This Issuein

AroundTown

Pop Arts

J&A Prep Kitchen

Childish Gambino’s album debut: Camp

World and Cultures

Troops in Iraq: home by the end of the year

ASO’s new season underwayAn inside look at what’s new this year in the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

A look at the return home of American troops after many years.

An exposé of one of the most underrated comedians in Hollywood.

An inside look on the college applica-tion process, from the viewpoint of prospective students.

Looking for new restaurant reviews? Check out a GHS student’s experience at the new restaurant at Crossgates.

the

Centerspread 9

Occupy AlbanyA peek into the protesters of the Capital Region.

Teens tend to fuss at the prospect of change. We stress. We sigh. This is cer-tainly true of student views on next year’s proposed schedule. How will kids man-age hefty workloads without advisory? Although these unwanted adjustments may put a damper on our days, there are still aspects of GHS deserving of appreciation. There’s something special

that lingers in our halls, something that entices freshman to get on that first day bus, and incites a slight sadness in depart-ing seniors. This almost “lucky” feeling is often faint but present. So, for just a moment, let’s reflect on ten things to be thankful for:

1.)The Red Sea. Dutchmen pride flows from the stands where the Red Sea thrives and resides. Decked out in our

true colors, GHS students voice their support when our teams take the field. It’s a known fact that Guilderland has the rowdiest cheering section around, af-firmed by senior Peter Libertucci: “When it started downpouring at the Bethlehem game, we stayed out while their fans ran under the bleachers. That’s dedication.”

Have you heard the rumor that’s all over school? The Guilderland Players production of the comical play Rumors, by Neil Simon, was a huge hit! Performed by the Players a mere 5 years ago, the actors decided to take a second swing at a previously successful production. It wouldn’t be the same as before, of course. With entirely different actors to illustrate the parts, a new appearance was added to a classic play.

The play is a much different experi-ence than the musical because of the cast itself; the small number of people needed

makes it easier for the audience to create a connection with the characters on stage.

“Having a small cast and only text to go off of allowed us a lot of flexibility with the staging, so rehearsals were pretty casual,” says Casey Morris, who plays Claire Ganz. “We’d just hop on stage, run through the lines, fix things that didn’t work, and the show evolved from there.”

The cast brought much of the spirit that the plot asked for: humor, life and quirky emotion ran deep in the delivery of each actor. Without the talent of these students, the play would never have had a chance. In the musical, there’s singing,

dancing and noise continuously adding to the moment, but in the play the characters are the sole focus, putting a lot of pres-sure on the actors to do well. In addition, the musical requires more props, occupies more stage space and uses more people because of the many smaller roles, such as dancers.

“The play is definitely harder to get into [than the musical] because there are fewer roles,” said Morris earlier, just one of the many contrasting elements the two share. But despite the differences, both productions come out amazing each year.

SeeRumorspage14

Photo by Madelaine Taylor/ The Journal

Follow the Journal on TwitterGHSjournal

Join our Facebook group The Journal 2010-2011

Volume 65 Issue 2 FREE Guilderland Center, NY 12085 November 2011

Journalthe

By and for the students of Guilderland Central High School

What’s inside:HallwaysAround TownPop ArtsCenterspread

OpinionsFine ArtsWorld & CulturesSports

358

11

12141618

More at theghsjournal.comJournal

Crash Course: College Applications

Emily Benson

SeeThanksgivingpage3

H a l l w a y s

5

8

Fine Arts 13

12

Julianne Legnard

What to be thankful for at GHS

Rumors fly at GHSFrom left: Cody Ingraham, Alex Benninger, Enaw Elonge, Daniel Ferris and Lexi Rabadi square off in this fall’s play, Rumors.

3

Since 1946

Movember: a month of cavemen

A ‘House of Horrors’ at GHS

$174 million since the birth of the orga-nization in 2003.

Besides those actually involved in Movember, there is a multitude of people who participate in their own contests among friends during the month, resem-bling a playoff hockey team. The differ-ence is that the winners of No Shave November contests usually do not receive prizes comparable to the Stanley Cup.

“I’m doing it as a tradition; a lot of the guys at my school here are doing it. My beard isn’t great but it’s something funny to do with a bunch of people,” said JP Horan, from the Guilderland Class of 2011 and now a freshman at Nazareth College. Horan has been participating in Novembeard since he was able to grow facial hair. Others see the campaign as a rite of passage, such as Patrick Wood, a senior at Guilderland High School: “I wish I could participate. I feel like a boy amongst men when all of my friends can do it but I can’t.”

No Shave November has become a popular tradition all over the world and can raise awareness for a serious issue while creating a lively competition to oc-cupy people’s time in between MLB and NFL playoff seasons. If you can grow it, show it!

Movember, No Shave November, Novembeard; if you haven’t heard of it, you’ve seen it. Each November, over a million so called “Mo-Bros” put their razors away for the month whether they can grow a beard as long as Rapunzel’s hair or just a dirt-stache. Mo-Bros par-ticipate in the month-long campaign for a number of reasons, whether it is as a part of the actual Movember initiative, a contest with friends, or just as an excuse not to shave for the 30 days.

Movember is an organization that works in connection with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG to raise awareness about men’s health issues, especially prostate cancer. Those who wish to get involved in this way can sign up at movember.com and can also raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation by acquiring sponsors or donating directly. In 2010, Movember alone raised $80.7 Million and has raised

Despite the snowy weather outside, Halloween spirit came alive inside GHS. The annual Trick or Treat Street was held from 3:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Octo-ber 29th. Adults, children, students, and teachers showed up dressed in their Hal-loween best. “Trick or Treat Street is a big community event to celebrate Halloween in a safe environment for the children,” said Ms. McManus, one of the Class of 2014 advisors.

Trick or Treat Street included over thirty-five different classrooms giving out candy, ten Carnival games, two bouncy houses, a magician, a haunted house, a photo studio, storytelling, and many other fun activities for children. “My favorite activity was getting candy. The haunted house was fun, but it didn’t scare me!” said Jack, a nine year old dressed as a

basketball player. Getting a lot of candy seemed to be the most popular activity at Trick of Treat Street. A pair of twins, Ellie and Ian, also enjoyed getting candy. “I like getting all the candy,” said Ellie, a 70’s girl, and her brother Ian, dressed like Harry Potter, agreed.

Even the parents all had smiles on their faces as they brought their kids of every age from activity to activity. “I bring my kids to Trick or Treat Street because it’s a safe environment,” said a mother of three children.

Of the 1,215 children who attended last year, most of them didn’t know where

the proceeds from the event went. “The money raised goes to our prom and ball,” said Alec Lee, treasurer for the class of 2014. “The class advisory for 2014 has been working on Trick or Treat Street for a month or two,” said Elizabeth Schumacher, vice-president for the class of 2014.“We stayed after school and set up until around 5 on Friday (the 28th) and came in today at around 1:45.”

Everyone enjoyed Trick or Treat Street, whether eight years old and dressed as Cinderella or a mom dressed as a cowgirl. The students who volun-teered even had a fun time. “I volunteer at Trick or Treat Street because it’s a lot of fun and I love doing it,” said Elizabeth Schumacher. Trick or Treat Street is way for children to enjoy the things they love most about Halloween: dressing up, get-ting candy, and having a blast!

Dressing up, getting candy, and having a blast!

Top ten things to be thankful for at GHS

Photo by Devin Keenholts / The Journal

2. GP ProductionsWorking hard for several months

prior, students hit the stage to entertain their peers as well as other members of our community, wowing the crowd with their humor, vocals, and showmanship. “It’s a tight family of musical kids that have a passion for things I am passionate about. When I walk into a GP rehearsal, I feel great no matter what happened during the day,” said Joey Sipzner, sophomore

3. Passing TimeThese ten minutes between blocks

are a blessing to all dawdlers. After sit-ting through a grueling 80-minute class, it’s great to be able to decompress, talk with friends, and run errands. While ten minutes may seem like a basic right, this luxury is not allotted in many other schools. Even with a bigger building, Shen kids have just five minutes to shuttle between rooms (just one of the things that make us better than them!).

4. The CookiesSoft, warm, and served with a smile,

these cafeteria delights are a highlight of the menu. Just like Grandma’s, these extremely popular treats are the cure for bad days, reasonably priced at 3 for $1.00, and often shared among friends.

5. Cultural FairHeld in the midst of March, this

celebration of nations is unique to GHS and a fun day for all. As the gym booms with booths, dance, and food, students are able to share their heritage and ex-perience the customs of other cultures.

6. “Grab and Go” BucketsIn case of an emergency, these plastic

red pails have got us covered. Complete with a rain poncho, notepad and band-aids, these handy buckets make a great place for lazy students to sit on. Really though, it’s comforting to know that our school has an organized safety system.

7. The Deli“It’s such a convenient meeting place

that’s not far from the school. It’s kind of like our own little hub.” Emily Ben-son, junior.

8. Sports Teams “They give you time to hang out with

your friends and represent your school.” Rebecca Golderman, freshman

9. The Teachers“They’re all supportive when it

comes to seeing their students do well inside and outside of the class room. It motivates students to work harder with just one supportive figure.” Gaby Peda, junior

10. Gradespeed“Gradespeed allows me to see my

grades immediately after a big test, proj-ect or assignment is handed in.” Alec Lee, sophomore

By: Isaac Malsky

by Tucker

Seinberg

Sean Klim

Bryce Goyer

RETRACTION

“Mo-Bros” put their razors away for the month.

Children, dressed up in all sorts of costumes, are handed candy from student volunteers at Guilderland High School.

Cont. from page 1

Store Hours• Mon-Fri 7:00 a.m. - 8 p.m. • Sat 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. • Sun 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

1874 Western Ave AlbAny, ny 12203 456.7383

The helpful place.®

Serving the Community Since 1958

ROBINSON

Graphic by Madelaine Taylor / The Journal

Scan the QR code on your smartphone to visit online!

page 2 (theJournal) November 2011

How to contact The JournalMail: The Journalc/o Guilderland High School8 School Rd Guilderland Center, NY 12085Phone: (518) 861-8591Ask for The JournalEmail: journal@guilderlandschools.org

The Journal is published by and for the students of Guilderland High School and is the school’s official student newspaper. We publish accounts of, and perspectives on, people, issues, and events that affect members of the school as well as the community.

Although initialed by the writer, editorials reflect the majority opinion of the editorial staff. Reviews, columns, commentaries, and letters to the editor, however, represent the view of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the staff.

Although we try not to solicit advertise-ments from competing businesses in a given is-sue, we cannot guarantee that a conflict involving advertising will not arise. Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their respective advertisements. We are not responsible for print-ing and/or typographical errors that may occur in a given advertisement. We reserve the right not to print a given advertisement. Also, we cannot assure that columns, editorials, news, reviews or feature stories will not cover issues or events relating to any advertiser in this newspaper.

We welcome signed letters from our readers. To be printed, letters must be of a reasonable length and contain neither libelous, slanderous, nor profane material. We reserve the right to reject any letter received. Unless otherwise noted by the editor-in-chief or the managing editor, all accepted letters will be printed in the letters to the editor section. We reserve the right to edit for length, grammar and content.

2011-2012

-Management-

Editors-in-ChiefMike DvorscakTara JacksonTony Pitkin

Managing EditorJulianne Legnard

-Content-

Hallways EditorsAli Sima, Haewon Hwang

Around Town EditorNina Obwald

Pop Arts EditorAustin Cornell

World & Cultures Editor Justina Liu

Fine Arts EditorLuxi Peng

Opinions EditorMatt Simon

Sports EditorsBram Peterson, Shelby Iapoce

Digital Media CoordinatorHannah Liu

CopyeditorsMarissa LaFave, Sharon Lin, Prabjot Singh, Mary Powathial, Daniella Giardina, Xing Yu

Wei

-Design-Photography Editor Devin Keenholts

Graphics Editor Madelaine TaylorLayout & Design Editor Issac Malsky

-Business-Business Manager Mike Crupi

Advertising Manager Samina HyderyDistribution Manager Devin Fisher

Faculty Advisor Christopher MazuraBuilding Principal Thomas Lutsic

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Wiles

Journalthe

JournalNovember 2011

Hallways

Journalthe

Comics

We would like to apologize for the misprinted title “Best Buddies: Bridging

the gap between two separate worlds” from our first issue. As expressed by the article, Best Buddies is about strengthening ties

within the student body and recognizing that we are one.

page 4 ( Journal) Hallways November 2011 JournalNovember 2011

Around TownEvery year, seniors around the country have one wish: for their college applica-tions to be over with. Although college tends to creep into students’ thoughts around junior year, the epitome of appli-cation stress hits like a tidal wave between October and December.

Although the specifics vary for each student, most follow the same process. First, students begin to identify schools of interest, usually in junior year. Over the next few months, prospective stu-dents visit colleges to gauge their level of interest. “When I visited Bentley Univer-sity I just knew that was the college for me,” says senior Kaleb Dubin. Students then find out application information for each school.

The Common Application, or Com-mon App, is a standard application students fill out that is accepted by most

schools. It compiles information such as SAT/ACT scores, transcripts, recom-mendations, and other tidbits. However, many schools also require a supplemen-tary application. These usually contain an-other essay prompt or series of questions. Many schools do not accept the common app, and students ap-plying to such schools must fill out an entirely new application.

Filling out the ap-plications is one of the most difficult parts for students. “Applying to college is very stressful. For me, it really freaks me out that I am potentially pouring massive amounts of time and a fair amount of money into a handful of colleges that might not even accept me,” says senior Leah Condemi.

“The shadow of the need for perfec-

tion on the apps kind of scares me,” says junior Brien Miceli.

Once the application is completed, students are ready to submit it. The first round of applications, early decision or early action, are due at the beginning of November. Early action is simply the

choice of applying at an earlier date with hopes of an increased chance at admission, while early decision is a binding contract in which, if accepted, the

student is required to go to that school unless the financial aid package is not sufficient.

“From what I’ve heard I’m definitely nervous. It’s scary too because thinking about college makes me feel so old, and even though it’s exciting it’s also nerve-wracking,” says junior Audrey Gunther.

“We see a lot of early action, probably over fifty percent of our students,” says GHS guidance counselor Candace Galar-neau. While early decision applicants aren’t nearly as numerous, a significant amount of Guilderland students do end up applying early decision. “Following my first visit [at Bentley], I went back for an interview and eventually decided to apply early decision,” says Dubin.

“We see stress begin to ease up around January, when excitement overcomes stress after the applications are in,” Mrs. Galarneau says. Although other stressors still exist, such as acceptance, financial aid, and commitment to a school, seniors definitely breathe a sigh of relief. For seniors who’ve not yet applied or juniors getting ready to start the process, Mrs. Galarneau has one piece of advice: “Re-member, applying to college is a process. Don’t try to do everything in one shot.”

A crash course in college applications Sydney Campbell

Graphic by Madelaine Taylor / The Journal

Graphic by Tucker Seinberg / The Journal

The stress of applications hits like a tidal wave...

Hannah Liu

A new club for scientific minds

2012: the end of the world, and advisory

Graphic by Justina Liu/ The Journal

Nick Schwartz

One day while walking around at the mall, we decided to stop somewhere to eat, but we were bored with the usual options the food court offered, and we didn’t want to spend too much money. We decided on Jacob and Anthony’s Prep Kitchen, the latest addition to Crossgates Mall. Jacob and Anthony’s Prep Kitchen is a new upscale sports bar located in Crossgates Mall where Houlihan’s used to be. The restaurant is very family friendly and with dim lighting and music playing, anyone could feel at home. The menu consists of a variety of foods, ranging from six types of salads, to burgers (even veggie burgers!) to steaks and soft tacos. There are many

options and anyone is sure to find a great meal on the menu. After dining at the Prep Kitchen and enjoying a Chipotle cheeseburger and grilled chicken sandwich, we left satisfied. The meals were made to order with fresh ingredients. The wait wasn’t long at all for our food to arrive. It took about twenty minutes and the service was excellent. Throughout our meal, our waiter, Dominic, constantly checked on us, even the manager stopped by a few times to make sure everything was going well. Two entrees and an appetizer don’t make a dent in your wallet. The total bill was $31.32, relatively cheap for high quality food, service and a good time. The Prep Kitchen also offers a special deal, “Movie Dinner Monday,” in which

you can get movie tickets for only $5 with your meal. Overall, the Prep Kitchen offers great food at a great price and is the perfect addition to Crossgates Mall.

Yoga has become a “hot” fitness fad among people all over the world, and it has now gotten “hot” in the Capital District as well, with

the opening of The Hot Yoga Spot. Recently relocated to Stuyvesant Plaza, The Hot Yoga Spot has been drawing much attention from people all over the Capital District since its

first opening in December 2010. For everything from the wide variety of butt-kicking workout classes, to the fundraisers and special events held there, people from Albany to Clifton Park and beyond are making the trip to “get hot!” Jessica Lustig, a SUNY Albany graduate with a master’s degree in Social Studies Education, decided to open up the The Hot Yoga Spot after realizing the slim pickings as a young teacher entering the work force. “I had been [substitute teaching] for a while, and I had to get out of that since it’s literally the pits of hell…but I wanted to find a way to teach people still. I want to always be meeting people, you know?” said Jessica. After growing up on Long Island, a kingdom sprinkled with yoga studios in every neighborhood, Lustig was shocked to discover the lack of opportunities to practice yoga up state. “I thought, ‘this is crazy!’ I didn’t want to drive hours for my yoga, but I didn’t want to give up yoga either,” said Lustig. Thus, The Hot Yoga Spot was born, offering classes such as Hot Yoga Flow, Pilates, Core Fusion, Iron Yoga, and Hip Hop Power Yoga for a mere ten dollars per class for students. Soon enough, Jessica’s tiny studio on Western Avenue became ill suited for the amount of excitement it was generating. “At the old location, you could barely close the door to pee…here, it’s a lot more comfy. We’re not on top of each other in classes anymore,” said Lustig. The Hot Yoga Spot relocated to Stuyvesant Plaza in September 2011, and can fit four of the old studios within it. It offers a ton of parking, insulated walls for minimal disturbances during the relaxing classes, and two separate studios that allow for more classes to be held in more efficient time. “The studio itself is beautiful and very clean. I love it,” said Jordan Scott, a senior at GHS who takes classes from Jessica. To celebrate the moving of her studio, Jessica held a fundraiser on October 15th,

2011 for an organization called The Legal Project, a nonprofit organization that offers free or low cost legal help to people who need it, such as women in abusive relationships. Lustig held two classes at one time, hosting about fifty people all together, and raising about $300 for the wonderful cause. “I wanted to have a big party for the big opening,” said Lustig, “and since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and The Legal Project is so close, it kind of fit together perfectly. I thought it was a good gesture to my neighbor.” As if Lustig didn’t have enough going on at her studio, she earned a new certification early this November to begin teaching Barre classes at The Hot Yoga Spot. “It’s the hardest workout!” said Lustig, “[Barre classes] are a mix of yoga, ballet and pilates. It’s kind of funny actually, it’s often referred to as ‘not your daughter’s ballet class.’” Upon opening classes to the public, Jessica has stirred up much excitement. “I literally sweat so much in the regular hot yoga classes and, I mean, I don’t sweat. Ever. I can’t imagine what the Barre ones are like. I can’t wait to find out!” said Jordan Scott. So far, the new classes have received rave reviews. Jessica plans to continue using her studio as a unique vehicle to support the community in the future. You may learn about any new, upcoming events, parties and fundraisers by joining The Hot Yoga Spot Facebook group, or visiting the studio’s website at www.thehotyogaspot.com. Jessica updates these pages constantly, a quality reminiscent of the way she treats her new studio. “My friends tell me I’m crazy because I get so worried about little things. Like, if I didn’t restock the toilet paper for the next morning before I left, I feel terrible,” said Lustig. However, she is quick to note that this is something she takes much pride in at her studio: “You know what? You gotta keep doing the small things.”

J&A’s Prep Kitchen: the newest restaurant addition to CrossgatesCaroline Grondahl & Lauren Ward

Top: People practice yoga at The Hot Yoga Spot. Left: A statue decorates the studio. Right Top: The Hot Yoga Spot sign. Right Bottom: Yoga mats await various classes at The Hot Yoga Spot.

Lexi Rabadi

The Hot Yoga Spot offers enjoyable exercise

Pictures courtesy of Jessica Lutsig / The Journal

Picture by Ali Schneider / The Journal

Below: The front of Jacob and Anthony’s Prep Kitchen, the newest restaurant in Crossgates Mall.

Guilderland High School has always taken pride in its wide range of clubs. The large variety of extra curricular activities offered at GHS gives students the freedom and ability to explore their particular areas of interest more thor-oughly than they could in a classroom. Just this year, a new club was started up by a couple of students with a knack for science.

The Science Olympiad Club is aimed towards students with critical think-ing skills and an extensive knowledge of science. The club is a nation-wide organization with thousands of partici-pating schools, several of which are in the Suburban Council. Each year, the organization hosts local, regional, and national competitions.

The Science Olympiad competitions require students to think critically in order to complete assigned tasks. At

the competitions, tasks are assigned to each team which must be accomplished in order for the team to be successful. Each school has a team of 15 members participating in the competitions.

“It’s a team effort for sure. You might have some upperclassmen who are cur-rently taking physics, and you might have

some underclassmen who are currently taking biology. There’s a definite strat-egy to it.” says Charles Bender, biology teacher and the advisor to the club.

There are several types of questions asked at these competitions. There are

hands-on tasks, which might require the team to engineer a device, such as a tower, gravity vehicle, or helicopter. There are also simple knowledge ques-tions, which could relate to anything from trees to galaxies.

As with any new club at Guilderland High School, the Science Olympiad Club needed some interested students to get it started.

“Hannah Liu and Laura Tang were interested in doing it. A few of their friends were also interested in partici-pating. Their input was really what got it started.” says Bender. The biology teacher gives full credit to these two ju-niors for getting the club up and running.

If you are interested in joining this club, the meetings are Tuesdays after school in room 308. If you have any questions, ask Mr. Bender or co-presi-dents Hannah Liu and Laura Tang.

Science Olympiad competitions require

students to think critically.

There have been many questions and concerns about GHS’ new schedule for next year. The building Cabinet has decided on a 4 block schedule, similar to the one at Saratoga Springs High School. “It’s basically the same schedule as we have now, except without advisory and with slight changes in times,” says Cabinet member and chemistry teacher Mrs. Boyce.

The four block schedule will keep lunch periods the same lengths, although the loss of advisory does mean that students will have to budget their time better. The new schedule will shorten passing time and block time by a few minutes, thus school will let out earlier.

However, the afterschool period may be extended to approximately an hour in length. Activity period’s objectives are still being discussed.

“We’re giving more opportunities for people to take more courses and more freedom with schedules,” says junior Cabinet representative Joy Jing. The in-creased mobility in the schedule allows students to take more classes, although it also allows for classes to be scheduled

to their maximum, meaning that next year it is likely you will find most of your classes filled. For those students who don’t want to take an extra class, a study hall or free block may be an option.

Help will still be available with the start up of new learning centers. These resource rooms are available for stu-dents to get help even without advisory. For example, if you need help with your math homework, you can go to the learning center and get help from a math teacher, although it might not be your math teacher.

The new schedule, like every deci-sion, will have its benefits and detrac-tions. Hopefully, the gains from this change will outweigh any losses.

It’s basically the same schedule as we have now, except without advisory.

page 6 ( Journal) Around Town November 2011 JournalNovember 2011

Pop ArtsThe holidays are one of the best times

to get into the community and volunteer to help those who are less fortunate. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, a local organization is focusing on that same spirit of giving by organizing, pre-paring, and delivering more than 8,000 Thanksgiving dinners to those who would otherwise be unable to afford it. This not-so small act of charity is only done with the help of almost every one of the 3,000 volunteers who decide to spend a few hours to help out our community. The program is also supported through the donations of local businesses and private citizens.

Founded in 1969 by a group of com-munity and religious leaders, students, and social workers, Equinox’s Thanksgiving Dinner had first began as a way to bring a holiday meal to college students who were not going home for the holidays. Since then, the Equinox community service agency, which fights for an im-proved quality of life for everyone, has made this dinner an annual service proj-ect. Throughout its 45 years of service, the Equinox Thanksgiving program has reached out to many of the homeless and lonely people of our community. Junior Mark Lawler says, “I can’t imagine not having a Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone deserves to have one.” The program has also been dubbed as one of Albany’s longest-running holiday traditions.

Located in the Empire State Plaza kitchens, Equinox Thanksgiving is a co-lossal project which requires a profession-al kitchen; equipped with industrial ovens, monstrous frying pots and pans, and freezers the size of small classrooms. To provide food for the masses also requires an ingredients list at the mammoth scale. The list reads: 10,400 pounds of turkey, 2,000 pounds of ham, 2,800 pounds of yams, 940 pies, 625 dozen dinner rolls, 48 gallons of cider, and 19,500 pieces of fruit. Decorations and table linens are also provided for, and the centerpieces

are created by the local school children.Stationed last year at the turkey pulling

station on one of the days coming up to Thanksgiving, I thoroughly enjoyed being there with my friends as well as doing something I loved. Various other stations were created at the time I was there, including a gravy packaging station, cutting carrots and onions, as well as stir-ring and cleaning pots and pans. There is no previous cooking experience required to participate in the Equinox thanksgiving program. Ultimately, it is the culmination of everyone’s help which leads to the suc-cess of this program.

Other students from Guilderland High School have also participated in Equinox Thanksgiving and have given rave reviews regarding their past experiences. Lawler and juniors Ally VanDoren and Olivia Aitken all have loved volunteering and helping those in need in our community. VanDoren says, “Volunteering at the Equinox is tradition for me. I’ve been going for 6 years and I love it more every year. The amount of people that show up there is crazy and it makes me feel so proud of our community to know we’re all giving back to those who need it.” Lawler agrees, saying “It’s a good feeling when you can have fun while helping out people in need.” Aitken adds, “Participat-ing in Equinox Thanksgiving is just a little thing which I can do that will make some-one’s Thanksgiving Day much better.”

All throughout the Capital Region, local religious groups, youth activists, families, and friends come to the Empire State Plaza every year to help prepare this meal, and it is definitely very rewarding and healthy for the community to come together and celebrate in a meaningful way. In the end, this is not only helping to feed a family, but also allowing us to reach out to our community and understand just what people need and how fortunate we may be in our situations today. Overall, the whole process is very humbling and a great community service opportunity.

Equinox brings Thanksgiving to those in needMary Powathil

Haunted trolley tour spooks APUSH students in Albany

Emma Grabek

Above: APUSH students aboard the haunted trolley during their tour of Albany.

Photos by Mary Powathil & Nina Obwald/ The Journal

Picture courtesy of Mrs. Rudolph / The Journal

The AP US history class of GHS, alongside Mrs. Rudolph, took advantage of the extreme historical content of our very own town this past October. Get-ting into the Halloween spirit, they took a haunted tour of Albany. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, this trip was one to remember.

The guide brought the class aboard a trolley and already the students noticed “blood” dripping from the windows. Before making their first stop, she told the class of the many ghosts that haunted Albany. It wasn’t long before they had arrived at their first destination: the New York State Education Building.

Recently, many supernatural research-ers had visited this building to take re-cordings of activity in the building. Their

machines, for example, picked up a wom-en’s singing voice, with not one woman present in the room. Their machines also picked up sounds like footsteps when no one was moving. Needless to say, it was a spooky start to a spooky night.

The second stop was the State Capitol building. Besides the attacking zombies that hit the trolley along the way, the Capitol had some interesting history. Not only did the 4th floor host a comforting ghost to town, the building is filled with inscriptions of different demented faces. Apparently, someone tried to count them all and lost track at 1,000.

Despite the cold weather, the trip was considered successful. Look out for the event next year so you too can be spooked by events that happened in your own backyard!

A frightful night full of ghosts and tall tales

Born in Schenectady, New York in 1974, Brian Patneaude became inter-ested in jazz at a young age. Now, as an acclaimed saxophonist, he is revered by capital region critics and is repeatedly cited as “Best Jazz Artist” by Metroland Magazine. He now plays in superior groups and records solo music.

Brian’s mellow jazz features smooth saxophone riffs, impeccable tones, and sharp staccato notes that seem to bring their own light to his music. His quartet brings together all the right pieces into a jazz band with quiet - but effective - drums, some funky guitar, a filling bass guitar, and light piano work. Patneaude’s work brings that finger snapping mood of jazz to everyone listening.

I got the chance to talk to Mr. Patne-aude about his music and jazz lifestyle. While on the way to one of his shows, he told me about his life as a jazz musician and about how creative, and uncreative, jazz performers can be…

When did you first get into jazz music?

I first got into jazz when I was in high school as a freshman. My band direc-tor at the time had played me a couple records of some saxophone players and made me hear what the instrument was possible of sounding like and what jazz music was all about.

What kind of effect has jazz had on your life while you were a kid and as an adult?

It gave me an outlet for expression as a teenager and even today. Jazz is a

very creative art form, so you’re allowed to pretty much express who you are and what you’re feeling at any given moment.

What would you say is the best part about being in the jazz music scene and performing professionally?

I get to play the music that I love and make money doing it. Not a lot of money [laughs], but some money.

Any Drawbacks?It doesn’t pay a lot of money

[more laughs]. Jazz is definitely not the most lucrative profes-sion. It’s kind of a niche market; it doesn’t have a large fol-lowing, so it’s a little difficult sometimes to find work.

You started the Brian Patneaude Quartet in 2002. Are you still doing stuff with them?

I am, yep. I don’t know how much you know about jazz music but - as creative as jazz musi-cians are - some-t i m e s we’re not c r e a t i v e when it comes to naming our groups [laughs]. You’ll just have a lot of groups named after who-

ever the band leader is. I put together a group a while back to play music together and, rather than come up with a group name, I came up with that name. We’ve had a few changes in personnel over the years, but it’s mostly the same guys I started out with.

Who are the members right now?

Right now [our] drummer is Danny Whelchel, and he’s been with the group since the very beginning. The bassist’s name is Mike Del Prete, and he’s

been playing for quite a while. The pianist is new to the group and his name is David Caldwell-Mason.

What else have you done solo or in groups beside the quartet?

I’ve played with a lot of different bands in the area.

Most notably, I’ve played with Alex Torres’ orchestra

and his Latin orches-tra for over ten years. I play with the Empire Jazz Orchestra as well. I’ve also played with a group called Michael Benedict and Bopitude. And for a while I played with a band called The Refrigerators, and did that for about six years.

Then there’s literally like hundreds of other groups that I’ve played with and I probably couldn’t name them all. As a jazz musician, you do a lot of free lance working where a band might need a saxo-phone player one night, so I’ll get hired to come in and play with them.

You have a lot of work out right now on albums, would you like people to know about any in particular?

The latest one I’ve put out is a record called River View. It came out in 2009 and that was a special collaboration with the regular drummer from my group, Danny Whelchel, along with an organ player who now lives in Texas. He plays in a band called Midlake that’s like an alternative rock band. Along with him and a guitar player from New York City, we recorded that album. We’ve actually recorded a new record and just started mixing it, and that won’t be released until March of next year.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about jazz music and your work?

There’s a website that I run called albanyjazz.com, which is a listing of lots of different places in the area that present live jazz music. There’s a listing of bands and groups in the area that play, a perfor-mance calendar, and a lot of information about the jazz scene in town.

Brian Patneaude: Albany’s best jazz musicianZack Cleary

The Rum Diary not drunk enoughAndrew FedorovI’ve always wanted to write an article

on Hunter S. Thompson. I dreamed it would be awesome because for a few years, I worshiped the man. I always thought I would maybe review the last collection of his letters, but lawyers and greed-heads have pre-vented those from reaching my hands. But I suppose it has to be for this dumb little piece of [word destroyed by order of editor].

He was fueled by drugs and excreting ink shots of genius. His life was lead by some sort of myth-ological figure rag-ing through a world that was pathetic in comparison. This has earned him the sort of fans who have made it so that half-way through the film, in the back of the theater, the sound of glass splintering was heard.

Thompson started out in Louisville as a kid with Plato under his arm and a charge of being an accessory to rob-bery. He debated with what the hell to do with his life; to sit or to seek. He chose to seek. The judge forced him to join the Air Force, and he worked for a

base newspaper. That never worked out, so he went to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

It was the 1950’s and San Juan was weird. There was ex-ploration to be done of Sanderson’s “Sea o f M o n e y ” , a n d Thompson was toil-ing away on his second crappy novel, which became known as The Rum Diary. The book is crap; it’s confusing and boring at times. So the only good thing

about Johnny Depp’s digging it up next to a barrel of gun powder in Thompson’s basement - where he was living in prepa-ration for his 1998 film Fear and Loathing in

Las Vegas - was that the book fed a raging Hunter S. Thompson addiction.

The book is not so autobiographical but the film attempts to be the story of how Thompson went insane (or sane, if you prefer). Kemp says, “I got no voice [and] I don’t know how to write like me”. It wasn’t some weird night in San Juan as the film describes.

On its own, apart from historical in-accuracy, the film fails. It has a pathetic script that is based on the poor dialogue in the book. It gives Kemp a moral quest to expose unethical, money grubbing fools through a free press and it throws in some stupid, out of place drug se-quences. There was also a cock fighting theme throughout the movie for some strange reason.

Anyone claiming to be human should know this film could have been great. It could have been the gradual story of the birth of vitriol, the birth of voice, and the birth of the search for the American dream.

The trouble with this horrible piece of [word destroyed by order of editor] is that, as Thompson put it, “It never got weird enough for me.”

Over 8,000 turkey dinners will be delivered to families throughout the Capital Region

Blue Slide Park interests few

Above: Gourds and pumpkins decorate for Thanksgiving; Left: Volunteers help out by cleaning tables in the Equinox kitchen; Right: Butternut squash is ready to be cooked.

Sydney Campbell

Is Mac Miller’s first album disap-pointing? No. Is it impressive? Again, no. Miller, best known for his hit song “Donald Trump” dropped his debut album Blue Slide Park on November 8th, 2011.

As with any young rapper, there are a few cringe-worthy rhymes, but in general the lyrics are consistently solid. The beats are fresh and there’s a good mix of styles within the music itself.

To coninue reading, scan the code below on your smartphone:

Photos courtesy of Brian Patneaude

Steve Jobs:and his invention that changed the music world

Unlike the world-renowned corpora-tions of Google, Wal-Mart, and Bank of America, whose CEO’s are barely recognized, the mere mention of an apple brings one name immediately into focus. It’s the first fruit mentioned in the Bible, the delicious object that propelled downward onto Sir Isaac Newton’s head (which, after a series of complex calculus based computations and physics calcula-tions, he concluded that things in fact do fall down). With the introduction of the iPod in 2001, the profound Steve Jobs imprinted his name in history with the harmless, and delicious, Apple. Unfor-tunately, his life was cut short, but the reverberation from his greatness has been felt in ways that have revolutionized the music industry.

Music has morphed unexpectedly into something completely new. Not too long ago, the genius of Benny Goodman pulsed out of listeners’ phonographs. Nowadays, most people fail to recognize Benny Goodman as a musical revolution-ary, and the sounds from a phonograph are now condemned without the bom-bardment of auto-tune.

After the first year that the iPod was launched, however, the 21st century still felt the evanescence of 90’s music within its own. The iPod allowed listeners to glo-rify the best music of that time by making

music downloads much more accessible. “Drops from Jupiter” by Train clocked

in at fourth place on the Billboard’s top 100 songs of 2001. The rich sound of the piano, orchestral accompaniment, and other instruments chiming in impressed nearly all of their listeners. The synco-pated chords also added to the already beautiful riffs.

The following year, in 2002, the Cana-dian born rock band landed at the number one spot on the list. Nickelback’s “This is How You Remind Me” was the hit sensa-tion of the year. From distorted rhythm guitar to a grungy voice and tone, they are sometimes noted to be the worst band to walk this earth. However, in 2002, the song pulsated throughout music shops, parties, and stereos.

Ten nickels later, you get another Billboard song of the year. In 2003, 50 Cent’s “In the Club” racked up enormous recognition. In the final year of the 20th century, 50’s “Your Life Is On the Line” hit the charts with a No. 37 Hot Rap Song of the Year in 1999. Yet it wasn’t until 2003 when the rapper racked up enormous rec-ognition. “In The Club” rose to number one, and sustained the title for a total of nine weeks.

“Irreplaceable” was an awe-inspiring single by the sensational performer Be-yoncé. This was the artist’s eighth number one hit song atop the Billboard 100. The

song made its mark in history as the lon-gest solo hit to remain on the Hot 100 list for a total of ten weeks of recogni-tion. Knowles also gained enormous appreciation from the Spanish music business as well, which spread the iPod’s influence into new territory. “Irreplaceable” topped at number four on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs.

One year short of the decade’s finale, music once again changed dra-matically. Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” resided on the Billboard list as number one for 2010. It was yet another heavily auto-tuned hit.

With Steve Jobs’ gloomy death still dawning upon us, and with almost ev-eryone owning an iPod, it’s difficult to disagree that he has revolutionized the music business. Music itself has been dramatically altered from year to year, and so has Steve’s incredible pocket sized MP3 player. Despite his unfortunate death, his little device will still impact the big world. We wouldn’t be listening to The Black Eyed Peas through a phonograph without Jobs’

presence, but we most certainly wouldn’t be listening to it on the iPod. Prior to release of this invention, MP3 players could either have a lot of memory, yet

were far too clunky to comfortably carry around, or were pocket sized, but could carry an insignificant amount of music. Steve Jobs didn’t overly change how music was produced, but he did change the music business without question. He revolutionized the way we listen to those Billboard Hot 100 hits and much more with his intuitive mind and small creation.

Music isn’t like wine. As time pro-gresses, it doesn’t necessarily get better, yet Jobs has helped the music brewers’ business boom.

Ben Segal

Coldplay introduces new soundJulia Davidoff

Simon says watch The X-Factor

Glenn Beck turns to internet for ratingsElana Desantis

Childish Gambino finally recognizedJeff Easley

The X-Factor (USA) premiered on September 21, 2011. The original X-Factor is a music-based competition that was initially aired in the UK, but had contestants from all over the world that competed on the show. However, X-Factor was recently brought to the States for a trial run by executive producer Simon Cowell, the famed ex-American Idol judge.

The winner of The X-Factor receives a $5 million recording contract, as well as the opportunity to join the med-ley of musicians who have starred in Pepsi commercials. These artists include Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears, and other well known celebrities. This is most likely the reason that there were so many contestants who tried out for X-Factor in the US. They wanted the $5 million recording contract.

To coninue reading, scan the code below on your smartphone:

Justine Polonski

News host Glenn Beck (top) and Donald Glover (bottom) are pictured

Graphic by Madi Taylor

From the vantage point of a newscaster; it’s atrocious.

Furthur comes to the TU centerMatt Simon and Bram Peterson

Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead have been keeping the bus rolling, touring with Furthur. On November 15th, they stopped at the Times Union Center to treat Albany to a show. Dead heads gathered for the performance, setting up Shake-down Street in the parking lot, where everything psychedelic is exchanged. Lesh and Weir were both spot on with their playing, pumping out some licks reminiscent of Jerry Garcia.

After a long set break, the band found some magic. Featuring an “Esti-mated Prophet” into “The Other One” jam, the set explored some spacey terri-tory while keeping the crowd engaged. The music stank of the spirit of the 60’s, something Furthur must be try-ing to preserve. After the second set, Lesh thanked the fans for the energy they provided. The encore proved this energy is very much still alive, ending with the crowd singing back to the band. Old Grateful Dead fans and new listeners alike proved that their love for the Dead is surely not fading away.

Photo by Devin Keenholts / The Journal

Graphic by Madi Taylor / The Journal

Graphic courtesy of Hannah Dordick

page 9 (theJournal)Pop Arts November 2011page 8 ( Journal) Pop Arts November 2011

It’s 7:00 pm, and you’ve just come back from a stressful day at work. All you want to do is sit back, relax, and turn on Fox News, your mainstream right wing news station. But there’s a problem; Bill O’Reilly isn’t on until eight, and Sean Hannity is off the radio! From where are you going to get your cold, hard opin-ions? If this happens to you on a fairly regular basis, I have some news that will make your American flag pin wave in excitement. Glenn Beck is now a news personality, a published author, and, as of recently, an internet entrepreneur.

The overly eccentric and highly opin-ionated voice for many of the conserva-tive Americans today has launched his own internet enterprise known as GBTV. For $4.95 a month, you have unlimited ac-cess to the eight shows this website offers, including the Glenn Beck Program, a new, two-hour daily show fairly reminiscent of his 5 pm TV slot that was once on the Fox News Network. You can also watch his radio program, which is available for free to the public if you listen to him on the ra-dio, as well as Liberty Tree House, a news source for children to get involved in today’s world. The website also includes a blog, which is much more focused on the current success and payment options of GBTV than actual current events and politics. One of the more fascinat-ing things I found while browsing the

website was a link to “Beck University”, a web-based ‘education source’ that one can enroll in by paying a subscription to GBTV. “We can no longer rely on our text books that have been hijacked by progressives”, the website says. “Learn history the way it really happened at Beck University.”

I’ll make sure to add expert historian to his list of accomplishments.

One may think Beck is a little bit crazy for throwing away his comfortable career as a cable news host to start an internet news source, but I honestly commend him for doing so. The internet is one of the best ways to connect with people from all over the world. Also, because Glenn Beck owns this station, he is al-lowed to say whatever rage-induced opin-ion comes out of his mouth. Even Fox

News used discretion with the content that was aired on Beck’s program.

Not only is the in-ternet a better way

to connect with people, but this move has brought a lot of financial benefits to Beck as well. According to the Wall Street Journal, Beck made an estimated $2.5 million a year during his career with Fox, which is a mere fraction of the $20 million he’s expected to make this year. When the website was first announced in June, GBTV had 80,000 subscribers, but in the months following, the numbers swelled to 230,000.

Though I don’t think it’s right to make

people pay for information that I believe is public domain, Beck is utilizing one of his favorite aspects of America: capitalism. This free-enterprise allows businesses to flourish and is one of the things that makes our country great.

Since I would never give money to Glenn Beck just to write this article, I had to base my research on vid-eo clips of the shows highlights that are available for free. This is basi-cally what I got from it: From the vantage point of a news-person, this web-site is atrocious. From an opinion standpoint, how-ever, it’s wonder-ful. For example, he showed footage of an Occupy Wall Street rally (a movement to which he is highly opposed) and aired interviews with people in the crowd. This footage made the rally ap-pear to be an anti-Semitist movement, when in actuality, many Jewish groups are in support of it. Contrary to Beck’s por-

trayal of the events in New York, a large part of the effort is to combine people

of all different religions and ethnicities to support one

common goal. Glenn Beck used his own

opinions to sway the news and make OWS look like something completely dif-ferent. I could do the same thing at a Tea Party rally; I could interview four racists and call the Tea Party a racist group,

but that is not what the Tea Party repre-

sents. So here’s the

deal; if you are a conserva-tive republi-can looking

for hard-hit-ting, opinion-

ated news, then your money will be well

spent with a subscription to GBTV. If you are anyone else just looking for the news, I suggest you spend your money elsewhere, like on a lottery ticket; with that, you at least have a chance of getting something beneficial from it.

According to Chris Martin, Coldplay’s lead singer and mastermind behind the new album, Mylo Xyloto has no meaning. When interviewed by USA Today, Martin says, “We wanted to have something that didn’t mean anything else. We made up ‘Xyloto’. When we Googled it, nothing came up.”

The album was officially released on October 24th, selling an astounding 447,000 copies in the first week alone. The first hit single released from the album, Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, came out September 12th, which gave the world a sneak preview of their new sound. Mylo Xyloto is the band’s third studio album to reach the top of the iTunes charts, following X&Y in 2005, as well as their 2008 album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. Mylo Xyloto was such a hit that their four previous albums re-emerged on the charts, bringing back the love of old-school Coldplay.

Although the album name was created by mere imagination, the songs on the album have a story of their own. The story within the album is influenced by “White Rose”, a student-led Nazi resis-tance movement taking place in Germany in 1942. This rebellion against Nazism became known for their opposition to dictator Adolf Hitler and his regime, and they used graffiti to portray their feelings about what was happening during that time. This rebellion inspired Coldplay to

express how people have embraced art in hard times.

The group’s new album also displays a sound that has yet to be shown. Some say they love it, but as a fan of the band since their beginning days, I prefer the sounds they created back in 2008. Mylo Xyloto is full of beats, synthetic sounds and lengthy chordal movements. I think the band knows they could have just re-leased another classic ‘Coldplay album’

with songs similar to Clocks from their album A Rush of Blood to the Head, but instead they decided to change di-rection. They wanted to change their style,

and they did. The British band’s new sound is full of percussion and shorter piano solos. Coldplay describes this new style as “enoxifica-tion”. Similar to their album title, this isn’t a word with a specific definition. It is a completely new noun, cre-ated by one of Coldplay’s col-laborators, Brian Eno. As an English musician, composer, singer, visual artist and re-cord producer, Eno is known to be one of the chief masterminds of electronic music in today’s age. Brian collaborated with Coldplay to create some of the songs in the album, and he actually hypnotized the band in order to work together and dream up the songs that would later com-pose the album.

Each song tells its own story. The Prin-

cess of China, a ballad featuring Rihanna, tells a story of dreams and “what could have been”. When fans found out that Rihanna would be featured in the new album, reactions varied from shocked, ex-cited, and for some, angry. Despite some negative projections, Rihanna turned out to collaborate well with Coldplay, and her Barbadian voice mixed well with the group’s English accent. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall - a personal favorite of mine - is a song about life and forgiveness, depend-ing on how you interpret the lyrics.

Something that differentiates Mylo Xyloto from most other albums is the in-teresting musical preludes and interludes that it features. Along with Mylo Xyloto is A Hopeful Transmission, which features the alluring and similar concept of sym-phonic strings and beats.

When looking at Mylo Xyloto next to any other Coldplay album, there isn’t much of a comparison at all. Coldplay will always be Coldplay, and they will always sound similar in their tone. Their sound was once an acoustic lullaby, like the music in their album X&Y,

but now, in Mylo Xyloto, their sound has become a genre of classical, psychedelic rock. Diehard Coldplay fans may be ap-prehensive to the change, but in today’s world, change is often good, especially in the music industry. The new feel of Coldplay definitely caught my attention, as well as the attentions of music lovers all around the world.

Ever heard of a writer, comedian, mu-sician, and actor? You have now. Meet Donald Glover, the most underrated man in Hollywood. He plays Troy Barnes on NBC’s Community, a community college student who is obviously stuck in his high school days of being a varsity football star. Glover also wrote for the Emmy Award winning show 30 Rock, where he won the Writers Guild of America award in 2009 for Best Comedy Series and made an occasional guest appearance on the show. Just last year, his com-edy special aired on Comedy Central to much critical acclaim.

What I like most about Glover, however, are his raps. He raps under the alias Childish Gambino, and has released three albums since the start of his music career: Sick Boi, Poindexter, Culdesac, and his latest album, Camp. However, a couple of his greatest singles, “Not Going Back” and “My Shine”, come from his EP, which was released earlier this year. Glover’s most popular song is “Freaks and Geeks”, where his booming beats and catchy rhymes ring through one’s ears. My fa-vorite single comes from his third album, Culdesac, titled “The Last”.

You will find in many of Gambino’s songs that he raps about what it was like to grow up in an all-white neighborhood as the only black kid. For example, in “The Last”, Gambino raps, “What I wanna know is why I never fit in right, like a fat dude gettin’ on a packed flight.”

Glover’s clever and meaningful lyrics are, without a doubt, his best component, which is not surprising as he graduated with a dramatic writing degree from NYU.

H i s new a l -bum, Camp, is set to be released Novem-ber 15th. It seems that Glover has been heavily focused on his musical career, so I expect this to be his best album yet. Although he is not well

known by the general public, I imagine he will be writing about what his life is like now that he is becoming a more popular artist.

In recent times, the hip-hop world has, unfortunately, shifted from

powerful voices rapping about real struggles and

issues to flashy hacks that make up nonsense

rhymes. Gambino’s lyrics hold so much emotion and truth that it becomes easy for one to connect with his raps, which makes him such a great

rapper. Hip-hop des-perately needs a fresh new face like Childish Gambino to bring the

genre back to its roots.Donald Glover is one

of the most talented men in Hollywood and yet one of the

least recognized. I hope and ex-pect to see Donald Glover emerge

as a top performer in Hollywood in the near future. In the meantime, make

sure you hit the stores on November 15th to buy what is sure to be your new favorite album, Camp.

Now, in Mylo Xyloto, their sound has become a genre

of classical, psychedelic rock.

November 2011page 10 (theJournal) page 11 (theJournal)

n a typical autumn day,AcademyPark isa tranquilpark in downtownAlbany,

anescapefromthebustlingcitystreets.Overthepastmonth,thescenehastrans-formedfromtranquilitytoprotest.TheworldwideOccupymovementhasfounditswayintoourownbackyard.TheOccupyAlbanymovementbegan

onOctober21,whenprotestersfirsttookupresidenceinAcademyPark.Thatfirstnight, therewere over 350people thatcampedout inthepark. Theparkwasdisorganized at first, aswere the ideas,but slowly themovement’s setting isbecomingmoreefficient,andprotestersarebeginningtocoalesceintogroupstoorganizetheirideas.TheworldwideOccupymovement

beganasaprotesttotheunequalwealthdistributionpresent inmany countries,buthasexpandedandactedasaspring-board to groupsof people everywheredissatisfiedwiththeirgovernments.“Theunifyingideasaresogeneraland

rawatthispointanywaythatitallowsalotof peopletocometothetablewith-outhavingobjectionstowhatOccupyisabout,”explainedKevinHaran,amem-berof thepublicrelationsworkinggroupatOccupyAlbany.“I think that thepowercomes from

somanyideas,”agreedDanielMorrissey,

amemberof thecoordinationworkinggroup. All occupymovements are di-rectdemocracies,meaningtheyhavenoleaders, and everypersonhas a chancetospeakattheirgeneralassemblies,dailycamp-widemeetings held in the park.“[TheGA’s]canbepainstaking.Every-bodyhasavoice.Ev-eryonehastheirshotattheprocess,sotheycanseemtedious…..butattheenditskindof abeautifulthing,”explainedHaran.Even in the ab-

senceof leaders,Oc-cupyAlbanyhasstillmanagedtomaintainorganizationandor-der within the camp. Food tents, acomforttent,librarytentandevenanin-formationdeskareallpresentatthepark.“It’samazingthatwithoutanypeopleincharge,withoutany leaders,people justtakeituponthemselvestodowhatneedstobedone,”Harancommented.At themovement’s inception, city

officialswereunsurewhetherornottheprotesters shouldbeallowed to remainintheparkaroundtheclock.GovernorAndrewCuomo’s staff,AlbanyMayorJerryJennings’staff,AlbanyCountyDis-trictAttorneyP.DavidSoaresandAlbanyPoliceChief StevenKrokoff discussed

thematter, and itwas determined thattheprotesterswouldbeallowedtostay.InaNovember14thinterviewwithThe

Journal,Soaresstatedthathewill“notbeprosecuting peaceful demonstrators solongas there isnodamagetopropertyor violence against law enforcement,”

a statement that hasbeenupheldthusfar.Bradley Russel l

wasOccupyAlbany’sfirst arrest, bringingtheoccupation’scleansheettoanend.Thatnight 24 protesterswere arrested in La-fayettePark for tres-passing,sincetheparkisownedbythestate

andCuomoenforcedan11P.M.curfewshortlyafterAcademyPark’soccupationbegan, even though there is no suchlawrecordedanywhere.Russell’sarresthasledtoaspikeinOccupyactivity,asprotestersrallybehindhim.Asof No-vember16th,62arrestshavebeenmadeinLafayettePark.Forthefirstthreeweeksof thepark’s

occupation,Soares’policyhadnotbeenput tothetest. “Until [November12],[theattention]wasfading,after3weeksitjustgetstobesortof afixture,”explainedHaran,“therelationshipwiththecityhadbeensosmooththerereallyhasn’tbeen

anynewsprovidedbyit.”Themovementalsolostprotesters,asMorrisseybelievedthat“thediminishednumbersarebecausewehadn’tdoneenoughdirectaction.”Otheroccupationsaroundthecoun-

try,suchasOaklandandNewYorkCity,havefacedmuchharsherrulesandpoliceregulation. HoweverAlbany continuesto remain removed from this trend, asSoaresstated“solongasthereisnovio-lenceagainstlawenforcementanddam-ageagainstproperty,wewillcontinuetoabidebythepolicy,”referringtohispolicyof noprosecutions.Itappears that theprotesterswillbe

allowed to remain in thepark, and theprocessof preparingforwinterisalreadyunderway.Althoughtheinitialnumbersof protestershavedwindled,therecentspike inmedia attention has broughtsomebacktothepark,andencouragedotherstostay.“Peoplearewillingtotoughitoutfora

longtime;they’reprettypassionateabout[the occupation],” claimedHaran,whohasbeenapartof OccupyAlbanysinceitsstart.“Iwouldoccupythisparkfor5years.If itisadecade,maybeitbecomesadecade,we’llsee,”saidMorrissey,whohasalsobeenamemberof themovementsinceitbegan.AcademyParkcontinuesto draw attention and protesters, andthereisnotellinghowlongtheseprotest-erswillhavetheirvoicesheard.

OCCUPYALBANYThe people of Albany have come together to show that they’re fed up with the inequality found in our society, and they want change now.Bram Peterson

Meet Bradley RussellBradleyRussell,39,anareacollegeprofessor

andmemberof theOccupyAlbanymovementhasbecomewellknownaroundtheencampmentforhisuseof satiricalposters.“Satire,inmyopinion,isprobablythemost

political formof polical commentary, period.There is nothing that stings themmore thansomething thatmakes someone just laugh intheir face,” saysRussell.Hismost recent cre-ation portraysGovernorCuomo asEmperorPalpatineandtheNewYorkStateTroopersashisloyalstormtroopers,aresponsetotheeventsof November12th.Thatday,RussellrefusedtodismantleastructurehehadbuildinLafayettePark,thestateownedsideof thepark,andwasarrestedbyStateTroopers.“Ishowedupatabout1,andwasmetbythe

statepolicewhowerewellawareof myinten-tionsandtheyaskedmewhatIwantedtodo,”saysRussell.Heinformedtheofficersthathewasplanningoncreatingawallof signs.Sincehewasnotusingstakesorpoles,hewastoldthewallshouldnotbeaviolation.Russell,alongwithagroup,startedconstructingthewall.Aftertapingthesectionstapedtogether,Russellwrappedit

intoacirclesoitcouldstandonitsown.Russellsawtheofficersapproach.“Isawthem

comingoverwithsomeclear intenttodisruptwhat Iwasdoing, so Igot a coupleflagsandmountedthemonthewallsandtherampartsof the‘FreedomFort’beforetheyswoopedinanddeclareditanillegalstructure,[saying]IhadtodismantleitimmediatelyorI’dbearrestedandit’dbeconfiscated.”Russellwasquicklyarrestedandhiswallwasdestroyed.“[Theofficers]completelytrashedeverything

Ihad,about600dollarsworthof signmaking,postermaterials,[and]supplies.”Russellhasbeentryingtoteachotherprotes-

torsabout theirConstitutional rights, tomakesure everyone understandswhy they have therighttobethere.“Mostof thepeopledownhereinthecamp

hadneverevenheardof thesupremacyclause,theydidn’tevenrealizewhytheyhadalegalba-sistobehere;theyknewtheyhadfreespeech,buttheydon’tunderstandwhyfreespeechisn’ttrumpedbyanythingelse.”Russellcontinues,“Tomeit’sapoliticalchessgame,it’sabitof

funfrankly,Ididn’twantthemtothinkthattheyhadsomehowgottenmedown.”

99%The

The facts-The occupation began on Oct. 21, 2011.

-The demonstration is based in Academy Park at the corner of Washington Ave and Eagle St, directly across from the Capitol of NY

-There have been several dozen arrests since Nov. 12 (62), with more likely.

-Approximately 150-200 people so far are involved in the ongoing event

Visit www.theghsjournal.com or scan the code to the right

for more on Occupy Albany, including audio and personal

stories from protestors.

“Banks got bailed out, we got sold out.”“We are the 99%” “Get up, get down, there’s revolution in this town.” “All day, all week, occupy Albany.”

Without any people in charge, without any

leaders, people just take it upon themselves to do

what needs to be done

Mike Dvorscak

fgsdfg

Clarissa Schmidt

Mike CrupiMatt Simon

Kindle ignites the digital media industryIsaac Malsky

Graphic courtesy of Tucker Seinberg / The Journal

Occupying the American Dream

Rebels without a cause

Fresh ink getting old That magic feelingJustina Liu

[The protests are] representative democracy

in action.

Who is to say that protesting is the best

way to solve our current problems?

The Impact of OccupyThe other morning as I got on my bus,

my neighbor shuffled down her driveway and retrieved the newspaper. There she was, braving the 40-degree weather, robed in pink and fleece, all for a copy of the Times Union.

Let us call her Betty. Betty is middle aged and preoccupied with her family and profession.

Betty subscribes to the local news-paper, but she doesn’t read most issues. I’ve seen her toss them into the recycling bin, incased in their plastic outer bags. Others remain neatly curled and folded, gently used.

But who would think that she’d have enough spare moments to read a thor-ough, masterfully crafted, account of the Gaddafi fiasco? With her schedule, she simply cannot invest time in details she

finds insignificant. Of course, no journalist will deny that

the existence of the various specifics of the story. Betty just doesn’t need to hear about all of them. Details are bridges that link eras of time, schools of thought. But just like any bridge, they can be taken down. They have been taken down.

The resulting product is a story gritty in texture and bland in flavor. Removing the ‘fat’ of the story makes it unsavory. All the effort to more conveniently inform Betty renders a boring news story.

Now, what does the journalist do? The journalist is part of the news business. When people buy a news organization’s services, profit is earned.

People pay because they want to read, they read because they are interested. If there is no interest, there exists no profit. And if there is no profit, the journalist no

longer has a job. And so, he edits.The defendant wipes the perspiration

from his brow on the back of hand, nails bitten down.

A politician’s fingers pounding on a touch screen mobile device, eyes guiltily wandering.

The journalist salts to story. To taste. I’ve never asked my neighbor if she

questions the validity of the paper. She probably doesn’t, but of course, wouldn’t have time to go into deep conversation.

Aha. I can condense it into the form of rhetoric.

If I dehydrate a cucumber and then rejuvenate it with flavor and water, is it still a cucumber?

Wait that’s disgusting. I would never eat a pickle.

Graphic courtesy of Glen Brittell / The Journal

page 13 ( Journal) Opinions November 2011

OpinionstheJournalNovember 2011

Last summer my sister and I decided to publish my Uncle’s book on the Kindle store. At first the task seemed daunt-ing. The book was well written and ex-tremely funny but the grammar was less than spectacular. How would we edit the entire book to make readable? And once we did, the world of publishing seemed deterring - how could we submit it to the monolithic library that was Amazon’s eBook store?

It turns out, it’s easier than we thought. The editing took a weekend of tag-team revising to complete but submitting the story to Amazon’s digital library was a breeze and it was approved and available on the Kindle in less than 24 hours. Before the computer revolution, this would be impossible. Self-publishing was rare (and expensive) and making a book available to the public in such a short amount of time was previously unheard of. These new online platforms not only allow us to upload and access a plethora of new media, they also give us a vantage point from which we can survey everything available and pick and chose the best options. You can check out the results yourself: look for Savior

Without A Cause in the Kindle library. Take, for example, the newspaper industry. As a traditional staple of an educated society, newspapers have come to be regarded as the gold standard for credible information. Despite this, newspapers, as well as much of print publication, have been on the downturn financially. Many people blame this trend on the turn towards using the Internet to get news but some papers are using this to their advantage. Take, for example, the New York Times. As of March 28th,

2011, the famous periodical started charg-ing for access to their website if you go beyond the free 20 articles a month that you are allotted. This technique of limit-ing free usage while still providing some free content is called a pay wall. This new business model represents a huge paradigm shift both for newspapers as well as consumers. Pay for something

on the Internet? Outrageous! Although it will be met with opposition, the change is a positive one. The new move toward digital information will allow easier use and more current updates on breaking news. Just think about all the paper and man hours that will be saved now that a paper doesn’t have to be printed and delivered in the morning, 365 days a year. Just because information is now becoming available online does not nec-essarily herald its end. As long as there’s an audience seeking content rather than gossip, quality will always prevail over quantity, at least on certain sections of the Internet.

The shift toward gadgetry and e-ink displays will not take place over night. There are still huge leaps to make if an online business model can take hold. Many people will want to stick to hard copies because they like the feel or because they need something to shoo away the kids on their lawn with. But lets say you want to read this article at home and the copy that you brought home got smashed along the way and was rendered unreadable. Thanks to digitization, now you can read it on the Journal’s website instead. But you knew that, right?

“The” College Essay isn't the ordinary essay for English class. It needs more than a few paragraphs and a heading on top. It's an essay that needs to be near perfec-tion so it can be sent to the colleges to which you are applying. It’s a big factor in determining where you’re going to live, breathe, and eat for the next four years. Research from NACAC’s survey found that essay weight rose from 14 to 26 per-cent on the college application since 2010. Oh but, no pressure though.

“There’s no way for it to be perfect, but when I submitted it, I wanted to do more to it. You just have to hope for the best,” says senior Ashley Williams.

This piece of writing requires an infor-mal, yet educated range of vocabulary, a unique voice, a reflective experience, and, the most treacherous, a word count of 250 to 500 words.

Senior Maria Khazova says, “I thought getting my essay down to 500 words would be easy, but once I started, I real-ized it wasn’t. When I got my essay from 700 to 496 words, I felt a big sense of relief.”

Once the essay is revised two to three times, you begin to believe that it's actually near completion.

Well unfortunately, you thought wrong. Five revisions was equivalent to just one rough draft for my essay. After nine drafts, I was finally done.

As if the essay doesn’t stress you to tears already, your next step in the appli-cation process is completing additional supplements associated with each college. These supplements are just another way for the college admissions office to know the real you and see any additional activi-ties, talents, or accomplishments you have yet to share. “I feel overwhelmed having to do all of this on top of having school. I just hope I can get through it all!” says senior Rachel Young.

When those deadlines that once seemed so far away creep near on the calendar, nothing else seems to matter. Over seniors' shoulders are laptops and computer screens titled with “Common App”. On days when they think there's no homework, there are applications to be finished. Weekends consist of college visits, tours and revising more essays. It takes up your life for the first three to five months of senior year. I wish I was exaggerating.

In the end after everything has been checked, revised, and completed, it's time to click the 'Submit' button. “It’s stress-ful, but exciting and nerve-wracking, that we’re actually going to be in college in just a few months.” senior Sadie Schroeter says.

Clicking that button was among the best feelings in the world for me.

ity folk complain that the chant-ing and drumming of the Occupy

protests wake them from their sleep. They fail to realize that this is exactly what they need. American society has fallen into a deep, apathetic slumber. Our dreams are vulnerable to control by the government, our whims subject to the puppet strings of corporations. The occupation of American cities is the alarm clock that will rouse the masses out of bed.

Many will grumble as they rub their eyes open. They disagree with the pro-testers on this point, or can’t stomach some opinion on that point. Yet, con-tention is what these protests are fueled with; contention in any direction. You ask any two people what they are protesting for, you get different answers. I want the wealth redistributed, I want Ron Paul to be president, I want Cuomo to balance the budget and reopen Thacher Park. Few things are agreed upon besides the right to be heard. At Occupy Albany I listened to a socialist express his belief in the need for increased government regulation. Minutes later I saw a fired up libertarian posit that regulations are exactly what led to the divide in wealth. Next, a sociology major made his voice heard to praise what was going on here: participatory democracy.

Americans have been satisfied with im-pure versions of democracy for too long. We content ourselves with the illusion of representation, but that isn’t what’s really going on. Corporations elect our lead-ers more so than we do. A vote is worth much less than the money a corporation can provide to a campaign. This money

funds television ads that yield votes from the apathetic middle. What we really have is market democracy. Those who control the largest shares of the economy also hold the most political power. Thus, the wealthiest one percent wields more power than the bottom ninety-five.

The occupation movement is a valiant attempt by the people to reclaim the pow-er. There have been accusations that the protesters aren’t actually doing anything besides complaining. Well, they don’t need to. The protesters demonstrate what they want; the politicians know that if they please them, it will pay off at the polls. Already, Obama has, by presidential

order, reformed the college loan system in an attempt to win reelection. This is how representation is supposed to work: our leaders listen to us because we decide whether or not they have jobs. The pro-testers are telling politicians they don’t care about their flashy advertisements; unless you do as we say, we’re not voting for you. It is representative democracy in action.

But the protesters are taking democ-racy even beyond this. Direct democracy is the true ideal, and the people occupying American cities are showing it is possible. Occupy Wall Street set a precedent of the consensus process that has spread throughout the nation. At general as-semblies and working group meetings, the process allows each individual to express opinions. One can use hand signals to show differing levels of approval, or get

“on stack” and wait for a turn to speak. The process may be slow, but it allows decisions to be made that take into ac-count each person’s ideas. It allows for each voice to be heard. This is active participation in democracy, as opposed to the passive system of those who sit on their couches and only express opinion in their choice to buy pepsi or coke.

The Occupy protests are the waking of America. They are the stirrings of grassroots democracy. Apathy has al-lowed corporations to control a corrupt government for much too long. The people, simply by showing that they care, can retake the power instilled in them by our democratic system. Our country will stop being run by advertisements and start being run by the people. So wake up, America. It’s time to roll out of bed, tie our work boots, and prepare to shout what we believe is right. It’s time we stop dreaming and instead participate in the American Dream of Democracy.

hile the demands of protesters all over the country are not very

centralized, there is a common complaint that our society is run by money and big business alone. To say that corporate donations don’t have anything to do with politics and money has no influence in the world would be foolish, but to act like the American people are completely power-less in this country is also untrue. Our country is a representative democracy. Citizens elect representatives to run our government and make decisions. No mat-ter how much money a candidate receives from a corporation during an election, they cannot be elected into office without votes from the American people. So why does it seem that big business still has so much influence in politics? Americans do not exercise their very powerful right

to vote. In major presidential elections, voter turnout is on average just over 55%. In midterm elections less than 40% of people of voting age cast a ballot. If sup-posedly the “99%” of Americans are up-set with how our society and government functions, why don’t 99% of the people in America let their voice be heard with a ballot? Americans don’t get involved in politics nearly enough. It is perfectly legal to walk right into the capital, sit down in a committee meeting, and listen to politicians debate policy, yet members of the press are the only ones who show up. Would it not have been ideal for some of these occupy protestors to have at-tended these meetings in mass, showing our politicians that the people will be forever skeptical of our government? If the people of America proved that they would diligently follow politics (which is easier to do than ever with the internet) and use their right to vote responsibly, politicians would stop caring so much

about corporate donations because in the end, the only thing that gets someone elected is the vote of an average citizen.

As if a leaderless, unfocused move-ment wasn’t bad enough, the manner in many occupy movements are pro-testing is unacceptable. Videos have surfaced showing crowds of protesters dangerously mobbing streets and defy-ing police orders to move. After police started arresting people, the movement

started unfairly claiming police brutality. For some reason, many people seem to ignore the possibilities that the protes-tors may be taunting police, or the fact that protesters should not be crowding streets without permission from the city. What would happen if a fire truck or an ambulance had to get down the street? Would all the protesters magically disap-pear? In Oakland, CA. you hear reports of smashed windows of small businesses, bonfires in the streets, and huge costs for the city as it cleans up after irresponsible protesters. In Washington D.C. protesters have been hit by cars after blocking streets unlawfully. The protesters pretend to be all about freedom and fairness, but what they seem to forget is that they are only free to do as they please in this country as long as they don’t infringe on the rights of other people. Perhaps the worst part of the recklessness of the movement is the chaos is not necessary. When the Tea Party would protest high taxes and other issues, there were no arrests or injuries. The result? A conservative movement was able to let their voices be heard and help elect into congress representatives that they supported. Thanks in large part to the peaceful and non-disruptive pro-tests of the Tea Party; Congress currently has a conservative majority.

And who is to say that protesting is the best way to solve our current problems? If people want to really want to “stick it” to big business, they should pack up their sleeping bags and go home. If they want to make Wall Street hurt, they need to withdraw their money from banks and not take out another loan from a for profit business. Bring all the business to a credit union which is not for profit and shop in locally owned businesses. The second that CEOs see their profits falling, they will do whatever is necessary to win back business.

It turns out, [publishing is] easier than we thought.

Graphic courtesy of Michelle Xiong / The Journal

JournalNovember 2011

Fine Artspage 15 ( Journal) Fine Arts November 2011

“They’re both so much fun!” Dayle Carhart of the stage crew quoted, “I don’t prefer one over the other.”

Though there are many differences between the two works of theater, they’re not on completely different planets. Why then, doesn’t the play seem to get as much publicity when the actors work just as hard?

“The work itself is harder,” stated Casey, “Having music and choreography to work with [in the musical] makes both acting and memorizing a lot easier.” The actors of both shows have to memorize

a lot of material and work hard to get it down to a key and in a presentable state.

The plot of Rumors is fairly simple to follow; it depicts a night when rumors fly at a party gone wrong in New York. The play opens with the first of the guests ar-riving at the party, a celebration of their friend Charlie and his wife Myra’s tenth anniversary. But when the guests arrive, they find that something is very wrong: the servants are gone, Myra is nowhere to

be found and Charlie is in his room with a bullet hole through his ear! The guests, Chris and Ken, automatically panic and jump to the conclusion that Charlie had attempted suicide. As more friends come over, Chris and Ken try to keep the news of Charlie on the down low, knowing just how much it would hurt him and his campaign as mayor if people heard he was suicidal. Of course, this plan only lasts so far before the entire group hears of Char-lie, and the debate of what to do turns the night into a hectic two hours of missing crystals and food flying everywhere.

All those who did not go to see the play this year, or were unable to attend, missed out on a part of Guilderland that doesn’t receive the recognition it warrants from us. The humor and connections you make with the play are something no one should leave GHS without experiencing.

“It’s a commitment,” Carhart quoted, “But it’s a lot of fun.”

There’s no doubt that next year’s play will be just as good as Rumors, so if you didn’t go this year, be sure to go the next!

Christopher Hitchens is one of the few great living writers. He has the most per-sonality of any of today’s scribblers. He doesn’t fit the stereotype of quiet, polite literary writer nor that of bland journalist. He’s a proud drinker and smoker, a British ex-patriot, a naturalized American citizen, and he’s so saturated with opinion that no verbal fight could scare him off. He proudly declares that he’s a polemic, a pas-sionate critic, a breed that seems to have been nearly exterminated on this earth.

Hitchens is original in this moment but, as is obvious in his new book of es-says Arguably (published September 1), when compared with the great figures of the past you can see he has stolen his stances.

It seems extremely original that Hitch-ens would start an essay on Harry Potter with “In March 1940, in the ‘midnight of the century’ that marked the depth of the Hitler-Stalin pact” but one quickly real-izes that the whole review is an attempt to emulate his hero George Orwell’s essay Boys’ Weeklies when the sentence continues, “George Orwell took the time to examine the state of affairs in fantasy fiction for young people.”

T.S. Eliot once wrote “One author takes possession of us for a time; then another; and finally they begin to af-fect each other in our mind.” It seems the pot of Hitchen’s mind never stirred and as a result he spits out the ideas of other men, especially Orwell. Personally, I understand the hero worship and way too often fall into the trap of referencing Orwell but I also believe that whatever you create, if you wish it to be a lasting thing, must have its own unprecedented purpose or else it becomes completely

worthless. Hitchens writes an essay on kids’ fiction, he writes his own In Defense of P.G. Wodehouse, he even tries to finish an essay, which death prevented Orwell from finishing, on Evelyn Waugh. He is not even remorseful about this lack of originality. He makes it explicitly clear that he is rewriting Orwell.

He calls Rebbecca West “one of those people, necessary in every epoch, who understand that there are things worth fighting for, and dying for, and killing for.” But though Hitch is always ready to argue, he has not joined the military he claims to support. He has not fought for his causes and he has not killed those that sour the righteous world that could be.

His emulation of his great hero is only on superficial level. In words they both support wars but Orwell was ready to leave a relatively comfortable life behind and jump into a war for a country that wasn’t even his own (Spain) and fight for what he believed to be right until be-ing shot in the throat and escaping the country. Hitchens sits before a computer in his roomy Washington apartment and encourages young men to fight for his adopted America in pointless wars.

His work is entertaining and it can sometimes reach great heights of style. But, Arguably only goes to strengthen my belief that his work is almost worth-less and in the end, like so many public intellectuals, he’ll quickly be forgotten and swallowed by the dark wave of time.

Christopher Hitchens’ new book of essays, arguably, reaffirms the belief that his writing is unoriginal.

...compared with the great figures of the past you can see

he has stolen his stances.

Rumors

Book review: Arguably lacks any originalityAndrew Fedorov

Daniella Giardina

Musical performance in our areaMelodies of Christmas

Photo by Andrew Fedorov / The Journal

Every December, the Empire State Youth Orchestra plays in a four-part concert series at Proctor’s Theater called “Melodies of Christmas.” ESYO, one of the premier youth orchestras in the northeast, joins other performance groups in this event to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Center at Albany Medical Center. Through the efforts of past events, millions of dollars have been raised to help kids at the aptly named “Melodies Center.”

In addition to the orchestral music that ESYO provides, there is also a youth choir that sings on many of the songs, as well as some guest groups and soloists. A few of the pieces have dancers, and at one point Santa Claus and his helpers make an appearance. The orchestra performs all the Christmas favorites from Deck the Halls and Sleigh Ride to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

Even if you are busy the weekend before Christmas and can’t attend a con-cert, you can still experience the magic of Melodies. The concert is televised on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at various times by CBS 6 and the CW.

However, the live experience is much better. Anyone who likes Christmas mu-sic and wants to enjoy the holiday season will love Melodies of Christmas. This year the performances are from Thursday Dec. 15 to Sunday Dec. 18. Concerts start at 7 pm (3 pm on Sunday), and run approximately two hours. Tickets are $25. The orchestra and choir have already started practicing, so an incredible show is guaranteed.

The highlight of each performance is when children who have been treated at the Center come on stage to sing Silent Night. It’s wonderful to know that music has helped save their lives.

There are thousands of classical pieces in the world. Among these pieces, there are good pieces, and there are bad pieces. And occasionally, there is a great piece– a piece so enveloped in meaning and beauty that one cannot help but fall in love. For Lisa Liu, a senior at Shenendehowa High School, that piece is the classic Chinese violin concerto The Butterfly Lovers.

The Butterfly Lovers tells the tale of forbidden love and its triumph over op-pression. The melody creates the image of a butterfly– a fragile but prevailing symbol of the hope and beauty of love. “I first heard this piece years ago, but when I listened to it again last spring, I fell in love with it,” Lisa explains when asked why she chose the piece. “I particularly love how it’s kind of a narrative, which is different from a lot of violin concertos.”

Technically demanding and difficult, it also requires emotion and interpretation. But Lisa, a violinist of nine years, pours the notes out with apparent ease and skill. She has achieved an incredible level of ability in her music, garnering respect from people of all ages.

This year has been a huge year for Lisa – as the first-place winner of the presti-gious Lois Lyman concerto competition, she won the privilege of playing the But-

terfly Lovers concerto with the Empire State Youth Orchestra.

At the November 12th concert, Lisa lit up the hall with her fiery runs and wistful melodies. Taking the stage after Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, she was near flawless from the first note. “I was ner-vous since it’s scary playing solo with an orchestra, but excited because I’ve never done anything like this before,” says Liu.

It’s fitting that she played this piece with ESYO- the Youth Orchestra will be touring Asia next summer. Planned per-formances include accepting an invitation

to play at the 2012 World Expo in Seoul, as well as shows in Beijing and Shanghai. “I didn’t pick it because it’s Chinese, but I think it’s a great opportunity to expose the orchestra to Chinese music, especially with the tour coming up,” says Liu.

In addition, this is her 5th year with the Youth Orchestra and 9th year with the organization. “I always joke that I’ve sold my soul to ESYO, but the orchestra has really done a ton for me,” she says. “Some of my best friends ever I’ve grown with in ESYO, and it’s taught me so much musically.”

ESYO performs Butterfly LoversContinued from page 1

Clockwise from top: the cast of Rumors rehearses; Jordan Lloyd during the dress rehearsal; Dan Ferris and Cody Ingraham during the dress rehearsal.

Photos by Madelaine Taylor / The Journal

Michelle Kang

ASO’s new season underwaySince its inception in 1930, the Albany

Symphony Orchestra (ASO) has been seeking to enrich a broad, diverse regional community through live performance, education programs and cultural events. Performing music from Holst’s The Plan-ets to West Side Story to daring modern music, ASO is known for its varied and adventurous programming. They have premiered many groundbreaking works, by such composers as Missy Mazzoli and Timothy Andres.

Concert-goers remark that the music performed by the ASO “is intense, ener-getic, passionate…” and “beautiful, love-ly, and haunting”. Petia Kassarova, who

currently holds the stationary position of 3rd chair in the cello section enjoys being in ASO because she appreciates “being a part of a group of musicians who care deeply about what they say and do and are passionate about music”.

A notable concert features world- re-nowned violinist Joshua Bell on Decem-ber 7th at the Palace Theater. This concert will include pieces by Bizet, Ellington, and Strauss. However, a highlight of the program is Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D, one of the most famous pieces in the violin repertoire.

There is also an opportunity for cellists of all ages and skill level to participate in a community-wide mass cello event on February 18th at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and at Zankel Hall, Skidmore Hall, on February 19th. There will be master classes all week and a concert, open to the public. Cellists from Juilliard School of Music will perform the music

of Rossini, Haydn, Vivaldi, among others.Another set of performances on

March 17th and 18th includes the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky, one of the most radi-cal pieces of its time. Many will probably recognize the work- portions of it were featured in Disney’s Fantasia 2000.

The riveting and wide range of music performed by the ASO is only possible through its dedicated musicians and con-ductor, David Alan Miller. “I’m forever discouraged by the narrowness of so many performing arts entities, particu-larly orchestras, that the repertoire they present is so basically limited,” Miller says. “I feel very proud about what we do in Albany, because we are playing so much music from such a broad range of sources that we’re really like a huge music resource more than just a narrow, Western traditional orchestra. We’re evolving into something much bigger and more power-ful than that.”

Graphic by Hannah Dordick / The Journal

Photo courtesy of Garty D. Gold and ASO / The Journal

A night when rumors fly at a party gone wrong in New

York.

We’re really like a huge music resource more than just a ...traditional orchestra.

Michelle Xiong and Laura Tang

Graphic by Helen Ratner/ The Journal

Festival of NationsObama announces return of Iraq troops

Luxi Peng

Anna Jacquinot

Emily Benson

Emily Honen

Modern Brazilian women

Graphics by Justina Liu

Sharp declines in birthrate reflect changes in lifestyle

Graphic by Michelle Xiong

But are they really coming home?

An investigation on the meaning of ‘tradition’ at GHS

Thanksgiving Traditions

Left: Miss Festival of Nations, Sarah Yang poses with GHS student Sharon Lin, Right: China stand

Graphic by Michelle Xiong

Top: Pageant contestants, Bottom: Argentina booth

page 17 ( Journal)November 2011 World & CulturestheJournalNovember 2011

World & Cultures

A Guilderland student dances to contemporary Ban-gladeshi music, red and green ribbons flying from his wrists. At a satin-covered table, rep-resentatives of the Chinese Community Center sell silk scarves and delicate water-color paintings.

It is October 30, and I am at the Convention Center of the Empire State Plaza. There is a procession making its way onstage, a myriad of flowing skirts and waving flags.

Though Albany may not be a hub for international culture, an opportunity for ethnic groups around the area to proudly pro-claim and celebrate their heritage comes in the form of the Festival of Nations. Held annually since 1972, on a Sunday every fall, dozens of nationalities come together to appreciate the diversity of the area. Similar in form to the GHS Cultural Fair, each country organizes a performance, sets up a booth displaying their goods and has a stand selling food from their nation. Performances range from Bollywood to bamboo dances, interspersed with Italian opera and tae-kwondo.

An elderly lady stops me and points to my pink pamphlet.

“Excuse me,” she asks, in heavily accented English, “do you know when Russia will be?”

I tell her that there’s a performance by Bangladesh before Russia takes the stage.

She beams. “Thank you,” she says, as she pats my arm. Her adoration for her country and culture is endearingly obvious.

At Ethiopia’s booth, portraits of men dressed in traditional clothing are for sale. At India’s booth, multi-hued scarves and skirts hang from tightly crammed racks while gold jewelry of every possible form glimmers, even in the dim light. I sample

a dish from the blue-and-white stand of Argentina, asking the lady serving the food what it’s called. “Empanada de Carne,” she says, flashing me a quick smile as she ladles hot stew into a bowl for the next customer. A bite of Greek baklava leaves the sticky-sweet taste lingering in my mouth.

A highlight of the Fes-tival of Nations is the crowning of Miss Festival of Nations. Nearly all of the countries participating in the Festival send a rep-resentative to compete in Miss Festival of Nations. Not quite a pageant, the competition is judged on how knowledgeable each of the contestants is about their cul-ture, how involved they are, and other more traditional pageant aspects such as eloquence and composure. In addition, each contestant is dressed in an outfit representing their country. Dressed as an aboriginal Amis, Miss Taiwan (and eventual winner) Sarah Yang explained the various aspects of her outfit.

“I’m dressed as a chieftain’s daughter, and this is more of an outfit for danc-ing,” she says, motioning towards her headdress, complete with feathers and hanging beads. “This bag,” she explains, reaching around her hip for a small leather pouch, “is for food gathering but it’s also used for marriage. Amis society

is matrilineal (dominated by women), so if I saw someone dancing and I tugged on their bag, that would mean I wanted to marry them.”

Is there any of the pageant drama that accompanies the Miss Festival of Nations competition, though?

“We’ve all become friends, bonding over the whole process,” she laughs. “Anyone could win. We all have pretty equal chances,” she adds.

Of course, there’s still some of the typical pageant stuff. “I’m so jealous of the Dominican Republic and Mexico,” Yang confides. “They get to wear those big, ruffle-y skirts!” And, when asked about the issues she’s advocating, she replied (jokingly), “End world hunger! For the children!”

It’s always on the fourth Thursday of November, we hear about the same old Pilgrims and Native Americans every time. Traditional celebration includes a meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

The word “traditional,” however, can mean different things for different fami-lies. Instead of following the set-in-stone western culture, many have personalized the holiday.

“For every Thanksgiving meal we have, I’ve always taken the heart out of the turkey. That’s my job,” freshman Kayla Lanza proudly states. She adds that she does not eat the heart of the turkey after it is removed.

T h e n there are those who don’t eat t u r k e y. The Journal’s own Justina Liu celebrates with a meal of duck. Freshmen Vlad and Ioana Sima partake of pasta for the

holiday. Chicken is the alternative meal to two turkey-despising sopho-

mores, who pre-fer to remain

a n o n y m o u s regarding their

preference of bird.

Noah Noonan’s family always puts up their Christmas tree right after the meal. Elana DeSantis and her family celebrate by providing needy familieswith food for the holidays at Equinox.

At our house, food stays traditional. Turkey with mashed potatoes is my favorite meal of all t i m e . M y family does have an interest-ing tradition, though: we never have the d in -ner at the s a m e person’s h o u s e tw ice in a row. It’s a rule.

As we see, variations of Thanksgiv-ing tradition take place in many of the homes of Guilderland students. . Now, if we could only get the national tradi- tional dessert to be choco l a t e cake instead of pumpkin pie, then we’d be on to something.

“A fábrica está fechada.” The factory is closed.

For many Brazilian women, these words hold a meaning, which has become increasingly prevalent in their changing culture.

Movimento das mulheres, was the wom-en’s movement of 1970’s and 80’s that completely altered the culture of Brazil. Female empowerment became more common and there was a decline of the machismo culture. The effects of this movement are evident in society today, as Brazil has its first woman president, Dilma Rouseff.

The recent decline of fertility rates has become a world phenomenon, but the dramatic rate of drop in Brazil in particular has sparked much attention.

Before the 1960’s, it was con-sidered the norm for women to conceive 16 children. The tradi-tional, Roman Catholic culture of the country looked down upon abortion and birth control. According to a National Geo-graphic study, Brazilian women today have an average of 1.9 children.

The ideals our society has bestowed upon us have a great effect on how we think. We strive to have optimal lives; however our definitions of this

are subjective.

I asked an older American woman with a daughter why she only had one child. “You cannot possibly hope to properly raise more children than you can handle,” she replied, “emotionally, physically, and economically.”

More and more Brazilian women are choosing to be sterilized before 35. Many claim children are too expensive and too much work. They are beginning to move farther into our modern, 21st century world, where being a mother of 16 chil-dren is

simply impossible to handle. Numerous factors have played an

enormous role in this change. Industri-alization created a new kind of economy where housing is more cramped and streets more dangerous. The expense of babies become more apparent and women begin to have to work ten hour

shifts. In improved public health

systems, ski l led doc to r s a r e

performing more tubal

l i g a -

tions. The availability of birth control methods let women make their own choices when it came to decisions about having children. As infant and child mortality statistics decrease, women begin to stop having more children than they desire, assuming that most of their children will survive.

The introduction of electricity and television has greatly changed how people think. The glamorous, affluent families in Brazilian soap operas, called novelas, are small in size. In fact, ninety percent of the characters on these shows have one child or none.

The effect of novelas on the Brazilian population was shown to far exceed the effect of Brazil’s improving education in studies. It’s interesting to note how television could help shape a culture so dramatically.

The women of Brazil are changing with the goals of the modern world, at

an unprecedented pace. The dreams and aspirations of glamour and even just progressing and fitting in with the changing world have become a reality for these Brazil-ian women.

Is it hard to believe that a mere eight years ago our president, George W. Bush, launched an invasion on Iraq on March 20th, 2003?

For some, it’s not. For those with fathers, mothers, brothers and friends in the army putting their lives on the line each day; it must have felt like forever ago. But last, the war seems to be settling down, as President Obama has an-nounced that virtu-ally all US troops will be home by the end of the year.

Weapons are what sent our troops to Iraq in the first place, ones that could be used in terrorist attacks against America and other nations. Americans were sent in to find these hidden weapons, but no such weap-ons were found. Instead, soldiers helped Iraq to kick out its old al- Qaeda- sup-porting dictator, Saddam Hussein.

While America was helping to write a new way of government,

many Iraq citizens didn’t approve and fought to kick us out. This is the continu-ous fight that many families of armed soldiers say needs to end.

“The war is Iraq has dragged on for a long time…” com-

ments Cindy

Benson, a s tudent a t

K e n t S t a t e College. Cindy has

close friends presently in the army.

There’s no doubt that hearing the news of troops being sent home brings both re-lief and joy to mind, however, does this mean

we can finally relax about the war?

“They’re constantly telling people we are pulling (troops) out of there, and to the

public it’s believable,”

Cindy continues, “but to the military and our families we know it’s just words to deceive us and false comfort us. We may draw down, but troops still

continue to be sent over.”

It’s true that the government has been promising that soldiers would stop being sent over for many years now, and they have kept their promise in some way.

The amount of troops based in Iraq is being slimmed in number; what used to be 170,000 soldiers in Iraq now is now only 34,000. The number of bases settled in Iraq has decreased as well, with only 12 units of the previous 505 bases.

However, the government didn’t promise that all the troops in Iraq will be sent home. Only a “vast majority” of the troops home by December. On top of that, President Obama has issued 100 American troops to Africa to help a group

of rebels in war. So how many parents, siblings and

friends does that leave still stuck in Iraq and still being shipped off to countries?

Ellen K. Dollard is a sophomore at Guilderland. Her father spent time in Iraq with the military. “It’s scary

when you don’t fully under-stand where your dad is or what he is doing and you

can’t contact him.” she says, “It changes my outlook on war.”And that’s just it. The idea that

America needs to help fight in every war, rebellion or battle has grown into a

concept of idiocy in the minds of many. “I’ve seen friend’s loose husbands and

kid’s loose parents. Some never even got a chance to meet them.” Cindy comments, “This is part of the job though.”

Not knowing exactly when you will be deployed, or when a war will be over is part of the job. It‘s hard on soldiers, and families at home.

We can only hope that these will not be the last of the troops sent home, and that those still out there keep their heads up, because hopefully, there is not much longer to go.

Members of the Capital Region gather to celebrate diversity

Graphic by Justina Liu

JournalNovember 2011

Sportspage 19 (theJournal)November 2011 Sports

Nine seniors commit on National Signing Day

Most of the Guilderland Hockey play-ers seem to agree that the team’s perfor-mance last year was disappointing. Things did not go well for the hockey team last year. They finished with a losing record of 4-8 and had some embarrassing losses.

Last season Guilderland combined with Mohonasen for the first ever Guilderland-Mohonasen hockey team. It was a bumpy transition, but the team will be more unified this year and ready

to improveThe players see potential for this year.

Ryan Ghizzoni, a senior, discussed his thoughts on the team’s perfor-mance last year, saying the team “did not do as well as we wanted to last year. It was annoying. We couldn’t pull off an upset and certainly did not play to the best of our capabilities.” Ghizzoni specified what areas in which the team needs improvement: “We didn’t move the puck in the neutral

zone. Our defense was undisciplined. To succeed, we are going to have to pick it up in practice, and simply work harder.”

Nig e l S immons, s en io r , a l so has bad memories of last year : “Last year was just depressing. We have a lot of talent but aren’t giving 110%. As of now, our most fierce competitor is going to be Queensbury. Last year they beat us 15 to 2. Queensbury and the rest of the league is in for a surprise this year.”

The players certainly see some

hope in this coming season. Bram Peterson, another senior, added, “We only lost 3 seniors, and we’re gaining plenty of young players, so there is a lot of potential. We have more depth than last season, so if we can outwork teams this year we should find some more suc-cess.”

W hen a sked abou t p e r sona l goals, Simmons told of his hopes: “My goal is to have at least 2 shutouts this year. I also need to make a large contribu-tion to the team, and help us put some more wins in our pocket. We’re going to surprise everyone this year. I feel we are going to get to the quarterfinals if not further. We all have to be on top of our game for this to happen.”

G h i z z o n i a l s o e x -pressed h is g oa ls for the year : “Dangle, dangle, and dangle some more. That is how I’m going to chip in. I live to dangle. Personal statistics don’t mat-ter, though. Everyone needs to improve, work hard, and know their roll. We need to build on our team chemistry. We can have some great moments this year, its all in our hands.” Dangling is a term hockey players often use when describing dekeing, or getting around players while maintaing control of the puck.

The ambitious team is doing their best to shake off last year. A new season is on the way, and the team appears to be excited. The team hopes to improve, get some more wins, and prove the doubters wrong.

Varsity Hockey looks to improve after rebuilding yearTony Albanese

You may know him as an algebra teacher, or you may know him as the coach of many sports year-round, but no matter what you know him by, you would know that Mr. David Kosier is someone who likes to talk, especially about things he’s proud of. The varsity girls cross country team is something Kosier is very proud of, a team he has been known for finding success with.

Cross country running is a fall sport, but Guilderland is lucky enough to have varsity girls who have made it beyond Suburban Council championships. At sec-tionals, which took place at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, our varsity girls came in fourth place. “We did pretty well, I think,” Kosier said. The order of rank-ing, from first to fourth, was Saratoga, Shenendehowa, Shaker, then Guilderland. The Lady Dutch beat Niskayuna, whom they had lost to at Suburban Council by only 7 points, a good improvement. The team also tied with Shaker at first, but lost the tie-breaker, so they took third place. “That was kind of disappointing,” Kosier said. “But we still did fairly well.” The average of the top 5 varsity runners

was 18:58 on the 3.04 mile course. Our very own Jenna Robinson, a

sophomore, is going to states after run-ning a time of 18:04, the 4th all time re-cord for Guilderland cross country girls on this course. To qualify for states, you either have to be on the winning team at sectionals or you have to be one of the top 5 individuals from other teams, of which Jenna was 3rd.

Now Coach Kosier is looking to bring the varsity girls to federations, to which 16 public high schools are invited. “It’s been a good season,” he said. “Some-times, when we don’t place as well we get frustrated, but you have to remember that we’re racing against some of the best teams in the country. Last time I checked, Saratoga was 2nd and Burnt Hills was 20th or so. Going against them makes us get faster.”

Coach Kosier may not be able to coach cross country next year due to obliga-tions to his family, but the decision has not yet been made. If he leaves, he will be missed sorely, but no matter what, the cross country team will strive to do as well next season as this one.

Vivian Dai

XC Girls Place Fourth at Sectionals

While most Guilderland High School seniors continue to experience the stress that comes with college applications, nine student athletes finished with that stress on National Signing Day, November 9th. Student athletes (left to right, above) Con-nor McLachlan, Mackenzie Cietek, Jenna Bickel, Kendall Cietek, Kelly Camardo, Shelby Iapoce, Kelsey Michele, Patrick Wood and Dan Santandrea have now all committed to the colleges that recruited them for their exceptional talents in their respective sports.

Mackenzie and Kendall Cietek, twin lacrosse stars at GHS, both signed Di-vision 1 athletic contracts to Villanova University. The girls said that out of all of the other colleges that recruited them (such as Brown, Harvard, UNH and UPenn), Villanova was the last school to get in contact with them. “We chose [Vil-lanova] because they have a really great building lacrosse program. It also has an engineering school which I wanted,” said Kendall. The twins were also excited to note the new lacrosse coach at Villanova. “She really seems to know what she’s do-ing. She coached UPenn when they went to the NCAA tournament, and that’s one of my ultimate goals- to get to the NCAA [tournemant],” said Kendall. The twins were recruited together by all of the colleges that sought after them. “At one point we weren’t planning on going to school together,” said Mackenzie, “but when our brother went away to college, he had a really hard time separating from us, and then we realized we couldn’t separate! We’ll still have our own dorms so we have our own space, though,” said Mackenzie. In general, the star-players are excited and relieved that they have finally signed with their perfect school. “A lot of pressure is off now,” said Kendall.

Shelby Iapoce signed a Division 1 athletic scholarship to Fairfield Univer-sity to play women’s lacrosse. Schools like Notre Dame, UAlbany, and Harvard were also recruiting her. Shelby said that her coach was very supportive through-out the recruiting and decision making process. “My coach kept reminding me to make sure I chose a school where the coach treated me more like a daughter as opposed to just a name on a roster,” said Iapoce. “The team is all a bunch of goofballs. They reminded me a lot of the girls I’ve grown up playing sports with,”

explained Iapoce. Regarding the process as a whole, Shelby said that the stress and hard work was well worth it. “I knew I’d end up where I’m supposed to be,” said Shelby.

Patrick Wood signed a Division I ath-letic scholarship to SUNY Stony Brook to play men’s lacrosse. Wood was also being recruited by Bryant, Vermont, Binghamton, and Dartmouth. Wood said, “After the Under Armour Showcase, the Stony Brook coach called him a couple days later” Wood also received some help from his coach, “The help from my coach it helped me a lot through the process”. After taking a weekend visit down to Stony Brook to meet the coaches and see the stadium and the locker room it became very clear for Wood that it was the school for him. Wood also likes the opportunity to play with new guys and be under a new coach. “Stony Brook has a very good lacrosse tradition and I’m excited to play,” he explained.

Dan Santandrea signed a Division II athletic scholarship to LeMoyne to play men’s lacrosse. Dan was recruited by Salisbury, Stony Brook and Siena. He did whatever it took to become noticed by college scouts, by playing on a club team and going to recruiting camps, like maverick Showtime and Blue Chip 225. “[LeMoyne]gave me a chance to meet the guys on the team and get a feel for college life at LeMoyne” Santandrea said, regarding his visit, “ I like what it has to offer, and I like that it’s a small school and won’t have 400 people in one class.” With a very successful lacrosse program at LeMoyne, Dan believes he made the right choice, “I can’t wait to get started.”

Connor McLachlan signed a Divi-sion II athletic scholarship to play men’s lacrosse at Mercy College. With two other schools interested in McLachlan it seemed that he didn’t have that hard of a decision. “They saw me play over the summer at tournaments, and they talked to my coach.” He visited Mercy and stayed overnight with guys on the team so they could see what kind of a person Connor was. “I like the location of the school, I’m close to New York City, and it had the right feel for me”

Jenna Bickel signed to Penn State for swimming, Kelly Camardo signed to Fairfield alongside Iapoce for la-crosse, and Kelsey Michele signed to SUNY Binghamton for lacrosse.

Andrew Fedorov & Reza Sayeed

Last year Guilderland High School’s varsity bowling team won 14 games and lost 2. They made their way to second place in sectionals, finally losing to Colonie.

High school bowling is a very selec-tive sport. “Tryouts are very competitive, especially with so many people...about 25 people try out and he only takes 16,” says returning bowler Zack Zanotta. Former junior varisty bowler Jim Mohr says “we have 3 days of tryouts with 3 games a day and coach takes about 16 people. then starts 6 for varsity and 6 for JV.”

They are coached by Louis Marino who Mohr describes as “a great coach and has always led Guilderland to be a

top team.”They are not the types you expect to

see in an alley with birthday cones upon their heads. They are a group of dedicated bowlers. Varsity bowler Austin Van Buren says “I expect to go every year.” And we’re sure he presses his shirts and keeps his balls shiny too.

Mohr says “we lost 4 seniors on varsity but we expect to repeat last year except for winning at sectionals.” Zanotta tells us that “we got kind of a new genera-tion feel.”

Van Buren relates the feel of the team as “we like to make the surroundings hyped and very energetic.” This year, as always, we can expect the bowling team to be packed with winners.

Varsity Bowling gets rolling

Photos by Devin Keenholts/ The Journal

Lexi Rabadi & Jimmy McLaughlin

Photo courtesy of Alex Lucier

The Dutchmen stand for the National Anthem before a home game.

On November 9th, the Penn State University Board of Trustees fired head football coach Joe Paterno, as well as the President of the University, Graham Spanier. They were let go on the account of failing to report sexual child abuse that assistant coach Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky has been accused of. In light of the current scandal, prospective students of the University may be rethinking their ambitions.

“Penn State University was in my top five choices because I like bigger schools that are big into sports.” said Robbi Rib-ner, a senior currently applying to college.

With one of the most impressive and idolized football teams in the country, sports at Penn State may not be what they used to be after the firing of Joe Paterno, who coached for 45 years. “Firing Joe Pa-terno had a huge impact on my family. We don’t watch the games anymore. He was probably one of the best football coaches of all time, and by not reporting what he knew, he ruined what he had. He was the ideal coach, every school tried to model after him,” said Kate Bender, a senior and a fan of Penn State and their football team. “He cast a shadow over my decision to apply there,” continued Bender.

Although Bender’s decision to apply to the University has been swayed, other students, like Robbi Ribner, disagree.

“My decision hasn’t really changed because [the scandal] doesn’t describe the whole school, [Sandusky’s] actions and everyone else involved describes them as people, not as Penn State.” said Ribner.

Jenna Bickel, a recently signed student for swimming to Penn State, agrees that the controversy will not affect her time spent at the university.

“I wish [the scandal] hadn’t happened, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the swim team. I’m still very excited,” said Bickel.

“I’m still going to apply, just with concerns,” said De’essance Reed, a senior.

However, since the public embarrass-ment is so recent, Kate Bender is a little hesitant about visiting the school at this point in time.

“We were going to go this past week-end, see a football game, and then visit the school,” said Bender. “But I think we’re going to wait a little bit longer, let things blow over.”

After all the events involving Penn State, Guilderland students’ overall view on the matter of attending Penn State seems to be unchanged.

Penn State Scandal Swaying StudentsJordan Scott & Erik Keating

Photo by Devin Keenholts/ The Journal

Photo by Devin Keenholts/ The Journal

Sports November 2011 page 20 (theJournal)

ReadReuseRecycleReadReuseRecycleReadReuseRecycleReadReuseRecycleRead

Final Standings

Boys’ SoccerBethlehem: 13-0-3Colonie: 10-6-0Guilderland: 8-5-3Mohonasen: 7-9-0Columbia: 4-11-1Averill Park: 2-14-0

Suburban CouncilSouth Divison

Girls’ SoccerGuilderland: 12-2-2Bethlehem: 11-3-2Columbia: 5-9-1Colonie: 3-11-1Averill Park: 1-14-2Mohonasen: 0-15-1

Junior Vickie Mausler prepares to return a shot during the Lady Dutch’s final game against Shen.

Junior Vito Mesiti prepares to take a shot on goal in a game against Bethlehem. The shot ended up turning into the game winning goal for the Dutchmen, giving them the overtime win.

The server tosses the ball in complete silence. As it sails just inches above the net the intensity increases. Lady Dutch bumps it high into the air, and sets the ball to the far side of the net. The hitter jumps with arms outstretched, and slams the ball onto the other side of the court with such force it hits the ground before the other team can react. The Red Sea screams so loud, the sound is deafening.

On Friday, November 4 th, the Guilderland Lady Dutch Varsity Vol-

leyball team went to Class AA Finals for the first time ever. Their journey started on October 28th when they defeated The Saratoga Blue Streaks at home, 3-2. They lost the first 2 sets (26-24, 28-26) but they came back to win the next 3 sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-23). Head coach, Jessica Allen, compared the game to running a mara-thon and coming out on top. Someone in The Red Sea correctly screamed, “It’s a Cinderella story tonight folks!”

The team challenged their previous opponent, The Columbia Blue Devils, on

Wednesday, November 2nd at Albany High School. The loyal Red Sea was following the GHS team, and encouraging them ev-ery step of the way. When Colombia fans started to spell their school name, chant-ing C-O-L…the Red Sea diminished their screams to nothing when they powerfully cheered “Lady Dutch! Lady Dutch! Lady Dutch!” Lady Dutch won the first 2 sets (25-21, 25-20) and then lost some steam by losing the next 2 sets (25-20, 25-13). Yet Guilderland prevailed by winning the final set (27-25), therefore winning the

epic Class AA Semifinal Volleyball match. Senior, Gianna Rodino comments amidst celebration, “We’ve come a long way and we have a lot of potential to go really far.”

The Red Sea was sure to tell all of its members where to be for the Champion-ship game against The Shenendehowa Plainsmen at Burnt Hills High School. Guilderland was not expected to win but they made history by being the very first Lady Dutch Varsity Volleyball team to make it to Finals. Shen won the first set (25-14) but Lady Dutch rose against Shen by winning the 2nd set (25-21). The 3rd set was a tough loss (25-23) but Guilderland still had a chance if they won the 4th set. Unfortunately Shenendehowa’s fans weren’t as classy as the Red Sea. It is com-mon courtesy to stay silent while a player is serving, but Shen made as much noise as possible while our players were serving in hopes to mess us up, and it worked a few times. However, Lady Dutch put up a legitimate force to be reckoned with as we came back only to lose the 4th and final set (30-28).

It was a heartbreaking loss, but Guilderland left with a substantial conso-lation prize: they put up a very good fight. Senior, Amanda Kernozek says, “We are a very strong team and I am so proud of us. We are all really good friends”. Their teamwork really showed on the court. But it was the teamwork of the players, the coaches, and the fans that is going to make next season worth waiting for.

Lady Dutch Volleyball makes it to Class AA Finals Annie Rubin

The Guilderland Dutchmen soccer team went 8-6-3 for the 2011 season, which earned them a 4th seed for section-als. The Dutchman faced LaSalle (9-8-0) for their preliminary game, and after a halftime score of 2-1 the Dutchmen added six more goals, making the final score 8-1. Ryan Ghizzoni, Nick Iuorno, and Vito Mesiti had 2 goals each, while Sam Mohr and Peter Scatena added one apiece.

The Dutchmen had a shutout for their second round game versus the Albany Falcons (13-4-1). Nick Iuorno and Vito Mesiti each had a goal, making the final score 2-0. The semi-final matchup was against the Shenendehowa Plainsmen (18-1-0). The Dutchmen ended up fall-ing 2-0.

Despite the loss, Captain Nick Iuorno, who led the team with 8 goals and 3 as-sists, believes that it was the highlight of the season. Senior defender Kenny Schumacher agrees, but also says that “the loss was bittersweet. It meant a lot that we made it to the semi-finals, but the loss marked the end of our season.”

Even though the Dutchmen made it to the final four, Iuorno admits “We had a rough patch in the middle of the season. We lost to Columbia, tied Burnt Hills and Ballston Spa. Those were all games that we should’ve won.”

The game after Ballston Spa was

against the Bethlehem Eagles, and was televised on TW3 which Schumacher says “is a close runner-up for the highlight of the season. It’s so vivid in my memory.”

The Dutchmen went on to win against Averill Park before starting their sectional run. “We focused a lot on making less individual mistakes,” says Iuorno about the teams’ success after the rut. “Our team chemistry was one of the main reasons for our success. There was so

Shelby Iapoce

Boys Soccer falls to Shen in Suburban Council semifinal much depth, and they’re all a great bunch of kids.”

The Dutchmen graduated nine se-niors. “We fought hard every game. Win or lose, we’re a team. I’ve made some of my closest friends through playing soccer and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to miss it,” says Schumacher.