Niskayuna High School

Since 1974,Now Weekly

December 5, 2003 Volume 30, Issue 11

by Amy van SaunNEWS

Students “mixed it up” atlunch last Tuesday in honor ofMix-It-Up Day, a national eventintending to break down socialboundaries in schools Al-though the event was sched-uled to occur on the officialdate of November 18,, it waspostponed at Niskayuna un-til November 25, mainly sothat the students could wearthe custom t-shirts they hadordered to promote the event.

Participating studentscould be seen spread aroundthe New and Old Cafeteriasin their bright green t-shirts,sitting and conversing, orwalking around, handing outcandy. The custom t-shirtsread “MIX IT UP”, and“Rachel’s Challenge” on thefront pocket, with differentphrases appearing on theback, such as “Embrace Di-versity,” “Bridge the Gap,”and “Do you bring people upor down?”

Earlier this year, a represen-tative of the Rachel’s Challengeprogram, which is intended topromote acceptance and good-will, came to the high school andprovided two assemblies to all

high school students. Studentsdecided to include messages fromthe Rachel’s Challenge programon the t-shirts for Mix-it-Up Dayin an attempt to connect themessages of the two otherwise

unaffiliated programs.Many students chose to par-

ticipate, including studentsfrom all grades.

“[Cliques] are annoying andthey should be broken up,”said senior Sara Weinstock.

She continued to say that heridea of a perfect social scenewould be one “where everyonecould be acquaintances.”

At the conclusion of the event,one of the girls participating,

sophomore Glynnis Nadel, said“It’s been fun.” After sitting at atable and walking around theNew Cafeteria handing outcandy, Glynnis said she thoughtthe event should be repeated,but without the candy, as it

detracted from the main pur-pose of the event. “Kids got dis-tracted and only wanted candy,”she said.

Sophomore Sylva Tannousexperienced the day when a

senior sat at her table to eatlunch and have a conver-sation. She said that shehad seen the signs prior tothe day, and had been cu-rious about the event. “Ihad a good experience,” shesaid, “I think they shoulddo it again. If they did, Iwould participate.”

Charice Steinberg, theadvisor of the NaturalHelpers club, which wasmost responsible for theorganization of Mix-it-Upday, agreed that the daywas a success, and said, “Itgets people to talk aboutthings, and creates a bet-ter sense of community.”Her original idea was tobring together several ser-vice-oriented clubs, such as

Natural Helpers, Visibility,NICS, and Key Club, in a coa-lition. She said the day was agood “effort to start some-thing,” and that she would liketo try something similar inthe future.

Warrior photo / Julia Napolitano

BRIDGING THE GAP: These three juniors, (from left) Jessica Sokolow, AliSylvetsky, and Jaclyn Congress, sported Mix-it-Up Day t-shirts last Tuesday.

by Alex RivadeneiraNEWS

Nisk-Art Gallery Club’s latest show, “Se-lected Works from the ViewPoint GalleryAcquisitions Exhibition,” is up for displayin the lower F-Hall through December 12.This time the gallery features guest artistsfrom the ViewPoint Gallery in conjunctionwith the Sunnyview Rehabilitation Centerof Schenectady in a fascinating and inspir-ing investigation into a disability’s effecton an individual’s capacity to create art.

Established in 1998 for and bySunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital, theViewPoint Gallery has worked to collectand study the work of disabled artists,

sharing their findings with patients. Gal-lery maintainers aim to provide hope andcomfort for Sunnyview’s patients by dis-playing artwork throughout the hospital.Now the rehabilitation center also pro-vides art classes for its tenants, and par-ticipates in state and national artistic com-petitions for the disabled.

The high school’s own Nisk-Art Clubcame into contact with the ViewPoint Gal-lery last spring when the group presentedat Proctor’s Theatre. Working withViewPoint coordinator Ruth Dealy, stu-dents from the gallery club secured a num-ber of works, some of which are beingpresented in the exhibit.

All of the artists in the show are disabled inone form or another. One of the artistswhose work is included in the show, GailNadeau, has a form of muscular dystro-phy, which causes degeneration of herlimbs. Nadeau was a painter before theillness weakened her hands. She has sincetaken up photography and uses computersto edit her work. The other featured artist,Matt Sesow, lost his left arm in a childhoodaccident. The incident proved especiallytrying for Sesow, as he had previously beenleft-handed. Other artists included in theexhibit include a blind photographer, a

(continued on Page 3,EXHIBIT)

Mix-it-Up Day blends social groups

Nisk-Art Gallery holds unique exhibit

2 News December 5, 2003 The Warrior

NEWS BRIEFS

STUDENT ART SHOW: The NHS Stu-dent Art Show will open in the DistrictOffice to the public starting January 30.

HALL OF FAME SEARCH: NiskayunaHigh School is searching for candidatesfor the Hall of Fame. Nomination formsare available in the office.

SCHOLARSHIP NEWS: The RonBrown Scholarship is a national contestoffering up to $10,000 for African Ameri-can seniors in the top 10% of their class.See Mr. Bianchi in the Main Office fordetails.

SENIORS: During the week of January5, forms for ordering caps and gowns willarrive at your home via US mail. Com-plete and return the forms ASAP.

Cranberry drive held to support charity

GERMAN CLUB: December 6 isNikolaustag (Nicholas’s Day). This iswhen Nicholas comes and leaves goodiesand gifts in the shoes of German chil-dren. German club will be selling giftbags ($2 or $3) outside the New Cafetoday to celebrate this occasion.

ATTENTION PTO MEMBERS: Therewill be a PTO meeting on December 9 at7:00 pm.

by Steve ChaoNEWS

Every year for the past thirty-fouryears, the Equinox House has preparedand delivered a Thanksgiving dinner tothe needy based on what was donated tothem from different schools. Each schoolis assigned a specific food item to collectso that there won’t be an abundance ofone item and lack of another. Niskayunais a relatively new member of the pro-gram, having started participating twoyears ago. Last year the high school wastold to collect yams; this year it wascranberries. Turkeys, the main course ofthe Thanksgiving Dinner, are donatedby Price Chopper. This dinner was forless fortunate families within a twenty-five mile radius of the Equinox House.

Leslie Johnston was among those whomade the cranberry drive a high prior-ity. She explained, “As my first year as aNICS board member, this was the firstchance I had to help run an event. Addy[Pagano] and I chose the Equinox House

can drive because it is an event that isvery important, benefiting peoplethroughout the Capital District, and itis nice to know you’re helping to involvethe entire school in this one event.” An-other NICS member, Adam Schwartz,commented, “We are so glad to havesurpassed our goal of five hundred cans.”Sophomore Mike Macminn agreed, say-ing that “the cranberry drive gave us achance to involve the whole school in acommunity service project.” SophomoreSarita Upadhyay said, “I brought in threecans myself because I believe that it isimportant that everybody plays a partin the communal effort to help the lessfortunate.”

Before collection of cranberries hadstarted, Niskayuna High School com-mitted to a drive with the goal of gather-ing 1600 items in an effort to get thestudents and community as a whole moreinvolved in community service. Having

(continued on page 3,SEVERAL)

NICS collects canned cranberries to donate to the Equinox House

CAN-U-COPIA: NICS members and cranberrydrive coordinators Addy Pagano and LeslieJohnston display their fruitful harvest.

Photo Credit / Michael Eddy

3NewsDecember 5, 2003The Warrior

(continued from Page 1,NISK-ART)

printmaker with a brain disorder anda painter with scoliosis.

Upon viewing the exhibit, sophomoresChelsea Karbocus and Rachel Goldsmithcommented, ’“It’s inspiring to see whatpeople can do- even with their disabili-ties.” Scott Battiste took a particularliking to The Lady by Nadeau, calling it“beautiful.” Most students found the art-work presented to be quite breathtak-ing, especially when taking into consid-eration the physical and mental limita-tions the creators overcame to createtheir masterpieces.

Both featured artists Matt Sesow andGail Nadeau will be visiting the highschool on December 12 for the exhibit’sFinale Day. The artists are scheduledto give an “artist’s talk” and attendadvanced art s tudio workshops .Nadeau will be demonstrating tech-niques with mixed media and Sesowwill be displaying his work and dis-cussing his background as an artist.The Nisk-Art club is also sponsoring apublic luncheon where the generalschool community can meet with theartists and enjoy refreshments.

Nisk-Art Gallery Club advisor andart teacher, Steve Honicki, said thatthe high school’s show provides hope for

PAINTING A PICTURE: This piece, by Matt Sesow, entitledSummertime and the Livin’ Ain’t Easy, was among the many featuredin the Nisk Art show.

Photo Courtesy Barbara Colose

students and others ex-periencing challengesin life similar to thoseof the guest artists. Ob-serving such artisticachievements willmake others thinktwice before saying “Ican’t” and giving up.In art, particularly,Honicki states that theshow displays the factthat there are “no limi-tations in artwork” andthat determined indi-viduals can achievetheir goals.

As a follow-up to theexhibition, Honickiadded that his Studioin Video classes areworking on a docu-mentary concerningthe effect of braintrauma on an artist’swork. His studentswill be doing researchon the brain’s role inthe creative process,once again acting in apartnership with theSunnyview Rehabili-tation Hospital.

Exhibit showcases original artwork

(continued from Page 2,CRANBERRY)

already donated many itemsto the school, many studentsweren’t willing to give awaymore, making the collectionof cranberries much harder.There was also added pres-sure as the two coordinatorsof this event, NICS mem-bers Leslie Johnston andAddy Pagano, were underthe misconception that theywere sixty cans short be-cause of a miscalculation.Luckily, they recounted andcorrected the error, reliev-ing the strain.

While many people wereaware of the drive, othersweren’t. Sophomore Tim Voadmitted, “I didn’t evenknow we had a cranberrydrive, much less a [general]

food drive going on.”Other students expressed

similar concerns. Said seniorMarjorie van Saun, “I knewwhat was going on because Ihad heard about it on the an-nouncements, but I neverthought to bring anything in.”

It seems that the cran-berry drive has proven suc-cessful not only in feedingthe less fortunate, but alsoin allowing for Niskayunaas a whole come together fora single cause to make thecommunity a better place tolive in. Although many stu-dents were unaware thatthere was such a drive, manyknew of it and contributedto the effort. All in all thedrive was very successfuland, as sophomore DavidPierpont put it, “very cool!”

Several high school clubs join to holdcranberry drive for needy

Congratulations to Meghan and GregSweet on the birth of their daughter,

McKenna Regan Sweet, born onMonday, November 17, 2003. She

weighed in at eight pounds. Meghan isa guidance counselor in the Counseling

Center.Expressions of joy may be sent to:

Meghan and Greg 2220 Barcelona Road Niskayuna, NY 12309

4 Opinion4 Opinion

The Warrior

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warrior/

T H E S TA F FEDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Tae Andrews, Elspeth

EdelsteinNEWS EDITORS: Jesse Conti, Leanne

Merrill, Julia Napolitano, Jeremy WolosASST. NEWS: Nate StaudingerOPINION EDITORS: Kishori Rajan, Alec

WilsonASST. OPINION: Evan BallanENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Stephanie Blair,

Matt LarkinSPORTS EDITORS: Jonathan Chow, Lisa

D’AnielloASST. SPORTS: Peter ChalfinMAGAZINE EDITORS: Alice Lee, Anna Yu,

Kathryn FantauzziASST. MAGAZINE: Anjana RajanDISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Jackie NguyenBUSINESS MANAGER: Erik DonhoweADVERTISING MANAGER: Jonas ChangGRAPHICS COORDINATOR: Evan FenaroliCOPY EDITOR: Abby AlgerADVISORS: James Edgar, Russell McDowell

December 5, 2003 The Warrior

by Evan BallanOPINION

I tried searching for“left arrow key” on eBay,but it yielded no results.Seems strange to me,though, since these bitsof colored plastic seem tobe missing from a vastmajority of computers inour school. Well, maybenot a major i ty , butenough of them are.

Some sort of left arrowkey black market must ex-ist somewhere, since I can’tpossibly imagine any otherreason why else thesekeys would be so coveted.

I like it when I have a fullkeyboard, and it baffles meas to why someone wouldwant to deprive me and oth-ers of this privilege.

In fact, of the thirtycomputers in the lab, fiveof them were missing atleast one arrow. Two ofthem were missing allfour! Most of the comput-ers either had a pinkmouse, or a teal mouse,but I found one computerthat had a mouse thatwas half teal and halfpink. I wonder where theother halves went.

Where are all of theserandom computer partsgoing? Perhaps someone

is figuring that if they takelittle pieces from thesecomputers one at a time,no one will notice, andeventually they can builda computer of their own.But why would anyonewant a computer that hasfifty arrow keys and noletters? I don’t imaginethat’s very useful.

It seems to me that ifsomeone really wanted tobe stealing things, they’dtake some things that areworth more than left ar-row keys. I browsed vari-ous online electronicsstores, and I couldn’t finda single key! The onlyother logical conclusionmight be that the expul-sion of these keys is anatural occurrence, butfor all the time I’ve spentin the computer lab, neverhas a left arrow key pro-jectile shot off the boardand at my face. I don’tthink that’s happenedwith any key, for that mat-ter. And if that did hap-pen, I think I’d notice, andbe kind enough to put thekey back in its place.

No, bizarre as it maybe, these missing left ar-row keys seem to be noaccident. Perhaps some-one is taking the “No

Games During School” ruletoo far, and has decided toremove the means of play-ing games so that theirpeers won’t start playingSpace Invaders duringstudy hall and distractthem from their Englishpaper with the noise of pho-ton laser guns and outerspace weaponry.

Regardless of the cause,I have a simple request forpeople who appropriatethese keys: please leave myleft arrow key alone. If youneed to take a key, takethe F8 one. Who uses that,anyway? I like my left ar-row key just the way it is,and I’d greatly appreciateit if people left them there.The PC lab next door re-cently got a spiffy renova-tion, and it’s not likely tohappen anytime soon tothe Macs. Let’s keep theMacs and their keyboardsintact so that we can get asmuch more use out of themas possible. I’m also a littlebit lost on your motive.Stealing left arrow keysisn’t funny. I’ve yet to seesomeone come into the com-puter lab, take a gander at amissing left arrow key, andthen convulse

(Continued on Page 5,LOST)

The smaller keys of angst

From an early age, children in this coun-try learn to pledge allegiance to the flag.While many decide sometime between kin-dergarten and high school that they nolonger wish to recite thePledge, we are still asked tostand and express our pa-triotism every morning.

In June 2002, the 9thcircuit appellate court declared the useof the phrase “under God” in the Pledgeof Allegiance to be unconstitutional,causing a storm of controversy. As aresult, the Supreme Court will decidethe fate of these words.

Whether you believe that “under God”should be excised or not, it is important thatwe consider the meaning of the Pledge.After all, when we first learned it as

kindergarteners, how many of us actuallyknew the meaning of such polysyllabic wordsas “indivisible” and “republic,” or had theability to comprehend the concepts that

they represented? Those stu-dents who do choose to saythe Pledge should do so be-cause they are aware of itssignificance, and believe in

it, not just because they have been trained torepeat it by rote. Those who don’t should doso respectfully, not just because they don’tcare enough to figure out what its meaning.

There are probably many students atNHS who are against eliminating “underGod,” and many who would like to see itgo. Regardless, we should take this as areminder to consider what the Pledge isreally about.

EDITORIAL

The Pledge: think about it

EDITORIAL POLICIES

ALL OPINIONS expressed onthe op-ed pages represent theindividual viewpoints of theirauthors. The content does notnecessarily represent the viewsof The Warrior, the high school,the school district or the boardof education.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are wel-come from all members of the schoolcommunity. The Warrior reservesthe right to edit letters for grammarand length.

UNSIGNED EDITORIALS represent theconsensus of the paper’s editorialboard, which may not reflect themajority of the students’ views.

THE OP-ED PAGES are a forum forstudents’ opinions and ideas.

5OpinionDecember 5, 2003The Warrior

by Stefan Borst-CensulloOPINION

In the 20th century, women as awhole made great strides towardsachieving equality in society. No longerwere women banned from a proper edu-cation, voting, recieving birth control,or having an abortion. Women wereeven protected from the abuses of theirhusbands with strict new laws regard-ing spousal physical abuse, and rape.By the end of the 1970s, a new termhad even been coined to describe peopleconcerned with women’s rights andconcerns: feminism. Today, however,conservative talk show hosts andsophomoric teen comedies have turnedthis word into a stereotype that un-fairly characterizes anyone support-ing women’s rights as a mean-spir-ited, vengeful, man-hater. When hear-ing such garbage, I wonder how manyof these people have actually looked atthe definition of the word “feminism.”Here is the term defined by the MerriamWebster Online Dictionary:

Fem•i•nism, noun, 1. the theoryof the political, economic, and so-cial equality of the sexes; 2. or-ganized activity on behalf ofwomen’s rights and interests.

Obviously the various seg-ments of society that misrepre-sent feminism are ill-informedand ignorant. But what aboutthe average American, or even the aver-age Niskayuna High School student?What do they think about feminism?The answer is simple; most people be-lieve that women’s rights are an issue ofthe past, a resolved problem of a previ-ous generation. This is just not true.

The battle for women’s rights is con-stant, even within the confines of ourown school. Recent statistics state that

almost all female students will be sexu-ally harassed sometime during their fouryears in high school. Yet much of themale student body that I know feels thatsexual harassment is a non-issue thatdoes not play a big role in their school.Should someone be condemned simplyfor defending awomen’s right tob e

free froman assault

in a suppos-edly safeplace?

Societyas aw h o l es e e m s

to havealso for -

gotten about feminism in recent times.Women are being portrayed more andmore in movies and TV as weak side-kicks or damsels in distress. The fewprograms or movies that attempt tobuck this trend are forced into makingoverly sexual characters, or fail out-right to achieve popular appeal. Musictelevision, as well, features more andmore sexually exploitive images from

Women’s rights still an important topicFeminist stereotypes hurt the movement for equality and respect

all different facets of popular music inthe hope of attracting a bigger audi-ence. Is it wrong to wish for a strongerportrayal of women in entertainment?

Even fashion has gone againstwomen in the past few years. Manypopular store brands are featuringoverly provocative and suggestiveclothing for younger and youngerwomen. This is not to say that womenshould be forced to dress in Burkaswhen out in public, but when an 11year old girl feels that she has to wearlow-rider jeans and a low-cut blouse inorder to attract men and be acceptedsociably, society is obviously headingin the wrong direction.

Why are feminists so unfairly hated,and why are women still facing dis-crimination in this day and age? Theanswer is a complex and intricate onethat many sociologists are still tryingto figure out. Why so many doublestandards and inequities exist in thiscountry may never be known, but fail-ure to organize or take action may beexacerbating the problem. Even inNiskayuna, the newly formed Womyn’sclub was renamed this year and theirmission statement changed after themembers of the club felt like theirinvolvement with the organization wasleading to prejudicial remarks and ha-rassment from many in the student body.

It is time to re-examine all of ourroles, whether it be as a student, ateacher, or even just an informed citi-zen, to the problems facing women.Perhaps it is time to let go of stereo-types, get past bias, and start to think offeminism for what it really is and whatthose acting in support of it can accom-plish. We are all in this together,and themore we respect and tolerate one an-other, the better off we may be.

(Continued from Page 4,SMALLER)

in laughter as a result.If you want to be funny, tell a

joke. Don’t steal my left arrowkey, because it isn’t funny. It’smore of a hindrance, and, to behonest, it’s really bizarre.Thanks. I appreciate it.

To all: I tried to do the schoola favor and solve the mystery

of the missing left arrow keys.Subtly, I wanted to tie a stringaround the left arrow key of mycomputer. Then, I could hideon the ground behind the com-puter, holding the string. If aleft-arrow outlaw were to comealong and try to acquire theleft arrow key, the stringwould tug, and I’d apprehendthe felon.

It was a great idea in theory,but to my despair, I couldn’tfind a single piece of string.And believe you me, I looked. Itwould appear as though thearrow pirates have becomeprivy to my plan, and snatchedall of the string so I couldn’tcatch them.

Yes, the left arrow keythieves have outsmarted me

and remain at large. It was asad day in the history of leftarrow key justice. I am stillhopeful, however, that onehappy day the left arrow keyswill be restored. But untilthen, I think a little spot ofglue under each key would goa long way.

Except then you couldn’tpress the buttons.

Lost parts frustrating and annoying

Warrior art / Anjali Nirmalan

6 Entertainment December 5, 2003 The Warrior

STICK ‘EM UP: Cary Grant is mistaken for an FBI agent by the “badguys” in North by Northwest.

by Brian DillonENTERTAINMENT

Every weekend I am bur-dened with the task of pick-ing a good movie to rent. Idon’t want to waste my fivebucks on something I won’tenjoy. I am always tempted torent a new release that I sawadvertised but never canbring myself to shell out ninebucks to see. So why sufferthrough Bad Boys II when Ican select a film that has stoodthe test of time?

My most recent selectionwas North by Northwest, bythe Master of Suspense,Alfred Hitchcock. It starsCary Grant, the Tom Cruiseof his time, as an ordinaryman who is chased across thecountry by spies (who thinkhe is a double agent), and thepolice (who think he is assas-sin). Unlike other movie ex-periences, I never looked atthe clock. The rental case saidit was 136 minutes but I couldnever have told.

Even the greatest movieshave lulls that make you won-der if it will ever end. Buteven when there was eightminutes of Cary Grant watch-ing cars go by on a countryroad, I was still wrapped intothe film. Soon after, he had to

get away from a crop dustingplane, and then fled an explo-sion when that same planehit a gas truck.

The movie lived up to allmy expectations and thensome. What a great choice Ihad made. It was the perfectpackage of entertainment.Great script, great acting,great camera work, great ed-iting, great musical score,great everything. I rememberfeeling the same thing afterwatching Rear Window, TheMan Who Knew Too Much,Vertigo, The Birds, Strangerson a Train and, who couldforget, Psycho. These all hap-pen to be Hitchcock films. Andthey all happen to follow asimilar formula.

Hitchcock usually chose apopular leading actor, likeJimmy Stewart or CaryGrant, because he knew audi-ences could relate with theactor; they would always rooton the actor’s side. He wouldthen create fear not by usingcheap tricks or fancy editing,but by crafting situations thatstruck a deeper fear: the fearthat at any moment your lifecould be perfectly ordinary,and then at the next momentyou are involved in interna-tional intrigue, government

conspiracies, assassinationattempts, or other dangeroussituations by accident.

Hitchcock also required anattractive blonde in every oneof his movies, a policy I don’tmind at all. Within all thesuspense, he was still able toincorporate romance scenes.And, because he couldn’t showthe sex and nudity so pres-ently common in movies, hehad to work at his love scenes,to make them passionate.

The Master of Suspense wasalso a master of planning.Before shooting a movie, hewould have a storyboard withevery single shot listed. The

entire movie was already con-structed before any camera be-gan rolling. To him actual film-ing was boring.

People say nothing is perfect.But, to me Hitchcock’s films are.If you know Hitchcock, you knowmovies. You will be able to pickup the many hommages toHitchcock in modern films. Hehas influenced almost every di-rector today.

So next time when you areperusing the aisles at Hollywoodvideo, do not settle for Termina-tor 3, or Lara Croft II. Instead,pick up a Hitchcock title. Or justcatch his movies for free onTurner Classic Movies.

If you missed You Can’t Take itWith You last night, you cancatch this year’s drama clubproduction tonight and tomor-row night in the Little Theaterat 8:00. It’s a great comedy anda fantastic way to support fu-ture drama club productions.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Photo courtesy IMDB.com

Photo courtesy imdb.com

HITCHCOCK NOSE DRAMA: Although situations such as a chasesequence atop Mount Rushmore may seem surreal, Hitchock retains therealism necessary for his films.

Need a Friday-night flick? Try Hitchcock

7SportsDecember 5, 2003The Warrior

Ice hockey looks strong Swimmersprove theirstrength at

StatesThe Niskayuna girls’ swim team

knew that having their own pool wouldbe a big help in making this season agood one, but they probably had noidea just how good it would be. Afterfinishing with an incredible 11-1record this season, the team then wenton to capture the Section II Champi-onship. In addition, five girls quali-fied and were able to representNiskayuna at the New York StateChampionship meet held from No-vember 21-22 on Long Island.

200 Yard Medley Relay: The 200Medley relay, consisting of sophomoreMaria Prendergast, senior StephanieMiller, sophomore Lisa Cucolo, andfreshman Allison Montanye, finishedseventeenth, with a time of 1:55.30,about eight seconds away from thewinning time.

50 Yard Freestyle: Montanye com-peted in the 50 yard freestyle race,and finished thirty-fifth in Prelimi-naries, with a time of 25.32 seconds.

100 Yard Freestyle: In her thirdrace of the meet, Montanye finishedin twenty-ninth place in Preliminar-ies, with a time of 56.27 for the 100Freestyle.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Se-nior Erica Archer, as well asPrendergast, Cucolo, and Montanye,competed in the 200 Freestyle Relay,and, with a time of 1:40.32, ended upwith a fifth place State finish.

100 Yard Breaststroke: BothMiller and Cucolo competed in the100 Breaststroke together, and, asgood teammates, finished less than.03 seconds apart. Miller placedthirty-third with a time of 1:10.65and Cucolo came in thirty-fourth witha time of 1:10.68.

Many congratulations to the girls’team on what was perhaps their bestseason ever.

�by Lisa D’Aniello

by Matt FriedsonSPORTS

It’s that time of year again, every-one. No, not winter - hockey season!The Niskayuna/Schenectady Mohawksare ready to kick off their 2003-04year. The team seems to be pumped upmore than ever this year and is readyto dominate its opponents. Eventhough they lost valuable senior lead-ership last year, they still feel theyhave enough talent and heart to beatanybody in the league.

The Mohawks seem to have a posi-tive. Said senior Captain Pat Carney,“I think this year will be one of thebest in the history of the Mohawks,because every single person on theteam has the want and desire to win.”

Replacing the seniors from last yearwill be a hard task, but Carney, wholed all returning players in goals lastyear, and senior Judson Dascher-Shapiro, who led thewhole team in as-sists, are up to thetask. With them, se-nior Alex Neal, com-pletes the teams firstline, which could becompared to the Colo-rado Avalanche trioof Joe Sakic, PaulKariya, and TeemuSelanne. However,defense is a very im-portant component aswell, and seniors Pe-ter Schick and ChrisPierpont are hopingto lead it with seniorleadership. JuniorsCarl Christy andNick Sapia are alsoback in action on thedefensive end and arelooking forward toputt ing in s trongminutes this year.

The team’s secondline consists of junior Louis Croce, jun-ior Ben Kelly, and freshman Steve Car-dinal. The Mohawks seem to think thatthis line is going to step it up this yearand provide an offensive force to helpsupport the first line. They are stronglyconfident in Croce’s ability to makeplays in the clutch and Cardinal’s speedto slash through opposing defenses.

Goal tending assignments this yearare going to be shared by sophomoreTim Zakriski and senior Steve

Kennedy. The Mohawks offense is go-ing to try and take the pressure off thegoalies this year by keeping the puckon the other side of the ice, but Zakriskiand Kennedy are prepared to weed offany opposing player if they attempt ashot.

Dascher-Shapiro is confident theteam will climb any mountain for vic-tory. “Steve Cardinal and Nick D’Marioare young, but will play a huge role inkeeping the team solid for our secondand third lines. We expect big thingsfrom our senior forwards, and PeteSchick should be a defensive force onthe blue line.”

The toughest opponent this Mohawksteam is going to have to face this yearis Shenendahowa, but they are goingto give them everything they’ve gotand should be an entertaining game.Says Shick, “Our biggest strength isour unity. Although we may not be

extremely deep, wewill still be one ofthe most competi-t ive teams outthere . ” TheMohawks are hopingto go all the waythrough Sectionalsthis year with theircompetitive natureand team unity driv-ing them.

Another strengththe Mohawks have istheir fan base, whichloaded up “the res-ervat ion , ” in theSchenectady CountyRink Facility lastyear. They are hop-ing for the same thisyear, especially fromnumber one fan se-nior Corey Hinton.“The Mohawks are ayoung team, buttheir senior leader-

ship wil l pull them through theSectionals this year,” he commented.“As an avid fan, I look forward to thegames this year, which I expect mostof the school to come and support theteam.”

The Mohawks first game of the yearis tonight at the Schenectady CountyRink Facility against Northwood Prep.They are expecting a big crowd and anexciting game, and hope for a victoryto start the season.

MOHAWK MOJO: Junior LouisCroce prepares to slam the puck upthe ice.

Photo courtesy Crossroads

8 Sports December 5, 2003 The Warrior

Andre Davis becomes starter for Browns

Boys’ Varsity Sports Home ScheduleWrestling: December 16: Nisky Duals, 9:30 am

January 6: Colonie, 6 pmJanuary 14: Guilderland, 6 pmJanuary 21: Shaker, 6 pmJanuary 29: Saratoga, 6 pm

Basketball: December 16: Columbia, 7:30 pmDecember 19: Bethlehem, 7:30 pmDecember 22: Proctor H.S., 7:30 pmJanuary 9: Colonie, 7:30 pmJanuary 16: Burnt Hills, 7:30 pmJanuary 23: Shen, 7:30 pmJanuary 27: Schenectady, 5:45 pmFebruary 13: Averill Park, 7:30 pm

Bowling*: December 22: Shen, 4 pmJanuary 6: Averill Park, 4 pmJanuary 7: Burnt Hills, 4 pmJanuary 13: Bethlehem, 4 pmJanuary 20: Colonie, 4 pmJanuary 26: Guilderland, 4 pmJanuary 28: Shaker, 4 pmFebruary 2: Saratoga, 4pm

*Home meets are held at the Bowler’s Club on Route 7

Ice Hockey*: December 10: Glens Falls, 5:45 pmDecember 20: Shaker/ Colonie, 6 pmDecember 26-27: Holiday TournamentJanuary 2: Plattsburg, 7:45 pmJanuary 9: Bethlehem, 3:45 pmJanuary 10: Suffern, 12:45 pmJanuary 16: Beekmantown, 7:45 pmJanuary 17: South Glens Falls, 8:15 pmJanuary 21: Queensbury, 5:45 pmJanuary 31: Pelham, 6:45 pmFebruary 14: Saratoga, 8:15 pm

*Home meets held at Schenectady County Rink Facility

Ski Team*: January 7: Queensbury, 5:30 pmJanuary 19: Glens Falls, 9:30 amJanuary 21: Lake George, 5:30 pmFebruary 4: Last Chance Dual Slalom

*Home meets are held at West Mountain

Swimming : December 5: Shen, 4:30 pmDecember 19: Mohonasen, 4 pmJanuary 6: Albany, 4:30 pmJanuary 16: Guilderville, 4:30 pmJanuary 22: Burnt Hills, 4:30 pmJanuary 30: Shaker, 4:30 pm

by Pete ChalfinSPORTS

Cleveland Browns head coach ButchDavis recently upgraded NiskayunaHigh School graduate Andre Davis tothe starting lineup. Davis respondedwell, leading the team in receiving ineach of the first two games followinghis promotion.

Following the Browns 9-3 loss to theNew England Patriots on October 26,Coach Davis decided to bench KevinJohnson, the team’s leading wide-re-ceiver at the time, and replace himwith Davis. The coach’s displeasurewith Johnson’s attitude did not ceasein the following week, and Johnsonwas dropped from the team, securingDavis’ hold on the starting spot.Johnson has since been signed by theJacksonville Jaguars where he cur-rently serves as the team’s numbertwo receiver.

In just his second year in the NFL,Davis has emerged as the Brown’s topscoring threat. His 4 touchdowns leadthe team as do his 833 kick-returnyards. Davis’ best game came in hissecond week as starter against the

Arizona Cardinals on November 16. Inthe game Davis collected a career-high

seven receptions for 117 yards and atouchdown.

Prior to the breakthrough gameagainst Arizona, the highlight of Davis’season came in week three against theSan Francisco 49ers. Davis got off to arough start in the game, fumbling apunt that was ultimately recovered bythe 49ers. Davis made up for this cru-cial mistake later in the game, how-ever. Down 12-0 in the fourth quarter,he began Cleveland’s comeback with atwo-yard touchdown reception with10:48 remaining in the game. Daviswas then on the receiving end of thegame winning-touchdown; an 11-yardpass from Kelly Holcomb, with just 34seconds left.

With four games remaining, Daviswill almost certainly surpass his to-tals in receptions and receiving yardsfrom last year. He has caught a pass inevery game this year. At 4-8, theBrowns are not in playoff contention,but the team is young and expects tobe much improved next year. If sec-ond-year running back William Greenrecovers from his stab-wounds andDavis continues to improve,the Brownscould possess a very powerful offensenext year.

CLEVELAND CAVALIER: Niskayuna gradu-ate Andre Davis has put the ‘oo’ in ‘Ohio’ andnow starts at wide receiver for the Browns.

Photo courtesy ESPN.com