The WarriorNiskayuna High School April 8, 2011 Volume 37, Issue 25

a student-run publication since 1974, now weekly

Inside this issue...ABBA music review,page 6

Varsity Baseball begins,page 8

School budget discussed,page 4

Lip sync leaves lasting memories HannaH Hamilton

news

On the night of Thursday, March 31 the Foreign Language Department hosted their sev-enth annual Lip Sync Contest. The event was a huge hit, turn-ing out dozens of students, teachers, and family members to support the participants.

Not only did the event provide a chance for students to have fun with foreign music, but it also benefited char-ity. The admission was one non-perishable canned food item. The proceeds were sent to the Schenectady Inner-City Mission, where they added greatly to their pantry.

However, the outcome of the event is really attributed to the hard work of student and teacher groups that participated in this night and brought it all together. High school students from all grades collaborated to put together original and entertaining acts for the night. Participants of Lip Sync chose the song they wanted to perform and then choreographed and memorized lines to the foreign songs in or-der to put on a wonderful show that displayed everyone’s effort.

Freshman Tarranum Koslik, who danced and sang with her friends to Naeh Bakute’s “Munni Bodnaam Hui,” said she had a lot

of fun preparing for and perform-ing at Lip Sync. “Our choreogra-phers did a great job and put in so much work. We were so excited when we won Overall Best Lip Sync; we could hardly believe it!”

The Bollywood style of their routine was a wonderful addition to all the others. The opening act was a hilarious and exciting take on “Disco Pogo” that got

most of the audience moving along to the beat, and added to the fun atmosphere in the auditorium. The girls started out lying around on the stage in bathrobes, only to spring up a little later and bounce around to the German house music.

They were followed up by a super athletic performance of Shakira’s “Loca.” The chore-ography for this was seriously stunning, and Senior Marissa Coppola wowed everyone with her back shoulder roll. Nobody could have done Loca any better.

The Hindi “Munni Bodnaam Hui” was enchanting; the girls obviously put a lot of thought

into their act. The jingling of their scarves fit right in with the music, which was an in-teresting choice on its own.

“Volshebnik Nedouchka” by Alla Pugacheva turned out to be more of a skit than a dance. Both funny and frustrating, Sopho-

more Eileen Rowe explained that, “It’s about a girl who tries to learn magic from two witches, but she’s so clumsy! Oh, and I sort of die near the end.” The girls were very creative with their lip sync.

Of course, Madame Ainslie stole the show when she appeared on stage in a slinky dress singing, “Ou est ma tete?” by Pink Martini. Students were in hysterics as

Herr Carosella tried to repair Señor Alston, who turned out to be Magister Caffrey at the end, when he wandered onto stage headless. Mean-while, Señor Alcantara wooed Madame Martin in the back-ground, all in a typical Pari-sian setting. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

And who could forget the Masters of Ceremonies, Paddy Bailey, Ben Cutler, and Alex Dwyer. They added a lot to Lip Sync with their humorous narrations. Be-tween ads, a screen came down displaying everything from Beyonce to cheese roll-ing. There was never a boring moment, although the jokes were kind of random at times.

The crowd was very impressed with the various performances. There’s sure to be an even greater turn out next year after this year’s popularity. Congratulations to all the students, teachers, and parents who made Lip Sync 2011 a wonderful performance!

Photo Credit / Christine ShannonBOLLYWOOD TO NISKY: One of the performing groups, did a bollywood style dance and their costumes were very fitting to the routine. One of the many excellent performing groups of the night.

2 The WarriorNews April 8, 2011

Raise and Give collects pillowcasesby sHelby Horn

Feature

Imagine a world where every little girl owned at least one dress. The high school has been presented with the opportunity to help make this possible. From Monday April 4 through Friday April 15, Raise and Give club will be sponsoring a pillowcase drive. Any pillowcases that are donated will be cut and the fabric will be resewn and turned into dresses for these poor little girls around the world. In many countries, there are many girls that cannot afford to buy even the cloth to make dresses.

Pillowcases are generally very cheap, and have enough fabric for these dresses. The pillowcases will be collected by Raise and Give in collection boxes set up in the school in Crossroads and the new main entrance by the senior lot. They will then be donated to Dress a Girl Around the World, the charity that Raise and Give is supporting. After being made into dresses, they will be distributed to

girls in third world countries, especially in Af-rican countries such as Uganda, by members of the foundation Hope 4 Women, which is a national organization that works with Dress a Girl Around the World. They need the do-nations from pillow case drives like this one. Raise and Give is asking all students and staff to participate in the pillowcase drive and bring in new or very gently used pillowcases that are not see- through. It is important that these girls have dresses, because human traf-ficking is a very real threat to them, and if they are not dresses in raggedy fabric or rags with holes in them, they are less likely to be kidnapped and trafficked. If human traffick-ers see a girl wearing rags, they assume that she’s not important or may not have a family or caretakers, and think that it would be easy to take her without people coming after her. If a little girl is wearing a dress, the traffickers can assume that she has a family and people would look for her if she were to be taken.

These pillowcases will help to protect these girls. The dress would also serve the obvious function of keeping the girls warm at night in the steppes of developing countries, which would lead to less in the way of diseases if the girls are covered up at night. On the whole, clothing is part of a person’s shelter, and shelter is essential to survive, which is an-other reason to collect pillowcases for dresses.

Senior Serena Moroukian, an officer of Raise and Give, is the one who inititated this effort to help these girls. “I’m very pas-sionate about helping children that are less fortunate than us,” says Moroukian, and that is why it is important to her, and the rest of the club, that everyone donates! There will be announcements throughout the pil-lowcase drive with updates on how many pillowcases have been collected, so that the high school can collect ample dresses to support those girls in places like Uganda.

Local dining spot opens for seasonby anna mattis

news

On Thursday, March 3 people from all over the Capital Region gathered for the anticipated spring opening of Jumpin’ Jack’s. The popular drive-in was created in 1952 and has become a sign that spring has arrived in the area. Each year, residents of the Capi-tal District wait in the seemingly endless line to get their burgers, fries, and soft serve ice cream.

At local high schools, the number of early release notes received always increases on the day of Jumpin’ Jack’s opening. The disappointed ones who are not able to go envy those who manage to sneak away for a few hours of deep fried pleasure.

Dedicated fans of the eatery attempt to go every day of the weekend after the opening. The beloved menu including “Jack-burgers,” “Twister Fries,” and various fried seafood dishes remains mostly unchanged from year to year. However, this year there is a great difference in the familiar menu: the addition of bacon. Now, any order at Jumpin’ Jack’s can include BACON.

In addition to the food, this local

establishment is a favorite hang-out for teenagers. Although lo-cated in the village of Scotia, youth from all over come to get their fix. On opening day, highschoolers from Schenectady, Niskayuna, Scotia-Glenville, and others were present. For some, it is a part of their summer and childhood. “I’ve been going to Jumpin’ Jack’s since I was little. The workers are so friendly, the food is good, and it has an awesome location because it’s right next to the park,” said Scotia-Glenville junior Court-ney Rankin. Niskayuna junior

M i c h e l l e Merry loves J u m p i n ’ Jack’s be-cause of its unique ice cream fla-vors. “Have you had their pine-apple ice cream? It’s to die for!” Merry said.

W h i l e there are t h o s e whose lives

would not be complete without Jumpin’ Jack’s, there are others who do not share a love for the drive-in. Latin teacher Magistra Miller prefers eating at other ven-ues during the summer stating, “Humpty Dumpty is my place. April 15, pistachio ice cream rainbow sprinkles- can’t wait!” When asked about the eatery, junior Taylor Harvey passion-ately exclaimed, “I hate Jumpin’ Jack’s.” For others, their dislike is based more logically. Scotia-Glenville senior Matt Paparella said, “For me, I think it is defi-

nitely overpriced for the quality of food. There’s no nutritional value in their food and it’s very unhealthy. But Jumpin’ Jack’s is a unique piece of Scotia tradition.”

For those who don’t enjoy foods dripping in fat or can’t consume the delicious food of JJ’s, there is still the wonderful atmosphere to love. On rainy days, one can sit beneath the pavilion, devouring their food as they listen to the soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof. Whether with a group of people or by oneself, a person can watch the water ski show and walk along the river. In the summer, there are also shows at Freedom Park to attend. It’s just a short walk across the street and any patron of Jumpin’ Jack’s can play in the park, go to the library, or head over to Scotia Cinema. During warm weather, JJ’s is the perfect location for almost any activity. Lovers of the arts can catch a show. Those who want to stay active or work off their burger can appreciate all that Collin’s Park has to offer. No matter what one’s food or ice cream preference is, everyone can experience the fantastic estab-lishment that is Jumpin’ Jack’s.

Warrior Photo / Mike HeldJUMPIN’ JACK’S: The locally famous dining joint is entering into its 60th year of business, offering up a wide variety of classic summer food, including burgers, fries, and ice cream.

3April 8, 2011The Warrior News

Chem Demos shows phases of matterby Jackson montrym

news

Chemical Demonstrations club performed a bit of a show for a Girl Scout Troop on Thursday, March 24. A group of Brownies (elemen-tary school aged Girl Scouts) from Birchwood Elementary School came. The club performed vari-ous demonstrations regarding the phases of matter for the girls, which they really enjoyed. This was the club’s second show of the year. They had performed a previ-ous show at the high school’s rib-bon cutting on November 8, 2010.

The idea to do a show for Girl Scouts was fueled by associate principal Dr. Shelley Baldwin-Nye, who is a leader of a Brownie troop at Rosendale Elementary School. Back in January, she had spoken to advisor Jill Paquette to see if the Chemical Demon-strations club could educate their troop about water and the environmental chemistry, with regard to chemicals in rivers and other natural water sources.

However, Paquette informed her that environmental chem-istry is not what the club does, so her Brownie troop did an activity with science teach-er Paul Scott about water.

However, advisor Paquette was contacted by the Birchwood Brownie troop, who said that they would like to watch a dem-onstration show focusing on the “magic” of chemistry. Then, the club got ready, meeting once or twice a week after February

break to practice various dem-onstrations so that they would be ready to perform for the girls.

The Girl Scout troop arrived, and the group performed their demonstrations. First was the “Egg in a flask” demonstration performed by juniors Andrew Haber and Dima Yepikhin, in which a hard-boiled egg went into a flask by use of a flame. The girls

A demonstration called “old foamy” was performed, a reac-tion between dish soap, an iodine solution, and hydrogen peroxide, which created a fast-growing foam of dish soap that seemed to explode. There was also steam coming off of the foam, due to the exothermic reaction that was taking place within the dish. The girls were

polarities don’t mix, performed by junior Brendan Service, there was one more demonstration regarding solids, showing that a chemical reaction could be so endothermic that a Q-tip could freeze to it. Unfortunately, the demonstration wasn’t successful.

The show culminated with a demonstration of “oobleck.” Originally a creation of Doctor Suess, the oobleck that Chem Demos used was made from mix-ing cornstarch and water, and behaves like a solid and a liquid. The girls got to play with it and take it home. In short, the club demonstrated how gases, solids, and liquids behaved. Then, they confused them by presenting them with an exception to the rule: oobleck. The point was illustrated that not everything fits in those three categories; matter can be in “in-between,” unnamed phases.

The Girl Scout leaders were very thankful for the demonstra-tions, and even suggested to club president Jackson Montrym that the Chem Demos club could per-form at birthday parties, as many elementary school kids enjoy explosions. Advisor Jill Paquette was successful with her explana-tions of basic principles of phases of matter. Paquette also said that the science department plans a science fair in the fall for the com-munity to attend, along with other science clubs, to educate the com-munity on the wonders of science.

“In s h o r t , the club demonstrated how

gases, solids, and liquids behave...The point was illustrated

that not everything

fits in those three categories;

matter can be in “in-between,”

unnamed phases.”

Sean Valero, a 2009 alumnus and sophomore at the University of

Notre Dame, passed away on Thursday, March 31.

Sean, a frequent contributor to The Warrior, will be missed by many.

The editors of The Warrior extend their sincere condolences to his

family.

were astounded that with just a flame, a hard-boiled egg could be sucked into a flask. Then juniors Jackson Montrym and Soumya-rup Sarkar demonstrated how a Peep and a balloon would behave in a vacuum pump. Both Peep and balloon increased in size, which amazed the girls. Those demon-strations helped to illustrate to the girls the properties of gases.

fascinated by the way that chemi-cal reactions can give off heat.

More demonstrations were per-formed, such as a demonstration of a mixture of milk, food coloring, and dish soap by juniors Vishnu Adi and Jonathan Finn. The food coloring shot to the edges of the petri dish. After another dem-onstration of density columns, showing that liquids of different

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

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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:Jason XuMaggie Jordan

News:Emily O’Brien, Chief EditorSarah Miner, EditorGrace Strong, EditorJackson Montrym, Asst

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April 8, 2011

Jason kasman and tim rice

opinion

At the March 21 Community Budget Forum, the Board of Edu-cation stressed that its two major responsibilities are to provide a great education to students and to provide low taxes for homeowners. In order to satisfy the latter goal, they compromise the former. The School Board claims to want their cuts to have the fewest impacts on students. As students, we are the best experts on what has an impact on us. The BOE’s ir-responsible budget cuts include the dismissal of many teachers and few administrators. And we think the administration has less impact than the teachers. It is the daily interaction and direct impact on our lives by the teachers that creates a world class education. The overpaid adminis-trators rarely make appearances in our lives. It is our opinion, the expert opinion, that when mak-ing a six million dollar spending reduction, deep cuts should be made on the administrative level.

To put administrative salaries into perspective, last year, the gov-ernor of New York made $178,509. The governor has responsibility over all 62 NYS counties and all the State agencies. According to seethroughny.com Superinten-dent of Schools, Dr. Kevin Baugh-man last year banked $218,992. Dr. Baughman, in an email to us, listed his responsibilities on an average day as “lots of meetings with various groups, planning budget, responding to e-mail, dictating letters, answering phone calls, dealing with a complain-

ing parent, visiting schools or classes, etc.” How often has he visited a school or class of yours when you remember its impact?

Dr. Baughman, of course, is exempt from the “shared sacri-fice of a salary freeze” that he asked teachers to make in early March as he is retiring at the end of this year. In fact the only administrative position that does not appear on the district’s list of pay freezes is the superinten-dent’s. It’s simple for him to ask teachers to make this sacrifice he wont have to make himself.

As students, we reviewed the eight-page list of proposed budget cuts with an eye to what we know would impact us.

One place where reform could be made is in the process of pur-chasing new materials. Students can be more involved to offer their expert opinions. We spoke with Purchasing Agent Robert Panico to learn about this process.He is responsible for 4,000 purchases each year for the district. Anytime anything needs to be purchased it must go through him first. His job is, directly, to make sure what is being purchased is important, and does not cost an arm and a leg. In the purchasing process, administrators and teachers share an open dialogue, but Panico admitted that students do not speak directly at any point in the process, but rather must speak through their teachers to the administrators. Students know what students need. Any student could’ve told you that the Promethean Boards would be virtually unused by the English,

Social Studies, and Foreign Lan-guage departments. Any student would have said that the cubbies in the Library are too short We recognize the importance of hav-ing administrators who purchase materials for the school and work to keep the cost down. But if the administrators plan on making a purchase that will directly af-fect the students, at least one student should be formally con-sulted first. Who are the experts in our educational needs, the school board or the students?

Another place cuts can be made is with the safety monitors at en-trances to the school. We students all know that teachers who moni-tor the halls during lunch mods are more feared and respected than security personnel. If these full-time positions were to be replaced by a cyclical group of teachers the district would save money and allow teachers the time to interact with students, as they do when they sit on hall duty out-side a cafeteria or at Crossroads.

At the forum, the School Board said the assistant principals play an important role in a high school setting. We agree. The principal cannot make a personal con-nection with every student, and therefore, assistant principals are here to make this connection. But if that’s the point of assistant prin-cipals, we don’t see it happening. There is a disconnect between students and these three administrators, illustrated by their regular mispronouncia-tion of names of students on the announcements. If the assistant principals do

not know our names enough to pronounce them, then clearly they are not making this inteded connection. If this connection is unsuccessful the BOE should cut these positions. They do not have the intended impact on students. The assistant principals can and should be one of the afore-mentioned impactful positions.

In providing students with a world-class education, the BOE should be sure that they are focusing their attention on us students. Cuts should be made based on the impact to the stu-dents over the amount it will save. We know what impacts us. Why is it that the people who are making the budget decisions haven’t worked with us? We watch this school every single day.

The BOE can learn money can be saved by speaking with us. At the community forum, every time a student spoke, the Board commented on how happy it was to hear from students yet they still have not actively pursued our opinion. We encourage you to speak up. After school today, be sure to call Dr. Baughman at (518) 377-4666, Option 4, or email him at kbaughman@niskyschools.org, to let him know that you are the expert on Niskayuna Schools and you know where the cuts should be made.

Ask the students where to cut

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.

5April 8, 2011The Warrior Opinion

ALL OPINIONS expressed on the op-ed pages represent the indi-vidual viewpoints of their authors. The content does not necessarily represent the views of The War-rior, the high school, the school district, or the Board of Education.

by casey larkin

opinion Tradition is always something

I’ve felt lacks reason and function-ality. In less civilized countries, it leads to great pain and suffering, unwarranted prejudices, and other horrible travesties forced upon innocent people. However, tradition is a two-sided coin, as most things are. While women in Africa and the Middle East are subjected to rape and brutal genital mutilation as a “rite of passage,” people from all over the world flock to Germany in Oc-tober to drink and take pleasure in obscene amounts of beer, and many citizens in America enjoy explosive extravaganzas on the Fourth of July. Quite obviously, there are things that could be eliminated and subsequently would benefit the world, while some traditions could remain in-tact without harming the already suffering integrity of the human race. One such tradition I believe is brainless and useless is the use of honorifics when referring to teachers and administrators alike, especially in high school settings. For the sake of the argument, I will only refer to the use of honorifics in high schools, because it is a completely different issue when applied to the use in elementary and middle schools.

When honorifics are discussed, whether it is in regards to its elimi-nation, or its importance, respect is a main factor in the debate. Older generations claim that it is a clear display of the authority a teacher has over the student, and also a symbol of the respect deserved by said teachers. As a member of a younger generation, I believe this to be utterly absurd. While I do recognize that teachers must maintain a certain authority over students in order to efficient-ly and effectively complete their jobs, they do not, by any means, automatically deserve my respect, or that of any student. Perhaps this is a radical point of view, but please read on. To me, respect is

something of great importance. It is not to be taken lightly at all. I desire respect from my peers, as I’m sure my peers desire an equal respect from me. Regardless of this, it is not free. Respect must be earned, no matter how much authoritarian power you have over “X” number of people. Naturally, since older generations appear to believe that honorific titles such as “Mr.” and “Mrs.” connote respect, it is only fair, then, that they earn that title. We are taught from an early age that respect is easily lost, and hard to gain. Why then, should this be any different for the teachers who taught us

this principle? Of course, there are those people who command respect upon entering a room. They are few and far between, however, and do not necessarily fit in this article. Furthermore, many teachers preach in the beginning of the year that they advocate for an equally respectful environment for which to teach in. You respect the teacher and your peers, and they will respect you. To me, that is fantastic, and leads to a healthy learning environment for everyone. However, if a student feels disrespected by a teacher in any way, and their respect for the teacher is lost, does it not make sense that they should no longer refer to the teacher in a respectful manner? Does it not make sense that they should lose their honored titles? Otherwise, this would lead to an environment

in which respect is given to the teacher, but not received, creating unequality. This hypocrisy only leads to greater resentment and disrespect. On the contrary, if a teacher demands respect that isn’t there, the student is forced to lie. This is a contradiction, because any sane person will tell you that to be dishonest is to disrespect not only yourself, but other people that are affected by your dishonesty. As you can see, honorifics only lead to a negative situation for many, which fosters the growth of confrontations. The clear and simple answer is to move to a first name basis. This,

however, carries its own weight of problems and controversy.

The arguments surrounding an environment that relies on a first name basis for students and teachers alike are many, yet all remain theories. Some teachers claim that it removes an unnec-essary level of authority and pro-vokes a greater level of curiosity, and encourages students to ask questions more frequently. Oth-ers suggest that the elimination of this level of authority prevents teachers from doing their job to the best of their ability, ulti-mately hindering the students. Here, we see both arguments on completely different sides of the spectrum. Corroborating either of these statements would prove to be extremely difficult, but they exist simply to provoke thought. Considering statements made

previously, I cannot think of a more reasonable replacement in the case of disrespect. This is where the controversy lays.

There is also the point in re-gards to a position. “If you can’t respect the person, respect the position” is a saying I’ve often heard. And I do. I respect the fact that teachers are, for the most part, doing their very best to educate the uneducated masses that will someday take over this world. In fact, we very much re-quire them if we hope to see any forms of success come out of our generation. But they were people before they were teachers. And they were people before they were administrators. And so on and so forth. If it were me, I would prefer a person’s respect or disrespect of me because of my character, not because of the position I hold.

I will continue to call my teach-ers Mr. “X” and Mrs. “Y.” Yet, I do not foresee any issues because as it stands right now, I have the utmost respect for all of my teachers. This does not mean that, should I lose respect for any of the authority figures in my life, I will not make my opinion heard. I will continue to long for the day when I might be able to put aside the use of “Mr.” and “Mrs.” I will continue to long for the day when I might see my education come from a close friend, rather than a distant stranger who must constantly make it known that we are not friends, and that he or she is the teacher, and I am the student. Perhaps, society might even see increased mutual benefits if this change were ever to be made. I can only hope.

“We are taugHt from an early age that respect is easily lost, and

Hard to gain. Why then, should this be any different for the teachers?”

R e s p e c t t h y e l d e r s

6 April 8, 2011 The WarriorEntertainment

My l i fe as an ABBA-phi leby tim rice

entertainment

Your Entertainment FixFor the week of 4/2 until 4/8Movies: Your Highness, Born

to Be WildVideo Games: Aladdin Magic

RacerDVD Releases: Tron Legacy,

Little FockersBooks: Priceless Inspirations,

The Pale King, Chasing Fire

It appears to me that it does not take much for a teenager to have a “life-changing experience.” Anything from The Catcher in the Rye to an experiment in the realm of hallucinogenic drugs is often hailed as earth-shattering, mind-blowing phenomena. Aside from marijuana and post-modern literature, music is generally hailed as having the greatest effect on one’s development to adulthood. It is not uncommon to find that an American teenager has planned their entire summer around attending a Dave Mat-thews concert or sign a petition to shorten Lil’ Wayne’s jail time.

Though I am not a connoisseur of Wheezy or DMB, I understand exactly where these people (and Jimmy DeNinio) are coming from. As cliché as it sounds, I too have had my life drastically changed, for the better, by music. Up until now I have kept this experience a secret for fear of being ridiculed. You see, I was not deeply moved by the intro-spective lyrics of Kanye West or the indie eccentricity of Vampire Weekend. I was changed by ABBA.

Perhaps you’re laughing right now. Or, more likely, you’re scratching your head, wonder-ing exactly who or what ABBA is. Before I progress with my tale, allow me to give you a brief his-tory of my favorite band. ABBA was formed in 1972 in Sweden by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. These four individuals were united not only by their love of music, but also by their love of each other- Fältskog and Ulvaeus were a married couple, as were Lyngstad and Andersson. Their rise from the obscurity of Swedish dance halls to the top of the charts all around the world was rapid, propelled by the songwriting ge-nius of Björn & Benny, and their success was great. At the zenith of their career, they were a force to be reckoned with. But dreams only last until we wake up- and ABBA woke up about as rapidly as

they had begun to live their dream. The sweet Europop synthesizers and bedazzled jumpsuits soon gave way to tense record ses-sions and marital problems. The couples of ABBA broke up first- Fältskog and Ulvaeus in 1979 and Lyngstad and Andersson in 1981. The first divorce led to the writ-ing and recording of the hit song “The Winner Takes It All.” The second divorce led to the band’s breakup in 1983. ABBA’s ten year existence s t a n d s both as o n e o f the most epic sa-gas in the history of pop mu-sic and as a symbol fo r the rise and fall of ce-lebrities i n t h e m o d e r n w o r l d .

My affair with ABBA began, quite unexpectedly, twenty-five years after they broke up, at a time when acquainting myself with classic dance music was the last thing on my mind: the first day of high school. Until that point I barely knew who ABBA was, and surely didn’t know any of their songs, with the exception of hearing “Dancing Queen” on the radio. This all changed that fateful day when I was nervously walking to my bus stop, simultaneously dreading the day before me and trying to calm myself down. I had heard nothing but terrible things about the high school, and wanted nothing more to be back within the safe walls of Iroquois Middle School. As I trudged across the lawn to catch the bus that would take me down the road to the worst day of my life, I regarded my iPod shuffle with woeful contempt- not only did I have no control over the horror of the high school, I also had no control over what song I listened to. As I

hastily shuffled through my vast collection of Frank Sinatra stan-dards, I prayed for a song that would help me cope with the wild range of emotions I was feeling.

I remember exactly where I was standing when I first heard my headphones explode with the sound of powerful electric guitars, synthesizers, and a drum beat that glowed with power. Wonder-ing what in the world I was listen-ing to, I let the song play. When I

heard the first line, I was stunned- it perfectly em-bodied every thought and fear that was s w i m m i n g around my head: “People everywhere, a sense of e x p e c t a -tion hanging in the air.” Th is song was written about be -

i n g a f r e s h m a n . I knew that it was by an act of

divine providence that this song had appeared. I listened to it over and over again and slowly but surely began to build up my confidence. By the time the bus arrived at school, I practically danced through the doors, fueled with an unprecedented fervor and a new favorite sound. After an uneventful first day, I went home and looked up who exactly my new musical saviors were. The rest, as they say, was history.

The appearance of that song, “Voulez Vous,” on that day was the beginning of a deep, inexpli-cable connection between my life as a high school student and the music of ABBA. From that day forward, every problem I faced, every mood I fell into, and every joy I encountered had an ABBA song to go along with it. Though I still listen to ABBA for pure enjoyment, the bond that I have forged with ABBA has grown so deep that now each song has a

deeper meaning for me. In times of jubilation, I play “Waterloo,” while “When All is Said and Done,” pulls me through periods of sadness. “Super Trouper” is reserved for those musical dress rehearsals that last late into the night, when the light of the spotlight seems to be shining just to antagonize me and illuminate my insecurities.

With their crazy hair, tight clothes, and collection of bouncy songs filled with fluffy, meaning-less lyrics, ABBA appears to be a parody of the music industry in the 1970’s, a group that was satirizing their musical innova-tions as they were pushing them forward. And while the “legend,” if you will permit the use of that term, of ABBA seems nothing more than a frivolous folly, the actual story of ABBA is, perhaps, far too serious. The former friends are, at present, not on speaking terms, with years of internal pres-sure and conflict now manifesting themselves as bitterness and hatred. Rather than dwelling on either of these images, I prefer to remember ABBA through the lenses of their songs, the songs that I love so much I tried hard to think of an appropriate, memo-rable closer to this article, but I couldn’t do it. After giving up on a meaningful ending, I realized, quite fittingly, I think, that the rightful end to this article lay with ABBA. And so, just as Björn & Benny wrote all those years ago, so I say now “Thank you for the music, the songs I’m sing-ing- thanks for all the joy they’re bringing. Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty: what would life be? Without a song or a dance what are we? So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me.”

Photo Illustration / Bhavya Narala

ABBA FEVER: Tim joins ABBA!

7April 8, 2011The Warrior Sports

Sof tba l l wi l l h i t you hardby aniket tolpadi

sports

game can be expressed some in practices, but most likely, will show up best in games. In games, the knowledge and expe-rience is extremely important in knowing how to coach in specific situations, putting players in the right positions at the right times,

among other things. A good coach should not only have a good knowledge of the game, but also should know his players very well. This allows him to know the abilities of each player, and how

they will translate into certain game situations. Coach Schultz has both of those qualities.

As mentioned above, one of the goals that the team has set this year is to come home with the Section II Championship, with the long-term goal of winning

the State Championships. To do this, the team will require lots of commitment, hard work, and talent. These girls have all of the above; each of them are commit-ted to the team, coming to each

practice and working hard, and they certainly have the talent to accomplish their goals. One of the attributes of this team is that they have three extremely versatile pitchers who have the skills to give their team a chance to win every time. This will be an important

aspect of the team, as often times, pitching is the thing that will win games for you, especially when you get to Section-als. Having one great pitcher is good enough to change the look of your team for the entire season and especially the playoffs, but having three good ones can be absolutely overwhelm-ing for opponents and make your team scary. In addition, the hitting of this team has looked extremely solid in these early practices, as they have shown the ability to be successful off of any pitcher and any set of fielders that you throw at them. A good offense will be of use mainly in the regular season, when the pitchers don’t quite have an ability to take over the game yet, but of coruse they will be crucial in Section-als. A good offense will allow any team to over-come many obstacles, especially when good pitchers are in hand.

Unlike baseball, only seven innings are played in a varsity softball game, and the base paths are only sixty feet long, compared to ninety feet in baseball. There are also other small differences between the two, such as the size of

the barrel of the bat. The first softball game for the girls this year is coming up this Friday. Get out there and cheer them on! This year, we may be witnessing something special with this team.

The varsity girls softball team, led by senior Selena Moroukian and a team of talented players, is looking very strong this year. They look to win Section II this year, and hopefully the State Championships. How-ever, all big goals must be tackled one step at a time, and that is the ap-proach that coach Steve Schultz has taken, along with his skillful team.

Conditioning is a very big part of all sports in today’s day, and that has been one of the things emphasized by Coach Shultz. Every practice, the softball girls do condi-tioning exercises, which in turn are very useful for games. In softball and baseball, the condition-ing is very important for a number of reasons. One of those is to be able to withstand the heat that comes along with the timeframe in which the games are played. Without conditioning, it is very likely that players will not be able to last through the game. An-other important reason for conditioning is to have peak performance throughout the entire game. Without the con-ditioning, it is likely that players will not have the stamina and endurance to last through the game at peak performance. In other words, it is a very good thing that Coach Schultz is emphasizing the conditioning this year.

Coach Shultz is actu-ally a new addition to the team this year, as this is his first year as coach. According to Moroukian, one of the best at-tributes of Coach Shultz is his tremendous knowledge of the game. That knowledge of the

Photo credit / Mike HeldWHIP IT REAL GOOD: Junior pitcher Devon Dare reacts as she whips a pitch during a recent practice. Practices have been an important part of the season so far for the girls.

April 8, 2011 The WarriorSports8

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

by cHris Herman

sports

After a superb season in 2010, the boys varsity baseball team looks to reach new heights this spring. Led by senior captains Nick Valletta and Alex Melius, the team hopes to be very successful with a tough section competition. Although they have a lot of competition locally this year, the boys have shown that they can overcome any obstacles to win and get the job done. They know they have what it takes to rise up to the occasion this year and beat teams like Shen, Burnt Hills, Colonie and CBA at Sectionals. One example would be when they beat Shen 6-5 last year in the regular season. Shen was one of the best teams in the state at the time and the big upset really fired the boys up and helped them get into the playoffs. Hopefully that eye of the tiger that they have acquired with their past successes can carry on to the next season. It will be tough to win like they did last year, but with solid leadership and some good young help from pitcher sophomores Tommy Carri-gan and Zack Zebrowski, it can be done.

One key to their success will be to have their pitching rotation remain consistent over the course of the season. Starters seniors Peyton Houghtaling, John Scisci. Carrigan, and juniors Austin Clock and Alex “Hellboy” Helenic will have to keep the other teams’ scores down and their speed up. If they can keep the opposi-tions’ runs down and consistently do so, then the offense can win games for them.

Regardless, the team is coached by John Furey, which says enough. They are destined to have success! With years of experience and

tons of knowledge of the game of America’s pastime, Furey will certainly not dissapoint, simply because he never does. This experi-

ence and excelent coaching will be the icing on the cake for the young team, with all the talent they have and the hunger for a Sec-tion II Championship; the coaching will give them what they need to reach for the stars.

Furey will lead the team and help make them win during the tough situations that are inevitable in a sports season. As we know

there is no team without a good coach to lead the way, and there is no doubt that the Warriors have that in place already.

The batting lineup will also have to do their share and keep the runs coming, but the team is confident in their ability to hit this year with studs in the lineup. This year, Valletta and Zebrowski will be key difference makers for the team. Zebrowski, who was on JV as a freshman is now taking the next step forward with his fellow sophomore Carrigan. They will play big roles in the team’s suc-cess. Captain Melius told the Warrior, “For us to be successful we need to keep everyone focused and have one common goal. This will keep us on track and it is my job as a captain to do so.” The team agreed by setting goals like being Sec-tion II champions and having a winning record. The team also wanted to grow as a team as much as possible and they believe that can help them be successful. “I feel as though we are going to do great this season especially if we continue to work hard and grow as a team,” said Junior Zack Price. Its true; the team has a lot of tools and if they can put them

together, they can do especially well and raise some more eyebrows like last year.

With an overwhelming hunger to be great, lots of talent, great coaching and

a solid pitching rotation, the boys varsity baseball teams looks to be great yet again. Come and support them at their home games!

Nisky Sluggers get to work

Photo Credit/ Casey MarvelHOT STUFF: Sophomore Casey Marvel prepares to throw a pitch in a recent game.