December 23, 2005 - Niskayuna Central Schools

The Warrior
a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly
Niskayuna High School
December 23, 2005
Volume 32, Issue 13
Musicians help spread holiday cheer
CAITLIN HORGAN
and Cha-Pyo helped assist the young musicians
money for cancer research,” commented Merrill.
NEWS
bring the spirit of Christmas to life.
She also remarked with a smile, “Freihofer’s
The joyful Christmas season brings warmth
Over 14 counties have local high school rep- supported Melodies both financially and
to families all over the world; but for the past 26
resentatives in ESYO. This year, Niskayuna’s
nutritionally by supplying us with cookies at
years, the sounds of the Melodies of Christmas musical talents took center stage in the eyes of
breaks. However, they failed to realize that
have captured the hearts of many in the capital
the community. First Violins included senior 13,000 boxes of chocolate chip cookies was
region. The two-hour extravaganza included a
and Assistant Concertmaster Eric Zhou, junior
just too much for anyone to eat.” Alexander also
musical blend of deep-rooted blues, expressed
Leo Brown, and senior Tim Vo. Representing shared his opinion from the event, “Although
by Ernie Williams and his band, intertwined
the viola section was senior Katerina Gross a the rehearsals were rigorous, the end product
with the soft melodies of the
as worth all of the hard work
orchestra to create an enjoyable
we put forth.” Golub shared,
event for all who attended. More“[The event] was a really great
over, the concert will be rebroadexperience. I got to meet a
cast at 7:30 p.m. Christmas Eve
lot of cool kids from different
and at 12:00 p.m. on Christmas
school.” Essentially, all of
Day on CBS 6.
the students who were in the
Performances were held at
Melodies dedicated a tremenProctor’s Theater from December
dous time to help raise money
15 through December 18 and
for the Child Cancer Program
admission for the event was 25
at Albany Medical Center.
dollars–proceeds went to benefit
In the past, Melodies has
the Child Cancer Program at Alraised four million dollars to
bany Medical Center. Performing
help with Cancer Research
groups included the Empire State
and that number only rises
Youth Orchestra, the Empire State
every year with the support
Youth Chorale, the Northeast Balof the local community. This
let, Ernie Williams and the Ernie
year’s event proved to be sucWilliams Band, and Sweet Cider.
cessful, with Saturday night’s
Approximately 300 young
Warrior photo / Caitlin Horgan performance drawing 2,700
adults and children participated MUSIC TO THE EAR: The Empire State Youth Orchestra, above, was one of several
people (maximum capacity of
in the shows this year; 100 musi- groups to perform in the Melodies of Christmas performance held at Proctor’s theater. Proctor’s Theater) and family
cians, 75 chorale singers, 100 costume greeters
two year veteran of the ESYO program. Junior and friends supporting the performers. Liz
and ballet performers. This elite group of musiPaul Alexander represented Niskayuna in the
Bishop, co-anchorman Jack Aernecke, Mike
cians and carolers were selected out of many
cello section, while junior Matt Connolly and
Loscalzo (Vice President of Sales at Freihofer’s),
local students to represent their high school,
Sean Douglas played the Bass and trombone and Neil Golub (President and CEO of Price
and 17 individuals were selected to represent respectively. The Empire State Youth Chorale Chopper) were all in attendance, and thanked
Niskayuna by displaying great musical talents consisted of Soprano singer Claire Ligon, Alto everyone for their support towards the Child
and professionalism. According to Liz Bishop,
carolers Jennifer Lefsyk, Leanne Merrill, Sarah
Cancer Program. Not only do the beautiful lights
the anchorwoman of CBS 6 news, as quoted
Walroth, Tenor junior Ben Golub, and Bass
and sounds of the holiday season bring happiby the Sunday Gazette, “I love being part of it
singer junior Buddy Baglow.
ness to people, but the celebrating Christmas,
– the spectacle, the pageantry.” The ESYO’s
“The must enjoyable part was seeing the
or any holiday of choice, with family make this
conductor for the event was Helen Cha-Pyo,
kids who we directly helped through raising
time of year memorable.
BY
Inside this issue...
Class of 2007 sells
fruit to benefit
charity,
page 3
Letter to the editors
defends opting out of
Health presentations,
page 4
King Kong of
gargantuan runtime,
page 6
2
News
December 23, 2005
The Warrior
Class of 2007 holds citrus fruit sale
J EAN Q IAO
or der for ms in mailboxes, e x t r e m e l y s u c c e s s f u l a n d
financially troubled school disN EWS
posted ordering information donated over $350 for hur trict that already consisted of
After Hurricane Katrina devonline, and gave order forms ricane relief and raised a fair
many students who had trouble
astated the Gulf Coast at the affording lunch. The money to the elementary and middle
amount for the class of 2007,
end of August, many student donated to the Alief ISD will schools,” said class advisor which will be used towards
organizations at Niskayuna
Jill Wright. Members of the their junior prom, senior gala,
be gratefully accepted.
High School decided to raise
junior class also took orders, and senior gift. Regarding the
One of the most important
money to donate to donate
but the main bulk of sales simultaneous fund raising,
components that made this
to relief funds. Among them sale so successful and profitcame in on account of the
Wright concluded, “We really
was the class of 2007, who able was advertising. “We took advertising.
wanted to do something to
recently held a fund raiser,
Overall, the fruit sale was help out”
orders ahead of time, put the
donating 25% of the profit to
hurricane relief. “We’re very
excited about this sale,” said
junior class advisor Sherra
Johnson. For two weeks,
the class of 2007 sold fruit
through the Hale Indian
Groves Company.
Oranges and grapefruit
were ordered in different sizes
depending on what people
BY IAN DAVIS
preferred. All of the fruit was
NEWS
delivered to the high school
It
was
a
merry
scene
in
the
on Tuesday, December 20,
auditorium
on
the
afternoon
of
and was picked them up by
Wednesday, December 21 as the
students and district families
Niskayuna music ensembles
who ordered them on Wednesheld their annual holiday conday, December 20, and Thurscert. The Symphonic Band,
day, December 21.
concert Chorale, Bel Canto,
The money will be donated
Studios Singers were the groups
to the Alief Independent
that performed this year. Among
School District (ISD) in Housthe highlights of the concert this
ton, Texas. Earlier this year,
year was the symphonic band
the Service Advisory Complaying “Sleigh Ride,” which has
mittee at Niskayuna High
become an annual tradition. Bel
School identified the Alief
Canto sang “Allons, Gay Gay
Independent School District
Bergeres,” (a French holiday
as a fund where donations
carol) and “What’ll I Do?”
for hurricane relief can be
Overall, students seemed to
sent. The Alief ISD recently
once
again enjoy the traditional
accepted over 1000 displaced
holiday concert (especially
students from hurricane-afbecause of shortened classes).
fected schools in Louisiana.
The traditional performances
The acceptance of so many
provided a sense of holiday
students substantially inspirit to the student body and
creased the population of
Warrior photo / Chris Nelson
provided a musical transition
needy students at Alief ISD, SUCCULENT: Sophomore Jacob Finkle enjoys an orange. The class of 2007 recently
held
a
citrus
fruit
sale
and
raised
$1050
for
the
class
of
2007
and
$350
for
Katrina
relief.
to the holiday break.
adding onto the burden of the
BY
A n n u a l
h o l i d a y
c o n c e r t
entertains
students
The Warrior wishes the Niskayuna High School
community a Happy New Year!
December 23, 2005
The Warrior
News
3
Musical cast preparing for success
BY
ADAM EVANS
well. Based on the unfinished novel of the
same name by Charles Dickens, the play
has no predetermined ending.
“The Mystery of Edwin Drood
is because a direct connection
between the actors and the
audience is established. After
observing all the clues and
the behavior of the different
characters the audience votes
on who they think the murder
is.” As a result, the actors are
forced to think on their feet, and
improvise based on the decision
of the audience.
The cast has been rehearsing the complicated plot and
various strategies for improvisation ever since the end of
November. Recently, the actor
have been practicing for three
hours after school to perfect
Warrior photo / Chris Nelson
their deliveries and authentic
COLOUR, NOT COLOR: Cast members have been rehearsing for the upcoming
British accents.
performance, which currently entails perfecting British accents.
NEWS
After weeks of anticipation and
competitive auditions, Niskayuna
High School’s cast for the Broadway Classic The Mystery of Edwin
Drood has begun preparations for
their May performance. Led by
director Eric Hughes this Drood
has the potential to be one the
greatest plays ever to grace the
Niskayuna stage.
Unlike many of Niskayuna’s
previous per formances such
as Titanic and Les Miserables,
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is
dark comedy that doubles as an
exciting murder mystery. “For
the past few years, Niskayuna
has performed amazing dramas,
but this year we wanted to go
for something different–a comedy,” explained Hughes. This
performance follows an exciting
and intriguing plot that will not only thrill
audience members but engage them as
Library partnership expands students’
resources
JULIA SCHNELL
it may be now or as much as it
may expand in the future, cannot house all the resources of
a university library. Says NHS
Media Specialist Melissa Bergin,
“We don’t have the space or the
resources to have books required for college-level research
at our library,
but the students can take
the books out
from universities.” For this,
the Direct Access Program
(DAP) was
created. This
program was
established
by the Capital District Library Council
in 2001 and
allows high
school students enrolled
in Advanced
Placement to
make use of
64 regional,
university and
medical librarWarrior photo / Ian Davis
ies in ten local
HOLD THE LINE: The senior parking lot was full of unevenly parked cars this past Monday.
BY
NEWS
“There are times when you
need more than Google,” remarks
English teacher Kelly Moore. She
is referring, of course, to the
ability of high school students
to research in an age of infinite
information. When we are constantly bombarded with news by
24-hour stations and the when
the internet is always at hand,
students frequently miss out on
research opportunities outside
of a computer lab.
Our high school, for as big as
counties.
Only about half of the eligible
students take advantage of this
opportunity. At Niskayuna,
it is the twelfth grade AP and
SUPA English classes who are
making use of this program. All
students in these classes are
registered with DAP for an entire
year. This winter, they are being
introduced to a whole wealth
of databases, encyclopedias of
literary criticism, and unpublished letters and journals that
would be otherwise unknown to
them. These resources house
information that can aide in
ultra-specific research, such as
“if you wanted to write a paper
on how literary criticism on The
Scarlet Letter changes from 1850
to the present,” suggests Moore.
Such research ability will also
be useful in college, as professors often don’t take the time to
explain database research, and
so students miss out.
For AP English students at
Niskayuna High School, the
CDLC’s Direct Access Program
opens doors to new knowledge
and understanding, and allows
them to be more independent
thinkers and students.
4
December 23, 2005
Opinion
The Warrior
Letter to the Editors
Opt-out option justified on freedom of ideas
To the Editors:
The unsigned editorial in the last issue of
The Warrior that addressed the op out policy
for the Visibility led Health presentations
ended by contrasting the Health classes with
the recent Frederick Douglass presentation,
which did not have an option to opt-out.
It closed with the question of “why is this
situation [of the health classes] any different
[from the Douglass presentation]?” I believe,
however, that the editors of The Warrior have
provided a very poignant answer to this
question within their own editorial.
As I read the body of the editorial last
week, I was very impressed with its reasonableness and logic, the case for tolerance
and respect was well made, and all were
backed up with assurances that there would
be no proselytizing and that it was alright
to disagree. Finally, it closed with the very
compelling contrast to the Douglass presentation. Nonetheless, were I a student, or the
parent of a student, in one of these health
classes, I would opt-out. The reason for my
opt-out would be found not in the body of the
editorial, but rather in its title.
The title read, ”Homophobia should not be
a reason to miss valuable educational experience”. Homophobia is a pejorative term, and
communicates a message that opposition to
homosexuality is not okay, but rather some
kind of disorder or dysfunction to be treated by
a therapist. The title suggests that those who
disagree with homosexuality have no reasonable justification to do so. The inconsistency
between the well thought out words of the
body and the anti-“homophobe” message of
the title and the mistrust it breeds is why I
would opt-out.
Since becoming a Christian late in my high
school years and becoming convinced of the
immorality of homosexuality, I have often been
labeled “homophobic” and found the pro-homosexual community increasingly intolerant
of my disagreement. Without a doubt, there
are plenty of pro-gay people, many on this
campus, who do know that true tolerance
is rooted in disagreement (you can only
tolerate what you disagree with) and that it
is really alright to disagree. Unfortunately,
this Warrior editorial indicates that there
are also many who don’t. There is a whole
lot of mistrust when it comes to issues of
homosexuality and it is clearly not a one-way
street. I know that many pro-gay folks are
slow to trust that someone can stand against
homosexuality and yet accept and respect the
individual. Given some of the gay bashing
rhetoric I have heard, I can understand this
response. There is certainly a lot of work to
be done to undo the mistrust that has built
up between those that disagree with homosexuality and those that support it. I sincerely
hope that this school and its newspaper might
be places where that happens.
by voters in 1998 and went into effect later
that year. The act allows patients suffering
from debilitating medical conditions to use
small amounts of marijuana. Other states
have tried to legalize the drug for the same
reason. Two years before Oregon legalized
medicinal marijuana use California voters
passed a proportion allowing seriously ill
patients to obtain marijuana from their
doctors. Supreme Court examined the case
in 2001 and unanimously overruled it.
The U.S. government argues that marijuana should be kept illegal because it is bad
for your health. Okay, let’s consider the facts.
It has been shown that the active chemicals
released when a marijuana plant is smoked
can effectively treat the nausea associated
with chemotherapy. Marijuana has also been
shown to control muscle spasms, seizures,
migraine headaches, depression, glaucoma,
some forms of cancer pain and AIDS wasting.
If this evidence didn’t exist, then why would
doctors in Oregon prescribe marijuana for
suffering patients? Certainly, marijuana is no
more risky than morphine, which has been legalized (for medical purposes) in every state,
including New York. Indeed, for the purposes
outlined above, marijuana is superior to morphine because morphine has a disorienting
side-effect and is certainly more addictive.
The government also argues that legalization of marijuana would promote crime,
since, they argue, many people involved
in the sale of marijuana are involved in
crime. If the U.S. legalized use of medicinal
marijuana, the argument can be advanced
-Matt Hopkins,
Adviser of A.C.T.I.O.N.S. and crew coach
Medical marijuana has merits
BY
BRIAN LEMANSKI
OPINION
Cannabis, weed, pot, ganja, bud, hashish, marijuana. No matter what you call it,
the question is the same: should marijuana
be legalized for medicinal purposes in the
United States? Most people in the U.S.
are aware that if they are found with the
recreational drug it will be confiscated. Officials and law makers say no to medicinal
use, citing marijuana as bad for your health.
Why then, are some groups advocating the
medicinal use of marijuana? There must be
some reason that people other than “druggies” are advocating the use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes.
Presently marijuana is illegal in all of
the United States except Oregon. The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act was passed
The Warrior
Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY, 12309
http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/nhs/warrior
Editors-in-Chief:
Julia Napolitano
Jeremy Wolos
News:
Evan Ballan, Editor
Ian Davis, Editor
Juliette Price, Editor
Katerina Gross, Asst.
Laura Isabella, Asst.
Joanne Qiao, Asst.
Opinion:
Leanne Merrill, Editor
Josh Xiong, Editor
Leo Brown, Asst.
Steph Kaylor, Asst.
Entertainment:
Sarita Upadhyay, Editor
Tim Vo, Editor
Adam Evans, Asst.
Sports:
Caitlin Horgan, Editor
Gavin Labate, Editor
Joyce Dadekian, Asst.
Josh Kovler, Asst.
Magazine:
Jean Qiao, Editor
Alex Rivadeneira, Editor
Lyndsi Holmes, Asst.
Emily Payton, Asst.
Rachel Naparstek, Asst.
Additional Staff:
Eric Zhou, Copy Editor
Steve Chao, Distribution Manager
Chris Nelson, Graphics Manager
Erik Donhowe, Business Manager
Michael LaJeunesse, Web Manager
Advisors:
James Edgar
Russell McDowell
CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE,
[LEGALIZATION]
EDITORIAL POLICIES
Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the school
community, and can be delivered toWarrior staff or sent via
email to: thewarrioropinion@gmail.com. The Warrior reserves
the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and content.
Signed opinion articles express the opinions of their creators.
Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the paper’s editorial board, consisting of the Opinion section and the Editors-inChief.
The op-ed pages are a forum for students’ opinions and ideas.
For a one-year subscription to The Warrior, please send a check for $25.00 to: The Warrior, c/o Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309.
The Warrior
December 23, 2005
Opinion
5
An overview of curling: a great sport
BY
ZACH ARAGOSA
OPINION
This year’s upcoming Winter Olympics,
which will be held Torino, Italy, include the
traditional winter sports: Skiing, Figure Skating, Ice Hockey. In the 1998 Olympics a sport
was introduced to the world that is generating
enough popularity in some European countries
that it may soon take the place of the traditional
winter sports. It has gained so much support
that in some countries such as Ireland, Scotland, and Sweden the varsity curling team
is the school’s equivalent of varsity football
in America, and Canada has also developed
curling into a mainstream sport. While curling has become popular in Europe, American
curling is becoming popular at a slower rate.
Outside of the “ice-belt” of America, curling is
almost unheard of due to a lack of facilities
and the ignorance of the mainstream media.
Curling clubs exist in Colorado, Nebraska,
Washington, North Carolina, South Carolina,
New Jersey, Texas, and California, but most
of these clubs don’t have their own facility and
must rent hockey ice. The main reason for
curling’s lack of popularity in America is lack
of coverage in the media; the lack of knowledge
by the media was brilliantly demonstrated
by CBS at the 1998 Winter Olympics. CBS’s
sloppy research revealed only 500 curlers in
the United States when there are actually about
15,000 to 17,000, and stated that there were
only a handful of clubs, although there are over
120. This year’s coverage of the competition
is expected to be better now that the media
has realized the popularity potential of the
sport, and on CBS’s web poll, curling scored
high results.
For those of you who have no idea what
the sport of curling is, I will give you the best
description I can. The game is played on a
sheet of ice, like that of a hockey rink which
has had water sprinkled on it. The sprinkling
of water creates what is called “pebble.” There
are four people on each team, and taking turns,
each player slides a “stone,” a 19.96 kg block
of marble, down the ice attempting to place it
closest to the “button,” the center of a target
which is drawn on the ice. Curling gets
its name because when a curler releases the stone
he or she gives it a
CONTINUED ON PAGE
slight turn. As the stone
5, travels
down the
ice the
[NO]
stone “curls,” or
turns. Every shot
must be thrown
with a
curl
Kate Ruggeri / Warrior art
over the 75 – foot sheet
of ice or else the stone’s
direction of travel will be unpredictable. While only one player on
each team throws a stone at a time, every other
player is important to the successfulness of
the team. The “Skip” is in charge of calling the
shots and is in charge of the entire strategy
of the game. The other two members of the
team are in charge of “sweeping.” The purpose
of sweeping is to by use of friction, melt the
pebble off the ice, and therefore, because the
amount of friction, the stone will experience
as it slides down the ice be lower. The
more the sweepers sweep the further
the stone will travel and the less
it will be able to curl. To give a
good background of curling, it is a
traditionally Scottish sport played
in kilts. While only the old timers
wear kilts while curling anymore, the
traditional Scottish values of honor
and courtesy still live in the game.
Unlike many mainstream American sports,
curling is characterized by sportsmanship
rather than showmanship.
Curling, much like golf, can be played
for a lifetime. Though there is a competitive
element, most curlers play on the social level
for fun and friendship. I curl competitively,
and some of my best friends are curlers who
I have played against from clubs across the
country. Curling has given me the opportunity
to travel along the entire east coast. At every
tournament I go to, my team is housed with
another curler’s family; these are the experiences which make curling so fun for me.
Curling requires little equipment to play; at
most, you will need a strap-on slider, a broom,
tennis shoes, and some loose-fitting
sweats, and most curling clubs can
loan out the sliders and the brooms
on a temporary basis. Learning to
play takes a minimum amount of time;
with proper supervision, an average person
can learn the basic techniques and strategies
within a few hours. The Schenectady Curling
club is always open to the public for those willing to try out the sport, perhaps allowing you
to appreciate the curling that will be broadcast
in this year’s Olympics.
Legalization sensible for crime, illness
CONTINUED FROM PAGE FOUR,
[MEDICAL]
that the U.S. would start to produce its own marijuana. This
might actually cut down on drug
trafficking and associated crime,
while increasing the U.S. economy
and providing many thousands
of jobs.
It appears as though there
are some weak spots in the
government’s supposedly objective rationale. If the government
looks down upon using marijuana
for medicinal purposes, how do
they explain the FDA-approved
drug, Marinol, a drug used in pill
form that contains a synthesized
version of delta-9-THC, the active
ingredient in marijuana. The FDA
approved Marinol, so why not marijuana? Isn’t the government being
a bit hypocritical? Even the drug
enforcement agency admits “under
certain narrow conditions, marijuana should be medically available
to some patients.” Whether you
smoke it or swallow it, the active
chemicals are the same. Marijuana
vapors are actually shown to be
more effective that orally administered Marinol, perhaps because
the synthetic drug lacks some of
the therapeutic agents found in the
plant. Last, but not least, Marinol is
expensive. It has to be synthesized
in a lab. Marijuana can be grown
in your backyard. This would be
especially good for patients whose
families have already spent tens
of thousands of dollars on medical
care.
While I’m not advocating total
legalization of marijuana, I am in
support of its use for the chronically ill. I recognize that there
is the risk of abuse, but I think
for the relief of even a few whose
suffering may be lessened, it will
be worth it.
ALL OPINIONS expressed on the
op-ed pages represent the individual
viewpoints of their authors. The content does not necessarily represent the
views of The Warrior, the high school,
the school district, or the Board of
Education.
6
Entertainment
December 23, 2005
The Warrior
Holiday‘Melodies’a local success
BY
TOM CAMPO
ENTERTAINMENT
From December 15 through 18,
the Empire State Youth Orchestra
(ESYO) and Youth Chorale put
on the 26th annual performance
of “Melodies of Christmas” at
Proctor’s Theatre in downtown
Schenectady. Sponsored by Price
Chopper, CBS 6, and Freihofer’s,
the event consists of the two
groups performing Christmas
songs for people who come from
all over the Capital Region. All
proceeds from the show benefit
the children’s cancer program at
Albany Medical Center.
ESYO and the Chorale spent
the evening singing classic Christmas songs like “Joy to the World,”
“Silver Bells,” “Silent Night,” and
“O Come, All Ye Faithful.” They
also performed the commissioned
piece “Let There Be Peace!” which
made its world premiere at Melodies this year and met with mixed
reviews. The Northeastern Ballet
Company performed selections
from “The Nutcracker Suite” by
Tchaikovsky during the show.
In addition, two outside groups
performed this year. Rotterdam
natives Sweet Cider played a few
songs, including a bluegrasscountry version of “Winter Wonderland”.
But the nationally-known Ernie Williams Band seemed to be
the crowd’s favorite. Williams
performs 250 shows across the
nation every year, and has opened
for superstars Patti LaBelle and
Aretha Franklin. He will also
be playing at guitar legend B.B.
King’s birthday party at the Palace
Theatre in Albany in January.
The members of ESYO and the
Chorale even got a chance to meet
Williams backstage. Said junior
singer Ben Golub, “The audience
seemed to love Williams, and he
got along well with all of the other
performers.”
Another fun fact that audiences might appreciate is that
Freihofer’s donated over 30,000
cookies to be eaten by the performers. Many performers could
be seen exiting the theater with
several cookie boxes underarm.
Overall, Melodies of Christmas
was an excellent showcase of
some of the area’s most talented
youth. Said senior Rachel Goldstein, flautist in the orchestra,
“We all played well and the show
seemed like fun for the whole
audience.” Ben Golub, junior
and tenor in the Chorale, agreed,
saying, “It was a really cool experience and I’m glad I got a chance to
meet so many talented kids in the
area.” Freshman Jordan Campo
spoke highly of the performance,
commenting, “Ernie Williams and
his band were amazing, and you
could tell that the orchestra put
in a lot of hard work.” I definitely
think that Melodies’ wide acclaim
is well deserved, and would highly
recommend that everyone try
and pick up tickets to next year’s
show. It will certainly help get
anyone into the holiday spirit.
Movie of the Week
King Kong is good but long
and Black does well portraying Denham’s
back to the island. The next hour of the
ENTERTAINMENT
obsession with fame
.
movie is, in my opinion, the dullest point.
King Kong was an awesome movie, but it
In the next stage of the movie a romance
While the scenery on the island and the
was painfully long. The special effects and
blooms between Darrow and Jack Driscoll
forest is interesting for about ten or fifteen
Kong himself were realistic, but the lengths
(Adrian Brody), the famous playwright. Soon
minutes, the hour of constant action and
of the action scenes were highly unnecessary.
they arrive at the island and are assaulted by
fighting between the crew and the natives
One can still say, however, that the movie
that eventually breaks out is surprisingly
freakish-looking natives, crosses between man
kicks the proverbial bottom. After all, how
not very exciting to watch.
and ape perhaps. The captain’s conscience gets
can any film directed by Peter Jackson not
the better of him and he comes to save the
Meanwhile, a friendship blooms between
live up to its name?
Darrow and Kong, and after he fights off
Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is an
dinosaurs that try to devour her, the two
aspiring young actress from the 1920s
enjoy themselves sitting together in the
whose play has been shut down. Carl
sunset. She sees him in a new light and
Denham (Jack Black) is an equally
she falls asleep in his giant hand.
desperate movie director who has just
Meanwhile Driscoll and his crew are
had his movie scrapped by executives.
frantically looking for Darrow. Denham
While he is frantically looking for a girl
relentlessly takes every opportunity he
to fit into the size four costume of the
can get to take pictures so that he has
former star actress of the movie, Darsomething to show the world when he
row catches his eye, and he convinces
gets back to New York. He even risks his
her to star in his film. Denham tells
life at one point for his film. Denham’s
his crew and his writer of the movie
avaricious nature becomes apparent
that they are sailing to Singapore to
during this portion of the film.
film, even though the executives no
I wont reveal any more so that I
Photo courtesy kotaku.com
CONFUSED Although Kong seems puzzled, you
longer are paying for the boat. Denham DON’T BE CONFUSED:
don’t give away the spectacular ending
shouldn’t have any doubts about seeing this good, albeit long, film.
escapes just as the police issue a warof the movie. The movie is well-directed
men from their fate by scaring of the natives
rant for his arrest headed towards the
although the action scenes are too long
with guns. As they are escaping, however, the
mysterious destination of Skull Island.
and the ending is both disappointing and
natives capture Darrow and take her as an
The depiction of Darrow is well done but
sad. The acting in the movie is exceptional
offering to Kong.
the details about her life and the time spent
especially by Jack Black. In comparison to the
Not surprisingly, Driscoll insists on going
at the beginning of the movie is a bit superquality of recent movies made by Hollywood,
back for her, so the crew makes their way
fluous. Denham’s character is ingenious
King Kong is definitely worth seeing.
BY
NEAL MEHROTRA
The Warrior
December 23, 2005
Sports
7
A holiday gift bag for sportsmen
now commonly referred as “The Love
in their game against St. Louis.
SPORTS Boat.” Daunte Culpepper, Fred Smoot,
While on the topic of losers, I would
T h e h o l i d a y s e a s o n i s u p o n u s , Moe Williams, and Bryant McKinnie b e p r i v i l e g e d t o p r e s e n t b a s k e t b a l l
which means it is a great time for giv- are being charged with misdemeanors
player Ron Artest with some reading
after a display of raucous sexual acts
ing. This year, the world of sports has
material this holiday season. What
onboard a party boat. While the Vikings
been filled with plenty of newsmakers
could be better for the Indiana Pacer’s
and earthshakers. I will now present needed some stimulation after a rough
forward, who last year was suspended
several of these figures with special 1-3 start, this was undoubtedly not for entering the cr owd and punchwhat the franchise had in mind. The
holiday gifts.
ing a fan, than Dale Car negie’s best
Vikings have since im- seller How to Win Friends and Influence
The first item to
proved to an 8-6 record, People?
be given results
Artest recently announced
yet a winning record canfrom my pro-Notre
that he would like a fresh start in his
not lift the team’s dignity career, not by improving his public imDame bias. With
from the depths of Lake age as a bad boy, but by requesting a
coach Charlie
Minnetonka.
We i s , t h e F i g h t trade. This was a blatant insult to the
For two groups of losing Irish have rePacer’s franchise which supported him
ers, the San Francisco
bounded from a
throughout his suspension; the same
49ers and the Houston
losing season to
franchise that stood by him last year
T exans, I give them more
earn a place in
when he requested leave to promote a
of what they have experi- rap album he helped produce. Artest
the Fiesta Bowl
enced all season, losses.
against Ohio State
could clearly benefit fr om perusing
Up until the past Sunday, the pages of Car negie’s book, as he
on January 2.
Houston had only one
While the world
apparently cannot grasp the concepts
victory and their grip
of Notre Dame
on the first pick in
fans praise their
the April 2006 NFL
new head coach,
Draft seemed secure.
a deep fear exBut Sunday, Houston
ists in the mind
suf fered a bad win.
of this supporter:
Now, with just two
Weis is obese and
Photo courtesy www.washingtonpost.com
his health could CHARLIE DON’T SURF: Nor does he exer- games r emaining in
their regular seabecome an issue cise much. With a few diet pills, Weis will
son schedules, and
later in his career. hopefully gain control of his weight.
just two wins apiece,
With phony ar they have the worst records in the
ticles circulating the inter net, claiming
National Football League. If they
he agreed to have his contract paid in
ice cream, it is about time Weis man- keep their act together and each
lose on Christmas Eve, they will go
ages his weight. Therefore, my gift to
into the final game of the season
him is a mail order of Lipovarin, the
against each other with identical
Photo courtesy www.eurweb.com
weight loss pill.
In June of 2002, Weis nearly died 2-13 records. On New Years Day, ANGRY ARTEST: When Ron Artest isn’t mauling fans
and getting thrown out of games, he is actuallly one of
from gastric bypass surgery brought they will face of f in Houston in what the most talented players in the league.
on by his corpulence and was comatose will be dubbed the “Reggie Bush
Bowl.” While there will be nothing to
for two weeks. Since then, he appears
of being loyal and being a teammate.
gain in either of the teams’ seasons at
to have put on weight. In a recent
This poses a serious question to other
Business Week interview, Weis joked, that point, the posterity of the franteams: is it worth the risk to sign Ron
chises will be up for grabs, as the los“I’ve probably lost a thousand pounds
Artest? As one of the best players in
in my life, no kidding. The problem ing team will be lucky enough to draft
the NBA, Artest’s stock would soar if
is I’ve gained more than a thousand.” Heisman T rophy winner Reggie Bush,
he could grasp the concepts outlined
We i s ’ s c o n t r a c t e x t e n d s i n t o 2 0 1 5 , perhaps the best running back to enter
in my holiday gift to him.
yet I have a realistic intuition that the draft in ten years. Bush comes
My wallet is nearly empty, yet I think
his health could soon inter fere with equipped with a deadly array of jukes
I can find just enough money to pur his job. Hopefully, my present to him and dodges fresh of f Ricky Williams’ chase the DVD edition of Public Speakbook, The Heisman Winner’s Guide to
will mark the beginning of his rigorous
ing Made Easy for University of T exas
Succeeding in the NFL; Bush looks cer weight loss program.
quarterback Vince Young. With the 34%
For my second gift, I give the Min- tain to be the number one pick in the
of T exas football players graduating,
nesota Vikings some class. Whatever 2006 NFL draft. If we want to see the
I am not sure how much Young would
Bush Bowl played, we can only hope
class they had apparently sunk to the
comprehend through a written version.
bottom of Lake Minnetonka when four that the T exans don’t squander my gift
One thing is for certain, however.
players engaged in lewd behavior at by winning in Jacksonville tomorrow,
CONTINUED ON PAGE EIGHT,
with the same being said for the 49ers
a team party on October 6 in what is
[HOLIDAY]
BY
GAVIN LABATE
8
Sports
December 23, 2005
The Warrior
Girls basketball hopes for comeback
ZACH GREENE
SPORTS
The Niskayuna varsity girls basketball
team has gotten off to a rocky start this
year. In their first three league games they
have gone 0-3. The girls put forth good efforts against Mohonasen, Guilderland, and
Ballston Spa, but could not get the job done
offensively to bring home a win. However,
these minor setbacks will not discourage the
Silver Warriors. This dedicated group of young
athletes will not let this record bother them.
They are keeping positive attitudes for their
future games. “We got off to a rough start,”
said senior Cristina Liquori, but Coach Neely
has high hopes for the season.” Despite the
first three league losses, the Silver Warriors
did have an early season victory. During
the Oneonta Tournament, the team won the
consolation game by a good margin against
Delhi. Now the team is looking back at their
play and trying to learn from their losses.
They are not dwelling on the past, and are
unwilling to allow it to affect their play. Instead, they are moving forward and focusing
on their upcoming games against Columbia,
Bethlehem, and Shaker.
This year, the varsity girls basketball team
is composed of 13 players, six of whom are returning from last year. The senior class is well
represented with six players, three of whom
are team captains; Cristina Liquori, Brittany
Fearnside, and Michelle Krasodomski. These
three have a lot of experience and they are
using it to try and turn the team around. The
junior class is represented by four players,
one of whom, Kristina Zayicek, is the team’s
leading scorer. Zayicek has already scored
56 this season. Although the majority the
team is upperclassmen, there are also three
underclassman who have taken on major
roles. Beth Halayko is the lone sophomore,
and Emily Bayly and Lisa Rufer are the two
freshmen that form the underclassman portion of the team. Halayko and Bayly are the
second and third highest scores on the team
with 43 and 35 points respectively. Their
performances have had positive effects on
the team and they will be important assets to
the upcoming games. Halayko commented,
“We are going to work hard as a team to win
[upcoming] games. No one person on the team
is more important than the other.”
There is still a lot of time left in the season
for the team to overcome their rough start.
Despite their record, they have come up short
by only a few points in most loses, and these
games could have gone either way. They have
the right attitude and the skill to achieve a
great year, and there is no doubt that they
will turn their season around. The team plays
every Tuesday and Friday, so go to the games
and show them your support.
[A GIFT BAG]
Young, who has been in the media constantly this season as he leads his team
into the National Championship game on
January 4 versus the University of Southern
California, needs to improve his interview
skills. He was recently quoted as saying,
“They [USC] haven’t seen the different guys
on our team who are gangster.” In another
interview, Young responded to the statement
that Snoop Dogg and other famous celebrities would be at the game supporting USC by
saying, “Snoop Dogg and all of those guys are
great, but if you get to know the guys that
I know, they are a little better than those
Girls Basketball
vs. Guilderland 49-18 L
vs. Ballston Spa 44-43
L
Boys Bowling
vs. Bethlehem L
vs. Columbia L
Girls Bowling
vs. Bethlehem L
vs. Columbia L
Boys Swimming
vs. Shenendehowa W
Warrior photo / Chris Nelson
TRIPLE THREAT: Sophomore Lauren Mausert
has possession of the ball at a recent practice. The
basketball team frequently runs key plays during
practices in hopes of executing them successfully
under pressure.
Gifts for the sportsmen
CONTINUED FROM PAGE SEVEN,
Boys Basketball
vs. Guilderland 55-34
W
Ballston Spa 59-43 W
Nisky Scoreboard
BY
guys.” Young has spent the entire season
torturing defenses, and unfortunately, the
English language. It is time he learns the
basics of public speaking and this DVD is
certain to help.
A book, a DVD, an order of diet pills, two
losses and some class later, my gift giving
has finished for 2005. The losses were
easy for me to get as I borrowed some from
the Temple football program. Derek Jeter
loaned me some class. As for the rest of
the gifts, my wallet is now empty but it was
worth it. These athletes and coaches have
done too much over the past few months
for me to ignore them during this special
time of year.
Boys W
Wrestling
restling
vs. Burnt Hills-Ballston
Lake W
Boys Hockey
vs. Shaker/Colonie 7-1
L