The WarriorNiskayuna High School May 4, 2012 Volume 38, Issue 27

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

Inside this issue...Passion Pit rocks,page 6

Crew work off-season,page 7

Eccentric billionaires mine asteroids,page 5

String ensemble garners distinctionby Flora Mao

News

Do any readers know how special the number six is, anyone? I’ll give you a hint. It involves the amazingly wonderful thing that occurred on Thursday, April 26 for Niskayuna Chamber Strings. Any guesses?

Well to be exact, Thursday, April 26 was the date that Niskayuna Chamber Strings, under the direction of Mr. Brian Joseph Mooney, attended the competition of New York State School Music Association at Burnt-Hills High School. They played for a panel of two adju-dicators, performing pieces from the NYSSMA level six manual, which is the most difficult level of pieces that can be played. Chamber Strings performed a piece called “Summa” by Arvo Part, the second and third movements of “Serenade for Strings” by Edward Elgar, and the third movement of “Serenade for Strings” by Antonin Dvorak. These pieces posed many difficulties for Chamber Strings, which they successfully overcame.

For instance, “Summa” is a modern piece by Estonian conductor/composer, Arvo Part.

Warrior Photo/Olivia CoxGOING FOR THE GOLD: Junior Eunu Song poses with the plaque after Chamber Strings found out the results of their placement.

His style of work was pre-viously unknown to the group which created a challenge of how to inter-pret this piece, because of the lack of notations in the music. This, along with the technical difficulties presented by “Serenade for Strings” proved quite a challenge for Chamber Strings to conquer. Junior Eunu Song performed a beautiful solo on her violin in the third movement of Edward Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings.” These piec-es were rather challeng-ing but Chamber Strings played them flawlessly and making them seem easy and receiving Gold with Distinction from the NYS-SMA adjudicators.

This year is the sixth consecutive year in which Chamber Strings received Gold with Distinc-tion on level six at NYSSMA.

Gold with Dis-tinction is the highest honor possible for a group to attain from NYSSMA; it basically means that the group is exceptional beyond what is expected of a high school group.

In other words, it’s an H grade. At the group’s first year going to NYSSMA, they received a Silver awardbut the next year the group kicked it into high gear and started consistently get-ting Gold with Distinction.

Chamber Strings is comprised of the crème de la crème of string players at the high school. “We did better than expected,” said junior Alison Xu. It is an auditioned group, which meets every other day for a mod. The students who make up Chamber Strings are reputable, serious musicians, some of who are in the Empire State Youth Orchestra. One senior in Chamber Strings, bassist Mike Bruns, plans to attend music school. Mr. Mooney, is very proud of the group and hopes to continue receiving Gold with Distinction for Chamber Strings.

Warrior Photo / Olivia CoxSTRINGS’ PAST CONCERTS: A flyer from a Chamber Strings concert this past February, where they played Elgar and Mozart, among various composers.

2 The WarriorNews May 4, 2012

Date for senior gala changesby sarah MiNer

News

Senior Gala is one of the traditions that has been carried on at Nisky for many years. Niskayuna differentiates from many schools in that the school only has a junior prom; therefore gala becomes the end of the year celebration for seniors. While the gala is usu-ally held at the Glen Sanders Mansion on a weekend evening nearing the end of the year, both the venue and timing have been changed for the class of 2012.

The gala will be held at the Mohawk River Country Club on Sunday June 17 this year, and this fact is something that has brought up a lot of commentary around the school. The event was changed for several reasons many of which have upset the senior class and also several that have pleased many of the seniors. The PTO notified parents and students in the Crossroads Chronicle simply by saying that the date and venue may be changed due to wanting to save money. The tickets will now cost $15 as opposed to costing $40.

The talk around the school was that the

change was more or less due to the original date conflicting with Relay for Life and the Dave Matthews Band concert. “While many people disagree with the gala date being changed, I think it is for the better. It is cheaper and now I don’t have to choose between going to gala or Relay for Life,” explained senior Justin Pol-lock. While it’s understandable that students should not have to choose between Relay for Life and gala, it seems nearly absurd to change the date of gala for a concert that will be performed on two nights anyways.

When the conclusive change was made it was said by the PTO that they have thought about making this change for a long time.

The costs for the dance have been steadily going up each year and it was becoming unreasonably expensive to hold gala on a weekend night.

At first people were upset because given that gala will be on a Sunday it was assumed there would be school the next day. Luckily, since Regents week starts the next day seniors will not be expected to be at school the next day unless they have exams. The new issue

that is being proposed is that senior gala will now be held on father’s day.

“It’s cool that we don’t have school the next day, and also that no one will have to miss relay for life. However it really does suck that it’s going to be on father’s day,” said senior Kaitlin Hungershafer. Not only is the Senior Gala going to be held on father’s day, some seniors have issues with their preparations for the night. As senior Marysha Taszyki stated, “Hair salons aren’t open on Sundays,” so girls who wanted to get their hair done for pictures won’t be able to.

While some disagree many are in full agreement with the change. Senior Bridget LeMon concurs, “It’s nice that the date doesn’t conflict with relay for life and Dave Matthews. Also the price is more affordable! I think the date change will allow for more people to go.”

Overall it will be a very different senior gala this year than it has been for the past. It really will be hard to tell whether it will be for the better or for the worse until the event itself. No matter what it’s sure to be a fun night every senior to leave the high school with.

Relay for Life June 8-9

Teams:#RelayInTents - Jenna CorcoranA Team - Jenna AppletonAll Night for the Fight - Beth McKennaCrabby Cancer - Jacboa VandenbergGE Niskayuna Relay for Life Team 1 - Ronald BrzeinskiKicking Cancer to the Curb - Marianna O’BrienKPMG Miles for Mike - Deanna GeeslerMental Trigger - Joseph DeBritzMoseying Warriors - Michael CorcoranNiskayuna Girls Soccer - Elizabeth FarleyNMOR and More - Kathryn VernaNYS Senate Majority: Office of Counsel and Finance - Robert FarleyPirates of the CUREibean - Laura DiRienzoSleepless in Scotia - Nicole BrownellSpirit Walkers - Michael HelmTeam Corcoran - Susan CorcoranThe Walkers - Taylor TearTom Thaler’s Troopers - Genevieve ThalerTorando Tomatoes - Camila Grande

Teams for Relay for Life with Captain names are listed above. Feel free to create a team or contact any of the captains to see if they have spots to join!

Visit relayforlife.com to create teams or join.

3May 4, 2012The Warrior News

Child psych classes march for babies by JaMes azzaretti

News

Over the weekend something out of the ordinary was happening here in Niskayuna. Some town residents were putting their time to good use while participating in the March of Dimes.

A team of high school students and other volunteers, assembled by Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Heather O’Keefe, consist-ing of various members of her Child Psychology II classes. Stu-dents involved include Samara Finkle, Marissa Harrington-Verb, Emily LaCoppola, Nadia LaVigne, Jessica Lohre, Nelly Meschino, Andrea Schmitz, Kaitlyn Schmitz, and Ella Sciocchetti, along with Iroquois Middle School French teacher Kate Helgerson. So far these people have raised hun-dreds of dollars for the March Of Dimes cause.

This organization which, was started by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt to combat polio (a disease that he had per-sonally), works to improve the health of mothers and children. The premise is simple. T h e March Of Dimes foundation goes from town to town organizing walks to raise money and aware-ness about health problems in women and children. The main

health problem being combated is birth defects and infant mortality, which is usually caused by pre-mature birth, and is the second biggest problem in babies after polio died out with widespread vaccinations in 1962.

Recently ,organizations like Fu-ture Business Leaders of America and other large foundations have joined forces with March of Dimes, helping raise over fifteen mil-

lion dollars worldwide. March of Dimes also gives grants to local organizations showing promise in the fight for maternal health. With these combined efforts, March Of Dimes and other foundations hope to see an end to this problem in the foreseeable future.

Lately new hope in this field has been growing due to scientific advancements in order to prevent birth defects. This resonated as

hundreds of business leaders and family members joined together to march in Albany on Sunday, April 29. The march began at 10 a.m. and lasted for hours as people raised awareness while walking through beautiful High Rock Park on the gorgeous sunny spring day.

This however, is not the end of the March of Dimes spirit. Two more walks will be held this week-end, and anyone can participate!

Warrior Photo / Emily LaCoppolaMARCHING FOR BABIES: The team assembled by O’Keefe for the March of Dimes poses in Saratoga during their walk.

PROM TICKETS

Don’t forget to purchase your prom tickets!They’re on sale at Crossroads during

all lunch modsuntil Tuesday, May 8.

Your prom contract MUST be in before you can buy tickets!

Airing out big tobacco’s dirty laundry

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 edito-rial board, consisting of the Opinion section and the Editor-in-

Chief.

The op-ed pages are a forum for students’ opinions and ideas.

The WarriorNiskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY, 12309

http://www.nisk.k12.ny.us/nhs/warrior

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.

4 The WarriorOpinion

Editor-in-Chief:Maggie JordanEmily O’Brien

News:Sarah Miner, EditorGrace Strong, EditorHannah Wistort, EditorJackson Montrym, AsstAnna Mattis, Asst

Opinion:Jason Kasman, EditorDaniel Zhao, EditorTim Rice, Editor

Entertainment:Eunu Song, EditorOlivia Cox, Asst

Advisers: James Edgar Russell McDowell

Sports:Christopher Herman, EditorJoe Petraccione, EditorAniket Tolpadi, AsstOlivia Jaquith, Asst

Magazine:Inga Bagepalli, EditorShikha Dharia, EditorAlisha Desai, EditorSwati Mehrotra, Asst

Additional Staff:Gabriel Holodak, Copy EditorAlison Xu, Copy EditorMaura Griffith, Photo EditorSohaib Syed, Graphics EditorKen Omiya, Graphics EditorKaitlin Hungershafer, Business ManagerBridget LeMon & Rachel Bickauskas, Distribution Managers

May 4, 2012

Tuesday March 20, was Nation-al Kick Butts Day across America; a day aimed at exposing the de-ceptive marking practice of Big Tobacco. Teens here at Niskayuna decided to open the eyes of their fellow classmates by “Airing Out Tobacco’s Dirty Laundry” If you are near the atrium in Crossroads take a look at the t-shirts hanging on the clothes line. The t-shirts are filled with quotes aimed at Big Tobacco companies and their efforts to attract new smokers.

The term “Big Tobacco” is used to describe marketing strategies that tobacco companies use. Some of these strategies are product placement (point of sale), promotion, periodical advertising and product placement in movies.

Currently, “Big Tobacco” is rely-ing heavily on their point of sale strategy. Point of sale is “found near, on, or next to a checkout counter (the “point of sale”). The displays are intended to draw the customers’ attention to products, which may be new, or on special offer, and are also used to promote special events, e.g. seasonal or holiday-time sales (thefreedic-tionary.com).” According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, “in New York State, the tobacco industry spends approximately $1.1 million per day to market its products.”

The tobacco companies target youth by bombarding you with huge ads from the second you walk in the doors at a convenience

store. They don’t just pick random stores. That would be too easy. Tobacco companies do their homework. They look at where young people shop to decide where to place their products and advertisements. Chances are, at most stores you shop at,

you can find a tobacco ad aimed toward people around your age. The 1999 Annual Report of the Promotion Industry stated, “To-bacco companies place most of their advertising where young

by eMily laCoppola

opiNioN

people shop-- in convenience stores, where 75% of teenagers shop at least once a week.”

“Big Tobacco” companies know what they’re doing. Targeting youth is no mistake. Adult smok-ers already know their preferred brand and don’t need someone to

advertise to them; they’re already hooked. In the eyes of tobacco companies, the youth need to be drawn into their product in order to get them hooked at a young age and make them lifelong custom-

ers. Most tobacco ads these days are directly aimed toward young people in an attempt to suck them into this disgusting habit. The National Telephone Survey of Teens Aged 12 to 17 2007 con-cluded “Young people are almost twice as likely as adults to recall

tobacco advertising.” So next time you’re in a gas sta-

tion or convenience store, waiting in the check-out line, take a look at the ads back around behind the counter. What do you see?

Photo Credit / Emily LaCoppola

NISKY DOES THEIR LAUNDRY: Students demonstrate the horrible effects of tobacco use.

5May 4, 2012The Warrior Opinion

ALL OPINIONS expressed on the op-ed pages represent the in-dividual viewpoints of their au-thors. The content does not neces-sarily represent the views of The Warrior, the high school, the school district, or the Board of Education.

Monopoly men mine meteorsby Joe parisi

opiNioN

Last week, the Planetary Re-sources Corporation announced its ambitious project to mine near-earth asteroids for resourc-es. Most people would consider this project absurd. The mining of asteroids has been a staple in the development of the science fic-tion movie industry and has long been looked at as something only aliens or Captain Kirk could do, but taking a look at the company’s investors would make any person do a double take. Early Planetary Resources investors and advisors include famed film director James Cameron, Google CEOs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, former Mi-crosoft executive and veteran as-tronaut Charles Simonyi, Google executive Ram Shriram, and Ross Perot Jr., the son of IT magnate and former presidential candidate Ross Perot. A team such as this, with a project as ambitious as this one, deserves a great deal of attention. But is this idea ready for public appreciation? I had as-sumed a lot could go wrong when mining asteroids, but after further investigation, I was astonished to see its real potential.

Asteroids are rich in rare-earth minerals that have great market potential for capital funding and profit of the PRC. Planetary Resources intends to mine for platinum, gold, polonium, iron,

and cobalt along with many other minerals. Gold minerals can be used for currency, and the rest will have more high tech purposes. “As an example of the economic value

of space resources, let’s consider the smallest known M-type asteroid, the near-Earth asteroid known as 3554 Amun (two kilometers in diameter): The iron and nickel in Amun have a mar-ket value of about $8,000 billion, the cobalt content adds another $6,000 billion, and the platinum-group metals add another $6,000 billion,” wrote John S. Lewis in his book “Mining the Sky.” One asteroid may contain more platinum than has been mined in all of Earth’s history and others have the individual potential of sup-plying the earth with iron to last for millions of years. Resources from asteroids may add tens of billions of dollars annually to the global GDP. These exponential amounts are unfathomable and ridiculously hard to wrap one’s head around.

The project also has pro-posed solutions to modern day economic problems and tension-filled foreign invest-ment. Currently, China is in control of most of the US’s rare earth metals. They have the po-tential to cut us off at any time, leaving us in economic collapse. Every government strives for a safe amount of self-sustainability, and asteroid mining provides

a solution to much resource-dependent foreign trade, which is currently the cause of many of our country’s economic issues.

Also, asteroid mining would open up a humanities sphere of

influence to the greater solar sys-tem. It would be the beginning of an essential step in the direction of large-scale human space explora-tion. The PRC has foreseen this as well, and has introduced another important resource that could be mined from these asteroids. Many asteroids have hundreds of tons of water in them. Asteroids could act as a solar gas station by utilizing the water as fuel. Not only would water provide fuel for further solar endeavors, but it would also end-lessly provide fuel for the robots harvesting the mineral resources themselves, relieving the PRC of that huge economic burden.

All this is incredible and groundbreaking, but then again as a society we may not be ready. A project like this takes time and development of technology. Although plans have been formu-lated on how to effectively harness materials, and which asteroids

are good candidates to mine, the major problem is the technology. Despite the fact that much of the blueprints have been developed, the technology takes time and money to produce. Asteroid min-ing is not something that could be done tomorrow. The potential is obvious and the idea is amazing, but we are still quite a ways off. I suspect within the intermediate future, the PRC will be able to charge up its engines. There is no doubt in my mind that this amaz-ing leap into an interstellar age of space utilization and exploration will occur within our lifetime. But in the meantime, all we can do is sit back and count the stars.

“Asteroid mining would open up hu-

manity’s sphere of influence to the greater solar system. It would be the beginning of large-scale human space ex-

ploration.”

Warrior Art / Lex Alston

6 May 4, 2012 The WarriorEntertainment

Passion Pit plays Northern Lights

The movie, directed by Kinji Fukasako, is set in a near future Japan, where adults have lost complete control and the youth run wild. Every year, a ninth grade class is selected to attend the Battle Royale, or a fight to the death, which yields only one survivor.

That year, the overseer, a teacher named Kitano, selected his old class to participate in the Battle Royale. The students were set loose on an island armed with various weapons and three days to fight to the death. If a winner did not emerge within that time,

by sophie KeMp

eNtertaiNMeNt

When I stepped into Northern Lights last Monday I had no idea what I was about to experience. It was the moment I had been waiting for since I was a wee little seventh grader: seeing Passion Pit live.

Passion Pit is a Boston-based electro-pop band that boasts five equally tal-ented members: Michael Angelakos, Ian Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Jeff Apruzzese, and Nate Donmoyer.

They were, for the most part, formed at the prestigious Berklee College of Music back in 2007. Since then they have produced three albums and four singles, most notably the song “Sleepyhead” which has been featured in several commercials. In my opinion, the venue Northern Lights was one of the few things that took away from the experience. Northern Lights is a bar in Clifton Park, and to call it sketchy would be too kind of a description. If it weren’t for the overload of security guards I would have been afraid for my life.

However, that all changed the moment the crowd started to pile in. Composed primarily of high school and college students, I knew it would be a night to remember. The concert started out on a softer note; the opening band ARMS brought an edgy and soulful vibe, completely contradicting the loud

and upbeat Passion Pit. The lead singer was very awkward compared to the vibe the band was going for. His voice, however, cancelled out the awkwardness entirely.

Finally, after what felt like light years, Pas-sion Pit graced the stage. Angelakos made it very obvious that he wanted the crowd to be as wild as possible. As an answer to his

wishes the band played their music as loud as humanly possible. The majority of the crowd danced in a manner one could best describe as “artful jumping” and those who did not dance more than likely fell to the ground. I, not being much of a dancer found this out the hard way, although eventually I found myself dancing and enjoying myself more than I’ve

had at any other concert. The band played songs like “The

Reeling” and “Moth’s Wings.” To my surprise, they even played a song from their unreleased album. As the concert progressed, the music evolved. The band began to play more abstract songs with a gener-ally more unique tone.

They finished the night off with “Sleepyhead,” which lead to two amazing encores. However, the highlight of the show for me was the very end of “Little Secrets,” which is my favorite song. The crowd had finally calmed down, and more importantly, it was the best they played the entire show.

Despite the overly large crowd and awful venue, Passion Pit did not miss a beat (no pun intended). I was genuinely impressed by how much presence they carried as performers; they constantly kept the crowd involved, making their experience their priority, instead of focusing on their image. I think it is safe to say that it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in quite a while.

Warrior Photo / Olivia CoxFULL OF PASSION: Lead vocalist of the band Passion Pit Michael Angela-kos rocked out in Northern Lights with Ian Hultquist on keyboard on April 23 to the deafening roar of hardcore fans.

by Miles tepper

eNtertaiNMeNt Although I wasn’t the biggest

fan of “The Hunger Game” movie, I thought the idea behind it was ex-tremely intriguing, so I decided to do a quick search on the Internet. My search was rewarded; I found a movie with a similar plot that was shot in Japan back in 2000, called “Battle Royale”. Normally, I wouldn’t have pursued it much, but I saw that Quentin Tarantino, one of my favorite directors, had listed it as one of his favorite films. Upon seeing this, I thought, “What the heck, I’ll give it a try”.

explosive collars that were se-cured around their necks would detonate, killing all of them.

I won’t ruin anything else, but in case you haven’t noticed; “Battle Royale” and “The Hunger Games” have a lot of similarities. However, “Battle Royale” makes “The Hunger Games,” seem like a picnic with all of the violence in it. Also, it shows each and every death quite graphically. How-ever, if you enjoyed “The Hunger Games,” and you can handle a little (okay, a lot) of blood and gore, check out “Battle Royale.” It’s much better than “The Hunger

Movies: LOL, Dark Shad-ows

Music: Chris Brown, Keane, Silversun Pickups

Books: In One Peason by John Irving, Home by Toni Morrison.

Video Games: Starhawk, Phantom Breaker-Special Edition

Your Weekly Entertainment Fix

Japanese origins of ‘Hunger Games’ Games,” and overall, I found it more entertaining. Just a word of warning though: don’t watch it if you’re squeamish!

7May 4, 2012The Warrior Sports

Crew team trains for success by Matt terwilliger

sports

The Niskayuna mens varsity rowing team has shifted into full-throttle training mode. With the spring regatta season just starting up and the major races for the year rapidly approaching,

the teams are anxious to bring home medals. Spring is the height of the rowing season, all of the big titles in regattas such as Stotes-bury, State Championships and National Championships are up for grabs now. With one race already under their belts this sea-son, rowers have re-familiarized themselves with sprint-style 1500 meter races, which is less than 6 minutes of rowing. This is different from fall racing in that races are shorter and all boats start at once, allowing you to race head-to-head, as opposed to the fall where gauging performance against the competition can be difficult until times are posted.

The varsity mens team will be boating out a very fast and

competitive senior quad, a light-weight eight, as well as a junior eight this season. As opposed to previous years, the top eight will actually be competing in the lightweight (160 pounds or un-der) event this year. It has been a while since Niskayuna has put

an emphasis on a lightweight boat, but hopefully the results will prove worthwhile. With so many of our rowers already able to fit into this category, and several more cutting weight to get there, the boat’s times should be very competitive in this event. But, as crews found out this weekend, the lightweight event is not a walk in the park. Other teams are racing competitive boats in this division, which only further reinforces the need to train hard in these last two weeks until state championships.

Many rowers have been training nonstop since August, through the winter and into the spring season. The fall season represented a transition into a new coach, and for the most

part, involved improving rowing technique. The winter consisted of muscle building—even though good technique can absolutely help win a race, rowers compete at a level where a solid amount of strength is required to win. In addition to strength, cardio

is of the utmost importance in the spring. Due to races being so short, the endurance to hold high ratings (strokes per min-ute) is imperative. In order to increase cardiovascular ability, the team has forgone the school bus and now goes for a 2.5-mile run from the high school to the boathouse. This added training bonus has proved effective; row-ers are definitely seeing positive changes, and the little water time missed is far less valuable than the advantage gained from the daily run.

Water practices consist of a variety of things, drills and pieces, but never just technique—some power elements are always pres-ent as there is a very limited win-

dow for water training. Although winter indoor rowing helps, water time as a boat is most valuable. With 2.5-hour practices in the afternoon, as well as Tuesday and Thursday morning practice from 6-7 in the weight room, the team is sure to see results. Last week,

all boats worked on perfecting a start sequence, and this coming week they will focus on the end-of-race sprint as well as work to maintain high ratings—every day is crucial as time counts down towards state championships.

Coaches Sabrina Skotarczak and Dave Bender have been train-ing the varsity boys hard and the rowers have put in an exceptional amount of effort,

Hopefully fast times will be the result of a year of hard training . Hopefully the boys will work, think, and row their way to greatness and athletic immor-tality. Hopefully the boys will do what they need to doand bring Nisky home some much deserved medals!

Photo Credit / Braxton Becker FIGHTING TO THE FINISH: Nisky boys crew works towards a championship title through hard work during practices.

May 4, 2012 The WarriorSports

Sc

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an

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s Girls Lacrosse

4/28 vs. ShakerLoss 7-5

Boys Lacrosse

4/26 vs. Saratoga Won 23-2

Baseball

4/28 vs. Oneonta Won 4-1

8

Don’t forget to recycle this issue when you finish reading it!

V a r s i t y b a s e b a l l by NiKolas Dobies

sports

The varsity baseball team has been doing pretty well in their first couple of weeks, coming out with some good wins and putting forth great effort. The team is coached by John Furey, a gym teacher at the high school. According to junior Alex Webber, “Coach Furey has helped the team chemistry a lot and is a great moti-vation. Coach Furey also knows the game of baseball very well.” Coach Furey does his best to incorporate all the experience with baseball and the motivationn in even through tough obstacles have been during the season.

The baseball team has won seven of the last eight games, which is an impres-sive feat consider-ing the high level of teams they face. Some of the chal-lenging opponents so far were Shenen-dahowa, Columbia, Guilderland, and Burnt Hills, all of which are in the Sub-urban Council with Niskayuna. The team had an impressive victory when they beat Oneonta 4-1; Junior Ryan Feeny pitched five innings and didn’t let up any runs. Then Junior Eric Ryan came in for an inning to pitch, an inning in which no runs were scored, and Senior Josh Callahan came in and closed the game, earning Niskayuna a good win. Other teams which Niskayuna has beaten include Averill Park 2-1, and Saratoga 4-1. It seems that the baseball team has really come together over big wins earned against division and non divi-sion opposition. Webber weighed in saying,

“We have won seven of our last eight games and we really seem to be coming together and playing as a team to win games.” The team is doing a really great job especially against out of council teams such as Oneonta, and Albany in which Niskayuna won by a large, impressive margin, scoring 24 runs and only

allowing Albany two runs. This game can really indicate the po-tential of the base-ball team since those many runs in baseball is not a very common score and it also indicate that if the team continues to come together, there is no limit to their success.

The next base-ball game will be a home game on Monday, April 3 against Shaker, a tougher oppo-nent for Niskayu-na since Shaker’s record is at the top of the Suburban Council record. This is significant since any game played in the Sub-urban Council is

tough and an important game in regards to standings and position for sectionals. In the council, games are usually highly competetive and one play can really decide the outcome of the game.

The team goal right now is to win games and compete for the Section II championship. If the teamwork stays consistent, this goal can certainly be achieved. Hopefully the baseball team will keep up its great work this season, and will be able to keep the ball rolling as they enter the thick of their schedule, against some tough section opponents.

Warrior Art / Lex Alston