. Currently, they are working on thermoelectrics, specifically waste heat recovery, which could improve engine efficiency. “The basic idea is to figure out how we can maximize the

electrical conductivity of something while minimizing its thermal conductivity,” says Ballinger.

Because of the vast resources expendable available at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at UAlbany, companies have flocked all over the world to take advantage of them. With companies like IBM, Intel, Samsung, and a consortium known as SEMATECH, the college is thriving with business opportunities.

In the past year, the college has also managed to attract another technolog y powerhouse, Global Foundries. All Amy Guo of these companies have brought valuable business and jobs to Albany’s economy, and are slowly turning the capital region into a mecca of advanced technology.

“The company is a consortium of semi-conductor companies, IBM, Global foundries, Samsung, TSMC… almost of all the big guys, ” says Warlaumont.

These companies work together as a precompetitive research group, which work on things of common interest.

This is all because, together with the school, the pooling of resources allows all companies and individuals involved to

benefit. “It really focuses on relatively large scale of state academia… with industry,” Warlaumont says. The union of the two different sectors allows the whole thing to blossom.

For students who want to go into the field of nanotechnology, Warlaumont advised, “To be a good engineer, my personal view, is to have a combination of scientific background but also some business background.” As this field expands, scientists need to understand how their products can affect the industry.

Ballinger concurs. “Getting a degree in science or engineering or math, that automatically sets you apart as someone valuable because those skills and knowledge are really in demand today.”

He warns students, however, to not be narrow minded. “Don’t let your degree define you. I got my PhD in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan and that’s certainly not my job now.”

The progress of the college has attracted tons of companies, subsequently improving the status of the college.

This cycle of mutual benefit helps the Albany region, with increase in status as one of the US’s largest semi-conductor producers, and as the attraction of great academics that come from close relation to companies who work in that field. As Albany becomes a hub of nanotechnology, there can only be more room to grow.

Yeezus walks... into Albany Reza Sayeed and Jack Watson

An event took place in the Times Union Center on February 19, 2014, yet had built up it’s fervor months prior. This was Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour. Realizing that this could possibly end up being the event of the year in the Capital District, we bought floor tickets to the concert.

Getting there involved a lot waiting; firstly, shivering in the blistering Albany cold on a looped line circling the venue, being patted down, shuffling and shoving our way to the front of the crowd, and finally, the more tedious half hour delay equipped with teasing sound checks until Kanye West lit up the Times Union stage. The waits were accompanied by the question of the hour: “Who’s opening for Kanye?” Guesses were composed of the likes of artists Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean and 2 Chainz. But at about half past eight, thousands of fans in the stands witnessed a spectacle: Kanye opening for Kanye.

The spectacle lasted until the crowd’s cheering and the microphone’s blaring rang in our ears on the ride back home.

The first half of the concert featured an electric Kanye West behind multiple masks reenacting and galvanizing his latest album, Yeezus. The stage resembled a point reminiscent of pride rock, and a massive LED screen showing images, messages, and of course, Kanye West. In addition, the set had erupting volcanoes, artificial snow (for the performance of Theraflu, which included West rapping

from a raised stage, lying on his back) and a red-eyed monster. Every song had hysterical fans dancing and jumping, screeching and religiously chanting every note.

Anticipation had been building during Kanye’s masked performance (lady next to me pleading, “Take it off Ye!”) for the interlude, where the mask would come off and “Jesus Walks” would be performed. For this Kanye brought out Jesus himself, and the bearded actor demasked Yeezus as the crowd went ballistic. He then lapsed into the second half of the show, face bare, as Jesus retreated into the mountain looming over the stage. It was clear: Yeezus had risen.

Every song was performed vibrantly and masterfully but the nearly ten-minute performance of “Runaway” may have been the standout performance.

The hit from Ye’s golden album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, featured an energetic, child-like Kanye West. After performing the original album version of the song, he asked that everyone in the audience hold up their cell phones, as he crooned the catchy chorus of the song in acapella in front of more than a thousand bright white screens. To make the performance even more memorable, he got a synthesizer onto the stage and for a solid couple of minutes, the superstar tinkered with the sounds as if he were a toddler with a stuffed animal that says hi to you when

its thumb is squeezed.

The biggest surprise was that we came away with an impression not of the arrogant man seen on TV, but of a real, in-the-flesh person on the stage.

Sometimes it’s easy to see Kanye as nothing but the egocentric megalomaniac

Photo courtesy of Jack Watson

he’s portrayed to be (and tries so hard to be), but that persona seemed as fake as the masks he donned on stage that night. The second half featuring classics ranging back to College Dropout songs like “Jesus Walks”, presented a sincerely happy Kanye. The crowd’s echoing back

lyrics without a beat skipped made Kanye smile an honest and even humbled smile.

The Mr. West we saw was ecstatic to see his fans turn out in force, talking to the crowd and at one point ranting about the underappreciation of teachers and artwork and the overemphasis on sports and physical, tangible achievement.

Everyone packed into the arena that night could see that he was as excited as we were to be there, and it’s unlikely that anyone left the TU center disappointed.

The final performance was that of “Bound 2”, the viral hit off Yeezus and the crowd thirsted for a surprise stage appearance by Kanye’s celebrity wife, Kim Kardashian. Although we were not given what we initially wanted, Kanye introduced Charlie Wilson, the vocalist who sang the intro to the song.

Kanye kept putting on a show and the rampant crowd shouted the lyrics until Kanye went into the very final act, a reappearance of Jesus, to whom Kanye bowed down to. By the end, it was hard to even stand up straight due to the constant hopping and lack of space but the show was an exhilarating one; Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour stop in Albany made for a memorable event and left the stage shaking and the spectators buzzing.

Around Town

March 2014

Battle of the Burgers

Juicy Burger

page 7 (

Journal)

Five Guys

Andrew Fedorov and Jack Watson It would be a challenge to find a Guilderland High School student who hasn’t patronized the two most popular burger joints this side of Albany, Juicy Burgers (and More) and Five Guys. Everyone knows the ins and outs of a ten-topping, two-patty monstrosity paired with a raspberry fanta from the the coke “freestyle” machine (courtesy of Five Guys) and the thick, perfectly cooked masterpieces of Juicy Burgers, brought to your table and served with a A - Andrew: The burgers are actually extremely juicy, so it lives up to its namesake.

J- Jack: There’s what seems like an egg wash over the burger, as opposed to a five guys burger which is just an untoasted bun. Gives the bun a very different texture to it, though not necessarily a better texture. The burgers here are a lot thicker than the burgers at Five Guys, but at Five Guys you get two patties instead of one. There’s more surface area grilled the other way, but this way they’re like a lot juicier. Guess it depends on what you’re looking for.

G - Matt Gu: The fries are similar to McDonald’s sized fries, but they’re crispy.

M - Michelle: But they’re not too salty. Well seasoned.

N - Nick: Note that they bring the food to the table, and the waitress seems to be pretty friendly. They bring burgers to the table at five guys to be nice, but only the manager does that, and only on occasion. Here, it’s a policy. Another thing to noteright off the bat, juicy burgers has set burgers, ones you can get with things already on them.You can also build your own burger, but at five guys you have to build them.

J: As a side note, the onions overpower the burger a little.

M: Somehow it’s too fancy for a burger, you know what I mean? It should be causal, but Juicy Burger doesn’t come off as a burger joint.

J: The way everything is brought to the table, the ambient music, the carpeted floor- it all seems too classy for a burger joint. I like Five Guys because it doesn’t try to hide how gross a burger can be. You know the burger is kind of disgusting and that it’s really sloppy, but it’s good, that’s why you go there. Juicy Burger tries to break that and it’s... civilized. In an unsettling, depressingly suburban, and dismally uninspired kind of way.

G: How can you possibly put fast food and a sit down restaurant together?

M: I feel kind of restrained here. I have to be civilized.

J: That’s what I’m trying to say; the

toothpick. You may then find yourself asking why there’s a review of these two establishments presented here; we decided to take a closer look at what makes the two eateries great, and then pit them against one another. Instead of a standard review, we opted to go for a transcript of our conversation; we thought the informality of a conversation lended itself well to the casualness of how a burger place should be. In the end, we came to the conclusion

setting makes you uncomfortable with eating a burger how it’s supposed to be eaten. It’s like we’re going to be civilized anyway, but you shouldn’t make us. It’s basically an Arby’s that only serves burgers. At five guys it’s a bit more like a cafeteria.

A: These places don’t really feel like New York, you know what I mean? It feels like California, but in a fake way.

M: Exactly. I feel like an animal by having greasy hands right now. greasy hands right now.

We headed to Five Guys after eating at Juicy Burgers, taking a brief intermission to digest in between. At this point we’ve ordered and received our burgers and are just sitting down to eat.

A: The atmosphere of the place is like something out of the era of classic rock music. I’m sure that’s intentional, and the coloring is like a classic drive through with the tiles. The peanuts are awesome. The only other place that I’ve gone that had peanuts just lying around in bins like this was on the beach in Los Angeles. Five guys fries are really good too. The thing about the juicy burger fries... they’re the sort of fries you get when you go to a country club and order off the kids menu. Made to be different from fast food so people notice, but they’re not better. They’re significantly worse; that’s Juicy Burger fries.

J: Yeah, you’re right. They don’t take the skin off the potatoes used in the fries here, some are burnt, and they’re thrown in the bag, saturating it with grease. It’s kind of disgusting, but it’s the kind of disgusting that keeps you

that Five Guys reigned superior over Juicy Burgers, though each eatery has its own merits. Five Guys didn’t only have the best burgers, but the best atmosphere and the most sincere vision of how burgers should exist: simple, messy, homey, and supremely informal. There’s something almost undefinable about the place that makes it great, something that Juicy Burgers doesn’t have, and we set it as our mission to pinpoint exactly what that essence is.

coming back. It’s sincere. My hands are covered in fry grease but I’m ok with that. The onions aren’t as strong as they were at Juicy Burgers. Less overpowering.

G: At juicy burgers the onions are really strong, but the onions were underneath the burger; the ordering of the stacking was significantly different.

[Nick, our local burger enthusiast, was employed at Five Guys during the summer of 2013] N: You have to stack it a certain way.

So most of the time condimentsketchup, mustard, mayo- go on the bottom... If you specifically ask for a condiment, it goes on both the bottom and top of the burger. You always have five pickles, and you can have onions- but grilled onions are always on the bottom. On the top is lettuce, tomatoes, things like that. Big things on top, small things on bottom.

There’s a method to how the burgers are stacked.

J: The cheese is adhering to the tinfoil.

The presentation is a lot different, with five guys being almost deliberately crude in their packaging. The cheese reminds me of kraft singles, but it the flavor is much better.

G: It feels more classic than the plasticy taste of a kraft single. Adds to the 50s diner feel of the place.

A: Less preten-

tious and more cool.

J: It’s rough around the edges but it’s classic. Makes you feel at home, even though we’ve only ever really seen an actual diner like Five Guys is modeled after on TV or in books.

A: The atmosphere reminds me of Nighthawks, the famous painting of a diner at night. You have to remember, though, that there’s still plastic beneath the tiles; it’s not entirely sincere.

J: Suspension of disbelief. With every themed restaurant that’s what you do.

A: Right, exactly. They’re not telling you a bad story. Juicy burger starts with the burger and then tries to make it classier, right? Five Guys does something similar, but it starts with solid food; they’re trying to sell the food, not the image. You know what?

I’ll say it: rich people food, and then attaches the trappings of like, you knowJ: Middle America.

A: Yeah.

Photos courtesy of Lucas Balzer

Food

Isaac Malsky

It’s difficult to see how nachos are part of a healthy lunch. With Tostitos chips and vibrant orange liquid cheese, it’s far from a home cooked meal. However, at Guilderland High School, they’re one of the most popular things that the cafeteria sells.

Industrializing school lunch has many benefits: hundreds of thousands of meals are served every year, prices are reduced, and the safety of the food is guaranteed.

However, the benefits often come at the cost of flavor and nutrition.

Part of the responsibility for the industrialization of school lunches lies with the Federal and State Guidelines for school food. In recent years, the rules become far more stringent. In 2010, the USDA issued the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.” The act, a continuation of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, issued new mandatory guidelines for any schools that wanted federal aid for low cost lunches. The program offered free or reduced cost lunches to 31 million children each day in 2012. However, the legislation also forced schools into the National School Lunch Program as they could not afford to subsidize the lunches themselves.

“The school lunch program for the district has to be self sufficient,” said Ms. Mossop, Food Services Director for the Guilderland school district. “The funding for all the school lunch workers comes out of the money that we collect in the cafeteria. That includes their benefits and health care.” There are 30 cafeteria workers in the Guilderland school lunch system, including 11 at the high school, all depending on the revenue earned from school lunches and federal lunch subsidies. “Some schools have chosen to go off of the federal school lunch program, but their lunches are higher in price because of it. Some schools have to charge between three and five dollars per lunch to break even.”

The necessity of sticking to a federally mandated school lunch program means that Ms. Mossop has incredibly strict guidelines when making the menu for a week of school lunches. For example, every day each lunch must fall between 750 and 850 calories and have a cup of fruit, a cup of vegetables, and 2 ounces of protein. This is all in addition to the Federal weekly minimum servings for legumes, dark greens, starches, protein, sodium, and fats.

If Italian Dunkers is on the menu one day, it means the rest of the week must be low in grains to avoid exceeding the limit. “Italian dunkers are four servings already,” said Ms. Mossop.

Linda Mossop and the cafeteria workers must pull

Food grown in farms is transported to factories that turn corn into corn chips

From there, moved to ce ized distribu centers.

Fight

off an incredible balancing act of adhering to the weekly allotments and finding what students will actually eat.

Since students prefer Italian Dunkers to brown rice and a certain number of lunches must be sold to pay for staffing, some healthy foods are off the menu.

In order to get enough food to satisfy hundreds of high school students everyday the school turns to food conglomerates like Sysco. The school bids on staples and then receives shipments that the cafeteria workers cook or assemble. A side effect of outsourcing lunch components is complete uniformity. Much like how a burger at McDonald’s looks the same anywhere in America, school lunches are rotations of the same mass-produced food. School lunches bought from companies like Sysco and US Foods don’t look like mom’s cooking because they’re not. And they never will be.

In addition to external pressure from government regulations, the school lunch program also faces pressure from students. Unfortunately, most of the time students prefer chips to water and curly fries to carrots. “So the dunkers are definitely one of the better lunches. I mean, you can’t really have a bad breadstick, can you?” said Senior Matt Gu. If a lunch doesn’t sell, the cafeteria can’t carry it. “Students won’t eat fish. In previous years I’ve served Tilapia but it doesn’t get eaten,” said Ms. Mossop. This problem is not unique to school lunches. Across the country fast food companies are competing against healthier options and the healthier options are losing. In cities like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, students boycotted the mandatory substitution of cups of fruits and vegetables as replacements for junk food. Unless the healthy options can be made as tasty as mozzarella sticks, teenagers will always choose the deepfried breaded cheese.

The New York Times recently did an article about the price of prison meals. In Florida, a standard meal costs $1.54. A standard kosher meal costs $7.00. Because of the increased quality of the kosher meal many prisoners are claiming to be Jewish in an attempt to switch meal plans.

The fact remains that there is no good way to make meals that cheaply. When food is seen as just another commodity that should be bought from the lowest bidder, the quality inevitably drops. No meal can be seen as just a price tag and a list of nutrients, whether it’s a school lunch for $3.00 or a prison meal for $1.54. Labor, ingredients, quality control, every part of food production is expensive, and should be.

At least for now, if you want a healthy, flavorful meal at Guilderland High School, bring a bag lunch.

, food is entralution

Photo courtesy of Pranav Nayak, Jack Watson and Isaac Malsky

Companies like Sysco then deliver huge quantities of frozen and packed food to restaurants and schools

The Journal March 2014

Fine Arts

Proctors brings arts to classrooms Continued from page 1

This type of approach is has been used for 15 years in Western, New York and has helped decrease failure rates and help kids pass the regents. A major goal of this program is to help kids stay in school and to pass. “The students at Albany High School are 6 points higher in the media works program then the kids who aren’t.” said Sheehan. There are also programs working with media after

could link their lesson they did it.”.

Sheehan and her colleagues at Proctors like to allow teachers freedom in the classroom to connect the arts to their lessons anyway that they feel they can.

There are so many ways to integrate the arts into education that many people are unaware of. “If someone said ‘Jeez, how could the arts possibly be relevant to history, or science?’ we say just let us show you, there are so many ways.”.

school for middle school students that run 3-5 and 3:30-5:30, Tuesday through Thursday at Proctors. Whole school districts can come to these after school programs or just individual students.

Student get to work in the media lab and the TV production studio located at Proctors. “There’s always something else we’re considering but those are two in-school and after- school programs we run now.”

Teachers might be skeptical about how to integrate arts into their classrooms in a way that is beneficial but also relevant. “Some of the things we do are send improv artists into the classrooms to show different ways to address the curriculum, we have teaching artists that are spectacular at connecting the arts with the class, whether it’s storytelling or history or a thousand other ways.” said Sheehan. A couple of years ago, Abram Lansing Elementary School in Cohoes did a full year curriculum tied to a end of the year final performance of the Lion King. “We did everything from African dance programs, to creating symbols, to creating masks and lots of storytelling, lots of reading. lots of research, any way a classroom teacher

The arts being intertwined with education isn’t just to offer a new approach to teaching or helping kids stay in school it’s about creating a good-natured, wellcultured next generation. “My passion is, on a global level that if people are involved in arts they’re better humans, they’re better people.

So keeping places like Proctors alive and all the other places like it in the world going I think is better for our humanity.” said Sheehan. “I really believe in the vision of [Proctors CEO] Phil Morris, he’s a visionary, he wants to ensure that all people have access to the arts above everything else and that’s how we build and grow and sustain places like Proctors.”

Through their education program Proctors not only aims to educate but also to inspire.

To help students and

teachers become passionate about learning while becoming better people. The arts have the ability to save lives and to make a difference to students, help them build a brighter future. “I’ve seen it change people’s lives and I’ve seen it make people come alive and I just can’t imagine losing gems like this to numbers. It will always be apart of our culture but I think the cultural part of the arts is what inspires us.”

Below: students sing and pose at Proctor’s summer Broadway camp Above: young students at Proctor’s summer Broadway dance camp.

“Spring Awakening” Gianluca Russo Each year, the University at Albany’s theatre department puts on over the top productions of some of best musicals ever written. This year, the UAlbany company will put on the Broadway musical, “Spring Awakening.” The production will be directed by Chad Larabee.

Spring Awakening is based upon the 1891 play of the same name, written

by Frank Wedekin. The show was later composed into a musical in the 1990’s by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, making its Broadway debut in 2006.

The show tells the story of some troubled teenagers, who set out to discover love, friendship, sexuality and rebellion.

The show has two leads, Melchoir and Wendla, who fall in love and become involved with each other. Their relationship goes steady until Melchoir’s parents send him away to reform school after finding out that Wendla is pregnant.

Yet, Melchoir is uninformed and does not know of his soon to be son. Meanwhile, Melchoir’s best friend, Mortiz, gets thrown out of his home by his parents and starts to feel lonely and useless.

After a failed romantic moment with his childhood friend, Ilse, Mortiz feels like he has nothing to live for, leading to his suicide. Melchoir and Wendla keep in touch by sending letters back in forth, until she finally tells him about the baby. Melchoir rushes home to be with Wendla. But when he arrives, he discovers that Wendla has died while having an abortion. Melchoir is deeply saddened by the news, yet he decides to live on and to always remember all the memories he had with Wendla.

The rock style musical does contain many adult situations, yet its strong message is one that can apply to everyone; life is too precious to waste. “Spring Awakening” is a must see show. University at Albany’s production of this hit musical will be on February 27-28, March 6-7 at 7pm and March 2 and 8 at 2pm.

Photos courtesy of Christine Sheehan / The Journal

March 2014

Fine Arts

page 11 (theJournal)

American Idiot Katie Lamar This past Valentine’s Day, a tour group of the Broadway musical, American Idiot, came to the Palace Theater to perform for one night only. This musical was developed from Green Day’s concept album with the help of director, Michael Mayer, and since 2010 has had half a billion viewers. The original production starred John Gallagher Jr. as the main character, “Johnny,” whose passion for life gets him into wild adventures and darker problems.

Although Green Day has recently released three albums, Uno, Dos, and Tre, the real hype has been centered on the 2004 album, American Idiot. Not only have there been a song, an album, and a musical about this, but there was also a documentary entitled, Broadway Idiot, which featured interviews and behindthe-scenes footage of the musical itself.

The 90-minute show featured hits from the album, including “Jesus of Suburbia,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Holiday,” while also adding some interesting songs from other albums like “21 Guns,” and “When It’s Time”.

Rebecca Tucker, a sophomore at GHS, discussed what the show was like, “I am a huge fan of Green Day, and when I saw the characters from the songs come alive on stage, I was taken aback. It was outrageous and exciting and everything

I had hoped for,” she vocalized.

In the musical, the main character and his two best friends, Will and Tunny, decide to hit the road in order to break free of their suburban lifestyle and find excitement. On Johnny’s travels, however, he meets a beautiful woman who he calls “Whatsername,” along with his alter-ego, St. Jimmy, who pushes him and Whatsername to shoot heroin.

Throughout a battle of rage and love, Johnny has to decide what is important and how to deal with his inner desire for drugs before he loses everything.

One of the more unique qualities about the show is the fact that since Green Day has been around as a punkrock band for over twenty years, the audience’s ages range widely. Fans of their earlier albums such as “Dookie,” and “Nimrod,” might be interested in viewing what Billie Joe Armstrong has up his sleeves in the 2010’s, while others might just well be pulled in by the flashy lights and rebellious feel of a rock-opera. Either way, the show has touched thousands of hearts and is sure to touch thousands more throughout the next few years.

Pops goes dancing for music fundraiser Josh Kahn On February 1st, the New Gym was transformed into a cabaret-styled concert atmosphere to hold this year’s pops concert themed “Pops Goes Dancing.”

The Pops concert is a one of a kind concert experience that dates back to the 70’s when it was performed at Farnsworth Middle School. All of the High School music groups performed and featured iconic dance music and embraced this year’s theme by featuring live, and energetic dancing. Each year the musical extravaganza is titled with a different theme to keep the repertoire of music fresh and appealing. Past themes have included “Pops Swings In” and “Pops Travels the Globe.” The whole concert was filled with popular hits that had audience members dancing out of their seats from start to finish. Several audience favorites from this year’s concert included Van Halen’s 1983 hit single “Jump” performed by the Concert Choir and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” performed by the symphonic band.

Every ensemble performs during the same concert and can showcase what each has to offer to the music department.

Pops is very different from every other concert performed throughout the school year. Tables are set up throughout the gymnasium and are decorated to

give the illusion that audiences are in a cabaret. The tables also allow audience members a unique and intimate way to communicate and socialize throughout the shows multiple intermissions.

This event is especially meaningful to the music groups because it is the one opportunity where every ensemble performs during the same concert and can showcase what each has to offer to the music department. Pops is the largest yearly fundraiser for The Guilderland Music Parents and Friends Association, a non-for-profit organization that supports musicians across the district by supporting everything from elementary assemblies to guest clinicians and scholarships that are granted to graduating seniors. Overall, the impact that Pops has on the students is undeniably constructive to their career as high school musicians.

Putting on a concert such as Pops every year takes a lot of commitment and effort from both music teachers and students. One of the first steps in preparation is deciding a theme. “Every year, music teachers get together and think about types of music that is possible for the ensembles,” said Lori Hershenhart, the district’s music supervisor. Rae Jen Teeter, director of Concert choir was thrilled to hear about this year’s theme.

“I was excited because it leaves a lot of interpretation and a wide variety of repertoire.” Students in the Tri-M music honor society help set up the gymnasium alongside other committed musicians. Committees of students decide on

decorations and the dress for all of the performers. “It is pretty much student driven.” Lori ads.

Pops Goes Dancing was a huge success for both the music department and the Guilderland Music Parents and Friends Association. The student’s enthusiasm for music and hard work was clearly expressed throughout the evening.

“Pops is ver y im-

portant to me because I get to share the love I have for music with the audience, and us as a department get to show all of our family and friends what kinds of things we do and all of the amazing things we learn.” Eliana Rowe concludes.

Journal March 2014

Opinions Should marijuana be legalized?

Isaac Malsky

Pro

If there’s any one man who could be considered the catalyst for the medical marijuana movement, it would be Lester Grinspoon. In the 1960’s, the tension between conservatives and counterculture liberals was at its peak.

However, Grinspoon had other issues to worry about. His oldest son was dying of cancer. Out of options and encouraged by his friend the famed scientist and frequent recreational drug user Carl Sagan, Lester Grinspoon decided to give his son cannabis to help with the side effects of cancer treatment. The decision went against everything that he had learned about the dangers of cannabis as a doctor. After studying marijuana Grinspoon found little empirical evidence of the dangers he had grown up hearing and published “Marihuana Reconsidered,” publicly releasing his changed opinion.

Over the last year, several states have made headway decriminalizing marijuana to varying degrees. However, once all the smoke has cleared, little has changed. Marijuana is still considered a schedule one drug by the federal government, America is still entrenched in the same arguements that it was split over forty years ago, and Politicians and voters constantly argue over legalization, while those who really need treatment go without.The moral implications of taking a mind altering drug are complex. The real, physical benefits that some chemotherapy patients get from marijuana are not. Some people may be tired of hearing the same debate for the hundredth time. However, as long as the US government outlaws a drug with medicial uses, thousands of people are deprived of a higher quality of life.

By outlawing marijuana on a federal level, the US government creates unnecessary legal hoops that any scientist hoping to study the drug must jump through. In addition, the government is deprived of taxation revenue by criminalizing the drug. Obama famously said that federal government has bigger fish to fry than pot smokers, yet has approved more crackdowns on medical marijuana dispensaries than any other president. Instead of a wealth of studies about the possible uses and detriments of marijuana, the reserves of research are suprisingly poor. Instead of classes in high school that aim to educate and inform, cannabis is grouped with heroine and cocaine as a scare tactic. Where there should be openness and clarity, there are biases and hidden intentions.

Many high school students see the lack of consensus over the effects of marijuana as proof that it is harmless.

However, this hides the fact that marijuana is a drug. Addictive, mind altering, and possibly damaging to the cognitive development of young adults. However, the fact remains that teenagers do smoke. Similarly, teenagers binge-drink, despite alcohol being illegal for minors.

Outlawing a drug doesn’t stop consumption. In fact, by outlawing marijuana the government indirectly creates a black market that has no qualms selling to teenagers. Every year students drop out from high school or get in trouble with police from problems that arise from small amounts of pot. On a larger scale, the war against drugs has led to America imprisoning more people than any other country in

the world.

Enf orcing outdated drug laws forces Courtesy of students into the penal system, waste taxpayers money, and gives money to cartels. America is losing the war on drugs, and non-violent drug users, students, and taxpayers are paying for it.

It’s clear that the negative effects of trying to criminalize marijuana far outweigh the benefits. States are slowly adopting the same logic, and legalizing or decriminalizing it one by one.

However, before any substantial change can be made, the federal government needs to remove marijuana from its schedule one drug list. The arguments for medical vs. recreational legislation can come later, once more research is done and the long term effects are better know. For now, baby steps.

Edmund Doyle

Con

Recently, Colorado and Washington State have moved to legalize recreational marijuana and stoners everywhere are rejoicing. Many people believe that these legalizations herald the dawn of the age of weed and that other states will follow suit. Nevertheless, Marijuana remains illegal under federal law and so any further action to legalize weed will likely be a long time in coming.

As far as things go, it is fortunate that weed is still considered unlawful by the federal government. No matter what people say about marijuana compared to other drugs, weed is still a dangerous. It is a hallucinogen that messes with the brain and can have unforeseen and unpre-

dicta b l e c o n s e quences. It can Ioana Sima act as a gateway drug, cause paranoia, depression, short-term memory loss and a host of other problems.

In addition to the ubiquitous health arguments against various drugs, there are several others reasons why legalizing marijuana is not a good idea.

First of all, legalizing marijuana on a grand scale would legitimize marijuana. Millions of ordinary people who would never try an illegal drug would be tempted to try Weed. This by itself is not so bad, but the growth of the pot industry would create a prominent political force, reminiscent of big tobacco.

As an industry, Marijuana dealers and producers would lobby to reduce funding for health organizations that could expose the dangers of weed. Furthermore, pot leaders would try to expand their businesses by legalizing other, far more

dangerous, drugs.

Allowing an industry to exist that thrives on the vices of others is never a good idea and it insures that the public health will not be served. The retailers of Marijuana, like the tobacco dealers, are well aware that the product they sell is not good for their customers.

They, however, are more concerned with money than with the well being of their fellow man. The very idea that our government would allow such an uncaring industry to take advantage of the people is deplorable.

Furthermore, allowing a generation of people to become Marijuana users is a terrible idea. Creating a culture in which mind altering drugs are used and accepted could have grave repercussions on our society and our perception of the dangers of other drugs such as cocaine and heroine.

It is true that other drugs may be legalized as a result of Marijuana’s legalization. Right now, most people, even proponents of Marijuana legalization would scoff at the idea and point out that Marijuana is different from other drugs. However, if the public gets a taste of pot and likes it, the publics’ opinion toward other drugs could quickly change, causing a huge push to legalize other, worse drugs.

A substantial number of people in a society that has legalized recreational drugs could become dependent on drugs and overuse would cause people to become less productive, be tardy to work or school and simply care less about life, a phenomenon known as amotivational syndrome. Marijuana, specifically, can also reduce a person’s ability to learn and decrease the power of their memory.

Ultimately, Marijuana is a dangerous drug, perhaps not as dangerous as cocaine or heroine, but definitely not ready for the mainstream. The dangers of weed, as outlined above are many, and there could be even more that we have not yet discovered. Pot is not a drug for the American public nor really is it a drug for anyone. To legalize marijuana and give it the stamp of legitimacy it does not deserve would be foolhardy; there is little gain (pleasing a few stoners) and so much to lose.

Questions, comments or complaints? Send an email to The Journal at theguilderlandjournal@gmail.com

March 2014

Opinions

The infinite value of the ephemeral

page 13 (theJournal)

Andrew Fedorov

“He who has seen the present has seen everything” - Marcus Aurelius Once, when a cruise ship I was on was leaving a particularly beautiful port I was standing on the highest landing in an attempt to avoid the crowd of observers and a fellow cruiser came up next to me. He was looking through a camera lens, for the whole of the twenty minutes that it took for the sun to sink and the port to disappear. Not once did he remove the camera from his eye. He had observed and recorded but not truly experienced. He was recording what was quickly becoming the past for the sake of the future, forgetting the present. As we get older we start losing touch with the tones of tomorrow and as our neural synapses decay we lose our memory. If we keep looking backward and forward we will never know what it means to be somewhere. The preceding and succeeding moments may sink into neverness.

The present does not fade.

A little voice hiding in the back of

my mind objects, “but if we look in all temporal directions will we not have more?” In each moment, no matter how short, there are as many portions, gradations, and shades as there are in all of time. Each moment is of infinite value, quite literally, because it has an infinite number of points(if you need proof check out Bolzano’s geometric proof of infantesimals). These contained infinities contain an unquantifiably greater amount of beauty than the boundless infinities because those, though equally unimaginable, are not counter-intuitive.

Observing a contained infinity is like picking up a vase feeling the bottom and then looking in and discovering that it contains a universe of equal magnitude to our own. This vase in it’s seemingly impossible endlessness will be endlessly intriguing.

A few weeks ago, on the night of January 19th, flames engulfed the small Norwegian village of Laerdalsoyri. The small village full of unique wooden buildings had faced down the relentless

tide of time and stood essentially unaltered for centuries. Firefighters were unable to save it and Laerdalsoyri ceased to be a tourist destination and became a stark reminder that, no matter how long we survive, each of us will be swallowed by the flames of history and that each of us will catch an echo of the whisper originally directed at the Roman charioteer: “remember, thou art mortal.”

After a recent week long trip during which I missed quite a bit of school I found out how easy it was to disappear.

Upon returning I felt slightly out of place. I had lost the rhythms of my quotidian existence, life had gone on without me, and my position in it had faded. Yet, it wasn’t the fading out that bothered me most, it was the observation of the tenuous nature of our relationships to our roles; the realization that it is so easy to fade. We’re all ghosts trying to grasp solidity. It can be said that Marx’s fundamental assumption was that man wants to be free but, if we consider man’s actions from the perspective of those

me eligible for scholarships, and it lets me come off as a well-rounded candidate wherever I’m applying. What it comes down to: the forced volunteer work is for a noble cause and the club’s vision is good, but in practical application the entire thing falls apart. Forcing a quarter of the senior grade into a room and telling us to go forth and do justice is not as practical as it sounds on paper.

The kids who would volunteer without the threat of a call to their college of choice will volunteer anyway; the individuals who do it just to comply with NHS standards probably aren’t doing it very well, or aren’t volunteering at all. Out of 46 honors society members polled, 22% said they have fabricated volunteer hours, 41% said they’ve signed in and then left a meeting, and 93% said that padding their college resume was the sole reason for participating. In short, a club that forces individuals to be altruistic is completely the opposite.

So here’s a proposal: don’t record your volunteer hours. Volunteer as much as you can, but do it because you care for the community and those less fortunate than yourselves, not because you need a

signature on a sheet.

The actual motivation for honors society membership is a pretty significant obstacle to realization of the club vision, though another roadblock is the perceived state of the members of the club; the official NHS informative pamphlet says that NHS members “uphold principles of morality and ethics” and “exercise influence on peers in upholding school ideals.” In the same poll as before, 52% of members said they’ve tried illegal drugs or alcohol, and 41% said they have cheated on a test. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with those statistics, as every kid makes a few mistakes, that’s out of the top of the senior class, and there’s a huge discrepancy between what the actual makeup of National Honors Society is (people with a 90 GPA and minimal volunteer hours) and what it says it is. From personal experience, the majority of NHS students are ambitious, creative, and generally good kids, but the club is not a platform where they can show their true potential. The message is not that the bar is too low; the message is that the bar has qualifications and labels which are misaligned with the students

NHS: good deeds for wrong reasons Jack Watson

About a hundred kids sit in plastic chairs facing towards a windowless side of a large room. There are several flimsyplastic tables set up which the chairs are aimed at and the floor is carpeted in a flecked-grey print that’s optimal for hiding stains. A woman who has run the chapter for the past few years is addressing us, with nine elected club officers sitting in equally plastic chairs at the table. This is probably the tenth or eleventh meeting of the year, and her speech reminds us that we’re here not to get into college, but because we’re natural leaders in the community, altruistically driven, and generally honorable.

We worked very hard to be able to dot our initials on sign in sheets and sit in these easily stackable chairs, but you can’t help but think that something is missing; when everyone is under threat of expulsion, the premise of a club that promotes altruism loses its very essence.

What I’m trying to get at here is that National Honors Society exists so that I can go to college. It looks good on college applications, it fills one of the Common App’s activity slots, it makes

Man is striving to integrate into the present in order not to fade.

conscious of the ease of fading, man will only accept the illusion of freedom and truly wants to be trapped and anchored to a certain set of circumstances; man is striving to integrate into the present in order not to fade.

Soon many of us will be graduating from Guilderland and it is beginning to dawn on us how brief the time we have left is and how fast we are fading.

Many of us are focused on college and the future, many on reminiscing about the preceding years, but I find that the most joyous and beautiful moments are those where we finally find the focus to face the sublime environs of the now.

of any high school anywhere in America.

What NHS is trying to do - encourage kids to volunteer and take part in their community - is a great thing for kids to be doing. Volunteering is fulfilling, productive, and I’ve made some long-lasting friendships working in nursing home kitchens and raking the elderly’s lawns and tearing up collapsing floors in rural little towns and handing out chickens at church fundraisers. But the forced, because-I-said-so method of community service is not the right appendage to carry out these kinds of projects with. Volunteerism speaks for itself, and the existence of an organization that forces volunteerism is a touch ironic. Altruism can’t be learned by telling people to do good things because of a looming threat or fall from grace. The Tawasentha chapter of the National Honors Society is well intentioned, but it’s not the morally just vessel of dogooding that it makes itself out to be.

Bullies announce new No Child Left Behind Act Isaac Malsky Following years of decreased reports of bullying and intimidation in high schools across the country, the nation’s bullies announced the No Child Left Behind Act, their framework for bipartisan education reform that will leave no child unharassed, no matter how small.

“It has come to our attention in recent months that students in primary and secondary schools feel safe and comfortable when in school. That is unacceptable,” said Billy Roberts, chairman of Bullies for America and senior at JFK High School.

a satire

“It is our responsibility to ensure that even the neediest of children are not overlooked for swirlies,” Mr. Roberts continued. “Some students do not even know what the inside of a toilet bowl looks like.”

According to international observers, the decrease in bullying may be due to a variety of factors, from parental involvement to teacher intervention.

Bullies for America maintains there are few easy solutions to the problem. As conditions in public schools improved, The BfA issued fliers urging parents to skip PTA meetings and take up binge

drinking for the sake of their kids. “It really undermines our efforts to bully every student to their fullest when they have a healthy home environment,” said Mr. Roberts.

The latest statistics show that not only are national rates for bullying dropping, but that in suburban areas kids actually stay at school longer than necessary for clubs. Brendan Lockhart, a spokesman for BfA and long time bully, vehemently denied the rumors, citing “your mom” and “shut up ugly.”

These startling changes in bullying tendencies across the country will

have tangible effects across the country in coming years. As of press time, bullies from the across the nation were considering new, more efficient harassment methods such as standardized insults and a focus on body image problems.

In an effort to make the world a worse place, BfA hosted a conference about how to adapt to the digital age, or, as the official slogan went, “the future of cyber-bullying: targeted ads for targeted kids.”

The Journal March 2014

World and Cultures

Desserts from around the world Moon Cakes

Bill Dong

Ingredients: 100 gm plain flour 60 gm golden syrup ½ tsp alkaline water (aka lye water), 28 gm vegetable oil Fillings: 420 gm lotus seed puree/paste 6 salted egg yolks 1 Tbsp rose-flavoured cooking wine Egg wash 1 egg yolk 2 Tbsp egg white 1. Mix the golden syrup, alkaline water and oil well. Sift in the flour. Use a spatula to combine all ingredients. Knead into a dough. Cover with a film wrap and rest for 40 minutes.

2. Mix egg yolks with wine. If the salted egg yolks are homemade and freshly broken from the shells, the egg whites would turn opaque after mixing with the wine a few minutes later. Wipe dry the yolks with kitchen paper. Cut each into two halves and set aside. Roll lotus paste into a long tube. Cut into 12 equal portions, each 35 grams.

Roll each portion into a ball shape.

Set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

To prepare the egg wash, whisk the egg yolk with the egg white. Sift through a fine sieve.

4. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a

Peanut Blossoms

small ball shape. Cover a dough portion with a plastic film and roll into a thin disc.

Then take a lotus paste ball and poke a hole in the middle with your finger. Place egg yolk inside. Roll and shape into a ball.

Wrap and seal the lotus paste ball with the dough disc. Spray the mooncake mould and place the stuffed mooncake into the mould. Lightly press the mould handle, then remove the mooncake from the mould.

Transfer the stuffed mooncake onto a lined baking tray. Repeat this step to finish the remaining dough and lotus paste.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Brush the mooncakes with egg wash, about 5 minutes before removing from the oven. Continue to bake until the pastry turns golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Store in an air-tight container. The pastry will become soft and shiny in one or two days.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Xiong

Annie Walsh When my family gets together for the holidays, we all congregate in the kitchen, my aunts give their tips on how to make the dish just a little bit better, and my cousins weave in and out of legs to grab baked goods from the counter.

Peanut blossoms were the one dish that everyone could get involved in. These cookies have always been a way for us to spend some time together during the busiest time of the year.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the sugar, brown sugar, shortening, milk, vanilla and eggs in a mixer until they are just combined. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. In the mixing bowl, alternate adding the flour mixture and the

Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups unsifted unbleached flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup peanut butter 2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. milk 1 tsp of vanilla 1 egg Hershey kisses (one per cookie) peanut butter, and continue to mix until all of the ingredients are combined.

Add additional sugar to a separate bowl.

Shape dough into balls using a rounded teaspoonful of dough. Roll balls in the additional sugar. Place onto a cookie sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until they begin to turn golden brown.

Remove cookies from oven and place a Hershey kiss in the middle of each cookie. Once the kisses have slightly melted press down on the top of the kiss. Let cool and enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Annie Walsh

Controversy in Sochi over human rights Continued from page 1

Similarly, the Summer Olympics of 1980 and 1984 became matters of political contention. The United States, along with 64 other countries, boycotted the 1980 Olympics, which were held in Moscow, in protest of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. In response, the Soviet Union led a boycott of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Indeed, these tournaments were truly an extension of the Cold War. These Sochi Games were certainly not without controversy. Myriad obstacles

had the potential to ruin this opportunity for Russia.

Many people protested Russia's discriminatory anti-gay laws - including President Obama, who appointed a delegation to the Olympics that included three openly gay athletes. When Caucasus Emirate, a Chechen terrorist group, sent suicide bombers to a train station in Volgograd, a major rail hub which travelers must go through to get to Sochi, security for the games became a significant concern. And lastly, in the midst of the Olympics, the Ukrainian riots, sparked largely

due to the Ukrainian citizens’ distrust in their government's close relations with Russia, gained international attention.

The Olympics are a defining moment for the host country, an event indicative of the nation's present state. The Sochi Olympics were an opportunity to display a New Russia to the world twenty-five years after the fall of the Soviet Union; it was a chance for Russia to show cultural progress and modernization.

However, throughout these Olympic Games, perhaps Russia truly showed that it is reverting to the past. Close connec-

tions with neighboring countries, human rights concerns, and the undermining of the democratic system paint a portrait of Russia that looks more like the Soviet Union than a modern democracy.

When the fifth ring refused to open in the Opening Ceremonies, perhaps it was symbolic of deeply significant issues. Twenty-five years later, Russia is still struggling to become a modern nation.

Student comes to GHS from Britain Katie Gonick It’s clear that we all have our own ideas about British culture, whether we learned about it in history class or a museum.

However, no matter how much you think you know, it doesn’t top an experience such as living there for fourteen years!

Jasmine Tavakoli, a sophomore here at Guilderland, lived just outside of Bristol, England, until she was about 14 years old.

After moving to the US, Jasmine shared her thoughts on the climate and culture here, and how it compares to that of England. “It’s so much colder here in the winter, it was so much hotter in the summer. It was a mild climate all year round [in England],” says Jasmine. While

weather was a major difference, Jasmine also had to adjust to another major difference: school. “The whole schooling system was different and middle school and high school were grouped together.

Every school in England is required to have a uniform,” says Jasmine.

Adjusting to the structure of a new school cannot be easy, but try picking up totally new speech patterns! “When I was in England, everyone had the same voice, but here you can tell the difference between North and South, and places like New York City,” Jasmine notes. The different dialects caused problems for Jasimine. “I got mocked a bit in school,” she says. “I got points taken off in spell-

ing a lot. There are sometimes when I say something, and people might be like ‘what?’, and I would have to say it multiple times.”

Jasmine also shared with me what some people in England thought of her moving to America. ‘Everyone thought about the American Dream, the opportunity for different jobs, show business, and celebrities that are American,” Jasmine recalls. “People thought that if you needed medical practices, you would come here.”

A main part of Britain that Jasmine misses was the food. “I do prefer English food. I miss fish and chips and chocolate is very different.” Jasmine also remarked

on a tradition that pretty much everyone would do in England.

“Every Sunday, its a tradition to have a nice dinner, with roast beef, potatoes and gravy... It’s really weird to come here because no one knows what it is. There’s also not as much fast food.”

Jasmine has made a transition from Bristol, England to Albany, New York over the course of a few years. While she discovered the similarities between America and Britain, there were also outstanding differences that anyone would have to overcome.

Sports

The blowing up of a superstar Jake Hill

The fall from stardom was anything but graceful for Alex Rodriguez. Once thought of as one of the best players in the game and the player who had the most realistic shot at breaking the home run record, Rodriguez has now become just another face for the steroid era in baseball.

Rodriguez was the first overall pick in the 1993 draft by the Seattle Mariners and soon became a fan favorite for, among other things, his ability to hit lots of home runs. Soon A- Rod was a full fledged star, and by the time he signed his 10 year $252 million dollar contract with the Texas Rangers in 2000 (At the time the largest contract in sports history) he was widely considered to be one of the best players in the game. However, in his time spent with Texas and then the New York Yankees, Rodriguez felt the pressures of

being a superstar and the need to succeed.

Like so many players from that time, he resorted to the use of steroids.

From then on Rodriguez denied use of performance enhancing drugs, going as far as denying ever using performance enhancers in a 2007 interview with Katie Couric. He was lying. In 2009 a Sports Illustrated report cited Rodriguez as having tested positive for multiple performance enhancers in the 2003 season when he was playing for the Texas Rangers, the same year that he won his first MVP award. After the report was released Rodriguez admitted to the use of steroids from 2001 to 2003 while he was on the Rangers. From that point on Rodriguez started on a downwards spiral.

In 2010, the New York Times reported that Rodriguez had received treatment from a Canadian sports doctor, Anthony

Galea, who had been caught bringing performance enhancing drugs such as Human Growth Hormone in the United States. Then in 2013, it was reported that Alex Rodriguez had received HGH from Tony Bosch, who ran an anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis of America. Rodriguez was one of many high profile MLB players to be named in the report. Thirteen players received suspensions from this report, however Rodriguez’s was by far the most severe, totalling 211 games.

This suspension would have ended Rodriguez’s 2013 season as well as his 2014 season and any postseason games that the Yankees played in. As if the drama surrounding A-Rod wasn't enough after receiving this record length suspension, Rodriguez then decided to appeal,leading to a drawn out legal battle that eventually led to his suspension being reduced down

to 162 games.

The past couple of decades in the MLB have become commonly known as the steroid era. An era that has seen many of the game’s stars fall as a result of the use of steroids and other performance enhancers. None however, have fallen quite as hard as Alex Rodriguez. Many players have been caught and then admitted to it and it is soon an afterthought.

Rodriguez was caught, admitted to his mistake and then made that mistake over and over showing that he either didn't learn anything from his mistakes or he simply didn't care. Either way, Rodriguez is going down and he is going to try and make it as difficult as possible on everyone else involved in the situation.

In his attempts to save his reputation, all Rodriguez is doing is digging himself into a deeper hole.

Duke v. Syracuse: A new rivalry begins Kyle Levy On Saturday, February 1st, two college basketball teams known for their amazing programs met for their first match while together in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse, who was 20-0 at the time and ranked second in the nation, was going up against Duke, who was 17-4 and ranked seventeenth in the nation. This was the most highly anticipated game in Syracuse history. For Syracuse, this was their inaugural year in the ACC. This was a big deal. Their long-term rivalries with Georgetown and UConn were destroyed and there was no other choice but to start a new one with none other than the Blue Devils.

35,446. That’s how many people were at the game. The Carrier Dome, which is Syracuse’s home court, was sold out on Saturday. This was a record number. Fans poured into the stadium hours before the 6:30 tip-off. Syracuse students started camping out as early as two weeks before the game just to get close to front row in the student section. Clearly this was the most hyped up game of the season, and it surely lived up to it.

The short story is this; the Syracuse Orange beat the Duke Blue Devils in

overtime, 91-89. But the long story is much more interesting. Right from the start of the game you could feel the intensity. Players were into it and they were well prepared to make history.

Two excellent teams put on one excellent show.

In the first half, Syracuse had won on the defensive end. Duke wasn’t able to hit their shots and Cuse played at a steady pace. At half, Syracuse lead 38-35.

The second half was a little different.

Both teams were making their shots and both teams defense was slightly lacking.

No team lead by more than seven the entire game and as time ran down it just went back and forth. With less than a minute left in the game Duke trailed by three, but a three-pointer from Rasheed Sulaimon tied it with 48 seconds left. In that time, Syracuse was fouled twice and made three of four free throws. With only four seconds left in the game, Duke had on shot left. A deep buzzer beater by Sulaimon tied the game, sending it into OT. At this point, 35,446 people and the millions of viewers watching on TV were just in utter shock. They could not have asked for a better game.

Overtime was nothing different either.

The Syracuse vs. Duke game above, taken by Kyle Levy

Back and forth it went once again, until there was one minute left and Cuse was down three. But clutch free throws by freshman star Tyler Ennis and Jerami Grant brought Syracuse to a two-point lead with six seconds left. Duke was unable to get a good shot off and Syracuse went home victorious and ecstatic. This game was an instant classic.

Roughly 35,000 Syracuse fans went home screaming with joy. Their team broke their previous best school-record for best start in a season and was now

21-0. Later that night even more joy came to Syracuse fans. The #1 team in the country, Arizona, suffered a loss to Cal, giving Cuse a unanimous vote at #1 in the nation. Although Duke lost, they still moved up in the national rankings.

They went from #17 to #11.

As happy as Syracuse fans are right now, they have an even more important game on February 22nd. Cuse will travel to Duke’s home, Cameron Indoor Stadium, and have to fight to see if they are the true champions of the rivalry. Let the

The changing of historic conferences RJ Porter and Kyle Katlan Although the majority of the excitement for college basketball primarily comes in March, fans had a reason to keep their eyes out for their favorite teams before the season even started. Every year lots of schools switch conferences, but this year the amount of schools that moved is outrageous. Over 50 schools were involved in the 2013-2014 conference realignment, leaving some conferences looking brand new.

Some fans are not happy with the new alignment partially because where their team has moved, might cause them to struggle. But also, some fans are upset

with the destruction of great rivalries that were previously present. These included Syracuse- Georgetown and Kansas-Missouri. Although this allows for new rivalries to arise like the much anticipated Syracuse-Duke rivalry. Two of the best coaches and best teams in college basketball fighting for a top spot in the same conference. But, by the end of the year, who knows what other big rivalries will emerge.

Having three major powerhouse basketball programs (Syracuse, Duke and UNC) in the same conference has made it possible to have more exciting games before the NCAA tournament. Fans

in upstate New York can now see and watch top teams from the Southern part of the United States come to their area.

The Duke-Syracuse game scheduled for February 1st in may will have as many as 35,000 fans at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse is predicted to break the NCAA on Campus attendance record for this season.

Other advantages of having the realignment in the conferences is that teams that historically were in very weak conferences were able to join conferences that most experts consider stronger. This allows these programs to be judged in higher regard by the NCAA Selection Committee for tournament purposes. An

example of this is the Butler Bulldogs.

Butler was in the Horizon League for the 2011-2012 season and then switched to the Atlantic 10 for one year and is now currently in the Big East. Butler has shocked many in prior tournaments by making the finals as a 5 seed and an 8 seed.

The changes that have been made recently to the NCAA conferences are historic. Time will judge whether they make an improvement to College Basketball or not.

March 2014

Sports

THE RETURN

page 16 (

Journal)

After 18 months off, Matt Cerutti makes a comeback Trevor Laicha If you walk past him in the hallway you’ll know it. Standing at 6’5, Matt Cerutti is hard to miss. Most people know he plays basketball, but only a couple know his story.

Matt was a starter and second leading scorer of the varsity basketball as a sophomore. With his height and his level of skill as a sophomore, he drew the attention of many college coaches. But, in what ended up being the last game of the season, a sectional quarterfinals game against Bishop Maginn, he noticed a pain in his core muscle area, which little did he know, would be the beginning of what would be a yearlong injury.

Matt didn’t think much of it so he continued on to play AAU basketball for City Rocks. Little did he know he was progressively making his injury worse and worse. After a couple of weeks the injury became too painful to play with and he was forced to sit out the whole AAU spring and summer season.

Matt traveled with the team to tournaments in Florida, Georgia and Virginia, but was unable to play. Not being able to play in these tournaments meant missing out on a lot of great opportunities to be scouted. How great? Many players from that team are committed to play high level Division I basketball, Jamil Hood is committed to Long Island University of Brooklyn, Tyler Lydon is committed to Syracuse University and Elijah Burns is getting looks from programs like Georgetown and Kansas State.

Although it’s bad to miss those kinds of opportunities at least he’ll be back in time for junior season right? Wrong. Start of his junior year Matt was still hurt and was just patiently waiting to heal. December came around and it still wasn’t healed.

Since summer he went to six different doctors and most of them diagnosed him with a pelvic stress fracture, something that would heal with time. Since he wasn’t healing he continued to seek medical attention. In February of 2013, with his junior season almost over, a radiologist found muscle tears where his hip adductors attach, which aren’t visible in X-rays or MRIs. These tears meant one injury no athlete ever wants, a sports hernia.

Matt was recommended to Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia. Dr. Meyers has preformed successful surgeries on NFL MVP Adrian Peterson and MLB MVP Miguel Cabrera. In March of 2013, a year after the injury occurred, Matt had surgery on his left abdominis. In July he had surgery again on his right abdominis. Once he was completely healed and cleared for basketball activity it had been almost 18 months since the injury.

I asked Matt what it was like play pain free after so long. His response: “Pretty awesome. Every time I step onto the court I remind myself how lucky I am to be playing, after a year and a half of almost believing I’d never play again.”

He missed a lot of time to be recruited and to grow but he’s still in contact with college coaches. He also said that he is “really considering prep school.”

The basketball team loves having Matt back. In his first game back from an 18-month lay off, Matt had 12 points 10 rebounds and 7 assists against rival Bethlehem. On the season he is averaging 11.8 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game and 1.5 blocks per game. The team started the season 11-0 and has hopes of a sectional championship come March.

Photo courtesy of Deborah Simeone

Reaching out a helping hand with sports Taylor Disco Sophomore Gloria Zhao has lent a helping hand to others by starting her own organization called Dreams. Its purpose is to help shape kids’ lives in the Albany District. The organization provides people with an opportunity to make a difference and contribute to society in a positive way. “I started the organization because I wanted to help kids get the same opportunities that I have,” Gloria said. The truth of the matter is, many young adults in our community aren't as fortunate as we are and don't have the same resources that we have.

Some of the many contributions that Gloria, her family, and other volunteers make for the community include basic lessons for tennis and lacrosse, braceletmaking, drawing, and sculpting with clay.

Another unique way that the organization helps children and teens in Albany is through tutoring. Lots of these kids need help with homework because they don’t have the opportunities that GHS students have. Dreams provides tutoring for elementary through high school students in the Arbor Hill school area.

“Tutoring will help the children succeed in school, and after in everyday life,”

Gloria said. There is nothing as satisfying as contributing to a person's education.

Like any organization, Dreams would welcome volunteers with open arms.

Gloria has created a great foundation for those who want to give back to their

community. If you wish to benefit your community in the ways listed above, visit Dreamsalbany.wordpress.com.

Everybody has a dream, so why not help make it come true?

Photo courtesy of Vivian Dai

Above: The members of Gloria Zhao’s organization, Dreams.