We be clubbin`: opening day very successful

Since 1974,
Now Weekly
Niskayuna High School
September 12, 2003
Volume 30, Issue 1
We be clubbin’: opening day very successful
by Julia Napolitano
weather is always a gamble.
integrity are the only significant code
“I was impressed by the enthusiasm changes from last year. A conformity in
NEWS
Niskayuna High School opened its doors and positive attitude people demonstrated, grade calculating has also been instito 1,470 students last Wednesday, Sep- and in how they treated each other,” said tuted. Teachers must now compute final
grades using the district’s
tember 3, kicking off
“quality point” system, in
the 2003-2004 school
which quarterly letter
year with the traditional
grades’ point equivalents
afternoon Activities Fair,
of one through five are
which was in the newly
averaged together.
renovated ‘Old’ CafeteMany new students,
ria due to potentially
especially those freshrainy weather.
men who described their
This year’s Fair was
first day in the High
a general success with
School as “weird,” “overan
overwhelming
whelming,” and as freshcrowd of enthusiastic
man Richard Liu put it,
students crowding the
“confusing.” Returning
cafeteria. Approxistudents, however, still
mately 30 clubs were
have to grapple with the
represented at the
various classes being ofevent, many of which
fered this year, and difhad impressive booths
ferent teachers being asand candy intended to
signed to classes they
attract interest. Freshhaven’t taught before.
men and sophomores
JosephCarosella, for extoured the Fair first,
ample, is teaching the exwhile juniors and seWarrior Photo/Julia Napolitano
perimental German 1/2
niors attended assemSIGNING UP: All students had the oppurtunity to sign up for various clubs at the
accelerated and German
blies with Assistant activities fair on Wednesday, The event was held in the newly renovated Old Cafe.
1 courses, intended for
Principal
Thomas
Nicholson and Associate Principal Baldwin-Nye. Wetzel attributed the students to take before the district disShelley Baldwin-Nye, respectively; later, smooth opening day to a prepared build- continues the German language program
the upperclassmen had the opportunity ing and prepared teachers. “The stu- altogether. Nine students currently comto sign up for clubs while freshmen met dents really made the best of things.” prise these two classes combined. Enwith Nicholson and sophomores with As- With the opening of the pool and fitness glish teacher Rebecca Smith, who incenter impending, the administration structs the senior Sports Literature
sistant Principal David Wetzel.
Although the clubs’ sign-up sheets were seems confident that this year will be class, is now teaching English 10 Honors, and says she is very excited to bring
anything but empty in the end, many fulfilling for all.
There have also been a few changes her ideas to this new group of students.
freshmen later remarked that they didn’t
As chaotic as it was, the consensus
understand what the Fair was for, and made, though nothing drastic; in fact,
consequently did not take the time to this is the first year in the block prevails that the opening day was a posischedule’s four year history that it has tive one, Principal Rickert saying that
visit it.
Commented Richelle Voth, a 9th grader, not been altered from the previous year. he was pleased with “how students
“I did not get lost, the only issue was the “Evaluation is ongoing,” explained adapted to this year’s circumstances.
Fair...There were so many people; I wasn’t Nicholson, “but we’ve had positive feed- Judging by a more restless atmostphere
back to suggest that the basic schedule on second day activities, he and others
quite expecting that.”
are considering imposing a special schedSophomore Andrea Corrow agreed: “It is here to stay.”
Nicholson also emphasized that the ule only on the first day of school.
was horrible [occupying] that tiny little area.”
For now, it’s time to settle into that
In years past, the Fair has been held on the administration relies on student input,
front field hockey field. Though it was such as suggestions for an alternate Ac- wonderful time of the year in the presunfortunate that the event could not once tivities Fair setup should poor weather ence of good friends, promising classes,
again be held outdoors, students and faculty reign again in a following year. Regard- and the exciting extracurricular activicooperated with the understanding that ing conduct, dress code specifications ties that the student body has already
planning something dependent on good and a revised notification on academic embraced so eagerly.
2
News
September 12, 2003
The Warrior
New pool offers an aquatic wonderland
Swimming facilities will be useful to students and community
By Evan Ballan
Cogen, “[The
pool] is very
good for the
swim team.”
Students
not part of the
swim team are
also excited
about the new
pool, and looking forward to
the advantages it will
p r o v i d e .
Sophomore
B
e
t
h
Richardson
noted, “People
that ike to
swim can now
take a gym
class that’s of
more interest
to them.”
Starting
next semester,
Warrior photo/ Evan Fenroli
the school will
begin offering LET”S GO: The swim team makes use of the new pool. The community will soon have the
a
new opportunity7 to use it, too.
lifeguarding
physical education class that giving students a chance to come a lifeguard.
The administration is also
will make use of the new pool, learn the skills needed to bepleased with this addition.
Commented Assistant Principal David Wetzel on the pool
and fitness center, “It’s an
amazing facility. I think it’ll
be great for the community
use, but especially instructional [uses].
The pool will also offer activities for older members of
the community at various
times throughout the week.
Community members - interested in participating in swimming can sign up the high
school’s main office, where
swimming passes can now be
purchased.
The student body seems extremely enthusiastic about the
pool, and it is expected that
all community members will
put the pool to good use. Swimteam member Diane Collins
commented “The new pool is
beautiful, and the swim team
Warrior Photo: Evan Fenaroli
is very lucky to have it at the
SNEAK PEEK: A rare look at Niskayuna’s brand new swimming facility, soon to be open to the public.
high school.”
NEWS
Niskayuna High School’s
long-awaited swimming facilities were completed over
the summer. It is currently
ready for use. While the swim
teams have been practicing
there since the beginning of
the season. The eight-lane,
thirteen feet deep pool will be
open to the student body and
the community on September
15. The district plans to hold
a variety of classes and events
at the pool, including courses
in kayaking and scuba diving, as well as introductory
swimming instruction.
Although the pool isn’t yet
accessible by the general student body, those students on
the swim team have been putting the pool to good use for
several weeks now, and are
enjoying the advantage of
having a pool on campus. In
previous years the swim team
has had to travel to use pools
in neighboring districts. Said
sophomore and long-time
swim team member Stephanie
The Warrior
September 12, 2003
News
3
Niskayuna schools celebrate 50 years
Niskayuna Central Schools looks forward to year of celebration
parent today. Fifty years later,
NEWS many anniversary festivities
Niskayuna school district kicked off with the Niska-day
is in the process of celebrat- presentation, including many
ing its 50th anniversary awards, speeches, and a musithrough a variety of celebra- cal appearance by Studio Singtions and activities. These ers. “I thought Niska-day was
activities have ranged from a great way to let people know
the popular Niska-day pre- about the anniversary,” said
sentation to a fundraising golf sophomore Steve Chao, who entournament, with more activi- joyed the presentation this
spring.
t i e s
On August
planned
18, the disfor later
trict held a
t h i s
golf tournaschool
ment for the
y e a r .
anniversary,
M a n y
which raised
s t u over $3,000 to
dents,
use for scholstaff,
arships.
There
and adwill also be an
minisopen house on
trators
Logo
Design
by
Emma
Ladouceur
October
4 at
are exthe
high
cited about this event because
they believe that it is an occa- school.The administration is
sion to celebrate Niskayuna’s interested in getting students
tradition of excellence, and and faculty involved in upcomare looking forward to spread- ing events. As Nicholson said,
ing awareness of Niskayuna’s “The more involved the stumany benefits. As high school dents and staff are, the more
principal John Rickert said, they will appreciate the his“We are celebrating the high torical aspects of Niskayuna.”
achievements of the students To get the school and students
more involved, an assortment
andstaff.”
The celebration will com- of activities are being planned.
memorate not only today’s ac- These include a celebration of
complishments, but also the learning, a gallery display, and
history of the school district a concert featuring alumni of
since 1953. According to as- the school. The celebration of
sistant principal Thomas learning will give high school
Nicholson, the Niskayuna clubs, sports teams, and subject
Central School District was departments an opportunity to
created in 1953 after a com- showcase their achievements
mittee of 400 people met, rep- through hallway displays. The
resenting different areas, in- administration hopes this will
cluding parts of Latham, create more student awareness
Schenectady, and Clifton Park. and appreciation for the event,
These people wanted to pro- as many students are unaware
the
festivities.
vide a better educational envi- of
“I
have
no
clue
what
events
ronment and decided to pool
their efforts in order to create a are taking place because, to
new and improved district. The my knowledge, the school
five elementary schools of hasn’t informed any students
Craig, Hillside, Birchwood, yet,” sophomore Katerina
Glencliff, and Rosendale all Gross said. The high school
came together at this point. A administration has said that
high standard was set for the during the year they will be
new district, which is still ap- working hard to incorporate
by Sarita Upadhyay
student involvement into the
celebration so that students
will have a greater appreciation for the opportunity
Niskayuna schools give them.
Many members of the administration are very excited
about this event.
“Personally, it’s been a nice
exploration
of
what
Niskayuna is about and where
it is today. I’ve enjoyed seeing
the evolution of the schools
throughout the years,” commented Nicholson.
High school students are
strongly encouraged to recognize the anniversary and
value the wonderful experience Niskayuna has given
them. “As students look back
on their experiences, they will
appreciate the opportunity
they were given, even if they
don’t recognize this now,” remarked Rickert.
4
Opinion
September 12, 2003
The Warrior
Red books require green The Warrior
As the 2003-2004 school year commenced, students were surprised to learn
that the red agenda books, previously
provided free, would in fact cost three dollars. Furthermore, the packet that students received in the mail proclaimed that these red books
were required, and therefore
needed to be bought by all
Niskayuna High School students. While
students might not have had a problem
using the books when they were free, it
seems unfair to require kids to purchase
these books when there are other alternatives. Students might prefer to spend
the same amount of money, or perhaps
more, to get a higher quality book, or would
just as soon pass on purchasing the obligatory planner.
Furthermore, most homeroom teachers
were unaware that they were to collect
money on the first day, and almost all
students were forced to report to the main
office to purchase their book. It’s likely
that many students didn’t or couldn’t bother
with the hassle of reporting
to the office, especially for
new students, and the school
ran out of books by Friday,
leaving many kids bookless.
Lastly, this year’s agenda books don’t
have any passbooks, which were very
convenient and used often last year to
save paper by using the chart in the book
of the book. These books, however, didn’t
have this passbook, and cost more money.
Perhaps next year the school should consider saving money on the ice cream for
students, and instead go back to providing
free books.
EDITORIAL
Bush compromises on EPA
by Alec Wilson
OPINION
If there was ever a time
when one wondered about
the integrity of our government, it is now. One merely
has to flip on the news or
browse through the paper
to find the current political joke, also known as the
Environmental Protection
Agency. What makes this
seemly innocent agency so
despicable is its utterly
flawed motives and its unfortunate connection to the indisputably antienvironment
Bush Administration.
Of course this is not
surprising at all, given
that the Bush Administration immediately
started out by dismissing the global
Kyoto treaty designed to put a limit
to greenhouse gases.
The United States
contains about five
percent of the world’s population, but produces 25 percent of total greenhouse
gases. Now, one would think
that we, as such a major
polluter, would want to take
part in a global, environmental preservation campaign, but no. President
Bush and Vice President
Cheney, with their ties to
SMART ALEC
big oil companies and big
businesses, wouldn’t want
that, now would they? It is
also interesting to point out
that the Republican Party
has the most support from
Warrior art / Anjali Nirmalan
such major corporations as
oil, automotive, and power.
Statistics may vary, but it
is clear that they receive
the most money. Now naturally, they have every right
to represent the interests
of these companies, but
they also have the duty of
representing other groups,
such as environmentalists
and conservationists, even
though they may not contribute the million-dollar
check. Last time I checked,
we were living in a representative government not
based on monetary funds.
The Bush Agency, however, doesn’t seem to understand this, and has even
seized the opportunity to corrupt
the EPA as
well.
The
White House has
always had the ability to appoint several key
officials in many departments, such as security
and treasury. That
means that it has been
appointing several officials that represent its view, and
not the purpose
behind the EPA,
whose main mission is, “to protect human
health and to safeguard the
natural environment—air,
water, and land—upon
(Continued to page 5,
ENVIRONMENT))
Niskayuna High School
1626 Balltown Road
Niskayuna, NY 12309
(518) 382-2511, Ext. 351
http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/nhs/
warrior/
T H E S TA F F
EDITORS -I N-CHIEF : Tae Andrews,
Elspeth Edelstein
NEWS EDITORS : Jesse Conti, Leanne
Merrill, Julia Napolitano, Jeremy
Wolos
ASST . N EWS: Nate Staudinger
OPINION E DITORS: Kishori Rajan, Alec
Wilson
ASST . O PINION : Evan Ballan
ENTERTAINMENT E DITOR: Stephanie
Blair, Matt Larkin
S PORTS EDITORS : Jonathan Chow, Lisa
D’Aniello
ASST . S PORTS: Peter Chalfin
FEATURE EDITORS : Alice Lee, Anna Yu,
Kathryn Fantauzzi
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER : Jackie Nguyen
B USINESS M ANAGER: Erik Donhowe
W EB S ITE MANAGER : Brian Nevers
ADVERTISING MANAGER: Jonas Chang
GRAPHICS C OORDINATOR: Evan Fenaroli,
Brian Nevers
C OPY E DITOR: Abby Alger
ADVISORS : James Edgar
EDITORIAL POLICIES
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are welcome from all members of the
school community. The Warrior
reserves the right to edit letters
for grammar and length.
SIGNED OPINION ARTICLES AND CARTOONS express the opinions of
their creators.
U NSIGNED EDITORIALS represent
the consensus of the paper’s editorial board, which may not reflect the majority of the students’
views.
THE OP-ED PAGES are a forum for
students’ opinions and ideas.
The Warrior is published each Friday the high school has classes (33
times a year).
For a one-year subscription, send
a check for $25 payable to Niskayuna
High School to The Warrior, Attn:
Subscriptions, 1626 Balltown Rd.,
Niskayuna, NY 12309.
The Warrior
September 12, 2003
Opinion
5
High school reflections at start of year
by Kishori Rajan
OPINION
With one full week finished, the 20032004 school year is finally underway.
My fellow seniors and I have finally
reached our fourth and final year; a time
of college apps, senioritis, and, eventually, a long slew of graduation parties.
No more sneaking off grounds, or stealing coveted parking spots. It’s all finally
legal to exercise our exclusive, well-deserved privileges, and I trust you’ll abuse
them to the fullest. 291 days till graduation, but hey, no one’s counting.
Someone once said, “High school has
a lot to do with the beginning of life, but
it doesn’t tell you any of the rules.”
Looking back on the past three years, I
realize that there’s nothing that generic
about it. When we were little, we watched
DJ Tanner and Zack Morris live out
their high school years on those bubblegum sitcoms, and we became enthralled
with the idea of being that magic age of
16- an age of red convertibles, double
dates, and The Max. Teenagers were
happy and beautiful and rebellious.
Homework what? Academic stress was
completely outweighed by Kelly
Kapowski’s zit. The jocks were dumb
and muscular, and the nerds were perpetually doomed to droopy suspenders
and taped glasses (Whoever came up
with the idea that nasal snorting and
bow ties made you look brainy?) But
when I set foot in these hallways, I
eventually found that high school didn’t
always have to be the plastic cliche that
society often deems it.
Freshman year connotes that notori-
ous transition from tween to teen status, and the frosh have that unfortunate reputation for being naive, and ohso-gullible. I’ve heard of only one bigkid- shoving-little-
Warrior art / Michelle Lobo & Lizi Santillo
kid-into-locker incident, so freshman
take heart, and actually believe the
senior who directs you towards the
swimming pool. Lost in the shuffle be-
KISH AND TELL
tween the wide-eyed novices and
stressed out upperclassmen, are the
sophomores. And then, of course, is the
ever-important class of juniors- the year
of dress shopping, American history,
and the Old Cafe. Those famous wor-
ries, the SAT and prom, can seem to be the
be all and end all occasions of your life, but
when it’s all over, you realize how temporary and fleeting both events were.
So which high school stereotype are
you? If you’re not the over zealous cheerleader, you must be a wallflower loner in
angsty black clothing. The labels are ridiculous, and though there are always
those who somewhat fit the description,
limiting yourself to a certain group never
does prove much. The most cliquish and
shallow years, in my mind at least, were in
middle school, when lip-gloss, Fly 92, and
hormones were discovered. We’ve come a
long way from those sixth grade dances,
where there would be competitions over
who had the most body glitter on, and
which guy looked the coolest with a tie
wrapped around his head. I remember girls
actually screaming, yes, screaming, when a
slow song started to play, guys wearing sneakers with their “dressy” cargo khakis, and the
never-ending requests for “I Will Survive.”
Then again, maybe things haven’t changed
too much. But at least now, I hope, people
don’t feel that their social life is perpetually
doomed if they miss doing the Electric Slide
a couple of times.
Try not to put expectations on your time
here, because there’s no right way to live out
high school, and there’s no series of events
that will make or break the experience. This
is a short, short period of your life, that will
be over before you know it. The life at this
classic, suburban, rich school is easy to fall
into, and equally easy to hate, but it’s all
what you make of it. So here’s to a new
year, new experiences, and conformity at
its finest. Welcome back, Nisky.
Environment regulations questionable
(Continued from page 4,
Bush)
doing everything except
what it is supposed to do.
One can easily list the series of travesties that have
occurred. Starting a couple of
weeks ago, the EPA decided
to revise its policy on power
plants and pollution output.
The old policy required the
power company to update pollution controls at a plant when
the plant itself was updated,
the purpose being to cut back
on emissions. Power companies
obviously were not thrilled
about these regulations, since
pollution controls are gener-
ally expensive. The new regulations allow the power plant
to update itself without any
added pollution control, and
the upgrade can in fact produce more pollution than the
original. Somehow, this is supposed to entice power companies to upgrade and produce
cleaner plants.
The slight flaw is that the
people who thought of this updated regulation obviously
never did their elementary
word problems, or they would
know that more means greater.
Let’s think about this: power
plants are now allowed to pollute all they want, and this is
good for the environment because? Obviously the EPA
has been compromised.
And it just keeps coming.
They also recently revised the
outlines for the sales of PCBcontaminated sites. It is now
possible to buy a contaminated site, without knowledge
that you may inherit a cancer-causing piece of earth.
Although this is an unlikely
occurrence, there was even
less of a chance that it would
have happened before, according to some experts. Even the
EPA’s own scientists have
pointed out that air pollution
and current soot levels are
extremely elevated because of
output from cars and power
plants. The agency itself is a
complete contradiction.
Before we know it, we’ll
have oil wells in the Alaskan
Wildlife preserves, and Bush
will be logging the national
forests. And, of course, we will
have the wonderful EPA telling us all along that this is in
fact a benefit to the environment. If the EPA really has
no desire to protect our rapidly disappearing ecosystems
and wildlife, it could at least
admit it has no moral conscience and be done with it. At
least that would be honest.
6
Entertainment
September 12, 2003
The Warrior
Movie timetables make viewing difficult
by Stephanie Blair
ENETERTAIMENT
“I’m bored.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Wanna see a movie?”
“Sure. Which one?”
“I dunno. Let’s just go and see
what’s playing.”
Nearly all highschoolers undoubtedly have this or a similar
conversation at some point. Unfortunately, movie theaters seem
to be devoted to riddling our lives
with inconvenience. Inevitably, upon
arrival at the theater, one finds that
every movie with even an ounce of
prestige started thirty minutes ago.
Of course, they have given us a period of about 20 minutes of commercials as leeway...
The Regal theater (which is far from
“regal” in my book) seems to have
adopted
Niskayuna
H i g h
School’s
b l o c k
schedule,
wherein
m o v i e s
start at ranWarrior art / Kellyrose Andrews
dom times,
and all at the same time, making it dif-
ficult to find something to watch in the
seemingly infinite interval between
films. A mall with 30 theaters would
predictably have at least one decent
movie starting within half an hour.
As this is not the case, my moviegoing friends and I proceeded to
Latham Circle Mall, which has also
been crowned “Regal.” Well, of course
the same problem existed there: no
theaters played anything that would
allow us to return home at a time deemed
“reasonable” by our overbearing parents.
The moral of the story? Use
Hollywood.com, and never trust a selfproclaimed regal if you want to avoid
roaming around a ghost mall, eating at
ghetto McD’s, and having wars with plastic swords and machine guns at Kay-bee
Toys and Hobby.
On the other hand, I guess it’s not so
bad, after all.
Camp is a vacation from lackluster film
by Kellyrose Andrews
characters in the movie are tire camp dresses up as drag while portraying entirely difENTERTAINMENT diverse, not stereotypical, and queens for a very special cel- ferent characters onstage.
If you’ve been to the movies includes a drag queen, an ebration. This movie explores
The ever-so-talented young
lately, you’ve probably seen overweight African-American difficult teen issues, not just, cast
including
Daniel
plenty of films with storylines girl, and a number of teens of “Oh crap, I think I have a zit,” Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat,
that include the completely different ethnicities. Accep- kind of problems like you Robin de Jesus, and Sasha
predictable female
Allen, should set the
action hero kicking
standard for today’s
butt, or a very lame
actors in Hollywood.
attempt at a followNot only does the
up to a scary movie.
acting captivate
(Oh yes... Jeepers
you, but the impresCreepers 2). Fortusive number of munately, a movie is out
sical numbers are
that has redeemed
out-of-this-world. If
the industry. Camp,
that wasn’t enough,
the story of a musithe director gave opcal theater summer
portunities to undiscamp and its campcovered talent.
ers, proves to break
If you’re going to
the summer streak
go the movies, don’t
of terrible movies set
waste your money
by Uptown Girls
and see some predict(Brittany Murphy,
able teen movie.
enough said) ,Freaky
Camp is a great
Friday, (wasn’t that
movie to see and one
movie done like,
that your parents will
twice before?) Bad
approve of as well. If
Photo courtesy IMDb.com
Boys 2 (who wants to
musical theater is reSARA PLAIN AND TALL: Daniel Letterle stares into the eyes of Joanna Chiloat, who has
pay $9 to watch
ally not your thing,
been dubbed the “Plain Jane” of the film. She certainly doesn’t look plain in this photo.
“stuff” blow up?) and
and sports are, check
Letterle doesn’t seem to think so, either.
too many others.
out Bend it Like
Camp, unlike American tance is strongly celebrated might find in movies like Beckham. Or maybe do someWedding, is able to get laughs throughout the movie. For Clueless or Bring it On. The thing other than stare at a
without crude humor and instance, during the birthday teenagers who attend this sceen for three hours on a
“been done” teen cliches. The of a homosexual boy, the en- camp try to find themselves friday night.
The Warrior
September 12, 2003
Sports
7
Field hockey defeated in opening game
by Lisa D’Aniello
into the game, Columbia took
the ball away and nearly scored
again, but Vasko got it out just
in time. The first half ended
with the score still tied, 0-0.
After managing to keep the
score even throughout the first
half, Niskayuna started to lose
some strength. Senior Ashley
Mayo displayed strong offense
skills, but Columbia’s defense
refused to be deterred. Their
offensive line brought the ball
up and scored nine minutes
into the second half, despite
good defense by Sail, senior
Hannah Adams, and senior
goalie, Lisa DiCocco. Five minutes later, Columbia scored another goal and Niskayuna called
Warrior photo / Lisa D’Aniello
a time-out. When the game re- VASKO DA GAMER: Senior Katie Vasko and junior Chelsea Mayo show
sumed, Columbia immediately Columbia how to play defense.
made a shot on goal but DiCocco then managed to beat them in day, also known as “Senior Night”
returned with a great save. How- their second match of the season, for the field hockey team. The
ever, Columbia took possession of with a score of 2-1. The Warriors starting line consisted of twelfth
the ball again and scored two more plan on doing the same this year. graders, and at halftime, they were
goals within four minutes of each
Wednesday night’s game fol- recognized with flowers and got
other. Niskayuna called a time- lowed with a home game on Satur- photos taken. The game, against
out with nine minutes remaining, day against Bethlehem. Although Scotia-Glenville, brought in a 7-1
and it proved to be helpful as the two goals were scored in win for the team, with junior Jenteam managed to hold its com- Bethlehem’s favor after the first nifer Sullivan scoring two goals,
petitors off for almost the rest of thirteen minutes, Niskayuna held juniors Allison Lynch and
the game. Yet, with nineteen sec- them off after that. Baldwin had Stephanie Bomeisl each scoring
onds left, the Columbia team man- the honor of scoring the first one, and senior Traci Baldwin scoraged to sink one more shot into the Niskayuna goal of the season, off ing one and senior Kati Kenyon
goal, bringing the score to 5-0, in an assist by Mayo. Unfortunately, scoring one.
Last year the team finished with
their favor.
the game ended with Bethlehem
a 4-8 Suburban Council record,
Despite this depressing loss, sec- in the lead, 2-1.
ond-year coach Carol Baldwin had
“We’re already playing better and despite losing many strong
a very positive outlook. “It was a than we were at this point last seniors, the girls have a good hope
great first day year, though,” said Baldwin after of upping their record this year.
The team has another home game
out!” she com- her goal.
mented. “We
“And at every game, the refs at 4:15 this afternoon, against
played a great always comment on how our team Shenedehowa, one of the top teams
in the area, so make sure you come
first half, and never gives up,” added Sail.
we’re going to
This was proven true last Mon- lend your support!
have a very positive season!”
Added senior
Lauren Hewitt,
This year, The Warrior will be featuring a Student“We had lots of
Athlete of the month section. We will choose one studentspeed, great
athlete each month to interview and feature in a Warrior
teamwork, and
issue. Becaue we cannot possibly get to know every single
we have a lot of
varsity athlete in the school, we are asking you to nomipotential, as we
nate athletes for this distinction. The athlete should be
showed in the
strong both athletically and academically, a good teamfirst half.”
mate, and preferably a junior or senior. If yu can think of
Niskayuna
one or two people who fits this profile, please write their
lost to Columbia
Warrior photo / Lisa D’Aniello
name, grade, and a brief reason for why you nominated
earlier in the seaPUT SOME MAYO ON THAT: Senior Ashley
him or her, and drop it off in our mailbox in D101 or e-mail
son last year, but
Mayo shoots against Columbia opening night on
it to TheWarriorSports@yahoo.com. Thank you!
SPORTS
Last Wednesday, September 3,
marked not only the first day of
school, but the first game of the
season for the Silver Warriors’ field
hockey team. Held at home, the
game began at 7:00 and was played
under the lights in front of a respectably sized crowd.
Playing against Columbia, the
former Sectional champions, made
for a high-pressure season-opener.
Within the first six minutes, Columbia had two near-shots on goal,
but Niskayuna defense managed
to get it out both times. Columbia’s
defense battled hard, but
Niskayuna came back equally
strong. Junior Laura Poulin shot
the ball to junior Jennifer Sullivan,
who then passed to Baldwin who
missed the goal by inches halfway
through the first half. The ball
then hovered around midfield for
a few minutes before coming back
toward the Niskayuna goal. A Columbia player had a clear shot, but
her aim was off and she missed. An
call by the referee in favor of Columbia made the crowd in the
bleachers upset, and the audience’s
support seemed to help the Warriors. Niskayuna offense took the
ball away and first Baldwin, and
then Vasko were granted penalty
shots in the Columbia defense area.
With one minute and forty seconds remaining on the clock, a
time-out was called. Getting back
Student-Athlete of the month
September 3rd.
8
Sports
September 12, 2003
The Warrior
Niskayuna well represented at Empires
by Jonathan Chow
and Mark Bryan, defender John tied for second in the event with her
SPORTS Mastroianni, and goalies Nick Sapia and teammate, but due to the tiebreaker sysWhile everyone else was seeking refuge Noah Fossner. On day one, the team wal- tem, she placed third and captured the
from the summer heat, a group of Niskayuna loped Hudson Valley 16-4, a “huge win,” bronze instead. She also placed third in
athletes took part in the 26th Empire State
the all-around event to bring
Games held from July 23-27 in
her medal count to two. “Staythe Buffalo-Niagara region. This
ing in the dorms was really
Olympic-style event showcases
fun because you got to stay
the state’s top athletes in sports
away from your parents and
ranging from archery to wreshang out with people,” she
tling, and with over 5,000 particiremarked afterwards.
pants, it is the biggest amateur
In wrestling, junior Cory
sporting event in the state.
Daniel qualified in the 55KG
To qualify for the Games, the
freestyle, senior Juan
athletes had to attend tryouts
Rodriguez qualified in the 64
that sometimes attracted over
KG freestyle, and juniors An100 athletes vying for a small
thony Derocco and Patrick
number of spots. In lacrosse, the
Keller qualified in the 80KG
tryouts lasted for six days and
freestyle. Daniel went 3-2
had 95 players competing for 20
and Rodriguez 0-2, losing to
Photo Courtesy Colleen Donovan
spots. In gymnastics only 14
the eventual silver medalspots were available; in tennis, AGE OF EMPIRES: Basil Daratos, Colleen Donovan, Jon Mastrionni,
list from the Western reand Mark Bryan get pumped up at the Opening Ceremonies.
8; and in wrestling and track,
gion. Derocco and Keller
only 2 spots were available per event. as senior Panneton put it. After winning were not able to compete due to perDespite this, over twenty Niskayuna ath- their next two games, they played West- sonal reasons.
letes qualified for the Games.
ern and were dead-locked in overtime at
Niskayuna sent two athletes in tenThe Games started the night of July 5-5 after Western scored a goal with 41 nis: seniors Jessica Schnell and Jon
23 with the Opening Ceremonies held in seconds left. The game seemed to be lost, Chow.
Schnell had to play with an
the University at Buffalo’s football sta- but with 19 seconds left, Adirondack scored injured shoulder, but nevertheless mandium. It opened with the Parade of Ath- a goal to win the game. After that, they aged to emerge with a 2-2 record, and
letes, where all the athletes walked a lost 10-2 to Long Island, which ended up was able to bring home the silver medal.
lap in the stadium. Then fighter jets
Chow went 3-2 and took the bronze.
flew over as the National Anthem was
Senior basketball standout Colleen
sung. Said senior lacrosse player, “[My
Donovan also participated in the Games,
favorite part of the ceremonies was] defiplaying forward for the Adirondack renitely the fighter jets. They almost gave
gion. She scored seven field goals and
me chills.” The ceremonies concluded
two free throws, for a total of 16 points.
with skydivers landing in the stadium,
The team went 2-2 and beat Western 87twenty minutes of fireworks, and the
80 to win the bronze.
lighting of the Empire State Games torch.
In the aquatic sports, sophomore GreThus, the games began.
gory Donohue participated in a variety
In baseball, senior Pete Chalfin started as
of events, placing third in the medley
pitcher, and led his team to a 2-0 record after
relay with a time of 4:34.70. On ana rainy first day forced the rescheduling of
other note, Kayla Bellair and Meghan
the its games to the second day. Both of
Connor both participated in the Junior
these games were come-from-behind victoWomens Double and placed third in
Photo courtesy Dave Parker
ries that were decided in the final inning.
their heat.
After a tough third day where the team lost SECOND SANS SHORT SHORTS: Senior
Finally, in track, junior Ashlee Atwell
Dave Parker (left) earned a silver medal.
both its games, the chance for a medal came
competed in the pole vault, and senior
down to a final game against New York City. getting the gold. “We didn’t get anything Dave Parker qualified for the decathWinning would guarantee the silver, but started. I don’t think we had any momen- lon. Over a three-day stretch, Parker
losing would send them home empty-handed tum,” commented Panneton. They avenged competed in ten track and field events,
because of the tiebreaker system that was that disappointing loss by crushing New finally clinching the silver medal with
being used. Tied at 8-8 in the ninth inning, York City 19-0. Bryan led the field with a score of 5,114 after first place finthe last Adirodack at-bat hit a game win- six goals and four assists in the five games ishes in the pole vault and shot put.
ning double that ended the game at 9-8 and that they played and Fossner had 18 saves.
Whether the athletes came home with
clinched the silver. “It was really competi- The team finished 3-2 overall and got the medals or empty-handed, the Empire
tive; a thrill,” said Chalfin. “We played three bronze medal. “The best part was just being State Games were a great opportunity
games that were so close and very exciting.” out there, living in the dorms, and playing at for everyone. Summed up Panneton,
Niskayuna invaded the lacrosse roster by such a high level,” said Mastroianni.
“The whole Empires experience is an
qualifying seven players: attacker Panneton,
Jaclyn Congress made an amazing run awesome experience, not just to play,
midfielders Corey Hinton, Basil Daratsos, in the uneven bars in gymnastics. She was but for the whole atmosphere.”